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INTRODUCTION
My equipment for my task may be indi-
cated in a very brief paragraph. From a
child I had been interested in the theatre
and a reader of dramatic literature. I had
been a student of Shakespeare for many
years, having received my first impetus
toward the great poet from the accom-
plished Mr. now Dr. William J. Rolfe,
when he was head master and I a pupil of
the Dorchester High School. I had seen a
good deal of acting, and had tried my 'pren-
tice hand at commenting upon it under
my superiors on the paper. I brought to
my work an unaffected eagerness and in-
tensity of interest, which have not flagged
to this day. I may add that I had an exalted
idea of the importance of my office, and of
the awfulness of my responsibility to the
theatre, to the theatrical profession, to Art
spelled with a very large initial A, to the
readers of the Advertiser in particular, and
to the entire Community in general. There
is something comical in this statement, and
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