e. Add to all which,
that the writer of a novel should have had some _experience_ in the
realities of life, a certain empirical knowledge of the manner in which
the passions develop themselves in men and women. The high ideal forms
of good and evil he may learn from his own heart; but there is in actual
life, so to speak, a vulgar monstrosity which must be seen to be
credited. I can figure to myself the writer of a drama musing out his
subject in solitude, whether the solitude of the seashore or of a garret
in London; but the successful novelist must have mingled with the world,
and should know whatever the club, the drawing-room, and, above all, the
boudoir can reveal to him.

Of course it is understood between us, that in speaking of the drama we
make no reference to the stage. Indeed, you can hardly contemplate
writing for the stage, as there is no stage to write for. We speak of
the drama solely as a form of composition, presented, like any other, to
the reader. I have heard the opinion expressed that the drama, viewed as
a composition designed only to be read, is destined to be entirely
superseded by the novel, which admits of so great a variety of material
being worked into its structure, and affords an unrivalled scope for the
development both of story and of character. To me it seems that the
drama, especially in its more classic form, apart from its application
to the stage, has a vitality of its own, and will stand its ground in
literature, let the novel advance as it may.

All the passions of man represent themselves in his speech, the great
prerogative of the human being; almost every thing he does is transacted
through the medium of speech, or accompanied by it; even in solitude his
thoughts are thrown into words, which are frequently uttered aloud, and
the soliloquy is wellnigh as natural as the dialogue. Give, therefore, a
fair representation of the speech of men throughout every great
transaction, and you give the best and truest representations of their
actions and their passions, and this in the briefest form possible. You
have all that is essential to the most faithful portrait, without the
distraction of detail and circumstance. With a reader of the drama the
eye is little exercised; he seems to be brought into immediate contact
with the minds of those imaginary persons who are rather thinking and
feeling, than acting before him. To this select representation of
humanity is added the charm of verse,