Enter Marine. Mar. Off with your hats! for here doth come The high and mighty duke of Burgundy! And thought upon it; and I find it plain, veins. Lady. God-a-mercy, husband, thou art the To work out a thing at a pinch in France! Mar. I will ascend my state again. Du- Take your place, and let our champion enter. Mur. And let loud musick sound before his Enter Jaques in armour, one carrying a Scutcheon before him, and a two-handed Sword. Lady. How well our champion doth de- As if he had been made for such an action! Mar. I think there is no man so desperate Shut. What wond'rous age is this? what I hear the clang of trumpets in this house : Jaques. I, Jaques, servant to the high and mighty Godfrey, duke of Burgundy, do come And this was Julius Cæsar's hat when he was kill'd in the capitol. As for the second fault, 'twas made no where but at the press, for the number (I suppose) in the original MS. was wrote in figures, thus, 23, which, by an easy shifting place was altered Sympson. to 32; and thus we have nine wounds more than Cæsar ever received. 38 Sir, I must wave you to conceal this party. It stands upon my utter overthrow.] To wave one to conceal, should mean here to advise one to conceal, but I don't remember any such sense of the word wave, and so would propose reading the lines thus: Sir, I must counsel you to wave this party, It stands upon my utter overthrow. The good lady's gallants want to keep the poor gentleman in town, and for this end the Gentleman takes him aside, and says, I would advise you to lay aside this party, i. e. resolution, of going down, &c. Sympson. 39 Sound trumpet.] This possibly was once only a stage direction, but in time has crept into the text. And I fancy the same of sound, after room there afore, in the third act, upon the new duke's first public appearance. Sympson. VOL. III. Сс hither hither to prove by natural strength, and activity of my body, without the help of sorcery, enchantment, or necromancy, that the said Godfrey, late of Mount- Marine, and now of Burgundy, hath perfect right thereto, notwithstanding the king's command to the contrary, and no other person whatsoever: and in token that I will be ready to make good the same, I throw down my gage, which is my honour. Pronounced the 37th of February stilo novo. God save the duke! Shut. Of all the plots the king hath laid for me This was the shrewdest; 'tis my life they seek, And they shall have it: if I should refuse Taccept the challenge in the king's behalf, They have some cause to take away my life; And if I do accept it, who can tell But I may fall by doubtful chance of war? 'Twas shrewd; but I must take the least of evils. I take thy gauntlet up, thou treacherous man, Will justify whatever he commands. Mar. Go forward, Jaques! Shat. Come, do thy worst; for the king shall see All is not true that is reported of me. Jaques. I may not fight with him, by law of arms. [not fight? Mar. What, shall my title fall? Wilt thou Juques. Never with him that once hath sav'd my life. [I do go, Shat. Dar'st thou not fight? Behold then, Strong with the zeal I bear my sovereign, And seize upon that haughty man himself. Descend the steps (that thou hast thus usurp'd Against the king and state) down to the ground! And if thou utter but a syllable To cross the king's intent, thou art but dead: Long. I fear this challenge hath spoil'd all. He'll work it out again.-Servant, See where Shattillion's Love, poor lady, comes. Enter Love. Which you bear to women, take some pity On this distressed man! help to restore That precious jewel to him he hath lost. Beau. Lady, whatever power doth lie in us, By art, or prayer, or danger, we are yours. Love. A strange conceit hath wrought this malady; Conceits again must bring him to himself: My strict denial to his will wrought this; And if you could but draw his wilder thonghits To know me, he would sure recover sense. Long. That charge I'll undertake. Mar. Look, Jaques, look! For God's sake, let me rise! This greatness is A jade, I cannot sit it. Juques. His sword's up, May see all the suggestions are not true, Long. Monsieur Shattillion, the king as sures you That, for this valiant loyal act of yours, Shat. But how shall I believe this? what new token Of reconcilement will he shew me? [ment, Let him release my poor Love from her torFrom her hard fare, and strict imprisonment. Long. He hath done this, to win your after-love: And see, your lady sent you from the king [He kneels. Love. Rise, dear Shattillion! Shut. I know my duty: next unto my king, I am to kneel to you. Love. I'll have you rise; Fetch me a chair; sit down, Shattillion! Shat. I am commanded! And, faith, tell me, mistress, What usage have you had? Pray be plain! Love. Oh, my most lov'd Shattillion, pain enough; But now I'm free, than' s to my God and king! Long. His eyes grow very heavy. Not a word, That his weak senses may come sweetly home! Long. Come hither, monsieur: canst thou Gent. Yes, sir. Long. Were it to bring the Great-Turk bound in Thro' France in triumph, or to couple up And no doubt grounded on experience, The world will say you are a perfect prince. But now we don't affect those ravenous beasts. Gent. Yes, and is content you shall be; [do, That none know't but yourself; for, if you He'll take't away by act of parliament. Mur. Here is my hand; and whilst I live No living wight shall know I am a duke. Mar. May not my country cousin? Mar. Well then, know all, I am no duke. Long, See! he wakes. [all this while? Shut. Where am I? or where have I been Oh, thou too cruel, leave at length to scorn Apostle-spoon.] In Henry VIII. act v. scene 2, the king desires Cranmer to be the godfather to his daughter, which being modestly declined by the archbishop, his majesty says, 'Come, come, my lord, you'd spare your spoons;' On which Mr. Steevens remarks, It was the custom, long before the time of Shakespeare, for the sponsors at christenings to offer gilt spoons as a present to the child. These spoons were called apostle-spoons; because the figures of the apostles were carved on the tops of the handles. Such as were at once opulent and generous gave the whole twelve; those who were either more moderately rich or liberal escaped at the expence of the four Evangelists; or even sometimes contented themselves with presenting one spoon only, which exhibited the figure of any saint, in honour of whom the child received its name. Ben Jonson, in his Bartholomew Fair, mentions spoons of this kind: "And all this for the hope of a couple of apostle spoons, and a cup to eat caudle in.' So in Middleton's Comedy of A Chaste Maid in Cheapside, 1620, "What has he given ❝her? what is it, gossip? A fair high standing cup and two great postle-spoons, one of them "gilt: sure that was Judas with the red beard." These apostle-spoons are also mentioned by Addison in the Drummer, 1 Cc 2 R. Love. Love. Dearest Shattillion, see upon my I offer up my love; forget my wrongs. Love. By Heav'n, I am. Shat. Then all the world is mine. Love. I've stranger things to tell thee, my dearest love. [own: Shat. Tell nothing, but that thou art mine I do not care to know where I have been, Or how I have liv'd, or any thing, But that thou art mine own. [made us wed, Mar. Jaques! Mar. I am a duke. Mar. Yes, faith, yes, faith; But it must only run among ourselves. And, Jaques, thou shalt be my secretary still. Lady. Kind gentlemen, lead in Shattillion, For he must needs be weak and sickly yet. Now all my labours have a perfect end, As I could wish: let all young sprightly wives, Thusbands, That have dull foolish coxcombs to their Learn by me their duties, what to do, Which is, to make 'em fools, and please 'em too! [Exeunt. EPILOGUE. THE monuments of virtue, and desert, We've done our best, for your contents, to fit, With new pains, this old monument of wit. THE THE CORONATION'. A COMEDY. The first edition of this Play was printed in quarto in the year 1640, and has the name of John Fletcher prefixed to it, as the Author. Upon this authority we have retained it in the present edition, notwithstanding there is evidence of equal weight to authorize us to ascribe it to James Shirley, the editor of the first folio in 1647. That writer, in the year 1653, published a volume of his Plays, and at the end of one of them, viz. The Cardinal, has enumerated the several dramatic pieces written by him: amongst the rest, he has claimed the present performance, which, he says, was falsely ascribed to Fletcher;' with what degree of truth, it is impossible now to determine. We think no argument can be drawn from the omission of it in the first folio, for the reason assigned in the first note to the Play. It has not been acted for many years past, nor do we know of its having ever been altered. The Coronation.] It were to be wished that the publisher of our authors' works in 1679 had given his reasons in the preface, or elsewhere, why he took this play into that edition, There seems to be no just grounds upon which he could go for so bold a practice, seeing the editor of the first folio in 1647, Mr. Shirley, has left it out; a person who must be better acquainted with what was our authors', as living nearer to their time, than the editor of the second folio in 1679. "Tis true, there are several fine strokes in it, which might possibly be Fletcher's; but those will no more entitle hiin to claim it for his own, than it will Shakespeare to assert the play of the Noble Kinsman, in which we know he was partially concerned to Mr. Shirley, therefore, as he has laid claim to it, let's give this performance; nor rob him of the glory which The Coronation may do his memory. Sympson. This note betrays a wonderful inattention in Sympson: since the Coronation was one of the plays printed in quarto, and Shirley professed to insert none in the folio that had ever appeared in quarto. PROLOGUE, |