38 On the Decline of the British Drama. [Jan". 



proved of, and were deemed too perilous to be often hazarded. For the 

 present age the glory was reserved of proving that the force, either of 

 language or of invention, does not, as has been pretended, become im- 

 paired in proportion to the progress of refinement ; and that a nation, 

 in the very highest state of luxury and civilization, can give birth to 

 productions which may vie with the most vigorous offsprings of her 

 youth. These extraordinary powers, applied to other kinds of poetry, 

 while in the drama so little has been achieved, have made some sup- 

 pose, that the faculties requisite for this species of writing do not exist 

 in the present race of poets ; and " the dearth of dramatic genius" is 

 an expression, which has become common in ordinary conversation. 



This notion derives some-support from an opinion* which, strangely 

 enough, has found favour with some persons. It is supposed that, as 

 the world growls older, dramatic writing ought naturally to become 

 more easy and to advance in excellence. New relations, it is said, are 

 constantly arising, which create new sympathies among mankind. The 

 passions, though in all ages the same, are presented in new and multi- 

 plied situations. Not only do characters become more various, but the 

 same characters are oftener seen and more easily observed and known. 

 In short, human nature, the sphere of the drama, grows (it is alleged) 

 more extensive and diversified, more obvious and interesting ; and from 

 this it is thought not unfair to conclude, that dramatic poetry should 

 become every day less difficult, more alluring, and more successful. 

 They who adopt such a theory may find it difficult to reconcile the pre- 

 sent langour of the drama with any other supposition than that in our 

 island " dramatic genius has declined ;" and that when the whole gar- 

 den of nature is shooting up around us in luxuriant and multiplied 

 riches, we want the taste to cull, and the power to arrange its pror 

 ductions. 



In the first place, this opinion seems to be contradicted by the Jads 

 in the literature of both ancient and modern times. After the age of 

 i^schylus, Euripides, and Sophocles, tragedy hardly lifted her head 

 in Greece ; and yet great progress was made in knowledge and civili- 

 zation after that period. Oratory, political science (such as the an- 

 cients possessed), and philosophy, were long in a state of constant itn- 

 provement. Commerce, wealth, population increased, and with these 

 the relations among men must have increased also in number and 

 variety. And what is material for our argument, the Greeks were con- 

 tinually enlarging their acquaintance with the rest of mankind. 



In modern nations, with the single exceptiojj of Italy (for German 

 literature has not long left its cradle), the first efforts of the dramatic 

 muse have not been equalled in succeeding times. But the best days 

 of Italy were long past before her tragedy could be said to have found 

 a national poet ; and in its higher branches it can hardly be deemed to 

 have approached near to originality until almost the present age. For 

 many generations Spain cannot be said to have produced a tragic poet 

 able to shed even a glimmering light upon the dreary waste which has 

 succeeded to the splendid literature of her early days. In France, 

 from the age of Corneille to the present hour, the writers of the drama 

 have been rivetting upon themselves those fetters which a cold and 

 timid taste had imposed. While this restraint continues, improvement 



* See the Quarterly Review, No. 57, p. 29, et seq. 



