Brutus ravish you, while my Lord's Brutus, Cicero, and Anthony would make you sleep, so much our English Poet excels. This must be said for my Lord's Julius Cæsar, that it is much the most regular of all his Plays, at least in the Unity of Action, which is only Cæsar's Death, tho' the whole last Act is almost redundant, for when Cæsar is once dead, we have no occasion to hear of the Consequence of it, either in the Grief of Calpurnia, or the Disagreements of the Noblemen and Commons; but this may be objected likewise to Shakespear, who gives us a History, not a Play.
But 'tis time now to give over our Reflections on this Poet, and give the Reader a more particular account of their Plots, in their Alphabetical Order.
The Alexandrean Tragedy, For the Plot you may consult Quintus Curtius, and the 13th Book of Justin, Diodorus Sciculus, l. 18. Orosius, l. 3. c. 21. Josephus l. 13. c. 1. Appian de Bellis Syriacis. Saliani Annales Ecclesiastici A. M. 3730. N. 30. &c. Torniel. A. M. 3730. N. 5. Raleigh's Hist. l. 4. c. 3. Heylin's Hist. of Greece, Howel, &c.
Crœsus, Taken from Herodot. Clio. Justin., l. 1. c. 7. Plutarch's Life of Solon. Salian. Torniel. A. M. 3510. Xenophon's Cyropaideia.
Darius, This, as Mr. Langbain assures us, was the First Fruit of his Lordship's Dramatick Muse, Publish'd at Edinburgh, 1603. when he was yet Lord Menstrie: The Language and design very much improv'd in this last Folio Edition. As to the Plot, consult Quintus Curtius, lib. 3, 4, & 5. Justin., l. 11. c. 5. &c. Diodorus, l. 17. Arrian, de Expeditione Alexandri, l. 2. Plutarch's Life of Alexander, Salian, A. M. 2719, &c.
Julius Cæsar, The Story of this Play will be exactly found in the Roman Histories, Plutarch and Suetonius in the Life of Cæsar, Appian de Bellis Civilibus, lib. 2. Florus, l. 4. c. 2. Salian, Torniel, &c.
He has writ besides these Plays, Doomsday. A Parænæsis to Prince Henry, on whose Death he dedicated it to Prince Charles, afterwards King Charles I. A Fragment of an intended Heroick Poem of Jonathan, of which he has left but one Book.
The Author of a Play which Mr. Langbain never saw, and is called,
The History of the Two Maids of Moor Clack, with the Life and Simple Manner of John in the Hospital; Play'd by the Children of the King's Majesty's Revels, and Printed in 4to. London, 1609. I believe the Plot may be taken from some Old Story
