‘The First Lecture on the Political Prostitution of our Public Theatres’

This chapter presents the lecture by John Thelwall on the 'Political Prostitution of our Public Theatres'. History is replete with instances of the connection between the amusements and the morals of mankind, from the earliest periods to the present time. Cicero, in one of his epistles, gives a striking instance of this, in describing an exhibition at Rome in the time of Pompey. Thelwall presents a general survey of the degeneracy in the British dram. He traces the history of the ancient drama and compares the history of the ancient and modern stage to show the importance of reforming the system by which the theatres are so considerably shackled.