book of Job, which, though it cannot be considered as a regular drama, yet certainly is written very much in the dramatic form, as the parties are introduced speaking with great fidelity of character, and as it deviates from strict historical accuracy for the sake of effect" (Gray, p. 250.) An expositor of the Bible, indeed, goes so far as to say; " It is undoubtedly a piece of dramatic poetry; that the several answers to Job's pleas make three distinct acts, Elihu's reply a fourth; the deity concluding in the fifth: the historical pants at the beginning and the end are a kind of prologue and epilogue, which, like those of the ancients, are plain narrations ilJustrating the poetical parts." The opinion most anciently and generally entertained respecting this book, was, that it composed by Moses to comfort the Israelites during their afflictions in Egypt; and others have supposed it to have been written by Ezekiel to comfort them during their captivity in Babylon."+

was

Now, although it must be acknowledged, that this sacred poem does not bear the form of a regular drama, and was not written for the purpose of being represented by different persons, sustaining the different characters introduced, which must always be considered as constituting what we mean by the general term drama, yet thus much we certainly learn from it, that this form of writing was considered, by persons acting under divine direcLon, as admirably well adapted to convey moral and religious truths. And though, in this particular instance, it would have been presumption in any one to have taken upon himself to represent the Almighty, or his angel, yet, of the other characters it may be said, that, if, instead of being read to the Jews by one person, it had been read by several, or if, instead of reading, the different parts had been committed to memory, and spoken, as if they had been the characters themselves, the effect would have been conaderably increased; and one cannot conceive wherein would have consisted the harm of thus delivering this lesson, or any other one d simila; concern. If, indeed, in doing

the, other circumstances had been added, such as profaneness towards God, or if false morals had been taught, or if the persons assembling to hear this lesson had been guilty of immoralities, then had these circumstances in themselves been wrong; but they would have been no part of the original design, and might have been separated from it again, and thas have left it in its original purity: and

this I take to be the case in the general question of the lawfulness of the stage. Abuses, and those grievous ones, no doubt, exist; but, though they have been long attached to the stage, they are by no means necessarily so, and might be separated from it, leaving it, not only an innocent amusement, but a highly rational and pleasing source of instruction.

It may be remarked, too, that St. Paul, (Acts xvii. 28.) in his address to the Athe-, nians, quotes the saying of one of their poets, and, in the xxvth ch. of 1. Cor. (v. 33.) he quotes the words of the dramatic poet Menander. Now, had he considered dramas as so absolutely unlawful, so bad in their origin, and so corrupt in their very nature, surely he would not have given this sanction to their instructive sayings?

Mr. P. says that "the stage seems to have adopted some sort of false religion, as it were, of its own; and so as to con: fuse the minds of its votaries, and lead them from the true God to lying fables." Its morality is often fantastic, and fre quently altogether false. These positions are elucidated by a copious appendage of notes, in which will be found many very interesting disquisitions. The plays quoted

or referred to are 154 in number.

With respect to the introduction of prayers on the stage, we subjoin a quotation, which will show our readers, the style in which the notes in general are framed.

My reasons for admitting of prayers, under certain restrictions, are given in the sermon. In addition to what I have there said, I will observe, that prayers and addresses to the deity are introduced into our oratorios, which, as I have before observed, (see p. 10 and 40) are dramatic representations; yet I never heard any one find fault with these. The objection then seems to be against the manner of introducing them, not against the thing itself, and I will therefore bring forward some instances of prayers, which I think are wrong and some which I consider as right.

In the first place, then, I would not allow of prayers offered to false objects, or to the true object upon a wrong occasion. Imogen,

*

In the poem of The Landscape, which contains many beauties and displays much taste, the author says:

To heaven devoutly I've address'd my prayer.

The attention is immediately roused to consider what can have thus excited his devotion; when we are told it is,

Again the moss-grown terraces to raise,
And spread the labyrinth's perplexing maze;

Cut short all intermission; front to front, Bring thou this fiend of Scotland, and myself, Within my sword's length set him; if he 'scape,

A. IV. S. 3.

Heaven forgive him too! which implies a wish, that Heaven may not forgive him; which, notwithstanding the injuries Macduff had sustained, is certainly an unchristian wish.

I saw this play acted at Covent Garden Theatre, in October 1807, after some years entire absence from all theatres, during which time my ideas respecting plays had undergone very great changes. When the performer went down upon one knee and spoke this, I felt very much shocked.

To shew how prone mankind are to abstract their thoughts from christianity, when they get to the poets and the common occurrences of the world, I cannot forbear bringing forward a passage from THE BISHOP OF LANDAF's Speech intended to have been spoken in the House of Lords, November 22, 1807, wherein he says, speaking of the ruler of France, "There is not an adiniral, an officer, a sailor, in the British navy, who does not burn with impatience to have an opportunity of attacking the enemy; who is not ready to exclaim with Macduff,

Within my sword's length set him; if he 'scape, May heav'n forgive him too." ! p. 42. This is the more remarkable, as only three pages farther on, the venerable and pious prelate, speaking of the calamities which would befal us, were we to become a prey to the invader, says, "Sooner than all this should happen, I would say (did Christianity permit such a wish) may the fate of the Saguntines become the fate of Britons !"—p, 45. Replace in even lines the ductile yew, And plant again the ancient avenue. B. II. 1. 8. This surely is too trifling an occasion upon which to address heaven. In the same poem curses are bestowed in the same wanton style: Curse on the pedant jargon, that defines Beauty's unbounded forms by given lines! With scorn eternal mark the cautions fool, Who'dares not judge till he consults his rule. B. I. 1. 79. Core on the shrubbery's insipid scenes! &c. B. II. 1. 219.

And again,

In Hamlet, A. III. S. 3. there is a scene where the King is represented as stung with remorse, on account of the discovery being made of his having murdered his brother Some of then and his reflections thereon. are very good, but the passage is too long and too well known to be quoted. At length h kneels, and continues for some time in tha posture, praying, or rather endeavouring t pray silently; till finding his soul too much distracted with a sense of his sin, he gives i up. During this scene Hamlet enters; and seeing him unguarded, would put him to death, but that he thinks killing him, whilst at his prayers, would be the mean of sending him to heaven, and so his father would not be revenged. This part of Hamlet's charac ter is so shocking, and contrary to the spirit of christianity, that it is omitted on the stage It is much to be wished that the same princi ple were extended. Our plays would then be much improved, and the passage before quoted from Macbeth would be equally omitted.

Will those who object to prayers acted upon the stage, allow children to be taught to kneel and lift up their hands, as in act of devotion before their heavenly Father, long before they can have an idea of such a Being as God? "Men are but children of a larger growth," and there are many grown persons, I fear, almost as little acquainted with their Creator and Redeemer, and as ignorant of the duty, and the nature and efficacy of prayer, as a child of a few years old can be, and to whom such a sight may be a valuable lesson.

In A World without Souls, (p. 25) are these remarkable words, which I submit to the consideration of the reader: "The first accents which Caroline St. Amand ever heard from the lips of her parents were those by which they taught her to know God: and her knees were bent, and her hands closed in

the stitade of devotion long before it was posle to know the object of prayer. They lared indeed to see her rehearse those scenes of piety, which they trusted she would act pon the stage of life."

It's an awful consideration that the two great theatres of the metropolis have so recently been laid in ashes. It were well that in the new theatres a new system of dramatic composition, a new system of theatrical representation, and a new system of management before the curtain could be adopted. Immoral as the stage is, what shall we say to the state of the labies! He must be either a bold or

an inconsiderate man who will lead his wife and his daughters through them, or permit his sons to encounter the swarms of prostitutes which infest them. They were not so in Garrick's time.

We heartily wish that a copy of Mr. Plumptre's book were put into the hands of every dramatic writer; that it were studied by the managers, and well considered by the Lord Chamberlain, and all who have any controul over the theatres. The LITERARY PANORAMA has never ailed to stigmatize offences against sense and decency committed by those who write for the stage; and we call upon all who labour for the public in the same department of literature, to co-operate with us. The public journalists, and the reviewers, should make it a common cause to set a mark of infamy on all dramatic authors who offend against religion and christian morality. We are proud of the attestation which Mr. P. bears to our zeal; with which we conclude our ac count of his book. After remarking," it is a pity that there is not some work particularly devoted to the examination of all our dramas which are acted in a season, both in a moral and religious point of view;" and lamenting that the monthly journals already established have not made this a more important article in their selection; he adds, in the last page of his work,

the oaths introduced, with references to 33 pages in which they appear; attaching blame to the licenser for suffering them to pass, and recommending the notice of this practice to the Society for the Suppression of Vice, and to the Magistrates. (See Literary Panorama, vol. iv. p. 299, also p. 288.) I wish that I had opportunity and leisure for referring to more If they are in the same style, I trust that they of those reviews before I close these notes. will have a considerable influence on the minds of all the different descriptions of persons concerned in our theatres, and most cordially do I wish them success.-(January the 3d, 1809.)

The Exposé; or, Napoleon Buonaparte

unmasked, in a condensed Statement of his Career and Atrocities; accompanied with Notes, &c. 8vo. pp. 240. bds. 6s. Miller, 1809.

THE man who ventures to expose a villain in his true colours, who strips him of the visor with which he seeks to delude the credulous multitude, confers an essential benefit on society. The readers of the LITERARY PANORAMA are pretty well acquainted with the " career and atrocities" of the Corsican; and, conse quently, are capable of forming a just estimate of his character; but, as there are people in the world who yet profess to admire him, the attempt to undeceive them is praiseworthy. We are told, that "the chief aim in the composition" before us" has been, to render the nar rative concise, to occupy the mind but for a short time in the reading, yet to endeavour to leave an impression which might come home to the bosom of every one; and, in this aim, the author has been successful. The subjoined excerpt, while it proves that his powers of con densation are not of an inferior descrip. tion, will also serve to enforce sentiments which we have frequently inculcated.

The writer objects to two of the characters, on moral principles, and shews wherein the delineation is faulty. He mentions, likewise,

Even while he was negociating peace with England, he seized the dominion over Italy, deaf to British remonstrance, and indifferent to the consequences; and the very next day after peace had been signed, as if to insult her, he deprived the prince of Orange of all claim to the stadtholdership of Holland, sent