Excerpt from Memoirs of John Howard Payne, the American Roscius: With Criticisms on His Acting in the Various Theaters of America, England and Ireland This night, a brother champion will advance, In Thespian tournament to break the lance! He throws no gauntlet at a critic age, Nor dares with wits a rude encounter wage; Yet like the Norval of a sterner clime, He hopes a boy's ambition is no crime: Like him, he dares aspire to earn a name, Your heart his mother, your applause his fame! Blest, if your eyes with beams of pleasure burn, And humbly proud, if they correct, to learn. Thus, would an preface, with ingenuous tongue, That manly worth, which should not pass unsung. 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.