390 MONTHLY REVIEW OF LITERATURE. 



We sincerely believe that one great cause of the innovations on the regular 

 practice of the theatres was the pretension of a few of the principal histrions 

 to such exorbitant salaries, as to leave no prospect of profit in the exhibition 

 of plays wherein alone their peculiar talents might be made available. The 

 high-salary system, and the constant repetition of stock-pieces, having tired 

 out the play- going community, led to the bankruptcies of Price and others, 

 who might have sustained their credit by greater economy in some respects, 

 and by better treatment of secondary performers, whose talents Price, in 

 particular, was never able to appreciate. 



In approving, however, of the introduction of foreign dramas on our stage, 

 we must not be understood to mean the wretched translations of the most 

 mischievous of them, which have found a too ready admission to the repertoires 

 of nearly all our theatres. The whole of the trash of the Porte- St. -Martin, 

 and of the lowest theatres of Paris, has been dressed up in flimsy English 

 habiliments by the numerous penny-a-line purveyors who pander to the 

 vitiated taste of the galleries, and are gladly accepted, at a bread-and-cheese 

 price, by the grasping manager. Against these let every father, every guardian 

 of the honour and virtue of the rising generation, hold up his hand. There 

 are dramas enough, of a harmless kind, in store, to produce the wished-for 

 variety ; and we would make every manager responsible for the pernicious 

 effects of the scenes of immorality which he exhibits. If the public licenser 

 cannot, or will not, do his duty, in this respect, the society for the suppres- 

 sion of vice should be on the alert, and for once attack the wolf instead of the 

 mouse. 



We might say much more on these heads, if the space allowed for this 

 article were not so circumscribed. We are obliged to take leave, therefore, 

 of Mr. D. rather abruptly, observing en passant that, with a great display of 

 learned quotations, not very accurately printed, he has done very little in 

 " Vindication of the Drama ; " and we hope that, in his next attempt to make 

 himself useful to the public, he will hit on a subject more likely to employ 

 to advantage the portion of reading and erudition which he seems to possess. 

 The Dedication to Mr. Macready should have been better written. It is 

 obscure and faulty. Mr. M., as a scholar and a gentleman, and as the son 

 of a very Worthy man, whose memory we love to cherish, deserves a better 

 offering. If the work should run to a second edition, we would recommend 

 Mr. Denman, who is probably a young man, to cast his eye over the latter part 

 of the said Dedication. 



Noble Deeds of Woman. Hookham, Bond Street. 



THIS record of the noblest deeds of the noblest women is one of the most 

 interesting volumes we have for some time perused. It presents a faithful 

 picture of the greatness of soul which actuates the breast of woman when 

 placed in circumstances of danger, temptation, or privation ; and these 

 examples selected with care from the lives of eminent females should be 

 placed in the hands of every daughter, of every wife. The " Noble Deeds 

 of Woman " are not, however, confined to those performed by beings whose 

 actions have become celebrated ; woman, in almost every station, exhibits a 

 greaternobility of sentiment, more earnestness of purpose, and more promptitude 

 of action than man ; and we are persuaded that it only requires the oppor- 

 tunity. the chance of being placed in circumstances demanding the highest 

 powers of intellect, self-sacrifice, and mental courage, for many women, 

 moving in their own humble unassuming stations to become as celebrated 

 as many heroines instanced in the excellent work before us. 



We could make many highly interesting extracts ; but will not disturb 

 such a well-arranged and lovely bouquet by taking one flower from its place. 

 Hence we must, with no little confidence and pleasure, refer our readers to 

 the book itself. 



