Page:The Lives and Characters of the English Dramatick Poets.djvu/136

116 The Canterbury Guets; or, A Bargain Broken, a Comedy, 4 to. 1695. acted at the Theatre Royal, and dedicated to Rowland Eyre, Eq; this Play had not that Succes the Poet deired, as may be gathered from the Epitle.

The Careles Lovers, a Comedy, 4 to. 1673. Acted at the Duke’s Theatre. Part of this Play borrowed from Molliere’s Monsieur de Pourceaugnac, 8 vo.

The Citizen turn’d Gentleman, a Comedy, 4 to. 1675. acted at the Duke’s Theatre, and dedicated to his Highnes, Prince Rupert. Borrowed from the ame Author he made ue of in the fore-going Play, and Molliere’s le Burgois Gentlehome.

Dame Dobon; or, The Cunning Woman, a Comedy, 4 to. 1684. acted at the Duke’s Theatre. Tranlated from La Deveniree, a French Comedy.

Englih Lawyer, a Comedy, 4 to. 1678. acted at the Theatre Royal, tranlated from the Latin Ignoramus.

The Italian Husband, a Tragedy, 4 to. 1697. acted at the Theatre in Little Lincoln’s-Inn-Fields. To this Play, beides the Prologue, is prefixt a Dialogue, which he calls, The Prelude. This Dicoure is managed by the Poet, a Critick, and one Mr. Peregrine, the Poet’s Friend; Mr. Peregrine and the Poet would make it out, that the Italian Way of writing a Tragedy in Three Acts, is very commendable; That I hall leave to the Deciion of our great Mater Horace, who will have the Dramma neither more nor les than Five. Then the Poet eems under another Mitake, in thinking, that becaue an Italian Lady would eteem you a dull, heavy, and Phlegmatick Lover, if you hould wate time in idle Ceremony and Complement; it is Excue enough for her yielding o oon in his Play: For if they are uch, they are no fitter for a Tragedy, than one of our Englih Protitutes, and can here merit no more Pity. And tho’ it is an extraordinary thing to make us pity the Guilty, (which I know none but Otway could do) yet the Audience mut be very Compaionate, to pity o willing an Adultery as this; and her Repentance proceeds from Fear, more than a Sene of the Crime, or at leat from the eeming Generoity of the Husband, join’d with a Fear of Death. Our Poet is under, the ame Mitake with other of our modern Writers, who are fond of cruel, barbarous, and bloody Stories, and think no Tragedy can be good, without ome Villain in it; but of this elewhere. As for the Laconic way he affects, I hall only ay this, That it was in ue only with the Lacedemonians, who were alo Maters of their Paions; and never the more natural for being hort, for very few Paions, and only ome part of then, are to be drawn in that nip nap way. I only ay this in repect to the Ancients, whoe Practice is natural, and directly contrary to our Author’s. King