Act II. Scene 1, is by Massinger.

On page 231 we have,—

When the hot lyon's breath Burns up the fields.

Compare Parliament of Love, I. 5., Montrose,—

When the hot lion's breath singeth the fields.

A little lower down, "At all parts" occurs in almost every play of Massinger.

On page 232, "This I foresaw," is also very common in similar situations. Among numerous cases I refer to the Unnatural Combat, Act III., about the end, and Maid of Honour, II. iii., where exactly the same words are used.

Page 233, "Be ne'er remembered," occurs in almost all Massinger's plays. It is the most frequent of his many repetitions.

A little lower down. "And something there I'll do," is a well-known Massingerism, occurring everywhere in his plays.

II. 2, is by Fletcher; 3, and 4, 5, 6, 7 are also probably his.

III. 1, is Fletcher's. On page 250 Barnavelt's hope that the soldiers will regret him because he fed and nursed them, stands in flagrant opposition to what Massinger says of Barnavelt's cashiering the Captain, on page 215.

III. 2, is by Massinger.

Page 252, "But that is not the hazard that I would shun," is one of the commonest Massingerisms. The passage on page 253 has been mentioned already. Massinger is almost the only later dramatist who has a large number of dissyllable "tions." We have here (253),—

Of what condi_ti-on_ soever, we Palliate seditions.

His share of the present play presents many such cases.

III. 3, seems also by Massinger.

III. 4, is by Fletcher. On page 263 there is an unmistakable reminiscence of Henry VIII., Wolsey's "Farewell."

III. 5 (also marked 4), is by Massinger. On page 264 occurs, "At no part," one of the commonest Massingerisms; and a little lower down,—

Ever maintained The freedom I was born to.

Compare Great Duke of Florence, I. 1-4,—

For I must use the freedom I was born with.

It also occurs in other Massinger plays.

III. 6, is by Fletcher.

IV. 1, is by Fletcher.

IV. 2, is by Fletcher.

IV. 3, is by Fletcher. Here occurs another allusion to Henry VIII.,—

And glide away Like a spent exhalation.

Compare Henry VIII., III. 2, 226:—

shall fall Like a bright exhalation in the evening.

Fletcher does not repeat himself often, and these two exceptions are important.

IV. 4, is apparently by Massinger, but contains no repetitions.

IV. 5, is by Massinger. There are no clear Massingerisms, but the metrical style, and the allusion to Raleigh already mentioned, make it plain that the Scene is his.

V. 1, is also Massinger's. The end of this Scene I have not seen, as pages 296-305 were missing in the proof-sheets I examined. Nearly all Scene 2 is also missing. It and the rest of the play seem to be Fletcher's, who, as usual, spoiled Massinger's fine conception of Barnavelt, and makes him whine like Buckingham in Henry VIII. This moral collapse of all energy in the face of death in the two characters is significant. Massinger would have carried out the scene in quite another tone. Some of the Fletcher scenes in this play, in which he has an unusually large share, are surprisingly good, and remind us of Fletcher at his best, in Philaster and the earlier plays. He fails here, as he always does, in the delineation of character. Nowhere is this break-down more characteristic than in Buckingham and Barnavelt. It gives the end of our play quite a wrench, and deprives Barnavelt of the sympathies which we had been forced to turn on him through his intrepid behaviour in the great trial scene. We had almost gained the conviction that his aims were really pure, and here we are called on to witness his utter collapse, in which he almost whines for pardon for his sins, and, like all worthless fellows without character seems actually to soften in gratitude to the man who sent him to his death.

This conclusion, I say, weakens the dramatic power of the close, but it does not prevent Sir John Barnavelt from occupying a high place among our dramatic treasures. R. BOYLE.

ST. PETERSBURG, New Year's Eve, 1882.

FINIS.