The volume traces a celebrated actor's later career, examining how newspapers and critics shaped his reputation, contrasting sympathetic, competent, and lay reviewers whose advice he valued with hostile censors motivated by envy, cliques, or hired bias. It recounts incidents of libel and public accusation, his legal and temperate responses, and his attentiveness to criticism as a tool for artistic growth. Interwoven are reflections on principles of dramatic art, standards for criticism, and the social forces that elevate or debase theatrical life.