_On a Passage in Dryden_ (Vol. iii., p. 492.).--MR. BREEN appears to me
decidedly wrong in the view he takes of the passage he quotes from
Dryden. In the first place, he commits the mistake of assuming that
Dryden is expressing his own opinion, or speaking in his own person. The
fact is, however, that the speaker is Torresmond. Torresmond is "mad"
enough to love the queen; he has already spoken of the "madness of his
high attempt," he says he raves; and when the queen offers to give him
counsel for his cure, he says he wishes _not_ be cured:
"There is a pleasure, _sure_,
In being mad, which none but madmen know!"
This is inference, not assertion. Whether it be natural or not, I will
not say, but I can see no blunder.