dence in the promise of the Fairy, which he wanted himself; and perceived, with regret, that her dittrefs rather increased than diminished: this incident, however, as he had no fufpicion of the caufe, only rendered him more impatient of delay; and Almerine, covered with ornaments by which art and nature were exhausted, was, however reluctant, introduced to the king. Soliman was now in his thirtieth year. He had fat ten years upon the throne, and for the steadiness of his virtue had been furnamed the Juft. He had hitherto confidered the gratification of appetite as a low enjoyment, allotted to weakness and obfcurity; and the exercife of heroic virtue, as the fuperior felicity of eminence and power. He had as yet taken no wife; nor had he immured in his palace a multitude of unhappy beauties, in whom defire had no choice, and affection no object, to be fucceffively fortaken after unrefifted violation, and at last fink into the grave without having anfwered any nobler purpofe, than fometimes to have grati ted the caprice of a tyrant, whom they faw at no other feason, and whofe prefence could raife no paffion more remote from deteftation than fear. Such was Soliman; who, having gaz. ed fome moments upon Almerine with filent admiration, rofe up, and turning to the princes who ftood round himTo-morrow,' faid he, I will grant the request which you have fo often repeated, and place a beauty upon my throne, by whom I may tranfmit my dominion to pofterity: to-morrow, the daughter of Omaraddin shall be my wife.' The joy with which Omaraddin heard this declaration, was abated by the effect wh ch it produced upon Almerine: who, after fome ineffectual struggles with the paffions which agitated her mind, threw herfelf into the arms of her women, and burst into tears. Soliman immediately difmiffed his attendants; and taking her in his arms, enquired the caufe of her diftrefs: this, however, was a fecret, which neither her pride nor her fear would fuffer her to reveal. She continued filent and inconfolable; and So-. liman, though he fecretly fufpected fome other attachment, yet appeared to be fatisfied with the fuggeftions of her father, that her emotion was only fuch as is common to the fex upon any great and unexpected event. He defifted from farther importunity, and commanded that her women fhould remove her to a pri vate apartment of the palace, and that fhe fhould be attended by his phyfician Nouraflin. No CIV. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1753. N SEMITA CERTE TRANQUILLA PER VIRTUTEM PATET UNICA VITE. BUT ONLY VIRTUE SHEWS THE PATHS OF PEACE. TOURASSIN, who had already learned what had happened, found his defpair relieved by this opportunity of another interview. The lovers, however, were restrained from condolence and confultation, by the prefence of the women, who could not be difiniffed: but Nouraffin put a finall vial into the hand of Almerine as he departed, and told her, that it contained a cordial, which, if administered in time, would infallibly reftore the chearfulness and vigour that fhe had loft. These words were heard by the attendants, though they were underftood only by Almerine; the readily comprehended, that the potion fhe had received was poifon, which would relieve Juv. her from languor and melancholy by removing the caufe, if it could be given to the king before her marriage was com pleated. After Nouraffin was gone, the fat ruminating on the infelicity of her fituation, and the dreadful events of the morrow, till the night was far spent; and then, exhaufted with perturbation and watching, fhe funk down on the fofa, and fell into a deep sleep. The king, whofe reft had been interrupted by the effects which the beauty of Almerine had produced upon his mind, rofe at the dawn of the day; and fending for her principal attendant who had been ordered to watch in her chamber, eagerly enquired what had been her be LI haviour, haviour, and whether she had recovered from her furprize. He was acquainted, that he had lately fallen afleep; and that a cordial had been left by Nouraffin, which he affirmed would, if not too long delayed, fuddenly recover her from languor and dejection, and which, notwithstanding, the had neglected to take. Soliman derived new hopes from this intelligence; and that the night meet him at the hour of marriage, with the chearful vivacity which the cordial of Nouraffin would infpire, he ordered that it fhould, without asking her any queftion, be mixed with whatever the first drank in the morning. and which had now fallen upon her own head. Soliman, after he had recovered from his aftonifhment, retired to his own apartment; and in this interval of recollection, he foon difcovered that the defire of beauty had feduced him from the path of juftice, and that he ought to have difmiffed the perfon whofe affections he believed to have another object. He did not, therefore, take away the life of Nouraffin for a crime, to which he himfelf had furnished the temptation; but as fome punishment was neceffary as a fanction to the laws, he condemned him to perpetual banishment. He commanded that Almerine fhould be fent back to her father, that her life might be a niemorial of his folly; and he determined, if poffible, to atone by a fecond marriage for the errors of the first. He confidered, how he might enforce and illustrate fome general precept; which would contribute more to the felicity of his people, than his leaving them a fovereign of his own blood; and at length he determined to publish this proclamation, throughout all the provinces of his empire: 'So verted, and whofe life endangered, by the influence and the treachery of un♦ rivalled beauty, is now resolved to place equal deformity upon his throne; that, when this event is recorded, the world may know, that by Vice beauty became yet more odious than ugliness; and learn, like Soliman, to despise that excellence, which, without Virtue, is only a fpecious evil, the reproach of the poffeffor, and the fnare of others,' Almerine, in whofe blood the longcontinued tumult of her mind had produced a feverish heat, awaked parched with thirit, and called eagerly for fherbet: her attendant, having firft emptied the vial into the bowl, as he had been commanded by the king, prefented it to her, and the drank it off. As foon as fhe had recollected the horrid bufinefs of the day, the miffed the vial, and in a few moments he learned how it had been applied. The fudden terror which now feized her, haftened the effect of the poi-liman, whofe judgment has been perfon; and the felt already the fire kindled in her veins, by which in a few hours fhe would be deftroyed. Her diforder was now apparent, though the cause was not suspected: Nouraffin was again introduced, and acquainted with the miftake; an antidote was immediately prepared and adminiftered; and Almerine waited the event in agonies of body and mind, which are not to be described. The internal commotion every inftant increased; fudden and intolerable heat and cold fucceeded each other; and in lefs than an hour, she was covered with leprofy; her hair fell, her head fwelled, and every feature in her countenance was distorted. Nouraffin, who was doubtful of the event, had withdrawn to conceal his confufion; and Almerine, not knowing that thefe dreadful appearances were the prefages of recovery, and fhewed that the fatal effects of the poifon were expelled from the citadel of life, conceived her diffolution to be near, and in the agony of remorfe and terror, earnestly requested to fee the king. Soliman haftily entered her apartment, and beheld the ruins of her beauty with aftonishment, which every moment increafed, while the difcovered the mifchief which had been intended against him, Shelimah, during these events, experienced a very different fortune. She remained, till she was thirteen years of age, in the caftle; and it happened that, about this time, the perfon to whofe care fhe had been committed, after a fhort ficknefs, died. Shelimah imagined that the dept; but perceiving that all attempts to awaken her were ineffectual, and her ftock of provifions being exhaufted, the found means to open the wicket, and wander alone into the wood. She fatisfied her hunger with fuch berries and wild fruits as the found; and at night, not being able to find her way back, the lay down under a thicket and flept. Here fhe was awaked early in the morning by a peafant, whofe compaffion happened to be proof against deformity. The man afked her many questions; but her anfwers anfwers rather increafing than gratifying his curiofity, he fet her before him on his beaft, and carried her to his houfe in the next village, at the distance of about fix leagues. In his family fhe was the jeft of fome, and the pity of others; the was employed in the meanest offices; and her figure procured her the name of Goblin. But amidst all the disadvantages of her fituation, fhe enjoyed the utmoft felicity of food and reft; as the formed no wishes, the fuffered no difappointment; her body was healthful, and her mind at peace. In this ftation fhe had continued four years, when the heralds appeared in the fhe was prevented by the heralds, who having with much importunity prevailed upon her to enter the chariot, returned with her to the metropolis, prefented her to Soliman, and related the prodigy." Soliman looked round upon the affembly, in doubt whether to prosecute or relinquith his purpofe; when Abba ran, a hoary fage, who had prefided in the council of his father, came forward, and placing his forehead on the footstool of the throne- Let the king,' said he, accept the reward of virtue, and take Shelimah to his bed. In what age, and in what nation, fhall not the beauty of Shelimah be honoured? To whom will it village with the proclamation of Soli-be tranfmitted alone? Will not the fto man. Shelimah ran out with others to gaze at the parade: fhe liftened to the proclamation with great attention; and, when it was ended, the perceived that the eyes of the multitude were fixed upon her. One of the horsemen at the fame time alighted, and with great ceremony intreated her to enter a chariot which was in the retinue, telling her, that she was without doubt the perfon whom Nature and Soliman had destined to be their queen. Shelimah replied with a fmile, that she had no defire to be great; ' But,' faid the, if your proclamation be true, I fhould rejoice to be the inftrument of 'fuch adinonition to mankind; and, upon this condition, I wish that I were ' indeed the moft deformed of my fpe'cies.' The moment this with was uttered, the spell of Farimina produced the contrary effect: her skin, which was fcaly and yellow, became fimooth and white, her ftature was perceived gradually to increafe, her neck rofe like a pillar of ivory, her bofom expanded, and her wailt became lefs; her hair, which before was thin and of a dirty red, was now black as the feathers of the raven, and flowed in large ringlets on her fhoulders; the moft exquifite fenfibility now sparkled in her eye, her cheeks were tinged with the blushes of the morning, and her lips moistened with the dew; every limb was perfect, and every motion was graceful. A white robe was thrown over her by an invifible hand; the crowd fell back in astonishment, and gazed with infatiable curiofity upon fuch beauty as before they had never feen. Shelimah was not lefs aftonifhed than the crowd: the stood a while with her eyes fixed upon the ground; and finding her confusion increafe, would have retired in filence; but ry of the wife of Soliman defcend with her name? Will it not be known, that thy defire of beauty was not gratified, till it had been fubdued? That by an iniquitous purpose beauty became hideous, and by a virtuous with deformity ⚫ became fair?' Soliman, who had fixed his eyes upon Shelimah, difcovered a mixture of joy and confufion in her countenance, which determined his choice, and was an earneft of his felicity; for at that moment, Love, who, during her state of deformity, had been excluded by the fairy Elfarina's interdiction, took poffeffion of her breast. The nuptial ceremony was not long delayed, and Elfarina honoured it with her prefence. When the departed, fhe bestowed on both her benediction; and put into the hand of Shelinah a scroll of vellum, on which was this infcription in letters of gold: Remember, Shelimah, the fate of Almerine, who ftill lives the reproach of parental folly, of degraded beauty, and perverted fenfe. Remember Almerine; and let her example and thy own experience teach thee, that wit and beauty, learning, affluence, and 'honour, are not effential to human felicity; with thefe he was wretched, and without them thou waft happy. The advantages which I have hitherto bestowed, muft now be obtained by an effort of thy own: that which gives relish to the coarteft food, is Tempo rance; the apparel and the dwelling of a peafant and a prince, are equal in the estimation of Humility; and the torment of ineffectual defires is prevented, by the refignation of Piety to the will of Heaven; advantages which L12 ⚫ are are in the power of every wretch who repines at the unequal distribution of good and evil, and imputes to Nature the effects of his own folly." The king, to whom Shelimah com municated thefe precepts of the fairy, caufed them to be tran.cribed, and with an account of the events which had pro duced them diftributed over all his dominions. Precepts which were thus enforced, had an immediate and an extenfive influence; and the happinefs of Soliman and of Shelimah was thus communicated to the multitudes whom they governed. No CV. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1753. NOVAM COMICAM MENANDRUS, ÆQUALESQUE EJUS ÆTATIS MAGIS QUAM OPFRIS, MENANDER, TOGETHER WITH PHILEMON AND DIPHILUS, WHO MUST BE NAMED WITH HIM RATHER AS HIS CONTEMPORARIES THAN HIS EQUALS, INVENTED WITHIN THE COMPASS OF A FEW YEARS A NEW KIND OF COMEDY, AND LEFT IT BEYOND THE REACH OF IMITATION. SIR, TO THE ADVENTURER. MORALITY, tafte, and litera ture, fcarcely ever fuffered more irreparably, than by the lofs of the comedies of Menander; fome of whofefragments, agreeable to my promife, I am now going to lay before you, which I fould imagine would be as highly priz. ed by the curious, as was the Coan Venus which Apelles left imperfect and unfinished. Menander was celebrated for the fweetnefs, brevity, and fententiousness of his ftile. He was fond of Euripides,' fays Quintilian, and nearly imitated the manner of this tragic writer, though in a different kind of work. He is a compleat pattern of oratorial excellence: ità omnem vitæ imaginem expreffit, tanta in eo inveniendi copia, et eloquendi facultas; ità eft omnibus rebus, perfonis, affectibus, accommodatus: fo various and fo juft are all his pictures of life; fo copious is his invention, fo mafterly his elocution; fo wonderfully is he adapted to all kinds of fubjects, perfons, and paffions.' This panegyric reflects equal honour on the critic, and on the comedian. Quintilian has here painted Menander with as lively and expreffive ftrokes, as Menander had characterized the Athenians. Boileau, in his celebrated eighth satire, has not reprefented the mifery and folly of man, fo forcibly or humorously as Menander: “Απαντα τὰ ζῶ ̓ ἔςι μακαριότερα, All animals are more happy, and have more understanding, than man. Look, for inftance, on yonder afs; all allow him to be miferable: his evils, however, are not brought on him by himself and his own fault; he feels only thofe which nature has inflicted. We, on the contrary, befides our neceffary ills, draw upon ourselves a multitude of others. We are melancholy, if any perfon happen to fneeze; we are angry, it any fpeak reproachfully of us; one man is affrighted with an unlucky dream, another at the hooting of an owl. Our contentions, our anxieties, our opinions, our ambition, our laws, are all evils, which we ourselves have fuperadded to nature. Comparisons betwixt the conditions of the brutal and human fpecies have been frequently drawn, but this of Menander, as it probably was the first, so it is the beft I have ever seen. If If this paffage is admirable for the vivacity and feverity of it's fatire, the following certainly deferves deeper attention for weight of fentiment, and fublimity and purity of moral. Εἴ τις δὲ θυσίαν προσφέρον, ὦ Πάμφιλε, He that offers in facrifice, O Pamphilus, a Temperance, and juftice, and purity, are here inculcated in the ftrongest manner, and upon the moft powerful motive, the Omnifcience of the DEITY; at the fame time fuperftition and the idolatry of the heathen are artfully ridiculed. I know not among the ancients any-paffage that contains fuch exalted and spiritualized thoughts of religion. Yet if thefe refined fentiments were to be inferted in a modern comedy, I fear they would be rejected with difdain and difapprobation. The Athenians could endure to hear GOD and Virtue mentioned in the theatre; while an English and a Chriftian audience can laugh at adultery as a jeft, think obfcenity wit, and debauchery amiable. The murderer, if a duellift, is a man of honour, the gamefter understands the art of living, the knave has penetration and knows mankind, the spendthrift is a fellow of fine fpirit, the rake has only robbed a fresh country girl of her innocence and honour, the jilt and the coquet have a great deal of vivacity and fire; but a faithful husband is a dupe and a cuckold, and a plain country gentleman a novice and a fool. The wretch that dared to ridicule Socrates abounds not in fo much falle fatire, ribaldry, obfcenity, and blafphemy, as our witty and wicked triumvirate, Wycherley, Congreve, and Vanbrogh. Menander has another very remarkable reflection, worthy even that divine religion, which the laft-mentioned writers fo impotently endeavoured to deride. It relates to the forgiveness of enemies, a precept not totally unknown to the ancient fages, as hath rafhly been affirmed; though never inculcated with fuch frequency, fervor and cogency, and on motives fo weighty and efficacious, as by the founder of the Chriftian Syf tem. οὗτο κράτις Θν ἐς ̓ ἀνὴρ, ὦ Γοργία, He, O Gorgias, is the most virtuous man, who best knows among mortals how to bear injuries with patience. It may not be improper to alleviate the ferioufnefs of these moral reflections, by the addition of a paffage of a more light and fprightly turn. Ανέμες, ὕδωρ, γῆν, ἥλιον, πῦρ, ἄστρας Epicharmus, indeed, calls the winds, the From thefe fhort fpecimens, we may in fome meafure be enabled to judge of Menander's way of thinking and of writing; remembering always how much his elegance is injured by a plain profaic tranflation, and by confidering the paffages fingly and feparately, without knowing the characters of the perfonages that spoke them, and the aptnefs and propriety with which they were introduced. The |