Chapter VIII: Act II: For the scene between Beaumelle and her maids is substituted (4)

I, ii, 21-3. _Nor now ... that I vndertooke, forsake it._--The expression is elliptical, the verb of the preceding period being in the future indicative--whereas here the incomplete verb is in the conditional mood. In full: _Nor now ... that I undertook, would I forsake it._

I, ii, 56. _determine of--of_ is the preposition in obs. usage which follows _determine_ used, as here, in the sense of _decide_, _come to a judicial decision_, _come to a decision on_ (_upon_). Cf. IV, iv, 82.

I, ii, 57. _to_--in addition to.

I, ii, 66. _become_--modern editors, beginning with Mason, read _became_; but _become_ may be taken as a variant form of the past tense (or even as participle for _having become_, with nom. absolute construction, though this is less likely).

I, ii, 91-2. _May force you ... plead at_--i. e. “may cause your dismissal from the bar.”

I, ii, 107. _purple-colour’d_--Novall wears the official red robe of judge.

I, ii, 123-4. _the subtill Fox of France, The politique Lewis_--Louis XI of France, an old enemy of Burgundy.

I, ii, 127. _If that_, etc.--Gradually, as the interrogatives were recognized as relatives, the force of _that_, _so_, _as_, in “when _that_”, “when _so_”, “when _as_”, seems to have tended to make the relative more general and indefinite; “who so” being now nearly (and once quite) as indefinite as “whosoever.”... In this sense, by analogy, _that_ was attached to other words, such as “if”, “though”, “why”, etc.--Abbott, S. G. § 287.

Cf.

“If that rebellion
Came like itself, in base and abject routs.”

_Henry IV, Part_ II, IV, i, 32.

The same construction appears in V, iii, 95.

I, ii, 163. _Writ man_--i. e., wrote himself down as a man.

I, ii, 170. _Granson_, _Morat_, _Nancy_--the “three memorable overthrows” which Charles the Bold suffered at the hands of the Swiss cantons and Duke René of Loraine. The battle of Granson took place March 3, 1476; that of Morat, June 22, 1476; that of Nancy, January 5, 1477. On each occasion the army of Charles was annihilated; and finally at Nancy he was himself slain. These defeats ended the power of Burgundy.

I, ii, 171. _The warlike Charloyes_--Charles the Bold, the Duke of Burgundy.

I, ii, 185. _Ill ayres_--noxious exhalations, miasma.

I, ii, 194-5. _They are onely good men, that pay what they owe._

2 Cred. _And so they are._

1 Cred. _’Tis the City Doctrine._

Cf. Shakespeare in _The Merchant of Venice_, I, iii, 12 ff.:

“_Shy._ Antonio is a good man.

_Bass._ Have you heard any imputation to the contrary?

_Shy._ Ho, no, no, no, no! My meaning in saying he is a good man is
to have you understand me that he is sufficient.”

I, ii, 201. _right_--so in all texts. With this word the meaning is perfectly plain, but the substitution, in its place, of _weight_ would better sustain the figure used in the preceding line. _Weight_ is a word which it is not unlikely the printer would mis-read from the Ms. as _right_.

I, ii, 207. _in your danger_--regularly, “in your power”, “at your mercy”; so here, “in your debt”.

I, ii, 245. _As_--used here in its demonstrative meaning, to introduce a parenthetical clause. Cf. Abbott, S. G. § 110.

II, i, 13. _sits_--the common Elizabethan 3rd. person plural in _s_, generally and without warrant altered by modern editors. See Abbott, S. G. § 333. Cf. _keepes_, V, ii, 37.

II, i, 28. _was--monies_ is taken in the collective sense.

II, i, 46. _interd a liuely graue_--i. e., _enter’d a lively_ [_living_] _grave_. G., who first prints it so, considers he has made a change in the first word, taking it in the Q. for _interr’d_, as does M., who suggests in a footnote the reading: _enters alive the grave_. But _interd_ may be, and is best, taken as merely an old spelling for _enter’d_, naturally attracted to the _i_-form by the presence of the word _interment_ in the preceding line.

II, i, 63. _Remember best, forget not gratitude_--ellipsis for: _Remember best who forget not gratitude_. Modern usage confines the omission of the relative mostly to the objective. In Eliz. Eng., however, the nominative relative was even more frequently omitted, especially when the antecedent clause was emphatic and evidently incomplete, and where the antecedent immediately preceded the verb to which the relative would be subject. See Abbott, S. G., § 244.

Cf. III, i, 134-5; i, 139; i, 332; IV, ii, 61.

II, i, 65. _viperous_--according to various classical authorities [e. g., Pliny, X, 82], the young of vipers eat their way forth to light through the bowels of their dam. The figure here seems to be somewhat confused, as the dead hero is the _son_ of the country, his mother, who devours _him_. The thought, perhaps, in the mind of the dramatist, albeit ill-expressed, was that the mother-country owed her existence to her son, and, viper-like had devoured the author of her life.

II, i, 66. _eate_--owing to the tendency to drop the inflectional ending _-en_, the Elizabethans frequently used the curtailed forms of past participles, which are common in Early English: “I have spoke, forgot, writ, chid,” etc.--Abbott, S. G., § 343. Cf. _broke_, II, ii, 27; _spoke_, III, i, 3; _begot_, IV, iv, 154; 170.

II, i, 83. _golden calf_--the figure, from its immediate application to _a dolt of great wealth_, is transferred to the false god whom the children of Israel worshipped at the foot of Mount Sinaï.

II, i, 93-4. _Would they not so_, etc.--the Q. reading is to be preferred to either of the modern emendations. It is probably in the sense of “Would they no more but so?”, with the ensuing declaration that in that case they would keep their tears to stop (fill?) bottles (probably meaning lachrimatories or phials used in ancient times for the preservation of tears of mourning).

II, i, 98-9. _Y’are ne’re content, Crying nor laughing_--The meaning is, of course: “You are never content with us, whether we are crying or laughing.”

II, i, 100. _Both with a birth_--i. e., both together, at the same time.

II, i, 137. _Burmudas_--The Bermuda islands, known only through the tales of early navigators who suffered shipwreck there, enjoyed a most unsavory reputation in Elizabethan times, as being the seat of continual tempests, and the surrounding waters “a hellish sea for thunder, lightning, and storms.” Cf. Shakespeare, _The Tempest_, I, ii, 269: “the still-vexed Bermoothes.” They were said to be enchanted, and inhabited by witches and devils. They were made famous by the shipwreck there in 1609 of Sir George Somers; the following year one of his party, Sil. Jordan, published _A Discovery of the Bermudas, otherwise called the Isle of Devils_.

Field has another reference to “the Barmuthoes” in _Amends for Ladies_, III, iv; but there it is not clear whether he means the islands or certain narrow passages north of Covent Garden, which went by the slang name of “the Bermudas” or “the Streights.” It _is_ in this latter sense that the word is used in Jonson’s _The Devil is an Ass_, II, i.

II, i, 139. _Exact the strictnesse_--i. e., require a strict enforcement of the sentence which limits Charalois to the confines of the prison.

II, i, 144. _vsurers relief_, etc.--a rather awkward expression, so phrased for the sake of the end-scene rhyme. The thought seems to be: “The relief which usurers have to offer mourns, if the debtors have (exhibit) too much grief.” Charalois’ remark is, of course, ironical.

II, ii, 10. _electuary_--a medicinal conserve or paste, consisting of a powder or some other ingredient mixed with honey, preserve, or syrup of some other kind. Beaumelle means that Florimal is the medicine and Bellapert the sweet which makes it palatable.

II, ii, 17. _serue_--G. and S. read _served_, which is certainly correct. Not only is there nothing throughout the play to suggest that Beaumelle’s mother is still alive, but she herself has just spoken of “you two my women” (l. 11).

II, ii, 18. _a peepe out_--a “pip” [old spelling _peepe_] is one of the spots on playing cards, dice, or dominoes. The allusion is to a game of cards called “one-and-thirty”; thirty-two is a pip too many.

II, ii, 21-2. _the mother of the maydes_--a title properly applied to the head of the maids of honour in a Royal household.

II, ii, 22. _mortifie_--there is a significant ambiguity to the word Bellapert uses. It means “bring into subjection,” “render dead to the world and the flesh;” it formerly had also a baleful meaning: “to kill;” “to destroy the vitality, vigor, or activity of.”

II, ii, 32. _vanuable, to make you thus--valuable_ is used in its generic sense of _value-able_, _of sufficient value_.

II, ii, 71. _turn’d in her varieties_--G., S. read: _trimm’d in her varieties_--i. e., “decked in her varieties [varied aspects].” But adherence to the Q. is possible, with the meaning, “fashioned in her varieties.”

II, ii, 82. _walkes not vnder a weede_--i. e., “wears not a garment,” “is not in existence.”

II, ii, 88. _Tissue_--a rich kind of cloth, often interwoven with gold or silver. So again in II, ii, 175.

II, ii, 89. _a three-leg’d lord_--the meaning is that Young Novall cannot independently “stand upon his own legs,” but requires the triple support of himself, Liladam, and Aymer.

II, ii, 96. _musicke house_--a public hall or saloon for musical performances.

II, ii, 99-100. _in the Galley foyst_, etc.--a Galley-foist was a state barge, especially that of the Lord Mayor of London. This, however, can hardly be the meaning of the word here, used as it is in connection with _Bullion_, which were trunk-hose, puffed out at the upper part, in several folds; and with _Quirpo_, a variant of _cuerpo_--i. e., _in undress_. “Galley-foist” may be the name of some dress of the period, so-called for its resemblance to the gaily bedecked Mayor’s-barge. But it is not unlikely, as Mason suggests, that _The Galley-foist_ and _The Bullion_ were the names of taverns of that day; or else of houses of public resort for some kind of amusement.

II, ii, 104. _skip_--so in all texts. But Field has elsewhere (_Woman is a Weathercock_, II, i.): “and then my lord ... casts a suit every quarter, which I _slip_ into.” It is probable that the word was the same in both passages,--though whether _skip_ or _slip_ I have no means of determining.

II, ii, 119. _St Omers_--more properly, _St. Omer_, a town of northern France. A College of Jesuits was located there, and the point of Novall’s comparison is perhaps an allusion to the mean appearance of Jesuit spies who would come from thence to England on some pretext, such as to see their friends during the Christmas season.

II, ii, 122. _ly’n perdieu_--“to lie perdu” is properly a military term for, “to be placed as a sentinel or outpost,” especially in an exposed position. _Ly’n_ is one of the many obsolete forms of the past participle of the verb “to lie.”

II, ii, 125. _tye my hand_--i. e., tie the ribbon-strings which depended from the sleeve over the hand.

II, ii, 163. _slight neglect_--contemptuous disrespect.

II, ii, 174. _bile_--all editors after the Q. read _boil_. _Bile_ was an old spelling for _boil_; but in the other sense, one of the “four humours” of medieval physiology, the passage is perfectly clear, and the figure perhaps even more effective.

II, ii, 186. _eager relish_--acrid taste. The figure is that the law in itself is often like a sharp and bitter flavor, but that a good judge will sweeten this.

II, ii, 250 _s. d._ _Drawes a Curtayne_--the curtain of the alcove or back-stage, within which was placed the “treasure,” thus to be revealed.

II, ii, 298. _in which yours_--i. e., “because of the fact of her being yours.”

II, ii, 301. _for poore and worthlesse I--I_ for _me_, like other irregularities in pronominal inflection, was not infrequent in Elizabethan times. Cf. Abbott, S. G., § 205.

II, ii, 326. _Curtius-like_--like Marcus Curtius, legendary hero of ancient Rome. See Livy, vii, 6.

II, ii, _final s. d._ _while the Act is playing_--i. e., while the interlude music is played, at the close of the Act.

III, i, 18. _relish_--a trace or tinge of some quality, a suggestion.--In III, i, 20: _a flavor_; or, if read with the Q.’s punctuation, a verb: _give a relish_. It appears preferable, however, to take the passage as punctuated by G., S., which makes _relish_ a noun.

III, i, 29. _take me with you_--understand me.

III, i, 37. _sudden_--adv. for _suddenly_. The _-ly_ suffix was frequently omitted in Elizabethan times.

III, i, 45. _Such as are faire_, etc.--the connection goes back to l. 42, Bellapert taking up again the thread of her remark which Novall’s objection and her summary answer thereto had broken in upon.

III, i, 120. _Christian_--probably used here in the colloq. sense of: _a human being_, as distinguished from a brute; a “decent” or “respectable” person. Cf. Shakespeare, _Twelfth Night_, I, iii, 89: “Methinks ... I have no more wit than a Christian, or an ordinary man has.”

III, i, 122. _The entertaiment of your visitation_--i. e., the entertainment which your visit received.

III, i, 123. _on_ [old spelling for _one_]--i. e., a visitation.

III, i, 126. _Muske-cat_--the civet-cat; applied as a term of contempt to a fop, as being a person perfumed with musk.

III, i, 139. _there is now speaks to you_--G., S. omit _is_, at the same time clearing the construction and securing a more regular metre. The Q. reading, however, is perfectly possible, as an ellipsis, by omission of the subject relative, for, _there is that now speaks to you_ [i. e., _there is now speaking to you_], or even, by a change of punctuation, _there is--now speaks to you_--, etc.

III, i, 148. _As Caesar, did he liue, could not except at_--see Plutarch’s _Life of Julius Caesar_, Chapters 9 & 10, wherein it is narrated how Caesar divorced his wife, Pompeia, when scandal assailed her name, although he denied any knowledge as to her guilt; “‘Because’ said he, ‘I would have the chastity of my wife clear even of suspicion.’”

III, i, 148. _except at_--take exception at.

III, i, 159. _pointed_--all editors after the Q. read _painted_, an absolutely unnecessary and unwarranted emendation. _Pointed_ means “fitted or furnished with tagged points or laces;” “wearing points;” “laced.” Cf. Maurice Hewlett’s novel, _The Queen’s Quair_, p. 83: “saucy young men, trunked, puffed, pointed, trussed and doubleted.” Huloet in his Dictionary (1552) has: “Poynted, or tyed with poynts, _ligulatus_.”

III, i, 167. _This pretty rag_--i. e., the “clout” mentioned in II, ii, 123.

III, i, 173. _in spite of_--in scorn of, in defiance of.

III, i, 184. _thy_--so the Q. All later editors read _this_. It is not impossible, of course, that Romont should begin an oath “By thy hand,” and Beaumelle flash back at him “And sword,” transferring the _thy_ from herself to him. But Romont would be more likely to swear by his own hand than by Beaumelle’s.

III, i, 188. _cast suburb whores_--prostitutes who had been cashiered from service. Houses of ill-fame were customarily located in the suburbs.

III, i, 191. _legion_--i. e., of evil spirits. Cf. _Mark_, v, 9.

III, i, 193. _horne-mad_--the word was originally applied to horned beasts, in the sense: “enraged so as to horn any one;” hence of persons: “stark mad,” “mad with rage,” “furious.” By word-play it acquires its sense in the present passage. “mad with rage at having been made a cuckold.”

III, i, 202. _yellow_--this color was regarded as a token or symbol of jealousy.

III, i, 211. _Carted_--carried in a cart through the streets, by way of punishment or public exposure (especially as the punishment of a bawd).

III, i, 261. _in distance_--within reach, in striking distance.

III, i, 331. _as it would tire--as_ appears to be used for _as if_; in reality the _if_ is implied in the (conditional) subjunctive.--Abbott, S. G., § 107.

III, i, 331. _a beadle_--it was one of the duties of a beadle to whip petty offenders.

III, i, 352. _So I not heard them_--Abbott explains this construction, not uncommon in the Elizabethan period, as an omission of the auxiliary verb “do” (S. G. § 305). But here the main verb is _heard_, whereas, according to his explanation, grammar would require _hear_. May not the construction be better taken as a simple, though to our ears cumbrous, inversion of, _So I heard them not_?

III, i, 366. _cause_--affair, business--so also in III, i, 377.

III, i, 388. _Calenture_--a disease incident to sailors within the tropics; a burning fever.

III, i, 428-9. _flegme ... choller_--in the old physiologies the predominance of the “humour, phlegm,” was held to cause constitutional indolence or apathy,--the predominance of “choler” to cause irascibility.

III, i, 432. _’em_--grammatical precision would require _him_, as is substituted in M., f. In Field’s rapid, loose style, however, a change of construction in mid-sentence is not improbable, and the Q. reading may very well reproduce accurately what he wrote.

III, i, 441. _thou curious impertinent_--the epithet is from _The Curious Impertinent_ of Cervantes, a story imbedded in _Don Quixote, Part I_.

III, i, 463. _I not accuse_--cf. note on l. 354.

III, i, 467. _Ere liue--Ere I should live_ is required in full by strict grammar, but Field’s verse is frequently elliptical. Gifford’s emendation to _lived_ for the sake of grammatical regularity, which is followed by all later editors, is unwarranted.

III, i, 467. _mens marginall fingers_--the figure is an allusion to the ancient custom of placing an index hand in the margin of books, to direct the reader’s attention to a striking passage. So does Romont picture men’s fingers pointing to the story of Charalois as a noteworthy and lamentable thing. Cf. IV, i, 56.

III, i, 469-470. _An Emperour put away his wife for touching Another man._--The source of this allusion is not apparent. Can it be a perversion in the mind of Field of the story of Caesar’s divorce of his wife, to which Massinger has already referred above (l. 148)?

IV, i, 3. _a flaxe_--the flax wick of a lamp or candle.

IV, i, 3. _a red headed womans chamber_--Since early times red-haired individuals have been supposed to emit an emanation having a powerful sexually exciting influence. In the Romance countries, France and Italy, this belief is universally diffused.--Iwan Block: _The Sexual Life of our Time_--transl. by Eden Paul--p. 622.

Cf. also Gabrielle D’Annunzio: _Il Piacere_, p. 90:

“‘Have you noticed the armpits of Madame Chrysoloras? Look!’”

“The Duke di Beffi indicated a dancer, who had upon her brow, white
as a marble of Luni, a firebrand of red tresses, like a priestess
of Alma Tadema. Her bodice was fastened on the shoulders by mere
ribbons, and there were revealed beneath the armpits two luxuriant
tufts of red hair.

“Bomminaco began to discourse upon the peculiar odour which
red-haired women have.”

IV, i, 13. _Cell_--so in the Q. and all later texts. Yet the word is utterly unsatisfactory to the sense of the passage; it should almost certainly be _coil_--i. e., tumult, confusion, fuss, ado. Cf. Field in _Amends for Ladies_, II, iv: “Here’s a coil with a lord and his sister.”

IV, i, 23. _a lace_--a trimming of lace.

IV, i, 27. _pickadille_--the expansive collar fashionable in the early part of the seventeenth century.

IV, i, 27. _in puncto_--in point; i. e., in proper condition, in order.

IV, i, 32. _Iacobs staffe_--an instrument formerly used for measuring the altitude of the sun; a cross-staff.

IV, i, 32. _Ephimerides_--a table showing the positions of a heavenly body for a series of successive days.

IV, i, 39-40. _if he would but cut the coate according to the cloth still_--“to cut one’s coat after one’s cloth” was: “to adapt one’s self to circumstances;” “to measure expense by income.” The point of its employment here is not plain; it is doubtful if anything were very clear in Field’s own mind, who was merely trying to hit off an epigrammatical phrase. Perhaps, “make the coat match the man.”

IV, i, 72. _Narcissus-like_--like Narcissus, in classic myth. See Ovid, _Meta._, iii, 341-510.

IV, i, 72. _should_--G., f. read _shouldst_, but the breach of agreement between subject and verb is to be explained by the attraction of the verb to the third person by the interposed _Narcissus-like_; just as four lines further on we find _shouldst_ for _should_, because of the similar intrusion between subject and verb of (_but thy selfe sweete Lord_).

IV, i, 92. _a Barber Surgeon_--formerly the barber was also a regular practitioner in surgery and dentistry. Cf. Beaumont & Fletcher, _The Knight of the Burning Pestle_, III, iv.

IV, i, 96. _ouerthrowne_--M., f. read _overflown_, i. e., become excessive or inordinate; so full that the contents run over the brim. The reading of the Q., however, is quite intelligible,--taking _overthrown_ in the sense of _thrown too strongly_.

IV, i, 135. _Colbran_--more properly _Colbrand_ or _Collebrand_, a wicked giant in the medieval romance of Guy of Warwick. He is the champion of the invading King of Denmark, who challenges the English King, Athelstan, to produce a knight who can vanquish Colbrand, or to yield as his vassal. In this hour of need Guy appears, fights with the giant, and kills him.

IV, i, 137. _hee’l make some of you smoake_,--i. e., “make some of you _suffer_.” Cf. Beaumont & Fletcher, _The Knight of the Burning Pestle_, I, ii, 136: “I’ll make some of ’em smoke for’t;” and Shakespeare, _Titus Andronicus_, IV, iii, 111: “Or some of you shall smoke for it in Rome.”

IV, i, 138. _a Consort_--“In the author’s age, the taverns were infested with itinerant bands of musicians, each of which (jointly and individually) was called a noise or _consort_: these were sometimes invited to play for the company, but seem more frequently to have thrust themselves, unasked, into it, with an offer of their services: their intrusion was usually prefaced with, ‘By your leave, gentlemen, will you hear any music?’”--Gifford.

IV, i, 145. _of_--formerly sometimes substituted, as here, for _on_ in colloquial usage. So also _on_ for _of_, as in l. 148. Cf. also l. 182.

IV, i, 197-8. _’tis Fairies treasure Which but reueal’d brings on the blabbers ruine._--To confide in any one about a fairy’s gift rendered it void, according to popular tradition, and drew down the fairy giver’s anger. In instance, see John Aubrey’s _Remains_ (Reprinted in _Publications of the Folk-Lore Society_, vol. IV, p. 102): “Not far from Sir Bennet Hoskyns, there was a labouring man, that rose up early every day to go to worke; who for a good while many dayes together found a nine-pence in the way that he went. His wife wondering how he came by so much money, was afraid he gott it not honestlye; at last he told her, and afterwards he never found any more.”

There are numerous literary allusions to this superstition: e. g., Shakespeare, _The Winter’s Tale_, III, iii, 127, ff.: “This is fairy gold, boy; and ’twill prove so. Up with’t, keep it close.... We are lucky, boy; and to be so still requires nothing but secrecy.”

And Field himself in _Woman is a Weathercock_, I, i:

“I see you labour with some serious thing,
And think (like fairy’s treasure) to reveal it,
Will cause it vanish.”

IV, i, 210-1. _louers periury_, etc.--that Jove laughed at and overlooked lovers’ perjuries was a familiar proverb. Cf. Massinger, _The Parliament of Love_, C-G. 192 a: “Jupiter and Venus smile At lovers’ perjuries;” and Shakespeare, _Romeo and Juliet_, II, ii, 92: “at lovers’ perjuries, They say, Jove laughs.” The saying goes back to Ovid’s _Art of Love_, book I;--as Marlowe has translated it:

“For Jove himself sits in the azure skies,
And laughs below at lovers’ perjuries.”

IV, ii, 71. _On all aduantage take thy life_--i. e., “Taking every advantage of you, kill you.”

IV, ii, 84. Such whose bloods wrongs, or wrong done to _themselues_--the Q.’s regular omission of the possessive apostrophe has in this instance confused later editors in their understanding of the passage. We would write _blood’s_,--with the meaning: “Those whom wrongs to kindred or to themselves,” etc.

IV, iii, 12. _so_--there is no direct antecedent, but one is easily understandable from the general sense of what precedes; _to be so_--i. e., “as you were in thankfulness to the General.”

IV, iv, 10. _it_--another case of a pronoun with antecedent merely implied in the general sense of what precedes; _it_ = “the fact that I am not worthy the looking on, but only,” etc.

IV, iv, 30. _such defence_--i. e., “the defence of such a one.” _Such_ = qualis.

IV, iv, 66. _To this_--i. e., to tears.

IV, iv, 70. _those fam’d matrones_--cf. Massinger in _The Virgin Martyr_, C-G. 33 a:

“You will rise up with reverence, and no more,
As things unworthy of your thoughts, remember
What the canonized Spartan ladies were,
Which lying Greece so boasts of. Your own matrons,
Your Roman dames, whose figures you yet keep
As holy relics, in her history
Will find a second urn: Gracchus’ Cornelia,
Paulina, that in death desired to follow
Her husband Seneca, nor Brutus’ Portia,
That swallowed burning coals to overtake him,
Though all their several worths were given to one,
With this is to be mention’d.”

IV, iv, 112. _on it_--i. e., “on what you say.”

IV, iv, 156. _be_--“be” expresses more doubt than “is” after a verb of _thinking_. Cf. Abbott, S. G., § 299.

V, i, 5. _lay me vp_--imprison me.

V, i, 7. _varlets_--the name given to city bailiffs or sergeants. Perhaps here, however, it is applied merely as a term of abuse.

V, i, 9. _Innes of court man_--a member of one of the four Inns of Court (The Inner Temple, The Middle Temple, Lincoln’s Inn, and Gray’s Inn), legal societies which served for the Elizabethan the function which our law-schools perform to-day. Overbury says of the Inns of Court Man, in his _Characters_: “Hee is distinguished from a scholler by a pair of silk-stockings, and a beaver hat, which make him contemn a scholler as much as a scholler doth a school-master.... He is as far behind a courtier in his fashion, as a scholler is behind him.... He laughs at every man whose band sits not well, or that hath not a faire shoo-tie, and he is ashamed to be seen in any mans company that weares not his clothes well. His very essence he placeth in his outside.... You shall never see him melancholy, but when he wants a new suit, or feares a sergeant....”

V, i, 13. _coming forth_--appearance in court, or from prison.

V, i, 28. _manchets_--small loaves or rolls of the finest wheaten bread. There seems to have been a commonplace concerning the huge quantities of bread devoured by tailors. Cf. l. 88 below, and Note.

V, i, 31. _leaue swordmen_--i. e., swordmen (swaggering ruffians who claim the profession of arms) _on leave_. It is possible, however, that _leaue_ is a misprint (by inversion of a letter) for _leane_ = hungry.

V, i, 83. _hangers_--not “short-swords”, as in l. 31, but here “pendants”, perhaps a part of the hat-band hanging loose, or else loops or straps on the swordbelt, often richly ornamented, from which the sword was hung. Cf. Shakespeare, _Hamlet_, V, ii, 157-167.

V, i, 83. _Hell_--a place under a tailor’s shop-board, in which shreds or pieces of cloth, cut off in the process of cutting clothes, are thrown, and looked upon as perquisites. Cf. Overbury’s _Characters, A Taylor_: “Hee differeth altogether from God; for with him the best pieces are still marked out for damnation, and without hope of recovery shall be cast down into hell.”

V, i, 88. _Our breakefasts famous for the buttred loaues_--Cf. above l. 28, and Note; also Glapthorne’s _Wit in a Constable_, V, i:

“as easily as a Taylor
Would do six hot loaves in a morning fasting,
And yet dine after.”

V, i, 90. _vse a conscience_--show or feel compunction; be tender-hearted.

V, i, 91. _hall_--a house or building belonging to a guild or fraternity of merchants or tradesmen. At such places the business of the respective guilds was transacted; and in some instances they served as the market-houses for the sale of the goods of the associated members.

V, i, 97. _compleate Mounsieur_--perfect gentleman.

V, i, 102. _pantofle_--slipper; here used figuratively for: the shoe-maker’s profession.

V, ii, 27. _a barbarous Sythian_--Cf. Purchas’ _Pilgrimage_ (ed. 1613, p. 333): “They [The Scythians] cut off the noses of men, and imprinted pictures in the flesh of women, whom they overcame: and generally their customes of warre were bloudie: what man soever the Scythian first taketh, he drinketh his bloud: he offereth to the King all the heads of the men he hath slaine in battell: otherwise he may not share in the spoile: the skinnes of their crownes flaid off, they hang at their horse bridles: their skinnes they use to flay for napkins and other uses, and some for cloathing.... These customes were generall to the Scythians of Europe and Asia (for which cause _Scytharum facinora patrare_, grew into a proverbe of immane crueltie, and their Land was justly called Barbarous).”

V, ii, 40. _made no hornes at me_--to “make horns” at any one was the common method of taunting one with having horns,--i. e., with being a cuckold.

V, ii, 51. _made vp with_--set with the expression of.

V, ii, 102. _by pieces_--in part.

V, iii, 8.--Charmi’s speech is addressed to Charalois, as is that of Du Croy which follows it.

V, iii, 18 ff.--M., f. insert _when_ after _that_ of l. 18. This is probably the correct reading. It would be possible, however, to let the line stand without alteration, if the _that_ of l. 20 be taken as coordinate with the _that_ of l. 18, introducing a second clause depending on _am sorry_ (instead of correlative with _so_ to introduce a result-clause). With this reading, _left_ (l. 22) would be taken as an ellipsis for _being left_; with the emended reading, for _was left_. Though the construction is in doubt, the sense is easy.

V, iii, 22. _vndermine_--an object, _it_, is understood,--i. e., _the building of my life_.

V, iii, 34. _her--its_ was rare in Elizabethan usage. Cf. Abbott, S. G., §§ 228, 229.

V, iii, 46. _compassion of_--former obsolete construction for “compassion for.” Cf. Shakespeare, _Henry VI, Part I_, IV, i, 56; “Mov’d with compassion of my country’s wreck.”

V, iii, 59. _motion_--C., f. read _motion’s_,--an uncalled-for emendation, since ellipsis of _is_ was not infrequent. Cf. Shakespeare, _Henry V_, IV, i, 197: “’Tis certain, every man that dies ill, the ill [is] upon his own head.”

V, iii, 93. _and yet the fault kept from me_--loose construction, not easily parsed, though the sense is clear.

V, iii, 98. _As ... to vndergoe_--again a loose construction. It should be, properly: _That ... he would undergo_, etc.

V, iii, 107-9. _like the fatall gold_, etc.--In this passage the two leaders of the Gauls known to history by the same name appear to be confounded--(1): Brennus, who sacked Rome in 390 B. C., and consented to withdraw after receiving a large ransom of gold;--and (2): Brennus, who led the irruption of the Gauls into Greece in the second century B. C., and attempted to despoil Delphi of its treasure, but did not succeed in doing so. The fact that their respective expeditions are said to have borne an immediate sequel of disaster and death for both alike, may be responsible for the dramatist’s mistake.

V, iii, 131. _homicide_--formerly, as here, = _murderer_.

V, iii, 139. _in way of_--in the manner of.

V, iii, 144. _the hate betweene his house and mine_--cf. III, i, 416.

V, iii, 166. _more presumptions_--C., f. read _mere presumptions_, which is probably correct. An alternative possibility should be noted, however: that _presumptions_ by mis-reading from the Ms. (or by the mere inversion of a _u_) may be a mis-print for presumptious (presumptuous) = _presumptive_, in which case _more_ would be retained, with the passage to mean: “You must find other proofs to strengthen these, and they must, moreover, be of a nature to give more reasonable grounds for presumption.”

V, iii, 174-5.--The last two lines of Charalois’ speech are addressed to his judges; what preceded them to Novall.

V, iii, 190. _bands_--the emendation _bawds_, proposed by Coxeter and followed by all subsequent editors, seems almost surely correct. “Bawd” prior to 1700 was a term applied to men as well as--and, indeed, more frequently than--to women. Cf. Shakespeare, _Hamlet_, I, iii, 130.

V, iii, 190. _tooke_--where the common Elizabethan custom of dropping the _-en_ inflectional ending of the past participle rendered a confusion with the infinitive liable, the past tense of the verb was used for the participle. Cf. Abbott, S. G., § 343.

V, iii, 193. _this matron_--i. e., Florimel.

V, iii, 205. _in Nouall_--i. e., “in the person of Novall.”

V, iii, 207. _Thy challenge now I answere_--this phrase would indicate that Romont crosses swords with Pontalier, and after a moment of fencing runs him through; instead of striking him unawares, as the modern stage direction, “_Stabs Pontalier_,” would imply.

V, iii, 226. _these--i. e._, Aymer, Florimel, and Bellapert.

_Court. Song_, l. 3. first--i. e., “in the front part of,” to meet the customers and be herself an attraction and an object of display, while the husband remains “at tother end” (l. 8) of the store.

_Court. Song_, l. 4.--This is a most unduly long line. It seems probable that, in the Ms. from which the play was printed, the three phrases, “A faire wife,” “a kinde wife,” and “a sweet wife,” were _three variant_ readings, which, by mistake, were _all_ incorporated in the text. Any one of them used alone would give a perfectly normal line.

GLOSSARY

_affection_, bent, inclination, _penchant_. I, ii, 32.

_allow_, command, approve. IV, i, 9.

_answere_, correspond to. III, i, 82.

_arrests_, stoppages, delays. III, i, 43.

_author_, to be the author, of a statement; to state, declare, say. IV, ii, 19.

_baffled_, disgraced, treated with contumely. IV, i, 112.

_balm_, an aromatic preparation for embalming the dead. II, i, 79.

_band_, a collar or ruff worn round the neck by man or woman. II, ii, 77; etc.

_banquerout_, early spelling of _bankrupt_, which was originally _banke rota_ (see N. E. D. for variants under _bankrupt_), from Italian _banca rotta_, of which _banqueroute_ is the French adaptation. The modern spelling, _bankrupt_, with the second part of the word assimilated to the equivalent Latin _ruptus_, as in _abrupt_, etc., first appears in 1543. I, i, 127; ii, 88.

_black_, a funereal drapery. II, i, 51; ii, 117.

_brabler_, a quarrelsome fellow; a brawler. III, i, 358.

_braue_, in loose sense of approbation, good, excellent, worthy, etc. I, ii, 256; 292; etc.

_bumfiddles_, beats, thumps. IV, i, 140.

_cabinet_, a secret receptacle; a jewel-box. II, ii, 34.

_canniball_, a strong term of abuse for “blood-thirsty savage.” IV, iv, 185.

_Caroch_, coach. II, ii, 28; IV, ii, 95.

_case_, exterior; skin or hide of an animal, or garments--hence, perhaps, _disguise_. V, i, 73.

_censure_, a judicial sentence. I, ii, 53.--in the sense of _sentence to punishment_. II, ii, 166; 172.

_chalenge_, demand. V, ii, 88.

_change_, exchange. III, i, 117.--_chang’d_, I, i, 66.

_charges_, expenses. I, ii, 191.

_charitable_, benevolent, kindly, showing Christian charity. I, i, 117.

_circumstance_, the adjuncts of a fact which make it more or less criminal. V, iii, 52.

_close_, close-fitting. IV, i, 124.

_cold_, unimpassioned, deliberate. V, ii, 86.

_coloured_, specious. III, i, 139.

_comely_, becoming, proper, decorous. III, i, 163.

_complement_, observing of ceremony in social relations; formal civility, politeness. III, i, 439.

_conference_, subject of conversation. II, ii, 139.

_conscious_, inwardly sensible of wrong-doing. III, i, 353.--aware. V, ii, 67.

_consists_, lies, has its place. III, i, 489.

_courtesie_, generosity, benevolence. V, iii, 73.

_Courtship_, courteous behavior, courtesy. III, i, 276; 439.

_credits_, reputations, good name. I, ii, 67.

_curiosity_, elegance of construction. II, ii, 67.

_curious_, careful, studious, solicitous. IV, i, 102.--made with art or care; elaborately or beautifully wrought; fine; “nice”. _Cit. Song._ l. 5.

_dag_, a kind of heavy pistol or hand-gun. IV, i, 170 _s. d._

_debate_, strife, dissension, quarreling. III, i, 443.

_decent_, becoming, appropriate, fitting. I, ii, 77.

_defeatures_, defeats. I, ii, 177.

_demonstrauely_, in a manner that indicates clearly or plainly. IV, i, 55.

_deserued_, deserving. II, ii, 189.

_determine_, decree. II, ii, 172.

_detract_, disparage, traduce, speak evil of. I, ii, 271.

_dis-become_, misbecome, be unfitting for or unworthy of. V, iii, 47.

_discouery_, revelation, disclosure. III, i, 91; V, iii, 194.

_distaste_, estrangement, quarrel. IV, ii, 1.--offence. V, iii, 15.

_doubtfull_, fearful, apprehensive. IV, ii, 88.

_doubts_, apprehensions. III, i, 246.

_earth’d_, buried. II, i, 126.

_edify_, gain instruction; profit, in a spiritual sense. IV, i, 62.

_engag’d_, obliged, attached by gratitude. III, i, 242.

_engender_, copulate. III, i, 423.

_engine_, device, artifice, plot. III, i, 157.

_ensignes_, signs, tokens, characteristic marks. I, i, 144.

_entertaine_, accept. V, ii, 82.

_entertainment_, provision for the support of persons in service--especially soldiers; pay, wages. I, ii, 188.

_ernest_, a sum of money paid as an installment to secure a contract. V, i, 44.

_except against_, take exception against. IV, iii, 19.

_exhaust_, “draw out”; not as to-day, “use up completely.” II, i, 103.

_expression_, designation. V, i, 33.

_factor_, one who has the charge and manages the affairs of an estate; a bailiff, land-steward. I, ii, 135. Cf. Shakespeare, _Henry IV, Part I_, III, ii, 147: “Percy is but my factor,” etc.

_familiar_, well acquainted. I, i, 3.

_feares_, fears for. IV, ii, 89.

_fit_, punish; visit with a fit penalty. III, i, 253.

_forespake_, foretold, predicted. III, i, 251.

_fortunes_, happens, chances, occurs. V, ii, 16.

_gallimaufry_, contemptuous term for “a man of many accomplishments”; a ridiculous medley; a hodge-podge. II, ii, 95.

_gamesters_, those addicted to amorous sport. III, i, 33.

_Geometrician_, one who measures the earth or land; a land-surveyor. IV, i, 21.

_get_, beget. I, ii, 246.

_gigglet_, a lewd, wanton woman. III, i, 308.

_honestie_, honorable character, in a wide, general sense. To the Elizabethan it especially connoted _fidelity_, _trustiness_. II, i, 115.

_horslock_, a shackle for a horse’s feet; hence applied to any hanging lock; a padlock. IV, i, 78.

_humanity_, learning or literature concerned with human culture: a term including the various branches of polite scholarship, as grammar, rhetoric, poetry, and esp. the study of the ancient Latin and Greek classics. II, i, 3.

_humour_, used here in the specific Jonsonian sense of a dominating trait or mood. I, i, 124; ii, 31.

_imployments_, services (to a person). I, ii, 28.

_individually_, indivisibly, inseparably. II, ii, 316.

_Infanta_, the title properly applied to a daughter of the King and Queen of Spain or Portugal. IV, i, 75.

_issues_, actions, deeds. II, ii, 198.

_kinde_, agreeable, pleasant, winsome. _Court. Song._ l. 4.

_Lard_, an obsolete form of _Lord_. IV, i, 2. Cf. Congreve, _Old Bach._, II, iii: “Lard, Cousin, you talk oddly.”

_League_, probably used for _Leaguer_ (so emended by M., f.): a military camp, especially one engaged in a siege. III, i, 175.

_learnd_, informed. III, i, 156.

_legge_, an obeisance made by drawing back one leg and bending the other; a bow, scrape. III, i, 124.

_lively_, _living_. II, i, 46.--gay, full of life. II, ii, 76.--life-like. II, ii, 232.

_map_, embodiment, incarnation. II, ii, 136. Cf. H. Smith, _Sinf. Man’s Search_, Six Sermons: “What were man if he were once left to himselfe? A map of misery.”

_mome_, blockhead, dolt, fool. Court. Song, l. 13.

_monument_, sepulchre. I, ii, 212.

_moue_, urge, appeal to, make a request to. IV, iv, 11.

_next_, shortest, most convenient or direct. V, i, 37.

_nice_, petty, insignificant, trifling. III, i, 442.

_note_, show forth; demonstrate. III, i, 504.

_Obiect_, bring forward in opposition as an adverse reason, or by way of accusation. IV, iv, 174.

_obnoxious_, liable, exposed, open, vulnerable. III, i, 354.

_obsequious_, prompt to serve or please, dutiful. V, iii, 90.

_obseruers_, those who show respect, deference, or dutiful attention; obsequious followers. IV, iv, 43.

_Orphants_, obsolete corrupt form of _Orphans_. I, ii, 206. It survives in dialect. Cf. James Whitcomb Riley’s _Little Orphant Annie_.

_overcome_, usually, “conquer”, “prevail”; but here, “out-do”, “surpass”. I, i, 187.

_parts_, function, office, business, duty. Formerly used in the plural, as here, though usually when referring to a number of persons. I, i, 9; ii, 9; V. iii, 39.--qualities. IV, iv, 105.

_pious_, used in the arch. sense of _dutiful_. I, i, 101.

_practicke_, practical work or application; practice as opposed to theory. II, i, 2.

_Praecipuce_ (mis-print for _precipice_), a precipitate or headlong fall or descent, especially to a great depth. III, i, 464.

_presently_, immediately, quickly, promptly. IV, iv, 89.

_president_ [variant of _precedent_], example, instance, illustration. V, iii, 226.

_preuent_, anticipate. I, i, 64; ii, 17; IV, ii, 32.

_Prouince_, duty, office, function; branch of the government. I, ii, 23.

_punctual_, punctilious, careful of detail. IV, i, 42.

_purl_, the pleat or fold of a ruff or band; a frill. II, ii, 77.

_quick_, alive. I, ii, 178.

_Ram-heads_, cuckolds. II, i, 31.

_recent_, fresh. II, i, 19.

_roaring_, riotous, bullying, hectoring. IV, i, 203.

_sawcily_, formerly a word of more serious reprobation than in modern usage: “with presumptuous insolence.” I, ii, 106.

_scandall_, to spread scandal concerning; to defame. I, ii, 58.

_sect_, class, order. V, i, 79.

_seene_, experienced, versed. III, i, 268.

_seruant_, a professed lover; one who is devoted to the service of a lady. II, ii, 40; etc.

_seruice_, the devotion of a lover. III, i, 81; IV, iv, 107.

_set forth_, adorned. IV, iv, 106.

_skills_, signifies, matters. I, ii, 286.

_snort_, snore. _Court. Song._ l. 12.

_soft_, tender-hearted, pitiful. II, i, 23.

_sooth’d_, assented to; humoured by agreement or concession. V, i, 55.

_Spittle_, hospital. III, i, 210. Cf. Shakespeare, _Henry V_, II, i, 78; V, i, 86.

_spleene_, caprice. I, i, 49.

_state_, estate. II, ii, 294; III, i, 24; IV, iv, 178; V, iii, 119.

_submisse_, submissive. I, i, 179.

_take_, charm, captivate. I, ii, 206.

_taske_, take to task; censure, reprove, chide, reprehend = _tax_. I, ii, 64.

_temper_, temperateness, calmness of mind, self-restraint. V, iii, 40.

_theorique_, theory; theoretical knowledge, as opposed to practice. II, i, 2.

_Thrift_, here used in the old sense of _prosperity_ or _success_. I, i, 170.

_toyes_, whims, caprices, trifles. III, i, 442.

_vncivil_, unrefined, ill-bred, not polished. III, i, 490.

_vailes_, perquisites. V, i, 83.

_Visitation_, visit. II, ii, 310.

_wagtaile_, a term of familiarity and contempt; a wanton. II, ii, 7.

_where_, whereas. I, i, 71.

_wittoll_, a man who knows of his wife’s infidelity and submits to it; a submissive cuckold. V, iii, 99.

_wreake_, vengeance, revenge. IV, iv, 183; V, ii, 43.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

The Quarto, and the various modern editions and translations of _The Fatal Dowry_ have already been recorded in the opening pages of the INTRODUCTION. In the editions there noted of the collected works of Massinger will be found all the plays which bear his name. (_Believe As You List_ appears only in Cunningham’s edition of Gifford and in the Mermaid Series’ _Massinger_.) Field’s two independent plays, _Woman is a Weathercock_ (Q. 1612) and _Amends for Ladies_ (Q’s. 1618, 1639), were reprinted by J. P. Collier, London, 1829. They are included in Thomas White’s _Old English Dramas_, London, 1830; in W. C. Hazlitt’s edition of Dodsley’s _Old English Plays_, London, Reeves and Turner, 1875; and in the Mermaid Series volume, _Nero and Other Plays_, with an Introduction by A. W. Verity, London and New York, 1888. All other extant dramas in which either Massinger or Field had a share may be found in any edition of the collected works of Beaumont & Fletcher, with the exception of _Sir John van Olden Barnavelt_, which appears in vol. II of Bullen’s _Old Plays_, London, Weyman and Sons, 1883.

The stage version of _The Fatal Dowry_ by Sheil is printed in _French’s Acting Edition_, vol. 9. Of the related plays, _The Lady’s Trial_ and _The Fair Penitent_ may be found in all editions of the collected works respectively of John Ford and Nicholas Rowe; _The Fair Penitent_ is also published along with Rowe’s _Jane Shore_ in the Belles Lettres Series, 1907. For _The Insolvent_, see _The Dramatic Works of Aaron Hill, Esq._, 2 vols., 1760. DER GRAF VON CHAROLAIS _ein Trauerspiel von Richard Beer-Hofmann_ is printed by S. Fischer, Berlin, 1906.

The following works have bearing upon the play or its authors:

Beck, C.: _Phil. Massinger_, THE FATALL DOWRY. _Einleitung zu einer
neuen Ausgabe_. Beyreuth, 1906.

Boyle, R.: _Beaumont, Fletcher and Massinger_. Englische Studien,
vol. V.

CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE, THE,--vol. VI. Cambridge,
1910.

Courthope, W. J.: _A History of English Poetry_, vol. IV. Macmillan,
1903.

Cumberland: His famous comparison of _The Fatal Dowry_ with _The
Fair Penitent_, which originally appeared in _The Observer_, Nos.
LXXVII-LXXIX, is reprinted in Gifford’s Edition of Massinger.

DICTIONARY OF NATIONAL BIOGRAPHY--_Field_, by J. Knight; _Massinger_,
by R. Boyle.

Fleay, F. G.: _A Biographical Chronicle of the English Drama_
(1559-1642). 2 vols. London. Reeves and Turner. 1891.

_Annals of the Career of Nathaniel Field_. Englische Studien, vol.
XIII.

Genest, John: _Some Account of the English Stage from the Restoration
in 1660 to 1830_. 10 vols. Bath, 1832.

Gosse, E. W.: _The Jacobean Poets_. (Univ. Series). Scribner’s, 1894.

Koeppel, E.: _Quelenstudien zu den Dramen George Chapman’s, Philip
Massinger’s und John Ford’s_. Strassburg. 1897.

Murray, John Tucker: _English Dramatic Companies_ (1558-1642). 2
vols. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 1910.

Oliphant, E. F.: _The Works of Beaumont and Fletcher_. Englische
Studien, vols. XIV-XVI. [This is not concerned with _The Fatal
Dowry_, but contains inquiry into other collaboration work of
Massinger and Field in plays of the period, with an analysis of the
distinctive characteristics of Massinger (XIV, 71-6) and the same for
Field (XV, 330-1).]

Phelan, James: _On Philip Massinger_. Halle. 1878. Reprinted in
_Anglia_, vol. II, 1879.

Schelling, F. E.: _Elizabethan Drama_. 2 vols. Houghton, Mifflin &
Co. 1908.

Schwarz, F. H.: _Nicholas Rowe’s_ FAIR PENITENT. A Contribution to
Literary Analysis. _With a Side-reference to Richard Beer-Hofmann’s_
GRAF VON CHAROLAIS. Berne. 1907.

Stephens, Sir Leslie: _Philip Massinger_. The Cornhill Magazine.
Reprinted in _Hours in a Library_, Third Series. 1879.

Swinburne, A. C.: _Philip Massinger_. The Fortnightly Review. July,
1889.

Thorndike, Ashley H.: _Tragedy_. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 1908.

Ward, A. W.: _A History of English Dramatic Literature_. 3 vols.
Macmillan. 1899.

Wurzbach, W. von: _Philip Massinger_. Shakesp. Jahrb., vols. XXXV and
XXXVI.

Footnotes: Preface and Introduction

[1] Fleay (_Chron. Eng. Dra._, I, 208) thinks that the otherwise lost Massinger play, _The Judge_, licensed by Herbert in 1627, and included in the list of Warburton’s collection, may have been _The Fatal Dowry_. He declares, moreover, that “the decree in favor of creditors in I, ii _a_ was a statute made in 1623,” and suggests that Massinger after this date made over an independent play of Field’s, now lost. But I think that any one who surveys in _The Fatal Dowry_ the respective hands of its authors will incline strongly to the conviction that this drama is the offspring of joint effort rather than the re-handling of one man’s work by another. The decree to which Fleay has reference appears to be that to be found in _Statutes of the Realm_, IV, ii, 1227-9, recorded as 21º Jac I, 19. This is an act passed by the parliament of 1623-4; it somewhat increases the stringency of the already-existing severe laws in regard to bankrupts, but contains nothing which even faintly suggests the decree in our play, by which the creditors are empowered to withhold the corpse of their debtor from burial; and, indeed, it is obviously impossible that a statute permitting any such practice could have been passed in Christian England of the seventeenth century. The fact is that this feature of the plot is taken direct from a classical author (see under SOURCES), and it would be gratuitous to assume in it a reference to contemporaneous legislation. As for the hypothesis that _The Fatal Dowry_ and _The Judge_ are the same play, in the utter absence of any supporting evidence it must be thrown out of court. This sort of identification is a confirmed vice with Fleay. _The Judge_ is, moreover, listed as a comedy (see reprint of Warburton’s list in Fleay’s _The Life and Work of Shakespeare_, p. 358).

[2] Two other arguments--both fallacious--have been advanced for a more assured dating.

Formal prologues and epilogues came into fashion about 1620, and the absence of such appendages in the case of _The Fatal Dowry_ has been generally taken as evidence for its appearance before that year; but for a Massinger production no such inference can be drawn--there is no formal prologue or epilogue in any of his extant plays before _The Emperor of the East_ and _Believe as You List_, which were licensed for acting in 1631.

The suggestion (Fleay: _Chron. Eng. Dra._, I, p. 208) that Field took the part of Florimel, and that the mention of her age as thirty-two years (II, ii, 17) has reference to his own age at the time the play was produced (thus fixing the date: 1619), is an idea so far-fetched and fantastic that it is amazing to find it quoted with perfect gravity by Ward (_Hist. Eng. Dra. Lit._, III, 39). That Field, second only to Burbage among the actors of his time, should have played the petty role of Florimel is a ridiculous supposition. It is strange that anyone who considered references of this sort a legitimate clue did not build rather upon the statement (II, i, 13) that Charalois was twenty-eight. But such grounds for theorizing are utterly unsubstantial; there is no earthly warrant for identifying the age of an author’s creation with the age of the author himself.

[3] I would not, however, think it very improbable that Field might have engaged in the composition of _The Fatal Dowry_ immediately after his retirement, when the ties with his old profession were, perhaps, not yet altogether broken.

[4] On a careful inspection of the entire dramatic output of Massinger, both unaided work and plays done in collaboration, I have found worthy of record parallels to passages in _The Fatal Dowry_ to the number of: 24, in _The Unnatural Combat_, 14 in the Massinger share (about ⅗) of _The Virgin Martyr_, 18 in _The Renegado_, 11 in _The Duke of Milan_, 10 in _The Guardian_, and in none of the rest as many as 8.--But Massinger’s undoubted share (⅓) of _The Little French Lawyer_ yields 6; ⅖ of _The Double Marriage_, 6; ⅖ of _The Spanish Curate_, 6; ⅖ of _Sir John van Olden Barnavelt_, 4.

[5] _E. g._, I, i (Massinger) with its grave rhetoric uniformly sustained, and, in immediate succession, II, i (Decker), a medley of coarse buffoonery and tender and beautiful verse.

[6] As witness _The False One_. Here Massinger seems to have projected a stately historical drama of war and factional intrigue, with a conception of Cleopatra as the Great Queen, more a Semiramis or a Zenobia than “the serpent of old Nile,” and so treats his subject in the first and last Acts; while Fletcher “assists” him by filling the middle section of the play with scenes theatrically effective but leading nowhere, and in them makes the heroine the traditional “gipsy” Cleopatra.

[7] The only other modern attempt to apportion the play is that of C. Beck (_The Fatal Dowry_, Friedrich-Alexander Univ. thesis, 1906, pp. 89-94). He assigns Massinger everything except the prose passages of II, ii and IV, i, and perhaps II, i, 93-109. His _a priori_ theory of distribution seems to be that all portions of the play which he deems of worth must be Massinger’s. It is difficult to speak of Beck’s monograph with sufficiently scant respect.

[8] References to the plays of Massinger are either by page and column of the Cunningham-Gifford edition of his works (designated C-G.), or, in the case of plays in the Beaumont & Fletcher _corpus_ in which he or Field collaborated, by volume and page of the Dyce edition (designated _D._). Field’s two independent comedies are referred to by page of the Mermaid Series volume which contains them: _Nero and Other Plays_ (designated _M._).

[9] The figures for the speech-ending test for each scene will be found in the table at the end of this section, and are not given in the course of the detailed examination of the play, save in the case of one passage, where the ambiguity of their testimony is noted. In all other Scenes they merely corroborate the evidence of the other tests.

[10] This is all the more rampant in that it is suddenly called back into activity after its period of obscuration while she yielded herself to a cynical, immoral opportunism, and is now brought, by a fearful shock, to confront higher ethical values and real manhood. For this time she is given not a Novall but a Charalois to idealize.