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travagant didion, By an attempt, in many inftances unfortnnatCi 

 at Onomatopasia,* and a choice of horrid and fantaflic fubjeds, to 

 eftablifh a charader for originality. 



It may be remarked, as another peculiarity of the Gertnan 

 writers, that amidft their love of horrors and their affedation of the 

 fublime, they have had the Angular felicity of finding fources of 

 the great, the terrible and the pathetic in all that is commonly 

 held to be little, contemptible and ridiculous ; and, defcending a 

 ftep below domeftic tragedy, they have introduced a new kind of 

 drama, which, for want of a more appropriate term, may be 

 called ftraw tragedy, and which climbs into ihe garret, or dives 

 into the cellar, for its heroes and heroines, and is founded on the 

 loves and heroic ads of beggars and bunters, of thieves and cut- 

 purfes, of tailors and feamflreffes ; on fuch tranfadions as an in- 

 furredion of journeymen againft their employers, which has fur- 

 niflied Mr. Foote with his tragedy for warm weather. The inci- 

 dents, which to an Englifh writer appear highly ludicrous, and 

 become the ground work of a Beggars Opera, are adopted by a 

 German and become the fubjed of an horrible tragedy, full of 

 portentous incident and deep diftrefs. — Macheath and his gang foar 

 into the clouds of bombaft; they moralize on the inequality of 

 human conditions, and confider themfelves as the vicegerents of 

 providence, commiffioned to redify the caprices of fortune. Polly 



Peachum 



* By the introduftion of cling clang, fplifli fplafh, fpatter clatter, rattle twattle, 

 huddle cuddle, hurra hurra. 



