ut Death's could please and move.

Our poet left behind him one daughter, Mrs. Frances Beaumont, who
lived to a great age and, died in Leicestershire since the year 1700.
She had been possessed of several poems of her father's writing, but
they were lost at sea in her voyage from Ireland, where she had lived
sometime in the Duke of Ormond's family. Besides the plays in which
Beaumont was jointly concerned with Fletcher, he writ a little
dramatic piece entitled, A Masque of Grays Inn Gentlemen, and the
Inner-Temple; a poetical epistle to Ben Johnson; verses to his friend
Mr. John Fletcher, upon his faithful Shepherd, and other poem's
printed together in 1653, 8vo. That pastoral which was written by
Fletcher alone, having met with but an indifferent reception, Beaumont
addressed the following copy of verses to him on that occasion, in
which he represents the hazard of writing for the stage, and satirizes
the audience for want of judgment, which, in order to shew his
versification I shall insert.

Why should the man, whose wit ne'er had a stain,
Upon the public stage present his vein,
And make a thousand men in judgment sit
To call in question his undoubted wit,
Scarce two of which can understand the laws,
Which they should judge by, nor the party's cause.
Among the rout there is not one that hath,
In his own censure an explicit faith.
One company, knowing thy judgment Jack,
Ground their belief on the next man in black;
Others on him that makes signs and is mute,
Some like, as he does, in the fairest sute;
He as his mistress doth, and me by chance:
Nor want there those, who, as the boy doth dance
Between the acts will censure the whole play;
Some, if the wax lights be not new that day:
But multitudes there are, whose judgment goes
Headlong, according to the actors clothes.

Mr. Beaumont was esteemed so accurate a judge of plays, that Ben
Johnson, while he lived, submitted all his writings to his censures;
and it is thought, used his judgment in correcting, if not contriving
most of his plots.

[Footnote 1: Jacob's Lives of the Poets.]

[Footnote 2: Wood.]

* * * * *

Mr. JOHN FLETCHER

Was son of Dr. Richard Fletcher, Lord Bishop of London, and was born
in Northamptonshire in the year 1576. He was educated at Cambridge,
probably at Burnet-college, to which his father was by his last
will and testament a benefactor[1]. He wrote plays join