Tamerlane, he intended to characterise King William, and Louis the
Fourteenth under Bajazet. The virtues of Tamerlane seem to have
been arbitrarily assigned him by his poet, for I know not that
history gives any other qualities than those which make a conqueror.
The fashion, however, of the time was to accumulate upon Louis all
that can raise horror and detestation; and whatever good was
withheld from him, that it might not be thrown away was bestowed
upon King William. This was the tragedy which Rowe valued most, and
that which probably, by the help of political auxiliaries, excited
most applause; but occasional poetry must often content itself with
occasional praise. Tamerlane has for a long time been acted only
once a year, on the night when King William landed. Our quarrel
with Louis has been long over; and it now gratifies neither zeal nor
malice to see him painted with aggravated features, like a Saracen
upon a sign.

The Fair Penitent, his next production (1703), is one of the most
pleasing tragedies on the stage, where it still keeps its turns of
appearing, and probably will long keep them, for there is scarcely
any work of any poet at once so interesting by the fable, and so
delightful by the language. The story is domestic, and therefore
easily received by the imagination, and assimilated to common life;
the diction is exquisitely harmonious, and soft or sprightly as
occasion requires.

The character of Lothario seems to have been expanded by Richardson
into Lovelace; but he has excelled his original in the moral effect
of the fiction. Lothario, with gaiety which cannot be hated, and
bravery which cannot be despised, retains too much of the
spectator's kindness. It was in the power of Richardson alone to