ader knows we
must mean ARISTOTLE; whose sentiments in this matter we shall beg leave
to deliver in the words of a very amiable writer of our own Country.

'The English writers of Tragedy, _says Mr. Addison_[37], are possessed
with a notion, that when they represent a virtuous or innocent person in
distress, they ought not to leave him till they have delivered him out
of his troubles, or made him triumph over his enemies.

'This _error_ they have been led into by a _ridiculous_ doctrine in
_Modern Criticism_, that they are obliged to an _equal distribution_ of
_rewards_ and _punishments_, and an impartial execution of _poetical
justice_.

'Who were the first that established this rule, I know not; but I am
sure it has no foundation in NATURE, in REASON, or in the PRACTICE OF
THE ANTIENTS.

'We find, that good and evil happen alike unto ALL MEN on this side the
grave: And as the principal design of Tragedy is to raise commiseration
and terror in the minds of the audience, we shall defeat this great end,
if we always make Virtue and Innocence happy and successful.

'Whatever crosses and disappointments a good man suffers in the _Body_
of the Tragedy, they will make but small impression on our minds, when
we know, that, in the _last Act_, he is to arrive at the end of his
wishes and desires.

'When we see him engaged in the depth of his afflictions, we are apt to
comfort ourselves, because we are sure he will find his way out of them,
and that his grief, how great soever it may be at present, will soon
terminate in gladness.

'For this reason, the antient Writers of Tragedy treated men in their
_Plays_, as they are dealt with in the _World_, by making Virtue
sometimes happy and sometimes miserable, as they found it in the Fable
which they made choice of, or as it might affect their Audience in the
most agreeable manner.

'Aristotle considers the Tragedies that were written in either of those
kinds; and observes, that those which ended unhappily had always pleased
the people, and carried away the Prize, in the public disputes of the
Stage, from those that ended happily.

'Terror and Commiseration leave a _pleasing anguish_ in the mind, and
fix the Audience in such a serious composure of thought, as is much more
lasting and delightful, than any little transient Starts of Joy and
Satisfaction.

'Accordingly we find, that more of our English Tragedies have succeeded,
in which the Favourites of the Audience sink un