"pretend to help Sempronius to young Juba's drefs? "Does he ferve him in a double capacity, as general " and master of his wardrobe? But why Juba's guards?. For the devil of any guards has Juba appeared with yet. Well! though this is a mighty politick in"vention, yet, methinks, they might have done with"out it: for, fince the advice that Syphax gave to Sempronius was, 1 "To hurry her away by manly force, "in my opinion, the shortest and likeliest way of com ing at the lady was by demolishing, inftead of putting on an impertinent difguife to circumvent two or three flaves. But Sempronius, it feems, is of "another opinion. He extols to the fkies the inven"<tion of old Syphax: "Sempr. Heavens! what a thought was there! "Now I appeal to the reader, if I have not been "as good as my word. Did I not tell him, that I "would lay before him a very wife scene? But now let us lay before the reader that part of "the fcenery of the Fourth Act, which may fhew the abfurdities which the author has run into, through "the indifcreet obfervance of the Unity of Place. I "do not remember that Ariftotle has faid any thing exprefsly concerning the Unity of Place. 'Tis true, implicitly he has faid enough in the rules which he "has laid down for the Chorus. For, by making the "Chorus an effential part of Tragedy, and by bring ing it on the ftage immediately after the opening "of the fcene, and retaining it there till the very ca "tastrophe, he has fo determined and fixed the place "of action, that it was impoffible for an author, on the "the Grecian ftage to break through that unity. I "am of opinion, that if a modern tragic, poet can "preferve the unity of place, without deftroying the probability of the incidents, 'tis always best for him "to do it; becaufe, by the prefervation of that unity, as we have taken notice above, he adds grace, and ́"cleanness, and comeliness, to the representation. But "fince there are no exprefs rutes about it, and we are *** under no compulfion to keep it, fince, we have no Chorus as the Grecian poet had; if it cannot be preferved, without rendering the greater part of the incidents unreafonable and abfurd, and perhaps fome"times monstrous, 'tis certainly better to break it. "Now comes bully Sempronius, comically accou"tred and equipped with his Numidian drefs and his “Numidian guards. Let the reader attend to him "with all his cars, for the words of the wife are M “precious & Temamo, ১৯ "Sempr. The deqr is lodg'd, 'I've track'd: her to her 66 covert. "Now I would fain know why this deer is faid to "be lodged, fince we have not heard one word, fince "the play began, of her being at all out of harbour: "and if we confider the difcourfe with which he and "Lucia begin the Act, we have reafon to believe that F they had hardly been talking of fuch matters in the *ftreet. However, to pleafure Sempronius,, let us fuppofe, for once, that the deer is lodged The deer is lodg'd, I've track'd her to her covert. "If he had feen her in the open field, what occasion "had he to track her, when he had fo many Numidian dogs at his heels, which, with one halloo, he might " have fet upon her haunches? If he did not fee her 66 ༞་་་ in the open field, how could he poffibly track her? "If he had feen her in the street, why did he not fet upon her in the street, fince through the street fhe muft be carried at laft? Now here, inftead of haying his thoughts upon his business, and upon the prefent danger; inftead of meditating and contriv"ing how he fhall pass with his mistress through the fouthern gate, where her brother Marcus is upon "the guard, and where the would certainly prove an "impediment to him, which is the Roman word for the baggage; instead of doing this, Sempronius is "entertaining himself with whimsies; Sempr. How will the young Numidian rave to fee Beyond th' enjoyment of so bright a prize, "Twould be to torture that young gay Barbarian. "But hark! what noife? Death to my hopes, 'tis he, ""Tis Juba's felf! There is but one way left! 66 He must be murder'd, and a paffage cut Through thofe his guards. Pray, what are thofe his guards? I thought at prefent, that Juba's guards had been Sempronius's tools, "and had been dangling after his heels. "But now let us fum up all thefe abfurdities toge"ther, Sempronius goes at noon-day, in Juba's clothes, "and with Juba's guards, to. Cato's palace, in order "to pass for Juba, in a place where they were both fo ( very well known, he meets Juba there, and refolves to murder him with his own guards. Upon the guards appearing a little bafhful, he threatens them; "Hah! Daftards, do you tremble!. "Or act like men, or by yon azure licay'n ! "But the guards ftill remaining reftive, Sempronius " himself "himself attacks Juba, while each of the guards is "representing Mr. Spectator's fign of the Gaper, "awed, it seems, and terrified by Sempronius's threats. Juba kills Sempronius, and takes his own army pri"foners, and carries them in triumph away to Cato, "Now I would fain know, if any part of Mr. Bayes's "tragedy is fo full of abfurdity as this? "Upon hearing the clash of fwords, Lucia and "Marcia come in. The question is, why no men "come in upon hearing the noife of fwords in the "governor's hall? Where was the governor himself? "Where were his guards? Where were his servants? "Such an attempt as this, fo near the perfon of a go"vernor of a place of war, was enough to alarm the "whole garrison: and yet, for almost half an hour after "Sempronius was killed, we find none of thofe appear, "who were the likelieft in the world to be alarmed; is and the noise of fwords is made to draw only two poor women thither, who were most certain to run away from it. Upon Lucia and Marcia's coming in, "Lucia appears in all the fymptoms of an hysterical "gentlewoman: "Luc. Sure 'twas the clafh of fwords! my troubled heart "Is fo caft down, and funk amidit its forrows, "It throbs with fear, and akes at every found! "And immediately her old whimfy returns upon her "O Marcia, fhould thy brothers, for my fake"I die away with horror at the thought. "She fancies that there can be no cutting-of-throats, "but it must be for her. If this is tragical, I would "fain know what is comical. Well! upon this they fpy the body of Sempronius; and Marcia, deluded H 4 "by "by the habit, it feems, takes him for Juba; for, ❝ fays fhe, દ ઠંડ ચંદ્ર "The face is muffled up within the garment. "Now how a man could fight, and fall with his face "muffled up in his garment, is, I think, a little hard << to conceive! Befides, Juba, before he killed him, "knew him to be Sempronius. It was not by his garment that he knew this; it was by his face then : his face therefore was not muffled. Upon feeing "this man with the muffled face, Marcia falls a-rav“ing; and, owning her paffion for the fuppofed de"funct, begins to make his funeral oration. Upon "which Juba enters liftening, I fuppofe on tip-toe: "for I cannot imagine how any one can enter liften"ing, in any other pofture. I would fain know how it came to pafs, that during all this time he had fent nobody, no not fo much as a candle-fnuffer, to take away the dead body of Sempronius. Well! but let દંડ us regard him liftening. Having left his appre"henfion behind him, he, at first, applies what Marcia * fays to Sempronius. Bus finding at laft, with much "ado, that he himself is the happy man, he quits his "eve-dropping, and difcovers himself just time enough "to prevent his being cuckolded by a dead man, of "whom the moment before he had appeared fo jea"lous; and greedily intercepts the blifs, which was fondly defigned for one who could not be the better "for it. But here I muft afk a queftion: how comes Juba to liften here, who had not liftened before "throughout the play? Or, how comes he to be the "only perfon of this tragedy who liftens, when love "and treafon were fo often talked in fo publick a place as a hall? I am afraid the author was driven upon દ ;*་ all |