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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-14 20:03:36 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-14 20:03:36 -0700 |
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diff --git a/35365-tei/35365-tei.tei b/35365-tei/35365-tei.tei new file mode 100644 index 0000000..64f264a --- /dev/null +++ b/35365-tei/35365-tei.tei @@ -0,0 +1,15138 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?> + +<!DOCTYPE TEI.2 SYSTEM "http://www.gutenberg.org/tei/marcello/0.4/dtd/pgtei.dtd" [ + +<!ENTITY u5 "http://www.tei-c.org/Lite/"> + +]> + +<TEI.2 lang="en"> +<teiHeader> + <fileDesc> + <titleStmt> + <title>Philip Massinger</title> + <author><name reg="Cruickshank, A. H.">A. H. Cruickshank</name></author> + </titleStmt> + <editionStmt> + <edition n="1">Edition 1</edition> + </editionStmt> + <publicationStmt> + <publisher>Project Gutenberg</publisher> + <date>February 23, 2011</date> + <idno type="etext-no">35365</idno> + <availability> + <p>This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and + with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it + away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg + License online at www.gutenberg.org/license</p> + </availability> + </publicationStmt> + <sourceDesc> + <bibl> + Created electronically. + </bibl> + </sourceDesc> + </fileDesc> + <encodingDesc> + </encodingDesc> + <profileDesc> + <langUsage> + <language id="en"></language> + <language id="fr"></language> + </langUsage> + </profileDesc> + <revisionDesc> + <change> + <date value="2011-02-23">February 23, 2011</date> + <respStmt> + <name> + Produced by Robert Cicconetti, David King, and the Online + Distributed Proofreading Team at <http://www.pgdp.net/>. + (This file was produced from images generously made + available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries.) + + </name> + </respStmt> + <item>Project Gutenberg TEI edition 1</item> + </change> + </revisionDesc> +</teiHeader> + +<pgExtensions> + <pgStyleSheet> + .boxed { x-class: boxed } + .shaded { x-class: shaded } + .rules { x-class: rules; rules: all } + .indent { margin-left: 2 } + .bold { font-weight: bold } + .italic { font-style: italic } + .smallcaps { font-variant: small-caps } + </pgStyleSheet> + + <pgCharMap formats="txt.iso-8859-1"> + <char id="U0x2014"> + <charName>mdash</charName> + <desc>EM DASH</desc> + <mapping>--</mapping> + </char> + <char id="U0x2003"> + <charName>emsp</charName> + <desc>EM SPACE</desc> + <mapping> </mapping> + </char> + <char id="U0x2026"> + <charName>hellip</charName> + <desc>HORIZONTAL ELLIPSIS</desc> + <mapping>...</mapping> + </char> + </pgCharMap> +</pgExtensions> + +<text lang="en"> + <front> + <div> + <divGen type="pgheader" /> + </div> + <div> + <divGen type="encodingDesc" /> + </div> + + <div rend="page-break-before: always"> + <p rend="font-size: xx-large; text-align: center">Philip Massinger</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">By</p> + <p rend="font-size: x-large; text-align: center">A. H. Cruickshank</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">Sometime Scholar and Fellow of New College, Oxford</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">Canon of Durham, and Professor of Greek and Classical Literature, in the University of Durham</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">Oxford</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">Basil Blackwell, Broad Street</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">1920</p> + </div> + <div rend="page-break-before: always"> + <head>Contents</head> + <divGen type="toc" /> + </div> + + </front> +<body> + +<pb n='i'/><anchor id='Pgi'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Dedication</head> + +<p> +Inscribed To<lb/> +Frederic G. Kenyon<lb/> +In Memory Of A Friendship<lb/> +Of Forty-Four Years +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='ii'/><anchor id='Pgii'/> + +<div> + +<p rend='text-align: center'> + <figure url='images/frontispiece.png' rend='width: 70%'> + <figDesc>Frontispiece: Philip Massinger</figDesc> + </figure> +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='v'/><anchor id='Pgv'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Preface</head> + +<p> +In confessing that the war made me write a book I do +not stand alone. Sensible as I am of its defects, I trust +it will help to spread the knowledge of Massinger's works, +and will invite others to deal on similar lines with the +other dramatists of the great age. The design widened +as it went on, and was then contracted. In the end I +thought it wiser to confine myself to digesting the knowledge +which I had of Massinger's text. +</p> + +<p> +The Clarendon Press undertook to publish this book, +but as, owing to war-work, they could fix no date, I +asked them to release me. There would be no occasion +to mention this fact were it not that it was owing to the +original arrangement that I received much valuable help +and advice from Mr. Percy Simpson. Many other +scholars and friends have kindly aided me in various +matters, among whom I should like to mention: Mr. J. C. +Bailey, Mr. P. James Bayfield (photographer to Dulwich +College), Dr. A. C. Bradley, Mr. Robert Bridges, Mr. A. H. +Bullen, Mr. A. K. Cook, Professor W. Macneile Dixon, +Mr. H. H. E. Gaster, the Dean of Gloucester, Mr. E. Gosse, +Sir W. H. Hadow, Archdeacon Hobhouse, Sir Sidney Lee, +Mr. C. Leudesdorf, Dr. Falconer Madan, Mr. A. W. Pollard, +Dr. P. G. Smyly, the Master of University College, Durham, +Sir A. Ward, and Sir George F. Warner. Last, but not +least, I thank my wife for her skilful and ready help with +the proofs. +</p> + +<p> +A. H. Cruickshank. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='001'/><anchor id='Pg001'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Philip Massinger</head> + +<p> +It is interesting to revise the literary judgments of youth; +it is pleasant to find them confirmed by a more mature +judgment. This train of thought has led me to read +Massinger once more; and as I read, the desire arose to +treat his works, to the best of my ability, with the attention +to detail which modern scholarship requires. A great +amount of valuable work has been done in the last fifty +years on the writers of the Elizabethan and Jacobean +ages; but no one, perhaps with the exception of Boyle, +has applied to Massinger the care which Shakspere, +Marlowe, and Ben Jonson, to name no others, have +secured. There is no reason why any of our great +dramatists should be treated with less respect than those +of Greece and Rome, of France and Germany. +</p> + +<p> +The first thing to be done was to facilitate references +by numbering the lines of Massinger's plays;<note place='foot'>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.</note> the next +was to investigate once more the facts of his life, and to +correlate them with the period in which he lived; the +third was to read typical plays of the period, so as to +arrive at a just estimate of our author. +</p> + +<p> +His life will not detain us long. We know far less of +him than we do of Shakspere. None of his sayings have +been preserved to us; hardly any incidents of his career. +His father was house-steward to two of the Earls of +<pb n='002'/><anchor id='Pg002'/> +Pembroke, first to Henry Herbert, then to William Herbert,<note place='foot'>A. à Wood's <hi rend='italic'>Fasti Oxonienses</hi>, p. 313.</note> +Shakspere's friend. The elder Massinger was a Fellow +of Merton College, Oxford, and for several years a Member +of Parliament. Philip Massinger, the dramatist, was born +at Salisbury in 1584. In 1602 he went up to St. Alban's +Hall, Oxford, where his father had been an undergraduate. +We are told by A. à Wood that he went at Lord Pembroke's +expense, but that he did not work hard at the +University, and took no degree.<note place='foot'>Herein he resembled F. Beaumont. G. Langbaine, on +the other hand, says that the Earl sent Massinger to Oxford, +where he <q>closely pursued his studies.</q> But we must be +careful how we believe Langbaine; his account of our poet +begins thus: <q>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.</q> Here are +three gross blunders at once.</note> In or after the year 1606 +he seems to have gone to London, and to have speedily +engaged in the work of writing plays.<note place='foot'>Boyle (<hi rend='italic'>N. S. S.</hi>, xxi., p. 472) says that <q>Massinger's +inveterate habit of repeating himself arose probably from his +profession as an actor.</q> I know of no evidence for this hypothesis. +<hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi>, however, p. 6, note 1.</note> The wide reading +which his plays presuppose probably began at Oxford. +</p> + +<p> +It was the custom in those days, as in the time of +Plautus at Rome,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> Mommsen's <hi rend='italic'>History of Rome</hi>, English translation, +vol. ii., p. 440.</note> for playwrights to revise old plays; +and still more was it usual for them to collaborate.<note place='foot'>Thus in the play of <hi rend='italic'>Lady Jane</hi>, of which <hi rend='italic'>The Famous +History of Sir T. Wyatt</hi> is a fragment, we find five authors +concerned. It will be remembered that Eupolis contributed +to the <hi rend='italic'>Knights</hi> of Aristophanes.</note> We +find Massinger at work in this way with Field,<note place='foot'>For some account of Field see Appendix XI.</note> Daborne,<note place='foot'>Daborne's letters bulk large in the Henslowe Correspondence. +We have two plays of his: <hi rend='italic'>A Christian turn'd Turke</hi>, +based on the story of the pirate Ward; and <hi rend='italic'>The Poor Man's +Comfort</hi>, 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.</note> +<pb n='003'/><anchor id='Pg003'/> +Dekker, Tourneur, and above all, with Fletcher. With +the latter he worked from 1613 to 1623. In that year, +for some unknown reason, he seceded from the service +of the leading company of actors of the day, who went +by the name of the King's men, and wrote unaided three +plays for the Queen's men, <hi rend='italic'>The Parliament of Love</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>The +Bondman</hi>, and <hi rend='italic'>The Renegado</hi>. After Fletcher's death, +in 1625, Massinger rejoined the King's men, and wrote +for them until his death in 1640. +</p> + +<p> +It has been surmised from the vivid colouring of <hi rend='italic'>The +Virgin Martyr</hi><note place='foot'><p>Such a reference to <hi rend='italic'>Acta Sanctorum</hi> as is contained +in these lines might be made by an Anglican: +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Antoninus</hi>. It may be, the duty<lb/> +And loyal service, with which I pursued her,<lb/> +And sealed it with my death, will be remember'd<lb/> +Among her blessed <hi rend='italic'>actions</hi>.—<hi rend='italic'>V. M.</hi>, IV., 3, 28. +</p> +<p> +More stress might be laid on the metaphor contained in +these lines: +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Theophilus</hi>. O! mark it, therefore, and with that attention, +As you would hear an embassy from heaven, +<hi rend='italic'>By a wing'd legate</hi>.—<hi rend='italic'>V. M.</hi>, V., 2, 103.</p></note> and the plot of <hi rend='italic'>The Renegado</hi>,<note place='foot'>No doubt it required courage to present a Jesuit in this +way so soon after Gunpowder Plot; and the curious argument +in <hi rend='italic'>The Renegado</hi>, V., 1, 28-41, in favour of lay-baptism +certainly shows a mind interested in ecclesiastical problems.</note> where a +Jesuit plays a leading part and is portrayed in a pleasing +light, that Massinger turned Roman Catholic. The evidence +for this theory is quite inadequate. Indeed, we +might as well argue from Gazet's language that the +author followed the Anglican <foreign rend='italic'>via media</foreign>.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>The Renegado</hi>, I., 1, 24-32.</note> Plots derived +from French, Spanish, and Italian sources would naturally +contain Roman Catholic machinery. We might as well +infer that Shakspere was a Roman Catholic because +Silvia goes to Friar Patrick's cell,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Two Gentlemen of Verona</hi>, V., 1.</note> or because Friar +Laurence is prominent in <hi rend='italic'>Romeo and Juliet</hi>.<note place='foot'>Friar Paulo takes an important part in <hi rend='italic'>The Maid of +Honour</hi>, ad finem. Octavio, disguised as a priest, elicits +Alonzo's repentance in <hi rend='italic'>The Bashful Lover</hi>, IV., 2. The same +expedient occurs in <hi rend='italic'>The Emperor of the East</hi>, V., 3, where +Theodosius, disguised as a friar, convinces himself of his +wife's innocence. Shakspere disguises the Duke as a friar +in <hi rend='italic'>Measure for Measure</hi>, II., 3, III., 1, 2, IV., 1, 2, 3.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='004'/><anchor id='Pg004'/> + +<p> +We know that Massinger lived a life of comparative +poverty; on one occasion we find him, with two other +dramatic authors, asking for a loan of £5.<note place='foot'><p>See the photograph at the beginning of the book. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also +Greg's Henslowe Papers, article 68. Fleay identifies the +play referred to in the document as <hi rend='italic'>The Honest Man of +Fortune</hi>, acted in 1613. In the first Dublin poem, after +referring to the patronage which had befriended Jonson and +Fletcher, Massinger goes on thus: +</p> +<p> +<q>These are precedents<lb/> +I cite with reverence; my low intents<lb/> +Look not so high; yet some work I might frame<lb/> +That should not wrong my duty, nor your name;<lb/> +Were but your lordship pleased to cast an eye<lb/> +Of favour on my trod-down poverty.</q> +</p></note> +</p> + +<p> +The person who thus obliged the three writers was +Philip Henslowe, a dyer, theatrical lessee, and speculator, +who acted as a kind of broker between actors and authors, +buying from the one and selling to the other; we still +possess his diary, containing information as to the prices +which he gave for plays.<note place='foot'><p><hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> W. W. Greg's <hi rend='italic'>Henslowe's Diary</hi>, vol. ii., pp. 110-147. +Mr. Greg points out (p. 113) that <q>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</q>—<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, +of The Rose and Fortune Theatres. +</p> +<p> +We have also at Dulwich a bond from R. Daborne and +P. Massinger to Philip Henslowe for payment of £3, dated +July 4th, 1615. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> Greg's Henslowe Papers, article 102.</p></note> The prologue of <hi rend='italic'>The Guardian</hi> +shows us that for two years before 1633 Massinger had +been under a cloud, and had abstained from writing. +Two of his plays had failed in 1631—<hi rend='italic'>The Emperor of the +East</hi><note place='foot'>Licensed March 4th, 1631.</note> and <hi rend='italic'>Believe as You List</hi><note place='foot'>Licensed May 6th, 1631.</note>—so he appears to have +put forth his full strength in <hi rend='italic'>The Guardian</hi>. +</p> + +<p rend='text-align: center'> + <figure url='images/sample.png' rend='width: 70%'> + <figDesc>Henslow document at Dulwich.</figDesc> + </figure> +</p> + +<pb n='005'/><anchor id='Pg005'/> + +<p> +The dedications of Massinger's plays which have been +preserved show that he was often dependent for support +on the leaders of what he once or twice calls <q>the +nobility.</q><note place='foot'>See poem <q>Sero sed serio</q> (Cunningham, p. 628); +<hi rend='italic'>Picture</hi>, II., 2, 37; <hi rend='italic'>City Madam</hi>, I., 2, 116; <hi rend='italic'>Emperor of the +East</hi>, II., 1, 45. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>Catiline</hi>; II, 1.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The connexion of the poet with the family of which his +father was the loyal and trusted servant has been exaggerated +by some;<note place='foot'>Aubrey, in his <hi rend='italic'>Natural History of Wiltshire</hi> (ed. J. Britton, +1847, p. 31), distinctly says that the poet had a pension of +twenty or thirty pounds per annum, which was <q>payed to +his wife after his decease.</q></note> in the dedication of <hi rend='italic'>The Bondman</hi>, +written in 1623, to Philip, Earl of Montgomery,<note place='foot'>Younger brother of William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke.</note> the poet +distinctly states that though the Earl had helped the +play at its first performance by his <q>liberal suffrages</q> +yet he was personally unknown to him.<note place='foot'>The dedication begins thus: <q>However I could never +arrive at the happiness to be made known to your lordship,</q> +etc.</note> Amongst others +to whom we find dedications is George Harding, Baron +Berkeley, to whom Webster inscribed <hi rend='italic'>The Duchess of +Malfi</hi>. It is pleasant to read in the dedication of <hi rend='italic'>The +Picture</hi> <q>to my honoured and selected friends of the +Noble Society of the Inner Temple</q> that Massinger +received <q>frequent bounties</q> from them. +</p> + +<p> +The plays give us no clear evidence that Massinger ever +travelled abroad,<note place='foot'><p>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. <hi rend='italic'>The +Renegado</hi> is traceable to a comedy of Cervantes, <hi rend='italic'>Los Baños de +Argel</hi>, printed in 1615. <hi rend='italic'>The Emperor of the East</hi> is derived +from a French translation of Zonaras. If, which is doubtful, +<hi rend='italic'>The Duke of Milan</hi> 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. +</p> +<p> +Much interesting information on the great debt which +Fletcher and other dramatists owed to Spanish literature will +be found in F. E. Schelling's <hi rend='italic'>Elizabethan Drama</hi>, 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. <hi rend='italic'>The Island Princess</hi> +is based on a Spanish play, of which no translation is known, +<hi rend='italic'>Conquista de las islas Malucas</hi>, 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, <hi rend='italic'>Love's +Cure</hi> is based on the <hi rend='italic'>Comedia de la Fuerza de la Costumbre</hi>, 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 (<hi rend='italic'>cf.</hi> Appendix III., No. 29). It is highly desirable +that the grounds which led Rosenbach to believe that Massinger +knew Spanish should be made public.</p></note> though such a passage as <hi rend='italic'>The Great +<pb n='006'/><anchor id='Pg006'/> +Duke of Florence</hi>, II., 2, 5-21, rather suggests a visit to +Italy. Nor have we any ground for supposing that he +was, like Shakspere, an actor, unless indeed an obscure +reference in the Dublin poem to the Earl of Pembroke be +so interpreted.<note place='foot'><p>Lines 39-45 run thus: +</p> +<p> +Let them write well that do this, and in grace.<lb/> +I would not for a pension or a place<lb/> +Part so with over candour: let me rather<lb/> +Live poorly on those toys I would not father;<lb/> +Not known beyond a player or a man,<lb/> +That does pursue the course that I have ran.<lb/> +Ere so grow famous. +</p> +<p> +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 <hi rend='italic'>Englische Studien</hi>, xxvi., pp. 1-7, and will be found +with the original spelling and punctuation in <ref target='Appendix_XVII'>Appendix XVII</ref>.</p></note> In London he lived on the Bankside, +Southwark. The story of his death is told us by our +gossiping old friend Anthony à Wood, in his <hi rend='italic'>Athenae +Oxonienses</hi>.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>A. O.</hi>, ii., 654-656. A. à Wood includes in the list of +Massinger's plays <hi rend='italic'>Powerful Favourite, or the Life of Sejanus</hi>. +As Massinger was but nineteen in 1603 he cannot have been +the <q>happy genius</q> referred to in the address <q>to the +readers</q> of Ben Jonson's play. For the explanation of the +mistaken attribution of <hi rend='italic'>The Powerful Favourite</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>cf.</hi> Appendix +XIV.</note> Massinger went to bed one night well, and +<pb n='007'/><anchor id='Pg007'/> +was found dead the next morning. He was buried at St. +Saviour's on March 18th, 1639/40.<note place='foot'>Gifford was right as to the date and Cunningham wrong. +The entry in question is as follows: <q>March 18th, 1639 +[<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, old style], Philip Massenger, a stranger.</q> The entry +about Fletcher runs thus: <q>Aug. 29, 1625, John Ffletcher +[sic], a man, in the church.</q> Entries such as <q>a man,</q> <q>a +boy,</q> <q>a girl</q> are not unusual in the book, and the practice +of burial <q>in the church</q> was comparatively common +at the time.</note> The funeral was +<q>accompanied by comedians,</q> a phrase which seems to +show that his professional friends did him honour at the +last; he is described in the monthly accounts of St. +Saviour's as <q>a stranger</q>—that is to say, a non-parishioner. +His intimate friend Sir Aston Cokaine tells us +that he shared the grave of his friend John Fletcher;<note place='foot'>The stone inscribed with his name in the chancel of +St. Saviour's does not mark the place of his burial, which +is unknown.</note> +and in 1896 a window in the south aisle of the nave of +Southwark Cathedral was unveiled in his honour by Sir +Walter Besant.<note place='foot'>By a charming if undesigned coincidence the Massinger +window stands next to that of Shakspere. It represents two +scenes from <hi rend='italic'>The Virgin Martyr</hi>, and, unfortunately, repeats +the erroneous date (1639) of the poet's death, and gives 1583 +as the year of his birth.</note> +</p> + +<p> +What was the atmosphere in which Massinger lived? +The days of James I. and Charles I. were less heroic than +those of Elizabeth. In foreign politics England intervened +once or twice in an ineffective way, and a good +deal of sympathy was shown, much of it in a practical +fashion, for the cause of the Protestant King of Bohemia. +Gardiner<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Contemporary Review</hi>, August, 1876.</note> has pointed out that Charles I. gave permission +to the Marquis of Hamilton to carry over volunteers +in aid of Gustavus Adolphus just as James I. had allowed +<pb n='008'/><anchor id='Pg008'/> +Vere to carry over volunteers to the Palatinate. Hamilton +sailed in July, 1631, and <hi rend='italic'>The Maid of Honour</hi> was +printed in 1632. The whole plot of this play recalls the +relations of England to the Protestant cause on the +Continent. Thus, William. Lord Craven, to whom Ford's +<hi rend='italic'>Broken Heart</hi> is dedicated, and who was knighted at the +age of seventeen, after his <q>valiant adventures</q> in the +Netherlands under Henry, Prince of Orange, went to the +assistance of Gustavus Adolphus in 1631, when only +twenty-two years old. +</p> + +<p> +Wars in the Low Countries are vaguely referred to in +various passages, as, <hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>, in <hi rend='italic'>The Fatal Dowry</hi>:<note place='foot'>II., 2, 140.</note> +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Novall Jun.</hi> Oh, fie upon him, how he wears his clothes!</l> +<l>As if he had come this Xmas. from S. Omer's</l> +<l>To see his friends, and return'd after Twelfth-tide.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +The date of the play is uncertain, but it must have been +written some considerable time before being printed in +1632.<note place='foot'>Intercourse with the Low Countries is referred to in the +<hi rend='italic'>New Way</hi> (I., 2, 75). The monastery to which Sir John +Frugal retires is at <q>Lovain</q> (<hi rend='italic'>City Madam</hi>, III., 2, 58). +<hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also for the University of <q>Lovain</q> <hi rend='italic'>The Elder Brother</hi>, +II., 1.</note> In <hi rend='italic'>The New Way to pay Old Debts</hi> Lord Lovell <q>has +purchas'd a fair name in the wars.</q><note place='foot'><p>III., 1, 38. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also Frank Wellborn's petition, V., 1, +<foreign rend='italic'>ad finem</foreign>. Compare the part played in <hi rend='italic'>Sir John Barnavelt</hi> by +the English mercenaries in Holland; and especially IV., 2. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Orange.</hi> I have sent patents out for the choicest companies<lb/> +Hither to be remov'd, first Colonel Vere's<lb/> +From Dort, next Sir Charles Morgan's, a stout Company. +</p> +<p> +IV., 3. <hi rend='smallcaps'>Barnavelt</hi> (<hi rend='italic'>to his daughter</hi>): +</p> +<p> +What! wouldst thou have a husband?<lb/> +Go marry an English Captain, and he'll teach thee<lb/> +How to defy thy father and his fortune. +</p> +<p> +II., 1. <hi rend='smallcaps'>Barnavelt</hi>: +</p> +<p> +But have you tried by any means (it skills not<lb/> +How much you promise) to win th' old soldier<lb/> +(The English Companies in chief I aim at)<lb/> +To stand firm for us? +</p></note> In <hi rend='italic'>The Fatal Dowry</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>The Picture</hi>, and <hi rend='italic'>The Unnatural Combat</hi>, we have the +familiar type of the brave soldier who is disregarded in +time of peace, and has come down to poverty and old +clothes. +</p> + +<pb n='009'/><anchor id='Pg009'/> + +<p> +In the wider world of Europe the Turk and the Algerine +pirate are still grim realities enough to form an effective +scenic background.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Unnatural Combat</hi>, I., 1, 243, 278; <hi rend='italic'>Great Duke of Florence</hi>, +I., 2, 62; II., 1, 145; <hi rend='italic'>Picture</hi>, I., 1, 3-5; <hi rend='italic'>Guardian</hi>, II., 1, 84; +V., 4, 160; <hi rend='italic'>Very Woman</hi>, V., 5, 28. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> in Marlowe, <hi rend='italic'>Tamburlaine</hi>, +Pt. I., III., 3; Pt. II., I., 2; <hi rend='italic'>Jew of Malta</hi>, I., 1; +II. 2. For a Christian pirate <hi rend='italic'>cf.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>Decameron</hi>, II. 4.</note> Indeed, it was not so very long +since the Battle of Lepanto. We find constant references +to galley-slaves,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Bondman</hi>, IV., 3, 77; <hi rend='italic'>Renegado</hi>, IV., 1, 99-102; II., 6, 32.</note> to the slave market,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>A Very Woman</hi>, III., 1.</note> and to +apostates to Islam.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>The Unnatural Combat</hi> and <hi rend='italic'>The Renegado</hi>.</note> In the opening scene of <hi rend='italic'>The Picture</hi> +the soldier husband parts from his wife on the frontier +of Bohemia <q>not distant from the Turkish camp above +five leagues.</q> One of the objections urged against the +new custom of fighting duels is that thereby lives are +lost which might have done service against the Turk.<note place='foot'><p><hi rend='italic'>Guardian</hi>, II., 1, 84. Similarly in <hi rend='italic'>The Bashful Lover</hi>, +V., 3, 110, Matilda warns Lorenzo that <q>Heaven's liberal +hand</q> has designed him to fight rather against the Turk than +a Christian neighbour-king. Compare <hi rend='italic'>The Devil's Law-case</hi> +(p. 138<hi rend='italic'>b</hi>). +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Ercole.</hi> When our bloods<lb/> +Embrac'd each other, then I pitied<lb/> +That so much valour should be hazarded<lb/> +On the fortune of a single rapier<lb/> +And not spent against the Turk. +</p></note> +The age of chivalry has its faint reflection in schemes to +<q>redeem Christian slaves chain'd in the Turkish servitude</q> +by force of arms, and in the prowess of the Knights of +Malta.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Renegado</hi>, II., 5, 24 and 64-73. Bertoldo, the Knight +of Malta, is the hero of <hi rend='italic'>The Maid of Honour</hi>. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also +Fletcher's play of that name; and <hi rend='italic'>Guardian</hi>, V., 4, 143-145.</note> The wealth and power of Turkey are taken for +<pb n='010'/><anchor id='Pg010'/> +granted. When Malefort senior vows vengeance on Montreville, +he cries out: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>The Turkish Empire offer'd for his ransom</l> +<l>Should not redeem his life.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Unnatural Combat</hi>, V., 2, 230. We find a similar emphasis +on the Turk and pirates in Webster's <hi rend='italic'>White Devil</hi> and<hi rend='italic'> Devil's +Law-case</hi>.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +At home we find the vices of a prolonged peace lending +opportunity for some easy satire. On the whole, we +may say that we do not learn very much about our +country from the poet which we could not find in the +other playwrights of the day. Let us rapidly put together +some of his references. There were two Englands +at this time, drifting inevitably apart, only to clash in +fratricidal war under Charles I. The drama was becoming +less and less national, more and more an affair of +aristocratic patronage. Massinger does not often refer +to the Puritans;<note place='foot'>The <q>zealous coblers</q> and <q>learned botchers</q> who +preach at Amsterdam are mentioned in <hi rend='italic'>Renegado</hi>, I., 1, 30-32. +In <hi rend='italic'>The Unnatural Combat</hi>, III., 1, 75, the <q>Hugonots</q> are +referred to as using the word <q>mortified.</q> <q>Geneva print</q> +is mentioned in <hi rend='italic'>Duke of Milan</hi>, I., 1, 11; <q>precisians</q> in +<hi rend='italic'>New Way</hi>, I., 1, 6, use the word <q>verity.</q></note> there is nothing so amusing in his plays +as the passage in Fletcher's <hi rend='italic'>Fair Maid of the Inn</hi>, where +the Pedant solicits the advice of Forobosco the quack +about <q>erecting four new sects of religion at Amsterdam.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Fair Maid</hi>, IV., 2.</note> +The fashionable love of astrology is satirized +in <hi rend='italic'>The City Madam</hi>. The England of Massinger's plays +is an England which loves expense,<note place='foot'><p><hi rend='italic'>Very Woman</hi>, III., 1, 124: +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Merchant.</hi> They have a city, Sir—I have been in it.<lb/> +And therefore dare affirm it—where if you saw<lb/> +With what a load of vanity 'tis fraughted,<lb/> +How like an everlasting morris-dance it looks,<lb/> +Nothing but hobby-horse and Maid Marian,<lb/> +You would start indeed. +</p></note> amusements, Greek +<pb n='011'/><anchor id='Pg011'/> +wines,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Old Law</hi>, IV., 1, 20; <hi rend='italic'>New Way</hi>, III., 2, 169; <hi rend='italic'>Very Woman</hi>, +III., 5, 29 and 70; <hi rend='italic'>Renegado</hi>, I., 3, 74. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>Decameron</hi>, II. 5.</note> masques,<note place='foot'>For the influence of the masque on Massinger, <hi rend='italic'>cf.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>Picture</hi>, +II., 2; <hi rend='italic'>City Madam</hi>, V., 3; <hi rend='italic'>Guardian</hi>, IV., 2.</note> new clothes,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> the characters of Simonides in <hi rend='italic'>The Old Law</hi> and +young Novall in <hi rend='italic'>The Fatal Dowry</hi>, II., 2; <hi rend='italic'>Emperor of the East</hi>, +I., 2, 21; <hi rend='italic'>Picture</hi>, II., 2, 29-36; <hi rend='italic'>Very Woman</hi>, III., 1, 131-2. +Compare also <hi rend='italic'>Henry VIII.</hi>, I., 3.</note> and foreign fashions.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Renegado</hi>, III., 1, 57; <hi rend='italic'>Guardian</hi>, II., 1, 81. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>Merchant +of Venice</hi>, I., 2, 78-81; <hi rend='italic'>As You Like It</hi>, IV., 1, 34-40.</note> +London is a great port, with trade to the Indies and +aspirations after the <q>North passage.</q> The jealousy of +the City and the Court, the ostentations of the one and +the refinement of the other, point the moral of <hi rend='italic'>The City +Madam</hi>.<note place='foot'><p>The play ends thus: +</p> +<p> +Make you good<lb/> +Your promised reformation, and instruct<lb/> +Our city dames, whom wealth makes proud, to move<lb/> +In their own spheres, and willingly to confess,<lb/> +In their habits, manners, and their highest port,<lb/> +A distance 'twixt the city and the court. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also <hi rend='italic'>Maid of Honour</hi>, III., 1, 84; <hi rend='italic'>City Madam</hi>, III., 2, +153; IV., 4, 43; <hi rend='italic'>New Way</hi>, II., 1, 81 and 88. In <hi rend='italic'>The Renegado</hi>, +I., 2, distinctions are drawn between the county ladies, the city +dames, and the court ladies of England. Compare also +the epilogue to <hi rend='italic'>Henry VIII</hi>: +</p> +<p> +Others, to hear the city<lb/> +Abused extremely, and to cry <q>that's witty.</q> +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rape of Lucrece</hi>, II., 1; II., 3; <hi rend='italic'>The Devil is an Ass</hi>, III., 1; +<hi rend='italic'>Westward Ho!</hi> I., 1; <q>I tell thee, there is equality enough +between a lady and a city dame if their hair be but of a +colour.</q> Ford contrasts the ladies of the city and the court +in <hi rend='italic'>The Broken Heart</hi>, II., 1. In Dekker's <hi rend='italic'>Shoemaker's Holiday</hi>, +I., 1, the Lord Mayor says: +</p> +<p> +Too mean is my poor girl for his high birth,<lb/> +Poor citizens must not with courtiers wed. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also <hi rend='italic'>A Chaste Maid in Cheapside</hi>, I., 1: +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Maudlin.</hi> Besides, you have a presence, sweet Sir Walter,<lb/> +Able to dance a maid brought up in the city;<lb/> +A brave court-spirit makes our virgins quiver. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Eastward Ho!</hi> deals with the same contrast. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also the +Induction to <hi rend='italic'>The Knight of the Burning Pestle</hi>, and <hi rend='italic'>ib.</hi>, IV., 5; +Induction to <hi rend='italic'>Four Plays in One</hi>.</p></note> The high-spirited 'prentices of the City of +<pb n='012'/><anchor id='Pg012'/> +London take the law into their own hands in days when +there are no police,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Renegado</hi>, I., 3, 92-94; <hi rend='italic'>City Madam</hi>, I., 2, 34. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>Henry +VIII.</hi>, V., 4; <hi rend='italic'>Shoemaker's Holiday</hi>, V., 2; <hi rend='italic'>The Honest Whore</hi>, +Pt. I., III., 1; <hi rend='italic'>Sir Thomas More</hi>, II., 1.</note> and their vices are satirized after +the manner of Ben Jonson in the same play. Horse-play, +such as tossing in a blanket, is considered a great joke.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Parliament of Love</hi>, IV., 5, 12; <hi rend='italic'>New Way</hi>, II., 1, 142. +<hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>Epicoene</hi>, V., 1 <hi rend='italic'>bis</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>Elder Brother</hi>, IV., 3; <hi rend='italic'>Honest Man's +Fortune</hi>, V., 3; <hi rend='italic'>Thierry and Theodoret</hi>, II., 3.</note> +The balladmonger so often referred to in Shakspere is +much in evidence,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Unnatural Combat</hi>, III., 3, 35; IV., 2, 35; <hi rend='italic'>Parliament of +Love</hi>, IV., 5, 125, 126; <hi rend='italic'>Bondman</hi>, V., 3, 245-252; <hi rend='italic'>Guardian</hi>, +III., 3, 8; <hi rend='italic'>City Madam</hi>, IV., 1, 74; <hi rend='italic'>Duke of Milan</hi>, III., 2, +18. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>1 Henry IV.</hi>, II., 2, 49; III., 1, 130; <hi rend='italic'>2 Henry IV.</hi>, IV., +3, 52-54; <hi rend='italic'>Winter's Tale</hi>, IV., 3, 181-263; V., 2, 25-27; <hi rend='italic'>Antony +and Cleopatra</hi>, V., 2, 215; <hi rend='italic'>Queen of Corinth</hi>, III., 1; <hi rend='italic'>Spanish +Curate</hi>, IV., 7; <hi rend='italic'>False One</hi>, I., 1; <hi rend='italic'>Elder Brother</hi>, IV., 4; <hi rend='italic'>The +White Devil</hi>, p. 23b; <hi rend='italic'>The Devil's Law-case</hi>, pp. 131<hi rend='italic'>b</hi> and 143<hi rend='italic'>b</hi>; +<hi rend='italic'>Love's Sacrifice</hi>, III., 1; IV., 1; <hi rend='italic'>The Honest Whore</hi>, Pt. I, I., 1; +<hi rend='italic'>Bartholomew Fair</hi>, Induction; II., 1; and III., 1; <hi rend='italic'>Rape of +Lucrece</hi>, II., 1; <hi rend='italic'>Edward II.</hi>, II., 2; <hi rend='italic'>Orlando Furioso</hi>, IV., 1; +<hi rend='italic'>George a Greene</hi>, IV., 2; <hi rend='italic'>Parliament of Bees</hi>, ch. v.</note> though indeed it was an age in which +everyone wrote poetry.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Renegado</hi>, II., 4, 1. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>Much Ado about Nothing</hi>, V.,1, 295-297; +<hi rend='italic'>A King and No King</hi>, I., 2; IV., 2; <hi rend='italic'>Four Plays in One</hi>; +<hi rend='italic'>Triumph of Love</hi>, 4; <hi rend='italic'>Little French Lawyer</hi>, III., 2; <hi rend='italic'>The False +One</hi>, III., 2; IV., 3; <hi rend='italic'>Lover's Progress</hi>, I., 1; III., 4; V., 3; +<hi rend='italic'>Cupid's Revenge</hi>, II., 4; <hi rend='italic'>James IV.</hi>, 1, 2.</note> In rural England we find the +possibility of an unscrupulous local tyrant, such as is +depicted to us in Massinger's masterpiece, Sir Giles +Overreach, aided by his jackal, Mr. Justice Greedy.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>New Way</hi>, especially II., 1; for the difficulty of getting +justice done for the poor, <hi rend='italic'>cf.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>Unnatural Combat</hi>, I., 1; <hi rend='italic'>Fatal +Dowry</hi>, I., 1, especially lines 67-80.</note> That +our poet had a keen eye for social evils, for the man who +sells food at famine prices, the encloser of commons, the +usurer, the worker of iron, the cheating tradesman, is +<pb n='013'/><anchor id='Pg013'/> +clear from a passage in <hi rend='italic'>The Guardian</hi>.<note place='foot'><p>II.; 4, 79-106. The reference to the mills is as follows: +</p> +<p> +Builders of iron mills, that grub up forests<lb/> +With timber trees for shipping. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>Volpone</hi>, I., 1, 33-36.</p></note> The beautiful +description in the same play of the amusements of country +life, the hunting and the hawking, with which Durazzo +seeks to console his love-sick ward Caldoro,<note place='foot'>I., 1, 290-340.</note> probably +takes one back to Massinger's own boyhood in Wiltshire. +As we should expect, there is a good deal of riding in the +country scenes.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>E.g.</hi>, in <hi rend='italic'>The New Way</hi> and <hi rend='italic'>The Guardian</hi>.</note> The characters of Sir John Frugal, the +successful merchant, and Mr. Plenty, the country gentleman,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>City Madam.</hi></note> +show us that the <q>John Bull</q> type of Englishman +existed in those days. +</p> + +<p> +The temptation to give a back-hand blow to one's own +country in the course of a plot laid abroad is obvious and +irresistible; where Shakspere had set the example others +were sure to follow,<note place='foot'>Thus Ford, in an interesting passage in <hi rend='italic'>Love's Sacrifice</hi>, +I., 1, refers to the national love of self-depreciation among the +English. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also <hi rend='italic'>Rape of Lucrece</hi>, III., 5.</note> and Massinger does not spare the +female sex of England. To judge by the passage in <hi rend='italic'>The +Renegado</hi>,<note place='foot'>I., 2, 22-49. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also <hi rend='italic'>Very Woman</hi>, III., 1, 133-135; +and Webster's <hi rend='italic'>Westward Ho!</hi> I., 1, and III., 3.</note> the women of his day loved expense and +luxury, and were very independent in their attitude to +their husbands.<note place='foot'><p><hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>The Honest Whore</hi>, Pt. II., IV., 1: +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Matheo.</hi> England is the only hell for horses, and only +paradise for women. Also Lamira's words in <hi rend='italic'>The Honest +Man's Fortune</hi>, III., 3.</p></note> The humiliation of Lady Frugal and +her two daughters after their extravagant ambitions is +the point of <hi rend='italic'>The City Madam</hi>. The contrast between a +uxorious husband and an imperious wife is one of Massinger's +favourite effects.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>Duke of Milan</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Picture</hi>, and <hi rend='italic'>Roman Actor</hi>. The Duke +of <q>Pavy</q> in Ford's <hi rend='italic'>Love's Sacrifice</hi> 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.</note> Donusa's speech in her own +<pb n='014'/><anchor id='Pg014'/> +defence in <hi rend='italic'>The Renegado</hi> might have been written by a +suffragette of our own day.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Renegado</hi>, IV., 2, 116-143.</note> +</p> + +<p> +We do not get much direct evidence as to the characteristics +of the playwright's audiences; Dr. Bradley has +some good remarks on this subject.<note place='foot'>Oxford Lectures on Poetry, pp. 363-365. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also pp. +392-3.</note> <q>Nor is it credible +that an appreciation of the best things was denied to +the mob, which doubtless loved what we should despise; +but appears also to have admired what we admire, and to +have tolerated more poetry than most of us can stomach;</q> +<q>the mass of the audience must have liked excitement, +the open exhibition of violent and bloody deeds, and the +intermixture of seriousness and mirth.</q> Dr. Bradley +points out elsewhere<note place='foot'><p><hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> op. cit., p. 381. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> Prologue to <hi rend='italic'>Henry VIII.</hi>, line 13; +Prologue to <hi rend='italic'>Romeo and Juliet</hi>, line 12, and Chorus to Act I. +in <hi rend='italic'>The Mayor of Queensborough</hi>. +</p> +<p> +If all my powers<lb/> +Can win the grace of two poor hours,<lb/> +Well apaid I go to rest. +</p> +<p> +Also Prologues to <hi rend='italic'>Two Noble Kinsmen</hi>, lines 28, 29; <hi rend='italic'>Alchemist</hi>, +line 1; <hi rend='italic'>Love's Pilgrimage</hi>, line 8; <hi rend='italic'>Lover's Progress</hi>, line 18 +(<q><hi rend='italic'>three</hi> short hours</q>); and Shirley's Preface to the Folio of +Beaumont and Fletcher.</p></note> that the Elizabethan actor probably +spoke more rapidly than our modern actors. This would +make soliloquies less tedious. +</p> + +<p> +To turn to the politics of the age; the rift between the +dynasty and the nation grew wider as the century advanced. +Though Massinger died before the days of the +Long Parliament, we can imagine that he would have +been one of those who eventually fought under protest +for the King. We find evidence in his plays for supposing +that he belonged to the Conservative Opposition, like his +patron Philip, the fourth Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery. +<pb n='015'/><anchor id='Pg015'/> +He was a lover of liberty, and there are one or +two indications that his plays offended the strict ideas +of Charles I.'s censorship. +</p> + +<p> +Sir Henry Herbert, the Master of the Revels, refused +on January 11th, 1630/31, to license one of his plays<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> Malone's <hi rend='italic'>Shakspere</hi> (edition 1790), vol. i., pt. 2, p. 226. +<hi rend='italic'>Believe as You List</hi> probably represents an adaptation of this +play, with classical names and setting substituted for the +original plot. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> <ref target='Appendix_VII'>Appendix VII</ref>.</note> +because <q>it did contain dangerous matter, as the deposing +of Sebastian King of Portugal by Philip II., and there +being a peace sworn 'twixt the Kings of England and +Spain.</q><note place='foot'>Chapman had to suppress a considerable part of <hi rend='italic'>The +Tragedy of Byron</hi>, which referred to quite recent events in +France. But the censorship seems to have become much +more stringent in Massinger's days.</note> The same worthy records that King Charles I. +himself read another of his plays,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>The King and the Subject</hi>; now lost. The play was performed, +after alterations had been made, under another title. +Sir H. Herbert wrote, <q>Received of Mr. Lowen's for my paines +about Massinger's play called <hi rend='italic'>The King and the Subject</hi>, 2nd +June, 1638, £1.</q></note> while staying at Newmarket, +and wrote against one passage, <q>This is too +insolent, and to be changed.</q> The passage, which is put +into the mouth of a King of Spain, runs as follows: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Monies! we'll raise supplies what way we please</l> +<l>And force you to subscribe to blanks, in which</l> +<l>We'll mulct you, as we think fit. The Caesars</l> +<l>In Rome were wise, acknowledging no laws</l> +<l>But what their swords did ratify; the wives</l> +<l>And daughters of the senators bowing to</l> +<l>Their will as deities.<note place='foot'>Malone's <hi rend='italic'>Shakspere</hi> (ed. 1790), vol. i., pt. 2, p. 235.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +These lines clearly reflect on the autocratic methods +which prevailed in England from 1629 to 1640. +</p> + +<p> +There is much in Timoleon's speeches in the senate<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Bondman</hi>, I., 3.</note> +which seems to contain covert references to the England +<pb n='016'/><anchor id='Pg016'/> +of the day, and notably in lines 203-213, where the unprepared +state of the army and navy is referred to. +</p> + +<p> +It has been thought with much probability that the +Duke of Buckingham is satirized in the slight sketch of +Gisco in <hi rend='italic'>The Bondman</hi>,<note place='foot'>I., 1, 49-56. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also <hi rend='italic'>Great Duke of Florence</hi>, I., 1, 75-84. +Sanazarro is one of the better type of favourites.</note> and in the more fully drawn +character of Fulgentio in <hi rend='italic'>The Maid of Honour</hi>:<note place='foot'>I., 1, 23-36.</note> +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Adorni.</hi> Pray you, sir, what is he?</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Astutio.</hi> A gentleman, yet no lord. He hath some drops</l> +<l>Of the king's blood running in his reins, derived</l> +<l>Some ten degrees off. His revenue lies</l> +<l>In a narrow compass, the king's ear; and yields him</l> +<l>Every hour a fruitful harvest. Men may talk</l> +<l>Of three crops in a year in the Fortunate Islands,</l> +<l>Or profit made by wool; but, while there are suitors,</l> +<l>His sheepshearing, nay, shaving to the quick</l> +<l>Is in every quarter of the moon, and constant.</l> +<l>In the time of trussing a point, he can undo</l> +<l>Or make a man; his play or recreation</l> +<l>Is to raise this up, or pull down that, and though</l> +<l>He never yet took orders, makes more bishops</l> +<l>In Sicily than the Pope himself.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +The grumbling of the professional soldier against the +royal favourite inspires a passage in <hi rend='italic'>The Duke of Milan</hi>.<note place='foot'>III., 1, 10-17.</note> +A similar freedom of speech is found in <hi rend='italic'>The Maid of +Honour</hi>; for instance, in the following passages: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Gasparo.</hi> When you know what 'tis,</l> +<l>You will think otherwise; no less will do it</l> +<l>Than fifty thousand crowns.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Camiola.</hi> A pretty sum,</l> +<l>The price weighed with the purchase; fifty thousand!</l> +<l>To the king 'tis nothing. He that can spare more</l> +<l>To his minion for a masque, cannot but ransom</l> +<l>Such a brother at a million.<note place='foot'>III., 3, 135.</note></l> +</lg> + +<pb n='017'/><anchor id='Pg017'/> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Camiola.</hi> With your leave, I must not kneel, sir,</l> +<l>While I reply to this, but thus rise up</l> +<l>In my defence, and tell you, as a man</l> +<l>(Since, when you are unjust, the deity,</l> +<l>Which you may challenge as a king, parts from you,)</l> +<l>'Twas never read in holy writ, or moral,</l> +<l>That subjects on their loyalty, were obliged</l> +<l>To love their sovereign's vices; your grace, sir,</l> +<l>To such an undeserver is no virtue.<note place='foot'>IV., 5, 52. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also <hi rend='italic'>Great Duke of Florence</hi>, I., 1, 73-84.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +There are also passages in <hi rend='italic'>The Emperor of the East</hi> +which seem to attack the Government of the day and its +agents.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> especially the offer made by the Informer to Paulinus, +I., 2, 69-89.</note> I will quote the chief of these as a specimen of +honest indignation: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Pulcheria.</hi> How I abuse</l> +<l>This precious time! Projector, I treat first</l> +<l>Of you and your disciples; you roar out,</l> +<l>All is the king's, his will above his laws;</l> +<l>And that fit tributes are too gentle yokes</l> +<l>For his poor subjects; whispering in his ear,</l> +<l>If he would have their fear, no man should dare</l> +<l>To bring a salad from his country garden,</l> +<l>Without the paying gabel; kill a hen,</l> +<l>Without excise; and that if he desire</l> +<l>To have his children or his servants wear</l> +<l>Their heads upon their shoulders, you affirm</l> +<l>In policy 'tis fit the owner should</l> +<l>Pay for them by the poll<note place='foot'>1st quarto, <q>pole.</q></note>; or, if the prince wants</l> +<l>A present sum he may command a city</l> +<l>Impossibilities, and for non-performance</l> +<l>Compel it to submit to any fine</l> +<l>His officers shall impose. Is this the way</l> +<l>To make our emperor happy? Can the groans</l> +<l>Of his subjects yield him music? Must his thoughts</l> +<l>Be wash'd with widows' and wrong'd orphans' tears,</l> +<l>Or his power grow contemptible?<note place='foot'>I., 2, 236-257.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<pb n='018'/><anchor id='Pg018'/> + +<p> +The Englishman's love of liberty inspires a vigorous +speech delivered by the British slave in <hi rend='italic'>The Virgin +Martyr</hi>.<note place='foot'>IV., 1, 136-147.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Further, the impatience which Englishmen felt from +time to time at the poor part played by their country in +the Thirty Years' War is reflected in <hi rend='italic'>The Maid of Honour</hi>. +Bertoldo there gets leave from the King of Sicily to go to +help the beleaguered Duke of Urbin. He is, however, +disavowed by the crafty, peace-loving king. In the +debate Bertoldo describes Sicily in language which might +easily be applied to England, and then proceeds in an +eloquent passage to refer to England's glorious naval +tradition in the past: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Bertoldo.</hi> If examples</l> +<l>May move you more than arguments, look on England,</l> +<l>The empress of the European isles,</l> +<l>And unto whom alone ours yields precedence:</l> +<l>When did she flourish so, as when she was</l> +<l>The mistress of the ocean, her navies</l> +<l>Putting a girdle round about the world?</l> +<l>When the Iberian quaked, her worthies named;</l> +<l>And the fair flower-de-luce grew pale, set by</l> +<l>The red rose and the white! Let not our armour</l> +<l>Hung up, or our unrigg'd Armada make us</l> +<l>Ridiculous to the late poor snakes, our neighbours,</l> +<l>Warm'd in our bosoms, and to whom again</l> +<l>We may be terrible.<note place='foot'>I., 1, 220-233.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +Here, at any rate, Massinger differs from Shakspere, +who makes no reference to the exploits of our sailors; +indeed, it would seem that, like Trafalgar, the defeat of +the Armada had no significance for its own generation.<note place='foot'>Middleton refers to <q>the great Armada</q> in <hi rend='italic'>A Trick to +Catch the Old One</hi>, III., 4; Dampit: <q>In Anno '88, when the +great Armada was coming.</q> <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>The Alchemist</hi>, IV., 2.</note> +But we must not forget that Massinger was the bosom +<pb n='019'/><anchor id='Pg019'/> +friend of Fletcher, in whose plays sailors occur again and +again.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> Champernal in <hi rend='italic'>The Little French Lawyer</hi>, and Alberto +in <hi rend='italic'>The Fair Maid of the Inn</hi>. Notice too the zest with which +Valerio (<hi rend='italic'>A Wife for a Month</hi>, V., 3) describes the sea-action +with the Turks.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The fact that Massinger was a Cavalier <q>Radical,</q> a +free lance and grumbler of the Opposition, may in part +explain his struggles and his poverty. His natural +patrons may have looked askance at his independent attitude, +so alien to the passive obedience preached by +Fletcher. But, whatever were his politics, it is clear that +he was no Puritan. Brought up in close contact with a +noble house, educated at Oxford, and well versed in the +classics,<note place='foot'>The question whether Massinger knew Greek is discussed +in <ref target='Appendix_II'>Appendix II</ref>. To take one play only, <hi rend='italic'>The Maid of +Honour</hi>, we find classical allusions in I., 1, 240; I., 2, 36, 107-128; +II., 1, 48; II., 2, 23; II., 3, 26; II., 4, 17; II., 5, 13, +28; III., I, 29; III., I, 194; IV., 4, 13; IV., 4, 97, 108, 109; +IV., 4, 140-145.</note> as many allusions in his works testify, he shows +alike in his merits and his faults the Cavalier mind. To +this extent he may be judged <q><hi rend='italic'>felix opportunitate mortis</hi>,</q> +for of all sections of the nation those whose hearts were +with the King, and their reason with the Opposition, had +the hardest part to play after 1640. +</p> + +<p> +In the department of literature the talent of the +country had concentrated itself more and more on play-writing. +Among Massinger's contemporaries we note +Jonson, Chapman, Fletcher, Beaumont, Webster, Middleton, +Dekker, Heywood, Rowley, Tourneur, Shirley—all +keen and able dramatists. Massinger, in his grasp of stagecraft, +his flexible metre, his desire in the sphere of ethics +to exploit both vice and virtue, is typical of an age which +had much culture, but which, without being exactly +corrupt, lacked moral fibre. +</p> + +<p> +His plays may be divided into three classes: first, those +which have come down to us under his name; secondly, +<pb n='020'/><anchor id='Pg020'/> +those which he wrote with Fletcher or other authors; +and, thirdly, those which have disappeared. It is not +easy to draw the border-line between the first and second +classes. In the last forty years the students of English +literature have devoted much attention to verse and other +tests, and there are those who profess themselves competent +to decide which parts of a composite play were +written by the various collaborators. It is clear that the +use of these tests requires caution. An author may +sometimes experiment in the style of somebody else; it +has been held that Shakspere wrote <hi rend='italic'>Henry VIII</hi> in the +manner of Fletcher, his younger rival; and Delius was of +opinion that <hi rend='italic'>The Two Noble Kinsmen</hi> is due to two +imitators, one of Shakspere and one of Fletcher. Boyle +speaks confidently as follows:<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>N. S. S.</hi>, xxvi., p. 581.</note> <q>Mr. Fleay used almost +exclusively versification to distinguish author from author. +Nor is this by any means so bold an undertaking as it +seems. I have used other tests apart from the versification, +and have almost uniformly found the impressions +derived from the latter correct.</q> Our confidence in +Boyle is shaken when he attributes<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Englische Studien</hi>, V., 93.</note> the first two acts of +<hi rend='italic'>A New Way to pay Old Debts</hi> to Fletcher on the evidence +of the double endings. He points out that the allusion to +the taking of Breda on July 1st, 1625,<note place='foot'>I., 2, 27.</note> is just possible, +as Fletcher was buried on August 29th, 1625. This is +clearly a case where we must take other than metrical +considerations into account. Has the comedy the sparkle, +the bustle, and the improbability of Fletcher? +</p> + +<p> +Again, it is not too much to say that it is a waste of +time to apply verse tests to Tourneur; a great part of the +<hi rend='italic'>Atheist's Tragedy</hi> is not poetry at all, but prose measured +off in lengths. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>The Virgin Martyr</hi> states on its title-page that Dekker +was part author. Similarly, <hi rend='italic'>The Fatal Dowry</hi> was partly +<pb n='021'/><anchor id='Pg021'/> +due to Field. Part of <hi rend='italic'>A Very Woman</hi><note place='foot'>Also called <hi rend='italic'>The Prince of Tarent</hi>. It would have been +easier for Fletcher to imitate Massinger than for Massinger to +imitate Fletcher. The pathos and comedy of the latter were +alike out of our author's range.</note> is held by many +critics to be written by Fletcher; certainly the style of +the play is in places more tender and more racy than +we should expect from Massinger. <hi rend='italic'>The Old Law</hi> is said +to have been written by Massinger, Middleton, and +Rowley. It was a popular play, and often revived; its +first appearance was in 1599,<note place='foot'>III., 1, 39.</note> when our poet was but +fifteen years old. His share in it must therefore consist +of additions or modifications at a later date. Certainly +there is little in the play which reminds one of him; +original as is its plot, and tender its pathos, both its +tragedy and comedy are in a simpler manner than his.<note place='foot'>See discussion on p. <ref target='Pg141'>141</ref>.</note> +</p> + +<p> +On the other hand, Boyle arrives at some startling +results when he investigates the works of Fletcher.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> <ref target='Appendix_III'>Appendix III</ref>.</note> +He attributes to Massinger parts of <hi rend='italic'>Thierry and +Theodoret</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>The Queen of Corinth</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>The Knight of Malta</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>The Custom of the Country</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>The Little French Lawyer</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>The +Fair Maid of the Inn</hi>, and of several other plays.<note place='foot'>The question suggests itself at once: Did Massinger ever +collaborate with Beaumont? Mr. Macaulay does not face +this problem in his interesting monograph on Beaumont; +indeed, he ignores Massinger's undoubted claims to have +collaborated with Fletcher, though he makes full amends for +this omission in his article in the <hi rend='italic'>Cambridge History of English +Literature</hi>. Boyle at one time thought that Massinger worked +with Beaumont and Fletcher in <hi rend='italic'>The Honest Man's Fortune</hi> +and <hi rend='italic'>The Knight of Malta</hi> (<hi rend='italic'>N. S. S.</hi>, pp. 589-590).</note> +</p> + +<p> +It may appear strange that in order to estimate Massinger +we should have to read Fletcher as well; but to +this the scientific study of English brings us.<note place='foot'>From the nature of the case the idea is not new; thus +Weber, in the Preface to the 1812 Edinburgh edition of +Beaumont and Fletcher, attributes the completion of <hi rend='italic'>The +Lover's Progress</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Love's Pilgrimage</hi>, and the character of +Septimius in <hi rend='italic'>The False One</hi> to Massinger. Fleay (<hi rend='italic'>Shakespeare +Manual</hi>, p. 152) makes out a list of ten of Fletcher's plays in +which he traces Massinger's hand. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> <ref target='Appendix_III'>Appendix III</ref>.</note> Boyle +<pb n='022'/><anchor id='Pg022'/> +declares that <q>we ought in future to have no more +editions of Beaumont and Fletcher, but the plays of +Beaumont, Fletcher, and Massinger arranged in nine +groups.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Eng. St.</hi>, VII., 75.</note> The verdict of experts cannot be disregarded +in this matter; there is a real danger that Massinger's +merits will be underrated if we do not attempt to estimate +the share which he took in writing the plays attributed +to Fletcher. His friend Sir Aston Cokaine might have +done us a great service here, but, unfortunately, he missed +his opportunity. In a poem<note place='foot'>Reprinted 1877. Congleton. A copy of the original book +is to be seen at Shakspere's birthhouse, Stratford-on-Avon.</note> relating to Shirley's +edition of Beaumont and Fletcher's works published in +1647,<note place='foot'>An inauspicious date for such a publication!</note> he points out that the title is inaccurate for two +reasons: first, because many of the plays were written +after Beaumont's death; secondly, because Massinger +wrote parts of some of them; it is a great pity that he +did not tell us which these plays were. +</p> + +<p> +But worse still remains behind; if we are to believe +Boyle, it is practically certain that Massinger and +Fletcher wrote <hi rend='italic'>Henry VIII</hi><note place='foot'><p>There are many touches in <hi rend='italic'>Henry VIII</hi> which remind +one of Massinger; and not a few passages in Massinger remind +one of <hi rend='italic'>Henry VIII</hi>. Take as an example <hi rend='italic'>City Madam</hi>, III., +2, 111. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Luke.</hi> O my lord!<lb/> +This heap of wealth, which you possess me of,<lb/> +Which to a worldly man had been a blessing,<lb/> +And to the messenger might with justice challenge<lb/> +A kind of adoration, is to me<lb/> +A curse I cannot thank you for; and, much less<lb/> +Rejoice in that tranquillity of mind<lb/> +My brother's vows must purchase. I have made<lb/> +A dear exchange with him: he now enjoys<lb/> +My peace and poverty, the trouble of<lb/> +His wealth conferr'd on me; and that a burthen<lb/> +Too heavy for my weak shoulders. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Lord Lacy.</hi> Honest Soul,<lb/> +With what feeling he receives it! +</p> +<p> +Or this from <hi rend='italic'>The Bashful Lover</hi>, IV., 2, 87. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Alonso.</hi> She cause, alas!<lb/> +Her innocence knew no guilt, but too much favour.<lb/> +To me unworthy of it; 'twas my baseness,<lb/> +My foul ingratitude—what shall I say more?<lb/> +The good Octavio no sooner fell<lb/> +In the displeasure of his prince, his state<lb/> +Confiscated, and he forced to leave the Court,<lb/> +And she exposed to want; but all my oaths<lb/> +And protestation of service to her,<lb/> +Like seeming flames, raised by enchantment, vanish'd;<lb/> +This, this sits heavy here. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also <hi rend='italic'>City Madam</hi>, I., 2,126-134. I feel inclined to say that +Massinger knew <hi rend='italic'>Henry VIII</hi> by heart. <hi rend='italic'>Cf. infra</hi>, pp. 84, 85.</p></note> and <hi rend='italic'>The Two Noble +<pb n='023'/><anchor id='Pg023'/> +Kinsmen</hi>.<note place='foot'><p><hi rend='italic'>The Two Noble Kinsmen</hi> is a remarkable play, full of fine +poetry and lofty thought. On the other hand, its technique +is very immature. The Gaoler's daughter's soliloquies are +inartistic, and at times ludicrous. The play has at once the +dignity of an early period and the complexity of style with +which we are familiar in Shakspere's later manner. One +thing is clear: Act I. is by a different hand from the rest. +Perhaps Shakspere and Fletcher touched up an old anonymous +play. +</p> +<p> +See, however, discussion <hi rend='italic'>infra</hi>, pp. <ref target='Pg084'>84-104</ref>.</p></note> It must be pointed out that there are still good +critics who attribute a large part of <hi rend='italic'>Henry VIII</hi> to +Shakspere, and a small part of <hi rend='italic'>The Two Noble Kinsmen</hi>. +It would take us too far from our subject to enter in +detail on these two difficult problems. +</p> + +<p> +Then, in the third place, there are the plays that are +lost. In the eighteenth century there was a certain John +Warburton, F.R.S. and F.S.A., Somerset herald, who +collected no fewer than fifty-five genuine unpublished +dramas of the golden period, which he handed over to the +care of his cook until he could find someone to publish +them. The cook appropriated these plays leaf by leaf +for coverings for her pastry, and a certain number of +Massinger's—possibly as many as ten—perished among +them. Here are the names of some of them: <hi rend='italic'>The Forced +<pb n='024'/><anchor id='Pg024'/> +Lady</hi>, a tragedy; <hi rend='italic'>The Noble Choice</hi>, a comedy; <hi rend='italic'>The +Wandering Lovers</hi>, a comedy; <hi rend='italic'>Philenzo and Hippolita</hi>, a +tragi-comedy.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> <ref target='Appendix_V'>Appendix V</ref>.</note> +</p> + +<p> +It may be a consolation when we grieve over this disaster<note place='foot'>Mr. Halliwell Philipps, in his MS. note to <hi rend='italic'>Believe as You +List</hi>, now in the British Museum, expresses himself as sceptical +of the Warburton legend. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> Greg's <hi rend='italic'>Bakings of Betsy</hi> +(<hi rend='italic'>Library</hi>, July, 1911).</note> +to reflect that many of the fifty-five plays may +not have been worth reading; eight of them were early +works of Massinger's, and may have been immature or +even unsuccessful. There is a presumption in favour of +this supposition, for his more famous plays appeared +separately in quarto, and most of them can still be procured +from dealers in that form; we must suppose that +Mr. Warburton had only what are called actors'—<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, +manuscript—copies. If a play never attained the distinction +of being printed there may have been some +defect which militated against its success. +</p> + +<p> +Colonel Cunningham in his edition gives us the names +of thirty-seven plays in all from Massinger's pen; if the +many be added to this total in which he joined with other +writers, we have a considerable literary output for a life +of fifty-five years. +</p> + +<p> +Massinger, like Shakspere, fell into disfavour after +the Restoration, when Beaumont and Fletcher carried +everything before them. We learn from Malone's +Preface<note place='foot'>Shakspere, III., p. 275. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> Downes' <hi rend='italic'>Roscius Anglicanus</hi>, +pp. 18, 52.</note> that <hi rend='italic'>The Bondman</hi> was acted in 1661 and +<hi rend='italic'>The Virgin Martyr</hi> on January 10th, 1662; <hi rend='italic'>The Renegado</hi> +on June 6th in the same year. Pepys saw <hi rend='italic'>The +Virgin Martyr</hi>, and liked it,<note place='foot'>Diary, 1848 edition, I., p. 192; IV., p. 373.</note> more, however, for the music +than the words. Dryden and Jeremy Collier never mention +Massinger. Selections from <hi rend='italic'>The Guardian</hi> appeared +in prose form, with insertions from <hi rend='italic'>A Very Woman</hi>, in +<pb n='025'/><anchor id='Pg025'/> +1680, under the title <hi rend='italic'>Love Lost in the Dark, or the +Drunken Couple</hi>. Adorio and the other names are the +same, but the Guardian's part disappears, and his remarks +are put in Adorio's mouth. A servant, Calandrino, is +brought in, whose name is borrowed from <hi rend='italic'>The Great Duke +of Florence</hi>, and Muggulla, a nurse, is added to be Calandrino's +bride. The contents are worthy of the title. +Monck Mason deplores the fact that Johnson's dictionary +does not once quote Massinger or Beaumont and +Fletcher. <q>They are more correct,</q> he says, <q>and +grammatical than Shakspere, and appear to have had a +more competent knowledge of other languages, which +gave them a more accurate idea of their own.</q> There +was a great reaction in the eighteenth century in favour +of Massinger. Brander Matthews points out that <hi rend='italic'>The New +Way</hi> is the only Elizabethan or Jacobean play, except +Shakspere's, which held the stage until the first quarter +of the nineteenth century,<note place='foot'>Gayley's <hi rend='italic'>Representative English Comedies</hi>, p. 319.</note> and gives a good history of +its illustrious career on the English and American stages. +</p> + +<p> +The critics have differed much about Massinger. +Gifford<note place='foot'>Gifford's edition of Massinger, in four volumes, is one of +the classics of our literature, though careless in details.</note> and Hallam were enthusiastic in their support; +Charles Lamb and Hazlitt<note place='foot'>To Hazlitt, however, we owe, in his estimate of Sir Giles +Overreach, one of the most brilliant pieces of English prose +that we possess.</note> were against him, perhaps +because they disliked his able Tory editor. The +eighteenth-century writers regarded him as the champion +of female virtue; and in our own time Sir A. Ward has +defended his manly and sane morality in unhesitating +language.<note place='foot'>(<hi rend='italic'>E. D. L.</hi>, iii., p. 42) <q>In Massinger we seem to recognize +a man who firmly believes in the eternal difference between +right and wrong, and never consciously swerves aside from +the canon he acknowledges.</q></note> On the other hand, Boyle deems his heroines +to be corrupt and his heroes <q>the victims of one devouring +<pb n='026'/><anchor id='Pg026'/> +passion, often in a state of incipient madness, alternately +raging and melancholy.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>N. S. S.</hi>, xxvi., p. 586.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Like Euripides, Ovid, and Juvenal, Massinger is a +writer whose faults are patent; all the more important, +therefore, is it to make his merits quite clear. We cannot +convince the world if we adopt the famous line of Goethe's +heroine: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>I cannot reason, I can only feel.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Iphigenia auf Tauris</hi>, IV., 4: <q>Ich untersuche nicht, ich +fühle nur.</q></note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +I do not indeed claim to discover much that is new +about Massinger, nor to reverse the judgment of time. +He is, and he remains, in the second rank of English +writers. But it would be a misfortune if undue obscurity +were to befall an author who was at once so manly and +so skilful. I take up the cudgels for him, partly because +the balance of critical judgment has of late gone too far +against him; and yet in a sense he has only come into his +own in the last thirty years, by reason of the unanimity +with which so much good strong work in Fletcher's plays +is now deemed to be due to him. He has received much +praise and much blame; I should like by careful analysis +of the problem to arrive at a juster judgment. But +in the main, I must confess, I plead for Massinger because +I love him. +</p> + +<p> +What, then, are the chief merits of our author? They +are three: his stagecraft, his style, and his metre. And, +first, his command of stagecraft has been universally +conceded.<note place='foot'>Dr. Bradley (<hi rend='italic'>Oxford Lectures</hi>, p. 383) points out that +<q>the average play of Shakspere's day has great merits of a +strictly dramatic kind, but it is not <q>well-built,</q> it is not +what we mean by <q>a good play.</q></q> He traces this fault to +the multiplication of scenes, which the absence of scenery in +those days made easy.</note> This is an important point; it is as much as +to say that the plays are readable and would act well;<note place='foot'>Gayley points out (<hi rend='italic'>R. E. C.</hi>, p. xci.) that, <q>Shakspere and +Fletcher excepted, Massinger has been adjudged by posterity +the most successful of the practical dramatists of the early +seventeenth century.</q> He suggests (<hi rend='italic'>R. E. C.</hi>, p. xcv.) that +with slight and judicious modification an enterprising actor-manager +might successfully produce <hi rend='italic'>A New Way</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>The Maid +of Honour</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>The City Madam</hi>, and perhaps <hi rend='italic'>The Bondman</hi>.</note> +<pb n='027'/><anchor id='Pg027'/> +when you begin one of them you wish to know what is +going to happen. The first act has usually a great breadth +and swing; it is admirably proportioned and dignified. +The chief characters are introduced, and the train is well +laid, without stiffness or delay. Good examples of this +fact are to be found in <hi rend='italic'>The Bondman</hi> and <hi rend='italic'>The Emperor +of the East</hi>. In <hi rend='italic'>The Renegado</hi> the first scene at once +reveals the object of the plot, the rescue of Paulina. In +<hi rend='italic'>The Bondman</hi> Marullo enters at line 38, and our attention +is called to him by Leosthenes. As the play progresses +you feel that it is what the French call <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>bien charpenté</foreign>—well +constructed. If, as is often the case, there is a +mystery or a secret, it is sufficiently well kept to excite +the curiosity. The author does not depend very much +on soliloquies or disguises; he does not, as a rule, complicate +matters by underplots and cross-interests. The +stage is not overcrowded; you do not feel the need of +constantly referring to the list of <hi rend='italic'>dramatis personae</hi>. A +curious instance of this economy is <hi rend='italic'>The Maid of Honour</hi>, +where there is no Queen of Sicily. Minor characters when +they reappear are recognized and provided for, as, for +example, Calypso in <hi rend='italic'>The Guardian</hi> (IV., 3). The conscientious +author forgets no detail in order to round off +his plot; thus in the same play the blow struck at the +beginning is apologized for in V., 3, 250. Nor is there a +reckless change of scene. Moreover, a lifelike effect is +given by the fact that speeches generally end in the middle +of a line. As so often in Euripides, the people say the +sort of things that under the circumstances you would +expect them to say in real life.<note place='foot'>Aristotle, <hi rend='italic'>Rhetoric</hi>, III., p. 1404<hi rend='italic'>b</hi>.</note> A comparison of Massinger +<pb n='028'/><anchor id='Pg028'/> +with Ben Jonson will make this ease of construction +clear at once. Köppel has noted the skill with which +the narratives of Suetonius and Dion Cassius are combined +in <hi rend='italic'>The Roman Actor</hi>. It may sound obvious to add +that the titles of the plays correspond to the chief subject-matter, +were it not that in so many of the Elizabethan +plays this is not the case. Take as examples Middleton's +<hi rend='italic'>Changeling</hi> and <hi rend='italic'>Mayor of Queenborough</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +Yet it would be too much to say that all Massinger's +plays are equally successful in this respect. The plot of +<hi rend='italic'>The Guardian</hi>, for example, is unusually intricate. Like +Shakspere, he occasionally crowds too much into the +fifth act—for instance, in <hi rend='italic'>The Unnatural Combat</hi>. The +device of the apple which produces so much jealousy and +trouble in <hi rend='italic'>The Emperor of the East</hi> is rather trivial for a +tragi-comedy.<note place='foot'>IV., 2. On the other hand, we should remember that +our author did not invent this incident, but took it from +Byzantine history. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> Gibbon's <hi rend='italic'>Decline and Fall</hi>, chapter +xxxii.</note> The promise of Cleora to wear a scarf +over her eyes until her jealous lover returns from the +war is exasperating.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Bondman</hi>, II., 1, 187. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> ὁ ἄφωνος in Ar. <hi rend='italic'>Poetics</hi>, +1460 a. 32.</note> Again, Camiola in <hi rend='italic'>The Maid of +Honour</hi> (III., 3, 200) forgets that Bertoldo is <q>bound to +a single life,</q> as she had herself pointed out to him +(I., 2, 148). Nor does Bertoldo (IV., 3, 100) in his +acceptance of her offer say anything about the necessary +dispensation. On the other hand, Massinger avoids +those scenes on board ship of which Fletcher is so fond, +and which on the Jacobean stage must have been ineffective +to the spectators, and indeed, are so on any stage.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>The Sea Voyage</hi> and <hi rend='italic'>The Double Marriage</hi>.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Similarly, it is clear that torture on the stage can +hardly be made effective.<note place='foot'><p><hi rend='italic'>Roman Actor</hi>, III., 2, 71; <hi rend='italic'>Virgin Martyr</hi>, V., 2, 206. +<hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> Dr. Bradley's remarks (<hi rend='italic'>Oxford Lectures</hi>, p. 366, note) on +the blinding of Gloucester in <hi rend='italic'>King Lear</hi>. When the Duke +in Ford's <hi rend='italic'>Love's Sacrifice</hi> (V., 3) stabs himself and cries aloud: +</p> +<p> +Sprightful flood,<lb/> +Run out in rivers! O, that these thick streams<lb/> +Could gather head, and make a standing pool,<lb/> +That jealous husbands here might bathe in blood; +</p> +<p> +the words can only produce an anticlimax in the spectator's +mind, however effective they may be to the reader. Massinger +is more dexterous in <hi rend='italic'>The Fatal Dowry</hi>, IV., 4, 154: <q>Yes, sir; +this is her heart's blood, is it not? I think it be.</q> There is a +similar difficulty about D'Amville in <hi rend='italic'>The Atheist's Tragedy</hi> +(V., 2) knocking out his brains with the executioner's axe; and +about Scaevola in <hi rend='italic'>The Rape of Lucrece</hi> (V. 4) burning off his +hand. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also Bajazet and Zabina in <hi rend='italic'>Tamburlaine</hi>, Pt. I., +V., 1, and Tamburlaine himself in Pt. II., III., 2.</p></note> +</p> + +<pb n='029'/><anchor id='Pg029'/> + +<p> +One of Massinger's favourite devices is to combine +subordinates. He has learnt from <hi rend='italic'>Hamlet</hi> the lesson of +Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. He has studied the +method of such scenes as <hi rend='italic'>Henry V.</hi>, I., 2, 97-135; II., 2; +III., 5; III., 7. If something has to be done, two or +three people express their eagerness to do it. If someone +has to be persuaded, two or three of the characters press +home the various arguments. This all works for lucidity +and ease, and presents a lifelike combination on the stage.<note place='foot'>Needless to say, the idea is not original; it is already a +marked feature of Marlowe's <hi rend='italic'>Tamburlaine</hi> and <hi rend='italic'>Faustus</hi>; but +the device does not often work so smoothly as in Massinger.</note> +Instances of the device abound; let us take one from <hi rend='italic'>The +Picture</hi>.<note place='foot'>II., 2, 59-77. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>The Virgin Martyr</hi>, I., 1 (the three +kings); <hi rend='italic'>Emperor of the East</hi>, II., 1 (Theodosius and his courtiers); +<hi rend='italic'>A New Way</hi>, I., 3, 43 (the servants); <hi rend='italic'>City Madam</hi>, +IV., 1 (Luke and the three creditors); IV., 2 (Luke and the two +apprentices); <hi rend='italic'>Bashful Lover</hi>, I., 1 (Matilda and the waiting-women); +V., 1 (Octavio and three friends); <hi rend='italic'>Bondman</hi>, I., +3 (Timoleon and four senators); <hi rend='italic'>Unnatural Combat</hi>, II., 2 +(Theocrine and three attendants); <hi rend='italic'>Great Duke of Florence</hi>, I., 2 +(three councillors); II., 2; V., 2 and 3 (Cozimo and courtiers); +<hi rend='italic'>Guardian</hi>, IV., 4 (Severino and four banditti); <hi rend='italic'>Maid of +Honour</hi>, I., 1 (Bertoldo and the two heirs <q>city bred</q>); +<hi rend='italic'>Roman Actor</hi>, IV., 1, 98; V., 1, 213 (the three tribunes); V. 2, +1-19 (the conspirators); <hi rend='italic'>Duke of Milan</hi> I., 3, <hi rend='italic'>ad init.</hi> +(three gentlemen). We find this method again and again in +Webster; <hi rend='italic'>cf.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>The Duchess of Malfi</hi>, p. 63<hi rend='italic'>a</hi>; p. 78<hi rend='italic'>b</hi>; p. 80<hi rend='italic'>b</hi>; +<hi rend='italic'>The White Devil</hi>, p. 56; p. 42<hi rend='italic'>a</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>The Devil's Law-case</hi>, p. 111<hi rend='italic'>b</hi>; +p. 116<hi rend='italic'>a</hi>. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also Cymbal and Fitton in <hi rend='italic'>The Staple of News</hi>, +I., 2; and the three courtiers in <hi rend='italic'>Cupid's Revenge</hi>.</note> The great soldier Ferdinand, on his return from +<pb n='030'/><anchor id='Pg030'/> +the wars, is received courteously by the old Counsellor +Eubulus, but the fashionable young men, Ubaldo and +Ricardo, think they can do the thing better; the passage +runs thus: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Ricardo.</hi> This was pretty;</l> +<l>But second me now; I cannot stoop too low</l> +<l>To do your excellence that due observance</l> +<l>Your fortune claims.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Eubulus.</hi> He ne'er thinks on his virtues!</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Ricardo.</hi> For, being as you are, the soul of soldiers,</l> +<l>And bulwark of Bellona——</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Ubaldo.</hi> The protection</l> +<l>Both of the court and king——</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Ricardo.</hi> And the sole minion</l> +<l>Of mighty Mars——</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Ubaldo.</hi> One that with justice may</l> +<l>Increase the number of the worthies——</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Eubulus.</hi> Heyday!</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Ricardo.</hi> It being impossible in my arms to circle</l> +<l>Such giant worth——</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Ubaldo.</hi> At distance we presume</l> +<l>To kiss your honour'd gauntlet.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Eubulus.</hi> What reply now</l> +<l>Can he make to this foppery?</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Ferdinand.</hi> You have said,</l> +<l>Gallants, so much and hitherto done so little,</l> +<l>That till I learn to speak and you to do,</l> +<l>I must take time to thank you.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Eubulus.</hi> As I live,</l> +<l>Answer'd as I could wish, how the fops gape now!</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Ricardo.</hi> This was harsh and scurvy.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Ubaldo.</hi> We will be revenged,</l> +<l>When he comes to court the ladies, and laugh at him.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +Another of Massinger's effective devices is to sustain +the interest of the spectators by concealing characters +<pb n='031'/><anchor id='Pg031'/> +and facts; thus, in <hi rend='italic'>The Duke of Milan</hi> we do not fathom +for some time the villainy of Francisco; in <hi rend='italic'>The City +Madam</hi> we ponder from the beginning over the obscure +character of Luke. The best instances of this expedient +are to be found in <hi rend='italic'>The Unnatural Combat</hi> and <hi rend='italic'>The Bondman</hi>. +The air of gloom which overhangs the former +tragedy is as great in its way as anything which our +author has attained; and though the play is what we may +call Elizabethan rather than for all time, yet it is in some +sense the best specimen of his serious work. The desire of +Malefort is that of the father in Shelley's <hi rend='italic'>Cenci</hi>; and +perhaps the only way to prevent the theme from being +intolerable was to veil it as long as possible, and to raise +the spectators' sympathy at first for a man who had +fought well for the State, and who to all appearance was +badly treated by his pirate son.<note place='foot'>The exact cause of the son's anger is the murder of his +mother by his father. The secret is not revealed until +Act V., 2, 122, though it is hinted at in II., 1, 118-120. The +son knows nothing of the other terrible charge.</note> In <hi rend='italic'>The Bondman</hi>, +Marullo and Timandra, the brother and sister, are concealed +till the very end, when they reveal themselves +to be Pisander and Statilia—thereby bringing to an +unexpected conclusion a plot which seemed to offer no +solution.<note place='foot'>In <hi rend='italic'>The Renegado</hi> the brother and sister are not revealed +until V., 4.</note> +</p> + +<p> +In <hi rend='italic'>The City Madam</hi> the method is varied a little: here +we have one of Massinger's greatest creations, the fawning +hypocrite, Luke. Indications of his future development +are skilfully given from time to time, so that when this +alarming person at length shows himself in his true colours +we shiver without being surprised. The same idea shows +itself in <hi rend='italic'>The Renegado</hi>,<note place='foot'>IV., 3.</note> in the skill with which Donusa +leads up to her proposal that Vitelli should turn Mahometan; +and in <hi rend='italic'>The Virgin Martyr</hi>,<note place='foot'>I., 1.</note> where Artemia prepares +the way for the offer of her hand to Antoninus. +</p> + +<pb n='032'/><anchor id='Pg032'/> + +<p> +Massinger is never so happy as when he has an opportunity +in his well-proportioned scenes for displays of +rhetoric, such as we find in Euripides, where character +argues against character.<note place='foot'>The best instance of Euripidean art is the scene in <hi rend='italic'>The +Emperor of the East</hi> (II., 1), where all the arguments for the +Emperor's speedy marriage are cleverly amassed. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also +Luke's appeal for mercy to the creditors in <hi rend='italic'>The City Madam</hi>, +I., 3; the long preparation which Sforza makes in <hi rend='italic'>The Duke +of Milan</hi>, I., 3, 268; the skill which leads up to the disclosure +of Marullo's name in <hi rend='italic'>The Bondman</hi> (IV., 3, 124), and the way +in which he persuades the slaves to revolt (II., 3). For other +instances of what we may call the gradual method, compare +<hi rend='italic'>The Virgin Martyr</hi>, I., 1, 294, and <hi rend='italic'>A Very Woman</hi>, V., 4, 91.</note> These scenes are often thrown +into the form of a trial at law or a debate in the Senate.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>Fatal Dowry</hi>, I., 2; IV., 4; V., 2; <hi rend='italic'>Roman Actor</hi>, I., 3; +<hi rend='italic'>Bondman</hi>, I., 3; <hi rend='italic'>Parliament of Love</hi>, V., 1; <hi rend='italic'>Great Duke of +Florence</hi>, V., 3.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The plays end well and effectively; our author excels +in the tragi-comedy, a type much affected by Fletcher. +Like all his contemporaries, he felt that the intermixture +of a lighter element in a play which ended happily was +justifiable.<note place='foot'>Here he incurs the censure of Milton on such plays +(Preface to <hi rend='italic'>Samson Agonistes</hi>): <q>This is mentioned to vindicate +tragedy from the small esteem, or rather infamy, which +in the account of many it undergoes at this day with other +common interludes; happening through the poet's error of +intertwining comic stuff with tragic sadness and gravity; or +introducing trivial and vulgar persons, which by all judicious +hath been counted absurd, and brought in without discretion, +corruptly to gratify the people!</q></note> The haste which Shakspere sometimes shows +in his fifth act is, as a rule, not apparent in Massinger. +For example, in <hi rend='italic'>The Virgin Martyr</hi>, the death of the +heroine occurs at the end of the fourth act. To all +appearance there is bound to be an anticlimax in the +fifth act. But there is not; on the contrary, the appearance +of the heavenly messenger, bearing the fruits of +Paradise to the cruel persecutor Theophilus, elevates the +mind into a state of surprise and admiration. It has +often been pointed out that the appearance of a deity to +<pb n='033'/><anchor id='Pg033'/> +cut the knot at the end of a play of Euripides, which +sometimes irritates the thinker in his study, and provokes +him to write essays on the bad art and theology of the +poet, is dazzlingly beautiful on the stage, and raises +associations of sublimity and awe; it may in the same +way be imagined how effective must have been the procession +at the end of <hi rend='italic'>The Virgin Martyr</hi>. The stage +directions run as follows: <q>Enter Dorothea in a white +robe, crownes upon her head, led in by Angels, Antoninus, +Caliste, and Christeta following, all in white, but lesse +glorious, the Angell with a Crowne for him</q> (<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, Theophilus). +At the sight of the glorious vision the persecutor +dies, converted to the Christian faith, and the evil spirit, +which has prompted his cruel acts, sinks to his own place +with thunder and lightning, while Diocletian and his court +look on in amazement. Similarly, in <hi rend='italic'>The Roman Actor</hi> +there is no anticlimax; though Paris dies in the fourth +act,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> Shakspere's <hi rend='italic'>Julius Caesar</hi>, where the hero dies in the +third act; but the plot is not felt to have exhausted itself +until Brutus and Cassius are disposed of.</note> we feel that the tragedy is incomplete until it is +rounded off by the punishment of the Emperor Domitian, +which we breathlessly await. +</p> + +<p> +Secondly, Massinger has a beautiful style. This point +again is conceded by all the critics. The elegance of his +dedications shows that had he wished he could have +written excellent prose.<note place='foot'>Massinger is very sparing in his use of prose in his plays, +though Fleay goes too far when he says: <q>Neither Fletcher +nor Massinger admits prose</q> (<hi rend='italic'>Shakespeare Manual</hi>, p. 71). +The grace of Massinger's dedications is very marked when +compared with the stilted and obscure style of Ford's.</note> One who depreciates him +allows that his style is <q>pure and free from violent metaphors +and harsh constructions.</q><note place='foot'>C. Lamb.</note> It has the grace and +balance which one would expect from a well-bred and +educated man, owing little to ornament or epithets or +images. It serves its purpose, which is to tell a story +<pb n='034'/><anchor id='Pg034'/> +rapidly, and to unfold character rather than to display +the author's command of language or subtlety of thought +and expression. Seldom trivial, it is never prosaic, and +yet it is constantly on the border-line of prose. Massinger +thought in blank verse because he was a dramatist +rather than because he was a poet. Hence his enemies +might say that his lines are prose in lengths; yet that +would be an unjust accusation. The poetical <q>colour</q> +is here, the ideal dignity, the atmosphere, although they +obtrude themselves less on the reader than in most poets. +Like Ovid, Massinger is one whose amazing facility carries +us along like a flood—a writer who should be read in +large quantities at a time, +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'>Whose easy Pegasus will amble o'er</q></l> +<l><q rend='post'>Some three-score miles of fancy in an hour.</q><note place='foot'>Lines referring to Massinger quoted by Langbaine.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +It needs little argument to show that a poet of this +order can easily secure the effect of verisimilitude to life, +and will owe much of his success to that fact. Style +naturally appeals differently to different people; there +are those who are captivated by the glamour of Shelley +and Swinburne, or the pomp of Jeremy Taylor; there are +also those who enjoy the severity of <hi rend='italic'>Paradise Regained</hi>, +and the simplicity of Newman's <hi rend='italic'>Sermons</hi>. In an age +like the present, when many of our poets, like our musicians, +whatever else they are, either will not or cannot be +simple, it is refreshing to turn to an author who is always +lucid, and who is content to tell a story to the best of his +ability. +</p> + +<p> +There are times when the style of Massinger rises into +solemn eloquence, especially when he indulges in the +moralizing vein. Unlike some of his literary contemporaries, +Massinger wishes to show Virtue triumphant +and Vice beaten. Vice is never glorified in his pages, or +condoned. Honest indignation is perhaps the emotion +<pb n='035'/><anchor id='Pg035'/> +which he handles best. The uncontrollable anger which +meanness and unworthiness provoke expresses itself in +lofty language. Forcible and plain-spoken rebukes are +found, which show that Massinger could be curt when he +pleased. The plays are full of high-spirited passages, +affording admirable opportunities for a master of elocution. +</p> + +<p> +Let me give a specimen of just anger in the speech of +Marullo. Marullo is the leader of the revolt of the +slaves at Syracuse, and he is addressing their former lords +and masters: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 34'>Briefly thus then,</l> +<l>Since I must speak for all,—your tyranny</l> +<l>Drew us from our obedience. Happy those times</l> +<l>When lords were styled fathers of families,</l> +<l>And not imperious masters! when they number'd</l> +<l>Their servants almost equal with their sons,</l> +<l>Or one degree beneath them! when their labours</l> +<l>Were cherish'd and rewarded, and a period</l> +<l>Set to their sufferings; when they did not press</l> +<l>Their duties or their wills, beyond the power</l> +<l>And strength of their performance! all things order'd</l> +<l>With such decorum, as wise lawmakers</l> +<l>From each well-govern'd private house deriv'd</l> +<l>The perfect model of a Commonwealth.</l> +<l>Humanity then lodged in the hearts of men,</l> +<l>And thankful masters carefully provided</l> +<l>For creatures wanting reason. The noble horse</l> +<l>That, in his fiery youth, from his wide nostrils</l> +<l>Neigh'd courage to his rider, and brake through</l> +<l>Groves of opposed pikes, bearing his lord</l> +<l>Safe to triumphant victory, old or wounded,</l> +<l>Was set at liberty and freed from service.</l> +<l>The Athenian mules that from the quarry drew</l> +<l>Marble, hew'd for the temples of the gods,</l> +<l>The great work ended, were dismiss'd and fed</l> +<l>At the public cost; nay, faithful dogs have found</l> +<l>Their sepulchres; but man to man more cruel,</l> +<l>Appoints no end to the sufferings of his slave;</l> +<pb n='036'/><anchor id='Pg036'/> +<l>Since pride stepp'd in and riot, and o'erturned</l> +<l>This goodly frame of concord, teaching masters</l> +<l>To glory in the abuse of such as are</l> +<l>Brought under their command; who grown unuseful,</l> +<l>Are less esteem'd than beasts. This you have practis'd,</l> +<l>Practis'd on us with rigour; this hath forced us</l> +<l>To shake our heavy yokes off; and, if redress</l> +<l>Of these just grievances be not granted us,</l> +<l>We'll right ourselves, and by strong hand defend</l> +<l>What we are now possess'd of.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Bondman</hi>, IV., 2, 51-88.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +In a lower key of manly dignity is the speech of Charalois +before the Judges in <hi rend='italic'>The Fatal Dowry</hi>. It begins +thus: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 30'>Thus low my duty</l> +<l>Answers your lordships' counsel. I will use,</l> +<l>In the few words with which I am to trouble</l> +<l>Your lordships' ears the temper that you wish me;</l> +<l>Not that I fear to speak my thoughts as loud,</l> +<l>And with a liberty beyond Romont;</l> +<l>But that I know, for me that am made up</l> +<l>Of all that's wretched, so to haste my end,</l> +<l>Would seem to most rather a willingness</l> +<l>To quit the burden of a hopeless life</l> +<l>Than scorn of death or duty to the dead.<note place='foot'>I., 2, 147.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +As an example of a high-spirited passage, a speech may +be given from <hi rend='italic'>The Bondman</hi>. Cleora, the heroine, comes +forward in a meeting of the Senate to urge patriotic effort +on her fellow-countrymen. Timoleon, the general, is in +the chair, and she addresses him first: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Cleora.</hi> If a virgin,</l> +<l>Whose speech was ever yet ushered with fear;</l> +<l>One knowing modesty and humble silence</l> +<l>To be the choicest ornaments of our sex</l> +<l>In the presence of so many reverend men,</l> +<l>Struck dumb with terror and astonishment,</l> +<l>Presume to clothe her thought in vocal sounds,</l> +<pb n='037'/><anchor id='Pg037'/> +<l>Let her find pardon. First to you, great sir,</l> +<l>A bashful maid's thanks, and her zealous prayers,</l> +<l>Wing'd with pure innocence, bearing them to heaven,</l> +<l>For all prosperity that the gods can give</l> +<l>To one whose piety must exact their care,</l> +<l>Thus low I offer.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Timoleon.</hi> 'Tis a happy omen.</l> +<l>Rise, blest one, and speak boldly. On my virtue</l> +<l>I am thy warrant, from so clear a spring</l> +<l>Sweet rivers ever flow.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Cleora.</hi> Then thus to you,</l> +<l>My noble father, and these lords, to whom</l> +<l>I next owe duty; no respect forgotten</l> +<l>To you my brother, and these bold young men</l> +<l>(Such I would have them) that are, or should be,</l> +<l>The city's sword and target of defence,</l> +<l>To all of you I speak; and if a blush</l> +<l>Steal on my cheeks, it is shown to reprove</l> +<l>Your paleness, willingly I would not say,</l> +<l>Your cowardice or fear; think you all treasure</l> +<l>Hid in the bowels of the earth, or shipwreck'd</l> +<l>In Neptune's wat'ry kingdom, can hold weight,</l> +<l>When liberty and honour fill one scale,</l> +<l>Triumphant Justice sitting on the beam?</l> +<l>Or dare you but imagine that your gold is</l> +<l>Too dear a salary for such as hazard</l> +<l>Their blood and lives in your defence? For me,</l> +<l>An ignorant girl, bear witness! heaven, so far</l> +<l>I prize a soldier, that to give him pay,</l> +<l>With such devotion as our flamens offer</l> +<l>Their sacrifices at the holy altar,</l> +<l>I do lay down these jewels, will make sale</l> +<l>Of my superfluous wardrobe, to supply</l> +<l>The meanest of their wants.<note place='foot'>I., 3, 268-30 6.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +This passage is printed in a broadside (headed <q>Countrymen</q>) +relating to the expected invasion of England by +Bonaparte, to be found at the British Museum. A short +<pb n='038'/><anchor id='Pg038'/> +statement of the plot of <hi rend='italic'>The Bondman</hi> is followed by a +quotation of Act I., 3, 213-368, with one or two slight +omissions. Possibly Gifford inspired its publication. +</p> + +<p> +Perhaps the most eloquent passage in Massinger is the +speech of Paris, the Roman actor, before the Senate, in +defence of his profession: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Aretinus.</hi> Are you on the stage,</l> +<l>You talk so boldly?</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Paris.</hi> The whole world being one,</l> +<l>This place is not exempted; and I am</l> +<l>So confident in the justice of our cause,</l> +<l>That I would wish Cæsar, in whose great name</l> +<l>All kings are comprehended, sate as judge</l> +<l>To hear our plea, and then determine of us.</l> +<l>If to express a man sold to his lusts,</l> +<l>Wasting the treasure of his time and fortunes</l> +<l>In wanton dalliance, and to what sad end</l> +<l>A wretch that's so given over does arrive at;</l> +<l>Deterring careless youth by his example,</l> +<l>From such licentious courses; laying open</l> +<l>The snares of bawds, and the consuming arts</l> +<l>Of prodigal strumpets, can deserve reproof;</l> +<l>Why are not all your golden principles</l> +<l>Writ down by grave philosophers to instruct us,</l> +<l>To choose fair virtue for our guide, not pleasure,</l> +<l>Condemn'd unto the fire?</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Sura.</hi> There's spirit in this.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Paris.</hi> Or if desire of honour was the base</l> +<l>On which the building of the Roman empire</l> +<l>Was raised up to this height; if, to inflame</l> +<l>The noble youth with an ambitious heat</l> +<l>T'endure the frosts of danger, nay, of death,</l> +<l>To be thought worthy the triumphal wreath,</l> +<l>By glorious undertakings, may deserve</l> +<l>Reward, or favour from the commonwealth;</l> +<l>Actors may put in for as large a share</l> +<l>As all the sects of the philosophers;</l> +<l>They with cold precepts (perhaps seldom read)</l> +<pb n='039'/><anchor id='Pg039'/> +<l>Deliver, what an honourable thing</l> +<l>The active virtue is; but does that fire</l> +<l>The blood, or swell the veins with emulation,</l> +<l>To be both good and great, equal to that</l> +<l>Which is presented in our theatres?</l> +<l>Let a good actor, in a lofty scene,</l> +<l>Show great Alcides honour'd in the sweat</l> +<l>Of his twelve labours; or a bold Camillus</l> +<l>Forbidding Rome to be redeem'd with gold</l> +<l>From the insulting Gauls; or Scipio,</l> +<l>After his victories, imposing tribute</l> +<l>On conquer'd Carthage; if done to the life,</l> +<l>As if they saw their dangers, and their glories,</l> +<l>And did partake with them in their rewards,</l> +<l>All that have any spark of Roman in them,</l> +<l>The slothful arts laid by, contend to be</l> +<l>Like those they see presented.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Rusticus.</hi> He has put</l> +<l>The consuls to their whisper.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Paris.</hi> But, 'tis urged</l> +<l>That we corrupt youth and traduce superiors.</l> +<l>When do we bring a vice upon the stage,</l> +<l>That does go off unpunish'd? Do we teach,</l> +<l>By the success of wicked undertakings,</l> +<l>Others to tread in their forbidden steps?</l> +<l>We shew no arts of Lydian panderism,</l> +<l>Corinthian poisons, Persian flatteries,</l> +<l>But mulcted so in the conclusion, that</l> +<l>Even those spectators that were so inclined,</l> +<l>Go home changed men. And for traducing such</l> +<l>That are above us, publishing to the world</l> +<l>Their secret crimes, we are as innocent</l> +<l>As such as are born dumb. When we present</l> +<l>An heir, that does conspire against the life</l> +<l>Of his dear parent, numbering every hour</l> +<l>He lives, as tedious to him; if there be,</l> +<l>Among the auditors, one whose conscience tells him</l> +<l>He is of the same mould, we cannot help it.</l> +<l>Or, bringing on the stage a loose adulteress,</l> +<l>That does maintain the riotous expense</l> +<pb n='040'/><anchor id='Pg040'/> +<l>Of him that feeds her greedy lust, yet suffers</l> +<l>The lawful pledges of a former bed</l> +<l>To starve the while for hunger; if a matron</l> +<l>However great in fortune, birth, or titles,</l> +<l>Guilty of such a foul, unnatural sin,</l> +<l>Cry out 'tis writ for me, we cannot help it.</l> +<l>Or when a covetous man's express'd, whose wealth</l> +<l>Arithmetic cannot number, and whose lordships</l> +<l>A falcon in one day cannot fly over;</l> +<l>Yet he so sordid in his mind, so griping,</l> +<l>As not to afford himself the necessaries</l> +<l>To maintain life; if a patrician</l> +<l>(Though honour'd with a consulship) find himself</l> +<l>Touch'd to the quick in this, we cannot help it.</l> +<l>Or, when we shew a judge that is corrupt,</l> +<l>And will give up his sentence, as he favours</l> +<l>The person, not the cause; saving the guilty,</l> +<l>If of his faction, and as oft condemning</l> +<l>The innocent, out of particular spleen;</l> +<l>If any in this reverend assembly,</l> +<l>Nay, even yourself, my lord, that are the image</l> +<l>Of absent Cæsar, feel something in your bosom</l> +<l>That puts you in remembrance of things past,</l> +<l>Or things intended, 'tis not in us to help it.</l> +<l>I have said, my lord; and now as you find cause,</l> +<l>Or censure us, or free us with applause.<note place='foot'>I., 3, 49-142.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +I will quote three more passages: one to show how lifelike +in description Massinger can be; the second, to show +how he can ennoble the expression of love; the third, to +show how tender he is at his best. +</p> + +<p> +The first is from <hi rend='italic'>The Maid of Honour</hi>. A soldier comes +in with news for the besieged general, who is standing on +the walls of Siena, looking for aid from his friends: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Enter</hi> a Soldier. +</p> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Ferdinand.</hi> What news with thee?</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Soldier.</hi> From the turret of the fort,</l> +<pb n='041'/><anchor id='Pg041'/> +<l>By the rising clouds of dust, through which, like lightning</l> +<l>The splendour of bright arms sometimes brake through,</l> +<l>I did descry some forces making towards us;</l> +<l>And from the camp, as emulous of their glory,</l> +<l>The general, for I know him by his horse,</l> +<l>And bravely seconded, encounter'd them.</l> +<l>Their greetings were too rough for friends; their swords,</l> +<l>And not their tongues, exchanging courtesies.</l> +<l>By this the main battalias are join'd;</l> +<l>And if you please to be spectators of</l> +<l>The horrid issue, I will bring you where,</l> +<l>As in a theatre, you may see their fates</l> +<l>In purple gore presented.<note place='foot'>II., 4, 22-35.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +The second is from <hi rend='italic'>The Duke of Milan</hi>, where Marcelia +expresses her love for her lord, Sforza, the Duke of +Milan. +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Marcelia.</hi> My worthiest lord!</l> +<l>The only object I behold with pleasure,</l> +<l>My pride, my glory, in a word, my all!</l> +<l>Bear witness, heaven, that I esteem myself</l> +<l>In nothing worthy of the meanest praise</l> +<l>You can bestow, unless it be in this,</l> +<l>That in my heart, I love and honour you.</l> +<l>And, but that it would smell of arrogance</l> +<l>To speak my strong desire and zeal to serve you,</l> +<l>I then could say, these eyes yet never saw</l> +<l>The rising sun, but that my vows and prayers</l> +<l>Were sent to heaven for the prosperity</l> +<l>And safety of my lord, nor have I ever</l> +<l>Had other study, but how to appear</l> +<l>Worthy your favour; and that my embraces</l> +<l>Might yield a fruitful harvest of content</l> +<l>For all your noble travail, in the purchase</l> +<l>Of her that's still your servant; by these lips,</l> +<pb n='042'/><anchor id='Pg042'/> +<l>Which pardon me that I presume to kiss——</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Sforza.</hi> O swear, for ever swear!</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Marcelia.</hi> I ne'er will seek</l> +<l>Delight but in your pleasure; and desire,</l> +<l>When you are sated<note place='foot'>I., 3, 51-74.</note> with all earthly glories,</l> +<l>And age and honours make you fit for heaven,</l> +<l>That one grave may receive us.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +The third is from <hi rend='italic'>A Very Woman</hi>; the disguised +John Antonio is telling his story at Almira's request: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Not far from where my father lives, a lady,</l> +<l>A neighbour by, blest with as great a beauty</l> +<l>As nature durst bestow without undoing,</l> +<l>Dwelt, and most happily, as I thought then,</l> +<l>And bless'd the house a thousand times she dwelt in.</l> +<l>This beauty, in the blossom of my youth,</l> +<l>When my first fire felt no adulterate incense,</l> +<l>Nor I no way to flatter, but my fondness;</l> +<l>In all the bravery my friends could show me,</l> +<l>In all the faith my innocence could give me,</l> +<l>In the best language my true tongue could tell me,</l> +<l>And all the broken sighs my sick heart lend me,</l> +<l>I sued and serv'd; long did I love this lady,</l> +<l>Long was my travail, long my trade to win her;</l> +<l>With all the duty of my soul I serv'd her.<note place='foot'>IV., 3, 124-138.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +At times the poet rises to what is not far removed from +inspiration; and such lines as the following from <hi rend='italic'>The +Parliament of Love</hi> make good the claim of English to be +the imperial language of the world. King Charles seeks +to justify the honours which he, the <q>most Christian +king,</q> gives to the statue of Cupid; he then continues +thus: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Charles.</hi> 'Tis rather to instruct deceived mankind,</l> +<l>How much pure love that has his birth in heaven,</l> +<l>And scorns to be received a guest, but in</l> +<l>A noble heart prepared to entertain him,</l> +<pb n='043'/><anchor id='Pg043'/> +<l>Is by the gross misprision of weak men,</l> +<l>Abused and injured. That celestial fire,</l> +<l>Which hieroglyphically is described</l> +<l>In this his bow, his quiver, and his torch,</l> +<l>First warm'd their bloods, and after gave a name</l> +<l>To the old heroic spirits; such as Orpheus,</l> +<l>That drew men, differing little then from beasts,</l> +<l>To civil government; or famed Alcides</l> +<l>The tyrant-queller, that refused the plain</l> +<l>And easy path leading to vicious pleasures,</l> +<l>And ending in a precipice deep as hell,</l> +<l>To scale the rugged cliffs on whose firm top</l> +<l>Virtue and Honour, crown'd with wreaths of stars,</l> +<l>Did sit triumphant.<note place='foot'>V., 1, 42-60.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +But there is another characteristic of Massinger's style +and that perhaps more obvious still; it is full of courtliness +and grace. A perusal of <hi rend='italic'>The City Madam</hi>, where the +subject is the absurdity of the ladies of the Mansion House +who ape the manners of the West End, suggests the question +whether Massinger was ever attached to the Court. +We do not know. He must, at any rate, have moved +amongst refined and educated people. Napoléon said +that Corneille's plays ought to be performed to an audience +of ambassadors and ministers of state;<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> Prologue to <hi rend='italic'>Henry V</hi>, line 4, a passage imitated and +expanded in <hi rend='italic'>The Virgin Martyr</hi>, V., 2, 98-102.</note> in the same +way, in reading Massinger, we feel that we are moving +freely in the palaces of the great. There is comparatively +little here of dialect<note place='foot'>We have a Somersetshire rustic in <hi rend='italic'>The Emperor of the +East</hi>, IV., 2. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> Schmidt's <hi rend='italic'>Shakespeare Lexicon</hi>, Appendix II., +p. 1424. <q>In general it can be said that Shakspere abstains +from the use of provincial dialects, as characteristic of his +dramatical persons.... It is only on one occasion that he +seems to imitate the peculiar speech of a certain dialect: +<hi rend='italic'>King Lear</hi>, IV., 6, 239-251. Concerning the particular +county there referred to English scholars have been of different +opinions. Steevens pleads for Somersetshire, in the dialect of +which rustics were commonly introduced by ancient writers; +Collier inclines to decide in favour of the North.</q> <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> Mr. H. +Bradley's remarks in <hi rend='italic'>Shakspere's England</hi>, II., p. 570. In +<hi rend='italic'>Bartholomew Fair</hi>, IV., 3, a contrast is drawn between the +dialect of a rustic from the West and one from the North. +Urania's dialect in <hi rend='italic'>Cupid's Revenge</hi> cannot be pronounced a +success, or Antonio's Irish in <hi rend='italic'>The Coxcomb</hi>.</note> or low life; we are at once taken up +<pb n='044'/><anchor id='Pg044'/> +into high life with all its virtues and its faults. The kings +and courtiers behave and express themselves as we should +expect them to do; the politeness and the compliments +which we hear on every side have the merit of being +entirely natural. And if there is little to remind +us of Dickens, there is still less to recall Thackeray. +There is no air of snobbishness; such is the dexterity +of our author that we do not feel like Jeames +Yellowplush, that we are awkward menials watching the +doings of the titled and the great. Not only do the +characters move with an inborn grace which is free +from self-analysis and self-contempt, but they take +the audience up into their company; and as the +gallants of that era used sometimes to sit upon the +stage, close among the actors,<note place='foot'><p><hi rend='italic'>City Madam</hi>, II., 2, 128. Among the things which Anne +demands from her suitor, is: +</p> +<p> +A fresh habit,<lb/> +Of a fashion never seen before, to draw<lb/> +The gallants' eyes, that sit on the stage, upon me. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also Induction to <hi rend='italic'>The Malcontent</hi>; Induction to <hi rend='italic'>The +Staple of News</hi>; Induction to <hi rend='italic'>Cynthia's Revels</hi>; Fitzdottrel +in <hi rend='italic'>The Devil is an Ass</hi>, I., 3; Induction to <hi rend='italic'>Knight of the +Burning Pestle</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>Woman-Hater</hi>, I., 3; Prologue to <hi rend='italic'>All Fools</hi>; +and Dekker's <hi rend='italic'>The Guls Horne-booke</hi>, Chapter VI.</p></note> so in reading Massinger +we feel that we are unconsciously present at the scenes +he portrays. +</p> + +<p> +This is as much as to say that the stage of those days +responded to a real and living need in the minds of the +audience; there was nothing exotic or artificial about it, +as there seems to have been about our plays ever since +the Puritans turned things upside down. It will be said +<pb n='045'/><anchor id='Pg045'/> +that this enchanted atmosphere belongs to all the greater +playwrights of the age alike. And this is true; it is one +of the secrets of their abiding charm. Brander Matthews, +in dealing with the unreality of Massinger's atmosphere, +says that <q>some of Shakspere's most delightful plays, +<hi rend='italic'>The Merchant of Venice</hi> for one, and <hi rend='italic'>Much Ado</hi> for +another, are charming to us now only because we are +quite willing to make believe with the poet</q> (<hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi>, +p. 311). And so, when Leslie Stephen asks if we are +<q>invigorated</q> by the perusal of Massinger's plays,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Hours in a Library</hi>, ii., p. 171. Leslie Stephen elsewhere +(pp. 167-171) does justice to Massinger's <q>romantic tendency.</q> +<q>The chivalrous ideal of morality involves a +reverence for women which may be exaggerated or affected, +but which has at least a genuine element in it. The same +vein of chivalrous sentiment gives a fine tone to some of +Massinger's other plays; to <hi rend='italic'>The Bondman</hi>, for example, and +<hi rend='italic'>The Great Duke of Florence</hi>, in both of which the treatment +of lovers' devotion shows a higher sense of the virtue of +feminine dignity and purity than is common in the contemporary +stage.</q></note> +I reply to that apostle of common sense that I am +not only charmed and delighted, but invigorated. And +why? Because I am admitted to a world of heroism +and romance. +</p> + +<p> +But may we not put the matter more broadly still? +When we read the Cavalier lyrics of Suckling, Herrick, +and Lovelace, when we think of Falkland, when we stand +before the portraits of Vandyck, do we not feel that +modern England was in danger until lately of losing +something? There is an aroma there of chivalry which +had almost faded from our ken. And yet there is an +element in our shy and dumb English nature to which +this atmosphere is congenial, however overgrown with +money-making our minds had seemed to be. Nor, as the +student of history knows well, had the Puritans in the +Civil War the monopoly of religion and duty. Indeed, +the Civil War was a true tragedy, because both sides had +right, both fought and bled for what they believed to be +<pb n='046'/><anchor id='Pg046'/> +the truth. To-day, in spite of our many domestic discords, +no party spirit discounts the gallant deeds of +which we have read daily, and of which of necessity only +a fraction has been publicly rewarded. Perhaps the +flame of romance will breathe once more in our midst, +now the War is over, purified by suffering, and quickened +by the memory of those serene yet manly spirits whom +we have lost on the battlefield, whose departure in the +dayspring of life seems, as it were, to have extinguished +so many stars in the vault of heaven. They put aside +the calls of culture and pleasure, and the natural ambition +to do something in the world before they were +abolished by death. They have willingly given for their +country all that they had; they have given themselves. +If we remember their devotion with gratitude it may +purify us from the commonplace, the vulgar, and the +selfish. They, at any rate, can address the power of evil, +which for the moment seemed to triumph, in the words +of Dorothea: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>What is this life to me? Not worth, a thought:</l> +<l>Or, if it be esteem'd, 'tis that I lose it</l> +<l>To win a better; even thy malice serves</l> +<l>To me but as a ladder to mount up</l> +<l>To such a height of happiness, where I shall</l> +<l>Look down with scorn on thee and on the world;</l> +<l>Where, circled with true pleasures, placed above</l> +<l>The reach of death or time, 'twill be my glory</l> +<l>To think at what an easy price I bought it.</l> +<l>There's a perpetual spring, perpetual youth;</l> +<l>No joint-benumbing cold, or scorching heat,</l> +<l>Famine, nor age, have any being there.</l> +<l>Forget for shame your Tempe; bury in</l> +<l>Oblivion your feign'd Hesperian orchards;</l> +<l>The golden fruit, kept by the watchful dragon,</l> +<l>Which did require a Hercules to get it,</l> +<l>Compared with what grows in all plenty there,</l> +<l>Deserves not to be named. The Power I serve</l> +<l>Laughs at your happy Araby, or the</l> +<pb n='047'/><anchor id='Pg047'/> +<l>Elysian shades; for He hath made His bowers</l> +<l>Better in deed than you can fancy yours.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>The Virgin Martyr</hi>, IV., 3, 72-92. <hi rend='italic'>Cf. Believe As You +List</hi>, IV., 2, 183-204.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +As an instance of Massinger's courtliness I will quote +a short passage from <hi rend='italic'>The Great Duke of Florence</hi>: Contarino +has come from the court of the Duke to fetch his +nephew Giovanni, who has been brought up by a tutor, +Charomonte by name, in the country. As the prince +comes in, Charomonte addresses Contarino: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Charomonte.</hi> Make your approaches boldly; you will find</l> +<l>A courteous entertainment. (<hi rend='smallcaps'>Contarino</hi> <hi rend='italic'>kneels</hi>.)</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Giovanni.</hi> Pray you, forbear</l> +<l>My hand, good signior; 'tis a ceremony</l> +<l>Not due to me. 'Tis fit we should embrace</l> +<l>With mutual arms.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Contarino.</hi> It is a favour, sir,</l> +<l>I grieve to be denied.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Giovanni.</hi> You shall o'ercome;</l> +<l>But 'tis your pleasure, not my pride, that grants it.</l> +<l>Nay, pray you, guardian and good sir, put on;</l> +<l>How ill it shews to have that reverend head</l> +<l>Uncover'd to a boy!</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Charomonte.</hi> Your excellence</l> +<l>Must give me liberty, to observe the distance</l> +<l>And duty that I owe you.<note place='foot'>I., 1, 103-114. The whole play exhibits this element of +grace more than any other of our author. It should be +acted by Lysis and Charicles, Glaucon and Adeimantus.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +Take another instance, from <hi rend='italic'>The Duke of Milan</hi>: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Sforza.</hi> Excuse me, good Pescara.</l> +<l>Ere long I will wait on you.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Pescara.</hi> You speak, sir,</l> +<l>The language I should use.<note place='foot'>IV., 3, 175. It is to be noted that great courtesy is +observed and expected in greetings and leave-takings in +Massinger's plays. Thus in <hi rend='italic'>The Virgin Martyr</hi>, II., 2, +Macrinus gets into trouble for the curtness of his salutation; +similarly, Wellborn in <hi rend='italic'>A New Way</hi>, V., 1, 114. Compare also +<hi rend='italic'>Roman Actor</hi>, IV., 1, 67; <hi rend='italic'>A Very Woman</hi>, I., l, 147.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<pb n='048'/><anchor id='Pg048'/> + +<p> +And this, from The Bashful Lover: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Farnese.</hi> Madam, I am bold</l> +<l>To trench so far upon your privacy</l> +<l>As to desire my friend (let not that wrong him,</l> +<l>For he's a worthy one) may have the honour</l> +<l>To kiss your hand.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Matilda.</hi> His own worth challenges</l> +<l>A greater favour.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Farn.</hi> Your acknowledgment</l> +<l>Confirms it, madam.<note place='foot'>I., 1, 246.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +I have used the word <q>lucid</q> of Massinger's style; +perhaps a more appropriate word would be dexterous; not +that he is obscure like Chapman, or like Shakspere in his +later manner, far less turgid, but he is not afraid of somewhat +long sentences. What he is really afraid of, unlike +Fletcher, is a full-stop at the end of the verse. There +are two devices which the reader will notice, often in +combination; in the first place, Massinger is very fond +of the <q>absolute</q> construction, and loves to multiply +parentheses. The following passages from <hi rend='italic'>A New Way</hi> +will serve as illustrations: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Furnace.</hi> She keeps her chamber, dines with a panada,</l> +<l>Or water gruel, my sweat never thought on.<note place='foot'>I., 2, 36.</note></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Woman.</hi> And the first command she gave, after she rose,</l> +<l>Was, her devotions done, to give her notice</l> +<l>When you approach'd here.<note place='foot'>II., 2, 71.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +Or again, from <hi rend='italic'>The Emperor of the East</hi>: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Astraea once more lives upon the earth,</l> +<l>Pulcheria's breast her temple.<note place='foot'>I., 1, 77.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +Or from <hi rend='italic'>The Bondman</hi>: +</p> + +<pb n='049'/><anchor id='Pg049'/> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 18'>And, to those that stay,</l> +<l>A competence of land freely allotted</l> +<l>To each man's proper use, no lord acknowledged.<note place='foot'>IV., 2, 96.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +We find the <q>absolute</q> construction occasionally in +Shakspere, as in <hi rend='italic'>The Merchant of Venice</hi>: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>So are those crisped snaky golden locks</l> +<l>Which make such wanton gambols with the wind,</l> +<l>Upon supposed fairness, often known</l> +<l>To be the dowry of a second head,</l> +<l>The skull that bred them in the sepulchre.<note place='foot'>III., 2, 92.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +Or in <hi rend='italic'>Hamlet</hi>: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Folded the writ up in form of the other,</l> +<l>Subscribed it, gav't th' impression, placed it safely,</l> +<l>The changeling never known.<note place='foot'>V., 2, 51.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +A passage from <hi rend='italic'>The Fatal Dowry</hi> will show an elaborate +use of parenthesis: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 14'>What though my father</l> +<l>Writ man before he was so, and confirm'd it,</l> +<l>By numbering that day no part of his life</l> +<l>In which he did not service to his country;</l> +<l>Was he to be free therefore from the laws</l> +<l>And ceremonious form in your decrees?</l> +<l>Or else because he did as much as man,</l> +<l>In those three memorable overthrows,</l> +<l>At Granson, Morat, Nancy, where his master,</l> +<l>The warlike Charalois, with whose misfortunes</l> +<l>I bear his name, lost treasure, men, and life,</l> +<l>To be excused from payment of those sums</l> +<l>Which (his own patrimony spent) his zeal</l> +<l>To serve his country forced him to take up!<note place='foot'>I., 2, 162-175.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +Compare also these lines from <hi rend='italic'>The Guardian</hi>: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 16'>And if you shew not</l> +<l>An appetite, and a strong one, I'll not say</l> +<l>To eat it, but devour it, without grace too,</l> +<pb n='050'/><anchor id='Pg050'/> +<l>For it will not stay a preface, I am shamed,</l> +<l>And all my past provocatives will be jeer'd at.<note place='foot'>II., 3, 28-32.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +From <hi rend='italic'>The Picture</hi>: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Honoria.</hi> That you please, sir,</l> +<l>With such assurances of love and favour,</l> +<l>To grace your handmaid, but in being yours, sir,</l> +<l>A matchless queen, and one that knows herself so,</l> +<l>Binds me in retribution to deserve</l> +<l>The grace conferr'd upon me.<note place='foot'>I., 2, 136-141.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +From <hi rend='italic'>A Very Woman</hi>: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Paulo.</hi> This friend was plighted to a beauteous woman,</l> +<l>(Nature proud of her workmanship) mutual love</l> +<l>Possessed them both, her heart in his heart lodged</l> +<l>And his in hers.<note place='foot'>IV., 2, 46.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +From <hi rend='italic'>The Bashful Lover</hi>: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Alonzo.</hi> By me, his nephew,</l> +<l>He does salute you fairly, and entreats</l> +<l>(A word not suitable to his power and greatness)</l> +<l>You would consent to tender that, which he</l> +<l>Unwillingly must force, if contradicted.<note place='foot'>I., 2, 17.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +From <hi rend='italic'>The Parliament of Love</hi>: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 14'>What coy she, then,</l> +<l>Though great in birth, not to be parallel'd</l> +<l>For nature's liberal bounties, (both set off</l> +<l>With fortune's trappings, wealth); but, with delight,</l> +<l>Gladly acknowledged such a man her servant?<note place='foot'>I., 5, 44. The longest series of parentheses in Massinger +is to be found in Cardenes' speech in <hi rend='italic'>A Very Woman</hi> (I., 1, +240-256). For clumsy periods see <hi rend='italic'>Fatal Dowry</hi>, IV., 2, 99-104; +V., 2, 23-34; <hi rend='italic'>Roman Actor</hi>, IV., 2, 123-128.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +It has been pointed out by Zielinski that <q>the perfection +of language in regard to the formation of periods +depends upon the presence and prevalence of abbreviated +<pb n='051'/><anchor id='Pg051'/> +by-sentences,</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Our Debt to Antiquity</hi>, Eng. trans, by Strong and Stewart, +p. 75.</note> by which expression he describes <q>absolute</q> +constructions. +</p> + +<p> +Secondly, he delights in an expedient which the poems +of Robert Browning have made familiar to this generation, +the frequent omission of the relative pronoun.<note place='foot'>It is needless to say how common this idiom is in Shakspere, +Webster, Shirley, and other authors of the period. I +only mention it because it lends itself in a peculiar way to the +suppleness of Massinger's style.</note> And so +his sentences meander with a seemingly negligent grace +to an unexpected conclusion. It is clear that such a +style both requires and repays a careful study of the +rhetorical art. +</p> + +<p> +I give as an instance of this combination the words of +Paulinus in <hi rend='italic'>The Emperor of the East</hi>. He is talking of the +Emperor's sister and Prime Minister Pulcheria: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 30'>She indeed is</l> +<l>A perfect phœnix, and disdains a rival.</l> +<l>Her infant years, as you know, promised much,</l> +<l>But grown to ripeness she transcends, and makes</l> +<l>Credulity her debtor. I will tell you</l> +<l>In my blunt way, to entertain the time</l> +<l>Until you have the happiness to see her,</l> +<l>How in your absence she hath borne herself,</l> +<l>And with all possible brevity; though the subject</l> +<l>Is such a spacious field, as would require</l> +<l>An abstract of the purest eloquence</l> +<l>(Deriv'd from the most famous orators</l> +<l>The nurse of learning, Athens, shew'd the world)</l> +<l>In that man that should undertake to be</l> +<l>Her true historian.<note place='foot'>I., 1, 18-32.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +The style of Massinger is not only lucid and dexterous; +it is strong, partly because of its ease, and more mature +and modern than that of many of his contemporaries. +Milton's prose would have gained much in directness if he +<pb n='052'/><anchor id='Pg052'/> +had studied Massinger. This strength does not show +itself so much in isolated fine lines, for, as we have already +seen, epigram was foreign to his nature, though from time +to time we get such lines, as, for example, in <hi rend='italic'>The Duke of +Milan</hi>: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 4'>One smile of hers would make a savage tame;</l> +<l>One accent of that tongue would calm the seas,</l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Though all the winds at once strove there for empire</hi>.<note place='foot'>I., 3, 339.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +Or, again, in the same play: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 4'>How coldly you receive it! I expected</l> +<l>The mere relation of so great a blessing,</l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Borne proudly on the wings of sweet revenge</hi>,</l> +<l>Would have call'd on a sacrifice of thanks.<note place='foot'>V., 1, 25.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +Or, again, in <hi rend='italic'>A New Way</hi>: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Overreach.</hi> The garments of her widowhood laid by,</l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>She now appears as glorious as the spring</hi>.<note place='foot'>III., 3, 4.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +Or in <hi rend='italic'>The Roman Actor</hi>: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Could I imp feathers to the wings of time,</l> +<l>Or with as little ease command the sun</l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>To scourge his coursers up heaven's eastern hill</hi>.<note place='foot'>V., 2, 22.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +We may remark in passing that Massinger's best single +lines are usually decasyllabic. +</p> + +<p> +It has been remarked by Mr. Swinburne, whose discerning +judgment of the Jacobean dramatists has lavished +just praise on Massinger's art and style, that in the second +act of <hi rend='italic'>Sir John Van Olden Barnavelt</hi>, <q>the student will +say, <q>This tune goes manly,</q></q> and it is remarkable that +our poet had formed in 1619 the style which marked him +to the end of his life.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Contemporaries of Shakespeare</hi>, p. 183. Though I do +not accept all Mr. Swinburne's estimates, I am at once pleased +and humiliated at the thought that he has expressed so much +better than myself many of my conclusions about Massinger.</note> +</p> + +<p> +An instance of this simple strength may be given from +<pb n='053'/><anchor id='Pg053'/> +<hi rend='italic'>The City Madam</hi>, where Luke debates whether he shall +agree to the proposition of the pretended Indians: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Luke.</hi> Give me leave—(<hi rend='italic'>walks aside</hi>)</l> +<l>I would not lose this purchase. A grave matron!</l> +<l>And two pure virgins! Umph, I think my sister,</l> +<l>Though proud, was ever honest, and my nieces</l> +<l>Untainted yet. Why should not they be shipp'd</l> +<l>For this employment? They are burthensome to me,</l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>And eat too much</hi>.<note place='foot'>V., 1, 51.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +When rudeness is necessary it is uttered with some +vigour, as in <hi rend='italic'>The Fatal Dowry</hi>, where this is what Romont +gets for his well-meant pains: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Rochfort.</hi> Sir, if you please</l> +<l>To bear yourself as fits a gentleman,</l> +<l>The house is at your service; but if not,</l> +<l>Though you seek company elsewhere, your absence</l> +<l>Will not be much lamented.<note place='foot'>III., 1, 302.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +The rejected lover in such a scene as the following has no +illusions left him: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Mustapha.</hi> All happiness—</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Donusa.</hi> Be sudden.</l> +<l>'Twas saucy rudeness in you, sir, to press</l> +<l>On my retirements; but ridiculous folly</l> +<l>To waste the time that might be better spent,</l> +<l>In complimental wishes.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Corisca.</hi> There's a cooling</l> +<l>For his hot encounter! (<hi rend='italic'>aside</hi>)</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Donusa.</hi> Come you here to stare?</l> +<l>If you have lost your tongue and use of speech,</l> +<l>Resign your government; there's a mute's place void</l> +<l>In my uncle's court, I hear; and you may want me</l> +<l>To write for your preferment.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>The Renegado</hi>, III., 1, 30-39.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +Two minor features of Massinger's style may be mentioned +here: +</p> + +<pb n='054'/><anchor id='Pg054'/> + +<p> +1. The catalogue line, so familiar to the student of +Lucretius—<hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Believe as You List</hi>, I., 2, 85. The sapphire, ruby, jacinth,</l> +<l>amber, coral.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'><hi rend='italic'>Believe as You List</hi> II, 2, 312. All circumstances,</l> +<l>Answers, despatches, doubts, and difficulties.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Picture</hi>, V., I, 59. The comfortable names of breakfasts,</l> +<l>dinners,</l> +<l>Collations, supper, beverage.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Emperor of East</hi>, 2 Prol., 8. With his best of fancy, judgment,</l> +<l>language, art.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>I., 2, 194. To his merchant, mercer, draper,</l> +<l>His linen-man, and tailor.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>V., 2, 88. As sacred, glorious, high, invincible.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>City Madam</hi>, II., 1, 72. Tissue, gold, silver, velvets, satins,</l> +<l>taffetas.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>IV., 3, 69. Entreaties, curses, prayers, or imprecations.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Unnatural Combat</hi>, II., 1, 128. All respect,</l> +<l>Love, fear, and reverence cast</l> +<l>off.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Great Duke of Florence</hi>, II., 1, 7. We of necessity must be</l> +<l>chaste, wise, fair.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +2. A more marked feature is the repetition of words or +short phrases in various parts of the line.<note place='foot'>Oliphant (<hi rend='italic'>Englische Studien</hi>, xiv., 60) notes this feature as +Fletcherian.</note> The following +instances may be given from (<hi rend='italic'>a</hi>) <hi rend='italic'>The Great Duke of +Florence</hi>: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>I., 1, 154. It is the duke!</l> +<l>The duke.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>I., 2, 41. Our duchess; such a duchess.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>I., 2, 95. See, signiors, see our care.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>I., 2, 131. Take up, take up.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>II., 1, 71. Fie! fie! the princess.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>III., 1, 102. Tells</l> +<l>His son, this is the prince, the hopeful prince.</l> +</lg> + +<pb n='055'/><anchor id='Pg055'/> + +<p> +(<hi rend='italic'>b</hi>) <hi rend='italic'>The City Madam</hi>: +</p> + +<lg> +<l>II., 1, 58. I blush for you,</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 13'>Blush at your poverty of spirit.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>III., 1, 11. I am starv'd,</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 13'>Starv'd in my pleasures.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>V., 1, 12. Far, far above your hopes.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>V., 1, 81. The height</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 13'>Of honour, principal honour.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>V., 2, 67. A manor pawn'd,</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 13'>Pawn'd, my good lord.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +And, thirdly, the versification of Massinger is musical +and melodious. Boyle says that Milton's blank verse +owes much to the study of it. <q>In the indefinable +touches which make up the music of a verse, in the artistic +distribution of pauses, and in the unerring choice and +grouping of just those words which strike the ear as the +perfection of harmony, there are, if we leave Cyril Tourneur's +<hi rend='italic'>Atheist's Tragedy</hi> out of the question, only two +masters in the drama, Shakspere in his latest period and +Massinger.</q><note place='foot'>Boyle, <hi rend='italic'>N. S. S.</hi>, Trans., p. 378.</note> Coleridge says that it is <q>an excellent +metre, a better model for dramatists in general to imitate +than Shakspere's. Read Massinger aright, and measure +by time, not syllables, and no lines can be more legitimate, +none in which the substitution of equipollent feet, and +the modifications by emphasis, are managed with such +exquisite judgment.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Op. cit.</hi>, p. 403.</note> Be it noted that this praise +comes from a master of his art, for no one who has once +appreciated Coleridge's command of vowel-syzygy and +the velvet-like texture of his blank verse can refuse him +that title. +</p> + +<p> +Massinger's blank verse is equal to all the emotions +which the author can express and kindle. It never fails +him, nor, on the other hand, does it obtrude itself unduly +on the sense conveyed. Only after reading a considerable +passage of our poet do we understand how much the +<pb n='056'/><anchor id='Pg056'/> +versification contributes to his lifelike and dignified +atmosphere. +</p> + +<p> +Moreover, the metre of Massinger is admirably suited +to his style. There seems a hidden but real harmony +between them. Some might call his metre at times +slipshod and undignified, from the fact that, except in +elevated passages, the characters speak in rhythmical +sentences which approximate to prose. Boyle, who +declares that <q>Marlowe and Massinger are the two extremes +of the metrical movement in the dramatists,</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>E. S.</hi>, vii. 70.</note> has +pointed out that <q>Massinger's blank verse shows a larger +proportion of run-on lines and double endings in harmonious +union than any of his contemporaries.<note place='foot'><p><hi rend='italic'>N. S. S.</hi>, xxvi. 584. The <q>run-on</q> line ends with +a preposition or other word which syntactically requires the +next line. Take as an example <hi rend='italic'>Fatal Dowry</hi>, V., 2, 255: +</p> +<p> +For the fact, as of<lb/> +The former, I confess it; but with what<lb/> +Base wrongs I was unwillingly drawn to it,<lb/> +To my few words there are some other proofs<lb/> +To witness this for truth. +</p> +<p> +The <q>double</q> or <q>feminine</q> ending is the outstanding +feature of Fletcher's verse. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>Fatal Dowry</hi>, V., 2, 137: +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Rochfort.</hi> You say you are sorry for him;<lb/> +A grief in which I must not have a partner.<lb/> +'Tis I alone am sorry, that when I raised<lb/> +The building of my life, for seventy years,<lb/> +Upon so sure a ground, that all the vices<lb/> +Practised to ruin man, though brought against me,<lb/> +Could never undermine, and no way left<lb/> +To send these grey hairs to the grave with sorrow,<lb/> +Virtue, that was my patroness, betrayed me. +</p> +<p> +(Gifford inserts <q>when</q> in that third line.) +</p> +<p> +Five instances in nine lines. Fleay (<hi rend='italic'>Shakespeare Manual</hi>, +p. 171) points out that in Shakspere's part of <hi rend='italic'>Henry VIII</hi> +the proportion of double endings to blank verse is 1 to 3; +in Fletcher's, 1 to 1·7. The weak and sugary effect of +double endings is very apparent in Rowe's <hi rend='italic'>Fair Penitent</hi>, +the eighteenth-century play, based on <hi rend='italic'>The Fatal Dowry</hi>. +</p> +<p> +Boyle (<hi rend='italic'>E. S.</hi>, v. 74) takes six of Massinger's plays: <hi rend='italic'>The +Unnatural Combat</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>The Duke of Milan</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>The Bondman</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>The +City Madam</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>The Bashful Lover</hi>, and <hi rend='italic'>The Guardian</hi>. These +are his conclusions: <q>The plays show in general a high percentage +of double endings, generally 40 per cent, or more. +The percentage of run-on lines is a little lower, but seldom +sinks for more than a scene below 30 per cent. The light and +weak endings together make 5 to 7 per cent. The versification +is exquisitely musical. There are very few rhymes.</q> +The corresponding figures for Fletcher are: double endings, +over 50 per cent.; run-on lines, under 20 per cent.; and light +and weak endings almost negligible; rhyme, rare. Shakspere +in his later manner (e.g., <hi rend='italic'>The Tempest</hi>) has 33 per cent. +double endings. (<hi rend='italic'>E. S.</hi>, vi. 71.)</p></note> Cartwright +<pb n='057'/><anchor id='Pg057'/> +and Tourneur have more run-on lines, but not so +many double endings. Fletcher has more double endings, +but very few run-on lines. Shakspere and Beaumont +alone exhibit a somewhat similar metrical style.</q><note place='foot'>Fleay (<hi rend='italic'>Shakespeare Manual</hi>, p. 123) takes a piece of +Dryden's <hi rend='italic'>All for Love</hi>, and rewrites it, as far as metre (and +metre only) is concerned, in the styles of Fletcher, Beaumont, +Massinger, Greene, and Rowley.</note> This +is interesting, because we shall see later on that Massinger +was a devoted admirer and imitator of Shakspere in +thought, device, and expression. It is not strange, therefore, +that he should also copy his metre, or rather, develop +his own on the same lines. To show how flexible and +dexterous the metre of Massinger is, I will give two instances +from <hi rend='italic'>The Bashful Lover</hi>. In the first Uberti +encourages Gonzaga to persevere with the contest: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Uberti.</hi> Sir, these tears</l> +<l>Do well become a father, and my eyes</l> +<l>Would keep you company as a forlorn lover,</l> +<l>But that the burning fire of my revenge</l> +<l>Dries up those drops of sorrow. We, once more,</l> +<l>Our broken forces rallied up, and with</l> +<l>Full numbers strengthen'd, stand prepared t' endure</l> +<l>A second trial; nor let it dismay us</l> +<l>That we are once again t' affront the fury</l> +<l>Of a victorious army; their abuse</l> +<l>Of conquest hath disarm'd them, and call'd down</l> +<pb n='058'/><anchor id='Pg058'/> +<l>The Powers above to aid us. I have read</l> +<l>Some piece of story, yet ne'er found but that</l> +<l>The general, that gave way to cruelty,</l> +<l>The profanation of things sacred, rapes</l> +<l>Of virgins, butchery of infants, and</l> +<l>The massacre in cold blood of reverend age,</l> +<l>Against the discipline and law of arms,</l> +<l>Did feel the hand of heaven lie heavy on him</l> +<l>When most secure.<note place='foot'>IV., 3, 5-24.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +In the second Gonzaga refuses the hand of his daughter +Matilda to Lorenzo: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Gonzaga.</hi> Two main reasons</l> +<l>(Seconding those you have already heard)</l> +<l>Give us encouragement; the duty that</l> +<l>I owe my mother country, and the love</l> +<l>Descending to my daughter. For the first,</l> +<l>Should I betray her liberty, I deserv'd</l> +<l>To have my name with infamy razed from</l> +<l>The catalogue of good princes; and I should</l> +<l>Unnaturally forget I am a father,</l> +<l>If, like a Tartar, or for fear or profit,</l> +<l>I should consign her, as a bondwoman,</l> +<l>To be disposed of at another's pleasure;</l> +<l>Her own consent or favour never sued for,</l> +<l>And mine by force exacted. No, Alonzo,</l> +<l>She is my only child, my heir; and if</l> +<l>A father's eyes deceive me not, the hand</l> +<l>Of prodigal nature hath given so much to her,</l> +<l>As, in the former ages, kings would rise up</l> +<l>In her defence and make her cause their quarrel;</l> +<l>Nor can she, if that any spark remain</l> +<l>To kindle a desire to be possess'd</l> +<l>Of such a beauty, in our time, want swords</l> +<l>To guard it safe from violence.<note place='foot'>I., 2, 49-71.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +Anyone who compares the metre of Massinger with that +of Fletcher will find that our author observes far stricter +<pb n='059'/><anchor id='Pg059'/> +laws than his friend. The plays of Massinger abound in +lines divided between two speakers, or even three, which, +nevertheless, observe the strict rule of the metre.<note place='foot'>In this respect Massinger resembles Beaumont and Ford, +whose metre in divided lines, unlike Webster's and Fletcher's, +is very regular. Shirley's plays are full of lame lines. For strict +division <hi rend='italic'>cf.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>City Madam</hi>, I., 3, 44; II., 1, 109; V., 1, 4 and 70; +V., 2, 66; V., 3, 126; <hi rend='italic'>Guardian</hi>, I., 1, 80, 221, 308; II., 3, +116; III., 2, 61; IV., 3, 16; <hi rend='italic'>New Way</hi>, I., 2, 48 and 63; +II., 2, 151; III., 2, 241; V., 1, 233; <hi rend='italic'>Very Woman</hi>, I., 1, 26 +and 147; V., 6, 31; <hi rend='italic'>Bashful Lover</hi>, I., 1, 114, 163, and +207; II., 2, 36, 37; II., 3, 9; II., 4, 42; III., 1, 99; III., 3, 71 +and 80; V., 1, 39, 40, 48, 50, 176; <hi rend='italic'>Roman Actor</hi>, I., 3, 32. +Instances can be given of lines divided between four speakers—e.g., +<hi rend='italic'>Very Woman</hi>, V., 3, 23; V., 4, 167; <hi rend='italic'>Bashful Lover</hi>, II., +7, 20; <hi rend='italic'>Roman Actor</hi>, I., 4, 50; IV., 1, 83; <hi rend='italic'>Guardian</hi>, V., 4, 209. +The carelessness of the metre in <hi rend='italic'>The Old Law</hi> is in itself proof +that Massinger had little to do with it.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The way in which Massinger's style and metre suit one +another can best be illustrated by a passage or two from +<hi rend='italic'>The Parliament of Love</hi>; the first is where Bellisant speaks +about the decay of chivalry. +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Bellisant.</hi> Ere they durst</l> +<l>Presume to offer service to a lady,</l> +<l>In person they perform'd some gallant acts</l> +<l>The fame of which prepar'd them gracious hearing,</l> +<l>Ere they made their approaches; what coy she, then,<note place='foot'>An instance of <q>emphatic</q> double-ending (<hi rend='italic'>Oliphant</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>E. S.</hi>, xiv., 71), common in Fletcher, rare in Massinger.</note></l> +<l>Though great in birth, not to be parallel'd</l> +<l>For nature's liberal beauties (both set off</l> +<l>With fortune's trappings, wealth); but with delight,</l> +<l>Gladly acknowledg'd such a man her servant,</l> +<l>To whose heroic courage and deep wisdom,</l> +<l>The flourishing commonwealth, and thankful king,</l> +<l>Confess'd themselves for debtors? Whereas, now,</l> +<l>If you have travelled Italy, and brought home</l> +<l>Some remnants of the language, and can set</l> +<l>Your faces in some strange and ne'er-seen posture,</l> +<l>Dance a la volta, and be rude and saucy,</l> +<pb n='060'/><anchor id='Pg060'/> +<l>Protest and swear and damn (for these are acts</l> +<l>That most think grace them), and then view yourselves</l> +<l>In the deceiving mirror of self-love,</l> +<l>You do conclude there hardly is a woman</l> +<l>That can be worthy of you.<note place='foot'>I., 5, 38.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +The second is a speech of Leonora exposing Cleremond's +baseness: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>I, burning then with a most virtuous anger,</l> +<l>Razed from my heart the memory of his name,</l> +<l>Railed and spit at him; and knew 'twas justice</l> +<l>That I should take those deities he scorn'd,</l> +<l>Hymen and Cupid, into my protection,</l> +<l>And be the instrument of their revenge;</l> +<l>And so I cast him off, scorn'd his submission,</l> +<l>His poor and childish winnings, will'd my servants</l> +<l>To shut my gates against him; but, when neither</l> +<l>Disdain, hate, or contempt could free me from</l> +<l>His loathsome importunities, and fired too</l> +<l>To wreak mine injur'd honour, I took gladly</l> +<l>Advantage of his execrable oaths,</l> +<l>To undergo what penance I enjoin'd him;</l> +<l>Then, to the terror of all future ribalds,</l> +<l>That make no difference between love and lust,</l> +<l>Imposed this task upon him. I have said, too;</l> +<l>Now, when you please, a censure.<note place='foot'>V., 1, 226.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +The critics may differ in their estimate of Massinger's +style and metre; but it is simple truth to say that they +are unique in our literature, in their correctness, dignity, +ease, and classical frugality. +</p> + +<p> +Let us now turn to the poet's faults. It is said that +his range of thought is limited, and this may be at once +conceded. It might also be said that Greek tragedy is +limited, and the statement is true of all our Elizabethan +playwrights; yet we return to them again and again, for +they have something to give us which we cannot do without. +It is idle to depreciate one period of our literature +<pb n='061'/><anchor id='Pg061'/> +at the expense of another. Are not the old madrigal +writers limited, and Farrant and Byrd, Orlando Gibbons +and Blow? and yet we enjoy them; nay, to take even +Purcell himself, when we confess that the pleasure he +gives us is due to the fact that he is more daring, less +shackled than his generation, <q>so modern</q> as we say, +are we not in the end forced to confess that he too is +unmistakably limited, <q>bewrayed</q> by his quaint and +stately rhythms to be one of the seventeenth century? +</p> + +<p> +Our age has a wider and subtler range of psychology; +to revert from <q>The Georgian Poets</q> of 1911 to Massinger +is like going back from the films of a cinema palace +to a tondo of Luca Signorelli. Both films and tondo have +their uses. We may take a single illustration of this +point from <hi rend='italic'>The Brothers Karamazov</hi>. The great Russian +novelist, among other problems, deals in that book with +the case of the young man who is in love with two women +at once. That is the sort of complicated interest which +we do not expect our Elizabethan writers to cope with, +in as great detail as a modern writer uses. The problem +occurs in <hi rend='italic'>The Bondman</hi>, where the heroine, Cleora, is distracted +between her plighted love to Leosthenes and her +warm sense of obligation to Marullo;<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also Matilda in <hi rend='italic'>The Bashful Lover</hi> (IV., 3, 170), and +Olinda in <hi rend='italic'>The Lovers' Progress</hi>.</note> it is interesting and +instructive to see how simply the whole thing is touched +upon, and how soon the doubt is solved by the discovery +of Leosthenes' former intrigue with Statilia. May we +not say, with Aristophanes, in comparing Massinger and +Dostoevsky: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Τὸν μὲν γὰρ ἡγοῦμαι σοφόν, τῷ δ ἥδομαι.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Frogs</hi>, l. 1413.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +Then it is said that Massinger's work is not free from +coarseness. The answer to this accusation may be made +in more ways than one. I might with confidence reply +to such critics: If you wish for real vulgarity of diction, +<pb n='062'/><anchor id='Pg062'/> +read Marston; if you wish for real vulgarity of mind, read +Middleton; if you wish for poisoned morals, read Ford and +Tourneur; and then revise your judgment of Massinger. +It is notorious that all the stage writers of the Elizabethan +age are tarred with the same brush; there is much in +Shakspere himself that we wish he had not written; still +more is this true of Ben Jonson. In <hi rend='italic'>The Virgin Martyr</hi>, +where we have the odious servants, Hircius and Spungius, +it is generally believed that the parts of the play in which +they appear are due to Dekker, not to Massinger, whose +other works present nothing so disgusting. There are, at +any rate, no lapses of taste in Massinger like those which +we find in Fletcher; nothing like the fate of Rutilio in +<hi rend='italic'>The Custom of the Country</hi>, or of Merione in <hi rend='italic'>The Queen of +Corinth</hi>, or of the Father in <hi rend='italic'>The Captain</hi>. It must be +confessed that Massinger's conception of love is apt to +be earthly, physical, sensuous; there is but little in his +plays about the marriage of true minds,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> the dialogue in <hi rend='italic'>A Very Woman</hi>, I., 1, 1-24. <q>Heaven's +greatest blessings</q> (line 21) is a very characteristic phrase. +<hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also <hi rend='italic'>Emperor of the East</hi>, II., 1, 216.</note> too much about +<q>Hymen's taper</q> and <q>virgin forts.</q> Captivated by +the charms of female beauty, his intellect is too concrete +in its ideals to rise above mere morality to the mysteries +of the diviner love. So far it must be allowed that his +art interests and stimulates the passions of his audience +without elevating them. But if at times we feel a monotonous +limitation in his outlook in these matters, if we +miss the healthy breezes of bracing commonsense and +cheerful self-restraint, we are never pained by the triumph +of what is low, corrupt, or morbid. +</p> + +<p> +When it is said that his women are impure it is necessary +to enter a clear protest.<note place='foot'>Boyle (<hi rend='italic'>N. S. S.</hi>, 385-88) is severe but not, to my mind, +convincing. Reading between the lines, one arrives at the +conclusion that Boyle admired Massinger enormously, and +would have allowed none else to abuse him except himself. +<hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> his spirited attack on Charles Lamb's <q>unfair judgment</q> +(pp. 371-2).</note> There are offensive and +<pb n='063'/><anchor id='Pg063'/> +heartless women in Massinger, such as Domitia in <hi rend='italic'>The +Roman Actor</hi>, and Beaumelle in <hi rend='italic'>The Fatal Dowry</hi>;<note place='foot'>Rubens took his wives as models for his art; let us hope +that Massinger's portrait of the imperious woman was not drawn +from his wife. We happen to know that he was married.</note> +there are odious old women, like Borachia and Corisca. +There are pert and vulgar ladies' maids; but you have only +to read <hi rend='italic'>The Bondman</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>The Bashful Lover</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>A Very Woman</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>The Maid of Honour</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>The Great Duke of Florence</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>The +Emperor of the East</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>The Picture</hi>, to see that his world +includes some charming female characters—not, indeed, +so lovely as those of Shakspere, but still, types which show +that he had not lost his faith in human nature, as, when +we read Fielding, we feel regretfully almost obliged to +allow, in spite of Sophia Western and Amelia, is the case +with our great novelist. +</p> + +<p> +It is true that there are ladies in Massinger's plays who +offer their hands in marriage to the men they love, and +very charmingly the thing is done, though there is nothing +equal to the scene between the Duchess and Antonio +in Webster's masterpiece; as, for example, Artemia in +<hi rend='italic'>The Virgin Martyr</hi>, the Duchess of Urbin in <hi rend='italic'>The Great +Duke</hi>, Calista in <hi rend='italic'>The Guardian</hi>.<note place='foot'>I., 1. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also Matilda in <hi rend='italic'>The Bashful Lover</hi> (III., 3, 147), +and Donusa in <hi rend='italic'>The Renegado</hi> (II., 4).</note> This feature is not confined +to Massinger among the writers of his age; to mention +no other instances, what about Arethusa in <hi rend='italic'>Philaster</hi>, +Bianca in <hi rend='italic'>The Fair Maid of the Inn</hi>, Beliza and the Queen +in <hi rend='italic'>The Queen of Corinth</hi>,<note place='foot'>IV., 1; V., 4. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also Thamasta in Ford's <hi rend='italic'>Lover's Melancholy</hi> +(III., 2), Calantha's request to her father in <hi rend='italic'>The Broken +Heart</hi> (IV., 3), Fiormonda in <hi rend='italic'>Love's Sacrifice</hi> (I., 2), Hidaspes +in <hi rend='italic'>Cupid's Revenge</hi> (I., 3).</note> Frank in <hi rend='italic'>The Captain</hi>, Clara in +<hi rend='italic'>Love's Cure</hi> (IV., 2), Martia in <hi rend='italic'>The Double Marriage</hi> +(II., 3), Lamira in <hi rend='italic'>The Honest Man's Fortune</hi> (V., 3), Erota +in <hi rend='italic'>The Laws of Candy</hi>? Or, what about Desdemona in +<hi rend='italic'>Othello</hi>,<note place='foot'>Act I., 3.</note> or Olivia in <hi rend='italic'>Twelfth Night</hi>?<note place='foot'>III., 1, 161. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also <hi rend='italic'>Romeo and Juliet</hi>, I., 5, 95.</note> What about the +<pb n='064'/><anchor id='Pg064'/> +plot of <hi rend='italic'>All's Well that Ends Well</hi>? To the vulgar mind +all things are vulgar. <foreign rend='italic'>Honi soit qui mal y pense.</foreign><note place='foot'>The situation is not unknown in modern fiction; take, +for example, <hi rend='italic'>Dr. Breen's Practice</hi> and <hi rend='italic'>The House of Lynch</hi>. +<hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> Jebb's <hi rend='italic'>Bentley</hi>, p. 197.</note> It may +certainly be conceded that in some of Massinger's plays, +as, for instance, <hi rend='italic'>The Unnatural Combat</hi> and <hi rend='italic'>Believe as You +List</hi>, the feminine interest is comparatively slight. +Brander Matthews tells us that Massinger's women <q>are +all painted from the outside only</q>;<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Op. cit.</hi>, p. 317.</note> <q>they are not convincing; +they lack essential womanliness.</q> This may be +due to the fault which the same critic points out in our +author, that <q>he is heavy-handed and coarse-fibred +ethically as well as æsthetically.</q> One may reply that if +the theatre be the mirror of life Massinger had an undoubted +right to bring bad women on the stage; there are +good and noble women also among his characters, and if +they are not <q>convincing,</q> perhaps we may quote +Coleridge's remark about Shakspere, that <q>he saw it +was the perfection of women to be characterless.</q> However +far our author may fall short of his great model in +grace, charm, and delicacy, he at any rate deserves +credit for having imagined female characters who are full +of passions and made of <q>flesh and blood.</q><note place='foot'>A favourite phrase of Massinger's—e.g., <hi rend='italic'>Emperor of the +East</hi>, II., 1, 345; V., 2, 83; <hi rend='italic'>Great Duke of Florence</hi>, II., 3, 112; +<hi rend='italic'>Unnatural Combat</hi>, I., 1, 312; IV., 1, 110; <hi rend='italic'>Parliament of Love</hi>, +II., 3, 77.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Massinger resembles other dramatists of his age; at +times we feel that they talk like the little boys on the +links in Stevenson's <hi rend='italic'>Lantern-Bearers</hi>. But Massinger is a +robuster mind than Fletcher, for example; if he brings +vice upon the stage, and if he speaks too freely about +things which we prefer not to have mentioned, if <q>like +Hogarth, he enjoys his own portrayal of degrading vice +and its appalling consequences,</q><note place='foot'>B. Matthews, p. 318.</note> we must, to do him +<pb n='065'/><anchor id='Pg065'/> +justice, take his work as a whole. Indeed, most of the +critics have singled out as one of his special claims to +praise his sturdy morality,<note place='foot'>Especially Sir A. W. Ward (<hi rend='italic'>English Dramatic Literature</hi>, +iii., pp. 41-42). <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also G. C. Macaulay in <hi rend='italic'>Cambridge History +of English Literature</hi>, vol. vi., p. 121, and Schelling's verdict.</note> and the general effect on any +fair mind of a perusal of his plays is a conviction that he +loved virtue. Vitelli<note place='foot'>The Venetian in <hi rend='italic'>The Renegado</hi>.</note> may make the best of both worlds, +but he converts Donusa, and faces death and torture with +fortitude. Goodness emerges from Massinger's plays, +sometimes compromised for the moment, but always +triumphant in the end. There is considerable outspokenness, +but not much lubricity, and no perverted morality. +Passages which offend can nearly always, as in Shakspere, +be omitted without damaging the course of the plot. +Moreover, as has often been pointed out, the works of +Massinger are almost wholly free from blasphemy and +profanity, and attacks on the clergy, such as moved the +wrath of Jeremy Collier in later times. +</p> + +<p> +It may be a fanciful suggestion, but it is possible that +the drama of that day suffered from the fact that boys +took the female parts.<note place='foot'><p>Dr. Bradley (<hi rend='italic'>Oxford Lectures</hi>, pp. 373-4) minimizes the +objections to this custom, without, however, dwelling on the +moral problem. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also Mr. Percy Simpson's remarks in +<hi rend='italic'>Shakspere's England</hi>, ii., p. 246. Prynne deals with it +(<hi rend='italic'>Histriomastix</hi>, ed. 1633, pp. 214-216). He allows, reluctantly, +that <q>men actors in women's attire are not altogether so bad, +so discommendable as women stage-players,</q> but goes on to +say: <q>since both of them are evill, yea extremely vitious, +neither of them necessary, both superfluous as all playes and +players are; the superabundant sinfulnesse of the one, can +neither justifie the lawfulnesse, nor extenuate the wickednesse +of the other.... This should rather bee the conclusion, both +of them are abominable, both intolerable, neither of them +laudable or necessary; therefore both of them to bee abandoned, +neither of them henceforth to be tollerated among Christians.</q> +</p> +<p> +Ford, in <hi rend='italic'>Love's Sacrifice</hi> (III., 2), refers to the novelty of +women-antics—<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, of women acting in masques. It is clear +that Queen Henrietta Maria, with her passion for appearing +on the stage in masques, however much she may have been +before the times, must have caused great scandal to the Puritan +party. The complications which sometimes arise from the use +of men for female parts may be illustrated from Middleton's +amusing play, <hi rend='italic'>The Widow</hi>, where Martia is disguised as a man, +Ansaldo, and, to escape further complications, is subsequently +disguised as a woman, <hi rend='italic'>being a boy all the time</hi>. We find the +same thing in the second Luce in <hi rend='italic'>The Wise Woman of Hogsdon</hi>.</p></note> No one would deny the artistic +<pb n='066'/><anchor id='Pg066'/> +loss thereby involved, but there was a moral loss as well. +It made it possible for things to be said that would not +have been said by men to women, still less by women to +men. It unconsciously invested the love-scenes with an +air of unreality and grossness. It prevented the relation +of the sexes from being depicted with that union of passion +and purity which, though difficult, is possible. +</p> + +<p> +It has been said that Massinger is hard and metallic, +and devoid of pathos. This charge, again, is largely true. +You will not find in him scenes which clutch the heart +like those of <hi rend='italic'>Dr. Faustus</hi>, or <hi rend='italic'>The Duchess of Malfi</hi>, or <hi rend='italic'>The +Broken Heart</hi>, or <hi rend='italic'>The Maid's Tragedy</hi>, or <hi rend='italic'>The Wife for a +Month</hi>; you will not find the sublimity of Ordella's self-sacrifice +in <hi rend='italic'>Thierry and Theodoret</hi>, or the chivalry of <hi rend='italic'>A +Fair Quarrel</hi>; still less will you find anything so appalling +as the end of <hi rend='italic'>King Lear</hi>, or <hi rend='italic'>Othello</hi>, or <hi rend='italic'>Romeo and Juliet</hi>. +There is plenty of passion in Massinger; like the legendary +lion, he lashes with his tail, and you can almost see him in +the act; but his rhetoric does not entirely carry you away. +Let me recall the fine passage which was quoted just now +from <hi rend='italic'>The Roman Actor</hi>.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Supra</hi>, p. <ref target='Pg038'>38</ref>.</note> I hope everyone will allow +its eloquence; but the repetition of the commonplace +phrase, <q>we cannot help it,</q><note place='foot'>Though Massinger does not owe much to Chapman, it is +to be noted that this trick of repeating a phrase occurs several +times in Chapman's popular play, <hi rend='italic'>Bussy d'Ambois</hi>. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> +III., 1., <q>He shall confess all, and you then may hang him,</q> +and towards the end of the same Act, <q>Ay, anything but +killing of the King;</q> and in <hi rend='italic'>The Conspiracy of Byron</hi>, +Act II., in La Fin's speech, <q>I can make good</q> four times +at the end of the line. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> <q>Behold the Turk and his great +Empress</q> in <hi rend='italic'>Tamburlaine</hi>, pt. I., V., 1; <q>I love my lord; let +that suffice for me</q> in Greene's <hi rend='italic'>Orlando Furioso</hi>, I., 1.</note> natural and forcible as it +is, falls short of the ideal grandeur at which the passage +aims. We feel that Fletcher could have made a finer +thing of the prison-scene in The <hi rend='italic'>Emperor of the East</hi>. +</p> + +<pb n='067'/><anchor id='Pg067'/> + +<p> +It is significant that the most tender passage in Massinger,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>A Very Woman</hi>, III., 4.</note> +where Leonora bids Almira take consolation, has been +assigned by some to Fletcher. In other words, Massinger +is not in the front rank of genius, but no one would claim +for him such a place. +</p> + +<p> +Again, one might urge that his plays are not stores of +worldly wisdom, like Shakspere's; his aphorisms are not +deep; they do not bite.<note place='foot'><p>A few instances of γνῶμαι may be given from Massinger; +his debt to Shakspere will be clear: +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Fatal Dowry</hi>, I., 1, 20: +</p> +<p>There is a minute<lb/> +When a man's presence speaks in his own cause<lb/> +More than the tongues of twenty advocates. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Guardian</hi>, I., 1, 241: +</p> +<p> +For a flying foe<lb/> +Discreet and provident conquerors build up<lb/> +A bridge of gold. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Guardian</hi>, IV., 1, 99: +</p> +<p> +O dear madam,<lb/> +We are all the balls of time, toss'd to and fro,<lb/> +From the plough unto the throne, and back again;<lb/> +Under the swing of destiny mankind suffers. +</p> +<p> +(<hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>Plautus' Captivi</hi>, Prologue, 22, <q>Enimvero di nos quasi +pilas homines habent;</q> <hi rend='italic'>Pericles</hi>, II., 1, 63; and <hi rend='italic'>The Duchess +of Malfi</hi>, p. 99<hi rend='italic'>a</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>Parliament of Bees</hi>, char, vii.) +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Bashful Lover</hi>, IV., 1, 69: +</p> +<p> +Fortune rules all;<lb/> +We are her tennis-balls. +</p> +<p> +(<hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also Greg's <hi rend='italic'>Henslowe Papers</hi>, p. 143.) +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Bashful Lover</hi>, III., 2, 3: +</p> +<p> +A diamond,<lb/> +Though set in horn, is still a diamond<lb/> +And sparkles, as in purest gold. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Very Woman</hi>, IV., 1, 90: +</p> +<p> +Revenge, that thirsty dropsy of our souls,<lb/> +Which makes us covet that which hurts us most,<lb/> +Is not alone sweet, but partakes of tartness. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Duke of Milan</hi>, I., 1, 60: +</p> +<p> +Dangers that we see<lb/> +To threaten ruin, are with ease prevented;<lb/> +But those strike deadly that come unexpected. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Great Duke of Florence</hi>, III., 1, 138: +</p> +<p> +Love<lb/> +Steals sometimes through the ear into the heart,<lb/> +As well as by the eye. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Picture</hi>, II., 1, 79: +</p> +<p> +Ill news, madam,<lb/> +Are swallow-wing'd, but what's good walks on crutches. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Virgin Martyr</hi>, IV., 1, 103: +</p> +<p> +Pleasures forc'd<lb/> +Are unripe apples; sour, not worth the plucking. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>A New Way</hi>, IV., 1, 187: +</p> +<p> +Though I must grant<lb/> +Riches, well-got, to be a useful servant,<lb/> +But a bad master. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Bondman</hi>, I., 3, 100: +</p> +<p> +He that would govern others, first should be<lb/> +The master of himself, richly endu'd<lb/> +With depth of understanding, height of courage,<lb/> +And those remarkable graces which I dare not<lb/> +Ascribe unto myself. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Bondman</hi>, III., 1, 6: +</p> +<p> +But turbulent spirits, raised beyond themselves<lb/> +With ease, are not so soon laid; they oft prove<lb/> +Dangerous to him that call'd them up. +</p></note> Consequently he does not lend +<pb n='068'/><anchor id='Pg068'/> +himself to quotation. Yet this does not of necessity detract +from his greatness. No one would question the +excellence of the <hi rend='italic'>Waverley Novels</hi>, but Leslie Stephen has +pointed out that we only make one quotation from Scott's +novels.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Hours in a Library</hi>, i., p. 167.</note> Aristotle has told us that <q>excessive brilliance +of diction obscures characters and sentiments.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Poetics</hi>, 1460<hi rend='italic'>b</hi>, 4.</note> There +<pb n='069'/><anchor id='Pg069'/> +are few passages of high poetical emotion in Massinger; +there is little magic in the rhythm of individual lines. +Like most of his contemporaries he shows at times a +strange insensibility to smooth rhythm in the heroic +couplet. He has an anapæstic lilt in various parts of the +line, inherited from Shakspere, and found in Milton's +early poems, which is not ineffective in its way, and which +seems to have aimed at varying the monotony of the ten-syllable +line.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> <ref target='Appendix_VI'>Appendix VI.</ref> and the discussion in Robert Bridges' +<hi rend='italic'>Milton</hi>, Appendix D, pp. 56-57. The same thing is found again +and again in Shirley's <hi rend='italic'>Lady of Pleasure</hi>.</note> He has not much power of rhyme,<note place='foot'>For a rhymed passage <hi rend='italic'>cf.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>A Very Woman</hi>, IV., 1, 141-152.</note> nor +are his plays studded with such lyrics as Shakspere and +Fletcher could write upon occasion.<note place='foot'>We have a few unimportant poems in rhyme from his +pen, which show the same characteristics of style as his +blank verse, though fettered by the restraints of the couplet. +Some of his songs are not at all bad; <hi rend='italic'>cf.</hi>; for example, <hi rend='italic'>Emperor +of the East</hi>, V., 3: <q>Why art thou slow, thou rest of trouble, +Death?</q> <hi rend='italic'>Guardian</hi>, IV., 2, The songs of Juno and Hymen; +V., 1, the <q>entertainment of the Forest's Queen.</q> <hi rend='italic'>Picture</hi>, +II., 2, the song of Pallas; III., 5, song beginning, <q>The blushing +rose and purple flower.</q> It must, however, be conceded +that these songs are commonplace.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Again, the comic element in Massinger is at times dull, +forced, and ordinary; it does not take us very far to label +a foolish Florentine gentleman with the name of <q>Sylli</q>;<note place='foot'><p><hi rend='italic'>Maid of Honour.</hi> The same name is found in Ben Jonson's +unfortunate <hi rend='italic'>New Inn</hi>, produced in 1629. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also <hi rend='italic'>City Madam</hi>, +II., 2, 182: +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mary.</hi> Whose sheep are these, whose oxen? The Lady Plenty's. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Plenty.</hi> A plentiful pox upon you. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>New Way</hi>, IV., 2, 2: +</p> +<p> +Did not Master Marrall<lb/> +(He has marr'd all I am sure) strictly command us? +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>New Way</hi>, IV., 2, 68: +</p> +<p> +No, though the great Turk came, instead of turkies<lb/> +To beg any favour, I am inexorable. +</p></note> +the hungry soldier is rather a time-worn type,<note place='foot'>Belgrade in <hi rend='italic'>The Unnatural Combat</hi>.</note> nor +<pb n='070'/><anchor id='Pg070'/> +can Greedy compare with Lazarillo. Though the situations +are humorous, we do not split with laughter over +Massinger, as we do in reading Aristophanes, or Shakspere, +or Molière.<note place='foot'>Boyle (<hi rend='italic'>N. S. S.</hi>, pp. 588-9) points out that Massinger +<q>succeeds admirably in depicting the witty pertness of a +saucy page.</q> It does not, therefore, follow that he had been +one himself, as has been supposed by some.</note> We do not find in him the mercurial +lightness of <hi rend='italic'>A Trick to Catch the Old One</hi>, or the invincible +absurdity of <q>The Roarers</q> in <hi rend='italic'>The Fair Quarrel</hi>. But it +is necessary to remember that the comic business is of +the kind which gains by acting, or indeed requires it, +and to allow that towards the end of his life Massinger +came forward as a grave and powerful satirist of contemporary +men, reminding us of Ben Jonson, but, to my +mind, excelling him; for he shows less asperity with +greater lucidity and ease.<note place='foot'>In <hi rend='italic'>The New Way</hi> and <hi rend='italic'>City Madam</hi>.</note> He is not unduly morose or +bitter, yet he wins conviction with an admirable sanity +and sobriety. The plays will repay good acting, and, after +all, plays are meant to be acted; it is significant that the +last of Massinger's plays to hold the stage was his comedy, +<hi rend='italic'>The New Way to pay Old Debts</hi>, and it is very much to be +wished that it should be revived in England.<note place='foot'>Mr. Ben Greet's Company has from time to time given a +charming alfresco performance of <hi rend='italic'>The Great Duke of Florence</hi>.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Some critics have accused Massinger of redundancy in +style, a characteristic which clearly will strike different +people in different ways. Thus, Hallam regards this +feature as on the whole meritorious, giving <q>fulness, or +what the painters would call impasto, to his style, and if +it might not always conduce to effect on the stage, suitable +on the whole to the character of his composition.</q> Mr. +Bullen,<note place='foot'>Preface to Sir John V. O. Barnavelt (<hi rend='italic'>Old Plays</hi>, vol. ii., +p. 204).</note> after an eloquent tribute to <q>Massinger's admirable +ease and dignity,</q> and to <q>his rare command of an +excellent work-a-day dramatic style, clear, vigorous, and +<pb n='071'/><anchor id='Pg071'/> +free from conceit and affectation,</q> proceeds to allow that +<q>he is apt to grow didactic and tax the reader's patience; +and there is often a want of coherence in his sentences, +which amble down the page in a series of loosely linked +clauses.</q> I do not myself feel that this charge comes +to very much. +</p> + +<p> +The real fault of Massinger lies in an imperfect presentation +of character. This point has been felt by many +writers, and put in various ways. Coleridge bluntly says: +<q>Massinger's characters have no character.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Op. cit.</hi>, p. 405.</note> Brander +Matthews puts it in another way when he observes that +<q>the plots are not the result of the characters, but the work +of the playwright,</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Op. cit.</hi>, p. 312.</note> a criticism we may remark in passing +eminently applicable to Fletcher. It has been said that the +characters are conventional, like those in the Italian or +Spanish sources from which they are derived; the violent +tyrant and the arrogant queen are the most familiar of +these types. I do not think this statement arrives at the +root of the matter. Characters may be conventional and +yet interesting and lifelike. A great many of the personages +in Massinger's plays, important and unimportant +alike, act reasonably; he takes great pains to discriminate +them, and the effect is successful and consistent. Let us +recall the great characters in Massinger; they are Paris, +Luke, Sir Giles Overreach, Durazzo, Marullo, Malefort, +Charalois, Antiochus, Camiola, Dorothea, Donusa, Almira. +In the second rank we may put Timoleon, Romont, Bertoldo, +John Antonio, Mathias, Wellborn, Athenais, Marcelia, +Sophia, Cleora. Of these persons, the two that I +think most men would like to have known best are Paris +and Camiola. Notice, by the way, that there is seldom +more than one great character in a play. Now, in +<hi rend='italic'>Henry VIII</hi> there are three, the King, Catherine, and +Wolsey. The question arises whether Massinger, even +with Fletcher's help, could have worked on this scale. If +<pb n='072'/><anchor id='Pg072'/> +Massinger wrote <hi rend='italic'>Henry VIII</hi> it is certainly, with all its +faults, his most remarkable achievement. +</p> + +<p> +The point which I wish to emphasize is that there are +many characters in Massinger drawn with care and ability. +Think, for example, of the skilful contrast between +Pulcheria and Athenais in <hi rend='italic'>The Emperor of the East</hi>, +showing how easy it is for two good women to quarrel. +Further, it is clear that the attempt to produce composite +and developing characters is praiseworthy, even if it be +not always successful, because it is more true to life than +Ben Jonson's brilliant but illusory delineation of +<q>humours.</q> Human beings are too complex to be +labelled in this slapdash way, however amusing it may +be on the stage. +</p> + +<p> +And yet we must allow that a certain number of the +more important characters act outrageously; the explanation +being that the faults which Massinger loves to portray +and censure are such as show themselves in outrageous +ways—such as anger, pride, impotence in the Latin sense, +uxoriousness, and above all jealousy.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> Sforza in <hi rend='italic'>The Duke of Milan</hi>; Theodosius in <hi rend='italic'>The +Emperor of the East</hi>; and especially, Leosthenes in <hi rend='italic'>The +Bondman</hi>.</note> Take the case +of Theophilus in <hi rend='italic'>The Virgin Martyr</hi>, who kills his daughters +because they have been reconverted to Christianity; or of +Domitian in <hi rend='italic'>The Roman Actor</hi>, who goes through life +killing people as he would kill flies. It is not enough to +say that there are such people in the world; the point is, +that in Massinger they shock us without appalling us. +Sforza behaves to Marcelia much as Othello behaves to +Desdemona; we feel at once a difference of power in the +two plays.<note place='foot'>The first quarto of <hi rend='italic'>Othello</hi> appeared in 1622, <hi rend='italic'>The Duke</hi> in +1623.</note> Massinger has many villains, but Shakspere +manages better with Richard III and Iago. Think again +of the uxoriousness of Ladislas, Theodosius, Domitian, +which some have held to be a covert satire on Charles I. +We despise these weak and servile husbands. +</p> + +<pb n='073'/><anchor id='Pg073'/> + +<p> +Now, is there anything we can urge in Massinger's +justification? I think there is. We read his plays nowadays, +we do not see them acted. We are therefore apt +to forget how impressive and vigorous good acting is. +The display of passion on the stage with gesture, attitude, +frown, and scorn, would render more tolerable some of +these scenes which offend us in the study by their crudeness. +Such a part, for instance, as Leosthenes in <hi rend='italic'>The +Bondman</hi>, the jealous and yet guilty lover, has great +opportunities for the actor. It might even be urged that +Massinger wrote thus because he knew the capabilities +of the actors who were going to perform his plays. +</p> + +<p> +The same consideration applies to a feature in Massinger +which will strike every reader. He sets himself +at times to represent growth, or, at any rate, change, of +character. Even Shakspere seldom tries to do this,<note place='foot'>Perhaps Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are the only instances. +Notice in <hi rend='italic'>Henry VIII</hi> various rapid changes of +mind—<hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>, III., 2, 336: <hi rend='smallcaps'>Surrey.</hi> <q>I forgive him</q>; V., 2, +172: <hi rend='smallcaps'>Gardiner.</hi> <q>With a true heart and brother love I do +it.</q> Henry V and Antony are other instances which will occur +to everyone. In the case of the former, at any rate, I for one +feel that Shakspere cuts the Gordian knot.</note> +and it was too hard a task for his pupil. His most +ambitious venture in this direction is in <hi rend='italic'>The Picture</hi>. +In that play Mathias has a magic portrait, which shows +him whether his wife is faithful to him or not in his absence; +and the alternations of the mind in husband and wife +alike are drawn with considerable power. Luke in <hi rend='italic'>The +City Madam</hi> is perhaps the most skilfully drawn example +of a development of character. The hypocrite is quite +carried away by the riches to which he unexpectedly +succeeds.<note place='foot'>The soliloquy of Luke over his brother's wealth is one of +the most splendid efforts of eloquence in English. (<hi rend='italic'>City +Madam</hi>, III., 3.)</note> Another successful conversion is that of +Theophilus at the end of <hi rend='italic'>The Virgin Martyr</hi>. It is due +partly to his eating the heavenly fruit, for which he had +asked Dorothea at her death, partly to the effect which the +<pb n='074'/><anchor id='Pg074'/> +grace and beauty of Angelo produce on his mind. The +gradual growth of his new belief, in spite of all that +Harpax can do, is managed with much skill, and it is in +itself true to nature that the man who had been violent +in one direction should ultimately be violent in another. +Moreover, we are bound to remember that when people +are soon persuaded, the play gets on. Indeed, I think +we have in this consideration the clue to the whole matter; +<q>the Stage Poet</q> had a practical mind. +</p> + +<p> +Change of mood and vacillation of purpose, under the +stress of temptation, or due to the conflict of contrary +impulses, are features of some of Massinger's best scenes. +The wavering of the love-sick Caldoro while Durazzo is +abusing him is very true to life.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Guardian</hi>, I.</note> The skill with which +the <q>melancholy</q> Vitelli's changes of mood are depicted +in <hi rend='italic'>The Renegado</hi><note place='foot'>I., 1.</note> suggests the theory that Massinger is +drawing his own portrait. The alternation of pride and +humility in Honoria in <hi rend='italic'>The Picture</hi><note place='foot'>I., 2.</note> is forcibly shown. +The just anger of Sophia at the end of the same play +yields skilfully to a combined intercession. +</p> + +<p> +As a rule, however, the changes are too rapid. Thus, in +<hi rend='italic'>The Maid of Honour</hi>, Aurelia, when she hears that Camiola +has ransomed Bertoldo and bound him with a promise to +marry her, suddenly changes her mind; she has been on +the point of marrying the faithless soldier, but, as she +says: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 32'>On the sudden</l> +<l>I feel all fires of love quench'd in the water</l> +<l>Of my compassion.<note place='foot'>V., 2, 129.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +Though the change is natural, it is inartistically effected; +it comes too suddenly. Think, however, what an opportunity +this would be for a great actress. If we were in +the audience, we should see the gradual development +reflected in her expression and bearing long before she +utters the words which embody her thought. +</p> + +<pb n='075'/><anchor id='Pg075'/> + +<p> +Other instances of the same thing are to be found in +Donusa's conversion to Christianity in <hi rend='italic'>The Renegado</hi>,<note place='foot'><p>IV., 3, 133: +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Vitelli.</hi> Your intent to win me<lb/> +To be of your belief, proceeded from<lb/> +Your fear to die. Can there be strength in that<lb/> +Religion, that suffers us to tremble<lb/> +At that which every day, nay hour, we haste to? +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Donusa.</hi> This is unanswerable, and there's something tells me<lb/> +I err in my opinion. +</p></note> +in the change of faith effected in Calista and Christeta by +Dorothea's story of the King of Egypt and Osiris' image,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Virgin Martyr</hi>, III., 1, 186.</note> +and in the indecision of Lorenzo about matrimony in <hi rend='italic'>The +Bashful Lover</hi>.<note place='foot'><p>IV., V. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> especially IV., 1, 138: +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Lorenzo.</hi> Stay, I feel<lb/> +A sudden alteration. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Martino.</hi> Here are fine whimsies. +</p></note> +</p> + +<p> +Change of mind is an ungrateful and inartistic experience. +It has landed many honest politicians in bitter +and undeserved reproaches. From Aristotle's time onwards +Euripides has been blamed for his Iphigenia at +Aulis, who first feared to die, and then offered herself +for her country.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Poetics</hi>, 1454<hi rend='italic'>a</hi>, 33.</note> We certainly feel that in Massinger +there are occasionally instances of cheap repentance +which do not seem real. Take the case of Corisca in <hi rend='italic'>The +Bondman</hi>; a bad woman repents, but though convinced +we are not pleased at the spectacle.<note place='foot'>III., 3; V., 3, 33. After all, Corisca does not repent of +her worst faults, only of her luxury and cruelty to her slaves. +<hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also The Projector in <hi rend='italic'>The Emperor of the East</hi>, I., 2, 257. +On the other hand, the conversion of the courtiers in the same +play (II., 1, 154) is according to character.</note> If Massinger had +ever read the <hi rend='italic'>Poetics</hi> of Aristotle, he forgot or ignored the +precept that a character should be ὁμαλόν, or <q>consistent.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Poetics</hi>, 1454<hi rend='italic'>a</hi>, 26.</note> +If this is not the case there is a danger that +<pb n='076'/><anchor id='Pg076'/> +the effect will be μιαρόν, or <q>odious,</q> to use a word +of which Aristotle is fond. I think, then, that this charge +is proven. Massinger saw how effective on the stage a +sudden change of character might be, but lacked the necessary +art to make it convincing. Hence some of his characters +are not even ὁμαλῶς ἀνώμαλοι.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Poetics</hi>, 1454<hi rend='italic'>a</hi>, 28.</note> Perhaps the +explanation is this, that, being a master of language, +he overvalued the persuasiveness of rhetoric.<note place='foot'>Leslie Stephen has anticipated me here. <q>The truth +seems to be that Massinger is subject to an illusion natural +enough to a man who is more of the rhetorician than the seer. +He fancies that eloquence must be irresistible. He takes the +change of mood produced by an elevated appeal to the feelings +for a change of character</q> (<hi rend='italic'>Hours in a Library</hi>, ii., p. 164).</note> It is not +enough to portray the varying emotions which sway the +mind at a particular moment; to produce a satisfactory +whole they have to be fused together. The reader should +not feel that the characters are at the mercy of the situations +in which they are placed, or they will appear to be +lay-figures or puppets, rather than live flesh and blood. +</p> + +<p> +Yet even here a defence of some sort can be set up for +our poet. I will endeavour to make my meaning clear by +an analogy from music. It may have occurred to someone +to ask what the music of Mozart would have been +like if he had lived after Beethoven. Would it have been +more serious and sublime than it is? The question is +worth asking, even if the only answer to it be this, that +without Mozart Beethoven would never have existed. +I think it is fair to argue that Massinger, in his constant +effort after the representation of change of character, +was before his time; he was seeking after a complex but +possible effect, which the novelist can undertake but which +the limitations of the stage render almost impossible.<note place='foot'>Here again I find myself in agreement with Leslie Stephen. +<q>Massinger's plays are a gradual unravelling of a series of +incidents, each following intelligibly from the preceding situation, +and suggestive of many eloquent observations, though not +developments of one master thought. We often feel, that if +external circumstances had been propitious, he would have +expressed himself more naturally, in the form of a prose +romance than in a drama</q> (<hi rend='italic'>Op. cit.</hi>, ii., p. 157). <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also Coleridge's +remark that Massinger's plays are <q>as interesting as +novels.</q> How much character-drawing is there in Boccaccio +or Paynter?</note> +</p> + +<pb n='077'/><anchor id='Pg077'/> + +<p> +Is it fanciful to say that if he had lived in the eighteenth +century, if he had had before his eyes the work of Fielding, +Richardson, and Smollett, he would have been a good +novelist, less cynical than Fielding, more concise than +Richardson, more ideal than Smollett? There are authors +like Euripides and Virgil whose very failures by a strange +paradox seem part of their greatness; and we may perhaps +say that Massinger, by pointing the way somewhat tentatively +and blindly to subtle psychological studies, has +helped to build up the noble fabric of the English novel. +</p> + +<p> +Let us now turn to some miscellaneous points of interest +in Massinger; and first, let us note his imitation of Shakspere. +It is tempting to suppose that as he was at one +time a dependent of a family which was intimate with +Shakspere he may have come across the man himself;<note place='foot'>Mr. Nichol Smith (<hi rend='italic'>Shakspere's England</hi>, ii., p. 202) doubts +the <q>association of Pembroke with Shakspere.</q></note> +it is, at any rate, simpler to remember that as he was +thirty-two years of age when Shakspere died, he can +hardly have failed to meet him in his professional relations. +But we have no evidence of the fact. All we can say is +that his plays, like those of Fletcher, Webster, Tourneur, +and others,<note place='foot'>Sir Sidney Lee (<hi rend='italic'>Life of W. Shakespeare</hi>, 1915, p. 441) notes +<q>the almost magical success</q> with which Massinger echoes +Shakspere's tones.</note> show a constant study of Shakspere.<note place='foot'>In a <q>mock</q> romance published at London in 1656, +<hi rend='italic'>Wit and Fancy in a Maze</hi> (Book 2, chapter iv.), the Enchantress +Lamia and the hero Don Zara del Fogo go to Elysium and +find everything in an uproar. Ajax and Ulysses are quarrelling; +Homer and Hesiod; Statius and Virgil. Last of all Ben +Jonson <q>had openly vaunted himself the first and best of +English poets.</q> This is much resented by Chaucer, Chapman, +and Spenser; last of all Shakspere and Fletcher appear <q>with +a strong party</q> to claim the first place. Among <q>their life +guard</q> are mentioned Goffe, Massinger, Dekker, Webster, +Suckling, Cartwright, Carew. Did Ben Jonson dislike +Massinger as Mr. Phelan conjectures?</note> +</p> + +<pb n='078'/><anchor id='Pg078'/> + +<p> +First let me give a few examples of the imitation of +incidents. In <hi rend='italic'>The Roman Actor</hi>,<note place='foot'>II., 1, 100.</note> Paris refers to a tragedy +<q>in which a murder was acted to the life,</q> which forced +a guilty hearer to make discovery of his secret; this +recalls the play scene in Hamlet.<note place='foot'>IV., 2.</note> In <hi rend='italic'>A Very Woman</hi><note place='foot'>IV., 3.</note> +Almira makes Antonio tell her his history. The hint of +this is taken from <hi rend='italic'>Othello</hi>.<note place='foot'>I., 3.</note> In <hi rend='italic'>The Fatal Dowry</hi><note place='foot'>III., 1, 261.</note> Beaumelle +and her maid arrange to be overheard, like Hero +and Ursula in <hi rend='italic'>Much Ado about Nothing</hi>.<note place='foot'>III., 1.</note> The device +by which Beaupré recovers her husband in <hi rend='italic'>The Parliament +of Love</hi> is imitated from <hi rend='italic'>All's Well that Ends Well</hi> +and <hi rend='italic'>Measure for Measure</hi>. The banditti in <hi rend='italic'>The Guardian</hi><note place='foot'>II., 4. The good brigand goes back beyond Robin Hood +to Herodotus, VI. 16.</note> +respect the poor like the outlaws in <hi rend='italic'>The Two Gentlemen +of Verona</hi>.<note place='foot'>IV., 1.</note> The forest scenes in the same play recall +<hi rend='italic'>As You Like It</hi> and <hi rend='italic'>Midsummer-Night's Dream</hi>.<note place='foot'>Compare especially V., 2, 104 with <hi rend='italic'>Midsummer Night's +Dream</hi>, II., 2, 145.</note> In +<hi rend='italic'>The Bashful Lover</hi><note place='foot'>II., 1, 22.</note> the pretty tale of a sister which Ascanio +tells is a reminiscence of <hi rend='italic'>Twelfth Night</hi>.<note place='foot'>II., 4.</note> The incident +in the same play of Hortensio with Ascanio in his arms<note place='foot'>III., 1, 24.</note> +is modelled on <hi rend='italic'>As You Like It</hi>.<note place='foot'>II., 7.</note> Malefort's behaviour to +the tailor<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Unnatural Combat</hi>, III., 2, 13.</note> is imitated from Petruchio's in <hi rend='italic'>The Taming of +the Shrew</hi>.<note place='foot'>IV., 3.</note> The gibberish of the pretended Indians in +<hi rend='italic'>The City Madam</hi><note place='foot'>III., 3, 91-2.</note> reminds us of Parolles' adventure in +<hi rend='italic'>All's Well</hi>.<note place='foot'>IV., 1.</note> The scene in <hi rend='italic'>The Emperor of the East</hi><note place='foot'>IV., 5.</note> +where Eudocia professes to have eaten the apple is +modelled on <hi rend='italic'>Othello</hi><note place='foot'>III., 4.</note>, where Desdemona asserts that the +handkerchief is not lost. In <hi rend='italic'>The Bondman</hi><note place='foot'>II., 2, 93.</note> Zanthia +overhears Corisca's confession of love in her sleep, as Iago +<pb n='079'/><anchor id='Pg079'/> +does Cassio's.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Othello</hi>, III., 3.</note> In <hi rend='italic'>A New Way to pay Old Debts</hi><note place='foot'>V., 1, 376. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also Security in prison in <hi rend='italic'>Eastward Ho</hi> +(Act V.); Grimaldi in <hi rend='italic'>The Renegado</hi> (IV., 1, 4).</note> Sir +Giles Overreach, is carried off for treatment to a dark room +like Malvolio in <hi rend='italic'>Twelfth Night</hi>.<note place='foot'><p>III., 4, 148. On the other hand, Paulo in <hi rend='italic'>A Very Woman</hi> +(III., 3, 5) observes: +</p> +<p> +To choke up his spirits in a dark room,<lb/> +Is far more dangerous. +</p></note> Almira in <hi rend='italic'>A Very +Woman</hi><note place='foot'>II., 3.</note> reminds us of the sleep-walking scene in <hi rend='italic'>Macbeth</hi>. +The ghosts in <hi rend='italic'>The Unnatural Combat</hi><note place='foot'>V., 2.</note> and <hi rend='italic'>The Roman +Actor</hi><note place='foot'>V., 1.</note> are used like those in the finale of <hi rend='italic'>Richard III</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +Parallels in thought and diction are also numerous. +Take <hi rend='italic'>The Roman Actor</hi><note place='foot'>I., 3, 49. Rowley uses the metaphor in the dedication +of <hi rend='italic'>A Fair Quarrel</hi>.</note>: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Aretinus.</hi> Are you on the stage,</l> +<l>You talk so boldly?</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Paris.</hi> The whole world being one,</l> +<l>This place is not exempted.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +This goes back to Jaques in <hi rend='italic'>As You Like It</hi>.<note place='foot'>II., 7.</note> In <hi rend='italic'>The +Maid of Honour</hi><note place='foot'>III., 1, 49.</note> Jacomo talks of <q>trailing the puissant +pike;</q> the phrase of Pistol in <hi rend='italic'>Henry V</hi>.<note place='foot'><p>IV., 1. The language of Ding'em in <hi rend='italic'>The City Madam</hi> +(IV.; 1, 15) takes us back to Pistol: +</p> +<p> +Thy word's a law,<lb/> +And I obey. Live, scrape-shoe, and be thankful,<lb/> +Thou man of muck and money, for as such<lb/> +I now salute thee; the suburbian gamesters<lb/> +Have heard thy fortunes, and I am, in person,<lb/> +Sent to congratulate. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also <hi rend='italic'>A New Way</hi>, I., 2, 59: +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Furnace.</hi> <q>I am appeased, and Furnace now grows cool.</q> +</p></note> In <hi rend='italic'>The Emperor +of the East</hi><note place='foot'><p>I., 2, 318. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>Prophetess</hi>, I., 2, 31: +</p> +<p> +I presently, inspired with holy fire,<lb/> +And my prophetic spirit burning in me,<lb/> +Gave answer from the gods. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Double Marriage</hi>, II., 4, 30: +</p> +<p> +Who stole her? Oh! my prophetic soul! +</p></note> Athenais makes use of the phrase <q>prophetic +<pb n='080'/><anchor id='Pg080'/> +soul,</q> which we remember in <hi rend='italic'>Hamlet</hi>.<note place='foot'>I., 5, 40.</note> Leosthenes uses +the same phrase in <hi rend='italic'>The Bondman</hi><note place='foot'>IV., 2, 39.</note> when the mutinous slave +Cimbrio boasts of the excesses of his friends. The pun +which Hircius makes on the cobbler's awl<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Virgin Martyr</hi>, III., 3, 46.</note> occurs in the +first scene of <hi rend='italic'>Julius Cæsar</hi>. The madness of the English +slave in <hi rend='italic'>A Very Woman</hi><note place='foot'>III., 1, 118.</note> comes from the grave-diggers' +scene in <hi rend='italic'>Hamlet</hi>.<note place='foot'>V., 1, 170.</note> The <q>many-headed monster, multitude</q> +of Theodosius in <hi rend='italic'>The Emperor of the East</hi><note place='foot'>II., 1, 99. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also <hi rend='italic'>Roman Actor</hi>, III., 2, 35.</note> takes us +back to Coriolanus' <q>beast with many heads</q>;<note place='foot'>IV., 1, 1.</note> while the +reference in the same play<note place='foot'>III., 2, 18.</note> to the <q>stomach</q> reminds us +of the fable of Menenius.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Coriolanus</hi>, I., 1, 99.</note> In <hi rend='italic'>The Bashful Lover</hi><note place='foot'><p>I., 2, 40. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also <hi rend='italic'>A New Way</hi>, I., 3, 88, and <hi rend='italic'>Emperor of +the East</hi>, V., 2, 83: +</p> +<p> +I am flesh and blood, as you are, sensible<lb/> +Of heat and cold, as much a slave unto<lb/> +The tyranny of my passions as the meanest<lb/> +Of my poor subjects. +</p></note> Uberti +discourses thus: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>I look on your dimensions, and find not</l> +<l>Mine own of lesser size; the blood that fills</l> +<l>My veins, as hot as yours, my sword as sharp,</l> +<l>My nerves of equal strength, my heart as good.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +This reminds us of Shylock in <hi rend='italic'>The Merchant of Venice</hi><note place='foot'>III., 1.</note> +and the King in <hi rend='italic'>Henry V</hi>.<note place='foot'>IV., 1, 103.</note> Clarindore's language in +<hi rend='italic'>The Parliament of Love</hi><note place='foot'>II., 1, 54.</note> is modelled on Malvolio in <hi rend='italic'>Twelfth +Night</hi>.<note place='foot'>II., 5.</note> The same is true of Sir Giles Overreach in <hi rend='italic'>A New +Way</hi>.<note place='foot'>IV., 3, 131-137.</note> Shakspere's dislike of spaniels reappears in the +same play.<note place='foot'>II., 1, 38. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> Bradley, <hi rend='italic'>Shakspearean Tragedy</hi>, p. 268.</note> +</p> + +<p> +No doubt we must make deductions for the common +<pb n='081'/><anchor id='Pg081'/> +idioms of the day,<note place='foot'>Thus, to take an instance at random, the madness of +the Englishman is referred to in Webster's <hi rend='italic'>Malcontent</hi> (III. 1).</note> but the cumulative evidence of these +parallels with the elder dramatist is overwhelming.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also <ref target='Appendix_IV'>Appendix IV</ref>.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Massinger is very fond of introducing doctors in his +plays; so no doubt are the other dramatists of this period. +It is interesting to compare Paulo in <hi rend='italic'>A Very Woman</hi> with +Corax in <hi rend='italic'>The Lover's Melancholy</hi> of Ford, who deals successfully +with two cases of mental derangement. Ford +is more subtle, Massinger more dignified. Thus we find +in <hi rend='italic'>The Virgin Martyr</hi><note place='foot'>IV., 1.</note> a consultation about Antoninus' +health. Sapritius, the afflicted father, hails the doctors +thus: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>O you that are half gods, lengthen that life</l> +<l>Their deities lend us; turn o'er all the volumes</l> +<l>Of your mysterious Æsculapian science</l> +<l>T' increase the number of this young man's days.<note place='foot'>IV., 1, 1. The last line shows how prosaic Massinger +could on occasion be. In judging our older writers, however, +it is important to remember that words change their poetical +value with time; it is clear, for example, that in James I.'s +age, <q>undertaker,</q> <q>proceedings,</q> <q>punctually,</q> <q>aunt,</q> +were regarded as legitimate in poetry.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +Compare with this another passage in <hi rend='italic'>The Duke of Milan</hi>: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Sforza.</hi> O you earthly gods,</l> +<l>You second natures, that from your great master,</l> +<l>Who join'd the limbs of torn Hippolytus,</l> +<l>And drew upon himself the Thunderer's envy,</l> +<l>Are taught those hidden secrets that restore</l> +<l>To life death-wounded men!<note place='foot'>V., 2, 49-54.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +In <hi rend='italic'>A Very Woman</hi><note place='foot'>II., 2, 23.</note> Paulo, on entering with two surgeons, +is thus addressed: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Duke.</hi> My hand! You rather</l> +<l>Deserve my knee, and it shall bend as to</l> +<l>A second father, if your saving aids</l> +<l>Restore my son.</l> +</lg> + +<pb n='082'/><anchor id='Pg082'/> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Viceroy.</hi> Rise, thou bright star of knowledge,</l> +<l>Thou honour of thy art, thou help of nature.</l> +<l>Thou glory of our academies!</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +The old saying, <q>Ubi tres medici ibi duo athei,</q> referred +to by Sir T. Browne in <hi rend='italic'>Religio Medici</hi> is recalled to us by +these lines: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Viceroy.</hi> Observe his piety; I have heard, how true</l> +<l>I know not, most physicians, as they grow</l> +<l>Greater in skill, grow less in their religion;</l> +<l>Attributing so much to natural causes,</l> +<l>That they have little faith in that they cannot</l> +<l>Deliver reason for; this doctor steers</l> +<l>Another course.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>A Very Woman</hi>, II., 2, 96.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +We find them again in <hi rend='italic'>The Emperor of the East</hi>,<note place='foot'>IV., 4.</note> where +a surgeon is contrasted with an empiric who vends his +wares and talks much Latin, like the quack in Ben Jonson's +<hi rend='italic'>Alchemist</hi>, while Paulinus complains of the many medical +impostors who prey upon the rich. The crisis of <hi rend='italic'>The Duke +of Milan</hi><note place='foot'>V., 2.</note> owes much to the action of doctors. The plot +of <hi rend='italic'>A Very Woman</hi> hinges largely on the skill of the doctor +Paulo, to whom we have referred above. In this play +we have two victims of melancholy, Almira and Cardenes; +the former is cured by falling in love with the disguised +John Antonio; the latter is Paulo's patient. The recovery +of the avaricious father in <hi rend='italic'>The Roman Actor</hi><note place='foot'>II., 1.</note> is due to Paris +acting in the part of a doctor. The physician Dinant in +<hi rend='italic'>The Parliament of Love</hi> gives the gallants a good lesson +(IV., 5). And in <hi rend='italic'>The Picture</hi><note place='foot'>II., 2, 84-98; <hi rend='italic'>cf.</hi> also <hi rend='italic'>A Very Woman</hi>, II., 2, 2; <hi rend='italic'>Bondman</hi>, +I., 3, 216; <hi rend='italic'>Emperor of the East</hi>, III., 2, 54; <hi rend='italic'>Guardian</hi>, III., 1, +23; <hi rend='italic'>Parliament of Love</hi>, I., 4, 23; <hi rend='italic'>Believe as You List</hi>, V., 1, 69; +<hi rend='italic'>Unnatural Combat</hi>, IV., 1, 131 and 231.</note> we find an elaborate +simile, in which soldiers are said to be the surgeons of +the State. In the same play Hilario,<note place='foot'>III., 1, 12-16.</note> when on starvation +<pb n='083'/><anchor id='Pg083'/> +fare, is accosted by a surgeon, who invites him to sell himself +for <q>a living anatomy to be set up in the surgeons' +hall.</q> Such passages,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also <hi rend='italic'>Bondman</hi>, II., 2, 36; IV., 4, 22; <hi rend='italic'>Bashful Lover</hi>, +V., 1, 72-156; <hi rend='italic'>Emperor of the East</hi>, IV., 3, 39; <hi rend='italic'>Duke of Milan</hi>, +IV., 3, 97; <hi rend='italic'>Unnatural Combat</hi>, IV., 1, 199; <hi rend='italic'>Parliament of Love</hi>, +V., 1, 526-7; <hi rend='italic'>Guardian</hi>, I., 1, 13; II., 5, 56; <hi rend='italic'>Picture</hi>, III., 4, 21.</note> and the zest with which Massinger +refers to potatoes, eringos, and the like,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>New Way</hi>, II., 2, 17-22; <hi rend='italic'>Picture</hi>, IV., 2, 26-33.</note> together +with the rather wearisome allusions which he makes to +<q>caudles</q> and <q>cullises,</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Picture</hi>, I., 2, 30; IV., 2, 79; <hi rend='italic'>Bondman</hi>, I., 2, 36; IV., 2, 44; +IV., 4, 21; <hi rend='italic'>A New Way</hi>, II., 2, 20; IV., 2, 99; <hi rend='italic'>Emperor of the +East</hi>, I., 2, 223; <hi rend='italic'>Parliament of Love</hi>, IV., 1, 49; <hi rend='italic'>Guardian</hi>, I., 1, +297.</note> lead us to wonder whether +at one time of his life he may have seriously studied +medicine. There is a significant passage in <hi rend='italic'>The Parliament +of Love</hi>,<note place='foot'>III., 1, 26; III., 1, 32.</note> where Chamont says to the doctor Dinant, +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Good master doctor, when your leisure serves,</l> +<l>Visit my house; when we least need their art,</l> +<l>Physicians look most lovely.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +And close intercourse with doctors may have suggested +the lines immediately below: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Novall.</hi> The knave is jealous.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Perigot.</hi> 'Tis a disease few doctors cure themselves of.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +At the same time, let us not forget the passages where +he shows a knowledge of the law;<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>New Way</hi> and <hi rend='italic'>City Madam</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>passim</hi>.</note> nor the fact that books +have been written to prove that Shakspere must have had +a training in this or that profession.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> Churton Collins' <hi rend='italic'>Studies in Shakspere: No. V.</hi>, <q>Was +Shakspere a lawyer?</q> Mr. Arthur Underhill, in <hi rend='italic'>Shakspere's +England</hi>, Vol. i, No. xiii., decides that Shakspere's <q>knowledge +of law was neither profound nor accurate.</q></note> The really interesting +point about the doctors in Massinger is that they are +so often praised as the healers of the mind; the dramatist +who delights in drawing gloomy, passionate characters +seems to have a high opinion for the profession which +<pb n='084'/><anchor id='Pg084'/> +undertook to cure <q>melancholy.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>A Very Woman</hi>, II., 2, 60-64. It is to be noted that doctors +are common also in Fletcher, the reason being that there are +so many duels, and unexpected recoveries, in that author. +Thus, the surgeon diets the Duke of Sesse in <hi rend='italic'>The Double +Marriage</hi> (II., 4); and in the same play the doctor plays tricks +on Castruccio's food (V., 1). In <hi rend='italic'>The Sea Voyage</hi> (III., 1) the +surgeon is introduced merely to make fun of his apparatus. +Doctors, chirurgeons, and apothecaries appear in fifteen of the +plays of Beaumont and Fletcher. The same remark applies +to Webster; <hi rend='italic'>cf.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>The Duchess of Malfi</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>The White Devil</hi>, and +especially <hi rend='italic'>The Devil's Law-case</hi>.</note> In <hi rend='italic'>A Very Woman</hi> +he takes care to praise and reward the doctor more highly +than the surgeons. On the other hand, like most of his +contemporaries, he naturally makes the physician a part +of the machinery rather than an individual character. +Even the doctor in <hi rend='italic'>A Fair Quarrel</hi>, who takes an unusually +large part in the plot, can hardly be said to be +more than a carefully drawn lay figure. The same remark +applies to the friars of Shakspere. +</p> + +<p> +The chief question about Massinger which interests +the student of English is the authorship of <hi rend='italic'>Henry VIII</hi>. +Did he take part in writing that play with Fletcher? +There is a great mass of literature on this subject. As one +who has read the undoubted plays of Massinger many +times, I am bound to say that while there is much in the +play which reminds one of Shakspere and Fletcher, I +find little trace of Massinger's style. I do not deny that +there are one or two slight reminiscences; thus the word +<q>file</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Henry VIII</hi>, I., 1, 75; I., 2, 42; III., 2, 171.</note> is a favourite one with Massinger. We find +blushing in the play once or twice,<note place='foot'>II., 3, 42 and 72; III., 2, 305, 307, 353.</note> but then we find it +elsewhere in Shakspere. Anne's remark to the old lady, +<q>Come, you are pleasant,</q><note place='foot'>II., 3, 93.</note> is in Massinger's manner, +but he may have taken the turn from Shakspere. The +strict metre of such a line as this is like Massinger;<note place='foot'>III., 2, 37; <hi rend='italic'>cf.</hi> III., 4, 69. Beaumont observes a similar +strictness.</note> +the same remark applies again: +</p> + +<pb n='085'/><anchor id='Pg085'/> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Surrey.</hi> Has the King this?</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Suffolk.</hi> Believe it.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Surrey.</hi> Will this work?</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +The fourth scene of the second act is a great law-court +Scene, and Massinger has several such, in which +he may be copying Shakspere. The combination of +courtiers in dialogue which we get in various parts of +<hi rend='italic'>Henry VIII</hi> is like Massinger;<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>E.g.</hi>, I., 1; III., 2.</note> but, to my mind, the +scenes are more clumsy than their parallels in Massinger. +Sudden changes of mind are found in <hi rend='italic'>Henry VIII</hi>;<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>E.g.</hi>, III., 2, 336; IV., 2, 73; V., 4, 172.</note> +and this is probably the strongest bit of evidence in favour +of Massinger's authorship. The characters are not harmoniously +rounded off: Buckingham's prayers for the +King<note place='foot'>II., 1, 88-94.</note> do not please us; the King's scruples of conscience +are not convincing;<note place='foot'>II., 2, 143.</note> Wolsey's meekness<note place='foot'>III., 2, 297-8.</note> and piety<note place='foot'>III., 2, 365.</note> do +not ring true, though they anticipate the picture of his +last year which we get in Cavendish's Life—but all these +blemishes may be due to hasty work or dual authorship. +Failure in representing vacillation and complexity of +character is, as we have seen above, a note of Massinger, +but the failures of this kind in <hi rend='italic'>Henry VIII</hi> are marked by +a sentimentality which reminds us of Fletcher. +</p> + +<p> +Let us see now what there is in the play unlike Massinger. +To begin with, there are many passages in Shakspere's +difficult later style,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>E.g.</hi>, I., 1, 39-44; II., 3, 13-16, 18-22, 32; II., 4, 70-73, +78, 79, 129, 130; IV., 1, 56-59; V., 1, 2-5, 11-16, 36; V., 3, 1012, +20-31, 43-45.</note> and there is a complete absence +of Massinger's sinuous sentences and frequent parentheses, +as also of his peculiar vocabulary; there are many flights +of high and tender poetry which are beyond his compass; +there are brilliant γνῶμαι, such as— +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Griffith.</hi> Noble madam,</l> +<l>Men's evil manners live in brass, their virtues</l> +<l>We write in water,<note place='foot'>IV., 2, 45.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<pb n='086'/><anchor id='Pg086'/> + +<p> +or, +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Chancellor.</hi> But we are all men,</l> +<l>In our own natures frail, and capable</l> +<l>Of our flesh; few are angels,<note place='foot'>V., 3, 10.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +which are quite out of his range of power. +</p> + +<p> +Again, there is a curious series of links in the play, +by which characters who are to come on later are introduced; +it seems to be an attempt to give unity to a disconnected +work. Thus, the King's belief in Cranmer +is early indicated;<note place='foot'>II., 4, 238.</note> Cromwell's future success is foreshadowed +by Wolsey;<note place='foot'>III., 2, 447.</note> Gardiner's dislike of Cranmer is +brought before us.<note place='foot'>IV., 1, 103.</note> This is a method of which I can recall +no instance in Massinger's undoubted plays. +</p> + +<p> +In spite of his roughness and ferocity, Henry is more of a +man than any of Massinger's tyrants; there is no parallel +in Massinger to Anne Boleyn, slight as her portrait is; +while Katherine and Wolsey are alike far superior to +anything of his. Lastly, the pageantry and processions +of the play do not appear in Massinger's simple designs. +</p> + +<p> +The authors of <hi rend='italic'>Henry VIII</hi> were essaying an impossible +task. They were trying to construct an historical play +out of materials which were too various to make artistic +unity feasible, and they had to make an unattractive +character the centre of the piece. Consequently, they +decided to end the play at the christening of Elizabeth, +and to cover their retreat with gorgeous rhetoric about the +Virgin Queen<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> II., 3, 77; III., 2, 50—both instances of the method of +anticipation referred to above.</note> and her Stuart successor. It would have +been quite impossible to introduce the death of Anne +Boleyn, or any further incident of the reign, without +harrowing the feelings of the spectator and losing all +sense of proportion. But they do make a desperate +effort to centre our attention on the King as a commanding +figure; he comes before us as <q>the first gentleman in +<pb n='087'/><anchor id='Pg087'/> +Europe,</q> and as the anxious lover of his people; he is +represented as torn by conflicting emotions about the +divorce, and as badly treated by Rome; all we can say is, +these facts are true, however unskilfully the play brings +them before us. Whatever the King does, we are meant +to like him. His victims all conspire to invoke the blessings +of Heaven on his head; Buckingham,<note place='foot'>II., 1, 88.</note> Wolsey,<note place='foot'>III., 2, 393.</note> +Katherine,<note place='foot'>IV., 2, 125.</note> all agree in this, reminding us of John Stubbs +the Puritan, who, when his right hand was cut off for +writing a book against Elizabeth's proposed marriage, +put off his hat with his left, and said with a loud voice, +<q>God save the Queen.</q> The christening scene in Act V. +is skilfully constructed so as to concentrate our interest +on Henry; we feel that he is a royal and heroic figure, +whose faults may in the last resort be palliated by the +consideration that he is the father of Elizabeth. +</p> + +<p> +I agree with the critics who regard the play as a failure +from the artistic point of view; it lacks unity, and it +moves awkwardly. It might even be called a spectacular +experiment. But I rate it higher than they seem to do; +its faults are largely due to the subject; it has much of +Shakspere in it, as for example, the conscientious way in +which the historical details are introduced.<note place='foot'><p>Thus Gardiner's dislike of Anne Boleyn (V., 1, 22) is true +to history, though artistically a blemish on the play, because +redundant. +</p> +<p> +The way in which in IV., 1, and elsewhere, historical details +are dragged in is quite unlike Massinger, and very like Shakspere. +<hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> lines 17-19, 24-29, 38-42, 47-49, 51, 52, 101-103.</p></note> It is full of +superb and moving passages, and it uses the eleven-syllable +line with skill and tenderness. If some of its +defects remind us faintly of Massinger, its excellences +are altogether beyond his abilities. Doubtless, it is +natural to wish that each play of Shakspere should excel +its predecessor, and to be unwilling to confess that he +ended his career with something that was not supremely +excellent. In the same way we may be sorry that one +<pb n='088'/><anchor id='Pg088'/> +of Mozart's last works, <hi rend='italic'>Titus</hi>, was a failure. But it is +better to take things as we find them than to seek to +twist them into something else on inadequate grounds. +</p> + +<p> +Boyle's attribution of <hi rend='italic'>Henry VIII</hi> to Fletcher and Massinger<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>New Shakspere Society's Transactions</hi>, 1880-86, xxi.</note> +was coldly received by the New Shakspere Society.<note place='foot'>See Discussion on January 16th, 1885.</note> +Let us look at his arguments. I trust that condensation +will do them no injustice. +</p> + +<p> +1. There is a change in the conception of the character +of Buckingham. Such changes constantly occur in the +plays which Fletcher and Massinger wrote together, notably +in the character of Sir John Van Olden Barnavelt. Therefore +Massinger wrote part of <hi rend='italic'>Henry VIII</hi>. This line of +argument, even if valid, would only prove collaboration +by Fletcher with someone else. +</p> + +<p> +2. The Shakspere play <hi rend='italic'>All is True</hi> may have +perished in the <q>Globe</q> fire of 1613. <hi rend='italic'>Henry VIII</hi> was +written to take its place, but not produced before 1616. +The evidence quoted for the date 1616-17 is very weak, +and does nothing to prove Massinger's co-operation. +</p> + +<p> +3. If it be urged that the reputed authors of the play +were alive in 1623, when it was published as Shakspere's +work in the Folio, Boyle replies,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi>, p. 447.</note> <q>that, with the exception +perhaps of Ben Jonson, it would never have occurred +to a dramatist of that age to claim as his property what +was published under another's name.</q> This is a bold +statement. Can an instance of such indifference be +quoted? Or are we merely bidden to remember that +Massinger was poor? +</p> + +<p> +4. Boyle then works through the scenes which he +ascribes to Massinger. +</p> + +<p> +I., 1.—The opening is like <hi rend='italic'>The Emperor of the East</hi>, +III., 1. <q>An untimely ague</q> corresponds to <q>a sudden +fever.</q> The resemblance of the scenes is undoubted, and +the parallel phrases are remarkable. Note, however, +<pb n='089'/><anchor id='Pg089'/> +that the writer says the same thing twice (lines 4 and 13), +while lines 9-12 are not like Massinger. +</p> + +<p> +I., 4.—Lines 1-18, and 60 to the end. I find no trace +of Massinger's style in these passages. He never wrote +lines 75-6: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>The fairest hand I ever touch'd! O beauty,</l> +<l>Till now I never knew thee!</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +or such a phrase as <q>let the music knock it</q> <foreign rend='italic'>ad finem</foreign>. +</p> + +<p> +II., 1.—Lines 1-54, and 136 to the end. I find no trace +of Massinger's style in these passages. Boyle has to +allow that Fletcher altered several lines in 1-54; this is +precarious and subjective reasoning. +</p> + +<p> +II., 3.—Lines 1-11 are in the parenthetic manner, but +quite unlike Massinger's. <q>Soft cheveril conscience</q> in +line 31, and <q>you'd venture an emballing</q> in line 47, +are instances of the strong vocabulary which marks the +play.<note place='foot'>For other instances see II., 4, 208; III., 2, 39-42, 55-56, +96, 159; V., 1, 22-3, 36, 109-11; V., 3, 43-45.</note> Picturesque phrases of this kind are not characteristic +of Massinger's style. +</p> + +<p> +Nor did Massinger ever sink so low as line 64: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>A thousand pound a year, annual support.<note place='foot'>The same remark applies to V., 3, 8.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +II., 4.—No doubt Massinger loves a forensic scene, but +this one leads to nothing and leaves the mind in confusion. +Now, Massinger was too good an artist to do that. The +things the people say in this scene must have passed through +their minds in real life, but they are combined in such +a way as to be true to history rather than to dramatic +propriety. The author aims at telling what happened, +and what happened does not always make a good play. +It might even be urged from what we know of Massinger +that he was too good a <q>stage-poet</q> to undertake an +English historical play with its necessary limitations. +</p> + +<p> +III., 2, 1-203.—The scene, like so much else in the play, +lacks the refinement and courtliness which Massinger +<pb n='090'/><anchor id='Pg090'/> +always has at his command. It may be noted that the +bluff, coarse atmosphere of the <q>Shaksperian</q> scenes +is very suitable to the central figure of the play.<note place='foot'>Compare such a line as V., 3, 94.</note> Henry +VIII infects his surroundings with himself, and this might +be quoted as an indication of Shaksperian skill. +</p> + +<p> +IV., 1.—The prosaic details of this scene are unlike +anything in Massinger.<note place='foot'>See p. 87, n. 4.</note> +</p> + +<p> +V., 1.—The point of this scene is to concentrate our +attention on Elizabeth's birth. The scene <q>sprawls</q> +sadly, to use Boyle's description of Fletcher's method. +First we have Gardiner and Lovell, then Henry and +Suffolk, then Henry and Cranmer, then Henry and the +old lady. Massinger constructed better than this. +</p> + +<p> +V., 3, 1-113.—Such a speech as Cranmer makes (lines +58-69) is too short for Massinger's ample method, and its +terse, broken style is singularly unlike his. +</p> + +<p> +5. The few parallels of diction which Boyle brings +forward are either from plays which are not certainly by +Massinger, or may be explained as due to reminiscence +or common phraseology. +</p> + +<p> +6. Boyle has much of value to say in his criticisms of +the characters. But again and again he seems to forget +that the author is hampered by the story. He could not +treat Henry VIII as Schiller treated Mary Stuart; to +idealize the events would have been an act of <foreign rend='italic'>lèse-majesté</foreign>. +</p> + +<p> +It is true that Anne Boleyn is not a creation of the same +order as Shakspere's later heroines—Imogen, Miranda, +Marina, Perdita. Though beautiful and charming, she is +shallow and commonplace. Is not this, however, the +Anne Boleyn of real life? +</p> + +<p> +<q>Katherine is inferior to Hermione in <hi rend='italic'>The Winter's +Tale</hi>.</q> But why should not her portrait be drawn on +different lines? Is she not a proud Spanish princess? +She is certainly one of the great figures of English +Tragedy. +</p> + +<p> +Wolsey is meant to be great but is really vulgar, while +<pb n='091'/><anchor id='Pg091'/> +<q>his utter collapse after disgrace is unnatural.</q> The reply +is that Wolsey is a mixed character, and none the worse +dramatically for that; very able, very unscrupulous in his +use of the courtier's tricks, very fond of power; but not +wholly bad. His repentance is true at once to human +nature and to history. +</p> + +<p> +<q>The king is unintelligible.</q> The fact is, it was impossible +to make a hero of Henry VIII; it does not, therefore, +follow that Massinger helped to write the play! +Boyle is correct when he says that it is with Henry as it is +with Wolsey: <q>we receive our impressions of the characters +from the opinions formed of them by others.</q> +In other words, the characterization of the play is faulty. +Some critics have supposed that this fact is due to loss +of mental power by Shakspere; it is simpler to hold the +collaboration with Fletcher as responsible for the jolts +and jars which the play gives the reader. If anyone still +holds that Shakspere wrote the whole play, he might +plausibly take the line that Shakspere was experimenting +in the new style and metre of his popular young rival +Fletcher. If, however, Shakspere in his retreat at Stratford, +in days when posts were infrequent and locomotion +slow, forwarded scenes and suggestions for Fletcher to +work up at his own sweet will, something like what we +have would be the result. Fletcher was evidently on his +mettle on this occasion. I cannot prove that Fletcher +did not invite Massinger to help him in such an enterprise, +and I know how fond Massinger was of studying +Shakspere. The latter argument, however, cuts both +ways. Again, Massinger may have had an earlier Shaksperian +style, very unlike his mature style; but this is +pure hypothesis. The evidence which we have does not +justify us in saying more than this, that he knew the play +of <hi rend='italic'>Henry VIII</hi> well.<note place='foot'>For <q>catalogue lines,</q> <hi rend='italic'>cf.</hi> I., 2, 33; II., 1. 116; II., 3, 29; +III., 2, 342; V., 5, 48. For assonances, <hi rend='italic'>cf.</hi> I., 3, 25, 27, 31, +35, 41; II., 1, 126; II., 2, 28, 48; II., 3, 86; II., 4, 92; +III., 2, 125, 129, 213, 214, 236, 255, 259; V., 2, 32; V., 3, 23, +60, 72, 103; V., 4, 94; V., 5, 30. For repetitions of words, <hi rend='italic'>cf.</hi> +III., 1, 110; III., 2, 29; V., 1, 98, 138. Passages which remind +us of Massinger are I., 4, 101; II., 3, 93; V., 1, 62, 70, and 71; +Epilogue, 5.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='092'/><anchor id='Pg092'/> + +<p> +It would take me too far from my purpose to discuss +the authorship of <hi rend='italic'>The Two Noble Kinsmen</hi> in detail, interesting +as the problem is, but as many critics have +assigned the <q>un-Fletcherian</q> parts of the play to +Massinger, I have, as in duty bound, read the play carefully +several times. There is very little trace of his style, +or method, or metre. The only passage which reads to +me like Massinger is assigned by Boyle to Fletcher.<note place='foot'>V., 1, 1-7.</note> +Mr. Dugdale Sykes, in an acute article,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Modern Language Review</hi>, April, 1916.</note> has produced some +parallels between Massinger and <hi rend='italic'>The Two Noble Kinsmen</hi>; +but though one or two of them are striking, they do not +prove his case when they are looked at in connexion with +the context. +</p> + +<p> +Take, for example: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>3rd Queen.</hi> He that will all the treasure know o' th' earth</l> +<l>Must know the centre too.<note place='foot'>I., 1, 124. My numeration in <hi rend='italic'>The Two Noble Kinsmen</hi> is +Mr. Tucker Brooke's.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +Mr. Sykes compares these lines in <hi rend='italic'>The Parliament of +Love</hi>: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Cleremond.</hi> And I should gild my misery with false comforts,</l> +<l>If I compared it with an Indian slave's,</l> +<l>That with incessant labour to search out</l> +<l>Some unknown mine, dives almost to the centre.<note place='foot'>III., 2, 14.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +On this passage I make two remarks: first, such similarity +of thought as is found here may be due to imitation +or unconscious reminiscence of <hi rend='italic'>The Two Noble Kinsmen</hi>. +A man who constantly repeats himself is surely the sort of +person who would delight to borrow thoughts and phrases +from other writers, and to imitate whole scenes and incidents. +<pb n='093'/><anchor id='Pg093'/> +Are we to suppose that Massinger confined his +studies to Shakspere? +</p> + +<p> +Secondly, let us judge the passage as a whole; it runs +thus: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>He that will all the treasure know o' th' earth</l> +<l>Must know the centre too; he that will fish</l> +<l>For my least minnow, let him lead his line</l> +<l>To catch one at my heart.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +Anything more unlike Massinger than this fishing for +minnows cannot be imagined. +</p> + +<p> +Take again the parallel,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Op. cit.</hi>, p. 143.</note> <q>which alone should be conclusive +of Massinger's authorship</q>: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Pirithous.</hi> Though I know</l> +<l>His ocean needs not my poor drops, yet they</l> +<l>Must yield their tribute there. My precious maid,</l> +<l>Those best affections, that the heavens infuse</l> +<l>In their best temper'd pieces, keep enthroned</l> +<l>In your dear heart.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>The Two Noble Kinsmen</hi>, I., 3, 8.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +In <hi rend='italic'>Believe as You List</hi> we have: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 30'>Though I know</l> +<l>The ocean of your apprehensions needs not</l> +<l>The rivulet of my poor cautions, yet,</l> +<l>Bold from my long experience, I presume, etc.<note place='foot'>V., 1, 161.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +Though the similarity of thought and expression in the +first three lines is manifest, the archaic simplicity of the +first passage differs greatly from the mature flow of the +second. +</p> + +<p> +What is Mr. Sykes' theory? <q>If we admit Massinger's +collaboration in this play, at the very outset of +his literary career, before his style was definitely formed, +and when the influence of the foremost dramatist +of the age was strongest upon him, the apparently +<q>Shaksperian</q> quality of its verse can readily be explained.</q> +On this proposition I make two remarks; +<pb n='094'/><anchor id='Pg094'/> +first, that as we have none of Massinger's early works, +I cannot prove that he never wrote in the style of <hi rend='italic'>The +Two Noble Kinsmen</hi>; I can only assert with absolute +certainty that none of his extant works has the least +resemblance to it. Secondly, as to the supposed <q>Shaksperian</q> +colour of the play, this is a point on which one's +judgment varies each time one reads it. There is a great +deal in the <q>un-Fletcherian</q> parts which reminds one +of Shakspere; some of it is so like his later style that it is +not surprising to find that many great critics have assigned +it to him; many other passages, however, seem just not +to ring true; they are obscure because they have little +meaning. For let not the fact be disguised, in spite of one +great lyric, several splendid scenes, and some fine speeches, +there is much poor stuff in <hi rend='italic'>The Two Noble Kinsmen</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +The simplest explanation of the double ascription in +the quarto of 1634 is to suppose that Shakspere helped +Fletcher in some way. He may even have written the un-Fletcherian +parts,<note place='foot'>II., 1 reads to me like Shakspere.</note> though, personally, I find traces of +Fletcher in them also; he may have left material which +Fletcher worked up; he may have merely suggested the +construction of the plot, a department in which Fletcher +is weak. +</p> + +<p> +If, however, the <q>Shaksperian</q> parts be deemed +unworthy of Shakspere, why assign them to Massinger, +whose work they do not resemble? Could no one else +have imitated Shakspere except Massinger? Why should +not Fletcher himself for once have caught the Shaksperian +manner? Why should he not have confided the +execution of a part to someone else who was soaked in +Shakspere's style? Why should not Beaumont have +helped him here as elsewhere,<note place='foot'>A Danish scholar, Dr. Bierfreund, maintains this thesis +(Tucker Brooke, Introd., p. xlv).</note> or possibly Heywood? +</p> + +<p> +The archaic flavour of the play is to me the outstanding +fact about it; we know that plays on this subject were acted +<pb n='095'/><anchor id='Pg095'/> +in 1566 and 1594. The archaic flavour may be due to the +influence of Chaucer on the writers; it is more likely to be +due to an earlier play having been taken and altered. +It might also be due to the collaboration of someone like +Heywood, who, though late in time, is surprisingly simple +and early in style. The rustic scenes are an instance of +this very early manner.<note place='foot'>II., 3; III., 5.</note> If Shakspere and Fletcher took +an old play, and the former contributed a few turns to +the revised edition, then everything would be accounted +for.<note place='foot'>This is perhaps what Mr. Bullen believes about the play.</note> It will be said that there are scenes which remind us +of Lady Macbeth and Ophelia; why should not an already +existing play have suggested to Shakspere something +which he worked up in those two characters into a far +finer result? We know for a fact that much of his best +work is based on older plays. This random hypothesis +is quite as probable as the supposition that Massinger +had anything to do with <hi rend='italic'>The Two Noble Kinsmen</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +Let us next consider Mr. Tucker Brooke's position.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>The Shakespeare Apocrypha.</hi></note> +After a searching and masterly analysis of the merits +and defects of the play, he ends with a guarded tendency +towards assigning the <q>un-Fletcherian</q> parts to Massinger +on the following grounds: <q>The metrical tests +give him an even better title than his master [<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, Shakspere] +to the doubtful parts of our play.</q> To this I reply +that style is a more important test than metre. There are, +secondly, <q>the structural and psychological imperfections +of the work</q>; thirdly, <q>the tendency to unnecessary +coarseness of language</q>; fourthly, <q>the feeble imitation +of Shakspere</q>; fifthly, <q>the frequent similarity to Massinger's +acknowledged writings.</q> The only serious argument +against the assumption is that there is nothing in +Massinger to compare with <q>the magnificent poetry of +the un-Fletcherian part.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Let us briefly look at these arguments. The work +<pb n='096'/><anchor id='Pg096'/> +is <q>structurally and psychologically imperfect.</q> True, +and this point might be quoted to support the theory that +the play is based on an old and immature tragedy. As far +as concerns structure, Massinger's plays are always strong; +so that part of the argument falls to the ground. No doubt +his psychology is his weak point, but its weakness is of a +different kind from that which we find in <hi rend='italic'>The Two Noble +Kinsmen</hi>. There are no violent emotions of the sort in +which he rejoices in it. There are no characters in Massinger +resembling Palamon and Arcite. Mr. Brooke refers +to their <q>spinelessness,</q> and it is true that they are not +much differentiated. I suppose, however, that he would +allow that they start by being a romantic pair of friends, +that their quarrel when they first see Emilia is lifelike, +and that their subsequent behaviour is chivalrous. When +he refers to <q>the really revolting wishy-washiness and +ingrained sensuality of Emilia</q> he uses exaggerated +language. The fact is, that Emilia is in a very difficult +position, and if her character is ambiguous it is the fault +of the story rather than of the author. +</p> + +<p> +<q>The tendency to unnecessary coarseness of language.</q> +This is based in the main on Hippolyta's language,<note place='foot'>I., 1, 209.</note> +with which Mr. Sykes compares a passage in <hi rend='italic'>The +Unnatural Combat</hi>.<note place='foot'>III., 1, 74.</note> I have discussed the supposed coarseness +of Massinger's heroines elsewhere. In spite of everything +that Boyle can say, with his catalogue of twenty-two +passages, I wonder who is right about Massinger's +women, Boyle or Courthope, who says that <q>his portraits +of women show more delicacy of feeling and imagination +than those of any English dramatist with the exception +of Shakspere.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>H. E. L.</hi>, iv., p. 361.</note> I, at any rate, feel that Courthope +is nearer the truth than Boyle and his followers. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Feeble imitation of Shakspere.</q> That there is imitation +of Shakspere in Massinger we all know; but I deny that +it is feeble, and we know that others of the same age, +<pb n='097'/><anchor id='Pg097'/> +like Fletcher, Webster, and Tourneur, have delighted to +imitate him. +</p> + +<p> +<q>The frequent similarity to Massinger's writings.</q> +In the first place, I do not feel that the similarity is frequent; +and secondly, as has already been pointed out, +what similarity there is may be due to imitation of <hi rend='italic'>The +Two Noble Kinsmen</hi> by Massinger. Are we to suppose +that the only author he imitated or borrowed from was +Shakspere? +</p> + +<p> +The final reservation raises mixed feelings. I am tired +of those writers who grudgingly attribute to Massinger +the leavings of other playwrights, making him the whipping +boy of his age, and who proceed to qualify their +theories by doubts as to his ability to attain to the excellences +which they perforce discover in them. I will be +so far generous to Mr. Brooke as to allow that <q>the magnificent +poetry of the un-Fletcherian parts</q> is unlike Massinger, +because there is no reason for supposing that he +wrote any of these parts. Massinger's fame can stand +on its own merits without these churlishly conceded +ascriptions of doubtful work. +</p> + +<p> +And now let us pass to Boyle's notable article on this +subject.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>New Shakspere Society's Transactions</hi>, 1880-5, pt. 2, xviii.</note> Much as I admire his learning and zeal, I am +amazed at the perversity of his judgment and the thinness +of his arguments. Let us take them in order. +<q>There is a want of development in the dramatic character</q><note place='foot'>Page 372.</note> +of <hi rend='italic'>The Two Noble Kinsmen</hi>. This Boyle ascribes +to the fact that, as elsewhere, Massinger's conceptions were +blurred by Fletcher's co-operation in other parts of the +play. As this argument begs the question it has no weight. +<q>Allusions to Shakspere are characteristic both of Massinger +and <hi rend='italic'>The Two Noble Kinsmen</hi>.</q><note place='foot'>Page 373.</note> Are we to suppose +that no one imitated Shakspere except Massinger? +<q>The metrical structure of the play corresponds closely +with Massinger's general style.</q><note place='foot'>Pages 375-6.</note> Here, however, Boyle +<pb n='098'/><anchor id='Pg098'/> +has to allow that the percentages for double endings +are not what you would expect. And I look with suspicion +on a writer who professes to be so certain of these +tests that he can assign I., 1-40, and V., 1-19, to Fletcher. +<q>Massinger is fond of classical allusions, as is the author +of <hi rend='italic'>The Two Noble Kinsmen</hi>.</q><note place='foot'>Page 381.</note> This argument deserves +no consideration when we remember that the fact is true +of other Elizabethan writers. For example, we find <q>the +helmeted Bellona,</q><note place='foot'>I., 1, 76.</note> and Massinger is fond of the sonorous +word.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>E.g.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Roman Actor</hi>, I., 4, 41; <hi rend='italic'>Picture</hi>, II., 2, 112; <hi rend='italic'>Bondman</hi>, +I., 1, 13. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>Tamburlaine</hi>, pt. II., III., 2; <hi rend='italic'>Orlando Furioso</hi>, +V., 2.</note> Yes, but Bellona is not unknown in Shakspere. +M. Arnold has pointed out that she occurs in a weak passage +of Macbeth.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Macbeth</hi>, I., 1, 54.</note> <q>Medical and surgical similes occur +in both.</q><note place='foot'>Page 387.</note> When we come to investigate these we find +that the remarks in question are of a commonplace kind. +<q>The characters of <hi rend='italic'>The Two Noble Kinsmen</hi> resemble +those of Massinger.</q><note place='foot'>Page 393.</note> Theseus, for example, resembles +Lorenzo in <hi rend='italic'>The Bashful Lover</hi>. I see no resemblance. +<q>Palamon and Arcite may be met with in many of Massinger's +plays.</q><note place='foot'>Page 393.</note> I fail to find them anywhere. <q>The +three ladies are grossly sensual in their remarks.</q><note place='foot'>Page 394.</note> +I have dealt with this point before, and it really amounts +to a mischievous obsession in Boyle's mind. Let us take +the passages seriatim; Emilia is talking privately to Hippolyta<note place='foot'>I., 3, 76.</note> +about a dead girl friend to whom she was devoted +when young. In the course of this beautiful passage she +says: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 16'>The flower that I would pluck</l> +<l>And put between my breasts, then but beginning</l> +<l>To swell about the blossom, oh! she would long</l> +<l>Till she had such another, and commit it</l> +<l>To the like innocent cradle, where phœnix-like</l> +<l>They died in perfume.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<pb n='099'/><anchor id='Pg099'/> + +<p> +I am ashamed to waste words in vindicating this passage, +which Boyle sets by the language of Iachimo in +Cymbeline in describing the mole on Imogen's breast<note place='foot'>II., 4, 134.</note> to +a company of gentlemen. +</p> + +<p> +The next one is <q>decisive of the question of the authorship +of our play.</q> +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>1st Queen.</hi> When her arms,</l> +<l>Able to lock Jove from a synod, shall</l> +<l>By warranting moonlight corslet thee, O when</l> +<l>Her twinning cherries shall their sweetness fall<note place='foot'>Notice in passing that Beaumont is fond of using intransitive +verbs transitively. He also has the phrase <q>twinning +cherries.</q></note></l> +<l>Upon thy tasteful lips, what wilt thou think</l> +<l>Of rotten kings and blubbered queens? What care</l> +<l>For what thou feel'st not, what thou feel'st being able</l> +<l>To make Mars spurn his drum? O, if thou covet</l> +<l>But one night with her, every hour in't will</l> +<l>Take hostage of thee for a hundred, and</l> +<l>Thou shalt remember nothing more than what</l> +<l>That banquet bids thee to.<note place='foot'>I., 1, 195-206.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +Though there are passages in Massinger of which the +thought is similar to that presented here, I do not judge +it or them as severely as Boyle. The point, however, +which I wish to make is this: these lines are typical of what +I have called the archaic flavour of the play. Where in +Massinger's works will you find <q>warranting moonlight,</q> +<q>tasteful lips,</q> <q>twinning cherries,</q> <q>rotten kings and +blubbered queens,</q> or <q>Mars' drum</q>? The idea that +Massinger wrote this passage is quite preposterous; the +only thing in it which reminds one of him is the <q>and</q> +at the end of line 204. +</p> + +<p> +Lastly, we have Hippolyta's words in the same scene: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 34'>Yet I think</l> +<l>Did I not by the abstaining of my joy,</l> +<l>Which breeds a deeper longing, cure their surfeit</l> +<pb n='100'/><anchor id='Pg100'/> +<l>That craves a present medicine, I should pluck</l> +<l>All ladies' scandal on me.<note place='foot'>I., 1, 209-213.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +Hippolyta agrees in these lines to postpone her wedding +in order that the Queens should be avenged on Creon. +No doubt the lines are crude, but Boyle goes too far with +his <q>cloven hoof,</q> his <q>effluvia of social corruption,</q> his +<q>thick miasma.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>There is a close parallel between <hi rend='italic'>The Two Noble +Kinsmen</hi> and <hi rend='italic'>A Very Woman</hi> in the treatment of madness.</q><note place='foot'>Page 395.</note> +I do not see much similarity between the prose +of the one play and the poetry of the other, but so far +as any exists it is due to the common ideas of the age +as to the way in which to treat the mad. <q>The reflections +in the dialogue of Palamon and Arcite,<note place='foot'>I., 2.</note> on the +corruptions of Thebes, the neglect of soldiers, the extravagance +of fashion, are allusions such as Massinger +makes to contemporary English life.</q><note place='foot'>Page 397.</note> The allusions +are such as any moralist might make, and if the rough +and immature style in which they are expressed is not +like Massinger's the argument falls to the ground. +</p> + +<p> +<q>There are a good many expressions in common between +<hi rend='italic'>The Two Noble Kinsmen</hi> and Massinger.</q><note place='foot'>Pages 380-391.</note> This is +the really serious argument; but let me repeat that similarity +of thought and expression in isolated phrases does +not prove unity of authorship. Let us, however, look at +some of these parallels. +</p> + +<p> +Reference is twice made in <hi rend='italic'>The Two Noble Kinsmen</hi> to +<q>the wheaten garland</q> of brides.<note place='foot'>I., 1, 165; V., 1, 160. Shakspere has <q>the wheaten +garland</q> of peace in <hi rend='italic'>Hamlet</hi>, V., 2, 41.</note> Massinger refers to +<q>the garland</q> of a bridegroom in three passages.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Bashful Lover</hi>, I., 1, 279; IV., 3, 164; <hi rend='italic'>Maid of Honour</hi>, I., +2, 116.</note> I +fail to see the connexion. Notice also that Massinger +does not use the epithet <q>wheaten</q> in these passages. +</p> + +<pb n='101'/><anchor id='Pg101'/> + +<p> +Theseus says, <q>Troubled I am,</q> and turns away.<note place='foot'>I., 1, 82.</note> It +was quite natural that he should think twice before postponing +his wedding. Boyle compares a passage where +Ladislas is in uncertainty<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Picture</hi>, III., 4, 61.</note>: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>I am much troubled,</l> +<l>And do begin to stagger.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +People in Massinger's plays are often perplexed, and +so they are in real life. Note that Theseus ends his remark +with these words at the beginning of a line. When +Massinger's characters are in perplexity their way of expressing +themselves is quite different; it is more full and +rounded off. +</p> + +<p> +Theseus says: <q>Forward to the temple,</q><note place='foot'>I., 1, 141. The exact phrase occurs in <hi rend='italic'>Merchant of Venice</hi>, +II., 1, 44. <q>The temple</q> is part of Fletcher's stock-in-trade.</note> being anxious +to be married. <q>Similar words in similar situations +occur in Massinger.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Maid of Honour</hi>, V., 2, 45; <hi rend='italic'>Picture</hi>, I., 2, 306.</note> In neither case, however, is it a +bridegroom who speaks. +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>The Two Noble Kinsmen</hi>, I., 165, 166: +</p> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>1st Queen.</hi> And that work presents itself to th' doing;</l> +<l>Now 'twill take form, the heats are gone to-morrow.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +Boyle says this is obscure, but can be explained by +<hi rend='italic'>Empress of the East</hi>: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>That resolution which grows cold to-day</l> +<l>Will freeze to-morrow.<note place='foot'>II., 1, 13.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +The thought is a familiar one; and can anyone suppose +that Massinger wrote line 165? +</p> + +<p> +The expression <q>our undertaker</q><note place='foot'>I., 1, 77.</note> recalls a word used +by Shakspere.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Twelfth Night</hi>, III., 4, 349.</note> Massinger also has it twice;<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Renegado</hi>, III., 3, 78; <hi rend='italic'>New Way</hi>, V., 1, 27.</note> the parallel +is interesting, but the word was a cant political term of +Jacobean times. +</p> + +<pb n='102'/><anchor id='Pg102'/> + +<p> +The fact that apes imitate is referred to in these lines:<note place='foot'>1., 2, 47, 48.</note> +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 16'>'Tis in our own power—</l> +<l>Unless we fear that apes can tutor's—to</l> +<l>Be masters of our manners.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +In <hi rend='italic'>The Emperor of the East</hi> we find: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>You are master of the manners and the habit,</l> +<l>Rather the scorn of such as would live men,</l> +<l>And not, like apes, with servile imitation</l> +<l>Study prodigious fashions.<note place='foot'>I., 2, 275-278.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +Surely there is no need to assume common authorship +here. The imitative ape has been common property +for a long time. +</p> + +<p> +A peculiarity of a sick man is referred to, thus: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>I must no more believe thee in this point</l> +<l>Than I will trust a sickly appetite,</l> +<l>That loathes even as it longs.<note place='foot'>I., 3, 91.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +Massinger in <hi rend='italic'>A Very Woman</hi> has: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>No more of Love, good father,</l> +<l>It was my surfeit, and I loathe it now,</l> +<l>As men in fevers meat they fall sick on.<note place='foot'>IV., 2, 50.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +The simile is a part of ordinary experience and literary +convention. You might as well argue that Massinger +wrote <hi rend='italic'>Euphues</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +The jailer's daughter leaves the scene with this remark: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>It is a holiday to look on them; Lord, the difference of men.<note place='foot'>II., 1,66. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> Margaret in <hi rend='italic'>Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay</hi>, +I., 3, <hi rend='italic'>ad finem</hi>.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +Lidia, in <hi rend='italic'>The Great Duke of Florence</hi>, when Sanazarro +seems to be treating her rudely, exclaims: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Oh, the difference of natures!<note place='foot'>II., 3, 151.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +But she does not leave the stage. +</p> + +<pb n='103'/><anchor id='Pg103'/> + +<p> +We might say: Oh, the difference of styles! In the one +case we have a rustic maiden of low birth; in the other, +a lady justly offended. +</p> + +<p> +I do not deny that some of the parallels are remarkable, +but they may be due to imitation or reminiscence. Take +the words: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 34'>Thou, O jewel,</l> +<l>O' th' wood, o' th' world, hast likewise blest a place</l> +<l>With thy sole presence.<note place='foot'>III., 1, 10.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +In <hi rend='italic'>The Great Duke of Florence</hi> we find: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 24'>And what place</l> +<l>Does he now bless with his presence?<note place='foot'>I., 1, 49. <hi rend='italic'>Cf. Bashful Lover</hi>, I., 1, 54; III., 3, 132.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +The phrase is one which Massinger's courtly mind would +treasure and delight to use. +</p> + +<p> +Theseus, addressing Artesius, says: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 30'>Forth and levy</l> +<l>Our worthiest instruments, whilst we despatch</l> +<l>This grand act of our life, this daring deed</l> +<l>Of fate in wedlock.<note place='foot'>I., 1, 178-181.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +Phrases like this are found in Massinger; thus in <hi rend='italic'>The +Maid of Honour</hi>, Roberto says of the wedding of Bertoldo +and Aurelia: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>And rest assur'd that, this great work despatch'd,</l> +<l>You shall have audience.<note place='foot'>V., 2, 51. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also <hi rend='italic'>Unnatural Combat</hi>, III., 2, 157; <hi rend='italic'>Duke +of Milan</hi>, V., 2, 82; <hi rend='italic'>Bondman</hi>, IV., 2, 75; <hi rend='italic'>City Madam</hi>, V., 3, +108; <hi rend='italic'>Guardian</hi>, I., 1, 191. In these last instances marriage is +not referred to, nor is the word <q>despatched</q> used.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +They may be due to reminiscence, though it is simpler to +regard them as the current English of the day. +</p> + +<p> +The strongest evidence for Boyle's theory is contained +in Palamon's invocation to Venus:<note place='foot'>V., 1, 106.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='104'/><anchor id='Pg104'/> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 26'>I never practised</l> +<l>Upon man's wife, nor would the libels read</l> +<l>Of liberal wits; I never at great feasts</l> +<l>Sought to betray a beauty.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +These words certainly remind us of Leosthenes in <hi rend='italic'>The +Bondman</hi>, both in thought and style: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 26'>Nor endeavour'd</l> +<l>To make your blood run high at solemn feasts,</l> +<l>With viands that provoke; the speeding philtres;</l> +<l>I worked no bawds to tempt you; never practised</l> +<l>The cunning and corrupting arts they study</l> +<l>That wander in the wild maze of desire.<note place='foot'>II., 1, 128.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +I think, however, that reminiscence will suffice to +account for the parallel. The man who could write the +last line of this passage has no need to buttress up his +fame with <hi rend='italic'>The Two Noble Kinsmen</hi>, though it is of course +conceivable that he edited it for publication in 1634. +</p> + +<p> +Lastly, the method of Massinger calls for a few words. +It has been noticed by all the critics that he often repeats +himself. As is the case with Plautus the same metaphors, +thoughts, and words recur from time to time in similar +situations. It is clear that this characteristic might +help us to trace those parts of Fletcher's plays in which +Massinger collaborated. +</p> + +<p> +One or two simple instances of this fact may be quoted: +the characters in Massinger are very fond of blushing;<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Picture</hi>, II., 2, 159, 163; <hi rend='italic'>Unnatural Combat</hi>, I., 1, 4; III., +2, 70; IV., 1, 103; <hi rend='italic'>Great Duke of Florence</hi>, I., 2, 75 and 155; +II., 1, 186; IV., 2, 88; V., 3, 40; <hi rend='italic'>Guardian</hi>, I., 2, 142; II., 3, +47; III., 5, 34: IV., 1, 86; <hi rend='italic'>Maid of Honour</hi>, I., 1, 175; III., 3, +214, 221 and 234; <hi rend='italic'>Duke of Milan</hi>, I., 3, 30; <hi rend='italic'>Parliament of +Love</hi>, II., 2, 23; III., 3, 150; <hi rend='italic'>A Very Woman</hi>, II., 2, 28; IV., +3, 99; <hi rend='italic'>Bashful Lover</hi>, III., 3, 68; <hi rend='italic'>New Way</hi>, I., 1, 31; III., 1, +17; III., 2, 49; <hi rend='italic'>Virgin Martyr</hi>, I., 1, 321; <hi rend='italic'>Fatal Dowry</hi>, I., 1, +85; II., 2, 107 and 313; <hi rend='italic'>Emperor of the East</hi>, Prol., 2, 14; +II., 1, 324; <hi rend='italic'>Bondman</hi>, I., 3, 290; <hi rend='italic'>Renegado</hi>, II., 1, 66. It is +true that blushing plays a great part in all our old dramatists. +Compare in Fletcher, <hi rend='italic'>False One</hi>, II., 3, <hi rend='italic'>ad finem</hi>; II., 6, +22; Leandro, in <hi rend='italic'>The Spanish Curate</hi>, I., 1; and in Shakspere, +<hi rend='italic'>Henry V</hi>, V., 2, 253; <hi rend='italic'>Much Ado</hi>, IV., 1, 35, 160-163; <hi rend='italic'>Antony +and Cleopatra</hi>, I., 1, 29; V., 2,149. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also <hi rend='italic'>Eastward Ho</hi>, I., 1. +<q>Give me a little box on the ear, that I may seem to blush</q>; +II., 1. <q>As I am a lady, if he did not make me blush so that +mine eyes stood awater.</q> <hi rend='italic'>Every Man in his Humour</hi>, V., 1. +<q>Nay, Mistress Bridget, blush not.</q> <hi rend='italic'>The Devil is an Ass</hi>, I., 3; +<hi rend='italic'>Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay</hi>, I., 2; <hi rend='italic'>James IV.</hi>, III., 3.</note> +<pb n='105'/><anchor id='Pg105'/> +references to the talkativeness of women are frequent;<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Guardian</hi>, III., 6, 55; IV., 2, 52; <hi rend='italic'>Old Law</hi>, III., 1, 272; +<hi rend='italic'>Emperor of the East</hi>, IV., 5, 202.</note> +metaphors from the sea and sailing are very common;<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Picture</hi>, I., 1, 43; II., 1, 71-75; <hi rend='italic'>Maid of Honour</hi>, I., 1, +157; II., 2, 119; V., 2, 267-270: <hi rend='italic'>Unnatural Combat</hi>, II., 1, 135 +and 220: II., 3. 29; <hi rend='italic'>Bondman</hi>, III., 3, 98-102; III., 4, 65; <hi rend='italic'>Renegado</hi>, +II., 1, 31-34; IV., 1, 147; V., 3, 76-81; <hi rend='italic'>Guardian</hi>, III., 1, +8-10 and 42: III., 6, 6; IV., 1, 13 and 21; <hi rend='italic'>Emperor of the East</hi>, +IV., 1, 59; IV., 3, 22; V., 3, 137; <hi rend='italic'>New Way</hi>, III., 2, 220; IV., +3, 4; <hi rend='italic'>A Very Woman</hi>, V., 3, 21; <hi rend='italic'>Bashful Lover</hi>, V., 2, 12; V., 3, +146; <hi rend='italic'>Duke of Milan</hi>, II., 1, 420: <hi rend='italic'>Believe as You List</hi>, I., 1, 117; +IV., 3, 27.</note> +people are fond of saying that they mean to do something +but they do not know what;<note place='foot'><p><hi rend='italic'>Picture</hi>, II., 2, 336: +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Honoria.</hi> I am full of thoughts,<lb/> +And something there is here I must give form to,<lb/> +Though yet an embryon. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Bondman</hi>, I., 3, 315; II., 1, 74-77; V., 2, 103; <hi rend='italic'>Renegado</hi>, III., +3, 97; <hi rend='italic'>The Virgin Martyr</hi>, III., 2, 98; <hi rend='italic'>Guardian</hi>, II., 3, 140; +<hi rend='italic'>Emperor of the East</hi>, V., 1, 129; <hi rend='italic'>Bashful Lover</hi>, IV., 1, 200; +<hi rend='italic'>Roman Actor</hi>, IV., 2, 105. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also <hi rend='italic'>Emperor of the East</hi>, III., +3, 13; <hi rend='italic'>Thierry and Theodoret</hi>, I., 2. +</p> +<p> +It is a touch which goes back to Ovid's <hi rend='italic'>Metamorphoses</hi>, vi. +619: <q>Magnum quodcumque paravi: quid sit, adhuc dubito.</q></p></note> the exact courtier kneels +and kisses the robe of a lady or her foot, and is sometimes +rebuked for doing so.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Believe as You List</hi>, V., 1, 129; V., 2, 143; <hi rend='italic'>Picture</hi>, I., 2, +127-129 and 152-153; III., 6, 34; IV., 1, 104; IV., 4, 16; V., +3, 48; <hi rend='italic'>Maid of Honour</hi>, V., 1, 20; <hi rend='italic'>Roman Actor</hi>, I., 2, 14; +<hi rend='italic'>Great Duke of Florence</hi>, II., 1, 44; IV., 1, 38; <hi rend='italic'>Bondman</hi>, III., +2, 59; III., 3, 26; <hi rend='italic'>Parliament of Love</hi>, II., 3, 82; <hi rend='italic'>Emperor of the +East</hi>, I., 1, 95; I., 2, 148; II., 1, 158 and 334; <hi rend='italic'>New Way</hi>, II., +2, 84; <hi rend='italic'>Bashful Lover</hi>, V., 1, 39; <hi rend='italic'>City Madam</hi>, III., 1, 67. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> +also <hi rend='italic'>Duke of Milan</hi>, IV., 1, 46; <hi rend='italic'>Renegado</hi>, III., 3, 79; IV., 2, +104. Hortensio <q>kisses the ground</q> in <hi rend='italic'>Bashful Lover</hi>, III., +3, 124. This may merely mean to kneel (<hi rend='italic'>cf. ibid.</hi>, IV., 1, 168, +and <hi rend='italic'>Thierry and Theodoret</hi>, II., 3); but <hi rend='italic'>cf. Roman Actor</hi>, III., +2, 193.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='106'/><anchor id='Pg106'/> + +<p> +As a good moralist, Massinger dislikes suicide<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Old Law</hi>, I., 1, 565;<hi rend='italic'> Believe as You List</hi>, IV., 2, 58-60, +90-92; <hi rend='italic'>Guardian</hi>, II., 4, 11-13; <hi rend='italic'>Bashful Lover</hi>, II., 6, 13; +<hi rend='italic'>Maid of Honour</hi>, II., 4, 18; IV., 3, 127; <hi rend='italic'>A Very Woman</hi>, II., +1, 71; IV., 2, 151. Donusa, the Turkish princess, recommends +it in <hi rend='italic'>The Renegado</hi>, III., 2, 83. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also <hi rend='italic'>Duke of Milan</hi>, I., 3, +210-212.</note> and +duelling.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Guardian</hi>, II., 1, 79-85; <hi rend='italic'>A Very Woman</hi>, V., 6, 40-54. +Fletcher is full of duels; thus the plot of <hi rend='italic'>The Little French +Lawyer</hi> in largely concerned with a duel. In <hi rend='italic'>Love's Progress</hi> +we have a duel in which the seconds fight; they want to do so +in <hi rend='italic'>The Honest Man's Fortune</hi>. In <hi rend='italic'>Love's Cure</hi>, V., 3, a duel +with seconds is commanded by the State. The illegality of +duels is referred to in <hi rend='italic'>The Maid's Tragedy</hi>, V., 4.</note> The latter practice is referred to in his plays +as a new-fangled importation from abroad. +</p> + +<p> +Let us now quote some of his favourite words: references +need not be given for <q>honour</q>; wherever we find +<q>atheist</q> for a bad man,<note place='foot'>It is true that this use is not confined to Massinger, being +a common idiom of the day. I quote the passages where the +word is not used in a religious sense: <hi rend='italic'>Maid of Honour</hi>, IV., +3, 81; <hi rend='italic'>Unnatural Combat</hi>, I., 1, 356; <hi rend='italic'>City Madam</hi>, I., 3, 126; +V., 3, 135; <hi rend='italic'>Guardian</hi>, I., 1, 176; <hi rend='italic'>New Way</hi>, IV., 1, 154. For +Webster's similar use of the word <hi rend='italic'>cf. The Duchess of Malfi</hi>, p. +61<hi rend='italic'>a</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>The White Devil</hi>, pp. 29<hi rend='italic'>b</hi> and 47<hi rend='italic'>a</hi>.</note> or <q>magnificent</q> for munificent,<note place='foot'><p><hi rend='italic'>Maid of Honour</hi>, III., 3, 142; <hi rend='italic'>Roman Actor</hi>, I., 1. 87; +II., 1, 186; IV., 2, 85; <hi rend='italic'>Great Duke of Florence</hi>, I., 1, 135; +III., 1, 14; V., 3, 10; <hi rend='italic'>Fatal Dowry</hi>, V., 2, 187; <hi rend='italic'>Parliament of +Love</hi>, IV., 1, 8; IV., 4, 18; <hi rend='italic'>Guardian</hi>, II., 1, 53; III., 4, 6; +<hi rend='italic'>A Very Woman</hi>, II., 2, 60; <hi rend='italic'>Picture</hi>, I., 3, 176; II., 2, 158, 307; +V., 3, 47; <hi rend='italic'>Duke of Milan</hi>, I., 1, 74; III., 1, 221; V., 4, 18; +<hi rend='italic'>Emperor of the East</hi>, II., 1, 73, 147; III., 1, 28; III., 2, 82; +V., 3, 189; <hi rend='italic'>Renegado</hi>, I., 2, 78; II., 4, 95. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also <hi rend='italic'>Beggar's +Bush</hi>, V., 2. Ford uses <q>royal magnificence</q> in the same +way in <hi rend='italic'>Perkin Warbeck</hi> (II., 1). In Ben Jonson's <hi rend='italic'>Staple of +News</hi> (IV., 1) we find <q>very communicative and liberal, and +began to be magnificent.</q> In Greene's <hi rend='italic'>James IV</hi>, I., 1: +</p> +<p> +Your mightiness is so magnificent,<lb/> +You cannot choose but cast some gift apart. +</p> +<p> +The word <q>munificent</q> occurs in <hi rend='italic'>New Way</hi>, IV., 2, 109.</p></note> +<pb n='107'/><anchor id='Pg107'/> +or the Latin phrase <q>nil ultra,</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Maid of Honour</hi>, IV., 3, 100; <hi rend='italic'>Unnatural Combat</hi>, II., 3, +49; <hi rend='italic'>Renegado</hi>, IV., 3, 42; <hi rend='italic'>Parliament of Love</hi>, II., 3, 70; +<hi rend='italic'>Guardian</hi>, V., 4, 231; <hi rend='italic'>New Way</hi>, IV., 1, 103; <hi rend='italic'>Bashful Lover</hi>, I., +1, 217; <hi rend='italic'>cf. Prophetess</hi>, IV., 6, 57.</note> or the Greek words +<q>apostata</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Unnatural Combat</hi>, I., 1, 251, 393; <hi rend='italic'>Virgin Martyr</hi>, III., 1, +28; IV., 3, 62; V., 2, 52; <hi rend='italic'>Renegado</hi>, I., 1, 138; IV., 3, 159; +<hi rend='italic'>Believe as You List</hi>, II., 2, 107 and 325; V., 1, 8.</note> and <q>embryon</q>;<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Great Duke of Florence</hi>, III., 1, 358; <hi rend='italic'>Guardian</hi>, II., 3, 141; +<hi rend='italic'>Bashful Lover</hi>, IV., 1, 200; <hi rend='italic'>Picture</hi>, II., 2, 337; <hi rend='italic'>Believe as You +List</hi>, I., 2, 44. <hi rend='italic'>Cf. Thierry and Theodoret</hi>, II., 3.</note> wherever we find +<q>frontless</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Unnatural Combat</hi>, V., 1, 37; <hi rend='italic'>Parliament of Love</hi>, V., 1, +115; <hi rend='italic'>Guardian</hi>, IV., 1, 77; <hi rend='italic'>Duke of Milan</hi>, II., 1, 138; <hi rend='italic'>Believe +as You List</hi>, IV., 4, 30. <hi rend='italic'>Cf. Cupid's Revenge</hi>, II., 2, <hi rend='italic'>ad finem</hi>.</note> impudence and <q>sail-stretched</q> wings<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Unnatural Combat</hi>, I., 1, 283; <hi rend='italic'>Bondman</hi>, I., 3, 23. <hi rend='italic'>Cf. +Prophetess</hi>, II., 3, 1.</note> and +<q>libidinous</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Unnatural Combat</hi>, V., 2, 234; <hi rend='italic'>Bondman</hi>, III., 2, 17; IV., +3, 34; <hi rend='italic'>Parliament of Love</hi>, V., 1, 221; <hi rend='italic'>Guardian</hi>, I., 1, 192; +III., 6, 17; V., 2, 132; <hi rend='italic'>Bashful Lover</hi>, III., 3, 88; <hi rend='italic'>Picture</hi>, III., +4, 46; <hi rend='italic'>Duke of Milan</hi>, II., 1, 288.</note> Caesars; wherever the moisture of the +lips is compared to nectar,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Maid of Honour</hi>, IV., 4, 93-95; V., 1, 14; <hi rend='italic'>Roman Actor</hi>, +I., 2, 64; II., 1, 198; <hi rend='italic'>Duke of Milan</hi>, I., 3, 206; V., 2, 212; +<hi rend='italic'>Parliament of Love</hi>, II., 3, 94; <hi rend='italic'>Guardian</hi>, II., 5, 59; V., 2, 52; +<hi rend='italic'>Emperor of the East</hi>, II., 1, 355; IV., 5, 106; <hi rend='italic'>New Way</hi>, III., +1, 75; <hi rend='italic'>Bashful Lover</hi>, III., 3, 33; <hi rend='italic'>Picture</hi>, I., 3, 128; III., 5, +71. <hi rend='italic'>Cf. Love's Cure</hi>, I., 3.</note> wherever we read of +<q>the centre</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Maid of Honour</hi>, IV., 4, 107; <hi rend='italic'>Roman Actor</hi>, IV., 1, 121; +<hi rend='italic'>Parliament of Love</hi>, III., 2, 17; <hi rend='italic'>Guardian</hi>, III., 6, 29; <hi rend='italic'>Virgin +Martyr</hi>, V., 2, 238; <hi rend='italic'>Emperor of the East</hi>, V., 3, 109; <hi rend='italic'>Renegado</hi>, +II., 5, 159; <hi rend='italic'>Unnatural Combat</hi>, V., 2, 266. <hi rend='italic'>Cf. Hamlet</hi>, II., 2, +159; <hi rend='italic'>Troilus and Cressida</hi>, I., 3, 85. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also <hi rend='italic'>Prophetess</hi>, II., 1; +V., 2; <hi rend='italic'>Spanish Curate</hi>, I., 2; <hi rend='italic'>Atheist's Tragedy</hi>, IV., 4; <hi rend='italic'>Honest +Whore</hi>, IV., 1; <hi rend='italic'>Parliament of Bees</hi>, char. vii.</note> or of <q>horror,</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>City Madam</hi>, I., 2, 75; <hi rend='italic'>Unnatural Combat</hi>, I., 1, 223; II., +1, 145; V., 2, 293; <hi rend='italic'>Great Duke of Florence</hi>, II., 1, 142; III., 1, +13; V., 3, 113; <hi rend='italic'>Parliament of Love</hi>, V., 1, 102; <hi rend='italic'>Believe as You +List</hi>, I., 1, 73; I., 2, 147; II., 1, 65; III., 3, 143; <hi rend='italic'>Bondman</hi>, +III., 2, 1; III., 3, 162; IV., 3, 6; V., 3, 156; <hi rend='italic'>Renegado</hi>, III., +5, 44; <hi rend='italic'>Picture</hi>, I., 1, 79; II., 2, 130 and 155; IV., 1, 65; <hi rend='italic'>Guardian</hi>, +III., 6, 31; <hi rend='italic'>Emperor of the East</hi>, III., 4, 55; V., 3, 105; <hi rend='italic'>A Very +Woman</hi>, IV., 3, 210; <hi rend='italic'>Bashful Lover</hi>, II., 6, 19, and 50; IV., 2, +58; <hi rend='italic'>Roman Actor</hi>, II., 1, 178; III., 2, 116; V., 2, 67; <hi rend='italic'>Duke of +Milan</hi>, I., 1, 49; I., 3, 374; II., 1, 411; V., 2, 117.</note> or of washing an +<pb n='108'/><anchor id='Pg108'/> +Ethiop,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Roman Actor</hi>, III., 2, 94; <hi rend='italic'>Bondman</hi>, V., 3, 144; <hi rend='italic'>Parliament +of Love</hi>, II., 2, 70. Bunyan has the phrase in <hi rend='italic'>The Pilgrim's +Progress</hi>, pt. ii.: <q>They saw one Fool and one Want-Wit +washing of an Ethiopian with intention to make him white, +but the more they washed him, the blacker he was.</q> Warner, +in his translation of <hi rend='italic'>The Menaechmi</hi> (1595), line 247, has <q>This +is the washing of a Blackamore.</q> The expression goes back +to Lucian <hi rend='italic'>adv. Indoct.</hi>, 28, Αἰθίοπα σμήχειν. It occurs in +<hi rend='italic'>Love's Cure</hi>, II., 2.</note> there we are on familiar ground. Again, it +is a characteristic of Massinger, which offends some +of his readers more than others, that he is always +ready with the obvious remark. Thus, when Marrall, +after a career of tergiversation is finally kicked off the +stage, he says: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 12'>This is the haven</l> +<l>False servants still arrive at.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>New Way</hi>, V., I, 349.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +In <hi rend='italic'>The Emperor of the East</hi>, when the complications about +Paulinus' apple are getting rather serious, the Princess +Flaccilla makes the remark, which is certainly in the mind +of the reader: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>All this pother for an apple!<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Emperor of the East</hi>, IV., 5, 213.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +When Leosthenes allows himself to be intolerably coarse +in his language to Cleora, we read these words: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Cleora.</hi> You are foul-mouth'd.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Archedamus.</hi> Ill-manner'd, too.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Bondman</hi>, V., 3, 95. <hi rend='italic'>Cf. Maid of Honour</hi>, II., 2, 180; +<hi rend='italic'>The Bashful Lover</hi>, IV., 1, 138; V., 1, 56; <hi rend='italic'>A New Way</hi>, I., 1, +52; III., 1, 81; <hi rend='italic'>Emperor of the East</hi>, III., 3, 25.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +When Hilario seeks to amuse his mistress with an absurd +message from the front, and she observes, <q>This is ridiculous,</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>The Picture</hi>, II., 1, 123.</note> +we feel inclined to say, <q>Not only ridiculous, but +not worth writing.</q> When Cardenes, after lying as dead +<pb n='109'/><anchor id='Pg109'/> +for some time, gives signs of life, the Viceroy very justly +observes: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>This care of his recovery, timely practis'd,</l> +<l>Would have expressed more of a father in you,</l> +<l>Than your impetuous clamours for revenge.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>A Very Woman</hi>, I., 1, 404. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also <hi rend='italic'>Parliament of Love</hi>, +V., 1, 149. We cannot but remember poor Valentine's +prolonged but vocal agony in Gounod's opera.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +It will be remembered that Shakspere had used this +device in his day. Compare <hi rend='italic'>Richard II</hi>: <q>Can sick men +play so nicely with their names?</q><note place='foot'>II., 1, 84.</note> <hi rend='italic'>Midsummer-Night's +Dream</hi>: <q>Lord, what fools these mortals be!</q><note place='foot'>III., 2, 115.</note> +<hi rend='italic'>1 Henry VI</hi>: <q>Here is a silly stately style indeed!</q><note place='foot'>IV., 7, 72.</note> +</p> + +<p> +What impression do we get of Massinger from his +writings? He was the intimate friend and associate of +Fletcher; how far was he a man of the same stamp? +Both as a poet and a stylist Fletcher is his superior; he is +more tender and more varied; in isolated scenes he attains +a high degree of pathos. From time to time the bursts +of lovely poetry which illustrate his plays make us bow +the head as though in the presence of an enchanter. The +fifty plays which are currently associated with his name, +with all their faults, are a veritable fairyland. Again, +there is a terse piquancy about him, which expresses itself +in clear-cut, vigorous lines, such as we find rarely in our +poet. And he has a real vein of humour, which makes +one laugh heartily.<note place='foot'>Take as an example the death-bed scene in <hi rend='italic'>The Spanish +Curate</hi>, IV., 5.</note> Nor is his direct and lucid prose +style to be despised. On the other hand, he was not a +great artist; his plots, though usually bustling, are often +improbable; his character-drawing is constantly fickle +and inconsequent. Thus, according to Boyle,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>E. S.</hi>, VIII., 2.</note> in <hi rend='italic'>The +Honest Man's Fortune</hi>, Tourneur and Massinger make +Montague a gentleman; in Act V. Fletcher destroys all +that was good in Massinger, but makes good sport for +<pb n='110'/><anchor id='Pg110'/> +the groundlings. He maintains that the same thing +happens to Buckingham in <hi rend='italic'>Henry VIII</hi> and to Barnavelt. +Though there are many life-like characters in his works, +to whom we feel attracted, such as Leon in <hi rend='italic'>Rule a Wife +and have a Wife</hi> and Valerio in <hi rend='italic'>The Wife for a Month</hi>, they +are too often made to do improbable things. Again, as a +moralist Fletcher falls far behind Massinger. He shows +from time to time a high-flown and tainted sentimentality +which is far removed from real life. Indeed, the bad use +to which he puts his great talent is often enough to make +angels weep. He more than anyone is responsible for the +Puritan reaction; he more than anyone is responsible +for most of what was bad in the Restoration drama, +and he has had his reward. Except by the student, his +work is forgotten. It can hardly be doubted that the +death of Fletcher was a gain to Massinger in emancipating +him from the co-operation of a fascinating but unsafe +guide.<note place='foot'><p>Some idea of the way in which the two poets collaborated +may be obtained from the facts collected in <ref target='Appendix_III'>Appendix III.</ref> +Diderot, in a passage quoted by Twining, in his edition of +Aristotle's <hi rend='italic'>Poetics</hi> (p. 253), recommends collaboration: <q>On +seroit tenté de croire qu'un drame devrait être l'ouvrage de +deux hommes de génie, l'un qui arrangeât, et l'autre qui +fit parler</q> (<hi rend='italic'>De la Poés. Dram.</hi>, p. 288). What Euripides +thought of the arrangement will be seen in The Andromache, +lines 476-77: +</p> +<p> +τόνων θ᾽ ὕμνου συνεργάταιν δυοῖν<lb/> +ἔριν Μοῦσαι φιλοῦσι κραίειν. +</p> +<p> +It is clear that the early death of Beaumont was a disaster +to Fletcher.</p></note> In standing alone he learnt to perfect all that was +best in his own gifts. +</p> + +<p> +It is difficult to form a clear judgment of Beaumont. +The more I read what scholars attribute to him, the more +I feel disposed to agree with Sir A. Ward that Beaumont +and Fletcher were men of the same mind and tastes. +It is plain that the author of <hi rend='italic'>Philaster</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>The Maid's Tragedy</hi>, +and <hi rend='italic'>A King and No King</hi> had a range of passion and pathos +beyond Massinger. <hi rend='italic'>Philaster</hi> is incomparable, and as we +<pb n='111'/><anchor id='Pg111'/> +read the other two plays we hurry on from scene to scene; +when we put the book down we are perturbed. They +have carried us away in spite of their grave faults. The +glorious nonsense of <hi rend='italic'>The Knight of the Burning Pestle</hi> is +equally beyond Massinger. On the other hand, such disagreeable +plays as <hi rend='italic'>The Coxcomb</hi> and <hi rend='italic'>Cupid's Revenge</hi> do +not invite a second perusal. I do not feel that Beaumont +was cleaner in mind than Fletcher, or more balanced in +judgment. When we come to the department of metre +we seem to be on surer ground; the metre of Beaumont +has high qualities, and his decasyllabic verse reminds me +of the cold purity of a waterfall. In style his lines constantly +have a marked simplicity and directness which +anticipate Wordsworth. He can write a line in which +the words run in the order which they would have in +prose, and hence his great strength. On the other hand, +he is often careless about the length of his lines, possibly +from a love of variety. He is fond of rhyme, and introduces +prose freely into his scenes. His models appear to +have been Marlowe for metre and Ben Jonson for treatment. +He has a liking for burlesque, as witness <hi rend='italic'>The +Knight of the Burning Pestle</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>The Woman-Hater</hi>, and +Arbaces in <hi rend='italic'>A King and No King</hi>.<note place='foot'>Massinger's only attempt at burlesque—Hilario in <hi rend='italic'>The +Picture</hi>—though ludicrous, is dramatically impossible.</note> All this is very unlike +Massinger. +</p> + +<p> +It may be asked, how does Massinger compare with +Webster? This question naturally rises in the mind at +a moment when a gifted writer, snatched from us before +his time, has left us an interesting and scholarly study of +Webster. Mr. Rupert Brooke makes no secret of his +contempt for Fletcher, and <q>the second-rate magic</q> +of Massinger; he regards Webster as the last of the strong +school of Elizabethan dramatists. +</p> + +<p> +Are we to compare <hi rend='italic'>Westward Ho!</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Northward Ho!</hi>, +and <hi rend='italic'>The Cure for a Cuckold</hi> with <hi rend='italic'>A New Way to pay Old +Debts</hi> and <hi rend='italic'>The City Madam</hi>? They are less refined, less +<pb n='112'/><anchor id='Pg112'/> +skilfully constructed. The stage is more crowded, and +the characters are worse drawn. The same considerations +apply to the <hi rend='italic'>Malcontent</hi><note place='foot'>It is generally believed now that Marston wrote this +play. He was an author of surprising vigour, and a master +of strong English, but his taste is bad, and all his work lacks +finish.</note> and <hi rend='italic'>The Devil's Law-case</hi>. +Mr. Brooke practically allows that he means by Webster, +<hi rend='italic'>The White Devil</hi> and <hi rend='italic'>The Duchess of Malfi</hi>, and these plays +alone. Let it be said at once that it is an ungrateful +task to magnify one poet at the expense of another. +We allow that in these two plays Webster comes nearer +to Shakspere than any of his compeers. He has a great, +a subtle, a well-stored mind; he produces isolated tragic +effects of the most poignant kind; he is a master of atmosphere; +he plays with the feelings of his auditors; he can +dazzle them by <q>his miraculous touches of poetic beauty.</q> +</p> + +<p> +On the other hand, he is not a clear thinker, nor are +his plays skilfully planned. I should imagine that they +read better than they act. For instance, the scene in +<hi rend='italic'>The Duchess of Malfi</hi>, where Ferdinand gives the heroine +the dead hand, fills us with horror. I doubt if it would +be effective on the stage. Webster's rhymes are poor, +and his prose worse than Massinger's. Sir Sidney Lee<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>D. N. B.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>s.v.</hi></note> +says his blank verse is <q>vigorous and musical</q>; to me +it seems too often ragged and halting. But the chief +objection to Webster is that he lives in <q>a world of repulsive +themes and fantastic crimes.</q> He revels in the +sinister suggestions aroused by skulls, dead hands, ghosts, +echoes, and madmen. His mind was morbid, and his successes +are like lightning flashes of splendid power piercing +a gloomy and sullen background. +</p> + +<p> +The fact that he was not a productive writer may weigh +less with some critics than with others; more important +is it to remember that Massinger's plays held the stage +much longer than Webster's. This fact may fairly be +taken to prove the appeal which the former has successfully +<pb n='113'/><anchor id='Pg113'/> +made to the human heart. Webster, in short, compared +with Shakspere, reminds us somewhat of the contrast +between Mantegna and Raphael. +</p> + +<p> +In one or two respects Webster has affinities with Massinger. +Both frequently imitate Shakspere; and both +repeat themselves continually, though in different ways. +Whereas Massinger used the same vocabulary and terms +of thought again and again, Webster quotes whole sentences +from one of his plays in another, as if he felt, like +some of the Greek writers of antiquity, that when he had +said a thing as it should be said, he had the right to use it +again.<note place='foot'>Dorothea's story of the King of Egypt (<hi rend='italic'>Virgin Martyr</hi>, +III., 1, 163-182) reminds us of an expedient familiar in Webster.</note> +</p> + +<p> +It is difficult to compare Massinger with Ben Jonson: +both wrote Roman plays and domestic comedies; but +Ben Jonson has at once a greater mind and a wider range +of experiment. He was a learned man, a great figure +in society, the dictator of a circle of wits, the centre of +many friendships and enmities. He would probably +regard Massinger as a pale-featured, gentle hack. We +know more about his full-blooded personality than about +any other writer of the period, and while there is much in +him to offend, there is more to inspire our respect. +</p> + +<p> +Our immediate object is to compare the two writers +as dramatists. It is at once clear that they work on different +lines. Massinger is a follower of Shakspere and +Fletcher, though we can trace in some of his tragedies +the influence of Webster and Tourneur. In his comedies, +we see some approximation to Ben Jonson; it is instructive +to compare <hi rend='italic'>Eastward Ho!</hi> with <hi rend='italic'>The City Madam</hi>. A +fundamental difference of method is at once seen; Massinger +deliberately eschews the use of prose. It must at +once be conceded that he has left nothing on so colossal +a scale as <hi rend='italic'>Every Man in his Humour</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Volpone</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Epicoene</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>The Alchemist</hi>, and <hi rend='italic'>Bartholomew Fair</hi>. Here we find +skilful plot, masterly characterization, and ludicrous combinations. +<pb n='114'/><anchor id='Pg114'/> +How heartily we laugh over the Plautine +scene before Cob's house in <hi rend='italic'>Every Man in his Humour</hi>,<note place='foot'>IV., 8.</note> +or at the intrusion of unbidden guests at Morose's wedding, +or at the deception practised on the two knights in +the gallery.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Epicoene</hi>, IV., 2.</note> How dazzled we are with the kaleidoscopic +<q>vapours</q> of the great Fair. On the other hand, in what +Dryden calls the <q>dotages,</q> we find a great falling off. +Ben Jonson can be very dull. Still even in <hi rend='italic'>The Devil is an +Ass</hi> and <hi rend='italic'>The Staple of News</hi> there is a vein of original fancy, +which reminds us that we are dealing with no imitator, +but with an original and poetical mind. Nor must we +forget the splendid series of Masques, into which Ben +Jonson put some of his best work; to this Massinger has +but little to oppose. And then, as we all know, Ben +Jonson bursts out from time to time with a great lyric, +whereas Massinger's songs are commonplace. Lastly, in +<hi rend='italic'>The Case is Altered</hi>, we have a plot in the manner of Fletcher +which is so successful as to make us regret that Jonson +did not try this type of play again. Though it has not +the atmosphere of Massinger, it has something of the +mellow graciousness at which he, like Fletcher, aimed. +</p> + +<p> +It would be silly to deny Jonson's superiority of intellect, +and of attainment when at his best. His faults +are, however, very serious. Though he can draw a man +of good breeding, his women are very ordinary. He is +too fond of incorporating long passages from the classical +authors whom he knew so well; he would have been +more attractive if he had used Aristophanes and Plautus, +Ovid and Libanius, as inspirations rather than as materials. +The notes on Sejanus are a liberal education, but after +all, <q>the play's the thing.</q> The use of <q>humour</q> and +<q>vapours,</q> though at first brilliant and captivating, even +becomes artificial and tedious; no one is the embodiment +of one passion or weakness. Let us be thankful that +human nature is not so simple or consistent, for in that +case it would cease to interest. More serious still, Jonson +<pb n='115'/><anchor id='Pg115'/> +has no sense of proportion; we read Knowell's soliloquy +in <hi rend='italic'>Every Man in his Humour</hi>,<note place='foot'>II., 3.</note> and we say, <q>Fine! but too +long</q>; and we say this again and again as we read his +works. The great length of the fifth act of Sejanus is a +good instance of this fault. Indeed, it is impossible that +the play was acted in the form which we now have—it +would have emptied the house, like Burke's speeches. +When Jonson gets on to some subject of which he knows +the technical terms, such as <q>fucuses</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>The Devil is an Ass</hi>, IV., 1. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> the light touch of Massinger +when dealing with the toilet of a lady in <hi rend='italic'>A Very Woman</hi>, +I., 1, 30-59.</note> or <q>alchemy,</q> +he is almost as tedious as Kipling's Macandrew. His +plots are at times too skilful; thus, even Brainworm in +time gets on our nerves. His coarseness is that of a +common soldier, and his puns are bad. +</p> + +<p> +Are there any points of contact between the two +authors? I do not wish to suggest that Massinger owed +nothing to the older writer, though parallels of diction +may mean little but the simultaneous use of the idioms +of the day. Thus in <hi rend='italic'>The Staple of News</hi> we find, <q>I do +write man,</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Staple of News</hi>, I., 1; III., 1—<hi rend='italic'>Emperor of the East</hi>, I., 1, +118; III., 2, 58.</note> <q>blacks,</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi>, I., 2—<hi rend='italic'>Fatal Dowry</hi>, II., 1, 51.</note> <q>kiss close,</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi>, II., 1—<hi rend='italic'>Roman Actor</hi>, IV., 2, 103. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>The Alchemist</hi>, +IV., 2.</note> <q>nectar,</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi>, IV., 1—<hi rend='italic'>passim</hi> in Massinger.</note> +<q>magnificent</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi>, IV., 1—<hi rend='italic'>passim</hi> in Massinger.</note>; tossing in a blanket is referred to,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi>, IV., 1—<hi rend='italic'>Parliament of Love</hi>, IV., 5, 12.</note> +and the saints<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi>, IV., 1—<hi rend='italic'>Renegado</hi>, I., 1, 31.</note> at Amsterdam, while the cook's fortifications<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi>, IV., 1—<hi rend='italic'>New Way</hi>, I., 2, 25. (<hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also Prologue +to <hi rend='italic'>A Wife for a Month</hi>.)</note> +remind us of a passage in <hi rend='italic'>A New Way to pay Old +Debts</hi>. In Sejanus we find <q>passive fortitude</q> commended.<note place='foot'>IV., 5—<hi rend='italic'>A Very Woman</hi>, IV., 1, 155; <hi rend='italic'>Believe as You List</hi>, +V., 2, 17.</note> +<q>He puts them to their whisper,</q><note place='foot'>III., 2—<hi rend='italic'>Roman Actor</hi>, I., 3, 95.</note> reminds us +<pb n='116'/><anchor id='Pg116'/> +of <hi rend='italic'>The Roman Actor</hi>. Sejanus' change of temper to his +satellites<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Sejanus</hi>, V., 7—<hi rend='italic'>Roman Actor</hi>, V., 2, 61.</note> when he fancies danger is past resembles that +of Domitian in the same play. <hi rend='italic'>The City Madam</hi> has +touches of plot and style which recall Volpone. +</p> + +<p> +There is, however, little contact between Ben Jonson +and Massinger. Their births were separated by only ten +years, but a much longer period than that seems to divide +them. Friend of the great as he was, Ben Jonson was yet +an Aristophanic, nay, a Rabelaisian democrat; Massinger +is a gentleman and a courtier. The one has the vigour +and immaturity of the Elizabethan age, and in him we +feel in contact with the obsolete Mystery and Morality +plays;<note place='foot'>Courthope lays far too much stress on Massinger's imitation +of the Morality (<hi rend='italic'>History of English Poetry</hi>, vol. iv., p. 352). +It only appears in <hi rend='italic'>The Virgin Martyr</hi>.</note> the other has the refinement and romance of the +Caroline era. The one is a powerful satirist and a pugnacious +fighter; the other lives in an ideal world. On the +one side is <foreign rend='italic'>vis consili expers</foreign>; on the other, a more limited +intellect with a surer artistic sense. If I may venture to +say so, they differ from one another as an apple from a +pear. I do not deny that Ben Jonson was the greater +man, but I find him more archaic and more difficult to +read than Massinger. Much of the interest of his plays +is dead for us, his local colour and topical allusions, which +require so many notes, are more tedious; his personal +likes and dislikes, his egotism, his vanity, are wearisome; +and though his blank verse is strong and manly, +it is not so melodious as Massinger's. The older man +stands foursquare and solitary; the younger man reaches +forward to posterity, and we feel him to be linked by his +art and grace to ourselves. Though Dryden never +mentions Massinger, there is a dignified capacity which +is common to the two authors. +</p> + +<p> +Massinger's chief rival in the latter part of his life was +Shirley. Shirley's plays are full of interest; his graceful +<pb n='117'/><anchor id='Pg117'/> +style rises occasionally into poetry, at which the author +himself seems to smile; his plots are full of ingenious +turns; his female characters are more confidently developed +than Massinger's, nor is he unable to draw a +lifelike man, as we see from Lorenzo in <hi rend='italic'>The Traitor</hi> and +Columbo in <hi rend='italic'>The Cardinal</hi>. He excels in the battledore +and shuttlecock of love-making; he tells us far more of +the manner of well-bred contemporary society than Massinger. +Indeed, it is probable that he had a greater success +in his day than his rival, and was more in touch with +Court circles, though even the loyal Shirley discreetly +satirizes from time to time the government of Charles I. +He is not devoid of humour and epigram; his dialogue is +light and sprightly. He reaches back to Fletcher and forward +to Dryden; we seem, as we read his plays, to be a +long way removed from the labour of Jonson, the pomp +of Chapman, the vernal simplicity of Heywood. On the +other hand, we miss in him the breadth and strength, +the dignity, the nobility, and the fire of Massinger. He is +more of a photographer than a painter. Though his style +has eloquence, the thought is often far from clear, and the +long sentences are clumsy. There is something slight +and unsubstantial about the whole thing, while the metre +is continually careless and lame. +</p> + +<p> +In assigning Massinger's place in the drama of his age, +we have to remember that the period falls into two well-defined +parts. He has very little in common with Marlowe, +Greene, and Peele, and still less with the charming +Dresden china of Lyly. Marlowe's generation breathes +the freshness and vehemence of the spring, while Massinger +reflects the silver lights of September. So rapid +was the development of fifty years, that to pass from the +one to the other is like going from the lancet windows of +Salisbury Cathedral to the tracery of William of Wykeham. +While we miss the purity and simplicity of Early English, +it would be foolish to ignore the strength of design and +proportion that maturity and experience brought. The +<pb n='118'/><anchor id='Pg118'/> +towers and battlements, the lierne vaulting, the large +windows, and generous clerestories of Perpendicular do +much to atone for the spiritless detail and mechanical +wall-panelling. A similar consideration applies to the +Jacobean dramatists when compared with their Elizabethan +predecessors. +</p> + +<p> +Shall I be thought presumptuous in setting Massinger +against Shakspere? The attempt may, at any rate, help +to elicit a true estimate; the suggestion has often been +made before. Shakspere seems to have been from his +writings a man of great receptivity, unerring knowledge +of human nature, profound wisdom, and infinite sweetness, +the master of all the arts which we associate with a +good poet. Massinger reminds us of Ben Jonson, though +he is less consciously clever, less cumbered with learning, +less combative.<note place='foot'>There are no signs in Massinger of literary or other private +quarrels. One or two passages seem to be inspired by sarcasm +directed on the gossip of the day—<hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Duke of Milan</hi>, III., 2, +18-55.</note> He is modest,<note place='foot'><p>Stress is laid more than once on Massinger's modesty in +the commendatory verses from his friends. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> Sir Thomas +Jay's verses prefixed to <hi rend='italic'>A New Way</hi>, and Prologue to <hi rend='italic'>A Very +Woman</hi>, lines 5, 6; Prologue to <hi rend='italic'>The Bashful Lover</hi>, line 4. This +feature may account for a lack of worldly wisdom and self-assertion, +which prevented him from reaping the full fruits +of the fame which he deserved as Fletcher's collaborator in so +many plays. Gerard Langbaine, in his <hi rend='italic'>Account of the English +Dramatic Poets</hi> (Oxford, 1691), pp. 353-60, deals thus with +Massinger: <q>He was extremely beloved by the poets of that +age, and there were few but what took it as an honour to club +with him in a play—witness Middleton, Rowley, Field, and +Dekker, all which join'd with him in several labours. Nay +further, to shew his excellency, the ingenious Fletcher took +him in as a partner in several plays. He was a man of much +modesty and extraordinary parts.</q> In <hi rend='italic'>The New Year's Gift</hi> +to his patroness, to be found in MS. in the library of Trinity +College, Dublin, we have an indication that Massinger was +ashamed of the profession of author; we read (lines 19-21): +</p> +<p> +Nor slight it, Madam, since what some in me<lb/> +Esteem a blemish, is a gift as free<lb/> +As their best fortunes. +</p> +<p> +The last lines of the poem (43-46) show the familiar combination +of modesty and independence: +</p> +<p> +What I give I am rich in, and can spare;<lb/> +Nor part for hope with aught deserves my care;<lb/> +He that hath little and gives nought at all<lb/> +To them that have, is truly liberal. +</p></note> manly, lucid, sane, and +<pb n='119'/><anchor id='Pg119'/> +sensible, capable of just indignation, one who respects +himself, a faithful friend,<note place='foot'>There are some fine friendships in Massinger—<hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>, Charalois +and Romont in <hi rend='italic'>The Fatal Dowry</hi>; Farnese and Uberti in +<hi rend='italic'>The Bashful Lover</hi>; Cleremond and Montrose in <hi rend='italic'>The Parliament +of Love</hi>; Antoninus and Macrinus in <hi rend='italic'>The Virgin Martyr</hi>; +Pedro and Antonio in <hi rend='italic'>A Very Woman</hi>.</note> and a wide reader; he knows a +gentleman when he sees him; he can pay compliments +with good breeding; he has had his ups and downs in life;<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> the Prologues to <hi rend='italic'>The Guardian</hi> and <hi rend='italic'>The Emperor of the +East</hi>. He speaks with feeling of the ungratefulness of +courtiers. (<hi rend='italic'>Bashful Lover</hi>, V., 1, 52; <hi rend='italic'>Maid of Honour</hi>, II., 2, +110.)</note> +he is one who understood men better than women, and +who, like Sir Thomas Browne, <q>loved a soldier</q>;<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>Picture</hi>, II., 2, 255; <hi rend='italic'>Bondman</hi>, I., 3, 300; <hi rend='italic'>Unnatural +Combat</hi>, I., 1, 404; <hi rend='italic'>Bashful Lover</hi>, I., 1, 34; <hi rend='italic'>Great Duke of +Florence</hi>, II., 1, 138; <hi rend='italic'>Sir J. V. O. Barnavelt</hi>, I., 1 (p. 215, +Bullen's Old Plays); also the character of the Captain in <hi rend='italic'>A +Very Woman</hi>. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>Knight of Malta</hi>, III., 2.</note> a +vigorous and business-like artist, he is never worsted by +his theme, but makes it lifelike and interesting, with an +unerring instinct for what is effective on the stage, his +very faults being largely due to this useful knowledge. +That there was a strain of noble melancholy in his mind +can hardly be denied.<note place='foot'><p>Very significant are the words of Paulo in <hi rend='italic'>A Very Woman</hi> +(IV., 1, 153): +</p> +<p> +Who fights<lb/> +With passions, and o'ercomes them is endued<lb/> +With the best virtue, passive fortitude. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>Roman Actor</hi>, I., 1, 118; III., 1, 113; <hi rend='italic'>Duke of Milan</hi>, III., +1, 73; and <hi rend='italic'>Renegado</hi>, I., 1, 79: +</p> +<p> +All that I challenge<lb/> +Is manly patience. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>Sejanus</hi>, quoted above, p. 115, n. 11. <hi rend='italic'>Queen of Corinth</hi>, +III, 2: +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Euphanes.</hi> To shew the passive fortitude the best. +</p> +<p> +And <hi rend='italic'>Lover's Progress</hi>, IV., 4: +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>alcidon.</hi> With all care put on<lb/> +The surest armour, anvil'd in the shop<lb/> +Of passive fortitude. +</p> +<p> +This point is emphasized in Swinburne's excellent sonnet on +Massinger.</p></note> The character which seems to me +to embody Massinger himself is Charalois in <hi rend='italic'>The Fatal +<pb n='120'/><anchor id='Pg120'/> +Dowry</hi>. Whether he was musical I should doubt after +the perfunctory reference to the art in <hi rend='italic'>The Fatal Dowry</hi>.<note place='foot'>IV., 2, 17-31, where Charalois declares, <q>I never was an +enemy to 't [<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, music], Beaumont,</q> and ends by saying: +<q>I love it to the worth of 't and no further.</q></note> +We find nothing in his plays like the famous idyllic description +in Ford's <hi rend='italic'>Lover's Melancholy</hi>.<note place='foot'>I., 1.</note> On the other hand, +he knew that vocal and instrumental music were effective +in a play; we need go no farther than the end of Act +IV. in <hi rend='italic'>The Virgin Martyr</hi> for proof of this.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also V., 2, 130-37.</note> And Cario +uses the terms of music with great precision in <hi rend='italic'>The +Guardian</hi>.<note place='foot'>IV., 2, 1-14.</note> On the whole we get the impression that he +was an example of a rare combination, modesty with +independence of mind, a fact which, considering what the +circumstances of the literary life then were, is quite +enough to explain the hard struggle he seems to have +undergone. +</p> + +<p> +It may be said that I am comparing a mighty genius +with a second-rate intellect. Are there any points in +which Massinger can hold his own against Shakspere? +Granted that he falls short in passion, imagination,<note place='foot'><p>Massinger has some notable compound epithets from time +to time; take as examples, <q>pale-cheek'd stars</q> in <hi rend='italic'>Parliament +of Love</hi>, IV., 2, 61; <q>on black-sail'd wings of loose and base +desires,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Parliament of Love</hi>, V., 1, 215; <q>Such is my full-sail'd +confidence in her virtue,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Picture</hi>, II., 2, 318; <q>the +brass-leaved book of fate,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Believe as You List</hi>, I., 2, 136. +</p> +<p> +<q>Your must and will<lb/> +Shall in your full-sailed confidence deceive you,</q> +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>A Very Woman</hi>, II., 2, 21.</p></note> wit, +diction, rhythm, lyric rapture, where does he shine? +</p> + +<pb n='121'/><anchor id='Pg121'/> + +<p> +It may at first hearing sound snobbish to point out that +he was a University man, but a good deal of truth lies +hidden in that simple phrase. Shakspere's plays are +marked by many faults of construction, taste, and detail; +he who never blotted a line should certainly, as Ben +Jonson remarked, have blotted a good many. It always +seems to me that this is a line of thought which is too +much ignored by those who believe that Shakspere wrote +his own plays, and that Bacon had nothing to do with +them. The Baco-Shaksperians point, and very justly, to +the surprising knowledge and culture shown in the plays; +they refuse to believe that all this can have come from +the brain of a Warwickshire rustic, forgetting the faults +which are so glaring, faults which are precisely those which +a learned and accurate scholar like Bacon would have +avoided. +</p> + +<p> +Now Massinger is a correct and artistic writer. The +little tricks of style which were so dear to his mighty +predecessor, the pun, the alliteration,<note place='foot'>We find not a few assonances and alliterations in Massinger, +generally contained in two words: <hi rend='italic'>Emperor of the East</hi>, I., +2, 16, <q>gallows and galleys</q>; (<hi rend='italic'>Cf. Renegado</hi>, V., 2, 162, +<q>the gallies or the gallows,</q> and Webster's <hi rend='italic'>White Devil</hi>, +p. 11a); <hi rend='italic'>Believe as You List</hi>, Prologue 14, <q>toss'd and +turned</q>; <hi rend='italic'>A New Way</hi>, I., 1, 109, <q>sue and send</q>; +<hi rend='italic'>Emperor of the East</hi>, IV., 1, 37, <q>sway and swing</q> (so in +<hi rend='italic'>Great Duke of Florence</hi>, II., 2, 46); <hi rend='italic'>Fatal Dowry</hi>, IV., 1, +193, <q>confessor and confounder</q>; <hi rend='italic'>Old Law</hi>, III., 2, 45, <q>die +and dye</q>; <hi rend='italic'>ibid.</hi>, 157, <q>venues in Venice glasses</q>; IV., 1, 61, +<q>Siren and Hiren</q>; <hi rend='italic'>City Madam</hi>, I., 1, 36, <q>hole and hell</q>; +V., 2, 77, <q>lords or lowns</q>; <hi rend='italic'>Guardian</hi>, I., 1, 60, <q>house and +home</q>; II., 2, 23, <q>board and bed</q>; II., 5, 46, <q>fair and +free</q>; III., 5, 76, <q>page or porter</q>; <hi rend='italic'>Picture</hi>, IV., 1, 65, +<q>horns and horror</q>; <hi rend='italic'>Bondman</hi>, II., 1, 119, <q>hell and horror</q>; +<hi rend='italic'>Roman Actor</hi>, I., 4, 63, <q>graced and greased</q>; II., 1, 376, +<q>carke and caring</q>; <hi rend='italic'>Renegado</hi>, III., 4, 54, <q>toss and touse</q>; +<hi rend='italic'>Parliament of Love</hi>, II., 1, 8, <q>tractable and tactable</q>; +<hi rend='italic'>Duke of Milan</hi>, III., 1, 199, <q>palm or privilege</q>; III., 2, 46, +<q>curvet or caper.</q></note> the conceit, +the verbal quibble,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> Johnson's Preface to Shakspere (p. 19), <q>A quibble +is to Shakspere what luminous vapours are to the traveller; +he follows it at all adventures; it is sure to lead him out of +his way, and sure to engulf him in the mire.</q> The whole +paragraph is worth reading.</note> are far less obtrusive; he is free from +<pb n='122'/><anchor id='Pg122'/> +that affectation and precious obscurity which are so +marked in Shakspere's later style. And one small point +may be noticed in passing here, as an indication of good +breeding: the characters in Massinger very seldom address +one another by name. It is significant that Greedy and +Overreach both offend in this way.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>A New Way</hi>, I., 3, 22; II., 1, 31, etc. The repetition of +Graccho's name in <hi rend='italic'>Duke of Milan</hi>, V., 1, is intentional and effective. +<hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> Kitely's repetition of <q>Thomas</q> in <hi rend='italic'>Every Man in +His Humour</hi>, III., 2; <q>Sir Michael</q> in <hi rend='italic'>1 Henry IV</hi>, IV., 4, +and <q>Sir Thomas</q> in <hi rend='italic'>Henry VIII</hi>, V., 1.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Though it is true that these faults were common to the +age, they are so marked in Shakspere that it is impossible +to ignore them in any estimate of the man. In the +details of style, then, Massinger can claim credit for +being more correct. In a word, what he lacks in genius +and poetry he supplies to a certain extent by good taste +and education. He shares this advantage with his age, +which was learning to correct the errors of the past; the +English language was advancing rapidly to more maturity +and balance than it had in the previous generation. +</p> + +<p> +I have already pointed out the careful study of Shakspere +which we find in Massinger, and the copious use of +his imperial vocabulary. When we take into account +all the elements of the problem, when we make allowance +for quantity of work done, as well as for quality, would it +be too much to say that Massinger is as the pupil to the +master, and that, though separated by <q>a long interval,</q> +he comes second?<note place='foot'>Boyle (<hi rend='italic'>N. S. S.</hi>, 371-372), severe as he is on Massinger's +characters, both male and female, agrees with this verdict. +He traces the unjust depreciation of Massinger in part to +Charles Lamb's <q>unfair judgment.</q> <q>The hard fate that +accompanied the 'stage poet' through life has clung to him up +to the present time, and in spite of warm advocates, like Gifford +and Cunningham, prevented him from occupying his legitimate +position as a dramatist immediately after Shakspere.</q></note> This may seem a hard saying, +<pb n='123'/><anchor id='Pg123'/> +unless it is explained. I allow that Ben Jonson had +a greater intellect; that Beaumont and Fletcher had +more genius, more pathos, more humour; that Marlowe, +Webster, and Ford, each in his own way, were greater +poets. I put Massinger next to Shakspere as a dramatist +pure and simple, because his best work is well-constructed +and interesting, his style and metre entrancing, his atmosphere +charming and easy, yet ideal, his morality mature +and sane. And in praising his morality, I do not lay +stress on the benefits to be derived from the use of his plays +as a school-book, though that consideration is not to be +despised but rather maintain that in avoiding abnormal, +tainted, and morbid themes he is in advance of his age; +consequently he is easier for us to read and understand +than other writers whose gifts were greater than his; +he makes a successful and enduring appeal to the <foreign rend='italic'>communis +sensus</foreign> of mankind. +</p> + +<p> +I now proceed to a short critical estimate of Massinger's +plays. The most famous are <hi rend='italic'>The Virgin Martyr</hi> +in tragedy, and <hi rend='italic'>A New Way to pay Old Debts</hi> in comedy. +Opinions have differed strangely about <hi rend='italic'>The Virgin Martyr</hi>. +It went through four editions in quarto in the seventeenth +century, a fact which testifies to its immediate popularity. +Davies<note place='foot'>Preface, p. lvii. of Monck Mason's edition.</note> considered it far inferior to any of his +other productions, and Mason was equally severe. Even +Hallam confessed that parts of it were far from pleasing. +There can be no doubt that these parts of the play, which +the critics now unanimously ascribe to Dekker, are responsible +for giving Massinger a bad name for coarseness. +It is hard to carry supernatural machinery through, as +Fletcher's <hi rend='italic'>Prophetess</hi> shows, and we have here an Angel, +and a Devil, but they are on the whole managed successfully. +The first act is admirably proportioned; the fourth +and fifth also are masterly. There are a thrill and a +glamour in the style of this play unlike anything else in +Massinger, due perhaps to the religious problem dealt +<pb n='124'/><anchor id='Pg124'/> +with.<note place='foot'>For another explanation, see <ref target='Appendix_X'>Appendix X</ref>.</note> The only fault of Dorothea is that, like other good +people, she is a bad judge of character. It gives us a +shock to find Spungius and Hircius members of her +household, and at least we feel she should not have put +her charities in their hands, but should have attended to +the poor herself.<note place='foot'>Alinda, the heroine of Fletcher's <hi rend='italic'>Pilgrim</hi>, is equally indiscriminate +in her bounty (Act I., 1, 2). We may compare +J. Taylor's <hi rend='italic'>Holy Living</hi>, Sec. VIII., Alms: <q>Trust not your +alms to intermedial uncertain and under-dispensers.</q></note> The Princess Artemia is a type common +in Massinger.<note place='foot'>Where did he get her name from? A lady of the name +is a subordinate character in Hroswitha's <hi rend='italic'>Gallicanus</hi>. The +plays of Hroswitha have obvious affinities with <hi rend='italic'>The Virgin +Martyr</hi>, but I cannot trace any other indications of borrowing.</note> +</p> + +<p> +In <hi rend='italic'>A New Way to pay Old Debts</hi> we have an ingenious +plot which never flags, adequate comedy, and characters +which are appropriately, if not very carefully, drawn. +The style is strong and natural; it is not far from this play +to Goldsmith, and indeed the eighteenth century must +have owed much to it. In its atmosphere of ease and +propriety there are no harsh lights or discordant tints. +</p> + +<p> +The central idea of the plot was probably borrowed +from a play of admirable vivacity and dexterity, Middleton's +<hi rend='italic'>Trick to catch the Old One</hi>, which appeared in 1607. +What has Massinger added to Middleton? He has made +the plot more probable, refining the characters, and +raising the whole thing from prose to poetry. We laugh +less, but we admire more, for we feel that we are seeing +something transacted which might have happened. +</p> + +<p> +Sir Giles Overreach is Massinger's masterpiece, a +superman of colossal wickedness, with no belief in the +honour or virtue of men or women.<note place='foot'>Brander Matthews, as a fellow-countryman of Jay Gould +and Rockefeller, is well qualified to estimate Sir Giles Overreach; +he points out that he is an instance of what the French +call, <q>l'homme fort.</q> The part has been taken by many of our +great actors, notably Garrick, who revived it in 1745. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> +W. Hazlitt's <hi rend='italic'>Dramatic Essays</hi> for the performances of Kean and +Kemble in 1816 (pp. 78-80, 91-92, 97-100). The two great actors +had a different conception of Sir Giles; and Hazlitt is very +severe upon Kemble. Kean was at Drury Lane, Kemble at +Covent Garden.</note> Though fond of +<pb n='125'/><anchor id='Pg125'/> +money, he is not a miser, but loves to lavish his gains; +power is rather his foible; repeated success has made him +reckless; his aim is to increase his estates by bullying +his poorer neighbours, and by employing the sharp practices +of the law. But he has yet one other ambition, to +see his only daughter married to a lord and to hear her +styled <q>Right Honourable.</q> His unscrupulousness is expressed +in often-quoted passages of great power; his frantic +anger in the fifth act is depicted with a skill which leaves +no sympathy in our minds for a father whose only daughter +has treated him badly. Here Massinger is more successful +than his great model in the case of Shylock and Jessica. +I cannot agree that it is inconsistent with the character +of Sir Giles that he should be anxious for his daughter +to marry a lord—there are several passages in the earlier +part of the play which show that he is not only a bully +but a base-born snob.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> II., 1, 81 and 88.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Where so much is admirable it is difficult to make +selection, but we may point out that Wellborn's character +is a fine piece of work; we pity his disgrace, we rejoice +in his success, we believe in his desire to do better +in the future. The grief of Lady Allworth for her husband +and the jealous fears of young Allworth when Lord +Lovell is to meet Margaret are excellently drawn. There +are, moreover, touches of poetry in the play of a high +order, as, for instance: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Allworth.</hi> If ever</l> +<l>The queen of flowers, the glory of the spring,</l> +<l>The sweetest comfort to our smell, the rose,</l> +<l>Sprang from an envious briar, I may infer,</l> +<l>There's such disparity in their conditions,</l> +<l>Between the goodness of my soul, the daughter,</l> +<l>And the base churl, her father.<note place='foot'>I., 1, 146.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<pb n='126'/><anchor id='Pg126'/> + +<p> +Or in Allworth's speech about his love: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Add this too; when you feel her touch, and breath</l> +<l>Like a soft western wind, when it glides o'er</l> +<l>Arabia, creating gums and spices;</l> +<l>And in the van, the nectar of her lips,</l> +<l>Which you must taste, bring the battalia on,</l> +<l>Well-arm'd, and strongly lined with her discourse,</l> +<l>And knowing manners, to give entertainment;</l> +<l>Hippolytus himself would leave Diana,</l> +<l>To follow such a Venus.<note place='foot'>III., 1, 72.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +The play which Massinger himself at one time esteemed +the most highly was <hi rend='italic'>The Roman Actor</hi>,<note place='foot'>See the Dedication: <q>I ever held this the most perfect birth +of my Minerva.</q> It was printed in 1629. It is interesting to +compare it with <hi rend='italic'>The Cardinal</hi>, for which Shirley had a similar +affection.</note> but we have to +remember that much of his best work was done after 1626, +the date of the play. <hi rend='italic'>The Roman Actor</hi>, though most +admirable, is strong and hard rather than inspired. More +than any other of his works it shows us an element of +greatness in the author's mind, which reveals itself in +many ways; in the attractive and noble character of +Paris, in the mastery shown in dealing with a Roman +theme, the local colour of which is put on with a light +and yet sure hand, in the skill with which the story is invested +with the atmosphere of tyranny, in the breathless +interest with which we follow the last moments of Domitian +in Act V., in the dexterity with which three smaller +plays are introduced into the action without in the least +confusing the construction. In making an actor the hero +of the play, and in giving him so many opportunities of +showing his art, Massinger no doubt felt every confidence +in the genius of J. Taylor, but perhaps the chief charm of +the play is due to the reflection which it inspires in the +mind of the reader, that it expresses with fire and conviction +the struggling author's high ideal for the theatre +as a social institution, and his esteem for actors. On the +other hand, there is little comic relief, and little female +<pb n='127'/><anchor id='Pg127'/> +interest beyond the infatuation of the Empress. Indeed, +the women who take part in the play are one and all unattractive, +and though it might be fairly urged that they +are probably adequate portraits of the originals, we cannot +help feeling that the author ought to have seen that +they were timid sketches. In other words, we are face to +face here with an acknowledged limitation of Massinger's +art. Nor should it be forgotten that while the play is +full of noble and even impassioned rhetoric,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> Domitian's speech in II., 1, 160-168; and that of +Rusticus in III., 2, 59-68.</note> there are one +or two prosy passages<note place='foot'>As, for instance, Paris' speech in I., 1, 21-26, and +Stephanos' words in V., 1, 99-101.</note> and several small improbabilities.<note place='foot'>I., 4, where the Imperial princesses push one another about +in seeking for a front place in the street as Domitian passes, +is an example of this fault. We have already referred to the +difficulties which are involved in the infliction of torture on +the stage, as in III., 2. Again, it is improbable that the actors +should have been waiting, as in IV., 1, outside the private +gardens, ready to perform the very play which suited Domitian's +purpose. We are also disconcerted to find the ghosts in Act +V., 1, stealing the bust of Minerva. (<hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi>, however, Virgil +<hi rend='italic'>Æneid</hi>, II., 294.)</note> +In the third of the inserted plays Domitian, taking the +part of an actor, avenges himself on Paris. This device by +which characters in a play avenge themselves by taking +parts in a subordinate play, occurs in the famous <hi rend='italic'>Spanish +Tragedy</hi> of Kyd, and in Middleton's <hi rend='italic'>Women, beware +Women</hi>. Most successful of all is the splendid climax of +Act IV., where we have the clash of interest required by +the highest form of tragedy; we sympathize with Paris, +and yet we feel that the Emperor, who has been wronged, +must avenge himself signally and at once. +</p> + +<p> +It is the tragi-comedies which give me the most pleasure, +the romantic plays with a happy ending, such as +<hi rend='italic'>The Great Duke of Florence</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>The Emperor of the East</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>The +Bashful Lover</hi> (the last of Massinger's plays which we +possess), <hi rend='italic'>A Very Woman</hi>; closely allied with these is <hi rend='italic'>The +Maid of Honour</hi>. <hi rend='italic'>The Great Duke of Florence</hi> is full of +<pb n='128'/><anchor id='Pg128'/> +courtesy and grace; there are some charming passages +of poetry, and the metre is liquid and easy. The whole +play is bathed in the sunshine of youth, and while there +is some good comedy in it, there is little for the expurgator +to do. The characters are all drawn with skill and propriety, +especially the Duke, the Duchess of Urbin, and +Lidia. Petronella in disguise is Massinger's best comic +creation. +</p> + +<p> +In <hi rend='italic'>The Emperor of the East</hi>, with a trivial plot and some +improbability in details, there is much admirable work, +especially at the beginning. The two courtiers get to the +point at once, mentioning Pulcheria in I., 1, 10. It was +a play at which the author worked hard, and of which he +thought highly.<note place='foot'><p>Prologue 2, 7: +</p> +<p> +In each part,<lb/> +With his best of fancy, judgment, language, art,<lb/> +Fashion'd and form'd so, as might well, and may<lb/> +Deserve a welcome, and no vulgar way. +</p></note> The two good women, the sister and the +wife, are well drawn, and we understand how natural it +is that they should be antipathetic; we welcome the allowance +they make for one another,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> IV., 1, 28, and IV., 5, 216.</note> we sympathize with the +humiliation of each in her turn, and we rejoice in their +reconciliation. Especially pleasing are the gentle dignity +of Eudocia in III., 4, and her slowness to take up Chrysapius' +suggestion in IV., 1. The Emperor is not an attractive +character, as he is at once weak and violent; but we +have to remember that he is very young, and also that he +has been kept in leading-strings all the earlier part of his +life. I should like to believe, with many critics, that the +prose scene, in which the Empiric figures, is not due to +Massinger. It is a study in the manner of Ben Jonson. +Another touch of the older master is <q>The Projector,</q><note place='foot'>I., 2.</note> who +is, however, on very much fainter lines than Meercroft in +<hi rend='italic'>The Devil is an Ass</hi>. Imitation of Shakspere is prominent +in <hi rend='italic'>The Emperor of the East</hi>. Scenes I., 1, and III., 1, remind +us of Henry VIII's courtiers. The pictures in Act II. +<pb n='129'/><anchor id='Pg129'/> +seem to be suggested by a similar scene in <hi rend='italic'>The Merchant +of Venice</hi>. Act IV., 5 recalls <hi rend='italic'>Othello</hi>, III., 4; Act V., 2, +105-8 is modelled on <hi rend='italic'>Othello</hi> III., 3, 330-3.<note place='foot'>The way in which the apple circulates reminds us of the +Umbrana in Beaumont's amusing <hi rend='italic'>Woman-Hater</hi>.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>A Very Woman</hi> or <hi rend='italic'>The Prince of Tarent</hi> is based, as +the Prologue tells us, on an old play; the author's modesty +cannot forbear saying that, good as it was before, it is +<q>much better'd now.</q> By this he probably means that +substantial additions have been made, that the plot has +been put into better shape,<note place='foot'>The reference to an architect in IV., 2, 178, suggests +that in the first draft of the play Paulo had appeared in that +character.</note> and that perhaps the comic +element is cut down. Boyle assigns about two-fifths of +the play to Massinger, including the quarrel between +Cardenes and Antonio, and the great love scene between +Antonio and Almira, but excluding the careful treatment +of Cardenes' melancholy by Paulo the doctor.<note place='foot'>IV., 2.</note> I should +myself unhesitatingly assign the latter scene to Massinger. +The only scenes which can be safely attributed to Fletcher +are those of the slave-market,<note place='foot'>III., 1.</note> and that where Leonora +seeks to console Almira.<note place='foot'>III., 4.</note> The sprightly vivacity of +the former and the tenderness of the latter are good +evidence for this assignation. A perusal of this admirable +masterpiece leads us to the conclusion that if Massinger, +instead of collaborating with Fletcher, had rewritten the +plays of the latter, our literature would have been greatly +enriched. +</p> + +<p> +I would not deny that a man may have several styles, +and may write in the manner of another; especially is this +possible when the other has been his bosom friend. Still +there are a grace and delicacy about <hi rend='italic'>A Very Woman</hi> which +seem to suggest the hand of Fletcher. The characters +are drawn with great refinement and vividness. There +is a pair of devoted friends, Antonio and Pedro, and over +against them two charming ladies, Leonora and Almira, +<pb n='130'/><anchor id='Pg130'/> +the former at once sensible and kind, the latter almost +worthy of a place beside Shakspere's heroines. The great +love scene, though suggested by Desdemona and Othello, +is not unworthy of Shakspere himself.<note place='foot'>IV., 3.</note> Cuculo is an +amusing study of the old courtier, such as we get elsewhere +in Massinger. Borachia, the lady who loves wine, is +drawn with a lighter hand than Massinger's; yet I feel +that Fletcher, unassisted or unpruned, would have made +the scenes in which she appears grosser than they are. +Antonio, the Prince of Tarent, reminds us of a clean-limbed, +honest English public-school boy; he is slow to +take offence, but brave when provoked, sorry for the mischance +of which he is the innocent cause, courteous, and +ready on all occasions. +</p> + +<p> +The plot has been shaped with great attention to detail. +Thus, when Antonio, disguised as a slave, first meets his +friend Pedro, his master Cuculo does not allow him to +speak,<note place='foot'>III., 2, 69.</note> so that Pedro has no chance of identifying him +by his voice. Later on, however, Pedro has an intuition +that the slave is other than he seems to be: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'>I do see something in this fellow's face still</q></l> +<l><q rend='post'>That ties my heart fast to him.</q><note place='foot'>IV., 1, 17.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +He treats him as a friend, as though his intuition pierced +through the external disguise,<note place='foot'>IV., 3, 196; V., 3, 53.</note> and when the recognition +takes place he naturally remarks: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'>Have I not just cause,</q></l> +<l>When I consider how I could be so stupid,</l> +<l><q rend='post'>As not to see a friend through all disguises.</q><note place='foot'>V., 5, 42.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +Again, we have an indication at the end of the slave-market +scene that the slave who followed Paulo will be +an important link in the plot: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Paulo.</hi> Follow me, then;</l> +<l>The knave may teach me something.</l> +</lg> + +<pb n='131'/><anchor id='Pg131'/> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Slave.</hi> Something that</l> +<l>You dearly may repent; howe'er you scorn me,</l> +<l>The slave may prove your master.<note place='foot'>III., 1, 162.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +It is this slave who leads the pirates in their attempt to +carry off Leonora and Almira. +</p> + +<p> +When Antonio appears in his former dress<note place='foot'>V., 5.</note> we ask, how +did he get it? The answer is, from the Captain, his fellow-slave, +whose life he had saved in the past by interceding +with the Viceroy.<note place='foot'>II., 1, 35.</note> Lastly, the Duke's reference (V., 2, +130) to the advice which the Viceroy had given him in +II., 2, is one of those careful touches making for unity +of design in which Massinger delights.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>The Virgin Martyr</hi>, I., 1, 405 and V., 2, 4.</note> +</p> + +<p> +No doubt the plot is not free from improbabilities; in +real life Antonio would have revealed himself to Pedro, +and Pedro and Almira would both have recognized him. +We have already seen that Massinger is so fond of a story +that he sometimes forgets to let his characters guide it. +To round off the play harmoniously, Antonio should have +had a soliloquy, to explain to the audience who he was, +to lament over the change of his fortunes, to express a +hope that all would come right in the end, to reassert his +devotion to Pedro, and to protest his loyalty in spite of +everything to Almira. Perhaps something of the sort +was cut out. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>The Bashful Lover</hi> is the last play of <q>the strange old +fellow</q><note place='foot'>Epilogue, line 9.</note> that we possess; it reminds us in several respects +of Fletcher; in the romantic atmosphere,<note place='foot'>There is too much kneeling in this play; Hortensio kneels, +I., 1, 200; Matilda, III., 3, 60 and 123; Lorenzo, IV., 1, 167; +Matilda again, IV., 1, 184; Alonzo and Pisano, V., 1, 180; +Matilda again, V., 3, 101; the Ambassador, V., 3, 169.</note> the overwrought +devotion of the hero, the bustling action and the +complexity of the plot, and in a metrical detail.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>I.e.</hi>, the <q>emphatic</q> double ending. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> II., 4, 21; II., +6, 51; II., 7, 69: III., 1, 114; IV., 3, 81; IV, 3, 155.</note> On the +<pb n='132'/><anchor id='Pg132'/> +other hand, the smooth and careful construction, the subordination +of the comedy, the constant use of parentheses, +and, above all, the vacillations of the violent Lorenzo, +are characteristics of Massinger. There are many noble +personages in the play, and considerable tenderness. +Matilda's character is drawn well at the start; in the latter +part she rather tends to become a lay figure. A princess +with three aspirants to her hand, of whom two are princes, +while the one she loves is to all appearance of lowly birth, +is awkwardly placed. The same fault, as Boyle points out,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>N. S. S.</hi>, p. 393.</note> +might be found with the hero, Hortensio; the fact is that +the story rather carries the characters along in its sweep +than is developed by them; moreover, Massinger seems +in the last two acts to be more interested in the psychological +study of Lorenzo's emotions than in his hero's +fortunes. With all its beauties, the play betrays the advancing +years of the author by a certain heaviness of touch, +although the episode of Ascanio, the disguised page, is +carried through with great delicacy and skill, and the +varied incidents of Act II. make the battle one of the +most lifelike in literature. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>The Maid of Honour</hi> is well planned, and the characters +well contrasted. Indeed, anyone who doubts Massinger's +skill in this respect will be convinced by this play. Though +the end is sombre, it is, as Leslie Stephen has pointed out, +dignified and inevitable. As Bertoldo was sworn to celibacy, +Camiola could not have married him, even if her +self-respect had allowed it.<note place='foot'>The disappointment which we feel at Camiola's lot may be +paralleled by Bellario in <hi rend='italic'>Philaster</hi>.</note> Here again we get an imperious +lady, the Duchess Aurelia, who changes her mind +too rapidly, but cannot be charged with viciousness. +The comic touches, a foolish lover and a pair of effeminate +courtiers, are quite good. The various moods of Adorni—his +deepening devotion to Camiola, his humility at her +rebuke, his fidelity in doing her commands, his temptation +<pb n='133'/><anchor id='Pg133'/> +to commit suicide—are admirably portrayed. The +King, too, is well drawn; he is a complex character, who +is not wholly bad. The rough old soldier Gonzaga is a +lifelike study, but the figure who dominates the play is +the high-spirited and beautiful heroine. The careful +skill of the author is shown in many details, among others, +in the way in which Camiola, before taking the veil, +persuades the King to forgive Fulgentio. For this to +be possible the way is paved by the King's change of mind +as to Camiola's character in IV., 5. The end of the play +shows in what way Massinger is a greater artist than +Fletcher. The latter would certainly have married off +the Duchess Aurelia to the King or the Duke of Urbin, +and provided Gonzaga with a wife. +</p> + +<p> +No student of our comic drama can ignore the brilliant +vigour of <hi rend='italic'>The City Madam</hi>.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>The City Madam</hi> was printed in 1658. Perhaps this +accounts for Colley Gibber's statement that Massinger died in +1659. The editor of the play, Andrew Pennycuicke, <q>one of +the actors,</q> being, as the name would seem to imply, a canny +Scot, dedicated the first edition <q>to the truly noble John North +Esquire,</q> and the second, <hi rend='italic'>totidem verbis</hi>, <q>to the truly noble +and virtuous Lady Anne, Countess of Oxford.</q> I owe this +fact to the kindness of Mr. P. Simpson. It is to be noted +that both editions read <q>out-conquered,</q> whereas Cunningham +has printed <q>not-conquered.</q></note> The characters one and all +contribute to an harmonious unity, the most lifelike +perhaps being Sir John Frugal, the bluff, successful British +merchant, tender-hearted, yet ashamed of being unbusinesslike, +and a good judge of men. The plot moves +easily, not overloaded with satire. The women remind +us of Ben Jonson's women, but with less strength there is +a greater art shown here than Ben Jonson had at his command. +The great triumph of the play is the hypocrite +Luke, to whom some splendid rhetoric is assigned. He +arrests our attention from the first; though not on the +grand scale like Sir Giles Overreach, he is an innate villain, +who only lacks opportunity to be capable of anything, +a sordid soul, who does not know what goodness is. The +<pb n='134'/><anchor id='Pg134'/> +two 'prentices are of the same kidney as Quicksilver in +<hi rend='italic'>Eastward Ho</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +For sheer vitality and strength three of the plays stand +out conspicuously: <hi rend='italic'>The Bondman</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>The Renegado</hi>, and <hi rend='italic'>The +Guardian</hi>. Though they are disfigured by one or two +coarse scenes, one is carried along in reading them as if one +were in a sailing-boat, dancing along a fresh sea. Of <hi rend='italic'>The +Bondman</hi> Monck Mason says: <q>I don't recollect any play +whatsoever that begins or ends in a manner so pleasing, +uncommon, and striking.</q> It contains four well-drawn +characters—Timoleon, Marullo, Leosthenes, and Cleora. +The plot is lively, though some critics, I think unjustly, +have accused the author of cutting the knot in the fifth +act. The disguised brother and sister who meet in Act +III., I should perhaps indicate their relationship. Timandra +does not explicitly mention her brother till V., 1, +64. A reference earlier in the play to the wrong which +Leosthenes had done her would certainly make for clearness. +There is much fine eloquence in the play. The +one or two offensive comic scenes are not essential to +the plot. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>The Renegado</hi> has an Oriental setting, which alone would +make it attractive on the stage. The character of Donusa +is on the grand scale, one of Massinger's successes; the +Merchant, the Jesuit, and Grimaldi are all well drawn. +There is some fine oratory and a good plot, which works +up to an exciting end. There is not much in the comic +line of value here. +</p> + +<p> +The plot of <hi rend='italic'>The Guardian</hi> is more complicated than is +usual with Massinger. It contains some charming banditti +scenes, while Alphonso's fictitious narrative in the +last act is one of the strongest pieces of writing in our +author. The guardian, Durazzo, the kind-hearted but +cynical and quick-tempered old man of the world, is one +of Massinger's most successful creations. On the other +hand, it will be allowed that there is too much concession +in <hi rend='italic'>The Guardian</hi> to a corrupt taste, due perhaps to poverty +<pb n='135'/><anchor id='Pg135'/> +and the depression of failure. The character of Iolante +is unattractive; her intrigue with a man who turns out +to be her brother is odious; her repentance is cheap and +unconvincing. The earlier part of the play in its movement +and morals alike reminds us of Fletcher. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>The Picture</hi> is full of power, and enriched with some +good strokes of satire; the alternations of mood in the +chief characters are represented with skill, while the magic +portrait on which the plot hinges seems to take a natural +place in the story. There is, however, a crudeness and +hardness of texture about the play, though Mathias and +Sophia are well drawn, especially the latter. Everything +comes right at the last, and true love is vindicated +after the display of some proper pride; but one feels +that the three venture their honour too far. <q>He comes +too near who comes to be denied.</q> The King's faults +are overdrawn; the Queen very nearly spoils the play; +the young courtiers, though realistic, are unpleasant; +the comic element is poor and farcical.<note place='foot'>Hilario is Massinger's one attempt at the Shaksperian +<q>fool</q>; but what a contrast there is between Hilario and +Touchstone or Feste!</note> In dealing with +a psychological theme, Massinger was trying to adjust to +the hard-and-fast concrete outlines of the drama a story +which would have been easier to manage and more attractive +to read if it had been cast in the form of a novel. +There would then have been possible gradations of light +and shade, which would have made the treatment less +bald. It would have supplied Richardson with a +problem worthy of his heart-breaking and long-drawn +analysis. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>The Duke of Milan</hi> is a gloomy play, with a somewhat +intricate plot, presenting to us that strange <q>Italianate</q><note place='foot'>Dekker's word.</note> +world of treachery and poison with which Webster, Ford, +and Tourneur make us familiar. We must remember, on +the other hand, that Italy gives an atmosphere which +<pb n='136'/><anchor id='Pg136'/> +domestic plays like <hi rend='italic'>The Yorkshire Tragedy</hi> and <hi rend='italic'>Arden of +Feversham</hi> lack. As in <hi rend='italic'>The Bondman</hi> and <hi rend='italic'>The Unnatural +Combat</hi>, the plot is developed late, though hints are given +before. Thus, the ill-treated sister is early referred to,<note place='foot'>II., 1, 20.</note> +while the last words of the same act prepare us for +Francisco's villainy. The finest scene in the play is Act +III., 1, which is bathed in the romantic atmosphere so +congenial to our author. Sforza submits to his enemy, +the Emperor Charles, without forfeiting our esteem, +while the Emperor shows a noble magnanimity. There +is a subdued comic element in the person of Graccho, the +musician. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>The Duke of Milan</hi> is carefully written<note place='foot'>Notice the skill with which Sforza, in I., 3, works up to his +unexpected and terrible request.</note> and skilfully +constructed; the author has taken great pains to draw the +characters of Sforza and Marcelia, though Francisco is +perhaps more successful than either.<note place='foot'>A clever passage is that where Francisco points out that +nothing succeeds like success (IV., 1, 16-36).</note> The Duke's last +words are the clue to his character: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>I come: Death, I obey thee!</l> +<l>Yet I will not die raging; for alas!</l> +<l>My whole life was a frenzy: good Eugenia,</l> +<l>In death forgive me.<note place='foot'><p>V., 2, 256. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> IV., 2, 75: +</p> +<p> +Hold but thy nature, Duke, and be but rash,<lb/> +And violent enough. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also I., 2, 30; I., 3, 369; III., 3, 252.</p></note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +The chief <q>frenzy</q> of his life was his devotion to his +wife Marcelia. This peerless beauty combines pride<note place='foot'>I., 1, 111-125.</note> +with a kindly simplicity which is no match for Francisco; +while she dearly loves her husband and forgives him +in her last words, she is not altogether attractive. On the +other hand, her anger with Sforza for leaving orders that +she should be killed if he did not return safe from his +<pb n='137'/><anchor id='Pg137'/> +hazardous enterprise is natural, and the scene in which +she receives him coldly and provokes his violent anger +would be effective when acted.<note place='foot'>III., 3.</note> We are inevitably reminded +of <hi rend='italic'>Othello</hi>, and the comparison is most instructive +as revealing the great gap which separates the pupil from +the master. Marcelia is not so gracious as Desdemona, +nor Sforza so strong as Othello, nor Francisco so devilish +as Iago. As is usually the case with Massinger, the fifth +act carries along our interest to the end. We do not weep, +but we are certainly moved by the horror of the Duke's +death. The princesses of the Ducal House are responsible +for an improbable scene<note place='foot'>II., 1, 121.</note> when they flout Marcelia in the +absence of her lord. Their behaviour reminds us of +the ladies in <hi rend='italic'>The Roman Actor</hi>. In style <hi rend='italic'>The Duke of +Milan</hi> is marked by several passages of fine poetry and +a comparative absence of the parenthetic construction. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>The Fatal Dowry</hi> is a famous and much-admired play, +adapted by Nicholas Rowe in the eighteenth century +to form the basis of his <hi rend='italic'>Fair Penitent</hi>.<note place='foot'>Though Rowe behaved badly in concealing his theft from +Massinger, the critics have been unfair to his play. It is very +instructive to compare the simple structure of <hi rend='italic'>The Fair Penitent</hi>, +written on French lines, with the larger scheme and wealth +of incident in <hi rend='italic'>The Fatal Dowry</hi>. We are reminded of the contrast +between an English and a Dutch garden. After all, some +people prefer their yew-trees cut into cocks and hens, while +others do not. I can imagine a being who would prefer +Gounod's <hi rend='italic'>Romeo and Juliet</hi> to Shakspere's. In <hi rend='italic'>The Fair +Penitent</hi>, the law-court scene, the father's funeral, and the +music-master disappear. We get the <q>gay Lothario</q> from +this once popular play. Mr. Phelan (p. 60) has properly +pointed out that <q>for Lothario we entertain a latent regard, +for his elegant and gallant bearing,</q> whereas Novall, junr., +<q>is not calculated to gain love.</q> In other words, while +Massinger's moral is superior, Rowe is more true to life. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> +some interesting remarks by Hazlitt (<hi rend='italic'>Dramatic Essays</hi>, pp. 93-95) +on Rowe's play and Miss O'Neill as Calista.</note> There are some +fine scenes here, notably the funeral, which is as effective +as anything our poet has written. On the other hand, +the scene in which Rochfort is robed and blindfolded, and +<pb n='138'/><anchor id='Pg138'/> +assents to his daughter's death, recalls Fletcher in its +improbability; nor is it likely that Beaumelle would marry +Charalois at such short notice. All we can say about this +is that hurried weddings are one of the presuppositions +of the Jacobean drama.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>Unnatural Combat</hi>, III., 2, 144, and Fletcher, <hi rend='italic'>passim</hi>.</note> There are an heroic atmosphere, +a fine friendship, and much rhetoric of a high order in <hi rend='italic'>The +Fatal Dowry</hi>. Moreover, as the moral lines at the end +point out, there is the clash of law and natural vengeance +in this play, which is a legitimate source of dramatic +power. Charalois, Romont, Malotin, and Pontalier are +all well drawn: the <q>sweet and gentle nature</q> of Charalois +is particularly attractive, though he is not incapable +of passionate anger,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> I., 1, 203.</note> which makes the punishment he +inflicts on his guilty wife in IV., 4 more credible. On the +other hand, a story is at a disadvantage in which the +father, though generous and dignified, is impulsive and +quixotic, the heroine is worthless, and her lover contemptible.<note place='foot'>Novall never meant to marry Beaumelle. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> IV., 1, +100; V., 2, 264.</note> +The style in places is less lucid than usual, which +may be due to the co-operation of Field; moreover, the +metre is more halting than Massinger's is wont to be, and +I think it probable that the play has been carelessly +printed. There is much spirited sarcasm in Act III., and +some fun in Act IV.<note place='foot'>For a discussion of the authorship of the play, see <ref target='Appendix_XI'>Appendix +XI</ref>.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>The Unnatural Combat</hi> is full of splendid rhetoric; +indeed, there are perhaps too many soliloquies. This +early work is grim as an iron-bound coast; yet the +affairs of the honest, brave, and poverty-stricken +captain, Belgarde, provide a lighter element, and the +moralizing of the pert page in III., 2 is both sensible +and light-handed in execution. The reason for the son's +antipathy to his father is hinted at from time to time in the +first act; its disclosure is postponed too late. We should +<pb n='139'/><anchor id='Pg139'/> +also have been prepared for the wrongs and treachery +of Montreville, which burst upon us too suddenly in the +last act. The evil passion of Malefort is powerfully +depicted; here, again, we have a careful study of conflicting +emotions. Though he struggles against his evil +desires, we feel that a bad man must come to a bad end.<note place='foot'>There is much in Act III. of <hi rend='italic'>A King and No King</hi> which +reminds us of Malefort's passion; but Massinger is a better +moralist than the authors of that brilliant play.</note> +The play would have been better rounded off if in the +initial part some indication had been given that he +seemed to everyone a man whose mind, for some mysterious +reason, was unbalanced and unhinged.<note place='foot'>Beaufort senior's words in III., 2, 32-41, should, however, +be carefully observed.</note> Once allow that +such a theme can be tolerable as that which we have here, +and the hints which Montreville drops from time to time +are adequate to stir the suspicion of the spectator. +</p> + +<p> +The style is more like rhythmical prose than that of any +other of Massinger's plays. Here alone in our author +do children occur, and that in an unpleasing context.<note place='foot'>IV., 2, 87. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi>, however, Sir John Van Olden Barnavelt, +III., 2.</note> +The ghosts of Malefort's victims, which appear in the last +scene, seem to me a legitimate and powerful episode. +It was natural to compare this violent play with Chapman's +tragedies; Malefort reminding us of <hi rend='italic'>Bussy d'Ambois</hi> +and Byron; but there is little in common between the +two authors. In the first place, Massinger knows how to +construct a play; in the second place, there is hardly a +line in <hi rend='italic'>The Unnatural Combat</hi> which is obscure, whereas +in the last act of <hi rend='italic'>Bussy d'Ambois</hi>, Chapman's masterpiece, +there is hardly a line which is intelligible. +</p> + +<p> +The <hi rend='italic'>Parliament of Love</hi> contains much fine poetry<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>E.g.</hi>, Charles's speech about Cupid, V., 1, 33-60.</note> +and one great forensic scene, such as our author loves.<note place='foot'>Act V. We must allow that Cleremond and Leonora +are too long-winded.</note> +It is, however, in too fragmentary a state for us to judge +<pb n='140'/><anchor id='Pg140'/> +it fairly.<note place='foot'>We may conjecture that the missing part of Act I. contained +(<hi rend='italic'>a</hi>) a scene in which <q>three citizens</q> described the +situation, and the absence of the King; (<hi rend='italic'>b</hi>) a scene of love-making +between Cleremond and Leonora, containing the incident +referred to in II., 2, 93-100; (<hi rend='italic'>c</hi>) a scene in which Beaupré +obtained Chamont's protection, and asked for an introduction +to Bellisant (<hi rend='italic'>cf.</hi> V., 1, 470). Bellisant may also have appeared +before I., 4, as her denunciations of the gallants are referred +to in II., 1, 23. And Bellisant knows in III., 3, 145, that Clarindore +had <q>cast off</q> Beaupré. Clarindore is the sort of man +who might have boasted of this.</note> The atmosphere is unreal, the interest flags, +the boisterous comedy is unattractive. There are more +women than is usual in Massinger, and duelling and friendship +inspire two noble scenes (III., 2; IV., 2). Though +vice is humbled, we ask here, as in <hi rend='italic'>The Picture</hi>, does +virtue gain by the way in which its opposite is portrayed? +And are not the characters, male and female alike, undiscriminated? +The interest, in other words, is concentrated +in the triple story, and doubtless we feel some satisfaction +in the punishment of Clarindore, the betrayer of +secrets.<note place='foot'>V., 1, 520. Massinger did not like people who cannot keep +a secret. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>A Very Woman</hi>, IV., 2, 142.</note> There are a good many half-lines in the manner +of Fletcher. +</p> + +<p> +Though <hi rend='italic'>Believe as You List</hi><note place='foot'>For a fuller discussion of this play and the MS., see +Appendixes <ref target='Appendix_VII'>VII.</ref> and <ref target='Appendix_VIII'>VIII.</ref></note> is full of dignity and poetry, +it has a plot without much nexus, of the sort which +Aristotle would blame as ἐπεισοδιώδης.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Poetics</hi>, 1451<hi rend='italic'>a</hi>, 16, 1451<hi rend='italic'>b</hi>, 34.</note> We are wafted +from Carthage to Bithynia, from Bithynia to Lusitania, +from Lusitania to Sicily. Though Antiochus is truly +a king even in his misfortunes, and excites our respect +and compassion, the play can hardly have been a success. +The melancholy tinge is too uniform; the improbabilities +of the recognitions are too glaring. The Courtesan and +Berecinthius cannot be said to have added to the gaiety +of nations; of the other characters Flaminius alone has +individuality. The peculiar circumstances under which +the play was written may help to explain the fiasco. +</p> + +<pb n='141'/><anchor id='Pg141'/> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>The Old Law</hi> does not owe much to Massinger. As it +was a favourite play, it may have owed its association with +his name to revision on his part.<note place='foot'><p>Touches which remind one of Massinger occur, but they +are few and far between—<hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>: +</p> +<p> +I., 1, 30-70, reminds us of him here and there. (The same +applies to Cleanthes' speech, I., 1, 323-345.) +</p> +<p> +I., 1, 248: <q>personal opposition.</q> (<hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>Believe as You List</hi>, +IV., 2, 98.) +</p> +<p> +I., 1,362: +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Cleanthes.</hi> How do you fare, sir? +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Leonides.</hi> Cleanthes, never better. +</p> +<p> +(In the <hi rend='italic'>Henry VIII</hi> manner.) +</p> +<p> +II., 1, 41-61: The first courtier's speech. +</p> +<p> +II., 2, 73-94: Lysander's speech. +</p> +<p> +IV., 2, 1-130: see especially lines 3, 41, 72, 109. +</p> +<p> +V., 1, 54-82. +</p> +<p> +V., 1, 119-132: Lysander's speech. +</p> +<p> +V., 1, 156-175. +</p> +<p> +V., 1, 232-250: Cleanthes' speech. (Notice the parenthesis in +lines 246-7.) +</p> +<p> +The play is usually assigned to 1599, on the strength of the +passage where Gnotho gets the clerk to alter the Parish +Chronicle (III., 1). Gayley thinks the mention of 1599 +<q>purely dramatic</q> (<hi rend='italic'>R. E. C.</hi>, III., p. lv). He says the style +is not like that of Middleton in 1599, and points out that +Rowley was only fourteen years of age in that year. <q>If +Massinger had any share in the play, it was in revision, after +Middleton's death in 1627.</q> Gayley dates the play 1614-16. +It must be pointed out, however, that it is not easy to alter +40 to 39. The author could have chosen a date whose figures +were more easy to deal with. I therefore think the usually +accepted date is right, though it does not, of course, settle the +question of authorship. +</p> +<p> +Massinger was fond of scenes in courts of justice, and it is +highly probable that he elaborated the details of Act V.</p></note> There is a charming +tenderness in places and a rollicking improbability about +the whole scheme, both alien to the staid Massinger. +The humour is not his, but better; his phraseology is +markedly absent;<note place='foot'>We find <q>horror</q> in IV., 2, 72 and 160; a certain number +of the alliterations referred to above (p. 121), I., 1, 66; II., 1, +210, 265; II., 2, 119; V., 1, 546, 550, 605, 650; and words +doubled (I., 1, 67, 88, 206, 220, 268, 354, 389; II., 1, 154, 275; +II., 2, 91; III., 1, 304, 363).</note> the prose scenes show another conception +<pb n='142'/><anchor id='Pg142'/> +of art; the careless metre suggests Rowley. It is +clear that whoever wrote the comic parts of <hi rend='italic'>The Old Law</hi> +was responsible for Chough, Trimtram, and the Roarers +in <hi rend='italic'>A Fair Quarrel</hi>. The scene is laid in <q>Epire,</q> a region +which seems to have been regarded by our ancestors as a +place for strange things to happen, and a vague background +like the city of Callipolis;<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Believe as You List</hi>, IV., 1; <hi rend='italic'>Love's Triumph through +Callipolis</hi>; Peele's <hi rend='italic'>Battle of Alcazar</hi>.</note> it seems to have the +same character in the present day. A King of <q>Epire</q> +figures among Diocletian's court in <hi rend='italic'>The Virgin Martyr</hi>, +and in <hi rend='italic'>The Dumb Knight</hi><note place='foot'>Dodsley's <hi rend='italic'>Old Plays</hi>, vol. x. (Hazlitt).</note> we find a Duke of Epire. The +classical allusions and Latin phrases suggest that the +author of <hi rend='italic'>The Old Law</hi> was a man of some culture. +</p> + +<p> +My task is now ended. I shall consider myself happy +if I persuade some of my readers to make the acquaintance +of Massinger's plays.<note place='foot'>There is a good edition of <hi rend='italic'>A New Way to pay Old Debts</hi> by +K. Deighton (G. Bell, 1893). Brander Matthews has also +edited the play, prefixing a valuable estimate of the poet.</note> We have lately been celebrating +the tercentenary of Shakspere's death. The best +way of honouring a great author is to read his writings; +but to appreciate aright the greatness of Shakspere we +should be wise to combine with our study a just estimate +of his contemporaries and satellites; and, of the many +dramatists of that century, none seem to me more worthy +of affectionate consideration than Philip Massinger. It +is especially instructive to return to his writings from +the perusal of the masterpieces of his contemporaries; +though from time to time they display rich gifts of pathos, +poetry, and humour, they are too often marred by waywardness, +unnaturalness, want of proportion, and grossness; +it is a relief to resume the study of an author whose +work is sober, well balanced, dignified, and lucid. While +he shares with them the modern atmosphere of romance +and adventure, he is the most Greek of his generation; +and this is the real secret of his abiding charm. The +<pb n='143'/><anchor id='Pg143'/> +passionate, the abnormal, the lurid, the farcical elements, +in which his contemporaries revel, are not, indeed, +entirely absent, but they are less conspicuous; the +luxuriance of the thicket does not hinder the wayfarer +from following the path; we pluck the roses without +tearing our flesh on the thorns; and as we contemplate +the marble splendour of his verse we almost forget that +sculpture has its limitations. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='145'/><anchor id='Pg145'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Appendix I. The Small Actor In Massinger's Plays</head> + +<p> +There are several passages in our author in which reference +is made to the low stature of the actor of a female part. +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Duke of Milan</hi>, II., 1, 108: Graccho, speaking of Mariana: +</p> + +<lg> +<l>Of a little thing,</l> +<l>It is so full of gall!</l> +</lg> + +<p> +II., 1, 156: +</p> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Marcelia.</hi> For you, puppet—</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Mariana.</hi> What of me, pine-tree?</l> +</lg> + +<p> +172: +</p> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Mariana.</hi> O that I could reach you,</l> +<l>The little one you scorn so.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +177: +</p> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Graccho.</hi> Forty ducats</l> +<l>Upon the little hen.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +181: +</p> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Marcelia.</hi> Where are you,</l> +<l>You modicum, you dwarf?</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Mariana.</hi> Here, giantess, here.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +188: +</p> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Mariana.</hi> Or right me on this monster (she's three foot</l> +<l>Too high for a woman).</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Bondman</hi>, I., 2, 3: Cleon, speaking to Corisca: +</p> + +<lg> +<l>Beauty invites temptations, and short heels</l> +<l>Are soon tripp'd up.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +(This passage may have another interpretation.) +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Renegado</hi>, I., 2, 9: Manto, speaking of Paulina: +</p> + +<lg> +<l>And though low of stature,</l> +<l>Her well-proportion'd limbs invite affection.</l> +</lg> + +<pb n='146'/><anchor id='Pg146'/> + +<p> +II., 5, 159: Asambeg, of Paulina: +</p> + +<lg> +<l>Such a spirit,</l> +<l>In such a small proportion, I ne'er read of.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +V., 2, 62: Carazie, of Paulina: +</p> + +<lg> +<l>I would he had sent me</l> +<l>To the gallies or the gallows, when he gave me</l> +<l>To this proud little devil.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +V., 3, 174: Mustapha, of Paulina: +</p> + +<lg> +<l>A terrible little tyranness!</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Parliament of Love</hi>, V., 1, 86: Perigot, of Leonora: +</p> + +<lg> +<l>A confident little pleader.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Roman Actor</hi>, IV., 1, 15: Domitilla, referring to Domitia: +</p> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 28'>Who no sooner absent.</l> +<l>But she calls Dwarf! (so in her scorn she styles me)</l> +<l>Put on my pantofles, fetch pen and paper.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +V., 2, 5: Domitilla speaks: +</p> + +<lg> +<l>Could I make my approaches, though my stature</l> +<l>Does promise little, I have a spirit as daring</l> +<l>As hers that can reach higher.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Picture</hi>, I., 1, 96: Corisca speaks: +</p> + +<lg> +<l>Your hand, or if you please</l> +<l>To have me fight so high, I'll not be coy,</l> +<l>But stand a-tiptoe for't.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +III., 2, 27: Ricardo to Corisca: +</p> + +<lg> +<l>Pretty one, I descend</l> +<l>To take the height of your lip.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +II., 2, 197: And Pallas, bound up in a little volume. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Emperor of the East</hi>, II., 1, 388: Theodosius to Athenais: +</p> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 42'>By thyself,</l> +<l>The magazine of felicity, in thy lowness</l> +<l>Our eastern queens, at their full height, bow to thee.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Maid of Honour</hi>, I., 2, 46: Sylli to Camiola: +</p> + +<lg> +<l>Nor I, your little ladyship, till you have</l> +<l>Perform'd the covenants.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +II., 2, 117: Fulgentio to Camiola: +</p> + +<lg> +<l>Of a little thing</l> +<l>You are a pretty peat, indifferent fair too.</l> +</lg> + +<pb n='147'/><anchor id='Pg147'/> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Maid of Honour</hi>, IV., 3, 83: +</p> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Bertoldo.</hi> Since she alone, in the abstract of herself,</l> +<l>That small but ravishing substance, comprehends</l> +<l>Whatever is, or can be wish'd, in the</l> +<l>Idea of a woman!</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>The Bashful Lover</hi>, I., 1, 116: +</p> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Hortensio.</hi> My little friend, good morrow.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +(<hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> III., 1, 28, where <q>Ascanio</q> has to be carried.) +</p> +</quote> + +<p> +The part of Domitilla was taken by I. Hunniman; that of +Paulina by Theo. Bourne; that of Corisca (in <hi rend='italic'>The Picture</hi>) by +W. Trigge. It would appear, therefore, that these references +are not all due to the stature of any one individual actor, +but that Massinger took care to have actors of different height +brought into juxtaposition in his plays. He may here be +copying the well-known passages in <hi rend='italic'>Midsummer Night's +Dream</hi> (III., 2, 288-298, 324, 329). <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also <hi rend='italic'>Antony and +Cleopatra</hi>, II., 5, 118; III., 3, 13; <hi rend='italic'>Much Ado</hi>, I., 1, 172 and +216; <hi rend='italic'>As You Like It</hi>, I., 2, 284; <hi rend='italic'>Twelfth Night</hi>, I., 5, 219; II., +5, 16; <hi rend='italic'>King Lear</hi>, I., 1, 201. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> Bradley's <hi rend='italic'>Shakspearean +Tragedy</hi>, p. 317, n. 1. +</p> + +<p> +In Dekker's <hi rend='italic'>Honest Whore</hi>, Pt. 2. III., 1, the heroine, +Bellafront, is <q>a little tiny woman.</q> So are Pretiosa in Middleton's +<hi rend='italic'>Spanish Gipsy</hi> (I., 5), and Isabella in <hi rend='italic'>Women, beware +Women</hi> (III., 2). <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also <hi rend='italic'>The Case is Altered</hi> (III., 3), <q>'Fore +God, the taller is a gallant lady.</q> We find the same idea in <hi rend='italic'>The +Fair Maid of the West</hi>, II., 3; III., 1, 2. Celestina, in Shirley's +<hi rend='italic'>Lady of Pleasure</hi> (III., 2), is <q>a puppet.</q> Spaconia in <hi rend='italic'>A King +and no King</hi> (III., 1) is <q>that little one</q>; Viola in <hi rend='italic'>The Coxcomb</hi> +(V., 3) is <q>not high.</q> <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also <hi rend='italic'>The Prophetess</hi> (I., 3, 59), +a play which bears many marks of Massinger's work: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Dioclesian.</hi> Thou know'st she is a prophetess.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Maximinian.</hi> A small one,</l> +<l>And as small profit to be hoped for by her.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>The Spanish Curate</hi> (V., 1, 37), Jamie to Violante: +</p> + +<lg> +<l>In stature you're a giantess: and your tailor</l> +<l>Takes measures of you with a Jacob's staff</l> +<l>Or he can never reach you: this by the way</l> +<l>For your large size.</l> +</lg> + +<pb n='148'/><anchor id='Pg148'/> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Love's Cure</hi> (V., 3), Bobadillo to Lucio, speaking about Clara: +</p> + +<lg> +<l>I put the longest weapon in your sister's hand, my lord, because she was the shortest lady.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>The Sea Voyage</hi> (IV., 3): <hi rend='smallcaps'>Morillat</hi>: <q>This little gentlewoman +that was taken with us,</q> referring to Aminta. As Cleopatra +in <hi rend='italic'>The False One</hi> (II., 3) arrives in a parcel, she must have +been small. Margarita in <hi rend='italic'>Rule a Wife</hi> (III., 4) is <q>of a low +stature.</q> Ismenia in <hi rend='italic'>The Maid of the Mill</hi> <q>was of the lowest +stature</q> (I., 2); <hi rend='italic'>cf.</hi> also V., 2, 7. Evanthe in <hi rend='italic'>A Wife for a +Month</hi>, IV., 3 is <q>this little fort.</q> <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also <hi rend='italic'>The Noble +Gentleman</hi>, IV., 3. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<anchor id='Appendix_II'/> +<head>Appendix II</head> + +<p> +Did Massinger know Greek? It is perhaps worth while +collecting the scanty evidence on the subject. We find a pun +on the name Philanax in <hi rend='italic'>The Emperor of the East</hi>,<note place='foot'><p>V., 3, 148: +</p> +<p> +O Philanax, as thy name<lb/> +Interpreted speaks thee, thou hast ever been<lb/> +A lover of the King. +</p></note> and Mathias +plays on the name of his wife Sophia.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Picture</hi>, I., 1, 6.</note> The phrase κατ᾽ +ἐξοήν is used in <hi rend='italic'>The Guardian</hi>.<note place='foot'><p>III., 1, 7. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> Ben Jonson's <hi rend='italic'>Staple of News</hi>, IV., 4 +Pennyboy junior: +</p> +<p> +Thou appears't<lb/> +κατ᾽ ἐξοχήν, a canter. +</p></note> We find a Greek construction +in <hi rend='italic'>The Emperor of the East</hi>:<note place='foot'>III., 1, 102-3.</note> +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>And that before he gives he would consider</l> +<l>The what, to whom, and wherefore.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +On the other hand, we notice Theseus scanned as a trisyllable.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Emperor of the East</hi>, II., 1, 278 and 294.</note> +</p> + +<p> +There are one or two passages where the unexpected turn +<pb n='149'/><anchor id='Pg149'/> +of the thought rather suggests a Greek original. Thus, in +<hi rend='italic'>The Renegado</hi><note place='foot'>III., 4, 40.</note> we are reminded of <hi rend='italic'>The Acharnians</hi>:<note place='foot'>σκάνδικά μοι δός, μητρόθεν δεδεγμένος. (l. 478).</note> +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Gazet.</hi> What places of credit are there?</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Carazie.</hi> Chief gardener.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Gazet.</hi> Out upon't! 'Twill put me in mind my mother was an herb woman.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +Another passage of <hi rend='smallcaps'>The Renegado</hi><note place='foot'>II., 5, 96.</note> reminds us of a famous +fragment of Euripides,<note place='foot'><p>Telephus frag., 722: +</p> +<p> +Σπάρταν ἔλαχες, κείνην κόσμει;<lb/> +τὰς δὲ Μυκήνας ἡμεῖς ἰδίᾳ. +</p></note> often mistranslated: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Asambeg.</hi> At Aleppo</l> +<l>I durst not press you so far: give me leave</l> +<l>To use my own will and command in Tunis.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +In <hi rend='italic'>The Virgin Martyr</hi><note place='foot'>V., 1, 5.</note> we find a parallel to <hi rend='italic'>The Hecuba</hi>:<note place='foot'>ὡς γραφεύς τ᾽ ἀποσταθείς.</note> +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Theophilus.</hi> As a curious painter,</l> +<l>When he has made some honourable piece,</l> +<l>Stands off, and with a searching eye examines</l> +<l>Each colour, how 'tis sweeten'd; and then hugs</l> +<l>Himself for his rare workmanship.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +In <hi rend='italic'>The Emperor of the East</hi><note place='foot'>IV., 5, 61.</note> occurs a parallel quoted by Dr. +Walter Headlam in his notes to <hi rend='italic'>Agamemnon</hi>:<note place='foot'>ἐπὶ δὲ καρδίαν ἔδραμε κροκοβαφὴς σταγών (l. 1121).</note> +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Theodosius.</hi> What an earthquake I feel in me!</l> +<l>And on the sudden my whole fabric totters!</l> +<l>My blood within me turns, and through my veins,</l> +<l>Parting with natural redness, I discern it</l> +<l>Chang'd to a fatal yellow.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +It is the general opinion of scholars that our Elizabethan +dramatists owed very little to the Greek drama directly, but +we cannot forget that Massinger had had a good education at +Oxford, and was a widely read man.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>Shakspere's England</hi>, Vol. I., ix., <q>Scholarship,</q> by +Sir J. E. Sandys.</note> His forensic skill +<pb n='150'/><anchor id='Pg150'/> +often reminds us of Euripides; and if he did not know the +works of his illustrious predecessor, he would have found in +them a congenial spirit.<note place='foot'>It may be noted that the end of <hi rend='italic'>The Knight of Malta</hi> is +modelled on the last scene of the <hi rend='italic'>Alcestis</hi>. The play has been +attributed in part to Massinger, but the fact cited, though +interesting, does not prove acquaintance either on the part +of Fletcher or Massinger with Greek at first hand.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The speech of Sanazarro to Giovanni in <hi rend='italic'>The Great Duke of +Florence</hi><note place='foot'>III., 1., 92-106.</note> reminds us of Creon's arguments in Sophocles' +<hi rend='italic'>Œdipus Tyrannus</hi>, line 596 κ.τ.λ. +</p> + +<p> +The scene in <hi rend='italic'>The Bondman</hi>,<note place='foot'>IV., 2.</note> when the senators frighten the +mutinous slaves by shaking their whips, reminds us of the +Scythians in <hi rend='italic'>Herodotus</hi>,<note place='foot'>IV., 3.</note> but it is also found in <hi rend='italic'>Justin</hi>,<note place='foot'>II., 5.</note> and +Gifford points out that it may really have been borrowed from +a contemporary book of travels, Purchas's <hi rend='italic'>Pilgrims</hi>.<note place='foot'>I have not succeeded in finding the passage referred to.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Massinger had a good working knowledge of mythology; +thus, references in his plays to Hercules and Alcides abound, +as they do in Shakspere. We find several false quantities in +proper names: Caesarĕa, in <hi rend='italic'>The Virgin Martyr</hi>; Archidămus, +in <hi rend='italic'>The Bondman</hi>; Eubŭlus, in <hi rend='italic'>The Picture</hi>; Nomothētae, in +<hi rend='italic'>The Old Law</hi><note place='foot'>I., 1, 47. (Chreocopia, in I., 1, 54, may be scanned with +the accent on the penultimate.)</note>; Cybēle, in <hi rend='italic'>Believe as You List</hi>.<note place='foot'>I., 2, 21 and 29; III., 2, 110. Eudocia in <hi rend='italic'>The Emperor +of the East</hi> is more doubtful. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> IV., 5, 83; V., 1, 122; V., 2, +105; V., 3, 170.</note> We may compare +Shakspere's <hi rend='italic'>Andronĭcus</hi>; Anthrŏpos in <hi rend='italic'>Four Plays in +One</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>The Triumph of Time</hi>; and Euphānes in <hi rend='italic'>The Queen of +Corinth</hi>.<note place='foot'><p>Notice that in all these false quantities the stress is laid +on the syllable which bears the Greek accent; that is to say, +the words are scanned as a Byzantine Greek of the time would +have pronounced them. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> in Marlowe's <hi rend='italic'>Tamburlaine</hi>, +Pt. II., IV., 4: <q>As in the theoria of the world.</q> A similar +suggestion is anonymously made in <hi rend='italic'>The Times Literary +Supplement</hi>, March 20th, 1919, for another line of Marlowe: +<q>Our Pythagôras' Metempsýchosis.</q> +</p> +<p> +<q>Academy,</q> in <hi rend='italic'>The Emperor of the East</hi>, I., 1, 45, seems +accented on the last syllable.</p></note> +</p> + +<pb n='151'/><anchor id='Pg151'/> + +<p> +It seems scarcely worth while to collect the passages which +show Massinger's knowledge of Latin; the authors he seems to +have known best are Ovid, Juvenal, and Horace. Swinburne +and others have commented on his indulgence in <q>the commonplace +tropes and flourishes of the schoolroom or the schools.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> p. 19, n. 2.</note> +</p> + +</div> +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<anchor id='Appendix_III'/> +<head>Appendix III. The Collaborated Plays</head> + +<p> +The plays in which Massinger is supposed to have collaborated +with other authors are here set down, with the analyses made +by Boyle (<hi rend='italic'>D. N. B.</hi>, xxxvii., pp. 10-16) and the views of +Mr. A. H. Bullen in his article on Fletcher (<hi rend='italic'>D. N. B.</hi>, xix., +pp. 303-311).<note place='foot'>Boyle's ascription is in each case printed first; M. signifies +the portions of each play which he allots to Massinger. +A. H. B. = Mr. Bullen, A. H. C. = the writer. Macaulay's +views will be found in <hi rend='italic'>The Cambridge History of English +Literature</hi>, vol. vi., Appendix to Chapter V.</note> +</p> + +<p> +1. <hi rend='italic'>The Honest Man's Fortune.</hi> (Field, Daborne, Massinger, +Fletcher.) +</p> + +<p> +M.: Act III. or part of it. +</p> + +<p> +A. H. B. agrees. +</p> + +<p> +A. H. C.: I doubt whether Massinger had any share in this +play. There are passages of ten-syllable lines in Act +III., 1 which are quite unlike him, while 2 and 3 are +interspersed with prose passages, a feature which +Massinger as a rule avoids. +</p> + +<p> +2. <hi rend='italic'>Thierry and Theodoret.</hi> (Massinger, Field, Fletcher, and +possibly a fourth writer.) +</p> + +<p> +M: Act I., 2; Act II., 1, 3; Act IV., 2. +</p> + +<p> +A. H. B. attributes largely to Massinger, assigning Act III. +to an unknown author. +</p> + +<p> +A. H. C. assigns to Massinger Act II., 1 and 3, and with +some hesitation Act I., 2; Act IV., 2. +</p> + +<pb n='152'/><anchor id='Pg152'/> + +<p> +3. <hi rend='italic'>The Bloody Brother.</hi> (Massinger, Field, Fletcher, and +possibly a fourth writer.) +</p> + +<p> +M.: Act I., Act V., 1. +</p> + +<p> +A. H. B. thinks that Fletcher and Jonson wrote the play, +and that Massinger revised it for a performance at +Hampton Court in January, 1636-37. +</p> + +<p> +A. H. C.: There are clearly three hands at work here, one of +whom writes obscurely and uses a good deal of rhyme. +Act I., 1 reminds us of Massinger in several touches, +especially lines 269-70. The broken lines in this scene +are complete, as is Massinger's unfailing practice, but +the ten-syllable line is more common than is usually +the case with him. While Act V., 1 has some sentences +cast in the parenthetic form, the expressions +used are less lucid than we expect from Massinger. +</p> + +<p> +4. <hi rend='italic'>The Knight of Malta.</hi> (Massinger and Fletcher.) +</p> + +<p> +M.: Act III., 2, 3; Act IV., 1; possibly part of Act V., 2. +</p> + +<p> +A. H. B. agrees, assigning Act II. and Act III., 1 to Fletcher. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Some third person wrote Act I. and part of Act V.</q> +</p> + +<p> +A. H. C.: I trace Massinger only in Act III., 2. +</p> + +<p> +5. <hi rend='italic'>The Queen of Corinth.</hi> (Massinger, Fletcher (?), Field.) +</p> + +<p> +M.: Act I., Act V. +</p> + +<p> +A. H. B. assigns Act II. to Fletcher, the rest to Middleton +and Rowley. +</p> + +<p> +A. H. C.: Massinger wrote Act I., 1, 2, 3 from <q>Enter +Agenor,</q> V., 2. Fletcher wrote Act I., 3; Act II., +1, 2, 3, 4; Act III., 1, 2; Act V., 3. As usual, he is +responsible for the comic parts. Act V., 4 is a vigorous +trial scene, not due, I think, to Massinger. The impression +that I get from Act III. is that Massinger +drafted it, and Fletcher worked over it. +</p> + +<p> +6. <hi rend='italic'>Sir John Van Olden Barnavelt.</hi> (Massinger, Fletcher.) +</p> + +<p> +M.: Act I., 1, 2; Act II., 1; Act III., 2, 3, 5; Act IV., 4, 5; +Act V., 1 to <q>Enter Provost.</q> +</p> + +<p> +A. H. B. agrees on the whole. +</p> + +<p> +A. H. C.: Act III., 5, and Act IV., 5 seem to me unworthy of +Massinger. Perhaps a third hand wrote Act I., 3; +Act II., 2-7; Act III., 1, as far as <q>will ripen the +<pb n='153'/><anchor id='Pg153'/> +imposture</q>; Act III., 3; Act V., 1, as far as <q>Exeunt +wife and daughter.</q> +</p> + +<p> +7. <hi rend='italic'>Henry the Eighth.</hi> (Massinger and Fletcher.) +</p> + +<p> +A. H. B. agrees, attributing a few passages to Shakspere, +notably the trial scene of Catherine. +</p> + +<p> +Sir A. Ward thinks that Massinger and Fletcher wrote most +of the play, Shakspere only a little (<hi rend='italic'>H. E. D.</hi>, ii., 246). +</p> + +<p> +Macaulay ascribes it to Shakspere and Fletcher, <q>perhaps +revised by Massinger.</q> +</p> + +<p> +For a fuller discussion of this problem, <hi rend='italic'>cf.</hi> pp. <ref target='Pg084'>84-91</ref>. +</p> + +<p> +8. <hi rend='italic'>The Two Noble Kinsmen.</hi> (Massinger and Fletcher.) +</p> + +<p> +M.: Act I.; Act II., 1; Act III., 1, 2; Act IV., 3; Act V., 1 +from line 19, 3, 4. +</p> + +<p> +A. H. B. thinks that Shakspere wrote additions for the revival +of an old play, <hi rend='italic'>Palamon and Arsett</hi>, which came +into the hands of Fletcher and Massinger after the +death of Shakspere. Massinger has interpolated his +own work in some of the Shakspere passages. +</p> + +<p> +For a fuller discussion of this problem, <hi rend='italic'>cf.</hi> pp. <ref target='Pg092'>92-104</ref>. +</p> + +<p> +9. <hi rend='italic'>The Custom of the Country.</hi> (Massinger and Fletcher.) +</p> + +<p> +M.: Act II., 1, 2, 3, 4; Act III., 4, 5; Act IV., 1, 2; Act V., +1, 2, 3, 4. +</p> + +<p> +A. H. B. agrees. +</p> + +<p> +Macaulay adds part of Act V., 5 to Massinger. +</p> + +<p> +A. H. C.: This play owes very little to Massinger. Boyle, +in attributing Act II. to him, must have been guided +solely by metrical considerations. There is not a +trace of his style in the Act. No doubt it is true +that Hippolyta is a type familiar in Massinger's +plays; and her sudden change of mind in the last act +reminds us of him. Again, the mental treatment to +which Duarte owes his cure (Act IV., 1), and the praises +of the medical profession (Act V., 4), recall <hi rend='italic'>A Very +Woman</hi> (II., 2, 26). +</p> + +<p> +But we have to set a good deal against these facts. The +plot is more elaborate, bustling, and improbable than +we expect from Massinger. It is improbable that the +young men (Act II., 2) should leap into the sea and +<pb n='154'/><anchor id='Pg154'/> +leave Zenocia in the lurch. It is improbable that they +should swim a league to shore with their swords erect +in the air, though swords no doubt they must have +if they are to behave as Fletcher's gentlemen behave. +It is improbable that Rutilio in his flight (Act II., 4) +should take refuge in a palace and find himself in the +bedroom of the lady of the house. Difficulties of this +kind are familiar enough in Fletcher. It need scarcely +be said that Sulpicia and her establishment are due to +Fletcher alone. +</p> + +<p> +To sum up, if Massinger had any share in this play, he may +have given hints or added touches in connexion with +Hippolyta and Duarte. The simplest supposition is +that he edited the play for a revival. The Prologue +and Epilogue <q>at a revival</q> contain expressions which +remind us of him. The Prologue ends thus (lines +18-20): +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 38'>You may allow</l> +<l>(Your candour safe) what's taught in the old schools,</l> +<l><q>All such as lived before you were not fools.</q></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +The parenthesis is in Massinger's manner. +</p> + +<p> +Again, in the second Epilogue, line 7, we find <q>qualification,</q> +with which compare <q>fortification</q> in <hi rend='italic'>A New Way</hi>, I., +2, 25. +</p> + +<p> +10. <hi rend='italic'>The Elder Brother.</hi> (Fletcher (?), Beaumont; probably +revised generally by Massinger.) +</p> + +<p> +M.: Act I., 1, 2; Act V., 1, 2. +</p> + +<p> +A. H. B. thinks that Massinger revised and completed it +after Fletcher's death, but says nothing about Beaumont. +</p> + +<p> +A. H. C.: There are traces of Massinger in Act I., 1 and Act +V., 1, in which scenes we find careful metre and a good +many parentheses. While Act I., 2 resembles Massinger, +it seems to me to have a lighter touch than his. +In Act V., 1 we find a speech or two very much in +his manner, and characteristic also is the skill with +which an ambiguity is prolonged for some time in +this scene, and then dissipated. I doubt if he wrote +Act V., 2. +</p> + +<pb n='155'/><anchor id='Pg155'/> + +<p> +11. <hi rend='italic'>The Sea Voyage.</hi> (Massinger, Fletcher.) +</p> + +<p> +M.: Act II., 1, 2; Act III., 1, from <q>Enter Rosellia</q>; +Act V., 1, 2, 3, 4. +</p> + +<p> +A. H. B. says nothing about Massinger here. Macaulay +doubts if he had any share in the play. +</p> + +<p> +A. H. C.: The metre is throughout too rough for Massinger. +The plot does not recall his work in any way. +</p> + +<p> +12. <hi rend='italic'>The Double Marriage.</hi> (Massinger, Fletcher.) +</p> + +<p> +M.: Act I., 1; Act III., 1; Act IV., 1, 2; Act V., 2, to <q>Enter +Pandulfo.</q> +</p> + +<p> +A. H. B. agrees. +</p> + +<p> +Macaulay assigns all Act I. to Massinger. +</p> + +<p> +A. H. C: I find no trace of Massinger in this improbable +play. +</p> + +<p> +13. <hi rend='italic'>The Beggars' Bush.</hi> (Massinger, Fletcher.) +</p> + +<p> +M.: Act I., 1, 2, 3; Act V., 1, latter part; V., 2, lines 1-110. +</p> + +<p> +A. H. B. does not think Massinger's part is clearly marked. +</p> + +<p> +Macaulay assigns to Massinger Acts I., II., III., and V. +</p> + +<p> +A. H. C.: I find no trace of Massinger. Neither the plot is +lucid nor the expression. The commercial scenes and +the beggars' slang are both unlike anything in Massinger, +and alien to his courtly mind. +</p> + +<p> +14. <hi rend='italic'>The False One.</hi> (Massinger, Fletcher.) +</p> + +<p> +M.: Act I.; Act V. +</p> + +<p> +A. H. B. agrees. +</p> + +<p> +A. H. C.: Massinger wrote Act I., a good deal of Act IV., +and Act V. There is hardly a scene except the Masque +in Act III., 4 which reads like Fletcher's unaided work. +The dignified rhetoric throughout the play has the +stamp of Massinger; more than that, the character-drawing +is like his. The outspoken Sceva reminds us +of the old courtier Eubulus in <hi rend='italic'>The Picture</hi>. The rudeness +of Eros to Septimius in Act III., 2, reminds us of +Donusa in <hi rend='italic'>The Renegado</hi>. The continual changes of +mind on the part of Septimius are an effect which Massinger +loves. (<hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also Arsinoe and Photinus in Act +V., 4.) +</p> + +<pb n='156'/><anchor id='Pg156'/> + +<p> +15. <hi rend='italic'>The Prophetess.</hi> (Massinger and Fletcher.) +</p> + +<p> +M.: Acts II., IV., V., 1, 2. +</p> + +<p> +A. H. B. thinks Massinger's share <q>very considerable.</q> +</p> + +<p> +A. H. C.: Fletcher wrote Act I., 1, 2, and the Geta scenes +(Act I., 3; Act III., 2; Act IV., 3, 5; Act V., 3). Perhaps +some hack wrote the choruses (Act IV., 1; Act +V., 1) or are they inherited from an old play? The +main part of the play is due to Massinger. He certainly +had a hand in Act III., 1. Maximinian is a skilfully +drawn character on his lines. +</p> + +<p> +16. <hi rend='italic'>The Little French Lawyer.</hi> (Massinger and Fletcher.) +</p> + +<p> +M.: Act I.; Act III., 1; Act V., 1, from <q>Enter Cleremont,</q> +with traces of his hand in other scenes. +</p> + +<p> +A. H. B. agrees. +</p> + +<p> +A. H. C.: Massinger can be traced at the beginning of Act +I., 1 and in Act III., 1 and Act IV., 5. The resemblances +are rather slight, and it is possible that they are +due to the fact that Fletcher occasionally imitated +Massinger. +</p> + +<p> +17. <hi rend='italic'>The Lover's Progress.</hi> (Massinger and Fletcher.) +</p> + +<p> +M.: Act I., 1, 2 (to <q>Enter Malefort</q>); Act II., 2; Act III., +4, 6 (last two speeches); Act IV.; Act V. +</p> + +<p> +A. H. B. thinks it is <q>by Fletcher, with large alterations +by Massinger.</q> He refers to the explicit statement +in the Prologue where the reviser declares himself to +be— +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 12'>ambitious that it should be known</l> +<l>What's good was Fletcher's, and what ill his own,</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +a statement in harmony with Massinger's well-known +modesty. +</p> + +<p> +A. H. C.: Massinger wrote Act I., 1, Act II., 2. There are +traces of his work in Act III., 4, 6; Act IV., 2, 4; Act +V., 1, 3. The improbabilities of the plot—<hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>, the +action of Clarangé—are due to Fletcher. It is clear +from the Prologue that the original play was too long. +Massinger probably cut it down, by leaving out, among +other things, scenes in which Lisander killed his two +foes. The play is probably to be identified with <hi rend='italic'>The +<pb n='157'/><anchor id='Pg157'/> +Wandering Lovers</hi> or <hi rend='italic'>The Picture</hi>, entered as by Massinger +in the Stationers' Register, September 9th, 1653. +</p> + +<p> +18. <hi rend='italic'>The Spanish Curate.</hi> (Massinger and Fletcher.) +</p> + +<p> +M.: Act I.; Act III., 3; Act IV., 1, 4; Act V., 1, 3. +</p> + +<p> +A. H. B. agrees. +</p> + +<p> +Macaulay adds Act IV., 2 to Massinger. +</p> + +<p> +A. H. C.: Massinger can be clearly traced in Act I., 1, Act +V., 1; not in Act V., 3. The trial scene (Act III, 3), +though on slighter lines than he uses as a rule, may be +due to him. +</p> + +<p> +19. <hi rend='italic'>The Fair Maid of the Inn.</hi> (Massinger and Fletcher.) +</p> + +<p> +M.: Act I.; Act III., 2; Act V., 3. +</p> + +<p> +A. H. B. attributes to Rowley and Massinger, and thinks +Fletcher's share very small. +</p> + +<p> +Macaulay assigns to <q>Massinger and another (not +Fletcher).</q> +</p> + +<p> +A. H. C.: Massinger wrote Act I., Act V., 3 as far as Clarissa's +speech. Fletcher wrote Act II., Act III., Act IV., +Act V., 1, 2. The mother's device to save her son is the +sort of improbability from which Fletcher does not +shrink. +</p> + +<p> +20. <hi rend='italic'>A Very Woman.</hi> (Massinger and Fletcher.) +</p> + +<p> +M.: Act I.; Act II., 1, 2, 3 down to <q>Enter Pedro</q>; Act +IV., 1, 3. +</p> + +<p> +A. H. B. identifies this play with <hi rend='italic'>The Woman's Plot</hi>, acted at +Court in 1621. In its present state it is a version of a +play by Fletcher, revised for a revival by Massinger +in 1634. +</p> + +<p> +Macaulay assigns Act III. and Act IV., 1, 2, 3 to Fletcher. +For a discussion of this play <hi rend='italic'>cf.</hi> pp. 129-131. +</p> + +<p> +21. <hi rend='italic'>The Second Maiden's Tragedy.</hi> (Massinger, Tourneur.) +</p> + +<p> +M.: Act I., Act II. +</p> + +<p> +In <hi rend='italic'>Eng. Stud.</hi>, ix. 234, Boyle, with some hesitation, regards +this play as <q>an early, anonymous, and unsuccessful +attempt of Massinger's.</q> Whoever wrote it, the work +is immature. +</p> + +<p> +A. H. C. I find no trace of Massinger in this play, but a +great deal of Tourneur's manner. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> <ref target='Appendix_XIII'>Appendix XIII</ref>. +</p> + +<pb n='158'/><anchor id='Pg158'/> + +<p> +22. <hi rend='italic'>Love's Cure.</hi> (Massinger and (?) Middleton.) +</p> + +<p> +M.: Act I.; Act IV.; Act V., 1, 2. +</p> + +<p> +A. H. B. agrees that the play is due to Massinger and Middleton. +</p> + +<p> +Fleay thinks that Massinger altered a play by Beaumont +and Fletcher. +</p> + +<p> +A. H. C.: It is to be noted that the Prologue expressly +attributes the play to Beaumont and Fletcher. I find +nothing like Massinger except a few touches in Act I., +1 and 3. The lightheartedness of the play reminds +us alike of Fletcher and Middleton; the romantic +atmosphere reminds us of the former, the inferiority +of the metre of the latter. +</p> + +<p> +23. <hi rend='italic'>The Fatal Dowry.</hi> (Massinger and Field.) +</p> + +<p> +M.: Act I.; Act III. (to <q>Enter Novall junior</q>); Act IV., +2, 3, 4; Act V., 1, 2. +</p> + +<p> +For further discussion <hi rend='italic'>cf.</hi> <ref target='Appendix_XI'>Appendix XI</ref>. +</p> + +<p> +24. <hi rend='italic'>The Virgin Martyr.</hi> (Massinger and Dekker.) +</p> + +<p> +M.: Act I.; Act III., 1, 2; Act IV., 3; Act V., 2. +</p> + +<p> +For a discussion of this verdict <hi rend='italic'>cf.</hi> <ref target='Appendix_X'>Appendix X</ref>. +</p> + +<p> +25. <hi rend='italic'>The Old Law.</hi> (Massinger, Middleton, Rowley.) +</p> + +<p> +Massinger's share was slight, and can only have consisted in +revision for a later performance. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> supra, pp. <ref target='Pg141'>141-2</ref>. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Other Plays attributed in Part to Massinger.</hi> +</p> + +<p> +26. <hi rend='italic'>The Laws of Candy.</hi> +</p> + +<p> +A. H. B. thinks a large part was written by Massinger, +and that Fletcher cannot be traced. +</p> + +<p> +Boyle (<hi rend='italic'>Eng. Stud.</hi>, vii. 75) thinks that though the metrical +treatment is like Beaumont's, the play is evidently +later in date, perhaps due to Shirley. Fleay (<hi rend='italic'>Eng. +Stud.</hi>, ix. 23) assigns it to Massinger and Field. +</p> + +<p> +Macaulay says <q>probably by Massinger and another author +(not Fletcher).</q> +</p> + +<p> +A. H. C.: I find no trace here of the Massinger that we know. +</p> + +<p> +27. <hi rend='italic'>The Captain.</hi> +</p> + +<p> +Macaulay: <q>By Fletcher and another, perhaps Massinger.</q> +</p> + +<pb n='159'/><anchor id='Pg159'/> + +<p> +A. H. C.: This is one of the many plays in the Fletcher +corpus which begins admirably and falls away into improbability. +I find no trace of Massinger here, though +the incident in Act IV., 5 reminds one of the banquet +in <hi rend='italic'>The Guardian</hi>, Act III., 6. +</p> + +<p> +28. <hi rend='italic'>The Cure for a Cuckold</hi>, <q>a pleasant comedy written by +John Webster and William Rowley; London, 1661.</q> +</p> + +<p> +It has been supposed by Fleay that the first act is due to +Massinger. It must be pointed out that a large part +of the play is written in prose, and that the verse parts +are not like Massinger. If one or two phrases remind +us of his style the stage is too crowded to make it likely +that it is his design. The real reason, no doubt, for +the assumption is that the incident of Clare and Lessingham +is similar to one in <hi rend='italic'>The Parliament of Love</hi>. +Clare sends a letter to Lessingham in which she tells +him she will marry him if he will kill his dearest friend. +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Prove all thy friends, find out the best and nearest,</l> +<l>Kill for my sake that friend that loves thee dearest.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +But even so the incident is worked out with much +variety in detail. +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Rupert Brooke in his <hi rend='italic'>Study on Webster</hi> (Appendix J) +arrives at the conclusion that Webster's play is subsequent +to Massinger's, both of them bearing a general +resemblance to Marston's <hi rend='italic'>Dutch Courtesan</hi>. The +stinging and incisive vigour of Marston's play is a great +contrast to the romantic treatment of the subject in +<hi rend='italic'>The Parliament of Love</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +29. <hi rend='italic'>The Island Princess.</hi> +</p> + +<p> +This is rather a dull play, though it contains some fine passages +and isolated lines. It is well constructed, and +contains one or two touches, such as <q>I love a soldier</q> +(I., 2) and <q>something shall be thought on</q> (II., 7), +which recall Massinger. And compare <q>When the +streams flow clear and fair, what are the fountains?</q> +(V., 2) with <hi rend='italic'>The Bondman</hi>, I., 3, 282. The King in gaol +reminds us of <hi rend='italic'>Believe as You List</hi>; the attempt of the +Queen Quisara to convert Armusia to her faith reminds +<pb n='160'/><anchor id='Pg160'/> +us of <hi rend='italic'>The Renegado</hi>. On the other hand, the metre is +singularly like Fletcher's throughout; the diction in +many details is unlike Massinger, and there are no +parentheses. Perhaps Fletcher was helped in this +play by some young man such as Brome who was +acquainted with Massinger's style. +</p> + +<p> +30. <hi rend='italic'>The Double Falsehood, or The Distressed Lovers.</hi> +</p> + +<p> +This play scarcely deserves serious consideration. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> +<ref target='Appendix_XV'>Appendix XV</ref>. +</p> + +<p> +It will at once be seen how precarious and subjective +is much of this attribution. For example, to trace +four styles in a play is a difficult feat, yet Boyle +does this in (2) and (3). Brander Matthews, in discussing +the relation of Massinger and Fletcher, has +some interesting remarks, illustrated by modern +parallels. He points out that collaboration may be +either a chemical union or a mechanical mixture of the +authors' qualities, so that it is hard to decide which +process has taken place in a particular play. These +considerations lead him to doubt the finality of Boyle's +distribution of scenes. +</p> + +<p> +Boyle's strong points are his argument from metrical details +and his intimate knowledge of the texts. I feel, however, +that the metrical test is open to the charge of +being mechanical when weighed against the impressions +which we gain from the evidence of construction, +style, and expressions. Massinger constructed his +plays well, and modelled his characters carefully, +whereas Fletcher, while excelling in isolated scenes, +shrank from no improbability which might be necessary +to carry the plot through. I am more conservative, +therefore, than Professor Gayley, who says that +<q>in <hi rend='italic'>The Spanish Curate</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>The Little French Lawyer</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>The Prophetess</hi>, and <hi rend='italic'>The Beggars' Bush</hi> Massinger's +contribution was fully as important as Fletcher's. +The general design appears to be the work of the former. +Fletcher fills in the details of comic business</q>;<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>R. E. C.</hi>, p. lxxxii.</note> and that +<pb n='161'/><anchor id='Pg161'/> +<q>he has no doubt about Massinger's part in <hi rend='italic'>The +Knight of Malta</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>The Lover's Progress</hi>, and <hi rend='italic'>The Elder +Brother</hi>.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>R. E. C.</hi>, pp. lxxxiii-lxxxiv.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Next, with regard to style and expression, when we +remember the intimacy of the two men, it is quite +possible that Massinger imitated Fletcher consciously +or unconsciously at some time of his life, and <hi rend='italic'>vice versa</hi>. +Or we may put it in this way: there was a certain +amount of conventional stock-in-trade common to the +two writers, such a phrase, for instance, as, <q>To the +temple</q> when the inevitable marriage ceremony is +to take place. It would be absurd to suppose that +Fletcher never used such a phrase as <q>write nil ultra,</q> +which is no doubt a distinguishing mark of Massinger's +style. Again, Fletcher may have worked over drafts +of scenes in the first instance written by Massinger, +and there is evidence for supposing that in many cases +revision for a revival rather than co-operation is the +clue. Massinger's good judgment would make him +an excellent reviser. +</p> + +<p> +It must, however, be allowed that the large amount of agreement +between two experts such as Boyle and Bullen is +remarkable. We cannot acquit those who produced +the Folio of Beaumont and Fletcher in 1647 of negligence +in omitting to give their due to Massinger and +other collaborators. On the other hand, it might +be argued that if Massinger's share in Fletcher's plays +were as large as Boyle believes it to have been, the +Folio would for very shame have acknowledged it; +and it must be pointed out that the large mass of commendatory +verses prefixed to the Folio entertains no +doubt of the traditional authorship.<note place='foot'>In particular G. Hill's poem deserves attention.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Believing that the matter of first importance is to estimate +Massinger from the plays which he undoubtedly wrote, +I have not given above my evidence in full for the impressions +which I have formed of the <q>collaborated</q> +plays. The results of my study of these plays may be +<pb n='162'/><anchor id='Pg162'/> +summarised as follows: Massinger wrote considerable +portions of <hi rend='italic'>The Prophetess</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>The False One</hi>, and <hi rend='italic'>Sir +John Van Olden Barnavelt</hi>. His work can be traced in +<hi rend='italic'>Thierry and Theodoret</hi> and <hi rend='italic'>The Bloody Brother</hi>. He +wrote the greater part of Acts I. and V. of <hi rend='italic'>The Queen of +Corinth</hi>, and of Acts I. and V. of <hi rend='italic'>The Elder Brother</hi>. +He wrote much of the same acts in <hi rend='italic'>The Little French +Lawyer</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>The Spanish Curate</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>The Fair Maid of the Inn</hi>. +He may have assisted in <hi rend='italic'>The Knight of Malta</hi>. He +revised for subsequent performance <hi rend='italic'>The Custom of the +Country</hi> and <hi rend='italic'>The Lover's Progress</hi>. He had nothing to +do with <hi rend='italic'>The Honest Man's Fortune</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>The Sea Voyage</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>The Double Marriage</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>The Beggars' Bush</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Love's Cure</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>The Laws of Candy</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>The Captain</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>The Cure for a Cuckold</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>The Island Princess</hi>. In my opinion, Massinger's +hand can be most clearly discerned in (1) serious plays; +(2) the serious parts of plays; (3) the first and last acts +of a joint composition.<note place='foot'>I have read with interest and care E. H. C. Oliphant's +articles in <hi rend='italic'>Englische Studien</hi> (xiv., xv., xvi.). He finds more +work of Beaumont in the plays than other scholars. Though +his knowledge of the whole subject is great, his analysis +seems to me too subtle; thus in <hi rend='italic'>The Fair Maid of the Inn</hi> we +find, according to Mr. Oliphant, scenes written by (1) Massinger, +(2) Massinger and Rowley, (3) Beaumont and Massinger, +(4) Beaumont, Fletcher, and Massinger. Fletcher's part in +the play is ultimately reduced to a few lines in IV., 1! I +cannot agree with him that Massinger wrote any of <hi rend='italic'>The +Coxcomb</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>The Faithful Friends</hi>, or <hi rend='italic'>Love's Pilgrimage</hi>. In +<hi rend='italic'>The Faithful Friends</hi> the metre is very careless, and the occasional +bursts of bombast are not like Massinger. There are +touches of his style in the play, which suggest that a pupil +may have helped Fletcher. <hi rend='italic'>The Coxcomb</hi> and <hi rend='italic'>Love's Pilgrimage</hi> +seem to me very characteristic works of Beaumont +and Fletcher. Mr. Oliphant has also discovered (<hi rend='italic'>Modern +Language Review</hi>, III., pp. 337-355) that Massinger wrote a +considerable portion of <hi rend='italic'>The Tempest</hi> and <hi rend='italic'>Cymbeline</hi>. It is +not long since that we were reminded, in other departments +of art, of Lucas and Leonardo, of Ozias Humfrey and +Romney. The critical scent which Mr. Oliphant requires of +his readers postulates a super-dog careering through the +literary thickets of the English language. Let us rather read +and enjoy our composite plays, without meticulous analysis.</note> +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='163'/><anchor id='Pg163'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<anchor id='Appendix_IV'/> +<head>Appendix IV. On The Influence Of Shakspere</head> + +<p> +The instances quoted in the text can be supplemented +by many others. Compare the diction and thought of the +following passages: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Maid of Honour</hi>, IV., 3, 61: +</p> + +<lg> +<l>Ministers of mercy,</l> +<l>Mock not calamity.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Hamlet</hi>, I., 4, 39: +</p> + +<lg> +<l>Angels and ministers of grace defend us!</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Maid of Honour</hi>, V., 1, 133: +</p> + +<lg> +<l>And I to make all know I am not shallow,</l> +<l>Will have my points of cochineal and yellow.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Twelfth Night</hi>, II., 5, 169: +</p> + +<lg> +<l>Remember who commended thy yellow stockings.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Virgin Martyr</hi>, I., 1, 177: +</p> + +<lg> +<l>All kind of tortures; part of which they suffer'd</l> +<l>With Roman constancy.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Julius Cæsar</hi>, II., 1, 226: +</p> + +<lg> +<l>Let not our looks put on our purposes,</l> +<l>But bear it as our Roman actors do,</l> +<l>With untired spirits and formal constancy.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +(<hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>Duke of Milan</hi>, V., 1, 128.) +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Parliament of Love</hi>, II., 2, 37: +</p> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 18'>Yet since thou art</l> +<l>So spaniel-like affected.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Midsummer-Night's Dream</hi>, II., 1, 205: +</p> + +<lg> +<l>Use me but as your spaniel, spurn me, strike me.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Two Gentlemen of Verona</hi>, IV., 2, 14: +</p> + +<lg> +<l>Yet, spaniel-like, the more she spurns my love,</l> +<l>The more it grows and fawneth on her still.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Emperor of the East</hi>, IV., 5, 105: +</p> + +<lg> +<l>Methinks I find Paulinus on her lips.</l> +</lg> + +<pb n='164'/><anchor id='Pg164'/> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Othello</hi>, III., 3, 341: +</p> + +<lg> +<l>I found not Cassio's kisses on her lips.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Emperor of the East</hi>, V., 2, 103: +</p> + +<lg> +<l>Can I call back yesterday, with all their aids</l> +<l>That bow unto my sceptre? or restore</l> +<l>My mind to that tranquillity and peace</l> +<l>It then enjoyed?</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Othello</hi>, III., 3, 330: +</p> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 14'>Not poppy, nor mandragora,</l> +<l>Nor all the drowsy syrups of the world,</l> +<l>Shall ever medicine thee to that sweet sleep</l> +<l>Which thou owedst yesterday.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Othello</hi>, III., 3, 347: +</p> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 30'>O, now for ever</l> +<l>Farewell the tranquil mind! farewell content!</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Virgin Martyr</hi>, I., 1, 342: +</p> + +<lg> +<l>An humble modesty, that would not match</l> +<l>A molehill with Olympus.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Great Duke of Florence</hi>, IV., 2, 305: +</p> + +<lg> +<l>As the lowly shrub is to the lofty cedar,</l> +<l>Or a molehill to Olympus, if compar'd,</l> +<l>I am to you, Sir.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Roman Actor</hi>, III., 1, 3: +</p> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 20'>If you but compare</l> +<l>What I have suffered with your injuries</l> +<l>(Though great ones, I confess), they will appear</l> +<l>Like molehills to Olympus.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +(<hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also <hi rend='italic'>Duke of Milan</hi>, I., 3, 193.)<note place='foot'><p><hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>A Woman killed with Kindness</hi>, III., 1: +</p> +<p> +And in this ground, increased this molehill<lb/> +Unto that mountain which my father left me. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>The Maid in the Mill</hi>, V., 2, Bustopha: +</p> +<p> +Oh mountain, shalt thou call a molehill a scab upon the face of the earth? +</p></note> +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Coriolanus</hi>, V., 3, 29: +</p> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 18'>My mother bows;</l> +<l>As if Olympus to a molehill should</l> +<l>In supplication nod.</l> +</lg> + +<pb n='165'/><anchor id='Pg165'/> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Duke of Milan</hi>, III., 1, 204: +</p> + +<lg> +<l>Thou didst not borrow of Vice her indirect,</l> +<l>Crooked, and abject means.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>2 Henry IV</hi>, IV., 5, 184: +</p> + +<lg> +<l>God knows, my son,</l> +<l>By what by-paths and indirect crook'd ways</l> +<l>I met this crown.<note place='foot'><p><hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>False One</hi>, III., 1, 28: +</p> +<p> +Let indirect and crooked counsels vanish. +</p></note></l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Great Duke of Florence</hi>, II., 2, 12: +</p> + +<lg> +<l>Yes, and drink more in two hours</l> +<l>Than the Dutchman or the Dane in four and twenty.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Hamlet</hi>, I., 4, 18: +</p> + +<lg> +<l>This heavy-headed revel east and west</l> +<l>Makes us traduced and tax'd of other nations.</l> +<l>They clepe us drunkards, and with swinish phrase</l> +<l>Soil our addition.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +(<hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also <hi rend='italic'>Othello</hi>, II., 3, 78-87.) +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Parliament of Love</hi>, IV., 5, 137: +</p> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 26'>Now, as a schoolboy,</l> +<l>Does kiss the rod that gave him chastisement.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Richard II</hi>, V., 1, 31: +</p> + +<lg> +<l>And wilt thou, pupil-like,</l> +<l>Take thy correction mildly, kiss the rod?</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Two Gentlemen of Verona</hi>, I., 2, 58: +</p> + +<lg> +<l>That, like a testy babe, will scratch the nurse,</l> +<l>And presently, all humbled, kiss the rod.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Unnatural Combat</hi>, IV., 2, 6: +</p> + +<lg> +<l>Let his passion work, and like a hot-reined horse</l> +<l>'Twill quickly tire itself.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Henry VIII</hi>, I., 1, 132-4: +</p> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 32'>Anger is like</l> +<l>A full-hot horse, who being allow'd his way</l> +<l>Self-mettle tires him.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Emperor of the East</hi>, III., 1, 2: +</p> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 20'>A sudden fever</l> +<l>Kept me at home.</l> +</lg> + +<pb n='166'/><anchor id='Pg166'/> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Henry VIII</hi>, I., 1, 5: +</p> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 20'>An untimely ague</l> +<l>Stay'd me a prisoner in my chamber.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>A Very Woman</hi>, II., 1, 20: +</p> + +<lg> +<l>The furnace of your father's anger.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Bondman</hi>, III., 3, 170: +</p> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 26'>Or yield up</l> +<l>Our bodies to the furnace of their fury,</l> +<l>Thrice heated with revenge.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Henry VIII</hi>, I., 1, 140: +</p> + +<lg> +<l>Heat not a furnace for your foe so hot</l> +<l>That it do singe yourself.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Virgin Martyr</hi>, V., 2, 158: +</p> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 26'>And now, in the evening,</l> +<l>When thou should'st pass with honour to thy rest,</l> +<l>Wilt thou fall like a meteor?</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Henry VIII</hi>, III., 2, 226: +</p> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 30'>I shall fall</l> +<l>Like a bright exhalation in the evening,</l> +<l>And no man see me more.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Guardian</hi>, V., 4, 115: +</p> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 18'>In this casket are</l> +<l>Inestimable jewels.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Richard III</hi>, I., 4, 27: +</p> + +<lg> +<l>Inestimable stones, unvalued jewels.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Picture</hi>, I., 2, 17: +</p> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 20'>Since this bubble honour</l> +<l>(Which is indeed the nothing soldiers fight for)</l> +<l>With the loss of limbs or life, is in my judgment</l> +<l>Too dear a purchase.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>As You Like It</hi>, II., 7, 152: +</p> + +<lg> +<l>Seeking the bubble reputation</l> +<l>Even in the cannon's mouth.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Picture</hi>, II., 2, 136: +</p> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 18'>It continuing doubtful</l> +<l>Upon whose tents plum'd victory would take</l> +<l>Her glorious stand.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Othello</hi>, III., 3, 349: +</p> + +<lg> +<l>Farewell the plumèd troops, and the big wars,</l> +<l>That make ambition virtue!</l> +</lg> + +<pb n='167'/><anchor id='Pg167'/> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Virgin Martyr</hi>, V., 2, 82: +</p> + +<lg> +<l>There is a scene that I must act alone.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Romeo and Juliet</hi>, IV., 3, 19: +</p> + +<lg> +<l>My dismal scene I needs must act alone.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Great Duke of Florence</hi>, III., 1, 57: +</p> + +<lg> +<l>What you deliver to me shall be lock'd up</l> +<l>In a strong cabinet, of which you yourself</l> +<l>Shall keep the key.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Hamlet</hi>, I., 3, 85. +</p> + +<lg> +<l>'Tis in my memory locked,</l> +<l>And you yourself shall keep the key of it.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Believe as You List</hi>, I., 2, 18: +</p> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 16'>When he smiles, let such</l> +<l>Beware as have to do with him, for then,</l> +<l>Sans doubt, he's bent on mischief.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Hamlet</hi>, I., 5, 107: +</p> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 24'>Meet it is I set it down,</l> +<l>That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Old Law</hi>, IV., 1, 36: +</p> + +<p> +Besides, there will be charges saved too; the same rosemary +that serves for the funeral will serve for the wedding.<note place='foot'>Compare also <hi rend='italic'>Eastward Ho!</hi> Act II.: <hi rend='smallcaps'>Golding.</hi> Let me +beseech you, no, sir: the superfluity and cold meat left at +their nuptials will with bounty furnish ours.—Act III., 2: +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Quicksilver.</hi> Your father, and some one more, stole to +church with them in all the haste, that the cold meat left at +your wedding might serve to furnish their nuptial table.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Hamlet</hi>, I., 2, 180: +</p> + +<lg> +<l>Thrift, thrift, Horatio! the funeral baked meats</l> +<l>Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Parliament of Love</hi>, III., 3, 133: +</p> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 30'>A hurtful vow</l> +<l>Is in the breach of it better commended,</l> +<l>Than in the keeping.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Hamlet</hi>, I., 4, 15: +</p> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 38'>It is a custom</l> +<l>More honour'd in the breach than the observance.</l> +</lg> + +<pb n='168'/><anchor id='Pg168'/> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Guardian</hi>, V., 1, 44: +</p> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 20'>These woods, Severino,</l> +<l>Shall more than seem to me a populous city.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Othello</hi>, I., 1, 77: +</p> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 18'>The fire is spied</l> +<l>In populous cities.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +(<hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also IV., 1, 64.) +</p> + +</quote> + +<p> +We may infer that Massinger studied the Folio of 1623 +carefully. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<anchor id='Appendix_V'/> +<head>Appendix V. Warburton's List</head> + +<p> +(<hi rend='italic'>Lansdowne MSS., B. M., 807.</hi>) +</p> + +<p> +This volume contains three plays, the only survivors of +Warburton's collection: <hi rend='italic'>The Queen of Corsica</hi>, by Fran. +Jaques, <hi rend='italic'>The Second Maiden's Tragedy</hi>, and <hi rend='italic'>The Bugbears</hi>, +together with a fragment of a fourth, R. Wild's <hi rend='italic'>Benefice</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +On the back of the first leaf of this volume is attached the +list of Warburton's collection, in his own hand. The entries +referring to Massinger are as follows: I preserve the spelling. +</p> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Minerva's Sacrifice.</hi> Phill. Masenger.</l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>The Forc'd Lady a T.</hi> Phill. Massinger.</l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Antonio & Vallia</hi>, by Phill. Massinger.</l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>The Woman's Plott.</hi> Phill. Massinger.</l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>The Tyrant</hi>, a tragedy, by Phill. Massenger.</l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Philenzo and Hipolito</hi>, a C. by Phill. Massenger.</l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>The Judge</hi>, a C. by Phill. Massenger.</l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Fast and Welcome</hi>, by Phill. Massinger.</l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Believe as You List</hi>, C. by Phill. Massinger.</l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>The Honour of Women</hi>, a C. by P. Massinger.</l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Alexius or the Chaste Gallant</hi>, T. P. Massinger.</l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>The Noble Choise</hi>, T.C. P. Massinger.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>The Parliament of Love</hi> is attributed to Wm. Rowley. The +versification of the play which we have under that name +is far above Rowley's powers, nor are there signs of collaboration +in the play, as far as we can tell. +</p> + +<p> +The list has been carefully discussed by Mr. W. W. Greg in +his article, <q>The Bakings of Betsy,</q> in <hi rend='italic'>The Library</hi> (July, 1911). +</p> + +<pb n='169'/><anchor id='Pg169'/> + +<p> +He puts the matter thus: Warburton enters <hi rend='italic'>Minerva's Sacrifice</hi> +and <hi rend='italic'>The Forc'd Lady</hi> as above. In the <hi rend='italic'>Stationers' Register</hi>, +Sept. 9, 1653, these titles are given as alternatives for the same +play. This might mean that Moseley was trying to smuggle +through two plays for a single fee. Mr. Greg is inclined to +give Moseley the benefit of the doubt, and to suppose that there +were plays existing in divergent versions, which would justify +the double titles. If, however, Moseley was honest, Warburton +cannot be correct. Mr. Greg suggests that Warburton, being +interested in old plays, and having access to the <hi rend='italic'>Stationers' +Register</hi>, drew up for his own use a list, mainly based on +Moseley's entries, containing the titles of such pieces as he +thought it might be possible to recover, and added the names of +those in his possession. The cook destroyed some of the plays, +and Warburton, discovering his loss, added the famous memorandum +to the text without remembering that it contained the +names of plays which he did not possess. In this case the +damage done by <q>Betsy</q> would not be so extensive as has +been believed. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<anchor id='Appendix_VI'/> +<head>Appendix VI. A Metrical Peculiarity In Massinger</head> + +<p> +Our dramatic writers must have often felt that their metre +required variety to relieve it from the dangers of facility and +monotony. No doubt the same problem suggested itself to +Homer and the Greek dramatists. In the former, the frequent +pauses after the first foot or in the middle of the second +foot, in the latter, the much-discussed pauses after the first +foot, are as likely to be due to a desire for variety as to any +special emphasis on the particular words thus singled out.<note place='foot'>For this frequent effect in Homer <hi rend='italic'>cf.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>Iliad</hi>, I., lines 100, 103, +132, 139, 144, 160, 184, 195, etc. In the <hi rend='italic'>Agamemnon</hi> and +<hi rend='italic'>Alcestis</hi>, to take no other plays, note the following: <hi rend='italic'>Agamemnon</hi> +15, 1047, 1079, 1123; <hi rend='italic'>Alcestis</hi>, 154, 181, 203, 339, 347, 619.</note> +</p> + +<p> +In what ways did the Elizabethans secure variety?<note place='foot'>The quadrisyllabic scansion of such a word as <q>remission</q> +(<hi rend='italic'>Parliament of Love</hi>, II., 2, 107) has not, in my opinion, any +metrical significance in Massinger. It is, indeed, very frequently +found, so frequently as to be no criterion of his style. +I fancy that it may be more often found in passages which he +wrote against time, or when his head was tired.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='170'/><anchor id='Pg170'/> + +<p> +1. By the use of rhyme. This was the early solution. +Massinger does not often resort to rhyme, though in some +of his plays, notably in <hi rend='italic'>The Roman Actor</hi>, he several times +employs the well-known couplet at the end of a scene. +</p> + +<p> +2. By the free use of the eleven-syllable line. This was +Fletcher's solution. It is astonishing how the pleasure which +the occasional use of this licence gives us turns to a feeling +of satiety and weakness when it is too freely employed, so +that many passages in Fletcher sound like a horse with a fit +of roaring. +</p> + +<p> +3. In the free use of trisyllabic feet. This fact has been +recently brought before the public by Mr. Bayfield in connexion +with Shakspere. There is no need to quote instances +of this common and easy expedient. +</p> + +<p> +4. By the occasional use of short lines. As has been pointed +out above,<note place='foot'>Page <ref target='Pg059'>59</ref>, n. 1.</note> Massinger is a strict metrist, and does not often +resort to this liberty, even in rapid conversation. +</p> + +<p> +5. By skilful variation of pauses, such as we find in Milton, +Tennyson, and most of our modern writers of blank verse. +Massinger's flexible and meandering sentences contain many +examples of such variation. +</p> + +<p> +I believe that he had another shaft in his quiver. He occasionally +suppressed a short syllable at the close of the line, +and more rarely in the early part, with the result that an +anapaestic lilt of some effectiveness makes its appearance. +An example from <hi rend='italic'>The Emperor of the East</hi> will make this clear. +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Pulcheria.</hi> What ís thy náme?</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Athenais.</hi> The forlorn Áthenáis (I., 1, 342).</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +If the stresses are placed as above, it is clear that there is a +syllable suppressed after the word <q>forlorn,</q> a three-syllable +foot in the third place, and an anapaestic lilt, <q>the forlorn.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Nor is Massinger alone in this device; instances from other +poets are quoted below. This theory conflicts with the dictum +<pb n='171'/><anchor id='Pg171'/> +of Schmidt in his Shaksperian lexicon, that words like +<q>forlorn,</q> <q>complete,</q> <q>supreme,</q> <q>conceal'd,</q> can be +stressed either on the first or second syllable, the stress +being on the first syllable when the stress in the following +word falls on the first syllable. Presumably Schmidt would +have scanned the line in question thus: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>What ís thy náme? The fórlorn Áthenáis.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +Schmidt's dictum, however, will not explain all the cases +quoted below, and it is worth considering whether it is not a +simpler solution of the problem to suppose that our Elizabethan +poets combined uniformity of accent with variety in +the metre, sometimes applied more than once in the same line. +It is clear that lines which contain a past participle like <q>condemned</q> +cannot be used for the purposes of this argument, +as such words may have been scanned as two syllables or three. +</p> + +<p> +The following cases will support my suggestion. The list +does not profess to be a complete summary of the evidence. +</p> + +<p> +1. <hi rend='italic'>The Emperor of the East</hi>, III., 4, 139: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>To búild me úp a compléte^prínce, 'tis gránted.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +2. <hi rend='italic'>The Duke of Milan</hi>, III., 1, 32: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Mónkeys and páraquíttos consúme^thóusands.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +(Here the first foot is a trochee. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>infra</hi>, Nos. 6, 8, 20, +21, 36, 43, 48.) +</p> + +<p> +3. <hi rend='italic'>The Bondman</hi>, I., 1, 65: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Of stránge and resérved párts; but a gréat^sóldier.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +4. <hi rend='italic'>The Bondman</hi>, II., 1, 143: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Which súllied wíth the tóuch of impúre^hánds.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +5. <hi rend='italic'>The Bondman</hi>, III., 3, 89: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Were thís sad spéctaclé for secúre^gréatness.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +6. <hi rend='italic'>The Bondman</hi>, IV., 3, 192: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Máde for your sátisfáction, the póor^wrétch.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +7. <hi rend='italic'>The Bondman</hi>, V., 2, 20: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>All éngines tó assáult him. Indéed^vírtue.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +8. <hi rend='italic'>The Renegado</hi>, I., 1, 81: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Ín a relígious schóol, where divíne^máxims.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +9. <hi rend='italic'>The Renegado</hi>, I., 3, 152: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Have cálled your ánger ón, in a frówn^shów it.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<pb n='172'/><anchor id='Pg172'/> + +<p> +10. <hi rend='italic'>The Renegado</hi>, II., 4, 58: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Displéasures agaínst^thóse, withóut whose mércy.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +11. <hi rend='italic'>The Renegado</hi>, III., 2, 36: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>I é'er had íreful fiérceness, a stéel'd^héart.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +12. <hi rend='italic'>The Renegado</hi>, IV., 3, 79: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Forsáke a sevére,^náy, impérious místress.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +13. <hi rend='italic'>The Renegado</hi>, V., 1, 7: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>That wíll for éver árm me agaínst^féars.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +14. <hi rend='italic'>The Great Duke of Florence</hi>, I., 1, 127: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>And íf my grácious úncle, the gréat^dúke.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +15. <hi rend='italic'>The Great Duke of Florence</hi>, I., 2, 29: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>To thínk her wórthy of yóu, besídes^chíldren.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +16. <hi rend='italic'>The Great Duke of Florence</hi>, II., 1, 133: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>And máke a pláin discóvery. The dúke's^cáre.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +17. <hi rend='italic'>The Great Duke of Florence</hi>, II., 3, 66: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>The swéetness óf her bréath. Such a bráve^státure.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +18. <hi rend='italic'>The Great Duke of Florence</hi>, III., 1, 66: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>On whát desígn, or whíther, the dúke's^wíll.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +19. <hi rend='italic'>The Great Duke of Florence</hi>, IV., 1, 102: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>And píety bé forgótten. The dúke's^lúst.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +20. <hi rend='italic'>The Great Duke of Florence</hi>, V., 2, 3: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Ín the great státes it cóvers. The dúke's^pléasure.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +21. <hi rend='italic'>The Great Duke of Florence</hi>, V., 3, 127: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Équal offénders, whát we shall spéak^poínts.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +22. <hi rend='italic'>The City Madam</hi>, III., 3, 78: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Relígious chárity; to sénd^ínfidéls.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +23. <hi rend='italic'>The Bashful Lover</hi>, III., 3, 90: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>And sénsual báseness; íf thy profáne^hánd.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +24. <hi rend='italic'>The Bashful Lover</hi>, IV., 2, 60: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>'Tis ímpióus in mán to prescríbe^límits.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +25. <hi rend='italic'>The Bashful Lover</hi>, V., 3, 179: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>There's nó conténding agáinst^déstiný.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +26. <hi rend='italic'>A Very Woman</hi>, II., 3, 42: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Not fár off dístant, appéars^dím with énvy.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +27. <hi rend='italic'>The Unnatural Combat</hi>, IV., 1, 35: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Yet wáking, I' ne'er chérished obscéne^hópes.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<pb n='173'/><anchor id='Pg173'/> + +<p> +28. <hi rend='italic'>Believe as You List</hi>, I., 1, 144: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>And secúre^gréatness wíth the trúe relátion.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +29. <hi rend='italic'>Believe as You List</hi>, I., 2, 10: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>A póint of jústice, his wórds^fúll in méasure.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +30. <hi rend='italic'>Believe as You List</hi>, II., 2, 265: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Undergó the sáme^púnishmént which óthers.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +31. <hi rend='italic'>The Guardian</hi>, I., 1, 285: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>This profáne^lánguage. Práy you, bé a mán.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +32. <hi rend='italic'>The Guardian</hi>, I., 2, 21: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Your hónour detésts^fláttery, Í might sáy.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +33. Epilogue 2: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Tó the still dóubtful áuthor, at whát^ráte.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +34. <hi rend='italic'>The Parliament of Love</hi>, II., 3, 26: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>You nów expréss yoursélf a compléte^lóver.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +35. <hi rend='italic'>The Parliament of Love</hi>, III., 2, 149: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>To háve the gréatest bléssing, a trúe^fríend.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +36. <hi rend='italic'>The Parliament of Love</hi>, IV., 1, 95: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Cást yourself ón her cóuch. Oh, divíne^dóctor!</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +37. <hi rend='italic'>The Parliament of Love</hi>, V., 1, 69: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>The módern víces. Begín;^réad the bílls.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +38. <hi rend='italic'>The Parliament of Love</hi>, V., 1, 184: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>The ápplicátion, ánd in a pláin^stýle.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +39. <hi rend='italic'>The Parliament of Love</hi>, V., 1, 520: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Led thríce through Páris; thén at the cóurt,^gáte.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +40. <hi rend='italic'>The Picture</hi>, I., 1, 48: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Of the sóuls^rávishing músic; the sáme^áge.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +(A highly irregular line.) +</p> + +<p> +41. <hi rend='italic'>The Picture</hi>, I., 2, 73: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Are búried in hér; the lóud^nóise of|wár.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +42. <hi rend='italic'>The Picture</hi>, I., 2, 106: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Her kíngly cáptive abóve^áll the wórld.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +43. <hi rend='italic'>The Picture</hi>, I., 2, 184: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Dóted on thís Semiramís, a kíng's^wífe.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +(The third foot here is u u u u.) +</p> + +<p> +44. <hi rend='italic'>The Picture</hi>, I., 2, 248: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Beyónd my júst propórtion. Abóve^wónder!</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<pb n='174'/><anchor id='Pg174'/> + +<p> +45. <hi rend='italic'>The Picture</hi>, II., 1, 35: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Appéar, and, what's móre, appéar^pérfect, híss me.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +46. <hi rend='italic'>The Picture</hi>, II., 1, 66: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Their fáirest íssue to méet^sénsuálly.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +47. <hi rend='italic'>The Picture</hi>, II., 1, 165: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>My énd must bé to stánd in a córn^fíeld.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +48. <hi rend='italic'>The Picture</hi>, II., 2, 286: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Í should fix hére, where bléssings beyónd^hópe.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +49. <hi rend='italic'>The Picture</hi>, III., 2, 40: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>They thánk'd the bríngers óf it. The póor^lády.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +50. <hi rend='italic'>The Picture</hi>, III., 5, 161: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>What cán you stáke against it. A quéen's^fáme.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +51. <hi rend='italic'>The Picture</hi>, IV., 4, 64: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>If thís take nót, I am chéated. To slíp^ónce.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +52. <hi rend='italic'>The Picture</hi>, V., 3, 11: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Befóre he góes to súpper. Ha! Is my hóuse^túrn'd.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +(The fourth foot is u u u —.) +</p> + +<p> +53. <hi rend='italic'>The Picture</hi>, V., 3, 40: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>And néed no tútor. Thís is the gréat^kíng.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +It will be noted that the rhythm often occurs in a broken +line—<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, a line divided between two speakers. <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> Nos. 7, +20, 36, 44, 50, 51, 52, 53. (<hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also <hi rend='italic'>The Emperor of the East</hi>, +I., 1, 342.) +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>The False One</hi>, I., 1: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>What néarer plédges chállenge: résign^ráther.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>The False One</hi>, V., 4: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>The stóry óf a supréme^mónarchý.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>The Prophetess</hi>, I., 3: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Chéerful and gráteful tákers the góds^lóve.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>The Prophetess</hi>, I., 3: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Nor múst I revéal^fúrther, till you cléar it.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>The Prophetess</hi>, III., 1: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>For ládies of high^márk, for divíne^beáuties.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>The Lover's Progress</hi>, I., 1: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>To Cúpid agáinst^Hýmen! Óh, mine hónour.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<pb n='175'/><anchor id='Pg175'/> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>The Fair Maid of the Inn</hi>, I., 1: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>A compléte^cóurtier! máy I livé to sée him.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Thierry and Theodoret</hi>, IV., 2: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Thou dóst throw chárms upón me, agáinst^whích.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Thierry and Theodoret</hi>, IV., 2: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Aṅd the place whére, the pálace, agáinst,^áll.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Jew of Malta</hi>, I., 2: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>And extréme^tórtures óf the fíery déep.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Dr. Faustus</hi>, I., 1: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>And Í that háve with concíse^sýllogísms.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Nero</hi>, I., 4: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>O sevére^ánger óf the highest góds.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rule a Wife</hi>, I., 1: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>For thére I dáre be bóld to appéar^óften.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>The Maid in the Mill</hi>, I., 3: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Now by' the sóul of lóve, a divíne^créature.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Henry VIII</hi>, II., 1, 11: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>I'll téll you ín a líttle. The gréat^dúke.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +I believe that many of the rhythms from Shakespeare quoted +by Schmidt and by Mr. R. Bridges in his <q>Milton's Prosody,</q> +can be explained in this way. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<anchor id='Appendix_VII'/> +<head>Appendix VII. <q>Believe As You List</q></head> + +<p> +This play was edited by Mr. T. Crofton Croker, with a short +Preface, in the Percy Society's Publications, Vol. XXVII., +1849. The Tudor Society has published a photographic +facsimile of the MS., now in the British Museum (Egerton +MSS., 2828). <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> B.M. Catalogue of Additions, 1907, p. 384. +The MS. was purchased for the Museum at a sale on November +27, 1900, for £69. It is of paper. The original document, +measuring 12-1/2 inches by 7-1/2 inches, comprises folios +5 to 29; folios 2 and 3 are the old vellum cover. +</p> + +<pb n='176'/><anchor id='Pg176'/> + +<p> +Mr. Croker's account of the MS. (Pref., p. ix) runs as follows: +</p> + +<p> +<q>The MS., from its commencement to the termination of the +licence, was written on forty-eight pages of foolscap paper, +in a small hand, sometimes not easy to be read. Of the +second leaf only an inconsiderable portion remains, and the +top and bottom of the paper have been injured in some places +by damp. In four additional pages after the licence, the Prologue, +Epilogue, and property directions are preserved. +The MS. is stitched up in a parchment cover, which appears to +have been a cancelled <q>Indenture</q> of Elizabeth's reign. +On the outside page of this parchment, or back of the cancelled +indenture, is written the title, in what I agree with Mr. +Beltz in regarding as Massinger's autograph.</q><note place='foot'>The autograph and Herbert's Imprimatur are reproduced +in facsimile in the Percy Society volume. But would Massinger +have referred to himself as <hi rend='italic'>Mr.</hi> Massenger [<hi rend='italic'>sic</hi>]?</note> +</p> + +<p> +From the letter of Mr. S. Beltz, given by Mr. Crofton Croker, +we learn that Gifford had more than once lamented to Mr. +Croker the disappearance of this MS., which Colley Cibber +had seen;<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Apology</hi>, ii. 203. C. Cibber, in a list of dramatic authors, +makes reference to Massinger's plays. He says: <q>Mr. Massinger, +I believe, was author of several other dramatic pieces: +one I have seen in MS., which I am assured was acted, by the +proper quotations, etc. The title runs thus: <q>Believe as you +list, written by Mr. Massinger, with the following licence: +<q>This play, called <q>Believe as you list,</q> may be acted this +6th of May, 1631. Henry Herbert.</q></q></q> Malone (<hi rend='italic'>Shakspere</hi>, +vol. iii., p. 230) gives the date (<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, of the actual performance +as May 7th, 1631.</note> and that the MS. had formerly been in David +Garrick's hands. Mr. S. Beltz also says: <q>It is well known +from other sources that the play was acted on May 7, 1631.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The MS. had belonged to George Beltz, Lancaster Herald, +and executor of Garrick's widow. His brother Samuel found +it among <q>a mass of rubbish.</q> It was in the possession of +J. O. Halliwell Phillips at one time. This well-known Shaksperian +scholar inserted a note about it on p. 1, in which he +says, <hi rend='italic'>inter alia</hi>: <q>This is one of the few play-house copies of +any English plays before the suppression of theatres known +to exist. I strongly suspect it has some corrections in Massinger's +own autograph.</q> +</p> + +<pb n='177'/><anchor id='Pg177'/> + +<p> +Sir George F. Warner, in the <hi rend='italic'>Athenæum</hi> (January 19, 1901) +discusses the MS. He believes it is in Massinger's own hand, +as the alterations are made <foreign rend='italic'>currente calamo</foreign>. This fact can +easily be verified from a perusal of the MS. Sir G. Warner, +after comparing the MS. with the Henslowe document at +Dulwich, arrived at the conviction that the writing was +Massinger's. He considers that the title and marginal stage-directions +are due to the manager, and that the Prologue and +Epilogue are in a third hand. He points out that <q>Carthage</q> +is written over <q>Venice</q> (Crofton Croker, p. 41), <q>Affricque</q> +over <q>Europe</q> (p. 44), and <q>Berecinthius</q> over <q>Sampayo</q> +(p. 79).<note place='foot'>The references are as follows: II., 2, 368; III., 1, 20; +IV., 3, initial stage direction.</note> He proceeds to explain the reason for these alterations, +and then emends some of Mr. Croker's mistakes. +</p> + +<p> +With all due deference to the great authority of Sir G. +Warner, I do not feel certain that this hand is that of the appeal +to Henslow. On the other hand, we must remember that +seventeen years had elapsed, and that it is unlikely that a +poor man like Massinger would have employed an amanuensis. +Capital <q>I,</q> <q>s,</q> <q>f,</q> and <q>e</q> are alike in the two documents; +but <q>ve</q> in <q>have ever</q> did not seem to me to be +the same, nor did any of the <q>r's</q> at Dulwich resemble the +hand in the play.<note place='foot'><p>Beside the Henslow document there are to be seen at +Dulwich College four signatures of Massinger, in a beautiful +clear hand; three of these are attached to leases of Alleyn's, +and the fourth is added to Daborne's signature to the document +mentioned by Cunningham in his Preface (p. xii.). The poem +<q><hi rend='italic'>Sero sed serio</hi></q> is to be found in B.M. Royal MSS. XVIII., +A. 20. The signature is identical with the Dulwich signatures. +The poem itself is in another hand, with many flourishes. +</p> +<p> +The only reason for supposing it to be the poet's, besides his +poverty, is an erasure in line 14, which runs thus: +</p> +<p> +then<lb/> +Being,^silent then, +</p> +<p> +which looks like a correction made by the author himself, +<foreign rend='italic'>currente calamo</foreign>. The hand of <hi rend='italic'>The Second Maiden's Tragedy</hi> +does not resemble that of <hi rend='italic'>Believe as You List</hi>. The hand of +<hi rend='italic'>Sir John Van Olden Barnavelt</hi> is uniform throughout. It is +neat and full of flourishes, especially in the letter L. It is, +of course, possible that Massinger wrote this in 1619. The +stage directions are in a bolder hand and deep black ink. +They are plainly part of the MS., and not later insertions like +those in <hi rend='italic'>Believe as You List</hi>. I incline to think the writing +is all due to an amanuensis. There is very little correction +in the play, except that several long passages are very thoroughly +scrawled out.</p></note> +</p> + +<pb n='178'/><anchor id='Pg178'/> + +<p> +There are few mistakes in the MS. beyond those which the +writer has corrected himself. The corrections and additions +all appear to be in the same hand. The simplest explanation +of the MS. is to suppose that Massinger had before him the +MS. of the play which had been condemned by the Censor, +and that he copied it out again, making the necessary changes +of name, etc. This would account for one or two mistakes +which the writer has corrected.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> Appendix VIII.: I., 1, 26; I., 2, 186; II., 1, 51; II., 2, +217; II., 2, 368; III., 1, 20; IV., 3, stage direction.</note> In other passages we can +see his judgment at work, altering the phraseology,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> Appendix VIII.: I., 1, 60; I., 2, 67; I., 2, 72; II., 2, +52; II., 2, 56; III., 3, 151; III., 3, 234; IV., 1, 7.</note> or expanding +one line into two.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> Appendix VIII.: II., 2, 285; IV., 1, 5; IV., 3, 44.</note> Sometimes a word is repeated +from a previous line and then cancelled,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> Appendix VIII.: II., 2, 98; II., 2, 240; III., 3, 166; +IV., 4, 45.</note> as if the writer had +been tired, as he might well be. The writing combines German +and Italian forms. +</p> + +<p> +The play was remodelled from its original form by order of +the Censor.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> p. 15, n. 1.</note> Sir G. Warner has pointed out that it is derived +from <q>the strangest adventure that ever happened, either +in the ages passed or present: containing a discourse concerning +the successe of the King of Portugal, Dom Sebastian. London: +printed for Frances Henson, dwelling in the Blackfriers, 1601.</q><note place='foot'>Koeppel (<hi rend='italic'>Quellen-Studien</hi>) traces the story to P. V. P. +Cayet's <hi rend='italic'>Chronologie Septenaire</hi>, Paris, 1605. He does not +seem to have consulted <hi rend='italic'>The Strangest Adventure</hi>, a copy of +which may be seen in the British Museum. <hi rend='italic'>The True History +of the Late and Lamentable Adventures of D. S.</hi> (London, 1602) +begins with the imprisonment at Naples, and agrees with +Cayet almost verbally until the latter part. <hi rend='italic'>The Continuation +of the Lamentable Adventures</hi> (London, 1603) is very dull, +and contributes nothing except the advice of an old man to +Sebastian, which may have suggested the first scene of the play. +The two tracts are to be found in Harleian Miscellany +(iv., 403; v., 443). <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also Scott-Saintsbury's <hi rend='italic'>Dryden</hi>, vii., +p. 309, <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> The English pamphlets are based on the <hi rend='italic'>Aventure +Amirable</hi>, published in 1601. (<hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> Bullen's <hi rend='italic'>Peele</hi>, i, 227.) +Massinger must have used Cayet for the incidents in the +latter part of the play.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='179'/><anchor id='Pg179'/> + +<p> +This book is the story of a claimant to the throne of Portugal. +On p. 78 we have <q>the markes and signes which the King of +Portugall Dom Sebastian beares naturally on his body.</q> +Twenty-two in all are given. Among them are: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>(1) He hath the right hand greater than the left.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +(2) The right arme longer than the left. +</p> + +<p> +(5) The right legge is longer than the left. +</p> + +<p> +(6) The right foote greater than the other. +</p> +</quote> + +<p> +Compare these statements with the words erased in the MS., +folio 8.<note place='foot'>After Berecinthius says <q>His stature! speech!</q> in I., 2, +186.</note> +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<p> +1 <hi rend='smallcaps'>Marchant</hi>: +</p> + +<lg> +<l>His verie hand legge and foote, and the lefte side</l> +<l>Shorter than on the right.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>(12) He hath little pimples on his face and hands.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> 2 <hi rend='smallcaps'>Marchant</hi>: +</p> + +<lg> +<l>The moles upon</l> +<l>His face and hands<note place='foot'>I., 2, 187.</note></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>(21) Another marke or wound upon the head.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>(22) Another upon the right eye-brow.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> 3 <hi rend='smallcaps'>Marchant</hi>: +</p> + +<lg> +<l>The scarres, caused by his hurts,</l> +<l>On his right browe and head.<note place='foot'>I., 2, 188.</note></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>(14) He lackes one tooth on the right side in the neather jaw.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> <hi rend='smallcaps'>Berecinthius</hi>: +</p> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 20'>The hollownesse</l> +<l>Of his under jawe, occasion'd by the losse</l> +<l>Of a tooth pull'd out by his chirurgion.<note place='foot'>I., 2, 189.</note></l> +</lg> + +<pb n='180'/><anchor id='Pg180'/> + +<lg> +<l>(18) The lip of Austriche,<note place='foot'>The <q>Austrian lip</q> is one of the features Mistress Carol +ascribes to Fairfield in Shirley's <hi rend='italic'>Hyde Park</hi> (III., 2).</note> like his</l> +<l>Grandfather Charles the Fift, Emperor,</l> +<l>Father to his mother, and of his</l> +<l>Grandmother, Catherine, Queen of</l> +<l>Portugall, mother to his father, sister</l> +<l>To the said Charles the Fift.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +Compare the original reading in the play,<note place='foot'>I., 2, 186.</note> <q>His nose! his +German lippe!</q> Over German <q>very</q> has been written, and +underneath is traceable the <q>A</q> of Austrian. +</p> + +<p> +These passages leave no doubt as to the derivation of the +earlier part of the story which Massinger dramatised. +</p> + +<p> +On p. 45 of <hi rend='italic'>The Strangest Adventure</hi> we read that Dom +Sebastian comes to Venice <q>very poorely, and robbed by five +of his own servants, which he entertained in Cicilie.</q> This +incident occurs in <hi rend='italic'>Believe as You List</hi>, Act I. At Venice he +was persecuted by the <q>embassadour of Castile,</q> whose name +is not given, but whose place in the play is taken by Flaminius. +On p. 49 he is said to have been beaten by the Moors in Africa +in 1578, and to be now (1600) a prisoner at Venice. In <hi rend='italic'>Believe +as You List</hi> the period of twenty-two years is referred to as +the interval during which Antiochus has been travelling about +the world.<note place='foot'>I., 1, 64.</note> On p. 50 Dom Sebastian arrives at Venice with +<q>but one poor gazete.</q> In the play Antiochus, after being +robbed by his servants, finds <q>a waste paper</q> lying near him, +and speaks as follows: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 20'>There is something writ more.</l> +<l>Why this small piece of silver? What I read may</l> +<l>Reveal the mystery: <q rend='pre'>Forget thou wert ever</q></l> +<l>Called King Antiochus. With this charity</l> +<l><q rend='post'>I enter thee a beggar.</q><note place='foot'>I., 1, 135.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +On p. 67 Sebastian is set free, and on p. 86 he goes to +Florence, on his way to Marseilles, with some talk of trying +to establish his identity in Holland. But the narrative closes +abruptly, and we know no more of the claimant to the Portuguese +throne from <hi rend='italic'>The Strangest Adventure</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +The ineffectiveness of the play may be partly due to the +necessity of altering the original modern setting to an ancient +<pb n='181'/><anchor id='Pg181'/> +one. It is hard, for example, to see how the monk Sampayo was +metamorphosed into Berecinthius, the fat priest of Cybele. +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Croker's reprint was the cause of a very pretty literary +quarrel between the Shakespeare Society and the Percy +Society. A writer who signed himself <q>A Member of both +Societies</q> published a pamphlet animadverting on Mr. +Croker's abilities as an editor,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Shakespeare Society's Papers</hi>, vol. iv., art. xiv.</note> and Mr. Croker replied in no +measured terms. The documents may be seen at the British +Museum. +</p> + +<p> +The anonymous writer, working on the many indications +given in the marginal notes, reconstructed the cast of <hi rend='italic'>Believe +as You List</hi>.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Shakespeare Society's Papers</hi>, p. 138.</note> <q>My cast,</q> he says, <q rend='pre'>has been a work of difficulty, +and, in the case of some of the minor performers, a +matter of considerable doubt, more especially as a few of them +doubled or even trebled their parts; and as we here see (the +only instance of the kind I am acquainted with), perhaps +exchanged characters during the progress of the play.</q> +</p> + +<lg> +<l>Antiochus J. Taylor.<note place='foot'>Famous names. <q>Taylor acted Hamlet incomparably +well.</q> Colley Cibber's <hi rend='italic'>Apology</hi>, 2, 142</note></l> +<l>Flaminius J. Lowin.</l> +<l>Lentulus R. Robinson.</l> +<l>Marcellus R. Benfield.</l> +<l>Berecinthius T. Pollard.</l> +<l>Chrysalus E. Swanston.</l> +<l>Demetrius W. Patrick.</l> +<l>Amilcar — Rowland.</l> +<l>1 Merchant J. Honeyman.</l> +<l>2 Merchant W. Penn.</l> +<l>3 Merchant — Curt.</l> +<l>Calistus T. Hobbes.</l> +<l>Titus R. Baxter.</l> +<l>Queen to Prusias — Ball.</l> +<l>Cornelia — Nick.</l> +<l>Courtesan — Boy.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>With regard to the three female parts, and another of a +Moorish woman,<note place='foot'>V., 2, 139.</note> we are left much in the dark, and I have +placed names against them with considerable hesitation.</q> +</p> + +<pb n='182'/><anchor id='Pg182'/> + +<p> +<q>The actors who doubled their parts were W. Penn, who +was also a Jailor; Rowland, who was also King Prusias; +Patrick, who was also a Captain; and Baxter, who was also an +officer and a servant, besides, as well as we can judge, delivering +a speech or two as Demetrius. Rowland must also have +trebled his small parts. Besides these, we hear in the course +of the play of W. Mago, Gascoine, Herbert, and Harry Wilson; +the last was a singer.... It need hardly be added that the +'tragedy' was got up and acted by the Company called the +King's Players, all the names being those of performers in that +association in 1631.</q> +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<anchor id='Appendix_VIII'/> +<head>Appendix VIII. Collation Of Ms. Of <q>Believe As You List</q></head> + +<p> +This play is accessible to the general public at present in +Colonel Cunningham's edition of Massinger, and in Mr. +Arthur Symons's edition in <q>The Mermaid Series.</q> An examination +of the original MS., now in the British Museum, shows +that Cunningham's text is not always correct. Though an exhaustive +collation of the MS. is not necessary, several points +of interest emerge from a study of the original document, which +I have digested here. (C. = Cunningham's edition; MS. = +Manuscript reading. Brackets signify Cunningham's conjectural +additions, which he has not always taken the trouble +to indicate.) +</p> + +<p> +Page 595. There is no list of dramatis personae in MS. +</p> + +<p> +I., 1.—C.: Enter Antiochus and a Stoic. The three servants +enter after line 118. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: Antiochus Stoic in philosopher's habits; Chrysalus +with a writing, Syrus, Geta, bondmen. +</p> + +<p> +I., 1, 26.—C.: Stoic. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: Stoic: Hermit (cancelled). +</p> + +<pb n='183'/><anchor id='Pg183'/> + +<p> +I., 1, 56.—C.: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Old (He) sper with his fierce beams (scorch)ing in vain</l> +<l>Their (wives, their sisters and their tender daughters).</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +MS.: The line is much damaged, being the last on the +page. A mention of the old after the young +(lines 52 to 55) seems to be required. +</p> + +<p> +I read it thus: Olde men with sil ... in vain. +There is no trace of 57, but it is required by +the sense. +</p> + +<p> +I., 1, 60.—MS.: The soldiers' greedy lusts. <q>Greedy</q> deleted. +</p> + +<p> +I., 1, 85.—C.: A prey so precious and so dearly purchased. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: A prey so precious and dearly purchased. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Precious</q> is scanned as a trisyllable. +</p> + +<p> +I., 1, 117.—C.: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 16'>The imperious waves</l> +<l>(Of my) calamities have already fallen.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +MS.: <q>Of my</q> is not in MS. The last word of 118 is +<q>Swollen.</q> The word <q>Marvell</q> can be seen +at the end of a line after 118. +</p> + +<p> +Here comes a hiatus of two pages. No doubt +Antiochus had a fairly long soliloquy. It is impossible +to tell how many lines are lost here, as +the characters seem to be conducting a rapid dialogue, +in which it is not necessary to suppose +that a whole line was assigned to each speaker +at a time. +</p> + +<p> +I., 1, 119.—C.: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Despair with sable wings</l> +<l>(Sail-stretch'd ab)ove my head.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +MS.: Ore my head. A verb is wanted. (?) Sail-stretch'd +flies o'er my head. +</p> + +<p> +I., 1, 121.—MS.: ... ius furnished me. The line begins with +a name to which there is no clue, probably introduced +in the part now lost. +</p> + +<p> +I., 1, 122.—C.: (And) make my first appearance like myself. +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>MS.: Made ? Which made, etc.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +I., 1, 123.—C.: (Have these) disloyal villains ravished from +me. Addition required by sense. +</p> + +<p> +I., 1, 124.—C.: (Wret)ch that I was. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: <q>ch</q> at end of a word which has disappeared. +<q>Wretch</q> gives the sense. +</p> + +<pb n='184'/><anchor id='Pg184'/> + +<p> +I., 1, 125.—C.: (With) such a purchase. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: Such a purchase. The first word in the line has +disappeared. +</p> + +<p> +I., 1, 126.—C.: Without (the) gold to fee an advocate. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: Without gold to fee an advocate. The first word +in the line has disappeared. (?) And. +</p> + +<p> +I., 1, 127.—C.: (To) plead my royal title, nourish hope. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: Plead my royal title, nourish hope. The first word +in the line has disappeared. <q>To</q> is required. +</p> + +<p> +I., 1, 129.—C.: Wanting the outer gloss. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: Wanting the outward gloss. +</p> + +<p> +I., 1, 153.—C.: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Bids me become a beggar. But complaints are weak</l> +<l>And womanish. I will like a palm-tree grow</l> +<l>Under my (own) huge weight.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>MS.: Bids me become a beggar. But complaints</l> +<l>Are weak and womanish. I will, like a palm-tree,</l> +<l>Grow under my huge weight.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +I., 1, 155.—C.: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 22'>Nor shall the fear</l> +<l>Of death or torture that dejection bring</l> +<l>Make me (or) live or die less than a king!</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +MS. has: To make me live or die less than a king!—<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, +<q>that</q> in 156 is the demonstrative, not the +relative. +</p> + +<p> +I., 2, 2.—C.: Keeps us at such (a) distance. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: Keeps us off at such distance. +</p> + +<p> +I., 2, 20.—C.: Sans doubt, he's bent on mischief. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: Sans doubt he's bent to mischief. +</p> + +<p> +I., 2, 24.—C.: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>He shall find I can</l> +<l>Think, and aloud too.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +MS.: Chant, and aloud too. +</p> + +<p> +I., 2, 53.—C.: 'T had perfected thy life. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: It had. +</p> + +<p> +I., 2, 66.—C.: (to task). Not in MS. Traces of a word in +the beginning of a line now lost at the foot of 66. +</p> + +<pb n='185'/><anchor id='Pg185'/> + +<p> +I., 2, 67.—C.: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>If arrogantly you presume to take</l> +<l>The Roman government, your goddess cannot</l> +<l>Give privilege to it, and you'll find and feel</l> +<l>'Tis little less than treason, Flamen.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>MS.: If arrogantly you presume to tax</l> +<l>The Roman government, you'll find and feel your goddess cannot</l> +<l>Give privilege to it, and you'll find and feel</l> +<l>'Tis little less than treason, Flamen.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +<q>You'll find and feel</q> cancelled in line 68—<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, +the author changed his mind as he wrote. +</p> + +<p> +I., 2, 72.—C.: These Asiatic merchants whom you look on. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: These Asiatic merchants whom you look upon. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Merchants</q> added afterwards above the line, +and the first syllable of <q>upon</q> deleted. +</p> + +<p> +I., 2, 90.—C.: To it again. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: To it again now. +</p> + +<p> +I., 2, 139.—C.: Yet you repine and rather choose to pay. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: Yet you repined and rather chose to pay. +</p> + +<p> +I., 2, 151.—C.: And this is my last caution. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: Since this is my last caution. +</p> + +<p> +I., 2, 161.—C.: (On) which. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: Mutilated at beginning. <q>On</q> makes sense. +</p> + +<p> +I., 2, 186.—C.: His nose, his very lip. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: His nose, his German lip. <q>German</q> scratched +out, and underneath appears a word beginning +with <q>A,</q> Asian or Austrian?<note place='foot'>See p. 180, n. 1, and <hi rend='italic'>cf.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>The Alchemist</hi>, IV., 1.</note> <q>Very</q> is +written above <q>German.</q> +</p> + +<p> +I., 2, 187.—C.: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>His very hand, leg and foot!</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 30'>The moles upon</l> +<l>His face and hands.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>MS.: His own (?) hand, leg and foot, and the left side</l> +<l>Shorter than on the right.</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 28'>The moles upon</l> +<l>His face and hands.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +<q>His own</q> down to <q>the right</q> is cancelled in MS. +</p> + +<pb n='186'/><anchor id='Pg186'/> + +<p> +I., 2, 191.—C: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>1 M. To confirm us, tell us your chirurgeon's name</l> +<l>When he served you.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>A. You all knew him as I</l> +<l>Do you, Demetrius Castor.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>2 M. Strange.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>3 M. But</l> +<l>Most infallibly true.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +MS.: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>1 M. To confirm us,</l> +<l>Tell us his name when he served you.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>A. You all know him,</l> +<l>As I do you: Demetrius Castor.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>2 M. Strange.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>3 M. But most infallibly true.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +In line 192 <q>his</q> has been altered to <q>the +chirurgeon's</q> to the detriment of the metre. +</p> + +<p> +I., 2, 196.—C.: We'll pay for our distrust. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: We sin in our distrust. +</p> + +<p> +II., <hi rend='italic'>ad initium.</hi>—Stage-manager's note in left-hand margin, <q>Long.</q> +</p> + +<p> +II., 1, 6.—C: I will exact +</p> + +<p> +MS.: 'Twill exact. +</p> + +<p> +II., 1, 47.—MS.: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>We hold it fit you should have the first honour notice,</l> +<l>That you may have the honour to prevent it.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +<q>Honour</q> in 47 deleted. +</p> + +<p> +II., 1, 51.—MS.: In the shape of King Antiochus. +Under King can be seen <q>Don Sebastian.</q> +</p> + +<p> +II., 2, 45.—C: With due invitation, and remember. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: With a due invitation and remember. +</p> + +<p> +II., 2, 49.—C.: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>And though the Punic faith is branded by</l> +<l>Our enemies, our confederates and friends</l> +<l>And seventeen kings, our feodaries found it</l> +<l>As firm as fate.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>MS.: And though the Punic faith is branded by</l> +<l>Our enemies, our confederates and friends</l> +<l>Found it as firm as fate, and seventeen kings</l> +<l>Our feodaries.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<pb n='187'/><anchor id='Pg187'/> + +<p> +II., 2, 52.—MS.: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Our strength at sea superior upon the sea</l> +<l>Exceeding theirs.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +<q>At sea superior</q> deleted. A clear case of the +author's alteration as he went. +</p> + +<p> +II., 2, 56.—C.: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>And then for our cavallery, in the champaign</l> +<l>How often have they brake their piles.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>MS.: And then for our cavallery, how often, in the champaign</l> +<l>How they brake often have they brake their piles.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +<q>How often</q> in line 56. and the first <q>they +brake</q> deleted. Author's alterations again. +</p> + +<p> +II., 2, 59.—C.: If so we find it. +</p> + +<p> +MS. If so, as we find it. +</p> + +<p> +II., 2, 67.—MS.: By yielding up a man. +</p> + +<p> +Written over something of which the first words +are <q>in a,</q> the last word <q>king.</q> +</p> + +<p> +II., 2, 98.—MS.: By the conquered Asiatics this impost in their hopes. +</p> + +<p> +<q>This impost</q> deleted. <q>This impostor</q> occurs +just above in line 97. +</p> + +<p> +II., 2, 108.—C.: By her. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: By his. +</p> + +<p> +II., 2, 138.—C.: He bears him like a king. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: He bears himself like a king. +</p> + +<p> +II., 2, 142.—MS.: Ceutha deleted before Afric. +</p> + +<p> +II., 2, 165.—C.: Cannot near you. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: Cannot hear you. +</p> + +<p> +II., 2, 205.—C.: Filled. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: Filed. +</p> + +<p> +II., 2, 209.—MS.: And hath keeps a whore in Corinth. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Hath</q> deleted. +</p> + +<p> +II., 2, 217.—MS.: In the royal monument of Hib the Asian kings. +</p> + +<p> +(?) The author started to write <q>Hiberian kings.</q> +</p> + +<pb n='188'/><anchor id='Pg188'/> + +<p> +II., 2, 240.—MS.: Rebellion delivery or restoring. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Rebellion</q> deleted; it occurred in the previous +line. +</p> + +<p> +II., 2, 253.—C.: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>With reverence to</l> +<l>This place, thou liest.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>MS.: Setting aside, with reverence to</l> +<l>Thy place, the state, thou liest.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +<q>Setting aside</q> and <q>thy place</q> deleted. +</p> + +<p> +II., 2, 255.—C.: By being ... +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>MS.: By being libb'd, and my disability</l> +<l>To deflower thy sisters.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +II., 2, 256.—C.: I (bow to) your goddess. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: Thank your goddess. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Thy</q> deleted under <q>your.</q> +</p> + +<p> +II., 2, 285.—MS.: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Of brave and able men that might have stood</l> +<l>In opposition for the defence.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +<q>That might</q> down to <q>opposition</q> inserted +in same hand above the line. +</p> + +<p> +II., 2, 289.—C.: For my confed'rates. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: For my confederates. +</p> + +<p> +Required by metre. +</p> + +<p> +II., 2, 328.—MS.: Word deleted before Antiochus. Sebastian +would scan. +</p> + +<p> +II., 2, 335.—MS.: With your accustomed clemency wisdom you'll perceive. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Clemency</q> deleted. +</p> + +<p> +II., 2, 346.—MS.: Such depositions as they pleased knew would make. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Pleased</q> deleted. +</p> + +<p> +II., 2, 368.—MS.: Word deleted under <q>Carthage.</q> (?) Venice. +</p> + +<p> +III., 1, 20.—MS.: <q>Europe</q> deleted under <q>Afric.</q> +</p> + +<p> +III., 1, 22.—MS.: <q>To the good king Hiero</q> deleted under +<q>To the pro-consul Marcellus.</q> +</p> + +<p> +III., 1, 47.—C.: You'll find there that they. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: You shall find there that. +</p> + +<p> +(A nominative is wanted; unless for <q>there</q> +we read <q>them</q>) +</p> + +<pb n='189'/><anchor id='Pg189'/> + +<p> +III., 1, 62.—C.: To my (aid). +</p> + +<p> +MS.: To my wish. +</p> + +<p> +III., 1, 91.—MS.: There's thy reward. +</p> + +<p> +Underneath <q>there's,</q> <q>take</q> deleted. +</p> + +<p> +III., 1, 103.—C.: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Your travail's ended, mine begins; I take my leave.</l> +<l>Formality of manner now is useless.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>MS.: Your travail's ended, mine begins, and therefore</l> +<l>Sans ceremonie I will take my leave.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +<q>Sans ceremonie</q> deleted, and <q>formality +... useless</q> added at the end of the line. The +author omitted to cancel <q>I take my leave.</q> +</p> + +<p> +III., 2, 31.—C.: Thou thin gut! +</p> + +<p> +MS.: You thin gut! +</p> + +<p> +III., 2, 35.—MS.: Cancels from <q>Jove! if thou art</q> to 38, +<q>They come.</q> +</p> + +<p> +III., 2, 36.—C.: Change not Jove's purpose. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: Change not you Jove's purpose. +</p> + +<p> +III., 2, 106.—MS.: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>I will conjure him</l> +<l>If revenge hath any spells.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +Cancelled in MS. +</p> + +<p> +III., 3, 132.—C.: Will but—I spare comparisons. +</p> + +<p> +(?) Punctuate: Will—but I spare comparisons. +</p> + +<p> +III., 3, 150.—MS.: Of such such as are. +</p> + +<p> +Second <q>such</q> deleted. +</p> + +<p> +III., 3, 151.—MS.: Bithynia covered with our knights armies. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Knights</q> deleted. +</p> + +<p> +III., 3, 166.—MS.: And more than my his caution to you; but now peace or war. +</p> + +<p> +<q>And more than my</q> deleted. The previous +line had begun with these words. Was the author +copying a former draft of the scene? +</p> + +<p> +III., 3, 229.—C.: To cross your purpose. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: To cross your purposes. +</p> + +<p> +III., 3, 234.—MS.: The warrant and authority of a wife your queen. +</p> + +<p> +<q>A wife</q> deleted. +</p> + +<pb n='190'/><anchor id='Pg190'/> + +<p> +III., 3, 244.—C.: These (eyes) pull'd out. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: These pulled out. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Eyes</q> is required by the sense, and <q>these</q> +and <q>eyes</q> are much alike in this hand. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi>—C.: Do then. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: Do you then. +</p> + +<p> +III., 3, 248.—C.: Born deaf. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: Born dumb. +</p> + +<p> +Act IV.—Stage-manager's note in left-hand margin of 186, +<q>Long.</q> <hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> Act II. +</p> + +<p> +IV., 1.—C.: A street in Callipolis. +</p> + +<p> +Not in MS. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: Sempronius a Capturion—<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, <q>captain</q> altered to +<q>centurion.</q> +</p> + +<p> +IV., 1, 2.—MS.: I heard such. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Such</q> deleted. It begins the next line. +</p> + +<p> +IV., 1, 5.—MS.: He promised me a visit, if his designs as I desire they may. +</p> + +<p> +<q>He</q> deleted and <q>who by his letters</q> +written above it. +</p> + +<p> +For similar expansion of one line into two, +<hi rend='italic'>cf.</hi> II., 2, 285. +</p> + +<p> +IV., 1, 7.—MS.: Till he arrive you behold him. +</p> + +<p> +<q>He arrive</q> deleted. +</p> + +<p> +IV., 1, 23.—MS.: <q>My</q> deleted before <q>yourself.</q> +</p> + +<p> +IV., 1, 29.—C.: Lips. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: Lip. +</p> + +<p> +IV., 1, 34.—C.: Tacks on <q>he</q> to this line. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: <q>He</q> begins line 35. +</p> + +<p> +IV., 1, 45.—Enter Flaminius. +</p> + +<p> +(?) <q>Ferdinand</q> deleted below. +</p> + +<p> +IV., 1, 90.—C.: And may prove fortunate. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: And it may prove fortunate. +</p> + +<p> +IV., 2, 5.—C.: (Why), the sufferings of this miserable man. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: No trace of <q>why.</q> +</p> + +<p> +IV., 2, 11.—C.: Tacks on <q>to</q> at the end. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: It begins line 12. +</p> + +<pb n='191'/><anchor id='Pg191'/> + +<p> +IV., 2, 29.—C.: And know that not the reverence that waits. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: And though I know the reverence that waits. +</p> + +<p> +IV., 2, 33.—C.: Or iron. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: Or fire. +</p> + +<p> +IV., 2, 58.—C.: They aim at. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: They aimed at. +</p> + +<p> +IV., 2, 60.—C.: A few more hours. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: A few hours more. +</p> + +<p> +IV., 2, 66.—MS.: For the pretty tempting friend I brought; my life on't. +</p> + +<p> +Under <q>tempting,</q> <q>beauty</q> (?) deleted. +</p> + +<p> +IV., 2, 87.—MS.: Crack not with the weight of deer, and far-fetched dainties. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Not</q> spoils the metre and the sense; it occurs +in line 88. <q>Dispute not with heaven's bounties.</q> +</p> + +<p> +IV., 2, 90.—C.: Homely cakes. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: Homely cates. +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>IV., 2, 96.—MS.: I have already</l> +<l>Acquainted her with her cue. The music ushers</l> +<l>Her personal appearance.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +Scratched out at top of 20<hi rend='italic'>b</hi>, and inserted at foot +of 20<hi rend='italic'>a</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +IV., 2, 127.—C.: Pray, what are you? +</p> + +<p> +MS.: Pray you, what are you? +</p> + +<p> +IV., 2, 147.—C.: That, (sir), is. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: <q>Sir</q> not visible owing to mutilation. (?) Sir, +that is. +</p> + +<p> +IV., 2, 158.—MS.: And met your wishes. +</p> + +<p> +<q>And met</q> deleted before <q>and met.</q> +</p> + +<p> +IV., 2, 226.—MS.: To pluck your eyes out. +</p> + +<p> +Last half of line deleted. Last word (?) +<q>thoughtes.</q> +</p> + +<p> +IV., 2, 228.—MS.: Add a deleted line: +</p> + +<p> +Dieted with gourd water.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>The Sea Voyage</hi>, III. 1.</note> Oh! the furies! +</p> + +<p> +C.: leaves out. +</p> + +<pb n='192'/><anchor id='Pg192'/> + +<p> +IV., 3, 1.—MS.: Officers leading in Berecinthius. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Sampayo</q> deleted under <q>Berecinthius.</q> +</p> + +<p> +C.: Place of execution at Callipolis. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: Does not mention Callipolis. +</p> + +<p> +IV., 3, 28.—MS.: My bark you see wants stowage. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Balance</q> deleted before <q>stowage.</q> +</p> + +<p> +IV., 3, 29.—C.: But give me half a dozen hens. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: But give me half a dozen of hens. +</p> + +<p> +IV., 3, 39.—MS.: <q>Helped me</q> <hi rend='italic'>bis.</hi> The first one deleted. +</p> + +<p> +IV., 3, 44.—MS.: To make three sops for his three heads; may +serve for a breakfast. +</p> + +<p> +<q>that</q> inserted after <q>heads,</q> and <q>something +more than an ordinary</q> after <q>serve for.</q> +One line converted into two, as above, IV., 1, 5. +</p> + +<p> +IV., 3, 46.—MS.: The cur is vengeance devilish hungry. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Vengeance</q> deleted. +</p> + +<p> +IV., 3, 48.—C.: Provided for my frame. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: Provided for my fame. +</p> + +<p> +IV., 3, 53.—MS.: That no covetous Roman, after I am dead. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Needie</q> deleted under <q>covetous.</q> +</p> + +<p> +IV., 4, 13.—C: His faults are inscribed. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: His fault's inscribed. +</p> + +<p> +IV., 4, 22.—C.: But in one thing most remarkable. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: But one thing most remarkable. +</p> + +<p> +IV., 4, 45.—MS.: Of kings deposed, and some in triumph led. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Read</q> deleted before <q>led.</q> It is the last +word of line 44. +</p> + +<p> +IV., 4, 48.—C: Is of worse condition, and Rome. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: Is of a worse condition, and Rome. +</p> + +<p> +V., 1, 28.—MS.: <q>rows</q> deleted before <q>is chained.</q> +</p> + +<p> +V., 1, 98.—C: In the world. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: Of the world. +</p> + +<p> +V., 1, 102.—C: Since I am term'd a soldier. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: Since I am turn'd soldier. +</p> + +<p> +V., 1, 116.—C: Grant you like (opportunity, but why), +</p> + +<p> +MS.: Grant you like; +</p> + +<p> +C.'s addition required by the sense. +</p> + +<pb n='193'/><anchor id='Pg193'/> + +<p> +V., 1, 137.—C.: In which, my lord being a suitor with (me). +</p> + +<p> +MS.: In which, my lord being a suitor with. Addition +required. +</p> + +<p> +V., 1, 143.—C.: And though it needs not, for further proof. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: And though it needs it not, for further proof. +</p> + +<p> +V., 1, 157.—C.: They find. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: May find. +</p> + +<p> +<q>May</q> required by the sense. +</p> + +<p> +V., 1, 172.—MS.: Swim down the torrent stream but to +oppose the torrent. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Torrent</q> before <q>stream</q> deleted. +</p> + +<p> +V., 2, 14.—C.: I will make this good. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: I will mock this good. +</p> + +<p> +V., 2, 30.—C.: That noble Roman. By h(im you are sent for). +</p> + +<p> +MS.: That noble Roman. By h.... Addition required. +</p> + +<p> +V., 2, 33.—C.: Though I grand him. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: Though I grac'd him. +</p> + +<p> +V., 2, 46.—C.: <hi rend='smallcaps'>Antonius.</hi> Forbear. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: <hi rend='smallcaps'>Marcellus.</hi> Forbear. +</p> + +<p> +V.,2, 59.—MS.: <q>Marcell</q> deleted before <q>King Antiochus.</q> +</p> + +<p> +V., 2, 124.—C.: (The armlet). +</p> + +<p> +Koeppel points out that in Cayet it is a ring.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> 178, n. 6.</note> +</p> + +<p> +V., 2, 125.—C.: Which you wear on your sl(eeve). +</p> + +<p> +MS.: Which you wear on your——slight traces of <q>sl.</q> +</p> + +<p> +V., 2, 125.—C.: I ack(nowledge). +</p> + +<p> +MS.: I ack ... +</p> + +<p> +V., 2, 155.—C.: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>My power to justify the ill, and pressed</l> +<l>You with mountainous promises of love and service.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>MS.: My power to justify the ill, and pressed you</l> +<l>With mountainous promises of love and service.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +V., 2, 166-7.—MS.: As far as <q>faithfully</q> in one line, but all +written at the same time. +</p> + +<p> +V., 2, 173.—C.: The violence of your passion. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: .... l .. ce of your passion. +</p> + +<pb n='194'/><anchor id='Pg194'/> + +<p> +V., 2, 174.—C.: Cornelia. (Do) but (expre)ss. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: Cornelia has a line which has disappeared; towards +the end are traces of <q>but</q> and <q>ss.</q> +</p> + +<p> +V., 2, 175.—C.: Your thankfulness for his so m(any favours). +</p> + +<p> +MS.: Your thankfulness for his so m ... +</p> + +<p> +V., 2, 176.—C.: And labour that the senate may restore h(im). +</p> + +<p> +MS.: And labour that the senate may restore h ... Addition +required. +</p> + +<p> +V., 2, 212.—C.: Yield an account without appeal for wha(t). +</p> + +<p> +MS.: Yield an account without appeal for wha ... +</p> + +<p> +V., 2, 213.—C.: You have already done. You may p(eru)se. +(Does it.) +</p> + +<p> +MS.: You have already done. You may p ... se. +</p> + +<p> +No need for <q>Does it.</q> +</p> + +<p> +V., 2, 214.—C.: Do you f(i)nd I ha(ve). +</p> + +<p> +MS.: Do you f ... nd e I ha ... Addition required. +</p> + +<p> +V., 2, 215.—C.: (The warran)t. (C)all in the Asian merchants. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: ... all in the Asian marchants. +</p> + +<p> +(?) <q>The document</q> would scan better. +</p> + +<p> +V., 2, 216.—C.: <hi rend='smallcaps'>2 Merchant.</hi> Now to be hanged. +</p> + +<p> +MS. has space above 216 for half a line to be said by someone +else. +</p> + +<p> +V., 2, 217.—C.: <hi rend='smallcaps'>3 Merchant.</hi> Him that pities thee. +</p> + +<p> +MS. gives no clue to the speaker. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi>—C.: Flaminius. Accusers. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: ... sers. It is the last word of line 217? +</p> + +<p> +V., 2, 218.—C.: ... die, and will prove that you took bribes. +</p> + +<p> +I suggest as restoration of lines 215-218: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 16'>Call in the Asian merchants;</l> +<l>Let's hear them speak.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>1 Merchant</hi>:</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>'Tis thy turn now to be hanged.</l> +<l>And shame to him that pities thee.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Marc</hi>:</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 28'>Th' accusers</l> +<l>Are ready, and will prove, etc.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<pb n='195'/><anchor id='Pg195'/> + +<p> +V., 2, 232.—C.: ('Tis) a Roman. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: A Roman. +</p> + +<p> +(C.'s addition required by the sense.) +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Prologue</hi>—1.—C.: (So far our) author. +</p> + +<p> +MS.: ... author. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<anchor id='Appendix_IX'/> +<head>Appendix IX. <q>The Parliament Of Love</q></head> + +<p> +The MS. (No. 39 in the Dyce Collection, Victoria and Albert +Museum) comprises nineteen leaves of the same size as those +of <hi rend='italic'>Believe as You List</hi>. It has suffered much from damp, and +is in a brittle, dilapidated state. In several passages the MS. +has suffered since Gifford's collation (<hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>, II., 2, 15). The +lacunae in the text—<hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>, at I., 4, 55; I., 5, 7; and I., 5, 74—are +all caused by the mutilation of the lower edge of the MS. +The hand seems to be the same throughout, but bears no resemblance +to that in which <hi rend='italic'>Believe as You List</hi> is written, nor +is it so easy to decipher. There are very few corrections in the +text, and no marginal notes of any kind except the customary +entrances and departures of the characters, which are duplicated +as in <hi rend='italic'>Believe as You List</hi>, but in the same hand. The +licence on folio 19<hi rend='italic'>a</hi> has been cut off. On folio 19<hi rend='italic'>b</hi> is written +in a largish hand, <hi rend='italic'>The Parliament of Love</hi>, without any author's +name. Gifford believed that this MS. was in Massinger's +hand, and says <q>this has since been confirmed.</q> He does not +say how. One thing is certain; the same hand did not write +<hi rend='italic'>The Parliament of Love</hi> and <hi rend='italic'>Believe as You List</hi>. One instance +out of many can be give in proof of this: the letter C, small +and capital, in <hi rend='italic'>The Parliament of Love</hi> is constantly written +thus, ⊕. A marked feature of the MS. is the doubling of +consonants—<hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>, tollerable, vallor, quallities, cullors. It +looks as if, while it was in Gifford's hands, ink had been used +to restore letters here and there, and towards the end of the +play there are several substitutions of words in a later ink. +Gifford's collation where I have tested it is correct in the main +but I noted one or two mistakes—<hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>: +</p> + +<pb n='196'/><anchor id='Pg196'/> + +<p> +I., 5, 87.—MS.: Sudainely. +</p> + +<p> +G.: Speedily. +</p> + +<p> +II., 3, 58.—MS.: The graces from the Idalian greene [<hi rend='italic'>sic</hi>]. +</p> + +<p> +G.: The Loves and Graces. This would make the line scan. +</p> + +<p> +III., 2, 15.—MS.: If I compared it to an Indian slave's. +</p> + +<p> +G.: with. +</p> + +<p> +V., 1, 158.—MS.: Have. +</p> + +<p> +G.: Had. +</p> + +<p> +V., 1, 292.—<q>To</q> in MS. begins line 293. +</p> + +<p> +The sort of mistake which we find in this MS. lends support +to two hypotheses, between which, as far as I can see, there is +nothing to decide; either, as we saw there was ground for +supposing in <hi rend='italic'>Believe as You List</hi>, the author altered his diction +as he composed, or he was dictating to an amanuensis. The +earlier corrections are all made in the same ink. In favour +of the former hypothesis are such passages as the following: +</p> + +<p> +I., 4, 84: <q>May you suc prosper.</q> <q>Succeed</q> was the original +word, but cancelled for one which scans better. +</p> + +<p> +I., 5, 23: <q>Clarindore</q> cancelled at end of line, <q>Cleremond</q> +substituted. Clarindore is mentioned in the next line. +</p> + +<p> +I., 5, 66: <q>Summer's sunne</q>: <q>heate</q> substituted for +<q>sunne.</q> +</p> + +<p> +II., 1. 81: <q>That</q> deleted after <q>assurance</q>; the line thereby +runs more smoothly. +</p> + +<p> +II., 3, 5: <q>Thy selfe</q>: <q>selfe</q> deleted before <q>strengthe.</q> +</p> + +<p> +III., 2, 16: <q>That with incessant labour to searche out.</q> +After <q>labour</q> <q>searche</q> is deleted. In other words, +the construction is changed: the main verb being <q>dives</q> +in the next line, instead of the original intention, +<q>searches.</q> +</p> + +<p> +III., 3, 124: <q>Perform'd</q> deleted before <q>expir'd.</q> +</p> + +<p> +V., 1, 111: <q>In hell's most uglie cullors.</q> <q>Horrid coullors</q> +is deleted before the last two words. +</p> + +<p> +V., 1, 189: <q>Nor did I scorn</q>: <q>him</q> after <q>scorn</q> is +deleted, as if the syntax had been changed. +</p> + +<p> +V., 1, 206: <q>Acknowledged</q> deleted before <q>appointed.</q> +</p> + +<pb n='197'/><anchor id='Pg197'/> + +<p> +The sort of mistake that an amanuensis might make, either +in copying or by dictation, occurs in: +</p> + +<p> +II., 2, 12: <q>The scorne darts of scorne</q>; first <q>scorne</q> +deleted. +</p> + +<p> +II., 2, 111: After <q>Absolve me</q> <q>only can</q> deleted; it +makes no sense, but had occurred in the previous line. +</p> + +<p> +II., 3, 16: <q>But never thought: come, I must have thee mine.</q> +</p> + +<p> +First three words deleted: they had occurred in the +previous line. +</p> + +<p> +III., 1, 120: <q>Blanque</q> deleted before <q>blanket.</q> +</p> + +<p> +III., 3, 37: <q>A seeming courts</q>: <q>courts</q> deleted before +<q>anger.</q> <q>Courtship</q> occurs at the end of the line. +</p> + +<p> +V., 1, 46: <q>Weake weake men</q>; first <q>weake</q> underlined +in later ink.<note place='foot'>For repetition of a word <hi rend='italic'>cf.</hi> II., 3, 51; III., 2, 31; III., 3, +105; IV., 5, 27, 45, 85, 98, 142.</note> +</p> + +<p> +V., 1, 190: <q>For truth is truth is truth.</q> All deleted. The +sense requires: <q>for truth is truth.</q> +</p> + +<p> +V., 1, 505: <q>Neglegt</q> deleted before <q>neglect.</q> +</p> + +<p> +I add one or two notes of interest in correction of Cunningham's +edition. +</p> + +<p> +II., 2, 156 should read thus, as in MS.: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 30'><q rend='pre'>then to practise</q></l> +<l><q rend='post'>To find some means that he deserves thee best.</q><note place='foot'><p>The line would make better sense if it were emended thus: +</p> +<p> +I'll have no other penance <hi rend='italic'>than</hi> to practise,<lb/> +To find some means that he deserves thee best. +</p></note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +C. reads in I., 157: <q>he that,</q> which makes no sense. +</p> + +<p> +At III., 3, 8 (folio 8<hi rend='italic'>b</hi>) there is a considerable blank in the +MS. scrabbled over, but line 8 is completed at the top of +folio 9<hi rend='italic'>a</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +V., 1, 116 should read thus, as in MS.: <q>And not to be replied +to.</q> C. misprints: <q>replied be.</q> +</p> + +<p> +V., 1, 129: The MS. reads thus: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 30'>For that deitie</l> +<l>(Such our affection makes him) whose dread power</l> +<l>Tooke forthe choicest arrows, headed with</l> +<l>Not loose but loyall flames, who aymed at mee</l> +<l>Ame with greedie haste to meete the shaft.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<pb n='198'/><anchor id='Pg198'/> + +<p> +C. reads line 131: ... the choicest arrow, headed with. +</p> + +<p> +line 133: Who came with greedy haste to meet the shaft. +</p> + +<p> +In 131 <q>the</q> is obviously left out by homoeoteleuton. +The grammar of the passage is defective. It is all cancelled +in the old ink. +</p> + +<p> +Similarly, 138 is cancelled: <q>Of gold, nor of pale lead that +breeds disdain.</q> +</p> + +<p> +178-185 down to the word <q>matter</q> are cancelled. +</p> + +<p> +294-296 are cancelled in the old ink. +</p> + +<p> +V., 1, 371: MS. <q>to whore me.</q> A modern hand has written +above <q>abuse.</q> +</p> + +<p> +V., 1, 531: There is an addition in the original hand which will +not scan. +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q>And gratious spectators.</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +Gifford in his note (II., 312) on <hi rend='italic'>Parliament of Love</hi>, V., 1, 129, +refers to a corrected copy of <hi rend='italic'>The Duke of Milan</hi>, which proves +the writing of the <hi rend='italic'>Parliament of Love</hi> to be Massinger's. +<hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also Advertisement to his second edition, Vol. I., and the +facsimile of the dedication of <hi rend='italic'>The Duke of Milan</hi> to Sir Francis +Foljambe (IV., 593). Where is this copy now? It was at +one time in Gifford's possession. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<anchor id='Appendix_X'/> +<head>Appendix X. The Authorship Of <q>The Virgin Martyr</q></head> + +<p> +Boyle assigns to Massinger, Act I., Act III., 1, 2, Act IV., 3, +Act V., 2, a total of slightly less than half the play. As far +as it goes, I agree with this assignation, but it does not seem +to me quite satisfactory. It is true that there are serious passages +in <hi rend='italic'>The Virgin Martyr</hi> which do not resemble the rest +of Massinger's work; it does not therefore follow that they are +due, like the comic parts, to Dekker. In the first place, the +exaltation which breathes from these passages may be due to +the rapture of youth. Why should Massinger not have shown +in what must have been a youthful work an emotional brilliancy +<pb n='199'/><anchor id='Pg199'/> +which he lost later? And secondly, it is a mistake +to say that Massinger's style is absolutely uniform; we could +only lay this proposition down positively if we had all his +works in our hands, and among those we possess I am much +mistaken if differences, slight though real, cannot be detected. +<hi rend='italic'>A Very Woman</hi> and <hi rend='italic'>The Bashful Lover</hi> stand apart from the +rest of his plays by virtue of their greater degree of romantic +nobility. In the third place, the serious scenes assigned by +Boyle and others to Dekker do not seem to me to resemble +the serious style of that author, except that there are certain +passages where rhymed couplets are employed. Here again +we might argue that Massinger was making an experiment +which he dropped in his later work. The fact is that, as is +usually the case in these matters, we have not enough evidence +to prove one thing or the other. +</p> + +<p> +The ascription of the play to Massinger and Dekker on the +title-page of the 1622 edition might be held to prove that the +lion's share in it is due to the former, especially when we remember +that he was the younger and presumably the less-known +author of the two. I should not, however, wish to +deny the possibility that Dekker contributed some of the +serious parts. I feel rather disposed to suggest that in one or +two of the scenes in question both authors were at work. +There is nothing impossible or improbable in this hypothesis. +</p> + +<p> +Charles Lamb says about the scene between Dorothea and +Angelo, beginning Act II., 1, line 224, that <q>it has beauties of +so very high an order, that with all my respect for Massinger, +I do not think he had poetical enthusiasm capable of furnishing +them. His associate Dekker, who wrote <hi rend='italic'>Old Fortunatus</hi>, +had poetry enough for anything.</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +I should be inclined to assign II., 2, to Massinger; great +<pb n='200'/><anchor id='Pg200'/> +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, <q>Have I invented tortures,</q> 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 (<hi rend='italic'>ibid.</hi>, 116-123) read like Dekker; +as does the rhymed passage (<hi rend='italic'>ibid.</hi>, 131-136). Perhaps the +scene is composite. +</p> + +<p> +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 (<hi rend='italic'>ibid.</hi>, 136-147) +might be Dekker's work. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Lastly, V., 1, seems to be constructed on the lines of a Massinger +scene, and to contain traces of his vocabulary; <hi rend='italic'>cf.</hi> the +use of <q>horror</q> in line 41, and of <q>to thy centre</q> in line +146. The conversion of Theophilus, like that of Antoninus +in a previous scene, is effected rapidly, in Massinger's manner. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<anchor id='Appendix_XI'/> +<head>Appendix XI. The Authorship Of <q>The Fatal Dowry</q></head> + +<p> +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 +<pb n='201'/><anchor id='Pg201'/> +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 (<hi rend='smallcaps'>Rochfort.</hi> 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. +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'>I not accuse thy wife of act, but would</q></l> +<l><q rend='post'>Prevent her precipice to thy dishonour.</q></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +On the other hand, the rhymed couplet (lines 375-6) is probably +Field's. +</p> + +<p> +The pert page in Act IV., 1, reminds us of a similar character +in <hi rend='italic'>Woman's a Weathercock</hi>, 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. +</p> + +<p> +These instances may serve to show how hard it is to dissect +the play satisfactorily. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<anchor id='Appendix_XII'/> +<head>Appendix XII. The Tragedy Of <q>Sir John Van Olden +Barnavelt</q></head> + +<p> +This play is to be found in Bullen's <hi rend='italic'>Old Plays</hi>, vol. ii. It +was printed from B.M. Add. MSS. 18653, a folio of thirty-one +leaves in a small clear hand. +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Bullen thinks that Massinger wrote III., 2; III., 6; +IV. (the trial scene); V., 1. He ascribes the concluding scene +<pb n='202'/><anchor id='Pg202'/> +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 <q>magnificent.</q> +It is a <q>piece of occasion,</q><note place='foot'>Mr. Bullen (vol. iv., App., p. 381) shows that the play was +produced in August, 1619, after some objections had been +raised to it by the Bishop of London.</note> 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.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Old Plays</hi>, vol. ii., App. 2, contains much information +from Boyle about Massinger's style. <hi rend='italic'>Inter alia</hi>, he says, +<q>Fletcher as usual spoiled Massinger's fine conception of +Barnavelt, and made him whine like Buckingham in <hi rend='italic'>Henry +VIII</hi>.</q></note> +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<anchor id='Appendix_XIII'/> +<head>Appendix XIII. <q>The Second Maiden's Tragedy</q></head> + +<p> +This play was reprinted by the Malone Society in 1909.<note place='foot'>It is also to be found in Dodsley's <hi rend='italic'>Old English Plays</hi>, ed. +W. C. Hazlitt, 1875, vol. x.</note> +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: <q>by Thomas +Goffe,<note place='foot'>The name Goffe is so carefully obliterated that it is +uncertain; but it is curious to note that Goffe and Massinger +are in juxtaposition in the passage of <hi rend='italic'>Don Zara del Fogo</hi> +referred to <hi rend='italic'>supra</hi>, p. 77 n. 3.</note> George Chapman, by Will Shakspear. A tragedy +indeed!</q> +</p> + +<pb n='203'/><anchor id='Pg203'/> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The underplot, according to Boyle, is derived from Cervantes' +<hi rend='italic'>Curious Impertinent</hi>, and in Acts I. and II. passages <q>are +literally taken from that novel.</q> There is an incident at the +end of the play which reminds us of <hi rend='italic'>The Duke of Milan</hi>. +The <q>Tyrant</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <q>cup of nectar.</q> The sudden repentance of the heroine's +father Helvetius, in Act II., 1, 253, reminds us of a trait of +Massinger referred to above;<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Supra</hi>, p. <ref target='Pg074'>74</ref>.</note> but the style of the first two +acts is too feeble and vague, and the metre too halting for +him.<note place='foot'>Mr. Phelan (pp. 48-49) argues that this play is really the +lost play by Massinger, entitled <hi rend='italic'>The Tyrant</hi>. Tieck translated +the play as being by Massinger. Mr. P. Simpson has pointed +out to me that <hi rend='italic'>The Second Maiden's Tragedy</hi> is entered on +the Stationers' Register for September 9th, 1653, immediately +after several of Massinger's plays. He justly observes +that the juxtaposition is fortuitous.</note> I cannot suppose that at the age of twenty-seven +Massinger could have taken part in writing a play where <q>A +voice from within</q> the tomb says to the mourning husband, +<q>I am not here!</q><note place='foot'>Act IV., 4.</note> +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<anchor id='Appendix_XIV'/> +<head>Appendix XIV. <q>The Powerful Favorite</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> Phelan, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi>, p. 3.</note></head> + +<p> +<q><hi rend='italic'>The Powerful Favorite</hi>, or the life of Aelius Sejanus, by +P. M., printed at Paris, 1628.</q> So runs the title in the +English translation. +</p> + +<pb n='204'/><anchor id='Pg204'/> + +<p> +Two translations of Pierre Matthieu's book, <q>Histoire +d'Aelius Sejanus,</q> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <q>Unhappy prosperitie expressed in the +histories of Aelius Sejanus and Philippa, the Catanian.</q> +Underneath he adds the words: <q>Written in French by +P. Matthieu.</q> +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<anchor id='Appendix_XV'/> +<head>Appendix XV. <q>Double Falsehood</q></head> + +<p> +In 1728 there appeared at London a play with the following +title: <q>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 <hi rend='italic'>Shakespeare +Restor'd</hi>.</q> +</p> + +<p> +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—<q>in the time of +his retirement from the stage.</q> The story is taken from a +novel in <hi rend='italic'>Don Quixote</hi>, 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. +</p> + +<p> +Some writers<note place='foot'>Sir A. W. Ward (II., 528<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi>) seems disposed to assign it to +Shirley.</note> have supposed that Theobald in compiling +<pb n='205'/><anchor id='Pg205'/> +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 <q>citizen</q> whom she does not know, +by night. Is this improbable incident the sort of thing that +Massinger would write?<note place='foot'>Compare this with the scene in Ford's <hi rend='italic'>'Tis Pity She's a +Whore</hi> where Annabella gives the Friar a letter from an upper +window.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The whole play is an eighteenth-century effusion in the +manner of Rowe. There is no trace of Fletcher or Massinger +here. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<anchor id='Appendix_XVI'/> +<head>Appendix XVI. Middleton's <q>A Trick To Catch The Old One</q></head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>A Trick to catch the Old One</hi> 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 <hi rend='italic'>A New Way</hi> from Middleton, as well as a few expressions.<note place='foot'><p>Compare <hi rend='italic'>A Trick</hi>, I., 1: +</p> +<p> +What trick is not an embryon at first? +</p> +<p> +<q>Embryon</q> is a favourite word of Massinger's. +</p> +<p> +I., 1: <hi rend='smallcaps'>Witgood.</hi> I shall go nigh to catch that old fox, +mine Uncle; though he make but some amends for my undoing, +yet there's some comfort in't, he cannot otherwise +choose, though it be but in hope to cozen me again, but supply +any hasty want that I bring to town with me. +</p> +<p> +II., 1: <hi rend='smallcaps'>Lucre.</hi> There may be hope some of the widow's +lands too may one day fall upon me if things be carried wisely.</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>A New Way</hi>, IV., 1, 77: +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Overreach.</hi> 'Tis not alone<lb/> +The Lady Allworth's land, for these once Wellborn's,<lb/> +As by her dotage on him I know they will be,<lb/> +Shall soon be mine. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>A Trick</hi>, I., 2: <hi rend='smallcaps'>Witgood.</hi> Thou knowest I have a wealthy +uncle, i' th' city, somewhat the wealthier for my follies. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>A Trick</hi>, I., 3: <hi rend='smallcaps'>Hoard.</hi> Thou that canst defeat thy own +nephew, Lucre, lay his lands into bonds, and take the extremity +of thy kindred's forfeitures. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>A New Way</hi>, I., 1, 48: +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tapwell.</hi> Which your uncle, Sir Giles Overreach, observing<lb/> +(Resolving not to lose a drop of them)<lb/> +On foolish mortgages, statutes, and bonds,<lb/> +For a while supplied your looseness, and then left you. +</p> +<p> +II., 1, 81: +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Overreach.</hi> And 'tis my glory, though I come from the city,<lb/> +To have their issue whom I have undone,<lb/> +To kneel to mine as bondslaves. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>A Trick</hi>, II., 1: Lucre. You've a fault, nephew; you're a +stranger here; well, heaven give you joy. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>A New Way</hi>, III., 2, 276: +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Overreach.</hi> My nephew!<lb/> +He has been too long a stranger; faith you have!<lb/> +Pray, let it be mended. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>A Trick</hi>, III., 1: I would forswear ... muscadine and eggs +at midnight. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>A New Way</hi>, IV., 2, 84: +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Creditor.</hi> Your worship broke me<lb/> +With trusting you with muscadine and eggs. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>A Trick</hi>, IV., 4: Hoard's anticipations of his future pomp +may have suggested the thoughts which Sir Giles entertains +about his daughter's future estate when married to Lord Lovel. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>A New Way</hi>, IV., 3, 130-141. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>A Trick</hi>, IV., 5: +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Sir Launcelot.</hi> I would entreat your worship's device in a just and honest cause, sir. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Dampit.</hi> I meddle with no such matters. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>A New Way</hi>, II., 1, 23: +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Overreach.</hi> The other wisdom,<lb/> +That does prescribe us a well-governed life,<lb/> +And to do right to others, as ourselves,<lb/> +I value not an atom. +</p></note> +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 +<pb n='206'/><anchor id='Pg206'/> +(<hi rend='italic'>A Trick</hi>, 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 <hi rend='italic'>A Trick</hi> is the hatred of the two +usurers, Lucre and Hoard, for one another, both being in the +end cheated by the hero Witgood. In <hi rend='italic'>A New Way</hi> there is +only one usurer, Sir Giles. <hi rend='italic'>A Trick</hi>, 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 +<pb n='207'/><anchor id='Pg207'/> +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 +<q>wedding dinner</q> 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 +<pb n='208'/><anchor id='Pg208'/> +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 <hi rend='italic'>A New Way</hi> has more dignity +and refinement than its predecessor, but it is because Massinger's +characters behave like real beings.<note place='foot'>Compare the way in which Massinger, in <hi rend='italic'>The Great Duke +of Florence</hi>, transfers to Italy <hi rend='italic'>A Knacke to Know a Knave</hi>. +(Hazlitt's <hi rend='italic'>Dodsley</hi>, vi.)</note> +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<anchor id='Appendix_XVII'/> +<head>Appendix XVII</head> + +<p> +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 <hi rend='italic'>Englische Studien</hi>, 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<p> +I +</p> + +<p> +The Copie of a Letter written upon +occasion to the Earle of Pembrooke +Lo: Chamberlaine +</p> + +<lg> +<l>My Lord</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>p. 554</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Soe subiect to the worser fame</l> +<l>Are even the best that clayme a Poets name:</l> +<l>Especially poore they that serve the stage</l> +<l>Though worthily in this Verse-halting Age.</l> +<pb n='209'/><anchor id='Pg209'/> +<l>And that dread curse soe heavie yet doth lie</l> +<l>W<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>ch</hi> the wrong'd Fates falne out w<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>th</hi> Mercurie</l> +<l>Pronounc'd for ever to attend upon</l> +<l>All such as onely dreame of Helicon.</l> +<l>That durst I sweare cheated by selfe opinion</l> +<l>I were Apolloes or the Muses Mynion 10</l> +<l>Reason would yet assure me, 'tis decreed</l> +<l>Such as are Poets borne, are borne to need.</l> +<l>If the most worthy then, whose pay's but praise</l> +<l>Or a few spriggs from the now withering bayes</l> +<l>Grone underneath their wants what hope have I</l> +<l>Scarce yet allowed one of the Company— 16</l> +</lg> + +<p> +p. 555 +</p> + +<lg> +<l>When<note place='foot'>Lines in another hand inserted in a space left blank at the +top of p. 555.</note> thou sighst, thou sigh'st not wind, but sigh'st my soule away</l> +<l>When thou weep'st unkindly kind, my lifes blud doth decay</l> +<l>It cannot bee</l> +<l>That thou lov'est mee as thou sai'est, if in thine my life thou wast,</l> +<l>Thou art the best of mee.<note place='foot'>Marginal note in a third hand.</note></l> +<pb n='210'/><anchor id='Pg210'/> +<l>In some high mynded Ladies grace to stand</l> +<l>Ever provided that her liberall hand 30</l> +<l>Pay for the Vertues they bestow upon her</l> +<l>And soe long shees the miracle and the honor</l> +<l>Of her whole Sex, and has forsooth more worth</l> +<l>Then was in any Sparta e're brought forth</l> +<l>But when the Bounty failes a change is neare</l> +<l>And shee's not then what once shee did appeare</l> +<l>For the new Giver shee dead must inherit</l> +<l>What was by purchase gott and not by merit</l> +<l>Lett them write well that doo this and in grace</l> +<l>I would not for a pension or A place 40</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Part soe w<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>th</hi> myne owne Candor, lett me rather p. 556</l> +<l>Live poorely on those toyes I would not father</l> +<l>Not knowne beyond A Player or A Man</l> +<l>That does pursue the course that I have ran</l> +<l>Ere soe grow famous: yet w<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>th</hi> any paine</l> +<l>Or honest industry could I obteyne</l> +<l>A noble Favorer, I might write and doo</l> +<l>Like others of more name and gett one too</l> +<l>Or els my Genius is false. I know</l> +<l>That Johnson much of what he has does owe 50</l> +<l>To you and to your familie, and is never</l> +<l>Slow to professe it, nor had Fletcher ever</l> +<l>Such Reputation, and credit nonne</l> +<l>But by his honord Patron, Huntington</l> +<l>Unimitable Spencer ne're had been</l> +<l>Soe famous for his matchlesse Fairie Queene</l> +<l>Had he not found a Spencer Sydney to preferr [<hi rend='italic'>sic</hi>]</l> +<l>His plaine way in his Shepheards Calender</l> +<l>Nay Virgills selfe (or Martiall does lye)</l> +<l>Could hardly frame a poore Gnatts Elegie 60</l> +<l>Before Mecænas cherisht him; and then</l> +<l>He streight conceiv'd Æneas and the men</l> +<l>That found out Italic Those are Presidents<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>I.e.</hi>, precedents.</note></l> +<l>I cite w<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>th</hi> reverence: my lowe intents</l> +<l>Looke not soe high, yet some worke I might frame</l> +<pb n='211'/><anchor id='Pg211'/> +<l>That should nor wrong my duty nor your Name. p. 557</l> +<l>Were but your Lo<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>pp</hi> pleas'd to cast an eye</l> +<l>Of favour on my trodd downe povertie</l> +<l>How ever I confesse myselfe to be</l> +<l>Ever most bound for your best charitie 70</l> +<l>To others that feed on it, and will pay</l> +<l>My prayers w<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>th</hi> theirs that as y<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>u</hi> doe y<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>u</hi> may</l> +<l>Live long, belov'd and honor'd doubtles then</l> +<l>Soe cleere a life will find a worthier Penn.</l> +<l>For me I rest assur'd besides the glory</l> +<l>T'wold make a Poet but to write your story. 76</l> +</lg> + +<p> +Phill: Messinger. +</p> + +<p> +p. 557 +</p> + +<p> +II +</p> + +<lg> +<l>A New yeares Guift presented to my</l> +<l>Lady and M:<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>rs</hi> the then Lady</l> +<l>Katherine Stanhop now Countesse</l> +<l>of Chesterfield.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>By Phill: Messinger.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Madame</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Before I ow'd to you the name</l> +<l>Of Servant, to your birth, your worth your fame</l> +<l>I was soe, and t'was fitt since all stand bound</l> +<l>To honour Vertue in meane persons found</l> +<l>Much more in you, that as borne great, are good</l> +<l>W<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>ch</hi> is more then to come of noble blood</l> +<l>Or be A Hastings; it being too well knowne</l> +</lg> + +<p> +p. 558 +</p> + +<lg> +<l>An Empresse cannot challenge as her oune</l> +<l>Her Grandsires glories; And too many staine</l> +<l>W<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>th</hi> their bad Actions the noble straine 10</l> +<l>From whence they come. But as in you to be</l> +<l>A branch to add fresh honor to the tree</l> +<l>By vertue planted, and adorne it new</l> +<l>Is graunted unto none or very few</l> +<pb n='212'/><anchor id='Pg212'/> +<l>To speake you further would appeare in me</l> +<l>Presumption or a servants flattery</l> +<l>But there may be a tyme when I shall dare</l> +<l>To tell the world and boldly what y<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>u</hi> are</l> +<l>Nor sleight it Madame, since what some in me</l> +<l>Esteeme a blemish, is a guift as free 20</l> +<l>As their best fortunes, this tooke from the grave</l> +<l>Penelopies chastitie, and to it gave</l> +<l>Still living Honors; this made Aiax strong</l> +<l>Ulisses wise: such power lies in a Song</l> +<l>W<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>ch</hi> Phaebus smiles on, w<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>ch</hi> can find noe Urne</l> +<l>While the Sea his course, or starrs observe their turne</l> +<l>Yet 'tis not in the power of tinckling Rime</l> +<l>That<note place='foot'>To take.</note> takes rash iudgments and deceive the tyme</l> +<l>W<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>th</hi> Mountebanke showes a worke that shold indure</l> +<l>Must have a genius in it, strong, as pure 30</l> +<l>But you beginne to smile, as wondring why</l> +<l>I should write thus much to y<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>u</hi> now since I</l> +<l>Have heretofore been silent may y<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>u</hi> please</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 42'>To know</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>To know the course it is noe new disease p. 559</l> +<l>Groune in my iudgment, nor am I of those</l> +<l>That thinke good wishes cannot thrive in prose</l> +<l>As well as Verse: but that this New yeares day</l> +<l>All in their loves and duties, what they may</l> +<l>Present unto you; though perhaps some burne</l> +<l>W<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>th</hi> expectation of a glad returne 40</l> +<l>Of what they venture for. But such I leave</l> +<l>To their deceiptfull guifts given to deceive</l> +<l>What I give I am rich in, and can spare</l> +<l>Nor part for hope w<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>th</hi> ought deserves my care</l> +<l>He that hath little and gives nought at all</l> +<l>To them that have is truly liberall. 46</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +</div> + +<pb n='213'/><anchor id='Pg213'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<anchor id='Appendix_XVIII'/> +<head>Appendix XVIII. Alliteration In Massinger</head> + +<p> +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 +<hi rend='italic'>The Unnatural Combat</hi>. +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>I., 1, 150: Impartial judges, and not sway'd with spleen.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 158: Not lustful fires, but fair and lawful flames.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 189: Our goods made prize, our sailors sold for slaves.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 217: He that leaves</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 14'>To follow as you lead, will lose himself.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 286: Their lives, their liberties.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 308: Both what and when to do, but makes against you.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 309: For had your care and courage been the same.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 342: He may have leave and liberty to decide it.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 1'>II., 1, 14: With my best curiousness and care observed him.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 23: A sudden flash of fury did dry up.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 94: But dare and do, as they derive their courage.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 143: In a moment raz'd and ruin'd.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 157: In one short syllable yield satisfaction.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 170: With scorn on death and danger.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 177: But what is weak and womanish, thine own.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 183: As a serpent swoll'n with poison.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 226: Marseilles owes the freedom of her fears.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 241: That will vouchsafe not one sad sigh or tear.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 267: And with all circumstance and ceremony.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 1'>II., 3, 67: Nor should you with more curiousness and care.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>III., 1, 10: It being a serious and solemn meeting.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 17: I'll undertake to stand at push of pike.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 21: When the dresser, the cook's drum, thunders,</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 15'>Come on!</l> +</lg> + +<pb n='214'/><anchor id='Pg214'/> + +<lg> +<l>III., 1, 23: As tall a trencher-man.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 5'>" 32: The only drilling is to eat devoutly</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 13'>And to be ever drinking.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 5'>" 57: Delay is dangerous.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 5'>" 88: Continue constant</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 13'>To this one suit.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 5'>" 90: Every cast commander.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 5'>" 100: And so by consequence grow contemptible.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 5'>" 117: For his own sake, shift a shirt!</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>III., 2, 46: The colonels, commissioners, and captains.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 5'>" 78: That losing her own servile shape and name.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 5'>" 85: Believe my black brood swans.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 5'>" 95: As I have heard, loved the lobby.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 5'>" 150: Of her fair features, that, should we defer it.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 5'>" 160: And serves as a perpetual preface to.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>III., 3, 43: The curiousness and cost on Trajan's birthday.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 5'>" 78: I've charged through fire that would have singed your sables.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 5'>" 82: Such only are admired that come adorn'd.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 5'>" 93: Does make your cupboards crack.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 5'>" 114: For want of means shall, in their present payment.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 5'>" 149: With my son, her servant.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>III., 4, 89: And he shall find and feel, if he excuse not.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>IV., 1, 53: And liked and loath'd with your eyes, I beseech you.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 5'>" 91: A loathsome leprosy had spread itself.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 5'>" 101: Sir, you have liked and loved them, and oft forc'd.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 5'>" 119: My ranks of reason.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 5'>" 132: Thy virtues vices.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 5'>" 133: Far worse than stubborn sullenness and pride.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 5'>" 206: In your fame and fortunes.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>IV., 2, 47: Against my oath, being a cashier'd captain.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 4'>" 68: Your lords</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 11'>Of dirt and dunghills.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 4'>" 118: My corslet to a cradle.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 4'>" 120: Or to sell my sword and spurs, for soap and candles?</l> +</lg> + +<pb n='215'/><anchor id='Pg215'/> + +<p> +IV., 2. 135: Fair France is proud of. +</p> + +<p> + " 148: Such as have power to punish. +</p> + +<p> +V., 2, 35: Or our later laws forbid. +</p> + +<p> + " 38: And solemn superstitious fools prescribe. +</p> + +<p> + " 57: Into some close cave or desert. +</p> + +<p> + " 58: Our lusts and lives together. +</p> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 4'>" 165: But to have power to punish, and yet pardon,</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 11'>Peculiar to princes.</l> +</lg> + +<p> + " 248: Accuse or argue with me. +</p> + +<p> + " 307: To season my silks. +</p> +</quote> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<anchor id='Appendix_XIX'/> +<head>Appendix XIX</head> + +<p> +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: <hi rend='italic'>The Duke +of Milan</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>The Bondman</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>The Roman Actor</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>The Renegado</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>The Picture</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>The Fatal Dowry</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>The Emperor of the East</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>The +Maid of Honour</hi>. 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. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>The Duke of Milan</hi> +</p> + +<p> +I., 1, 23.—This, the last line on the page, has suffered from +the binding, and is written in the margin.<note place='foot'>In the Malone copy in the Bodleian line 23 has disappeared, +and at the end of line 22 rather less of the letters +is preserved than at the beginning.</note> +</p> + +<p> +I., 1, 56.—The same thing has happened here. +</p> + +<p> +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, +<pb n='216'/><anchor id='Pg216'/> +of course not impossible that the eight plays were bound up +together shortly after the year 1632. +</p> + +<p> +V., 2, 203.—Forza. S. inserted before F. (So <hi rend='italic'>infra</hi>, 218, +234, 256.) +</p> + +<p> +At the end of the play occurs a symbol M which might +represent the poet's initial. +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>The Bondman</hi> +</p> + +<lg> +<l>I., 1: Timagorus bis in stage-directions, us corrected to as</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 7'>and also in</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 7'>I., 1,5</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>I., 1, 37: I love live</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>I., 2, 2: I cannot brooke with this</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 13'>gadding</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>I., 3, 83: As to the supreame Magistrates Sicilie</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 13'>surely tenders</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 3'>" 161: And yet the chu rl added</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 3'>" 181: made glorious by Achon Action</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 3'>" 182: gave warrant to her ailes added</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 13'>couns</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 3'>" 183: hand heard</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 3'>" 206: nor defence noe</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 3'>" 295: ? at end ? deleted</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 3'>" 319: of slaves our</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 1'>II., 1, 71: fam'd fann'd</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 87: vayle y deleted</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 144: loose both sent and th inserted after</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 19'>beauty <q>loose,</q> and c in</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 47'><q>sent</q></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 153: owe awe</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 1'>II., 2, 16: manners; yet this morning for</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 57: cunning coḿinge</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 62: ? added</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 1'>III., 3, 99: too too large second <q>too</q> deleted</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 135: leave her off stand her of</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 165: during daring</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 1'>III., 4, 29: Timandra Timag</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 51: cares feares</l> +</lg> + +<pb n='217'/><anchor id='Pg217'/> + +<lg> +<l>IV., 1, 21: still you</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 1'>IV., 2, 128: when where</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 140: <q>Pray you, leave mee</q></l> +<l rend='margin-left: 48'>added at end to complete</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 48'>the line</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>IV., 3, 145: tempter second t deleted</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>V., 3, 9: not be deni'de to inserted before <q>be</q></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 38: howsoere the fortune thy</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 103: gods and fautors his</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 193: ) inserted after devices</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 245: Gra. inserted at beginning</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 49'>of line, (<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>,</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 49'>Graccho)</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>The Roman Actor</hi> +</p> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>I., 1, 6: stocke socc (<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, sock)</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 25: parenthesis inserted</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 47'>after <q>vice</q></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 37: gald l</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 44: The Catta and the Dacie Catti ... Daci</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 46: Jove hasten it ? added</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 49: we obey you full stop added</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 51: the sceane Scaene</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 79: is to eb<note place='foot'>The misprint is in the original.</note> guilty bee</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 115: grieve greive (<q>give</q> is required</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 49'>by the sense)</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>I., 2: Enter Domitia and Parthenius <q>with a letter</q> added</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>I., 2, 33: for to be thankfull I woulde</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 44: his plea its</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 86: new workes that dare not Monarches. Pa: added,</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 16'>do (<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, Parthenius)</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 88: Parth. Will you dispute Parth. deleted and ?</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 48'>added.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>I., 3, 44: ( ) added</l> +</lg> + +<pb n='218'/><anchor id='Pg218'/> + +<lg> +<l>I., 3, 53-4: ( ) added</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 4'>" 67: condemne condemnd</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 4'>" 78: which with</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 4'>" 78: redde (<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, read) ) added</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 4'>" 86: Cancillus Camillus</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>I., 4, 13: Fulcinius and prisoners <q>and</q> deleted</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 11'>led by him</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>II., 1, 4: yours ; added</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 5'>" 16: though ( added</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 5'>" 21: purple ! added</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 5'>" 22: my heyre ? added</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 5'>" 182-3: ( ) added</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 5'>" 217: promped prompted</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 5'>" 372: ( ) added</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 5'>" 386: ( ) added</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>III., 1, 30: words swordes</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 52: retch reach</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 58: the mortall powers iḿortall</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 78: tyrannie tyrant</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 163: steepie steep</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 205: ! added</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>IV., 1, 8: I thinke not <q>not</q> deleted, and</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 34'>added after <q>respects</q></l> +<l rend='margin-left: 34'>in 9</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 5'>" 95: compliant complaint</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 5'>" 149: ? added</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>IV., 2, 12: lesse; ; deleted</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 5'>" 27: pe bee</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 5'>" 28: you command to me ever you coḿand me</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 5'>" 39: tremele tremble</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 5'>" 44: geeat great</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 5'>" 70: Hypollitus one l substituted</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 5'>" 123: express thee stop added</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 5'>" 127: To render me that was ( ) added before</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 12'>before I hugg'd thee <q>that</q> and</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 12'>An adder in my bosome <q>before,</q> and after</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 35'><q>thee</q> and</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 35'><q>bosome</q></l> +</lg> + +<pb n='219'/><anchor id='Pg219'/> + +<lg> +<l>IV., 2, 130: Thy pomp and pride— 163 Perpetual vexation</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 14'>shall not fall.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 13'>Note at top of p. 31<hi rend='italic'>b</hi>: <q rend='pre'>This page follows the</q></l> +<l rend='margin-left: 15'><q rend='post'>later.</q></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 13'>Note at top of p. 32<hi rend='italic'>a</hi>: <q>This page misplac'd.</q></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 4'>" 182: would coulde</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 4'>" 190: the iu ice st inverted inserted</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 41'>here between <q>iu</q></l> +<l rend='margin-left: 41'>and <q>ice</q></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 4'>" 191: had with h inverted had</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 4'>" 196: if yf</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 4'>" 229: act are</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 4'>" 242: grim death <q>grim</q> deleted</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 4'>" 295: ( ) added</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 1'>V., 1, 115: assure as sure</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 4'>" 142: still'd stil'd</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 4'>" 228: pinn'd pinion'd</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 1'>V., 2, 22: iumpe impe</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 3'>" 78: this murther 'tis</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 3'>" 85: to sentence her inserted after <q>to</q></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +I have compared the Malone quarto in the Bodleian +Library and find that the mistakes are identical. In other +words, <hi rend='italic'>The Roman Actor</hi> 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 <q>grim</q> in IV., 2, 242 spoils +the rhythm. The curious thing is that the play is full of +misprints, which have not been corrected—<hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>, III., 2, 143, +Anaxerete (and in several other lines); line 154, <q>Epethite,</q> +for <q>epithet</q>; 258, Heccuba. Take again IV., 2, 181: An e +is inverted and not corrected; 188, <q>bttchered</q> stands for +<q>butchered</q>; and 189, <q>lacriledge</q> for <q>sacrilege.</q> +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>The Renegado</hi> +</p> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 1'>I., 3, 159: receive least losse <q>the</q> inserted after</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 41'><q>least.</q> It spoils the</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 41'>metre</l> +</lg> + +<pb n='220'/><anchor id='Pg220'/> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 1'>II., 5, 46: up to the bre a c breache</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" ? added</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>III., 3, 1: I will 'Twill</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 89: like a neighing gennet to mare to her proud</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 14'>her stallion stallion</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>III., 5, 114: well made galley mann'd</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 1'>IV., 1, 114: witnesse of my change <q>of</q> deleted: <q>good</q></l> +<l rend='margin-left: 40'>inserted after <q>my</q></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>V., 2, 79: Franci. inserted (=</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 42'>Francisco)</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>V., 3, 111: Vitelli inserted</l> +</lg> +</quote> + + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>The Picture</hi> +</p> + +<lg> +<l>Line 37, Poem by T. Jay:</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 13'>of to heare or</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 38: write neere writ</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 40: admir'd admire</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>I., 1, 31: satisfie satietie</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 40: ( ) added</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 53: If I am so rich or Sir</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 120: wone him o inserted after <q>o</q></l> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 154: wracke w deleted</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 190: ere the fight begun s added after <q>fight</q></l> +<l rend='margin-left: 42'>(=is)</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>I., 2, 13: bravel ye added</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 71: but deleted and added</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 42'>again in margin</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 170: examp le added</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 1'>II., 1, 82: A post. deleted</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 83: <q>Aside. A Post.</q></l> +<l rend='margin-left: 41'>added in margin</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 1'>II., 2, 98: <q>In one here</q> printed <q>In one here</q> deleted</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 12'>in a separate line after (<hi rend='italic'>vide</hi> Gifford)</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 12'>this line</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 103: resolve s added</l> +</lg> + +<pb n='221'/><anchor id='Pg221'/> + +<lg> +<l>II., 2, 103: lords of her, like acres</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 5'>" 174: fierce dame n inserted before <q>m.</q></l> +<l rend='margin-left: 45'>dame=dam</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 5'>" 255: solder soldier</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 5'>" 260: tosses trifles</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +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 <q>ijgobobs</q> +in V., 3, 161 escaping comment. +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>The Fatal Dowry</hi> +</p> + +<p> +Nil. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>The Emperor of the East</hi> +</p> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>I., 1, 83: musicke? ? deleted, and <q>Sir?</q></l> +<l rend='margin-left: 45'>added</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>I., 2, 169: too to</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 178: Constantinople courte</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 242: them feare their</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 291: care feare</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 323: Nimph Umph</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 347: wooned d deleted</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 1'>II., 1, 114: in knowledge <q>the</q> inserted after</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 45'><q>in</q></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>III., 2, 62: ( ) added</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 93: heaven is most gratious <q>to you</q> deleted</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 16'>to you, madam</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 111: with a kinde impotence <q>of</q> inserted after</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 45'><q>kinde</q></l> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 138: I speak it ) added</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 139: I I (so III., 4, 145, 163;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 45'>IV., 1, 13)</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 199: ransone m</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>III., 4, 19: how .sister: !! added</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 29: str stirre</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 44: beg pardon a inserted after <q>beg</q></l> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 60: my pity t added above <q>t</q></l> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 80: ? added</l> +</lg> + +<pb n='222'/><anchor id='Pg222'/> + +<lg> +<l>III., 4, 132: observe handle</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 146: royall sir comma added</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 1'>IV., 1, 14: Princesse Empresse</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 1'>IV., 3, 36: they hee</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 43: fraide defray'd</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 62: camer cancer</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 132: this admiration thie</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>V., 3, 47: flights s deleted</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 85: niggle iuggle</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 111: I fever if ever</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>" 190: my grace on all cancelled</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>The Maid of Honour</hi> +</p> + +<p> +Nil. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Note by Mr. Edmund Gosse.</hi> +</p> + +<p> +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 <q>a tradition</q> 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 +<pb n='223'/><anchor id='Pg223'/> +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. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Appendix XX. Bibliography</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>W. Archer</hi>: <q>The Elizabethan Stage</q> (Quarterly Review, +No. 415, April, 1908). +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>R. Boyle</hi>: Dictionary of National Biography: <q>Massinger.</q> +</p> + +<p> +" Englische Studien (Heilbronn): <q>On Beaumont, +Fletcher, and Massinger,</q> v. 74, vii, 66, +viii. 39, ix. 209, x. 383. +</p> + +<p> +" New Shakespeare Society Transactions, part ii., +1880-85, xviii., pp. 371-399: <q>Massinger and +The Two Noble Kinsmen.</q> (<hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> Discussion +on March 9, 1883, p. 66.) +</p> + +<p> +" New Shakespeare Society Transactions, 1880-86, +xxi., pp. 443-488: <q>Henry the Eighth.</q> +</p> + +<p> +" New Shakespeare Society Transactions, 1886, +xxvi., pp. 579-628. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>A. C. Bradley</hi>: Oxford Lectures on Poetry: <q>Shakespeare +the Man, and Shakespeare's Theatre and Audience.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>A. H. Bullen</hi>: Dictionary of National Biography: <q>Fletcher.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>H. Coleridge</hi>: Preface to Massinger and Ford. 1840. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>S. T. Coleridge</hi>: Lectures on Shakespeare and the Poets +(T. Ashe, 1883), pp. 403-407, 427, 432, 437, 534, 540. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>W. T. Courthope</hi>: History of English Poetry, vol. iv., pp. 348-369. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>T. Coxeter</hi>: The dramatic works of P. Massinger: 1761. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Lieut.-Col. F. Cunningham</hi>: The plays of P. Massinger: +Chatto and Windus: 1870. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Downes</hi>: Roscius Anglicanus. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Edinburgh Review</hi>, No. 23, 1808. (Review of Gifford's +edition.) +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>F. G. Fleay</hi>: Biographical Chronicle of the English Drama. +</p> + +<p> +" Chronicle History of the London Stage, 1559-1642. +</p> + +<pb n='224'/><anchor id='Pg224'/> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>F. G. Fleay</hi>: Chronicle History of W. Shakespeare. +</p> + +<p> +" New Shakespeare Society Transactions, 1874, +vol. i., No. 2: <q>On Metrical Tests as applied +to Dramatic Poetry</q> (Fletcher, Beaumont, +Massinger.) +</p> + +<p> +" Shakespeare Manual. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Gardiner</hi>: <q>The Political Element in Massinger.</q> (Contemporary +Review, August, 1876): reprinted in New +Shakespeare Society Transactions, 1875, No. xi., pp. 314-332. +(<hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi> also History of England, 1884, vol. vii., +pp. 327 and 337) +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Garnett and Gosse</hi>: English Literature: an Illustrated +Record. Heinemann. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Gayley and Brander Matthews</hi>: Representative English +Comedies, vol. iii. New York, 1914. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>W. Gifford</hi>: 1805. Second edition, 1813. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>W. W. Greg</hi>: Henslowe's Diary, vol. ii., pp. 165, 171, 224. +1904-08. +</p> + +<p> +" Henslowe Papers, pp. 66, 70, 74, 85. 1907. +</p> + +<p> +" List of English Plays written before 1643 and +printed before 1700. Bibliographical Society, +1900. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Hallam</hi>: Literature of Europe, part iii., chap. vi. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Hazlitt</hi>: Lectures on Elizabethan Literature, pp. 131-136. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>E. Koeppel</hi>: Cambridge History of English Literature, vol. vi., +chap, vi.: <q>Massinger.</q> +</p> + +<p> +" Quellen Studien zu den Dramen George Chapman's, +Philip Massinger's, und John Ford's. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>C. Lamb</hi>: Specimens of English Dramatic Poets.<note place='foot'>Add references in Letters, edited by C. Ainger, vol. i., +pp. 23, 24, 136, 154.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>G. C. Macaulay</hi>: Cambridge History of English Literature, +vol. vi., chap. v.: <q>Beaumont and Fletcher.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>J. Monck Mason</hi>: Dramatic Works, 1779. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>E. H. C. Oliphant</hi>: Englische Studien, xiv., xv., xvi. +</p> + +<p> +" Modern Language Review, iii., 337-355; +iv., 190-199, 342-351. +</p> + +<p> +" Problems of Authorship in the Elizabethan +Drama. Chicago, 1911. +</p> + +<pb n='225'/><anchor id='Pg225'/> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>J. Phelan</hi>: Dissertation (Halle), 1878. This careful performance +contains information about Massinger's family. +(<hi rend='italic'>Cf.</hi>, however, Furnivall's Protest in Anglia, ii., +p. 504.) +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>J. M. Robertson</hi>: The Baconian Heresy, chap. iii. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>G. Saintsbury</hi>: Cambridge History of English Literature, +vol. v., chap, viii.: <q>Shakespeare.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Schelling</hi>: Elizabethan Drama, 1908. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Shakespeare's England</hi>: Oxford University Press, 1916. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>L. Stephen</hi>: Hours in a Library, vol. ii. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>A. C. Swinburne</hi>: Contemporaries of Shakespeare (Gosse +and Wise). +</p> + +<p> +" Fortnightly Review, July, 1889. +</p> + +<p> +" Letters (Gosse and Wise), Nos. lxii. +and lxxiii. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>A. Symons</hi>: Mermaid Series, two volumes. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Ashley H. Thorndike</hi>: Tragedy. Constable, 1908. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>L. Wann</hi>: Shakespeare Studies (University of Wisconsin), vii.: +<q>The Collaboration of Beaumont, Fletcher, and Massinger.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Sir A. W. Ward</hi>: Cambridge History of English Literature, +vol. v., chap. xiv. +</p> + +<p> +" History of English Dramatic Literature, +especially vol. iii., pp. 1-47. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='226'/><anchor id='Pg226'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Index</head> + +<lg> +<l>A</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Aeschylus</hi>, <ref target='Pg149'>149</ref>, <ref target='Pg169'>169</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Alliteration in M., <ref target='Pg121'>121</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1, <ref target='Appendix_XVIII'>App. XVIII</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Aristophanes, <ref target='Pg061'>61</ref>, <ref target='Pg070'>70</ref>, <ref target='Pg149'>149</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Aristotle, <ref target='Pg027'>27</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1, <ref target='Pg028'>28</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 2, <ref target='Pg075'>75</ref>, <ref target='Pg076'>76</ref>, <ref target='Pg110'>110</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1, <ref target='Pg140'>140</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Armada, <ref target='Pg018'>18</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Aubrey, <ref target='Pg005'>5</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 2</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>À Wood, A., <ref target='Pg002'>2</ref>, <ref target='Pg006'>6</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>B</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Bashful Lover, The</hi>, <ref target='Pg048'>48</ref>, <ref target='Pg050'>50</ref>, <ref target='Pg057'>57</ref>, <ref target='Pg058'>58</ref>, <ref target='Pg075'>75</ref>, <ref target='Pg098'>98</ref>, <ref target='Pg131'>131</ref>, <ref target='Pg147'>147</ref>, <ref target='Pg199'>199</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Beaumont, <ref target='Pg021'>21</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 5, <ref target='Pg025'>25</ref>, <ref target='Pg057'>57</ref>, <ref target='Pg059'>59</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1, <ref target='Pg070'>70</ref>, <ref target='Pg094'>94</ref>, <ref target='Pg099'>99</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 2, <ref target='Pg110'>110</ref>, <ref target='Pg129'>129</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Beethoven, <ref target='Pg076'>76</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Believe as You List</hi>, <ref target='Pg015'>15</ref>, <ref target='Pg054'>54</ref>, <ref target='Pg093'>93</ref>, <ref target='Pg140'>140</ref>, <ref target='Appendix_VII'>App. VII.</ref>, <ref target='Appendix_VIII'>App. VIII</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Besant, Sir W., <ref target='Pg007'>7</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Boccaccio, <ref target='Pg009'>9</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1, <ref target='Pg011'>11</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1, <ref target='Pg076'>76</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 3</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Bondman, The</hi>, <ref target='Pg015'>15</ref>, <ref target='Pg024'>24</ref>, <ref target='Pg027'>27</ref>, <ref target='Pg031'>31</ref>, <ref target='Pg032'>32</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1, <ref target='Pg035'>35</ref>, <ref target='Pg036'>36</ref>, <ref target='Pg048'>48</ref>, <ref target='Pg061'>61</ref>, <ref target='Pg073'>73</ref>, <ref target='Pg075'>75</ref>, <ref target='Pg104'>104</ref>, <ref target='Pg108'>108</ref>, <ref target='Pg134'>134</ref>, <ref target='Pg145'>145</ref>, <ref target='Pg150'>150</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Boyle, <ref target='Pg002'>2</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 3, <ref target='Pg020'>20</ref>, <ref target='Pg021'>21</ref>, <ref target='Pg025'>25</ref>, <ref target='Pg055'>55</ref>, <ref target='Pg056'>56</ref>, <ref target='Pg062'>62</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1, <ref target='Pg070'>70</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1, <ref target='Pg088'>88</ref>, <ref target='Pg096'>96</ref>, <ref target='Pg097'>97-104</ref>, <ref target='Pg109'>109</ref>, <ref target='Pg122'>122</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 3, <ref target='Pg129'>129</ref>, <ref target='Pg131'>131</ref>, <ref target='Appendix_III'>App. III.</ref>, <ref target='Pg198'>198</ref>, <ref target='Pg200'>200</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Bradley, A. C., <ref target='Pg014'>14</ref>, <ref target='Pg026'>26</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 3, <ref target='Pg028'>28</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 4, <ref target='Pg065'>65</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 3, <ref target='Pg080'>80</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 16</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Bridges, R., <ref target='Pg069'>69</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1, <ref target='Pg175'>175</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Brooke, R., <ref target='Pg111'>111</ref>, <ref target='Pg159'>159</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Brooke, Tucker, <ref target='Pg095'>95-97</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Browne, Sir T., <ref target='Pg082'>82</ref>, <ref target='Pg119'>119</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Buckingham, Duke of, <ref target='Pg016'>16</ref>, <ref target='Pg204'>204</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Bullen, A. H., <ref target='Pg070'>70</ref>, <ref target='Pg095'>95</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 2, <ref target='Appendix_III'>App. III.</ref>, <ref target='Pg178'>178</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 6, <ref target='Pg201'>201</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Bunyan, <ref target='Pg108'>108</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>C</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Catalogue lines, <ref target='Pg054'>54</ref>, <ref target='Pg091'>91</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Cayet, <ref target='Pg178'>178</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 6, <ref target='Pg193'>193</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Cervantes, <ref target='Pg005'>5</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 5, <ref target='Pg203'>203</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Chapman, <ref target='Pg015'>15</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 2, <ref target='Pg066'>66</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 2, <ref target='Pg117'>117</ref>, <ref target='Pg139'>139</ref>, <ref target='Pg202'>202</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Charles I., <ref target='Pg007'>7</ref>, <ref target='Pg015'>15</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Cibber, Colley, <ref target='Pg176'>176</ref>, <ref target='Pg181'>181</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 3</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>City Madam, The</hi>, <ref target='Pg010'>10</ref>, <ref target='Pg011'>11</ref>, <ref target='Pg013'>13</ref>, <ref target='Pg031'>31</ref>, <ref target='Pg032'>32</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1, <ref target='Pg043'>43</ref>, <ref target='Pg053'>53</ref>, <ref target='Pg054'>54</ref>, <ref target='Pg055'>55</ref>, <ref target='Pg073'>73</ref>, <ref target='Pg113'>113</ref>, <ref target='Pg116'>116</ref>, <ref target='Pg133'>133</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Cokaine, Sir A., <ref target='Pg022'>22</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Coleridge, S. T., <ref target='Pg055'>55</ref>, <ref target='Pg064'>64</ref>, <ref target='Pg071'>71</ref>, <ref target='Pg076'>76</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 3</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Collier, J., <ref target='Pg024'>24</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Corneille, <ref target='Pg043'>43</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Courthope, <ref target='Pg096'>96</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Croker, T. Crofton, <ref target='Pg175'>175</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Cunningham, F., <ref target='Pg007'>7</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1, <ref target='Pg024'>24</ref>, <ref target='Pg133'>133</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1, <ref target='Pg182'>182</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>D</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Daborne, <ref target='Pg002'>2</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Davies, <ref target='Pg123'>123</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Dekker, <ref target='Pg020'>20</ref>, <ref target='Pg044'>44</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1, <ref target='Pg123'>123</ref>, <ref target='Pg135'>135</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 2, <ref target='Pg147'>147</ref>, <ref target='Appendix_X'>App. X.</ref>, <ref target='Pg199'>199</ref>, <ref target='Pg200'>200</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Diderot, <ref target='Pg110'>110</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Dostoevsky, <ref target='Pg061'>61</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Double Falsehood, The</hi>, <ref target='Appendix_XV'>App. XV.</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Downes, <ref target='Pg024'>24</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 3</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Dryden, <ref target='Pg024'>24</ref>, <ref target='Pg116'>116</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Dublin MS., <ref target='Appendix_XVII'>App. XVII.</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Duke of Milan, The</hi>, <ref target='Pg016'>16</ref>, <ref target='Pg031'>31</ref>, <ref target='Pg032'>32</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1, <ref target='Pg041'>41</ref>, <ref target='Pg052'>52</ref>, <ref target='Pg081'>81</ref>, <ref target='Pg082'>82</ref>, <ref target='Pg135'>135</ref>, <ref target='Pg145'>145</ref>, <ref target='Pg203'>203</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>E</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Emperor of the East, The</hi>, <ref target='Pg017'>17</ref>, <ref target='Pg027'>27</ref>, <ref target='Pg028'>28</ref>, <ref target='Pg032'>32</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1, <ref target='Pg043'>43</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 2, <ref target='Pg048'>48</ref>, <ref target='Pg051'>51</ref>, <ref target='Pg054'>54</ref>, <ref target='Pg072'>72</ref>, <ref target='Pg082'>82</ref>, <ref target='Pg101'>101</ref>, <ref target='Pg102'>102</ref>, <ref target='Pg108'>108</ref>, <ref target='Pg128'>128</ref>, <ref target='Pg146'>146</ref>, <ref target='Pg148'>148</ref>, <ref target='Pg149'>149</ref>, <ref target='Pg170'>170</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Euripides, <ref target='Pg027'>27</ref>, <ref target='Pg032'>32</ref>, <ref target='Pg033'>33</ref>, <ref target='Pg075'>75</ref>, <ref target='Pg077'>77</ref>, <ref target='Pg110'>110</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1, <ref target='Pg169'>169</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>F</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Fair Penitent, The</hi>, <ref target='Pg137'>137</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Fatal Dowry, The</hi>, <ref target='Pg008'>8</ref>, <ref target='Pg020'>20</ref>, <ref target='Pg028'>28</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 4, <ref target='Pg036'>36</ref>, <ref target='Pg049'>49</ref>, <ref target='Pg053'>53</ref>, <ref target='Pg056'>56</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 2, <ref target='Pg119'>119</ref>, <ref target='Appendix_XI'>App:. XI.</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Field, <ref target='Pg021'>21</ref>, <ref target='Pg138'>138</ref>, <ref target='Appendix_XI'>App. XI</ref>.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Fielding, <ref target='Pg063'>63</ref>, <ref target='Pg077'>77</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Fleay, F. G., <ref target='Pg005'>5</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 5, <ref target='Pg020'>20</ref>, <ref target='Pg033'>33</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 2, <ref target='Pg056'>56</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 2, <ref target='Pg057'>57</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1, <ref target='Pg159'>159</ref>, <ref target='Pg202'>202</ref></l> +</lg> + +<pb n='227'/><anchor id='Pg227'/> + +<lg> +<l>Fletcher, <ref target='Pg003'>3</ref>, <ref target='Pg010'>10</ref>, <ref target='Pg019'>19</ref>, <ref target='Pg021'>21</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1, <ref target='Pg028'>28</ref>, <ref target='Pg059'>59</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 2, <ref target='Pg066'>66</ref>, <ref target='Pg071'>71</ref>, <ref target='Pg084'>84</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1, <ref target='Pg091'>91</ref>, <ref target='Pg097'>97</ref>, <ref target='Pg098'>98</ref>, <ref target='Pg109'>109</ref>, <ref target='Pg123'>123</ref>, <ref target='Pg129'>129</ref>, <ref target='Pg130'>130</ref>, <ref target='Pg133'>133</ref>, <ref target='Pg135'>135</ref>, <ref target='Pg147'>147</ref>, <ref target='Appendix_III'>App. III.</ref>, <ref target='Pg170'>170</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ford, <ref target='Pg008'>8</ref>, <ref target='Pg013'>13</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 5, <ref target='Pg013'>13</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 6, <ref target='Pg033'>33</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 2, <ref target='Pg059'>59</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1, <ref target='Pg062'>62</ref>, <ref target='Pg063'>63</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 3, <ref target='Pg065'>65</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 3, <ref target='Pg081'>81</ref>, <ref target='Pg120'>120</ref>, <ref target='Pg205'>205</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 2</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>G</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Gardiner, <ref target='Pg007'>7</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Garrick, <ref target='Pg124'>124</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 4, <ref target='Pg176'>176</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Gayley, <ref target='Pg026'>26</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 4, <ref target='Pg141'>141</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1, <ref target='Pg160'>160</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Georgian Poets, The, <ref target='Pg061'>61</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Gibbon, <ref target='Pg028'>28</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Gifford, <ref target='Pg007'>7</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1, <ref target='Pg025'>25</ref>, <ref target='Pg176'>176</ref>, <ref target='Appendix_IX'>App. IX.</ref>, <ref target='Pg198'>198</ref>, <ref target='Pg220'>220</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Goffe, <ref target='Pg077'>77</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 3, <ref target='Pg202'>202</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Gosse, E., <ref target='Appendix_XIX'>App. XIX.</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Gounod, <ref target='Pg109'>109</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1, <ref target='Pg137'>137</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 3</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Great Duke of Florence, The</hi>, <ref target='Pg016'>16</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1, <ref target='Pg025'>25</ref>, <ref target='Pg047'>47</ref>, <ref target='Pg054'>54</ref>, <ref target='Pg102'>102</ref>, <ref target='Pg103'>103</ref>, <ref target='Pg150'>150</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Greene, <ref target='Pg102'>102</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 5</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Greg, W. W., <ref target='Pg024'>24</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 2, <ref target='Pg067'>67</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 2, <ref target='Pg168'>168</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Grosart, <ref target='Pg006'>6</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1, <ref target='Pg208'>208</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Guardian, The</hi>, <ref target='Pg004'>4</ref>, <ref target='Pg012'>12</ref>, <ref target='Pg024'>24</ref>, <ref target='Pg027'>27</ref>, <ref target='Pg028'>28</ref>, <ref target='Pg049'>49</ref>, <ref target='Pg074'>74</ref>, <ref target='Pg120'>120</ref>, <ref target='Pg134'>134</ref>, <ref target='Pg148'>148</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>H</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Hallam, <ref target='Pg070'>70</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Hazlitt, <ref target='Pg025'>25</ref>, <ref target='Pg124'>124</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 4, <ref target='Pg137'>137</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 3</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Henry VIII.</hi>, <ref target='Pg011'>11</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 5, <ref target='Pg020'>20</ref>, <ref target='Pg022'>22</ref>, <ref target='Pg071'>71</ref>, <ref target='Pg073'>73</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> <ref target='Pg001'>1</ref>, <ref target='Pg084'>84-91</ref>, <ref target='Pg128'>128</ref>, <ref target='Pg141'>141</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Henslowe, <ref target='Pg004'>4</ref>, <ref target='Pg177'>177</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Herbert, Sir H., <ref target='Pg015'>15</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Heywood, <ref target='Pg117'>117</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Homer, <ref target='Pg169'>169</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Hroswitha, <ref target='Pg124'>124</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 3</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>J</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>James I., <ref target='Pg007'>7</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Johnson, S., <ref target='Pg121'>121</ref> n. 2</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Jonson, Ben, <ref target='Pg006'>6</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 2, <ref target='Pg012'>12</ref>, <ref target='Pg043'>43</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 2, <ref target='Pg069'>69</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 4, <ref target='Pg070'>70</ref>, <ref target='Pg072'>72</ref>, <ref target='Pg077'>77</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 3, <ref target='Pg113'>113-116</ref>, <ref target='Pg118'>118</ref>, <ref target='Pg128'>128</ref>, <ref target='Pg133'>133</ref>, <ref target='Pg185'>185</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>K</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Kean, <ref target='Pg124'>124</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 4</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Kemble, <ref target='Pg124'>124</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 4</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Knacke to Know a Knave, A</hi>, <ref target='Pg208'>208</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Koeppel, <ref target='Pg028'>28</ref>, <ref target='Pg178'>178</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 6, <ref target='Pg193'>193</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Kyd, <ref target='Pg127'>127</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>L</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Lamb, C., <ref target='Pg025'>25</ref>, <ref target='Pg033'>33</ref>, <ref target='Pg122'>122</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 3, <ref target='Pg199'>199</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Langbaine, <ref target='Pg002'>2</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 2, <ref target='Pg034'>34</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Lee, Sir Sidney, <ref target='Pg077'>77</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 2, <ref target='Pg112'>112</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Love Lost in the Dark</hi>, <ref target='Pg024'>24</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Lyly, <ref target='Pg117'>117</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>M</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Macaulay, G. C., <ref target='Pg021'>21</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 5, <ref target='Pg065'>65</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1, <ref target='Appendix_III'>App. III.</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Maid of Honour, The</hi>, <ref target='Pg016'>16</ref>, <ref target='Pg018'>18</ref>, <ref target='Pg027'>27</ref>, <ref target='Pg028'>28</ref>, <ref target='Pg040'>40</ref>, <ref target='Pg074'>74</ref>, <ref target='Pg103'>103</ref>, <ref target='Pg132'>132</ref>, <ref target='Pg146'>146</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Malone, <ref target='Pg015'>15</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1, <ref target='Pg015'>15</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 3, <ref target='Pg024'>24</ref>, <ref target='Pg176'>176</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Marlowe, <ref target='Pg029'>29</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1, <ref target='Pg110'>110</ref>, <ref target='Pg117'>117</ref>, <ref target='Pg150'>150</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 10</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Marston, <ref target='Pg062'>62</ref>, <ref target='Pg112'>112</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1, <ref target='Pg159'>159</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Massinger, Arthur, <ref target='Pg001'>1</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Massinger, Philip: life, <ref target='Pg002'>2</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>religion, <ref target='Pg003'>3</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>knowledge of Spanish, <ref target='Pg005'>5</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 5;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>death, <ref target='Pg007'>7</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>politics, <ref target='Pg014'>14</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>stagecraft, <ref target='Pg026'>26</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>style, <ref target='Pg033'>33</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>versification, <ref target='Pg055'>55</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>faults, <ref target='Pg060'>60</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>imitation of Shakspere, <ref target='Pg077'>77</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>introduction of doctors, <ref target='Pg081'>81</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>method, <ref target='Pg104'>104</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>favourite words, <ref target='Pg106'>106</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>character, <ref target='Pg118'>118</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>use of epithets, <ref target='Pg120'>120</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 5;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>use of assonances, <ref target='Pg121'>121</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>knowledge of Greek, <ref target='Appendix_II'>App. II.</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>a metrical peculiarity, <ref target='Appendix_VI'>App. VI.</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>use of alliteration, <ref target='Appendix_XVIII'>App. XVIII.</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Matthews, Brander, <ref target='Pg025'>25</ref>, <ref target='Pg045'>45</ref>, <ref target='Pg064'>64</ref>, <ref target='Pg071'>71</ref>, <ref target='Pg123'>123</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 4, <ref target='Pg142'>142</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 3, <ref target='Pg160'>160</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Matthieu, P., <ref target='Pg006'>6</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 2, <ref target='Appendix_XIV'>App. XIV.</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Middleton, <ref target='Pg021'>21</ref>, <ref target='Pg028'>28</ref>, <ref target='Pg062'>62</ref>, <ref target='Pg065'>65</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 3, <ref target='Pg124'>124</ref>, <ref target='Pg127'>127</ref>, <ref target='Pg141'>141</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1, <ref target='Pg147'>147</ref>, <ref target='Pg158'>158</ref>, <ref target='Appendix_XVI'>App. XVI.</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Milton, <ref target='Pg032'>32</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 3, <ref target='Pg051'>51</ref>, <ref target='Pg055'>55</ref>, <ref target='Pg069'>69</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Monck Mason, <ref target='Pg025'>25</ref>, <ref target='Pg123'>123</ref>, <ref target='Pg134'>134</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Montgomery, Philip, Earl of Pembroke and, <ref target='Pg005'>5</ref>, <ref target='Pg014'>14</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Mozart, <ref target='Pg076'>76</ref>, <ref target='Pg088'>88</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>N</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>New Way to Pay Old Debts, A</hi>, <ref target='Pg012'>12</ref>, <ref target='Pg020'>20</ref>, <ref target='Pg025'>25</ref>, <ref target='Pg047'>47</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 3, <ref target='Pg048'>48</ref>, <ref target='Pg052'>52</ref>, <ref target='Pg070'>70</ref>, <ref target='Pg108'>108</ref>, <ref target='Pg115'>115</ref>, <ref target='Pg122'>122</ref>, <ref target='Pg124'>124</ref>, <ref target='Pg142'>142</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 3</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Nichol Smith, <ref target='Pg077'>77</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>O</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Old Law, The</hi>, <ref target='Pg021'>21</ref>, <ref target='Pg141'>141</ref>, <ref target='Pg158'>158</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Oliphant, E. H. C., <ref target='Pg059'>59</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 2, <ref target='Pg162'>162</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 2</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ovid, <ref target='Pg034'>34</ref>, <ref target='Pg105'>105</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 3, <ref target='Pg151'>151</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>P</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Parliament of Love, The</hi>, <ref target='Pg042'>42</ref>, <ref target='Pg050'>50</ref>, <ref target='Pg059'>59</ref>, <ref target='Pg060'>60</ref>, <ref target='Pg082'>82</ref>, <ref target='Pg083'>83</ref>, <ref target='Pg092'>92</ref>, <ref target='Pg139'>139</ref>, <ref target='Pg146'>146</ref>, App. IX.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Peele, <ref target='Pg142'>142</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Pembroke, second Earl of, <ref target='Pg002'>2</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Pembroke, third Earl of, <ref target='Pg006'>6</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Pepys, <ref target='Pg024'>24</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Phelan, <ref target='Pg137'>137</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 3, <ref target='Pg203'>203</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 2</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Philipps, Halliwell, <ref target='Pg024'>24</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 2, <ref target='Pg176'>176</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Picture, The</hi>, <ref target='Pg008'>8</ref>, <ref target='Pg009'>9</ref>, <ref target='Pg029'>29</ref>, <ref target='Pg050'>50</ref>, <ref target='Pg054'>54</ref>, <ref target='Pg073'>73</ref>, <ref target='Pg074'>74</ref>, <ref target='Pg082'>82</ref>, <ref target='Pg111'>111</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1, <ref target='Pg140'>140</ref>, <ref target='Pg146'>146</ref></l> +</lg> + +<pb n='228'/><anchor id='Pg228'/> + +<lg> +<l>Plautus, <ref target='Pg002'>2</ref>, <ref target='Pg067'>67</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 2, <ref target='Pg104'>104</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Powerful Favourite, The</hi>, <ref target='Pg006'>6</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 2, <ref target='Appendix_XIV'>App. XIV.</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Prince of Tarent, The</hi>, vide <hi rend='italic'>A Very Woman</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Prynne, <ref target='Pg065'>65</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 3</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Puritans, <ref target='Pg010'>10</ref>, <ref target='Pg045'>45</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>R</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Renegado, The</hi>, <ref target='Pg003'>3</ref>, <ref target='Pg013'>13</ref>, <ref target='Pg024'>24</ref>, <ref target='Pg027'>27</ref>, <ref target='Pg031'>31</ref>, <ref target='Pg053'>53</ref>, <ref target='Pg065'>65</ref>, <ref target='Pg074'>74</ref>, <ref target='Pg075'>75</ref>, <ref target='Pg134'>134</ref>, <ref target='Pg145'>145</ref>, <ref target='Pg149'>149</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Repetition of words and phrases, <ref target='Pg054'>54</ref>, <ref target='Pg197'>197</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Richardson, <ref target='Pg135'>135</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Roman Actor, The</hi>, <ref target='Pg028'>28</ref>, <ref target='Pg033'>33</ref>, <ref target='Pg038'>38</ref>, <ref target='Pg052'>52</ref>, <ref target='Pg066'>66</ref>, <ref target='Pg072'>72</ref>, <ref target='Pg082'>82</ref>, <ref target='Pg116'>116</ref>, <ref target='Pg126'>126</ref>, <ref target='Pg137'>137</ref>, <ref target='Pg146'>146</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Rosenbach, <ref target='Pg005'>5</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 5</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Rowe, <ref target='Pg056'>56</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 2, <ref target='Pg137'>137</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Rowley, W., <ref target='Pg021'>21</ref>, <ref target='Pg141'>141</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1, <ref target='Pg142'>142</ref>, <ref target='Pg168'>168</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>S</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Schelling, <ref target='Pg005'>5</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 5, <ref target='Pg065'>65</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Schmidt, <ref target='Pg043'>43</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 2, <ref target='Pg171'>171</ref>, <ref target='Pg175'>175</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Scott, Sir W., <ref target='Pg068'>68</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Sea scenes, <ref target='Pg028'>28</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Second Maiden's Tragedy, The</hi>, <ref target='Appendix_XIII'>App. XIII.</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Sero sed Serio</hi>, <ref target='Pg005'>5</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Shakspere, <ref target='Pg003'>3</ref>, <ref target='Pg012'>12</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 3, <ref target='Pg018'>18</ref>, <ref target='Pg020'>20</ref>, <ref target='Pg029'>29</ref>, <ref target='Pg032'>32</ref>, <ref target='Pg033'>33</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1, <ref target='Pg043'>43</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1, <ref target='Pg043'>43</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 2, <ref target='Pg045'>45</ref>,</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'><ref target='Pg049'>49</ref>, <ref target='Pg056'>56</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 2, <ref target='Pg063'>63</ref>, <ref target='Pg069'>69</ref>, <ref target='Pg070'>70</ref>, <ref target='Pg072'>72</ref>, <ref target='Pg073'>73</ref>, <ref target='Pg077'>77-80</ref>, <ref target='Pg083'>83</ref>, <ref target='Pg085'>85</ref>, <ref target='Pg087'>87</ref>, <ref target='Pg090'>90</ref>, <ref target='Pg091'>91</ref>, <ref target='Pg098'>98</ref>, <ref target='Pg099'>99</ref>,</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'><ref target='Pg101'>101</ref>, <ref target='Pg109'>109</ref>, <ref target='Pg113'>113</ref>, <ref target='Pg118'>118</ref>, <ref target='Pg121'>121-123</ref>, <ref target='Pg125'>125</ref>, <ref target='Pg128'>128</ref>, <ref target='Pg130'>130</ref>, <ref target='Pg135'>135</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1, <ref target='Pg137'>137</ref>, <ref target='Pg147'>147</ref>, <ref target='Pg153'>153</ref>,</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'><ref target='Appendix_IV'>App. IV.</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Shelley, <ref target='Pg031'>31</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Shirley, <ref target='Pg116'>116</ref>, <ref target='Pg126'>126</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 2, <ref target='Pg147'>147</ref>, <ref target='Pg180'>180</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Signorelli, Luca, <ref target='Pg061'>61</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Simpson, P., <ref target='Pg065'>65</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 3, <ref target='Pg133'>133</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1, <ref target='Pg203'>203</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 2</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Sir J. V. O. Barnavelt</hi>, <ref target='Pg008'>8</ref>, <ref target='Pg009'>9</ref>, <ref target='Pg052'>52</ref>, <ref target='Pg139'>139</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 3, <ref target='Pg177'>177</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 2, <ref target='Appendix_XII'>App. XII.</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Sophocles, <ref target='Pg150'>150</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Stephen, Sir Leslie, <ref target='Pg045'>45</ref>, <ref target='Pg068'>68</ref>, <ref target='Pg076'>76</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 2, <ref target='Pg076'>76</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 3, <ref target='Pg132'>132</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Stevenson, <ref target='Pg064'>64</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Strangest Adventure, The</hi>, <ref target='Pg178'>178</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Subordinates combined, <ref target='Pg029'>29</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Swinburne, <ref target='Pg052'>52</ref>, <ref target='Pg151'>151</ref>, <ref target='Pg215'>215</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Sykes, Dugdale, <ref target='Pg093'>93</ref>, <ref target='Pg094'>94</ref>, <ref target='Pg096'>96</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Symonds, J. A., <ref target='Pg222'>222</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>T</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Taylor, J., <ref target='Pg124'>124</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 2</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Theobald, <ref target='Pg204'>204</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Torture on stage, <ref target='Pg028'>28</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Tourneur, <ref target='Pg020'>20</ref>, <ref target='Pg055'>55</ref>, <ref target='Pg062'>62</ref>, <ref target='Pg157'>157</ref>, <ref target='Pg203'>203</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Turks, <ref target='Pg009'>9</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Two Noble Kinsmen, The</hi>, <ref target='Pg020'>20</ref>, <ref target='Pg022'>22</ref>, <ref target='Pg023'>23</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1, <ref target='Pg092'>92-104</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>U</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Unnatural Combat, The</hi>, <ref target='Pg008'>8</ref>, <ref target='Pg028'>28</ref>, <ref target='Pg031'>31</ref>, <ref target='Pg054'>54</ref>, <ref target='Pg069'>69</ref>, <ref target='Pg138'>138</ref>, <ref target='Appendix_XVIII'>App. XVIII.</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>V</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Very Woman, A</hi>, <ref target='Pg021'>21</ref>, <ref target='Pg042'>42</ref>, <ref target='Pg050'>50</ref>, <ref target='Pg081'>81</ref>, <ref target='Pg082'>82</ref>, <ref target='Pg084'>84</ref>, <ref target='Pg100'>100</ref>, <ref target='Pg102'>102</ref>, <ref target='Pg108'>108</ref>, <ref target='Pg129'>129</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Virgil, <ref target='Pg127'>127</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 3</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Virgin Martyr</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>The</hi>, <ref target='Pg003'>3</ref>, <ref target='Pg018'>18</ref>, <ref target='Pg020'>20</ref>, <ref target='Pg024'>24</ref>, <ref target='Pg031'>31</ref>, <ref target='Pg032'>32</ref>, <ref target='Pg033'>33</ref>, <ref target='Pg046'>46</ref>, <ref target='Pg047'>47</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 3, <ref target='Pg062'>62</ref>, <ref target='Pg072'>72</ref>,</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'><ref target='Pg073'>73</ref>, <ref target='Pg081'>81</ref>, <ref target='Pg120'>120</ref>, <ref target='Pg123'>123</ref>, <ref target='Pg142'>142</ref>, <ref target='Pg149'>149</ref>, <ref target='Appendix_X'>App. X.</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Vocabulary of M., <ref target='Pg106'>106</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>W</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Warburton, <ref target='Pg023'>23</ref>, App. V.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ward, Sir A., <ref target='Pg025'>25</ref>, <ref target='Pg065'>65</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 1, <ref target='Pg110'>110</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Warner, Sir G. F., <ref target='Pg177'>177</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Weber, <ref target='Pg021'>21</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 6</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Webster, <ref target='Pg005'>5</ref>, <ref target='Pg029'>29</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 2, <ref target='Pg111'>111-113</ref>, <ref target='Pg159'>159</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Wit and Fancy in a Maze</hi>, <ref target='Pg077'>77</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> 3</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Z</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Zielinski, <ref target='Pg050'>50</ref></l> +</lg> + +</div> + +</body> + +<back rend="page-break-before: right"> + <div id="footnotes"> + <index index="toc" /> + <index index="pdf" /> + <head>Footnotes</head> + <divGen type="footnotes"/> + </div> + <div rend="page-break-before: right"> + <divGen type="pgfooter" /> + </div> +</back> +</text> +</TEI.2> diff --git a/35365-tei/images/frontispiece.png b/35365-tei/images/frontispiece.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5e83162 --- /dev/null +++ b/35365-tei/images/frontispiece.png diff --git a/35365-tei/images/sample.png b/35365-tei/images/sample.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..75e263c --- /dev/null +++ b/35365-tei/images/sample.png |
