| Citation |
BEP(P.781.017
1 Dec 1781:11 (1/7)
From a late British paper.
That pleasure is the grand object and pursuit of the
modern world, is an observation, which must too readily
occur to a thinking mind; we fall down before the delusive
idol, and while we dip the superficial sweets he offers,
forget the solid bitters which lay concealed underneath. . .
[13 lines] Permit me, Sir, to point out the chief
difference between the ancient Grecian and Roman diversions,
and those which employ our time at the present moment. . .
[25 lines]
Their theatres, too, were not altars to offer incense to
some despotic tyrant, or calculated to varnish over the
deformities of vice; but their plays celebrated the kind
protection of their Gods, recounted the great actions of
their ancestors, and incited the audience to piety, virtue,
and the love of their country. Among the ancient Romans,
too, we find that instruction was ever the end of amusement,
both in their private and public recreations the same
objects were invariable kept in view. . . [3 lines] Their
theatres, too, were the schools for virtue and exalted
sentiments. In the Circo's were represented shows, which
either exhibited the art of war, or rendered the body hardy,
robust, and alert. . . [15 lines] What can be imagined more
worthy a free people than the Campus Martius? Here all Rome
flocked together for pleasure and amusement; here the young
nobility practiced every art of dexterity and agility, and
learned to excel in the management of every kind of military
weapon. . . [5 lines] it was not the effeminate motion of a
modern dance, but every sinew of the human frame was
exerted, and the youth were taught to bend their bodies as
if to elude a missive weapon. . . [9 more lines, signed]
Censor.
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