Divinities that were introduc'd on the Stage. That Paffage of Virgil, Vel Scena ut Verfis difcedat frontibus, can only be understood of the Scenes being chang'd when a Piece was finish'd, and when they had a mind to represent another. In short, the Greeks were fo much accustomed to the Obfervance of this Rule, that they had no need to have it formally prefcrib'd; but the Moderns neglecting the Unity of Place fo far as to exceed all probability, (as Claveret, who, in his Rape of Proferpine, makes the Scene Tometimes in Heaven, fometimes in Sicily, and fometimes in Hell) the Criticks have made an exprefs Precept concerning it: but by obferving that Precept too fcrupulously, they have alfo departed from Probability, which is the Foundation of all. For what probability is there, that a Prince's Cabinet fhould be the Scene on which a Confpiracy against his Life and Government is acted? and yet that is the Cafe in the Cinna of the great Corneille. So that we fee the skipping from Country to Country, and the being fcrupulously attach'd to the fame invariable Spot (unless the Subject be calculated for it) are equally deAtructive of Probability; and therefore the only reasonable Rule is, that the Bounds of the Place is to be determin'd by the Length of the Time, and the Nature of the Action. As to the Unity of Time (which Ariftotle confines to twenty four Hours) our Author oblerves, the French are not always ftrict Obfervers of it; he inftances the Tragedy of the Horatii, the Time of which can't be less than two or three Days. In the Unity of Action he finds ther more defective ftill, in refpect of the Greek Tragedies, . Tragedies, which are fo fimple, that one never lofes fight of the Plot: whereas the French Tragedies are often fo perplex'd with Episodes, that it is not without difficulty one can trace the principal Action; nay, it is hard to fay fometimes, which is the Action, and which are the Episodes, as in the Cid, Mithridates, and many others. There feems fometimes to be two evident Actions in the fame Piece, equally principal; as in the Andromache of Monfieur Racine, where the fatal Effects of Pyrrhus's Love for Andromache, and Oreftes's for Hermione, feem to be two quite diftinct Actions, and each of them a Subject fufficient for a Tragedy: but M. Rouffeau, in his forefaid Letter, has convinc'd him of his Miftake, by fhewing him, that the Love of Oreftes for Hermione not only promotes, but is fo far fubfervient to the other Action, that it could not have been accomplish'd without it. The Juftice of which Obfervation he owns in his Answer. re He proceeds next to the Characters in the French Tragedy, which, he obferves, are not fufficiently mark'd and diftinguish'd. A Grecian Hero is grand, with a Mixture of Fierceness and Cruelty; a Roman Hero is alfo grand, but at the fame time humane and generous: but in the French Tragedies, Cæfar and Alexander, Pompey and Mithridates, &c. feem as if they were born in the fame Country, and educated in the fame Maxims. But befides a general and national Character, there is alfo a proper and particular one to be obferv'd in every fingle Perfon, which the French alfo frequently neglect: The Character of Pyrrhus is to be impetuous and cruel; that of Hippolitus auftere and rigid, and an Enemy Enemy to Love: and yet in Monfieur Racine we find the one humble, tender, and fubmiffive to Andromache; the other delicate in his Thoughts, and foft in his Expreffions to his dear Aricia. However, he allows, that the fame incomparable Author has fometimes drawn his Characters with the greatest Juftnefs, as Achilles in his Iphigenia, &c. The Sentiments come next to be confidered, and here (fays our Author) the French fhine moft, and yet that very Excellency is frequently a Stumbling-block to them; for by indulging the Heat of their Imaginations, they run quite beyond Nature. We fhall fee a Hero, in the utmoft Violence of his Paffion, delivering the moft refined metaphyfical Sentences; and when he feems to be in the moft deplorable Condition, and his cafe quite defperate, he shall furprize us with fome noble and uncommon Sentiment, and by that means divert the Compaffion, which his Diftrefs would naturally raife, by engaging the whole Attention to his elevated Notions. For the Truth of this Obfervation, he refers to the Harangues of Oedipus to Dirce, and thofe of Cornelia to Cæfar, and the Athes of Pompey. He finds fault not only with the Sentiments, but also the Expreffion, when they make their Perfons fpeak a Language not at all proportion'd to their Sex, Age or Condition; and concludes his Obfervations on the Sentiments with an Elogium of Monfieur Racine for his Juftnefs and Correctnefs in this particular, tho he takes notice of two Speeches in his Tragedies, that are defective in this refpect. The firft is that of Pyrrhus to Ardromache. Je Je fouffre tous le maux que j'ai fait devant Troye Vaincu, chargé de fers, de regrets confumé, Brulé de plus de feux qui je n'en allumai. The other is the Speech of Theramene in Phedra and Hippolitus. Le Ciel avec borreur voit ce monstre sauvage, After having taken notice in his laft Chapter, that as one of a Poet's Ends is to please, and that therefore he must conform himfelf to the Humour and Customs of the Country and Age wherein he lives, he concludes his Differtation with a fhort Critique and Commendation of the English Tragedy of Cato. The fecond Volume of this Work contains Abstracts of fome of the most celebrated Italian Tragedies and Comedies, of which no shorter account can be given (fo as to give the Reader any tolerable notion of them) than our Author himfelf gives. Z. ARTICLE XXIV. Histoire Ancienne des Egyptiens, des Carthaginois, des Affyriens, des Babyloniens, des Medes, & des Perfes, des Macedoniens, des Grecs. Par M. Rollin, c. Tome Second. à Paris 1732. That is, The Ancient History of the Egyptians, Carthaginians, Affyrians, Babylonians, Medes, Perfians, Macedonians, Greeks, By M. Rollin, &c. The Second Vol. in 5 8vo, containing 630 Pages. ( Being a Continuation of Art. V. Numb. I MG R. Rollin begins this Volume with a short Geographical Defcription of Afia, and tome genéra Reflections on the feveral Forms of Government, by way of Introduction, and then proceeds tow Memo0 La : Book III. Containing the Hiftory of the A fyrians, Medes and Lydiansion sidanshoop maa I. There are two different Accounts of the Duration of the Affyrian Empire; that of Ctefias, who makes it laft 1300 Years, and of Herodotus, who reckons only 520. Our Author (who makes Nimrod or Belus the Founder both of the Empire and City Babylon) thinks the first more agreeable to Truth. Calliftenes (in his Letter to Ariftotle) fays the Babylonians reckon'd 1993 Years when Alexander enter'd Babylon which agrees pretty well with Ctefias's Account, and the Opinion of the beft Chronologers concerning the time in which Nimrod flourish'd, viz. the |