[1] The/Contrast,/a/Comedy;/In Five Acts:/Written By a/Citizen of the United States;/Performed with Applause at the Theatres in New-York,/Philadelphia, and Maryland;/and published (under an Assignment of the Copy-Right) by/Thomas Wignell./_Primus ego in patriam/ Aonio--deduxi vertice Musas_./Virgil./(Imitated.)/ First on our shores I try Thalia's powers,/And bid the _laughing, useful_ Maid be ours./Philadelphia:/From the Press of Prichard & Hall, in Market Street:/Between Second and Front Streets./M. DCC. XC. [See Frontispiece.] [2] For example, "The Duelists," a Farce in three acts; "The Georgia Spec; or, Land in the Moon" (1797); "The Doctor in Spite of Himself," an imitation of Molière; and "Baritaria; or, The Governor of a Day," being adventures of Sancho Panza. He also wrote a libretto, "May-day in Town; or, New York in an Uproar." (See Sonneck: "Early Opera in America.") [3] The song which occurs in the play under the title, "Alknomook," had great popularity in the eighteenth century. Its authorship was attributed to Philip Freneau, in whose collected poems it does not appear. It is also credited to a Mrs. Hunter, and is contained in her volume of verse, published in 1806. It appears likewise in a Dublin play of 1740, "New Spain; or, Love in Mexico." See also, the _American Museum_, vol. I, page 77. The singing of "Yankee Doodle" is likewise to be noted (See Sonneck's interesting essay on the origin of "Yankee Doodle," General Bibliography), not the first time it appears in early American Drama, as readers of Barton's "Disappointment" (1767) will recognize. [Illustration: AS A JUST ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF THE LIBERAL EXERTIONS BY WHICH THE _STAGE_ HAS BEEN RESCUED FROM AN IGNOMINIOUS PROSCRIPTION, THE CONTRAST, (BEING THE FIRST ESSAY OF _AMERICAN_ GENIUS IN THE DRAMATIC ART) IS MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED TO THE PRESIDENT AND MEMBERS OF THE Dramatic Association, BY THEIR MOST OBLIGED AND MOST GRATEFUL SERVANT, _THOMAS WIGNELL._ PHILADELPHIA, } 1 January, 1790. } DEDICATION PAGE IN THE FIRST EDITION OF "THE CONTRAST"] ADVERTISEMENT The Subscribers (to whom the Editor thankfully professes his obligations) may reasonably expect an apology for the delay which has attended the appearance of "The Contrast;" but, as the true cause cannot be declared without leading to a discussion, which the Editor wishes to avoid, he hopes that the care and expence which have been bestowed upon this work will be accepted, without further scrutiny, as an atonement for his seeming negligence.