I hope I have said
quite enough, and am your
"WELL-WISHER."
"R.W. Elliston, Esq."
No doubt some reform followed upon this urgent complaint.
Regulations as to dress are peculiar to our Italian opera-houses, are
unknown, as Mr. Sutherland Edwards writes in his "History of the
Opera," "even in St. Petersburg and Moscow, where, as the theatres are
directed by the Imperial Government, one might expect to find a more
despotic code of laws in force than in a country like England. When an
Englishman goes to a morning or evening concert, he does not present
himself in the attire of a scavenger, and there is no reason for
supposing that he would appear in any unbecoming garb if liberty of
dress were permitted to him at the opera.... If the check-takers are
empowered to inspect and decide as to the propriety of the cut and
colour of clothes, why should they not also be allowed to examine the
texture? On the same principle, too, the cleanliness of opera-goers
ought to be inquired into. No one whose hair is not properly brushed
should be permitted to enter the stalls, and visitors to the pit
should be compelled to show their nails.
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