and my hopes spilt, for that after many years' service one outran me; and what the deil should I then do there? No, no; flattering knaves, that can cog and prate fastest, speed best in the court.

Ober. To what life didst thou then betake thee?

Boh. I then changed the court for the country, and the wars for a wife: but I found the craft of swains more vile than the knavery of courtiers, the charge of children more heavy than servants, and wives' tongues worse than the wars itself; and therefore I gave o'er that, and went to the city to dwell; and there I kept a great house with small cheer, but all was ne'er the near.*

Ober. And why?

Boh. Because, in seeking friends, I found table

guests to eat me and my meat, my wife's gossips

to bewray the secrets of my heart, kindred to betray the effect of my life: which when I noted, the court ill, the country worse, and the city worst of all, in good time my wife died,-ay+ would she had died twenty winter sooner, by the mass-leaving my two sons to the world, and shutting myself into this tomb, where if I die I am sure I am safe from wild beasts, but whilst I live cannot be free from ill company. Besides, now I am sure, gif all my friends fail me, I sall have a grave of mine own providing. This is all. Now, what art thou?

Ober. Oberon, King of Fairies, that loves thee because thou hatest the world; and to gratulate thee, I brought these antics to show thee some sport in dancing, which thou hast loved well.

Boh. Ha, ha, ha! Thinkest thou those puppets can please me? whay, I have two sons, that with one Scottish jig shall break the neck of thy

antics.

Ober. That would I fain see.

Boh. Why, thou shalt.-Ho,§ boys!

* ne'er the near] See note †, p. 161, sec. col.
tay] i. e., Scotticè, I. See note 1, p. 187, first col.
leaving, &c.] Some words are wanting here.

Ho] The 4to. "Howe ",-which, as innumerable passages in early books prove, was frequently the spelling of "Ho": so in the folio Shakespeare, 1623;

"Ware pensals. How?" ["Ware pencils, ho!"] Love's Labour's Lost, act v. sc. 2. "How? Let the doore be lock'd."

Hamlet, Last scene.

Enter SLIPPER and NANO. Haud your clacks,* lads, trattle not for thy life, but gather up your legs, and dance me forthwith a jig worth the sight.

Slip. Why, I must talk, ant I die for't: where fore was my tongue made?

Boh. Prattle, an thou darest, ene word more, and ais dab this whinyard in thy wemb.

Ober. Be quiet, Bohan. I'll strike him dumb, and his brother too: their talk shall not hinder our jig.-Fall to it; dance, I say, man.

Boh. Dance Humer,+ dance, ay rids thee.

[The two dance a jig devised for the nonst. Now get you to the wide world with more than my father gave me, that's learning enough both kinds, knavery and honesty; and that I gave you, spend at pleasure.

gift: to the dwarf I give a quick wit, pretty¶ of Ober. Nay, for their sport I will give them this body, and awarrant** his preferment to a prince's service, where by his wisdom he shall gain more love than common; and to loggerhead your son I give a wandering life, and promise he shall never lack, and avow+t, if in all distresses he call upon me, to help him. Now let them go. [Exeunt SLIPPER and NANO with courtesies. Boh. Now, king, if thou be a king, I will show thee whay I hate the world by demonstration. In the year fifteen hundred and twenty, was in Scotland a king, over-ruled with parasites, misled by lust, and many circumstances too long to trattle on now, much like our court of Scotland this day. That story have I set down. Gang with me to the gallery, and I'll show thee the same in action by guid fellows of our countrymen; and then when thou see'st that, judge if any wise man would not leave the world if he could. Ober. That will I see: lead, and I'll follow thee. [Exeunt.

*Haud your clacks] i. e. Hold you your chattering. tan] The 4to. "on."

Humer] In my former edition I gave "Heimore," because I found that reading in the only copy of the 4to. (Mr. Mitford's) which I was then able to see: but in that copy the leaf containing the present passage was a very modern reprint. After all, the alteration "Heimore" may be right. § ay rid] i. e. I rede, I advise.

nonst] Or nonce,-i. e. occasion.

pretty] The substantive to which this epithet belongs has dropt out (unless Greene wrote "prettiness"). ** awarrant] i. e. warrant.

tt avow] The 4to. "auow that."

K. of Scots. And why?

Only, fair countess, and your daughter, stay;
With you I have some other thing to say.

[Exeunt, in all royalty, the KING OF ENGLAND, QUEEN DOROTHEA, and Lords. [Aside.] So let them triumph that have cause to joy:

But, wretched king, thy nuptial knot is death,
Thy bride the breeder of thy country's ill;
For thy false heart dissenting from thy hand,
Misled by love, hath* made another choice,
Another choice, even when thou vow'd'st thy soul
To Dorothea, England's choicest pride :
O, then thy wandering eyes bewitch'd thy heart!
Even in the chapel did thy fancy change,
When, perjur'd man, though fair Doll had thy
hand,

The Scottish Ida's beauty stale thy heart:
Yet fear and love have tied thy ready tongue
From blabbing forth the passions of thy mind,
'Lesst fearful silence have in subtle looks
Bewray'd the treason of my new-vow'd love.
Be fair and lovely, Doll; but here's the prize,
That lodgeth here, and enter'd through mine eyes:
Yet, howsoe'er I love, I must be wise.-
Now, lovely countess, what reward or grace
May I employ on you for this your zeal,
And humble honours, done us in our court,
In entertainment of the English king?

Count. of A. It was of duty, prince, that I have

done;

And what in favour may content me most,
Is, that it please your grace to give me leave
For to return unto my country-home.

K. of Scots. But, lovely Ida, is your mind the same?

Ida. I count of court, my lord, as wise men do, "Tis fit for those that know what 'longs thereto : Each person to his place; the wise to art, The cobbler to his clout, the swain to cart.

K. of Scots. But, Ida, you are fair, and beauty shines,

And seemeth best, where pomp her pride refines.
Ida. If beauty, as I know there's none in me,
Were sworn my love, and I his life should be,
The farther from the court I were remov'd,
The more, I think, of heaven I were belov'd.

Ida. Because the court is counted Venus' net, Where gifts and vows for stales* are often set: None, be she chaste as esta, but shall meet A curious tongue to cham her ears with sweet. K. of Scots. Why, Ida, then I see you set at naught

The force of love.

Ida. In sooth, this is my thought, Most gracious king,-that they that little prove, Are mickle blest from bitter sweets of love. And weel I wot, I heard a shepherd sing, That, like a bee, Love hath a little sting: He lurks in flowers, he percheth on the trees, He on kings' pillows bends his pretty knees; The boy is blind, but when he will not spy, He hath a leaden foot and wings to fly: Beshrew me yet, for all these strange effects, If I would like the lad that so infects.

K. of Scots. [aside.] Rare wit, fair face, what heart could more desire?

But Doll is fair and doth concern thee near: Let Doll be fair, she is won; but must woo And win fair Ida, there's some choice in two.But, Ida, thou art coy.

Ida. And why, dread king?

K. of Scots. In that you will dispraise so sweet a thing

As love. Had I my wish

Ida. What then?

K. of Scots. Then would I place

His arrow here, his beauty in that face.

Ida. And were Apollo mov'd and rul'd by me, His wisdom should be yours, and mine his tree. K. of Scots. But here returns our train.

Re-enter QUEEN DOROTHEA and Lords. Welcome, fair Doll: How fares our father? is he shipp'd and gone? Q. Dor. My royal father is both shipp'd and

gone:

God and fair winds direct him to his home! K. of Scots. Amen, say I.-side.] Would thou wert with him too!

Then might I have a fitter time to woo.-
But, countess, you would be gone, therefore,
farewell,-

Yet, Ida, if thou wilt, stay thou behind
To accompany my queen:

But if thou like the pleasures of the court,-
Or if she lik'd me, though she left the court,-
What should I say? I know not what to say.—

*stales] i. c. decoys.

.g

You may depart:-and you, my courteous

queen,

Leave me a space; I have a weighty cause
To think upon:-Ida, it nips me near;
It came from thence, I feel it burning here.

[Exeunt all except the KING OF SCOTS and ATEUKIN. Now am I free from sight of common eye, Where to myself I may disclose the grief That hath too great a part in mine affects. Ateu. [aside.] And now is my time by wiles and words to rise,

Greater than those that think themselves more wise.

K. of Scots. And first, fond king, thy honour doth engrave

Upon thy brows the drift of thy disgrace.
Thy new-vow'd love, in sight of God and men,
Links thee to Dorothea during life;

For who more fair and virtuous than thy wife?
Deceitful murderer of a quiet mind,

Fond love, vile lust, that thus misleads us

men,

To vow our faiths, and fall to sin again!
But kings stoop not to every common thought:
Ida is fair and wise, fit for a king;
And for fair Ida will I hazard life,
Venture my kingdom, country, and my crown:
Such fire hath love to burn a kingdom down.
Say Doll dislikes that I estrange my love;
Am I obedient to a woman's look?
Nay, say her father frown when he shall hear
That I do hold fair Ida's love so dear;
Let father frown and fret, and fret and die,
Nor earth nor heaven shall part my love and I.
Yea, they shall part us, but we first must meet,
And woo and win, and yet the world not see't.
Yea, there's the wound, and wounded with that
thought,

So let me die, for all my drift is naught.

Ateu. [coming forward.] Most gracious and imperial majesty,

[Aside.] A little + flattery more were but too much.

K. of Scots. Villain, what art thou That thus dar'st interrupt a prince's secrets? Ateu. Dread king, thy vassal is a man of art, Who knows, by constellation of the stars, By oppositions and by dry aspects,

The things are past and those that are to come. K. of Scots. But where's thy warrant to approach my presence?

* Links] The 4to. "Linke."

A little, &c.] This line the 4to. gives to the king.

Ateu. My zeal, and ruth to see your grace's

wrong,

Make me lament I did detract* so long.

K. of Scots. If thou know'st thoughts, tell me, what mean I now ?

Ateu. I'll calculate the cause

Of those your highness' smiles, and tell your thoughts.

K. of Scots. But lest thou spend thy time in idleness,

And miss the matter that my mind aims at,
Tell me,

What star was opposite when that was thought?
[Strikes him on the ear.
Ateu. 'Tis inconvenient,+ mighty potentate,
Whose looks resemble Jove in majesty,
To scorn the sooth of science with contempt.
I see in those imperial looks of yours
The whole discourse of love: Saturn combust,
With direful looks, at your nativity,
Beheld fair Venus in her silver orb :

I know, by certain axioms I have read,
Your grace's griefs, and further can express
Her name that holds you thus in fancy's bands.
K. of Scots. Thou talkest wonders.

Ateu. Naught but truth, O king.
'Tis Ida is the mistress of your heart,
Whose youth must take impression of affects;
For tender twigs will bow, and milder minds
Will yield to fancy, be they follow'd well.

K. of Scots. What god art thou, compos'd in
human shape,]

Or bold Trophonius, to decide our doubts?
How know'st thou this?

Ateu. Even as I know the means
To work your grace's freedom and your love.
Had I the mind, as many courtiers have,
To creep into your bosom for your coin,
And beg rewards for every cap and knee,

I then would say, "If that your grace would give
This lease, this manor, or this patent seal'd,
For this or that I would effect your love:"
But Ateukin is no parasite, O prince.

I know your grace knows scholars are but poor;
And therefore, as I blush to beg a fee,
Your mightiness is so magnificent,
You cannot choose but cast some gift apart,
To ease my bashful need that cannot beg.
As for your love, O, might I be employ'd,
How faithfully would Ateukin compass it!
But princes rather trust a smoothing tongue,
Than men of art that can accept the time.

detract] i. e. avoid, forbear.

† inconvenient] i. e. unbecoming, improper.

K. of Scots. Ateukin, if so thy name, for so thou say'st,

Thine art appears in entrance of my love;
And since I deem thy wisdom match'd with truth,
I will exalt thee, and thyself alone
Shalt be the agent to dissolve my grief.
Sooth is, I love, and Ida is my love;

But my new marriage nips me near, Ateukin,
For Dorothea may not brook th' abuse.

Ateu. These lets are but as motes against the

sun,

Yet not so great; like dust before the wind,
Yet not so light. Tut, pacify your grace:
You have the sword and sceptre in your hand;
You are the king, the state depends on you;
Your will is law. Say that the case were mine:
Were she my sister whom your highness loves,
She should consent, for that our lives, our goods,
Depend on you; and if your queen repine,
Although my nature cannot brook of blood,
And scholars grieve to hear of murderous deeds,
But if the lamb should let the lion's way,
By my advice the lamb should lose her life.
Thus am I bold to speak unto your grace,
Who am too base to kiss your royal feet,
For I am poor, nor have I land nor rent,
Nor countenance here in court, but for my love,
Your
grace shall find none such within the realm.
K. of Scots. Wilt thou effect my love? shall
she be mine?

Ateu. I'll gather moly, crocus,* and the herbs
That heal the wounds of body and the mind;
I'll set out charms and spells, naught † shall be
left

To tame the wanton if she shall rebel:
Give me but tokens of your highness' trust.

K. of Scots. Thou shalt have gold, honour, and wealth enough;

Win my love, and I will make thee great.
Ateu. These words do make me rich, most

noble prince;

I am more proud of them than any wealth.
Did not your grace suppose I flatter you,
Believe me, I would boldly publish this;-
Was never eye that saw a sweeter face,
Nor never ear that heard a deeper wit:
O God, how I am ravish'd in your worth!
K. of Scots. Ateukin, follow me; love must

have ease.

*moly, crocus] Corrected by the Rev. J. Mitford, Gent. Mag. for March 1833, p. 217.-The 4to. Moly-rocus."

t naught] The 4to. "nought else."

Win my love, &c.] Qy. "Win thou my love," &c., or "Win but my love," &c.?

Ateu. I'll kiss your highness' feet, march when you please. [Exeunt.

SCENE II.

Enter SLIPPER, NANO, and ANDREW, with their bills, ready written, in their hands.

And. Stand back, sir; mine shall stand highest. Slip. Come under mine arm, sir, or get a footstool; or else, by the light of the moon, I must come to it.

Nano. Agree, my masters; every man to his height: though I stand lowest, I hope to get the best master.

And. Ere I will stoop to a thistle, I will change turns; as good luck comes on the right hand as the left: here's for me, and me, and mine. [They set up their bills.] But tell me, fellows, till better occasion come, do you seek masters?

But, in earnest, now tell me of what trades are you two?

Slip. How mean you that, sir, of what trade? Marry, I'll tell you, I have many trades: the honest trade when I needs must; the filching trade when time serves; the cozening trade as I find occasion. And I have more qualities: I cannot abide a full cup unkissed, a fat capon uncarved, a full purse unpicked, nor a fool to prove a justice as you do.

And. Why, sot, why callest thou me fool? Nano. For examining wiser than thyself. And. So do many more than I in Scotland. Nano. Yea, those are such as have more authority than wit, and more wealth than honesty.

Slip. This is my little brother with the great wit; 'ware him!-But what canst thou do, tell me, that art so inquisitive of us?

And. Any thing that concerns a gentleman to do, that can I do.

Slip. So you are of the gentle trade?
And. True.

Slip. Then, gentle sir, leave us to ourselves, for here comes one as if he would lack a servant ere he went.

[ANDREW stands aside.