Page:Brown, T. Allston - History of the American Stage (1870).djvu/13

 PREFACE.

preparing this History of the American Stage, many years of private friendship and business association with the members of the profession in gen- eral, have afforded the author peculiar opportunities for obtaining reliable in- formation regarding the artists of the present day, as well as for collating the traditionary reminiscences of those whose name and fame belong to the past.

The biography of the past, where material facts are abundant and final results are known, is a comparatively easy task ; but the record of the present, sketched as it were in transitu, can but be the reflex of present public opinion, and largely founded on criticism. And the author's career of eleven years as a dramatic critic has given him a thorough insight, surpassed, if in- deed equalled, by few, into matters connected with the stage, and in that ca- pacity it has always been his aim to give his conscientious opinion, unbiassed and free from all private considerations.

The stage is an arduous profession, requiring so many natural gifts, combined with difficult acquirements, that while success is honor and happiness, failure, though unfortunate and full of disappointment, is no disgrace; and every new aspirant knows that success or failure is the result of public opinion, and that his efforts must at all times be open to public criticism.

The critic's office is a difficult and thankless one. His duty, if honestly fulfilled, compels him to censure unflinchingly what is faulty, as well as to heartily praise what is deserving ; and it is only by comparing the opinions of critics in general, that we can arrive at the nearest approach to the truth. This the author has done to the utmost of his ability and resources ; and, with such aids and advantages, has endeavored to furnish a faithful, and he trusts acceptable, contribution to the dramatic records of the country.