Fashion _a Lewd, Prodigal, younger Brother; is reduced to extremity: Upon his arrival from his Travels, he meets with_ Coupler, _an old sharping Match-maker_; _This Man puts him upon a project of cheating his Elder Brother Lord_ Foplington, _of a rich Fortune_. _Young_ Fashion _being refused a Summ of Money by his Brother, goes into_ Couplers _Plot, bubbles Sir_ Tunbelly _of his Daughter, and makes himself Master of a fair Estate_. From the Form and Constitution of the _Fable_, I observe 1st. That there is a _Misnommer_ in the Title. The _Play_ should not have been call'd the _Relapse, or Virtue in Danger_: _Lovelace_, and _Amanda_, from whose _Characters_ these Names are drawn, are Persons of Inferiour Consideration. _Lovelace_ sinks in the middle of the _Fourth_ Act, and we hear no more of him till towards the End of the _Fifth_, where he enters once more, but then 'tis as _Cato_ did the Senate house, only to go out again. And as for _Amanda_ she has nothing to do but to stand a shock of Courtship, and carry off her Virtue. This I confess is a great task in the _Play-house_, but no main matter in the _Play_. The _Intrigue_, and the _Discovery_, the great Revolution and success, turns upon _Young Fashion_. He without Competition, is the Principal Person in the _Comedy_. And therefore the _Younger Brother_, or the _Fortunate Cheat_, had been much a more proper Name. Now when a _Poet_ can't rig out a _Title Page_, 'tis but a bad sign of his holding out to the _Epilogue_. _2ly._ I observe the _Moral_ is vitious: It points the wrong way, and puts the _Prize_ into the wrong Hand. It seems to make _Lewdness_ the reason of _Desert_, and gives _Young Fashion_ a second Fortune, only for Debauching away his First. A short view of his _Character_, will make good this Reflection. To begin with him: He confesses himself a _Rake_, swears, and Blasphemes, Curses, and Challenges his Elder Brother, cheats him of his Mistress, and gets him laid by the Heels in a Dog-Kennel. And what was the ground of all this unnatural quarrelling and outrage? Why the main of it was only because Lord _Foplington_ refused to supply his Luxury, and make good his Extravagance. This _Young Fashion_ after all, is the _Poets_ Man of Merit. He provides, a _Plot_ and a Fortune, on purpose for him. To speak freely, A Lewd Character seldom wants good Luck in _Comedy_. So that when ever you see a thorough Libertine, you may almost swear he is in a rising way, and that the _Poet_ intends to make him a great Man. In short; This _Play_ perverts the End of _Comedy_: Which as Monsieur _Rapin_ observes ought to regard Reformation, and publick Improvement. But the _Relapser_ had a more fashionable Fancy in his Head.[402] His _Moral_ holds forth this notable Instruction.