The standard
of demeanour being thus unsettled, a Turk, a Moor, an Indian, or
inhabitant of my country whose customs and dress are widely different
from ours, may, in his sentiments, possess all the dignity of the
human heart, and be inspired by the noblest passion that animates
the soul, and yet excite the laughter rather than the respect of
an European spectator.
"When I first beheld your famous Parisian stage heroine in one
of her principal parts, her attitudes seemed so violent, and she
tossed her arms around with such extravagance, that she put me in
mind of a windmill under the agitation of a hard gale; while her
voice and features exhibited the lively representation of an English
scold. The action of your favourite male performer was, in my
opinion, equally unnatural: he appeared with the affected airs of
a dancing-master; at the most pathetic junctures of his fate he
lifted up his hands above his head, like a tumbler going to vault,
and spoke as if his throat had been obstructed by a hair-brush:
yet, when I compared their manners with those of the people before
whom they performed, and made allowance for that exaggeration
which obtains on all theatres, I was insensibly reconciled to their
method of performance, and I could distinguish abundance of merit
beneath that oddity of appearance.
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