The Struggle for a Free Stage in London. By Watson
Nichol- son, M.A. (A. Constable and Co. 105. 6d. net.)—It is quite likely that many people do not know that up to 1843 the two Theatres Royal, Covent Garden and Drury, had a monopoly of dramatic representation. This monopoly was created in 1660 by Charles II. His reasons, as stated in his letters patent issued to Thomas Killigrew, read curiously when we remember the character of the King who issued them and of the Restoration drama of which his reign was the flourishing period. " Such kinds of entertainment," so runs the document, "which if well managed, might serve as momll instruction in humane life now tondo to the debauchinge of the manners of such as are present at them." The attempt to get rid of this restraint soon began, and Mr. Nicholson, an American graduate, lies given a carefully constructed narrative of bow it was carried on.
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