Page:The Journal of English and Germanic Philology Volume 18.djvu/179

 Satire's View of Sentimentalism 173 moderate praise for the very sentimentality which, in drama, he contended against: Goldsmith, who teems with sentiments refin'd, Speaks in his work a pregnant, lib'ral mind; And shew'd, tho' we condemn his gen'ral plan, Strong tints of life in his Good Natur'd Man; Yet don't we wish to meet him on the stage, 'Twill spoil the foremost poet of our age. 39 Cumberland was the acknowledged leader among play- wrights of the sentimental school. Richard Tickell, in his satire in criticism, The Wreath of Fashion (1778), 40 begins his survey by observing the unnatural morality of the new comedy: First, for true grounds of Sentimental lore, The scenes of modern comedy explore. The typical plays he finds Dramatic Homilies! devout and sage. And for a representative dramatist he pitches upon Cumber- land : But chief, let Cumberland thy Muse direct, High priest of all the Tragic-comic sect! Mid darts and flames his Lover coolly waits, Calm as a Hero, cas'd in Hartley's plates; Till damp'd and chill'd by sentimental sighs, Each stifled passion in a vapour dies. 41 The author of The Theatres sarcastically hailed Cumberland as The pride, the joy, the wonder of the age. . . but a moment later so far forgot Horatian moderation as to declare that the doctor Defies all grammar and no theme pursues. 42 39 The Theatres, 34. 40 The School for Satire (London, 1801) contains, pp. 143-159, The Wreath of Fashion, with the incidental note "Printed originally 1780," and the title page is missing from the separate copy which I have used. But the British Museum Catalogue oj Printed Books gives titles of four editions dated 1778 and none earlier. For characterization of Tickell see Sichel's Sheridan (Boston, 1909), 1,441-444. 41 School, 148. 42 The Theatres, 27.