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up and perpetuated in society by a short-sighted selfishness . Such lessons deserve general consideration . They ought to be attractive ; Tor while rribst forcibly inculcating an enlightened philanthropy , the author always inculcates it with a force which is characteristically feminine . We talk of masculine understandings , but according to the ancient Greeks the goddess of wisdom was a woman .
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The ' decline of the stage' has of late years become a stock phrase amongst a large portion of the public , and those writers who affect to guide the opinions of the public . The matter has been so long assumed as an undoubted fact , that it would seem to have grown into an acknowledged truism , no more to be disputed than the fact that the earth revolves about the sun . Yet ,
notwithstanding , a close analysis will probably set the matter in a different light . What proof is there , that the aggregate amount of money , paid by the public for admission to the various theatres , is less , even in proportion to the numbers of the population , than
it ever was , even in those days which were held to be the * palmy ' state of the theatre ? The declinarians will probably reply , by referring to the condition of the large theatres , regarding them as business speculations for purposes of profit . This is granted ; but then on the other hand let them look at the numerous theatres
which have arisen on all sides to take away the audience . Let them look at the fact that many country towns now maintain theatrical establishments of their own , a portion of whose inhabitants were accustomed to make occasional trips to London , one of the principal inducements being the desire of visiting the theatres . That individual speculators , or that specific theatres ,
may have suffered , is no proof whatever of a general decline . The question at issue is , not even whether numerous actors are out of employment or badly paid , but whether as regards the general population a larger proportionate number of human beings are now maintairied by the various employments connected with the drama than ever was the case before . Those who look at the increased number of the theatres must reply in the affirmative ; and it will scarcely be questioned , that higher salaries and a larger number of them are now paid than ever were paid before . If the fact be so , and I believe tnat it is not to be doubted , what becomes
of the assertion as to the ' decline of the stage ? ' Could the proprietors of the large theatres maintain their monopoly to the letter , against all the principles of justice , there is little doubt that their establishments wduld again be in a most prosperous condition ; i . e . with ordinary attention to calculation in their financial arrangements , a matter in which they have for the most part been so
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ON THEATRICAL REFORM .
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On Thealric&l Reform . 551
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1833, page 551, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2620/page/39/
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