oyed them), and
to furnish to the younger portion of theatre-goers some conception of
what the stage has been in its "palmy days," I have employed my
leisure in putting together this history of old play-bills. The
changes which have overspread modern society, vast and manifold as
they are admitted to be, are, perhaps, nowhere more perceptible than
in the region known as the theatrical world. To one who has formed a
link in that chain which formerly connected the higher ranks of
society with the taste for dramatic art--with the cultivation of the
beautiful and imaginative in both opera and drama--to such a one the
contemplation of the altered relations now between the patrons of the
drama and the ministers of art suggest many comparisons. The first
stage performance I ever witnessed will not easily be forgotten. It
took place in the Boston Museum in 1850; the plays were "Speed the
Plough," and a local drama (now happily banished from the stage)
called "Rosina Meadows." Thomas Comer, who was leader of the Museum
orchestra, a gentleman, actor, and musician, took me under his charge
and seated me in the orchestra near the bass-drum and cymbals, where I
remained until the end of the performance. The time flew in unalloyed
delight until the fatal green curtain shut out all hope of future
enjoyment. William Warren, W. H. Sedley Smith, Louis Mestayer, J. A.
Smith, Adelaide Phillips, Louisa Gann, who became the wife of Wulf
Fries, the celebrated 'cello player, residing in Boston, Mrs. Judah
and Mr. and Mrs. Thoman, all of whom are dead with the exception of J.
A. Smith, who is now an inmate of the Forrest Home in Holmesburg,
Penn., and Mrs. Thoman, who was a charming actress, and for several
seasons a great favorite with the Museum patrons. She was divorced
from Thoman and became the wife of a Mr. Saunders, a lawyer residing
in San Francisco, who died some years since. Mrs. Saunders is now
living in the above city in retirement, and through the kindness of
her cousin, Joseph Jefferson, is enjoying the ease of a genteel
competence.

William Warren and Adelaide Phillips were the first performers who
ever made a lasting impression upon me. William Warren, great as an
artist and as a man. With pleasure do I pause from the record of
events to present a description of the illustrious actor. He has now
passed away, and to future generations the faithful description of one
who delighted their fathers, and who can never be replaced, wil