Moreto in his younger years was a prolific writer for the stage, and almost rivalled Calderon in popularity. Three volumes of his plays were printed between 1654 and 1681, and many dramas besides are attributed in whole or in part to him. He employed all the dramatic forms then in vogue. Of his religious plays, Los mas Dichosos Hermanos (The Most Fortunate Brothers), embodying the legend of the seven sleepers, may be mentioned as the least bombastic and absurd. Others are El Rosario Perseguido, turning on the persecutions connected with the introduction of the rosary into Spain, and Maria Egypciaca, a curious representation of the extraordinary legend of St Mary of Egypt. His heroic drama, El J r aliente Justiciero (The Brave Justiciary), a story of the times of Pedro the Cruel, is one of considerable power. His “comedias de figuron,” or “character comedies,” as they are called (compare vol. vii. p. 422), include El Lindo Don Diego (The Handsome Don .Diego) and El Desden con el Desden (Disdain met with Disdain), the latter partly borrowed from Lope de Vega’s Milagros del Desprecio, and in turn imitated by Molière (in his Princesse d'Elide), by Carlo Gozzi (Principes™, Filosofa), and by Schreyvogel (Donna Diana). The Comedias Escogidas de Don Agustin Moreto y Cabaùa form the 39th volume of the Biblioteca de Autores Espa∙ noles (Madrid, 1856).