48 The Theatre—Its Literature, and General Arrangement. Jury, 
_ be to place it, in point of advantage, upon a level with ST amet 
_ of every other character. A play, to be popular, and of sterling value’ at* the 
same time, must be, in thé present day, a work of great labour amd considera- 
_ tion, The same quantity of exertion, appliéd in almost any ‘other’: pe, 
would produce, to appearance, three or four times the ‘Same “quattity' of 
result. The profit of such a play, to compete with’ the prices gained! in Other 
_branches of literary employinent, should be at least a ‘thousand, ‘or’ twelve 
hundred pounds: or at least there ‘should ‘be the chance, by considerable 
success, of obtaining such a sum. The profit, as the trade’ now stands} Wotild 
be perhaps some four or five hundred. wet oe ent 
Now, precisely how this larger amount of profit should be siveh, we dént 
stay to consider; but one move towards conveying it seems’ obvious! in “an 
imstant—there is no earthly reason why the writers who sell plays to 'the 
London theatres, should supply all England, Scotland, and Ireland,’ with ee 
matter, year after year, gratuitously. Bath, and Liverpool, and Dablin, and 
Edinburgh, and Manchester, and Glasgow, if they want new plays, should 
‘have them as they have new actors—that is, they should pay for thé wWsé° of 
~_ them, ; Fy ipsa 
The actor who acquires popularity, and can draw large audiétices, ‘gets hited 
“at fifty or a hundred gumeas a night, in all the theatres over the” United 
“Kingdom. Miss O’Neil received more money for acting fivé nights only*in 
Birmingham, than Maturin received for the whole produce of his Bert dan. 
~ But the author !—a comedy equally successful with Phe Honéy-moon, would 
probably, in England, Scotland, and Ireland, draw, during the fitst year Of its 
“performance, £30,000 ;—this is taking the average & great deal too low, becatise 
it is understood that the Yom and Jerry piece, at thé Adelphi theatre, “in 
London alone drew more than £10,000: but take thé calculation at £30;000, 
because thirty is sufficient for the example ;—out of these £30,000, the author 
will have good luck if he secures £500! being about fourpéice ii the pound 
—and the odds are great if he receives so much—upon the gain of his own 
production ! WD eens 
Then this is not sufficient to induce people, who have much’ other prospect, 
to go to work for the drama. And, the man who produces a “book ‘has “his 
“right protected—no one may print or publish that book, printing being the form 
~ inwhich his profit accrues, (and by which he might be robbed of it) except himvelf : 
the same protection ought clearly to be afforded, for a given time, to the “man 
who produces a dramatic entertainmetit—all representation of that enteftain- 
‘ment (during a specified period) ought to be restrained, unless by license of 
himself, or of his assignee. It is not necéssary here to construct the law 
which should be passed for such a purpose; but it may be observed, that the 
French plan, of apportioning a certain per-centage out of all theatrical reeéipt 
for the benefit of the author, does not seem to be the best that might “be 
adopted. In some instances, it would become a temptation to fraud; and it 
would always produce such an exposure of the state of a “ manager’s” trade*as 
theatrical speculators are particularly jealous of. A far simpler arrangement 
would seem to be, that the author of a play should have the power (upon his 
own terms) of granting licenses for its performance; and, whether this “right 
remained in himself, or formed part of his bargain with the bookseller: or the 
-“aondon manager; would be of no consequence; where it had-a value, he would 
‘have the means of deriving an advantage from it. No doubt, imtheirst 
» instance, squabbles would arise, and piracies and imitations would be attempted ; 
“ but all this would be dealt with, just as it is in literary property of every-other 
«description. The proprietor of the right would have his remedy. at: lawssand 
. ‘people would soon find that it was cheaper to pay him a reasonable pritesforit, 
“othan to-attempt imposition. After all, it would be the public whieh: would=pay 
» ‘the difference ; for theatrical managers, in tewn or country, already makevery 
« Jittleamoney 5» but, ‘in less than twelve months, the scheme:wouldoworkewell, — 
and ‘smoothly; ‘nor: would it be necessary, in England, to» guaranteethis 
privilege-as’ vo representation for more than three *years: - CT er 
