stead of venting any passion, degenerates into a cool spectator, and undertakes to instruct the bystanders how a queen ought to behave on such an occasion : Viriate. It m'en fait voir ensemble, et 'lauteur, et la cause Act V. Sc. 3, So much in general upon the genuine sentiments of passion. I proceed to particular observations. And, first, passions seldom continue uniform any considerable time: they generally fluctuate, swelling and subsiding by turns, often in a quick succession ;* and the sentiments cannot be just unless they correspond to such fluctuation. Accordingly, climax never shows better than in expressing a swelling passion: the following passages may suffice for an illustration. Oroonoko. Can you raise the dead ? Oroonoko, Act II. Sc. 2. Almeria. -How hast thou charm'd Mourning Bride, Act I. Sc. 7. I would not be the villain that thou think'st For the whole space that's in the tyrant's grasp, Macbeth, Act IV. Sc. 4. The following passage expresses finely the progress of conviction. Let me not stir, nor breathe, lest I dissolve In the Mourning Bride, Act II. Sc. 6. progress of thought, our resolutions become more vigorous as well as our passions : If ever I do yield or give consent, By an action, word, or thought, to wed Another lord; may then just heav'n show'r down, &c. Ibid. Act I. Sc. 1. And this leads to a second observation. That the different stages of a passion, and its different directions, from birth to extinction, must be carefully represented in their order; because otherwise the sentiments, by being misplaced, will appear forced and unnatural. Resentment, for example, when provoked by an atrocious injury, discharges itself first upon the author: sentiments therefore of revenge come always first, and must in some measure be exhausted before the person injured think of grieving for himself. In the Cid of Corneille, Don Diegue having been affronted in a cruel manner, expresses scarce any sentiment of revenge, but is totally occupied in contemplating the low situation to which he is reduced by the affront: a a O rage ! ô desespoire ! ô vieillesse ennemie ! Le Cid, Act I. Sc. 7. · These sentiments are certainly not the first that are suggested by the passion of resentment. the first movements of resentment are always directed to its object, the very same is the case of grief. Yet with relation to the sudden and severe distemper that seized Alexander bathing in the river Cydnus, Quintus Curtius describes the first emotions of the army as directed to themselves, lamenting that they were left without a leader, far from home, and had scarce any hopes of returning in safety: their King's distress, which must naturally have been their first concern, occupies them but in the second place, according to that author. In the Aminta of Tasso, Sylvia, upon a report of her lover's death, which she believed certain, instead of bemoaning the loss of her beloved, turns . As her thoughts upon herself, and wonders her heart does not break: Ohime, ben son di sasso, Poi che questa novella non m'uccide. Act IV. Se. 2. In the tragedy of Jane Shore, Alicia, in the full purpose of destroying her rival, has the following reflection: Oh jealousy! thou bane of pleasing friendship, See where she comes! once my heart's dearest blessing, Act III. Sc. 1. These are the reflections of a cool spectator. A passion while it has the ascendant, and is freely indulged, suggests not to the person who feels it any sentiment to its own prejudice: reflections like the foregoing occur not readily till the passion has spent its vigour. A person sometimes is agitated at once by different passions; and the mind, in that case, vibrating like a pendulum, vents itself in sentiments that partake of the same vibration. This I give as a third observation: Queen. 'Would I had ne'er trod this English earth, Ye've angels' faces, but heaven knows your hearts. Alas! poor wenches, where are now your fortunes? Shipwreck'd upon a kingdom, where no pity, To her women. Henry VIII. Act III. Sc. 1. Othello. Oh devil, devil! (going Lodovico. Truly, an obedient lady: I do beseech your lordship, call her back. Oth, Mistress Oih. Ay; you did wish that I would make her turn: [Erit Desdemong. Othello, Act IV. Sc. 6. Æmilia. Oh! my good Lord, I would speak a word with you. Othello. Yes, 'tis Æmilia-By and by-She's dead. Shall she come in? were't good ? Othello, Act IV. Sc. 7. A fourth observation is, That nature, which gave us passions, and made them extremely beneficiał when moderate, intended undoubtedly that they should be subjected to the government of reason and conscience. * It is therefore against the order of nature, that, passion in any case should take the See chapter II. part vii, |