Træezene, and Ægina. Among those who took refuge at Salamis were Mnesarchus and Clito, the parents of Euripides, who was born in that island on the very day in which the Grecians there gained that memorable victory over the Persian fleet. From the best authorities we learn, that his parents were persons of rank and fortune; particularly that his mother was of very noble birth; for no regard is due to Aristophanes, who spared no good man, and who hated Euripides. They educated their son with great attention, and at a considerable expence: besides the athletic exercises, in which he excelled, he was taught grammar, music, and painting; in this enchanting art he made a great proficiency, particularly in historical picture, and first designed the figure of Agamemnon at the sacrifice of Iphigenia, the execution of which has rendered the name of Timanthes immortal. He now applied himself to the study of oratory under the refined and learned Prodicus, who admitted none to his school but the sons of great and noble families; the celebrated Pericles was also formed under this excellent master, who is well known from his elegant and instructive fable, the Judgment of Hercules, which some years ago was adorned with all the graces of English poetry; from this school Euripides derived that copious stream of eloquence which flows through all his writings, and which rendered him the poet of orators; Demosthenes was so sensible of his superior excellence in this, that he studied him with peculiar attention; Cicero held him in the highest estimation even to his last moments; for when those that murdered him came up to his litter, they found him reading the Medea of this author; and Quintilian recommends him to the real orator as a more useful model than either the sublime

and daring Eschylus, or the grave and majestic Sophocles. About this time Anaxagoras of Clazomene transferred the school of Thales from Ionia to Athens; this truly great man exploded the doctrines of fate and chance, and acknowledging a God incorporeal, eternal, and of infinite wisdom, ascribed the creation of all things, motion, and order, to pure and perfect intellect: he seemed formed to enlighten the world, but the darkness was too thick to be dispelled by less than divine. power; an important truth, which Socrates soon after saw and acknowledged. The grave and contemplative mind of Euripides was peculiarly formed for these sublime enquiries; he therefore no more attended the Gymnasium, but applied himself entirely to these studies under Anaxagoras, till this philosopher was I accused of impiety for saying that the Sun was a burning mass of fire: Pericles generously defended his master, and by his eloquence and interest prevailed so far, that the sentence of death was softened to a fine and banishment. Euripides, perceiving the danger of attempting to emancipate reason from the slavery of received opinions, and unwilling to give up his studious course of life, turned his thoughts to the Drama, ambitious of some share of that glory which Eschylus had I already acquired, and Sophocles was then acquiring. He was very young when he engaged in this undertaking, but he had every qualification which could ensure success: devoted from his early years to literature, educated under the best masters, conversant in the deepest philosophy and the sublimest studies, an exact observer of men and manners, tender and even melancholy in his disposition, alive to all the finest feelings of humanity, and uniformly virtuous in his life, as if Nature and Art had vied with each other to form

this excellent man, it is no wonder that he soon became the delight and ornament of his country; and, what perhaps is a more solid honour to him, he contracted an early friendship with Socrates, who was twelve years younger than himself, and survived him almost six years; this friendship, formed on the firmest principles of virtue and wisdom, and cemented by a similarity of manners and studies, continued indissoluble. These studies form the history of his life from the eighteenth to the seventy-second year of his age, during which time he composed seventy-five tragedies, frequently retiring to his native Salamis, and there indulging his melancholy muse in a rude and gloomy cavern. His reputation was now so illustrious, that Archelaus, king of Macedonia, invited him to his court: this monarch to his many royal virtues added a fondness for literature and the muses, and had drawn to him from Greece many who excelled in the polite arts, particularly those who were eminent for their learning, philosophers and poets. Euripides, after much and earnest invitation, at length complied with the king's request, and went to Pella, where he was received with every mark of esteem and honour. Archelaus knew how to value a man of modesty and learning, a lover of truth and virtue; but he particularly admired the disinterestedness, the amiable candour, and gentleness of manners, which distinguished Euripides, and made him worthy of the liberality; the esteem, and affection of such a king. In this court at this time, among many other eminent men, were Agatho, an excellent tragic poet, an honest and agreeable man, a friend and admirer of Euripides, Timotheus the famous musician, and Zeuxis the celebrated painter: in this society Euripides lived happy, beloved, and honoured, and died lamented in

the third year after his coming to Macedonia, and the seventy-fifth year of his age. Archelaus mourned for him as for a near relation, buried him among the kings of Macedonia, and erected a magnificent monument to his memory. The news of his death was brought to Athens as Sophocles was about to exhibit one of his tragedies; he appeared in mourning, and made his actors come on the stage without crowns: this great = poet had long been the intimate friend of Euripides; I he was then in the ninetieth year of his age, and died about the end of this year. The Athenians immediately sent ambassadors to Archelaus, requesting his permission to remove the bones of Euripides into his own country; this the king and the Macedonians firmly refused; as they could not obtain bis ashes, they raised a cenotaph to their poet in the way that led from the city to the Piraeus.-The learned reader will not find, nor will he expect to find, any thing new in this short account; nothing can be added to the elaborate diligence of Dr. Barnes, but much may be retrenched.

Of the origin of the Greek Drama, and its perfection under the three great masters, Eschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, enough has been said in the preface to the translation of Eschylus, where their comparative merit is stated and accounted for. Euripides was to Eschylus what a Raffaelle was to Michael Angelo : in Eschylus all is inspiration; his genius is bold and fiery; his ideas are vast and sublime; his persons are a superior order of beings: Euripides owed more to study, but it was chiefly the study of nature; his genius is bright and glowing; his images are vivid and

See and admire the President's Discourse delivered in the Royal Academy, December 10, 1772.

deeply impressed; his characters designed with propriety, and supported with dignity: but he is chiefly distinguished from all other writers by the purity and copiousness of his moral sentiments, and his irresistible power in moving the tender passions; for the first he was indebted to his education under Prodicus and Anaxagoras, and his friendship with Socrates; the latter he drew from his own heart; what he felt warmly, he painted pathetically; like our own Spenser,

He steep'd in tears the piteous lines he wrote,
The tend'rest bard that e'er impassion'd song.

If we may with reason and truth form this judgment of the drama of Euripides, we must be surprised and sorry to find a very respectable critic expressing himself in these words, "Greek tragedies are more active than sentimental; they contain many sensible reflections on morals, manners, and upon life in general; but no sentiments except what are plain and obvious. The subjects are of the simplest kind, such as give rise to the passions of hope, fear, love, hatred, envy, and revenge, in their most ordinary exertions: no intricate nor delicate situation to occasion any singular emotion; no gradual swelling and subsiding of passion; and seldom any conflict between different passions. I would not however be understood as meaning to depreciate Greek tragedies. They are indeed wonderful productions of genius, considering that the Greeks at that period were but beginning to emerge from roughness and barbarity into a taste for literature. The compositions of Eschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, must have been highly relished among a people who had no idea of any thing more perfect. We judge by comparison, and every work is held to be perfect that