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Art not thou the old stoick's son that dwells in his tomb?

AMBO. We are.

ATEU. Thou art welcome to me.

Wilt thou give

thyself wholly to be at my disposition?

NANO. In all humility I submit myself.

ATEU. Then will I deck thee princely, instruct thee courtly, and present thee to the queen as my gift: art thou content?

NANO. Yes, and thank your honour too.

SLIP. Then welcome, brother, and fellow now. AND. May it please your honour to abase your eye so low, as to look either on my bill or myself? ATEU. What are you?

AND. By birth a gentleman; in profession a scholar; and one that knew your honour in Edinburgh, before your worthiness called you to this reputation: by me, Andrew Snoord.

ATEU. Andrew, I remember thee: follow me, and we will confer further, for my weighty affairs for the king command + me to be brief at this time. Come on, Nano. Slipper, follow. [Exeunt.

Enter SIR BARTRAM, with EUSTACE, and others,

booted.

[me,

SIR BAR. But tell me, lovely Eustace, as thou lov'st Among the many pleasures we have past, Which is the rifest in thy memory,

To draw thee over to thine ancient friend?

EUST. What makes Sir Bartram thus inquisitive?

Tell me, good knight, am I welcome or no?

SIR BAR. By Sweet St. Andrew, and may sale,‡ I

As welcome is my honest Dick to me,

t command] The 4to. "commands.”

[swear

may sale] i. e. my soul,-the author thinking it necessary to

interlard the dialogue with Scottish words.

As morning's sun, or as the watery moon

In merkest night, when we the borders tract.

I tell thee, Dick, thy sight hath clear'd my thoughts Of many baneful troubles that there woon'd: Welcome to Sir Bartram as his life!

Tell me, bonny Dick, hast got a wife?

[ill,

EUST. A wife! God shield, Sir Bartram, that were

To leave my wife and wander thus astray:
But time and good advice ere many years
May chance to make my fancy bend that way.
What news in Scotland? therefore came I hither,
To see your country and to chat together.

SIR BAR. Why, man, our country's blithe, our king is well,

Our queen so, so, the nobles well and worse,
And weel are they that are* about the king,
But better are the country gentlemen:
And I may tell thee, Eustace, in our lives
We old men never saw so wondrous change.
But leave this trattle, and tell me what news
In lovely England with our honest friends?

Eusr. The king, the court, and all our noble friends
Are well, and God in mercy keep them so.
The northern lords and ladies here abouts,
That know + I came to see your queen and court,
Commend them to my honest friend Sir Bartram,
And many others that I have not seen.
Amongst the rest, the Countess Elinor,
From Carlisle, where we merry oft have been,
Greets well my lord, and hath directed me

By message this fair lady's face to see.

[Shews a portrait. SIR BAR. I tell thee, Eustace, 'less § mine old eyes daze,

*are] The 4to. "were."

+ know] The 4to. "knowes."

commend] The 4to. "commends." S'less] The 4to. "lest."

This is our Scottish moon and evening's pride;
This is the blemish of your English bride.
Who sails by her, are sure of wind at will;
Her face is dangerous, her sight is ill;
And yet in sooth, sweet Dick, it may be said,
The king hath folly, there's virtue in the maid.
EUST. But knows my friend this portrait? be
advis'd.

SIR BAR. Is it not Ida, the Countess of Arran's
daughter's?

EUST. So was I told by Elinor of Carlisle :
But tell me, lovely Bartram, is the maid
Evil-inclin'd, misled, or concubine

Unto the king or any other lord?

[my Dick.

SIR BAR. Should I be brief and true, then thus, All England's grounds yield* not a blither lass, Nor Europe can surpass + her for her gifts Of virtue, honour, beauty, and the rest: But our fond king, not knowing sin in lust, Makes love by endless means and precious gifts; And men that see it dare not say't, my friend, But we may wish that it were otherwise. But I rede thee to view the picture still, For by the person's sights there hangs some ill. EUST. O, good Sir Bartram, you suspect I love (Then were I mad) her § whom I never saw. But howsoe'er I fear not enticings;

Desire will give no place unto a king:

I'll see her whom the world admires so much,

That I may say with them, there lives none such. SIR BAR. Be gad, and sall both see and talk with

her;

yield] The 4to. "yeelds."

+ surpass] The 4to "art."

Eust.] The 4to. gives these six lines to Sir Bartram.

§ her] The 4to. "hee."

And when th' hast done, whate'er her beauty be,
I'll warrant thee her virtues may compare
With the proudest she that waits upon your queen.

Enter SERVANT.

SERV.* My lady entreats your worship in to supper. SIR BAR. Guid, bonny, Dick, my wife will tell thee

more;

Was never no man† in her book before:

Be gad, she's blithe, fair, lewly, bonny, &c.‡

[Exeunt.

Enter BOHAN and [OBERON] the Fairy-king, after the first act; to them a round of Fairies, or some pretty dance.

Вон. Be gad, gramercies, little king, for this; This sport is better in my exile life

Than ever the deceitful werld could yield.

OBER. I tell thee, Bohan, Oberon is king
Of quiet, pleasure, profit, and content,
Of wealth, of honour, and of all the world;
Tied to no place, yet all are tied to me.§
Live thou in this life, exil'd from world and men,
And I will shew thee wonders ere we part.

Boн. Then mark my story,|| and the strange doubts That follow flatterers, lust, and lawless will,

And then say I have reason to forsake
The world and all that are within the same.
Go, shrowd us in our harbour where we'll see
The pride of folly, as it ought to be.

[Exeunt.

My lady, &c.] The 4to. gives this line to Eustace, and does not mark the entrance of the Servant.

† no man] Qy."woman."

+ &c.] Was the player here to speak extempore whatever he chose? See note † vol. i. p. 43.

Sme] The 4to. "

one.

story] The 4to. "stay."

After the first Act.*

OBER. Here see I good fond actions in thy jig, And means to paint the world's inconstant ways: But turn thine ene, see what + I can command.

[Enter two battles, strongly fighting, the one Semiramis, the other Stabrobates: she flies, and her crown is taken, and she hurt.

[pomp:

Вон. What gars this din of mirk and baleful harm, Where every wean is all betaint with blood? OBER. This shews thee, Bohan, what is worldly Semiramis, the proud Assyrian queen, When Ninus died, did tene‡ in her wars Three millions of footmen to the fight, Five hundred thousand horse, of armed cars A hundred thousand more, yet in her pride Was hurt and conquer'd by Stabrobates. Then what is pomp?

Вон. I see thou art thine ene,

Thou bonny king, if princes fall from high;
My fall is past, until I fall to die.

Now mark my talk, and prosecute my jig.

2.

OBER. How should these crafts withdraw thee from But look, my Bohan, pomp allureth. [the world! [Enter Cyrus, kings humbling themselves; himself crowned by olive Pat: at last dying, laid in a marble tomb, with this inscription:

*

Who so thou be that passest [by],
For I know one shall pass, know I

After the first Act.] The whole of what follows, till the beginning of the next act, is a mass of confusion and corruption : perhaps the "2" and "3" refer to the second and third acts of the play. The misprints here defy emendation.

t what] The 4to. " which for."

‡ tene] i. e. (if it be not a misprint) kindle, excite.

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