Although the better portion of the American public seems to
have acted very well in supporting Mr. Macready against the mob, who actually pelted him at the Philadelphia Theatre, the manner in which the affair is dis- cussed in the United States newspapers is calculated to give no very ex- alted idea of American civilization. Not only is the alleged disrespect shown to their Mr. Forrest in this country set forth as the cause of emente in a very coarse and vulgar style, but an English critic is attacked by name, contrary to all the received laws of journalism as observed in Lon- don. The journalists make two mistakes in supposing that Mr. Forrest was crushed by the press of this country. In the first place, no actor ca- pable of attaining a real popularity was ever crushed by a London news- paper, however virulent the animus of that newspaper might be. In the second place, if such power had existed, the position of Mr. Forrest here was not such as to render him worth the crushing. His performance was regarded in our metropolis rather as a gymnastic display than tragic acting; and a conspiracy against him, in the interest of Macready, would have been as much out of place as a conspiracy to put down an athlete at Astley's.
Previous page
