the companion of their lives, the wife of their bosoms, and the mother of their future offspring, on the boards of Drury Lane or Covent Garden: thus destroying whatever gives sweetness to domestic retirement. An actress _may_ possess more worth than many of the audience who gaze upon her through their glasses from the surrounding boxes, but the charm of modesty can _hardly_ belong to her who lives in perpetual exhibition; nor can the woman, whose sole profession is the study of fictitious and, generally speaking, unamiable characters, be expected to have much time for cultivating her own character to the profit of an immortal soul." "But, Sir, you speak of the theatre. Our young women of fashion are not players; and supposing that they were, and that we must all select our partners in the school of Thespis, would the study of Homer and Simonides, of Virgil and Horace, be a remedy for the evils of which you complain?" "No, my dear Howard. I attach no magic to these authors. On the contrary, there may be an overweening attachment to the ancients, and there are still a few scholars of the old school who value _every_ thing that comes to them in Greek or Latin cloathing, and encumber their pages with quotations which have nothing to recommend them beyond the mere learning which they exhibit. But, returning to our argument, I deny your premises. You assert that our young women of fashion are not actresses: I maintain that they are." "Aye, 'all the world's a stage,' now-a-days. Nature--beautiful, refreshing Nature--is dismissed from what is technically called 'good society.' Too many of our youth of _one_ sex are become horse-jockies, and pugilists--idle at school, dissipated at the University, and ignorant of most things, except what contributes to animal ease and luxury, they issue from the academic groves in full-fledged folly, knowing little indeed of learning, either ancient or modern, but well skilled in sauces and French wines. They are well read in the last edition of Dr. Kitchener, they are connoisseurs in eating and drinking, they can break their heads in the fancy ring, and their hearts in a rowing match. But, alas! how comparatively small the number of those who commence the business of life well furnished with useful knowledge, learning, taste, discretion! with all those qualities in short which ought to distinguish man from the inferior creation! How often are we disappointed when we cast our eyes around, in this polished age of the world, in quest of the materials which are to supply our future strength in every department of the State! A youth governed by religious principle, his head stored with science and literature, while his heart expands to _all_ the social ties of generous affection, is the _only_ character to whom the interests of his fellow-men may be fearlessly consigned; because he alone feels what they truly are: and he only who has learned himself to bow with