A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Vol. VI by Robert Dodsley

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_Enter the_ KING, DUNSTAN, _and_ PERIN, _to_ [them] ETHENWALD[318].

KING.
Earl Osrick, you must needs hold us excused,
Though boldly thus unbid we visit you:
But know, the cause that moved us leave our court
Was to do honour to Earl Ethenwald,
And see his lovely bride, fair Alfrida.

OSRICK.
My gracious lord, as welcome shall you be,
To me, my daughter, and my son-in-law,
As Titus was unto the Roman senators,
When he had made a conquest on the Goths;
That, in requital of his service done,
Did offer him the imperial diadem.
As they in Titus, we in your grace, still find
The perfect figure of a princely mind.

KING.
Thanks, Osrick; but I think I am not welcome,
Because I cannot see fair Alfrida.
Osrick, I will not stay, nor eat with thee,
Till I have seen the Earl of Cornwall's wife.

ETHENWALD.
If it please your majesty to stay with us,
My wife shall wait as handmaid on your majesty,
And in her duty show her husband's love.
And in good time, my lord, see where she comes.

[_Enter the_ KITCHEN-MAID, _in_ ALFRIDA's _apparel_.]

[_Aside_.] Alfrida, you must leave your kitchen-tricks,
And use no words but princely majesty.

MAID.
Now Jesus bless your honourable grace.
Come, I pray, sit down: you are welcome by my troth.
As God save me, here's never a napkin: fie, fie!
Come on; I pray eat some plums, they be sugar.
Here's good drink, by Lady: why do you not eat?

KING.
Nay, pray thee, eat, Alfrida: it is enough for me to see thee eat.

MAID.
I thank you heartily. By my troth, here's never a cushion.
By my troth. I'll knock you anon; go to.

PERIN.
My lord, this is not Alfrida: this is the kitchen-maid.

KING.
Peace, Perin, I have found their subtlety.--
Ethenwald, I pray thee, let me see thy kitchen-maid.
Methinks it is a pretty homely wench:
I promise thee, Ethenwald, I like her well.

ETHENWALD.
My lord, she is a homely kitchen-maid,
And one whose bringing up hath been but rude,
And far unfit for Edgar's company;
But if your grace want merry company,
I will send for ladies wise and courteous,
To be associates with your majesty.
Or if your grace will have musicians sent for,
I will fetch your grace the best in all this land.

KING.
Ethenwald, no: I will have the kitchen-maid;
And therefore, if you love me, send for her,
For, till she come, I cannot be content.

ETHENWALD.
Father, I will not fetch her. 'Swouns! see, where she comes.

_Enter_ ALFRIDA _in the_ KITCHEN-MAID'S _attire_.

ALFRIDA.
Successful fortune and his heart's content
Daily attend the person of the king.
And, Edgar, know that I am Alfrida, daughter to Osrick,
And lately made the Earl of Cornwall's wife.

KING.
Why, is not this Alfrida?

ALFRIDA.
No, my good lord; it is the kitchen-maid,
Whom Ethenwald, in too much love to me,
Hath thus attir'd to dally with the king.

MAID.
By my troth, my lord, she lies. Go to;
I'll course you by and by.

KING.
Away, base strumpet, get thee from my sight.

MAID.
Go your ways; you are a cogging knave, I warrant you.
[_Exit_.

KING.
Base Ethenwald, dissembler that thou art,
So to dissemble with thy sovereign;
And afterward, under a show of love,
Thou cam'st to soothe thy lesing to the king,
Meaning by that to make me to conceive,
That thy intent was just and honourable.
But, see, at last thou hast deceived thyself,
And Edgar hath found out thy subtlety;
Which to requite think Edgar is thy enemy,
And vows to be revenged for this ill.--
Go to thy husband, beauteous Alfrida,
For Edgar can subdue affects in love.

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.

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