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AN ENDOWED THEATRE
and let the experiment be faithfully tried
for three years.
From the effecting of such a scheme I
did not expect, soon or ever, every con-
ceivable advantage. I did not, in prevision,
anticipate the speedy regeneration of the
theatre as an " institution," the prompt
suppression of cheap and vulgar plays, the
immediate elevation of public taste. But
I was confident — judging by the success
of similar enterprises, and by the paral-
lelism of European theatres maintained
by national and civic subsidies or organ-
ized subscription — that salutary results
would flow from a theatre thus maintained
and managed. This playhouse would at
once be the talk of the country ; and the
city that contained it would soon be a
dramatic Mecca, drawing to itself from
every part of the land true amateurs of
the drama and of acting. A standard of
high excellence would be set up, and held
up to view, in respect both of material of
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