The saloon reform at Drury Lane has called forth some
cavillings, a all reforms great or small are sure to do ; and Mr. MACREADY has ar pealed from the most measured of his opponents, a weekly contemp,, rary, to the public through the daily papers. It is not denied that tl saloon has been restored to the uses for which it was designed—namely, a lounge for the box-visiters between the acts of the play, and purg - from its contaminating visitants : but it is objected that there is still a separate haunt for loose characters under the roof of the theatre, and that women whose occupation is evident are still seen in the upper tier of boxes and slips. To this Mr. MACREADY answers, that a " bar" or place of refreshment in-the-saloon was rented on lease by a party who calculated on the class of customers he wished to exclude : his only re- source, therefore, was to partition off this end of the saloon, and make a separate approach to it from the lobby; which he purposely left in an unsightly and comfortless state, in order to deter visiters from entering. He was also advised that the public right of entrance to a theatre could not safely be denied to any person, not actually outraging decency by appearance, who tendered money for admission : but this question, if raised, Mr. Macerator intends to try, being determined, if possible, to accomplish his object of excluding notoriously improper women, who attend the theatre to carry on their miserable vocation. Mr. MACREADY has thus completely vindicated himself from the imputation of having intended merely a sham reform ; and in his resolute efforts to suppress an abuse that has been a scandal to the London stage, deterring delicate persons from visiting the theatre, and annoying decent people who went, he deserves the support which public opinion can best lend under such circumstances. It is a ticklish point, however, to settle : the Police may turn back noted thieves, and the law will justify them by reference to the prison-records; but the degree of immodesty in dress, deportment, and look, that should warrant the exclusion of a woman, seems scarcely cognizable. The greater the difficulty, the more credit is due to the manager who braves it in pursuance of a proper object.
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