The Dramatic Works of Massinger and Ford

THE EMPEROR OF THE EAST.

TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE, AND MY ESPECIAL GOOD LORD,

JOHN

LORD MOHUN,

BARON OF OKEHAMPTON, ETC.

MY GOOD LORD,-Let my presumption in styling you so, (having never deserved it in my service,) from the clemency of your noble disposition, find pardon. The reverence due to the name of Mohun, long since honoured a three earls of Somerset, and eight barons of Munster, may challenge from all pens a deserved celebration. And the rather in respect those titles were not purchased, but conferred, and continued in your ancestors, for many virtu as noble, and still living actions; nor ever forfeited or tainted, but when the iniquity of those times laboured the depression of approved goodness, and in wicked policy held it fit that loyalty and faith, in taking part with the tru prince, should be degraded and mulcted. But this admitting no further dilation in this place, may your lordship please, and with all possible brevity, to understand the reasons why I am, in humble thankfulness, ambitious to shelter this poem under the wings of your honourable protection. My worthy friend, Mr. ASTON COCKAYNE, your nephew, lo my extraordinary content, delivered to me that your lordship, at your vacant hours, sometimes vouchsafed to presuch trifles of mine as have passed the press, and not alone warranted them in your gentle suffrage, but disdained in* to bestow a remembrance of your love, and intended favour to me. I profess to the world, I was exalted with t1bounty, and with good assurance, it being so rare in this age to meet with one noble name, that, in fear to be censured of levity and weakness, dares express itself a friend or patron to contemned poetry. Having, therefore, no means ele left me to witness the obligation in which I stand most willingly bound to your lordship, I offer this Tragi-comely { your gracious acceptance, no way despairing, but that with a clear aspect you will deign to receive it, (it bein, induction to my future endeavours,) and that in the list of those, that to your merit truly admire you, you ma] descend to number Your lordship's faithful honourer,

PHILIP MASSINGER.

But that imperious custom warrants it,
Our author with much willingness would omit
This preface to his new work. He hath found,
(And suffer'd for't,) many are apt to wound
His credit in this kind: and, whether he
Express himself fearful, or peremptory,
He cannot 'scape their censures who delight
To misapply whatever he shall write.

'Tis his hard fate. And though he will not sue,
Or basely beg such suffrages, yet, to you,
Free and ingenious spirits, he doth now,
In me, present his service, with his vow,

He hath done his best; and, though he cannot glory
In his invention, (this work being a story
Of reverend antiquity,) he doth hope,
In the proportion of it, and the scope,
You may observe some pieces drawn like one,
Of a stedfast hand; and, with the whiter stone
To be mark'd in your fair censures. More than th
I am forbid to promise, and it is

With the most till you confirm it: since we kn
Whate'er the shaft be, archer, or the bow
From which 'tis sent, it cannot hit the white,
Unless your approbation guide it right.

PROLOGUE

AT COURT.

As ever, sir, you lent a gracious ear To oppress'd innocence, now vouchsafe to hear A short petition. At your feet, in me, The poet kneels, and to your majesty Appeals for justice. What we now present, When first conceived, in his vote and intent, Was sacred to your pleasure; in each part With his best of fancy, judgment, language, art, Fashion'd and form'd so, as might well, and may Deserve a welcome, and no vulgar way.

He durst not, sir, at such a solemn feast,
Lard his grave matter with one scurrilous jest ;
But labour'd that no passage might appear,
But what the queen without a blush might hear :
And yet this poor work suffer'd by the rage
And envy of some Catos of the stage:
Yet still he hopes this Play, which then was seen
With sore eyes, and condemn'd out of their spleen,
May be by you, the supreme judge, set free,
And raised above the reach of calumny.

SCENE I.-A Room in the Palace.

Enter PAULINUS and CLEON.

ACT I.

Of the Gracchi, grave Cornelia, Rome still boasts of,
The wise Pulcheria but named, must be
No more remember'd. She, by her example,

Paul. In your six years' travel, friend, no doubt, Hath made the court a kind of academy,

you have met with

Many and rare adventures, and observed

The wonders of each climate, varying in

The manners and the men; and so return,

For the future service of your prince and country, In your understanding better'd.

Cle. Sir, I have made of it

The best use in my power, and hope my gleanings
After the full crop others reap'd before me,
Shall not, when I am call'd on, altogether
Appear unprofitable: yet I left

The miracle of miracles in our age

At home behind me; every where abroad,

Fame, with a true though prodigal voice, deliver'd
Such wonders of Pulcheria, the princess,

To the amazement, nay, astonishment rather,
Of such as heard it, that I found not one,

In all the states and kingdoms that I pass'd through,
Worthy to be her second.

Paul. She, indeed, is

A perfect phoenix, and disdains a rival.

Her infant years, as you know, promised much,
But, grown to ripeness, she transcends, and makes
Credulity her debtor. I will tell you,

In my blunt way, to entertain the time,

you

Until have the happiness to see her, How in your absence she hath born herself, And with all possible brevity; though the subject Is such a spacious field, as would require An abstract of the purest eloquence (Derived from the most famous orators

The nurse of learning, Athens, shew'd the world) In that man, that should undertake to be

Her true historian.

Cle. In this you shall do me

A special favour.

Paul. Since Arcadius' death,

Our late great master, the protection of
The

prince, his son, the second Theodosius,
By a general vote and suffrage of the people,
Was to her charge assign'd, with the disposure
Of his so many kingdoms. For his person,
She hath so train'd him up in all those arts
That are both great and good, and to be wish'd
In an imperial monarch, that the mother

In which true honour is both learn'd and practised:
Her private lodgings a chaste nunnery,

In which her sisters, as probationers, hear
From her, their sovereign abbess, all the precepts
Read in the school of virtue.

Cle. You amaze me.

Paul. I shall, ere I conclude; for here the wonder Begins, not ends. Her soul is so immense, And her strong faculties so apprehensive, To search into the depth of deep designs, And of all natures, that the burthen, which To many men were insupportable, To her is but a gentle exercise,

Made, by the frequent use, familiar to her.

Cle. With your good favour, let me interrupt you. Being, as she is, in every part so perfect, Methinks that all kings of our eastern world Should become rivals for her.

Paul. So they have;

But to no purpose. She, that knows her strength
To rule and govern monarchs, scorns to wear
On her free neck the servile yoke of marriage;
And for one loose desire, envy itself

Dares not presume to taint her. Venus' son
Is blind indeed when he but gazes on her;
Her chastity being a rock of diamonds,

With which encounter'd, his shafts fly in splinters;
His flaming torches in the living spring
Of her perfections quench'd: and, to crown all,
She's so impartial when she sits upon
The high tribunal, neither sway'd with pity,
Nor awed by fear, beyond her equal scale,
That 'tis not superstition to believe
Astrea once more lives upon the earth,
Pulcheria's breast her temple.

Cle. You have given her

An admirable character.

Paul. She deserves it:

Let those corrupted ministers of the court,
Which you complain of, our devotions ended,
Be cited to appear for the ambassadors
Who are importunate to have audience,
From me you may assure them, that to-morrow
They shall in public kiss the emperor's robe,
And we in private, with our soonest leisure,
Will give them hearing. Have you especial care too,
That free access be granted unto all
Petitioners. The morning wears.-Pray you, on,
Time lost is ne'er recover'd.
[sir;

[Exeunt all but PAULINUS and CLEON.

Paul. Did you note

The majesty she appears in?

Cle. Yes, my good lord;

I was ravish'd with it.

Paul. And then, with what speed

She orders her dispatches, not one daring
To interpose; the emperor himself,
Without reply, putting in act whatever
She pleased to impose upon him.

Cle. Yet there were some,

That, in their sullen looks, rather confess'd

A forced constraint to serve her, than a will

To be at her devotion: what are they?

Nor yet depress'd to the gallies; in your names
You carry no such crimes; your specious titles
Cannot but take her :-President of the Projectors!
What a noise it makes! The Master of the Habit
How proud would some one country be that I know,
To be your first pupil! Minion of the Suburbs,
And now and then admitted to the court,
And honour'd with the style of Squire of Dames!
What hurt is in it? One thing I must tell you,
As I am the state-scout, you may think me an in-
Mast. They are synonyma.
[former.

Infor. Conceal nothing from her

Of your good parts, 'twill be the better for you,
Or if you should, it matters not; she can conjure.
And I am her ubiquitary spirit,

Bound to obey her :-you have my instructions;
Stand by, here's better company.

Enter PAULINUS, CLEON, and ATHENAIS, with a petition.
Athen. Can I hope, sir,

Paul. Eunuchs of the emperor's chamber, that Oppressed innocence shall find protection

Employ'd by divers princes, who desire
Alliance with our emperor, whose years now,
As you see, write him man. One would advance

A daughter to the honour of his bed;
A second, his fair sister: to instruct you
In the particulars would ask longer time
Than my own designs give way to. I have letters
From special friends of mine, that to my care
Commend a stranger virgin, whom this morning
I purpose to present before the princess:
If you please, you may accompany me.
Cic. I'll wait on you.

[Exeunt.

And justice among strangers, when my brothers,
Brothers of one womb, by one sire begotten,
Trample on my afflictions?

Paul. Forget them,

Remembering those may help you.

Athen. They have robb'd me

Of all means to prefer my just complaint,
With any promising hope to gain a hearing,
Much less redress: petitions not sweetened
With gold, are but unsavoury, oft refused;
Or, if received, are pocketed, not read.
A suitor's swelling tears by the glowing beams
Of choleric authority are dried up

Before they fall, or if seen, never pitied.
What will become of a forsaken maid !

My flattering hopes are too weak to encounter
With my strong enemy, despair, and 'tis
In vain to oppose her.

Cle. Cheer her up; she faints, sir.
Paul. This argues weakness; though your
brothers were

Cruel beyond expression, and the judges
That sentenced you, corrupt, you shall find here
One of your own fair sex to do you right;
Whose beams of justice, like the sun, extend
Their light and heat to strangers, and are not
Municipal or confined.

Athen. Pray you, do not feed me
With airy hopes; unless you can assure me
The great Pulcheria will descend to hear
My miserable story, it were better

I died without the trouble.

Paul. She is bound to it

By the surest chain, her natural inclination

Loud Music. Enter THEODOSIUS, PULCHERIA, ARCADIA,
FLATILLA, Patriarch, PHILANAX, TIMANTUS, CHRYSA-
PIES, GRATIANUS, and Attendants.

Cle. They are return'd from the temple.
Paul. See, she appears;

What think you now?

Athen. A cunning painter thus,

Her veil ta'en off, and awful sword and balance

Laid by, would picture Justice.

Pul. When you please,

You may intend those royal exercises

Suiting your birth and greatness: I will bear

The burthen of your cares, and having purged
The body of your empire of ill humours,
Upon my knees surrender it.

Chry. Will you ever

Be awed thus like a boy?

Grat. And kiss the rod

Of a proud mistress?

Tim. Be what you were born, sir.

Phil. Obedience and majesty never lodged

In the same inn.

Theod. No more; he never learn'd

The right way to command, that stopp'd his ears To wise directions.

Pul. Read o'er the papers

I left upon my cabinet; two hours hence

I will examine you.

Some place where I may look on her demeanor: 'Tis a lovely creature!

Chry. There's some hope in this yet.

[Flourish. Exeunt THEODOSIUS, Patriarch, PHILANAX,
TIMANTUS, CHRYSAPIUS, and GRATIANUS.
Pul. No: you have done your parts.
Paul. Now opportunity courts you,
Prefer your suit.

Athen. [Kneeling.] As low as misery
Can fall, for proof of my humility,
A poor distressed virgin bows her head,
And lays hold on your goodness, the last altar
Calamity can fly to for protection.

Great minds erect their never-falling trophies
On the firm base of mercy; but to triumph
Over a suppliant, by proud fortune captived,
Argues a bastard conquest :-'tis to you

I speak, to you, the fair and just Pulcheria,
The wonder of the age, your sex's honour ;
And as such, deign to hear me. As you have
A soul moulded from heaven, and do desire
To have it made a star there, make the means
Of your ascent to that celestial height
Virtue, wing'd with brave action: they draw near
The nature and the essence of the gods,
Who imitate their goodness.

Pul. If you were

A subject of the empire, which your habit In every part denies

Athen. O, fly not to

Such an evasion! whate'er I am,

Being a woman, in humanity

You are bound to right me. Though the difference

Of my religion may seem to exclude me

From your defence, which you would have conThe moral virtue, which is general,

[fined;

Must know no limits. By these blessed feet, That pace the paths of equity, and tread boldly On the stiff neck of tyrannous oppression,

By these tears by which I bathe them, I conjure With pity to look on me!

[you

Pul. Pray you, rise;

And, as you rise, receive this comfort from me.
Beauty, set off with such sweet language, never
Can want an advocate; and you must bring
More than a guilty cause if you prevail not.
Some business, long since thought upon, dispatch'd,
You shall have hearing, and, as far as justice
Will warrant me, my best aids.

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