The priority in this as in most of the other aspects of the
Renaissance belongs to ITALY. In ultimate achievement, the
Italian fell short of the fullness of the results obtained
elsewherea surprising fact when it is considered, not only that
the Italian language had the vantage-ground of closest
relationship to the Latin, but that the genius of the Italian
people has at all times inspired it with a predilection for the
drama. The cause is doubtless to be sought in the absence from
Italian national life during a long period, and more especially
during the contemporary with the rise earlier most of Italian
dramatic literature, of those loftiest and most potent impulses
of popular feeling to which a national drama owes so much of its
strength. This absence was due partly to the peculiarities of
the Italian character, partly to the political and
ecclesiastical experience Italy was fated to undergo. The
Italians were strangers to the enthusiasm of patriotism, which
was as the breath in the nostrils of our Elizabet