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Show THE COMPOSITION OF BALLETS. 25 I prenede, le P. la Colonie, &c, inundated the French stage with their productions. 34. This piece, with that of Britannicus, are noble productions ; and those critics who pretend that this great poet wants tragic vigour, both in style and in the arrangement of the subject, betray their own want of judgment. The same observation may be made with respect to those detractors from the merit of Metastasio, who deny him energy when describing the passions, and elevation of style, when treating on heroic subjects. Let such persons read his Temistocle, la Clemenzudi Tito, Regolo, S,c. 35. There is as much difference between the Phedre of Racine, and the Hippolytus of the Greek poet, as there is between the latter piece and that of Seneca upon the same subject. 36. There are certain authors who would have the public believe that they are not indebted to the ancients either for style or invention. Even Metastasio, Alfieri, Goldoni, and some others may be accused of this species of ingratitude. Such authors insist that their best works were produced before having become acquainted with those of the celebrated men who preceded them ; the excellence of their talents, however, stood in no need of the support of falsehood. Virgil was not the less a great genius for having modelled himself upon Homer ; and would these moderns conceal their imitations of the Greeks and Romans ? This, indeed, is a contempt and negligence almost unpardonable in men of geuius. Would not that curiosity and emulation, so natural to talent, inspire Goldoni with the desire of becoming intimate with Plautus, Terence, Aristophanes, and Moliere ? Could the learned Graviua keep his scholar, Metastasio, from a knowledge of the Grecian drama ? Again, it is certain Alfieri could never have carried the Italian tragedy to such a pitch of perfection, if he had not previously studied the Greek and French drama, and even Shakspeare too. Voltaire, Boileau, and Moliere also, have not been always sincere in acknowledging literal y obligations. Justice should be done to those who have had so great an influence on modern fame ; withou the aid of the ancestral antique, should we have had a Gierusalemme, a Raphael, and a Racine. 37- " A nation of a character confessedly gloomy aud melancholic, where the enjoyment of society is so difficult of attaining, where men are divided into a species of castes who seldom communicate with each other; such a people require theatrical representations of a peculiar description, perhaps such as are intended for the eye rather than the heart, something shrewd and witty, rather than tender and pathetic. The more solitary men are, the deeper and |
