Triumphs and wonders of the 19th century, the true mirror of a phenomenal era, a volume of original, entertaining and instructive historic and descriptive writings, showing the many and marvellous achievements which distinguish an hundred years of material, intellectual, social and moral progress .. . es arefar more comfortable and artistic, the scenery, costumes and details arebeautiful and correct. We have no Mrs. Siddons, no Kemble, no Rachel, no Talma ; but we are con-fident that the actors and actresses of to-day are like the theatre of to-day,—they have more finish, and the results, whil
Triumphs and wonders of the 19th century, the true mirror of a phenomenal era, a volume of original, entertaining and instructive historic and descriptive writings, showing the many and marvellous achievements which distinguish an hundred years of material, intellectual, social and moral progress .. . es arefar more comfortable and artistic, the scenery, costumes and details arebeautiful and correct. We have no Mrs. Siddons, no Kemble, no Rachel, no Talma ; but we are con-fident that the actors and actresses of to-day are like the theatre of to-day,—they have more finish, and the results, while they may not rise to the plane ofthe school of Shakespeare, are nearer nature than they have ever been. The school of declamation, which belonged to the plays of the past, is theseverest loss the stage of to-day has felt. The actors and actresses fail inelocution. They do not know where to put their emphasis. They seem lostwhen they appear in costume, and Shakespeare to-day has no distinguishedexponents. The English-speaking stage of the century has been adorned by such elo-quent interpreters and powerful tragedians as Edwin Forrest, Charlotte Cush-man, Edwin Booth, and Henry Irving. But this illustrious roll has beenalmost extinguished by death ; and. especially if applied to America, the. SCENE FROM SHAKESPEARES OF ROMEO AND JULIET. 214 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX CENTURY question may well be asked, where is the actor or actress who can play Ham-let, or Macbeth, or King Lear, or Shy lock as we were wont to see them ren-dered by those masters of the dramatic art, or as they should be rendered ?Salvini and Rossi have both passed away. Irving verges on retiracy. Ofthe great dramatic actresses left to the closing of the century, Mme. SarahBernhardt stands preeminent. The day of the imposing declamatory dramaseems to have lost its lustre at the sunset of the century. But the modern dramas and comedies are acted, even in the smaller parts,with admirable intelligence a
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