ACCOUNT of the GERMAN THEATRE. 159 



we mould find in thofe German dramas, a difregard for the re- 

 gularities and the decorum of the ftage, which is considered as 

 marking a very rude ftate of the dramatic art. Such difregard, 

 in effect, fome of thofe dramas exhibit in a remarkable degree. 

 The fcene is fullied with murder, and disfigured with madnefs, 

 as often as that of the ancient Engliih tragedy. And in one 

 of the plays of this collection, in point of tendernefs and 

 paflion, a performance of very high merit, Agnes Bernau, 

 the heroine of the piece, is executed on the ftage in a manner 

 as repugnant to the delicacy or dignity of theatrical fituation 

 as can well be imagined, to wit, by being drowned ; and one 

 of the executioners is exhibited pufhing her down into the wa- 

 ter when fhe attempts to fave herfelf. 



This difregard of rule, and this licence of the fcene, are attend- 

 ed with many unfavourable, and yet perhaps with fome fortunate 

 effects. The rules of found and liberal criticifm certainly pro- 

 duce, in the hand's of great ability and genius, the mod exqui- 

 fite and delightful > performances. Yet there is a certain reach 

 of genius, which they may reftrain from exertions that might 

 fometimes accomplifh very valuable productions. There are 

 moments of peculiar warmth of imagination and felicity of 

 language, which, in the courfe of a work where fancy is in- 

 dulged beyond the bounds of rigid critical rule, a writer may 

 experience above the level of his ordinary powers. Without 

 an attention to the critical regulations of the drama, Voltaire 

 would not have written fuch admirable tragedies 5 but, from 

 the reftraints which the neceflity of that attention impofes on 

 the theatre of France, that theatre is loaded with thofe thoufand 

 infipid plays which every year at Paris are exhibited and for- 

 gotten. The monotony of the modern French drama may 

 fairly enough be imputed to that nicety and faftidioufnefs of a 

 French audience, which will not fufFer any irregularity, though 

 fanctioned by nature, or dignified by genius. I mean not by 

 this to plead for any indulgence to a licence their ftage has 



lately 



