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succeeding volumes for ease of reference.
THE WORKS
OF
THOMAS MIDDLETON.
--------------
VOL. I.
CONTAINING
THE OLD LAW.
THE MAYOR OF QUEENBOROUGH.
BLURT, MASTER-CONSTABLE.
THE PHŒNIX.
MICHAELMAS TERM.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY ROBSON, LEVEY, AND FRANKLYN,
46 St. Martin’s Lane.
[Illustration:
_Vera Effigies_
_Tho. Midletoni Gent._
]
THE WORKS
OF
THOMAS MIDDLETON,
=Now first collected,=
WITH
SOME ACCOUNT OF THE AUTHOR,
AND
NOTES,
BY
THE REVEREND ALEXANDER DYCE.
_IN FIVE VOLUMES._
VOL. I.
--------------
LONDON:
EDWARD LUMLEY, CHANCERY LANE.
---
1840.
TO
JOHN PAYNE COLLIER, ESQ.
=These Volumes=
ARE INSCRIBED
BY
HIS VERY SINCERE FRIEND,
ALEXANDER DYCE.
PREFACE.
All the surviving works of Middleton are comprehended in the present
volumes; and though, perhaps, to a certain class of readers, a selection
from his writings might have been more acceptable, I am confident that
the entire series is requisite to satisfy the lovers of our early
literature.
So rare are some of the pieces now reprinted, that they were not to be
obtained without considerable difficulty. The original quartos of _The
Triumphs of Integrity_, and _The Triumphs of Honour and Industry_, are
nowhere to be found but in the dramatic library of the Duke of
Devonshire; and I beg leave respectfully to express my sense of his
Grace’s liberality and kindness, in granting me permission to transcribe
them.
An obligation, for which I am truly grateful, has been conferred upon me
by the Rev. Joseph Hunter, whose intimate acquaintance with the
genealogical collections of the British Museum enabled him to point out
to me a most important document, which had escaped my notice—the
pedigree of Middleton in one of the Harleian MSS.
To Charles George Young, Esq., York Herald, who readily assisted my
researches at the College of Arms; and to Henry Woodthorpe, Esq., town-
clerk of London, who with equal good will rendered me the same services
at Guildhall, I have to return my sincere thanks.
To Sir Harris Nicolas, John Payne Collier, Esq., the Rev. John Mitford,
and the Rev. Stephen Reay, sub-librarian of the Bodleian Library, I have
to acknowledge myself indebted for a variety of useful communications.
ALEXANDER DYCE.
GRAY’S INN,
_December 1839_.
SOME ACCOUNT
OF
MIDDLETON AND HIS WORKS.
--------------
Thomas Middleton[1] is seldom mentioned by his contemporaries; and to
the scanty materials for his biography already collected by the
curiosity of antiquarian writers, the facts which I have been enabled to
add, though important, are unfortunately few.
His father was William Middleton; concerning whom I have found no
earlier notice than is contained in the following document, which
affords unquestionable evidence that he was a gentleman by birth:
“To all and singuler as well Noblez and gentlemen as others to whome
these presentz shall coome I Sir Gilberte Dethicke knyghte alias Garter
principall kinge of armes sende greatinge in owre Lord god euerlasting,
Forasmuche as anncientlye from the begynninge the valiant and vertius
actes of wourthie parsons haue ben commended to the world and posteretie
with sondrie monumentz and remembrances of there good desearttes Emongst
the which the chefiste and most vsuall hath ben the bearinge of signes
and tokens in shildes called Armes which are euident demonstracions of
prowez and valoure diuerslie distributed according to the qualities and
wourthines of the parsons demereting the same which order as it was
prudentlie devised in the beginnynge to stirre and kindle the harttes of
men to the ymytacion of vertue and noblenes Euen so hathe the same ben
and yet is contynnuallie obseruid to the [end] that suche as haue don
commendable seruice to their prince or contrey eyther in warre or peace
may bothe receiue due honor in their liues and also leaue the same
successiuelie vnto there posteritie after them And wheras therfore
William Midleton of in the Countie of [2] gentleman hathe
ben of longe time one of the bearrers of these Armes That is to say
Argent on a Saulteir engrailed sablez a Castle of the firste And for
asmuch as I finde no Creaste therevnto belonging or appertayninge hath
requested me the sayd Garter to assigne vnto his coot armoure such
creaste or Cognissance as he may lawfullie vse and beare In
consideracion wherof and for a further declaration of the wourthines of
the sayd William I the sayd Garter kinge of Armes haue assigned vnto him
this creast or cognissance folowinge That is to say on his Torce argent
and sables a Ape passant with a coller about his necke and chaine golde
mantelled argent double gules as more playnlie appeareth depicted in
this margent Which Armes and Creast I the sayd Garter principall Kinge
of Armes haue ratefied confermed assigned and allowed and by these
presentes do ratefye confirme assigne and allow vnto the sayd William
Mydleton and to his posteritie for ever and he and they to haue hould
and enioy the same and therin to be revested att his and there libertie
and pleasure without the lett ympediment or interruption of any other
parson or parsons whatsoeuer In wittnes whereof I the sayd Garter haue
signed these presentes with my hand and sett therevnto the seall of myne
office and armes Dated the xxiiiᵗʰ of Aprill in the xᵗʰ yeare of the
Raigne of our moste gracius soueraigne Ladie Elizabeth by the grace of
godd of England France and Ireland Quene Defender of the fayth &c Anno
1560 [1568].”[3]
William Middleton appears to have settled in the metropolis.[4] He
married[5] Anne, daughter of William Snow, of London; and by her had two
children,—Thomas, the subject of the present memoir; and Avicia,[6] who
first became the wife of John Empson, of London, and afterwards of Alan
Waterer, of the same city.
The date of the poet’s birth, which is matter of conjecture,[7] I am
inclined to fix not earlier than 1570.
It was probably about 1603 that he married Maria,[8] daughter of Edward
Morbeck,[9] of London, one of the Six Clerks of Chancery, by Barbara,
daughter of William Palmer, of Warwickshire. A son, named Edward, the
only issue of this marriage, was alive in 1623, aged nineteen. If there
be no error in the MS. from which the above information has been
derived, and if the entry among the City Records, which is cited in
another part of this memoir, be also correct, Middleton must have
married a second time, either during 1623 or subsequently to that year,
for, according to the latter authority, the name of his widow was
Magdalen.
A “Tho. Middleton” was admitted member of Gray’s Inn in 1593, a second
in 1596, and a third in 1606.[10] Of these individuals, the first is
more likely than either of the others to have been the dramatist.
_The Wisdom of Solomon Paraphrased, Written by Thomas Middleton_, 1597,
has generally been assigned to our author; and since no other poet of
the same name is known to have existed in those days,[11] I have thought
myself obliged, notwithstanding its length and tediousness, to reprint
it entire. _Micro-cynicon, Six Snarling Satires_, 1599, has also been
attributed to him, because the prefatory verses are subscribed “T. M.
Gent.;” and as it possesses at least the doubtful merit of shortness, I
have not rejected it from the present collection.[12]
But of whatever kind were his earliest (and perhaps unsuccessful)
efforts to attract the notice of the public, it is evident that
Middleton devoted the maturity of his powers almost exclusively to
dramatic composition, though the period at which he commenced a writer
for the stage cannot be determined. There are grounds for believing that
_The Old Law_ was first produced in 1599.[13] Of that play, a portion
only is by him—a portion is by William Rowley; and subsequently it
received improvements from the pen of Massinger, who when it was
originally acted had not completed his fifteenth year. The reader ought
to remember, that dramas which bear on their title-pages the names of
more than one author were not necessarily written by those authors in
conjunction: that popular playwrights were often employed to alter and
to add to pieces which had ceased to be attractive, is a fact
sufficiently established by the valuable memoranda of Henslowe. We are
not, however, to conclude that the other dramas of which Middleton was
only in part the author were wrought into their present form by such a
process.
It is unnecessary to enumerate all the various pieces with which, during
a long series of years, he continued to enrich the stage; nor would it
be possible to ascertain the exact order in which they were produced.
Henslowe’s papers supply the following notices of two which perhaps were
never printed, and are no longer extant:
“May 1602. Two Harpies, by Dekker, Drayton, Middleton, Webster, and
Mundy.”[14]
“Oct. 1602. Randall, earl of Chester, by T. Middleton.”[15]
And among the MS. plays which belonged to Warburton the Somerset Herald,
and which, according to his own cool statement, “were unluckely burnd or
put under Pye-bottoms,” there was one entitled “The Puritan Maid, the
Modest Wife, and the Wanton Widow, by Tho. Middleton.”[16]
Two tracts, which issued separately from the press in 1604, _The Black
Book_, and _Father Hubburd’s Tales, or The Ant and the Nightingale_, I
assign, with little hesitation, to Middleton: in both the Epistle to the
Reader is subscribed “T. M.,” and in both are found expressions which
remind us strongly of his dramatic dialogue. They are coarse but
humorous attacks on the vices and follies of the time; and are
peculiarly interesting on account of the passages which relate to Thomas
Nash,[17] of whose admirable prose-satires they may be considered as no
unhappy imitations. The verses interwoven with _Father Hubburd’s Tales_
are occasionally very graceful.
_The Inner Temple Masque_, written, I apprehend, in 1618, and _The World
tost at Tennis_, first produced as a royal entertainment, and afterwards
brought out with alterations, probably in 1620, are the only pieces of
the kind which we possess from our author’s pen; but it appears, by an
entry in the City Records, that he had been called on at an earlier date
to compose a masque, of which the title alone remains:
“Martis xviii die Januarii 1613 Anno R.Rs
Jacobi Angliæ &c. undecimo.
Middleton Mayor. Item: it is ordered by this Court that Thomas
Rep. No. 31. (Part Middleton Gent. shalbe forthwith allowed upon his
Sec.) fol. 239.ᵇ Bill of particulers such recompence and chardges
as the Committees lately appointed for the
ordering of the late Solempnities at
Marchauntailors Hall shall thinck meete for all
his disbursements and paynes taken by him and
others in the last _Mask of Cupid_ and other
Shewes lately made at the aforesaid Hall by the
said Mʳ Middleton.”
The “solempnities” in question had been occasioned by the recent
nuptials of that infamous pair the Earl and Countess of Somerset, and
are thus described by Howes: “Vpon Tewsday the 4. of January [1613-14],
the Bride and Bridegroome, being accompanied with the duke of Lenox, the
Lord priuie Seale, the lord Chamberlayne, the earles of Worcester,
Pembroke, Mountgomery, and others, and with many honorable Barons,
knights, and gentlemen of qualitie, came to marchant-taylers hall, where
the Lord Maior and Aldermenne of London, in their Scarlet robes,
entertayned them with hearty welcome, and feasted them with all
magnificence: at their first entrance into the hall, they were receiued
with ingenious speeches and pleasant melody: at this princely feast all
the meate was serued to the Table by choyse cittizens of comeliest
personage, in their gownes of rich Foynes, selected out of the 12.
honorable companies: after supper, and being risen from the Table, these
noble guests were entertayned with a Wassaile, 2. seuerall pleasant
maskes, and a play, and with other pleasant dances, all which being
ended, then the Bride and Bridegroome with all the rest were inuited to
a princely banquet, and about 3. a clock in the morning they returned to
Whitehall.”[18]
Middleton’s earliest[19] pageant was produced in 1613; and his ingenuity
was again taxed to devise fantastic shows for the amusement of the
populace in 1616, 1617, and 1619.
Among the expenses of the pageant for 1617, _The Triumphs of Honour and
Industry_,[20] which have been printed from the accounts of the Wardens
of the Grocers’ Company, are the following entries:
£. _s._ _d._
“Payde to Thomas Middleton, gent. for the ordering,
over seeing and writyng of the whole devyse, for the
making of the Pageant of Nations, the Iland, the
Indian Chariot, the Castle of Fame, trymming the
Shipp, with all the several beastes which drew them,
and for all the carpenter’s work, paynting, guylding
and garnyshing of them, with all other things
necessary for the apparelling and finding of all the
personages in the sayd shewes, and for all the
portage and carryage, both by land and by water, for
the lighters for the shew by water, for paynting of a
banner of the Lord Mayor’s armes, and also in full
for the greenmen, dyvells and fyer works with all
thinges thereunto belonging according to his
agreement, the some of 282 0 0
“Payde to Nicholas Oaks, stationer, for the printyng of
500 bookes, the some of 4 0 0”[21]
Partly, perhaps, in consequence of the satisfaction afforded by these
and other performances, he was appointed, in 1620, Chronologer to the
City of London, and Inventor of its “honourable entertainments.” Such,
at least, is the date of his election according to the authority cited
below[22] by Oldys; and in the extracts from the City Records with which
I have been furnished, I find no mention of his having held the office
anterior to that year:
“Martis vicesimo tertio die Januarii 1620
Annoque R.R. Jacobi Angliæ &c decimo octavo.
Jhones Mayor. Rep. Item: this day uppon consideracion taken by
No. 35. f. 76. this Court of the peticion of Thomas Middleton
Gentⁿ this Court is well pleased to order that
his yearely fee of sixe poundes thirteene
shillings and foure pence payable out of the
Chamber of London shall from henceforth be
encreased to Tenne poundes per annum duringe the
pleasure of this Court And the first quarters
payment to be made at our Ladye daye next.”
“Martis decimo septimo die Aprilis 1621
Annoque Regni Regis Jacobi Angliæ &c decimo
nono.
Jhones Mayor. Rep. Item: this day uppon the humble peticion of
No. 35. f. 148. Thomas Middleton Chronologer and Inventor of the
hoᵇˡᵉ entertainments of this Citty this Court is
pleased for and towardes his expences in the
performances thereof to graunt unto him the
nominacion and benefitt of one persone to be made
free of this Citty by redempcion, the same
persone beinge first presented and allowed of by
this Court, and to be one of the nomber of ten to
be now made free at this Easter and payinge to
Mr. Chamberlen to the Citties use the some of
sixe shillings and eight pence.”
“Martis decimo septimo die Septembris 1622
Annoque R. Regis Jacobi &c vicesimo.
Barkham Mayor. Rep. Item: this day uppon the humble peticion of
No. 36. f. 249. Thomas Middleton the Cittyes Chronologer This
Courte is pleased for his better incouragement to
order that Mr. Chamberlen shall pay unto him the
some of fifteene poundes as of the guifte of this
Courte.”
“Jovis sexto die Februarii 1622 Annoque
R.Rs Jacobi Angliæ &c vicesimo.
Proby Mayor. Rep. Item: this day uppon the humble peticion of
No. 37. f. 95. Thomas Middleton the Citties Chronologer this
Court is pleased to take into their consideracion
the services of the saide peticioner expressed in
his peticion and thereupon to order that Mr.
Chamberlen shall pay unto him the some of Twenty
poundes as of the guifte of this Court.”
“Jovis vicesimo quarto die Aprilis 1623
Annoque R.Rs Jacobi Angliæ &c vicesimo primo.
Proby Mayor. Rep. N. Item: this daye upon the humble peticion of
37. f. 151.^b Thomas Middleton the Citties Chronologer and for
his better incouragement to doe his best service
to this Cittye this Court of theire especial
favour doth graunt unto him the nominacion and
benefit of one person to bee made free of this
Cittie by redempcion the same beinge first
presented and allowed of by this Court and
payinge to Mr. Chamberlen to the Citties use the
some of vis. viiid.
“Martis secundo die Septembris 1623 Annoque
R.Rs Jacobi Angliæ &c xxi^o.
Proby Mayor. Rep. Item: this daie upon the humble peticion of
No. 37. f. 240. Thomas Middleton gent. the Citties Chronologer
this Court vouchsaved to order that Mr.
Chamberlen shall paie unto him the some of
Twentie Markes of the guifte of this Court for
and towardes the charges of the service latelie
performed by him att the shuting at Bunhill
before the Lord Maior and Aldermen and for his
service to be performed att the Conduitt heades.”
With the representation of _A Game at Chess_ in 1624 is connected the
most memorable incident of our poet’s history. In this singular drama he
ventured to bring upon the stage both the English and the Spanish court;
much of the satire being levelled at Gondomar, who is unmercifully held
up to ridicule not only for his political intrigues, but even for his
bodily infirmities. “Prince Charles,” says Mr. Collier, “returned from
Spain, after the breaking off the match with the Infanta, late in the
autumn of 1623; and to take advantage of the popular feeling upon this
question, Middleton’s play was probably written in the succeeding
spring, and certainly acted at the Globe in the summer.”[23] _A Game at
Chess_ could hardly fail to prove attractive; and it had already been
performed (as the 4tos state) “for nine days together,” when the
exhibition was suddenly prohibited by a royal mandate, and both the
author and the actors were cited before the Privy Council. A detail of
the proceedings in this curious affair is supplied by the following
letters.
Mr. Secretary Conway to the Privy Council:
“May it please your Lordships,—His Majesty hath received information
from the Spanish Ambassador of a very scandalous comedy acted publickly
by the King’s players, wherein they take the boldness and presumption,
in a rude and dishonourable fashion, to represent on the stage the
persons of his Majesty, the King of Spain, the Conde de Gondomar, the
Bishop of Spalato, &c. His Majesty remembers well there was a
commandment and restraint given against the representing of any modern
Christian kings in those stage-plays; and wonders much both at the
boldness now taken by that company, and also that it hath been permitted
to be so acted, and that the first notice thereof should be brought to
him by a foreign ambassador, while so many ministers of his own are
thereabouts, and cannot but have heard of it. His Majesty’s pleasure is,
that your Lordships presently call before you as well the poet that made
the comedy as the comedians that acted it: And upon examination of them
to commit them, or such of them as you shall find most faulty, unto
prison, if you find cause, or otherwise take security for their
forthcoming; and then certify his Majesty what you find that comedy to
be, in what points it is most offensive, by whom it was made, by whom
licensed, and what course you think fittest to be held for the examplary
and severe punishment of the present offenders, and to restrain such
insolent and licentious presumption for the future. This is the charge I
have received from his Majesty, and with it I make bold to offer to your
Lordships the humble service of, &c. From Rufford, August 12^{th},
1624.”
The Privy Council to Mr. Secretary Conway:
“After our hearty commendations, &c.—According to his Majesty’s pleasure
signified to this board by your letter of the 12^{th} August, touching
the suppressing of a scandalous comedy acted by the King’s players, we
have called before us some of the principal actors and demanded of them
by what license and authority they have presumed to act the same; in
answer whereto they produced a book being an original and perfect copy
thereof (as they affirmed) seen and allowed by Sir Henry Herbert Knᵗ,
Master of the Revels, under his own hand, and subscribed in the last
page of the said book: We demanding further, whether there were not
other parts or passages represented on the stage than those expressly
contained in the book, they confidently protested, they added or varied
from the same nothing at all. The poet, they tell us, is one Middleton,
who shifting out of the way, and not attending the board with the rest,
as was expected, we have given warrant to a messenger for the
apprehending of him. To those that were before us we gave a sound and
sharp reproof, making them sensible of his Majesty’s high displeasure
herein, giving them straight charge and commands that they presumed not
to act the said comedy any more, nor that they suffered any play or
interlude whatsoever to be acted by them or any of their company until
his Majesty’s pleasure be further known. We have caused them likewise to
enter into bond for their attendance upon the board whensoever they
shall be called. As for our certifying to his Majesty (as was intimated
by your letter) what passages in the said comedy we should find to be
offensive and scandalous; We have thought it our duties for his
Majesty’s clearer information to send herewithal the book itself
subscribed as aforesaid by the Master of the Revels, that so either
yourself or some other whom his Majesty shall appoint to peruse the
same, may see the passages themselves out of the original, and call Sir
Henry Herbert before you to know a reason of his licensing thereof, who
(as we are given to understand) is now attending at court; So having
done as much as we conceived agreeable with our duties in conformity to
his Majesty’s royal commandments, and that which we hope shall give him
full satisfaction, we shall continue our humble prayers to Almighty God
for his health and safety; and bid you very heartily farewell. [Dated
the 21st of August, 1624.]”
Mr. Secretary Conway to the Privy Council:
“Right Honourable,—His Majesty having received satisfaction in your
Lordships’ endeavours, and in the signification thereof to him by yours
of the 21st of this present, hath commanded me to signify the same to
you. And to add further, that his pleasure is, that your Lordships
examine by whose direction and application the personating of Gondomar
and others was done; and that being found out, the party or parties to
be severely punished, his Majesty being unwilling for one’s sake and
only fault to punish the innocent or utterly to ruin the company. The
discovery on what party his Majesty’s justice is properly and duly to
fall, and your execution of it and the account to be returned thereof,
his Majesty leaves to your Lordships’ wisdoms and care. And this being
that I have in charge, continuing the humble offer of my service and
duty to the attendance of your commandments, &c. From Woodstock, the
27th August, 1624.”
The preceding correspondence was originally printed by the late George
Chalmers:[24] the following “Letter to the Lords of the Counsell from my
Lord Chamberlain about the Players,” indorsed “27 August 1624,” is now
for the first time published.[25]
“To the right honᵇˡᵉ my very good Lord, the Lord Viscount Maundeville,
Lord President of his Majesty’s most honᵇˡᵉ Privy Counsell, theis.
My very good Lord
Complaynt being made unto his Majesty against the Company of his
Comedians, for acting publiquely a Play knowne by the name of a Game at
Chesse, contayning some passages in it reflecting in matter of scorne
and ignominy upon the King of Spaine, some of his Ministers and others
of good note and quality, his Majesty out of the tender regard hee had
of that King’s honor and those of his Ministers who were conceived to
bee wounded thereby, caused his letters to bee addressed to my Lords and
the rest of his most honᵇˡᵉ Privy Council, thereby requiring them to
convent those his Comedians before them, and to take such course with
them for this offence as might give best satisfaction to the Spanish
Ambassador and to their owne Honnors. After examination that honᵇˡᵉ
Board thought fitt not onely to interdict them playing of that play, but
of any other also, untill his Majesty should give way unto them. And for
their obedience hereunto they weare bound in 300^{li} bondes. Which
punishment when they had suffered (as his Majesty conceives) a competent
tyme, upon their petition delivered heere unto him, it pleased his
Majesty to comaund mee to lett your Lordship understand (which I pray
your Lordship to impart to the rest of that honᵇˡᵉ Board) that his
Majesty now conceives the punishment, if not satisfactory for that their
insolency, yet such as since it stopps the current of their poore
livelyhood and mainteanance, without much prejudice they cannot longer
undergoe. In consideration therefore of those his poore servants, his
Majesty would have their Lordships connive at any common play lycensed
by authority, that they shall act as before. As for this of the Game at
Chesse, that it bee not onely antiquated and sylenced, but the Players
bound as formerly they weare, and in that point onely never to act it
agayne. Yet nothwithstanding that my Lords proceed in their disquisition
to fynd out the originall roote of this offence, whether it sprang from
the Poet, Players, or both, and to certefy his Majesty accordingly. And
so desireing your Lordship to take this into your consideration, and
them into your care, I rest
Yoʳ Loᵖˢ most affectionate
Cousin to serve you,
PEMBROKE.”
An entry in the Council-register of the 30th August, 1624, declares:
“This day Edward [Thomas] Middleton of London, gent. being formerly sent
for by warrant from this board, tendred his appearance, wherefor his
indemnitie is here entered into the register of counceil causes:
nevertheless he is enjoyned to attend the board till he be discharged by
order of their Lordships.”[26]
A copy of _A Game at Chess_, which formerly belonged to Major Pearson,
contains, in an old hand, the following memorandum:[27]
“After nyne dayse wherein I have heard some of the acters say they tooke
fiveteene hundred Pounde the Spanish faction being prevalent gott it
supprest the chiefe actors and the Poett Mr. Thomas Middleton that writt
it committed to prisson where hee lay some Tyme and at last gott oute
upon this petition presented to King James
A harmles game: coynd only for delight
was playd betwixt the black house and the white
the white house wan: yet still the black doth bragg
they had the power to put mee in the bagge
use but your royall hand. Twill set mee free
Tis but removing of a man thats mee.”
The writer is doubtless mistaken as to the amount of money received at
the doors of the theatre.[28] What he states concerning the imprisonment
of Middleton, &c. seems to be disproved by the authentic documents
already given; and Mr. Collier (who has not noticed the latter part of
the memorandum) remarks, that “the reason why no punishment [except the
interdiction from acting] was inflicted, either upon the players or
poet, was perhaps that they had acted the piece under the authority of
the Master of the Revels.”[29]
In a letter by Howel from Madrid, addressed to Sir John North, there is
an evident allusion to Middleton’s notorious drama: “I am sorry to hear
how other Nations do much tax the English of their Incivility to public
Ministers of State; and what Ballads and Pasquils and Fopperies and
Plays were made against Gondamar for doing his Masters business.”[30]
And in _The Staple of News_, by Ben Jonson, acted 1625, may be found a
humorous but rather gross passage about Gondomar and “the poor English
play was writ of him.”[31]
_The Triumphs of Health and Prosperity_, 1626, was the last piece
composed by Middleton for the entertainment of the city; and it was
also, perhaps, the last effort of his pen.
That in 1623 he resided at Newington Butts,[32] has been already shewn;
and that there he died, is proved by an entry which I now cite from the
Register of the parish-church;
“In Julye 1627
Mr. Thomas Middleton was buried the ... 4[th].”
The following lines have been frequently adduced as a testimony that our
author was far advanced in years at the time of his decease; but I have
little doubt that they are the invention of Chetwood, who on other
occasions is known to have been a most expert and impudent forger:
“Tom Middleton his numerous issue brings,
And his last Muse delights us when she sings;
His halting age a pleasure doth impart,
And his white locks shew Master of his Art.”[33]
Middleton appears to have left no will; nor is it likely that he had any
property to bequeath, since, some months after his death, a petition for
pecuniary assistance was addressed by his widow to the City:
“Jovis septimo die Februarii 1627 [-8] Anno
RRs Caroli Angliæ &c. tertio.
Hamersly Mayor. Item: this daie upon the humble peticion of
Rep. No. 42. f. 89. Magdalen[34] Middleton Widdowe late Wife of
Thomas Middleton deceased late Chronologer of
this Cittie it is ordered by this Court that Mr.
Chamberlen shall paie unto her as of the guifte
of this Court the some of Twentie Nobles.”[35]
The Register above cited contains an entry which in all probability
refers to her:
“July 1628
“Mrs. Midelton buried the ... xviii day.”
Concerning the poet’s son Edward, who, as we have seen[36] was aged
nineteen in 1623, I have not succeeded in obtaining any further
particulars.
The portrait of Middleton (without the engraver’s name) prefixed to _Two
New Playes_, 1657, and copied for the present work, is the only one
extant; but whether it conveys a true idea of his personal appearance,
cannot be determined.
Malone informs us, that “Drayton has commended Middleton;”[37] and
though I have searched in vain for the eulogy to which he alludes, it
may nevertheless exist. I shall here throw together the few notices of
our author by his contemporaries which I have been able to collect.
In Howes’s Continuation of Stow’s _Annales_, 1615, he is included in a
list of the Elizabethan poets, which, because I do not remember to have
seen it formerly quoted, I subjoin entire:
“Our moderne and present excellent Poets which worthely florish in their
owne workes, and all of them in my owne knowledge liued togeather in
this Queenes raigne, according to their priorities as neere as I could,
I haue orderly set downe (viz.) George Gascoigne Esquire, Thomas Church-
yard Esquire, sir Edward Dyer knight, Edmond Spencer Esquire, sir Philip
Sidney knight, Sir John Harrington knight, Sir Thomas Challoner knight,
Sir Frauncis Bacon knight, and Sir John Dauie[s] knight, Master John
Lillie gentleman, Maister George Chapman gentleman, M. W. Warner
gentleman, M. Willi. Shakespeare gentleman, Samuell Daniell Esquire,
Michaell Draiton Esquire, of the bath, M. Christopher Marlo gen. M.
Beniamine Johnson gentleman, John Marston Esquier, M. Abraham Frauncis
[Fraunce] gen. master Frauncis Meers gentle. master Josua Siluester
gentle. master Thomas Deckers gentleman, M. John Flecher gentle. M. John
Webster gentleman, M. Thomas Heywood gentleman, M. Thomas Middelton
gentleman, M. George Withers. These following were Latine Poets. Master
Gaulter Hadon gentleman, Master Nicholas Carr gentleman, M. Christopher
Ocland gentle. Mathew Gwynn doctor of Phisicke, Thomas Lodge doctor of
phisike, M. Tho. Watson gentle. Thomas Campion doctor of Phisicke,
Richard Lateware doctor of diuinitie, M. Brunswerd gentleman, Master
doctor Haruie, and master Willey gentleman.”[38]
In the record of Jonson’s “Conversations at Hawthornden in 1619,” our
poet is thus contemptuously mentioned: “That Markam (who added his
English Arcadia) was not of the number of the Faithfull, _i. e._
_Poets_, and but a base fellow. That such were Day and Middleton.”[39]
There can be no doubt that Ben was strongly possessed by the humour of
disparaging, when he chose to couple Middleton with writers so inferior.
In _The Praise of Hempseed_, 1620, by Taylor the water-poet, these lines
occur:
“And many there are liuing at this day
Which doe in paper their true worth display:
As Dauis, Drayton, and the learned Dun,
Johnson, and Chapman, Marston, Middleton,
With Rowley, Fletcher, Withers, Massinger,
Heywood, and all the rest where e’re they are,
Must say their lines but for the paper sheete
Had scarcely ground whereon to set their feete.”[40]
In _The Hierarchie of the blessed Angels_, 1635, by Heywood, there is a
curious passage concerning the disrespectful curtailment of the
baptismal names of modern poets, which will probably be new to many
readers:
“Greene, who had in both Academies ta’ne
Degree of Master, yet could neuer gaine
To be call’d more than Robin: who had he
Profest ought saue the Muse, serv’d, and been free
After a seuen-yeares Prentiseship, might haue
(With credit too) gone Robert to his graue.
Marlo, renown’d for his rare art and wit,
Could ne’re attaine beyond the name of Kit;
Although his Hero and Leander did
Merit addition rather. Famous Kid
Was call’d but Tom. Tom Watson, though he wrote
Able to make Apollo’s selfe to dote
Vpon his Muse, for all that he could striue,
Yet neuer could to his full name arriue.
Tom Nash (in his time of no small esteeme)
Could not a second syllable redeeme.
Excellent Bewmont, in the formost ranke
Of the rar’st Wits, was neuer more than Franck.
Mellifluous Shakespeare, whose inchanting Quill
Commanded Mirth or Passion, was but Will.
And famous Johnson, though his learned Pen
Be dipt in Castaly, is still but Ben.
Fletcher and Webster, of that learned packe
None of the mean’st, yet neither was but Jacke.
Decker’s but Tom; nor May, nor Middleton.
And hee’s now but Jacke Foord that once were [was] John.”[41]
I may add, that in a work of later date, _Wit’s Recreations_, is the
following “epigram:”[42]
“TO MR. THOMAS MIDDLETON.
Facetious Middleton, thy witty Muse
Hath pleased all that books or men peruse.
If any thee dispise, he doth but show
Antipathy to wit in daring so:
Thy fam’s above his malice, and ’twill be
Dispraise enough for him to censure thee.”
Three of our author’s pieces are recorded to have been performed after
the Restoration, _A Trick to catch the Old One_, _The Widow_, and _The
Changeling_; but at the commencement of the eighteenth century his
writings may be considered as forgotten.
The publication of Dodsley’s _Old Plays_[43] in 1744 had some effect in
reviving the faded reputation of Middleton; and in 1778 his name was
made still more familiar to the literary world, when copies of _The
Witch_, printed from a MS. in the possession of Major Pearson,[44] were
circulated by Isaac Reed. Besides the less important discovery that
D’Avenant had availed himself of this drama in his alteration of
_Macbeth_,[45] it was evident that the resemblance between the scenes of
enchantment in _The Witch_, and those in Shakespeare’s tragedy as
originally written, must have been more than accidental. Steevens
maintained that Shakespeare was the imitator. Malone at first coincided
in that opinion; but receding from it at a later period of life, he
endeavoured to establish by a lengthy dissertation that the performance
of _Macbeth_ (which he fixes in 1606[46]), was anterior to that of _The
Witch_; and though his reasoning appears to me very far from convincing,
I am by no means disposed to assert that the conclusion at which he has
so laboriously arrived is not the right one.[47] Gifford, indeed, has
unhesitatingly pronounced that Shakespeare was the copyist;[48] but,
notwithstanding the respect which I entertain for that critic, his
incidental remarks on the present question have little weight with me:
he has assigned no grounds for his decision; he had not, I apprehend,
considered the subject with much attention; and on two occasions at
least, he appears to have alluded to it chiefly for the sake of giving
additional force to the blows which he happened to be aiming at the
luckless “commentators.” As Shakespeare undoubtedly possessed the
creative power in its utmost perfection, and as no satisfactory evidence
has been adduced to shew that _The Witch_ was acted at an earlier period
than _Macbeth_, he must not be hastily accused of imitation. Yet since
he is known to have frequently remodelled the works of other writers, it
may be urged, that when he had to introduce witches into his tragedy, he
would hardly scruple to borrow from our author’s play[49] as much as
suited his immediate purpose. But, after all, there is an essential
difference[50] between the hags of Shakespeare and of Middleton; and
whichever of the two may have been the copyist, he owes so little to his
brother-poet, that the debt will not materially affect his claim to
originality. Concerning the tragi-comedy _The Witch_, I have only to
add, that its merit consists entirely in the highly imaginative pictures
of the preternatural agents, in their incantations, and their moonlight
revelry: the rest of it rises little above mediocrity.
In the estimation of an anonymous critic, _Women beware Women_ is
“Middleton’s finest play,”[51] and perhaps he has judged rightly. It is
indeed remarkable for the masterly conception and delineation of the
chief characters, and for the life and reality infused into many of the
scenes; though the dramatis personæ are almost all repulsive from their
extreme depravity, and the catastrophe is rather forced and unnatural.
In this tragedy, says Hazlitt, there is “a rich marrowy vein of internal
sentiment, with fine occasional insight into human nature, and cool
cutting irony of expression.”[52] To his subsequent observation, that
“the interest decreases, instead of increasing, as we read on,” I by no
means assent.
_The Changeling_ affords another specimen of Middleton’s tragic powers.
If on the whole inferior to the piece last mentioned, it displays, I
think, in several places, a depth of passion unequalled throughout the
present volumes. According to the title-page, William Rowley, who was
frequently his literary associate, had a share in the composition; but I
feel convinced that the terribly impressive passages of this tragedy, as
well as those serious portions of _A Fair Quarrel_ which Lamb has
deservedly praised, and the pleasing characters of Clara and Constanza
in _The Spanish Gipsy_, are beyond the ability of Rowley.
Among our author’s works there are few more original and ingenious than
_A Game at Chess_. By touches of sweet fancy, by quaint humour, and by
poignant satire, he redeems the startling absurdities in which the plan
of the drama had necessarily involved him.
Middleton’s “principal efforts,” says an accomplished writer, “were in
comedy, where he deals profusely in grossness and buffoonery. The cheats
and debaucheries of the town are his favourite sources of comic
intrigue.”[53] _A Mad World, my Masters_, and _A Trick to catch the Old
One_, are the most perfect of the numerous comedies which Mr. Campbell
has dismissed with so slight and unfavourable a notice; and next to them
may be ranked _The Roaring Girl_,[54] _A Chaste Maid in Cheapside_,
_Michaelmas Term_, and _No Wit, no Help like a Woman’s_. The dialogue of
these pieces is generally spirited; the characters, though their
peculiarities may be sometimes exaggerated, are drawn with breadth and
discrimination; and the crowded incidents afford so much amusement, that
the reader is willing to overlook the occasional violation of
probability. As they faithfully reflect the manners and customs of the
age, even the worst of Middleton’s comedies[55] are not without their
value.
A critic, whom I have already quoted, after observing that “it is
difficult to assign Middleton any precise station among the remarkable
men who were his contemporaries,”[56] proceeds to compare him with
Webster and Ford, who were assuredly poets of a higher order. The
dramatists with whom, in my opinion, Middleton ought properly to be
classed—though superior to him in some respects and inferior in
others—are Dekker, Heywood, Marston, and Chapman: nor perhaps does
William Rowley fall so much below them that he should be excluded from
the list.
ADDENDA AND CORRIGENDA.
ADDENDA AND CORRIGENDA.
In the first volume, and in the greater part of the second volume, I
marked the deviations from the old editions with a minuteness which I
afterwards saw to be unnecessary; and throughout the remainder of the
work I accordingly abandoned that system of annotation.
THE OLD LAW.
Vol. i. p. 23, line 2.
“_Not_ fainting,”
Read
“_Nor_ fainting.”
Vol. i. p. 28, l. 4.
_pan’d hose_] Are, I believe, more correctly described by Gifford as
“breeches composed of small squares or pannels.” Note on Massinger’s
_Works_, vol. ii. p. 485, ed. 1813. “A kind of trunk breeches, formed of
stripes of various-coloured cloth, occasionally intermixed with slips of
silk or velvet, stitched together.” Introd. to Ford’s _Works_, p.
clxxvii.
Vol. i. p. 50, l. 11.
_Scirophorion_ ... _Hecatombaion_] When I reprinted Gifford’s note on
these words, which he calls “a miserable ostentation of Greek
literature,” I forgot to observe, that the “Grecian Moneths” were
formerly not unfamiliar to the vulgar; see, for instance, the last page
of Pond’s _Almanack_, 1610.
--------------
BLURT, MASTER-CONSTABLE.
Vol. i. p. 235, l. 18.
_kerry merry buff_] So Nash, “Yea, without _kerry merry buffe_ be it
spoken,” &c. _Haue with you to Saffron-walden_, 1596, sig. F 4; and
Kempe, “One hath written Kemps farewell to the tune of _Kery, mery,
Buffe_.” Dedication of the _Nine daies Wonder_, 1600.
Vol. i. p. 236, l. 12.
_Cornelius’ dry-fats_] Compare Taylor, the water-poet: “She [the bawd]
will harbour no ventred commodity in her warehouse, and if the Informer
or Constable doe light vpon one of her conceal’d _dryfats_, Punchions,
fardels,” &c. _A Bawd_, p. 103—_Workes_, 1630.
Vol. i. p. 242, l. 19.
“_Enter_ Doyt and Dandyprat.”
Read
“_Re-enter_ Doyt,” &c.
Vol. i. p. 282, last line but one.
“_I’ll_ keep time just to a minute, I.”
Read, for the metre,
“_I will_ keep,” &c.
Vol. i. p. 283, l. 16.
_lantern and candle-light_] “Was anciently accounted one of the cries of
London, being the usual words of the bellman:” see Nares’s _Gloss._ in
v.
Vol. i. p. 290, l. 23.
“marry, Blurt master-constable.”
Read
“marry, Blurt, master constable!”
a proverbial expression: see p. 225 of the same vol.
Vol. i. p. 292, l. 18.
“_Enter_ Blurt and all his Watch.”
Read
“_Re-enter_ Blurt,” &c.
Vol. i. p. 295.
Dele the note “_sheaths_] Qy. ‘sheathed’?”
Vol. i. p. 298.
Dele the note “_pickst_] Qy. ‘prickst’?”
Vol. i. p. 306, l. 19.
“at _his_ foot I’ll lie
That dares touch her.”
For “his” of old ed. the sense requires that we should read “this,”—an
alteration which I intended, but by some oversight neglected, to make in
the text. As to my note, “_lie_] i. e. lay—for the sake of the
rhyme”—the word, I believe, is rightly explained; but I find that
Brathwait has used “lies” for “lays,” even in the middle of a line:
“The proudest Peeres he to subiection brings,
And prostrate _lies_ the Diadems of Kings.”
_Strappado for the Diuell_, 1615, p. 229 [213].
--------------
THE PHŒNIX.
Vol. i. p. 336, l. 28.
_steaks_] That this is the right reading, appears from a passage in
_Your Five Gallants_: see vol. ii. p. 287.
Vol. i. p. 351, l. 4.
_Without thee_] I was wrong in supposing that the earlier part of the
line had dropt out: see notes on imperfect couplets, vol. i. p. 424,
vol. ii. pp. 7, 307, &c.
--------------
MICHAELMAS TERM.
Vol. i. p. 428, l. 17.
_scurvy murrey kersey_] So in _The Two Merry Milke-Maids_, 1620;
“foolish, _scuruy_, _course-kersie_, durty-tayl’d, dangling dug-cow.”
Sig. C. 3.
Vol. i. p. 455, l. 20.
_i’ th’ wold of Kent_] I ought not to have altered “wild” into “wold:”
compare _The Marriage-Broaker by M. W._; “Ride to my Farm _i’ th’
wild_,” p. 27—_Gratiæ Theatrales_, 1662.
Vol. i. p. 473, l. 17.
_a warning-piece_] The text is quite right: so Dekker, “Ther’s _a
warning peece_. Away.” _Whore of Babylon_, 1607, sig. C. iv.; and S.
Rowley,
“He makes his love to us _a warning-peece_
To arme ourselves against we come to court.”
_Noble Spanish Souldier_, 1634, sig. H.
Vol. i. p. 475, l. 26.
_the row_] Perhaps I ought to have printed “row” with a capital
letter,—i. e. Goldsmiths’-Row in Cheapside: see Stow’s _Survey_, b. iii.
p. 198, ed. 1720; and Gifford’s note on B. Jonson’s _Works_, vol. v. p.
93.
--------------
A TRICK TO CATCH THE OLD ONE.
Vol. ii. p. 3.
We learn from Downes’s _Roscius Anglicanus_ that this play was one of
the early dramas revived between 1662 and 1665, p. 36, ed. Waldron.
Vol. ii. p. 5, l. 10.
_Longacre_] The editor of 1816 is mistaken: this word was used for an
estate in general; compare _Lady Alimony_, 1659, “It will run like
Quicksilver over all their Husbands Demains: and in very short time make
a quick dispatch of all his _Long acre_.” Sig. B 3.
A passage of _Gammer Gurton’s Needle_, which stands thus in the various
editions of Dodsley’s _Old Plays_,
“Tome Tannkard’s cow (be gog’s bones) she set me up her sail,
And flynging about his _halse aker_, fysking with her taile,”
&c.
has drawn forth the following extraordinary note from Steevens: “I
believe we should read _halse anchor_, or _anker_, as it was anciently
spelt; a naval phrase. The _halse_ or _halser_ was a particular kind of
cable,” &c., vol. ii. p. 11, last ed.—If Steevens, or the other editors,
had only taken the trouble to look at the 4to of 1575, they would have
found the true reading—“_halfe aker_,” i. e. small bit of ground.
--------------
THE FAMILY OF LOVE.
Vol. ii. p. 106, l. 32.
_Weber remarks_, &c.] The mistake of Weber may be traced to Langbaine,
who says, “This Play is mentioned by Sir Thomas Bornwel in _The Lady of
Pleasure_, Act 1. Sc. 1.” _Acc. of English Dram. Poets_, p. 372.
Vol. ii. p. 118, note.
“a corruption of _will_.”
Read
“a corruption of _wilt_.”
Vol. ii. p. 125, l. 1.
_We saw Samson bear the town-gates on his neck from the lower to the
upper stage, with that life and admirable accord, that it shall never be
equalled, unless the whole new livery of porters set [to] their
shoulders_] Middleton seems to have had in his recollection a passage of
Shakespeare’s _Love’s Labour’s Lost_: “Sampson, master: he was a man of
good carriage, great carriage; for he carried the town-gates on his
back, like a porter.” Act i. sc. 2.
Vol. ii. p. 148, l. 28.
_familiar_] i. e. attendant demon.
Vol. ii. p. 178, l. 21.
_Europa’s sea-form_] Probably “sea-form” is used in the sense of sea-
seat,—the bull on which she sat.
Vol. ii. p. 194, l. 8.
_play Ambidexter_] I was wrong, I believe, in saying that this
expression has an allusion to Preston’s _Cambises_: it is by no means
uncommon.
--------------
YOUR FIVE GALLANTS.
Vol. ii. p. 255, l. 16.
“_Hist!_ a supply.”
Read, with old ed.,
“_Pist!_ a supply.”
See notes, vol. ii. pp. 460, 468.
Vol. ii. p. 264, l. 20.
_E’en where his fear lies most, there will I meet him._
After this line insert “_Exit_;” and in the note, for “and thrown a
scarf over his face (see what follows), the audience,” &c., read “and
having made his exit at one door, had re-entered at the other with a
scarf thrown over his face, the audience,” &c.
Vol. ii. p. 268, l. 27.
“Master, _hist_, master!”
Read, with old ed.,
“Master, _pist_, master!”
See notes, vol. ii. pp. 460, 468.
Vol. ii. p. 290, l. 7.
PUR. _Thy father gave the ram’s head, boy?_
BOY. _No, you’re deceived; my mother gave that, sir._
The boy means that she made his father a cuckold: compare Dekker’s
_Owles Almanacke_, 1618; “Men whose wiues haue light heeles, are called
_Ramme-headed Cuckolds_,” p. 10.
--------------
A MAD WORLD, MY MASTERS.
Vol. ii. p. 333, l. 25.
_the glory of his complement_] I doubt if Steevens’s explanation of this
passage be the right one, or if _complement_ mean here any thing more
than courtly address.
Vol. ii. p. 369, note 812.
Steevens’s remark, cited here by Reed, that a horse was sometimes
denominated a _footcloth_, is certainly wrong. “Sir Bounteous,” observes
Nares (_Gloss._ in v.), “is said to [be] alight[ed] from his
_footcloth_, as one might say, alighted from his saddle.”
--------------
THE ROARING GIRL.
Vol. ii. p. 466, last line.
_the high German’s size_] This person is probably alluded to in the
following passage of Dekker’s _Newes from Hell_, &c. 1606: “As for
Rapier and dagger, the Germane may be his journeyman.” Sig. B. See also
Beaumont and Fletcher’s _Knight of the Burning Pestle_—_Works_, vol. i.
p. 215, ed. Weber; and Shirley’s _Opportunity_—_Works_, vol. iii. p.
407, where Gifford observes, that “he seems to have been ‘a master of
fence,’ or common challenger.”
Vol. ii. p. 511, l. 27.
“’Twas like a _sigh_ of his.”
Since writing the note on this passage, I have met with the following
lines in _The Travailes of the Three English Brothers_, _&c._ (by Day,
W. Rowley, and Wilkins), 1607;
“Pray Turke, let thy heart _sigth_ and thine eyes weepe.”
Sig. B 3.
“To whose continuall kneelings, teares, and _sighthes_.”
Sig. B 4.
Vol. ii. p. 530, note 1134.
I am told that a gentleman in London possesses an edition of the _Life
of Long Meg of Westminster_, printed in 1582.
Vol. ii. p. 541, l. 1.
“Peck, pennam, _lay_, or popler.”
I ought to have substituted “lap” for “lay,” as Reed (see note)
suggests.
--------------
THE HONEST WHORE.
Vol. iii. p. 9, l. 16.
_Curs’d be that day for ever_, &c.] In a note on Shakespeare’s _King
John_, act iii. sc. 1, Henderson has pointed out the resemblance between
this speech of Hippolito and that of Constance which begins,
“A wicked day, and not a holy day!” &c.
Vol. iii. p. 42, l. 20.
“CAS. Please you be here, my lord? [_Offers tobacco._”
This appears to have been the customary expression on such an occasion:
in _Wine, Beere, Ale, and Tobacco, Contending for Superiority, a
Dialogue_, we read,
“_Enter Tobaco._
_Tobaco._ Be your leaue gentlemen—wilt _please you be here_, sir?”
Sig. C 4. ed. 1630.
Vol. iii. p. 60, last line.
_ningle_] I have observed, in my note, that all the eds. except that of
1605 have “mingle.” Nares (who had not seen that rare edition), citing
this passage, gives _Mingle_ in his _Gloss._ as a legitimate word; but I
do not recollect to have met with such a form.
Vol. iii. p. 80, l. 26.
_turn Turk_] “Was,” says Gifford, “a figurative expression for a change
of condition, or opinion.” Note on Massinger’s _Works_, vol. ii. p. 222,
ed. 1813.
Vol. iii. p. 83, l. 9.
_orangado_] Should be “oringado” or “eringado:” _oringo_ was an old form
of _eringo_.
Vol. iii. p. 91, l. 7.
“_A sister’s thread_, i’faith, had been enough.”
In Ford’s _Lady’s Trial_ is the same expression:
“A flake, no bigger than _a sister’s thread_,”
which Gifford too hastily altered to “a _spider’s_ thread,” _Works_,
vol. ii. p. 306.—That “sister’s” is not a misprint, there can be no
doubt: it seems to be a form of _sewster’s_.
“At euery twisted _thrid_ my rock let fly
Unto the _sewster_.”
B. Jonson’s _Sad Shepherd_—_Works_, vol. vi. p. 282, ed. Giff.
Vol. iii. p. 108, l. 25.
_We see you, old man, for all you dance in a net_] An allusion to the
proverbial saying, “You dance in a net, and think nobody sees you.”
Ray’s _Proverbs_, p. 5, ed. 1768.
Vol. iii. p. 115, l. 21.
_Bow a little_] i. e. bend your hand a little: so in _The Spanish
Gipsy_, Alvarez, while telling the fortune of Louis, says to him, “Bend
your hand thus:” see vol. iv. p. 149.
--------------
THE SECOND PART OF THE HONEST WHORE.
Vol. iii. p. 152, l. 12.
_I’ll fly high, wench, hang toss!_] In this passage, says Gifford,
“_toss_ is used in a way that would induce one to think it meant low
play, or a hazard of petty sums.” Note on Massinger’s _Works_, vol. iii.
p. 160, ed. 1813.
Vol. iii. p. 197, l. 9.
_a cob_] “A [silver] _Cob_ of Ireland, or a Peece of Eight, is worth
four shilling eight pence. It is a Spanish Coin, not round but cornered,
or nuke shotten, and passith according to its weight for more or less.”
R. Holme’s _Ac. of Armory_, b. iii. c. ii. p. 30.
Vol. iii. p. 199, l. 3.
_Must I be fed with chippings? you’re best get a clapdish, and say
you’re proctor to some spittle-house_] “It was once,” says Gifford, “the
practice for beadles and other inferior parish officers, to go from door
to door with a clap-dish, soliciting charity for those unhappy
sufferers, who are now better relieved by voluntary subscriptions.” Note
on B. Jonson’s _Works_, vol. i. p. 44.
Vol. iii. p. 200, l. 3.
_old Cole_] Is the name of the sculler in the puppet-show of _Hero and
Leander_, introduced into B. Jonson’s _Bartholomew Fair_, act v. sc. 3:
see _Works_, vol. iv. p. 509 (note), and p. 520, ed. Gifford.
--------------
THE WIDOW.
Vol. iii. p. 354, l. 3.
_improv’d_] Is right; meaning, as it frequently does, proved.
Vol. iii. p. 373, l. 22.
_And they’re both well provided for, they’re i’ th’ hospital_]
“_Hospital_” ought to have been printed with a capital letter: for
though the scene of the play is laid in Italy, yet the allusion (as
Gifford observes, note on B. Jonson’s _Works_, vol. i. p 41), is to
Christ’s Hospital, whither, when it was first established, the
foundlings taken up in the city were sent for maintenance and education.
Vol. iii. p. 383, l. 19.
_Come, my dainty doxies?_] I neglected to notice that this song is found
entire in our author’s _More Dissemblers besides Women_: see p. 606 of
the same volume.
--------------
A FAIR QUARREL.
Vol. iii. p. 510, l. 11.
_from the six windmills to Islington_] “The third great Field from
Moorgate, next to _the six Windmills_.” Stow’s _Survey_, b. iii. p. 70,
ed. 1720.
Vol. iii. p. 514, l. 17.
_a quadrangular plumation_] Compare Vigon’s _Workes of Chirurgerie_,
&c., 1571, where, treating of “tentes, lyntes, and bolsters” for wounds,
he tells us that “some [_bolsters_] _bene quadrate_;” and a little
after, “some moreouer vse _bolsters made of fethers_,” fol. cxiii.
--------------
A CHASTE MAID IN CHEAPSIDE.
Vol. iv. p. 5, last line.
_board_] The spelling of the old ed. is right—“_bord_,” i. e. size. So
in Beaumont and Fletcher’s _Knight of the Burning Pestle_;
“underneath his chin
He plants a brazen piece of mighty _bord_.”
Act iii. sc. 2—_Works_, vol. i. p. 214, ed. Weber.
where, says M. Mason, “_bord_ means rim or circumference.”
Vol. iv. p. 32, l. 4.
_corps_] So the word is used as a plural in _Epigrams and Satyres_, by
Richard Middleton, 1608;
“the Tyrants brazen bull
Of Agrigentine, which being crammed full
Of humane _corps_, did roare with such a maine,” &c.
p. 34.
Vol. iv. p. 66, note, read
“11 _Rider’s Dictionary_] _A Dict. Engl. and Lat. and Lat. and Engl._,
by John Rider, first printed at Oxford, 1589, was a work once in great
repute.”
--------------
THE SPANISH GIPSY.
Vol. iv. p. 145, last line but one.
“this she, trow;”
Read
“this she, trow?”
--------------
A GAME AT CHESS.
Vol. iv. p. 310, l. 1.
_Roch, Main, and Petronill, itch and ague curers_] Compare Taylor the
water-poet: “he must be content with his office, as ... Saint Roch with
scabbes and scurfes ... Saint Petronella the Ague or any Feuer.” _A
Bawd_, p. 93—_Workes_, 1630.
Vol. iv. p. 407, l. 6.
_Epistle to Nicholas the first_, &c.] Since writing the note on these
words, I have found in the Κειμηλια _Literaria_ of Colomesius what he
calls a confirmation of the absurd story of the six thousand infants’
heads. “Simile quid narratur a Joscelino, in Episcoporum Cantuariensium
Vitis, p. 210. editionis Hanovianæ. _Anno 1309_, inquit, _Radulphus
Bourn Augustinensis Ecclesiæ Abbas electus, cum ad Papam Avinioni
agentem confirmandus accessisset, reversus domum, testatur se vidisse in
itinere piscinam in quadam Monialium Abbatia, quæ_ PROVINES _dicebatur;
in qua, cum educta aqua luto purgaretur, multa parvulorum ossa, ipsaque
corpora adhuc integra reperiebantur. Unde ad criminalia judicia subeunda
viginti septem Moniales Parisios ductæ et carceribus mancipatæ fuerunt,
de quibus quid actum fuerit, nescivit_.” Col. _Opera_, p. 301, ed. Fabr.
--------------
ANY THING FOR A QUIET LIFE.
Vol. iv. p. 489, l. 25.
_the new prophet, the astrological tailor_] Perhaps Ball, who is thus
mentioned by Osborn: “And, if common Fame did not outstrip Truth, King
James was by Fear led into this extreme; finding his Son Henry not only
averse to any Popish Match, but saluted by the Puritans as one
prefigured in the Apocalyps for Rome’s destruction. And to parallel
this, one Ball, a Taylor, was inspired with a like Lunacy, tho’
something more chargeable; for not only he, but Ramsay his Majesty’s
Watch-maker, put out Money and Clocks, to be paid (but with small
Advantage, considering the Improbability) when King James should be
crowned in the Pope’s chair.” _Trad. Memor. on the Reign of K.
James_—_Works_, vol. ii. p. 153, ed. 1722; see also B. Jonson’s _Works_
by Gifford, vol. v. p. 242.
--------------
WOMEN BEWARE WOMEN.
Vol. iv. p. 520, l. 20.
_To take out_] i. e. to copy—a not uncommon expression in our old
writers.
--------------
NO WIT, NO HELP LIKE A WOMAN’S.
Vol. v. p. 23, l. 30.
_the widow’s notch shall lie open to you_] This passage is, I think,
explained by the following line in our author’s _Triumphs of Truth_;
“The very _nooks_ where beldams hide their gold.”
p. 229 of the same vol.
Vol. v. p. 77, last line.
“To bid a _slander_ welcome than a truth.”
I did quite right in substituting “_slander_” for “slave.” These words
were frequently confounded by the old printers.
“Revenge and Death
Like _slander_ [read _slaves_] attend the sword of Calymath.”
_The Travailes of The Three English Brothers_ (by Day,
W. Rowley, and Wilkins), 1607, sig. C 4.
Vol. v. p. 131, l. 3.
_I from the baker’s ditch_] So in Brome’s _Sparagus Garden_, 1640,
“Sheart, Coulter, we be vallen into _the Bakers ditch_.” Sig. K 3. The
ancient way of punishing bakers, who did not give full weight, was by
the cucking-stool (see Grey’s note on _Hudibras_, P. iii. C. iii. v.
609); qy. is that punishment alluded to in the above passages?
--------------
THE INNER-TEMPLE MASQUE.
Vol. v. p. 148, l. 5.
_Ill May-Day_] i. e. Evil May-day—so called from the rising of the
London apprentices against the foreigners, on the first of May, 1517:
see _The Story of Ill May-Day, &c._, and the editor’s illustrations, in
Evans’s _Old Ballads_, vol. iii. p. 76, ed. 1810.
Vol. v. p. 148, l. 9.
_Midsummer-Eve, that watches warmest_] Perhaps this is an allusion to
the setting out of the Midsummer watch: see Herbert’s _Hist. of the
Twelve Great Livery Companies of London_, vol. i. p. 196, sqq.
Vol. v. p. 149, note 213.
“i. e. wife.”
Read
“i. e. city-wife.”
--------------
THE TRIUMPHS OF INTEGRITY.
Vol. v. p. 310, l. 1.
“pegmes.”
Read
“pegms.”
--------------
THE BLACK BOOK.
Vol. v. p. 543, l. 15.
_ketlers_] This word occurs in Kemp’s _Nine daies wonder_, 1600; “Those
that haue shewne themselues honest men, I wil set before them this
Caracter, H. for honesty; before the other Bench-whistlers shal stand K.
for _ketlers_ and keistrels, that wil driue a good companion without
need in them to contend for his owne.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE OLD LAW.
_The Excellent Comedy, called The Old Law, or A new way to please you._
{ _Phil. Massinger._
_By_ { _Tho. Middleton._
{ _William Rowley._
_Acted before the King and Queene at Salisbury House, and at severall other
places, with great Applause. Together with an exact and perfect Catalogue
of all the Playes, with the Authors Names, and what are Comedies,
Tragedies, Histories, Pastoralls, Masks, Interludes, more exactly Printed
then ever before. London, Printed for Edward Archer, at the signe of the
Adam and Eve, in Little Britaine._ 1656. 4to.
Steevens (Malone’s _Shakespeare_, by Boswell, ii. 425.) remarks, that this
drama was acted in 1599, founding the statement most probably on a passage
in Act iii. Sc. 1., where the Clerk having read from the church-book,
“_Agatha, the daughter of Pollux—born in an. 1540_,” adds, “and _now ’tis
99_.” From similar notices in several other old dramas, the periods at
which they were first produced have been clearly ascertained; and Gifford
(_Introd._ to Massinger, p. lv. 2d ed.) inclines to believe that _The Old
Law_ was really first acted in 1599, and that Massinger (who was then only
in the fifteenth year of his age) was employed, at a subsequent period, to
alter or to add a few scenes to the play. What portion of it was written by
Middleton cannot be determined.
The 4to. abounds in the grossest typographical errors. I have followed,
except in some trifling particulars, the text of Gifford, who published
_The Old Law_ in the ivth vol. of his Massinger.
“There is an exquisiteness of moral sensibility, making one to gush out
tears of delight, and a poetical strangeness in all the improbable
circumstances of this wild play, which are unlike any thing in the dramas
which Massinger wrote alone. The pathos is of a subtler edge. Middleton and
Rowley, who assisted in this play, had both of them finer geniuses than
their associate.”—LAMB, _Spec. of Engl. Dram. Poets_, p. 453.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
DRAMATIS PERSONÆ.
EVANDER, _duke of Epire_.
CRATILUS, _the executioner_.
CREON, _father to_ SIMONIDES.
SIMONIDES, } _young courtiers_.
CLEANTHES, }
LYSANDER, _husband to_ EUGENIA, _and uncle to_ CLEANTHES.
LEONIDES, _father to_ CLEANTHES.
GNOTHO, _the clown_.
_Lawyers._
_Courtiers._
_Dancing-master._
_Butler_, }
_Bailiff_, }
_Tailor_, }
_Coachman_, } _Servants to_ CREON.
_Footman_, }
_Cook_, }
_Clerk._
_Drawer._
ANTIGONA, _wife to_ CREON.
HIPPOLITA, _wife to_ CLEANTHES.
EUGENIA, _wife to_ LYSANDER, _and mother to_ PARTHENIA.
PARTHENIA.
AGATHA, _wife to_ GNOTHO.
_Old women_, _wives to_ CREON’S _servants_.
_Courtezan._
_Fiddlers_, _Servants_, _Guard_, _&c._
SCENE, EPIRE.
THE OLD LAW.
--------------
ACT I. SCENE I.
_A Room in_ CREON’S _House_.
_Enter_ SIMONIDES _and two_ LAWYERS.
SIM. Is the law firm, sir?
FIRST LAW. The law! what more firm, sir,
More powerful, forcible, or more permanent?
SIM. By my troth, sir,
I partly do believe it; conceive, sir,
You have indirectly answered my question.
I did not doubt the fundamental grounds
Of law in general, for the most solid;
But this particular law that me concerns,
Now, at the present, if that be firm and strong,
And powerful, and forcible, and permanent?
I am a young man that has an old father.
SECOND LAW. Nothing more strong, sir.
It is—_Secundum statutum principis, confirmatum
cum voce senatus_,[57] _et voce reipublicæ_; nay,
_consummatum et exemplificatum_.
Is it not in force,
When divers have already tasted it,
And paid their lives for penalty?
SIM. ’Tis true.
My father must be next; this day completes
Full fourscore years upon him.
SECOND LAW. He is[58] here, then,
_Sub pœna statuti_: hence I can tell him,
Truer than all the physicians in the world,
He cannot live out to-morrow; this
Is the most certain climacterical year—
’Tis past all danger, for there is[59] no ’scaping it.
What age is your mother, sir?
SIM. Faith, near her days too;
Wants some two of threescore.[60]
FIRST LAW. So! she’ll drop away
One of these days too: here’s a good age now
For those that have old parents and rich inheritance!
SIM. And, sir, ’tis profitable for others too:
Are there not fellows that lie bedrid in their offices,
That younger men would walk lustily in?
Churchmen, that even the second infancy
Hath silenc’d, yet have[61] spun out their lives so
long,
That many pregnant and ingenious spirits
Have languish’d in their hop’d reversions,
And died upon the thought? and, by your leave, sir,
Have you not places fill’d up in the law
By some grave senators, that you imagine
Have held them long enough, and such spirits as you,
Were they remov’d, would leap into their dignities?
FIRST LAW. _Die quibus in terris, et eris mihi magnus
Apollo._[62]
SIM. But tell me, faith, your fair opinion:
Is’t not a sound and necessary law,
This, by the duke enacted?
FIRST LAW. Never did Greece,
Our ancient seat of brave philosophers,
’Mongst all her _nomothetæ_[63] and lawgivers,
Not when she flourish’d in her sevenfold sages,
Whose living memory can never die,
Produce a law more grave and necessary.
SIM. I’m of that mind too.
SECOND LAW. I will maintain, sir,
Draco’s oligarchy, that the government
Of community reduced into few,
Fram’d a fair state; Solon’s _chreokopia_,[64]
That cut off poor men’s debts to their rich creditors,
Was good and charitable, but not full allow’d;[65]
His _seisactheia_[66] did reform that error,
His honourable senate of Areopagitæ.
Lycurgus was more loose, and gave too free
And licentious reins unto his discipline;
As that a young woman, in her husband’s weakness,
Might choose her able friend to propagate;
That so the commonwealth might be supplied
With hope of lusty spirits. Plato did err,
And so did Aristotle, [in] allowing
Lewd and luxurious limits to their laws:
But now our Epire, our Epire’s Evander,
Our noble and wise prince, has hit the law
That all our predecessive students
Have miss’d, unto their shame.
_Enter_ CLEANTHES.
SIM. Forbear the praise, sir,
’Tis in itself most pleasing.—Cleanthes!
O lad, here’s a spring for young plants to flourish!
The old trees must down kept the sun from us;
We shall rise now, boy.
CLEAN. Whither, sir, I pray?
To the bleak air of storms, among those trees
Which we had shelter from?
SIM. Yes, from our growth,
Our sap and livelihood, and from our fruit.
What! ’tis not jubilee with thee yet, I think,
Thou look’st so sad on’t. How old is[67] thy father?
CLEAN. Jubilee! no, indeed; ’tis a bad year with me.
SIM. Prithee, how old’s thy father? then I can tell
thee.
CLEAN. I know not how to answer you, Simonides;
He is[68] too old, being now exposed
Unto the rigour of a cruel edict;
And yet not old enough by many years,
’Cause I’d not see him go an hour before me.
SIM. These very passions[69] I speak to my father.
Come, come, here’s none but friends here, we may speak
Our insides freely; these are lawyers, man,
And shall be counsellors shortly.
CLEAN. They shall be now, sir,
And shall have large fees if they’ll undertake
To help a good cause, for it wants assistance;
Bad ones, I know, they can insist upon.
FIRST LAW. O sir, we must undertake of both parts;
But the good we have most good in.
CLEAN. Pray you, say,
How do you allow[70] of this strange edict?
FIRST LAW. _Secundum justitiam_; by my faith, sir,
The happiest edict that ever was in Epire.
CLEAN. What, to kill innocents, sir? it cannot be,
It is no rule in justice there to punish.
FIRST LAW. O sir,
You understand a conscience, but not law.
CLEAN. Why, sir, is there so main a difference?
FIRST LAW. You’ll never be good lawyer if you
understand not that.
CLEAN. I think, then, ’tis the best to be a bad one.
FIRST LAW. Why, sir, the very letter and the sense
both do[71] overthrow you in this statute, which[72]
speaks, that every man living to fourscore years, and
women to threescore, shall then be cut off, as fruitless
to the republic, and law shall finish what nature
linger’d at.
CLEAN. And this suit shall soon be despatch’d in law?
FIRST LAW. It is so plain it can have no demur;
The church-book overthrows it.
CLEAN. And so it does;[73]
The church-book overthrows it, if you read it well.
FIRST LAW. Still, you run from the law into error:
You say it takes the lives of innocents;
I say no, and so says common reason;
What man lives to fourscore, and woman[74] to three,
That can die innocent?
CLEAN. A fine law[75] evasion!
Good sir, rehearse the full statute to me.
SIM. Fie! that’s too tedious; you have already
The full sum in the brief relation.
CLEAN. Sir,
’Mongst many words may be found contradictions;
And these men dare sue and wrangle with a statute,
If they can pick a quarrel with some error.
SECOND LAW. Listen, sir, I’ll gather it as brief as I
can for you:
_Anno primo Evandri, Be it for the care and good of
the commonwealth, (for divers necessary reasons that we
shall urge,) thus peremptorily enacted_,—
CLEAN. A fair pretence, if the reasons foul it not!
SECOND LAW. _That all men living in our dominions
of Epire, in their decayed nature, to the age of
fourscore, or women to the age of threescore, shall on
the same day be instantly put to death, by those means
and instruments that a former proclamation, had to
this purpose, through our said territories dispersed._
CLEAN. There was no woman in this senate, certain.
FIRST LAW. _That these men, being past their bearing
arms to aid and defend their country; past their manhood
and likelihood[76] to propagate any further issue to
their posterity; and as well past their councils
(whose[77] overgrown gravity is now run into dotage) to
assist their country; to whom, in common reason, nothing
should be so wearisome as their own lives, as they may
be supposed tedious[78] to their successive heirs, whose
times are spent in the good of their country, yet
wanting the means to maintain it; and are like to grow
old before their inheritance (born to them) come to
their necessary use, [be condemned to die]: for the
women,[79] for that they never were defence to their
country; never by counsel admitted to the assist[ance]
of [the] government of their country; only necessary to
the propagation of posterity, and now, at the age of
threescore, past[80] that good, and all their goodness:
it is thought fit, then, (a quarter abated from the more
worthy member) they[81] be put to death, as is before
recited: provided that, for the just and impartial
execution of this our statute, the example shall first
begin in and about our court, which ourself will see
carefully performed; and not, for a full month[82]
following, extend any further into our dominions. Dated
the sixth of the second month, at our Palace Royal in
Epire._[83]
CLEAN. A fine edict, and very fairly gilded!
And is there no scruple in all these words
To demur the law upon occasion?
SIM. Pox! ’tis an unnecessary inquisition;
Prithee, set him not about it.
SECOND LAW. Troth, none, sir:
It is so evident and plain a case,
There is no succour for the defendant.
CLEAN. Possible! can nothing help in a good case?
FIRST LAW. Faith, sir, I do think there may be a hole,
Which would protract—delay, if not remedy.
CLEAN. Why, there’s some comfort in that: good sir,
speak it.
FIRST LAW. Nay, you must pardon me for that, sir.
SIM. Prithee, do not;
It may ope a wound to many sons and heirs,
That may die after it.
CLEAN. Come, sir, I know
How to make you speak:—will this do it?[84]
[_Gives him his purse._
FIRST LAW. I will afford you my opinion, sir.
CLEAN. Pray you, repeat the literal words expressly,
The time of death.
SIM. ’Tis an unnecessary question; prithee, let it
alone.
SECOND LAW. Hear his opinion; ’twill be fruitless,
sir.
_That man at the age of fourscore, and woman[85] at
threescore, shall the same day be put to death._
FIRST LAW. Thus I help the man to twenty-one years
more.
CLEAN. That were a fair addition.
FIRST LAW. Mark it, sir; we say, man is not at age
Till he be one-and-twenty; before, ’tis[86] infancy,
And adolescency; now,[87] by that addition,
Fourscore he cannot be till a hundred and one.
SIM. O poor evasion!
He’s fourscore years old, sir.
FIRST LAW. That helps more, sir;
He begins to be old at fifty, so, at fourscore
He’s but thirty years old; so, believe it, sir,
He may be twenty years in declination;
And so long may a man linger and live by’t.
SIM. The worst hope of safety that e’er I heard!
Give him his fee again, ’tis not worth two deniers.
FIRST LAW. There’s no law for restitution of fees,
sir.
CLEAN. No, no, sir; I meant it lost when ’twas given.
_Enter_ CREON _and_ ANTIGONA.
SIM. No more, good sir!
Here are ears unnecessary for your doctrine.
FIRST LAW. I have spoke out my fee, and I have done,
sir.
SIM. O my dear father!
CREON. Tush! meet me not in exclaims;
I understand the worst, and hope no better.
A fine law! if this hold, white heads will be cheap,
And many watchmen’s places will be vacant;[88]
Forty of ’em I know my seniors,
That did due deeds of darkness too:—their country
Has watch’d ’em a good turn for’t,
And ta’en ’em napping now:
The fewer hospitals will serve too, many
May be us’d for stews and brothels; and those people
Will never trouble ’em to fourscore.
ANT. Can you play and sport with sorrow, sir?
CREON. Sorrow! for what, Antigona? for my life?
My sorrow[89] is I have kept it so long well,
With bringing it up unto so ill an end:
I might have gently lost it in my cradle,
Before my nerves and ligaments grew strong,
To bind it faster to me.
SIM. For mine own sake,
I should have been sorry for that.
CREON. In my youth
I was a soldier, no coward in my age;
I never turn’d my back upon my foe;
I have felt nature’s winters, sicknesses,
Yet ever kept a lively sap in me
To greet the cheerful spring of health again.
Dangers on horse,[90] on foot, [by land,] by water,
I have ’scap’d to this day; and yet this day,
Without all help of casual accidents,
Is only deadly to me, ’cause it numbers
Fourscore years to me. Where is[91] the fault now?
I cannot blame time, nature, nor my stars,
Nor aught but tyranny. Even kings themselves
Have sometimes tasted an even fate with me.
He that has been a soldier all his days,
And stood in personal opposition
’Gainst darts and arrows, the extremes of heat
And pinching cold, has treacherously at home,
In ’s secure quiet,[92] by a villain’s hand
Been basely lost, in his stars’ ignorance:—
And so must I die by a tyrant’s sword.
FIRST LAW. O say not so, sir; it is by the law.
CREON. And what’s that, sir, but the sword of tyranny,
When it is brandish’d against innocent lives?
I’m now upon my deathbed, sir; and ’tis fit
I should unbosom my free conscience,
And shew the faith I die in:—I do believe
’Tis tyranny that takes my life.
SIM. Would it were gone,
By one means or other! what a long day
Will this be ere night! [_Aside._
CREON. Simonides.
SIM. Here, sir,[93]—weeping.[94]
CREON. Wherefore dost thou weep?
CLEAN. ’Cause you make no more haste to your end.
[_Aside._
SIM. How can you question nature so unjustly?
I had a grandfather, and then had not you
True filial tears for him?
CLEAN. Hypocrite!
A disease of drought dry up all pity from him,
That can dissemble pity with wet eyes! [_Aside._
CREON. Be good unto your mother, Simonides;
She must be now your care.
ANT. To what end, sir?
The bell of this sharp edict tolls for me,
As it rings out for you.—I’ll be as ready,
With one hour’s stay, to go along with you.
CREON. Thou must not, woman; there are years behind,
Before thou canst set forward in this voyage;
And nature, sure, will now be kind to all:
She has a quarrel in’t, a cruel law
Seeks to prevent[95] her, she will[96] therefore fight
in’t,
And draw out life even to her longest thread:
Thou art scarce fifty-five.
ANT. So many morrows!
Those five remaining years I’ll turn to days,
To hours, or minutes, for thy company.
’Tis fit that you and I, being man and wife,
Should walk together arm in arm.
SIM. I hope
They’ll go together; I would they would, i’faith—
Then would her thirds be sav’d too.— [_Aside._
The day goes away, sir.
CREON. Why, wouldst thou have me gone, Simonides?
SIM. O my heart! Would you have me gone before you,
sir,
You give me such a deadly wound?
CLEAN. Fine rascal! [_Aside._
SIM. Blemish my duty so with such a question?
Sir, I would haste me to the duke for mercy:
He that’s above the law may mitigate
The rigour of the law. How a good meaning
May be corrupted by [a] misconstruction!
CREON. Thou corrupt’st mine; I did not think thou
mean’st so.
CLEAN. You were in the more error. [_Aside._
SIM. The words wounded me.
CLEAN. ’Twas pity thou died’st not on’t. [_Aside._
SIM. I have been ransacking the helps of law,
Conferring with these learned advocates:
If any scruple, cause, or wrested sense
Could have been found out to preserve your life,
It had been bought, though with your full estate,
Your life’s so precious to me;—but there’s[97] none.
FIRST LAW. Sir, we have canvass’d her[98] from top to
toe,
Turn’d her[99] upside down, thrown[100] her on her side,
Nay, open’d and dissected all her entrails,
Yet can find none: there’s nothing to be hop’d,
But the duke’s mercy.
SIM. I know the hope of that;
He did not make the law for that purpose.
CREON. Then to his hopeless mercy last I go;
I have so many precedents before me,
I must call it hopeless: Antigona,
See me deliver’d up unto my deathsman,
And then we’ll part;—five years hence I’ll look for
thee.
SIM. I hope she will[101] not stay so long behind you.
[_Aside._
CREON. Do not bate him an hour by grief and sorrow,
Since there’s a day prefix’d, haste[n] it not.
Suppose me sick, Antigona, dying now;
Any disease thou wilt may be my end;
Or when death’s slow to come, say tyrants send.
[_Exeunt_ CREON _and_ ANTIGONA.
SIM. Cleanthes, if you want money, to-morrow use me;
I’ll trust you while[102] your father’s dead.
[_Exit with the_ LAWYERS.
CLEAN. Why, here’s a villain,
Able to corrupt a thousand by example!
Does the kind root bleed out his livelihood
In parent distribution to his branches,
Adorning them with all his glorious fruits,
Proud that his pride is seen when he’s unseen;
And must not gratitude descend again,
To comfort his old limbs in fruitless winter?
Improvident, [or] at least partial nature!
(Weak woman in this kind), who, in thy last teeming,
Forgetest still[103] the former, ever making
The burthen of thy last throes the dearest darling!
O yet in noble man reform [reform] it,
And make us better than those vegetives
Whose souls die with[104] ’em. Nature, as thou art old,
If love and justice be not dead in thee,
Make some the pattern of thy piety;
Lest all do turn unnaturally against thee,
And thou be blam’d for our oblivious
_Enter_ LEONIDES _and_ HIPPOLITA.
And brutish reluctations! Ay, here’s the ground
Whereon my filial faculties must build
An edifice of honour, or of shame,
To all mankind.
HIP. You must avoid it, sir,
If there be any love within yourself:
This is far more than fate of a lost game,
That another venture may restore again;
It is your life, which you should not subject
To any cruelty, if you can preserve it.
CLEAN. O dearest woman, thou hast doubled now[105]
A thousand times thy nuptial dowry to me!—
Why, she whose love is but deriv’d from me,
Is got before me in my debted duty.
HIP. Are you thinking such a resolution, sir?
CLEAN. Sweetest Hippolita, what love taught thee
To be so forward in so good a cause?
HIP. Mine own pity, sir, did first instruct me,
And then your love and power did both command me.
CLEAN. They were all blessed angels to direct thee;
And take their counsel. How do you fare, sir?
LEON. Cleanthes, never better:[106] I have conceiv’d
Such a new joy within this old bosom,
As I did never think would there have enter’d.
CLEAN. Joy call you it? alas! ’tis sorrow, sir,
The worst of sorrows, sorrow unto death.
LEON. Death! what’s that, Cleanthes? I thought not
on’t,
I was in contemplation of this woman:
’Tis all thy comfort, son; thou hast in her
A treasure unvaluable, keep her safe.
When I die, sure ’twill be a gentle death,
For I will die with wonder of her virtues;
Nothing else shall dissolve me.
CLEAN. ’Twere much better, sir,
Could you prevent their malice.
LEON. I’ll prevent ’em,
And die the way I told thee, in the wonder
Of this good woman. I tell thee there’s few men
Have such a child: I must thank thee for her.
That the strong[107] tie of wedlock should do more
Than nature in her nearest ligaments
Of blood and propagation! I should ne’er
Have begot such a daughter of my own:
A daughter-in-law! law were above nature,
Were there more such children.
CLEAN. This admiration
Helps nothing to your safety: think of that, sir.
LEON. Had you heard her, Cleanthes, but labour
In the search of means to save my forfeit life,
And knew the wise and [the] sound preservations
That she found out, you would redouble all
My wonder, in your love to her.
CLEAN. The thought,
The very thought, claims all that [love] from me,
And she is now possest of’t:[108] but, good sir,
If you have aught receiv’d from her advice,
Let’s follow it; or else let’s better think,
And take the surest course.
LEON. I’ll tell thee one;
She counsels me to fly my severe country;
[To] turn all into treasure, and there build up
My decaying fortunes in a safer soil,
Where Epire’s law cannot claim me.
CLEAN. And, sir,
I apprehend it as a safest course,
And may be easily accomplished;
Let us be all most expeditious.
Every country where we breathe will be our own,
Or better soil; heaven is the roof of all;
And now, as Epire’s situate by this law,
There is ’twixt us and heaven a dark eclipse.
HIP. O then avoid it, sir; these sad events
Follow those black predictions.
LEON. I prithee, peace;
I do allow[109] thy love, Hippolita,
But must not follow it as counsel, child;
I must not shame my country for the law.
This country here hath bred me, brought me up,
And shall I now refuse a grave in her?
I’m in my second infancy, and children
Ne’er sleep so sweetly in their nurse’s cradle
As in their natural mother’s.
HIP. Ay, but, sir,
She is unnatural; then the stepmother’s[110]
To be preferr’d before her.
LEON. Tush! she shall
Allow it me despite of her entráils.
Why, do you think how far from judgment ’tis,
That I should travel forth to seek a grave
That is already digg’d for me at home,
Nay, perhaps find it in my way to seek it?—
How have I then sought a repentant sorrow?
For your dear loves, how have I banish’d you
From your country ever? With my base attempt,
How have I beggar’d you, in wasting that
Which only for your sakes I bred together;
Buried my name in Epire,[111] which I built
Upon this frame, to live for ever in?
What a base coward shall I be, to fly from
That enemy which every minute meets me,
And thousand odds he had not long vanquish’d me
Before this hour of battle! Fly my death!
I will not be so false unto your states,
Not fainting to the man that’s yet in me:
I’ll meet him bravely; I cannot (this knowing) fear
That, when I am gone hence, I shall be there.
Come, I have days of preparation left.
CLEAN. Good sir, hear me:
I have a genius that has prompted me,
And I have almost form’d it into words—
’Tis done, pray you observe ’em; I can conceal you;
And yet not leave your country.
LEON. Tush! it cannot be,
Without a certain peril on us[112] all.
CLEAN. Danger must be hazarded, rather than accept
A sure destruction. You have a lodge, sir,
So far remote from way of passengers,
That seldom any mortal eye does greet with’t;[113]
And yet[114] so sweetly situate with thickets,
Built with such cunning labyrinths within,
As if the provident heavens, foreseeing cruelty,
Had bid you frame it to this purpose only.
LEON. Fie, fie! ’tis dangerous—and treason too,
To abuse the law.
HIP. ’Tis holy care, sir,
Of your dear life, which is your own to keep,
But not your own to lose, either in will
Or negligence.
CLEAN. Call you it treason, sir?
I had been then a traitor unto you,
Had I forgot this; beseech you, accept of it;
It is secure, and a duty to yourself.
LEON. What a coward will you make me!
CLEAN. You mistake;
’Tis noble courage; now you fight with death,
And yield not to him till you stoop under him.
LEON. This must needs open to discovery,
And then what torture follows!
CLEAN. By what means, sir?
Why, there is[115] but one body in all this counsel,
Which cannot betray itself: we two are one,
One soul, one body, one heart, that think one[116]
thought;
And yet we two are not completely one,
But as [I] have deriv’d myself from you.—
Who shall betray us where there is no second?
HIP. You must not mistrust my faith, though my sex
plead
Weak[ness] and frailty for me.
LEON. O I dare not!
But where’s the means that must make answer for me?
I cannot be lost without a full account,
And what must pay that reckoning?
CLEAN. O sir, we will
Keep solemn obits for your funeral;
We’ll seem to weep, and seem to joy withal,
That death so gently has prevented you
The law’s sharp rigour; and this no mortal ear shall
Participate the knowledge of.
LEON. Ha, ha, ha!
This will be a sportive fine demur,
If the error be not found.
CLEAN. Pray doubt of none.
Your company and best provision,
Must be no further furnish’d than by us;
And, in the interim, your solitude may
Converse with heaven, and fairly prepare
[For that] which was too violent and raging
Thrown headlong on you.
LEON. Still, there are some doubts
Of the discovery; yet I do allow’t.
HIP. Will you not mention now the cost and charge
Which will be in your keeping!
LEON. That will be somewhat,
Which you might save too.
CLEAN. With his will against him,
What foe is more to man than man himself?
Are you resolved, sir?
LEON. I am, Cleanthes:
If by this means I do get a reprieve,
And cozen death awhile, when he shall come
Armed in his own power to give the blow,
I’ll smile upon him then, and laughing go.
[_Exeunt._
ACT II. SCENE I.
_Before the Palace._
_Enter_ EVANDER, _three_ COURTIERS, _and_ CRATILUS.
EVAN. Executioner!
CRAT. My lord.
EVAN. How did old Diocles take his death?
CRAT. As weeping brides receive their joys at
night;[117] With trembling, yet with patience.
EVAN. Why, ’twas well.
FIRST COURT. Nay, I knew my father would do well, my
lord,
Whene’er he came to die; I’d that opinion of him,
Which made me the more willing to part from him;
He was not fit to live i’ the world, indeed
Any time these ten years, my lord,
But I would not say so much.
EVAN. No! you did not well in’t,
For he that’s all spent is ripe for death at all hours,
And does but trifle time out.
FIRST COURT. Troth, my lord,
I would I had known your mind nine years ago.
EVAN. Our law is fourscore years, because we judge
Dotage complete then, as unfruitfulness
In women at threescore; marry, if the son
Can, within compass, bring good solid proofs
Of his own father’s weakness, and unfitness
To live, or sway the living, though he want five
Or ten years of his number, that’s not it;
His defect makes him fourscore, and ’tis fit
He dies when he deserves; for every act
Is in effect then, when the cause is ripe.
SECOND COURT. An admirable prince! how rarely he
talks!
O that we’d known this, lads! What a time did we endure
In two-penny commons, and in boots twice vamp’d!
FIRST COURT. Now we have two pair a week, and yet not
thankful;
’Twill be a fine world for them, sirs, that come after
us.
SECOND COURT. Ay, and[118] they knew’t.
FIRST[119] COURT. Peace, let them never know’t.
THIRD COURT. A pox, there be young heirs will soon
smell’t out.
SECOND COURT. ’Twill come to ’em by instinct, man. May
your grace
Never be old, you stand so well for youth!
EVAN. Why now, methinks, our court looks like a
spring,
Sweet, fresh, and fashionable, now the old weeds are
gone.
FIRST COURT. ’Tis as a court should be:
Gloss and good clothes, my lord, no matter for merit;
And herein your law proves a provident act,[120]
When men pass not the palsy of their tongues,
Nor colour in their cheeks.
EVAN. But women,
By that law, should live long, for they’re ne’er past
it.
FIRST COURT. It will have heats though, when they see
the painting
Go an inch deep i’the wrinkle, and take up
A box more than their gossips: but for men, my lord,
That should be the sole bravery of a palace,
To walk with hollow eyes and long white beards,
As if a prince dwelt in a land of goats;
With clothes as if they sat on[121] their backs on
purpose
To arraign a fashion, and condemn’t to exile;
Their pockets in their sleeves, as if they laid
Their ear to avarice, and heard the devil whisper!
Now ours lie downward, here, close to the flank;
Right spending pockets, as a son’s should be
That lives i’ the fashion: where[122] our diseas’d
fathers,
Wood[123] with the sciatica and aches,
Brought up your pan’d hose[124] first, which ladies
laugh’d at,
Giving no reverence to the place lies ruined:
They love a doublet that’s three hours a buttoning,
And sits so close makes a man groan again,
And his soul mutter half a day; yet these are those
That carry sway and worth: prick’d up in clothes,
Why should we fear our rising?
EVAN. You but wrong
Our kindness, and your own deserts, to doubt on’t.
Has not our law made you rich before your time?
Our countenance then can make you honourable.
FIRST COURT. We’ll spare for no cost, sir, to appear
worthy.
EVAN. Why, you’re i’the noble way then, for the most
Are but appearers; worth itself is lost,
And bravery[125] stands for’t.
_Enter_ CREON, ANTIGONA, _and_ SIMONIDES.
FIRST COURT. Look, look, who comes here!
I smell death, and another courtier,
Simonides.
SECOND COURT. Sim!
SIM. Push![126] I’m not for you yet,
Your company’s too costly; after the old man’s
Despatch’d, I shall have time to talk with you;
I shall come into the fashion, ye shall see too,
After a day or two; in the mean time,
I am not for your company.
EVAN. Old Creon, you have been expected long;
Sure you’re above fourscore.
SIM. Upon my life,
Not four-and-twenty hours, my lord; I search’d
The church-book yesterday. Does your grace think
I’d let my father wrong the law, my lord?
’Twere pity a’ my life then! no, your act
Shall not receive a minute’s wrong by him,
While I live, sir; and he’s so just himself too,
I know he would no[t] offer’t:—here he stands.
CREON. ’Tis just
I die, indeed, my lord; for I confess
I’m troublesome to life now, and the state
Can hope for nothing worthy from me now,
Either in force or counsel; I’ve a’ late
Employ’d myself quite from the world, and he
That once begins to serve his Maker faithfully
Can never serve a worldly prince well after;
’Tis clean another way.
ANT. O, give not confidence
To all he speaks, my lord, in his own injury.
His preparation only for the next world
Makes him talk wildly, to his wrong, of this;
He is not lost in judgment.
SIM. She spoils all again. [_Aside._
ANT. Deserving any way for state employment.
SIM. Mother——
ANT. His very household laws prescrib’d at home by him
Are able to conform seven Christian kingdoms,
They are so wise and virtuous.
SIM. Mother, I say——
ANT. I know your laws extend not to desert, sir,
But to unnecessary years; and, my lord,
His are not such; though they shew’ white, they’re
worthy,
Judicious, able, and religious.
SIM. I’ll help you to a courtier of nineteen, mother.
ANT. Away, unnatural!
SIM. Then I am no fool, I’m sure,
For to be natural at such a time
Were a fool’s part indeed.
ANT. Your grace’s pity, sir,
And ’tis but fit and just.
CREON. The law, my lord,
And that’s the justest way.
SIM. Well said, father, i’ faith!
Thou wert ever juster than my mother still.
EVAN. Come hither, sir.
SIM. My lord.
EVAN. What are those orders?
ANT. Worth observation, sir,
So please you hear them read.
SIM. The woman speaks she knows not what, my lord.
He make a law, poor man! he bought a table, indeed,
Only to learn to die by’t, there’s the business, now;
Wherein there are some precepts for a son too,
How he should learn to live, but I ne’er look’d upon’t:
For, when he’s dead, I shall live well enough,
And keep a better table[127] than that, I trow.
EVAN. And is that all, sir?
SIM. All, I vow, my lord;
Save a few running admonitions
Upon cheese-trenchers,[128] as——
_Take heed of whoring, shun it;
’Tis like a cheese too strong of the runnet._
And such calves’ maws of wit and admonition,
Good to catch mice with, but not sons and heirs;
They’re not so easily caught.
EVAN. Agent for death!
CRAT. Your will, my lord?
EVAN. Take hence that pile of years,
Forfeit before[129] with unprofitable age,
And, with the rest, from the high promontory,
Cast him into the sea.
CREON. ’Tis noble justice!
[_Exit_ CRATILUS _with_ CREON.
ANT. ’Tis cursed tyranny!
SIM. Peace! take heed, mother;
You’ve[130] but a short time to be cast down yourself;
And let a young courtier do’t, and[131] you be wise,
In the mean time.
ANT. Hence, slave!
SIM. Well, seven-and-fifty,[132]
You’ve but three years to scold, then comes your
payment.
[_Exit_ ANTIGONA.
FIRST COURT. Simonides.
SIM. Push,[133] I’m[134] not brave enough to hold you
talk yet;
Give a man time; I have a suit a making.
SECOND COURT. We love thy form first; brave clothes
will come, man.
SIM. I’ll make ’em come else, with a mischief to ’em,
As other gallants do, that have less left ’em.
[_Recorders within._
EVAN. Hark! whence those sounds? what’s that?
FIRST COURT. Some funeral,
It seems, my lord; and young Cleanthes follows.
_Enter a funeral procession; the hearse followed by_
CLEANTHES _and_ HIPPOLITA _gaily dressed_.[135]
EVAN. Cleanthes!
SECOND COURT. ’Tis, my lord, and in the place
Of a chief mourner too, but strangely habited.
EVAN. Yet suitable to his behaviour; mark it;
He comes all the way smiling, do you observ’t?
I never saw a corse so joyfully follow’d:
Light colours and light cheeks! who should this be?
’Tis a thing worth resolving.
SIM. One, belike,
That doth participate this[136] our present joy.
EVAN. Cleanthes.
CLEAN. O my lord!
EVAN. He laugh’d outright now;
Was ever such a contrariety seen
In natural courses yet, nay, profess’d openly?
FIRST COURT. I ha’ known a widow laugh closely, my
lord,
Under her handkercher, when t’other part
Of her old face has wept like rain in sunshine;
But all the face to laugh apparently,
Was never seen yet.
SIM. Yes, mine did once.
CLEAN. ’Tis, of a heavy time, the joyfull’st day
That ever son was born to.
EVAN. How can that be?
CLEAN. I joy to make it plain,—my father’s dead.
EVAN. Dead!
SECOND COURT. Old Leonides!
CLEAN. In his last month dead:
He beguil’d cruel law the sweetliest
That ever age was blest to.——
It grieves me that a tear should fall upon’t,
Being a thing so joyful, but his memory
Will work it out, I see: when his poor heart broke,
I did not [do] so much: but leap’d for joy
So mountingly, I touch’d the stars, methought;
I would not hear of blacks, I was so light,
But chose a colour orient like my mind;
For blacks are often such dissembling mourners,
There is no credit given to’t; it has lost
All reputation by false sons and widows.
Now I would have men know what I resemble,
A truth, indeed; ’tis joy clad like a joy,
Which is more honest than a cunning grief,
That’s only fac’d with sables for a show,
But gawdy-hearted. When I saw death come
So ready to deceive you, sir,—forgive me,
I could not choose but be entirely merry,
And yet to see now!—of a sudden,
Naming but death, I shew myself a mortal,
That’s never constant to one passion long.
I wonder whence that tear came, when I smil’d
In the production on’t! sorrow’s a thief,
That can, when joy looks on, steal forth a grief.
But, gracious leave, my lord; when I’ve[137] perform’d
My last poor duty to my father’s bones,
I shall return your servant.
EVAN. Well, perform it;
The law is satisfied; they can but die:
And by his death, Cleanthes, you gain well,
A rich and fair revenue.
[_Flourish._ _Exeunt_ DUKE, COURTIERS, _&c._
SIM. I would I had e’en
Another father, condition[138] he did the like.
CLEAN. I have past it bravely now; how blest was I
To have the duke in sight![139] now ’tis confirm’d,
Past fear or doubts confirm’d: on, on, I say,
Him[140] that brought me to man, I bring to clay.
[_Exit funeral procession, followed by_ CLEANTHES _and_
HIPPOLITA.
SIM. I’m rapt now in a contemplation,
Even at the very sight of yonder hearse;
I do but think what a fine thing ’tis now
To live, and follow some seven uncles thus,
As many cousin-germans, and such people,
That will leave legacies; a pox! I’d see ’em hang’d
else,
Ere I’d follow one of them, and[141] they could find the
way.
Now I’ve enough to begin to be horrible covetous.
_Enter_ BUTLER, TAILOR, BAILIFF,[142] COOK, COACHMAN,
_and_ FOOTMAN.
BUT. We come to know your worship’s pleasure, sir,
Having long serv’d your father, how your good will
Stands towards our entertainment.
SIM. Not a jot, i’faith:
My father wore cheap garments, he might do’t;
I shall have all my clothes come home to-morrow;
They will eat up all you, and[143] there were more of
you, sirs.
To keep you six at livery, and still munching!
TAIL. Why, I’m a tailor; you’ve most need of me, sir.
SIM. Thou mad’st my father’s clothes, that I confess;
But what son and heir will have his father’s tailor,
Unless he have a mind to be well laugh’d at?
Thou’st been so used to wide long-side things, that when
I come to truss, I shall have the waist of my doublet
Lie upon my buttocks, a sweet sight!
BUT. I a butler.
SIM. There’s least need of thee, fellow; I shall ne’er
drink at home, I shall be so drunk abroad.
BUT. But a cup of small beer will do well next morning,
sir.
SIM. I grant you; but what need I keep so big a knave
for a cup of small beer?
COOK. Butler, you have your answer. Marry, sir, a cook
I know your mastership cannot be without.
SIM. The more ass art thou to think so; for what should
I do with a mountebank, no drink in my house?—the
banishing the butler might have been a warning for thee,
unless thou meanest to choke me.
COOK. I’ the mean time you have chok’d me, methinks.
BAIL. These are superfluous vanities, indeed,
And so accounted of in these days, sir;
But then, your bailiff to receive your rents——
SIM. I prithee, hold thy tongue, fellow; I shall take a
course to spend ’em faster than thou canst reckon ’em;
’tis not the rents must serve my turn, unless I mean to
be laughed at; if a man should be seen out of slash-me,
let him ne’er look to be a right gallant. But, sirrah,
with whom is your business?
COACH. Your good mastership.
SIM. You have stood, silent all this while, like men
That know their strengths: i’these days, none of you
Can want employment; you can win me wagers,
Footman, in running races.
FOOT. I dare boast it, sir.
SIM. And when my bets are all come in, and store,
Then, coachman, you can hurry me to my whore.
COACH. I’ll firk ’em into foam else.
SIM. Speaks brave matter:
And I’ll firk some too, or’t shall cost hot water.
[_Exeunt_ SIMONIDES, COACHMAN, _and_ FOOTMAN.
COOK. Why, here’s an age to make a cook a ruffian,
And scald the devil indeed! do strange mad things,
Make mutton-pasties of dog’s flesh,
Bake snakes for lamprey-pies, and cats for conies.
BUT. Come, will you be ruled by a butler’s advice once?
for we must make up our fortunes somewhere now, as the
case stands: let’s e’en, therefore, go seek out widows
of nine and fifty, and[144] we can, that’s within a year
of their deaths, and so we shall be sure to be quickly
rid of ’em; for a year’s enough of conscience to be
troubled with a wife, for any man living.
COOK. Oracle butler! oracle butler! he puts down all
the doctors a’ the name.[145] [_Exeunt._
SCENE II.
_A Room in_ CREON’S _House_.
_Enter_ EUGENIA _and_ PARTHENIA.
EUG. Parthenia.
PARTH. Mother.
EUG. I shall be troubled
This six months with an old clog; would the law
Had been cut one year shorter!
PARTH. Did you call, forsooth?
EUG. Yes, you must make some spoonmeat for your
father,
And warm three nightcaps for him. [_Exit Parthenia._]
Out upon’t!
The mere conceit turns a young woman’s stomach.
His slippers must be warm’d, in August too,
And his gown girt to him in the very dog-days,
When every mastiff lolls out’s tongue for heat.
Would not this vex a beauty of nineteen now?
Alas! I should[146] be tumbling in cold baths now,
Under each armpit a fine bean-flower bag,
To screw out whiteness when I list——
And some seven of the properest men i’the dukedom
Making a banquet ready i’the next room for me;
Where he that gets the first kiss is enviéd,
And stands upon his guard a fortnight after.
This is a life for nineteen! ’tis but justice:
For old men, whose great acts stand in their minds,
And nothing in their bodies, do ne’er think
A woman young enough for their desire;
And we young wenches, that have mother-wits,
And love to marry muck first, and man after,
Do never think old men are old enough,
That we may soon be rid on ’em; there’s our quittance.
I’ve[147] waited for the happy hour this two year,
And, if death be so unkind to let him live still,[148]
All that time I have[149] lost.
_Enter_ COURTIERS.
FIRST COURT. Young lady!
SECOND COURT. O sweet precious bud of beauty!
Troth, she smells over all the house, methinks.
FIRST COURT. The sweetbriar’s but a counterfeit to
her——
It does exceed you only in the prickle,
But that it shall not long, if you’ll be rul’d, lady.
EUG. What means this sudden visitation, gentlemen?
So passing well perfumed[150] too! who’s your milliner?
FIRST COURT. Love, and thy beauty, widow.
EUG. Widow, sir!
FIRST COURT. ’Tis sure, and that’s as good: in troth,
we’re suitors;
We come a wooing, wench; plain dealing’s best.
EUG. A wooing! what, before my husband’s dead?
SECOND COURT. Let’s lose no time; six months will have
an end, you know;
I know’t by all the bonds that e’er I made yet.
EUG. That’s a sure knowledge; but it holds not here,
sir.
FIRST COURT. Do not we know the craft of you
young[151] tumblers?
That [when] you wed an old man, you think upon
Another husband as you are marrying of him;—
We, knowing your thoughts, made bold to see you.
_Enter_ SIMONIDES _richly drest, and_ COACHMAN.
EUG. How wondrous right he speaks! ’twas my thought,
indeed.
SIM. By your leave, sweet widow, do you lack any
gallants?
EUG. Widow, again! ’tis a comfort to be call’d so.
FIRST COURT. Who’s this? Simonides?
SECOND COURT. Brave Sim, i’faith!
SIM. Coachman!
COACH. Sir.
SIM. Have an especial care of my new mares.
They say, sweet widow, he that loves a horse well,
Must needs love a widow well.—When dies thy husband?
Is’t not July next?
EUG. O, you’re too hot, sir!
Pray cool yourself, and take September with you.
SIM. September! O, I was but two bows wide.
FIRST COURT. Simonides.[152]
SIM. I can entreat you, gallants, I’m in fashion too.
_Enter_ LYSANDER.
LYS. Ha! whence this herd of folly? what are you?
SIM. Well-willers to your wife: pray, ’tend your book,
sir;
We’ve[153] nothing to say to you, you may go die,
For here be those in place that can supply.
LYS. What’s thy wild business here?
SIM. Old man, I’ll tell thee;
I come to beg the reversion of thy wife:
I think these gallants be of my mind too.—
But thou art but a dead man, therefore what should a
man do talking with thee? Come, widow, stand to your
tackling.
LYS. Impious blood-hounds!
SIM. Let the ghost talk, ne’er mind him.
LYS. Shames of nature!
SIM. Alas, poor ghost! consider what the man is.
LYS. Monsters unnatural! you that have been covetous
Of your own fathers’ deaths, gape ye for mine now?
Cannot a poor old man, that now can reckon
E’en all the hours he has to live, live quiet,
For such wild beasts as these, that neither hold
A certainty of good within themselves,
But scatter others’ comforts that are ripen’d
For holy uses? is hot youth so hasty,
It will not give an old man leave to die,
And leave a widow first, but will make one,
The husband looking on? May your destructions
Come all in hasty figures to your souls!
Your wealth depart in haste, to overtake
Your honesties, that died when you were infants!
May your male seed be hasty spendthrifts too,
Your daughters hasty sinners, and diseas’d
Ere they be thought at years to welcome misery!
And may you never know what leisure is,
But at repentance!—I am too uncharitable,
Too foul; I must go cleanse myself with prayers.
These are the plagues of fondness to old men,
We’re punish’d home with what we dote upon. [_Exit._
SIM. So, so!
The ghost is vanish’d: now, your answer, lady.
EUG. Excuse me, gentlemen; ’twere as much impudence
In me to give you a kind answer yet,
As madness to produce a churlish one.
I could say now, come a month hence, sweet gentlemen,
Or two, or three, or when you will, indeed;
But I say no such thing: I set no time,
Nor is it mannerly to deny any.
I’ll carry an even hand to all the world:
Let other women make what haste they will,
What’s that to me? but I profess unfeignedly,
I’ll have my husband dead before I marry;
Ne’er look for other answer at my hands, gentlemen.
SIM. Would he were hanged, for my part, looks for
other!
EUG. I’m at a word.
SIM. And I am[154] at a blow then;
I’ll lay you o’ the lips, and leave you. [_Kisses
her._
FIRST COURT. Well struck, Sim.
SIM. He that dares say he’ll mend it, I’ll strike him.
FIRST COURT. He would betray himself to be a
botcher,[155]
That goes about to mend it.
EUG. Gentlemen,
You know my mind; I bar you not my house:
But if you choose out hours more seasonably,
You may have entertainment.
_Re-enter_ PARTHENIA.
SIM. What will she do hereafter, when she’s a widow,
Keeps open house already?
[_Exeunt_ SIMONIDES _and_ COURTIERS.'
EUG. How now, girl!
PARTH. Those feather’d fools that hither took their
flight
Have griev’d my father much.
EUG. Speak well of youth, wench,
While thou’st a day to live; ’tis youth must make thee,
And when youth fails, wise women will make it;
But always take age first, to make thee rich:
That was my counsel ever, and then youth
Will make thee sport enough all thy life after.
’Tis [the] time’s policy, wench; what is’t to bide
A little hardness for a pair of years, or so?
A man whose only strength lies in his breath,
Weakness in all parts else, thy bedfellow,
A cough o’ the lungs, or say a wheezing[156] matter;
Then shake off chains, and dance all thy life after?
PARTH. Every one to their liking; but I say
An honest man’s worth all, be he young or gray.
Yonder’s my cousin. [_Exit._
_Enter_ HIPPOLITA.
EUG. Art, I must use thee now;
Dissembling is the best help for a virtue,
That ever women had; it saves their credit oft.[157]
HIP. How now, cousin!
What, weeping?
EUG. Can you blame me, when the time
Of my dear love and husband now draws on?
I study funeral tears against the day
I must be a sad widow.
HIP. In troth, Eugenia, I have cause to weep too;
But, when I visit, I come comfortably,
And look to be so quited:[158]—yet more sobbing?
EUG. Oh!
The greatest part of your affliction’s past,
The worst of mine’s to come; I have one to die;
Your husband’s father is dead, and fix’d in his
Eternal peace, past the sharp tyrannous blow.
HIP. You must use patience, coz.
EUG. Tell me of patience!
HIP. You have example for’t, in me and many.
EUG. Yours was a father-in-law, but mine a husband:
O, for a woman that could love, and live
With an old man, mine is a jewel, cousin;
So quietly he lies by one, so still!
HIP. Alas! I have a secret lodg’d within me,
Which now will out in pity:—I can’t hold. [_Aside._
EUG. One that will not disturb me in my sleep
For[159] a whole month together, ’less it be
With those diseases age is subject to,
As aches,[160] coughs, and pains, and these, heaven
knows,
Against his will too:—he’s the quietest man,
Especially in bed.
HIP. Be comforted.
EUG. How can I, lady?
None know[161] the terror of an husband’s loss,
But they that fear to lose him.
HIP. Fain would I keep it in, but ’twill not be;
She is my kinswoman, and I’m pitiful.
I must impart a good, if I know’t once,
To them that stand in need on’t; I’m like one
Loves not to banquet with a joy alone,
My friends must partake too. [_Aside._]—Prithee, cease,
cousin;
If your love be so boundless, which is rare,
In a young woman, in these days, I tell you,
To one so much past service as your husband,
There is a way to beguile law, and help you;
My husband found it out first.
EUG. O sweet cousin!
HIP. You may conceal him, and give out hisdeath
Within the time; order his funeral too;
We had it so for ours, I praise heaven for’t,
And he’s alive and safe.
EUG. O blessed coz,
How thou revivest me!
HIP. We daily see
The good old man, and feed him twice a day.
Methinks, it is the sweetest joy to cherish him,
That ever life yet shew’d me.
EUG. So should I think,
A dainty thing to nurse an old man well!
HIP. And then we have his prayers and daily blessing;
And we two live so lovingly upon’t,
His son and I, and so contentedly,
You cannot think unless you tasted on’t.
EUG. No, I warrant you. O loving cousin,
What a great sorrow hast thou eas’d me of!
A thousand thanks go with thee!
HIP. I have a suit to you,
I must not have you weep when I am gone. [_Exit._
EUG. No, if I do, ne’er trust me. Easy fool,
Thou hast put thyself into my power for ever;
Take heed of angering of me. I conceal!
I feign a funeral! I keep my husband!
’Las! I’ve[162] been thinking any time these two years,
I have kept him too long already.—
I’ll go count o’er my suitors, that’s my business,
And prick the man down; I ha’ six months to do’t,
But could despatch’t[163] in one, were I put to’t.
[_Exit._
ACT III. SCENE I.
_Before the Church._
_Enter_ GNOTHO _and_ CLERK.
GNOTH. You have searched o’er the parish-chronicle,
sir?
CLERK. Yes, sir; I have found out the true age and date
of the party you wot on.
GNOTH. Pray you, be covered, sir.
CLERK. When you have shewed me the way, sir.
GNOTH. O sir, remember yourself, you are a clerk.
CLERK. A small clerk, sir.
GNOTH. Likely to be the wiser man, sir; for your
greatest clerks are not always so, as ’tis reported.
CLERK. You are a great man in the parish, sir.
GNOTH. I understand myself so much the better, sir; for
all the best in the parish pay duties to the clerk, and
I would owe you none, sir.
CLERK. Since you’ll have it so, I’ll be the first to
hide my head.
GNOTH. Mine is a capcase: now to our business in[164]
hand. Good luck, I hope; I long to be resolved.
CLERK. Look you, sir, this is that cannot deceive you:
This is the dial that goes ever true;
You may say _ipse dixit_ upon this witness,
And it is[165] good in law too.
GNOTH. Pray you, let’s hear what it speaks.
CLERK. Mark, sir.—_Agatha, the daughter of Pollux_,
(this is your wife’s name, and the name of her father,)
_born_——
GNOTH. Whose daughter, say you?
CLERK. The daughter of Pollux.
GNOTH. I take it his name was Bollux.
CLERK. Pollux the orthography I assure you, sir; the
word is corrupted else.
GNOTH. Well, on, sir,—of Pollux; now come on, Castor.
CLERK. _Born in an._ 1540, and now ’tis 99. By this
infallible record, sir, (let me see,) she is now just
fifty-nine, and wants but one.
GNOTH. I am sorry she wants so much.
CLERK. Why, sir? alas, ’tis nothing; ’tis but so many
months, so many weeks, so many——
GNOTH. Do not deduct it to days,[166] ’twill be the
more tedious; and to measure it by hourglasses were
intolerable.
CLERK. Do not think on it, sir; half the time goes away
in sleep, ’tis half the year in nights.
GNOTH. O, you mistake me, neighbour, I am loath to leave
the good old woman; if she were gone now it would not
grieve me; for what is a year, alas, but a lingering
torment? and were it not better she were out of her
pain? ’T must needs be a grief to us both.
CLERK. I would I knew how to ease you, neighbour!
GNOTH. You speak kindly, truly, and if you say but Amen
to it, (which is a word that I know you are perfect in,)
it might be done. Clerks are the most indifferent honest
men,—for to the marriage of your enemy, or the burial of
your friend, the curses or the blessings to you are all
one; you say Amen to all.
CLERK. With a better will to the one than the other,
neighbour: but I shall be glad to say Amen to any thing
might do you a pleasure.
GNOTH. There is, first, something above your duty:
[_Gives him money_] now I would have you set forward the
clock a little, to help the old woman out of her pain.
CLERK. I will speak to the sexton;[167] but the day will
go ne’er the faster for that.
GNOTH. O, neighbour, you do not conceit me; not the jack
of the clock-house; the hand of the dial, I mean.—Come,
I know you, being a great clerk, cannot choose but have
the art to cast a figure.
CLERK. Never, indeed, neighbour; I never had the
judgment to cast a figure.
GNOTH. I’ll shew you on the back side of your book, look
you,—what figure’s this?
CLERK. Four with a cipher, that’s forty.
GNOTH. So! forty; what’s this now?
CLERK. The cipher is turned into 9 by adding the tail,
which makes forty-nine.
GNOTH. Very well understood; what is’t now?
CLERK. The 4 is turned into 3; ’tis now thirty-nine.
GNOTH. Very well understood; and can you do this again?
CLERK. O, easily, sir.
GNOTH. A wager of that! let me see the place of my
wife’s age again.
CLERK. Look you, sir, ’tis here, 1540.
GNOTH. Forty drachmas, you do not turn that forty into
thirty-nine.
CLERK. A match with you.
GNOTH. Done! and you shall keep stakes yourself: there
they are.
CLERK. A firm match—but stay, sir, now I consider
it, I shall add a year to your wife’s age; let me
see—_Scirophorion_ the 17,—and now ’tis _Hecatombaion_
the 11.[168] If I alter this, your wife will have but a
month to live by the law.
GNOTH. That’s all one, sir; either do it, or pay me my
wager.
CLERK. Will you lose your wife before you lose your
wager?
GNOTH. A man may get two wives before half so much money
by ’em; will you do’t?
CLERK. I hope you will conceal me, for ’tis flat
corruption.
GNOTH. Nay, sir, I would have you keep counsel; for I
lose my money by’t, and should be laughed at for my
labour, if it should be known.
CLERK. Well, sir, there!—’tis done; as perfect [a] 39 as
can be found in black and white: but mum, sir,—there’s
danger in this figure-casting.
GNOTH. Ay, sir, I know that: better men than you have
been thrown over the bar for as little; the best is, you
can be but thrown out of the belfry.
_Enter the_ COOK, TAILOR, BAILIFF, _and_ BUTLER.
CLERK. Lock close, here comes company; asses have ears
as well as pitchers.
COOK. O Gnotho,[169] how is’t? here’s a trick[170] of
discarded cards of us! we were ranked with coats, as
long as our old master lived.
GNOTH. And is this then the end of serving-men?
COOK. Yes, ’faith, this is the end of serving-men: a
wise man were better serve one God than all the men in
the world.
GNOTH. ’Twas well spoke[171] of a cook. And are all
fallen into fasting-days and Ember-weeks, that cooks are
out of use?
TAIL. And all tailors will be cut into lists and shreds;
if this world hold, we shall grow both out of request.
BUT. And why not butlers as well as tailors? if they can
go naked, let ’em neither eat nor drink.
CLERK. That’s strange, methinks, a lord should turn away
his tailor, of all men:—and how dost thou, tailor?
TAIL. I do so, so; but, indeed, all our wants are long
of this publican, my lord’s bailiff; for had he been
rent-gatherer still, our places had held together still,
that are now seam-rent, nay cracked in the whole piece.
BAIL. Sir, if my lord had not sold his lands that claim
his rents, I should still have been the rent-gatherer.
COOK. The truth is, except the coachman and the footman,
all serving-men are out of request.
GNOTH. Nay, say not so, for you were never in more
request than now, for requesting is but a kind of a
begging; for when you say, I beseech your worship’s
charity, ’tis all one [as] if you say, I request it; and
in that kind of requesting, I am sure serving-men were
never in more request.
COOK. Troth, he says true: well, let that pass, we are
upon a better adventure. I see, Gnotho,[172] you have
been before us; we came to deal with this merchant for
some commodities.
CLERK. With me, sir? any thing that I can.
BUT. Nay, we have looked out our wives already: marry,
to you we come to know the prices, that is, to know
their ages; for so much reverence we bear to age, that
the more aged, they shall be the more dear to us.
TAIL. The truth is, every man has laid by his widow; so
they be lame enough, blind enough, and old [enough],
’tis good enough.
CLERK. I keep the town-stock; if you can but name ’em, I
can tell their ages to [a] day.
ALL. We can tell their fortunes to an hour, then.
CLERK. Only you must pay for turning of the leaves.
COOK. O, bountifully.—Come, mine first.
BUT. The butler before the cook, while you live; there’s
few that eat before they drink in a morning.
TAIL. Nay, then the tailor puts in his needle of
priority, for men do clothe themselves before they
either drink or eat.
BAIL. I will strive for no place; the longer ere I marry
my wife, the older she will be, and nearer her end and
my ends.
CLERK. I will serve you all, gentlemen, if you will have
patience.
GNOTH. I commend your modesty, sir; you are a bailiff,
whose place is to come behind other men, as it were in
the bum of all the rest.
BAIL. So, sir! and you were about this business too,
seeking out for a widow?
GNOTH. Alack! no, sir; I am a married man, and have
those cares upon me that you would fain run into.
BAIL. What, an old rich wife! any man in this age
desires such a care.
GNOTH. ’Troth, sir, I’ll put a venture with you, if you
will; I have a lusty old quean to my wife, sound of wind
and limb, yet I’ll give out to take three for one at the
marriage of my second wife.
BAIL. Ay, sir, but how near is she to the law?
GNOTH. Take that at hazard, sir; there must be time, you
know, to get a new. Unsight, unseen, I take three to
one.
BAIL. Two to one I’ll give, if she have but two teeth in
her head.
GNOTH. A match; there’s five drachmas for ten at my next
wife.
BAIL. A match.
COOK. I shall be fitted bravely; fifty-eight, and
upwards; ’tis but a year and a half, and I may chance
make friends, and beg a year of the duke.
BUT. Hey, boys! I am made sir butler; my wife that shall
be wants but two months of her time; it shall be one ere
I marry her, and then the next will be a honeymoon.
TAIL. I outstrip you all; I shall have but six weeks of
Lent, if I get my widow, and then comes eating-tide,
plump and gorgeous.
GNOTH. This tailor will be a man, if ever there were
any.
BAIL. Now comes my turn, I hope, goodman Finis, you that
are still at the end of all, with a _so be it_. Well
now, sirs? do you venture there as I have done; and I’ll
venture here after you. Good luck, I beseech thee!
CLERK. Amen, sir.
BAIL. That deserves a fee already—there ’tis; please me,
and have a better.
CLERK. Amen, sir.
COOK. How, two for one at your next wife! is the old one
living?
GNOTH. You have a fair match, I offer you no foul one;
if death make not haste to call her, she’ll make none to
go to him.
BUT. I know her, she’s a lusty woman; I’ll take the
venture.
GNOTH. There’s five drachmas for ten at my next wife.
BUT. A bargain.
COOK. Nay, then we’ll be all merchants: give me.
TAIL. And me.
BUT. What has the bailiff sped?
BAIL. I am content; but none of you shall know my
happiness.
CLERK. As well as any of you all, believe it, sir.
BAIL. O, clerk, you are to speak last always.
CLERK. I’ll remember’t hereafter, sir. You have done
with me, gentlemen?
_Enter_ AGATHA.
ALL. For this time, honest register.
CLERK. Fare you well then; if you do,[173] I’ll cry Amen
to’t. [_Exit._
COOK. Look you, sir, is not this your wife?
GNOTH. My first wife, sir.
BUT. Nay, then we have made a good match on’t; if she
have no froward disease, the woman may live this dozen
years by her age.
TAIL. I’m afraid she’s broken-winded, she holds silence
so long.
COOK. We’ll now leave our venture to the event; I must a
wooing.
BUT. I’ll but buy me a new dagger, and overtake you.
BAIL. So we must all; for he that goes a wooing to a
widow without a weapon, will never get her.
[_Exeunt all but_ GNOTHO _and_ AGATHA.
GNOTH. O wife, wife!
AGA. What ail you, man, you speak so passionately?[174]
GNOTH. ’Tis for thy sake, sweet wife: who would think so
lusty an old woman, with reasonable good teeth, and her
tongue in as perfect use as ever it was, should be so
near her time?—but the Fates will have it so.
AGA. What’s the matter, man? you do amaze me.
GNOTH. Thou art not sick neither, I warrant thee.
AGA. Not that I know of, sure.
GNOTH. What pity ’tis a woman should be so near her end,
and yet not sick!
AGA. Near her end, man! tush, I can guess at that;
I have years good yet of life in the remainder:
I want two yet at least of the full number;
Then the law, I know, craves impotent and useless,
And not the able women.
GNOTH. Ay, alas! I see thou hast been repairing time as
well as thou couldst; the old wrinkles are well filled
up, but the vermilion is seen too thick, too thick—and I
read what’s written in thy forehead; it agrees with the
church-book.
AGA. Have you sought my age, man? and, I prithee, how is
it?
GNOTH. I shall but discomfort thee.
AGA. Not at all, man; when there’s no remedy, I will go,
though unwillingly.
GNOTH. 1539. Just; it agrees with the book: you have
about a year to prepare yourself.
AGA. Out, alas! I hope there’s more than so. But do you
not think a reprieve might be gotten for half a
score—and[175] ’twere but five year[s], I would not
care? an able woman, methinks, were to be pitied.
GNOTH. Ay, to be pitied, but not helped; no hope of
that: for, indeed, women have so blemished their own
reputations now-a-days, that it is thought the law will
meet them at fifty very shortly.
AGA. Marry, the heavens forbid!
GNOTH. There’s so many of you, that, when you are old,
become witches; some profess physic, and kill good
subjects faster than a burning fever; and then school-
mistresses of the sweet sin, which commonly we call
bawds, innumerable of that sort: for these and such
causes ’tis thought they shall not live above fifty.
AGA. Ay, man, but this hurts not the good old women.
GNOTH. I’faith, you are so like one another, that a man
cannot distinguish ’em: now, were I an old woman, I
would desire to go before my time, and offer myself
willingly, two or three years before. O, those are brave
women, and worthy to be commended of all men in the
world, that, when their husbands die, they run to be
burnt to death with ’em: there’s honour and credit! give
me half a dozen such wives.
AGA. Ay, if her husband were dead before, ’twere a
reasonable request; if you were dead, I could be content
to be so.
GNOTH. Fie! that’s not likely, for thou hadst two
husbands before me.
AGA. Thou wouldst not have me die, wouldst thou,
husband?
GNOTH. No, I do not speak to that purpose; but I say
what credit it were for me and thee, if thou wouldst;
then thou shouldst never be suspected for a witch, a
physician, a bawd, or any of those things: and then how
daintily should I mourn for thee, how bravely should I
see thee buried! when, alas, if he goes before, it
cannot choose but be a great grief to him to think he
has not seen his wife well buried. There be such
virtuous women in the world, but too few, too few, who
desire to die seven years before their time, with all
their hearts.
AGA. I have not the heart to be of that mind; but,
indeed, husband, I think you would have me gone.
GNOTH. No, alas! I speak but for your good and your
credit; for when a woman may die quickly, why should she
go to law for her death? Alack, I need not wish thee
gone, for thou hast but a short time to stay with me:
you do not know how near ’tis,—it must out; you have but
a month to live by the law.
AGA. Out, alas!
GNOTH. Nay, scarce so much.
AGA. O, O, O, my heart! [_Swoons._
GNOTH. Ay, so! if thou wouldst go away quietly, ’twere
sweetly done, and like a kind wife; lie but a little
longer, and the bell shall toll for thee.
AGA. O my heart, but a month to live!
GNOTH. Alas, why wouldst thou come back again for a
month?—I’ll throw her down again—O, woman, ’tis not
three weeks; I think a fortnight is the most.
AGA. Nay, then I am gone already. [_Swoons._
GNOTH. I would make haste to the sexton now, but I’m
afraid the tolling of the bell will wake her again. If
she be so wise as to go now—she stirs again; there’s two
lives of the nine gone.
AGA. O, wouldst thou not help to recover me, husband?
GNOTH. Alas, I could not find in my heart to hold thee
by thy nose, or box thy cheeks; it goes against my
conscience.
AGA. I will not be thus frighted to my death;
I’ll search the church-record[s]: a fortnight! ’tis
Too little of conscience, I cannot be so near;
O time, if thou be’st kind, lend me but a year!
[_Exit._
GNOTH. What a spite’s this, that a man cannot persuade
his wife to die in any time with her good will! I have
another bespoke already; though a piece of old beef will
serve to breakfast, yet a man would be glad of a chicken
to supper. The clerk, I hope, understands no Hebrew, and
cannot write backward what he hath writ forward already,
and then I am well enough.
’Tis but a month at most; if that were gone,
My venture comes in with her two for one:
’Tis use enough a’ conscience for a broker[176]—if he
had a conscience. [_Exit._
SCENE II.
_A Room in_ CREON’s _House_.
_Enter_ EUGENIA _at one door_, SIMONIDES _and_ COURTIERS
_at the other_.
EUG. Gentlemen courtiers.
FIRST COURT. All your vow’d servants,[177] lady.
EUG. O, I shall kill myself with infinite laughter!
Will nobody take my part?
SIM. An’t be a laughing business,
Put it to me, I’m one of the best in Europe;
My father died last too, I have the most cause.
EUG. You ha’ pick’d out such a time, sweet gentlemen,
To make your spleen a banquet.
SIM. O the jest!
Lady, I have a jaw stands ready for’t,
I’ll gape half way, and meet it.
EUG. My old husband,
That cannot say his prayers out for jealousy,
And madness at your coming first to woo me——
SIM. Well said.
FIRST COURT. Go on.
SECOND COURT. On, on.
EUG. Takes counsel with
The secrets of all art, to make himself
Youthful again.
SIM. How? youthful! ha, ha, ha!
EUG. A man of forty-five he would fain seem to be,
Or scarce so much, if he might have his will, indeed.
SIM. Ay, but his white hairs, they’ll betray his
hoariness.
EUG. Why, there you are wide: he’s not the man you
take him for,
Nor[178] will you know him when you see him again;
There will be five to one laid upon that.
FIRST COURT. How!
EUG. Nay, you did well to laugh faintly there;
I promise you, I think he’ll outlive me now,
And deceive law and all.
SIM. Marry, gout forbid!
EUG. You little think he was at fencing-school
At four a’clock this morning.
SIM. How, at fencing-school!
EUG. Else give no trust to woman.
SIM. By this light,
I do not like him, then; he’s like to live
Longer than I, for he may kill me first, now.
EUG. His dancer now came in as I met you.
FIRST COURT. His dancer, too!
EUG. They observe turns and hours with him;
The great French rider will be here at ten,
With his curvetting horse.
SECOND COURT. These notwithstanding,
His hair and wrinkles will betray his age.
EUG. I’m sure his head and beard, as he has order’d
it,
Look not past fifty now: he’ll bring’t to forty
Within these four days, for nine times an hour[179]
He takes a black-lead comb, and kembs it over:
Three quarters of his beard is under fifty;
There’s but a little tuft of fourscore left,
All of one side, which will be black by Monday.
_Enter_ LYSANDER.
And, to approve my truth, see where he comes!
Laugh softly, gentlemen, and look upon him.
[_They go aside._
SIM. Now, by this hand, he’s almost black i’the mouth,
indeed.
FIRST COURT. He should die shortly, then.
SIM. Marry, methinks he dies too fast already,
For he was all white but a week ago.
FIRST COURT. O, this same coney-white takes an
excellent black,
Too soon, a mischief on’t!
SECOND COURT. He will beguile[180]
Us all, if that little tuft northward turn black too.
EUG. Nay, sir, I wonder ’tis so long a turning.
SIM. May be some fairy’s child, held forth at
midnight,
Has piss’d upon that side.
FIRST COURT. Is this the beard?
LYS. Ah, sirrah? my young boys, I shall be for you:
This little mangy tuft takes up more time
Than all the beard beside. Come you a wooing,
And I alive and lusty? you shall find
An alteration, jack-boys; I have a spirit yet,
(And[181] I could match my hair to’t, there’s the
fault,[182])
And can do offices of youth yet lightly;
At least, I will do, though it pain me a little.
Shall not a man, for a little foolish age,
Enjoy his wife to himself? must young court tits
Play tomboys’ tricks with her, and he live? ha!
I have blood that will not bear’t; yet, I confess,
I should be at my prayers—but where’s the dancer, there!
_Enter_ DANCING-MASTER.
MAST. Here, sir.
LYS. Come, come, come, one trick a day,
And I shall soon recover all again.
EUG. ’Slight, and[183] you laugh too loud, we are all
discover’d.[184]
SIM. And I have a scurvy grinning[185] laugh a’ mine
own,
Will spoil all, I am afraid.
EUG. Marry, take heed, sir.
SIM. Nay, and[186] I should be hang’d, I cannot[187]
leave it;
Pup!—there ’tis. [_Bursts into a laugh._
EUG. Peace! O, peace!
LYS. Come, I am ready, sir.
I hear the church-book’s lost where I was born too,
And that shall set me back one[188] twenty years;
There is no little comfort left in that:
And—[then] my three court-codlings, that look parboil’d,
As if they came from Cupid’s scalding-house——
SIM. He means me specially, I hold my life.
MAST. What trick will your old worship learn this
morning, sir?
LYS. Marry, a trick, if thou couldst teach a man,
To keep his wife to himself; I’d fain learn that.
MAST. That’s a hard trick, for an old man specially;
The horse-trick comes the nearest.
LYS. Thou sayst true, i’faith,
They must be hors’d indeed, else there’s no keeping on
’em,
And horse-play at fourscore is not so ready.
MAST. Look you, here’s your worship’s horse-
trick,[189] sir. [_Gives a spring._
LYS. Nay, say not so,
’Tis none of mine; I fall down horse and man,
If I but offer at it.
MAST. My life for yours, sir.
LYS. Sayst thou me so? [_Springs aloft._
MAST. Well offer’d, by my viol, sir.
LYS. A pox of this horse-trick! ’t has play’d the jade
with me,
And given me a wrench i’the back.
MAST. Now here’s your inturn, and your trick above
ground.
LYS. Prithee, no more, unless thou hast a mind
To lay me under ground; one of these tricks
Is enough in a morning.
MAST. For your galliard, sir,
You are complete enough, ay, and may challenge
The proudest coxcomb of ’em all, I’ll stand to’t.
LYS. Faith, and I’ve other weapons for the rest too:
I have prepar’d for ’em, if e’er I take
My Gregories here again.
SIM. O, I shall burst,
I can hold out no longer.
EUG. He spoils all. [_They come forward._
LYS. The devil and his grinners! are you come?
Bring forth the weapons, we shall find you play;
All feats of youth too, jack-boys, feats of youth,
And these the weapons, drinking, fencing, dancing:
Your own road-ways, you glyster-pipes! I’m old, you say;
Yes, parlous old, kids, and[190] you mark me well!
This beard cannot get children, you lank suck-eggs,
Unless such weasels come from court to help us.
We will get our own brats, you lecherous dog-bolts!
_Enter a_ SERVANT _with foils and glasses_.
Well said, down with ’em; now we shall see your spirits.
What! dwindle you already?
SECOND COURT. I have no quality.
SIM. Nor I, unless drinking may be reckon’d for one.
FIRST COURT. Why, Sim, it shall.
LYS. Come, dare you choose your weapon now?
FIRST COURT. I? dancing, sir, and[191] you will be so
hasty.
LYS. We’re for you, sir.
SECOND COURT. Fencing, I.
LYS. We’ll answer you too.
SIM. I am for drinking; your wet weapon there.
LYS. That wet one has cost many a princox life;
And I will send it through you with a powder!
SIM. Let [it] come, with a pox! I care not, so’t be
drink.
I hope my guts will hold, and that’s e’en all
A gentleman can look for of such trillibubs.[192]
LYS. Play the first weapon; come, strike, strike, I
say.
Yes, yes, you shall be first; I’ll observe court rules:
Always the worst goes foremost, so ’twill prove, I hope.
[FIRST COURTIER _dances a galliard_.[193]
So, sir! you’ve spit your poison; now come I.
Now, forty years go[194] backward and assist me,
Fall from me half my age, but for three minutes,
That I may feel no crick! I will put fair for’t,
Although I hazard twenty sciaticas. [_Dances._
So, I have hit you.
FIRST COURT. You’ve done well, i’faith, sir.
LYS. If you confess it well, ’tis excellent,
And I have hit you soundly; I am warm now:
The second weapon instantly.
SECOND COURT. What, so quick, sir?
Will you not allow yourself a breathing-time?
LYS. I’ve breath enough at all times, Lucifer’s musk-
cod,
To give your perfum’d worship three vennies:[195]
A sound old man puts his thrust better home
Than a spic’d young man: there I. [_They fence._
SECOND COURT. Then have at you, fourscore.
LYS. You lie, twenty, I hope, and you shall find it.
SIM. I’m glad I miss’d this weapon, I[’d] had an eye
Popt out ere this time, or my two butter-teeth
Thrust down my throat instead of a flap-dragon.[196]
LYS. There’s two, pentweezle. [_Hits him._
MAST. Excellently touch’d, sir.
SECOND COURT. Had ever man such luck! speak your
opinion, gentlemen.
SIM. Methinks, your luck’s good, that your eyes are in
still;
Mine would have dropt out, like a pig’s half-roasted.
LYS. There wants a third—and there it is[197] again!
[_Hits him again._'
SECOND COURT. The devil has steel’d him.
EUG. What a strong fiend is jealousy!
LYS. You’re despatch’d, bear-whelp.
SIM. Now comes my weapon in.
LYS. Here, toadstool, here.
’Tis you[198] and I must play these three wet
vennies.[199]
SIM. Vennies in Venice glasses! let ’em come,
They’ll bruise no flesh, I’m sure, nor break no bones.
SECOND COURT. Yet you may drink your eyes out, sir.
SIM. Ay, but that’s nothing;
Then they go voluntarily: I do not
Love to have ’em thrust out, whether they will or no.
LYS. Here’s your first weapon, duck’s-meat.
SIM. How! a Dutch what-you-call-’em,
Stead of a German faulchion! a shrewd weapon,
And, of all things, hard to be taken down:
Yet down it must, I have a nose goes into’t;
I shall drink double, I think.
FIRST COURT. The sooner off, Sim.
LYS. I’ll pay you speedily, —— with a trick[200]
I learnt once amongst drunkards; here’s [a] half-pike.
[_Drinks._
SIM. Half-pike comes well after Dutch what-you-call-
’em,
They’d never be asunder by their good will.[201]
FIRST COURT. Well pull’d of an old fellow!
LYS. O, but your fellows
Pull better at a rope.
FIRST COURT. There’s a hair, Sim,
In that glass.
SIM. An’t be as long as a halter, down it goes;
No hair shall cross me. [_Drinks._
LYS. I[’ll] make you stink worse than your pole-cats
do:
Here’s long-sword, your last weapon.
[_Offers him the glass._
SIM. No more weapons.
FIRST COURT. Why, how now, Sim? bear up, thou sham’st
us all, else.
SIM. [’S]light, I shall shame you worse, and[202] I
stay longer.
I ha’ got the scotomy[203] in my head already,
The whimsey: you all turn round—do not you dance,
gallants?
SECOND COURT. Pish! what’s all this? why, Sim, look,
the last venny.[204]
SIM. No more vennies go[205] down here, for these two
Are coming up again.
SECOND COURT. Out! the disgrace of drinkers!
SIM. Yes, ’twill out;
Do you smell nothing yet?
FIRST COURT. Smell!
SIM. Farewell quickly, then;
You[206] will do, if I stay. [_Exit._
FIRST COURT. A foil go with thee!
LYS. What, shall we put down youth at her own virtues?
Beat folly in her own ground? wondrous much!
Why may not we be held as full sufficient
To love our own wives then, get our own children,
And live in free peace till we be dissolv’d,
For such spring butterflies that are gaudy-wing’d,
But no more substance than those shamble-flies
Which butchers’ boys snap between sleep and waking?
Come but to crush you once, you are[207] but maggots,
For all your beamy outsides!
_Enter_ CLEANTHES.
EUG. Here’s Cleanthes;
He comes to chide;—let him alone a little,
Our cause will be reveng’d; look, look, his face
Is set for stormy weather; do but mark
How the clouds gather in ’t, ’twill pour down straight.
CLEAN. Methinks, I partly know you, that’s my grief.
Could you not all be lost? that had been handsome;
But to be known at all, ’tis more than shameful.
Why, was not your name wont to be Lysander?
LYS. ’Tis so still, coz.
CLEAN. Judgment, defer thy coming! else this man’s
miserable.
EUG. I told you there would be a shower anon.
SECOND COURT. We’ll in, and hide our noddles.
[_Exeunt_ EUGENIA _and_ COURTIERS.
CLEAN. What devil brought this colour to your mind,
Which, since your childhood, I ne’er saw you wear?
[Sure] you were ever of an innocent gloss
Since I was ripe for knowledge, and would you lose it,
And change the livery of saints and angels
For this mixt monstrousness; to force a ground
That has been so long hallow’d like a temple,
To bring forth fruits of earth now; and turn back[208]
To the wild cries of lust, and the complexion
Of sin in act, lost and long since repented!
Would you begin a work ne’er yet attempted,
To pull time backward?
See what your wife will do! are your wits perfect?
LYS. My wits!
CLEAN. I like it ten times worse; for’t had been safer
Now to be mad,[209] and more excusable:
I hear you dance again, and do strange follies.
LYS. I must confess I have been put to some, coz.
CLEAN. And yet you are not mad! pray, say not so;
Give me that comfort of you, that you are mad,
That I may think you are at worst; for if
You are not mad, I then must guess you have
The first of some disease was never heard of,
Which may be worse than madness, and more fearful:
You’d weep to see yourself else, and your care
To pray would quickly turn you white again.
I had a father, had he liv’d his month out,
But to ha’ seen this most prodigious folly,
There needed not the law to have him cut off;
The sight of this had prov’d his executioner,
And broke his heart: he would have held it equal
Done to a sanctuary,—for what is age
But the holy place of life, chapel of ease
For all men’s wearied miseries? and to rob
That of her ornament, it is accurst
As from a priest to steal a holy vestment,
Ay, and convert it to a sinful covering.
[_Exit_ LYSANDER.
I see’t has done him good; blessing go with it,
Such as may make him pure again.
_Re-enter_ EUGENIA.
EUG. ’Twas bravely touch’d, i’faith, sir.
CLEAN. O, you’re welcome.
EUG. Exceedingly well handled.
CLEAN. ’Tis to you I come; he fell but i’ my way.
EUG. You mark’d his beard, cousin?
CLEAN. Mark me.
EUG. Did you ever see a hair so changed?
CLEAN. I must be forc’d to wake her loudly too,
The devil has rock’d her so fast asleep.—Strumpet!
EUG. Do you call, sir?
CLEAN. Whore!
EUG. How do you, sir?
CLEAN. Be I ne’er so well,
I must be sick of thee; thou’rt a disease
That stick’st to th’ heart,—as all such women are.
EUG. What ails our kindred?
CLEAN. Bless me, she sleeps still!
What a dead modesty is i’ this woman,
Will never blush again! Look on thy work
But with a Christian eye, ’twould turn thy heart
Into a shower of blood, to be the cause
Of that old man’s destruction; think upon’t,
Ruin eternally; for, through thy loose follies,
Heaven has found him a faint servant lately:
His goodness has gone backward, and engender’d
With his old sins again; has[210] lost his prayers,
And all the tears that were companions with ’em:
And like a blindfold man, (giddy and blinded,)
Thinking he goes right on still, swerves but one foot,
And turns to the same place where he set out;
So he, that took his farewell of the world,
And cast the joys behind him, out of sight,
Summ’d up his hours, made even with time and men,
Is now in heart arriv’d at youth again,
All by thy wildness: thy too hasty lust
Has driven him to this strong apostacy.
Immodesty like thine was never equall’d:
I’ve heard of women, (shall I call ’em so?)
Have welcom’d suitors ere the corpse were cold;
But thou, thy husband living:—thou’rt[211] too bold.
EUG. Well, have you done now, sir?
CLEAN. Look, look! she smiles yet.
EUG. All this is nothing to a mind resolv’d;
Ask any woman that, she’ll tell you so much:
You have only shewn a pretty saucy wit,
Which I shall not forget, nor to requite it.
You shall hear from me shortly.
CLEAN. Shameless woman!
I take my counsel from thee, ’tis too honest,
And leave thee wholly to thy stronger master:
Bless the sex of thee from thee! that’s my prayer.
Were all like thee, so impudently common,
No man would [e’er] be found to wed a woman. [_Exit._
EUG. I’ll fit you gloriously.
He that attempts to take away my pleasure,
I’ll take away his joy; and I can sure.
His conceal’d father pays for’t: I’ll e’en tell
Him that I mean to make my husband next,
And he shall tell the duke—mass, here he comes.
_Re-enter_ SIMONIDES.
SIM. Has[212] had a bout with me too.
EUG. What! no? since, sir?
SIM. A flirt, a little flirt; he call’d me strange
names,
But I ne’er minded him.
EUG. You shall quit him, sir,
When he as little minds you.
SIM. I like that well.
I love to be reveng’d when no one thinks of me;
There’s little danger that way.
EUG. This is it then;
He you shall strike, your stroke shall be profound,
And yet your foe not guess who gave the wound.
SIM. A’ my troth, I love to give such wounds.
[_Exeunt._
ACT IV. SCENE I.
_Before a Tavern._
_Enter_ GNOTHO, BUTLER, BAILIFF, TAILOR, COOK, DRAWER,
_and_ COURTEZAN.
DRAW. Welcome, gentlemen; will you not draw
near? will you drink at door, gentlemen?
BUT. O, the summer air’s best.
DRAW. What wine will[’t] please you drink, gentlemen?
BUT. De Clare, sirrah. [_Exit_ DRAWER.
GNOTH. What, you’re all sped already, bullies?
COOK. My widow’s a’ the spit, and half ready,
lad; a turn or two more, and I have done with her.
GNOTH. Then, cook, I hope you have basted her
before this time.
COOK. And stuck her with rosemary too, to
sweeten her; she was tainted ere she came to my
hands. What an old piece of flesh of fifty-nine,
eleven months, and upwards! she must needs be
fly-blown.
GNOTH. Put her off, put her off, though you lose
by her; the weather’s hot.
COOK. Why, drawer!
_Re-enter_ DRAWER.
DRAW. By and by:—here, gentlemen, here’s the
quintessence of Greece; the sages never drunk better
grape.
COOK. Sir, the mad Greeks of this age can taste their
Palermo as well as the sage Greeks did before ’em.—Fill,
lick-spiggot.
DRAW. _Ad imum_, sir.
GNOTH. My friends, I must doubly invite you all, the
fifth of the next month, to the funeral of my first
wife, and to the marriage of my second, my two to one;
this is she.
COOK. I hope some of us will be ready for the funeral of
our wives by that time, to go with thee: but shall they
be both of a day?
GNOTH. O, best of all, sir; where sorrow and joy meet
together, one will help away with another the better.
Besides, there will be charges saved too; the same
rosemary that serves for the funeral will serve for the
wedding.
BUT. How long do you make account to be a widower, sir?
GNOTH. Some half an hour; long enough a’ conscience.
Come, come, let’s have some agility; is there no music
in the house?
DRAW. Yes, sir, here are sweet wire-drawers in the
house.
COOK. O, that makes them and you seldom part; you are
wine-drawers, and they wire-drawers.
TAIL. And both govern by the pegs too.
GNOTH. And you have pipes in your consort[213] too.
DRAW. And sackbuts too, sir.
BUT. But the heads of your instruments differ; yours are
hogs-heads, their[s] cittern and gittern-heads.
BAIL. All wooden heads; there they meet again.
COOK. Bid ’em strike up, we’ll have a dance,
Gnotho;[214] come, thou shalt foot[215] it too.
[_Exit_ DRAWER.
GNOTH. No dancing with me, we have Siren here.
COOK. Siren! ’twas Hiren, the fair Greek,[216] man.
GNOTH. Five drachmas of that. I say Siren, the fair
Greek, and so are all fair Greeks.
COOK. A match; five drachmas her name was Hiren.
GNOTH. Siren’s name was Siren, for five drachmas.
COOK. ’Tis done.
TAIL. Take heed what you do, Gnotho.[217]
GNOTH. Do not I know our own countrywomen, Siren and
Nell of Greece, two of the fairest Greeks that ever
were?
COOK. That Nell was Helen of Greece too.
GNOTH. As long as she tarried with her husband, she was
Ellen; but after she came to Troy, she was Nell of Troy,
or Bonny Nell, whether you will or no.
TAIL. Why, did she grow shor[t]er when she came to Troy?
GNOTH. She grew longer,[218] if you mark the story. When
she grew to be an ell, she was deeper than any yard of
Troy could reach by a quarter; there was Cressid was
Troy weight, and Nell was avoirdupois;[219] she held
more, by four ounces, than Cressida.
BAIL. They say she caused many wounds to be given in
Troy.
GNOTH. True, she was wounded there herself, and cured
again by plaster of Paris; and ever since that has been
used to stop holes with.
_Re-enter_ DRAWER.
DRAW. Gentlemen, if you be disposed to be merry, the
music is ready to strike up; and here’s a consort[220]
of mad Greeks, I know not whether they be men or
women, or between both; they have, what-you-call-’em,
wizards[221] on their faces.
COOK. Vizards, good man lick-spiggot.
BUT. If they be wise women, they may be wizards too.
DRAW. They desire to enter amongst any merry company of
gentlemen good-fellows, for a strain or two.
_Enter old_ WOMEN _and_ AGATHA _in masks_.
COOK. We’ll strain ourselves with ’em, say; let ’em
come, Gnotho;[222] now for the honour of Epire!
GNOTH. No[223] dancing with me, we have Siren here.
[_A dance by the old_ WOMEN _and_ AGATHA;
_they offer to take the men, all agree
except_ GNOTHO, _who sits with the_
COURTEZAN.[224]
COOK. Ay! so kind! then every one his wench to his
several room; Gnotho,[225] we are all provided now, as
you are.
[_Exeunt all but_ GNOTHO, COURTEZAN, _and_
AGATHA.
GNOTH. I shall have two, it seems: away! I have Siren
here already.
AGA. What, a mermaid?[226] [_Takes off her mask._
GNOTH. No, but a maid, horse-face: O old woman! is it
you?
AGA. Yes, ’tis I; all the rest have gulled themselves,
and taken their own wives, and shall know that they have
done more than they can well answer; but I pray you,
husband, what are you doing?
GNOTH. Faith, thus should I do, if thou wert dead, old
Ag; and thou hast not long to live, I’m sure: we have
Siren here.
AGA. Art thou so shameless, whilst I am living, to keep
one under my nose?
GNOTH. No, Ag, I do prize her far above thy nose; if
thou wouldst lay me both thine eyes in my hand to boot,
I’ll not leave her: art not ashamed to be seen in a
tavern, and hast scarce a fortnight to live? O old
woman, what art thou? must thou find no time to think of
thy end?
AGA. O unkind villain!
GNOTH. And then, sweetheart, thou shalt have two new
gowns; and the best of this old[227] woman’s shall make
thee raiments for the working days.
AGA. O rascal! dost thou quarter my clothes already too?
GNOTH. Her ruffs will serve thee for nothing but to wash
dishes; for thou shalt have thine[228] of the new
fashion.
AGA. Impudent villain! shameless harlot!
GNOTH. You may hear, she never wore any but rails all
her lifetime.
AGA. Let me come, I’ll tear the strumpet from him.
GNOTH. Darest thou call my wife strumpet, thou
preterpluperfect tense of a woman! I’ll make thee do
penance in the sheet thou shalt be buried in; abuse my
choice, my two to one!
AGA. No, unkind villain! I’ll deceive thee yet;
I have a reprieve for five years of life;
I am with child.
COURT. Cud so, Gnotho,[229] I’ll not tarry so long; five
years! I may bury two husbands by that time.
GNOTH. Alas! give the poor woman leave to talk: she with
child! ay, with a puppy: as long as I have thee by me,
she shall not be with child, I warrant thee.
AGA. The law, and thou, and all, shall find I am with
child.
GNOTH. I’ll take my corporal oath I begat it not, and
then thou diest for adultery.
AGA. No matter, that will ask some time in the proof.
GNOTH. O, you’d be stoned to death, would you? all old
women would die a’ that fashion with all their hearts;
but the law shall overthrow you the tother way, first.
COURT. Indeed, if it be so, I will not linger so long,
Gnotho.[230]
GNOTH. Away, away! some botcher has got it; ’tis but a
cushion, I warrant thee: the old woman is _loath to
depart_[231]; she never sung other tune in her life.
COURT. We will not have our noses bored with a cushion,
if it be so.
GNOTH. Go, go thy ways, thou old almanac at the twenty-
eighth day of December, e’en almost out of date! Down on
thy knees, and make thee ready; sell some of thy clothes
to buy thee a death’s head, and put upon thy middle
finger: your least-considering bawd does[232] so much;
be not thou worse, though thou art an old woman, as she
is: I am cloyed with old stock-fish; here’s a young
perch is sweeter meat by half: prithee, die before thy
day, if thou canst, that thou mayst not be counted a
witch.
AGA. No, thou art a witch, and I’ll prove it: I said I
was with child, thou knewest no other but by sorcery:
thou saidst it was a cushion, and so it is; thou art a
witch for’t, I’ll be sworn to’t.
GNOTH. Ha, ha, ha! I told thee ’twas a cushion. Go, get
thy sheet ready; we’ll see thee buried as we go to
church to be married.
[_Exeunt_ GNOTHO _and_ COURTEZAN.
AGA. Nay, I’ll follow thee, and shew myself a wife. I’ll
plague thee as long as I live with thee; and I’ll bury
some money before I die,[233] that my ghost may haunt
thee afterward. [_Exit._
SCENE II.
_The Country. A Forest._
_Enter_ CLEANTHES.
CLEAN. What’s that? O, nothing but the whispering wind
Breathes through yon churlish hawthorn, that grew rude,
As if it chid the gentle breath that kiss’d it.
I cannot be too circumspect, too careful;
For in these woods lies hid all my life’s treasure,
Which is too much [n]ever to fear to lose,
Though[234] it be never lost: and if our watchfulness
Ought to be wise and serious ’gainst[235] a thief
That comes to steal our goods, things all without us,
That prove[236] vexation often more than comfort;
How mighty ought our providence to be,
To prevent those, if any such there were,
That come to rob our bosom of our joys,
That only make[237] poor man delight to live!
Pshaw! I’m too fearful—fie, fie! who can hurt me?
But ’tis a general cowardice, that shakes
The nerves of confidence: he that hides treasure,
Imagines every one thinks of that place,
When ’tis a thing least minded; nay, let him change
The place continually; where’er it keeps,
There will the fear keep still: yonder’s the store-house
Of all my comfort now—and see! it sends forth
_Enter_ HIPPOLITA _from the Wood._
A dear one to me:—Precious chief of women,
How does the good old soul? has he fed well?
HIP. Beshrew me, sir, he made the heartiest meal to-
day—
Much good may’t do his health.
CLEAN. A blessing on thee,
Both for thy news and wish!
HIP. His stomach, sir,
Is better’d wondrously since his concealment.
CLEAN. Heaven has a blessed work in’t. Come, we’re
safe here;
I prithee, call him forth; the air’s much wholesomer.
HIP. Father!
_Enter_ LEONIDES.
LEON. How[238] sweetly sounds the voice of a good
woman!
It is so seldom heard, that, when it speaks,
It ravishes all senses. Lists of honour!
I’ve a joy weeps to see you, ’tis so full,
So fairly fruitful.
CLEAN. I hope to see you often and return
Loaden with blessings, still to pour on some;
I find ’em all in my contented peace,
And lose not one in thousands; they’re disperst
So gloriously, I know not which are brightest.
I find ’em, as angels are found, by legions:
First, in the love and honesty of a wife,
Which is the chiefest[239] of all temporal blessings;
Next, in yourself, which is the hope and joy
Of all my actions, my affairs, my wishes;
And lastly, which crowns all, I find my soul
Crown’d with the peace of ’em, th’ eternal riches,
Man’s only portion for his heavenly marriage!
LEON. Rise; thou art all obedience, love, and
goodness.
I dare say that which thousand fathers cannot,
And that’s my precious comfort; never son
Was in the way more of celestial rising:
Thou art so made of such ascending virtue,
That all the powers of hell can’t[240] sink thee.
[_A horn sounded within._
CLEAN. Ha!
LEON. What was’t disturb’d my joy?
CLEAN. Did you not hear,
As afar off?
LEON. What, my excellent comfort?[241]
CLEAN. Nor you?
HIP. I heard a —— [_A horn._
CLEAN. Hark, again!
LEON. Bless my joy,
What ails it on a sudden?
CLEAN. Now? since lately?
LEON. ’Tis nothing but a symptom of thy care, man.
CLEAN. Alas, you do not hear well!
LEON. What was’t, daughter?
HIP. I heard a sound twice. [_A horn._
CLEAN. Hark! louder and nearer:
In, for the precious good of virtue, quick, sir!
Louder and nearer yet! at hand, at hand!
[_Exit_ LEONIDES.
A hunting here! ’tis strange: I never knew
Game follow’d in these woods before.
_Enter_ EVANDER, SIMONIDES, COURTIERS, _and_ CRATILUS.
HIP. Now let ’em come, and spare not.
CLEAN. Ha! ’tis—is’t not the duke?—look sparingly.
HIP. ’Tis he; but what of that? alas, take heed, sir;
Your care will overthrow us.
CLEAN. Come, it shall not:
Let’s set a pleasant face upon our fears,
Though our hearts shake with horror.—Ha, ha, ha!
EVAN. Hark!
CLEAN. Prithee, proceed;
I’m taken with these light things infinitely,
Since the old man’s decease; ha!—so they parted? ha, ha,
ha!
EVAN. Why, how should I believe this? look, he’s
merry,
As if he had no such charge: one with that care
Could never be so; still he holds his temper,
And ’tis the same still (with no difference)
He brought his father’s corpse to the grave with;
He laugh’d thus then, you know.
FIRST COURT. Ay, he may laugh, my lord,
That shews but how he glories in his cunning;
And [is], perhaps, done more to advance his wit,
That only he has over-reach’d the law,[242]
Than to express affection to his father.
SIM. He tells you right, my lord; his own cousin-
german
Reveal’d it first to me; a free-tongued woman,
And very excellent at telling secrets.
EVAN. If a contempt can be so neatly carried,
It gives me cause of wonder.
SIM. Troth, my lord,
’Twill prove a delicate cozening, I believe:
I’d have no scrivener offer to come near it.
EVAN. Cleanthes.
CLEAN. My lov’d lord.
EVAN. Not mov’d a whit,
Constant to lightness[243] still! ’Tis strange to meet
you
Upon a ground so unfrequented, sir:
This does not fit your passion; you’re for mirth,
Or I mistake you much.
CLEAN. But finding it
Grow to a noted imperfection in me,
For any thing too much is vicious,
I come to these disconsolate walks, of purpose,
Only to dull and take away the edge on’t.
I ever had a greater zeal to sadness,
A natural propension,[244] I confess, my lord,
Before that cheerful accident fell out—
If I may call a father’s funeral cheerful,
Without wrong done to duty or my love.
EVAN. It seems, then, you take pleasure i’these walks,
sir.
CLEAN. Contemplative content I do, my lord:
They bring into my mind oft meditations
So sweetly precious, that, in the parting,
I find a shower of grace upon my cheeks,
They take their leave so feelingly.
EVAN. So, sir!
CLEAN. Which is a kind of grave delight, my lord.
EVAN. And I’ve small cause, Cleanthes, to[245] afford
you
The least delight that has a name.
CLEAN. My lord!
SIM. Now it begins to fadge.
FIRST COURT. Peace! thou art so greedy, Sim.
EVAN. In your excess of joy you have express’d
Your rancour and contempt against my law:
Your smiles deserve [a] fining; you’ve profess’d
Derision openly, e’en to my face,
Which might be death, a little more incensed.
You do not come for any freedom here,
But for a project of your own:—
But all that’s known to be contentful to thee,
Shall in the use prove deadly. Your life’s mine,
If ever thy presumption do but lead thee
Into these walks again,—ay, or that woman;
I’ll have ’em watch’ a’ purpose.
[CLEANTHES _retires from the wood, followed by_
HIPPOLITA.
FIRST COURT. Now, now, his colour ebbs and flows.
SIM. Mark her’s too.
HIP. O, who shall bring food to the poor old man, now!
Speak somewhat, good sir, or we’re lost for ever.
CLEAN. O, you did wondrous ill to call me again!
There are not words to help us; if I entreat,
’Tis found; that will betray us worse than silence:
Prithee, let heaven alone, and let’s say nothing.
FIRST COURT. You’ve struck ’em dumb, my lord.
SIM. Look how guilt looks!
I would not have that fear upon my flesh,
To save ten fathers.
CLEAN. He is safe still, is he not?
HIP. O, you do ill to doubt it.
CLEAN. Thou art all goodness.
SIM. Now does your grace believe?
EVAN. ’Tis too apparent.
Search, make a speedy search; for the imposture
Cannot be far off, by the fear it sends.
CLEAN. Ha!
SIM. Has[246] the lapwing’s cunning, I’m afraid, my
lord,
That cries most[247] when she’s farthest from the nest.
CLEAN. O, we’re betray’d!
HIP. Betray’d, sir!
SIM. See, my lord,
It comes out more and more still.
[SIMONIDES _and_ COURTIERS _enter the wood_.
CLEAN. Bloody thief!
Come from that place; ’tis sacred, homicide!
’Tis not for thy adulterate hands to touch it.
HIP. O miserable virtue, what distress
Art thou in at this minute!
CLEAN. Help me, thunder,
For my power’s lost! angels, shoot plagues, and help me!
Why are these men in health, and I so heart-sick?
Or why should nature have that power in me
To levy up a thousand bleeding sorrows,
And not one comfort? only make[248] me lie
Like the poor mockery of an earthquake here,
Panting with horror,
And have not so much force in all my vengeance,
To shake a villain off me.[249]
_Re-enter_ SIMONIDES _and_ COURTIERS _with_ LEONIDES.
HIP. Use him gently,
And heaven will love you for’t.
CLEAN. Father! O father! now I see thee full
In thy affliction[250]; thou’rt a man of sorrow,
But reverently becom’st it, that’s my comfort:
Extremity was never better grac’d
Than with that look of thine; O, let me look still,
For I shall lose it! all my joy and strength
[_Kneels._
Is e’en eclips’d together. I transgress’d
Your law, my lord, let me receive the sting on’t;
Be once just, sir, and let the offender die:
He’s innocent in all, and I am guilty.
LEON. Your grace knows, when affection only speaks,
Truth is not always there; his love would draw
An undeserved misery on his youth,
And wrong a peace resolv’d, on both parts sinful.
’Tis I am guilty of my own concealment,
And, like a worldly coward, injur’d heaven
With fear to go to’t:—now I see my fault,
I am prepar’d with joy to suffer for’t.
EVAN. Go, give him quick despatch, let him see death:
And your presumption, sir, shall come to judgment.
[_Exeunt_ EVANDER, COURTIERS, SIMONIDES;
_and_ CRATILUS _with_ LEONIDES.
HIP. He’s going! O, he’s gone, sir!
CLEAN. Let me rise.
HIP. Why do you not then, and follow?
CLEAN. I strive for’t:
Is there no hand of pity that will ease me,
And take this villain from my heart awhile? [_Rises._
HIP. Alas! he’s gone.
CLEAN. A worse supplies his place then,
A weight more ponderous; I cannot follow.
HIP. O misery of affliction!
CLEAN. They will stay
Till I can come; they must be so good ever,
Though they be ne’er so cruel:
My last leave must be taken, think a’ that,
And his[251] last blessing given; I will not lose
That for a thousand comforts.[252]
HIP. That hope’s wretched.
CLEAN. The unutterable stings of fortune!
All griefs are to be borne save this alone;
This, like a headlong torrent, overturns
The frame of nature:
For he that gives us life first, as a father,
Locks all his natural sufferings in our blood;
The sorrows that he feels are our heart’s too,[253]
They are incorporate to us.
HIP. Noble sir!
CLEAN. Let me behold thee[254] well.
HIP. Sir!
CLEAN. Thou shouldst be good,
Or thou’rt a dangerous substance to be lodg’d
So near the heart of man.
HIP. What means this, dear sir?
CLEAN. To thy trust only was this blessed secret
Kindly committed; ’tis destroy’d, thou seest;
What follows to be thought on’t?
HIP. Miserable!
Why, here’s th’ unhappiness of woman still,
That, having forfeited in old times her[255] trust,
Now makes their faiths suspected that are just.
CLEAN. What shall I say to all my sorrows then,
That look for satisfaction?
_Enter_ EUGENIA.
EUG. Ha, ha, ha! cousin.
CLEAN. How ill dost thou become this time!
EUG. Ha, ha, ha!
Why, that’s but your opinion; a young wench
Becomes the time at all times.
Now, coz, we’re even: and[256] you be remember’d,
You left a _strumpet_ and a _whore_ at home with me,
And such fine field-bed words, which could not cost you
Less than a father.
CLEAN. Is it come that way?
EUG. Had you an uncle,
He should go the same way too.
CLEAN. O eternity!
What monster is this fiend in labour with?
EUG. An ass-colt with two heads, that’s she and you:
I will not lose so glorious a revenge,
Not to be understood in’t; I betray[’d] him;
And now we’re even, you’d best keep you so.
CLEAN. Is there not poison yet enough to kill me?
HIP. O sir, forgive me! it was I betray’d him.
CLEAN. How!
HIP. I.
CLEAN. The fellow of my heart! ’twill speed me, then.
HIP. Her tears that never wept, and mine own pity
E’en cozen’d me together, and stole from me
This secret, which fierce death should not have
purchas’d.
CLEAN. Nay, then we’re at an end; all we are false
ones,
And ought to suffer. I was false to wisdom,
In trusting woman; thou wert false to faith,
In uttering of the secret; and thou false
To goodness, in deceiving such a pity:
We are all tainted some way, but thou worst,
And for thy infectious spots ought[st] to die first.
[_Offers to kill_ EUGENIA.
EUG. Pray turn your weapon, sir, upon your mistress;
I come not so ill friended.—Rescue, servants!
_Re-enter_ SIMONIDES _and_ COURTIERS.
CLEAN. Are you so whorishly provided?
SIM. Yes, sir,
She has more weapons at command than one.
EUG. Put forward, man; thou art most sure to have me.
SIM. I shall be surer, if I keep behind, though.
EUG. Now, servants, shew your loves.
SIM. I’ll shew my love, too, afar off.
EUG. I love to be so courted; woo me there.
SIM. I love to keep good weapons, though ne’er fought
[with].
I’m sharper set within than I am without.
HIP. O gentlemen! Cleanthes!
EUG. Fight! upon him!
CLEAN.[257] Thy thirst of blood proclaims thee now a
strumpet.
EUG. ’Tis dainty, next to procreation fitting;
I’d either be destroying men or getting.
_Enter_ GUARD.
FIRST OFFICER. Forbear, on your allegiance, gentlemen!
He’s the duke’s prisoner, and we seize upon him
To answer this contempt against the law.
CLEAN. I obey fate in all things.
HIP. Happy rescue!
SIM. I would you’d seized upon him a minute sooner; ’t
had saved me a cut finger: I wonder how I came by’t, for
I never put my hand forth, I’m sure; I think my own
sword did cut it, if truth were known; may be the wire
in the handle: I have lived these five and twenty years,
and never knew what colour my blood was before. I never
durst eat oysters, nor cut peck-loaves.
EUG. You have shewn your spirits, gentlemen; but you
Have cut your finger.
SIM. Ay, the wedding-finger too, a pox on’t!
COURT. You’ll prove a bawdy bachelor, Sim, to have a cut
upon your finger before you are married.
SIM. I’ll never draw sword again, to have such a jest
put upon me. [_Exeunt._
ACT V. SCENE I.
_A Court of Justice._
_Enter_ SIMONIDES _and_ COURTIERS, _sword and mace
carried before them_.
SIM. Be ready with your prisoner; we’ll sit
instantly,
And rise before eleven,[258] or when we please;
Shall we not, fellow[259]-judges?
FIRST COURT. ’Tis committed
All to our power, censure, and pleasure, now;
The duke hath made us chief lords of this sessions,
And we may speak by fits, or sleep by turns.
SIM. Leave that to us; but, whatsoe’er we do,
The prisoner shall be sure to be condemn’d;
Sleeping or waking, we are resolv’d on that,
Before we sit[260] upon him?
SECOND COURT. Make you question
If not?—Cleanthes! and an[261] enemy!
Nay, a concealer of his father too!
A vild[262] example in these days of youth.
SIM. If they were given to follow such examples;
But sure I think they are not: howsoever,
’Twas wickedly attempted; that’s my judgment,
And it shall pass whilst I am in power to sit.
Never by prince were such young judges made;
But now the cause requires it: if you mark it,
He must make young or none; for all the old ones,
Their fathers,[263] he hath sent a fishing—and
My father’s one, I humbly thank his highness.
_Enter_ EUGENIA.
FIRST COURT. Widow![264]
EUG. You almost hit my name no[w], gentlemen;
You come so wondrous near it, I admire you
For your judgment.
SIM. My wife that must be! She.
EUG. My husband goes upon his last hour now.
FIRST COURT. On his last legs, I am sure.
SIM.[265] September the seventeenth—
I will not bate an hour on’t, and to-morrow
His latest hour’s expir’d.
SECOND COURT. Bring him to judgment;
The jury’s panell’d, and the verdict given
Ere[266] he appears; we have ta’en course for that.
SIM. And officers to attach the gray young man,
The youth of fourscore. Be of comfort, lady;
You[267] shall no longer bosom January;
For that I will take order, and provide
For you a lusty April.
EUG. The month that ought, indeed,
To go before May.
FIRST COURT. Do as we have said,
Take a strong guard, and bring him into court.
Lady Eugenia, see this charge perform’d,
That, having his life forfeited by the law,
He may relieve his soul.
EUG. Willingly.
From shaven chins never came better justice
Than these ne’er touch’d by razor.[268] [_Exit._
SIM. What you do,
Do suddenly, we charge you, for we purpose
To make but a short sessions:—a new business!
_Enter_ HIPPOLITA.
FIRST COURT. The fair Hippolita! now what’s your
suit?
HIP. Alas! I know not how to style you yet;
To call you judges doth not suit your years,
Nor heads and beards shew more antiquity;[269]—
Yet sway yourselves with equity and truth,
And I’ll proclaim you reverend, and repeat
Once in my lifetime I have seen grave heads
Plac’d upon young men’s shoulders.
SECOND COURT. Hark! she flouts us,
And thinks to make us monstrous.
HIP. Prove not so;
For yet, methinks, you bear the shapes of men,
(Though nothing more than merely beauty serves[270]
To make you appear angels); but if [you] crimson
Your name and power with blood and cruelty,
Suppress fair virtue, and enlarge bold[271] vice,
Both against heaven and nature, draw your sword,
Make either will or humour turn the soul[272]
Of your created greatness, and in that
Oppose all goodness, I must tell you there
You’re more than monstrous; in the very act
You change yourselves[273] to devils.
FIRST COURT. She’s a witch;
Hark! she begins to conjure.
SIM. Time, you see,
Is short, much business now on foot:—shall I
Give her her answer?
SECOND COURT. None upon the bench
More learnedly can do it.
SIM. He, he, hem! then list:
I wonder at thine impudence, young huswife,
That thou dar’st plead for such a base offender.
Conceal a father past his time to die!
What son and heir would have done this but he?
FIRST COURT. I vow, not I.
HIP. Because ye are parricides;
And how can comfort be deriv’d from such
That pity not their fathers?
SECOND COURT. You are fresh and fair; practise young
women’s ends;
When husbands are distress’d, provide them friends.
SIM. I’ll set him forward for thee without fee:[274]
Some wives would pay for such a courtesy.
HIP. Times of amazement! what duty, goodness
dwell[275]——
I sought for charity, but knock at hell. [_Exit._
_Re-enter_ EUGENIA, _and_ GUARD _with_ LYSANDER.
SIM. Eugenia come! Command a second guard
To bring Cleanthes in; we’ll not sit long;
My stomach strives to dinner.[276]
EUG. Now, servants, may a lady be so bold
To call your power so low?
SIM. A mistress may;
She can make all things low; then in that language
There can be no offence.
EUG. The time’s now come
Of manumissions; take him into bonds,
And I am then at freedom.
SECOND COURT. This the man!
He hath left off [o’] late to feed on snakes;
His beard’s turn’d white again.
FIRST COURT. Is’t possible these gouty legs danc’d
lately,
And [s]hatter’d in a galliard?
EUG. Jealousy
And fear of death can work strange prodigies.
SECOND COURT. The nimble fencer this, that made me
tear
And traverse ’bout the chamber?
SIM. Ay, and gave me
Those elbow-healths, the hangman take him for’t!
They had almost fetch’d my heart out: the Dutch
venny[277]
I swallow’d pretty well; but the half-pike
Had almost pepper’d[278] me; but had I took [long-
sword],
Being swollen, I had cast my lungs out.
_A Flourish._[279] _Enter_ EVANDER _and_ CRATILUS.
FIRST[280] COURT. Peace, the duke!
EVAN. Nay, back t’ your seats:[281] who’s that?
SECOND COURT. May’t please your highness, it is old
Lysander.[282]
EVAN. And brought in by his wife! a worthy precedent
Of one that no way would offend the law,
And should not pass away without remark.
You have been look’d for long.
LYS. But never fit
To die till now, my lord. My sins and I
Have been but newly parted; much ado
I had to get them leave me, or be taught
That difficult lesson, how to learn to die.
I never thought there had been such an act,
And ’tis the only discipline we are born for:
All studies else[283] are but as circular lines,
And death the centre where they must all meet.
I now can look upon thee, erring woman,Cro
And not be vex’d with jealousy; on young men,
Pleasure, and strength; all which were once mine own,
And mine must be theirs one day.
EVAN. You have tam’d him.
SIM. And know how to dispose him; that, my liege,
Hath been before determin’d. You confess
Yourself of full age?
LYS. Yes, and prepar’d to inherit——
EUG. Your place above.[284]
SIM. Of which the hangman’s strength
Shall put him in possession.
LYS. ’Tis still car’d[285]
To take me willing and in mind to die;
And such are, when the earth grows weary of them,
Most fit for heaven.
SIM. The court shall make his mittimus,
And send him thither presently: i’th’ mean time——
EVAN. Away[286] to death with him.
[_Exit_ CRATILUS _with_ LYSANDER.
_Enter_ GUARD _with_ CLEANTHES, HIPPOLITA _following,
weeping_.
SIM. So! see another person brought to the bar.
FIRST COURT. The arch-malefactor.
SECOND COURT. The grand offender,[287] the most
refractory
To all good order;[288] ’tis Cleanthes, he——
SIM. That would have sons grave fathers, ere their
fathers
Be sent unto their graves.
EVAN. There will be expectation
In your severe proceedings against him;
His act being so capital.
SIM. Fearful and bloody;
Therefore we charge these women leave the court,
Lest they should swoon[289] to hear it.
EUG. I, in expectation
Of a most happy freedom. [_Exit._
HIP. I, with the apprehension
Of a most sad and desolate widowhood. [_Exit._
FIRST COURT. We bring him to the bar——
SECOND COURT. Hold up your hand, sir.
CLEAN. More reverence to the place than to the
persons:
To the one I offer up a [spreading][290] palm
Of duty and obedience, [a]s to heaven,
Imploring justice, which was never wanting
Upon that bench whilst their own fathers sat;
But unto you, my hands contracted thus,
As threatening vengeance against murderers,
For they that kill in thought shed innocent blood.—
With pardon of[291] your highness, too much passion
Made me forget your presence, and the place
I now am call’d to.
EVAN. All our[292] majesty
And power we have to pardon or condemn
Is now conferr’d on them.
SIM. And these we’ll use
Little to thine advantage.
CLEAN. I expect it:
And as to these, I look no mercy from [them],
And much less mean[293] to entreat it. I thus now
Submit me [to] the emblems of your power,
The sword and bench: but, my most reverend judges,
Ere you proceed to sentence, (for I know
You have given me lost,) will you resolve me one thing?
FIRST COURT. So it be briefly question’d.
SECOND COURT. Shew your humour;[294]
Day spends itself apace.
CLEAN. My lords, it shall.[295]
Resolve me, then, where are your filial tears,
Your mourning habits, and sad hearts become,
That should attend your fathers’ funeral[s]?
Though the stric[t] law (which I will not accuse,
Because a subject) snatch’d away their lives,
It doth not bar you[296] to lament their deaths:
Or if you cannot spare one sad suspire,
It doth not bid you laugh them to their graves,
Lay subtle trains to antedate their years,
To be the sooner seis’d of their estates.
O, time of age! where’s that Æneas now,
Who letting all his jewels to the flames;
Forgetting country, kindred, treasure, friends,
Fortunes, and all things, save the name of son,
Which you so much forget, godlike[297] Æneas,
Who took his bedrid father on his back,
And with that sacred load (to him no burthen)
Hew’d out his way through blood, through fire, through
[arms],
Even all the arm’d streets of bright-burning Troy,
Only to save a father?
SIM. We’ve[298] no leisure now
To hear lessons read from Virgil; we’re[299] past
school,
And all this time thy judges.
SECOND COURT. It is[300] fit
That we proceed to sentence.
FIRST COURT. You are the mouth,
And now ’tis fit to open.
SIM. Justice, indeed,
Should ever be close-ear’d and open-mouth’d;
That is, to hear a[301] little, and speak much.
Know then, Cleanthes, there is none can be
A good son and bad[302] subject; for, if princes
Be call’d the people’s fathers, then the subjects
Are all his sons, and he that flouts the prince
Doth disobey his father: there you’re[303] gone.
FIRST COURT. And not to be recover’d.
SIM. And again—
SECOND COURT. If he be gone once, call him not again.
SIM. I say again, this act of thine expresses
A double disobedience: as our princes
Are fathers, so they are our sovereigns too;
And he that doth rebel ’gainst[304] sovereignty
Doth commit treason in the height of degree:
And now thou art quite gone.
FIRST COURT. Our brother in commission
Hath spoke his mind both learnedly and neatly,
And I can add but little; howsoever,
It shall send him packing.
He that begins a fault that wants example
Ought to be made example for the fault.
CLEAN. A fault! no longer can I hold myself
To hear vice upheld and virtue thrown down.
A fault! judge, I desire, then,[305] where it lieth,
In those that are my judges, or in me:
Heaven stand[s] on my side, pity, love, and duty.
SIM. Where are they, sir? who sees them but yourself?
CLEAN. Not you; and I am sure
You never had the gracious eyes to see them.
You think [that] you arraign me, but I hope
To sentence you at the bar.
SECOND COURT. That would shew brave.
CLEAN. This were the judgment-seat we [stand at]
now![306]
[Of] the heaviest crimes that ever made up [sin],
Unnaturalness and inhumanity,
You are found foul and guilty, by a jury
Made of your fathers’ curses, which have brought
Vengeance impending on you; and I, now,
Am forc’d to pronounce judgment on my judges.
The common laws of reason and of nature
Condemn you, _ipso facto_; you are parricides,
And if you marry, will beget the like,[307]
Who, when they’re[308] grown to full maturity,
Will hurry you, their fathers, to their graves.
Like traitors, you take council from the living,
Of upright judgment you would rob the bench,
(Experience and discretion snatch’d away
From the earth’s face,) turn all into disorder,
Imprison virtue, and infranchise vice,
And put the sword of justice into the hands
Of boys and madmen.
SIM. Well, well, have you done, sir?
CLEAN. I have spoke my thoughts.
SIM. Then I’ll begin and end.
EVAN. ’Tis time I now begin—
Here[309] your commission ends.
Cleanthes, come you[310] from the bar. Because
I know you are[311] severally disposed, I here
Invite you to an object will, no doubt,
Work in you contrary effects.—Music!
_Loud Music._ _Enter_ LEONIDES, CREON, LYSANDER,
_and other old men_.
CLEAN. Pray, heaven, I dream not! sure he moves, talks
comfortably,
As joy can wish a man. If he be chang’d
(Far above from me), he’s[312] not ill entreated;
His face doth promise fulness of content,
And glory hath a part in’t.
LEON. O my son!
EVAN. You that can claim acquaintance with these lads,
Talk freely.
SIM. I can see none there that’s worth
One hand to you from me.
EVAN. These are thy judges, and by their grave law
I find thee clear, but these delinquents guilty.
You must change places, for ’tis so decreed:
Such just pre-eminence hath thy goodness gain’d,
Thou art the judge now, they the men arraign’d.
[_To_ CLEANTHES.
FIRST COURT. Here’s fine dancing, gentlemen.
SECOND COURT. Is thy father amongst them?
SIM.[313] O, pox![314] I saw him the first thing I
look’d on.
Alive again! ’slight, I believe now a father
Hath as many lives as a mother.
CLEAN.[315] ’Tis full as blessed as ’tis wonderful.
O, bring me back to the same law again!
I am fouler than all these; seize on me, officers,
And bring me to new sentence.
SIM.[316] What’s all this?
CLEAN. A fault not to be pardon’d,
Unnaturalness is but sin’s shadow to it.
SIM. I am glad of that; I hope the case may alter,
And I turn judge again.
EVAN. Name your offence.
CLEAN. That I should be so vild[317]
As once to think you cruel.
EVAN. Is that all?
’Twas pardon’d ere confess’d: you that have sons,
If they be worthy, here may challenge them.[318]
CREON.[319] I should have one amongst them, had he had
grace
To have retain’d that name.
SIM. I pray you, father. [_Kneels._
CREON.[320] That name, I know, hath been long since
forgot.
SIM. I find but small comfort in remembering it now.
EVAN. Cleanthes, take your place[321] with these grave
father[s],
And read what in that table is inscrib’d.
[_Gives him a paper._
Now set these at the bar,
And read, Cleanthes, to the dread and terror
Of disobedience and unnatural blood.
CLEAN. [reads.] _It is decreed by the grave and learned
council of Epire, that no son and heir shall be held
capable of his inheritance at the age of one and twenty,
unless he be at that time as mature[322] in obedience,
manners, and goodness._
SIM. Sure I shall never be at full age, then, though I
live to an hundred years; and that’s nearer by twenty
than the last statute allowed.
FIRST COURT. A terrible act!
CLEAN.[323] _Moreover_, [_it_] _is enacted that all sons
aforesaid, whom either this law, or their own grace,
shall[324] reduce into the true method of duty, virtue,
and affection_, [_shall appear before us_][325] _and
relate their trial and approbation from Cleanthes, the
son of Leonides_—from me, my lord!
EVAN. From none but you, as fullest. Proceed, sir.
CLEAN. _Whom, for his manifest virtues, we make such
judge and censor of youth, and the absolute reference of
life and manners._
SIM. This is a brave world! when a man should be selling
land, he must be learning manners. Is’t not, my masters?
_Re-enter_ EUGENIA.
EUG. What’s here to do? my suitors at the bar!
The old band[326] shines again: O miserable! [_She
swoons._
EVAN. Read the law over to her, ’twill awake her: ’Tis
on deserves small pity.
CLEAN. _Lastly, it is ordained, that all such wives now
whatsoever, that shall design the[ir] husbands’ death,
to be soon rid of them, and entertain suitors in their
husbands’ lifetime_—
SIM. You had best read that a little louder; for, if any
thing, that will bring her to herself again, and find
her tongue.
CLEAN. _Shall not presume, on the penalty of our heavy
displeasure, to marry within ten years after._
EUG. That law’s too long by nine years and a half, I’ll
take my death upon’t, so shall most women.
CLEAN. _And those incontinent women so offending, to be
judge[d] and censured by Hippolita, wife to Cleanthes._
EUG. Of all the rest, I’ll not be judg[’d] by her.
_Re-enter_ HIPPOLITA.
CLEAN. Ah! here she comes. Let me prevent thy joys,
Prevent them but in part, and hide the rest;
Thou hast not strength enough to bear them, else.
HIP. Leonides! [_She faints._
CLEAN. I fear’d it all this while;
I knew ’twas past thy power. Hippolita!—
What contrariety is in women’s blood!
One faints for spleen and anger, she for grace.
EVAN. Of sons and wives we see the worst and best.
May[327] future ages yield Hippolitas
Many; but few like thee, Eugenia!
Let no Simonides henceforth have a fame,
But all blest sons live in Cleanthes’ name—
[_Harsh music within._
Ha! what strange kind of melody was that?
Yet give it entrance, whatsoe’er it be,
This day is all devote to liberty.
_Enter_ FIDDLERS, GNOTHO, COURTEZAN, COOK, BUTLER,
_&c. with the old_ WOMEN, AGATHA, _and one bearing
a bridecake for the wedding_.
GNOTH. Fiddlers, crowd on, crowd on;[328] let no man
lay a block in your way.—Crowd on, I say.
EVAN. Stay the crowd awhile; let’s know the reason of
this jollity.
CLEAN. Sirrah, do you know where you are?
GNOTH. Yes, sir; I am here, now here, and now here
again, sir.
LYS. Your hat[329] is too high crown’d, the duke in
presence.
GNOTH. The duke! as he is my sovereign, I do give him
two crowns for it,[330] and that’s equal change all the
world over: as I am lord of the day (being my marriage-
day the second) I do advance [my] bonnet. Crowd on
afore.
LEON. Good sir, a few words, if you will[331]
vouchsafe ’em;
Or will you be forc’d?
GNOTH. Forced! I would the duke himself would say so.
EVAN. I think he dares, sir, and does; if you stay
not,
You shall be forc’d.
GNOTH. I think so, my lord, and good reason too; shall
not I stay, when your grace says I shall? I were
unworthy to be a bridegroom in any part of your
highness’s dominions, then: will it please you to taste
of the wedlock-courtesy?
EVAN. O, by no means, sir; you shall not deface
So fair an ornament for me.
GNOTH. If your grace please to be cakated, say so.
EVAN. And which might be your fair bride, sir?
GNOTH. This is my two for one that must be, [the] _uxor
uxoris_, the remedy _doloris_, and the very _syceum
amoris_.
EVAN. And hast thou any else?
GNOTH. I have an older, my lord, for other uses.
CLEAN. My lord,
I do observe a strange decorum here:
These that do lead this day of jollity
Do march with music and most mirthful cheeks;
Those that do follow, sad and wofully,
Nearer the haviour of a funeral
Than [of] a wedding.
EVAN. ’Tis true: pray expound that, sir.
GNOTH. As the destiny of the day falls out, my lord, one
goes[332] to wedding, another goes to hanging; and your
grace, in the due consideration, shall find ’em much
alike; the one hath the ring upon her finger, the other
the[333] halter about her neck. _I take thee, Beatrice_,
says the bridegroom; _I take thee, Agatha_, says the
hangman; and both say together, _to have and to hold,
till death do part us_.
EVAN. This is not yet plain enough to my understanding.
GNOTH. If further your grace examine it, you shall find
I shew myself a dutiful subject, and obedient to the
law, myself, with these my good friends, and your good
subjects, our old wives, whose days are ripe, and their
lives forfeit to the law: only myself, more forward than
the rest, am already provided of my second choice.
EVAN. O, take heed, sir, you’ll run yourself into
danger!
If the law finds you with two wives at once,
There’s a shrewd premunire.
GNOTH. I have taken leave of the old, my lord. I have
nothing to say to her; she’s going to sea, your grace
knows whither, better than I do: she has a strong wind
with her, it stands full in her poop; when you please,
let her disembogue.
COOK. And the rest of her neighbours with her, whom we
present to the satisfaction of your highness’ law.
GNOTH. And so we take our leaves, and leave them to your
highness.—Crowd on.[334]
EVAN. Stay, stay, you are too forward. Will you marry,
And your wife yet living?
GNOTH. Alas! she’ll be dead before we can get to church.
If your grace would set her in the way, I would despatch
her: I have a venture on’t, which would return me, if
your highness would make a little more haste, two for
one.
EVAN. Come, my lords, we must sit again; here’s a case
Craves a most serious censure.
COOK. Now they shall be despatch’d out of the way.
GNOTH. I would they were gone once; the time goes away.
EVAN. Which is the wife unto the forward bridegroom?
AGA. I am, and[335] it please your grace.
EVAN. Trust me, a lusty woman, able-bodied,
And well-blooded cheeks.
GNOTH. O, she paints, my lord; she was a chambermaid
once, and learnt it of her lady.
EVAN. Sure I think she cannot be so old.
AGA. Truly I think so too, and please your grace.
GNOTH. Two to one with your grace of that! she’s
threescore by the book.
LEON. Peace, sirrah, you’re too loud.
COOK. Take heed, Gnotho;[336] if you move the duke’s
patience, ’tis an edge-tool; but a word and a blow; he
cuts off your head.
GNOTH. Cut off my head! away, ignorant! he knows it cost
more in the hair; he does not use to cut off many such
heads as mine: I will talk to him too; if he cut off my
head, I’ll give him my ears. I say my wife is at full
age for the law; the clerk shall take his oath, and the
church-book shall be sworn too.
EVAN. My lords, I leave this censure to you.
LEON. Then first, this fellow does deserve punishment,
For offering up a lusty able woman,
Which may do service to the commonwealth,
Where the law craves one impotent and useless.
CREON. Therefore to be severely punish’d,
For thus attempting a second marriage,
His wife yet living.
LYS. Nay, to have it trebled;
That even the day and instant when he should mourn,
As a kind husband, at[337] her funeral,
He leads a triumph to the scorn of it;
Which unseasonable joy ought to be punish’d
With all severity.
BUT. The fiddles will be in a foul case too, by and
by.
LEON. Nay, further; it seems he has a venture
Of two for one at his second marriage,
Which cannot be but a conspiracy
Against the former.
GNOTH. A mess of wise old men!
LYS. Sirrah, what can you answer to all these?
GNOTH. Ye are good old men, and talk as age will give
you leave. I would speak with the youthful duke himself;
he and I may speak of things that shall be thirty or
forty years after you are dead and rotten. Alas! you are
here to-day, and gone to sea to-morrow.
EVAN. In troth, sir, then I must be plain with you.
The law that should take away your old wife from you,
The which I do perceive was your desire,
Is void and frustrate; so for the rest:
There has been since another parliament
Has cut it off.
GNOTH. I see your grace is disposed to be pleasant.
EVAN. Yes, you might perceive that; I had not else
Thus dallied with your follies.
GNOTH. I’ll talk further with your grace when I come
back from church; in the mean time, you know what to do
with the old women.
EVAN. Stay, sir, unless in the mean time you mean
I cause a gibbet to be set up in your way,
And hang you at your return.
AGA. O gracious prince!
EVAN. Your old wives cannot die to-day by any
Law of mine; for aught I can say to ’em,
They may, by a new edict, bury you,
And then, perhaps, you[’ll] pay a new fine too.
GNOTH. This is fine, indeed!
AGA. O gracious prince! may he live a hundred years
more.
COOK. Your venture is not like to come in today,
Gnotho.[338]
GNOTH. Give me the principal back.
COOK. Nay, by my troth we’ll venture still—and I’m sure
we have as ill a venture of it as you; for we have taken
old wives of purpose, that[339] we had thought to have
put away at this market, and now we cannot utter a
pennyworth.
EVAN. Well, sirrah, you were best to discharge your new
charge, and take your old one to you.
GNOTH. O music! no music, but prove most doleful
trumpet;[340]
O bride! no bride, but thou mayst prove a strumpet;
O venture! no venture, I have, for one, now none;
O wife! thy life is sav’d when I hop’d it had[341] been
gone.
Case up your fruitless strings; no penny, no wedding;
Case up thy maidenhead; no priest, no bedding:
Avaunt, my venture! it can ne’er be restor’d,
Till Ag, my old wife, be thrown overboard:
Then come again, old Ag, since it must be so;
Let bride and venture with woful music go.
COOK. What for the bridecake, Gnotho?[342]
GNOTH. Let it be mouldy, now ’tis out of season,
Let it grow out of date, currant, and reason;
Let it be chipt and chopt, and given to chickens.
No more is got by that than William Dickins
Got by his wooden dishes.
Put up your plums, as fiddlers put up pipes,
The wedding dash’d, the bridegroom weeps and wipes.
Fiddlers, farewell! and now, without perhaps,
Put up your fiddles as you put up scraps.
LYS. This passion[343] has given some satisfaction yet.
My lord, I think you’ll pardon him now, with all the
rest, so they live honestly with the wives they have.
EVAN. O, most freely; free pardon to all.
COOK. Ay, we have deserved our pardons, if we can live
honestly with such reverend wives, that have no motion
in ’em but their tongues.
AGA. Heaven bless your grace! you’re a just prince.
GNOTH. All hopes[344] dash’d; the clerk’s duties lost,
[My] venture gone; my second wife divorc’d;
And which is worst, the old one come back again!
Such voyages are made now-a-days!
I will weep two salt [ones out] of my[345] nose,
besides these two fountains of fresh water. Your grace
had been more kind to your young subjects—heaven bless
and mend your laws, that they do not gull your poor
countrymen: but[346] I am not the first, by forty, that
has been undone by the law. ’Tis but a folly to stand
upon terms; I take my leave of your grace, as well as
mine eyes will give me leave: I would they had been
asleep in their beds when they opened ’em to see this
day! Come, Ag; come, Ag.
[_Exeunt_ GNOTHO _and_ AGATHA.
CREON. Were not you all my servants?
COOK. During your life, as we thought, sir; but our
young master turned us away.
CREON. How headlong, villain, wert thou in thy ruin!
SIM. I followed the fashion, sir, as other young men
did. If you were[347] as we thought you had been, we
should ne’er have come for this, I warrant you. We did
not feed, after the old fashion, on beef and mutton, and
such like.
CREON. Well, what damage or charge you have run
yourselves into by marriage, I cannot help, nor deliver
you from your wives; them you must keep; yourselves
shall again return[348] to me.
ALL. We thank your lordship for your love, and must
thank ourselves for our bad bargains. [_Exeunt._
EVAN. Cleanthes, you delay the power of law,
To be inflicted on these misgovern’d men,
That filial duty have so far transgress’d.
CLEAN. My lord, I see a satisfaction
Meeting the sentence, even preventing it,
Beating my words back in their utterance.
See, sir, there’s salt sorrow bringing forth fresh
And new duties, as the sea propagates.
The elephants have found their joints too——
[_They kneel._
Why, here’s humility able to bind up
The punishing hand[s] of the severest masters,
Much more the gentle fathers’.
SIM. I had ne’er thought to have been brought so low as
my knees again; but since there’s no remedy, fathers,
reverend fathers, as you ever hope to have good sons and
heirs, a handful of pity! we confess we have deserved
more than we are willing to receive at your hands,
though sons can never deserve too much of their fathers,
as shall appear afterwards.
CREON. And what way can you decline your feeding now?
You cannot retire to beeves and muttons, sure.
SIM. Alas! sir, you see a good pattern for that, now we
have laid by our high and lusty meats, and are down to
our marrow-bones already.
CREON. Well, sir, rise to virtues: we’ll bind[349] you
now;
You that were too weak yourselves to govern,
By others shall be govern’d.
LYS. Cleanthes,
I meet your justice with reconcilement:
If there be tears of faith in woman’s breast,
I have receiv’d a myriad, which confirms me
To find a happy renovation.
CLEAN. Here’s virtue’s throne,
Which I’ll embellish with my dearest jewels
Of love and faith, peace and affection!
This is the altar of my sacrifice,
Where daily my devoted knees shall bend.
Age-honour’d shrine! time still so love you,
That I so long may have you in mine eye
Until my memory lose your beginning!
For you, great prince, long may your fame survive,
Your justice and your wisdom never die,
Crown of your crown, the blessing of your land,
Which you reach to her from your regent[350] hand!
LEON. O Cleanthes, had you with us tasted
The entertainment of our retirement,
Fear’d and exclaim’d on in your ignorance,
You might have sooner died upon the wonder,
Than any rage or passion for our loss.
A place at hand we were all strangers in,
So spher’d about with music, such delights,
[Such] viands and attendance, and once a day
So cheered with a royal visitant,
That ofttimes, waking, our unsteady phantasies
Would question whether we yet liv’d or no,
Or had possession of that paradise
Where angels be the guard!
EVAN. Enough, Leonides,
You go beyond the praise; we have our end,
And all is ended well: we have now seen
The flowers and weeds that grow[351] about our court.
SIM. If these be weeds, I’m afraid I shall wear none so
good again as long as my father lives.
EVAN. Only this gentleman we did abuse
With our own bosom: we seem’d a tyrant,
And he our instrument. Look, ’tis Cratilus,
[_Discovers_ CRATILUS.
The man that you suppos’d had now been travell’d;
Which we gave leave to learn to speak,
And bring us foreign languages to Greece.
All’s joy,[352] I see; let music be the crown:
And set it high, “The good needs fear no law,
It is his safety, and the bad man’s awe.”
[_Flourish. Exeunt._
--------------
The notes on this play have enabled the reader to see
distinctly the difference between the present and the original
text: and now, at its close, I cannot help remarking, that,
out of respect for Gifford’s judgment, I have perhaps deviated
oftener from the old copy than I should have done if the play
had not been previously edited by him.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE
MAYOR OF QUEENBOROUGH.
_The Mayor of Quinborough: A Comedy. As it hath been often
Acted with much Applause at Black-Fryars, By His Majesties
Servants. Written by Tho. Middleton. London, Printed for
Henry Herringman, and are to be sold at his Shop at the Sign
of the Blew-Anchor in the Lower-Walk of the New-Exchange._
1661. 4to.
From the introduction of an individual as a chorus, and of
dumb shows (such as we find in _Pericles_, and other dramas
of an early date), we may gather that this piece was among
the author’s first attempts at dramatic composition. Nor does
the mention made in it of a play called the _Wild-Goose
Chase_, even supposing that Fletcher’s comedy be meant,
overthrow such a conclusion. The passage where that mention
occurs (Act v. Sc. i.) might have been inserted when the
_Mayor of Queenborough_ was revived, at a period long after
its first appearance on the stage: (every reader of our old
dramas is aware that play-wrights were often employed to make
“additions” to the works of their predecessors): it might,
indeed, have been written by Middleton himself, after the
appearance of Fletcher’s play, which was produced about 1621.
When Henslowe in his diary notices “Oct. 1602. Randall, Earl
of Chester, by T. Middleton,” Malone thinks (why, I know
not,) that the _Mayor of Queenborough_ is meant.
This drama has been reprinted in the different editions of
Dodsley’s _Coll. of Old Plays_, vol. xi.
“The author,” says Langbaine, “has chiefly followed
Rainulph’s _Polychronicon_: see besides Stowe, Speed, Du
Chesne, &c. in the reign of Vortiger.”—_Account of Dram.
Poets_, p. 372.
GENTLEMEN,[353]
You have the first flight of him, I assure you. This _Mayor
of Queenborough_, whom you have all heard of, and some of you
beheld upon the stage, now begins to walk abroad in print: he
has been known sufficiently by the reputation of his wit,
which is enough, by the way, to distinguish him from ordinary
mayors; but wit, you know, has skulked in corners for many
years past,[354] and he was thought to have most of it that
could best hide himself. Now whether this magistrate feared
the decimating times, or kept up the state of other mayors,
that are bound not to go out of their liberties during the
time of their mayoralty, I know not: ’tis enough for me to
put him into your hands, under the title of an honest man,
which will appear plainly to you, because you shall find him
all along to have a great pique to the rebel Oliver. I am
told his drollery yields to none the English drama did ever
produce; and though I would not put his modesty to the blush,
by speaking too much in his commendation, yet I know you will
agree with me, upon your better acquaintance with him, that
there is some difference in point of wit betwixt the _Mayor
of Queenborough_ and the _Mayor of Huntingdon_.[355]
DRAMATIS PERSONÆ.
CONSTANTIUS, }
AURELIUS AMBROSIUS, } _sons of_ CONSTANTINE.
UTHER PENDRAGON, }
VORTIGER.
VORTIMER, _his son_.
DEVONSHIRE, } _British lords_.
STAFFORD, }
GERMANUS, } _monks_.
LUPUS, }
HENGIST.
HORSUS.
SIMON, _a tanner, Mayor of Queenborough_.
AMINADAB, _his clerk_.
OLIVER, _a fustian-weaver_.
_Glover._
_Barber._
_Tailor._
_Felt-monger._
_Button-maker._
_Graziers._
_Players._
_Gentlemen._
_Murderers._
_Soldiers, Footmen, &c._
CASTIZA, _daughter to_ DEVONSHIRE.
ROXENA, _daughter to_ HENGIST.
_Ladies._
RAYNULPH HIGDEN, _Monk of Chester, as Chorus_.
THE
MAYOR OF QUEENBOROUGH.
--------------
ACT I.
_Enter_ RAYNULPH.[356]
RAY. What Raynulph, monk of Chester, can
Raise from his Polychronicon,
That raiseth him, as works do men,
To see long-parted light agen,[357]
That best may please this round fair ring,
With sparkling diamonds circled in,
I shall produce. If all my powers
Can win the grace of two poor hours,
Well apaid[358] I go to rest.
Ancient stories have been best;
Fashions, that are now call’d new,
Have been worn by more than you;
Elder times have us’d the same,
Though these new ones get the name:
So in story what now told
That takes not part with days of old?
Then to approve time’s mutual glory,
Join new time’s love to old time’s story. [_Exit._
SCENE I.
_Before a Monastery._[359]
_Shouts within; then enter_ VORTIGER, _carrying the
crown_.
VORT. Will that wide-throated beast, the multitude,
Never leave bellowing? Courtiers are ill
Advisèd when they first make such monsters.
How near was I to a sceptre and a crown!
Fair power was even upon me; my desires
Were casting glory, till this forkèd rabble,
With their infectious acclamations,
Poison’d my fortunes for Constantine’s sons.
Well, though I rise not king, I’ll seek the means
To grow as near to one as policy can,
And choke their expectations.
_Enter_ DEVONSHIRE _and_ STAFFORD.
Now, good lords,
In whose kind loves and wishes I am built
As high as human dignity can aspire,
Are yet those trunks, that have no other souls
But noise and ignorance, something more quiet?
DEVON. Nor are they like to be, for aught we gather:
Their wills are up still; nothing can appease them;
Good speeches are but cast away upon them.
VORT. Then, since necessity and fate withstand me,
I’ll strive to enter at a straiter passage.
Your sudden aid and counsels, good my lords.
STAFF. They’re[360] ours no longer than they do you
service.
_Enter_ CONSTANTIUS _in the habit of a monk,
attended by_ GERMANUS _and_ LUPUS: _as they are
going into the monastery_, VORTIGER _stays them_.
VORT. Vessels of sanctity, be pleas’d a while
To give attention to the general peace,
Wherein heaven is serv’d too, though not so purely.
Constantius, eldest son of Constantine,
We here seize on thee for the general good,
And in thy right of birth.
CONST. On me! for what, lords?
VORT. The kingdom’s government.
CONST. O powers of blessedness,
Keep me from growing downwards into earth again!
I hope I’m[361] further on my way than so.—
Set forwards!
VORT. You must not.
CONST. How!
VORT. I know your wisdom
Will light upon a way to pardon us,
When you shall read in every Briton’s brow
The urg’d necessity of the times.
CONST. What necessity can there be in the world,
But prayer and repentance? and that business
I am about now.
VORT. Hark, afar off still!
We lose and hazard much.—Holy Germanus
And reverend Lupus, with all expedition
Set the crown on him.
CONST. No such mark of fortune
Comes near my head.
VORT. My lord, we’re[362] forc’d to rule you.
CONST. Dare you receive heaven’s light in at your
eyelids,
And offer violence to religion?
Take heed;
The very beam let in to comfort you
May be the fire to burn you. On these knees,
[_Kneeling._
Harden’d with zealous prayers, I entreat you
Bring not my cares into the world again!
Think with how much unwillingness and anguish
A glorified soul parted from the body
Would to that loathsome jail again return:
With such great pain a well-subdu’d affection
Re-enters worldly business.
VORT. Good my lord,
I know you cannot lodge so many virtues,
But patience must be one. As low as earth
[_Kneeling with_ DEVONSHIRE _and_ STAFFORD.
We beg the freeness of your own consent,
Which else must be constrain’d; and time it were
Either agreed or forc’d. Speak, good my lord,
For you bind up more sins in this delay
Than thousand prayers can absolve again.
CONST. Were’t but my death, you should not kneel so
long for’t.
VORT. ’Twill be the death of millions if you rise not,
And that betimes too.—Lend your help, my lords,
For fear all come too late.
[_They rise and raise_ CONSTANTIUS.
CONST. This is a cruelty
That peaceful man did never suffer yet,
To make me die again, that once was dead,
And begin all that ended long before.
Hold, Lupus and Germanus: you are lights
Of holiness and religion; can you offer
The thing that is not lawful? stand not I
Clear from all temporal charge by my profession?
GER. Not when a time so violent calls upon you.
Who’s[363] born a prince, is born a general peace,[364]
Not his own only: heaven will look for him
In others’ acts,[365] and will requite[366] him there.
What is in you religious, must be shewn
In saving many more souls than your own.
CONST. Did not great Constantine, our noble father,
Deem me unfit for government and rule,
And therefore preas’d[367] me into this profession?
Which I’ve[368] held strict, and love it above glory.
Nor is there want of me: yourselves can witness,
Heaven hath provided largely for your peace,
And bless’d you with the lives of my two brothers:
Fix your obedience there, leave me a servant.
[_They put the crown on the head of_ CONSTANTIUS.
ALL. Long live Constantius, son of Constantine,
King of Great Britain!
CONST. I do feel a want
And extreme poverty of joy within;
The peace I had is parted ’mongst rude men;
To keep them quiet, I have lost it all.
What can the kingdom gain by my undoing?
That riches is not best, though it be mighty,
That’s purchas’d by the ruin of another;
Nor can the peace, so filch’d, e’er[369] thrive with
them:
And if’t be worthily held sacrilege
To rob a temple, ’tis no less offence
To ravish meditations from the soul,
The consecrated altar in a man:
And all their hopes will be beguil’d in me;
I know no more the way to temporal rule,
Than he that’s born and has his years come to him
In a rough desert. Well may the weight kill me;
And that’s the fairest good I look for from it.
VORT. Not so, great king: here stoops a faithful
servant
Would sooner perish under it with cheerfulness,
Than your meek soul should feel oppression
Of ruder cares: such common coarse employments
Cast upon me your servant, upon Vortiger.
I see you are not made for noise and pains,
Clamours of suitors, injuries, and redresses,
Millions of actions, rising with the sun,
Like laws still ending, and yet never done,
Of power to turn a great man to the state
Of his marble monument with over-watching.
To be oppress’d is not requir’d of you, my lord,
But only to be king. The broken sleeps
Let me take from you, sir; the toils and troubles,
All that is burthenous in authority,
Please you lay it on me, and what is glorious
Receive’t[370] to your own brightness.
CONST. Worthy Vortiger,
If ’twere not sin to grieve another’s patience
With what we cannot tolerate ourself,
How happy were I in thee and thy love!
There’s nothing makes man feel his miseries
But knowledge only: reason, that is plac’d
For man’s director, is his chief afflictor;
For though I cannot bear the weight myself,
I cannot have that barrenness of remorse,[371]
To see another groan under my burthen.
VORT. I’m[372] quite blown up a conscionable way:
There’s even a trick of murdering in some pity.
The death of all my hopes I see already:
There was no other likelihood, for religion
Was never friend of mine yet. [_Aside._
CONST. Holy partners in strictest abstinence,
Cruel necessity hath forc’d me from you:
We part, I fear, for ever; but in mind
I will be always here; here let me stay.
DEVON. My lord, you know the times.
CONST. Farewell, blest souls; I fear I shall offend:
He that draws tears from you takes your best friend.
[_Exeunt_ CONSTANTIUS, DEVONSHIRE, _and_ STAFFORD;
_while_ LUPUS _and_ GERMANUS _enter the
monastery_.
VORT. Can the great motion of ambition stand,
Like wheels false wrought by an unskilful hand?
Then, Time, stand thou too: let no hopes arrive
At their sweet wishfulness, till mine set forwards.
Would I could stay thy[373] existence, as I can
Thy glassy counterfeit in hours of sand!
I’d keep thee turn’d down, till my wishes rose;
Then we’d[374] both rise together.
What several inclinations are in nature!
How much is he disquieted, and wears royalty
Disdainfully upon him, like a curse!
Calls a fair crown the weight of his afflictions!
When here’s a soul would sink under the burthen,
Yet well recover’t.[375] I will use all means
To vex authority from him, and in all
Study what most may discontent his blood,
Making my mask my zeal to the public good:
Not possible a richer policy
Can have conception in the thought of man.
_Enter two_ GRAZIERS.
FIRST GRAZ. An honourable life enclose your lordship!
VORT. Now, what are you?
SECOND GRAZ. Graziers, if’t like[376] your lordship.
VORT. So it should seem by your enclosures.
What’s your affair with me?
FIRST GRAZ. We are your
Petitioners, my lord.
VORT. For what? depart:
Petitioners to me! you’ve[377] well deserv’d
My grace and favour. Have you not a ruler
After your own election? hie you to court;
Get near and close, be loud and bold enough,
You cannot choose but speed. [_Exit._
SECOND GRAZ. If that will do’t,
We have throats wide enough; we’ll put them to’t.
[_Exeunt._
DUMB SHOW.
FORTUNE _discovered, in her hand a round ball full of
lots; then enter_[378] HENGIST and HORSUS, _with
others: they draw lots, and having opened them, all
depart save_ HENGIST _and_ HORSUS, _who kneel and
embrace: then enter_ ROXENA, _seeming to take leave
of_ HENGIST _in great passion,[379] but more
especially and warily of_ HORSUS, _her lover: she
departs one way_, HENGIST _and_ HORSUS _another_.
_Enter_ RAYNULPH.
RAY. When Germany was overgrown
With sons of peace too thickly sown,
Several guides were chosen then
By destin’d lots, to lead out men;
And they whom Fortune here withstands
Must prove their fates in other lands.
On these two captains fell the lot;
But that which must not be forgot,
Was Roxena’s cunning grief;
Who from her father, like a thief,
Hid her best and truest tears,
Which her lustful lover wears
In many a stoln and wary kiss,
Unseen of father. Maids do this,
Yet highly scorn to be call’d strumpets too:
But what they lack of’t, I’ll be judg’d by you.
[_Exit._
SCENE II.
_A Hall in the Palace._
_Enter_ VORTIGER, FELT-MONGER, BUTTON-MAKER, GRAZIERS,
_and other petitioners_.
VORT. This way his majesty comes.
ALL. Thank your good lordship.
VORT. When you hear yon door open—
ALL. Very good, my lord.
VORT. Be ready with your several suits; put forward.
GRAZ. That’s a thing every man does naturally, sir,
That is a suitor, and doth mean to speed.
VORT. ’Tis well you’re[380] so deep learn’d. Take no
denials.
ALL. No, my good lord.
VORT. Not any, if you love
The prosperity of your suits: you mar all utterly,
And overthrow your fruitful hopes for ever,
If either fifth or sixth, nay, tenth repulse
Fasten upon your bashfulness.
ALL. Say you so, my lord?
We can be troublesome if we list.
VORT. I know it:
I felt it but too late in the general sum
Of your rank brotherhood, which now I thank you for.—
While this vexation is in play, I’ll study
For a second; then a third to that; one still
To vex another, that he shall be glad
To yield up power; if not, it shall be had.
[_Aside, and exit._
BUTT. Hark! I protest, my heart was coming upwards:
I thought the door had open’d.
GRAZ. Marry, would it had, sir!
BUTT. I have such a treacherous heart of my own, ’twill
throb at the very fall of a farthingale.
GRAZ. Not if it fall on the rushes.[381]
BUTT. Yes, truly; if there be no light in the room, I
shall throb presently. The first time it took me, my
wife was in the company: I remember the room was not
half so light as this; but I’ll be sworn I was a whole
hour in finding her.
GRAZ. Byrlady,[382] y’had a long time of throbbing of it
then.
BUTT. Still I felt men, but I could feel no women; I
thought they had been all sunk. I have made a vow for’t,
I’ll never have meeting, while I live, by candle-light
again.
GRAZ. Yes, sir, in lanterns.
BUTT. Yes, sir, in lanterns; but I’ll never trust candle
naked again.
GRAZ. Hark, hark! stand close: it opens now indeed!
BUTT. O majesty, what art thou! I’d give any man half my
suit to deliver my petition: it is in the behalf of
button-makers, and so it seems by my flesh.[383]
_Enter_ CONSTANTIUS _in regal attire, and two_
GENTLEMEN.
CONST. Pray do not follow me, unless you do it
To wonder at my garments; there’s no cause
I give you why you should: ’tis shame enough,
Methinks, to look upon myself;
It grieves me that more should. The other weeds
Became me better, but the lords are pleas’d
To force me to wear these; I would not else:
I pray be satisfied; I call’d you not.
Wonder of madness! can you stand so idle,
And know that you must die?
FIRST GENT. We’re[384] all commanded, sir;
Besides, it is our duties to your grace,
To give attendance.
CONST. What a wild thing is this!
No marvel though you tremble at death’s name,
When you’ll not see the cause why you are fools.
For charity’s sake, desist here, I pray you!
Make not my presence guilty of your sloth:
Withdraw, young men, and find you honest business.
SECOND GENT. What hopes have we to rise by following
him?
I’ll give him over shortly.
FIRST GENT. He’s too nice,[385]
Too holy for young gentlemen to follow
That have good faces and sweet running fortunes.
[_Exeunt_ GENTLEMEN.
CONST. Eight hours a-day in serious contemplation
Is but a bare allowance; no higher food
To the soul than bread and water to the body;
And that’s but needful; then more would do better.
BUTT. Let us all kneel together; ’twill move pity:
I’ve[386] been at the begging of a hundred suits.
[_All the petitioners kneel._
CONST. How happy am I in the sight of you!
Here are religious souls, that lose not time:
With what devotion do they point at heaven,
And seem to check me that am too remiss!
I bring my zeal among you, holy men:
If I see any kneel, and I sit out, [_Kneels._
That hour is not well spent. Methinks, strict souls,
You have been of some order in your times.
GRAZ. Graziers and braziers some, and this a felt-maker.
BUTT. Here’s his petition and mine, if it like[387] your
grace. [_Giving petitions._
GRAZ. Look upon mine, I am the longest suitor; I was
undone seven years ago.
CONST. [_rising with the others_] You’ve[388] mock’d
My good hopes. Call you these petitions?
Why, there’s no form of prayer among them all.
BUTT. Yes, in the bottom there is[389] half a line
Prays for your majesty, if you look on mine.
CONST. Make your requests to heaven, not to me.
BUTT. ’Las! mine’s a supplication for brass buttons,
sir.
FELT. There’s a great enormity in wool; I beseech your
grace consider it.
GRAZ. Pastures rise two-pence an acre; what will this
world come to!
BUTT. I do beseech your grace——
GRAZ. Good your grace——
CONST. O, this is one of my afflictions
That with the crown enclos’d me! I must bear it.
GRAZ. Your grace’s answer to my supplication.
BUTT. Mine, my lord.
CONST. No violent storm lasts ever;
That is the comfort of’t.[390]
FELT. Your highness’s answer.
GRAZ. We are almost all undone, the country beggar’d.
BUTT. See, see, he points at heaven, as who should say
There’s enough there: but ’tis a great way thither.
There’s no good to be done, I see that already; we may
all spend our mouths like a company of hounds in chase
of a royal deer, and then go home and fall to cold
mutton-bones, when we have done.
GRAZ. My wife will hang me, that’s my currish destiny.
[_Exeunt all except_ CONSTANTIUS.
CONST. Thanks, heaven! ’tis o’er now: we should
ne’er[391] know rightly
The sweetness of a calm, but for a storm.
Here’s a wish’d hour for contemplation now;
All’s still and silent; here is a true kingdom.
_Re-enter_ VORTIGER.
VORT. My lord.
CONST. Again?
VORT. Alas, this is but early
And gentle to the troops of businesses
That flock about authority! you must forthwith
Settle your mind to marry.
CONST. How! to marry?
VORT. And suddenly, there’s no pause to be given;
The people’s wills are violent, and covetous
Of a succession from your loins.
CONST. From me
There can come none: a profess’d abstinence
Hath set a virgin seal upon my blood,
And alter’d all the course; the heat I have
Is all enclos’d within a zeal to virtue,
And that’s not fit for earthly propagation.
Alas, I shall but forfeit all their hopes!
I’m a man made without desires, tell them.
VORT. I prov’d them with such words, but all were
fruitless.
A virgin of the highest subject’s blood
They have pick’d out for your embrace, and send her,
Bless’d with their general wishes, into fruitfulness.
Lo! where she comes, my lord.
_Enter_ CASTIZA.
CONST. I never felt
Th’ unhappy hand of misery till this touch:
A patience I could find for all but this.
CAST. My lord, your vow’d love ventures me but
dangerously.
VORT. ’Tis but to strengthen a vexation politic.
CAST.[392] That’s an uncharitable practice, trust me,
sir,
VORT. No more of that.
CAST. But say he should affect me, sir,
How should I ’scape him then? I have but one
Faith, my lord, and that you have already;
Our late contràct is a divine witness to’t.
VORT. I am not void of shifting-rooms and helps
For all projècts that I commit with you. [_Exit._
CAST. This is an ungodly way to come to honour;
I do not like it: I love lord Vortiger,
But not these practices; they’re too uncharitable.
[_Aside._
CONST. Are you a virgin?
CAST. Never yet, my lord,
Known to the will of man.
CONST. O blessèd creature!
And does too much felicity make you surfeit?
Are you in soul assur’d there is a state
Prepar’d for you, for you, a glorious one,
In midst of heaven, now in the state you stand in,
And had you rather, after much known misery,
Cares and hard labours, mingled with a curse,
Throng but to the door, and hardly get a place there?
Think, hath the world a folly like this madness?
Keep still that holy and immaculate fire,
You chaste lamp[393] of eternity! ’tis a treasure
Too precious for death’s moment to partake,
This twinkling of short life. Disdain as much
To let mortality know you, as stars
To kiss the pavements; you’ve a substance as
Excellent as theirs, holding your pureness:
They look upon corruption, as you do,
But are stars still; be you a virgin too.
CAST. I’ll never marry. What though my truth be
engag’d
To Vortiger? forsaking all the world
I save it well, and do my faith no wrong. [_Aside._
You’ve mightily prevail’d, great virtuous sir;
I’m[394] bound eternally to praise your goodness:
My thoughts henceforth shall be as pure from man,
As ever made a virgin’s name immortal.
CONST. I will do that for joy, I never did,
Nor ever will again.
_As he kisses her, re-enter_ VORTIGER _and_ GENTLEMEN.
FIRST GENT. My lord, he’s taken.
VORT. I’m[395] sorry for’t, I like not that so well;
They’re something too familiar for their time, methinks.
This way of kissing is no way to vex him:
Why I, that have a weaker faith and patience,
Could endure more than that, coming from a woman.
Despatch, and bring his answer speedily. [_Exit._
FIRST GENT. My lord, my gracious lord!
CONST. Beshrew thy heart!
SECOND GENT. They all attend your grace.
CONST. I would not have them:
’Twould please me better, if they’d[396] all depart,
And leave me to myself; or put me out,
And take it to themselves.
FIRST GENT. The noon is past;
Meat’s on the table.
CONST. Meat! away, get from me;
Thy memory is diseas’d; what saint’s eve’s this?
FIRST GENT. Saint Agatha’s, I take it.
CONST. Is it so?
I am not worthy to be serv’d before her;
And so return, I pray.
SECOND GENT. He’ll starve the guard, if this be
suffered: if we set court bellies by a monastery clock,
he that breaks a fellow’s pate now, will not be able to
crack a louse within this twelvemonth.
[_Aside, and exeunt_ GENTLEMEN.
CONST. ’Tis sure forgetfulness, and not man’s will,
That leads him forth into licentious ways;
He cannot certainly commit such errors,
And think upon them truly as they’re[397] acting.
Why’s abstinence ordain’d, but for such seasons?
_Re-enter_ VORTIGER.
VORT. My lord, you’ve pleas’d to put us to much pains,
But we confess ’tis portion of our duty.
Will your grace please to walk? dinner stays for you.
CONST. I’ve[398] answer’d that already.
VORT. But, my lord,
We must not so yield to you: pardon me,
’Tis for the general good; you must be rul’d, sir;
Your health and life are[399] dearer to us now:
Think where you are, at court; this is no monastery.
CONST. But, sir, my conscience keeps still where it
was:
I may not eat this day.
VORT. We’ve[400] sworn you shall,
And plentifully too: we must preserve you, sir,
Though you be wilful; ’tis no slight condition
To be a king.
CONST. Would I were less than man!
VORT. You will[401] make the people rise, my lord,
In great despair of your continuance,
If you neglect the means that must sustain you.
CONST. I never eat on eves.
VORT. But now you must;
It concerns others’ healths that you take food:
I’ve[402] chang’d your life, you well may change your
mood.
CONST. This is beyond all cruelty.
VORT. ’Tis our care, my lord. [_Exeunt._
ACT II. SCENE I.
_A Room in the Palace._
_Enter_ VORTIGER _and_ CASTIZA.
CAST. My lord, I am resolv’d; tempt me no farther;
’Tis all to fruitless purpose.
VORT. Are you well?
CAST. Never so perfect in the truth of health
As at this instant.
VORT. Then I doubt my own,
Or that I am not waking.
CAST. Would you were then!
You’d[403] praise my resolution.
VORT. This is wondrous!
Are you not mine by contract?
CAST. ’Tis most true, my lord,
And I am better bless’d in’t than I look’d for,
In that I am confin’d in faith so strictly:
I’m[404] bound, my lord, to marry none but you,—
You’ll grant me that,—and you I’ll never marry.
VORT. It draws me into violence and hazard:
I saw you kiss the king.
CAST. I grant you so, sir;
Where could I take my leave of the world better?
I wrong’d not you in that; you will acknowledge
A king is the best part of’t.[405]
VORT. O, my passion!
CAST. I see you something yielding to infirmity, sir;
I take my leave.
VORT. Why, ’tis not possible!
CAST. The fault is in your faith; time I were gone
To give it better strengthening.
VORT. Hark you, lady.——
CAST. Send your intent to the next monastery;
There you shall find my answer ever after;
And so with my last duty to your lordship,
For whose prosperity I will pray as heartily
As for my own. [_Exit._
VORT. How am I serv’d in this?
I offer a vexation to the king;
He sends it home into my blood with ’vantage.
I’ll put off time no longer: I have brought him
Into most men’s neglects, calling his zeal
A deep pride hallow’d over, love of ease
More than devotion or the public benefit;
Which catcheth many men’s beliefs. I’m strong[406] too
In people’s wishes; their affections point at me.
I lose much time and glory; that redeem’d,
She that now flies returns with joy and wonder:
Greatness and woman’s wish ne’er keep asunder.
[_Exit._
DUMB SHOW.
[_Enter two villains; to them_ VORTIGER, _who seems to
solicit them with gold, then swears them, and
exit. Enter_ CONSTANTIUS _meditating; they rudely
strike down his book, and draw their swords; he
kneels and spreads his arms; they kill him, and
hurry off the body. Enter_ VORTIGER, DEVONSHIRE,
_and_ STAFFORD, _in conference; to them the two
villains presenting the head of_ CONSTANTIUS;
VORTIGER _seems sorrowful, and in rage stabs them
both. Then the lords crown_ VORTIGER, _and fetch
in_ CASTIZA, _who comes unwillingly_; VORTIGER
_hales her, and they crown her_: AURELIUS _and_
UTHER, _brothers of_ CONSTANTIUS, _seeing him
crowned, draw their swords and fly_.
_Enter_ RAYNULPH.
RAY. When nothing could prevail to tire
The good king’s patience, they did hire
Two wicked rogues to take his life;
In whom a while there fell a strife
Of pity and fury; but the gold
Made pity faint, and fury bold.
Then to Vortiger they bring
The head of that religious king;
Who feigning grief, to clear his guilt,
Makes the slaughterers’ blood be spilt.
Then crown they him, and force the maid,
That vow’d a virgin-life, to wed;
Such a strength great power extends,
It conquers fathers, kindred, friends;
And since fate’s pleas’d to change her life,
She proves as holy in a wife.
More to tell, were to betray
What deeds in their own tongues must say:
Only this, the good king dead,
The brothers poor in safety fled. [_Exit._
SCENE II.
_A Hall in the Palace._
_Enter_ VORTIGER _crowned, a_ GENTLEMAN _meeting him_.
GENT. My lord!
VORT. I fear thy news will fetch a curse, it comes
With such a violence.
GENT. The people are up
In arms against you.
VORT. O this dream of glory!
Sweet power, before I can have time to taste thee,
Must I for ever lose thee?—What’s the imposthume
That swells them now?
GENT. The murder of Constantius.
VORT. Ulcers of realms! they hated him alive,
Grew weary of the minute of his reign,
Call’d him an evil of their own electing;
And is their ignorant zeal so fiery now,
When all their thanks are cold? the mutable hearts
That move in their false breasts!—Provide me safety:
[_Noise within._
Hark! I hear ruin threaten me with a voice
That imitates thunder.
_Enter_ SECOND GENTLEMAN.
SECOND GENT. Where’s the king?
VORT. Who takes him?
SECOND GENT. Send peace to all your royal thoughts, my
lord:
A fleet of valiant Saxons newly landed
Offer the truth of all their service to you.
VORT. Saxons! my wishes: let them have free entrance,
And plenteous welcomes from all hearts that love us;
[_Exit_ SECOND GENTLEMAN.
They never could come happier.
_Re-enter_ SECOND GENTLEMAN _with_ HENGIST, HORSUS,
_and Soldiers_.
HENG. Health, power, and victory to Vortiger!
VORT. There can be no more pleasure to a king,
If all the languages earth spake were ransack’d.
Your names I know not; but so much good fortune
And warranted worth lightens your fair aspècts,[407]
I cannot but in arms of love enfold you.
HENG. The mistress of our birth’s hope, fruitful
Germany,
Calls me Hengistus, and this captain Horsus;
A man low-built, but yet in deeds of arms
Flame is not swifter. We are all, my lord,
The sons of Fortune; she has sent us forth
To thrive by the red sweat of our own merits;
And since, after the rage of many a tempest,
Our fates have cast us upon Britain’s bounds,
We offer you the first-fruits of our wounds.
VORT. Which we shall dearly prize: the mean’st blood
spent
Shall at wealth’s fountain make its own content.
HENG. You double vigour in us then, my lord:
Pay is the soul of such as thrive by the sword.
[_Exeunt._
SCENE III.
_Near the Palace._
_Enter_ VORTIGER _and_ GENTLEMEN. _Alarm and noise of
skirmishes within._
FIRST GENT. My lord, these Saxons bring a fortune with
them
Stay[s][408] any Roman success.
VORT. On, speak, forwards!
I will not take one minute from thy tidings.
FIRST GENT. The main supporters of this insurrection
They’ve[409] taken prisoners, and the rest so tame[d],
They stoop to the least grace that flows from mercy.
VORT. Never came power guided by better stars
Than these men’s fortitudes: yet they’re misbelievers,
Which to my reason is wondrous.
_Enter_ HENGIST, HORSUS, _and Soldiers, with Prisoners_.
You’ve given me such a first taste of your worth,
’Twill never from my love; when life is gone,
The memory sure will follow, my soul still
Participating immortality with it.
But here’s the misery of earth’s limited glory,
There’s not a way reveal’d to any honour
Above the fame[410] which your own merits give you.
HENG. Indeed, my lord, we hold, when all’s summ’d up
That can be made for worth to be express’d,
The fame that a man wins himself is best;
That he may call his own. Honours put to him
Make him no more a man than his clothes do,
And are as soon ta’en off; for in the warmth
The heat comes from the body, not the weeds:
So man’s true fame must strike from his own deeds.
And since by this event which fortune speaks us,
This land appears the fair predestin’d soil
Ordain’d for our good hap, we crave, my lord,
A little earth to thrive on, what you please,
Where we’ll but keep a nursery of good spirits
To fight for you and yours.
VORT. Sir, for our treasure,
’Tis open to your merits, as our love;
But for ye’re strangers in religion chiefly—
Which is the greatest alienation can be,
And breeds most factions in the bloods of men—
I must not yield to that.
_Enter_ SIMON _with a hide_.
HENG. ’S precious, my lord,
I see a pattern; be it but so little
As yon poor hide will compass.
VORT. How, the hide!
HENG. Rather than nothing, sir.
VORT. Since you’re so reasonable,
Take so much in the best part of our kingdom.
HENG. We thank your grace.
[_Exit_ VORTIGER _with_ GENTLEMEN.
Rivers from bubbling springs
Have rise at first, and great from abject things.
Stay yonder fellow: he came luckily,
And he shall fare well for’t, whate’er he be;
We’ll thank our fortune in rewarding him.
HOR. Stay, fellow!
SIM. How, fellow? ’tis more than you know, whether I be
your fellow or no; I am sure you see me not.
HENG. Come, what’s the price of your hide?
SIM. O unreasonable villain! he would buy the house over
a man’s head. I’ll be sure now to make my bargain
wisely; they may buy me out of my skin else.
[_Aside._]—Whose hide would you buy, mine or the
beast’s? There is little difference in their
complexions: I think mine is the blacker of the two: you
shall see for your love, and buy for your money.—A
pestilence on you all, how have you deceived me! you buy
an ox-hide! you buy a calf’s gather! They are all hungry
soldiers, and I took them for honest shoe-makers.
[_Aside._
HENG. Hold, fellow; prithee, hold;—right a fool
worldling
That kicks at all good fortune;—whose man art thou?
SIM. I am a servant, yet a masterless man, sir.
HENG. Prithee, how can that be?
SIM. Very nimbly, sir; my master is dead, and now I
serve my mistress; ergo, I am a masterless man: she is
now a widow, and I am the foreman of her tan-pit.
HENG. Hold you, and thank your fortune, not your wit.
[_Gives him money._
SIM. Faith, and I thank your bounty, and not your
wisdom; you are not troubled with wit neither greatly,
it seems. Now, by this light, a nest of yellow-hammers!
What will become of me? if I can keep all these without
hanging myself, I am happier than a hundred of my
neighbours. You shall have my skin into the bargain;
then if I chance to die like a dog, the labour will be
saved of flaying me: I’ll undertake, sir, you shall have
all the skins in our parish at this price, men’s and
women’s.
HENG. Sirrah, give good ear to me: now take the hide
And cut it all into the slenderest thongs
That can bear strength to hold.
SIM. That were a jest, i’faith: spoil all the leather?
sin and pity! why, ’twould shoe half your army.
HENG. Do it, I bid you.
SIM. What, cut it all in thongs? Hum, this is like the
vanity of your Roman gallants, that cannot wear good
suits, but they must have them cut and slashed in
giggets, that the very crimson taffaties sit blushing at
their follies. I would I might persuade you from this
humour of cutting; ’tis but a swaggering condition,[411]
and nothing profitable: what if it were but well pinked?
’twould last longer for a summer suit.
HENG. What a cross lump of ignorance have I lighted
on!
I must be forc’d to beat my drift into him.—
[_Aside._
Look you, to make you wiser than your parents,
I have so much ground given me as this hide
Will compass, which, as it [now] is, is nothing.
SIM. Nothing, quotha?
Why, ’twill not keep a hog.[412]
HENG. Now with the ’vantage
Cut into several pieces, ’twill stretch far,
And make a liberal circuit.
SIM. A shame on your crafty hide! is this your cunning?
I have learnt more knavery now than ever I shall claw
off while I live. I’ll go purchase land by cow-tails,
and undo the parish; three good bulls’ pizzles would set
up a man for ever: this is like a pin a-day to set up a
haberdasher of small wares.
HENG. Thus men that mean to thrive, as we, must learn
Set in a foot at first.
SIM. A foot do you call it? The devil is in that foot
that takes up all this leather.
HENG. Despatch, and cut it carefully with all
The advantage, sirrah.
SIM. You could never have lighted upon such a fellow to
serve your turn, captain. I have such a trick of
stretching, too! I learned it of a tanner’s man that was
hanged last sessions at Maidstone: I’ll warrant you,
I’ll get you a mile and a half more than you’re aware
of.
HENG. Pray, serve me so as oft as you will, sir.
SIM. I am casting about for nine acres to make a garden-
plot out of one of the buttocks.
HENG. ’Twill be a good soil for nosegays.
SIM. ’Twill be a good soil for cabbages, to stuff out
the guts of your followers there.
HENG. Go, see it carefully perform’d: [_Exit_ SIMON
_with Soldiers_.
It is the first foundation of our fortunes
On Britain’s earth, and ought to be embrac’d
With a respect near link’d to adoration.
Methinks it sounds to me a fair assurance
Of large honours and hopes; does it not, captain?
HOR. How many have begun with less at first,
That have had emperors from their bodies sprung,
And left their carcasses as much in monument
As would erect a college!
HENG. There’s the fruits
Of their religious show too; to lie rotting
Under a million spent in gold and marble.
HOR. But where shall we make choice of our ground,
captain?
HENG. About the fruitful flanks of uberous[413] Kent,
A fat and olive soil; there we came in.
O captain, he has given he knows not what!
HOR. Long may he give so!
HENG. I tell thee, sirrah, he that begg’d a field
Of fourscore acres for a garden-plot,
’Twas pretty well; but he came short of this.
HOR. Send over for more Saxons.
HENG. With all speed, captain.
HOR. Especially for Roxena.
HENG. Who, my daughter?
HOR. That star of Germany, forget not her, sir:
She is a fair fortunate maid.—
Fair she is, and fortunate may she be;
But in maid lost for ever. My desire
Has been the close confusion of that name.
A treasure ’tis, able to make more thieves
Than cabinets set open to entice;
Which learn them theft that never knew the vice.
[_Aside._
HENG. Come, I’ll despatch with speed.
HOR. Do, forget none.
HENG. Marry, pray help my memory.
HOR. Roxena, you remember?
HENG. What more, dear sir?
HOR. I see your memory’s clear, sir. [_Shouts
within._
HENG. Those shouts leap’d from our army.
HOR. They were too cheerful
To voice a bad event.
_Enter a_ GENTLEMAN.
HENG. Now, sir, your news?
GENT. Roxena the fair—
HENG. True, she shall be sent for.
GENT. She’s here, sir.
HENG. What say’st?
GENT. She’s come, sir.
HOR. A new youth
Begins me o’er again. [_Aside._
GENT. Follow’d you close, sir,
With such a zeal as daughter never equall’d;
Expos’d herself to all the merciless dangers
Set in mankind or fortune; not regarding
Aught but your sight.
HENG. Her love is infinite to me.
HOR. Most charitably censur’d; ’tis her cunning,
The love of her own lust, which makes a woman
Gallop down hill as fearless as a drunkard.
There’s no true loadstone in the world but that;
It draws them through all storms by sea or shame:
Life’s loss is thought too small to pay that game.
[_Aside._
GENT. What follows more of her will take you[414]
strongly.
HENG. How!
GENT. Nay, ’tis worth your wonder.
Her heart, joy-ravish’d with your late success,
Being the early morning of your fortunes,
So prosperously new opening at her coming,
She takes a cup of gold, and, midst the army,
Teaching her knee a reverend cheerfulness,
Which well became her, drank a liberal health
To the king’s joys and yours, the king in presence;
Who with her sight, but her behaviour chiefly,
Or chief but one or both, I know not which,—
But he’s so far ’bove my expression caught,
’Twere art enough for one man’s time and portion
To speak him and miss nothing.
HENG. This is astonishing!
HOR. O, this ends bitter now! our close-hid flame
Will break out of my heart; I cannot keep it.
[_Aside._
HENG. Gave you attention, captain? how now, man?
HOR. A kind of grief ’bout[415] these times of the
moon still:
I feel a pain like a convulsion,
A cramp at heart; I know not what name fits it.
HENG. Nor never seek one for it, let it go
Without a name; would all griefs were serv’d so!
_Flourish. Re-enter_ VORTIGER, _with_ ROXENA _and
Attendants_.
HOR. A love-knot already? arm in arm! [_Aside._
VORT. What’s he
Lays claim to her?
HENG. In right of father-hood
I challenge an obedient part.
VORT. Take it,
And send [me] back the rest.
HENG. What means your grace?
VORT. You’ll keep no more than what belongs to you?
HENG. That’s all, my lord; it all belongs to me;
I keep the husband’s interest till he come:
Yet out of duty and respect to majesty,
I send her back your servant.
VORT. My mistress, sir, or nothing.
HENG. Come again;
I never thought to hear so ill of thee.
VORT. How, sir, so ill?
HENG. So beyond detestable.
To be an honest vassal is some calling,
Poor is the worst of that, shame comes not to’t;
But mistress, that[’s] the only common bait
Fortune sets at all hours, catching whore with it,
And plucks them up by clusters. There’s my sword, my
lord;
[_Offering his sword to_ VORTIGER.
And if your strong desires aim at my blood,
Which runs too purely there, a nobler way
Quench it in mine.
VORT. I ne’er took sword in vain:
Hengist, we here create thee earl of Kent.
HOR. O, that will do’t! [_Aside, and falls._
VORT. What ails our friend? look to him.
ROX. O, ’tis his epilepsy; I know it well:
I help’d him once in Germany; comes it again?
A virgin’s right hand strok’d upon his heart
Gives him ease straight; but it must be a pure
virgin[’s],
Or else it brings no comfort.
VORT. What a task
She puts upon herself, unurgèd purity!
The truth of this will bring love’s rage into me.
ROX. O, this would mad a woman! there’s no proof
In love to indiscretion.[416]
HOR. Pish! this cures not.
ROX. Dost think I’ll ever wrong thee?
HOR. O, most feelingly!
But I’ll prevent it now, and break thy neck
With thy own cunning. Thou hast undertaken
To give me help, to bring in royal credit
Thy crack’d virginity, but I’ll spoil all:
I will not stand on purpose, though I could,
But fall still to disgrace thee.
ROX. What, you will not?
HOR. I have no other way to help myself;
For when thou’rt known to be a whore imposterous,[417]
I shall be sure to keep thee.
ROX. O sir, shame me not!
You’ve had what is most precious; try my faith;
Undo me not at first in chaste opinion.
HOR. All this art shall not make me feel my legs.
ROX. I prithee, do not wilfully confound me.
HOR. Well, I’m[418] content for this time to recover,
To save thy credit, and bite in my pain;
But if thou ever fail’st me, I will fall,
And thou shalt never get me up again. [_Rises._
ROX. Agreed ’twixt you and I, sir.—See, my lord,
A poor maid’s work! the man may pass for health now
Among the clearest bloods, and those are nicest.
VORT. I’ve[419] heard of women brought men on their
knees,
But few that e’er restored them.—How now, captain?
HOR. My lord, methinks I could do things past man,
I’m so renew’d in vigour; I long most
For violent exercise to take me down:
My joy’s so high in blood, I’m above frailty.
VORT. My lord of Kent.
HENG. Your love’s unworthy creature.
VORT. See’st thou this fair chain? think upon the
means
To keep it link’d for ever.
HENG. O my lord,
’Tis many degrees sunder’d from my hope!
Besides, your grace has a young virtuous queen.
VORT. I say, think on it.
HOR. If this wind hold, I fall to my old disease.
[_Aside._
VORT. There’s no fault in thee but to come so late;
All else is excellent: I chide none but fate.
[_Exeunt._
ACT III. SCENE I.
_A Room in the Palace._
_Enter_ HORSUS _and_ ROXENA.
ROX. I’ve[420] no conceit[421] now that you ever lov’d
me,
But as lust led you for the time.
HOR. See, see!
ROX. Do you pine at my advancement, sir?
HOR. O barrenness
Of understanding! what a right love’s[422] this!
’Tis you that fall, I that am reprehended:
What height of honours, eminence of fortune,
Should ravish me from you?
ROX. Who can tell that, sir?
What’s he can judge of a man’s appetite
Before he sees him eat?
Who knows the strength of any’s constancy
That never yet was tempted? We can call
Nothing our own, if they be deeds to come;
They’re only ours when they are pass’d and done.
How blest are you above your apprehension,
If your desire would lend you so much patience,
T’ examine the adventurous condition
Of our affections, which are full of hazard,
And draw in the time’s goodness to defend us!
First, this bold course of ours cannot last long,
Nor ever does in any without shame,
And that, you know, brings danger; and the greater
My father is in blood, as he’s[423] well risen,
The greater will the storm of his rage be
’Gainst[424] his blood’s wronging: I have cast[425] for
this.
’Tis not advancement that I love alone;
’Tis love of shelter, to keep shame unknown.
HOR. O, were I sure of thee, as ’tis impossible
There to be ever sure where there’s no hold,
Your pregnant hopes should not be long in rising!
ROX. By what assurance have you held me thus far,
Which you found firm, despair you not in that.
HOR. True, that was good security for the time;
But in a change of state, when you’re advanc’d,
You women have a French toy in your pride,
You make your friend come crouching; or perhaps,
To bow in th’ hams the better, he is put
To compliment three hours with your chief woman,
Then perhaps not admitted; no, nor ever,
That’s the more noble fashion. Forgetfulness
Is the most pleasing virtue they can have,
That do spring up from nothing; for by the same
Forgetting all, they forget whence they came,
An excellent property of oblivion.
ROX. I pity all the fortunes of poor women
In my own unhappiness. When we have given
All that we have to men, what’s our requital?
An ill-fac’d jealousy, that resembles much
The mistrustfulness of an insatiate thief,
That scarce believes he has all, though he has stripp’d
The true man[426] naked, and left nothing on him
But the hard cord that binds him: so are we
First robb’d, and then left bound by jealousy.
Take reason’s advice, and you’ll find it impossible
For you to lose me in this king’s advancement,
Who’s an usurper here; and as the kingdom,
So shall he have my love by usurpation;
The right shall be in thee still. My ascension
To dignity is but to waft thee higher;
And all usurpers have the falling-sickness,
They cannot keep up long.
HOR. May credulous man
Put all his confidence in so weak a bottom,
And make a saving voyage?
ROX. Nay, as gainful
As ever man yet made.
HOR. Go, take thy fortunes,
Aspire with my consent,
So thy ambition will be sure to prosper;
Speak the fair certainties of Britain’s queen
Home to thy wishes.
ROX. Speak in hope I may,
But not in certainty.
HOR. I say in both:
Hope, and be sure I’ll soon remove the let[427]
That stands between thee and[428] glory.
ROX. Life of love!
If lost virginity can win such a day,
I’ll have no daughter but shall learn my way. [_Exit._
HOR. ’Twill be good work for him that first instructs
them:
May be some son[s] of mine, got by this woman too,
May match with their own sisters. Peace, ’tis he.
_Enter_ VORTIGER.
Invention, fail me not: ’tis a gallant credit
To marry one’s whore bravely. [_Aside._
VORT. Have I power
Of life and death, and cannot command ease
In my own blood? After I was a king,
I thought I never should have felt pain more;
That there had been a ceasing of all passions
And common stings, which subjects use to feel,
That were created with a patience fit
For all extremities. But such as we
Know not the way to suffer; then to do it,
How most preposterous ’tis! Tush, riddles, riddles!
I’ll break through custom. Why should not the mind,
The nobler part that’s of us, be allow’d
Change of affections, as our bodies are
Change of food and raiment? I’ll have it so.
All fashions appear strange at first production;
But this would be well followèd.—O, captain!
HOR. My lord, I grieve for you; I scarce fetch breath,
But a sigh hangs at the end of it: but this
Is not the way, if you’d[429] give way to counsel.
VORT. Set me right then, or I shall heavily curse thee
For lifting up my understanding to me,
To shew that I was wrong. Ignorance is safe;
I then slept happily: if knowledge mend me not,
Thou hast committed a most cruel sin,
To wake me into judgment, and then leave me.
HOR. I will not leave you, sir; that were rudely done.
First, you’ve a flame too open and too violent,
Which, like blood-guiltiness in an offender,
Betrays him when nought else can. Out with’t,[430] sir;
Or let some cunning coverture be made
Before your practice[431] enters: ’twill spoil all else.
VORT. Why, look you, sir; I can be as calm as silence
All the while music plays. Strike on, sweet friend,
As mild and merry as the heart of innocence;
I prithee, take my temper. Has a virgin
A heat more modest?
HOR. He does well to ask me;
I could have told him once. [_Aside._]—Why, here’s a
government!
There’s not a sweeter amity in friendship
Than in this league ’twixt you and health.
VORT. Then since
Thou find’st me capable of happiness,
Instruct me with the practice.
HOR. What will you say, my lord,
If I ensnare her in an act[432] of lust?
VORT.[433] O, there were art to the life! but ’tis
impossible;
I prithee, flatter me no farther with it.
Fie! so much sin as goes to make up that,
Will ne’er[434] prevail with her. Why, I’ll tell you,
sir,
She’s so sin-killing modest, that if only
To move the question were enough adultery
To cause a separation, there’s no gallant
So brassy-impudent durst undertake
The words that shall belong to’t.
HOR. Say you so, sir?
There’s nothing made in the world but has a way to’t;
Though some be harder than the rest to find,
Yet one there is, that’s certain; and I think
I’ve took the course to light on’t.[435]
VORT. O, I pray for’t!
HOR. I heard you lately say (from whence, my lord,
My practice[436] receiv’d life first), that your queen
Still consecrates her time to contemplation,
Takes solitary walks.
VORT. Nay, late and early
Commands her weak guard from her, which are but
Women at strongest.
HOR. I like all this, my lord:
And now, sir, you shall know what net is us’d
In many places to catch modest women,
Such as will never yield by prayers or gifts.
Now there be some will catch up men as fast;
But those she-fowlers nothing concern us;
Their birding is at windows; ours abroad,
Where ring-doves should be caught, that’s married wives,
Or chaste maids; what the appetite has a mind to.
VORT. Make no pause then.
HOR. The honest gentlewoman,
When nothing will prevail—I pity her now—
Poor soul, she’s entic’d forth by her own sex
To be betray’d to man; who in some garden-house[437]
Or remote walk, taking his lustful time,
Binds darkness on her eyelids, surprises her;
And having a coach ready, turns her in,
Hurrying her where he list for the sin’s safety,
Making a rape of honour without words;
And at the low ebb of his lust, perhaps
Some three days after, sends her coach’d again
To the same place; and, which would make most mad,
She’s robb’d of all, yet knows not where she’s robb’d,
There’s the dear precious mischief!
VORT. Is this practis’d?
HOR. Too much, my lord, to be so little known;
A springe to catch a maidenhead after sun-set,
Clip it, and send it home again to the city,
There ’twill ne’er be perceiv’d.
VORT. My raptures want expression; I conceit[438]
Enough to make me fortunate, and thee great.
HOR. I praise it then, my lord.—I knew ’twould take.
[Aside.]
[Exeunt.
SCENE II.
_Grounds near the Palace._
_Enter_ CASTIZA _with a book, and two_ LADIES.
CAST. Methinks, you live strange lives; when I see it
not,
It grieves me less; you know how to ease me then:
If you but knew how well I lov’d your absence,
You would bestow’t[439] upon me without asking.
FIRST LADY. Faith, for my part, were it no more for
ceremony than for love, you should walk long enough
without my attendance; and so think all my fellows,
though they say nothing. Books in women’s hands are as
much against the hair,[440] methinks, as to see men wear
stomachers, or night-rails.[441]—She that has the green-
sickness, and should follow her counsel, would die like
an ass, and go to the worms like a salad; not I: so long
as such a creature as man is made, she is a fool that
knows not what he is good for. [_Exeunt_ LADIES.
CAST. Though among life’s elections, that of virgin
I did speak noblest of, yet it has pleas’d the king
To send me a contented blessedness
In that of marriage, which I ever doubted.
_Enter_ VORTIGER _and_ HORSUS _disguised_.
I see the king’s affection was a true one;
It lasts and holds out long, that’s no mean virtue
In a commanding man; though in great fear
At first I was enforc’d to venture on it.
VORT. All’s happy, clear, and safe.
HOR. The rest comes gently on.
VORT. Be sure you seize on her full sight at first,
For fear of my discovery.
HOR. Now, fortune, and I am sped.
[_Seizes and blindfolds_ CASTIZA.
CAST. Treason! treason!
HOR. Sirrah, how stand you? prevent noise and clamour,
Or death shall end thy service.
VORT. A sure cunning. [_Aside._
CAST. O, rescue! rescue!
HOR. Dead her voice! away, make speed!
CAST. No help? no succour?
HOR. Louder yet, extend
Your voice to the last rack;[442] you shall have leave
now,
You’re far from any pity.
CAST. What’s my sin?
HOR. Contempt of man; and he’s a noble creature,
And takes it in ill part to be despis’d.
CAST. I never despis’d any.
HOR. No? you hold us
Unworthy to be lov’d; what call you that?
CAST. I have a lord disproves you.
HOR. Pish! your lord?
You’re bound to love your lord, that’s[443] no thanks to
you;
You should love those you are not tied to love,
That’s the right trial of a woman’s charity.
CAST. I know not what you are, nor what my fault is:
If it be life you seek, whate’er you be,
Use no immodest words, and take it from me;
You kill me more in talking sinfully
Than acting cruelly:[444] be so far pitiful,
To end me without words.
HOR. Long may you live!
’Tis the wish of a good subject: ’tis not life
That I thirst after; loyalty forbid
I should commit such treason: you mistake me,
I’ve[445] no such bloody thought; only your love
Shall content me.
CAST. What said you, sir?
HOR. Thus plainly,
To strip my words as naked as my purpose,
I must and will enjoy thee. [_She faints._]—Gone
already?
Look to her, bear her up, she goes apace;
I fear’d this still, and therefore came provided.
There’s that will fetch life from a dying spark,
And make it spread a furnace; she’s well straight.
[_Pours drops from a vial into_ CASTIZA’s _mouth_.
Pish, let her go; she stands, upon my knowledge,
Or else she counterfeits; I know the virtue.
CAST. Never did sorrows in afflicted woman
Meet with such cruelties, such hard-hearted ways
Human invention never found before:
To call back life to live, is but ill taken
By some departing soul[s]; then to force mine back
To an eternal act of death in lust,
What is it but most execrable?
HOR. So, so:
But this is from my business. List to me:
Here you are now far from all hope of friendship,
Save what you make in me; ’scape me you cannot,
Send your soul that assurance; that resolv’d on,
You know not who I am, nor ever shall,
I need not fear you then; but give consent,
Then with the faithfulness of a true friend
I’ll open myself to you, fall your servant,
As I do now in hope, proud of submission,
And seal the deed up with eternal secrecy;
Not death shall pluck’t[446] from me, much less the
king’s
Authority or torture.
VORT. I admire him. [_Aside._
CAST. O sir! whate’er you are, I teach my knee
Thus to requite you, be content to take [_Kneels._
Only my sight, as ransom for my honour,
And where[447] you have but mock’d my eyes with
darkness,
Pluck them quite out; all outward lights of body
I’ll spare most willingly, but take not from me
That which must guide me to another world,
And leave me dark for ever; fast without
That cursed pleasure, which will make two souls
Endure a famine everlastingly.
HOR. This almost moves. [_Aside._
VORT. By this light he’ll be taken! [_Aside._
HOR. I’ll wrestle down all pity. [_Aside._]—What! will
you consent?
CAST. I’ll never be so guilty.
HOR. Farewell words then!
You hear no more of me; but thus I seize you.
CAST. O, if a power above be reverenc’d by thee,
I bind thee by that name, by manhood, nobleness,
And all the charms of honour!
[VORTIGER _snatches her up, and carries her off_.
HOR. Ah, ha! here’s one caught
For an example: never was poor lady
So mock’d into false terror; with what anguish
She lies with her own lord! now she could curse
All into barrenness, and beguile herself by’t.[448]
Conceit’s[449] a powerful thing, and is indeed
Plac’d as a palate to taste grief or love,
And as that relishes, so we approve;
Hence comes it that our taste is so beguil’d,
Changing pure blood for some that’s mix’d and soil’d.
[_Exit._
SCENE III.
_A Chamber in a Castle._[450]
_Enter_ HENGIST.
HEN. A fair and fortunate constellation reign’d
When we set foot here; for from his first gift
(Which to a king’s unbounded eyes seem’d nothing),
The compass of a hide, I have erected
A strong and spacious castle, yet contain’d myself
Within my limits, without check or censure.
Thither, with all th’ observance of a subject,
The liveliest witness of a grateful mind,
I purpose to invite him and his queen,
And feast them nobly.
BARBER [_speaking without_]. We will enter, sir;
’Tis a state business, of a twelve-month long,
The choosing of a mayor.
HEN. What noise is that?
TAILOR [_without_]. Sir, we must speak with the good
earl of Kent:
Though we were ne’er[451] brought up to keep a door,
We are as honest, sir, as some that do.
_Enter a_ GENTLEMAN.
HEN. Now, sir, what’s the occasion of their clamours?
GENT. Please you, my lord, a company of townsmen
Are bent, ’gainst[452] all denials and resistance,
To have speech with your lordship; and that you
Must end a difference, which none else can do.
HEN. Why then there’s reason in their violence,
Which I ne’er look’d for: first let in but one,
And as we relish him, the rest come on.
[_Exit_ GENTLEMAN.
’Tis no safe wisdom in a rising man
To slight off such as these; nay, rather these
Are the foundations of a lofty work;
We cannot build without them, and stand sure.
He that ascends first[453] to a mountain’s top
Must begin at the foot.
_Re-enter_ GENTLEMAN.
Now, sir, who comes?
GENT. They cannot yet agree, my lord, of that:
They say ’tis worse now than it was before,
For where the difference was but between two,
Upon this coming first they’re all at odds.
One says, he shall lose his place in the church by’t;
Another will not do his wife that wrong;
And by their good wills they would all come first.
The strife continues in most heat, my lord,
Between a country barber and a tailor
Of the same town; and which your lordship names,
’Tis yielded by consent that he shall enter.
HENG. Here’s no sweet coil![454] I’m[455] glad they
are so reasonable.
Call in the barber [_Exit_ GENTLEMAN]; if the tale be
long,
He’ll cut it short, I trust; that’s all the hope.
_Re-enter_ GENTLEMAN _with_ BARBER.
Now, sir, are you the barber?
BARB. O, most barbarous! a corrector of enormities in
hair, my lord; a promoter of upper lips, or what your
lordship, in the neatness of your discretion, shall
think fit to call me.
HENG. Very good, I see you have this without book; but
what’s your business?
BARB. Your lordship comes to a very high point indeed:
the business, sir, lies about the head.
HENG. That’s work for you.
BARB. No, my good lord, there is a corporation, a body,
a kind of body.
HENG. The barber is out at the body; let in the
tailor.
[_Exit_ GENTLEMAN.
This ’tis to reach beyond your own profession;
When you let go your head, you lose your memory:
You have no business with the body.
BARB. Yes, sir, I am a barber-chirurgeon; I have had
something to do with it in my time, my lord; and I was
never so out of the body as I have been of late: send me
good luck, I’ll marry some whore but I’ll get in again.
_Re-enter_ GENTLEMAN _with_ TAILOR.
HENG. Now, sir, a good discovery come from you!
TAIL. I will rip up the linings to your lordship,
And shew what stuff ’tis made of: for the body
Or corporation—
HENG. There the barber left indeed.
TAIL. ’Tis piec’d up of two fashions.
HENG. A patch’d town the whilest.
TAIL. Nor can we go through stitch, my noble lord,
The choler is so great in the one party:
And as in linsey-woolsey wove together,
One piece makes several suits, so, upright earl,
Our linsey-woolsey hearts make all this coil.
HENG. What’s all this now? I’m[456] ne’er the wiser
yet.—
Call in the rest.
[_Exit_ GENTLEMAN, _and re-enter with_
GLOVER _and others_.
Now, sirs,—what are you?
GLOV. Sir-reverence[457] on your lordship, I am a
glover.
HENG. What needs that then?
GLOV. Sometimes I deal in dog’s leather, sir-reverence
the while.
HENG. Well, to the purpose, if there be any
towards.[458]
GLOV. I were an ass else, saving your lordship’s
presence.
We have a body, but our town wants a hand,
A hand of justice, a worshipful master mayor.
HENG. This is well handled yet; a man may take some hold
on it.—You want a mayor?
GLOV. Right, but there’s two at fisty-cuffs about it;
Sir, as I may say, at daggers drawing,—
But that I cannot say, because they have none,—
And you being earl of Kent, our town does say,
Your lordship’s voice shall part and end the fray.
HENG. This is strange work for me. Well, sir, what be
they?
GLOV. The one is a tanner.
HENG. Fie, I shall be too partial,
I owe too much affection to that trade
To put it to my voice. What is his name?
GLOV. Simon.
HENG. How, Simon too?
GLOV. Nay, ’tis but Simon one, sir; the very same Simon
that sold your lordship a hide.
HENG. What sayest thou?
GLOV. That’s all his glory, sir: he got his master’s
widow by it presently, a rich tanner’s wife: she has set
him up; he was her fore-man a long time in her other
husband’s days.
HENG. Now let me perish in my first aspiring,
If the pretty simplicity of his fortune
Do not most highly take me: ’tis a presage, methinks,
Of bright succeeding happiness to mine,
When my fate’s glow-worm casts forth such a shine.—
And what are those that do contend with him?
TAIL. Marry, my noble lord, a fustian-weaver.
HENG. How! he offer to compare with Simon? he a fit
match for him!
BARB. Hark, hark, my lord! here they come both in a
pelting chafe from the town-house.
_Enter_ SIMON _and_ OLIVER.
SIM. How, before me? I scorn thee,
Thou wattle-fac’d sing’d pig.
OLIV. Pig? I defy thee;
My uncle was a Jew, and scorn’d the motion.[459]
SIM. I list not brook thy vaunts. Compare with me,
Thou spindle of concupiscence? ’tis well known
Thy first wife was a flax-wench.
OLIV. But such a flax-wench
Would I might never want at my need,
Nor any friend of mine: my neighbours knew her.
Thy wife was but a hempen halter to her.
SIM. Use better words, I’ll hang thee in my year else,
Let who will choose thee afterwards.
GLOV. Peace, for shame;
Quench your great spirit: do not you see his lordship?
HENG. What, master Simonides?
SIM. Simonides? what a fair name hath he made of Simon!
then he’s an ass that calls me Simon again; I am quite
out of love with it.
HENG. Give me thy hand; I love thy fortunes, and like a
man that thrives.
SIM. I took a widow, my lord, to be the best piece of
ground to thrive on; and by my faith, my lord, there’s a
young Simonides, like a green onion, peeping up already.
HENG. Thou’st a good lucky hand.
SIM. I have somewhat, sir.
HENG. But why to me is this election offer’d? The
choosing of a mayor goes by most voices.
SIM. True, sir, but most of our townsmen are so hoarse
with drinking, there’s not a good voice among them all.
HENG. Are you content to put it to all these then?
To whom I liberally resign my interest,
To prevent censures.
SIM. I speak first, my lord.
OLIV. Though I speak last, my lord, I am not least: if
they will cast away a town-born child, they may; it is
but dying some forty years before my time.
HENG. I leave you to your choice a while.
ALL. Your good lordship.
[_Exeunt_ HENGIST _and_ GENTLEMAN.
SIM. Look you, neighbours, before you be too hasty. Let
Oliver the fustian-weaver stand as fair as I do, and the
devil do him good on’t.
OLIV. I do, thou upstart callymoocher,[460] I do; ’tis
well known to the parish I have been twice ale-
conner;[461] thou mushroom, that shot’st up in a night,
by lying with thy mistress!
SIM. Faith, thou art such a spiny baldrib,[462] all the
mistresses in the town will never get thee up.
OLIV. I scorn to rise by a woman, as thou didst: my wife
shall rise by me.
GLOV. I pray leave your communication; we can do nothing
else.
OLIV. I gave that barber a fustian-suit, and twice
redeemed his cittern:[463] he may remember me.
SIM. I fear no false measure but in that tailor; the
glover and the button-maker are both cocksure; that
collier’s eye I like not; now they consult, the matter
is in brewing: poor Gill, my wife, lies longing for the
news; ’twill make her a glad mother.
ALL [_except_ OL.]. A Simon, a Simon!
SIM. Good people, I thank you all.
OLIV. Wretch that I am! Tanner, thou hast curried
favour.
SIM. I curry! I defy thy fustian fume.
OLIV. But I will prove a rebel all thy year,
And raise up the seven deadly sins against thee.
[_Exit._
SIM. The deadly sins will scorn to rise by thee, if they
have any breeding, as commonly they are well brought up;
’tis not for every scab to be acquainted with them: but
leaving the scab, to you, good neighbours, now I bend my
speech. First, to say more than a man can say, I hold it
not fit to be spoken; but to say what a man ought to
say, there I leave you also. I must confess your loves
have chosen a weak and unlearned man; that I can neither
write nor read, you all can witness: yet not altogether
so unlearned, but I can set my mark to a bond, if I
would be so simple; an excellent token of government.
Cheer you then, my hearts, you have done you know not
what: there’s a full point; there you must all cough and
hem. [_Here they all cough and hem._] Now touching our
common adversary the fustian-weaver, who threatens he
will raise the deadly sins among us, let them come; our
town is big enough to hold them, we will not so much
disgrace it; besides, you know a deadly sin will lie in
a narrow hole: but when they think themselves safest,
and the web of their iniquity best woven, with the horse
strength of my justice I will break through the loom of
their concupiscence, and make the weaver go seek his
shuttle: here you may cough and hem again, if you’ll do
me the favour. [_They cough and hem again._] Why, I
thank you all, and it shall not go unrewarded. Now for
the deadly sins, pride, sloth, envy, wrath; as for
covetousness and gluttony, I’ll tell you more when I
come out of my office; I shall have time to try what
they are: I will prove them soundly; and if I find
gluttony and covetousness to be directly sins, I’ll bury
the one in the bottom of a chest, and the other in the
end of my garden. But, sirs, for lechery, I’ll tickle
that home myself, I’ll not leave a whore in the town.
BARB. Some of your neighbours must seek their wives in
the country then.
SIM. Barber, be silent, I will cut thy comb else. To
conclude, I will learn the villany of all trades; my own
I know already: if there be any knavery in the baker, I
will bolt it out; if in the brewer, I will taste him
throughly,[464] and piss out his iniquity at his own
suckhole: in a word, I will knock down all enormities
like a butcher, and send the hide to my fellow-tanners.
ALL. A Simonides, a true Simonides indeed!
_Re-enter_ HENGIST _with_ ROXENA.
HENG. How now? how goes your choice?
TAIL. This is he, my lord.
SIM. To prove I am the man, I am bold to take
The upper hand of your lordship: I’ll not lose
An inch of my honour.
HENG. Hold, sirs: there’s some few crowns
To mend your feast, because I like your choice.
BARB. Joy bless you, sir!
We’ll drink your health with trumpets.
SIM. I with sack-buts,[465]
That’s the more solemn drinking for my state;
No malt this year shall fume into my pate.
[_Exeunt all but_ HENGIST _and_ ROXENA.[466]
HENG. Continue[s] still that favour in his love?
ROX. Nay, with increase, my lord, the flame grows
greater;
Though he has learn’d a better art of late
To set a screen before it.
HENG. Speak lower.
[_Retires to a seat and reads_: _exit_ ROXENA.
_Enter_ VORTIGER _and_ HORSUS.
HOR. Heard every word, my lord.
VORT. Plainly?
HOR. Distinctly.
The course I took was dangerous, but not failing,
For I convey’d myself behind the hangings
Even just before his entrance.
VORT. ’Twas well ventur’d.
HOR. I had such a woman’s first and second longing in
me
To hear[467] how she would bear her mock’d abuse
After she was return’d to privacy,
I could have fasted out an ember-week,
And never thought of hunger, to have heard her:
Then came your holy Lupus and Germanus—
VORT. Two holy confessors.
HOR. At whose first sight
I could perceive her fall upon her breast,
And cruelly afflict herself with sorrow,
(I never heard a sigh till I heard hers);
Who, after her confession, pitying her,
Put her into a way of patience,
Which now she holds, to keep it hid from you:
There’s all the pleasure that I took in’t now;
When I heard that, my pains was well remember’d.
So, with applying comforts and relief,
They’ve[468] brought it lower, to an easy grief;
But yet the taste is not quite gone.
VORT. Still fortune
Sits bettering our inventions.
HOR. Here she comes.
_Enter_ CASTIZA.
CAST. Yonder’s my lord; O, I’ll return again!
Methinks I should not dare to look on him.
[_Aside, and exit._
HOR. She’s gone again.
VORT. It works the kindlier, sir:
Go now and call her back. [_Exit_ HORSUS.] She winds
herself
Into the snare so prettily, ’tis a pleasure
To set toils for her.
_Re-enter_ CASTIZA _and_ HORSUS.
CAST. He may read my shame
Now in my blush. [_Aside._
VORT. Come, you’re so link’d to holiness,
So taken[469] with contemplative desires,
That the world has you, yet enjoys you not:
You have been weeping too.
CAST. Not I, my lord.
VORT. Trust me, I fear you have: you’re much to blame
To yield so much to passion[470] without cause.
Is not some time enough for meditation?
Must it lay title to your health and beauty,
And draw them into time’s consumption too?
’Tis too exacting for a holy faculty.—
My lord of Kent!—I prithee, wake him, captain;
He reads himself asleep, sure.
HOR. My lord!
VORT. Nay,
I’ll take away your book, and bestow’t here.
[_Takes book from_ HENGIST.
HENG. Your pardon, sir.
VORT. [_giving book to_ CASTIZA] Lady, you that
delight in virgins’ stories,
And all chaste works, here’s excellent reading for you:
Make of that book as made men do of favours,
Which they grow sick to part from.—And now, my lord,
You that have so conceitedly[471] gone beyond me,
And made so large use of a slender gift,
Which we ne’er minded,[472] I commend your thrift;
And that your building may to all ages
Carry the stamp and impress of your wit,
It shall be call’d Thong-Castle.[473]
HENG. How, my lord,
Thong-Castle! there your grace quits me kindly.
VORT. ’Tis fit art should be known by its right name;
You that can spread my gift, I’ll spread your fame.
HENG. I thank your grace for that.
VORT. And, lovèd lord,
So well we do accept your invitation,
With all speed we’ll set forwards.
HENG. Your honour loves me. [_Exeunt._
ACT IV. SCENE I.
_A Public Way near_ HENGIST’s _Castle_.
_Enter_ SIMON _and all his brethren, a mace and sword
before him, meeting_ VORTIGER, CASTIZA, HENGIST,
ROXENA, HORSUS, _and two_ LADIES.
SIM. Lo,[474] I, the Mayor of Queenborough by name,
With all my brethren, saving one that’s lame,
Are come as fast as fiery mill-horse gallops
To greet thy grace, thy queen, and her fair trollops.
For reason of our coming do not look;
It must be done, I find it i’ the town-book;
And yet not I myself, I cannot[475] read;
I keep a clerk to do those jobs for need.
And now expect a rare conceit before Thong-Castle see
thee.—
Reach me the thing to give the king, the other too, I
prithee.—
Now here they be, for queen and thee; the gift all steel
and leather,
But the conceit of mickle weight, and here they come
together:
To shew two loves must join in one, our town presents by
me
This gilded scabbard to the queen, this dagger unto
thee.
[_Offers the scabbard and dagger._
VORT. Forbear your tedious and ridiculous duties;
I hate them, as I do the riots[476] of your
Inconstant rabble; I have felt your fits:
Sheathe up your bounties with your iron wits. [_Exit
with his train._
SIM. Look, sirs, is his back turn’d?
ALL. It is, it is.
SIM. Then bless the good earl of Kent, say I!
I’ll have this dagger turn’d into a pie,
And eaten up for anger, every bit on’t:
And when this pie shall be cut up by some rare cunning
pie-man,
They shall full lamentably sing, Put up thy dagger,
Simon. [_Exeunt._
SCENE II.
_A Hall in_ HENGIST’s _Castle: a feast set out_.
_Enter_ VORTIGER, HENGIST, HORSUS, DEVONSHIRE, STAFFORD,
CASTIZA, ROXENA, _two_ LADIES, GUARDS, _and_
ATENDANTS.
HENG. A welcome, mighty lord, may appear costlier,
More full of toil and talk, shew and conceit;
But one more stor’d with thankful love and truth
I forbid all the sons of men to boast of.
VORT. Why, here’s[477] a fabric that implies eternity;
The building plain, but most substantial;
Methinks it looks as if it mock’d all ruin,
Saving that master-piece of consummation,
The end of time, which must consume even ruin,
And eat that into cinders.
HENG. There’s no brass
Would pass your praise, my lord; ’twould last beyond it,
And shame our durablest metal.
VORT. Horsus.
HOR. My lord.
VORT. This is the time I’ve[478] chosen; here’s a full
meeting,
And here will I disgrace her.
HOR. ’Twill be sharp, my lord.
VORT. O, ’twill be best.
HOR. Why, here’s the earl her father.
VORT. Ay, and the lord her uncle; that’s the height
of’t;[479]
Invited both on purpose, to rise sick,
Full of shame’s surfeit.
HOR. And that’s shrewd, byrlady:[480]
It ever sticks close to the ribs of honour,
Great men are never sound men after it;
It leaves some ache or other in their names still,
Which their posterity feels at every weather.
VORT. Mark but the least presentment of occasion,
As these times yield enough, and then mark me.
HOR. My observance is all yours, you know’t, my lord.—
What careful ways some take to abuse themselves!
But as there be assurers of men’s goods
’Gainst storms or pirates, which give[481] adventurers
courage,
So such there must be to make up man’s theft,
Or there would be no woman-venturer left.
See, now they find their seats! what a false knot
Of amity he ties about her arm,
Which rage must part! In marriage ’tis no wonder,
Knots knit with kisses oft are broke with thunder.
Music? then I have done; I always learn [_Music._
To give my betters place.
[_Aside, while the rest seat themselves._
VORT. Where’s captain Horsus?
Sit, sit; we’ll have a health anon to all
Good services.
HOR. They are poor in these days;
They’d rather have the carp[482] than the health.
He hears me not, and most great men are deaf
On that side. [_Aside._
VORT. My lord of Kent, I thank you for this welcome;
It came unthought of, in the sweetest language
That ever my soul relish’d.
HENG. You are pleas’d, my lord,
To raise my happiness for slight deservings,
To shew what power’s in princes; not in us
Aught worthy, ’tis in you that makes us thus.
I’m[483] chiefly sad, my lord, your queen’s not merry.
VORT. So honour bless me, he has found the way
To my grief strangely. Is there no delight——
CAST. My lord, I wish not any, nor is’t needful;
I am as I was ever.
VORT. That’s not so.
CAST. How? O, my fears! [_Aside._
VORT. When she writ maid, my lord,
You knew her otherwise.
DEVON. To speak but truth,
I never knew her a great friend to mirth,
Nor taken much with any one delight;
Though there be many seemly and honourable
To give content to ladies without taxing.
VORT. My lord of Kent, this to thy full deserts,
Which intimates thy higher flow to honour.
[_Drinking._
HENG. Which, like a river, shall return in service
To the great master-fountain.
VORT. Where’s your lord?
I miss’d him not till now,—Lady, and yours?
No marvel then we were so out of the way
Of all pleasant discourse; they are the keys
Of human music; sure at their nativities
Great nature sign’d a general patent to them
To take up all the mirth in a whole kingdom.
What’s their employment now?
FIRST LADY. May it please your grace,
We never are so far acquainted with them;
Nothing we know but what they cannot keep;
That’s even the fashion of them all, my lord.
VORT. It seems ye’ve great thought in their
constancies,
And they in yours, you dare so trust each other.
SECOND LADY. Hope well we do, my lord; we’ve[484]
reason for it,
Because they say brown men are honestest;
But she’s a fool will swear for any colour.
VORT. They would for yours.
SECOND LADY. Truth, ’tis a doubtful question,
And I’d be loath to put mine to’t, my lord.
VORT. Faith, dare you swear for yourselves? that’s a
plain question.
SECOND LADY. My lord?
VORT. You cannot deny that with honour;
And since ’tis urg’d, I’ll put you to’t in troth.
FIRST LADY. May it please your grace—
VORT. ’Twould please me very well;
And here’s a book, mine never goes without one;
[_Taking book from_ CASTIZA.
She’s an example to you all for purity:
Come, swear (I’ve[485] sworn you shall) that you ne’er
knew
The will of any man besides your husband’s.
SECOND LADY. I’ll swear, my lord, as far as my
remembrance—
VORT. How! your remembrance? that were strange.
FIRST LADY. Your grace
Hearing our just excuse, will not say so.
VORT. Well, what’s your just excuse? you’re ne’er
without some.
FIRST LADY. I’m[486] often taken with a sleep, my
lord,
The loudest thunder cannot waken me,
Not if a cannon’s burthen be discharg’d
Close by my ear; the more may be my wrong;
There can be no infirmity, my lord,
More excusable in any woman.
SECOND LADY. And I’m[487] so troubled with the
mother[488] too,
I’ve[489] often call’d in help, I know not whom;
Three at once have been too weak to keep me down.
VORT. I perceive there’s no fastening.
[_Aside._]—Well, fair one, then,
That ne’er[490] deceives faith’s anchor of her hold,
Come at all seasons; here, be thou the star
To guide those erring women, shew the way
Which I will make them follow. Why dost start,
Draw back, and look so pale?
CAST. My lord!
VORT. Come hither;
Nothing but take that oath; thou’lt take a thousand;
A thousand! nay, a million, or as many
As there be angels registers of oaths.
Why, look thee, over-fearful chastity,
(That sinn’st in nothing but in too much niceness,[491])
I’ll begin first and swear for thee myself:
I know thee a perfection so unstain’d,
So sure, so absolute, I will not pant on it,
But catch time greedily. By all those blessings
That blow truth into fruitfulness, and those curses
That with their barren breaths blast perjury,
Thou art as pure as sanctity’s best shrine
From all man’s mixture, save what’s lawful, mine!
CAST. O, heaven forgive him, he has forsworn himself!
[_Aside._
VORT. Come, ’tis but going now my way.
CAST. That’s bad enough. [_Aside._
VORT. I’ve[492] clear’d all doubts, you see.
CAST. Good my lord, spare me.
VORT. How! it grows later than so. For modesty’s sake,
Make more speed this way.
CAST. Pardon me, my lord,
I cannot.
VORT. What?
CAST. I dare not.
VORT. Fail all confidence
In thy weak kind for ever!
DEVON. Here’s a storm
Able to wake[493] all of our name inhumed,
And raise them from their sleeps of peace and fame,
To set the honours of their bloods right here,
Hundred years after: a perpetual motion
Has their true glory been from seed to seed,
And cannot be chok’d now with a poor grain
Of dust and earth. Her uncle and myself,
Wild in this tempest, as e’er[494] robb’d man’s peace,
Will undertake, upon life’s deprivation,
She shall accept this oath.
VORT. You do but call me then
Into a world of more despair and horror;
Yet since so wilfully you stand engag’d
In high scorn to be touch’d, with expedition
Perfect your undertakings with your fames;
Or, by the issues of abus’d belief,
I’ll take the forfeit of lives, lands, and honours,
And make one ruin serve our joys and yours.
CAST. Why, here’s a height of miseries never reach’d
yet!
I lose myself and others.
DEVON. You may see
How much we lay in balance with your goodness,
And had we more, it went; for we presume
You cannot be religious and so vile—
CAST. As to forswear myself—’Tis truth, great sir,
The honour of your bed hath been abus’d.
VORT. O, beyond patience!
CAST. But give me hearing, sir:
’Twas far from my consent; I was surpris’d
By villains, and so raught.[495]
VORT. Hear you that, sirs?
O cunning texture to enclose adultery!
Mark but what subtle veil her sin puts on;
Religion brings her to confession first,
Then steps in art to sanctify that lust.—
’Tis likely you could be surpris’d!
CAST. My lord!
VORT. I’ll hear no more.—Our guard! seize on those
lords.
DEVON. We cannot perish now too fast; make speed
To swift destruction. He breathes most accurst
That lives so long to see his name die first.
[_Exeunt_ DEVONSHIRE _and_ STAFFORD, _guarded_.
HOR. Here’s no[496] dear[497] villany! [_Aside._
HENG. Let him entreat, sir,
That falls in saddest grief for this event,
Which ill begins the fortune of this building.
My lord! [_Takes_ VORTIGER _aside_.
ROX. What if he should cause me to swear too, captain?
You know I am as far to seek in honesty[498]
As the worst here can be; I should be sham’d too.
HOR. Why, fool, they swear by that we worship not;
So you may swear your heart out, and ne’er hurt
yourself.
ROX. That was well thought on; I’d[499] quite lost
myself else.
VORT. You shall prevail in noble suits, my lord,
But this does shame the speaker.
HOR. I’ll step in now,
Though’t[500] shall be to no purpose.—Good my lord,
Think on your noble and most hopeful issue,
Lord Vortimer, the prince.
VORT. A bastard, sir!
I would his life were in my fury now!
CAST. That injury stirs my soul to speak the truth
Of his conception.—Here I take the book, my lord:
By all the glorify’d rewards of virtue
And prepar’d punishments for consents in sin,
A queen’s hard sorrow ne’er supply’d a kingdom
With issue more legitimate than Vortimer.
VORT. This takes not out the stain of present shame;
Continuance crowns desert: she ne’er can go
For perfect honest that’s not always so.—
Beshrew thy heart for urging this excuse;
Thou’st justify’d her somewhat.
HOR. To small purpose.
VORT. Among so many women, not one here
Dare swear a simple chastity! here’s an age
To propagate virtue in! Since I’ve[501] begun,
I’ll shame you altogether, and so leave you.—
My lord of Kent!
HENG. Your highness?
VORT. That’s your daughter?
HENG. Yes, my good lord.
VORT. Though I’m[502] your guest to-day,
And should be less austere to you or yours,
In this case pardon me; I may not spare her.
HENG. Then her own goodness friend her!—she comes, my
lord.
VORT. The tender reputation of a maid
Makes your honour, or else nothing can:
The oath you take is not for truth to man,
But to your own white soul; a mighty task:
What dare you do in this?
ROX. My lord, as much
As chastity can put a woman to;
I ask no favour. And t’approve the purity
Of what my habit and my time professeth,
As likewise to requite all courteous censure,
Here I take oath I am as free from man
As truth from falsehood, or sanctity from stain.
VORT. O thou treasure that ravishes the possessor!
I know not where to speed so well again;
I’ll keep thee while I have thee: here’s a fountain
To spring forth princes and the seeds of kingdoms!
Away with that infection of black honour,
And those her leprous pledges!—
Here will we store succession with true peace;
And of pure virgins grace the poor increase.
[_Exeunt all but_ HORSUS.
HOR. Ha, ha!
He’s well provided now: here struck my fortunes.
With what an impudent confidence she swore honest,
Having th’ advantage of the oath! precious whore!
Methinks I should not hear from fortune next
Under an earldom now: she cannot spend
A night so idly, but to make a lord
With ease, methinks, and play. The earl of Kent
Is calm and smooth, like a deep dangerous water;
He has some secret way; I know his blood;
The grave’s not greedier, nor hell’s lord more proud.
Something will hap; for this astonishing choice
Strikes pale the kingdom, at which I rejoice. [_Exit._
DUMB SHOW.
_Enter_ LUPUS, GERMANUS, DEVONSHIRE, _and_ STAFFORD, _leading_
VORTIMER, _and crown him_: VORTIGER _comes to them in
passion; they neglect him. Enter_ ROXENA _in fury,
expressing discontent; then they lead out_ VORTIMER:
ROXENA _gives two villains gold to murder him; they
swear performance, and go with her_: VORTIGER _offers to
run on his sword_; HORSUS _prevents him, and persuades
him. The lords bring in_ VORTIMER _dead_: VORTIGER
_mourns, and submits to them: they swear him, and crown
him. Then enters_ HENGIST _with Saxons_: VORTIGER
_draws, threatens expulsion, and then sends a parley;
which_ HENGIST _seems to grant by laying down his
weapons: so all depart severally_.
_Enter_ RAYNULPH.
RAY. Of Pagan blood a queen being chose,
Roxena hight,[503] the Britons rose
For Vortimer, and crown’d him king;
But she soon poison’d that sweet spring.
Then unto rule they did restore
Vortiger; and him they swore
Against the Saxons: they (constrain’d)
Begg’d peace, treaty, and obtain’d.
And now in numbers equally
Upon the plain near Salisbury,
A peaceful meeting they decreen,[504]
Like men of love, no weapon seen.
But Hengist, that ambitious lord,
Full of guile, corrupts his word,
As the sequel too well proves:—
On that your eyes; on us your loves. [_Exit._
SCENE III.
_A Plain near Salisbury._
_Enter_ HENGIST, _with_ SAXONS.
HENG. If we let slip this opportuneful hour,
Take leave of fortune, certainty, or thought
Of ever fixing: we are loose at root,
And the least storm may rend us from the bosom
Of this land’s hopes for ever. But, dear Saxons,
Fasten we now, and our unshaken firmness
Will endure after-ages.
FIRST SAX. We are resolv’d, my lord.
HENG. Observe you not how Vortiger the king,
Base in submission, threaten’d our expulsion,
His arm held up against us? Is’t[505] not time
To make our best prevention? What should check me?
He has perfected that great work in our daughter,
And made her queen: she can ascend no higher.
Therefore be quick; despatch. Here, every man
Receive into the service of his vengeance
An instrument of steel, which will unseen
[_Distributing daggers._
Lurk, like a snake under the innocent shade
Of a spread summer-leaf: there, fly you on.
Take heart, the commons love us; those remov’d
That are the nerves, our greatness stands improv’d.
FIRST SAX. Give us the word, my lord, and we are
perfect.
HENG. That’s true; the word,—I lose myself—_Nemp your
sexes_:[506]
It shall be that.
FIRST SAX. Enough, sir: then we strike.
HENG. But the king’s mine: take heed you touch him
not.
FIRST SAX. We shall not be at leisure; never fear it;
We shall have work enough of our own, my lord.
HENG. Calm looks, but stormy souls possess you all!
_Enter_ VORTIGER _and_ BRITISH LORDS.
VORT. We see you keep your words in all points firm.
HENG. No longer may we boast of so much breath
As goes to a word’s making, than of care
In the preserving of it when ’tis made.
VORT. You’re in a virtuous way, my lord of Kent:
And since both sides are met, like sons of peace,
All other arms laid by in signs of favour,
If our conditions be embrac’d—
HENG. They are.
VORT. We’ll use no other but these only here.
HENG. _Nemp your sexes._
BRITISH LORDS. Treason! treason!
[_The_ SAXONS _stab the_ BRITISH LORDS.
HENG. Follow it to the heart, my trusty Saxons!
It is your liberty, your wealth, and honour.—
Soft, you are mine, my lord. [_Seizing_ VORTIGER.
VORT. Take me not basely, when all sense and strength
Lie[507] bound up in amazement at this treachery.
What devil hath breath’d this everlasting part
Of falsehood into thee?
HENG. Let it suffice
I have you, and will hold you prisoner,
As fast as death holds your best props in silence.
We know the hard conditions of our peace,
Slavery or diminution; which we hate
With a joint loathing. May all perish thus,
That seek to subjugate or lessen us!
VORT. O, the strange nooks of guile or subtilty,
When man so cunningly lies hid from man!
Who could expect such treason from thy breast,
Such thunder from thy voice? Or tak’st thou pride
To imitate the fair uncertainty
Of a bright day, that teems a sudden storm,
When the world least expects one? but of all,
I’ll ne’er trust fair sky in a man again:
There’s the deceitful weather. Will you heap
More guilt upon you by detaining me,
Like a cup taken after a sore surfeit,
Even in contempt of health and heaven together?
What seek you?
HENG. Ransom for your liberty,
As I shall like of, or you ne’er obtain it.
VORT. Here’s a most headlong dangerous ambition!
Sow you the seeds of your aspiring hopes
In blood and treason, and must I pay for them?
HENG. Have not I rais’d you to this height of pride?
A work of my own merit, since you enforce it.
VORT. There’s even the general thanks of all aspirers:
When they have all a kingdom can impart,
They write above it still their own desert.
HENG. I’ve[508] writ mine true, my lord.
VORT. That’s all their sayings.
Have not I rais’d thy daughter to a queen?
HENG. You have the harmony of your pleasure for it;
You crown your own desires; what’s that to me?
VORT. And what will crown yours, sir?
HENG. Faith, things of reason:
I demand Kent.
VORT. Why, you’ve the earldom of it.
HENG. The kingdom of’t, I mean, without control,
In full possession.
VORT. This is strange in you.
HENG. It seems you’re not acquainted with my blood,
To call this strange.
VORT. Never was king of Kent,
But who was general king.
HENG. I’ll be the first then:
Every thing has beginning.
VORT. No less title?
HENG. Not if you hope for liberty, my lord.
So dear a happiness would not be wrong’d
With slighting.
VORT. Very well: take it; I resign it.
HENG. Why, I thank your grace.
VORT. Is your great thirst yet satisfied?
HENG. Faith, my lord,
There’s yet behind a pair of teeming sisters,
Norfolk and Suffolk, and I’ve[509] done with you.
VORT. You’ve got a dangerous thirst of late, my lord,
Howe’er you came by’t.[510]
HENG. It behoves me then,
For my blood’s health, to seek all means to quench it.
VORT. Them too?
HENG. There will nothing be abated, I assure you.
VORT. You have me at advantage: he whom fate
Does captivate, must yield to all. Take them.
HENG. And you your liberty and peace, my lord,
With our best love and wishes.—Here’s an hour
Begins us, Saxons, in wealth, fame, and power.
[_Exit with_ SAXONS.
VORT. Are these the noblest fruits and fair’st
requitals
From works of our own raising?
Methinks,[511] the murder of Constantius
Speaks to me in the voice of’t,[512] and the wrongs
Of our late queen, slipt both into one organ.
_Enter_ HORSUS.
Ambition, hell, my own undoing lust,
And all the brood of plagues, conspire against me:
I have not a friend left me.
HOR. My lord, he dies
That says it, but yourself, were’t that thief-king,
That has so boldly stoln his honours from you;
A treason that wrings tears from honest manhood.
VORT. So rich am I now in thy love and pity,
I feel no loss at all: but we must part,
My queen and I to Cambria.
HOR. My lord, and I not nam’d,
That have vow’d lasting service to my life’s
Extremest minute!
VORT. Is my sick fate blest with so pure a friend?
HOR. My lord, no space of earth, nor breadth of sea,
Shall divide me from you.
VORT. O faithful treasure!
All my lost happiness is made up in thee. [_Exit._
HOR. I’ll follow you through the world, to cuckold
you;
That’s my way now. Every one has his toy
While he lives here: some men delight in building,
A trick of Babel, which will ne’er be left;
Some in consuming what was rais’d with toiling;
Hengist in getting honour, I in spoiling. [_Exit._
ACT V. SCENE I.
_A Room in_ SIMON’s _House_.
_Enter_ SIMON, GLOVER, FELT-MAKER, _and other of his
brethren_, AMINADAB, _and Servants_.
SIM. Is not that rebel Oliver, that traitor to my year,
’prehended yet?
AMIN. Not yet, so please your worship.
SIM. Not yet, sayest thou? how durst thou say, not yet,
and see me present? thou malapert, that art good for
nothing but to write and read! Is his loom seized upon?
AMIN. Yes, if it like your worship, and sixteen yards of
fustian.
SIM. Good: let a yard be saved to mend me between the
legs, the rest cut in pieces and given to the poor. ’Tis
heretic fustian, and should be burnt indeed; but being
worn threadbare, the shame will be as great: how think
you, neighbours?
GLOV. Greater, methinks, the longer it is wore;
Where[513] being once burnt, it can be burnt no more.
SIM. True, wise and most senseless.—How now, sirrah?
_Enter a_ FOOTMAN.
What’s he approaching here in dusty pumps?
AMIN. A footman, sir, to the great king of Kent.
SIM. The king of Kent? shake him by the hand for me.
Thou’rt welcome, footman: lo, my deputy shakes thee!
Come when my year is out, I’ll do’t myself.
If ’twere a dog that came from the king of Kent,
I keep those officers would shake him, I trow.
And what’s the news with thee, thou well-stew’d footman?
FOOT. The king, my master—
SIM. Ha!
FOOT. With a few Saxons,
Intends this night to make merry with you.
SIM. Merry with me? I should be sorry else, fellow,
And take it in ill part; so tell Kent’s king.
Why was I chosen, but that great men should make
Merry with me? there is a jest indeed!
Tell him I look’d for’t; and me much he wrongs,
If he forget Sim that cut out his thongs.
FOOT. I’ll run with your worship’s answer.
SIM. Do, I prithee. [_Exit_ FOOTMAN.
That fellow will be roasted against supper;
He’s half enough already; his brows baste him.
The king of Kent! the king of Kirsendom[514]
Shall not be better welcome;
For you must imagine now, neighbours, this is
The time when Kent stands out of Kirsendom,
For he that’s king here now was never kirsen’d.
This for your more instruction I thought fit,
That when you’re[515] dead you may teach your children
wit.—
Clerk!
AMIN. At your worship’s elbow.
SIM. I must turn
You from the hall to the kitchen to-night.
Give order that twelve pigs be roasted yellow,
Nine geese, and some three larks for piddling meat,
And twenty woodcocks: I’ll bid all my neighbours.
Give charge the mutton come in all blood-raw,
That’s[516] infidel’s meat; the king of Kent’s a pagan,
And must be servèd so. And let those officers
That seldom or never go to church bring it in,
’Twill be the better taken. Run, run.
[_Exit_ AMINADAB.
Come you hither now.
Take all my cushions down and thwack them soundly,
After my feast of millers; for their buttocks
Have left a peck of flour in them: beat them carefully
Over a bolting-hutch, there will be enough
For a pan-pudding, as your dame will handle it.
Then put fresh water into both the bough-pots,
And burn a little juniper in the hall-chimney:
[_Exeunt_ SERVANTS.
Like a beast as I was, I pissed out the fire last
night,
and never dreamt of the king’s coming.
_Re-enter_ AMINADAB.
How now, returned so quickly?
AMIN. Please your worship, here are a certain company of
players—
SIM. Ha, players!
AMIN. Country comedians, interluders, sir, desire your
worship’s favour and leave to enact in the town-hall.
SIM. In the town-hall? ’tis ten to one I never grant
them that. Call them before my worship. [_Exit_
AMINADAB.]—If my house will not serve their turn, I
would fain see the proudest he lend them a barn.
_Re-enter_ AMINADAB _with_ PLAYERS.[517]
Now, sirs, are you comedians?
SECOND PLAY. We are, sir; comedians, tragedians, tragi-
comedians, comi-tragedians, pastorists, humorists,
clownists, satirists: we have them, sir, from the hug to
the smile, from the smile to the laugh, from the laugh
to the handkerchief.
SIM. You’re very strong in the wrist, methinks. And must
all these good parts be cast away upon pedlars and
maltmen, ha?
FIRST PLAY. For want of better company, if it please
your worship.
SIM. What think you of me, my masters? Hum; have you
audacity enough to play before so high a person as
myself? Will not my countenance daunt you? for if you
play before me, I shall often look on you; I give you
that warning beforehand. Take it not ill, my masters, I
shall laugh at you, and truly when I am least offended
with you: it is my humour; but be not you abashed.
FIRST PLAY. Sir, we have play’d before a lord ere now,
Though we be country actors.
SIM. A lord? ha, ha!
Thou’lt find it a harder thing to please a mayor.
SECOND PLAY. We have a play wherein we use a horse.
SIM. Fellows, you use no horse-play in my house;
My rooms are rubb’d: keep it for hackney-men.
FIRST PLAY. We’ll not offer it to your worship.
SIM. Give me a play without a beast, I charge you.
SECOND PLAY. That’s hard; without a cuckold or a
drunkard?
SIM. O, those beasts are often the best men in a parish,
and must not be kept out. But which is your merriest
play? that I would hearken after.
SECOND PLAY. Your worship shall hear their names, and
take your choice.
SIM. And that’s plain dealing. Come, begin, sir.
SECOND PLAY. _The Whirligig_,[518] _The Whibble_, _The
Carwidgeon_.
SIM. Hey-day! what names are these?
SECOND PLAY. New names of late. _The Wild-goose
Chase._[519]
SIM. I understand thee now.
SECOND PLAY. _Gull upon Gull._
SIM. Why this is somewhat yet.
FIRST PLAY. _Woodcock of our side._[520]
SIM. Get thee further off then.
SECOND PLAY. _The Cheater and the Clown._
SIM. Is that come up again?
That was a play when I was ’prentice first.
SECOND PLAY. Ay, but the Cheater has learn’d more
tricks of late,
And gulls the Clown with new additions.
SIM. Then is your Clown a coxcomb; which is he?
FIRST PLAY. This is our Clown, sir.
SIM. Fie, fie, your company must fall upon him and beat
him: he’s too fair, i’faith, to make the people laugh.
FIRST PLAY. Not as he may be drest, sir.
SIM. Faith, dress him how you will, I’ll give him that
gift, he will never look half scurvily enough. O, the
clowns[521] that I have seen in my time! The very
peeping out of one of them would have made a young heir
laugh, though his father lay a-dying; a man undone in
law the day before (the saddest case that can be) might
for his twopence[522] have burst himself with laughing,
and ended all his miseries. Here was a merry world, my
masters!
Some talk of things of state, of puling stuff;
There’s nothing in a play to[523] a clown,
If he have the grace to hit on’t;[524] that’s the thing:
The king shews well, but he sets off the king.
But not the king of Kent, I mean not so;
The king is one, I mean, I do not know.
SECOND PLAY. Your worship speaks with safety, like a
rich man;
And for your finding fault, our hopes are greater,
Neither with him the Clown, nor me the Cheater.
SIM. Away, then; shift, Clown, to thy motley crupper.
[_Exeunt_ PLAYERS.
We’ll see them first, the king shall after supper.
GLOV. I commend your worship’s wisdom in that, master
mayor.
SIM. Nay, ’tis a point of justice, if it be well
examined, not to offer the king worse than I’ll see
myself. For a play may be dangerous: I have known a
great man poisoned in a play—
GLOV. What, have you, master mayor?
SIM. But to what purpose many times, I know not.
FELT. Methinks they should [not] destroy one another so.
SIM. O, no, no! he that’s poisoned is always made privy
to it; that’s one good order they have among them.—[_A
shout within._] What joyful throat is that? Aminadab,
what is the meaning of this cry?
AMIN. The rebel is taken.
SIM. Oliver the puritan?
AMIN. Oliver, puritan, and fustian-weaver altogether.
SIM. Fates, I thank you for this victorious day!
Bonfires of pease-straw burn, let the bells ring!
GLOV. There’s two in mending, and you know they
cannot.
SIM. Alas,[525] the tenor’s broken! ring out the
treble!
_Enter_ OLIVER, _brought in by_ OFFICERS.
I’m[526] over-cloy’d with joy.—Welcome, thou rebel!
OLIV. I scorn thy welcome, I.
SIM. Art thou yet so stout?
Wilt thou not stoop for grace? then get thee out.
OLIV. I was not born to stoop but to my loom;
That seiz’d upon, my stooping days are done.
In plain terms, if thou hast any thing to say to me,
send me away quickly, this is no biding-place; I
understand there are players in thy house; despatch me,
I charge thee, in the name of all the brethren.
SIM. Nay, now, proud rebel, I will make thee stay;
And, to thy greater torment, see a play.
OLIV. O devil! I conjure thee by Amsterdam![527]
SIM. Our word is past;
Justice may wink a while, but see at last.
[_Trumpet sounds to announce the commencement
of the play._
The play begins.[528] Hold, stop him, stop him!
OLIV. O that profane trumpet! O, O!
SIM. Set him down there, I charge you, officers.
OLIV. I’ll stop my ears and hide my eyes.[529]
SIM. Down with his golls,[530] I charge you.
OLIV. O tyranny, tyranny! revenge it, tribulation!
For rebels there are many deaths; but sure the only way
To execute a puritan, is seeing of a play.
O, I shall swound![531]
SIM. Which if thou dost, to spite thee,
A player’s boy shall bring thee aqua-vitæ.[532]
_Enter_ FIRST PLAYER _as_ FIRST CHEATER.
OLIV. O, I’ll not swound at all for’t, though I die.
SIM. Peace, here’s a rascal! list and edify.
FIRST PLAY. _I say still he’s an ass that cannot live by
his wits._
SIM. What a bold rascal’s this! he calls us all asses at
first dash: sure none of us live by our wits, unless it
be Oliver the puritan.
OLIV. I scorn as much to live by my wits as the proudest
of you all.
SIM. Why then you’re an ass for company; so hold your
prating.
_Enter_ SECOND PLAYER _as_ SECOND CHEATER.
FIRST[533] PLAY. _Fellow in arms, welcome! the news,
the news?_
SIM. Fellow in arms, quoth he? He may well call him
fellow in arms; I am sure they’re both out at the
elbows.
SECOND PLAY. _Be lively, my heart, be lively; the booty
is at hand. He’s but a fool of a yeoman’s eldest son;
he’s balanced on both sides, bully; he’s going to buy
household-stuff with one pocket, and to pay rent with
the other._
FIRST PLAY. _And if this be his last day, my chuck, he
shall forfeit his lease, quoth the one pocket, and eat
his meat in wooden platters, quoth the other._
SIM. Faith, then he’s not so wise as he ought to be, to
let such tatterdemallions get the upper hand of him.
FIRST PLAY. _He comes._
_Enter_ THIRD PLAYER _as_ CLOWN.
SECOND PLAY. _Ay, but smally to our comfort, with both
his hands in his pockets. How is it possible to pick a
lock, when the key is on the inside of the door?_
SIM. O neighbours, here’s the part now that carries away
the play! if the clown miscarry, farewell my hopes for
ever; the play’s spoiled.
THIRD PLAY. _They say there is a foolish kind of thing
called a cheater abroad, that will gull any yeoman’s son
of his purse, and laugh in his face like an Irishman. I
would fain meet with some of these creatures: I am in as
good state to be gulled now as ever I was in my life,
for I have two purses at this time about me, and I would
fain be acquainted with that rascal that would take one
of them now._
SIM. Faith, thou mayest be acquainted with two or three,
that will do their good wills, I warrant thee.
FIRST PLAY. _That way’s too plain, too easy, I’m
afraid._
SECOND PLAY. _Come, sir, your most familiar cheats
take best,
They shew like natural things and least suspected.
Give me a round shilling quickly._
FIRST PLAY. _It will fetch but one of his hands neither,
if it take._
SECOND PLAY. _Thou art too covetous: let’s have one
out first, prithee; there’s time enough to fetch out
th’ other after. Thou liest, ’tis lawful current
money._ [_They draw._
FIRST PLAY. _I say ’tis copper in some countries._
THIRD PLAY. _Here is a fray towards;[534] but I will
hold my hands, let who will part them._
SECOND PLAY. _Copper? I defy thee, and now I shall
disprove thee. Look you, here’s an honest yeoman’s son
of the country, a man of judgment—_
THIRD PLAY. _Pray you be covered, sir; I have eggs in my
cap, and cannot put it off._
SECOND PLAY. _Will you be tried by him?_
FIRST PLAY. _I am content, sir._
SIM. They look rather as if they would be tried next
sessions.
FIRST PLAY. _Pray give your judgment of this piece of
coin, sir._
THIRD PLAY. _Nay, if it be coin you strive about, let me
see it; I love money._
FIRST PLAY. _Look on it well, sir._
[_They pick his pocket._
SECOND PLAY. _Let him do his worst, sir._
THIRD PLAY. _You’d both need wear cut[535] clothes,
you’re so choleric._
SECOND PLAY. _Nay, rub it, and spare not, sir._
THIRD PLAY. _Now by this silver, gentlemen, it is good
money; would I had a hundred of them!_
SECOND PLAY. _We hope well, sir.—Th’ other pocket, and
we are made men._
[_Exeunt_ FIRST _and_ SECOND PLAYERS.
SIM. O neighbours, I begin to be sick of this fool, to
see him thus cozened! I would make his case my own.
THIRD PLAY. _Still would I meet with these things called
cheaters._
SIM. A whoreson coxcomb; they have met with thee. I can
no longer endure him with patience.
THIRD PLAY. _O my rent! my whole year’s rent!_
SIM. A murrain on you! This makes us landlords stay so
long for our money.
THIRD PLAY. _The cheaters have been here._
SIM. A scurvy hobby-horse, that could not leave his
money with me, having such a charge about him! A pox on
thee for an ass! thou play a clown! I will commit thee
for offering it.—Officers, away with him!
GLOV. What means your worship? why, you’ll spoil the
play, sir.
SIM. Before the king of Kent shall be thus serv’d,
I’ll play the clown myself.—Away with him!
[OFFICERS _seize_ THIRD PLAYER.
THIRD PLAY. With me? if it please your worship, ’twas my
part.
SIM. But ’twas a foolish part as ever thou playedst in
thy life: I’ll make thee smoke for it; I’ll teach thee
to understand to play a clown; thou shalt know every man
is not born to it.—Away with him quickly! He’ll have the
other pocket picked else; I heard them say it with my
own ears.
_Re-enter_ SECOND PLAYER _as_ SECOND CHEATER.
See, he’s come in another disguise to cheat thee again.
[_Exit_ THIRD PLAYER _with_ OFFICERS.
SECOND PLAY. Pish, whither goes he now?
SIM. Come on, sir, let us see what your knaveship can do
at me now: you must not think you have a clown in hand.
The fool I have committed too, for playing the part.
[_Throws off his gown, discovering his doublet
with a satin forepart, and a canvass back._
SECOND PLAY. What’s here to do?
GLOV. Fie, good sir, come away: will your worship base
yourself to play a clown?
SECOND PLAY. I beseech your worship let us have our own
clown; I know not how to go forwards else.
SIM. Knave, play out thy part with me, or I’ll lay thee
by the heels all the days of thy life.—Why, how now, my
masters, who is that laughed at me? cannot a man of
worship play the clown a little for his pleasure, but he
must be laughed at? Do you know who I am? Is the king’s
deputy of no better account among you? Was I chosen to
be laughed at?—Where’s my clerk?
AMIN. Here, if it please your worship.
SIM. Take a note of all those that laugh at me, that
when I have done, I may commit them. Let me see who dare
do it now.—And now to you once again, sir cheater: look
you, here are my purse-strings; I do defy thee.
SECOND PLAY. Good sir, tempt me not; my part is so
written, that I should cheat your worship if you were my
father.
SIM. I should have much joy to have such a rascal to my
son.
SECOND PLAY. Therefore I beseech your worship pardon me;
the part has more knavery in it than when your worship
saw it at first: I assure you you’ll be deceived in it,
sir; the new additions will take any man’s purse in
Kent, or Kirsendom.[536]
SIM. If thou canst take my purse, I’ll give it thee
freely:
And do thy worst, I charge thee, as thou’lt answer it.
SECOND PLAY. I shall offend your worship.
SIM. Knave, do it quickly.
SECOND PLAY. Say you so? then there’s for you, and here
is for me.
[_Throws meal in his face, takes his purse, and exit._
SIM. O bless me! neighbours, I am in a fog,
A cheater’s fog; I can see nobody.
GLOV. Run, follow him, officers.
SIM. Away! let him go; he will have all your purses, if
he come back. A pox on your new additions! they spoil
all the plays that ever they come in: the old way had no
such roguery in it. Call you this a merry comedy, when a
man’s eyes are put out in’t? Brother Honeysuckle——
[_Exit_ AMINADAB.
FELT. What says your sweet worship?
SIM. I make you deputy, to rule the town till I can see
again, which will be within these nine days at farthest.
Nothing grieves me now, but that I hear Oliver the rebel
laugh at me. A pox on your puritan face! this will make
you in love with plays as long as you live; we shall not
keep you from them now.
OLIV. In sincerity, I was never better pleased at an
exercise.[537] Ha, ha, ha!
SIM. Neighbours, what colour was the dust the rascal
threw in my face?
GLOV. ’Twas meal, if it please your worship.
SIM.. Meal! I am glad of it; I’ll hang the miller for
selling it.
GLOV. Nay, ten to one the cheater never bought it; he
stole it certainly.
SIM.. Why, then I’ll hang the cheater for stealing it,
and the miller for being out of the way when he did it.
FELT. Ay, but your worship was in the fault yourself;
you bid him do his worst.
SIM.. His worst? that’s true; but the rascal hath done
his best; for I know not how a villain could put out a
man’s eyes better, and leave them in his head, as he has
done mine.
_Re-enter_ AMINADAB.
AMIN. Where is my master’s worship?
SIM. How now, Aminadab? I hear thee, though I see thee
not.
AMIN. You are sure cozened, sir; they are all professed
cheaters: they have stolen two silver spoons, and the
clown took his heels with all celerity. They only take
the name of country comedians to abuse simple people
with a printed play or two, which they bought at
Canterbury for sixpence; and what is worse, they speak
but what they list of it, and fribble out the rest.
SIM.. Here’s no abuse[538] to the commonwealth, if a man
could see to look into it!
But mark the cunning of these cheating slaves,
First they make justice blind, then play the knaves.
HENG. [_without_] Where’s master mayor?
GLOV. Od’s precious, brother! the king of Kent is newly
alighted.
SIM. The king of Kent!
Where is he? that I should live to this day,
And yet not live to see to bid him welcome!
_Enter_ HENGIST, _attended_.
HENG. Where is Simonides, our friendly host?
SIM. Ah, blind as one that had been fox’d[539] a
seven-night!
HENG. Why, how now, man?
SIM. Faith, practising a clown’s part for your grace,
I have practis’d both my eyes out.
HENG. What need you practise that?
SIM. A man is never too old to learn; your grace will
say so, when you hear the jest of it: the truth is, my
lord, I meant to have been merry, and now it is my luck
to weep water and oatmeal; I shall see again at supper,
I make no doubt of it.
HENG. This is strange to me, sirs.
_Enter a_ GENTLEMAN.
GENT. Arm, arm, my lord!
HENG. What’s that?
GENT. With swiftest speed,
If ever you’ll behold the queen, your daughter,
Alive again.
HENG. Roxena?
GENT. They are besieg’d:
Aurelius Ambrose, and his brother Uther,
With numbers infinite of British forces,
Beset their castle, and they cannot ’scape
Without your speedy succour.
HENG. For her safety
I’ll forget food and rest; away!
SIM. I hope your worship will hear the jest ere you go.
HENG. The jest! torment me not.
SIM. I’ll follow you to Wales with a dog and a bell, but
I will tell it you.
HENG. Unseasonable folly! [_Exit with_ ATTENDANTS.
SIM. ’Tis sign of war when great men disagree.
Look to the rebel well, till I can see;
And when my sight’s[540] recover’d, I will have
His eyes pull’d out for a fortnight.
OLIV. My eyes? hang thee!
A deadly sin or two shall pluck them out first;
That is my resolution. Ha, ha, ha! [_Exeunt._
SCENE II.
_Before a Castle in Wales._
_Enter_ AURELIUS _and_ UTHER, _and_ LORDS, _with_
SOLDIERS.
UTH. My lord, the castle is so fortified—
AUR. Let wild-fire ruin it,
That his destruction may appear to him
In the figure of heaven’s wrath at the last day,
That murderer of our brother. Hence, away!
I’ll send my heart no peace till’t[541] be consum’d.
[_Enter above_ VORTIGER _and_ HORSUS.
UTH. There he appears again—behold, my lord!
AUR. O that the zealous fire on my soul’s altar,
To the high birth of virtue consecrated,
Would fit me with a lightning now to blast him,
Even as I look upon him!
UTH. Good my lord,
Your anger is too noble and too precious
To waste itself on guilt so foul as his:
Let ruin work her will.
VORT. Begirt all round?
HOR. All, all, my lord; ’tis folly to make doubt
of’t:[542]
You question things, that horror long ago
Resolv’d[543] us on.
VORT. Give me leave, Horsus, though——
HOR. Do what you will, sir; question them again;
I’ll tell them to you.
VORT. Not so, sir;
I will not have them told again.
HOR. It rests then—
VORT. That’s an ill word put in, when thy heart knows
There is no rest at all, but torment waking.[544]
HOR. True; my heart finds it, that sits weeping blood
now
For poor Roxena’s safety.—[_Aside._] You’ll confess, my
lord,
My love to you has brought me to this danger?
I could have liv’d, like Hengist king of Kent,
London, York, Lincoln, and Winchester,
Under the power of my command, the portion
Of my most just desert, enjoyèd now
By pettier deservers.
VORT. Say you so, sir?
And you’ll confess, since you began confession,
(A thing I should have died ere I had thought on),
You’ve marr’d the fashion of your affection utterly,
In your own wicked counsel, there you paid me:
You were bound in conscience to love me after;
You were bound to’t, as men in honesty,
That vitiate virgins, to give dowries to them:
My faith was pure before to a faithful woman.
HOR. My lord, my counsel—
VORT. Why, I’ll be judg’d by these
That knit death in their brows, and hold me now
Not worth the acception of a flattery;
Most of whose faces smil’d when I smil’d once.—
My lords!
UTH. Reply not, brother.
VORT. Seeds of scorn,
I mind you not; I speak to them alone
Whose force makes yours a power, which else were none.
Shew me the main food of your hate,
Which cannot be the murder of Constantius,
That crawls in your revenges, for your loves
Were violent long since that.
FIRST LORD. And had been still,
If from that pagan wound thou’dst kept thee free;
But when thou fled’st from heaven, we fled from thee.
VORT. This was your counsel now.
HOR. Mine? ’twas the counsel
Of your own lust and blood; your appetite knows it.
VORT. May thunder strike me from these walls, my
lords,
And leave me many leagues off from your eyes,
If this be not the man whose Stygian soul
Breath’d forth that counsel to me, and sole plotter
Of all those false injurious disgraces,
That have abus’d the virtuous patience
Of our religious queen.
HOR. A devil in madness!
VORT. Upon whose life I swear there sticks no stain
But what’s most wrongful: and where[545] now she thinks
A rape dwells on her honour, only I
Her ravisher was, and his the policy.
AUR. Inhuman practice![546]
VORT. Now you know the truth,
Will his death serve your fury?
HOR. My death?
VORT. Say, will it do it?
HOR. Say they should say ’twould do’t?
VORT. Why, then it must.
HOR. It must?
VORT. It shall.—
Speak but the word, it shall be yielded up.
HOR. Believe him not; he cannot do it.
VORT. Cannot?
HOR. ’Tis but a false and base insinuation
For his own life, and like his late submission.
VORT. O sting to honour! Alive or dead, thou goest
For that word’s rudeness only. [_Stabs him._
FIRST LORD. See, sin needs
No other destruction than [what] it breeds
In its own bosom.
VORT. Such another brings him.
HOR. What! has thy vile rage stampt a wound upon me?
I’ll send one to thy soul shall never heal for’t.
VORT. How, to my soul?
HOR. It shall be thy master torment,
Both for the pain and th’ everlastingness.
VORT. Ha, ha, ha!
HOR. Dost laugh? take leave of’t:[547] all eternity
Shall never see thee do so much again.
Know, thou’rt a cuckold.
VORT. What!
HOR. You change too soon, sir.
Roxena, whom thou’st rais’d to thy own ruin,
She was my whore in Germany.
VORT. Burst me open,
The violence of whirlwinds!
HOR. Hear me out first.
For her embrace, which my flesh yet sits warm in,
I was thy friend and follower.
VORT. Deafen me,
Thou most imperious noise that starts the world!
HOR. And to serve both our lusts, I practis’d with
thee
Against thy virtuous queen.
VORT. Bane to all comforts!
HOR. Whose faithful sweetness, too precious for thy
blood,
I made thee change for love’s hypocrisy.
VORT. Insufferable!
HOR. Only to make
My way to pleasure fearless, free, and fluent.
VORT. Hell’s trump is in that throat!
HOR. It shall sound shriller.
VORT. I’ll dam it up with death first.
[_They stab each other._ _Enter_ ROXENA _above_.
ROX. O for succour!
Who’s near me? Help me, save me! the flame follows me;
’Tis in the figure of young Vortimer, the prince,[548]
Whose life I took by poison.
HOR. Hold out, breath,
And I shall find thee quickly.
VORT. I will[549] tug
Thy soul out here.
HOR. Do, monster!
ROX. Vortiger!
VORT. Monster!
ROX. My lord!
VORT. Toad! Pagan!
HOR. Viper! Christian!
ROX. O hear me, O help me, my love, my lord! ’tis
here!
Horsus, look up, if not to succour me,
To see me yet consum’d. O what is love,
When life is not regarded!
VORT. What strength’s left
I’ll fix upon thy throat.
HOR. I have some force yet.
[_They stab each other_, HORSUS _falls_.
ROX. No way to ’scape? is this the end of glory?
Doubly beset with enemies’ wrath, and fire?
It comes nearer—rivers and fountains, fall!—
It sucks away my breath; I cannot give
A curse to sin, and hear’t out while I live.
Help, help! [_Falls._
VORT. Burn, burn! Now I can tend thee.
Take time with her in torment, call her life
Afar off to thee, dry up her strumpet-blood,
And hardly parch the skin; let one heat strangle her,
Another fetch her to her sense again,
And the worst pain be only her reviving;
Follow her eternally! O mystical harlot,
Thou hast thy full due! Whom lust crown’d queen before,
Flames crown her now a most triumphant whore;
And that end crowns them all! [_Falls._
AUR. Our peace is full
In yon usurper’s fall; nor have I known
A judgment meet [the bad] more fearfully.
Here, take this ring; deliver the good queen,
And those grave pledges of her murder’d honour,
Her worthy father and her noble uncle.
[_Exit_ SECOND LORD _with ring_. _Trumpets sound._
How now! the meaning of these sounds?
_Enter_ DEVONSHIRE, STAFFORD, _and_ SOLDIERS, _with_
HENGIST _prisoner_.
HEN. The consumer has been here; she’s gone, she’s
lost;
In glowing cinders now lie all my joys:
The headlong fortune of my rash captivity
Strikes not so deep a wound into my hopes
As thy dear loss.
AUR. Her father and her uncle!
FIRST LORD. They are indeed, my lord.
AUR. Part of my wishes.
What fortunate power has prevented[550] me,
And ere my love came, brought them victory?
FIRST LORD. My wonder sticks in Hengist, king of Kent.
DEVONSHIRE. My lord, to make that plain which now I
see
Fix’d in astonishment; the only name
Of your return and being, brought such gladness
To this distracted kingdom, that, to express
A thankfulness to heaven, it grew great
In charitable actions; from which goodness
We taste our liberty, who liv’d engag’d
Upon the innocence of woman’s honour,
(A kindness that even threaten’d to undo us):
And having newly but enjoy’d the benefit
And fruits of our enlargement, ’twas our happiness
To intercept this monster of ambition,
Bred in these times of usurpation,
The rankness of whose insolence and treason
Grew to such height, ’twas arm’d to bid you battle;
Whom, as our fame’s redemption, on our knees
We present captive.
AUR. Had it needed reason,
You richly came provided. I understood
Not your deserts till now.—My honour’d lords,
Is this that German Saxon, whose least thirst
Could not be satisfied under a province?
HENG. Had but my fate directed this bold arm
To thy life, the whole kingdom had been mine;
That was my hope’s great aim: I have a thirst
Could never have been full quench’d under all;
The whole must do’t, or nothing.
AUR. A strange drought!
And what a little ground shall death now teach you
To be content withal!
HENG. Why let it then,
For none else can; you’ve nam’d the only way
To limit my ambition; a full cure
For all my fading hopes and sickly fears;
Nor shall it be less welcome to me now,
Than a fresh acquisition would have been
Unto my new-built kingdoms. Life to me,
’Less it be glorious, is a misery.
AUR. That pleasure we will do you.—Lead him out:
And when we have inflicted our just doom
On his usurping head, it will become
Our pious care to see this realm secur’d
From the convulsions it hath long endur’d.
[_Exeunt omnes._
------------------------------------------------------------------------
BLURT, MASTER-CONSTABLE.
_Blvrt, Master-Constable. Or The Spaniards Night-walke. As it
hath bin sundry times priuately acted by the Children of
Paules._
———— ———— _Patresq; severi
Fronde comas vincti coenant, et carmina dictant._
_London, Printed for Henry Rockytt, and are to be solde at the
long shop vnder S. Mildreds Church in the Poultry._ 1602. 4to.
This drama was reprinted (without notes, or any attempt to
rectify the errors of the old copy,) in a volume of rare
occurrence, edited by Chetwood, and entitled _A Select
Collection of Old Plays_, Dublin, 12mo. 1750.
“Blurt, master constable” (equivalent to—A fig for the
constable!) was a proverbial phrase: see _English Prouerbs_, p.
14 (first series), appended to Howell’s _Lexicon Tetraglotton_,
1660. Gifford thinks that Ben Jonson alludes to Middleton’s
comedy in a _Tale of a Tub_, where Hilts says, “You’ll clap a
dog of wax as soon, _old Blurt_.” _Works_, vol. vi. p. 158.
DRAMATIS PERSONÆ.
DUKE OF VENICE.
HIPPOLITO, _brother to_ VIOLETTA.
CAMILLO, _in love with_ VIOLETTA.
BAPTISTA, }
BENTIVOGLIO, } _Venetian gentlemen_.
VIRGILIO, }
ASORINO, }
CURVETTO, _an old courtier_.
FONTINELLE, _a French gentleman, taken prisoner by_
CAMILLO.
LAZARILLO DE TORMES, _a Spaniard_.
DOYT, _page to_ HIPPOLITO.
DANDYPRAT, _page to_ CAMILLO.
TRUEPENNY, _page to_ VIOLETTA.
PILCHER, _page to_ LAZARILLO.
FRISCO, _servant to_ IMPERIA.
BLURT, _master-constable_.
SLUBBER, _a beadle, his clerk_.
WOODCOCK, _a watchman_.
FRIAR.
_Gentlemen_, _Servingmen_, _Watchmen_, _&c._
VIOLETTA, _sister to_ HIPPOLITO.
IMPERIA, _a courtesan_.
TRIVIA, }
SIMPERINA, } _her attendants_.
_Ladies._
SCENE, VENICE.
BLURT, MASTER-CONSTABLE.
--------------
ACT I. SCENE I.
_A Room in_ CAMILLO’S _House_; _a Banquet set out_.
_Enter_ CAMILLO, HIPPOLITO, BAPTISTA, BENTIVOGLIO,
_and_ VIRGILIO (_with gloves in their hats, as
having lately returned from war_), _leading in_
VIOLETTA _and other Ladles_: DOYT _and_ DANDYPRAT
_attending_.
HIP. Ay, marry, sir, the only rising up in arms is in
the arms of a woman: peace, I say still, is your only
paradise, when every Adam may have his Christmas Eve.
And[551] you take me lying any more by the cold sides of
a brazen-face[d] field-piece, unless I have such a down
pillow under me, I’ll give you leave to knock up both my
golls[552] in my father’s hall, and hang hats upon these
tenpenny nails.
VIOL. And yet, brother, when, with the sharpest hooks of
my wit, I laboured to pull you from the wars, you broke
loose, like a horse that knew his own strength, and
vowed nothing but a man of war should back you——
HIP. I have been backed since, and almost unbacked too.
VIOL. And swore that honour was never dyed in grain till
it was dipt in the colours of the field.
HIP. I am a new man, sister, and now cry a pox a’ that
honour that must have none but barber-surgeons to wait
upon’t, and a band of poor straggling rascals, that,
every twinkling of an eye, forfeit their legs and arms
into the Lord’s hands! Wenches, by Mars his sweaty buff-
jerkin (for now all my oaths must smell a’ the soldado),
I have seen more men’s heads spurned up and down like
foot-balls at a breakfast, after the hungry cannons had
picked them, than are maidenheads in Venice, and more
legs of men served in at a dinner than ever I shall see
legs of capons in one platter whilst I live.
FIRST LADY. Perhaps all those were capons’ legs you did
see.
VIRG. Nay, mistress, I’ll witness against you for some
of them.
VIOL. I do not think, for all this, that my brother
stood to it so lustily as he makes his brags for.
THIRD LADY. No, no, these great talkers are never great
doers.
VIOL. Faith, brother, how many did you kill for your
share?
HIP. Not so many as thou hast done with that villanous
eye by a thousand.
VIOL. I thought so much; that’s just none.
CAM. ’Tis not a soldier’s glory to tell how many
lives he has ended, but how many he has saved: in
both which honours the noble Hippolito had most
excellent possession. Believe it, my fair mistress,
though many men in a battle have done more, your
brother in this equalled him who did most. He went
from you a worthy gentleman; he brings with him that
title that makes a gentleman most worthy, the name
of a soldier; which how well and how soon he hath
earned, would in me seem glorious to rehearse, in
you to hear; but, because his own ear dwells so near
my voice, I will play the ill neighbour, and cease
to speak well of him.
VIOL. An argument that either you dare not or love not
to flatter.
CAM. No more than I dare or love to do wrong; yet to
make a chronicle of my friend’s nobly-acted deeds, would
stand as far from flattery in me, as cowardice did from
him.
HIP. ’S foot, if all the wit in this company have
nothing to set itself about but to run division upon me,
why then e’en burn off mine ears indeed. But, my little
mermaids, Signior Camillo does this that I now might
describe the Ninevitical motion[553] of the whole
battle, and so tell what he has done;—and come, shall I
begin?
FIRST LADY. O, for beauty’s love, a good motion!
HIP. But I can tell you one thing, I shall make your
hair stand up an end at some things.
VIOL. Prithee, good brother soldier, keep the peace: our
hair stand an end! pity a’ my heart, the next end would
be of our wits. We hang out a white flag, most terrible
Tamburlain,[554] and beg mercy. Come, come, let us
neither have your Ninevitical motions, nor your
swaggering battles. Why, my lord Camillo, you invited me
hither to a banquet, not to the ballad of a pitched
field.
CAM. And here it stands, bright mistress, sweetly
attending what doom your lips will lay upon it.
VIOL. Ay, marry, sir, let our teeth describe this
motion.
SECOND LADY. We shall never describe it well for
fumbling i’ th’ mouth.
HIP. Yes, yes, I have a trick to make us understand one
another, and[555] we fumble never so.
VIOL. Meddle not with his tricks, sweetheart. Under
pardon, my lord, though I am your guest, I’ll bestow
myself. Sit, dear beauties: for the men, let them take
up places themselves. I prithee, brother fighter, sit,
and talk of any subject but this jangling law at arms.
[_They seat themselves._
HIP. The law at legs then.
VIOL. Will you be so lusty? no, nor legs neither; we’ll
have them tied up too. Since you are among ladies,
gallants, handle those things only that are fit for
ladies.
HIP. Agreed, so that we go not out of the compass of
those things that are fit for lords.
VIOL. Be’t so: what’s the theme then?
FIRST LADY. Beauty; that fits us best.
CAM. And of beauty what tongue would not speak the best,
since it is the jewel that hangs upon the brow of
heaven, the best colour that can be laid upon the cheek
of earth? Beauty makes men gods immortal, by making
mortal men to live ever in love.
SECOND LADY. Ever? not so: I have heard that some men
have died for love.
VIOL. So have I, but I could never see’t. I’d ride forty
miles to follow such a fellow to church; and would make
more of a sprig of rosemary at his burial, than of a
gilded bride-branch at mine own wedding.[556]
CAM. Take you such delight in men that die for love?
VIOL. Not in the men, nor in the death, but in the deed.
Troth, I think he is not a sound man that will die for a
woman; and yet I would never love a man soundly, that
would not knock at death’s door for my love.
HIP. I’d knock as long as I thought good, but have my
brains knocked out when I entered, if I were he.
CAM. What Venetian gentleman was there, that having this
in his burgonet[557] did not (to prove his head worthy
of the honour) do more than defy death to the very face?
Trust us, ladies, our signiory stands bound in greater
sums of thanks to your beauties for victory, than to our
valour. My dear Violetta, one kiss to this picture of
your whitest hand, when I was even faint with giving and
receiving the dole of war, set a new edge on my sword,
insomuch that
I singl’d out a gallant spirit of France,
And charg’d him with my lance in full career;
And after rich exchange of noble courage,
(The space of a good hour on either side),
At last crying, Now for Violetta’s honour!
I vanquish’d him, and him dismounted took,
Not to myself, but prisoner to my love.
VIOL. I have heard much praise of that French gallant:
good my lord, bring him acquainted with our eyes.
CAM. I will.—Go, boy, fetch noble Fontinelle.
[_Exit_ DANDYPRAT.
HIP. Will your French prisoner drink well, or else cut
his throat?
CAM. O, no! he cannot brook it.
HIP. The pox he can[not]! ’S light, methinks a Frenchman
should have a good courage to wine, for many of them be
exceeding hot fiery whoresons, and resolute as Hector,
and as valiant as Troilus; then come off and on bravely,
and lie by it, and sweat for’t too, upon a good and a
military advantage.
CAM. Prithee, have done; here comes the prisoner.
_Enter_ FONTINELLE _and_ DANDYPRAT.
VIOL. My Lord Camillo, is this the gentleman
Whose valour by your valour is subdued?
CAM. It is, fair lady; and I yield him up
To be your beauty’s worthy prisoner.
Lord Fontinelle, think your captivity
Happy in this; she that hath conquer’d me
Receives my conquest as my love’s fair fee.
VIOL. Fair stranger, droop not, since the chance of
wars
Brings to the soldier death, restraint, or scars.
FONT. Lady, I know the fortune of the field
Is death with honour, or with shame to yield,
As I have done.
VIOL. In that no scandal lies:
Who dies when he may live, he doubly dies.
FONT. My reputation’s lost.
VIOL. Nay, that’s not so;
You fled[558] not, but were vanquish’d by your foe:
The eye of war respects not you nor him;
It is our fate will have us lose or win:
You will disdain if I you prisoner call?
FONT. No, but rejoice since I am beauty’s thrall.
HIP. Enough of this; come, wenches, shake your heels.
CAM. Music, advance thee on thy golden wing,
And dance division from sweet string to string.
FONT. Camillo, I shall curb[559] thy tyranny,
In making me that lady’s prisoner:
She has an angel’s body, but within’t
Her coy heart says there lies a heart of flint.
[_Music for a measure:[560] whilst_ FONTINELLE
_speaks, they dance a strain_.
Such beauty be my jailor! a heavenly hell!
The darkest dungeon which spite can devise
To throw this carcass in, her glorious eyes
Can make as lightsome as the fairest chamber
In Paris Louvre. Come, captivity,
And chain me to her looks! How am I tost,
Being twice in mind, as twice in body lost!
[_Here_ VIOLETTA _on a sudden breaks off; the
rest stand talking_.
CAM. Not the measure out, fair mistress?
VIOL. No, fair servant, not the measure out: I have, on
the sudden, a foolish desire to be out of the measure.
CAM. What breeds that desire?
VIOL. Nay, I hope it is no breeding matter. Tush, tush,
by my maidenhead, I will not: the music likes[561] me
not, and I have a shoe wrings me to th’ heart; besides,
I have a woman’s reason, I will not dance, because I
will not dance. Prithee, dear hero, take my prisoner
there into the measure: fie, I cannot abide to see a man
sad nor idle. I’ll be out once, as the music is in mine
ear.
FONT. Lady, bid him[562] whose heart no sorrow feels
Tickle the rushes with his wanton heels:
I’ve[563] too much lead at mine.
FIRST LADY. I’ll make it light.
FONT. How?
FIRST LADY. By a nimble dance.
FONT. You hit it right.
FIRST LADY. Your keeper bids you dance.
FONT. Then I obey:
My heart I feel grows light, it melts away.
[_They dance_; VIOLETTA _stands by
marking_ FONTINELLE.
VIOL. In troth, a very pretty Frenchman: the carriage of
his body likes[564] me well; so does his footing; so
does his face; so does his eye above his face; so does
himself, above all that can be above himself.
Camillo, thou hast play’d a foolish part:
Thy prisoner makes a slave of thy love’s heart.
Shall Camillo then sing Willow, willow, willow?[565]
not for the world. No, no, my French prisoner; I will
use thee Cupid knows how, and teach thee to fall into
the hands of a woman. If I do not feed thee with fair
looks, ne’er let me live; if thou get’st out of my
fingers till I have thy very heart, ne’er let me love;
nothing but thy life shall serve my turn; and how
otherwise I’ll plague thee, monsieur, you and I’ll deal:
only this, because I’ll be sure he shall not start, I’ll
lock him in a little low room besides[566] himself,
where his wanton eye shall see neither sun nor moon. So,
the dance is done, and my heart has done her worst,—made
me in love. Farewell, my lord; I have much haste, you
have many thanks; I am angered a little, but am greatly
pleased. If you wonder that I take this strange leave,
excuse it thus, that women are strange fools, and will
take any thing. [_Exit._
HIP. Tricks, tricks; kerry merry buff! How now, lad, in
a trance?
CAM. Strange farewell! After, dear Hippolito.
O, what a maze is love of joy and woe!
[_Exeunt_ CAMILLO _and_ HIPPOLITO.
FONT. Strange frenzy! After, wretched Fontinelle.
O, what a heaven is love! O, what a hell!
[_Exit; and then exeunt_ LADIES, BAPTISTA, _&c._
SCENE II.
_A Street: before_ BLURT’s _House_.
_Enter_ LAZARILLO _melancholy, and_ PILCHER.
LAZ. Boy, I am melancholy, because I burn.
PILCH. And I am melancholy, because I am a-cold.
LAZ. I pine away with the desire of flesh.
PILCH. It’s neither flesh nor fish that I pine for, but
for both.
LAZ. Pilcher, Cupid hath got me a stomach, and I long
for laced mutton.[567]
PILCH. Plain mutton, without a lace, would serve me.
LAZ. For as your tame monkey is your only best, and most
only beast to your Spanish lady; or, as your tobacco is
your only smoker away of rheum, and all other rheumatic
diseases; or, as your Irish louse does bite most
naturally fourteen weeks after the change of your
saffron-seamed shirt; or, as the commodities which are
sent out of the Low Countries, and put in vessels called
mother Cornelius’ dry-fats[568], are most common in
France; so it pleaseth the Destinies that I should
thirst to drink out of a most sweet Italian vessel,
being a Spaniard.
PILCH. What vessel is that, signior?
LAZ. A woman, Pilcher, the moist-handed Madonna Imperia,
a most rare and divine creature.
PILCH. A most rascally damned courtesan.
LAZ. Boy, hast thou foraged the country for a new
lodging? for I have sworn to lay my bones in this
chitty[569] of Venice.
PILCH. Any man that sees us will swear that we shall
both lay our bones, and nothing but bones, and[570] we
stalk here longer. They tell me, signior, I must go to
the constable, and he is to see you lodged.
LAZ. Inquire for that busy member of the chitty.[571]
_Enter_ DOYT _and_ DANDYPRAT, _passing over the stage_.
PILCH. I will; and here come a leash of informers. Save
you, plump youths.
DANDY. And thee, my lean stripling.
PILCH. Which is the constable’s house?
DOYT. That at the sign of the Brown-bill.[572]
PILCH. Farewell.
DANDY. Why, and farewell? The rogue’s made of pie-crust,
he’s so short.
PILCH. The officious gentleman inherits here.
LAZ. Knock, or enter, and let thy voice pull him out by
the ears.
[PILCHER _knocks at the constable’s door_.
DOYT. ’Slid, Dandyprat, this is the Spanish curtal[573]
that in the last battle fled twenty miles ere he looked
behind him.
DANDY. Doyt, he did the wiser: but, sirrah, this block
shall be a rare threshold for us to whet our wits upon.
Come, let’s about our business; and if here we find him
at our return, he shall find[574] us this month in
knavery. [_Exit with_ DOYT.
PILCH. What, ho! Nobody speaks? Where dwells the
constable?
_Enter from the house_ BLURT _and_ SLUBBER.
BLURT. Here dwells the constable.—Call assistance, give
them my full charge[575] raise, if you see cause.—Now,
sir, what are you, sir?
PILCH. Follower to that Spanish-leather gentleman.
BLURT. And what are you, sir, that cry out upon me?—Look
to his tools.—What are you, sir? speak, what are you? I
charge you, what are you?
LAZ. Most clear Mirror of Magistrates,[576] I am a
servitor to god Mars.
BLURT. For your serving of God I am not to meddle: why
do you raise me?
LAZ. I desire to have a wide room in your favour: sweet
blood, cast away your name upon me; for I neither know
you by your face nor by your voice.
BLURT. It may be so, sir: I have two voices in any
company; one as I am master-constable, another as I am
Blurt, and the third as I am Blurt master-constable.
LAZ. I understand you are a mighty pillar or post in the
chitty.[577]
BLURT. I am a poor post, but not to stand at every man’s
door, without my bench of bill-men.[578] I am (for a
better) the duke’s own image, and charge you, in his
name, to obey me.
LAZ. I do so.
BLURT. I am to stand, sir, in any bawdy-house, or sink
of wickedness. I am the duke’s own grace, and in any
fray or resurrection am to bestir my stumps as well as
he. I charge you, know this staff.
SLUB. Turn the arms to him.
BLURT. Upon this may I lean, and no man say black’s mine
eye.
LAZ. Whosoever says you have a black eye, is a
camooch.[579] Most great Blurt, I do unpent-house the
roof of my carcass,[580] and touch the knee of thy
office, in Spanish compliment. I desire to sojourn in
your chitty.[581]
BLURT. Sir, sir, for fault of a better, I am to charge
you not to keep a soldiering in our city without a
precept[239.10]: besides, by my office, I am to search
and examine you. Have you the duke’s hand to pass?
LAZ. Signior, no; I have the general’s hand at large,
and all his fingers.
BLURT. Except it be for the general good of the
commonwealth, the general cannot lead you up and down
our city.
LAZ. I have the general’s hand to pass through the world
at my pleasure.
BLURT. At your pleasure! that’s rare. Then, rowly,
powly, our wives shall lie at your command. Your general
has no such authority in my precinct; and therefore I
charge you pass no further.
LAZ. I tell thee I will pass through the world, thou
little morsel of justice, and eat twenty such as thou
art.
BLURT. Sir, sir, you shall find Venice out of the world:
I’ll tickle you for that.
LAZ. I will pass through the world, as Alexander Magnus
did, to conquer.
BLURT. As Alexander of Saint Magnus did! that’s another
matter: you might have informed this at the first, and
you never needed to have come to your answer. Let me see
your pass: if it be not the duke’s hand, I’ll tickle you
for all this: quickly, I pray; this staff is to walk in
other places.
LAZ. There it is.
BLURT. Slubber, read it over.
LAZ. Read it yourself. What besonian[582] is that?
BLURT. This is my clerk, sir; he has been clerk to a
good many bonds and bills[583] of mine. I keep him only
to read, for I cannot; my office will not let me.
PILCH. Why do you put on your spectacles then?
BLURT. To see that he read right. How now, Slubber? is’t
the duke’s hand? I’ll tickle him else.
SLUB. Mass, ’tis not like his hand.
BLURT. Look well; the duke has a wart on the back of his
hand.
SLUB. Here’s none, on my word, master-constable, but a
little blot.
BLURT. Blot! let’s see, let’s see. Ho, that stands for
the wart; do you see the trick of that? Stay, stay; is
there not a little prick in the hand? for the duke’s
hand had a prick in’t, when I was with him, with opening
oysters.
SLUB. Yes, mass, here’s one; besides, ’tis a goodly
great long hand.
BLURT. So has the duke a goodly huge hand; I have shook
him by it (God forgive me!) ten thousand times. He must
pass, like Alexander of Saint Magnus.—Well, sir,—’tis
your duty to stand bare,—the duke has sent his fist to
me, and I were a Jew if I should shrink for it. I obey;
you must pass: but, pray, take heed with what dice you
pass; I mean, what company; for Satan is most busy where
he finds one like himself. Your name, sir?
LAZ. Lazarillo de Tormes in Castile, cousin-german to
the adelantado[584] of Spain.
BLURT. Are you so, sir? God’s blessing on your heart!
Your name again, sir, if it be not too tedious for you?
LAZ. Lazarillo de Tormes in Castile, cousin-german to
the Spanish adelantado.
SLUB. I warrant, he’s a great man in his own country.
BLURT. Has a good name: Slubber, set it down: write,
Lazarus in torment at the Castle, and a cozening German
at the sign of the Falantido-diddle in Spain. So, sir,
you are ingrost: you must give my officer a groat; it’s
nothing to me, signior.
LAZ. I will cancel when it comes to a sum.
BLURT. Well, sir, well, he shall give you an item
for’t.—Make a bill, and he’ll tear it, he says.
LAZ. Most admirable Blurt, I am a man of war, and
profess fighting.
BLURT. I charge you, in the duke’s name, keep the peace.
LAZ. By your sweet favour, most dear Blurt, you charge
too fast: I am a hanger-on upon Mars, and have a few
crowns.
PILCH. Two; his own and mine. [_Aside._
LAZ. And desire you to point out a fair lodging for me
and my train.
BLURT.’Tis my office, signior, to take men up a’ nights;
but, if you will, my maids shall take you up a’
mornings. Since you profess fighting, I will commit you,
signior, to mine own house. But will you pitch and
pay,[585] or will your worship run—
LAZ. I scorn to run from the face of Thamer Cham.[586]
BLURT. Then, sir, you mean not to run?
LAZ. Signior, no.
BLURT. Bear witness, Slubber, that his answer is,
Signior, no: so now, if he runs upon the score, I have
him straight upon Signior, no. This is my house,
signior; enter.
LAZ. March, excellent Blurt. Attend, Pilcher.
[_Exeunt_ LAZARILLO, BLURT, _and_ SLUBBER.
_Enter_ DOYT _and_ DANDYPRAT.
PILCH. Upon your trencher, signior, most hungerly.
DOYT. Now, sirrah, where’s thy master?
PILCH. The constable has prest him.
DOYT. What, for a soldier?
PILCH. Ay, for a soldier; but ere he’ll go, I think,
indeed, he and I together shall press the constable.
DANDY. No matter; squeeze him, and leave no more liquor
in him than in a dried neat’s tongue. Sirrah thin-gut,
what’s thy name?
PILCH. My name, you chops! why, I am of the blood of the
Pilchers.
DANDY. Nay, ’s foot, if one should kill thee, he could
not be banged for’t, for he would shed no blood; there’s
none in thee. Pilcher! thou’rt a most pitiful dried
one.[587]
DOYT. I wonder thy master does not slice thee, and
swallow thee for an anchovies.
PILCH. He wants wine, boy, to swallow me down, for he
wants money to swallow down wine. But farewell; I must
dog my master.
DANDY. As long as thou dogst a Spaniard, thou’lt ne’er
be fatter: but stay; our haste is as great as thine;
yet, to endear ourselves into thy lean acquaintance,
cry, rivo[588] hoh! laugh and be fat; and for joy that
we are met, we’ll meet and be merry. Sing.
PILCH. I’ll make a shift to squeak.
DOYT. And I.
DANDY. And I, for my profession is to shift[589] as well
as you: hem!
SONG.[590]
DOYT. _What meat eats the Spaniard?_
PILCH. _Dried pitchers and poor-john._[591]
DANDY. _Alas, thou art almost marr’d!_
PILCH. _My cheeks are fall’n and gone._
DOYT. _Wouldst thou not leap at a piece of meat?_
PILCH. _O, how my teeth do water! I could eat:
’Fore the heavens, my flesh is almost gone
With eating of pilcher and poor-john._
[_Exeunt._
ACT II. SCENE I.
_A Street._[592]
_Enter_ FONTINELLE _from tennis, and_ TRUEPENNY.
FONT. Am I so happy then?
TRUE. Nay, sweet monsieur—
FONT. O, boy, thou hast new-wing’d my captiv’d soul!
Now to my fortune all the Fates may yield,
For I have won where first I lost the field.
TRUE. Why, sir, did my mistress prick you with the
Spanish needle[593] of her love, before I summoned you
from her to this parley?
FONT. Doubt’s[t] thou that, boy?
TRUE. Of mine honesty, I doubt extremely, for I cannot
see the little god’s tokens upon you: there is as much
difference between you and a lover, as between a cuckold
and a unicorn.
FONT. Why, boy?
TRUE. For you do not wear a pair of ruffled, frowning,
ungartered stockings, like a gallant that hides his
small-timbered legs with a quail-pipe boot:[594] your
hose stands upon too many points,[595] and are not
troubled with that falling sickness which follows pale,
meagre, miserable, melancholy lovers: your hands are not
groping continually—
FONT. Where, my little observer?
TRUE. In your greasy pocket, sir, like one that wants a
cloak for the rain, and yet is still weatherbeaten: your
hat nor head are not of the true heigh-ho block, for it
should be broad-brimmed, limber like the skin of a white
pudding when the meat is out, the facing fatty, the felt
dusty, and not entered into any band;[596] but your hat
is of the nature of a loose, light, heavy-swelling
wench, too strait-laced. I tell you, monsieur, a lover
should be all loose from the sole of the foot rising
upward, and from the bases or confines of the slop[597]
falling downwards. If you were in my mistress’s chamber,
you should find othergates[598] privy signs of love
hanging out there.
FONT. Have your little eyes watched so narrowly?
TRUE. O, sir, a page must have a cat’s eye, a spaniel’s
leg, a whore’s tongue (a little tasting of the
cog[599]), a catchpoll’s hand,—what he gripes is his
own; and a little, little bawdy.[600]
FONT. Fair Violetta, I will wear thy love,
Like this French order, near unto my heart.
_Via_[601] for fate! Fortune, lo, this is all,
At grief’s rebound I’ll mount, although I fall!
_Enter_ CAMILLO _and_ HIPPOLITO _from tennis_; DOYT
_and_ DANDYPRAT _with their cloaks and rapiers_.
CAM. Now, by Saint Mark, he’s a most treacherous
villain.
Dare the base Frenchman’s eye gaze on my love?
HIP. Nay, sweet rogue, why wouldst thou make his face a
vizard, to have two loopholes only? When he comes to a
good face, may he not do with his eyes what he will? ’S
foot, if I were as he, I’d pull them out, and if I
wist[602] they would anger thee.
CAM. Thou add’st heat to my rage. Away, stand back,
Dishonour’d slave, more treacherous than base!
This is the instance of my scorn’d disgrace.
FONT. Thou ill-advis’d Italian, whence proceeds
This sudden fury?
CAM. Villain, from thee.
HIP. Hercules, stand between them!
FONT. Villain? by my blood,
I am as free-born as your Venice duke!
Villain? Saint Denis and my life to boot,
Thy lips shall kiss this pavement or my foot.
HIP. Your foot, with a pox! I hope you’re no pope, sir:
his lips shall kiss my sister’s soft lip, and thine the
tough lips of this. Nay, sir, I do but shew you that I
have a tool. Do you hear, Saint Denis? but that we both
stand upon the narrow bridge of honour, I should cut
your throat now, for pure love you bear to my sister,
but that I know you would set out a throat.
CAM. Wilt thou not stab the peasant
That thus dishonours both thyself and me?
HIP. Saint Mark set his marks upon me then! Stab? I’ll
have my shins broken, ere I’ll scratch so much as the
skin off a’ the law of arms. Shall I make a Frenchman
cry O! before the fall of the leaf? not I, by the cross
of this Dandyprat.[603]
DANDY. If you will, sir, you shall coin me into a
shilling.
HIP. I shall lay too heavy a cross upon thee then.
CAM. Is this a time to jest? Boy, call my servants.
DOYT. Gentlemen, to the dresser![604]
CAM. You rogue, what dresser?
_Enter Servingmen._
Seize on Fontinelle,
And lodge him in a dungeon presently.
FONT. He steps upon his death that stirs a foot.
CAM. That shall I try: as in the field before
I made thee stoop, so here I’ll make thee bow.
FONT. Thou play’dst the soldier then, the villain now.
[CAMILLO _and his men set upon him, get him down,
disweapon him, and hold him fast_.
FONT. Treacherous Italians!
CAM. Hale him to a dungeon.—
There, if your thoughts can apprehend the form
Of Violetta, doat on her rare feature;
Or if your proud flesh, with a sparing diet,
Can still retain her swelling sprightfulness,
Then court, instead of her, the croaking vermin
That people that most solitary vault.
HIP. But, sirrah Camillo, wilt thou play the wise and
venerable bearded master-constable, and commit him
indeed, because he would be meddling in thy precinct,
and will not put off the cap of his love to the brown-
bill[605] of thy desires? Well, thou hast given the law
of arms a broken pate already; therefore, if thou wilt
needs turn broker,[606] and be a cut-throat too, do. For
my part, I’ll go get a sweet ball, and wash my hands of
it.
CAM. Away with him! my life shall answer it.
FONT. To prison must I then? Well, I will go,
And with a light-wing’d spirit insult o’er woe;
For in the darkest hell on earth I’ll find
Her fair idea to content my mind.
Yet France and Italy with blister’d tongue
Shall publish thy dishonour in my wrong.
O, now how happy wert thou, could’st thou lodge me
Where I could leave to love her!
CAM. By heaven, I can.
FONT. Thou canst? O, happy man!
This [is] a kind of new-invented law,
First feed the axe, after produce the saw.
Her heart no doubt will thy affections feel,
For thou’lt plead sighs in blood and tears in steel.
Boy, tell my love her love thus sighing spake,
I’ll vail[607] my crest to death for her dear sake.
[_Exit, guarded by the Servingmen._
CAM. Boy? what boy is that?
HIP. Is’t you, Sir Pandarus, the broking[608] knight of
Troy? Are your two legs the pair of tressels for the
Frenchman to get up upon my sister?
TRUE. By the Nine Worthies, worthy gallants, not I: I a
gentleman for conveyance? I Sir Pandarus? Would Troy,
then, were in my breeches, and I burnt worse than poor
Troy! Sweet signior, you know, I know, and all Venice
knows, that my mistress scorns double-dealing with her
heels.
HIP. With her heels? O, here’s a sure pocket dag![609]
and my sister shoots him off, snip-snap, at her
pleasure. Sirrah Mephostophilis,[610] did not you bring
letters from my sister to the Frenchman?
TRUE. Signior, no.
CAM. Did not you fetch him out of the tennis court?
TRUE. No, _point, par ma foi_: you see I have many
tongues speak for me.
HIP. Did not he follow your crackship[611] at a beck
given?
TRUE. _Ita_, true, certes, he spied, and I spitting
thus, went thus.
HIP. But were stayed thus.
TRUE. You hold a’ my side, and therefore I must needs
stick to you; ’tis true: I going, he followed, and
following fingered me, just as your worship does now;
but I struggled and straggled, and wriggled and
wraggled, and at last cried _vale, valete_, as I do now,
with this fragment of a rhyme,
My lady is grossly fall’n in love, and yet her waist is
slender;
Had I not slipt away, you would have made my buttocks
tender. [_Exit._
DANDY. Shall Doyt and I play the bloodhounds, and after
him?
CAM. No, let him run.
HIP. Not for this wager of my sister’s love; run! away,
Dandyprat, catch Truepenny, and hold him; thyself shall
pass more current.[612]
DANDY. I fly, sir; your Dandyprat is as light as a clipt
angel.[613] [_Exit._
HIP. Nay, God’s lid, after him, Camillo; reply not, but
away.
CAM. Content; you know where to meet. [_Exit._
HIP. For I know that the only way to win a wench is not
to woo her; the only way to have her fast is to have her
loose; the only way to triumph over her is to make her
fall; and the way to make her fall,—
DOYT. Is to throw her down.
HIP. Are you so cunning, sir?
DOYT. O Lord, sir, and have so perfect a master?
HIP. Well, sir, you know the gentlewoman that dwells in
the midst of Saint Mark’s Street?
DOYT. Midst of Saint Mark’s Street, sir?
HIP. A pox on you! the flea-bitten-faced lady.
DOYT. O, sir, the freckle-cheeke[d] Madonna; I know her,
signior, as well—
HIP. Not as I do, I hope, sir.
DOYT. No, sir, I’d be loath to have such inward
acquaintance with her as you have.
HIP. Well, sir, slip, go presently to her, and from me
deliver to her own white hands Fontinelle’s picture.
DOYT. Indeed, sir, she loves to have her chamber hung
with the pictures of men.
HIP. She does. I’ll keep my sister’s eyes and his
painted face asunder. Tell her, besides, the masque
holds, and this the night, and nine the hour: say we are
all for her: away.
DOYT. And she’s for you all, were you an army.
[_Exeunt severally._
SCENE II.
_A Room in_ IMPERIA’s _House_.
_Enter_ IMPERIA, _and_ TRIVIA _and_ SIMPERINA _with
perfumes_.
IMP. Fie, fie, fie, fie, by the light oath of my fan,
the weather is exceeding tedious and faint. Trivia,
Simperina, stir, stir, stir: one of you open the
casements, t’other take a ventoy[614] and gently cool
my face. Fie, I ha’ such an exceeding high colour, I
so sweat! Simperina, dost hear? prithee be more
compendious; why, Simperina!
SIMP. Here, madam.
IMP. Press down my ruff before. Away; fie, how thou
blowest upon me! thy breath, (God’s me!) thy breath,
fie, fie, fie, fie, it takes off all the painting and
colour from my cheek. In good faith, I care not if I go
and be sick presently: heigho, my head so aches with
carrying this bodkin! in troth I’ll try if I can be
sick.
TRIV. Nay, good sweet lady.
SIMP. You know a company of gallants will be here at
night: be not out of temper, sweet mistress.
IMP. In good troth, if I be not sick, I must be
melancholy then. This same gown never comes on but I am
so melancholy and so heart-burnt! ’tis a strange
garment: I warrant, Simperina, the foolish tailor that
made it was troubled with the stitch when he composed
it.
SIMP. That’s very likely, madam; but it makes you have,
O, a most incony[615] body!
IMP. No, no, no, no, by Saint Mark, the waist is not
long enough, for I love a long and tedious waist;
besides, I have a most ungodly middle in it; and, fie,
fie, fie, fie, it makes me bend i’ th’ back: O, let me
have some music!
SIMP. That’s not the fault in your gown, madam, but of
your bawdy. [_Music._
IMP. Fa, la, la, fa, la, la![616]—indeed, the bending of
the back is the fault of the body,—la, la, la, la! fa,
la, la! fa, la, la, la, la, la!
TRIV. O, rich!
SIMP. O, rare!
IMP. No, no, no, no, no; ’tis slight and common all
that I do. Prithee, Simperina, do not ingle[617] me;
do not flatter me, Trivia: I ha’ never a cast gown
till the next week. Fa, la, la, la, la, la, fa, la,
la, fa, la, la, &c.[618] This stirring to and fro has
done me much good. A song, I prithee. I love these
French movings: O, they are so clean! if you tread
them true, you shall hit them to a hair. Sing, sing,
sing; some odd and fantastical thing, for I cannot
abide these dull and lumpish tunes; the musician
stands longer a-pricking them than I would do to hear
them. No, no, no, give me your light ones, that go
nimbly and quick, and are full of changes, and carry
sweet division. Ho, prithee, sing! Stay, stay, stay;
here’s Hippolito’s sonnet; first read it, and then
sing it.
SONG,[619]
_By_ TRIVIA _and_ SIMPERINA.
First. _In a fair woman what thing is best?_
Second. _I think a coral lip._
First. _No, no, you jest;_
_She has a better thing._
Second. _Then ’tis a pretty eye._
First. _Yet ’tis a better thing,_
_Which more delight does bring._
Second. _Then ’tis a cherry cheek._
First. _No, no, you lie;_
_Were neither coral lip, nor cherry
cheek, nor pretty eyes,_[620]
_Were not her swelling breast stuck with
strawberries,_
_Nor had smooth hand, soft skin, white
neck, pure eye,_
_Yet she at this alone your love can
tie._
_It is, O, ’tis the only joy to men,_
_The only praise to women!_
[Second] _What is’t then?_
First. _This it is, O, this it is, and in a
woman’s middle it is plac’d,_
_In a most beauteous body, a heart most
chaste!_
_This is the jewel kings may buy;_
_If women sell this jewel, women lie._
[DOYT _knocks within_; FRISCO _answers within_.
FRIS. [_within_] Who, the pox, knocks?
DOYT. [_within_] One that will knock thy coxcomb, if he
do not enter.
FRIS. [_within_] If thou dost not enter, how canst thou
knock me?
DOYT. [_within_] Why then I’ll knock thee when I do
enter.
FRIS. [_within_] Why then thou shalt not enter, but
instead of me knock thy heels.
DOYT. [_within_] Frisco, I am Doyt, Hippolito’s page.
FRIS. [_within_] And I am Frisco, squire to a bawdy-
house.
DOYT. [_within_] I have a jewel to deliver to thy
mistress.
FRIS. [_within_] Is’t set with precious stones?
DOYT. [_within_] Thick, thick, thick.
FRIS. [_within_] Why, enter then, thick, thick, thick.
IMP. Fie, fie, fie, fie, fie, who makes that yawling at
door?
_Enter_ FRISCO, _and_ DOYT _with_ FONTINELLE’s
_picture_.
FRIS. Here’s signior Hippolito’s man (that shall be)
come to hang you.
IMP. Trivia, strip that villain; Simperina, pinch him,
slit his wide nose. Fie, fie, fie, I’ll have you gelded
for this lustiness.
FRIS. And[621] she threatens to geld me unless I be
lusty, what shall poor Frisco do?
IMP. Hang me?
FRIS. Not I; hang me if you will, and set up my quarters
too.
IMP. Hippolito’s boy come to hang me?
DOYT. To hang you with jewels, sweet and gentle; that’s
Frisco’s meaning, and that’s my coming.
IMP. Keep the door.
FRIS. That’s my office: indeed, I have been your door-
keeper so long, that all the hinges, the spring-locks,
and the ring, are worn to pieces. How if any body knock
at the door?
IMP. Let them enter. [_Exit_ FRISCO.] Fie, fie, fie,
fie, fie, his great tongue does so run through my little
ears! ’tis more harsh than a younger brother’s courting
of a gentlewoman, when he has no crowns. Boy!
DOYT. At your service.
IMP. My service? alas, alas, thou canst do me small
service! Did thy master send this painted gentleman to
me?
DOYT. This painted gentleman to you.
IMP. Well, I will hang his picture up by the walls, till
I see his face; and, when I see his face, I’ll take his
picture down. Hold it, Trivia.
TRIV. It’s most sweetly made.
IMP. Hang him up, Simperina.
SIMP. It’s a most sweet man.
IMP. And does the masque hold?—Let me see it again.
DOYT. If their vizards hold, here you shall see all
their blind cheeks: this is the night, nine the hour,
and I the jack[622] that gives warning.
SIMP. He gives warning, mistress; shall I set him out?
DOYT. You shall not need; I can set out myself.
[_Exit._
IMP. Flaxen hair, and short too; O, that’s the French
cut! but fie, fie, fie, these[623] flaxen-haired men are
such pulers, and such piddlers, and such chicken-hearts
(and yet great quarrellers), that when they court a lady
they are for the better part bound to the peace! No, no,
no, no; your black-haired man (so he be fair) is your
only sweet man, and in any service the most active. A
banquet, Trivia; quick, quick, quick.
TRIV. In a twinkling.—’Slid, my mistress cries like the
rod-woman,—quick, quick, quick, buy any rosemary and
bays? [_Aside and exit._
IMP. A little face, but a lovely face: fie, fie, fie, no
matter what face he make, so the other parts be
legitimate and go upright. Stir, stir, Simperina; be
doing, be doing quickly; move, move, move.
SIMP. Most incontinently.[624]—Move, move, move? O,
sweet! [_Aside and exit._
IMP. Heigho! as I live, I must love thee, and suck
kisses from thy lips. Alack, that women should fall thus
deeply in love with dumb things, that have no feeling!
but they are women’s crosses, and the only way to take
them is to take them patiently.
_Re-enter_ FRISCO, _and_ TRIVIA _and_ SIMPERINA _setting
out a banquet_.
Heigho! set music, Frisco!
FRIS. Music, if thou hast not a hard heart, speak to my
mistress. [_Music._
IMP. Say he scorn to marry me, yet he shall stand me in
some stead by being my Ganymede. If he be the most
decayed gallant in all Venice, I will myself undo myself
and my whole state, to set him up again. Though speaking
truth would save my life, I will lie to do him pleasure.
Yet to tell lies may hurt the soul: fie, no, no, no;
souls are things to be trodden under our feet when we
dance after love’s pipe. Therefore here, hang this
counterfeit[625] at my bed’s feet.
FRIS. If he be counterfeit, nail him up[626] upon one of
your posts. [_Exit with the picture._
IMP. By the moist hand of love, I swear I will be his
lottery, and he shall never draw but it shall be a
prize!
CURVETTO _knocks within_.
FRIS. [_within_] Who knocks?
CUR. [_within_] Why, ’tis I, knave.
FRIS. [_within_] Then, knave, knock there still.
CUR. [_within_] Wut[627] open door?
FRIS. [_within_] Yes, when I list I will.
CUR. [_within_] Here’s money.
FRIS. [_within_] Much![628]
CUR. [_within_] Here’s gold.
FRIS. [_within_] Away!
CUR. [_within_] Knave, open.
FRIS. [_within_] Call to our maids; good[629] night; we
are all aslopen.[630] [_Entering._
Mistress, if you have ever a pinnace to set out, you may
now have it manned and rigged; for signior Curvetto,—he
that cries, _I am, an old courtier, but lie close, lie
close_, when our maids swear he lies as wide as any
courtier in Italy—
IMP. Do we care how he lies?
[CURVETTO _knocks again within_.
FRIS. Anon, anon, anon!—this old hoary red deer serves
himself in at your keyhole.
CUR. [_within_] What, Frisco!
FRIS. Hark! shall he enter the breach?
IMP. Fie, fie, fie, I wonder what this gurnet’s head
makes here! Yet bring him in; he will serve for picking
meat. [_Exit_ FRISCO.] Let music play, for I will feign
myself to be asleep. [_Music._
_Re-enter_ FRISCO _with_ CURVETTO.
CUR. [_giving_ FRISCO _money_] Threepence, and here’s a
teston;[631] yet, take all;
Coming to jump, we must be prodigal:
Hem!
I’m[632] an old courtier, and I can lie close:
Put up, Frisco, put up, put up, put up.
FRIS. Any thing at your hands, sir, I will put up,
because you seldom pull out any thing.
SIMP. Softly, sweet signior Curvetto, for she’s fast.
CUR. Hah! fast? my roba[633] fast, and but young
night?
She’s wearied, wearied:—ah, ha, hit I right?
SIMP. How, sir, wearied? marry, foh!
FRIS. Wearied, sir? marry, muff![634]
CUR. No words here, mouse? no words, no words, sweet
rose?
I’m[635] an hoary courtier, and lie close, lie close.
Hem!
FRIS. An old hoary courtier? why, so has a jowl of ling
and a musty whiting been, time out of mind. Methinks,
signior, you should not be so old by your face.
CUR. I have a good heart, knave; and a good heart
Is a good face-maker; I’m[636] young, quick, brisk.
I was a reveller in a long stock,[637]
(There’s not a gallant now fills such a stock,)
Plump hose, pan’d,[638] stuft with hair (hair then was
held
The lightest stuffing), a fair cod-piece,—ho!
An eel-skin sleeve lasht here and there with lace,
High collar lasht again, breech lasht also,
A little simpering ruff, a dapper cloak
With Spanish-button’d cape, my rapier here,
Gloves like a burgomaster here, hat here
(Stuck with some ten-groat brooch), and over all
A goodly long thick Abram-colour’d[639] beard.
Ho God, ho God! thus did I revel it,
When Monsieur Motte lay here ambassador.[640]
But now those beards are gone, our chins are bare;
Our courtiers now do all against the hair.[641]
I can lie close and see this, but not see:
I’m[642] hoary, but not hoary as some be.
IMP. Heigho! who’s that? Signior Curvetto! by my
virginity—
CUR. Hem! no more.
Swear not so deep at these[643] years: men have eyes,
And though the most are fools, some fools are wise.
IMP. Fie, fie, fie: and[644] you meet me thus at half
weapon, one must down.
FRIS. She, for my life. [_Aside._
IMP. Somebody shall pay for’t.
FRIS. He, for my head. [_Aside._
IMP. Do not therefore come over me so with cross blows:
no, no, no, I shall be sick if my speech be stopt. By my
virginity I swear,—and why may not I swear by that I
have not, as well as poor musty soldiers do by their
honour, brides at four-and-twenty, ha, ha, ha! by their
maidenheads, citizens by their faith, and brokers as
they hope to be saved?—by my virginity I swear, I
dreamed that one brought me a goodly codshead, and in
one of the eyes there stuck, methought, the greatest
precious stone, the most sparkling diamond: O, fie, fie,
fie, fie, fie, that diamonds should make women such
fools!
CUR. A codshead and a diamond? ha, ha, ha!
’Tis common, common: you may dream as well
Of diamonds and of codsheads, where’s not one,
As swear by your virginity, where’s none.—
I am that codshead; she has spied my stone,
My diamond: noble wench, but nobler stone;[645]
I’m[646] an old courtier, and lie close, lie close.
[_Aside, and puts it up._
[_The cornets sound a lavolta, which the masquers are to
dance_: CAMILLO, HIPPOLITO, _and other gallants, every
one, save_ HIPPOLITO,[647] _with a lady masqued, and
zanies with torches,[648] enter suddenly_: CURVETTO
_offers to depart_.
IMP. No, no, no, if you shrink from me, I will not love
you: stay.
CUR. I am conjured, and will keep my circle.
[_They dance._
IMP. Fie, fie, fie, by the neat tongue of eloquence,
this measure is out of measure; ’tis too hot, too hot.
Gallants, be not ashamed to shew your own faces. Ladies,
unapparel your dear beauties. So, so, so, so: here is a
banquet; sit, sit, sit. Signior Curvetto, thrust in
among them. Soft music, there! do, do, do.
[_Music, while they seat themselves._
CUR. I will first salute the men, close with the women,
and last sit.
HIP. But not sit last: a banquet, and have these
suckets[649] here! O, I have a crew of angels[650]
prisoners in my pocket, and none but a good bale[651] of
dice can fetch them out.—Dice, ho!—Come, my little
lecherous baboon; by Saint Mark, you shall venture your
twenty crowns.
CUR. And have but one.
HIP. I swore first.
CUR. Right, you swore;
But oaths are now, like Blurt our constable,
Standing for nothing.—A mere plot, a trick:
The masque dogg’d me, I hit it in the nick;
A fetch to get my diamond, my dear stone:
I’m[652] a hoary courtier, but lie close, close, close.—
I’ll play, sir. [_Aside._
HIP. Come.
CUR. But in my t’other hose. [_Exit._
OMNES. Curvetto!
HIP. Let him go: I knew what hook would choke him, and
therefore baited that for him to nibble upon. An old
comb-pecked rascal, that was beaten out a’ th’ cock-pit,
when I could not stand a’ high lone[653] without I held
by a thing, to come crowing among us! Hang him, lobster.
Come, the same oath that your foreman took, take all,
and sing.
SONG.
_Love is like a lamb, and love is like a lion;
Fly from love, he fights, fight, then does he fly on;
Love is all in fire, and yet is ever freezing;
Love is much in winning, yet is more in leesing;[654]
Love is ever sick, and yet is never dying;
Love is ever true, and yet is ever lying;
Love does doat in liking, and is mad in loathing;
Love indeed is any thing, yet indeed is nothing._
_During the song_ LAZARILLO _enters_.[655]
LAZ. Mars armipotent with his court of guard, give
sharpness to my toledo! I am beleaguered. O Cupid, grant
that my blushing prove not a linstock, and give fire too
suddenly to the Roaring Meg[656] of my desires!—Most
sanguine-cheeked ladies—
HIP. ’S foot, how now, Don Diego?[657] sanguine-cheeked?
dost think their faces have been at cutler’s?[658] out,
you roaring, tawney-faced rascal! ’Twere a good deed to
beat my hilts about’s coxcomb, and then make him
sanguine-cheeked too.
CAM. Nay, good Hippolito.
IMP. Fie, fie, fie, fie, fie; though I hate his company,
I would not have my house to abuse his countenance; no,
no, no, be not so contagious: I will send him hence with
a flea in’s ear.
HIP. Do, or I’ll turn him into a flea, and make him skip
under some of your petticoats.
IMP. Signior Lazarillo.
LAZ. Most sweet face, you need not hang out your silken
tongue as a flag of truce, for I will drop at your feet
ere I draw blood in your chamber. Yet I shall hardly
drink up this wrong: for your sake I will wipe it out
for this time. I would deal with you in secret, so you
had a void room, about most deep and serious matters.
IMP. I’ll send these hence.—Fie, fie, fie, I am so
choked still with this man of gingerbread, and yet I can
never be rid of him! but hark, Hippolito.
[_Whispers_ HIPPOLITO.
HIP. Good; draw the curtains, put out candles; and,
girls, to bed.
[_Exeunt all but_ IMPERIA _and_ LAZARILLO.[659]
LAZ. Venus, give me suck from thine own most white and
tender dugs, that I may batten in love. Dear instrument
of many men’s delight, are all these women?
IMP. No, no, no, they are half men and half women.
LAZ. You apprehend too fast: I mean by women, wives; for
wives are no maids, nor are maids women. If those
unbearded gallants keep the doors of their wedlock,
those ladies spend their hours of pastime but ill, O
most rich armful of beauty! But if you can bring all
those females into one ring, into one private place, I
will read a lecture of discipline to their most great
and honourable ears, wherein I will teach them so to
carry their white bodies, either before their husbands
or before their lovers, that they shall never fear to
have milk thrown in their faces, nor I wine in mine,
when I come to sit upon them in courtesy.
IMP. That were excellent: I’ll have them all here at
your pleasure.
LAZ. I will shew them all the tricks and garbs of
Spanish dames; I will study for apt and [e]legant phrase
to tickle them with; and when my devise is ready, I will
come. Will you inspire into your most divine spirits the
most divine soul of tobacco?
IMP. No, no, no; fie, fie, fie, I should be choked up,
if your pipe should kiss my underlip.
LAZ. Henceforth, most deep stamp of feminine perfection,
my pipe shall not be drawn before you but in secret.
_Re-enter_ HIPPOLITO _and the rest of the Masquers, as before,
dancing_: HIPPOLITO _takes_ IMPERIA; _and then exeunt all
except_ LAZARILLO.
LAZ. Lament my case, since thou canst not provoke
Her nose to smell, love fill thine own with smoke.[660]
[_Exit._
ACT III. SCENE I.
_A Street_; _before_ HIPPOLITO’S _House_.
_Enter_ HIPPOLITO _and_ FRISCO.
FRIS. The wooden picture you sent her hath set her on
fire; and she desires you, as you pity the case of a
poor desperate gentlewoman, to serve that Monsieur in at
supper to her.
_Enter_ CAMILLO _with Musicians_.
HIP. The Frenchman? Saint Denis, let her carve him
up. Stay, here’s Camillo. Now, my fool in fashion, my
sage idiot, up with these brims,[661] down with this
devil, Melancholy! Are you decayed, concupiscentious
innamorato? News, news; Imperia doats on Fontinelle.
CAM. What comfort speaks her love to my sick
heart?
HIP. Marry, this, sir. Here’s a yellow-hammer flew to me
with thy water; and I cast it, and find that his
mistress being given to this new falling sickness, will
cure thee. The Frenchman, you see, has a soft marmalady
heart, and shall no sooner feel Imperia’s liquorish
desire to lick at him, but straight he’ll stick the
brooch of her longing in it. Then, sir, may you, sir,
come upon my sister, sir, with a fresh charge, sir; sa,
sa, sa, sa! once giving back, and thrice coming forward;
she yield, and the town of Brest[662] is taken.
CAM. This hath some taste of hope. Is that the Mercury
Who brings you notice of his mistress’ love?
FRIS. I may be her Mercury, for my running of errands;
but troth is, sir, I am Cerberus, for I am porter to
hell.
CAM. Then, Cerberus, play thy part: here, search that
hell;
[_Gives him a key._
There find and bring forth that false Fontinelle.
[_Exit_ FRISCO.
If I can win his stray’d thoughts to retire
From her encounter’d eyes, whom I have singled
In Hymen’s holy battle, he shall pass
From hence to France, in company and guard
Of mine own heart:—he comes, Hippolito.
_Enter_ FONTINELLE, _talking with_ FRISCO.
Still looks he like a lover: poor gentleman,
Love is the mind’s strong physic, and the pill
That leaves the heart sick and o’erturns the will.
FONT. O happy persecution, I embrace thee
With an unfetter’d soul! So sweet a thing
Is it to sigh upon the rack of love,
Where each calamity is groaning witness
Of the poor martyr’s faith. I never heard
Of any true affection, but ’twas nipt
With care, that, like the caterpillar, eats
The leaves off the spring’s sweetest book, the rose.
Love bred on earth, is often nurs’d in hell;
By rote it reads woe, ere it learn to spell.
CAM. Good morrow, French lord.
HIP. _Bon jour, Monsieur._
FONT. To your secure and more than happy self
I tender thanks, for you have honour’d me.
You are my jailor, and have penn’d me up,
Lest the poor fly, your prisoner, should alight
Upon your mistress’ lip, and thence derive
The dimpled print of an infective touch.
Thou secure tyrant, yet unhappy lover,
Couldst thou chain mountains to my captive feet,
Yet Violetta’s heart and mine should meet.
HIP. Hark, swaggerer, there’s a little dapple-coloured
rascal; ho, a bona-roba;[663] her name’s Imperia; a
gentlewoman, by my faith, of an ancient house, and has
goodly rents and comings in of her own; and this ape
would fain have thee chained to her in the holy state.
Sirrah, she’s fallen in love with thy picture; yes,
faith. To her, woo her, and win her; leave my sister,
and thy ransom’s paid; all’s paid, gentlemen: by th’
Lord, Imperia is as good a girl as any is in Venice.
CAM. Upon mine honour, Fontinelle, ’tis true;
The lady doats on thy perfections:
Therefore resign my Violetta’s heart
To me, the lord of it; and I will send thee—
FONT. O, whither? to damnation, wilt thou not?
Think’st thou the purity of my true soul
Can taste your leperous counsel? no, I defy you.
Incestancy[664] dwell on his rivell’d brow
That weds for dirt; or on th’ enforced heart
That lags in rearward of his father’s charge,
When to some negro-guelderling he’s clogg’d
By the injunction of a golden fee!
When I call back my vows to Violetta,
May I then slip into an obscure grave,
Whose mould, imprest with stony monument,
Dwelling in open air, may drink the tears
Of the inconstant clouds, to rot me soon
Out of my private linen sepulchre!
CAM. Ay!
Is this your settled resolution?
FONT. By my love’s best divinity, it is.
CAM. Then bear him to his prison back again.—
This tune must alter ere thy lodging mend:
To death, fond[665] Frenchman, thy slight love doth
tend.
FONT. Then, constant heart, thy fate with joy pursue;
Draw wonder to thy death, expiring true. [_Exit._
HIP. After him, Frisco; enforce thy mistress’s passion.
Thou shalt have access to him, to bring him love-tokens:
if they prevail not, yet thou shalt still be in
presence, be’t but to spite him. In, honest Frisco.
FRIS. I’ll vex him to the heart, sir; fear not me.
Yet here’s a trick perchance may set him free.
[_Aside and exit._
HIP. Come, wilt thou go laugh and lie down?[666] Now
sure there be some rebels in thy belly, for thine eyes
do nothing but watch and ward: thou’st not slept these
three nights.
CAM. Alas, how can I? he that truly loves
Burns out the day in idle fantasies;
And when the lamb bleating doth bid good night
Unto the closing day, then tears begin
To keep quick time unto the owl, whose voice
Shrieks like the belman[667] in the lover’s ears:
Love’s eye the jewel of sleep, O, seldom wears!
The early lark is waken’d from her bed,
Being only by love’s plaints disquieted,
And, singing in the morning’s ear, she weeps,
Being deep in love, at lovers’ broken sleeps:
But say a golden slumber chance to tie,
With silken strings, the cover of love’s eye,
Then dreams, magician-like, mocking present
Pleasures, whose fading leaves more discontent.
Have you these golden charms?
MUS. We have, my lord.
CAM. Bestow them sweetly; think a lover’s heart
Dwells in each instrument, and let it melt
In weeping strains. Yonder direct your faces,
That the soft summons of a frightless parley
May creep into the casement. So, begin:
Music, speak movingly; assume my part;
For thou must now plead to a stony heart.
SONG.
_Pity, pity, pity!
Pity, pity, pity!
That word begins that ends a true-love ditty.
Your blessed eyes, like a pair of suns,
Shine in the sphere of smiling;
Your pretty lips, like a pair of doves,
Are kisses still compiling.
Mercy hangs upon your brow, like a precious jewel:
O, let not then,
Most lovely maid, best to be lov’d of men,
Marble lie upon your heart, that will make you cruel!
Pity, pity, pity!
Pity, pity, pity!
That word begins that ends a true-love ditty._
[VIOLETTA _appears above_.
VIOL. Who owes[668] this salutation?
CAM. Thy Camillo.
VIOL. Is not your shadow there too, my sweet brother?
HIP. Here, sweet sister.
VIOL. I dreamt so. O, I am much bound to you!
For you, my lord, have us’d my love with honour.
CAM. Ever with honour.
VIOL. Indeed, indeed, you have.
HIP. ’S light, she means her French _garçon_.
VIOL. The same. Good night; trust me, ’tis somewhat
late,
And this bleak wind nips dead all idle prate.
I must to bed: good night.
CAM. The god of rest
Play music to thine eyes! whilst on my breast
The Furies sit and beat, and keep care waking.
HIP. You will not leave my friend in this poor taking?
VIOL. Yes, by the velvet brow of darkness!
HIP. You scurvy tit,—’s foot, scurvy any thing! Do you
hear, Susanna? you punk, if I geld not your musk-cat!
I’ll do’t, by Jesu. Let’s go, Camillo.
VIOL. Nay but, pure swaggerer, ruffian, do you think
To fright me with your bugbear threats? go by!
Hark, toss-pot, in your ear; the Frenchman’s mine,
And by these hands I’ll have him!
HIP. Rare rogue, fine!
VIOL. He is my prisoner, by a deed of gift;
Therefore, Camillo, you have wrong’d me much
To wrong my prisoner. By my troth, I love him
The rather for the baseness he endures
For my unworthy self. I’ll tell you what;
Release him, let him plead your love for you;
I love a’ life[669] to hear a man speak French
Of his complexion; I would undergo
The instruction of that language rather far
Than be two weeks unmarried. By my life,
Because I’ll speak true French, I’ll be his wife.
CAM. O, scorn to my chaste love! burst, heart.
HIP. ’S wounds, hold!
CAM. Come, gentle friends, tie your most solemn tunes
By silver strings unto a leaden pace.
False fair, enjoy thy base belov’d: adieu:
He’s far less noble, and shall prove less true.
[_Exeunt_ CAMILLO, HIPPOLITO, _and Musicians_.
_Enter_ TRUEPENNY _above with a letter_.
TRUE. Lady, Imperia the courtesan’s zany[670] hath
brought you this letter from the poor gentleman in the
deep dungeon, but would not stay till he had an answer.
VIOL. Her groom employed by Fontinelle? O, strange!
I wonder how he got access to him.
I’ll read, and reading my poor heart shall ache:
True love is jealous; fears the best love shake.
[_Reads._
_Meet me at the end of the old chapel, next Saint
Lorenzo’s monastery. Furnish your company with a friar,
that there he may consummate our holy vows. Till
midnight, farewell._ _Thine_, FONTINELLE.
Hath he got opportunity to ’scape?
O happy period of our separation!
Blest night, wrap Cynthia in a sable sheet,
That fearful lovers may securely meet! [_Exeunt._
SCENE II.
_Before Saint Lorenzo’s Monastery._
_Enter_ FRISCO _in_ FONTINELLE’s _apparel, and_
FONTINELLE _making himself ready[671] in_
FRISCO’s: _they enter suddenly and in fear_.
FRIS. Play you my part bravely; you must look like a
slave: and you shall see I’ll counterfeit the Frenchman
most knavishly. My mistress, for your sake, charged me
on her blessing to fall to these shifts. I left her at
cards: she’ll sit up till you come, because she’ll have
you play a game at noddy.[672] You’ll to her presently?
FONT. I will, upon mine honour.
FRIS. I think she does not greatly care whether you fall
to her upon your honour or no. So, all’s fit. Tell my
lady that I go in a suit of durance for her sake. That’s
your way, and this pit-hole’s mine. If I can ’scape
hence, why so; if not, he that’s hanged is nearer to
heaven by half a score steps than he that dies in a bed:
and so adieu, monsieur. [_Exit._
FONT. Farewell, dear trusty slave. Shall I profane
This temple with an idol of strange love?
When I do so, let me dissolve in fire.
Yet one day will I see this dame, whose heart
Takes off my misery: I’ll not be so rude
To pay her kindness with ingratitude.
_Enter_ VIOLETTA _and a Friar apace_.
VIOL. My dearest Fontinelle!
FONT. My Violetta!
O God!
VIOL. O God!
FONT. Where is this reverend friar?
FRIAR. Here, overjoy’d young man.
VIOL. How didst thou ’scape?
How came Imperia’s man——
FONT. No more of that.
VIOL. When did Imperia——
FONT. Questions now are thieves,
And lie[673] in ambush to surprise our joys.
[O] my most happy stars, shine still, shine on!
Away, come: love beset had need be gone. [_Exeunt._
SCENE III.
_A Room in_ IMPERIA’s _House_.
_Enter_ CURVETTO _and_ SIMPERINA.
CUR. I must not stay, thou sayst?
SIM. God’s me, away!
CUR. Buss, buss again;—here’s sixpence;—buss again,—
Farewell: I must not stay then?
SIM. Foh!
CUR. Farewell:
At ten a’ clock[674] thou sayst, and ring a bell,
Which thou wilt hang out at this window?
SIM. Lord!
She’ll hear this fiddling.
CUR. No, close, on my word.
Farewell: just ten a’ clock; I shall come in?
Remember to let down the cord,—just ten:
Thou’lt open, mouse? pray God thou dost. Amen![675]
I’m[676] an old courtier, wench, but I can spy
A young duck: close, mum; ten; close, ’tis not I.
[_Exit._
SIM. Mistress, sweet ladies!
_Enter_ IMPERIA _and Ladies with table-books_.[677]
IMP. Is his old rotten aqua-vitæ bottle stopt up? is he
gone? Fie, fie, fie, fie, he so smells of ale and
onions, and rosa-solis, fie. Bolt the door, stop the
keyhole, lest his breath peep in. Burn some perfume. I
do not love to handle these dried stockfishes, that ask
so much tawing:[678] fie, fie, fie.
FIRST LADY. Nor I, trust me, lady; fie.
IMP. No, no, no, no. Stools and cushions; low stools,
low stools; sit, sit, sit, round, ladies, round.
[_They seat themselves._] So, so, so, so; let your
sweet beauties be spread to the full and most moving
advantage; for we are fallen into his hands, who, they
say, has an A B C for the sticking in of the least
white pin in any part of the body.
SECOND LADY. Madam Imperia, what stuff is he like to
draw out before us?
IMP. Nay, nay, nay, ’tis Greek to me, ’tis Greek to me:
I never had remnant of his Spanish-leather learning.
Here he comes: your ears may now fit themselves out of
the whole piece.
_Enter_ LAZARILLO.[679]
LAZ. I do first deliver to your most skreet[680] and
long-fingered hands this head, or top of all the
members, bare and uncombed, to shew how deeply I stand
in reverence of your naked female beauties. Bright and
unclipt angels,[681] if I were to make a discovery of
any new-found land, as Virginia or so, to ladies and
courtiers, my speech should hoist up sails fit to bear
up such lofty and well-rigged vessels: but because I am
to deal only with the civil chitty-matron,[682] I will
not lay upon your blushing and delicate cheek[s] any
other colours than such as will give lustre to your
chitty[683] faces: in and to that purpose, our thesis is
taken out of that most plentiful, but most precious
book, entitled the _Economical Cornucopia_.
FIRST LADY. The what?
LAZ. The _Economical Cornucopia_: thus,
_Wise is that wife, who with apt wit complains
That she’s kept under, yet rules all the reins._
SECOND LADY. O, again, sweet signior!—[_writing_]
———_complains
That she’s kept under_——
What follows?
LAZ. _Yet rules all the reins:
Wise is that wife, who with apt wit complains
That she’s kept under, yet rules all the reins._
Most pure and refined plants of nature, I will not,
as this distinction enticeth, take up the parts as
they lie here in order; as first, to touch your
_wisdom_, it were folly; next, your _complaining_,
’tis too common; thirdly, your _keeping under_, ’tis
above my capachity;[684] and, lastly, _the reins in
your own hands_, that is the a-per-se[685] of all, the
very cream of all, and therefore how to skim off that
only, only listen: a wife wise, no matter; apt wit, no
matter; complaining, no matter; kept under, no great
matter; but to rule the roast is the matter.
THIRD LADY. That ruling of the roast goes with me.
FOURTH LADY. And me.
FIFTH LADY. And me; I’ll have a cut of that roast.
LAZ. Since, then, a woman’s only desire is to have the
reins in her own white hand, your chief practice, the
very same day that you are wived, must be to get hold of
these reins; and being fully gotten, or wound about,
_yet to complain, with apt wit, as though you had them
not_.
IMP. How shall we know, signior, when we have them all
or not?
LAZ. I will furnish your capable understandings out of
my poor Spanish store with the chief implements, and
their appurtenances. Observe; it shall be your first and
finest praise to sing the note of every new fashion at
first sight, and, if you can, to stretch that note above
ela.[686]
OMNES. Good.
LAZ. The more you pinch your servants’ bellies for this,
the smoother will the fashion sit on your back: but if
your goodman like not this music, as being too full of
crotchets, your only way is, to learn to play upon the
virginals,[687] and so nail his ears to your sweet
humours. If this be out of time too, yet your labour
will quit the cost; for by this means your secret friend
may have free and open access to you, under the colour
of pricking you lessons. Now, because you may tie your
husband’s love in most sweet knots, you shall never give
over labouring till out of his purse you have digged _a
garden_;[688] and that garden must stand a pretty
distance from the chitty;[689] for by repairing thither,
much good fruit may be grafted.
FIRST LADY. Mark that.
LAZ. Then, in the afternoon, when you address your sweet
perfumed body to walk to this garden, there to gather a
nosegay,—sops-in-wine,[690] cowslips, columbines,
heart’s-ease, &c.,—the first principle to learn is, that
you stick black patches for the rheum on your delicate
blue temples, though there be no room for the rheum:
black patches are comely in most women, and being well
fastened, draw men’s eyes to shoot glances at you. Next,
your ruff must stand in print;[691] and for that
purpose, get poking-sticks[692] with fair and long
handles, lest they scorch your lily sweating hands. Then
your hat with a little brim, if you have a little face;
if otherwise, otherwise. Besides, you must play the wag
with your wanton fan; have your dog,—called Pearl, or
Min, or Why ask you, or any other pretty name,—dance
along by you; your embroidered muff before you, on your
ravishing hands; but take heed who thrusts his fingers
into your fur.
SECOND LADY. We’ll watch for that.
LAZ. Once a quarter take state upon you, and be
chick.[693] Being chick thus politicly, lie at your
garden: your lip-sworn servant may there visit you as a
physician; where[694] otherwise, if you languish at
home, be sure your husband will look to your water. This
chickness[695] may be increased, with giving out that
you breed young bones; and to stick flesh upon those
bones, it shall not be amiss if you long for peascods at
ten groats the cod, and for cherries at a crown the
cherry.
FIRST LADY. O dear tutor!
SECOND LADY. Interrupt him not.
LAZ. If, while this pleasing fit of chickness hold you,
you be invited forth to supper, whimper and seem
unwilling to go; but if your goodman, bestowing the
sweet duck and kiss upon your moist lip, entreat, go.
Marry, my counsel is, you eat little at table, because
it may be said of you, you are no cormorant; yet at your
coming home you may counterfeit a qualm, and so devour a
posset. Your husband need not have his nose in that
posset; no, trust your chambermaid only in this, and
scarcely her; for you cannot be too careful into whose
hands you commit your secrets.
OMNES. That’s certain.
LAZ. If you have daughters capable, marry them by no
means to chittizens,[696] but choose for them some
smooth-chinned, curled-headed gentlemen;[697] for
gentlemen will lift up your daughters to their own
content; and to make these curled-pated gallants come
off the more roundly, make your husband go to the herald
for arms; and let it be your daily care that he have a
fair and comely crest; yea, go all the ways yourselves
you can to be made ladies, especially if, without danger
to his person, or for love or money, you can procure
your husband to be dubbed. The goddess of memory lock up
these jewels, which I have bestowed upon you, in your
sweet brains! Let these be the rules to square out your
life by, though you ne’er go level, but tread you[r]
shoes awry. If you can get these reins into your lily
hand[s], you shall need no coaches, but may drive your
husbands. Put it down; and, according to that wise
saying of you, be saints in the church, angels in the
street, devils in the kitchen, and apes in your bed:
upon which leaving you tumbling, pardon me that thus
abruptly and openly I take you all up.
FIRST LADY. You have got so far into our books, signior,
that you cannot ’scape without a pardon here, if you
take us up never so snappishly.
IMP. Music there, to close our stomachs! How do you like
him, madonna?
[_Music._
SECOND LADY. O, trust me, I like him most profoundly!
why, he’s able to put down twenty such as I am.
THIRD LADY. Let them build upon that; nay, more, we’ll
henceforth never go to a cunning woman, since men can
teach us our lerry.[698]
FOURTH LADY. We are all fools to him; and our husbands,
if we can hold these reins fast, shall be fools to us.
SECOND LADY. If we can keep but this bias, wenches, our
goodmen may perchance once in a month get a fore-game of
us; but, if they win a rubbers, let them throw their
caps at it.
IMP. No, no, no, dear features, hold their noses to the
grindstone, and they’re gone. Thanks, worthy signior:
fie, fie, fie, you stand bare too long. Come, bright
mirrors, will you withdraw into a gallery, and taste a
slight banquet?
FIRST LADY. We shall cloy ourselves with sweets, my
sweet madonna.
SECOND LADY. Troth, I will not, madonna Imperia.
IMP. No, no, no. Fie, fie, fie, signior Lazarillo,
either be you our foreman, or else put in these ladies,
at your discretion, into the gallery, and cut off this
striving.
LAZ. It shall be my office; my fees being, as they pass,
to take toll of their alablaster[699] hands. [_Exeunt
Ladies_: IMPERIA _stays_.] Admired creature, I summon
you to a parley: you remember this is the night?
IMP. So, so, so, I do remember: here is a key; that is
your chamber.—Lights, Simperina.—About twelve a’ clock
you shall take my beauty prisoner:—fie, fie, fie, how I
blush!—at twelve a’ clock.
LAZ. Rich argosy of all golden pleasure—
IMP. No, no, no, put up, put up your joys till anon: I
will come, by my virginity. But I must tell you one
thing, that all my chambers are many nights haunted,
with what sprites none can see; but sometimes we hear
birds singing, sometimes music playing, sometimes voices
laughing: but stir not you, nor be frighted at any
thing.
LAZ. By Hercules, if any spirits rise, I will conjure
them in their own circles with toledo.
IMP. So, so, so; lights for his chamber.—Is the trap-
door ready?
[_Aside._
SIMP. ’Tis set sure.
IMP. So, so, so, I will be rid of this broiled red
sprat, that stinks so in my stomach, fie; I hate him
worse than to have a tailor come a-wooing to me.
[_Aside._] God’s me! the sweet ladies, the banquet,—I
forget: fie, fie, fie, follow, dear signior.—The trap-
door, Simperina.
[_Aside, and exit._
SIMP. Signior, come away.
LAZ. Cupid, I kiss the nock[700] of thy sweet bow: A
woman makes me yield; Mars could not so.
[_Exit with_ SIMPERINA.
ACT IV. SCENE I.
_A Street; before_ IMPERIA’s _House; a cord hanging from
the window_.
_Enter_ CURVETTO, _with a lantern_.
CUR. Just ten? ’tis ten just: that’s the fixed hour
For payment of my love’s due fees; that broke,
I forfeit a huge sum of joys: ho, love,
I’ll keep time just to a minute, I;
A sweet guide’s[701] loss is a deep penalty:
A night’s so rich aventure[702] to taste wrack,[703]
Would make a lover bankrupt, break his back.
No, if to sit up late, early to rise,
Or if this goldfinch,[704] that with sweet notes flies,
And wakes the dull eye even of a puritan,
Can work, then, wenches, Curvetto is the man.
I am not young, yet have I youthful tricks,
Which peering day must not see; no, close, close,
Old courtier, perilous[705] fellow, I can lie;
Hug in your bosom, close, yet none shall spy.
Stay, here’s the door, the window; hah, this, this!
Cord?—umph!—dear cord, thy blessed knot I kiss.
None peeps, I hope. Night, clap thy velvet hand
Upon all eyes! if now my friend thou stand,
I’ll hang a jewel at thine ear, sweet night;
And here it is, lantern and candle-light.[706]
A peal, a lusty peal, set, ring love’s knell
I’ll sweat, but thus I’ll bear away the bell.
[_Pulls the cord hanging from the window, and is
drenched with water._
_Enter_ SIMPERINA _above_.
SIM. Signior,—who’s there? signior Curvetto?
CUR. Umph, drown’d! Noah’s flood! duck’d over head and
ears!
O sconce, and O sconce![707] an old soaker, O!
I sweat now till I drop: what, villains, O!
Punks, punkateroes, nags, hags! I will ban:[708]
I’ve[709] catch’d my bane.
SIM. Who’s there?
CUR. A water-man.
SIM. Who rings that scolding peal?
CUR. I am wringing wet,
I’m[710] wash’d: foh, here’s rose-water sold by th’
ounce!
This sconce shall batter down those windows—bounce!
SIM. What do you mean? why do you beat our doors?
What do you take us for?
CUR. You’re all damn’d whores.
SIM. Signior Curvetto!
CUR. Signior coxcomb, no.
SIM. What makes you be so hot?
CUR. You lie, I’m[711] cool;
I’m an old courtier, but stinking fool.
Foh!
SIM. God’s my life! what have you done? you are in a
sweet pickle if you pulled at this rope.
CUR. Hang thyself in’t, and I’ll pull once again.
SIM. Marry muff,[712] will you up and ride? you’re mine
elder. By my pure maidenhead, here’s a jest! why, this
was a water-work to drown a rat that uses to creep in at
this window.
CUR. Fire on your water-works! catch a drown’d rat?
That’s me, I have it, God a-mercy, head!
Rat? me; I smell a rat, I strike it dead.
SIM. You smell a sodden sheep’s-head: a rat? ay, a rat:
and[713] you will not believe me, marry, foh! I have
been believed of your betters, marry, snick up!
CUR. Simp, nay, sweet Simp, open again; why, Simperina!
SIM. Go from my window, go, go from, &c.,[714] away; go
by, old Jeronimo:[715] nay, and[716] you shrink i’ th’
wetting, walk, walk, walk.
CUR. I cry thee mercy; if the bowl were set
To drown a rat, I shrink not, am not wet.
SIM. A rat by this hemp, and[717] you could ha’ smelt.
Hark you; here’s the bell, ting, ting, ting: would the
clapper were in my belly, if I am not mad at your
foppery; I could scratch, fie, fie, fie, fie, fie, as my
mistress says. But go, hie you home, shift you, come
back presently: here you shall find a ladder of cords;
climb up; I’ll receive you: my mistress lies alone;
she’s yours: away.
CUR. O Simp!
SIM. Nay, scud: you know what you promised me: I shall
have simple yawling for this: begone, and mum.[718]
CUR. Thanks, mum, dear girl; I’m gone: ’twas for a
rat,
A rat upon my life: thou shalt have gifts;
I love thee, though thou puts[t] me to my shifts.
I knew[719] I could be over-reach’d by none;
A parlous[720] head! lie close, lie close: I’m[721]
gone. [_Exeunt severally._
SCENE II.
_A Room in_ IMPERIA’s _House_.
_Music suddenly plays and birds sing: enter_ LAZARILLO
_bareheaded, in his shirt, a pair of pantaples[722]
on, a rapier in his hand and a tobacco-pipe: he seems
amazed, and walks so up and down_.[723]
LAZ. Saint Jacques and the Seven deadly Sins (that is,
the Seven Wise Masters of the world), pardon me, for
this night I will kill the devil!
[_Within._] Ha, ha, ha!
LAZ. Thou prince of blackamoors, thou shalt have small
cause to laugh, if I run thee through. This chamber is
haunted: would I had not been brought a’ bed in it, or
else were well delivered! for my heart tells me ’tis no
good luck to have any thing to do with the devil; he’s a
paltry merchant.
[_Song within._]
_Midnight’s bell goes ting, ting, ting, ting, ting;
Then dogs do howl; and not a bird does sing
But the nightingale, and she cries twit, twit, twit,
twit;
Owls then on every bough do sit;
Ravens croak on chimneys’ tops;
The cricket in the chamber hops;
And the cats cry mew, mew, mew;
The nibbling mouse is not asleep,
But he goes peep, peep, peep, peep, peep;_
_And the cats cry[724] mew, mew, mew,
And still the cats cry mew, mew, mew._
LAZ. I shall be moused by puss-cats, but I had rather
die a dog’s death: they have nine lives a piece (like a
woman), and they will make it up ten lives, if they and
I fall a-scratching. Bright Helena of this house, would
thy Troy were a-fire, for I am a-cold; or else would I
had the Greeks’ wooden curtal[725] to ride away. Most
ambrosian-lipped creature, come away quickly, for this
night’s lodging lies cold at my heart. [_The Spanish
pavin[726] played within._] The Spanish pavin? I thought
the devil could not understand Spanish: but since thou
art my countryman, O thou tawny Satan,[727] I will dance
after thy pipe. [_He dances the Spanish pavin._]
Ho,[728] sweet devil, ho! thou wilt make any man weary
of thee, though he deal with thee in his shirt. Sweet
beauty! she’ll not come: I’ll fall to sleep, And dream
of her; love-dreams are ne’er too deep.
[_Lies down and falls through a trap-door._
_Enter_ FRISCO _above laughing_.
FRIS. Ha, ha, ha!
LAZ. Ho, ho, Frisco, madonna! I am in hell, but here is
no fire; hell-fire is all put out. What ho, so ho, ho! I
shall be drowned. I beseech thee, dear Frisco, raise
Blurt the constable, or some scavenger, to come and make
clean these kennels of hell; for they stink so, that I
shall cast[729] away my precious self.
_Enter_ IMPERIA _above_.
IMP. Is he down, Frisco?
FRIS. He’s down: he cries out he’s in hell; it’s heaven
to me to have him cry so.
IMP. Fie, fie, fie, let him lie, and get all to bed.
[_Exit._
FRIS. Not all; I’ve[730] fatting knavery in hand.
He cries he’s damn’d in hell: the next shall cry
He’s climbing up to heaven; and here’s the gin:[731]
One woodcock’s ta’en; I’ll have his brother in.
[_Exit._
SCENE III.
_A Street; before_ IMPERIA’s _House; a ladder of ropes
hanging from the window_.
_Enter_ CURVETTO _with a lantern_.
CUR. Brisk as a capering tailor! I was wash’d,
But did they shave me? no, I am too wise;
Lie close i’ th’ bosom of their knaveries;
I’m[732] an old hoary courtier, and strike dead;
I hit my marks: ware, ware, a perilous[733] head!
Cast,[734]—I must find a ladder made of ropes;
_Enter_ BLURT, SLUBBER, WOODCOCK, _and the rest of the
Watch_.
Ladder and rope; what follow? hanging; ay;
But where? ah ha, there does the riddle lie.
I have ’scap’d drowning; but, but, but, I hope
I shall not ’scape the ladder and the rope.
WOOD. Yonder’s a light, master constable.
BLURT. Peace, Woodcock, the sconce[735] approaches.
CUR. Whew!
BLURT. Ay, whistling?—Slubber, jog the watch, and give
the lantern a flap.
CUR. Whew! Simp, Simperina!
_Enter_ FRISCO _above_.
FRIS. Who’s there?
CUR. Who’s there?
FRIS. Signior Curvetto? here’s the ladder; I watch to do
you a good turn: I am Frisco. Is not Blurt abroad and
his bill-men?[736]
CUR. No matter if they be; I hear none nigh;
I will snug close; out goes my candle’s eye;
My sconce takes this in snuff;[737] all’s one; I care
not.
FRIS. Why, when?[738]
CUR. I come; close, close; hold, rope, and spare not.
[_Begins to ascend the ladder._
SLUB. Now the candle’s out.
BLURT. Peace!
CUR. Frisco, light, light! my foot is slipt; call
help.
FRIS. Help, help, help! thieves, thieves! help, thieves,
&c.[739]
BLURT. Thieves? where? Follow close. Slubber, the
lantern.—Hold, I charge you, in the duke’s name, stand:
sirrah, you’re like to hang for this.—Down with him.
[_They take_ CURVETTO _down_.
FRIS. Master Blurt, master constable, here’s his ladder:
he comes to rob my mistress. I have been scared out of
my wits above seven times by him, and it’s forty to one
if ever they come in again. I lay felony to his charge.
CUR. Felony? you cony-catching[740] slave.
FRIS. Cony-catching will bear an action. I’ll cony-catch
you for this.—If I can find our key, I will aid you,
Master Blurt: if not, look to him, as you will answer it
upon your deathbed.
BLURT. What are you?
CUR. A Venetian gentleman.—Woodcock, how dost thou,
Woodcock?[741]
WOOD. Thank your worship.
BLURT. Woodcock, you are of our side[742] now, and
therefore your acquaintance cannot serve. And[743] you
were a gentleman of velvet, I would commit you.
CUR. Why, what are you, sir?
BLURT. What am I, sir? do not you know this staff? I am,
sir, the duke’s own image: at this time the duke’s
tongue (for fault of a better) lies in my mouth; I am
constable, sir.
CUR. Constable, and commit me? marry, Blurt master-
constable.
BLURT. Away with him! [_He strives._
OMNES. It’s folly to strive.
BLURT. I say, away with him.—I’ll Blurt you; I’ll teach
you to stand covered to authority: your hoary head shall
be knocked when this staff is in place.
CUR. Ay, but, master-constable——
BLURT. No, pardon me, you abuse the duke in me, that am
his cipher.—I say, away with him; Gulch, away with him;
Woodcock, keep you with me. I will be known for more
than Blurt.
[_Exit, the rest of the Watch carrying off_ CURVETTO.
_Enter_ LAZARILLO.
LAZ. Thou honest fellow, the man in the moon, I beseech
thee set fire on thy bush of thorns, to light and warm
me, for I am dung-wet. I fell like Lucifer, I think,
into hell, and am crawled out, but in worse pickle than
my lean Pilcher.[744] Hereabout is the hothouse of my
love. Ho, ho! why ho, there!
FRIS. Who’s that? What devil stands hohing at my door so
late?
LAZ. I beseech thee, Frisco, take in Lazarillo’s ghost.
FRIS. Lazarillo’s ghost? haunt me not, I charge thee; I
know thee not: I am in a dream of a dry summer,
therefore appear not to me.
LAZ. Is not this the mansion of the cherry-lipped
madonna Imperia?
FRIS. Yes; how then? You fly-blown rascal, what art
thou?
LAZ. Lazarillo de Tormes: sweet blood, I have a poor
Spanish suit[745] depending in your house; let me enter,
most precious Frisco; the mistress of this mansion is my
beautiful hostess.
FRIS. How, you turpentine pill, my wife your hostess?
away, you Spanish vermin!
LAZ. I beseech thee, most pitiful Frisco, allow my
lamentation.
FRIS. And[746] you lament here, I’ll stone you with
brickbats: I am asleep.
LAZ. My slop[747] and mandillion[748] lie at thy mercy,
fine Frisco; I beseech thee, let not my case be thine: I
must and will lament.
FRIS. Must you? I’ll wash off your tears; away, you
hog’s-face!
[_Drenches him with foul water, and exit._
LAZ. Thou hast soused my poor hog’s-face. O Frisco, thou
art a scurvy doctor, to cast my water no better! it is
most rammish urine: Mars shall not save thee; I will
make a brown toast of thy heart, and drink it in a pot
of thy strong blood.
_Enter_ BLURT _and all his Watch_.'
BLURT. Such fellows must be taken down. Stand. What
white thing is yonder?
SLUB. Who goes there? come before the constable.
LAZ. My dear host Blurt!
BLURT. You have Blurted fair: I am by my office to
examine you, where you have spent these two nights.
LAZ. Most big Blurt, I answer thy great authority, that
I have been in hell, and am scratched to death with
puss-cats.
BLURT. Do you run a’ th’ score at an officer’s house,
and then run above twelve score off?
LAZ. I did not run, my sweet-faced Blurt: the Spanish
fleet is bringing gold enough to discharge all from the
Indies: lodge me, most pitiful bill-man.[749]
BLURT. Marry, and will. I am, in the duke’s name, to
charge you with despicious of felony; and burglary is
committed this night; and we are to reprehend any that
we think to be faulty. Were not you at madonna freckle-
face’s house?
LAZ. _Signior, si._
BLURT. Away with him, clap him up.
LAZ. Most thundering Blurt, do not clap me; most
thundering[750] Blurt, do not clap me.
BLURT. Master Lazarus, I know you are a sore fellow
where you take, and therefore I charge you, in the
duke’s name, to go without wrasling, though you be in
your shirt.
LAZ. Commendable Blurt——
BLURT. The end of my commendations is to commit you.
LAZ. I am kin to Don Diego,[751] the Spanish
adelantado.[752]
BLURT. If you be kin to Don Diego that was smelt out
in Paul’s,[753] you pack; your lantedoes nor your
lanteeroes cannot serve your turn. I charge you, let
me commit you to the tuition——
LAZ. Worshipful Blurt, do not commit me into the hands
of dogs.
OMNES. Dogs!
BLURT. Master Lazarus, there’s not a dog shall bite you:
these are true bill-men,[754] that fight under the
commonwealth’s flag.
LAZ. Blurt——
BLURT. Blurt me no Blurts; I’ll teach all Spaniards how
to meddle with whores.
LAZ. Most cunning constable, all Spaniards know that
already; I have meddled with none.
BLURT. Your being in your shirt bewrays[755] you.
LAZ. I beseech thee, most honest Blurt, let not my shirt
bewray me.
BLURT. I say, away with him. [_Music._] Music? that’s in
the courtesan’s; they are about some ungodly act; but
I’ll play a part in’t ere morning. Away with Lazarus.
OMNES. Come, Spaniard.
LAZ. Thy kites and thee for this shall watch in dirt,
To feed on carrion.
BLURT. Hence, ptrooh!
LAZ. O base Blurt!
ACT V. SCENE I.
_A Room in_ CAMILLO’s _House_.
_Enter_ CAMILLO, HIPPOLITO, VIRGILIO, ASORINO, BAPTISTA,
BENTIVOGLIO, DOYT, _and_ DANDYPRAT, _all weaponed,
their rapiers’ sheaths[756] in their hands_.
CAM. Gentlemen and noble Italians, whom I love best,
who know best what wrongs I have stood under, being
laid on by him who is to thank me for his life: I did
bestow him, as the prize of mine honour, upon my love,
the most fair Violetta: my love’s merit was basely
sold to him by the most false Violetta. Not content
with this felony, he hath dared to add the sweet theft
of ignoble marriage: she’s now none’s but his; and he,
treacherous villain, any one’s but hers: he doats, my
honoured friends, on a painted courtesan; and, in
scorn of our Italian laws, our family, our revenge,
loathes Violetta’s bed, for a harlot’s bosom. I
conjure you, therefore, by all the bonds of gentility,
that as you have solemnly sworn a most sharp, so let
the revenge be most sudden.
VIR. Be not yourself a bar to that suddenness by this
protraction.
OMNES. Away, gentlemen, away then!
HIP. As for that light hobbyhorse, my sister, whose foul
name I will rase out with my poniard, by the honour of
my family, which her lust hath profaned, I swear—and,
gentlemen, be in this my sworn brothers—I swear, that as
all Venice does admire her beauty, so all the world
shall be amazed at her punishment. Follow, therefore.
VIR. Stay, let our resolutions keep together: whither go
we first?
CAM. To the strumpet Imperia’s.
OMNES. Agreed: what then?
CAM. There to find Fontinelle: found, to kill him——
VIR. And killed, to hang out his reeking body at his
harlot’s window.
CAM. And by his body, the strumpet’s——
HIP. And between both, my sister’s.
VIR. The tragedy is just: on then, begin.
CAM. As you go, every hand pull in a friend, to
strengthen us against all opposites. He that has any
drop of true Italian blood in him, thus vow, this
morning, to shed others’, or let out his own. If you
consent to this, follow me.
OMNES. _Via_,[757] away! the treacherous Frenchman
dies.
HIP. Catso,[758] Saint Mark, my pistol! thus death
flies. [_Exeunt._
SCENE II.
_A Room in_ IMPERIA’s _House_.
_Enter_ FONTINELLE _and_ IMPERIA, _arm in arm_.
IMP. Ah, you little effeminate sweet chevalier, why
dost thou not get a loose periwig of hair on the chin,
to set thy French face off? By the panting pulse of
Venus, thou art welcome a thousand degrees beyond the
reach of arithmetic. Good, good, good; your lip is moist
and moving; it hath the truest French close, even like
Mapew,[759] la, la, la, &c.
FONT. Dear lady! O life of love, what sweetness dwells
In love’s variety! The soul that plods
In one harsh book of beauty, but repeats
The stale and tedious learning, that hath oft
Faded the senses; when, in reading more,
We glide in new sweets, and are starv’d with store.
Now, by the heart of love, my Violet
Is a foul weed, (O pure Italian flower!)
She[760] a black negro, to the white compare
Of this unequall’d beauty? O most accurst,
That I have given her leave to challenge me!
But, lady, poison speaks Italian well,
And in a loath’d kiss I’ll include her hell.
IMP. So, so, so; do, do, do. Come, come, come, will you
condemn the mute rushes[761] to be pressed to death by
your sweet body? Down, down, down; here, here, here;
lean your head upon the lap of my gown; good, good,
good. O Saint Mark! here is a love-mark able to wear
more ladies’ eyes for jewels than—O, lie still, lie
still! I will level a true Venetian kiss over your right
shoulder.
FONT. Shoot home, fair mistress, and as that kiss
flies
From lip to lip, wound me with your sharp eyes.
IMP. No, no, no, I’ll beat this cherry-tree thus, and
thus, and thus, and[762] you name wound. [_Kisses
him._
FONT. I will offend so, to be beaten still.
IMP. Do, do, do; and if you make any more such lips when
I beat you, by my virginity, you shall buss this rod.
Music, I pray thee be not a puritan; sister to the rest
of the sciences, I knew the time when thou couldst abide
handling. [_Loud music._] O fie, fie, fie, forbear! thou
art like a puny barber, new come to the trade; thou
pickst[763] our ears too deep. So, so, so; will my sweet
prisoner entertain a poor Italian song?
FONT. O most willingly, my dear madonna!
IMP. I care not if I persuade my bad voice to wrestle
with this music, and catch a strain: so, so, so: keep
time, keep time, keep time. [_Sings._
_Love for such a cherry lip
Would be glad to pawn his arrows;
Venus here to take a sip
Would sell her doves and team of sparrows.
But they shall not so;
Hey nonny, nonny no!
None but I this lip must owe;[764]
Hey nonny, nonny no!_
FONT. Your voice does teach the music.
IMP. No, no, no.
FONT. Again, dear love.
IMP. Hey nonny, nonny no!
_Did Jove see this wanton eye,
Ganymede must wait no longer;
Did Phœbe here one night lie,[765]
Would change her face and look much younger.
But they shall not so;
Hey nonny, nonny no!
None but I this lip must owe;
Hey nonny, nonny no!_
_Enter_ FRISCO, TRIVIA, _and_ SIMPERINA, _running_.
FRIS. O madonna!
TRIV. Mistress!
SIM. Madonna!
FRIS. Case up this gentleman: there’s rapping at door;
and one, in a small voice, says there’s Camillo and
Hippolito.
SIM. And they will come in.
FONT. Upon their deaths they shall, for they seek
mine.
IMP. No, no, no: lock the doors fast; Trivia, Simperina,
stir.
TRIV. _and_ SIM. Alas!
FONT. Come they in shape of devils, this angel by,
I’m[766] arm’d; let them come in; ud’s foot, they die.
IMP. Fie, fie, fie; I will not have thy white body——
VIOL. [_within_] What ho, madonna! [_Knocking within._
IMP. O hark! Not hurt for the Rialto! go, go, go, put
up;[767] by my virginity, you shall put up.
VIOL. [_within_] Here are Camillo and Hippolito.
IMP. Into that little room; you are there as safe as in
France or the Low Countries.
FONT. O God! [_Exit._
IMP. So, so, so; let them enter. Trivia, Simperina,
smooth my gown, tread down the rushes;[768] let them
enter; do, do, do. [_Exit_ FRISCO.]—No words, pretty
darling.—La, la, la, hey nonny, nonny no! [_Singing._
_Re-enter_ FRISCO _with_ VIOLETTA.
FRIS. Are two men transformed into one woman?
IMP. How now? what motion’s this?[769]
VIOL. By your leave, sweet beauty, pardon my excuse,
which, under the mask of Camillo’s and my brother’s
names, sought entrance into this house. Good sweetness,
have you not a property here improper to your house, my
husband?
IMP. Hah! your husband here?
VIOL. Nay, be as you seem to be, white dove, without
gall.
IMP. Gall? your husband? ha, ha, ha! by my ventoy,[770]
yellow[771] lady, you take your mark improper; no, no,
no, my sugar-candy mistress, your goodman is not here, I
assure you: here? ha, ha!
TRIV. _and_ SIM. Here?
FRIS. Much husbands here![772]
VIOL. Do not mock me, fairest Venetian; come, I know
he’s here. Good faith, I do not blame him; for your
beauty gilds[773] over his error. Troth, I am right glad
that you, my countrywoman, have received the pawn of my
affections: you cannot be hard-hearted, loving him; nor
hate me, for I love him too. Since we both love him, let
us not leave him, till we have called home the ill
husbandry of a sweet straggler. Prithee, good wench, use
him well.
IMP. So, so, so!
VIOL. If he deserve not to be used well (as I’d be loath
he should deserve it), I’ll engage myself, dear beauty,
to thine honest heart: give me leave to love him, and
I’ll give him a kind of leave to love thee. I know he
hears me: I prithee, try mine eyes if they know him,
that have almost drowned themselves in their own salt
water, because they cannot see him. In troth, I’ll not
chide him: if I speak words rougher than soft kisses, my
penance shall be to see him kiss thee, yet to hold my
peace.
FRIS. And that’s torment enough: alas, poor wench!
SIM. She’s an ass, by the crown of my maidenhead: I’d
scratch her eyes out, if my man[774] stood in her
tables.
VIOL. Good partner, lodge me in thy private bed,
Where, in supposed folly, he may end
Determin’d sin. Thou smil’st: I know thou wilt.
What looseness may term dotage, truly read,
Is love ripe-gather’d, not soon withered.
IMP. Good troth, pretty wedlock, thou makest my little
eyes smart with washing themselves in brine. I keep your
cock from his own roost, and mar such a sweet face, and
wipe off that dainty red, and make Cupid toll the bell
for your love-sick heart? no, no, no; if he were Jove’s
own ingle,[775] Ganymede: fie, fie, fie, I’ll none. Your
chamber-fellow is within: thou shalt enjoy my bed and
thine own pleasure this night.—Simperina, conduct in
this lady.—Frisco, silence. Ha, ha, ha! I am sorry to
see a woman so tame a fool. Come, come, come.
VIOL. Star of Venetian beauty, thanks.—O, who
Can bear this wrong, and be a woman too? [_Exeunt._
SCENE III.
_A Street; before_ IMPERIA’s _House_.
_Enter, on one side_, CAMILLO, HIPPOLITO, VIRGILIO,
ASORINO, BAPTISTA, BENTIVOGLIO, DOYT, _and_ DANDYPRAT;
_on the other, the_ DUKE _and Gentlemen, and_ BLURT
_and his Watch with torches_.
OMNES.[776] We are dishonour’d; give us way; he dies,
He dies——
DUKE. I charge you, by your duties to
The state, and love to gentry, sheathe your weapons.
BLURT. Stand: I charge you, put up your naked weapons,
and we’ll put up our rusty bills.[777]
CAM. Up to the hilts we will in his French body:
My lord, we charge you, by the ravish’d honour
Of an Italian lady, by our wrongs,
By that eternal blot, which, if this slave
Pass free without revenge, like leprosy
Will run o’er[778] all the body of our fames;
Give open way to our just wrath, lest, barr’d——
DUKE. Gentlemen——
CAM. Breaking the bonds of honour and of duty,
We cut a passage through you with our swords.
OMNES. He that withstands us, run him through.
BLURT. I charge you, i’ th’ duke’s name, before his own
face, to keep the peace.
CAM. Keep thou the peace, that hast a peasant’s heart.
WATCH. Peasant?
CAM. Our peace must have her cheeks painted with
blood.
OMNES. Away through——
BLURT. Sweet gentlemen, though you have called the
duke’s own ghost peasant, for I walk for him i’ th’
night—Kilderkin and Piss-breech hold out—yet hear me,
dear bloods. The duke here, for fault of a better, and
myself—Cuckoo, fly not hence—for fault of a better, are
to lay you by the heels, if you go thus with fire and
sword; for the duke is the head, and I, Blurt, am the
purtenance.—Woodcock, keep by my side.—Now, sir[s]——
OMNES. A plague upon this Woodcock! kill the watch.
DUKE. Now, in the name of manhood, I conjure ye,
Appear in your true shapes, Italians;
You kill your honours more in this revenge
Than in his murder. Stay, stand; here’s the house.
BLURT. Right, sir, this is the whore-house; here he
calls and sets in his staff.
DUKE. Sheathe all your weapons, worthy gentlemen;
And by my life I swear, if Fontinelle
Have stain’d the honour of your sister’s bed,
The fact being death, I’ll pay you his proud head.
CAM. Arrest him then before our eyes; and see,
Our fury sleeps.
DUKE. This honest officer——
BLURT. Blurt, sir——
DUKE. Shall fetch him forth.—Go, sirrah, in our name
Attach the French lord.
BLURT. Garlic, and the rest, follow strongly.
[_Exit with Watch._
DUKE. O what a scandal were it to a state,
To have a stranger, and a prisoner,
Murder’d by such a troop! Besides, through Venice
Are numbers of his countrymen dispers’d,
Whose rage meeting with yours, none can prevent
The mischief of a bloody consequent.
_Re-enter_ BLURT _and Watch, holding_ FONTINELLE _and
his weapons_.
BLURT. The duke is within an inch of your nose, and
therefore I dare play with it, if you put not up;
deliver, I advise you.
FONT. Yield up my weapons, and my foe[s] so nigh!
Myself and weapons shall together yield:
Come any one, come all.
OMNES. Kill, kill the Frenchman! kill him!
DUKE. Be satisfied, my noble countrymen:
I’ll trust you with his life, so you will pawn
The faiths of gentlemen, no desperate hand
Shall rob him of it; otherwise, he runs
Upon this dangerous point, that dares appose[779]
His rage ’gainst our authority.—French lord,
Yield up this strength; our word shall be your guard.
FONT. Who defies death, needs none; he’s well
prepar’d.
DUKE. My honest fellow, with a good defence,
Enter again; fetch out the courtesan,
And all that are within.
BLURT. I’ll tickle her: it shall ne’er be said that a
brown bill[780] looked pale. [_Exit with Watch._
CAM. Frenchman, thou art indebted to our duke.
FONT. For what?
CAM. Thy life; for, but for him, thy soul
Had long ere this hung trembling in the air,
Being frighted from thy bosom with our swords.
FONT. I do not thank your duke; yet, if you will,
Turn bloody executioners: who dies
For so bright beauty ’s a bright sacrifice.
DUKE. The beauty you adore so is profane;
The breach of wedlock, by our law, is death.
FONT. Law, give me law.
DUKE. With all severity.
FONT. In my love’s eyes immortal joys do dwell;
She is my heaven; she from me, I’m[781] in hell:
Therefore your law, your law.
DUKE. Make way, she comes.
_Re-enter_ BLURT _leading_ IMPERIA, _the rest of the
Watch with_ VIOLETTA _masqued_.
IMP. Fie, fie, fie.
BLURT. Your fie, fie, fie, nor your foh, foh, foh,
cannot serve your turn; you must now bear it off with
head and shoulders.
DUKE. Now fetch Curvetto and the Spaniard hither;
Their punishments shall lie under one doom.
What is she masqu’d?
BLURT. A punk too.—Follow, fellows: Slubber, afore.
[_Exit with Watch._
VIOL. She that is masqu’d is leader of this masque.
What’s here? bows, bills, and guns! Noble Camillo,
[_Unmasquing._
I’m sure you’re lord of this misrule:[782] I pray,
For whose sake do you make this swaggering fray?
CAM. For yours, and for our[783] own; we come resolv’d
To murder him that poisons your chaste bed,
To take revenge on you for your false heart;
And, wanton dame, our wrath here must not sleep;
Your sin being deep’st, your share shall be most deep.
VIOL. With pardon of your grace, myself to you all,
At your own weapons, thus do answer all.
For paying away my heart, that was my own;
Fight not to win that, in good troth, ’tis gone.
For my dear love’s abusing my chaste bed,
And her[784] sweet theft, alack, you are misled!
This was a plot of mine, only to try
Your love’s strange temper; sooth, I do not lie.
My Fontinelle ne’er dallied in her arms;
She never bound his heart with amorous charms:
My Fontinelle ne’er loath’d my sweet embrace;
She never drew love’s picture by his face:
When he from her white hand would strive to go,
She never cried, fie, fie, nor no, no, no.
With prayers and bribes we hir’d her, both to lie
Under that roof: for this must my love die?
Who dare be so hard-hearted? Look you, we kiss,
And if he loathe his Violet,[785] judge by this.
[_Kissing him._
FONT. O sweetest Violet! I blush——
VIOL. Good figure,
Wear still that maiden blush, but still be mine.
FONT. I seal myself thine own with both my hands,
In this true deed of gift. Gallants, here stands
This lady’s champion: at his foot I’ll lie[786]
That dares touch her: who taints my constancy,
I am no man for him; fight he with her,
And yield, for she’s a noble conqueror.
DUKE. This combat shall not need; for see, asham’d
Of their rash vows, these gentlemen here break
This storm, and do with hands what tongues should speak.
OMNES. All friends, all friends!
HIP. Punk, you may laugh at this:
Here’s tricks! but, mouth, I’ll stop you with a kiss.
_Enter_ CURVETTO _and_ LAZARILLO, _led by_ BLURT _and
the Watch_.
BLURT. Room; keep all the scabs back, for here comes
Lazarus.
DUKE. O, here’s our other spirits that walk i’ th’
night!
Signior Curvetto, by complaint from her,
And by your writing here, I reach the depth
Of your offence. They charge your climbing up
To be to rob her: if so, then by law
You are to die, unless she marry you.
IMP. I? fie, fie, fie, I will be burnt to ashes first.
CUR. How, die, or marry her? then call me daw:[787]
Marry her—she’s more common than the law—
For boys to call me ox? no, I’m[788] not drunk;
I’ll play with her, but, hang her! wed no punk.
I shall be a hoary courtier then indeed,
And have a perilous[789] head; then I were best
Lie close, lie close, to hide my forked crest.
No, fie, fie, fie; hang me before the door
Where I was drown’d, ere I marry with a whore.
DUKE. Well, signior, for we rightly understand,
From your accusers, how you stood her guest,
We pardon you, and pass it as a jest:
And for the Spaniard sped so hardly too,
Discharge him, Blurt: signior, we pardon you.
BLURT. Sir, he’s not to be discharged, nor so to be shot
off: I have put him into a new suit, and have entered
into him with an action; he owes me two-and-thirty
shillings.
LAZ. It is thy honour to have me die in thy debt.
BLURT. It would be more honour to thee to pay me before
thou diest: twenty shillings of this debt came out of
his nose.
LAZ. Bear witness, great duke, he’s paid twenty
shillings.
BLURT. Signior, no, you cannot smoke me so. He took
twenty shillings of it in a fume,[790] and the rest I
charge him with for his lying.
LAZ. My lying, most pitiful prince, was abominable.
BLURT. He did lie, for the time, as well as any knight
of the post[791] did ever lie.
LAZ. I do here put off thy suit, and appeal: I warn thee
to the court of conscience, and will pay thee by
twopence a-week, which I will rake out of the hot embers
of tobacco-ashes, and then travel on foot to the Indies
for more gold, whose red cheeks I will kiss, and beat
thee, Blurt, if thou watch for me.
HIP. There be many of your countrymen in Ireland,
signior; travel to them.
LAZ. No, I will fall no more into bogs.
DUKE. Sirrah, his debt ourself will satisfy.
BLURT. Blurt, my lord, dare take your word for as much
more.
DUKE. And since this heat of fury is all spent,
And tragic shapes meet comical event,
Let this bright morning merrily be crown’d
With dances, banquets, and choice music’s sound.
[_Exeunt omnes._
------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE PHŒNIX.
_The Phoenix, as it hath beene sundrye times Acted by
the Children of Paules, And presented before his
Maiestie. London Printed by E. A. for A. I., and are
to be solde at the signe of the white horse in Paules
Churchyard._ 1607. 4to.
A second edition, from which frequently words, and
sometimes whole passages, have dropt out, appeared in
1630, 4to. The acts and scenes are not distinguished
in the old copies.
_The Phœnix_ was licensed, by Sir George Bucke, 9th
May, 1607. Chalmers’s _Suppl. Apol._ p. 200.
According to the _Biographia Dramatica_ (a work on
which I place no reliance), the plot of this play is
taken from a Spanish novel, called _The Force of
Love_.
DRAMATIS PERSONÆ
DUKE OF FERRARA.
PHŒNIX, _his son_.
PRODITOR, }
LUSSURIOSO, } _nobles_.
INFESTO, }
FIDELIO, _son to_ CASTIZA.
CAPTAIN, _married to_ CASTIZA.
FALSO, _a justice of peace_.
LATRONELLO, }
FUCATO, } _his servants_.
FURTIVO,[792] }
KNIGHT.
TANGLE.
QUIETO.
_Groom._
_Constable._
_Boy._
_Drawer._
_Soldiers._
_Suitors._
_Nobles_, _Gentlemen_, _Officers_, _&c._
CASTIZA, _mother to_ FIDELIO, _and married to the_
CAPTAIN.
_Jeweller’s wife, daughter to_ FALSO.
_Niece to_ FALSO.
_Maid to Jeweller’s wife._
SCENE, FERRARA.
THE PHŒNIX.
-------
ACT I. SCENE I.
_A Chamber in the Palace of the Duke of Ferrara._
_Enter the_ DUKE, PRODITOR, LUSSURIOSO, INFESTO, _and
other nobles, with attendants_.
DUKE. My lords,
Know that we, far from any natural pride,
Or touch of temporal sway, have seen our face
In our grave council’s foreheads, where doth stand
Our truest glass, made by Time’s wrinkled hand.
We know we’re old; my days proclaim me so;
Forty-five years I’ve gently rul’d this dukedom;
Pray heaven it be no fault!
For there’s as much disease, though not to th’ eye,
In too much pity as in tyranny.
INFES. Your grace hath spoke it right.
DUKE. I know that life
Has not long course in me; ’twill not be long
Before I shew that kings have mortal bodies
As well as subjects: therefore to my comfort,
And your successful hopes, I have a son,
Whom I dare boast of——
LUS. Whom we all do boast of;
A prince elder in virtues than in years.
INFES. His judgment is a father to his youth.
PROD. Ay, ay, would he were from court! [_Aside._
INFES. Our largest hopes grow in him.
PROD. And ’tis the greatest pity, noble lord,
He is untravell’d.
LUS. ’Tis indeed, my lord.
PROD. Had he but travel to his time and virtue—
O, he should ne’er return again! [_Aside._
DUKE. It shall be so: what is in hope begun,[793]
Experience quickens; travel confirms the man,
Who[794] else lives doubtful, and his days oft sorry:
Who’s rich in knowledge has the stock of glory.
PROD. Most true, my royal lord.
DUKE. Some one attend our son.
INFES. See, here he comes, my lord.
_Enter_ PHŒNIX, _attended by_ FIDELIO.
DUKE. O, you come well.
PHŒ. ’Tis always my desire, my worthy father.
DUKE. Your serious studies, and those fruitful hours
That grow up into judgment, well become
Your birth, and all our loves: I weep that you are my
son,
But virtuously I weep, the more my gladness.
We have thought good and meet, by the consent
Of these our nobles, to move you toward travel,
The better to approve you to yourself,
And give your apter power foundation:
To see affections actually presented,
E’en by those men that owe[795] them, yield[s] more
profit,
Ay, more content, than singly to read of them,
Since love or fear make writers partial.
The good and free example which you find
In other countries, match it with your own,
The ill to shame the ill; which will in time
Fully instruct you how to set in frame
A kingdom all in pieces.
PHŒ. Honour’d father,
With care and duty I have listen’d to you.
What you desire, in me it is obedience:
I do obey in all, knowing for right,
Experience is a kingdom’s better sight.
PROD. O, ’tis the very lustre of a prince,
Travel! ’tis sweet and generous.
DUKE. He that knows how to obey, knows how to reign;
And that true knowledge have we found in you.
Make choice of your attendants.
PHŒ. They’re soon chose;
Only this man, my lord, a loving servant of mine.
DUKE. What! none but he?
PHŒ. I do intreat no more;
For that’s the benefit a private gentleman
Enjoys beyond our state, when he notes all,
Himself unnoted.
For, should I bear the fashion of a prince,
I should then win more flattery than profit,
And I should give ’em time and warning then
To hide their actions from me: if I appear a sun,
They’ll run into the shade with their ill deeds,
And so prevent[796] me.
PROD. A little too wise,[797] a little too wise to
live long. [_Aside._
DUKE. You have answer’d us with wisdom: let it be;
Things private are best known through privacy.
[_Exeunt all but_ PHŒNIX _and_ FIDELIO.
PHŒ. Stay you, my elected servant.
FID. My kind lord.
PHŒ. The duke my father has a heavy burden
Of years upon him.
FID. My lord, it seems so, for they make him stoop.
PHŒ. Without dissemblance he is deep in age;
He bows unto his grave. I wonder much
Which of his wild nobility it should be
(For none of his sad[798] council has a voice in’t),
Should so far travel into his consent,
To set me over into other kingdoms,
Upon the stroke and minute of his death?
FID. My lord, ’tis easier to suspect them all,
Than truly to name one.
PHŒ. Since it is thus,
By absence I’ll obey the duke my father,
And yet not wrong myself.
FID. Therein, my lord,
You might be happy twice.
PHŒ. So it shall be;
I’ll stay at home, and travel.
FID. Would your grace
Could make that good!
PHŒ. I can: and, indeed, a prince need no[t] travel
farther than his own kingdom, if he apply himself
faithfully, worthy the glory of himself and expectation
of others: and it would appear far nobler industry in
him to reform those fashions that are already in his
country, than to bring new ones in, which have neither
true form nor fashion; to make his court an owl, city an
ape, and the country a wolf preying upon the ridiculous
pride of either: and therefore I hold it a safer
stern,[799] upon this lucky advantage, since my father
is near his setting, and I upon the eastern hill to take
my rise, to look into the heart and bowels of this
dukedom, and, in disguise, mark all abuses ready for
reformation or punishment.
FID. Give me but leave unfeignedly to admire you,
Your wisdom is so spacious and so honest.
PHŒ. So much have the complaints and suits of men,
seven, nay, seventeen years neglected, still interposed
by coin and great enemies, prevailed with my pity, that
I cannot otherwise think but there are infectious
dealings in most offices, and foul mysteries throughout
all professions: and therefore I nothing doubt but to
find travel enough within myself, and experience, I
fear, too much: nor will I be curious[800] to fit my
body to the humblest form and bearing, so the labour may
be fruitful; for how can abuses that keep low, come to
the right view of a prince, unless his looks lie level
with them, which else will be longest hid from him?—he
shall be the last man sees ’em.
For oft between kings’ eyes and subjects’ crimes
Stands there a bar of bribes: the under office
Flatters him next above it, he the next,
And so of most, or many.
Every abuse will choose a brother:
’Tis through the world, this hand will rub the other.
FID. You have set down the world briefly, my lord.
PHŒ. But how am I assur’d of faith in thee?
Yet I durst trust thee.
FID. Let my soul be lost,
When it shall loose your secrets: nor will I
Only be a preserver of them, but,
If you so please, an assister.
PHŒ. It suffices:
That king stands sur’st who by his virtue rises
More than by birth or blood; that prince is rare,
Who strives in youth to save his age from care.
Let’s be prepar’d; away.
FID. I’ll follow your grace.— [_Exit_ PHŒNIX.
Thou wonder of all princes, president, and glory,
True Phœnix, made of an unusual strain!
Who labours to reform is fit to reign.
How can that king be safe that studies not
The profit of his people? See where comes
The best part of my heart, my love.
_Enter_ NIECE.[801]
NIECE. Sir, I am bound to find you: I heard newly
Of sudden travel which his grace intends,
And only but yourself to accompany him.
FID. You heard in that little beside the truth;
Yet not so sudden as to want those manners,
To leave you unregarded.
NIECE. I did not think so unfashionably of you.
How long is your return?
FID. ’Tis not yet come to me, scarce to my lord.
Unless the duke refer it to his pleasure;
But long I think it is not: the duke’s age,
If not his apt experience, will forbid it.
NIECE. His grace commands, I must not think amiss:
Farewell.
FID. Nay, stay, and take this comfort;
You shall hear often from us; I’ll direct
Where you shall surely know; and I desire you
Write me the truth, how my new father-in-law
The captain bears himself toward my mother;
For that marriage
Knew nothing of my mind, it never flourish’d
In any part of my affection.
NIECE. Methinks sh’as much disgrac’d herself.
FID. Nothing so,
If he be good, and will abide the touch;
A captain may marry a lady, if he can sail
Into her good will.
NIECE. Indeed that’s all.
FID. ’Tis all
In all; commend me to thy breast; farewell.
[_Exit_ NIECE.
So by my lord’s firm policy we may see,
To present view, what absent forms would be. [_Exit._