(Alexander), a poet and attorney in the lord mayor's court in the reign of Charles II. was the author of the greatest part of those songs and epigrams which were published in favour of the royalists, and against the rump, as well in Oliver Cromwell's time as during the rebellion. These, together with his Epistles and Epigrams translated from different authors, were all printed in one volume 8vo after the Restoration. He also published a version of Horace, by himself and others, which is very far from being a bad one. He left behind him a comedy entitled The Cunning Lovers; and the world is indebted to him for two volumes of Richard Brome's plays in octavo; many of which, but for his care in preserving and publishing them, would, in all probability have been entirely lost. He died in 1656.

(Richard), a dramatic writer who lived in the reign of king Charles I. and was contemporary with Decker, Ford, Shirley, &c. His extraction was mean, he having been originally no better than a menial servant to the celebrated Ben Johnson. He wrote himself, however, into high reputation, as is testified not only by various commendatory verses written by his contemporaries and prefixed to many of his plays, but also by some lines which his quondam master addressed to him Bromelia, on account of his comedy called *The Northern Lad*. Brome, in imitation of his master, laid it down as his first great point, to apply closely to the study of men and manners. His genius was entirely turned to comedy; and therefore his proper province was observation more than reading. His plots are all his own, and are far from being ill conducted; and his characters, which for the most part are strongly marked, were the offspring of his own judgment and experience, and his close attention to the foibles of the human heart. In a word, his plays in general are good ones; met with great applause when first acted; and as Langbain informs us, were thought by the players worthy to be revived, to their own profit and the author's honour, in that critical age which he himself lived in. Nay, we have had a proof, even in our own time, of the merit of one of his comedies, which with a very little alteration has lately been revived, and with great success, viz. *The Jovial Crew*, which for no less than three seasons running brought crowded audiences to the theatre-royal in Covent Garden at all the frequent repetitions of its performance. The comedies which the author left behind him are 15 in number; ten of which are collected together, as above mentioned, in two volumes octavo. He joined also with Thomas Heywood in a play called *The Lancashire Witches*.