TALMA ON THE ACTOR'S ART 91 



Accent, inflections, action, attitudes, looks, all were reproduced 

 at every representation with the same exactness, the same vigour 

 and if there was any difference between one representation and 

 another, it was always in favour of the last. 



Spontaneity is an admirable gift, but you cannot be spontaneous 

 a second time. Spontaneous movements are right and necessary 

 at the moment of creation, but are wholly out of place before an 

 audience. 



Talma liked good scenery and correct dresses, but one feels 

 that if he were alive now, he might say, ' Faut de la vertu, pas 

 trop n'en faut.' His remarks on truth and nature are true and 

 natural. He points out, taught by the scenes he had witnessed 

 during the Reign of Terror, that l the man of the world and the 

 man of the people, so opposite in their language, frequently 

 express the great agitations of the mind in the same way,' and 

 that ' the great movements of the soul elevate man to an 

 ideal nature in whatever rank fate may have placed him.' 

 While, however, he recommends the observation of passion in 

 others, it is clear that he never condescended to mimicry. Some 

 talent for mimicry is very common among actors, and is indeed 

 a useful accomplishment, especially in the lower walks of the 

 profession ; but no man can ever hope to play Coriolanus by 

 mimicking some statesman. 



Talma's chief observations were made upon himself. He 

 attended to his own tones, his own face, when in real grief; he 

 is half ashamed and half proud of having done so. We imagine 

 that all artists are alike on this point, and that in this fact lies 

 a certain compensation for the extra keenness of their feelings. 

 They suffer more than other men, and get more good from 

 suffering. Talma observed that an emotion truly expressed 

 moved an audience which did not understand the words. Most 

 people would attribute this to gesture ; but he, rightly as we 

 think, considered the effect as due to the voice, and as an instance 

 he speaks of Miss O'Neil moving Frenchmen who did not 

 understand her to tears. The point is a curious one, for we have 

 observed that a foreigner can judge artistic truth in acting with 

 fair success when he is wholly incapable of appreciating any 

 little niceties of accent or elocution. Thus too we allow 

 foreigners to act on our stage who cannot speak one word so as 



