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'our pily: Ihe perCun \Vho ClIlrm ,

bein~

innocent, is

trecd flOm the grealetl of all turmmts, that aoguifh of

mmrl which is

oce~Goneu

by remurt'c.

An alroeious

criAlin~l,

the olher

h~nd,

who brings

milfortllnes upon himfelf, excitcs lillle pity, ror

d,f·

fdeol re.fun: his rcmo,fe, it is !rue,

ag~ravates

11is

dirlr&,

~nd

fwclls the firrl emotioos of pity

but thcn

our hJlrld of hin¡ as a crimin,1ulcoding with pily, blunts

its edge conGderably. Misfortllnes Ihal are nOI inno·

eenl, oor highly criminal, paruke the

advant~gcs

01' each

eXlrCn1~ :

thcyare auended with remorCe 10cmbiner the

dirlrcli, which raifes our pity to a great height

and the

lIight indignation we have at a venial

f~lllt,

detraéh not

fenGbly from our pity. For this

re~Con, Ih~

happierl of

all Cuujdls for raifing pity, is where aman 01' integrity

f~lis

ioto a greal misfortuna by doing

a8ion Ihal

innocenl, but which by fome Gngular means he conccivcs

10 be criminal: his remorCe aggravates his dillrefs

and

Ollr compaffioo, unrellrained by indignatioo, rifts 10 ils

higherl pilch. Pily comes thus to be the mling paOioo

of a palhctic Iragedy

and by proper reprcCenwion, may

raiCcd 10 a height

fc~rce

excecded by any thing felt io

rcallife. Amoral

tr~gedy

takes in a Jargcr ficlJ; for,

beGJe excrciGng our pity, it raifes aoother

p~Oion,

felliOl

indeerl, but which deferves to be chcrilhed equally with

Ihe

Coci~1 ~fFeaions .

The p.10ion we have in view is

fe~r

or terror

fo r when a misfonune is rhe

lutur~1

conCe·

qucnce 01' Come wroog bias in the temper, every fpetlator

who is coofcious 01' fueha wroog biAS

his OIVO temper,

l~ke6

the

~12fm,

aod

dre~ds

his falliog into the

C~llle

misfo~1I1ne :

and it is by this emotion

fear 01' terror,

freq uendy reiteraled in R,'aricty of moral tragedics, Ihat

the

Cpeél~lors

are put upon thcir guard agaiDfl the ulCor.

ders of p.,ffion.

T lle commcntatQrs upon Arirlotle, and other crities,

have Ileen much

grav~lIed

about theaccount given 01' tra,

gcdy by this Ruthor: •• T hat by means of pity and ter·

ror, it refines Of purifies in us all COTlS of p.ilion." But

no one who has a clear conception of the <nd and efl'eéls

of a good tragedy, can have any dilliculty about Arillo·

de's meanin'g: our pity

i9' eng~ged

for the perfons repre·

feoted

and our terror is upon our oIVn accounr.. l'ity

iodeed is here made 10 rrand for aJl the Cympatheuc COlO'

tions , bec"JCe of theCe it is the capital. There can be

no duubt, Ihat our Cympathetic emotions are refined or

improved by d.lily exerciCc; ¡nd in what manner our o·

ther paffions are

I'efio~d

by terror, we have jurl nolV

faid.

With reCpea to Cubje8s 01' this kind, it may indeed be

a doublful querrion, whelher the concluGon ought not

always 10 be fonuaate. Where a perCon of integrity is

reprtCeroterl as Cufl'eríng to the end under misfonunes

rurclyaccidental, we depan diCcontentcd, and widl Come

óbCcure CenCe of injunice: fur Celdom is "lan fo CubmiC

Gve 10 providence, as DOt tO revolt againll the. tyranny

and vexatioDs of blind chaoce ; he will ue inclined tOCay,

This ollght not tObe. We give for 3n example the Ro·

meo and Juli<t of Shakefpeare,

~'hm

thef.tal

cat~rlrophe

occafiooed by Friar Laurence'! coming tO thc monu·

meot a minute too late. We are vexed at the unlucky

chance, and go away di/falisficd . Such

impr~JfioD'.

e o

which ought not 10 be cherilhed, ale a fuflicient reafon

lar cxcJudlng rlorics of Ih.,t kind Irom the theme,

The misfol tunes of a vinuous perfon, ¡riling from

oece[,ry cauCcs, or from a chain of unavoidable

c¡rcumflanccs, wirt be confidcred in a rllfl'ercnt light :

chance afFords always a gloorny profpetl, and in

evcry

inrl~nce

gives an imprt·flion of anarchy and mifrule :

a rcgul,r chain, on the conlrary, of cauCes and efFcas,.

diretled by the' general laws of nature, never fails to fu g–

gel! the hand of Providence; tOwhich we fubmit with.

out reCeotment, being conCcious that Cubmdlion is our

duty. For

th~1

re.,Con, we are not

dtf~uned

with the

diflrelres

DI'

Voltairc's Mariamoe, thougll redoubled on

her tiJl the moment of her dealh, wilhoul the leal! faul!

or failing on her pan: her mis¡'onunes ar¿ owing to a

cauCe eXlremcly oalural. and not unfrequent, Ihe jea.

10uCy of a barbarous hu!band. The fate of DeCdemona

io thc Moor of Veoice,

afF,~tls

liS

io the fame

m~nner.

We are OOt

e~fily

reconciled 10 the fate of Cordeli.

in Kiog Lm : the cauCes 01' her. misfonuoe are by no

means

evidenl, as

cxclude the gloomy Dotion of

chdnce. In Ihon, a perf<8 charaller Cufl'cring uoder

misfonunes, is qualified foi bciog thc Cubjell of a pathe.

tic tragedy, provided chance be excluded. Nor is a per–

fea charaaer altogether iocooGrlent with a moral tra–

gedy : it mayCucceCsfully be iOlroduced as an under·part,

fu pl'oGng the chief place

filled with an imperfetl

charatlcr from which a moral can be drawn. This is

the cafe of

D~Crlemona

anu

M,ri~lllne

jurl OOIV mentioD–

ed; and it is the caCe of Monimía and 8elvidera, in Ot–

IVay's tIVO tragedics, the Orphao, and Venice Pre

ferved.

Fable operates on our pafÍions, by repreCentiog il!

e–

vents as paffing in our Gght, and by deluding us ioto a

eonl'iélion of rcalilY. Hence, in epic and dramatic com–

pofitions, it is 01' impomnce

employ meaos of every

Cort that

m~y

promole the

delur.on

, fueh as Ihe borrow–

ing from hiflory Come noted evem, with the a.iditionof

circumrlances that may ¡nCwer the author's purpoCe : Ihe

princip~1

fatls ore kn&wn to be true

and we are difpo–

Ced tOextend our bclief to every circumrlance. But in

chuGng a fu bje8 that makes a figure in hirlory, greatet

preeaution is oeeefTary

th~n

where the whole is a 6aion.

In the laner caCc there is Cull fcope for invention: the

author is

unde~

00 re(lraiot orher than that the cbarac–

ters aod incidems be jurl copies of 'nature. !lut where

the rlory is founded on truth, no circuml!anm mu(l be

addcd, but fuch as connra nalurally with what are

knowo to be true; hirlory m'Y be fupplied, but Olurl

not be conlradltled : funher, the

Cubj~l

chofen murl be

dirlant in time, or at Icarl in placc ; for the familiarity

of perfons and events nearly connctlcd \Vith us, OUglll by

all means to bc avoided. Familiarity ought more eCpeci–

ally to be avoided in an epic poem, Ihe peculiar charae–

ter of which is digni, y amI e1evdtioo: ruodero Olanner,

make but a poor figure in fuch a poem.

After Voltai re, no writer, it is probable, will think

of rearing anepic poem upoo a recent event in the hil!ory

of his dIVn couotry. Bnt an evenl of this k:od is pero

haps not allOgelher uoqualified for tragedy: it \Vas ad·

mitted in Creccc

aod Shakcfpcar has eOlp!oyed it fue–

•

ecfsfull,