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The Ladies' Book of Etiquette, and Manual of Politeness
·
Florence Hartley
184
I
shall
be
condemned
by
many
serious
and
well-judging
persons,
if
I
say
one
word
in
favor
of
private
theatricals;
yet,
as
it
appears
to
me,
there
are
in
these
diversions
some
advantages
which
are
not
to
be
found
to
excuse
the
waltz,
or
the
polka,
or
the
ballet,
or
the
hunting
field.
In
private
theatricals
there
is
the
possibility
of
some
benefit.
The
study
of
the
finest
dramatists,
especially
of
Shakespeare,
is
not
likely
to
demoralize
the
mind,
or
to
cool
the
enthusiasm
for
what
is
good.
We
can
scarcely
know
too
well
those
works
which
have
tended
more
to
form
character
than
any
collection
of
any
kind
whatsoever.
Shakespeare,
Sheridan,
Bulwer,--but
I
cannot
go
through
the
list
of
fine
dramatic
writers
whose
works
elevate
the
mind
and
taste.
The
plays
of
Sheridan,
Knowles,
and
Bulwer,
are,
in
most
instances,
well
adapted
for
private
representations--the
most
exquisite
delineations
of
female
character
may
be
found
in
the
dramatic
library,
and
high,
pure,
manly
thoughts,
may
be
traced,
line
after
line,
to
the
same
source.
Private
theatricals
should,
however,
be
regulated
with
much
judgment.
I
see
no
reason
to
restrict
too
severely
talent
of
this
kind
where
it
exists,
any
more
than
to
crush
a
dawning
taste
for
the
other
fine
arts.
What
we
have
to
do
is
to
raise
and
direct
it;
never
to
let
it
occupy
too
much
time,
nor
to
become
the
business
of
life;
never
to
let
it
infringe
upon
duties;
never
to
allow
it
to
lead
us
into
an
unreasonable,
and,
therefore,
criminal
expense.
Our
ancestors
were
content
to
strew
their
stage
at
the
end
of
their
halls
with
rushes,
and
to
hang
up
the
name
of
the
scene,
instead
of
a
scene,
before
each
act.
The
best
preparations,
which
generally
render
private
theatricals
both
laborious
and
expensive,
add
but
little
to
the
pleasure
of
the
beholders,
whose
attention
is
fixed
upon
the
actors,
and
who
can
always
see
far
finer
scenes
at
a
minor
theatre
than
at
any
private
theatricals.
Were
we
content
with
greater
simplicity
in
our
amusements,
how
much
vain
ostentation,
heart-sickening
expense,
self-recrimination,
and
trouble,
might
be
avoided!
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