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A DEFENCE OF Sir Fopling Flutter, A COMEDY Written by Sir GEORGE ETHERIDGE.

In which DEFENCE is ſhewn, That Sir Fopling, that merry Knight, was rightly compos'd by the Knight his Father, to anſwer the Ends of Comedy; and that he has been barbarouſly and ſcurrilouſly attack'd by the Knight his Brother, in the 65th Spectator.

By which it appears, That the latter Knight knows nothing of the Nature of COMEDY.

LONDON: Printed for T. WARNER, at the Black Boy in Pater-noſter Row. 1722. (Price Six-Pence.)

THE PREFACE.

[]

THE following Defence of the Comedy of Sir Fopling Flutter, not only contains ſeveral Remarks upon Comedy in general; Remarks that are equally neceſſary for the Writing it ſucceſsfully, and for the Judging of it ſurely; but every Article of that Defence, is a juſt Cenſure of a certain Comedy now in Rehearſal, if I can [] depend upon the Account which I have had of it, from ſeveral who have read it, or to whom it has been read. And that the Account which I have had of it is very just, I am apt to believe, not only from the Judgment and Sincerity of the Perſons from whom I had it, but likewiſe from the ſcandalous Methods that are us'd, to give it a falſe and a tranſitory Reputation.

I have formerly made Mention of Poetical Mountebanks. The Author of the Comedy now in Rehearſal, has all the Marks of an Empiric of Parnaſſus: His Play has trotted as far as Edinburgh Northward, and as far as Wales Weſtward, and has been read to more Perſons than will be at the Repreſentation of it, or vouchſafe to read it, when it is publiſh'd.

[] Another certain Sign that a Man is an Empiric, is, when he gives high Encomiums to himſelf, and his Noſtrums, and pretends at the ſame Time, that thoſe Encomiums are given by others. Now, Advertiſements have been ſent to the News-Papers to this Effect, That the Comedy now in Rehearſal, is, in the Opinion of excellent Judges, the very beſt that ever came upon the Engliſh Stage. Now, no Body could ſend that Advertiſement but the Author, or one of his Zany's, by his own Contrivance, or, at leaſt, Connivance. No one could ſend ſuch an Advertiſement, or give ſuch a Judgment, but a Fool, or a Knave; a Knave, if he did it with a Deſign to impoſe on the World, and a Fool if he did it in the Sincerity of his Heart. For, to declare with Judgment, that a Play is the very best that ever came upon the Engliſh Stage, requires vaſt Conſideration, profound Reflection, and a long, long Compariſon. And what Mortal [] is qualify'd to paſs ſuch a Judgment upon a ſingle momentary Reading? He who ſent thoſe Advertiſements then, ſent them with a Deſign to impoſe upon the World, or is an arrant Aſs. But 'tis highly improbable, that a Fool who knows nothing of the Matter, ſhould give himſelf the Trouble to ſend ſuch an Advertiſement; or that any one elſe ſhould do it but the Author, or the Author's Zany's by his Subornation. For whoſe Intereſt could it be but theirs, to endeavour to impoſe upon the World? But now, if it ſhall appear by the following Treatiſe, that the Author of the Dramatick Piece in Rehearſal, knows nothing of the Nature of True Comedy, then how fooliſhly arrogant are thoſe inſolent and impudent Advertiſements? Theſe very Ways of Proceeding, ſufficiently declare the Author's Conſciouſneſs of his own Incapacity; for a noble Genius will ſcorn ſuch infamous Methods, and will reſolve to owe his Reputation to his Merit, and not to tricking [] Artifice. Theſe are ſome of the Methods which the preſent Managers of the Stage have us'd to ruine the Dramas, and with it all other Human Learning, which is in ſome Meaſure dependant on it. For ſince Cabal and Trick, and the Favour and Intereſt of three or four ſordid Wretches, have been found neceſſary for the obtaining Succeſs; every one who is duly qualify'd to write for the Stage, has either with a juſt Diſdain refus'd it, or has undertaken it with extream Reluctancy. The Drama therefore is like to be loſt, and all the Arts dependent on it; therefore every one who is concern'd for the Honour of his Country, ought to do his utmoſt Endeavour to prevent a Calamity which will be ſo great a Diſgrace to it: And all who are concern'd for the Honour of the KING, ought to reflect with Indignation, that by the Malice, and the baſeſt Breach of Truſt of Perſons whom His MAJESTY has appointed to encourage Literature, all [] the [...] Studies of Humanity are like to be [...] in his otherwiſe [...]ſpicious Reign

A DEFENCE OF Sir Fopling Flutter.

[1]

A Certain Knight, who has employ'd ſo much of his empty Labour in extolling the weak Performances of ſome living Authors, has ſcurriouſly and inhumanly in the 65th Spectator, attack'd one of the moſt entertaining Comedies of the laſt Age, written by a moſt ingenious Gentleman, who perfectly underſtood the World, the Court, [2] and the Town, and whoſe Reputation has now for near thirty Years together, ſurviv'd his Perſon, and will, in all Probability, ſurvive it as long as Comedy ſhall be in vogue; by which Proceeding, this worthy Knight has incurr'd the double Cenſure, that Olivia in the pl [...]'d Dealer has caſt upon a certain Coxcomb ‘Who rather, ſays ſhe, then not flatter, will flatter the Poets of the Age, whom none will flatter; and rather then not rail, will rail at the Dead, at whom none beſides will rail.’

If other Authors have had the Misfortune, to incurr the Cenſure of illnature with unthinking deluded People, for no other ſo much as pretended Reaſon, than becauſe to improve a noble Art, they have expos'd the Errors of popular Writers, who ow'd their Succeſs, to the infamous Method of ſecuring an ignorant or a corrupt Cabal; when thoſe Writers were not only living, but in full Proſperity, and at full Liberty to anſwer for themſelves; what Appellation muſt he deſerve, who has baſely and ſcurrilouſly attack'd the Reputation of a Favourite of the comick Muſe, and of the Darling of the Graces, after Death has for ſo many Years depriv'd [3] him of the Means of anſwering for himſelf.

What the Knight falſely and impudently ſays of the Comedy, may be juſtly ſaid of the Criticiſm, and of the whole 65th Spectator, that 'tis a perfect Contradiction to good Manners and good Senſe. He allows this Comedy, he ſays, to be in Nature, but 'tis Nature in its utmoſt Corruption and Degeneracy.

Suppoſe this were true, I would fain know where he learnt, that Nature in its utmoſt Corruption and Degeneracy, is not the proper Subject of Comedy? Is not this a merry Perſon, who, after he has been writing what he calls Comedy for twenty Years together, ſhews plainly to all the World that he knows nothing of the Nature of true Comedy, and that he has not learnt the very firſt Rudiments of an Art which he pretends to teach? I muſt confeſs, the Ridicule in Sir Fopling Flutter, is an Imitation of corrupt and degenerate Nature, but not the moſt corrupt and the moſt degenerate; for there is neither Adultery, Murder, nor Sodomy in it. But can any Thing but corrupt and degenerate [4] Nature be the proper Subject of Ridicule? And can any Thing but Ridicule be the proper Subject of Comedy? Has not Ariſtotle told us in the Fifth Chapter of his Poeticks, that Comedy is an Imitation of the very worſt of Men? Not the worſt, ſays He, in every Sort of Vice, but the worſt in the Ridicule. And has not Horace, in the Fourth Satyr of his Firſt Book, reminded us, that the old Athenian Comick Poets made it their Buſineſs to bring all Sorts of Villains upon the Stage, Adulterers, Cheats, Theives, Murderers? But then they always took Care, ſays a modern Critick, that thoſe ſeveral Villanies ſhould be envelop'd in the Ridicule, which alone, ſays he, could make them the proper Subjects of Comedy. If this facetious Knight had formerly liv'd at Lacedemon with the ſame wrong turn'd Noddle that he has now among us, would he not, do you think, have inveighed againſt that People, for ſhewing their drunken Slaves to their Children? Would he not have repreſented it as a Thing of moſt pernicious Example? What the Lacedemonians did by Drunkenneſs, the Comick Poet does by that and all other Vices. He expoſes them to the View of his Fellow Subjects, for no [5] other Reaſon, than to render them ridiculous and contemptible.

But the Criticiſm of the Knight in the foreſaid Spectator, is as contrary to good Manners, as it is to good Senſe. What Ariſtotle and his Interpreters ſay of Tragedy, that 'tis infallibly good, when it pleaſes both the Judges and the People, is certainly as true of Comedy; for the Judges are equally qualify'd to judge of both, and the People may be ſuppos'd to be better Judges of Comedy then they are of Tragedy, becauſe Comedy is nothing but a Picture of common Life, and a Repreſentation of their own Humours and Manners. Now this Comedy of Sir Fopling Flutter, has not been only well receiv'd, and believ'd by the People of England to be a moſt agreeable Comedy for about Half a Century, but the Judges have been ſtill more pleas'd with it then the People. They have juſtly believ'd (I ſpeak of the Judges) that the Characters, and eſpecially the principal Characters, are admirably drawn, to anſwer the two Ends of Comedy, Pleaſure, and Inſtruction; and that the Dialogue is the moſt charming that has been writ by the Moderns: That with Purity and [6] Simplicity, it has Art and Elegance; and with Force and Vivacity, the utmoſt Grace and Delicacy. This I know very well, was the Opinion of the moſt eminent Writers, and of the beſt Judges contemporary with the Author; and of the whole Court of King Charles the Second, a Court the moſt polite that ever England ſaw.

Now, after this Comedy has paſs'd with the whole People of England, the knowing as well as the Ignorant, for a moſt entertaining and moſt inſtructive Comedy, for fifty Years together, after that long Time comes a Two-Penny Author, who has given a thouſand Proofs thro' the Courſe of his Rhapſodies, that he underſtands not a Tittle of all this Matter; this Author comes and impudently declares, that this whole celebrated Piece, that has for half a Century, been admir'd by the whole People of Great Britain, is a perfect Contradiction to good Senſe, to good Manners, and to common Honeſty. O Tempora! O Mores!

The Knight certainly wrote the foremention'd Spectator, tho' it as been writ theſe ten Years, on Purpoſe to [7] make Way for his fine Gentleman, and therefore he endeavours to prove, that Sir Fopling is not that genteel Comedy, which the World allows it to be. And then, according to his uſual Cuſtom, whenever he pretends to criticiſe, he does, by ſhuffling and cutting and confounding Notions, impoſe upon his unwary Reader; for either Sir George Etheridge, did deſign to make this a genteel Comedy, or he did not. If he did not deſign it, what is it to the Purpoſe, whether 'tis a genteel Comedy or not? Provided that 'tis a good one: For I hope, a Comedy may be a good one, and yet not a genteel one. The Alchimiſt is an admirable Comedy, and yet it is not a genteel one. We may ſay the ſame of The Fox, and the ſilent Woman, and of a great many more. But if Sir George did deſign to make it a genteel one, he was oblig'd to adapt it to that Notion of Gentility, which he knew very well, that the World at that Time had, and we ſee he ſucceeded accordingly. For it has paſs'd for a very genteel Comedy, for fifty Years together. Could it be expected that the admirable Author, ſhould accommodate himſelf, to the wrong headed Notions of a would be Critick, who was to appear fifty [8] Years after the firſt Acting of his Play: A Gritick, who writes Criticiſm as Men commit Treaſon or Murder, by the Inſtigation of the Devil himſelf, whenever the old Gentleman owes the Knight a Shame.

To prove that this Comedy is not a genteel one, he endeavours to prove that one of the principal Characters, is not a fine Gentleman. I appeal to every impartial Man, if when he ſays, that a Man or a Woman are genteel, he means any Thing more, than that they are agreeble in their Air, graceful in in their Motions, and polite in their Converſation. But when he endeavours to prove, that Dorimont is not a fine Gentleman, he ſays no more to the Purpoſe, then he ſaid before, when he affirm'd that the Comedy is not a genteel Comedy; for either the Author deſign'd in Dorimont a fine Gentleman, or he did not. If he did not, the Character is ne'er the leſs excellent on that Account, becauſe Dorimnot is an admirable Picture of a Courtier in the Court of King Charles the Second. But if Dorimont was deſign'd for a fine Gentleman by the Author, he was oblig'd to accommodate himſelf to that Notion of a [9] fine Gentleman, which the Court And the Town both had at the Time of the writing of this Comedy. 'Tis reaſonable to believe, that he did ſo, and we ſee that he ſucceeded accordingly. For Dorimont not only paſs'd for a fine Gentleman with the Court of King Charles the Second, but he has paſs'd for ſuch with all the World, for Fifty Years together. And what indeed can any one mean, when he ſpeaks of a fine Gentleman, but one who is qualify'd in Converſation, to pleaſe the beſt Company of either Sex.

But the Knight will be ſatisfy'd with no Notion of a fine Gentleman but his own. A fine Gentleman, ſays he, is one who is honeſt in his Actions, and refin'd in his Language. If this be a juſt Deſcription of a fine Gentleman, I will make bold to draw two Conſequences from it. The firſt is, That a Pedant is often a fine Gentleman. For I have known ſeveral of them, who have been Honeſt in their Actions, and Refin'd in their Language. The ſecond is, That I know a certain Knight, who, though he ſhould be allow'd to be a Gentleman born, yet is not a fine Gentleman. I ſhall only add, that I would adviſe for the future, all the fine Gentlemen, [10] who travel to London from Tipperary, to allow us Engliſhmen to know what we mean, when we ſpeak our native Language.

To give a true Character of this charming Comedy, it muſt be acknowledg'd, that there is no great Maſterſhip in the Deſign of it. Sir George had but little of the artful and juſt Deſigns of Ben Johnſon: But as Tragedy inſtructs chiefly by its Deſign, Comedy inſtructs by its Characters; which nor only ought to be drawn truly in Nature, but to be the reſembling Pictures of our Contemporaries, both in Court and Town. Tragedy anſwers to HiſtoryPainting, but Comedy to drawing of Portraits.

How little do they know of the Nature of true Comedy, who believe that its proper Buſineſs is to ſet us Patterns for lmitation: For all ſuch Patterns are ſerious Things, and Laughter is the Life, and the very Soul of Comedy. 'Tis its proper Buſineſs to expoſe Perſons to our View, whoſe Views we may ſhun, and whoſe Follies we may deſpiſe; and by ſhewing us what is done upon the Comick Stage, to ſhew us what ought never [11] to be done upon the Stage of the World.

All the Characters in Sir Foppling Flutter, and eſpecially the principal Characters, are admirably drawn, both to pleaſe and to inſtruct. Firſt, they are drawn to pleaſe, becauſe they are drawn in the Truth of Nature; but to be drawn in the Truth of Nature, they muſt be drawn with thoſe Qualities that are proper to each reſpective Seaſon of Life.

This is the chief Precept given for the forming the Characters, by the two Great Maſters of the Rules which Nature herſelf dictated, and which have [...] in every Age, for the Standards of writing ſucceſsfully, and of judging ſurely, unleſs it were with Poetaſters, and their fooliſh Admirers. The Words of Horace, in his Art of Poetry, are theſe, v. 153.

Tu, quid ego & populo mecum deſideret, audi.
Si ſeſſoris eges aulaea manentis, & uſque
Seſſuri, donec cantor, vos plaudite, dicat;
Aetatis cujuſque notandi ſunt tibi mores,
Mobilibúſque decor naturis dandus, & annis.

[12] And thus my Lord Roſcommon has tranſlated it:

Now hear what ev'ry AUditor expects,
If you intend that he ſhould ſtay to hear
The Epilogue, and ſee the Curtain fall;
Mark how our Tempers alter with our Tears,
Then give the Beauty proper to each Age,
And by this Rule form all your Characters.

And now ſee the Character that Horace gives of a Perſon who is in the Bloom of his Years.

De Arte Poetica, v. 161.
Imberbis tandem juvenis cuſtode remoto,
Gaudet equis, canibúſque, & aprici gramine campi;
Cereus in vitium flecti, monitoribus aſper,
Utilium tardus proviſor, prodigus aeris,
Sublimis, cupidúſque, & amata relinquere pernix.

And thus the 'foreſaid Noble Poet tranſlates it:

A Youth that firſt caſts off his Tutor'S Yoke,
Loves Horſes, HounDs, and Sports, and Exerciſe;
[13] Prone to all Vice, impatient of Reproof,
Proud, careleſs, fond, inconſtant, and profuſe.

Now, Horace, to ſhew the Importance of this Precept, as ſoon as he has done with the Characters of the four Parts of Life, returns to it, repeats it, and enforces it.

Ibid, v. 176.
—Ne fortè ſeniles
Mandentur juveni partes, pueróque viriles,
Semper in adjunctis, aevóque morabimur aptis.

‘That a Poet may never be guilty of ſuch an Abſurdity, ſays he, as to give the Character of an Old Man to a Young Man, or of a Boy to a Middle Ag'd Man, let him take Care to adhere to thoſe Qualities, which are neceſſarily or probably annexed to each reſpective Seaſon of Life.’

If a Dramatick Poet does not obſerve this Rule, he miſſes that which gives the Beauty, and the Decorum, which alone can make his Characters pleaſe.

As Horace is but an Epitomizer of Ariſtotle, in giving Rules for the Characters; [14] that Philoſopher gives us more at large the Character of a Perſon in his early Bloom, in the 14th Chapter of the Second Book of his Rhetorick.

‘Young Men, ſays he, have ſtrong Appetites, and are ready to undertake any thing, in order to ſatisfy them; and of all thoſe Appetites which have a Relation to the Body, they are moſt powerfully ſway'd by Venereal ones, in which they are very changeable, and are quickly cloy'd. For their Deſires are rather acute than laſting; like the Hunger and Thirſt of the Sick. They are prone to Anger, and eaſily provok'd; vehement in their Anger, and ready to obey the Dictates of it. For by Reaſon of the Concern which they have for their Honour, they cannot bear the being undervalu'd, but reſent an Affront heinouſly. And as they are deſirous of Honour, they are more ambitious of Victory: For Youth is deſirous of excelling, and Victory is a Sort of Excellency.’ Thus far Ariſtotle.

And here it may not be amiſs to ſhew, that this Rule is founded in Reaſon and in Nature: In order to which, let us ſee what Dacier remarks upon that Verſe of Horace, which we cited above.

[15] Mobilibúſque decor naturis dandus, & annis.

Behold, ſays he, a very fine, and very ſignificant Verſe; which tells us, if we render it Word for Word, ‘That we ought to give to moveable Natures and Years their proper Beauty. By moveable Natures, (ſays Dacier) Horace means Age, which ſtill runs on like a River, and which, as it runs, gives different Inclinations to Men; and thoſe different Inclinations make what he calls Decor, the Beauty proper to the Age. For every Part of Man's Life has its proper Beauties, like every Seaſon of the Year. He that gives to Manly Age the Beauties of Youth, or to Youth the Beauties of Manly Age, does like a Painter, who ſhould paint the Autumn with the Ornaments of Summer, or the Summer with the Ornaments of Autumn.’

A Comick Poet, who gives to a Young Man the Qualities that belong to a Middle Ag'd Man, or to an Old Man, can anſwer neither of the Ends of his Art. He cannot pleaſe, becauſe he writes out of Nature, of which all Poetry is an Imitation, and without which, no Poem can poſſibly pleaſe. And as he cannot [16] pleaſe, he cannot inſtruct; becauſe, by ſhewing ſuch a young Man as is not to be ſeen in the World, he ſhews a Monſter, and not a Man, ſets before us a particular Character, inſtead of an allegorical and univerſal one, as all his Characters, and eſpecially his principal Characters, ought to be; and therefore can give no general Inſtruction, having no Moral, no Fable, and therefore no Comedy.

Now if any one is pleaſed to compare the Character of Dorimont, to which the Knight has taken ſo much abſurd Exception with the two forementioned Deſcriptions, he will find in his Character all the chief diſtinguiſhing Strokes of them. For ſuch is the Force of Nature, and ſo admirable a Talent had ſhe given Sir George for Comedy, that, tho' to my certain Knowledge he underſtood neither Greek nor Latin, yet one would ſwear, that in drawing his Dorimant, he copy'd the foreſaid Draughts, and eſpecially that of Ariſtotle. Dorimont is a young Courtier, haughty, vain, and prone to Anger, amorous, falſe, and inconſtant. He debauches Loveit, and betrays her; loves Belinda, and as ſoon as he enjoys her is falſe to her.

[17] But 2dly, The Characters in Sir Fopling are admirably contriv'd to pleaſe, and more particularly the principal ones, becauſe we find in thoſe Characters, a true Reſemblance of the Perſons both in Court and Town, who liv'd at the Time when that Comedy was writ: For Rapin tells us with a great deal of Judgment, ‘That Comedy is as it ought to be, when an Audience is apt to imagine, that inſtead of being in the Pit and Boxes, they are in ſome Aſſembly of the Neighbourhood, or in ſome Family Meeting, and that we ſee nothing done in it, but what is done in the World. For it is, ſays he, not worth one Farthing, if we do not diſcover our ſelves in it, and do not find in it both our own Manners, and thoſe of the Perſons with whom we live and converſe.’

The Reaſon of this Rule is manifeſt: For as 'tis the Buſineſs of a Comick Poet to cure his Spectators of Vice and Folly, by the Apprehenſion of being laugh'd at; 'tis plain that his Buſineſs muſt be with the reigning Follies and Vices. The violent Paſſions, which are the Subjects of Tragedy, are the ſame in every Age, and appear with the ſame Face; but thoſe Vices and Follies, which [18] are the Subjects of Comedy, are ſeen to vary continually: Some of thoſe that belonged to our Anceſtors, have no Relation to us; and can no more come under the Cogniſance of our preſent Comick Poets, than the Sweating and Sneezing Sickneſs can come under the Practice of our contemporary Phyſicians. What Vices and Follies may infect thoſe who are to come after us, we know not; 'tis the preſent, the reigning Vices, and Follies, that muſt be the Subjects of our preſent Comedy: The Comick Poet therefore muſt take Characters from ſuch Perſons as are his Contemporaries, and are infected with the foreſaid Follies and Vices.

Agreeable to this, is the Advice which Boileau, in his Art of Poetry, gives to the Comick Poets:

Etudiez la Cour, & connoiſſez la ville,
L'une & l'autre eſt touſoers en modeles fertile,
Ceſt par lá que Moliere illuſtrant ſes evrits,
Peutetre de ſon Art eut remporté la prix, &c.

Now I remember very well, that upon the firſt acting this Comedy, it [19] was generally believed to be an agreeable Repreſentation of the Perſons of Condition of both Sexes, both in Court and Town; and that all the World was charm'd with Dorimont; and that it was unanimouſly agreed, that he had in him ſeveral of the Qualities of Wilmot Earl of Rocheſter, as, his Wit, his Spirit, his amorous Temper, the Charms that he had for the fair Sex, his Falſhood, and his Inconſtancy; the agreeable Manner of his chiding his Servants, which the late Biſhop of Saliſbury takes Notice of in his Life; and laſtly, his repeating, on every Occaſion, the Verſes of Waller, for whom that noble Lord had a very particular Eſteem; witneſs his lmitation of the Tenth Satire of the Firſt Book of Horace:

Waller, by Nature for the Bays deſign'd,
With Spirit, Force, and Fancy unconfind,
In Panegyrick is above Mankind.

Now, as ſeveral of the Qualities in Dorimont's Character were taken from that Earl of Rocheſter, ſo they who were acquainted with the late Sir Fleetwood Shepherd, know very well, that not a little of that Gentleman's Character is to be found in Medley.

[20] But the Characters in this Comedy are very well form'd to inſtruct as well as to pleaſe, eſpecially thoſe of Dorimont and of Loveit; and they inſtruct by the ſame Qualities to which the Knight has taken ſo much whimſical Exception; as Dorimont inſtructs by his Inſulting, and his Perfidiouſneſs, and Loveit by the Violence of her Reſentment and her Anguiſh. For Loveit has Yough, Beauty, Quality, Wit, and Spirit. And it was depending upon theſe, that ſhe repos'd ſo dangerous a Truſt in Dorimont, which is a juſt Caution to the Fair Sex, never to be ſo conceited of the Power of their Charms, or their other extraordinaryQualities,as to believe they can engage a Man to be true to them, to whom they grant the beſt Favour, without the only ſure Engagement, without which they can never be certain, that they ſhall not be hated and deſpis'd by that very Perſon whom they have done every Thing to oblige.

To conclude with one General Obſervation, That Comedy may be qualify'd in a powerful Manner both to inſtruct and to pleaſe, the very Conſtitution of its Subject ought always to be Ridiculous. Comedy, ſays Rapin, is an Image of common Life, and its [21] End is to expoſe upon the Stage the Defects of particular Perſons, in order to cure the Defects of the Publick, and to correct and amend the People, by the Fear of being laugh'd at. That therefore, ſays he, which is moſt eſſential to Comedy, is certainly the Ridicule.

Every Poem is qualify'd to inſtruct, and to pleaſe moſt powerfully by that very Quality which makes the Fort and the Characteriſtick of it, and which diſtinguiſhes it from all other Kinds of Poems. As Tragedy is qualify'd to inſtruct and to pleaſe, by Terror and Compaſſion, which two Paſſions ought always to be predominant in it, and to diſtinguiſh it from all other Poems. Epick Poetry pleaſes and inſtructs chiefly by Admiration, which reigns throughout it, and diſtinguiſhes it from Poems of every other Kind. Thus Comedy inſtructs and pleaſes moſt powerfully by the Ridicule, becauſe that is the Quality which diſtinguiſhes it from every other Poem. The Subject therefore of every Comedy ought to be ridiculous by its Conſtitution; the Ridicule ought to be of the very Nature and Eſſence of it. Where there is none of that, there can be no Comedy. It ought to [22] reign both in the Incidents and in the Characters, and eſpecially in the principal Characters, which ought to be ridiculous in themſelves, or ſo contriv'd, as to ſhew and expoſe the Ridicule of others. In all the Maſterpieces of Ben Johnſon, the principal Character has the Ridicule in himſelf, as Moroſe in The Silent Woman, Volpone in The Fox, and Subtle and Face in The Alchimiſt: And the very Ground and Foundation of all theſe Comedies is ridiculous. 'Tis the very ſame Thing in the Maſter-pieces of Moliere. The Mis- Antrope, the Impoſtor, the Avare, and the Femmes Secuanter. Nay, the Reader will find, that in moſt of his other Pieces, the principal Characters are ridiculous; as, L'Etoardy, Les precieuſes Ridicules, Le Cocu Imaginaire, Le Faſcheux, and Monſieur de pouſceaugnac, Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, L'Ecole de Maris, L'Ecole des Femmes, L'Amour Medicis, Le Medicin Malgré luy, La Mariage Forcé, George Dandin, Les Fourberies de Scapin, Le Malade Imaginaire. The Reader will not only find, upon Reflection, that in all theſe Pieces the principal Characters are ridiculous, but that in moſt of them there is the Ridicule of Comedy in the very Titles.

[23] 'Tis by the Ridicule that there is in the Character of Sir Fopling, which is one of the principal ones of this Comedy, and from which it takes its Name, that he is ſo very well qualify'd to pleaſe and to inſtruct. What true Enggliſhman is there, but muſt be pleas'd to ſee this ridiculous Knight made the Jeſt and the Scorn of all the other Characters, for ſhewing, by his fooliſh aping foreign Cuſtoms and Manners, that he prefers another Country to his own? And of what important Inſtruction muſt it be to all our Youth who travel, to ſhew them, that if they ſo far forget the Love of their Country, as to declare by their eſpouſing foreign Cuſtoms and Manners, that they prefer France or Italy to Great Britain, at their Return, they muſt juſtly expect to be the Jeſt and the Scorn of their own Countrymen.

Thus, I hope, I have convinc'd the Reader, that this Comical Knight, Sir Fopling, has been juſtly form'd by the Knight his Father, to inſtruct and pleaſe, whatever may be the Opinion to the contrary of the Knight his Brother.

Whenever The Fine Gentleman of the latter comes upon the Stage, I ſhall be [24] glad to ſee that it has all the ſhining Qualities which recommend Sir Fopling, that his Characters are always drawn in Nature, and that he never gives to a young Man the Qualities of a Middle-aged Man, or an old one; that they are the juſt Images of our Contemporaries, and of what we every Day ſee in the World; that inſtead of ſetting us Patterns for our Imitation, which is not the proper Buſineſs of Comedy, he makes thoſe Follies and Vices ridiculous, which we ought to ſhun and deſpiſe; that the Subject of his Comedy is comical by its Conſtitution; and that the Ridicule is particularly in the Grand Incidents, and in the principal Characters. For a true Comick Poet is a Philoſopher, who, like old Democritus, always inſtructs us laughing.

FINIS.
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Citation Suggestion for this Object
TextGrid Repository (2020). TEI. 3910 A defence of Sir Fopling Flutter a comedy written by Sir George Etheridge In which defence is shewn that Sir Fopling was rightly compos d by the knight his father to answer the ends of comedy. University of Oxford Text Archive. . https://hdl.handle.net/21.T11991/0000-001A-5FA8-D