fifty-feven is to be accounted old, the man of fortyfive is not young.

pen, which we have enjoined unto him, and which we expect from him, to augment his annuity of one hundred marks, to one hundred pounds per ann. during his life, payable from Christmas, 1629, and the first payment to commence at Ladyday, 1630. Charles at the fame time granted him a tierce of Canary Spanish wine yearly during his life, out of his majefty's cellars at Whitehall: of which there is no mention in the former grant. From hence, and from the prefent of one hundred pounds fent to Jonfon by the king in 1629, we may fee how extremely improbable the ftory is, which has been recorded, on I know not what authority, and which Dr. Smollet was idle enough to infert in his Hiftory; that Ben in that year, being reduced to great diftrefs, and living in an obfcure alley, petitioned his majefty to affift him in his poverty and ficknefs; and on receiving ten guineas, faid to the meffenger who brought him the donation, majefty has fent me ten guineas, because I am poor and live in an alley; go and tell him, that his foul lives in an alley."

66 his

None of his biographers appear to have known that Ben Jonfon obtained from King James a reverfionary grant of the office of Master of the Revels. His majefty by letters patent dated October 5, in the mineteenth year of his reign, (1621,) granted him, by the name and addition of " our beloved fervant, Benjamin Jonfon, gentleman," the faid office, to be held and enjoyed by him and his affigns, during his life, from and after the death of Sir George Buck and Sir John Aftley, or as foon as the office fhould become vacant by refignation, forfeiture, or furrender: but Jonfon never derived any advantage from this grant, becaufe Sir John Aftley furvived him. It fhould feem from a paffage in the Saliromaftix of his antagonist Decker, printed in 1602, that Ben had made fome attempt to obtain a reverfionary grant of this place before the death of Queen Elizabeth: for Sir Vaughan in that piece fays to Horace [i. e. Jonfon, ] "I have fome coffensgerman at court shall beget you the reverfion of the Master of the King's Revels, or elfe to be his Lord of Mifrule nowe at Christmas."

I has been commonly understood, that on Ben Jonson's death in Auguft 1637, Sir William D'Avenant [then Mr.

The next fufpicious circumflance in the letter which we are now examining, is, that in the pretended extracts from this old pamphlet most of the circumflances mentioned might have been collected by a modern writer from books of either thofe or fubfequent times and fuch new facts as are mentioned, can be proved to be fictions. Such of the pretended extracts as are true, are old; and fuch. as are new, are falfe. Thus, to take the former class firft, we are informed, (as from the pamphlet,) that our poet and Jonfon were at variance; that old Ben took every means of depreciating the lowly Shakspeare; that he afferted our poet had little Latin, and lefs Greek, and did not underftand the dramatick laws; that Jonfon ridiculed

D'Avenant] was appointed poet-laureate in his room : but he at that time received no favour from the crown. Sixteen months afterwards, Dec. 13, 1638, in the 14th year of Charles the First, letters patent paffed the great feal, granting, "in confideration of fervice heretofore done and hereafter to be done by William Davenant, gentleman, an annuity of one hundred pounds per Ann. to the faid W. D. during his majefty's pleasure. By this patent no Canary wine was granted; and no mention is made of the office of poet-laureate. It is at prefent conferred, not by letters patent, but by a warrant figned and fealed by the Lord Chamberlain, nominating A. B. to the office, with the accustomed fees thereunto belonging.

Which Ben claimed the merit of having first taught his contemporaries. See his Verfes to his old fervant Richard Brome, prefixed to The Northern Lafs, which was firft acted in July, 1629:

Now you are got into a nearer room

Of fellowship, profeffing my old arts,

And you do do them well, with good applaufe;
Which you have juftly gained from the ftage,

By obfervation of thofe comick laws

Which I, your mafter, first did teach the age."

fome of his pieces; and that this was a ftrong proof of his ingratitude, Shak fpeare having firft introduced him to the flage.-All these facts Mr. M. might have learned from Rowe's Life of Shakspeare, and Pope's Preface to his edition; from Dr. Birch's Life of Ben Jonfon published in 1743; from Drummond of Hawthornden's Converfation with that poet; from the old play entitled The Return from Parnaffus; from Fuller's Worthies, Winftanley, and Langbaine; from Jonson's own verses on Shakspeare prefixed to all the editions; from his prologue to Every Man in his Humour; from his Bartholomew Fair and his Difcoveries; and from many other books. In Mr. Pope's preface was found that praise, that in our poet's plays every speech might be affigned to its proper fpeaker without the aid of marginal directions: an encomium which perhaps is too high, even when applied to Shakspeare;` but which, when applied to Ford, (as it is in Mr. Macklin's first letter,) becomes ridiculous.

Let us now confider the new facts, which for the first time are given to the publick from this rare old tract. The first new fact ftated is, that Shakfpeare's fame, after his death, grew too great for Ben either to bear with or wound. Now this was fo far from being the cafe, that it was at this particular period that Jonfon's pieces, which were collected into a volume, in 1616, appear to have been in moft eftimation; and from the time of Shakspeare's death to the year 1625, both Ben's fame and that of Fletcher, feem to have been at their height. In this period Fletcher produced `near thirty plays, which were acted with applause; and Jonfon was during the whole of that time well

1

received in the courts of James and Charles, for each of whom he wrote feveral Mafques, which the wretched tafte of that age very highly estimated; and was patronized and extravagantly extolled by the scholars of the time, as much fuperior to Shakspeare. In this period also he produced his Devil's an Afs, and his Staple of News, each of which had fome fhare of fuccefs. In the year 1631 indeed he was extremely indigent and diftreffed, and had been fo from the year 1625, when I think he was ftruck with the palfy; but in confequence of this indigence and diftrefs he was not precisely at that period an object of jealousy to the partizans of Shakspeare.

Another and a very material false fact stated from this pamphlet is, that Jonfon's New Inn or Light · Heart, and Ford's Melancholy Lover, were produced for the first time on the fame flage, in the fame week: a fact concerning which the writer of the pamphlet, if the pamphlet had any real exiflence, could fcarcely

I have been mistaken.

These two plays were certainly reprefented for the first time at the fame theatre, namely Blackfriars, as Mr. Macklin learned from their refpective title-pages; but not in the fame week, there being no less than two months interval between the production of the two pieces.

Ford's play was exhibited at the Blackfriars on the 24th of November, 1628, when it was licenfed. for the ftage, as appears from the Office-book of Sir Henry Herbert, Master of the Revels to King Charles the First, a manuscript now before me, of which a more particular account may be found in Vol.III. [Hiftorical Account of the English Stage, &c.];

and Jonfon's New Inn on the 19th of January in the following year, 1628-9. Very foon indeed after the ill fuccefs of Jonfon's piece, the King's Company brought out at the fame theatre a new play called The Love-fick Maid, or the Honour of young Ladies, which was licensed by Sir Henry Herbert, on the 9th of February, 1628-9, and acted with extraordinary applaufe. This play, which was written by Jonfon's own fervant, Richard Brome, was fo popular, that the managers of the King's Company, on the 10th of March, prefented the Mafter of the Revels with the fum of two pounds, "on the good fuccefs of The Honour of Ladies;' the only inftance I have met with of fuch a com2 pliment being paid him. No mention whatsoever is made of The Lover's Melancholy having been attended with any extraordinary fuccefs, though Mr. M. from private motives chofe to reprefent it. as having been acted with uncommon applause.

We are next told, that Ben was fo exafperated by the damnation of his piece, that he printed it with a very fingular title-page, which is given; and that immediately upon this he wrote his celebrated Ode, "Come, leave the loathed ftage," &c. It is not very clear what the letter-writer means by the words, immediately upon this. If he means that Jonfon wrote his Ode immediately after his play was damned in 1629, the affertion is made at random; if he means that immediately after he had publifhed his play he wrote his ode, the fact is not true. The ode is printed at the end of the play, which was published in April, 1631.

The next new fact found in this curious pam-' phlet is, that Ben Jonfon, mortified by his own