“Like to the lion when he hears the soundOf Dian’s bowstring in some shady wood,I should have couched my lowly limb on earthAnd held my silence a proud sacrifice.”“Others, compared to her, show like faint starsTo the full moon of wonder in her face.”
Again: the play contains an unusually large number of imitations of Shakespearean passages. In fact I know no play of this early date in which Shakespeare is so persistently imitated or plagiarised. Again and again we find images and expressions borrowed more or less closely fromHamlet. Shakespeare’s historical plays, too, were laid under contribution. In the very first scene we have these lines:—
“Slave, I will fight with thee at any odds;Or name an instrument fit for destruction,That e’er was made to make away a man,I’ll meet thee on the ridges of the Alps,Or some inhospitable wilderness.”
A very cool piece of plagiarism fromRichardII. (i.1):—
“Which to maintain I would allow him oddsAnd meet him, were I tied to run a-footEven to the frozen ridges of the AlpsOr any other ground inhabitable.”
In the lines,
“The ghosts of misers that imprison’d goldWithinthe harmless bowels of the earth,”
the italicised words were unquestionably suggested by a passage of Hotspur’s famous speech inHenryIV.,i.2,—
“That villainous salt-petre should be digg’dOut ofthe bowels of the harmless earth.“
When Don Sago iniv.3 exclaims—
“A hundred times in life a coward dies,”
we are immediately reminded of Shakespeare’sJulius Cæsar(ii.2),
“Cowards die many times before their death;”
and Sago’s lament inv.1,
“Although ... the waves of all the Northern seaShould flow for ever through these guilty hands,Yet the sanguinolent stain would extant be,”
decidedly smacks ofMacbeth. Occasionally, it is true, Marston does not scruple to borrow from Shakespeare, but in none of his plays are the Shakespearean echoes so clear and frequent as inThe Insatiate Countess. The text, as I have said, is extremely corrupt, and the confusion among thedramatis personæis perplexing to the last degree (see note,vol. iii. p.154). I suspect that Marston, on entering the church, left this tragedy in a fragmentary state, and that it was completed by the actor Barksteed. The whole interest centres in the beautifuland sinful Isabella, whose wayward glances, as she moves in splendour, fascinate all beholders; who is indeed a “glorious devil” without shame or pity, boundless and insatiable as the sea in the enormity of her caprices.
In addition to his plays, his poem ofPygmalion, and his satires, Marston wrote a Latin pageant on the occasion of the visit paid by the King of Denmark to JamesI.in 1606, and an entertainment, which is not without elegance, in honour of a visit paid by the Dowager Countess of Derby to her son-in-law and daughter, Lord and Lady Huntingdon, at Ashby. I strongly doubt whetherThe Mountebank’s Masque, performed at Court in February 1616-17 (when Marston was attending to his clerical duties in Hampshire), has been correctly assigned to Marston.
There are two anonymous plays[26]in which Marston’s hand is plainly discernible,—Histriomastix, published in 1610, andJack Drum’s Entertainment, published in 1616. It has been mentioned (see note, p. xxxii.) that Jonson inEvery Man out of his Humourputs into Clove’s mouth, with the object of ridiculing Marston, words and expressions found inHistriomastix(coupling them with flowers of speech culled fromThe Scourge of Villainy), and even mentions the play by name—“as you may read in Plato’sHistriomastix.” Only in a few scenes ofHistriomastixcan Marston’s hand be detected. It is apoor semi-allegorical play, a clumsy piece of patchwork. Marston’s additions must have been made before Christmas 1599 (whenEvery Man out of his Humourwas produced), on the occasion of some revival. The following lines, which occur early in the second act, seem to refer to Ben Jonson:—
“How, you translating scholar? You can makeA stabbing satire or an epigram,And think you carry just Rhamnusia’s whipTo lash the patient! go, get you clothes:Our free-born blood such apprehension loathes.”
Jack Drum’s Entertainment, an indifferent comedy, which appears to have been written about the year 1600,[27]bears the clearest traces of Marston’s early style. All the monstrous phraseology ofThe Scourge of VillainyandAntonio and Mellidais seen here in perfection. When Jonson inThe Poetaster(v.1) ridiculed Marston’s absurd vocabulary, he selected,inter alia, for castigation, some expressions which occur only inJack Drum, and are not found (in so closely parallel a form) in the works published under Marston’s name: clear proof that the authorship of this play is to be ascribed, at least in part if not entirely, to Marston. In actiii.ofJack Drumwe have—
“Crack not the sinews of my patience,”
which is ridiculed inThe Poetaster—
“As if his organons of sense would crackThe sinews of my patience.”
In actii.are these ridiculous lines—
“Let clumsy chilblain’d gouty witsBung up their chief contents within the hoopsOf a stuff’d dry-fat;”
so inThe Poetaster—
“Upon that puft-up lump of barmy froth,Or clumsy chilblain’d judgment.”
In activ.Planet’s reflections on the arrogant Old Brabant are clearly directed against Jonson.
Collier in hisMemoirs of Edward Alleyn(p.154) printed a letter of Marston to Henslowe; but, as “the whole letter is manifestly a forgery, having been first traced in pencil, the marks of which are in places still visible” (Warner’sCatalogue of Dulwich Manuscripts and Muniments,p.49), this relic is of no interest. Another letter, addressed to Lord Kimbolton by a “John Marston,"[28]is printed in Collier’sShakespeare[29](i.179,ed.1858); but as it was written in 1641, the writer could not have been the dramatist, who died in 1634. Among the additional MSS. (14,824-6) in the British Museum is a poem entitledThe New Metamorphosis,or a Feast of Fancy or Poetical Legends ... Written by J. M., Gent., 1600, which has been, not very wisely, ascribed to Marston. I must confess that I have only a superficial acquaintance with this poem; but, as the work fills nearly nine hundred closely-packed pages, I trust that my confession will not be severely criticised. After the title-page is a leaf containing the arguments of booksi.-vi.; then comes a new title-pageAn Iliad of Metamorphosis or the Arraignment of Vice, followed by a dialogue between Cupid and Momus. Six lines headed “The Author to his Book” follow the dialogue, and then comes “The Epistle Dedicatory,” consisting of a couple of lines—
“To Momus, that same ever-carping mate,And unto Cupid I this dedicate.”
After the commendably brief epistle come two lines which inform us that—
“My name is French, to tell you in a word;Yet came not in with conquering William’s sword.”
(Marston’s name was certainly not French; it was a good old Shropshire name.) The prologue begins thus:—
“Upon the public stage to Albion’s eyeI here present my new-born poesy,Not with vain-glory puft to make it known,Nor Indian-like with feathers not mine ownTo deck myself, as many use to do;To filching lines I am a deadly foe,”&c.
Presently the poet indulges in his invocation:—
“Matilda fair, guide you my wand’ring quill!”
Having turned some thirty thousand verses off the reel, “J. M., Gent.” abruptly concludes, with the remark,—
“My leave I here of poetry do take,For I have writ until my hand doth ache.”
There is a fine field for an editor inThe New Metamorphosis; virgin soil, I warrant.
Manningham in hisDiary, under date 21st November 1602, has been at the pains to record abon motof Marston:—“Jo. Marstone, the last Christmas, when he daunct with Alderman Mores wives daughter, a Spaniard borne, fell into a strange commendation of hir witt and beauty. When he had done she thought to pay him home, and told him, shethoughthe was a poet. ’Tis true, said he, for poets feigne and lye, and soe did I, when I commended your beauty, for you are exceeding foule.” Not a very witty saying, and not very polite.
In 1633, William Sheares the publisher issued, in 1vol. sm. 8vo,The Workes[30]of Mr. John Marston, being Tragedies and Comedies collected into one volumecontaining the two parts ofAntonio and Mellida,Sophonisba,What You Will,The Fawn, andThe Dutch Courtezan.The following dedicatory epistle to Viscountess Falkland, in which the publisher insists on the modesty (save the mark!) of Marston’s Muse, is found in some copies:—
“To the Right Honourable, the Lady Elizabeth Carey, Viscountess Falkland.
“Many opprobies and aspersions have not long since been cast upon Plays in general, and it were requisite and expedient that they were vindicated from them; but, I refer that task to those whose leisure is greater, and learning more transcendent. Yet, for my part, I cannot perceive wherein they should appear so vile and abominable, that they should be so vehemently inveighed against. Is it because they arePlays? The name, it seems, somewhat offends them; whereas, if they were styledWorks, they might have their approbation also. I hope that I have now somewhat pacified that precise sect, by reducing all our Author’s several Plays into one volume, and so styled themThe Works of Mr. John Marston, who was not inferior unto any in this kind of writing, in those days when these were penned; and, I am persuaded, equal unto the best poets of our times. If the lines be not answerable to my encomium of him, yet herein bear with him, because they were hisJuveniliaand youthful recreations. Howsoever, he is free from all obscene speeches, which is the chief cause that makes Plays to be so odious unto most men. He abhors such writers, and their works; and hath professed himself an enemy to all such as stuff their scenes with ribaldry, and lard their lines with scurrilous taunts and jests; so that, whatsoever, even in the spring of his years, he hath presented upon the private and public theatre, now, in his autumn and declining age, he need not be ashamed of. And, were it not that he is so fardistant from this place, he would have been more careful in revising the former impressions, and more circumspect about this, than I can. In his absence, Noble Lady, I have been emboldened to present theseWorksunto your Honour’s view; and the rather, because your Honour is well acquainted with the Muses. In brief, Fame hath given out that your Honour is the mirror of your sex, the admiration, not only of this island, but of all adjacent countries and dominions, which are acquainted with your rare virtues and endowments. If your Honour shall vouchsafe to accept this work, I, with my book, am ready pressed and bound to be
“Your truly devoted,
“WILLIAM SHEARES.”
Ben Jonson’s copy of the 1633 edition of Marston’s plays is preserved in the Dyce Library at South Kensington.
Marston’s literary career barely covers a space of ten years: his satires were published in 1598, and he seems to have entered the Church, and to have abandoned the writing of plays, about the year 1607. It is hard to picture Marston as a preacher of the Gospel of Glad Tidings. Were we to judge him by his writings we should say that he was a scornful spirit, at strife with himself and with the world; a man convinced of the hollowness of present life, and yet not looking forward hopefully to any future sphere of activity; only anxious to drop into the jaws of that oblivion which he invoked in his verse and courted even on his gravestone. There was another, a greater than Marston, whobegan by writing satires and ended by writing sermons. Marston’s sermons have perished, but the sermons of John Donne,[31]Dean of St. Paul’s, are imperishable. At the thought of that oblivion for which Marston hungered the soul of Donne turned sick. “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Fearful indeed; but “to fall out of the hands of the living God,” said Donne in a sermon preached before the Earl of Carlisle, “is a horror beyond our expression, beyond our imagination.” In a strain of marvellous eloquence he proceeds; and surely no utterance of poet or divine is more pitiful and passionate than this cry wrung from the heart of the great Dean Donne:—
“That God should let my soul fall out of His hand into a bottomless pit and roll an unremovable stone upon it, ... and never think more of that soul, never have more to do with it; that of that providence of God, that studies the life of every weed, and worm, and ant, and spider, and toad, and viper, there should never, never any beam flow out upon me; that that God, who looked upon me, when I was nothing, and called me when I was not, as though I had been, out of the womb and depth of darkness, will not look upon me now, when, though a miserable, and a banished, and a damned creature, yet I am His creature still, and contribute something to His glory, even in my damnation; that that God, who hath often looked upon me in my foullest uncleanness, and when I had shut out the eye of the day, the sun, and the eye of the night, thetaper, and the eyes of all the world, with curtains and windows and doors, did yet see me, and see me in mercy, by making me see that He saw me, and sometimes brought me to a present remorse and (for that time) to a forbearing of that sin, should so turn Himself from me to His glorious Saints and Angels, as that no Saint nor Angel nor Christ Jesus Himself should ever pray Him to look towards me, never remember Him that such a soul there is; that that God,—who hath so often said to my soulQuare morieris? Why wilt thou die? and so often sworn to my soulVivit Dominus, As the Lord liveth I would not have thee die but live,—will neither let me die nor let me live, but die an everlasting life and live an everlasting death; that that God, who when He could not get into me by standing and knocking, by His ordinary means of entering, by His word, His mercies, hath applied His judgments and hath shaked the house, this body, with agues and palsies, and set this house on fire with fevers and calentures, and frighted the master of the house, my soul, with horrors and heavy apprehensions, and so made an entrance into me; that that God should frustrate all His own purposes and practises upon me, and leave me and cast me away, as though I had cost Him nothing; that this God at last should let this soul go away, as a smoke, as a vapour, as a bubble, and that then this soul cannot be a smoke, a vapour, nor a bubble, but must lie in darkness, as long as the Lord of light is light itself, and never spark of that light reach to my soul: what Tophet is not Paradise, what brimstone is not amber, what gnashing is not a comfort, what gnawing of the worm is not a tickling, what torment is not a marriage-bed to this damnation, to be secluded eternally, eternally, eternally from the sight of God!”
[1]Add.MS.24,487 (“Chorus Vatum”).[2]Grosart’sIntroductionto Marston’sPoems, 1879 (privately printed).[3]Elizabeth Guarsi, the poet’s grandmother, on the death of her husband, Andrew Guarsi, had married John Butler of Wardington,co.Oxon.[4]I have to thank the Dean of Winchester for supplying me, from the books of the Dean and Chapter of Winchester, with the date of Marston’s presentation. The date of his resignation had been previously communicated to me by Dr. Brinsley Nicholson, who procured it from the Diocesan Registry, Winchester.[5]The will was printed in Halliwell’s preface to his edition of Marston. Dr. Grosart gives a literatim copy (which I have followed) collated by Col. Chester with the original.[6]An abstract of her will, communicated by Col. Chester, is printed in Dr. Grosart’sIntroduction(p. xxiv.). To her “reverend Pastor Master Edward Calamy”—the famous puritan minister,EdmundCalamy—she leaves “6 angels as a token of my respect.”[7]Pygmalion’s Imagewas republished, without the satires, in 1613 and 1628, in a volume containing the anonymous poemAlciliaand S. P.’s [Samuel Page’s?]Amos and Laura.[8]In the epigram he refers to thenom de plume“Kinsayder” which Marston had adopted, and we learn that it was derived from the “kinsing” (cutting the tails?) of dogs. It is to be noticed that the name “Kinsayder” does not occur in thePygmalionvolume. The dedicatory verses to “The World’s Mighty Monarch, Good Opinion,” are merely subscribed with the initials “W. K.” We first find the full name “W. Kinsayder” in the address “To those that seem judicial perusers,” prefixed toThe Scourge of Villainy.[9]The title shows Hall was the original aggressor (at least in Marston’s opinion). Guilpin in the sixth satire ofSkialetheiaalludes to Marston’s “Reactio” in a somewhat enigmatic manner. See note,vol. iii. p.287.[10]BothThe WhippingandThe Whipperare exceedingly rare. Sir Charles Isham, Bart., of Lamport Hall, possesses a little volume (the loan of which I gratefully acknowledge) which contains these two tracts and Nicholas Breton’sNo Whipping No Tripping.[11]Dr. Nicholson suggests that the character of Furor Poeticus in this play was intended as a satirical portrait of Marston. The suggestion is very plausible.[12]“This should betown. Tobring to town= to bring home.”—P. A. Daniel. (I prefer the old reading.)[13]There were really two separate editions of the unrevised play published in 1604. I too hastily assumed that the copy in the Dyce Library was identical with the copy in the British Museum, apart from such textual variations as are frequently found in copies of the same impression of an old play; but I have since discovered that the two copies belong to separate editions. The title of the enlarged edition is curious:The Malcontent. Augmented by Marston. With the Additions played by the Kings Maiesties Servants. Written by Ihon Webster.Slovenly wording and vicious punctuation.John Davies of Hereford, in theScourge of Folly(1611?), has the following epigram onThe Malcontent:—“To acute Mr. John Marston.“ThyMalcontentor MalcontentednessHath made thee change thy muse, as some do guess;If time misspent make her a malcontentThou need’st not then her timely change repent.The end will show it; meanwhile do but pleaseWith virtuous pains as erst thou didst with ease,Thou shalt be praised and kept from want and woe;So blest are crosses that do bless us so.”[14]Perhaps some sage commentator of the future will tell us that Syphax inSophonisbawas intended as a satirical portrait of Ben.[15]It is hard to see why Jonson should be ridiculed for using these epithets. Marston uses two of them (“real” and “Delphic”) himself.[16]We have “Port Esquiline” twice in theScourge of Villainy; but the very phrasePaunch of Esquilineoccurs inHistriomastix(Simpson’sSchool of Shakspere,ii.51), an anonymous play which undoubtedly contains some of Marston’s work. “Zodiac,” “ecliptic line,” “demonstrate,” and “tropics” are also found inHistriomastix(ibid.ii.25-6); they are not in Marston’s satires. The other words will be found in theScourge of Villainy.[17]OfHistriomastixI shall have to speak later.[18]Dekker’sWorks(Pearson’s Reprint),i.195.[19]“Some booksellers this year,” says Nixon, “shall not have cause to boast of their winnings, for that many write that flow with phrases and yet are barren in substance, and such are neither wise nor witty; others are so concise that you need a commentary to understand them, others have good wits but so critical that they arraign other men’s works at the tribunal seat of every censurious Aristarch’s understanding, when their own are sacrificed in Paul’s Churchyard for bringing in theDutch Courtezanto corrupt English conditions and sent away westward for carping both at court, city, and country. For they are so sudden-witted that a flea can no sooner frisk forth but they must needs comment on her.”[20]Among the HatfieldMSS.is a letter (communicated to Gifford by the elder Disraeli), dated “1605,” of Ben Jonson to Lord Salisbury, in which Jonson writes that he had been committed to prison unexamined and unheard, “and with me a gentleman (whose name may perhaps have come to your lordship), one Mr. George Chapman, a learned and honest man,” for introducing into a play some matter which had given offence. With much warmth he declares that, since his “first error,” he had been scrupulously careful not to write anything against which objection could be taken. Gifford assumed that “first error” referred toEastward Ho, and that Jonson was suffering for another offence when the letter was written. What the “first error” was cannot be determined with certainty, for it is not improbable that Jonson was frequently in trouble. It is quite possible that the letter was written when Jonson and Chapman were in prison on theEastward Hocharge. Jonson may have written on Chapman’s behalf and his own, leaving Marston to shift for himself. But such conduct would have been ungenerous; and I prefer to adopt Gifford’s view that the imprisonment of which the letter complains was not connected withEastward Ho. Besides, the satirical reflections on the Scots, and any particular allusions to Sir James Graham, would have been more pertinent in 1603 than in 1605.[21]InEvery Man out of his Humour,iii.3, we have:—“Whereas let him be poor and meanly clad,Though ne’er so richlyparted,”&c.[22]The words “He [i.e., Lampatho] breaks a jest” have the look of a stage-direction.[23]The Insatiate Countesse. London, Printed by N. O. for Thomas Archer,&c., 1616,4to.[24]The full title is [The]Insatiate Covntesse. A Tragedy: Acted, at White-Friers. Written, By William Barksteed. London, Printed for Hvgh Perrie, and are to be sold at his shop at the signe of the Harrow in Brittaines-Burse. 1631.4to.[25]Reprinted in Dr. Grosart’s valuableOccasional Issues.[26]These plays are printed in the second volume of Simpson’sSchool of Shakspere. I have not included them in this edition of Marston; they are of little value and are easily accessible. Marston’s share inHistriomastixwas slight.[27]See Simpson’sSchool of Shakespere,ii.127.[28]Probably theRev.John Marston, ofSt.Mary Magdalene, Canterbury, who published in 1642A Sermon preached ... before many ... Members of the House of Commons.[29]In hisShakespeareCollier states that the letter was written in 1605, and that it refers to the Gunpowder Plot; but in hisBibliographical Account, 1.xxiv*, correcting his former statement, he says that the letter was written in 1641, and that it concerns the arrest of the Five Members.[30]In some copies the author’s name is not given, and the title-page runs,Tragedies and Comedies collected into one volume,viz.1.Antonio and Mellida.2.Antonio’s Revenge.3.The Tragedie of Sophonisba.4.What You Will.5.The Fawne.6.The Dutch Courtezan.[31]Some verses, signed “Jo. Mar.,” prefixed to Donne’sPoems, 1633, have been ascribed to Marston; but, as the heading of the verses is “HexasticonBibliopolæ,” and as the publisher orbibliopolawas Jo[hn] Mar[riott], Marston’s claim can hardly be sustained.
[1]Add.MS.24,487 (“Chorus Vatum”).
[2]Grosart’sIntroductionto Marston’sPoems, 1879 (privately printed).
[3]Elizabeth Guarsi, the poet’s grandmother, on the death of her husband, Andrew Guarsi, had married John Butler of Wardington,co.Oxon.
[4]I have to thank the Dean of Winchester for supplying me, from the books of the Dean and Chapter of Winchester, with the date of Marston’s presentation. The date of his resignation had been previously communicated to me by Dr. Brinsley Nicholson, who procured it from the Diocesan Registry, Winchester.
[5]The will was printed in Halliwell’s preface to his edition of Marston. Dr. Grosart gives a literatim copy (which I have followed) collated by Col. Chester with the original.
[6]An abstract of her will, communicated by Col. Chester, is printed in Dr. Grosart’sIntroduction(p. xxiv.). To her “reverend Pastor Master Edward Calamy”—the famous puritan minister,EdmundCalamy—she leaves “6 angels as a token of my respect.”
[7]Pygmalion’s Imagewas republished, without the satires, in 1613 and 1628, in a volume containing the anonymous poemAlciliaand S. P.’s [Samuel Page’s?]Amos and Laura.
[8]In the epigram he refers to thenom de plume“Kinsayder” which Marston had adopted, and we learn that it was derived from the “kinsing” (cutting the tails?) of dogs. It is to be noticed that the name “Kinsayder” does not occur in thePygmalionvolume. The dedicatory verses to “The World’s Mighty Monarch, Good Opinion,” are merely subscribed with the initials “W. K.” We first find the full name “W. Kinsayder” in the address “To those that seem judicial perusers,” prefixed toThe Scourge of Villainy.
[9]The title shows Hall was the original aggressor (at least in Marston’s opinion). Guilpin in the sixth satire ofSkialetheiaalludes to Marston’s “Reactio” in a somewhat enigmatic manner. See note,vol. iii. p.287.
[10]BothThe WhippingandThe Whipperare exceedingly rare. Sir Charles Isham, Bart., of Lamport Hall, possesses a little volume (the loan of which I gratefully acknowledge) which contains these two tracts and Nicholas Breton’sNo Whipping No Tripping.
[11]Dr. Nicholson suggests that the character of Furor Poeticus in this play was intended as a satirical portrait of Marston. The suggestion is very plausible.
[12]“This should betown. Tobring to town= to bring home.”—P. A. Daniel. (I prefer the old reading.)
[13]There were really two separate editions of the unrevised play published in 1604. I too hastily assumed that the copy in the Dyce Library was identical with the copy in the British Museum, apart from such textual variations as are frequently found in copies of the same impression of an old play; but I have since discovered that the two copies belong to separate editions. The title of the enlarged edition is curious:The Malcontent. Augmented by Marston. With the Additions played by the Kings Maiesties Servants. Written by Ihon Webster.Slovenly wording and vicious punctuation.
John Davies of Hereford, in theScourge of Folly(1611?), has the following epigram onThe Malcontent:—
“To acute Mr. John Marston.
“ThyMalcontentor MalcontentednessHath made thee change thy muse, as some do guess;If time misspent make her a malcontentThou need’st not then her timely change repent.The end will show it; meanwhile do but pleaseWith virtuous pains as erst thou didst with ease,Thou shalt be praised and kept from want and woe;So blest are crosses that do bless us so.”
[14]Perhaps some sage commentator of the future will tell us that Syphax inSophonisbawas intended as a satirical portrait of Ben.
[15]It is hard to see why Jonson should be ridiculed for using these epithets. Marston uses two of them (“real” and “Delphic”) himself.
[16]We have “Port Esquiline” twice in theScourge of Villainy; but the very phrasePaunch of Esquilineoccurs inHistriomastix(Simpson’sSchool of Shakspere,ii.51), an anonymous play which undoubtedly contains some of Marston’s work. “Zodiac,” “ecliptic line,” “demonstrate,” and “tropics” are also found inHistriomastix(ibid.ii.25-6); they are not in Marston’s satires. The other words will be found in theScourge of Villainy.
[17]OfHistriomastixI shall have to speak later.
[18]Dekker’sWorks(Pearson’s Reprint),i.195.
[19]“Some booksellers this year,” says Nixon, “shall not have cause to boast of their winnings, for that many write that flow with phrases and yet are barren in substance, and such are neither wise nor witty; others are so concise that you need a commentary to understand them, others have good wits but so critical that they arraign other men’s works at the tribunal seat of every censurious Aristarch’s understanding, when their own are sacrificed in Paul’s Churchyard for bringing in theDutch Courtezanto corrupt English conditions and sent away westward for carping both at court, city, and country. For they are so sudden-witted that a flea can no sooner frisk forth but they must needs comment on her.”
[20]Among the HatfieldMSS.is a letter (communicated to Gifford by the elder Disraeli), dated “1605,” of Ben Jonson to Lord Salisbury, in which Jonson writes that he had been committed to prison unexamined and unheard, “and with me a gentleman (whose name may perhaps have come to your lordship), one Mr. George Chapman, a learned and honest man,” for introducing into a play some matter which had given offence. With much warmth he declares that, since his “first error,” he had been scrupulously careful not to write anything against which objection could be taken. Gifford assumed that “first error” referred toEastward Ho, and that Jonson was suffering for another offence when the letter was written. What the “first error” was cannot be determined with certainty, for it is not improbable that Jonson was frequently in trouble. It is quite possible that the letter was written when Jonson and Chapman were in prison on theEastward Hocharge. Jonson may have written on Chapman’s behalf and his own, leaving Marston to shift for himself. But such conduct would have been ungenerous; and I prefer to adopt Gifford’s view that the imprisonment of which the letter complains was not connected withEastward Ho. Besides, the satirical reflections on the Scots, and any particular allusions to Sir James Graham, would have been more pertinent in 1603 than in 1605.
[21]InEvery Man out of his Humour,iii.3, we have:—
“Whereas let him be poor and meanly clad,Though ne’er so richlyparted,”&c.
[22]The words “He [i.e., Lampatho] breaks a jest” have the look of a stage-direction.
[23]The Insatiate Countesse. London, Printed by N. O. for Thomas Archer,&c., 1616,4to.
[24]The full title is [The]Insatiate Covntesse. A Tragedy: Acted, at White-Friers. Written, By William Barksteed. London, Printed for Hvgh Perrie, and are to be sold at his shop at the signe of the Harrow in Brittaines-Burse. 1631.4to.
[25]Reprinted in Dr. Grosart’s valuableOccasional Issues.
[26]These plays are printed in the second volume of Simpson’sSchool of Shakspere. I have not included them in this edition of Marston; they are of little value and are easily accessible. Marston’s share inHistriomastixwas slight.
[27]See Simpson’sSchool of Shakespere,ii.127.
[28]Probably theRev.John Marston, ofSt.Mary Magdalene, Canterbury, who published in 1642A Sermon preached ... before many ... Members of the House of Commons.
[29]In hisShakespeareCollier states that the letter was written in 1605, and that it refers to the Gunpowder Plot; but in hisBibliographical Account, 1.xxiv*, correcting his former statement, he says that the letter was written in 1641, and that it concerns the arrest of the Five Members.
[30]In some copies the author’s name is not given, and the title-page runs,Tragedies and Comedies collected into one volume,viz.1.Antonio and Mellida.2.Antonio’s Revenge.3.The Tragedie of Sophonisba.4.What You Will.5.The Fawne.6.The Dutch Courtezan.
[31]Some verses, signed “Jo. Mar.,” prefixed to Donne’sPoems, 1633, have been ascribed to Marston; but, as the heading of the verses is “HexasticonBibliopolæ,” and as the publisher orbibliopolawas Jo[hn] Mar[riott], Marston’s claim can hardly be sustained.
Vol. i.page 13. “Blind Gew.”—I have come upon a mention of this actor in the fifth satire of Edward Guilpin’sSkialetheia, 1598:—
“But who’s in yonder coach? my lord and fool,One that for ape-tricks can putGueto school.”
Guilpin’s eleventh epigram is addressed “To Gue”:—
“Gue, hang thyself for woe, since gentlemenAre now grown cunning in thy apishness,”&c.
Page 15, line 17. “Heavydryness.”—I was wrong in accepting the reading ofed.1633 in preference to the “heathydryness” ofed.1602.Heathyis a Marstonian word; and we find it in activ.ofJack Drum’s Entertainment:—
“Good faith, troth is they are all apes and gulls,Vile imitating spirits, dryheathyturfs.”
Page 60, line 256. Dr. Nicholson proposes “Herownheels, God knows,are nothalf so light”—a good emendation.
Page 239, line 21. “Distilled oxpith,”&c.—We have a similar list of provocatives in John Mason’sTurk, first published in 1610, but written some years previously:—
“Here is a compound of Cantharides, diositerion,marrow of an ox,hairs of a lion, stones of a goat,cock-sparrows’ brains, and such like.” (Sig. F. 3, verso.)
Page 311, lines 88, 89. “Life is a frost ... vanity.”—I have discovered that these lines are from an epigram in Thomas Bastard’sChrestoleros, 1598, sig. H. I quote the epigram in full, as it is of striking solemnity:—
“When I behold with deep astonishmentTo famous Westminster how there resort,Living in brass or stony monument,The princes and the worthies of all sort,Do not I see reform’d nobilityWithout contempt or pride or ostentation?And look upon offenceless majestyNaked of pomp or earthly domination?And how a play-game of a painted stoneContents the quiet now and silent spritesWhom all the world, which late they stood upon,Could not content nor squench [sic] their appetites?Life is a frost of cold felicityAnd death the thaw of all our vanity.”
Vol. ii.page 355, line 274. Mr. P. A. Daniel suggests that for “others’ fate” we should read “adverse fate.”
Vol. iii.page 51, lines 41-2. “But a little higher, but a little higher,”&c.—These lines are from a song of Campion, beginning—
“Mistress, since you so much desireTo know the place of Cupid’s fire,”&c.
No. xvi.in Campion and Rosseter’sBook of Airs, 1601. They occur again in Campion’sFourth Book of Airs,No. xxii.
Page 243, line 247. “Like Mycerinus,”&c.—I notice that a similar emendation is made, in a seventeenth century hand, in the margin of one of Dyce’s copies at South Kensington. My emendation was printed before I discovered that it had been anticipated.
VOL. I.
Page 64, line 48, forTyrrianreadTyrian.
Page 120, note 2, forGrumeanreadGrumeau.
Page 159, note 1, for “The star-led wisardshasten” read “The star-led wisardshaste.”
Page 191, after “Antonii Vindictæ” the word “Finis” should be added (i.e., “End of Antonio’s Revenge”).
VOL. II.
Page 125, note 2, after “The Famous History of Fryer” add “Bacon.”
Page 322, line 15, for “Sir Signior” read “Sir, Signior” (comma after “Sir”).
Page 363, for “Stillwenton went I” read “Still on went I” (an annoying blunder).
Page 394, lines 158-9, in “delicious, sweet” the comma should be struck out, as “sweet” is doubtless to be taken as a substantive.
VOL. III.
Page 3, five lines from the bottom, read “insistsonstarting.”
Page 342, note 2, in “Huc usqueofXylinum” del. “of.”
For the following corrections and emendations I am indebted to Mr. P. A. Daniel. I am sorry that I did not have them earlier.
First I will correct the actual mistakes for which I must bear the responsibility (in whole or part).
Vol. i.,pagexxxviii., line 11, for “Sir James Graham” read “Sir James Murray.”
Vol. i.,page 26, line 205, for “The first thing he spake” read “The firstword thathe spake.”
Vol. i.,page 60, line 263, for “intime to come” the oldeds.read “time to come.” (I prefer "intime,” but should not have added "in” silently.)
Vol. i.,page 89, line 296, “His father’s” [fathers] is the reading ofed.1602; buted.1633 gives “His father”—a better reading.
Vol. i.,page 121, line 318, for “aspish” read “apish.”
Vol. i.,page 175, line 78, for “scorn’d” read “scorn’t.”
Vol. ii., page 17, the stage-direction “EnterCocledemoy” is superfluous.
Vol. ii., page 28, line 160, for “feasto’ grace” (where old eds. givefiest) read “fisto’ grace,” and compare page 42, line 58,&c.
Vol. ii., page 32, line 33, for “not swaggering” read “notofswaggering.”
Vol. ii., page 109. The address should be headed “TomyEqual Reader.”
Vol. ii., page 197, line 417, for “show” read “sue” (the reading ofed.1633).
Vol. ii., page 213, line 92, delete “not.”
Vol. ii., page 222, line 308, in “thy vicefromapparent here” delete “from.” (But query “thy vice from apparent heir”?)
Vol. ii., page 277, line 117, “All but Zanthia and Vangue depart.” Unquestionably these words are a stage-direction. They are printed as part of the text ined.1633; but ined.1606 they are italicised, and (though printed in the same line as “Withdraw, withdraw”) evidently form part of the previous stage-direction.
Vol. ii., page 328, for “For many debts” read “For many many debts.”
Vol. ii., page 341, line 227, for “For” read “Fore.”
Vol. ii., page 346, line 51, for “hoaryeld”ed.1607 reads “hoard,” anded.1633 “hoar’d.” Probably the true reading is “hoar.”
Vol. ii., page 369, lines 37-38. These lines have been transposed by my printers; line 38 ("And those that rank,”&c.) should stand before line 37 (“Study a faint salute,”&c.).
In the foregoing instances it is I who am chiefly to blame, and not the old copies. I now come to Mr. Daniel’s valuable emendations.
Vol. i.,page 8, line 35, for “great” read “create” (an excellent emendation).
Vol. i.,page 32, line 56. Does not this speech belong to Feliche?
Vol. i.,page 53, line 107. The prefix should be “Cat.”
Vol. i.,page 60, line 247. Add the stage-direction “ExitAntonio.”
Vol. i.,page 70, line 182. Mr. Daniel suggests that for “Spavento” (an awkward word here) we should read “Speranza.”
Vol. i.,page 110. “EnterAntonio,”&c.—Strike out the names of Feliche and Forobosco.
Vol. i.,page 128, line 107, for “How could he come on?” Mr. Daniel proposes “How coldly he comes on!”
[Vol. i.,page 142, line 2. In oldeds.the line stands thus:—“Bout heauens brow. (12) Tis now starke dead night.” The bracketed “(12)” I expanded into a stage-direction; but Mr. Swinburne suggests to me that “the word ‘twelve’—ejaculated by Antonio on hearing the clock strike—is wanted for the metre.” If we are to insert the word “twelve” I should place it at the end of the line.]
Vol. i.,page 145, line 54, for “The neat gaymistsof the light’s not up” Mr. Daniel suggests “The neat gay mistress,”&c.(i.e., Aurora)—an admirable emendation.
[Vol. i.,page 150, line 190, for “swell thyhourout” Mr. Swinburne proposes “honour.” If any change is needed I should prefer to read “horror;” but “hour” frequently has a dissyllabic value.]
Vol. i.,page 151, line 211, for “night-ghosts and graves” Mr. Daniel would read “Night (i.e., good-night), ghosts and graves.”
Vol. i.,page 156, line 99, for “Why lags delay” Mr. Daniel would read “Why, lags, delay?” taking lags as a substantive (“the sooty coursers of the night”).
Vol. i.,page 158, line 41. I should have mentioned in a footnote that “stirs” is an old form of “steers.”
[Vol. i.,page 172, line 22. Mr. Swinburne doubts whether my correction “see” for “sir” is necessary, as the apostrophe “sir” or “sirs” is occasionally found in a monologue.]
Vol. ii., page 9, line 54. Here, and in line 58, the prefix should be “Tys.”; and at line 62 Tysefew’sexitshould be marked.
Vol. ii., page 16. At the bottom of the page should be marked “ExitMary,” and at line 180 “ExitCocledemoy.”
Vol. ii., page 86. “EnterFranceschina,”&c.Among those who enter should be included “Freevilledisguised.”
Vol. ii., page 93, line 46. “Ha, get you gone.” It is a question whether these words apply to Freeville’s disguise or are addressed to musicians. (In spite of line 32, “I bring some music,” it is doubtful whether there are any musicians on the stage.)
Vol. ii., page 139, line 111. “Nymphadoro, in direct phrase.” Mr. Daniel proposes (rightly) to read:— “Nym.In direct phrase,”&c.
Vol. ii., page 145, line 252. This speech should probably be given to Herod.
Vol. ii., page 153, line 460. The prefix should doubtless be “Zuc.”
Vol. ii., page 154, lines 477, 478. “And nose” should doubtless be given to Hercules, and “And brain” to Zuccone.
Vol. ii., page 157, line 569. The old. eds give “Venice duke,” but we should read “Urbin’s duke” (cf.page 226, line 444).
Vol. ii., page 171, line 299. Mr. Daniel suggests that we should place a full stop after the word “speaks” and read “His signs to me andmienof profound reach.”
Vol. ii., page 248, line 134. The words “No more: I bleed” appear to belong to the wounded Carthalon.
Vol. ii., page 261, lines 21, 22. Query “bemoan’t” and “revenge’t”?
Vol. ii., page 414, line 244, for “prolonged” Mr. Daniel ingeniously suggests “prologued.”
Vol. iii., page 214, line 78, for “faint” Mr. Daniel proposes “feigned” (a certain emendation). In line 91, for “I resisted” he proposes “if resisted.”
Vol. iii., page 240, line 166, for “stung” Mr. Daniel proposes “stone.”
Mr. Daniel sends me the following note on the plot ofWhat You Will:—
“A somewhat similar plot is found inI Morti Vivi, Comedia, del molto excellente signore Sforza D’Oddi, nell’Academia degli Insensati detto Forsennato, 1576. Oranta, a lady of Naples, whose husband, Tersandro, is supposed drowned at sea, is about to re-marry with Ottavio. Luigi, another suitor for her hand, to hinder the marriage conspires with others to induce one Iancola to personate Tersandro. Tersandro, however, has escaped the sea, and arrives to find himself denied by his own family (who have discovered Luigi’s plot), and to be mistaken by the conspirators themselves for Iancola. Tersandro’s adventures till his identity is established are somewhat similar to those of Albano inWhat You Will.
“D’Oddi apparently derived many incidents of his plot from the Greek romance ofClitophon and Leucippe, by Achilles Tatius; as also did Anibal Caro for his comedy ofGli Straccioni, 1582.”
OF
The History of Antonio and Mellida. The first part. As it hath beene sundry times acted, by the children of Paules. Written by I. M. London Printed for Mathewe Lownes, and Thomas Fisher, and are to be soulde in Saint Dunstans Church-yarde.1602.4to.
STORY OF THE PLAY.
Andrugio, Duke of Genoa, being utterly defeated in a sea-fight by Piero Sforza, Duke of Venice, and banished by the Genoways, conceals himself, with Lucio (an old courtier) and a page, among the marshes round Venice. Piero proclaims throughout Italy that whoever brings the head of Andrugio or of Andrugio’s son, Antonio (who is in love with Piero’s daughter, Mellida), shall receive a reward of twenty thousand pistolets. Antonio disguises himself as an Amazon, and, obtaining an interview with Mellida, announces that her lover has been drowned at sea. The pretended Amazon is received as a guest in Piero’s palace, and there quickly discovers himself to Mellida. Arrangements are made by the lovers to escape to England; but Piero gaining intelligence (through a letter that Mellida has dropped) of the intended flight, the plot is frustrated and Mellida escapes to the marshes in the disguise of a page. While Piero is giving orders for Antonio’s arrest, a sailor rushes forward, pretending to be in hot pursuit of Antonio towards the marshes. The pursuer is Antonio himself, who had assumed the disguise of a sailor at the instance of Feliche, a high-minded gentleman of the Venetian court. Piero gives the pretended sailor his signet-ring that he may pass the watch and not be hindered in the pursuit. Arrived at the marshes, Antonio, distracted with grief for the fall of his father and for the loss of Mellida, flings himself prostrate on the ground. Presently Andrugio approaches with Lucio and the page, and a joyful meeting ensues between father and son. Andrugio and Lucio retire to a cave which they had fitted up as a dwelling, and Antonio, promising to quickly rejoin them, stays to hear a song from Andrugio’s page. Meanwhile Mellida, disguised as a page, approachesunobserved, and hearing her name passionately pronounced, recognises the sailor as Antonio. She discovers herself to her lover, and after a brief colloquy despatches him across the marsh to observe whether any pursuers are in sight. Hardly has Antonio departed when Piero and his followers come up, and Mellida is drawn from a thicket where she had concealed herself. Piero hastens back to the court with his daughter, whom he resolves to marry out of hand to Galeatzo, son of the Duke of Florence. Antonio, returning in company with Andrugio and Lucio to the spot where he had left Mellida, learns from Andrugio’s page that she has been carried away. Andrugio now separates himself from Antonio and Lucio; proceeds, clad in a complete suit of armour, to the court of Piero, and announces that he has come to claim the reward offered for Andrugio’s head. Piero declares his willingness to pay the reward; and then Andrugio, raising his beaver, discovers himself to Piero and the assembled courtiers. Piero affects to be struck with admiration for his adversary’s magnanimity, and professes friendship for the future. A funeral procession now enters, followed by Lucio, who announces that he has brought the body of Antonio. Andrugio mourns for the death of his son and Piero affects to share his grief, protesting that he would give his own life or his daughter’s hand to purchase breath for the dead man. Thereupon Antonio, who had died only in conceit, rises from the bier and claims the hand of Mellida. Piero assents, and theFirst Part of Antonio and Mellidacloses joyfully.
To the only rewarder and most just poiser of virtuous merits, the most honourably renownedNobody,[32]bounteous Mecænas of poetry and Lord Protector of oppressed innocence, do dedicoque.
Since it hath flowed with the current of my humorous blood to affect (a little too much) to be seriously fantastical, here take (most respected Patron) the worthless present of my slighter idleness. If you vouchsafe not his protection, then, O thou sweetest perfection (Female Beauty), shield me from the stopping of vinegar bottles. Which most wished favour if it fail me, thenSi nequeo flectere superos, Acheronta movebo. But yet, honour’s redeemer, virtue’s advancer, religion’s shelter, and piety’s fosterer, yet, yet, I faint not in despair of thy gracious affection and protection; to which I only shall ever rest most servingman-like, obsequiously making legs and standing (after our free-born English garb) bareheaded. Thy only affied slave and admirer,
J. M.