Philip Massinger was born in 1584, the son of Arthur Massinger, a
gentleman who held some position of trust in the household of Henry,
Earl of Pembroke, who married the sister of Sir Philip Sidney. It was
for her that the “Arcadia” was written. And for her Ben Jonson wrote
the famous epitaph:--
“Underneath this sable hearse
Lies the subject of all verse.
Sidney’s sister, Pembroke’s mother.
Death! ere thou hast slain another,
Learn’d and fair and good as she,
Time shall throw a dart at thee.”
It would be pleasant to think that Massinger’s boyhood had been spent
in the pure atmosphere that would have surrounded such a woman, but it
should seem that he could not have been brought up in her household.
Otherwise it is hard to understand why, in dedicating his “Bondman” to
Philip, Earl of Montgomery, one of her sons, he should say, “However, I
could never arrive at the happiness to be made known to your lordship,
yet a desire, born with me, to make a tender of all duties and service
to the noble family of the Herberts descended to me as an inheritance
from my dead father, Arthur Massinger.” All that we know of his early
life is that he entered a commoner at St. Alban’s Hall, Oxford, in
1602. At the University he remained four years, but left it without
taking a degree.
From the year 1606, until his name appears in an undated document which
the late Mr. John Payne Collier decides to be not later than 1614, we
know nothing of him. This document is so illustrative of the haphazard
lives of most of the dramatists and actors of the time as to be worth
reading. It was written by Nathaniel Field, the actor who played
the part of Bussy d’Ambois in Chapman’s play of that name, and who
afterwards became prosperous and one of the shareholders in the Globe
Theatre. Here it is:--
“_To our most loving friend, Mr. Philip Hinchlow, Esq., These_:
“MR. HINCHLOW,--You understand our unfortunate extremity, and I do
not think you so void of Christianity, but you would throw so much
money into the Thames as we request now of you rather than endanger
so many innocent lives. You know there is X_l._ more at least to be
received of you for the play. We desire you to lend us V_l._ of that,
which shall be allowed to you, without which we cannot be bailed, nor
I play any more till this be despatched. It will lose you XX_l._ ere
the end of the next week, besides the hindrance of the next new play.
Pray, sir, consider our cases with humanity, and now give us cause to
acknowledge you our true friend in time of need. We have entreated
Mr. Davison to deliver this note, as well to witness your love as
our promises and always acknowledgment to be your most thankful and
loving friend,