In their conftructions, all to run one way, —
This may he truly faid to be a humour."

This comic fatire gave general fatisfaction. Queen Elizabeth, drawn by the fame which was spread of it, honoured the play with her prefence. Jonfon, to pay a refpectful compliment to his fovereign, altered the conclufion of his play into an elegant panegyric, fpoken by Malicente; which turns upon this fimple idea; that her majesty's powerful influence had converted him, the reprefentative of envy, into a contrary character. Mr. Collins, the author of feveral juftly-esteemed poems, first pointed out to me the particular beauties of this occafional addrefs. The reader will not think his time ill fpent in reading the most interesting part of it:

- In the ample and unmeafur'd flood

Of her perfections are my paffions drown'd;
And I have now a fpirit as fweet and clear
As the most rarified and fubtle air.

With which, and with a heart as pure as fire,
Yet humble as the earth, do 1 implore
Heaven, that she, whofe prefence hath effected

This

This change in me, may fuffer moft late change
In her admir'd and happy government.
May still this ifland be call'd fortunate!
And rugged treason tremble at the found,
When fame fhall speak it with an emphasis.
Let foreign polity be dull as lead,

And pale invafion come with half a heart,
When he looks upon her blessed foil.

The throat of war be ftopp'd within her land,
And turtle-footed Peace dance fairy-rings
About her court; where never may there come
Suspect or danger, but all trust and safety!
Let Flattery be dumb, and Envy blind,

In her dread prefence; Death himself admire her;
And may her virtues make him to forget

The ufe of his inevitable hand!

Fly from her, Age! Sleep, Time, before her throne!
Our strongest wall falls down when she is gone!

Macilente is the abftract of envy in Every Man out of his Humour; Rancour, in the Roman comique of Scarron, is the fame character dilated. This play was acted, by the established comedians, in 1599. Why Jonfon left them, and employed the children of the queen's chapel, in preference, to act his Cynthia's revels,

is a question that cannot now be easily, if at all, decided.

We have some reason to conjecture, that the acting of Every Man in his Humour must have been attended with certain circumstances unpleafing to the author, or he would not have delivered his next play, As you find it,' to be acted by children. This comedy, though worth faving from oblivion, does not call, in my opinion, for the eulogium which has been conferred upon it.

In his introduction to his Every Man out of his Humour, the author told the people, with more franknefs than difcretion, that, if they did not like his play, it must be attributed to their ignorance:

If we fail,

We must impute it to this only chance,-
Art hath an enemy call'd ignorance.

In As you find it, he feems to complain of the rude behaviour of an audience, in manifefting their diflike and contempt, by

various

This

various methods, to a good play; meaning, no doubt, one of his own. charge he renewed. In his dialogue of the boys, at the beginning of Cynthia's Revels, and indeed almoft through all his pieces, he feems to be exceedingly fore; for he imprudently provokes the ill-will and contempt of those who must finally condemn or establish his works, and from whom there can be no adequate appeal. Shakspeare modeftly courted the good-will of his auditors, Jonson defied and affronted them.

His next piece, the poetafter, is a fatire upon the players, under the pretence of retaliating the abuse he had fuffered from Decker. Notwithstanding all he has faid to defend himself from the charge of general obloquy on the society of actors, in a dialogue which he tells us was spoken but once, by way of addrefs to the audience, the poetafter is a formal attack upon the comedians and their profeffion. Churchill was a generous and fair fatirift; Jonfon

infidiously

infidiously skulks under the pretence of aiming at one or two of the fraternity, when he really levels his fhafts at them all. Some of the players he characterizes under feigned names fuch as the lean Poluphagus,' by whom I conjecture he means Burbage, who, I have no doubt, acted the lean Macilente. Of him he makes Tucca

с

fay,' He will eat a leg of mutton, while I am in my porridge. His belly is like Barathrum.' By Frisker the zany, and good skipping fwaggerer,' I have fancied that he meant Kempe, who was celebrated for his ready wit and facetious jefting: however, this is only conjecture. Who he means by Mango, the fat fool,' is ftill lefs in my conception. You may bring him,' fays Tucca, who is the author's mouth-piece against the comedians; but let him not beg rapiers and scarfes in his own familiar playing face, nor roar out his barren bold jests with a tormenting laughter between Do you hear, Stifftoe?

drunk and dry.

VOL. II.