story, who recorded with pride that the King had spoken to him, and--
had told him to get out of the way.

Massinger in his 'King and the Subject' had introduced Don Pedro of
Spain thus speaking -


'Monies! We'll raise supplies which way we please,
And force you to subscribe to blanks, in which
We'll mulct you as we shall think fit. The Caesars
In Rome were wise, acknowledging no law
But what their swords did ratify, the wives
And daughters of the senators bowing to
Their will, as deities,' etc.


Against which passage Charles, reading over the play before he
allowed of it, had written, 'This is too insolent, and not to be
printed.' Too insolent it certainly was, considering the state of
public matters in the year 1638. It would be interesting enough to
analyse the reasons which made Charles dislike in the mouth of Pedro
sentiments so very like his own; but we must proceed, only pointing
out the way in which men, determined to repeat the traditional clap-
trap about the Stuarts, are actually blind to the meaning of the very
facts which they themselves quote.

Where, then, do the facts of history contradict Mr. Gifford?

We believe that, so far from the triumph of dramatic poetry
terminating with Massinger, dramatic art had been steadily growing