te 28: _Familiar Letters of Love, Gallantry, etc._ There are
several editions. I have used that of 1718, 2 vols.]

[Footnote 29: In his MS. Commonplace Book (now in the possession of
G. Thorn Drury, Esq., K.C.), Whitelocke Bulstrode writes:--

'27 May 92.

'M{r} Hoyle of y'e Temple, coming this morning about two of y{e}
Clock fro y{e} Young Divel Tavern, was killed w{th} a sword; He died
Instantly: It proceeded fro a quarrell about Drincking a Health;
Killed by M{r} Pitt of Graies Inne y{t} Dranck w{th} them. M{r} Hoyle
was an Atheist, a Sodomite professed, a corrupter of youth, &
a Blasphemer of Christ.'

The Young (or Little) Devil Tavern was in Fleet Street, on the south
side, near Temple Bar, adjoining Dick's Coffee House. It was called
Young (or Little) to distinguish it from the more famous house, The
Devil (or Old Devil) Tavern, which stood between Temple Bar and the
Inner Temple Gate.]

In September, 1676, _The Town Fop_ was acted with applause, and the
following year Mrs. Behn was very busy producing two comedies (of which
one is a masterpiece) and one tragedy. _The Debauchee_, which was
brought out this year at the Duke's House, a somewhat superficial though
clever alteration of Brome's _Mad Couple Well Match'd_, is no doubt from
her pen. It was published anonymously, 4to, 1677, and all the best
critics with one accord ascribe it to Mrs. Behn. In the autumn of 1677
there was produced by the Duke's Company a version of Middleton's _No
Wit, No Help Like a Woman's_, entitled, _The Counterfeit Bridegroom; or,
The Defeated Widow_ (4to, 1677); it is smart and spirited. Genest was of
opinion it is Aphra's work. He is probably right, for we know that she
repeatedly made use of Middleton, and internal evidence fully bears out
our stage historian.[30] Both _Abdelazer_[31] and _The Town Fop_
evidence in a marked degree her intimate knowledge of the earlier
dramatists, whilst _The Rover (I)_ is founded on Killigrew. None the
less, here she has handled her materials with rare skill, and
successfully put new wine into old bottles. The critics, however, began
to attack her on this point, and when _The Rover (I)_ appeared in print
(4to 1677), she found it necessary to add a postscript, defending her
play from the charge of merely being '_Thomaso_ alter'd'. With reference
to _Abdelazer_ there is extant a very interesting letter[32] from Mrs.
Behn to her friend, Mrs. Emily Price. She writes as