Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. II.djvu/260

236 236 CASTILIAN LITERATURE. PART as such, is extolled by the Spanish critics, as open- " ing the theatrical career of Europe. A similar claim has been maintained for nearly contempora- neous productions in other countries, and especially for Politian's " Orfeo," which, there is little doubt, "was publicly acted before 1483. Notwithstanding its representation, however, the " Orfeo," present- ing a combination of the eclogue and the ode, without any proper theatrical movement, or attempt at developement of character, cannot fairly come within the limits of dramatic writing. A more an- cient example than either, at least as far as the ex- terior forms are concerned, may be probably found in the celebrated French farce of Pierre Pathelin, printed as early as 1474, having been repeatedly played during the preceding century, and which, with the requisite modifications, still keeps posses- sion of the stage. The pretensions of this piece, however, as a work of art, are comparatively hum- ble ; and it seems fair to admit, that in the higher and more important elements of dramatic composi- tion, and especially in the delicate, and at the same time powerful delineation of character and passion, the Spanish critics may be justified in regarding the " Celestina " as having led the way in modern Europe. ^^ 37 Such is the high encomium " there is no book in the Castilian of the Abate Andres, (Lettera- which surpasses it in the propriety tura, tom. v. part. 2, lib. 1.) — and elegance of its diction." (Don Cervantes does not hesitate to call Quixote, ed. de Pellicer, tom. i. it " libro divino" ; and the acute p. 239. — Mayans y Siscar, tom. author of the " Dialogo de las ii. p. 167.) Lenguas " concludes a criticism Its merits indeed seem in some upon it with the remark, that degree to have disarmed even the