Hamlet's friend, not to acknowledge he does him great juftice. The Grave-digger was never in better preservation than with Mr. YATES.-The Queen should be an object of deteftation or pity, yet is neither, but an odd compound of both.—Mrs. PRITCHARD here, as in many others much more intereftingwhen fhall we see her like again.-Ophelia found a great friend in Mrs. CIBBER, and has no reason to complain of her intimacy with Mifs MACKLIN. As to the verfification and dialogue of this piece, they are flowing without monotony, poetical with, out bombaft, eafy without flatnefs, and always speak to the heart, where there is opportunity or occafion. To tranfcribe all the beautiful paffages would feem a defign to fill up; and to produce only few, where there is abundance, must be deemed partiality; wherefore I refer to the reader's tafte and the piece itself; prefuming to conclude my remarks on it with one general obfervation, which is, that no play can afford more entertainment on the ftage, or improvement in the clofet, tho' abounding with fuperfluities and inconfiftencies; feveral of the former are omitted in performance, moft of the latter must remain; all the moral we can deduce is, that murder cannot lie hid, and that confcience ever makes a coward of guilt. The STR A THE STRATAGE M. A COMEDY. BY FARQUHAR. As Mr. Pope declared an honest man the noblest work of God, fo Mr. Addison pronounced a good tragedy to be the nobleft work of man; whether he advanced this opinion from intending to raise fuch a masterly and permanent monument to his own reputation upon the ftory of Cato; or if he did, how much he failed in the great attempt, we shall not at prefent pretend to determine; but rather yield to Dryden's affertion, that an epic poem is undoubtedly the most arduous and comprehenfive effort of human genius. The tragic mufe confeffedly claims great preeminence over her fifter the comic; yet if we confider, that a knowledge of ourselves and the world are the best poffeffions of our minds, the laughing lady, tho' fhe muft yield precedence to dignity, may certainly, upon juft principles, boast a greater fhare of utility; the elevated paffions and incidents with which we are treated by the former may warm, melt, and aftonish our feelings; while the latter, playing with fancy in its natural, or fome other familiar fphere, exhilerates our spirits, puts judgment in good humour, and pleasantly prepares us to receive fome occafional neceffary lafhes of correction, applied to our vices or follies. There There is one remark relative to the dramatic fifters well worth notice; that, as the elder is lefs general, fo fhe is more lafting; her characters and paffions are the fame through ages; while the younger is forced to draw exifting peculiarities; which, when their parent, fashion vanishes, difappear with her, and become obfolete; thus the comedies of Shakespeare and Ben Johnfon exhibit masterly genius, yet as the originals they took their pictures from are unknown, their force and beauty are in a great measure loft. When Mr. Garrick's Fribble was first played, a small hat helped confiderably to mark the petitenefs and infignificancy of his figure; what fort of a hat must he wear now to distinguish him from the prefent Liliputian head-covers. wear We are told, that Wilkes played all his fine gentlemen in full-bottomed wigs, as Cibber did the fops alfo; how ftrange would any thing of that kind appear at prefent, when even bishops crop eared bobs; the coxcomb and fine' lady of every seven years vary confiderably in almost every point of converfation and deportment, as they do every fingle year in regard of dress; wherefore the writer of the prefent day, if he has genius fuitable, must have great advantage of his predeceffors, prevailing manners and originals being on his fide. There have been inftances of men very little converfant in life writing tolerable tragedies; but I don't remember one, nor do I believe an instance can be given, of any perfon writing a comedy of merit, merit, whofe intercourfe with, and knowledge of fociety has not been pretty extenfive. Unities of time and place and place are, ftrictly applied, critical trammels, ferving no purpose but to check the noble flights of genius; the fame latitude of imagination, which can move us from a chamber to a street, and thence to a grove, may undoubtedly reconcile much greater tranfitions; avoiding this very allowable liberty has made moft of our modern tragedies fo barren of incident, that they are heavy and palling to a degree; but tho' moderate freedom is contended for, poetical licentioufnefs should be avoided; a child to be born in the first act, and appear fixteen or feventeen years old in the fifth, as we find in the Winter's Tale, throws contempt upon probability, and overftrains the utmost stretch of credibilty; fuch a lapfe of time is totally unwarrantable; indeed as comedy is a delineator of familiar life, the unities fhould be much more punctually obferved in her compofitions than thofe of tragedy. Thus much premifed, let us proceed to the inveftigation of Mr. Farquhar's laft production; an odd, yet it is hoped, not very blameable compofition for a dying author; whofe genius, like an expiring taper, has here thrown out several stronger flashes of light, than when in a perfect state of existence. The STRATAGEM, more properly fo called than Beaux Stratagem, takes its name and birth from the declining circumstances of two genteel Spirited young fellows, who, from their own ac count, count, have spent their fortunes, and rather chose to retire from the circle of gay life, before neceffity fubjected them to contempt; having feen many examples of worthy, fenfible men, who, wanting full pockets, were not only fhunned, but publicly ridiculed by coxcombs of their former acquaintance, whofe finances remained ftill unimpaired. The defign of our adventurers, travelling to pick up a fortune in a matrimonial way, tho' not ftrictly honourable, is no way chimerical or improbable; and laying the firft fcene in a public-house, gives an opportunity of opening the play, and its general defign, with humour as well as propriety. The bustle of Boniface and the pertness of Cherry are extremely characteristic, nor can any thing be better supported than the forward, self-sufficient, talkative landlord is with his guests in the first scene; the praise of his beer, his punctuality respecting its age, its killing his wife, with the help of ufquebaugh, his [refignation upon that circumftance, his tranfition to the characters of lady Bountiful, the other ladies, and Mrs. Sullen, is a well-expreffed chain of connected, humorous nothingness, which is not a little enlivened by making every perfon old Bonny mentions, a fubject of appeal to the tankard; his curiofity in founding Archer about his mafter, and Archer's whimsical referve work a comic effect. The scene of explanation between Aimwell and Archer seems rather effentially the effect of their fituation and scheme then merely a defigned information to the audience; and Boniface comes in VOL. I. happily G |