Page:The Lives and Characters of the English Dramatick Poets.djvu/198

176 and in his Preface you may find his Reasons for altering the Names and Characters from what they were in the Original that he has here copied.

The Roman Bride's Revenge, a Tragedy, acted at the Theatre Royal, 1697. 4to. dedicated by the Bookseller to William Gregory, Esq; This Play was our Author's first; and as it was writ in a Month, so it had the Fate of those untimely Births, as hasty a Death. Tho' notwithstanding the Faults of this Play, which must be confess'd numerous enough, there is so much Merit in the First, and part of the Second Act, and the Beauty of the Catastrophe, that if the Voice of the Town had not been influenc'd by the Ill Representation, it must have met with a less rigorous Censure. But the Author's Faults lie generally in the Stile, and the Incidents of the Third and Fourth Acts. The Stile is too near an Imitation of Mr. Lees (the worst Qualification of that Poet, who had Beauties enough to make amends for it) I mean in many Places, for in others 'tis Just enough. The Incidents were too numerous, and not so distinct as to be well discern'd by the Audience, especially in the Fourth Act. Tho' I think there is no Incident in this Play so unnatural, as some of our celebrated Plays are esteem'd for; and then the Confusion of the Action contributed to the making them seem less prepar'd. The Plot I take to be of the Author's own Invention, allowing for a Hint taken from Camma of Galata, which is thus far improv'd, that the Husband here is alive after the Wife has drank the Poison, which heightens the Distress of the Chief Characters. But the Moral is one of the most noble of any of our Modern Plays, it being to give us an Example in the Punishment of Martian, that no Consideration in the World, ought to make us delay the Service of our Country. Ince the Printing of the foregoing Sheets, this Author has publish'd another Play, call'd,

Beauty in Distress, a Tragedy, as it is acted at the Theatre in Little Lincoln's-Inn-Fields, by his Majesty's Servants, 4to. 1698. dedicated to Henry Heveningham, Esq; I cannot perceive that the Author has stole any part of his Design, nor am apt to believe he has, since he has generally been very free in owning to whom he has owed any Part of what he has publish'd. There are a great many very fine Lines in this Play, yet Comedy seems much more the Bent of our Author's Genius than Tragedy; tho' it must be confess'd, that in the Multiplicity of his Incidents he has follow'd only the Example of our native Poets, which may well excuse him. Before this Play we have a Discourse of the Lawfulness