The tragedy of "Superstition" is founded on the history of Goff, one of the stern republicans who sat in judgment on Charles the First, and condemned him to lose his head. The late President Stiles, of New-Haven, has collected a great many curious particulars in relation to Goff, Whalley, and Dixwell, who sought refuge in New-England, and were a long time secreted there, notwithstanding the efforts made by the English government after the Restoration, and the rewards offered for their apprehension. They were hunted from place to place-sometimes concealed by the inhabitants,-at others, seeking safety in caves and forests. The incident of the mysterious stranger who suddenly appeared among the affrighted people of Hadley, rallied them, and beat off the Indians, and then as suddenly disappeared, has often occurred to us as singularly striking and dramatic, and has been introduced with great effect in the play under consideration. The author has, in our opinion, constructed a play of great merit and originality; deficient perhaps in what is called a knowledge of dramatic effect, a qualification more generally derived from habitual attendance on the theatre, than from any abstract powers of fancy or genius. We find the plays of the present day which have been most successful, are for the most part the production of gentlemen who may almost be said to be retained for that purpose, and who by a long habit of hanging about the theatres, associating with actors, and observing what takes with a majority of the audience, have acquired a knack, a facility in laying traps for applause, and actually forcing occasions for laughter or surprise. To ascend far higher; we believe it may fairly be doubted, whether Shakspeare himself might not have caught a large portion of that masterly adroitness in producing a high degree of dramatic effect, in which he perhaps excels all other writers, from the fortunate circumstance of having been attached to the theatre during the early part of his life. We extract the following scene for the purpose of exhibiting the author's talent for easy and spirited dialogue. Sir Reginald and George Egerton meet, just after the latter has obtained a sight of Mary, the daughter of Goff.

"George. By heavens, a lovely creature!
Sir R. Softly, George.

Is this the game you shoot at? Have a care-
You're not in London now, where our gay monarch
Sets such a fine example in these matters.

They'll have no poaching here, that I can tell you,

Among their wives and daughters. These same Roundheads
That crop their hair so short-a plague upon them!-
Will crop your ears as short, if you're found meddling.
George. Why, what a heathen region are we come to.-

What a deuce did you bring me here for?

To shoot at bears and panthers-pleasant sport-
No women?-Zounds! I'll back to court again.

Sir R. None-they burn the old for witches

The young they keep lock'd up like flies in amber

In adamantine ice.

George. They should be hang'd for treason against Nature,
The only lawful sovereign of the world.

Let the old ones freeze-that is their charter;

But youth should have the fire.

Sir R. They've good laws here for gallants, George.
The other day they put a man in the stocks,
Because he kiss'd his wife on Sabbath-day.
George. They served him right-

Kiss his own wife! It is a work-day business-
Play days and holydays are made for lovers.

Sir R. To lay hands on a maid here's present death.
George. It might be so in London, and no lives lost.
The law were a dead letter.

Sir R. And widows may not be spoken to
Under pain of fine and pillory.

George. Uncle, let's embark

For the North Pole-this climate is too cold.
Lent all the year too! Sir, I'm no fish-eater-
And cannot stand it," &c.

Sir Reginald's picture of his nephew is excellent:-

We have only room for one more extract, which is in a very different style from the preceding. It is part of a charge made by Ravensworth, a preacher, against Isabella, then on her trial for witchcraft. All who are conversant with the early history of New-England, will recognize the truth and force of the picture.

"Ravensworth. Ye all remember

The terror and despair which fill'd each bosom
When the red comet, signal of Heaven's wrath,
Shook its portentous locks above our heads-

Ye all have seen, and most of ye have felt

The afflictions which this groaning land is vex'd with.
Our smiling fields wither'd with blight and blast;
The fruitful earth, parch'd into eddying dust;

On our fair coast the strewings of wreck'd commerce;
In town and city, fire and pestilence,
And famine, taking their destructive rounds,
Waking the sleepers to their last long sleep.
Our peaceful villages the scene of slaughter,
Echoing the savage yell, and frenzied shriek
Of maid and matron, or the feeble wail
Of cradled babes, and lank bed-ridden age.

The limits of this article will not permit of our noticing a number of other plays in our possession, and from which scenes and passages of very considerable merit might be quoted. We purposely omit any notice of "Hadad," "Percy's Masque," and other similar productions of merit, as not coming within the scope of our purpose in this review. Though dramatic in their plan and construction, they are not calculated or intended for the stage; and besides, have been heretofore noticed in various periodical works, with deserved approbation. We cannot but confess, however, that a majority of the pieces in our collection may be consigned over to oblivion, without any material loss either to the present or future generations. They are marvellously defective in plot, sentiment, and dialogue; and do not even come up to the present standard of a London audience. They would hardly run a hundred nights in that great emporium of commerce and taste, without the aid of an elephant, a rhinoceros, or a star at least: they are the efforts of writers destitute of almost every requisite for dramatic composition; and who ought never to have obtruded them upon the public eye. Others, on the contrary, indicate talents which only require the discipline of study, reflection, practice, and encouragement, to attain at least a respectable eminence. Whatever talent there may be among us, it will, unless encouraged, lie inactive, like those seeds which are buried in the forests perhaps for ages, and which only vegetate into fruits and flowers, when the warm rays of the sun awaken their dormant energy, and vivify the chill bosom of the earth. The first requisite for producing a National Drama, is national encouragement. We do not mean pensions and premiums—but liberal praise and rewards to success-and liberal allowance for failures. The second, is a little more taste and liberality in the managers of our theatres; and the third, is the presence of competent performers, collected in companies of sufficient strength to give effectual support to a new piece, and sufficient talent to personate an original character, without resorting to some hacknied model, which has descended from generation to generation, and like all copies, lost something of the original in the hands of each succeeding imitator.

Ge

Let not, however, our youthful aspirants after honest fame, be discouraged by the obstacles we have placed before them. nius has often a divinity within itself; a sort of prophetic con

sciousness; a daring insight into futurity; an irrepressible impulse, which animates and supports it, in the midst of discourage ments and neglect. But one man out of millions is a hero, a saint, or a sage. Yet this should be no obstacle to the pursuit of glory, virtue, or wisdom. If but one man out of millions attain the summit of Parnassus, let it be recollected, that his reward is immortality.

ART. III.-EPICUREAN PHILOSOPHY.

The Nature of Things. A Didactic Poem, translated from the Latin of Titus Lucretius Carus, accompanied with the original text, and illustrated with Notes, philological and explanatory. By JOHN MASON GOOD. In two vols. Quarto. London.

TITUS LUCRETIUS CARUS, a descendant of the illustrious family of the Lucretii, was born at Rome, about ninety years before the Christian era. The period of his birth was eminently favourable to the cultivation of philosophy; for the Romans, with an ardour equal to their zeal in arms, had begun to aspire after a higher renown in the acquisition of literary and philosophical knowledge. A taste for Grecian learning had been diffused among her citizens, by their late and frequent intercourse with Greece; to which the presence of the Achaian hostages, many of whom were of the first families, and distinguished by their moral and intellectual attainments, not less than by their personal accomplishments, greatly contributed. Under the auspices of the most influential citizens, numerous schools were soon established by these enlightened and elegant foreigners; and Rome beheld the dawn of an era, which was to be distinguished by a conquest and a triumph more permanent and magnificent than any which for many centuries had illustrated her military career. Andronicus, Nævius, and Ennius, as well as Plautus and Terence, had already appeared; but the Grecian language and literature presented inducements too strong to be resisted by national pride, and Polybius and Homer became favourite authors with every Roman scholar. So greatly indeed did this taste for the elegant language of Greece predominate, that Rutilius Rufus preferred it to his own more appropriate tongue, for perpetuating Roman glory, in a history of his country. Libraries were now rapidly accumulating. Museums, and costly and magnificent collections of art, were thrown open to the public, and became places of frequent VOL. I.-NO. 2.

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and fashionable resort. The inestimable treasures of Syracuse, Greece, and other conquered countries, added an incalculable interest to those already acquired; and Lucius Æmilius Paulus, with a munificence equal to his rapacity, completed the accumulation, by transferring from Epirus to Rome, a still greater, as well as a more precious collection of statues, paintings, and books. This library and museum were founded about half a century before the birth of Lucretius, and were themselves the spoils of many conquests.

Athens, however, though nearly exhausted of her treasures, continued to be the favourite seat of instruction. The celebrity of her teachers still remained, and the very names of her schools, now consecrated by genius and by time, were an attraction that overcame every other consideration. At what age Lucretius was sent to Athens to be educated, we have no positive information he was accompanied by his friend Caius Memmius, the son of the intimate friend of his father; and the philosophy of Epicurus, now reviving under the auspices of Lucius Memmius, was selected by these enlightened and affluent parents for the study of their sons. The Gardens of that celebrated Teacher, repaired and ornamented by the father of young Memmius, were now in the charge of Phædrus and Zeno; and such was their repute, that they enumerated among their pupils a singular association of talents and virtue. Among these were Titus Pomponius Atticus, Marcus Junius Brutus, Caius Cassius, Caius Velleius, Cicero, and his two brothers Lucius and Quintus, Lucretius Vespilio, and Caius Memmius. This constellation of genius and worth may be mentioned in proof of the estimation and flourishing state of the Epicurean school; and it deserves to be recorded both in favour of their principles, and to the honour of their instructors, that the friendship of these youths continued through life unbroken and undiminished by the conflicts of opinion and power, that afterwards embroiled, and finally overthrew the Roman state. All these illustrious friends adhered to the Epicurean system, with the exception of Cicero, who, from some cause not well ascertained, appears to have been seduced by the ingenious subtleties, and sublime speculations of the school of Plato. His affection and respect for his Epicurean teachers and friends suffered, however no diminution; for on a future occasion, when visiting Athens, it is known that he delighted to renew and strengthen his attachment for the venerated teachers of his youth.

On his return from Greece, Lucretius resided near Rome, and marrying Lucilia the daughter of Lucius Lucillus, devoted himself to the pleasures of philosophy, and domestic life. His most intimate friends were Cassius and Memmius, to the latter of whom he dedicated his imperishable work. Here, unconnected