"We could not, in Miss Anderson's rendition of the balcony scene, help
feeling in the tones of her voice, an almost stern foreboding of their
saddening fates--a foreboding stranger than that which falls as a shadow
to all ecstatic youthful hope and joy. Other faults--as evident,
undoubtedly, to her and to her advisers, as to us--are for the most part
superficial, and will disappear in a little further experience. A first
appearance, coupled with so much merit and youth, may well excuse many
things.
"A lack of true interpretation we can never excuse. We give mediocrity
fair common-place words, generally of commendation unaccompanied by
censure. But when we come to deal with a divine inspiration, our words
must have their full meaning.
"We do not here want mere commendatory phrases, whose stereotyped faces
appear again and again. We want just appreciation, just censure. Thus our
criticism is not to be considered unkind. Nay, we not only owe it to the
truth and to ourselves in Miss Anderson's case, to state the existence of
faults and crudities in her acting, but we owe it to her, for it is the
greatest kindness, and yet we do not speak harshly and are glad to admit
that most of her faults--such for instance as frequently casting up the
eyes--are not only slight in themselves, but enhanced if not caused by the
timidity natural on such an occasion.
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