sorrow in the death of his wife and two promising sons, which broke down
his own health and spirits.


BEAUMONT, FRANCIS (1584-1616), AND FLETCHER, JOHN (1579-1625).--Poets and
dramatists. As they are indissolubly associated in the history of English
literature, it is convenient to treat of them in one place. B. was the
_s._ of Francis B., a Judge of the Common Pleas, and was _b._ at the
family seat, Grace Dieu, Leicestershire. He was _ed._ at Oxford, but his
_f._ dying in 1598, he left without taking his degree. He went to London
and entered the Inner Temple in 1600, and soon became acquainted with Ben
Jonson, Drayton, and other poets and dramatists. His first work was a
translation from Ovid, followed by commendatory verses prefixed to
certain plays of Jonson. Soon afterwards his friendship with F. began.
They lived in the same house and had practically a community of goods
until B.'s marriage in 1613 to Ursula, _dau._ and co-heiress of Henry
Isley of Sundridge in Kent, by whom he had two _dau._ He _d._ in 1616,
and is buried in Westminster Abbey. F. was the youngest _s._ of Richard
F., Bishop of London, who accompanied Mary Queen of Scots to the
scaffold. He went to Cambridge, but it is not known whether he took a
degree, though he had some reputation as a scholar. His earliest play is
_The Woman Hater_ (1607). He is said to have died of the plague, and is
buried in St. Saviour's Church, Southwark. The plays attributed to B. and
F. number 52 and a masque, and much labour has been bestowed by critics
in endeavouring to allocate their individual shares. It is now generally
agreed that others collaborated with them to some extent--Massinger,
Rowley, Shirley, and even Shakespeare. Of those believed to be the joint
work of B. and F. _Philaster_ and _The Maid's Tragedy_ are considered the
masterpieces, and are as dramas unmatched except by Shakespeare. _The Two
Noble Kinsmen_ is thought to contain the work of Shakespeare. As regards