COMEDY. 
'jilause at the political satires of Aristo- 
phanes. This licence was repressed as the 
government grew less popular, as may be 
seen in the later comedies of that autlior, 
and in what vestige remains of those of 
Menander. In these the state was always 
respected, and private intrigues were sub- 
stituted for public cabals. 
Tlie Romans under the consuls, as jealous 
of liberty as the Athenians, but more jea- 
lous of the dignity of their government, 
never suffered the republic to be exposed 
to the shafts of poetic ridicule; hence their 
first comic authors ventured upon personal, 
but never upon political satire. 
The low popular comedy was always 
freely tolerated, and the comedy of Gre- 
cian manners, called Palliata, enjoyed equal 
indulgence ; but when the nobles of Rome 
were introduced on the stage, as in the 
pieces called Preetextae and Togatae, the 
action was more restrained, and ridicule 
was banished. This style, as Seneca ob- 
serves, holds a middle rank between' co- 
medy and tragedy. But as luxury gra- 
dually softened the manners of Rome, co- 
medy lost its keenness and severity, and 
the Romans having imbibed the vices of 
the Greeks, Terence to pourtray them had 
only to copy Menander. 
The same influence of public taste and 
political institutions has determined the 
character of comedy in eveiy nation in 
Europe, since the revival of letters. A 
nation winch- once affected a proud solem- 
nity of manners, and a romantic pride of 
sentiment formed the model of its' drama 
or intrigues full of incident, and on charac- 
ters replete with hyperbole. Such is the 
Spanish theatre ; their dramatic authors 
display a forced exaggeration, and a free- 
dom of imagination which violates all rules. 
Yet with these faults, added to a fondness 
for puerile conceits, and far fetched equi- 
voques, Lope de Vega has attained to the 
first rank among modern poets. He unites 
the happiest discrimination of character to 
a strength of invention, which even Cor- 
neille could admire. He took from Lope 
the character of his Menteur, and he de- 
clares he would have given two of his best 
pieces to have imagined it. 
The Italian comedy is strongly indicative 
of the disposition of the people. Points Of 
honour, amours, revenge for falsehood in 
affairs of gallantry, furnish abundance of 
perilous intrigues for lovers, and of endless 
play for the coquetries of valets and waiting 
women. The rage- for pantomime and ca- 
ricatura is conspicuous in all the comedies 
of the Italians, and they indulge it at the 
expense of their better judgment. Their 
plots are devoid of ingenuity, sense, and 
wit. There is hardly one among the im- 
mense collections of their pieces, which a 
man of taste would bear to read to the 
end. Indeed the Italians at last began 
to be sensible of this, and Florence set the 
example of substituting for these miserable 
farces the best comedies of Moliere trans- 
lated into Italian. Other states followed 
the example, and in all probability the 
French comedy will soon become general 
in Italy. 
A nation, formerly counted the first in 
politeness and refinement, when every in- 
dividual made it a duty to conform his sen- 
timents and ideas to the manners of so- 
ciety, when prejudices were principles, and 
usages laws; this nation could, afford few 
originals, its characters were softened by 
deference, and its vices palliated by good- 
breeding. The French comedy has, how- 
ever, served to improve the English stage, 
as much as the difference of manners 
would allow. Moliere is certainly a just 
model of comic excellence ; he possesses 
that philosophic penetration which seizes ex- 
tremes as well as their intermediate de- 
grees, and that power of contrast which 
gives force to his painting, which the de- 
licacy of his pencil might otherwise have 
lost. 
In a counti-y like ours, where every in- 
dividual glories in his privilege of thinking 
for himself, originals must always abound. 
Hence the English comedy excels all others 
in strength of character, and in the true 
expression of nature: it is simple, con- 
sistent, and philosophical. The genius of 
Shakspeare has been considered by some 
as most happy in comedy ; the truth is, 
that in every department of the drama he 
is supreme. Clouds and mists may at times 
obscure him, but he is still the sun of the 
poetic hemisphere, and all other luminaries 
before his splendour must dwindle to the 
magnitude of stars. 
The plays of his contemporary, Jonson, 
though antiquated and obsolete, contain sal- 
lies of the finest satire, and strokes of ge- 
nuine comic humour. Those of Fletcher 
and Massinger, and of other poets of that 
age, had the merit of contributing to the 
advancement of our drama, and laid the 
foundation of its present excellence. 
After a dark period of puritanical fanati- 
cism, the English comedy revived in the 
