He had one toast assigned him which he had
great pleasure in giving. He was sure that the
stage had in all ages a great effect on the morals
and manners of the people. It was very desirable
that the stage should be well regulated; and there
was no criterion by which its regulation could be
better determined than by the moral character and
personal respectability of the performers. He was
not one of those stern moralists who objected to
the Theatre. The most fastidious moralist could
not possibly apprehend any injury from the stage
of Edinburgh, as it was presently managed, and
so long as it was adorned by that illustrious individual,
Mrs Henry Siddons, whose public exhibitions
were not more remarkable for feminine
grace and delicacy, than was her private character
for every virtue which could be admired in domestic
life. He would conclude with reciting a few
words from Shakspeare, in a spirit not of contradiction
to those stern moralists who disliked the
Theatre, but of meekness:---``Good my lord, will
you see the players well bestowed? do you hear,
let them be well used, for they are the abstract
and brief chronicles of the time.'' He then gave
``Mrs Henry Siddons, and success to the Theatre-Royal
of Edinburgh.
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