38

fervant of the God 36; under whofe facred roof having been nurtured aud trained he is impreffed with the pureft fentiments of benevolent gratitude, difplaying itself on every oc cafion, and glowing with the brightest fervour of devotion: He declares his refolution to ferve the Votaries of his divine Benefactor"; he venerates his unknown Sire Apollo, as his fofter-father 3, and is refolved to be indefatigable in his fa cred attention to the duties of the altar 39; yet notwithstanding the deepest sense of religious principle ingrafted in his foul, his philanthropy is of the most univerfal nature: He is unwilling to kill any bird, though infesting the confecrated fhrine, because they were the prophetick meffengers of the will of Gods to Men 40, in conformity to the received opi nion of thofe times, in which the flight of thefe animals was reverenced as ominous;

I would not kill thee,

'Twere pity, for to mortal man you bear

The meffage of the Gods.

(Potter, v. 179.)

Though an Attendant on the temple, he is no bigot in religion, when it clashes with morality: He revolts against the idea of injustice, charged by Creusa on Apollo;

Not fo; a mortal's bafenefs he difdains.

(Potter, v. 333.)

He complains of it, and cannot reconcile to his exalted conceptions of the divine nature the infirmity of human

44

crimes 42, nor the punishment of mortal tranfgreffions by divine justice, when the avenging Gods are themselves criminal 43: He severely cenfures the toleration of that established practife of protection at the altar, as unwifely contrived to shelter Iniquity, which ought certainly to be banished from it **; fince the unhallowed Suppliant pollutes it, and the good become thus indifcriminately blended with the bad by the connivance of the Deity 45: He rejects the attempt of Creufa, when she endeavours to palliate the refponse of the oracle, with this fine reply,

True is the God, his tripod elfe were vain.

Potter, v. 1589.

This is one of those noble paffages, if we borrow the language of Longinus 46, "where the naked thought of itself, without words, challenges our admiration from its inherent grandeur." The refolution of Ion, in every fituation, however exalted, is to cultivate virtue "7; this facred propenfity

.42 V. 437

47

43 V. 443 & 450. An elegant epigram in the Anthologia justifies the amours of Mortals by the example of the Pagan Gods;

Εἴ μοὶ τὶς μέμψοιτο, δαεὶς ὅτι λάτρις ἔρωτος
Φοιλῶ, θηρευτὴν ὄμμασιν ὀξὺν ἔχων,
Εἰδείη καὶ Ζῆνα, καὶ Αϊδα, τὸν τε θαλάσσης
Σκηπτέχον, μαλερῶν δῆλον ἔον]α πόθων.
Εἰ δε θεοὶ τοιοίδε, θεοῖς δ ̓ ἐνέπεσιν ἕπεσθαι
̓Ανθρώπες· τὶ θεῶν ἔργα μαθὼν ἀδικῶ 1

L. 7. ep. 180.

And this is the plaufible argument of Chærea in Terence, when he beheld the picture of Jupiter, defcending in a golden fhower into the bofoin of Danae; Ego homuncio hoc non facerem? (Eun. a. 3. f. 5.)

And I, poor mortal man, not do the fame! (Colman, Eun. a. 3. f. 6.) 46 Οθεν καὶ φωνῆς δίχα θαυμάζεται πολε ψιλή καθ ̓ ἑαυτὴν ἡ ἔννοια δι' αὐτὸ τὸ μεγαλόφρον. (De Sub. fect. 9. p. 42.

44 V. 1315.

ed. Pearce.)

45 V.

1319.

47 V. 440.

of

53

of inclination naturally throws around his mind the charm of philofophical ferenity: When Xuthus embraces him, as his Son, he yields only in obedience to the voice of the God"; and though allured by the promise of the King with the flattering expectation of wealth and fovereignty, he balances in his own mind between the external form of elevated grandeur, with all its treacherous appearances *, and the internal felicity of his future ftate at Athens, when thus aggrandized; as obnoxious to the hatred of the inferior 5°, the contempt of the wife, and the jealousy of the fuperior Citizens of that flate": To these he adds the deteftation of his fuppofed ftep-mother Creula, as imagined childless " herself, and the fatal confequences arifing from the malignity of woman under this predicament 5: Hence the fears of an exalted station prefent themselves to him ", and are oppofed to the calm enjoyment of retired life 5: His reluctance to affociate with the wicked, and to defert the good, which is a neceffary precaution annexed to a throne, is extremely amiable "7 : He is an enemy of noife 5, and a lover of tranquillity 59: He prizes leisure as the greatest bleffing, reflects with pleasure on the past employment of his life, and congratulates himself, that both law and nature confpired to render him just" He therefore begs leave to decline the intended honours from Xathus 63, and folicits to live in the enjoyment

55 V. 624.

58 V. 630.

54

58

56

& 6zz.

53 V. 610 & 613.

50 V. 625.

59 V. 632.

60 V. 634. Stiblinus in his note on this line obferves, that Socrates afferted that leifure was the most excellent of all poffeffions, according to that faying, Souxia xandr. (See Fd. P. Stephens, 1602. vol. 1. p. 197.)

61 V.638.

62 V. 643.

63 V. 645.

of

66

of himself 64. But compaffion, another principal feature in this interefting character, muft not be forgot; His tender concern for the melancholy Creufa, before he is apprized of the cause ", his anxiety to be informed of her story, his fympathy when he has heard it ", but, above all, his lamentation to Xuthus of her childlefs fituation in the midft of his own elevated profperity "7, are emanations of the moft feeling heart: His affectionate inclination to discover his Mother 68 which is neceffary to compleat his own happiness "9, and his respect for her person, though absent and unknown, proves the inimitable excellence of Euripides in dramatick pathos. Such is the faint outline of the princely Ion, to whom we may apply that beautiful apoftrophe, which the Chorus in the Athalie of Racine addreffes to Joas, who, in many respects, as will be shewn hereafter, correfponds with Ion;

O bien heureux mille fois

L'Enfant, que le Seigneur aime,
Qui de bonne heure entend fa voix,

Et que ce Dieu daigne inftruire lui-meme!

69

Loin du monde élevé, de tous les dons des Cieux

Il eft ornè dès fa naiffance;

Et du Mechant l'abord contagieux

N'altère point fon innocence. (A. 2.)

After this delineation, the Reader will undoubtedly be furprised to find, that the epithet affigned by the Pere Brumoy to the character of Ion is vindicatif or revengeful;

70

64 V. 646. • V. 563.

342.

65 V.
69 V. 670.

66 V. 307.
70 Tom. v. Ion, p. 130.

67 V. 619.

As this opinion must be entirely founded on his conduct in regard to Creufa in the latter part of the play, I should think it ungenerous and unfair, even if the affertion were well warranted, to confider him in a partial point of view from a particular scene, and not from the contemplation of the whole play: But this afperfion of the Critick will be found not to affect the Poet: Creufa had been condemned by the universal fuffrage of the Delphick Court, as guilty of intentional murder and facrilege, to an exemplary punishment : When Ion therefore, the innocent object of her cruel hatred, finds her sheltered at the altar, to the mockery of lawy and to the scandal of religion, he exclaims against the enormity of her crime, and the fanction of afylums: The manly fpirit of his refentment against a condemned and atrocious object throws a dignity around him, which raifes the tragick effect of horror, left he should facrifice his unknown Mother to his just indignation: However amiable his former tranquillity appeared, this elevation of paffion animates the action of the drama with great fuccefs: But with what humanity is he instantly foftened ", when by means of the tokens he dif covers the Parent in the Murderer! and with what tender foftnefs does he caution her against any impofition on Apollo to cover her own difgrace"! But if this criticism of the Pere Brumoy, reflecting on the character of Ion, were well founded, it would not conftitute a dramatick blemish; for Ariftotle 3 admirably obferves, "that the man of the first degree of virtue or vice is not fo much the proper object of Tragedy, as the mixed character between the two extremes:"

73

* V. 1438.

72 V. 1527.

δὲ τοιῦτος, ὁ μήτε ἀρετῇ διαφέρων καὶ δικαιοσύνη.

73 Ο μεταξὺ ἄρα τέτων λοιπός· ἔσι (De Poet. c. 13.)

But