Dec. 3. Unfortunate Lovers-this seems to have been a stock play-it was written by Davenant and printed in 1643-it is on the whole a good T.

8. Never acted, Tryphon-this T. is not only very unnatural, but very dull-Lord Orrery's chief object seems to have been to involve his principal characters in contradictory obligations-Love and Honour constitute nearly the whole of the play -Tryphon really usurped the throne of Syria-every thing else is so manifestly fiction, that it is ridiculous for Langbaine and the Editors of the B. D. to refer us to the Maccabees, Josephus, and Appian for an account of Tryphon-this play is printed without the names of the performers to the D. P.

Tarugo's Wiles, or the Coffeehouse-this C. was written by St. Serle-it is printed without the names of the performers-Downes says that it was acted but 3 times it is however, on the whole, a good play -the 3d act consists of a long scene at a Coffeehouse-the scene is not badly written, but, like Bayes' Prologue, it would serve for any other play as well as for this—there is a great resemblance between this play and Sir Courtly Nice, both of them being taken from the same Spanish Comedy.

Cupid's Revenge was revived about this time(Downes)-it was written by Beaumont and Fletcher, and is on the whole a good T., but nothing can be more ridiculous than Cupid and his Revenge-the Princess instigates her father to throw down Cupid's Images, and Cupid in return makes her die for the love of a Dwarf-the language is particularly good —that part of the plot, in which Cupid is not con- · cerned, is unexceptionable it has a striking resem

blance to the plot of Andromana-they seem both of them to have been taken from Sir Philip Sidney's Arcadia.

Jan. 11 1668-Pepys says-" To the play-Knipp "came and sat by us, and her talk pleased me a "little, she telling me how Mrs. Davis is for certain "going away from the Duke's house, the King being "in love with her; and a house is taken for her "and furnishing; and she has a ring given her

already worth £600-that the King did send se"veral times for Nelly, and she was with him”—on the 31st of May, Pepys says, that Mrs. Davis had quite left the Duke's house-he mentions her for the last time on Feb. 15th 1669.

Burnet tells us that Mrs. Davis' reign at Court was not long seemingly owing to the following circumstance, which is quoted in the notes to Waldron's edition of Downes.

Nell Gwyn, having notice that Mrs. Davis was to sleep with the King, invited her to a collation of sweetmeats, which being made up with physical ingredients, the Lady became at night—

Non tantum Veneris quantum studiosa cacandi.

This caused her Royal Master to turn her off with the small pension of £1000 per Ann. in consideration of former services.

SIR WILLIAM DAVENANT-DUCHESS OF NEWCASTLE. 89

SIR WILLIAM DAVENANT.

Davenant died in April 1668-he was buried in Westminster Abbey, the whole company attending the funeral-in 1673 his works were printed in one folio volume for the share which he is absurdly said to have had in altering Julius Cæsar, see C. G. Jan. 31 1766.

DUCHESS OF NEWCASTLE.

Langbaine says that the Duchess in 1662 published a folio containing 19 plays-in 1668 her Grace published a thin folio containing 5 plays-if we may judge of all her plays by these 5, they were very bad -the Duchess in general writes sensibly, but her scenes are so insipid, so dull, so deficient in the essence of a drama, that one is almost tempted to say

"Of Comedies I've seen enough,

"Most vile and execrable stuff,

"But none so bad as thine, I vow to heav'n."

It may, perhaps, be worth while to observe, that the Duchess (who had lived a great while abroad) spells her title without a t, contrary to the usual practice in England for many years after her death.

DRYDEN's ESSAY OF DRAMATICK POESIE.

Dryden says he wrote this Essay in the country, at the time of the Plague, and that his drift in writing it, was chiefly to vindicate the honour of our English writers from the censure of those, who unjustly prefer the French before them-it was published with the date of 1668.

This Essay is an elegant and instructive dialogue -the Colloquists are 4 real persons, tho' concealed under feigned names-Eugenius, Prior has informed us, was meant to represent Lord Buckhurst, better known afterwards as Earl of Dorset-Crites was indisputably Sir Robert Howard—and Neander Dryden himself by Lisideius was probably meant Sir Charles Sidley. (Malone.)

Dryden, as Neander, gives a character of our best dramatic authors.

Beaumont and Fletcher had great natural gifts improved by study-Beaumont especially, being so accurate a judge of plays, that Ben Jonson, while he lived, submitted all his writings to his censure; and it is thought used his judgment in correcting, if not in contriving, all his plots-the first play which brought Beaumont and Fletcher into esteem was Philaster their plots are generally more regular than Shakspeare's they understood and imitated the conversation of Gentlemen much better; whose wild debaucheries and quickness of wit in repartees, no poet can ever paint as they have done they represented all the passions very lively, but above all, Love their plays are now the most frequent and

pleasant entertainments of the stage-two of theirs being acted through the year for one of Shakspeare's or Jonson's.

As for Jonson, if we look upon him while he was himself, (for his last plays were but his dotages) I think him the most learned and judicious writer that any theatre ever had-he was a most severe judge of himself as well as others-one cannot say he wanted wit; but rather that he was frugal of it-in his works you will find little to retrench or alter-Wit, and Language, and Humour also in some measure, we had before him; but something of Art was wanting to the Drama till he came he managed his strength to more advantage than any that preceded him-you seldom find him making love in any of his scenes, or endeavouring to move the passions— his genius was too sullen to do it gracefully-humour was his proper sphere-he invaded the Ancients, both Greek and Latin, like a monarch, and what would have been theft in other poets, is only victory in him.

Shakspeare was the man, who of all Modern, and perhaps Ancient Poets, had the largest and most comprehensive soul-all the images of nature were still present to him, and he drew them, not laboriously, but luckily when he describes any thing, you more than see it, you feel it too-those who accuse him to have wanted learning, give him the greater commendation he was naturally learned he needed not the spectacles of books to read nature he looked inwards and found her there I cannot say he is every where alike; were he so, I should do him injury to compare him with the greatest of mankind-he is many times flat, insipid; his comic wit degenerating