This was not seen with equanimity by his dramatic associates, and the envy which it provoked pursued him to the end of his career. The writers on whom the theatres conducted by Henslowe and Alleyn principally relied at this time, were, besides our author, Chettle, Heywood, and Decker, men of very considerable talents, but who wrote on the spur of the occasion, and were perhaps in little better circumstances than Jonson himself. Marston and Decker, who had frequently laboured in conjunction with our poet, appear to have viewed his success with peculiar mortification, and to have lent themselves to the cabal already raised against him. What ground of offence they chose, or what motive they alleged, cannot now be told; but Jonson affirms that, at this period, they began "to provoke him, on every stage, with their petulant styles, as if they wished to single him out for their adversary." His next piece was the comic satire of Every Man out of his Humour, in the Induction to which he addresses the audience in a strain that would not have disgraced the Grecian stage when Aristophanes was in his soberest, severest vein. "I fear no mood stamp'd in a private brow, Were I disposed to say they're all corrupt" After more of this, Asper (the author) turns from his friends to the stage: "I not observ'd this thronged round till now. This was not language calculated to win the audiences of those days, nor did Jonson, on any occasion, stoop to court their favour by unworthy condescensions to their prejudices. He had nobler aims in view; to correct their taste, to inform their judgment, to improve their morals; and to these he steadily adhered through good and evil report, and through all the exigents of his chequered life. It cannot therefore be wondered that he was no favourite with the vulgar, and that those who trusted for a part of their success to the expedients thus openly condemned, should eagerly raise and zealously perpetuate a clamour against him they could not, indeed, prevent his plays from being received; but they constituted a party sufficiently numerous to be heard even amidst the applause which followed his most popular pieces. Every Man out of his Humour was, however, well received. Queen Elizabeth (Davies says) drawn by its fame, honoured the play with her presence; and Jonson, to pay a respectful compliment to his sovereign, altered the conclusion of his play into an elegant panegyric. Mr. Collins, the poet, first pointed out to me the peculiar beauty of this address." Dram. Miscel. vol. ii. p. 77. That Elizabeth was pleased cannot be doubted; she was, indeed, among the first encouragers of the youthful poet, and her kindness towards him is thus noticed by Lord Falkland: "How great ELIZA, the retreat of those Who, weak and injured, her protection chose, With her judicious favours, did infuse d "ab Hurd calls this a comedy founded upon stract passions;" and bids us notice " the absurdity of the attempt:" but Hurd is more than usually unfortunate when he meddles with Jonson, of whose works, in fact, he knows nothing. In the poet's days, a very different opinion prevailed, namely, that the piece was merely personal, and that he had filled the stage with real characters. Though this was not the case, yet we may collect, from the charge, that the satire was felt, and that he had touched the foibles of the time with no unskilful hand." He did gather humours" (the old critic says) " wherever he went:" and a judgment more quick to perceive, or more dextrous to embody whatever was extravagant or ridiculous, will not readily be found. To confess the truth, however, the dramatic poet had not far to go, at this period, for his materials. The middle aisle of St. Paul's swarmed with new and eccentric characters; every tavern lent its aid, and even the theatres supplied a description of people whose fantastic affectations a poet even less observant than Jonson might turn to excellent account for the purposes of mirth or reproof. From these, and similar sources, our author undoubtedly derived the substance of his dramas: the characters themselves are not personal, though traits of real life may be occasionally involved in them: these were readily recognized, and eagerly appropriated by his enemies, who thus artfully raised the cry of personality against him of which the echo is yet heard. Three distinct notices of Jonson appear in Thus Tucca is said by Decker to speak the language of captain Hannam; and Aubrey tells us that Carlo Buffone was taken from one Charles Chester, "a bold impertinent fellow," who kept company with sir Walter in his youth.* Letters, vol. iii. p. 514. But besides that there is no similarity between the two characters, as may be seen by turning to the Dramatis Personæ of this comedy, the incident of which Aubrey speaks probably took place before Jonson was born, though he might have heard of it, and adopted it; if, after all, the story was not rather made up from the play. The only personal allusion which I can discover, is to Marston. Puntarvolo says to Carlo Buffone, "What, Carlo! now by the sincerity of my soul, welcome: and how dost thou, thou grand Scourge, or second Untruss of the time?" The reference, which seems very innocent, is evidently to the title of Marston's Satires; (the Scourge of Villainie,) but this goes no further than a name, for Carlo and Marston do not possess one feature in common. With respect to captain Hannam, he might talk extravagantly and beg impudently, without possessing the other qualities of that undaunted yet entertaining railer, captain Tucca. Raleigh was born in 1552; in his youth, therefore, our author must have been in his cradle. |