Here is a childish play upon words, and a mere rant: for, in those times, neither the names of Cæsar, Augustus, or Emperor, were detested. It was by the monsters, who afterwards assumed them, that they were rendered odious.

The scene is very long, as we may suppose, where such different sentiments and passions are to be expressed, as those which belong to the lover and conspirator. Cinna assures Emilia that he had concealed from his associates, that to avenge her father and to obtain her were the motives from which he had entered into this conspiracy:

Rien n'est pour vous à craindre; aucun de nos amis
Ne sait ni vos desseins, ni ce qui m'est promis :
Et leur parlant tantôt des misérés Romaines,
Je leur ai tû la mort qui fait naître nos haines,
De peur que mon ardeur touchant vos intérêts
D'un si parfait amour ne trahît les secrets.

"There is nothing for you to fear; none of our friends know the designs, nor what is promised me. In speaking of the miseries

of

of the Romans, I was silent about the death which is the cause of our hatred, lest my warmth for your interests should betray the secrets of such a perfect love."

There was not only discretion, but good sense in this, for the secrets d'un parfait amour might not have been duly attended to, or properly reverenced, by a surly band of conspirators met to concert measures for such a perilous enterprise. In the next scene, Augustus sends for Cinna and Maximus, to advise with them, whether he shall restore liberty to the commonwealth. Here we have some respite from the strange medley of tender love and dire revenge, and in lieu of it, a long political discussion of the conveniences and inconveniences of different modes of government.

Corneille has borrowed from Dion Cassius, and transferred to Cinna and Maximus, the speeches of Agrippa and Mecænas, when Augustus consulted them, whether he should demit his power, and live a private man, as Sylla had done. Mr. Fenelon has

very justly censured, as ill suiting that simplicity of style and manner, with which Augustus expressed himself, the following lines:

AUGUSTE.

Cet empire absolu sur la terre et sur l'onde,
Ce pouvoir souverain que j'ai sur tout le monde,
Cette grandeur sans bornes, et cet illustre rang,
Qui m'a jadis couté tant de peine et de sang,
Enfin tout ce qu'adore en ma haute fortune
D'un courtisan flateur la présence importune,
N'est que de ces beautés dont l'éclat éblouit,
Et qu'on cesse d'aimer si-tôt qu'on en jouit.

"This absolute empire over the earth and ocean, this sovereign power that I have over the whole world, this greatness without limits, and this illustrious rank which has heretofore cost me so much labour and so much blood; in fine, all that the troublesome crowd of flattering courtiers adores in my high fortune, is but a piece of pageantry whose lustre dazzles, and that one ceases to admire as soon as one possesses it."

Such ostentatious expressions are perfect

ly

ly ridiculous to those, who are acquainted with the character of the speaker: but there is another fault much more detrimental to the drama; which is, the aversion we conceive at the black treachery of Cinna, who, when Augustus consults him as his friend, whether he shall lay down his power and restore liberty to the commonwealth, advises him not to do it, with a great appearance of 'personal attachment to him, and zeal for his country; but in reality, that he may not lose a pretence to sacrifice him to the revenge of Emilia. This holds forth Cinna to the spectator as a perfidious friend, a wicked counsellor, a profligate citizen. A more atrocious conduct was perhaps never ascribed to any character on the stage, where the guilty person was intended to excite indignation and abhorrence; and is therefore the most flagrantly absurd, in a case where the character is that on which the interest of the play is to turn.

Augustus having intimated to Cinna, at the conclusion of their conference, that he was willing to give Emilia to him, he be

gins then to reflect upon his perfidy, ana urges to Maximus the remorse he feels for the intended assassination. The poet seems to be afraid he has not yet sufficiently disgraced his hero, and therefore makes Maximus reply to him thus:

MAXIME.

Formez vos remors d'une plus juste cause,
De vos lâches conseils, qui seuls ont arrêté
Le bonheur renaissant de notre liberté.
C'est vous seul aujourd'hui qui nous l'avez ôtée,
De la main de César Brute l'eut acceptée,

Et n'eut jamais souffert qu'un intérêt léger
De vengeance ou d'amour l'eût remise en danger.

"Derive your remorse from a juster cause, from your base counsels, which alone put a stop to the felicity of reviving liberty. Tis you alone that have now deprived us of it. From the hand of Cæsar, Brutus would have accepted the liberty of Rome; and never, from a paltry interest of love or revenge, would have again put it to hazard.”

As every movement in this play is to turn

on