“ The scenery and accessories were unusually brilliant, the richest ever seen in England, according to Evelyn. In 1665 Howard published Foure New Plays, in the preface to which he opposed the view maintained by Dryden in the dedicatory epistle to The Rival Ladies, that rhyme was better suited to the heroic tragedy than blank verse. Howard made an exception in favour of the rhyme of Lord Orrery, but by his silence concerning Dryden implicated him in the general censure. Dryden answered by placing Howard’s sentiments in the mouth of Crites in his own Essay on Dramatic Poesy (1668) . ”