106 On Dramatic Reprefentation. 
of emotion. ‘After a pathetic fpeech in a play, if 
the aor immediately turns his eyes on the audience, 
or bows to the boxes, we feel the effect to be 
{poiled; why? becaufe it is plain he is not the man 
he before appeared to be; for it is impoffible that 
poignant forrow fhould be immediately fucceeded 
by indifference. ‘Thus if a perfon were to afk our 
charity with a lamentable tale of woe, and fuitable 
expreffion of countenance, -and we fhould imme- 
diately afterwards detect him fmiling or nodding toa 
companion, the firft impreffion of pity would be loft in. 
a conviction of fraud. A ludicrous incident on the 
ftage interrupts the flow of tears in the deepeft 
tragedy, and fills the houfe with general laughter. 
It’ is juft the fame in real life. At the funeral of 
a dear friend, at the death ofa martyr, circumftances 
may occur, which not only divert the attention, 
but even provoke a fmile. But fuch diftractions in 
_ the real fcene are fhort, and the true ftate of things 
ynfhes again on the mind. In imitative reprefen- 
tations, on the contrary, they may be fo forcible 
and frequent, as entirely to deftroy the effet 
intended to be produced. 
Incongtuities in dramatic fpectacles may be of 
various kinds. They may arife from the characters, 
the diction, or the fable. ‘Thofe which proceed 
from the violation of what are termed the unities of 
time and place are, perhaps, the leaft injurious of 
any; for we find by experience, that the mind 
~ poffeffes the faculty of accommodating itfelf, with 
the 
