"The money shall be abated out of the money remayns for the play of Mr Fletcher and ours. "ROB. DABORNE.""

"I have ever found you a true loving friend to mee, and in so small a suite, it beinge honest, I hope you will not faile us.

Indorsed,

"PHILIP MASSINGER."

"Received by mee, Robert Davison, of Mr Hinchlowe, for the use of Mr Daboerne, Mr Feeld, Mr Messenger, the sum of v1.

"ROBERT DAVISON."

t

The play alluded to in the letter, which, as Mr Gifford observes, "it is impossible to read without the most poignant regret at the distress of such men," was not improbably The Jeweller of Amsterdam, or the Hague, which was entered on the Stationers' Books, April 8, 1654, as written by Fletcher, Field, and Massinger, but not

7 Robert Daborne was one of the minor dramatic poets of James's reign. He took the degree of master of arts, but in which university is not known. He was in holy orders, and had probably a living in or near Waterford, where he preached a sermon, published in 1618. He wrote The Christian turned Turk, a tragedy, printed in 1612, and The Poor Man's Comfort, a tragi-comedy, published in 1655, probably long af ter his death.

printed. The omission of Daborne's name might easily have happened through negligence, and would probably have been supplied, had the play been actually sent to the press.

Beaumont, as well as his associate, if we may believe the evidence of the books of the Stationers' Company, produced a dramatic performance unassisted by his friend. The History of Mador, King of Great Britain, by Francis Beaumont, was entered on the books of that company, June 29, 1660, together with A Right Woman, a comedy, and The Faithful Friends, both attributed to our poets conjointly. The two former are to all appearance irretrievably lost; the latter is now printed from an original manuscript for the first time.

Besides the dramatic productions which have been enumerated above, and the date of which is, in some measure, ascertained, there are several others which were written previous to the death of Beaumont. One of the earliest of these seems to have been The Scornful Lady, probably produced soon after 1609, when the Cleves wars, mentioned in one of the scenes, broke

This play is inadvertently omitted in Mr Gifford's list of Massinger's plays.

out. This comedy is, in the title-page, said to have been acted with great applause; and, from the number of editions published before the Restoration, its popularity seems to have been of long continuance. Another comedy, which our poets wrote in conjunction, is The Little French Lawyer, in which they displayed their powers to great advantage, Beaumont very successfully following the footsteps of Ben Jonson in the humorous part of La-Writ, and Fletcher supplying the alternately serious and sprightly plot of Dinant, Cleremont, and Lamira, borrowing, as usual, from the Italian and Spanish novelists. The comedy of Wit at several Weapons was also produced by our united poets; and The Custom of the Country, a drama, in which an interesting. plot and some scenes which display the highest talents, are debased by the most disgusting ribaldry, is also ascribed to both poets in the two prologues, though, from the evidence of the versification, we may ascribe by far the greatest portion to Fletcher. The excellent comedy of Wit without Money may likewise, though with some hesitation, be attributed to Beaumont and Fletcher; for, though we have no direct evidence excepting the title-page, which mentions both their names, the hand of the former seems to

be visible in the judicious regularity of the plot, and in the almost total absence of serious scenes, which Fletcher, in the comedies he furnished for the stage after the demise of Beaumont, introduces very liberally. The versification, however, on the principles which will be mentioned in the sequel of this introduction, intimates that the execution was principally Fletcher's. From the testimony of several poets who have eulogised our authors, it appears, that, in many instances, one of them furnished the plot, while the other raised the fabric on his superstructure, and this may have been the case in the last-mentioned comedy, as well as in King and No King and The Custom of the Country.

The dramas which we have hitherto attributed to both poets, on such evidence as we must necessarily rest contented with, not being in possession of better, are chiefly comedies. Among the tragedies and tragi-comedies, there are three which may be ascribed to Beaumont and Fletcher conjointly with considerable probability,Bonduca, The Knight of Malta, and The Laws of Candy. The two former were undoubtedly represented previous to March 1618-9, as the celebrated tragedian Burbage, who performed in both, died at that period; and internal evi

dence proves that all the three were composed by more than one author.'

The strict intimacy in which our poets had lived for so many years was interrupted by the sudden death of Beaumont, which took place early in March 1615-6, before he had fully attained his thirtieth year. He was buried on the ninth of that month, without any inscription, in Westminster cathedral, at the entrance of St Benedict's chapel, near the Earl of Middlesex's monument. He exhibited one of the most brilliant, and, at the same time, the most solid instances of early genius. Besides his juvenile poem, he had, in about eight years, from the first appearance of Philaster, which is the first play in which he is known with certainty to have had any concern, to his death, furnished in the whole, or in part, about twenty dramatic performances for the theatres, in which he had displayed talents of a very superior quality, and of great variety. But the consideration of his merit as a dramatic writer will be more in place when we come to a general criticism on the works of our united authors, from, which it will appear, though Fletcher, perhaps, exceeded his

? See the introductions to those plays, vol. VI. p. 3, vol. VIII. p. 257, and vol. III. p. 3,