The latter, The Provoked Husband,' (which was the joint production of Vanburgh and Cibber) is, perhaps, on the whole, the best comedy in the English language. It is liable, indeed, to one critical objection, of having a double plot; as the incidents of the Wronghead family, and those of Lord Townley's, are separate, and independent of each other. But this irregularity is compensated by the natural characters, the fine painting, and the happy strokes of humour with which it abounds. We are, indeed, surprised to find so unexceptionable a comedy proceeding from two such loose authors; for, in its general strain, it is calculated to expose licentiousness and folly; and would do honour to any stage. Sir John Vanburgh has spirit, wit and ease; but he is, to the last degree, gross and indelicate. He is one of the most immoral of all our comedians. His 'Provoked Wife' is full of such indecent sentiments and allusions, as ought to explode it out of all reputable society. His 'Relapse' is equally censurable; and these are his only two considerable pieces. Congreve is, unquestionably a writer of genius. He is lively, witty, and sparkling; full of character, and full of action. His chief fault as a comic writer is, that he overflows with wit. It is often introduced unseasonably; and, almost every where, there is too great a proportion of it for natural well-bred conversation.* Farquhar is a light and gay writer; less correct and less sparkling than Congreve; but he has more ease; and, perhaps fully as great a share of the vis comica. The two best and least exceptionable of his plays, are the 'Recruiting Officer,' and the 'Beaux Stratagem.' I say, the least exceptionable; for, in general, the tendency of both Congreve and Farquhar's plays is immoral. Throughout them all, the rake, the loose intrigue, and the life of licentiousness, are the objects continually held up to view; as if the assemblies of a great and polished nation could be amused with none but vicious objects. The indelicacy of these writers, in the female characters which they introduce, is particularly remarkable. Noth ing can be more awkward than their representations of a woman of virtue and honour. Indeed, there are hardly any female characters in their plays except two women of loose principles; or, women of affected manners, when they attempt to draw a character of virtue. The censure which I have now passed upon these celebrated comedians, is far from being overstrained or severe. Accustomed to the indelicacy of our own comedy, and amused with the wit and humour of it, its immorality too easily escapes our observation. But all foreigners, the French especially, who are accustomed to a better regulated, and more decent stage, speak of it with surprise and astonishment. Voltaire, who is, assuredly, none of the most austere moralists, plumes himself not a little upon the superior bien * Dr. Johnson says of him, in his life, that his personages are a kind of intel lectual gladiators; every sentence is to ward, or to strike; the contest of smartness is never intermitted; his wit is a meteor, playing to and fro, with alternate corruscations.' seance of the French theatre; and says, that the language of English comedy is the language of debauchery, not of politeness. M. Moralt, in his letters upon the French and English nations, ascribes the corruption of manners in London to comedy, as its chief cause. Their comedy, he says, is like that of no other country; it is the school in which the youth of both sexes familiarise themselves with vice, which is never represented there as vice, but as mere gaiety. As for comedies, says the ingenious M. Diderot, in his observations upon dramatic poetry, the English have none; they have, in their place, satires, full, indeed, of gaiety and force, but without morals, and without taste; sans mœurs, et sans gout. There is no wonder, therefore, that Lord Kaims, in his Elements of Criticism, should have expressed himself upon this subject, of the indelicacy of English comedy, in terms much stronger than any that I have used; concluding his invective against it in these words: How odious ought those writers to be, who thus spread infection through their native country; employing the talents which they have received from their Maker most traitorously against himself, by endeavouring to corrupt and disfigure his creatures. If the comedies of Congreve did not rack him with remorse, in his last moments, he must have been lost to all sense of virtue." Vol. II. 479. I am happy, however, to have it in my power to observe, that of late years, a sensible reformation has begun to take place in English comedy. We have, at last, become ashamed of making our public entertainments rest wholly upon profligate characters and scenes; and our later comedies, of any reputation, are much purified from the licentiousness of former times. If they have not the spirit, the ease, and the wit of Congreve and Farquhar, in which respect they must be confessed to be somewhat deficient; this praise, however, they justly merit, of being innocent and moral. For this reformation, we are, questionless, much indebted to the French theatre, which has not only been, at all times, more chaste and inoffensive than ours, but has, within these few years, produced a species of comedy, of still a graver turn than any that I have yet mentioned. This which is called the serious, or tender comedy, and was termed by its opposers, La Comedia Larmoyante, is not altogether a modern invention. Several of Terence's plays, as the Andria, in particular, partake of this character; and as we know that Terence copied Menander, we have sufficient reason to believe that his comedies, also, were of the same kind. The nature of this composition does not by any means exclude gaiety and ridicule; but it lays the chief stress upon tender and interesting situations; it aims at being sentimental, and touching the heart by means of the capital incidents; it makes our pleasure arise, not so much from the laughter which it excites, as from the tears of affection and joy which it draws forth. In English, Steele's Conscious Lovers is a comedy which approaches to this character, and it has always been favourably received by the public. In French, there are several dramatic compositions of this kind, which possess considerable merit and reputation: such as the 'Melanide,' and 'Prejugé à la Mode,' of La Chaussée; the Père de Famille,' of Diderot; the 'Cénie,' of Mad. Graffigny; and the 'Nanine,' and 'L'Enfant Prodigue,' of Voltaire. When this form of comedy first appeared in France, it excited a great controversy among the critics. It was objected to, as a dangerous and unjustifiable innovation in composition. It is not comedy, said they, for it is not founded on laughter and ridicule. It is not tragedy, for it does not involve us in sorrow. By what name then can it be called? or what pretensions hath it to be comprehended under dramatic writing? But this was trifling, in the most egregious manner, with critical names and distinctions, as if these had invariably fixed the essence, and ascertained the limits, of every sort of composition. Assuredly, it is not necessary that all comedies should be formed on one precise model. Some may be entirely light and gay; others may incline more to the serious; some may partake of both; and all of them, properly executed, may furnish agreeable and useful entertainment to the public, by suiting the different tastes of men.* Serious and tender comedy has no title to claim to itself the possession of the stage, to the exclusion of ridicule and gaiety. But when it retains only its proper place, without usurping the province of any other; when it is carried on with resemblance to real life, and without introducing romantic and unnatural situations, it may certainly prove both an interesting and an agreeable species of dramatic writing. If it become insipid and drawling, this must be imputed to the fault of the author, not to the nature of the composition, which may admit much liveliness and vivacity. In general, whatever form comedy assumes whether gay or serious, it may always be esteemed a mark of society advancing in true politeness, when those theatrical exhibitions, which are designed for public amusement, are cleared from indelicate sentiment, or immoral tendency. Though the licentious buffoonery of Aristophanes amused the Greeks for a while, they advanced by degrees to a chaster and juster taste; and the like progress of refinement may be concluded to take place among us, when the public receive with favour, dramatic compositions of such a strain and spirit as entertained the Greeks and Romans, in the days of Menander and Terence. Il y a beaucoup de très bonnes pièces, où il ne regne que de la gayeté: d'antres toutes sérieuses; d'autres melangèes; d'autres, où l'attendrissement va jusaux larmes. Il ne faut donner exclusion à aucune genre ; & si l'on me demandoit, quel genre est le meilleur? Je répondrois, celui qui est le mieux traitè,' VOLTAIRE. INDEX. Accents, thrown farther back from the ter- Action, much used to assist language in an Acts, the division of a play into five, and Adam, his character in Milton's Paradise Addison, general view of his Essay on the use of similies, 184. His general char- ibid. Adverbs, their nature and use defined, 93. Eneid of Virgil, critical examination of Eschines, a comparison between him and Eschylus, his character as a tragic wri- Etna, remarks on Virgil's description of Ages, four, peculiarly fruitful in learned 69. Akenside, his comparison between sublimi- Alphabet of letters, the consideration which Amplification in speech, what, 191. Its principal instrument, ibid. American languages, the figurative style Anagnorisis, in ancient tragedy explain- Annals and history, the distinction be- Ancients and moderns distinguished, S88. Antithesis, in language explained, 188. Arabian Nights Entertainment, a charac Arabian poetry, its character, 425. Architecture, sublimity in, whence it arises, $55. Are not to be too much multi- Ariosto, character of his Orlando Furioso, Aristotle, his rules for dramatic and epic Armstrong, character of his Art of Preserv-Boileau, his character as a didactic poet, ing Health, 449. Art, works of, considered as a source of Articles, in language, the use of, 81. Their Articulation, clearness of, necessary in Associations, academical, recommended, Athenians, ancient, character of, 266. Atterbury, a more harmonious writer than Authors, petty, why no friends to criticism, B. Bacon, his observations on romances, 417. Bar, the eloquence of defined, 263. Why Barrow, Dr. character of his style, 199. Beauty, the emotion raised by, distinguish- ed from that of sublimity, 49. Is a term 451. Bolingbroke, instances of inaccuracy in His account of the composition of the Bossuet, M. instances of apostrophes to Bruyere, his parallel between the elo- nole. Buchanan, his character as an historian, 407. Building, how rendered sublime, $5. C. Cadmus, account of his alphabet, 76. Cameons, critical examination of his Lusi- Carmel, Mount, metaphorical allusions to matic representations, 514. Caudine Forks, Livy's happy description of Celtic language, its antiquity and charac Chorus, ancient, described, 509. Was the |