The Mirror of Taste, and Dramatic Censor | Page 3

explanatory notes, whenever they may be
found obscured by local or personal allusion.
As the leading object of the work is, not to infuse a passion, but to
inculcate a just and sober taste for dramatic poetry and acting, the
editors propose to give, seriatim, a history of the drama from its origin,
with strictures on dramatic poesy, and portraits of the best dramatic
poets of antiquity. To this will succeed the history of the British stage,
with portraits of the most celebrated poets, authors, and actors who
have flourished on it, and strictures on the professional talents of the
latter, illustrated by parallels and comparisons with those who have
been most noted for excellence on the American boards.
From that history the reader will be able to deduce a proper conviction
of the advantages of the stage, and the importance, if not the necessity,
of putting the actors and the audience on a more proper footing with
each other than that in which they now stand. Actors must lay their
account with being told their faults. They owe their whole industry and
attention to those who attend their performance; but the editors hold
that critic to have forfeited his right to correct the stage, and to be much
more deserving of reprehension than those he censures, who, in the
discharge of his duty, forgets that the actor has his rights and privileges
also; that he has the same rights which every other gentleman possesses,
and of which his profession has not even the remotest tendency to
deprive him, to be treated with politeness and respect; that he has the
same right as every other man in society, as the merchant, the mechanic,
or the farmer, to prosecute his business unmolested; shielded by the
same laws which protect them from the attacks of malicious libellers

out of the theatre, and the insults of capricious Ignorance or stupid
Malevolence within. "Reproof," says Dr. Johnson, "should not exhaust
its power upon petty failings;" and "the care of the critic should be to
distinguish error from inability, faults of inexperience from defects of
nature. On this principle the editors will unalterably act. And, since
they have cited the great moralist's maxim as a direction for critics,
they, even in this their first step into public view, beg leave to offer a
few sentiments from the same high source, for the guidance of
AUDITORS. "HE THAT APPLAUDS HIM WHO DOES NOT
DESERVE PRAISE IS ENDEAVOURING TO DECEIVE THE
PUBLIC; HE THAT HISSES IN MALICE OR IN SPORT IS AN
OPPRESSOR AND A ROBBER.[1]"
[Footnote 1: Johnson's Idler, No. 25.]
This work, therefore, will contain a regular journal of all, worthy of
notice, that passes in the theatre of Philadelphia, and an account of each
night's performances, accompanied with a critical analysis of the play
and after-piece, and remarks upon the merits of the actors. Nor shall the
management of the stage, in any particular, escape observation. Thus
the public will know what they owe to the manager and to the leader of
each department, and those again what they owe to the public. To make
THE MIRROR OF TASTE AND DRAMATIC CENSOR, as far as
possible a general national work, measures have been taken to obtain
from the capital cities, of the other states, a regular account of their
theatrical transactions. To this will be added a register of the other
public exhibitions, and, in general, of all the fashionable amusements
of this city, and, from time to time, the sporting intelligence of the new
and old country.
To the first part, which will be entitled "The Domestic Dramatic
Censor," will succeed the "Foreign Dramatic Censor." This will contain
a general account of all that passes in the theatres of Great Britain,
likely to interest the fashionable world and amateurs of America, viz.
the new pieces, whether play, farce, or interlude, with their prologues
and epilogues, together with their character and reception there, and
critiques on the acting, collected from the various opinions of the best

critics, together with the amusing occurrences, anecdotes, bon-mots,
and greenroom chitchat, scattered through the various periodical
publications of England, Ireland, and Scotland.
The next head will be Stage Biography, under which the reader will
find the lives and characters of the leading actors of both countries.
These will be followed by a miscellany collated from the foreign
productions, catalogues of the best books and best compositions in
music, published or preparing for publication in Europe or America,
with concise reviews of such as have already appeared.
Poetry, of course, will be introduced; not, as usual, under one head, but
scattered in detached pieces through the whole.

TERMS.
The price of the Mirror will be eight dollars per annum, payable on the
delivery of the sixth number.
A number will