A C T 



" Neve minor, neu fit quinto produclior h^m 

 Fahula, quE poici viut, ct fpccbita rep t.:." 



" If you would have your play defcrve luccefs, 

 Give it five afti complete, nor more Mor Icfs. 



I'RANCIS." 



This number was conftant in tlie comedies of Terence, 

 and tragedies ot Seneca; and the law (lands unrepealed to 

 this day ; though it feenis to derive its force from the au- 

 thority of Horace, rather than that of rcafon or nature. 

 All plays are deemed in-egular, that have cither more or 

 fewer than five acts. Some, indeed, have afiertcd, that 

 eveiT juft action coniilLs of five dillinft parts ; and have un- 

 dertaken to mark out the pi-ecife (hare of the aCtion, v4i!eh 

 each of the five acts ought to bear. The firll, they fay, is 

 to propofe the matter or argument of the fable, and to 

 (hew the principal charafters. This fhould be fo managed as 

 to awaken the curiofity of the fpeClators, and alfo furnifh 

 them with materials lor underllanding the fequel. It iliould 

 make them acquainted with tiie perfonages who are to ap- 

 pear, with their feveral views and interefts, and with the 

 Situation of affairs at the commencement of the play. In 

 former times, the expofition of the fubjcdl was made by a 

 prologue, or by a fingle aflor, who appeared to give full 

 and diredl infoiTnation to the fpeftators. Some of iEfchy- 

 lus's and Euripides's plays are opened in this inartificial 

 manner, which is now totally abolilhcd. The fecond aA is 

 to bring the affair or bufinels upon the carpet. The third, 

 to furnifh obftaeles and difficulties. The fourth, either 

 points out a remedy for thefe difficulties, or finds new ones 

 in the attempt. During thefe adls, the plot fliould gradu- 

 ally thicken ; the aftion of the play ought to be advanc- 

 ing, and as it advances, the fufpence and concern of the 

 fpeftator fhould be raifed more and more. It is the great 

 excellence of Shakefpear, that his fcenes are full of fenti- 

 ment and adlion ; and not of mere difcourfe ; whereas it is 

 frequently a fault of the bell French tragedians, that they 

 allow the action to languifh for the fake of a long and art- 

 ful dialogue. The fifth aft puts an end to all by a difco- 

 very. This is the feat of the catallrophe, or the unravel- 

 ling of the plot, in which the art and genius of the poet 

 fhould be mofl fully difplayed. See Catastrophe. 

 However, it is certain that, on the principles of the great 

 mafter of the drama, Arillotle, we may have a juft and re- 

 gular play, though it be only divided into three adls ; and 

 the number may be varied according to the tafte of the au- 

 thor, or the nature of the fubjeft ; fince the divifion is 

 purely arbitral^. Neverthelefs, every aft ought to clofe 

 with fome incident that makes a paufe in the aftion ; with- 

 out which there can be no pretext for interrupting the re- 

 prefentation. Milton has deviated from this rule at the 

 clofe of the firft, feventh, and eleventh books of his Para- 

 dife Lofl : in the firft of which inftances he feems to have 

 copied the jEncid, the two firft books of which are divided 

 in a fimilar manner. Homer, in the Iliad, has paid no 

 great attention to this rule. The afts of a drama are di- 

 vided into SCENES. Metaftafio, in conformity to the pre- 

 cept of Ariftotle, with regard to the conftrudtion of a fable 

 (See ACTION and tragedy) divided his melodramas, or 

 operas, into three afts ; in order to conftitute the begin- 

 ning, middle, and end, which the ftagirite required. But 

 at prefent this wife and rational defign is violated at our 

 lyric theatre, by comprefling all the incidents of a drama, 

 written in three afts, into two ; by which means the bufinefs 

 of the piece is fo precipitated or mangled, that the events lofe 

 all appearance of probabihty, and the fpeftator all chance 

 of illufion. On this occafion, however, the trouble and ex- 

 pence of a third dance are fpun out to fuch a length as to 

 Vol. I. 



ACT 



preclude all dcfirc in the moll diffipated part of the public 

 to he kept longer from home. 



ACTA, in ylniiqiiily, denoted among the Romans a plca- 

 fant garden formed near the bank of a river, in which thi"y 

 devoted ihemfelves to pleafure, and even to debauchery. Ci- 

 cero fays of Vcnes (v. 25.) " Tametfi in Afta cum mu- 

 lierculis jacebat ebrins." From aihi the ancients deduced 

 ax'x^sB, acfaii, to devote tliemftlves to pleafure. JlfJo was 

 fometimes ufed more generally to denote folitary rivers and 

 fliady coverts. Virgil ^n. v. ver. 613. Prudent, in Sym- 

 mach. I. 135. 



Acta, in jlnc'ur.t Geography, a town of Acarnania, men- 

 tioned by Stcphan. Byzaiit. and called a port in the I'eri- 

 plus of Scylax. A3a is alfo a town of Mapnofia. 



ACT^A, in Antiqmty, one of the fifty Nertids. 



Act/t;a, or Actkrius, was alfo one of the fix envious 

 and malicious genii, called by t'nc Greeks Telchines. 



Act.'ea, in Botany, the Chiillophoriona of Tourncforti 

 and in the Linnsan fyftem, a genus of the pofyawirta mono- 

 gyriia clafs and order, belonging to the natural order of mul- 

 ttjdiqu.^. and ranunculaccs of Juffieu. Its charafters are, that 

 the calyx is a perianthium of four leaves, with roundifh, 

 obtufe, concave, and caducous leaflets ; the corolla has 

 four petals, acuminate at both ends, longer than the calyx 

 and caducous ; the ftamina confifl of numerous, ufually 

 about thirty, capillary filaments, broader at top ; the 

 anthers are roundifh, twin and ereft ; the iiitlillum has a 

 fuperior ovate germen, no ilyle, and a tliickifh, obliquely 

 depreffed ftigma; the pericarpiura is an oval-globole, fmooth, 

 one-furrowed and one-celled berr)', and the feeds are many, 

 femi-orbicular, and lying over each other in two rcnvs. There 

 are four fpecies : I. A. J'picata, or common herb chriftopher, 

 which grows naturally in the northernconntiesof England, and 

 rifes two feet and an half in height, with the foot-ft Jks of 

 the leaves fpringing from the root, and dividing into three 

 fmallcr foot-flalks, each of which divides again into three, 

 with three lobes each ; the flowers grow in raniofc fpikes, and 

 are of a pure white : they appear in May and June, and arc 

 fucceeded by black fliining benicr, about the fize of peas, 

 which ripen in autumn. This plant is a powerful rc))elknti 

 and the root has been adininiflercd intenially in fome ner- 

 vous cafes, but fhould be ufed with caution. Da'iir, fays 

 Pliny, (H. N. V. ii. p. 425. Ed. Hard.) acetabul'j phno in- 

 tcrioril/iis fj-mmuntm morbis. The berries are poifonous, and 

 to the indifcreet ufe of them fome have referred the expla- 

 nation of the fable of Actjeon, and to this they have alfo 

 apphed the Latin adage ; 



— Hie /tiger ejl, hitne tu Rotnane caveto. 



Hor. Sermon. 1. i. fat. 4. v. 85. 

 The juice of thefe berries, with alum, yields a blnek dye. 

 Toads are faid to refort to this plant, being allured by its fcctid 

 fnicll, which, as Dr. Withering obferves, may be owing to the 

 damp fhady fituaticn in which it is found. This herb is poifon- 

 ous to cattle, but it is happily fcarce in England, and found 

 only in the woods. Of this fpecies there are three varie- 

 ties, viz. the nigra, or common black-berried herb chrifto- 

 pher, or bane-beiry ; the alba or American herb chriftopher, 

 with white berries, whole leaves are lefs deeply indented at 

 the edges, flowers in a more compaft fplke, and roots com- 

 pofed of thick knobs ; and the rubra, with red benies, dif- 

 fering only in the colour of its fruit. 2. A. ractmifa, or 

 American black or wild fnake-root, with large compound 

 leaves, rifing immediately from the root, and branched like 

 the firft, flower-ftems afcending to the height of four or five 

 feet, and white flowers in a long fpike, reflex at the top, 

 which appear in June or July, but not peifefting feeds in 

 England. It del^rves, on account of its (lowers, a place in 

 fhady borders among fhrubs, and will require no other at- 

 A » tentioB 



