The two Prefaces differ somewhat in character. It seems clear from remarks made in the Preface to the _Plautus_ that it was written after the _Terence_ had already reached the public and after Echard's copy for the text of Plautus's three comedies was in the printer's hands. Not surprisingly the later Preface is hurried, and at times almost casual. The Preface to the _Terence_ is more ambitious, more carefully written, and more wide-ranging, though giving fewer examples of the kinds of translations made by Echard. Both Prefaces lay claim to substantially the same audience. That to the _Terence_ explains that the translation was undertaken in the first place because of the literary value of Terence's comedy. In consequence, its benefits would apply to "most sorts of People, but especially for the Service it may do our _Dramatick Poets_." Secondly, the work was undertaken for "the Honour of our own _Language_, into which all good Books ought to be Translated, since _'tis now become so Elegant, Sweet and Copious_ . . . ." Thirdly, it might rival the translations done in other countries, particularly those in France. The audience envisaged ranged from schoolboys, who would find the translation less Latinate and the notes more pointed than those of Bernard or Hoole, to "Men of Sense and Learning," who ought to be pleased to see Terence in "modern Dress." As for the dramatists, Terence might serve as an exemplar, especially since the translation could "be read with less Trouble than the Original . . ." (pp. xvii-xix). The _Plautus_ Preface is far less detailed, but refers back to these reasons, while stressing the function of the translation for the schoolboy. Judging by the number of editions, the _Terence_ found its market, for where the _Plautus_ ran to only two editions, the first and that of 1716, the _Terence_ appeared in a seventh edition in 1729. Nor was Echard's audience merely made up of students. If one of his main targets was contemporary dramatists, he would have been elated to learn that William Congreve owned a copy of the first edition of both translations.[7]