and official authority. The emperor, being informed that the fellows who had abducted Mr. de Raby from prison, had been arrested in Hungary, he ordered them to be sent to Vienna, to be confronted with him. But compliance with this order was refused, on the plea that this was contrary to the Hungarian constitution. His majesty, therefore, sent Mr. de Raby to Ofen, attended by two commissaries of the police of Vienna, where he was to be interrogated by the director of the police of that town, in the presence of the magistrates. But the director declared, he could not conform with the emperor's command, as he was bound to obey the instructions of the local authorities, by whom he was ordered to deliver up Mr. de Raby. Count Niczky replied to the protest of the Vienna commissaries, that the emperor had the command at Vienna, but himself in Hungary.

Accordingly, Mr. de Raby was, in the presence of the imperial commissaries, stripped of his money and papers, cross-chained, and thrown into a damp dungeon, where he was suffered to lie all night on the bare brick-floor. The Vienna commissaries, desiring to see the prisoner the next morning, were told that he had been suddenly seized with a contagious distemper, and being obstinately denied an interview with him, demanded a certificate of their having safely delivered him to the police of Ofen, and departed immediately for Vienna, to inform the emperor of what they had witnessed. The next morning, Mr. de Raby, loaded as he was with ponderous fetters, was dragged by six Haiduks before the criminal tribunal, and examined respecting his alleged escape from prison. He faithfully related how the affair had happened, referring his judges for the confirmation of his deposition to the testimony of the two persons who had attended him to Vienna. Sipos, the first of them that was brought up for examination, hesitated a long while before he would speak, and when urged to confess, he began to tremble, wrung his hands, and declared at length he was afraid to say what he knew of the business. Being encouraged by one of the assessors of the court, he at last deposed that himself and his comrades had disguised themselves in the apartment of the keeper of the prison, by the order of the authorities. Mr. de Raby rejoiced at this declaration, exclaiming that his innocence now was as clear as the noonday sun; when his judges bade him be silent, clamorously accusing him of sedition, and of having encouraged the people of St. André to rebellion. The deposition of the witness was declared to be a barefaced falsehood, and the poor fellow was ordered to be severely flogged, put in irons, and sent to gaol, for having dared to impose upon the court. The second witness, having been properly tutored before he appeared in court, declared he had been on guard before the prison door, when Mr. de Raby was missed, but had neither seen nor heard anything of him; the wife of one of his comrades had, however, informed him, she had seen the prisoner fly out of the window of his prison with a thundering noise, at daybreak. This deposition, absurd as it was, was highly applauded and rewarded. Mr. de Raby now was declared to be a conjurer, and loaded with the vilest epithets. The final result of this examination was the sentence, that, being fully convicted of the abominable practice of the black art; of having excited his Majesty's subjects to rebellion; and of the commission of divers other crimes, he had forfeited his life, and must prepare for execution. The locksmith of the place was sent for, Mr. de Raby was stretched out upon the floor, and the locksmith ordered to rivet a set of ponderous chains round his legs. He then was ordered to go down stairs, but was so much exhausted, that the gaolor's men were obliged to support him; and before he had descended to the first floor, his heavy fetters had so much chated his legs, covered only with a pair of thin silk pantaloons, that every step he

took

took was marked with his blood, which profusely trickled down from his lacerated limbs. The dungeon in which he was confined, was a damp and cold hole, secured by double iron doors, with a window not broader than a span, and rendered almost impenetrable to light and air by a treble iron grating. His irons were riveted so short to the wall, that he could neither move a single step, nor stand upright upon his legs, but was compelled to lie day and night upon a kind of pallet covered with straw. At his head was placed a pail of water, covered with a rind of ice, and some coarse bread, and at his feet an utensil, the sight of which was sufficient to spoil the keenest appetite. In this dreadful situation he apprehended he should be left to pine until released by death; yet, confidently as his barbarous judges had counted upon his being completely cut off from all human intercourse, and from the possibility of communicating his miserable state to his sovereign, his oppressed clients were too deeply interested in his fate, not to have attempted all possible means likely to effect his enlargement. The original cause of his sufferings was so generally known, that many persons who never had been connected with him before, warmly sympathized with his sufferings, and endeavoured to render them less painful. The large rewards they held out to those that would undertake to assist them in succouring Mr. de Raby, tempted several persons to run the greatest risk to afford him relief. He was put in possession of writing materials, and enjoined to lose no time in applying to the emperor for his protection. Difficult as the task of writing was in his situation, on account of his arms being double chained, he contrived at last to compose a memorial to the emperor, in which he informed him of the deplorable consequences of the zeal with which he had laboured to execute his commands, conjuring him to save him from utter ruin. This paper was, by his unknown protectors, immediately forwarded to Vienna, and his oppressors were thunderstruck when the lord-lieutenant unexpectedly received a peremptory order from the sovereign, forthwith to liberate him, and to report who were the authors of the unjust and ignominious treatment Mr. de Raby had complained of to him, in order that they might be brought to condign punishment. This order was, likewise, so completely disregarded, that, instead of affording him protection, it rendered his situa tion worse than it ever had been. The Comitate pronounced sentence of death against him, which was, however, annulled by the emperor, but renewed five times by his implacable enemies, although they had been peremptorily ordered to set him at liberty without any further delay. The only advantage he derived from the repeated cassation of his sentence, was his being indulged with warm victuals, bread unmixed with chopped straw, and a blanket to warm his frozen limbs. His protest against the fourth reiteration of his sentence of death, he was obliged to write with his blood, for want of ink. According to the last sentence of the court, he was to be imprisoned in chains for the term of ten years, in a subterraneous dungeon, and every three months to receive twenty-five stripes, and to stand in the pillory at St. André and Pesth. Now his allowance was reduced to bread and water. At length the emperor did what he ought to have done a twelvemonth sooner, in a country in which the tribunals most shamefully abused the privileges of the nobility; he declared, that if Mr. de Raby were not set at liberty immediately, he would cause him to be liberated by military force. Any further caballing appearing to be of no avail against that measure, his fetters were knocked off, and he was informed he was at liberty to go whither he chose. Thus he had languished in chains from February 1787 to July 1789, treated like a felon, and now was discharged without the benefit of a purifying sentence, for a copy of which he made repeated,

but

but fruitless applications. He recovered, but slowly, his health, which had been severely injured by the rigour of his long confinement, and was not before the 10th of August, 1789, able to report to the emperor the manner in which his late mandate had been executed, informing him at the same time, that his arbitrary judges had insinuated to him, during his captivity, three forged imperial orders. The emperor being confined by illness at Laxenburgh, when his report arrived at Vienna, it unfortunately was delivered at the Hungarian chancery, and left unnoticed. The vintage being at hand, Mr. de Raby went to St. André, where he owned a house and several vine yards; but, on his arrival, was informed on the part of the chief magistrate, that he must quit the territory of Pesth within three hours, on pain of being sent to prison, as he might not expect ever to regain possession of his late property in it. His house being locked against him, he applied for a lodging at several public-houses; but no publican would take him in, which obliged him to stay with a poor nobleman of the town, who, in consequence of his hospitality, received a severe flogging in the market-place. Learning that the emperor was dangerously ill, he hastened to Vienna. On the 7th of October he was admitted to an audience of the monarch, who compassionately listened to the account of the numerous and grievous wrongs he had suffered, ordered him to repair to Ofen and tell the president of the court of lord-lieutenancy, that he commanded him to aid him in his endeavours to obtain redress. But that nobleman refused to admit him, and Mr. de Raby was advised by some friends, to make his escape with all possible expedition, as an order for his detention was preparing, which made him return to St. André without delay. Learning, soon after his arrival, that he had been outlawed, and a price of two thousand florins set on his head, he fled to Vienna, where he arrived, only to be more deeply afflicted than at any former period, by the death of his august protector, Joseph II. Before Leopold II. was crowned king of Hungary, Mr. de Raby could not expect to derive from his protection, the least furtherance of his cause in that country. The Hungarian states required of that prince, that he, previously to his coronation, should annul all regulations and innovations introduced by his predecessor. The firmness with which he resisted this unjust demand protracting that solemn act a long time, Mr. de Raby presented, February 28th, 1791, to the Archduke Francis, a memorial, in which he stated all his grievances, requesting him to recommend him to the protection of his imperial brother, who was already partially acquainted with his case. The day following he presented a similar memoir to the emperor, who, having looked at it, started from his seat, and said:- Are you that honest man who has sacrificed his property and blood for the benefit of the State? I am glad to see you.' He then solemnly pledged himself that he would procure him ample satisfaction, and dismissed him most graciously. However, the Hungarian chancery contrived, by means of a variety of tergiversations and artifices, to procrastinate the adjustment of Mr. de Raby's concerns from time to time, and Leopold II. died before redress could be obtained. Francis II., who succeeded him on the imperial throne, having patronised him so generously when Archduke of Austria, he justly expected that his affairs would be taken up more vigorously. Neither was he altogether disappointed in his expectations, as far as they rested on the good will of the emperor, who declared to the president of the committee of inquiry, that he was ready to do anything that could tend to retrieve the honour of that oppressed patriot, and indemnify him for his past sufferings. The result of this new investigation was a declaration of the commissioners, that he had been falsely accused, and that a justi

fication

6

fication of his character should be inserted in the public papers. This sentence being laid before the council of state, the members of which could not, as courtiers, refuse their assent, one of them had the courage to confirm the decree of the Aulic committee by his manual signature, observing, however, that it was not advisable in the then revolu tionary times, to divulge matters of so scandalous a nature. But here the matter rested, the majority of the counsellors of state declining to have anything to do with it. In vain did Mr. de Raby inquire in the imperial cabinet after the progress of his case, and when he solicited the emperor to use his authority to bring it to a speedy conclusion, he was referred by Francis, who was just going to join the army, to his brother Leopold Alexander, the Palatine of Hungary; but that prince said to him, on his application, You must needs appear to have committed a mistake, because the public are not to be informed, that in the district of Pesth, where I, in the capacity of Palatine, am the first magistrate, officers are appointed that perpetrate the greatest crimes and rogueries: Soon after this unpropitious interview, the prince died. New persecutions being commenced against Mr. de Raby, he applied once more to the emperor, on his return from the army, and was thunderstruck, when that monarch said to him- I pity you from the bottom of my heart, because I cannot save you they are going to confine you again. Not long after, he was, with the emperor's connivance, banished to his native place, and strictly enjoined to trouble the sovereign or any of the courts of justice no more with his concerns. His friends, apprehending that he should be dragged to Hungary by the police, whose secret spies were watching all his steps, urged him to save himself by flight, and having provided him with a disguise, a purse filled with ducats, and a postchaise, he set off, travelling day and night, and safely arrived at Passau, June 3, 1796. Thinking it indispensable for the vindication of his character, that the public at large should be made fully acquainted with the history of his persecution, he drew up a written account of it, but could not in any of the German countries procure a publisher, the liberty of the press being at that time very limited all over Germany. In the vicinity of Ulm he was made prisoner by a French foraging party, and taken to General Laroche, to whom he gave a circumstantial account of the numerous acts of oppression that had made him quit his native country. Mentioning to him that he intended to publish a justificatory statement of the unheard of injuries he had suffered, but could not procure a publisher, he was advised by him to go to Strasburg, where he would be at full liberty to do it, and furnished him with the following passport: Citizen Matthias Raby, of Raba and Maura, in Hungary, is permitted to proceed to Strasburg, and there to seek all the aid and support he deserves, having quitted his native country for the purpose of saving himself from the acts of tyranny and persecution to which he was exposed there, on account of his patriotic principles At Strasburg he was most liberally supported by a great number of literary gentlemen and persons of fortune and influence, who enabled him to publish the Memoirs from which we have made this extract, and which he concludes as follows: Should my enemies and judges think themselves capable of vindication, I call upon them, thus publicly, to do it within a twelvemonth. Let them produce their proofs before all Europe. The public opinion will judge between us. Their personal persecutions can affect me no more; their police officers, poison-mongers, and executioners, cannot reach me here. Should my confession disgrace them, they will be sensible that by the most shameful abuse of the administration of justice they have incurred the censure of their fellow-citizens.'

SHORT REVIEWS OF BOOKS.

Euripidis Tragoediae et Fragmenta. Recensuit Augustus Matthiæ, vol. ix. Leipsig, 1829, pp. 474.

THE valuable labours of Mr. Matthiæ on the remains of Euripides are completed in the volume at the head of our Article, which forms, perhaps, the most valuable part of his Edition. The notes of this Editor are estimable rather from the diligence with which the opinions and conjectures of others are collected, and the judgment with which these are weighed, than from any novelty, in the way either of interpretation or emendation, which they contain. In a recension of the text of the extant tragedies, which owe so much to the extraordinary acuteness and ingenuity of Porson, and the happy boldness of Elmsley, Mr. Matthiæ's qualities could not be so usefully employed; but in editing the fragments, which remained in a state very unworthy of the present advanced stage of classical learning, scattered as these were through numerous authors, and emended piece-meal by more numerous critics, the industry and fidelity of Mr. Matthiæ found a more appropriate field. With a diligence which cannot be sufficiently praised, he has compared all the passages in which fragments of Euripides are cited, in the principal editions, and extracted the verses, with all the context that throws any light on the quotation, and the most remarkable various readings. He has then, by collecting together the fragments of each play, (whenever its name can be ascertained) sought to obtain a notion of the plot, which in the less well-known portions of mythological story, is sufficiently illustrated from the Grammarians and Writers on Mythology. In most cases, however, it happens that a very imperfect notion of the disposition of the piece can be obtained, as a large portion of the fragments consists of moral sentences, frequently preserved in Stobæus, which can throw none, or at most a very dim light, on the characters, action, or place, of the drama. Next follow the fragments which are ascribed nominatim to Euripides, but without any mention of the particular play. Of these Mr. Matthia's Edition reckons 276; but the real number is not so great, as the order of Musgrave's edition being preserved, many which appear in his collection are either referred to particular tragedies, or rejected on other grounds. Next come the Fragments which by some writers are ascribed to Euripides, by some to other poets, twenty-two in number. Last of all are the doubtful fragments,' i. e. fragments which are cited without any name, but are conjectured to belong to Euripides; these amount to forty-four.

The corrected list of the lost plays of Euripides, given by Mr. Matthiæ, contains fifty-seven or fifty-eight names; which, with the eighteen extant, makes a sum of seventy-five or seventy-six. This agrees so nearly with the numbers stated by Suidas, and the author of the life of this poet published by Dr. Elmsley-seventy-five, seventy-seven, and seventy-eight-that we are probably in possession of the name, at least, of every play written by Euripides.

Our readers will not suspect us of any intention of regularly going through the fragments of each of these fifty-seven plays, or of stating the plot, and examining the remains, of each drama, from the Aegeus to the Xantriæ. We must content ourselves with choosing, almost at random, a few of the flowers of this poetical collection.

Acolus,