If his eyes are piercing and intelligent, perhaps his features
are stiff and unmanageable. His shoulders may be broad; and, if not,
it is a thousand to one but he stoops; and if he stoops, and does not
turn out his toes, it is impossible he can understand his author. If
he is a scholar and a critic, and repeats a line as you never heard it
repeated before, he must be a word-catcher. If his manner is graceful,
he has studied dancing too much; but if his manner is not graceful, be
sure to tell him he must go to the dancing-school. If you can discover
no fault, you must prove how much better Garrick, Powel, Holland, or
Barry, performed the character; and as nine-tenths of your readers
cannot remember those performers, you may easily persuade them that
the object of your censure is a blockhead. If he has the art of rapid
elocution, tell him he speaks too fast; and if he speaks slowly, and
with discrimination, say that he only waits to catch applause. If his
action is graceful, tell him he makes too much use of his arms and
hands; and if his action is moderate, persuade the public that his
arms are tied behind him. By these hints you will have _done him_
completely on one side, and, if you change your opinion, and praise
him, he will be done on the other.--_Old Magazine_.
* * * * *
VALE OF TEMPE.
Dr. Clarke says, "The boasted Vale of Tempe, is a defile; it is
something like Matlock, but wilder; more savage than Salvator Rosa,
and with nothing of Claude.
Pages:
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58