DRAMA. 



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1587, he commanded a fleet of thirty sail, which 

 burned a part of the celebrated armada in the harbour 

 of Cadiz, and, in 1588, commanded, as vice-admiral, 

 under lord Howard, high-admiral of England, in the 

 conflict with the Spanish armada. A rich galleon 

 surrendered to him at the mere sound of his name, 

 and he distinguished himself in the pursuit of the 

 enemy. In 1589, he commanded the fleet intended to 

 restore don Antonio to the throne of Portugal. But 

 this enterprise failed on account of a misunderstand- 

 ing between Drake and the general of the land 

 forces. 



The war with Spain still continued. Drake and 

 Hawkins proposed to Elizabeth a new expedition 

 against the Spaniards in the West Indies, which 

 should surpass all that had preceded it. They were 

 willing to bear a part of 'the expense, and the queen 

 furnished ships. The expedition, however, was un- 

 fortunate. Nov. 12, 1595, the day of Sir John 

 Hawkins's death, Drake's vessel, in sailing from the 

 port of Porto Rico, was struck by a cannon ball, 

 which carried away the chair in which he sat, with- 

 out doing him any injury. The next day, the Spanish 

 vessels were attacked before Porto Rico with 

 great violence, but without success. He then sailed 

 to the continent, and set fire to Rio de la Hacha and 

 Nombre de Dios ; but, having undertaken an expe- 

 dition against Panama, some days after, which 

 entirely failed, the disappointment threw him into a 

 slow fever, which terminated his life, Dec. 30, 1596, 

 O. S. (Jan. 9, 1597). Among the honourable uses 

 of his wealth must be mentioned his providing Ply- 

 mouth with water, which he brought from the distance 

 of twenty miles. To him Europe is indebted for the 

 introduction of the potato. (See The famous Voyage of 

 Sir Francis Drake into the South Sea, and hence about 

 the whole Globe of the Earth, London, 1600, 12mo, 

 edited by Francis Pretty, who served under Drake.) 

 . DRAMA (the Greek SfS^a, from \a.a, I act); a 

 class of writings in which the author does not appear 

 as such, either reasoning or relating, but persons are 

 represented as acting and speaking, and the course 

 of the story and the feelings of the parties are to be 

 gathered from what they say. In epic poetry, the 

 persons of the poem are also often introduced speak- 

 ing, but description is the prevailing characteristic 

 of the epopee, whilst, in the drama, everything is 

 represented as actually happening. The drama, 

 therefore, represents action and its motives directly, 

 not in the way of description. Taking the word in 

 its most general sense, we also call an epic poem or 

 a novel dramatic, when a quick succession of inter- 

 esting events is rapidly developed ; when, in a word, 

 action prevails over description or reasoning. The 

 French, however, designate by drame only something 

 intermediate between tragedy and comedy. 



The origin of the drama must be sought for in that 

 powerful agent in human nature the love of imita- 

 tion. The rude war-dance of a savage tribe is a be- 

 ginning of the drama, because it represents an action 

 for the entertainment of the spectators or performers, 

 and the dance is found among all early religious 

 rites. (See Dance.) So dramatic performances, that 

 is to say, imitative representations of important 

 events, in religious history, are found among the 

 rites or religious services of all nations in their early 

 period. With many they are always preserved ; as 

 the Catholics, both Greek and Roman, to this day, 

 at the celebration of their various festivals, bring 

 forward exhibitions, which represent, with more or 

 Jess accuracy, the chief particulars of that event 

 which is to be commemorated. These religious per- 

 formances are connected with or give rise to the sym- 

 lx>lical performances in the different rites. Thus the 

 Catholic priest, by moving from one end of the altar 



to the other, while reading mass, indicates the flight 

 of Joseph and Mary to Egypt. 



The elements of the dramatic art, as has already 

 been said, are found among all nations ; and every 

 people, which has made progress in civilization, has, 

 at the same time, developed this art. The Chinese 

 and the Indians have their dramatic performances ; 

 but the Europeans are indebted for the drama, as for 

 so many other productions of civilization, to the 

 Greeks. From them it passed to the Romans, whose 

 acquisitions in civilization were in part preserved, 

 and in part revived by the Italians, though the latter 

 never cultivated this species of poetry, at least the 

 tragic branch of it, so much as the epic and lyric. 

 The gifted Machiavelli, inspired by the productions 

 of the ancients, may be said to have commenced a 

 new era of the drama, though the art had been in 

 some measure cultivated by the Italians before his 

 time. But the dramatic genius who has surpassed all 

 ancient and modern writers, in universality of con- 

 ception and knowledge of human nature, appeared 

 among the English. 



The drama began with action ', that is to say, with 

 pantomimic dances. No art, useful or ornamental, 

 is, in its origin, clearly defined. The dramatic art, in 

 its origin among the Greeks, was by no means so dis- 

 tinctly separated from epic and lyric poetry as we find 

 it at a later period. The Greek comedy commenced 

 about 580 B. C., with Susarion, the contemporary of 

 Thespis, who travelled from place to place, holding 

 up to ridicule, on a small movable stage, the follies 

 and vices of his age. The old comedy of the Greeks 

 consisted of dramatic-epic songs connected with 

 dancing, by which travelling actors entertained the 

 people ; hence the name comedy (KU^IK), signifying, 

 originally, village-song. The contents of these songs 

 were mirthful, ludicrous, often indecent. By degrees, 

 tragedy became a distinct branch of the art, and its 

 graver scenes served as an entertainment for the in- 

 habitants of the cities, whilst the comedy retained its 

 gay character, and chiefly served to amuse the coun- 

 try people of Attica. Regular companies of come- 

 dians were at length established at Athens, where 

 they were only tolerated by the government. A 

 chief, a dancing and singing chorus, together with ' 

 several actors, appeared on a convenient stage. Epi- 

 charmus, about 485 B. C., introduced unity of action, 

 and modelled his comedies after the tragedies. His 

 comedies were popular in Greece, and among his 

 followers are distinguished Phormes, Magnes, Crates, 

 Cratinus, Eupolis, Pherecrates and Aristophanes. 

 With all these, personal satire was the chief object, 

 and magistrates, as well as private persons, were 

 called by name and exhibited on the stage. The old 

 comedy of the Greeks was thoroughly national, with 

 somewhat of a political tendency. It was in vain 

 prohibited by laws and decrees of the people. 



At the end of the Peloponnesian war, comedy re- 

 ceived a new character and form. The middle comedy, 

 so called, now began. The new oligarchy deprived 

 the people of the privilege of ridiculing the measures 

 of government. It was strictly prohibited to bring 

 living persons by name on the stage, and the chorus, 

 till then the chief instrument of vituperation, was 

 abolished ; whilst, with the representations of general 

 characters, corresponding masks were introduced, 

 instead of those imitating the countenances of par- 

 ticular individuals. Even Aristophanes was obliged 

 to submit to these regulations in his last productions, 

 and thus comparative decorum was introduced into 

 the representations. The subjects of comedy con- 

 tinued to be taken from mythology and history ; but 

 the descriptions of the ridiculous were more general 

 than formerly, when they were often entirely indivi- 

 dual. The chorus rarely appeared. To the *e*. 

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