it in the hope of making it more amusing, though
I fear it is rather dull. But you will not mind that, and will
believe me ever your affectionate

FANNY KEMBLE.

The arrangement of Massinger for the family library by my friend the
Reverend Alexander Dyce, the learned Shakespearean editor and
commentator, was my first introduction to that mine of dramatic wealth
which enriched the literature of England in the reigns of Elizabeth and
James the First, and culminated in the genius of Shakespeare. It is by
comparison with them, his contemporaries, that we arrive at a just
estimate of his supremacy. I was so enchanted with these plays of
Massinger's, but more especially with the one called "The Maid of
Honor," that I never rested till I had obtained from the management its
revival on the stage. The part of Camiola is the only one that I ever
selected for myself. "The Maid of Honor" succeeded on its first
representation, but failed to attract audiences. Though less defective
than most of the contemporaneous dramatic compositions, the play was
still too deficient in interest to retain the favor of the public. The
character of Camiola is extremely noble and striking, but that of her
lover so unworthy of her that the interest she excites personally fails
to inspire one with sympathy for her passion for him. The piece in this
respect has a sort of moral incoherency, which appears to me, indeed,
not an infrequent defect in the compositions of these great dramatic
pre-Shakespearites. There is a want of psychical verisimilitude, a
disjointed abruptness, in their conceptions, which, in spite of their
grand treatment of separate characters and the striking force of
particular passages, renders almost every one of their plays
inharmonious as a whole, however fine and powerful in detached parts.
Their selection of abnormal and detestable subjects is a distinct
indication of intellectual weakness instead of vigor; supreme genius
alone perceives the beauty and dignity of human nature and human life in
their common conditions, and can bring to the surface of vulgar,
every-day existence the hidden glory that lies beneath it.

The strictures contained in these girlish letters on the various plays
in which I was called to perform the heroines, of course partake of the
uncompromising nature of all youthful verdicts. Hard, sharp, and
shallow, they never went lower than the obv