some influence in this
respect, of romantic loyalty to the greatest monsters, as well as in the
busy intrigues of B. and F.'s plays.

"The Wildgoose Chase."

Act ii. sc. 1. Belleur's speech:--

... "That wench, methinks,
If I were but well set on, for she is a _fable_,
If I were but hounded right, and one to teach me."

Sympson reads "affable," which Colman rejects, and says, "the next line
seems to enforce" the reading in the text.

Pity, that the editor did not explain wherein the sense, "seemingly
enforced by the next line," consists. May the true word be "a sable"--that
is, a black fox, hunted for its precious fur? Or "at-able,"--as we now
say,--"she is come-at-able?"

"A Wife For A Month."

Act iv. sc. 1. Alphonso's speech:--

"Betwixt the cold bear and the raging lion
Lies my safe way."

Seward's note and alteration to--

"'Twixt the cold bears, far from the raging lion"--

This Mr. Seward is a blockhead of the provoking species. In his itch for
correction, he forgot the words--"lies my safe way!" The bear is the
extreme pole, and thither he would travel over the space contained between
it and "the raging lion."

"The Pilgrim."

Act iv. sc. 2.--

Alinda's interview with her father is lively, and happily hit off; but
this scene with Roderigo is truly excellent. Altogether, indeed, this play
holds the first place in B. and F.'s romantic entertainments,
_Lustspiele_, which collectively are their happiest performances, and are
only inferior to the romance of Shakespeare in the _As You Like It_,
_Twelfth Night_, &c.

_Ib._--

"_Alin._ To-day you shall wed Sorrow,
And Repentance will come to-morrow."

Read "Penitence," or else--

"Repentance, she will come to-morrow."

"The Queen Of Corinth."

Act ii. sc. 1.--

Merione's speech. Had the scene of this tragi-comedy been laid in
Hindostan instead of Corinth, and the gods here addressed been the Vishnu
and Co. of the Indian Pantheon, this rant would not have been much amiss.

In respect of style and versification, this play and the following of
_Bonduca_ may be taken as the best, and yet as characteristic, specimens
of Beaumont and Fletcher's dramas. I particularly instance the first scene
of the _Bonduca_. Take Shakespeare's _Richard II._, and having selected
some one scene of about the same number of lines, and consisting mostly of
long speeches, compare it with the first scene in _Bonduca_,--not for the
idl