I do not know that the fly in amber is of any particular use, but the
Comic idea enclosed in a comedy makes it more generally perceptible and
portable, and that is an advantage. There is a benefit to men in taking
the lessons of Comedy in congregations, for it enlivens the wits; and to
writers it is beneficial, for they must have a clear scheme, and even if
they have no idea to present, they must prove that they have made the
public sit to them before the sitting to see the picture. And writing for
the stage would be a corrective of a too-incrusted scholarly style, into
which some great ones fall at times. It keeps minor writers to a definite
plan, and to English. Many of them now swelling a plethoric market, in
the composition of novels, in pun-manufactories and in journalism;
attached to the machinery forcing perishable matter on a public that
swallows voraciously and groans; might, with encouragement, be attending
to the study of art in literature. Our critics appear to be fascinated by
the quaintness of our public, as the world is when our beast-garden has a
new importation of magnitude, and the creatures appetite is reverently
consulted.
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