Observations on the Greek and Roman classics. In a [s]eries of letters to a young nobleman. Now published for the use of gentlemen at the university, ... To which are added, ... 1753
Hill, John, M.D., calling himself Sir John Hill
8 7 * 8 7 "SS ö <= | rr_W Grew and ROA Classics. 207 tween the vu 260 W ee ee 1. | 0.2043 Di HO 983. 5; £45 ; OUT v ieee 4 hou, my. on a nobſer ſoundation than either the praindeur of Eſelylus's expteſſion, of the ſoftneſs and ac- curacy of that of Sophoclos. Euripides abounds in the nobleſt morality-of all the antient Poets; none has delivered ſo many leſſons of this ind, nor any of them ſo happily. Our Shakefpets bab been cenſured for drawing women, in general, bad; but he has ſome amiable, and ſome great characters among them: ” Euripides dtſtrves All the cenſure, and much - mote than all that has been paſſed on the Hugliſt Peet, for his are al- moſt all bad, and many of them infamouſly To. Sophocles has been more favourable to the Tex than Euripides in his Plays, but he was not at 2 ſo in his ws e ſentiments. His anſwer to n How ie happened: that he had drew the wogen all good, and Euripides all bad ? had more fevetity than all Euripides had done in thoſe characters; it is, ſaid he, becauſe 1 draws them as they are; 1 draw. them as they ougkt to be- Sorv ates did not eſcape toms rallying on this ſcore. © He was not ford of the: Tragic Poets in gen eval but whenever Luripides called upon him he was preſent at the theatre; he reſolved chis partiality into the re- ſpect he had for Euripiders morals; but the M. natured world' would at that time; as ir Will howy/know a man's reaſons better chan he does 1 Sorrates had a wife whoſe might moſt of chert hare been ppared, and the "wits of the age Would have it that ke honbured and loved Etiripides for the juſtice which he did 415 W Nn Fx the 1 — - 208 - OnskRvATrons en the © the ſex : but this was pleaſantry. The beſt go man in the world could not but love and e the Author who moſt reſembled himſelf in his doctrines,. The ſtyle and manner of Zuripide,, haf my dear Lord, are very peculiar. He differs wh from all the others in the ſedateneſs of his ſeni- ba ments, to which his expreſſion often, not to rea ſay. always, for there are ſome exceptions, is happily ſuited : inſomuch that many of his paſ- 2 ſages are little more than ſeries of proverbial on maxims, and the greater part of ſome of his of Plays appear a collection of excellent ſentences, lan the plot being of little more uſe than to intro- He. duce them naturally, to connect them together, 2 ; and imprint them the more deeply on the minds 12 of men by means of the characters to which * they were appropriated, and the conſequences MW '* y 6 | ev Tuxxx is greatly more ſublimity in £/cy- MW tus than in 2 yet there m_ — ve in Sopbocles than there is in Euripides; the laſt pe will therefore give the leaſt pleaſure of the three : to the reader of ſpirit : but it is a pleaſure that | will poſſeſs in continuance what it wants in the 8 immediate degree: and its inpreflions will laſt 1 : while thoſe from the others are forgotten: when 1 mention Euripides as leſs pleaſing, I do not be mean to point him out to you, my Lord, as leſs uſeful than the others; on the contrary, he ſt is more ſo than either of thoſe can be: the ſtyle % of the others is too exalted for imitation in fo ſpeaking, but that of Euripides comes nearer na- 1 | ture and I am convinced, my Lord, will pleaſe ; more; though I would allow the merit of all: the c| | loftinefles of the other. has the paſſions will not be long without the reaſon. „„ ES Ee nets \ 24 5 one, or the ſweetneſs and elegance of the other of the Greek T * 5-0-4 in Euripides, yet is his Een e in its kind, equal to that of either. He is happy in the choice of his words; ſubli- mity is not what he attempts in that choice, but expreſſion, and nobody has hit that part of elo- quence more happily : Longinus makes the ar- rangement of the words an article, and indeed a very great one in eloquence; and in this no man ever excelled the Author I am now recom- mending to your peculiar attention. His num- bers are eaſy and clegant, his ſtyle is pure and perſpicuou: 8 | | Tarr are many, there are indeed very many particulars in which the later Writers of Tragedy have fallen greatly beneath the antients; there are alſo thoſe in which the former have been inferior to the latter. What is called the plot and buſineſs of a Play is much better under- ſtood now. than it was in thoſe famous times, and the variety of characters in our Plays are al- ſo a vaſt advantage. There was a flat ſimplicity, in this reſpect, in theſe reverenced Writers, and the worſt of ours as much excel them in this me- chanical part, if T may ſo call it, of the Poem, as our greateſt fall below them in its eſſential parts, true Poetry and ſentiment. ; - i N Garzrx' aud Roman Crantcs. 209 : ih it I — | LY Oase rie 1e In theſe authors, ny dear Lock: 1 ſee he ; ate and perfection * the Grecian Tragedy ; ; and you will wonder that thoſe who were able to car- its nobleſt part _— neglected cultivating, though ſubſervient and neceſſary, the leſs im. portant conſiderations. But, my Lord, there are Certain ideas of which you t diveſt yourſelf before you determine upon this point: They ſaw the object in a different light from that in which we fee it; and it is moſt certain, that if we could raiſe it to that perfection on our own plan to which they carried it on theirs, Tragedy would be the greateſt of human performances: They meant it as a great aud moral poem, and all they meant they executed in it; we intend more, and what we intend is more right, but we do | not execute pans we intend in it, I te Grade was in its li 2s — as their : It was at firſt no other than a kind of bs: xy. moſt open and the moſt licentious of all others: Two people ſtood up before the audience under the names of two of the greateſt, and perhaps the beſt men of the time, and in the groſſeſt, and often in the moſt unjuſt manner, abuſed and vilified one another : people were as fond of ſlander among the Greets as they are among the Engliſh; and in one coun- try as well as in the other, the greater the per- ſon the more welcome the abuſe; from a very rude beginning the popular applauſe encouraged this ſpecies of Comedy to a much more unpardon- able height; and at length it became altogether unjuſtifiable and (cornea ae was 5 8 770 the ſtage. ent : i | FroM ps» „ e go Yy ene CT weaQUYF * & „ ee 7 ww 7” ww $a 4 i fla << 4 © Ld GREEK and. ROMAN, CE As. a £ 4 * 9 2 ? F "DIA a $71 * 8 8 9 Sa bt + Si 04S CES £4. 0 a % 27 1 4 thi > 1 | 4 j oh 1 f * 28 15 , *& 1 5 1 * TERS * Fon this firſt period of the Grecian Comedy ſuppreſſed, aroſe the ſecond, in which the abuſe was not leſs vehement as the occaſions were juſti- fiable; but to avoid the cenſure of the Jaws, the names of. perſons. cency were introduced into it: Ariſtopbanes way between the two; and his plays that remain to us declare as much: You will admire his wit, but you will be diſpleaſed with his irregularity ; There is often a great deal of true dignity in his language; and it is eaſy to ſee that, would the nature of his ſubject have allowed, there would have been more of this; it is often intrc. duced unnaturally, and loſes much of its grace by that impropriety. You will ſee ſterling wit, though too much ill-nature in him; and in many parts, for it is not in all, you will have a pattern of the ſevereſt way of ſaying the ſe- 'vereſt things. I know your 8 my Lord, will repreſent this as of no uſe, but you will hereafter find it of neceſſity; and if you have from this writer the ſeverity and ſharpneſs of re- proof, and all the force of raillery, and after- wards temper theſe with your own candour, you will have the perfe manner in which you are to repel the dart that malevolence may direct to- wards your perſon; or malignity of heart level at the cauſe which you eſpouſe. Inave all along, my dear Lord, made the faults of the Claſſics, which I have pointed out as fully as their beauties, the rules of avoiding, as the others of purſuing what's wrong and what's right in them. If I were writing to any other perſon I ſhould be at great pains to warn him, while he admired. the wit of Ar:/tophanes not to adopt his indecency ; but to you, m Lord, to name it is enough I have fo often heard lament the dirt that has ſullied the wit of Swift, will not need to be put in mind of not D L- 1 3» ö r Qt fl wo --- w nﬀWWE3 IT e 02 T - Gaz ex and Roman Cr Ass Tes. 213, not imitating the ſuperior faults of Ar: 1 on the ſame e s I nave chin to you, my dear band that the Greek Tragedians, who were firſt fa- mous in that ſpecies of poetry, were not ſo care- ful as they ought to' have been to preſerve the purity of their characters, or to adapt the man- ners regularly; the ſame fault ſhews itſelf ſtill more conſpicuouſly in their Comedy, and in none of thoſe ſo conſpicuoully as in the plays of Ari- fophanes. You muſt underſtand, or you will perceive, -that it is the poet every where who ſpeaks, notwithſtanding that he prefixes the name of ſome character to what is meer, it is the great misfortune of Ari/tophanes alſo that he ſhews no concern what character that is ; ; his ſpeeches are by no means adapted to the per- ſons; and there js no diſtinction between the ſtyle of a goddeſs and a cook-maid: I would not be underſtood, my Lord, to mean this as univer- ſal and without exceptions ; but indeed you will find very few to it? there are many paſſages in him that will diſguſt you, but there are alſo many that will charm you. Among the loweſt and poor- eſt jokes that ever came from the hand of a poet, you will find ſome, and not a few, of the nobleſt morals : where he is great he is greatly ſo ; and it has always been my opinion, perhaps I am ſingular in it, that where he is moſt grave he is beſt. otherwiſe 214 ' OnszrvariIONs on be otherwiſe at the time of reading them have al. tered their - minds afterwards.” It would have been well if his plan would have admitted more of this, but it did not: His characters are almoſt All bad, and thoſe eouſd not give him, with all his licentious ſcope, 'opportunities of introducin more of theſe his greateſt excellencies: T ching him very blameable in the choice, and the world unhappy in it; for his genius, thrown into its per r channel, would have been of the higheſt honour to Dt and of FR deteſt to the world. Me will nl many of the cities paſſed upon the Claffics ſor obſcurity groundleſs; but it 15 not fo with 2. to Ari pen; I would not pronounce all thoſe paſſages to be of this character which lexicon tranſlators and word critics have called fo, but there are ſome which muſt retain the mark. Where they perplex you give them up, my Lord; many of them are not to be explained at all, and thoſe which are will not anſwer to the pains, You w. Il have frequent occaſion to find fault with the manner of this writer, more frequent indeed than with his ex- ion; you will find him vain, arrogant, inſult- ing beyond all degree and meaſure, and that often where modefty would have been the proper cha- racter of the paſſage: in fine, you will ſee much to admire, and much more to deſpiſe ; you will find the diamonds rough in the mine, and ſcat- tered bat ſparingly among the rubbiſh; but, my | Lord, they are worth the picking out, and-they Are worth) poliſhing ;* "when n you have wrought them the will become 3 them % be worthy the crown of a monar Wnar you well, and man of | . BY . ² ·˙;̃ O⁰˙ A es bs £7 bd K he * Nr e 7 , GREEK ad Rowan — 21 5 . Sopbacles did by Eſchylus, my ks 935 that has Menander done by Arifophanes ; be {aw his beauties, and 1 him with an equal, not a prejudiced eye, he ſaw alſo his de- ſets, He adopted and he improved the one; and the other, he uſed as I hope you will do: he ſet them up as — of thoſe things he was to ſhun, and as the more danger- ous, as they were the errors and defects of a ge- nius. In Aenander you have all the wit, nay | you have all the ſeverity of Ar;/ophanes, I mean all the juſtifiable and all the — ſeverity, but it is 3 in ſuch a manner that the graces thrown about it add a new elegance and a beau- ty, of which, in reading the other, you would think it incapable, to, every part. He is clear and expreſſive: he is ſhort and nervous: ſo much ſtrength has perhaps in no man been coupled. with ſo much ſweetneſs. _ You will adore was remains of him, and you will condole with the world for the loſs of that ineſtimable treaſure which thoſe e who had his Works com- pleat. You have Pcs the Wy land you have ſeen the Comic Muſe in her full ſtate in Greece. You will remember, that beſide the Heroic and the Lyric, with which I ſet out in this account of the Greek Poets, there are others worthy your notice: 1 do not intend they ſhall eſcape mine. You know we e have coca ſpecies of 4. thors among us, who being neither perfectly of one kind or another, publiſh their — pieces under . name * Poems upon ſeveral Occaſions. - %, 216 - OnsgnvaTIONS on be Occaſions. Theocritus was one of theſe amon the. Greeks: a Miſcellany Writer; but ſuch 2 Miſcellany, my Lorc, he has left us, as time will not deſtroy, perhaps in many parts will ne- ver equal. Few people have written upon more ſubjects, or thoſe more different in their nature, and few people have ſucceeded fo happily in any of them. He ſeems to have been a Poet for diverſion, rather than from any ambition of im- mortality, He has confined himſelf, in a great part of his works, to the leaſt important ſub- jects, and many of his.pieces are occaſional, and addreſſed to particular friends, ſo that they loſe half their grace in our ignorance of the particu- lar circumſtances. Notwithſtanding all theſe diſadvantages under which we read Theocritus, we admire him throughout. His Paſtorals are the moſt read : men indeed have confined them- ſelves ſo much to theſe, - that many are ignorant of his having written any thing elſe : you, my Lord, muſt not remain in that number. The great attention which has been paid to theſe par- _ ticular pieces among the many that he has left to the world, has been owing to the praiſe Virgil has beſtowed on them, who calls him the Syra- cuſan Muſe. But theſe are not ſuperior to ſeve- ral others. You will be ambitious to diſtinguiſh which of his Poems they were that obtained him this renown from. the Latin Prince of Paſtoral, and you will eaſily diſtinguiſh them. His nine firſt Idylls, and the eleventh, for the tenth is of another kind, will at once convince you that they were the pieces which obtained that great applauſe from the Latin Poet, and that that they - deſerved it. * 3 F 'THERE Guam and Rowan ci aeg. oy naval] is ads, writ of Paſtoral-i in th more than in all that has been left us from anti- quity. Lou have thought thoſe Poems in our own tongue pretty, which are called Paſtorals by Mr. Pope; but you will find they have nothing of the 3 or the lany uage of this elegant ſpe- cies of verſification. Vou will agree with his friendly-commentator, that theſe Poems of Mr. Pope's are not Paſtorals : but, my Lord, as you will bave learned the principles of 4— diſtinction from Theocritus, you will not ſay that they are ſomething better. The manners of the ſhep- herds are perfectly preſerved in the Greet Writer, their language is ſo adapted that it could have become no mouth but theirs, nor could any lan- guage but this have become theirs. All ſeems pure nature, yet you have in them all the orna- ments of art. There runs through them a pleaſing eaſe, a happy freedom, that takes off all the appearanee of art, while it truly is the greateſt perfection of it, and there are happineſ- ſes in the thought never to be enough admired, never to be ĩimitated. You will be charmed with theſe Poems I know, my Lord, but you will be as highly charmed with his others. You will find in ſome all the dignity of Pindar, in others all the freedom and all the ſpirit of Anacrean. His magnificence of thought will aſtoniſh you in many places, and the — of his numbers in more, his ee id Firs 1660 | You have not heard of Theocritus, my Lond: as he deſerves to be mentioned. Read his death of the Nemean Lion, and you will own he glows | with all the fire of the Iliad. When you have 11 — 218 OrsrNVA TIN bn be admired this as it deſerves, go _—_ h his h ymn to Caftor and Pollux, and you will ben Fo you have never ſeen the — of adoration, the enthuſiaſm of reverence, or the awe of devotion ſo ſtrongly expreſſed in any Author whatſoever: from theſe great, paſs to his little Poems, read over his wounded Cupiu, and tell me if you would not fancy it a celebrated piece of Ana. crein. I have often wiſhed for an õpport of vindicating the name of Theocr#tus from the neglect which ſome have thrown upon him, and am glad this occaſion has fallen in my way to do it, the more ſo, as I am addreſſing m thoughts to you, my Lord, who will ſoon tl me whether this is due to the character of the — or ſome e nee in me. 1 DO inde tell you, my Lord, that Thevcritu is in all reſpects ſuperior to Virgil in his Paſto- rals: the Roman had the Advantage of all the experience of the Greek : he was to build upon a foundation already laid, his judgment is more nice, he is more —— and has fewer faults than the Grecian whom he took for his model; but the Greet has more of nature, more "os neſs, and more ſimplicity. He has his wildneſ- ſes, but even his wildneſſes are pfeaſing. You | have read the ruftic mãdrigals of our own lan- guage, but you cannot have been pleaſed with them: few of the Authors have had the forbear- ance to omit: pretty thoughts altho* they were not proper: in Theocritus you will find the chaſti- ty of the Paſtoral Poetry preſerved without ble- - miſh or interruption. - You: are at an age, my Eord, in which the tender ſentiments which adorn — 8 are naturally felt, and. the — — — Gzxrk ah Ronan Crates, 219 the more you are able to judge of their propriety, the more you will commend them, His Fove is every where the moſt tender and the moſt deli- Gte, and though the expreſſion is varied to an almoſt infinite degree, there is pon ps, it that departs from the true character of ſhepherds, and their unlettered Timplicity. phron, have had him. make the whole matter Clear in the recital. „ 855 LO PHRON, my Lord, has all the fire and all the fury of Pindar : you will not only be delighted, you will be amazed and aſtoniſhed as you read him: there are paſſages in him equal to any thing in the Poets of greateſt name; bau and it would not be eaſy to point out in him pre any thing at which the greateſt of them would 29 have needed to bluſh. The Roman Poets, and MW Wa: the very firſt of them, had an opinion of Tyco- phron, my Lord, very different from what the | preſent cuſtom entertains. When you have I bay read him, you will find that Horace has often tio! copied him, and that he has been indebted to ma him for many of his moſt approved paſſages, the ma Paſtor cum traheret per freta, in which is the Ii of ' beautiful prophecy of the deſtruction that was I 90 to be the conſequence of the rape of Helen, is a i mn very cloſe imitation of this excellent Poem : not flig only of many of its peculiar paſſages, but in the jud very ſubſtance and tenor of the whole: nor is thr this the only Ode in which you will trace him, I wh paſſage after paſſage, making Lycophron bis mo- 10 del. This was a thing very common with the t Latin Poets, in regard to the Greeks; and we Tt have been at the pains to trace it out in a num- inc ber of them: but Lycophror is ſo little read, * GREEK and ROMAN CLAssIics. 221 do not know it has been ever obſerved that Horace has been obliged to him: nor indeed is Horace the only Roman that has been fo obliged, though the others not ſo conſpicuouſly or ſo con- Pf CATULLUS, my Lord, has been as oſten indebted to Callimachus, as Horace to 2 "= but to great good luck of the Roman, the Works of his original are in a great meaſure loſt. What remain to us of this Author are however of ſuch merit as to make us ſufficiently regret thoſe which are loſt. The compoſitions of this Poet were all of the leſſer kind, and to this it is very probably owing, in a great meaſure,” that they have periſhed. They had merit enough to have preſerved them, but the art of Printing, which now keeps theſe ſhort pieces ſo happily together, You will be greatly pleaſed with what we have of Callimachus, and the profeſſed tranſla- tions of Catullus will give you an idea of the re- mainder. You will allow vaſt ſublimity to many of his expreſſions, and yet in the ſublimeſt of them he has nothing of that wildneſs which is too much the character of even the true ſublime in many Authors: the boldeſt of Callimachus's flights are under the perfect regulation of a nice judgment: there is a peculiar grace which he throws over little things, and the ſame grace which dignifies theſe ſoftens the other. If I by no means agree with even Ovid, who gives him art in the place of genius, I allow him all that art in its higheſt perfection, in ſuch perfection, indeed, that it covers and diſguiſes the ſallies of 3 genius e only the flights and ſallies of his fan- b QP$IAVATIONS op, the _ | genius in ſuch a manner that they are loſt, and wonder that the critics have ſeen none of them, ance of common opinion: and while he alloys his ſubject all that. flattery can beſtow upon it, f 5. : 4 - z * if the Roman Poet did not ſee them all, it is no cy that are thus diſguiſed by his great art, and made to appear with an eaſe that ſpeaks them the language of mere nature; his praiſe is in the fame manner melted down by it, into the appear- you think he is ſayin only what any body elſe ſaid on the fame occaſion. He has a 1 in this unknown to all the other Writers, and even that delicacy has not its natural appearance under the addreſs that in him levels and renders all things familiar. When he gives into the enthu- ſiaſm of devotion, no Author is more perfecth inſpired: you are awed while you read him, al- though you deſpiſe the very objects of his enthu- fiaſm. No Author is naturally more clear in his expreſ- ſion than Callimachus ; but he has an anne affectation of uſing uncommon words, whic render him obſcure. He never thought proper to undertake any large work ; and he has been held cheap for that, not only among the ap | F | 0 e ROMAN CAAYICS. 423 img, bus am als in gt 10 at he wanted. Eng made up. in the 1 5 of his pieces: the ' account we have of them. is, very. large, and it is a real misfortune that the ö Al 2 of de the os oymber. vx fo fury a gf.,your, olefin my hea 1 nag, the. turning Over der noble re: mains 929 e . and Wet.) nde dear Lord, a more correct Writer than 4 mus ; you will not find a fingle f fault in him. You will perceive him going on in the ſame equal pace thro ueber, the whole Poem, but this is little praiſe; as he ſinks into no, faults he riſes : to no. beauties : 2 you, my Lord, who have been uſed to. 8 flights of Pinar, and the ma- jeſty of Homer, will not give much cba ty this 1 innocent m N a Tais 33 of allonius, my dear ] is from the days of 42 earlieſt e —— the ic dee of of Taue — Whom, ns | man would ſooner have found out a e whom no man Wau. 19055 have praiſed one - ane i it, * rity of L untilian 5 172 will find him, my arg lab 4 — us ; beyond all chat you could, have ſuppoſed of a Grecian Poet, and you will find a variety that would have pleaſed you, did it not declare itſelf to be a laboured variety. It has 50 Were that he 2. a, peculiar excellence Is 224 „en reh on the - in touching the tender IR c but 1 ſee no preat Sas een for this. ve compared his amour of Medea with thoſe of Dias, i into which thoſe who think moft highly of Hpollonius fuppoſe the | Roman copied many of his beauties; but I ſee nothing of it: where the ſubjects have happened to be moſt alike, there are ſentiments in the ſame degree alike alſo, but theſe are by no means the fineſt parts of 2 'rgil's deſcription, nor are they to be ſuppoſed imitations. He is familiar enough, and you will find no difficulty in running him over, but I do not recommend it to you to be. ſtow much time upon him. "Tu | Tur Wir w the Chriſtian Apoſtle quotes, TY vag xa ie, for awe alſo are his offspring, ſpeaking of the Creator of all things deſerves a more conſiderable attention. The Heathen whom St. Paul thought it worth while to quote, you, my Lord, will certainly think it worth while to read,” Aratus is of a very different character from Apollonius, and there is great reaſon to la- ment the loſs of the far greater part of his pieces; what remain, probably, are not the beſt of his writings, at leaſt they are on unlucky ſubjects. The cuſtom of the times paid a greater reverence to the ftars than the 7 pre ſophy of this period will allow. But, d, make the proper allowances for this e blemiſh, 5 you will think the Poet, according to' the fables of his times, deſerves a place among thoſe ftars which acquire a new luſtre from his account of them, N Tar: 4inticnts; | while they bee in jade Aﬀtrology,” yet made it a Tiſtin — — 7 . ro- « 1 ſe he ee ed ne he 5 m * Snxxxk ad Rowan Cl ag. 225 Aſtronomy, and as ſuch Aratus has treated it. He has divided his Work into two diſtinct parts. In the firſt he lays down the Aſtronomy of thoſe times in a happy manner : you will allow for its imperfections, my Lord, and you will then give it the higheſt praiſe. The ſubject was great, and he has treated it with a ſuitable dignity. In the laſt you have the erroneous opinion of thoſe times concerning the relations of the ſtars to one another, and their influence and effects on hu- man bodies, this you will treat with a proper ne- glect as to the meaning; bat when you ſee the manner in which the Poet has delivered it, you will lament that ſuch a genius had not ſufficient foundation in true knowledge. You, who will have read Theocritus before you meddle with this Author,. will know what to think of him as a judge: the reverence with which he names Ara- tus, will countenance all your good opinion of THERE is one Greek Poet more, my Lord, whom I am to name to you, and then we will conſider the Latins. No man was ever more unhappy. in'a ſubject than Oppian, and yet he has found the way to raiſe the theme as he purſues it. His moſt conſiderable piece is a Poem upon the fiſhes, and ways of fiſhing of the antients : we have another alſo of his on hunting, and we hear of a third on fowling, but that is not come down to us. One would imagine the fecond to have been the happier ſubject, but the Halieu- tics was his firſt, and I muſt think is his beſt Poem. You will not . 15 N told at this time, that reptil 3 of SEP, do not go. into the ; {a to cop ulate with You will not be- lieve 28 a ur ture can change its ſex after a year ; or that the ſkins of animal which live ig enmity retain that enmity to the laſt, and they it after they are dreſſed for common * were things religiouſly believed in Oppian': 8 655 : he 1 m not 10 010 os 1 for re- peati ou w in at degree o E ps ce theſe things: 1 54 the reſt 0 rd, you cannot hold the author in more eſteem than he he deſerves : : Princes are not always the het Judge ges in 6 world, ot they have always thoſe al 0 8 fophly the n Yo haye { Hem we of dof the reward this poet ol 25 7 or his alieutics rom 81 la, and 0 will receive this as a collate- ral teſtimony of his worth, though Fu would not have held 5 in n | FAIR 28 A IE mays "Fenix 6 enter on he 2 poet 7 at Ter Co medy. yo val Ui e 5 Ta 2 at the head of it: Yay will r 1 him with vaſt fatisfaction, with more | 2 ſatisfaction, with infinite delight: But, my rd, in order to judge of the Roman Comedy you muſt do as you have already done in 0e of thoſe ideas which men are apt to imbibe from the Comedy of the preſent age, and from e they are too apt to Judge of Peer in bend > 228 © BiizrvlT 10% on 5 ral before you can determine any Ain proper- 8 in regard to that of the antients. The Roman Comedy is not nearly ſo much different from the _ "Engliſh, as is the Tragedy of the Greeks from that of all the modern fo; Why ; yet it is different 5 55 to require other rules for judging of it. 98 of Plautus is not ſo different from Lb of this Gai as that of Terence, and 2 there is enough in it that would be very ſtrangely re- ceived by a modern audience. Is: the Comedies of Plautus and of Terence you ſee, my Lord, two extremes, between which the Fuel Comedy has attempted to hit a happy medium, and I think it has in a great meaſure ſucceeded in the attempt; that, however, is a ſubject foreign to the preſent _ conſideration. A great part © Plautus is too light, and the greateſt part of Terence is too heavy, too grave for the modern notion of Co- medy; Terence often runs into Tragedy, and Plates into Farce. It is certain, that amo the Engliſß Comedies, there are ſome that have nothing of the one or the other extreme; our taſte approves theſe and it is right: But as the taſte of the times when theſe authors wrote ap- proved fomething elſe inſtead of this, we. are to arraign that taſte in many things rather than thoſe authors who found it neceſſary to write UP, or to write down to it. You will ſee in Plautus a N fertility of invention, which none that we know of before him, and which we moſt certainly. know that none after him, poſſeſſed: He has a copiouſneſs of imagination that has been, and that will con- tinue to be, unrivaled : He has ſhewn great judgment 1 in the choice and in the conduct fab 1 able; . A et ine m v oaÞ ot; Wn0- r * r & E & i Derne er ww N s 6G Gurus and Nba Niles. 229 fable; his characters are all natural; and there runs through all his works a rich vein of caſe vt apologizes 1 a thouſand faults. Plautus, my Lord, wi alſo faults 8 to need all chis atonement: He is full of what he certainly underſtood to be wit, and what proba- took to be wit too; poſſibly had the general opinion been otherwiſe, he would have been as full of true wit as he he is of falſe ; as eminent for the delicate as he is now conſpicuous for the low. Certainly there are paſlages in Plautus that ſhew him maſter enough of this, and I think judge enough to have approved and. pre- ferred it to the other; but as certain it is that eſ- ſential as wit muſt be allowed to Comedy, there Is very little of what deſerves that 2 name in Plautus. Raillery is another of the ſupports of comedy, and in this Plautus al 9 is is deficient; I do not mean, my Lord, that he is wanting in the quantity of this, for there is abun- dance of it; but in quality, for it is flat and poor, and I ſhould i imagine cou d only have pleaſed the loweſt part of the audiences of that time I am the more of opinion that the taſte of the million impoſed this manner of writing upon Plautus in that he labours to introduce it : this is viſible in a thouſand places, and it has given to many of his ſcenes all that diſagreeable quaintneſs which we condemn in ſome of Congreve's, in which the ſpeech of one of the characters is only calcu- Jated to give occaſion for a 33 in the other: In this, however, the Engliſh has infinitely the pteference of the Roman — that his wit bly the vulgar of thoſe times, by whatever title diſtinguiſhed, or in whatever rank diſtributed, 230 .. QpapRyYAT1IONS en the 18 a delicate though often out of charts. whereas that of Plautus is almoſt always i in- delicate, and is out of Lan too. You will often pity him, my Lord, for his attempts to wit ; but. when, af copſider it as neceſſary and labpured, and far fetched, you . be the leſs ſurprized that it is jejune and puerile: You will often cenſure him for'the extravagance of his figures, and you wilboften ſmile at him for ai inſipid, but there is a fault for which yo will Il condemn him ; he is often obſcene: If we beben 1 int of an audience a provin this we all he lets Wonder, and 8 N ua the the leſs condemn the riter ; we "al ee him in the light of one who does things that are wrong, not becauſe they are ſo, but that N A SE whom he 1 Is to pleaſe will] ave them. | Ir j you compare Plautus ay Tl in this light, my Lord, you will ſee the onę a careleſs, e other an accurate writer; the one producing e offspring of his brain for immediate advan- the other for future fame: You will ſee the one writing like a mercenary, the other like A uten: Plautus made it his point to pleaſe the my} Itityd e "wh. he would venture any thing to do it; Terence 4 eſpiſed applauſe, except To e judicious ; he erefore hazarded, nothi ut conſidered every. thing i in 'the ſtricteſt lig 5 before he publiſhed it. It is certain that Fire muſt have ſucceeded better than Plautus in pleaſing the choſen few; it is as certain that his pieces are in a great meaſure calculated for the cloſet ; the others wholly for the ſtage; and yet with all this there is ſomething in the vivacity s and fire of Plautus that "ni all his levities pleaſes O?2e“nq)n::: de dia Boo bod tn 3h oaks Bog FPV ⁵ ⅛ nod ̃ nes. Sed: es. See Ba. GENE ad Rowan, Cranes. 231 pleaſes me more * the _ ern of lee. 8 2 | Tas . which peas, reciivet among the Romans was great, and it was all deſerved ; but Plautus often called forth a greater ſhare of the thunder of the theatre, as dear to. authars of thoſe days as to thoſe of ours; and, if Terence pleaſed more, Playtus pleaſed oftener. . The Eunuah was the play beſt received 2 all thoſe of Terence; but that is ſaying too little it was rer ceived wich marks of a en - any Comedy before ; the other five: were alſo univerſally eſteemed, ang 10 n hu 0. ticiſe upon them. TERENCE zu bad ie fg gts plays were thought too good to be "ys own, zh Andria, which was: his firit, was ſaid to be in 1 part written by Scipio, who, Hough, he - genius to command applauſe in the pol bte arts, had other lawrels in compariſon of wh he held the ray of Phæbus in contempt: It has not been told, it has not been ſuſpęcted, who 4110 ed Mr. Cibber i in the Careleſs Huſband, but:cern tainly had any body 8 7 ſo, it could not have ſlent in — The praiſe of having r . or having but contributed to the writing the Comedy in the Engliſh language, is what non who had a right to it would have deſpiſed. H the Romans looked a little farther they woul have found to whom he was obliged for all the beauties of that play, tho not to Scipio; he took them from Menander; but who is the Gr recian from whoſe ſtores the Carels Huſbaud has des « © TERENCE, rived its excellencies ? inction never paid to 1 We [i 4 C ; ' 4 a ! © * 1 : - — -'s K OOO O42 R240. Oe WO 5 - — = = \ 232 ' OnznvaTions on the © TERENCE, my Lord, has a of nature in 8 No. have penetrated more deeply into the: ſecrets of the human heart; thoſe who have nature, have generally valued themſelves upon it to a degree of making them neglect all other qualifications; or they have let it run away with them at all times and on all occafions ; neither of theſe can de charged on Terence: with the greateſt fund of nature he has connected all the ſtores of art; he is accurate and correct beyond all the Raman poets, and has ſhewn more judgment than all that went before him: he is full of beauty, but it is of a peculiar kind: Terence is one of thoſe faces that not only appear pleaſing at firſt, but charm us as we contemplate and conſider them. The moſt conſummate elegance runs through all his productions, and where he is pleaſant ĩt acquires à new beauty from the reſerve, under which he always exerts that part of the comedian's cha- racter: There is in him no glaring ornament at the expence of propriety; whatever you like in him you will continue to like; and there is, = Lord, yer another conſideration in his favour, which is, that he is the pureſt and moſt elegant Ff all the Roman writers; if you would place be- fore you, my Lord, a model of what is perfect in the Lein language the ſtyle of Terence ſhews Tuxsx are high praiſes, and you will at firſt ſight imagine I place him at a height with which the faulty Phautvs cannot hope to reach in quality of a rival; and yet, m Lord, I ſhall repeat the opinion IN wn l | rea c Ar 1 Aa wo 1 A.v 1 read the other, if not With as perfect an applauſe at leaſt with equal pleaſure. Ir Terence have the advantage, if he have the greateſt advantage imaginable, for ſo it certainly is, over Plautus in point of Nie yet ſtyle not all that goes to conſtitute a Comedian; and if you ſee with the eyes of a modern critic upon A A* £4 + ” Comedy, you will give it for the coarſe Plautus againſt the elegant friend of Scipig. The hurry, the buſtle, the buſineſs of the Theatre is admi- rably contrived in Plautus, and there is very little of it in Terence. Incidents are thick ſown in the one, and they are very ſparing in the other, and the fire, and ſpirit, and archneſs, ' and repar- tee, of Plautus, i am aſſured, would ſtand with a modern audience on a footing of preference _ all the true wit of the calm Terence. OR „ 4 ariety is another thing of conſequence in the compariſon; . and this is intirely on the fide of Plautus. © The people who moſt favour Terence muſt own there is a great ſameneſs in his man- ner, and indeed this will always be the caſe when all is laboured ; but it is otherwiſe with the eaſy Plautus. He is full of variety. in his characters, and he is as full of it in his expreſ- fion. Take halfa dozen paſſages out of Terence where you will, and they will all be known to belong to Terence, but tal e as many from Plau- tus and they. would be ſuppoſed the work of dif- ferent, perhaps of as many different Authors. If Plautus has an infinity of faults which Te- . numerous, at which Terence never aimed. t is not at all a point of diſpute whether Terence or Plautus be the finer Poet, but if it were to be aſked rence has not, he has alſo beauties, and thoſe ve- . 1 b k 2 2 1 * 1 IN . a * pak — — 2 2 7 Sue 471098 eb o Plays of wi h 6 de e iſwer. the = racter of Plays, and are moſt fit for the age? -Y elieve Jou would anſwer Plautus,. 