Retrospect of French Literature—Drama, Poetrys 
folding it, all appertain to himself. In 
short, with some lictie allowances, it may 
be considered entirely as a work of ima- 
gination. 
Care has been taken to seize the most 
favourable opportunities, and to repre- 
sent Pyrrhus during his youth, and at the 
precise period when he had ascended 
the throne. The hero is accordingly de- 
picted as boiling with ardour, replete 
with the love of glory, and burning with 
a desire to imitate the deeds ef Achilles, 
whom he takes for his model. 
Pyrrhus, the son of king Hacus, hav- 
ing been saved from the fury of his fa- 
ther’s revolted subjects, by means of 
Amestris, tae consort of an usurper, 1s 
secretly brought up, under the name of 
Agenor. Supposing that he had no ances- 
tors tu boast of, the youth determines to 
create for himself a name, and become 
like the followers of the Macedonian 
hero: 
* Soldats sous Alexandre & rois aprés sa 
mort.” 
In the mean time Epirus is besieged, 
and Alcetas, the reigning monarch, hav- 
ing been informed of the birth and pre- 
tensions of the young hero, presents his 
daughter, and at the same time confers 
his crown by way of a marriage-por- 
tion. 
Phanes, the general of the enemy’s 
army, now makes his appearance, and: 
discloses a secret of no littie magnitude 
to Agenor, known by the name of Pyrr- 
hus: in short, he tells him that his father 
had escaped trom the-hands of assassins, 
was alive, and at that moment addressed 
himself to him. A®acus (for so he proves 
to be) at the same time intreats his son 
to assist in a plot that had been entered 
into fur putting Alcetas to death. The 
son for a long time struggles between 
duty on one hand and gratitude on the 
other; but at length decides, in a second 
interview, as he had now found the au- 
thor of lis being, not to cloud so joyful 
an event with scenes of vengeance. On 
this Phanes retires in indignation to his 
camp; and he having perished soon after 
in action, Pyrrhus is proclaimed king. 
The three first acts of this trazedy 
were listened to with great attention, 
and some of the incidents being truly 
dramatic, the audience appeared to be 
greatly delighted; but the fourth and 
htth did not realize the expectations 
which had been conceived during the 
antecedent ones. Netwithstanding this, 
697 
when the curtain dropped, the parterre, 
or pit, ot the Theatre Francais demanded 
the name of the author, who proved to 
be M. te Hoc 
“ tere Journée, Henri Roi de Navarre 
ala Cour de France ; 2ine Journée, Hen- 
ri [V. au Camp, ou la Bataille d’ivry; 
38me Journée Henri [V. surle Trone, ow 
son Entrée a Paris.”—1st Day, Heury 
King of Navarre at the Court of France ; 
2d Day, Henry IV. in the Camp, or the 
Battle of Ivry; 3d Day, Henry IV. on 
the Throne, or his Entry into Paris, 
This is a dramatic piece of no less 
than fifteen acts, which occupied three 
whole nights in the representation ! Such 
an entertainment may be supposed to be 
novel; but it bears some affinity to the 
ancient mysteries, and also resembles 
the dramatic cycles of Schiller, which 
have been introduced on the German 
stage. 
“* Omasis, ou Joseph en Egypte, tra- 
gédie en cinque Actes.”—Omasis, or Jo- 
seph in Egypt, a tragedy in five acts. 
There have been no less than three 
dramatic pieces entitied “ Joseph,” on 
the French stage, and two of these were 
comedies; the third was a tragedy, by 
the author of Penelope. The audience 
at the Theatre Francais seem to have 
been greatly pleased with the represen- 
tation of “ Omasis.” 
‘“* La Manie de Briller, comédie en 
trois actes.”—The Rage to Shine, a co- 
medy in three acts. 
This little dramatic piece was per- 
formed at the Theatre de U’ Imperatrice, 
and is the production of Picarp. The 
basis of French comedy is generally 
founded on the vanity of women, the 
folly of their husbands, and the emuia- 
tion and love of luxury which induce a 
beautuful female to ruin herself and family 
by extravagance. Here, on the other 
hand, instead of a heroine of this de- 
scription, we are presented with a vire 
tuous woman, simple alike in her man- 
ners and her taste. 
The audieace appeared delighted with 
the piece, and Picard himself performed. 
the part of the good husband, whom he 
had so successfully pourtrayed. 
POETRY. 
“ Almanach des Daines, pour l’an 
1807.”—The Lady’s Almanack, for the 
Year 1807. 
We shall here present our readers with 
a specinen of the poetry in an Anacreon- 
tic Ode, the production of M. Le Brun: 
4T2 « Anacréon 
