ACCOUNT: of the GERMAN THEATRE. 17? 



Emilie, in genuine expreflion of paflion, and pointed force of 

 dialogue, may be compared to fome of the befl which the mo 

 dern ftage can boaft. 



In the developement of the fecret foldings of the heart, 

 Lessing feems deeply fkilled, and the opening fcenes of this 

 tragedy contain fome of thofe little incidents that mark an in- 

 timacy with human nature, which genius alone can claim. But 

 in its progrefs we find, in fome degree, a want of that ftrong 

 and juft delineation and fupport of character, but chiefly of 

 that probable conduct and interefting fituation, which are the 

 great and peculiar requifites of dramatic excellence. It feems 

 alfo defective in the pathetic, for which certainly the fubjecl 

 afforded very great room, and which, in a fimilar fituation, 

 our countryman Rowe has contrived fo ftrongly to excite. 



Of Lessing's performances in thefe volumes, the next in 

 merit, though, in my opinion, at a confiderable diftance, is 

 Sara Sam/on, an Englifh ftory, of which the idea feems chiefly 

 taken from Clarijfa, though one character in it, that of a vio- 

 lent and profligate woman, is evidently borrowed from Millwood 

 in George Barnwell. I mud venture to doubt, whether a cha- 

 racter of this fort be proper for filling a principal place in tra- 

 gedy. There is a degree of infamy in the vice of fuch a per- 

 fon that is fcarcely fuitable to the dignity of the higher drama, 

 and which difgufts us with its appearance. The Marwood of 

 Lessing is introduced in fuch a manner as to heighten that 

 difguft. The amiable female of the piece, Sara Samfon, is no 

 exception from the general defect of female character in this 

 collection. And her father, who is placed in the tender fitua- 

 tion of which feveral authors have made fo affecting a ufe, the 

 parent of a child feduced from honour, though ftill alive to 

 •virtue, is infipidly drawn, and awkwardly introduced. In this 

 tragedy, is an incident, of which Lessing feems to be fond, 

 as he has repeated it with very little variation in another tra- 

 gedy called VEfprit Fort, a dream, related by the heroine, pre- 



Vol. II. Z dictive 



