TheAmericansverybroadlydisplayallthedifferentpropensitieswhichIhaveheredescribedwhentheygotothetheatres;butitmustbeacknowledgedthatasyetaverysmallnumberofthemgototheatresatall。AlthoughplaygoersandplayshaveprodigiouslyincreasedintheUnitedStatesinthelastfortyyears，thepopulationindulgesinthiskindofamusementwiththegreatestreserve。Thisisattributabletopeculiarcauses，whichthereaderisalreadyacquaintedwith，andofwhichafewwordswillsufficetoremindhim。ThePuritanswhofoundedtheAmericanrepublicswerenotonlyenemiestoamusements，buttheyprofessedanespecialabhorrenceforthestage。Theyconsidereditasanabominablepastime;andaslongastheirprinciplesprevailedwithundividedsway，scenicperformanceswerewhollyunknownamongstthem。Theseopinionsofthefirstfathersofthecolonyhaveleftverydeepmarksonthemindsoftheirdescendants。TheextremeregularityofhabitsandthegreatstrictnessofmannerswhichareobservableintheUnitedStates，haveasyetopposedadditionalobstaclestothegrowthofdramaticart。Therearenodramaticsubjectsinacountrywhichhaswitnessednogreatpoliticalcatastrophes，andinwhichloveinvariablyleadsbyastraightandeasyroadtomatrimony。Peoplewhospendeverydayintheweekinmakingmoney，andtheSundayingoingtochurch，havenothingtoinvitethemuseofComedy。
AsinglefactsufficestoshowthatthestageisnotverypopularintheUnitedStates。TheAmericans，whoselawsallowoftheutmostfreedomandevenlicenseoflanguageinallotherrespects，haveneverthelesssubjectedtheirdramaticauthorstoasortofcensorship。Theatricalperformancescanonlytakeplacebypermissionofthemunicipalauthorities。Thismayservetoshowhowmuchcommunitiesarelikeindividuals;theysurrenderthemselvesunscrupulouslytotheirrulingpassions，andafterwardstakethegreatestcarenottoyieldtoomuchtothevehemenceoftasteswhichtheydonotpossess。
Noportionofliteratureisconnectedbycloserormorenumeroustieswiththepresentconditionofsocietythanthedrama。Thedramaofoneperiodcanneverbesuitedtothefollowingage，ifintheintervalanimportantrevolutionhaschangedthemannersandthelawsofthenation。Thegreatauthorsofaprecedingagemayberead;butpieceswrittenforadifferentpublicwillnotbefollowed。Thedramaticauthorsofthepastliveonlyinbooks。Thetraditionaltasteofcertainindividuals，vanity，fashion，orthegeniusofanactormaysustainorresuscitateforatimethearistocraticdramaamongstademocracy;butitwillspeedilyfallawayofitself—notoverthrown，butabandoned。
ChapterXX:CharacteristicsOfHistoriansInDemocraticAgesHistorianswhowriteinaristocraticagesarewonttoreferalloccurrencestotheparticularwillortemperofcertainindividuals;andtheyareapttoattributethemostimportantrevolutionstoveryslightaccidents。Theytraceoutthesmallestcauseswithsagacity，andfrequentlyleavethegreatestunperceived。Historianswholiveindemocraticagesexhibitpreciselyoppositecharacteristics。Mostofthemattributehardlyanyinfluencetotheindividualoverthedestinyoftherace，nortocitizensoverthefateofapeople;but，ontheotherhand，theyassigngreatgeneralcausestoallpettyincidents。Thesecontrarytendenciesexplaineachother。
Whenthehistorianofaristocraticagessurveysthetheatreoftheworld，heatonceperceivesaverysmallnumberofprominentactors，whomanagethewholepiece。Thesegreatpersonages，whooccupythefrontofthestage，arresttheobservation，andfixitonthemselves;andwhilstthehistorianisbentonpenetratingthesecretmotiveswhichmakethemspeakandact，therestescapehismemory。Theimportanceofthethingswhichsomemenareseentodo，giveshimanexaggeratedestimateoftheinfluencewhichonemanmaypossess;andnaturallyleadshimtothink，thatinordertoexplaintheimpulsesofthemultitude，itisnecessarytoreferthemtotheparticularinfluenceofsomeoneindividual。