Letter from George Wyndham, Ashridge, Berkhamsted, to W. E. Henley, 1897 November 30 : autograph manuscript signed.

Concerning Henley's play "Admiral Guinea;" saying "I would have given a great deal to see the Admiral. I father from the reviews that it was a real success. For one admits this, & the rest praise the acting, & the dialogue, & the characterization, though all, of course, say in chorus that the man of letters, who can write, cannot, & can never, make a Play. That I, for my part, would listen many nights to such lines as yours if the prologue, properly delivered without a cockney accent, raises a presumption that others, also, would enjoy the same treat, if they could get it. A fortiori, would they enjoy the Play, with characters thrown in. Is the Play never to be written again by, and for, people with a literary sense? And if not, why not? There have been dark decades through which Literature was [illegible] even from Poetry & Prose narration. But she has reconquered these provinces. Then why not the Play, wherein our English wantoned in youth? Why on the Stage may not English be fresh, direct and euphoric? Why must it be [illegible], random, and rythmical [sic] as a railway accident?"