But among all our Methods of moving Pity or Terror, there is none so absurd and barbarous, and what more exposes us to the Contempt and Ridicule of our Neighbours, than that dreadful butchering of one another, which is so very frequent upon the

English

Stage.

[To]

delight in seeing Men stabbed, poysoned, racked, or impaled, is certainly the Sign of a cruel Temper: And as this is often practised before the

British

Audience, several

French

Criticks, who think these are grateful Spectacles to us, take occasion from them to represent us as a People that delight in Blood

[3]