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p. 23
236. [Chapter Thirty-Fourth, Season of 1826-'7 at the Chesnut Street Theatre, concluded - First appearance of Edwin Forrest [?] a star - Debut of Miss Hetty Warren - Macready - Wallack - Brian Boroihme - Debut of Miss Elizabeth Jefferson - Close of the season The summer season - Davis' French Opera Company at the theatre in the fall, &c.
Mr. E. Forrest was now engaged for a few nights. This gentleman had so far advanced in public opinion, that he now came forward as a rival to the great tragedians of the day; with Macready, Cooper and Booth, acting on the same boards, and while impressions of Kean were yet fresh and vivid on the minds and prejudices of the audience before whose judgment he offered, fearlessly, his efforts. The success of those attempts were truly astounding. Forrrest outlived and overcome all competition, and his birilliant star - steady and as fixed as the meteor of the North, which, for centuries, has guided the mariner of the ocean world - has guided the mariner of the ocean world - has not yet completely culminated, allowing us yet no pause or cessation of wonder! - and his history would be interesting to his countrymen. The subject is not yet history, for the star seems to ascend in all its pristine glories on the dramatic horizon, and we can only gaze! It is certainly true that Forrest is now the only dramatic star, in the proper sense, that moves in the American hemisphere. We shall not speak of the English stage. An immense patronage, if nothing else, makes him so. He is the most attractive object of managerial operations. No combination of novelties equal this actor's continuous success. It is without example.
Mr. Forrest, who was, in 1827, yet a very young man, had certainly great tact for acting; he possessed all the natural powers of an actor, with strong perceptive faculties and a clear judgment in all attributes pertaining to the art. His intellectual qualities were quick and bright - much more acute and able than the world(to which he may not be known) seem willing to accord to his mind and acquirements. In fact, his professianl developments and private correspondence, fully declare the strength and the cultivation of his mind. This is little known, or not duly acknowledged. Call him, if ye list, a self-made man, but do not deny to him a bright, cultivated intellect. The advantages of a regular education are given but to few of the denizens of this populous orb. But nature, in her curious economy,]
