MESSES. FITZ-JAMES AND ALEXANDBE. 175 



highest perfection. The ventriloquist was there- 

 fore able to carry on a dialogue in which the 

 dramatis voces, as they may be called, were 

 numerous ; and when on the outside of an apart- 

 ment, he could personate a mob with its infinite 

 variety of noise and vociferation. Their influence 

 over an audience was still further extended by a 

 singular power over the muscles of the body. 

 M. Fitz-James actually succeeded in making the 

 opposite or corresponding muscles act differently 

 from each other ; and while one side of his face 

 was merry and laughing, the other was full of 

 sorrow and in tears. At one moment he was tall, 

 thin, and melancholic, and after pausing behind 

 a screen, he came out " bloated with obesity and 

 staggering with fulness." M. Alexandre pos- 

 sessed the same power over his face and figure ; 

 and so striking was the contrast of two of these 

 forms, that an excellent sculptor, Mr. Joseph, 

 has perpetuated them in marble. 



This new acquirement of the ventriloquist en- 

 abled him, in his own single person and with his 

 own single voice, to represent upon the stage a 

 dramatic composition which would have required 

 the assistance of several actors. Although only 

 one character in the piece could be seen at the 

 same time, yet they all appeared during its per- 

 formance, and the change of face and figure on 

 the part of the ventriloquist was so perfect, that 

 his personal identity could not be recognized in 

 the dramatis personce. This deception was ren- 

 dered still more complete by a particular con- 

 struction of the dresses, which enabled the per- 

 former to reappear in a new character after an 

 interval so short that the audience necessarily 

 believed that it was another person. 



