more apprehensive of the great account, or more doubtful of their own fitness to meet it, than this eminent moralist: if he had believed the Theatre to be such a den of wickedness as it has been represented, he would not thus have talked of going there when old and ill, and not expecting to live many weeks. It is true he was wont to speak slightingly of the profession of an actor, and undervalued the reputation of Garrick, but he never would allow any one else to do so in his presence; and when Garrick died, he affectionately eulogized him and his art, in his Life of Smith, by saying that "he had gladdened life, and that his death had eclipsed the gaiety of nations, and impoverished the public stock of harmless pleasure." COLERIDGE, a man whose piety and profound learning almost entitle him to a place among the divines themselves, is the author of a very successful tragedy called Remorse, of another called Zapolya, and the translator of Schiller's Wallenstein. THOMPSON, the author of the Seasons, whose hymn alone is a sermon, wrote five tragedies and a masque. LILLO, GOLDSMITH, MURPHY, BURGOYNE, and a host of other moral writers, may be added to those we have already named; and on summing up the list of dramatists, whose amiable and religious lives have thrown an additional lustre on their literary labours, let us not forgot those distinguished ladies, MISS HANNAH MORE, MISS

Q

JOANNA BAILLIE, MRS. INCHBALD, MISS MITFord, and MRS. HEMANS.

DR. GREGORY, in his "Legacy to his Daughters," says, "I know no entertainment that gives such pleasure to any person of sentiment or humour as the Theatre. But I am sorry to say there are few English comedies a lady can see, without a shock to delicacy.-Never go to a play that is particularly offensive to delicacy. Tragedy subjects you to no such distress; its sorrows will soften and ennoble your hearts." MRS. CHAPONE, in her “Letters to a young Lady," particularly recommends the study of Shakspeare and Milton. "The first," says she, "is not only incomparably the noblest genius in dramatic poetry, but the greatest master of nature, and the most perfect characterizer of men and manners in this last point of view, I think him inestimable; and I am persuaded that in the course of your life you will seldom find occasion to correct those observations on human nature, and those principles of morality, which you may extract from his capital pieces." D'ISRAELI, an author of sound moral and literary fame, in his "Curiosities of Literature," has the following observations: "A gloomy sect was formed, who drawing, as they fancied, the principles of their conduct from the literal precepts of the Gospel, framed those views of human nature, which were more practicable in a desert than in a city, and which were rather

suited to a monastic order than to a polished people. These were the Puritans, who at first, perhaps from utter simplicity, amongst other extravagant reforms, imagined that of the extinction of the Theatre. Numerous works from that time fatigued their pens and their readers' heads, founded on literal interpretations of the Scriptures, which were applied to our drama, though written ere our drama existed; and voluminous quotations from the Fathers, who had only witnessed farcical interludes and licentious pantomimes.-The licentiousness of our comedies had too often presented a fair occasion for their attacks, and they at length succeeded in purifying the Stage: we owe them this good, but we owe little gratitude to that blind zeal which was desirous of extinguishing the Theatre; which wanted the taste also to feel that the Theatre was a popular school of morality; that the Stage is a supplement to the pulpit, where virtue, according to Plato's sublime idea, moves our love and affections when made visible to the eye.

DR. BEATTIE, Professor of Moral Philosophy, in the College of Aberdeen, says, in his "Elements of Moral Science," "The only poet, modern or ancient, who, in the variety of his characters, can vie with Homer, is our great English dramatist, of whom the elegant and judicious Lord Lyttleton boldly, but with no blameable exaggeration, affirms, that if all human things were to perish except the

works of Shakspeare, it might still be known from them what man was. But it would require volumes and the labour of years to give a just analysis of the characters of Shakspeare." And further on he adds, "The Drummer, by Addison, The Conscious Lovers, by Steele, The Merry Wives of Windsor, by Shakspeare, The Clandestine Marriage by Colman and Garrick, are excellent comedies. Shakspeare's Merry Wives is probably the best in the world."

The celebrated EDMUND BURKE, in a letter to Malone, on receiving a copy of his History of the Stage, says, "A history of the Stage is no trivial thing to those who wish to study human nature, in all shapes and positions. It is of all things the most instructive to see not only the reflection of manners and characters, at several periods, but the modes of making this reflection, and the manner of adapting it at those periods to the taste and disposition of mankind. The Stage may be considered as the republic of active literature, and its history as the history of that state."

LORD KAMES, in his "Elements of Criticism," says, in speaking of tragic writing, "Many are the good effects of such compositions. A pathetic composition, whether epic or dramatic, tends to a habit of virtue, by exciting us to do what is right, and restraining us from what is wrong. Its frequent pictures of human woes produce besides two effects, extremely salutary; they improve our

sympathy, and fortify us to bear our own misfortunes. I cannot imagine any entertainment more suited to a rational being, than a work thus happily illustrating some moral truth; where a number of persons, of different characters, are engaged in an important action, some retarding, others promoting, the great catastrophe; and where there is dignity of style as well as matter."*

Το say that SIR WALTER SCOTT was a friend to the Theatre, will surprise no one. That truly great man was a friend to every art, and a patron of every artist, who by talent or character had any claim on his regard. His name will descend to posterity as one of the greatest human benefactors the world has ever produced, and with his opinion. on the present subject I shall close my extracts. After pointing out some very annoying abuses in the London Theatres, which might be easily reformed, he says, "Such an arrangement might indeed be objected to by those who entertain a holy horror of the very name of a Theatre; and who imagine impiety and blasphemy are inseparable from the Drama. We have no room left to argue with such persons, or we might endeavour to prove that the dramatic art is in itself as capable of being directed either to right or wrong purposes, as the art of printing. It is true that even after a play has been formed upon the most vir

*Chap. xxii. on Epic and Dramatic Compositions.