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blime and Pathetic.

interested in maintaining any opinion, which they have once advanced, the more insignificant of the Suthe object, and the more absurd the opinion, the more obstinately and violently will they contend; since the greater is the humiliation of confessing, and the shame of retracting error. Hence most of those opinions, in support of which much blood has been shed, and great persecutions either inflicted or endured, have been, either extravagant paradoxes, in which neither party could discover any real meaning; or frivolous distinctions, in which both would have been equally puzzled to point out any real differences.

38. Whatever tends to exalt the soul to enthusiasm, tends to melt it at the same time: whence tears are the ultimate effect of all very sublime impressions on the mind;-as much of those of a joyous, as those of a melancholy

cast:

my plenteous joys Wanton in fulness, seek to hide themselves In drops of sorrow

says the benevolent Duncan, on contemplating the prosperity of his kingdom, and the happiness and filial attachment of his subjects. Every generous, as well as every tender feeling of sympathy, when it reaches a certain pitch of rapture and enthusiasm, relieves its fulness in

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Of the Su

Pathetic.

tears* ;-even those feelings, which are excited

I. by the stern and unamiable passions of anger, blime and hatred, envy, and jealousy. Of this we have very striking instances in the sudden bursts of anger in Lear, the gloomy effusions of hatred and envy in de Montford, and the impassioned expressions of jealousy in Othello; all of which, in the glowing and enthusiastic parts, equally draw tears from the audience: not, indeed, from our sympathizing with any of those rough and turbulent passions; but because the pressure of such passions, upon great and elevated minds, exhibits an interesting struggle of contending affections; from which emanate the most striking flashes of glowing, pathetic, sublime, and vigorous sentiment; with all which we sympathize, in proportion to the truth, spirit, and energy, with which they are expressed. The most perfect instance of this kind is the tragedy of Macbeth; in which the character of an ungrateful traitor, murderer, usurper, and tyrant, is made, in the highest degree, interesting, by the sublime flashes of generosity, magnanimity, courage, and tenderness, which continually burst forth in the manly, but ineffective struggle of every exalted quality, that can dignify and adorn the human mind, first against the allurements of ambition, and afterwards against the

ὕτω κοινον τι αρα χαρα και λύπη δακρυα εσιν. Xenoph, Hellenic. vii. 1. f. 22.

pangs of remorse, and horrors of despair. Though his wife has been the cause of all his crimes and sufferings, neither the agony of his distress, nor the fury of his rage, ever draw from him an angry word or upbraiding expression towards her: but even when, at her instigation, he is about to add the murder of his friend, and late colleague, to that of his sovereign, kinsman, and benefactor, he is chiefly anxious that she should not share the guilt of his blood. "Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck, till thou applaud the deed." How much more real grandeur and exaltation of character is displayed in one such simple expression from the heart, than in all the laboured pomp of rhetorical amplification!

39. In the tragedy of Venice Preserved, the unprincipled malignity, and sanguinary atrocity of the conspirators are studiously exposed; and exaggerated to the utmost bounds of probability: while, in that of Julius Cæsar, their good qualities only are shown; the stern patriotism of the one leader; and the strict integrity, and amiable virtue of the other, being drawn in brighter colours than the impartial testimony of history warrants. Yet, though Shakspeare's poetry rises far above Otway's, the gallant and profligate impetuosity of Pierre; and the various conflicting passions

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Of the Sublime and Pathetic.

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of his perfidious friend, are far more interestOf the Su-ing and impressive, than the republican firmblime and ness of Cassius, or the philosophical benevoPathetic. lence of Brutus; merely because they are more

energetic for it is with the general energy, and not with the particular passions, that we sympathize, Men fit to disturb the peace of all the world, and rule it when 'tis wildest, are the proper materials for tragedy; since, how much soever we may dread, or abhor them in reality, we are always delighted with them in fiction.

40. The vindictive ferocity of Achilles has been thought to need some apology, even by the warmest admirers of the Iliad: but the poet, who had looked into the inmost recesses of the human mind, well knew that, had his hero been less ferocious, he must have been less energetic; and, consequently, less interesting and impressive. To rouse the feelings of his audience-to exalt and melt them by turns, was his object; and for that, he has shown as much taste and knowledge in the selection of his means, as genius and ability in the employment of them. Achilles weeps, with all the ecstacy of woe, over his insulted honour, and his slaughtered friend; but meets his own impending death with careless and haughty indifference; and when struggling in the overwhelming torrents of the Scamander, only

reproaches the Gods with not keeping their promise of an honourable and glorious termination to his life.

41. In all the fictions, either of poetry or imitative art, there can be nothing truly pathetic, unless it be, at the same time, in some degree, sublime: for, though, in scenes of real distress, pity may so far overcome scorn, that we may weep for sufferings, that are feebly or pusillanimously borne; yet, in fiction, scorn will always predominate, unless there be a display of vigour, as well as tenderness and sensibility of mind. Fiction is known to be fiction, even while it interests us most; and it is the dignified elevation of the sentiments of the actors or sufferers, that separates the interesting, or the pathetic, from the disgusting, or the ridiculous.

42. Scenes of extreme suffering, or hyperbolical atrocity, which, in real life, excite only the shudder of horror, are viewed only with disgust in fiction; whether it be in poetry, painting, or sculpture: for the mind is never deceived by such fictions; but always considers them as works of mere invention or imitation; and, as they are necessarily associated with repulsive and horrible ideas, never gives them that spontaneous attention, which alone can induce it to sympathize with the energies, either of active, or passive fortitude, displayed by the

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Of the Sublime and Pathetic.

1