196. An Account of the TRAGEDY of CREUSA. May

a fufpicion, that their coming thither was
a contrivance formed by Xuthus to fix
fome new foreigner upon the Athenian
throne, which the declares the will firmly
oppofe; and upon his exit, fhe hints to
Lycea, that there was a fecret laboured
in her breast, which fate forbid her to re-
veal; whereupon, the king approaching, A
the ends the firft act with faying,

But retire we, maid,

Grief is th' unhappy charter of our fex;
The gods who gave us readier tears to fhed
Gave us more caufe to fhed them.

A&II. Scene, the laurel grove, Aletes
alks Ilyfus, if the queen feemed disturb-
ed when the beheld him; to which he B
anfwers, much; and that when he told
her what he knew of himself, the diffol-
ved in filent tears. Then after fome dif-
courfe about his attending the queen to
Athens, he feems anxious to know fome-
thing of his birth, and Aletes tells him,
that his fate was then at work, and a few
hours might fhew it him; but till then it
was in vain to inquire. Then Pythia ap-
proaching, Ilyffus by defire leaves him,
and a dialogue enfues between Pythia and
him, in which Pythia acknowledges, that
he had long inftructed her to pronounce
fuch oracles as had made her name famous
in Greece, and afks him what he was to
fay upon the prefent occafion. Upon
this he defires her to declare Ilyffus heir to D
Athens' crown; and upon her fcrupling
it as a fraud, he tells her, that he himfelf
had contrived their coming to confult her,
and that the had nothing to do but to ut-
ter the following oracle:

A banish'd youth is Athens' caufe of woe.
For that youth banith'd Athens must re-
ceive
[known, E
Another youth; and on the young un-
Who tends my fhrine, and whom I call
my fon,
(declares
Beftow the Imperial wreath. The god
No more.

Upon this he is amazed at his feeming to know what the only had juft learned from that talkative old man who came F before the reft, and who he tells him would thwart the fcheme, because he derefted a stranger king; to which he anfwers, I know him well, 'tis Phorbas, but contrive fome way for my feeing the queen fecretly, and even he fhall with joy feceive a stranger king. Whereupon the afks, if his feeing the queen after the ceremony, and in the laurel grove, would he fufficient; and he approves of both, but defires that the king thould know nothing of it; for that it was neceffary, that he should think the youth of Eolian

G

race, for which purpose he had already taken proper measures, both among the priests attending the temple, and at Trophonius' cave. Then upon feeing Lycea and Phorbas at a distance they retire, and the two former entering, Lycea informs Phorbas of the mighty concern the queen was under about this young man, and that upon her acquainting the king with her defire to carry him to Athens, the king not only consented but with a smile propofed, that they fhould adopt him, which gave the queen great joy; to which Phorbas anfwers, that he would damp her joy, for this youth fhould not go to Athens, and upon this the queen enters, when Phorbas informs her of his having learned from the priests, that this youth was of Eolian race, and from the king's favourite he had learned, that the answer given to the king at Trophonius' cave, was, that he should at that temple find an heir of his own race. The queen, being by this thrown into an extafy of grief, after exacting an oath of fecrefy from Phorbas and Lycea, declares to them, that Nicander was her wedded husband that he had a fon by him, born the very night he was banished; that Lycea's mother carried the infant to him directly to be taken care of; and that tho fhe believed they were both murdered together, yet the looks, the voice, the age, and the unknown birth of this youth, gave her fome hopes he might be her fon by Nicander; but that now all these hopes were blasted. Upon this Phorbas declares, that had he known Nicander to be her husband, he would have raised all Athens in his caufe; after which, from the fate of her first husband and her only fon, he takes an opportunity to infpire her with fury against any defign Xuthus might have, to place one of his race upon the throne of Athens, and the declares, that fhould this appear to be the king's defign, fhe would affift Phorbas even against this beauteous youth, this dear refemblance of her murdered lord. Just as she had faid this, Ilyffus enters, to tell her from the king that all things were ready at the altar and waited her prefence; and as the looked coldly on him, and both the and her two attendants left him abruptly, he ends the 2d act in an agony of doubt about the caufe of this alteration in their behaviour towards him.

The fcene changes to the vestibule of the temple, and the 3d act opens with a foliloquy by Aletes, the reft being all in the temple at the folemnization of the rites, and to hear the oracle. Upon his exit, Creüfa comes haftily out of the temple, in great diforder, and attended only by

Lycea,

1754. An Account of the TRAGEDY of CREUSA. 197

If conqueft charm thee, and the pride of
[placed

war

Blaze on thy fight, remember thou art
The guardian of mankind, nor build thy
[peace
fame

On rapines, and on murders. Should foft
Invite to luxury, the pleafing bane
Of happy kingdoms, know from thy ex-
ample
[fprings,

Lycea, to whom the exclaims against the
oracle, as proceeding from the contrivance
of Xuthus, which Phorbas had foreseen;
and being joined by Phorbas, he endea-
vours to perfuade her to agree to have
Ilyffus murdered, which the opposes, and
whilst they are talking, Xuthus, Ilyffus,
&c. all come out of the temple. Upon A
the king's defiring her to behold the youth
whom heaven defigned as their heir, fhe
flies into a paffion, and an open breach
between them enfues. At last they all but
Phorbas and Lycea leave her, and Phorbas
refuming his argument with difficulty pre-
wails with her to agree, that he should put
an end to Ilyffus, at the banquet preparing
for them, either by poifon, or by a band of B O boy!-
affaffins prepared on purpofe; whereupon
The ends the 3d act with saying,

O boy, thou art reveng'd; whate'er thou
fuffer'ft

Is light, to what thy murd'refs feels!

The blifs or woe of nameless millions
Their virtue, or their vice. Nor think by
laws

To curb licentious man; thofe laws alone
Can bend the headstrong many to their
yoke,
[them.
Which make it prefent int'reft to obey

Here he is interrupted by Pythia's entering haftily, and telling Ilyffus that the king expected him, and the banquet waited for him. Upon Ilyffus' exit, and Py thia's retiring, the queen enters, whereupon enfues a moving dialogue between Aletes and her, in which he discovers

Chimfelf to be Nicander. At the firft furprife the faints away, but foon recovers and acknowledges him for her lord and husband, then asks how he efcaped the bloody ruffians, or if their rage fell only upon the helplefs innocent; and upon his faying that he too was still alive, the fays, afide,

The scene changes to the laurel grove, and the 4th act opens with Phorbas placing his affaflins at the doors of the pavilion where the banquet was to be, and giving them proper inftructions to crush thefe vile ufurpers on the rights of Athens, as he calls them. Upon their going out, Aletes and Pythia enter from the postern door of the temple, and the having informed him, that the queen refufed to meet him, advifes him to wait D there for her; then Pythia retiring, Ilyffus enters, and tells Aletes, that if he was not of Æolian race, he would rather continue in his obfcure condition than wear a crown by falfhood gained, to which Aletes answers, that ere night he should know all, that there was no deceit in the cafe, and that the queen fhould not only be reconciled to him, but fond of him. But upon Ilyffus' defiring him to fee the king, and to go to Athens, he tells him both were forbid by refiitlefs fate, otherwife he would attend him ftill, But Oh! lyffus, fays he,

Whate'er becomes of me, when thou fhait reach

F

That envied pinacle of earthly greatness,
Where faithful monitors but rarely follow,
Ev'n there, amidft the kindet imiles of
[friendless.
fortune,
Forget not thou wert once diftrefs'd and
Be ftrictly juft; but yet, like heaven,
[ear
Temper thy justice. From thy purged G
Banish bafe flattery, and fpurn the wretch
Who would perfuade thee thou art more
[power
Weak, erring, felfish man, endu’d with
To be the minifter of public good.

with mercy

than man;

O honest Phorbas! Murder now is virtue,

He then tells her, that his leaving his garments all ftained with blood was a ftratagem to make it be thought he was dead, but that his precious charge forbad a real death; that he had given the name of Ion to the child; and at last by her impetuofity he is forced to tell her, that llyffus was young Ion. At this the ftands aghaft for fome time, and then in a fury tells him of the plot against the life of Ilyffus. At first he bids her fly to prevent it; but then left her rafhnefs fhould do mischief, he propofes to fend Pythia to forbid the banquet as unhallowed; whereupon the ends the fourth act with saying, The Pythia, no; I will myself outstrip The lightning's fpeed.

th'event,

"Tis not too late to die.

Whatever be

The 5th at opens with Lycea's telling Phorbas of the queen's running to the banquent, and that after exacting an oath from Xuthus and all prefent, that llyffus only fhould be king of Athens, fhe fnatched the goblet of poifon out of Ilyffus' hand, and drank it off to the dregs. This Phorbas takes for fome freth Æolian fraud, and for the fake of his country refolves to carry his affffination plot immediately in

to

198

QUERIES relating to E. C.'s Cafe.

A

to execution. Upon their exit Pythia and
Aletes, now called Nicander, enter, and
after fome difcourfe between them about
what was now fit to be done, they are
joined by Creüfa, who juftifies what the
bad done from the neceflity fhe was un-
der, in order to prevent a civil war in her
country; and that the now only wanted
to fee and give her last bleffing to her fon
Ion. Upon this Lycea enters haftily,
and tells them that Phorbas with an arm-
ed Athenian band was then going to en-
ter the pavilion, to destroy the king and
young Ilyffus, whereupon Nicander flies
to fave Ilyffus, and whilft the queen is
exclaiming against the rage of Phorbas,
and blaming herself for not having in- B
formed him, Ilyffus enters, and tells them
how he had been faved from immediate
death by Aletes, who bid him fly to find
a mother there. He is then owned by
the queen, and told that Aletes, whofe
real name was Nicander, was his father,
and her true and only hufband. Whilft

May

Queries relating to E. C.'s Cafe.

Query 1. S not E. C. furrendering herfelf voluntarily, when the had nothing to lose by going away, an argument of her innocence ?

Anfw. As a perfon flying from justice is a prefumption of guilt, fo a voluntary furrender is, by parity of reafon, a prefumption of innocence; but then it is but a prefumption, which may be overthrown by direct pofitive evidence.

Q2. Is it agreeable to law, that a jury, once charged with the evidence, may be permitted to go at large, before they have delivered their verdict?

A. I am of opinion, that tho' a jury once charged, may, by confent of parties, be difcharged wholly from trying the cause; yet I do not apprehend that the law will allow them to go at large, while the trial is depending: For tho' in a long trial fuch a confinement may be inconvenient, yet I cannot find that the law

Chas provided any remedy for it; it being in the eye of the law a lefs inconvenience, than expofing the jury to be tamper'd with before they have brought in their verdict; yet I fee not but that they may take refreshment, and retire to rest in a place provided for them, provided that they may be guarded by a fworn officer, that no body be admitted to fpeak to them.

The delares this, Nicander enters, mortal-
ly wounded and bleeding, and after own-
ing him for his fon, tells them that Phor.
bas and the flave who mixed the poisonous
draught had fell by his hand, and Xuthus
was pursuing the reft of the confpirators;
foon after which both the queen and he
expire, and whilt llyffus is bemoaning
his fate, in lofing both his parents at the
very inftant he had found them, Xuthus D
enters, exclaiming against the queen as the
contriver of the defigned affaffination, but
is furprised to fee both her and the ftran-
ger who had faved them dead; after which
the piece concludes thus:

PYTHIA.

Ilyffus lives. And thou haft fworn, great king, that he fhall reign (firm Supreme in Athens. Say, do'ft thou conThat oath?

XUTHUS.

I do, by heaven !
PYTHIA.

Ask here no more.
The fatal tale is for thy private ear.
Retire, and learn it all. For poor Creüfa,
She wrong'd not thee, upon herself alone
She drew heaven's vengeance. And too
furely proves

That murder but intentional, not wrought
To horrid act, before th' eternal throne
Stands forth the first of crimes. Who
dare affume,

Unwarranted, heaven's high prerogative
Oe'r life and death, with double force
fhall find
[defign'd.
Turn'd on themselves the mischiefs they

F

G

Q3. Is it not neceffary upon an indictment for perjury, not only to prove, that the fact fworn to is falfe, but allo that the defendant knew it to be so at the time of fwearing?

A. I think it to be very clear, that a mere mistaken falfe oath, without wilful and corrupt defign, is not perjury, within the meaning of the indictment, for the indictment charges it to be done falfely, wilfully and corruptly. Nor did I ever know, hear or read of any one convicted of perjury, without evidence to prove a corrupt defign, plot or confederacy, or elfe that the party must needs know it to be falfe; as in this cafe, if it were proved that E. C. was elfewhere at the time the pretended to be at Enfield, for in this he could not fwear falfe thro' miftake, as he might with respect to the perfon of the gypsey.

Q4. Does the law require that a jury charged upon fuch indictment, muft neceffarily bring in their verdict guilty or not guilty generally?

A. Certainly the law requires no fuch thing; for the jury may, if they pleafe, bring in their verdict fpecial, or guilty as to part, and not guilty as to other part. Indeed, if it be only verbofely worded,

and

1754. Miftakes in judging of Men by their laft Moments. 199

and amounts in fubftance to a general verdict, it may be right in the court to tell them, it would be more proper to find it general; but then care should be taken fo to explain it to them, that they may not by a general verdict find the defendant guilty of more than they believe or intended to find him.

Q5. Does not a finding the defen- A dant not guilty of wilful perjury amount to an acquittal, although they should alfo find the party guilty of fwearing falsely, not wilfully?

A. If the jury really believed the party innocent of wilful forfwearing, this is in effect a general verdict of acquittal; for this is the only criminal part of the indictment; and the fwearing falfely, if not with defign and knowingly, is, as I conceive, not criminal in law; and after this, to find a general verdict of guilty, is quite contrary to their first finding.

Q. 6. Suppofe the jury, through furprize, inadvertency, or mistake find fuch a verdict, is there any remedy to prevent judgment in fuch cafe? C

A. This is extremely difficult, unless fome error can be thewn upon the face of the record, which may be caufe for arrefting judgment, Perhaps the fuffering the jury to go at large in the midst of the trial may be fuch a cause, as being a miftrial.

In the cafe of Simons, the Polish Jew, D
upon affidavit of the jury, that they
did not mean to give fuch a verdict as
was entered (as here, that they did not
mean to find the defendant guilty of
that part of the indictment, which
charges with wilful perjury, but only
that the had in fome part fworn falfely,
though not wilfully) the court did fet,
afide the trial. If this be really the
cafe, the jury ought, however, for dif
burthening their own confciences, make
fuch a reprefentation to the court, and
leave the effect to them.
May 9, 1754.

I

S. EMLYN.

From the WORLD, May 23.

F

T was the faying of Epaminondas, upon being asked which of his friends he esteemed moft, that "they must all die before fuch a queftion could be anfwered." But if Epaminondas had lived in this country and in these times, he would have known that the greateft heroes at their deaths, are frequently thofe who have been the greateft villains in their G lives: And yet moft men are apt to pafs their judgments upon a man's life from what he has faid and acted in the last fene of it; that feafon being thought the feafon of fincerity, because diffimulation is to no

purpose, and because the confcience finds eafe in difclofing crimes which can no longer profit us, and which threaten us with deftruction in the state to which we are haftening, unless truly conteffed and repented of in this. But of those who die in their beds, as well as malefactors, I have known and heard of many debauched and diffolute men who have mes death with the utmost patience and refignation; while the pious and moral Chriftian, whofe life has been spent in the conftant exercise of religion and virtue, has beheld its approaches with confufion; and from a confcioufnefs of not having done exactly as he ought to have done upon every occafion, has died fearful and defponding.

From hence it will appear, that those who judge of mens lives by their beha viour at their deaths will be fometimes mistaken. The contempt of death may be owing in many to infenfibility; in fome to a brutal courage; in others to the diflike of life; in a few to philofophy, as well as in many to a well-grounded hope of a happy hereafter. The jeft of Sir Thomas Moore upon the fcaffold, who after laying his head upon the block, bad the executioner ftay till he had put afide his beard, because that had commited no treason, was no more a proof of the goodness of his life (if there had been no other voucher) than that of the murderer at the gallows, who entreated the hangman not to touch his neck with his fingers, because he was ticklish. The thief, for the reputation of dying hard, as it is called, and the philofopher, to support the doctrine he has taught, that death is no evil, will rush into eternity with an affected bravery, and offend heaven rather than confefs their apprehenfions of

diffolution.

Men are fometimes hypocrites in their laft moments thro' pride, as they have been all their lives thro' intereft; nor will it appear ftrange that they are fo : For as every man is defirous (if it can be done without much trouble) of leaving a good name behind him, he is unwilling

to confefs at his death that he has been a rogue all his life.

For my own part (and I hope it will not be imputed to me as prefumption) I hould think of death with much greater terror than I do, if I confidered it as the final end of being. The thought of annihilation to one whofe life has not been marked with any of the capital vices, and whofe frailties, he humbly hopes, are no more than thofe which are incident to humanity; who has been unprofitable to his Maker because he was human, and to mankind because unfriended by fortune;

and

200

Reflections on LIFE and DEATH, &c.

and whofe connections in this life have
been fuch as to make him defirous of their
eternal duration; I fay, to one who thus
thinks, and who hopes he has thus lived,
the thought of annihilation would make
death most terrible. And yet in the cir-
cle of my own acquaintance, I have found
a man of a decent life and converfation, A
who wished well to everybody, and who
foved and enjoyed his friends, but who,
thro' a tedious and painful illness, had
conceived fleep to be io great a bleffing
as to make him wish for an eternity of it;
and having taken pains to believe that
death was fuch a fleep, he talked of it
with pleasure, and within a very few
hours of his exit, as, a confirmation that
he died in the opinion he had profeffed,
he wrote an epitaph on himself to that
purpofe.-Ifhall only obferve upon thewri-
ter of it, that as I believe him to have been
honest and fincere, it is but charity to hope
that he is now rejoicing in his mistake.

There is nothing more true in the general, than that thofe people are the most averfe to death, who have had the leaft enjoyment of life; as on the contrary, thofe who have enjoyed life moft have been the least anxious about dying. To many of my readers fuch an affertion as this may appear ftrange and unaccountable But a very little enquiry will convince them of the fact.

B

May

we poffefs, than with our expectations of what we wish for; the reafon of it is, that what we expect is always greater than what we enjoy. And hence it is, that the enjoyment of life makes us lets defirous of its continuance, than if it had hitherto given us nothing, and fed us only with expectation.

I have waved in this place all confiderations of a future exiftence, and have confidered the happy and unhappy_only in regard to this life. If we take religion and a future ftate into the question, the happy here will have a thousand times tronger reafons for being refigned to death than the unhappy. Pain, fickness and misfortune, as they do not wean us from a love of life, fo neither do they beget in us a proper frame and temper to prepare for death. It is the enjoyment of life that calls forth our gratitude to Him who gave it; that opens the heart to acts of kindness and benevolence : And by giving us a taste here of the happinefs of heaven, excites in us a defire Cof fecuring it through eternity; and by thus fecuring it, makes us eager to embrace it; enabling us to refign with joy -the happiness which is uncertain and tem poral, for that which is without change

and without end.

I fhall conclude this effay with obferving, that thofe who make religion to confift in the contempt of this world and its Ꭰ enjoyments, are under a very fatal and dangerous mistake. As life is the gift of Heaven, it is religion to enjoy it. He therefore who can be happy in himself, and who contributes all that is in his power towards the happiness of others (and none but the virtuous can fo be and fo do) answers most effectually the ends of his creation, is an honour to his nature, and a pattern to mankind.

Men who, thro' neceffitous circumftances, gloomy difpofitions, or fickly habits of body, have lived in perpetual difcontent, are apt to flatter themselves that life is in arrears to them; that as their days have hitherto paffed without enjoyment, every thing is to be made up to them before they come to die. They look upon riches, pleafure and health to be bleffings that never tire, and confider E the poffefors of them as living in a state of uninterrupted happinefs, which they long to tafte, and cannot bear the thoughts of dying before they have enjoyed. Thus are the miferable in love with life, and afraid of death. Hope ftill flatters them with happy days; and death that would inevitably cut off that hope, is beheld by them as the cruelleft of all enemies.

Let us caft an eye now to thofe in happier fituations; to thofe who are contented with their lot, and who (if there are any fuch) have lived all their days in health, chearfulness and affluence. What can to-morrow bring to fuch as these that they have not known before, unlefs G

it be misfortune? It is from this confideration that fuch perfons are more refigned to dying. We part more easily with what

R. Richard Mead was fo famous for

Dis skill in phytick, and all parts of

literature, as well as for his many learned and judicious writings, that we hope hereafter we fhall have an opportunity of giving fome account of that great man. In the mean time we have here presented our readers with his HEAD, curiously engraved on copper: And thall only add at prefent, that he was fon to Mr. Matthew Mead, formerly a noted diffenting minifter at Stepney, that he was firft physician to his majesty, and that he died on Feb. 16, 1754, in the 85th year of his age. (See p. 92. Alfo his collection of pictures, p. 130. And an account of his Phyfical admonitions and precepts, in our Magazine for 1751, p. 223.)

JOUR