be concluded with the celebrated Grand Russian Polonesso, as performed at the Imperial Palace at St. Petersburgh."
Emboldened by his dramatic success, Eustaphieve at once proceeded, anonymously it is true, to proclaim himself as Boston's chief dramatic critic, on the pages of the New England Palladium and Commercial Advertiser. On January 2nd 1815, he wrote: "Whence comes it that the stage, which, like a double-edged instrument, cuts right or wrong according to the direction given it, should be so slightly regarded among us, that the eye of Criticism, vigilant in other respects, scarcely ever deigns to rest upon it, or passes by only with a casual and transient glance? In any other civilized country, the operation of this machine, at once useful and dangerous, is watched with an anxiety and jealousy, fully proportionate to its acknowledged importance: Why then is it neglected among ourselves? Are we more virtuous, or more different, and less likely to be influenced by the scene of fiction, than our European ancestors and brethren? Or are its powerful effects weakened and neutralized by a voyage, which Thalia and Melpomene must necessarily make across the Atlantic in order to visit us? I have often put these questions to myself and to my friends, who, as often, instead of resolving them, answered only by asking why I do not myself remedy the neglect complained of, by putting on the garb of Critic, and thus lead the way for other abler pens in a career so honourable and important. I confess I have often felt tempted to adopt this advice, but diffidence, and a lurking hope that someone will yet precede me, have till now witheld me, and it was not till I witnessed the representation of the Iron Chest on Monday last week, that my impatience overcame my fears and I yielded to the temptation."
During the months of January, February and March of that year, he thus criticized at great length the Iron Chest, The Curfew (by Tobin), Jane Shore (by Rowe), Revenge (by Dr. Young), The Merchant of Venice, Catharine and Petruchio, Adelgitha, Romeo and Juliet, Abaellino, The Hero of the North (by Diamond), Richard the Third, Machetto, A School for Scandal, As You Like It, The Provoked Husband, Wives as They Were and Maids as They Are (by Mrs. Inchbald), Education, The Wonder a Woman Keeps Her Secret, The Miller and His Men, Henry the Eighth, and Much Ado About Nothing.
The anonymity did not deceive anyone in Boston. Everybody knew who the author was, and one, W., severely attacked
