Drummond
says that he was 'accused upon' the play, and that
the King 'desired him to conceal it'.
the King 'desired him to conceal it'.
Ben Jonson - The Devil's Association
The projects
which he presents at court are the invention of three projectors. Like
Merecraft, they promise to make Mendicant a lord, and succeed only in
reducing him to poverty. The character of the Court Beggar is given in
these words: 'He is a Knight that hanckers about the court ambitious
to make himselfe a Lord by begging. His braine is all Projects, and
his soule nothing but Court-suits. He has begun more Knavish suits at
Court, then ever the Kings Taylor honestly finish'd, but never thriv'd
by any: so that now hee's almost fallen from a Palace Begger to a
Spittle one'.
In the _Antipodes_ Brome introduces 'a States-man studious for the
Commonwealth, solicited by Projectors of the Country'. Brome's list of
projects (quoted in Gifford's edition) is a broad caricature. Wilson,
in the Restoration drama, produced a play called _The Projectors_, in
which Jonson's influence is apparent (see Introduction, p. lxxv).
Among the _characters_, of which the seventeenth century writers were
so fond, the projector is a favorite figure. John Taylor,[81] the
water-poet, furnishes us with a cartoon entitled 'The complaint of M.
Tenterhooke the _Projector_ and Sir _T_homas Dodger the Patentee'. In
the rimes beneath the picture the distinction between the projector,
who 'had the Art to cheat the Common-weale', and the patentee, who
was possessed of 'tricks and slights to pass the seale', is brought
out with especial distinctness. Samuel Butler's character[82] of the
projector is of less importance, since it was not published until
1759. The real importance of Jonson's satire lies in the fact that it
appeared in the midst of the most active discussion on the subject of
monopolies.
Drummond says that he was 'accused upon' the play, and that
the King 'desired him to conceal it'. [83] Whether the subject which
gave offense was the one which we have been considering or that of
witchcraft, it is, however, impossible to determine.
[73] Letters to John Kempe, 1331, Rymer's _Foedera_; Hulme, _Law
Quarterly Rev. _, vol. 12.
[74] Cunningham, _Eng. Industry_, Part I, p. 75.
[75] D'Ewes, _Complete Journal of the Houses of Lords and Commons_,
p. 646.
[76] Cunningham, p. 21.
[77] Craik 2. 24. Rushworth, _Collection_ 1. 24.
which he presents at court are the invention of three projectors. Like
Merecraft, they promise to make Mendicant a lord, and succeed only in
reducing him to poverty. The character of the Court Beggar is given in
these words: 'He is a Knight that hanckers about the court ambitious
to make himselfe a Lord by begging. His braine is all Projects, and
his soule nothing but Court-suits. He has begun more Knavish suits at
Court, then ever the Kings Taylor honestly finish'd, but never thriv'd
by any: so that now hee's almost fallen from a Palace Begger to a
Spittle one'.
In the _Antipodes_ Brome introduces 'a States-man studious for the
Commonwealth, solicited by Projectors of the Country'. Brome's list of
projects (quoted in Gifford's edition) is a broad caricature. Wilson,
in the Restoration drama, produced a play called _The Projectors_, in
which Jonson's influence is apparent (see Introduction, p. lxxv).
Among the _characters_, of which the seventeenth century writers were
so fond, the projector is a favorite figure. John Taylor,[81] the
water-poet, furnishes us with a cartoon entitled 'The complaint of M.
Tenterhooke the _Projector_ and Sir _T_homas Dodger the Patentee'. In
the rimes beneath the picture the distinction between the projector,
who 'had the Art to cheat the Common-weale', and the patentee, who
was possessed of 'tricks and slights to pass the seale', is brought
out with especial distinctness. Samuel Butler's character[82] of the
projector is of less importance, since it was not published until
1759. The real importance of Jonson's satire lies in the fact that it
appeared in the midst of the most active discussion on the subject of
monopolies.
Drummond says that he was 'accused upon' the play, and that
the King 'desired him to conceal it'. [83] Whether the subject which
gave offense was the one which we have been considering or that of
witchcraft, it is, however, impossible to determine.
[73] Letters to John Kempe, 1331, Rymer's _Foedera_; Hulme, _Law
Quarterly Rev. _, vol. 12.
[74] Cunningham, _Eng. Industry_, Part I, p. 75.
[75] D'Ewes, _Complete Journal of the Houses of Lords and Commons_,
p. 646.
[76] Cunningham, p. 21.
[77] Craik 2. 24. Rushworth, _Collection_ 1. 24.
