Chapter XXXV: Epilogue: , (1)

To be spoken by _Mrs. Cooke_.

_With our old Plays, as with dull Wife it fares, To whom you have been marry’d tedious Years. You cry--She’s wondrous good, it is confessed, | But still ‘tis_ Chapon Boüillé _at the best; | That constant Dish can never make a Feast: | Yet the pall’d Pleasure you must still pursue, You give so small Incouragement for new; And who would drudge for such a wretched Age, Who want the Bravery to support one Stage? The wiser Wits have now new Measures set, And taken up new Trades that they may hate. No more your nice fantastick Pleasures serve, Your Pimps you pay, but let your Poets starve, They long in vain for better Usage hop’d, Till quite undone and tir’d, they dropt and dropt; Not one is left will write for thin third Day, Like desperate Pickeroons, no Prize no Pay; And when they have done their best, the Recompence Is, Damn the Sot, his Play wants common Sense, Ill-natured Wits, who can so ill requite The drudging Slaves, who for your Pleasure write.

Look back on flourishing_ Rome, _ye proud Ingrates, And see how she her thriving Poets treats: Wisely she priz’d ‘em at the noblest Rate, | As necessary Ministers of State, | And Contributions rais’d to make ‘em great. | They from the publick Bank she did maintain, And freed from want, they only writ for Fame; And were as useful in a City held, As formidable Armies in the Field. They but a Conquest over Men pursued, While these by gentle force the Soul subdu’d. Not_ Rome _in all her happiest Pomp cou’d show | A greater_ Caesar _than we boast of now_; | Augustus _reigns, but Poets still are low. |

May Caesar live, and while his mighty Hand Is scattering Plenty over all the Land; With God-like Bounty recompensing all, Some fruitful drops may on the Muses fall; Since honest Pens do his just cause afford Equal Advantage with the useful Sword_.

NOTES ON THE TEXT.

THE TOWN FOP.

p. 7 _Dramatis Personae_. I have added ‘Page to _Bellmour_; Page to Lord _Plotwell_; Sir _Timothy’s_ Page; Guests; Fiddlers; Ladies.’

p. 12, l. 36 _honoured_. 1724 ‘honourable’.

p. 13, l. 2 _answered the Civility_. 1724 ‘answered her the Civility’.

p. 13, l. 23 _whats_. 1724 ‘what’.

p. 13, l. 26 _any thing in Life_. 1724 ‘any thing in this Life’.

p. 14, l. 3 _God forbid it_; 1724 omits ‘it’.

p. 15, l. 11 _you speak well_. 1724 omits ‘well’.

p. 15, l. 20 _Mrs. Celinda Dresswell_. Following 4to 1677 and 1724 I have retained the name Dresswell although it should obviously be Friendlove. In the first draft Friendlove was called Dresswell, and in altering the nomenclature of the character Mrs. Behn forgot to make the change here. The same slip occurs in this same scene (p. 20, l. 23) when Friendlove is alluded to as Dresswell.

p. 16, l. 2 _help_. 1724 ‘help’d’.

p. 16, l. 30 _me to_. 1724 omits ‘to’.

p. 17, l. 9 _and Allurements_. 1724 omits ‘and’.

p. 19, l. 29 _beholding_. 1724 ‘beholden’.

p. 19, l. 31 _belong’d_. 1724 ‘belongs’.

p. 20, l. 6 _Murder_. 4to 1677 has here the marginal stage direction ’.A Letter’, to remind the prompter to have that property ready for the immediate entry of Friendlove.

p. 22, l. 4 _Exit Sir Tim_. 4to 1677 has ‘Ex.’ after ‘Celinda.’ 1724 ’.xit’ after ‘Southampton House.’

p. 22, l. 6 _Exeunt_. I have supplied this stage direction. 4to 1677 has ’.he End of the First Act.’

p. 22, l. 8 _A Palace_. I have left this quaint locale untouched although the scene is merely an antechamber in Friendlove’s house, and can have been no more than a drop cloth.

p. 22, l. 27 _Scene II_. This Scene is not numbered in the previous editions but considered as Scene I with the former.

p. 24, l. 10 _To-morrow_. 1724 as prose. I follow metrical arrangement of 4to.

p. 26, l. 12 _impose_. 4to 1677 ‘imposes’.

P. 27, l. 15 _Scene III. Sir Timothy’s House_. I have supplied the locale. In all former editions Scenes I and II being counted as one this is numbered Scene II.

p. 27, l. 16 _and Boy_. I have added the entrance of the Boy.

p. 28, l. 12 _that I am_. 4to 1677 omits ‘that’.

p. 28, l. 28 _--and where--and where_. 1724 reads ‘--and where--’ once.

p. 29, l. 25 _Fortunes_. 1724 ‘Fortune’.

p. 30, l. 32 _Exeunt_. 4to 1677 ‘Ex.’ 1724 ‘Exit.’

p. 30, l. 33 _Scene IV. Lord Plotwell’s House_. I have added the locale. The former editions, regarding Scenes I and II of this act as one, read ’.cene III.’

p. 34, l. 21 _nor one_. 1677 ‘nor none’.

p. 37, l. 14 _Scene V_. ‘Scene IV’ in former editions.

p. 39, l. 34 _Exeunt_. Not in former editions. 4to 1677 has ‘The End of the Second Act.’

p. 40, l. 2 _A Room in Lord Plotwell’s House_. All former editions mark the locale as ‘The Street.’ But this is obviously wrong from the sitting, dancing and whole business of the scene.

p. 41, l. 6 _Griefs_. 1724 ‘Grief.’

p. 41, l. 9 _something of disorder_. 4to 1677 ‘something in disorder’.

p. 41, l. 24 _bear_. 4to 1677 ‘bare’.

p. 42, l. 19 _Life left_. 1724 omits ‘left’.

p. 43, l. 4 _plunged in Blood_. 1724 ‘plung’d in, in Blood.’

p. 43, l. 5 _A Jigg_. Not in 1724.

p. 43, l. 19 _with all your Faults_. 4to 1677 omits ‘your’.

p. 45, l. 4 _of it_. 4to 1677 ‘on’t’.

p. 47, l. 7 _Exeunt_. All former editions ‘Exit.’

p. 47, l. 8 _Scene II_. No former editions number this scene, but read ’.nter Diana, Scene a Bedchamber.’

p. 47, l. 33 _unto_. 4to 1677 ‘to’.

p. 49, l. 25 _Love_. 1724 ‘Life’.

p. 50, l. 23 _Exit_. Not marked in former editions.

p. 50, l. 24 _Scene III. A Street_. No former editions number this scene.

p. 51, l. 1 _Which_. 4to 1677 ‘Who’.

p. 54, l. 34 _Exeunt_. Not in 1724. 4to 1677 adds ‘The End of the Third Act.’

p. 55, l. 2 _Celinda’s Chamber_. The locale is unmarked in all former editions,

p. 57, l. 15 _the longed for_. 4to 1677 misprints ‘she long’d for’.

p. 59, l. 8 _Blessings_. 1724 ‘Blessing’.

p. 59, l. 10 _Who ere_. 1724 ‘When e’er’.

p. 61, l. 11 _and who_. 1724 ‘and she who’.

p. 62, l. 6 _Scene II. The former editions have not numbered this scene.

p. 62, l. 11 _Jenny and Doll_. I have supplied the wenches’ names as given in the Dramatis Personae.

p. 63, l. 1 _Garnitures_. 1724 ‘Garments’.

p. 64, l. 1 _Scene III_. I have numbered the scene. Former editions all read ‘Scene a Chamber, a Table with Box and Dice.’

p. 72, l. 20 _Ex. severally_. 4to 1677 adds ‘The End of the Fourth Act.’

p. 72, l. 22 _Scene I_. I have numbered this scene.

p. 76, l. 14 _Scene II. Lord Plotwell’s House_. There is no scene division in 4to 1677. I have numbered this scene and added the locale which is evident from the dialogue.

p. 80, l. 5 _Exit_. 4to 1677 omits this stage direction.

p. 82, l. 10 _Scene III_. I have numbered this scene.

p. 82, l. 27 _Look on this face_. I have metrically arranged this. It is obviously verse. 4to 1677 and 1724 print as prose.

p. 94, l. 24 _written by Mr. E.R_. i.e. ‘Mr. Edward Ravenscroft.’ Omitted in 1724.

THE FALSE COUNT.

p. 101 _Dramatis Personae_. I have added to the list ‘Page to _Carlos_, A little Page to the False Count; Wife to _Petro_.’

p. 106, l. 26 _halving_. Omitted by 1724,

p. 109, l. 7 _hither_. Omitted by 1724.

p. 110, l. 36 _easier_. 4to 1697 and 1724 ‘easilier’.

p. 111, l. 11 _Son_. 4tos ‘Soul’.

p. 115, l. 28 _Huswise_. read ‘Huswife’.

p. 116, l. 5 _Just-au-corps_. 4to 1697 ‘Justicore’.

p. 120, l. 29 _He goes out_. 1724 ‘Exeunt severally.’

p. 120, l. 30 Scene II_. I have numbered this scene.

p. 121, l. 34 _Page holding his lanthorn to his face_. Omitted in 1724.

p. 125, l. 20 _Going in_. 4tos 1682 and 1697 read ‘Goes in.’ But Carlos, obviously, does not leave the stage at this point.

p. 128, l. 24 _Scene III_. I have numbered this scene.

p. 131, l. 11 _Don Carlos’ house_. I have added the locale.

p. 131, l. 26 _dear_. 1724 ‘dearer’.

p. 135, l. 16 _Francisco’s house_. I have added the locale.

p. 135, l. 26 _should_. 1724 ‘shall’.

p. 139, l. 15 _not yet_. 1724 repeats ‘not yet’.

p. 140, l. 2 _froward_. 1724 ‘forward’,

p. 143, l. 21 _They dance_. 4tos add ‘with Don’, which seems unsuitable as the company are seated.

p. 147, l. 22 _Exit Cap_. I have added this necessary direction, not in any previous edition, although all mark his entry again a little later.

p. 152, l. 15 _the body of Francisco_. 4tos 1682 and 1697. 1724 omits ’.he body of’.

p. 156, l. 29 _glout_. 1724 ‘glut’.

p. 158, l. 6 _Mahometan_. 1724 repeats ‘Mahometan’.

p. 158, l. 33 _And wou’d not break_. These two lines, which are obviously metrical, all former editions print as prose.

p. 163, l. 19 _and Mutes attending_. I have added these words as Carlos addresses the mutes a little later in the scene.

p. 163, l. 21 _your_. 1724 ‘thy’.

p. 166, l. 13 _Sir, I’ll warrant_. 1724 omits ‘Sir’.

p. 167, l. 15 _that’s the greatest_. 1724 omits ‘that’s’.

p. 168, l. 30 _Aside_. 1724 omits.

THE LUCKY CHANCE.

p. 177 _The Lucky Chance_. On the title of the 4to 1687, we have ‘This may be Printed, _April 23_, 1686. _R.P_.’

p. 183, l. 1 _To The Right Honourable_. This Dedication and the Preface (p. 185) are only found in the 4to 1687. p. 190 _Dramatis Personae_. have added to the list ‘_Gingle_, a Music Master; A Post-man; _Susan_, Servant to Sir _Feeble; Phillis, Leticia’s_ Woman.’

p. 191, l. 20 _Enter Mr. Gingle_. I have inserted Gingle’s name. All previous editions read ‘Enter several with Musick.’

p. 194, l. 5 _Dudgeon_. 4to 1687 ‘Dugion’.

p. 199, l. 13 _I have had ... Guyneys_. These words have by a curiously gross error been dropped out in all editions save the 4to 1687.

p. 202, l. 30 _all but for_. 1724 omits ‘but’.

p. 203, l. 10 _so, I’ll go_. 1724 ‘so, and I’ll go’.

p. 203, l. 27 _Then then_. All previous editions read ‘Then thou’ which makes no sense. The emendation, if not what Mrs. Behn wrote, is at least grammatical.

p. 204, l. 34 _this St. Martin’s Trumpery_. 1724 ‘these’.

p. 205, l. 4 _my Girl_. 1724 omits ‘my’.

p. 206, l. 28 _of the World_. 1724 ‘of the whole World’.

p. 207, l. 30 _beholding_. 1724 ‘beholden’.

p. 207, l. 36 _Aside_. 1724 omits.

p. 209, l. 2 _look, look how_. 1724 ‘look, how’.

p. 209, l. 12 _Exeunt_. I have supplied this, which does not occur in previous editions. 4to 1687 has ‘The End of the First Act.’ 1724 gives nothing.

p. 210, l. 3 _Livings_. 1724 ‘Living’.

p. 216, l. 13 _Enter Bellmour_. I have placed this entrance here as by his first speech Bellmour obviously overhears Leticia’s words, ‘Blest be this kind Retreat’. 1724 places the entrance after ‘Sighs and Tears.’ 4to 1687 gives it in a bracket by Leticia’s three lines.

p. 218, l. 9 _Let. But how_. I have arranged these lines metrically. 4to 1687 and 1724 print as prose.

p. 221, l. 1 _Seraglio_. 4to 1687 ‘Seraglia’.

p. 222, l. 31 _Quonundrum_. 4to 1687 ‘Qunnumdrum’.

p. 224, l. 17 _Exit_. I have supplied this. 1724 gives no direction. 4to 1687 has ‘The End of the Second Act.’

p. 225, ll. 13, 25 _Aside_. Not in 4to 1687.

p. 226, l. 8 _swooned_. 4to 1687 ‘swoonded’.

p. 227, l. 9 _Aside_. Not in 4to 1687.

p. 227, l. 29 _Scene II_. I have numbered this scene.

p. 227, l. 29 _in an undressing_. 1724 omits ‘in an’.

p. 228, l. 7 _Aside_. Omitted in 4to 1687.

p. 228, l. 21 _Within_. I have supplied this stage direction here and in Bellmour’s following speech.

p. 229, l. 2 _to him_. Not in 1724.

p. 229, l. 4 _before to morrow_. 1724 reads ‘before we go to him to-morrow.’

p. 229, l. 27 _his Safety_. 1724 omits ‘his’.

p. 231, l. 3 _I’m sorry_. I have arranged this metrically. Former editions as prose.

p. 23l, l. 16 _Woman_. 4to 1687 ‘Women’. But Pert is alone.

p. 231, l. 22 _Want_. 1724 misprints ‘Wont’.

p. 234, l. 4 _Exit_. I have supplied this stage direction.

p. 234, l. 5 _Scene V_. I have numbered this scene.

p. 234, l. 27 _Dick his Boy_. Former editions ‘and Boy.’ But Dick’s name is given in the Dramatis Personae and later in this same scene.

p. 235, l. 11 _you know_. Omitted by 1724.

p. 237, l. 21 _Aside_. Former editions wrongly mark this whole speech ’.side’. The last sentence is clearly spoken aloud to Sir Cautious.

p. 238, l. 30 _Ad, and_. 1724 ‘and and’.

p. 238, l. 32 _Exit Dick_. I have added this Exit, unmarked in former editions. Dick obviously does not remain on the stage as his entrance is marked later.

p. 239, l. 14 _Aside, turns_. 1724 omits ‘turns’.

p. 240, l. 29 _Scene VI_. I have numbered this scene.

p. 241, l. 28 _Aside_. Not in 4to 1687. But marked in 1724.

p. 243, l. 18 _Exeunt_. This stage direction is in no previous edition.

p. 244, ll. 28-36 _I am sorry ... Jewel, Sir_. Previous editions as prose.

p. 245, l. 5 _Where had_ ... Previous editions print as prose.

p. 246, l. 1 _rivell’d_. 4to 1687. All later editions ‘shrivel’d’, which is by no means as good.

p. 246, l. 2 _Ladles_. 1724 misprints ‘Ladies’,

p. 248, l. 31 _amended_. 1724 ‘mended’.

p. 249, l. 2 _Dinner in_. 1724 ‘Dinner at’.

p. 255, l. 27 _wou’d but stand_. 1724 omits ‘but’.

p. 259, l. 13 _Exit_. I have added this stage direction. 4to 1687 reads ’.he End of the Fourth Act.’

p. 260, l. 17 _Scene II_. I have numbered this scene,

p. 263, l. 14 _Scene III_. 4to and 1724 ‘Scene II.’

p. 264, l. 21 _attend_. 1724 ‘intend.’

p. 265, l. 31 _Soft Musick ceases_. I put this stage direction here, following 4to 1687. 1724 inserts it after the Song, which is not so well.

p. 266, l. 20 _Scene IV_. I have numbered this scene.

p. 267, l. 1 _Yet you may_. I have arranged the whole speech metrically. 1687 prints to ‘April Flow’rs’ as prose. 1724 prints to ‘gather’ as prose.

p. 267, l. 19 _Sir_. Omitted in 1724.

p. 268, l. 11 _But leave_. I have arranged metrically. Previous editions prose.

p. 269, l. 29 _With all my Soul_. 4to 1687 gives an ‘[Aside’ to Gayman’s speech. This is an obvious error.

p. 270, l. 12 _Scene V_. I have numbered this and the two following scenes.

p. 271, l. 20 _he have not_. 1724 ‘he has not’.

p. 27l, l. 31 _Oh! You_. I have arranged metrically. Previous editions prose.

p. 274, l. 3 _Life’s_. 4to 1687 ‘Lives’. P. 275, l. 24 _Enter Leticia, Bellmour, and Phillis_. I have added this necessary direction which is in no former edition.

p. 278, l. 20 _An After Math_. 4to 1687 reads ‘An After Mach’. 1724 ‘An after Match’. As neither of these forms are found, the 4to seems an obvious misprint for ‘After Math’.

p. 278, l. 25 _whiffling_. 1724 ‘whistling’.

THE FORC’D MARRIAGE.

p. 286, l. 15 _Enter an Actress_. Omitted in 4to 1671.

p. 287 _Dramatis Personae_. I have added to the list ‘Page to _Pisaro_; Clergy; Officers;’ and have named Lysette from Act iii, v. 4to 1671 spells Orgulius, Orguilious; Falatius, Falatio; Cleontius, Cleontious in the Dramatis Personae, but in the text I have spelled these names throughout following 1724. It may here be noted that the 1671 quarto swarms with errors and typographical mistakes. It is vilely printed and seemingly issued from the press almost without revision.

p. 288, l. 2 _The Palace_. I have added the locale.

p. 289, l. 5 _Bravery_. 4to 1671. 4to 1690 and 1724 ‘Virtue’.

p. 289, l. 11 _Alcippus_. 4to 1671 prints ‘Alcip.’ as a speech-prefix. An obvious blunder.

p. 289, l. 18 _Gift_. 4to 1671 misreads ‘Guilt’.

p. 290, l. 11 _added little_. 1724 ‘added a little’.

p. 290, l. 19 _hated_. 4to 1690 and 1724 ‘hate’.

p. 292, l. 9 _who_. 4to 1671 ‘whom’.

p. 295, l. 5 _pretends_. 4to 1671 ‘pretend’.

p. 295, l. 31 _thee most fatal proofs_. 1724 ‘the most fatal proof’.

p. 296, l. 18 _There was so_. Following quartos I have printed these lines (which 1724 gives as prose) metrically, although I confess the result is not satisfactory.

p. 297, l. 1 _Galatea’s Apartments_. I have added this locale.

p. 298, l. 9 _first_. Not in 4to 1671.

p. 298, l. 29 _Sighing_. Not in 4to 1671.

p. 299, l. 30 _Madam, that grief_. This speech, which all previous editions give to Erminia, I have assigned to Aminta. I am, however, not entirely satisfied that a speech of Galatea’s has not dropped out here (the first quarto is notoriously careless), and in this case the speech may well be Erminia’s.

p. 300, l. 14 _sworn_. 4to 1690 and 1724, which I retain as better than 1671 ‘vow’d’.

p. 300, l. 24 _won_. 4to 1690 and 1724, which I have preferred to 1671 ’.ov’d’.

p. 301, l. 1 _A room in the house_. I have added this locale.

p. 303, l. 29 _and Isil_. I have added Isillia’s exit.

p. 303, l. 30 _Philanders Apartments_. I have added the locale.

p. 305, l. 14 _The Representation of the Wedding_. This line is not in 1724.

p. 305, l. 15 _must be let down ... must play_. 1724 ‘is let down ... plays.’

p. 305, l. 29 _The Palace_. I have added this locale.

p. 306, l. 22 _th’.lmighty_. 4to 1671 ‘i’th’ Almighty’.

p. 307, l. 31 _needs_. 4to 1671 ‘need’. 1690 ‘needs’t’.

p. 309, l. 1 _The Court Gallery_. I have added this locale.

p. 309, l. 8 _That sad tone_. I have followed the quartos in their metrical arrangement of this speech. 1724 gives it as prose. The same rule has been observed l.21, ‘Am. Nay thou hast ...’

p. 310, l. 31 _Not so well_. In this speech and also p. 311, l. 1 I have followed the metrical arrangement of the 4tos. 1724 prints as prose.

p. 312, l. 9 _Ex_. 4to 1671 ‘goes out.’

p. 312, l. 13 _Exeunt_. 4to 1671 ‘go out.’

p. 312, l, 14 _’.is the most_. I have followed the two quartos in their arrangement of these lines, which, none the less, seems far from satisfactory. 1724 prints as prose.

p. 313, l. 10 _Erminia_. 4to 1671 omits.

p. 313, l. 28 _She weeps_. Not in 4to 1671, but in 4to 1690 and in 1724.

p. 313, l. 35 _Prince his word_. 4to 1690 and 1724 ‘Prince’s word’.

p. 315, l. 10 _Thou would’st allow_. This is the reading of 4to 1690 and of 1724. 4to 1671 reads ‘I should allow what I deny thee here.’

p. 316, l. 31 _Philander’s Bed-chamber_. I have added the locale.

p. 317, l. 25 _marry other_. 1724 ‘marry any other’.

p. 320, l. 5 _an ignorant_. This is the reading of the 4tos. I take ’.gnorant’ as the obsolete substantive. 1724 omits ‘an’.

p. 320, l. 9 _Enter Lysette_. 1724 has ‘Enter a Maid’, but gives speech prefix ‘Lyc.’, spelling Lysette, Lycette.

p. 320, l. 12 _I cry your Lordship’s_. I have followed the 4tos in the metrical arrangement of this speech. 1724 prints as prose.

p. 320, l. 15 _She goes in_. 1724 ‘She goes out.’

p. 320, l. 21 _I fell asleep_. So 4tos. 1724 as prose.

p. 321, l. 28 _Shepherdess_. 4tos and 1724 punctuate ‘Shepherdess,’. It has been suggested that the passage be punctuated with a full stop at ’.all.’ and continue ‘Ah, cruel’ with the punctuation of former editions retained.

p. 323, l. 8 _he has_. 4to 1671 ‘it has’.

p. 323, l. 14 _The Court Gallery_. I have supplied this locale.

p. 326, l. 21 _The apartments of Alcippus_. I have supplied this locale.

p. 327, l. 26 _And I so strangely_. 4to 1671 omits ‘I’.

p. 330, l. 23 _The Palace_. I have supplied this locale. 1724 misprints Scene IV.

p. 330, l. 24 _as passing by_. Omitted by 1724.

p. 331, l. 23 _Railly_. 1724 prints this speech as prose.

p. 332, l. 29 _beholding_. 1724 ‘beholden’.

p. 332, l. 32 _Fal. That’s too much_. Following the 4tos I have arranged all the speeches of Falatius, which 1724 gives as prose, metrically. The result is, it must be confessed, not entirely satisfactory in places.

p. 334, l. 25 _Farewell_. 4tos and 1724 all print ‘For well’.

p. 334, l. 34 _Sees Pisaro_. 1724 omitting ‘sees’ makes a poor alteration in the conduct of this business.

p. 335, l. 20 _Exit Pis_. Former editions simply ‘Exit.’ This confuses the scene.

p. 335, l. 21 _Re-enter Falatius_. The 4tos omit this stage direction.

p. 337, l. 7 _Galatea’s Apartments_. I have supplied the locale.

p, 337, l. 12 _you were_. 4to 1690 and 1724 ‘you are’.

p. 338, l. 25 _must credit you_. 4to 1671 ‘faith, I credit you’.

p. 339, l. 4 _Erminia, sure you’ll_. 4to 1690 and 1724 ‘Erminia sure will’.

p. 339, l. 14 _the fault_. 4to 1690 and 1724 ‘my faults’.

p. 340, l. 5 _He rises_. I have inserted ‘He’ to make the direction quite clear.

p. 342, l. 5 _The Palace_. I have added the locale.

p. 343, l. 25 _loving me_. 4to 1671 prints an unsatisfactory text:

‘none for loving me, for
I’m much unlike Lucinda whom you ey’d.’

p. 344, l. 28 _The Apartments of Alcippus_. I have added this locale.

p. 344, l. 32 _fear’d_. 4to 1671 ‘heard’.

p. 347, l. 17 _Entering_. I have added this stage direction.

p, 347, l. 30 _a Chamber_. I have inserted the locale.

p. 347, l. 30 _in a dishabit_. All editions save 4to 1671 read ‘in an undress’.

p. 349, l. 5 _appetites_. 1724 ‘appetite’.

p. 349, l. 12 _Within_. I have supplied this stage direction.

p. 349, l. 20 _took_. 1724 ‘taken’.

p. 351, l. 34 _To Alcip_. This and the following stage direction ‘To the Prince’ are not in 4to 1671.

p. 352, l. 16 _vile_. 4to 1671 omits.

p. 352, l. 25 _or smothers her with a pillow_. This is only found in 4to 1671.

p. 353, l. 21 _Knew_. 4to 1671 ‘know’.

p. 354, l. 6 _has_. 4to 1671 ‘had’.

p. 354, l. 16 _Murder_. 4to 1690 and 1724 ‘a Murderer’.

p. 354, l. 29 _The Palace_. I have supplied the locale.

p. 356, l. 30 _merits not_. 1724 ‘merits all’. A striking misprint.

p. 357, l. l2 _Gonzal_. 4to 1671 ‘Gen’rall’.

p. 357, l. 16 _You once_. 4to 1671 wrongly gives this to the King.

p. 357, l. 19 _And should_. 4to 1671 omits this whole line.

p. 357, l. 29 _Fal. Wert_. I have followed the arrangement of 4to 1671 throughout in this scene, which 1724 prints as prose.

p. 358, l. 7 _Tiffany_. 4to 1690 and 1724 ‘Taffety.’

p. 358, l. 22 _Philander’s Apartments_. I have supplied this locale.

p. 359, l. 29 _Within_. I have added this stage direction.

p. 360, l. 27--_Gods_--. I follow 4tos. 1724 prints these two lines as prose.

p. 361, l. 36 _the World_. 1724 ‘that World’.

p. 362, l. 6 _smiling to the Princess_. 1724 reads ‘Er. who comes out smiling.’

p. 363, l. 18 _Galatea’s Apartments_. I have supplied the locale.

p. 365, l. 8 _’.was_. 4to 1690 and 1724 ‘twere’.

p. 365, l. 12 _The Bedchamber_. I have supplied this locale.

p. 365, l. 14 _so_. 4to 1671 ‘now’.

p. 365, l. 20 _Weeps_. 4to 1671 only has ‘Weeps.’ 4to 1690 and 1724 give the stage direction in full.

p. 365, l. 31 _Influence_. 4to 1671 ‘Influences’ to the ruin of the metre.

p. 366, l. 6 _as touch her_. 4to 1690, 1724 ‘to touch her’.

p. 368, l. 8 _Princes_. 4tos 1671, 1690 read ‘Princess’.

p. 368, l. 14 _who goes_. 4tos 1671, 1690 ‘and goes’.

p. 368, l. 32 _Do_. 4to 1671 ‘So’.

p. 369, l. 28 _what_. 4to 1671 ‘which’.

p. 371, l. 8 _The King’s Chamber_. I have supplied this locale and that of the following Scene (IV).

p. 374, l. 28 _A Pass or two_. Only in 4to 1671.

p. 375, l. 25 _Alcip. Might I_. Only 4to 1671 gives this speech to Alcippus. All other editions erroneously continue it as part of Galatea’s speech.

p. 375, l. 32 _My Love_. 4to 1671 wrongly ‘Thy love’.

p. 377, l. 13 _Ease_. 4to 1671 ‘easie’.

p. 381, l. 8 _Exeunt_. I have supplied this stage direction.

THE EMPEROR OF THE MOON.

p. 390, l. 1 _To The Lord Marquess_. The dedication only occurs in 4tos 1687, 1688.

p. 391, l. 6 _Billet Doux_. 4tos read ‘Billet Deux’--The same form is found in the _Prologue_ l. 8; but as no other instance of ‘Billet Deux’ occurs I have corrected what is doubtless a misprint.

p. 394, l. 28 _Adznigs_. 1724, ‘Adzigs’.

p. 395 _Dramatis Personae_. I have added ‘Page; _Florinda_, Cousin to _Elaria_ and _Bellemante_.’

p. 398, l. 4 _otherwise_. 1724 ‘otherways’.

p. 399, l. 30 _Rosycrusian_. 4 to 1687 ‘Rosacrucian.’

p. 400, l. 16 _Ma tres chère_. 4 to 1687 ‘Matres chear.’ 4to 1688 ’.arrois charé.’

p,400, l. 27 _tout autour_. 4to 1687 ‘tout au toore.’ 4to 1688 ‘tout au tour.’

p.400, l. 30 _sighing_. 1724 misprints ‘fighting’.

p.400, l. 9 _Cheveux blonds_. 4tos ‘Chevave Blond’.

p. 403, l. 30 _Sylphs_. 4to 1687 ‘Silfs.’

p. 409, l. 13 _Scene III_. All the former editions have Scene II.

p. 412, l. 21 _Enter Doctor_. Both 4tos and 1724 omit to mark this entrance which I have supplied.

p.413, l. 18 _Draws_. 1724 omits.

p.417, l. 19 _The End of the First Act_. Only in 4tos 1687, 1688.

p. 417, l. 21 _A Chamber_. I have added the locale.

p. 418, l. 26 _the Street_. 1724 ‘a Street.’

p. 418, l. 27 _a Flambeaux_. This is the reading of both 4tos. 1724 ‘a Flambeau’. As Sir T. Herbert, Travels (1638), has a plural ‘Flambeauxes’ I have retained ‘Flambeaux’ as a singular here, though no other instance can be cited.

p. 420, l. 6 _Scene III_. I have numbered this scene.

p. 420, l. 9 _Florinda_. I have inserted this name here and as speech-prefix instead of ‘Lady’. It is supplied by Act ii, II, and again in this scene.

p. 422, l. 2 _Harpsicals_. 1724 ‘Harpsicords’.

p. 422, l. 15 _Within_. I have supplied this stage direction.

p. 424, l. 3 _Doct. Hold up_. 1724 improperly puts this speech after the stage direction.

p. 424, l. 8 _Harlequin sits still_. 4tos ‘He sits still.’

p. 426, ll. 7, 9 _Mistriss_. 1724 ‘Mrs.’

p. 426, l. 35 _Aside, and Exit_. ‘Aside’ only in 1724. I have supplied ’.nd exit.’

p. 427, l. 16 _Scene IV_. I have numbered this scene and supplied the locale ‘to Bellemante’s Chamber’.

p. 429, l. 6 _Scene V_. I have numbered this scene.

p. 436, l. 14 _The End of the Second Act_. Only in 4tos.

p. 438, l. 22 _Scene II_. I have numbered this scene.

p. 442, l. 5 _prima_. 4tos misprint ‘Fema’.

p. 453, l. 1 _Scene III. The Last_. I have numbered this scene. 1724 omits ‘The Last.’

p. 454, l. 3 _the Emperor_. 1724 omits ‘the’.

p. 456, l. 28 _Sagittary_. 1724 ‘Sagittar’.

p. 461, l. 32 _Gravely to himself_. Only in 4tos.

p. 462, l. 19 _Pay_. 1724 ‘Play.’

p. 462, l. 29 _Bank_. 1724 ‘Rank’.

NOTES: CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY.

THE TOWN FOP.

p. 15 _Mrs. Celinda Dresswell_. Dresswell was obviously the original name of Friendlove, and Mrs. Behn forgot to alter her MS. at this passage. The same oversight occurs later in the act when Bellmour says ’. must rely on Dresswell’s friendship,’ (p. 20).

p. 18 _Glass Coach_. Coaches with glasses were a recent invention and very fashionable amongst the courtiers and ladies of the Restoration. De Grammont tells in his _Memoirs_ how he presented a French calash with glasses to the King, and how, after the Queen and the Duchess of York, had publicly appeared in it, a battle royal took place between Lady Castlemaine and Miss Stewart as to which of the two should first be seen therein on a fine day in Hyde Park. _The Ultimum Vale of John Carleton_ (4to, 1663) says, ‘I could wish her coach ... made of the new fashion, with glass, very stately, ... was come for me.’

p. 20 _Tom Dove_. A well-known bear so named and exhibited at the Bear Garden. Besides this passage there are four other allusions to him to be found. Dryden’s _Epilogue to the King and Queen_ at the Union of the Two Companies, 1682, has:--

Then for your lacquies ...
They roar so loud, you’d think behind the stairs,
Tom Dove, and all the brotherhood of bears.

His prologue to Vanbrugh’s alteration of _The Pilgrim_ (1700) begins:--

How wretched is the fate of those who write!
Brought muzzled to the stage, for fear they bite;
Where, like Tom Dove, they stand the common foe.

In Southerne’s _The Maid’s Last Prayer_ (1693) Act ii, II, Granger on receiving an invitation to dinner cries: ‘Zounds! a man had as good be ty’d to a stake and baited like Tom Dove on Easter Monday as be the necessary appurtenance of a great man’s table!’ D’Urfey in the epilogue (spoken by Verbruggen) to Robert Gould’s _The Rival Sisters; or, The Violence of Love_, produced at Drury Lane in 1696, writes:--

When the dull Crowd, unskilled in these Affairs,
To day wou’d laugh with us, to morrow with the Bears:
Careless which Pastime did most Witty prove,
Or who pleas’d best, Tom Poet, or Tom Dove.

Tom Dove has been wrongly described as ‘a bearward.’

p. 22 _Southampton House_. Southampton House, Bloomsbury, occupied the whole of the north side of the present Bloomsbury Square. It had ‘a curious garden behind, which lieth open to the fields,’--_Strype_. A great rendezvous for duellists, cf. Epilogue to Mountfort’s _Greenwich Park_ (Drury Lane, 1691) spoken by Mrs. Mountfort:--

If you’re displeased with what you’ve seen to-night
Behind Southampton House we’ll do you right;
Who is’t dares draw ‘gainst me and Mrs. Knight?

p. 39 _Nickers_. Vide note (p. 456) Vol. I, p. 398, _The Roundheads_.

p. 41 _Courant_. A quick, lively dance frequently referred to in old dramatists.

p. 43 _A Jigg_. There were, in Post-Restoration times, two interpretations of the word Jig. Commonly speaking it was taken to mean exactly what it would now, a simple dance. Nell Gwynne and Moll Davis were noted for the dancing of Jigs. cf. Epilogue to Buckingham’s _The Chances_ (1682):--

The Author dreads the strut and meen
Of new prais’d Poets, having often seen
Some of his Fellows, who have writ before,
When Nel has danc’d her Jig, steal to the Door,
Hear the Pit clap, and with conceit of that
Swell, and believe themselves the Lord knows what.

Thus at the end of Lacy’s _The Old Troop_ (31 July, 1668), we have ‘a dance of two hobby horses in armour, and a Jig.’ Also shortly before the epilogue in Shadwell’s _The Sullen Lovers_ (1668) we read, ‘Enter a Boy in the habit of Pugenello and traverses the stage, takes his chair and sits down, then dances a Jig.’

But it must be remembered that beside the common meaning there was a gloss upon the word derived from Elizabethan stage practice. In the prologue to _The Fair Maid of the Inn_ (licensed 1626), good plays are spoken of as often scurvily treated, whilst

A Jigge shall be clapt at, and every rhime
Prais’d and applauded by a clam’rous chyme.

The Pre-Restoration Jig was little other indeed than a ballad opera in embryo lasting about twenty-five minutes and given as an after-piece. It was a rhymed farce in which the dialogue was sung or chanted by the characters to popular ballad tunes. But after the Restoration the Jig assumed a new and more serious complexion, and came eventually to be dovetailed with the play itself, instead of being given at the fag end of the entertainment. Mr. W.J. Lawrence, the well-known theatrical authority to whom I owe much valuable information contained in this note, would (doubtless correctly) attribute the innovation to Stapylton and Edward Howard, both of whom dealt pretty freely in these Jigs. Stapylton has in Act v of _The Slighted Maid_ (1663) a ‘Song in Dialogue’ between Aurora and Phoebus with a chorus of Cyclops, which met with some terrible parody in _The Rehearsal_ (cf. the present editor’s edition of _The Rehearsal_, p. 145). Indeed all extrinsic songs in dialogue, however serious the theme, were considered ‘Jigs’. A striking example would be the Song of the Spirits in Dryden’s _Tyrannic Love_, Act iv.

In Post-Restoration days a ballad sung in the streets by two persons was frequently called a Jig, presumably because it was a ‘song in dialogue’. Numerous examples are to be found amongst the Roxburgh Ballads.

The Jig introduced in _Sir Timothy Tawdrey_ would seem to have been the simple dance although not improbably an epithalamium was also sung.

p. 44 _an Entry_. A dance which derived its name from being performed at that point in a masque when new actors appeared. In Crowne’s _The Country Wit_ (1675) Act iii, I, there is a rather stupid play on this sense of the word confounded with its meaning ‘a hall or lobby’.

p. 63 _Cracking_. Prostitution. A rare substantive, although ‘Crack’, whence it is derived, was common, cf. p. 93 and note.

p. 65 _Cater-tray_. cater = quatre. The numbers four and three on dice or cards. This term was used generally as a cant name for dice; often for cogged or loaded dice.

p. 69 _She cries Whore first_. In allusion to the old proverb--cf. _The Feign’d Courtezans_, Act v, iv, Vol. II, p. 409, when Mr. Tickletext on his discovery appeals to the same saw.

p. 81 _Berjere_. A very favourite word with Mrs. Behn. Vide Vol. II, note (p. 346, _The hour of the Berjere_), p. 441 _The Feigned Courtezans_.

p. 93 _Cracks_. Whores. As early as 1678 ‘Crack’ is the proper name of a whore in _Tunbridge Wells_, an anonymous comedy played at the Duke’s House, cf. D’Urfey, _Madam Fickle_ (1682), Act v, ii, when Flaile says: ’.’have killed a Mon yonder, He that you quarrell’d with about your Crack there.’ Farquhar, _Love and a Bottle_ (1698), Act v, ii, has: ‘You imagine I have got your whore, cousin, your crack.’ Grose, _Dict. Vulgar Tongue_, gives the word, and it is also explained by the _Lexicon Balatronicum_ (1811). It was, in fact, in common use for over an hundred years.

p. 94 _Mr. E.R_. i.e. Edward Ravenscroft.

THE FALSE COUNT.

p. 99 _Forty One_. cf. note, Vol. II (p. 207) p. 433, _The City Heiress_.

p. 99 _no Plot was true_. A patent allusion to the fictitious Popish Plot.

p. 99 _Conventicles_. For the accentuated last syllable, _vide_ Vol. I, p. 454. A striking example of this accentuation occurs in a Collection of _Loyal Songs_--1639-1661--

But all the Parish see it plain,
Since thou art in this pickle,
Thou art an Independent quean,
And lov’st a conventicle.

p. 99 _Christian Suckling_. The charge of murdering young Christian boys, especially at Passover time, and eating their flesh was continually brought against the Jews. Little St. Hugh of Lincoln, St. William of Norwich, the infant St. Simon of Trent and many more were said to have been martyred in this way. But recently (1913) the trial of Mendil Beiliss, a Jew, upon a charge of ritually murdering the Russian lad Yushinsky has caused a world-wide sensation.

p. 99 _Gutling_. Guzzling. Guttle is used in a secondary sense (= to flatter) in _The City Heiress_. Vide Vol. II, note (on p. 207) p. 433.

p. 100 _took in Lamb’s-Wool Ale_. Lamb’s-Wool Ale is hot ale mixed with the pulp of roasted apples, sugared and well spiced. The allusion is to Lord Howard of Esrick, who, having been imprisoned in the Tower on a charge connected with the so-called Popish Plot, to prove his innocence took the Sacrament according to the rites of the English church. It is said, however, that on this occassion, instead of wine, lamb’s-wool was profanely used. cf. Dryden’s bitter jibe--_Absalom and Achitophel_ (November, 1681), I, 575:--

And canting Nadab let oblivion damn,
Who made new porridge for the paschal lamb.

cf. also _Absalom’s IX Worthies_:--

Then prophane Nadab, that hates all sacred things,
And on that score abominateth kings;
With Mahomet wine he damneth, with intent
To erect his Paschal-lamb’s-wool-Sacrament.

A ballad on the Rye House Plot, entitled _The Conspiracy; or, The Discovery of the Fanatic Plot_, sings:--

Next valiant and noble Lord Howard,
That formerly dealt in lamb’s wool;
Who knowing what it is to be towered,
By impeaching may fill the jails full.

p. 100 _Brumighams_. Bromingham was a slang term of the day for a Whig. Roger North says that the Tories nicknamed the opposite party ’.Birmingham_ Protestants, alluding to the false groats struck at that place’. Birmingham was already noted for spurious coinage. cf. Dryden’s prologue to _The Spanish Friar_ (1681):--

What e’er base metal come
You coin as fast as groats at Bromingam.

A panegyric on the return of the Duke and Duchess of York from Scotland says of Shaftesbury’s medal that

‘Twas coined by stealth, like groats at Birmingham.

For Birmingham = Whig we have _Old Jemmy, an Excellent New Ballad_:

Let Whig and Bromingham repine,
They show their teeth in vain;
The glory of the British line,
Old Jemmy’s come again.

Also in Matthew Taubman’s _A Medley on the Plot_, this stanza occurs:--

Confound the hypocrites, Birminghams royal,
Who think allegiance a transgression;
Since to oppose the King is counted loyal,
And to rail high at the succession.

Dryden in his Preface to _Absalom and Achitophel_, I, speaks of ‘an Anti-Bromingham’, i.e. a Tory.

p. 100 _dry bobs_. A bob was a sarcastic jest or jibe. cf. _Sir Giles Goosecappe_ (1606), Act. v, I. ‘Marry him, sweet Lady, to answere his bitter Bob,’ and Buckingham’s _The Rehearsal_ (1671), Act iii, I, where Bayes cries: ‘There’s a bob for the Court.’ A dry bob (literally = a blow or fillip that does not break the skin) is an intensely bitter taunt, cf. _Cotgrave_ (1611), _Ruade seiche_, a drie bob, jeast or nip. _Bailey_ (1731) has ‘_Dry Bob_. a Taunt or Scoff’.

p. 100 _By Yea and Nay_. ‘Yea and Nay’ was often derisively applied to the Puritans, and hence to their lineal descendants the Whigs, in allusion to the Scriptural injunction, _S. Matthew_ v, 33-7, which they feigned exactly to follow. Timothy Thin-beard, a rascally Puritan, in Heywood’s _If you Know Not Me, You Know Nobody_, Part II (4to, 1606), is continually asseverating ‘By yea and nay’, cf. Fletcher’s _Monsieur Thomas_, Act ii, III, where Thomas says:--

Do not ye see me alter’d? ‘Yea and Nay,’ gentlemen;
A much-converted man.

In _Sir Patient Fancy_ (1678), Lady Knowell’s late husband, a rank Puritan, is said to have been ‘a great Ay and No Man i’th’ City, and a painful promoter of the good Cause.’

p. 109 _Twins_. Vide note (p. 319, _Amorous Twire_), Vol. II, p. 440, _The Feigned Courtezans_.

p. 113 _gives Julia the Letter_. Mrs. Behn took the hint for this device from _L’Ecole des Maris_, ii, XIV, where Isabella feigning to embrace Sganarelle gives her hand to Valère to kiss.

p. 116 _Just-au-corps_. ‘A sort of jacket called a _justacorps_ came into fashion in Paris about 1650. M. Quicherat informs us that a pretty Parisienne, the wife of a _maître de comptes_ named Belot, was the first who appeared in it. In a ballad called _The New-made Gentlewoman_, written in the reign of Charles II, occurs the line “My justico and black patches I wear”. Mr. Fairholt suggested that _justico_ may be a corruption of _juste au corps_.--Planché’. _Cyclopedia of Costume_, Vol. I, p. 318. Pepys, 26 April, 1667, saw the Duchess of Newcastle ’.aked-necked, without anything about it, and a black just-au-corps’. cf. Dryden’s _Limberham; or, The Kind Keeper_ (1678), iv, I: ‘_Aldo_. Give her out the flower’d Justacorps with the petticoat belonging to’t.’

p. 116 _Towers_, The tower at this time was a curled frontlet of false hair. cf. Crowne’s _The Country Wit_ (1675), Act ii, II, where Lady Faddle cries to her maid, ‘run to my milliner’s for my gloves and essences ... run for my new towre.’ Shadwell, _The Virtuoso_ (1676), Act iii, mentions ‘Tires for the head, locks, tours, frouzes, and so forth’. _The Debauchee_ (1677), Act ii, I: Mrs. Saleware speaks of buying ‘fine clothes, and tours, and Points and knots.’ _The Younger Brother_ (1696), Act v, the last scene, old Lady Youthly anxiously asks her maid, ‘is not this Tour too brown?’ During the reign of Mary II and particularly in the time of Anne a Tower meant almost exclusively the high starched head-dress in vogue at that period.

p. 116 _beat the hoof_. To go packing; to trudge off on foot. _Dic. Canting Crew_ (1690), ‘Hoof it or beat it on the Hoof--to walk on foot.’ Pad the hoof is a yet commoner expression. These and similar slang are still much used.

p. 117 _finical_. According to the _N.E.D_. the use of finical as a verb is a nonce word only found in this passage.

p. 119 _lead Apes in Hell_. To die an old maid. A very common expression. It will be remembered that Beatrice had something to say on the subject. --_Much Ado About Nothing_, Act ii, I.

p. 122 _Docity_. Gumption, cf. note (p. 340), Vol. II, p. 441, _The Feign’d Curtezans_.

p. 123 _Don Del Phobos_. The adventures of the Knight of the Sun and his brother Rosiclair belong to the Amadis school of romance. They were published in two volumes, folio, at Saragossa, 1580, under the title _Espejo de principes e cavalleros; o, Cavallero del Febo_. The first part of this romance was translated into English by Margaret Tiler, _The Mirrour of Princely deedes and Knighthood_ (4to, 1578), other portions appearing subsequently. The whole four parts, translated from the original Spanish into French, appeared in eight volumes, and an abridged version was made by the Marquis de Paulmy. The Amadis cycle long remained immensely popular.

p. 129 _Gad-bee in his Brain_. As we now say ‘a bee in his bonnet’. For ’.ad-bee’ cf. Holland’s _Pliny_ (1601) I, 318. ‘The bigger kind of bees ... and this vermin is called _Oestrus_ (i.e. the gad-bee or horse fly).’ cf. _The Lucky Chance_, ii, II: ‘The Gad-Bee’s in his Quonundrum’ and note on that passage infra. For the idea compare ‘brize-stung’ (= crazed).

p. 142 _Cockt_. Set his hat jauntily. A very frequent phrase.

p. 146 _Slashes_. Bumpers. From the idea of vigour contained in ‘slash’. The word is extremely rare in this sense and perhaps only found here. But cf. Scottish (Lothian) ‘slash’ = a great quantity of broth or any other sorbile food.

p. 148 _what the Devil made me a ship-board_? cf. Géronte’s reiterated complaint ‘Que diable allait-il faire dans cette galère?’--_Les Fourberies de Scapin_ (1671), ii, VII; and the phrase in Cyrano de Bergerac’s _Le Pédant Joué_ (1654): ‘Ha! que diable, que diable aller faire en cette galère?... Aller sans dessein dans une galère!... Dans la galère d’un Turc!’--Act ii, IV. In France this phrase is proverbial.

p. 156 _glout thy Eyes_. Scowl; frown. Glout (without ‘thy Eyes’. is very common in this sense. cf. Note (p. 201), Vol. II, p. 433.

p. 160 _an Antick_. A fantastic measure. This is a favourite word with Mrs. Behn.

p. 165 _Aquinius his Case_. This is, I take it, some confused allusion to the great Dominican Doctor, S. Thomas Aquinas, who was regarded as being the supreme Master of scholasticism and casuistry. Casuistry must be taken in its true and original meaning--the balancing and deciding of individual cases.

p. 175 _Bantring and Shamming_. Banter = to chaff or make fun of, at this time a new slang word. It is almost certain that the verb, which came into use about 1670, was a full decade earlier than the noun. In 1688 the substantive ‘Banter’ was up-to-date slang. For the verb _vide_ D’Urfey’s _Madam Fickle_ (1676), Act v, I, where Zechiel cries to his brother: ‘Banter him, banter him, Toby. ‘Tis a conceited old Scarab, and will yield us excellent sport--go play upon him a little--exercise thy Wit.’ cf. Swift, _Apology_ (1710), _Talke of a Tub_: ‘Where wit hath any mixture of raillery, ‘tis but calling it banter, and the work is done. This polite word of theirs was first borrowed from the bullies in Whitefriars, then fell among the footmen, and at last retired to the pedants.’

For ‘shamming’ cf. Wycherley’s _The Plain Dealer_ (1674), iii, I, where the Lawyer says to Manly: ‘You ... shammed me all night long.’ ’.hammed!’ cries Manley, ‘prithee what barbarous law-term is that?’ ’.hamming ...’ answers the lawyer, ‘’.is all our way of wit, Sir.’ And Freeman explains ‘Shamming is telling you an insipid dull lie with a dull face, which the sly wag the author only laughs at himself; and making himself believe ‘tis a good jest, puts the sham only upon himself.’

p. 176 _Dumfounding_. A rude and rough form of practical joking. The players ‘dumfounded’ each other with sudden blows stealthily dealt. cf. Shadwell’s The True Widow (1678), Act iv, I. Prig in the theatre says: ’.ou shall see what tricks I’ll play; ‘faith I love to be merry’. (Raps people on their backs, and twirls their hats, and then looks demurely, as if he did not do it.) The pit, often a very pandemonium, was the chief scene of this sport. Dryden, prologue to _The Prophetess_ (1690), speaks of the gallants in the theatre indulging freely in

That witty recreation, called dumfounding.

p. 176 _stum’d Wine_. To stum wine is to renew dead and insipid wine by mixing new wine with it and so raising a fresh fermentation. cf. Slang (still in common use) ‘stumer’, a generic term for anything worthless, especially a worthless cheque.

p. 176 _Grisons_. A ‘grison’ is a servant employed on some private business and so dressed in gray (gris) or a dark colour not to attract notice. cf. Shadwell’s _The Volunteers_ (1693), Act ii, sc. I: ‘_Sir Nich_. I keep grisons, fellows out of livery, privately for nothing but to carry answers.’

THE LUCKY CHANCE.

p. 183 _Laurence, Lord Hyde_. This celebrated statesman (1641-1711) was second son of Edward Hyde, first Earl of Clarendon. The Dedication must have been written in 1686 when, wavering between the Catholic Faith and Protestantism, he was still high in favour with the King. 4 January, 1687, he was dismissed from court owing to his persistent refusals to be received into the Church.

p. 183 _The Abbot of Aubignac_. François Hédelin, Abbé D’Aubignac, a famous critic and champion of the theatre, was born at Paris, 4 August, 1604. Amongst his best known works are: _Térence justifié_ (4to, 1646, Paris), an attack on Ménage; _La Practique du théâtre_ (4to, 1669, Paris); and _Dissertations concernant le poëme dramatique en forme de remarques sur les deux tragédies de M. Corneille, intitulées_ Sophonisbe _et_ Sertorious (12mo, 1663, Paris). He died at Nemours, 27 July, 1676.

p. 185 _Dr. Davenant_. Charles Davenant, LL.D, (1656-1714), eldest son of Sir William Davenant. He sat for St. Ives, Cornwall, in the first parliament of James II, and was appointed, along with the Master of the Revels, to license plays.

p. 185 _Sir Roger L’Estrange_. The celebrated Tory journalist, pamphleteer and censor was born in 1616. He had ever been a warm defender of James II, and upon this monarch’s accession was liberally rewarded. 21 May, 1685, a warrant was issued directing him to enforce most strictly the regulations concerning treasonable and seditious and scandalous publications. After the Revolution he suffered imprisonment. He died 11 December, 1704.

p. 185 _Mr. Killigrew_. Charles Killigrew (1655-1725), Master of the Revels, was son of Thomas Killigrew by his second wife Charlotte de Hesse. He had been appointed Master of the Revels in 1680, patentee of Drury Lane Theatre in 1682. He was buried in the Savoy, 8 January, 1724-5.

p. 186 _Mr. Leigh_. Antony Leigh, the famous comedian, who created Sir Feeble Fainwood. The scene referred to is Act iii, sc. II, where it must be confessed that, in spite of her protestation, Mrs. Behn gives the stage direction--Sir Feeble ‘throws open his Gown, they run all away, he locks the Door.’

p. 186 _Oedipus_. Dryden and Lee’s excellent tragedy was produced at Dorset Garden in 1679. Betterton created Oedipus and his wife Jocasta. It was extraordinarily popular, as, indeed, were all the plays Mrs. Behn marshalls forth in this preface. The scene particularly referred to is Act ii, I: ‘Oedipus enters, walking asleep in his Shirt, with a Dagger in his Right-Hand and a Taper in his Left.’ A little after ‘Enter Jocasta, attended with Lights, in a Night-Gown.’

p. 186 _City Politicks_. This comedy by Crowne is a mordant satire upon the Whigs. It was produced with great success at the Theatre Royal and printed quarto 1683. A certain Florio feigns to be dying in order to prevent the Podesta suspecting an intrigue between his wife, Rosaura, ’.he Lady Mayoress’, and so impotent an invalid. Artall is in love with Lucinda, who is married to a toothless old lawyer, Bartoline. Says Genest: ‘The Podesta and Bartoline are as well cuckolded as any Tory could wish.’ cf. The conclusion of Act ii and the commencement of Act iii; also the discovery of Florio and Rosaura in Act v.

p. 186 _London Cuckolds_. This immensely popular play, five merry side-splitting acts which kept the stage for a century, was produced in 1682 at Dorset Garden. Ravenscroft has no less than three cuckolds in his Dramatis Personae: Doodle, Dashwell, and Wiseacre. The intrigues and counter-intrigues are innumerable. At the end the cuckolds all jeer one another.

p. 186 _Sir Courtly Nice_. This witty comedy, Crowne’s masterpiece, was produced at the Theatre Royal in 1685. Mrs. Behn’s allusion is to Act ii, II, where Crack, disguised as a tailor, visits Leonora. The language is often cleverly suggestive.

p. 186 _Sir Fopling_. Etheredge’s third comedy, _The Man of Mode; or, Sir Fopling Flutter_ was produced at the Duke’s Theatre in 1676. It met ’.ith extraordinary success’. Mrs. Behn points at Act iv, II.

p. 186 _Valentinian_. The reference is to the Earl of Rochester’s _Valentinian_, altered from Fletcher, which was produced with great applause at the Theatre Royal in 1684. The Court Bawds, Balbus, Proculus, Chylax, Lycinius, with the ‘lewd women belonging to the court’, Ardelia and Phorba, are important characters in the tragedy. The direct allusion is, perhaps, to Act ii, I. The scene after the rape, Act iv, sc. III, ‘opens, discovers th’.mperor’s Chamber. Lucina newly unbound by th’.mperor’. The ‘Prologue spoken by Mrs. Cook the first day’ is by Mrs. Behn (_vide_ Vol. VI). It is certain that an audience which found no offence in Rochester’s _Valentinian_ could ill have taken umbrage at the freedoms of _The Lucky Chance_.

p. 186 _The Moor of Venice. Othello_ was one of the first plays to be revived at the Restoration, and was, perhaps, the most frequently seen of all Shakespeare. On 11 October, 1660, Burt acted Othello at the Cockpit. Downes gives Mohun as Iago; Hart, Cassio; Cartwright, Brabantio; Beeston, Roderigo; Mrs. Hughes, Desdemona; Mrs. Rutter, Emilia. But it is certain Clun had also acted Iago--(Pepys, 6 February, 1668). Hart soon gave up Cassio to Kynaston for the title rôle in which he is said to have excelled. After his retirement in 1683 it fell to Betterton, of whose greatness in the part Cibber gives a lively picture. The _Tatler_ also highly commends this actor’s Othello.

p. 186 _The Maids Tragedy_. Mrs. Behn refers to Act ii, I, and Act iii, I. Hart acted Amintor; Mohun, Melantius; Wintershall, the King; Mrs. Marshall, Evadne. Rymer particularly praises Hart and Mohun in this tragedy, saying: ‘There we have our Roscius and Aesopus both on the stage together.’ After 1683 it was differently cast. It will be remembered that Melantius was Betterton’s last rôle, in which he appeared for his benefit 13 April, 1710, to the Amintor of Wilks and the Evadne of Mrs. Barry. He died 28 April, a fortnight after.

p. 187 _Wills Coffee House_. This famous coffee-house was No. 1 Bow Street, Covent Garden, on the west side corner of Russell Street. It derived its name from Will Unwin who kept it. The wits’ room was upstairs on the first floor. Some of its reputation was due to the fact that it was a favourite resort of Dryden.

p. 187 _write for a Third day only_. The whole profits of the third day’s performance went to the author of the play; and upon these occasions his friends and patrons would naturally rally to support him. There are numberless allusions to this custom, especially in Prefaces, Prologues and Epilogues.