The original story is found in the Abbe de St.Real's _Histoire de la Conjuration du Marquis de Bedamar_, or the account of a Spanish conspiracy in which the marquis, who was ambassador, took part.

It is still put upon the stage, with the omission, however, of the licentious comic portions found in the original play.
NICHOLAS ROWE, who was born in 1673, a man of fortune and a government official, produced seven tragedies, of which _The Fair Penitent_, _Lady Jane Grey_, and _Jane Shore_ are the best.

His description of the lover, in the first, has become a current phrase: "That haughty, gallant, gay Lothario,"-- the prototype of false lovers since.

The plots are too broad, but the moral of these tragedies is in most cases good.
In _Jane Shore_, he has followed the history of the royal mistress, and has given a moral lesson of great efficacy.
NATHANIEL LEE, 1657-1692: was a man of dissolute life, for some time insane, and met his death in a drunken brawl.

Of his ten tragedies, the best are _The Rival Queens_, and _Theodosius, or The Force of Love_.