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In tire Preface ? to a recently ptiblisheH dramatic wbrfe ^ tlie following words occur : — " I trust I may be permitted to . observe in these inauspicious . tinges , that * Cosmo de' Medici' is constructed for stage representation ; but requiring , of course , to be hewn down , to a considerable extent . Action vividly addressed to sensation—which everybody understandsis all , I believe , that at present is requisite for the English stage . "Pref . p . 7 .
1 - ¦ i r It may fairly , be assumed , we think , that the meaning of the foregoing passage—apart from the work itself , which neecls so much " hewing down" in order to be suited to the present condition of the English stage—is sufficiently clear to every understanding ? The " review" of the work in the Literary Gazette of March 25 th . thus commences : —
" In this drama considerable powers are displayed ; the author aiming not so much , however , at poetry and imagination , as at i action vividly addressed to sensation , ' which he considers to be all ' that at present is requisite for the English stage / It must be confessed that this is nearly the truth ; but the consequence is , that it links the dramatist to an inferior standard . He does not write for the highest
capabilities of the stage , but for the stage as lowered by melo-drama and show . Effects are his ambition ; effects which at best are but secondary adjuncts to dramatic excellence , and which , if solely relied on , form only a succession of striking tricks . Where , in the mean time , are the essence and soul of high-stoled tragedy ? Where is the muse , the neglected and forgotten Melpomene ? The former are in tableaux , and the latter lies with the dead bards of elder times . "
Thus , by a literary manoeuvre , more ingenious than honest , the very sarcasm upon the grossness of mere action , spectacle , and tableaux , is turned back upon the enunciator , as though he had been their advocate both in theory and practice ! This is an unhandsome trick enough . It might possibly be conjectured to result from oversight , and the too hasty manner in which Tom Thumb is in the habit of parting with the books sent him for review ; but another sample of these " literary" tricks obliges us to believe him influenced by malice prepense ;—
-" Yet , though we make these remarks on Mr Home ' s abstract principle , we are not disposed to deny that he frequently evinces much force in his style and dialogue , blemished by occasional incongruities , and even rendered ludicrous by ill-timed attempts at lofty language . Thus , Cosmo speaks of his son Garcia in a manner which reminds us of Tom Thumb . "
tn proof of this , the " critic" quotes a passage with the name of i Cosmo' prefixed at full lengtn , which Cosmo never uttered . The lines certainly occur in the drama ; but they proceed from the mouth of Cornelio , who , though not exactl y a comic cBarafcter , id described as being " a rfcn-faricied fool . It ik by such
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Note on We lAterixry Gaxette . - § ll
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 1, 1837, page 251, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1830/page/61/
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