96 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 223. 



I must therefore leave the stronghold of facts, 

 and advance into the field of conjecture. / ascribe 

 the prologue to John Dry den. 



It appears by the list of plays altered from 

 Siiakspere, as drawn up by Steevens and Reed, 

 that Julius Ccesar had been altered by sir William 

 D'Avenant and Dryden jointly, and acted at the 

 Theatre-royal in Drury-lane. It would therefore 

 seem probable that one of those poets wrote the 

 prologue on that occasion. Nevertheless, it docs 

 not appear in the works of either poet. 



The Works of sir William D'Avenant were 

 edited by Mr. Ilerringman, with the sanction of 

 lady D'Avenant, in 1673; and its exclusion so 

 far decides the question. 



The non-appearance of it in the Poems of 

 Dryden, as published by Mr. Tonson in 1701, is 

 no disproof of the claim which I advocate. The 

 volume contains only twenty prologues and epi- 

 logues — but Dryden wrote twice that number! 



I shall now produce some circumstantial evi- 

 dence in favour of Dryden. It is derived from an 

 examination of the volume entitled Covent Garden 

 drolery. This small volume contains twenty-two 

 prologues or epilogues, and more than fifiy songs 

 — all anonymous, but said to be written by the 

 rejinedest ivits of the age. We have, 1. A prologue 

 and epilogue to the Maiden queen of Dryden — 

 not those 'printed in 1668 ; 2. A prologue and 

 epilogue to the Parsons wedding of Thomas Killi- 

 grew ; 3. A prologue and epilogue to the Mar- 

 riage a la mode of Dryden — printed with the 

 play in 1673 ; 4. The prologue to Julius Caesar ; 

 5. A prologue to the Wit without money of Beau- 

 mont and Fletcher — printed in the Poems of 

 Dryden, 1701 ; 6. A prologue to the Pilgrim of 

 Fletcher — not that printed in 1700. These pieces 

 occupy the first twelve pages of the volume. It 

 cannot be requisite to give any further account of 

 its contents. 



I waive the question of internal evidence; but 

 have no misgiving, on that score, as to the opinion 

 which may henceforth prevail on the validity of 

 the claim now advanced in favour of Dryden. 



Sir Walter Scott observes, with reference to 

 the essay Of dramatick poesie, " The contract of 

 Ben. Jonson and Shakspere is peculiarly and 

 strikingly felicitous." He could have said no less 

 — whatever he might have said as to its author- 

 ship — had he seen the Prologue to Julius Casar. 



Bolton Corney. 



PARTY SIMILES OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY ." 



NO. I. " FOXES AND FIREBRANDS." NO. II. "THE 

 TROJAN HORSE." 



(Continued from Vol. viii., p. 488.) 



The following works I omitted to mention in 

 my last Note from want of room. The first 



is by that amiable Nimrod, John Bale, Bishop of 

 Ossory : 



" Yet a Course at the Romvshe Foxe, &c. Com- 

 pyled by Johau Harrison. Zurich. 1543. 4to." 



The four following are by William Turner, 

 M.D., who also wrote under an assumed name : 



" The Huntyng of the Romishe Foxe, &c. By 

 William Wraughton. Basil. 1543." 



" The Rescuynge of the Romishe Foxe, &c. Win- 

 chester. 1 545. 8vo." 



" The Huntyng of the Romyshe Wolfe. 8vo. 

 1554 (?)." 



"The Huntyng of the Foxe and Wolfe, be. 8vo." 

 _ The next is the most important work, and I 

 give the title in full : 



" The Hunting of the Romish Fox, and the Quench- 

 ing of Sectarian Firebrands. Being a Specimen of 

 Popery and Separation. Collected by the Honourable 

 Sir James Ware, Knight, out of the Memorials of 

 Eminent Men, both in Church and State: A. B. 

 Cranmer, A. B. Usher, A. B. Parker, Sir Henry 

 Sidney, A. B. Abbot, Lord Cecil, A. B. Laud, and 

 others. And now published for the Public Good. By- 

 Robert Ware, Gent. Dublin. 1683. 12mo. pp. 248." 



The work concludes with this paragraph : 



" Now he that hath given us all our hearts, give 

 unto His Majesties subjects of these nations an heart of 

 uhity, to quash division and separation ; of obedience, to 

 quench the fury of rebellious firebrands : and a heart 

 of constancy to the Reformed Church of England, the 

 better to expel Popery, and to confound dissention. 

 Amen." 



The last work, with reference to the first simile 

 of my note, which I shall mention, is that by 

 Zephaniah Smith, one of the leaders of the En- 

 glish Antinomians : 



"The Doome of Heretiques; or a Discovery of 

 Subtle Foxes who wer tyed Tayle to Tayle, and crept 

 into the Church to doe Mischiefe, &c. Lond. 1648."* 



* The titles of these books remind one of "a merry- 

 disport," which formerly took place in the hall of the 

 Inner Temple. " At the conclusion of the ceremony, 

 a huntsman came into the hall bearing a fox, a purse- 

 net, and a cat, both bound at the end of a staff, attended 

 by nine or ten couples of hounds with the blowing of 

 hunting-horns. Then were the fox and cat set upon 

 and killed by the dogs beneath the fire, to the no small 

 pleasure of the spectators." One of the masque-names 

 in tills ceremony was " Sir Morgan Mumehance, of 

 Much Monkery, in the county of Mad Popery." 



In Anc, Compendious Bohe of Godly and Spiritual 

 Sonys, Edinburgh, 1621, printed from an old copy, are 

 the following lines, seemingly referring to some such 

 pageant : 



" The Hunter is Christ that hunts in haist, 

 The Hands are Peter and Pawle, 

 The Paip is the Fox, Home is the Rox 

 That rubbis us on the gall." 

 See Hone's Year-Boo'i, p. 1513. 



