The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1852-11-25


, sosp',0nA0'e we're Esehylas, soPhssss, and
90; never were people more uAssiQnateS
-.sached to the drama than the Athenians" The |
plays these authors contain precepts of the highest
virtue, and each has moral full of instruction. |
1t was said Of Euripides that every verse was |
. precept. 1t is recorded in history that |
Athenian prisoners, taken in war by the
Sicans and being cold for slaves, and perish
ing from bad food and disease, were treated |
with lenity clothed and fed, and set at liberty when
it wss discovered that they could repeat the verses
Of Euripides On their return to Athens they went
to the poet in body to thank him as their deverer
As Bishop Horne remarks, scarcely any circum-
stance could be more pleasing and fattering than
this testimony. The writings of these dramatists
were tragedies, many Of which are handed down to
posterity, and speak for themselves. Wecannot ex
tend the same unqualified praise to the comedies OF
Aristophanes, which contained much that was loTs
and lcentous Yet even this writer afforded gre at
instruction. and what was objectio5ab in his orks
was more the fault of Paganism than OF the play
wright Il is curious fact, that the remain of the
plays Of Aristophanes which have reached our times
have been preserved by the partiality. of Saint
ChrysostoS, one Of the early Christ ian fathers,
who was so fond Of this author thst 'Ae constantly
slept With his works under his pillo<. Archbishop
Potter in his history of Greek lite tature claims for
Aristopbenes ''the browning merit of great mind,
and sound consistent view Of the philosophy Of
morals" It is worthy of remark, that the same
Athezians, who not only tolerated but revelled in
the RIGHTEOUSNESS of the comic poet, watched their
tragic drama with jealous eye and evinced the ut.
most socitude to preserve its purity, morality and
Justice. Comedy they considered the imitation or
mirror of life and manners-tragedy the standard Of
virtue Eurpides, in of his tragedies, puts into
the mouth of Bellerophon panegyric upon riches
which concludes 'Rches are the supreme good of
the human race, and. with reason, excite the adrn-
ration Of gods and men" The whole audience rose
and exclaimed against these sentiments, and were
| about to condemn the writer to Punishment, when
he desired the sentence to be deferred till the
conclusion Of the play, in which the advocate
of riches, as the supreme good, perishes miser-
ably. This, which is but an instance Of tn.
constant practice OF the Athenisn public, shows
how unrue is the assertion of the Hartford petition
that plays 10 obtain popularity, must rather pan
d. the vices and base passions of men than
sffeal 10 their virtues and nora feelings It will
be found in cur own theatres that those passages
which give expression to tie Hottest moral santi.
ments are most loudly applauded.
In Rome, Immediately preceding and during the
reign of Augustus. when the ancient world YVES
supposedto be at its meridian for learning, en-.
lghtenment, happiness, and civilization, then the
theatre fourshed most luxuriantly; in France,
during the reign of Louis XIV, when Corneille,
Racine, and particularly voltaire, exhibited
in their tragedies severe models iof classic pa
rity; and in England, during the reign of Eliza
hath oh ba., n AZ
age Of English literature From variety ofcauses
the taste of the Romans in the fine arts was inferior
TO that Of the Greeks, and as nation they never
displayed the same strong passion for the higher
walks Of tragedy and comedy. The plays Of Plan.
tus, and Terence, and Seneca, soon supplanted
by preference for mines, brutal gladatoral OK.
hbitons and the various games Of the circus which
so obscured the legitimate drama that it was
eventually lost in the progress of Roman de-
generaey.
The Hartford petition Ibelsthe drama ia the time
OF Louis XIV. of France, by holding it up the
model of impurity. Itnever was pure then Rev.
DR. Blair says that, ''what one might not expect
Voltaire is in the strain Of his sentiments the most
religious and the most moral of all tragic poets
OF the French conf, writer's, he says: The
general charac erstics Of the French comic theatre
are, that il is correct, cbaste and decent Moliere
is full Of mirth and pleasantly, and his pleasantly
is always Innocent; mis- comedies in verse--such az
the Nisanthrope and Tartuffe--sre a kind Of
digDifed comedy, in which vice is exposed in the
style Of elegant and polite satire; in his prose
comedies, though there is an abundance of rdcule
yet there is Fever anything found to offend a
modest ear, or to throw contempt sobriety and
virtue''
Ia the reign Of Charles III, of England, by the
universal corruption of manners, of which that dis
solute monarch was the great example and pattern
himself, the drama was debased that it became
a nuisance which the result of the attempt Of
the straight laced Puritans of that day to extia-
guieh it, together with every other amusement
From opposition to principles a. variance with hu-
nan ratuTe men ran into the opposite extremes;
and such would be the effect in this country if the
suecess of the resurrectionsts of the exploded dos,
tIines Of The Roundheads of two centuries ago wers
only commensurate with their wishes. There was
remarkable example of the effec. Of these restric
tons upon the human mind in the case Of tho
theatre at Milan. When Barromeus came to the
archbshoptic, in the heat OF mis- zeal he shut up
the play house, and expelled the players from the
city. He soon had reason to alter his opinion, for
he found that people ran into all OF excesses
and that wanting something to amuse them, they
committed the most horrid crimes by way of pas
time The result was that he repented Of his eact,
recalled the banished actors, and granted them the
freedom of the stage. DR.. johnson, a profound
moralist, and pious Christian, says: eff one was
to think continually Of death, the business of life
would stard still. an no friend to making re.
ligion appear too hard. Many good people hate
done harm By giving too severe notions of it." Sir
Walter Scott we'll observes: g To those distracted
spirits who feel, or suppose themselves capable Of
remaining constantly involved in heavenly thoughts
any sublunary amusement may justly seom frivo-
lous-but the mas Of mankind are no. so formed /"
The writer Of the Hartford petition has cited tho
nanes OF Plato, Aristotle, Scion, Cicero, Seneca,
Lyy. Taetus. ana Oilers AGAINST the stane thou oh