ngs are represented; but that permanent and
powerful expression which suits the character he has to sustain, and
never for an instant permits you to forget the circumstances, of
whatever kind, in which he is placed; and those who have seen him in any
of the greater parts on the French stage, can never forget that
unrivalled power of expressing deep grief, of which nothing in any
English actor at present on the stage can afford any idea.

At the same time it must be admitted, that Talma has arrived at that
time of life, when the hand of age has impaired, in some degree, the
vigour and expression of the human frame, and when his countenance has
lost much of that variety and play of expression which belongs to the
period of youth alone; it has lost much of the warmth and keenness of
youthful feeling, and probably might fail in expressing that openness,
and gaiety, and enthusiasm, which time has so great a tendency to
diminish. But these qualities are not often required in the parts which
Talma has to perform in the French plays; and if his countenance has
lost some of the perfections of earlier years, it has, on the other
hand, gained much from the seriousness and dignity of age. If, for
instance, he does not express so well the ardour--the hope--the triumph
of youthful love, there is yet something irresistibly affecting in the
earnestness with which he expresses that passion; something which adds
most deeply to the interest which its expression is calculated to
excite, by reminding one of the instability of human enjoyment, and of
the many misfortunes which the course of life may bring with it to
destroy the visions of inexperienced affection. We have already
mentioned, that in the expression of profound emotion and deep
suffering, the countenance of Talma is altogether admirable; and we
doubt whether there is any thing is this respect more true and perfect,
even in the performance of that great actress who has, in the present
day, united every perfection of grace, and beauty, and genuine feeling
which the stage has ever exhibited. But the countenance of Talma, in
scenes of distress, expresses not merely suffering, but if possible,
something more, which we have never seen in any other actor. He alone
possesses the power of expressing that impatience under suffering--that
restless, constant wish for relief, which produces so strong an
impression of the truth and reality of the affliction with which you are
called upon to s