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    bear upon many subjects and objects . The modulation of the human voice in perfect speech , when the various powers of oratory are brought into play , is a pleasure of the most exalted and intellectual kind . And the act of gazing on beautiful human forms , singly and in groups , of marking the play of intellectual features , and studying symmetric attitude , and graceful movements , amidst

    the specimens of human art in the form of fine artificial scenery , is also an exalted kind of pleasure infinitely more so than witnessing the debates of the ' Collective Wisdom of the Nation' at present they are carried on . And what are the qualities requisite in a first-rate actor ? I mean an actor as near perfection as human nature can approach ; an actor such as actors should be and not as they have been . He must possess more , and higher

    qualities , both of body and mind , than are required by any other professor whatever . He has to represent the external signs of all qualities peculiar to the nature and art of man , and unless he thoroughly comprehends them he cannot embody them ; he can but mimic them as one actor may mimic the action of another . An actor , in the proper signification of the word , is not an imitator , but emphatically a doer . To act , to do , and to perform , ' say the

    grammar books , and all the words mean originality , not imitation . A perfect actor then should possess a perfect form , and a ' face divine , ' all whose features are lit up by the strong spirit within . His eyes should be like live coals glistening in intellectual brilliancy deep set beneath a lofty and expanded brow of marble , whose outward form may indicate the brain within . His lips and

    all the organs of voice should be so formed , as to modulate his accents to every variety of tone , as clear in the slightest whisper , as in the deepest bass , every syllable sharp and defined , giving evidence that the speaker ' s mind is perfectly versed in the anatomy of words—that he knows them of his own knowledge , and has not sorted them out from the alms-basket , ' to use for the nonce , after

    the listened-to speech of others . Every sound should speak as if it were his own sound , framed by his own judgment acting upon his own exquisite sense of hearing , totally distinct from the voices of those who learn speech by rote , without being conscious of any correctness save that it is like the speech of others with whom they have associated . His step should be like the tread of an Apollo ,

    firm and graceful ; and he should be perfect in all those gymnastic exercises which give to the mind a perfect control over the motions of the body . He should be versed in the use of all weapons , from the bare knife of the naked savage , up to the sword and buckler of the mailed champion . His muscular arm should play

    the light foil with graceful quickness , and speed a feathered shaft with a true aim , whirl a broad blade like the rapid sweep of a windmill arm , and poise a heavy rifle with a grip of iron , immovable as the steeled block of an anchor-smith . The stamp of his foot should be like the * bidding of a monarch '—not as monarchs

    Untitled Article

    On Theatrical Reform . 621

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1833, page 621, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2622/page/37/