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his servant rates him for his pusillanimity. An exchange of habiliments is proposed, and Xanthias consenis, With mueligasconade, to become the Hercules of the party. Bacchus has scarcely taken up the baggage, When the servant of Proserpine comes With her queeiss invitation to a baliquet prepared for thevaliant demigod whom si se had reason to know of old. The pretended impersonator is much alarmed, and declines the enterta inment. Biat two or three tempting lures having being put rWard, he consenis. But noW, Bacchus hearing these offers, Wishes to resume the pari, and set the Servant aside. No Sooner has lis dono this, than two landia dies rusti in iapon him, Supposing that he was the real Hercules Who had eat their lardorsclean, and devoured them Out of house and home. Bacchus would noW exchange With Xanthias again. Xanthias, oncemore equipped, is seiZed by the returning A acus, Who haslest tho stages to bring back With him the means and minis ters of revenge. This threatens to be another uni uchy turn for the servant, und the master, with a retori, StandS readyto enjoy it. But Xanthias, denying that he had over stolen any thing, offers his flave, none other than the soli of Semele, to tho most varieti and protracted torture. Things have no gono too far, and Bacchus declares his immortat nature. Theservant dentes it not, but thinlis that on this account he oughtto have the Whipping, because a god Would never feel the SCOUrge. As the scourge is borrae equalty WAl by them, both Deling it but cloaking the smari, their altercation yields tomother. This is the controversy between AEschylus and Euripides. Bacchus is appotnted judge. Tho triat is to setile therightful claimant to the Tragic throne. The choriis of the Μystae talio decided ly against Uschylus by an echo of his
turgid, stilled, phrase. So vehement is the strife of tongues, that Bacchus cannot keep order in the coliri. They Wrangle oneach othe s excellenco and vice of manner. The arbitrator is
also very Dolisti, continually ultering stippant anil partialremarks. Indeed, he is pugZled belWeen the disputants, and seonis at last to incline to side With both by turn. Eschylus, eventually, to ridicule the narrative Style of his rival, proposes
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a constant appendiX,- lost a litile cup.V ΗΟWever Euripides commences a prologiae, it is thus interrupted. Nothing can bomore unsair, sor there Cannot be a Sentence With a proper nam eor a personat pronouia in it, but may be sinished by lost alitilo cup. ' But Euripides malles instant and bitter reprisais, proving froin the hymns of his antagonist, and not hom mis-chievous invention, a repetition ulmost as frequent and Deble.
Tho formor is laughed at for his inflation, is sesquipedalia verba,-phlattollit attophlatiothrat: the second sor his maWkish-
denote his drawl. To completo tho strango breadth of this scene, Bacchus direcis them to hold a pair of scales, then to recite alternately their verSes, When on his crying Cuchoo, th aro to let go, and he Will determine the respective mei is. AEschylus, by the gravity of his topics, preponderates. Butthe iampi re, Wishing to keep friends With both, declines a decision, -when Pluto assuros him that is he will not docide, he cannot talio bach either poet with him. They then are tried by their opinions on the passing politics of Attica. Here the platitudes of sevorat sophisticat lines of Euripides are plied homo iapon him. Notwithstanding much that en urages his hope os election, d schylus is preferred. The Chorus of the Μystae confirmille choice. Bacchus retires for a royal iuncti. With a statelypiarVeyorship the successsul candidate appotnis Sophocles as his locum tenens on the tragic throne below,-with the solemn adjuration that his salien rival , on Whom he heaps every epithet ofopprobrium, Shoiald neVer occupy that supremacy. With torchand song he then retiariis to the realitis of day lSuch is this famous Drama. The spite os it is more than obvious; it labours through it. Remembering that Euripides Was living, and was probably in the theatre during the repre-Sentation, no conception can do justice to the rude aggression. But thero is a brilliancy, a delicacy, a beau ty, a profundity of Statesmanly principie and observation, a racy drollery, a Verypunning Whicli doses not offend,-together With many a glimpse of POWer, poWer that might have semulated roalitis of thought
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and diction more Worthy of ii, whicli, like a later genius, might have stood belween the severer und the gayer muSe, and claimed brotherhood with both. It is timo that we inould dismiss our attention to the Greeli Comedy, but it would bo uiriust to overtook Lucian. Thoughos a date so low as that of Aurelius, a Syrian by birili, a Roman
by subjection, he writes Deely and gracesialty in the Attic stylo.
He does not construct the regular drama, but contenis himselfwith dialogues in Whicli somelimeS Only tWO PerSonae RPPeRr. They aro len to distribute themselves into Scenes. They areosten very piquant in their Wit, and not seldom instructive in their morat. They include, among others, Confabulations of tho Dottios, and Conserenoes of the Dead. He Would seem toliave held lowor notions os the Pagan superstition than Aristophanes himself. It may be Weli to give a brief conspectus of his maniter and his light dramatic vehiclo. It is dissiculi toselect froni such a stock of roguisti humour and repartee, butit shali be the Aλιευς, A βιουΠες,-the Angler, or the Philosophers brought bach to lise. Lucian, Under the nume of Parre-
course. He appeals for pity, but his quotations hom Homor and Euripides are ali parried by others, and his destruction seems inevit te. Enquiring the character of the croWd and the reason Of tho onflaugiit, Plato insortiis him that they are the philosophors Whom he had long scurrilousty reviled, that they have obta inedpermission, a kind of day-rule hom the loWer Worid, to returnand revelago the iselves Upon him. Aristippus, Chrysippus, Pythagoras have ali eady avoWed their determination to pluckout his eyes, to cui out his longue, and to cruci 0 him; whilo Empedocles Would piunge him into the crater of A tna, and Plato would rond him limb froni limb. Socrates has, indoed,
been the most eager in the chase and Seigure. Lucian amrnis that instead os traducing them, they are Under the greatest obligations to him. He even accuses himself of a constant plagia
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wrong them to whom he o ed ali his celebrity. Plato repties in wrath that this is an aggravation of his offence. But the captive, on his pari, asks is philosophers caia be actualed by these passions, and whether, even in his Republic, heads were to bo takenoss without triat, proos, and sentence 8 He suggesis that therestiali be a Judge appotnted; and to the objection that he cangloss his cause and bribe his judge, he proposes Philosophysor tho chair. To this, after a litile relenting on account of their violent haste, they submit. But a sudden dissiculty occurs tothe mover of the proposition. He knows not the abodo os
Philosophy, and though he has long been in quest of her, he has
never found her yeti He describes, Willi most felicitotis satire, tho stri that passes in her name, assected, coVetoUS, ParaSitiCal. Thoy admit that sew know her dwelling, but that they are noWin the Ceramicus, and that soon ine Will Walk Doni tho Academyto the Porch. She at last approaches, placiti and serene in hersilent meditations.' She instantly recognises and hails Plato, Aristolle, and other leaders of the learned secis. Perceiving them out of temper, she demantis What has brought them laphoni the dead, What has crossed them, and Who is the prisoner they have in charge 8 She severely rebul es them for their little-ness, on hearing their allegation: and reminds them hoW, When Comedy had made meri y with her, sho held her not less herfrienti, nor ever thought of reproving her for it. About todisiniss her attendanis, in her Way to the Acropolis to adjudicato this triat, Lucian Deis curious to know them. He leariis thattho sirst is Virtuo, that standing nexi to her is Justice, thatshe who wallis besore is Science,-and the colourless and almost imporceptibio form is Truth. The poor defendant Wishes totalio Truth with him, Whicli, after a litile demur, She granison condition that Liberty and Parresia the considerace of speaking) may accompany her. To these are added, Conviction and Demonstration. All .he lady-train moves on, untii they reachthe temple os Minerva. While on their progress, in reply to Philosophy, Lucian telis his profession; a hater of ali pretence, a lover of truth, beauty, and whalsover things are lovely. Hestates that those who deserve to be halod are as fifty thou-
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sand to one Who deserves to be loved. A most invidious profession ir ories Philosophy. The Court being noW open, oneos tho dead-alive must read the indictinent. Chrysippus nominates Plato, Who will substitute Diogenes. The Cynic immediately blusters and threatens with his stass in hand, whicli Philosophy condemns, saying that the cause must be determine lby rationat argument, and not by the cudgel. The Prosecutor
resumes. He accuses Liacian of Undermining the reputation
popular ridicule: that Aristophanes Was more excusable than he,
because he exposed but one philosopher, and him only during the Dionysia: that only very lately he had, by public auction, disposed of them at contemptibie prices. The public accuser orprocurator is lotadly applauded by his fellows : which bringsdown the censure of the Bench. Lucian, ali eady so confident in his causo that he has gi ven leave to the resuscitated philosophersto become his assessors, now opens his dentice. It is that ofa practiced rhetorician. Ηe ShoWs hoW Unlike Wore the modern pretenders their nobis founders; What disgrace they broughtupon them ; that, like Deble actors attempting 6rSt-rate paris,
masters only to evade their rule of life ; that any comparisonbet ween leaders and followers was as the proVerb, Hercules and an ape l-Ηe is commanded to stand asilis. Philosophy and Truthconsuli together, and agree that he has carried his cause triumphantly,-both haxing felt the truth and poWer of his appeals tofuch a degree that one could have sunk in to the earth, and theother Was covered With blushes. Diogenes retracis the indict-ment, and ali the ghostly philosophers acquit the defendant, and cali him their benefactor. Virtiae noW Suggesis that thepseudo-philosophers should be called ita, and that Lucian should arraigii them. He consenis and directS Syllogism to summonthsem. Froni the ovectanging brow of the roch, the proclamation is made to ali the philosophers in the city which lay below, to conis and take their trial before Truth, Philosophy, and Judgment. But this does not bring them. They are thensummoned for a dole of two minae and a cake of Indian corn :
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Truth, to try yoti, and See Who are triae philosophers. Those whose lives are found consistent With our precepis Ahali receiveour sanction and be happy. But the impostors shali be chasti sed . It is quite enough. They scud. They throw them-selves doWn the very precipices. The space is in a momentcleared. One cynic has tost his bag. It is examinod. Insteados hors eans, or a book, or fragments of blach bread, it con
Chrysippus, is caught; but their masters, hom Whom they are called, utierly disclaim them. Philosophy thon thinks that
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visitors Doni their holyday-return to earth, and bid them reach home in good time beneat h. Lucian is a charming Writer, sparkling With Wit, opulent in sentiment, redolent os mirili: but his fatalis are many, his indiscretions of taste not a feW. His contempt of his country S go is need not surprise iis, but his irreligion marksitself in equat scoria at Christianity. How far his dramas were
The Roman proscentum is indebled for ali iis comic truthand life to tho Grecian modet. Did space alio , the imitationmight be oasily traced. It was the middie and now ComodyWhicli it principalty copled. So strong is this passion that thesceno is always laid in the parent states of Greeco or in their dependencies. I know not a Latin comedy whicli can bo called
Roman. Μany are profeSSed counterpartS, almost transcriptions: none are national. The character of that people, the Scenery of that country, peculiar cUStom and institution, their Worthies and their Dols, ure never introduced. Even in the foretgn costume We cannot deScry the man ne er home, and the
opportunity does not seem availed of to employ the strangor intho task of reflecting and deriding native vice. But it may bothat this satiric thrust at their neighbours Was sorbidden to tho Roman dramatist, and that his temptation Was constantly curbed by the presence of the AEdiles in their curule chairs. Plautus Was a favourite author With his countrymon, and stili continues in high osteem With ali soland scholars. His Wri tings remain like a nobie sculpture, not so original as beautiful,-with a littio assectation of the antique, is drapery fomeWhat quaint, butnaturat, marhed, characterised; iis muscie rather developedthan the nerve und dimple,-yet cold and hard. But stili thodrama of whicli I proceed to give an abstraci, Will not bear out ait this animadversion. HoweVer, it is Unlike any other, undvibrates With the most perfeci pathos. It is called Rudens.
Sceparnio, the servant of Daemones, ruineS Upon the Stage, horror-struck with the tempest Which had raged during the ni t. Daemones has long lost a daughter, stolen hom his homo when
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Soon tWo Women are descried, osten ulmost overwhelmed, in alitilo skiss. As Sceparnio recolanis the struggle,-hoW the boattosses in the surge,-the mind, the imagination, suffers an agonyos interest. I can remember no Where So real a description.
-- Ut amictantur miserae t euge, euge, Perbene, Ab saxo avortit fluctus ad littus scapham ;Neque gubernator unquam potuit lNon vidisse undas me majoreS cenSeo ς Salvae sunt, Si illos fluctus devitaverintlΝunc, nunc, periculum 'sti ejecit alteram, At in vado 'st: jam facile enabite eugepae lViden', alteram illam ut fluctus ejecit foras 3
Surrexit: horsum Se capesset: Salva res lDesiluit haec autem altera in terram e Scapha.
Ut prae timore in genua in undas conciditi Salva 'st, evasit ex aqua ; jam in littore est i 'Palaestra, one of these Women Analched froin the Waves,
-- Haec parentes haud mei scitis miseri, Μe nunc miseram ita esse, uti sum : libera ego Prognata fui maxume ; nequicquam fui lΝunc qui minus Servis, quam si forem serva nata pNeque quicquam unquam iis prosui, qui me sibi eduxerunti V Act i. Scene 2.
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of the stirine. The priestess of Venus appears, her Aout is meited at their distresses, and she gives them the asylum of the sane. Trachalio, the servant of Pleusidippus, learns just atthis time, froni the report of some sinermen and of his oldacquaintance, Ampelisca, What a tricli has been put upon his master by this Woman-stealer, LabraX. Ηe also gathers that Palaestra, troubio is heightened by the loss of a casket whicli containod tho proos of her descent and parentage. Ampelisca, who has a good share of the chamber-maid periness about her, has just stopped over the Way With a sacred urn to beg Water fortite temple at the liouse of Daemones; and gossiping unduly With Sceparnio, espies Labrax and his companion Charmides, Whenslio sees, with errand incomplete, to the Sanctuary of the altar. Labrax and Charmides, just extricaled froin the billows, speakto each other With the recriminations in Whicli such miscr an is usualty indulge. The chief one, in the litileness of his angry, dis potnted, Deling, sobs Moud. When hearing DomSceparnio, Who has carried back the Water-urn to the temple, that the two semales, terror-Strichen, are embracing the statue of the goddess, he brealis into the penetralia that he may recovertiis prey. At that moment Daemones, dWelling on his last nighcs dream, is suddenly accosted by Trachalio, Who, With amost bewildered manner, and in moSt brohen Sentences, ratSeStho alarm that the temple has been profaned, and iis guardianship been violated. He arouses ali his household, directly, toavenge the Wrong. The kidnapper is dragged sortii. The poor Women are Seen flying froin the temple, and are urged to lay hold of an altar whicli is ouiside the porch. The scene hecomes noW ludicrous as Weli as painful. Perfectly rabid, the caltisssoams and threatens. TWo servanis stand close to the altarwith clubs to foundly chastise him, should he move. He
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quickly perceives that it is scily to resist. Thero lis is fastmodby his Dars. Pleusidippus, ted hither by Trachalio, seiges himand tears him aWay to prison. His pusillanimi ty, his cravenmien and temper, betray themselves, While the se Us whicli ho receives Dom Charmides in ans er to his appeata to him, give astrange terribieness to the scene, Whicli closes amidsi thoirreciprocat curses. The semales noW obtain Shelter in their protector, houso. He comes forWard and eXpresses his Wonder thathis servant Gripus inould have thought of going to sisti in such astate of the sea. But the sinerman has notiod something bellerthan sin s. A large cloahiag is his reWard. This character is capital ly conceived. He rechons on his gains. They shali behept secret. By litile and littis he will bily out his manumission. He Will then purchase flaves. He Will possess a navy. He Willbuild a city to be called Gripus, and constitute a great monarchy. Unfortunately Trachalio surprises him in his solitoquy. The conversation is very amusing. The interruption, theassumed quiet of this child of Iuck, his tenaci ty of the prige, his prevarication, his acceptance of ternis When his oWn maSter,as though a stranger, is selected arbitrator in deciding thoright to the booty, are sketched With a consummate skili. Daemones, experiencing a litile domestic jealousy on account of giving harbour to these fugitives, reconducis them to tho altar. Gripus, fuit of his scheme, stops him. And then follows asentertaining a colloquy aS WaS ever penned. No one cari get in a sentence for the garrulous 68herman. Aster an incessant stream ho bogs to know, is it Will ever be his turn to spoah pTho fair proposai is made, that Palaestra Ahali bo called toidentisy the casket, and to describe the articles containsed in it. Sho identi fies it. Gripus asseris that sho oWned it besore stiocould plainly see it. He objecis also to her giving an invento , because she may be a Witch versed in divination. She states What are iis contenis,-so many childish toys. Μuch to thodolibi and dismay of the poor finder, sile gives an accolant of them. The names of her fallier and of her mollier, Dom Whomine Was Stolen at three years of age, are engraVen On them.
Those names are demanded by Daemones. It is Daemones t It is