cation. He could scarcely read at twenty years of age, and was incapable of writing at thirty; neither had he found means to acquire that species of external varnish which a residence of some duration in great cities can alone give, and which is but the simple reflection of the manners and phraseology of what is termed good company. Mayquez, in fact, had been ordinarily a performer on provincial boards, unless when attached to some miserable itinerant company. Art, therefore, had done nothing for him; but the bounty of Nature had far more than indemnified him. Physical and moral advantages were his original portion; elegance of figure, a Grecian turn of head, full and highly expressive black eyes; a voice sonorous and flexible; gestures ever in harmony with thought; a noble gait; attitudes fit for academic studies, yet perfectly unconstrained; a soul replete with the finest sensibility; a keen understanding; and a natural good sense which always guided him aright in the most trying and novel conjunctures ;-all these combined to render him one of the most extraordinary men to whom the Peninsula has given birth for some ages; nor did he want any advantage, in our opinion, beside that of a country that could have appreciated his merits and drawn from him all the benefit he was capable of communicating.

The correct judgment of Mayquez could not but revolt against the vicious system of declamation, to which ignorance and fashion had given popularity. He repaired to Madrid, where, with no other aid than what he derived from his own original force of conception and observation, he had the boldness to speak on the stage in the same natural manner as is usually employed on occasions of familiar intercourse.* But the solitary example of one individual, destitute of influence with the public, or with those of his profession, could avail but little. The acting of Mayquez, so utterly opposite to all other acting, offended the long-received dogmas of the scenic circle. He was, in consequence, loudly accused of being frigid and careless, and was even opposed with hisses whenever he attempted to speak. The vigorous character of Mayquez, however, would not easily permit him to forsake the path, however thorny, which he had chosen. He persisted, during three years, in the same system of acting, in despite of every injustice and insult. Finding at length that he could never hope to overcome the blind obstinacy of the public taste, unless by availing himself of some imposing circumstance that might carry him through with his design; and being likewise well aware of the weak side of his countrymen, he made a resolve with alacrity, and quitted Madrid at once for Paris, after selling all he had, to defray the expenses of his trip, and giving it out every where that he was going to seek improvement in his art, from the famous Talma.

This singular man at that time spoke not a word of French, nor did

On this topic he would observe," that we could only conjecture how Achilles was wont to talk; but that ears alone were required to teach us the utterance of our good neighbour the shoemaker." This principle indeed, accounts for the wide difference between the respective modes of tragedy and comedy, the former of which is entirely conventional, whilst the latter is restricted to the most exact imitation of Nature. Every nation has its own manner of representing the one, derived from its character, or the genius of its language: the other is every where exhibited in the same manner, Nature being every where the same.

there seem to be any thing in Paris that could promise him either solid advantage, or pleasure. Poor, and without patronage, friends, or means of introduction, he well knew that he should find himself, when there, in the state of one fallen from the clouds. Moreover, he only proposed to himself a residence of eight or ten months in France,time which he must have known inadequate to the acquisition of any -a space of art even in the most superficial degree. What, then, was in going to Paris? Merely to have the advantage of talking about his purpose it after his return. And here we must observe that an erroneous impression has been conveyed by Montesquieu, Voltaire, and most foreign writers on Spain, as well as travellers, when they have asserted the people of that country to be one of the proudest and vainest in Europe, in what relates to literature and the fine arts. correct. No individual of any nation has a less flattering opinion of This is altogether inhis own national contemporaries than the Spaniard. For him, the man who meets his daily view on the promenade, or in the evening circle of the Tertulia, is only the man of his acquaintance, not the savant, the artist, or the man of letters. The vanity of the Spaniard (if he may be said to have any) exerts itself upon objects no longer in existence, or attaches itself to such as are yet to come, but takes no notice of those which are passing under its immediate view. In this sense, Spain may be designated as the paradise of the departed, the limbo of those yet unborn, and the purgatory of the living. A national production of the present age can only receive estimation there from its reference to ultramontane manners, language, or institutions: it is allowed, in short, no merit but what it borrows, and is only relished by the Spaniards in proportion as it is not Spanish. Mayquez, therefore, who had been despised so long as he continued to live in Spain, became an object of public interest as soon as the purport of his journey was noised the coteries of the capital. No longer calumniated as the insipid, moamong notonous actor, he was now viewed as the future disciple of Talma, the intrepid young traveller seeking instruction beyond the formidable space between the Manzanares and the Seine!*

It is not our intention to affirm that this tour was of no real service to Mayquez, or to the interest of Spanish oratory. The former unquestionably derived from it an enlargement of his ideas. He obseved, compared, and extracted the quintessence of every thing that could further his design. His manner of regarding things was guided by too sensible a judgment to admit of his confounding, in the performance of Talma, Lafond, Clozee, or Mademoiselle Mars, what appertained to the art in

To such a degree had the Spaniards become isolated by the effects of despotism, that the custom of travelling was lost among them. Previously to the war of 1808, the fact of a person's having been six months in Paris or London, was looked upon as an actual merit by the vulgar. It was an exertion more extraordinary than that of Belzoni.

+ Mayquez visited Talma as soon as he reached Paris. An anecdote is related that does honour to both. We believe it substantially correct, although we cannot certify it to be so. It is said that Talma received Mayquez with great cordiality, and requested him to recite some passage from a Spanish tragedy, in order to give an idea of his powers as an actor. It must be observed that all the conversation passed through the medium of an interpreter, as neither of the principals could speak the language of the other. Mayquez delivered about twenty lines of the Numancia (a tragedy of Ayala's); and such was the expression of his features, the

general, with what was only conceded to the particular circumstances of national manners and habits, or to the structure even of French versification. He selected, accordingly, that only which was adapted for representation in Spain, hispanizing (if we may be allowed the term) whatever he found it convenient to transport with him. We may add moreover, from his own declaration, that in all which concerns scenic decoration, the interior service of a theatre, and accurate imitation in costume, he profited much by his journey.

The return of Mayquez to Madrid, after an absence of ten months, was marked by the most brilliant success. His acting produced an enchantment of delight. People affected to discern at once that Talma had been his instructor. His refined manners, his dignity on the stage, plainly denoted one who had inhaled the air of the fauxbourg St. Germain. There alone was the knowledge to be acquired how to present oneself before the world. The very dress of the newly adopted favourite bespoke a derivation from the Rue Vivienne; and finally the fair sex voted his face more handsome and more animated since it had been immersed in the limpid waters of the Seine. To doubt of this was a sacrilege the sex were so rarely deceived in their opinions of physiognomy, in the case of men! Mayquez, who adhered to the familiar style of acting, thus acquired a popularity which not all the arguments and the criticism of a Luzan, a Velasquez, or a Mayans-nor the declared patronage of the ministry,-nor even the masterpieces of a Moratin had availed to excite. It was then that classic comedy gained ground in Spain, for it was then only that the taste for its representation became generalised amongst all ranks of society, that players learned to embody it with propriety, and that poets were enabled to write in that style, without fear of committing themselves, or of being misunderstood.

To the same period (that of Mayquez's return) may be assigned the custom of the daily representation of tragedy. Its performance had, till then, been usually very rare, and equally wretched. The same manner of recitation and decoration had been applied to it, and even the same carelessness of costume, as in the exhibition of comedy. Mayquez was not only superior in tragic parts, he was the inventor of Spanish declamation; the founder of a school altogether new and national. The prosperous opening which he made, encouraged authors to cultivate a branch of literature hitherto almost exotic in Spain. We have already noticed that only two tragedies (the Raquel, and the Numancia,) had maintained their place on the list of the Repertory, and shall presently enquire what are those that may be added, up to the period of this essay, after we have said a few words about the tragedies of M. Cienfuegos, printed, with his other poetical writings, towards the end of the last century.

silent eloquence of his eyes, and the truth and nature displayed in his action, that Talma made no scruple of assigning to him thenceforth one of the highest stations in the temple of Melpomene. The mutual esteem of both followed this interview, and endured no interruption.

Such of our readers as may desire a more intimate acquaintance with this part of the scenic history of the Peninsula, are referred to the Life of Mayquez, published in Madrid in 1820, from the pen of M. de Gorostiza, a dramatic writer of eminence and competitor with Moratin.

M. Cienfuegos held a post in the office of foreign affairs in Madrid, and was a distinguished member of the Spanish academy. He was excellent as a lyric poet, judicious as a prose-writer, highly enlightened as a man of letters, besides being in his character honourable and amiable. He was likewise the intimate friend of Cadalso, Melendez, and Jovellanos. Four tragedies were composed by him: Idomeneo, Pittaco,* Zorayda, and La Condesa de Castilla (the Countess of Castille). The two first have never been played, nor do we think they will ever meet with success, by reason of the barrenness and comparative torpor of their respective plots, although their versification is very good. The other two have had success, and are still occasionally played, though not productive of much effect. They are deserving, at least, of estimation among the literati, and of the critic's notice. Zorayda is a very well written composition, giving a faithful picture of the troubles in Grenada during the feuds of the Abencerrages and Zegries. It derives from its subject an air of romance which conveys into the details an inexpressible charm. Zorayda is, in fact, the tragedy, of all others, which the Spaniards experience the highest interest in reading. However, whether it be that Moorish tales harmonize better with the lyric than the tragic manner, owing to the richness of imagination which they call forth, and which leads us unavoidably into exaggeration, or that the isolated subject of the tragedy in question was not well conceived by Cienfuegos, the fact is certain, that, in the representation, it excites no emotion, either by means of the situations or the speeches. The spectator is sensible of a void, which he is at first at a loss to explain to himself, but soon finding time for analysis, discovers that the characters are feeble, the dialogue loaded with a superfluity of words, and the progress of the story, in consequence, very tardy. The catastrophe, besides, excites neither surprise nor strong sensation of any kind, as it merely fulfils previous conjecture. Of the Condesa de Castilla we must observe that it is the only one of Cienfuegos' tragedies the subject of which is positively tragic. Indeed, we are aware but of one blemish in it: that of a denouement tediously slow. The Countess of Castille swallows poison towards the middle of the fifth act, and never quits the stage, nor ceases to speak, until she dies precisely at the end. A strict attention on the part of the auditory to a protracted contrivance like this can by no means be kept up, and the illusion of the spectacle is therefore dissipated. We paint Melpomene with a dagger in her hand -never with a phial of laudanum; thereby seeming to indicate that a catastrophe, to be imposing, should be rapid and bloody; that the curtain should descend as soon as the blow is struck, if we would prolong for a few moments the terror it is presumed to have inspired in the mind of the spectator. The catastrophe, however, excepted, this tragedy may be termed excellent. Its tone is truly historical, its dialogue concise and impetuous, its versification powerful; the story is well developed, the characters well marked and supported, particularly that of the Countess, which is a finished piece of composition, exhibiting at once the haughty sovereign, the weak mother, the devoted mistress, and the impassioned woman.

We will now return to the time of Mayquez. The first tragedy he

This piece was not printed till after the death of the author.

1

performed in was Shakspeare's Othello, translated into Spanish by Don We should have beTheodore La Calle, from Ducis' French version. stowed no mention on this translation, which is altogether below mediocrity, had not M. Bouterwek cited its author among those who have exerted themselves for the re-establishment of the modern stage, and that chiefly in allusion to his translation of Othello. None of the literary works of M. La Calle, on the contrary, have entitled him to this kind of distinction. Destitute of genius as a poet, and being in fact but a mean versifier, he has never enjoyed any consideration in the Peninsula; and we are impelled to point out M. Bouterwek's mistake, from the apprehension that La Calle may acquire an undue estimation with foreigners through the means of so respectable an authority.

If it was M. Bouterwek's wish to devote a few of his pages to the Spanish versions of modern tragedies, he might have adduced Legouvé's Mort d'Abel, translated by M. de Saviñon; L'Oscar, translated by M. Gallego; or the Cid of Corneille, translated by M. Garcia Suelto. Of these, the two first are distinguished for purity of language and richness of versification. The last is rather a new cast of its subject, than a simple translation. M. Garcia Suelto, a young physician of great credit, and an estimable member of the literary world, profiting by Voltaire's judicious remarks contained in his elaborate criticism on the Cid, took care to omit in his translation the tedious character of the Infanta, to abridge considerably Rodrigo's famous soliloquy, and to amend certain anachronisms as to the manners of the period as well as the scene of action, which had escaped Corneille. The style and the mode of versifying of the translator are moreover worthy of an original writer. The national theatre is likewise indebted to the pen of M. Garcia Suelto for a highly approved translation of Regnard's comedy, the Celibataire.

Whilst on the subject of tragic translation, and that we may avoid future recurrence to it, we will make a cursory allusion to what M. Solis has done in this way from the compositions of Alfieri, although of a date somewhat posterior to the preceding. This writer has translated Eteocle, Polinice, Oreste, Virginia, and some others with a very laudable degree of talent. His versions are invariably accurate, and he has rendered admirably the republican spirit and occasional ruggedness of Alfieri. Possessing little harmony in his own mode of versifying, Solis has given with so much the better effect those monosyllables and disjointed words so frequent with his Italian original; and having been many years engaged as a prompter to the stage in Madrid, he is extensively acquainted with the dramatic literature of his country. He is likewise understood to be well informed in that of other nations, besides having a familiar knowledge of the dead languages.

G.