64 



MAUSTON 



verx- tragedy al the day, wan brought nut 

 I I 'tury Lane by Slarremly. It wa* the ln-i. and 

 al*o the mart Mtvecvdil, <>f more tlmn n do/en 

 play. (StrntAmorr. Pkilip of franff. &c.). all 

 Sheridan Know h-ian, and all fmgntleii. though 

 r.illtN-tni. edition nl them HI| hi (Hx-tic wmk 

 appeared in .' \"l.im-- in |s7. lu--i.li them, be 

 MI. ite a n..\.-l 1X00), a good I--.U <>: 

 Artort (ISHHi. and a ma** of poetic CHUM-MI 

 Altbooxh In- holme had once Iieen the gathering 

 place of several nf the ni.r-t prominent literary 

 men in London, M.imton died in iluit city alone 

 (wife. rliil.lrvn. grandchildren. all dead l>ef..ie 

 him) <m ."itli .l.iiin.iiv 1MN). liin MHI, 1'iui n- 

 It'll I:KK MARSTIIV. the Mind poet, was bom 

 in Bunion. l.'Hli August I8.VI. and died there on 

 Mtli Krl.iu.iiy |s*7. Hi* life was a serie* of 

 IOMC* of eyntighl at three, and afterwards of 

 liU IT. l.i pnimiM-d l.ride. nnd liin two dear 

 -. Oliver Madiix Drown anil K.<etii. His 

 memory will survive thmugh his friendship* with 

 the hut and with Watt* and Swinburne rather 

 than through hiii sonnet* and lyrics. They are 

 exquiite Mime of them. Inn t<Mi sad for a world 

 that MM. .v. ,..;?../.-. Ml in All, and H'iiul Voiret 

 were the three volume* i>f ]MN>try tliiit he pub- 

 hslie.1 in his lifetime. UM \\.-.-n 1x70 and 1883; to 

 a nosthiimoii- r.ill'i-tii.n nf hU stories is prefixed 

 a n. nmii l.y Mr \V. Sharp. 



Mansion. .I..HV dramatist and satirist, a ton 

 nf John M.ir-t'.n. nf (iaylon (or lleyton i. County 

 Salop, by hit wife Maria, daafkter of Andrew 

 (iuar>i, an Italian surgeon, who hail will.- I in 

 I...M.I..M. w;m Unn about 1575, |. tnluil.lv at Coventry. 

 He matriculated at Braseniwe College, Oxford, 

 4th February 1591 -M. and wa admit til B.A. 6th 

 February- I.V.M 04. From the i-ldt-r Mareton's will 

 (dated -Jlth I trtoher 159B) it mav tie ^nthered that, 

 after adopting the profemion <.f the law, lie iilmn- 

 doned it against IIIH father H wish. He married 

 (but the ilnt<- of Inn mnrriaK*-' oannot be fixed) 

 Marv. daughter of Hev. William Wilkes, clinphiin 

 t iHHMI I. and rector of St Martin's, County 

 \\ ills. |{pn Jinuon wittily unnerved to Dmminonil 

 of Hawthonidrn that ' M.H-I..II wrote- IIJM father- 

 in law'n iiirjK-hin^i. and liin father-in-law his 

 ilini/ rnntnuitinc the asperity of Marftton'x 

 with the blandneM of 'the chaplain'H 

 With the e\r-|.ti..n -i 1'hr ln*<iti,,i, 

 (which is of doubtful authornhip i, all 

 Mantton'n plays were t.uMi.he.1 U'tw.-i-n li'iiy an. I 

 1007. He ir\e up play-writing about IWiT. l.nt 

 thr dato at whirh lie i-ntentl the rlnircn has not 

 been a*rrrtAin<-d. In title hi- wan iirmeiiti*! t.i lh.- 

 IMIIIK of I'liu-l f'linrrli. H.tni|.-.liir.-, whieh lie 

 Kikiiad In 1031. II- dint 25th June UUt in 

 Aldrnnanbun- |wii>h. London, and was buried 

 basiile hi* father in the Temple rimreh, 'under 

 the stone whirh hnth wriit.-n mi it (,l, ,;<,, 

 Sacrum .' Hi. widow was Imried by his h i,|,-. 411, 

 Julv 1057. 



NaraUtn's fimt work wa* T/if Mfloinarpkofu of 

 ftmnlun'i Imnat: ami frrtaii, .^il,rr, ( IAM). 



' 



. 



AsMrtsMr MriM of satirea, Tkt Seourye ,,f I',//.,,,,,. 

 apMarad lau-r in thr name year, a ,..,i,.l liii,,,, 

 ( with an additional tenth *atirp) following in 1509. 

 PffmnJto*, a unnewhat lirrntiouii jmein. may have 

 n| it. m.piration in Nhakrapeare's I'tni.* mi 

 A'l-niM. Mantnn pretend* that it wan written 

 with the object of liringing divmlit on ai 

 poetry; hot the apolomr cannot lie arrepl.-.! A,, I, 

 VMtof Whitirift coodTmoe.1 it to the H..M, 

 nthrr works of a *itnilar tendenry. The satire*. 



re p'ibli.he.1 under the m/m lie illume of 

 William Kinaayder.' are nnri.utb ,, n .| nbvtire. 

 Tl(er wa s fend between Man-ton and the nliri--t 

 Jnvph Hall I the future 1-i.hnp of V.rni.-h i. and 



hard knock* were dealt on either side. A 



Cambridge man. one ' W. .1.', intervened with big 

 ..'/ i if the tintirr, in which he handled 

 MantUm roughly ; and lie woo answered, not ery 

 . i!.-. ii\.-l\ , I iv one of Mareton's Mead* in the 

 nimiixiiiiiiiii WUfftf of l/ir Siitirr. The eon- 

 tt.i\ei-\ raged hotly and excitiil livelv iniei.-t, 

 I. nt the alliifions iii these various satirical pieces 

 are tmt very intelligible to-day. 



In September I.V.HI lleiislow rpconls in his limry 

 thai he itdvaneeil Intly shillingN to ' Mr Maxtone, 



the new |HM-|I- (Mr Ma-t I,' ill part |>a\ tin-lit for 



an nnnameil play. This 'new poete' \\a- .MaUm; 

 but then- is no oilier mention ol him in the Diary. 

 Two gloomy and ill-com-tnicted tragedies, Anlnnin 

 tniil Melliiln and Antuiiiti'x llri-i-mi<\ were entered 

 in the Stationers' Register, 24th Uctber 1601,' 

 and were published in the following year. They 

 contain |HisHiiget> of striking power, and a deal 

 of intolerable fustian. In HJ04 was pulilishe.l 

 The MtilniHtfiit, a Keoond edition, augmented hy 

 Welwter, ap|iearing in the name year. It is more 

 skilfully constructed than the two |iarU of Atilniiin 

 mill Mf/liitn. Man-ton's comiiiaml of liohl and 

 vivid imagery is ctlectively displayed in the de- 

 scription of the hermit's cell, iv. 2. He dedieate.l 

 The Malranlcnt in very cordial terms to 15cn Jon- 

 son, anil in 1005 prefixed some comt.limcntAry 

 verses to Srjanit*. There seem to nave been 

 many i|tiariels and reconciliations lietween Jonson 

 and Marston. Jonson told Driimniond that ' lie 

 hail many quarrels with Marxton, lieat him and 

 took his pistol from him, wrote his Poettuttf on 

 him ; the licginning of them were that Marston 

 re present wl him on the stage in his youth given to 

 venery." The original quarrel begun in or about 

 1598 



The Dutch Courtezan (1605) is full of life and 

 spirit, the character of the vengeful c.,int.-.-ni 

 l-ranee-i-bina lieing drawn with masieily ability. 

 Euttteard Ho (KIU5), from which Hogarth is MUI! 

 to have taken the plan of his prints 'The Indus- 

 trious and Idle Prentices,' was written in conjunc- 

 tion with Cli.-ipman and Jonson. It is far moru 



genial than any coi ly whieh Marston wrote 



single handed. Some satirical reflections on the 

 Scots were introduced, for whieh oll'ence the 

 authors were committed to prison at the instance 

 of Sir James Murray, and the reiiort went that 

 their ears were to lie cut and their noses slit. 

 J'nriiKitustrr, or the t'tiirn (1006), in spite of occa- 

 sional tediousnewi, is an attractive eome.ly ; but 

 the tragedy of Sojihonifba (1606) appals us with 

 it- horrors, the description of the witch I'.ii.-hlho 

 and her cave being gruesome to the last degree. 

 ll'/int Y,m tl'i/l, ]nil.lisheil in 1M7, but probably 

 written some years earlier, has many (lings at Ben 

 JOIIMIII. Tfif hisiitiilit 1'iiHiitna was pnbli-hed in 

 1613 with Marston's name on the title pa^-e. but in 

 a r..py I !M. longing to the Duke of Devonshire) of 

 the Hi. 1 )! edition the author's name is given as 

 William liarksteed, a poet of sonic ability and an 

 actor. The rich and graceful poetry scattered 

 through Thr l>i>,iti,i>, i ',//,/,,,. is unlike anything 

 that we tin. I in Marston's undoubted works. Prob- 

 ably Mnrston left the play unfinished when he 

 entered the rlmrch, and 'liarksteed took it in 

 hand. An indillerent anonymous comedy. Jack 

 Ifriiin'* Smttrttunment. written almnt 1600, may 

 lie wifely aMigned to Marston from internal evi- 

 dence ; nti. I he i.pp. ai- to have ha/I some share in 

 another |H>or play. Hutriomtutix. In KiXt \\ illiam 

 Sheare*. the pablUher, issueil 1 vol. sm. 8vo, The 

 Wtnt of Mr John Mnrttr/ii, eomprising the two 

 paitu of Antonio anil Mrltiiltt, S,,/,!,,,,,!.^,,,, Wl,,,t 

 nm fr,ll, Thr /./, and The Dutch ( ;.,!, :,,n. 

 Mntsion s works were edited by the late Mr Halli- 

 wwU.phiHlppi (then Mr Halliwell) in 1S50, 3 vols., 

 and by the present writer in 1887, 3 vols. 



