and consequences of her own crime upon Bertran, who, whatever faults he might have to others, was to the queen no otherwise obnoxious, than because the victim of her own inconstancy.  The gallant, virtuous, and enthusiastic character of Torrismond, must be allowed, in some measure, to counterbalance that of his mistress, however unhappily he has placed his affections.  But the real excellence of these scenes consists less in peculiarity of character, than in the vivacity and power of the language, which, seldom sinking into vulgarity, or rising into bombast, maintains the mixture of force and dignity, best adapted to the expression of tragic passion.  Upon the whole, as the comic part of this play is our author’s master-piece in comedy, the tragic plot may be ranked with his very best efforts of that kind, whether in “Don Sebastian,” or “All for Love.”

The “Spanish Friar” appears to have been brought out shortly after Mr Thynne’s murder, which is alluded to in the Prologue, probably early in 1681-2.  The whimsical caricature, which it presented to the public, in Father Dominic, was received with rapture by the prejudiced spectators, who thought nothing could be exaggerated in the character of a Roman Catholic priest.  Yet, the satire was still more severe in the first edition, and afterwards considerably softened[6].  It was, as Dryden himself calls it, a Protestant play; and certainly, as Jeremy Collier somewhere says, was rare Protestant diversion, and much for the credit of the Reformation.  Accordingly, the “Spanish Friar” was the only play prohibited by James II. after his accession; an interdict, which may be easily believed no way disagreeable to the author, now a convert to the Roman church.  It is very remarkable, that, after the Revolution, it was the first play represented by order of queen Mary, and honoured with her presence; a choice, of which she had abundant reason to repent, as the serious part of the piece gave as much scope for malicious application against herself, as the comic against the religion of her father[7].

Footnotes: 
1.  Collier remarks the injustice of punishing the agent of Lorenzo’s
   vice, while he was himself brought off with flying colours.  He
   observes, “’Tis not the fault which is corrected, but the priest. 
   The author’s discipline is seldom without a bias.  He commonly gives
   the laity the pleasure of an ill action, and the clergy the
   punishment.” View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the Stage,
   p. 100.

2.  To satire next thy talent was addressed,
     Fell foul on all thy friends among the rest;
     Nay, even thy royal patron was not spared,
     But an obscene, a sauntering wretch declared. 
     Thy loyal libel we can still produce,
     Beyond example, and beyond excuse. 
     O strange return, to a forgiving king,
     (But the warmed viper wears the greatest sting,)
     For pension lost, and