IN A LETTER FROM BURNT CORK TO ROUGE POT.
My dear Rouge Pot,—You say that you all want to have "theatricals" these holidays, and beg me to give you some useful rules and hints to study before the Christmas Play comes out in the December Number of Aunt Judy.
I will do my best. But—to begin with—do you "all" want them? At least, do you all want them enough to keep in the same mind for ten days or a fortnight, to take a good deal of trouble, whether it is pleasant or not, and to give up some time and some of your own way, in order that the theatricals may be successful?
If you say Yes, we will proceed at once to the first—and perhaps the most important—point, on which you will have to display two of an actor's greatest virtues—self-denial and good temper:—