The
subject and title of 'Schoolfellows' was taken by Douglas Jerrold, the
schoolfellows in it being, however, no longer under the tutelage of
their old master. A 'Schoolboy's Masque' was printed in 1742; a 'School
Moderator' was included in Garrick's collection; a 'School Play,' it is
recorded, was performed at a private grammar school in Middlesex, in
1663; and of recent years an extravaganza has been endowed with the
suggestive title of 'School Bored.'

There is, of course, a sense in which the word 'school' can be used for
the larger opportunities of education given by contact with the world.
And in this sense the word has been used by English dramatists with
remarkable and characteristic frequency. In the second quarter of the
seventeenth century Shirley printed, as 'the firstfruits of his Muses,'
his comedy called 'The School of Compliment,' which had been played at
Drury Lane; and in the list of comedies of the nineteenth century will
be found 'The School of Reform,' by Thomas Morton, and the 'School of
Intrigue,' by Mr. Mortimer; the former devoted to instructing ladies
'how to rule a husband,' and the latter to a fresh treatment of the
world-famous story of the Count and Countess Almaviva. But the dramatic
pieces whose titles begin with 'The School of' are few indeed in
comparison with those whose names begin with 'The School for.' Of the
latter the most famous is, of course, 'The School for Scandal,' now just
111 years old. But Sheridan's work had been preceded, in the following
order, by 'The School for Lovers,' 'The School for Guardians,' 'The
School for Rakes,' 'The School for Fathers,' and 'The School for Wives.'
Nor is it surprising that, the fashion having once been set, Sheridan's
comedy should be followed successively by 'The School for Eloquence,'
'The School for Ladies,' 'The School for Vanity,' 'The School for
Greybeards,' 'The School for Widows,' 'The School for Arrogance,' 'The
School for Prejudice,' 'The School for Friends,' 'The School for
Authors,' 'The School for Grown Children,' 'The School for Grown
Gentlemen,' and 'The School for Scheming'--this last being one of the
numerous performances of Mr. Boucicault.

Nor is this all. History relates that Steele began a comedy named 'The
School for Action,' and there are records of pieces called 'The School
for Husbands,' 'The School for Women,' 'The School for Coquettes,' 'The
School for Daughters,' and 'The School for Tigers.' Probably no word has