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TRANSCRIBERS' NOTES

This e-book contains the text of _The Prince of Parthia_, extracted from
Representative Plays by American Dramatists: Vol 1, 1765-1819. Comments and
background to all the plays and the other plays are available at Project
Gutenberg.

Spelling as in the original has been preserved.




THE

PRINCE OF PARTHIA


_A TRAGEDY_




THOMAS GODFREY, JR. (1736-1763)


Thomas Godfrey, Jr., was born in Philadelphia, on December 4, 1736,
the son of a man who himself won fame as an inventor of the Quadrant.
Godfrey, Senior, was a friend of Benjamin Franklin, the two probably
having been drawn together by their common interest in science. When
Godfrey, Senior, died, December, 1749, it was Franklin who wrote his
obituary notice.[1]

Young Godfrey was a student at the College or Academy of Philadelphia,
and when his education was completed, he became apprenticed to a
watch-maker, remaining in that profession until 1758. As a student at
the Academy, he came under the special influence of Dr. William Smith,
the first Principal or Provost of that institution,[2] and it was Dr.
Smith who not only obtained for Godfrey a lieutenancy with the
Pennsylvania troops in 1758, which sent him in the expedition against
Fort Duquesne, but who, likewise, as the Editor of _The American
Magazine_, was only too glad to accept and publish some of Godfrey's
poetical effusions.

That the young man was popular, and that he associated with some of
the most promising figures of the time, will be seen from the fact
that, although he was only twenty-seven when he died, he was counted
among the friends of Benjamin West and John Green, both portrait
painters, of Francis Hopkinson, who was a student at the College of
Philadelphia, and of Nathaniel Evans, a young minister whose loyalty
found outlet after Godfrey's death in the Memorial Edition of
Godfrey's works. Evans himself wrote poems and dialogues. In his
confirmation of the fact that, as a poet, Godfrey was regarded
favourably by the Philadelphians of the time, he quotes from the diary
of one Miss Sarah Eve, who referred to him as "our poet."

Godfrey's reputation, as a young man with musical talents and a
decided taste for painting, has come down to us. Certain it is that,
during all of this time of varied occupation as a watch-maker and a
soldier, he must have been courting the poetic Muse. There are some
who speculate, without authority, on his having been a theatre-goer,
and having become inspired as a playwright by the work of the American
Company, in Philadelphia; especially by the good work of Douglass.
Because of insufficient evidence, that is a question which remains
unproven. Nevertheless, it is certain, from an extant letter written
by Godfrey on November 17, 1759, and quoted by Seilhamer, that he must
have had his attention turned to playwriting as a special art. He says
to his correspondent, writing from North Carolina:

    By the last vessel from this place, I sent you the copy of a
    tragedy I finished here, and desired your interest in bringing
    it on the stage; I have not yet heard of the vessel's safe
    arrival, and believe if she is safe it will be too late for the
    company now in Philadelphia. [Meaning, of course, Douglass's
    company.]

There are two facts to be noted in this communication: first, that it
was written from North Carolina, where, in 1759, Godfrey had gone on
some plantation business--probably as factor; and second, that it must
have been penned with the idea of immediate production by the actors
in Philadelphia. According to Seilhamer, Godfrey remained in North
Carolina for three years. He did not write the entire manuscript of
"The Prince of Parthia" while living in the South but, as he
definitely states in his letter, finished it soon after his arrival.

There is no evidence as to why Godfrey sailed to the Island of New
Providence in the last year of his life, and then returned to
Wilmington, N.C. There is no definite statement as to whether he
contracted fever and had a sunstroke on that expedition, or after his
return home. But, nevertheless, he did contract the fever and have a
sunstroke; with the result that he succumbed to his illness, and died
near Wilmington, North Carolina, on August 3, 1763.[3]

After his death, Godfrey's friends decided among themselves that the
young man was too much of a genius for them to allow his productions
to remain scattered and unrecognized. Evidently, correspondence
regarding this must have taken place between Dr. Smith, Nathaniel
Evans, the young minister, and John Green, the portrait painter. For,
in 1765, a book was published, entitled "Juvenile Poems on Various
Subjects, with the Prince of Parthia," printed in Philadelphia by one
Henry Miller.[4] The volume contained a life written by Evans, a
critical estimate written by Dr. Smith, of the College of
Philadelphia, and an Elegy from the pen of John Green, who had been
previously complimented by Godfrey in a poem entitled "A Night Piece."
The whole spirit of the publication was one of friendly devotion and
of firm belief in the permanency of Godfrey's position in the literary
world. As was the custom of the time, the Edition was issued under the
patronage of subscribers, a list being included. We know, for example,
that Benjamin Franklin subscribed for twelve copies, his own private,
autographed copy having been put on sale a few years ago.

As yet, no concerted effort had been made for the production of
Godfrey's "The Prince of Parthia." We do not know if, during this
time, the American Company had any claim on the manuscript, or
