spirit of both, that I shall transcribe them at length : Obsecro vos ego, mihi auxilio, Oro, obtestor, sitis, et hominem demonstretis, qui eam abstulerit, Qui vestitu et creta occultant sese, atque sedent quasi sint Hem, nemo habet horum! occidisti. dic igitur, quis habet? nescis! Heu me miserum, miserum! perii male perditus! pes sume ornatus eo. Tantum gemiti et malæ molestiae hic dies mihi obtulit, Famem et pauperiem: perditissumus ego sum omnium in terra. Nam quid mihi opus est vita, qui tantum auri perdidi? ficantur, Meo malo et damno: pati nequeo. Nunc eo alii læti Qui peut-ce être? Qu'est-il devenu? Où est-il ? Où se cache-t-il? Que ferai-je pour le trouver? Où courir? Où ne pas courir? N'est-il point là? N'est-il point ici? Qui est-ce? Arrête. Ren-moi mon argent, coquin.. Ah! c'est moi. Que de gens assemblés! Je ne jette mes regards sur personne qui ne me donne des soupçons, et tout me semble mon voleur. Hé? De quoi est-ce qu'on parle là? De celui qui m'a dérobé? Quel bruit fait-on là-haut? Est-ce mon voleur qui y est? De grâce, si l'on sçait des nouvelles de mon voleur, je supplie que l'on m'en dise. N'est-il point caché là parmi vous ? Ils me regardent tous, et se mettent à rire, In both these instances comic despair is carried to the utmost; and Harpagon, seizing on his own arm, is a bold, but happy and original exaggeration. The subsequent scene between Euclio and Lyconides in the one, Harpagon and Valere in the other, is a specimen of natural équivoque; a recourse which seldom fails on the stage, even when it is extravagant. They mutually mistake each other's meaning most humorously: and the Pot and the Daughter being both of the same gender, the pronouns are let in to play their part with very great effect. Thus far the ancient and modern poets go hand in hand and good taste will bear Moliere out in those incidental touches of humour which he has superinduced. Indeed there is nothing in him so extravagant as the supposition of Strobilus, that Euclio's desire of saving carries him so far, as not only to grudge the escape of smoke from his kitchen chimney, but to catch his own breath while asleep, in a bag fastened to his mouth and throat. We may also notice the "ostende etiam tertiam" of Plautus, and the conceit of the cooks being all of Geryon's race, and having six hands a-piece. But whether Moliere can be justified when he travels so far out of the record as to superadd new circumstances to the character of the miser, may be much doubted. I feel quite clear, that to represent him in love, albeit that passion owes its birth and death to avarice, is not natural, and therefore a fault. Avarice is an engrossing and exclusive tyrant. The making Harpagon a usurer, and that towards his own son, renders the character more complicated than that of Euclio, who, having become rich by chance, has no object beyond the safe custody of his treasure. Harpagon's eager ness to amass by accumulation of interest, as well as to save by abstinence from expense, is perfectly in keeping with the avaricious character, as it appears in modern life, and therefore may, I think, be considered as a judicious graft on the original stock. The last piece of Moliere I shall notice is, Les Fourberies de Scapin. In this hero of the shoulderknot, the French poet, without direct copying, has brought together the humours of both Plautus and Terence, in that favourite and soul of the ancient stage, the currens Servus, qui fallit Senem. He has, however, in the much canvassed scene between Geronte and Scapin, descended to farce, and to the minor humour of dialect. But the general liveliness and rapid succession of intrigue is quite in the style of Plautus, especially in the fictitious adventure of the Turkish galley. The art with which the spectators are informed of the intended stratagem, by means of one character talking to himself, on the supposition of being alone, and of another overhearing and forming his own plans by what he says, is very much in Terence's spirit. Indeed Scapin bears a strong resemblance to Davus, in the Andrian. The first scene of the piece is also cleverly contrived, where the "plot is insinuated into the boxes," by means of a monosyllabic and tautological footman, who performs the office of Sosia in listening dutifully to his master's story. But it is time to close these remarks, which are becoming too desultory. Enough has been said. to prove, that Moliere has, on the whole, shown taste and skill in adapting Plautus and Terence to modern manners, similar to what those masters of the Roman comedy have exhibited, in the dress they have given to their originals. In one respect the task of the modern was more difficult, because he found it necessary to make his characters French, scarcely with the exception of his gods: but the Latin authors, in many cases, did not even take the trouble to shift their scene from Athens. ON THE EPICUREAN PHILOSOPHY. Ἐπίκουρος ὁ Γαργήττιος ἔλεγεν, ᾧ ὀλίγον οὐχ ̓ ἱκανὸν, ἀλλὰ τούτῳ ye oudèv ixavòv.-ELIAN. Var. Hist. lib. iv. cap. 13. γε οὐδὲν DIOGENES LAERTIUS mentions four persons who bore the name of Epicurus. This circumstance has led Cruquius, in his Commentary on Horace, to doubt whether the Gargettian Epicurus be the founder of the celebrated sect. "Fuit hic Philodemus Epicurus* (ut Strabo scribit) patria Gadaræus: quem Asconius Pedianus in oratione Cic. in Lucium Pisonem, scribit Epicureum fuisse ea ætate nobilissimum: sed arbitror apud Asconium legendum esse pro Epicureum, Epicurum dictum, ut habet Strabo, vel hunc ex illo restituendum : tamen Epicuri cujusdam (quem etiam Gargettium nominat) frequens est mentio apud Stobæum." This hesitation seems to have been excited by the passage in Stobæus; but Statius, Cicero, Elian, and Diogenes Laertius, all agree as to the birth-place of the founder: which is so far material, that supposing the Gargettian to be a different person, and only a follower, he would remain in possession of the excellent maxim ascribed to him by Ælian, and much other good morality, and leave the founder with nothing but a burden of metaphysical * Diogenes Laertius calls Philodemus an Epicurean. Gassendi mentions an Epicurus spoken of by Galen, as a maker of plasters. De Vita et Moribus Epicuri. |