ter; for, though Fletcher
has taken his picture truly, and shown him as he was, an effeminate,
voluptuous man, yet he has forgotten that he was an emperor, and has
given him none of those royal marks, which ought to appear in a lawful
successor of the throne. If it be enquired, what Fletcher should have
done on this occasion; ought he not to have represented Valentinian as
he was;--Bossu shall answer this question for me, by an instance of
the like nature: Mauritius, the Greek emperor, was a prince far
surpassing Valentinian, for he was endued with many kingly virtues; he
was religious, merciful, and valiant, but withal he was noted of
extreme covetousness, a vice which is contrary to the character of a
hero, or a prince: therefore, says the critic, that emperor was no fit
person to be represented in a tragedy, unless his good qualities were
only to be shown, and his covetousness (which sullied them all) were
slurred over by the artifice of the poet. To return once more to
Shakespeare; no man ever drew so many characters, or generally
distinguished them better from one another, excepting only Jonson. I
will instance but in one, to show the copiousness of his invention; it
is that of Caliban, or the monster, in "The Tempest." He seems there
to have created a person which was not in nature, a boldness which, at
first sight, would appear intolerable; for he makes him a species of
himself, begotten by an incubus on a witch; but this, as I have
elsewhere proved, is not wholly beyond the bounds of credibility, at
least the vulgar still believe it. We have the separated notions of a
spirit, and of a witch; (and spirits, according to Plato, are vested
with a subtle body; according to some of his followers, have different
sexes;) therefore, as from the distinct apprehensions of a horse, and
of a man, imagination has formed a centaur; so, from those of an
incubus and a sorceress, Shakespeare has produced his monster. Whether
or no his generation can be defended, I leave to philosophy; but of
this I am certain, that the poet has most judiciously furnished him
with a person, a language, and a character, which will suit him, both
by father's and mother's side: he has all the discontents, and malice
of a witch, and of a devil, besides a convenient proportion of the
deadly sins; gluttony, sloth, and lust, are manifest; the dejectedness
of a slave is likewise given him, and the ignorance of one bred up in
a desert island. His person is