I cannot tell why the ancients made such a
fuss about it; perhaps because half of them never saw it, and took its
character from hearsay; the other half, like mankind every where,
stupidly admiring what is said to be admirable. It is like a crack in
a great wall, at the bottom of which is a river, sometimes inundated,
sometimes dry; the passage narrow, the sides craggy, bare, lofty and
perpendicular; its whole length not above a mile."
* * * * *
THEATRES.
We find the following sensible observations in a recent work:--
"In the reigns of Elizabeth and James, the golden age of the English
drama, London was not a tenth part of its present sire, and it
contained seventeen theatres. At present (1808) there are but two;
more would succeed, and indeed more are wanted; but these have
obtained exclusive privileges. Old people say the acting was better in
their younger days, because there were more schools for actors; and
the theatres being smaller, the natural voice could be heard, and the
natural expression of the features seen, and therefore rant and
distortion were unnecessary. They, however, who remember no other
generation of actors than the present, will not be persuaded that
there has ever been one more perfect. Be this as it may, all are
agreed that the drama itself has woefully degenerated, though it is
the only species of literary labour which is well paid; they are
agreed also as to the cause of this degeneracy, attributing it to the
prodigious size of the theatres; the finer tones of passion cannot be
discriminated, nor the finer movements of the countenance perceived
from the front, hardly from the middle of the house.
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