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188 our Minitry to indulge him this Mark of their Ditinction. He writ a Comedy during his Confinement; and a Circumtance which appears to me very extraordinary is, that we don't meet with o much as a ingle atyrical Stroke againt the Country in which he had been o injuriouly treated. late Mr. Congreve rais'd the Glory of Comedy to a greater Height than any Englih Writer before or ince his Time. He wrote only a few Plays, but they are all excellent in their kind. The Laws of the Drama are trictly oberv'd in them; they abound with Characters all which are hadow'd with the utmot Delicacy, and we don't meet with o much as one low, or coare Jet. The Language is every where that of Men of Honour, but their Actions are thoe of Knaves; a Proof that he was perfectly well acquainted with human Nature, and frequented what we call polite Company. He was infirm, and come to the Verge of Life when I knew him. Mr. Congreve had one Defect, which