SUPPLEMENT to the UNIVERSAL MAG. VOL. XXIV. 337 The LIFE of BENJAMIN JONSON, Poet-Laureat. With his Head neatly engraved. ENJAMIN JONSON, the The glory of this action receives a parti B father of the poets in the beginning of cular heightening from the reflection, that the last century, was the fruit of a pofthumous birth and came into the world about a month after the death of his father, in 1574. Being born in Westminster, he was put firft to a private fchool, in the church of St. Martin in the Fields; but removed thence, at a proper age, to that of the royal foundation, where Camden became his mafter. As his father was a Gentleman and a Clergyman, this step feems to have been taken in the view of breeding him to the church; but the widow, being left in narrow circumftances, thought fit not to refufe an offer of marriage, which was made to her by a bricklayer; and after her fon had continued fome years at Westminster school, and made an extraordinary progrefs in claffical learning, she took him away, and obliged him to work under his ftep-father: This was nipping the first fprig of his dawning hopes in the bud; his fpirit was not of a temper to take the bent to fo mortifying change. In the depth of his refentment he left his mother; and, inlifting for a foldier, was carried to the English army, then engaged against the Spaniards in the Netherlands. Here he acquired a degree of military glory, which rarely falls to the lot of a common man in that profeffion: In an encounter with a fingle man of the enemy he flew his opponent; and, ftripping him, carried off the spoils in the view of both armies. Being not a little elated with this incident of his life, he took occafion early to touch, by the way, upon it, in the apologetical dialogue, which was once fpoken by way of epilogue to (and is now printed at the end of) his Poetafter; and he afterwards gave it a place in his collection of epigrams: We find him again alluding to it, with the fame elation of heart, feveral years afterwards, when King Charles, then Prince of Wales, was in Spain, on the business of the Spanish match; he writes thus to a friend ; Whether the difpenfation yet be sent, My Prince's fafety, and my King's defire: I have a body yet, that fpirit draws, he thereby ftands fingularly diftinguished above the rest of his brethren of the poetical race, very few of whom have ever acquired any reputation in arms. Upon his return home he followed the bent of his inclination; and, refuming his ftudies, went to St. John's college in Cambridge: But here he had foon the misfortune to undergo a fecond mortification; the fhortness of his purfe not fupplying him with the decent conveniencies of a learned ease, he found himself under a neceffity of quitting that feat of the Mufes, after a fhort stay there. In this exigency he took a courfe, not uncommon to perfons of genius under the like diftrefs: He applied to the play-houses, and was admitted into an obscure one, called the Green-Curtain, in the neighbourhood of Shoreditch or Clerkenwell. He had not been long in this ftation, when, not contenting himself with the bufinefs of an actor only, he took up his pen, and wrote fome pieces for the ftage; but his performances either way did no great credit to his genius. and In the character of a player his aukwardnefs furnished a topic of fatire to his anta gonist, Decker; who, in his Satyromaftix, reproaches him with having left the occupation of a mortar-trader to turn actor; with having put up a fupplication to be a poor journeyman player, in which he would have continued, but that he could not fet a good face upon it, and fo was cafhiered; that he performed the part of Zuliman at the Paris-garden in Southwark, and ambled by a play-waggon in the highway, and took mad Jeronymo's part to get service among the mimics. This play, called The Spanish Tragedy, or Jeronymo is made again,' was no lefs admired by the populace than derided by our old comedians, Shakespeare and Fletcher in particular, and after them by Jonfon himself. As a poet, Ben's genius partook of his temper; it was hardy and fullen, and was not beat out without much fweat and hammering; befides, it was certainly overtopped by his learning; which at firit, confequently, rather damped and held it in awe as a master, than waited upon it in its proper office as a fervant. During his continuance in this humble ftation, he had a quarrel with one of the players; who fending him a challenge, there enfued a duel, wherein Jonfon killed his adverfary: For this offence being thrown into prifon, *The bear-garden, fo called at that time from the man's name who kept it. NUMB. CLXIX, VOL. XXIV. under 1 under that misfortune his fpirit, tough as it was, funk into fome degree of melancholy, fo that he became a fit object to be fubdued by the crafty attacks of a Popish priest; who, officioully vifiting him in his confinement, prevailed upon him to renounce his religion, and embrace the Roman Catholic faith; and he remained twelve years within the pale of that church. Not long after this change in his religious condition, he made another in his civil one, by taking to himself a wife, having firft obtained his releasement from prifon. His fpirit revived with his liberty; and, maugre all the difcouragements he met with, he went on digging in the poetic mine, and, by dint of unappalled induftry, improved his genius fo much, that at length he produced a play; which having the good fortune to fall into the hands of Shakespeare, that humane good-natured bard, refolving to do full juftice to its merit, brought it upon the stage, where he was a manager, and acted a part in it himself: He afterwards continued to recommend our poes and his productions to the public, and even, occafionally, did not difdain to lend his hand in the finishing of fome of them. Nor was Jonfon wanting to acknowledge it after his manner: In the clofe of his preface to the tragedy of Sejanus, printed in 1605, 4to, and first acted in 1603, we read these words: Laftly, I would inform you, that this book in all numbers is not the fame with that which was acted on the public ftage, wherein a fecond pen had good fhare; in place of which I have rather chofen to put weaker, and no doubt lefs pleafing, of mine own, than defraud fo happy a genius of his right by my loathed ufurpation.' No-body can doubt that this genius was Shakespeare; and pofterity may wish, with good reafon, that thofe numbers had been fuffered to keep their standing, with fome note of diftinction of Jonfon, whatever was his true motive for putting the change upon us. After Shakespeare's death, Jonfon in fcribed a copy of verfes to his memory, fo artfully penned, that two great poets have been divided in their opinions about it; Mr. Dryden calling it invidious and afperfing, while Mr. Pope thinks it an ample and honourable panegyric to the memory of his friend. Jonfon thus encouraged by Shakespeare, his genius ripened apace; and his comedy, intitled, Every Man in his Humour,' made its appearance on the fame ftage in 1598. This play ftands at the head of the reft, in the first edition of his works, published by himfelf in 1616, folio; and in his Induction to the Magnetic Lady,' Vol. IV. P. 372, he calls it the beginning of his ftudies of this kind. It feems he did not chufe to own thofe abortive brats which his unripe brain had ap produced before. The fcene of Every Man in his Humour' was first at Florence, the perfons represented were Italians, and the manners in a great measure conformable to the genius of the place; but, when it peared again in the collection of his works, it had a more becoming and confiftent afpect: The fcene was transferred to London, the perfons had English names given to them, and the dialogue, incidents, and manners were fuited to the place of action. It was no small merit in our author, contrary to the general practice which prevailed when he first applied himself to write for the stage, and which he then conformed to, to proceed thus far in a reformation, by the choice of a domestic fable; but ftill it must be confeffed the work is not fully completed; there remains one remarkable instance of Italian manners, in the allufion to the custom of poisoning, fo common in the revenges of Italian jealoufy: But, notwithstanding this fault, if it be one, it cannot be denied that the character of Kitely is well imagined and fupported, his jealoufy is constantly returning, and creates him fresh fcruples in every thing he fets about; this fhews itfelf no-where in fo ftriking a light as in the incident which makes the third fcene of act the third; and it is no difparagement to the author of the Sufpicious Husband', that, in this particular at least, he fet Jonfon before him. 'Every Man in his Humour' was followed, the next year, by Every Man cut of his Humour. A late excellent critic fends his readers to this play, for a fight of the extravagance of building dramatic manners on abstract ideas, in its full light: “Every Man out of his Humour,' fays he, under the name of a play of character, is, in fact, an unnatural, and, as the painters call it, hard delineation of a group of fimply existing paffions, wholly chimerical, and unlike to any thing we obferve in the commerce of real life; yet, continues he, this comedy has always had its admirers; and Randolph, in particular, was fo taken with the defign, that he feems to have formed his " Mufes Looking glafs" in exprefs imitation of it." To this cenfure it hath been obferved, on the part Jonfon, That the characters are indeed very ftrongly marked, yet some of them have been thought to glance at particular perfons of the author's acquaintance; and that his enemies did not fcruple to tax him with quarrelling with his friends, and afterwards reprefenting them on the ftage; and particularly in the characters of this very play; fo that, far from being thought, at that time, to build his characters upon abstract ideas, he was really accufed of reprefenting particular perfons then exifting; and that of even |