44 Poetry . [Chap, XX. 



glish language scarcely furnished an instance of 

 pure or unmixed comedy prior to the commence- 

 ment of this period. The comic productions of 

 Shakspeare are well known not to have been of 

 this kind; and those of Dryden and Southern were 

 generally interspersed with too much of the tragic 

 to have a place assigned them in the department 

 of ridicule alone. In the last age a remarkable 

 revolution has taken place in this respect. Spe- 

 cimens of unmixed comedy have become frequent, 

 or rather the most fashionable kind of dramatic 

 <!:omposition ; and in a few instances the wit and 

 humour of these productions are found more cor- 

 rect and refined, and their wholp structure more 

 elegant, than those of any preceding age. 



The English Comedies which have attracted at- 

 tention, and to which great excellence is attri- 

 buted, are numerous. The Careless Husband of 

 Gibber, first 'performed in 1704, is generally 

 ranked among the most respectable of this class, 

 though it can scarcely be said to be perfectly 

 pure in its moral tendency. The Recruiting Of- 

 fiter, and the Beaux Stratagem, by Farquhar *, , 

 though liable to still greater blame, for the same 

 kind of fault, have long been popular plays. The 

 Conscious Lovers of sir Richard Steele f, for purity 

 and tenderness of sentiment, and chasteness of 



V 



* Towards the close of the eighteenth century, the plays of 

 Farquhar, on account of their licentious character, were seldom 

 played, and never without great alterations. They are wholly 

 discontinued on the American stage. 



t Sir Richard Steele Avas born in Dublin. Soon after the ac- 

 cession of George I he was knighted, and became a member ef 

 parliament. He died iu 1729. 



