The Sun.
London, England, 1821-10-22 00:00:00

FOREIGN LITERATURE.

No. XLV.
TIIEATRE COMPLET DES 'LATINS; i.e. The Com.
'-plete Latin Theatre, by J. B. LEVEE,. formerly Professor
of Rhetoric and Latin 'Literature, &c. and by the late Abbi
'LEMONIER ; with Dissertations, &c. by Nl..AmmlitY
vAL, of the Academy of Inscriptions, and M. ALEXANDRE
Dtrvat., of •the French Academy'. Plautus, Vols. V., VI.,
and VII. Bvo. Paris, 1821.

[Continued from our Paper of the 26th of April last.]
Three new volumes, containing eight comedies,
have just beenadded to the four volumes already
published by M. LEVEE, of which I gave an ac-
count in this Journal on the 21st, 23d, and 26th
of April last. The volume which yet remains to
be published will complete the Plays of Plautus,
and• will contain the Rudens, the Trinummus,
and the Truculentus ; the three whirl) I now an-
nounce include the Menechini, the Mercator, the
Miles Gloriosus, -the Mostellaria, the Perm, the
Pseudolus, the Ptcnzaus, and the Stichus. I have
nothing more to add respecting the importance of
this work, or the talent of the translator, on
which points I have sufficiently expressed my
opinion ; but I think it right to. apprize the
reader, that this. work gives the original on one
side and the translation on the opposite, and that
the original is printed with as much care and
neatness as the translator has displayed erudition,
and discernment in presenting. it to us pure and
correct. Whilst most authors swell the titles of
their works, M.,Levee does not announce in his
what is•necessary.to make us estimate properly
the extent of his labours : he do s not even men-
tion his translation, a very singular, omission,
since the translation is the principal object; and
he is equally silent concerning his philological
and archaeological notes, which aie always,use,
fal, and frequently indispensable, in explaining
a number of passages relative to manners and
customs, which differ from those of the present
day. We ought not to promise more than we
can perform ;. but we should take cafe not to
promise less, for the public is rat-her apt to bike
the author at his word, and to consider modesty
as a confession of incapacity.
The eight comedies just published by the
translatdr. tend further to confirm the opinions of
the two commentators, M.M. Duval, on the man-
ner of considering the Theatre of the Latins.
Unfortunately the two Academicians have rat!!er
suggested than discussed this question,' the
portance of which, however, they must have felt.
I have already attempted to develope their idea;
and motives, which the reader will doubtless ap-
preciate, induce me toyeturn to the subject again.
The question to be_ decided is, 'Whether the
theatre of the ancients can be compared to our's,
and whether the rules which guided- them in the
composition' of their comedies can be applied to
modern comedy ? I answer iii the negative ;
and shall endeavour to prove, that the ancient
authors cannot be brought into comparison with
the modern, because they proposed to .them-
selves a different object, and considered comedy
under other relations. If I succeed in my de-
sign, it will thence be obvious that the ancient
comedy is neither better nor worse than the mo-
dern, but that it is of a different.nature, and was'
composed with another intention and according
to other. principleS. It will then no longer be a
subject of debate,: whether the ancients have
done better or worse, but what they were com-
pelled to do, and What we should have done our-
selves under the same conditions and in like cir-
cumstances.
.llaving made these preliminary
remarks, we now proceed to the discussion.
• Our theatres are small ; they are closed at the
sides and the top, and the natural voice of the
actor may make itself heard in them ; we pay
for our places, and the difference in the price
divides the audience into different classes of
spectators, the lowest of which_is more polished
and less turbulent than the plebecula of the
Romans. At Rome, on the contrary, the theatres
were immense and open at the top, and the least
rain interrupted the spectacle; the admission
into them was gratuitous, and every being of the,
human form had a right to be present, without
excepting the dregs of the populace, the slaves,
and the women of the town. - These' theatres,
.that is to say these halls, could 'contain some
30,000
_aild others 40,000 spectators ; and the
populace being the Sovereign who was to
.be
amused and flattered, it necessarily followed
that, in the composition of the drama, authors
consulted more the popular taste than the acade-
mic. This difference in the physical constitution
of ancient and.modera theatres,_ renders thiavoid-
alyie a great- disparity in the result. To be seen
and heard at 'great distances by 40,000 spedta-
tors, the actors were obliged to raise themselves
on stilts, and to increase the volume of their voice
by a mechanicalicontrivance : these means were
found inStiflicientip, be heard intelligibly by an
indocile and far from silent multitude, and they
therefore_ marked the dialogue, and made it a
kind of. recitative, in order to slacken the utter-
ance and to sustain the voices of' the reciters on,
a high diapason ; they did not therefore speak,
but they sung,. fAensins.amedy.; and if any per-
son should doubt it, ,let him consult a number of
Latin pieces, and he will read—" Flaccus, a
freedman of •Claudius, wrote the music of this
comedy for two equal flutes ;" or again, " such
an one has composed the
.music for two unequal
flutes," Vic. But comedy had not choruses like
tragedy, and consequently it was the dialogue
vt%hich ?was recited, on a species of melopceia sus-
tained by flutes. This difficulty on the part of
the actors,,,in making themselves heard, necessa-
rily iufluenced , the' composition of the scenes.
Thence arose those long and frequent,soliloqUies,
in which the-actors state what they are going to
do, in order that the public, waiting for or ex-
pecting an effect, may bp more attentive to the
action or to the following scene ; thence those
prologUes or analyses of the piece delivered be-
forehand, to make the plot more clear ; and
thence those -addresSes to the spectators, who,
summoned by. the actor, listen to him with more
attention. Sometimes the actors speak to them
directly—;Qqisedetis ; at other times indirectly—
•Qui seden. t; and in the whole progress of the
piece, we see that the author has only one ob-
ject in view, that of making himself understood,
and
..Qnly one fear, that of not succeeding.
From the numerous instances which I could
quote of these addresses to the public, I

shall select one which, while it serves as a proof,'
exhibits besides a very remarkable singularity.—
It is that passage of Vlautns in which he applies
one of the rules of the dramatic art in a scene
where there is no queAtm whatever respecting
comedy, and gives thisipsson from the lips of a
character who has, nevertheless, the air of being
occupied with quite another subject.
In the Pwnulas {the Carthaginian), the slave
Milphion has just heard, on the stage, a piece of
news which restores the affairs of his master, and
will make him exceedingly joyful. The specta-
tors have heard the recital of the intelligence
which is going to effect. a total change in the
action, and if the Author had made the master
of the slave arrive at that precise moment, the
slave would have been obliged to repeat what
the Public knew already. Plautug.took care to
avoid this fault, which many Authors of the pre-
sent day still commit, notwithstanding the art is
no longer in its iqfancg. The Latin ..40thor ex-
tricates himself from. this difficulty by tbe.means
which I have before mentioned, and he'.inakes
Milphion say, " I will, go and relate every thing.
to my master, for it zodiac/ be a fault to tell him
before you, and to repeat -what you have just
heard (luteque audivislis mOdo)." Milphion is
alone on the stage ; auttivistis therefore can be
addressed only to the spectators. The slave
continues to say,—" It would be a proof of ig-
norance (inscitia). I prefer going . into the
house, and telling this news to my master, than to
tire you with a repetition of it." This little
fragment of dramatic compositipn would appear
very ridiculous on our stage, but the Romans
were habituated to these digressions, in which the
Public were considered as present at the action
of the drama. Plautus felt the awkwardness of
repeating 'a thing twice, and at the same time the
necessity of fixing the attention of the spectators
on this point, in order that they might not be
surprized, at the denouement which.is a natural
consequence of. the news related to Milphion.—
It %Vas as much as if lie had said, ." The rules of
art prohibit me from repeating what you have al-
ready heard, but do not forget it." . /
It appears from all these observatiOns, in proof
of which I might cite many more instances, that
the Latin -Comic Writers never could have enter-
tained -the'design, nor even the idea, of produc-
ing What we call illusion ; they never wished the
audience to believe they were witnessing a real
action, but that they presented to them only A ,
fable, -a fictitious action in which the actors di
not— speak spontaneously, but-recited parts theyl
had learned beforehand. The Public considered
comedy what it really is, and saw nothing but
comedians in assumed characters.

Our in .thod is much better, you will say.' I
admit it ; but we must not require of the ancients
what they never wished to do, and what they
could not have done. Besides, are we not rather
too proud of that apparent reality which we
fancy we introduce into our dramas, and of that
illusion which we imagine we produce ? Do we
not deceive ourselves respecting this illusion,
which at all times is very imperfect ? These sa-
loons, these rooms, which never-have more than
three silo, anti these personages who constantly
occupy.rile position where the fourth ought to
be ; these side speeches which are heard by a
thousand persons far distant, whilst the indivi-
dual who is quite close to the speaker is sup-
posed not to hear a syllable ; these scenes of
painted canvas, these trees, stiff and immovable
amid .storing and tempests, these canvas skies,
these mountains on which a dwarf becomes a
giant, and a hundred other inconsistencies ; yet
these are fife means by which you wish to
produce illusion ! _They_ are conventions, you
will say, they are concessions which the public
makes to the author, and .without which the dra-
matic art cannot exist. Well ! the ancients had
also their conventions, and the public then made
concessions which were absolutely necessary in
consequen-ce of the vast extent of their theatres,
the immense numbers of the audience, the diffi-
culty of the -actors making themselves beard,
and the imperious necessity of amusing a people-
king, who were not easily amused. It is still
insisted on, and I am told, that in spite of our
inconsistencies, our painted trees, and our three-
sided rooms, we know how to produce illusion,
since we, can make the spectators laugh. and weep.
I answer that even on the repetition of an interest-
ing tragedy, if the performers play their parts well,
we should be extremely affected, and even shed
tears, notwithstanding the Princess might appear
in a nightcap, Brutus in a frock dress, and Aga-
memnon in a 'riding coat. But who told you
that the•spectators did not! weep and did not
laugh at the theatres of the ancients ? We know,
on the contrary, -that the chefs d'xuvre of the
time excited -the most lively transports, and it
will certainly be admitted that the inhabitants of
Rothe and Athens were not all stupid. If our
great authors had been born in the-age of Plautus,
or of Terence, if they had been obliged to speak
to almost a whole nation, to use stilts, the speak-
ing-trumpet, and die recitative accompanied by
flutes ; or if Plautus and Terence had been born
among us," the same men who now despise them
would extol their genius, and, in the latter case,
would cite them as proofs .of our pre-eminence
over the ancients.

In another article, I shall treat of the last three
volumes published by M. Levee. I thought.it
right in the present one to discusss at length, a
question which was decided a, century ago, but
which has recently been revived at a time when
we ought to be more modest. Though I may not
have destroyed the claim to a disdainful superi-
ority, (I know that pride never yields), I shall
have shown, at least, that it is absurd to institute
a comparison between works written under other
conditions, and, according to other principles,
and composed with different intentions. We
have more genius, you may say ; I am very glad
to hear it, but I cannot help thinking, -that the
great men of a!-tiquity would have 'obtained aca-
demic honours, if they bad been. our cotempo-
raries, and had received the same advantages.
I shall conclude this article with combating an
error which has been adopted not only by men
of the world, but also by many men of letters.
I have read in modern works, and I hear it
affirmed, that z:onien were not preient at the dra-
aiiC exhibitions (;,f the antients. Numerous passages

from Latin authors and even Roman laws may be
quoted, which prove the presence of women at
scenic exhibitions, and which regulate their places
at the theatre; but, as we persist in translating
the word theatram by the word theatre, whilst it
signifies the stage, it is supposed women were
excluded from the theatre, because, in fact, they
were, it is said, excluded from the scene. A pro-
logue, however, of Plautus, evidently proves they
were present at them, and also that complaints
were made against their talkativeness. In the
prologue of the Pcenulus,ivhich I have before cited,
the author presents in a comic strain a theatrical
police regulation, in wh:ch he orders the .specta-
tors to be quiet and silent. This regulation is
very long, and among other articles we find the
following respecting the female sex : " Courtezans,
who are old (scorturn exoletum) shall not appear
in the front seats ; nor shall nurses bring infants to
the theatre."

Ne et ipsx sitiant, et pueri pereant
Neve esurientes hic, quasi hcedi, obvagiant.
Here then we have in these verses,infants who
cry out out like kids when they are hungry, and
nurses also who interrupt the play,- when they
are thirsty, ne ipsa, sitiant ; the actor then ad-
dresses himself to the ladies and says, " ladies
must keep silence, and not laugh out aloud."
Natrona tacitie spectent, tacit ridennt,
And he adds very unpolitely,
Ne et hic virissint et domi molestiw.l
As am,neither a Roman nor a republican I
Will not translate thig verse, It seems, to me that
the question is decided and that tni, presence of
women at the dramatic exhibitions of the ancients
can no longer be disputed.. I shall terminate
my article by a reflection which will connect this
no longer doubtful fact to the question on the
difference of the antient and modern theatres.
When we are well acquainted with the Latin
Comedy, when we have read such obscene•pieces
as the Asinaria, and especially. the Casino, when
when we have examined in the Latin text, and
not in the translation, the more than erotic Picture
with which Plautus regaled the Roman ladies in
the first scene of the fifth act of the Pseudolus,
we shall be well convinced these ladies (matron e)
could see and bear every thing, and we shall
then feel how unreasonable it is to judge, by the
test of our own habits and manners, of pieces
written for a time and a people whose manners
were so different.

PRICE Ot
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THE SUN.

SOLEM QUIS DICEiZB FALSUM AUDEAT

LONDON,
MONDAY, 06'7'0 GER 22, 1821.

131PORT.A.NT.
Extract of a Letter from the Agents to Lloyd's
at Buenos Ayres, dated Aug. 12:—" An armis-
tice has been concluded between the Ro:-aliits
and General SAN MARTIN."

From Ike Agents at Valparaiso, doted July 4 :----
" Mpatches have, been received by Sir TnomAs
'TARDY from Captain 'TALL, of his Majesty's
ship Conway, with intelligence pf an armistice
between the Patriot army and the Government
of Lima."

The foreign arrivals since our last consist of
the French Papers of Thursday and Friday, and
of Madrid Journals to the 9th instant, from
which we give extracts under our head of Foreign
Intelligence. The French Papers furnish us
with further details of the successes of the
Greeks in the Morea. Besides Novarina and
Napoli, the most important places in the Penin-
sula, Artos, and the strong castle of Belvedere/
have also fallen into the hands of the Greeks,
and very few places now remain in the 'pos'ses-
,
sion of the Turks. The probability of war be-
tween Russia and the Porte seems to gall
ground in Germany, and the Austrian funds
have in consequence fallen considerably; The
activity displayed by the diplomatic depart-
ments of Russia, Austria, and the other Powers
at Vienna would indicate the speedy deci'i'n
of the question of peace or war,
which has so
long agitated Europe, and we continue still in"
dined to the opinion: that -declaor-

or war.

New- York. Papers arrived this mornh:g to th'

2G th Sept.

[From the Gazette of he 24th.]
NAVY DEPARTMENT.-All vessels bound to 01°
West Indies and Gulph of Mexico, that shall
rendezvous, by the 15th day of October next, ill
lat. 37 degrees •N, and ten leagues east of C 1
Fleury, off the have
Chesapeake Bay, may he e
benefit of convoy of the United States ship 1191-
net and brig Spark.
CUTIACOA, AUG. IS.—No news of importance
to the commercial world, except. that 1000 1°,41.1;
who departed from Porto Cabello for Coro, h
been completely defeated at the latter place
the Patriots, and the Royalists could not I.:e
embark more than 3or 400 men. An immeilt-
quantity of arms and ammunition fell into tae
hands of the Independents. •

(From the Commercial Advertiser of the 04th Sept.)
Fitom HAVANA AND M Exlco.—An arrival at
Charlestown has furnished us with dates frorl
Vera Cruz to the,:ith August. On the 3d Au4vst
General O'DoNoJu lauded at Vera Cruz, and,
,after having- taken the usual oath, assumed thf:
r.eigns of Government, as Captain General.; va
Political Chief of the Kingdom of Mexico. 11'e

title of Vice Roy having been abolished by the
Constitution, on the same day he issued a Procla-
mation to the people, and on the 4th, in a public
address, he congratuLlted the trbops and inhabi-
tants on their having annihilated the enemy's
force which had appeared before their walls, the
greatest part of which, he observed, paid for their
temerity with the loss of life and liberty. On
the 2Sth ult. a fleet of 20 merchantmen sailed
from the Havana for Cadiz under convoy of 2
Sloops of War.

At the Westminster Sessions, on Saturday last,
11'illtam Grffiths was put upon his trial for being
Concerned in the riot at Knightsbridge Barracks,
on occasion of the funeral of IIoNEY and FrtANcts.
The defendant was acquitted, it appearing that
though he stood atnong—st The mob, he was at the
time close by the steps of his mother's house,
Where he
.resides. ‘%. hen apprehended by the
Constables, too, he explained that the words,
" stand, cowards, stand ! " which he had been'
heard to utter, were addressed, not to the
rioters, but to the Constables! The organ ,of
AVAITIIMAY takes occasion from this ac-
quittal to contend that there , was no riot at
Knightsbridge, and that Lord BATIIIniST, in aS-.
serting that there was a riot, in his letter of
reproof to Mr. Sheriff.WArrnmAN, was guilty of,
11 positive mis-statement ! This is a singular way
of reasoning. We apprehend that the bruises
sustained by the soldiers and the broken Windows
of the barracks afford rather stronger evidence
of the actital- occurrence of riot than the nega-
Eve proof that there was none, which is at-
tempted to be assumed from the acquittal of one
individual. Besides, Nvhy has the other defend-
ant, Rs, not made his appearance 'to take his
trial, but has suffered 'his recognizances to be
estreated ? lie had not the good fortune, .we
fear, to be standing near the'steps of his mother's
house.—But it is useless to dwell upon the mi-
serable sophistry by which the Opposition
w riters would attempt to infer the .absence
riot, Me re y because it has been decided by a
Jury that a certain individual was not one of .the
rioters. The trial itself proves that there was
11°E., The issue of the trial only proves that
t;), •
7ffiths was not concerned in it.

~..........
nis MAJESTY certainly visits Paris.—A cou-
rier arrived on Saturday last? from Sir CniRLES
STUAjzT, With a letter for the Lady ELIZABETH.
_Her Ladyship being now in Dublin, on a visit to
the Lotto LIEUTENANT, the messenger proceeded
I thither. The dispatch contained a summons to
In l'et our SOVEREIGN the first week in December,
itthat capital.—ln further corroboration of this,
is stated that a Noble Earl, now in Scotland,
nas been .) also summoned to proceed to Paris
zLout that period.—r Morning Paper.)
l
It is said that it is. his MAsEsTy's intention to
Pay a visit to the King of FRANCE. His most
Cli
"STAN MAJESTY has earnestly requested it,
41'd the KING will occupy the Valais Bourbon,
rl,lich has been fitted up for his reception.—
k Tiening- Paper.)
i Ilis tioyal Highness the Elector of HEssE
(I.;:tsstr, has sent his Grut Chamberlain, Baron
i'44;)ELEnEN, together with Baro3 LANGsDonrF,
,s ltoyal Highness's resident Minister at the
11,'
MitTis,h C"rt to Hanover, to congratulate his
his .(--...rir the King of ENGLAND on his arrival in
- urerrnal, dominions.

The
vacancy in the Irish Imperial Peerage is
purnoured to be filled up by one of the following
eers:—The Earls of Meath, Carrick, or Farn-
'am, or the Lords Castlemain, or Carbery.
Letters from Rome, of the 3d October, state,
taut the weather there had become very cold,
an that snow had fallen ; an extraordinary cir-
curmta.nce for the time of the year.
CORBETT has attacked Sir ROBERT WILSON
With -great virulence, obviously on account of the
Contribution raised in favour of the discarded
General. It must indeed he mortifying to the
former
to find that Sir Rohner obtained a seat
in Parliament for nothing, and that 5,0001. has
been raised for the Knight, whilst he himself hi
."1.11 endeavoured to procure the same sum to
Bain a seat by a penny subBcription.
A letter from Corfu, dated the 19th ult, says,
tlat GO
su; sail of Turkish, Egyptian, and Algerine
Ps of war were united in that vicinity, and
about to
proceed against the Greeks. •
Letters from Port-au-Priiice were. received on
'-'aturday. dated the 08th of August, nearly a
rtnon,th later than the accounts which last week
cceacned us through the United States ; but they
ill
of
no material news. President BOY ER was
of the fever and flux. - The .blouse of Repre-
dins t4tives _continued their Sittings, but their C
Ill'L4'y
• cushions related to subjects of, local
i
interest.
tlit,ilere is rumour about building a Palace 'in
i'Legent's Park. The scite Primrose
ott Ste. handsome new chapel erected near the
Ine at Bognor is finished, and - will soon be,
causecrSecia tett by-the Bishopof CIIICHESTER.
Prea•
"°ll'se to the fishermen continue to he
at th
u very Sunday afternoon, on the beach,
e ottorn of Ship-street, Brighton.
conf c.r..istoin has grown very common in London, for which we
e'", wa arc at a loss to find an excuse—a reason for its hay-
.:„g
so' generally, is not so difficult to be discov.ered.—
_-',a.tineari that of leasing out the vaults of chapels,to wine and
111;;_r1 merchants. We are very far from preaching up the
•,.. ".bug of the Saints • we consider it no sin to go to the play,
-4•• Play cards or sit On soft-bottomed chairs,' (which certain
CichwagsPrs oestiff principle hold •to be too great luxiiri9 for
thin,. Inners the creatures of ;this world), but we really do
tem._ that the making a wine-vault of the lowcr floor of a
Pie consecrated to the Divinity is a most shameful and
ilgrant breach of the decencies of public Protestant worship.
e Dandy Chapel in Albemarle-street has a regular shop
ral dwelling-house- under it, where, doubtless, samples are
and bottles finished. in a spirit of any thing but that
Chap auPposed to animate the congregation above ; Bedford
believes Pe-I Spring-garden Chapel, and many others; indeed, we
i alinost all the regular chapels in London, are profaned
u
the-same
.37. to wa Surely our Bishops should look this.—
,81l
fi There a )re this year five candidates for the of-
c,e.of 'Lord Mayor of Liverpbol, and the contest
Wprove a smart one, their interest being so
nearly balanced.L
iii.. .
AL DAwsoN, Esq., M. P. for Clonmel,
as most .liberally given to the Mendicity Insti-
11Int)°H of ..that place, 301.; to the Dispensary,
41;".1., to the Lying-in Establishment, 101. ; to
'''ettutie 'Orphan School, 101, and to anOtbkr
laritable last;tution, 101. .