_Ille bonis saveatque, &c._
"_The Chorus_," says the poet, "_is to take the side of the good and
virtuous_, i. e. is always to sustain a moral character. But this will
need some explanation and restriction. To conceive aright of its office,
we must suppose the _Chorus _to be a number of persons, by some probable
cause assembled together, as witnesses and spectators of the great
action of the drama. Such persons, as they cannot be wholly uninterested
in what passes before them, will very naturally bear some share in
the representation. This will principally consist in declaring their
sentiments, and indulging their reflexions freely on the several events
and mistresses as they shall arise. Thus we see the _moral_, attributed
to the Chorus, will be no other than the dictates of plain sense; such
as must be obvious to every thinking observer of the action, who is
under the influence of no peculiar partialities from _affection_ or
_interest_. Though even these may be supposed in cases, where the
character, towards which they _draw_, is represented as virtuous."
"A Chorus, thus constituted, must always, it is evident, take the part of
virtue; because this is the natural and almost necessary determination
of mankind, in all ages and nations, when acting freely and
unconstrained." _Notes on the Art of Poetry._