ons were true? The play was new; the part taken
by Mr X. had never been acted by anybody else; there was no basis for
comparison. Obviously there was no foundation for suggesting that from
the performance it could be seen that the actor did anything not
intended by the author. He spoke the author's text, and nothing
indicates that he introduced any "business" unsuggested by him. The
piece happens to have been printed for private circulation, so that one
can make the assertion confidently.

What means, then, could the writer have of coming to the conclusion that
the part, as acted, was any better than the part as written, or that the
actor had done more or less than carry out admirably the ideas of the
dramatist?

There are instances, of course, where a playwright does owe more to the
actor than the actor to him. In _L'Auberge des Adrets_, known in England
as _Robert Macaire_, Frederic Lemaitre put the author under an immense
debt, perhaps without earning his gratitude, by deliberately converting
a turgid, inept, hopeless melodrama into an almost immortal lucrative
burlesque. In _Our American Cousin_ Sothern worked up a minor part, that
of Dundreary, into something like the whole play, with the result that a
piece which might have died in a month lived many years.

It is well known that in certain classes of musico-dramatic pieces the
so-called authors expect the leading low comedian to find his own jokes,
or most of them, and certainly Mr Arthur Roberts and others have
contributed a bigger share of the effective dialogue than that of the
persons supposed to have written the book. In such cases the critic has
grounds for suggesting that Mr X. "made a live figure of a dummy," and
that means that "Mr X. did more for his author than his author had done
for him." The case under discussion is quite different. There was
nothing to indicate that the actor did more than carry out admirably
the very clever ideas of the author--an author, by-the-by, who happens
to be very meticulous about having his ideas carried out, and therefore
is in the habit of attending rehearsals and expressing his opinion at
them. It is regrettable that criticism should be written in this
fashion, since it causes a feeling of distrust. Probably the writer had
no desire to be unjust, or even unfair in the comparatively venial way
of doing rather less than justice to the author in his desire to do
rather more to the actor.

It may be urged, by way of an