and endeuour with repentance to spend that which is to come. Wonder not (for with thee will I first beginne), thou famous gracer of tragedians [i.e. Marlowe], that Green, who hath said with thee, like the foole in his heart, "There is no God," should now giue glorie vnto his greatnesse; for penetrating is his power, his hand lyes heauy vpon me, He hath spoken vnto me with a voyce of thunder, and I haue felt He is a God that can punish enemies. Why should thy excellent wit, his gift, be so blinded that thou shouldest giue no glory to the giuer? Is it pestilent Machiuilian policie that thou hast studied? O peevish follie! what are his rules but meere confused mockeries, able to extirpate in small time the generation of mankinde? for if sic volo, sic iubeo, holde in those that are able to commaund, and if it be lawfull fas et nefas, to doo any thing that is beneficiall, onely tyrants should possesse the earth, and they, striuing to exceed in tiranny, should ech to other be a slaughterman, till, the mightyest outliuing all, one stroke were left for Death, that in one age man's life should end. The brocher' of this dyabolicall atheisme is dead, and in his life had neuer the felicitie he aymed at, but, as he beganne in craft, liued in feare, and ended in dispaire. Quam inscrutabilia sunt Dei judicia! This murderer of many brethren had his conscience seared like Cayne; this betrayer of Him that gaue his life for him inherited the portion of Judas; this apostate perished as ill as Julian: and wilt thou, my friend, be his disciple? Looke vnto mee, by him perswaded to that libertie, and thou shalt finde it an infernall bondage. I know the least of my demerits merit this miserable death; but wilfull striuing against knowne truth exceedeth all the terrors of my soule. Deferre not (with mee) till this last point of extremitie; for little knowest thou how in the end thou shalt be visited.' Here it will be seen that Greene charges Marlowe with atheism. The same charge is repeated by Beau in his Theatre of God's Judgments (1597), who also asserts that he wrote a book against the Trinity, 'affirming the Holy Bible to be but vain and idle stories, and all religion but a device of policy.' Similar charges were brought against him by contemporary and immediately succeeding writers, and their truth has generally been believed in to a greater or less extent by most of his biographers. What weight is to be given to these assertions it is impossible now to say; but altogether the evidence leads us to believe that Marlowe was an avowed disbeliever in the divine authorship of the Bible, and the supernatural origin of Christianity, and that he rather liked to parade his disbelief in an offensive and coarse manner; but whether he professed to have any rational ground for this scepticism, or whether it was merely the result of bitterness, conceit, and licentiousness, we cannot make out. He, as was the case with most of his companions, certainly led the life of one who neither believed in God, nor respected himself nor his fellow-men; but whose only creed was eat, drink, and be merry, for to-morrow we die.' Marlowe appears to have been a favourite with his companions, among whom he was familiarly known as 'Kit Marlowe,' and even by his contemporaries his surpassing genius seems to have been recognised. Peele, in the prologue to the Honour of the Garter, apostrophizes him thus: Marlowe's dramas, like those of most of his contemporaries, are very unequal in merit, they are wanting in coherence, and in orderliness and definiteness of plan, and are occasionally marked by bombast and silliness. As a whole, however, they are characterized by such extraordinary vigour, power, and passion, so great boldness and exuberant richness of imagination, and by such well-marked, consistent, and striking portraiture of character, as to entitle him in these respects to be placed above all his contemporaries, and among the very few who were second to Shakespeare. Had Marlowe lived longer, and given his high powers fair play-which he never did he would undoubtedly, in the words of Dyce, 'have made a much nearer approach in tragedy to Shakespeare than has yet been made by any of his countrymen.' We have selected from Marlowe's dramas his Edward the 1 'Probably Francis Kennet, A.M., of Winmendham in Norfolk, who was bred at Benet College, and in 1589 was burnt for holding detestable opinions concerning Christ.'-MALONE. Second, written, according to Warton, in the year 1590, and first printed in 1598. As a whole it is considered the most perfectly constructed of his plays; 'there is no overdoing of character, no turgidity of language.' 'The reluctant pangs of abdicating royalty,' says Charles Lamb, 'in Edward, furnished hints which Shakespeare scarce improved in his Richard II.; and the death-scene of Marlowe's king moves pity and terror beyond any scene ancient or modern with which I am acquainted.' The tragedy of Faustus, probably written about 1587 or 1588, is altogether so remarkable, and contains passages of such superabundant power, that any selection from Marlowe, or any collection of specimens of the Elizabethan drama, would be altogether defective without it. We have therefore selected the greater part of it for publication, from the earliest known edition, that of 1604, amending it in a few places from that of 1616; even this early edition, however, had been touched up and added to by the playwrights of the time, as 'in consequence of having been repeatedly performed, it had somewhat palled upon the audience.' The words of Hazlitt are specially applicable to Faustus: 'There is a lust of power, a hunger and thirst after unrighteousness, a glow of the imagination, unhallowed by anything but its own energies. His thoughts burn within him like a furnace with bickering flames, or throwing out black smoke and mists, that hide the dawn of genius, or, like a poisonous mineral, corrode the heart. Faustus himself is a rude sketch, but it is a gigantic one. This character may be considered as a personification of the pride of will and eagerness of curiosity, sublimed beyond the reach of fear and remorse.' In the details of the story, Marlowe followed closely the prose romance entitled History of Doctor Faustus, published some time before. Besides those already mentioned, the other dramas attributed to Marlowe are The Jew of Malta, written about 1589, but not published till 1633; The Massacre at Paris, written not long before the author's death, and first published about 1596. Marlowe appears also to have commenced a tragedy entitled Dido, which was finished for the stage by Nash, after his death. These are all the dramas that can be certainly attributed to Marlowe, although it is not improbable that others of his composition have either been lost or have been attributed to others. Marlowe also translated Hero and Leander, Ovid's Elegies, and the first book of Lucan.] THE TROUBLESOME REIGN AND LAMENTABLE DEATH OF EDWARD THE SECOND, KING OF ENGLAND: WITH THE TRAGICAL FALL OF PROUD MORTIMER: AND ALSO THE LIFE AND DEATH OF PEIRS GAVESTON, THE GREAT EARL OF CORNWALL, AND MIGHTY FAVOURITE OF KING EDWARD THE SECOND:1 AS IT WAS PUBLICLY ACTED BY THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE EARL OF PEMBROKE HIS SERVANTS. WRITTEN BY CHRI. MARLOW, GENT. Imprinted at London by Richard Bradocke, for William Jones, dwelling near Holborn conduit, at the sign of the Gun. 1598. The king, upon whose bosom let me die, But how now! what are these? service. Gav. What canst thou do? 1 Tanti-compare Fuimus Troes, 1603: No kingly menace or censorious frowne 2 fawn-Dodsley reads 'fan.' First P. Man. I can ride. Gav. But I have no horse.-What art thou? Sec. P. Man. A traveller. Gav. Let me see: thou wouldst do well To wait at my trencher, and tell me lies at dinner-time; And, as I like your discoursing, I'll have you.And what art thou? Third P. Man. A soldier, that hath serv'd against the Scot. : Gav. Why, there are hospitals for such as you: I have no war; and therefore, sir, be gone. Third P. Man. Farewell; and perish by a soldier's hand, That wouldst reward them with an hospital! Gav. Ay, ay, these words of his move me as much As if a goose should play the porcupine, But yet it is no pain to speak men fair; [Aside. You know that I came lately out of France, Gav. I have some business: leave me to myself. Therefore I'll have Italian masks by night, 3 To hide those parts which men delight to see, By yelping hounds pull'd down, shall seem to die: Such things as these best please his majesty.My lord, here comes the king and the nobles From the parliament. I'll stand aside. [Retires. 1 Music and poetry, &c.-' How exactly the author, as the learned Dr. Hurd observes, has painted the humour of the times, which esteemed masks and shows as the highest indulgence that could be provided for a luxurious and happy monarch, we may see from the entertainment provided, not many years after, for the reception of King James at Althorp in Northamptonshire, where this very design of Sylvan Nymphs, Satyrs, and Acteon, was executed in a Masque by Ben Jonson. [Hurd's] Moral and Political Dialogues, vol. 1, p. 194.' -DODSLEY'S Old Plays. 2 antic hay-antic here means grotesque, fantastic, and is still used as a noun, meaning grotesque capers; it is the same word as 'antique.' Hay was the name of a round country dance; Shall we go dance the hay?' occurs in England's Helicon; and mention is made of it in Love's Labour Lost, act v., sc. 1. 3 Crownet-the diminutive of crown, i.e., coronet. Acteon, according to the fable, was a hunter who was transformed by Artemis (Diana) into a stag, and torn to pieces by dogs, for peeping at the goddess and her nymphs bathing. Enter KING EDWARD, KENT, LANCASTER, the elder MORTIMER, the younger MORTIMER, WARWICK, PEMBROKE, and Attendants. K. Edw. Lancaster! Lan. My lord? Gav. That Earl of Lancaster do I abhor. [Aside. K. Edw. Will you not grant me this?-In spite of them I'll have my will; and these two Mortimers, That cross me thus, shall know I am displeas'd. [Aside. E. Mor. If you love us, my lord, hate Gaveston. Gav. That villain Mortimer! I'll be his death. [Aside. Y. Mor. Mine uncle here, this earl, and I myself, Were sworn to your father at his death, foes, Lan. My lord, why do you thus incense your peers, That naturally would love and honour you, Kent. Barons and earls, your pride hath made me mute; But now I'll speak, and to the proof, I hope. K. Edw. Ay, yours; and therefore I would wish you grant. War. Bridle thy anger, gentle Mortimer. Y. Mor. I cannot, nor I will not; I must speak. Cousin, our hands, I hope, shall fence our heads, War. All Warwickshire will love him for my sake. 1 love-Dyce reads 'leave.' Lan. And northward Lancaster1 hath many Adieu, my lord; and either change your mind, [Exeunt all except KING EDWARD, Kent, K. Edw. I cannot brook these haughty menaces; Gav. I can no longer keep me from my lord. Embrace me, Gaveston, as I do thee. Thy friend, thyself, another Gaveston: Gav. And, since I went from hence, no soul in Hath felt more torment than poor Gaveston. K. Edw. I know it.-Brother, welcome home Now let the treacherous Mortimers conspire, I here create thee Lord High Chamberlain, Gav. My lord, these titles far exceed my worth. For one of greater birth than Gaveston. K. Edw. Cease, brother, for I cannot brook these words. Thy worth, sweet friend, is far above my gifts: If for these dignities thou be envied," Wantest thou gold? go to my treasury: Would'st thou be lov'd and fear'd? receive my seal, Save or condemn, and in our name command Gav. It shall suffice me to enjoy your love; Enter the BISHOP OF COVENTRY. K. Edw. Whither goes my Lord of Coventry so fast? 1 Lancaster-Old eds. Gaueston.' 2 glozing-flattering. 3 bandy-i.e., oppose with all my force; totis viribus se opponere, says Skinner, voce bandy.'-DODSLEY'S Old Plays. 4 Hylas, according to the fable, was the friend and perhaps the son of Hercules; he was so beautiful that the naiads stole him, and Hercules tried in vain to find him. 5 joy-enjoy. envied-hated. Bish. of Cov. To celebrate your father's exequies. But is that wicked Gaveston return'd? K. Edw. Ay, priest, and lives to be reveng'd on thee. That wert the only cause of his exile. Gav. 'Tis true; and, but for reverence of these robes, Thou should'st not plod one foot beyond this place. Bish. of Cov. I did no more than I was bound to do: And, Gaveston, unless thou be reclaim'd, me. K. Edw. Throw off his golden mitre, rend his stole, And in the channel2 christen him anew. Kent. Ah, brother, lay not violent hands on him! For he'll complain unto the see of Rome. Gav. Let him complain unto the see of hell: I'll be reveng'd on him for my exile. K. Edw. No, spare his life, but seize upon his goods: Be thou lord bishop, and receive his rents, Bish. of Cov. For this offence be thou accurs'd of God! K. Edw. Who's there? Convey this priest to the Tower. Bish. of Cov. True, true.3 K. Edw. But, in the mean time, Gaveston, away, And take possession of his house and goods. Come, follow me, and thou shalt have my guard To see it done, and bring thee safe again. Gav. What should a priest do with so fair a house? A prison may best beseem his holiness. [Exeunt. Ah, wicked king! accursed Gaveston! Y. Mor. Well, let that peevish Frenchman guard him sure; Unless his breast be sword-proof, he shall die. Y. Mor. Wherefore is Guy of Warwick discontent? Lan. That villain Gavestone is made an earl. E. Mor. An earl! War. Ay, and besides, Lord Chamberlain of the realm. And Secretary too, and Lord of Man. 7 regiment-rule, government; Lat. regimentum, regi- contempt). men, from rego, to rule. 4 timeless-untimely. |