The Sun.
London, England, 1842-07-01 00:00:00

THE DRAMA.

Lord MAHON roseto call the attention of the House
to the petition relating to the drama, which he had pre-
sented in the course of last month, and which had since
been printed with the Votes. That petition was signed by
all, or nearly all the dramatic authors of this country. The
petitioners stated that many of them were emulous of
pursuing the higher branches of their art, but
were deterred by the condition in which it
was placed. They had heard, with regret, uni-
versal complaints of the decay of the drama,
and they despaired of its regeneration until the laws
which affected it had been taken into the consideration
of the House, and adapted to the intelligence of the age.
He should say that he thought the complaints of the
petitioners were well founded ; although he did not then
wish to pledge the House to any special remedy for the
existing evil. The origin of the evil was, he believed, to
be traced to the patents which had been granted by Charles
11. to his favoured courtiers for their emolument,
and without any reference to the public advantage.
The Crown lawyers were consulted on the subject of
patents in the reign of William and Mary, and they held
that patents were not in the nature of charters ; but
those patents served as the foundation for the statute-law
which at present regulated the drama, the first statute
on the subject was that of Geo. 11., commonly called the
Licensing Act, which was just in principle and objection-
able only in detail. This Act provided that every actor
who performed without a certain place of residence,
should be treated as a rogue and a vagabond. The next
Act was the 25th of Geo. 11., chap. 26, and this was
the Act by which the drama was at present regulated.
It was called an Act for regulating disorderly houses.
Such was the law under which the countrymen of
Shakspere and Milton were willing that their drama
should be governed. The enactments of this law were every
way worthy of its title ; inflicted a penalty of
50/. on actors not complying with its conditions,
apena
a d
penalty
whiched letter, a the proverbial
and only
poverty of actors
rendered allowed
two
theatres, Drury-lane and Covent-garden, but allowed
houses for music and dancing. It was a law no longer
effectual for performing its intentions, but which might be
called into operation, in order to sanction acts of injustice.
The Noble Lord then referred to the Report of the In-
spectors of Prisons, to show that the amount of crime,
particularly in Lancashire, was augmented by the
public entertainments exhibited in the country, and
said that it was most essential that some enactment
should take place for the better regulation of
the drama. It would be most desirable that no fer-
mented liquors should be allowed to be drank in places
devoted to dramatic entertainments. The state of
morals in their theatres could not be attributed to the
morals of the country, for the drama was better regu-
lated in other countries, where morals were more loose.
He did not say that the two great theatres were not en-
titled to some privilege ; that was a matter for full
deliberation and inquiry ; but of this he was certain,
that the mode in which the monopoly existed
at present was against the public interest. A better
state of things was necessary. By the' present arrange•
went the small theatres were debarred from receiv-
ing certain plays because they could not perform them.
Sir Walter Scott was opposed to the monopoly
of the patent theatres. That monopoly was inju-
rious to all parties—to the proprietors, the ma-