A correspondent writes:—
" The last paragraph in your article of last week upon Ireland sent me to see Mr. Drinkvrater's Abraham Lincoln at the Lyric Opera House, Hammersmith. The play sent me off to a library to read all I could about the greatest of Americans. Surely this is one of the most delightful functions of the drama. Some 'modern instance' reminds the lazy publie that there lived once such a man as Abraham Lincoln. The public is mildly curious, curious enough to allow Mr. Drink. water to try for an evening to prove that the story of Lincoln still lives and breathes. Mr. Drinkwater amply proves his case. His play has an extraordinary dignity and poignancy. He has been very bold, and has not feared to introduce long speeches, or long scenes without any action, and not in a single scene does he commit the sin of boring his auditors. I say ' scene ' advisedly, for the choruses are occasionally too elaborate to be successful when spoken. The acting is extremely com- petent. Perhaps Mr. Ross Lincoln would gain if bowers a little quieher and less emphatic in the less serious phases of his part. He is decidedly impressive in the more emotional passages. The play itself could hardly have been bettered. The grouping of the isolated episodes is exceedingly dexterous, and an admirable unity is achieved. Surely this is how we members of the public have a right to be entertained. Why have so few people dis- covered that, other things being equal, we particularly like to be instructed while we are being moved or amused? We have frequently disliked serious entertainments. Not because they were serious, but because they were-not entertainments."
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