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room, tranllation is a much eafier tafk, than original compofition. 

 Many are capable of doing a German play into Englijh, of abridg- 

 ing, and fitting it for the ftage ; who are unequal to the talk, of 

 inventing a fable, and a fet of chara6lers, and arranging the inci- 

 dents of an entire play. If we fuppofe, in managers, writers, and 

 audience, a combination of bad tafte, the very eccentricities and 

 extravagance of the German Drama will be apt to fafcinate fuch 

 judges. They abound in extravagant and over-marked charaders; 

 in furious burfts of paflion, and outrageous rants ; thus are they 

 adapted to the ambition, and afiedlation, of performers, who de- 

 light in over-afling, from the fwelling Tragedian, who fplits the 

 ears of the groundlings^ to the mafter of grimace, who fets the up- 

 per s;a!lery in a roar. There is fomething too in the German 

 wildnefs and excefs, which is well fitted, to pleafe the unformed 

 tafte of the vulgar part of an audience (though, at prefent, per- 

 haps, the humbleft part of an audience is not the moft vulgar in 

 its tafte) with fomething monftrous and glaring. The truth of 

 colouring, and mcdefty of nature, are hard to hit, and difficult to 

 reprefent. They require a corred tafte, and formed judgment, to 

 feel them properly- Extravagance and excefs are more eafy, in the 

 reprefentation, and more apt to draw repeated plaudits, from an^ 

 injudicious audience, by the force of ranting fcenes, and bravura 

 fpeeches. 



AfTER all, it may not be chimerical to fuppofe, that the gene- 

 ral reception of the German writings, the univerfal prevalence of 



the 



