Mr. Beerbohm Tree, in addressing the newly established Society of
British Dramatic Art, on Monday, argued for some-
thing in England like the Theatre-Francais in France, and held that English acting, even without the drilling of a central body, is, on the whole, superior,—except in light comedy,—to French acting. Still, he thought that much could be done to teach young actors the use of their faculties, though much must always depend on the natural gifts with which they commenced. He expressed a belief that children are often very much better actors than they become at a later age, and this he ascribed to the absence of that self-conscious- ness which develops itself at a later age, and which spoils the acting, until it is completely overcome by painful and habitual struggle. But is not the art of children, such as it is, in general pure imitation, and is it no* part of that genius for imitating others which seems to be given to the young as the best means of introducing them gradually and tentatively to the various fields and aspects of practical life and sympathetic emotion ? We doubt very much whether great apparent powers of acting in childhood and early youth are at all a safe prognostic of great dramatic power in later life. But however this may be, no doubt, wherever the genius of the true actor exists, it will be all the better for regular training by ex- perienced and artistic teachers, instead of being left to the haphazard methods of which at present that training generally consists.
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