Lapas attēli
PDF
ePub

THE ARGUMENT.

The First Act comprehends Mortimer's pride and security, raised to the degree of an earl by the queen's favour and love; with the counsels of Adam d'Orlton, the politic Bishop of Worcester, against Lancaster.

The Chorus of ladies, celebrating the worthiness of the queen, in rewarding Mortimer's services and the bishop's.

The Second Act shews the king's love and respect to his mother, that will hear nothing against Mortimer's greatness, or believe any report of her extraordinary favours to him; but imputes all to his cousin Lancaster's envy, and commands thereafter an utter silence of those matters.

The Chorus of courtiers celebrating the king's worthiness of nature and affection to his mother, who will hear nothing that may trench upon her honour, though delivered by his kinsman, of such nearness; and thereby take occasion to extol the king's piety, and their own happiness under such a king.

The Third Act relates (by the occasion of a vision the blind Earl of Lancaster had) to the king's brother, Earl of Cornwall, the horror of their father's death, and the cunning making away of their uncle, the Earl of Kent, by Mortimer's hired practice. The Chorus of country justices and their wives, telling how they were deluded and made, believe the old king lived, by the shew of him in Corfe Castle; and how they saw him eat, and use his knife like the old king, &c., with the description of the feigned lights and masques there that deceived them, all which came from the court.

The Fourth Act expresseth, by conference between the king and his brother, a change, and intention to explore the truth of those reports, and a charge of employing W. Mountacute to get the keys of the Castle of Nottingham into the king's power, and draw the constable, Sir Robert d'Eland, to their party.

Mortimer's security, scorn of the nobility, too much familiarity with the queen, related by the Chorus. The report of the king's surprising him in his mother's bedchamber: A general gladness: his being sent to execution.

The Fifth Act, the Earl of Lancaster's following the cry and meeting the report. The celebration of the king's justice.

VOL. II.

LL

[blocks in formation]

To his high temper and brave soul, than that

Mor. This rise is made yet, and we now Of fancying goodness, and a scale to live by stand ranked,

To view about us, all that were above us!

So differing from man's life.

lions,

As if with

Nought hinders now our prospect, all are Bears, tigers, wolves, and all those beasts

even,

We walk upon a level. Mortimer
Is a great lord of late, and a new thing!
A prince, an earl, and cousin to the king.
At what a divers price,1 do divers men
Act the same things! another might have

had

[blocks in formation]

That draw the subtile and more piercing air

In that sublimed region of a court,
Know all is good we make so; and go on
Secured by the prosperity of our crimes.
To-day is Mortimer made Earl of March.
For what? For that, the very thinking it
Would make a citizen start: some politic
tradesman

Curl with the caution of a constable !
But I, who am no common-council-man,
Knew injuries of that dark nature done
Were to be throughly done, and not be
left

To fear of a revenge: they are light offences

[blocks in formation]

of prey,

He would affect to be a sheep! Can man Neglect what is, so to attain what should be,

As rather he will call on his own ruin, Than work to assure his safety? I should

[blocks in formation]

Your Isabel, and you my Mortimer : Which are the marks of parity, not power, And these are titles best become our love.

Mor. Can you fall under those? Isab. Yes, and be happy. Walk forth, my loved and gentle Mortimer, And let my longing eyes enjoy their feast, And fill of thee, my fair-shaped, godlike

man:

Thou art a banquet unto all my senses:

Thy form doth feast mine eye, thy voice mine ear,

Thy breath my smell, thy every kiss my taste,

And softness of thy skin my very touch,
As if I felt it ductile through my blood.
I ne'er was reconciled to these robes,
This garb of England, till I saw thee in
them.

1 Had the poet lived to have completed this poem with the same spirit in which he began it, we should have been able to boast of one perfect tragedy at least, formed upon the Grecian model, and giving us the happiest imitation of the ancient drama.-WHAL.

This is saying I think more than the fragment warrants. It is not indeed given us to anticipate what superior genius may fabricate out of the most untractable materials; but it cannot be concealed that this motley group of "ladies, country justices, and their wives," &c. affords no well-grounded expectation of a very happy imitation of the ancient model.

Thou mak'st they seem not boisterous nor rude,

Like my rough haughty lords de Engle

terre

With whom I have so many years been troubled.

Mor. But now redeemed, and set at liberty,

Queen of yourself and them

In the vast theatres of Greece, where the laws of the drama admitted but three or four speakers at a time, a chorus was necessary to fill the eye, and was indeed the perfection of the scenic art; but our poor and contracted stage had neither occasion nor accommodation for them - this, however, is from the purpose, as Whalley ought to have been aware that Jonson proposed to himself no imitation of the choruses of the Greek drama, but of those of his contemporaries; such in fact as he had already given in his Catiline, and of which the original is to be sought in the tragedies of Seneca.

The Case is Altered.

THE CASE IS ALTERED.] This comedy, which should have stood as the head of Jonson's works, had chronology only been consulted, was first printed in 4to, 1609, but must have been written at least ten or a dozen years before, since it is familiarly spoken

of by Nash, in his Lenten Stuff, which appeared in 1599. "Is it not right of the merry cobbler's cutte in that witty play of the Case is Altered," p. 68.

The old title-page runs thus: "A pleasant Comedy called the Case is Altered; as it hath been sundry times acted by the Children of the Blackfriars. Written by Ben Jonson." Notwithstanding this, we are magisterially informed by Mr. Stephen Jones, that "there is a question whether it was written by him." It is one of the evils of setting incompetent persons to edite books of reference, that time, which might be more pleasantly occupied, is necessarily taken up with the refutation of the crude assertions to which intrepid ignorance is perpetually giving vent.

"It has no dedication or preface (he says) which are customarily prefixed to this author's plays, and it is omitted in all the folio editions printed in his lifetime."-Biog. Dram. All these editions, Mr. Jones will be astonished to hear, are simply that of 1616, which also omits Bartholomew Fair, though he is pleased to assert the contrary. The fact is, that this comedy, though written by Jonson, was not published by him, as a mere inspection of the mountebank title would have proved to any one acquainted with his manner. In the quartos that came from his hands there is everywhere a careful and consistent distribution of the text, while the Case is Altered is printed with a degree of negligence and ignorance beyond example. In the first and second act there is a ridiculous attempt to mark the scenes; the rest of the play has no division at all: foreign languages, which in the rest of Jonson's plays are correctly given, are here invariably corrupt and unintelligible: and everything serves to shew that he had nothing to do with the publication, and therefore could prefix no "dedication" to it.

In 1609 Jonson was in the height of his reputation, and probably gave himself little concern about his earlier works, of which indeed the property might not be vested in him. He had written much before Every Man in his Humour; and more perhaps was printed than is now to be found. Had he chosen to disclaim the piece, as his character leads us to believe he would have done had it been falsely attributed to him, he wanted not opportunities:-but this is a mere waste of words; the Case is Altered, though ignorantly, and perhaps imperfectly given, bears yet the clearest marks of Jonson's hand, and is beyond all rational question one of those works which he composed before he " undertook (as Aubrey says) to write playes a second time, and hit it

admirably well."

Whalley has done little for this unfortunate piece: every page bears tokens of negligence and haste; and he has even added to the blunders of the original. In revenge, I have given a double portion of attention to it.

[Mr. Collier (Annals of the Stage, i. 355) has pointed out that Gifford is wrong in saying that this play "should have stood at the head of Jonson's Works, had chronology only been consulted." Every Man in his Humour was written in 1596, and acted in 1598, while (see note, p. 519, post) the Case is Altered contains a passage levelled at Meres' Wits' Treasurie, which was not printed till this latter year.-F. C.j

[blocks in formation]

SCENE I.-After a Flourish.

Jun. "To hear the news which I shall tell,

That in Castella once befel"

Juniper is discovered, sitting at work in his 'Sblood, where didst thou learn to corrupt

shop, and singing.'

a man in the midst of a verse, ha?
Oni. Od'slid, man, service is ready to

Jun. "You woful wights, give ear a go up, man; you must slip on your coat,
while,
and come in; we lack waiters pitifully.
Jun. A pitiful hearing; for now must

And mark the tenor of my style,

Which shall such trembling hearts unfold, I of a merry cobbler become [a] mourning

[blocks in formation]

creature.2

Oni. Well, you'll come?
Jun. Presto. Go to, a word to the
wise; away, fly, vanish! [Exit Onion.
Lie there the weeds that I disdain to wear.

Enter Antonio Balladino.

Ant. God save you, Master Juniper! Jun. What, Signior Antonio Balladino! welcome, sweet ingle.

Ant. And how do you, sir?

Jun. Faith, you see, put to my shifts here, as poor retainers be oftentimes. Sirrah Antony, there's one of my fellows mightily enamoured of thee; and i'faith,

thing like the captain's in Roderick Random: "Would you task the moon-tyed hair," &c.

A mourning creature.] i.e., by putting on a black coat. It appears that the family were in mourning for the death of the Lady Ferneze.

« iepriekšējāTurpināt »