Page:Dr Stiggins, His Views and Principles.pdf/111

 said, in profound sympathy with the aims and ideals of the Free Churches.

Again; consider the Drama. Who, if it was not the great Puritan middle class, made the fortune of such a masterpiece as "The Sign of the Cross"? I remember watching the immense crowds that waited patiently outside the Lyric Theatre, and thinking that the tide had at last turned, that it was no longer necessary for the sincere Christian to leave the playhouse severely alone. I seemed to forsee a time when at every theatre in London plays of like nature should be produced, and as the mass of thoughtless pleasure seekers became gradually leavened, it might, perhaps, be possible to strike out more boldly still, and practically to transform the whole character of the stage. It has been said, perhaps with no very complimentary intention, that some of our Sacred Songs are not far removed from the region of Negro Minstrelsy; why, I thought, should not we bridge over our differences and cause Negro Minstrelsy to speak, as it were, the tongue of Zion?