M. Baron has introduced Crito earlier than he appears in the Latin play, and closes the fourth act with Glycera’s appeal to Chremes; and two subsequent scenes between Glycera, Mysis, Pamphilus, and Davus. Glycera’s appeal to Chremes is extremely pathetic. It concludes with the following lines:―― “Vous en qui je crois voir un protecteur, un père Ne m’abandonnez pas à toute ma misère En m’ôtant mon époux, vous me donnez la mort. Vous pouvez d’un seul mot faire changer mon sort. C’est donc entre vos mains qu’aujourd’hui je confie Mon repos, mon honneur, ma fortune, et ma vie.” _Andrienne_, A. IV. S. VIII. NOTE 185. _Davus.――Do you think that a thing of this sort can be done as well by premeditating and studying, as by acting according to the natural impulse of the moment?_ “It is an observation of Voltaire’s, in the Preface to his comedy of L’Enfant Prodigue, that although there are various kinds of pleasantry that excite mirth, yet universal bursts of laughter are seldom produced, unless by a scene of mistake or _æquivoque_. A thousand instances might be given to prove the truth of this judicious observation. There is scarce any writer of comedy who has not drawn from this source of humour. A scene, founded on a misunderstanding between the parties, where the characters are all at cross-purposes with each other, never fails to set the audience in a roar; nor, indeed, can there be a happier incident in a comedy, if produced naturally, and managed judiciously.