Such was the state of comedy at Athens, when her two great tragic poets acquired the glory of rendering virtue interesting, and crime odious, by the most affecting and terrible pictures. How singular, that the same people should delight in exhi bitions so opposite and contrasted the heroes of Sophocles and Euripides were no more, but the sage calumniated by Aristophanes was still living. The Athe nians could applaud with enthusiasm the great men of former days, while at the same time they could behold with satis faction their wisest philosopher exposed to contempt and ridicule.
The government, too late, perceived that the poets had eluded, in what was called middle comedy, the law which for bad the mention of names ; they enact ed another, which banished from the stage all personal imitation, and restricted co medy to the general representation of manners. This was the mt.* of new co medy : it ceased to be a direct satire, and assumed the legitimate and classical form which it has since preserved. Me nander shone in this department ; a poet as elegant and natural as Aristophanes was the reverse. We cannot but deeply regret the loss of his works, when we read the eulogies which Plutarch, in common with all the ancients, has pro nounced on them.
But it is easier to copy what is gross and low, than what is refined and noble ; hence the first Latin poets chose Aitisto plmes for their model. Of this number was Plautus, who, notwithstanding, does not resemble him. Terence, who came after Plautus, imitated Menander, with out equalling him ; Cmsar used to call him a demi-Menander, and reproached him with his want of the via comica, by which is meant those master-strokes which fathom characters, which dive into the inmost recesses of the soul, and expose its hidden vices to public derision and shame.
Plautus excels in gaiety, strength, and variety; Terence in truth, delicacy, and elegance: the one has the advantage of imagination, unrestrained by the rules of art over talents subjected to all those rules ; the other has the merit of uniting sprightliness with decency, politeness with pleasantry, and exactness with ease ; the one amuses by the matter, the other by the style and we wish Plautus had the refinement of Terence, and Terence the humour of Plautus.
The modifications of comedy in its first stages, and the varieties observable in it at the present day, all originate in the predominating character of each particu lar people, and in their respective forms of government. Thus, in a democratical state, the administration of government, and the conduct of the leading men, be ing the chief objects of animadversion and censure, the Athenian people, ever discontented and restless, delighted in theatrical satires, which exposed not only the vices of individuals, but the concerns of government, the prevarications of ora tors, the faults of generals, and even their own facility to be duped and corrupted.
Hence their applause at the political sa tires of Aristophanes. This licence was repressed as the government grew less popular, as may be seen in the later co medies of that author, and in what ves tige remains of those of Menander. In these the state was always respected, and private intrigues were substituted for public cabals.
The Romans under the consuls, as jealous of liberty as the Athenians, but more jealous of the dignity of their go vernment, never suffered the republic to be exposed to the shahs of poetic ridi cule : hence their first comic authors ven tured upon personal, but never upon po litical, satire.
The low popular comedy was always freely tolerated, and the comedy of Gre cian manners, called Palliata, enjoyed equal indulgence ; ,but when the nobles of Rome were introduced on the stage, as in the pieces called Prxtextx and Togatze, the action was more restrain ed, and ridicule was banished. This style, as Seneca observes, holds a middle rank between comedy and tragedy. But as luxury gradually softened the man ners of Rome, comedy lost its keenness and severity; and the Romans, having im bibed the vices of the Greeks, Terence, to pourtray them, had only to copy Me nander.
The same influence of public taste and political institutions has determined the character of comedy in every nation in Europe, since the revival of letters. A nation, which once affected a proud so lemnity of manners, and a romantic pride of sentiment, formed the model of its drama or intrigues full of incident, and on characters replete with hyperbole. Such is the Spanish theatre, their dramatic au thors display a forced exaggeration, and a freedom of imaginations which violates all rules. Yet with these faults, added to a fondness for puerile conceits, and far fetched equivoques, Lope. de Vega has attained to the first rank among modern poets. He unites the happiest discrimi nation of character to a strength of in vention, which even Corneille could ad mire. He took from Lope the character of his Menteur, and he declares he would have given two of his best pieces to have imagined it.