ave made these somewhat longer and
clearer, hoping they will prove the principal means of recommending
this Book to the World, even tho' the Translation had been brought
to the utmost Perfection it was capable of: a Thing which I dare
never pretend to. I made Choice of the same three which Madam
+Dacier+ had done before me; those being, in many respects, fitter
for my purpose. But before I come to Particulars in those Things,
I shall give some Character and Account of my Author.

+Plautus+, if consider'd as a +Dramatick Poet+, may justly enough be
stil'd the Prince of the +Latin Comedians+, for tho' most of 'em are
lost, and consequently little capable of being judg'd of, yet, from
all Circumstances, we have good reason to presume that they never
came up to +Plautus+; so that there is no one to stand in
competition with him but +Terence+: But if +Comedy+ consists more in
+Action+ than +Discourse+, then +Terence+ himself must be oblig'd to
give place to our Author; and as +Terence+ ought to be esteem'd as a
Man who spoke admirably, +Plautus+ is to be admir'd as a
+Comick-Poet+. The principal Differences of these two Poets have
been touch'd upon in the Preface to the English +Terence+; and from
thence it will appear, that +Plautus+ had the vaster +Genius+, and
+Terence+ the more exquisite Judgment; and, considering what Persons
they copied, as the later was call'd the +Half Menander+, so the
former may be stil'd the +Half Aristophanes+.

+Terence+'s Stile was generally more refin'd and pure, and withal
more elaborate than this Poet's; yet undoubtedly, +Plautus+ was a
most absolute Master of his Tongue, and in many Places there appear
such a Sharpness and Liveliness of Expression, nay and such a
Neatness and Politeness too, that is scarce to be found in
+Terence+; and this, perhaps, may have occasion'd +Varro+ to say,
+That if the Muses were to speak Latin, they wou'd certainly make
use of his very Stile+; and +Tanaquill Faber+ to call +Plautus+,
+The very Fountain of pure Latin+. As to +Wit+ and +Raillery+,
+Terence+ might by no means be compared to him; then he is not
always so happy, but often degenerates to a Meanness that +Terence+
wou'd never have been guilty of; and tho' his +Jests+ and
+Repartees+ were sometimes admirable, and often far above
+Terence+'s, yet they were many times as much below him, and by
their Trifling and Quibbling, appear to have been calculated for the
Mob. This, probably, made +Rapin+ obser