e result
of careful avoidance of everything that is unnatural. There is no
_unnecessary_ exertion put forth, no palpable straining after effect: he
strives to hold the mirror up to Nature, not Art, and in Nature there is
much repose between the tempests. Old players say that the most
difficult thing to teach a tyro is to stand still, and some actors never
learn it.

Careful attention to costume is another trait exhibited by Mr. Sothern.
He might easily make his first appearance as David Garrick in the
wealthy merchant's house in ordinary walking-dress, which could be
readily retained when he returns to the dinner-party to which he causes
himself to be invited. Instead of that, he appears in the full
riding-dress of the period--boots, spurs, whip, overcoat and all. This
is rapidly changed in time for the dinner-scene for a full-dress suit,
complete in every point--powdered hair, white silk stockings, and a
little _brette_, or walking rapier, peeping out from under the coat
skirt, not slung in a belt as heavier swords, but supported by light
steel chains fastened to a _chatelaine_, which slips behind the
waistband and can be taken off in a moment. In the last scene, where he
goes out to fight the duel, his dress is changed again, and dark silk
stockings are donned as more appropriate.

The last point we shall mention here about Mr. Sothern is his scrupulous
attention to the minor business of the stage: when he is not speaking
himself, his looks act. It is said of Macready that he began to be
Cardinal Richelieu at three o'clock in the afternoon, and that it was
dangerous to speak to him after that time. When Mr. Sothern plays Lord
Dundreary, if he is addressed on any subject during the progress of the
play, he answers in his Dundreary drawl, so as not to lose his
personality for a minute. The letter from his brother "Tham" he has
written out and reads; not that he does not know every word by heart,
for he must have read it a hundred times, but because he wants to _turn
over_ at the proper place. We all know what he has made of that part. A
play in which there is absolutely nothing of a plot, which would fall
dead from the hands of an inferior actor, becomes with Mr. Sothern as
popular as _Rip van Winkle_ is with Jefferson to play the sleepy hero.
It is to be observed that the three essentials for good acting just
mentioned--repose of manner, strict attention to dress, and strict
attention to minor details of stage-busine