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A DRAMATIC CRITIC
bad in other and perhaps more important
ways than those already indicated : his
voice possesses very little resonance, and
almost no richness of tone j it is high-
pitched and has a narrow range ; he seems
absolutely incapable of sustained power
and variety in speech, and the inevitable
consequence is that his declamation, es-
pecially of long passages, is exceptionally
weak and ineffectual. The trouble with the
artist here lies in the want of something
more important than a delicate brush;
he has no proper assortment of colors to
choose from, — little more, indeed, than
plain black and white, — and Mr. Irving's
work under these conditions, when he aims
at very strong effects, seems like the
attempt of a painter in monochrome to
reproduce the complicated beauty of a
sublime scene in nature.
That the most conspicuous English-
speaking actor of the day should be thus
poorly equipped for his work may well be
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