And one of the speeches in the Masque concludes thus: "Neither do I, excellent Prince, restrain my speeches to dead buildings only, but intend it also to other foundations, institutions, and creations; wherein I presume the more to speak confidently, because I am warranted herein by your own wisdom, who have made the first fruits of your actions of State to institute the Honourable Order of the Helmet." Moreover, there are well-marked traces of the lawyer's hand throughout the play itself: indeed, there is very good internal evidence that the piece was written expressly for this occasion. And it is evident that the writer of this letter had not only invoked the aid of the "dozen young gentlemen of Gray's Inn" and their renowned compeers of the Inner Temple, but had also put in requisition the services of his friend of the Globe theatre, in fulfilment of his engagement, that although "the joint Masque of the Four Inns of Court" had failed, at least Gray's Inn and the courtly Francis Bacon would not fail, upon any occasion, to make an adequate "demonstration of affection" to the Queen, especially when expressly called upon from so high a source as her Majesty's prime minister. And the following passages, in particular, would seem to have been directly aimed at the gowned and wigged assembly, before whom the play was there first produced: "Ant. S. By what rule, sir? Dro. S. Marry, sir, by a rule as plain as the plain bald pate of Father Time himself. Ant. S. Let's hear it. Dro. S. by nature. Ant. S. There's no time for a man to recover his hair that grows bald May he not do it by fine and recovery? Dro. S. Yes, to pay a fine for a periwig, and recover the lost hair of another man. Ant. S. Why is Time such a niggard of hair, being, as it is, so plentiful an excrement? Dro. S. Because it is a blessing that he bestows on beasts: and what he hath scanted men in hair, he hath given them in wit. Ant. S. Why, but there 's many a man hath more hair than wit. Dro. S. Not a man of those but he hath the wit to lose his hair." Dro. S. Thus I mend it: Time himself is bald, and therefore, to the world's end, will have bald followers. Ant. S. I knew 't would be a bald conclusion." - Act II. Sc. 2. The whole interest of the fourth act turns on lawsuits, officers, and arrests. Angelo, the goldsmith, becomes litigious: : "Ang. This touches me in my reputation. — Either consent to pay this sum for me, Or I attach you by this officer. Ant. E. Consent to pay thee that I never had? Ang. Here is thy fee; arrest him, officer. Off. I do arrest you, sir: you hear the suit. Ang. Sir, sir, I shall have law in Ephesus, To your notorious shame, I doubt it not.' Act IV. Sc. 1. And Dromio's description of a "sergeant" (a bailiff), must have been particularly edifying to such an audience :"Adr. Where is thy master, Dromio? is he well? Dro. S. No, he's in Tartar limbo, worse than Hell: A devil in an everlasting garment hath him, One whose hard heart is button'd up with steel; A fiend, a fairy pitiless and rough; A wolf, nay, worse, a fellow all in buff; A back-friend, a shoulder-clapper, one that countermands The passages of alleys, creeks, and narrow lands: A hound that runs counter, and yet draws dry foot well; One that, before the judgment, carries poor souls to Hell. Dro. S. I do not know the matter: he is 'rested on the case." Act IV. Sc. 2. Of course, it is not impossible that William Shakespeare, without any special learning in the law, should have had some vague notion of what was meant by a "fine and recovery," or an action "on the case"; but (what Lord Campbell has remarked generally on the legal acquirements of this author) the entire accuracy of his use of legal terms and phrases (a kind of free-masonry which it would be dangerous for a novice to undertake to handle), and the subtle continuity and fitness of the legal ideas, analogies, imagery, and expression, which are woven into the very texture of the discourse, in the many places in these plays, where he has occasion to employ them, are of such a nature as to show, beyond the reach of doubt, that the mental habit of this writer was that of a professional lawyer as well as that of the poet, the scholar, and the philosopher. Further, on Twelfth Night, the Prince ascended his throne, the trumpets sounded, and six Knights of the Helmet entered, dragging three monsters as prisoners, announcing that they had just returned from aiding the Emperor of Russia against the Tartars, and with the help of Virtue and Friendship had taken Envy, Malcontent, and Folly prisoners; and before the Masque concluded, the King at Arms announced an ambassador from the Emperor with letters thanking the Prince and his Knights for their aid in driving away "an army of Bigarian thieves" and "a host of Negro Tartars." And doubtless, it was to the same wit of invention that Dromio in the play was indebted for his "Tartar limbo worse than Hell." On the first of February following, there was a triumphal procession of fifteen barges on the Thames, with standards, pennants, flags, and streamers, music and trumpets, and firing of ordnance, in honor of the return of the Prince of Purpoole from Russia. The Queen invited him to land and do homage at Greenwich; but he sent two ambassadors with an apologetic letter to decline the honor. At the Tower, a volley of ordnance was fired by the Queen's desire, and he was received at Gray's Inn with music and acclamations. 1 Shaks. Eng., by G. W. Thornbury (London), II. 359. At Shrovetide, the Prince and his train went to Court, where another masque was performed before her Majesty. The actors were an Esquire, a Tartar page, Proteus, and two Tritons, Thamesis and Amphitrite; and it began with a hymn to Neptune. The Squire's speech contained these lines in compliment to Elizabeth: - "Excellent Queen! true adamant of hearts, That crowns your crown, and dims your fortune's beams." The Queen was much pleased, and wished it had been longer. Next day the gentlemen were presented to her by the Lord Chamberlain: she gave them her hand to kiss, commanding Gray's Inn to study such sports for her frequent amusement. The same night, there was fighting in the barriers, the Earl of Essex and the challengers against the Earl of Cumberland and the defendants, the Prince of Purpoole winning the prize, a jewel set with seventeen diamonds and four rubies, which the Queen presented with her own hand. Surely, we need not wonder to find the young courtier, Francis Bacon, as yet only Queen's Counsel, exerting all the powers of his genius in the invention of these elegant, refined, and intellectual entertainments, in which his great patrons and friends, the Earls of Essex and Southampton, took so large a share, and which received thus the signal countenance and favor of their sovereign mistress. In fact, his contributions to these royal amusements continued far into the next reign and until he became Attorney-General, when, ceasing to be an author in them, he began himself to be the recipient of like honors on special occasions.. As a part of the festivities in honor of the nuptials of the Princess Elizabeth and the Elector Palatine, during the Christmas Revels of 1612-13, it came again "to Gray's Inn and the Inner Temple's turn to come with their Masque whereof Sir Francis Bacon was the chief contriver," and Mr. Phineas Pette was employed, as he says, "by the Gentlemen of Gray's Inn, whereof Sir Francis Bacon was chief, to bring the Masque by water to Whitehall," and "safely landed it at the Privy Stairs." The subject of this Masque, which was written by Francis Beaumont, was "the Marriage of the River of Thames to Rhine." In the next year (Dec. 9th, 1613), Sir Francis Bacon of his own motion, having been made Attorney-General in October preceding, prepares a Masque for his Majesty's entertainment, which, says the account, "will stand him in £2000,” declining to accept a contribution towards it "of £500 from Gray's Inn and Mr. Yelverton," and he also "feasts the whole University of Cambridge," at his own expense, now (as Chamberlain writes) "rivaling Woolsey in magnificence"; and the year after (1613-14) on Twelfth Night, the Gentlemen of Gray's Inn," under the patronage of Sir Francis Bacon" and upon occasion of the marriage of the Duke of Somerset, exhibit a "Masque of Flowers," which was printed, and dedicated by the authors "to the Very Honorable Sir Francis Bacon, His Majesty's Attorney-General." 2 § 8. FRAGMENTS. Still another Masque, or two fragments (for it breaks into two pieces), has been lately brought to light by the researches of Dixon and Spedding. It comes from the same bundle of the Lambeth MSS., in which were found the speeches for the Essex Masque; but it is a separate paper, in a handwriting of that age, without date, title, heading, or other mark of à strictly historical character, to indicate its origin or purpose. Mr. Spedding evidently believes the piece to have been written by Bacon; and that such was the fact, there is scarcely any room for doubt, for it bears the impress of Bacon's mind and manner in every line of it. 1 Nichols' Progr. James I., II. 587. 2 Ibid. II. 734. 8 Pers. Hist. of Lord Bacon, 73; Letters and Life, I. 386–391. |