The earliest sketch of _The Young King; or, The Mistake_ was written by Mrs. Behn whilst she was still a young girl at Surinam. Upon her return to England the rhyming play had made its appearance, and soon heroic tragedy was carrying all before it on the London stage. Influenced no doubt by this tremendous vogue, she turned to her early MS. and proceeded to put her work, founded on one of the most famous of the heroic romances, into the fashionable couplets. Traces of this may be found in the scene between Cleomena and Urania, i, II; in Orsames’ speech, iv, III, and elsewhere. Whilst she was busy, however, _The Rehearsal_ was produced at the King’s Theatre, 8 December, 1671, and for the moment gave a severe blow to the drama it parodied. Accordingly, Mrs. Behn with no little acumen put her tragi-comedy on one side until the first irresistible influence of Buckingham’s burlesque had waned ever so slightly, and then, when her dramatic reputation was firmly established by the triumphant success of _The Rover_, the applause that had been given to _Sir Patient Fancy_ and half-a-dozen more of her plays, she bethought of her earlier efforts, and after subjecting _The Toung King_ to a thorough revision, in which, however, it retained marked traces of its original characteristics, she had it produced at the Duke’s Theatre in the spring of 1679. Mr. Gosse goes so far as to say that she had previously offered it to the theatres and publishers, but could find neither manager nor printer who would accept it. This, which he deduces from her dedication to Philaster, seems to me unwarrantable, and is not borne out by the play itself, which, baroque as it may appear to us, is certainly equal to, and indeed far better, than the rank and file of Restoration tragi-comedy. There is no record of its performance, and it never kept the boards. But although we have no direct evidence of its success, on the other hand it would be rash to suggest it was in any sense a failure. Indeed, since two editions were published we may safely assert its popularity. The actors’ names are not preserved, but Mrs. Mary Lee doubtless created Cleomena; Mrs. Barry, Urania; Betterton, Thersander; and Smith, Orsames. TO PHILASTER.