with all my respect for Massinger, I do not think he had poetical
enthusiasm capable of furnishing them. His associate Dekker, who wrote
_Old Fortunatus_, had poetry enough for anything.” This is one of Lamb’s
many unfair remarks about our author; he had discovered so many treasures
in the Elizabethan goldfield that he was disposed to underrate the
favourite of the eighteenth century. One rises from a perusal of the works
of Dekker with a feeling that he was in many respects an engaging,
child-like mind, with a gift for drawing character, but with an imperfect
sense of technique and structure. If he had written anything in his
undoubted works as good as this scene, it would be natural to adjudge it
to him.
I should be inclined to assign II., 2, to Massinger; great stress is laid
in it on the lack of courtesy shown in scanty greetings, which is a
familiar line of thought in our author. Theophilus’ speech, “Have I
invented tortures,” sounds to me like Massinger. The structure of II., 3,
reminds one of several similar incidents in Massinger, though it is clear
that no poet can claim the monopoly of introducing auditors of love-scenes
in the gallery above the stage. On the other hand, the ravings of
Theophilus (_ibid._, 116-123) read like Dekker; as does the rhymed passage
(_ibid._, 131-136). Perhaps the scene is composite.
The same remark applies to IV., 1. The first sixty lines are certainly
Massinger’s, and much of the rest; notice especially Antoninus’ sudden
change of mind at line 102. On the other hand, the speech of the British
slave (_ibid._, 136-147) might be Dekker’s work.
If Massinger can be accredited with Dorothea’s farewell speech in IV., 3,
69-92, I do not see why he should not have written the famous passage in
II., 1. They seem to me to have the same thrill of emotion.
Lastly, V., 1, seems to be constructed on the lines of a Massinger scene,
and to contain traces of his vocabulary; _cf._ the use of “horror” in line
41, and of “to thy centre” in line 146. The conversion of Theophilus, like
that of Antoninus in a previous scene, is effected rapidly, in Massinger’s
manner.
To sum up, I should be inclined to say that Massinger had, at any rate, a
considerable share in the following scenes: II., 1, II., 2, II., 3, IV.,
1, V., 1.
APPENDIX XI. THE AUTHORSHIP OF “THE FATAL DOWRY”
Boyle assigns to Massinger, Act I.; Act III. as far as line 315 (enter
Novall, junr.); Act IV., 2, 3, 4; Act V. This amounts to about
three-fifths of the play. On metrical grounds I reluctantly concede that
Field wrote the famous funeral scene, Act II., 1. But there are clear
traces of Massinger’s style in the part of Act II., 2, which follows the
prose passage. Thus, Romont’s speech, beginning at line 201, seems to show
traces of Massinger; likewise Pontalier’s, beginning at line 370. It is
probable that Field wrote the prose scenes in the play, and possibly the
songs; nor would I deny that the regular ten-syllable blank verse of such
passages as Act II., 2, 178-187 (ROCHFORT. Why, how now, Beaumelle? ...
nothing but good and fit), and Act II., 2, 318-328 (This is my only child
... were multiplied tenfold), is Field’s work. In the two plays which have
come down to us from Field there is much passable blank verse. It is
important to remember, however, that we have so little of Field left that
it is hazardous to base material tests on it; and secondly, the authors
may have collaborated in individual scenes in such a way as to escape
analysis. This is what probably has taken place in Act II., 2. Nor do I
feel certain that the latter part of Act III. is wholly due to Field;
lines 438-478 contain much that is like Massinger, though the ugly line
464 is not in his style.
“I not accuse thy wife of act, but would
Prevent her precipice to thy dishonour.”
On the other hand, the rhymed couplet (lines 375-6) is probably Field’s.
The pert page in Act IV., 1, reminds us of a similar character in _Woman’s
a Weathercock_, and is probably Field’s handiwork. On the other hand,
Pontalier’s speech in the same scene (lines 119-140) reads to me like
Massinger.
These instances may serve to show how hard it is to dissect the play
satisfactorily.
APPENDIX XII. THE TRAGEDY OF “SIR JOHN VAN OLDEN BARNAVELT”
This play is to be found in Bullen’s _Old Plays_, vol. ii. It was printed
from B.M. Add. MSS. 18653, a folio of thirty-one leaves in a small clear
hand.
Mr. Bullen thinks that Massinger wrote III., 2; III., 6; IV. (the trial
scene); V., 1. He ascribes the concluding scene to Fletcher. These
ascriptions seem to me correct. There is much fine poetry in the play,
notably in the Leidenberg scene. But Fleay goes too far when he calls the
play “magnificent.” It is a “piece of occasion,”(572) written shortly
after the tragic death of Barnavelt, in such a way, however, that it would
not interest a later generation, who had forgotten the sensation of the
time. In the second place, it has no unity, a fact no doubt partly due to
the dual authorship. We do not know if we are intended to sympathise with
Orange or Barnavelt. Such a specimen of the historical drama pure and
simple makes us feel that more than a mere narrative of events is needed
in a play; we look to the author to guide our sympathies, and have a view
of his own about his theme.(573)
APPENDIX XIII. “THE SECOND MAIDEN’S TRAGEDY”
This play was reprinted by the Malone Society in 1909.(574) The writing of
the original MS. in the British Museum is remarkably good. It is No. 807
in the Lansdowne Collection, and comes to us from the famous Warburton
MSS. The play was licensed by Sir George Buck, October 31st, 1611, and
acted by the King’s men. At the end is inscribed: “by Thomas Goffe,(575)
George Chapman, by Will Shakspear. A tragedy indeed!”
The last phrase is true. The first two names are erased; the third name
has been added by a late seventeenth or eighteenth century hand.
The underplot, according to Boyle, is derived from Cervantes’ _Curious
Impertinent_, and in Acts I. and II. passages “are literally taken from
that novel.” There is an incident at the end of the play which reminds us
of _The Duke of Milan_. The “Tyrant” removes the body of the heroine from
her tomb, and sends for a painter to give colour to her face and lips.
Govianus, her husband, comes in disguise to do the deed, and the Tyrant is
killed by the poison which Govianus has put on the lips of the corpse.
Massinger may therefore have known the play, but I differ entirely from
Boyle’s estimate. He thinks Massinger wrote Acts I. and II., Tourneur Acts
III., IV., V. I see no trace of Massinger in Act I., except the reference
in line 541 to a “cup of nectar.” The sudden repentance of the heroine’s
father Helvetius, in Act II., 1, 253, reminds us of a trait of Massinger
referred to above;(576) but the style of the first two acts is too feeble
and vague, and the metre too halting for him.(577) I cannot suppose that
at the age of twenty-seven Massinger could have taken part in writing a
play where “A voice from within” the tomb says to the mourning husband, “I
am not here!”(578)
APPENDIX XIV. “THE POWERFUL FAVORITE”(579)
“_The Powerful Favorite_, or the life of Aelius Sejanus, by P. M., printed
at Paris, 1628.” So runs the title in the English translation.
Two translations of Pierre Matthieu’s book, “Histoire d’Aelius Sejanus,”
appeared in the same year. One is padded out with additions; in the
shorter and more exact translation, the initials on the title-page of the
Bodleian copy have been filled out thus: P. Massinger.
We know that Massinger’s political sympathies were against the Duke of
Buckingham, and it is probable that a Life of Sejanus may have attracted
attention at a time when the parallel was drawn and the unpopularity
great; but it is simpler to suppose that P. M. stands for the French
author. It would require some courage to publish under one’s own name or
initials a translation of the book.
It is noteworthy that in 1632, after Buckingham’s death, a translation
appeared by Sir T. Hawkins. The title which he gave his book was “Unhappy
prosperitie expressed in the histories of Aelius Sejanus and Philippa, the
Catanian.” Underneath he adds the words: “Written in French by P.
Matthieu.”
APPENDIX XV. “DOUBLE FALSEHOOD”
In 1728 there appeared at London a play with the following title: “Double
Falsehood, or The Distressed Lovers; written originally by W. Shakespeare,
and now revised and adapted to the stage by Mr. Theobald, the author of
_Shakespeare Restor’d_.”
It was dedicated to the Rt. Hon. George Dodington, Esq. In the Preface
Theobald states that one of the copies in MS. is of above sixty years’
standing. He goes on to say that there is a tradition that Shakspere wrote
it—“in the time of his retirement from the stage.” The story is taken from
a novel in _Don Quixote_, which appeared in 1611, five years before
Shakspere’s death. Theobald professes to allow that the colouring,
diction, and characters come nearer to the style and manner of Fletcher.
Some writers(580) have supposed that Theobald in compiling this play used
materials from a lost play by Massinger. The first thing we notice in it
is that there are a good many prose scenes. This is unlike Massinger. In
the second place, the metre is unlike Massinger’s; it is simple and
regular, and contains very few double endings or run-on lines. In Act II.,
4, Leonora gives an important letter to her lover Julio, out of a window,
to a “citizen” whom she does not know, by night. Is this improbable
incident the sort of thing that Massinger would write?(581)
The whole play is an eighteenth-century effusion in the manner of Rowe.
There is no trace of Fletcher or Massinger here.
APPENDIX XVI. MIDDLETON’S “A TRICK TO CATCH THE OLD ONE”
_A Trick to catch the Old One_ is a lively play, mainly written in prose,
in which an air of plausibility is skilfully cast around a farcical plot.
There can be no doubt that Massinger borrowed the idea of _A New Way_ from
Middleton, as well as a few expressions.(582) In both plays there are an
uncle who has strained the law to deprive his nephew of his lands, a rich
widow whose supposed affection for the nephew converts the uncle to make
reparation, and creditors who have to be satisfied. The servants (_A
Trick_, IV., 4) who are to discharge their duties in Hoard’s new household
may have suggested the group in Lady Allworth’s house who supply a comic
element. On the other hand, the two plays are constructed on very
different lines. The central point of _A Trick_ is the hatred of the two
usurers, Lucre and Hoard, for one another, both being in the end cheated
by the hero Witgood. In _A New Way_ there is only one usurer, Sir Giles.
_A Trick_, though well constructed, has a lame and hurried conclusion; and
it is overloaded with minor characters, who help the action but little—in
particular, the usurer Dampit seems to be introduced for no particular
reason except to fill up the time with mediocre fun. The part played by
the heroine, Joyce, is small and obscure. Then again, there can be no
comparison between the slight figure of Hoard and the powerful creation of
Sir Giles Overreach. Wellborn does nothing in the play that misbecomes a
gentleman; the ingenuity with which he frames a plan to deceive his uncle
leads us to believe that when he has repented his wild life he has the
capacity to make good. His prototype, Witgood, on the other hand, is
merely an amusing adventurer. Indeed, Middleton seems throughout to be
pursuing with his vengeance the sharp practices of those who lend money to
fast young men, and we certainly sympathize with his castigation of Lucre,
Hoard, and Dampit. Massinger’s widow is a lady of birth and title;
Middleton’s is a courtesan in disguise. When she marries Hoard, though we
feel some satisfaction at the deception which has been practised on him,
we cannot help asking ourselves as the characters retire to the
conventional “wedding dinner” of an Elizabethan comedy, whether the
solution would have worked in real life. The answer is, that while we have
been much amused, we have been cheated by the author’s great skill and
vivacity into accepting an improbable plot. Massinger’s play, on the other
hand, contains little that might not have happened, and the conclusion is
so arranged that there is every prospect of the characters living happily
hereafter. While Middleton’s play is a charming extravaganza, Massinger’s
has held the stage ever since. The one play can be acted now, the other
cannot. This is not merely due to the fact that _A New Way_ has more
dignity and refinement than its predecessor, but it is because Massinger’s
characters behave like real beings.(583)
APPENDIX XVII
These two poems are copied from a folio MS. in the library of Trinity
College, Dublin (G, 2, 21), containing compositions of Donne and other
poets of the seventeenth century. They are to be found on pages 554-559.
The handwriting is that of the seventeenth century. I have reproduced the
original punctuation and spelling. Mr. Grosart published the poems in
_Englische Studien_, No. xxvi. He says that the librarian of Trinity, Dr.
T. K. Abbot, had grounds for supposing that the MS. had been in the
possession of Trinity College for a century; he does not, however, state
what the grounds are. As far as the dates go which are indicated in the
volume, it might have passed into the library with other books from
Archbishop Ussher’s collection.
From the tone of line 16 of the first poem we may assume that it was
addressed by Massinger when quite young to William, the third Earl of
Pembroke.
I
The Copie of a Letter written upon occasion to the Earle of
Pembrooke Lo: Chamberlaine
My Lord
p. 554
Soe subiect to the worser fame
Are even the best that clayme a Poets name:
Especially poore they that serve the stage
Though worthily in this Verse-halting Age.
And that dread curse soe heavie yet doth lie
Wch the wrong’d Fates falne out wth Mercurie
Pronounc’d for ever to attend upon
All such as onely dreame of Helicon.
That durst I sweare cheated by selfe opinion
I were Apolloes or the Muses Mynion 10
Reason would yet assure me, ’tis decreed
Such as are Poets borne, are borne to need.
If the most worthy then, whose pay’s but praise
Or a few spriggs from the now withering bayes
Grone underneath their wants what hope have I
Scarce yet allowed one of the Company— 16
p. 555
When(584) thou sighst, thou sigh’st not wind, but sigh’st my soule
away
When thou weep’st unkindly kind, my lifes blud doth decay
It cannot bee
That thou lov’est mee as thou sai’est, if in thine my life thou
wast,
Thou art the best of mee.(585)
In some high mynded Ladies grace to stand
Ever provided that her liberall hand 30
Pay for the Vertues they bestow upon her
And soe long shees the miracle and the honor
Of her whole Sex, and has forsooth more worth
Then was in any Sparta e’re brought forth
But when the Bounty failes a change is neare
And shee’s not then what once shee did appeare
For the new Giver shee dead must inherit
What was by purchase gott and not by merit
Lett them write well that doo this and in grace
I would not for a pension or A place 40
Part soe wth myne owne Candor, lett me rather p. 556
Live poorely on those toyes I would not father
Not knowne beyond A Player or A Man
That does pursue the course that I have ran
Ere soe grow famous: yet wth any paine
Or honest industry could I obteyne
A noble Favorer, I might write and doo
Like others of more name and gett one too
Or els my Genius is false. I know
That Johnson much of what he has does owe 50
To you and to your familie, and is never
Slow to professe it, nor had Fletcher ever
Such Reputation, and credit nonne
But by his honord Patron, Huntington
Unimitable Spencer ne’re had been
Soe famous for his matchlesse Fairie Queene
Had he not found a Spencer Sydney to preferr [_sic_]
His plaine way in his Shepheards Calender
Nay Virgills selfe (or Martiall does lye)
Could hardly frame a poore Gnatts Elegie 60
Before Mecænas cherisht him; and then
He streight conceiv’d Æneas and the men
That found out Italic Those are Presidents(586)
I cite wth reverence: my lowe intents
Looke not soe high, yet some worke I might frame
That should nor wrong my duty nor your Name. p. 557
Were but your Lopp pleas’d to cast an eye
Of favour on my trodd downe povertie
How ever I confesse myselfe to be
Ever most bound for your best charitie 70
To others that feed on it, and will pay
My prayers wth theirs that as yu doe yu may
Live long, belov’d and honor’d doubtles then
Soe cleere a life will find a worthier Penn.
For me I rest assur’d besides the glory
T’wold make a Poet but to write your story. 76
Phill: Messinger.
p. 557
II
A New yeares Guift presented to my
Lady and M:rs the then Lady
Katherine Stanhop now Countesse
of Chesterfield.
By Phill: Messinger.
Madame
Before I ow’d to you the name
Of Servant, to your birth, your worth your fame
I was soe, and t’was fitt since all stand bound
To honour Vertue in meane persons found
Much more in you, that as borne great, are good
Wch is more then to come of noble blood
Or be A Hastings; it being too well knowne
p. 558
An Empresse cannot challenge as her oune
Her Grandsires glories; And too many staine
Wth their bad Actions the noble straine 10
From whence they come. But as in you to be
A branch to add fresh honor to the tree
By vertue planted, and adorne it new
Is graunted unto none or very few
To speake you further would appeare in me
Presumption or a servants flattery
But there may be a tyme when I shall dare
To tell the world and boldly what yu are
Nor sleight it Madame, since what some in me
Esteeme a blemish, is a guift as free 20
As their best fortunes, this tooke from the grave
Penelopies chastitie, and to it gave
Still living Honors; this made Aiax strong
Ulisses wise: such power lies in a Song
Wch Phaebus smiles on, wch can find noe Urne
While the Sea his course, or starrs observe their turne
Yet ’tis not in the power of tinckling Rime
That(587) takes rash iudgments and deceive the tyme
Wth Mountebanke showes a worke that shold indure
Must have a genius in it, strong, as pure 30
But you beginne to smile, as wondring why
I should write thus much to yu now since I
Have heretofore been silent may yu please
To know
To know the course it is noe new disease p. 559
Groune in my iudgment, nor am I of those
That thinke good wishes cannot thrive in prose
As well as Verse: but that this New yeares day
All in their loves and duties, what they may
Present unto you; though perhaps some burne
Wth expectation of a glad returne 40
Of what they venture for. But such I leave
To their deceiptfull guifts given to deceive
What I give I am rich in, and can spare
Nor part for hope wth ought deserves my care
He that hath little and gives nought at all
To them that have is truly liberall. 46
APPENDIX XVIII. ALLITERATION IN MASSINGER
The art with which Massinger employs alliteration escapes all but the most
careful perusal; but once noticed, it attracts attention as one of his
favourite expedients. Perhaps the best way to exemplify its use is to give
a complete collection of instances from one of the plays: I take for this
purpose _The Unnatural Combat_.
I., 1, 150: Impartial judges, and not sway’d with spleen.
" 158: Not lustful fires, but fair and lawful flames.
" 189: Our goods made prize, our sailors sold for slaves.
" 217: He that leaves
To follow as you lead, will lose himself.
" 286: Their lives, their liberties.
" 308: Both what and when to do, but makes against you.
" 309: For had your care and courage been the same.
" 342: He may have leave and liberty to decide it.
II., 1, 14: With my best curiousness and care observed him.
" 23: A sudden flash of fury did dry up.
" 94: But dare and do, as they derive their courage.
" 143: In a moment raz’d and ruin’d.
" 157: In one short syllable yield satisfaction.
" 170: With scorn on death and danger.
" 177: But what is weak and womanish, thine own.
" 183: As a serpent swoll’n with poison.
" 226: Marseilles owes the freedom of her fears.
" 241: That will vouchsafe not one sad sigh or tear.
" 267: And with all circumstance and ceremony.
II., 3, 67: Nor should you with more curiousness and care.
III., 1, 10: It being a serious and solemn meeting.
" 17: I’ll undertake to stand at push of pike.
" 21: When the dresser, the cook’s drum, thunders,
Come on!
III., 1, 23: As tall a trencher-man.
" 32: The only drilling is to eat devoutly
And to be ever drinking.
" 57: Delay is dangerous.
" 88: Continue constant
To this one suit.
" 90: Every cast commander.
" 100: And so by consequence grow contemptible.
" 117: For his own sake, shift a shirt!
III., 2, 46: The colonels, commissioners, and captains.
" 78: That losing her own servile shape and name.
" 85: Believe my black brood swans.
" 95: As I have heard, loved the lobby.
" 150: Of her fair features, that, should we defer it.
" 160: And serves as a perpetual preface to.
III., 3, 43: The curiousness and cost on Trajan’s birthday.
" 78: I’ve charged through fire that would have singed your
sables.
" 82: Such only are admired that come adorn’d.
" 93: Does make your cupboards crack.
" 114: For want of means shall, in their present payment.
" 149: With my son, her servant.
III., 4, 89: And he shall find and feel, if he excuse not.
IV., 1, 53: And liked and loath’d with your eyes, I beseech you.
" 91: A loathsome leprosy had spread itself.
" 101: Sir, you have liked and loved them, and oft forc’d.
" 119: My ranks of reason.
" 132: Thy virtues vices.
" 133: Far worse than stubborn sullenness and pride.
" 206: In your fame and fortunes.
IV., 2, 47: Against my oath, being a cashier’d captain.
" 68: Your lords
Of dirt and dunghills.
" 118: My corslet to a cradle.
" 120: Or to sell my sword and spurs, for soap and candles?
IV., 2. 135: Fair France is proud of.
" 148: Such as have power to punish.
V., 2, 35: Or our later laws forbid.
" 38: And solemn superstitious fools prescribe.
" 57: Into some close cave or desert.
" 58: Our lusts and lives together.
" 165: But to have power to punish, and yet pardon,
Peculiar to princes.
" 248: Accuse or argue with me.
" 307: To season my silks.
APPENDIX XIX
By the kindness of Mr. Edmund Gosse I have been enabled to examine and
collate the manuscript notes in copies of the first quartos of the
following plays in his possession: _The Duke of Milan_, _The Bondman_,
_The Roman Actor_, _The Renegado_, _The Picture_, _The Fatal Dowry_, _The
Emperor of the East_, _The Maid of Honour_. The dates of these quartos
range from 1623 to 1632. The poet Swinburne had no doubt that the
manuscript notes were due to Massinger himself; the resemblance of the
handwriting is certainly indubitable, but as we have no other evidence
than that of the corrections themselves, we are forced to be content with
the conclusion that the insertions are of a contemporary date. I take the
plays in the above order.
_The Duke of Milan_
I., 1, 23.—This, the last line on the page, has suffered from the binding,
and is written in the margin.(588)
I., 1, 56.—The same thing has happened here.
In both cases the writing resembles that of the poet. It may be argued, on
the other hand, that it is unlikely that the play should have suffered so
soon from binding; it is, however, of course not impossible that the eight
plays were bound up together shortly after the year 1632.
V., 2, 203.—Forza. S. inserted before F. (So _infra_, 218, 234, 256.)
At the end of the play occurs a symbol M which might represent the poet’s
initial.
_The Bondman_
I., 1: Timagorus bis in stage-directions, us corrected to as
and also in
I., 1,5
I., 1, 37: I love live
I., 2, 2: I cannot brooke with this
gadding
I., 3, 83: As to the supreame Magistrates Sicilie
surely tenders
" 161: And yet the chu rl added
" 181: made glorious by Achon Action
" 182: gave warrant to her ailes added
couns
" 183: hand heard
" 206: nor defence noe
" 295: ? at end ? deleted
" 319: of slaves our
II., 1, 71: fam’d fann’d
" 87: vayle y deleted
" 144: loose both sent and th inserted after
beauty “loose,” and c in
“sent”
" 153: owe awe
II., 2, 16: manners; yet this morning for
" 57: cunning coḿinge
" 62: ? added
III., 3, 99: too too large second “too”
deleted
" 135: leave her off stand her of
" 165: during daring
III., 4, 29: Timandra Timag
" 51: cares feares
IV., 1, 21: still you
IV., 2, 128: when where
" 140: “Pray you, leave
mee”
added at end to
complete
the line
IV., 3, 145: tempter second t deleted
V., 3, 9: not be deni’de to inserted before
“be”
" 38: howsoere the fortune thy
" 103: gods and fautors his
" 193: ) inserted after
devices
" 245: Gra. inserted at
beginning
of line, (_i.e._,
Graccho)
All these corrections are manifestly right, except possibly III., 3, 135
and IV., 1, 21. The addition in IV., 2, 140, though not especially
appropriate to the situation, presents us with a type of line much
favoured by Massinger.
_The Roman Actor_
I., 1, 6: stocke socc (_i.e._, sock)
" 25: parenthesis
inserted
after “vice”
" 37: gald l
" 44: The Catta and the Dacie Catti ... Daci
" 46: Jove hasten it ? added
" 49: we obey you full stop added
" 51: the sceane Scaene
" 79: is to eb(589) guilty bee
" 115: grieve greive (“give” is
required
by the sense)
I., 2: Enter Domitia and Parthenius “with a letter”
added
I., 2, 33: for to be thankfull I woulde
" 44: his plea its
" 86: new workes that dare not Monarches. Pa:
added,
do (_i.e._,
Parthenius)
" 88: Parth. Will you dispute Parth. deleted and
?
added.
I., 3, 44: ( ) added
I., 3, 53-4: ( ) added
" 67: condemne condemnd
" 78: which with
" 78: redde (_i.e._, read) ) added
" 86: Cancillus Camillus
I., 4, 13: Fulcinius and prisoners “and” deleted
led by him
II., 1, 4: yours ; added
" 16: though ( added
" 21: purple ! added
" 22: my heyre ? added
" 182-3: ( ) added
" 217: promped prompted
" 372: ( ) added
" 386: ( ) added
III., 1, 30: words swordes
" 52: retch reach
" 58: the mortall powers iḿortall
" 78: tyrannie tyrant
" 163: steepie steep
" 205: ! added
IV., 1, 8: I thinke not “not” deleted, and
added after “respects”
in 9
" 95: compliant complaint
" 149: ? added
IV., 2, 12: lesse; ; deleted
" 27: pe bee
" 28: you command to me ever you coḿand me
" 39: tremele tremble
" 44: geeat great
" 70: Hypollitus one l substituted
" 123: express thee stop added
" 127: To render me that was ( ) added before
before I hugg’d thee “that” and
An adder in my bosome “before,” and after
“thee” and
“bosome”
IV., 2, 130: Thy pomp and pride— 163 Perpetual vexation
shall not fall.
Note at top of p. 31_b_: “This page follows the
later.”
Note at top of p. 32_a_: “This page misplac’d.”
" 182: would coulde
" 190: the iu ice st inverted inserted
here between “iu”
and “ice”
" 191: had with h inverted had
" 196: if yf
" 229: act are
" 242: grim death “grim” deleted
" 295: ( ) added
V., 1, 115: assure as sure
" 142: still’d stil’d
" 228: pinn’d pinion’d
V., 2, 22: iumpe impe
" 78: this murther ’tis
" 85: to sentence her inserted after “to”
I have compared the Malone quarto in the Bodleian Library and find that
the mistakes are identical. In other words, _The Roman Actor_ was
carelessly printed. Nearly all the corrections made, alike of sense and
punctuation, are improvements. The emendation at IV., 2, 28 reads like one
made by the author. On the other hand, a careful study of IV., 2, 127 will
reveal the fact that the writer’s sense has been mistaken, and the
omission of “grim” in IV., 2, 242 spoils the rhythm. The curious thing is
that the play is full of misprints, which have not been corrected—_e.g._,
III., 2, 143, Anaxerete (and in several other lines); line 154,
“Epethite,” for “epithet”; 258, Heccuba. Take again IV., 2, 181: An e is
inverted and not corrected; 188, “bttchered” stands for “butchered”; and
189, “lacriledge” for “sacrilege.”
_The Renegado_
I., 3, 159: receive least losse “the” inserted after
“least.” It spoils the
metre
II., 5, 46: up to the bre a c breache
" ? added
III., 3, 1: I will ’Twill
" 89: like a neighing gennet to mare to her proud
her stallion stallion
III., 5, 114: well made galley mann’d
IV., 1, 114: witnesse of my change “of” deleted: “good”
inserted after “my”
V., 2, 79: Franci. inserted (=
Francisco)
V., 3, 111: Vitelli inserted
III., 3, 89 reads like an author’s emendation. On the other hand, the
alteration in IV., 1, 114 is not in Massinger’s style.
_The Picture_
Line 37, Poem by T. Jay:
of to heare or
" 38: write neere writ
" 40: admir’d admire
I., 1, 31: satisfie satietie
" 40: ( ) added
" 53: If I am so rich or Sir
" 120: wone him o inserted after “o”
" 154: wracke w deleted
" 190: ere the fight begun s added after “fight”
(=is)
I., 2, 13: bravel ye added
" 71: but deleted and added
again in margin
" 170: examp le added
II., 1, 82: A post. deleted
" 83: “Aside. A Post.”
added in margin
II., 2, 98: “In one here” printed “In one here” deleted
in a separate line after (_vide_ Gifford)
this line
" 103: resolve s added
II., 2, 103: lords of her, like acres
" 174: fierce dame n inserted before “m.”
dame=dam
" 255: solder soldier
" 260: tosses trifles
Here it will be noted that two good emendations are made—I., 1, 53 and
II., 2, 103. On the other hand, no notes are made on the last three acts:
such a misprint as “ijgobobs” in V., 3, 161 escaping comment.
_The Fatal Dowry_
Nil.
_The Emperor of the East_
I., 1, 83: musicke? ? deleted, and “Sir?”
added
I., 2, 169: too to
" 178: Constantinople courte
" 242: them feare their
" 291: care feare
" 323: Nimph Umph
" 347: wooned d deleted
II., 1, 114: in knowledge “the” inserted after
“in”
III., 2, 62: ( ) added
" 93: heaven is most gratious “to you” deleted
to you, madam
" 111: with a kinde impotence “of” inserted after
“kinde”
" 138: I speak it ) added
" 139: I I (so III., 4, 145,
163;
IV., 1, 13)
" 199: ransone m
III., 4, 19: how .sister: !! added
" 29: str stirre
" 44: beg pardon a inserted after “beg”
" 60: my pity t added above “t”
" 80: ? added
III., 4, 132: observe handle
" 146: royall sir comma added
IV., 1, 14: Princesse Empresse
IV., 3, 36: they hee
" 43: fraide defray’d
" 62: camer cancer
" 132: this admiration thie
V., 3, 47: flights s deleted
" 85: niggle iuggle
" 111: I fever if ever
" 190: my grace on all cancelled
The corrections in this play are nearly all good: thus the metre is
restored at I., 2, 178, and III., 2, 93, and improved in III., 4, 132. V.,
3, 85 is an excellent emendation. On the other hand, I do not think the
author would have made such a stupid mistake as the one found at IV., 1,
14, for Chrysapius is there addressing the Empress, about Pulcheria.
_The Maid of Honour_
Nil.
NOTE BY MR. EDMUND GOSSE.
In 1877, when he was breaking up his home at Clifton, and disposing of his
books, John Addington Symonds gave Mr. Edmund Gosse a thick volume
containing eight first editions of plays by Massinger. The book was bound
in worn old calf of the period, and had stamped on the back the author’s
name. Symonds, in giving the book to Mr. Gosse, called his attention to
the contemporary corrections in ink, and said there was “a tradition” that
they were in the handwriting of Massinger himself. Mr. Gosse,
unfortunately, broke up the volume and had the eight plays separately
bound, but the old binding had contained no further indication. In 1882
Swinburne made a careful examination of the corrections, and again in
1883, when he urged that they should be published. He became persuaded
that they were made by Massinger himself. Nothing, however, has until now
been done with them. The volume came from the Harbord library at Gunton in
Norfolk, and was sold, with other old books, at the death of the fourth
Lord Suffield in 1853. Symonds bought it of an Oxford bookseller when he
was an undergraduate.
APPENDIX XX. BIBLIOGRAPHY
W. ARCHER: “The Elizabethan Stage” (Quarterly Review, No. 415, April,
1908).
R. BOYLE: Dictionary of National Biography: “Massinger.”
" Englische Studien (Heilbronn): “On Beaumont, Fletcher, and Massinger,”
v. 74, vii, 66, viii. 39, ix. 209, x. 383.
" New Shakespeare Society Transactions, part ii., 1880-85, xviii., pp.
371-399: “Massinger and The Two Noble Kinsmen.” (_Cf._ Discussion on March
9, 1883, p. 66.)
" New Shakespeare Society Transactions, 1880-86, xxi., pp. 443-488:
“Henry the Eighth.”
" New Shakespeare Society Transactions, 1886, xxvi., pp. 579-628.
A. C. BRADLEY: Oxford Lectures on Poetry: “Shakespeare the Man, and
Shakespeare’s Theatre and Audience.”
A. H. BULLEN: Dictionary of National Biography: “Fletcher.”
H. COLERIDGE: Preface to Massinger and Ford. 1840.
S. T. COLERIDGE: Lectures on Shakespeare and the Poets (T. Ashe, 1883),
pp. 403-407, 427, 432, 437, 534, 540.
W. T. COURTHOPE: History of English Poetry, vol. iv., pp. 348-369.
T. COXETER: The dramatic works of P. Massinger: 1761.
LIEUT.-COL. F. CUNNINGHAM: The plays of P. Massinger: Chatto and Windus:
1870.
DOWNES: Roscius Anglicanus.
EDINBURGH REVIEW, No. 23, 1808. (Review of Gifford’s edition.)
F. G. FLEAY: Biographical Chronicle of the English Drama.
" Chronicle History of the London Stage, 1559-1642.
F. G. FLEAY: Chronicle History of W. Shakespeare.
" New Shakespeare Society Transactions, 1874, vol. i., No. 2: “On
Metrical Tests as applied to Dramatic Poetry” (Fletcher, Beaumont,
Massinger.)
" Shakespeare Manual.
GARDINER: “The Political Element in Massinger.” (Contemporary Review,
August, 1876): reprinted in New Shakespeare Society Transactions, 1875,
No. xi., pp. 314-332. (_Cf._ also History of England, 1884, vol. vii., pp.
327 and 337)
GARNETT AND GOSSE: English Literature: an Illustrated Record. Heinemann.
GAYLEY AND BRANDER MATTHEWS: Representative English Comedies, vol. iii.
New York, 1914.
W. GIFFORD: 1805. Second edition, 1813.
W. W. GREG: Henslowe’s Diary, vol. ii., pp. 165, 171, 224. 1904-08.
" Henslowe Papers, pp. 66, 70, 74, 85. 1907.
" List of English Plays written before 1643 and printed before 1700.
Bibliographical Society, 1900.
HALLAM: Literature of Europe, part iii., chap. vi.
HAZLITT: Lectures on Elizabethan Literature, pp. 131-136.
E. KOEPPEL: Cambridge History of English Literature, vol. vi., chap, vi.:
“Massinger.”
" Quellen Studien zu den Dramen George Chapman’s, Philip Massinger’s,
und John Ford’s.
C. LAMB: Specimens of English Dramatic Poets.(590)
G. C. MACAULAY: Cambridge History of English Literature, vol. vi., chap.
v.: “Beaumont and Fletcher.”
J. MONCK MASON: Dramatic Works, 1779.
E. H. C. OLIPHANT: Englische Studien, xiv., xv., xvi.
" Modern Language Review, iii., 337-355; iv., 190-199, 342-351.
" Problems of Authorship in the Elizabethan Drama. Chicago, 1911.
J. PHELAN: Dissertation (Halle), 1878. This careful performance contains
information about Massinger’s family. (_Cf._, however, Furnivall’s Protest
in Anglia, ii., p. 504.)
J. M. ROBERTSON: The Baconian Heresy, chap. iii.
G. SAINTSBURY: Cambridge History of English Literature, vol. v., chap,
viii.: “Shakespeare.”
SCHELLING: Elizabethan Drama, 1908.
SHAKESPEARE’S ENGLAND: Oxford University Press, 1916.
L. STEPHEN: Hours in a Library, vol. ii.
A. C. SWINBURNE: Contemporaries of Shakespeare (Gosse and Wise).
" Fortnightly Review, July, 1889.
" Letters (Gosse and Wise), Nos. lxii. and lxxiii.
A. SYMONS: Mermaid Series, two volumes.
ASHLEY H. THORNDIKE: Tragedy. Constable, 1908.
L. WANN: Shakespeare Studies (University of Wisconsin), vii.: “The
Collaboration of Beaumont, Fletcher, and Massinger.”
SIR A. W. WARD: Cambridge History of English Literature, vol. v., chap.
xiv.
" History of English Dramatic Literature, especially vol. iii., pp. 1-47.
INDEX
A
AESCHYLUS, 149, 169
Alliteration in M., 121 _n._ 1, App. XVIII.
Aristophanes, 61, 70, 149
Aristotle, 27 _n._ 1, 28 _n._ 2, 75, 76, 110 _n._ 1, 140
Armada, 18
Aubrey, 5 _n._ 2
À Wood, A., 2, 6
B
_Bashful Lover, The_, 48, 50, 57, 58, 75, 98, 131, 147, 199
Beaumont, 21 _n._ 5, 25, 57, 59 _n._ 1, 70, 94, 99 _n._ 2, 110, 129 _n._ 1
Beethoven, 76
_Believe as You List_, 15, 54, 93, 140, App. VII., App. VIII.
Besant, Sir W., 7
Boccaccio, 9 _n._ 1, 11 _n._ 1, 76 _n._ 3
_Bondman, The_, 15, 24, 27, 31, 32 _n._ 1, 35, 36, 48, 61, 73, 75, 104,
108, 134, 145, 150
Boyle, 2 _n._ 3, 20, 21, 25, 55, 56, 62 _n._ 1, 70 _n._ 1, 88, 96, 97-104,
109, 122 _n._ 3, 129, 131, App. III., 198, 200
Bradley, A. C., 14, 26 _n._ 3, 28 _n._ 4, 65 _n._ 3, 80 _n._ 16
Bridges, R., 69 _n._ 1, 175
Brooke, R., 111, 159
Brooke, Tucker, 95-97
Browne, Sir T., 82, 119
Buckingham, Duke of, 16, 204
Bullen, A. H., 70, 95 _n._ 2, App. III., 178 _n._ 6, 201
Bunyan, 108 _n._ 1
C
Catalogue lines, 54, 91 _n._ 1
Cayet, 178 _n._ 6, 193
Cervantes, 5 _n._ 5, 203
Chapman, 15 _n._ 2, 66 _n._ 2, 117, 139, 202
Charles I., 7, 15
Cibber, Colley, 176, 181 _n._ 3
_City Madam, The_, 10, 11, 13, 31, 32 _n._ 1, 43, 53, 54, 55, 73, 113,
116, 133
Cokaine, Sir A., 22
Coleridge, S. T., 55, 64, 71, 76 _n._ 3
Collier, J., 24
Corneille, 43
Courthope, 96
Croker, T. Crofton, 175
Cunningham, F., 7 _n._ 1, 24, 133 _n._ 1, 182
D
Daborne, 2
Davies, 123
Dekker, 20, 44 _n._ 1, 123, 135 _n._ 2, 147, App. X., 199, 200
Diderot, 110 _n._ 1
Dostoevsky, 61
_Double Falsehood, The_, App. XV.
Downes, 24 _n._ 3
Dryden, 24, 116
Dublin MS., App. XVII.
_Duke of Milan, The_, 16, 31, 32 _n._ 1, 41, 52, 81, 82, 135, 145, 203
E
_Emperor of the East, The_, 17, 27, 28, 32 _n._ 1, 43 _n._ 2, 48, 51, 54,
72, 82, 101, 102, 108, 128, 146, 148, 149, 170
Euripides, 27, 32, 33, 75, 77, 110 _n._ 1, 169 _n._ 1
F
_Fair Penitent, The_, 137
_Fatal Dowry, The_, 8, 20, 28 _n._ 4, 36, 49, 53, 56 _n._ 2, 119, App:.
XI.
Field, 21, 138, App. XI.
Fielding, 63, 77
Fleay, F. G., 5 _n._ 5, 20, 33 _n._ 2, 56 _n._ 2, 57 _n._ 1, 159, 202
Fletcher, 3, 10, 19, 21 _n._ 1, 28, 59 _n._ 2, 66, 71, 84 _n._ 1, 91, 97,
98, 109, 123, 129, 130, 133, 135, 147, App. III., 170
Ford, 8, 13 _n._ 5, 13 _n._ 6, 33 _n._ 2, 59 _n._ 1, 62, 63 _n._ 3, 65
_n._ 3, 81, 120, 205 _n._ 2
G
Gardiner, 7
Garrick, 124 _n._ 4, 176
Gayley, 26 _n._ 4, 141 _n._ 1, 160
Georgian Poets, The, 61
Gibbon, 28
Gifford, 7 _n._ 1, 25, 176, App. IX., 198, 220
Goffe, 77 _n._ 3, 202
Gosse, E., App. XIX.
Gounod, 109 _n._ 1, 137 _n._ 3
_Great Duke of Florence, The_, 16 _n._ 1, 25, 47, 54, 102, 103, 150
Greene, 102 _n._ 5
Greg, W. W., 24 _n._ 2, 67 _n._ 2, 168
Grosart, 6 _n._ 1, 208
_Guardian, The_, 4, 12, 24, 27, 28, 49, 74, 120, 134, 148
H
Hallam, 70
Hazlitt, 25, 124 _n._ 4, 137 _n._ 3
_Henry VIII._, 11 _n._ 5, 20, 22, 71, 73 _n._ 1, 84-91, 128, 141 _n._ 1
Henslowe, 4, 177
Herbert, Sir H., 15
Heywood, 117
Homer, 169
Hroswitha, 124 _n._ 3
J
James I., 7
Johnson, S., 121 n. 2
Jonson, Ben, 6 _n._ 2, 12, 43 _n._ 2, 69 _n._ 4, 70, 72, 77 _n._ 3,
113-116, 118, 128, 133, 185 _n._ 1
K
Kean, 124 _n._ 4
Kemble, 124 _n._ 4
_Knacke to Know a Knave, A_, 208 _n._ 1
Koeppel, 28, 178 _n._ 6, 193
Kyd, 127
L
Lamb, C., 25, 33, 122 _n._ 3, 199
Langbaine, 2 _n._ 2, 34
Lee, Sir Sidney, 77 _n._ 2, 112
_Love Lost in the Dark_, 24
Lyly, 117
M
Macaulay, G. C., 21 _n._ 5, 65 _n._ 1, App. III.
_Maid of Honour, The_, 16, 18, 27, 28, 40, 74, 103, 132, 146
Malone, 15 _n._ 1, 15 _n._ 3, 24, 176
Marlowe, 29 _n._ 1, 110, 117, 150 _n._ 10
Marston, 62, 112 _n._ 1, 159
Massinger, Arthur, 1
Massinger, Philip: life, 2;
religion, 3;
knowledge of Spanish, 5 _n._ 5;
death, 7;
politics, 14;
stagecraft, 26;
style, 33;
versification, 55;
faults, 60;
imitation of Shakspere, 77;
introduction of doctors, 81;
method, 104;
favourite words, 106;
character, 118;
use of epithets, 120 _n._ 5;
use of assonances, 121 _n._ 1;
knowledge of Greek, App. II.;
a metrical peculiarity, App. VI.;
use of alliteration, App. XVIII.
Matthews, Brander, 25, 45, 64, 71, 123 _n._ 4, 142 _n._ 3, 160
Matthieu, P., 6 _n._ 2, App. XIV.
Middleton, 21, 28, 62, 65 _n._ 3, 124, 127, 141 _n._ 1, 147, 158, App.
XVI.
Milton, 32 _n._ 3, 51, 55, 69
Monck Mason, 25, 123, 134
Montgomery, Philip, Earl of Pembroke and, 5, 14
Mozart, 76, 88
N
_New Way to Pay Old Debts, A_, 12, 20, 25, 47 _n._ 3, 48, 52, 70, 108,
115, 122, 124, 142 _n._ 3
Nichol Smith, 77 _n._ 1
O
_Old Law, The_, 21, 141, 158
Oliphant, E. H. C., 59 _n._ 2, 162 _n._ 2
Ovid, 34, 105 _n._ 3, 151
P
_Parliament of Love, The_, 42, 50, 59, 60, 82, 83, 92, 139, 146, App. IX.
Peele, 142 _n._
Pembroke, second Earl of, 2
Pembroke, third Earl of, 6
Pepys, 24
Phelan, 137 _n._ 3, 203 _n._ 2
Philipps, Halliwell, 24 _n._ 2, 176
_Picture, The_, 8, 9, 29, 50, 54, 73, 74, 82, 111 _n._ 1, 140, 146
Plautus, 2, 67 _n._ 2, 104
_Powerful Favourite, The_, 6 _n._ 2, App. XIV.
_Prince of Tarent, The_, vide _A Very Woman_
Prynne, 65 _n._ 3
Puritans, 10, 45
R
_Renegado, The_, 3, 13, 24, 27, 31, 53, 65, 74, 75, 134, 145, 149
Repetition of words and phrases, 54, 197 _n._ 1
Richardson, 135
_Roman Actor, The_, 28, 33, 38, 52, 66, 72, 82, 116, 126, 137, 146
Rosenbach, 5 _n._ 5
Rowe, 56 _n._ 2, 137
Rowley, W., 21, 141 _n._ 1, 142, 168
S
Schelling, 5 _n._ 5, 65 _n._ 1
Schmidt, 43 _n._ 2, 171, 175
Scott, Sir W., 68
Sea scenes, 28
_Second Maiden’s Tragedy, The_, App. XIII.
_Sero sed Serio_, 5 _n._ 1
Shakspere, 3, 12 _n._ 3, 18, 20, 29, 32, 33 _n._ 1, 43 _n._ 1, 43 _n._ 2,
45,
49, 56 _n._ 2, 63, 69, 70, 72, 73, 77-80, 83, 85, 87, 90, 91, 98, 99,
101, 109, 113, 118, 121-123, 125, 128, 130, 135 _n._ 1, 137, 147, 153,
App. IV.
Shelley, 31
Shirley, 116, 126 _n._ 2, 147, 180 _n._ 1
Signorelli, Luca, 61
Simpson, P., 65 _n._ 3, 133 _n._ 1, 203 _n._ 2
_Sir J. V. O. Barnavelt_, 8, 9, 52, 139 _n._ 3, 177 _n._ 2, App. XII.
Sophocles, 150
Stephen, Sir Leslie, 45, 68, 76 _n._ 2, 76 _n._ 3, 132
Stevenson, 64
_Strangest Adventure, The_, 178
Subordinates combined, 29
Swinburne, 52, 151, 215
Sykes, Dugdale, 93, 94, 96
Symonds, J. A., 222
T
Taylor, J., 124 _n._ 2
Theobald, 204
Torture on stage, 28
Tourneur, 20, 55, 62, 157, 203
Turks, 9
_Two Noble Kinsmen, The_, 20, 22, 23 _n._ 1, 92-104
U
_Unnatural Combat, The_, 8, 28, 31, 54, 69, 138, App. XVIII.
V
_Very Woman, A_, 21, 42, 50, 81, 82, 84, 100, 102, 108, 129
Virgil, 127 _n._ 3
_Virgin Martyr_, _The_, 3, 18, 20, 24, 31, 32, 33, 46, 47 _n._ 3, 62, 72,
73, 81, 120, 123, 142, 149, App. X.
Vocabulary of M., 106
W
Warburton, 23, App. V.
Ward, Sir A., 25, 65 _n._ 1, 110
Warner, Sir G. F., 177
Weber, 21 _n._ 6
Webster, 5, 29 _n._ 2, 111-113, 159
_Wit and Fancy in a Maze_, 77 _n._ 3
Z
Zielinski, 50
FOOTNOTES
1 It is much to be wished that someone would essay the same task for
Beaumont and Fletcher, though there the work would be less easy,
partly from the looseness of the metres, partly from the corruption
of the text, but chiefly from the presence of prose-passages
bordering on verse.
2 A. à Wood’s _Fasti Oxonienses_, p. 313.
3 Herein he resembled F. Beaumont. G. Langbaine, on the other hand,
says that the Earl sent Massinger to Oxford, where he “closely
pursued his studies.” But we must be careful how we believe
Langbaine; his account of our poet begins thus: “This author was
born at Salisbury, in the reign of King Charles the First, being son
to Philip Massinger, a gentleman belonging to the Earl of
Montgomery.” Here are three gross blunders at once.
4 Boyle (_N. S. S._, xxi., p. 472) says that “Massinger’s inveterate
habit of repeating himself arose probably from his profession as an
actor.” I know of no evidence for this hypothesis. _Cf._, however,
p. 6, note 1.
_ 5 Cf._ Mommsen’s _History of Rome_, English translation, vol. ii., p.
440.
6 Thus in the play of _Lady Jane_, of which _The Famous History of Sir
T. Wyatt_ is a fragment, we find five authors concerned. It will be
remembered that Eupolis contributed to the _Knights_ of
Aristophanes.
7 For some account of Field see Appendix XI.
8 Daborne’s letters bulk large in the Henslowe Correspondence. We have
two plays of his: _A Christian turn’d Turke_, based on the story of
the pirate Ward; and _The Poor Man’s Comfort_, a tragi-comedy. Like
Marston, he abandoned the stage in middle life and took orders,
before 1618. It is therefore unlikely that he collaborated with
Massinger in any of the plays which we possess.
9 Such a reference to _Acta Sanctorum_ as is contained in these lines
might be made by an Anglican:
ANTONINUS. It may be, the duty
And loyal service, with which I pursued her,
And sealed it with my death, will be remember’d
Among her blessed _actions_.—_V. M._, IV., 3, 28.
More stress might be laid on the metaphor contained in these lines:
THEOPHILUS. O! mark it, therefore, and with that attention, As you
would hear an embassy from heaven, _By a wing’d legate_.—_V. M._,
V., 2, 103.
10 No doubt it required courage to present a Jesuit in this way so soon
after Gunpowder Plot; and the curious argument in _The Renegado_,
V., 1, 28-41, in favour of lay-baptism certainly shows a mind
interested in ecclesiastical problems.
_ 11 The Renegado_, I., 1, 24-32.
_ 12 Two Gentlemen of Verona_, V., 1.
13 Friar Paulo takes an important part in _The Maid of Honour_, ad
finem. Octavio, disguised as a priest, elicits Alonzo’s repentance
in _The Bashful Lover_, IV., 2. The same expedient occurs in _The
Emperor of the East_, V., 3, where Theodosius, disguised as a friar,
convinces himself of his wife’s innocence. Shakspere disguises the
Duke as a friar in _Measure for Measure_, II., 3, III., 1, 2, IV.,
1, 2, 3.
14 See the photograph at the beginning of the book. _Cf._ also Greg’s
Henslowe Papers, article 68. Fleay identifies the play referred to
in the document as _The Honest Man of Fortune_, acted in 1613. In
the first Dublin poem, after referring to the patronage which had
befriended Jonson and Fletcher, Massinger goes on thus:
“These are precedents
I cite with reverence; my low intents
Look not so high; yet some work I might frame
That should not wrong my duty, nor your name;
Were but your lordship pleased to cast an eye
Of favour on my trod-down poverty.”
_ 15 Cf._ W. W. Greg’s _Henslowe’s Diary_, vol. ii., pp. 110-147. Mr.
Greg points out (p. 113) that “there is no record of any
speculations of Henslowe’s own as far as the evidence of the Diary
is concerned. The accounts are company accounts”—_i.e._, of The Rose
and Fortune Theatres.
We have also at Dulwich a bond from R. Daborne and P. Massinger to
Philip Henslowe for payment of £3, dated July 4th, 1615. _Cf._
Greg’s Henslowe Papers, article 102.
16 Licensed March 4th, 1631.
17 Licensed May 6th, 1631.
18 See poem “Sero sed serio” (Cunningham, p. 628); _Picture_, II., 2,
37; _City Madam_, I., 2, 116; _Emperor of the East_, II., 1, 45.
_Cf._ _Catiline_; II, 1.
19 Aubrey, in his _Natural History of Wiltshire_ (ed. J. Britton, 1847,
p. 31), distinctly says that the poet had a pension of twenty or
thirty pounds per annum, which was “payed to his wife after his
decease.”
20 Younger brother of William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke.
21 The dedication begins thus: “However I could never arrive at the
happiness to be made known to your lordship,” etc.
22 No doubt he knew some foreign languages. His plays come from various
sources, French, Italian, and Spanish, some of which, however, had
been translated into English. _The Renegado_ is traceable to a
comedy of Cervantes, _Los Baños de Argel_, printed in 1615. _The
Emperor of the East_ is derived from a French translation of
Zonaras. If, which is doubtful, _The Duke of Milan_ owes anything to
Guicciardini, his history had appeared in an English translation by
Sir Geoffrey Fenton in 1579. Fleay has a curious theory that where
French scenes are found in Fletcher they are due to Massinger.
Much interesting information on the great debt which Fletcher and
other dramatists owed to Spanish literature will be found in F. E.
Schelling’s _Elizabethan Drama_, vol. ii., pp. 205-218 and 530.
Schelling comes to the conclusion that Fletcher did not know
Spanish; but he quotes an unpublished dictum of his friend Dr.
Rosenbach, who holds it as certain that Massinger knew Spanish. _The
Island Princess_ is based on a Spanish play, of which no translation
is known, _Conquista de las islas Malucas_, by De Argensola, 1609.
Rosenbach attributes the play to Massinger! It is clear, however,
that a translation may have been in circulation from which Fletcher
took his materials, or somebody may have seen the play acted in
Spain, and reported it to him. Further, _Love’s Cure_ is based on
the _Comedia de la Fuerza de la Costumbre_, by Guillen De Castro,
licensed at Valencia, February 7th, 1625, and published three months
later. Fletcher died in August, 1625, and Stiefel thinks that he
read Spanish, and that this is his last work. Rosenbach and Bullen
assign the play to Massinger (_cf._ Appendix III., No. 29). It is
highly desirable that the grounds which led Rosenbach to believe
that Massinger knew Spanish should be made public.
23 Lines 39-45 run thus:
Let them write well that do this, and in grace.
I would not for a pension or a place
Part so with over candour: let me rather
Live poorly on those toys I would not father;
Not known beyond a player or a man,
That does pursue the course that I have ran.
Ere so grow famous.
Lines 41-42 are interesting as seeming to hint that Massinger
preferred to waive publicity as to his collaboration with Fletcher
and others. The poem was published by A. B. Grosart in _Englische
Studien_, xxvi., pp. 1-7, and will be found with the original
spelling and punctuation in Appendix XVII.
_ 24 A. O._, ii., 654-656. A. à Wood includes in the list of Massinger’s
plays _Powerful Favourite, or the Life of Sejanus_. As Massinger was
but nineteen in 1603 he cannot have been the “happy genius” referred
to in the address “to the readers” of Ben Jonson’s play. For the
explanation of the mistaken attribution of _The Powerful Favourite_,
_cf._ Appendix XIV.
25 Gifford was right as to the date and Cunningham wrong. The entry in
question is as follows: “March 18th, 1639 [_i.e._, old style],
Philip Massenger, a stranger.” The entry about Fletcher runs thus:
“Aug. 29, 1625, John Ffletcher [sic], a man, in the church.” Entries
such as “a man,” “a boy,” “a girl” are not unusual in the book, and
the practice of burial “in the church” was comparatively common at
the time.
26 The stone inscribed with his name in the chancel of St. Saviour’s
does not mark the place of his burial, which is unknown.
27 By a charming if undesigned coincidence the Massinger window stands
next to that of Shakspere. It represents two scenes from _The Virgin
Martyr_, and, unfortunately, repeats the erroneous date (1639) of
the poet’s death, and gives 1583 as the year of his birth.
_ 28 Contemporary Review_, August, 1876.
29 II., 2, 140.
30 Intercourse with the Low Countries is referred to in the _New Way_
(I., 2, 75). The monastery to which Sir John Frugal retires is at
“Lovain” (_City Madam_, III., 2, 58). _Cf._ also for the University
of “Lovain” _The Elder Brother_, II., 1.
31 III., 1, 38. _Cf._ also Frank Wellborn’s petition, V., 1, _ad
finem_. Compare the part played in _Sir John Barnavelt_ by the
English mercenaries in Holland; and especially IV., 2.
ORANGE. I have sent patents out for the choicest companies
Hither to be remov’d, first Colonel Vere’s
From Dort, next Sir Charles Morgan’s, a stout Company.
IV., 3. BARNAVELT (_to his daughter_):
What! wouldst thou have a husband?
Go marry an English Captain, and he’ll teach thee
How to defy thy father and his fortune.
II., 1. BARNAVELT:
But have you tried by any means (it skills not
How much you promise) to win th’ old soldier
(The English Companies in chief I aim at)
To stand firm for us?
_ 32 Unnatural Combat_, I., 1, 243, 278; _Great Duke of Florence_, I.,
2, 62; II., 1, 145; _Picture_, I., 1, 3-5; _Guardian_, II., 1, 84;
V., 4, 160; _Very Woman_, V., 5, 28. _Cf._ in Marlowe,
_Tamburlaine_, Pt. I., III., 3; Pt. II., I., 2; _Jew of Malta_, I.,
1; II. 2. For a Christian pirate _cf._ _Decameron_, II. 4.
_ 33 Bondman_, IV., 3, 77; _Renegado_, IV., 1, 99-102; II., 6, 32.
_ 34 A Very Woman_, III., 1.
_ 35 Cf._ _The Unnatural Combat_ and _The Renegado_.
_ 36 Guardian_, II., 1, 84. Similarly in _The Bashful Lover_, V., 3,
110, Matilda warns Lorenzo that “Heaven’s liberal hand” has designed
him to fight rather against the Turk than a Christian
neighbour-king. Compare _The Devil’s Law-case_ (p. 138_b_).
ERCOLE. When our bloods
Embrac’d each other, then I pitied
That so much valour should be hazarded
On the fortune of a single rapier
And not spent against the Turk.
_ 37 Renegado_, II., 5, 24 and 64-73. Bertoldo, the Knight of Malta, is
the hero of _The Maid of Honour_. _Cf._ also Fletcher’s play of that
name; and _Guardian_, V., 4, 143-145.
_ 38 Unnatural Combat_, V., 2, 230. We find a similar emphasis on the
Turk and pirates in Webster’s _White Devil_ and_ Devil’s Law-case_.
39 The “zealous coblers” and “learned botchers” who preach at Amsterdam
are mentioned in _Renegado_, I., 1, 30-32. In _The Unnatural
Combat_, III., 1, 75, the “Hugonots” are referred to as using the
word “mortified.” “Geneva print” is mentioned in _Duke of Milan_,
I., 1, 11; “precisians” in _New Way_, I., 1, 6, use the word
“verity.”
_ 40 Fair Maid_, IV., 2.
_ 41 Very Woman_, III., 1, 124:
MERCHANT. They have a city, Sir—I have been in it.
And therefore dare affirm it—where if you saw
With what a load of vanity ’tis fraughted,
How like an everlasting morris-dance it looks,
Nothing but hobby-horse and Maid Marian,
You would start indeed.
_ 42 Old Law_, IV., 1, 20; _New Way_, III., 2, 169; _Very Woman_, III.,
5, 29 and 70; _Renegado_, I., 3, 74. _Cf._ _Decameron_, II. 5.
43 For the influence of the masque on Massinger, _cf._ _Picture_, II.,
2; _City Madam_, V., 3; _Guardian_, IV., 2.
_ 44 Cf._ the characters of Simonides in _The Old Law_ and young Novall
in _The Fatal Dowry_, II., 2; _Emperor of the East_, I., 2, 21;
_Picture_, II., 2, 29-36; _Very Woman_, III., 1, 131-2. Compare also
_Henry VIII._, I., 3.
_ 45 Renegado_, III., 1, 57; _Guardian_, II., 1, 81. _Cf._ _Merchant of
Venice_, I., 2, 78-81; _As You Like It_, IV., 1, 34-40.
46 The play ends thus:
Make you good
Your promised reformation, and instruct
Our city dames, whom wealth makes proud, to move
In their own spheres, and willingly to confess,
In their habits, manners, and their highest port,
A distance ’twixt the city and the court.
_Cf._ also _Maid of Honour_, III., 1, 84; _City Madam_, III., 2,
153; IV., 4, 43; _New Way_, II., 1, 81 and 88. In _The Renegado_,
I., 2, distinctions are drawn between the county ladies, the city
dames, and the court ladies of England. Compare also the epilogue to
_Henry VIII_:
Others, to hear the city
Abused extremely, and to cry “that’s witty.”
_Rape of Lucrece_, II., 1; II., 3; _The Devil is an Ass_, III., 1;
_Westward Ho!_ I., 1; “I tell thee, there is equality enough between
a lady and a city dame if their hair be but of a colour.” Ford
contrasts the ladies of the city and the court in _The Broken
Heart_, II., 1. In Dekker’s _Shoemaker’s Holiday_, I., 1, the Lord
Mayor says:
Too mean is my poor girl for his high birth,
Poor citizens must not with courtiers wed.
_Cf._ also _A Chaste Maid in Cheapside_, I., 1:
MAUDLIN. Besides, you have a presence, sweet Sir Walter,
Able to dance a maid brought up in the city;
A brave court-spirit makes our virgins quiver.
_Eastward Ho!_ deals with the same contrast. _Cf._ also the
Induction to _The Knight of the Burning Pestle_, and _ib._, IV., 5;
Induction to _Four Plays in One_.
_ 47 Renegado_, I., 3, 92-94; _City Madam_, I., 2, 34. _Cf._ _Henry
VIII._, V., 4; _Shoemaker’s Holiday_, V., 2; _The Honest Whore_, Pt.
I., III., 1; _Sir Thomas More_, II., 1.
_ 48 Parliament of Love_, IV., 5, 12; _New Way_, II., 1, 142. _Cf._
_Epicoene_, V., 1 _bis_; _Elder Brother_, IV., 3; _Honest Man’s
Fortune_, V., 3; _Thierry and Theodoret_, II., 3.
_ 49 Unnatural Combat_, III., 3, 35; IV., 2, 35; _Parliament of Love_,
IV., 5, 125, 126; _Bondman_, V., 3, 245-252; _Guardian_, III., 3, 8;
_City Madam_, IV., 1, 74; _Duke of Milan_, III., 2, 18. _Cf._ _1
Henry IV._, II., 2, 49; III., 1, 130; _2 Henry IV._, IV., 3, 52-54;
_Winter’s Tale_, IV., 3, 181-263; V., 2, 25-27; _Antony and
Cleopatra_, V., 2, 215; _Queen of Corinth_, III., 1; _Spanish
Curate_, IV., 7; _False One_, I., 1; _Elder Brother_, IV., 4; _The
White Devil_, p. 23b; _The Devil’s Law-case_, pp. 131_b_ and 143_b_;
_Love’s Sacrifice_, III., 1; IV., 1; _The Honest Whore_, Pt. I, I.,
1; _Bartholomew Fair_, Induction; II., 1; and III., 1; _Rape of
Lucrece_, II., 1; _Edward II._, II., 2; _Orlando Furioso_, IV., 1;
_George a Greene_, IV., 2; _Parliament of Bees_, ch. v.
_ 50 Renegado_, II., 4, 1. _Cf._ _Much Ado about Nothing_, V.,1,
295-297; _A King and No King_, I., 2; IV., 2; _Four Plays in One_;
_Triumph of Love_, 4; _Little French Lawyer_, III., 2; _The False
One_, III., 2; IV., 3; _Lover’s Progress_, I., 1; III., 4; V., 3;
_Cupid’s Revenge_, II., 4; _James IV._, 1, 2.
_ 51 New Way_, especially II., 1; for the difficulty of getting justice
done for the poor, _cf._ _Unnatural Combat_, I., 1; _Fatal Dowry_,
I., 1, especially lines 67-80.
52 II.; 4, 79-106. The reference to the mills is as follows:
Builders of iron mills, that grub up forests
With timber trees for shipping.
_Cf._ _Volpone_, I., 1, 33-36.
53 I., 1, 290-340.
_ 54 E.g._, in _The New Way_ and _The Guardian_.
_ 55 City Madam._
56 Thus Ford, in an interesting passage in _Love’s Sacrifice_, I., 1,
refers to the national love of self-depreciation among the English.
_Cf._ also _Rape of Lucrece_, III., 5.
57 I., 2, 22-49. _Cf._ also _Very Woman_, III., 1, 133-135; and
Webster’s _Westward Ho!_ I., 1, and III., 3.
_ 58 Cf._ _The Honest Whore_, Pt. II., IV., 1:
MATHEO. England is the only hell for horses, and only paradise for
women. Also Lamira’s words in _The Honest Man’s Fortune_, III., 3.
_ 59 Cf._ _Duke of Milan_, _Picture_, and _Roman Actor_. The Duke of
“Pavy” in Ford’s _Love’s Sacrifice_ is a slighter sketch of the same
type. The worthlessness of Bianca in the same play is a measure of
the moral gap between Massinger and Ford.
_ 60 Renegado_, IV., 2, 116-143.
61 Oxford Lectures on Poetry, pp. 363-365. _Cf._ also pp. 392-3.
_ 62 Cf._ op. cit., p. 381. _Cf._ Prologue to _Henry VIII._, line 13;
Prologue to _Romeo and Juliet_, line 12, and Chorus to Act I. in
_The Mayor of Queensborough_.
If all my powers
Can win the grace of two poor hours,
Well apaid I go to rest.
Also Prologues to _Two Noble Kinsmen_, lines 28, 29; _Alchemist_,
line 1; _Love’s Pilgrimage_, line 8; _Lover’s Progress_, line 18
(“_three_ short hours”); and Shirley’s Preface to the Folio of
Beaumont and Fletcher.