Excerpt from The Stage, Vol. 1 of 2: Both Before and Behind the Curtain, From "Observations Taken on the Spot" This, however, is not the last singular instance of the manner in which some of my arguments have been borne out, nor of the advantages enjoyed by others that were denied to me, nor of the doings that were approved of in others, while they were condemned in me. When, after years of severe trial and severe loss, after the introduction of all attainable talent, foreign and native, after the representation of some of the most popular pieces ever known, I was advised, after the season had AL ready extended To 142 moms, to give a few promenade con certs to enable me the more effectually to return to the usual dramatic preformances, the yell from one end of the theatrical part of the metropolis to the other was enough to make the welkin ring. I was denounced as a common mountebank, and my respected vituperator, George Robins mustered up an extra quantity of senatorial language to astound the listeners to his harangue, at the General Annual Meeting Of the Proprietors. At this said General Meeting, the delight of the body at having secured such a catch as the then new Lessee amounted al most to fits - they had all sorts of visions of dividends floating before their eyes, shares were set down at once as at a premium, and it was not doubted that there would be a scramble in the market, even to get a peep at one. Halcyon dreams! What a pity it is the beauties should ever have awoke from them! I have more than once come to the conclusion, after reading this report of their past, and their present, and this anticipation of their future fortunes that if I had happened to have entered the room in the midst to their disappointments on the one hand, and their ecstacies on the other, they would have thrown all the looking-glasses in it at my head. It is really distressing, if you come to think it over, that all the flow of language displayed at this memorable meeting, should have been distributed, however gratuitously, in vain, and that the vocabulary of slang and slip slop should have been exhausted to no earthly purpose. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.