234 LITERARY REVIEW ARTICLE XVI. FATAL Curiofity: A true Tragedy. Written by George Lillo. terations, as revived at the Theatre-Royal, Haymarket, 1 1783. dent from the v RIOSI fuft THIS tragedy has long been cele brated as a model of dramatic excelfence. Mr. Harris, in his Philological Inquiries, difplayed its merits with great critical abilities; and to the juftnefs of his account readers of every clafs have fubfcribed. Mr. Colman, however, whofe acumen afforded us fuch ample scope for commendation, bly in his tranflation of Horace's Epifle to the Pijos, now fteps forth again, as a critic; and, with his usual candour and penetration, points out a material er ror in Mr. Harris's fentence with gard to this tragedy. 'The correction of this mistalMr. Colman forms part of a p which is fubjoined to this play it gives the original story, i Lillo derived his plot, we fcribe it, for the entertai readers. cals gh miy. alent lately re, is 61 Its as it was during that Time number the d for Mr. Colman, of mind, aided by judgeqat, feems to form him for al manager, to revive this He introduced it, with fome Cons, to the public at this theafummer. His prologue we thall fcribe, as we find that it is not preved in the last year's Magazines." PROLOGUE. Long fince beneath this humble roof, this play, Fleece. There fcholars, fimple Nature caft afide, both! which Shakefpear's the fame; great Nature's hand in in the Give me a tale the paffions to controul, mention the tra- From the Whofe lighteft word may harrow up the foul! Such are the scenes that we this night rencw-- From British annals I the ftory drew, And British hearts fhall feel and BEAR it too. Pity thall move their fouls, in fpite of rules; Aud tenor takes no leffon from the fchools. •'s account Speak to their bofoms! to their feelings truft! You'll find their fentence generous and juft.” s, but we Mr. Colman's alterations are very delicate, offering as little violence as poffible to the original text, which, however, he has often much improved, by very flight variations. It is impoffible to multiply inftances, where this is effected, for they occur in every page. Lillo was by profeffion a jewelÎer, and his verfes may often be confidered as rough diamonds. Mr. Colman has given them their due polifh, and they now appear real brilliants. As a fpecimen of how great a change may be produced by fmall touches, we will fubjoin a fpeech or two, as they ftand in Lillo's and Colman's editions of the Fatal Curiofity: AGNES. luftre, And how immenfe the worth of these fair jewels! "Who fhou'd this ftranger be?-and then this Bafe poverty, and all its abject train; cafket He fays it is of value, and yet trufts it, To fearch and pry into th' affairs of others; My eyes are dazzled, and my ravish'd heart How immenfe the worth of thefe fair jewels! At our approach, and once more bend before us. Famine; the cold neglect of friends; the fcorn, Why am I thrill'd with horror?-'Tis not choice, RANDAL. COLMAN. "The most will not: Let us at least be wifer, nor complain Of heaven's inyfterious ways, and awful reign: By our bold cenfures we invade his throne Who made mankind, and governs but his own: Tho' youthful Wilmot's fun be fet ere noon, The ripe in virtue never die too foon." RANDAL. LILLO. "Heaven grant they may! And may thy penitence atone thy crime! "Tend well the hapless Charlot, and bear hence Thefe bleeding victims of defpair and pride; Toll the death bell! and follow to the grave The wretched Parents and ill-fated Son." COLMAN. ART. XVII. 4 fuccin&t Account of the Rites and Ceremonies of the Jews, as obferved by them, in their different Difpertions throughout the World, at this prefent Time, c. By David Levi. 8vo. Parfons. THIS account of the modern Jews has every appearance of being genuine. The language, indeed, is not polifhed, nor is the work, interfperfed with philofophical reflections. It is, however, a curious defcription of the religious rites and ceremonies of the remains of this once great nation. How wonderfully difperfed for their apoftacy! How justly punifhed for their difobedience! In this view of their rites, the reader will find a pretty clear explanation of their principles and tenets, their doctrine of the refurrection, predeflination, and free-will; an account of the Jewish calendar, as well as of the Mintha, or Oral law, and its teachers, with a chronological fummary of remarkable things relating to the Jews, from the most authentic records. In the course of this work, the author attempts to confute the opinions of Dr. Prideaux, concerning the Jewith ideas of predeftination and freewill, and in fome places, proves" that a Jew has cars, eyes, organs, diracnfions, pallions!" but at the fame time he treats the Doctor with too much liberty. He wants to prove from fome paffages in Ezekiel, that the doctrine of the refurrection, which the Pharifees heid, was not a notion borrowed from the tenets of Pythagoras, but from Scripture; and that they did not receive this idea from Chrift or his followers, as they were taught it by their prophets, long before he was upon earth, as well as the future fate of rewards and punishment. Several other opinions of the Doctor he endeavours to confute, but we cannot help crying out with the Prophet Ifaiah: Wo unto them that call good evil, and evil good. That put darknefs for light, and light for darkness. Wo unto them that arc wife in their own eyes, and prudent in their own fight." So many are the forms, and ceremonics, defcribed in this volume, that if we could fuppofe them neceflary, we fhould likewife never expect to find" an Ifraelite without guile." The account of the Jewith year will afford the Chriftian reader an opportunity of acquiring very clear ideas of the ancient and modern regulations of time among the jewish nations. The account of the fafts and feafts, prayers and ceremonies, however, will not, we imagine, prove ferviceable in promoting converfions. The defeription of the marriage ceremony, we fhall tranfcribe, that our readers may judge of the author's ability, and the authenticity of his nar 66 Every Jew is obliged to enter into the marriage itate: and the proper time affigned for entering into that ftate by the Rabbins is the age of eighteen: a man that lives fingle till twenty is looked upon as a profligate: this inftitution is grounded upon the Almighty's cfpecial command to our first parents. Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth:' Gen. chap. 1ft. ver. 28. "It is lawful for firft coufins to marry! an uncle may also marry his niece; but an aunt may not marry her nephew; the reafon is obvious, that the law of nature may not be reverfed; for, when the uncle marries his niece, the fame perfon remains as the head, who was fo before: but, when the nephew marries his aunt, he becomes as it were her head, and the muft pay homage to him, by which means the law of nature is reverfed. "The marriage ceremony of the Jews is as follows: It is cultomary for the bride and bride room to be betrothed, fometimes fix months or a year before marriage, as agreed on between the parties; during which time the bridegroom vifits his bride, but without having any further commerce with her. "On the day appointed for the celebration of the nuptials, the bride and bridegroom are conducted to the place appointed for the celebration of the nuptial ceremony: the bridegroom by the men, and the bride by the women: where are generally affembled all, or most, of their relations or acquaintance, for they generally invite a great many: they being obliged to have ten men prefent at lealt, otherwife the mar riage is null and void. When all the company are affembled, and the priest and reader of the fynagogue come, the ceremony is performed in the following manner: of the bride and bridegroom, if living, otherwife their nearest kindred, one man and wife for the bride, and the other for the bridegroom, although the bridegroom is led by the men, and the bride by the women:) having her face covered with a veil, in token of female modefty; the bride being in this man ner led by the women, under the canopy, is placed oppofite the bridegroom: the priest then takes a glafs of wine in his hand, and fays as follows: Bleffed art thou, O Lord our God! King of the univerfe, the creator of the fruit of the vine. Bleiled art thou, O Lord our God! king of the univerfe, who hath fanctified us with his commandments, and hath forbid us fornication, and hath prohibited unto us the betrothed, but hath allowed unto us thofe that are married unto us, by the means of the canopy, and the wedding-ring: bleffed art thou, O Lord! the fanctifier of his people Ifrael, by the means of the canopy, and wedlock.' "Then the bridegroom and bride drink of the wine, after which the bridegroom takes the ring and puts it on the bride's finger, in prefence of all thofe that ftand round the canopy, and fays, Behold thou art betrothed unto me with this ring, according to the rites of Mofes and Ifrael;' then the inftrument of marriage contract is read, which specifies, that the bridegroom, A. B. doth agree to take the bride C. D. as his lawful wife, according to the law of Mofes, and Ifrael; and that he will keep, maintain, honour, and cherith her, according to the manner of all the Jews, who honour, keep, maintain, and cherish their wives, and keep her in cloathing decently, according to the manner and cultom of the world; it likewife fpecifics what fum he fettles on her in cafe of his death: wherein he obliges his heirs, executors, adminiftrators, &c. to pay the fame to her, of the first produce of his effects, &c." The reader then drinks another glafs of wine, and after a prayer, for which we must refer to the book, "The bride and bridegroom drink of the wine, the empty glafs is laid on the ground, and the bridegroom ftamps on, and breaks it; the intent and meaning of which cerentony is to remind them of death; to whofe power frail mortals muft yield fooner or later; and therefore to induce them to lead fuch a life. as not to be terrified at the appproach of death. "This being over, all prefent cry out, mozol louv, i. e. may it turn out happily; which ends the ceremony." The law for divorcement feems rational, and the not allowing the woman, after her feparation from the husband, to marry her feducer is highly commendable. But the making women of age, after they are twelve years and a day old, appears to be a frange cuftom. The account of the circumcifion is curious, but whatever glory the Jews may think to acquire by its being confined to their nation, as God's chofen people, we must confeis, we fhould wonder much if this fhocking and difgutting ceremony were general. Our author next gives an account of the redemption of their first born; of the vifitation of the fick, and burial of the dead; of the facredness of their fepulchres; of their mourning for the dead; of their prayers, morning, afternoon, and night, as alfo thofe made ufe of on feveral occafions; of the tephillin, or phylacteries, which are bandages for the arm and head, and are worn by every Jew, above the age of thirteen, while he is at morning prayers, whether he is at the fynagogue, or his devotions are private. He next gives the following defcription of their houfes, food, and utenfils. 66 Every Jew is obliged to have upon the pots of the door of his houfe a Mezuza, this is commanded in Deut. chap. 6th, ver the 9th, and chap. 11th, ver. 20. And thou fhalt write them upon the door-poft of thine house, and upon thy gates.' But then it mu be exprefly built for a dwelling, other wife they are not bound to fix a Mezuza thereon: Maimonides mentions ten different things which are requifite to conftitute a dwelling: erery door of which, is obliged to have a Mezuza: the manner in which they are made is as follows: Two potions of Scripture, viz. from Deut. chap. 6, verfe 4, to verfe 9, inclufively, and from the 13th verfe of the 11th to the 21ft of the fame, being wrote on vellum, in like manner as the Phylatteries, with Shaddai infcribed upon it; thefe are rolled up, and put in lead, in the form of a cylindrical tube; and which, by means of two holes made in the lead to receive the nails, is thus faitened to the posts of the door. At the faftening of the Mezuza to the poft of the door, they muft fay the following grace: Bleffed art thou, O Lord, our God! king of the univerfe, who hath fanctified us with his commandments, and commanded us to fix the Mezuza.' "We shall now defcribe, what may, or what may not be eaten by them, as alfo how prepared before they may eat thereof. In the first place, it must be obferved that they may not eat of any beaft that does not chew the cud, and likewife part the hoof. "As to fish, they may not eat any but what have both fins and fcales. "In regard of the different species of fowls, there is no particular mark fpecified by the law, by which we may be enabled to diftinguish between thofe which are called clean, and thofe which are unclean: but as all the different fpecies which may not be eaten are enumerated, confequently all thofe that are omitted may be lawfully eaten. They may not eat any blood, nor thing that dies of itfelf: but their cattle are obliged to be killed by a Jew, duly qualified, and fpecially appointed for that purpofe: and afterwards fearched by him, in order to afcertain the foundnefs thereof, for if the leaft blemish is found therein they may not eat thereof. "If it be found to be in the ftate required by them, it is then called Kober, and is fealed with a leaden feal, on the one fide of which is the word kofer, and on the other, the day of the week, in Hebrew characters: and without fuch feal, no Jew will purchafe meat of a Chriftian butcher. "Before it is dreffed they are obliged to let it lie half an hour in water, and an hour in falt, and then rinfe the falt off with clean water; they being strictly commanded not to eat blood; and the difobeying of which commandment being threatened with no less a punish ment than excision: they are, therefore, obliged to act in this manner, in order to draw forth the remaining blood, which is left therein, before they eat it. "They likewife may not eat the hind quarters, even of those beasts of which they are permitted to eat; (according to that paffage in Gen. chap. 32, ver. 32, Therefore, the children of Ifrael eat not of the finew which fhrank; which is upon the hollow of the thigh unto this day.') And, therefore, they may not eat of the hind quarters, unless the finew is taken out, which is both troublesome and expenfive; it being obliged to be done by a perfon duly qualified, and fpecially appointed for that purpofe, in like manner as those appointed to kill the cattle, and therefore is feldom done. They may not eat meat and butter together; this is inferred from the commandment in the law. Thou fhalt not feethe a kid in his mother's milk." Exod, chap. 23d, verse 19th, and chap. 34th, verfe 26, and Deut. chap. 14th, verfe 20th. And for this very reafon is it, that they may not eat the cheefe made by the Chriftians, that being called meat and butter; their's being made under the fuperintendence of a Jew, and the milk from which it is made turned in a different manner: and, therefore, they are obliged to have different utenfils, both to drefs and to eat their victuals in, even to the moft minute article, fuch as knives and forks, fpoons, &c. the one for meat, the other for butter. They may not graft one fpecie of fruit upon a tree of different kind; fuch as a peach upon an apple-tree, or the like; nor fow different fpecies of feed in one bed; nor fuffer different fpecies of cattle to engender; neither may they wear a garment made of linen and woollen; that is, of the wool of fheep, and linen made of flax: all this is grounded on the following commandment: Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverfe kind: thou fhalt not fow thy field with mingled feed: neither fhall a garment mingled of linen and woollen come upon thee." (Levit. chap. 19, v. 19.) After |