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HENRY IRVING
movement of the hands in the division of
booty, the kick and sprawl of the legs in
the recklessness of drunken joy, are vivid
tints in a picture of magnificently com-
plete ruffianism. The personation of the
king, in Mr. Wills's tragedy of Charles
I., also offers many fine illustrations of the
same artistic quality in Mr. Irving, and I
regret that I have no more space than will
suffice for a mention of its melancholy
beauty, its refinement, and the exquisite
gentleness of manner which waits upon its
regality of soul.
But the principal source of Mr. Irving's
professional power and success lies in the
character and quality of his intellect. Many
of our native players, both of tragedy and
comedy, are persons of decided mental
force; but Mr. Irving appears to me to
demonstrate by his performances his right
to the first place in the scale of pure in-
telligence, among all the actors of every
nationality whom I have seen, Mr. Edwin
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