dialogue shows a solid and extensive knowledge of mankind in their various customs and manners; now exhibiting the keenest strokes of temporary satire, and now a flow of humour which nothing but the closest judgment, and the most penetrating discernment of human nature, could suggest.

In the quality of WIT he is equally exuberant: with a store equal to that of Congreve in his proudest day of dramatic reputation, he never scatters it indifferently. Foote's wits are real wits; "his fools are fools indeed."-His HUMOUR is in the same degree of keeping: all are distributed with great dramatic justice; and form the natural minutia of expression on which the basis of character is founded, and which render it the truest conversation copy of the times in which he wrote.

On the whole, Foote must be considered as a great and fertile genius, possessed of a comic vein, superior in many respects to that of any writer of the age he lived in. Happy for the range of his talent, that it was totally

unfettered by the cares of life! Fortune, under her lowest declensions, could not control his spirits; he saw the follies and vices of mankind with a quick, discerning, yet undisturbed eye. Hence his constant accu racy of discrimination of character; and hence his humour, ridicule, satire, and wit, all ranged at will, free and unchecked in the course of their respective excursions.

It has been often asked, rich and humorous as his dramatic writings are admitted to be, will they outlive the present age? Some, no doubt, from the individuality of their character, and the raciness of the incidents, will lose much of the charms which they originally afforded: but posterity will discover that these were once the reigning vices and follies, and will perceive that they have been exposed by a writer fully competent to the subject; while many of his pieces, which carry a broader mark of satire, (such as The Minor, The Devil upon Two Sticks, The Liar, The Patron, The Mayor of Garrat, Taste, The Commissary, and others,) will always more or less apply to existing cha

racters.

In delivering this opinion, however, let ic be remembered, that as Foote himself and Weston filled most of the principal characters, great care must be taken to provide for them as able substitutes as possible. Without such workmen, therefore, the dramatic materials of Foote must lie on the shelf, till others may be found who can exhibit them to equal advantage. The mere walking gentlemen of the present stage will not do they have been unhappily trained in a kind of dialogue so very different from his, that it scarcely partakes of the same idiom; and if suddenly thrust into characters speaking a new language, they must appear as awkward as Tom Errand in Beau Clincher's clothes.

I have now closed the account of the life of a man who, in many instances, may be considered as a very rare original, which Nature, in her gayest moments, seems to have cast in a mould expressly made for the purpose. Such a character deserves a conspicuous niche in the temple of private history. In his talents let us admire the singularity of his genius, the sprightliness of

his wit, the exuberance of his fancy, and the frequent utility of his satire. Even from his follies let us be warned of similar errors, when we find that neither the most brilliant natural qualities, nor the favours of fortune, can secure happiness and respect, unless founded on the basis of virtue and prudence.

The following is a correct list of our Author's dramatic works, with the several dates of their performance and publication :

Performed. Printed.

1 Diversions of the Morning

(not printed)........1747

2 Auction of Pictures (not

6 The Englishman returned

from Paris, a Farce...1756

7 The Author, a Comedy...1757

8 The Diversions of the

Morning, altered, a

Performed. Printed.

Farce (not printed) 1758

9 The Minor, a Comedy....1760

10 The Liar, a Comedy.....1761.. 1764 11 The Orators, a Comedy ..1762 12 The Mayor of Garrat,

..1763

a Comedy.. 13 The Patron, a Comedy... 1764 14 The Commissary, Com. 1765 15 Prelude on opening the

Haymarket Theatre ..1767

16 The Devil upon Two Sticks,

a Comedy...

17 The Lame Lover, Com.

.1768.. 1778

1770

18 The Maid of Bath, Com. 1771.. 1778 19 The Nabob, a Comedy...1772.. 1778 20 Piety in Pattens, a Farce

21 The Bankrupt, a Comedy 1773

22 The Cozeners, a Comedy 1774.. 1778 23 The Capuchin, a Comedy. 1776.

24 A Trip to Calais, Com.

(never performed)

1778

1778

Besides these pieces, he suffered his name to be put to a work entitled, The Comic Theatre, in 5 volumes 12mo; being