It is observable, that the poet speaks of the discovery of America as then recent; "Within this xx yere "Westwarde be founde new landes "That we never harde tell of before this," &c. The West-Indies were discovered by Columbus in 1492, which fixes the writing of this play to about 1510. The play of Hick-Scorner was, probably, somewhat more ancient, as he still more imperfectly alludes to the American discoveries, under the name of "the Newe founde Ilonde," sign. A. vij. It appears from the play of The Four Elements, that Interludes were then very common: The profession of PLAYER was no less common; for in an old satire, entitled, Cock Lorelles Bote*, the author enumerates all the most common trades or callings, as, "Carpenters, Coopers, Joyners, &c. and among others, PLAYERS, though it must be acknowledged he has placed them in no very reputable company. and that yt is in circumference above xxi M. myle." "Of certeyne points of cosmographye-and of dyvers ❝straunge regyons-and of the new founde landys and the "maner of the people." This part is extremely curious, as it shows what notions were entertained of the new American discoveries by our own countrymen. * Printed at the Sun, in Fleet-Street, by W. de Worde, no date, bl. 1. 4to. PLAYERS, "PLAYERS, purse-cutters, money-batterers, "Golde-washers, tomblers, jogelers, "Pardoner's, &c." Sign. B. vj. It is observable, that in the old Moralities of HickScorner, Every-Man, &c. there is no kind of stage direction for the exits and entrances of the personages, no division of acts and scenes. But in the moral interlude of Lusty Juventus*, written under Edward VI. the exits and entrances begin to be noted in the margin: at length, in Q. Elizabeth's reign, Moralities appeared formally divided into acts and scenes, with a regular prologue, &c. One of these is reprinted by Dodsley. In the time of Henry VIII, one or two dramatick pieces had been published under the classical names of Comedy and Tragedy, but they appear not to have *Described in vol. ii. Preface to Book II. The Dramatis Personæ of this piece are, "Messenger. Lusty Juventus. Good Counsaill. Knowledge. Sathan the devyll. Hypocrisie. Fellowship. Abominable-lyving [an Harlot.] God's-merciful-promises." I have also discovered some few Exeats and Intrats in the very old Interlude of the Four Elements. Bishop Bale had applied the name of Tragedy to his Mystery of God's Promises, in 1538. In 1540, John Palsgrave, B. D. had republished a Latin comedy, called Acolastus, with an English version. Holingshed tells us, (vol, ii. p. 850.) that so early as 1520, the king had “a "goodlie have been intended for popular use it was not till the religious ferments had subsided, that the publick had leisure to attend to dramatick poetry. In the reign of Elizabeth, Tragedies and Comedies began to appear in form, and could the poets have persevered, the first models were good. Gorboduc, a regular tragedy, was acted in 1561*; and Gascoigne, in 1566, exhibited Jocasta, a translation from Euripides, as also, The Supposes, a regular comedy, from Ariosto near thirty years before any of Shakspere's were printed. The people, however, still retained a relish for their old Mysteries and Moralities †, and the popular dramatick poets seem to have made them their models. The graver sort of Moralities appear to have given birth to our modern TRAGEDY; as our COMEDY evidently took its rise from the lighter interludes of "goodlie comedie of Plautus plaied" before him at Greenwich; but this was in Latin, as Mr. FARMER informs us in his late curious "Essay on the Learning of Shakspere." 8vo. p. 31. See Ames, p. 316.—This play appears to have been first printed under the name of Gorboduc; then under that of Ferrer and Porrer, in 1569; and again, under Gorboduo, 1590.- -Ames calls the first edition Quarto; Langbaine, Octavo; and Tanner, 12mo. + The general reception the old Moralities had upon the stage, will account for the fondness of all our first poets for allegory. Subjects of this kind were familiar to every body. that * that kind. And as most of these pieces contain an absurd mixture of religion and buffoonery, an eminent critick has well deduced from thence the origin of our unnatural TRAGI-COMEDIES. Even after the people had been accustomed to Tragedies and Comedies, Moralities still kept their ground: one of them entitled The New Custom † was printed so late as 1573 = at length they assumed the name of MASQUES ‡, and with some classical improvements, became in the two following reigns the favourite entertainments of the Court. As for the old Mysteries, which ceased to be acted after the Reformation, they seem to have given rise to a third species of stage exhibition, which, though now confounded with Tragedy or Comedy, were by our first dramatick writers considered as quite distinct from them both; these were Historical Plays, or HISTO RIES, a species of dramatick writing, which resembled the old Mysteries, in representing a series of historical events simply in the order of time in which they hap pened, without any regard to the three great unities. These pieces seem to differ from Tragedy, just as much as Historical poems do from Epick: as the Pharsalia Bp. Warburton's Shakspere, vol. v. + Reprinted among Dodsley's Old Plays, vol. i. In some of these appeared characters full as extraor dinary as in any of the old Moralities. In Ben Jonson's Masque of Christmas, 1616, one of the personages is MINCED PYE does does from the Æneid. What might contribute to make dramatick poetry take this turn was this; soon after the Mysteries ceased to be exhibited, there was published a large collection of poetical narratives, called The Mirrour for Magistrates*, wherein a great number of the most eminent characters in English history are drawn, relating their own misfortunes. This book was popular, and of a dramatick cast, and therefore, as an elegant writer † has well observed, might have its influence in producing Historick Plays. These narratives, probably, furnished the subjects, and the ancient Mysteries suggested the plan. That our old writers considered Historical Plays as somewhat distinct from Tragedy and Comedy, appears from numberless passages of their works. "Of late "days," says Stow, "instead of those stage-playes ‡ "have been used Comedies, Tragedies, Enterludes, and HISTORIES, both true and fained." Survey of London || .-Beaumont and Fletcher, in the prologue to The Captain, say, "This is nor Comedy, nor Tragedy, The first part of which was printed in 1559. + Catalogue of Royal and Noble authors, vol. i. p. 166, 7, The Creation of the World, acted at Skinner's-Well, in,1409. See Mr. Warton's Observations, vol. ii. p. 109. |