Citation |
SCAGG.767.013
23-30 Jan 1767:41 (10/429)
Whimsical remarks on the follies of the English by a
Frenchman. [In this article of nearly one full column in
length, a lighthearted discussion of English politics,
literature, and general mores occurs, with the following
lines deserving inclusion:] Some of our nation consider the
English stage, which affords that people so much delight, as
a proof of their barbarity. Their tragedies, it is true,
though interesting and full of beauties, are nevertheless
dramatick monsters, half butchery and half farce. Grotesque
character and extravagant pleasantry constitute the chief
part of their comedies: in one of these, the devil enters
sneezing, and somebody says to the devil, God bless you.
They are not, however, all of this stamp; they have even
some in a very good taste; but there are hardly any which
give an advantageous idea of the English nation; though it
is from the theatre that a stranger forms his opinion of the
manners of the people.
|