his vigour, his character. It was probably the collision between the two, that struck out those brilliant sparks which the world has so long been accustomed to admire. Had he wanted some quality which we deplore, he might have had another, less favourable to the development of his genius. He might have been a truckling parasite, instead of a vain, violent, and reckless man. What was headstrong passion, might have been deliberate roguery. His intemperance might have been exchanged for sober hatred; his ambition for a love of oppression; his mad extravagance for some dark and sordid vice. And here, as some extenuation for his lastmentioned fault, which has found many commentators, we will quote some observations on the subject, from a writer who loved to look charitably on human actions, and who thought that even the extravagance of actors might have some excuse, which the wealthy and the prudent had not been able to detect. "With respect to the extravagance of actors, as a traditional character, it is not to be wondered at; they live from hand to mouth; they plunge from want into luxury; they have no means of making money breed; and all professions that do not live by turning money into money, or have not a certainty of accumulating it in the end by parsimony, spend it. Uncertain of the future, they make sure of the present moment. This is not unwise. Chilled with poverty, steeped in contempt, they sometimes pass into the sunshine of fortune, and are lifted to the very pinnacle of public favour, yet even there cannot calculate on the continuance of success, but are, like the giddy sailor on the mast, ready with every blast to topple down into the fatal bowels of the deep!' Besides, if the young enthusiast who is smitten with the stage, and with the public as a mistress, were naturally a close hunks, he would become or remain a city clerk, instead of turning player. Again, with respect to the habit of convivial indulgence, an actor to be a good one must have a great spirit of enjoyment in himself, strong impulses, strong passions, and a strong sense of pleasure, for it is his business to imitate the passions and to communicate pleasure to others. A man of genius is not a machine. The neglected actor may be excused if he drinks oblivion of his disappointments: the successful one, if he quaffs the applause of the world, and enjoys the friendship of those who are the friends of the favourites of fortune, in draughts of nectar. There is no path so steep as that of fame; no labour so hard as the pursuit of excellence. The intellectual excitement inseparable from those professions which call forth all our sensibility to pleasure and pain, requires some corresponding physical excitement to support our failure, and not a little to allay the ferment of the spirits attendant on success. If there is any tendency to dissipation beyond this in the profession of a player, it is owing to the state of public opinion, which paragraphs full of censure are not calculated to reform; and players are only not so respectable as a profession as they might be, because their profession is not respected as it ought to be." One word more. We have forborne to touch upon the merits or demerits of any. living actor. Not but that we have formed our opinion regarding them. It is impossible, indeed, not to do this in some degree, after having for a long time frequented the theatres. The passion and energy of a player will force itself into our admiration: the sparkling comedy of another, the vapid monotony of a third, will have their due effect. However resolute we may be, their vices and virtues thrust themselves upon our notice. Whatever vows of indifference we may make, we must weep or laugh or slumber (as the case may be) under the influence of "the followers of Thespis." But, although we must yield in this point to the frailty of the flesh, we may yet forbear to record our opinions. Indeed, prudence and good-nature both prompt us to silence. First, we have a lurking notion, that in order to satisfy the souls of actors, (there are exceptions of course) we must administer a larger portion of honey than we can conscientiously spare. For, notwithstanding they deal in the heroic measure, and are as used to sceptres and robes of ermine as to their everyday meal, yet are they (like all others, authors themselves included) "Commanded By such poor passion as the maid that milks, And secondly, the poor denizens of the |