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Rhoeteum, when it actually passes it long before reaching the place assigned by Mr M. for the junction? And, moreover, his confluence is not (μingor Euroster) a little before, but at a very considerable distance from New Ilium.

There are other misrepresentations-for it is to such chiefly, if not entirely, that I mean to confine my observations-which require to be noticed. Mr M. maintains that I have placed the Greek camp and harbour somewhere between the mouth of the Mendere and En Tepe; that the ground in this situation is a marsh; and that the "interval between my own city and camp is not greater" than that between New Ilium and Koum Kale, their sites according to his theory. Now, it is singular enough that I did not venture to give any particular opinion as to the naval station. My words were, " we shall not attempt to point out the particular Capes between which the Greeks chose to encamp ;" adding,-" But we are of opinion, that the spot they pitched on was considerably to the eastward of the Mendere.' The truth is, that no headlands, at all corresponding to Homer's description, have as yet been discovered, and in this state of ignorance speculation is somewhat worse than useless. Still, however, there is not a foot of ground in the plain less likely than that which is so great a favourite with our author; and the eastward of the Mendere still seems the quarter in which, if any where, our researches are to be successful. Mr M. quotes Mr Hobhouse, as calling the lowground, in this direction, a sandy marsh," and a line of reedy swamps." The latter expression, my examination of the "Travels in Albania" has not enabled me to discover; and, what is still more unfortunate for Mr M., it is the plain southward of Dombric, and in front of New Ilium; the plain, by the way, where he supposes all the Trojan battles to have been fought, which Mr H. calls a 66 sandy marsh." Whereas it is expressly stated, that the coast to which my observations were confined, is "flat and sandy for two miles to the east of Koum Kale." Moreover, our author affirms, that the "firm ground betwixt the Dom

66

bric and the sea could not extend, in Homer's time, above two or three hundred yards." Mr H., on the other hand, asserts, that this river "flows at the distance of a mile from the shore." It is needless here to talk of accretions. Nothing, we know, has been added to the coast since the days of Demetrius, and there is only conjecture in the supposition, that the land was enlarged in the shorter period betwixt him and Homer. Again, as to the interval betwixt the city and the encampment, that must remain unknown till the exact spot of the latter shall be ascertained.

One word more. There is nothing of which our author speaks so confidently, as of the existence of a hill at En Tepe. He may be in the right. All the maps to which he so exultingly refers, have not fallen into my hands. Yet I have consulted the greater part of them, together with his own, no doubt a correct one, and in none of them can I perceive any appearance of a hill. There is, indeed, what, in common cases, might be supposed the geographical mark of one. But this is uniformly stated to represent the Aianteum, or Barrow of Ajax, and it differs in no respect from the mark of the other barrows with which the plain abounds. Yet Mr M. declares, that "if this hill is awanting in any one of them, he will not only yield up this point, but every other his reviewer contends for." Let us then take Mr Hobhouse's, and if there is any appearance in the neighbourhood of En Tepe, that can be supposed to represent a hill, except the Aianteum, the victory shall be his.

Mr M. thinks, that, after taking the trouble to point out one wrong translation, I would not have spared other errors, had they existed.` My forbearance, however, was greater than he seems disposed to allow. Other mistakes do exist, and might easily be exposed, were it not necessary to be brief on so useless a subject. Again, therefore, I shall forbear; at the same time, however, assuring him, that if he will not yet take my assertion, I shall produce him evidence, which even he must admit to be satisfactory.

To those who have read the reply, it must be evident that Mr M. had

lost his temper, and loaded his critic with epithets which it would have been better to avoid. But this, perhaps, I have not much reason to regret. It is a proof that, in assailing his theory, my success was greater than he is willing to allow. No one gets into a passion, or bas recourse to invective, till his arguments are expended, and his cause begins to be hopeless. His reply has now been considered candidly, I hope, and fairly; and he may still, if he can, plume himself on having again "passed through the ordeal of criticism without injury." In truth, I have not the smallest expectation that any thing which has been said will produce the slightest change in his sentiments. From the first, I never ventured to indulge the presumptuous hope of making him a convert, or even of prevailing on him to depart a hair's-breadth from the ground which he had taken. Like those,

I

Felices ter et amplius,

Quos irrupta tenet copula, suspected that he was too much wedded to his o pinions to leave any possibility of the union ever being broken. In whatever way they were first acquired, whether by reading, by meditation *, or in any other way, he has entertained them so long, written about them so much, and published them so often, that it would be vain to attempt dislodging them from his affections. Indeed, opposition will only confirm their influence; and the more they are attacked, the more strongly will they bind him in their enchantments. Ante retro Simois fluet, et sine frondibus Ide

Stabit, et auxilium promittet Achaia Tro-
jae,

than he confess himself to have
been mistaken, or renounce friends
whom he has so long and so fondly
cherished.
G. M.

SCHILLER'S CORRESPONDENCE.

(Continued.)

the contract prepared by your Excellency, conformably to those particulars as to which we agreed in our personal communing upon the subject. I now send you the original, along with the amended copy, which I have prepared. Should it, in its altered form, now meet, as I believe it will, the approval of your Excellency, permit me to request you to add to it your subscription, and again return it. The arrangement and necessary demands of my new domestic establishment will require, in the meantime, from me, a considerable expenditure; allow me, therefore, to remind your Excellency of your kind promise of Sunday last, of advancing me two hundred florins, and now to request from you a draft upon Sartory to that amount.

Schiller to the Buron Von Dalberg †. A PAINFUL attack of ague, which has already continued eight days, has compelled me to lay aside all thoughts of waiting upon your Excellency, and of expressing to you those feelings of delighted approval and satisfaction, while yet experiencing somewhat of their first delicious ardency, with which I witnessed the late performance of my "Robbers." In my present situation, I eagerly long for the establishment of my wonted health; the more especially, as I feel a lively regret in having thus been obliged so long to postpone my critical remarks upon "Sikingin." I have, however, till now, been wholly incapable of any vigorous or continued efforts of intellectual exertion; and although my I may say with truth, that there malady decreases, I still continue to is nothing desired by me with greatbe much afflicted with severe head- er ardour and impatience, than that aches. my health may very soon enable me I have taken the liberty to alter effectually to demonstrate, to your

"The Reviewer's theory, which he assures us is the result of long and painful meditation." Another instance of Mr Maclaren's unfairness. No such expression occurs in the whole of the article which has so greatly roused his indignation. + This letter appears to have been written at Manheim, but is without date.

VOL. XIV.

L

Excellency, my eager zeal for the advancement of the drama; and how constant and abiding is my ardent passion for its cultivation. With the most unfeigned and perfect respect, &c. &c. &c.

Schiller to the same

can I indeed hope that my fond and ardent passion for this divine art, and my capacity for its felicitous and successful exercise, shall only terminate with my life. The affectionate desire of your Excellency, that I should open to you, without disguise, my whole soul, is indeed to me most welcome, and affects me most sensibly. But shall I presume yet farther to throw myself on the noble generosity of your Excellency? Shall I, after all the striking manifestations of your compassionate sympathy and support, after the enjoyment and participation of those distinguished benefits showered upon me with so liberal a hand, still summon boldness to solicit you to proceed yet a step farther, and, by one striking act of favour, crown the multitude of your benefits? The space of a year is required to make up for the time I have lost by the desertion and neglect of my medical studies, and to enable me to commence its practice with credit and respectability. During the preparatory and probationary period, I shall not have it in my power to be so assiduous in my poetical exertions, for your theatre, as I have hitherto been; and yet, I fear, I shall as much as ever stand in need of your kind aid and assistance. The issue of this year must, it is probable, determine the colour and complexion of my future life. Should I happily be enabled to accomplish my present_medical designs, I may then regard my establishment at Manheim as certain. Shall I then, in this urgent and critical situation, presume to look to your Excellency for your generous and effectual support? And can you, in extending to me the means of assistance, rather in your generous and affectionate temper, look, meanwhile, prospectively to the dramatic labours I

What your Excellency yesterday communicated to me, by my friend Mai, has inspired me, I may truly say, with the deepest sentiments of grateful respect. I cannot assuredly think of the generous and unwearied interest which your Excellency has hitherto taken in my humble fortunes, without being sensibly touched with emotions the most delicious and overpowering. Had I not long, in secret, cherished the hope of engaging in the practice of my ostensible profession of medicine, assuredly so striking and affecting a mark of your watchful and affectionate solicitude must, in this, have at once found with me a ready and unhesitating compliance. The strong bent, however, of my own inclination has long been in this direction. I have feared, perhaps not without cause, that, sooner or later, my ardent and enthusiastic passion for the poetic art might either lose much of its present vigour, or be wholly extinguished, were the consciousness inevitably pressed upon me, of exercising it for the humiliating and servile purpose of regular subsistence; and that, on the other hand, it would assume for me a more irresistible and fascinating grace of attraction, if I might only flee to it, when the strong inclination prompted me, as a delicious and elevated recreation; and could I select, exclusively for its culture, those hours of my life, the most pure and happily auspicious, and the most remote from any feeling of those cares and disquietudes, which might otherwise cast a gloom across the brightness of the poetic horizon. Then, indeed, do I feel I shall be alone enabled to shew myself a poet, in the more forcibly concentrated and collective energies of my genius, and under the more certain and regulated guidance of that enthusiasm, so indispensable, and so felicitous in its rich creative fruits. Then alone

shall be enabled to accomplish, after the expiry of this year of medical study and preparation, than to the little I have as yet done for the celebrity and advancement of your theatre? If I shall have once passed this period of probationship, and commenced the public exercise of my profession, I shall then have it in my power, without difficulty, by

This letter is without date.

means of my dramatic compositions, to discharge my previous obligations to the kind liberality of your Excellency. I may then, I fondly hope, in my deep and abiding poetic passion, be enabled to produce, for your especial benefit, some noble and felicitous dramatic work; and besides, I shall be then in a condition to fulfil the promise which you so eagerly solicit, of the monthly publication of a critical journal, exclusively devoted to subjects connected with the drama. Should my importunate anxiety have here unhappily hur ried me too far, I entreat your Excellency to attribute it to the irresistible impulse which I feel to confide to your compassionate and indulgent interest my anxieties and my wishes. I may, indeed, with truth, say, that this to me is a juncture of my life the most critical and momentous. I feel that my future fate depends wholly on your kind aid and instrumentality. If, then, it can beget within the bosom of your Excellency a noble and enduring satisfaction, to establish and give a delicious reality to the fond and alluring-I would trust not deceitful—prospects of a young man, and to mark an auspicious and prominent era in his life-to fulfil the powerful promptings of his own heart, and the ardent and fond wishes of his friends, and may I not, of a surety, add, those of your own generous mind? If the odour of this consciousness, of having tenderly and affectionately upheld me, shall ever, as it were, breathe au imperishable sweetness, then may I venture to rely, with some assured confidence, on the effective and favourable interposition of your Excellency! And should it afterwards be my envied fortune to rise to eminence and celebrity in the world, then, indeed, with what an eager and transporting zeal of affection shall I seek to repay the distinguished favours heaped upon me is less happy and auspicious

circumstances! Allow me to hope the speedy result of your decision, either by the communication of a private letter, or in the confidence of a personal interview. Meanwhile, I wait the issue with the most anxious impatience, and remain, &c. &c. &c.

Schiller to Von Dalberg.

Frankfort, 1st May 1724.

I eagerly hasten, while yet under somewhat of the strong and delightful influence of the feelings of last night, to inform your Excellency of the distinguished and striking triumph of excellence, which, in Frankfort, marked the exertions of our Manheim actors. It was yesterday that Iffland's piece was performed to a crowded house, and received with the highest and most uncommon applause. Iffland, as uniting in himself, in rare excellence, the separate capacities of author and actor, and his eminent brother of the buskin, Beil, were, in the close of the piece, amidst the most enthusiastic acclamations of applause, called for by the audience; and it was strikingly apparent, the general high admiration and esteem with which these distinguished emissaries of the Manheim theatre were regarded. I should much exceed the limits of a letter, were I to detail to you minutely my opinion of Grossmann's company. This, however, I may assuredly say, that Iffland and Beil, even, when conflicted with the most esteemed actors, shone forth with a most striking and pre-eminent power of excellence. The triumphant and forcible manner in which their efforts, contrasted with those of the other performers, might be said to be, in their effects, like the Jupiter of Phidias placed amidst the statues of less-gifted sculptors, and at once throwing a shade of deformity across them all, by the force and energy of its characteristic beauty. I never in my life felt more strongly and

Schiller, in his eager wish to engage in some pursuit by which he might hope to acquire a celebrity, independent of his great poetical exertions, is said, for some time, anxiously to have wavered between the choice of medicine, and the desire to engage in the investigation and treatment of historical subjects. It need scarcely be added, that he decided for the latter, and that, in this separate and dissimilar walk, he acquired a distinguished reputation, perhaps only surpassed by the more dazzling and striking excellencies of his dramatic productions.

convincingly, than upon this occasion, the decided and marked superiority of our Manheim Theatre, in all its departments; and I believe that Grossmann, after the departure of our actors, will find it no easy task to uphold the former high credit of his theatre in Frankfort. It will hereafter afford me a high and delightful satisfaction to unfold to your Excellency the particular grounds of this opinion, when I shall be again enabled to taste the pleasure of an intimate and unrestrained personal intercourse. Since our stay here, Iffland and Beil, by the striking and characteristic traits of their admirable performance, have acquired a distinguished reputation with the people of Frankfort; and in their persons, the Manheim Theatre may be said, every where, to receive the most flattering and unequivocal proofs of high estimation. It is allowed, besides, by every one, that the actors of Grossmann's company never so happily or zealously exert ed themselves in their art as last night; a striking instance of that noble excitement and rivalship which the commanding and felicitous powers of great actors can awaken within the bosoms of those with whom they are for the time associated and conflicted. The piece for this evening's performance is the "Father's Revenge,” and, for Monday," Cabal and Love." I must candidly own, it is with much pain and reluctance that I can persuade myself to witness, in the performance of my piece, the mistaken and ill-regulated efforts of the actors, and especially the convulsive throws and agitations of extravagant passion which unhappily mark the performance of the lady who personates the heroine. I should indeed be well satisfied-looking to my own gratification-to forego the honour intended me by this performance, could I do so, without giving offence to Grossmann and his company, in their kindly, zealous, and well-meant efforts. I have some

hopes, however, that the striking and naturally-empassioned acting of Iffland* and Beil, together, perhaps, with somewhat of excitement caused by my own presence, may render the performance a more effective and pleasing dramatic exhibition, that the people of Frankfort could have looked for from the exclusive efforts alone of Grossmann's Company. I look forward with much impatience to communicate it to you fully, without disguise, with the observations and impres→ sions which have occurred to me since my arrival here, and which I have carefully treasured up. I may, indeed, without hesitation affirm, that, could my high estimation of your Manheim stage have been yet farther encreased, assuredly nothing could have, with more certainty, produced this effect, than the whole theatrical arcana and performances which I have witnessed here. Your Excellency will receive this letter through H. Miller, who obligingly undertakes to deliver it. His zeal and attachment to the Manheim stage have induced him to disregard every flattering inducement held out to him for prolonging his continuance with us till the representation of "Zemire and Azor" as to which, he will inform you of any particulars you may desire. I remain, with the truest respect, &c. &c.

Schiller, to H. Reunchul, Stage-Manager of the Manheim Theatre.

(Inclosed in the preceding.)

I hasten with impatience, my dear friend, to inform you, in a few words, of the striking success which has crowned the performance of Iffland and Beil. In a house crowded to excess, and amidst a silence as profound as if it had been the solemnity of the coronation of an emperor, the dramatic piece of Iffland was last night brought out, and he and his friend Beil were, in the sequel, amidst the most enthusiastic plau

Iffland is allowed to have been one of the most distinguished and admirably-impressive actors which Germany has ever produced. He was the author of a variety of dramatic productions, which display much versatility and penetration of talent; and as an enlightened and discriminating writer, upon the requisites of his professional art, he has perhaps never been equalled. In the latter part of his life, he was Director of the Theatre at Berlin.

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