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Such is the subject of the institute,

And universal body of the Law:
This study fits a mercenary drudge,
Who aims at nothing but external trash ;
Too servile and illiberal for me.

[Reads.

Ha! Stipendium, &c. The reward [Reads] Si peccasse negamus, falli

When all is done, divinity is best :
Jerome's bible, Faustus; view it well.
Stipendium peccati mors est.
of sin is death: that's hard.
mur, et nulla est in nobis veritas; If we say that we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves, and there is no truth in us. Why, then,
belike we must sin, and so consequently die:

Ay, we must die an everlasting death.
What doctrine call you this, Che sera, sera,
What will be, shall be? Divinity, adieu!
These metaphysics of magicians,
And necromantic books are heavenly;
Lines, circles, scenes, letters, and characters* ;
Ay, these are those that Faustus most desires.
Oh, what a world of profit and delight,
Of power, of honour, and omnipotence,
Is promis'd to the studious artizan !

All things that move between the quiet poles
Shall be at my command: emperors and kings
Are but obeyed in their several provinces ;
But his dominion that exceeds in this,
Stretcheth as far as doth the mind of man;
A sound magician is a demigod :
Here tire, my brains, to gain † a deity.

Enter WAGNER.

Wagner, commend me to my dearest friends,
The German Valdes and Cornelius;

Request them earnestly to visit me.

* circles, scenes, letters, and characters] So 4to 1604 (see note, p. 9).

The later 4tos" circles, letters, characters."

+ gain] So 4tos 1624, 1631 (and so 4to 1604).-2to 1616" get."

WAG. I will, sir.

FAUST. Their conference will be a greater help to me Than all my labours, plod I ne'er so fast.

Enter GOOD ANGEL and EVIL ANGEL.

G. ANG. Oh, Faustus, lay that damnèd book aside, And gaze not on it, lest it tempt thy soul,

And heap God's heavy wrath upon thy head!

Read, read the Scriptures :-that is blasphemy.

E. ANG. Go forward, Faustus, in that famous art,
Wherein all Nature's treasure is contain'd:

Be thou on earth as Jove is in the sky,
Lord and commander of these elements.

[Exit.

[Exeunt Angels.

FAUST. How am I glutted with conceit of this!
Shall I make spirits fetch me what I please,
Resolve me of all ambiguities,

Perform what desperate enterprise* I will?
I'll have them fly to India for gold,
Ransack the ocean for orient pearl,

And search all corners of the new-found world
For pleasant fruits and princely delicates;
I'll have them read me strange philosophy,
And tell the secrets of all foreign kings;
I'll have them wall all Germany with brass,
And make swift Rhine circle fair + Wittenberg;
I'll have them fill the public schools with silk,
Wherewith the students shall be bravely clad;
I'll levy soldiers with the coin they bring,
And chase the Prince of Parma from our land,
And reign sole king of all the provinces ;
Yea, stranger engines for the brunt of war,
Than was the fiery keel at Antwerp-bridge,
I'll make my servile spirits to invent.

66

* enterprise] So 4to 1616.-2tos 1624, 1631, enterprises."

+ make swift Rhine circle fair] So 4to 1616.-2tos 1624, 1631, "with

swift Rhine circle all."

silk] Old eds. "skill."

Enter VALDES and CORNELIUS.

Come, German Valdes, and Cornelius,

And make me blest* with your sage conference.

Valdes, sweet Valdes, and Cornelius,

Know that your words have won me at the last
To practise magic and concealed arts.
Philosophy is odious and obscure;

Both law and physic are for petty wits:
'Tis magic, magic that hath ravish'd me.
Then, gentle friends, aid me in this attempt;
And I, that have with subtle syllogisms
Gravell❜d the pastors of the German church,
And made the flowering pride of Wittenberg
Swarm + to my problems, as th' infernal spirits
On sweet Musæus when he came to hell,
Will be as cunning as Agrippa was,

Whose shadow made all Europe honour him.

VALD. Faustus, these books, thy wit, and our experience, Shall make all nations to canonize us.

As Indian Moors obey their Spanish lords,

So shall the spirits of every element

Be always serviceable to us three;

Like lions shall they guard us when we please;
Like Almain rutters with their horsemen's staves,
Or Lapland giants, trotting by our sides;
Sometimes like women, or unwedded maids,
Shadowing more beauty in their airy brows

Than have the white breasts of the queen of love:
From Venice shall they § drag huge ¶ argosies,
And from America the golden fleece
That yearly stuffs** old Philip's treasury ;

* blest] So 4to 1616.-2tos 1624, 1631, "wise."
+ Swarm] So 4tos 1624, 1631.-2to 1616 "Sworne."
to] So 4to 1616.-Not in 4tos 1624, 1631.

have] So 4tos 1624, 1631.-2to 1616" has."

§ shall they] So 4to 1616.-2tos 1624, 1631, "they shall."
¶huge] So 4to 1616.-2tos 1624, 1631," whole."

** stuff's] So 4tos 1624, 1631.-2to 1616" stuff'd."

If learned Faustus will be resolute.

FAUST. Valdes, as resolute am I in this
As thou to live therefore object it not.
CORN. The miracles that magic will perform
Will make thee vow to study nothing else.
He that is grounded in astrology,

Enrich'd with tongues, well seen in minerals,
Hath all the principles magic doth require :
Then doubt not, Faustus, but to be renowm'd*,
And more frequented for this mystery
Than heretofore the Delphian oracle.
The spirits tell me they can dry the sea,
And fetch the treasure of all foreign wracks,
Yea, all the wealth that our forefathers hid

Within the massy entrails of the earth:

Then tell me, Faustus, what shall we three want?
FAUST. Nothing, Cornelius. Oh, this cheers my soul!
Come, shew me some demonstrations magical,

That I may conjure in some bushy grove,

And have these joys in full possession.

VALD. Then haste thee to some solitary grove,

And bear wise Bacon's and Albertus'+ works,
The Hebrew Psalter, and New Testament;

And whatsoever else is requisite

We will inform thee ere our conference cease.

CORN. Valdes, first let him know the words of art;

And then, all other ceremonies learn'd,

Faustus may try his cunning by himself.

VALD. First I'll instruct thee in the rudiments,

And then wilt thou be perfecter than I.

FAUST. Then come and dine with me, and, after meat,

We'll canvass every quiddity thereof;

For, ere I sleep, I'll try what I can do:

This night I'll conjure, though I die therefore.

[Exeunt.

* renomm'd] So 4to 1616 (See note, vol. i, 27).-2tos 1624, 1631, "renown'd."

+ Albertus'] Old eds. " Albanus."

Enter Two SCHOLARS.

FIRST SCHOL. I wonder what's become of Faustus, that was wont to make our schools ring with sic probo.

SEC. SCHOL. That shall we presently know; here comes his boy.

Enter WAGNER.

FIRST SCHOL. How now, sirrah, where's thy master?

WAG. God in heaven knows.

SEC. SCHOL. Why, dost not thou know, then?

WAG. Yes, I know; but that follows not.

FIRST SCHOL. Go to, sirrah! leave your jesting, and tell us where he is.

WAG. That follows not by force of argument, which you, being licentiates, should stand upon: therefore acknowledge your error,

and be attentive.

SEC. SCHOL. Then you will not tell us?

WAG. You are deceived, for I will tell you: yet, if you were not dunces, you would never ask me such a question; for is he not corpus naturale? and is not that mobile? then wherefore should you ask me such a question? But that I am by nature phlegmatic, slow to wrath, and prone to lechery (to love, I would say), it were not for you to come within forty foot of the place of execution, although I do not doubt but to see you both hanged the next sessions. Thus having triumphed over you, I will set my countenance like a precisian, and begin to speak thus:-Truly, my dear brethren, my master is within at dinner, with Valdes and Cornelius, as this wine, if it could speak, would inform your worships and so, the Lord bless you, preserve you, and keep you, my dear brethren! [Exit.

FIRST SCHOL. Oh, Faustus!

Then I fear that which I have long suspected,

That thou art fallen into that * damned art,

For which they two are infamous through the world.
SEC. SCHOL. Were he a stranger, not allied to me,

* that] So 4tos 1616, 1624.-2to 1631 "the."

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