ACT 



ACT 



fays Dr. Jolinfon, in his Life of Milton, (Tirliilcs away. 

 The fubjciit of the Enghlh poet is not the deftrudioii of a 

 city, the conduft of a colony, or the fonndation of an em- 

 pire : it is the fate of worlds ; the revolutions of heaven and 

 earth ; rebellion ajruinll the Snpreme Kinp;, raifed hy the 

 highell order of created beings ; the overthrow of their hod, 

 and the pmsifliment of their crinie ; the creation of a new 

 race of reafonable creatures ; their original happinefs and 

 innocence, their iorfeiture of immortality, and their rellora- 

 tion to hope and peace. • 



Another property required in the aftion of an epic poem 

 is, that it be interefting. The fubjeft lliould intereil the 

 pubhc ; and therefore the poet Ihould fcleft for his hero, 

 one who is the foundei-, or deliverer, or favourite of his 

 nation ; and he fhould direct the attention to atchievements 

 that have been highly celebrated, or that liave been con- 

 nefled with important confeqtiences to the public caufe. 

 But more than this, in the management of his fubjeCl, he 

 Ihi^uld contrive to intereft not one age or countr)-, but all 

 re'.idefs, by concerting his plan fo as to comprehend many 

 afFefting- incidents. He may fometimes be awful and au- 

 guil ; he mull often be tender and pathetic ; and he mull 

 give us many pleafing fcenes of love, friend'hip, and affec- 

 tion : the more an epic poem abounds with lituations which 

 awaken the feelings of humanity, the more interefting it is ; 

 and thefe form, always, the favourite paftages of the work. 

 No epic poets have been fo happy in this rcfpeft as Virgil 

 and TalTo. It is needlefs to mention, that the fubjeC^ of 

 the Paradife I^oft is more univerfally interefting tlun that of 

 any other poem. The charafter of the heroes ferves alfo, 

 as we have already obferved,to render the aftion interefting. 

 As to the duration of the epic aftion, Ariftotle obferves 

 (De Poet. cap. v. p. 656.) it is not fo hmited as that of the 

 tragic aftion : the latter i: confined to a natural day ; but 

 the epopee, according to that critic, has no fixed time. — In 

 effeft, tragedy being full of pafTion, and confequently of 

 violence, which cannot be fuppofed to laft long, requires a 

 ihorter time ; and the epic poem, being for the habits which 

 proceed more flowly, requires a longer time, cither for them 

 to take hold, or to be rooted up ; and hence the difference 

 between the epic and dramatic action in point of duration. 

 Bofiu lays it down as a rule, that the more vehement the 

 manners of the principal pcrfonages are, the lefs time ought 

 the action to laft : accordingly, the aftion of the Iliad, 

 which is formed upon the wrath of Achilles, &c. lafts no 

 longer than forty-feven days ; whereas that of the OdyfTcy, 

 where prudence is the reigning quality, computed from the 

 taking of Troy to the peace of Ithaca, extends to eight 

 years and a half; and that of the JEne'id, where the pre- 

 vailing charafter of the hero is piety and mildnefs, com- 

 puted from the taking of Troy to the death of Turnus, 

 includes about fix years. 



But if we eftimate the period only of the poet's own 

 narration, or compute from the time in which the hero 

 makes his firft appearance till the conclufion, the duration 

 of both thefe latt poems is brought within a much fmaller 

 compafs. The Odyffey, beginning with Ulyffes in the 

 ifland of Calypfo, comprehends fifty-eight days only ; and 

 the iEncid, beginning with the ftorm, which throws jEneas 

 wpon the coaft of Africa,- is reckoned to include, at the moft, 

 a year and fome months. See Blair's Left, on Rhetoric, 

 &c. vol. iii. p. 211 — 221. 



Act I O.N is alfo ufed in Painting and Sculpture for the 

 pofture of a figure, or the attitude it is fuppofed to be in ; 

 exprefled by the pofition of feveral parts of the body, or by 

 the paifions appearing in the face. Thus we fay, the aftion 

 of fueh a figure finely exprelTes the paffions by which it is 



agitated. The fame cxprcfPion is applied to animals. 

 Wiien the word aclion is iiftd by way of dillinftion from 

 iiliiluilf, it may have relptft to the ligure's being repre- 

 fented in motion, as running, jumping, ftriking, tailing, &:c. 

 which the painter dilliuguilhcs from fuch as are at reft, by 

 removing from the centre the imaginai-y line of gravity 

 uied in balancing his figures to lome diftancc, before, behind, 

 or on one fide, according to the degree of motion which ho 

 means to cxpreis. It is evident, that if a man be runiimg, 

 and we view him fideways, his head and chell will be thrown 

 as much before his feet, as immediately to fuggell the idea 

 of his falling on his face, unlefs the hinder leg be quickly 

 brought forward to prevent it. Sec Aititude and 

 Gravity. 



M. ^Vatelet, after obfcrving that, however terms may 

 refemble (nie another in fignilleation, there are none which 

 are perfectly fynonymous, proceeds to afccrtain the differ- 

 ence between aflion, tnotion, and fxpre/Jion, as applied to 

 painting or fculpture. To this purpole he remarks, that 

 there are paffions, or rather fenfations, which, though tluy 

 immediately produce neither aftion nor motion, have their 

 charafteriilic exprefilons. Of this kind are dcjeftion, vo- 

 luptuoufnels, and melancholy ; the cxprefTion of which, being 

 pafilve, arreft motion, and fufpend action in thofe who arc 

 under their influence. On the other hand, figures that are 

 engaged in any violent bodily exertion may be faid to have 

 motion and aftion ; though they are not atfefted by thofe 

 paffions, to the external tokens of which the term expreHion 

 is peculiarly adapted. 



Aftion, he farther obferves, requires a motion of fome 

 parts of a figure, without fnppofing that the whole changes 

 its place, which is the idea fuggeited by the term motion. 

 Thefe diftinftions are illuftrated by appropriate examples. 

 He fuppofes a pifture of what is commonly called the 

 judgment of Solomon, in which the monarch is reprefented 

 feated on his throne, and extending his arm to command the 

 divifion of the infant. Such a figure, even though the face 

 were concealed, ought, in confequence of this gefture, to 

 be faid to have aftion ; and yet it could not with equal ac- 

 curacy be affirmed to have motion. Again : fuppofe a 

 woman reprefented as rulhing forward to feparate two com- 

 batants, every part of her appears to concur towards the 

 precipitance of her courfe, and is drawn in that pofition 

 which is requifite to the immediate effeft of her intention ; 

 fo that the beholders ane ready to imagine that they fee her 

 change her place : fuch a figure may be more properly faid 

 to have motion than aftion. Watelet's and Levefquc's 

 Dift. des Arts de Peinture, Sculpture et Gravure, art. 

 jiaion. 



Action of the Mouth, in the Manege, denotes the agi- 

 tation of a horfe's tongue, and mandible, or his champing 

 on the bit ; which produces a white foam. — This, with the 

 riding-mafters, is efteemed not only a fign of health, vigour, 

 and mettle ; but alfo of a fenfible mouth. — This aftion is 

 likewife fuppofed produftive of a good month, whence 

 various means are made ufe of to keep a horfe conftantly 

 champing. Some perfons put a large bit with feveral de- 

 tached moveable parts, called a flavering-bit, into his mouth 

 two hours before riding, and then turning his tail to the 

 manger faften him between the ftall-pofts ; others make 

 ufe of a fimilar bit in common, and mofl perfons ufe it for 

 his watering exercife. — There can be no doubt that this 

 aftion tends to keep the mouth fenfible and alive, as it is 

 termed, efpecially when accompanied witii a judicious bridle- 

 hand upon a horfe : but it muft be recoUefted that the bars 

 of a horfe's mouth are covered with cuticle or epidermis, 

 which is the outer infenfible ikin of other parts, the natui-e of 



whiijh 



