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Cniiniimiul liFnirsf.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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MDLLE . LUTHER AND THE ART OF ACTING . People wonder why , with my adoration of the sex , I am still a bachelor ; but that is precisely the reason ! If I cared less for tlie sex , I might conjugate , —and then who would dance her hair out of curl for a married Vivian ? Some day , when I am busy , I will try my hand at a comedy , —Lcs Incertitudes de Vivian , —in which I will depict the vacillating perplexities of a loving liearfc , as I saw them depicted by Mdlle . Luther on Monday , in Les Incertitudes de Rosette —{ that was a slight , thin piece , whereas mine will he ! !) It is-a capital subject . "Why should Rosette give her hand to Octave , when Raoul -And Icon are equally charming P One is gay , one is sentimental , and the other is autre chose . She cannot choose . My case to a T ! There is Fanny with the dove-like eyes , whose influence I am the last man in the world to rebel against ; but then there is also the languorous Julia , orientalizing my soul ; and for a time there was the gay Maria , ( till that agreeable parenthesis in my life was terminated by the Milk Jug you have heard of , ) and the stately Jane , who married Brown—le butor ! How happy could I be with neither , Were both the dear charmers away ! These incertitudes convince me I was not made for the domesticities . And , to confess the truth , when Rosette does finally choose that sentimental Raoul , ( with weak , winking eyes , by the way !) I did not feel altogether so sure of that jeune premier ' s future happiness . But what I did feel sure of was , that in Mdlle . Luther we have a charming , naive , fascinating little actress , who will be like a streak of sunshine in this sloppy , pre-Easterian period . She is very blonde , and a French blonde , which is essentially different from the English , ( I like both , but prefer the English . ) Now , a blonde , I need not tell you , is very charming , ( so , indeed , is a brunette : —I like both—I prefer both . ) And this with an . expressive mobility of feature , a little Parisian accent , not of the purest , but not without its charm , an easy naturalness and playful archness , render her " quite an acquisition . " In the second piece—Livrelll , Ckapiire I . —which the English public knows as The Novel Expedient , Mdlle . Luther was less pleasing , and showed a want of discrimination for which she had not prepared us . The idea of the piece is this : —A young wife , jealous of her husband ' s college friend , pretends to be in love with him , in order that he may cease to visit tlie house . The scene in which she does this should be played without a hint of caricature ; the friend would be slow enough to believe it under any circumstances , and to make it credible , as well as to bring out the comedy of the situation ' , there must be no exaggeration . Mdlle . Luther overdid it . The acting could have deceived no one ; and I was sorry to see not only the actress falling into such a mistake , but the audience greatly applauding it . It may seem strange to one unacquainted with the difficulties of Art , that emotion is of all things the most difficult to represent ; but so it is ; and why it is , a little reflection may teach us . Acting—the Art at present under consideration—is primarily a nifxrja-is—a mimicry of manners , conditions , eccentricities , and emotions . Jones is to mimic the gait and bearing of Macheth , and not to present us with the gait of Jones , in which we have but mediocre interest . He is also to represent , as best he can , the feelinqs of that vacillating warrior . That is to say , he has to mimic external characteristics of dress , bearing , &c , ( about winch we—the audience—having no precise knowledge , will not be critical , ) and to express internal characteristics , with which our common humanity makus us tolerably familiar : the first part of his task may bo achieved by following conventional examples , the second part can only be achieved by originality—that is , by his actually undergoing the emotions , and repro-Hoiiting- what ho feels . Conventionality will not do these . The word of Horace remains for ever true : Si vis one jlerc , &c—If you want me to woop , you first must weep yourself . Or , as Faust puts it : — " Porh werdet ihr nic llcrz zu Ilerzen schaflbu Wenn es euch nicht von Ilcrzon geht . " It will not do to shirk the difficulty by covering your face with your hands , on the " easier-to-be-imagined-than-described" principle , —the excuse of incompetence . We are there to see yon do the thing , not shirk it , —to sro you express emotion , not hido it . And if you want us to accept you as an Artist , you must learn not only to mimic externals , bill to abandon yourself to the piuwon of tlie moment , and make that express
itself in its own language . Here , however , lies the difficulty . To think for oneself , to feel for oneself , is at all times the labour , simple as it may seem ! Just as not one writer in a thousand expresses his meaning in his own way , but writes what he thinks will be admired by others , and , therefore , writes it pretty much in the language of others , so not one actor in a thousand dares to trust his own feelings , but mimics the expression of others . Yet although it does not follow that because he dares express what is actually within him , he will necessarily be applauded , it is certain , that genuine success is obtainable in no other way . Two recent examples illustrate my meaning . Ravel in L'JEJtourneau and Miss Woolgar in Slave Life ^ skow what may be done by the representation of emotion . I spoke of " the former a week or two since—of Miss Woolgar it is not too late yet to say that no actress on our stage could surpass her intense and unexaggerated expression of a loving nature tremulous for its cherished idols . Like Ravel she does not fall into the error of " doing the tragic business , " in other words of seeking in , conventional signs for her expressions , but throws herself imaginatively into the part , and abandons herself to what the stirring impulses within dictate . The foregoing is not altogether a digression . It leads me round again to the French Plays , and to Ravel ' s acting in Qui se dispute d ' adore , which he played to perfection , with Mdlle . Luther , who was also delightful . In this piece two loving natures quarrel , ( as only turtle doves and lovers will quarrel ) , and finally agree to separate . The idea is old enough in all conscience , and a conventional actor would not have had far to seek for conventional modes of representing embarrassment . Ravel is an artist , with all his exuberant farce , and does not seek conventional modes . His embarrassment was real—the fidgety , vacillating , perplexed , semi-ludicrous bye play expressed in legible characters a state of emotion no audience could resist . Nobody ever saw that bye-play before . Probably no one person present would , under similar circumstances , have expressed emotion in that way , yet the truth flashed upon all , because it was true ! How serious I am becoming ! The fact is , the good actingl have seen this week naturally makes mo reflective by its contrast with the bad acting I sat out the other night—no matter where—you probably guess . Let me merely add in conclusion that Ravel is not to leave us till Easter , and that Lafont comes on Monday . Vivian .
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Tino InoN andtiikOstrioii . —I cannot hdp milling one inoiv nnccdotc , as it was told m <; l > y an <> y <; - \ vitii (> : s . s , on whose authority 1 can depend . He was travelling beyond tin ) Vaal River , when a lion , alarmed by tho ji ]>)> roachintf wajjjonn , made o / ITroni ( lie side of the road , and in his haste to escape , disturbed n lien ostrich sitting ! Tlie enraged » bird , starting from her nest , rushed after the intruder , and dealt him n furious kick with its loii £ and powerful le ^ , which so disconcerted the kintf of beasts , that lie never once turned , but iled in headlong terror . Bartkk ' h Dorp and Veld . Tiik l ' oj'io'H Shirt . — Relics of saints , their nhrine » und j ^ arinentH , have in all n ^ es exorcised a powerful n t ^ 'iiey in performing miracles ; but we wens not aware till we eiune to Naples of the healing virtues attributed to \\ w , Mhh-t of u 1 ' ope , the smallest shred of which , if Wiled in milk or noup , is said to be an effectual remedy for the cholera and other diseases of a similar description !—ij ' j . oin Bvjiiioiiu ' w Tour through AYance and lCaf g .
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MONKY MARK [ STAND CITY" I NTUM / id MNCE . Friday KveuiiifC . March-I ., 1 H 5 . 1 . Consols huvo boon ft lower ilui-mf' Uii > i lunl wrok . Doulil Insu t , ho reports I hill , ivcro < Miir < 'nt of mi ill-feeling itrUvccii Turkey find AiiMtriu IiikI their dun iiilluenco . Kxcli ( ' ( jii (< r Hills ai'i' pretty fteiidy id . IU to 1 H proliiiuin . Mexii-im Tlireo-per-rnnlH . urn much heller - t ho iKwounts from I hat ( li . ilurl > e < l country _ would _ hoiiiii Id indiciili * the probability of Homo mom utiiMo form ol government Inking jil / ico tluu-a . 'I'horo Iihh been a coiiKidornblo n » n in KpuiiiMli Hlocbi , whioh huvo hitherto born Hiiitfiilarly low . All I'Yonoli HlocliH ami Kiiilwayu huvo heou llrm a Hli ^ 'lit depression now and then hmiooourrcd owinjj to upreulatorH \ vinhiii | j to reidi / . e prollt . 'i . I n ourownli-adin ;; linen prieen have remained llrm . Dovoru look woulr , owiii ;; to tho hill Tor tho Jfiunl . Kent , lino having paHHod through I ho ll ' ouso of OomnioiiH . In Milieu ( hero him heen aet ivil y , oupeeially thoMn lit homo . In colonial and foreign milieu there lutM iiIho heon ooiiHidemM . ) biiMinoHH done ; hut t ho npecidiilorn for a tfrout rinniii tho Auistralifi . ii milieu have boon Hli | r | itly < lmn |> i > oinled already dull rumourH find thoirway into tho city I lint gold i . i on the deoroaHo . ThoHtato of diHor ^ anization aH rofjiirdu hihourat tho milieu and itHdmtrietH hoouih a bur to all ( speculation , and lintil ' Homo oo-oporativo hvhtom \ io cutorod iuk > botwoou companion ftiul tho cinployodj with .
l . ho 1 ' airont proMpiiot . H , no iiatisfuetory results can lie Hiii ' ely anticipated . Homo of tho leading ( , ' iiliforniini miiMvi profess to have received Hatinf'acl ory accounts . ( JoiinoIm left , oft ' linn at ( lOft to !)!) J for money ami for the necoiuil . The Nova Moot in Mining Company , iiot \ vil , lifil . iindin /_ j Homo unfavoiirahlci " bear" reports as to IJio validity ol' thoir title , have been largely dealt- in Jit 2 to " 1-premium . It would Heein that ( ho speculation which him hitherto Keen no rife in Gold-mining companies , i : i now ^ to run a " miicli . " in copper .
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IMMTIMir FUNDS 1 'Olt Till *! TAHT WJCIOIv " . ___ - _ ( Cl . OIIINU I ' lUC I ' . S . ) Sufur . Mum / . Titan . H ' tulti . Thura . J'Vid . Hunk Ml . oi-l : 1 W ( I . ^ 2 : i 7 J 2 'J . H 2 'JH ' ^ 7 i per ( ¦« -lit . lied ;<)(> , $ J ()(> i l () Oj } KIOJ KHU J ( l () 2 : i per Cent . Con . Ann . ! l !» i »» j Dili l )!) ft S ) i > i | M > * OoiihoIh for Account ... Dili !>» fi i "' ii " '••« iM h 1 )! ' h Hi percent . An KKti KKii 1 " I 4 K ^ l l ° i 1 () : I J Now H por (' iMitti lion ; , 'Aim ., 1 HU 0 ( I 7-111 di <> i 0 7-10 India Ml ocli 55 ( 17 i 205 2 (^ 1 Ditto Hoii ( l : i , . L'lOOO 'il * 47 Ditto , 11111 I . 'r UloOO . ' W ) 40 40 4 . 4 47 Iflv . IlillH , . U 1000 17 p . IVi p 11 j ) V& y 17 V ri V Ditto ,. ( LTi ( M ) 12 )> Up l ' J > l > * V Ditto , Hnuill V £ p Up Vi \> »^ 1 > 1 H P
Cniiniimiul Lifnirsf.
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NAPOLEON'S CAMPAIGNS . Violence is no proof of strength . Mr . Charles Marshall , it is your new diorama has suggested this profound observation . "We are ready to admit that you have strength : our recollection of certain forest scenery at the poor old Opera-house enables us to speak confidently to the fact . Even your unsuccessful diorama of a "Tour through Europe , " had strong points , though its failure was certainly attributable to a prevailing feebleness , very different in kind to the feebleness of the " Napoleon Campaigns . " Tho first aflhir was tame , sleepy , dull ; a monotone of mediocrity , broken hero and there by such waking moments of power as we have alluded to . 33 ufc , oh ! Mr . Marshall ! those Austrians ! Did you hear the suppressed tittering in tho stalls , as those bilious giants , with agonized features , and eyes turned up in the midst of a rapid flight over broken ground , slid smoothly across the scene ? ( B y the bye , was eight feet five , instead of five feet eight , tho low standard in the Austrian lino ?) And those Mamelukes ! Oh , Sir ; and those French soldiers , at whom forty centuries are looking , from the top 3 of tho Pyramids , and with difficulty keeping their countenance ! And * the Little Corporal himself ! Would Gomcrsal have accepted the make-up P And the generals , Augereau , Dessaix , Dumourriez , and the rest—would Cartlitch or Widdicomb have recognised their authenticity ? And tho horses—those splendid , capering thorough-brods—do you think such animals would have passed muster with either of tho renowned authorities wo have mentioned ? Those great men would have told you , Sir , as we tell you , that your melodrama is loud , coarse , flaring , violent—but not strong . So much , Mr . Marshall , for this your first essay as a great historical painter . And , en revanche , wo candidly admit that passages of great beauty occur at intervals throughout the work . There is a mysteriously impressive bit of colour ( gathering , as it sweeps onward , like a multitudinous murmur growing to an Jingry tumult of voices ) , which precedes tho struggle at the Bridge of Areola , and which , for imagination and suggOHtivouesy , might rank witli the triumphs of Beverly ; and other effects , quite as artistic and more telling , are sufliciently numerous to make tho diorama worth seeing , if for their sake only . Let no one stop away on account of anything wo have written ; or on account of being told that ho will have a lecturer inflicted on him who is nothing short of a Visitation . We might , indeed , have . said more to excite a favourable curiosity in our readers ; wo might have waid that this diorama " is calculated to sustain the high r ( vp \ itation of the artist . " But we haven't . Q .
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238 THE LEADElL [ Saturday ,
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Leader (1850-1860), March 5, 1853, page 238, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1976/page/22/
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