166
Letters concerning
LETTER XVIII.
ON
TRAGEDY.
THE Engliſh as well as the Spaniards were poſſeſs'd of Theatres, at a Time when the French had no more than moving, itinerant Stages. Shakeſpear, who was conſider'd as the Corneille of the firſt mention'd Nation, was pretty near Cotemporary with Lopez de Vega, and he created, as it were, the Engliſh Theatre. Shakeſpear boaſted a ſtrong, fruitful Genius: He was natural and ſublime, but had not ſo much as a ſingle Spark of good Taſte, or knew one Rule of the Drama. I
will
