s ought
to regulate their conduct to one another. They applaud them only for
their adaptation to the situation of the fictitious personages; whereas
in England they are applauded, for speaking home to the business and
bosoms of the audience.

The conduct and style of the French tragedies, in particular, appear to
be very characteristic of a nation among whom noble and virtuous
feelings are no sooner experienced than they are proclaimed to the
world; and are there valued, rather for the selfish pleasure they
produce, in the mind, than for their influence on conduct. The French
will not admit, in their tragedies, the representation of all the
variety of character and situation that can throw an air of truth and
reality over dramatic fiction; they can admire such incidents and
characters only, as accord with the sentiments and emotions which it is
the peculiar province of tragedy to excite. They are not satisfied with
the indication, in a few energetic words,--valuable only as an index to
the state of the mind, and an earnest of the actions of the speaker,--of
feelings too strong to find vent at the moment, in words capable of
fully expressing them; they must have the full developement, the long
detailed exposition of all the thoughts which crowd into the mind of the
actor or sufferer, expanded, as it were, to prolong the enjoyment of
those who are to sympathise with them, and expressed in select and
appropriate terms, with the pomp and stateliness of heroic verse. An
English tragedy is valued as a representation of life and character; a
French tragedy as a display of eloquence and feeling: and the reason is,
that in France eloquence and feeling are valued for their own sake, and
in England they are valued for the sake of the corresponding character
and conduct.

It is perhaps one of the strongest arguments in favour of the general
plan of the English drama, and one of the best proofs that dramatic
poetry ought to be judged by very different principles from those by
which other kinds of poetry are criticised, that one of the principal
merits of the French actors consists in hiding the chief peculiarities
of their own dramatic school. The personages in a French tragedy are
represented by the authors as it were a degree above human nature; but
the actors study to present themselves before the audience as simple men
and women: the speeches are generally such as appear to be delivered by
persons who are superior to the overw