BREWER, ANTHONY, a dramatic poet, who flourished in the reign of King Charles I., and appears to have been held in considerable estimation by the wits of that time, as may be gathered from a compliment paid to him in a poem called Steps to Parnassus, in which he is supposed to have a magic power to call the muses to his assistance, and is even set on an equality with Shakspeare himself. There are, however, great disputes among the several writers as to the number of his works. Those which have been ascribed to him with any certainty are, 1. The Country Girl, a comedy; 2. The Love-sick King, a comedy; and, 3. Lingua. When this play was performed at Cambridge, it is said by Winstanley that Oliver Cromwell, then a youth, acted a part in it. The substance of the piece is a contention among the Senses for a crown, which Lingua had laid for them to find. The part allotted to young Cromwell was that of Tactus or Touch.