PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 205 



ground passage, reading by preference only works of fiction, the 

 contents of which he retailed to listening comrades around the 

 stove by night, until, in the end, his patron, who shared in his 

 taste for such " light reading," procured for him the right of access 

 to the library in the regular way, and no longer by the narrow 

 fissure in the rear of the bookcase. 



At the age of fifteen he left the store of Mr. Broderick in Gal- 

 way, and, returning to the place of his birth, entered a watch- 

 maker's establishment in Albany, but finding nothing congenial 

 to his taste in the new pursuit, he soon abandoned it. At this 

 time he had formed a strong predilection for the stage. Two or 

 three years before, while living at Galway, he had seen a play 

 for the first time, on the occasion of a casual visit to Albany, and 

 the impression it made upon his mind was as vivid as that left by 

 the perusal of his first novel. He described and re-enacted its 

 scenes for the wonderment of the Galway youth, and now that 

 he was living in Albany, he could give full vent to his new incli- 

 nation. His spare money was all spent in theatrical amusements, 

 until at length he won his way behind the scenes, and procured 

 «,dmission to the green room, where he learned how to put a play 

 on the boards, and how to produce the illusion of stage effects. 

 In the skill with which he learned thus early to handle the appa- 

 ratus of the stage, we may discern, perhaps, the first faint pre- 

 lude of the skill to which he subsequently attained in handling 

 the " levers and screws" with which, accoi'ding to Goethe, the ex- 

 perimental philosopher seeks to extort from nature the revelation 

 of her mysteries. 



Invited at this period of his life to join a private theatrical 

 association in Albany, known by the name of " The Rostrum," 

 the young enthusiast soon distinguished himself among hia 

 fellow-members of riper years by the ingenuity of his dramatic 

 combinations, and the felicity of his scenic efi'ects, insomuch that 

 he was made President of the Society. Meanwhile, the watch- 

 maker had left Albany, and young Henry, no longer having the 

 fear of the silversmith's file and crucible before his eyes, was left 

 free to follow the lead of his dramatic tastes and aspirations. He 

 dramatized a tale, and prepared a comedy ; both of which were 

 acted by the association. Indeed, so much was he absorbed in 

 this new vocation, that our amateur Roscius seemed, according 

 to all outward appearance, in a fair way of making a place for 



