——Cut the figures of the marshall’d hosts,
Described the motions, and explain’d the use
Of the deep column, and the lengthened line,
The square, the crescent, and the phalanx firm,
Master Payne cut those figures, and described the square and the crescent with his hands—a great error! A better lesson cannot be offered to a young actor on this subject than may be found in the novel of Peregrine Pickle, in which doctor Smollet ridicules Quin the player for acting narrative in Zanga.
Master Payne would find it his interest to avoid as much as may be, long declamatory speeches, till his organs are enlarged and confirmed. But in those parts in which Douglas discloses his lofty spirit, and no less in all the pathetic parts, he far exceeded expectation, and deserved all the applause he received.
Oh, tell me who and where’s my mother!
Oppressed by a base world, perhaps she bends
Beneath the weight of other ills than grief,
And, desolate, implores of Heaven the aid