Page:The New Monthly Magazine - Volume 100.djvu/152

136 light of highest genius. He might have hie portion in the lines of Sydney Yendys:

Lessing expressly avowed himself no poet, and even ranked himself below Ramler and Uz; though a living German reviewer considers either of the dramatic triad—Minna, Emilia, and Nathan—sufficient to rank him with the greatest poets of any age. Whatever poetical gift he had, is chiefly exercised in "Nathan the Wise." The scene is Jerusalem—city of brilliant aspect and thrilling associations, with its embattled walls and countless domes glittering in eastern sunshine. The actors are, Saladin—the magnanimous and open-handed; Sittah, his beloved Schwesterchen and bosom-counsellor; the Patriarch of Jerusalem, a prize specimen of dissembling bigotry, in whose casuistry conscience is omitted, and in whose creed the traditions of men go far towards making void the commandments of God. Nathan himself is a rich Hebrew of Hebrews—rich in gold, and wisdom, and good works—a clear-eyed,far-sighted philosopher, in whose praise even a poor monk is constrained to exclaim;This philo-Judæan delineation has its parallels in the contemporary literature of, our own land—first, in the Joshua of Smollett, and subsequently in the Abraham Abrahams and Sheva of Cumberland. The Jew's adopted daughter, Recha, is worthy of being his veritable offspring, and doted on as though she were. Daya, her busy "companion," so addicted to match-making and European Hemwek;—the young Templar, who plucks Recha from the burning house, and finds in her a sister instead of a bride, at the grand finale;—and a copious supply of dervishes, monks, emirs, Mamelukes, and such small deer, fill up the ranks of the dramatis personae. More need not be added concerning a play which translation has made better known to our public than the rest of Lessing's works.

One of Coleridge's most feasible literary designs, was an elaborate biography of Lessing, for which he had collected materials and illustrations on a large scale, intending to make it the medium of a comprehensive survey of German influences—a subject peculiarly suited to