respect, a nuisance to it. Bulwer was about equally distinguished as
a novelist, as a dramatist, and as an essayist; and, ever since, the
average man has been puzzled whether to think of him as the author of
'Pelham,' the author of 'The Lady of Lyons,' or the author of
'Caxtoniana.' Bulwer tried hard to establish a position as a poet, but,
happily, there is no need to trouble one's self greatly about 'King
Arthur.' As it is, the fame of Bulwer's dramas appears likely,
by-and-by, to eclipse altogether the fame of his novels. And this, if it
ever happens, will prove once more that a man can be the worst enemy of
himself. Single-Speech Hamilton was not satisfied with his big success,
but spoke again. Nothing could have been more unwise. He should have
rested on his laurels--unless indeed, he could have been quite sure that
he would surpass his former triumph. Unless one can be perfectly certain
of that, it is, best, in general, to let well alone.

DRAMATIC NOMENCLATURE.

The production on the London stage of a piece called 'The
Schoolmistress' no doubt caused many lovers and students of the drama to
consider for a moment whether--and, if so, to what extent--the general
subject of school-life had been dealt with by preceding playwrights.

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
18