A dark and tyrannical count; an aged crone of a house-keeper, the depositart of many a family legend; a garrulous waiting-maid; a gay and light-hearted valet; a villain or two of allwork; and a heroine , fulfilled with all perfections, and subjected to all manner of hazards, from the stock in trade of a romancer or a melo-dramatist ; and if these personages be dressed in the proper costume, and converse in language sufficiently appropriate to their stations and qualities, it is not expected that the audience shall shake their sides at the humour of the dialogue, or weep over its pathos.
Source: wiktionary