essential to include
these plays because they are representative of the spirit of the
times, and help to give a more comprehensive view of the subjects
which were treated in dramatic form by the early American
playwrights.

From the moment the American writer ceased to be an Englishman, and
became fully aware of his national consciousness, American drama,
following the trend of the development of American literature, began
to feel its way for the proper expression of national characteristics.

And so, in the second and third volumes of this series, the reader
will find plays which, while not wonderful in their literary value,
are, nevertheless, very distinctive, as reflecting the theatrical
tastes of the time, and the very crude, but none the less sincere,
technical effort of the playwrights. All the dramas included in the
second and third volumes have had their stage productions, and are
thus representative of characteristics which mark the abilities of
certain actors, whose claims to originality are found in the special
types they created.

It has been the present editor's object so to arrange the successive
order of these plays that the reader may not only be able to judge
the change in stagecraft and technique, but, likewise, may note the
change in social idea and in historical attitude toward certain
subjects. For example, "The Contrast" contains the first American
Stage Yankee--a model for a succession of Stage Yankees to follow.
But, whereas Royall Tyler's _Jonathan_ was not especially written to
exploit the peculiar abilities of Mr. Wignell, the comedian, most of
the Yankee plays of a later date were written to exploit the
peculiar excellences of such actors as G. H. Hill and James H.
Hackett.

In no way can the reader better sense the change in social customs
and ideals than by reading a series of plays written in successive
generations and reflecting the varying customs of the time. In some
respects "The Contrast" may be considered our very earliest drama of
social manners, even though Royall Tyler was not over-successful in
stamping the small talk of his women as being distinctively
American. Rather is it the direct imitation--without the
brilliancy--of the small talk in "The School for Scandal." But,
nevertheless, "The Contrast" does attempt to deal with society in
New York before the nineteenth century, and in Mrs. Mowatt's
"Fashion," in Mrs. Bateman's "Self," in Bronson Howard's "Saratoga"
(which ha