The Lives of the Poets of Great Britain and Ireland (1753) - Theophilus Cibber
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Chapman was a man of a reverend aspect, and graceful manner, religious
and temperate, qualities which seldom meet (says Wood) in a poet, and
was so highly esteemed by the clergy, that some of them have said,
"that as Musaeus, who wrote the lives of Hero and Leander, had two
excellent scholars, Thamarus and Hercules, so had he in England in the
latter end of Queen Elizabeth, two excellent imitators in the same
argument and subject, viz. Christopher Marlow, and George Chapman."
Our author has translated the Iliad of Homer, published in folio, and
dedicated to Prince Henry, which is yet looked upon with some respect.
He is said to have had the spirit of a poet in him, and was indeed
no mean genius: Pope somewhere calls him an enthusiast in poetry. He
likewise translated the Odyssey, and the Battle of Frogs and Mice,
which were published in 1614, and dedicated to the earl of Somerset;
to this work is added Hymns and Epigrams, written by Homer, and
translated by our author. He likewise attempted some part of Hesiod,
and continued a translation of Musaeus AErotopegnion de Herone &
Leandro. Prefixed to this work, are some anecdotes of the life of
Musaeus, taken by Chapman from the collection of Dr. William Gager,
and a dedication to the most generally ingenious and only learned
architect of his time, Inigo Jones esquire, Surveyor of his Majesty's
Works. At length, says Wood, this reverend and eminent poet, having
lived 77 years in this vain, transitory world, made his last exit in
the parish of St. Giles's in the Fields, near London, on the 12th day
of May, 1655, and was buried in the yard on the South side of the
church in St. Giles's: soon after a monument was erected over his
grave, built after the manner of the old Romans, at the expence, and
under the direction of his much loved worthy friend Inigo Jones,
whereon is this engraven, Georgius Chapmannus, Poeta Homericus,
Philosophus verus (etsi Christianus Poeta) plusquam Celebris, &c.
His dramatic works are,
All Fools, a Comedy, presented at the Black Fryars, and afterwards
before his Majesty King James I. in the beginning of his reign, and
printed in 4to. London 1605. The plot is taken, and the characters
formed upon Terence's Heautontimorumenos. The Prologue and Epilogue
writ in blank verse, shew that in these days persons of quality, and
they that thought themselves good critics, in place of fitting in the
boxes, as they now do, sat on the stage; what influence those people
had on the meanest sort of the audience, may be seen by the following
lines in the Prologue written by Chapman himself.
Great are the gifts given to united heads;
To gifts, attire, to fair attire the stage
Helps much; for if our other audience see,
You on the stage depart before we end,
Our wit goes with you all, and we are fools.
Alphonsus Emperor of Germany, a Tragedy, often acted with applause at
a private house in Black Fryars, by the servants of King Charles I.
printed in 4to. London 1654. This play, though it bears the name of
Alphonsus, was writ, as Langbaine supposes, in honour of the English
nation, in the person of Richard, Earl of Cornwal, son to King John,
and brother to Henry III. He was chosen King of the Romans in 1527.
About this time Alphonsus, the French King was chosen by other
electors. Though this King was accounted by some a pious prince, yet
our author represents him as a bloody tyrant, and, contrary to other
historians, brings him to an unfortunate end, he supposing him to
be killed by Alexander, son to Lorenzo de Cipres his secretary, in
revenge of his father, who was poisoned by him, and to compleat his
revenge, he makes him first deny his Saviour in hopes of life, and
then stabs him, glorying that he had at once destroyed both body and
soul. This passage is related by several authors, as Bolton's Four
last Things, Reynolds of the Passions, Clark's Examples, &c.
Blind Beggar of Alexandria, a Comedy, printed 1598, dedicated to the
earl of Nottingham, Lord High Admiral. Bussy d'Amboise, a Tragedy,
often presented at St. Paul's, in the reign of King James I. and since
the Restoration with great applause; for the plot see Thuanus, Jean de
Serres, and Mezeray, in the reign of King Henry III. of France. This
is the play of which Mr. Dryden speaks, when in his preface to the
Spanish Fryar, he resolves to burn one annually to the memory of Ben
Johnson. Some have differed from Mr. Dryden in their opinion of this
piece, but as the authorities who have applauded, are not so high as
Mr. Dryden's single authority, it is most reasonable to conclude not
much in its favour.
Bussy d'Amboise his Revenge, a Tragedy, printed 1613, and dedicated to
Sir Thomas Howard. This play is generally allowed to fall short of the
former of that name, yet the author, as appears from his dedication,
had a higher opinion of it himself, and rails at those who dared to
censure it; it is founded upon fiction, which Chapman very justly
defends, and says that there is no necessity for any play being
founded on truth.
Conspiracy and Tragedy of Charles, Duke of Byron, Marshal of France,
in two plays, acted at the Black Fryars in the reign of King James I.
printed in 4to. London 1608, dedicated to Sir Thomas Walsingham.
Caesar and Pompey, a Roman Tragedy, printed 1631, and dedicated to
the Earl of Middlesex.
Gentleman Usher, a Comedy, printed in 4to. London 1606. We are
not certain whether this play was ever acted, and it has but an
indifferent character.
Humourous Day's Mirth, a Comedy; this is a very tolerable play.
Mask of the Two Honourable Houses, or Inns of Court, the
Middle-Temple, and Lincoln's-Inn, performed before the King at
Whitehall, on Shrove Monday at night, being the 15th of February,
1613, at the celebration of the Royal Nuptials of the Palsgrave, and
the Princess Elizabeth, &c. with a description of their whole shew, in
the manner of their march on horseback, from the Master of the Rolls's
house to the court, with all their noble consorts, and shewful
attendants; invented and fashioned, with the ground and special
structure of the whole work by Inigo Jones; this Mask is dedicated to
Sir Edward Philips, then Master of the Rolls. At the end of the Masque
is printed an Epithalamium, called a Hymn for the most happy Nuptials
of the Princess Elizabeth, &c.
May-Day, a witty Comedy, acted at the Black Fryars, and printed in
4to. 1611.
Monsieur d'Olive, a Comedy, acted by her Majesty's children at the
Black Fryars, printed in 4to. 1606.
Revenge for Honour, a Tragedy, printed 1654.
Temple, a Masque.
Two Wise-men, and all the rest Fools, or a Comical Moral, censuring
the follies of that age, printed in London 1619. This play is extended
to seven acts, a circumstance which Langbaine says he never saw in any
other, and which, I believe, has never been practised by any poet,
ancient or modern, but himself.
Widow's Tears, a Comedy, often presented in the Black and White
Fryars, printed in 4to. London 1612; this play is formed upon the
story of the Ephesian Matron. These are all the plays of our author,
of which we have been able to gain any account; he joined with Ben
Johnson and Marston in writing a Comedy called Eastward-Hoe; this play
has been since revived by Tate, under the title of Cuckolds Haven. It
has been said that for some reflections contained in it against the
Scotch nation; Ben Johnson narrowly escaped the pillory. See more of
this, page 237.
[Footnote 1: See the Life of Overbury.]
[Footnote 2: Wood's Athen. Oxon.]
* * * * *
BEN JOHNSON,
One of the best dramatic poets of the 17th century, was descended from
a Scots family, his grandfather, who was a gentleman, being originally
of Annandale in that kingdom, whence he removed to Carlisle, and
afterwards was employed in the service of King Henry VIII. His
father lost his estate under Queen Mary, in whose reign he suffered
imprisonment, and at last entered into holy orders, and died about a
month before our poet's birth[1], who was born at Westminster, says
Wood, in the year 1574. He was first educated at a private school
in the church of St. Martin's in the Fields, afterwards removed to
Westminster school, where the famous Camden was master. His mother,
who married a bricklayer to her second husband, took him from school,
and obliged him to work at his father-in-law's trade, but being
extremely averse to that employment, he went into the low countries,
where he distinguished himself by his bravery, having in the view of
the army killed an enemy, and taken the opima spolia from him.
Upon his return to England, he applied himself again to his former
studies, and Wood says he was admitted into St. John's College in the
university of Cambridge, though his continuance there seems to have
been but short. He had some time after this the misfortune to fight
a duel, and kill his adversary, who only slightly wounded him in the
arm; for this he was imprisoned, and being cast for his life, was near
execution; his antagonist, he said, had a sword ten inches longer than
his own.
While he lay in prison, a popish priest visited him, who found his
inclination quite disengaged as to religion, and therefore took the
opportunity to impress him with a belief of the popish tenets. His
mind then naturally melancholy, clouded with apprehensions, and the
dread of execution, was the more easily imposed upon. However, such
was the force of that impression, that for twelve years after he had
gained his liberty, he continued in the catholic faith, and at last
turned Protestant, whether from conviction or fashion cannot be
determined; but when the character of Ben is considered, probability
will be upon the side of the latter, for he took every occasion to
ridicule religion in his plays, and make it his sport in conversation.
On his leaving the university he entered himself into an obscure
playhouse, called the Green Curtain, somewhere about Shoreditch or
Clerkenwell. He was first an actor, and probably only a strolling one;
for Decker in his Satyromastix, a play published in 1602, and designed
as a reply to Johnson's Poetaster, 'reproaches him with having left
the occupation of a mortar trader to turn actor, and with having put
up a supplication to be a poor journeyman player, in which he would
have continued, but that he could not set a good face upon it, and so
was cashiered. Besides, if we admit that satire to be built on facts,
we learn further, that he performed the part of Zuliman at the Paris
Garden in Southwark, and ambled by a play-waggon on the high-way,
and took mad Jeronymo's part to get service amongst the mimicks[2].'
Shakespear is said to have first introduced him to the world, by
recommending a play of his to the stage, at the time when one of the
players had rejected his performance, and told him it would be of no
service to their company[3]. His first printed dramatic performance
was a Comedy, entitled Every Man in his Humour, acted in the year
1598, which being soon followed by several others, as his Sejanus, his
Volpone, his Silent Woman, and his Alchymist, gained him so high a
reputation, that in October 1619, upon the death of Mr. Samuel Daniel
he was made Poet Laureat to King James I. and on the 19th of July, the
same year, he was created (says Wood) Master of Arts at Oxford, having
resided for some time at Christ Church in that university. He once
incurred his Majesty's displeasure for being concerned with Chapman
and Marston in writing a play called Eastward-Hoe, wherein they were
accused of having reflected upon the Scotch nation. Sir James Murray
represented it to the King, who ordered them immediately to be
imprisoned, and they were in great danger of losing their ears and
noses, as a correction of their wantonness; nor could the most partial
have blamed his Majesty, if the punishment had been inflicted; for
surely to ridicule a country from which their Sovereign had just
come, the place of his nativity, and the kingdom of his illustrious
forefathers, was a most daring insult. Upon their releasement from
prison, our poet gave an entertainment to his friends, among whom were
Camden and Selden; when his aged mother drank to him[4] and shewed
him a paper of poison which she had designed, if the sentence of
punishment had been inflicted, to have mixed with his drink after she
had first taken a potion of it herself.
Upon the accession of Charles I. to the crown, he wrote a petition
to that Prince, craving, that as his royal father had allowed him an
annual pension of a hundred marks, he would make them pounds. In the
year 1629 Ben fell sick, and was then poor, and lodged in an obscure
alley; his Majesty was supplicated in his favour, who sent him ten
guineas. When the messenger delivered the sum, Ben took it in his
hand, and said, "His Majesty has sent me ten guineas because I am
poor and live in an alley, go and tell him that his soul lives in an
alley."
He had a pension from the city of London, from several of the nobility
and gentry, and particularly from Mr. Sutton the founder of the
Charterhouse.[5] In his last sickness he often repented of the
profanation of scripture in his plays. He died the 16th of August
1637, in the 63d year of his age, and was interred three days after in
Westminster Abbey; he had several children who survived him.
Ben Johnson conceived so high an opinion of Mr. Drummond of
Hawthornden by the letters which passed between them, that he
undertook a journey into Scotland, and resided some time at
Mr. Drummond's seat there, who has printed the heads of their
conversation, and as it is a curious circumstance to know the opinion
of so great a man as Johnson of his cotemporary writers, these heads
are here inserted.
"Ben, says Mr. Drummond, was eat up with fancies; he told me, that
about the time the Plague raged in London, being in the country at Sir
Robert Cotton's house with old Camden, he saw in a vision his eldest
son, then a young child, and at London, appear unto him, with the mark
of a bloody cross on his forehead, as if it had been cut with a sword;
at which amazed, he prayed unto God, and in the morning he came to
Mr. Camden's chamber to tell him; who persuaded him, it was but an
apprehension, at which he should not be dejected. In the mean time,
there came letters from his wife of the death of that boy in the
plague. He appeared to him, he said, of a manly shape, and of that
growth he thinks he shall be at the resurrection. He said, he spent
many a night in looking at his great toe, about which he had seen
Tartars, and Turks, Romans and Carthaginians fight in his imagination.
"That he had a design to write an epic poem, and was to call it
Chrologia; or the Worthies of his Country, all in couplets, for he
detested all other rhime. He said he had written a discourse on
poetry, both against Campion and Daniel, especially the last, where
he proves couplets to be the best sort of verses." His censure of the
English poets was as follows:
"That Sidney did not keep a decorum, in making every one speak as well
as himself. Spenser's stanza pleased him not, nor his matter; the
meaning of the allegory of the Fairy Queen he delivered in writing
to Sir Walter Raleigh, which was, that by the bleating beast he
understood the Puritans; and by the false Duessa, the Queen of Scots.
Samuel Daniel was a good honest man, had no children, and was no poet,
and that he had wrote the civil wars without having one battle in all
his book. That Drayton's Poly-olbion, if he had performed what he
promised to write, the Deeds of all the Worthies, had been excellent.
That Sylvester's translation of Du Bartas was not well done, and that
he wrote his verses before he understood to confer; and those of
Fairfax were not good. That the translations of Homer and Virgil in
long Alexandrines were but prose. That Sir John Harrington's Ariosto
of all translations was the worst. He said Donne was originally
a poet; his grandfather on the mother's side, was Heywood the
epigramatist. That Donne for not being understood would perish. He
affirmed, that Donne wrote all his best pieces before he was twenty
years of age. He told Donne, that his Anniversary was prophane, and
fall of blasphemies, that if it had been written on the virgin Mary
it had been tolerable. To which Donne answered, that he described the
idea of a woman but not as she was. That Sir Walter Raleigh esteemed
fame more than conscience; the best wits in England were employed in
making his history. Ben himself had written a piece to him on the
Punic war, which he altered and put in his book. He said there was
no such ground for an heroic poem, as King Arthur's fiction, and Sir
Philip Sidney had an intention of turning all his Arcadia to
the stories of King Arthur. He said Owen was a poor pedantic
school-master, sucking his living from the posteriors of little
children, and has nothing good in him, his epigrams being bare
narrations. He loved Fletcher, Beaumont and Chapman. That Sir William
Alexander was not half kind to him, and neglected him because a friend
to Drayton. That Sir R. Ayton loved him dearly; he fought several
times with Marston, and says that Marston wrote his father in Law's
preachings, and his father in law his comedies."
Mr. Drummond has represented the character of our author in a very
disadvantageous, though perhaps not in a very unjust light. "That he
was a great lover and praiser of himself; a contemner and scorner of
others, rather chusing to lose a friend than a jest; jealous of every
word and action of those about him, especially after drink, which was
one of the elements in which he lived; a dissembler of the parts which
reigned in him; a bragger of some good that he wanted: he thought
nothing right, but what either himself or some of his friends had said
or done. He was passionately kind and angry; careless either to
gain or to keep, vindictive, but if he was well answered, greatly
chagrined; interpreting the best sayings and deeds often to the worst.
He was for any religion, being versed in all; his inventions were
smooth and easy, but above all he excelled in translation. In short,
he was in his personal character the very reverse of Shakespear, as
surly, ill-natured, proud and disagreeable, as Shakespear with ten
times his merit was gentle, good-natured, easy and amiable." He had a
very strong memory; for he tells himself in his discoveries that he
could in his youth have repeated all that he had ever written, and so
continued till he was past forty; and even after that he could have
repeated whole books that he had read, and poems of some select
friends, which he thought worth remembring.
Mr. Pope remarks, that when Ben got possesion of the stage, he brought
critical learning into vogue, and that this was not done without
difficulty, which appears from those frequent lessons (and indeed
almost declamations) which he was forced to prefix to his first plays,
and put into the mouths of his actors, the Grex, Chorus, &c. to remove
the prejudices and inform the judgement of his hearers. Till then
the English authors had no thoughts of writing upon the model of the
ancients: their tragedies were only histories in dialogue, and their
comedies followed the thread of any novel, as they found it, no less
implicitly than if it had been true history. Mr. Selden in his preface
to his titles of honour, stiles Johnson, his beloved friend and a
singular poet, and extols his special worth in literature, and his
accurate judgment. Mr. Dryden gives him the title of the greatest man
of the last age, and observes, that if we look upon him, when he was
himself, (for his last plays were but his dotages) he was the most
learned and judicious writer any theatre ever had; that he was a most
severe judge of himself as well as others; that we cannot say he
wanted wit, but rather that he was frugal of it; that in his works
there is little to be retrenched or altered; but that humour was his
chief province.
Ben had certainly no great talent for versification, nor does he seem
to have had an extraordinary ear; his verses are often wanting in
syllables, and sometimes have too many.
I shall quote some lines of his poem to the memory of Shakespear,
before I give a detail of his pieces.
To the memory of my beloved the author Mr. WILLIAM SHAKESPEAR, and
what he hath left us.
To draw no envy (Shakespear) on thy name,
Am I thus ample to thy book and fame:
While I confess thy writings to be such,
As neither man nor muse can praise too much.
'Tis true, and all men's suffrage. But these ways
Were not the paths I meant unto thy praise:
For silliest ignorance, on these may light,
Which when it sounds at best but ecchoes right;
As blind affection, which doth ne'er advance
The truth; but gropes, and urgeth all by chance;
A crafty malice might pretend his praise,
And think to ruin where it seem'd to raise.
These are, as some infamous baud or whore,
Should praise a matron: What could hurt her more?
But thou art proof against them, and indeed,
Above th' ill fortune of them, or the need.
I therefore will begin. Soul of the age!
Th' applause, delight, the wonder of the stage!
My Shakespear rise; I will not lodge thee by,
Chaucer, or Spenser, or bid Beaumont lye,
A little further to make thee a room:
Thou art a monument without a tomb,
And art alive still, while the book doth live,
And we have wits to read, and praise to give.
That I not mix thee so, my brain excuses;
I mean with great but disproportion'd muses:
For if I thought, my judgment were of years,
I should commit thee surely with thy peers,
And tell how far thou did'st our Lily outshine,
Or sporting Kid, or Marlow's mighty line.
He then goes on to challenge all antiquity to match Shakespear; but
the poetry is so miserable, that the reader will think the above
quotation long enough.
Ben has wrote above fifty several pieces which we may rank under the
species of dramatic poetry; of which I shall give an account in order,
beginning with one of his best comedies.
1. [6] Alchymist, a comedy, acted in the year 1610. Mr. Dryden
supposes this play was copied from the comedy of Albumazer, as far
as concerns the Alchymist's character; as appears from his prologue
prefixed to that play, when it was revived in his time.
2. Bartholomew Fair, a comedy, acted at the Hope on the Bankside,
October 31, in 1614, by the lady Elizabeth's servants, and then
dedicated to James I.
3. Cataline's conspiracy, a tragedy, first acted in the year 1611. In
this our author has translated a great part of Salust's history; and
it is when speaking of this play, that Dryden says, he did not borrow
but commit depredations upon the ancients. Tragedy was not this
author's talent; he was totally without tenderness, and was so far
unqualified for tragedy.
4. Challenge at Tilt, at a Marriage, printed 1640.
5. Christmas's Masque, presented at court 1616.
6. Cloridia, or the Rites of Cloris and her Nymphs, personated in a
Masque at court, by the Queen and her Ladies, at Shrove Tide, 1630.
7. Cynthia's Revels, or the Fountain of Self-love, a comical
Satire, first acted in the year 1600, by the then children of Queen
Elizabeth's chapel, with the allowance of the Master of the Revels,
printed in folio, 1640.
8. The Devil is an Ass, a Comedy, acted in the year 1616.
9. Entertainment of King James in passing his Coronation, printed in
folio, 1640.
10. Entertainment in Private of the King and Queen on May-day in the
morning, at Sir William Cornwallis's house at Highgate, 1604.
11. Entertainment of King James and Queen at Theobald's, when the
house was delivered up, with the possession to the Queen, by the earl
of Salisbury 1607, the Prince of Janvile, brother to the Duke of Guise
being then present.
12. Entertainment in particular of the Queen and Prince, their
Highnesses at Althrope at the Lord Spenser's, 1603, as they came first
into the kingdom.
13. Entertainment of the Two Kings of Great Britain and Denmark, at
Theobald's, July 24th 1606, printed 1640.
14. Every Man in his Humour, a Comedy, acted in the year 1598, by the
then Lord Chamberlain's servants, and dedicated to Mr. Camden. This
play has been often revived since the restoration.
15. Every Man out of his Humour, a comical Satire, first acted 1599,
and dedicated to the Inns of Court. This play was revived 1675, at
which time a new Prologue and Epilogue were spoke by Jo. Haynes,
written by Mr. Duffel.
16. Fortunate Isles, and their Union celebrated, in a Masque, designed
for the Court on Twelfth-Night, 1626.
17. Golden Age Restored, in a Masque, at Court 1615, by the Lords and
Gentlemen, the King's servants.
18. Hymenaei, or the Solemnities of a Masque, and Barriers at a
Marriage, printed 1640. To this Masque are annexed by the author,
Notes on the Margin, for illustration of the ancient Greek and Roman
Customs.
19. Irish Masque, at Court, by the King's servants.
20. King's Entertainment at Welbeck in Nottinghamshire, at the House
of the Right Honourable William, Earl of Newcastle, at his going to
Scotland, 1633.