that we recognize in him our own or others'
qualities; or begin with the qualities shared by classes of people,
embody these in a person who stands for the greatest common measure of
the class, and finally--and only then--let him take on his distinctive
traits: these are methods which are not confined to the drama, and
at all stages of our literature have lived in helpful rivalry. Long
before France had her La Bruyere, England had her Hall, Overbury, and
Earle.[15] The Theophrastan character was at its best in this country
at the beginning of the seventeenth century when the historical
character was still in its early stages; and it was declining when
the historical character had attained its full excellence. They cannot
always be clearly distinguished, and they are sometimes purposely
blended, as in Butler's character of 'A Duke of Bucks,' where
the satire on a man of pronounced individuality is heightened by
describing his eccentricities as if they belonged to a recognized
class.

The great lesson that the Theophrastan type of character could teach
was the value of balance and unity. A haphazard statement of
features and habits and peculiarities might suffice for a sketch,
but perspective and harmony were necessary to a finished portrait.
It taught that the surest method in depicting character was first
to conceive the character as a whole, and then to introduce detail
incidentally and in proper subordination. But the same lesson could
have been learned elsewhere. It might have been learned from the
English drama.

[Footnote 1: North's Plutarch went into five editions between 1579
and 1631; Thucydides was translated by Hobbes in 1629, and Polybius
by Edward Grimeston in 1633; Xenophon's _Anabasis_ was translated
by John Bingham in 1623, and the _Cyropaedia_ by Philemon Holland in
1632; Arthur Golding's version of Caesar's _Gallic War_ was several
times reprinted between 1565 and 1609; Philemon Holland, the
translator-general of the age, as Fuller called him, brought out
his Livy in 1600, and his Suetonius in 1606; Sallust was translated
by Thomas Heywood in 1608, and by William Crosse in 1629; Velleius
Paterculus was 'rendred English by Sir Robert Le Grys' in 1632; and by
1640 there had been six editions of Sir Henry Savile's _Histories_ and
_Agricola_ of Tacitus, first published in 1591, and five editions of
Richard Grenewey's _Annals_ and _Germany_, first published in 1598.
See H.R. Palmer's _English Editions an