Page:The Age of Shakespeare - Swinburne (1908).djvu/99

 This supernatural and 'superlunatical' attempt at serious farce or farcical morality marks the nadir of Dekker's ability as a dramatist. The diabolic part of the tragicomic business is distinctly inferior to the parallel or similar scenes in the much older play of 'Grim the Collier of Croydon,' which is perhaps more likely to have been the writer's immediate model than the original story by Machiavelli. The two remaining plays now extant which bear the single name of Dekker give no sign of his highest powers, but are tolerable examples of journeyman's work in the field of romantic or fanciful comedy. 'Match Me in London' is the better play of the two, very fairly constructed after its simple fashion, and reasonably well written in a smooth and unambitious style: 'The Wonder of a Kingdom' is a light, slight, rough piece of work, in its contrasts of character as crude and boyish as any of the old moralities, and in its action as mere a dance of puppets: but it shows at least that Dekker had