his father; from whom, I incline to think, with Langbaine, his sole support was derived.

Why the earl of Pembroke, the liberal friend and protector of literature in all its branches,' neglected a young man to whom his assistance was so necessary, and who, from the acknowledged services of his father, had so many and just claims on it; one, too, who would have done his patronage such singular honour, I have no means of ascertaining; that he was never indebted to it is, I fear, indisputable; since the Poet, of whose character gratitude forms a striking part, while he recurs perpetually to his hereditary obligations to the Herbert family,

To this nobleman (and his younger brother, Philip) Heminge and Condell dedicated their edition of Shakspeare's Plays; to him, also, Jonson inscribed his Epigrams, "as the great example of honour and virtue," an idea on which he enlarged in one of his minor poems. It is evident that there was little cordiality between Jonson and our Author; the former could bear no rival near the throne;

nunquam partitur amicum,

Solus habet:

yet it would be unjust to accuse, or even to suspect him of doing Massinger an ill office with his father's friend, on no better grounds than his unhappy disposition.

anxiously avoids all mention of his name. I sometimes, indeed, imagine that I have discovered the cause of this alienation, but cannot flatter myself that it will be very generally or even partially allowed: not to keep the reader in suspense, I attribute it to the Poet's having, during his residence at the University, exchanged the religion of his father, for one, at this time, the object of persecution, hatred, and terrour. A close and repeated perusal of Massinger's works has convinced me that he was a Catholick. The Virgin-Martyr, the Renegado, the Maid of Honour, exhibit innumerable proofs of it; to say nothing of those casual intimations that are scattered over his remaining dramas: a consciousness of this might prevent him from applying to the earl of Pembroke for assistance, or a knowledge of it might determine that nobleman to withhold his hand: for it is difficult to believe that his displeasure (if he really entertained any) could arise from Massinger's attachment to an art of which he and his brother' were universally considered

The first folio edition of Beaumont and Fletcher's Plays was dedicated, by the players, to the earl of Montgomery.

as the patrons, and which, indeed, he himself cultivated with assiduity, at least, if not with success.'

However this be, the period of Massinger's misfortunes commenced with his arrival in London. His father had probably applied most of his property to the education of his son, and when the small remainder was exhausted, he was driven (as he more than once observes) by his necessities, and somewhat inclined, perhaps, by the peculiar bent of his talents, to dedicate himself to the service of the stage.

This expedient, though not the most prudent, nor, indeed, the most encouraging to a young adventurer, was not altogether hopeless. Men who will ever be considered as the pride and boast of their country, Shakspeare, Jonson, and Fletcher, were solely, or in a considerable degree, dependant on it: nor were there wanting others of an inferiour rank,

In 1660 was published a collection of "amorous and poetical airs and compositions," Wood tells us, "with this title: Poems written by William Earl of Pembroke, &c. many of which are answered by way of repartee, by Sir Benj. Rudyard, with other Poems written by them occasionally and apart." Athen. Vol. I.

p. 546.

such as Rowley, Middleton, Field, Decker, Shirley, and Ford; writers to whom Massinger, without any impeachment of his modesty, might consider himself as fully equal, who subsisted on the emoluments derived from dramatick writing. There was also something to tempt the ambition, or, if it must be so, the vanity, of a young adventurer, in this pursuit: literature was the sole means by which a person undistinguished by birth and fortune, could, at this time, hope to acquire the familiarity or secure the friendship of the great; and of all its branches none was so favourably received, or so liberally encouraged, as that of the drama. Tilts and tournaments, the boisterous but magnificent entertainments of the court, together with pageantries and processions, the absurd and costly mummeries of the city, were rapidly giving way to more elegant and rational amusements, to revels, masks, and plays: 'nor were the latter merely encouraged by the presence of the nobility; the writers of them were adopted into the number of their acquaintance, and made at once the objects of their bounty and esteem. It is gratifying to observe how the names of Shakspeare, Jonson, &c. are come

down to us in connexion with the Sidneys, the Pembrokes, the Southamptons, and other great and splendid ornaments of the courts of Elizabeth and James.

Considerations of this or a similar kind may naturally be supposed to have had their weight with Massinger, as with so many others but whatever was the motive, Wood informs us, that " being sufficiently famed for several specimens of wit, he betook himself to making plays." Of what description these specimens were, Antony does not say; he probably spoke without much examination into a subject for which he had little relish or solicitude; and, indeed, it seems more reasonable to conclude, from the peculiar nature of Massinger's talents, that the drama was his first and sole pursuit.

It must appear singular, after what has been observed, that, with only one exception, we should hear nothing of Massinger for the long period of sixteen years, that is, from his first appearance in London, 1606, to 1622, when his Virgin - Martyr, the first of his printed works, was given to the publick, That his necessities would not admit of relaxation in his efforts for subsistence is certain,