Page:Under Dispute (1924).pdf/265

 and I am disposed, in a mild way, to agree with him. Yet when some time ago I read a pleasantly worded little sermon on "An Artist's Morality," being curious to know how a moral artist differed from a moral chemist, or a moral accountant, the only concrete instance of morality adduced was the abandonment of tobacco. As soon as the artist resolved to amend his blameless life, he made the discovery that its chief element of discord was his pipe. "As a thing of sudden nastiness, I threw it out of the window, drawing in, almost reverently, a deep breath of cool October air."

It is possible that the American public likes being preached to, just as Hannah More's British public liked being preached to. This would account for the little sermons thrown on the screen between moving pictures, brief admonishments pointing out the obvious moral of the drama,