Chamber's Cyclopædia of English literature; a history, critical and biographical, of authors in the English tongue from the earliest times till the present day, with specimens of their writings . erfollowed, and thefierce rivalry andcontention whichclouded Jonsonsafter-life wasfairly begun. Hehad attackedMarston andDekker, two ofhis brother-dramatists, in these plays (see page 423). Dekker replied withspirit in his Satiromasiix, and Ben was silentfor two years, living upon one Townsend, andscorning the world, as is recorded in the diaryof a contemporary. In 1603 he tried if tragedyhad a more k
Chamber's Cyclopædia of English literature; a history, critical and biographical, of authors in the English tongue from the earliest times till the present day, with specimens of their writings . erfollowed, and thefierce rivalry andcontention whichclouded Jonsonsafter-life wasfairly begun. Hehad attackedMarston andDekker, two ofhis brother-dramatists, in these plays (see page 423). Dekker replied withspirit in his Satiromasiix, and Ben was silentfor two years, living upon one Townsend, andscorning the world, as is recorded in the diaryof a contemporary. In 1603 he tried if tragedyhad a more kind aspect, and produced hisclassical drama Sejauus. Shortly after the acces-sion of King James, a comedy called EastwardHoe was written conjointly by Jonson, Chap-man, and Marston. Some passages in this piecereflected on the Scottish nation ; and the matterwas represented to the king by one of his courtiers?—Sir James Murray—in so strong a light that theauthors were thrown into prison, and threatenedwith the loss of their ears and noses. They werenot tried ; and when Ben was set at liberty hegave an entertainment to his friends—Selden andCamden being of the number. His mother was. i;i-:x J After the National Portrait Gallery old present on this joyous occasion, and was reportedto have produced a paper of poison which sheintended to give her son in his liquor, ratherthan that he should submit to personal mutilationand disgrace, and another dose which she meantafterwards to have taken herself. Jonsons ownconduct in this affair was spirited. He had noconsiderable share in the composition of the piece,and was, besides, in such favour that he would nothave been molested ; but this did not satisfy him, says G i fford;and he, there-fore, with a highsense of honour,voluntarily ac-companied histwo friends toprison, deter-mined to sharetheir fate. Wecannot now becertain what pre-cisely was thedeadly satire thatmoved the patri-otic indignationof James ; it wasdoubtless soft-ened b
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