privileges, and they have made a of France. With fuch benefits of wonderful progrefs in indultry, popu- government, and a fituation most re. lation, and opulence., markably commodious for trade tɔ all parts of the world, with the alditional advantages of a fine ferale country, and a healthful climate, it is no wonder that the p.ople of Marfeilles do in reality enjoy an extraordinary and enviable measure of public profperity and private happinefs. Marfcilles, fince united to France, though locally part of Provence, is detached from it in regard to jurifdic tion and the administration of government. They elect their own magif trates, who have fufficient revenues and powers for internal police and good order. The fubfidies annually impofed by the king's edits vary according to They reckon above two hundred public exigencies, and are proportion- thousand inhabitants;-yet the proed at certain fixed and established rates, grefs of building and population goes on the different diftricts and com- on rapidly.-Though the Old Town munities of the whole province.is ill built, and indeed very nally, it The proportion laid on this city is is mostly inhabited by a numerous, nearly one third of the whole fublidy. ufeful, and uncorrupted body of peo-It is not levied by arbitrary or dif- ple;-fishermen, and their families cretionary powers of a farmer-general, They ftil preferve the fimple manbut by equitable and moderate rules of ners, induftry, and frugality of their valuation, long ettablished, and unden remote ancestors.-Strangers may cathe authority of their own magiftrates, fily diftinguith them from the reit, of which is exercifed without either the people by their drefs:-the ruddy grievance or complaint. frethnefs of their complexions, and by the appearance of their perfons, which are vilibly more hardy and robuft.-They have been for ages paft all me mory an incorporated body, and have enjoyed certain privileges, which are regularly confirmed by letters patent from every king after his acceffion. In particular, they chufe their own judges, who are four in number, and are called Les prudes hommes, No perion here will admit that the government of France is an abfolute and defpotic monarchy,and, in fact, no great city in Europe enjoys a milder administration of government, or feels a lefs burdenfome taxation.Really and fubitantially they poffefs all the advantages, comforts, and bief fings of a republican state, without its disorders, and under the fteady effectual protection of a powerful monarch. -Indeed, there can be no reasonable ground to fuppofe or fufpect, that the lyftem of their free government, fo manifeilly beneficial to the ftate of France, fo well and so long established, can ever be thaken or overturned, or that any king or ministry will ever be fo mad as to opprefs and provoke a great community, whofe fuccefsful application to arts and induftry acquires ever-growing wealth to the whole kingdom from dillant nations; and whofe extenfive trade is the grand pil lar which fupports the maritime power The charge of a law-iuit before them, by regulation ftrictly obferved, cannot exceed two-peace halfpenny fterling to each party, and this fum is configned when they enter the court.-Thofe ruftic natural judges, felected by the people fubject to their jurifdiction, have maintained an uniform reputation for the good fenfe and integrity of their determinations. I have an engagement to visit their court foon, and may fet down farther remarks concerning them. The New Town is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful in the world; the • Lord Gardenstons was at Ma feilles in 1786. Streets streets are clean, fpacious, and extenfive; the houfes fine, regularly built, and commodious. The numerous inhabitants, befides many rich families who live in cafe, galety, and luxury,are generally thriving merchants, manufacturers, tradesmen, or mariners. Their port exhibits the most admirable spectacle of commercial industry that can be seen or imagined. At prefent they reckon above two thoufand fhips in this harbour. The promifcuous and bufy multitude, who crowd a fine extenfive walk along the quay, have the appearance of a vaft daily fair, formed by a conftant refort of people of all nations and languages. Nothing can be more amusing to a curious traveller. The trade of Marseilles may be faid to be univerfal, and their manufactures are very confiderable. They do not rival Lyons in the fine and magnificent fabricks of filk, fattin, and velvets; but they manufacture the fame kind of stuffs from coarfer and cheaper materials, which have a more general demand and vent in the various circles of commerce, especially at Martinico, and in the Levant. I fortunately became acquainted, and converf ed with fome of the first-rate merchants. They allow that the English excel in fome articles, particularly in. the manufactures of fteel and leather;, -but they pretend to have the advantage in others, and they fpecify their printed cottons and foap.-They fay they can underfel the English in many articles for the American market; --but that the capital advantage of the English hitherto lies in being able to fell on longer credits.-Befides thofe mentioned, they have great manufactories of fugar, glafs, porcelaine, oil, coral, &c. Reflecting on the happy ftate of Marfilles, and other parts of France, I cannot forbear to fet down an obfer Yation, which I am fure must arife in the mind of every worthy British man who has affumed into his heart the nobleft fentiment of humanity that ever was well expreffed in words: "Homo fum, humani nihil a me alienum “puto." Such men, and many fuch there are in Great Britain, will rejoice to be undeceived in the prevailing opinion of a miferable and total flavery and defpotic oppreffion in France-I fairly confefs that I had long been one of the multitude of my countrymen who firmly believe that all the French, excepting their great people and clergy, are mere flaves, without protection of laws, or a fecure enjoyment of property; that they all wear wooden fhoes, and live upon brown bread and garlic. Formerly the wines produced in this part of Provence were in no estimation, and, like other vines du pays, were confumed at very low prices by the common people; but within eight or ten years paft, they have discovered and practifed fuch improved methods of managing their vintages, that they now make excellent wines, both red and white; which, in large quantities, are annually exported, moftly to their Weft India lands. They even rival the Bourdeaux wines, and make no inconfiderable branch of trade. Nov. 19th, On the Sabbath day, after divine fervice is over, they, it is thought, very properly hold their courts of juftice here. This day, with my ufual companion, I attended two of them; firft, in the town hall, where I faw the Echevins, or Magiftrates and their affeffors, fitting in judgment. They tried and determined, both with proper deliberation and dispatch, several caufes relative to the peace, good order, and police. I was next conducted to the falle, or chamber, where thofe remarkable judges called les prudes hommes, hold their courts. All the four judges were prefent. I was really charmed with the artless manner, the fimple dignity, and the unaffected folemnity of their appearance, pearance. I verily thought I faw in all their faces a great degree of natural fagacity and integrity; and I doubt ed not that their community had felected their fittest men. They have no dress or robe of diftinction. Shakefpear fays," Robes and furr'd gowns hide all defects." Thefe artificial ornaments of power and office are unneceffary, when natural merit and probity in public fervice command refpect. They obferve no forms; they admit no pleaders; but they hear and interrogate the parties, and, if neceffa ry, examine witneffes; like the Roman judices pedanei, they determine in the most fummary manner, and parties are generally fatisfied. Thefe judges had anciently a jurifdiction to try criminal cafes, and even to inflict 1 Remarks on fome of the most eminent French Dramatic Authors by the Same. I age of eighty-nine. He could never 66 Hyeres, Feb. and March 1786. Have read the dramatic works of Crebillon, which are all tragedies, and generally esteemed as next in merit to thofe of Corneille and Racine. As a fpecimen of laconic biography, which expreffes in few, but perfpicuous, words, only what is memorable, I fet down a fhort account of his life, character, and writings. Though a poet of ftrong and high imagination, he was a very modeft and referved man: fo being unqualified to impofe upon the great and rich by flattery and infinuasing arts, he was always poor. He had no fhare of the political affurance and crafty addrefs of his fucceffor in dramatic fame, Monf. Voltaire; yet, in my opinion, he had a greater thare of true poetic fire and fancy. He was a very fingular example of longevityThough a man of pleafure in his youth; though a remarkable gormandifer through life; though addicted" for more than fifty years to the ill habit of fmoking tobacco in excess, he lived, with talents unimpaired, to the fervour of a poct's firft ideas is spent, he cannot be too diffident of cool "reflection, or fecond thoughts. To "confefs a truth too, I have never "been able to correct infirmities in "myself, 66 ་་ myfelf, which are common to us all. "and which are the real fources of "our poetical diforders ;-I mean "impatience, fometimes obftinacy, " and most of all our pride." There is a fhort, but admirable paffage in his preface to the tragedy of Idomenée, which I moft fet down, as containing more fenfe than many volumes of criticifm which I have read. He fays, "Ceux qui font doués d'un genie heu reux puijent des lecons dans leurs propres talents; ceux qui en font de"mués n'ont besoin que d'un feul precept, c'eft ne point ecrire."-That is," those who are endowed by na"ture with the true and happy geni us of poetry, derive the best rules "of excellence in compofition from "their own talents; thofe who are "deftitute of genius have but one precept to observe, and that is, Not "to write at all." I fubmit to thofe who are qualified to determine, and even to readers of common fenfe, if there is not more found, fatisfactory judgment, and true tafte, in this fingle obfervation, than in all the fcientific, laboured, artificial rules which can be found in all the works of our modern critics, with Voltaire at their head, and Warburton at their tail. 66 We can hardly form a precife opinion of a piece to complicated in the plot, and fo various in the compofition,-yet I can admire, in many paf fages, and even in fome whole fcenes, the poetical talents and genius of this author. The rhyming in French plays, is certainly a great impediment to just and natural dramatic compofition, which ought to exhibit a true, though elevated, image of real character and converfation. Shakespeare alone foems to have poffeffed this faculty in perfection, which, probably, his matchless genius could never have attained, had he been fubjected to the fetters of rhyme, and to the fcientific rules of criticism. Our modern emendators Remarks upon fome of Crebillon's Tra- of Shakespeare, fhamefully encouraged gedies. THE IDOMENEE. "Incredulous Odi."--Though it has poetical merit, this and fuch plays muft appear utterly ridiculous to thofe who have formed their tafte on the writings of Shakespeare, and not upon fantastical or metaphyfical rules of criticism. We cannot feel ourselves interefted by incredible fable and romantic love, though we may admire the fplendid diction and fine flowing poetry. The perfectly fingular genius of Skakep are infufes indeed probability into the wildeft fables, and forms the characters of nature in monfiers, necromancers, fairies, and witch by the multitude who fill our theatres, illuftrate his fuperior judgment and abilities in drawing and fupporting true characters, by their abfurd and affected refinements, in their attempts to reform his plays. I mark a strong inftance of this falfe tafte; one Tate, a dull rhymer, has transformed the hardy and plafan, though profligate, baftard in King Lear, into a whining modern French lover. Had Tate's baftard been in the original play, it is evident he would have foftened the rigour of Voltaire's criticisms, which are levelled at the want of refinement in Shakespeare. As a fpecimen of Tate's refinements, his baftard dies in pretty, feeble rhymes; they are too contemptible But death's ftrongeftand I must leave Oh cruel, curled fate! in fight of beav'n. can melt 'em. Nature pleads in vain.-Children must be wretched. Oa bloody courfes, the rude fcene may end, And darkness be the burier of the dead.” If ever a just and fenfible taste become generally prevalent, we fhall reflore Shakespeare's original works, damın the bulk of his critics, and expel all his emendators from our theatres. Hyeres, Feb. and March 1787. I have now read, with much attention and pleasure, the plays of Corneille. Voltaire's commentaries have a wonderful refemblance to ours upon Shakefpeare. They are, for the mo't part, Rom. She is my wifeOur hearts are verbal criticiims and quaint refinetwin'd together. Capulet, Forbear,-Paris, loose your hold.—ments, extremely ftrained, and often Pull not our beart-firings thus they crack-they Jal. Oh, my breaking heart break. Oh Juliet! Juliet! Jul. Stay, ftay for me, Romeo.- I have often witneffed a wonderful Colly Cibber was lefs injurious to Shakespeare. He did not prefume, like Garrick, to compofe additional paffages in his original plays; yet he compiled a play, and called it his own Richard the Third, though all the valuable materials of it are drawn from Shakespeare's works. This fort of plagiarifm is fingular, and in many paffages evidently incongruous, by mif. applications. As one example, Cibber, for a dying fpeech to King Richard, borrows the highly-an.mated execrations of Northumberland, uttered when he was in the full vigour of life, and enraged at the news he had juft received of his heroic fon Piercy's death. The paffage is fo admirable, and fo much in the ftyle of Shakespeare's excellence, that I can not forbear to fet it down. "Let Heav'n kifs earth! now let not Nature's hand Keep the wild flood confin'd! Let order die! extremely abfurd, always laid down in the ftile of dogmatical propofitions, and feientific rules, and il faited to the high genius of both thefe pocts. I do not queftion at all that Voltaire's criticilms on words and expreffions are juft and accurate. We are not inclined to trace a nice and criti Cal propriety of language in the writ ings of authors allowed to be of the higheft rank; our fearch is for genius; we find it in Corneille. Voltaire's comparison of him to our Shakespeare is neither judiciouy nor fairly drawn. He does justice to neither. Though at evideat pains, he is yet unable to difquife a peevith envy at his countryman's great fame, and a remarkably partial prejudice agait the English poet. It is pr fectly evident, that he did not fu ciently understand the langu ge, and confequently could not difcern the beauties of Shakespeare; yet he pronounces many intolerable cenfures on him, in the tone of an abfolute and authorifed judge. It feems very clear, that if Corneille had been able, from the nature of his language and the tafte of his contemporaries, to difenhimfelf from rhyme and rigid gage critical rules, he would have refem bled Shakespeare more than he does. |