76 Sir Squire Bancroft [March 17, 



scarecrow ; the only persons I have ever met who object to plays and 

 refuse to admit that any good can come of them are persons who 

 have lacked the courage to see and hear one. I have even, in years 

 gone by, known respectable and respected bigots whose views on all 

 artistic subjects were so dwarfed and imbecile as to allow them to see 

 but little difference between the daub on a sign-board and the art of 

 the most inspired Academician. 



Time, the great healer, in his justice, in his mercy, has done much 

 to dam the floods of fierce invective and to stem the torrents of con- 

 tempt with which the actor has been so often and so long assailed, 

 but prejudice and narrow-mindedness when ingrained die hard — so 

 that, in this country, were ever State-endowed or municipal theatres 

 authoritatively advocated the question would, I fear, become a party 

 one and so degenerate into election squabbles over the outlay, down 

 to its petty details of rates and taxes : to which a large proportion of 

 warped but powerful Nonconformists would powerfully object to con- 

 tribute ; the breeches-pocket of the Puritan taxpayer would be a hard 

 lock to pick. Remember, too, the mass of good folk in this land of 

 ours who, if they think at all, think everything bad : who drift 

 aimlessly down the smooth stream of dull monotony, placidly ignorant 

 even of earthquakes and barely conscious of momentous changes in 

 public affairs. We live in Utopia in hoping to see the drama as 

 cherished in our country as, happily for those lands, it is in France and 

 Germany ; where love of the stage is an inborn instinct, and regard 

 for the theatre so generally shown by the dignified externals of their 

 playhouses ; in itself enough to stir an actor's pride, enforcing him 

 to respect the art he follows when he finds it so respected. 



What to my mind is needed for the welfare and renown of 

 the drama is concentration. There are numbers of good actors but 

 they are too scattered, too restless, too prone to move about, the 

 public mast be bewildered where to look for, how to find them ; some 

 at least among them should be banded together and find a home 

 under one roof ; I grant that life is so fierce, so hurried, that a large 

 section of the surging, struggling mass of humanity which makes up 

 this vast city craves only for a light and frivolous form of entertain- 

 ment : let it be so : let there be as many theatres as may be needed 

 for the purpose, but let their managers remember that public taste is 

 capricious — sudden changes in it occur when least expected ; let us 

 be grateful for the admirable work now being done for the stage by 

 a few, who need no naming, and let more be done, that we may have 

 one playhouse which shall not, in any circumstances, be entirely given 

 over to unbroken and often interminable runs. 



How far is our country from such a triumph ; How might this 

 end be achieved ? It is much to say but I believe there are three 

 possible means. First and best. By the munificence of a possessor 

 of great riches ; I trust a British subject, who could and would earn 



