Page:Armatafragment00ersk.djvu/337

 ¬but there was the same manifest imperfection as in our theatres, which are much too large for the enjoyment of exquisite acting. ¬It is not sufficient that we can see distinctly the persons of our actors, or hear their voices, however clearly, when raised to their ordinary pitch — we ought to be near enough to mark the effect of the passions, even in the most fu- gitive changes of expression, which cannot pos- sibly be within the reach of the bulk of a Lon- don audience. — If this is once felt by the most accomplished actor, if he cannot but observe that he falls short in extending the deli- cate touches of his art throughout so wide a circle, he inevitably acquires the habit of mark- ing them more strikingly than Nature dictates, which totally destroys their effect — But this im- perfection, when vision only becomes indistinct from distance, is much more destructive of fine acting if the most inxcard voice of the actor falls short of reaching the ear. — Almost all the finest parts of tragedy or comedy must be finished in -tones ¬