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Thus boldly, bloody tyrant, [thee! And to thy face, in Heav'n's high name, defy And may sweet Mercy, when thy soul sighs [trembles;

for it;

When under thy black mischiefs thy flesh When neither strength,nor youth,nor friends, nor gold, [conscience,

Can stay one hour; when thy most wretched Wak'd from her dream of death, like fire shall melt thee; [wounds, When all thy mother's tears, thy brother's Thy people's fears, and curses, aud my loss, My aged father's loss, shall stand before thee[her father;

Roilo. Save him, I say; run, save him, save Fly, and redeem his head! [Exit Latorch.

Edith. May then that pity, That comfort thou expect'st from Heav'n, that Mercy,

[thee, Be lock'd up from thee, fly thee! howlings find Despair, (oh, my sweet father!) storms of Blood till thou burst again! [terrors,

Rollo. Oh, fair sweet anger! Enter Latorch and Hamond, with a head. Lat. I came too late, sir; 'twas dispatch'd His head is here. [before;

Rollo. And my heart there! Go, bury him; Give him fair rites of funeral,decent honours. Edith. Wilt thou not take me, monster? Highest Heav'n,

Give him a punishment fit for his mischief! Lat. I fear thy prayer is heard, and he rewarded.

Lady, have patience; 'twas unhappy speed; Blame not the duke, 'twas not his fault, but Fate's;

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[ed, He sent, you know, to stay it, and commandIn care of you, the heavy object hence Soon as it came: Have better thoughts of him!

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Belov'd of Heav'n, whom Heav'n hath thus preserv'd.

[know, 2 Cit. And if he be belov'd of Heav'n, you He must be just, and all his actions so. Rollo. Concluded like an oracle. Oh, how great

A grace of Heav'n is a wise citizen! [just, For Heav'n 'tis makes 'em wise, as 't made me As it preserv'd me, as I now survive By his strong hand to keep you all alive: Your wives, your children, goods and lands kept yours, [power, That had been else prey to his tyrannous That would have prey'd on me, in bed assaulted me,

In sacred time of peace. My mother here, My sister, this just lord, and all had fill'd The Curtian gulf of this conspiracy 4, Of which my tutor and my chancellor [nest, (Two of the gravest, and most counted hoIn all my dukedom) were the monstrous heads.

Oh, trust no honest men for their sakes ever, My politick citizens; but those that bear The names of cut-throats, usurers, and ty [world Oh, those believe in; for the foul-mouth'd Can give no better terms to simple goodness. Ev'n me it dares blaspheme, and thinks me

rants,

tyrannous

[ther:

For saving my own life sought by my broYet those that sought his life before by poison (Tho' mine own servants, hoping to please me) I'll lead to death for't, which your eyes shall 1 Cit. Why what a prince is here! [sce. 2 Cit. How just!

3 Cit. How gentle!

Rollo. Well, now, my dearest subjects, or much rather

My nerves, my spirits, or my vital blood, Turn to your needful rest, and settled peace, Fix'd in this root of steel, from whence it sprung,

In Heav'n's great help and blessing 4: But, ere sleep

Bind in his sweet oblivion your dull senses,

-1 stand up thus then;

Thus boldly, bloody tyrant, I defy thee;

And to thy face; in Heav'n's high name defy thee.'

But were it necessary to fill up the hemistich, we should recommend this mode:

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I stand up thus then,

Thus boldly, bloody tyrant, I stand up,

And to thy face,' &c.

which supposes an omission easily accounted for; viz. the transcriber taking the words for an accidental repetition; or, finding words he had but just wrote, hastily passing on to the following line.

40

And all had felt

The Curtian gulf of this conspiracy.] To feel a gulf is certainly a poor if not an absurd expression; but to fill the gulf, as Mr. Sympson reads, is the exact poetical idea which the metaphor demands. Seward.

41 In Heav'n's great help.] The particle in, which renders this passage stiff and obscure, seems only to have slipt from the former line, and excluded the true one. Seward, Either particle is sense.

The name and virtue of Heav'n's king ad

vance

For yours (in chief), for my deliverance!
Citizens. Heav'n and his king save our most
pious sovereign! [Exeunt Citizens.

Rollo. Thanks, my good people.-Mother,
and kind sister,
[thus
And you, my noble kinsman, things borne
Shall make ye all command whatever I
Enjoy in this my absolute empery.
Take in the body of my princely brother,
For whose death, since his fate no other way
Would give my eldest birth his supreme right,
We'll mourn the cruel influence it bears,
And wash his sepulchre with kindly tears!

Aub. If this game end thus, Heav'n's will
rule the set!

What we have yielded to, we could not let*. [Exeunt omnes præter Latorch and Edith. Lat. Good lady, rise; and raise your spirits withal,

More high than they are humbled: You have

cause,

As much as ever honour'd happiest lady;
And when your ears are freer to take in
Your most amendful and unmatched fortunes,
I'll make you drown a hundred helpless deaths
In sea of one life pour'd into your bosom;
With which shall flow into your arms the
riches,

The pleasures, honours, and the rules of
princes:

Let.] i. e. prevent.

Which, tho' death stop your ears, methinks should ope 'em.

Assay to forget death.

Edith. Oh, slaughter'd father!

Lat. Cast off what cannot be redress'd,

and bless

The fate that yet you curse so; since, for that
You spake so movingly, and your sweet eyes
With so much grace fill'd, that you set on fire
The duke's affection, whom you now may rule
As he rules all his dukedom: Is't not sweet?
Does it not shine away your sorrows' cloids?
Sweet lady, take wise heart, and hear, and
Edith. I hear no word you speak. [tell me.
Lat. Prepare to hear then,

And be not barr'd up from yourself, nor add
To your ill fortune with your far worse
judgment.
[joys
Make me your servant 42, to attend with all
Your sad estate, till they both bless and speak
it;
[command me

See how they'll bow to you; make me wait,
To watch out every minute. For the stay 43
Your modest sorrow fancies, raise your
[tion

graces,

And do my hopes the honour of your mo-
To all the offer'd heights that now attend you.
Oh, how your touches ravish! how the duke
Is slain already, with your flames embrac'd 4!
I will both serve and visit you, and often.
Edith. I am not fit, sir.

4o Make me your servant to attend with all joys

Lat. Time will make you, lady. [Exeunt.

Your sad estate, till they both bless and speak it:

See how they'll bow to you, make me wait, &c.] This strange chaos has just light enough left to shew the general tendency of the passage: viz. That both be and all the courtiers by their humblest obeisance (if she would accept it) would endeavour to turn her sorrow into joy. From the word amendful, in Latorch's first speech to her above, it is highly probable that attend should be amend; that the word courtiers, or some one of the same import, is left out, seems almost evident, and a whole sentence must have accompanied it. We may hope to come very near the sense, however wide we are in guessing at the words of the original. But what is -till they both bless and speak it?' It seems probable that a mistake in the points having joined the two verbs together, the former part was changed, and both falsely inserted to make out something that looked like grammar. I read the whole thus, marking in Italicks what I suppose only to contain something like the sense of the original.

Make me your servant, make the courtiers all

Your servants, studious to AMEND with joys
'Your sad estate, till YOU ARE BLEST ;- -and speak it,

See how they'll bow to you,' &c. Seward.

Thus runs Mr. Seward's reading: but we cannot follow it, because the text is not in our opinion corrupt, and means (though perhaps with some little inaccuracy of expression, not unusual in our Authors) Let me attend your melancholy with amusements, 'till they both remove your sorrows, and make it manifest that they do so.'

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43

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- for the stay

Your modest sorrow funcies, &c.] Mr. Seward, we think improperly, substitutes full for stay. Stay and motion are plainly opposed to each other: He desires her not to remain in her present humble rank, but to let him have the honour of promoting her.'

44

how the duke

Is slain already with your flames imbrac't!] So quarto. Folio:

Is slain already with your flames embrac'd!'

This Mr. Seward treats as corrupt, and prints,

But surely, the duke

Is slain already with your flames! embrace it.'
embrac'd with her flames,' is not at all unintelligible.

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SCENE II.
Enter Guard, three or four Boys; then the
Sheriff, Cook, Yeoman of the Cellar, But-
ler, and Pantler, to execution.

1 Guard. Come, bring these fellows on;
away with 'em!

2 Guard. Make room afore there! room there for the prisoners!

1 Boy. Let's run afore, boys; we shall get no place else.

2 Boy. Are these the youths?

Cook. These are the youths you look for: And pray, my honest friends, be not so hasty; There'll be nothing done 'till we come, I as[no more?

sure you.

3 Boy. Here's a wise hanging! Are there But. D' you hear, sir? [you. You may come in for your share, if it please Cook. My friend, if you be unprovided of a hanging, [you (You look like a good fellow) I can afford A reasonable pennyworth.

2 Boy. Afore, afore, boys! Here's e'en enough to make us sport.

Yeo. Pox take you,

[tions?

D'you call this sport? are these your recrea-
Must we be hang'd to make you mirth?
Cook. D'you hear, sir?
[son,
ou custard-pate! we go to 't for high trea-
An honourable fault; thy foolish father
Was hang'd for stealing sheep.

Boys. Away, away, boys! [looks now?
Cook. Do you see how that sneaking rogue
You chip pantler, you peaching rogue, that
provided us
[rogue you!
These necklaces; you poor rogue, you costive
Pant. Pray, pray, fellows!

Cook. Pray for thy crusty soul? Where's [very? your reward now, Good goodman manchet, for your fine discoI do beseech you, sir, where are your dollars? Draw with your fellows, and be hang'd! Yeo. He must now;

For now he shall be hang'd first, that's his comfort:

frascal! A place too good for thee, thou meal-mouth'd Cook. Hang handsomely, for shame! Come,

leave your praying,
[courtier!
You peaching knave, and die like a good
Die honestly, and like a man. No preaching,
With 'I beseech you, take example by me;
'I liv'd a lewd man, good people!' Pox'on't,
Die me as thou hadst din'd; say grace, and
God be wi' you!

Guard. Come, will you forward?
Cook. Good master Sheriff, your leave too;
This hasty work was ne'er done well: Give's
[no man,
As but to sing our own ballad, for we'll trust
Nor no tune but our own; 'twas done in ale

so much time

too,

And therefore cannot be refus'd in justice.
Your penny-pot poets are such pelting thieves,
They ever hang men twice; we have it here,sir,
And so must every merchant of our voyage;
He'll make a sweet return else of his credit!

Yeo. One fit of our own mirth, and then
we're for you.

Guard. Make haste then, and dispatch.
Yeo. There's day enough, sir.

Cook. Come, boys, sing chearfully; we [like well. We've chose a loud tune too, because it should

shall ne'er sing younger.

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* Three merry boys, &c.] In Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, act ii. scene 3, Sir Toby, repeating the names and some scraps of old songs, mentions "Three merry men we be;" which Mr. Steevens asserts to be a fragment of some old song, which he found repeated in Westward Hoe, by Decker and Webster, 1607 :

Three merry men,

And three merry men,

And three merry men be we.'

And Sir John Hawkins, in the Appendix, produces the following passage, but without noticing from whence it is taken:

The wise men were but seaven, ne'er more shall be for me;

The muses were but nine, the worthies three times three;

And three merry boyes, and three merry boyes, and three merry boyes are wee.

The vertues they were seaven, and three the greater bee;

The Cæsars they were twelve, and fatall sisters three.

And three merry girles, and three merry girles, and three merry girles are woo.'

To these proofs we shall add another, taken from Rain-Alley, or Merry Tricks:
Did I not bring you off, you arrant drub,

Without a counterbuff? looke who comes here,

And three merry men, and three merry men,

And three merry men be wec.'

R.

The Editor of the second folio thus varies the latter part of the chorus,

As ever did sing in a hempen string under the gallows-tree!'

As ever did sing three parts in a string
All under the triple tree!

But. But I that was so lusty,

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And ever kept my bottles,
That neither they were musty,
And seldom less than pottles;
For me to be thus stopt now,

With hemp instead of cork, sir,
And from the gallows lopt now,

Shews that there is a fork, sir,
In death, and this the token;

Man may be two ways killed,
Or like the bottle broken,

Or like the wine be spilled.
Chorus. Three merry boys, &c.
Cook. Oh, yet but look

On the master cook,
The glory of the kitchen,
In sowing whose fate,
At so lofty a rate,

No taylor e'er had stitching;
For though he make the man,

The cook yet makes the dishes,

The which no taylor can,

Wherein I have my wishes,

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Aub.

SCENE I.

ACT IV.

Enter Aubrey and Latorch.
ATORCH, I have waited here to
speak with you,
[legs
And you must hearken-Set not forth your
Of haste, nor put your face of business on;
An honester affair than this I urge too,
You will not easily think on; and 'twill be
Reward to entertain it; 'tis your fortune
To have our master's ear above the rest
Of us that follow him, but that no man en-
vies 45-

For I have well consider'd, truth sometimes
May be conveyed in by the same conduits
That falshood is. These courses that he takes

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Cannot but end in ruin; empire got
By blood and violence, must so be held;
And how unsafe that is, he first will prove,
That, toiling still to remove enemies,
Makes himself more. It is not now a brother,
A faithful counsellor of state or two,
That are his danger; they are fair dispatch'd:
It is a multitude that 'gin to fear,
And think what began there must end in them,
For all the fine oration that was made 'em;
And they are not an easy monster quell'd.
Princes may pick their suffering nobles out,
And one by one employ 'cin to the block 46;
But when they once grow formidable to
Their clowns, and coblers, ware then! guard
themselves 47.

For I have well consider'd, &c.] By this reading, Aubrey's design of employing Latorch to convey a truth to Rollo was the reason why no man envied Latorch the favour of his mas ter; whereas the real reason was the knowledge of the vile means he had used to obtain it and this will be implied by changing the particle for into and. Seward.

From the word hearken in the second line, to the particle for in the ninth, seems to be only a collection of different parentheses, and that particle to be genuine: Latorch, I have waited here to speak with you, and you must hearken-(pretend not haste) (the business is honest, and reward attends it) (you are in possession of the king's ear, and without envy)FOR I have well considered, truth sometimes,' &c.

46 And one by one employ 'em to the block.] Convoy 'em' seems a more natural expression; but, as the other is sense, I do not change the text. Seward.

wure then, guard themselves.] The omission of a letter in the quarto has made the subsequent editions turn a noble sentiment into a very poor one. The quarto has no comma between then and guard; undoubtedly, therefore, instead of closing Aubrey's fire speech with Then is their danger, ware then, let them then guard themselves;' we should VOL. II.

reads

If thou durst tell him this, Latorch, the ser

vice

Would not discredit the good name you hold
With men, besides the profit to your master,
And to the public.

Lat. I conceive not so, sir: [them
They're airy fears; and why should I object
Unto his fancy? wound what is yet sound?
Your counsels colour not with reason of state,
Where all that's necessary still is just.
The actions of the prince, while they succeed,
Should be made good and glorified, not ques-
tion'd.

Men do but shew their ill affections,
That-

Aub. What? Speak out!

Lat. Do murmur 'gainst their masters.
Aub. Is this to me?

Lat. It is to whomsoever
Mislikes of the duke's courscs.
Aub. Ay! is't so?

At your stateward, sir?

Lat. I am sworn to hear

Nothing may prejudice the prince.
Aub. Why, do you?

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mention

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White'st over all his vices; and at last
Dost draw a cloud of words before his eyes,
'Till he can neither see thee nor himself?
Wretch, I dare give him honest counsels, I,
And love him while I tell him truth! Old
Aubrey

Dares go the straightest way, which still's the
shortest,

Walk on the thorns thou scatter'st, parasite,
And tread 'em unto nothing; and if thou
Then let'st a look fall, of the least dislike,
I'll rip thy crown up with my sword at
height 49,

And pluck thy skin over thy face, in sight
Of him thou flatter'st! Unto thee I speak it,
Slave, against whom all laws should now con

spire,

And every creature that hath sense be arin'd,
As 'gainst the common enemy of mankind;
That creep'st within thy master's ear 5o, and
whisper'st

'Tis better for him to be fear'd than lov'd;
Bid'st him trust no man's friendship, spare no

blood

Affection, or a heart, that ne'er hadst any? That may secure him; 'tis no cruelty Know'st not to love or hate, but by the scale,That hath a specious end; for sovereignty

read, -ware then guards themselves;' i. e. When a prince is hated by all his subjects, his very guards will become his enemies, and be the first to destroy him. The histories of almost all tyrants in the world confirm this observation. And it is a sort of prophecy of Rollo's fate, a hint of which Aubrey in the next scene gives Rollo himself, when he tells him, You make your guards your terrors by these acts.' Seward.

6

We think the old reading right, and means simply, that it is then time for them to beware, and to guard themselves;' a sentiment which is familiarly enough expressed, after the manner of our Authors, by the words,

'Ware then, guard themselves!'

48 Then bring'st his virtue asleep.] That bring'st is a corruption scems evident; but I was doubtful whether I should read ring'st or sing'st; the former is nearer the trace of the letters, the latter the more obvious metaphor. Mr. Sympson sending me the latter as his conjecture too, determined me to give it the preference. Seward.

49 I'll rip thy crown up with my sword at height,

And pluck thy skin over thy face, &c.] I much suspect the first line, to which I can affix no clear idea. What would Aubrey do to him? It should seem, that he would with his sword strip open the crown of his head, and pluck his skin over his face. The following conjecture will give this reading more clearly than the former, but not so clearly as I could wish, and therefore I do not put it into the text.

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I'll strip thy crown ope with my sword at height.'

Seward.

50 That sleep'st within thy master's car.] Mr. Seward, in his Postscript, says, 'The talebearer, whisperer and sycophant, cannot be said to sleep within their master's ear, since they are generally vigilant and eager to instil their poisonous counsel.' I read, therefore, That creep'st within thy master's ear.'

We think this a happy emendation.

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