BAYES. Sir, it is not within my small capacity to do favours, but receive 'em ; especially from a person that does wear the honourable Title you are pleas'd to impofe, Sir, upon this.--Sweet Sir, your servant. SMI. Your humble servant, Sir.

JOHNS. But wilt thou do me a favour, now?

BAYES. I, Sir: What is't?

JOHNS. Why, to tell him the meaning of thy last Play.

BAYES. HOW, Sir, the meaning? do you mean the I'lot.

JOHNS. I, I; any thing.

BAYES. Faith, Sir, the Intrigo's now quite out of my head; but I have a new one, in my pocket, that I may fay is a Virgin; 't has never yet been blown upon. I muft tell you one thing, 'Tis all new Wit; and, though I say it, a better than my last: and you know well enough how that took. In fine, it shall read, and write, and act, and plot, and fhew, ay, and pit, box and gallery, I gad, with any Play in Europe. This morning is its laft Rehearsal, in their habits, and all that, as it is to be acted; and if you, and your friend will do it but the honour to fee it in its Virgin attire; though, perhaps, it may blufh, I fhall not be afham'd to difcover its nakedness unto you. -I think it is o' this fide. [Puts his hand in his pocket.

JOHNS. Sir, I confefs I am not able to answer you in this new way; but if you please to lead, I shall be glad to follow you; and I hope my friend will do so too.

SMI. I, Sir, I have no business so confiderable, as should keep me from your company.

BAYES. Yes, here it is. No, cry you mercy: this is my book of Drama Common places; the Mother of many other Plays.

JOHNS. Drama Common places! pray what's that? BAYES. Why, Sir, fome certain helps, that we men of Art have found it convenient to make use of.

SMI. How, Sir, help for Wit?

BAYES. I, Sir, that's my pofition. And I do here

I.

'He who writ this, not without pains and thought From French and English Theaters has brought Th' exactest Rules by which a Play is wrought.

II.

The Unities of Action, Place, and Time;
The Scenes unbroken; and a mingled chime
Of Johnfons humour, with Corneilles rhyme.

J. DRYDEN, Prologue to Secret Love, or the Maiden Queen. Ed. 1668.

'In Dryden's lifetime, GERARD LANGBAINE, in his Account of Eng. Dram. Poets, Ed. 1691, p. 169, noticing Dryden's Secret Love or The Maiden Queen, says:-I cannot pafs by his making use of Bayes's Art of Tranfverfing, as any One may observe by comparing the Fourth Stanza of his First Prologue, with the laft Paragraph of the Preface of Ibrahim.

The title of this work, is as follows: "Ibrahim. Or the Illuf trious Baja. An excellent new Romance. The whole Work, in foure Parts. Written in French by Monfieur de Scudery. And now Englished by HENRY COGAN, gent. London 1652." The paragraph referred to, runs thus:

Behold, Reader, that which I had to fay to you, but what defence foever I have imployed, I know that it is of works of this nature, as of a place of war, where notwithstanding all the care the Engineer hath brought to fortifie it, there is alwayes fome weak part found, which he hath not dream'd of, and whereby it is affaulted; but this shall not furprize me; for as I have not forgot that I am a man, no more have I forgot that I am subject to erre

This is thus verfified in the fourth ftanza of the fame Prologue.

IV.

Plays are like Towns, which how e're fortify'
By Engineers, have still some weaker fide

By the o're-feen Defendant unespy'd.

averr, That no man yet the Sun e'er fhone upon, has parts fufficient to furnish out a Stage, except it be with the help of these my Rules.1

JOHNS. What are thofe Rules, I pray?

BAYES. Why, Sir, my first Rule is the Rule of Tranfversion,2 or Regula Duplex: changing Verse into Profe, or Profe into verfe, alternative as you please.

SMI. How's that, Sir, by a Rule, I pray?

BAYES. Why, thus, Sir; nothing more eafie when understood: I take a Book in my hand, either at home, or elsewhere, for that's all one, if there be any Wit in't, as there is no Book but has fome, I Tranfverse it; that is, if it be Profe, put it into Verfe, (but that takes up fome time) if it be Verse, put it into Profe.

JOHNS. Methinks, Mr. Bayes, that putting Verse into Profe fhould be call'd Tranfprofing.

BAYES. By my troth, a very good Notion, and hereafter it shall be so.

SMI. Well, Sir, and what d'ye do with it then?

BAYES. Make it my own. 'Tis fo alter'd that no man can know it. My next Rule is the Rule of Record, and by way of Table-Book. Pray obferve. JOHNS. Well, we hear you: go on.

BAYES. As thus. I come into a Coffee-house, or fome other place where wittie men refort, I make as if I minded nothing; (do you mark ?) but as soon as any one speaks, pop I flap it down, and make that, too, my own.

JOHNS. But, Mr. Bayes, are not you fometimes in danger of their making you restore, by force, what you have gotten thus by Art?

BAYES. No, Sir; the world's unmindful: they never take notice of these things.

SмI. But pray, Mr. Bayes, among all your other Rules, have you no one Rule for Invention?

BAYES. Yes, Sir; that's my third Rule that I have here in my pocket.

SMI. What Rule can that be?

Continued from page 26.

leave of him for that time, with an intent never to trouble him more, and without acquainting him with my business.

When next I saw the gentleman my friend, who recommended him to me, I told him how I was entertained by his cynical acquaintance. He laughed, but bid me not be discouraged; saying, that fit of railing would soon have been over, and when his just indignation had spent itself, you might have imparted your business to him, and received a more satisfactory account. However, said he, go to him again from me, take him to the Tavern, and mollify his asperity with a bottle; thwart not his discourse, but give him his own way; and I'll warrant you, he'll open his budget, and satisfy your expectation.

I followed my friend's directions, and found the event answerable to his prediction.

Not long after, I met him in Fleet Street, and carried him to the Old Devil; and ere we had emptied one bottle, I found him of a quite different humour from what I left him in the time before: he appeared in his discourse to be a very honest true Englishman, a hearty lover of his country, and the government thereof, both in church and state, a loyal subject to his sovereign, an enemy to popery and tyranny, idolatry and superstition, antimonarchical government and confusion, irreligion and enthusiasm. In short, I found him a person of a competent knowledge in the affair I went to him about, and one who understood the English Stage very well; and tho' somewhat positive, as I said before, yet I observed he always took care to have truth on his side, before he affirmed or denied anything with more than ordinary heat; and when he was so guarded, he was immoveable.

When I had discovered thus much, and called for the second bottle, I told him from whom I came, and the cause of my addressing to him. He desired my patience till he stept to his lodgings, which were near the tavern; and after a short space he returned, and brought with him the papers, which contain the following notes.

When he had read them to me, I liked them so well, that I desired the printing of them, provided they were genuine. He assured me they were,

and told me farther:

That while this farce was composing and altering, he had frequent occasions of being with the author, of perusing his papers, and hearing him discourse of the several plays he exposed, and their authors; insomuch that few persons had the like opportunities of knowing his true meaning, as he himself had.

If any other persons had known the author's mind so exactly, in all the several particulars, 'tis more than probable they would have been made publick before now: but nothing of this nature having appeared these TWO AND THIRTY YEARS; (for so long has this farce flourished in print) we may reasonably and safely conclude, that there is no other such like copy in being; and that these remarks are genuine, and taken from the great Person's own mouth and papers.

I was very well satisfied with this account, and more desirous to print it than ever; only I told him, I thought it would be very advantageous to the sale of these Annotations, to have a Preface to them, under the Name of him, who was so well acquainted with the Author: but could not, by all the arguments I was master of, obtain his Consent, tho' we debated the point a pretty while.

He alledg'd for his excuse, that such an undertaking would be very improper for him, because he should be forced to name several persons, and some of great families, to whom he had been obliged; and he was very unwilling to offend any person of quality, or run the hazard of making such who are, or may be his friends, become his enemies; tho' he should only act the part of an historian, barely reciting the words he heard from our Author.

However, said he, if you think a preface of such absolute necessity, you may easily recollect matter enough from the discourse which hath passed be tween us, on this subject, to enable yourself, or any other for you, to write one especially if you consider there are but two topicks to be insisted on. Continued at page 36.

BAYES. Why, Sir, when I have any thing to invent, I never trouble my head about it, as other men do; but presently turn o'er this Book, and there I have, at one view, all that Perfeus, Montaigne, Seneca's Tragedies, Horace, Juvenal, Claudian, Pliny, Plutarch's lives, and the reft, have ever thought, upon this fubject: and fo, in a trice, by leaving out a few words, or putting in others of my own, the business is done.

JOHNS. Indeed, Mr. Bayes, this is as fure, and compendious a way of Wit as ever I heard of.

BAYES. I, Sirs, when you come to write your felves, o' my word you'l find it fo. But, Gentlemen, if you make the least scruple of the efficacie of these my Rules, do but come to the Play-house, and you shali judge of 'em by the effects.

SMI. We'l follow you, Sir.

Enter three Players upon the Stage.

1 Play. Have you your part perfect ?

[Exeunt.

2 Flay. Yes, I have it without book; but I do not understand how it is to be spoken.

3 Play. And mine is such a one, as I can't ghefs for my life what humour I'm to be in: whether angry, melancholy, merry, or in love. I don't know what to make on't.

I [Play.] Phoo! the Author will be here presently, and he'l tell us all. You must know, this is the new way of writing; and these hard things please forty times better than the old plain way. For, look you, Sir, the grand defign upon the Stage is to keep the Auditors in fufpence; for to ghefs presently at the plot, and the fence, tires 'em before the end of the first Act: now, here, every line furprises you, and brings in new matter. And, then, for Scenes, Cloaths and Dancing, we put 'em quite down, all that ever went before us and thefe are the things, you know, that are effential to a Play.

2 Play. Well, I am not of thy mind; but, so it gets us money, 'tis no great matter.

C