2-N

PHILASTER.

A

TRAGEDY.

AS ALTERED FROM

BEAUMONT AND FLETCHER.

ADAPTED FOR

THEATRICAL REPRESENTATION,

AS PERFORMED AT THE

THEATRES-ROYAL,

DRURY-LANE, AND COVENT-GARDEN.

REGULATED FROM THE PROMPT-BOOKS,

By Permission of the Managers.

"The Lines distinguished by inverted Commas, are omitted in the Representation."

LONDON:

Printed for the Proprietors, under the Direction of JOHN BELL, British Library, STRAND, Bookseller to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales.

M DCC XCI.

On comparing this play with the original, the reasons assigned by the Editor in his Advertisement, for the alterations he had presumed to make, were so obvious, it was judged to be more acceptable to the reader in its present form, than as originally written.

ADVERTISEMENT.

The

THE present age, though it has done honour to its own discernment by the applauses paid to Shakspere, kas, at the same time, too grossly neglected the other great masters in the same school of writing. pieces of Beaumont and Fletcher in particular, (to say nothing of Jonson, Massinger, Shirley, &c.) abound with beauties, so much of the same colour with those of Shakspere, that it is almost unaccountable, that the very age which admires one, even to idolatry, should pay so little attention to the others; and, while almost every poet or critic, at all eminent in the literary world, have been ambitious of distinguishing themselves, as editors of Shakspere, no more than two solitary editions of Beaumont and Fletcher, and one of those of a very late date, have been published in the present century.

The truth is, that nature indeed is in all ages the same; but modes and customs, manners and languages, are subject to perpetual variation. Time in

sensibly renders writings obsolete and uncouth, and the gradual introduction of new words and idioms brings the older forms into disrepute and disuse. But the intrinsic merit of any work, though it may be obscured, must for ever remain; as antique coins, or old plate, though not current or fashionable, still have their value, according to their weight.

The injuries of modern innovation in the state of letters may be in a great measure repaired, by rendering the writings of our old authors familiar to the public, and bringing them often before them. How many plays are there of Shakspere, now in constant acting, of which the directors of the theatres would scarce hazard the representation, if the long-continued, and, as it were, traditional approbation of the public had not given a sanction to their irregularities, and familiarized the diction! The language even of our Liturgy and Bible, if we may venture to mention them on this occasion, would perhaps soon become ob❤ solete and unintelligible to the generality, if they were not constantly read in our churches. The stile of our authors, especially in this play, is often remarkably plain and simple, and only raised or enriched by the sentiments. It is the opinion of Dryden, that even

Shakspere's language is a little obsolete in compa"rison of theirs; and that the English language in "them arrived to its highest perfection; what words "have since been taken in, being rather superfluous, " than necessary.”

Philaster has always been esteemed one of the best productions of Beaumont and Fletcher; and, we are told by Dryden, was the first play that brought them into great reputation. The beauties of it are indeed so striking and so various, that our authors might in this play almost be said to rival Shakspere, were it not for the many evident marks of imitation of his manner. The late editors of Beaumont and Fletcher conceive, that the poets meant to delineate, in the character of Philaster, a Hamlet racked with the jealousy of Othello; and there are several passages, in this play, where the authors have manifestly taken fire from similar circumstances and expressions in Shakspere, particularly some, that will readily occur to the reader, as he goes along, from Othello, Hamlet, Cymbeline, and Lear.

To remove the objections to the performance of this excellent play on the modern stage, has been the chief labour, and solc-ambition, of the present editor. It may be remembered, that The Spanish Curate, The Little French Lawyer, and Scornful Lady, of our authors, as well as The Silent Woman of Jonson, all favourite entertainments of our predecessors, have, within these few years, encountered the severity of the pit, and received sentence of condemnation. That the uncommon merit of such a play as Philaster might be universally acknowledged and received, it appear ed necessary to clear it of ribaldry and obscenity, and