_alternations_ (line 15). The original reads _alterations_.
120. _tragedies to-day and comedies to-morrow._ As the _Aglaura_ of
Suckling and the _Vestal Virgin_ of Sir Robert Howard, which have a double
fifth act. Downes records that about 1662 _Romeo and Juliet_ “was made
into a tragi-comedy by Mr. James Howard, he preserving Romeo and Juliet
alive; so that when the tragedy was reviv’d again, ’twas play’d
alternately, tragically one day and tragi-comical another” (_Roscius
Anglicanus_, ed. 1789, p. 31: cf. Genest, _English Stage_, i., p. 42).
120-1. _Rhymer and Voltaire._ See _Du Théâtre anglais_, _passim_, and
_Short View_, pp. 96, etc. The passage is aimed more directly at Voltaire
than at Rymer. Like Rowe, Johnson misspells Rymer’s name.
122. _Shakespeare has likewise faults._ Cf. Johnson’s letter of 16th
October, 1765, to Charles Burney, quoted by Boswell: “We must confess the
faults of our favourite to gain credit to our praise of his excellences.
He that claims, either in himself or for another, the honours of
perfection, will surely injure the reputation which he designs to assist.”