TRAVESTY TREASON. 



665 



pondenz of Zach, the Algemeine Geographischcn 

 Ephemeriden, the Astronomisches Jahrbuch of Bohn- 

 enberger and of Lindenau; see, also, the article 

 Geography. 



TRAVESTY (from the French travestir, to dis- 

 guise) designates a comic treatment, particularly in 

 poetry, of a subject which has been already handled 

 gravely, so that it is, as it were, divested of its 

 grave dress, and a comic one put on. Travesty pre- 

 supposes weak points in the travestied subject ; it 

 takes for granted, that an air of grandeur has been 

 attempted to be given to littleness. But, in fact, 

 most travesties purposely degrade the subject 

 treated, in order to make it appear ridiculous. In 

 its proper character that of ridiculing littleness, 

 which has assumed the shape of greatness it differs 

 essentially from parody, which employs the existing 

 poetical dress of a grave subject, for clothing a ridi- 

 culous one. Both depend on contrast, and though 

 they may excite a laugh, hold a very inferior place 

 among the various species of poetry. It has been 

 asked whether they are at all admissible. As re- 

 spects parody, which only imitates the form of a 

 grave composition, but without ridiculing its sub- 

 ject, there seems to be no sufficient reason for con- 

 demning it entirely. But travesty, being a direct 

 attempt to throw ridicule on subjects of an elevated 

 character, seems less entitled to indulgence. Still, 

 however, when the poet merely seizes upon the 

 weak points which he actually finds in the midst of 

 greatness and dignity, and exposes them in a form 

 adapted to produce a comic effect, he will divert 

 his reader, without degrading the truly noble, or 

 impairing the effect of works of an elevated charac- 

 ter a reproach which has been so often brought 

 against travesty since the time of La Mothe. 



The finest comic productions of the Greeks 

 sprung from this freedom of mirth ; and though the 

 Grecian spirit inclined more to the parody (for in- 

 stance, the Batrachomyomachy, the parodies of 

 Matron, and his fragments, in Athenaeus ii. 5, and 

 innumerable passages of Aristophanes), travesty 

 was yet by no means unknown by them, but showed 

 itself with equal boldness in the productions of the 

 fine arts, and in comic poetry ; the highest of their 

 gods were made to appear in works of sculpture, 

 and on the stage, in a comic character. The ques- 

 tion, however, still remains, whether travesty is 

 not a dangerous game, and especially in the case of 

 such nations as have a natural tendency to levity, 

 or in ages when taste has degenerated, lost its sus- 

 ceptibility for the great and noble, and become 

 eager for amusement solely. In such cases, travesty 

 undoubtedly tends to encourage a tendency which 

 is already excessive ; and even in those cases in 

 which it may be allowable for the sake of the satis- 

 faction to be found in a hearty laugh, it requires 

 a sound judgment, both in the writer and reader, 

 and should be enjoyed with much caution, to pre- 

 vent it from exciting a sickly craving for amuse- 

 ment. Travesty is either purely comic, the free 

 effusion of a sportive humour, or it unites with the 

 object of mirth that of satire. It may exhibit the 

 ridiculous side of a subject, or may merely attack 

 the form in which it is presented, and show the in- 

 congruity between the two. Either mode is con- 

 sistent with the general aim of satire, the lashing 

 of folly and vice. In respect to its form, the tra- 

 vesty is either lyrical, epic, or dramatic. Among 

 the moderns, the French have the most writers of 

 travesties, as Marivaux, Scarrou (who travestied 

 Virgil), and Moreau ; the Italians possess a traves- 



tied Iliad, by Loredano, which does not, however, 

 correspond to the true object of travesty; the Ger- 

 mans have, besides several smaller lyrical poems of 

 the kind, a travesty of the .2Eneid, by Blumauer, 

 which often runs into vulgarity, but is not without 

 wit. Cotton and Philips have travestied Virgil's 

 JEneid in English. There are also various other 

 English travesties, hut generally too vulgar to be 

 worthy of mention. 



TREADMILL, an instrument of punishment 

 lately introduced, consisting of a large wheel, about 

 twenty or twenty-five feet wide, with steps on its 

 external surface, upon' which the criminals are 

 placed. Their weight sets the wheel in motion, 

 and they maintain themselves in an upright posture 

 by means of a horizontal bar fixed above them, of 

 which they keep hold. The power thus obtained 

 may be applied to the same purpose as water power, 

 steam, &c. The exercise is very fatiguing, and the 

 prisoners are relieved every eight or ten minutes. 



TREASON. Treason, the crimen lasce majesta- 

 tis of the Roman law, is considered to be the great- 

 est crime that can possibly be committed. All 

 crimes are regarded by the law, and punished, as 

 offences against the peace and dignity of the com- 

 munity ; and that crime which attacks directly the 

 supreme authority of the state, is the most aggra- 

 vated and heinous. Such is treason, or high trea- 

 son ; the minor species, or petty treason, being a 

 treachery to some political or religious superior, 

 who is not the chief of the state. In a monarchy, 

 it is considered to be the betraying or the forfeiting 

 of allegiance to the monarch ; but in a community 

 not governed by a supreme hereditary chief, it has 

 reference to the government, or the whole body of 

 the community. This crime can be committed 

 only by a subject of the sovereign power, or a citi- 

 zen of the state to which he owes allegiance, and 

 only against such sovereign or state ; and it con- 

 sists essentially in renouncing his allegiance, and 

 putting himself in the attitude of enmity or hos- 

 tility. A traitor puts himself in the same relation 

 to his own sovereign or state that a pirate holds to 

 all states and governments. As all violations of 

 the laws are acts of disrespect and disobedience to 

 the authority by which these laws are enacted and 

 administered, Socrates considered the act of escap- 

 ing from prison, and so avoiding the punishment of 

 death, which awaited him, as inconsistent with his 

 allegiance to his state, and a sort of treason, and, 

 for this reason, refused to make use of the means 

 offered for his escape. But whatever opinion may 

 be formed of the force and extent of the obligation 

 of obedience to the laws in general, there is a cha- 

 racteristical distinction between other violations or 

 evasions of the laws, and treason, which crime con- 

 sists in betraying, setting at defiance, or making 

 war against, the supreme authority. 



Such is the distinguishing characteristic of trea- 

 son, in the application of which to particular acts, 

 there has been a great diversity. No one subject 

 of legislation and juridical interpretation has been 

 more fruitful of abuse, oppression and cruelty. 

 The more arbitrary governments, whether popular, 

 aristocratical or monarchical (for all these species 

 may be equally arbitrary), have construed the most 

 indifferent and insignificant acts into treachery to 

 the government, and a forfeiture of the sacred ob- 

 ligations of allegiance. In the reign of Edward 

 IV., in England, a citizen of London said he would 

 make his son heir of the crown, meaning the sign 

 of the house in which he lived. For this pun, he 



