the right of princes de jure divino, then a doctrine very fashionable at court.

In the same, or one of the years immediately preceding, Fletcher produced The Mad Lover, in which Burbadge acted a principal part, probably that of Memnon, which gives title to the play. The extravagance of the plot, and the half-serious, half-humorous character just mentioned, did not prevent the piece from attaining a great share of popularity. Sir Aston Cockayne wrote a long copy of verses in its commendation, which is chiefly valuable because it proves Fletcher to have been the sole author.

Another play, which was produced before the death of Burbadge, and which, from internal evidence, particularly from the versification, which is uniform throughout, and bears every mark of Fletcher's peculiarities, I am inclined to ascribe to that poet, soon after the demise of his friend, is Valentinian, a tragedy of striking merit, but unfortunately defaced by an injudicious extension of the plot after the death of the principal character."

7 In the introductory remarks on Valentinian, the editor has noticed the disgust with which the reader is inspired on finding that Maximus had planned the dishonour of his spouse, and the death of his friend, to effectuate his ambitious designs. It

The tragedy of The Double Marriage, a performance exhibiting great power of imagina tion, but unfortunately somewhat affected by that propensity towards strained and improbable incidents, which was one of the chief failings of Fletcher, seems to have been represented after the death of Burbadge, whose name does not appear in the list of the principal performers. We have no other evidence to ascribe the play to Fletcher alone, but that of the versification, which however is very strong, as it exhibits all his peculiarities. On the same ground, I should be inclined to attribute The Humorous Lieutenant to Fletcher, though the principal character is so much in Ben Jonson's style, that we might be led to ascribe a portion of the play to Beaumont, his imitator, if we did not know, on positive evidence, that Fletcher sometimes left his usual path of delineating natural characters, and followed the artificial style of Jonson. Of this we have already had an undoubted instance in The Mad Lo

has since been suggested by a friend, perhaps.justly, that Maximus was not guilty of those crimes, but that he only pretended to have conspired against his wife and Aëcius to obtain the hand of Eudoxia. This, however, by no means exculpates Maximus; and, if we adopt this supposition, it only degrades him from detestation to contempt.

ver. The comedy of The Humorous Lieutenant not only met with a favourable reception on its original appearance, but, after the Restoration, obtained such popularity, that it was selected for the first opening of the theatre in Drury-lane, April 8, 1663, and had an uninterrupted run of twelve nights,-a very unusual circumstance at the time.

Another comedy, chiefly founded on the school of Jonson, and to all appearance produced by Fletcher singly, is Nice Valour, or the Passionate Madman. It displays a very rich fund of humour and poetical description; but the abstract and artificial nature of the characters prevented its enjoying a long continuation of popularity. It should not be forgotten, that a song in this play furnished the outline of Milton's Il Penseroso.

The pleasing drama, entitled Women Pleased, which is remarkable for an extremely artificial, but, at the same time, a very well-connected

• Milton may be fairly charged with some degree of ingratitude to Fletcher, for omitting to mention him, together with Jonson and Shakspeare, in L'Allegro, as he was not only indebted to him for more than the hint of Il Penseroso, to which that poem was intended as a counterpart, but as he very liberally borrowed from Fletcher's Faithful Shepherdess in his Comus.

combination of many novels into one plot, may be ascribed to Fletcher, for want of external proofs, on internal evidence. The Woman's Prize, or the Tamer Tamed, was certainly his production, as it is directly attributed to him by the master of the revels, on its revival, when it produced a curious altercation between that officer and the players. In this composition Fletcher intended to produce a counterpart to Shakspeare's Taming of the Shrew; but, notwithstanding his comedy contains a very considerable portion of humour and animated dialogue, it is by no means one of the happiest efforts of his genius.

Two of Fletcher's most excellent comedies, The Chances and Monsieur Thomas, were brought on the stage probably before the year 1621, but we are utterly unable to decide upon the precise year in which they appeared. The former is generally allowed to be one of the liveliest and most entertaining comedies in the language, and has had the good fortune to survive the popularity of almost all the dramas in these volumes, as it still keeps possession of the stage, after having undergone some judicious alterations, suitable to the progressive change of manners, from

the pens of the Duke of Buckingham and Mr Garrick. Monsieur Thomas was published fourteen years after the death of Fletcher, by the dramatic poet, Richard Brome, with a dedication to Charles Cotton the elder, in which he informs us, that it was his "fortune to be made the unworthy preserver of it." From the dedication, as well as from a copy of verses prefixed by the editor,' it does not seem to have met with the most flattering reception from the audience.

From the manuscript of Sir Henry Herbert, master of the revels, we are enabled to enumerate the plays which Fletcher produced in the five last years of his life, according to the time they were represented on the stage. His facility of composition will appear truly wonderful, if we consider, that, in the short space of five years, he produced no less than sixteen perfect plays, besides those which appear to have been left unfinished at his death.

Mr Malone observes, that "it appears from Sir Henry Herbert's manuscript that the new plays which Fletcher had brought out in the course of the year were generally presented at court at Christmas." On this very conclusive

Vol. VI. p. 418, 419.