Mr. Pinero was fortunate, to begin with, in the fact that he had hit upon a title for his piece hitherto unused--so far as I am aware--by any dramatist of whom history bears record. And this piece of originality is in itself remarkable, seeing that novelty in title is nowadays sufficiently rare. There is no official registry of such things, and, where so many active pens have been at work, a playwright must be self-confident indeed who can be sure that he has alighted upon a name which has never been used by any other native dramatist. To give only a few instances out of dozens:--Mr. Albery's play of 'The Spendthrift' had been anticipated, so far as title was concerned, by 'The Spendthrift' of Matthew Draper, acted in 1731, and by 'The Spendthrift' of Dr. Kenrick, performed in 1758, to say nothing of two anonymous plays, each called 'The Spendthrift,' dating from 1680 and 1762 respectively. And to come down to quite recent days, the 'Loyal Lovers' played lately at the London Vaudeville had had a predecessor, in the matter of name, in the 'Loyal Lovers,' by Major Manuche, which saw the light so long ago as 1652. Similarly, the 'Woman of the World,' performed at the Haymarket in 1886, had had its prototype, so far as the title was concerned, in the 'Woman of the World' of Nelson Lee and Stirling Coyne. Exceptionally lucky, indeed, is the dramatic writer who can now discover a wholly new name for his production. A wholly fresh subject is, of course, even more difficult to achieve. Take what phase of life you will--make what use of it you please--you cannot secure absolute novelty. You cannot find a piece of ground which has not been trodden, however slightly, however differently, by a predecessor. The author of 'The Schoolmistress' introduces his audiences to a very charming lady pupil-teacher, and to three scarcely less charming lady pupils. But one thinks at once of the still more delightful bevy of tutors and scholars presented to us just nineteen years ago, by T. W. Robertson, who, inspired by a German original, gave us not only Bella and Naomi Tighe, but a 'rosebud garden of girls,' of which the attraction has by no means yet departed. Mr. Ruskin has sneered at Bella as 'an amiable governess who, for the general encouragement of virtue in governesses, is rewarded by marrying a lord.' But for all that, she is a pleasant figure, and Naomi is a piquant one, and the English stage has witnessed few more agreeable scenes than those in which Dr. and Mrs. Sutcliffe's young ladies take part in the course of 'School.'