[Secret Love; or, the Maiden-Queen, as it is acted by His Majesty's servants at the Theatre Royal. Written by John Dryden, Esq. Viliis, etc. London: Printed for Henry Herringman at the sign of the Anchor on the Lower Walk of the New Exchange. 1668.-ED.]

THE MAIDEN QUEEN.

THE Maiden Queen is said, by Langbaine, to be founded upon certain passages in "The Grand Cyrus," and in “Ibrahim, the illustrious Bassa." Few readers will probably take the trouble of consulting these huge volumes, for the purpose of ascertaining the truth of this charge. Even our duty, as editors, cannot impel us to the task; satisfied, as we are, that, since these ponderous folios at that time loaded every toilette, Dryden can hardly have taken more from such well-known sources, than the mere outline of the story. Indeed, to a certain degree, the foundation of the plot, upon a story in the "Cyrus," is admitted by the author. The character of the queen is admirably drawn, and the catastrophe is brought very artfully forward; the uncertainty, as to her final decision, continuing till the last moment. In this, as in all our author's plays, some passages of beautiful poetry occur in the dialogue; as, for example, the scene in Act 3d betwixt Philocles and Candiope. The characters, excepting that of the Maiden Queen herself, are lame and uninteresting. Philocles, inparticular, has neither enough of love to make him despise ambition, nor enough of ambition to make him break the fetters of love. We might have admired him, had he been constant; or sympathised with him, had he sinned against his affections, and repented; but there is nothing interesting in the vacillations of his indecision. The comic part of the play contains much of what was thought wit in the reign of Charles I.; for marriage is railed against, and a male and female rake join in extolling the pleasures of a single life, even while the usage of the theatre compels them, at length, to put on the matrimonial chains. It is surprising, that no venturous author, in that gay age, concluded, by making such a couple happy in their own way. The novelty of such a catastrophe would have insured its success; and, unlike to the termination of the loves of Celadon and Florimel, it would have been strictly in character.

The Maiden Queen was first acted in 1667; and printed, as the poet has informed us, by the command of Charles himself, who graced it with the title of HIS play. Dryden

mentions the excellence of the acting, so it was probably received very favourably.

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[Scott was not and could not be aware of the peculiar interest which attaches to The Maiden Queen. The part of Florimel was acted by Nell Gwyn, and she is said to have been exceedingly bewitching in it, which fully accounts for the king's patronage of the play. It was produced on the night of the 2d of March 1667, Charles and his brother being both present. Fortunately Pepys was present too, and hast recorded his impressions. He says that "the play is mightily recommended for the regularity of it, and the strain and wit of Nell Gwyn's acting." He remarks how he " can never hope to see the like done again by man or woman," and that "so great performance of a comical part was never, I believe, in the world before as Nell do this, both as a mad girl, then most and best of all when she comes in like a young gallant, and hath the motions and carriage of a spark the most that ever I saw any man have. It makes me, I confess, admire her." He went again and again to see the play, with equally satisfactory results. It is not difficult, I think, to understand this enthusiasm. The part of Florimel is not, of course, very refined according to modern notions, but there is clearly enough discernible in it a strain of bright and saucy freshness which, acted to the life as it must have been by Mrs. Ellen, may have been winning enough. There is no doubt that the second description of the masqued Florimel when Celadon first meets her is pretty accurately descriptive of Nell herself. As for Celadon, he is much more of a gentleman than Loveby, less coarse and more witty, while he is equally free from the brutality of the Dorimants and Vainloves. It will be observed that the boasted regularity of this play has not prevented Dryden from using the ugly mixture of prose and blank verse which had long been customary. This mixture accounts to a great extent for the temporary success of couplets, which at least had to scan, and which he himself at last shook off in All for Love. The text in Scott is somewhat corrupt, and it is difficult to think that he can have consulted the first edition, or even the folio: such things as "have" for "half," "frame" for " fame," etc., occur. Perhaps it should be added that there is no doubt about the indebtedness of the serious part of the plot to the "Grand Cyrus," and that that famous work and its fellows were not originally read in "huge volumes" or "ponderous folios," but in dozens of duodecimos.-ED.]

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