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or have by habit insensibly lost the power of distinguishing [[deleted]] bef [[/deleted]] between true nature and these brilliant imitations. This effect is less observable here and in England, than in France and Italy, where it has sunk the art of painting into a gaudy puerility and affectation, of which we hardly know how to express our contempt. This cause has probably operated in fact less on English art, because the people are not so much attracted and habituated to the theater, as the French. But the English schools of tragedy and acting, seem to us so much more natural than the French, that the fault is not so striking there, when it exists. That it is a fatal fault, is obvious; for it is copying a caricature instead of the original. Even the best acting can never be a true transcript of nature. The character and sentiments of the drama are poetical and exaggerated. It is in that, as in painting, necessary to [[torn]] to resemble her; [[?]]

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