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TOC
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very soon, the same rage for novelty,
which has made them fly with such
rapidity from one stile of composi-
tion to another, often changing from a
better to a worse, will drive them to seek
amusement from the stage, without music.
And in that case, when they apply all
their powers to the sock and buskin, and
the writer and actor are obliged to make
use of every resource with which the na-
tional language and genius abound; they
will probable surpass the rest of Europe
in the dramatic, as well as in other arts.
However, before this can happen, much
must be done towards refining the na-
tional taste, which is at present deprav-
ed by farce, buffoonery, and song. The
inattention, noise, and indecorum of the
audience too, are quite barbarous and
intolerable. The silence which reigns
in the theatres of London and Paris,
during representation, is encouraging
to the actor, as well as desirable to the
hearer of judgment and feeling. In Italy
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