ABSTRACT
The theatre, depending more than any other department of art upon public opinion, complies with rather than thwarts its caprices; and public opinion and the press have it at all times in their power to correct the errors of the stage. It is perhaps an inevitable result of advancing civilization, that it levels in great measure the external and salient points of individual character, and thus deprives the drama of one of its principal aliments and attractions. No great school of actors has succeeded to the Kemble family, and with them the higher order of both tragedy and comedy has expired; few modern plays bear the impress of longevity, and will probably be forgotten before another year has passed away. The recreations of the day, as well as its ritual and its arts, must express contemporary feelings, and not borrow the exponents of them from past phases of society.
