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A DRAMATIC CRITIC
his loftier-reaching passion, it has the flight,
not of the storm-defying eagle, but of the
short-winged, often-resting domestic fowl.
Mr. Irving's selection of parts for perform-
ance in America affords a pretty sure in-
dication of his consciousness of his limita-
tions. But every one of the impersonations
which he has given here furnishes evi-
dence, directly and indirectly, of the truth
of my thesis. The appeal which he makes
is generally to the intellect or the artistic
sense; he goes higher only when he must,
and then he almost always fails. Louis
and Dubosc are " character parts," and are
natural and proper subjects for picturesque
treatment. But Mr. Irving does not at-
tempt to make anything more of them, and
their malevolent wickedness, which an
actor of emotional genius might use to fill
the spectator with loathing and abhorrence,
is a purely aesthetic delight to the most
sensitive observer of his interpretation.
Charles I. is an exquisite portrait, painted
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