We  must  remember  that  the  effect  of  such  plays,  even
where  written,    depended   on    the   actors,    who   were


COMEDY  OF  MANNERS.  67

trained  more  strictly  to  their  business  then  than  now.
The  old  custom  of  maintaining  jesters  in  castles  and  at
Court  bred  a  class  of  men  whose  profession  it  was  to
entertain  an  audience  with  mimicry,  ludicrous  tricks,
and  sharp  sayings.  Continued  through  centuries,  the
skill  of  these  jesters  reached  a  high  degree  of  excel-
lence, through  the  tradition  of  buffoonery  established,
and  through  the  emulation  which  impelled  each  Fool  of
eminence  to  surpass  his  predecessors.  The  celebrity
of  Tarleton,  Green,  Summer,  Kempe,  and  Robert
Wilson,  proves  that  the  comic  playwrights  could  rely
upon  an  able  band  of  interpreters.  It  may  even  be
asserted  that  the  popular  talents  of  these  jesters
proved  an  obstacle  to  the  development  of  higher
Comedy  in  England,  by  accustoming  the  public  taste
to  jigs  and  merriments,  solo  pieces  and  inventions  of
the  clown,  instead  of  encouraging  a  demand  for
seriously  studied  art.
Dekker  and  Massinger,  Middleton  and  Shirley,
claim  notice  among  the  minor  playwrights  who  digni-
fied the  Comedy  of  Manners  by  solid  and  thoughtful
workmanship.  But  it  was  from  Jonson  that  this
species  received  the  most  masterly  handling.  His
comedies  in  their  way,  as  truly  as  those  of  Shakspere,
are  the  productions  of  indubitable  and  peculiar  genius.
He  never  wrote  at  random.  He  never  sought  to
please  the  populace  by  exhibitions  of  mere  shallow
merriment ;  nor  did  he  always  succeed  in  riveting  their
attention  by  the  ponderous  stage-antics  of  his  '  learned
sock.'  Those  who  would  not  worship  his  Muse  were
treated  by  him  with  contempt.     He  pursued  his  own


68  SHAtiSPERE'S  PREDECESSORS.
