Momus Triumphans: OR, THE PLAGIARIES OF THE Engliſh Stage; Expos'd in a CATALOGUE OF ALL THE
Both Ancient and Modern, that were ever yet Printed in Engliſh. The Names of their Known and Suppoſed Authors. Their ſeveral Volumes and Editions: With an Account of the various Originals, as well Engliſh, French, and Italian, as Greek and Latine; from whence moſt of them have Stole their Plots.
By GERARD LANGBAINE Eſq
LONDON: Printed for Nicholas Cox, and are to be Sold by him in Oxford. MDCLXXXVIII.
IF it be true, what Ariſtotle(a)(a)Poet. c. 10. that great Philoſopher, and Father of Criticiſm, has own'd, that the Stage might inſtruct Mankind better than Philoſophy it ſelf. If Homer was thought by Horace(b)(b)Eriſt. 2. ad Lollium. to exceed Crantor and Chryſtippus, in the Precepts of Morality; and if Sophocles and Euripides, obtained the title of Wiſe, for their Dramatich Writing, certainly it can be no diſcredit for any man to own himſelf a lover of that ſort of Poetry, which has been ſtiled, The School of Vertue and good Manners? I know there have been many ſevere Cato's who have endeavoured all they could, to decry the uſe of the Stage; but thoſe who pleaſe to conſult the Writings of the Learned Dr. Gager, Albericus Gentiles, Sir Philip Sidney, Sir Richard Baker, Heywood, the Poet and Actor both in one; not to mention ſeveral others, as the famous Scaliger, Monſieur Hedelin, Rapin, &c. will find their Objections fully anſwered, and the Diverſion of the Theatre ſufficiently vindicated. I ſhall therefore without any Apology, publickly own, that my inclination to this kind of Poetry in particular, has lead me not onely to the view of most of our Modern Repreſentations on the Stage, but alſo to the purchaſe of all the Plays I could meet with, in the Engliſh Tongue; and indeed I have been Maſter of above Nine Hundred and Fourſcore Engliſh Plays and Maſques, beſides Drolls and Interludes; and having read most of them, I think am able to give ſome tollerable account of the greateſt part of our Dramatick Writers, and their Productions.
The general Uſe of Catalogues, and the eſteem they are in at preſent, is ſo well known, that it were to waſte Paper to expatiate on it: I ſhall therefore onely acquaint my Reader, that I deſigned this Catalogue for their uſe, who may have the ſame reliſh of the Dramma with my ſelf; and may poſſibly be deſirous, either to make a Collection, or at leaſt have the curioſity to know in general, what has been Publiſh't in our Language, as likewiſe to receive ſome Remarks on the Writings of particular Men.
The Reaſons that induc'd me to the publiſhing this Catalogue, were theſe: Firſt, That the former Catalogues were out of Print. Secondly, That they were all of them full of groſs Errours. Thirdly, That they were not, as I thought, ſo Methodical as this which I have now made; wherein the Reader will find the Imperfections I obſerved in the former Catalogues, amended; all the Plays which have been Printed ſince 1680, to this preſent time, added; with ſeveral Remarks, which whether or no obſerved, I cannot tell, but never publiſhed by any Author till now.
To begin then firſt with the Errours of former Catalogues, they are chiefly Five:
Firſt, There were Plays inſerted in all of them, which were never in Print; as for Brevity's ſake, to give one inſtance for many, The Amorous Widow, and Wanton Wife, a Comedy. This is a Stock-Play, and was written (if not Tranſlated from Mollieres George Dandin) by Mr. Batterton.
Secondly, Some Plays were omitted, which had been Printed very long ago; as, Cola's Fury, and Lirenda's Miſery. Written by Henry Burkhead. The Religious Rebel; and ſeveral others.
Thirdly, Two Titles which belong'd to one and the ſame Play, were frequently printed, as if they had been two diſtinct Plays; as The Conſtant Maid, or Love will find out the Way. Written by Shirly. Ferex and Porex, or the Tragedy of Gorboduc. Written by Sacvile and Norton; with many others.
Fourthly, The ſame Title was often times printed twice, and that ſeperately, as if writ by two ſeveral perſons; and ſometimes aſcrib'd to different Authors likewiſe; when it was onely a new Edition of the ſame Play; as for Example, Patient Griſſel was again repeated under the Title of Patient Griſſel Old. And Appius and Virginia, written by Webſter, is afterwards aſcrib'd to T. B. though as the deceaſed Comedian Mr. Carthwright, a Bookſeller by Profeſſion, told me, 'twas onely the old Play Reprinted, and Corrected by the above-mentioned Mr. Batterton; with ſeveral others.
Fifthly, Some Plays are aſcribed to one Author which were writ by another; as Celum Britanicum, a Maſque, is to Sir William Davenant, though it was written by Carew and Jones. Which fault is rather to be imputed to the Publiſhers of Sir William Davenant's Workes, 1673, in Folio, than to the Compilers of the former Catalogue; who are more excuſable than Mr. Phillips in his Catalogue of Poets, called, Theatrum Poetarum; and his Tranſcriber Winſtanley, who has follow'd him at a venture in his Characters of the Drammatick Writers, even to a word, in his Lives of the Engliſh Poets. Both theſe Authors through a miſtake of the Method of former Catalogues, and their Ignorance in what Pieces each Drammatick Author had publiſhed, have fallen into very great Errours, as I am going to ſhew.
The firſt Catalogue that was printed of any worth, was that Collected by Kirkman, a London Bookſeller, whoſe chief dealing was in Plays; which was publiſhed 1671, at the end of Nicomede, a Tragi-comedy, Tranſlated from the French of Monſieur Corneille. This Catalogue was printed Alphabetically, as to the Names of the Plays, but promiſcuouſly as to thoſe of the Authors, (Shakſpeare, Fletcher, Johnſon, and ſome others of the moſt voluminous Authors excepted) each Authors Name being placed over againſt each Play that he writ, and ſtill repeated with every ſeveral Play, till a new Author came on. About Nine Years after, the Publiſher of this Catalogue, Reprinted Kirkman's with emendations, but in the ſame Form. Notwithſtanding the Anonimous Plays, one would think eaſily diſtinguiſhable by the want of an Authors Name before them, yet have both theſe charitable kind Gentlemen found Fathers for them, by ranking each under the Authors Name that preceded them in the former Catalogues. Thus Charles the Firſt is placed by them both to Nabbs; becauſe in both the former Catalogues it followed his Covent-Garden: and for the ſame reaſon Cupid's Whirligig is aſcribed by both of them to Goff; becauſe it follow'd his Careleſs Shepheardeſs; and ſo of many others, too tedious to repeat.
To prevent the like miſtake for the future, and to make the Catalogue more uſeful, I wholly altered the form: And yet that I might pleaſe thoſe who delight in old Paths, I have Tranſcribed the ſame as a Second Part, after the former way of Alphabet, though more Methodically than formerly, as I ſhall ſhew preſently.
In this New Catalogue the Reader will find the whole to be divided into Three diſtinct Claſſes. In the firſt I have placed the Declared Authours, Alphabetically, according to their Sirnames, in Italick Characters: and placed the Plays each Authour has written, underneath in Roman Letters, which are rank'd Alphabetically likewiſe; ſo that the Reader may at one glance view each Authours Labours. Over againſt each Play, is plac'd as formerly a Letter to indicate the nature of the Dramma: as C. for Comedy. T. for Tragedy. T. C. for Tragi-comedy. P. for Paſtoral. O. for Opera. I. for Interlude. F. for Farce.
And for the better uſe of thoſe who may deſign a Collection, I have added to the Letter the Volume alſo, (according to the best Edition) as Fol. 4o. 8o. against each Play that I have ſeen. And for their further help; where a Play is not printed ſingle, the Reader will be directed by a Letter or Figure to the bottom of the Colume, where he will meet with Inſtructions how it is to be found; I mean, with what Poems or other Plays it is printed, the Year when, the Place where, and the best Edition of each Book ſo mentioned.
This may ſeem ſuperfluous at first ſight, but may poſſibly be no longer thought ſo, when I ſhall have acquainted my Reader, that when I was making my Collection, I found ſeveral Plays and Masks, bound up with other Poems, which by the name were ſcarce known to the generality of Bookſellers: as for inſtance, Sir Robert Howard's Blind Lady; Daniel's Philotas; Carew's Coelum Britanicum; Shirley's Triumph of Beauty; with infinite others. But two Plays I might particularly mention, both taken notice of in former Catalogues, to wit, Gripus and Hegio, a Paſtoral; and Deorum Dona, a Maſque; both which were written by Baron, and were wholly unknown to all the Bookſellers of whom I happened to enquire, and which I could never have found but by chance; they being printed in a Romance called, The Cyprian Academy, in 8o. The ſame I might add of The Clouds, (a Play which was never in any Catalogue before, and was tranſlated from Ariſtophanes's Nubes by Stanley, and printed with his Hiſtory of Philoſophy, Fol. Lond. 1655. and now newly reprinted; and of ſeveral others) but that I must haſten back to give an Account of the two other Diviſions of my Catalogue. The one of which contains thoſe Plays whoſe Authors diſcover themſelves but by halves, and that to their intimate Friends, by two Letters only in the Title-Page, or the bottom of their Epiſtle; and in the last Degree are plac'd all Anonemous Plays; and this compleats the Firſt Part.
The Second Part contains the Catalogue Reprinted in an exact Alphabetical manner, according to the forms of Dictionaries, the Authors Names being here left out as ſuperfluous; and againſt each Play is a Figure to direct you to the Page where you may find it in the Firſt Part.
Thus much as to the Method and Alterations of this Catalogue: Now as to the Remarks, which are of three ſorts; the firſt of uſe, and the other two conducing to Pleaſure at leaſt, if not to Profit likewiſe.
The Firſt is to prevent my Readers being impos'd on by crafty Bookſellers, whoſe cuſtom it is as frequently to vent old Plays with new Titles, as it has been the uſe of the Theatres to dupe the Town, by acting old Plays under new Names, as if newly writ, and never acted before; as, The Counterfeit Bridegroom, an old Play of Middleton's; The Debauchee, another of Brome's; The Match in Newgate, another of Marſton's; with many more, too tedious to repeat. By theſe Remarks the Reader will find The Fond Lady, to be only the Amorous Old Woman, with a new Title, The Eunuch, to be The Fatal Contract, a Play printed above thirty years ago; with many the like.
The Second is an Eſſay towards a more large Account of the Baſis on which each Play is built, whether it be founded on any Story or Paſſage either in Hiſtory, Chronicle, Romance, or Novel. By this means the curious Reader may be able to form a Judgment of the Poets ability in working up a Dramma, by comparing his Play with the Original Story. I have not been ſo large and full in this as I intend hereafter, not having by me ſeveral Chronicles and Novels, which might have been ſubſervient to my Deſign, as the Chronicles of particular Countries, and the Novels of Cynthio Geraldi, Loredano, Bandello, Sanſorino Belleforreſte, &c. For this reaſon, in the Notes on ſeveral Plays which I have taken notice of, I have been forc'd to refer to the Chronicles of a Country in general, not have had time or opportunity to make an exact ſearch what Hiſtorian the Author has chiefly follow'd, or what Author has moſt largely treated on that particular Action which is the ſubject of the Dramma. So in Novels I have been forc'd through Neceſſity to quote ſome which have been printed ſince the Plays were written to which they are referred: becauſe I knew that they were extracted and collected from the Originals, whence the Plot was taken, though I had them not by me: of which I could produce many inſtances, were it material.
I would deſire my Readers leave to make this Obſervation by the by, that a Drammatick Poet is not ty'd up to the Rules of Chronology, or Hiſtory, but is at liberty to new model a Story at his pleaſure, and to change not only the Circumſtances of a true Story, but even the principal Action it ſelf. Of this opinion are moſt of our modern Criticks; and Scaliger obſerves, not only that 'tis the priviledge of Epick Poets,Poetices. Lib. 1. c. 2. but alſo of Tragedians. Quis neſcit omnibus Epicis Poetis Hiſtoriam eſſe pro argumento? quam illi aut adumbratam, aut illuſtratam certe alia facie quam oſtendunt ex Hiſtoria conficiunt, Poema. Nam quid alius Homerus? Quid Tragicis ipſis faciemus. Sic multa Lucano ficta. Patriae Imago quae ſeſe offerat Caeſari:Pref. to Gondibert, p. 2. excitam ab Interis animam, atquealia talia. This inſtance of Lucan, makes me call to mind what Sir William Davenant ſays on account of the ſame Author, whom he blames for making choice of an Argument ſo near his own time, that ſuch an Enterprize rather beſeem'd an Hiſtorian, than a Poet. For (ſays he) wiſe Poets think it more worthy to ſeek out truth in the Paſſions, than to record the truth of Actions; and practiſe to deſcribe mankind juſt as we are perſwaded or guided by inſtinct, not particular perſons, as they are lifted, or levelled by the force of Fate, it being nobler to contemplate the general Hiſtory of Nature, than a ſelected Diary of Fortune. So that we ſee the buſineſs of a Poet is to refine upon Hiſtory; and Reformation of Manners is ſo much his buſineſs, that he is not to repreſent things on the Stage, as he finds them recorded in Hiſtory, but as they ought to have been: and therefore we are not to make Hiſtory ſo much the Standard and Rule of our Judgment, as Decency and Probability. For indeed, provided the Author ſhew Judgment in the heightning and working up of his Story, it matters not whether the Play be founded on Hiſtory, or Romance, or whether the Story be his own, or another's Invention.
The laſt ſort of Remarks, relate to Thefts: for having read moſt of our Engliſh Plays, as well ancient as thoſe of latter date, I found that our modern Writers had made Incurſions into the deceas'd Authors Labours, and robb'd them of their Fame. I am not a ſufficient Caſuiſt to determine whether that ſevere Sentance of Syneſius be true, Magis impium Mortuorum Lucubrationes quam veſtes furari; That 'tis a worſe ſin to ſteal dead mens Writings, than their Clothes: but I know that I cannot do a better ſervice to their memory, than by taking notice of the Plagiaries, who have been ſo free to borrow, and to endeavour to vindicate the Fame of theſe ancient Authors from whom they took their Spoiles. For this reaſon I have obſerv'd what Thefts I have met with throughout the Catalogue, and have endeavour'd a reſtitution to their right Owners, and a prevention of the Readers being impos'd on by the Plagiary, as the Patrons of ſeveral of our Plays have been by our Modern Poets. But none certainly has attempted it with greater confidence, than he that ſtiles himſelf the Author of The Country Innocence, or The Chambermaid turn'd Quaker: a Play which was acted and printed in the year 1677. but firſt publiſh'd many years before by its genuine Author Ant. Brewer.
It is not to thoſe of our own Nation only, but to Forreigners alſo, that I have endeavour'd to do Juſtice. For that reaſon I have remark'd (as far as my knowledge would permit me) what has been tranſlated or ſtollen from Taſſo, Guarini, Bonarelli, Garnier, Scarron, both the Corneilles, Molliere, Rucine, Quinault, and others both French and Italians. Neither have I omitted, to my power, to do right likewiſe to the ancient Greek and Latin Poets, that have written in this way, as Sophocles, Euripides, Aeſchylus, Ariſtophanes, Seneca, Plautus, Terence, &c. I muſt acknowledge, with regret, that theſe are not ſo well known to me as I could wiſh; but yet as far as my power, I have endeavour'd to do right to their Memories. But I dare aſſure my Reader, that for the future it ſhall be more my buſineſs to obtain a more intimate acquaintance with all worthy Strangers, as well as with my own Countrymen, ſo that if this Trifle ſhould have the fortune to appear abroad a ſecond time, it ſhall be more compleat and correct, than the ſhortneſs of the time, and my ſmall acquaintance with Authors at preſent allow; the Catalogue being in the Preſs, and the firſt ſheet of it ſet, before I thought of adding theſe Remarks.
But before I quit this Paper, I deſire my Readers leave to take a View of Plagiaries in general, and that we may obſerve the different proceedings between the Ancients and our Modern Writers. This Art has reign'd in all Ages, and is as ancient almoſt as Learning it ſelf. If we take it in its general Acceptation, and according to the extent of the word we ſhall find the moſt Eminent Poets (not to move excentrically and out of our preſent Sphere) are liable to the charge and imputation of Plagiary. Homer himſelf is not free from it, if we will give credit to Suidas, Aelian, and others: and that the invention of the Iliad is not wholly due to him, ſeems to be confirm'd by the Teſtimony of Ariſtotle, who mentions a ſmall Iliad,Poet. c. 23. which was written before his was produced. But whether there be any ground, for this Opinion, or no, certain it is that the moſt eminent Poets amongst the Romans, I mean Virgil and Ovid, made uſe of the Grecian Magazines, to ſupply their Inventions. To prove this, let us firſt conſider Virgil,Poet. l. 3. cap. 15. ſtil'd the King of Poets by Scaliger, and to the opinion of Propertius exceeding Homer himſelf, as appears by the following Lines ſo well known amongst all learned men.
Yet even this great man has borrow'd in all his Works; from Theocritus; in his Eclogues; from Heſiod and Aratus, in his Georgicks; and from Homor and Piſander, in his Aeneads: beſides what he has borrow'd from Parthenius Nicaeus, his Tutor in the Greek Tongue, and from Q. Ennius an ancient Latin Poet; as you may read more at large in Macrobius. Saturnalia, l. 5. c. 11. l. 6. c. 1.If we conſider Ovid, the Flower of the Roman Wit, we ſhall find him imitating at leaſt, if not borrowing from, the forementioned Parthonius: his Metamorphoſis,Vol. 2. Orat. 3. that Divine Poem, (as Ant. Muretus ſtiles it in his Orations) being built upon that Poem writ in the Greek Tongue, which bore the ſame Name; and handled the ſame Subject, as we are told by Plutarch and Euſtathius. And if to theſe we add that worthy Carthaginian Terence, who by the kindneſs of the generous Lucan, was at once made a free man and Citizen of Rome, and whom on the account of his Comedies written in the Latin Tongue, we may number among the Roman Writers: we ſhall find him likewiſe beholding; for his Productions, to that eminent Athenian Poet Menander.
But let us now obſerve how theſe Eminent Men manage what they borrow'd; and then compare them with thoſe of our times. Firſt, They propos'd to themſelves thoſe Authors whoſe Works they borrow'd from, for their Model. Secondly, They were cautious to borrow only what they found beautiful in them, and rejected the reſt. This is prov'd by Virgil's Anſwer concerning Ennius his Works, when he was ask'd by one who ſaw him reading, what he was about, reply'd, Aurum ſe ex Enii ſtercore colligere. Thirdly, They plainly confeſs'd what they borrow'd, and modeſtly aſcrib'd the credit of it to the Author whence 'twas originally taken. Thus Terence owns his Tranſlations in his Prologue to Euntichus.
This behaviour Pliny commends in theſe words:Epiſt. ad Tit. Veſpar. Eſt enim benignum & plenum ingenium Pudoris, fateri perquos profeceris: and after having blam'd the Plagiaries of his time, he commends Cicero for making mention of Plato, Crantor, and Pariaetius, whom he made uſe of in his Works: and let it be obſerv'd by our Modern Poets, that though our modeſt Carthaginian own'd his Tranſlations, yet was he not the leſs eſteem'd by the Romans, or his Poems leſs valu'd for it. Nay, even in this Age he is univerſally commended by learned men, and the judicious Rapin gives him a Character, which I doubt few of our Age will deſerve. Reflect. 26. part 2.Terence a ecrit d'une Maniere, & ſi naturelle, & ſi judicieuſe, que de Copie qu'il eſtoit il eſt devenu original: car jamais Auteur n'a eu un gouſt plus par de la Nature. Laſtly, Whatſoever theſe ancient Poets (particularly Virgil) copyed from any Author, they took care not only to alter it for their purpoſe; but to add to the beauty of it: and afterwards to inſert it ſo handſomly into their Poems, (the body and Oeconomy of which was generally their own) that what they borrow'd, ſeem'd of the ſame Contexture with what was originally theirs. So that it might be truly ſaid of them; Apparet unde ſumptum ſit, aliud tamen quàm unde ſit, apparet.
If we now on the other ſide examine the proceedings of our late Engliſh Writers, we ſhall find them diametrically oppoſite in all things. Shakſpear and Johnſon indeed imitated theſe Illuſtrious Men I have cited; the one having borrow'd the Comedy of Errours from the Menechmi of Plautus; the other has made uſe not only of him, but of Horace, Ovid, Juvenal, Saluſt, and ſeveral others, according to his occaſions: for which he is commended by Mr. Dryden,Epiſt. to Mock Aſtrologer. as having thereby beautified our Language: and Mr. Rymer, whoſe Judgment of him is this; I cannot (ſays he) be diſpleas'd with honeſt Ben,Tragedies of the laſt Age, p. 143 when he chuſes rather to borrow a Melon of his Neighbour, than to treat us with a Pumpion of his own growth. But for the moſt part we are treated far otherwiſe; not with ſound Roman Wit, as in Ben's time, but with empty French Kickſhaws, which yet our Poetical Hoſts ſerve up to us for Regales of their own Cookery; and yet they themſelves undervalue that very Nation to whom they are oblig'd for the beſt ſhare of their Treat. Thus our Laureat himſelf runs down the French Wit in his Marriage a la Mode, and ſteals from Molliere in his Mock Aſtrologer; and which makes it more obſervable, at the ſame time he does ſo, pretends in his Epiſtle to juſtifie himſelf from the imputation of Theft: Not unlike the Cunning of a Jugler (to apply his own Simile to him) [Epiſtle to the Spaniſh Fryer] who is always ſtaring us in the Face,Ep. to the Spaniſh Fryer. and overwhelming us with Gibberiſh, only that he may gain the opportunity of making the cleanlier conveyance of his Trick. I will wave the Epiſtle to this Play, which ſeems to be the Picture of Bays in little, yet I cannot omit one Obſervation more, which is, that our Laureat ſhould borrow from Old Flecknoe, whom be ſo much deſpiſes: and yet whoever pleaſes to read Flecknoe's Damoyſelles a la Mode, will find that they have furniſht Mr. Dryden with thoſe refin'd Expreſſions which his Retrenching Lady Donna Aurelea makes uſe of, as the Counſellor of the Graces, and that furious indigence of Ribons. But poſſibly he will own that he borrow'd them as Father Flecknoe did, from Mollieres Les Precieuſes Ridicules: however, I hope he will allow that theſe Expreſſions better ſuit with the Spiritual Temper of thoſe French Damſels, than with the known Gravity of the Spaniſh Ladies. I hope Mr. Dryden will pardon me this Diſcovery, it being abſolutely neceſſary to my deſign of Reſtoring what I could to the true Authors: and this Maxim I learnt from his own Father Aldo,Kind Keeper. Every one muſt have their Own. Fiat Juſtitia, aut ruat Mundus. In purſuance to which, I own that Mr. Dryden has many Excellencies which far out-weigh his Faults; he is an excellent Critick, and a good Poet, his Stile is ſmooth and fluent, and he has written well, both in Verſe and Proſe. I own that I admire him, as much as any man;
But at the ſame time I cannot but blame him for taxing others with ſtealing Characters from him, (as he does Settle in his Notes on Morocco) when he himſelf does the ſame, almoſt in all the Plays he writes; and for arraigning his Predeceſſours for ſtealing from the Ancients, as he does Johnſon; which 'tis evident that he himſelf is guilty of the ſame. I would therefore deſire our Laureat, that he would follow that good Advice which the modeſt Hiſtory Profeſſor Mr. Wheare gives to the young Academick in his Antelogium, to ſhun this, Confidence and Self-love, as the worſt of Plagues; and to conſider that Modeſty is it which becomes every Age,Mr. Bohun's Tranſlat. and leads all that follow her in the ſtreight, and right Path to ſolid Glory; without it we are hurld down Precepices, and inſtead of acquiring Honour, become the ſcorn of Men, and inſtead of a good Fame, we return loaden with Ignominy and Contempt.
I have not time to examine the Thefts of other Plagiaries in particular, both from the French and our own Language, and therefore ſhall onely deſire them to conſider this Sentence of Pliny:Ep. ad T.V. Obnoxii profecto animi, & infelicis ingenii eſt, deprehendere infurto malle, quam mutuum reddere cum preſertim ſors fiat ex ufurâ.
Althô I condemn Plagiaries, yet I would not be thought to reckon as ſuch either Tranſlators, or thoſe who own what they borrow from other Authors: for as 'tis commendable in any man to advantage the Publick; ſo it is manifeſt, that thoſe Authors have done ſo, who have contributed to the Knowledge of the Unlearned, by their excellent Verſions: Yet at the ſame time I cannot but eſteem them as the worſt of Plagiaries, who ſteal from the Writings of thoſe of our own Nation. Becauſe he that borrows from the worſt Forreign Author, may poſſibly import, even amongst a great deal of traſh, ſomewhat of value: whereas the former makes us pay extortion for that which was our own before.
For this reaſon I muſt diſtinguiſh one of our beſt Comick-Writers, from the common Herd of Tranſlators;Mr. Shadwell. ſince though proportionate to his Writings, none of our modern Poets have borrow'd leſs; yet has he dealt ingenuouſly with the World, and if I miſtake not, has publickly own'd, either in his Prefaces, or Prologues, all that he has borrow'd; which I the rather take notice of, becauſe it is ſo little practiſed in this Age. 'Tis true indeed, what is borrow'd from Shakſpeare or Fletcher, is uſually own'd by our Poets, becauſe every one would be able to convict them of Theft, ſhould they endeavour to conceal it. But in what has been ſtolen from Authors not ſo generally known, as Murſton, Middleton, Maſſenger, &c. we find our Poets playing the parts of Bathyllus to Virgil, and robbing them of that Fame, which is as juſtly their due, as the Reward the Emperour Auguſtus had promiſed to the Author of that known Diſtich affixed on the Court Gate, was to Virgil.
Neither can this Imputation be laid at the doors of ſuch who are onely Imitators of the Works of others, amongst which, are admired Sir Charles Sidley, and the inimitable M. Wytcherley: The laſt of which, if I miſtake not, has Copied Mollieres le Miſanthrope, in his Character of the Plain Dealer; and his Celimene, in that of Olivia: but ſo well, that though the Character of the Miſanthrope be accounted by Rapin,Reflect. 26. part. 2. Te Caractere le plus achevee; The compleateſt Character, and the moſt ſingular that ever appeared on the Stage: yet certainly our Poet has equaled, if not exceeded his Copy. Imitation which Longinus commends in Steſichorus, Archilochus, and Herodotus, all of them being imitators of Homer; but particularly he ſays of Plato:〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉Sect. 11.〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. Sed omnium hujus Poetae ſtudioſiſſimus imitator fuit Plato, ab illis Homericis Laticibus ad ſe ſeductos vivos quamplurimos transferens.
But to put an end to theſe Obſervations, which may prove alike troubleſome to the Reader, as well as to the Poets: I must ſay this for our Country-men, That notwithſtanding our Modern Authors have borrow'd much from the French, and other Nations, yet have we ſeveral Pieces, if I may ſo ſay, of our own Manefacture, which equal at least, any of our Neighbours productions. This is a truth ſo generally known, that I need not bring inſtances to prove, that in the humour of our Comedies, and in the characters of our Tragedies, we do not yeild to any other Nation. 'Tis true the unities of Time, Place, and Action, which are generally allowed to be the Beauties of a Play, and which the French are ſo careful to obſerve, add all luſture to their Plays; nevertheleſs, ſeveral of our Poets have given proof, that did our Nation more regard them, they could practice them with equal ſucceſs: But as a correct Play is not ſo much underſtood, or at least regarded by the generality of Spectators; and that few of our Poets now-a-days write ſo much for Honour as Profit: they are therefore content to pleaſe at an eaſier rate. But would ſome great Man appear here in the defence of Poetry, and for the ſupport of good Poets, as the great Cardinal Richlieu, that Noble Patron of Arts and Sciences, did in France; I doubt not but we ſhould find ſeveral Authors, who would quickly evince, that neither the Writings of Ariſtotle, or the practice of thoſe admirable Rules laid down by that Father of Criticiſm, and his best Commentator, Horace; with the rest of thoſe eminent Men, that have written on the Art of the Stage, are unknown to them.
But in the mean time, would our Nobility and Gentry, who delight in Plays, but allow themſelves ſo much time as to read over what is extant on this Subject in Engliſh, as, Ben. Johnſon's Diſcoveries; Roſcommon's Tranſlation of Horace's Art of Poetry; Rapin's Reflections on Ariſtotle's Treatiſe of Poetry; Longinus of the loftineſs of Speech; Boyleau's Art of Poetry; Hedelin's Art of the Stage; Euremont's Eſſays; Rimer's Tragedies of the last Age conſidered; Dryden's Drammatick Eſſay; and ſeveral others; though they underſtood none but their native Language, and conſequently could not read what Voſſius, Heinſius, Scaliger, Plutarch, Athenaeus, Titius Giraldus, Caſtelvetro, Lope de Vega, Corneille, Menardiere, and others which have written to the ſame purpoſe in ſeveral Languages; yet thoſe which are to be met with in Engliſh, are ſufficient to inform them, both in the excellency of the Poetick Art, and the Rules which Poets follow, with the Reaſons of them: They would then find their Pleaſure encreaſe with their Knowledge; and they would have the greater ſatisfaction in ſeeing a correct Play, by how much they were capable (by the help of theſe Rules) to diſcern the Beauties of it; and the greater value for a good Poet, by how much they were ſenſible of the Pains and Study requiſite to bring ſuch a Poem to perfection. This would advance the fame of good Poets, and procure them Patrons amongst the Nobility and Gentry, and through their Emulation to exceed each other, Poetry might in a few Tears be advanced to the ſame Perfection that it was in formerly, at Rome and Athens.
BY reaſon of my great diſtance from the Preſs, ſeveral conſiderable Errata's are to be met with throughout; but the most material are theſe which follow: Which the Reader is deſired to Pardon and Correct.
In the Catalogue it ſelf.
PAge 6. The Wits is left out, a Play of Sir W. Davenant. p. 10. Courageous Turk, &c. for 4o read 8o p. 11. Play of Love, &c. dele 4o, for I never ſaw but the first Play. p. 13. for Hymenes read Hymenaei. p. 16 for Antiquarary read Antiquary. p. 17. Heyre for 8o read 4o. p. 25. for Loyal Brother read Revengers Tragedy.
In the Notes.
PAge 7. and ſo throughout, for in vitam read in vitâ, and in vitas read in vitis. p. 9. Note (c) for Procopis read Procopii. p. 10. N. (n) add the Line of the next Page, viz. Plot from Guiciardine's Hiſtory of Italy, p. 11. dele and from Poetical Hiſtory, ibid. to N. (*) inſtead of what is Printed, read, Theſe three Plays are Tranſlated from Seneca, and Printed with the rest, Lond. 1581. p. 13. N. (b) for Book the Ninth, Satyr the first Part, read, Book the First, Satyr 9. p. 17. N. (d) for du Bec, read du Bec. p. 18. N. (†) for Fourteen, read Thirteen, and for Three, read Five. p. 19. N. (l) belongs to Cambyſes. p. 20. N. (h) for Mons read Monſieur. p. 21. N. (k) for Maenectrini, read Maenechmi. p. 22. N. (i) for 1581, read 1653. ibid. to Triumph of Beauty, add (k) with this Note, Printed with his Poems, Lond. 1646. p. 25. N. (b) for Publiſh'd, read Reprinted. ibid. N. (d) for Muſaee Erotoprgnion, read Muſaei Erotopagnion. p. 24. N. (ſ) for K. read Prince. p. 25. N. (n) to Obſervationum, add Medicarum Volumen. p. 27. N. (d) for Poem, read Play. ibid. N. (g) belongs to French Conjurer, and N. (h) to Witty Combat. p. 28. N. (h) belongs to Thornby-Abby: N. (i) to Marriage Broker, and the last Line to Menechmus. p. 31. N. (r) belongs to Rivals.
Plot from Herbert's Travels, Life of Abbas.
Printed with his Poems. London, 1670.
C. Stands for Comedy, T. Tragedy, T. C. Tragy-Comedy, O. Opera, H. Hiſtory, P. Paſtoral, I. Interlude, and E. Entertainment.
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