Polynesian. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu], Hawaii) 1844-1864, 1856-11-15
No. IS

/
yals, date from a remote antiquity, and although
they were considerably modified bv Christian en-
bems and ideas, they luIk IN manv an obscure COR
ner of Roman and oriental record.
The gravity with which we EnClishmCn disport
ourselves, appeared 10 Frossart, accustomed to the
lighter aud more graceful mir,h of France fea-
ture OF peculiar significance in the national chars
acter II Is indeed impossible TO deny that the
English have relish for broad fun since have We
not Fielding and Smullet's. and Dickens novels
and ShlkSpeares FJlstaE constables and clowns
But we are not demonstratIye people like the
Athenlans and the French and although our com-
edy is rich that OF Arislophancs and Molierc,
our assemblies and recreations have assuredly au
air of steady and serious business. We would not,
indeed, exchange the general sobriety Of our cit
les for the lndIscrminate evity of Vienna, nor are
we disposed to regard it Il symptom Of any con
stItutlonal or deep-seated melancholy. We as
cn0e 1t rather to the more domestic character of
our habits, as compared with those of most coni-
mental nations. Even sadness can seldom MAIN
tam It's equable demeanOr In a crowd, VIII r. the
attention is perpetually diverted from self by the
passing objects, the converse and gesticulutions
going on on every side The liyeeSt people OF
antiquity were tine Athenians, whose life al
most passed in the streets; the external air and
restlessness are proyocatves if not to mirth at
least to cOmpanlOnship; and population that has
scarcely home, Is generally TO outward semblance
noisy and demonstrative. If physln .nomy indeed
be an index Of the Cheerfulness or t' gravity OF
people, we are inclined 10 think That an English
crowd will bear comparison with that of any coun-
thy for general expression of content. More
anxious faces will be met with In Paris or New
York in an hour than London exhibits in week al
though indeed on the occasion of a spectacle or
general holiday, there will be in both the former
cities, greater noise and ostentation of pleasure.
We seldom scream, shout, or give way to inextln-
guishable laughter; but neither DO often
shed tears, rend our hair, or commit suicide. II
we possess no sober certainty of waking bliss
nation, and exercise to the full our privilege Of
grumblipg at the weather, the crops, and the gov
ernment we have fewer 6neuieS, fewer revolutions,
fewer breakIngs up of the great central abysscs OF
passion than have occurred among nations claim
ing TO be liyelier and more sensitive thln our
selves.
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries,
masques and plays constituted prominent feature
III tie pastimes Of the English people. The world
has hitherto seen three great dramatic erus in three
distinct nations land the emlnence of Greece, Spain
and England, in this province Of art, may be at
tri5uted to the intense sympathy of their popula
ton generally with dramatic passion and pageantry.
OF Greece and Spain it must suffice TO observe,
that their great dramatic eras correspond nearly
with The most vigorous development of the nation
al energies. Greece owed tn the fusion of classes
resulting from her invasion by Persia and to the
national eXultatIOn consequent on Its conclusion,
all the nobler and most vital elements Of her dra-
matte literature. The restless activity which pro-
PEELED Spain in the fifteenth century towards enter
prise in Europe and the New World, broke down
in some degree her provincial differences and lsu-
lation, and fused into one the conflicting and
diversified clemo nts of her people Her theatre
was the exponent of the national triumphs, and
hcced to her, in the noblest mirrors of poetry the
deeds and sufferin.s that had rendered her great.
Her dramatic literature indeed, was the orly point
at which the upper and lower classess Of the Span
ish people really oscUlatCd. he court and the no
bles were too deeply intrenched behind their own
pride and immuuities to blend readily with the mid
die orders the towns sharply distinguished
from the country the inland provinces. where the
people were shepherds vinC-grOweTs, from the
coast provinces, where the inhabitants were en-
crossed by either regular or irregular trade. In
the Spanish drama, however, there existed a COM
mon point of union for all these classes, and 1t ex-
hibtS the characteristics of the nation even more
fully than the popular spcctaclCs. The English
drama rests upon broader basis than that OF either
Athens or Madrid. The avenues to it had been
prepared in the ruder periods Of the Plantagenets
For not only masques aud plays acted at court,
or in the castles of the mobiles, but itneraBt COM
panics wandered, in ancient Greece, from village
to village performing IN barns tayeTns, or IN the
farmhouse kitchen, the mlrahtiCS and mysteries
the prCludIal notes of AlarlDwe and Shakespeare.
To ourselves, who can measure the effect OF such
rude forCsdadOwInTS only by the impression they
would now produce, these legends, IN winch saints
and angels are actors, and the Deity himself often
an iuterIocutor, wear the scmGance of profanity.
Yet It is a sembance culy, for they were beheyed
when represented, were conceived IN good faIth,
and were acted with deIOut eaTnestness- They
were no more proaue tIau the carly Guaiutnessess
of painting, or the subtle inv 'stIgauons OF the
schoO-mcn. They were the expressions of an Iui-
agin1;ive age upon subjects which reject the cold
C, nclusions Of the reason. They were, moreover,
al Il time when few could read, and fewer could
write, the alphabet of people who felt strongly
even If they understood darh.y; and 10 the pas
sionate emotions occasionally displayed IN the
g MOraIties" we owe much of the luttler and more
eloquent passion of the national drama. All great
nations are indeed dramatic, because life Is at one
period of their fortunes 4 simple phenomenon and
an overpowering mystery. They see In part, Gnd
they propheSy in part and both their vision and
their apprrhensions are in earnest. To produce
greut dramatIst, the drama must previously be the
passion of a people. The drama IN the sixteenth
century was the especial amusement Of the English
from the palace to the viage-green- The English
were then IN a similar condition TO the Athenlans
at the epoch of their invasion by Persia. ILey
felt strong in themselves and in their power over
circumstances. They had survived that
drained the nations best blood; they troubled
neither with social problems nor subjective specu-
lations their vIgor and spirits were exnberant,
and new avenues seemed opening all sides for
their snewy strength OF mind and body. Tie re-
sources of ancient literature had recently been
opened to them the new products OF the Christian
mind of Europe were being daily brought within
their ken. Their native ballads aud legends were
still sung or rccted in streets, markets, and by fire.
sides and their fancy was stimulated by the Tevc-
lat,on Of lands beyond what had been supposed to
be a trackless and impossible ocean. Under this
combination Of emotions and circumstances, the
English drama began to erect the steps OF that au7
Il lfr,o