's popular novels and
histories, from the first, published under the auspices of Gildon in
1696, to the ninth (2 vols, 12mo, London, 1751), there appears, however,
no such novel as _The Fair Vow-Breaker_, but on the other hand all
contain _The Nun; or, the Perjur'd Beauty_. For over two hundred years
then, critics, theatrical historians, bibliographers alike have laid
down that _The Fair Vow-Breaker_ is merely another title for _The Nun;
or, The Perjur'd Beauty_, and that it is to this romance we must look
for the source of Southerne's tragedy. The slight dissimilarity of name
was truly of no great account. On the title-page of another novel we
have _The Fair Jilt; or, The History of Prince Tarquin and Miranda_; on
the half-title of the same _The Fair Hypocrite; or, The Amours of Prince
Tarquin and Miranda_ (12mo, 1688). And so Thomas Evans in the preface to
his edition of Southerne (3 vols, 1774), writing the dramatist's life,
says: 'the plot by the author's confession is taken from a novel of Mrs.
Behn's called _The Nun; or, The Fair Vow-Breaker_'. All the modern
writers have duly, but wrongly, accepted this; and Miss Charlotte E.
Morgan in her monograph, _The English Novel till 1749_, informs us in
more than one place that _The Fair Vow-Breaker_ (12mo, 1689) was the
name of the editio princeps of _The Nun; or, The Perjur'd Beauty_.

A crux, however, was soon apparent. Upon investigation it is obvious
that the plot of _The Fatal Marriage; or, The Innocent Adultery_ has
simply nothing in common with _The Nun; or, The Perjur'd Beauty_. Mrs.
Behn's Ardelia is a mere coquette who through her trifling with three
different men is responsible for five deaths: her lovers', Elvira's, and
her own. Isabella, Southerne's heroine, on the other hand, falls a sad
victim to the machinations of Carlos, her wicked brother-in-law. She is
virtuous and constant; Ardelia is a jade capable of heartless treachery.
Both novel and play end tragically it is true, but from entirely
different motives and in a dissimilar manner. There is no likeness
between them.

Whence then did Southerne derive his plot, and what exactly did he mean
by the statement that he owed 'the Hint of the Tragical part' of his
drama to a novel of Mrs. Behn's?

Professor Paul Hamelius of Liege set out to solve the difficulty, and in
a scholarly article (_Modern Language Review_, July, 1909), he marshals
the facts and seeks a solution. 'Among her [Mrs. Behn's] collected