Page images
PDF
EPUB
[graphic]

was rais urst; t Charles

most de

rument

Thom

Seots; P

at he oyed o

serv

firme

arl of

ears, u

Wher rtance

ase to

han the

irds o

uses.

suredl

early

mcan

eded to an ample patrimony, yet not ample enough

ther b

penser

tensiv

e best

adeavo

pore su

outh, a

Spenser

fine

School,

rold

is inin

[graphic]

For his dissipated habits; that in the following year he
vas raised to the peerage by the title of baron Buck-
burst; that in 1573, he was chosen ambassador to
Charles IX., king of France; that he was one of the
most devoted and least scrupulous of Elizabeth's in-
struments, since he was one of the judges on the trials
of Thomas Howard, duke of Norfolk; Mary, queen of
Scots; Philip, earl of Arundel; and the earl of Essex;
that he was ambassador to the Low Countries, and em-
ployed on other important occasions; that in return for
his services, he was made successively chancellor of
Oxford, and high treasurer of England; that he was
confirmed in these posts by James I., who created him
earl of Dorset; and that he survived this elevation five
years, unto the
1608.
year

In

When we consider the number, the variety, the importance of lord Buckhurst's public duties, we shall cease to feel surprise that he wrote no other tragedy than the one we have mentioned; that he contributed so little to the Mirror of Magistrates; that during two thirds of his life, he renounced the worship of the muses. Had his lot been cast in private life, he would assuredly have proved one of the greatest benefactors to our early literature. In tragedy, no one that preceded him can for a moment be compared with him. other branches of poetry, he had no superior until Spenser arose. His mind was cultivated not only by extensive classical learning, but by a diligent study of the best Italian writers, especially of Dante, whom he endeavoured to imitate, and whom he did imitate with more success than we should have expected from his youth, and from the age in which he lived. To him, Spenser, perhaps, even Milton, is indebted for some of his finest conceptions. He belonged to the Allegoric School, the offspring, as we have before intimated, of our old moralities; and he is the only writer, except his inimitable follower, Spenser, in whose hands allegory does not fall into contempt. Endowed with genius which, on most occasions, he regulated by a

"

[graphic]

by Sha
be deter
there is
Ferrex

Dess, w
Murder
Ability,

ad to

plode

Fice, is

all, the

mploy

In cont the de

Most g

modern

of ever

ame we

had bee

f our

thing l

hile P

before

De set

on di Tould

e wou

und no

e spa

ing t

pidity

Presto

Camb

Zively

*"A Lamentable Tragedie, mixed ful of Pleesent Mirth, contayning the Life of Cambises, King of Persia, from the begynning of his kingdom to his death, his ever grand deed of execution; after that many wretched Hoods and tyrannous murders committed by and through him; and last of by God's justice appointed doon in such order as fol

[graphic]

believed to have had the honour of being immortalised by Shakespear.* The date of its publication cannot be determined, as the first edition is without one; but there is reason to infer, that it immediately followed the Ferrex and Porrex of Sackville. It has all the rudeness, without the simplicity, of our old moral plays: Murder, Common-Cry, Common- Complaint, Smile, Ability, Proof, Execution, Diligence, Cruelty, Profanation, Trial, and Shame, are characters of the piece; and to make the stupidity of its resemblance to the exploded morals still more striking, Ambidexter, the Vice, is introduced in all his ancient glory. To crown all, the mythological personages, Venus and Cupid, are employed to bring about one of the leading incidents! In conformity with this precious list of characters are the design, the conduct, the incidents of the piece. Most glorious of all, is the confusion of ancient and modern manners; of pagan gods and christian saints; of every thing irreconcilable and absurd. For some time we were inclined to the suspicion, that this tragedy had been written by some wag, to ridicule the absurdities of our infant drama; and the notion acquired something like confirmation from the fact, that the author, while performing a part in the Latin play of "Dido,' before queen Elizabeth, so gratified that princess that she settled a pension on him. But this illusion was soon dispelled. Had he been so much of a wit, he would have exhibited some traces of it in his drama;

he would have given something like point to his ridicule, and not have restrained himself so far as not to utter one sparkling, one redeeming thought, from the beginning to the end of his play. It is one tissue of stupidity; heavy as lead, and soporific as opium. Thomas Preston, doctor as he was, and member of Trinity Hall, Cambridge, was never guilty of a witticism, or of a lively expression, or of one dictated by common sense.

6. George Gascoyne, was more of a translator than any thing else. In 1566 appeared his review of

46:11 do it in King Cambuses' vein!""

[graphic]

969

W

A So

Si

W

U

B

W

W

T

As

TH

T

Be

W

Gas

though cles an

conside

pare it

model

be calle

"So

Το

Th Li

Bo

Bu

U

Are

Be

Ea

H

Of

Les

Th

VOL

« PreviousContinue »