Sir William Davenant, the Court Masque, and the English Seventeenth Century Scenic Stage, c1605 –c1700
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Sir William Davenant, the Court Masque, and the English Seventeen ...

Chapter 1:  Royalist Dramatist
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Porter however, was a gentleman of the bedchamber with direct access to the king and took the play to him to read. It is worth quoting in full what Herbert wrote about the episode in his records:23

This morning, being the 9th of January 1633, the kinge was pleasd to call mee into his withdrawinge chamber to the windowe, wher he went over all that I had croste in Davenants play- booke, and allowing of faith and slight to bee asservations only, and no oaths, markt them to stande, and some other few things, but in the greater part allowed of my reformations. This was done upon a complaint of Mr Endymion Porters in December.
The kinge is pleased to take faith, death, slight, for asservations, and no oaths, to which I doe humbly submit as my masters judgment; but, under favour, conceive them to be oaths, and enter them here, to declare my opinion and submission.

For all the king’s tact, it seems that Herbert thought he had been wrongly overruled and rather resented Porter’s interference. This was probably the start of the bad feeling between Herbert and Davenant, which flared up again after the Restoration. Herbert says that he returned the play to Davenant the next day, “corrected by the kinge”. He adds,

The kinge would not take the booke at Mr Porters hands; but commanded him to bring it unto mee, which he did, and likewise commanded Davenant to come to me for it, as I believe: otherwise he would not have byn so civill.

Herbert clearly felt the king’s orders to Porter and Davenant to go through Herbert, had maintained his dignity as Master of the Revels, which otherwise might have been undermined by Davenant’s likely rudeness. It is perhaps indicative of his opinion of Davenant that he gives Porter his title but not Davenant.