important bufinefs, I amufed myself, in his abfence, with fome very highly finished drawings (the productions, as I afterward learned, of a young relation of his) which decorated the room into which I was fhewn. The fubjects of thefe were exceedingly mifcellaneous; but my attention was prefently fixed to one, the fimplicity of whofe group and figures, and the beauty and truth of whose colouring, together with the rural charms of the landfcape in the back ground, rendered it particularly fuitable to the difpofition of mind in which I then was.

1

The fore ground exhibited a fimple ruftic bench, under a thick spreading canopy of young and luxuriant trees, infcribed to conjugal affection, and a male and female figure, elegantly attired, advancing from it toward a beautiful little female infant, who, feated on the turf, fpread forth its pretty hands with fmiles toward them. Half concealed in embowering woods, a noble manfion decorated the neighbouring hill, whofe well-felected fite feemed to command all the beautiful varieties of the furrounding profpect.

There was an interefting impreffion of innocence and fympathy in the whole appearance of the lady, which, more than the blooming youth that fmiled confpicuous in her features, heightened the delicate graces of her form; and fomething of engaging Leneficence and affection in the countenance and attitude of her companion, who was bending forward to the fmiling cherub, and ftretching his hand playfully over its little head, that fascinated me, and compelled me to reflect, rather with pity, than indignation, on thofe beings who, dead to the focial endearments of domestic life, can laugh at all its tender cares, and ridicule its enjoyments as tame and infipid. In fhort, I regarded thefe penciled forms with that kind of complacent fmile with which, in a large and mixed circle, one frequently fingles out fome individual of pleafing form and congenial difpofition, with

whom one wishes to be farther acquainted.

White I was thus engaged, I fell into a train of reflection, which quickly banished from my mind the remembrance that it was but a drawing I was contemplating; and finking into a kind of reverie, I began to realize, as it were, the shadows I beheld.

From an ideal correfpondence between the mode of drefs and of architecture, &c. I immediately concluded the gentleman to be the lord of the noble manfion I have before noticed, on the neighbouring hill. I conceived him to be a man of tafte, fentiment, and virtue, who having laid out his grounds in the pure ftyle of rural elegance, had particularly erected a fimple ruftic feat infcribed to conjugal affection: building this feat in the rudest ftile, and with the moft frugal materials, to fhew that the virtuous felicity to which it is held facred, is, by the bounty of the Creator (who makes whatever is effential obtainable by all) fo conftituted, as to be open to the enjoyment of those who have neither affluence, nor fkill, for more coftly or ingenious accommodations.

To this feat, I fuppofe, he has led the lovely partner of his heart and fortunes, whom he has chofen from all the world, on account of the purity of her mind, the charms of her perfon, and the engaging fimplicity of her manners, to be the repofitory of his dearest confidence, and the fource and partner of all his terreftrial enjoyments; with her alfo he has brought the little darling image of her beauties-the fond pledge of their mutual affection-the fweet memento of nuptial blifs!

While this darling infant, feated on the grafs, has been innocently amufing itfelf with plucking the daifies and king-cups that enamel the verdant carpet, and lifping to its parents to mark their fimple beauties, their minds, faid I to myfelf, (fuperior to the common topics of vulgar obfervation) have been foaring on the wings

of

of contemplation to the great fource of all furrounding blefiings; have been expatiating on all the rich varieties of the landitape, and pointing out its contrafted beauties; for what fcene in nature is without its charms? At length, their fouls feafted with fo rational an entertainment, they have arifen from their ruftic feat, and, by parental endearments, are encouraging their little cherub to rife, and return with them to the manfion, where other pleafures, as rational, and, confequently, as interefting to hearts like theirs refined and elevated by useful culture, await to variegate the fcene.

With fuch a profpect prefent in my imagination, I felt my heart fuddenly warmed and elevated; and, ftruck with the beneficent wifdom of the Creator, who has contrived to make the strongest and most effential instinct of his rational creatures, when properly regulated, a fource at once of virtue and of pleasure, I exclaimed in the ardour of my foul:

All hail! thou beft, and pureft fpring of mortal happiness! thou fweeteft, ftrongeft attachment of the virtuous mind! bleft conjugal affection! It is by thee we are lifted above the brute creation, and are taught to acknowledge that there are pleasures fuperior to the boafted enjoyments of fenfualifts, who, diffipated in vicious variety, lose the ennobling delicacy of conitant attachments: pleafures to which Virtue imparts a fuperior zeft, and which Reason glories to prolong.

It is thou, O conjugal affection! who, concentrating to one point the fcattered rays of defire, makeft that which were elfe a troubled and unhallowed fire, glow, pure, and amiable, a kindly flame, genial to virtue and focial happinels. It is thou, alfo, who, knitting the indiffoluble bond of domelic amity, give birth to the focial feelings, and the tender ties of relative affection and regard. Without thee, the well-ordered garden of civil life, where joy and friendfhip, peace and union, bloom in perennial

fucceffion, would be a wild and defolated heath, where thorns of care, perplexity, and ftrife, would choak the rank neglected foil.

Confidence and civilization exist alone in the thee: for thou art the bond of fociety. Snap thee afunder the world's unhinged, and “ Chaos come again!"

Fools and libertines may revel in the boafted delights of infatiable variety: in vain! where vice kindles the reftlefs paffion, inconftancy can but enfure a change of difappointments: but when Virtue infpires the fettled tenderness of love, thy everduring obligations feem not too long

feel not like refraints upon the heart; for gentleness and forbearance are all thy own. Thou teachest the ftorm-toffed paffions to fubfide into the calm of mutual tenderness; blindest the eyes of cenforiousness; reconcilest the varying taftes and appetites, and giveft the nerve of fympathy, by which united hearts commune with each other's feelings, and learn to avoid the painful cruelty of giving pain.

Yes, conjugal affection! thou art the only fource of pure enjoyment. And though various nations, and contending fects, deck thee with different ornaments, and approach thee with diffimilar ceremonies, yet all civilized focieties have confpired to hail thee as the divinity on whom their perpetuity, union, peace, and happinefs depend. And though speculative Reason may revolt at thy indiffoluble bond, and man (ever free to fly from mifery) may jufly fnap the fetter that links him to perverse and inceffant difcord, yet Vice and Folly must have intruded in that union which neceffity prefumes to diffolve: and feldom is the bofom of either entirely pure, thofe who have united under thy banner, would wish to be released from the holy obligation.

when

Hail, then, bleft conjugal affection! friendly alike to happiness and virtue! who awakeft the finest feelings of the foul, and pourest pleasures on the most tender nerve of the fufcepti

ble

But, notwithstanding the advantages that were obtained by means of the Chorus, the inconveniencies on the other fide are fo great, as to render the modern practice of excluding the Chorus, far more eligible upon the whole for, if a natural and probable imitation of human ations be the chief end of the drama, no other perfons ought to be brought upon the tage, than thofe that are neceflary to the dramatic action. The introduction of an adventitious company of perfons, who have but a flight concern in the bufinefs of the play, is unnatural in itself, and embarraffing to the poet; and, although it may render the fpectacle fplendid, it tends undoubtedly, to render it also more cold and uninterefting, becaufè more unlike a real tranfaction. The mixture of mufic, or fong, on the part of the Chorus, with the dialogue carried on by the actors, is another unnatural circumftance, which removes the representation fill farther from the refemblance of life. The poet, more over, is fubjected to innumerable difficulties, in fo contriving his plan, that the prefence of the Chorus, during all the incidents of the play, fhall confift with any kind of probability. The fcene mufl be conftantly, and often abfurdly, laid in fome public place, that the Chorus may be fupposed to have free access to it. To many things that ought to be

tranfacted in private, the Chorus muft ever be witneffes; they must be the confederates of both parties, who who are, perhaps, confpiring against come fuccefively upon the fiage, and each other. In short, the manage

ment of a Chorus is an unnatural confinement to a poet; it requires too great a facrifice of probability in the conduct of the action, it has too much the air of a theatrical decoration, to be confiftent with that appearance of reality, which a poet muft ever preferve in order to move our paffions. The origin of Tragedy among the Greeks, we have fen, was a choral fong, or hymn to the gods. It is no wonder, therefore, that it fo long kept poffeffion of the Greck ftage. But, perhaps, it may be confidently afferted, that if, instead of the dramatic dialogue having been fuperadded to the Chorus, the dialogue itfelf had been the first invention, the Chorus, in that cafe, would never have been thought of.

One ufe, perhaps, night fill be made of the ancient Chorus, (which would be a confiderable improvement of the modern theatre) if, instead of that unmeaning, and often improperly-chofen mufic, with which the audience are entertained in the intervals between the acts, a Chorus were then to be introduced, the mufic and fongs of which, although forming no part of the play, fhould have a relation to the incidents of the preceding act, and to the difpofitions which thote incidents are prefumed to have awakened in the fpectators. The tone of the paffions would then be kept up without interruption, and all the good effects of the ancient Chorus might be preferved, for infpiring proper fentiments, and for increafing the morality of the performance, without the inconveniencies which arofe from the Chorus forming a conftituent part of the play, and mingling unfeafonably, and unnaturally, with the perfonages of the drama.

After this view of the rife of Tragedy, and of the nature of the anci

ent