THE

WORKS

OF

BEN JONSON,

IN NINE VOLUMES.

WITH NOTES CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY,

AND A BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR,

By W. GIFFORD, Esq,

The Muses' fairest light in no dark time;
The wonder of a learned age; the line
Which none can pass; the most proportion’d wit,
To nature, the best judge of what was fit;
The deepest, plainest, highest, clearest pen;
The voice most echo'd by consenting men ;
THE SOUL WHICH ANSWER'D BEST TO ALL WELL SAID
BY OTHERS, AND Which MOST REQUITAL MADE.

CLEVELAND

VOLUME THE THIRD.

CONTAINING

SEJANUS.
THE FOX.
THE SILENT WOMAN.

LONDON:

PRINTED FOR G. AND W. NICOL; F. C. AND J. RIVINGTON; CADELL

AND DAVIES; LONGMAN AND CO.; LACKINGTON AND CO.;
R. H. EVANS; J. MURRAY; J. MAWMAN; J. CUTHELL; J. BLACK ;
BALDWIN AND CO.; RODWELL AND MARTIN ; AND R. SAUNDERS;

By W. Bulmer and Co. Cleveland-row, St. James's.

1816.

SEJANUS

HIS

F ALL

VOL. III.

B

SEJANUs.) This " Tragedy” was first acted in 1603 by the company at the Globe ; and Shakspeare, Burbadge, Lowin, Hemings, Condel, Philips, Cooke, and Sly, had parts in it. Though much applauded by the fashionable part of the audi. ence, it proved “ caviare to the general," and experienced considerable opposition. Sejanus was not published till 1605; when it appeared, in quarto, without a dedication, but accompanied by several copies of commendatory verses. Subsequently it seems to have acquired some degree of popularity : Jonson says that it had outlived the malice of its enemies, when he republished it in folio, in 1616; and it was one of the first plays revived after the Restoration. Sejanus is not divided into scenes in any of the editions; it bas neither exits nor entrances; and is, upon the whole, the most involved and puzzling drama, in its internal arrangement, that was ever produced. The motto both to the quarto and folio is the same:

Non híc centauros, non gorgonas, harpyiasque

Invenies : hominem pagina nostra sapit. It is taken from Martial, and had already furnished the ground. work for the admirable prologue to Every Man in his Humour.