Of the CHINESE TRAGEDIES.

In the DEDICATION of the ORPHAN of

CHINA, to his Grace the Duke of

RICHELIEU.

I

Wifh, my lord, I could erect to you a marble ftatue like the Genoefe*, instead of a Chinese mandarin, which is all that I have to offer you. Indeed this performance does not feem at all calculated for you. It makes no mention of an hero, who has won univerfal approbation by the charms of his wit; who faved a republic that was on the brink of destructiont; and who found out the means of conquering a formidable column of Englishmen with four canons ‡. No body can be better persuaded than·

* †The duke of Richelieu contributed confiderably towards faving the republic of Genoa laft war, from the attempt and defign of the Germans; in gratitude of which his ftatue has been erected by the Genoefe.

It is fuppofed that the principal cause of the retreat of the glorious column of English infantry in the battle of Fontenoy, was owing to the havock caufed among them by a few canon placed directly oppofite to the column, by the direction of this

nobleman.

I am, of the fmallness of my prefent; but some indulgence may be granted to an attachment of forty years continuance. It may poffibly be infinuated, that, retired as I am, at the foot of the Alps, and in view of eternal fnow, where I fhould lead the life of a philofopher, I cannot however resist the vanity of telling the world, that the most valuable personages on the borders of the river Seine have never forgot me; it is certain however, that I only confulted the fentiments of my heart; they alone are the guides of my conduct, and have always influenced my words and actions. The heart is fometimes mistaken; but not after fo long a trial. mit me, therefore, if this tragedy fhould happen to remain fometime after its author, to acquaint pofterity, that as your uncle, cardinal Richelieu introduced the fine arts into France, and encouraged them in their infancy, so you have fupported them in their decline.

Per

The first time I thought of writing this play, was on reading the Orphan of Tchao, a Chinese tragedy, tranflated by father Bremare, and inferted in the collection published by father Du Halde. This Chinese drama was compofed in the fourteenth century, under the very dynasty of Gengis Kan. This is an additional proof that the Tartar conquerors caufed no change in the manners of the nation they fubdued. They protected all the arts that were established in China, and adopted all its laws.

This is a ftriking example of the natural fuperiority of reafon and genius, over blind and barbarous force; and the Tartars have twice

furnished this example. For when they over. ran this great empire a fecond time, in the beginning of the last century, they fubmitted a fecond. time to the wifdom of the vanquished; and both became one people, governed by the most antient laws in the univerfe: an event worthy of admiration; and to mark this event was the chief aim I propofed in writing the following tragedy. The Chinese tragedy, which bears the name of the Orphan, is chofen from an immenfe collection of theatrical pieces of that nation. The Chinese have cultivated, above three thoufand years, this art, invented a little later by the Greeks, of drawing living defcriptions of the actions of men, and of establishing schools of morality, where virtue is taught in action and dialogue. So that dramatic poetry has been long held in esteem, only in the vast dominion of China, feparated from, and unknown to, the rest of the world, and in the fingle city of Athens. Rome did not cultivate this branch of literature for four hundred years afterwards. No trace of it is to be found either among the Perfians or Indians, who generally are confidered as people of genius and invention. Afia has always

been contented with the fables of Filpay and of Locman, which include an entire fyftem of morality, and inftruct by allegory every age and every nation. It fhould feem, that having put difcourfes into the mouths of animals,. there was but another step to take, in order to introduce human perfonages as difcourfing to each other; and thus give rife to the dramatic art; and yet thefe ingenious nations never

thought of advancing this other step. From thence we may infer, that the Greeks, Romans and Chinese, were the only nations among the antients who understood the true spirit of society. Nothing, in fact, renders men more focial, foftens more their manners, or improves their reafon better, than that they should thus affemble together to enjoy the pure and refined pleafures of the mind. And thus Peter the great had hardly recovered Ruffia from barbarism, and built Petersburgh, when theatres were established there. The more Germany has improved, the readier it has been to adopt our spectacles *. The few parts, where they were not received in the last age, were not looked upon as civilized countries.

The Orphan of Tchao is a valuable monument, that inftructs us better in the fpirit of China, than all the accounts that have, or will be, given of that vaft empire. This piece, it muft be owned, is quite barbarous in comparison to the good performances of the present times; but it is a master-piece if you compare it to our European compositions of the fourteenth century.

We must also remark, that this piece is wrote in the language of the mandarins, which has not undergone the leaft change; and that we can hardly understand the language that was spoken in France, under the reign of Lewis the twelfth

* There are companies of French players in most great towns of Germany, where they are invited and encouraged by the Electors and other German princ

es.

and Charles the eighth. The Orphan of Tchar may be compared to the English and Spanish tragedies of the seventeenth century, which continue ftill to please, a-crofs the channel, and beyond the Pyraenean mountains. The action of the Chinese play includ esfiveand twenty years, as in the monstrous farces of Shakespear and Lopez de Vega which have obtained the name of tragedies. It contains a heap of incredible events. The enemy of the houfe of Tchao is refolved to deftroy its chief, by the means of a great maftiff, which we must fuppofe is indued with an instinct of discovering the guilty, as our James Aimar is faid to have diftinguished thieves by the touch of his wand. This enemy of the Tchao family, pretending afterwards an order from the empe ror, fends to Tchao a cord, a ponyard, and a cup of poison. Tchao fings according to the established cuftom, and then ftabs himfelf, in virtue of that unlimitted fubmiffion, which every inhabitant of the earth owes, by divine right, to the emperor of China. The perfecut or puts to death three hundred perfons of the house of Tchao. The only furviving widow is delivered of the orphan, which is the fubject of this play. This infant is hid from the fury of him who deftroyed the whole family; and who, refolved to put to death the only one that now remained, gave orders that all the children of the neighbouring villages fhould be maffacred, in order that the orphan might be included in the general flaughter. One would imagine that it was the Arabian nights entertainments, turned into dialogue and action; but notwithstanding