A.D. the west a taste for the learning and the lan

1462.

guage of the early Greeks.

perverted representations of mysteries, are alike censured by the fathers.

"Prohibemus clericis et viris ecclesiasticis, potissimè in sacris ordinibus constitutis, et maximè sacerdotibus et curatis, ne omnino ludant ad taxillos, ad aleas, neque ad chartas, neque ad stophum, neque ad lucta, neque ad jactum lapidis, ad saltum, ad choreas, neque ad clipeum, neque cum fistula vel aliis musicalibus instrumentis, quibus cum ore seu bucha luditur. Non ludant etiam ad bolas, ad cursum vel currendum in campo pro lucro vel pro vino, ad jaculandum, vel gladiandum, neque ludant ad quillas, vel torneamenta, seu jostas. Summopere caveant, ne intersint neque ludant in ludo quod dicitur Chareuari, in quo utuntur larvis in figura dæmonum, et horrenda ibidem committuntur: quem ludum non solum clericis, sed generaliter omnibus subditis prohibemus sub excommunicationis poena, et decem librarum nobis applicandarum: neque etiam in ludis illis inhonestis quæ solent fieri in aliquibus Ecclesiis in festo Fatuorum, quod faciunt in festivitatibus Natalis Domini."

I again quote the translation of Prynne, (p. 599.)

"Wee prohibit clergymen and ecclesiasticall persons, especially those in holy orders, and most of all, priests and curates, that they play not at all at tables, at dice, nor at cards; neither at whirling nor at wrestling, nor at throwing of the stone, at leaping, at dancing; neither at the buckler, neither with a pipe or other musicall instruments, which are played upon with the mouth or cheeks. Likewise, they may not play at bowles, at running in the field for money or wine, at darting, or sword-playing; neither may they play at quiutins, at torneies, or justs. Let them diligently beware, that they be not present at, nor yet play in, the play that is called Chare

It is impossible to regard without feelings of admiration the combination of circumstances, by which, at this awful crisis, an asylum was pre

vari, in which they use vizards in the shape of divels, and horrible things are there committed; which play wee prohibit not onely to clergymen, but generally all our subjects, under paine of excommunication, and of ten pounds to be paid unto our use; nor yet in those dishonest playes which are wont to be made in some churches in the feast of Innocents, which they make in the festivalls of our Saviour's nativity."

In addition to these, chess likewise was forbidden to be played, "unlesse it be very rarely; for albeit it bee an honest play, and proceeds from the subtilty of wit, yet it requires great and unprofitable study, and much prolixity of time."

From these imperfect notices, the reader may form an idea of the frivolities and childish sports which, as in the latter centuries of the Eastern empire, had supplanted in the theatres the lofty productions of the early drama; and these, it is needless to say, were likewise swept away on the conquest of the Ottomans. As Greek literature revived in Italy in the 16th century, the theatrical entertainments of the age were formed in some degree on the antique models with which they then became acquainted,* and the plays of Sophocles were occasionally performed in the original Greek. The intercourse between Venice and Crete, whither, as I shall presently mention, the poetical talent of Constantinople seemed to have retired after the Turkish conquest, naturally led to some imitations of the popular literature of Italy by the latter; and amongst others, we find a tragedy, in five acts, called Erophile, composed by George Khortatzi, a Cretan,

VOL. II.

*

Signorelli, 1. ii. c. 2.

+ Mill's Theod. Ducas, v. ii. p. 166.

M

pared for those to whom fortune had no longer left a home or a protector. Little more than a century had elapsed since the same nation, by whom the refugees were now welcomed with enthusiasm, would have turned from them with conscientious aversion-and to their literature and intellectual treasures alone were the Greeks indebted for this remarkable conversion. In Italy, the study of the ancient Greek, though frequently languishing and neglected, had at no period been totally abandoned; but it was only when its inhabitants became conscious of

Tiraboschi, Storia della Letteratura Italiana, 4to. Firenze, 1772, vol. v. l. iii. c. i. p. 393.

probably about the sixteenth century, or a little later.† In form, it resembles the Italian dramas of the same period; its dialogue is written in the popular verse of Modern Greece, and the plot, which is fabulous, is laid in Egypt, but at what period the author does not specify.

During the last century, as Bucharest and Yassi rose into importance, theatres were established in each, as well as at Corfu and Odessa, where plays, chiefly from the Italian schools, are still represented in Modern Greek. The number of original writers for the stage is, however, extremely limited, nor has any been so decidedly successful as Rizo, the historian, whose two tragedies, Aspasia and Polyxena, are declared, in the eulogy of one of his admiring countrymen, to combine the united genius of Sophocles and Aristophanes.‡

+ Leake's Researches, p. 117.

↑ Resumé Geog. par M. G. A. M. Citoyen Grec, p. 351.

the charms of their own language, chastened by the classics of Rome,* that they began fully to appreciate the matchless beauties of their Grecian originals. When Dante had breathed a living spirit into their old versification, and Petrarch had attuned its dulcet tones to melody they had never known before, the ambition of the numerous Italian states was aroused, and in their mutual rivalry, princes and chiefs aspired to the guardianship of talent; and wealth and honours were showered upon the successful cultivators of letters and the arts. It was then that the houses of the Visconti and Della Scala, of Carrara and Este, of Corregio, Gonzaga, and Malatesta, became at Milan and Verona, at Padua and Ferrara, at Parma, Mantua, and Pesaro, the patrons of genius ;† and Italy, awaking from her intellectual lethargy, arose at once the land of science and of song.

Amongst the most distinguished agents of this revolution, were Petrarch of Arezzo, and John of Certaldo, or Boccacio, whose ardent love of learning was accompanied by an equal anxiety to impart a like passion to their countrymen, and to whom the world

* Mill's Theodore Ducas, vol. i. p. 20.

+ Ginguené, Hist. Litter. d'Italie, vol. ii. c. xi. vol. iii. c. xviii.

is indebted for the recovery and preservation of some of the choicest treasures of antiquity.* Greek was Greek was cultivated amongst his numerous pursuits by Petrarch, but unfortunately his success was never gratifying, and even towards the close of his life, he had to deplore his inability to read or to enjoy the sublimities of Homer.+ The labours of Boccacio. were more fortunate, and, perhaps, more assiduous, and to him Florence was indebted for the foundation of her first professorship of ancient Greek, for the study of which she was subsequently considered the fountainhead in Italy. In 1360, Leo Pilatius, a Calabrian, or perhaps a Greek, was intro

* Petrarch was the discoverer of Cicero de Gloria, and some works of Varro; and in the search after manuscripts, so universal in the fourteenth century, he took a prominent place.

+ The first tutor of Petrarch was Barlaam, a Calabrian monk, whom he met at Avignon in 1342, while the latter was ambassador from John Palæologus to Benedict XII. ; but their period of intercourse was brief, and ere Petrarch had time to benefit by his instructions, Barlaam was recalled to Naples, where Robert of Anjou conferred on him the see of Girace, the ancient Locre. He had subsequently a few lessons from Leo Pilatius, but apparently without profit.-Gibbon, c. lxvi. Schoell, l. vii. c. 99. Ginguené, v. ii. c. xii. s. 2, p. 436. Tiraboschi, vol. v. l. iii. c. i. p. 395.

Hodius calls him Thessalonicensis (De Græcis illustribus linguæ Græcæ litterarumque humaniorum instauratoribus,