efinition
and a Defense of Simulation.

Richard Mansfield's paper in the May _Atlantic_, "Man and the Actor," is a
defense of the stage on the ground that all mankind are actors. He takes
as his text the lines of Shakespeare:

I hold the world but as the world, Gratiano,
A stage where every man must play a part.

Great men, says Mr. Mansfield, owe their preeminence largely to their
histrionic ability. In other words, theatrical behavior is, in man, not a
weakness, but a sign of strength--not something to be avoided, but
something to be cultivated.

The stage cannot be held in contempt by mankind; because all
mankind is acting, and every human being is playing a part.
The better a man plays his part, the better he succeeds. The
more a man knows of the art of acting, the greater the man;
for, from the king on his throne to the beggar in the
street, every man is acting. There is no greater comedian or
tragedian in the world than a great king.

The knowledge of the art of acting is indispensable to a
knowledge of mankind, and when you are able to pierce the
disguise in which every man arrays himself, or to read the
character which every man assumes, you achieve an intimate
knowledge of your fellow men, and you are able to cope with
the man, either as he is or as he pretends to be.

It was necessary for Shakespeare to be an actor in order to
know men. Without his knowledge of the stage Shakespeare
could never have been the reader of men that he was. And yet
we are asked, "Is the stage worth while?"

The Histrionic Napoleon.

Napoleon and Alexander were both great actors--Napoleon
perhaps the greatest actor the world has ever seen. Whether
on the bridge of Lodi or in his camp at Tilsit; whether
addressing his soldiers in the plains of Egypt; whether
throwing open his old gray coat and saying, "Children, will
you fire on your general?" whether bidding farewell to them
at Fontainebleau; whether standing on the deck of the
Bellerophon or on the rocks of St. Helena--he was always an
actor.

Napoleon had studied the art of acting, and he knew its
value. If the power of the eye, the power of the voice, the
power of that all-commanding gesture of the hand, failed him
when he faced the regiment of veterans on his return from
Elba, he was lost.

But he had proved and compelled