to my picture.

For I warrant you, Madam a little art once made your picture like you, and how a little of the fame art must make

you like your picture.-Your picture must fit for you, Madam.

Rowland comes; or I shall never keep up comedy.-Sallies of wit might often recur in Mirabel and Millamant, and yet escape cenfure, on account of thefe being perfons of a gay turn and fine education: we might alfo excufe them in Witwou'd, because he may be fupposed to have tudied all his metaphors, fimilies, and repartees but what apology can we admit, or what extenuation can we offer, for the poet, when we see bim lavish this uncommon and estimable quality on Waitwell and Foible, two ignorant fervants? Is it not an apparent abfurdity -Yet thus does this finart waiting-gentlewoman fpeak to her mistress.

La. W. But art thou fure Sir Rowland will not fail to come ?-Or, will he not fail when he does come ?~Will he be importunate, Foible, and puth? For, if he should not be importunate-I fhall never break decorums.- fhall die with confufion if I am forced to advance,-I shall swoon if he should expect advances! -No! I hope Sir Rowland is better bred than to put a lady to the neceffity of breaking her forms-I won't be too coy neither, I won't give him despair ;-but a little disdain is not amiss a little fcorn is alluring.

« No new theriff's wife expects the return of her husband after knighthood, with that impatience in which Sir Rowland burns for the dear honour of kiffing your ladyship's hand."

And again, fpeaking of Mirabell,

Foi. A little fcorn becomes your lady-He! I hope to fee him lodge in Ludship.

gate firft, and angle into Blackfryars for brafs farthings with an old mitten."

Thus does Waitwell begin his courthip, when disguised for Sir Rowland,

My impatience, Madam, is the effect of my transport, and till I have the poffeffion of your adorable perfon, I am tantalized on the rack, and do but hang, Madam, on the tenter of expectation."

La. W. Yes, but tenderness becomes me beffa fort of a dyingness !—you fee that picture has a fort of a-ha! Foible. A fwimmingness in the eyes.8, I'll look for My niece affects it, but the wants features.Is Sir Rowland handfome? Let my toilet be removed. I'll drefs above.—I'll receive Sir Rowland here. Is he handsome?-Don't answer me: I won't know: I'll be surprised ; intention of being revenged on Mirabel, I'll be taken by furprise.

Foi. By ftorm, Madam.Sir Rowland is a brifk man.

La. W. Is he? O then he'll importúne, if he's a brisk man.-I shall save decorums, if Sir Rowland importunes. I have a mortal terror at the apprehenfion of offending against decorums.-Oh, I arn glad he is a brisk man !"

If this author had had his wit under any fort of command, he might have produced comedies of equal merit with any extant; but, like the falfe fire of a glowworm, it hath misled him in the most un fortunate and unpardonable manner. Inftances of his departing from truth of character to indulge his favourite propenfity, are fo very frequently to be met with, that, were I to enumerate but the tenth part of them, I fhould be fearful to trefpals both on the reader's time and patience; I fhall therefore content myfelf with pointing out two or three; and these I shall select from his Way of the World, as that is justly reckoned his best

And thus does he declare his feigned

›when Lady Wishfor't fays,

Don't kill him at once, Sir Rowland; ftarve him gradually, inch by inch.

"Wait. I'll do't. In three weeks he shall be barefoot, in a month out at knees with begging an alms: he fhall farve upward and upward till he has nothing living but his head, and then go out in a ftink, like a candle's end upon a faveallt"

As a fuperabundance of wit is far from being the defect of our very late comedies, I shall not detain the reader with any more of these quotations; which, while they are neceffary to point out the proper path, (by marking the deviations of eminent men from it) leave at the fame time a difagreeable impreffion on the mind, of the abufe of great powers.

In the pieces which Sir John Vanbrugh hath taken from the French, he can claim no other merit than that of an easy and humorous translator; but his Provoked Wife, and the unfinished sketch he left behind him under the title of a Journey

to

qualified for which exalted happiness he must be free from vice, and, in one inftant entirely change his character. Now Regnard by following a different method in the inftance before us, hath preferved probability, and at the fame time executed poetical juftice: but it were to be withed he had been as careful of this laft article in fome of his other plays, as in the one we are speaking of. Here a vicious propenfity is exhibited in an unfavourable light, and is properly punished; but in the Legataire a fcene of fuch confummate villainy is prefented to our view, that, if it was not heightened with the fineft touches of humour (which however, only make the author the more culpable) we fhould be more apt to fhudder than to laugh at it.While the French fuffer this piece, La Femme d'intrigues, George Dandin †, Les Bourgeoifes a la mode, and

ΝΟΤΕ.

I should be apt to imagine, that a man of Regnard's fine genius might, if he had pleated, have found fome method of introducing this truly comic, though dangerous incident, without leaving his play open to the imputation which, as it ftands, muft ever attend it. Suppofe the fervant had contrived the fcheme without his father's knowledge or participation; that the young man on a difcovery of it, had exclaimed loudly against the bafenefs of the device; and that the father, ftruck with his filial affection, and the generofity of his fentiments, had acted from reafon and choice, as he is made to do from ftratagem and compulfion: befides which, the fervant fhould be feverely punished for his wicked intention.-On the contrary, as the ingenious, but immortal author has managed it, the gentleman (who is propofed as a model for imitation) is confenting to, and prefent at, the fhocking contrivance.-—But after all, I humbly conceive it would have been better not to have brought this incident on the stage at all; fo furely that tranfient gleam of pleafure which is purchased at the expence of virtue and innocence is dearly bought, and can yield but little fatisfaction on reflexion.

This is the original of Sir John Vanbrugh's Confederacy, and, if our countryman is praife-worthy in fo well transfufing the wit of his author into his piece, he is not lefs blameable in having followed his indecent, and immoral catastrophe.

and fome others to be reprefented on their ftage, they muft forbear to call it "a "ichool of good morals."

Our Farquhar is certainly not the most correct or laborious writer, but his dialogue is generally natural without infipidity, fprightly without quaintnefs, quibble, or buffoonery, and witty without that affectation of metaphor, fimile, and allufion which flowed fo profufely from Con-' greve's pen, and threw an air of study on his plays, which is totally inconfiftent with ordinary converfation-The works of this author do not indeed abound with moral leffons, or exalted fentiments, but his comedies are bufy, and extremely well calculated for theatrical representation, and they can claim a ftill higher praife, I mean that of containing many welldrawn and truly original characters.-Of this number may justly be reckoned Duretete in the Inconftant, and the Midwife in the Twin-Rivals.-The awkward bashfulness of the first in women's company is however not natural in a Parifian; the character is therefore fo far faulty, but, confidered in itself, it hath a good deal of merit, and gives rife to fome comic incidents.-Mrs. Mandrake is ftill fuperior to it, being perhaps one of the moft masterly on our theatre; her cant, her cunning and villainy of every kind, are painted in the ftrongeft colours, and, though the Nurfe in Romeo and Juliet may have fuggefted fome ftrokes in it, yet these are so very trifling, that the character may with great juftice be filed an original one. This play being "feldom acted, tempted Mr. Foote to new-model this character in his humorous piece, called the Minor: the ufe that has been made of Mandrake in Mrs. Cole is too palpable to be overlooked; and all the humour which this facetious pilferer has thrown into that will never make it cease to be a copy, tho' a bold one from Farquhar.-In the Tatler (Numb. 19) we find the following paragraph concerning The Trip to the Jubilee." This performance is the greatest inftance that we can have of the irrefiftible force of proper action. The dialogue in itself has fomething too low to bear a criticifm upon it; but Mr. Wilks enters into the part with fo much skill, that the gallantry, the youth, and gaiety, of a young man of a plentiful fortune, is looked upon with as much indulgence on the stage as in real

life,

life, without any of thofe intermixtures mon life, with an agreeable badinage to of wit and humour which ufually prepof- be found in his dramatic compofitions. fefs us in favour of fuch characters in other plays."-Being led away by authority is one of the greatest evils in the literary community: would every one be at the pains of confidering and judging for themselves, as they have an undoubted right to do, so many falfe axioms in tafte (as well as in matters of greater confequence) would not have established themfelves on the mere ftrength of a name. With fubmiffion then to the author of the above paper, I must beg leave to give a contrary opinion with respect at leaft, to the chief character of this entertaining comedy, which appears to me to have the merit of originality in a very high degree; and this, by the bye, is a circumftance of more confequence, and will make it live Jonger than being over feafoned with wit and humour, of both which however it will perhaps be found on infpection to have a fufficient fhare.--In respect of eafe Farquhar may be compared to Dancourt who feems to have written with extraordinary facility and dispatch, but paid no great regard either to delicacy of fentiment, or feverity of moral. In his Bourgeoifes a la mode, (mentioned above) a mean fharper is introduced in the light of a fashionable and even amiable character, and is rewarded with a young wife of beauty and fortune, when, in truth, his conduct is much more deferving of a halter.-In Le Chevalier a la mode, and La Femme d'intrigues, the fame depravity of morals is obfervable; as likewife in Les Vendanges de Surene, Le Moulin de Javell, and the greater part of his farces, in which the molt agreeable and fhining characters are generally caft-off miftreffes, fharpers, bullies, bawds, and pimps.If any one may be allowed to form a judgment of this writer's heart from his works, one cannot help pronouncing it mean and contracted. But though his heart might be corrupt, his head appears to have been clear and penetrating. He is held at prefent in-no very great eftcem in his own country; fome late writers having even configned all his works to oblivion; yet I cannot help thinking that there are great fpirit and vivacity in his dialogue; fome thing original in a few of his characters, and that in general there is much of com

*See Le Voyageur Philofophe. October, 1766.

-To return to our authors. All the filly common-place raillery which the late Laureat's difpute with Mr. Pope occafioned to be thrown out against him, has at length fubfided, and he is now univerfally looked upon as an author to whom the English ttage is greatly indebted.-His genius indeed was by no means adapted to Tragedy; but almoft. all his Comedies are ftock-plays, and afford us a daily fource of entertainment :" they are written with a complete knowledge of the theatre, and exhibit a faithful picture of their author's time and nation: fome fcenes of them, it must be owned, are liable to the centre of being rather too free, but the moral of mott of them is not bad on the whole.-This writer's Carelefs Hufband hath been much and defervedly admired for the unaffected elegance of its tyle, the exact connection and fimplicity of its fable, the eafy pleafantry of its dialogue, and the great beauty of its fentiments; on all which accounts, it is, with great juftice, generally looked upon as the ftandard of genteel Comedy-Sir Richard Steel's Confcious Lovers is a very extraordinary piece.The reputation of decency, which it almoft univerfally enjoys, muft, I think, appear totally unmerited to any one that reads the character of Cimberton with attention: there is certainly fomething very noble and generous in the part of Young Bevil; but the piece notwithfanding is very far from being a model, and, like Addifon's Cato, is partly indebted for its extenfive fame to chance and prejudice.-The Duke of Buckingham's Rehearfal (which should have been fooner mentioned) was very near of as much fervice to us as Cervantes' famous Romance was to his countrymen.--It exploded that vicious tafte for falle gallantry, fimilies and rhine, which had been first brought over from France, and entirely disfigured our ftage; it was the means of fubftituting fenfe in the place of found, and of bringing back our Poets to the Audy of nature -The beft proof of the fuperior excellence of this piece is, that the fatire of it pleafes even now, though we know hardly fo much as the names of the lamentable Tragedies which it ridicules. -About half a century later appeared the Beggar's Opera, another excellent fatire, which hath Lill

pleafed