“I know they do, Willie,” said his uncle; “but, in my opinion, the theatre is a very poor school of morality.”
“And we read about such things in books, too,” added Clinton, gathering courage from his cousin’s objection to his father’s position.
“A written description of a fight, or any other species of wrong-doing, is a very different thing from the same affair acted out by living performers,” replied Mr. Davenport. “Still, such scenes ought to be introduced very sparingly and very cautiously into books, in my opinion.”
“Is there anything else in the dialogue that you don’t approve?” inquired Clinton.
“Yes,” replied his father; “but I suppose I must blame Willie’s teacher for the other faults, rather than you. I don’t think he took a very wise or proper course to settle the dispute between the two boys. I should say that the mutual flogging must have deepened their hatred of each other, and encouraged their fighting propensities. Then I do not like the forced reconciliation; it could only make deceivers and hypocrites of them. Exposing them to the ridicule of the whole school was another bad thing about the affair. In fact, I should think that the whole scene must have had a bad effect, not only on the culprits, but upon all who witnessed it; and for that reason I should not like to see it represented in a dialogue.”
“Well, then,” said Clinton, in a desponding tone, “we shall have to give up the dialogue, for we haven’t time to write another, even if we knew we could write a better one.”
“I hope you are not going to allow one failure to discourage you,” replied his father. “I do not find any fault with this, except with the subject; and I do not see why you cannot write another as good as this, that shall be free from all objectionable matter.”
Here the conversation ceased, and Mr. Davenport went into the house. His decision in regard to the dialogue had not been announced without the greatest pain, as he well knew how sore a disappointment and how deep a mortification it would carry with it. There was no honest and proper course, however, but to express his opinion freely and fully; and he accordingly did so, in as kind a way as he could.
“I almost wish we hadn’t shown it to father,” said Clinton, when they were alone. “I don’t believe anybody else would think there was any harm in it.”
“Well, as for my part,” said Whistler, “I’m glad we did show it to him; for if there’s anything out of the way in it, I should much rather know it now, than not find it out until after it was spoken.”