8421. THEATRES, Utility of.—
I have
never expressed an objection to the part of
your plan relative to the theatre. The utility of
this in America is a great question on which I
may be allowed to have an opinion; but it is
not for me to decide on it, nor to object to the
proposal of establishing one at Richmond. The
only objection to your plan which I have ever
made, is that * * * I feared it was too extensive
for the poverty of the country. You
remove the objection by observing it is to
extend to several States. Whether professors
itinerant from one State to another may succeed,
I am unable to say, having never known
an experiment of it. The fear that these professors
may be disappointed in their expectations,
has determined me not to meddle in the
business at all.—
To M. de Quesnay. Washington ed. ii, 346.
(P.
1788)
