CHAP. XVI.

SENTIMENTS:

EVE

VERY thought prompted by paffion, is termed a fentiment *. To have a general notion of the different paffions, will not alone enable an artist to make a juft representation of any paffion he ought, over and above, to know the various appearances of the fame paffion in different perfons. Paffions receive a tincture from every peculiarity of character; and for that reason it rarely happens, that à paffion, in the different circumftances of feeling, of fentiment, and of expreffion, is precifely the fame in any two perfons. Hence the following rule concerning dramatic and epic compofitions. That a paffion be adjufted to the character, the fentiments to the paffion, and the language to the fentiments. If nature be not faithfully copied in each of thefe, a defect in execution is perceived: there may appear fome resemblance; but the picture, upon the whole, will be infipid, through want of grace and delicacy. A painter, in order to reprefent the various attitudes of the body, ought to be intimately acquainted with Ff2

muscular

* See Appendix, § 32.

mufcular motion: no lefs intimately acquainted with emotions and characters ought a writer to be, in order to reprefent the various attitudes of the mind. A general notion of the paffions, in their groffer differences of ftrong and weak, elevated and humble, fevere and gay, is far from being fufficient: pictures formed fo fuperficially have little resemblance, and no expreffion; yet it will appear by and by, that in many inftances our artists are deficient even in that fuperficial knowledge.

In handling the prefent fubject, it would be endless to trace even the ordinary paffions through their nice and minute differences. Mine shall be an humbler tafk; which is, to felect from the best writers inftances of faulty fentiments, after paving the way by fome general obfervations.

To talk in the language of mufic, each paffion hath a certain tone, to which every fentiment proceeding from it ought to be tuned with the greateft accuracy which is no easy work, especially where fuch harmony ought to be fupported during the course of a long theatrical reprefentation. In order to reach fuch delicacy of execution, it is neceffary that a writer affume the precife character and paffion of the perfonage reprefented; which requires an uncommon genius. But it is the only difficulty; for the writer, who, annihilating himfelf, can thus become another person, need be in no pain about the fentiments that belong to the affumed

fumed character: thefe will flow without the leaft ftudy, or even preconception; and will frequently be as delightfully new to himself as to his reader. But if a lively picture even of a fingle emotion require an effort of genius, how much greater the effort to compofe a paffionate dialogue with as many different tones of paffion as there are speakers? With what ductility of feeling must that writer be endowed, who approaches perfection in fuch a work; when it is neceffary to affume different and even oppofite characters and paffions, in the quickest fucceffion? Yet this work, difficult as it is, yields to that of compofing a dialogue in genteel comedy, exhibiting characters without paffion. The reason is, that the different tones of character are more delicate and lefs in fight, than thofe of paffion; and, accordingly, many writers, who have no genius for drawing characters, make a fhift to reprefent, tolerably well, an ordinary paffion in its fimple movements. . But of all works of this kind, what is truly the most difficult, is a characteristical dialogue upon any philofophical fubject: to interweave characters with reafoning, by fuiting to the character of each speaker, a peculiarity not only of thought, but of expreffion, requires the perfection of genius, tafte, and judgment.

How nice dialogue-writing is, will be evident, even without reasoning, from the miserable compofitions of that kind found without number in

all languages. The art of mimicking any fingularity in gefture or in voice, is a rare talent, though directed by fight and hearing, the acuteft and moft lively of our external fenfes: how much more rare muft the talent be, of imitating characters and internal emotions, tracing all their different tints, and representing them in a lively manner by natural fentiments properly expreffed ? The truth is, fuch execution is too delicate for an ordinary genius; and for that reason, the bulk of writers, inftead of expreffing a paffion as one does who feels it, content themselves with defcribing it in the language of a spectator. To awake paffion by an internal effort merely, without any external caufe, requires great fenfibility: and yet that operation is neceffary, no lefs to the writer than to the actor; because none but those who actually feel a paffion, can reprefent it to the life. The writer's part is the more complicated: he muft add compofition to paffion; and muft, in the quickeft fucceffion, adopt every different character. But a very humble flight of imagination, may ferve to convert a writer into a fpectator; fo as to figure, in fome obfcure manner, an action as paffing in his fight and hearing. In that figured fituation, being led naturally to write like a spectator, he entertains his readers with his own reflections, with cool defcription, and florid declamation; instead of making them eye-witneffes, as it were, to a real event,

and

and to every movement of genuine paffion *. Thus moft of our plays appear to be caft in the fame mould; perfonages without character, the mere outlines of paffion, a tiresome monotony, and a pompous declamatory ftyle †.

This defcriptive manner of reprefenting paffion, is a very cold entertainment: our sympathy is not raised by description; we must first be lulled into a dream of reality, and every thing must appear as paffing in our fight . Unhappy is the player of genius who acts a capital part in what may be termed a descriptive tragedy; after affuming the very paffion that is

Ff4

to

*In the Eneid, the hero is made to describe himself in the following words: Sum pius Æneas, fama fuper athera notus. Virgil could never have been guilty of an impropriety fo grofs, had he affumed the perfonage of his hero, instead of uttering the sentiments of a spectator. ' Nor would Xenophon have made the following speech for Cyrus the younger, to his Grecian auxiliaries, whom he was leading against his brother Artaxerxes: "I have "chofen you, O Greeks! my auxiliaries, not to enlarge

my army, for I have Barbarians without number; "but because you surpass all the Barbarians in valour "and military difcipline." This fentiment is Xenophon's; for furely Cyrus did not reckon his countrymen Barbarians.

par

+"Chez Racine tout eft fentiment; il a fu faire "ler chacun pour foi, et c'eft en cela qu'il eft vraiment "unique parmi les auteurs dramatiques de fa nation.”

See Chap. 2. Part 1. fect. 7.

Rouleau.