edicatory he expressly says 'all the Alterations which
I made were in the first Act, in removing that old bustle about _Whigg_
and _Tory_ (which was the subject of most of the Second Scene) and
placing the Character of a _Rake-hell_ in its room.' Mrs. Behn probably
wrote the first Act sometime about the years 1681-3, when there was a
continual 'rout with Whigging and with Torying', and afterwards
completed the remainder at her leisure. In his notice of this comedy
Langbaine's editor (Gildon), who finds Mirtilla 'genteel', says that
Astrea took a portion of the plot 'from a true story of the brother of
Col. Henry Martin, and a Lady that must be nameless. See the Novel
call'd _Hatige_.' _Hattige: or, the Amours of the King of Tamaran.
A Novel_, by Gabriel de Bremond, was translated in 1680. (12mo. For
Simon the African: Amsterdam, [R. Bentley? London.]) A biting satire on
Charles II and Lady Castlemaine, the tale is told with considerable
spirit and attained great vogue. Another edition was issued in 1683, and
under the title _The Beautiful Turk_ it is to be found in _A Select
Collection of Novels_ (1720 and 1729), Vol. III. This novel had first
appeared anonymously at Cologne in 1676--_Hattige ou la Belle Turque,
qui contient ses amours avec le roi Tamaran_--and Nodier in his
_Melanges d'une petite Bibliotheque_ describes a 'clef'. Hattige is, of
course, Lady Castlemaine; Tamaran, Charles II; and the handsome Rajeb
with whom the lady deceives the monarch, Jack Churchill. It is a wanton
little book, and at the time must have been irresistibly piquant. Beyond
the likeness between the characters of Mirtilla and Hattige the novel
has, however, little in common with Mrs. Behn's play. Gildon's comment
is, of course, founded upon the passage in _Oroonoko_ which says: 'We
met on the river with Colonel Martin, a man of great gallantry, wit and
goodness, and whom I have celebrated in a character of my new comedy by
his own name in memory of so brave a man.'

In D'Urfey's _The Royalist_, an excellent comedy produced at Dorset
Garden, 1682 (4to, 1682), the author introduces a certain damsel
Philippa, who, disguised as a page, follows the loyal Sir Charles
Kinglove with whom she is enamoured. At the end of the second Act her
boy's clothes involve her in the same predicament as befalls Olivia in
Act IV of _The Younger Brother_. Although Genest prefers Mrs. Behn's
treatment of the situation, it must, I think, be allowed that D'Urfey
ha