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And from the chronicles of Spain,

I did record Erastus life,

And how the Turk had him so slain,

And straight revenge wrought by his wife.
Then for to act this tragedy,
I gave their parts immediately.

Sweet Belimperia Balthezar kills,
Because he slew her dearest friend,
And I Lorenzo's blood did spill,
And eke his soul to hell did send.

Then died my foes by dint of knife,
But Belimperia ends her life.

Then for to specify my wrongs,
With weeping eyes and mournful heart,
I shewed my son with bloody wounds,
And eke the murtherers did impart ;

And said-my son was as dear to me
As thine, or thine, though kings you be.

But when they did behold this thing,
Now I had slain their only sons,
The duke, the viceroy, and the king,
Upon me all they straight did run.

To torture me they do prepare,
Unless I should it straight declare.

But that I would not tell it then,

Even with my teeth I bit my tongue,
And in despite did give it them,
That me with torments sought to wrong.
Thus when in age I sought to rest,
Nothing but sorrows me opprest.

They knowing well that I could write,
Unto my hand a pen did reach,
Meaning thereby I should recite
The authors of this bloody fetch.
Then fained I my pen was naught,
And by strange signs a knife I sought.

But when to me they gave the knife,
I killed the duke then standing by,
And eke myself bereaved of life,
For I to see my son did hie.

The kings that scorned my griefs before,
With nought can they their joys restore.

Here have you heard my tragic tale,
Which on Horatio's death depends,
Whose death I could anew bewail,
But that in it the murderers ends.
For murder God will bring to light,
Though long it be hid from man's sight.

Printed at London for H. Gosson.

EDITIONS.

Of this Play, Mr Hawkins says, there are many Editions, viz. 1603, 1615, 1618, 1623, 1633; and one without a date, "printed by Edward Allde, amended of such gross blunders as passed in the "first." None of these several Editions have come under my notice, except those of 1623 and 1633; but, by comparing the collation of Mr Hawkins with these copies, I can so far bear testimony to that gentleman's accuracy, as to think myself warranted to follow his Edition of this Play, as printed in the Origin of the English Drama, Vol. II. Mr Hawkins printed from Alide's Edition, compared with those of 1618, 1623, and 1633.

The foregoing Ballad is printed from a Black Letter Copy in the valuable Collection of Thomas Pearson, Esq. It seems to have been written after the Play.

THE HONEST WHORE.

THOMAS DEKKAR wrote in the reign of James the First. He was, says Langbaine,' more famous for the contention he had with Ben Jonson for the bayes, than for any great reputation he had gained by his own writings. He was, however, not destitute of genius; and among his contemporaries, several of whom joined with him in writing, was much esteemed, especially by Richard Brome, who always gave him the title of Father. We know very few particulars concerning him. Oldys says, he was in the King's Bench Prison from the year 1613 to 1616, if not longer. We may therefore conclude, that, like the generality of his poetical friends, he was in indigent circumstances. At what time he died we do not know with certainty; but the same writer says, he was alive in 1638, and at that time full threescore years of age. From a passage in the dedication to Match me in London, published in 1631, it may be conjectured that he was older than Oldys imagines, as he there says, “ I have beene a priest in Apollo's temple many years, my voyce is decaying with my age." He was a voluminous writer; and, besides a great number of pamphlets, of which a list is hereafter given of as many as can at present be discovered, he wrote the following plays:

1. "The Pleasant Comedie of OLD FORTUNATUS. As it was plaied before the Queen's Majestie "this Christmas, by the Right Honourable the Earle of Nottingham, Lord High Admirall of Eng"land his Servants, 4to, 1600."

2. "Satiro-mastix, or the Untrussing of the Humorous Poet. As it hath bin presented publikely, "by the Right Honourable the Lord Chamberlaine his Servants; and, privately, by the Children of "Paules, 1602, 4to,-1610, 4to."

3. The Honest Whore, with the Humours of the Patient Man and the Longing Wife, 1604, 4to,— 1615, 4to,-1616, 4to,-1635, 4to.

4. Westward Hoe. As it hath beene divers times acted by the Children of Paules. Written by Thomas Decker and John Webster, 1607, 4to.

5. Northward Hoe. Sundry times acted by the Children of Paules. By Thomas Decker and John Webster, 1607, 4to.

6. The Famous History of Sir Thomas Wyat; with the Coronation of Queen Mary, and the comingin of King Philip. As it was plaied by the Queen's Majestie's Servants. Written by Thomas Deckers and John Webster, 1607, 4to.

7. The Whore of Babylon. Acted by the Prince's Servants, 1607, 4to.

8. "If it be not good, the Divel is in it. A new Play. As it hath bin lately acted, with great ap"plause, by the Queenes Majestie's Servants, at the Red Bull, 1612, 4to."

9. "

The Second Part of the Honest Whore, with the Humors of the Patient Man, the Impatient "Wife: the Honest Whore perswaded, by strong arguments, to turne Curtizan againe; her brave refuting those arguments; and, lastly, the Comicall Passages of an Italian Bridewell, where the "Scene ends, 1630, 4to."

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10. "A Tragi-Comedy, called, Match mee in London. As it hath beene often presented; first, "at the Bull in Saint John's Street; and lately at the Private House in Drury-Lune, called the "PHENIX, 1631, 4to."

11. The Wonder of a Kingdome, 4to, 1636.

He also joined with Massinger in writing The Virgin Martyr; with Rowley and Ford, in The Witch of Edmonton; Middleton and Rowley, in The Roaring Girl; and with Ford, in The Sun's Darling.

Page 112.

A complete list of the several pamphlets, published by a writer who so frequently employed the press, is scarce to be expected. The following is more perfect than any one which hath yet appeared: 1. "The Wonderfull Yeare, 160S. Wherein is shewed the Picture of London, lying sicke of the "Plague. At the ende of all, (like a merry Epilogue to a dull Play,) certaine Tales are cut out in sundry fashions, of purpose to shorten the Lives of long Winter Nights, that lye watching in the "darke for us, 4to, 1603."

66

Reprinted in Phoenix Britannicus, 1732, Vol. I. p. 27.

2." The whole Magnificent Entertainment given to King James, Queen Anne his Wife, and "Henry Frederick the Prince, upon the day of his Majesties triumphant passage (from the Tower) "through his Honourable Citie and Chamber of London, the 15th of March, 1603, as well by the "English as by the Strangers; with the Speeches and Songs delivered in the seceral Pageants; and "those Speeches that before were published in Latin, now newly set forth in English, by Thomas "Dekker, 4to, 1604."

3. "News from Hell; brought by the Divel's Carrier, 4to, 1606." The running title is, The Divel's Answere to Pierce Pennylesse.

4. "The Seven Deadly Sinnes of London, drawn in seven severall Coaches through the seven severall "Gates of the Citie; bringing the Plague with them, 4to, 1606."

5. Jests to make you Merryer, 4to, 1607.

6. A Knight's Conjuring done in Earnest, discovered in Jest, 4to, 1607.

7. The Dead Term, or Westminster Complaint, &c. 4to, 1608.

8. The Guls Horne Booke, 4to, 1609. This treats of the humours and fashions of the times among the gallants and Paul's walkers; also at the ordinaries, playhouses, taverns, &c. See an extract from it in the last edition of Shakespeare, 1778.

9. Troja nova Triumphans, at the receiving Sir John Swinnerton, Knight, into the City of London, 4to, 1612.

10. "The Belman of London; bringing to light the most notorious Villanies that are now prac"tised in the Kingdome, 4th edition, 1616, 4to."

There was an edition of this pamphlet as early as in 1608.

11. "Dekkar his Dream, 4to, 1620."

12. "Villanies discovered by Candle-light, and the helpe of a new Cryer, called, O Per se 0; be“ing an addition to the Belman's Second Night Walke; and laying open to the World of those abuses, "which the Belman (because he went the darke) could not see. With Canting Songs, and other "new Conceits, never before printed. Newby corrected and enlarged by the Author, 1620, 4to.”

13. Thomas of Reading, or the Sir Worthys Yeomen of the West; now six times corrected and enlarged, 1632.

He was also the author of a pamphlet, the title-page of which was wanting in the only copy I have seen of it. The running titles of the different parts of it are, A Strange Horse Race; The Divil's Last Will and Testament; and The Bankrout's Banquet.

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THE HONEST WHORE.

ACT I.

Duke. Frantic young man,

SCENE I.-Enter at one Door a Funeral, a Co-
ronet lying on the Hearse, 'Scutcheons and Gar- Wilt thou believe these gentlemen? pray speak.
lands hanging on the sides; attended by Gas-Thou dost abuse my child, and mock'st the tears
PARO TREBATZI Duke of Milan, CASTRUCHIO, That here are shed for her. If to behold
SINEZI, PIORATTO, FLUELLO, and others at Those roses withered that set out her cheeks;
another Door..
That pair of stars, that gave her body light,
Darkened and dim for ever; all those rivers,
That fed her veins with warm and crimson streams,
Frozen and dried up ;—if these be signs of death,
Then is she dead. Thou unreligious youth!
Art not ashamed to empty all these eyes
Of funeral tears; (a debt due to the dead,
As mirth is to the living;) sham'st thou not
To have them stare on thee? Hark, thou art
cursed,

Enter HIPOLITO in discontented appearance ;-
MATHEO, a Gentleman, his Friend, labouring

to hold him back.

I

Duke. Behold yon comet shews his head again!
Twice hath he thus at cross-turns thrown on us
Prodigious looks; twice hath he troubled
The waters of our eyes. See, he's turned wild!
Go
on, in God's name!

All. On afore there, ho!

Duke. Kinsmen and friends, take from your
manly sides

Your weapons, to keep back the desperate boy
From doing violence to the innocent dead.
Hip. I pr'ythee, dear Matheo,-
Math. Come, you're mad.

Hip. I do arrest thee, murderer! set down,
Villains, set down that sorrow, 'tis all mine!
Duke. I do beseech you all, for my blood's
sake,

Send hence your milder spirits, and let wrath
Join in confederacy with your weapons' points;
If he proceed to vex us, let your swords
Seek out his bowels; funeral grief lothes words.
All. Set on.

Hip. Set down the body.

Math. O, my lord,

You're wrong:-i'the open street!--You see she's

dead.

Hip. I know she is not dead.

Even to thy face, by those that scarce can speak.
Hip. My lord,

Duke. What would'st thou have? is she not
dead?

Hip. Oh, you ha' killed her by your cruelty.
Duke. Admit I had, thou kill'st her now again;
And art more savage than a barbarous Moor, 2
Hip. Let me but kiss her pale and bloodless lip.
Duke. O, fie, fie, fie!

Hip. Or, if not touch her, let me look on her.
Math. As you regard your honour!
Hip. Honour! smoke!

Math. Or, if you loved her living, spare her now.
Duke. Aye, well done, sir; you play the gen-
tleman:

Steal hence; 'tis nobly done; away! I'll join
My force to your's, to stop this violent torment.
Pass on.
[Exeunt with Funeral.
Hip. Matheo, thou dost wound me more-
Math. I give you physic, noble friend, not
wounds.

1 Prodigious-i. e. portentous; so deformed as to be taken for a foretoken of evil. See Dr Johnson's and Mr Steevens's Notes on King John, A. 3. S. I.

2 A barbarous Moor.-I suspect there is an allusion here to the character of Aaron the Moor, in Titus Andronicus.

Duke. Oh, well said, well done, a true gentle- | the week to die in; and she was well, and eat a

man;

Alack! I know the sea of lovers rage

Comes rushing with so strong a tide, it beats
And bears down all respects of life, of honour,
Of friends, of foes. Forget her, gallant youth.
Hip. Forget her?

Duke. Nay, nay, but be patient:

mess of water-gruel, on Monday morning.

nip. Aye? it cannot be

Such a bright taper should burn out so soon.

Math. O, yes, my lord. So soon! why, I ha' known them at dinner have been as well, and had so much health, that they were glad to pledge it; yet, before three o'clock, have been found dead drunk.

Hip. On Thursday buried! and on Monday died! Quick haste, by'r lady: sure her winding-sheet Was laid out 'fore her body; and the worms, That now must feast with her, were even bespoke, And solemnly invited, like strange guests.

Math. Strange feeders they are indeed, my

For why? death's hand hath sued a strict divorce "Twixt her and thee. What's beauty but a corse? What but fair sand-dust are earth's purest forms? Queens' bodies are but trunks to put in worms. Math. Speak no more sentences, my good lord, but slip hence; you see they are but fits; I'll rule him, I warrant ye. Aye, so, tread gingerly; your grace is here somewhat too long already.-lord; and, like your jester, or young courtier, Sblood! the jest were now, if, having ta'en some will enter upon any man's trencher without bidknocks o'the pate already, he should get loose ding. again, and, like a mad ox, toss my new black cloaks into the kennel. I must humour his lordship. My lord Hipolito, is it in your stomach to go to dinner? [Exit Duke. Hip. Where is the body? Math. The body, as the duke spoke very wisely, is gone to be wormed. Hip. I cannot rest; I'll meet it at next turn. I'll see how my love looks.

[MATHEO holds him in's arms. Math. How your love looks! worse than a Wrestle not with me: 3 the great fellow gives the fall for a ducat.

Scarecrow.

Hip. I shall forget myself.

Math. Pray do so; leave yourself behind yourself, and go whither you will. 'Sfoot! do you long to have base rogues, that maintain a Saint | Anthony's fire in their noses by nothing but twopenny ale, make ballads of you? If the duke had but so much metal in him, as is in a cobler's awl, he would ha' been a vexed thing; he and his train had blown you up, but that their powder | has taken the wet of cowards: you'll blood three pottles of Alicant, by this light, if you follow em; and then we shall have a hole made in a wrong place, to have surgeons roll thee up, like a baby, in swaddling clouts.

4

Hip. What day is to-day, Matheo? Math. Yea, marry, this is an easy question: why, to-day is, let me see, Thursday.

Hip. Oh, Thursday!

Math. Here's a coil for a dead commodity! 'sfoot, women, when they are alive, are but dead commodities; for you shall have one woman lie upon many men's hands.

Hip. She died on Monday then.

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Hip. Cursed be that day for ever, that robbed
her

Of breath, and me of bliss! henceforth let it stand
Within the wizard's book (the kalendar)
Marked with a marginal finger, to be chosen
By thieves, by villains, and black murderers,
As the best day for them to labour in.
If henceforth this adulterous bawdy world
Be got with child with treason, sacrilege,
Atheism, rapes, treacherous friendship, perjury,
Slander (the beggar's sin), lies (the sin of fools),
Or any other damned impieties,
On Monday let them be delivered.

I swear to thee, Mathen, by my soul,
Hereafter, weekly, on that day I'll glew
Mine eye-lids down, because they shall not gaze
On any female cheek; and being locked up
In my close chamber, there I'll meditate
On nothing but my Infelice's end,
Or on a dead man's scull draw out mine own.

Math. You'll do all these good works now every Monday, because it is so bad; but I hope upon Tuesday morning I shall take you with a wench.

Hip. If ever, whilst frail blood through my
veins run,

On woman's beams I throw affection,
Save her that's dead; or that I loosely fly
To the shore of any other wafting eye,
Let me not prosper, heaven! I will be true,
Even to her dust and ashes; could her tomb
Stand, whilst I lived so long, that it might rot,
That should fall down, but she be ne'er forgot.

Math. If you have this strange monster, honesty, in your belly, why so jig-makers and chroniclers shall pick something out of you; but

Math. And that's the most villainous day of all and I smell not you and a bawdy-house out with

3 The great fellow gives the fall for a ducat.-See As you like it, A. 1. S. 2.

4 Three pottles of Alicant.-This wine appears to have been a favourite liquor at the time Dekkar wrote. Blount, in his Glossographia, says, it is called from "Alicante, the chiefest town of Murcia in Spain, where great store of mulberries grow, the juice whereof makes the true Alicant wine.” 5 Jig-makers-Į. e. ballad-makers. See Note 35 to Edward II.

VOL. I.

3 U

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