Payne's interest in theater was irrepressible. He published the first issue of "The Thespian Mirror", a journal of theater criticism, at age 14. Soon after that, he wrote his first play, "Julia: or the Wanderer, a comedy in five acts". Its language was racy, and it closed quickly. But Payne's work on "The Thespian Mirror" had caught the attention of William Coleman, the editor of the "New-York Evening Post." He believed that Payne showed promise to contribute to the city's cultural future, and sought a sponsor to support Payne's college education. John E. Seaman, a wealthy New Yorker, took on that financial responsibility. Columbia University was ruled out because of proximity to the distraction of young actresses, and even the College of New Jersey (as Princeton was then known) was considered too close to the city. They selected Union College in Schenectady, New York. Novelist Charles Brockden Brown, an active promoter of New York City, accompanied the young Payne upstate as far as Albany.