Of this last error the
French are seldom guilty, because the thinness of their plots prevents
them from it; but few Englishmen, except Ben Jonson, have ever made
a plot, with variety of design in it, included in twenty-four hours,
which was altogether natural. For this reason, I prefer the "Silent
Woman" before all other plays, I think justly, as I do its author, in
judgment, above all other poets. Yet, of the two, I think that error
the most pardonable, which in too strait a compass crowds together
many accidents, since it produces more variety, and, consequently,
more pleasure to the audience; and, because the nearness of proportion
betwixt the imaginary and real time, does speciously cover the
compression of the accidents.
Thus I have endeavoured to answer the meaning of his argument; for, as
he drew it, I humbly conceive that it was none,--as will appear by his
proposition, and the proof of it. His proposition was this:
"If strictly and duly weighed, it is as impossible for one stage to
present two rooms, or houses, as two countries, or kingdoms," &c.
And his proof this: "For all being impossible, they are none of them
nearest the truth or nature of what they present."
Here you see, instead of proof or reason, there is only _petitio
principii_.
Pages:
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305