indeed, +Terence+ triumphs without a Rival, as was observ'd in the
+Preface+ to that Author; and for a just and close Observance of
+Nature+, perhaps no Man living ever excell'd him. It ought to be
observ'd, that +Plautus+ was somewhat poor, and made it his
principal Aim to please and tickle the Common People; and since they
were almost always delighted with something new, strange, and
unusual, the better to humour them, he was not only frequently
extravagant in his +Expressions+, but likewise in his +Characters+
too, and drew Men often more Vicious, more Covetous, more Foolish,
&c. than generally they were; and this to set the People a gazing
and wondering. With these sort of +Characters+ many of our modern
+Comedies+ abound, which makes 'em too much degenerate into +Farce+,
which seldom fail of pleasing the Mob. But our Author had not many
of these; for a great part of 'em were very true and natural, and
such as may stand the Test of the severest Judges. His two most
remarkable +Characters+, are his +Miser+, and his +Bragadocio+; and
that the Reader may the more clearly understand the nature of these
+Characters+, their Resemblance to some of ours, and their
Unlikeness to those of +Terence+, I shall give a Translation of some
part of 'em. First then, take the First Act of his Third Comedy
call'd +Aulularia+, which begins with the Old Covetous Fellow and
his Maid.
_+Euclio+ and +Staphila+._
_Euc._ Out-a-doors, I say: Come out. I'll fetch ye out with a
Horse-pox, for a damnable, prying, nine-ey'd Witch.
_Sta._ Why do you misuse a poor Rogue at this rate?
_Euc._ To make ye a poor Rogue as long as you live, like a Jade
as you are.
_Sta._ But why, Sir, am I thrust out-a-doors now?
_Euc._ Must I give you an account, you hempen Bitch?---- Get you
from the Door:-- that way:-- See how the Jade moves.---- Observe
what you'll meet with. If I take a good Cudgel or a Whip, 'sbud,
I shall soon put you out o' your Snails pace.
_Sta. softly:_] Wou'd I were hang'd out o' the way, rather than
be bound to serve such an old Rogue.
_Euc._ How the Jipsey mutters to her self!---- Faith, I shall
spoil those damn'd eyes, then look what I'm doing if you can.--
Huzzy, go further off:-- Further still:-- Further still:----
Still, I say.---- So! stand there.---- Now, you Baggage, stir
one step, move a hairs breadth, or look back i' the least till I
speak, and by Cocks-nowns, I'll hang y' up in an instant.-- [_To
himself, going off._] I ne're met with a more subtle old Hag
than this i' my days: I'm cursedly afraid this Witch shou'd trap
me in my discourse, and discover the place where I've hid my
Gold: Troth, I believe the consuming Jade has Eyes in her
Breech.---- Now for my Gold, that has cost me such a woful deal
of trouble, I'll go see whether that be safe as I hid it.
_Exit +Euclio+._
_+Staphila+ alone._
As I live, I can't devise or imagine what Evil Genius or Madness
has possess'd my Master; he uses me so inhumanely; and kicks me
out a doors ten times a day. Troth, it puzzles me strangely to
find out the meaning of his crazy Whims: He watches whole Nights
together; and sits all day long within doors, like a lame Cobler
upon his Stall.---- Well, considering these Plagues, and the
difficulty of concealing my young Mistresses Labour, now at
hand, I find no way but making a short cut, and hanging my self.
_Re-enter +Euclio+._
_Euc._ Now I've found all well within doors, my mind's a little
at ease.---- Now come in, and keep House.
_Sta._ What, for fear it shou'd be stolen away? There's no
Plunder for Thieves; there's nothing but Emptiness and Cobwebs.
_Euc._ I'll warrant ye, I must keep a House like an Emperor for
your sake, you old Sorceress? Huzzy, I'll have every Cobweb
taken care of, and preserv'd.
I'm very poor, I confess; but I patiently bear what the Gods lay
upon me.---- Get ye in, and make fast the door; I'll be back
presently. Take a special care you don't let e're a Soul come
within the doors; and that they mightn't pretend an Excuse to
borrow Fire, I'll ha' ye put it all out: If there be any now,
out with't in an instant. If they want Water, tell 'em the Pump
is dry; if they wou'd borrow a Knife, an Axe, a Mortar, or a
Pestil, as Neighbours us'd to do, tell 'em the House was robb'd,
and they're all stolen. 'Sbud, I'll ha' no body set a step
within my House when I'm gone; therefore if _Good-luck_ her self
shou'd come, I charge ye keep her out.
_Sta._ Troth, you needn't fear her coming; for were she at the
Threshold, she'd ne're come in.
_Euc._ Hold your prating Tongue, and get ye in.
_Sta._ To please you, I'll do both.
_Euc._ And besure you secure the Door with two great Bolts: I'll
be here instantly.
_Exit +Staphila+._
_+Euclio+ alone._
O, I'm wretchedly perplex'd that I'm forc'd to go out a doors
now; and troth, it goes sore against my mind; however, 'tis upon
sure grounds. For now's the time for our Officer to distribute
the Money to the Poor: Now if I shou'd be negligent, and not be
among the Beggars, I'm afraid the World wou'd presently
conclude, that I had got Gold at home. For 'tis n't likely such
a poor Fellow as I pretend to be, shou'd so little value Money,
as not to be there. Notwithstanding my restless care of
concealing this Gold, it strangely runs in my Head, that all the
World knows of it, and every body seems to be more obliging, and
to complement me more than ever. They meet me, stay me, embrace
me, enquire after my Health, my Welfare, and every thing.----
Well, I'll go, and be back again as soon as possibly.
_Exit._
Here we see a considerable deal of the strange Nature of this old
miserable Fellow; and this +Character+ he has carry'd through the
whole Play: But to see his Humour a little more perfectly, take part
of the fourth Scene of the second Act; where the Servant +Strobulus+
and the two Cooks are discoursing about this Miser.
_+Strobulus+ and +Congrio+._
_Stro._ A Pumice-stone is not half so dry as that old Huncks.
_Con._ Say ye so, introth?
_Stro._ Take this from me. If the least Smoke shou'd chance to
fly out of his House, he strait allarms the Town, exclaims
against Heaven and Earth, that he's undone, and ruin'd for
ever!---- I'll tell ye: whene're he goes to Bed he tyes a
Bladder at his Nose.
_Con._ What for?
_Stro._ For fear of losing part of his Soul when he's asleep.
_Con._ And doesn't he plug up his lower Bung-hole too, lest any
shou'd steal out that way?
_Stro._ 'Tis civil to believe me, since I do you.
_Con._ Why, truly, I do believe ye.
_Stro._ Did you never hear, how it goes to the Soul of him to
pour out the Water he has once wash'd his hands in?
_Con._ Do'st think, Boy, we shall be able to squeeze out a
swinging sum of Money of this old Gripes, to purchase our
Freedom with?
_Stro._ Troth, shou'd ye beg Hunger it self of him, the Wretch
wou'd deny ye. Nay more; whenever he gets his Nails to be cut,
he carefully scrapes up all the Parings, and saves 'em.
_Con._ Why, faith, this is the most miserable Cur upon the face
of the Earth.---- But is he really such a pinching Wretch as you
say?
_Stro._ Why t'other day a Kite chanc'd to steal a bit of
something from him; this poor Devil goes strait to my _Lord
Chief Justice_'s, crying, roaring, and houling for his Warrant
to apprehend it.---- O, I cou'd tell ye a thousand of these
Stories, if I had leisure.
This is stretching of a +Character+ a degree above Nature and
Probability; yet these sort, at first sight, will glare and dazle a
common Audience, and sometimes give a superficial Pleasure to a more
judicious one; but are carefully to be avoided by any correct
Writer.
His +Miles Gloriosus+, or +Braggadocio+, is as remarkable a
+Character+ as this, and there you may see another too in the same
place, one who wheadles as much as the other boasts, and plays the
Knave as much as the other does the Fool. For the Reader's
Satisfaction, here follows a Translation of the first Act of the
+Miles Gloriosus+, which begins between that Blockhead and his
Buffoon.
_+Pyrgopolinices+, with his Servant +Artotrogus+, and his Soldiers._
_Pyr. to his Soldiers._] Take care to have my Buckler out-shine
the resplendent Sun, when the Heavens are serene; so that in the
midst o' the Battel, I may dazle the Eyes of my Enemies, and
confound every man of 'em.---- In the mean time, I'll comfort my
bold _Bilbo_, that he might n't be dull and melancholly for want
of use this long time; for the poor Rogue is damnably eager to
slice all my Foes, and make a Hash of 'em.---- But where's
_Artotrogus_?
_Art._ Here, an't like your Honour, ready to wait upon a Man o'
the greatest Fortitude and Fortune i' th' Universe, and o' the
most majestick Air; then for personal Valour, Lord, _Mars_
himself dare n't pretend to measure Swords with you.
_Pyr._ You mean him in the spatious _Gurgustidonian_ Plains, the
mighty Generalissimo, _Bombomachides-- Cluninstaridy--
Sarchides_, great _Neptune_'s Grand-child?----
_Art._ ----The same, Sir. Him with the golden Armour, whose
whole Army you blew away with a single Puff, like Leaves before
the Wind, and Feathers in a Storm.
_Pyr._ By _Hercules_, 'twas nothing.
_Art._ No, faith, Sir, nothing at all to what I can relate,----
[_Aside_] but the Devil a bit of Truth's in't. If any Man can
shew me a greater Lyer, or a more bragging Coxcomb than this
Blunderbuss, he shall take me, make me his Slave, and starve me
with Whey and Butter-milk-- Well, Sir?
_Pyr._ Where are you?
_Art._ Here, Sir:---- Wonderful! how you broke the great
_Indian_ Elephants Arm with your single Fist?
_Pyr._ What Arm?
_Art._ I wou'd ha' said Thigh.
_Pyr._ Pshaw, I did that with ease.
_Art._ By _Jove_, Sir, had you us'd your full Strength, you'd
ha' flead, gutted, and bon'd the huge Beast at once.
_Pyr._ I wou'd not ha' ye relate all my Acts at this time.
_Art._ Really, Sir, 'tis impossible to innumerate all your noble
Acts that I have been Spectator of.---- [_Aside._] 'Tis this
Belly of mine creates me all this Plagues. My Ears must bear
this Burden, for fear my Teeth shou'd want Work; and to every
Lye he tells, I must swear to.
_Pyr._ What was I going to say?------
_Art._ O, Sir, I know your meaning.---- 'Twas a noble Exploit;
I remember't very well.
_Pyr._ What was't?
_Art._ Whatever you perform'd, was so.
_Pyr._ Ha' ye a Table-Book here?
_Art._ D'ye want one, Sir?---- Here's a Pencil too.
_Pyr._ Thou'st ingeniously accommodated thy Sentiments to mine.
_Art._ O, 'tis my Duty to adapt my Manners to your Nod, and
always keep 'em within the compass of your Commands.
_Pyr._ Well, how many can you remember?
_Art._ I remember a hundred and fifty _Cilicians_, a hundred
_Sycolatronideans_, thirty _Sardeans_, and threescore
_Macedonians_, you slew in one day.
_Pyr._ And how many are there in all?
_Art._ Seven thousand.
_Pyr._ That's right. You're an excellent Arithmetician.
_Art._ I have 'em _in capite_, tho' not in black and white.
_Pyr._ Truly, a prodigious Memory!
_Art._ That's owing to your Table.
_Pyr._ As long as you proclaim my Honour, you shall never want
eating: my Table shall be always free to receive ye.
_Art._ Then in _Cappadocia_, Sir, where you wou'd ha' certainly
cut off five hundred Men, had not your Sword been a little
blunt; and those but the Relicts of the Infantry you had just
defeated,---- [_Aside_] if there were any such in being.---- But
why shou'd I mention these things, when the whole World knows
how much the mighty _Pyrgopolinices_ excels the rest of Mortals
in Valour, Beauty, and Renown'd Exploits. All the Ladies in Town
are ready to run mad for ye; troth, and all the reason i'the
World for't, since you've so charming a Countenance. As
yesterday, some of 'em catch'd me by the Cloak, and----
_Pyr._ Prithee, what did they say o' me? [_Smiling._
_Art._ They fell to questioning: _Prithee_, says one, _is n't
this the stout +Achillis?+ His Brother indeed_, quoth I. _Let me
dye_, says another, _if he be n't a wonderful handsome Man, how
nobly he looks, and how gracefully he wears his Hair! What a
prodigious Happiness 'tis to be his Bed-fellow!_
_Pyr._ Said she so, i' faith? [_Laughing._
_Art._ And more than that, begg'd of me, for God's sake, to get
ye to pass that way, that they might see how triumphantly you
march'd along.
_Pyr._ This same extraordinary Beauty brings a Man to
extraordinary Inconveniencies.
_Art._ Well, strangely importunate they were, they nothing but
begg'd, pray'd, and conjur'd me to bless 'em with a sight of ye;
nay, they sent for me so often, that I was sometimes forc'd to
neglect your Business.
_Pyr._ I think 'tis high time to be marching to the Piazza, and
pay off the Soldiers I listed yesterday; for the King was very
earnest with me to do him the favour of raising him some new
Levies. This day have I appointed to pay him a Visit.
_Art._ Let's be marching then.
_Pyr._ Guards, follow your Leader.
_Exeunt omnes._
I need not make many Reflections upon this Scene; but for the
clearer perceiving of it, let us bring it to the Touch-stone of
Nature, that is, compare it with Terence, and shew how modestly he
has manag'd the same +Subject+ and +Characters+, to wit, his
+Thraso+ and +Gnatho+, in the beginning of the third Act of his
+Eunuch+.
_+Thraso+ and +Gnatho+._
_Thra._ Was the Lady so extremely thankful?
_Gna._ O, vastly, Sir.
_Thra._ And wonderfully pleas'd, say ye?
_Gna._ Really, Sir, not so much for the present as the honorable
Person who bestow'd it; and for that, Sir, she triumphs above
measure.
_Thra._ Truly, 'tis my peculiar Fortune, to have every thing I
do most gratefully receiv'd.
_Gna._ Faith, Sir, I've observ'd as much.
_Thra._ Why the King of _Persia_, whenever I did him a Kindness,
was extremely sensible of it: He was n't so to others.
_Gna._ A smart Tongue so well hung as yours, Sir, can obtain
that Glory with Ease which cost others so much Toil and Labour.
_Thra._ Right.
_Gna._ The Monarch has you in his Eye then?
_Thra._ Right again.
_Gna._ And wears you next his heart?
_Thra._ Very true: And trusts all his Army and Secrets to my
Discretion.
_Gna._ Prodigious!
_Thra._ Then if he happen'd to be tir'd with Company, or
fateagu'd with Business, and was desirous of Ease,---- as
tho',---- you know what I mean.
_Gna._ Yes, Sir:------ As tho, when he had a mind to clear his
Stomach, as a Man may say, of all Concerns,------
_Thra._ Right: Then was I his only Companion hand to fist.
_Gna._ Ay marry Sir! This is a Monarch indeed.
_Thra._ Oh! he's a Man of a thousand.
_Gna._ Yes, one of a million, if he chose you for his Companion.
_Thra._ All the Officers envy'd me, and grumbl'd at me behind my
back; but I valued it not: They envy'd me intolerably: But above
all, one who had the Charge o' the vast _Indian_ Elephants. One
day, this Fellow being more turbulent than the rest, I snap'd
him up; _Prithee Strato_, said I, _why art thou so fierce? Is't
because you're Lord o' the wild beasts?_
_Gna._ Neatly said, as I hope to live; and shrewdly. Bless me!
you overthrow Man and Beast.---- What said he, Sir?
_Thra._ Not a word.
_Gna._ Nay, I can't tell how he shou'd.
_Thra._ But, _Gnatho_, did I never tell you how sharp I was upon
a young _Rhodian_ Spark at a Feast?
_Gna._ Never, Sir; let's hear't, by all means.-- He has told it
me a thousand times. [_Aside._
_Thra._ Why this _Rhodian_ Spark I told ye of, was with me at a
Feast, where I happen'd to have a small Girl: This Stripling
began to be sweet upon her, and waggish upon me too. _How now,
you impudent Saucebox_, said I; _you're Man's meat your self,
and yet have a mind to a Tid-bit._
_Gna._ Ha, ha, he.
_Thra._ What's the matter, hah?
_Gna._ Very fine, sharp, and delicate; that cou'd not be mended.
But pray, Sir, was this your own? I took it for an old Jest.
_Thra._ Did you ever hear't before?
_Gna._ Often, Sir; and it takes to a miracle.
_Thra._ They're oblig'd to me for't.
_Gna._ I'm sorry tho', you were so sharp upon the foolish young
Gentleman. But pray, Sir, what did he say then?
_Thra._ He was quite dash'd out of Countenance; and the whole
Company ready to dye with laughing. After that, every body stood
in great awe of me.
_Gna._ And truly they had reason.
Here may be seen +Bragging+ and +Wheadling+ sufficiently, but still
Nature closely observ'd, and all its due proportions; whereas the
other has too much out-gone Probability, and strain'd his
+Characters+ to an extravagant pitch. I shall not criticise upon the
Particulars, but leave the Reader to judge their Differences; but
only I may observe, that when +Characters+ are carry'd too high, as
many of ours are, they may probably make an Audience laugh very
heartily, but can give 'em but small Pleasure; whereas others will
give 'em great Delight, tho' less Laughter.
I am afraid I have dwelt too long upon this Subject, therefore I
pass on to our Author's +Plots+. In that respect, he had not often
that +Art+ and +Management+ that +Terence+ had, nor in all his Plays
was so +regular+ as he; tho' in several he was, particularly in
those I have chosen. But then his Scenes were commonly less
languishing, his +Incidents+ more surprizing, and his +Surprizes+
more admirable; undoubtedly he had more of the +Vis comica+, which I
may translate +Liveliness of Intreague+, than +Terence+. His
+Subjects+ were all more +Simple+ than the other's, but I am apt to
believe, that will be reckon'd but a very small Commendation in our
Nation, who are but little Lovers of such thin Dyet, as they call
it. His +Narrations+ are more lively and sharp than those of
+Terence+'s, and, I think, every whit as natural and as well brought
in: I'm sure in some of 'em he can never be out-done as to his way
of bringing of 'em in. As for the General Rules of the Stage,
I refer the Reader to the Preface to +Terence+.
Our Author's principal Fault was, his mixing the +Representation+
with the +Theatral Action+ in many places, where he often makes his
Actors speak immediately and directly to the Spectators; a Fault
that +Terence+ was not wholly free from. This our modern Plays,
I think, are never guilty of; only in our +Monologues+ and +Asides+,
our Actors have got a custom of looking so full upon the Spectators,
that it seems but one degree better. But our Author is not guilty of
this in these three Plays, except in +Amphitryon+, and that by way
of +Prologue+, or of any other Faults but what, I believe, I have
shewn in my +Remarks+. And these that I have here chosen, are no
ways inferior to +Terence+'s in matters of +Plot+ and +Intreague+,
but in some respects superior, tho' not so elaborately wrought up,
or always with that Niceness; so that these may undoubtedly prove
excellent Models for our Poets Imitation, provided they observe
Differences of Tastes, Humours, Ages, and Persons, and keep to those
principal Beauties they already possess, some of which are
undoubtedly above the Ancients. Only +Terence+ will teach 'em one
thing that +Plautus+ does not, to wit, the great Cunning of working
in +Under-Plots+, and still preserving the +Unity of Action+; for
+Plautus+ has none of them. As for the Necessity of Rules, the
Objections against 'em, and the wonderful Perfection our Plays might
arrive to by a more close Observance of 'em, I must once more refer
my Reader to the Preface to +Terence+. It was principally upon the
Poets Account, and for all such as are desirous of understanding and
judging the Excellencies of Dramatick Poetry, that I translated
these Plays. If it be objected, that the Poets, Criticks, and
Lovers, as well as Judges of Dramatick Poetry, do most of 'em
understand the Original; I must deny the Truth of it, tho' several
of 'em do: But if they did, these will be much more proper for their
Design, especially by means of the +Notes+ and +Remarks+; and the
Reasons I urg'd for the translation of +Terence+, bear a greater
force in this Author, for here is a greater Obscurity, by reason of
corrupted Copies, wrong Points, false Divisions of whole Acts as
well as Scenes, besides a greater number of knotty and obscure
Passages, than in +Terence+.
Tho' this was my principal, it was not my only Design of translating
this Author, for I had all the way an Eye to School boys, and
Learners of the +Latin+ Tongue: Therefore, upon that account, I have
not only kept perfectly close to his Sence, but almost always to his
Words too; a thing not only extream difficult in an Author so
frequently verbose, but oftentimes dangerous too: And for an
Instance, I need not go any further than the very first Sentence of
the +Prologue+ to +Amphitryon+, which if I had made shorter, I cou'd
have made better. I can't forbear mentioning a Passage in the third
Act of the same Play, which just now comes to my remembrance:
Nam certo si sis sanus, aut sapias satis,
Quam tu impudicam esse arbitrare, & praedicas,
Cum ea tu sermonem nec joco, nec serio
Tibi habeas, nisi sis stultior stultissimo.
Which I have translated, perhaps, too closely thus; +I'm sure, had
ye either Wit, or Discretion, or weren't the greatest Fool in
Nature, you'd ne'er hold Discourse, either in Mirth or Earnest, with
the Woman you believe and declare a Strumpet.+ I'm confident many
other Translators wou'd not have been so scrupulously nice, but have
made shorter work of it. But I have not only been so scrupulous in
this Case, but I have likewise imitated all his Faults and
Imperfections, whenever I cou'd do it without extream Injury to the
Translation; I speak of his +Puns+, +Quibbles+, +Rhimes+, +Gingles+,
and his several ways of playing upon words; which indeed were the
Faults of his Age, as it was of ours in +Shakespear+'s and
+Johnson+'s days, and of which +Terence+, as correct as he is, is
not perfectly clear. Our Author's playing upon words are of that
various nature, and so frequent too, I need not go far for a single
Instance, which shall be in the fore part of the Prologue to
+Amphitryon+:
Justam rem & facilem esse oratum a vobis volo.
Nam juste ab justis sum orator datus.
Nam injusta ab justis impetrare non decet:
Justa autem ab injustis petere, insipientia 'st:
Quippe illi iniqui jus ignorant, neque tenent.
Which I have translated thus: +I desire nothing but what's
reasonable, and feasible; for 'tis a reasonable God requires Reason
from a reasonable People; but to require Roguery from reasonable
People, is base; and to expect Reason from Rascals, is nonsence;
since such People neither know Reason nor observe it.+ Our Author's
Wit did many times consist in his playing upon Words; a great pity
indeed, for a person who was so well able to writ after a more
substantial way, of which we have many remarkable Instances. Besides
his Quibbling, partly from his Carelesness and Necessities, he hath
sometimes a vein of +Trifling+, which was but very indifferent; and
on those places the Reader must make some allowance for the
translation, and not expect more than the Matter will well bear. As
for our Author's +Jests+ and +Repartees+, for what we know of 'em,
I took a particular care in preserving their Force; and for the most
part, I presume, I have done it in a great measure, sometimes by a
lucky hit; or a peculiar happiness of our Tongue, other times by a
little Liberty taken, and when all have fail'd, the +Remarks+ have
generally supply'd the Defect, a way I was forc'd to content my self
withal in many places; the worse they were, they were frequently
more difficult to preserve, therefore I thought it as well to slur
over some few of the meaner sort. Several of his +Jests+ and bits of
+Satyr+ are undoubtedly lost to us, not only in respect of our
Language, but also our Knowledge, and this sometimes makes his
+Sence+ a little obscure. And as the +Sence+ of an Author ought to
be his Translator's chiefest Care, so it has been mine; and tho'
I cannot affirm, that I have kept to it in every passage, yet I
believe I have often done it where a common Reader will think I have
not; and I think it no commendation to my self to say I have hit it
on many places where the Common Interpreters have missed.
After all, I dare not pretend to say, that this Translation equals
the Original, for there is such a peculiar Air in this Author as
well as +Terence+, that our Tongue seems uncapable of, or at least
it does so to me. Yet still if 'twere always read with the Original,
it wou'd make far more for me than otherwise. In short, the Reader
ought to look upon this as a Translation of an Author who had
several Faults, and such places, as the +English+ must of necessity
appear mean, being little better in the Original; and likewise as an
Author of Antiquity, some of whose Customs and Manners will appear a
little uncouth and unsightly, in spight of all a Translator's Care.
I endeavour'd to be as like my Author as I cou'd, especially in that
which I reckon his distinguishing Character, to wit, the natural and
unaffected easiness of his Stile, and as this seems the most capable
of imitation, so I believe I have been more successful in this
Particular than in any other: and that is the main Reason I have had
so many Abbreviations, to make it appear still more like common
Discourse, and the usual way of speaking. Perhaps I may be thought
to have been too bold in that point, because I have had some that
are not usual in Prose; therefore I don't set this way as a Copy for
any one to follow me in, nor shall I use it myself in any other
Piece. I have all the way divided the +Acts+ and +Scenes+ according
to the true Rules of the Stage, which are extreamly false in all the
Editions of this Author, especially the +Scenes+.