inferior to many with regard to the perfection of the art. Shakspeare may be reproached with incoherent images, prolixity, and useless repetitions: but the attention of the spectate in those days was too easily captivated, that the author should be very strict with himself. A dramatic poet, to attain all the perfection his talents will permit, must neither be judged by impaired age, nor by youth, who find the source of emotion within themselves.

The French have often condemned the scenes of horror represented by Shakspeare; not because they excited an emotion too strong, but because they sometimes destroyed theatrical illusion. They certainly appear to me susceptible of criticism. In the first place, there are certain situations which are only frightful; and the bad imitators of Shakspeare wishing to represent them, produced nothing more than a disagreeable invention, without any of the pleasures which the tragedy ought to produce: and again, there are many situations really affecting in themselves, which nevertheless require stage effect to amuse the attention, and of course the interest.

When the governor of the tower, in which the young Arthur is confined, orders a red-hot iron to be brought, to put out his eyes; without speaking of the atrociousness of such a scene, there must pass upon the stage an action, the imitation of which is impossible, and the attention of the audience is so much taken up with the execution of it, that the moral effect is quite forgotten.

The character of Caliban, in the "Tempest," is singularly original: but the almost animal figure, which his dress must give him, turns the attention from all that is philosophical in the conception of this part.

In reading "Richard III," one of the beauties is what he himself says of his natural deformity. One can feel that the horror which he causes, ought to act reciprocally upon his own mind, and render it vet more atrocious. Nevertheless, can there be any thing more difficult in an elevated style, or more nearly allied to ridicule, than the imitation of an ill-shaped man upon the stage? Every thing in nature may interest the mind; but upon the stage, the illusion of sight must be treated with the pardon to the governor Angelo, who had condemned his brother to die. Isabeila, young and timid, answers, that she fears it would be useless; that Angedo was 400 much irritated, and would be inflexible, &c. Lucien insists, and says to her,

Our doubts are traitors,

And make us lose the good we might win

By fearing to attempt.

Who can have lived in a revolution, and not be sensible of the truth of these words!

most scrupulous caution, or every serious effect will be irrepa rably destroyed.

Shakspeare also represented physical sufferings much too often. Philoctetes is the only example of any theatrical effect being produced by it; and in this instance, it was the heroic cause of his wounds that fixed the attention of the spectators. Physical sufferings may be related, but cannot be represented. It is not the author, but the actor, who cannot express himself with grandeur; it is not the ideas, but the senses, which refuse to lend their aid to this style of imitation.

In short, one of the greatest faults which Shakspeare can be accused of, is his want of simplicity in the intervals of his sublime passages. When he is not exalted, he is affected: he want ed the art of sustaining himself, that is to say, of being as natural in his scenes of transition, as he was in the grand movements of the soul.

Otway, Rowe, and some other English poets, Addison excepted, all wrote their tragedies in the style of Shakspeare: and Otway's "Venice Preserved," almost equalled his model. But the two most truly tragical situations ever conceived by men, were first portrayed by Shakspeare: madness caused by misfortune, and misfortune abandoned to solitude and itself.

Ajax is furious; Orestes is pursued by the anger of the gods; Phradra is consumed by the fever of love; but Hamlet, Ophelia, and King Lear, with different situations and different characters, have all, nevertheless, the same marks of derangement: it is distress alone that speaks in them; every idea of common life disappears before this predominant one: they are alive to nothing but affection; and this affecting delirium of a suffering object seems to set it free from that timidity which forbids us to expose ourselves without reserve to the eyes of pity. The spectators would perhaps refuse their sympathy to voluntary complaints; but they readily yield to the emotion which arises from a grief that cannot answer for itself. Insanity, as portrayed by Shakspeare, is the finest picture of the shipwreck of moral nature, when the storm of life surpasses its strength.

It may be a question whether the theatre of republican France, like the English theatre, will now admit of their heroes being painted with all their foibles, the virtues with their inconclusiveness, and common circumstances connected with elevated situations? In short, will the tragic characters be taken from recollection, from human life, or from the beautiful ideal? This is a question which I propose to discuss after having spoken of the tragedies of Racine and Voltaire. I shall also examine, in the second part of this work, the influence which the French revolution is likely to have upon literature.

164

REMARKABLE CHILD; NATIVE OF AMÈRICA.

[From the Literary Panorama, for October 1812.]

The following article combines both curiosity and benevolence. We are informed by friends who have closely examined the child, that he justifies this report, and more. The account is drawn up by the well known calculator Mr. Francis Baily; and Mr. Bonneycastle, of Woolwich, is the gentleman to whom it is proposed to commit the youth for tuition. That an instance of powers so remarkable should be educated to advantage, must appear highly desirable to all lovers of science; and may, perhaps, be still further recommended by considerations of policy, as well as of benevolence.

London, August 20th, 1812. THE attention of the philosophical world has been lately attracted by the most singular phenomenon in the history of the human mind that perhaps ever existed. It is the case of a child, under eight years of age, who, without any previous knowledge of the common rules of arithmetic, or even of the use and power of the Arabic numerals, and without having given any particular attention to the subject, possesses (as if by intuition) the singular faculty of solving a great variety of arithmetical questions by the mere operation of the mind, and without the usual assistance of any visible symbol or contrivance.

His name is ZERAH COLBURN, born at Cabut, (a town at the head of Onion river, in the United States of America,) September 1, 1804. In August 1810, although at that time not six years of age, he first began to show those wonderful powers of calculation which have since so much attracted the attention and excited the astonishment of every person who has witnessed his extraordinary abilities. The discovery was made by accident. His father, who had not given him any other instruction than such as was to be obtained at a small school established in that unfrequented and remote part of the country, (and which did not include either writing or cyphering,) was much surprised one day to hear him repeating the products of several numbers. Struck with amazement at the circumstance, he proposed a variety of arithmetical questions to him, all of which the child solved with remarkable facility and correctness. The news of this infant prodigy soon circulated through the neighbourhood; and many persons came from distant parts to witness so singular a circumstance. The father, encouraged by the unanimous opinion of all who came to see him, was induced to undertake, with this child, the tour of the United States. They were every

where received with the most flattering expressions: and in the several towns which they visited, various plans were suggested to educate and bring up the child, free from all expense to his family. Yielding, however, to the pressing solicitations of his friends, and urged by the most respectable and powerful recommendations, as well as by a view to his son's more complete education, the father has brought the child to this country, where they arrived on the 12th of May last: and the inhabitants of this metropolis have for these last three months had an opportunity of seeing and examining this wonderful phenomenon; [at the Exhibition Room, Spring Gardens;] and of verifying the reports that have been circulated respecting him.

Many persons of the first eminence for their knowledge in mathematics, and well known for their philosophical inquiries, have made a point of seeing and conversing with him: and have been struck with astonishment at his extraordinary powers. It is correctly true, as stated of him, tha:-" He will not only determine, with the greatest facility and despatch, the exact number of minutes or seconds in any given period of time; but will also solve any other question of a similar kind. He will tell the exact product arising from the multiplication of any number, consisting of two, three, or four figures, by any other number consisting of the like number of figures. Or, any number, consisting of six or seven places of figures, being proposed, he will determine, with equal expedition and ease, all the factors of which it is composed. This singular faculty consequently extends not only to the raising of powers, but also to the extraction of the square and cube roots of the number proposed; and likewise to the means of determining whether it be a prime number (or a number incapable of division by any other number); for which case there does not exist, at present, any general rule amongst mathematicians." All these, and a variety of other questions connected therewith, are answered by this child with such promptness and accuracy (and in the midst of his juvenile pursuits) as to astonish every person who has visited him.

At a meeting of his friends which was held for the purpose of concerting the best method of promoting the views of the father, this child undertook, and completely succeeded in, raising the number 8 progressively up to the sixteenth power!!! and in naming the last result, viz. 281,474,976,710,656, he was right in every figure. He was then tried as to other numbers, consisting of one figure; all of which he raised (by actual multiplication and not by memory) as high as the tenth power, with so much facility and despatch, that the person appointed to take down the results, was obliged to enjoin him not to be so rapid! With respect to numbers consisting of two figures, he would raise some of

them to the sixth, seventh, and eighth power; but not always with equal facility: for the larger the products became, the more difficult he found it to proceed. He was asked the square root of 106929, and before the number could be written down, he immediately answered 327. He was then required to name the cube root of 268,336,125, and with equal facility and promptness he replied 645. Various other questions of a similar nature, respecting the roots and powers of very high numbers, were proposed by several of the gentlemen present, to all of which he answered in a similar manner. One of the party requested him to name the factors which produced the number 247483, which he immediately did by mentioning the two numbers 941 and 263; which indeed are the only two numbers that will produce it. Another of them proposed 171395, and he named the following factors as the only ones that would produce it; viz. 5 × 34279, 7 × 24415, 59 × 2905, 83 × 2065, 35 × 4897, 295 × 581, and 413 × 415. He was then asked to give the factors of 36083; but he immediately replied that it had none; which in fact was the case, as 36083 is a prime number. Other numbers were indiscriminately proposed to him, and he always succeeded in giving the correct factors, except in the case of prime numbers, which he discovered almost as soon as proposed. One of the gentlemen asked him how many minutes there were in forty-eight years; and before the question could be written down he replied 25,228,800: and instantly added, that the number of seconds in the same period was 1,513,728,000. Various questions of the like kind were put to him; and to all of them he answered with nearly equal facility and promptitude; so as to astonish every one present, and to excite a desire that so extraordinary a faculty should (if possible) be rendered more extensive and useful.

He positively declares (and every observation made seems to justify the assertion) that he does not know how the answers came into his mind! And moreover, he is entirely ignorant of the common rules of arithmetic, and cannot perform, upon paper, a simple sum in multiplication or division.

It has been already observed, that it was evident, from some singular facts, that the child operated by certain rules known only to himself. This discovery was made in one or two instances, when he had been closely pressed upon that point. In one case he was asked to tell the square of 4395: he at first hesitated, fearful that he should not be able to answer it correctly: but when he applied himself to it he said it was 19,316,025. On being questioned as to the cause of his hesitation, he replied that he did not like to multiply four figures by four figures: but, said he, “I found out another way; I multiplied 293 by 293, and