----His losses
That have of late so huddled on his back,
Enough to press a royal merchant down.
We are not to imagine the word royal to be a random sounding epithet.
It is used with great propriety by the poet, and designed to shew him
well acquainted with the history of the people, whom he here brings
upon the stage. For when the French and Venetians in the beginning of
the thirteenth century, had won Constantinople, the French under the
Emperor Henry endeavoured to extend their conquests, in the provinces
of the Grecian empire on the Terra firma, while the Venetians being
masters of the sea, gave liberty to any subject of the Republic, who
would fit out vessels to make themselves masters of the isles of the
Archipelago and other maritime places, to enjoy their conquests in
sovereignty, only doing homage to the Republic for their several
principalities. In pursuance of this licence the Sanudo's, the
Justiniani, the Grimaldi, the Summaripa's, and others, all Venetian
merchants, erected principalities in the several places of the
Archipelago, and thereby became truly, and properly Royal Merchants.
But there are several places which one cannot forbear thinking a
translation from classic writers.
In the Tempest Act V. Scene II. Prospero says,
--------I have------
Called forth the mutinous winds
And 'twixt the green sea, and the azured vault
Set roaring war; to the dread ratling thunder,
Have I given fire, and rifted Jove's stout oak,
With his own bolt; the strong bas'd promontory,
Have I made shake, and by the spurs pluckt up
The pine and cedar; graves at my command
Have waked their sleepers, op'd and let them forth
By my so potent art.
So Medea in Ovid's Metamorphoses,
Stantia concutio cantu freta; nubila pello,
Nubilaque induco, ventos abigoque, vocoque;
Vivaque faxa sua convulsaque robora terra
Et sylvas moveo; jubeoque tremiscere montes,
Et mugire solum, manesque exire sepulchris.
But to return to the incidents of his life: Upon his quitting the
grammar school, he seems, to have entirely devoted himself to that way
of living which his father proposed, and in order to settle in the
world after a family manner, thought fit to marry while he was yet
very young. His wife was the daughter of one Hatchway, said to have
been a substantial Yeoman in the neighbourhood of Stratford. In this
kind of domestic obscurity he continued for some time, till by an
unhappy instance of misconduct, he was obliged to quit the place of
his nativity, and take shelter in London, which luckily proved the
occasion of displaying one of the greatest genius's that ever was
known in dramatic poetry. He had the misfortune to fall into ill
company: Among these were some who made a frequent practice of
Deer-stealing, and who engaged him more than once in robbing a park
that belonged to Sir Thomas Lucy of Charlecot near Stratford; for
which he was prosecuted by that gentleman, as he thought somewhat too
severely; and in order to revenge himself of this supposed ill usage,
he made a ballad upon him; and tho' this, probably the first essay of
his poetry, be lost, yet it is said to have been so very bitter, that
it redoubled the prosecution against him to that degree, that he was
obliged to leave his business and family for some time, and shelter
himself in London. This Sir Thomas Lucy, was, it is said, afterwards
ridiculed by Shakespear, under the well known character of Justice
Shallow.
It is at this time, and upon this accident, that he is said to have
made his first acquaintance in the playhouse. Here I cannot forbear
relating a story which Sir William Davenant told Mr. Betterton, who
communicated it to Mr. Rowe; Rowe told it Mr. Pope, and Mr. Pope told
it to Dr. Newton, the late editor of Milton, and from a gentleman, who
heard it from him, 'tis here related.
Concerning Shakespear's first appearance in the playhouse. When he
came to London, he was without money and friends, and being a
stranger he knew not to whom to apply, nor by what means to support
himself.----At that time coaches not being in use, and as gentlemen
were accustomed to ride to the playhouse, Shakespear, driven to the
last necessity, went to the playhouse door, and pick'd up a little
money by taking care of the gentlemens horses who came to the play; he
became eminent even in that profession, and was taken notice of for
his diligence and skill in it; he had soon more business than he
himself could manage, and at last hired boys under him, who were known
by the name of Shakespear's boys: Some of the players accidentally
conversing with him, found him so acute, and master of so fine a
conversation, that struck therewith, they and recommended him to the
house, in which he was first admitted in a very low station, but he
did not long remain so, for he soon distinguished himself, if not
as an extraordinary actor, at least as a fine writer. His name is
painted, as the custom was in those times, amongst those of the other
players, before some old plays, but without any particular account of
what sort of parts he used to play: and Mr. Rowe says, "that tho' he
very carefully enquired, he found the top of his performance was the
ghost in his own Hamlet." "I should have been much more pleased,"
continues Rowe, "to have learned from some certain authority which was
the first play he writ; it would be without doubt, a pleasure to any
man curious in things of this kind, to see and know what was the first
essay of a fancy like Shakespear's." The highest date which Rowe has
been able to trace, is Romeo and Juliet, in 1597, when the author was
thirty-three years old; and Richard II and III the next year, viz. the
thirty-fourth of his age. Tho' the order of time in which his several
pieces were written be generally uncertain, yet there are passages in
some few of them, that seem to fix their dates. So the chorus at the
end of the fourth act of Henry V by a compliment very handsomely
turned to the Earl of Essex, shews the play to have been written when
that Lord was general to the queen in Ireland; and his eulogium upon
Queen Elizabeth, and her successor King James in the latter end of his
Henry VIII is a proof of that play's being written after the accession
of the latter of these two princes to the throne of England. Whatever
the particular times of his writing were, the people of the age he
lived in, who began to grow wonderfully fond of diversions of this
kind, could not but be highly pleased to see a genius arise amongst
them, of so pleasurable, so rich a vein, and and so plentifully
capable of furnishing their favourite entertainments. Besides the
advantage which Shakespear had over all men in the article of wit, he
was of a sweet, gentle, amiable disposition, and was a most agreeable
companion; so that he became dear to all that knew him, both as a
friend and as a poet, and by that means was introduced to the best
company, and held conversation with the finest characters of his time.
Queen Elizabeth had several of his plays acted before her, and that
princess was too quick a discerner, and rewarder of merit, to suffer
that of Shakespear to be neglected. It is that maiden princess plainly
whom he intends by
----A fair vestal, throned by the West.
Midsummer night dream.
And in the same play he gives us a poetical and lively representation
of the Queen of Scots, and the fate she met with,
----Thou rememb'rest
Since once I sat upon a promontory,
And heard a sea-maid on a dolphin's back,
Uttering such dulcet and harmonious breath,
That the rude sea grew civil at her song,
And certain stars shot madly from their spheres,
To hear the sea-maid's music.
Queen Elizabeth was so well pleased with the admirable character of
Falstaff in the two parts of Henry IV. that she commanded him to
continue it in one play more, and to make him in love. This is said to
have been the occasion of his writing the Merry Wives of Windsor. How
well she was obeyed, the play itself is a proof; and here I cannot
help observing, that a poet seldom succeeds in any subject assigned
him, so well as that which is his own choice, and where he has the
liberty of selecting: Nothing is more certain than that Shakespear
has failed in the Merry Wives of Windsor. And tho' that comedy is not
without merit, yet it falls short of his other plays in which Falstaff
is introduced, and that Knight is not half so witty in the Merry Wives
of Windsor as in Henry IV. The humour is scarcely natural, and does
not excite to laughter so much as the other. It appears by the
epilogue to Henry IV. that the part of Falstaff was written originally
under the name of Oldcastle. Some of that family being then remaining,
the Queen was pleased to command him to alter it, upon which he made
use of the name of Falstaff. The first offence was indeed avoided, but
I am not sure whether the author might not be somewhat to blame in his
second choice, since it is certain, that Sir John Falstaff who was
a knight of the garter, and a lieutenant-general, was a name of
distinguished merit in the wars with France, in Henry V. and Henry
VIth's time.
Shakespear, besides the Queen's bounty, was patronized by the Earl of
Southampton, famous in the history of that time for his friendship to
the unfortunate Earl of Essex. It was to that nobleman he dedicated
his poem of Venus and Adonis, and it is reported, that his lordship
gave our author a thousand pounds to enable him to go through with a
purchase he heard he had a mind to make. A bounty at that time very
considerable, as money then was valued: there are few instances of
such liberality in our times.
There is no certain account when Shakespear quitted the stage for a
private life. Some have thought that Spenser's Thalia in the Tears of
the Muses, where she laments the loss of her Willy in the comic scene,
relates to our poet's abandoning the stage. But it is well known that
Spenser himself died in the year 1598, and five years after this we
find Shakespear's name amongst the actors in Ben Johnson's Sejanus,
which first made its appearance in the year 1603, nor could he then
have any thoughts of retiring, since that very year, a license by King
James the first was granted to him, with Burbage, Philipps, Hemmings,
Condel, &c. to exercise the art of playing comedies, tragedies, &c.
as well at their usual house called the Globe on the other side the
water, as in any other parts of the kingdom, during his Majesty's
pleasure. This license is printed in Rymer's Fædera; besides it is
certain, Shakespear did not write Macbeth till after the accession of
James I. which he did as a compliment to him, as he there embraces the
doctrine of witches, of which his Majesty was so fond that he wrote a
book called Dæmonalogy, in defence of their existence; and likewise
at that time began to touch for the Evil, which Shakespear has taken
notice of, and paid him a fine turned compliment. So that what Spenser
there says, if it relates at all to Shakespear, must hint at some
occasional recess which he made for a time.
What particular friendships he contracted with private men, we cannot
at this time know, more than that every one who had a true taste for
merit, and could distinguish men, had generally a just value and
esteem for him. His exceeding candour and good nature must certainly
have inclined all the gentler part of the world to love him, as the
power of his wit obliged the men of the most refined knowledge and
polite learning to admire him. His acquaintance with Ben Johnson began
with a remarkable piece of humanity and good nature: Mr. Johnson, who
was at that time altogether unknown to the world, had offered one of
his plays to the stage, in order to have it acted, and the person into
whose hands it was put, after having turned it carelessly over, was
just upon returning it to him with an ill-natured answer, that it
would be of no service to their company, when Shakespeare luckily cast
his eye upon it, and found something so well in it, as to engage him
first to read it through, and afterwards to recommend Mr. Johnson and
his writings to the public.
The latter part of our author's life was spent in ease and retirement,
he had the good fortune to gather an estate, equal to his wants, and
in that to his wish, and is said to have spent some years before
his death in his native Stratford. His pleasant wit and good nature
engaged him in the acquaintance, and entitled him to the friendship,
of the gentlemen of the neighbourhood. It is still remembered in that
county, that he had a particular intimacy with one Mr. Combe, an old
gentleman, noted thereabouts for his wealth and usury. It happened
that in a pleasant conversation amongst their common friends, Mr.
Combe merrily told Shakespear, that he fancied he intended to write
his epitaph, if he happened to out-live him; and since he could not
know what might be said of him when dead, he desired it might be done
immediately; upon which Shakespear gave him these lines.
Ten in the hundred lyes here engraved,
'Tis a hundred to ten his soul is not saved:
If any man asketh who lies in this tomb?
Oh! oh! quoth the Devil, 'tis my John-a-Combe.
But the sharpness of the satire is said to have stung the man so
severely, that he never forgave it.
Shakespear died in the fifty-third year of his age, and was buried on
the North side of the chancel in the great church at Stratford, where
a monument is placed on the wall. The following is the inscription on
his grave-stone.
Good friend, for Jesus sake forbear,
To dig the dust inclosed here.
Blest be the man that spares these stones,
And curs'd be he that moves my bones.
He had three daughters, of whom two lived to be married; Judith the
elder to Mr. Thomas Quincy, by whom she had three sons, who all died
without children, and Susannah, who was his favourite, to Dr. John
Hall, a physician of good reputation in that county. She left one
child, a daughter, who was married to Thomas Nash, Esq; and afterwards
to Sir John Bernard, of Abington, but deceased likewise without issue.
His dramatic writings were first published together in folio 1623 by
some of the actors of the different companies they had been acted in,
and perhaps by other servants of the theatre into whose hands copies
might have fallen, and since republished by Mr. Rowe, Mr. Pope, Mr.
Theobald, Sir Thomas Hanmer, and Mr. Warburton.
Ben Johnson in his discoveries has made a sort of essay towards the
character of Shakespear. I shall present it the reader in his own
words,
'I remember the players have often mentioned it as an honour to
Shakespear, that in writing he never blotted out a line. My answer
hath been, would he had blotted out a thousand! which they thought
a malevolent speech. I had not told posterity this, but for their
ignorance, who chuse that circumstance to commend their friend by,
wherein he most faulted; and to justify my own character (for I lov'd
the man, and do honour to his memory, on this side idolatry, as much
as any). He was indeed honest, and of an open free nature, had an
excellent fancy, brave notions, and gentle expressions, wherein he
flowed with that facility, that sometimes it was necessary he should
be stopp'd. His wit was in his own power: would the rule of it had
been so. Many times he fell into those things which could not escape
laughter, as when he said in the person of Cæsar, one speaking to
him, "Cæsar thou dost me wrong."
He replied, "Cæsar did never wrong, but with just cause;"
'And such like, which were ridiculous; but he redeemed his vices with
his virtues; there was ever more in them to be praised, than to be
pardoned.' Ben in his conversation with Mr. Drumond of Hawthornden,
said, that Shakespear wanted art, and sometimes sense. The truth is,
Ben was himself a better critic than poet, and though he was ready at
discovering the faults of Shakespear, yet he was not master of such a
genius, as to rise to his excellencies; and great as Johnson was, he
appears not a little tinctured with envy. Notwithstanding the defects
of Shakespear, he is justly elevated above all other dramatic writers.
If ever any author deserved the name of original (says Pope) it was
he: [1] 'His poetry was inspiration indeed; he is not so much an
imitator, as instrument of nature; and it is not so just to say of
him that he speaks from her, as that she speaks through him. His
characters are so much nature herself, that it is a sort of injury to
call them by so distant a name as copies of her. The power over our
passions was likewise never possessed in so eminent a degree, or
displayed in so many different instances, nor was he more a matter of
the great, than of the ridiculous in human nature, nor only excelled
in the passions, since he was full as admirable in the coolness of
reflection and reasoning: His sentiments are not only in general the
most pertinent and judicious upon every subject, but by a talent very
peculiar, something between penetration and felicity, he hits upon
that particular point, on which the bent of each argument, or the
force of each motive depends.'
Our author's plays are to be distinguished only into Comedies and
Tragedies. Those which are called Histories, and even some of his
Comedies, are really Tragedies, with a mixture of Comedy amongst them.
That way of Tragi-comedy was the common mistake of that age, and is
indeed become so agreeable to the English taste, that though the
severer critics among us cannot bear it, yet the generality of our
audiences seem better pleased with it than an exact Tragedy. There is
certainly a great deal of entertainment in his comic humours, and a
pleasing and well distinguished variety in those characters he thought
fit to exhibit with. His images are indeed every where so lively, that
the thing he would represent stands full before you, and you possess
every part of it; of which this instance is astonishing: it is an
image of patience. Speaking of a maid in love, he says,
------She never told her love,
But let concealment, like a worm i'th'bud,
Feed on her damask cheek: She pin'd in thought,
And sat like patience on a monument.
Smiling at grief.
But what is characteristically the talent of Shakespear, and which
perhaps is the most excellent part of the drama, is the manners of his
persons, in acting and in speaking what is proper for them, and fit
to be shewn by the Poet, in making an apparent difference between his
characters, and marking every one in the strongest manner.
Poets who have not a little succeeded in writing for the stage, have
yet fallen short of their great original in the general power of the
drama; none ever found so ready a road to the heart; his tender scenes
are inexpressibly moving, and such as are meant to raise terror, are
no less alarming; but then Shakespeare does not much shine when he is
considered by particular passages; he sometimes debases the noblest
images in nature by expressions which are too vulgar for poetry. The
ingenious author of the Rambler has observed, that in the invocation
of Macbeth, before he proceeds to the murder of Duncan, when he thus
expresses himself,
---------Come thick night
And veil thee, in the dunnest smoke of hell,
Nor heaven peep thro' the blanket of the dark,
To cry hold, hold.
That the words dunnest and blanket, which are so common in vulgar
mouths, destroy in some manner the grandeur of the image, and were two
words of a higher signification, and removed above common use, put
in their place, I may challenge poetry itself to furnish an image
so noble. Poets of an inferior class, when considered by particular
passages, are excellent, but then their ideas are not so great, their
drama is not so striking, and it is plain enough that they possess not
souls so elevated as Shakespeare's. What can be more beautiful than
the flowing enchantments of Rowe; the delicate and tender touches of
Otway and Southern, or the melting enthusiasm of Lee and Dryden,
but yet none of their pieces have affected the human heart like
Shakespeare's.
But I cannot conclude the character of Shakespeare, without taking
notice, that besides the suffrage of almost all wits since his time in
his favour, he is particularly happy in that of Dryden, who had read
and studied him clearly, sometimes borrowed from him, and well knew
where his strength lay. In his Prologue to the Tempest altered, he has
the following lines;
Shakespear, who taught by none, did first impart,
To Fletcher wit, to lab'ring Johnson, art.
He, monarch-like gave there his subjects law,
And is that nature which they paint and draw;
Fletcher reached that, which on his heights did grow,
While Johnson crept, and gathered all below:
This did his love, and this his mirth digest,
One imitates him most, the other best.
If they have since outwrit all other men,
'Tis from the drops which fell from Shakespear's pen.
The storm[2] which vanished on the neighb'ring shore
Was taught by Shakespear's Tempest first to roar.
That innocence and beauty which did smile
In Fletcher, grew in this Inchanted Isle.
But Shakespear's magic could not copied be,
Within that circle none durst walk but he.
The plays of this great author, which are forty-three in number, are
as follows,
1. The Tempest, a Comedy acted in the Black Fryars with applause.
2. The Two Gentlemen of Verona, a Comedy writ at the command of Queen
Elizabeth.
3. The first and second part of King Henry IV the character of
Falstaff in these plays is justly esteemed a master-piece; in the
second part is the coronation of King Henry V. These are founded upon
English Chronicles.
4. The Merry Wives of Windsor, a Comedy, written at the command of
Queen Elizabeth.
5. Measure for Measure, a Comedy; the plot of this play is taken from
Cynthio Ciralni.
6. The Comedy of Errors, founded upon Plautus's Mænechmi.
7. Much Ado About Nothing, a Comedy; for the plot see Ariosto's
Orlando Furioso.
8. Love's Labour Lost, a Comedy.
9. Midsummer's Night's Dream, a Comedy.
10. The Merchant of Venice, a Tragi-Comedy.
11. As you Like it, a Comedy.
12. The Taming of a Shrew, a Comedy.
13. All's Well that Ends Well.
14. The Twelfth-Night, or What you Will, a Comedy. In this play
there is something singularly ridiculous in the fantastical steward
Malvolio; part of the plot taken from Plautus's Mænechmi.
15. The Winter's Tale, a Tragi-Comedy; for the plot of this play
consult Dorastus and Faunia.
16. The Life and Death of King John, an historical play.
17. The Life and Death of King Richard II. a Tragedy.
18. The Life of King Henry V. an historical play.
19. The First Part of King Henry VI. an historical play.
20. The Second Part of King Henry VI. with the death of the good Duke
Humphrey.
21. The Third Part of King Henry VI. with the death of the Duke of
York. These plays contain the whole reign of this monarch.
22. The Life and Death of Richard III. with the landing of the Earl of
Richmond, and the battle of Bosworth field. In this part Mr. Garrick
was first distinguished.
23. The famous history of the Life of King Henry VIII.
24. Troilus and Cressida, a Tragedy; the plot from Chaucer.
25. Coriolanus, a Tragedy; the story from the Roman History.
26. Titus Andronicus, a Tragedy.
27. Romeo and Juliet, a Tragedy; the plot from Bandello's Novels. This
is perhaps one of the most affecting plays of Shakespear: it was not
long since acted fourteen nights together at both houses, at the same
time, and it was a few years before revived and acted twelve nights
with applause at the little theatre in the Hay market.
28. Timon of Athens, a Tragedy; the plot from Lucian's Dialogues.
29. Julius Cæsar, a Tragedy.
30. The Tragedy of Macbeth; the plot from Buchanan, and other Scotch
writers.
31. Hamlet Prince of Denmark, a Tragedy.
32. King Lear, a Tragedy; for the plot see Leland, Monmouth.
33. Othello the Moor of Venice, a Tragedy; the plot from Cynthio's
Novels.
34. Anthony and Cleopatra; the story from Plutarch.
35. Cymbeline, a Tragedy; the plot from Boccace's Novels.
36. Pericles Prince of Tyre, an historical play.
37. The London Prodigal, a Comedy.
38. The Life and Death of Thomas Lord Cromwell, the favourite of King
Henry VIII.
39. The History of Sir John Oldcastle, the good Lord Cobham, a
Tragedy. See Fox's Book of Martyrs.
40. The Puritan, or the Widow of Watling-street, a Comedy.
41. A Yorkshire Tragedy; this is rather an Interlude than a Tragedy,
being very short, and not divided into Acts.
42. The Tragedy of Locrine, the eldest son of King Brutus. See the
story in Milton's History of England.
Our age, which demonstrates its taste in nothing so truly and justly
as in the admiration it pays to the works of Shakespear, has had the
honour of raising a monument for him in Westminster Abbey; to effect
which, the Tragedy of Julius Cæsar was acted at the Theatre Royal in
Drury Lane, April 28, 1738, and the profits arising from it deposited
in the hands of the earl of Burlington, Mr. Pope, Dr. Mead, and
others, in order to be laid out upon the said monument. A new Prologue
and Epilogue were spoken on that occasion; the Prologue was written by
Benjamin Martyn esquire; the Epilogue by the hon. James Noel esquire,
and spoke by Mrs. Porter. On Shakespear's monument there is a noble
epitaph, taken from his own Tempest, and is excellently appropriated
to him; with this let us close his life, only with this observation,
that his works will never be forgot, 'till that epitaph is
fulfilled.--When
The cloud capt towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself
And all which it inherit shall dissolve,
And like the baseless fabric of a vision
Leave not a wreck behind.
[Footnote 1: Preface to Shakespear]
[Footnote 2: Alluding to the sea voyage of Fletcher.]
* * * * *
JOSHUA SYLVESTER,
The translator of the famous Du Bartas's Weeks and Works; was
cotemporary with George Chapman, and flourished in the end of
Elizabeth and King James's reign; he was called by the poets in his
time, the silver-tongu'd Sylvester, but it is doubtful whether he
received any academical education. In his early years he is reported
to have been a merchant adventurer.[1] Queen Elizabeth is said to have
had a respect for him, her successor still a greater, and Prince Henry
greater than his father; the prince so valued our bard, that he made
him his first Poet-Pensioner. He was not more celebrated for his
poetry, than his extraordinary private virtues, his sobriety and
sincere attachment to the duties of religion. He was also remarkable
for his fortitude and resolution in combating adversity: we are
further told that he was perfectly acquainted with the French,
Italian, Latin, Dutch and Spanish languages. And it is related of him,
that by endeavouring to correct the vices of the times with too much
asperity, he exposed himself to the resentment of those in power, who
signified their displeasure, to the mortification and trouble of the
author. Our poet gained more reputation by the translation of Du
Bartas, than by any of his own compositions. Besides his Weeks and
Works, he translated several other productions of that author, namely,
Eden[2], the Deceit, the Furies, the Handicrafts, the Ark, Babylon,
the Colonies, the Columns, the Fathers, Jonas, Urania, Triumph of
Faith, Miracle of Peace, the Vocation, the Daw; the Captains, the
Trophies, the Magnificence, &c. also a Paradox of Odes de la Nove,
Baron of Teligni with the Quadrians of Pibeac; all which translations
were generally well received; but for his own works, which were bound
up with them, they received not, says Winstanley, so general an
approbation, as may be seen by these verses:
We know thou dost well,
As a translator
But where things require
A genius and fire,
Not kindled before by others pains,
As often thou hast wanted brains.
In the year 1618 this author died at Middleburgh in Zealand, aged 55
years, and had the following epitaph made on him by his great admirer
John Vicars beforementioned, but we do not find that it was put upon
his tomb-stone.
Here lies (death's too rich prize) the corpse interr'd
Of Joshua Sylvester Du Bartas Pier;
A man of arts best parts, to God, man, dear;
In foremost rank of poets best preferr'd.
[Footnote 1: Athenæ Oxon. p. 594.]
[Footnote 2: Winstanley, Lives of the Poets, p. 109.]
* * * * *
SAMUEL DANIEL
Was the son of a music master, and born near Taunton in Somersetshire,
in the year 1562. In 1579 he was admitted a commoner in Magdalen Hall
in Oxford, where he remained about three years, and by the assistance
of an excellent tutor, made a very great proficiency in academical
learning; but his genius inclining him more to studies of a gayer and
softer kind, he quitted the University, and applied himself to history
and poetry. His own merit, added to the recommendation of his brother
in law, (John Florio, so well known for his Italian Dictionary)
procured him the patronage of Queen Anne, the consort of King James I.
who was pleased to confer on him the honour of being one of the Grooms
of the Privy-Chamber, which enabled him to rent a house near London,
where privately he composed many of his dramatic pieces. He was tutor
to Lady Ann Clifford, and on the death of the great Spenser, he was
appointed Poet Laureat to Queen Elizabeth. Towards the end of his life
he retired to a farm which he had at Beckington near Philips Norton
in Somersetshire, where after some time spent in the service of the
Muses, and in religious contemplation, he died in the year 1619. He
left no issue by his wife Justina, to whom he was married several
years. Wood says, that in the wall over his grave there is this
inscription;
Here lies expecting the second coming of our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the dead body
of Samuel Daniel esquire, that excellent poet
and historian, who was tutor to Lady Ann
Clifford in her youth, she that was daughter
and heir to George Clifford earl of Cumberland;
who in gratitude to him erected this monument
to his memory a long time after, when she was
Countess Dowager of Pembroke, Dorset and
Montgomery. He died in October, Anno 1619.
Mr. Daniel's poetical works, consisting of dramatic and other pieces,
are as follow;
1. The Complaint of Rosamond.
2. A Letter from Octavia to Marcus Antonius, 8vo. 1611.
These two pieces resemble each other, both in subject and stile, being
written in the Ovidian manner, with great tenderness and variety of
passion. The measure is Stanzas of seven lines. Let the following
specimen shew the harmony and delicacy of his numbers, where he makes
Rosamond speak of beauty in as expressive a manner as description can
reach.
Ah! beauty Syren, fair inchanting good,
Sweet silent rhetoric of persuading eyes;
Dumb eloquence whose power doth move the blood,
More than the words or wisdom of the wife;
Still harmony whose diapason lies, Within a brow; the key
which passions move,
To ravish sense, and play a world in love.
3. Hymen's Triumph, a Pastoral Tragi-Comedy presented at the Queen's
Court in the Strand, at her Majesty's entertainment of the King, at
the nuptials of lord Roxborough, London, 1623, 4to. It is introduced
by a pretty contrived Prologue by way of dialogue, in which Hymen
is opposed by avarice, envy and jealousy; in this piece our author
sometimes touches the passions with a very delicate hand.
4. The Queen's Arcadia, a Pastoral Tragi-Comedy, presented before her
Majesty by the university of Oxford, London 1623, 4to.
5. The Vision of the Twelve Goddesses, presented in a Masque the 8th
of January at Hampton-Court, by the Queen's most excellent Majesty and
her Ladies. London 1604, 8vo. and 1623, 4to. It is dedicated to the
Lady Lucy, countess of Bedford. His design under the shapes, and in
the persons of the Twelve Goddesses, was to shadow out the blessings
which the nation enjoyed, under the peaceful reign of King James I. By
Juno was represented Power; by Pallas Wisdom and Defence; by Venus,
Love and Amity; by Vesta, Religion; by Diana, Chastity; by Proserpine,
Riches; by Macaria, Felicity; by Concordia, the Union of Hearts;
by Astræa, Justice; by Flora, the Beauties of the Earth; by Ceres,
Plenty; and by Tathys, Naval Power.
6. The Tragedy of Philotas, 1611, 8vo. it is dedicated to the Prince,
afterwards King Charles I.
This play met with some opposition, because it was reported that the
character of Philotas was drawn for the unfortunate earl of Essex,
which obliged the author to vindicate himself from this charge, in an
apology printed at the end of the play; both this play, and that of
Cleopatra, are written after the manner of the ancients, with a chorus
between each act.
7. The History of the Civil Wars between the Houses of York and
Lancaster, a Poem in eight books, London, 1604, in 8vo. and 1623, 4to.
with his picture before it.
8. A Funeral Poem on the Death of the Earl of Devonshire, London,
1603, 4to.
9. A Panegyric Congratulatory, delivered to the King at
Burleigh-Harrington in Rutlandshire, 1604 and 1623, 4to.
10. Epistles to various great Personages in Verse, London, 1601 and
1623, 4to.
11. The Passion of a Distressed Man, who being on a tempest on the
sea, and having in his boat two women (of whom he loved the one who
disdained him, and scorned the other who loved him) was, by command of
Neptune, to cast out one of them to appease the rage of the tempest,
but which was referred to his own choice. If the reader is curious to
know the determination of this man's choice, it is summed up in the
concluding line of the poem.
She must be cast away, that would not save.
12. Musophilus, a Defence of Learning; written dialogue-wise,
addressed to Sir Fulk Greville.
13. Various Sonnets to Delia, 57 in number.
14. An Ode. 15. A Pastoral. 16. A Description of Beauty. 17. To the
Angel Spirit of Sir Philip Sidney. 18. A Defence of Rhime. All these
pieces are published together in two volumes, 12 mo. under the title
of the poetical pieces of Mr. Samuel Daniel.
But however well qualified our author's genius was for poetry, yet
Langbain is of opinion that his history is the crown of all his works.
It was printed about the year 1613, and dedicated to Queen Anne. It
reaches from the state of Britain under the Romans, to the beginning
of the reign of Richard II. His history has received encomiums from
various hands, as well as his poetry: It was continued by John Trusul,
with like brevity and candour, but not with equal elegance, 'till the
reign of Richard III. A.D. 1484. Mr. Daniel lived respected by men of
worth and fashion, he passed through life without tasting many of the
vicissitudes of fortune; he seems to have been a second rate genius,
and a tolerable versifier; his poetry in some places is tender, but
want of fire is his characteristical fault. He was unhappy in the
choice of his subject of a civil war for a poem, which obliged him
to descend to minute descriptions, and nothing merely narrative
can properly be touched in poetry, which demands flights of the
imagination and bold images.
* * * * *
Sir JOHN HARRINGTON,
Born at Kelston near the city of Bath, was the son of John Harrington
esquire, who was imprisoned in the Tower in the reign of Queen Mary,
for holding a correspondence with the Lady Elizabeth; with whom he was
in great favour after her accession to the crown, and received many
testimonies of her bounty and gratitude. Sir John, our author, had the
honour to be her god-son, and both in respect to his father's merit,
and his own, he was so happy to possess her esteem to the last[1].
He had the rudiments of his education at Eaton; thence removing to
Cambridge, he there commenced master of arts, and before he arrived at
his 30th year, he favoured the world with a translation of the Orlando
Furioso of Ariosto, by which he acquired some reputation. After this
work, he composed four books of epigrams, which in those times were
received with great applause; several of these mention another
humorous piece of his called Misacmos Metatmorphosis, which for a
while exposed him to her Majesty's resentment, yet he was afterwards
received into favour. This (says Mrs. Cooper) is not added to the rest
of his works, and therefore she supposes was only meant for a Court
amusement, not the entertainment of the public, or the increase of
his fame. In the reign of King James I. he was created Knight of the
Bath[2], and presented a manuscript to Prince Henry, called a Brief
View of the State of the Church of England, as it stood in Queen
Elizabeth and King James's reign in the year 1608. This piece was
levelled chiefly against the married bishops, and was intended only
for the private use of his Highness, but was some years afterwards
published by one of Sir John's grandsons, and occasioned much
displeasure from the clergy, who did not fail to recollect that his
conduct was of a piece with his doctrines, as he, together with Robert
earl of Leicester, supported Sir Walter Raleigh in his suit to Queen
Elizabeth for the manor of Banwell, belonging to the bishopric of Bath
and Wells, on the presumption that the right reverend incumbent had
incurred a Premunire, by marrying a second wife.
Sir John appears to be a gentleman of great pleasantry and humour;
his fortune was easy, the court his element, and which is ever an
advantage to an author, wit was not his business, but diversion: 'Tis
not to be doubted, but his translation of Ariosto was published after
Spenser's Fairy Queen, and yet both in language and numbers it is
much inferior, as much as it is reasonable to suppose the genius of
Harrington was below that of Spenser.
Mrs. Cooper remarks, that the whole poem of Orlando is a tedious
medley of unnatural characters, and improbable events, and that the
author's patron, Cardinal Hippolito De Este, had some reason for that
severe question. Where the devil, Signior Ludovico, did you pick up
all these damned lies? The genius of Ariosto seems infinitely more
fit for satire than heroic poetry; and some are of opinion, that had
Harrington wrote nothing but epigrams, he had been more in his own
way.
We cannot certainly fix the time that Sir John died, but it is
reasonable to suppose that it was about the middle, or rather towards
the latter end of James I's reign. I shall subjoin an epigram of his
as a specimen of his poetry.
IN CORNUTUM.
What curl'd pate youth is he that sitteth there,
So near thy wife, and whispers in her eare,
And takes her hand in his, and soft doth wring her.
Sliding his ring still up and down her finger?
Sir, 'tis a proctor, seen in both the lawes,
Retain'd by her in some important cause;
Prompt and discreet both in his speech and action,
And doth her business with great satisfaction.
And think'st thou so? a horn-plague on thy head!
Art thou so-like a fool, and wittol led,
To think he doth the bus'ness of thy wife?
He doth thy bus'ness, I dare lay my life.
[Footnote 1: Muses Library, p. 296.]
[Footnote 2: Ubi supra.]
* * * * *
THOMAS DECKER,
A poet who lived in the reign of King James I. and as he was
cotemporary with Ben Johnson, so he became more eminent by having a
quarrel with that great man, than by all his works. Decker was but an
indifferent poet, yet even in those days he wanted not his admirers;
he had also friends among the poets; one of whom, Mr. Richard Brome,
always called him Father; but it is the misfortune of little wits,
that their admirers are as inconsiderable as themselves, for Brome's
applauses confer no great honour on those who enjoy them. Our author
joined with Webster in writing three plays, and with Rowley and Ford
in another; and Langbaine asserts, that these plays in which he only
contributed a part, far exceed those of his own composition. He has
been concerned in eleven plays, eight whereof are of his own writing,
of all which I shall give an account in their alphabetical order.
I. Fortunatus, a comedy, printed originally in 4to but with what
success, or when acted, I cannot gain any account.
II. Honest Whore, the first part; a comedy, with the humours of the
Patient Man, and the Longing Wife, acted by the Queen's Servants,
1635.
III. Honest Whore, the second part, a comedy; with the humours of the
Patient Man, the Impatient Wife; the Honest Whore persuaded by strong
arguments to turn Courtezan again; her refusing those arguments, and
lastly the comical passage of an Italian bridewel, where the scene
ends. Printed in 4to, London 1630. This play Langbaine thinks was
never exhibited, neither is it divided into acts.
IV. If this be not a good play the devil is in it; a comedy, acted
with great applause by the Queen's majesty's servants, at the
Red-Bull, and dedicated to the actors. The beginning of this play
seems to be writ in imitation of Machiavel's novel of Belphegor, where
Pluto summons the Devils to council.
Match me in London, a Tragi-Comedy, often presented, first at the
Bull's head in St. John's-street, and then at a private house in
Drury-lane, called the Phoenix, printed in 4to. in 1631.
VI. Northward Ho, a comedy, often acted by the children of Paul's,
printed in 4to. London, 1607. This play was writ by our author and
John Webster.
VII. Satyromastix, or the untrussing the humourous poet, a comical
satire, presented publickly by the Lord Chamberlain's servants,
and privately by the children of Paul's, printed in 4to, 1602, and
dedicated to the world. This play was writ on the occasion of Ben
Johnson's Poetaster, for some account of which see the Life of
Johnson.
VIII. Westward Ho,[1] a comedy, often acted by the children of Paul's,
and printed in 4to. 1607; written by our author and Mr. Webster.
IX. Whore of Babylon, an history acted by the prince's servants, and
printed in 4to. London 1607. The design of this play, by feigned
names, is to set forth the admirable virtues of queen Elizabeth;
and the dangers she escaped by the happy discovery of those designs
against her sacred person by the Jesuits and bigotted Papists.
X. Wyatt's History, a play said to be writ by him and Webster, and
printed in 4to. The subject of this play is Sir Thomas Wyat of Kent,
who made an insurrection in the first year of Queen Mary, to prevent
her match with Philip of Spain.
Besides these plays he joined with Rowley and Ford in a play called,
The Witch of Edmonton, of which see Rowley.
There are four other plays ascribed to our author, in which he is said
by Mr. Phillips and Winstanley to be an associate with John Webster,
viz. Noble Stranger; New Trick to cheat the Devil; Weakest goes to the
Wall; Woman will have her Will; in all which Langbaine asserts they
are mistaken, for the first was written by Lewis Sharp, and the other
by anonymous authors.
[Footnote 1: This was revived in the year 1751, at Drury-lane theatre
on the Lord Mayor's day, in the room of the London Cuckolds, which is
now discontinued at that house.]
* * * * *
BEAUMONT and FLETCHER
Were two famous dramatists in the reign of James I. These two friends
were so closely united as authors, and are so jointly concerned in the
applauses and censures bestowed upon their plays, that it cannot be
thought improper to connect their lives under one article.
Mr. FRANCIS BEAUMONT
Was descended from the ancient family of his name, seated at Grace
dieu in Leicestershire,[1] and was born about the year 1585 in the
reign of Queen Elizabeth. His grandfather, John Beaumont, was Master
of the Rolls, and his father Francis Beaumont, one of the Judges of
the Common Pleas. Our poet had his education at Cambridge,[2]but of
what college we are not informed, nor is it very material to know. We
find him afterwards admitted a student in the Inner-Temple, but we
have no account of his making any proficiency in the law, which is
a circumstance attending almost all the poets who were bred to that
profession, which few men of sprightly genius care to be confined to.
Before he was thirty years of age he died, in 1615, and was buried the
ninth of the same month in the entrance of St. Benedictine's Chapel,
within St. Peter's Westminster. We meet with no inscription on his
tomb, but there are two epitaphs writ on him, one by his elder brother
Sir John Beaumont, and the other by Bishop Corbet. That by his brother
is pretty enough, and is as follows:
On Death, thy murderer, this revenge I take:
I slight his terror, and just question make,
Which of us two the best precedence have,
Mine to this wretched world, thine to the grave.
Thou should'st have followed me, but Death to blame
Miscounted years, and measured age by fame.
So dearly hast thou bought thy precious lines;
Thy praise grew swiftly, so thy life declines.
Thy muse, the hearer's queen, the reader's love
All ears, all hearts, but Death's could please and move.
Our poet left behind him one daughter, Mrs. Frances Beaumont, who
lived to a great age and, died in Leicestershire since the year 1700.
She had been possessed of several poems of her father's writing, but
they were lost at sea in her voyage from Ireland, where she had lived
sometime in the Duke of Ormond's family. Besides the plays in which
Beaumont was jointly concerned with Fletcher, he writ a little
dramatic piece entitled, A Masque of Grays Inn Gentlemen, and the
Inner-Temple; a poetical epistle to Ben Johnson; verses to his friend
Mr. John Fletcher, upon his faithful Shepherd, and other poem's
printed together in 1653, 8vo. That pastoral which was written by
Fletcher alone, having met with but an indifferent reception, Beaumont
addressed the following copy of verses to him on that occasion, in
which he represents the hazard of writing for the stage, and satirizes
the audience for want of judgment, which, in order to shew his
versification I shall insert.
Why should the man, whose wit ne'er had a stain,
Upon the public stage present his vein,
And make a thousand men in judgment sit
To call in question his undoubted wit,
Scarce two of which can understand the laws,
Which they should judge by, nor the party's cause.
Among the rout there is not one that hath,
In his own censure an explicit faith.
One company, knowing thy judgment Jack,
Ground their belief on the next man in black;
Others on him that makes signs and is mute,
Some like, as he does, in the fairest sute;
He as his mistress doth, and me by chance:
Nor want there those, who, as the boy doth dance
Between the acts will censure the whole play;
Some, if the wax lights be not new that day:
But multitudes there are, whose judgment goes
Headlong, according to the actors clothes.
Mr. Beaumont was esteemed so accurate a judge of plays, that Ben
Johnson, while he lived, submitted all his writings to his censures;
and it is thought, used his judgment in correcting, if not contriving
most of his plots.
[Footnote 1: Jacob's Lives of the Poets.]
[Footnote 2: Wood.]
* * * * *
Mr. JOHN FLETCHER
Was son of Dr. Richard Fletcher, Lord Bishop of London, and was born
in Northamptonshire in the year 1576. He was educated at Cambridge,
probably at Burnet-college, to which his father was by his last
will and testament a benefactor[1]. He wrote plays jointly with Mr.
Beaumont, and Wood says he assisted Ben Johnson in a Comedy called
The Widow. After Beaumont's death, it is said he consulted Mr. James
Shirley in forming the plots of several of his plays, but which those
were we have no means of discovering. The editor of Beaumont and
Fletcher's plays in 1711 thinks it very probable that Shirley supplied
many that were left imperfect, and that the players gave some remains
of Fletcher's for Shirley to make up; and it is from hence (he says)
that in the first act of Love's Pilgrimage, there is a scene of an
ostler transcribed verbatim out of Ben Johnson's New Inn, Act I. Scene
I. which play was written long after Fletcher died, and transplanted
into Love's Pilgrimage, after printing the New Inn, which was in the
year 1630, and two of the plays printed under Fletcher's name. The
Coronation and The Little Thief have been claimed by Shirley as his;
it is probable they were left imperfect by the one, and finished by
the other. Mr. Fletcher died of the plague in the forty ninth year of
his age, the first of King Charles I. An. 1625, and was buried in St.
Mary Overy's Church in Southwark.
Beaumont and Fletcher, as has been observed, wrote plays in concert,
but what share each bore in forming the plots, writing the scenes,
&c. is unknown. The general opinion is, that Beaumont's judgment was
usually employed in correcting and retrenching the superfluities of
Fletcher's wit, whose fault was, as Mr. Cartwright expresses it, to do
too much; but if Winstanley may be credited, the former had his share
likewise in the drama, for that author relates, that our poets meeting
once at a tavern in order to form the rude draught of a tragedy,
Fletcher undertook to kill the king, which words being overheard by
a waiter, he was officious enough, in order to recommend himself,
to lodge an information against them: but their loyalty being
unquestioned, and the relation of the circumstance probable, that the
vengeance was only aimed at a theatrical monarch, the affair ended in
a jest.
The first play which brought them into esteem, as Dryden says, was
Philaster, or Love lies a Bleeding; for, before that, they had written
two or three very unsuccessfully, as the like is reported of Ben
Johnson before he writ Every Man in his Humour. These authors had with
the advantage of the wit of Shakespear, which was their precedent,
great natural gifts improved by study. Their plots are allowed
generally more regular than Shakespear's; they touch the tender
passions, and excite love in a very moving manner; their faults,
notwithstanding Beaumont's castigation, consist in a certain
luxuriance, and stretching their speeches to an immoderate length;[2]
however, it must be owned their wit is great, their language suited
to the passions they raise, and the age in which they lived is a
sufficient apology for their defects. Mr. Dryden tells us, in his
Essay on Dramatic Poetry, that Beaumont and Fletcher's plays in his
time were the most pleasing and frequent entertainments of the stage,
two of theirs being acted through the year for one of Shakespear's or
Johnson's; and the reason he assigns is, because there is a certain
gaiety in their comedies, and a pathos in their most serious plays
which suits generally with all men's humours; but however it might
be when Dryden writ, the case is now reversed, for Beaumont and
Fletcher's plays are not acted above once a season, while one of
Shakespear's is represented almost every third night. It may seem
strange, that wits of the first magnitude should not be so much
honoured in the age in which they live, as by posterity;[3] it is now
fashionable to be in raptures with Shakespear; editions are multiplied
upon editions, and men of the greatest genius have employed all their
power in illustrating his beauties, which ever grow upon the reader,
and gain ground upon perusal. These noble authors have received
incense of praise from the highest pens; they were loved and esteemed
by their cotemporaries, who have not failed to demonstrate their
respect by various copies of verses at different times, and upon
different occasions, addressed to them, the insertion of which would
exceed the bounds proposed for this work. I shall only observe, that
amongst the illustrious names of their admirers, are Denham, Waller,
Cartwright, Ben Johnson, Sir John Berkenhead, and Dryden himself, a
name more than equal to all the rest. But the works of our authors
have not escaped the censure of critics, especially Mr. Rhymer the
historiographer, who was really a man of wit and judgment, but
somewhat ill natured; for he has laboured to expose the faults,
without taking any notice of the beauties of Rollo Duke of Normandy,
the King and No King, and the Maids Tragedy, in a piece of his called
The Tragedies of the Last Age considered, and examined by the practice
of the ancients, and by the common sense of all ages, in a letter
to Fleetwood Shepherd esquire. Mr. Rymer sent one of his books as a
present to Mr. Dryden, who in the blank leaves before the beginning,
and after the end of the book, made several remarks, as if he intended
to publish an answer to that critic, and his opinion of the work
was this[4]; "My judgment (says he) of this piece, is, that it is
extremely learned, but the author seems better acquainted with the
Greek, than the English poets; that all writers ought to study this
critic as the best account I have seen of the ancients; that the model
of tragedy he has here given is extremely correct, but that it is not
the only model of tragedy, because it is too much circumscribed in the
plot, characters, &c. And lastly, that we may be taught here justly to
admire and imitate the ancients, without giving them the preference,
with this author, in prejudice to our own country."
Some of Beaumont and Fletcher's plays were printed in quarto during
the lives of their authors; and in the year 1645 twenty years after
Fletcher's death, there was published in folio a collection of their
plays which had not been printed before, amounting to between thirty
and forty. At the beginning of this volume are inserted a great number
of commendatory verses, written by the most eminent wits of that age.
This collection was published by Mr. Shirley after shutting up the
Theatres, and dedicated to the earl of Pembroke by ten of the most
famous actors. In 1679 there was an edition of all their plays
published in folio. Another edition in 1711 by Tonson in seven volumes
8vo. containing all the verses in praise of the authors, and supplying
a large omission of part of the last act of Thierry and Theodoret.
There was also another edition in 1751. The plays of our authors are
as follow,
1. Beggars Bush, a Comedy, acted with applause.
2. Bonduca, a Tragedy; the plot from Tacitus's Annals, b. xiv.
Milton's History of England, b. ii. This play has been twice revived.
3. The Bloody Brother, or Rollo Duke of Normandy, a Tragedy, acted
at the Theatre at Dorset-Garden. The plot is taken from Herodian's
History, b. iv.
4. Captain, a Comedy.
5. Chances, a Comedy; this was revived by Villiers duke of Buckingham
with great applause.
6. The Coronation, a Tragi-Comedy, claimed by Mr. Shirley as his.
7. The Coxcomb, a Comedy.
8. Cupid's Revenge, a Tragedy.
9. The Custom of the Country, a Tragi-Comedy; the plot taken from
Malispini's Novels, Dec. 6. Nov. 6.
10. Double Marriage, a Tragedy.
11. The Elder Brother, a Comedy,
13. The Faithful Shepherdess, a Dramatic Pastoral, first acted on a
twelfth-night at Somerset House. This was entirely Mr. Fletcher's,
and instead of a Prologue was sung a Dialogue, between a priest and a
nymph, written by Sir William Davenant, and the Epilogue was spoken by
the Lady Mordant, but met with no success.
13. The Fair Maid of the Inn, a Comedy; part of this play is taken
from Causin's Holy Court, and Wanley's History of Man.
14. The False One; a Tragedy, founded on the Adventures of Julius
Cæsar in Egypt, and his amours with Cleopatra.
15. Four Plays in One, or Moral Representations, containing the
triumphs of honour, love, death and time, from Boccace's Novels.
16. The Honest Man's Fortune, a Tragi-Comedy; the plot from Heywood's
History of Warner.
17. The Humourous Lieutenant, a Tragi-Comedy, still acted with
applause.
18. The Island Princess, a Tragi-Comedy, revived in 1687 by Mr. Tate.
19. A King and No King, a Tragi-Comedy, acted with applause.
20. The Knight of the Burning Pestle, a Comedy, revived also with a
Prologue spoken by the famous Nell Gwyn.
21. The Knight of Malta, a Tragi-comedy.
22. The Laws of Candy, a Tragi-Comedy.
23. The Little French Lawyer, a Comedy; the plot from Gusman, or the
Spanish Rogue.
24. Love's Cure, or the Martial Maid, a Comedy.
25. The Lover's Pilgrimage, a Comedy; the plot is taken from a novel
called the Two Damsels, and some incidents from Ben Jonson's New Inn.
26. The Lovers Progress, a Tragi-Comedy; built on a French romance
called Lysander and Calista.
27. The Loyal Subject, a Comedy.
28. The Mad Lover, a Tragi-Comedy.
29. The Maid in the Mill, a Comedy. This was revised and acted on the
duke of York's Theatre.
30. The Maid's Tragedy; a play always acted with the greatest
applause, but some part of it displeasing Charles II, it was for a
time forbid to be acted in that reign, till it was revived by Mr.
Waller, who entirely altering the last act, it was brought on the
stage again with universal applause.
31. A Masque of Grays Inn Gentlemen, presented at the marriage of
the Princess Elizabeth and the Prince Palatine of the Rhine, in the
Banqueting House at Whitehall. This piece was written by Mr. Beaumont
alone.
32. Monsieur Thomas, a Comedy. This play has been since acted on the
stage, under the title of Trick for Trick.
33. Nice Valour, or the Passionate Madman, a Comedy.
34. The Night-walker, or the Little Thief, a Comedy, revived since the
Restoration with applause.
35. The Noble Gentleman, a Comedy; this was revived by Mr. Durfey, and
by him called The Fool's Preferment, at the Three Dukes of Dunstable.
36. Philaster, or Love lies a Bleeding, a Tragi-Comedy. This was the
first play that brought these fine writers into esteem. It was first
represented at the old Theatre in Lincolns Inn Fields, when the women
acted by themselves.
37. The Pilgrim, a Comedy; revived and acted with success.
38. The Prophetess, a Tragi-Comedy. This play has been revived by Mr.
Betterton, under the title of Dioclesian, an Opera.
39. The Queen of Cornish, a Tragi-Comedy.
40. Rule a Wife and Have a Wife, a Comedy.
41. The Scornful Lady, a Comedy; acted with great applause.
42. The Sea Voyage, a Comedy; revived by Mr. Durfey, who calls it The
Commonwealth of Women. It would appear by the lines we have quoted p.
141, life of Shakespear, that it was taken from Shakespear's Tempest.
43. The Spanish Curate, a Comedy, several times revived with applause;
the plot from Gerardo's History of Don John, p. 202, and his Spanish
Curate, p. 214.
44. Thiery and Theodoret, a Tragedy; the plot taken from the French
Chronicles, in the reign of Colsair II.
45. Two Noble Kinsmen, a Tragi-comedy; Shakespear assisted Fletcher in
composing this play.
46. Valentinian, a Tragedy; afterwards revived and altered by the Earl
of Rochester.
47. A Wife for a Month, a Tragedy; for the plot see Mariana and Louis
de Mayerne Turquet, History of Sancho, the eighth King of Leon.
48. The Wild-Goose Chace, a Comedy, formerly acted with applause.
49. Wit at Several Weapons, a Comedy.
50. Wit without Money, a Comedy, revived at the Old House in Lincolns
Inn Fields, immediately after the burning of the Theatre in Drury
Lane, with a new Prologue by Mr. Dryden.
51. The Woman Hater, a Comedy, revived by Sir William Davenant, with a
new Prologue in prose. This play was writ by Fletcher alone.
52. Women pleased, a Comedy; the plot from Boccace's Novels,
53. Woman's Prize, or the Tanner Tann'd, a Comedy, built on the same
foundation with Shakespear's Taming of a Shrew; writ by Fletcher
without Beaumont.
Mr. Beaumont writ besides his dramatic pieces, a volume of poems,
elegies, sonnets, &c.
* * * * *
THOMAS LODGE
Was descended from a family of his name living in Lincolnshire, but
whether born there, is not ascertained. He made his first appearance
at the university of Oxford about the year 1573, and was afterwards a
scholar under the learned Mr. Edward Hobye of Trinity College; where,
says Wood, making very early advances, his ingenuity began first to be
observed, in several of his poetical compositions. After he had taken
one degree in arts, and dedicated some time to reading the bards of
antiquity, he gained some reputation in poetry, particularly of the
satiric species; but being convinced how barren a foil poetry is, and
how unlikely to yield a competent provision for its professors, he
studied physic, for the improvement of which he went beyond sea,
took the degree of Dr. of that faculty at Avignon, returned and was
incorporated in the university in the latter end of Queen Elizabeth's
reign: Afterwards settling in London, he practised physic with great
success, and was particularly encouraged by the Roman Catholics, of
which persuasion it is said he was.
Our author hath written
Alarm against Usurers, containing tried experiences against worldly
abuses, London 1584.
History of Forbonius and Prisæria, with Truth's Complaint over
England.
Euphue's Golden Legacy.
The Wounds of a Civil War livelily set forth, in the true Tragedies of
Marius and Sylla, London 1594.
Looking Glass for London and England, a Tragi-Comedy printed in 4to.
London 1598, in an old black letter. In this play our author was
assisted by Mr. Robert Green. The drama is founded upon holy writ,
being the History of Jonah and the Ninevites, formed into a play. Mr.
Langbain supposes they chose this subject, in imitation of others
who had writ dramas on sacred themes long before them; as Ezekiel, a
Jewish dramatic poet, writ the Deliverance of the Israelites out of
Egypt: Gregory Nazianzen, or as some say, Apollinarius of Laodicea,
writ the Tragedy of Christ's Passion; to these may be added
Hugo Grotius, Theodore Beza, Petavius, all of whom have built upon the
foundation of sacred history.
Treatise on the Plague, containing the nature, signs, and accidents of
the same, London 1603.
Treatise in Defence of Plays. This (says Wood) I have not yet seen,
nor his pastoral songs and madrigals, of which he writ a considerable
number.
He also translated into English, Josephus's History of the Antiquity
of the Jews, London 1602. The works both moral and natural of Seneca,
London 1614. This learned gentleman died in the year 1625, and had
tributes paid to his memory by many of his cotemporary poets, who
characterised him as a man of very considerable genius. Winstanley has
preserved an amorous sonnet of his, which we shall here insert.
If I must die, O let me chuse my death:
Suck out my soul with kisses, cruel maid!
In thy breasts crystal balls, embalm my breath,
Dole it all out in sighs, when I am laid;
Thy lips on mine like cupping glasses clasp;
Let our tongues meet, and strive as they would
sting:
Crush out my wind with one straight-girting grasp,
Stabs on my heart keep time while thou dost sing.
Thy eyes like searing irons burn out mine;
In thy fair tresses stifle me outright:
Like Circe, change me to a loathsome swine,
So I may live forever in thy sight.
Into heaven's joys can none profoundly see,
Except that first they meditate on thee.
When our author wishes to be changed into a loathsome swine, so he
might dwell in sight of his mistress, he should have considered, that
however agreeable the metamorphosis might be to him, it could not be
so to her, to look upon such a loathsome object.
[Footnote 1: Langbaine's Lives of the Poets.]
[Footnote 2: There is a coarseness of dialogue, even in their
genteelest characters, in comedy, that appears now almost
unpardonable; one is almost inclined to think the language and manners
of those times were not over-polite, this fault appears so frequent;
nor is the great Shakespear entirely to be acquitted hereof.]
[Footnote 3: May not this be owing to envy? are not most wits jealous
of their cotemporaries? how readily do we pay adoration to the dead?
how slowly do we give even faint praise to the living? is it a wonder
Beaumont and Fletcher were more praised and versified than Shakespear?
were not inferior wits opposed, nay preferred, to Dryden while living?
was not this the case of Addison and Pope, whose works (those authors
being no more) will be read with admiration, and allowed the just
pre-eminence, while the English tongue is understood.]
[Footnote 4: Preface to Fletcher's plays.]
* * * * *
Sir JOHN DAVIES
Was born at Chisgrove, in the parish of Tysbury in Wiltshire, being
the son of a wealthy tanner of that place. At fifteen years of age he
became a Commoner in Queen's-college, Oxford 1585, where having
made great progress in academical learning, and taken the degree of
Batchelor of arts, he removed to the Middle-Temple, and applying
himself to the study of the common law, was called to the bar; but
having a quarrel with one Richard Martyn, (afterwards recorder of
London) he bastinadoed him in the Temple-hall at dinner-time, in
presence of the whole assembly, for which contempt, he was immediately
expelled, and retired again to Oxford to prosecute his studies, but
did not resume the scholar's-gown. Upon this occasion he composed that
excellent poem called Nosce Teipsum[1]. Afterwards by the favour of
Thomas lord Ellesmere, keeper of the Great Seal, being reinstated in
the Temple, he practised as a counsellor, and became a burgess in the
Parliament held at Westminster 1601. Upon the death of Queen Elizabeth
our author, with Lord Hunsdon, went into Scotland to congratulate King
James on his succession to the English throne. Being introduced into
his Majesty's presence, the King enquired of Lord Hunsdon, the names
of the gentlemen who accompanied him, and when his lordship mentioned
John Davies, the King presently asked whether he was Nosce Teipsum,
and being answered he was, embraced him, and assured him of his
favour. He was accordingly made Sollicitor, and a little after
Attorney-general in Ireland, where in the year 1606, he was made one
of his Majesty's serjeants at law, and Speaker of the House of Commons
for that kingdom. In the year following, he received the honour of
knighthood from the King at Whitehall. In 1612 he quitted the post of
Attorney-general in Ireland, and was made one of his Majesty's English
serjeants at law. He married Eleanor Touchet, youngest daughter of
George lord Audley, by whom he had a son, an idiot who died young,
and a daughter named Lucy, married to Ferdinand lord Hastings,
and afterwards Earl of Huntingdon. His lady was a woman of very
extraordinary character; she had, or rather pretended to have a spirit
of prophecy, and her predictions received from a voice which she often
heard, were generally wrapped up in dark and obscure expressions. It
was commonly reported, that on the sunday before her husband's death,
she was sitting at dinner with him, she suddenly burst into tears,
whereupon he asking her the occasion, she answered, "Husband, these
are your funeral tears," to which he replied, "Pray therefore spare
your tears now, and I will be content that you shall laugh when I
am dead." After Sir John's death she lived privately at Parston
in Hertfordshire, and an account was published of her strange and
wonderful prophecies in 1609. In 1626 Sir John was appointed lord
chief justice of the King's-bench, but before the ceremony of his
installation could be performed he died suddenly of an apoplexy in the
fifty-seventh year of his age, and was buried in the church of St.
Martin's in the Fields. He enjoyed the joint applauses of Camden, Ben
Johnson, Sir John Harrington, Selden, Donne, and Corbet; these are
great authorities in our author's favour, and I may fairly assert that
no philosophical writers ever explained their ideas more clearly and
familiarly in prose, or more harmoniously and beautifully in verse.
There is a peculiar happiness in his similies being introduced more to
illustrate than adorn, which renders them as useful as entertaining,
and distinguishes them from any other author.
In quality of a lawyer Sir John produced the following pieces:
1. A discovery of the true causes why Ireland was never entirely
subdued until his Majesty's happy reign; printed in 4to. London 1612,
dedicated to the King with this Latin verse only.
Principis est virtus maxima nosse suos.
2. A declaration of our sovereign lord the King, concerning the title
of his Majesty's son Charles, the prince and duke of Cornwall; London
1614.
His principal performance as a poet, is a Poem on the Original,
Nature, and Immortality of the Soul, dedicated to Queen Elizabeth. It
was republished by Nahum Tate, 1714, addressed to the Earl of Dorset
and Middlesex, who was a great admirer of our poet, and the editor
gives it a very just and advantageous character. Without doubt it is
the Nosce Teipsum so much admired by King James, printed 1519, and
1622, mentioned by Wood; to which were added by the same hand:
Hymns of Astrea in acrostic verse; and Orchestra, or a poem expressing
the antiquity and excellency of dancing, in a dialogue between
Penelope and one of her Woers, containing 131 stanzas unfinished. Mr.
Wood mentions also epigrams, and a translation of several of King
David's Psalms, written by Sir John Davies, but never published.
NOSCE TEIPSUM.
Why did my parents send me to the schools,
That I, with knowledge might enrich my mind,
Since the desire to know first made men fools
And did corrupt the root of all mankind.
For when God's hand, had written in the hearts,
Of our first parents all the rules of good,
So that their skill infus'd, surpass'd all arts,
That ever were before or since the flood.
And when their reason's eye was sharp and clear,
And (as an eagle can behold the sun)
Cou'd have approach'd th' eternal light as near,
As th' intellectual Angels could have done.
Even then, to them the spirit of lyes suggests,
That they were blind because they saw not ill;
And breath'd into their incorrupted breasts
A curious wish, which did corrupt their will.
[Footnote 1: Muses library p. 332.]
* * * * *
THOMAS GOFF.
A Gentleman who flourished in the reign of King James I. He was born
in Essex, towards the latter end of Queen Elizabeth's reign, about the
year 1592. In his youth he was sent to Westminster-school, and at
the age of eighteen, he was entered student of Christ's-college in
Oxford[1]. Being an industrious scholar, says Langbaine, he arrived to
be a good poet, a skilful orator, and an excellent preacher. In the
year 1623 he was made batchelor of divinity, and preferred to a living
in Surry called East-Clanden: there he married a wife who proved as
great a plague to him as a shrew could be; she was a true Xantippe
to our ecclesiastical Socrates, and gave him daily opportunities of
puting his patience to the proof; and it is believed by some, that
this domestic scourge shortened his days. He was buried at his own
parish church at Clanden, the 27th of July, 1627. He writ several
pieces on different subjects, amongst which are reckoned five plays.
Careless Shepherdess, a Tragi-comedy, acted before the King and Queen
at Salisbury court with great applause. Printed in 4to,1656, with an
Alphabetical Catalogue of all such plays as ever were to that time
published. 2. Courageous Turk, or Amurath I. a Tragedy, acted by the
students of Christ-church in Oxford, printed in 8vo, London 1656.
For the plot consult Knolles's History of the Turks. 3. Orcites, a
Tragedy, acted by the students of Christ's-church in Oxford, printed
in 8vo, London 1656. 4. Raging Turk, or Bajazet II. a tragedy acted
by the students in Christ's-church in Oxford, printed in 8vo. London
1656. This play was written with the two foregoing tragedies, when the
author was master of arts, and student of Christ's-church, but not
printed till after his decease. 5. Selinus, Emperor of the Turks, a
Tragedy, printed in 4to, London 1638. This play in all probability was
never exhibited, because it is not divided into acts. The author
calls this the first part; and in his conclusion, as he stiles it, or
epilogue, he promises a second part, saying,
If this first part, gentles, do like you well;
The second part shall greater murders tell.
The plot is founded on the Turkish history in the reign of Selinus I.
Mr. Philips and Mr. Winstanley have ascribed a comedy to this author,
called Cupid's Whirligig, tho' Democritus and Heraclitus were not more
different in their temper, than his genius was opposite to comedy,
besides the true author was one Mr. E. S. who in his dedicatory
epistle says,
"That being long pregnant with desire to bring forth
something, and being afterwards brought to bed,
had chose his friend Mr. Robert Hayman to be
godfather, not doubting but his child would be
well maintained, feeing he could not live above
an hour with him; and therefore he entreated
him when he was dead, that he might be buried
deep enough in his good opinion, and that he
might deserve this epitaph;
Here lies the child that was born in mirth,
Against the strict rules of child-birth;
And to be quit, I gave him to my friend,
Who laught him to death, and that was his end."
The reason of my making this digression, is to shew, that such
ridiculous unmeaning mirth, is not likely to have fallen from Mr.
Goff, as he was a grave man, and nothing but what was manly droped
from his pen. In the latter part of his life he forsook the stage for
the pulpit, and instead of plays writ sermons, some of which appeared
in print in the year 1627. To these works may be added his Latin
funeral oration, at the divinity school, at the obsequies of Sir
Henry Saville, printed in 4to, Oxon 1622; another in Christ's-church
cathedral, at the funeral of Dr. Goodwin, canon of that church,
printed in London 1627.
[Footnote 1: Langbaine's Lives of the Poets, 223.]
* * * * *
Sir FULK GREVILLE, Lord BROOKE,
Sprung from an honourable family in Warwickshire; he was educated both
at Oxford and Cambridge, and introduced to court by an uncle in the
service of Queen Elisabeth, who received him into her favour, which
he had the happiness to preserve uninterupted to her death. At the
coronation of James I, he was created Knight of the Bath, and soon
after obtained a grant of the ruinous castle of Warwick. He was next
appointed sub-treasurer, chancellor of the Exchequer, and privy
counsellor, and then advanced to the degree of a baron, by the title
of lord Brooke of Beauchamps-court, and one of the lords of the
bed-chamber to his Majesty. This noble author was the friend of Sir
Philip Sidney, than which a greater compliment cannot be bestowed. As
he was a poet and a man of wit he was held in the highest esteem in
that courtly age; but he added to genius, a gallantry of spirit, and
was as fine a soldier as a writer. Winstanley gives an instance of his
prowess in arms.
"At the time (says he) when the French ambassador
came over to England to negotiate a marriage
between the duke of Anjou, and Queen
Elizabeth, for the better entertainment of the
court, solemn justs were proclaimed, where the
Earl of Arundel, Frederick lord Windsor, Sir Philip
Sidney, and he, were chief challengers against
all comers; in which challenge he behaved
himself so gallantly, that he won the reputation
of a most valiant knight. Thus you see
that tho' case be the nurse of poetry, the Muses
are also companions to Mars, as may be
exemplified in the characters of the Earl of
Surry, Sir Philip Sidney, and Sir Fulk Greville."
As our Author loved and admired the ladies, it is somewhat
extraordinary, that he died a batchelor; for in all that courtly age,
he could not find one on whom to confer the valuable prize of his
heart. As he was himself a learned man, and possessed a variety of
knowledge, so he patronized many necessitous candidates for fame, but
particularly Camden, whom he caused by his interest to be made King
at Arms. He was likewise very liberal to Mr. Speed the celebrated
chronologer: finding him a man of extensive knowledge, and his
occupation and circumstances mean, so that his genius was depressed by
poverty, he enabled him to prosecute his studies, and pursue the bent
of his genius without being obliged to drudge at a manual employment
for his bread. Speed in his description of Warwickshire writes thus
of lord Brook, "Whose merit (says he) towards me I do acknowledge, in
setting my hand free from the daily employments of a manual trade,
and giving it full liberty thus to express the inclination of mind,
himself being the procurer of my present estate." He passed thro' life
in a calm of prosperity and honour, beloved by his equals, reverenced
by his inferiors, and a favourite at court; but when he was about
seventy years of age, this life of undisturbed tranquility, was
sacrificed to the resentment of a villain, and a catastrophe of the
most tragical kind closed the days of this worthy man.
One Haywood, who had been many years in his service, and had behaved
with fidelity and honour, expostulated with him freely (while they
were alone) for his not having received a due reward for his services.
His lordship enraged at his presumption, and giving way to his
passion, reprimanded him very severely for his insolence; for which
the villain being now wrought up to the highest degree of fury, took
an opportunity to stab him with his dagger through the back into the
vitals, of which wound he instantly died, September 30, 1628.
The murderer then struck with remorse, horror and despair, and all the
natural attendants of his guilt, retired to his chamber, and having
secured the door, fell upon the same weapon with which he had
assassinated his master, and anticipated on himself the justice
reserved for the hand of an executioner. Lord Brooke was interred in
Warwickshire, under a monument of black and white marble[1], whereon
he is stiled, Servant to Queen Elizabeth, Counsellor to King James,
and friend to Sir Philip Sidney.
His works are chiefly these, viz.
Alaham, a Tragedy; printed in folio 1633. This play (says Langbaine)
seems an imitation of the ancients; the Prologue is spoken by a ghost.
This spectre gives an account of each character, which is perhaps done
after the manner of Euripides, who introduced one of the chief
actors as the Prologue, whose business it was to explain all those
circumstances which preceded the opening the stage. He has not in one
scene throughout introduced above two speakers, in compliance with
Horace's rule in his _Art of Poetry_;
nec quarta loqui persona laboret.
Mr. Langbaine professes himself ignorant from whence the plot is
taken, neither can he find the name of any such Prince as Alaham, that
reigned in Ormus, where the scene lyes, an island situated at the
entrance of the Persian Gulph, which is mentioned by Mr. Herbert[2] in
his account of Ormus.
Mustapha, a Tragedy, printed in folio 1633. This play likewise seems
to be built on the model of the ancients, and the plot is the same
with that of lord Orrery's tragedy of the same title, and taken from
Paulus Jovius, Thuanus, &c. Both these plays are printed together in
folio, London, 1633, with several other poems, as a Treatise on Human
Learning; An Inquisition upon Fame and Honour; A Treatise of Wars. All
these are written in a stanza of six lines, four interwoven, and a
couplet in base, which the Italians call Sestine Coelica, containing
one hundred and nine sonnets of different measures. There are in
this volume two letters; the one to an honourable Lady, containing
directions how to behave in a married state; the other addressed to
his cousin Grevil Varney, then in France, containing Directions for
Travelling. His lordship has other pieces ascribed to him besides
those published under his name, The Life of Sir Philip Sidney, printed
at the beginning of the Arcadia. His Remains, or Poems of Monarchy and
Religion, printed in 8vo. London 1670. Philips and Winstanley ascribe
a play to him, called Marcus Tullius Cicero, but this is without
foundation, for that play was not written, at least not printed, 'till
long after his lordship's death. Having now given some account of his
works, I shall sum up his character in the words of Mrs. Cooper, in
her Muses Library, as it is not easy to do it to better advantage.
"I don't know (says she) whether a woman may
be acquitted for endeavouring to sum up a character
so various and important as his lordship's;
but if the attempt can be excused, I don't desire
to have it pass for a decisive sentence.
Perhaps few men that dealt in poetry had
more learning, or real wisdom than this nobleman,
and yet his stile is sometimes so dark
and mysterious, that one would imagine he
chose rather to conceal, than illustrate his meaning.
At other times his wit breaks out again
with an uncommon brightness, and shines, I'd
almost said, without an equal. It is the same
thing with his poetry, sometimes so harsh and
uncouth as if he had no ear for music, at others,
so smooth and harmonious as if he was
master of all its powers."
The piece from which I shall quote some lines, is entitled,
A TREATISE of HUMAN LEARNING.
The mind of man is this world's true dimension;
And knowledge is the measure of the minde:
And as the minde in her vast comprehension,
Contains more worlds than all the world can finde.
So knowledge doth itself farre more extend,
Than all the minds of men can comprehend.
A climbing height it is without a head,
Depth without bottome, way without an end,
A circle with no line invironed,
Not comprehended, all it comprehends;
Worth infinite, yet satisfies no minde,
'Till it that Infinite of the God-head finde.
[Footnote 1: Fuller's Worthies of Warwickshire, p. 127.]
[Footnote 2: Travels, third Edition, p. 114.]
* * * * *
JOHN DAY.
This author lived in the reign of King James I. and was some time
student in Caius College in Cambridge. No particulars are preserved
concerning this poet, but that he had connection with other poets of
some name, and wrote the following plays:
1. Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green, with the Merry Humour of Tom Stroud,
the Norfolk Yeoman, several times publicly acted by the Prince's
Servants; printed in 4to. London, 1659; for the plot, as far as it
concerns history, consult the writers in the reign of King Henry VI.
2. Humour out of Breath, a Comedy, said to have been writ by our
author, but some have doubted his being the real author of it.
3. Isle of Gulls, a Comedy, often acted in the Black Fryars, by the
children of the Revels, printed in 4to. London, 1633. This is founded
upon Sir Philip Sidney's Arcadia.
4. Law Tricks, or Who Would Have Thought It? a Comedy, several times
acted by the children of the Revels, and printed in 4to. 1608.
5. Parliament of Bees, with their proper characters, or a Bee-Hive
furnished with Twelve Honey-Combs, as pleasant as profitable, being an
allegorical description of the ancients of good and bad men in those
days, printed in 4to. London, 1641.
6. Travels of Three English Brothers, Sir Thomas, Sir Anthony, and Mr.
Robert Shirley, a History, played by her Majesty's Servants, printed
in 4to. London, 1607, and dedicated to Honour's Favourites and the
entire friends of the family of the Shirleys. In the composition of
this play our author was assisted by William Rowley, and Mr. George
Wilkins; the foundation of it may be read in several English Writers,
and Chronicles, and it is particularly set down in Dr. Fuller's
Worthies, in his description of Sussex. When our author died cannot be
justly ascertained, but Mr. Langbaine has preserved an elegy written
on him, by his friend Mr. Tateham, which begins thus:
Don Phoebus now hath lost his light,
And left his rule unto the night;
And Cynthia, she has overcome
The Day, and darkened the sun:
Whereby we now have lost our hope,
Of gaining Day, into horoscope, &c.
In this manner he runs on: like a gentleman in Lincolns Inn, who wrote
an ingenious poem upon the transactions between a Landlord and his
Tenant Day, who privately departed from him by Night, printed in a
single sheet, London, 1684. To shew the parallel, the following lines
are sufficient.
How Night and Day conspire a secret flight;
For Day, they say, is gone away by Night.
The Day is past, but landlord where's your rent?
You might have seen, that Day was almost spent.
Day sold, and did put off whate'er he might,
Tho' it was ne'er so dark, Day wou'd be light.
* * * * *
Sir WALTER RALEIGH