"
'Some Thoughts Concerning the Stage in a Letter to a Lady' was ascribed
by Halkett and Laing to Josiah Woodward, who was associated with the
Society for the Reformation of Manners, and the ascription has been
referred to by later writers on the controversy over the immorality of
the stage. According to Sister Rose Anthony (op. cit., pp. 203-209),
Jeremy Collier may have issued a pamphlet as a supplement to his
'Dissuasive from the Play-House', which was first published late in
1703; and it has been conjectured (cf. 'Critical Works of John Dennis',
I, 501, 505) that 'Some Thoughts' might be that work, especially since
Dennis, at the end of 'The Person of Quality's Answer to Mr. Collier's
Letter', refers to a quotation from Tillotson which appears on pages 8-9
of 'Some Thoughts' and begins his reference to the pamphlet by
designating it as a "Letter written by you [Collier], tho' without
Name." In any event, both 'A Representation' and 'Some Thoughts' stem
from the renewed opposition to the stage which arose in the winter of
1703-1704 and were activated in part by the belief that the great storm
of 1703 was a judgment brought on England by, among other faults, the
licentiousness of the stage.
Both of the items printed in this issue are reproduced, with permission,
from copies in the library of the University of Michigan.
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