evidence we may decide, that he produced three plays in the year 1621, viz. The Island Princess,* The Pilgrim, and The Wild-Goose Chase. The latter, at the time when Moseley collected the unpublished plays of our poets, was not to be found, and, having been lent to a person of quality by the actors, was supposed to be irrecoverably lost. It was, however, as the title-page of the folio edition, printed in 1652, informs us, “retrieved for the public delight of all the ingenious, and private benefit of John Lowin and Joseph Taylor, servants to his late majesty, by a Person of Honour." The dedication of these players, "To the honoured Few, Lovers of Dramatic Poesy," cannot be read without the most lively regret. Most of their colleagues, after the destruction of the stage, as Wright informs us, "went into the king's service, and, like good men and true, served their old master, though in a different, yet more honourable capacity." Lowin and Taylor, however, as well as Pollard, were superannuated, and the first kept an inn, the Three Pigeons, at Brentford, where he died ⚫ There is a Spanish play upon the same subject, by Melchor Fernandez de Leon, entitled La Conquista de las Maluccas. Some part of the plot, which is taken from history, is similar to that of The Island Princess, but there the resemblance ceases. at a very advanced age. The Wild-Goose Chase is, in the title-page, said to have been acted with considerable applause at the Blackfriars; and, in the dedication, we are informed that Fletcher, "as well as the thronged theatre, (in despight of his innate modesty,) applauded this rare issue of his brain." Five copies of recommendatory verses were prefixed to the publication. The comedy is certainly one of the most lively dramas of the age, exhibiting few of the defects which may, in too many instances, be charged upon Fletcher's performances. In the year 1622, our poet supplied the theatrical public with a large portion of entertainment. From the manuscripts of Sir Henry Herbert, it appears that he furnished four plays for the stage. On the 14th of May, The Prophetess was presented, a drama which exhibits great eloquence of language, but unfortunately the poet introduced supernatural agency, and, like all his contemporaries, with the sole exception of Shakspeare, to whose genius the delineation of the world of spirits was almost exclusively allotted, he failed egregiously. On the 22d of June, The 3 These, as well as the very curious dedication, will be found restored in this edition, having been omitted by all the modern editors. Sea Voyage was first acted at the Globe theatre. 4 Colman's preface to Philaster. During Christmas, the same year, Fletcher's comedy, entitled The Beggars' Bush, was performed at court, from which circumstance we may conclude that it was originally produced during the course of that year. Another play, which Fletcher seems to have brought forward in this, or the ensuing year, is the comedy of Love's Cure, or the Martial Maid. In the second act, there is an allusion to the Muscovite ambassadors at the court of King James, who were in London in 1617, and again in 1622. From the expression, "that lay here lieger in the last great frost," we may conclude, that the poet refers to the winter of 1622, which was so severe, that the Russian ambassadors did not stir from their house till June, as we are informed by Sir John Finett in his Philoxenis. Fletcher's muse was equally prolific in 1623 as in the preceding year. On the 29th of August, The Maid of the Mill was produced at the Globe. Our poet was assisted in the composition of this comedy by Rowley, an actor and an inferior playwright of that time, who, besides eight or nine plays of his own writing, was associated in the composition of about ten others, with Massinger, Middleton, Ford, Webster, Heywood, &c. and seems to have enjoyed the com pany and friendship of most of the contemporary dramatists. He performed one of the characters in The Maid in the Mill, which appears to have met with a most favourable reception, having been acted no less than three times at court, which was not a usual circumstance at that time. On the 17th of October, 1623, Sir Henry Herbert made the following entry in his manuscript:"For the king's company, an old play, called More Dissemblers besides Women [by Middleton]: allowed by Sir George Bucke, and being free from alterations, was allowed by me, for a new play, called The Devil of Dowgate, or Usury put to Use. Written by Fletcher." This entry is rather confused; but it should seem that Sir Henry refused to grant his license for the performance of Fletcher's play, and that he licensed an old comedy of Middleton's to be acted in its stead. This circumstance may, perhaps, have occasioned the loss of this performance. It is possible, however, that The Night-Walker, or the Little Thief, which was brought on the stage in 1638, "corrected by Shirley," may have been an alteration of this comedy. The circumstance of the latter containing the cha "Chalmers's Supplemental Apology for the Believers in the Shakspeare Papers, 1799. 8. p. 215. |