Chapter 17

"Pro Laurentio Fletcher et Willielmo Shakespeare et aliis."A.D. 1603. Pat."1. Jac. P. 2. m. 4. James by the grace of God, &c. to all justices, maiors, sheriffs, constables, headboroughs, and other our officers and loving subjects, greeting. Know you that wee, of our special grace, certaine knowledge, and meer motion, have licensed and authorised, and by these presentes doe licence and authorize theise our servaunts, Laurence Fletcher,William Shakespeare, Richard Burbage, Augustine Phillippes, John Hemings, Henrie Condel, William Sly, Robert Armin, Richard Cowly, and the rest of their associates, freely to use and exercise the art and faculty of playingcomedies,tragedies,histories,interludes,morals,pastorals,stage-plaies, and such like other as thei have alreadie studied or hereafter shall use or studie, as well for the recreation of our loving subjects, as for our solace and pleasure when we shall thincke good to see them, during our pleasure: and the said comedies, tragedies, histories, enterludes, morals, pastorals, stage-plaies, and such like, to shew and exercise publiquely to their best commoditie, when the infection of the plague shall decrease, as well within theire nowe usuall house called theGlobe, within our county of Surrey, as also within anie towne-halls or moute-halls, or other convenient places within the liberties and freedom of any other citie, universitie, toun, or boroughe whatsoever, within our said realmes and dominions. Willing and commanding you and everie of you, as you tender ourpleasure, not onelie to permit and suffer them herein, without any your letts, hindrances, or molestations, during our pleasure, but also to be aiding or assistinge to them if any wrong be to them offered, and to allow them such former curtesies as hathe been given to men of their place and quallitie; and also what further favour you shall shew to theise our servaunts for our sake, we shall take kindlie at your handes. In witness whereof, &c."Witness our selfe at Westminster, the nynteenth daye of Maye,"Per Breve de private sigillo."[208:A]

"Pro Laurentio Fletcher et Willielmo Shakespeare et aliis.

"A.D. 1603. Pat.

"1. Jac. P. 2. m. 4. James by the grace of God, &c. to all justices, maiors, sheriffs, constables, headboroughs, and other our officers and loving subjects, greeting. Know you that wee, of our special grace, certaine knowledge, and meer motion, have licensed and authorised, and by these presentes doe licence and authorize theise our servaunts, Laurence Fletcher,William Shakespeare, Richard Burbage, Augustine Phillippes, John Hemings, Henrie Condel, William Sly, Robert Armin, Richard Cowly, and the rest of their associates, freely to use and exercise the art and faculty of playingcomedies,tragedies,histories,interludes,morals,pastorals,stage-plaies, and such like other as thei have alreadie studied or hereafter shall use or studie, as well for the recreation of our loving subjects, as for our solace and pleasure when we shall thincke good to see them, during our pleasure: and the said comedies, tragedies, histories, enterludes, morals, pastorals, stage-plaies, and such like, to shew and exercise publiquely to their best commoditie, when the infection of the plague shall decrease, as well within theire nowe usuall house called theGlobe, within our county of Surrey, as also within anie towne-halls or moute-halls, or other convenient places within the liberties and freedom of any other citie, universitie, toun, or boroughe whatsoever, within our said realmes and dominions. Willing and commanding you and everie of you, as you tender ourpleasure, not onelie to permit and suffer them herein, without any your letts, hindrances, or molestations, during our pleasure, but also to be aiding or assistinge to them if any wrong be to them offered, and to allow them such former curtesies as hathe been given to men of their place and quallitie; and also what further favour you shall shew to theise our servaunts for our sake, we shall take kindlie at your handes. In witness whereof, &c.

"Witness our selfe at Westminster, the nynteenth daye of Maye,

"Per Breve de private sigillo."[208:A]

ToThe Globementioned in this licence, and to the play-house inBlackfriars, as being the theatres exclusively belonging toShakspeare'scompany, and where all his dramas were performed, we shall now confine our attention, the customs and usages of these, the one being a public, and the other a private theatre, pretty accurately applying to the rest.

The exact era of the building ofThe Globehas not been ascertained. Mr. Malone, from the documents which he consulted, conceives it to have been erected not long anterior to the year 1596; and Mr. Chalmers, resting on the evidence of Norden's map of London, concludes it to have been built before the year 1593.[208:B]Its scite appears to have been on the southern side of the Thames, called theBankside, and its form, which was of considerable size, to have been externally hexagonal, and internally circular. It was constructed of wood, and only partly thatched, its centre being open to the weather. It was probably named The Globe, not from the circularity of its interior, but from its sign exhibiting Hercules supporting the globe, under which was inscribed,Totus mundus agit histrionem.

Being apublictheatre,The Globewas likewise distinguished by a pole erected on its roof, to which, during the hours of exhibition, a flag was attached; for, by reason of its central exposure, it necessarily became a summer theatre, its performers, the King's company, usually commencing their season here during the month of May. The exhibitions at the Globe were frequent, and it is said, chiefly calculated for the lower class of people, the upper ranks, and the critics, generally preferring the private theatres, which were smaller, and more conveniently fitted up. The advantages of elegance and decoration, however, were no longer wanting to The Globe, in 1614; for the old structure, consisting of wood and thatch, being burnt down on the 29th of June, 1613, the subsequent year saw it rise from its ashes with considerable splendour.[209:A]

TheTheatre in Blackfriarsmay be classed among the earliest buildings of the kind, being certainly in existence before 1580. It was erected near the present site of Apothecaries' Hall, and being without the liberties of the city of London, had the good fortune to escape the levelling fury of the fanatics, who, shortly after the above period, obtained leave to destroy all the play-houses within the jurisdiction of the city.

It does not appear that Shakspeare's company, or the King's servants, had any interest in this theatre before the winter of 1604, at which period, or in the following spring, they became its purchasers; the children of the Revels, or, as they were sometimes called, the children of Blackfriars, being the usual performers at this house, prior to that event.

The distinctions subsisting betweenBlackfriarsandThe Globe, seem to have been nothing more, than that the former being aprivate, and awinter, house, was smaller, more compactly put together, and, as the representations were by candle-light, better calculated for the purposes of warmth and protection. As the internal structure, however, with the exception of the open centre, was similar to that of The Globe, and as the economy and usages were, there is every reason to believe, the same, not only in both these houses, but in every other contemporary theatre, the subsequent notices may be considered as applying, where not otherwise expressed, to the general state of the Elizabethan stage, though immediately derived from the costume of The Globe.

The interior architectural arrangements of this ancient theatre have been, in their leading features, preserved to the present day. Thegalleries, orscaffolds, as they were sometimes called, were constructed over each other, occupying three sides of the house, and assuming, according to the plan of the building, a square or semicircular form. Beneath these were small apartments, calledrooms, intended for the genteeler part of the audience, and answering, in almost every respect, to our modern boxes. In The Globe, these were open to all who chose to pay for them, but at Blackfriars and other private theatres, there is some reason to conclude, that they were occasionally the property of individuals, who secured their claim through the medium of a key.[210:A]

It has been remarked, that the centre of The Globe, or summer theatre, was open to the weather, and, from the first temporary play-houses having been built in the area of inns or common osteries, this was usually calledThe Yard. It had neither floor nor benches, and the common people standing here to see the performance, were, therefore, termed by Shakspearegroundlings; an epithet repeated by Decker, who speaks of "the groundling and gallery commoner,buying his sport by the penny."[211:A]The similar space at Blackfriars was named thePit, but seems to have differed in no other respect than in being protected by a roof. It was separated from the stage merely by a railing of pales, for there was no intervening orchestra, the music, consisting chiefly of trumpets, cornets, hautboys, lutes, recorders, viols, and organs, being executed by a band of eight or ten performers, who were stationed in an elevated balcony nearly occupying that part of the house which is now denominated the upper stage-box.

The stage itself appears to have been divided into two parts, namely thelowerand theupperstage; the former with nearly the same relative elevation with regard to the pit as in the theatres of our own times; the latter, resembling a balcony in shape, was placed towards the rear of the former, having its platform not less than eight or nine feet from the ground. This was a contrivance attended with much conveniency; here was represented the play before the King in Hamlet; here, in several of the old plays, part of the dialogue was carried on, and here, having curtains which drew in front, were occasionally concealed, from the view of the audience, persons whose seclusion might be necessary to the business of the plot.

Curtains also of woollen, or silk, were hung in the front of the greater or lower stage, not suspended, in the modern style, by lines and pullies, but opening in the middle, and sliding on an iron rod.

Beside the accommodation of boxes, pit, and galleries, in the usual parts of the house, two boxes, one on each side, were attached to the balcony or upper stage, and were termedprivateboxes; but, being inconveniently situated, and, as Decker remarks, "almost smothered in darkness," were seldom frequented, except from motives of eccentricity, by characters higher than waiting-women and gentlemen-ushers.[211:B]Seats, also, at theprivatetheatres, were allowed to beplaced on the stage, and were generally occupied by the wits, gallants, and critics of the day: thus Decker observes,—"by sitting on the stage, you have a signed patent to engross the whole commodity ofcensure; may lawfully presume to be a girder, andstand at the helm to steer the passage of scenes."[212:A]

The passage initalicswhich closes this quotation, would seem to be decisive of the long agitated question relative to the use ofscenery; Mr. Malone asserting,—"that the stage of Shakspeare was not furnished withmoveable painted scenes, but merely decorated with curtains, and arras or tapestry hangings, which, when decayed, appear to have been sometimes ornamented with pictures[212:B];" and Mr. Steevens contending, that where so muchmachineryas the plays of Shakspeare require, is allowed to have been employed, the less complicated adjunct of scenes could scarcely be wanting; for that where "the column is found standing, no one will suppose but that it was once accompanied by its usual entablature.—In short," he adds, "without characteristic discriminations of place, the historical dramas of Shakspeare in particular would have been wrapped in tenfold confusion and obscurity; nor could the spectator have felt the poet's power, or accompanied his rapid transitions from one situation to another, without such guides aspainted canvasonly could supply.—But for these, or such assistances, the spectator, like Hamlet's mother, must have bent his gaze on mortifying vacancy; and with the guest invited by the Barmecide, in the Arabian tale, must have furnished from his own imagination the entertainment of which his eyes were solicited to partake."[212:C]

If the machinery accompanying trap-doors, tombs, and cauldrons, the appearance of ghosts, phantoms, and monsters, the descent of gods, the magic evanishment of articles of furniture and provision, and the confliction of the elements, were not strangers to the Shakspearean theatre, it surely would have been an easy matter to havetransferred theframe-work and painted canvaswhich, according to Holinshed, and even preceding chroniclers, decorated the pageants and tournaments of those days, to the business of the stage. Nor can we, indeed, conceive, as Mr. Steevens has remarked, how the minute inventory of Imogen's bedchamber, and the accurate description of the exterior of Inverness Castle, could have been rendered intelligible or endurable without such assistance.

It is highly, probable, therefore, from these considerations, and from the passage in Decker, that, notwithstanding the mass of negative evidence collected by Mr. Malone,moveable painted sceneswere occasionally introduced on the stage during the age of Shakspeare; and it may be further reasonably concluded, that, from the phrase ofSTEERINGthePASSAGEof scenes, the mechanism was formed and conducted on a plan approximating that which is now familiar to a modern audience.

The conjecture of Mr. Steevens, however, thatprivatetheatres had no scenes, while thepublichad, owing to the former admitting part of the audience on the stage, who might interfere with the convenient shifting of such an apparatus, is annihilated by the quotation from Decker, who expressly says, that "bySITTING ON THE STAGE, you havea signed patent to stand at the helm to steer the passage of the scenes," by which it would appear, that those who obtained seats on the private stage, occasionally amused themselves by assisting the regular mechanists in the adjustment of the scenery.

We learn, also, from Heywood[213:A], that the internal roof of the stage was either painted of a sky-blue colour, or hung with drapery of a similar tint, in order to represent theHEAVENS; and there is much reason to suppose, with a very ingenious commentator, that when the idea of a gloomy and starless night was to be impressed, theseheavenswere hung with black, whence, among many passagesin Shakspeare illustrative of this position, the following line manifestly owes its origin:—

"Hungbe theHeavenswithblack, yield day to night."[214:A]

It has, likewise, been asserted, and, indeed, to a certain extent, proved, by the same learned writer, that the lower part of the stage was distinguished by the name ofHELL; and he quotes the annexed passage from Chapman as decisive on the subject:—

"The fortune of aStage(like fortune's self)Amazeth greatest judgments: and none knowsThe hidden causes of those strange effects,That rise fromthisHell, or fall fromthisHeaven."[214:B]

"The fortune of aStage(like fortune's self)

Amazeth greatest judgments: and none knows

The hidden causes of those strange effects,

That rise fromthisHell, or fall fromthisHeaven."[214:B]

From this connection of the celestial and infernal regions with the stage, Mr. Whiter has inferred, through the medium of numerous pertinent quotations from Shakspeare and his contemporaries, that a vast mass of imagery was so blended and associated in the mind of our great poet, as to form an intimate union in his ideas betweenHELLandNIGHT; theDARKENED HEAVENSand theSTAGEofTRAGEDY[214:C]; and this, too, at an early period, even during the composition of his Rape of Lucrece, which contains some striking instances of this theatrical combination.

To these notices on the interior structure of the Shakspearean theatre, we shall now add the most material circumstances relative to its economy and usages.

The mode of announcing its exhibitions, if we except the medium of newspapers, a resource of subsequent times, seems to have been not less effectual and extensive than that of the present day.Play-billswere printed, expressing the title of the piece or pieces to be performed, but containing neither the names of the characters, norof the actors; these were industriously circulated through the town, and affixed to posts and public buildings, a custom which forms the subject of a repartee recorded by Taylor the water-poet, who began to write towards the close of Shakspeare's life:—"Master Field, the player," he relates, "riding up Fleet-street a great pace, a gentleman called him, and asked him, what play was played that day. He being angry to be staied on so frivolous a demand, answered, that he might see what play was plaiedupon every poste. I cry you mercy, said the gentleman, I tooke you for aposte, you rode so fast."[215:A]

In the early part of the reign of Elizabeth, theDays of Acting, at the public theatres, were chiefly confined to Sundays, Her Majesty's licence to Burbage in 1574, granting such exhibition on that day,out of the hours of prayer; and this was the day which the Queen herself usually selected for dramatic representation at court. The rapidly increasing taste, however, for theatric amusement soon induced the players to go beyond the limits of permission, and we find Gosson, in 1579, exclaiming, that the players, "because they are allowed to playevery Sunday, makefourorfive Sundays, at least, every week."[215:B]A reformation more consonant to morality and decorum took place in the subsequent reign; for, though plays were still performed on Sundays, at the court of James the First, yet they were no longer tolerated on that day at the public theatres, permission being now given, on application to the Master of the Revels, fortheir performance every day, save on the Sabbath, during the winter, and with no further exception than the Wednesdays and Fridays of Lent, which were at that time called sermon-days.

TheHours of Acting, during the whole period of Shakspeare's career, continued to be early in the afternoon. In 1598, we are informed by an epigram of Sir John Davies, thatone o'clockwas the usual time for the commencement of the play:—

"Fuscus doth rise at ten, and at elevenHe goes to Gyls, where he doth eat tillone,Then seesa play."

"Fuscus doth rise at ten, and at eleven

He goes to Gyls, where he doth eat tillone,

Then seesa play."

and, in 1609, when Decker published his Gull's Horn-book, the hour was thrown back to three, nor did it become later until towards the close of the seventeenth century. The time visually consumed in the exhibition appears, from the prologue toHenry the Eighth, to have been only two hours:—

——————————— "Those that come—I'll undertake, may see away theirshillingRichly intwo short hours."[216:A]

——————————— "Those that come—

I'll undertake, may see away theirshilling

Richly intwo short hours."[216:A]

The mention of payment in this passage, leads to the consideration of thePrices of Admission, and the sum here specified, contemporary authority informs us, was demanded for entrance into the best rooms or boxes.[216:B]Sixpence also, and sometimes a shilling, was paid for seats or stools on the stage. Sixpence was likewise the price of admission to the pit and galleries of the Globe and Blackfriars; but at inferior houses, a penny, or at most two-pence, gave access to the "groundling," or the "gallery-commoner." Dramatic poets, as in the present day, were admitted gratis. We may also add, that, from some verses addressed to the memory of Ben Jonson, by JasperMayne, and alluding to his Volpone or the Fox, acted in 1605, it is allowable to infer, that the prices of admission were, on the first representation of a new play, doubled, and even sometimes trebled.[217:A]

There is every reason to suppose, that while Shakspeare wrote for the stage, theNumber of Plays performed in One Day, seldom, if ever, exceededonetragedy, comedy, or history, and that the entertainment was varied and protracted, either by the extempore humour and tricks of theClownafter the play was over, or by singing, dancing, or ludicrous recitation, between the acts.

The house appears to have been pretty well supplied withLights; the stage being illuminated by two large branches; the body of the house by cresset lights, formed of ropes wreathed and pitched, and placed in open iron lanterns, and these were occasionally assisted by the interspersion of wax tapers among the boxes.

TheAmusements of the Audience before the Play commencedseem to have been amply supplied by themselves, the only recreation provided by the theatre, during this tedious interval, being themusicof the band, which struck up thrice, playing three flourishes, or, as they were then called,three soundings, before the performance began; but these were of course short, being principally intended as announcements, similar to those which we now receive from the prompter's bell. To kill time, therefore, reading and playing cards were the resources of the genteeler part of the audience: "Before the play begins," says Decker to his gallant, "fall to cards; you may win or lose, as fencers do in a prize, and beat one another by confederacy, yet share the money when you meet at supper: notwithstanding, to gull the ragamuffins that stand aloof gaping at you, throw the cards, having first torn four or five of them, round about the stage, just upon thethird sound, as though you had lost."[217:B]

Of the less refined amusements of thesegaping ragamuffins, "the youths that thunder at a play-house, and fight for bitter apples[218:A]," we find numerous traces in Decker, Jonson, and their contemporaries, which enable us to assert, that they chiefly consisted insmoking tobacco,drinking ale,cracking nuts, andeating fruit, which were regularly supplied by men attending in the theatre, and whose vociferation and clamour, or, as a writer of that time expresses it, "to be madeadder-deafwithpippin-cry[218:B]," were justly considered as grievous nuisances; more especially the use of tobacco, which must have been intolerable to those unaccustomed to its odour, and, indeed, occasionally drew forth the execration of individuals: thus in a work entitled, "Dyets Dry Dinner," we find the author commencing an epigram on the wanton and excessive use of tobacco, in the following terms:—

"It chaunc'd me gazing at theTheater,To spie a Dock-Tabacco-Chevalier,Clouding the loathing ayr with foggie fumeOf Dock-Tabacco;— — — —I wisht the Roman lawes severity:Who smoke selleth, with smoke be done to dy."[218:C]

"It chaunc'd me gazing at theTheater,

To spie a Dock-Tabacco-Chevalier,

Clouding the loathing ayr with foggie fume

Of Dock-Tabacco;— — — —

I wisht the Roman lawes severity:

Who smoke selleth, with smoke be done to dy."[218:C]

The most rational of the amusements which occupied the impatient audience, was certainly that ofreading, and this appears to have been supplied by a custom of hawking about new publications at thetheatre; at least this may be inferred from the opening of an address to the public, prefixed by William Fennor, to a production of his, entitled "Descriptions," and published in 1616. "To the Gentlemen readers, worthy gentlemen, of what degree soever, I suppose this pamphlet will hap into your hands,before a play begin, with the importunate clamour ofBuy a New Booke, by some needy companion, that will be glad to furnish you with worke for a turn'd teaster."[219:A]

As soon as the third sounding had finished, it was usual for the person whose province it was to speak thePrologue, immediately to enter. As a diffident and supplicatory manner were thought essential to this character, who is termed by Decker, "thequakingPrologue," it was the custom to clothe him in along black velvet cloak, to which Shirley adds, alittle beard, astarch'd face, and asupple leg.[219:B]

On withdrawing the curtain, the stage was generally found strewed withrushes, which, in Shakspeare's time, as hath been remarked in our first volume, formed the common covering of floors, from the palace to the cottage[219:C]; but, on very splendid occasions, it wasmattedentirely over; thus, Sir Henry Wotton, in a letter which describes the conflagration of the Globe Theatre, in 1613, says, that on the night of the accident, "the King's Players had a new play, calledAll is true, representing some principal pieces of the reign of Henry the Eighth, which was set forth with many extraordinary circumstances of pomp and majesty,even to the matting of the stage."[219:D]

The performance oftragedyappears to have been attended with some peculiar preparations; one of which washanging the stage with black, a practice which dwelt on Shakspeare's recollection when, in writing his Rape of Lucrece, he speaks of

"Black stagefortragedies, and murthers fell;"[220:A]

and is put out of dispute by a passage in the Induction to an anonymous tragedy, entitled,A Warning for fair Women, 1599, whereHistory, addressingComedy, says:—

"Look,Comedie, I mark'd it not till now,The stage is hung with blacke, and I perceiveThe auditors prepar'd fortragedie:"

"Look,Comedie, I mark'd it not till now,

The stage is hung with blacke, and I perceive

The auditors prepar'd fortragedie:"

to whichComedyreplies:—

"Nay then, I see she shall be entertain'd;Theseornamentsbeseem not thee and me."[220:B]

"Nay then, I see she shall be entertain'd;

Theseornamentsbeseem not thee and me."[220:B]

If the decorations of the stage itself could boast but little splendour, thewardrobe, even of The Globe and Blackfriars, could not be supposed either richly or amply furnished; in fact, even Jonson, in 1625, nine years after Shakspeare's death, betrays the poverty of thestage-dresses, when he exclaims in theInductionto hisStaple of News, "O curiosity, you come to see who wears the new suit to-day; whose clothes are best pen'd, &c.—what king playswithout cuffs, and his queenwithout gloves: who rides post instockings, and dances inboots."[220:C]It is evident, therefore, that the dramas of our great poet could derive little attraction from magnificence of attire, though itappears, from a passage in Jonson, that not only was there a prompter, orbook-holder, but likewise a property, ortire-man, belonging to each theatre, in 1601.[221:A]Periwigs, which came into fashion about 1596, were often worn on the stage by male characters, whence Hamlet is represented calling a ranting player, "a robustiousperiwig-pated fellow[221:B];"masksorvizardswere also sometimes used by those who personated female characters; thus Quince tells Flute, in the Midsummer Night's Dream, on his objecting to perform a woman's part, that he "shall play it in amask."[221:C]

Female charactersindeed, were on the old English stage, as they had been on the Grecian and Roman,always personated by men or boys, a practice which continued with us until near the period of the Restoration. Italy and France long preceded us in the introduction of women on the theatric boards; for Coryate writing from Venice in 1608, and describing one of the theatres of that city, says, "the house is very beggarly and base, in comparison of our stately play-houses in England;" and he then adds, what must give us a wretched idea of the state of the stage at that time in Italy, "neither can their actors compare with us for apparell, shewes, and musicke. Here," he continues, "I observed certaine things that I never saw before; forI saw women act, a thing that I never saw before."[221:D]

The mode of expressing dislike of, or censuring a play, was as decided in the days of Shakspeare as in the present age, and sometimes effected by the same means. Decker gives us two methods of expressing disapprobation; one, by leaving the house with as many in your train as you can collect, the other, by staying, in order to interrupt the performance: "you shall disgrace him (the poet) worse," he observes, "than by tossing him in a blanket, or giving him the bastinado in a tavern, if, in the middle of his play, be itpastoral or comedy, moral or tragedy, you rise with a screwed and discontented face from your stool to be gone;"—and "salute all your gentle acquaintance, that are spread either on the rushes, or on stools about you; and draw what troop you can from the stage after you:" but, "if either the company, or indisposition of the weather bind you to sit it out;—mewat passionate speeches;blareat merry; find fault with the musick;whewat the children's action;whistleat the songs[222:A];" modes of annoyance sufficiently provoking, and occasionally very effectual toward the final condemnation of a play, as Ben Jonson experienced in more instances than one.[222:B]

It was usual also for the critics and coxcombs of the day, either from motives of curiosity, vanity, or malevolence, to carry to the theatretable-books, made of small plates of slate bound together in duodecimo, and to take down passages from the play, for the purpose either of retailing them in taverns and parties, or with the view of ridiculing and degrading the author; "to such, wherever they sit concealed," says the indignant Jonson in 1601, "let them know, the author defies them and theirwriting-tables."[222:C]

AnEpilogue, sometimes spoken by one of theDramatis Personæ, and sometimes by an extra character, was not uncommon at this period; and, when employed, generally terminated, if in a public theatre, witha prayerfor the king or queen; if, in a private one, for the lord of the mansion. The prayer, however, was, almost always, a necessary form, whether an epilogue were adopted or not; and, on these occasions, whatever may have been the nature of the preceding drama, the players, kneeling down, solemnly addressed themselves to their devotions: thus Shakspeare concludes his Epilogue to the Second Part ofKing Henry the Fourth, by telling his audience, "Iwill bid you good night: and sokneel downbefore you;—but, indeed,to pray for the queen[223:A];" and Sir John Harrington closes hisMetamorphosis of Ajax, 1596, with the following sarcastic mention of this custom as retained inprivatetheatres:—"But I will neither end with sermon nor prayer, lest some wags liken me to my L. (——) players, who when they have ended a baudie comedy, as though that were a preparative to devotion, kneele down solemnly, and pray all the companie to pray with them for their good lord and maister." Considering the place chosen for its display, this is, certainly, a custom

"More honour'd in the breach, than the observance."

With regard to theRemuneration of Actors, during the age of Shakspeare, it has been ascertained, that, after deducting forty-five shillings, which were the usual nightly, or rather daily, expenses at the Globe and Blackfriars, thenetreceipt never amounted to more than twenty pounds, and that theaveragereceipt, after making a similar deduction, may be estimated at aboutnine pounds. This sum Mr. Malone supposes to have been in our poet's time "divided into forty shares, of which fifteen were appropriated to the house keepers or proprietors, three to the purchase of copies of new plays, stage-habits, &c. and twenty-two to the actors." He further calculates, that, as the acting season lasted forty weeks, and each company consisted of about twenty persons, six of whom probably were principal, and the others subordinate performers, if we supposetwo sharesto have been the reward of a principal actor;one sharethat of a second class composed of six, andhalf a sharethe portion of the remaining eight, the performer who hadtwo shares, would, on the calculation of nine poundsclearper night, receive nine shillings as his nightly dividend, and, at the rate of five plays a week, his weekly profit would amount to two pounds five shillings. "On all thesedata,"adds Mr. Malone, "I think it may be safely concluded, that the performers of the first class did not derive from their profession more than ninety pounds a year at the utmost. Shakspeare, Heminge, Condell, Burbadge, Lowin, and Taylor had without doubt other shares as proprietors or leaseholders; but what the different proportions were which each of them possessed in that right, it is now impossible to ascertain."[224:A]If we consider, however, the value of money during the reign of Elizabeth, and the relative prices of the necessary articles of life, it will be found that these salaries were not inadequate to the purposes of comfortable subsistence.

The profits accruing to the original source of the entertainment, or, in other words, theRemuneration given to the Dramatic Poet, was certainly, if we compare the claims of genius between the two parties, on a scale inferior to that which fell to the lot of the actor.

The author had the choice of two modes in the disposal of his property; he either sold the copy-right of his play to the theatre, or retained it in his own hands. In the former instance, which was frequently had recourse to in the age of Shakspeare, the only emolument was that derived from the purchase made by the proprietors of the theatre, who took care to secure the performance of the piece exclusively to their own company, and whose interest it was to defer its publication as long as possible; in the latter instance, not only had the poet the right of publication and the benefit of sale in his own option, but he had, likewise, a claim upon the theatre for a benefit. This, towards the termination of the sixteenth century, took place on thesecondday[224:B], butwas soon afterwards, as early indeed as 1612, postponed to thethirdday.[225:A]

From a publication of Robert Greene's, dated 1592, it appears, that the price of a drama, when disposed of to thepublic players, was twenty nobles, or six pounds thirteen shillings and four pence; but thatprivate companieswould sometimes give double that[225:B]sum. It has been recorded, indeed, by Oldys, in one of his manuscripts, but upon what authority is not mentioned, that Shakspeare received butfive poundsfor hisHamlet![225:C]

What abooksellergave for thecopyrightof a play at this period is unknown; but we have sufficient foundation, that of the bookseller's Preface to the quarto edition of our poet'sTroilus and Cressidain 1609, for asserting, thatsixpencewas the sale price of a play when published.[225:D]It may also be affirmed, on grounds of equal security, thatforty shillingsformed the customary compliment for the flattery of a dedication.[225:E]

To these notices concerning the pecuniary rewards of poets and performers, may be added the conjecture of Mr. Malone, that Shakspeare, "as author, actor, and proprietor, probably received from the theatre about two hundred pounds a year."[225:F]

From this description of the architecture, economy, and usages of the Shakspearean Stage, it must be evident, how trifling were the obligations of our great poet to the adventitious aid of scenery, machinery, and decoration, notwithstanding we have admitted these to be somewhat more elaborate than is usually allowed. The Art of Acting, however, had, during the same period, made very rapid strides towards perfection, and dramatic action and expression, therefore, coadjutors of infinitely more importance than the most splendid scenical apparatus, exhibited, we have reason to believe, powers in a great degree competent to the task of doing justice to the imperishable productions of this unrivalled bard of pity and of terror.

FOOTNOTES:

[168:A]Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, fol., 8th edit., p. 171. col. i.

[168:B]"The Pleasant and Stately Morall of the Three Lordes and Three Ladies of London," &c., London. Printed by Jhones, at the Rose and Crowne, neere Holburne Bridge, 1590. Vide Strutt's Sports and Pastimes, Introduct., p. xxviii.; and Beloe's Anecdotes of Literature, vol. i. p. 350, 351.

[168:C]Anatomy of Melancholy, p. 172. col. i.

[169:A]"Schoole of Abuse," "Anatomie of Abuses," and "Treatise against Diceing, Card-playing," &c.

[169:B]Reed's Shakspeare, vol. v. p. 170. Act v. sc. 1.

[169:C]Ibid. vol. v. p. 186, 187. Act iv. sc. 5.

[170:A]Strutt's Sports and Pastimes, 4to. 1810, p. 291, 292.

[170:B]Ancient British Drama, vol. i. p. 111. col. 1.

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