26 News from Parnassus, No. XXX. 



was found in representation for neu- Caius Grgcchus, 

 Iralising this delect, in tlie omission of 

 two-thiids of her cliaraclcr. In many 

 oilier respects, the performance, criti- 

 cally at least, was nnich superior to 

 the generality of our modern trage- 

 dirs. It exhibited, indeed, no daring 

 originality of inind. In structure and 

 character, it reminded one of the 

 Roman plays of Shakspeare, as a 

 shadow reminds one of a substance; 

 but, if it lacked the vital colouring of 

 the grand original, the shi\dow, at any 

 rate, was not distorted ; and recalled 

 to the imagination, without offending 

 the judgment, the remembrances from 

 which it was derived. The language, 

 indeed, is not in general very nervous 

 or poetical ; and in some parts, where 

 such characteristics might have been 



expected, falls somewhat below the 



classical standard of Roman dignity; 



and, though the uniform pomp of epic 



diction is the very reverse of the true 



dramatic vein, it cannot but be wished 



that Mr. K. had occasionally been ra- 



tlier more attentive to the expressive 



power of rhithmical harmony ; espe- 

 cially as, generally speaking, it is by 



superfluous circumlocution that his 



language is rendered prosaic ; and in- 

 stances might easily be pointed out, in 



which, by mere erasure, two prosaic 



lines might have been compressed into 



one energetic and well-modulated 



verse. Mr. K. does not seem to be 



aware, that the legitimate licence of 



poetic diction is that of compressing 



the thought into a smaller compass 



than mere prosaic construction will 



admit of; and his language becomes 



occasionally feeble, from the fear of 



being too poetical. 



There are. however, some striking 



beauties, and comparatively highly- 

 Wrought passages, in this play: the 



last speech of Gracchus, for example, 



in the scene in the Campus Marlins, 



and that of Cornelia in the ensuing 



scene : 



-Two such sons as mine 



Were never made for motlicrs that hKve eyes 



That are afraid of tears. — I did rear my boys 



Companions for the gods ! Why woncfer 1 



If they will go to them ere other men ! 



Many a time, when t(icy have stood before me, 



Such things as mothers seldom loclj upon, 



And 1 h.ave seem'd to feed on them with mine eyes, 



My thoHghtshave ponder'd o'er the biei, where they 



liaystiflFand cold! I would not see them so 



If 1 could help it,— but I wonid not helii it 



To see them otherwise, and oUier men. 



This sounds like the genuine lan- 

 guage of a Roman mother ; at once 

 maternal and dignilied. And the fol- 

 lowing passage, from ihc mouth of 



[Feb. 1 , 



the fine scene 

 iietwecn him and his mother, previous 

 to his putting himself at the head of 

 the citizens to viudicate his laws, is a 

 noble specimen of argumentative and 

 descriptive narrative : — 



And should I therefore sink with the base times? 

 What, mother, what :— Are the gods also base? 

 Is virtue base? Is honour sunk? Is manhood 

 A thing contemptible ? 



Remember you Messina, mother? 

 Once from ils promontory v.e beheld 

 A galley in a storm; and, as the baric 

 Approach'd the fatal shore, could well discern 

 The features of tlie crew with horror all 

 Aghast, save one ! Alone he strove to guide 

 Tue )5row, erect amid the horrid war 

 Of winds and waters raging. With one hand 

 He rnl'd the hopeless helm, — the other straiu'd 

 The fragment of a shiver'd sail, — his brow 

 The while beut proudly on the scowling surge. 

 At which he scowl'd again.— The viSiel siruck I 

 One man alone bestrode the wave, and rode 

 The foaminn courser safe ! 'Twas be, — the same. 

 You clasji'd yonr Caius in your arms, and cried, 

 " Look, look, my son! the brave man ne'erdespairs. 

 And lives where cowards die !" 1 would but make 

 Due profit of your lesson. 



Cut it is as a whole, and not by the 

 brilliancy of detached parts, that this 

 tragedy m.ust be appreciated ; and, in 

 this point of view, it is hazarding little 

 to say, that " Caius Gracchus," unas- 

 sisted as it is by the customary allure- 

 ments, the tricks and pageantries, of 

 this melodramatisingage, is creditably 

 superior to the generality of the tragic 

 novelties of the day. Nor was the 

 piece negligently got up. 'I'he new 

 scenes were beautiful, (that of the 

 Campus Martins, in particular,) and 

 tolerably appropriate ; and the cos- 

 tume was good ; and the actors, in ge- 

 neral, did what could be done. Lici- 

 nia is, indeed, a character to which 

 nothing but the beauty and graceful 

 simplicity of Miss Foote could have 

 imparled a lively interest (for we have 

 seen what becomes even of Virginia, 

 when transferred to other hands); but 

 Cornelia was not unfortunate in her 

 representative : Mrs. Runn, indeed, 

 has not the fine organ and dignified 

 enunciation of Mrs. Siddous, — that 

 harmony and utterance of exalted 

 mind which realized, heretofore, the 

 matron majesty of Volumnia, — yet she 

 assumed with some felicity the proud 

 port of the mother of the Gracchi, and 

 her pathos is alv\ays touching and 

 elleetive ; and although, in the passage 

 already quoted, 



Two such sons as mine 



Were never made for mothers that have eyes 

 That are afraid of tears, 



those tears, though not suppressed, 

 should have been welcomed, or half- 

 yielded 1o, with more of the struggle 

 of a defying pride; and the concluding 

 reference to the bier of patriotic mar- 

 tyrdom 



