Poetry. 225 



deeply impress the mind, dwell upon the memory, 

 and secure to him a fame unrivalled and immortal. 

 Some of the remarks which have been made on 

 Shakspeare, particularly that which relates to his 

 frequent deficiency in propriety of plot and incident, 

 may be considered as applying to almost all the 

 dramatic writers who went before him. Those of 

 the last age, especially the first class, generally 

 adopted a different method. A more artful con- 

 trivance of fable is become fashionable; a more 

 extensive and intricate plot is attempted; more 

 intrigue and action are carried on; our curiosity is 

 more awakened, and more interesting situations 

 arise. This is said, by good critics, to be an im- 

 provement. It is contended that it furnishes a 

 more favourable field for the display of passion, and 

 that it renders the entertainment both more ani- 

 mated, and more instructive. 



It may also be mentioned as a peculiarity in the 

 dramatic writings of the eighteenth century, that 

 they are, in general, more decent, and more moral 

 in their tendency than those of the age immediately 

 preceding. The comedies of Vanburgh, so justly 

 admired for their humour and native ease of 

 dialogue, are extremely licentious; and, in the 

 greater part of Congreve's dramas, amidst the 

 brilliancy of wit, and force of language, which so 

 remarkably characterize them, there are passages 

 which put virtue and decorum entirely out of coun- 

 tenance. In several of the comedies of Dry- 

 den, the indecency is so palpable and shocking, 

 that we are told, even in the dissolute age in which 

 he lived, they were prohibited from being brought 

 on the stage. It is but justice to say, that in the 

 course of the last age, a more correct taste has 

 arisen and prevailed. It is true, that in some of 



• Blair\> Lectures. 



