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Show 4 An ESSAY Tins De.in.tion, though C,A» rats'd , Logic:,! O^W^hat ft ™ reit. Ana arter tne\ i»u*i Rvenina in their return; Cr/fw, ftlS^aB^I^S-SBA the Ancients, in this maTf Confidence ordaee a Viftory, Eu^emus, in his own Opinion, has already T S K § S £ L . 1 nothing feems moreealie tohnu,thanto overcome S f e X m it'sour greateft praife to have mutated W ^ J ^ w e do m * g g build upon their Foundationbut by their Models. ^ « ^ X ^ tad time enouch reckoning from 2 A # / fwho firft invented it) to Arijtophanes to be h ^ t t ™ S n d t o flounfh in Maturity. It has been obferved ol Arts and Sciences, 8that in one and the fameCentury they have arriv'd to a great P * ^ o n ; and no wonder,fmce every Age has a kind of Univerfal Genius,whicli inclines thofe that live in it to fome particular Studies: TheWork then being pufh'd on by many hands, muft of neceffity go forward. Is it not evident, in thefe laft hundred Years (when the Study of Philofophy hasbeenthebufinefsofallther/m.^inC/^^; that almoft a new Nature has been reveal'd to us ? That more errours of the School have been dete^ed, more ufeful Experiments in Philofophy have been made, more Noble Secrets in Opticks, Medicine, Anatomy, Aftronomy, difcover'd than in all thofe Credulous and Doting Ages from Arifiotle to us r So true it is,that nothing fpreads more faff than Science, when rightly and generally Cultivated. Add to this the more than common Emulation that was in thole times of Writing, well , which though it be found in all Ages and all Perfons that pretend to the fame Reputation; yet Poefie being then in more efleem than now it is, had greater Honours decreed to the Profeffors of it; and confequently theRivallhip was more high between them ; they had fudges ordain'd to decide their Merit, and Prizes to reward it: And Hiftorlans have been diligent to record of Afchylus, Euripides, Sophocles, Lycophron, and the reft of them, both who they were that vanquifh'd m thefe Wars ofthe Theater, and how often they were Crown'd: While the Afian Kings, and Grecian Common-Wealths,fcarce afforded them a Nobler Subject than the unmanly Luxuries of a Debauch'd Courr,or giddy Intrigues of a Factious City. Alit xmulatto ingenia (fays Paterculus) & nunc invidia , nunc abmratw incttationem accendit •. Emulation is the Spur of Wit, and fometimes Envy, fometimes Admiration quickens our Endeavours. But now fince the Rewards of Honour are taken away, that Vertuous Emulation isturn'd into direct Malice, yetfoflothfi.il, that it contents it felf to condemn and cry down others, without attempting to do better: 'Tis a Reputation too unprofitable, to take the neceffary pains for it; yet wilhing they had it, is incitement enough to hinder others from it. And this, in fhort, Eugemus, is the reafon, why you have now fo few good Poets ; and fo many fevere Judges : Certainly, to imitate the Ancients well,much labour and long lludy is required : Which pains,I have already fhewn, our Poets would want incouragement to take, if yet they had Ability to go through with it. Thofe Ancients have been faithful Imitators and Wife Obferversof that Nature which is fo torn and ill reprefented in our Plays, they have handed down to us a perfect: refemblance of her; which we, like ill Copiers, neglecting to look on, have rendred monftrous and disfigured. But, that you may know how much you are indebted to thofe your Mafters,and beafhamed to have fo ill requited them: I muft remember you that all the Rules by which we practife the Drama at this Day, either fuch as relate to the juftnefs and fym-metry ofthe Plot ; or the Epifodical Ornaments, fuch as Defcriptions, Narrations, and other Beauties, which are noteflential to the Play ; were delivered to us from the Obfervations that Arifiotle made of thofe Poets, which cither liv'd before him, or were his Contemporaries: W e have added nothing of our own, except we have the confidence to fay our Wit is better; which none boaft of in our Age, but fuch asunderftand not theirs. Of that Book which Arifiotle has left us irty. •? rioinfix™, Horace his Art of Poetry is an excellent Comment, and I believe, reftores to us that Second Book of his concerning Comedy, which is wanting in him. a Out of thefe two gDuelsaTrr PoliasyV ;mt enza,m eolr ,yh, aT sho fbe e TTeihnrm eeexe,t rUPanlciattecidee, st ,ah nwed hF iAaccmhto iouousng .hR tul teos b weh oibcfher tvh'ed iFnr eenvcehr yc aRlelThe of Dramatic^ Foefie. 5 ' The Unity of Time they comprehend in 24 1 lours, the Compafs Day ; or as near it as can be contriv'd : And the reafon of it is obvious.,to ovc one, that the time ofthe feigned Action, or Fable ofthe Play, fhould bcpropoi. on'd as near as can be to the duration of that time in which it is reprefented ; fince therefore allPlays are Acted on thcTheater in a fpace of time much withuvtheCom-pafs of 24 Hours, that Play is to bethought the neareft imitation of Natuiv,v. hofe Plot or Action is coniin'd within that time ; and, by the fame Rule which concludes this general Proportion of time, it follows, that all the parts ol it are to be equally fubdivided ; as namely, that one A d take not up the fuppos'd time of half a Day'; which is out of Proportion to the reft : Since tl* other lour are then to be ftreightned within the Compafs ofthe remaining half; lor it is unnatural that one AcV which being fpoke or Written, is not longer than the reft, fhould be fuppos'd longer by the Audience ; 'tis therefore the Poets duty, to take care that no A & fhould be imagin'd to exceed the time ini which it is reprefented on the Stage; and that the intervals and inequalities of time be fuppos'd to fall out between the Acts. - r This Rule of Time how well it has been obferv'd by the Ancients, moft of their Plavs will Witnefs ; vou fee them in their Tragedies (wherein to follow this Rule, 'tis certainly moft difficult) from the very beginning ot their Plays, falling clofe into that part of the Story which they intend lor the Action or pruicipalOb-ied of it; leaving the former part to be delivered by Narration : So that they let the Audience, as'it were, at the Poll where the Race is to be concluded : And, (faving them the tedious expectation of feeing the Poet fet out and ride the beginning of the CourfeJ you behold him not, till lie is in fight oi the Goal, and iuit upon vou. u • T I For the Second Unity, which is that of place, the Ancients meant by it, l hat the Scene ought to be c'ontinu'd through the Play, in the fcfne place where it was laid in the beginning : For the Stage, on which it is reprefented being but one and the fameVtace, it is unnatural to conceive it many; and thofe tar d.ihnt from one another. I will not deny but by the variation ot painted Scenes, the iancy (which in thefe cafes will contribute to its own deceit; may fometune, imagine it fewral places, with fome appearance of probability ; yet it ftill carries the greater likelihood of truth, if thofe places be fuppos'd fo near each other, as in the k4pe T o w n or City ; which may all be comprehended under the larger Dcnominatioij of one place: For a greater diftante will bear no Proportion to the fnortnc: time, which is allotted in the Acting, to pats from one of t ] ^ t0 ™ * * ' ' uf theObfervationofthis, next to the Ancients, the trench are to be moft commended. They tie themfelvesfo firmly to the Unity of place, that you never fee in an > oftheir Plays, a Scene chang'd in the middle of an Act: If te4**W£+ Garden, a Street, or Chamber, 'tis ended in the fame place; and that >ouma know i t to be the Vame,theStage .s fo fupplied withPerfonsthat it is never empty ail the time: he that Enters the fecond has bufmets with him who w^s on before; and before the fecond quits the Stage, a third appears who has bufinefs with him. This Cornell calls U huufon des Scene*, the cont.nuity or ,oynmg of the See. and 'tis a good mark of a well co.ntri v'd Plav when all the Per ions are knou u to each other, and everv one of them has fome affairs with -all the reit. As for the third Unity winch is that of • the Ancients meant no other brkt^^ttheLoJcians.do^otheirF^ the end or fcope of any Action: That w h ch is the firft in Intention; and laft in Execution: N o w the Poet is to aim at one ereatand complex Aftion, tothtcarrymgonot which all things in his Play even the viy Obftacles, arero h. fubiervient ; and the reafon oi tins is as evident " Jg ^S^quailv i ^ and driven on by the Writer, -^ftroy the Unity of the Poem; ttWfe no longer^onePUy, *^d'£$g$* there may be many A Qaons in a Baft as * * %*tf* has obfervd £ £ » g * ^ ries • but they mull be allfubfenfisnt to the gveai one, winch our Language 1 ap-pUv exnrefT s in the name of plots : Such as in 7 erence* Eunuch is the dine- !WKSSIS«S Marriage of Cktrea and Chnmts Sifter, principally in- Play, but Promotts thejVfcrnag « fc Afti f Qorneile, that is tended by the Po t ^ ^ ^ ^ o i t h . Audience in a lull repofe: But asftftS^ ?-rtl,cTCwSbrvbidl conduceto Irft, and hold the Audience in a dehghtluliulpencc of what will be. |