clearly all from one mould." I, like Mr. Fleay, had
been struck by the resemblance to Chapman's style in parts of
_Sir Gyles Goosecappe_; but it seems to me that the likeness is
stronger in the serious than in the comic scenes. If Chapman
was the author, it is curious that his name did not appear on
the title-page of the second edition. The reference to the
Marechal de Biron's visit, iii. 1, proves conclusively that the
play cannot have been written earlier than the autumn of 1601.

INTRODUCTION TO _DOCTOR DODYPOLL_.

After reading the passages from "Dr. Dodypoll" in Lamb's "Extracts from
the Garrick Plays," many students must have felt a desire to have the
play in its entirety. I fear that in gratifying their desire I shall
cause them some disappointment; and that, when they have read the play
through, they will not care to remember much beyond what they knew
already. "Dr. Dodypoll" affords a curious illustration of the astounding
inequality in the work of the old dramatists. The opening scene, between
Lucilia and Lord Lassenbergh, shows rich imagination and a worthy gift
of expression. The writer, whoever he may have been, scatters his gold
with a lavish hand. In the fine panegyric[47] on painting, there is a
freedom of fancy that lifts us into the higher regions of poetry; and
dull indeed must be the reader who can resist the contagion of
Lassenbergh's enthusiasm. But this strain of charming poetry is brought
too quickly to a close, and then begins the comic business. Haunce, the
serving-man, is just tolerable, but the French doctor, with his broken
English, is a desperate bore. Soon the stage is crowded with figures,
and we have to set our wits on work to follow the intricacies of the
plot. Flores, the jeweller, has two daughters, Cornelia and Lucilia. The
elder of the two, Cornelia, an ill-favoured virgin, whose affections are
fixed on the young Lord Alberdure, has two contending suitors in the
doctor and the merchant. Alberdure is in love with Hyanth, but he has a
rival in the person of his own father, the Duke of Saxony, who had been
previously contracted to the Lady Catherine. Meanwhile Lord Lassenbergh,
who is living disguised as a painter under Flores' roof, has gained the
affections of Lucilia. In the conduct of the complicated plot no great
dexterity is shown. There is a want of fusion and coherence. The reader
jumbles the characters together, and would fain see at least one couple
cleared off