 |
ALFRIDA. Thanks, gracious king, mirror of courtesy, Whose virtuous thoughts bewray thy princely mind, And makes thee famous 'mongst thy enemies: For what is he that hears of Edgar's name, And will not yield him praise as he deserves. Nor hath your grace ever been praised more, Or term'd more just in any action, Than you shall be in conquering your desires, And yielding pardon to Earl Ethenwald.
KING. Will you be gone?
ALFRIDA. My gracious lord, I humbly take my leave.
[ALFRIDA and ETHENWALD Exeunt.
KING. How am I wrong'd, and yet without redress!
DUNSTAN. Have patience, good my lord, and call to mind, How you have lived praised for virtuous government. You have subdued lust unto this day, And been reputed wise in government, And will you blemish all your honours got, In being termed a foul adulterer?
KING. Dunstan, forbear, for I will have it so: It boots thee not to counsel me in this, For I have sworn the death of Ethenwald; And he shall die, or Edgar will not live. Dunstan, it is enough; I am resolved. [Exit.
DUNSTAN. Nay, if it be so, then Ethenwald shall not die? And since entreaties cannot serve the turn, I will make proof for once what art will do. Astoroth[319], ascende! veni, Astoroth, Astoroth, veni!
Enter the DEVIL.
DEVIL. What wilt thou?
DUNSTAN. Tell me, what means the king?
DEVIL. I will not tell thee.
DUNSTAN. I charge thee, by the eternal living God, That keeps the prince of darkness bound in chains, And by that sun that thou wouldst gladly see, By heaven and earth, and every living thing, Tell me that which I did demand of thee.
DEVIL. Then thus: the king doth mean to murther Ethenwald.
DUNSTAN. But where is the king?
DEVIL. Seeking for Ethenwald.
DUNSTAN. But I'll prevent him: follow me invisible.
DEVIL. I will.
[Exeunt.
Enter the PRIEST.
PRIEST. I have been this morning with a friend of mine, That would borrow a small sum of money of me; But I have learn'd the best assurance a man can have In such a matter is a good pawn of twice the value, Or bonds sufficient for five times the quantity. He is my near kinsman, I confess, and a clergyman, But fifty shillings is money; and though I think I might trust him simply with it for a twelvemonth, Where he craves it but for a month, yet simply I Will not be so simple; for I will borrow His gelding to ride to the term, and keep away a just fortnight. If then he pay me money, I will deliver him his horse. I would be loth to lose my money, or crave assurance of my kinsman, But this may be done to try me, and I mean likewise to try him. This is plain, though truly, brethren, something subtle. But here comes one would fain take my house of me.
NEIGHBOUR. Sir, I am a poor man, and I will give you thirty shillings a year: if I may have it, you shall be sure of your money.
PRIEST. Truly, brother in Christ, I cannot afford it of the price; A must let my house to live, I ask no gains. But who comes here?
Enter HONESTY and a BEGGAR.
BEGGAR. I beseech you, good master, for God's sake, give one penny to the poor, lame, and blind; good master, give something.
PRIEST. Fie upon thee, lazy fellow, art thou not ashamed to beg? Read the blessed saying of St Paul, which is, Thou shalt get thy living with the sweat of thy brows, and he that will not labour is not worthy to eat.
HONESTY. Ay, but he remembers not where Christ saith, He that giveth a cup of cold water in my name shall be blessed. [Aside.]
BEGGAR. Alas, sir, you see I am old.
PRIEST. But that's no reason you should beg.
BEGGAR. Alas, sir, age coming on me, and my sight being gone, I hope, sir, you will pardon me, though I beg; and therefore, for God's sake, one penny, good master.
PRIEST. Why, I tell thee no, for the Spirit doth not move me thereunto. And in good time, look in the blessed Proverb of Solomon, which is, Good deeds do not justify a man; therefore, I count it sin to give thee anything.
HONESTY. See how he can turn and wind the Scripture to his own use; but he remembers not where Christ say'th, He that giveth to the poor lendeth unto the Lord, and he shall be repaid sevenfold: but the Priest forgets that, or at leastwise he will not remember it. [Aside.]
BEGGAR. Now, fie upon thee, is this the pureness of your religion? God will reward you, no doubt, for your hard dealing.
PRIEST. Care not thou for that. Well, neighbour, if thou wilt have my house, friend and brother in Christ, it will cost you forty shillings—'tis well worth it truly, provided this, I may not stay for my rent: I might have a great deal more, but I am loth to exact on my brother.
HONESTY. And yet he will sell all a poor man hath, to his shirt, for one quarter's rent. [Aside.]
NEIGHBOUR. God's blessing on your heart, sir, you made a godly exhortation on Sunday.
PRIEST. Ay, brother, the Spirit did move me thereunto. Fie upon usury, when a man will cut his brother's throat for a little lucre: fie upon it, fie! We are born one to live by another, and for a man to let his own as he may live, 'tis allowed by the word of God; but for usury and oppression, fie on it, 'tis ungodly. But, tell me, will you have it?
NEIGHBOUR. I will give you, as I have proffered you.
PRIEST. Truly, I cannot afford it, I would I could; but I must go to our exercise of prayer, and after I must go see a farm that I should have.
[Exeunt.
Enter DUNSTAN and PERIN, with the KING.
DUNSTAN. Most gracious prince, vouchsafe to hear me speak, In that the law of kindred pricks me on; And though I speak contrary to your mind, Yet do I build on hope you will pardon me. Were I as eloquent as Demosthenes, Or like Isocrates were given to oratory, Your grace, no doubt, will think the time well-spent, And I should gain me commendations: But for my note is tuned contrary, I must entreat your grace to pardon me, If I do jar in my delivery.
KING. Why, Dunstan, thou hast found us gracious still, Nor will we pull our settled love from thee, Until we find thy dealings contrary, But if thy parley be for Ethenwald, That base dissembler with his sovereign, 'Twere better leave to speak in his excuse, Than by excusing him gain our ill-will: For I am minded like the salamander-stone That, fir'd with anger, will not in haste be quench'd. Though wax be soft, and apt to receive any impression, Yet will hard metal take no form, except you melt the same. So mean men's minds may move as they think good, But kings' just dooms are irrevocable.
DUNSTAN. 'Tis not enough, where lust doth move the offence.
KING. Why, councillors may not with kings dispense.
DUNSTAN. A councillor may speak, if he see his prince offend.
KING. And for his counsel rue it in the end. But Dunstan, leave: you urge us over far. We pardon what is past; but speak no more.
DUNSTAN. Nay, pardon me, for I will speak my mind. Your grace may call to mind proud Marius' fall, That through his wilful mind lost life and empire; And Nimrod, that built huge Babylon, And thought to make a tow'r to check the clouds, Was soon dismay'd by unknown languages; For no one knew what any other spake: Which made him to confess, though 'twere too late, He had made offence in tempting of the Lord. Remember David, Solomon, and the rest; Nor had proud Holofernes lost his head, Had he not been a foul adulterer.
KING. Dunstan, forbear, and let this answer thee: Thou art too presumptuous in reproving me, For I have sworn, as truly as I live, That I will never pardon Ethenwald.
DUNSTAN. Did you but see the man, I am assur'd You would not choose but pardon Ethenwald.
PERIN. Why, Dunstan, you have seen as well as I, That Ethenwald hath dissembled with the king. My gracious lord, first cut that traitor down, And then will others fear the like amiss.
DUNSTAN. I tell thee, Perin, were the earl in place, Thou wouldst eat these words utter'd in his disgrace. Veni, Astoroth![320] And, in good time, see where he comes. [Aside.
Here enter ALFRIDA disguised, with the DEVIL, [disguised as ETHENWALD.]
KING. But tell me, Dunstan, is this Alfrida?
DUNSTAN. It is, my gracious lord, and this is Ethenwald, That lays his breast wide open to your grace, If so it please your grace to pardon him.
KING. Yes, Dunstan, I am well content to pardon him. Ethenwald, stand up, and rise up, Alfrida, For Edgar now gives pardon to you both.
DUNSTAN. Astoroth, away! [Aside.] My gracious lord, Dunstan will not forget This unknown favour shown Earl Ethenwald; For which account my nephew and myself Do yield both lives and goods at your dispose.
KING. Thanks, Dunstan, for thy honourable love: And thou deserv'st to be a councillor, For he deserves not other to command, That hath no power to master his desire; For Locrine, being the eldest son of Brute, Did doat so far upon an Almain maid, And was so ravished with her pleasing sight, That full seven years he kept her under earth, Even in the lifetime of fair Gwendolin: Which made the Cornish men to rise in arms, And never left, till Locrine was slain. And now, though late, at last I call to mind What wretched ends fell to adulterers.
DUNSTAN. And if your grace call Abram's tale to mind, When that Egyptian Pharaoh crav'd his wife, You will, no doubt, forgive my nephew's guilt; Who by the merry jest he showed your grace, Did save your honour and her chastity.
KING. We take it so; and for amends, Ethenwald, Give me thy hand and we are friends; And love thy wife, and live together long, For Edgar hath forgot all former wrong.
ETHENWALD. Thanks, gracious king, and here upon my knee I rest to be disposed, as you please.
KING. Enough, Ethenwald. But who comes here?
Enter HONESTY.
HONESTY. Why, I think I have taken in hand an endless task, To smell a knave: 'tis more than a dog can do. I have disguised myself of purpose to find A couple of knaves, which are yet behind. The next knave is a priest, call'd John the precise, That with counterfeit holiness blinds the people's eyes. This is one of them, that will say it is a shame For men to swear and blaspheme God's holy name; Yet if a make a good sermon but once in a year, A will be forty times in a tavern making good cheer: Yet in the church he will read with such sobriety, That you would think him very precise and of great honesty. [Aside.]
KING. What, Honesty, hast thou despatch'd, and found these privy knaves?
HONESTY. I shall do anon: I have them in scent; but I will be gone. [Exit.
Enter PRIEST.
PRIEST. Good Lord! I praise God I am come from our morning's exercise, Where I have profited myself, and e[d]ified my brethren In shewing the way to salvation by my doctrine; And now I am going to the court to prefer my petition. I would give a hundred pound it were granted; 'Tis a thing of nothing: but here comes one of the court.
Enter HONESTY.
God save you, brother in Christ: are you towards the king?
HONESTY. Ay, marry am I: what then? why dost thou ask?
PRIEST. Nothing, sir, but I would desire you to stand my friend, To get me the king's hand and seal to this letter. I would not use it, sir, to hinder any man for a thousand pound; For indeed I am a clergyman by my profession. 'Tis nothing, sir, but, as you see, to have the king's seal To carry tin, lead, wool, and broadcloths beyond seas, For you know, sir, every man will make the most he can of his own; And for my part, I use it but for a present necessity, If you will undertake to do it, I'll give you a hundred pound.
HONESTY. I thank you, sir, but I am afraid the king will hardly grant it: why, 'tis an undoing to the commonwealth; But, truly, I will move the king to hang you, priest, i'faith.— [Aside. May it please your grace to grant me my petition, For I offer it your grace in pure devotion.
KING. O monstrous! Dunstan, didst thou ever hear the like? Now fie upon the base villain! lay hands on him.
HONESTY. On me? nay, on him. Priest, I give your petition to the king, And I will speak to him you may be but hanged; For if you should live, till the king granted your petition, The very ravens would pick out thine eyes living; And therefore 'twere better you were hanged, to save the birds a labour.
KING. Now, Honesty, hast thou done? Is here all?
HONESTY. O no, my lord, for there are so many behind, That I am afraid my work will never have an end. But I see by the priest's looks he lacks company: Stay awhile, my lord, I'll fetch another presently. [Exit.
KING. Fie, graceless man! hast thou no fear of God, To withhold thee from these lawless motions? Why, thou shouldst be as [a] messenger of God, And hate deceit and wicked avarice: But thou art one of those whom God doth hate, And thy vild deeds will witness 'gainst thy soul, And make the most abominable in his sight, That made thee, wretch, but to a better end, Than thus to wrong his sacred Deity. Now, fie upon thee, monster of a man? That for to gain thyself a private gain, Wouldst seek the undoing of a commonwealth: And though thou bide[321] ten thousand torments here, They cannot quit thee, where thou shalt appear.
[Enter HONESTY.]
HONESTY. A prize! though it be long, I have found him at last; But I could not bring him with me, And therefore I pinn'd a paper on his shoulder, Meaning thereby to mark him for the gallows. But husht, here he comes.
Enter PERIN.
KING. What, Perin? I cannot think that Perin will be false to me.
HONESTY. Why no, for he is false to himself: look in his pocket and see. This is but a false writ that he hath used, Unknown to your majesty, and levied great sums of money, And bribed upon your poor Commons extremely. How say you, my lord, is this true or no?
KING. Honesty, thou sayest true. Why, impious wretch! Ingrateful wretch that thou art, To injure him that always held thee dear. Believe me, Dunstan, I durst well have sworn That Perin had not hatch'd so base a thought.
HONESTY. Ay, but your grace sees you are deceived. But will your grace grant me one boon?
KING. What's that, Honesty?
HONESTY. That I may have the punishing of them, Whom I have so laboured to find.
KING. With all my heart, Honesty: use them as thou wilt.
HONESTY. I thank your grace. Go fetch the other two.[322] Now to you, Cutbert Cutpurse the Coneycatcher: Thy judgment is to stand at the market-cross, And have thy cursed tongue pinn'd to thy breast, And there to stand for men to wonder at, Till owls and night ravens pick out thy cursed eyes.
CONEYCATCHER. Good Honesty, be more merciful.
HONESTY. You know my mind, O Walter that-would-have-more, and you shall have judgment I mean, which is: to be carried into a corn-field, and there have your legs and hands cut off, because you loved corn so well, and there rest till the crows pick out thine eyes.— But now to you, that will do nothing, Except the Spirit move you thereunto. You shall, for abusing the blessed word of God, And mocking the divine order of ministry, Whereby you have led the ignorant into errors, You, I say, As you were shameless in your shameful dealing, Shall, to your shame, and the utter shame of all Bad-minded men, that live as thou hast done, Stand in Finsbury fields, near London, And there, as a dissembling hypocrite, be shot to death.
PRIEST. Good Honesty, be more favourable than so.
HONESTY. Truly, no; the Spirit doth not move me thereunto.— But who is next? what, Perin, a courtier and a cosener too! I have a judgment yet in store for thee: And for because I will use thee favourably, I'faith, thy judgment is to be but hanged. But where? even at Tyburn, in a good twopenny halter: And though you could never abide the seas, Yet now, against your will, you must bear your sail, namely, your sheet, And in a cart be tow'd up Holborn-hill. Would all men living, like these, in this land, Might be judged so at Honesty's hand.
KING. Well, Honesty, come, follow us to court, Where thou shalt be rewarded for thy pain.
HONESTY. I thank your grace. You that will damn yourselves for lucre's sake, And make no conscience to deceive the poor; You that be enemies of the commonwealth, To send corn over to enrich the enemy; And you that do abuse the word of God, And send over wool and tin, broad-cloth and lead; And you that counterfeit kings' privy-seals, And thereby rob the willing-minded commonalty; I warn you all that use such subtle villainy, Beware lest you, like these, be found by Honesty. Take heed, I say, for if I catch you once, Your bodies shall be meat for crows, And the devil shall have your bones. And thus, though long, at last we make an end, Desiring you to pardon what's amiss, And weigh the work, though it be grossly penn'd. Laugh at the faults, and weigh it as it is, And Honesty will pray upon his knee, God cut them off, that wrong the prince or commonalty. And may her days of bliss never have end, Upon whose life so many lives depend.
FINIS.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] It is one of the six additional dramas which the Editor of the present volume caused to be [first] inserted in the impression which came out between the years 1825 and 1827. It may be here stated that his duties, from various circumstances, were almost solely confined to these six dramas, four of them by Robert Greene, by George Peele, by Thomas Lodge, and by Thomas Nash, no specimens of whose works had been previously included: the two other plays, then new to the collection, were "The World and the Child," and "Appius and Virginia."
[2] See "Extracts from the Registers of the Stationers' Company" (printed for the Shakespeare Society), vol. ii. p. 230.
[3] [The orthography has now been modernised in conformity with the principle adopted with regard to the rest of the collection.]
[4] "Extracts from the Accounts of the Revels at Court." by Peter Cunningham, Esq. (printed for the Shakespeare Society), p. 176.
[5] Ibid. p. 36.
[6] Printed for the Shakespeare Society, in 1845, from the original most valuable MS. preserved in Dulwich College.
[7] Hardly so, perhaps, as scarcely any drama of this date occurs without such a prayer. The earliest in which we have seen the prayer for Elizabeth is the interlude of "Nice Wanton," 1560.
[8] It seems more than probable that "Tarlton's Jig of the Horse-load of Fools" (inserted in the introduction to the reprint of his "Jests" by the Shakespeare Society, from a MS. belonging to the Editor of this volume), was written for his humorous recitation by some popular author.
[9] "Palladis Tamia. Wits Treasury, &c., by Francis Meres, Maister of Artes of both Universities." 8vo. 1598, fol. 286.
[10] "Hist. of Engl. Dram. Poetry and the Stage," i. 255.
[11] See "Memoirs of the Principal Actors in the Plays of Shakespeare" (printed for the Shakespeare Society), p. 131. If Bucke were a young actor in 1584, he had a natural son buried in 1599, but it is not stated how old that son then was.
[12] See the entry of it by Henry Kirkham in the "Extracts from the Registers of the Stationers' Company" (printed for the Shakespeare Society), vol. ii. p. 61.
[13] We quote from Mr Utterson's, on all accounts, valuable reprint of Guilpin's collection of Epigrams and Satires, which was limited to sixteen copies. The same gentleman has conferred many other disinterested favours of the same kind on the lovers of our ancient literature.
[14] Percy's Reliques, i. 226, edit. 1812. There are copies in the Roxburghe, Pepys, and Ashmole collections.
[15] In his "Jew of Malta" reprinted in the Rev. A. Dyce's edit. of "The Works of Christopher Marlowe," i. 227.
[16] This quotation will appear in the next, the third, volume of "Extracts from the Registers of the Stationers' Company," which is now in the press of the Shakespeare Society. [This third volume never appeared.]
[17] The question when blank verse was first employed in our public theatres is considered and discussed in the "History of English Dramatic Poetry and the Stage," iii. 107, and the whole of Marlowe's Prologue, in which he may be said to claim the credit of its introduction, is quoted on p. 116.
[18] This practice of addressing the audience was continued to a comparatively late date, and Thomas Heywood's Plays, as reprinted by the Shakespeare Society, afford various instances of it.
[19] Besides "1 day," in the body of the entry ("Henslowe's Diary," p. 28), the letters ne are inserted in the margin, by which also the manager indicated that the piece performed was a new play. Both these circumstances were unnoticed by, because unknown to, Malone when he had the original MS. from Dulwich College for some years in his hands.
[20] See "Memoirs of Edward Alleyn," founder of Dulwich College (printed for the Shakespeare Society), p. 29, &c.
[21] This memorandum, securing the right of publication to Richard Jones, is also contained in the forthcoming volume of "Extracts from the Registers of the Stationers' Company," to be issued by the Shakespeare Society.
[22] See his "Diary," pp. 43-48, 50, 51, 54, 55, 57, 62, and 82.
[23] "Elfrid," afterwards remodelled under the title of "Athelwold," by Aaron Hill; and "Elfrida," by William Mason. At an earlier date the story, more or less altered, furnished a subject to Rymer and Ravenscroft.
[24] See vol. viii. of the former edition of Dodsley's "Old Plays," p. 165; and Rev. A. Dyce's edition of Robert Greene's Works, i. 14.
[25] Commune.
[26] [The Pope.]
[27] [Nimrod.]
[28] [Because.]
[29] This and the other marginalia are Hypocrisy's asides. By Ambo he seems to signify, You knaves, the two of you!
[30] [Until.]
[31] [Fellow.]
[32] [Query, logic.]
[33] [Thus.]
[34] [Good.]
[35] [Old copy, wynde.]
[36] [See Hazlitt's "Proverbs," 1869, p. 103. The origin of the term there suggested seems to be supported by the words put into the mouth of Hypocrisy here.]
[37] [Old copy, myne.]
[38] [There is a proverb: "The devil is good when he is pleased."]
[39] [Tenor.]
[40] The priest is made to speak what the author seems to have taken for the Scotish dialect.
[41] [The writer should have written requhair, if anything of the kind; but his Scotish is deplorably imperfect.]
[42] The usual style in which priests and clergymen were anciently addressed. Instances are too numerous to require citation.
[43] [St. Rock.]
[44] [This passage was unknown to Brand and his editors.]
[45] Quiet.
[46] [Fagot.]
[47] [i.e., Tyranny, who disguises his identity, and goes under the name of Zeal.]
[48] [This word, to complete the metre, was suggested by Mr Collier.]
[49] Tyranny had made his exit, in order to bring back with him Sensual Suggestion: here he returns, but his re-entrance is not noted. Sensual Suggestion follows him, but not immediately, and what he first says was perhaps off the stage, and out of sight of the audience; for Hypocrisy, five speeches afterwards, informs the Cardinal that Sensual Suggestion is coming.
[50] i.e., Convicted of heresy. This use of the verb "to convince" was not unusual at a considerably later date: thus in Beaumont and Fletcher's "Lover's Progress," act v. sc. 3, edit. Dyce—
"You bring no witness here that may convince you," &c.
It was also often employed as synonymous with "to overcome." See Shakespeare, ii. 377; vi. 49, &e., edit. Collier.
[51] [Old copy, former.]
[52] [Old copy, demeanour.]
[53] [Old copy, myne.]
[54] [Old copy, line.]
[55] [3, in the old copy.]
[56] [This and the next line but one have occurred before at the close of the speech of Spirit.]
[57] [Old copy, me.]
[58] [Assure.]
[59] [Old copy, his.]
[60] [Old copy, that that.]
[61] [Old copy, prayers.]
[62] [Makes all the world believe.]
[63] [Old copy, anchors.]
[64] [Old copy, impire.]
[65] [For Whilome a goe, possibly we ought to read "Whilome again," but this would not remove the whole difficulty.]
[66] [In harmony.]
[67] [Mr Collier remarks that this word seems wrong, "but it is difficult to find a substitute; essays would not answer the purpose."]
[68] [Old copy, thy.]
[69] [Mr Collier printed that.]
[70] [Old copy, supporteth.]
[71] [Old copy, to.]
[72] [Old copy, thou shalt.]
[73] [Old copy, as.]
[74] [Old copy, handy.]
[75] Here Armenio comes forward and discovers himself.
[76] [Old copy, none.]
[77] Hermione here seems to turn to Fidelia, and to tell her that possibly he may be as well born as Prince Armenio—"And let me tell you this, lady," &c.
[78] Her meaning is that the king her father should pardon the offence of Hermione, whose grief of mind is more severe than the wound he has just inflicted on Armenio. The two last lines of this speech appear to belong to Hermione.
[79] [Old copy, give.]
[80] [Old copy, your.]
[81] [Old copy, entertaine.]
[82] [i.e., Award. Old copy, Holde my rewarde.]
[83] [Old copy, to wander.]
[84] [Mr Collier printed honor.]
[85] [Old copy, some.]
[86] We must suppose that Fidelia makes her exit here, her father having gone out at the end of his last speech.
[87] [Old copy, restor'de. The alteration is suggested by Mr Collier.]
[88] [Unknown, hidden.]
[89] [Old copy, one.]
[90] [Old copy, turned.]
[91] [Old copy, friends.]
[92] [i.e., Constantly renewed.]
[93] Companion was often used derogatorily by our old writers. See Shakespeare's "Coriolanus," edit. Collier, vol. vi. p. 230.
[94] Franion was often used for an idle fellow (see Peele's "Old Wives' Tale," edit. Dyce, vol. i. p. 207), but here it is rather to be taken as meaning a gentleman who has nothing to do but to amuse himself. In Heywood's "Edward IV." part I., Hobbs tells the king that he is "a frank franion, a merry companion, and loves a wench well." See Shakespeare Society's edit., p. 45. The word occurs several times in Spenser; and the following lines are from "The Contention between Liberality and Prodigality," 1602, sig. F.—
"This gallant, I tell you, with other lewd franions Such as himself unthrifty companions. In most cruel sort, by the highway-side, Assaulted a countryman."
[95] [Old copy, knew.]
[96] [See Hazlitt's "Proverbs," 1869, p. 478.]
[97] [Mr Collier printed not.]
[98] [Mr Collier printed only man alive.]
[99] [This and the next line of the dialogue are given in the old copy to Hermione.]
[100] [By.]
[101] [Old copy, pit_.]
[102] With a wanion seems to have been equivalent to "with a witness," or sometimes to "with a curse," but the origin of it is uncertain. It was usually put into the mouths of persons in the lower orders, and it is used by one of the fishermen in act ii. sc. I of Shakespeare's "Pericles," edit. Collier, vol. viii. p. 292.
[103] [Taking.]
[104] [This appears to be imitated from some old ballad of the time. See "Ancient Ballads and Broadsides," 1867, p. 43-6, and the Editor's note at p. 410.]
[105] [Dapper.]
[106] [Old copy, turn.]
[107] Middleton uses squall for a wench in his "Michaelmas Term" and in "The Honest Whore," edit. Dyce, i. 431, and iii. 55. Here it evidently means a person of the male sex. [When used of men, a little insignificant fellow, a whipper-snapper. Presently we see that Lentulo was referring to the Duke's son.]
[108] [Cuckoldy. A loose form of expression.]
[109] [Bomelio, in his disguise, is made to talk bad French and Italian, as well as English; this had been done in the ease of Dr Caius who, however, only spoke broken English. The nationality of Bomelio is therefore doubtful; but these minutiae did not trouble the dramatists of those days much.]
[110] [Old copy, Vedice—an unlikely blunder.]
[111] Pedlar's French, often mentioned in our old writers, was the cant language of thieves and vagabonds.
"When every peasant, each plebeian, Sits in the throne of undeserv'd repute: When every pedlar's French Is term'd Monsigneur."
—"Histriomastix," 1610, sig. E2.
[112] [i.e., Tarry for me. So in the title of Wapull's play, "The Tide tarrieth no Man."]
[113] Beat. See Nares, 1859, in v. Lambeake. Mr Collier refers us to the "Supplement to Dodsley's Old Plays," 1833, p. 80, Gabriel Harvey's "Pierces' Supererogation," 1593, and to "Vox Graculi," 1623.
[114] Come to be hanged.
[115] Old copy, slave.
[116] The following scene reminds us of the ancient story of the "Physician of Brai."
[117] Sure.
[118] Old copy, flight. Mr Collier suggested sight.
[119] He bites like the pestilence.
[120] Penulo makes his exit (though not marked in the old copy), and the stage then represents some place near the cave of Bomelio, who enters with Fidelia.
[121] Old copy, then.
[122] Mr Collier printed come of.
[123] Old copy, oft been.
[124] Old copy, O.
[125] Old copy, my favour.
[126] Old copy, for.
[127] Old copy, her.
[128] Above this line Mercury's name is inserted as the speaker: as it seems, unnecessarily.
[129] Old copy, Venus.
[130] Old copy, Fortune. It is Mercury who afterwards cures Bomelio.
[131] Old copy, replaies.
[132] Old copy, Hot's.
[133] Old copy, my.
[134] Old copy, But, which would seem to convey the exact reverse of what Phizanties intends—that he did not know Hermione's birth, but, presuming him to be of obscure birth, did not wish him to marry Fidelia.
[135] Old copy, But.
[136] Old copy, end.
[137] [Evidently a proverbial expression, of which the import can only be obscurely gathered from the context. Nock is the same, of course, as hock.]
[138] [There was a second edition, presenting considerable variations, generally for the better, in 1592. See Hazlitt's "Handbook," 1867, p. 466.]
[139] [For stuff the edit, of 1592 substitutes wares.]
[140] This division is omitted in the edition of 1592, and it seems unnecessary.
[141] [Old copy, his.]
[142] [Sweetheart, mistress.]
[143] [Old copy, often.]
[144] [We should now say, "as fast as;" but the form in the text is not uncommon in early literature.]
[145] An intentional corruption, perhaps for importance.
[146] Adventures.
[147] Swaggerer, hence the well-known term, swash-buckler, for a roaring blade.
[148] In the snare: What care I who gets caught?
[149] "What care I to serve the Deuill," &c., edit. 1592.
[150] Edit. 1584 has boniacion.
[151] [Old copies, but.]
[152] [A simpleton or bumpkin.]
[153] [A term of contempt, of which the meaning is not obvious. It might seem to indicate a person employed in attending to a house of office.]
[154] A bully.
[155] i e, pox.
[156] Old copies, alone.
[157] Vile.
[158] Your lives so farre amisse, edit. 1592.
[159] [Scrupulous.]
[160] [Old copies, Fraud.]
[161] [Dissimulation.]
[162] [Edit. 1592, Iwis.]
[163] Edit. 1584, shift it.
[164] This speech stands as follows in edit. 1592—"Gramercie, Usury; and doubt not but to live here as pleasantly, And pleasanter too: but whence came you, Symonie, tell me?"
[165] Doubt not, fairs ladie, edit. 1592. In the next line but two, edit. 1592 has certainly for "I perceaue," and the last two lines of the speech run as follows—
"And seeing we are so well setted in this countrey, Rich and poore shall be pincht, whosoever come to me."
[166] When this drama was reprinted in 1592, the interval between 1584 and that date made it necessary to read 33 years for "26 yeares" in this line. It is a curious note of time.
[167] [This is given in the old copies, sarua voulra boungrace, but surely Mercatore was not intended to blunder in his own language.]
[168] [Scald.]
[169] Omitted in edit. 1584.
[170] I think so is omitted in the second 4to.
[171] [Signed.]
[172] Studied late is omitted in first 4to.
[173] At all is not in second 4to.
[174] [Old copies, kettels.]
[175] Possibly a personal allusion to somebody sitting "in the corner" of the theatre; or it may have been to some well-known character of the time. Farther on, Simplicity alludes to some boy among the audience.
[176] [Not in edit. 1581]
[177] [I think youle make me serve, edit. 1592.]
[178] [And prosperous be they to thee, edit. 1592.]
[179] [And dine with me, edit. 1592.]
[180] [Thankes, edit. 1592, omitting I give you.]
[181] [Old copies, am.]
[182] [Testy. Halliwell spells it testorn. Old copies, testren.]
[183] [Clarke, in his "Paroemiologia," 1639, has the proverb "He blushes like a black dog."]
[184] [Old copies, you.]
[185] [Edit. 1584 has very, and second 4 deg. well, the true reading, as Mr Collier suggests, being that now given in the text.]
[186] [Priest, edit. 1592.]
[187] [Neuter.]
[188] [Miracle.]
[189] [i.e., in good style.]
[190] [Edit. 1584 has must.]
[191] This line is omitted in edit. 1592.
[192] [Will.]
[193] For parliament we are to understand parament, i.e., apparel, referring to the gowns he carries. Beaumont and Fletcher use the word paramentos—
"There were cloaks, gowns, cassocks, And other paramentos,"
—"Love's Pilgrimage," edit. Dyce, xi. 226. Paramento is Spanish, and means ornament, embellishment, or sometimes any kind of covering.
[194] [In the old copies this direction is inserted wrongly six lines higher up.]
[195] [Old copies, hastily, the compositor's eye having perhaps caught the word from the stage-direction just above.]
[196] [These three words are not in second 4 deg..]
[197] [A proverbial expression. See Hazlitt's "Proverbs," 1869, p. 210. So, in the "Spanish Tragedy," vol. v. p. 84: "I am in a sort sorry for thee; but if I should be hang'd with thee, I cannot weep."]
[198] [Old copies, thy.]
[199] Mr Collier's suggestion; both the old copies, gracious.
[200] [The first 4 deg. has can for should, and say for 'ssay or essay. The second 4 deg. reads lying for living.]
[201] [Old copy, drudge.]
[202] Edit. 1592 has availeth. See St Matthew xvi. 26.
[203] [A synonym for a drubbing.] See "All's Well that Ends Well," act iii. sc. 6, when this passage is quoted in illustration of "John Drum's entertainment," as it is called by Shakespeare. The expression was equivalent to drumming out.
[204] Second 4 deg. has array. Mr Collier thinks beray was intended by the writer as a blunder on the part of the clown.
[205] First 4 deg., seeke.
[206] [The clown is addressing one of the audience.]
[207] [Edit. 1584, the.]
[208] [This word is omitted in first 4 deg..]
[209] [I tell ye, not in edit. 1592.]
[210] Tell me what good ware for England you do lacke, edit. 1592.
[211] According to "Extracts from the Stationers' Registers," i. 88, William Griffith was licensed in 1563-4 to print a ballad entitled "Buy, Broomes, buye." This maybe the song here sung by Conscience. A song to the tune is inserted in the tract of "Robin Goodfellow," 1628, 4 deg., but no doubt first published many years earlier.
[212] [So both the 4 deg.s, but Mr Collier suggests soften.]
[213] Play, and are not in the second 4to.
[214] [The writer seems here to have intended an allusion to Scogin, whose "Jests" were well-known at that time as a popular book.]
[215] [I think, omitted in second 4to.]
[216] A strong kind of cloth so called, and several times mentioned in Shakespeare. See "Henry IV." Part I., act i. sc. 2; "Comedy of Errors," act iv. se. 3, &c.—Collier.
[217] The Venetians came nothing near the knee. Venetians were a kind of hose, or breeches, adopted from the fashions of Venice.
[218] [First 4to reads, not agree.]
[219] [A pun, probably, upon alms and arms.]
[220] [Old copy, tables.]
[221] [So old copies; but the period named before was three months.]
[222] [Old copies, seeme.]
[223] See Shakespeare's "Love's Labour's Lost," edit. Collier, ii. 306 and 360; Beaumont and Fletcher's "Monsieur Thomas," edit. Dyce, vii. 364. Thomas Nash, in his "Strange Newes," 1592, sig. D 3, uses no point just in the same way, as a sort of emphatic double negative.—"No point; ergo, it were wisely done of goodman Boores son, if he should go to the warres," &c.
[224] [The worst wonder is.]
[225] [Compassionate.]
[226] [Not in first 4to.]
[227] The learned Constable refers, of course, to Love, who has already been on the stage in a vizard at the back of her head: see earlier; Enter LUCRE, and LOVE with a vizard, behind.
[228] [Old copies, sacred. This was Mr Collier's suggestion.]
[229] [Old copies, ye.]
[230] [Alluding to the "Three Ladies of London," 1584.]
[231] [Old copy, Pompe hath.]
[232] [Old copy, place.]
[233] [The bells attached to the falcon, the impress of Pleasure.]
[234] Referring to the chains of gold formerly worn by persons of rank and property.
[235] Alluding to the manner in which ballad-sellers of that day used to expose their goods, by hanging them up in the same way that the three lords had hung up their shields.
[236] [Foolish, maudlin.]
[237] [Except.]
[238] [See Hazlitt's "Proverbs," 1869, p. 265-6.]
[239] The best, and indeed what may be considered the only, account of Tarlton the actor precedes the edition of his Jests, reprinted for the Shakespeare Society in 1844.
[240] [Videlicet.]
[241] [Ignorant.]
[242] [Alluding to some wood engraving of Tarlton, which Simplicity had in his basket. To the reprint of "Tarlton's Jests," by the Shakespeare Society, are prefixed two wood-cuts, made from a drawing of the time of Elizabeth, and no doubt soon after the death of Tarlton of the plague in 1588.]
[243] [Preferment.]
[244] An ejaculation, apparently equivalent to God.
[245] The first purchase made in the day—the ballad which Wit had bought of Simplicity.
[246] Espial. The word occurs again further on.
[247] [Probably a reference is intended to the proverbial expression about Mahomet and the mountain.]
[248] An ambry or aumbry is a pantry or closet. The next line explains the word.
[249] [Old copy, lent.]
[250] [Old copy, might.]
[251] [Old copy, might.]
[252] Old copy, tormented.
[253] [Old copy, unmask'd.]
[254] Old copy, our.
[255] i.e., A pack of cards; the expression was very common; deck, five lines lower, was often used for pack.
[256] [Old copy, from.]
[257] The wimple is generally explained as a covering for the neck, or for the neck and shoulders; but Shakespeare ("Love's Labour's Lost," act iii. se. 1) seems to use it as a covering for the eyes also, when he calls Cupid "This wimpled, whining, purblind, wayward boy." Steevens in his note states that "the wimple was a hood or veil, which fell over the face." The passage in our text, and what follows it, supports this description of the wimple.
[258] This is the only part of female dress mentioned in this speech that seems to require a note. The "vardingale (or farthingale) of vain boast" is peculiarly appropriate, since a farthingale consisted of a very wide, expanded skirt, puffed out to show off the attire, and distort the figure of a lady. In modern times it bears a different name.
[259] [Good-bye.]
[260] [Old copy, house; but Simplicity is enumerating the new articles of attire he proposed to purchase.]
[261] [He addresses the audience.]
[262] [Old copy, auditorie.]
[263] [Old copy, proofe it fits of.]
[264] [Old copy, a.]
[265] [Old copy, in the preceding line, ever.] This and the following lines afford a note of time, and show that the drama was written and acted during the preparation of the great Armada, and perhaps before its total defeat.
[266] [The old copy reads, peerlesse, of the rarest price, which destroys the metre. The writer probably wrote peerless, and then, finding it inconvenient as regarded the measure, substituted the other phrase, without striking out the first word, so that the printer inserted both.]
[267] [Old copy, when.]
[268] See "Henry IV.," Part I., act ii. sc 1, respecting "burning cressets." In a note, Steevens quotes the above line in explanation of Shakespeare.
[269] [The concluding portion of the speech is supposed to be overheard by Fraud and the others.]
[270] The ordinary cry of the apprentices of London, when they wished to raise their fellows to take their part in any commotion. It is mentioned in many old writers.
[271] A trouchman was an interpreter [literally, a truceman]: "For he that is the Trouchman of a Straungers tongue may well declare his meaning, but yet shall marre the grace of his Tale" (G. Whetstone's "Heptameron," 1582).
[272] [Old copy, trunke.]
[273] [This is to be pronounced as a trisyllable.]
[274] [In the old copy this line is printed thus—
"Quid tibi cum domini mox servient miseri nobis; discede."]
[275] [In the old copy this line is divided between Policy and Pomp improperly.]
[276] [Might my advice be heard.]
[277] [Old copy, wished.]
[278] [Old copy, we.]
[279] [Old copy, Ne. Fra., Nemo being retained by error.]
[280] [The entrance of Diligence is marked here in old copy; but he was already on the stage.]
[281] [Simplicity seems to intend the public-wealth.]
[282] [An intentional (?) error for buckram.]
[283] They "slipped aside" on p. 483, and now re-enter. The preceding stage direction ought to be Exeunt, because the lords go out as well as Simplicity.
[284] [Committal, prior to trial.]
[285] That is, under the protection of their husbands—a legal phrase, not yet strictly applicable, as the ladies are not to be married to the lords until the next day—
"And even to-morrow is the marriage-day."
[286] [Old copy, a.]
[287] [Old copy, noble; the emendation was suggested by Mr Collier.]
[288] Old copy, vetuous.
[289] There must be some corruption here, or the author was not very anxious to be correct in his classical allusions.
[290] Lies to the king. The word lese is more generally used as a substantive.
[291] [Jug is a leman or mistress. Mr Collier remarks that this passage clears up] the hitherto unexplained exclamation in "King Lear," act. i. sc. 4: "Whoop, Jug, I love thee."—The Tinker's mail, mentioned in the preceding line, is his wallet. Trug, in the following line, is equivalent to trull, and, possibly, is only another form of the same word: Middleton (edit. Dyce ii. 222) has the expression, "a pretty, middlesized trug." See also the note, where R. Greene's tract is quoted.
[292] In one copy the text is as we give it, and in another the word is printed Ideal, the alteration having been made in the press. Possibly the author had some confused notion about Ida; but, if he cared about being correct, the Queen of Love did not "dally with Endymion."
[293] [Thalia.]
[294] [Old copy, Idea; a trissyllable is required for the rhythm.]
[295] [Old copy, kept.]
[296] [Bond.]
[297] [Old copy, Abstrauogant.]
[298] [Old copy, peely.]
[299] [Cakes. Old copy, cats.]
[300] [A Knight of the Post was a person hired to swear anything—a character often mentioned in old writers.]
[301] Some persons, not merely without reason, but directly against it, treat vild and vile, and consequently vildly and vilely, as distinct words. Vild and vildly are blunders in old spelling, only to be retained when, as now, we give the words of an author in the very orthography of that date. We profess here to follow the antiquated spelling exactly, that it may be seen how the productions in our volume came originally from the press: but when spelling is modernised, as it is in the ordinary republications of our ancient dramatists, &c., it is just as absurd to print "vile" vild, as to print "friend" frend or "enemy" ennimy.—Mr Collier's note in the edition of 1851.
[302] Shakespeare has the word "exigent" for extremity, and such seems to be its meaning here, and not the legal sense; the Knight says that the good name of his predecessors for housekeeping shall never be brought into extremity by him.
[303] [Wary, aware.]
[304] [Old copy, Squire.]
[305] [Old copy, for fourtie.]
[306] An early instance of the use of an expression, of frequent occurrence afterwards and down to our own day, equivalent to going without dinner. See Steevens's note to "Richard III." act iv. sc. 4, where many passages are quoted on the point.
[307] [Old copy, ope.]
[308] The copy of this play in the British Museum has here "Scinthin maide;" but another, belonging to the Rev. A. Dyce, "Scythia maide," a reading we have followed, and, no doubt, introduced by the old printer as the sheets went through the press.
[309] "Counterfeit" was a very common term for the resemblance of a person: in "Hamlet," act iii. sc. 4, we have "counterfeit presentment;" and in the "Merchant of Venice," act iii. sc. 2, "Fair Portia's counterfeit." In Beaumont and Fletcher's "Wife for a Month," act iv. sc. 5, we meet-with "counterfeits in Arras" for portraits, or figures in tapestry.
[310] [i.e., from or after.]
[311] [i.e., The shoemaker. There is a jest turning upon this in one of the early collections of facetiae.]
[312] [Vulcan.]
[313] By "carminger" the cobbler means harbinger, an officer; who preceded the monarch during progresses, to give notice and make preparation.
[314] We print it precisely as in the old copy, but we may presume that here a couplet was intended, as the cobbler's speech begins in rhyme:—
"And we are come to you alone To deliver our petition,"
[315] Roquefort in his "Glossary," i. 196, states that bysse is a sort d'etoffe de soie, and the Rev. A. Dyce, "Middleton's Works," v. 558, says that it means "fine linen," while others contend that it is "a delicate blue colour," but sometimes "black or dark grey." The truth may be that it was fine silk of a blue colour, and we now and then meet it coupled with purple—"purple and bis."
[316] [Old copy, Indian.]
[317] [Old copy, calamon.]
[318] [i.e., he withdraws to the back of the stage, to allow the king to confer first with Osrick, and then comes forward again.]
[319] [Old copy, Asmoroth.]
[320] [Old copy, Asmoroth.]
[321] [Old copy, bid.] Bid may be taken in the sense of invite, a meaning it often bears in old writers; but we are most likely to understand it bide or abide, the final e having been omitted, or dropped out in the press. In the next line we have quit again used for acquit.
[322] [We must suppose here that Honesty sends out some of the attendants to bring in the Coneycatcher and Farmer, who soon make their re-appearance on the stage.]
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