This you will say is a vast comprehension, and hath not hapned in many
Ages. Be it then remembred to the Glory of our owne, that all these are
Demonstrative and met in_ BEAUMONT & FLETCHER, _whom but to mention is to
throw a cloude upon all former names and benight Posterity; This Book
being, without flattery, the greatest_ Monument _of the Scene that Time
and Humanity have produced, and must Live, not only the_ Crowne _and
sole_ Reputation _of our owne, but the stayne of all other_ Nations _and_
Languages, _for it may be boldly averred, not one indiscretion hath
branded this Paper in all the Lines, this being the Authentick witt that
made Blackfriers an Academy, where the three howers spectacle while_
Beaumont _and_ Fletcher _were presented, were usually of more advantage
to the hopefull young Heire, then a costly, dangerous, forraigne Travell,
with the assistance of a governing Mounsieur, or Signior to boot; And it
cannot be denied but that the young spirits of the Time, whose Birth &
Quality made them impatient of the sowrer wayes of education, have from
the attentive hearing these pieces, got ground in point of wit and
carriage of the most severely employed Students, while these Recreations
were digested into Rules, and the very Pleasure did edifie. How many
passable discoursing dining witts stand yet in good credit upon the bare
stock of two or three of these single Scenes.
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