MA.N ly scheme, though mock'd by knave, coquet, and fool, o thinking minds will prove this golden rule: n all pursuits-but chiefly in a wife, Not wealth, but morals, make the happy life." MAN "a character is generally height"ened by a peculiarity of dialect. "An Irishman would lose half "his humour in committing his "blunders without his brogue, as "a Scotchman would his cunning "without his bur. The drama The voice of party," says Mr. oke, "began to bestir itself on The first night's performance. Some young Scotchmen thought talibel on their countrymen, and resisted it; but the majority of he audience carried it through with applause, and the next night it had no opponents: the more temperate of that nation argued very justly, that the character of Sir Pertinax should not hurt the feelings of any good" and diction, it is critically Scotchinan; on the contrary, hat, if it was a true picture, they should laugh at it, and thus enCourage a representation which only exposed the artful and designing of their countrymen.' Itist, then, is at liberty to seek "his characters (subject to the "limitations we have laid down) "wherever he can find them; "and if he can procure stronger "colours in the provinces, he has "a right to transfer them to his "canvass for general representa"tion. Some critics, however, start one objection against this comedy (and it is the only one we have ever heard objected against it); which is, that of the author making his hero a Scotchman, or of any particular country, so as to impute national reflections; but this, in our opinion, is being too fastidious; the principal character must belong to some country; and whatever country that was, it may be equally said to receive a national insult. But the universal rule allowed to all satirists and dramatic writers, only restrains them from not drawing their characters from too limited a source, so as to avoid personality and obscurity; and to say, that any one nation does not produce ridiculous or vicious characters in abundance, is a degree of patriotism founded more in folly than in fact. Beside all this, VOL. III, "Beside the merit of this piece "in plot, character, sentiment, "constructed in respect to the "three unities of time, place, and "action. In respect to time, the "whole continuance of the play "does not take up above eightand-forty hours; in respect to 66 place, the scene is never re"moved from the dwelling-house "of Sir Pertinax; and as to the ΜΑΝ in Tennyhinch, in the county of Wicklow. This inn was afterwards purchased by Mr. Henry Grattan, and converted into a dwelling-house. Another anec-, dote, respecting this play, we shall give on good authority. The MS. of The True-born Scotchman had lain in the Lord Chamberlain's office near ten years, and Macklin despaired of getting it returned to him; when one day, dining with Sir Fletcher Norton and Mr. Dunning, he begged their opinions, what a man should do to recover property, when he knew by whose hands it was withheld from him. They advised an action of trover. "Well," said Macklin, "the case is my own: will you "two undertake my cause?" They agreed, and Macklin explained his particular wrong. The lawyers smiled at the whim of the poet; by personal application they got the MS. restored, but with a refusal to license it under its then title, as a national reflection. Macklin, in consequence, named it The Man of the World. 108. THE MAN'S BEWITCHED; or, The Devil to do about Her. Com. by Mrs. Centlivre. Acted at the Haymarket. 4to. no date. [1710.] This is by no means one of the best, nor is it the worst, of this lady's dramatic pieces. The language is extremely indifferent, and has a very great deficiency both of wit and sentiment; but the plot is agreeably intricate and busy, and the thought of Faithful's releasing his mistress Laura from her old guardian Sir David Watchum, by pretending to be bewitched, as well as the incident of the imagined ghost in the last act, although they are somewhat too farcical and out of probability, "yet are, as far as I know to the MAN "contrary (says Mr. Baker), original, and have no disagreeable "effect to those who go to a co"medy principally with a view of being made to laugh, without "entering into too rigid a scrutiny "of the adherence to dramatic "rules."-As to the originality of the piece, Mr. Baker was mistaken. It is little more than a translation of Le Deuil, a French comedy, published under the name of Hauteroche, but generally believed to have been written by Thomas Corneille, in 1672. 109. THE MAN'S THE MASTER. Com. by Sir W. Davenant. 4to. 1669. This was the last play its author wrote, being finished not long before his death, which happened in 1668. The plot of it is borrowed from two plays of M. Scarron, viz. Jodelet, ou Le Maitre Valet, and L'Heritier Ridicule. The scene is laid in Madrid, and throughout the whole in one house. It is esteemed a good comedy, and was often acted with approbation. 110. THE MAN'S THE MASTER. Comedy, altered from Davenant. Acted at Covent Garden (Jodelet by Mr. Woodward, the alterer of the piece). 8vo. 1775. Miss Leeson, who afterwards married Mr. Lewis, of Covent Garden Theatre, made her first appearance in the character of Isabella in this play. 111. THE MAN TOO HARD FOR THE MASTER. Com. Anonymous. Of this play we know not the author's name, nor any thing more than that it was published since the Restoration; nor do we find it mentioned any where but in the appendix to The British Theatre. 112. THE MAN WITH TWO WIVES; or, Wigs for ever! Dram. Fable, by F. G. Waldron. Mr. Oulton mentions this piece with the date of 1798; in which year MAR it was probably acted in some provincial theatre. Not printed, we believe. 113. THE MANUSCRIPT. Int. by William Lucas. 12mo. 1809. Never acted. It is subjoined to The Travels of Humanius in Search of the Temple of Happiness: an Allegory. 114. MARCELIA; or, The Treacherous Friend. Tragi-Com. by Mrs. Frances Boothby. Acted at the Theatre Royal. 4to. 1670. The scene lies in France, the plot an invention. 115. MARCELLA. Tragedy, by William Hayley. Acted both at Drury Lane and Covent Garden, 1799. Printed in 4to. 1784. Although not now. performed, this play possesses, in a high degree, the two main springs of the tragic drama; i. e. terror and pity. The story of Marcella, though by some considered as too shocking, was recommended to Dr. Young by Mr. Richardson, as a proper subject for tragedy. 116. THE MARCHES DAY. Dr. Ent. of three acts. 8vo. 1771. Printed at Edinburgh. The humour of this piece is both local and temporary. The author informs his readers, that at where the scene of the entertainment is laid, a day is devoted for the burgesses to traverse on horseback the limits of their royalty; this being called the riding of the marches, and hence the marches day. The characters, he adds, were then alive, and the publication intended merely for the subscribers. 117. MARCIANO; or, The Discovery. Edinburgh, 4to. 1663. This piece, we find by the Mercurius Publicus, No. 2, January 15, 1662, was written by Mr. Wil liam Clerke, and is said, in the MAR title-page, to have been acted with great applause, before His Majesty's High Commissioner, and others of the nobility, at the abbey of Holyrud House (at Edinburgh), on St. John's night, by a company of gentlemen, of which the author was one. The scene of this play is laid in Florence. 118. MARCUS BRUTUS. Trag. by John Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham. 4to. 1722. To enrich this very poor play, two of the chorusses were furnished by Mr. Pope; but they had (says the editor of his works) the usual effects of ill-adjusted ornaments, only to make the meanness of the subject the more conspicuous. 119. MARCUS TULLIUS CICERO, that famous Roman Orator, his Tragedy. 4to. 1651. It is uncertain whether this play was ever acted or not, but it is written in imitation of Ben Jonson's Catiline. The scene lies at Rome; and for the story, it may be found in Plutarch's Life of Cicero, &c, Philips and Winstanley ascribe this play to Fulk Greville, Lord Brook; but without authority. 120. MARCUS TULLIUS CICero. Trag. by - Patsall. Who Mr. Patsall was, we know not; but, from a specimen of his tragedy, given in the Oxford Magazine for January 1773, we have not formed a very high notion of his literary talents. The entire play (if it was ever printed entire) we have not seen. 121. MARFORIO. Theatrical Satire; being a Tragi-comical Farce, called The Critic of Taste; or, A Tale of a Tub. Acted at Covent Garden, 1736. N. P. 122. MARGARET OF ANJOU. Historical Interlude, by Edward Jerningham. Acted at Drury Lane, March 11, 1777, for Miss Younge's MAR benefit. From the acknowledged poetical merit of the author, the public were led to expect a more excellent performance than this was found to be on its representation. The plan of it is French, formed after the manner of Rousseau's Pygmalion, and is interspersed with music. It will add but little to the fame of the author, who has printed it in the last editions of his works. 123. MARGERY; or, A worse Plague than the Dragon. Burlesque Opera, by H. Carey, 8vo. 1738. This piece is a sequel or second part of The Dragon of Wantley (which see in its place); and was acted, with great applause, at Covent Garden Theatre; yet, though it has some merit, it is far from being equal to the first part. In the collection of Carey's works, in 4to. 1743, this piece is entitled The Dragoness. 124. MARIA; or, The Maid of the Rock. Com. Op. by Anthony Davidson. This piece was performed by Biggs's company at Lymington. 125. MARIAM, THE FAIR QUEEN OF JEWRY. Trag. by Lady Elizabeth Carew. 4to. 1613. This piece, it is probable, was never acted; yet, considering those times and the lady's sex, it may be allowed to be well penned. It is written in alternate verse, and with a chorus, which chorus is composed of settines, or stanzas of six lines, the four first of which are interwoven, or rhyme alternately, the two last rhyming to each other, and forming a couplet in bass. 126. MARIAMNE. Trag. by Elijah Fenton. Acted at Lincoln's Inn Fields. 8vo. 1723. This play is built on the same story with the last-mentioned one; for which see Josephus, book xiv. and xv. It MAR was acted with great success, and was indeed the means of supporting and reconciling the town to a theatre, which for some time before had been almost totally neglected, in favour of Drury Lane house. Dr. Johnson observes, that to this tragedy Southern, at whose house it was written, is said to have contributed such hints as his theatrical experience supplied. When it was shown to Cibber, it was rejected by him, with the additional insolence of advising Fenton to engage himself in some employment of honest labour, by which he might obtain that support which he could never hope for from his poetry. The play was acted at the other theatre; and the brutal petulance of Cibber was confuted, though perhaps not shamed, by general applause. Fenton's profits are said to have amounted to near a thousand pounds. This play was acted seventeen nights the first season, and the author appears to have had four benefits. 127. MARIAMNE. Trag. translated from Voltaire, and printed in Dr. Francklin's edition of that author. 128. MARIAN. Mus. Ent. by Frances Brooke. Acted, with success, at Covent Garden. 8vo. 1788. 129. MARINA. A Play, of three acts, by. Mr. Lillo. Acted at Covent Garden. 8vo. 1738. Taken from Pericles, Prince of Tyre. 130. THE MARINERS. Mus. Ent. by Samuel Birch. Acted at the Opera House,by the Drury Lane company, 1793. N. P. This was Mr. Birch's first dramatic attempt, but had considerable merit; and, though originally produced only to serve Mr. Sedgwick at his benefit, it was afterwards adopted by the house, and well received. MAR 131. MARPLOT; or, The Second Part of the Busy Body. Com. by Mrs. Centlivre. Acted at Drury Lane. 4to. 1711. This play, like most second parts, falls greatly short of the merit of the first. At its original appearance, however, it met with considerable approbation, and the Duke of Portland, to whom it was dedicated, complimented the authoress with a present of forty guineas. The scene lies on the Terriera de Passa in Lisbon. 132. Marplot IN LISBON. C. 12mo. 1760. This is nothing more than Mrs. Centlivre's comedy of Marplot, or the second part of The Busy Body; which, with this title, and some few alterations in the body of the piece by Mr. Henry Woodward, joint manager, with Mr. Barry, of the Theatre Royal, in Crow Street, Dublin, was represented at that theatre. It has been also still further pruned, and, being reduced into three acts, performed two or three nights, by way of a farce, at the Theatre Royal in Covent Garden. 133. THE MARRIAGE ACT. F. [by Charles Dibdin]. Performed at Covent Garden. 8vo. 1781. This was extracted from The Islanders, of which it formed the underplot. It was acted but three nights. 134. MARRIAGE A-LA-MODE. Com. by J. Dryden. Acted at the Theatre Royal. 4to. 1673; 4to. 1691; 4to. 1699. Though this piece is called a comedy in the title-page, yet it might, without any great impropriety, be considered as a tragi-comedy; as it consists of two different actions, the one serious and the other comic. The designs of both, however, appear to be borrowed. For example, the serious part is apparently founded on the story of Sesostris MAR ́ and Timareta, in The Grand Cyrus, part ix. book 3; the characters of Palamede and Rhodophil, from the history of Timantes and Parthenia, in the same romance, part vì.: book 1; the character of Doralicé, from Nogaret, in The Annals of Love; and the hint of Melantha's making love to herself in Rhodophil's name, from Les Contes d'Ouville, part i. p. 3. 135. MARRIAGE A-LA-MODE. Farce. 1760. This piece was never printed, but was acted in the winter of the above-mentioned year, for Mr. Yates's benefit, at Drury Lane. It was, however, nothing more than Capt. Bodens's, Modish Couple cut down to a farce. 136. Marriage AT LAST; or, The Fortunate Prince. A new Opera. Svo. 1733. Of this piece we know no more than that it was advertised as published in Novem ber of that year. To quicken the sale, we suppose, it was reprinted in the following year, with a transposition of the two titles. See THE FORTUNATE PRINCE. 137. THE MARriage Broker; or, The Pander. Com. by M. W. 12mo. 1662. The plot of this piece (which is one among the Ternary of Plays) is taken from the English chronicles in the reign of Sebert, King of the West Saxons. The scene lies in London. 138. THE MARRIAGE CONTRACT. Com. of two acts, by Henry Brooke. 8vo. 1778. Not acted. Printed in the author's works, in four volumes. 139. THE MARRIAGE-HATER MATCH'D. Com. by T. Durfey. Acted at the Theatre Royal. 4to. 1692. The high opinion the author himself had of this piece may be gathered from an epistle to him, prefixed to it by Mr. Charles Gildon, in which the author, through |