BEAUMONT, Fnaxcis, poet and dramatist; FLETCHER, Jous, poet and dramatist These writers were so closely associated in their lives and labors, that their names have become indissolubly united.—Francis Beaumont, the third son of sir Francis Beaumont, one of the justices of the common pleas, was b. at Gracedieu, in Leicestershire, in 1586, ten years after Fletcher; and d. in 1615, ten years before him. When 10 years of age, he became a gentleman-commoner of Broadgate hall (now Pembroke hall), and in 1600 was admitted a member of the Inner Temple. Two years thereafter, he published cer tain transhitious from Ovid. When about 19 years of age, lie became the friend of Ben Jous.on. and wrote commendatory verses to some of his dramas. At the theater, which attracted to its service most of the intellect and wit of the time, be became acquainted with Fletcher, and drawn together, they lived in the same house till B.'s marriage in 1613. He married Ursula, daughter and coheir of Henry Isley of Sundridge in gent, by whom he had two daughters. He died at the early age of 30, and was interred in Westminster abbey. Poetry seems to have run in the blood of the Beaumonts. Several members of B.'s immediate family wrote verses, and the elder brother of the dnimatist, sir John Beaumont, is said by the critics to have much improved our rhyme couplet.
John Fletcher was b. in 1576. His father was a clergyman, and appears to have inherited ninny of the honors of the church. He was for some time incnnibent of Rye, in Sussex; thereafter, he was appointed dean of Peterborough, and is said to have attended queen Mary on the scaffold, and to have embittered lier last hours with irrele vant exhortation. On his elevation to the see of London, be married a second time, and thereby procured the disfavor of the virgin queen. Ile died shortly after—of a queen's frown, as sonic maintain; others say, of the immoderate use of tobacco. John F. entered Bennet college, Cambridge, on the 15th Oct., 1591, where he acquired some reputation for classical erudition. It is uncertain how long he remained.at the univer sity, or whether he took a degree. The Woman-hater, produced in 1606-07, is the earliest play of his which is known to exist. It is not known precisely in what circum stances F. passed his lffe. lie asserts his independence in some verses introductory to The Faithfal about 1610. yet he wrote more rapidly than most men then writing for bread. The last four years of his life produced eleven new plays--a swiftness surpassing Hurt of Shakespeare himself. Tarrying in London; it is said, for a stilt of new clothes, he caught the plague, and died. His death occurred in 1625, and he was buried in the church of St. Saviour's. F. also could boast of poetic descent and connection. Dr. Giles Fletcher, the bishop's younger brother, has been called an excellent poet;" and two sons of his, Odes and Pitincas, distinguished themselves by their verses. The one wrote Christ's Victory and Triumph; the other, The Purple
The works of B. and P. comprise in all 52 plays, a masque, and several minor poems; but it is difficult to allocate, in any satisfactory manner, the authorship of these. F., being the longer lived and more prolific writer, of course contributed the largest share. Rowley assisted F. in TheMaid of the AM. Sonic critics think that the hand of Shakes peare may be detected in The Toro Nbble Kinsmen, and not without sonic show of reason. There is a tone of music and a step of thunder in some of the passages to which no parallel could be found in any of the companion-dramas. Two plays left unfin ished at F.'s death were completed by Shirley. Out of the 52 plays, B. is supposed to have had a share in the composition of 17, and only 3 out of that small number were, during F.'s lifetime, published as joint productions. Two of these--Phi/ader and The plaid's Tragedy—are, with the exception of the great passages in The Tiro Noble Kinsmen, the glory of the collection. The question has been often discussed, why these playi are called by the name of B. and F., thus giving precedence to the younger and less volu minous writer. Mr. Dyke thinks, that of the three plays published as joint productions during F.'s life, B. had either the greater share, or that, through feelings of natural courtesy, F. placed the name of his deceased associate before his own, and that future editors naturally followed the arrangement which they found to their hand. Mr. Dar Hug is inclined to give no reason at all, and ascribes the whole thing to accident. From all that can be gathered, it would appear that B. possessed the deeper and more thought. ful genius; 1'., the gayer and inure idyllic. There is a strength as of granite rock in Tie plaid's Tragedy; there is a glad exuberant music, and a May-morning light and freshness in The Foithfori Shepherdess, which Milton did not disdain to accept as a model in the lyrical portions of Can us, and of which the Entlyonion of Keats is but an echo. In these plays, B. and F. are the cleverest, gayest gentlemen. They never sound the deep sea of paSsion; they disport themselves, dolphin-like, on its surface. They have no poser of serious characterization, and their numerous creations arc seldom consistent, but they say the most clever, pleasant, and glancing things. Morally, little can be said in their praise. No audience of the present day could sit out the representation of their purest plays. Some cf the impurest arc almost beyond conception, yet there is always an air of good-breeding about them, and the filth is handled in the most gentlemanly mauner. It was a great intellectual period in which B. and F. lived; but Shakespeare stands above them and the rest of that dramatic brotherhood like Mont Blanc above the summits of the lower Alps—conspicuous not only from his altitude, but from his purity.