I could not but reveal, and so pour on
Worse unto ill, which breeds confusion. [He knocks.
A Servant opens.

Alb. Is the master of the house within ?

Serv. Yes, marry, is he, sir: would you speak with him?

Alb. My business is not so troublesome :

Is he in health with his late espoused wife?
Serv. Both are exceeding well, sir.

Alb. I am truly glad on 't: farewell, good friend.
let's crave your name,
pray you,
else have anger.

Serv. I

sir; I may

Alb. You may say, one Albert, riding by this way, only inquired their health.

Serv. I will acquaint so much.

[Exit serv. Alb. How like a poisonous doctor have I come To inquire their welfare, knowing that myself Have given the potion of their ne'er-recovery; For which I will afflict myself with torture ever. And since the earth yields not a remedy Able to salve the sores my lust hath made, I'll now take farewell of socicty, And the abode of men, to entertain a life Fitting my fellowship in desert woods, Where beasts like me consort; there Far off from wronging virtuous Carracus. There's no Maria, that shall satisfy My hateful lust: the trees shall shelter

may

I live,

This wretched trunk of mine, upon whose barks I will engrave the story of my sin.

And there this short breath of mortality

I'll finish up in that repentant state,

Where not the allurements of earth's vanities

Can e'er o'ertake me there's no baits for lust,

No friend to ruin; I shall then be free
From practising the art of treachery.

Thither then, steps, where such content abides,
Where penitency not disturb'd may grieve,
Where on each tree and springing plant I'll carve
This heavy motto of my misery,

Who but a damn'd one could have done like me?

THE UNNATURAL COMBAT, A
TRAGEDY:

BY PHILIP MASSINGER.

MALEFORT senior, Admiral of Marseilles, poisons his first wife to make way for a second. This coming to the knowledge of his son, MALEFORT junior, he challenges his father to fight him. This unnatural combat is performed before the Governor and Court of Marseilles. The spectators retiring to some distance, the father and son parley before the fight commences.

MALEFORT senior. MALEFORT junior.

Mal. sen. Now we are alone, sir;

And thou hast liberty to unload the burden
Which thou groan'st under. Speak thy griefs.
Mal. jun. I shall, sir;

But in a perplex'd form and method, which
You only can interpret: would you had not
A guilty knowledge in your bosom, of
The language which you force me to deliver,
So I were nothing! As you are my father,
I bend my knee, and uncompell'd, profess
My life, and all that's mine, to be your gift;
And that in a son's duty I stand bound
To lay this head beneath your feet, and run
All desperate hazards for your ease and safety :
But this confess'd on my part,
I rise up,
And not as with a father, (all respect,

Love, fear, and reverence, cast off,) but as
A wicked man, I thus expostulate with you.

Why have you done that which I dare not speak,

And in the action changed the humble shape
Of my obedience to rebellious rage,

And insolent pride? and with shut eyes constrain'd

me

To run my bark of honour on a shelf

I must not see, nor, if I saw it, shun it ?
In my wrongs nature suffers, and looks backward,
And mankind trembles to see me pursue

What beasts would fly from. For when I advance
This sword, as I must do, against your head,
Piety will weep, and filial duty mourn,

To see their altars which you built up in me,
In a moment razed and ruin'd. That you could
(From my grieved soul I wish it) but produce,
To qualify, not excuse, your deed of horror,
One seeming reason, that I might fix here,
And move no further!

Mal, sen. Have I so far lost

A father's power, that I must give account
Of my actions to my son? or must I plead
As a fearful prisoner at the bar, while he
That owes his being to me sits as judge
To censure that, which only by myself
Ought to be question'd? mountains sooner fall
Beneath their valleys, and the lofty pine
Pay homage to the bramble, or what else is
Preposterous in nature, ere my tongue
In one short syllable yields satisfaction
To any doubt of thine; nay, though it were
A certainty disdaining argument!

Since, though my deeds wore hell's black livery,
To thee they should appear triumphal robes,
Set off with glorious honour, thou being bound
To see with my eyes, and to hold that reason,
That takes or birth or fashion from my will.
Mal. jun. This sword divides that slavish knot.
Mal. sen. It cannot :