in the Exemfe of its Eacuities. 131 
This great rule, of the unity of a&ion, is an 
infuperable objection to tragi-comedy; and in¬ 
attention to it Ihocks perfons of tafte in fome of 
our beft plays. In the Provoked Hujhand, for 
inftance, all the fcenes relating to the family of 
the JVrongheads , however laughable, and charac¬ 
terise in themfelves, are certainly to be ac¬ 
counted blemifhes, becaufe they hop the tide of 
fentiment railed by the interefting fcenes, between 
a fenfible, loving, and juftly incenfed hufband, 
and a giddy, extravagant, though good-natured 
wife. 
This diiTertation on the unities, will alfo be 
looked upon, I fear, as an excrefcence to this 
paper, already too long; but I indulged myfelf 
in it with the thought, that it might, probably, 
give room to fome interefting converfation—the 
avowed purpofe of the eflays prefented to this 
fociety—and in that light, I beg, and I hope for, 
your indulgence. 
From what has been read, it will appear, that 
regularity and contrajl , proportion and congruity , 
uniformity t variety , and fimplicity , in the objects 
prefented to the mind, give it an exercife, which 
is attended with neither trouble nor fatigue, and 
which is therefore agreeable. 
That thefe fources of pleafure exift in our 
nature, feems evident, from their being uniform 
and univerfal; and that they were given 11s for 
wife and good purpofes, is what no one can 
K 2 difpute, 
