seen, although he feldom tranfgreffeth in this point; for a juft decorum and prefervation of character, with propriety of circumstance and of language, are his ftriking excellencies, and eminently distinguish his correctness and art. What he borroweth from the antients, he generally improves by the ufe and application, and by this means he improved himself, in contending to think, and to exprefs his thoughts like them; and accordingly thofe plays are the best, in which we find most imitations or tranflations from claffic authors; but he commonly borrows with the air of a conqueror, and adorns himself in their drefs, as with the fpoils and trophies of victory.

To make a proper estimation of his merits, as a dramatic writer, we are to confider what was the state of the drama, and the usual practice of the stage-writers in those early times; and what alterations and improvements it received from the plays of Jonfon. Shakespear, and Beaumont and Fletcher, are the only contemporary writers that can be put in competition with him; and as they have excellencies of genius fuperior to those of Jonfon, they have weaknesses and defects which are proportionably greater. If they tranfcend him in the creative powers, and the astonishing flights of imagination, their judgment is much inferior to his; and if he doth not at any time rise so high, neither

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neither perhaps doth he fink fo low as they have done. We mean not to infinuate any thing to the difcredit of Jonfon's genius, yet his fancy had, perhaps, exerted itself with greater energy and strength, had he been lefs a poet, or less acquainted with the antient models. Struck with the correctness and truth of composition in the old claffics, and inflamed by paffionate admiration to emulate their beauties, he was infenfibly led to imagine, that equal honours were due to fuccessful imitation, as to original and unborrowed thinking. Jonfon was naturally turned to industry and reading; and as to treasure up knowledge must be the exercise and work of memory, by the affiduous employment of that faculty, he would neceffarily be lefs difpofed to exert the native inborn spirit of genius and invention; and as his memory was thus fraught with the ftores of antient poetry, the fentiments impressed upon his mind, would easily intermix and affimilate with his own; and when transfufed into the language of his country, would appear have all the graces and the air of novelty. It is owing to these reasons, that Jonfon became constrained in his imagination, and less original in his fentiments and thoughts; but from hence he obtained that severity of collected judgment, and that praise of art, which have given his authority the greatest weight in the decifions and the laws of criticism.

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Enlightened with these assistances, Jonson was. enabled to fee through, and effectually to furmount the prejudices of vulgar practice: and by a departure from the beaten track of unreafonable cuftom, he ftruck at once into the lefs frequented road of probability and nature. Let us proceed then to examine what was the reigning mode in the compofition of our antient drama. In defigning the plots of their feveral comedies, our old poets generally drew them from fome romance, or novel: and from thence alfo they derived the different incidents of the various fcenes; and the resemblance between the original and the copy, was every way exact. The fame wildness and extravagance of fable prevailed in both: all the miracles and abfurdities of story being faithfully transcribed into the play; and hence it is, that the fcene of action is generally placed abroad; the principal characters are alfo foreign; or to speak more truly, they are Englishmen disguised with foreign names: for the manners of all the different perfons are intirely English, as is more particularly obfervable in the inferior characters of the play. So that whether the scene may lie at Athens, at Venice, or Vienna, all the wit, and all the humour are of British growth, and are adapted to the taste and genius of the poet's own age. When Jonfon first applied himself to writing for the ftage, he conformed in like manner to the general practice of his

contemporary poets. A plain inftance of this appears in his comedy called The Cafe is Altered; and this reafon concurs with other evidences, to determine that piece to have been one of his earlier dramatic compofitions. The fcene is Milan, the principal perfonages are of the fame place; and the fentiments they have occafion to use, are what nature in any climate, would express her thoughts in, upon a fimilar occafion. The droll and comic part of the drama fhews itself in the manners of the fervants, the mechanics, and lower characters of the comedy; and although these are exhibited to us under the founding names of Sebaftian, Balthafar, and Vincentio, their whole dialogue and humour are a lively copy from the homefpun wit of the clowns and artifans of the poet's native country. The fame obfervations may be extended to the generality of Shakespear's and Fletcher's plays, where under exotic characters and story, the authors are continually glancing at domestic incidents, and comment on the times, fkreened beneath the cover of antient or foreign fable. But Jonfon was foon fenfible, how inconsistent this medly of names and manners was in reafon and nature; and with how little propriety it could ever have a place in a legitimate and juft picture of real life: and hence as he improved in critical learning, and became acquainted with the true principles and laws of dramatic writing, he reformed the ex

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travagances which had univerfally prevailed in the times before him. His plays were real plays of five acts, in which the continuity of the scenes, and the unities of time and place were regularly observed. And the better to effect this, we must remark that he no longer borrowed his fable from a well-known, or pre-invented story, but formed his plot, and drew his characters from the stores of his imagination, and his obfervations upon men and manners. In confequence of this, his fcene was generally laid at home his characters and manners are equally domeftic, and are uniform and congruous throughout the whole and this was really adapting comedy to its proper end, in making it Vitæ Speculum, & exemplar morum; a mirror to reflect the follies and vices of the age. That this reform was truly the refult of conscious and reflecting art, we shall demonftrate to the reader by a fingular instance, which confirms the account we have laid down above, and fets the judgment of Jonfon in the faireft point of view. Every Man in his Humour is one of his earliest pieces, and was originally written in the manner we have just described. The scene was at Florence, the perfons represented were Italians, and the manners in great measure conformable to the genius of the place but in this very play the humours of the under characters are local, expreffing not the manners of a Florentine, but the gulls and

bullies