Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1857-01-20


other places. Is felt TO be about a. authentic a
representation of the two men, personally and
socially, as il would be possible to give.
MANY the wit combats bel ween him
lShak speare) and Ben Jonson. which two | be-
hold like Spanish great galeon aud nm English
man of war. Master Johson. like the former
built far higher in lehI ming. solid but slow in per-
fornance; Shak -pehre, with the English man of.
war, lesser in bulk, but lighter in sailing. could
| urn with all tides, tack about, aud take advnn-
tage of all winds. by the quckness of his wit and
| invention"
Fuller. though be was but eieh, years IF age
! at the time of Shakspeare's death, had reached
| his thireth year before Jonson died and his
| picture may. therefore. pretend to some histor-
cal value BY the addition, at all events, Of
particular or two. il may be made to yet as
the must accurate we have. The latest time, be it
! noted. at which the two men could have been
eeen together. as Fuller fancics them. either at
the Mermaid or anywhere else. was the year
i6l5-'I6 Assume the time to have been 1915
Shak spearo was then ify-one years of age 1.-The
fact that he wis the elder of the twois apt To be
forgotten j Jonson was forty.two. Glancing
from one 10 the other is struck first of all by
the difference OF their corporeal dimen sons and
proportions. Fuller must have had this partly
IN his eye when he hit upon the comparison be-
tween the English man. of war and tho Spanish
great galleon. Tho elder, Shak speure. unless we
TO him that remain, was not above the average
size aud weight Of intellectual Englishmen-"a
handsome, well shaped man." says Aubrey; OF,
II the imagination insists being still more lib
era lot US say some five feet nine inches in
height, and decidedly on this side of twelve stone
in weight. Opposite to this model of courteous
proportions, Ben, though nine years the junior,
was n Coossus-height unknown, but presuma.
bly, greater by an inch or two than Shak spoare's
AND weight, If not yet actually twenty stone
batting two pounds, which we know ON his own
authority it ultimately became. at least tending
10 TINT limit, by very visible efforts at increased
girih everywhere, but chiefly round the waist
In figure, indeed, and in gait when he walked,
Ben Jonson lord of first edition of his
namesakc Samuel. Nor does the resemblance
stop here Like the Doctor, Ben was from his
birth Of n scorbutic constitution, aud bore tho
marks of it about with him. In his youth his
complexion had been tolerably clear and white
but as he grow older, his irregular habits had
produced their effects and there had presented
themselves On his face these seams and scars and
bloicbes, which made II, according to all accounts
n face among ten thousand.
One has only TO look at the capital portrait of
Jonson pre6xod to Gford's original edition Of
the poets works, and then n any fair copy of the
Strntford bust Of Shakespeare, or to any of those
p"rtrhits whose general resemblance to the bust
attest their commences. Ia be able to fancy the
d ference Of the heads md faces of the two men
aH answering to aud completing the difference of
Il err forms and figures. On the shoulders of
5 haksponre we see that well known head and face
So dlloalt accurately to describe. and yet so pc.
liar, with lis general iulInnss and roundness of
contour. liz small individual features, its high
ic rehead made still higher in NJ, prarance by be.
n = bald almost to the crown, its rich and placid
e,,prrssiun and lis evident prcdominanoe Of It's
81 q over h"nr, of passive sensibility active
81 lorpy. One mncies the complexion fair rather
ii an dark. or AT lenst less nclning to dark than
to fnlr. Looking ngnin at Junsou. The head
- ans big ger the features are larger aud
~, tho brow Is more guarded aud corrugated the
hair seems 10 cling aud curl about the head with
II resolution to be stiff and gray rather than TALL
oil. mud the expression is altogether sury, rug
god, defiant fierce. and active, rather than pas
ave or imprcssiblc.
One could anticipate, in general wny, how
thu two men would conduct themselves in
'rrshi'on before they opened their lips. Jon~on
would be dngmniic, aggressive, controversial,
clustering and rude Shut spcnre, unless his face
bclicd him. would be sympathetic. assisting, in.
vcntlve. full of matter, gentle On the whole, and
yet 10 be reused incredibly by proper stimulus.
Perhaps, However, while the two men we,e quiz
It the bets would have been in favor of .jonson.
As IN the case of Lord Chancellor Thurlow, tho
feeling, in lookingat his portentous face, would
ho that OF wonder whether any man could possi-
bly, be SO wise as that man looked; very likely,
amid u company of strangers. it would be to his
side ct the table, and not 10 that where Shnks
peare sat. Tint all eyes would be turned. But
suppose the bets taken and the combat about To
begin. Lao! how big Ben, like the Spanish great
gaileon, heaves under way, how he rolls end
swaggers, how he lays down the law very much
rs his pondernus namesake did afterwards in
different circle, how he laughs and quotes, and
browbeats, and utters most furious wisdom, and
only leaves Oft when there is enough of admira.
ton 10 let him fall back triumphant upon the
nary Shakespeare, meanwhile, has been listen
ing 40 the rhinocoros with the most perfect
ioyment, and watching his face, and whether a
greeting with him not. thinking him most
wonderful fellow in the main aud tar more learn
ed than himself
II is difficult to get Shak speare into a contro-
versy, but sometimes word will be spoken
side or tho other, which leaves him no choice
but to develop his own view of IA subject on
tradiotion to Ben, or let Ben off with some roar
ing falacv, and the honors of the evening on
count of il. Flesh and blood even when they are
the flesh and blood of Shakspea cannot stand
this; SO. have at you, Ben. for William is ruscd
1t is Fullers English man of war getting under
wav. There may be II lurch or two as he leaves
the harbor but how swiftly and beautifully he
floats at last on, into the deep water and once
there how he masters the element How he
tacks and turns and sails round aud round his
tngonist. and battles him and bewildcrs him, aud
sends shot after shot into him. faster than they
can be counted: Not that Ben takes it all quiet
". On the contrary he brings all his mass to
bear upon his nimbe adversary and tries to
drown him at first with loudncss, and throws en-
phhsiS and rage into his words. and hurls out
learned quotation and allu sions and even follows
his adversary well ms he can into the regions
OF the subtle, the hyrerbolic, and the sublime
In vain for, according to his own Testimony the