From his mother Ben Jonson received certain strong
characteristics, and by a single short reference in Jonson’s
works we are led to see the kind of woman she was. It is while
Jonson is telling Drummond (who wrote the records of his life)
of the occasion when he was thrown into prison, because some
passages in the comedy of “Eastward Ho!” gave offense to King
James, and he was in danger of a horrible death, after having
his ears and nose cut off. He tells us how, after his pardon,
he was banqueting with his friends, when his “old mother” came
in and showed a paper full of “lusty strong poison,” which she
intended to mix with his drink just before the execution. And
to show that she “was no churl,” she intended first to drink
of the poison herself. The incident is all the more suggestive
from the fact that Chapman and Marston, one his friend and the
other his enemy, were first cast into prison as the authors of
“Eastward Ho!” and rough Ben Jonson at once declared that he too
had had a small hand in the writing and went to join them in
prison.--WILLIAM J. LONG, _English Literature_.
(2103)
=Mother, A Heart Broken=--See JUVENILE COURT EXPERIENCE.
=Mother, A Reminder of=--See REMINDERS.
=Mother Caution=--See REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS.