Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 10.djvu/59

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spiracie and Tragedie of Charles, Duke of Byron.' These plays had been produced as early as 1605, and in their original form contained some matter that gave offence to the French ambassador, at whose petition the players were forbidden to continue the performances. When the court removed from London, the players, in defiance of the order that had been issued, persisted in performing the plays; whereupon three members of the company were arrested, but 'the principal person, the author, escaped.' The objectionable passages must have been cancelled when the plays were put to press, for the extant printed copies contain nothing that could have given offence. In these plays there is no dramatic movement, nothing worthy to be called a plot, no attempt at development of character. The figure of Byron, as of Bussy d'Ambois, is drawn with epic grandeur. In describing the 'wild enormities' of boundless vainglory, Chapman, however undramatic he may be, is assuredly impressive. Webster, in the address to the reader prefixed to 'Vittoria Corombona,' commended 'the full and heightened style of Master Chapman.' 'The Conspiracie and Tragedie 'are thickly strewn with striking aphorisms, expressed with fitting eloquence of language. Charles Lamb was of opinion that of all the English dramatists 'Chapman approaches nearest to Shakespeare in the descriptive and didactic in passages which are less purely dramatic.' Chapman's next play was 'May Day,' published in 1611, a broadly humorous comedy full of diverting situations. It was followed in 1612 by another comedy of intrigue, vigorously written but exceedingly coarse in tone, 'The Widow's Tears,' partly founded on the story of the Ephesian widow in Petronius. Many years elapsed before Chapman published another play. At length, in 1631, appeared 'Caesar and Pompey, a Roman Tragedy declaring their Warres,' with a dedicatory epistle to the Earl of Middlesex, from which we learn that the play had been written long before the date of publication. Possessing little dramatic power, 'Cæsar and Pompey' exhibits strikingly Chapman's depth of ethical reflection. No other plays of Chapman were published during his lifetime; but in 1654 Humphrey Moseley, a well-known publisher, issued the 'Tragedy of Alphonsus, Emperor of Germany, ... by George Chapman, Gent.,' and in the same year Richard Marriot published 'Revenge for Honour, a Tragedie, by George Chapman.' It is not easy to recognise Chapman's hand in 'Alphonsus,' an ill-digested, brutal piece of work, singularly barren of all poetic ornament, and remarkable only for the close knowledge that the author displays of German manners and German language. 'Revenge for Honour,' a very sanguinary drama, shows occasional traces of Chapman's mannerisms, but the authorship cannot be assigned to him with any confidence. The plot is conducted with more skill than we find in Chapman's undoubted tragedies. There is nothing of the turgid bombast and nothing of the exalted eloquence that deform and ennoble 'Bussy d'Ambois' and 'Byron.' A comedy entitled 'The Ball,' licensed on 16 Nov. 1632, was published in 1639, as the joint production of Chapman and Shirley. Gifford supposed that Chapman wrote the largest portion of it; but this view has not found favour with later critics, and indeed it may be doubted whether Chapman had any share at all in the composition. In Sir Henry Herbert's 'Office-book' the play is described as 'written by Sherley.' It is an agreeable comedy of manners, written in Shirley's easy fluent style, but not worthy to be placed in the front rank of his works. Another play, the 'Tragedy of Chabot, Admirall of France,' licensed on 29 April 1636, was published in the same year as the 'Ball,' and with the names of the same authors on the title-page. This play is more evenly written than Chapman's earlier tragedies; and we may suppose that, having been left imperfect by Chapman, it was revised and completed by Shirley, losing much of its original roughness in the process of revision. An anonymous tragedy of considerable power, the 'Second Maiden's Tragedy,' licensed on 31 Oct. 1611, and first printed (from a manuscript in the Lansdowne collection) in 1824, has been attributed, on very slight authority, to Chapman. At the back of the manuscript is written the name of 'William' (afterwards altered to 'Thomas') 'Goughe.' This name has been nearly obliterated, and the name of 'George Chapman' substituted. Finally, Chapman's name is scored through in favour of 'Will. Shakespear.' The authorship, in spite of many conjectures that have been put forward, is still a mystery. Winstanley and Langbaine ascribe to Chapman 'Two Wise Men and all the rest Fooles, or a Comicall Morall, censuring the follies of this age, as it hath beene diverse times acted, anno 1619;' but Langbaine is careful to add: 'I am led only by tradition to believe this play to be his.' There is not the slightest ground for fathering this absurd production on Chapman. The error probably arose from a confusion of the title 'Two Wise Men and all the rest Fooles,' with the title of Chapman's comic masterpiece, 'All Fools.' Two plays of Chapman, the 'Yorkshire Gentlewoman and her Son,' and 'Fatal Love, a French tragedy,'