THE TRAGEDY OF IRENE.
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he history of this tragedy's composition is interesting, as affordingdates to distinguish Johnson's literary progress. It was begun, andconsiderably advanced, while he kept a school at Edial, near Lichfield,in 1736. In the following year, when he relinquished the task of aschoolmaster, so little congenial with his mind and disposition, andresolved to seek his fortunes in the metropolis, Irene was carried alongwith him as a foundation for his success. Mr. Walmsley, one of his earlyfriends, recommended him, and his fellow-adventurer, Garrick, to thenotice and protection of Colson, the mathematician. Unless Mrs. Piozziis correct, in rescuing the character of Colson from any identity withthat of Gelidus, in the Rambler[a], Johnson entertained no livelyrecollection of his first patron's kindness. He was ever warm inexpressions of gratitude for favours, conferred on him in his season ofwant and obscurity; and from his deep silence here, we may conclude,that the recluse mathematician did not evince much sympathy with thedistresses of the young candidate for dramatic fame. Be this, however,as it may, Johnson, shortly after this introduction, took lodgings atGreenwich, to proceed with his Irene in quiet and retirement, but soonreturned to Lichfield, to complete it. The same year that saw thesesuccessive disappointments, witnessed also Johnson's return to London,with his tragedy completed, and its rejection by Fleetwood, thepatentee, at that time, of Drury lane theatre. Twelve years elapsed,before it was acted, and, after many alterations by his pupil andcompanion, Garrick, who was then manager of the theatre, it was, by hiszeal, and the support of the most eminent performers of the day, carriedthrough a representation of nine nights. Johnson's profits, after thededuction of expenses, and together with the hundred pounds, which hereceived from Robert Dodsley, for the copy, were nearly three hundredpounds. So fallacious were the hopes cherished by Walmsley, that Johnsonwould "turn out a fine tragedy writer[b]." "The tragedy of Irene," says Mr. Murphy, "is founded on a passage inKnolles's History of the Turks;" an author highly commended in theRambler, No. 122. An incident in the life of Mahomet the great, firstemperor of the Turks, is the hinge, on which the fable is made to move.The substance of the story is shortly this:--In 1453, Mahomet laid siegeto Constantinople, and, having reduced the place, became enamoured of afair Greek, whose name was Irene. The sultan invited her to embrace thelaw of the prophet, and to grace his throne. Enraged at this intendedmarriage, the janizaries formed a conspiracy to dethrone the emperor. Toavert the impending danger, Mahomet, in a full assembly of the grandees,"catching, with one hand," as Knolles relates it, "the fair Greek by thehair of her head, and drawing his falchion with the other, he, at oneblow, struck off her head, to the great terror of them all; and, havingso done, said unto them, 'Now, by this, judge whether your emperor isable to bridle his affections or not[c].'" We are not unjust, weconceive, in affirming, that there is an interest kept alive in theplain and simple narrative of the old historian, which is lost in thedeclamatory tragedy of Johnson. It is sufficient, for our present purpose, to confess that he _has_failed in this his only dramatic attempt; we shall endeavour, morefully, to show _how_ he has failed, in our discussion of his powers as acritic. That they were not blinded to the defects of others, by his owninefficiency in dramatic composition, is fully proved by his judiciousremarks on Cato, which was constructed on a plan similar to Irene: andthe strongest censure, ever passed on this tragedy, was conveyed inGarrick's application of Johnson's own severe, but correct critique, onthe wits of Charles, in whose works "Declamation roar'd, while passion slept."[d] "Addison speaks the language of poets," says Johnson, in his preface toShakespeare, "and Shakespeare of men. We find in Cato innumerablebeauties, which enamour us of its author, but we see nothing thatacquaints us with human sentiments, or human actions; we place it withthe fairest and the noblest progeny which judgment propagates byconjunction with learning; but Othello is the vigorous and vivaciousoffspring of observation, impregnated by genius. Cato affords a splendidexhibition of artificial and fictitious manners, and delivers just andnoble sentiments, in diction easy, elevated and harmonious; but itshopes and fears communicate no vibration to the heart: the compositionrefers us only to the writer; we pronounce the name of Cato, but wethink on Addison." The critic's remarks on the same tragedy, in his Lifeof Addison, are as applicable as the above to his own production. "Catois rather a poem in dialogue than a drama; rather a succession of justsentiments in elegant language, than a representation of naturalaffections, or of any state probable or possible in human life. Nothinghere 'excites or assuages emotion:' here is no 'magical power of raisingphantastick terrour or wild anxiety.' The events are expected withoutsolicitude, and are remembered without joy or sorrow. Of the agents wehave no care; we consider not what they are doing, or what they aresuffering; we wish only to know what they have to say." But, while we thus pronounce Johnson's failure in the production ofdramatic effect, we will not withhold our tribute of admiration fromIrene, as a moral piece. For, although a remark of Fox's on anunpublished tragedy of Burke's, that it was rather rhetorical thanpoetical, may be applied to the work under consideration; still itabounds, throughout, with the most elevated and dignified lessons ofmorality and virtue. The address of Demetrius to the aged Cali, on thedangers of procrastination[e]; Aspasia's reprobation of Irene'smeditated apostasy[f]; and the allusive panegyric on the Britishconstitution[g], may be enumerated, as examples of its excellence insentiment and diction. Lastly, we may consider Irene, as one other illustrious proof, that themost strict adherence to the far-famed unities, the most harmoniousversification, and the most correct philosophy, will not vie with asingle and simple touch of nature, expressed in simple and artlesslanguage. "But how rich in reputation must that author be, who can spare_an Irene_, and not feel the loss [h]." FOOTNOTES[a] Rambler, No. 24, and note.[b] Boswell's Life, i.[c] Murphy's Essay on the Life and Genius of Dr. Johnson.[d] Prologue at the opening of Drury lane theatre, 1747.[e] Act iii. scene ii. "To-morrow's action!" &c.[f] Act iii. scene viii. "Reflect, that life and death," &c.[g] Act i. scene ii. "If there be any land, as fame reports," &c.[h] Dr. Young's remark on Addison's Cato. See his Conjectures onOriginal Composition. Works, vol. v.
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