The New York herald., 1877-03-04
ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA.
SKETCH OF THE GREAT xoYpTIAs QUEEN BY
REV. JOHN wxIss-HEn ANCESTRY AND GEN.

SKETCH OF THE GREAT EGYpTIAs QUEEN BH
REV. JOHN wxIss-HER ANCESTRY AND GEN.
KRAL cHARAcTER
The Rev. John Weiss OF BOSTON, delivered the sec
ond lecture OF hs course yesterday the parlors Of
the American Geographical society. his subject being
"Autony and Cleopatra = aud especially be per-
sonal history and historic importance oi The great
Queen herself Al the outsst Mr. Weiss said that, IN
order 10 obtain Just appreciation Of the chsrscer o
Cleopatra would be necessary 'Orientste" oaF-
selves become acquainted with tho epoch ~ which
Cleopatra lived. well her line oil descsnI Cleo
pstra was part Greek. She was not pure EgyItian.
aud those who would represent her as such wcrc
wrong. When Miss Clara Morris thought OF playing
Cleopatra sue intended TO color herself IN French
bronzc. Had she done so rhc would have made .
mstakc Cleopatra, bcIng twothrds Greek, wns In
with Greek esprit tipged with the oriental pas
sions. She WAS OF Macedonian descent and was born
after the conquest OF Great Alexander 10 she East
She came OF the line OF Tho PtoIcmics. All ot the
Ptocmcs patrons Of literature and the aris. and
encouraged scholars 10 emgratc and settle In Egypt
They combined the greatest culture with the sic"'est
dssoiutencss of character Polcmy So,cr VII" d'cd
2s3 B. c., had his court Euclid the great ntbctu
tician, StcltR PEiictus, ana kept correspondence
with Theophrastus. the rival painters An'iphoius
and Apeiles Tor few years residents 0I AIex
andr,a Pt1lemy PhiIadcIphns luraed The .nuseum VI
Alexandria univtraily, and established profess
sorsh'ps, which were supportrd ty The STAR ~ WAS
university ntch a. the tntvcrsity at hcine'ber2
Is This was the urst Instance VI the Knu III sne
an the rtolem.c clear t1ro igh tolerated the jews
mas Drourn. u perfection. Polcm Puiiopier was
great lover OF literature AZ tho tiwnc q fto'-
emy rhysc6n, who ivetat 10 B. C., iArRamos was
The great nj or Aoxindria Literary centre IN
TO cmbarrass Pergamos and gioriiy Aiexandsta
nc stcprsa lhs exporon o. pavyrus m ,y was ns
forced that the scholars oi Pcrganos were at lheIr
wits end mud anything to write upon Az last:
spurred by necessity, they tnvcntcd parchment, ana
TO the Jealous rvary OF it6cmy Physcon W. are m
dsbtcd Tor this useful materMl. Mr Weiss tnen rap.
IDLY reviewed the rent ptoemes dowu TO ltolemy
AnIcles the aulc player. who .nc Athcr OF Cleo
patra There several Llcopatras, one oi whom
M s HSs rRP Is Aohsr Ss
oi Maccdon . sshird the daughter o. Ant'ocmus
Ill. who was ynarried 10 toleny Y; lss bC vi1 ve
killed sopof this Cleopatra merely i0r amusement
A Afth wAs the daughlcr uf Ptolemy " Shn kii'ec
her husband IN NJ O jealousy She also kieu one VI
har for dis0bedcnce, and tried TO poison nnother
and iang drank tho poisoned wine siic haa luennsu
former sou. This ono IN The line OF Shakcspenres
Cleopatra, who recoectcd these matters Of family
history. She used Try different posons both min-
Grad and vegetable on nsr slaves ana ,ns I'm s sna ~
found lhnl they died ~ torture aud tncr ooases
dlscoiosed Dne ds hcr inyslcsan ADVISED nes
picascd 10 Ind him SINK, as = were into q dreamy
sleep. and quietly die. while nothing but slight punc-
Cleopatra was born In the year 60 B. c. She had
daughter by Antony, who had daughter Lucliia.
who bccnrne wife Of Felix, before whom The Apos-
tic Paul was brought So Tacitus said, but Joscphus
said that uciia tho daughtero OF lerod Agrippa
MT Weiss sad that Tusitus us worthy ol occi as
Joscphns. Shakespeare does not describe Cleopatra,
but lnuves II the 10 imagine her fnrm and
beauty her niind aud character. browning. ~ ms
.Flhne ut the Fair undertakes 10 describe her; but
leaves the reader u draw from the play
her ;olitic subtle. cool and ambitious nature
Clrolmtra was drposed when Cesar camc to Alex
andria on his Roman misson OF victory, saw and
loved her. She went with IA IN 10 kamc anu lived
with hun In palace The site oi the present Gardens
of pumpey There her Cesarinn Was born. u was
Cleopatra who stimulated Marc Antony 70 oiier Caesar
the crown. She monarchisL Then came the
duggers of Brutus and Cassius and she Was lett ionc
She was hated by Tho Romans, knew IT, and icit Rome
one month utter Ciesars DEATH Her tact was ultra
feminine. She never lost sight OF moharchicai rule,
and her life III Rome infected her with Roman auOi-
lion.
rhe keynote OF tho play is struck In the very hrst
scene said Mr. Weiss, who read the scene with great
effect sShakespeare, he remarked, "entcrs upon It
INSTANTLY abruptly even. The woman in love, the
woman OF culture, the who hates rival with
something noble in her nature Is shown 10 the
reader"
A parallel was then drawn by the lecturer between
Cleopatra (sccne s Of act 3 Of the play and Queen
Mary of Scotland and Queen Elizabeth OF England by
Mr. Weiss, SAID that there was where Shakespeare
got his inspiration.
The lecture was listened to by a largo number Of
ladies with the most intense Interest. On Monday
next the third ectu of the course VIII be given and
the history OF Cleopatra TO her death will be treated