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Untitled Article
meekness 6 f & mastiflTs growl , said constable , at the same instant gripping the collar of the crier , who , with his left hand comforting his sinister eye > stood two benches below me , — Come out . 6 Why it was that chap , yander—' twarn ' t my fault : ee ull ' ed a big gewzbree at me , un nz ot me a gob o * the hoy , and welly blinded me . * ( This is a sample of the English I was set to learn , in
obliteration of my native totigue , vide chap , i . ) Remonstrance was useless ; the constable was obdurate , energetic in his office ; and upwards , up the hill of legs arid paunches , arms and heads , remorseless of the discomfiture of many a shawl , the damage of sundry white cottons , and the ' rucking' of countless or uncounted * geawnds , * he dragged the offended offender , he ousted the man of the wounded optic . Quiet once more : and presently all eyes
and heads were pointed as before the ' row began . ' Hermione and Orestes , by a clapping of hands , were informed that they might now proceed . I was throughout so earnest in my attention , so fixed in my gaze , and took impressions of all I saw and heard ^ so acutely and deeply , that I am sure I could have marshalled every step of foot , position of body , and motion of arm . I could
have coursed over every tone of voice which I heard that night , for years afterwards . I felt everything , that is , I understood everything , except that which was most uproariously applauded , that which was clapped and ' bravoed * by the audience most vehemently—the mad scene . Young and ignorant as I was , I felt sorry that it was done . I scarcely know how to describe what I thought of it , but the best I can say is , it seemed to be the action and manner of a man who , tired of a task in which it was
necessary to assume an appearance of grave earnestness against the grain , was resolved to put an end to the matter by making bombastic fun of it . I saw the same character performed by Booth , at Charleston , in South Carolina , in 1821 , * and recollected every * Booth waB an extraordinary man , a truly great actor , let others say what they will . He was no man ' s second . Neither was * he a copyist , as he was denounced for
being . Booth could not' imitate . ' Whoever talks of models , or of schools in acting , or adopts the principle of their need or utility , I voluntarily pronounce to be altogether ignorant of the spirit of dramatic illustration . In its operation , acting makes no reference to memory : the instaut memory is taxed , the spirit flies . Kind-hearted reader , ( for I begin to find out who are my readers , and I may so , safely , address them , ) if you will not take this from me , pray accept it from Pope :
' When memory prevails , The solid force of understanding fails / A repetition of reflections js mere mimicry . Booth ' * acting was a pervasion of mind in the entirety of corooreal functions : it was thought dashing its influence to every nerve , and nerve sending back to the thought , an increased tenacity . His acting was imagination of the highest order , intensely physicalized . Hear Pope again : ' When beams of warm imagination play , The memory ' s soft figures melt away . '
Booth ' s failing , I fear , was a deficiency of moral strength : ho could not battle with and overcome the assaults of mortification and disappointment : they bore too hard upon his nature : h © had hot the elasticity and rebound which are necessary in that combat . p . v
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452 My first Play .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1833, page 482, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2618/page/42/
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