FOOTNOTES:

Cam.Pray you, signior Sylli,Call in the holy friar: he's preparedFor finishing the work.

Syl.I knew I wasThe man: heaven make me thankful![Exit.

Rob.Who is this?

Ast.His father was the banker of Palermo,And this the heir of his great wealth: his wisdomWas not hereditary.

Aurel.For my part,I cannot guess the issue.

Re-enterSylliwith FatherPaulo.

Syl.Do your duty;And with all speed you can, you may despatch us.

Paul.Thus, as a principal ornament to the church,I seize her.

All.How!

Rob.So young, and so religious!

Paul.She has forsook the world.

Syl.I shall run mad.

Rob.Hence with the fool! [Sylliis thrust off.] Proceed, sir.

Paul.Look on thisMAID OF HONOUR,nowTruly honour'd in her vowShe pays to heaven. This fair hair(Favours for great kings to wear)Must now be shorn; her rich arrayChanged into a homely gray:Instead of dainties, from the spring,For wine, cold water we will bring;And with fasting mortifyThe feasts of sensuality.Her jewels, beads; and she must lookNot in a glass, but holy book,To teach her the ne'er-erring wayTo immortality. O mayShe, as she purposes to beA child new-born to piety,Perséver[167]in it, and good men,With saints and angels, say, Amen!

Cam.This is the marriage! this the port to whichMy vows must steer me! Fill my spreading sailsWith the pure wind of your devotions for me,That I may touch the secure haven, whereEternal happiness keeps her residence,Temptations to frailty never entering!I am dead to the world, and thus disposeOf what I leave behind me; and, dividingMy state into three parts, I thus bequeath it:The first to the fair nunnery, to whichI dedicate the last and better partOf my frail life; a second portionTo pious uses; and the third to thee,Adorni, for thy true and faithful service.And, ere I take my last farewell, with hopeTo find a grant, my suit to you is, thatYou would, for my sake, pardon this young man,And to his merits love him, and no further.

Rob.I thus confirm it.[Gives his hand toFulgentio.

Cam.And, as e'er you hope,[ToBertoldo.Like me, to be made happy, I conjure youTo reassume your order; and in fightingBravely against the enemies of our faith,Redeem your mortgaged honour.

Gonz.I restore this:[Gives him the white cross.Once more, brothers in arms.

Bert.I'll live and die so.

Cam.To you my pious wishes! And, to endAll differences, great sir, I beseech youTo be an arbitrator, and compoundThe quarrel long continuing betweenThe duke and duchess.

Rob.I will take it intoMy special care.

Cam.I am then at rest. Now, father,Conduct me where you please.[ExeuntPauloandCamiola.

Rob.She well deservesHer name,the Maid of Honour! May she stand,To all posterity, a fair exampleFor noble maids to imitate! Since to liveIn wealth and pleasure's common, but to part withSuch poison'd baits is rare; there being nothingUpon this stage of life to be commended,Though well begun, till it be fully ended.[Flourish. Exeunt.

END OF VOL. I.

FOOTNOTES:[1]The register of his birth is not to be found, but all writers of his life agree in naming this city as the place of his nativity; and their account is corroborated by the college entry, which styles himSalisburiensis.[2]Dedication to The Bondman.[3]Singer's edition, p. 120.[4]Introduction to the Works of Massinger, p. xxxviii.[5]Vol. ii. p. 933.[6]Life of Wolsey, p. 517.[7]The entry in the college book styles him "Phillip Massinger,Salisburiensis, generosi filius."[8]Dedication to the folio edition of Shakspeare.[9]Indulgences were granted to those who attended the representation of them.[10]Gorboduc appeared in 1562; Gammer Gurton, in 1566.[11]Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iii. p. 83, note 3.[12]Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iii. p. 15.[13]Gifford's Massinger, vol. i. p. 103.[14]This question ought to be set at rest, methinks, by the following extract from the Book of Revels, the oldest that exists, in the office of the auditors of the imprest: "Mrs. Dane, the lynnen dealer, forcanvass to paynte for houses for the players, and other properties, as monsters, great hollow trees, and such other,twenty dozen ells, 12l."—See Boswell's Shakspeare, vol. iii. p. 364, et seq.[15]The first woman who appeared in a regular drama, on a public stage, played Desdemona, about the year 1660. Her name is unknown.[16]Nat. Field. This celebrated actor played female parts. He was the author of two comedies: A Woman's a Weathercock, 1612, and Amends for Ladies, 1618. He also assisted Massinger in The Fatal Dowry.[17]Robert Daborne was the author of two plays: The Christian turned Turk, 1612, and The poor Man's Comfort, 1655. He was a gentleman of liberal education, master of arts, and in holy orders. It is supposed that he had preferment in Ireland. A sermon by him, preached at Waterford, in 1618, is extant.[18]Additions to Malone's Hist. Account of Eng. Stage, p. 488.[19]Perséver.] So this word was anciently written and pronounced: thus the king, inHamlet:——but toperséverIn obstinate condolement.Gifford.[20]Sap.Keep theportsclose.] This word, which is directly from the Latin, is so frequently used by Massinger and the writers of his time for thegates of a town, that it appears superfluous to produce any examples of it.—Gifford.[21]Kingslackeyingby his triumphant chariot.] Running by the side of it likelackeysor foot-boys.—Gifford.[22]Flesh'd his maiden sword.] These words are from Shakspeare, of whose works Massinger appears to have been a great reader.[23]Whose power, &c.] An imitation of the well-known line,Divisum imperium cum Jove Cæsar habet.—Gifford.[24]K. of Epire.We are nowSlaves to thy power, &c.] I have observed several imitations of Massinger in the dramas of Mason: there is, for instance, a striking similarity between this spirited speech, and the indignant exclamation of the brave but unfortunate Caractacus:——"Soldier, I had arms,Had neighing steeds to whirl my iron cars,Had wealth, dominions: dost thou wonder, Roman,I fought to save them? What if Cæsar aimsTo lord it universal o'er the world,Shall the world tamely crouch to Cæsar's footstool?"Gifford.[25]And do 't with safety.] This is admirably expressed: the maxim, however, though just, is of the most dangerous nature; for what ambitious chief will ever allow the state to be "raised to her perfection," or that the time for using "mercy with safety" is arrived? Even Dioclesian has his exceptions,—strong ones too! for Rome was old enough in his time. There is an allusion to Virgil, in the opening of this speech:Res dura, et novitas regni me talia coguntMoliri, &c.Gifford.[26]————as weak PerseusDid great Æmilius.] It is said that Perseus sent to desire Paulus Æmilius not to exhibit him as a spectacle to the Romans, and to spare him the indignity of being led in triumph. Æmilius replied coldly:The favour he asks of me is in his own power; he can procure it for himself.—Coxeter.[27]To match where they affect not.] This does better for modern than Roman practice; and, indeed, the author was thinking more of Hamlet than Dioclesian, in this part of the dialogue.—Gifford.[28]Owes.] i. e.owns.[29]Fair Venus' son, draw forth a leaden dart.] The idea of this double effect, to which Massinger has more than one allusion, is from Ovid:Filius huic Veneris; figat tuus omnia, Phœbe,Te meus arcus, ait:—Parnassi constitit arce,Eque sagittifera promsit duo tela pharetraDiversorum operum; fugat hoc, facit illud amorem.Quod facit, auratum est, et cuspide fulget acuta;Quod fugat, obtusum est, et habet sub arundine plumbum.Met. lib. i. 470.Gifford.[30]————The fox,When he saw first the forest's king, &c.] The fable is from the Greek. In a preceding line there is an allusion to the proverb,Procul a Jove, sed procul a fulmine.—Gifford.[31]A governor's place upon thee.] From the Latin:ne sis mihi tutor.—Gifford.[32]——All lets.] i. e.All impediments.[33]Theoph.Glad'stthou in such scorn?] Theophilus, who is represented as a furious zealot for paganism, is mortified at the indifference with which Macrinus returns the happiness he had wished him by his god. Mr. M. Mason reads, Gaddestthou in such scorn? He may be right; for Macrinus is evidently anxious to pass on: the reading of the text, however, is that of all the old copies.—Gifford.[34]Hand,] here used forinch,moment. We often meet the phraseof his hands, forof his inches.[35]——flies.] This word is used by Ben Jonson, a close and devoted imitator of the ancients, fora domestic parasite,a familiar, &c. and from him, probably, Decker adopted it in the present sense.—Gifford.[36]Roman angels,] i. e. theRoman eagle, the well-known military ensign.Angelin the sense ofbirdis frequently met with among our old writers. Jonson beautifully calls the nightingale "The dear good angel of the spring." And if this should be thought, as it probably is, a Grecism; yet we have the same term in another passage, which will admit of no dispute:"Not anangelof the air,Birdmelodious, orbirdfair," &c.Two Noble Kinsmen.Gifford.[37]Harp.This Macrinus,Thelineis, &c] The allusion is to the rude fire-works of our ancestors. So, in theFawne, by Marston:"Page.There be squibs, sir, running uponlines, like some of our gawdy gallants," &c.—Gifford.[38]Conster,] i. e.understand. This word (a corruption ofconstrue), so frequently heard among the common people, has not found a place in any dictionary that I have met with.[39]Pash,] i. e.to strike a thing with such force as to dash it to pieces. The word is now obsolete; which is to be regretted, as we have none that can adequately supply its place: it is used in its proper sense by Dryden, which is the latest instance I recollect:"Thy cunning engines have with labour raisedMy heavy anger, like a mighty weight,To fall andpashthee."Gifford.[40]Owes,] i. e.owns.[41]Parted,] i. e.endowed with a part.[42]Bandog!] Abandog, as the name imports, was a dog so fierce, as to require to be chained up. Bandogs are frequently mentioned by our old writers (indeed the word occurs three times in this play) and always with a reference to their savage nature. If the term was appropriated to a species, it probably meant a large dog, of the mastiff kind, which, though no longer met with here, is still common in many parts of Germany: it was familiar to Snyders, and is found in most of his hunting-pieces.In this country the bandog was kept to bait bears: with the decline of that sport, perhaps, the animal fell into disuse, as he was too ferocious for any domestic purpose. Mr. Gilchrist has furnished me with a curious passage from Laneham, which renders any further details on the subject unnecessary. "On the syxth day of her Majestyes cumming, a great sort ofbandogswhear thear tyed in the utter coourt, and thyrteen bears in the inner. Whoosoever made the pannel, thear wear enoow for a queast, and one for a challenge and need wear. A wight of great wisdoom and gravitie seemed their foreman to be, had it cum to a jury: but it fell oout that they wear causd to appeer thear upon no such matter, but onlie too onswear too anauncient quarrele between them and the bandogs," &c.Queen Elizabeth's Entertainment at Killingwoorth Castle, in 1575.—Gifford.[43]Your son andthat.] Macrinus, whom before she had called a pander.M. Mason.[44]——I'll tell you ashort tale, &c.] I once thought that I had read thisshort talein Arnobius, from whom, and from Augustin, much of the preceding speech is taken; but, upon looking him over again, I can scarcely find a trace of it. Herodotus has, indeed, a story of a king of Egypt (Amasis), which bears a distant resemblance to it; but the application is altogether different:—there is abason of goldin which he and his guests were accustomed to spit,wash their feet, &c. which is formedinto a god; but whether this furnished the poet with any hints I cannot undertake to say.—Gifford.[45]The pillars of ourfaith, &c.] Here, as in many other places, the language of Christianity and paganism is confounded:faithwas always the distinctive term for the former, in opposition to heathenism.—Gifford.[46]Lamia,] i. e.sorceress,hag. The word is pure Latin.[47]Speaking of the remainder of this act, Gifford says, "there may be (and probably are) finer passages in our dramatic poets, but I am not acquainted with them."[48]Mac.Strange affection!Cupid once more hath changed his shafts with Death, And kills, instead of giving life.] This is a beautiful allusion to a little poem among theElegiesof Secundus. Cupid and Death unite in the destruction of a lover, and in endeavouring to recover their weapons from the body of the victim, commit a mutual mistake, each plucking out the "shafts" of the other. The consequences of this are prettily described:Missa peregrinis sparguntur vulnera nervis,Et manus ignoto sævit utrinque malo.Irrita Mors arcus validi molimina damnat,Plorat Amor teneras tam valuisse manus;Fœdabant juvenes primus in pulvere malasOscula quas, heu, ad blanda vocabat Amor.Canicies vernis florebat multa corollisPersephone crinem vulserat unde sibi.Quid facerent? falsas procul abjecere sagittas,De pharetra jaculum prompsit uterque novum.Res bona! sed virus pueri penetravit in arcum;Ex illo miseros tot dedit ille neci.Lib. ii. Eleg. 6.The fable, however, is very ancient.—Gifford.[49]Apostata.] Our old writers usually said,apostata, statua, &c. where we now say,apostate, statue.[50]Which did require a Hercules to get it.] This beautiful description of Elysium, as Mr. Gilchrist observes to me, has been imitated by Nabbes, in that very poetic rhapsody,Microcosmus: some of the lines may be given:"Cold there compels no use of rugged furs,Nor makes the mountains barren; there's no dogTo rage, and scorch the land. Spring's always there,And paints the valleys; whilst a temperate airSweeps their embroider'd face with his curl'd gales,And breathes perfumes:—there night doth never spreadHer ebon wings: but daylight's always there,And one blest season crowns the eternal year."Gifford.[51]EnterAngelo,in the Angel'shabit, &c.] It appears that Angelo was not meant to be seen or heard by any of the people present, but Dorothea. In the inventory of the Lord Admiral's properties, given by Mr. Malone, is, "a roobe for to goe invisibell." It was probably of a light gauzy texture, and afforded a sufficient hint to our ancestors, not to see the person invested with it; or rather, to understand that some of the characters on the stage were not to see him.—Gifford.[52]——————Learn all,By your example, &c.] "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers; for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." Heb. c. xiii. v. 2. Here is also a beautiful allusion to the parting speech of the "sociable archangel," to Tobit and his son.—Gifford.[53]The whole of this scene Gifford ascribes to Decker.[54]——————is not out of hateTo poor tormented wretches, &c.] This is said to distinguish his character from that of Sapritius, whose zeal is influenced by motives of interest, and by many other considerations, which appear to weigh nothing with Theophilus.—Gifford.[55]Put on,] i. e.instigated.[56]——this small weapon.] Meaning the "cross of flowers," which he had just found. The language and ideas of this play are purely catholic.—Gifford.[57]That my last act the best may parallel.] Thus far Decker; what follows, I apprehend, was written by Massinger. In pathos, strength, and harmony, it is not surpassed by any passage of equal length in the English language.—Gifford.[58]As the Sicilian did his brazen bull.] The brazen bull, an ingenious instrument of torture, invented by Perillus, and presented to Phalaris, the tyrant of Agrigentum, was fatal both to its author and its owner. Phalaris made the first experiment of its powers upon Perillus; and when the people, exasperated by his cruelties, eventually rose against him, the tyrant suffered death by its means himself.[59]Sir Robert Wiseman was the eldest son of Richard Wiseman, a merchant of London, who, having acquired an ample fortune, retired into Essex, in which county he possessed considerable estates, where he died in 1618, and was succeeded by Sir Robert. The friend of Massinger was the oldest of fourteen children, and a man of an amiable character. He died unmarried the 11th May, 1641, in his sixty-fifth year.—Gilchrist.[60]Giovanni.] This word is used as a quadrisyllable. This is incorrect, and shows that Massinger had studied the language in books only: no Italian would or could pronounce it in this manner. He makes the same mistake in the name of the duchess:—Fiorinda is a trisyllable; yet he adopts the division of poor Calandrino, and constantly pronounces it Fi-o-rin-da.—Gifford.[61]Running at the ring.] This amusement made a part of nearly all those magnificent spectacles which used to be given on public occasions. A ring of a very small diameter was suspended by a string from a kind of gibbet, of which the horizontal beam moved on a swivel. At this the competitors ran with their spears couched, with loose reins, and, as the public regulations have it, "as much speed as the horses have." The object was to carry off the ring on the point of the spear, which was light, taper, and adapted to the purpose. It was of difficult attainment; for, from an account of a match made by King Edward the Sixth, seventeen against seventeen, of which he has left a description, it appears, that "in one hundred and twenty courses the ring was carried off but three times."—King Edward's Journal, p. 26.The victor was usually rewarded with a ring set with precious stones, and bestowed by the lady of the day.[62]So passionate!] i. e.so deeply affected. In this sense the word perpetually occurs in our old writers.[63]To imp.] i. e.to insert a new feather into the wing of a hawk in the place of a broken one.—These lines are perhaps the most beautiful of a scene eminently graceful and elegant.[64]Divert us.] i. e.turn us asidefrom following your advice.[65]——————that the world,In her whole course of life, &c.] This is awkwardly expressed, a circumstance most unusual with Massinger; but seems to mean, in her various excellences and virtues.—Gifford.[66]Glorious,] i. e.vain,empty,vaunting.[67]All courtship,] i. e.all court breeding.[68]Take up, take up.] i. e.stop, check yourself.[69]He's blind with too much light.] Ennobled by Milton—"dark with excess of light."[70]Tramontanes,] i. e.strangers,barbarians: so the Italians called, and still call, all who live beyond the Alps,ultra montes. In a subsequent speech, the author does not forget to satirize the acknowledged propensity of his countrymen to drinking: "YourDane, your German, and your swag-belliedHollander, are nothing to your Englishman."If Caponi, as well as Iago, be not, however, too severe upon us, it must be confessed that our ancestors were apt scholars, and soon bettered the instructions which they received. Sir Richard Baker (as Mr. Gilchrist observes), treating of the wars in the Low-Countries about the end of the sixteenth century, says, "Here it must not be omitted, that the English (who, of all the dwellers in the northern parts of the world, were hitherto the least drinkers, and deservedly praised for their sobriety) in these Dutch wars learned to be drunkards, and brought the vice so far to overspread the kingdom, that laws were fain to be enacted for repressing it."Chron.fol. p. 382.—Gifford.[71]——————Can charmsBe writ on such pure rubies?] This, I believe, alludes to a very old opinion, that some sorts of gems (from an inherent sanctity) could not be profaned, or applied to the purposes of magic. The notion took its rise probably from some superstitious ideas respecting the precious stones employed in the breastplate of the high-priest of the Jews.—Gifford.[72]Stole courtesy from heaven.] This is from Shakspeare; and the plain meaning of the phrase is, that the affability and sweetness of Giovanni were of aheavenlykind.—Gifford.[73]Smile at lovers' perjuries.Ridet hoc, inquam, Venus ipsa.It would be as well if the queen of love had been a little more fastidious on this subject. Her facility, I fear, has done much mischief, as lovers of all ages have availed themselves of it: but she had it from her father, whose laxity of principle is well known:—————perjuria ridet amantûmJupiter.Gifford.[74]Possessed,] i. e.informed.[75]Censure,] i. e.judgment.[76]Blasphémous.] So the word was usually accented in Massinger's time, and with strict regard to its Greek derivation.[77]——————that knows not to use it,] i. e. hiscommand, authority: the expression is harsh, but is not uncommon in the writers of Massinger's time.—Gifford.[78]Packing,] i. e.insidious contrivance: so the word is used by Shakspeare, and others.[79]Cal.I have all that's requisiteTo the making up of a signior: my spruce ruff,My hooded cloak, long stocking, and paned hose,My case of toothpicks, and my silver fork.] Calandrino is very correct in his enumeration of the articles which in his time made up a complete signior: and which are frequently introduced with evident marks of disapprobation and ridicule by our old poets. The ruff, cloak, and long stocking, are sufficiently familiar:hoseare breeches:paned hoseare breeches composed of small squares or pannels.Toothpicks, the next accompaniment of state, were newly imported from Italy, as wereforks; the want of which our ancestors supplied, as well as they could, with their fingers.—Gifford.[80]Cal.My grand signior,Vouchsafe a beso las manos, &c.] This is the phrase in which Calandrino supposes his "quondam fellows" will address him. In Massinger's time these tags of politeness were in everybody's mouth, and better understood than they are at this day.—Gifford.[81]I have restricted myself to as few remarks as possible on the beauties of the author, but I cannot forbear observing, on the present occasion, that the act we have just finished, for language, sentiment, surprising yet natural turns, and general felicity of conduct, is scarcely to be paralleled in any drama with which I am acquainted.—Gifford.[82]Take us with you, sir.] i. e.understand our meaning fully, before you form your conclusions: this expression is common to all our old writers.[83]Story,] i. e.history. The two words were formerly synonymous.[84]Lavolta,] i. e.the waltz. This dance, originally imported from Italy, was a great favourite with our ancestors.[85]This scene is exquisitely written. It must, however, be confessed, that Charomonte's justification of himself is less complete than might be expected from one who had so good a cause to defend.—Gifford.I can't perceive the deficiency.[86]March-pane,] a cake composed of sugar and almonds.[87]Parted,] i. e.giftedorendowed with parts.It seems to have been the opinion of Massinger and his fellow dramatists, that no play could succeed without the admission of some kind of farcical interlude among the graver scenes. If the dramas of our author be intimately considered, few will be found without some extraneous mummery of this description; and, indeed, nothing but a persuasion of the nature which I have just mentioned could give birth to the poor mockery before us. As a trick, it is so gross and palpable, that the duke could not have been deceived by it for a moment; (to do him justice, he frequently hints his suspicions;) and as a piece of humour, it is so low, and even disagreeable, that I cannot avoid regretting a proper regard for his characters had not prevented the author from adopting it on the present occasion.—Gifford.[88]Courtship,] i. e.the grace and elegance of a court.[89]Lodovico,] i. e.Lodovico Hippolito.[90]States,] i. e.statesmen,men of power. A common acceptation of the word.[91]So constantly,] i. e.with such constancy.[92]Censure.] It has been already observed, that this word is used by our old writers, where we should now usejudge, and with the same latitude of meaning through its various acceptations.—Gifford.[93]The state,] i. e.the raised platform on which the chairs were placed.[94]The prince, in care to have you keep your vowsMade unto Heaven, vouchsafed to love my daughter.] This attempt to impose upon the great duke is more deplorable than the former. It has falsehood and improbability written on its face. The duke, indeed, is not deceived by it; but surely the author showed a strange want of judgment in this gratuitous degradation of three of his most estimable characters.—Gifford.Surely Massinger intended that his characters should here be understood as speaking the truth. The contrivance by which he exculpates Giovanni is a clumsy one; but he was anxious to conclude his play, and took the first that suggested itself. Awkward as it may appear to the reader, it has, perhaps, quite enough dramatic probability to satisfy an audience.[95]Practice,] i. e.artifice, or insidious combination.[96]If, for their pomp and ease, &c.] Mr. Gilchrist thinks (and I believe rightly) that Massinger, who evidently regarded the Duke of Buckingham with no favourable eye, here reflects on the use of sedan-chairs, which his grace first introduced, from Spain, about this period. They were carried, as Massinger says, "on men's shoulders," and the novelty provoked no small displeasure against the favourite, who, in thus employing his servants, was charged, by the writers of those times, with "degrading Englishmen into slaves and beasts of burden, to gratify his inordinate vanity."—Gifford.[97]Fan.] The fan of our ancestors was not at all in the shape of the implement now used under the same name, but more like a hand-skreen. It had a roundish handle, and was frequently composed of feathers.[98]The braveries,] i. e.the gay and fashionable gallants of the town.[99]The state.] This was a raised platform, on which was placed a chair with a canopy over it. The word occurs perpetually in our old writers. It is used by Dryden, but seems to have been growing obsolete while he was writing: in the first edition of Mac Fleckno, the monarch is placed on astate; in the subsequent ones, he is seated like his fellow kings, on a throne: it occurs also, and I believe for the last time, in Swift: "As she affected not the grandeur of astatewith a canopy, she thought there was no offence in an elbow chair."—Hist. of John Bull, c. i.—Gifford.[100]————Such honoursTo one ambitious of rule, &c.] Massinger has here finely drawn the character of Timoleon, and been very true to history. He was descended from one of the noblest families in Corinth, loved his country passionately, and discovered upon all occasions a singular humanity of temper, except against tyrants and bad men. He was an excellent captain; and as in his youth he had all the maturity of age, in age he had all the fire and courage of the most ardent youth.—Coxeter.[101]Timol.Timophanes, my brother, &c.] Timoleon had an elder brother, called Timophanes, whom he tenderly loved, as he had demonstrated in a battle, in which he covered him with his body, and saved his life at the great danger of his own. But his country was still dearer to him. That brother having made himself tyrant of it, so black a crime gave him the sharpest affliction. He made use of all possible means to bring him back to his duty: kindness, friendship, affection, remonstrances, and even menaces. But finding all his endeavours ineffectual, and that nothing could prevail upon a heart abandoned to ambition he caused his brother to be assassinated by two of his friends and intimates, and thought that upon such an occasion the laws of nature ought to give place to those of his country.—Coxeter.[102]To my country, my best mother.] In this expression Timoleon alludes to the conduct of his natural mother, who would never see him after the assassination of his brother, and always, as Cornelius Nepos informs us, called himfratricidam, impiumque.—Gifford.[103]Diph.If you free SicilyFrom barbarous Carthage' yoke, &c.] This speech and the next are literally from Plutarch. Massinger has in this instance adhered more closely to his story than usual.—Gifford.[104]Cry aim!] i. e.encourage them, as the bystanders do those who are about to shoot at a trial of skill in archery.[105]——————nay, Leosthenes,You are welcome too, &c.] It should be remembered that Archidamus is, with great judgment, represented in the first scene as averse to the marriage of Leosthenes with his daughter.—Gifford.[106]For, now my gown's off, farewell gravity!] This is said to have been a frequent expression with the great but playful Sir Thomas More, who was never so happy as when he shook off the pomp of office. Fuller tells a similar story of Lord Burleigh.—Gifford.[107]There's a month call'dOctober, &c.] This pleasant old man forgets that he is talking of Sicily, where October is the most delightful month of the year. All our old poets loved and thought only of their country. Whatever region was the subject, England was the real theme: their habits, customs, peculiarities were all derived from thence. This, though it must condemn them as historians, may save them as patriots: and, indeed, it is not much to be regretted that they should overlook manners, with which they were very imperfectly acquainted, in favour of those with which they were hourly conversant—at least it would be ungrateful in us, who profit so much by their minute descriptions, to be offended at their disregard of "the propercostumi."—Gifford.[108]Here,] i. e.in Syracuse.[109]Leost.You were never proved.] The whole of this scene is eminently beautiful; yet I cannot avoid recommending to the reader's particular notice the speech which follows. Its rhythm is so perfect, that it drops on the ear like the sweetest melody.—Gifford.[110]Owe,] i. e.own.[111]And spoil him of his birthright?] This is a happy allusion to the history of Jacob and Esau. It is the more so, for being void of all profaneness; to which, indeed, Massinger had no tendency.—Gifford.[112]Rouse,] i. e.full glass,bumper.[113]ThatThing of Things.] A literal translation, as Mr. M. Mason observes, ofEns Entium. I know not where Pisander acquired his revolutionary philosophy: his golden chain, perhaps, he found in Homer.—Gifford.[114]For commodities, &c.] i. e.for wares, of which the needy borrower made what he could. Our old writers are extremely pleasant on the heterogeneous articles which the usurers of their days forced on the necessity of the thoughtless spendthrift in lieu of the money for which he had rashly signed. Fielding has imitated them in his Miser, without adding much to their humour; and Foote, in The Minor, has servilely followed his example. The spectators of those scenes probably thought that the writers had gone beyond real life, and drawn on imagination for their amusement: but transactions (not altogether proper, perhaps, to be specified here) have actually taken place in our own times, which leave their boldest conceptions at an humble distance; and prove, beyond a doubt, that, in the arts of raising money, the invention of the most fertile poet must yield to that of the meanest scrivener.—Gifford.[115]Mar.Why, think you that I plot against myself?] The plot opens here with wonderful address; and the succeeding conference, or rather scene, between Pisander and Cleora, is inimitably beautiful.—Gifford.[116]Moppes,] i. e. the quick and grinning motions of the teeth and lips which apes make when they are irritated.[117]What for ourself, your lord?] Here Asotus must be supposed to leap, or rather tumble, in token of obedience. Our ancestors certainly excelled us in the education which they bestowed on their animals. Banks's horse far surpassed all that have been brought up in the academy of Mr. Astley; and the apes of these days are mere clowns to their progenitors. The apes of Massinger's time were gifted with a pretty smattering of politics and philosophy. The widow Wild had one of them: "He wouldcome overfor all my friends, but was the dogged'st thing to my enemies! he would sit upon his tail before them, and frown like John-a-napes when the pope is named."The Parson's Wedding.—Gifford.[118]Let us, like conquering Romans, walk in triumph.] Gracculo speaks in the spirit of prophecy; for theconquering Romanswere at this time struggling with their neighbours for a few miserable huts to hide their heads in; and if anycaptives followed, or rather preceded, theirtriumphs, it was a herd of stolen beeves.—Gifford.[119]Jane-of-apes;] Meaning Corisca: he plays uponJack-an-apes, the name he had given to Asotus.—Gifford.[120]Defeature,] i. e.defeat. The two words were used indiscriminately by our old writers.[121]Asis, in this passage, an ellipsis ofthat, as usual. Some of the incidents mentioned in this speech, Massinger derived from Plutarch—Gifford.[122]Mar.A general pardon, &c.] It is evident, from the unreasonable nature of these demands, that Pisander does not wish them to be accepted. The last article, indeed, has a reference to himself, but he seems desirous of previously trying the fortune of arms. See, however, the next scene, and his defence in the last act.—Gifford.[123]Herodotus relates this tale, and Justin repeats it. Massinger may have taken it from Purchas's Pilgrims, a book that formed the delight of our ancestors; and in which it is said, that the Boiards of Noviorogod reduced their slaves, who had seized the town, by the whip, just as the Scythians are said to have done theirs.[124]Leost.Fears! your sufferings:—] The character of Leosthenes is every where preserved with great nicety. His jealous disposition breaks out in this scene with peculiar beauty.—Gifford.[125]Though the infringing it had call'd upon herA living funeral, &c.] The poet alludes to the manner in which the Vestals, who had broken their vow of chastity, were punished. They had literally aliving funeral, being plunged alive into a subterraneous cavern, of which the opening was immediately closed upon them, and walled up. The confusion of countries and customs may possibly strike the critical reader; but of this, as I have already observed, our old dramatists were either not aware or not solicitous.—Gifford.[126]To remember,] i. e.to remind, in which sense it frequently occurs in our old writers.[127]My fault:] i. e.my misfortune. That the word anciently had this meaning could be proved by many examples;e. g.Marina.The more myfault,To scape his hands, where I was like to die."Pericles, Act IV. sc. iii.[128]Cleo.Sir, you graced meWith the title of your mistress.] This alludes to the request in the first act, that he might be permittedto wear her colours. In those days of gallantry, I mean those of Massinger, not of Timoleon, to wear a lady's colours, that is, a scarf, or a riband, taken from her person, was to become her authorized champion and servant.—Gifford.[129]Censured,] i. e.judged. It may be observed, that our ancestors usedcensureprecisely as we now do judgment: sometimes for a quality of the mind, and sometimes for a judicial determination.—Gifford.[130]The gods and fautors,] in the language of the author means thefavouring gods.[131]This Persian shape laid by,] i. e. thedressof a Persian slave, which Statilia had assumed, with the name of Timandra.Shapeis a term borrowed from the tiring-room of the theatres. In the list of dramatis personæ prefixed toThe Virgin Martyr, Harpax is said to be, "an evil spirit following Theophilus in theshape(habit) of a secretary."—Gifford.[132]Notwithstanding all differences, and suits in late arising between you.] Thesuits in lawsubsisting between these fast friends of Massinger—Sir Francis Foljambe, of Walton, in the county of Derby, and Sir Thomas Bland, of Kippax Park, in the county of York—originated in a question as to the right of working some coal-mines.—Gilchrist.[133]Show water,] i. e.to clear his sight. A proverbial periphrasis for abribe, which, in Massinger's days, (though happily not since,) was found to be the only collyrium for the eyes of a courtier.—Gifford.[134]Quarry,] i. e.the game sought.[135]Trussing a point,] i. e.tying the strings that support the hose or breeches. These strings were tagged, and are therefore calledpoints.[136]The Malta habit.] The dress of the knights of Malta was black, having a cross of white waxed cloth on the left side of their cloak. None were admitted into the order but those who were noble both on the father and mother's side for four generations, unless they were, like Bertoldo, the natural sons of kings and princes.[137]Or to steal a constable from a sleeping watch.] Theconstablewas the captain of the band; this therefore was to deprive these trusty guardians of the night of their leader.—Gifford.[138]Masters of dependencies.] They were a set of needy bravoes, who undertook to ascertain the authentic grounds of a quarrel, and in some cases to settle it, for the timorous or unskilful. In the punctilious days of our author, all matters relative to duelling were arranged, in set treatises, with a gravity that, in a business less serious, would be infinitely ridiculous. Troops of disbanded soldiers, or rather of such as pretended to be so, took up the "noble science of arms," and, with the use of the small sword, (then a novelty,) taught a jargon respecting the various modes of "honourable quarrelling," which, though seemingly calculated to baffle alike the patience and the understanding, was a fashionable object of study. The dramatic poets, faithful to the moral end of their high art, combated this contagious folly with the united powers of wit and humour; and, after a long and well-conducted struggle, succeeded in rendering it as contemptible as it was odious, and finally suppressed it altogether.—Gifford.[139]A provant sword.] A plain, unornamented sword, such as the army is supplied with. Properly speaking,provantmeans provisions; but our old writers extend it to all the articles that make up the magazine of an army.—Gifford.[140]Lachrymæ.] The first word of the title of a musical work composed by John Dowland, in the time of James the First. The full title was, "Lachrymæ; or, Seven Teares figured in seaven passionate Pavans (i. e.affecting, serious dances); with divers other Pavans, Galiards, and Almands, set forth to the Lute, Viols, or Violins, in five Parts." This work was very popular, and is frequently alluded to by the writers of our author's age.[141]Entradas,] i. e.rents, revenues.[142]To decline,] i. e.to divert from their course. This sense of the word is frequent in our old poets.[143]Virtue, if not in action, is a vice;And when we move not forward, we go backward.] This is a beautiful improvement on Horace:Paulum sepultæ distat inertiæCelata virtus.The last line of the text alludes to the Latin adageNon progredi est regredi.—Gifford.[144]A piece of motley,] i. e.a fool. Alluding to the parti-coloured garments worn by the domesticfoolof our ancestors.—Gifford.[145]We are not parallels; but, like lines divided,Can ne'er meet in one centre.] Not only Massinger, but many of our old writers, useparallelsforradii.In the Proëme to Herbert's Travels, which were printed not long after The Maid of Honour, a similar expression is found: "Great Britaine—containes the summe and abridge of all sorts of excellencies,met here like parallels in their proper centre."In the life of Dr. H. More (1710) there is a letter to a correspondent who had sent him a pious treatise, in which the same expression occurs, and is thus noticed by the doctor: "There is but one passage that I remember, which will afford them (the profane and atheistical rout of the age) a disingenuous satisfaction; which is in p. 489, where you say thatstraight lines drawn from the centre run parallel together. To a candid reader your intended sense can be no other than that they run παῥ αλλἡλας, that is, by one another; which they may do, though they do not run all along equidistantly one by another, which is the mathematical sense of the word parallel."—Gent. Mag.May, 1782. The good doctor is, I think, the best critic on the subject that has yet appeared, and sufficiently explains Massinger.—Gifford.[146]One aerie with proportion ne'er disclosesThe eagle and the wren.]Aerieis the nest of a bird of prey;discloseis to hatch: the meaning is, eagles and wrens are too disproportionate in bulk to behatchedin the same nest.—Gifford.[147]The whole field wide.] This expression, however signior Sylli picked it up, is a Latinism:Erras, tota via aberras.—Gifford.[148]A cat-stick.] This, I believe, is what is now called abuck-stick, used by children in the game of tip-cat, or kit-cat.—Gifford.[149]Fewterer,] i. e.a dog-keeper, or one who lets the dogs loose in the chase. The word is a corruption of the Frenchvautrier, orvaultier.[150]Tamberlane in little!Am I turned Turk!]Tamberlanewas a proverbial term for abully.To turn Turk, in our old dramatists, is generally used for a change of situation, occupation, mode of thought or action. The allusion, perhaps, is to the story of Tamberlane, who is said to have mounted his horse from the back of Bajazet, the Turkish emperor.—Gifford.[151]Peat,] i. e.a delicate person. The modern word pet is supposed to be the same, probably from the Frenchpetit.[152]Haggard,] i. e.a wild hawk.[153]O for a brother,] i. e.a brother in arms, to do what he immediately requests Adorni to do for him: the expression was common at the time, and well understood by Massinger's audience.—Gifford.[154]Fool,] i. e.play the fool.[155]Estridge,] i. e.ostrich.[156]Carpet-knights.] A term of contempt very frequently used by our old writers.Carpet-knightswere such as were made on occasion of public festivities, marriages, births, &c., in contradistinction to those that were created on the field of battle, after a victory. They were naturally little regarded by the latter; and, indeed, their title had long been given in scorn, to effeminate courtiers, favourites, &c.—Gifford.[157]Calver'd salmonappears to have differed but little from what is now called pickled salmon, as the directions for preparing it are—"to boil it in vinegar with oil and spices." The word is still in use, but not in the exact sense of the text. Tocalverfish is now a very simple process.—Gifford.[158]————To a tripe,] i. e.to a tripe shop. By "carrying his own stool," he means that he would not wait for the formality of an invitation, but trust to the vender's hospitality for a meal. The singular custom of uninvited or unexpected guests bringing their seats with them is frequently noticed by the writers of Massinger's time. It is probable that the practice originated in necessity. Our ancient houses were not much encumbered with furniture, and the little which they had was moved from place to place as occasion required.—Gifford.[159]In being born near to Jove, am near his thunder.] Πορρω Διος και τε πορρω κεραυνου.[160]Abuse me,] i. e.practise on my credulity with a forged tale; the word often occurs in this sense.—Gifford.[161]Atheism.] Our old writers seem to have used such words as profaneness, blasphemy,atheism, &c. with a laxity which modern practice does not acknowledge. They applied them to any extraordinary violation of moral or natural decorum.—Gifford.[162]Take me with you.] i. e.hear me out. The expression is common in our old writers.—Gifford.[163]Walks she on woollen feet.] The expression is classical (lanei pedes), but does not bear the classical sense. How Massinger understood it I cannot tell; perhaps, as equivalent to motion without noise.—Gifford.[164]Mithridate.] An antidote. "Mithridateis one of the capital medicines of the shops, consisting of a great number of ingredients, and has its name from its inventor, Mithridates, King of Pontus."—Quiney.[165]Caroch,] i. e.a large coach. Coaches are said to have been first brought into England in 1564, by William Booner, a Dutchman, who became coachman to Queen Elizabeth.—Nares.[166]Erect one here,] i. e.a temple.—M. Mason.[167]Perséver.] So this word was anciently written and pronounced.—Gifford.

[1]The register of his birth is not to be found, but all writers of his life agree in naming this city as the place of his nativity; and their account is corroborated by the college entry, which styles himSalisburiensis.

[2]Dedication to The Bondman.

[3]Singer's edition, p. 120.

[4]Introduction to the Works of Massinger, p. xxxviii.

[5]Vol. ii. p. 933.

[6]Life of Wolsey, p. 517.

[7]The entry in the college book styles him "Phillip Massinger,Salisburiensis, generosi filius."

[8]Dedication to the folio edition of Shakspeare.

[9]Indulgences were granted to those who attended the representation of them.

[10]Gorboduc appeared in 1562; Gammer Gurton, in 1566.

[11]Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iii. p. 83, note 3.

[12]Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iii. p. 15.

[13]Gifford's Massinger, vol. i. p. 103.

[14]This question ought to be set at rest, methinks, by the following extract from the Book of Revels, the oldest that exists, in the office of the auditors of the imprest: "Mrs. Dane, the lynnen dealer, forcanvass to paynte for houses for the players, and other properties, as monsters, great hollow trees, and such other,twenty dozen ells, 12l."—See Boswell's Shakspeare, vol. iii. p. 364, et seq.

[15]The first woman who appeared in a regular drama, on a public stage, played Desdemona, about the year 1660. Her name is unknown.

[16]Nat. Field. This celebrated actor played female parts. He was the author of two comedies: A Woman's a Weathercock, 1612, and Amends for Ladies, 1618. He also assisted Massinger in The Fatal Dowry.

[17]Robert Daborne was the author of two plays: The Christian turned Turk, 1612, and The poor Man's Comfort, 1655. He was a gentleman of liberal education, master of arts, and in holy orders. It is supposed that he had preferment in Ireland. A sermon by him, preached at Waterford, in 1618, is extant.

[18]Additions to Malone's Hist. Account of Eng. Stage, p. 488.

[19]Perséver.] So this word was anciently written and pronounced: thus the king, inHamlet:——but toperséverIn obstinate condolement.Gifford.

[19]Perséver.] So this word was anciently written and pronounced: thus the king, inHamlet:

——but toperséverIn obstinate condolement.

Gifford.

[20]Sap.Keep theportsclose.] This word, which is directly from the Latin, is so frequently used by Massinger and the writers of his time for thegates of a town, that it appears superfluous to produce any examples of it.—Gifford.

[21]Kingslackeyingby his triumphant chariot.] Running by the side of it likelackeysor foot-boys.—Gifford.

[22]Flesh'd his maiden sword.] These words are from Shakspeare, of whose works Massinger appears to have been a great reader.

[23]Whose power, &c.] An imitation of the well-known line,Divisum imperium cum Jove Cæsar habet.—Gifford.

[24]K. of Epire.We are nowSlaves to thy power, &c.] I have observed several imitations of Massinger in the dramas of Mason: there is, for instance, a striking similarity between this spirited speech, and the indignant exclamation of the brave but unfortunate Caractacus:——"Soldier, I had arms,Had neighing steeds to whirl my iron cars,Had wealth, dominions: dost thou wonder, Roman,I fought to save them? What if Cæsar aimsTo lord it universal o'er the world,Shall the world tamely crouch to Cæsar's footstool?"Gifford.

——"Soldier, I had arms,Had neighing steeds to whirl my iron cars,Had wealth, dominions: dost thou wonder, Roman,I fought to save them? What if Cæsar aimsTo lord it universal o'er the world,Shall the world tamely crouch to Cæsar's footstool?"

Gifford.

[25]And do 't with safety.] This is admirably expressed: the maxim, however, though just, is of the most dangerous nature; for what ambitious chief will ever allow the state to be "raised to her perfection," or that the time for using "mercy with safety" is arrived? Even Dioclesian has his exceptions,—strong ones too! for Rome was old enough in his time. There is an allusion to Virgil, in the opening of this speech:Res dura, et novitas regni me talia coguntMoliri, &c.Gifford.

Res dura, et novitas regni me talia coguntMoliri, &c.

Gifford.

[26]————as weak PerseusDid great Æmilius.] It is said that Perseus sent to desire Paulus Æmilius not to exhibit him as a spectacle to the Romans, and to spare him the indignity of being led in triumph. Æmilius replied coldly:The favour he asks of me is in his own power; he can procure it for himself.—Coxeter.

[27]To match where they affect not.] This does better for modern than Roman practice; and, indeed, the author was thinking more of Hamlet than Dioclesian, in this part of the dialogue.—Gifford.

[28]Owes.] i. e.owns.

[29]Fair Venus' son, draw forth a leaden dart.] The idea of this double effect, to which Massinger has more than one allusion, is from Ovid:Filius huic Veneris; figat tuus omnia, Phœbe,Te meus arcus, ait:—Parnassi constitit arce,Eque sagittifera promsit duo tela pharetraDiversorum operum; fugat hoc, facit illud amorem.Quod facit, auratum est, et cuspide fulget acuta;Quod fugat, obtusum est, et habet sub arundine plumbum.Met. lib. i. 470.Gifford.

[29]Fair Venus' son, draw forth a leaden dart.] The idea of this double effect, to which Massinger has more than one allusion, is from Ovid:

Filius huic Veneris; figat tuus omnia, Phœbe,Te meus arcus, ait:—Parnassi constitit arce,Eque sagittifera promsit duo tela pharetraDiversorum operum; fugat hoc, facit illud amorem.Quod facit, auratum est, et cuspide fulget acuta;Quod fugat, obtusum est, et habet sub arundine plumbum.Met. lib. i. 470.

Gifford.

[30]————The fox,When he saw first the forest's king, &c.] The fable is from the Greek. In a preceding line there is an allusion to the proverb,Procul a Jove, sed procul a fulmine.—Gifford.

[31]A governor's place upon thee.] From the Latin:ne sis mihi tutor.—Gifford.

[32]——All lets.] i. e.All impediments.

[33]Theoph.Glad'stthou in such scorn?] Theophilus, who is represented as a furious zealot for paganism, is mortified at the indifference with which Macrinus returns the happiness he had wished him by his god. Mr. M. Mason reads, Gaddestthou in such scorn? He may be right; for Macrinus is evidently anxious to pass on: the reading of the text, however, is that of all the old copies.—Gifford.

[34]Hand,] here used forinch,moment. We often meet the phraseof his hands, forof his inches.

[35]——flies.] This word is used by Ben Jonson, a close and devoted imitator of the ancients, fora domestic parasite,a familiar, &c. and from him, probably, Decker adopted it in the present sense.—Gifford.

[36]Roman angels,] i. e. theRoman eagle, the well-known military ensign.Angelin the sense ofbirdis frequently met with among our old writers. Jonson beautifully calls the nightingale "The dear good angel of the spring." And if this should be thought, as it probably is, a Grecism; yet we have the same term in another passage, which will admit of no dispute:"Not anangelof the air,Birdmelodious, orbirdfair," &c.Two Noble Kinsmen.Gifford.

"Not anangelof the air,Birdmelodious, orbirdfair," &c.Two Noble Kinsmen.

Gifford.

[37]Harp.This Macrinus,Thelineis, &c] The allusion is to the rude fire-works of our ancestors. So, in theFawne, by Marston:"Page.There be squibs, sir, running uponlines, like some of our gawdy gallants," &c.—Gifford.

[37]Harp.This Macrinus,Thelineis, &c] The allusion is to the rude fire-works of our ancestors. So, in theFawne, by Marston:

"Page.There be squibs, sir, running uponlines, like some of our gawdy gallants," &c.—Gifford.

[38]Conster,] i. e.understand. This word (a corruption ofconstrue), so frequently heard among the common people, has not found a place in any dictionary that I have met with.

[39]Pash,] i. e.to strike a thing with such force as to dash it to pieces. The word is now obsolete; which is to be regretted, as we have none that can adequately supply its place: it is used in its proper sense by Dryden, which is the latest instance I recollect:"Thy cunning engines have with labour raisedMy heavy anger, like a mighty weight,To fall andpashthee."Gifford.

"Thy cunning engines have with labour raisedMy heavy anger, like a mighty weight,To fall andpashthee."

Gifford.

[40]Owes,] i. e.owns.

[41]Parted,] i. e.endowed with a part.

[42]Bandog!] Abandog, as the name imports, was a dog so fierce, as to require to be chained up. Bandogs are frequently mentioned by our old writers (indeed the word occurs three times in this play) and always with a reference to their savage nature. If the term was appropriated to a species, it probably meant a large dog, of the mastiff kind, which, though no longer met with here, is still common in many parts of Germany: it was familiar to Snyders, and is found in most of his hunting-pieces.In this country the bandog was kept to bait bears: with the decline of that sport, perhaps, the animal fell into disuse, as he was too ferocious for any domestic purpose. Mr. Gilchrist has furnished me with a curious passage from Laneham, which renders any further details on the subject unnecessary. "On the syxth day of her Majestyes cumming, a great sort ofbandogswhear thear tyed in the utter coourt, and thyrteen bears in the inner. Whoosoever made the pannel, thear wear enoow for a queast, and one for a challenge and need wear. A wight of great wisdoom and gravitie seemed their foreman to be, had it cum to a jury: but it fell oout that they wear causd to appeer thear upon no such matter, but onlie too onswear too anauncient quarrele between them and the bandogs," &c.Queen Elizabeth's Entertainment at Killingwoorth Castle, in 1575.—Gifford.

In this country the bandog was kept to bait bears: with the decline of that sport, perhaps, the animal fell into disuse, as he was too ferocious for any domestic purpose. Mr. Gilchrist has furnished me with a curious passage from Laneham, which renders any further details on the subject unnecessary. "On the syxth day of her Majestyes cumming, a great sort ofbandogswhear thear tyed in the utter coourt, and thyrteen bears in the inner. Whoosoever made the pannel, thear wear enoow for a queast, and one for a challenge and need wear. A wight of great wisdoom and gravitie seemed their foreman to be, had it cum to a jury: but it fell oout that they wear causd to appeer thear upon no such matter, but onlie too onswear too anauncient quarrele between them and the bandogs," &c.Queen Elizabeth's Entertainment at Killingwoorth Castle, in 1575.—Gifford.

[43]Your son andthat.] Macrinus, whom before she had called a pander.M. Mason.

[44]——I'll tell you ashort tale, &c.] I once thought that I had read thisshort talein Arnobius, from whom, and from Augustin, much of the preceding speech is taken; but, upon looking him over again, I can scarcely find a trace of it. Herodotus has, indeed, a story of a king of Egypt (Amasis), which bears a distant resemblance to it; but the application is altogether different:—there is abason of goldin which he and his guests were accustomed to spit,wash their feet, &c. which is formedinto a god; but whether this furnished the poet with any hints I cannot undertake to say.—Gifford.

[45]The pillars of ourfaith, &c.] Here, as in many other places, the language of Christianity and paganism is confounded:faithwas always the distinctive term for the former, in opposition to heathenism.—Gifford.

[46]Lamia,] i. e.sorceress,hag. The word is pure Latin.

[47]Speaking of the remainder of this act, Gifford says, "there may be (and probably are) finer passages in our dramatic poets, but I am not acquainted with them."

[48]Mac.Strange affection!Cupid once more hath changed his shafts with Death, And kills, instead of giving life.] This is a beautiful allusion to a little poem among theElegiesof Secundus. Cupid and Death unite in the destruction of a lover, and in endeavouring to recover their weapons from the body of the victim, commit a mutual mistake, each plucking out the "shafts" of the other. The consequences of this are prettily described:Missa peregrinis sparguntur vulnera nervis,Et manus ignoto sævit utrinque malo.Irrita Mors arcus validi molimina damnat,Plorat Amor teneras tam valuisse manus;Fœdabant juvenes primus in pulvere malasOscula quas, heu, ad blanda vocabat Amor.Canicies vernis florebat multa corollisPersephone crinem vulserat unde sibi.Quid facerent? falsas procul abjecere sagittas,De pharetra jaculum prompsit uterque novum.Res bona! sed virus pueri penetravit in arcum;Ex illo miseros tot dedit ille neci.Lib. ii. Eleg. 6.The fable, however, is very ancient.—Gifford.

Missa peregrinis sparguntur vulnera nervis,Et manus ignoto sævit utrinque malo.Irrita Mors arcus validi molimina damnat,Plorat Amor teneras tam valuisse manus;Fœdabant juvenes primus in pulvere malasOscula quas, heu, ad blanda vocabat Amor.Canicies vernis florebat multa corollisPersephone crinem vulserat unde sibi.Quid facerent? falsas procul abjecere sagittas,De pharetra jaculum prompsit uterque novum.Res bona! sed virus pueri penetravit in arcum;Ex illo miseros tot dedit ille neci.Lib. ii. Eleg. 6.

The fable, however, is very ancient.—Gifford.

[49]Apostata.] Our old writers usually said,apostata, statua, &c. where we now say,apostate, statue.

[50]Which did require a Hercules to get it.] This beautiful description of Elysium, as Mr. Gilchrist observes to me, has been imitated by Nabbes, in that very poetic rhapsody,Microcosmus: some of the lines may be given:"Cold there compels no use of rugged furs,Nor makes the mountains barren; there's no dogTo rage, and scorch the land. Spring's always there,And paints the valleys; whilst a temperate airSweeps their embroider'd face with his curl'd gales,And breathes perfumes:—there night doth never spreadHer ebon wings: but daylight's always there,And one blest season crowns the eternal year."Gifford.

"Cold there compels no use of rugged furs,Nor makes the mountains barren; there's no dogTo rage, and scorch the land. Spring's always there,And paints the valleys; whilst a temperate airSweeps their embroider'd face with his curl'd gales,And breathes perfumes:—there night doth never spreadHer ebon wings: but daylight's always there,And one blest season crowns the eternal year."

Gifford.

[51]EnterAngelo,in the Angel'shabit, &c.] It appears that Angelo was not meant to be seen or heard by any of the people present, but Dorothea. In the inventory of the Lord Admiral's properties, given by Mr. Malone, is, "a roobe for to goe invisibell." It was probably of a light gauzy texture, and afforded a sufficient hint to our ancestors, not to see the person invested with it; or rather, to understand that some of the characters on the stage were not to see him.—Gifford.

[52]——————Learn all,By your example, &c.] "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers; for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." Heb. c. xiii. v. 2. Here is also a beautiful allusion to the parting speech of the "sociable archangel," to Tobit and his son.—Gifford.

[53]The whole of this scene Gifford ascribes to Decker.

[54]——————is not out of hateTo poor tormented wretches, &c.] This is said to distinguish his character from that of Sapritius, whose zeal is influenced by motives of interest, and by many other considerations, which appear to weigh nothing with Theophilus.—Gifford.

[55]Put on,] i. e.instigated.

[56]——this small weapon.] Meaning the "cross of flowers," which he had just found. The language and ideas of this play are purely catholic.—Gifford.

[57]That my last act the best may parallel.] Thus far Decker; what follows, I apprehend, was written by Massinger. In pathos, strength, and harmony, it is not surpassed by any passage of equal length in the English language.—Gifford.

[58]As the Sicilian did his brazen bull.] The brazen bull, an ingenious instrument of torture, invented by Perillus, and presented to Phalaris, the tyrant of Agrigentum, was fatal both to its author and its owner. Phalaris made the first experiment of its powers upon Perillus; and when the people, exasperated by his cruelties, eventually rose against him, the tyrant suffered death by its means himself.

[59]Sir Robert Wiseman was the eldest son of Richard Wiseman, a merchant of London, who, having acquired an ample fortune, retired into Essex, in which county he possessed considerable estates, where he died in 1618, and was succeeded by Sir Robert. The friend of Massinger was the oldest of fourteen children, and a man of an amiable character. He died unmarried the 11th May, 1641, in his sixty-fifth year.—Gilchrist.

[60]Giovanni.] This word is used as a quadrisyllable. This is incorrect, and shows that Massinger had studied the language in books only: no Italian would or could pronounce it in this manner. He makes the same mistake in the name of the duchess:—Fiorinda is a trisyllable; yet he adopts the division of poor Calandrino, and constantly pronounces it Fi-o-rin-da.—Gifford.

[61]Running at the ring.] This amusement made a part of nearly all those magnificent spectacles which used to be given on public occasions. A ring of a very small diameter was suspended by a string from a kind of gibbet, of which the horizontal beam moved on a swivel. At this the competitors ran with their spears couched, with loose reins, and, as the public regulations have it, "as much speed as the horses have." The object was to carry off the ring on the point of the spear, which was light, taper, and adapted to the purpose. It was of difficult attainment; for, from an account of a match made by King Edward the Sixth, seventeen against seventeen, of which he has left a description, it appears, that "in one hundred and twenty courses the ring was carried off but three times."—King Edward's Journal, p. 26.The victor was usually rewarded with a ring set with precious stones, and bestowed by the lady of the day.

[62]So passionate!] i. e.so deeply affected. In this sense the word perpetually occurs in our old writers.

[63]To imp.] i. e.to insert a new feather into the wing of a hawk in the place of a broken one.—These lines are perhaps the most beautiful of a scene eminently graceful and elegant.

[64]Divert us.] i. e.turn us asidefrom following your advice.

[65]——————that the world,In her whole course of life, &c.] This is awkwardly expressed, a circumstance most unusual with Massinger; but seems to mean, in her various excellences and virtues.—Gifford.

[66]Glorious,] i. e.vain,empty,vaunting.

[67]All courtship,] i. e.all court breeding.

[68]Take up, take up.] i. e.stop, check yourself.

[69]He's blind with too much light.] Ennobled by Milton—"dark with excess of light."

[70]Tramontanes,] i. e.strangers,barbarians: so the Italians called, and still call, all who live beyond the Alps,ultra montes. In a subsequent speech, the author does not forget to satirize the acknowledged propensity of his countrymen to drinking: "YourDane, your German, and your swag-belliedHollander, are nothing to your Englishman."If Caponi, as well as Iago, be not, however, too severe upon us, it must be confessed that our ancestors were apt scholars, and soon bettered the instructions which they received. Sir Richard Baker (as Mr. Gilchrist observes), treating of the wars in the Low-Countries about the end of the sixteenth century, says, "Here it must not be omitted, that the English (who, of all the dwellers in the northern parts of the world, were hitherto the least drinkers, and deservedly praised for their sobriety) in these Dutch wars learned to be drunkards, and brought the vice so far to overspread the kingdom, that laws were fain to be enacted for repressing it."Chron.fol. p. 382.—Gifford.

If Caponi, as well as Iago, be not, however, too severe upon us, it must be confessed that our ancestors were apt scholars, and soon bettered the instructions which they received. Sir Richard Baker (as Mr. Gilchrist observes), treating of the wars in the Low-Countries about the end of the sixteenth century, says, "Here it must not be omitted, that the English (who, of all the dwellers in the northern parts of the world, were hitherto the least drinkers, and deservedly praised for their sobriety) in these Dutch wars learned to be drunkards, and brought the vice so far to overspread the kingdom, that laws were fain to be enacted for repressing it."Chron.fol. p. 382.—Gifford.

[71]——————Can charmsBe writ on such pure rubies?] This, I believe, alludes to a very old opinion, that some sorts of gems (from an inherent sanctity) could not be profaned, or applied to the purposes of magic. The notion took its rise probably from some superstitious ideas respecting the precious stones employed in the breastplate of the high-priest of the Jews.—Gifford.

[72]Stole courtesy from heaven.] This is from Shakspeare; and the plain meaning of the phrase is, that the affability and sweetness of Giovanni were of aheavenlykind.—Gifford.

[73]Smile at lovers' perjuries.Ridet hoc, inquam, Venus ipsa.It would be as well if the queen of love had been a little more fastidious on this subject. Her facility, I fear, has done much mischief, as lovers of all ages have availed themselves of it: but she had it from her father, whose laxity of principle is well known:—————perjuria ridet amantûmJupiter.Gifford.

[73]Smile at lovers' perjuries.

Ridet hoc, inquam, Venus ipsa.

It would be as well if the queen of love had been a little more fastidious on this subject. Her facility, I fear, has done much mischief, as lovers of all ages have availed themselves of it: but she had it from her father, whose laxity of principle is well known:

—————perjuria ridet amantûmJupiter.

Gifford.

[74]Possessed,] i. e.informed.

[75]Censure,] i. e.judgment.

[76]Blasphémous.] So the word was usually accented in Massinger's time, and with strict regard to its Greek derivation.

[77]——————that knows not to use it,] i. e. hiscommand, authority: the expression is harsh, but is not uncommon in the writers of Massinger's time.—Gifford.

[78]Packing,] i. e.insidious contrivance: so the word is used by Shakspeare, and others.

[79]Cal.I have all that's requisiteTo the making up of a signior: my spruce ruff,My hooded cloak, long stocking, and paned hose,My case of toothpicks, and my silver fork.] Calandrino is very correct in his enumeration of the articles which in his time made up a complete signior: and which are frequently introduced with evident marks of disapprobation and ridicule by our old poets. The ruff, cloak, and long stocking, are sufficiently familiar:hoseare breeches:paned hoseare breeches composed of small squares or pannels.Toothpicks, the next accompaniment of state, were newly imported from Italy, as wereforks; the want of which our ancestors supplied, as well as they could, with their fingers.—Gifford.

[80]Cal.My grand signior,Vouchsafe a beso las manos, &c.] This is the phrase in which Calandrino supposes his "quondam fellows" will address him. In Massinger's time these tags of politeness were in everybody's mouth, and better understood than they are at this day.—Gifford.

[81]I have restricted myself to as few remarks as possible on the beauties of the author, but I cannot forbear observing, on the present occasion, that the act we have just finished, for language, sentiment, surprising yet natural turns, and general felicity of conduct, is scarcely to be paralleled in any drama with which I am acquainted.—Gifford.

[82]Take us with you, sir.] i. e.understand our meaning fully, before you form your conclusions: this expression is common to all our old writers.

[83]Story,] i. e.history. The two words were formerly synonymous.

[84]Lavolta,] i. e.the waltz. This dance, originally imported from Italy, was a great favourite with our ancestors.

[85]This scene is exquisitely written. It must, however, be confessed, that Charomonte's justification of himself is less complete than might be expected from one who had so good a cause to defend.—Gifford.I can't perceive the deficiency.

[86]March-pane,] a cake composed of sugar and almonds.

[87]Parted,] i. e.giftedorendowed with parts.It seems to have been the opinion of Massinger and his fellow dramatists, that no play could succeed without the admission of some kind of farcical interlude among the graver scenes. If the dramas of our author be intimately considered, few will be found without some extraneous mummery of this description; and, indeed, nothing but a persuasion of the nature which I have just mentioned could give birth to the poor mockery before us. As a trick, it is so gross and palpable, that the duke could not have been deceived by it for a moment; (to do him justice, he frequently hints his suspicions;) and as a piece of humour, it is so low, and even disagreeable, that I cannot avoid regretting a proper regard for his characters had not prevented the author from adopting it on the present occasion.—Gifford.

[87]Parted,] i. e.giftedorendowed with parts.

It seems to have been the opinion of Massinger and his fellow dramatists, that no play could succeed without the admission of some kind of farcical interlude among the graver scenes. If the dramas of our author be intimately considered, few will be found without some extraneous mummery of this description; and, indeed, nothing but a persuasion of the nature which I have just mentioned could give birth to the poor mockery before us. As a trick, it is so gross and palpable, that the duke could not have been deceived by it for a moment; (to do him justice, he frequently hints his suspicions;) and as a piece of humour, it is so low, and even disagreeable, that I cannot avoid regretting a proper regard for his characters had not prevented the author from adopting it on the present occasion.—Gifford.

[88]Courtship,] i. e.the grace and elegance of a court.

[89]Lodovico,] i. e.Lodovico Hippolito.

[90]States,] i. e.statesmen,men of power. A common acceptation of the word.

[91]So constantly,] i. e.with such constancy.

[92]Censure.] It has been already observed, that this word is used by our old writers, where we should now usejudge, and with the same latitude of meaning through its various acceptations.—Gifford.

[93]The state,] i. e.the raised platform on which the chairs were placed.

[94]The prince, in care to have you keep your vowsMade unto Heaven, vouchsafed to love my daughter.] This attempt to impose upon the great duke is more deplorable than the former. It has falsehood and improbability written on its face. The duke, indeed, is not deceived by it; but surely the author showed a strange want of judgment in this gratuitous degradation of three of his most estimable characters.—Gifford.Surely Massinger intended that his characters should here be understood as speaking the truth. The contrivance by which he exculpates Giovanni is a clumsy one; but he was anxious to conclude his play, and took the first that suggested itself. Awkward as it may appear to the reader, it has, perhaps, quite enough dramatic probability to satisfy an audience.

Surely Massinger intended that his characters should here be understood as speaking the truth. The contrivance by which he exculpates Giovanni is a clumsy one; but he was anxious to conclude his play, and took the first that suggested itself. Awkward as it may appear to the reader, it has, perhaps, quite enough dramatic probability to satisfy an audience.

[95]Practice,] i. e.artifice, or insidious combination.

[96]If, for their pomp and ease, &c.] Mr. Gilchrist thinks (and I believe rightly) that Massinger, who evidently regarded the Duke of Buckingham with no favourable eye, here reflects on the use of sedan-chairs, which his grace first introduced, from Spain, about this period. They were carried, as Massinger says, "on men's shoulders," and the novelty provoked no small displeasure against the favourite, who, in thus employing his servants, was charged, by the writers of those times, with "degrading Englishmen into slaves and beasts of burden, to gratify his inordinate vanity."—Gifford.

[97]Fan.] The fan of our ancestors was not at all in the shape of the implement now used under the same name, but more like a hand-skreen. It had a roundish handle, and was frequently composed of feathers.

[98]The braveries,] i. e.the gay and fashionable gallants of the town.

[99]The state.] This was a raised platform, on which was placed a chair with a canopy over it. The word occurs perpetually in our old writers. It is used by Dryden, but seems to have been growing obsolete while he was writing: in the first edition of Mac Fleckno, the monarch is placed on astate; in the subsequent ones, he is seated like his fellow kings, on a throne: it occurs also, and I believe for the last time, in Swift: "As she affected not the grandeur of astatewith a canopy, she thought there was no offence in an elbow chair."—Hist. of John Bull, c. i.—Gifford.

[100]————Such honoursTo one ambitious of rule, &c.] Massinger has here finely drawn the character of Timoleon, and been very true to history. He was descended from one of the noblest families in Corinth, loved his country passionately, and discovered upon all occasions a singular humanity of temper, except against tyrants and bad men. He was an excellent captain; and as in his youth he had all the maturity of age, in age he had all the fire and courage of the most ardent youth.—Coxeter.

[101]Timol.Timophanes, my brother, &c.] Timoleon had an elder brother, called Timophanes, whom he tenderly loved, as he had demonstrated in a battle, in which he covered him with his body, and saved his life at the great danger of his own. But his country was still dearer to him. That brother having made himself tyrant of it, so black a crime gave him the sharpest affliction. He made use of all possible means to bring him back to his duty: kindness, friendship, affection, remonstrances, and even menaces. But finding all his endeavours ineffectual, and that nothing could prevail upon a heart abandoned to ambition he caused his brother to be assassinated by two of his friends and intimates, and thought that upon such an occasion the laws of nature ought to give place to those of his country.—Coxeter.

[102]To my country, my best mother.] In this expression Timoleon alludes to the conduct of his natural mother, who would never see him after the assassination of his brother, and always, as Cornelius Nepos informs us, called himfratricidam, impiumque.—Gifford.

[103]Diph.If you free SicilyFrom barbarous Carthage' yoke, &c.] This speech and the next are literally from Plutarch. Massinger has in this instance adhered more closely to his story than usual.—Gifford.

[104]Cry aim!] i. e.encourage them, as the bystanders do those who are about to shoot at a trial of skill in archery.

[105]——————nay, Leosthenes,You are welcome too, &c.] It should be remembered that Archidamus is, with great judgment, represented in the first scene as averse to the marriage of Leosthenes with his daughter.—Gifford.

[106]For, now my gown's off, farewell gravity!] This is said to have been a frequent expression with the great but playful Sir Thomas More, who was never so happy as when he shook off the pomp of office. Fuller tells a similar story of Lord Burleigh.—Gifford.

[107]There's a month call'dOctober, &c.] This pleasant old man forgets that he is talking of Sicily, where October is the most delightful month of the year. All our old poets loved and thought only of their country. Whatever region was the subject, England was the real theme: their habits, customs, peculiarities were all derived from thence. This, though it must condemn them as historians, may save them as patriots: and, indeed, it is not much to be regretted that they should overlook manners, with which they were very imperfectly acquainted, in favour of those with which they were hourly conversant—at least it would be ungrateful in us, who profit so much by their minute descriptions, to be offended at their disregard of "the propercostumi."—Gifford.

[108]Here,] i. e.in Syracuse.

[109]Leost.You were never proved.] The whole of this scene is eminently beautiful; yet I cannot avoid recommending to the reader's particular notice the speech which follows. Its rhythm is so perfect, that it drops on the ear like the sweetest melody.—Gifford.

[110]Owe,] i. e.own.

[111]And spoil him of his birthright?] This is a happy allusion to the history of Jacob and Esau. It is the more so, for being void of all profaneness; to which, indeed, Massinger had no tendency.—Gifford.

[112]Rouse,] i. e.full glass,bumper.

[113]ThatThing of Things.] A literal translation, as Mr. M. Mason observes, ofEns Entium. I know not where Pisander acquired his revolutionary philosophy: his golden chain, perhaps, he found in Homer.—Gifford.

[114]For commodities, &c.] i. e.for wares, of which the needy borrower made what he could. Our old writers are extremely pleasant on the heterogeneous articles which the usurers of their days forced on the necessity of the thoughtless spendthrift in lieu of the money for which he had rashly signed. Fielding has imitated them in his Miser, without adding much to their humour; and Foote, in The Minor, has servilely followed his example. The spectators of those scenes probably thought that the writers had gone beyond real life, and drawn on imagination for their amusement: but transactions (not altogether proper, perhaps, to be specified here) have actually taken place in our own times, which leave their boldest conceptions at an humble distance; and prove, beyond a doubt, that, in the arts of raising money, the invention of the most fertile poet must yield to that of the meanest scrivener.—Gifford.

[115]Mar.Why, think you that I plot against myself?] The plot opens here with wonderful address; and the succeeding conference, or rather scene, between Pisander and Cleora, is inimitably beautiful.—Gifford.

[116]Moppes,] i. e. the quick and grinning motions of the teeth and lips which apes make when they are irritated.

[117]What for ourself, your lord?] Here Asotus must be supposed to leap, or rather tumble, in token of obedience. Our ancestors certainly excelled us in the education which they bestowed on their animals. Banks's horse far surpassed all that have been brought up in the academy of Mr. Astley; and the apes of these days are mere clowns to their progenitors. The apes of Massinger's time were gifted with a pretty smattering of politics and philosophy. The widow Wild had one of them: "He wouldcome overfor all my friends, but was the dogged'st thing to my enemies! he would sit upon his tail before them, and frown like John-a-napes when the pope is named."The Parson's Wedding.—Gifford.

[118]Let us, like conquering Romans, walk in triumph.] Gracculo speaks in the spirit of prophecy; for theconquering Romanswere at this time struggling with their neighbours for a few miserable huts to hide their heads in; and if anycaptives followed, or rather preceded, theirtriumphs, it was a herd of stolen beeves.—Gifford.

[119]Jane-of-apes;] Meaning Corisca: he plays uponJack-an-apes, the name he had given to Asotus.—Gifford.

[120]Defeature,] i. e.defeat. The two words were used indiscriminately by our old writers.

[121]Asis, in this passage, an ellipsis ofthat, as usual. Some of the incidents mentioned in this speech, Massinger derived from Plutarch—Gifford.

[122]Mar.A general pardon, &c.] It is evident, from the unreasonable nature of these demands, that Pisander does not wish them to be accepted. The last article, indeed, has a reference to himself, but he seems desirous of previously trying the fortune of arms. See, however, the next scene, and his defence in the last act.—Gifford.

[123]Herodotus relates this tale, and Justin repeats it. Massinger may have taken it from Purchas's Pilgrims, a book that formed the delight of our ancestors; and in which it is said, that the Boiards of Noviorogod reduced their slaves, who had seized the town, by the whip, just as the Scythians are said to have done theirs.

[124]Leost.Fears! your sufferings:—] The character of Leosthenes is every where preserved with great nicety. His jealous disposition breaks out in this scene with peculiar beauty.—Gifford.

[125]Though the infringing it had call'd upon herA living funeral, &c.] The poet alludes to the manner in which the Vestals, who had broken their vow of chastity, were punished. They had literally aliving funeral, being plunged alive into a subterraneous cavern, of which the opening was immediately closed upon them, and walled up. The confusion of countries and customs may possibly strike the critical reader; but of this, as I have already observed, our old dramatists were either not aware or not solicitous.—Gifford.

[126]To remember,] i. e.to remind, in which sense it frequently occurs in our old writers.

[127]My fault:] i. e.my misfortune. That the word anciently had this meaning could be proved by many examples;e. g.Marina.The more myfault,To scape his hands, where I was like to die."Pericles, Act IV. sc. iii.

[127]My fault:] i. e.my misfortune. That the word anciently had this meaning could be proved by many examples;e. g.

Marina.The more myfault,To scape his hands, where I was like to die."Pericles, Act IV. sc. iii.

[128]Cleo.Sir, you graced meWith the title of your mistress.] This alludes to the request in the first act, that he might be permittedto wear her colours. In those days of gallantry, I mean those of Massinger, not of Timoleon, to wear a lady's colours, that is, a scarf, or a riband, taken from her person, was to become her authorized champion and servant.—Gifford.

[129]Censured,] i. e.judged. It may be observed, that our ancestors usedcensureprecisely as we now do judgment: sometimes for a quality of the mind, and sometimes for a judicial determination.—Gifford.

[130]The gods and fautors,] in the language of the author means thefavouring gods.

[131]This Persian shape laid by,] i. e. thedressof a Persian slave, which Statilia had assumed, with the name of Timandra.Shapeis a term borrowed from the tiring-room of the theatres. In the list of dramatis personæ prefixed toThe Virgin Martyr, Harpax is said to be, "an evil spirit following Theophilus in theshape(habit) of a secretary."—Gifford.

[132]Notwithstanding all differences, and suits in late arising between you.] Thesuits in lawsubsisting between these fast friends of Massinger—Sir Francis Foljambe, of Walton, in the county of Derby, and Sir Thomas Bland, of Kippax Park, in the county of York—originated in a question as to the right of working some coal-mines.—Gilchrist.

[133]Show water,] i. e.to clear his sight. A proverbial periphrasis for abribe, which, in Massinger's days, (though happily not since,) was found to be the only collyrium for the eyes of a courtier.—Gifford.

[134]Quarry,] i. e.the game sought.

[135]Trussing a point,] i. e.tying the strings that support the hose or breeches. These strings were tagged, and are therefore calledpoints.

[136]The Malta habit.] The dress of the knights of Malta was black, having a cross of white waxed cloth on the left side of their cloak. None were admitted into the order but those who were noble both on the father and mother's side for four generations, unless they were, like Bertoldo, the natural sons of kings and princes.

[137]Or to steal a constable from a sleeping watch.] Theconstablewas the captain of the band; this therefore was to deprive these trusty guardians of the night of their leader.—Gifford.

[138]Masters of dependencies.] They were a set of needy bravoes, who undertook to ascertain the authentic grounds of a quarrel, and in some cases to settle it, for the timorous or unskilful. In the punctilious days of our author, all matters relative to duelling were arranged, in set treatises, with a gravity that, in a business less serious, would be infinitely ridiculous. Troops of disbanded soldiers, or rather of such as pretended to be so, took up the "noble science of arms," and, with the use of the small sword, (then a novelty,) taught a jargon respecting the various modes of "honourable quarrelling," which, though seemingly calculated to baffle alike the patience and the understanding, was a fashionable object of study. The dramatic poets, faithful to the moral end of their high art, combated this contagious folly with the united powers of wit and humour; and, after a long and well-conducted struggle, succeeded in rendering it as contemptible as it was odious, and finally suppressed it altogether.—Gifford.

[139]A provant sword.] A plain, unornamented sword, such as the army is supplied with. Properly speaking,provantmeans provisions; but our old writers extend it to all the articles that make up the magazine of an army.—Gifford.

[140]Lachrymæ.] The first word of the title of a musical work composed by John Dowland, in the time of James the First. The full title was, "Lachrymæ; or, Seven Teares figured in seaven passionate Pavans (i. e.affecting, serious dances); with divers other Pavans, Galiards, and Almands, set forth to the Lute, Viols, or Violins, in five Parts." This work was very popular, and is frequently alluded to by the writers of our author's age.

[141]Entradas,] i. e.rents, revenues.

[142]To decline,] i. e.to divert from their course. This sense of the word is frequent in our old poets.

[143]Virtue, if not in action, is a vice;And when we move not forward, we go backward.] This is a beautiful improvement on Horace:Paulum sepultæ distat inertiæCelata virtus.The last line of the text alludes to the Latin adageNon progredi est regredi.—Gifford.

[143]Virtue, if not in action, is a vice;And when we move not forward, we go backward.] This is a beautiful improvement on Horace:

Paulum sepultæ distat inertiæCelata virtus.

The last line of the text alludes to the Latin adageNon progredi est regredi.—Gifford.

[144]A piece of motley,] i. e.a fool. Alluding to the parti-coloured garments worn by the domesticfoolof our ancestors.—Gifford.

[145]We are not parallels; but, like lines divided,Can ne'er meet in one centre.] Not only Massinger, but many of our old writers, useparallelsforradii.In the Proëme to Herbert's Travels, which were printed not long after The Maid of Honour, a similar expression is found: "Great Britaine—containes the summe and abridge of all sorts of excellencies,met here like parallels in their proper centre."In the life of Dr. H. More (1710) there is a letter to a correspondent who had sent him a pious treatise, in which the same expression occurs, and is thus noticed by the doctor: "There is but one passage that I remember, which will afford them (the profane and atheistical rout of the age) a disingenuous satisfaction; which is in p. 489, where you say thatstraight lines drawn from the centre run parallel together. To a candid reader your intended sense can be no other than that they run παῥ αλλἡλας, that is, by one another; which they may do, though they do not run all along equidistantly one by another, which is the mathematical sense of the word parallel."—Gent. Mag.May, 1782. The good doctor is, I think, the best critic on the subject that has yet appeared, and sufficiently explains Massinger.—Gifford.

[145]We are not parallels; but, like lines divided,Can ne'er meet in one centre.] Not only Massinger, but many of our old writers, useparallelsforradii.

In the Proëme to Herbert's Travels, which were printed not long after The Maid of Honour, a similar expression is found: "Great Britaine—containes the summe and abridge of all sorts of excellencies,met here like parallels in their proper centre."

In the life of Dr. H. More (1710) there is a letter to a correspondent who had sent him a pious treatise, in which the same expression occurs, and is thus noticed by the doctor: "There is but one passage that I remember, which will afford them (the profane and atheistical rout of the age) a disingenuous satisfaction; which is in p. 489, where you say thatstraight lines drawn from the centre run parallel together. To a candid reader your intended sense can be no other than that they run παῥ αλλἡλας, that is, by one another; which they may do, though they do not run all along equidistantly one by another, which is the mathematical sense of the word parallel."—Gent. Mag.May, 1782. The good doctor is, I think, the best critic on the subject that has yet appeared, and sufficiently explains Massinger.—Gifford.

[146]One aerie with proportion ne'er disclosesThe eagle and the wren.]Aerieis the nest of a bird of prey;discloseis to hatch: the meaning is, eagles and wrens are too disproportionate in bulk to behatchedin the same nest.—Gifford.

[147]The whole field wide.] This expression, however signior Sylli picked it up, is a Latinism:Erras, tota via aberras.—Gifford.

[148]A cat-stick.] This, I believe, is what is now called abuck-stick, used by children in the game of tip-cat, or kit-cat.—Gifford.

[149]Fewterer,] i. e.a dog-keeper, or one who lets the dogs loose in the chase. The word is a corruption of the Frenchvautrier, orvaultier.

[150]Tamberlane in little!Am I turned Turk!]Tamberlanewas a proverbial term for abully.To turn Turk, in our old dramatists, is generally used for a change of situation, occupation, mode of thought or action. The allusion, perhaps, is to the story of Tamberlane, who is said to have mounted his horse from the back of Bajazet, the Turkish emperor.—Gifford.

[151]Peat,] i. e.a delicate person. The modern word pet is supposed to be the same, probably from the Frenchpetit.

[152]Haggard,] i. e.a wild hawk.

[153]O for a brother,] i. e.a brother in arms, to do what he immediately requests Adorni to do for him: the expression was common at the time, and well understood by Massinger's audience.—Gifford.

[154]Fool,] i. e.play the fool.

[155]Estridge,] i. e.ostrich.

[156]Carpet-knights.] A term of contempt very frequently used by our old writers.Carpet-knightswere such as were made on occasion of public festivities, marriages, births, &c., in contradistinction to those that were created on the field of battle, after a victory. They were naturally little regarded by the latter; and, indeed, their title had long been given in scorn, to effeminate courtiers, favourites, &c.—Gifford.

[157]Calver'd salmonappears to have differed but little from what is now called pickled salmon, as the directions for preparing it are—"to boil it in vinegar with oil and spices." The word is still in use, but not in the exact sense of the text. Tocalverfish is now a very simple process.—Gifford.

[158]————To a tripe,] i. e.to a tripe shop. By "carrying his own stool," he means that he would not wait for the formality of an invitation, but trust to the vender's hospitality for a meal. The singular custom of uninvited or unexpected guests bringing their seats with them is frequently noticed by the writers of Massinger's time. It is probable that the practice originated in necessity. Our ancient houses were not much encumbered with furniture, and the little which they had was moved from place to place as occasion required.—Gifford.

[159]In being born near to Jove, am near his thunder.] Πορρω Διος και τε πορρω κεραυνου.

[160]Abuse me,] i. e.practise on my credulity with a forged tale; the word often occurs in this sense.—Gifford.

[161]Atheism.] Our old writers seem to have used such words as profaneness, blasphemy,atheism, &c. with a laxity which modern practice does not acknowledge. They applied them to any extraordinary violation of moral or natural decorum.—Gifford.

[162]Take me with you.] i. e.hear me out. The expression is common in our old writers.—Gifford.

[163]Walks she on woollen feet.] The expression is classical (lanei pedes), but does not bear the classical sense. How Massinger understood it I cannot tell; perhaps, as equivalent to motion without noise.—Gifford.

[164]Mithridate.] An antidote. "Mithridateis one of the capital medicines of the shops, consisting of a great number of ingredients, and has its name from its inventor, Mithridates, King of Pontus."—Quiney.

[165]Caroch,] i. e.a large coach. Coaches are said to have been first brought into England in 1564, by William Booner, a Dutchman, who became coachman to Queen Elizabeth.—Nares.

[166]Erect one here,] i. e.a temple.—M. Mason.

[167]Perséver.] So this word was anciently written and pronounced.—Gifford.

Back to Index Next