ben jonsons indebtedness to greek charac ter sketch

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

  • 8/7/2019 ben jonsons indebtedness to greek charac ter sketch

    1/7

    Ben Jonson's Indebtedness to the Greek Character-Sketch.Author(s): Edward Chauncey BaldwinSource: Modern Language Notes, Vol. 16, No. 7 (Nov., 1901), pp. 193-198Published by: The Johns Hopkins University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2918010 .

    Accessed: 19/02/2011 04:30

    Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless

    you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you

    may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use.

    Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at .http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=jhup. .

    Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed

    page of such transmission.

    JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of

    content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms

    of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

    The Johns Hopkins University Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to

    Modern Language Notes.

    http://www.jstor.org

    http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=jhuphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/2918010?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=jhuphttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=jhuphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/2918010?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=jhup
  • 8/7/2019 ben jonsons indebtedness to greek charac ter sketch

    2/7

    MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES .

    Baltimore, November, 1901.BEN JONSON'S INDEB TEDNESS TOTHE GREEK CHARACTER-SKETCH.THE purpose of this article is to point out theindebtedness of Ben Jonson to the post-classi-cal character-sketch.This literary form has its origin in the 279zxooXqpqriXrpE5,or Ethical Characters, of Tlhe-ophrastus.' These characters in the form inwhich they have come down to us consist ofthirty-seven short sketches. In all of themthe method of treatment is precisely the sameand is simplicity itself. It consists in defininga quality and then proceeding to enumeratethe actions to be expected, under given con-ditions, from a man embodying that quality.Just how much Jonson owed directly to The-ophrastus it is, of course, impossible to say.The most that can be affirmed positively isthat he was familiar with the work of The-ophrastus. This is proved by a comparisonof passages like the following. The first ofthese is an entry in the diary of Sir PolitickWould-be :2

    "A rat had gnawn my spur-leathers, not-withstanding I put on new and did go forth;but first I threw three beans over the thres-hold."Likewise Theophrastus says of the Sufiersti-tionis Man:

    "And if a weasel run across the road, he willnot proceed till someone goes ahead of him;or until he has thrown three stones across theroad."Again in the first scene of the third act of thesame play, Mosca speaks thus of flatterers:

    "I mean not those that have your bare town art,nor thoseWith their court dog-tricks, that can fawn and fleerMake their revenueout of legs and facesEcho my lord, and lick away a moth."This is evidently taken from the character of aflatterer in which Theophrastus says:

    "And saying such things, he will pluck fromthe mantle (of his patron)a bit of wool; and ifany speck of chaff has been blown by thewind upon his hair, he will pluck it off."It is not mainly by direct adaptations, how-ever, that Jonson shows most clearly the in-fluence of Theophrastus. He was much toooriginal a worker to content himself with mereborrowing. Hence we find him amusing him-self by writing character sketches of his own,quite in the Theophrastic manner. To the listof dramtatis personae of two of his plays,

    Every Man out of his Humour and The NewInn, he affixed short "characters of the per-sons," which, because each of the persons isthe embodiment of some " humour," are, ex-cept for their brevity, exactly like those ofTheophrastus.Yet it was neither in his borrowings nor evenin his imitations of Theophrastus that Jonsonshows most clearly his indebtedness to theGreek character-sketch. This appears mostevident in the use he made of a certain dra-matic character-sketch writtenby Libanius, theGreek sophist of Antioch.3 This character-sketch appearsin the fourthvolume of Reiske'sedition of the works of Libanius under thetitle " A rhetorical declamation " on the sub-ject "A morose man, who has married a talk-ative wife, denounces himself." Jonson's lit-erary discernment is no where better shownthan in his selection of this particular charac-ter-sketch for dramatictreatment. For, in dis-tinction from those of Theophrastus, it isthoroughly dramatic in the same sense and tothe same degree that Browning's Soliloquy in aSpanish Cloister is dramatic. Both are dra-matic monologues.To show how closely Jonson followed hisGreek original, I have placed side by side the

    x Born in Lesbos between 373and 368B. C., he was a pupilof Aristotle and afterwards became his successor as head ofthe Peripatetic School.2 VeotW,x, Act. iv, sc. T.

    3 Libanius died near the end of the fourth century A. D.Classical and post-classical literature containmany examplesof the writingof character-sketches-enough certainly toshowthat Theophrastus was not alone in his interest in it, that in-deed the interest jn character portrayal in and for itself isperennialand as universal as literature itself. Of these, thefollowing are a few out of many that might be instanced:Iliad, Book xiii. lines 278 and following; Horace, Book i,Satire ix; Juvenal, Satires viii and x; Martial, Book iii,Biigram on Cotlus:; Auctor ad Herexnium, Book iv;Ruttilius Rufus, De Figwris Seutentiarum c Elocutioxji,Book ii: Svnesius. Ehistle civ.

    '93

  • 8/7/2019 ben jonsons indebtedness to greek charac ter sketch

    3/7

    387 November, I901. MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES Vol. xvi, NO. 7. 388corresponding passages from the Greek char-acter sketch and from the two plays, TheSilentWoman and Volpone, in which Jonson madeuse of it.4In the description of Morose given in thedialogue between Clerimont and Truewit inthe first scene of the first act of The SilentWomacn,Jonson develops certain suggestionsof Libanius as will be slhown by a comparisonof the following passages.Truewit,

    " They say he has been upon divers treatieswith the fish-wives and orange-women, andarticles propounded between them: marrythechimney-sweepers will not be drawn in."Clerimont adds,

    "No, nor the broom-men: they stand outstiffly. He cannot endure a costard monger,he swoons if he hears one."Truewit conitinues,

    " Methinks a smith would be oniinous."Clerimont,

    "Or any hammer man. A brazier isnotsuf-fered to dwell in the parish, nor an armourer."All this is clearly an adaptation of the fol-lowing lines from Libanius:" Moreover, I flee precipitately from the an-vils and the hammers and the uproar of the

    work-shops, from the shops of the silversmitls,from the forge of the worker in iron-maniyothers. But I welcome those crafts which arecarried on in silence. And, verily, I have evenseen painters who sang while they worked-so delightful is it to citizens to chatter and theycannot restrain themselves."sClerimont goes on:

    " He turnedaway a man last week for haviinga pair of new slhoes that creaked. And thisfellow waits on him now in tenniis-courtsocks,or slippers soled with wool."Libanius makes AiaroXos say:

    " As long as I lived alone, I enjoyed silenceenough, lhavingtrained my household servantsnever to do anyihing that would annoy me."6Clerimont has heard that Morose vows tomarry a woman who lodges in the next street

    " who is exceedingly soft-spoken; thrifty ofher speech; that spends but six words a day."

    This is taken from the recommendation givento 414dxoALo5"Be of good courage, he said, she has trainedherself in nothing so much as this, for soonerwould you accuse stones of loquacity than thisgirl: so that I fear, he said, lest the chargemay be made against her that she is more si-lent than is necessary."7The suggestion for the first scene of thesecond act, in which Morose appears and askshis servant many questions, eaclh of which isanswered only by signs, was doubtless also thesingle line from Libanius in which A46FxoXo5ismade to say:

    " Having trained my household servants neverto do anything that would annioyme."8It is to be observed that Epiccene begins to

    reveal her true character much sooner thandoes the silent wonmanin Libanius, for she re-monstrates with Morose about sending awaythe parson,9 wlhereas her prototype does notbegin to talk till after the marriage is per-formed.1oWhen the wedding guests come in, headedby Daw with the Collegiate Ladies, Moroseutters an exclamation of horror."0 the sea breaks in upon me."x Anotlherflood, an inundation! I slhallbe overwlhelmiedwith noise.'"This is evidently an echo of Libaniius."Just as the sea overwvhelnmsa ship, so thewoman's tongue overwhelms me."2

    The tlhirdact ends in a friglhtfuluproar ofdrums, trumpets and the shouits of the guests,in the midst of wlhichMorose runs out with ahowl of disgust. This also seems to havebeen suggested by Libanius in the followingpassage, in which AddxoAo5 describes hiisownwedding." For there was no moderation. There was

    a great clatter, violenit laugliter, unseemnlydancing, a senseless wedding song . . . so thatI was tempted to tear off my garland and runfrom the wedding."'3

    4 Since the writings of Libaniushave neverbeentranslated,even into Latin, I am obliged to present my own, doubtlessimperfect, translation.5 Page I36, 1. I2-I8. 6 Page 136, 1. 18-20.

    7 Page I37, i. 6-p. 8 Page 136, 1. i9. 9 Act iii, Sc. 2.iO But this, in comparisonwith the comingconflict,was un-brokenpeace. For before midnight, a voice was heard com-plaining of the bed. Later she asked me if I was asleep . . .a third time she asked something, and a fourth, Page 137, 1.

    2I-26.iI Act iii, sc. 2. I2 Page 142, 1. 22-23.

    13 Page 137, 1. 12-18.

    194

  • 8/7/2019 ben jonsons indebtedness to greek charac ter sketch

    4/7

    389 November, I9OI. MODERN LANGUAGE NOTE.,S. Vol. xvi, No. 7. 390Truewit, commentingupon the tumult,says:

    "The spitting, the coughing, the laughter,the neezing,. . the dancing,noise of the music,. . . makes him think he has married a fury."Here he uses the sameexpressionas Ai6xoLo5,who speaks of his wife as rair?7V rtfr?ptVVuV. I4

    In the secondscene of the fourthact,Morose,accompaniedby Dauphine,enters,cursingthebarber who had been the promoter of themarriage. In this passage Jonson seems tohave had in mind the following lines:"I awaitacessationof the chattering,lament-ing and cursing marriage,and him who firstmentionedthe womanto me."I5

    Whatfollows is also from Libanius. Epicceneapproaches Morose, saying:"You are not well, sir; you look very ill:something has distemperedyou."Such questioils are among the grievances ofld6xoXo5also. He says:

    " But if she notices the groan, she assailsme, asking, 'Whlat goes amiss with you with-in?'"x6Truewit adds fuel to the flame of Morose'sanger at what he regardsas a seniselessques-tion, by affirmingthat these are " but notes offemale kindness; certain tokens that she hasa voice." This is almost an exact renderingof the consolationwhich 4ddxoXLosays he re-ceived underlike circumstances.

    "Verily, he said, this is a sign of love andacertainiindication,at the same time, that shehas a voice."'7Truewitconisideratelyoffers to entreat Epi-ccenieto hold her peace. but Moroseinterposeswith the despairingcry:"0O no, labor not to stop her. She is like aconduit pipe,that willgush outwithmoreforce

    when she opens again."The comparison is taken fronmthe speech ofJAi6KoXo0where he says:

    " For just as those inspectors of water-courses, when they take away the dike, makethe flood worse . . - 'I8Finally they decide that Morose is mad andEpicceinesays compassionately,

    "Sure he would do well enough if he couldsleep."To this Moroseretorts,

    " No I should do well enough if you couldsleep. Have I no friend that will make herdrunk,orgive her a littlelaudanumoropium?"The correspondingpassage is,"My wife is not drunk. Yet is this a terriblething? For if she were drunk, she wouldsleep, and if she slept, she would perhaps besilent.'"19Truewitcontinuesthe tortureby replying," Why she talks ten times worse in hersleep."Morose,

    "How "Clerimont," Do you not know that, sir? Never ceasesall night."This, too, is fromLibanius,

    "But when she has exhausted every topicby the rush of her speech-the affairs of ourown household, those of our neighbors andstill nothing new appears, she tells me herdreams, inventing them, by the gods, as itseems to me, forshe never sleeps, but oftenspends the night in talking."20Both 4dxo0Xo5 and Morosecanvassthe pos-sibilities of getting a divorce. The formerre-jects the project,preferringto die by a decreeofthe senate. Because into the senate chamber,while such a matter was under consideration,a womanmight not enter, whereas she wouldhave access to a court of justice grantinga di-vorce.2" Morose,on the contrary, welcomesthe suggestion of an interview with a lawyer.It is interestingto observe that the cautionofAid4xoLo5is fully vindicatedby the experienceof Morose,for in the midst of his consultation

    with the pretended lawyer and parson, Epi-caeneenters, rampant. Yet before this, evenin his attempt to see a lawyer, Morosehas dif-ficulty, as shown by his reply to Dauphine'ssolicitous inquiry whether he has yet seen alawyer.

    14 P. 137,1. 14-15.15 P- 140,1. 14-16. I6 P. I40, 1, i6-i8.17 P. 138, 1. 4-5s 8 P. 146, 1.23-24.

    19 P. 143,1 . 8-10. 20 P. 141, 1. II-I6.21 For it is illegal for her to be present with those dis-cussinga matterof life and death in the council. But if thiswere a divorcetrial, and if it werenecessaryto explainto thejudgesinwhat way I amwronged,the courtwouldbecommonto her and to me. Page 247, 1. I4-18.

    I9-

  • 8/7/2019 ben jonsons indebtedness to greek charac ter sketch

    5/7

    391 November, I9oi. MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES. Vol. xvi, No. 7. 392"0 no !" he says, " there is such a noise inthe court thatthey havefrightedme home withmore violence than I went. Such speakingand counter-speakingwith their severalvoicesof citations, appellations, allegations, certifi-cates, attachments,interrogatories,references,

    convictionsand afflictions indeed among thedoctors and proctors, that the noise here issilence to 't, a kind of calm midnight."22The speech is adapted fromthe following:

    " I do not frequentthe Assembly much, notbecause I am indifferent to matters affectingthe common weal, but because of the shoutsofthe rhetoricianswhocannotbe silent. NoramI accustomed to frequent the Agora, on ac-countof those maniynames of legal processes,as pddzs, 8v&ezQz5,d7tayay7y, 6za6ndXadia,rpaOp2, zapaypcr0i, which they who have nobusinessbefore the courts love to name. So-and-so has accused so-and-soof suchand suchthinlgs. Whlatis this to you, who are neitherprosecutornor defendant."23

    When Truewit brings in the pretendedlaw-yer and parson,Moroserefusesto salute them,giving as his reasons the following:"Salute them! I had ratlherdo anythingthan wear out time so unfruitfully,sir. Iw-onderhow these comlmonformsas God saveyou, and You are welcome are come to be ahabit in our lives; or lam glad to see you!When I cannot see what the profit can be ofthese words,so long as it is no whit better withhim whose affairs are sad and grievous, thathe hears this salutation.24This is a free renderingof the following lines:" Verily I think we ought to drive out fromthe Agora this formof salutation which con-sists of greeting one with the word, Hail! acustom which has come into our life I knownot whence. For I, by the gods, do not seethe profit of the expression, since I have notheard that he whose circumstanceswere suclas to call for grief was benefited by thesalutation. "'25A little farther on, Morose interrupts thewranglingof the pseudo-parsonand lawyer togive some account of hiisformerway of life."Nay good gentlemen," he says, "do notthrowme into circumstances. Let your com-forts arrivequickly at me, those that are. Beswift in affording me my peace, if so 1 shallhope any. I love not yourcourt tumults. Andthat it be not strange to you, I will tell you:mnyfather,in my education was wontto advise

    22 Act iv, sc. 2.23 P. 135, 1. 26-p. 136, 1. 7. The Greek words have no ex-act equivalentsin English.24 Act v, sc. I. 25 P. 136, 1. 7-12.

    me that I should always collect and retainmymind, not suffering it to flow loosely; that Ishould look to what things were necessarytothe carriage of my life, and what not; em-bracing the one and eschewing the other: inshort that I should endear myself to rest andavoid turmoil; which now is grown to anothernature to me. So that I come not to your public pleadings, or yourplaces of noise; notthatI neglect those things thatmake forthe dignityof the commonwealth, but for the mere avoid-ing of clamors and impertinences of oratorsthat know not how to be silent."26AuddoXLo5says:

    "My father,0 Couincil,ever exlhortedme tocollect (dvvdyriv) my mindand to keep it con-centrated (dvYixezv)and not to allow it towander (diaX-erdai), to discern what thingsare essential in life and what not, and to holdfast to the one and to keep away from theother, to honor Peace, to fly from tumuilts.These things, 0 Council, I have continued todo, not going often to the meetings of the As-sembly, and this not through indifferencetothe commonweal, but because of the voices ofthe rhetoricians,who cannot be sllent."27Jonson seenmsto have been much initerestedin this character-sketch,for we find him usingit again in another of his comedies- Volpone.In the second scene of the thirdact, Volpone,feigning illness, is visited by the loquaciousLady Politick Would-be. Onseeing herenter,

    Volpone's first ejaculation is borrowed fromLibanius:Volpone's words are," The stormcomes towardme."

    The Greek is,"But I tremble,seeing anotherflood(j5ei;,jr)coming toward me."'28Lady Politick has the habit of telling herdreams,a habit which Morosedetests. Whenshe starts to relate one of her dreams, Moroseinterruptsher with the words

    "0, if you do love meNo more: I sweat and sufferat the mentionOf any dream."The wife of 46ixoXo5 tried his patience in thesame way, for we read:"But when she hasexhausted every topicbythe rush of her speech . . . and nothing yetappears, she tells me her dreams, inventingthem . . . as it seems to me, for she neversleeps.2992

    26 Act v, sc. I. 27 P. 35, . 21-p. T36, 1. 2.28 P. 141, 1. 1I-15, 29 P. 141, 1. II-I5.

    xQ6

  • 8/7/2019 ben jonsons indebtedness to greek charac ter sketch

    6/7

    393 November, [9oi. MODERN LANG UAGE NOTES. Vol. xvi, No. 7. 394and again,

    " I could not endure a talking dream."30Interestingas an evidence of Jonson's learn-ing, is his putting into the mouth of Volpone areferenceto a saying of Archilochus,of which

    Jonson undoubtedlywas remindedby a pas-sage in Libanius.Volpone says:"Ah me I have ta'en a grasshopperby the wing."

    The line which Jonsonhad in mind from Ar-chilochus is,

    rerrzya vrEpoOVE#A7pa5The passage by wlhich Jonson was remindedof this is as follows:"It is fitting,I said to her, that you imitatethe ctustomsof the cicadas(rEzi'yco;) of whomonly the male sings. Even he is annoying be-cause he sings too much,but if the femalesangtoo, you could not hear. But she, cutting inand taking the cue, said, ' These are the bestcicadas, the friends of the muses, to wlhomtalking is sweeter thaanto eat.' "3'

    Volpone, weary of hierchatter, tries to silencehlerby remarking" The poetAs old in time as Plato, andas knowing,Says that your highest femalegrace is silence."

    This, too, is from Libanius:"If you will not listen to me, I said, haveregard to the wisest poet when he says:

    0 woman,silence adornswomen.32Lady Politick, unabashed, takes the cue:

    "WWhichof your poets? Plutarch,or Tasso,or Dante? Guarini? Ariosto? Aretine? Ciecodi Hadria, I have read tllem all."So of the wife of dY16xoXo5it is said,"1Butslhesaid at once 'And whois this poet,and who was hlis father, and of what districtwas lhe,anidwlhendid hiebegin to write anidhow did hiedie?'"33And again," Buit the liielition of the chorus leaderscauses hierto speak of tragedies. Thereuiponshe pours fortha torrentof words relative tothose who invented tragedy, menitioning alsothose who brouglhttlhemout anidin wlhatman-ner the literary formiigrew and whlit each iiancontributed. "34

    "Alas," exclaims Volpone, "my mind'sperturbed."So AildxoAo5,

    "II am not masterof my mind. I sufferfromdizziness, I sufferfromvertigo."35When Mosca enters, Volpone appeals to himfor help,

    "Oh,Rid me of this torture,quickly, there,My madamwith the everlastingvoicesuch a hail of wordsShe has let fall."

    The appeal of ddxo?Lo5 to the senate is simi-lar,"Defend me for the sake of the gods, re-lieve me from the everlasting voice (q,okw5d7'ra46rov) . . .36 often struck as with hail(xaACo) I faintaway.37While Jonson'suse of the Greek character-sketch is interesting as an instanceof his in-debtednessto the classics, its chief significancelies in tlle evidence thus affordedof the closerelation that might exist between the dramaand the character-sketch. This kinshipJonsonwas the firstto recognize.38 That he recog-nized it so readily was due in part to theanalytic and expository quality of his mind,which led him to be interested more in thetype than in the individual, and more in theexhibitionthan in the developmentof charac-ter. He saw that in spite of their apparentlywide dissimilarity,the real differencebetweenthese two literary forms was mainly one ofmethlod in the cliaracter presentation. Thedramapresentscharacterin action. The char-acter-sketchportrayscharacterin whatmaybecalled, with due apology, its statical relations.The former,by means of the counterplay ofactionupoInaction,makesthe charactersreveal

    themselves. The latter by setting forth thequalities or peculiarities wllich differentiateatype,shlowscharactersfixed, statuesque,sepa-

    30 P. 137, l. 5. 31 P. 146, 1. 9-I4.32 P. 145, 1.31. Libaniuisquoted the line from the Ajax

    of Sophocles, line 293,33 P. 146, 1. 5-6. 34 P. 141, 1. I-6.

    3;P. 142, 1, 23-24. 36 P. 141, 1. 23. 37 P. 143, 1. 18-20.38 La Bruy6re in the preface to his Caracseres, ou LesMa,wrydece Siecle(E688),speakingof Theophrastussays;" Les savans, fesant attentionk la diversite des mceursqui yfont trait es, et i la mani6renaIvedont tous les caract6resyfontexprim6s;et la comparantd'ailleursavec celle du po teMenandre,disciple de T'heophraste.et qui servit ensuite demodVlea 'frence, c1u'ona dans nos jours si heureusementimitd, ne petuvents empecherde reconnialtredans ce petitouvrage la preniiLresource de tout le comique." Page 5,edition of 31750.

    107

  • 8/7/2019 ben jonsons indebtedness to greek charac ter sketch

    7/7

    395 November, igoi. MfODERN LANGUAGE NOTES. Vol. xvi, No. 7. 396rate fromall that could lend them human in-terest. As a result of such limitations, thecharacter-sketchwas too often but a featurelessand pale picture. It resembled the imaginaryportraitsthat sprinklethe pages of such booksas Lavater's,39in which every feature, eyes,ears, lips, brow, mouth are made to bear thesame stamp.

    Yet with all its manifest inferiorityto thedrama as a vital form of character presenta-tion, the Englislhcharacter-sketchcontinuedexerting more and more influence upon thedramaas time went on. After Jonson's deaththe drama rapidly declined, while with equalrapiditythe character-sketchbecamethe mostprolific literary form of the seventeenth cen-tury.40 Moreover, its popularity continuedeven into the following century. During allthis time its influence upon the drama is ob-servable. Jonson'sexperimenitin adaptingtheGreek character-sketchto dramatictreatmentwas repeated by later dramatists, who usedthe English clharacter-sketchin the same way.Thus Goldsmith, to mention but a single in-stance, made one of Doctor Jonson's char-acter-sketches41 the basis of the characterof Croaker in his Good-NatueredMan(acted1768).42

    It is impossible,within the limits of this ar-ticle, to speak further cotncernlingthe signifi-canceof the influenceexerted uponBenJonson39 JohannCaspar Lavater,founder of the pseudo-scienceof Physiognomy,and author of the PhysiognomischeFrt-a-

    mxnte (1775-78). The popularity in the eighteenth centuryof such booksas this of Lavaterwas probablydue, at leastin part, to the interestin types of character arousedin theprecedingcentury by suchphrenologicalcharacter-booksasA Brief Discourse Concerning the Different Wits of Menby Walter Charleton, I669.

    4o The Ethical Characters of Theophrastus,popularizedby Casaubon'sLatin translationin 1592, furnisheda modelofwhich English writerswere not slow to avail themselves. Ifindtitles of overone hundredandfifty character-bookspub-lished within the century.

    4I This was Susjirius, the human Screech-owl,a charac-ter-sketch which appearedin the Ramn-blerfor Octobergth,I750.

    42 In the Life of Jonson,chapter xvii, Boswell says thatthe Doctor pronouncedThe Good-NaturedMan"to be thebest comedythat had appearedsince the ProvohedHusband,and declaredthat there had not been of late anysuch characterexhibited on the stage as that of Croaker. Iobserved,Boswelladds, it was theSusAiriusof his Rambler.He said Goldsmith had owned he had borrowed it fromthence."

    by the Greek character-sketch. If it hasbeenpointed out with sufficientclearness that suchan influenceactually was exerted, the purposeof the writerhas been attained.EDWARD CHAUNCEY BALDWIN.

    lIltnois State University.

    JOSEPH TEXTE.iPROBABLYfrom no other young author wasFrance expecting so much as from J. Texte.Within the last few years of his life he hadbecome known as the leading authority inFrance on outside literary relations. It istrue, M. Texte was the pupil of M. Brune-ti&re,but far excelled his master, by concen-trating all his forces upon one study,compara-tive literatture.Joseph Texte was bornin Paris in I865,anidbelonged to one of the best families; hisfatherwas professorof historyin the CollageRollin and author of a Histoire Moderne; hedied early, leaving young Texte and hismother aloine,a sister having died shortly be-fore. The younig boy studied at the Lyc6eLouis-le-Grand,takinlg the Prix d'Honneurde rhltorique, and in I883was admittedto theEcole Normale. He was of a most amiableand kind disposition,andsoon won the respectof his teachers and his associates. He becameespecially kniownthrough his exceptionallystrong moral character,a trait noticeable illall his writings through that earnestness ofpurpose, higlh moral tone and seriousness,not alwayscharacteristicof the modernFrenchwriters. Texte was an incessantworker andsoon underminiedhis lhealtl. His judgmen)tswere always accurate and coniservative,withpossiblyone exception; in his study of Eliza-beth Browninghe venturesto proclaimAuroraLeigh the great poem of the century; this isone of the few subjects in which lie lost him-self completely, forgetting his role of critic.In i886,having failed2 I'agregationdesletti-es,lie was sent to the Lyc6e de Roclhefort-stir-Mer. Discouraged and in dispair lie foundgreat consolation in hiisteachers, MM.Perrot

    I The writer wishes to acknowledgehis indebtednestoMime.J. Texte and M. RenieDurand,maitre de confdrenced I'cole Normale SupCrieure,forinformationotherwise uin-obtainable.

    lQ8