The spirit of Reform, when it once gets infused into
our institu- tions, will have abundant changes to work. Adapted for a totally different state of manners, the progress of time has destroyed the utility of many of them ; and instead of acting advantageously, they are converted into shackles and incumbrances. Were a man to continue to wear the breeches for which he had been measured when a boy, he would find the covering scanty, and the inconve- nience great. Amongst other institutions or establishments regulated by law, are the Theatres. The stage had a poor origin: it is a pleasure that, in its rise, was unsanctioned, and it has had a long struggle for a respectable consideration. It is still shackled by the restric- tions at first imposed upon his Majesty's, or the Duke's, or the Queen's servants,—only that which was licence is now become monopoly.
It is utterly inconsistent with common sense to see two great theatres monopolizing the privilege of entertaining the town—to see playhouses built on the other side of the river, lest they should encroach upon the sacred rights of Drury Lane and Covent Gar- den ; and Mr. ARNOLD, a man able and willing to amuse the public, forbidden to do it, except during the four hot months when the town is empty, and the greatest luxury in an evening is to lie on a sofa or stroll in a shrubbery, and no one would, un- less pressed by blue devils, venture the parboiling of a theatre. His petition is a satire on the times. By Posterity, who will have a score of theatres, it will be well laughed at.
Previous page
