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YALE STUDIES IN ENGLISH
ALBERT S. COOK, Editor
XXVIII
THE STAPLE OF NEWS
by
BEN JONSON
Edited with Introduction, Notes, and Glossary
by
DE WINTER, Ph.D.
Instructor in Rhetoric in Yale University
A Thesis presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Yale University
in Candidacy for the Degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
NEW YORK
HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY
1905
YALE STUDIES IN ENGLISH
ALBERT S. COOK, Editor
XXVIII
THE STAPLE OF NEWS
BY
BEN JONSON
Edited with Introduction, Notes, and Glossary
BY
DE WINTER, Ph.D.
Instructor in Rhetoric in Yale University
A Tbesis presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Yale University
in Candidacy for the Degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
NEW YORK
HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY
1905
Copyright 1905 by De Winter
TO MY WIFE
PREFACE
In The Staple of News jonson pushed his theory of the
purpose and method of comedy to its logical extreme. With
him the satiric purpose of comedy was always paramount.
Indeed it sometimes seems, as in the formless Cynthia's
Revels, as if he deliberately neglected the principles of
stage-success in order that his satire might be the sole
claimant for attention. Again, with Jonson satiric purpose
was usually synonymous with moral purpose. Though his
characters sometimes represent real persons, and more often
'humours,' in the plays which are most consistent with his
fundamental conception of the purpose and method of
comedy the majority of the characters are generalized types,
and are designed to satirize neither individuals nor super¬
ficial 'humours,' but vices and abuses. With his long prac¬
tice of this theory, with his reverence for ancient models,
and with the impulse in that direction gained from his own
masks, it was easy for him to go one step further, and
attempt a comedy containing characters which are not
individuals, nor 'humours,' nor generalized types, but
abstractions or allegories : this he had done tentatively, in
Cynthia's Revels, before he began to write masks ; and this,
with a clearer consciousness of what he was about, and with
a bolder faith, he did again, a quarter of a century later,
in The Staple of News.
The Staple of News is not a great stage-piece. Its
remarkable organization and the skill with which its threads
are brought together in the project of the news-staple; the
interest of the motifs; the vivacity and lifelikeness of the
characterization—especially that of the Peniboys and that
of the gossips in the Induction and Intermeans ; the force
and pungency of the satire—all these are more or less dulled
vi
Preface
and clouded by the abstract and shadowy quality of the
central group of characters, Pecunia and her train. Even
had the satire been less unpalatable to the audience for
whom it was intended, this allegorical element would prob¬
ably have condemned The Staple of News as a stage-piece
in Jonson's day; just as it offers some discouragement to
those who would read it as literature in this day.
Still I am not one of those who see in The Staple of News
manifest signs that the decay of Jonson's powers had begun.
The real wane began soon after its production, but it began
suddenly, with a stroke of paralysis. We miss in this play
the exuberant creativeness and the wonderful dramatic
nerve and energy of Volpone and the Alchemist, but we
feel in their stead a power of another and higher kind. We
feel in it the presence of a mind of broader, clearer, steadier
vision than that of the early masterpieces—a mind of an
easier and more comprehensive grasp upon the meaning
of life, and of a deeper and saner sense of moral values.
It is primarily as a moral thinker that Jonson addresses
us here: The Staple of News is a great moral poem in
dramatic form. Compared with it in this respect, most of
the satirical dramas of that age are the merest ephemerae.
No other even of Jonson's own plays contains so much that
is of abiding significance : it represents his power and
energy as a moral thinker at their highest.
For nine years—and this in the very prime of life—Jon¬
son had written no plays, and had had no outlet for his
satiric energy other than short poems and occasional masks ;
and it would almost seem that he tried in our play to
express the entire satiric consciousness accumulated during
this period of comparative silence. In order to swell the
grand total, his recent masks, too, were made to return
most of the thought of this kind which he had put into
them. Scarcely a single prominent abuse of the times, one
might believe, came off untouched. Greatest of all, and the
informing idea of the whole play, is the satire against the
many-headed evil of money-worship, and the misuse of
Preface
vii
money in lavish gifts to sycophants and flatterers, and in
feasting and dress, which, with its stronghold about the
very throne of England, was impoverishing the nation with
its exactions, and enervating it with its example. Next in
importance is the satire upon the idle, credulous, almost dis¬
eased, appetite of the public for transitory news, and upon
the unprincipled gatherers, makers, and vendors of such
news. Besides these two major themes, the play contains
a whole bundle of minor satiric themes: projectors and
bubble projects, typified in Cymbal and his news-exchange;
the profane wit which
Dare put on any visor to deride
The wretched, or with buff on license jest
At whatsoe'er is serious, if not sacred,
typified in the covey of jeerers; the mercenary herald, typi¬
fied in Piedmantle ; the unprincipled courtier, in Fitton ;
the scheming lawyer, in Picklock ; the quacksalver, in
Almanach; the cowardly and venal army-officer, in Shun-
field; the insipid but popular rimester, in Madrigal; the
undiscerning dramatic critic, in the 'ridiculous gossips' of
the Induction and the Intermeans—all these Jonson mus¬
tered for flagellation in this singularly potent drama.
The Staple of News is a difficult play. With the possible
exception of Cynthia's Revels, no other play of Jonson's
yields up so small a part of its real meaning at the first read¬
ing. Though I have studied it for many months, I still
discover new meanings daily. As the proportions of the
glossary included in this volume will show, the play is
particularly interesting from a lexical point of view :
it contains an unusually large percentage of obsolete and
archaic words and uses, and a considerable number of what
seem to be very rare, or even entirely exceptional, uses.
Moreover, notwithstanding his satiric wrath, Jonson seems
here to have delighted in language for its own sake : he
revels in word-plays, in double meanings, and even in triple
meanings. Again, the play contains a very large number
vi i i
Preface
of allusions to contemporary events. Thoroughly to realize
the meaning of it, one should be saturated with the social
and political history of the time. In my attempt to throw
light upon it in the notes and glossary I have had in mind
not so much the needs of the erudite few, as of that larger
class who would read it with scholarly interest, and read it
more often, if the means were at hand of reading it more
intelligently.
I owe hearty thanks to Professor Albert S. Cook for
advice in numerous matters of form, and for the stimulus
of his criticism; to Dr. Herbert S. Mallory, whose task
of editing Poetaster has kept him always within hailing
distance, for help in many a difficulty; to Dr. John M.
Berdan for the privilege of collating his copy of the Folio;
to Mr. Lucius H. Holt and to Mr. William S. Johnson
for helpful suggestions ; and to Mr. Andrew Keogh of the
Yale Library for aid in bibliographical matters.
A portion of the expense of printing this thesis has been
borne by the Modern Language Club of Yale University
from funds placed at its disposal by the generosity of Mr.
George E. Dimock of Elizabeth, New Jersey, a graduate
of Yale in the Class of 1874.
D. w.
Yale University,
Feb. 8, 1905.
CONTENTS
PAGE
Ï. Introduction ...... xi
A. Editions of the Text .... xi
B. The Date of the Play .... xviii
C. Sources ....... xx
D. Early English Journalism and Nathaniel
Butter ...... xxxv
E. Identifications ..... xlvi
1. Cymbal and Nathaniel Butter . xlvi
2. Madrigal and Jonson li
3. Madrigal and George Wither lv
II. Text ........ 1
III. Notes ........ 121
IV. Glossary ....... 230
V. Bibliography ...... 265
VI. Index ....... 268
INTRODUCTION
A. Editions of the Text
The Staple of News was first printed in folio in 1631, and
probably it was then put into circulation, either as a separate
pamphlet or bound with Bartholomew Fair and The Devil
is an Ass. Copies of this original edition were, in 1641,
bound into the second volume of the First Folio of Jonson's
collected works.1 Our play appears, therefore, in all the
collected editions. These are as follows : ( 1 ) the First
Folio, just mentioned; (2) the 'Third Folio,' a double-
column edition in one volume, 1692; (3) a booksellers"
edition, 1716 [1717] ; (4) Peter Whalley's 'corrected'
edition, 1756; (5) John Stockdale's reprint of Whalley's
edition (together with the works of Beaumont and Fletcher),
1811 ; (6) William Gifford's 'critical' edition, 1816 (second
edition, 1846) ; (7) Barry Cornwall's one-volume edition,
1838; (8) Lieut.-Col. Francis Cunningham's three-vol¬
ume re-issue (with some minor variations) of Gifford's
edition, 1871 ; (9) the same in nine volumes, 1875 (now
the standard edition). The Catalogue of the British
Museum shows that jonson's plays were printed in two
volumes at Dublin in 1709, and no doubt The Staple of
News was included. Of these editions, only the first, from
which the text of this present work is taken, is of great
importance ; and of the others, only the second, third,
fourth, and sixth call for any discussion.
The second volume of the First Folio, which contains the
original edition of our play, has been much discussed.
Some of the title-pages in it are dated 1631, some 1640,
1 The first volume of this Folio was printed in 1616. A reprint of
this volume, made in 1640, is sometimes called the 'Second Folio.'
xii
Introduction
and others 1641, and different copies vary in signatures,
pagination, wording of title-pages, and other details. Gif-
ford believed that it was printed from manuscripts surrep¬
titiously obtained ; Miss Bates, in her English Drama/
says it belongs to 1631, and that it was reprinted in 1640,
and again in 1641 ; Ward, in his History of English
Dramatic Literature,2 comes to a conclusion similar to that
of Miss Bates. In 1870, however, Brinsley Nicholson, by
a careful collation,3 showed that the different copies, despite
their variations, were all printed from the same forms ; and
in 1882 Hazlitt4 arrived at the same conclusion. The truth
seems to be that this volume is made up of pieces printed
separately and designed for separate sale, and that impres¬
sions were struck off at different dates, with changes in the
forms in the meantime ; hence the irregularities in signa¬
tures and pagination, and the variations in different copies.
As the copy from which the text of this present edition
was taken differs in some respects from that described by
Nicholson and Hazlitt, it has seemed advisable to give a
somewhat detailed collation of it.
Folio by measurement : signatures in fours.
Collation:5 Five leaves, the second with the signature
A3 ; B-M ; Aa (changed after Cc2 to a single letter)-I
( F0 is printed Fs ) ; two leaves without signature ; N-Y6 ;
B-Q; R, two leaves ; S-X ; Y, two leaves ; Z ; Aa-Oo ;
Pp, two leaves ; Qq, one leaf ; three leaves without signa¬
ture; A-K; L, two leaves; M-R (S, T, V, X, Y, Z
omitted) ; A-P ; Q, two leaves; R-V.
There is no general title-page (in some copies that of the first
volume of the 1640 Folio is inserted). (1) Title-page of Bartholo¬
mew Fayre, printed 1631. This is the first of five leaves, the second
1 P. 78.
2 2. 296.
3 Notes and Queries, 4th S. 5. 573.
* Bibliog. Coll. and Notes, p. 320.
5 J, U, and W are always omitted.
6 For the dislocation in signatures, etc., see (3) below.
Introduction
xiii
with the signature A3, the others without signature, and all without
pagination. The Prologue, etc., A3 ; verso, The Persons of the
Play ; the Induction, the next three leaves ; the play itself, B-M :
pp. [i-io] and 1-88. (2) Title-page of The Staple of Newes (see
first page of text), printed 1631: As (changed after Cc2 to a single
letter)-I; two leaves: pp. [1-76]. (3) Title-page of The Divell is
an Asse, printed 1631 : [N]-Y (verso blank): pp. [9i]-i70. The
signatures and pagination show that it was intended that this play
should follow Bartholomew Favre. Pp. 89, 90, however, are want¬
ing. (4) The Masques, beginning with Christmas his Masque (no
t.p.), B-Q; R, two leaves; S-X; Y, two leaves (verso blank):
pp. i—[ 160]. P. 93 [Ns] is numbered 87. B4 has verso blank. Only
two of the Masques have title-pages—the Masque for the Enter¬
tainment of Monsieur Le Baron De Tour, [C] p. 9, and The
Metamorphosed Gipsies, [G4] p. 47. (5) Title-page of Underwoods,
printed M. DC. XL: [Z] ; Aa-Oo; Pp, Two leaves', Qq, one leaf
(verso blank) : pp. [161-286]. Page 285 is numbered 283. (6)
Title-page of Mortimer His Fall (verso blank), printed M. DC. XL:
pp. [287]-292. This fragment occupies three leaves, none of which
has a signature. Only the third leaf is paged: 291-292. (7) Title-
page of Horace his Art of Poetrie, printed M. DC. XL: [A]-D3
(verso blank) : pp. 1-30. (8) Title-page of The English Grammar,
printed M. DC. XL: [D4]-L2: pp. [3i]-84. (9) Title-page of
Timber, or Discoveries, printed M. DC. XLI : M-R: pp. 85-132
(10) Title-page of The Magnetick Lady, printed M. CD [DC]. XL:
[A] (verso blank) ; Persons of the Play, A2 (verso blank) ; Induction,
[A3]-[A4] (verso blank); the play itself, B-H : pp. [i]-64. (11)
Title-page of A Tale of a Tub, printed M. CD [DC]. XL: [I]
(verso blank)-[Q2] (verso blank) : pp. [65]-! 14. The pagination
of 70-79 is repeated. (12) Title-page of The Sad Shepherd, printed
M. DC. XLI: [R] (verso blank)-V (verso blank): pp. [ii5]-i56.
Pages 123-132 are omitted in the pagination.
Both Whalley and Gilford, reasoning chiefly from the
carelessness of the text, believed that Jonson gave himself
no concern about the printing of The Staple of News. He
had it entered at the Stationers' Register, however, in April,
1626, a few weeks after it was acted, and probably would
have published it then but for a stroke of paralysis, which
he suffered that year. It is well-nigh certain, too, that
he gave some, though by no means careful, attention to
the printing of it in 1631. The evidence for this is an
xiv
Introduction
undated letter of his to the Earl of Newcastle ( H arl. MS.
4955) : 'My lord ... It is the lewd printer's fault
that I can send your lordship no more of my book. I sent
you one piece before, The Fair . . . and now I send
you this other morsel, The fine gentleman that walks
the town, The Fiend; but before he will perfect the rest
I fear he will come himself to be a part under the title
of The Absolute Knave, which he hath played with me.'
Gifford regarded this letter as an allusion to a work of
which nothing is now to be found,' but Brinsley Nicholson,
who quoted the letter in Notes and Queries (4th S. 5. 514)
in 1870, in a discussion of the peculiarities of the second
volume of orison's Folio, understood it better. He says :
'Now when it is remembered that, though the paging alters
as elsewhere for the sake of separate sale, the signatures
of the three comedies are continuous (A to Y and then
Aa, &c.), and when the titles of Bartholomen' Fair and The
Devil is an Ass, and the plot of the latter are compared with
Jonson's jocular allusions which I have underlined, and with
the playful and play-wright style of the quotation, it will,
I think, be seen that the first piece sent . . . was
Bartholomew Fair, and the second morsel—The Fiend, the
play of The Devil is an Ass. The non-continuance of the
attempt at a second collected volume beyond the third
play, The Staple of News, was probably due to the damning
by the town of The New Inn in the same year.' But
though, as Nicholson has shown, The Staple of News was
printed under Jonson's supervision, he could not have given
it close attention. As Whalley and Gifford long ago
observed, the text of 1631 is a very careless piece of print¬
ing. It contains a number of obvious misprints. In two
or three instances the scenes are wrongly numbered, and
in several places there are erroneous assignments of
speeches. The punctuation also is haphazard—in many
places worse than none at all. And yet the number of
instances where the meaning is obscure on this account is
very small. In general, were it not for the frequent quib-
Introduction
XV
bling, this original text would be readily intelligible to any
one who was familiar with the vocabulary of the Jacobeans.
The Folio of 16921 is usually spoken of as a reprint of
the original Folio, with the qualification that it contains
a large number of changes in capitals and spelling, and a
fair allowance of printer's errors. As regards our play,
however, the original text of which is a careless piece of
printing, and offers much opportunity for correction, this
assertion must be still further qualified. As the foot-notes
show, the Folio of 1692 corrects a good many obvious mis¬
prints and omissions. The punctuation, also, is rectified in
a large number of instances. From some of those included
in the foot-notes it is evident that a rather careful effort
was made to bring clearness and coherence into the text:
e. g., Prol. for the Stage, 12 towne;] commaf2; ib. 27
worke,] semi-colonf; 1. 5. 92 Companion,] colonf; 1. 6. 44
Subterranean,] periodf ; 2. 2. 1 late,] late. 1692, 1716, W;
2. 2. 5 besides,] interrogation!. It will appear also, from
the paragraphs below, that this edition supplied a number
of verbal changes which were followed in subsequent
editions. In short, the 'Third Folio' text of our play is by
no means a mere reprint of that of 1631.
The booksellers' edition of 1716 is based on the edition
of 1692. It follows that edition uniformly in capitalization,
very often in punctuation, and adopts a considerable number
of its verbal changes. Among these last, the following,
being obvious blunders, are particularly significant as to the
basis of the text: 1. 5. 26 Statesmen) Statesman; 4. 2. 164
Gentlewomen] Gentlewoman; 5. 1. 34 parents] parent;
5. i. 50 spoyl'd] spoil' 1692; spoil 1716. Nevertheless this
edition is not a servile reprint of that of 1692 : it frequently
departs from it in punctuation, and makes a number of
changes in forms and wordings, which are evidently delib-
1 For a detailed collation of this volume, see Dr. H. S. Mallory's
edition of Poetaster ( Yale Studies in English No. 27), N. Y., 1905.
2 f — all four of the texts discussed in this and the next para¬
graphs ; W = Whalley's text ; G — Gifford's text.
xvi
Introduction
erate: e. g., Induction 64 spurges] purges 1716, W, G;
3. 2. 320 a making] making 1716, W ; 3-4- 79 venter]
venture 1716, W, G; 4. 1. 55 You all are] You are all 1716,
W, G; 4. 2. 112 honour] honours 1716, W, G; 4. 4. 164
ghirlond] garland 1716, W, G; 5. 1. 82 permit me see]
permit me to see 1716, W ; 5. 6. 49 Stentor] Senator. In
some instances, too, it corrects, or tries to correct, the assign¬
ment of speeches: e. g., 4. 2. 117 Pic.] P. jun. 1J16, W, G;
4. 2. 123 P. Iv.] Pic. 1716, W.
Whalley's edition, 1756, purports to have been 'collated
with all the former editions and corrected.' Whalley's colla¬
tion must have been done hastily, however, or else he used
the results carelessly. He believed that Jonson had nothing
to do with the printing of the earliest edition, and that it
was very corrupt. In some instances he followed unneces¬
sary changes made by 1692 and adopted by 1716 : e. g., 1. 1. 1
(SN.) trouses] trowsers ; 3. 2. 27 in i'] i'W in G; 3. Int.
4 a usurer] an usurerf ; 4. Int. 45 flyen] flownf ; 5. 1. 32
loosing] losingf; 5. 1. 118 mine] myf ; 5. 6. 10 buffon]
buffoon.f It is evident, as Gifford pointed out,1 that
Whalley's working copy and the real basis of his text was
the edition of 1716: he often followed that to the entire
neglect of the two earlier editions. Indeed he seems at
times almost to have forgotten that there ever were any
earlier texts. For example, on 5. 1. 51, 'The last hum that
it made,' he says: 'i. e. the office: the printed books by
mistake have is made.' Both 1631 and 1692 read 'it'; 1716
alone reads 'is.' Again, on 5. 4. 5, 'wine o' my worship,'
Whalley says: 'It seems most natural to read, "O'my
worship," as we say commonly, On my honour!' unless it
be meant ironically, Your worship must have wine!' Had
Whalley looked at the original text, he would have found
there 'o'my worship' ; 'o'your worship' is the reading of
1716 alone. To the punctuation Whalley gave considerable
attention, not uniformly with good results. He also made a
1GC. i. clxxxiii.
Introduction
xvii
number of unnecessary verbal changes: e. g., i. 2. 3 I but]
but I; i. 3. 25 those] these W, G; 1. Int. 16 would] could
W, G; 2. 3. 9 stands] stand W, G; 3. 1. 48 unto] to W, G;
3. 4. 36 unto] into; 3. 4. 36 ship] shop W, G; 3. Int. 44
Cunning-Man] cunning man W, G; 5. 1. 55 this] his W, G;
5. I. 115 our] your W, G; 5. 2. 37 syllable] syllab W, G;
5. 5. 15 washing] swashing W, G; Whalley was also in a
few instances guilty of silently inserting or omitting words :
e. g., I. 6. 3 better] better better; 3. 2. 249 Come forth
State] Come forth the state W, G; 3. Int. 27 bettes wonne ]
bets were won W, G; 1. 3. 48 doe doe] do W, G.
Gifford's edition, 1816, was made with a more intimate
knowledge of the earliest text than Whalley had; but, like
Whalley, Gifford believed that Jonson had nothing to do
with the printing of the first edition, and hence he also was
only too ready to emend it. Though he scored Whalley
for some of his changes, he followed him in others, or with
him adopted readings of the edition of 1692, or of that of
1716, quite as indefensible as those he condemned (see the
readings noted in the paragraphs above ). He clipped oaths :
e. g., i. 2. 143 Gods so] Ods so. He altered the form of
prepositions : e. g., 2. 1. 4 of ] off ; 3. 2. 331 a clocke] o'clock.
As the foot-notes on almost every page show, he spelt out
or otherwise altered contractions as he pleased. He silently
substituted one word for another: e. g., Ind. 50 Ay] Ah;
I. Int. 8 the Begger] a Beggar; 2. 1. 49 unto] under;
or omitted a word : e. g., 2. 5. 124 of a tauerne] of tavern ;
or even inserted a word: e. g., 1. 3. 6 horses] of horses;
5. 6. 15 I know it] I know it, [I]. His changes in punctua¬
tion are often questionable. He regarded the marginal
notes as being entirely the work of the 'book-holder,' and
accordingly he altered, omitted, or supplemented them at
will. The address To the Reader, at the beginning of Act 3,
he put into a foot-note. He ignored the fact that Jonson
deliberately followed classical usage in dividing his scenes.
To Jonson a scene was a situation, to Gifford it was a place;
xviii
Introduction
and whereas Jonson divided his play into twenty-five scenes,
Gifford divides it into eight. In short, Gilford's edition
hardly deserves to be called critical.
B. The Date of the Play
The Staple of News was first acted, not in 1625, as Gifford
and Cunningham say, but in 1626. 'The mention of Shrove¬
tide,' says Fleay,1 '(wdiich began Feb. 19 in 1626) in the
Induction [line 12J, coupled with "now at the Coronation"
[3. 2. 312], 1626, Feb. 2, fixes the public performance to
Candlemas, and the Court one to Shrovetide.' The play was
entered at the Stationers' Register April 14, 1626, but, for
some reason—probably Jonson's paralytic stroke—it was not
published till 1631, when the poet himself gave at least
some attention to the printing of it.2
Jonson conceived the idea of the news-staple as early as
the latter part of 1620. In his mask, News from the New
World, which was performed in January 1621, the general
plan of the Office is sketched almost as inclusively, and, to
some extent, in the same words, as in our play. For
example, in one place Jonson makes the Factor say: 'And
I have hope to erect a Staple for News ere long, whither
all shall be brought, and thence again vented under the
name of Staple-news,' etc.3 This sounds very much like
a promise of the coming play, and perhaps Jonson began it
then. The play itself, however, would lead one to think
that it was begun soon after Butter began his Weekly News,
that is, in the latter part of 1622. In the first place, the
way the news-staple is spoken of all through the play, and
especially in the second scene of Act 1, where it is first
mentioned, suggests that the actual thing alluded to is a
recent innovation. Again, the extent to which Pecunia, the
1 Hist, of the Stage, p. 384.
2 See Introd., pp. 13-14.
2 Cf. note on 1. 5. 36-50.
Introduction
xix
central figure of the play, typifies the Spanish Infanta,1
seems to show that jonson created that figure at a time
when the Spanish marriage was still a serious possibility.
The play is earnest satire, and had it been written after the
danger was past, it does not seem likely that Jonson would
so have woven the Infanta into the satire upon the idolatry
of money—which, after all, is the fundamental idea of the
play, no matter what its title may be. But once he had
written it, perhaps he saw, or was advised, that the allegory
was too pointed for safety, and hence that the presentation
would have to be postponed until, from change of policy and
the passage of time, the play would be likely to meet with
greater toleration.
But, though it is certain that the general idea of the news-
satire was born in Jonson's mind as early as the beginning
of 1621, and though, on the ground of timeliness, it seems
very likely that the elaboration of The Staple of News
began in the latter part of 1622, nevertheless the play was
receiving additions, one might say, almost up to the hour
of its presentation. First, as regards mere details and brief
allusions : in the Induction, Shrovetide and the coronation
of Charles are mentioned ; in 3. 2. 220, Middleton's A Game
at Chess, which was acted in August 1624; in 4. 4. 170, the
plague, which is spoken of as though it were entirely over,
though, as a matter of fact, even at the date of the second
performance, it had not entirely, vanished ;2 and in 5. 6. 53,
the 'year of jubilee,' which was 1625. It is worth men¬
tion, too, that the tone of some of the allusions to the
Infanta, especially those in the Second Intermean, suggest
that the whole episode of the Spanish marriage was over
when they were written, and hence could be publicly jested
upon in a stage-performance at Court. More important
to the play are the extensive contributions which it received
from Jonson's most recent mask, Neptune's Triumph. This
mask, which celebrates the return of Prince Charles in
1 Cf. note on Second Intermean, lines 22-37.
2 Cf. note on 4. 4. 170.
XX
Introduction
October 1623 from his wooing-voyage to Spain, was
designed for Twelfth Night, 1624, but was postponed, and
presented Jan. 9, 1625.1 There can be little doubt, I think,
that the passages which occur both in the mask and in the
play were written originally for the mask, and not for the
play. It is entirely improbable that Jonson should find in a
play which he had already written for a more general pur¬
pose, so much that was adapted to the special occasion for
which the mask was designed. No doubt Charles had been
pleased with the mask, and hence Jonson drew upon it freely
to lighten, and otherwise help out, a somewhat heavy
comedy.
In short, then, Jonson certainly conceived the general idea
of the news-staple early in 1621. Probably he meant then
to promise us a play containing this as,a main feature; and
perhaps he had already done something towards it. In
view, however, of the developments in Butter's news-system
in 1622, as well as the fact that the project of the Spanish
marriage was then hot upon the anvil, it would seem that
the second half of 1622 and the year 1623 must have been
the period in which the main body of the play was created.
The satire upon the latter theme explains why, if the play
was written then, its presentation was so long postponed.
However that may be, Jonson certainly worked on the play
during the closing weeks of 1625 and the first weeks of
1626, laying his recent masks under contribution, and insert¬
ing allusions to contemporary conditions and events, almost
to the date of the second presentation, February 19, 1626.
C. Sources
Jonson's most important debts to ancient authors in The
Staple of News are to Aristophanes' comedy, Plutus, and
to Lucian's dialogue, Timon. Lucian no doubt imitated
Aristophanes, and Jonson took hints from both. From
1 Cf. Fleay, Chron. Eng. Drama 2. 12; Hist, of Stage, p. 262.
Introduction
xxi
them he got the main idea of the allegorical part of the play,
the personification of money. He had, however, used this
idea before: Lady Argurion in Cynthia's Revels (acted
1600) also personifies money. His working out of this idea
in the action of our play has little or no resemblance to
the plot of either of his originals. Pecunia herself differs
very greatly from the deity of the Greek masterpieces: (1)
in being of the feminine gender; (2) in having a train of
abstract personages similar to herself; (3) in having an
alchemical genealogy and significance; (4) and in contain¬
ing an element of specific allegory, since, in a sense, she
stands for the Spanish Infanta. As to details, the passages
where I onson can be said to have followed the Greeks closely
are few. The general idea of 2. 1. 35-44, where Peniboy
Senior eulogizes Pecunia, he no doubt took from the scene
in Aristophanes where Chremylus and Cario make Plutus
aware of his own power. In 4. 3. 30-56, where Pecunia
and her train rebel against their treatment at the hands of
Peniboy Senior, he had in mind both the brief passage
in which Plutus complains that misers always bury him in
the earth, and a passage of similar purport in Timon.1 He
had the Timon in mind also in 4. 2. 118-23, where the prodi¬
gal bids Pecunia kiss the jeerers. In several other places,
also there are reminiscences of the Plutus and the Timon,
but most of these are vague and far away. A close com¬
parison of our play with the ancient masterpieces leaves one
with the impression that, in the application of the Greek con¬
ception to the conditions of his own day, Jonson's mind
worked with great freedom and orginality. Still it must be
said that he did not avoid the main defect of his originals :
Pecunia, like both Plutuses, is a somewhat incongruous
mixture of the metaphorical and the literal.
From the Wasps of Aristophanes, as Gifford points out,
Jonson got the idea for the fourth scene of Act 5, where
the crazed Peniboy Senior puts his dogs, Block and Lollard,
on trial. The general relationship is evident, though the
1 See notes on the lines mentioned
xxii
Introduction
imitation does not descend to particulars.1 Cunningham
quotes from Coleridge's marginal notes : 'I dare not, will
not, think that honest Ben had Lear in mind in this mock
mad scene.' This suggestion is not to be entertained.
The plot of Jonson's early romantic comedy, The Case is
Altered, it will be remembered, is little more than a skilful
interweaving of the plots of two of Plautus' comedies, the
Aulularia and the Captivi. The character of the miser,
Jaques, in The Case is Altered, is imitated, yet with con¬
siderable freedom, from the character of Euclio in the
Aulularia.2 From Euclio, Jonson also got a few hints for
the figure of Peniboy Senior, in our play. The scene in
which the absent Euclio is characterized is adapted as a part
of the jeering in the second scene of Act 2 3 This, a
simile or two, and a few dim echoes, are the sum of Jonson's
debt to Plautus here. Indeed, with the exception of a few
adaptations of brief passages, scattered here and there, and
all indicated in the notes, this closes the list of our play's
debts to ancient authors.
Professor Emil Koeppel of Halle has observed4 that the
news-staple5 in our play may be compared to the House of
Fame in the Second Book of Chaucer's poem, and that it
still more resembles the House of Daedalus,6 in the Third
Book. Once the clue is given, it is not hard to find resem¬
blances, but these are very vague, and had not Jonson7 in
1 Cf. the note on trials of animals during 12th to 18th centuries,
at the beginning of that scene.
2 Molière took the main idea of his L'Avare from the Aulularia.
Thomas Shadwell and Henry Fielding, who'each wrote a comedy
named The Miser, based their plays on the Aulularia and L'Avare.
In Shadwell's Miser there are a few faint reminders of our play.
8 Cf. note on 2. 2. 69.
4 Quellen Studien, etc., in Münchener Beiträge 2. 17.
5 Cf. Act 2, Sc. 2, and especially lines 116-20.
6 For a discussion of Jonson's indebtedness to the House of Fame
here, as also in the Mask of Queens (1609), and in News From the
New World (1621), see Dr. Otto Ballman's Dissertation, pp. 22,
26-8 (cf. Bibliography).
''Münchener Beiträge 2. 17.
Introduction
xxiii
one place called his staple the House of Fame, probably
no one would ever have guessed that he had Chaucer's poem
in mind.
Koeppel suggests also that on son may have borrowed
the motif of the father, Peniboy Canter, following his son
in the disguise of a beggar, from The London Prodigal.
This comedy was first published in 1605, with this title:
'The London Prodigal. As it was plaide by the Kings
Maiesties seruants. By William Shakespeare, London.
Printed by T. C. for Nathaniel Butter.' There is no entry
of it in the Stationers' Register. Schlegel says : 'If we are
not mistaken, Lessing pronounced this piece to be Shake-
spere's, and wished to bring it on the German stage.' Tieck
also regarded it as Shakespeare's. Knight thinks that it
was written between 1603-1605, and hence that, if Shake¬
speare wrote it at all, he must have written it after his
comic powers were fully matured. 'The belief,' says
Knight,1 'is almost too extravagant to be gravely contro¬
verted.' Sidney Lee says2 it has 'no internal claim to
Shakespeare's authorship.'
The argument of The London Prodigal is this : Flowerdale
Senior, a London merchant who had gone to Venice leaving
his son, Matthew, under the guardianship of his brother,
Flowerdale Junior, returns home. The uncle tells of the
reckless behavior of the young man : he is a mighty swearer,
drinker, brawler, borrower. The youth himself now
appears, and to him the father, who is disguised, represents
himself as having died in Venice. He produces a will,
which he says Flowerdale Senior charged him to deliver.
The will is read, and the son is found to be disinherited.
The father, in his assumed character, lends him twenty
pounds, and becomes his servant, under the name of Kester.
Young Flowerdale is one of three suitors for the hand
of Luce, the most attractive of the three daughters of Sir
Lancelot Spurcock. She prefers Sir Arthur Greenshield ;
1 Pictorial Edition of Shakespeare, vol. Doubtful Plays, pp. 227-8.
2 Life of Wm. Shak., p. 142.
xxiv
Introduction
her father prefers Oliver, a Devonshire clothier; both reject
young Flowerdale. Kester (Flowerdale Senior disguised)
proposes to overcome the scruples of Sir Lancelot in the
following way :
Presently we'll go and draw a will,
Where we'll set down land that we never saw ;
And we will have it of so large a sum,
Sir Lancelot shall entreat you take his daughter.
This being form'd, give it master Weathercock,
And make Sir Lancelot's daughter heir of all;
And make him swear never to show the will
To any one, until that you be dead.
This done, the foolish changing Weathercock
Will straight discourse unto Sir Lancelot
The form and tenor of your testament.
Ne'er stand to pause of it ; be rul'd by me :
What will ensue, that shall you quickly see.
The plan works : Sir Lancelot rejects the clothier, and forces
Luce to marry the heartless young Flowerdale. To Kester
the youth confides :
And thou shalt see, when once I have my dower,
In mirth we'll spend full many a merry hour :
As for this wench, I not regard a pin,
It is her gold must bring my pleasures in.
The father and the uncle now plan to have the prodigal
arrested on the way from church, and charged with debt,
in order to try the temper of his wife, Luce. Now that he
is her husband, she clings to him faithfully. She refuses to
go home with her enraged father, and he leaves her with her
husband and his uncle. Young Flowerdale scorns her.
The uncle puts a hundred angels (provided by Kester)
into Kester's hands for her. The young man demands It,
and, at her request, it is given to him. The prodigal turns
upon her now:
A rattle-baby come to follow me !
Go, get you gone to the greasy chuff your father : bring me your
dowry, or never look on me.
Introduction
XXV
Flow. Sen. Sir, she hath forsook her father and all her friends
for you.
M. Flow. Hang thee, her friends and father, all together.
Flow. Sen. Yet part with something to provide her lodging.
M. Flow. Yes, I mean to part with her and you ; but if I part
with one angel, hang me at a post. I'll rather throw them at a
cast of dice, as I have done a thousand of their fellows.
Kester takes the deserted wife under his protection, but
soon, in the disguise of 'a Dutch frow,' she becomes the
servant of her married sister. Young Flowerdale loses the
money at dice, turns highwayman, is arrested, and is about
to be put in prison on the double charge of robbery and
of having killed his wife. Both Luce and Flowerdale
Senior now throw off their disguise. The prodigal repents,
and all ends well.
In each play, then, we have two brothers, one of whom
gives out that he himself is dead, and in disguise becomes
the servant of his spendthrift son. In addition, there is
the common feature of a sham will. These major resem¬
blances make it nearly certain that The Staple of News bor¬
rowed from The London Prodigal, or else that there was
some third piece which was the common source of both.
There are excellent reasons, however, for believing, not
only that Jonson borrowed from The London Prodigal, but
also that, in doing so, he was borrowing from a play of
which he himself had written, if not the whole, at least the
greater part. Though Jonson borrowed freely from the
ancients, he prided himself on his independence of writers
of his own day. If any one else of that day had written The
London Prodigal—especially if Shakespeare had written
it—this probably would have been reason enough to Jonson
why he should not imitate the plot. Or if there were a
common source for the two plays, it seems very unlikely
that Jonson would have permitted his play to resemble The
London Prodigal in anything but its more general features.
A careful comparison of the two plays, however, brings to
light a remarkable number of minor resemblances. Pre-
xxvi
Introduction
sented in the order in which they occur in our play, the more
striking of these are as follows : ( i ) In The London Prodi¬
gal, when Young Flowerdale goes to Luce in a fine new suit,
he says :
Luce, look on me that am as light as air.
In i. i. 3-5 Peniboy Junior, about to come of age, and
believing himself heir to a large estate, says:
Look to me, wit, and look to my wit, Land,
That is, look on me, and with all thine eyes.
(2) Early in The London Prodigal Young Flowerdale de¬
nounces 'a pox upon' his tailor for spoiling one of his suits.
In the first scene of The Staple of News (1. 1. 23-35) Peni¬
boy junior is vexed with his tailor for being late. (3) In
each play the father announces his own death (cf. Staple of
News i. 3. 17-20). (4) In The London Prodigal, when the
will is read which disinherits Young Flowerdale, his father,
who is in disguise, lends him twenty pounds, and becomes
his servant. In The Staple of News (1. 3. 25-33), when
Peniboy Junior is surrounded with his tradesmen, his father,
who, in the disguise of a beggar, has become his follower,
brings him two hundred pounds, with which to meet current
expenses. (5) In The London Prodigal Young Flowerdale
receives the news of his father's death gladly, but later,
having found himself disinherited, he characterizes his father
as 'an old ass.' Peniboy Junior, in speaking of his sup¬
posedly dead father, says (1. 6. 6-23) that, had there been
a public funeral, he would have 'made shift to have laughed'
as heartily in his mourner's hood as in his new suit; that
his father was a 'loving and obedient—a right kind-natur'd
—man, to dye so opportunely' ; and ends with :
I lost an Officer of him, a good Bayliffe,
And I shall want him; but all peace be with him,
I will not wish him alive again ; not I,
For all my Fortune.
Introduction xxvii
(6) In The London Prodigal Sir Lancelot Spurcock sees
but poorly until he is given Young Flowerdale's will; then
he sees very well. In The Staple of News Peniboy Senior
is hard of hearing until Cymbal proposes to divide with
him the profits of his moiety of the news-office, when he
says: 'I heare you better now.' (7) In The London Prodi¬
gal, when the prodigal's uncle and Luce's father beg her to
leave him, she clings to him. In The Staple of News,
when Peniboy Senior goes to the Apollo Room to get back
Pecunia, she refuses to leave Peniboy junior and the jeerers
(4. 3. 15-17). (8) In The London Prodigal, when Young
Flowerdale has scorned his wife, and thrown her off, his
disguised father takes her under his protection, saying:
Come girl, though it be late, it falls out well ;
Thou shalt not live with him in Begger's Hell.
In The Staple of News, when Peniboy junior has shown his
inability to take proper care of Pecunia, his father, throw¬
ing off his disguise, sáys (4. 4. 120-3) :
Which since I see,
I will take home the Lady, to my charge,
And these her servants, and leave you my Cloak,
To travell in to Beggers Bush !
(9) In The London Prodigal, when the uncle speaks kindly
to Luce, and puts money into Kester's hands for her use,
the nephew says : 'A plague go with you for an old fornica¬
tor.' He himself has already cast her off, and he implies
that his uncle is kind to her for an immoral purpose. In
commenting on Peniboy Canter's conduct in taking Pecunia
away from the prodigal, Gossip Mirth (4. Intermean, lines
42-3) speaks of him as £a foolish old fornicating father,
to rauish away his sonnes Mistresse.' She implies that he
has taken Pecunia for his own use. (10) Not only are
both prodigals reduced to beggary, but both moralize upon
their condition (cf. Staple of News 5. 1. 1-22). (11) In
speaking of porters, young Flowerdale says 'they are men
xxviii
Introduction
of good carriage.' In The Staple of News it is Lickfinger
who makes the pun (5. 3. 20) :
But that he sent a Porter, and hee seem'd
A man of decent cárriage.
(12) In The London Prodigal, when Flowerdale Senior
appears in his proper person, Weathercock says :
Mr. Flowerdale, welcome from Death, Mr. Flowerdale.
In The Staple of News, on discovering that his brother is
not dead, Peniboy Senior says :
Wise and honour'd brother !
None but a Brother, and sent from the dead,
As you are could have altered me.
(13) I" The London Prodigal, Flowerdale Senior shows
signs of a niggardly disposition, and is called 'an usurer'
by his nephew. In The Staple of News the uncle, Peniboy
Senior, is an out-and-out usurer. ( 14) In each play the dis¬
guised father is the main spokesman of morality—from him
come most of the 'sentences.'
Any one of these details, taken by itself, has no* particular
significance ; taken all together, they have great significance.
To have its full force, however, each of them must be seen
in its proper context in the play itself. I very much doubt
if The Case is Altered has a larger number of minor resem¬
blances to its originals, the Aulularia and the Captivi, than
The Staple of News has to The London Prodigal. Even
though we were to concede that Jonson might have been
willing to borrow some of the larger features of a play by a
contemporary, it seems very unlikely that, with his resources
and his dramatic pride, he should have laid himself open to
the charge of borrowing or echoing in these minor matters.
If jonson was borrowing here from a contemporary, how
incontinently did he throw his pride to the winds !
But if jonson wrote this comedy, why did he not include
it in the Folio of 1616? For the same reason that he
Introduction
xxix
omitted The Case is Altered : it was not good enough to
be included in his Works. He told Drummond that not
the half of his plays were in print; which proves that he
cared to preserve only the best. It has been adduced as an
argument against Shakespeare's authorship, that The Lon¬
don Prodigal is unworthy of his powers in 1605. It is
scarcely less unworthy of the Jonson of that year—the Jon-
son of Every Man In, Every Man Out, Cynthia's Revels,
Poetaster, Sejanus, and Volpone, all of which had been pro¬
duced by that time. Nevertheless, whoever wrote this
comedy had great, though unequal skill: the dialogue is
concise, and in many places is unusually free and natural.
The London Prodigal is about such a play as Jonson could
have produced in the days when he was still an apprentice
in play-writing. The frequency of rimes in the verse por¬
tions also points to an early date of composition.
Koeppel points out that both in A Tale of a Tub and in
The London Prodigal a bridegroom is arrested on his wed¬
ding-day. This, however, is not the only resemblance
between these two plays. Oliver, in The London Prodigal,
seems to belong among the people of A Tale of a Tub.
Probably no great significance should be attached to the
fact that his dialect is the same as that of In-and-in Medlay,
but somehow he and John Clay seem to be spun of the same
thread, and by the same hand, though he is choleric and John
is timid. Moreover, he and John Clay are not only arrested,
but both are cheated out of their brides, on their intended
wedding-days. Add these things to the results obtained
above, and the evidence that Jonson wrote The London
Prodigal is very strong.
Collier believed that A Tale of a Tub is one of Jonson's
early plays, if not the earliest, though it was the last to be
put on the stage (1633). The evidence Collier adduces is
as follows (cited by Cunningham, GC. 1. 13-17, Preface) :
(1) Queen Elizabeth is mentioned several times in the play
as though she were then sovereign. Cf. the following :
XXX
Introduction
i. i : Does any wight perzent hir majesty's person?
1. i : King Edward our late liege and sovereign lord;
2. i : Six women to one daughter and a mother !
The queen (God save her) ha' no more herself;
2. i : I'll have no rondels, I, in the queen's paths ;
2. i : I charge you in the queen's name, keep the peace.
(2) 'The dialogue and construction,' to use Collier's words,
'are very much upon the model of the more ancient form
of our drama. (3) Couplets are more frequent than in
the rest of Jonson's later plays. (4) The allusions are all
old, and John Hey wood, the dramatist of the reign of
Henry VIII., is mentioned by name, with the battle of St.
Quintins (p. 182), which happened in 1557, an old character
asserting that he'd then been a captain. Skelton, with his
Elinor Humming, is also spoken of (p. 217), with Tom
Tiler (p. 134) and other matters which would have been
quite out of date in 1633. . . . We meet, in the play,
with no notices of James I. or of his son, though allusions
to them might easily and appropriately have been intro¬
duced.'1
In 1888 (Notes and Queries, 7th S. 6. 285) Brinsley
Nicholson said of A Tale of a Tub: 'The date of Sir H.
Herbert's licence conclusively proves that it was Jonson's
last finished play. Various other facts, derived from the
1 Cunningham believed that Collier was 'incontestably' right in
this opinion. 'Artifice of composition,' he says (GC. 1. 13-17),
'such as is carried to so great a height in Thackeray's Esmond, for
instance, was, I conceive, altogether unthought-of by the Elizabethan
dramatists, who as Gilford remarks of Jonson, "usually bring up
their action as closely as possible to the period of writing" (p. 334,
note). In a play of ordinary every-day life, the scene of which was
laid in the familiar fields of Tottenham Court, Kilburn, and St.
Paneras, the very last thing which was likely to enter the writer's
head would have been a systematic study to give his work the appear¬
ance of having been written some forty years beforehand. . . .
As Mr. Albery or Mr. Robertson would not in the 33 Victoria, talk
of the King's Beef-eaters, or the King's Bench, so I take it a comic
writer of the 9th King Charles the First would not have spoken of
the "Queen's dominions," or arrested a man in "Her majesty's
name." '
Introduction
XX xi
play itself, confirm this.' 'Finished,' yes; but the ques¬
tion is : When was the main body of it composed? Neither
the date of licence, nor the satire upon Inigo Jones in the
character of In-and-in Medlay, is any answer.
If then, as seems highly probable, A Tale of a Tub is one
of Jonson's earliest plays, have we not additional reason for
believing that he and none other wrote The London Prodi¬
gan If A Tale of a Tub was written first, since it was not
then acted, few besides Jonson himself could know enough
of its plot, to say nothing of the flavor of its characters,
to imitate it. If the other play had been written first, and
by some one else than Jonson, then we have the same
reason for believing that he would not have imitated it in
A Tale of a Tub that we have in the case of The Staple of
News : dramatic pride, if nothing else, would have deterred
him. The way all lines of evidence concur and point to
the same conclusion—that, in borrowing so freely from The
London Prodigal in our play, Jonson was asserting a claim
to the authorship of that comedy—is, to say the least,
remarkable.
As we shall see in the next division, the newsmongers
were satirized in Fletcher's Fair Maid of the Inn. That
play was licensed Jan. 22, 1625-6, and acted at Blackfriars.
If this play is all by Fletcher, it must have been completed
by midsummer of 1625, for Fletcher died in August of that
year. The theory has been advanced, however, that Jonson
collaborated in it. Ward says : T am not, however, pre¬
pared without further evidence to accept the theory of
Jonson's collaboration ; notwithstanding that the comic por¬
tions of this play, which contain in them a large element
of prose, are far more elaborate than is usual with Fletcher,
and abound in allusions to contemporary fashions and
follies.' Fleay, on the other hand, thinks that Jonson wrote
the greater part of it. He assigns to Jonson all of Act 2,
except Scene 1, all of Act 3, except Scene 2, all of Act 4,
except Scene 1, and all of Act 5, except Scene 3. I am
not prepared to go so far, but I am convinced that Jonson's
xxxii
Introduction
was the main hand in the comic portions of which Ward
speaks. The number and character of the resemblances,
especially in the second scene of Act 4, are such that they
could not be accidental. If Fletcher wrote this passage
independently, Jonson is indebted to it for a number of the
minor details of our play. he whole tenor of the passage,
however, is Jonsonian, in manner as well as thought. I
know of no English play, unquestionably belonging to some
one else than jonson, that contains so much that reminds
me of him as does this single scene, and I believe that he
wrote it. If he wrote it before Fletcher's death, that is
before the middle of 1625, then perhaps it was the cause
of his resuming the idea of the satire upon news, which, as
I have shown, he had conceived in News from the New
World, 1620-21, and upon which he probably worked in
1622-3. And if he wrote it, another instance is added to
the list of his borrowings from himself in our play.
We come now to speak of Jonson's manifest borrowings
from himself. In no other play did he borrow so boldly
and so extensively from himself as in The Staple of News.
I have already said that Lady Argurion in Cynthia's Revels1
was suggested by the character of Plutus in Aristophanes'
Plutus, and in Lucian's Timon. This figure is, as it were,
a first drawing of the figure of the Princess Pecunia. In
his general note at the end of Cynthia's Revels, Gifford says
that Asotus is Master Stephen (Every Mem In), Tut with¬
out the natural touches.' The resemblance is so vague and
general as to amount to none at all. I wonder that Gifford
did not notice the far closer resemblance of Asotus to
Peniboy Junior. Asotus is the vain and prodigal young
gallant with whom the Lady Argurion (or Money) is in
love. Compare the way he scatters her gifts—pendants,
bracelets, carcanets, etc.—among the parasites who beset
him, with the way Peniboy scatters the pliant Pecunia's
kisses among the jeerers in the Apollo Room.2 Argurion,
1 Acted in 1600, and published in 1601.
2 Cf. 4. 2. 118-23, and note thereon.
Introduction xxxiii
however, protests at the abuse, and ends by swooning away.
It should be noted, too, that in both plays the prodigal is
'followed' by a beggar. But whereas in Cynthia's Revels
the beggar is a real parasite, in our play he is only a
sham beggar, the prodiga) s father in disguise.1 The Induc¬
tion of Cynthia's Revels also furnished several hints for
that of our play, and for the Intermeans.
The other borrowings from Jonson's own works are from
his masks. Nearly all of the masks which he had produced
within the last five or six years contributed more or less to
the minor details of our play. In the Masque of Queens
(1609) Jonson had already made some use of Chaucer's
House of Fame. Venus, the deaf tire-woman, in the
Masque of Christmas2 (1616), bears a strong resemblance
to the Gossips in the Induction and the Intermeans. In
News from the New World (Jan. 1621) the whole plan of
the news-staple is outlined. There, too, the conception
of the House of Fame again crops out briefly, in the College
of the Rosie Cross; and in Time Vindicated (1624), the
news-satire. Of Neptune's Triumph (Jan. 1625), the
greater part was absorbed into our play. It contributed to
the Induction and the Intermeans, but principally to the
character of the poet-cook, Lickfinger: the descriptions of
his 'subtilties' are taken almost verbatim from Neptune's
Triumph. It should be noted that, in the mask, the poet-
cook is intended to represent Inigo Jones; in our play, how¬
ever, there is nothing which, in itself, would lead us to
connect Lickfinger with the Court-architect : probably Jonson
did not intend that we should.
To recapitulate. From the Plutus of Aristophanes, and
1 In view of the theory advanced on pages 25-31 as to the author¬
ship and date of The London Prodigal, the question arises : Do not
Asotus and his beggar derive from Young Flowerdale and Kester?
2 Cf. GC. 7. 263. Venus also reminds one greatly of the grocer
and his wife in Beaumont and Fletcher's Knight of the Burning
Pestle, who sit on the stage, and comment upon the action. One is
much tempted to believe that Jonson created those two characters.
xxxiv
Introduction
the Timon of Lucian, through Lady Argurion in Cynthia?s
Revels, came the idea of Princess Pecunia in her more
abstract aspect, money personified. From the Wasps of
Aristophanes came the idea of the scene in which Peniboy
Senior puts his two dogs on trial. From the Aulularia of
Plautus, which •onson had imitated closely in his early
comedy, The Case is Altered, came hints for the character:
of Peniboy Senior, and for the first scene in which he is
jeered. Chaucer's House of Fame contributed slightly to
the conception of the news-staple. From The London
Prodigal, which, it seems probable, was mainly the work of
Jonson's hand, is adapted the motif of the three Peniboys,
with the father's disguise, the sham will, and a considerable
number of minor details. From the Induction of Cynthia's
Revels came hints for the Induction and Intermeans ; from
the Lady Argurion, hints for Pecunia; from the prodigal,
Asotus, hints for Peniboy Junior. Some of the comic
portions of Fletcher's Fair Maid of the Inn resemble the
news-satire of our play closely, and, though it seems likely
that Jonson had a main hand in them, the relative dates of
composition cannot be determined, nor wrhich is the debtor.
From his mask, News from the New World (1620-1),
jonson took the main idea of the news-staple; and from
his mask, Neptune's Triumph (1624-5), the character of
the cook, Lickfinger, and, almost verbatim, two of his long
speeches.
But though, upon analysis, The Staple of News turns out
to be a vast piece of patchwork, a conglomerate of con¬
ceptions and details borrowed from ancient authors and
from Jonson's own works, it has great unity of structure
and purpose. Its varied borrowings are assimilated and
organized into a new and original whole.
Introduction
XXXY
D. Early English Journalism, and
Nathaniel Butter
For a long time before the date of our play, newsmonger-
ing in England had chiefly been carried on in two ways : by
private news-letters ; and by printed pamphlets. The news¬
letter, or, as it was generally called, the 'letter of news,'
was the earliest form of the news-system in England. The
aristocracy, who, as a rule, spent several months out of the
year in the country, often hired persons in London to keep
them informed of the news there—the doings at Court, and
the gossip of Paul's, the Exchange,1 the theatres, the taverns,
etc. For instance, Collins tells us in his Memorials of State2
that late in Elizabeth's reign, Sir Robert Sidney, Sir Philip's
younger brother, 'kept a correspondence with Rowland
White, the poet-master, a notable busy man, who constantly
writ over to him at Flushing, when he was resident there
as governor, the news and intrigues of the Court.' Magis¬
trates on circuit, and other important officials, also had
recourse to news-writers; and so did merchants out of
town. Printers and stationers often wrote news-letters as a
side-occupation ; but news-writing was a regular profession,
and some of those who engaged in it did nothing else.
Retired army-captains were regarded as peculiarly adapted
for this work, because, having served abroad, they were
supposed to know and understand the movements of the
army. The pay for such work was good. Among the
memoranda preserved in the Clifford family we find: 'To
Captain Robinson, by my lord's commands, for writing
letters of news to his lordship for a half year, five pounds.'3
Five pounds was then equivalent to from twenty-five to
thirty now ; and, as the Captain probably had several
patrons, his business must have been fairly lucrative. Nor
1 Cf. notes on i. 2. 6o.
1 Preface, and 2. 4, note.
* Grant, Newspaper Press I. 27.
xxxví
Introduction
did this system end when the newspapers began, though
of course that was a hard blow to it. Scorning the vulgar
medium of the printed sheet, which made news the property
of peasant as well as of aristocrat, some of the wealthier
and more proud retained their private writers. In troubled
and suspicious times, too, especially during the rigid censor¬
ship which followed the Restoration, news-letters flew about.
In fact, they continued to be used down to 1712.
The writing of news-pamphlets dates back as far as the
time of Henry VIII. In the 16th century these pamphlets
were single folio pages, each devoted to one event, and
hawked about the streets by criers and peddlers. Early in
the 17th century they had become books of a dozen or so
quarto pages, but, as before, usually devoted entirely to
one event. Sometimes they contained English news, and
sometimes foreign news, often being mere translations of
the news-summaries of writers in other countries. The
following are titles of news-pamphlets from the days of
Elizabeth :
Newe newes, containing a short rehearsal of Stukely's and
Morice's Rebellion. 1577.
Newes from the North, or a conference between Simon
Certain and Pierce Plowman. 1579.
Newes from Scotland, declaring the damnable life of
Doctor Fian, a notable sorcerer, who was burned at Eden-
borough in January last. 1591.
Newes from Spaine and Holland. 1593.
Newes from Flanders. 1599.
Newes out of Cheshire of the new found well. 1600.1
By the middle of the reign of King James the printing
of these news-pamphlets had grown to-be a brisk trade.
Burton says in his Anatomy of Melancholy, 1614: Mf any
read now adays, it is a play-booke, or pamphlet of newes;*
Here are a few sample titles from that period:2
Lamentable nezves out of Monmouthshire in Wales, con-
1 Andrews, Brit. Journalism 1. 26.
* Cited by Bourne, Eng. Newsp. 1. 2.
Introduction xxxvíi
taininge the wonderful and fearfull accounts of the great
overflowing of the waters in the said countye, &c. 1607.
Wo ful newes from the west partes of England, of the
burning of Tiverton, (with a frontispiece). 1612.
Strange nezves from Lancaster, containing an account of
a prodigious monster born in the township of Addlington
in Lancashire, with two bodies joyned to one back. 1613.
Newes from Spaine. 1611.
Newes out of Germany. 1612.
Good newes from Florence. 1614.
Newes fro m M amor a. 1614.
Among the writers of news-pamphlets at this time, one
of the busiest was Nathaniel Butter. Out of the develop¬
ments which he made in the news-system came the idea of
the under-plot of our play, and hence, even though the
identification of him with Cymbal, head of the staple-office,
on which most writers on this subject are agreed, is open to
much question, it will be worth while to consider him and
his work in some detail.
The son of a small London stationer, Nathaniel Butter
was admitted a freeman of the Stationers' Company per
Patrimonium in 1603-4. If, as Sidney Lee says,1 he was
more than seventy years old' in 1641, he must then have
been considerably over thirty. Perhaps he had spent his
early manhood in the employ of his step-father, a stationer
named Newberry, whom his mother had married in 1594.
In 1605 Butter published The London Prodigal,2 the play
which supplied the chief motif in the over-plot of The
Staple of News; in 1607, in company with John Busby, he
published Shakespeare's King Lear; in 1609 he printed
Dekker's Belman of London; and in 1611 he published a
XDNB.
2 Butter had published The London Prodigal as the work of
Shakespeare (see Introd., p. 23). On the assumption that Jonson
wrote it, there is a fine fitness in his satirizing Butter in the same
play in which, by his appropriation of so much of The London
Prodigal, he asserted his authorship of it.
xxxviii
Introduction
folio edition of Chapman's Iliad. As early as 1605, how¬
ever, he had been producing pamphlets of news. DNB.
gives the titles of several of these which he published during
the years 1605-11. Fox Bourne1 tells of one of Butter's
pamphlets, dated October 9, 1621, and entitled The Courant,
or Weekly News from Foreign Parts . . . taken out of
the High Dutch. It seems probable from this title that
Butter had then conceived the idea of bringing out his
news-pamphlets at regular intervals and all under the same
general name. But under this title only this one number
is known. Bourne says, however, that there is extant 'a
goodly assortment of similar news-pamphlets of later date,
evidently parts of one series.' But though most of these
are called Weekly News, so many seem to have been lost,
there are so many irregularities in sub-headings, and in the
dates, and the imprints so often bear, not Butter's name, but
those of Bourne, Archer, and others, who appear to have
been in partnership with him, that it is impossible to tell
exactly what his share in their publication was.
By the middle of the next summer, however, Butter's
idea of a series of weekly news-pamphlets with a uniform
name had come almost to full consciousness. On August
22, 1622, his weekly tract contained the following announce¬
ment: 'If any gentleman, or other accustomed to buy the
weekly relations of newes, be desirous to continue the same,
let them know that the writer, or transcriber rather, of this
newes, hath published two former Newes, the one dated
the second,2 the other the thirteenth of August, all which
1 Eng. Newsp. 1. 4-6.
2 From a communication by Charles L. Lindsay in Notes and
Queries for August 22, 1903 (9th S. 12. 153), it appears that he
possesses the only copy known of the Weekly News of August 2,
1622. The earliest in the famous Burney collection in the British'
Museum is dated September 25, 1622. The account in DNB. says
of this later issue that it 'was Butter's first attempt at a newspaper.'
Again DNB. says : 'On 12 May 1623 an extant copy of a publica¬
tion of "The News of the present Week" printed by Butter, Bourne,
and Shefford, bore a number (31) for the first time.' Mr. Lindsay,
Introduction
xxxix
do carry a like title, with the arms of the King of Bohemia
on the other side of the Title-page, and have dependence
one upon another; which manner of writing and printing
he doth purpose to continue weekly, by God's assistance,
from the best and most certain intelligence. Farewell, this
twenty-three of August, 1622.'But,' says Fox Bourne,
'he straightway broke his rule, producing Two Great Battles
very lately Fought, on September 2, and Count Mansfield's
Proceedings since the Last Battle, on September 9, and styl¬
ing neither of them Weekly News. It did not occur to
him to number his papers till October 15, 1622, when what
may be regarded as the first of a fresh series of Weekly
News was marked No. 1. After that the numbering was
consecutive for a twelvemonth, another start with No. 1
being made in October 1623 ; but the titles were still varied.
Sometimes we have The News of this Present Week, some¬
times The Last News, sometimes More News, and occasion-
however, says : 'The Burney collection contains an almost complete
sequence of Butter's Newes; a few are missing. Besides those
named above [i. e. all the issues before Sept. 25, 1622] I note the
absence of Nos. 3 and 21 ; both these are in my collection, and are
dated respectively 22 October, 1622, and 7 March, 1623.'
The title in full of Butter's tract for August 2, 1622, as given by
Mr. Lindsay, is: '"The certaine Newes | of this present Weeke. |
Brought by sundry | Posts from severall places, but chiefly | the
progresse and arrivall of Count Mansfield | with the Duke of
Brunswicke into Champeney in j France; and the joyning of sundry
of the I Princes with them, etc. | With the preparation of the
French | King to resist him : and what great feare Count ¡ Mans-
fields unexpected arrivall hath | put all France in, etc. j Out of the
Informations of Letters and | other, this Second of August, 1622. |
London, | Printed by I. H. for Nathaniel Butter, and are to j be
sold at his shop at the signe of the Pide Bull ¡ at S. Austins Gate.
1622." '
'On the title-page,' adds Mr. Lindsay, 'is the device of a flaming
heart within a wreath, and on the verso a full-page woodcut of
the arms of Bohemia; one blank leaf, title, and sixteen numbered
pages, with signatures and catchwords, small 4to. The first eight
pages contain news from various parts of Europe; the remaining
pages are devoted to the movements of Count Mansfield.'
1 Andrews, Brit. Journalism 1. 31.
xl
Introduction
ally quite different headings, as in the number styled Brief
Abstracts out of Divers Letters of Trust, Relating the News
of this Present Week.'
All of the later writers on this subject agree that Butter's
Weekly News is entitled to be called the first English news¬
paper,1 in the modern sense of that word. He was the first
to print the news of the day upon a single sheet, and publish
it at regular intervals, in a numbered series, and under an
approximately uniform title. 'His enterprise,' says Sidney
Lee, Virtually created the London press.'
That the Weekly News easily took precedence over all
other news-enterprises of the day is shown by the fact of
jonson's attack upon Butter in our play. Subjects worthy
of satire were plentiful, but Jonson rarely gave his attention
to obscure or insignificant things. Nor was he the only
one to satirize Butter: Shirley, in his Love Tricks (February
1625), had already thrown a dart at him; and Fletcher,
in his Fair Maid of the Inn (acted in February 1626), held
him up to scorn as unsparingly as jonson.2
The language of Butter's news-sheets shows him to have
been poorly educated : it is never finished, and it is often
1 The earliest news-sheets of modern Europe appeared in the 16th
century in Augsburg, Vienna, Ratisbon, Nuremberg, Antwerp, and
other places. They were in manuscript, and generally in the form
of letters. Out of these news-letters of the German and Austrian
cities came the first systematic attempt at the periodical collection
and publication of news of the day: this was Das Frankfurter
Journal, a printed weekly, established by Egenolf Emmel at Frank¬
fort in 1615, one hundred and sixty-three years after the invention
of printing from metal types. The next year a similar sheet, the
Nieuzve Tijdinghen, was started at Antwerp (cf. Johnson's Univ.
Encyc., and New Int. Ericyc.). No one suggests that Butter got
his idea from the continent. They tell us that his paper was often
a mere translation or a summary of foreign news-sheets, but that
he borrowed the whole plan of Iris paper from Das Frankfurter
Journal, or, what is more probable still, from the Nieuwe Tijdinghen
at Antwerp, just across the Channel, no one says. Perhaps the
inference is too obvious to deserve mention.
2 For Jonson's probable collaboration in that play, see Introd., p. 31.
Introduction
xli
ungrammatical. If we judge the substance of his news by
our standards, that, too, is no credit to him ; and, to quote
Fox Bourne, 'such few comments as were given along with
the scraps of news, were shallow and commonplace.' Take,
for example, the following in the Weekly News for October
1622 : 'A true relation of the cruel execution done in
Ommelburg, a town in the bishopric of Mentz, upon the
persons of two ministers or preachers of the Gospel, by
the instigation of the Jesuits. 'Tis most manifestly known
to all the world tljat hatred, envy, and dissension reign
mightily nowadays ; the son is against the father, and the
sister against the brother, and in general we are so exasper¬
ated one against another that if we could drown one another
in a spoon, we would not fetch a pail; as partly appeareth
by this present example. Johannes van der Veech and
Lambertus Liber, being two Protestant preachers, and hav¬
ing disputed against certain priests at Krugsganck, the
Jesuits caused them to be apprehended and afterwards most
cruelly to be executed within the town of Ommelburg,
August 30, 1622, when the hangman with red-hot pincers
pulled the flesh from their bones (so that a heart made of
stone would have taken compassion on them ), and put them
to death with great martyrisation. But they have suffered
it patiently, as a sheep that is brought to< the slaughter-house.
About three days after the same, one of the priests, who
was called Pater or Father John, aged ninety-six years,
was taken about twelve o'clock from his table and was never
seen afterwards. Therefore let us pray unto God that He
will not judge us according to our deserts, but grant us
everlasting salvation.'1
As regards the character of Butter's news, it was, like
that of all other newsmongers, to a great extent determined
by the licensing system of the day. In 1585 the Star
Chamber had limited the number of master-printers to
twenty, besides the special establishments allowed to the
two Universities. Nothing was to be printed without
1 Fox Bourne, Eng. Newsp. 1. 6-7, note.
xlii
Introduction
license from the Archbishop of Canterbury or the Bishop
of London, except legal matter, and what was ordered by
the Queen's Printer. All other printing or publishing was
declared a penal offense, and the Stationers' Company was
established as a sort of inquisition. This ordinance remained
in force until 1637, when the Star Chamber substituted
for it one still more severe. The rigid censoring to which
news-sheets, as well as books, were subjected under this
ordinance explains why so much of the news was foreign,
and also why, when it was English, it was without import¬
ance. In order to avoid the censor's pencil, the news¬
mongers had to confine themselves to catering to the appe¬
tite for what Jonson, in News from the New World, calls
'curious uncertainties.' Unusual natural disturbances,
freaks, monsters, witchcraft, murders, strange inventions—
for such news, in lieu of anything more vital, the English
public was hungry and willing to pay, and for these the
newsmongers scoured the Kingdom and the Continent.
Among the few unquestionable facts that we have con¬
cerning Butter there is nothing to show that he was any¬
thing but a very thrifty and enterprising craftsman, plying,
with somewhat more advanced methods, a trade which had
grown up with the times, and which was regarded as a
regular and legitimate profession. 'I have seen nothing in
these publications,' says Grant, speaking of Butter's Weekly
News and the attacks of jonson, Fletcher, and Shirley,
'which could have evoked all this extraordinary dramatic
rancor. Could the cause have been that the growing interest
taken in the increasing number and circulation of these
newspapers had been attended with the effect of withdrawing
attention from, and lessening the popularity of, the dramatic
productions of the writers I have mentioned?'1 'There is
nothing coarser or crueler in Aristophanes,' says Pebody,
'than the caricature of Nathaniel Butter in The Staple of
News and The Fair Maid of the Inn.'2 'The writers on
1 Newsp. Press 1. 41-2.
2 Eng. Iournalism, p. 95.
Introduction
xliii
newspaper history,' says Andrews, 'have copied each other
in adopting Ben Jonson's characters of the early news-
writers, . . . with all the absurd exaggerations of the
way in which the news-book was compiled; which might
serve, indeed, to illustrate the common opinion of the new
introduction, but not the true character of it; for it is so
palpable a caricature that we do not feel disposed to imitate
our predecessors in quoting "Rare Ben's" facetious descrip¬
tion.'1 These opinions were written from the standpoint of
journalists, and were, no doubt, to some degree inspired
by the reverence with which the devotees of any art or
science naturally regard founders and beginnings. On the
other hand, Professor C. H. Herford, who comes after all
those cited above, and may be supposed to speak from
better knowledge, says of the general character of the sheets
of foreign news: 'They are but slightly caricatured in the
marvelous reports from "Lybtzig" 2 and elsewhere, which
supply the material of Jonson's news-office.'3 If, as Jonson
asserts in our play, and as Lee and Herford believe, Butter's
news was generally made up out of whole cloth, 'and no
syllable of truth in it,' of course he deserved all the reproba¬
tion that he got at the hands of the dramatists; but if he
merely gathered and circulated rumor and current gossip,
then, judged by the standards of that day, his business had
some right to exist.
Fox Bourne thinks we may take it for granted that, in
addition to publishing the Weekly News, Butter was at the
head of some such establishment as the staple in our play,
for the collection and vending of news both by letter and by
word of mouth. Bourne bases his belief, no doubt, on the
assumption that Cymbal, head of the staple, is Butter him¬
self ; but, as shown in the next division of the Introduction,
this identification is very questionable. It is worth noting,
1 Hist, of Brit. Journalism I. 34.
*Cf. Staple of News 3. 2.
8 he Lit. Relations of England and Germany in the 17th Century,
P- 173-
xliv
Introduction
too, that the staple is promised us in the mask, News from
the New World, presented early in 1621 ; and if we are
to infer from our play that such an establishment existed
in 1625-6, we must infer also that a similar one existed
when the mask was written. But Jonson represents the
staple in our play as a recent and novel enterprise ; and this
he certainly would not have done, had he been trying to
describe closely an actual establishment of several years
standing. I doubt, therefore, that any such concern existed.
Except when under the influence of personal animus, Jonson
was generally faithful to the dramatic principles which he
had declared in several of his prologues, and avoided specific
satire. We should not lightly ignore, nor too loosely inter¬
pret, the closing lines of The Prologue to the Court in our
play :
Wherein, although our title, sir, be News,
We yet adventure here to tell you none,
But shew you common follies, and so known
That though they are not truths [facts], the innocent Muse
Hath made so like as phant'sy could them state
Or poetry without scandal imitate.
a»
Jonson had in mind the House of Fame, and more especially
the House of Daedalus, in Chaucer's poem1 when he shaped
the staple-office, and probably it should not be taken too
literally. I believe it to be a composite of various features
of the newsmongering of the time. Perhaps its elements,
regarded separately, are faithful to reality; but the union
of them in one establishment probably amounts to caricature.
Jonson's ultimate satiric purpose was not so much to hold
up the news-dealers to scorn, as to ridicule the idle and
credulous curiosity of the public who bought their news.2
To do this, he gathered several of the most egregious
aspects of the newsmongering into one impressive whole.
As for Nathaniel Butter's subsequent career, we find him
in 1630 beginning a series of half-yearly volumes of foreign
1 Cf. Introduction, p. 22.
2 Cf. To The Readers at beginning of Act 3.
Introduction
xlv
news, compiled from weekly currantoes, and with the title
of The German Intelligencer, and the next year a similar
series, with the name of The Swedish Intelligencer. When,
in 1633, jonson, sick and poor, tried the stage again, and
brought out his Magnetic Lady in the Autumn term, Butter,
as Herford tells us,1 was among the enemies who 'ostenta¬
tiously ridiculed' it. And thus he had his revenge. 'On
20 of December 1638,' says Lee in DNB., 'Charles I.
granted to Butter and Nicholas Bourne the right of "print¬
ing and publishing all matter or news of any foreign place
or Kingdom since the first beginning of the late German
wars to the present, and also for translating and publishing
in the English tongue all news, novels, Gazettes, currantes,
and occurrences that concern foreign parts, for the term of
twenty-one years, they paying yearly towards the repair of
St. Paul's the sum of £10" (Col. State Papers, Dom. 1638-9,
p. 182). At the end of 1639 the licenser of the press pro¬
hibited Butter's weekly sheet, and on 11 Jan. 1640 he issued
a Continuation of the Forraine Occurents for five weeks
last past . . . examined and licensed by a better and
more impartial hand than heretofore.' This Continuation
had^ an Address to the Reader, in which, speaking of his
weekly tract, Butter says: 'It is well known these novels
are well esteemed in all parts of the world (but heere) by
the more judicious, which we can impute to no other but
the discontinuance of them and uncertaine daies of publish¬
ing them, which, if the poste fail us not, we shall keep a
constant day everie weeke therein, whereby everie man may
constantly expect them.'2
With the beginning of the long Parliament and the fall
of the Star Chamber in 1641, there was, as Masson says,3
'a complete breakdown of the former laws for the regulation
of the press.' Butter, old but enterprising still, at once took
advantage of the new order of things, and started a weekly
1 Cf. Jonson in DNB.
2 Andrews, Hist, of Brit. lournalism 1. 30.
8Life of Milton 3. 261.
xlvi
Introduction
newspaper. In the first number he assures us, too, that we
'shall expect no more expression now or hereafter in the
title than The Passages in Parliament.'1 It appears, how¬
ever, that some time during that year Butter retired from
business. To quote DNB. : 'He was then more than seventy
years old, and the competition of journalists during the civil
war was intense. In Smith's Obituary (Camden Soc. p. 60)
Butter's death is recorded thus : "Feb. 22 1663-4 Nathaniel
Butter an old Stationer, died very poor." '
E. Identifications
i . Cymbal and Nathaniel Butter
The leading writers on the early news-system of England
identify Cymbal, head of the news-staple, with Nathaniel
Butter,2 whose Weekly News was the most systematically
conducted and prosperous news-organ in England at the
time our play was produced. Sidney Lee also holds this
opinion. The strongest evidence contained in the play for
this identification is in the Third Intermean (12-20), where
the gossips discuss the scene (3. 2) in the Staple-office:
'Mirth. . . . But how like you the news? you are
gone from that.
Cen. O, they are monstrous ! scuruy ! and stale ! and
too exotick ! ill cook'd Î and ill dish'd !
Exp. They were as good, yet, as butter could make
them !
Tat. In a word, they were beastly buttered! he shall
neuer come o' my bread more, nor in my mouth, if I can
helpe it. I haue had better newes from the bake-house, by
ten thousand parts, in a morning.'
If there were nothing in the play to offset this passage,
we should, perhaps, be warranted in saying that Cymbal
stands for Butter ; and yet its exact implications are by no
1 Bourne, Eng. Nezvsp. 1. 10.
2 See Introd., pp. 37-41.
Introduction
xlvii
means clear. That Cymbal is the head of the Staple means
only that his is the controlling voice in its management.
The Staple is not a manufactory of news, but an authorita¬
tive exchange for the filing and vending of news, by
whomever gathered or made; and the allusion to Butter
here probably means only that he is one of the chief and
best known sources of news.1 It must be said, too, that if
Cymbal is Butter, then Butter is impersonated by one of
the characters of the play bearing another name, and at the
same time he is alluded to in puns upon his real name. But
Jonson, I believe, would have avoided this : it would cer¬
tainly mislead both audience and reader.
But besides these objections, there are several passages in
the play which, taken all together, afford strong evidence that
Jonson did not intend Cymbal to be taken for Butter.
These are as follows : ( i ) The scene is the Staple-office,
with the Register and one of the clerks, Nathaniel, in their
places. Enter a countrywoman :
Register. What would you haue good woman?
Woman. I would haue Sir,
A groatsworth of any Newes, I care not what,
To carry downe this Saturday, to our Vicar.
Register. O! You are a Butterwoman, ask Nathaniel
The Gierke, there.2
If Cymbal, the head, stands for Butter, why is the customer,
on being recognized as a 'Butter-woman,' referred to the
clerk? If the whole institution is of Butter's hatching, then,
in the sense in which the term is used above, all female
customers are 'Butter-women,' and the remark with which
the Register refers the customer to the Clerk, Nathaniel,
is irrelevant and misleading to the audience and the reader.
Where else do we find Jonson guilty of such awkwardness?
Is it not plain that the clerk, Nathaniel, stands for Butter?
(2) Cymbal is explaining the conception of the Staple to
Peniboy junior:
1 The Printer in News from the New World probably represents
Butter, while the Factor corresponds to Cymbal.
2 i. 4. 10-15.
xlviii
Introduction
Cym. Nor shall the Stationer cheat vpon the Time,
By buttering ouer againe—Fit. once, in Seuen Yeares,
As the age doates—Cym. And growes forgetfull o'them,
His antiquated Pamphlets, with new dates.
But all shall come from the Mint.1
Here we have Cymbal exposing Butter's methods. Is it
likely that Cymbal stands for Butter? (3) The two clerks
being alone, Nathaniel says:
Shut up the Office: gentle brother Thomas.
Tho. Brother Nathaniel, I ha' the wine for you.
I hope to see us, one day, Emissaries.
Nath. Why not ? S'lid, I despair not to be Master !2
The only purpose of this bit of dialogue, which is neither
intrinsically entertaining, nor necessary in order to close the
action of the Scene, is to characterize the First Clerk and
remind the audience of the position of his prototype, Butter,
in actual life. Note Gossip Mirth's words in the Second
Intermean (line 58) : 'Look as smooth, and soft as butter.'
This, no doubt, is an allusion to the personal manner of
Nathaniel Butter. Compare with this his words to Thomas,
just quoted: 'gentle brother Thomas.' Remember, also,
that, as Sidney Lee3 tells us, Butter in early life had pub¬
lished sermons. He was probably a smooth and soft-spoken
person, and one who would address a fellow-clerk as 'gentle
brother.' Again, Jonson has purposely degraded Butter, in
the person of Clerk Nathaniel, to a subordinate position in
the news-business, and here, where he has him almost alone
upon the stage, he represents him as conscious of this
humiliation, and as aspiring to regain the position of leader.
These lines would never have been written had not the
First Clerk been an important piece of personal satire. (4)
In reporting to Peniboy Junior that the Staple is 'blown up,'
Thomas says :
11, s. 58-62.
* 3- 3- 54-7-
8 See DNB.
Introduction xlix
Our Emissaries, Register, Examiner,
Flew into vapor, our graue Gouernour
Into a subt'ler ayre; and is return'd
(As we do heare) grand-Captaine of the Ieerers.
I, and my fellow melted into butter,
And spoyl'd our Inke, and so the Office vanish'd.1
Either the first Clerk is Butter, or else line 49 is the idlest
of puns. Or, if Cymbal is Butter, what is the pertinency
of making him 'Grand-captain of the jeerers'? The jeerers
have no real business, but are idlers, social parasites—birds
of prey, always on the lookout for some one to jeer or to
gull. All that we know of Butter shows that at the date
of our play he had been for years industriously engaged in
legitimate business. Neither is there any evidence that he
was of a particularly bitter, venomous, or scurrilous dis¬
position; on the contrary, some of his Announcements to
the public suggest that he had a good deal of patience and
dignity. Again, though the jeerers are, perhaps, poor 'wits/
they have quick minds and sharp tongues. Is the mind
discovered in the passage quoted from Butter's pen on page
41 above capable of leading them? Further, they call them¬
selves 'gentlemen.' Would they tolerate a news-dealer as
their leader? Note, too, that Cymbal, upon the collapse of
the Staple, is returned grand-captain of the jeerers: that is,
he goes back to an occupation which he had temporarily
dropped in order to become the projector of the News-staple.
This shows that Jonson does not mean here to identify news-
dealing with jeering. The Staple is almost as much a
satire on projects, projectors, and gulls, as it is on false
and ridiculous news, and the public appetite for such. The
underplot, and with it the satire on news and news-dealers,
ends when Thomas reports that the office has vanished.
Not so the satire on Cymbal—that goes on. Though he
has made a 'good thing' of the prodigal Peniboy, his project
has failed of its main purpose, which was to get the still
richer Princess Pecunia into his power. So Cymbal goes
15. i. 45-50.
1
Introduction
back to the jeerers, and, when we next see him, he is at
their head, baiting the demented Peniboy Senior. (5)
Thomas has sketched the plan of the office to Peniboy
Junior :
P. Iv. 'Fore me, thou speak'st of a braue business, Thom.
Fas. Nay, if you knew the brain that hatch'd it Sir.
Tho. He tells you true sir. Mr. Cymbal
Is Master of the Office, he proiected it.
Fas. He's my Customer, and a Wit Sir, too.1
We may infer from this that Cymbal represents some well
known character, and one famous for hatching projects.
Would the fact that he had converted the somewhat irregu¬
lar and unsystematic publication of news-pamphlets into a
regular weekly newspaper, have caused Butter to be
regarded as peculiarly fertile in projects? Again, we learn
here that Cymbal patronizes a fashionable tailor, and the
inference is that he is a man of fashion. Is it probable
that Nathaniel Butter, the compiler of a weekly news-sheet,
was such a man? (6) When Cymbal calls upon Peniboy
Senior to induce him to let Pecunia sojourne at the office,
the miser directs at him a vehement tirade on the lavishness
and luxury of the age.2 But, if Cymbal is merely the head
of the news-office, what is the dramatic relevancv of this?
Is it not evident that Cymbal is known for one of the lavish
and luxurious? (7) When Cymbal is trying to entice
Pecunia into sojourning at the Staple-office he flatters her
with ingenious and well-worded compliments.3 Note
Pecunia's reply :
You are a Courtier, Sir, or somewhat more;
That haue this tempting langúage !
From this and the last two passages discussed above, I am
inclined to believe that Cymbal stands for some one con-
11. 2. 41-6.
2 3- 4- 57^8,
8 3. 2. 238-45-
Introduction
Ii
nected with the Court, and much in the public eye. Cer¬
tainly, though it was probably the main purpose of the
Staple-office to ridicule Nathaniel Butter's Weekly News,
there is much in these and the other passages cited to make
us doubt that Jonson intended us to take Cymbal, head of
the office, for Butter himself. Indeed I am convinced that
the First Clerk, Nathaniel, represents Butter.
2. Madrigal and Jonson
Cunningham and Fleay both identify Madrigal with
Jonson himself.1 At 2. 4. 25 Shunfield says of Madrigal :
Why, hee's of yeares, though he have little beard.
On this Cunningham says: 'Jonson has many allusions to
himself in this part of Madrigal. His own beard was thin
and straggling at the sides, while the chin had no hair at
all, and Dekker, among other jeers on the subject, makes
Captain Tucca "damn him for a thin-bearded hermaphro¬
dite." And further on in this play [4. 4. 54] he is called
"My egg-chin'd lauréat'' ' (GC. 5. 199). In 4. 2. 85, Fittoh
says that Madrigal begins 'all works, but finishes none.'
Again, when Peniboy Junior is discussing the plan of
'Canters' College' with his parasites, he says (4. 4. 95) :
And Horace here, [shall read] the Art of Poetry.
Putting these two passages together, Fleay says :2 'Madrigal
the "Horace his Art of Poetry," who begins all works,
and finishes none, is, of course, jonson.'
Fleay, no doubt, was influenced more by the fact that
Jonson had put himself into Poetaster under the name of
Horace, than by the passages cited above. A moment's
reflection would have given him pause: certainly Jonson
Apparently A. W. Ward, also, identifies Madrigal with Jonson.
Cf. Hist. Eng. Dram. Lit. 2. 374.
2 Chron. Eng. Drama 1. 384.
Iii
Introduction
was not a poet who began all works but finished none, and
he would never have spoken of himself as such. Careful
study of the contexts of these very passages which Cunning¬
ham and Fleay make the occasion of their notes of identifi¬
cation, and of what is said of Madrigal in other places,
reveals proof after proof that Jonson did not mean Madrigal
to stand for himself. Consider the following passages:
(1) Madrigal, in company with the jeerers, approaches
Peniboy Senior:
P. Se. Who's here? my Courtier? and my little Doctor?
My Muster-Master? and what Plouer's that
They have brought to pull? Bro. I know not, some green Plouer.
I'le find him out. P. Se. Doe, for I know the rest,
They are Ieerers, mocking, flouting Iackes.1
(2) The jeerers are trying to borrow of Peniboy Senior,
and they offer Madrigal as security :
Aim. Here's a Gentleman,
A Fresh-man i' the world, one Master Madrigal.
P. Se. H'has an odde singing name, is he an Heyre?
Fit. An Heyre to a faire fortune. Aim. And full hopes:
A dainty Schüller and a pretty Poet !
P. Se. Y'aue said enough. I ha' no money, Gentlemen,
An' he goe to't in ryme once, not a penny.
Shv. Why, hee's of years, though he haue little beard.
P. Se. His beard has time to grow. I haue no money :
Let him still dable in Poetry. No Pecunia
Is to be seene.2
It is plain from these passages that Madrigal is a 'green' or
inexperienced-looking person. He has some means, and the
jeerers intend eventually to 'pull' him. In lines 144-165
of Scene 4 they persuade him that it would be a good thing
to make an 'epitaph on his land,' and he becomes enthu¬
siastic over the composition he intends to produce on this
theme. Cunningham had but to look at line 24 of the first
12. 3. 81-5. •
3 2. 4. 16-28.
Introduction
liii
passage—the very next line after the one which elicited his
note—to see that Madrigal is so young looking that Peniboy
Senior thinks that youth explains his lack of beard: 'his
beard has time to grow,' says the miser. Jonson would not
in 1625-6 have represented himself as young looking.
Neither was he the man to be called a 'green Plover/ either
because of his appearance, or because of any lack of experi¬
ence ; nor the man to represent himself as a slavish admirer
of Pecunia's or as joining in the amusements of 'a covey of
wits,' such as the jeerers. (3) The Canter and Picklock are
speaking of the suitors of Pecunia :
P. Ca. You shall haue stall-fed Doctors, cram'd Diuines
Make loue to her, . . .
Pic. And Master Madrigal, the crowned Poet
Of these our times, doth offer at her praises
As faire as any, when it shall please Apollo,
That wit and rime may meete both in one subiect.1
These lines can only mean, as regards Madrigal, that wit
and rime do not meet in his verse, that he is a mere rimester.
'Crowned' (consummate), like 'lauréat' in 4. 4. 54, is a
sneer at Madrigal's pretensions. (4) The scene is the
Apollo Room ; Madrigal has been silently composing a song
on the theme of Pecunia :
P. Iv. . . . What saies my Poet-sucker !
He's chewing his Muses cudde, I doe see by him.
Mad. I haue almost done, I want but e'ne to finish.
Fit. That's the ill luck of all his workes still. P. Iv. What?
Fit. To beginne many works, but finish none;
P. Iv. How does he do his Mistresse work? Fit. Imperfect.
Alm. I cannot think he finisheth that. P. Iv. Let's heare.
Mad. It is a Madrigal, I affect that kind
Of Poem, much. P. Iv. And thence you ha' the name.
Fit. It is his Rose. He can make nothing else.2
Would Jonson, at any age, have called himself a Poet-
sucker? Was he given to leaving poems unfinished? Did
11. 6. 67-84.
* 4. 2. 81-90.
liv
Introduction
he affect poems which, by any extension of the term, could
be called madrigals? Was he able to 'make' but one kind
of poem ? And then lines 86-7 ! These sound much less
like a bit of fun at his own expense than a bitter jibe at
some one he despised. (5) Madrigal's song and saraband
have just been sung :
Shv. A dainty ditty ! Fit. O, bee's a dainty Poet !
When he sets to't. P. Iv. And a dainty Schüller !
Alm. No, no great scholler, he writes like a Gentleman.
Shv. Pox o' your Scholler. P. Ca. Pox o' your distinction !
As if a Scholler were no Gentleman.
With these, to write like a Gentleman, will in time
Become, all one, as to write like an Asse,
These Gentlemen ? these Rascalls ! I am sicke
Of indignation at 'hem.1
Was Jonson one of the poets who wrote like gentlemen
rather than like scholars? (6) Peniboy Canter has thrown
off his disguise and is denouncing the jeerers. When he
comes to Madrigal, whom he takes up last, he says:
Or [do I] blast
The euer-lining ghirlond, alwaies greene
Of a good Poet ? when I say his wreath
Is piec'd and patch'd of dirty witherd flowers?
Away, I am impatient of these vlcers,
(That I not call you worse) There is no sore,
Or Plague but you to infect the times. I abhorre
Your very scent.2
We may infer from 'dirty, witherd flowers' that Madrigal
lacks originality, or perhaps is given to plagiarizing. Jonson
would never have put such an accusation against himself
into the mouth of a character in a play without making some
other character refute it. Nowhere do we feel that the
poet himself approves of Madrigal.
It is plain from these passages that Jonson did not intend
Madrigal to be, in any sense, a portrait of himself. If he
x4- 2. 146-154.
2 4. 4. 165-172.
Introduction
lv
did, he was never so poor an artist as when he sketched that
figure ; for, except for his beardlessness, there is not a point
in which Madrigal resembles him. Moreover, there is not
a single line of Madrigal's in which jonson himself seems
to be speaking—not one in which we feel the fire of lofty
moral indignation; on the other hand, he speaks often
through Peniboy Senior, and constantly through the Canter.
The last two passages above are striking instances of this.
Note, too, what Gossip Mirth says of the Canter in the
Fourth Intermean (5-6) : 'A beggarly lacke it is, I warrant
him, and a kin to the Poet.' In fact, the only allusions to
Jonson himself are in the Induction and the Intermeans.
3. Madrigal and George Wither
Whom, then, did Jonson mean by Madrigal ? The
nupierous allusions which cluster about that character are
so specific that no one can doubt that he stands for some
one in particular. To whom can the sneering words, 'the
crowned Poet of these our times,'1 apply but to George
Wither, whose early poems, collected and republished in
1622 under the general title of Juvenilia, had met with
remarkable success?
Wither's success is said to have been viewed with envy
by jonson.2 Certain it is that jonson satirized him as
Chronomastix in his mask, Time Vindicated, which was
presented in January 1624. The excuse for this attack was
the republication, in the Juvenilia, of Abuses Stript and
Whipt, a series of satires in verse on various vices of the
time. This work had first been printed in 1611, but for
some reason it was then suppressed, and Wither was thrown
into prison on account of it. In the Introduction of Abuses
Stript and Whipt, as it appeared in 1622, Wither told his
readers 'not to looke for Spencer's or Daniel's well com¬
posed numbers, or the deep conceits of the now flourishing
1 Cf. 3d passage cited above.
2 DNB.
1 vi
Introduction
Jonsort' ; but to say 'tis honest plain matter, and there's as
much as he expects.' Perhaps Jonson took offense at this
allusion to himself. It is evidently a sneer, though else¬
where in the Juvenilia1 Wither spoke of Jonson in a tone of
deep respect, as one of the poets whom he longed to know
personally. Whatever the provocation, Jonson caught up
Wither's frequent use in Abuses Stript and Wkipt of the
phrases, 'the time' and 'the times,' and satirized him in his
mask as Chronomastix, the Scourge of the Times. And
here in our play, in the person of Madrigal, Wither is
receiving a second castigation. The words, 'the crowned
poet of these our times,' allude both to Wither's pretensions
to be called the satirist of the times, and to the popularity
of the Juvenilia. When, in the last passage cited above,
the Canter says that Madrigal's wreath is 'pieced and patched
of dirty witherd flowers,' no doubt he is playing upon
Wither's name. Note, too, that among the satellites of
Chronomastix in Time Vindicated is a 'man of war,' who
follows him 'i'the rear, and is both trumpet And Champion
to his Muse.' This 'man of war' is probably our Shunfield,
who used to be a muster-master, but is now a sea-captain.
Note his praise of Madrigal in passage (5) cited above.
The clue once found, we have but to study the Juvenilia,
and an abundance of evidence is forthcoming that Madrigal
is Wither. (1) The phrase 'green plover,' and Peniboy
Senior's words, 'his beard has time to grow,'2 probably
allude to the general title of Wither's poems, Juvenilia, and
especially to his frequent apologetic reminders to the reader,
in the various introductory passages in that collection, that
the poems were mostly written when he was very young.3
(2) With Fitton's assertion, in the second passage cited
above, that Madrigal is 'heyre to a faire fortune,' and the
jeering allusions to his land in 2. 4. 144-54, compare
Wither's allusion in his Motto4 to the estate he expected
13- 264.
2 Cf. the passages cited on page 52 above.
3 At the date of our play, however, Wither was about thirty-eight.
* Juvenilia 3. 688.
Introduction Ivii
some day to inherit, and his declaration that on leaving
Oxford he found himself ill-adapted for a rural calling.1
(3) With passage (3) compare the following from Wither's
satire on Covetousness :2
How many also of our graue Divines
That should seeke treasure not in earthly Mines
Descend to basenesse, and against the haire,
(As goes the common proverb) can speake faire?
Flatter for gaine, etc.
jonson here turns Wither s arraignment of the money-wor¬
shipers against himself. He takes graue in the sense of
heavy, and converts 'graue Divines' into 'crarn'd divines.'
Note also the use of the adverb faire, in both passages.
As in Time Vindicated, by way of allusion to Wither's long
poem, Fair Virtue, or P hilar et e to his Mistress, Jonson
represents Chronomastix as having made Fame the mistress
for whom 'he revels so in rime,' so here, and especially in
the scene in the Apollo Room, he represents Madrigal as
having made Pecunia his mistress. (4) With Almanach's
assertion that Madrigal writes not like a scholar, but like a
gentleman, compare the following points: (a) on the title
pages of The Shepherd's Hunting and Fidelia Wither signs
himself 'Gentleman'; (b) he several times refers in the
Juvenilia to his gentle birth and breeding ; (c) in his apology
for his poems ( 1. 2) he says ;
He knowes how farre they differ from those Layes,
By which the learned Poet hunts for praise;
(d) and again (3. 660) he says:
I want not so much Knowledge, as to know,
True Wisedome, lies not in a glorious show
Of humane Learning; or in being able
To cite Authorities innumerable;
(e)in another place he devotes several pages3 to a criticism
of the dry and useless pedantry of the Universities, j onson
1 Juvenilia 1. 6; 8.
Juvenilia 1. 90.
8 Cf. Juvenilia 1. 175-182!".
lviii
Introduction
on the other hand, was of humble birth, and prided himself,
perhaps first of all, on his scholarliness. (5) Lines 86-7 of
the fourth passage allude to the great length of Wither's
Fair Virtue, which is a somewhat formless rhapsody of over
4,700 lines. Lines 86-7 are an equivoque, however, and
probably an allusion is intended to Philarete's oft-repeated
professions of chastity. (6) When Madrigal is about to
read his song1 he begins to explain that 'the Sun is father
of all metals,' etc. % leaue your Prologues, say !' exclaims
Peniboy Junior in some haste. This no doubt alludes to the
fact that Wither dealt extensively in Introductions, Ad¬
dresses to the Readers, both in prose and verse, and in
Prologues. The Prologue of Fair Virtue contains over
450 lines. In fact Philarete defiantly perseveres in it till
the day wanes, and his eager listeners have to wait until the
next morning for the real song in praise of his mistress.
(7) The image of the torch in Madrigal's Song (4. 2. 95-
107) sounds like an echo of the passage2 in which Philarete
describes the brilliancy of his mistress' beauty in terms of
light; a torch figures prominently in that description. (8)
One last parallel, though it has but an indirect bearing on
the question of Madrigal's identity. The eulogium of
Pecunia in the Apollo Room3 is a condensed parody of
Philarete's detailed description of the physical charms of
his mistress in the first and second parts of Fair Virtue.
To compare in detail would require pages ; suffice it to say
that we have here not only most of the details on which
Philarete descants (the more objectionable are omitted),
but also great similarity of epithets, figures, and mythologi¬
cal allusions. Shunfield alludes to the extravagance of
Philarete's eulogium when he says :4
Praise is strucke blind, and deafe, and dumbe with her !
She doth astonish Commendation !
1 4- 2. 93-4.
2 Juvenilia 3. 741.
3 4- 2.
4 4. 2. 78-9.
Introduction
lix
Indeed the parody is scarcely more extravagant than the
original. No one can compare the two, I think, and not
be convinced that j onson was making light of Wither.
I am aware, as I was when comparing our play and The
London Prodigal, that brief passages and points of resem¬
blance, when isolated from their context, lose much of their
force. If, however, the details I have here adduced lead
Jonsonian scholars to compare The Staple of News with
Wither's Juvenilia, I have little doubt as to what they will
conclude. That Madrigal stands for Jonson is preposter¬
ous ; that he stands for Wither is all but certain.
TEXT
EDITOR'S NOTE
The text here adopted is that of the original edition, dated 1631,
and found in volume 2 of the First Folio. The only alterations are
in the lining of the prose portions; in the pagination, that of the
Folio being inserted in brackets ; in the position of the book-holder's
marginal notes, which are here set into the body of the text at the
points where 1716 and Whalley placed them ; and in the substitution
of type of modern style for certain of the more infrequent archaic
characters.
The foot-notes are intended to show all the alterations in the
phrasing of the text, including the book-holder's notes, and the scene
headings; all alterations in spelling which amount to changes of
form; all suggestive alterations in punctuation; all corrections of
verbal misprints; and all verbal misprints originating in subsequent
editions.
1692=the Third Folio, 1692,
I7i6=the edition of 1716 [ 1717].
W=Peter Whalley's edition, 1756.
G=William Gilford's edition, 1816.
SN.=Side-note, or Book-holder's note,
t = All the editions collated read thus.
( ) ] G == Gififord retains parentheses.
G§ = Gifford usually reads thus, and henceforth only his reten¬
tion of the Folio reading will be noted. This sign is used only with
the following variants: ha'] have; h'] he; he's] he is; i'] in;
o'] of; of] on; th'] the.
1692 alone follows the first edition in repeating the name of the
act at the head of each scene, and in leaving it to be understood that
the first person named in a scene-heading is the first speaker of that
scene.
THE STAPLE
OF
NEVVES.
A COMEDIE
ACTED IN THE ,
a
jEj
YEARE, 1625.
BY HIS MAIESTIES
Servants.
The Author Ben: Ionson.
hor. in art. poet.
Aut prodejfe volunt, aut deledîarepoetœ
Aut fimul àf iucunda, &r idónea dicere vitœ
[device of a
wolf's head erased]
LONDON,;
Printed by /. B. for Robert Allot, and are
to be fold at the ligne of the Beare, in Pauls
Church-yard. 1631.
THE PERSONS
[2]
Peni-boy.
Peni-boy.
Peni-boy.
Cymbal.
Fitton.
Almanach
Shvn-field.
Madrigal.
Picklock.
Pyed-mantle.
Register.
Natpianeel.
Tho: Barbr.
Pecvnia.
Mortgage.
Statvte.
Band.
VVaxe.
OF THE PLAY.
the Sonne, the heire and Suit er.
the Father, the Canter,
the Uncle. The Vfur er.
M after of the Staple, and prime leerer.
Emiffary Court, and leerer. 5
DoFlor in Phyfick, and leerer.
Sea-captaine, and leerer.
Po et a ft er, and leerer.
Man o'law, and EmiiTary Weitminfter.
Purftuant at armes, and Heraldet 10
Of the Staple, or Office.
Firft Clerke of the Office.
Second Clerke of the Office.
Infanta of the Mynes.
Her Nurie. 15
First Woman.
Second Woman.
Chambermaid.
Broker.
Lick-finger.
Fashioner.
Secretary, and Gentleman vfher to her Grace.
Cvstomers
Porter.
A Mafter Cooke, and parcell Poet.
The Taylor of the times.
Linener. Haberdasher.
Shoomaker. Spvrrier.
{Male and Female.
Dogges. II.
The Scene. London.
20
The Persons of the Play] Dramatis Person® W, G 1716,
W, G place this list of persons after the Prologue for the Court.
3 Peni-boy. the) Pennyboy, Richer, the G 7 and] a 1692, 1716,
W 9 Man d law] G ; but elsewhere always man of law.
14-18.] G places at end of the list. 18 VVaxe.] Wax, (Rose,)
G 19 her Grace] Pecunia. G 20 A] Om. G 23
Leatherleg, shoemaker. G 25 Dogges. II.] two dogs. 1716, W
Block and Lollard, two dogs. G Buz, Ambler, grooms ; fid¬
dlers, singing-boy, attendants, àfc. INTERMEAN or CHORUS.
Gossips Mirth, Tattle, Expectation, and Censure. G.
THE
INDVCTION. M
The Prologve enters.
After him, Goffip Mirth. Gof. Tatle. Gof. Ex¬
pectation. and Goffip Censvre.
4. Gentlewomen LADY-like attyred.
Prologve.
F Or your owne fake, not ours
Mirth. Come G of sip, be not aßam'd. The
Play is the Staple of Newes, and you are the
MiitrelTe, and Lady of Tatle, let's ha' your opinion of it:
Do you heare Gentleman? what are y out Gentleman-vflier
to the Playf pray you helpe vs to fome ftooles here.
Prologve. Where? 0' the Stage, Ladies?
Mirth. Yes, o'the Stage; wee are perfons of quality,
I affure you, and women of faihion ; and come to fee, and
to be feene: My Goffip Tatle here, and Gof sip Expectation,
and my G of sip Censure, and I am Mirth, the daughter of
Chriitmas, and fpirit of Shrouetide. They fay, It's merry
when GoiTips meet, I hope your Play will be a merry one !
Prologve. Or you will make it fuch, Ladies. Bring a
forme here, but what will the Noblemen thinke, or the
graue Wits here, to fee you feated on the bench thus?
Mirth. Why, what fhould they thinke ? but that they
had Mothers, as we had, and thofe Mothers had G of sips
The Prologue enters.] The Stage. Enter Prologue. G
After him, . . .] G places this entry after line 1. 1 sakes G
ours] his G 4 ha'] have G passim 7, 8 o'] on G §
14 [a bench is brought in.] G
6
The Staple of Nevves [Indvction
(if their children were chrifined) as we are, and fuch as
had a longing to fee Play es, and fit upon them, as wee doe, 20
and arraigue both them, and their Poëts.
Prologve. Of Is that your purpofe? Why, Mrs. Mirth,
and Madame Tatle, enioy your delights freely.
Tatle. Looke your Newes be new, and frefh, Mr.
Prologue, and vntainted, I fiiall find them elfe, if they be 25
ftale, or flye-blowne, quickly !
Prologve. Wee aske no fauour from you, onely wee
would entreate of Madame Expectation—
Expectation. What, Mr. Prologue? [4]
Prologve. That your Ladi-fhip would expedí no more 30
then you vnderftand.
Expectation. Sir, I can expedí enough !
Prologve. I feare too much, Lady, and teach others to
do the like ?
Expectation. I can doe that too, if I haue caufe. 35
Prologve. Cry you mercy, you neuer did wrong, but
with iuit caufe. What's this, Lady?
Mirth. Curiofity, my Lady Cenfure.
Prologve. O Curiofity! you come to fee, who wear es
the nezv fute to day? whofe clothes are be ft penn'd, what 40
euer the part be ? which ACtor has the befit legge and foote?
what King play es without cuff est and his Queene without
gloues ? who rides poft in ftockings? and daunces in bootes?
Censvre. Yes, and which amorous Prince makes loue in
drinke, or doe's ouer-adt prodigioufly in beaten fatten, and, 45
hauing got the tricke on't, will be monitrous ftill, in
defpight of Counfell!
Book-holder. Mend your lights, Gentlemen. Mailer
Prologue, beginne.
The Tiremen enter to mend the lights.
19 ( )] G christened W, G 22 M™.] Mistress G passim
24 Mr.J Master G passim 27 onlyf passim 31 than f
passim 35 to 1692 43 dances f 45 doesf passim
48 Book-holder, [within.] G 49 SN. ] Enter the Tiremen ... G
Indvction] The Staple of Nevves
7
Tatle. Ay me! 5°
Expectation. Who's that ?
Prologve. Nay, ftart not Ladies, thefe carry no fire-
workes to fright you, but a Torch i' their hands, to giue
light to the buftneffe. The truth is, there are a fet of
game ft er s within, in trauell of a thing call'd a Play, and 55
would faine be deliuer'd of it: and they haue intreated me
to be their Maw-Midwife, the Prologue ; for they are like
to haue a hard labour on 't.
Tatle. Then the Poet has abus'd himfelfe, like an Affe,
as hee is. 60
Mirth. No, his AStors will abufe him enough, or I am
deceiu'd. Yonder he is within (/ was ï the Tiring-houfe a
while to fee the Actors dreft) rowling himfelfe vp and
downe like a tun, i' the mid ft of 'hem, and f purges, neuer
did veffel of wort, or wine worke fo! His fweating put me 65
in minde of a good Shrouing difh (and I beleeue would be
taken vp for a feruice of ftate fomewhere, an't were
knowne) a ftezv'd Poet ! He doth fit like an vnbrac'd Drum
with one of his heads beaten out: For, that you muft note,
a Poet hath two heads, as a Drum has, one for making, the 70
other repeating, and his repeating head is all to pieces: they
may gather it vp i' the tiring-houfe; for hee hath tome the
booke in a Poeticall fury, and put himfelfe to ftlence in dead
Sacke, which, were there no other vexation, were fufficient
to make him the mo ft miferable Embleme of patience. 75
Censvre. The Prologue, peace.
50 Ay] Ah G 53 i'] in G§ 55 travail G 62, 63
awhile G ( )] G 64 'hem] 'em 1692, 1716, W passim them
G§ fpurges] purges 1716, W, G 66, 69 ( )] G
W prints the Induction in Roman letters.
THE
[5]
PROLOGVE
FOR
THE STAGE.
F Or your owne fakes, not his, he bad me fay.
Would you were come to heare, not fee a Play.
Though we his A 61 or s muít prouide for thofe,
Who are our guefts, here, in the way of ihowes,
The maker hath not fo ; he'ld haue you wife 5
Much rather by your eares, then by your eyes :
And prayes you'll not preiudge his Play for ill,
Becaufe you marke it not, and fit not ftill ;
But haue a longing to falute, or talke
With fuch a female, and from her to walke 10
With your difcourfe, to what is done, and where,
How, and by whom, in all the towne ; but here.
Alas ! what is it to his Scene, to know
How many Coaches in Hide-parke did ihow
Laft fpring, what fare to day at Medley es was, 15
If Dun ft an, or the Phœnix beíl wine has ?
They are things—But yet, the Stage might Hand as wel,
If it did neither heare thefe things, nor tell.
Great noble wits, be good vnto your felues,
And make a difference 'twixt Poétique elues, 20
And Poets : All that dable in the inke,
And defile quills, are not thofe few, can thinke,
Concerne, expreffe, and fleere the foules of men,
As with a rudder, round thus, with their pen.
He muff be one that can inilruct your youth, 25
And keepe your Acme in the ilate of truth,
Muff enterprize this worke, marke but his wayes,
What flight he makes, how new ; And then he fayes,
If that not like you, that he fends to night,
'Tis you haue left to iudge, not hee to write. 30
The Prologue. (For the Stage.) G 5 he'd 1716, W, G
(Usually so. Henceforth only readings different from 'he'd'will be
noted.) 12 town, f 17 They're W 27 work;f
G prints this Prologue in italics.
THE
[6]
PROLOGVE
FOR
THE COVRT.
AWorke, not fmelting of the Lampe, to night.
But fitted for your Maiefties difport,
And writ to the Meridian of your Court,
Wee bring; and hope it may produce delight:
The rather, being offered as a Rite 5
T0 Schollers, that can iudge, and faire report
The fenfe they heare, aboue the vulgar fort
Of Nut-crackers, that onely come for fight.
Wherein, although our Title, Sir, be Newes.
Wee yet aduenture, here, to tell you none; 10
But fhew you common follies, and fo knowne,
That though they are not truths, th'innocent Mufe
Hath made f 0 like, as Pliant3fie could them fiate,
Or Poetry, without fcandall, imitate.
Prologue. (For the Court.) G 2 Majesty's f
1692 News, 1716, W, G 12 th'] the G§
this Prologue all in Roman letters.
9 News ;
W prints
THE
[7]
STAPLE
OF
NEVVES.
Act. I. Scene. I.
Peni-boy. Iv. Lether-legge.
*His Shooemaker has pull'd on a new payre of bootes; and hee walks
in his Gowne, waftcoate, and troupes, expeBing his Taylor.
GRamercie Letherle g : Get me the Spurrier,
And thou haft fitted me. Let. I'll do't prefently.
P. Iv. Look to me, wit, and look to my wit, Land,
That is, looke on me, and with all thine eyes,
Male, Female, yea, Hermaphroditicke eyes, 5
And thofe bring all your helpes, and perfpicills,
To fee me at belt aduantage, and augment
My forme as I come forth, for I doe feele
I will be one, worth looking after, ihortly.
Now, by and by, that's ihortly.
*He drawes foorth his zvatch, and jets it on the Table.
*'t ftrikes ! One, two, 10
Three, foure, fiue, fix. Inough, inough, deare watch,
G makes but one scene of Scenes I, II, III.
Scene I. The Lodgings of Pennyboy, jun. Enter Pennyboy, jun.
and Leatherleg with a new pair of boots. G i SN.] [Leaih. pulls
on his boots.] G 2 And] An' W do it W, G presently,
j Exit. G 3 SN. ! j Walks up and down, in . . . ] G trowsers
1692, 1716, W 9 shortly ; 1716, W, G 10't] It G
Sc. i] The Staple of Nevves ii
Thy pulfe hath beate inough. Now fleepe, and reft ;
Would thou couldft make the time to doe fo too :
I'll winde thee vp no more. The houre is come
So long expected ! There, there,*
* He throws off his gowne.
drop my wardihip, 15
My pupill age, and vailalage together.
And Liberty, come throw thy felfe about me,
In a rich fuite, cloake, hat, and band, for now
Tie fue out no mans Liuery, but miny owne,
I hand on my owne feete, so much a yeere, 20
Right, round, and found, the Lord of mine owne ground,
And (to ryme to it) threefcore thousand Pound!
*Not come? Not yet? Taylor thou art a vermine,
* He goes to the doore, and lookes.
Worfe then the fame thou profecut'ft, and prick'ft
In fubtill feame—(Go too, I fay no more) 25
Thus to retard my longings : on the day [8]
I doe write man, to beat thee. One and twenty,
Since the clock ftrooke, compleat! and thou wilt feele it
Thou fooliíh Animall ! I could pitty him,
(An' I were not heartily angry with him now) 30
For this one peece of folly he beares about him,
To dare to tempt the Furie of an heyre,
T' aboue two thoufand a yeere ; yet hope his cuñóme !
Well, Mr. Fajhioner, theres fome muft breake—
A head, for this your breaking. Are you come, Sir, 35
10, 15, 23 (SN.) He\ Om. G
16 pupilage f 19 mine f
28 struck f An G passim
Fashioner. G
14 thee] the 1692
22 ( )] G 25 to G
34 Mr.] Master f 35 Enter
The Staple of Nevves
Act i
Act. II. Scene. If.
Fashioner. Peniboy. Thomas
Barber. Haberdasher.
G Od giue your worfhip ioy. P. Iv. What? of your
flaying ?
And leauing me to italke here in my trowfes,
Like a tame Her'n-jew for you? Fas. I but waited
Below, till the clocke flrooke. P. Iv. Why, if you had come
Before a quarter, would it fo haue hurt you, 5
In reputation, to haue wayted here ?
Fas. No, but your worfhip might haue pleaded nonage,
If you had got 'hem on, ere I could make
lust Affidauit of the time. P. Iv. That ieft
Has gain'd thy pardon, thou had'ft liu'd, condemn'd 10
To thine owne hell else, neuer to haue wrought
Stitch more for me, or any Peniboy,
1 could haue hindred thee : but now thou art mine.
For one and twenty yeeres, or for three liues,
Chufe which thou wilt, I'll make thee a Copy-holder, 15
And thy firft Bill vnqueflion'd. Helpe me on.
He fay es his fute.
Fas. Prefently, Sir, I am bound vnto your worfhip.
P. Iv. Thou fhalt be, when I haue feal'd thee a Leafe of
my Cufióme.
Fas. Your worps* Barbar is without. P. In. Who?
Thorn?
Come in Thom : fet thy things vpon the Boord 20
Act. IL] Act. I. 1692 Act. II. . . . Haberdasher.] Om. G
2 trowsers W 3 I butj But I W 4 struck. 1716, W, G
6 here] her 1692 10 hadst G passim liu'd,] Comma om. f
13 hinder'd 1716, W, G 14 lives. 1716, W 16 (SN.) He.}
Om. G 'says W 17 Sir,] Colon f 19 wor?®.] worships
1692, 1716 worship's W, G 20 Enter Thomas, Barber. G
Sc. h]
The Staple of Nevves
13
And fpread thy clothes, lay all forth in procinBu,
And tell's what newes? Tho. O Sir, a itaple of newes!
Or the New Staple, which you pleafe. P. Iv. What's that?
Fas. An Office, Sir, a braue young Office fet vp.
I had forgot to tell your worihip. P. Iv. For what? 25
Tno. To enter all the Newes, Sir, o' the time,
Fas. And vent it as occafion ferues ! A place [9]
Of huge commerce it will be ! P. I v. Pray thee peace,
I cannot abide a talking Taylor : let Thom
(He's a Barber) by his place relate it, 30
What is't, an Office, Thom? Tho. Newly erected
Here in the house, almoil on the fame floore,
Where all the newes of all forts ihall be brought,
And there be examin'd, and then regiitred,
And fo be íífu'd vnder the Seale of the Office, 35
As Staple Newes; no other newes be currant.
P. Iv. 'Fore me, thou fpeak'il of a braue bufmes, Thom.
Fas. Nay, if you knew the brain that hatch'd it Sr— x
P. Iv. I know thee wel inough : giue him a loaf, Thom—
Quiet his mouth, that Ouen will be venting elfe.. 40
Proceed— Tho. He tels you true Sr. Mr Cymbal,
Is Mailer of the Office, he proiefited it,
Hee lies here i'the houfe : and the great roomes
He has taken for the Office, and fet vp
His Deskes and Claffes, Tables and his Shelues, 45
Fas. He's my cuitomer, and a Wit Sir, too.
But, h'has braue wits vnder him— Tho. Yes, foure
Emiff aries,
P Iv. Emiff aries? flay, there's a fine new word, Thom !
'Pray God it fignifie any thing, what are Emiff aries?
Tho. Men imploy'd outward, that are fent abroad 50
To fetch in the commodity. Fas. From all regions
Where the beft newes are made. Tho. Or vented forth.
Fas. By way of exchange, or trade. P. Iv. Nay, thou
wilt ipeak— He giues the Taylor leaue to talk.
21 cloths W, G 30 ( )] G He is G§ 34 register'd G
41 Sr.] Sirf passim Mr) Masterf 47 h'] he G§ 49 Pray
1716, W, G passim 53 SN.] Om. G
H
The Staple of Nevves [Act i
Fas. My fhare Sr. there's enough for both. P. Iv. Goe
on then,
Speake all thou canil : me thinkes, the ordinaries 55
Should helpe them much. Fas. Sir, they haue ordinaries,
And extraordinaries, as many changes,
And variations, as there are points i'the compaife.
ho. But the 4. Cardinall Quarters— P. Iv. I, thoie
Thorn—
'no. The Court, Sir, Pauls, Exchange, and Weftmin ft er¬
hall. 60
P. Iv. Who is the Chiefe ? which hath preceedencie ?
Tho. he gouernour o' the Staple, Mailer Cymball.
He is the Chiefe ; and after him the Emiffaries :
Firil Emiffary Court, one Mailer Fitton,
He's a leerer too. P. Iv. What's that? Fas. A Wit. 65
Tho. Or hälfe a Wit, fome of them are Halfe-wits,
Two to a Wit, there are a fet of 'hem.
Then Mailer Ambler, Emiff ary Paules,
A fine pac'd gentleman, as you ihall fee, walke
The middle lie : and then my Froy Hans Bus, 70
A Dutch-man ; he's Emiff ary Exhange.
Fas. I had thought Mr. Bur ft the Marchant had had it.
Tho. No,
He has a rupture, hee has fprung a leake,
Emiffarie Weftminfter's vndifpos'd of yet; [10]
Then the Examiner, Re gift er, and two Clerkes, 75
They mannage all at home, and fort, and file,
And feale the newes, and iilue them. P. Iv. Thorn, deare
Thorn.
What may my meanes doe for thee, aske, and haue it,
I'd faine be doing fome good. It is my birth-day.
And I'd doe it betimes, I feele a grudging 80
Of bounty, and I would not long lye fallow.
55 can'st W 59 I] Ay 1716, W, G passim 70 isle 1692,
1716, W aisle G froy G 71 Exchange f 73 leak.
1716, W, G 78 thee? 1716, W, G 80 I would G
Sc. ii]
The Staple of Nevves
15
I pray thee thinke, and fpeake, or wiih for fomething.
Tho. I would I had but one o' the Clerkes places,
I'this Newes Office. P. Iv. Thou fhalt haue it, Thom,
If filuer, or gold will fetch it; whats the rate? 85
At what is't fet i'the Mercat? Tho. Fiftie pound, Sir.
P. Iv. An't were a hundred, Thom, thou ihalt not want it.
The Taylor le apes, and embraceth him.
Fas. O Noble Mailer! P. Iv. How now 2Efops Aile!
Becaufe I play with Thom, muH I needes runne
Into your rude embraces ? hand you hill, Sir ; 90
Clownes fawnings, are a horfes falutations.
How do'il thou like my fuite, Thom? Tho. Mr Fafliioner
Has hit your meafures, Sir, h'has moulded you,
And made you, as they fay. Fas. No, no, not I,
I am an Alle, old ¿Efops Aile. P. Iv. Nay, Fafliioner, 95
I can doe thee a good turne too, be not mufty,
Though thou hail moulded me, as little Thom fayes,
(I thinke thou hail put me in mouldy pockets.) Fas. As
good,
He draw es out his pockets.
Right Spanifh perfume, the Lady Eflifania's,
They coil twelue pound a payre. P. Iv. Thy bill will
fay fo. 100
I pray thee tell me, Fafliioner, what Authors
Thou read'il to helpe thy inuention ? Italian prints ?
Or Arras hangings? They are Taylors Libraries.
Fas. I fcorne fuch helps. P. Iv. O, though thou art
a filk-worme !
And deal'il in fattins and veluets, and rich pluihes, 105
Thou canil not fpin all formes out of thy felfe ;
They are quite other things : I think this fuite
Has made me wittier, then I was. Fas. Belieue it Sir,
That clothes doe much vpon the wit, as weather
83 o'] of G 86 Market 1716, W, G is't] is it G
87 SN.] \Leaps and embraces him. G an 'twere 1716, W, G
91 clowns' G 92 dostf passim 96 too; G 97 says:— G
98 (SN.) He] Om. G
i6
The Staple of Nevves
[Act i
Do's on the braine ; and thence comes your prouerbe ; no
The Taylor makes the man : I fpeake by experience
Of my owne Cuítomers. I haue had Gallants,
Both Court and Countrey, would ha' fool'd you vp
In a new fuite, with the belt wits, in being,
And kept their fpeed, as long as their clothes laited 115
Han'fome, and neate ; but then as they grew out
At the elbowes againe, or had a ilaine, or fpot,
They haue funke moil wretchedly. P. Iv. What thou
report'il,
Is but the common calamity, and feene daily ;
And therefore you 'haue another anfwering prouerbe: 120
A broken fleeue keepes the arme backe, Fas. 'Tis true,
Sir. [11]
And thence wee fay, that fuch a one playes at peepe arme.
P. Iv. Doe you fo ? it is wittily fayd. I wonder, Gentle¬
men,
And men of meanes will not maintaine themfelues
Frefher in wit, I meane in clothes, to the higheft. 125
For hee that's out o' clothes, is out o'faihion,
And out of faihion, is out of countenance,
And out o' countenance, is out o' Wit.
Is not Rogue Haberdafher cornel Hab. Yes, here, Sir.
They are all about him, bufie.
I ha' beene without this hälfe houre. P. Iv. Giue me my
hat. 130
Put on my Girdle. Rafcall, fits my Ruffe well ?
Lin. Inprint. P. Iv. Slaue. Lin. See your felfe.
P. Iv. Is this fame hat
O'the blocke paffant? Doe not anfwer mee,
I cannot ftay for an anfwer. I doe feele
no thence] thence [Sir] G 113 ha'] have G§ 114 witsf
120 you 'ave 1692 you've 1716, G yo've W 127 of] o' W
129 SN.] They are all busie about him 1692, 1716, W (busy)W Ora. G
130 Enter Haberdasher, Linener, and Hatter and Shoemaker. G
131 girdle Rascal, 1692 girdle, Rascal ; 1716, W girdle, rascal : g
132 In print f 133 not not 1692
sc. m]
The Staple of Nevves
i 7
The powers of one and twenty, like a Tide 135
Flow in vpon mee, and perceiue an Heyre,
Can Coniure vp all fpirits in all circles,
Rogue, Rafcall, Slaue, giue tradefmen their true names,
And they appeare to 'hem prefently. Lin. For profit.
P. Iv. Come, cait my cloake about me, I'll goe fee, 140
This Office Thom, and be trimm'd afterwards.
I'll put thee in poilellion, my prime worke !
Gods fo : my Spurrier ! put 'hem on boy, quickly,
His Spurrier comes in.
I'had like to ha loft my Spurres with too much fpeed.
Act. 1. Scene. nJ-
Peni-boy, Canter, to them fmging.
Good morning to my Ioy, My iolly Peni-boy!
The Lord, and the Prince of plenty !
I come to fee what riches, Thou heareft in thy breeches,
The fir ft of thy one and twenty :
What, doe thy pockets gingle? Or fhall wee neede to
mingle 5
Our flrength both of foote, and horfes!
These fellowes looke fo eager, As if they would beleaguer
An Heyre in the mid ft of his forces !
I hope they be no Serieants ! That hang vpon thy mar gents.
This Rogue has the Ioule of a Iaylor! 10
The young Peny-boy anfwers in tune.
P. Iv. O Founder, no fitch matter, My Spurrier, and my
Hatter,
137 circles. W, G 138 Rogue ! Rascal ! Slave ! W, G
13g 'hem] him G 143 Enter Spurrier. G Ods so G
144 I'd 1716, W I had G ha] have W, G
Act. I. Scene. IIJ-] Om. G To them, Peniboy Canter, sing¬
ing. 1716, W Enter Pennyboy Canter, in a patched and ragged cloke,
singing. G. (sand of horses G ii P. ]\m.\answers in tune.] G
18
The Staple of Nevves [Act i
My Linnen-man, and my Taylor.
Thou ihould'lt haue beene brought in too, Shoomaker,
If the time had beene longer, and Thom Barber. [12]
How do'lt thou like my company, old Cant er ? 15
Doe I not multer a braue troupe ? all Bill-men ?
Prefent your Armes, before my Founder here,
This is my Founder, this fame learned Canter !
He brought me the firit newes of my fathers death,
I thanke him, and euer lince, I call him Founder, 20
He tales the bils, and puts them vp in his pockets.
Worfhip him, boyes, I'll read onely the fummes.
And palle 'hem ftreight. Sho. Now Ale. Rest. And
itrong Ale bielle him.
P. Iv. Gods fo, lome Ale, and Sugar for my Founder !
Good Bills, fufficient Bills, thefe Bills may palle.
P. Ca. I do not like thofe paper-lquibs, good Malter. 25
They may vndoe your llore, I meane, of Credit,
And fire your Arfenall, if cafe you doe not
In time make good thofe outerworkes, your pockets,
And take a Garrifon in of fome two hundred,
To beat thefe P y oners off, that carry a Mine 30
Would blow you vp, at lalt. Secure your Cafamates,
Here Malter Picklocke, Sir, your man o' Law,
And learn'd Atturney, has fent you a Bag of munition.
P. Iv. What is't? P. Ca. Three hundred pieces. P. Iv.
I'll difpatch 'hem.
P. Ca. Do, I would haue your Itrengths lin'd, and per-
fum'd 35
With Gold, as well as Amber. P. I v. God a mercy,
Come, Ad foluendum, boyes! there, there, and there, &c.
He payes all.
I looke on nothing but Totalis. P. Ca. See !
20 founder. 1716, W, G 21 boys; 1716, W, G sn.] takes
1692, 1716, W He tales the bils and] Om. G (see line 24.) up]
Om. G 23 Ods so G 24 [iPuts them- in his pockets. G
25 thofe] these W, G 27 if] in W 30 thefe] those w, G
pioneers f 31 Casamates. G 34 [takes the bag.] G
37 &c.] Om. G SN.] Om. W [Pays all their bills G
Sc. in j
The Staple of Nevves
The difference 'twixt the couetous, and the prodigad !
„The Couetous man neuer has money ! and 40
„The Prodigad wid haue none ihortly ! P. Iv. Ha,
What faies my Founder ? I thanke you, I thanke you Sirs.
All. God bleffe your worihip, and your worlhips
Chanter.
P. Ca. I fay 'tis nobly done, to cheriih Shop-keepers,
And pay their Bills, without examining thus. 45
P. Iv. Alas ! they haue had a pittifull hard time on't,
A long vacation, from their coozening.
Poore Rafcalls, I doe doe it out of charity.
I would aduance their trade againe, and haue them
Hafte to be rich, fweare, and forfweare wealthily, 50
What doe you ftay for, Sirrah?« Spv. To my boxe Sir,
P. Iv. Your boxe, why, there's an angel, if my Spurres
He giues the Spurrier, to his boxe.
Be not right Rippon. Spv. Giue me neuer a penny
If I ftrike not thorow your bounty with the Rowed s.
P. Iv. Do'ft thou want any money Founder ? P. Ca.
Who, Sr. I, 55
Did I not tell you I was bred i'the Mines,
Vnder Sir Beuis Bullion. P. Iv. That is true,
I quite forgot, you Myne-men want no money,
Your ftreets are pau'd with't: there, the molten filuer
Runns out like creame, on cakes of gold. P. Ca. And
Rubies 60
Doe grow like Strawberries. P. Iv. 'Twere braue being
there! [13]
Come Thorn, we'll go to the Office now. P. Ca. What
Office ?
P. Iv. Neives Office, the New Staple; thou ftialt goe too,
'Tis here i'the houfe, on the fame floore, Thom. fayes,
Come, Founder, let vs trade in Ale, and nutmegges. 65
41 shortly ! [Aside. G 42 [they make legs to him.] G
43 Canter ! G [Exe. Shoemaker, Linener, Haber, and Hatter. G
48 doe doe] do W, G 51 [To the Spurrier. G 52 box?
1716, W box ! G Angel : 1716, W. G (SN.) Gives . . .] Om. G
54 [Exit G 63 too; 1716, W, G 64 fays. 1692, 1716, W
fays ; G 65 [ Exeunt. G
20
The Staple of Nevves
• Act i
Act. I. Scene. IUI.
Register. Clerke. Woman.
7 A 7 Hat, are thoie Desks fit now ? fet forth the Table,
V V The Carpet and the Chayre : where are the Newes
That were examin'd laít? ha' you fil'd them yp?
Cle. Not yet, I had no time. Reg. Are thofe newes
regiilred,
That Emiffary Buz fent in lait night? 5
Of Spinola, and his Eggesf Cle. Yes Sir, and fil'd.
Reg. What are you now vpon? Cle. That our new
Emiffary
Weftminfter, gaue vs, of the Golden Heyre.
Reg. Difpatch, that's newes indeed, and of importance.
What would you haue good woman?
A countrey-woman waites there.
Wo. I would haue Sir, 10
A groatfworth of any Newes, I care not what,
To carry downe this Saturday, to our Vicar.
Reg. O! You are a Butterwoman, aske Nathaniel
The Clerke, there. Cle. Sir, I tell her, fhe muit itay
Till Emiffary Exchange, or Pauls fend in, 15
And then I'll fit her. Reg. Doe good woman, haue
patience,
It is not now, as when the C apt aine liu'd.
Cle. You'll blait the reputation of the Office,
Now i'the Bud, if you difpatch thefe Groats,
So foone : let them attend in name of policie. 20
Act. I. . . . Woman] Scene II. Another part of the same. An
outer Room of the Office. Enter Register and Nathaniel. G 4 Cle.]
Nath. G (thus throughout.) registered G 8 Hair 1692, 1716
Heir W, G 9 Enter a Countrywoman. G SN.] Om. G
20 attend, W, G
Sc. v]
The Staple of Nevves
Act. I. Scene. V. ^4]
Peniboy. Cymbal. Fitton. Tho:
Barber. Canter.
IN troth they are dainty roomes ; what place is this ?
Cym. This is the outer roome, where my Clerkes fit,
And keepe their fides, the Regifter i'the midil,
The Examiner, he fits priuate there, within,
And here I haue my feuerall Rowles, and Fyles 5
Of Newes by the Alphabet, and all put vp
Vnder their heads. P. Iv. But thofe, too, fubdiuided?
Cym. Into Authenticall, and Apocryphall.
Fit. Or Newes of doubtful credit, as Barbers newes.
Cym. And Taylors Newes, Porters, and Watermens
newes, 10
Fit. Whereto, befide the Coranti, and Gazetti.
Cym. I haue the Newes of the feafon. Fit. As vaca¬
tion nezves,
Terme-newes, and Chrißmas-nezves. Cim. And newes o'
the faBion.
Fit. As the Reformed newes, Proteflant newes,
Cym. And Pontificiall newes, of all which feuerall, 15
The Day-bookes, CharaBers, Precedents are kept.
Together with the names of fpeciall friends—
Fit. And men of Correfpondence i'the Countrey—
Cym. Yes, of all ranks, and all Religions.—
Fit. FaBors, and Agents— Cym. Liegers, that lie
out 20
Through all the Shires o'the kingdome. P. Iv. This is
fine !
And beares a braue relation ! but what fayes
Mercurius Britanniens to this?
Act. I. . . . Canter.] Enter Cymbal and Fitton, introducing
Pennyboy, jun. G.
22
The Staple of Nevves [Act i
Cym. O Sir, he gaines by't hälfe in hälfe. Fit. Nay
more
I'll ftand to't. For, where he was wont to get 25
In, hungry C apt aines, obfcure S tat ef men. Cym. Fellowes
To drinke with him in a darke roome in a Tauerne,
And eat a Sawfage. Fit. We ha' feen't, Cym. As faine,
To keepe fo many politique pennes
Going, to feed the prelle. Fit. And difh out newes, 30
Were't true, or falfe. Cym. Now all that charge is fau'd
he publique Chronicler. Fit. How, doe you call him
there ?
Cym. And gentle Reader. Fit. He that has the
maidenhead
Of all the bookes. Cym. Yes, dedicated to him,
Fit. Or rather proflit uted. P. I v. You are right,
sir- _ 35
Cym. No more fhall be abus'd, nor countrey-Par/tws
O' the Inquifition, nor bulle Iuflices, [15]
Trouble the peace, and both torment themfelues,
And their poore ign'rant Neighbours with enquiries
After the many, and moil innocent Monflers, 40
That neuer came i'th' Counties they were charg'd with.
P. Iv. Why, me thinkes Sir, if the honeit common people
Will be abus'd, why fhould not they ha' their pleafure,
In the belieuing Lyes, are made for them ;
As you i'th 'Office, making them your felues ? 45
Fit. O Sir ! it is the printing we oppofe.
Cym. We not forbid that any Newes, be made,
But that't be printed ; for when Newes is printed,
It leaues Sir to be Newes. while 'tis but written—
Fit. Though it be ne're fo falfe, it runnes Newes Hill. 50
P. Iv. See diuers mens opinions!, vnto fome,
The very printing of them, makes them Newes ;
26 Statesman 1692, 1716 28 have seen it G As fain] As
part of next line, W, G 39 ignorant G 41 i' the W in
the G they] the 1692 42 Methinksf 48 that it G
52 'em 1716, W, G
Sc. v]
The Staple of Nevves
23
That ha' not the heart to beleeue any thing,
But what they fee in print. Fit. I, that's an Error
Ha's abus'd many ; but we íliall reforme it, 55
As many things befiele (we haue a hope)
Are crept among the popular abufes.
Cym. Nor ihall the Stationer cheat vpon the Time,
By buttering ouer againe— Fit. once, in Seuen Yeares,
As the age doates— Cym. And growes forgetfull
o' them, 60
His antiquated Pamphlets, with new dates.
But all ihall come from the Mint. Fit. Frefli and new
itamp'd,
Cym. With the Office-Seale, Staple Commoditie.
Fit. And if a man will aiïure his Newes, he may :
Two-pence a Sheet he fhall be warranted, 65
And haue a policie for't. P. Iv. Sir, I admire
The method o' your place ; all things within't
Are fo digeited, fitted, and compos'd,
As it ihewes Wit had married Order. Fit. Sir.
Cym. The belt wee could to inuite the Times. Fit. It
ha's 70
Coil fweat, and freefing. Cym. And fome broken ileepes
Before it came to this. P. Iv. I eafily thinke it.
Fit. But now it ha's the fhape— Cym. And is come
forth.
P. Iv. A moil polite neat thing ! with all the limbs,
As fenfe can tail ! Cym. It is Sir, though I fay it, 75
As well-begotten a bufines, and as fairely
Helpt to the World. P. Iv. You mult be a Mid-wife Sir!
Or els the fonne of a Mid-wife! (pray you pardon me)
Haue helpt it forth fo happily ! what Newes ha' you ?
Newes S this morning? I would faine heare fome 80
! reih, from the forge (as new as day, as they fay.)
Cym. And fuch we haue Sir. Reg. Shew him the lail
Rowle,
55 has f passim 56 ( )] G 59 o'er G 60 o'] of G §
66 for'î] for it G 70 has f passim 78 ( )] G Enter
Barber. G
24
The Staple of Nevves
i Act i
Of E miff or y Weflminßer's The Heire.
P. Iv. Come nearer, Thorn: Cla. There is a braue
yong Heire [16]
Is come of age this morning, Mr. Peny-boy. P. Iv.
That's IÎ 85
Peny reioyceth, that he is in.
Cla. His Father dy'd on this day feuenth-night. P. Iv.
True !
Cla. At fixe o'the Clocke i'the morning, iuil a weeke
Ere he was One and Twenty. P. Iv. I am here, Thom!
Tels Thom: of it.
Proceed, I pray thee. Cla. An old Canting Begger
Brought him firít Newes, whom he has entertain'd, 90
To follow him, fmce. P. Iv. Why, you ihall fee him!
Founder,
Call in the Canter.
Come in ; no Follower, but Companion,
I pray thee put him in, Friend. There's an Angelí—
Hee giues the Clerke.
Thou do'it not know, hee's a wife old Fellow,
Though he feeme patch'd thus, and made vp o' peeces. 95
Founder, we are in, here, in, i'the Newes-Office !
In this dayes Rowle, already ! I dóe mufe
How you came by vs Sir's ! Cym. One Master Pick-lócke
A Lawyer, that hath purchas'd here a place,
This morning, of an Emiffary vnder me. 100
Fit. Emiffarie Weftminfter. Cym. Gaue it into th
Office,
Fit. For his Effay, his peece. P. Iv. My man o'Law !
Hee's my Attorney, and Sollicitour too !
A fine pragmaticke ! what's his place worth ?
Cym. A Nemo-fcit, Sir. Fit. 'Tis as Newes come
in, 105
85 I? [Aside. G SN.] Om. G 86 seven-nightf True!
[Aside. G 88 SN.] Om. G 91 SN.] Calls 1692, 1716
SN.] Enter Pennyboy Canter. G 92 Companion,] Colonf
93 friend ; [to Nath. G SN.] Om. G 95 of pieces. [Exit
Nath. G 96 i'] G 104 What is G
Sc. v]
The Staple of Nevves
25
Cym. And as they are iíTued. I haue the iuíl me o y tie
For my part : then the other moeytie
Is parted into íeuen. The foure Emiffaries;
Whereof my Cozen Fitton here's for Court,
Ambler for Pauls, and Bus for the Exchange, no
Picklocke, for Weftminfler, with the Examiner,
And Re gift er, they haue full parts : and then one part
Is vnder-parted to a couple of Clarkes;
And there's the iuft diuifion of the profits !
P. Iv. Ha' you thofe Clarks Sir. Cym. There is one
Desk empty, 115
But it has many Suitors. P. Iv. Sir, may I
Prefent one more and carry it, if his parts
Or Gifts, (which you will, call'hem) Cym. Be fufficient
Sir.
P. Iv. What are your prefent Clarke s habilities?
How is he qualified ? Cym. A decay'd Stationer 120
He was, but knowes Newes well, can fort and ranke 'hem.
Fit. And for a need can make 'hem. Cym. True
Paules bred,
I'the Church-yard. P. Iv. And this at the Weft-dore,
O'th other fide, hee's my Barber Thorn,
A pretty Scholler, and a Mafter of Arts, 125
Was made, or went out Mafter of Arts in a throng,
At the Vniuerfitie; as before, one Chriftmas,
He got into a Mafque at Court, by his wit,
And the good meanes of his Cythern, holding vp thus
For one o'the Mufique, Hee's a nimble Fellow ! 130
And alike skil'd in euery liberall Science, [17]
As hauing certaine fnaps of all, a neat,
Quick-vaine, in forging Newes too. I doe loue him,
And promis d him a good turne, and I would doe it.
Whats your price ? the value ? Cym. Fifty pounds, Sr. 135
P. I v. Get in Thorn, take pofTeíTion, I inilall thee ;
log Cousin f 113 clerks f passim 118 willf
124 On the G side,] Semi-colon f 129 cittern W, G
133 quick vein f 135 What is G
20
The Staple of Nevves
[Act i
Here, tell your money ; giue thee ioy, good Thom ;
Hee buyes Thom a Clerkes place.
And let me heare from thee euery minute of Newes,
While the New Staple itands, or the Office laits,
Which I doe wiih, may ne're me leile for thy fake. 140
Cla. The Emiffaries, Sir, would fpeake with you,
And Mailer Fitton, they haue brought in Newes,
Three Bale together. Cym. Sr. you are welcome, here.
They take leaue of Peny-boy, and, Canter.
Fit. So is your creature. Cym. Bufmeiïe calls vs off,
Sir,
That may concerne the Office. P. Iv. Keepe me faire,
Sir, 145
Still l'y our Staple, I am here your friend,
On the fame flooer. Fit. We ihall be your feruants.
P. Iv. How doit thou like it, Founder? P. Ca. All
is well,
But that your man o'law me thinks appeares not
In his due time. O! Here comes Matters worihip. 150
Act. I. Scene. VI«
Picklock. Peni-boy. Iv.
P. Canter.
HOw do's the H eyre, bright Mailer Peniboyi
Is hee awake yet in his One and Twenty ?
Why, this is better farre, then to weare Cypreffe,
Dull fmutting gloues, or melancholy blacks,
And haue a payre of twelue-peny broad ribbands 5
Laid out like Labells. P. Iv. I fhould ha' made iliift
137 (SN.) Hee . . .] Om. G 140 Re-enter Nathaniel. G
ne'erf passim 142 Fitton ;f 143 (SN.) They} Om. G
147 { Exeunt all but P.jun. and P. Cant. G 150 master s 1716, W, G
Act. I. . . . Canter.] Enter Picklock. G 3 better bet¬
ter W 5 ribbonds 1716 ribbons W ribands G
Sc. vi] The Staple of Nevves 27
To haue laught as heartily in my mourners hood,
As in this Suite, if it had pleas'd my father
To haue beene buried, with the Trumpeters:
Pic. The Heralds of Armes, you meane. P. Iv. I
meane, 10
All noyfe, that is fuperfluous! Pic. All that idle pompe,
And vanity of a Tombe-ftone, your wife father
Did, by his will, preuent. Your worihip had—
P. Iv. A louing and obedient father of him,
I know it: a right, kinde-natur'd man, 15
To dye foopportunely. Pic. And to fettle
All things fo well, compounded for your ward fhip
The weeke afore, and left your ftate entyre [18]
Without any charge vpon't. P. Iv. I muft needes fay,
I loft an Officer of him, a good Bayliffe, 20
And I fhall want him; but all peace be with him,
I will not wiih him aliue, againe; not I,
For all my Fortune; giue your worfhip ioy
O' your new place, your Emiffary-fhip,
I'the Nezves Office. Pic. Know you, why I bought it
Sr? 25
P. Iv. Not I. Pic. To worke for you, and carry a
myne
Againft the Mailer of it, Mailer Cymball ;
Who hath a plot vpon a Gentlewoman,
Was once defign'd for you, Sir. P. Iv. ' Me? Pic. Your
father,
Old Mailer Peni-boy, of happy memory, 30
And wifdom too, as any i'the County,
Carefull to finde out a fit match for you,
In his owne life time (but hee was preuented)
Left it in writing in a Schedule here,
To be annexed to his Will ; that you, 35
His onely Sonne, vpon his charge, and blefting,
Should take due notice of a Gentlewoman,
Soiourning with your vncle, Richer Peni-boy.
15 it [I] g 33, 45 O] G
28
The Staple of Nevves
[Act i
P. Iv. A Cornifh Gentlewoman, I doe know her,
MiílreíTe, Pecunia doe-all. Pic. A great Lady, 40
Indeede ihee is, and not of mortal! race,
Infanta of the Mines ; her Graces Grandfather,
Was Duke, and Cousin to the King of Ophyr,
The Subterranean, let that paiTe. Her name Is,
Or rather, her three names are (for fuch ihee is) 45
Aurelia Clara Pecunia, A great Princeife,
Of mighty power, though ihee Hue in priuate
With a contracted family ! Her Secretary—
P. Ca. Who is her Gentleman-vfher too. Pic. One
Broker,
And then two Gentlewomen ; MiftreiTe Statute, 50
And MiftreiTe Band, with Waxe the Chambermaide,
And Mother Mortgage, the old Nurfe, two Groomes,
Pawne, and his fellow ; you haue not many to bribe, Sir.
The worke is feizible, and th'approches eafie,
By your owne kindred. Now, Sir, Cymball thinkes, 55
The Mailer here, and gouernor o'the Staple,
By his fine arts, and pompe of his great place
To draw her! He concludes, ihee is a woman!
And that fo foone as ih'heares of the New Office,
Shee'll come to vifit it, as they all haue longings 60
After new fights, and motions ! But your bounty,
Perfon, and brauery muil atchieue her. P. Ca. Shee is
The talke o'the time ! th'aduenture o'the age !
Pic. You cannot put your felfe vpon an a6lion
Of more importance. P. Ca. All the world are fuiters
to her. [19]
Pic. All forts of men, and all profeffions ! 66
P. Ca. You ihall haue ítall-fed Do St ors, cram'd Diuines
Make loue to her, and with thofe iludied
And perfum'd flatteries, as no rome can itinke
More elegant, then where they are. Pic. Well chanted 70
Old Canter thou fingil true. P. Ca. And (by your leaue
44 Subterranean, f 59 she W, G 62 achieve G
63 o'the time] G
Sc. vi]
The Staple of Nevves
29
Good Mafiers worfiiip, fome of your veluet coate
Make corpulent curt'fies to her, till they cracke for't.
Pic. There's DoBor Almanack wooes her, one of the
Ieerers,
A fine Phyfitian. P. Ca. Your Sea-captaine, Shun-
field, 75
Giues out hee'll goe vpon the Cannon for her.
Pic. Though his lowd mouthing get him little credit,
P. Ca. Young Mailer Pyed-mantle, the fine H err aid
ProfeiTes to deriuer her through all ages,
From all the Kings, and Que enes, that euer were. 80
Pic. And Mailer M adrigall, the crowned Poet
Of thefe our times, doth offer at her praifes
As faire as any, when it iliall pleafe Apollo,
That wit and rime may meete both in one fubieël.
P. Ca. And you to beare her from all thefe, it will be—85
Pic. A work, of fame. P. Ca. Of honor. Pic. Cele¬
bration.
P. Ca. Worthy your name. Pic. The Peni-boyes to
liue in't,
P. Ca. It is an adtion you were built for, Sir,
Pic. And none but you can doe it. P. Iv. I'll vnder-
take it,
P. Ca. And carry it. P. Iv. Feare me not, for fince
I came 90
Of mature age, I haue had a certaine itch
In my right eye, this corner, here, doe you fee?
To doe fome worke, and worthy of a Chronicle.
72 master's G
79 derive f
87 in't] G
93 [Exeunt. G
30 The Staple of N ewes [1st
The firft Intermeane after the firlt Aß.
Mirth. Hozv nozv Gofsip! how doe's the Play pleafe
you?
Censvre. v Very jcuruily, me thinks, and fufficiently
naught.
Expectation. As a body would zvifti: here's nothing but 5
a young Prodigall, come of age, who makes much of the
Barber, buyes him a place in a new Office, i'the ayre, I know
not where, and his man o'Law to follow him, with the
Begger to boote, and they two helpe him to a wife.
Mirth. I, fhee is a proper piece! that fach creatures can 10
broke for.
Tatle. I cannot abide that nafty fellow, the Begger, if
hee had beene a Court-Begger in good clothes; a Begger in
veluet, as they f ay, I could haue endurd him.
Mirth. Or a begging fcholler in blacke, or one of thefe 15
beggerly Poets, gofsip, that would hang vpon a young heyre
like a horfeleech.
Expec. Or a thred-bare Do5tor of Phyficke, a poore [20]
Quackefaluer.
Censvre. Or a Sea-captaine, hälfe fteru'd. 20
Mirth. I, these were tolerable Beggers, Beggers of
fafhion ! you fliall fee fome fuch anon S
Tatle. I would faine fee the Foole, gofsip, the Foole is
the fine ft man i'the company, they fay, and has all the wit:
Hee is the very Iuftice o'Peace o'the Play, and can commit 2 5
whom hee will, and what hee will, err our, abfurdity, as the
toy takes him, and no man fay, blacke is his eye, but laugh
at him.
Mirth. But they ha' no Foole i' this Play, I am afraid,
gofsip. 3°
G omits the headings of all the intermeans. 8 theJ a G
16 would] could W, G 20 starv'df 25 o' peace] G
Intermean] The Staple of Nevves
31
Tatle. It's a wife Play, then.
Expectation. They are all fooles, the rather, in that.
Censvre. Like enough.
Tatle. My husband, (Timothy Tatle, God reft his poore
foule) tuas wont to fay, there zvas no Play, without a Foole, 35
and a Diuell in't; he was for the Diuell ftill, God bleffe him.
The Diuell for his money, would hee fay, I would faine fee
the Diuell. And zvhy would you fo faine fee the Diuell?
would I fay. Becaufe hee has homes, wife, and may be a
cuckold, as well as a Diuell, hee zvould anfwer: You are 4°
e'en fuch another, husband, quoth I. Was the Diuell euer
married? where doe you read, the Diuell was euer f0 honor¬
able to commit Matrimony ; The Play will tell vs, that, fay es
hee, wee'II goe fee't to morrow, the Diuell is an Affe. Hee
is an errant learn'd man, that made it, and can zvrite, they 45
fay, and I am fouly deceiu'd, but hee can read too.
Mirth. I remember it gofsip, I went with you, by the
fame token, Mrs. Trouble Truth difwaded vs, and told vs,
hee zvas a prophane Poet, and all his Playes had Diuels in
them. That he kept fchole vpo'the Stage, could coniure 50
there, aboue the Schole of Weítminíter, and Do6tor Lamb
too: not a Play he made, but had a Diuell in it. And that
he would learne vs all to make our husbands Cuckolds at
Playes: by another token that a young married wife i'the
company, faid, fttee could finde in her heart to fteale thither, 55
and fee a little o'the vanity through her mafque, and come
praptice at home.
Tatle. O, it was, MiítreíTe—
Mirth. Nay, Gofsip, I name no body. It may be 'twas
my f elfe. 60
Expectation. But zvas the Diuell a proper man, Gofsip ?
Mirtpi. As fine a gentleman, of his inches, as euer I faw
trufted to the Stage, or any where elfe: and lou'd the com¬
mon wealth, as well as ere a Patriot of 'hem all: hee would
31 It is G 36 Devil f passim 44 see it G
47 you ; G 50 upon G 64 e'er 1716, W ever G
32
The Staple of Nevves [Act ii
carry away the Vice on his backe, quicke to Hell, in euery 65
Play where he came, and reforme abufes.
Expectation. There was the Diuell of Edmonton, no
fuch man, I warrant you.
Censvre. The Coniurer coofen'd him with a candles end,
hee was an Aff e. 70
Mirth. But there was one Smug, a Smith, would haue
made a horfe laugh, and broke his halter, as they fay.
Tatle. 0, but the poore man had got a jhrewd mif-
chance, one day.
Expectation. How, Gofsipf [21] 75
Tatle. He had dreft a Rogue lade i'the morning, that
had the Staggers, and had got fuch a fpice of 'hem himfelfe,
by noone, as they would not away all the Play time, doe
what hee could, for his heart.
Mirth. Twos his part, G of sip, he was to be drunke, by 80
his part.
Tatle. Say you fo, I vnderflood not fo much.
Expecta. Would wee had fuch an other part, and fuch
a man in this play, I feare 'twill be an excellent dull thing.
Censvre. Expedí, intend it. 85
76 Roguy 1692, 1716, W W prints all the intermeans in
Roman letters.
The Staple of Nevves
33
Act. II. Scene. I.
Peni-boy. Sen. Pecvnia. Mortgage.
Statvte. Band. Broker.
Y Our Grace is fad me thinks, and melancholy !
You doe not looke vpon me with that face,
As you were wont, my Goddelïe, bright
Pecunia :
Although your Grace be falne, of two i'the hundred,
In vulgar eftimation ; yet am I, 5
You Graces feruant itill: and teach this body,
To bend, and thefe my aged knees to buckle,
In adoration, and íuíl worihip of you.
Indeed, I doe confeíTe, I haue no fhape
To make a minion of, but I'm your Martyr, 10
Your Graces Martyr. I can heare the Rogues,
As I doe walke the ilreetes, whifper, and point,
There goes old Peni-boy, the flaue of money,
Rich Peni-boy, Lady Pecunia's drudge,
A fordid Rafcall, one that neuer made 15
Good meale in his fleep, but fells the acates are fent him,
Fiih, Fowle, and venifon, and preferues himfelfe,
Like an old hoary Rat, with mouldy pye-cruft.
This I doe heare, reioycing, I can fuffer [22]
This, and much more, for your good Graces fake. 20
Pec. Why do you fo my Guardian ? I not bid you,
Cannot my Grace be gotten, and held too,
G mbkes but one scene of Act II. Scene I. A Room in Pennyboy
senior's House. G Enter Pennyboy sen. . . . and. Broker. G
4 falne, of] fallen off G 10 I am G 19 rejoicing I 1716,
W, G
34
The Staple of Nevves
[Act ii
Without your felfe-tormentings, and your watches,
Your macerating of your body thus
With cares, and fcantings of your dyet, and reft? 25
P. Se. O, no, your feruices, my Princely Lady,
Cannot with too much zeale of rites be done,
They are fo facred. Pec. But my Reputation.
May fuffer, and the worihip of my family,
When by fo feruile meanes they both are fought. 30
P. Se. You are a noble, young, free, gracious Lady,
And would be euery bodies, in your bounty,
But you muft not be fo. They are a few
That know your merit, Lady, and can valew't.
Your felfe fcarce vnderftands your proper powers. 35
They are all-mighty, and that wee your feruants,
That haue the honour here to ftand fo neere you,
Know ; and can vie too. All this Nether-world
Is yours, you command it, and doe (way it,
The honour of it, and the honefty, 40
The reputation, I, and the religion,
(I was about to fay, and had not err'd)
Is Queene Pecunia's. For that ftile is yours,
If mortals knew your Grace, or their owne good.
Mor. Pleaíe your Grace to retire. Ban. I feare your
Grace 45
Hath ta'ne too much of the fharpe ayre. Pec. O no !
I could endure to take a great deale more
(And with my conftitution, were it left)
Vnto my choice, what thinke you of it, Statute ?
Sta. A little now and then does well, and keepes 50
Your Grace in your complexion. Ban. And true temper.
Mor. But too much Madame, may encreafe cold rheumes,
Nouriih catarrhes, greene fickneftes, and agues,
And put you in confumption. P. Se. Beft to take
Aduice of your graue women, Noble Madame, 55
34 valew't] value it G 35 yourself G (Thus with all reflexive
pronouns). 48 were it left)] Removed from parentheses, 1716,
W, G 49 unto] under G
Sc. ii]
The Staple of Nevves
35
They know the itate o'your body, and ha'itudied
Your Graces health. Ban. And honour. Here'll be vifit-
ants,
Or Suitors by and by ; and 'tis not fit
They find you here. Sta. 'Twill make your Grace too
cheape
To giue them audience prefently. Mor. Leaue your
Secretary, 60
To anfwer them. Pec. Waite you here, Broker. Bro. I
ihal Madame.
And doe your Graces trufts with diligence.
Act. IL Scene. II.
Pyed-Mantle. Broker.
Peni-boy. Sen.
WHat luck's this ? I am come an inch too late, [23]
Doe you heare Sir? Is your worihip o'the family
Vnto the Lady Pecunia ? Bro. I ierue her Grace, Sir,
Aurelia Clara Pecunia, the Infanta.
Pye. Has Ihe all thofe Titles, and her Grace befides, 5
I muft corre6t that ignorance and ouer-fight,
Before I doe prefent. Sir, I haue drawne
A Pedigree for her Grace, though yet a Nouice
In that fo noble itudy. Bro. A Herald at Armes ?
Pye. No Sir, a Purfiuant, my name is Pyed-mantle. 10
Bro. Good Mailer Pyed-mantle. Pye. I haue deduc'd
her.—
Bro. From all the Spanifli Mines in the Weß-Indi es,
I hope: for ihe comes that way by her mother,
But, by her Grand-mother, fhe's Dutches of Mines.
61 [Exeunt all but Broker. G
Act. II. . . . Sen.] Enter Piedmantle. G 1 luck is G
late. 1692, 1716, W late ! G 5 besides? ! 14 she is G
36
The Staple of newes [Act h
Pye. From mans creation I haue brought her. Bro.
No further? « 15
Before Sr, long before, you haue done nothing elfe,
Your Mines were before Adam, fearch your Office,
Rowle fine and twenty, you will finde it fo,
I fee you are but a Nouice, Master Pyed-mantle.
If you had not told mee fo. Pye. Sir, an apprentif e 20
In armoiry. I haue read the Elements,
And Accidence, and all the leading bookes,
And I haue, nowr, vpon me a great ambition,
How to be brought to her Grace, to kiiTe her hands.
Bro. Why, if you haue acquaintance with Miitreiïe
Statute, 25
Or MíftreíTe Band, my Ladies Gentlewomen,
They can induce you. One is a Iudges Daughter,
But fomewhat ilately; th'other Miitreiïe Band,
Her father's but a Scriuener, but ihee can
Almoit as much with my Lady, as the other, 30
Efpecially, if Rofe Waxe the Chambermaid
Be willing. Doe you not know her, Sir, neither ?
Pye. No in troth Sir. Bro. She's a good plyant wench,
And eafie to be wrought, Sir, but the Nurfe
Old mother Mortgage, if you haue a Tenement, 35
Or fuch a morfell? though ihee haue no teeth,
Shee loues a fweet meat, any thing that melts [24.j
In her warme gummes, llie could command it for you
On fuch a' trifle, a toy. Sir, you may fee,
How for your loue, and this fo pure complexion, 40
(A perfefit Sanguine) I ha' ventur'd thus,
The itraining of a ward, opening a doore
Into the fecrets of our family :
Pye. I pray you let mee know, Sir, vnto whom
I am fo much beholden ; but your name. 45
Bro. My name is Broker, I am Secretary,
And Vflier, to her Grace. Pye. Good Mailer Broker !
15 farther f 36 morsel, f 41 ( )] G
Sc. ii]
The Staple of Nevves
37
Bro. Good Mr. Pyed-mantle. Pye. Why? you could
do me,
If you would, now, this fauour of your felfe.
Bro. Truely, I thinke I could: but if I would, 50
I hardly fhould, without, or Miftrefie Band,
Or Miitreiïe Statute, pleafe to appeare in it.
Or the good Nurfe I told you of, Miitreffe Mortgage.
We know our places here, wee mingle not
One in anothers fphere, but all moue orderly, 55
In our owne orbes ; yet wee are all Concentricks.
Pye. Well, Sir, I'll waite a better feaion. Bro. Doe,
And iludy the right meanes, get Miftrefie Band
To vrge on your behalfe, or little Waxe.
Broker makes a mouth at him.
Pye. I haue a hope, Sir, that I may, by chance, 60
Light on her Grace, as ihe's taking the ayre :
Bro. That ayre of hope, has blafted many an ayrie
Of Caftrills like your felfe : Good Mailer Pyed-mantle,
He ieeres him againe.
P. Se. Well faid, Mailer Secretary, I flood behinde
Old Peny-boy leaps
And heard thee all. I honor thy difpatches. 65
If they be rude, vntrained it our method
And haue not ftudied the rule, difmifie 'hem quickly,
Where's Lick finger my Cooke? that vn&uous rafcall ?
Hee'll neuer keepe his houre, that veiiell of kitchinfluffe !
59 (SN.) Broker makes j Makes G 61 She is G 63 seif
1692 Mailer] Mr. 1692, 1716 mr. W SN.] Om. G [Exit
Piedmantle. G 64 SN.] j springs forward.\ G 66 it] inf
38
The Staple of Nevves
[Act ii
Act. II. Scene. IIJ. ^5]
Broker. Peni-boy. Se.
Lick-Finger.
HEere hee is come, Sir. P. Se. Pox vpon him kidney,
Alwaies too late! Lie. To wiih 'hem you, I
confeiTe,
That ha'them already. P. Se. What? Lie. The pox!
P. Se. The piles,
The plague, and all diieafes light on him,
Knowes not to keepe his word. Fid keepe my word iure ! 5
I hate that man that will not keepe his word,
When did I breake my word ? Lie. Or I, till now ?
And 'tis but hälfe an houre. P. Se. Hälfe a yeere:
To mee that itands vpon a minute of time.
I am a iuft man, I loue Fill to be iuit. 10
Lie. Why ? you thinke I can runne like light-foot Ralph,
Or keep a wheel-barrow, with a fayle in towne here,
To whirle me to you : I haue loft two ftone
Of fuet i'the feruice polling hither,
You might haue followed me like a watering pot, 15
And feene the knots I made along the ftreet ;
My face dropt like the fkimmer in a fritter panne,
And my whole body, is yet (to fay the truth)
A rolled pound of butter, with grated bread in 't!
He fweepes his face.
P. Se. Beîieue you, he that lift. You ftay'd of pur-
pofe, 20
To haue my venifon ftinke, and my fowle mortify d,
That you might ha' 'hem— Lie. A Ihilling or two
cheaper,
Act. II. . . . Lickfinger.] Enier Lickfinger. G 1 him, f
6 my word, f 9 stand W, G ig SN.J Om. G in t] G
Sc. m] The Staple of Nevves 39
That's your iealoufie. P. Se. Perhaps it is,
Will you goe in, and view, and value all ?
Yonder is venifon fent mee ! fowle ! and fiili ! 25
In fuch abundance ! I am ficke to fee it !
I wonder what they meane ! I ha' told 'hem of it !
To burthen a weake ftomacke ! and prouoke
A dying appetite ! thruft a finne vpon me
I ne'r was guilty of ! nothing but gluttony ! 30
Grolle gluttony ! that will vndoe this Land ?
Lie. And bating two .'the hundred. P. Se. I, that
fame's
A crying finne, a fearfull damn'd deuice,
Eats vp the poore, deuoures 'hem— Lie. Sir, take heed
What you giue out. P. Se. Againíl your graue great
Solonsf <
Numœ Pompilij, they that made that Lawf
To take away the poore's inheritance?
It was their portion : I will itand to't.
And they haue rob'd 'hem of it, plainly rob'd 'hem,
I ftill am a iuit man, I tell the truth.
When moneies went at Ten i'the hundred, I,
And fuch as I, the feruants of Pecunia,
Could fpare the poore two out of ten, and did it,
How fay you Broker? (Lie. Ask your Eccho)
You did it.
P. Se. I am for Iuftice, when did I leaue Iuitice ?
We knew 'twas theirs, they'had right and Title to't.
Now— Lie. You can fpare 'hem nothing. P. Se.
little,
Lie. As good as nothing. P. Se. They haue bound our
hands
With their wife folemne a6l, ihortned our armes.
Lic. Beware thofe worlhipfull eares, Sir, be not
ihortned, 50
And you play Crop i'the fleete, if you vie this licence.
23 that is G 28 burden f 49, 50 shorten'd G
51 crop W Fleet f
35
[26]
40
Bro.
45
Very
4°
The Staple of Nevves [Act ii
P. Se. What licence, Knaue? Informer? Lic. I am
Lickfinger,
Your Cooke. P. Se. A faucy lacke you are, that's once;
What faid I, Broker ? Bro. Nothing that I heard, Sir.
Lic. I know his gift, hee can be deafe when he lift. 55
P. Se. Ha' you prouided me my buihell of egges ?
I did befpeake? I doe not care how ftale,
Or ftincking that they be ; let 'hem be rotten :
For ammunition here to pelt the boyes,
That breake my windowes? Lie. Yes Sir, I ha' fpar'd
'hem 60
Out of the cuftard politique for you, the Maiors.
P. Se. 'Tis well, goe in, take hence all that excelle,
Make what you can of it, your belt : and when
I haue friends, that I inuite at home, prouide mee
Such, fuch, and fuch a diíh, as I befpeake ; 65
One at a time, no fuperfluitie.
Or if you haue it not, returne mee money ;
You know my waies. Lie. They are a little crooked.
P. Se. How knaue? Lie. Becaufe you do indent.
P. Se. 'Tis true, Sir, I do indent you ihal returne me
money. 70
Lie. Rather then meat, I know it : you are iuft ftill.
P. Se. I loue it ftill. And therefore if you fpend
The red-Deere pyes i'your houfe, or fell 'hem forth, Sir,
Call fo, that I may haue their coffins all,
Return'd here, and pil'd vp : I would be thought 75
To keepe fome kind of houfe. Lie. By the mouldie fignes?
P. Se. And then remember meat for my two dogs :
Fat flaps of mutton ; kidney es ; rumps of veale ;
Good plerrtious fcraps ; my maid ihall eat the reliques.
Lic. When you & your dogs haue din'd. A fweet
reuerfion. 80
P. Se. Who's here? my Courtier? and my little DoBor?
My Mußer-Maßer ? and what Plouer's that
58 'em G 61 mayor'sf 76 signs! G 79 plen¬
teous f
Sc. iv]
The Staple of Nevves
41
They haue brought to pull ? Bro. I know not, fome green
Plouer.
Tie find him out. P. Se, Doe, for I know the reft, [27]
They are the leeres, mocking, flouting Iackes. 85
Act. II. Scene. IV.
Fitton. Peni-boy. Se. Almanach.
Shvnfield. Madrigal. Lick-
Finger. Broker.
HOw now old Money-Bawd? w'are come— P. Iv.
To ieere me,
As you were wont, I know you. Alm. No, to giue thee
Some good fecurity, and fee Pecunia.
P. Se. What is't? Fit. Our felues.
Alm. Wee'l be one bound for another. 5
Fit. This noble DoBor here. Alm. This worthy
Courtier.
Fit. This Man o'zvar, he was our Mußer-Maßer.
Alm. But a Sea-Captaine now, braue Captaine Shun-
field.
He holds vp his nofe.
Shvn. You fnuffe the ayre now, as the fcent difpleaf'd
you?
Fit. Thou needft not feare him man, his credit is
found, 10
Alm. And feafon'd too, fince he tooke fait at Sea.
P. Se. I doe not loue pickl'd fecurity,
Would I had one good Freß-man in for all ;
For truth is, you three ftinke. S h v. You are a Rogue,
84 Enter Fitton, Almanac, Shunfield, and Madrigal. G
Act. II. . . . Broker.] Om. G 1 P.Iv.] P.sen. W, G we
are G 8 (SN.) He\ P.sen. G g as] has 1716, W, G
13 freshman G
42 The Staple of Nevves [Act ii
P. Se. I thinke I am, but I will lend no money 15
On that fecurity, C apt aine. Alm. Here's a Gentleman,
A Freßi-man i'the world, one Mailer M adrigall.
Fit. Of an vntainted credit ; what fay you to him?
Madrigall fteps afide with Broker.
Shv. Hee's gone me thinkes, where is he? Madrigall?
P. Se. H has an odde finging name, is he an Heyre? 20
Fit. An Heyre to a faire fortune, Alm. And full
hopes :
A dainty Scholler, and a pretty Poet !
P. Se. Y aue faid enough. I ha' no money, Gentlemen.
An' he goe to't in ryme once, not a penny.
He fnuffes againe.
Shv. Why, hee's of yeares, though he haue little
beard. 25
P. Se. His beard has time to grow. I haue no money:
Let him ítill dable in Poetry. No Pecunia
Is to be feene. Alm. Come, thou lou'ft to be coltiue
Still i' thy curt'fie, but I haue a pill,
A golden pill to purge away this melancholly. 30
Shv. 'Tis nothing but his keeping o'the houfe here,
With his two drowfie doggs. Fit. A drench of facke
At a good tauerne, and a fine frefh pullet,
Would cure him. Lie. Nothing but a yong Haire in
white-broth, [28]
I know his diet better then the DoBor. 35
Shv. What Lick-finger? mine old holt of Ram-Alley?
You ha' fome mercat here. Alm. Some doff er of Fiih
Or Fowle to fetch of. Fit. An odde bargaine of Veniion,
To driue. P. Se. Will you goe in, knaue? Lic. I muft
needs,
You fee who driues me, gentlemen. Alm. Not the
diuell. 40
18 SN. j I Exit Madrigal with Broker. G 20 he has g
23 You have G 29 courtesy W, G - 34 Heir 1692, 1716
heir W, G 37 market f 38 of] offf
Sc. iv'J
The Staple of Nevves
43
Fit. Hee may be in time, hee is his Agent, now.
Perry-boy thru fis him in.
P. Se. You are all cogging lacks, a Couy o' wits,
The Ieerers, that ftill call together at meales :
Or rather an Airy, for you are birds of prey :
And flie at all, nothing's too bigge or high for you. 45
And are fo truely fear'd, but not belou'd
One of another : as no one dares breake
Company from the reft, left they fhould fall,
Vpon him abfent. Alm. O ! the onely Oracle
That euer peept, or fpake out of a dublet. 50
Shv. How the rogue ftinks, worfe then a Fifhmonger
fleeues!
Fit. Or Curriers hands ! Shv. And fuch a perboil'd
vifage !
Fit, His face lookes like a Diers apron, iuft!
Alm. A fodden head, and his whole braine a poftit curd !
P. Se. I, now you ieere, ieere on ; I haue no money. 55
Alm. I wonder what religion hee's of !
Fit. No certaine /pedes fure, A kinde of mule!
That's hälfe an Ethnicke, hälfe a Chriftian !
P. Se. I haue no monie, gentlemen. Shv. This ftocke.
He has no fenfe of any vertue, honour, 60
Gentrie or merit. P. Se. You fay very right,
My meritorious Captaine, (as I take it!)
Merit will keepe no houfe nor pay no houie rent.
Will Miftreffe Merit goe to mercat, thinke you?
Set on the pot, or feed the family? 65
Will Gentry cleare with the Butcher? or the Baker?
Fetch in a Pheffant, or a brace of Partridges,
From good-wife Poulter, for my Ladies fupper.
Fit. See! this pure rogue! P. Se. This rogue has
money tho',
41 be] Om. 1716, W, G (SN.) Pennyboy] P.sen. G
51 stinks W Fishmonger's 1692, 1716 fishmonger's W, G
52 parboil'd 1692, 1716 parboiled W, G 56 he is W
57 mule, G 62 (as I take it !)] as I take it, G 64 Market
1692, 1716 market W, G
44
The Staple of Nevves [Act ii
My worihipfull braue Courtier has no money. 70
No, nor my valiant C apt aine. S h v. Hang you rafcall.
P. Se. Nor you, my learned DoBor. I lou'd you
Whil you did hold your practice, and kill tripe wiues.
And kept you to your vrinall ; but fince your thombes
Haue greas'd the Ephemerides, calling figures, 75
And turning ouer for your Candle-rents,
And your twelue houfes in the Zodiacke:
With your Almut ens, Alma cantaras,
Troth you iliall cant alone for Peny-boy.
Shv. I told you what we fhould find him, a meere
Bawd. 80
Fit. A rogue, a cheater. P. Se. What you pleafe,
gentlemen, [29]
I am of that humble nature and condition,
Neuer to minde your worfhips, or take notice
Of what you throw away, thus. I keepe houfe here
Like a lame Cobler, neuer out of doores, 85
With my two dogs, my friends ; and (as you fay)
Driue a quicke pretty trade, ílill. I get money:
And as for Titles, be they Rogue, or Rafcall,
Or what your worfhips fancy, let 'hem palfe
As tranfitory things ; they're mine to day, 90
And yours to morrow. Alm. Hang thee dog. Shv.
Thou curre.
P. Se. You fee how I doe blulh, and am alham'd
Of thefe large attributes ? yet you haue no money.
Alm. Well wolfe, Hyœna, you old pockie rafcall,
You will ha' the Hernia fall downe againe 95
Into your Scrotum, and I fhall be fent for.
I will remember then, that ; and your Fiftula
In ano, I cur'd you of. P. Se. Thanke your dog-leech craft.
They were 'holefome piles, afore you meddl'd with'hem.
Alm. What an vngratefull wretch is this? Shv. Hee
minds 100
82 I'm W they are g 93 you've 1716, W 99 whole¬
some W, G
Sc. iv]
The Staple of Nevves
45
A curtefie no more, then London-bridge,
What Arch was mended lalt. Fit. Hee neuer thinkes.
More then a logge, of any grace at Court,
A man may doe him : or that fuch a Lord
Reach't him his hand. P. Se. O yes! if grace would
itrike 105
The brewers Tally, or my good Lords hand,
Would quit the fcores. But Sir, they will not doe it.
Here's a piece, my good Lord piece, doth all.
He jhewes a piece.
Goes to the Butchers, fetches in a muton,
Then to the Bakers, brings in bread, makes fires, no
Gets' wine, and does more reall Curtefies,
Then all my Lords, I know : My fweet Lord peece !
You are my Lord, the reit are cogging lacks,
Vnder the Rofe. Shv. Rogue, I could beat you now,
P. Se. True C apt aine, if you dürft beat any other. 115
I ihould belieue you, but indeed you are hungry ;
You are not angry Captaine, if I know you
Aright; good Captaine. No, Pecunia,
Is to be feene, though Miftreffe Band would fpeake,
Or little Bluíhet-Waxe, be ne'r io eafie, 120
I'll ftop mine eares with her, againft the Syrens,
Court, and Philofophy. God be wi' you, Gentlemen,
Prouide you better names. Pecunia is for you.
Fit. What a damn'd Harpy it is? where's M adrigall?
Is he fneek'd hence. Shv. Here he comes with Broker, 125
Madrigall returnes.
Pecunia's Secretary. Alm. He may doe fome good
With him perhaps. Where ha' you been Madrigall?
Mad. Aboue with my Ladies women, reading verfes. [30]
108 (SN.) He ßiewes . . .J fHolds up a piece of gold. G (at 113).
Here is G 115 other, f 116 you;f 118 No,
Pecunia,] Commas om.f 122 gentlemen ! G 123 names.]
Commaf [Exit. G 125 SN.] Re-enter Madrigal and
Broker. G
4^
The Staple of Nevves [Act ii
Fit. That was a fauour. Good morrow, Mailer Sec¬
retary.
Shv. Good morrow, Mailer Vflier. Alm. Sir, by
both 130
Your worihipfull Titles, and your name Mas Broker.
Good morrow. Mad. I did aske him if hee were
Amphibion Broker. Shv. Why? Alm. A creature of
two natures,
Becaufe hee has two Offices. Bro. You may ieere,
You ha' the wits, young Gentlemen. But your hope 135
Of Helicon, will neuer carry it, heere,
With our fat family; we ha the dulleil,
Moil unboar'd Eares for verfe amongil our females.
I grieu'd you read fo long, Sir, old Nurfe Mortgage,
Shee fnoar'd i'the Chaire, and Statute (if you mark'd
her) 140
Fell fail a ileepe, and Miitreffe Band, ihee nodded,
But not with any content to what you read.
They muil haue fomwhat elfe to chinke, then rymes.
If you could make an Epitaph on your Land,
(Imagine it on departure) fuch a Poem 145
Would wake 'hem, and bring IVaxe to her true temper.
Mad. I' faith Sir, and I will try. Bro. 'Tis but earth,
Fit to make brickes and tyles of. Shv. Pocks vpon't
'Tis but for pots, or pipkins at the bell.
If it would keepe vs in good tabacco pipes, 150
Bro. 'Twere worth keeping. Fit. Or in pore'lane
difhes
There were fome hope. Alm. But this is a hungry foile,
And mull be helpt. Fit. Who would hold any Land
To haue the trouble to marie it. Shv. Not a gentleman.
Bro. Let clownes and hyndes afife6t, it that loue
ploughes, 155
129, 130 Matter] Mr. 1692, 1716 mr. W 133 Alm.] Mad. W,
G 145 ( )] G 146 awake W 147 I'faithf passim.
I'll G It is G 151 It were G
Sc. iv]
The Staple of Nevves
47
And carts, and harrowes, and are bufie ftill,
In vexing the dull element. Alm. Our fweete Songster
Shall rarifie't into ayre. Fit. And you Mas. Broker
Shall haue a feeling. Bro. So it fupple, Sir,
The nerues. Mad. O ! it ihall be palpable, 160
Make thee runne thorow a hoope, or a thombe-ring,
The nofe of a tabacco pipe, and draw
Thy ductile bones out, like a knitting needle,
To ferve by fubtill turnes. Bro. I ihall obey, Sir,
And run a thred, like an houre-glaife. P. Se. Where is
Broker? 165
Are not thefe flies gone yet? pray' quit my houfe,
I'le fmoake you elfe. Fit. O ! the Prodigall !
Will you be at fo much charge with vs, and loife?
Mad. I haue heard you ha' offered Sir, to lock vp fmoake,
And cauke your windores, fpar up all your doores, 170
Thinking to keepe it a clofe prifoner wi'you,
And wept, when it went out, Sir, at your chimney.
Fit. And yet his eyes were dryer then a pummife.
Shv. A wretched raí call, that will binde about
The nofe of his bellowes, left the wind get out 31 !
When hee's abroad. Alm. Sweepes downe no cobwebs
here, 176
But fells 'hem for cut-fingers. And the fpiders,
As creatures rear'd of dull, and coil him nothing,
To fat old Ladies monkeyes. Fit. Hee has offer'd
To gather vp fpilt water, and preferue 180
Each haire falls from him to flop balls with all.
Shv. A flaue, and an Idolater to Pecunia l
P. Se. You all haue happy memories, Gentlemen,
In rocking my poore cradle. I remember too,
When you had lands, and credit, worfhip, friends, 185
I, and could giue fecurity : now, you haue none,
158 Mas 1692, 1716 mas. W, G 161 through 1692, 1716, W
165 Re-enter Pennyboy sen. G 169 I've 1716, W, G
170 Windows 1692, 1716 windows W, G 171 with G
181 withal f passim
48
The Staple of Nevves
[Act ii
Or will haue none right ihortly. This can time,
And the viciffitude of things. I haue
All thefe. and money too, and doe poiTefTe 'hem,
And am right heartily glad of all our memories, 190
And both the changes. Fit. Let vs leaue the viper.
P. Se. Hee's glad he is rid of his torture, and fo foone.
Broker, come hither, vp, and tell your Lady,
Shee muft be readie prefently, and Statute,
Band, Mortgage, Wax. My prodigall young kinfman 195
Will Freight be here to fee her; 'top of our houfe
The flouriihing, and flanting Peny-boy.
Wee were but three of vs in all the world,
My brother Francis, whom they call'd Franck Peny-boy,
Father to this : hee's dead. This Peny-boy, 200
Is now the heire ! I, Richer Peny-boy,
Not Richard, but old Harry Peny-boy,
And (to make rime) clofe, wary Peny-boy
I ihall haue all at lail, my hopes doe tell me.
Goe, fee all ready ; and where my dogs haue falted, 205
Remoue it with a broome, and fweeten all
With a flice of iuniper, not too much, but fparing,
We may be faultie our felues elfe, and turne prodigall,
In entertaining of the Prodigall.
Here hee is ! and with him—what ! a Clapper Dudgeon ! 210
That's a good figne ; to haue the begger follow him,
So neere at his firil entry into fortune.
%
189 poffeffe] profess W 191 [.Exeunt all hut P. sen. and
Broker. g 193 hither; 1716, W, g 197 flaunting g
209 i Exit Broker. g
Sc. v]
The Staple of Nevves
49
Act. II. Scene. V.
Peny-boy. Iv. Peni-boy. Sen. Piclock.
Canter.) Broker. Pecvnia. Statvte.
Band. Wax. Mortgage, hid in the ftudy.
HOw now old Vncle ? I am come to fee thee.
And the braue Lady, here, the daughter of Ophir,
They fay thou keepit. P. Se. Sweet Nephew, if ihe were
The daughter o' the Sunne, ihee's at your feruice,
Aud fo am I, and the whole family, 5
Worihipfull Nephew. P. Iv. Sai'it thou fo, deare Vncle?
Welcome my friends then: Here is, Domine Picklocke :
My man o' Law, follicits all my caufes.
Followes my buíineíTe, makes, and compounds my quarrells,
Betweene my tenants and mee, fowes all my ftrifes, 10
And reapes them too, troubles the country for mee,
And vexes any neighbour, that I pleafe.
P. Se. But with commiiïion? P. I v. Vnder my hand
& feale.
P. Se. A worihipfull place ! Pic. I thanke his worfhip
for it.
P. Se. But what is this old Gentleman? P. Ca. A
Rogue, 15,
A very Canter, I Sir, one that maunds
Vpon the Pad, wee fhould be brothers though :
For you are neere as wretched as my felfe,
You dare not vie your money, and I haue none.
P. Se. Not vie my money, cogging lacke, who vfes it 20
At better rates ? lets it for more i'the hundred,
Then I doe, Sirrah? P. Iv. Be not angry vncle.
P. Se. What? to disgrace me, with my Queenef as if
I did not know her valew. P. Ca. Sir, I meant
Act. II. . . . study.] Enter Pennyboy jtin. Pennyboy Canter, and
Picklock. G Broker. . . . study] Brackets, 1716, W
16 I] Om. W
5o The Staple of Newes [Act it
You dürft not to enioy it. P. Se. Hold your peace, 25
You are a lacke. P. Se. Vncle, he íliall be a lohn,
Young Peny-boy is angry.
And, you goe to that, as good a man as you are.
An' I can make him fo, a better man,
Perhaps I will too. Come, let vs goe. P. Se. Nay,
kinfman,
My worfhipfull kinfman, and the top of our houfe, 30
Doe not your penitent vncle that affront,
For a rafh word, to leaue his ioyfull threihold,
Before you fee the Lady that you long for.
The Venus of the time, and ftate, Pecunia!
I doe perceiue, your bounty loues the man, 35
For fome concealed vertue, that he hides [33 J
Vnder thofe rags. P. Ca. I owe my happineffe to him,
The waiting on his worfhip, fince I brought him
The happy Newes, welcome to all young heires.
P. Iv. i hou didft indeed, for which I thanke thee yet, 40
Your Fortunate Princeffe, Vncle, is long a comming.
P. Cat _ She is not rigg'd, Sir, fetting forth fome Lady,
Will coft as much as furniihing a Fleete,
Here fhe's come at laft, and like a Galley
Guilt i'the prow.
The fludy is open'd where jhe fit in ftate.
P. Iv. Is this Pecunia? 45
P. Se. Vouchfafe my toward kinfman, gracious Madame,
The fauour of your hand. Pec. Nay, of my lips, Sir,
Shee kiffeth him.
To him. P. Iv. She kiffes like a mortall creature,
Almighty Madame, I haue long'd to fee you.
Pec. And I haue my defire, Sir, to behold 50
That youth, and fhape, which in my dreames and wakes,
26 P.Se.] P.jun.j SN.] O m. G 27 And,] An' 1716, W
An G 28 An'] And G 29 goe.] go. [Going. G
44 She is G 45 SN.] Om. G Enter Pecunia in state, attended
by Broker, Statute, Band, Wax, and Mortgage. G fit] sits 1692,
1716, W 47 SN.] [Kisses him. G 48 [Aside. G
Sc. v]
The Staple of N ewes
51
I haue fo oft contemplated, and felt
Warme in my veynes, and natiue as my blood.
When I was told of your arriuall here,
I felt my heart beat, as it would leape out, 55
In fpeach ; and all my face it was a flame,
But how it came to paiTe I doe not know.
P. Iv. O Î beauty loues to be more proud then nature,
That made you blufh. I cannot fatisfie
My curious eyes, by which alone Fam happy, 60
In my beholding you. P. Ca. They palle the complement
Prettily well.
He kiffeth her.
Pic. I, he does kiffe her, I like him.
P. Iv. My pailion was cleare contrary, and doubtfull,
I ihooke for feare, and yet I danc'd for ioy,
I had fuch motions as the Sunne-beames make 65
Againft a wall, or playing on a water,
Or trembling vapour of a boyling pot—
P. Se. That's not fo good, it ihould ha'bin a Crucible,
With molten mettall, fhe had vnderftood it.
P. Iv. I cannot talke, but I can loue you, Madame. 70
Are thefe your Gentlewomen ? I loue them too.
And which is miítreíle Statute ? Miftreffe Band7
They all kiffe clofe, the lait ftucke to my lips.
Bro. It was my Ladies Chamber-maid, ioît-Waxe.
P. Iv. Soft lips fhe has, I am lure on't. Mother Mort¬
gage, 75
I'll owe a kiffe, till fhe be yonger, Statute,
Sweet Miilreffe Band, and honey, little VVaxe,
We muff be better acquainted.
He doubles the complement to them all.
Sta. We are but feruants, Sir,
Band. But whom her Grace is fo content to .grace,
We fhall obferue. Wax. Aand with all fit refpeët. 80
60 I'm W 61 compliment W, G 62 SN.] [Kisses her, G
71 [Kisses them. G 77 honey 1716, W, G 78 (SN.) He
doubles ... I Kisses them again. G compliment W
52
The Staple of Nevves [Act ii
Mor. In our poore places. Wax. Being her Graces
ihadowes.
P. Iv. A fine well-fpoken family. What's thy name ?
Bro. Broker. P. Iv- Me thinks my vncle Ihould not
Who is a crafty Knaue, enough, beleeue it.
Art thou her Graces Steward? Bro. .No, her Viher,
P. Iv. What o'the Hall? thou haft a fweeping face,
Thy beard is like a broome. Bro. No barren chin, Sir,
I am no Eunuch, though a Gentleman-Viher.
P. Iv. Thou ilialt goe with vs. Vncle, I muft haue
My Princeffe forth to day. P. Se. Whither you pleafe,
Sir, 90
You lhall command her. Pec. I will doe all grace
To my new feruant. P. Se. Thanks vnto your bounty ;
He is my Nephew, and my Chiefe, the Point,
Old Peny-boy thankes her, hut makes his condition.
Tip, Top, and Tuft of all our family !
But, Sir, condition'd alwaies, you returne 95
Statute, and Band home, with my fweet, foft Waxe,
And my good Nurfe, here, Mortgage. P. Iv. O ! what elfe ?
P. Se. By Broker. P. Iv. Do not feare. P. Se. She
lhall go wi' you,
Whither you pleafe, Sir, any where. P. Ca. I fee
A Money-Bawd, is lightly a Flefli-Bawd, too. 100
Pic. Are you aduis'd? Now o'my faith, this Canter
Would make a good graue Bur ge ff e in fome Barne.
P. Iv. Come, thou íhalt go with vs, vncle. P. Ca. By
no means, Sir,
P. Iv. We'll haue both Sack, and Fidlers. P. Se. I'll
not draw
That charge vpon your worihip. P. Ca. He fpeakes
modeftly, 105
And like an Vncle, P. Se. But Mas Broker, here,
need thee,
[34]
Sir.
85
84 [Aside to Broker. G 89 us, W 90 Sir,J Period 1716,
W, G 93 SN.] Om. G 98 with G 101 on G
Sc. v]
The Staple of Nevves
53
He ihall attend you, Nephew ; her Graces Viher,
And what you fancy to beitow on him,
Be not too lauiih, vie a temperate bounty,
I'll take it to my felfe. P. Iv. I will be princely, no
While I poiîeiïe my Princeffe, my Pecunia.
P. Se. Where is't you eat? P. Iv. Hard by, at Pick¬
locks lodging.
Old Lick finger's the Cooke, here in Ram-Alley.
P. Se. He has good cheare ; perhaps I'll come and fee you.
P. Can. O, fie! an Alley, and a Cooks-íhop, groile, 115
The Canter takes him a fide, and perfwades him,
'T will fauour, Sir, moil rankly of 'hem both.
Let your meat rather follow you, to a tauerne.
Pic. A tauern's as vnfit too, for a Princeffe.
P. Ca. No, I haue knowne a Prince ffe, and a great one,
Come forth of a tauerne. Pic. Not goe in, Sir, though. 120
P. Ca. She muit goe in, if ihe came forth: the bleiled
Pokahontas (as the Hiftorian calls her
And great Kings daughters of Virginia)
Hath bin in womb of a tauerne ; and befides,
Your nafty Vncle will fpoyle all your mirth, 125
And be as noyfome. Pic. That's true. P. Ca. No 'faith,
Dine in Apollo with Pecunia,
At braue Duke Wadloos, haue your friends about you,
And make a day on't. P. Iv. Content 'ifaith:
Our meat ihall be brought thither. Simon, the King, [35 J
Will bid vs welcome. Pic. Patron, I haue a fuite. 131
P. Iv. What's that? Pic. That you will carry the
Infanta,
To fee the Staple', her Grace will be a grace,
To all the members of it. P. I v. I will doe it :
And haue her Armes fet vp there, with her Titles, 135
Aurelia Clara Pecunia, the Infanta.
And in Apollo. Come (fweete Princeffe) goe.
P. Se. Broker, be careful of your charge. Bro. I war¬
rant you.
115 gross ! 1716, W, G SN.] Om. G [To P.jun. G
124 a] Om. g 126 That is g 138 [Exetmt. g
54
The Staple of Nevves
2nd
The lecond Intermeane af ter the feconàAéï.
EN S VRE. Why, this is duller and duller ! intolerable \
fcuruy ! neither Diuel nor Foole in this Play ! pray
God, jome on vs be not a witch, G of sip, to forefpeake the
matter thus.
Mirth. I feare we are all fuch, and we were old enough: 5
But we are not all old enough to make one witch. How like
you the Vice i'the Play.
Expectation. Which is he
Mir. Three or foure : old Couetoufneile, the fordid Peny-
boy, the Money-bawd, who is a flejh-bawd too, they fay. 10
Tatle. But here is neuer a Fiend to carry him away.
Befides, he has neuer a wooden dagger! Fid not giue a
rußt for a Vice, that has not a wooden dagger to fnap at
euery body he meetes.
Mirth. That was the old way, G of sip, when Iniquity 15
came in like Hokos Pokos, in a I u gier s ierkin, with falfe
fkirts, like the Knaue of Clubs ! but now they are at tir'd like
men and zvomen 0' the time, the Vices, male and female!
Prodigality like a young heyre, and his MiílreíTe Money
(whofe fauours he fcatters like counters) prank't vp like a 20
prime Lady, the Infanta of the Mines.
Cen. I, therein they abufe an honorable PrincefTe, it is
thought.
Mirth. By whom is it fo thought? or where lies the
abufe? 25
Cen. Plaine in the ftiling her Infanta, and giuing her
three names.
Mirth. Take heed, it lie not in the vice of your interpre¬
tation: what haue Aurelia, Clara, Pecunia to do with any
p erf on? do they any more, but expreffe the property of 3°
2 scurvy, G 5 ank 1716, W an G 12 I would G
20 ( )] G
Intermean] The Staple of Newes
55
Money, which is the daughter of earth, and drazvne out of
the Mines? Is there nothing to he call'd Infanta, but what
is fubiebl to exception? Why not the Infanta of the Beg-
gers? or Infanta o'the Gipfiies? as well as King of Beggers,
and King of Gipfies? 35
Cen. Well, and there were no wifer then I, I would fozv
him in a fack, and fend him by fea to his Prince fife.
Mirt. Faith, and hee heard you Cenfure, he would goe
ne ere to fticke the A fifes ear es to your high drefsing, and
perhaps to all ours for barkening to you. 40
Tatle. By'r Lady but he fiiould not to mine, I would [36]
harken, and harken, and cenfure, if I faw caufe, for th3 other
PrincefTe fake Pokahontas, -furnam'd the ble fifed, whom hee
has abus'd indeed (and I doe cenfure him, and will cenfure
him) to fay fihe came foorth of a Tauerne, was faid like a 45
paltry Poet.
Mirth, [pat's but one G of sips opinion, and my G of sip
Tatle's too! but what faies Expectation, here, fhe fits
füllen and filent.
Exp. Troth I expedí their Office, their great Office! the 50
Staple, what it will be! they haue talk't on't, but wee fee't
not open yet; would Butter would come in, and fpread
it-felfe a little to vs.
Mirth. Or the butter-box, Buz, the EmilTary.
Tatle. When it is churn3d, and dish't, we fhall heure 55
of it.
Exp. If it be f re fit and fweet butter; but fay it be fower
and whey ifh,
Mir. Then it is worth nothing, me ere pot butter, fit to be
fpent in fuppofitories, or greafing coach-wheels, ftale, flink- 60
in g butter, and fuch I feare it is, by the being barrel!3 d vp
fo long.
Expectation. Or ranke Irifli butter.
Cen. Haue patience, G of sips, fay that contrary to our
expeßations it proue right, feasonable, fait butter. 65
36 an 1716, W an G 42 the G 45 him) to] him : —
To G 48 Expectation here? G 51 see it G
64 Gossip, 1692, 1716, W goss'ip ; G 65 salt butter? G
56
The Staple of Nevves
[Act m
Mir. Or to the time of yeer, in Lent, delicate Almond
butter ! I haue a fweet tooth yet, and I will hope the be ft;
and fit downe as quiet, and calme as butter; looke as fmooth,
and foft as butter; be merry, and melt like butter; laugh
and be fat like butter: fo butter anfzver my expectation, and 70
be not mad butter; If it be: It fliall both Iuly and December
fee.
I fay no more, But—Dixi.
TO THE READERS.
IN this following ACt, the Office is open'd, and ihew'n
to the Prodi gall, and his Prince ff e Pecunia; wherein
the allegory, and purpofe of the Author hath hitherto beene
wholly miitaken, and fo fmiiler an interpretation beene
made, as if the foules of moft of the Spectators had liu'd 5
in the eyes and eares of thefe ridiculous Goffips that tattle
betweene the A Cts. But hee prayes you thus to mend it.
To confider the Newes here vented, to be none of his Newes,
or any reafonable mans ; but Newes made like the times
Newes, (a weekly cheat to draw mony) and could not be 10
fitter reprehended, then in raifing this ridiculous Office of
the Staple, wherin the age may fee her owne folly, or hunger
and thirit after publiih'd pamphlets of Newes, fet out euery
Saturday, but made all at home, & no fyllable of truth in
them : then which there cannot be a greater difeafe in nature, 15
or a fouler fcorne put vpon the times. And fo apprehending
it, you fhall doe the Author, and your owne Judgement a
courtefie, and perceiue the tricke of alluring money to the
Office, and there cooz'ning the people. If you haue the
truth, reft quiet, and confider that 20
FiCta, voluptatis caufa, fint próxima veris.
71, 72 If . . . fee] As quotation, G
READERS] READER G G italicises this address, takes it out
of the text, and makes a foot-note of it. 10 ( )] G
Sc. i]
The Staple of Nevves
57
Act. III. Scene. I. [37]
Fitton. Cymball, to them Picklocke.
Register. Clerke. Tho: Barber.
Y Ou hunt vpon a wrong icent Hill, and thinke
The ayre of things will carry 'hem, but it muil
Be reafon and proportion, not fine founds,
My coufin Cymball, muil get you this Lady.
You haue entertain'd a petty-fogger here, 5
Picklocke, with trull of an Emiffaries place,
And he is, all, for the young Prodigall,
You fee he has left vs. Cym. Come, you doe not know him,
That fpeake thus of him. He will haue a tricke,
To open vs a gap, by a trap-doore, 10
When they leail dreame on't. Here he comes. What newes ?
Pick. Where is my brother Buz? my brother Ambler ?
The Re gißer, Examiner, and the Clerkes?
Appeare, and let vs muller all in pompe,
For here will be the rich Infanta, prefently, 15
To make her vifit. Peny-boy the hey re,
My Patron, has got leaue for her to play
With all her traine, of the old churle, her Guardian.
Now is your time to make all court vnto her ;
That fhe may firil but know, then loue the place, 20
And Ihew it by her frequent vifits here:
And afterwards, get her to foiourne with you.
She will be weary of the Prodigall, quickly.
Cym. Excellent newes! Fit. And counfell of an
Oracle !
G makes one scene of Scenes I, II, and III. Fitton . . . Barber.]
The Office of the Staple. Enter Fitton, Cymbal, Register, Clerk, and
Tho, Barber. G n Enter Picklock. G
5«
The Staple of Nevves [Act hi
Cym. How fay you couiin Fitton? Fit. brother
Picklock, 25
I fhall adore thee, for this parcell of tidings,
It will cry vp the credit of our Office,
Eternally, and make our Staple immortall!
Pick. Looke your addreiTes, then, be faire and fit,
And entertaine her, and her creatures, too, [38]
With ali the migniardif e, and quaint Careffes, 31
You can put on 'hem. Fit. Thou feem'ft, by thy language,
No leile a Courtier, then a man S Law.
I muit embrace thee. Pic. Tut, I am Vertumnus,
On euery change, or chance, vpon occafion, 35
A true Chamœlion, I can colour for't.
I moue vpon my axell, like a turne-pike.
Fit my face to the parties, and become
Streight, one of them. Cym. Sirs, vp, into your Desks,
And fpread the rolls vpon the Table, fo. 40
Is the Examiner fet ? Reg. Yes, Sir. Cym. Ambler, and
Bus,
Are both abroad, now. Pic. Wee'll fuitaine their parts.
No matter, let them ply the affayres without,
Let vs alone within, I like that well.
Fitton puts on the office cloake, and Cymbal the gowne.
On with the cloake, and you with the Staple gowne, 45
And keep your Rate, lloupe only to the Infanta;
We'll haue a flight at Mortgage, Statute, Band,
And hard, but we'll bring Wax vnto the retriue :
Each know his feuerall prouince, and difcharge it.
Fit. I do admire this nimble ingine, Picklock.
Fitton is brought about.
Cym. Cuz, 50
What did I fay? Fit. You haue rectified my errour!
36 for it G 39 Enter Nathaniel, Tho. Barber, and Register. G
44 (SN.) Fitton] Fit. G Cymbal] Cym. G 48 unto] to W, G
49 [ They take their seats. G 50 engine Gf passim SN.] Ora, G
Cuz,] Placed in next line, W, G
Sc. ii]
The Staple of Nevves
59
Act. III. Scene. II.
Peni-boy. Iv. P. Canter. Pecvnia. Stat-
vte. Band. Mortgage. Wax.
Broker. Cvstomers.
BY your leaue, Gentlemen, what newes ? good, good ilill ?
Pyour new Office? Princeffe, here's the Staple!
This is the Gouernor, kiffe him, noble Princeffe,
For my lake. Thom, how is it lioneit Thom ?
How does thy place, and thou? my Creature, Princeffe?
Hee tells Pecunia of Thom.
This is my Creature, giue him your hand to kiile,
He was my Barber, now he writes Clericus !
I bought this place for him, and gaue it him.
P. Ca. He ihould haue fpoke of that, Sir, and not you :
Two doe not doe one Office well. P. Iv. 'Tis true, 10
But I am loth to lofe my curtefies.
P. Ca. So are all they, that doe them, to vaine ends,
And yet you do lofe, when you pay you felues. [39]
P. Iv. No more o' your fentences, Canter, they are itale,
We come for newes, remember where you are. 15
i pray thee let my Princeffe heare fome newes,
Good Mailer Cymbal. Cym. What newes would ihe heare ?
Or of what kind, Sir? P. Iv. Any, any kind.
So it be newes, the neweit that thou hail,
Some newes of State, for a Princeffe. Cym. Read from
Rome, there 20
Newes from Rome.
Act. III. Scene. IL] Om. G Peni-boy . . . Broker.] Enter
Pennyboy,/««. and Broker. G Customers.] Om. G 1 still,
W, G 5 (SN.) Hee tells . . .] G omits this and all other side-
notes in this scene exc. those at lines 223, 260. 13 your selves
1692, 1716, W yourselves G
6o
The Staple of Nevves [Act iii
Tho. They write, the King of Spaine is chofen Pope.
P. Iv. How ?
Tho. And Emperor too, the thirtieth of February.
P. Iv. Is the Emperor dead? Cym. No, but he has
refign'd,
Newes of the Emperor, and Tilly.
And trades a pike now, vnder Tilly. Fit. For pennance.
P. Iv. Thefe will beget ílrange turnes in Chriften-
dome ! 25
Tho. And Spinola is made Generali of the Iefuits.
Newes of Spinola.
P. Iv. Stranger! Fit, Sir, all are alike true, and cer¬
taine.
Cym. All the pretence to the fifth Monarchy,
The fifth Monarchy, vniting the Ecclefiafticke and Secular power.
Was held but vaine, vntill the ecclefiaflique,
And fecular powers, were vnited, thus, 30
Both in one perfon. Fit. 'T has bin long the ayme
Of the houfe of Auftria. Cym. See but Maximilian.
A plot of the houfe of Auftria.
His letters to the Baron of Boutterftieim,
Or Scheiter-huyffen. Fit. No, of Liechtenftein,
Lord Paul, I thinke. P. Iv. I haue heard of fome fuch
thing. 35
Don Spinola made Generali of the Iefuitsl
More of Spinola.
A Prieit ! Cym. O, no, he is difpenc'd with all,
And the whole /ociety, who doe now appeare
The onely Enginers of Chriftendome.
P. Iv. They haue bin thought fo long, and rightly too. 40
Fit. WitnelTe the Engine, that they haue prefented him,
To winde himfelfe with, vp, into the Mo one :
And thence make all his difcoueries ! Cym. Read on.
Tho. And Vittellefco, he that was lail Generali,
31 'T] It G 34 Leichtenstein G 39 Engineers 1692,
1716, W
Sc. ii]
The Staple of Nevves
Being now turn'd Cooke to the fociety, 45
Has dreit his excellence, fuch a diih of egges—
His Egges.
P. Iv. What potch'd? Tno. No, powder'd.
Cym. All the yolke is wilde fire,
As he ihall need beleaguer no more townes,
But throw his Egge in. Fit. It íhall cleare confume, 50
Palace, and place; demolifh and beare downe,
All ilrengths before it. Cym. Neuer be extinguish'd !
Till all become one ruine ! Fi. And from Florence,
Tho. They write was found in Galileos ftudy,
Galilseo's ftudy.
A burning Glaffe (which they haue fent him too) 55
To fire any Fleet that's out at Sea—
Cym. By Moonefhine, is't not fo? Tho. Yes, Sir, i'the
water.
The burning glaffe, by Moone-shine.
P. Iv. His ilrengths will be vnrefiitable, if this hold!
Ha'you no Nezves againft him, on the contrary?
Cla. Yes, Sit, they write here, one Cornelius-Son, [40]
The Holanders Eele.
Hath made the Hollanders an inuifible Eele, 61
To fwimme the hauen at Dunkirke, and linke all
The ihipping there. P. Iv. Why ha'not you this, Thom?
Cym. Becauie he keeps the Pontificiall fide.
Peny-boy will haue him change fides :
P. Iv. How, change fides, Thom. 'Twas neuer in my
thought 65
To put thee vp againft our felues. Come downe,
Quickly. Cym. Why, Sir? P. Iv. I venter'd not my
mony
Vpon thofe termes: If he may change; why fo.
I il ha' him keepe his owne fide, iure. Fit, Why, let him,
'Tis but writing fo much ouer againe. 70
60 Sit] Sir 1692, 1716 sir W, G 65 How ! change 1716, W
How! Change G 67 ventur'd 17x6, W ventured G
70 'Tis] It is G
62
The Staple of Nevves [Act hi
P. Iv. For that I'll beare the charge : There's two Pieces,
Fit. Come, do not itick with the gentleman. Cym. I'l
take none Sir.
And yet he ihall ha'the place. P. Iv. They ihall be ten,
then,
though hee pay for it.
Vp, Thorn: and th' Office ihall take 'hem. Keep your
fide, Thorn.
Know your owne fide, doe not forfake your fide, Thom. 75
Cym. Read. Tho. They write here one Cornelius-Son,
Hath made the Hollanders an inuifible Eele,
To fwimme the Hauen at Dunkirke, and finke all
The flipping there. P. Iv. But how is't done? Cym. I'll
ihew you Sit.
It is an Automa, runnes vnder water, 80
With a fnug noie, and has a nimble taile
Made like an auger, with which taile ihe wrigles
Betwixt the coaits of a Ship, and fmkes it freight.
P. Iv. Whence ha'you this newes. Fit. From a right
hand I affure you,
The Eele-hoats here, that lye before Queen-Hyth, 85
Came out of Holland. P. Iv. A moil braue deuice,
To murder their flat bottomes. Fit. I doe grant you :
But what if Spinola haue a new Proiedl :
Spinola's new proie3: an army in cork-fhooes.
To bring an army ouer in corke-ihooes,
And land them, here, at Harwich ? all his horfe 90
Are ihod with corke, and fourefcore pieces of ordinance,
Mounted vpon cork-carriages, with bladders,
In itead of wheels to runne the pailage ouer
At a fpring-tide. P. Iv. Is't true? Fit. As true as the
reft.
P. Iv. He'll neuer leaue his engines: I would heare
now 95
Some curious newes. Cym. As what? P. Iv. Magick,
or Alchimy
74 [Tho. changes his side. G 79 Sit] Sir f 83 costs W, G
Sc. ii f
The Staple of Nevves
63
Or flying i'the ayre, I care not what.
Cla. They write from Libtsig (reuerence to your eares)
The Art of drawing farts out of dead bodies,
Extraction of farts
Is by the Brotherhood of the Rofie Croffe, 100
Produc'd vnto perfection, in fo fweet
And rich a tinßure— Fit. As there is no Princeffe,
But may perfume her chamber with th'extraßion.
P. Iv. There's for you, Princeffe. P. Ca. What, a fart
for her?
P. Iv. I meane the fpirit. P. Ca. Beware how ihe
refents it. 105
P. Iv. And what haft thou, Thom ? Tho. The per¬
petuad Motion,
The perpetuall Motion.
Is here found out by an Alewife in Saint Katherines, [41]
At the ligne o' the dancing Beares. P. Iv. What, from
her tap ?
Ill goe fee that, or elfe I'll fend old Canter.
He can make that difcouery. P. Ca. Yes, in Ale. no
P. Iv. Let me haue all this Newes, made vp, and feal'd.
Reg. The people prelle vpon vs, pleafe you, Sir,
Withdraw with your faire Princeffe. There's a roome
The Regifter offers him a roome.
Within, Sir, to retyre too. P. Iv. No, good Regifter,
We'll ftand it out here, and obferue your Office ; 115
The Office call'd the houfe of fame.
What Newes it iffues. Reg. 'Tis the houfe of fame, Sir,
Where both the curious, and the negligent ;
The fcrupulous, and carelefle ; wilde, and flay'd ;
The idle, and laborious ; all doe meet,
To tail the Cornu copiœ of her rumors, 120
Which ihe, the mother of fport, pleafeth to fcatter
Among the vulgar : Baites, Sir, for the people !
And they will bite like fiihes. P. Iv. Let's fee't.
98 ()] G 110 [Noise without. G 112 us. f 123 Enter
a crowd of Customers. G Let us see it W, G
64
The Staple of Nevves [Act hi
Dop. Ha' you in your prophane Shop, any Newes
i. Cuft. A jhe baptiil.
O'the Saints at Amfterdam ? Reg. Yes, how much would
you? 125
Dop. Six peny worth. Reg. Lay your mony down,
read, Thomas.
Tho. The Saints do write, they expeët a Prophet, fhortly,
Prophet Baal expeöled in Holland.
The Prophet Baal, to be lent ouer to them,
To calculate a time, and hälfe a time,
And the whole time, according to Naometry. 130
P. Iv. What's that? Tho. The meafuring o'the
Temple : a Cabal
Found out but lately, and fet out by Archie,
Archie mourn'd then.
Or fome iuch head, of whofe long coat they haue heard,
And being black, defire it. Dop. Peace be with them!
Reg. So there had need, for they are ilill by the
eares 135
One with another. Dop. It is their zeale. Reg. Moil
likely.
Dop. Haue you no other of that /pedes 1 Reg. Yes,
But dearer, it will coil you a ihilling. Dop. Verily,
There is a nine-pence, I will ihed no more.
Reg. Not, to the good o'the Saints? Dop. I am not
fure, 14°
That, man is good. Reg. Read, from Conftantinople,
Nine penny'orth. Tho. They giue out here, the grand
Signior
The great Turk turn'd Chriftian.
Is certainely turn'd Chriftian, and to cleare
The controuerfie 'twixt the Pope and him,
Which is the Antichrift ; he meanes to vi i it 145
The Church at Am ft er dam, this very Sommer,
And quit all marks o'the beail. Dop. Now ioyfull tydings.
124, 126, 134, 136, 137, 140, 147, 149, Dop.] i Cust. G
142 penn'orth G
Sc. ii]
The Staple of Nevves
65
Who brought in this? Which Emiffary? Reg. Bus.
Your countrey-man. Dop. Now, bleifed be the man,
And his whole Family, with the Nation. 150
Reg. Yes, for Amboyna, and the Iuitice there!
This is a Doper, a ihe Anabaptift!
Seale and deliuer her her newes, difpatch.
C. 2.. Ha'you any newes from the Indies? any
mirac 1 [42]
2. Cuß.
Done in lap an, by the Ie suit es ? or in China? 160
Cla. No, but we heare of a Colony of cookes
A Coloney oe Cookes pent ouer to conuert the Canniballs.
To be fet a fhore o' the coait of America,
For the conuerfion of the Caniballs,
And making them good, eating Chriftians.
Here comes the Colonell that vndertakes it. 165
C. 2. Who ? captaine Lick finger ?
3. Cuß. By Colonel Lickfinger.
Lic. Neives, newes, my boyes !
I am to furniih a great feait to day,
And I would haue what newes the Office affords.
Cla. We were venting fome of you, of your new proiebl,
Reg. Afore 'twas paid for, you were fomewhat too
haity. 170
P. Iv. What Lickfinger ! wilt thou conuert the Caniballs,
With fpit and pan Diuinity ? Lie. Sir, for that
I will not vrge, but for the fire and zeale
To the true caufe ; thus I haue vndertaken :
With two Lay-brethren, to my felfe, no more, 175
One o'the broach, th'other o'the boyler,
In one fixe months, and by plaine cookery,
No magick to't, but old Iaphets phyficke,
The father of the European Arts,
159 miracle f miracles J. M. Berdan's copy folio 1631. 161 œ] of f
162 of G 164 goodf 166 C. 2.] c, 3. 1692 3. C. 1716
3. Cust. W. G Enter Lickfinger. G 170 for ! G
176 of G 178 to it G
66
The Staple of Nevves
[Act hi
To make iuch fauces for the Sauages, 180
And cookes their meats, with thofe inticing iteemes,
As it would make our Caniball-Chriftians,
Forbeare the mutuall eating one another,
Which they doe doe, more cunningly, then the wilde
Anthropophagi ; that fnatch onely ftrangers, 185
Like my old Patrons dogs, there. P. Iv. O, my Vncles !
Is dinner ready, Lickfinger? Lie. When you pleafe, Sir.
I was befpeaking but a parcell of newes,
To ftrew out the long meale withall, but't feemes
You are furniih'd here already. P. Iv. O, not hälfe! 190
Lic. What Court-newes is there? any Proclamations,
Or EdiBs to come forth. Tho. Yes, there is one.
That the Kings Barber has got, for aid of our trade :
Whereof there is a manifeft decay.
A Precept for the wearing of long haire, 200
To let long hayre runne to feed, to fow bald pates.
To runne to feed, to fow bald pates withall,
And the preferuing fruitfull heads, and chins,
To help a miflery, almoft antiquated.
Such as are bald and barren beyond hope,
Are to be feparated, and fet by 205
For Vßers, to old Counteffes. Lie. And Coachmen.
To mount their boxes, reuerently, and driue,
Like Lapwings, with a fhell vpo' their heads.
Thorow the ilreets. Ha' you no Nezves o'the Stage?
They'll aske me abou new Play es, at dinner time. 210
And I íhould be as dumbe as a fiih. Tho. O ! yes. [43J
There is a Legacy left to the Kings Players,
Spalato's Legacy to the Players.
Both for their various ihifting of their Scene,
And dext'rous change o'their perfons to all ihapes,
And all difguifes : by the right reuerend 215
180 To] Yo 1692 181 cook 1716, W, G 189 but it G
199 decay, W 206 countesses : and coachmen W, G (G has
italics.) 208 upon G 209 Streets. Lie. W, G
210 aboutf
Sc. ii]
The Staple of Nevves
6 7
Archbißop of Spalato. Lie. He is dead,
That plai'd him! Tho. Then, h'has loft his fhare o' the
Legacy.
Lie. What newes of Gundomar? Tho. A fécond
Fiftula,
Gundomar's vfe of the game at Cheffe, or Play fo called.
Or an excoriation (at the leaft)
For putting the poore Englijh-play, was writ of him, 220
To fuch a fordid vse, as (is faid) he did,
Of cleanfing his poflerio/s. Lic. Iuitice ! Iuftice !
Tho. Since when, he Hues condernn'd to his fhare, at
Bruxels.
And there fits filing certaine politique hinges,
To hang the States on, h'has heau'd off the hookes. 225
Lie. What muff you haue for thefe ? P. Iv. Thou ihalt
pay nothing,
But reckon 'hem in i'the bill. There's twenty pieces,
Hee giues 20. pieces, to the Office.
Her Grace beftowes vpon the Office, Thorn,
Write thou that downe for Newes. Reg. We may well do't,
We haue not many fuch. P. Iv. There's twenty more, 230
If you fay fo; my Princeffe is a Princeffel
Doubles it.
And put that too, vnder the Office Seale.
Cymbal takes Pecunia afide, courts and wooes her, to the Office.
Cym. If it will pleafe your Grace to foiourne here,
And take my roofe for couert, you fhall know
The rites belonging to your blood, and birth, 235
Which few can apprehend : thefe fordid feruants,
Which rather are your keepers, then attendants,
Should not come neere your pretence. I would haue
216 He is dead,/That plai'd him !] He is dead that play'd him ! W
217 he G 219 the] Om. 1692, 1716, W 225 h'] he G
227 in i'] i' 1692, 1716, W in G [ExitLick.\ G 229 do it G
233 SN.] This and the side-note at line 260 are combined here by G thus:
[ Takes Pecunia afide, while Fition courts the waiting-women.
68
The Staple of Nevves
[Act hi
You waited on by Ladies, and your traîne
Borne vp by perfons of quality, and honour, 240
Your meat ihould be feru'd in with curious dances,
And fet vpon the boord, with virgin hands,
Tun'd to their voices; not a diih remou'd,
But to the Muftcke, nor a drop of wine,
Mixt, with his water, without Harmony, 245
Pec. You are a Courtier, Sir, or fomewhat more ;
That haue this tempting language S Cym. I'm your
feruant,
Exellent Princeffe, and would ha'you appeare
That, which you are. Come forth State, and wonder,
Of thefe our times, dazle the vulgar eyes. 250
And itrike the people blind with admiration.
P. Can. Why, that's the end of wealth! thruil riches
outward,
And remaine beggers within : contemplate nothing
But the vile fordid things of time, place, money,
And let the noble, and the precious goe, 255
Vertue and honeity; hang'hem; poore thinne membranes
Of honour ; who refpe6ts them ? O, the Fates !
How hath all iuil, true reputation fall'n, [44]
Since money, this baie money 'gan to haue any !
Fitton hath beene courting the waiting-women, this while,
and is ieered by them.
Ban. Pitty, the Gentleman is not immortall. 260
Wax. As he giues out, the place is, by defcription.
Fit. A very Paradife, if you faw all, Lady.
Wax. I am the Chamber-maid, Sir, you mi flake,
My Lady may fee all.
Fit. Sweet MiítreíTe Statute, gentle Miilreffe Band, 265
And Mother Mortgage, doe but get Grace
To foiourne here.— Pic. I thanke you gentle Waxe,
Mor. If it were a Chatteil, I would try my credit.
249 forth the state W, G 255 go ; 1692, 1716, W go : G
256 honesty, hang 'em ; 1692, 1716, W honesty; hang them ; G
259 [Aside. G 261 out G ísf
Sc. ii]
The Staple of Nevves
69
Pic. So it is, for terme of life, we count it fo.
Sta. She meanes, Inheritance to him, and his heyres: 270
Or that he could aifure a State, of yeeres :
I'll be his Statute-Staple, Statute-Merchant,
Or what he pleafe. Pic. He can expeët no more.
Ban. His couiin Alderman Security,
That he did talke of fo, e'en now— Sta. Who, is 275
The very broch o'the bench, gem o'the City.
Ban. He and his Deputy, but allure his life
For one feuen yeeres. Sta. And fee what we'll doe for
him,
Vpon his fcarlet motion. Ban. And old Chaîne,
That drawes the city-eares. Wax. When he fayes noth¬
ing, 280
But twirl es it thus. Sta. A mouing Oratory!
Ban. Dumb Rhethoricke, and filent eloquence!
As the fine Poet faies ! Fit. Come, they all fcorne vs,
Doe you not fee't ? the family of fcorne !
Bro. Doe not belieue him ! gentle Mailer Picklocke, 285
They vnderftood you not: the Gentlewomen,
They thought you would ha' my Lady foiourne, with you,
And you defire but now and then, a vi fit ?
Pic. Yes, if she pleas'd, Sir, it would much aduance
I nto the Office, her continuad refidence ! 290
(I fpeake but as a member) Bro. 'Tis inough.
I apprehend you. And it lhall goe hard,
But I'll fo worke, as fome body ihall worke her I
Pic. 'pray you change with our M after, but a word
about it.
P. Iv. Well, Lick finger, fee that our meat be ready, 295
thou haft Newes inough. Lie. Something of Bethlem
Gabor,
And then I'm gone. Tho. We heare he has deuis'd
A Drumme, to fill all Chriftendome with the found:
Bethlem Gabors Drum.
271 State,] Ora. comma f 288 visit. 1716, W, G 297 I
am G
7 o
The Staple of Nevves
¡ Act hi
But that he cannot drawe his forces neere it,
To march yet, for the violence of the noife. 300
And therefore he is faine by a defigne,
To carry 'hem in the ayre, and at fome diitance,
Till he be married, then they fhall appeare.
Lie. Or neuer; well, God b'wi'you (flay, who's here?)
A little of the Duke of Bauier, and then— [45]
The Duke of Bauier.
Cla. H'has taken a gray habit, and is turn'd 306
The Churches Millar, grinds the catholique grift
With euery wind : and Tilly takes the toll.
Cvs. 4. Ha'you any newes o'the Pageants to fend downe ?
4. Cufl. The Pageants.
Into the feuerall Counties. All the countrey 310
Expected from the city moft braue fpeeches,
Now, at the Coronation. Lie. It expected
More then it vnderftood : for, they ftand mute,
Poore innocent dumb things ; they are but wood.
As is the bench and blocks, they were wrought on, yet 315
If M ay-day come, and the Sunne ihine, perhaps,
They'll fing like Memnons Statue, and be vocall.
Cvs. 5. Ha'you any Foreft-newes ?
5. Cufl. The new Parke in the Forreit of Fooles.
Tho. None very wild, Sir,
Some tame there is, out o' the Forre ft of fooles,
A new Parke is a making there, to feuer 320
Cuckolds of Antler, from the Rafcalls. Such,
Whofe wiues are dead, and haue fince caft their heads,
Shall remaine Cuckolds-pollard. Lie. I'll ha' that newes.
Cvs. i. And I. 2. And I. 3. And I. 4. And I. 5.
And I.
Peny-boy would inuite the Mafler of the Office
Cym. Sir, I delire to be excus'd; and, Madame'. 325
I cannot leaue my Office, the firft day.
306 He has G 320 a making] making 1716, W 325 ex¬
cus'd ;] excused ; [to P.jun.] G
Sc. m]
The Staple of Nevves
71
My coufin Fitton here, ihall wait vpon you.
And Emiffary Pickloeke. P. Iv. And horn : Tericus
Cym. I cannot fpare him yet, but he ihall follow you,
When they haue ordered the Rolls. Shut vp th' Office, 330
When you ha' done, till two a clocke.
Act. III. Scene. III.
Shvnfield. Almanack. Madri¬
gal. Clerkes.
BY your leaue, Clerkes,
Where ihall we dine to day? doe you know? the
leerers.
Alm. Where's my fellow Fitton? Tho. New gone
forth.
Shv. Cannot your Office tell vs, what braue fellowes
Doe eat together to day, in towne, and where? 5
Tho. Yes, there's a Gentleman, the braue heire, yong
Peny-boy.
Dines in Apollo. Mad. Come, let's thither then,
Iha'fuptin Apollo \ Alm. With the Mufes? Mad. No,
But with two Gentlewomen, call'd the Graces.
Alm. They' were euer three in Poetry. Mad. This
was truth, Sir. 10
Tho. Sir, Mailer Fitton's there too! Shv. All the
better ! [46]
Alm. We may haue a ieere, perhaps. Shv. Yes, you'll
drink, Do61 or.
(If there be any good meat) as much good wine now,
As would lay vp a Dutch Ambaffador.
331 o'clock G [Exeunt all but Thomas and Nath. G
Act. III. Scene. III.] Om. G Enter . . . and Madrigal.]
G Clerkes.] Om. G 2 the leerers.] G assigns to Nath.
3 Where is G 8 Muses?] Period f
72
The Staple of Nevves
Í Act hi
Tho. If he dine there, he's iure to haue good meat, 15
For, Lick finger prouides the dinner. Alm. Who?
The glory o'the Kitchin ? that holds Cookery,
A trade from Adam? quotes his broths, and fallads?
And fweares he's not dead yet, but tranflated
In fome immortall crufl, the paß of Almonds? 20
Mad. The fame. He holds no man can be a Poet,
That is not a good Cooke, to know the palats,
And feuerall tafle s o'the time. He drawes all Arts
Out of the Kitchin, but the Art of Poetry,
which he concludes the fame with Cookery. 25
Shv. Tut, he maintaines more herefles then that.
He'll draw the Magifterium from a minc'd-pye,
And preferre Iellies, to your Iulips, DoBor.
Alm. I was at an Olla Podrida of his making,
Was a braue piece of cookery! at a funerall ! 30
But opening the pot-lid, he made vs laugh,
who'had wept all day ! and fent vs fuch a tickling
Into our noitrills, as the funerall feait
Had bin a wedding-dinner. Shv. Gi'him allowance,
And that but moderate, he will make a Syren 35
Sing i'the Kettle, fend in an Arion,
In a braue broth, and of a watry greene,
Iuft the Sea-colour, mounted on the backe
Of a growne Cunger, but, in fuch a pofture,
As all the world would take him for a Dolphin. 40
Mad. Hee's a rare fellow, without queilion ! but
He holds fome Paradoxes. Alm. I, and Pfeudodoxes.
Mary, for moil, he's Orthodox i'the Kitchin.
Mad. And knowes the Clergies tail ! Alm. I, and the
Lay ties !
Shv. You thinke not o'your time, we'll come too late, 45
If we go not prefently. Mad. Away then. Shv. Sirs,
You muil get o'this new es, to llore your Office,
Who dines and fups i' the towne? where, and with whom?
28 Jellies G 34 give G 35 a moderate W. G
43 Marry f 45 of G we shall G 47 of G
Sc. iv 1
The staple of nevves
73
'Twill be beneficiall : when you are ftor'd ;
And as we like our fare, we shall reward you. 50
Cla. A hungry trade, 'twill be. Tho. Much like D.
Humphries,
But, now and then, as th'holefome prouerb faies,
'Twill obfonare famem ambulando.
Cla. Shut vp the Office: gentle brother Thomas.
Tho. Brother, Nathaniel, I ha'the wine for you. 55
I hope to fee vs, one day, Emiffaries.
Cla. Why not? S'lid, I defpaire not to be Maßerl
Act. III. Scene. IV.
Peni-boy. Se. Broker. Cymbal.
He is fiarted with Broker's comming back.
HOw now? I thinke I was borne vnder Hercules
ßarre ! [47]
Nothing but trouble and tumult to oppreiTe me?
Why come you backe? where is your charge? Bro. I
ha' brought
A Gentleman to fpeake with you? P. Se. To fpeake
with me ?
You know'tis death for me to fpeake with any man. 5
What is he ? fet me a chaire. Bro. Pie's the Maßer
Of the great Office. P. Se. What? Bro. The Staple of
Newes,
A mighty thing, they talke Sixthoufand a yeere.
P. Se. Well bring your ßxe in. Where ha'you left
Pecunia?
Bro. Sir, in Apollo, they are fcarce fet. P. Se. Bring
ßxe. 10
52 wholsome W wholesome G 53 It will G 57'Slid f
[ Exeunt. G
Act. III. . . . Cymbal.] Scene II. A Room in Pennyboy senior s
House. Enter Pennyboy sen. and Broker, at different doors. G
i SN.JOm. G 10 Exit Broker, and returns with Cymbal. G
74
The Staple of Nevves
[Act hi
Bro. Here is the Gentleman. P. Se. He muit pardon
me,
I cannot rife, a difeas'd man. Cym. By no meanes, Sir,
RefpeH your health, and eafe. P. Se. It is no pride in me !
But paine, paine ; what's your errand, Sir, to me ?
Broker, returne to your charge, be Argus-eyed, 15
Hee fends Broker backe.
Awake, to the affaire you haue in hand,
Serue in Apollo, but take heed of Bacchus.
Goe on, Sir. Cym. I am come to fpeake with you.
P. Se. 'Tis paine for me to fpeake, a very death,
But I will heare you ! Cym. Sir, you haue a Lady, 20
That foiournes with you. P. Se. Ha? I am fomewhat
iliort
He pretends infirmity.
In my fenfe too— Cym. Pecunia. P. Se. O' that fide,
Very imperfeH, on— Cym. Whom I would draw
Oftner to a poore Office, I am M after of—
P. Se. My hearing is very dead, you muff fpeake
quicker. 25
Cym. Or, if it pleafe you, Sir, to let her foiourne
In part with me ; I haue a moyety
We will diuide, hälfe of the profits. P. Se. Ha?
I heare you better now, how come they in ?
Is it a certain bufineffe, or a cafuall? 30
For I am loth to feeke out doubtfull courfes,
Runne any hazardous paths, I loue Freight waies,
A iuft, and vpright man! now all trade totters.
The trade of money, is fall'n, two i'the hundred.
That was a certaine trade, while th' age wras thrifty, 35
And men good husbands, look'd vnto their ftockes,
Had their mindes bounded ; now the publike Riot
Proftitutes all, fcatters away in coaches,
In foot-mens coates, and waiting womens gownes,
12 sir ; G 15 SN.] Om. G [Exit Broker. G 21 SN.]
Om. G 22 O'] G 23 imperfect ; W, G 27 moiety, W
34 hundred, 1716, W hundred ; G 36 vnto] into W
Sc. iv]
The Staple of Nevves
75
They muft haue veluet hanches (with a pox) 40
Now taken vp, and yet not pay the vfe ; [48]
Bate of the vfe? I am mad with this times manners.
Hee talkes vehemently and aloud.
«
Cym. You faid e'en now, it was death for you to fpeake.
P. Se. I, but an anger, a iuft anger, (as this is)
Puts life in man. Who can endure to fee 45
The fury of mens gullets, and their groines?
What fires, what cookes, what kitckins might be fpar'd ?
Is mou'd more and more.
What Stewes, Ponds, Parks, Coupes, Garners, Magazines?
What veluets, tiffues, fcarfes, embroyderies ?
And laces they might lacke? They couet things— 50
Superfluous itill ; when it were much more honour
They could want neceffary ! What need hath Nature
Of filuer difhes? or gold chamber-pots?
Of perfum'd napkins? or a numerous family,
To fee her eate? Poore, and wife fhe, requires 55
Meate only ; Hunger is not ambitious :
Say, that you were the Emperour of pleafures,
The great DiBator of faihions, for all Eitrope,
And had the pompe of all the Courts, and Kingdomes,
Laid forth vnto the ihew? to make your felfe 60
Gaz'd, and admir'd at? You niuil goe to bed,
And take your naturall reft: then, all this vaniiheth.
Your brauery was but ftiowen; 'twas not poffeft:
While it did boaft it felfe, it was then periftiing.
Cym. This man has healthfull lungs. P. Se. All that
exceffe
Appear d as little yours, as the SpeBators. 66
It fcarce fills vp the expectation
Of a few houres, that entertaines mens Hues.
Cym. He has the monopoly of fole-fpeaking.
40 haunches, with a pox ! G 42 SN.J [■vehemently and loud. G
45 [starts from, his chair, G 47 Is mou'd . . .] Om. G
48 coops W, G 55 wise, W. G 63 shown f
65 lungs. [Aside. G 66 Spectator's ; G 69 Aside. G
;6
The Staple of Nevves
Why, good Sir ? you talke all.
He is angry.
P. Se. Why íhould I not? 70
Is it not vnder mine owne roofe? my feeling?
Cym. But I came hete to talk with you. P. Se. Why,
an'I will not
Talke with you, Sir? you are anfwer'd, who fent for you?
Cym. Nobody fent for me— P. Se. But you came,
why then
Goe, as you came, heres no man holds you, There, 75
Bids him get out of his houfe.
There lies your way, you fee the doore. Cym. This's
itrange !
P. Se. 'Tis my ciuility, when I doe not relliih
The party, or his buíineíTe. Pray you be gone, Sir.
I'll ha' no venter in your Ship, the Office
Your Barke of Six, if 'twere fixteen, good, Sir, 80
Cym. You are a rogue.
Cymbal railes at him.
P. Se. I thinke I am Sir, truly.
Cym. A Rafcall, and a money-bawd. P. Se. My fur-
names :
Cym. A wretched Rafcall ! P. S. You will ouerflow—
He ieeres him.
And fpill all. Cym. Caterpiller, moath,
Horfe-leach, and dung-worme— P. Se. Still you lofe your
labor. 85
I am a broken veiTel, all runnes out :
A ihrunke old Dry fat. Fare you well, good Sixe.
70 SN.] [angrily.~\ G 72 hete] heref 73 answer'd;f
75 here'sf 76 (SN.) Bids . . .] Om. G This is G
79 venture 1716, W, G Shop W, G 81 SN.] Om. G
82 Sir-names 1692, 1716, W 84 SN.] Om. G 87 [Exeunt. G
Intermean] The Staple of Nevves
77
The third Intermeane after the third A ¿7.
Censvre. A notable tough Raj call! this old Peny-boy! [49]
right City-bred!
Mirth. In Siluer-ftreete, the Region of money, a good
feat for a Vfur er.
Tatle. He has rich ingredients in him, I warrant you, 5
if they were extracted, a true receit to make an Alderman,
an' he were well wrought vpon, according to Art.
Exp. I would faine fee an Alderman in chimia ! that is a
treatife of Aldermanity truely written.
Cen. To fhew how much it differs from Vrbanity. 10
Mirth. I, or humanity. Either would appeare in this
Peny-boy, an' hee were rightly diftill'd. But how like you
the newesf you are gone from that.
Cen. O, they are monftrous! fcuruy! and ftale! and too
exotick! ill cook'd and ill difh'd! 15
Exp. They were as good, yet, as butter could make them!
Tat. In a word, they were beaftly buttered! he shall
neuer come o'my bread more, nor my in mouth, if I can
helpe it. I haue had better newes from the bake-houfe, by
ten thoufand parts, in a morning: or the conduisis in Weft- 20
miniter ! all the newes of Tutlt-ftreet, and both the Alm'ries !
the two Sanctuaries 'long, and round Wool-ftaple! with
Kmgs-ftreet, and Chanon-row to boot!
Mirth. I, my G of sip Tatle knew what fine flips grew
in Gardiners-lane ; who kift the Butchers wife with the 25
Cowes-breath; what matches were made in the bowling-
Alley, and what bettes wonne and loft; how much grieft
went to the Mill and what be fides: who coniur'd in Tutle-
fields, and how many? when they neuer came there. And
4c]anf 18 on G in myf 19 had] Om. f
20 Westminster : G 22 long f 23 Canon G 27 bets
were won W, G 29 many, 1716, W, G
78
The Staple of N ewes
[Act iv
which Boy rode vpon Doctor Lambe, in the likeneffe of a 30
roaring Lyon, that runne away with him in his teeth, and
ha's not deuour'd him yet.
Tat. Why, I had it from my maid Ioane Heare-fay : and
fliee had it from a limbe o'the fchoole, fiiee faies, a little
limbe of nine yeere old; who told her, the Mailer left out 35
his coniuring booke one day, and hee found it, and fo the
Fable came about. But whether it were true, or no, we
Gofsips are bound to beleeue it, ant be once out, and a
foot: how fhould wee entertaine the time elfe, or finde our
felues in fafliionable difcourfe, for all companies, if we do 40
not credit all, and make more of it, in the reporting?
Cen. For my part, I beleeue it: and there were no wifer
then I, I zvould have ne'er a cunning Schoole-Mafter in
England. I m<eane a Cunning-Man, a Schoole-Mafter; that
is a Coniurour, or a Poet, or that had any acquaintance with 45
a Poet. They make all their fchollers Play-boyes! Is't
not a fine fight, to fee all our children made Enterluders?
Doe wee pay our money for this? wee fend them to learne
their Grammar, and their Terence, and they learne their [50]
play-books? well, they talke, we fhall haue no more Parlia- 50
ments (God ble fife vs) but an'wee haue, I hope, Zeale-of-
the-land Buzy, and my G of sip, Rabby Trouble-truth will
start vp, and fee we fhall haue painfull good Mini fiers to
keepe Schoole, and Catechife our youth, and not teach 'hem
to fpeake Playes, and AB Fables of falfe newes, in this 55
manner, to the fuper-uexation of Towne and Countrey, with
a wanion.
34 o'] G 38, 39 a-foot 1716, W, G 42 an' 1716, W
an G 44 cunning man W, G 50 Parliaments, God bless
us ! G 52 Rabbi G
The Staple of Nevves
79
Act. IIII. Scene. I.
Peny-boy. Iv. Fitton. Shvnfield.
Almanack. Madrigal. Can¬
ter. Picklocke.
COme, Gentlemen, let's breath from healths a while.
This Lickfinger has made vs a good dinner,
For our Pecunia: what fhal's doe with our ielues,
While the women water ? and the Fidler s eat ?
Fit. Let's ieere a little. P. Iv. leere? what's that
Shv. Expe£l, Sr.
Alm. We firit begin with our felues, & then at you,
Shv. A game we vie. Mad. We ieere all kind of
perfons 7
We meete withall, of any rancke or quality,
And if we cannot ieere them, we ieere our felues.
P. Ca. A pretty fweete fociety ! and a gratefnll ! 10
Pic. 'Pray let's fee fome. Shv. Haue at you, then
Lawyer.
They fay, there was one of your coate in Bet'lem, lately,
Alm. I wonder all his Clients were not there.
Mad. They were the madder fort. Pic. Except, Sir,
one
Like you, and he made verfes. Fit. M adrigall, 15
A ieere. Mad. I know. Shv. But what did you doe,
Lawyer ?
When you made loue to Miftreife Band, at dinner.
Mad. Why? of an Aduocate, he grew the Clyent.
Scene. I.] Scene II. 1692 Scene I. The Devil Tavern. The
Apollo. G G makes but one scene of Act IV. Canter. Pick¬
locke.] Pennyboy Canter, and Picklock, discovered at table. G
i breathe 1716, W, G
8o
The Staple of Nevves [Act iv
P. Iv. Well play'd, my Poet. Mad. And fhew'd the
Law of nature
Was there aboue the Common-Law. Shv. Quit, quit, 20
P. Iv. Call you this ieering? I can play at this, [51]
'Tis like a Ball at Tennis. Fit. Very like,
But we were not well in. Alm. 'Tis indeed, Sir.
When we doe fpeake at volley, all the ill
We can one of another. Shv. As this morning, 25
(I would you had heard vs) of the Rogue your Vncle.
Alm That Mony-bawd. Mad. We call'd him a Coat-
card
O'the lait order. P. Iv. What's that? a Knäuel
Mad. Some readings haue it fo, my manufcript
Doth fpeake it, Varlet. P. Ca. And your felfe a Foole 30
O'the firft ranke, and one ihall haue the leading
O'the right-hand file, vnder this braue Commander.
P. Iv. What faift thou, Canter ? P. Ca. Sir, I fay
this is
A very wholefome exercife, and comely.
Like Lepers, fhewing one another their fcabs. 35
Or flies feeding on vlcers. P. Iv. What Newes Gentlemen ?
Ha' you any newes for after dinner? me thinks
We fhould not ipend our time vnprofitably.
P. Ca. They neuer lie, Sir, betweene meales, 'gainit
fupper
You may haue a Bale or two brought in. Fit. This
Canter, 40
Is an old enuious Knaue ! Alm. A very Rafcall !
Fit. I ha' mark'd him all this meale, he has done nothing
But mocke, with fcuruy faces, all wee faid.
Alm. A fupercilious Rogue ! he lookes as if
He were the Patrico— Mad. Or Arch-prieft o'Canters, 45
Shv. Hee's fome primate metropolitan Rafcall,
Our ihot-clog makes fo much of him. Alm. The Law,
And he does gouerne him. P. Iv. What fay you, Gentle¬
men?
23 It is G 26()]G 28 what is G 39 meals; W, G
Sc. h] The Staple of Nevves
8 i
Fit. We iay, we wonder not, your man o 'Law,
Should be fo gracious wi'you ; but how it comes, 50
This Rogue, this Canter ! P. Iv. O, good words. Fit.
A fellow
That fpeakes no language— Alm. But what gingling
Gipfies,
And P edler s trade in— Fit. And no honeft Chriftian
Can vnderitand— P. Ca. Why? by that argument,
You all are Canters, you, and you, and you, 55
He fpeakes to all the Ieerers.
All the whole world are Canters, I will proue it
In your professions. P. Iv. I would faine heare this,
But itay, my Prince ff e comes, prouide the while,
I'll call for't anone. How fares your Grace?
ACT. II1I. SCENE. II. [52]
Lickfinger. Pecvnia. Statvte.
Band. VVaxe. \to them.
I hope the fare was good. Pec. Yes, Lickfinger,
And we ihall thanke you for't and reward you.
Mad. Nay, I'll not lofe my argument, Lickfinger ;
Lickfinger is challeng'd by Madrigal of au argument.
Before thefe Gentlemen, I affirme,
The perfefil, and true itraine of poetry, 5
Is rather to be giuen the quicke Celler,
Then the fat Kitchin. Lic. Heretique, I fee
Thou art for the vaine Oracle of the Botle.
50 with G 55 are all 1716, W, G SN.] Om. G
58 comes ; G 59 anon f Enter Lickfinger, . . . and Mort¬
gage. G
To them, Lickfinger, . . . 1716. To them Lickfinger, . . . W
2 for it G 3 SN.] Om. G au] an f 4 Gentlemen] gentle¬
women G \P.jun. takes Pecunia aside, and courts her. G
82
The Staple of Nevves [Act iv
The hogíhead, I rif megiftus, is thy Pega fus.
ïhence flowes thy Mufes ipring, from that hard hoofe : 10
Seduced Poet, I doe fay to thee,
A Boyler, Range, and DreiTer were the Fountaines,
Of all the knowledge in the vniuerfe.
And they are the Kitchins, where the Mafter-Cooke—
( Thou doit not know the man, nor canil thou know him, 15
Till thou haft feru'd fome yeeres in that deepe fchoole,
['hat's both the Nurfe and Mother of the Arts,
And hear'ft him read, interpret, and demonftrate !)
A Mafter-Cooke ! Why, he's the man o' men,
For a Profeff or ! he defignes, he drawes, 20
He paints, he carues, he builds, he fortifies,
Makes Citadels of curious fowle and fiih,
Some he dri-difhes, fome motes round with broths.
Mounts marrowbones, cuts fifty angled cuftards,
Reares bulwark pies, and for his outerworkes 25
He raifeth Ramparts of immortall cru ft ;
And teacheth all the TaBicks, at one dinner:
What Rankes, what Files, to put his diihes in ;
The whole Art Military. lien he knowes,
The influence of the Starres vpon his meats, 30
And all their feafons, tempers, qualities,
And fo to fit his reliihes, and fauces,
He has Nature in a pot, 'boue all the Chymifts,
Or airy brethren of the Rofie-crofje.
He is an Arc hit eB, an In gin er, 35
A Souldiour, a Phyftcian, a Philofopher,
A generali Mathematician. Mad. It is granted.
Lie. And that you may not doubt him, for a Poet—[53]
Alm. This fury fhewes, if there were nothing elfe Î
And 'tis diuine ! I fhall for euer hereafter, 40
Admire the wifedome of a Cooke !
Peny-boy is courting his PrinceiTe all the while.
Ban. And we, Sir!
14 they're 1716, w, g 24 fifty-angled g 25 outer
works f 32 sauces w, g 35 Ingineer 1692, 1716 engi¬
neer W Enginer g 39 else g 41 sn.] Om. g
Sc. ii]
The Staple of Nevves
83
P. Iv. O, how my Prince ff e drawes me, with her lookes,
And hales me in, as eddies draw in boats,
Or ftrong Charybdis fhips, that iaile too neere
The fhelues of Loue ! The tydes of your two eyes ! 45
Wind of your breath, are fuch as fucke in all,
That doe approach you ! Pec. Who hath chang'd my
feruant ?
P. Iv. Your felfe, who drinke my blood vp with your
beames ;
As doth the Sunne, the Sea i Pecunia fhines
More in the world then he : and rhakes it Spring 50
Wheree'r ihe fauours ! 'pleafe her but to fhow
Her melting wrefts, or bare her yuorie hands,
She catches ftili ! her fmiles they are Loue's fetters !
Her brelts his apples ! her teats Strawberries !
Where Cupid (were he prefent now) would cry 55
Fare well my mothers milke, here's fweeter NePtar!
Helpe me to praife Pecunia, Gentlemen :
She's your Princeffe, lend your wits, Fit. A Lady,
The Graces taught to moue ! Alm. The H our es did nurfe !
They all beginne the encomium of Pecunia.
Fit. Whofe lips are the initru5tions of all Loners \ 60
Alm. Her eyes their lights, and riualls to the Starres !
Fit. A voyce, as if that Harmony itill (pake !
Alm. And poliih'd fkinne, whiter then Venus foote!
Fit. Young Hebes necke, or Iunoe's armes! Alm. A
haire,
Large as the Mornings, and her breath as fweete, 65
As meddowes after raine, and but new mowne !
Fit. Lœda might yeeld vnto her, for a face !
Alm. Hermione for breils! Fit. Flora, for cheekes!
Alm. And Helen for a mouth! P. Iv. KiíTe, kiile
'hem, Princeffe.
She kiffeth them.
45 eyes, G 52 wrists f 56 Farewell 1716, G Fare-
wel W 59 SN.J Om. G 69 'em G (SN.) She kisseth~\
[Pecunia kisses G
84
The Staple of Nevves [Act iv
Fit. The pearle doth itriue in whiteneiïe, with her
necke, 70
Alm. But lofeth by it : here the Snow thawes Snow ;
One froit refolues another! Fit. O, ihe has
A front too ilippery to be look't vpon !
Alm. And glances that beguile the feers eyes !
P. Iv. Kille, kille againe, what faies my man o'warrel 75
A gaine.
Shv. I fay, ihe's more, then Fame can promife of her.
A Theame, that's ouercome with her owne matter!
Praife is itrucke blind, and deafe, and dumbe with her!
Shee doth ailonilh Commendation !
P. Iv. Well pumpt i'faith old Sailor: kille him too: 80
She kiffeth Captaine Shunfield.
Though he be a flügge. What faies my Poet-fucker !
He's chewing his M ufes cudde, I doe fee by him.
Mad. I haue almolt done, I want but e'ne to finifh.
Fit. That's the 'ill luck of all his workes Hill. P. Iv.
What?
Fit. To beginne many works, but finilh none; [54] 85
P. Iv. How does he do his MiltrelTe work? Fit.
ïmperfeët.
Alm. I cannot think he finilheth that. P. Iv. Let's
heare.
Mad. It is a M adrigall, I affeCt that kind
Of Poem, much. P. Iv. And thence you ha' the name.
Fit. It is his Rofe. He can make nothing elfe 90
Mad. I made it to the tune the Fidlers play'd,
That we all lik'd fo well. P. Iv. Good, read it, read it.
Mad. The Sumte is father of all mettalls, you know,
Siluer, and gold. P. Iv. I, leaue your Prologues, fay!
74 seer's f 75 againe,] again; 1692, 1716, W again. G
(SN.) Againe.] [Pecunia kisses Alm. and Fit. G 80 SN.] \_She
kisses him.] G 84 ill 1716, W, G
Sc. ii]
The Staple of Nevves
85
SONG.
MADRIGAL, As bright as is the Sunne her Sire, 95
Or Earth her mother, in her be ft atyre,
Or Mint, the Mid-wife, with her fire,
Comes forth her Grace ! ) P. Iv. That Mint the
The fplendour of the wealthieft Mines ! j Midwife does well.
The ftamp, and ftrength of all imperiall lines, 100
Both maiefty and beauty ßiines, Fit. j That's fairely
In her f we et face ! I said of Money.
Looke how a Torch, of Taper light,
Or of that Torches flame, a Beacon bright; [P. Iv. Good !
Mad. Now there, I want a line to finifh, Sir. 105
P. Iv. Or of that Beacons fire, Moone-light :
Mad. So takes [he placel [Fit. 'Tis good.
And then I 'haue a Saraband—
She makes good cheare, fhe keepes full boards,
She holds a Faire of Knights, and Lords, no
A M er cat of all Offices,
And Shops of honour, more or leff e.
According to Pecunia's Grace,
The Bride hath beauty, blood, and place,
The Bridegrome vertue, valour, wit, 115
And wifedome, as he ftands for it.
Pic. Call in the F idlers. Nicke, the boy'ihal fing it,
Sweet Princeffe, kiile him, kiffe 'hem all, deare Madame,
And at the clofe, vouchfafe to call them Coufins.
He vrgeth her to kiffe them all.
Pec. Sweet Cou fin M adrigall, and Cou fin Fitton, 120
My Coufin Shunfield, and my learned Coufin.
P. Ca. Al-manach, though they call him Almanack.
P. Iv. Why, here's the ProdigalI proflitutes his Mifireff e !
SONGJOm. G 98, 99 (P.jun. . . . well.) W 101, 102
{Fit. . . . money.) w 104 {P. jun. Good !) W 107 {Fit.
'Tis good.) W G omits all the brackets and the brace.
112 Honours 1716 honours W, G 117 Pic.] P.jun. 1716, W, G
Enter the Fiddlers and Nicholas G 119 SN.] [Pec. kisses them. G
122 P. Ca.] Pick. G 123 P. Iv.] Pic. 1716, W P. Can. G
[Aside. G
86
'The Staple of Nevves [Act iv
P. Iv. And Picklocke, he muit be a kinfman too.
My man o'Lazv will teach vs all to winne, 125
And keepe. our own. Old Founder. P. Ca. Nothing, I
Sir?
I am a wretch, a begger. She the fortunate.
Can want no kindred, wee, the poore know none. [55J
Fit. Nor none fhall know, by my confent. Alm. Nor
mine,
P. Iv. Sing, boy, fland here.
The boy fings the fong.
P. Ca. Look, look, how all their eyes 130
Dance i'their heads (obferue) icatter'd with luit!
At fight o' their braue I doll ! how they are tickl'd,
With a light ayre ! the bawdy Saraband !
They are a kinde of dancing engines all !
And fet, by nature, thus, to runne alone 135
To euery found ! All things within, withou them,
Moue, but their braine, and that Hands Hill ! mere moniters
Here, in a chamber, of moil fubtill feet!
And make their legs in tune, palling the fireetes !
Thefe are the gallant fpirits o'the age ! 140
The miracles o'the time ! that can cry vp
And downe mens wits ! and fet what rate on things
Their half-brain'd fancies pleafe! Now pox vpon'hem,
See how folicitouily he learnes the Iigge,
As if it were a myitery of his faith ! 145
Shv. A dainty ditty ! Fit. O, hee's a dainty Poet !
When he fets to't. P. Iv. And a dainty Schollerl
They are all ftrucke zuith admiration.
Alm. No, no great fcholler, he writes like a Gentleman.
Shv. Pox o'your Schüller. P. Ca. Pox o'your dif-
tinfition !
126 founder! G I, sir? W I, Sir. G 130 SN.] Nich.
[rtMg-j.J As bright, &c. [Music. G 135 set by nature, thus f
136 withoutf 137 monsters. 1716 monsters, W, G
138 here W, G 145 [Aside. G 147 to it G SN.] Om. G
149 o' ... o'] G 149-154 [Aside. G
Sc. ni
The Staple of Nevves
87
As if a Schüller were no Gentleman. 150
With thefe, to write like a Gentleman, will in time
Become, all one, as to write like an Affe,
Thefe Gentlemen ? thefe Rafcalls ! I am iicke
Of indignation at 'hem. P. Iv. How doe you lik't, Sir?
Fit. 'Tis excellent ! Alm. J1 was excellently fung ! 155
Fit. A dainty Ayre ! P. Iv. What faies my Lick-
finger ?
Lic. I am telling Miftreffe Band, and Miítreífe Statute,
What a braue Gentleman you are, and Waxe, here !
How much 'twere better, that my Ladies Grace,
Would here take vp Sir, and keepe houfe with you. 160
P. Iv. What fay they? Sta. We could confent, Sr,
willingly.
Band. I, if we knew her Grace had the leaf! liking.
Wax. We muft obey her Graces will, and pleafure.
P. Iv. I thanke you, Gentlewomen, ply 'hem, Lickfinger.
Giue mother Mortgage, there— Lie. Her doze of
Sacke. 165
I haue it for her, and her diilance of Hum.
Pec. Indeede therein, I muft confefte, deare Cou fin,
I am a moft vnfortunate Princeffe. Alm. And
You ftill will be fo, when your Grace may helpe it.
The Gallants are all about Pecunia.
Mad. Who'ld lie in a roome, with a clofe-ftool, and gar-
lick? 170
And kennell with his dogges? that had a Prince
Like this young Peny-boy, to foiourne with ?
Shv. He'll let you ha' your liberty— Alm. Goe forth,
Whither you pleafe, and to what company—
Mad. Scatter your felfe amongft vs— P. Iv. Hope
of Pernaffus! 175
Thy Iuy lhall not wither, nor thy Bayes, [56]
Thou ihalt be had into her Graces Cellar,
And there know Sacke, and Claret, all December,
164 Gentlewoman 1692, 1716 165 dose f 169 (SN.) are]
gather G 170 who'd 1716, W, G
88
The Staple of Nevves
[Act iv
Thy veine is rich, and we muít cheriih it.
Poets and Bees fwarme now adaies, but yet 180
There are not thoie good Tauernes, for the one fort,
As there are Flowrie fields to feed the other.
Though Bees be pleas'd with dew, aske little Waxe
That brings the honey to her Lady es hiue :
The Poet muft haue wine. And he ihall haue it. 185
Act. IUI. Scene. "J-
Peni-boy. Se. Peny-boy. Iv.
Lickfinger. &c.
BRokerf what Broker? P. Iv. Who's that? myVncle!
P. Se. I am abus'd, where is my Knaue ? my Broker ?
Lie. Your Broker is laid out vpon a bench, yonder,
Sacke hath feaz'd on him, in the ihape of ileepe.
Pic. Hee hath beene dead to vs almoil this houre. 5
P. Se. This houre? P. Ca. Why figh you Sr? 'cause
he's at reft ?
P. Se. It breeds my vnreft. Lie. Will you take a cup
And try if you can fleepe? P. Se. No, cogging lacke,
Thou and thy cups too, periih.
He flrikes the Sacke out of his hand.
Shv. O, the Sacke!
Mad. The facke, the facke! P. Ca. A M adrigall on
Sacke ! 10
Pic. Or rather an Elegy, for the Sacke is gone.
Pec. Why doe you this, Sir? fpill the wine, and raue?
For Brokers fleeping? P. Se. What through ileepe, and
Sacke,
My traft is wrong'd : but I am ftill awake,
180 now-a-days 1716, W now a days G
Act. IUI. . . . &c.J Om. G Enter Pennyboy sen. hastily. G
9 (SN.) He] Om. G (SN.) Sackel cup G 12 rave, G
Sc. ni]
The Staple of Nevves
89
To waite vpon your Grace, pleafe you to quit 15
This itrange lewd company, they are not for you.
Hee would haue Pecunia home. But fliee refufeth.
And her Traîne.
Pec. No Guardian, I doe like them very well.
P. Se. Your Graces pleafure be obferu'd, but you
Statute, and Band, and Waxe, will goe with me.
Sat. Truly we will not. Ban. We will flay, and wait
here 20
Vpon her Grace, and this your Noble Kinfman.
P. Se. Noble? how noble! who hath made him noble?
P. Iv. VVy, my molt noble money hath, or ihall,
My Princeffe, here. She that had you but kept,
And treated kindly, would haue made you noble, 25
And wife, too : nay, perhaps haue done that for you,
An AB of Parliament could not, made you hone ft.
The truth is, Vncle, that her Grace diftikes [57]
Her entertainment : fpecially her lodging.
Pec. Nay, fay her iaile. Neuer vnf or túnate Prin¬
ce ff e, 30
Was vs'd fo by a Iaylor. Aske my women,
Band, you can tell, and Statute, how he has vs'd me,
Kept me clofe prifoner, vnder twenty bolts—
Sta. And forty padlocks— Ban. All malicious
ingines
A wicked Smith could forge out of his yron : 35
As locks, and keyes, ihacles, and manacles,
To torture a great Lady. Sta. H'has abus'd
Your Graces body. Pec. No, he would ha' done,
That lay not in his power : he had the vfe
Of our bodies, Band, and Waxe, and fometimes Statutes'. 40
But once he would ha'fmother'd me in a cheit,
And itrangl'd me in leather, but that you
Came to my refcue, then, and gaue mee ayre.
Sta. For which he cramb'd vs vp in a clofe boxe,
16 SN.] Om. G 19 me?f 20 Sta. f 29 'specially W, G
31 women : 1716, W, G 37 He has G
9°
The Staple of Nevves
[Act iv
All three together, where we faw no Sunne 45
In one fixe moneths. Wax. A cruell man he is !
Ban. H'has left my fellow Waxe out, i'the cold,
Sta. Till ihe was ftiffe, as any froit, and crumbl'd
Away to duft, and almoft loft her forme.
Wax. Much adoe to recouer me. P. Se. Women
Ieerers! 50
Haue you learn'd too, the fubtill facultie ?
Come, I'll fhew you the way home, if drinke,
Or, too full diet haue difguis'd you. Ban. Troth,
We haue not any mind, Sir, of returne—
Sta. To be bound back to backe— Ban. And haue
our legs 55
Turn'd in, or writh'd about— Wax. Or elfe difplay'd—
Sta. Be lodg'd with duft and fleas, as we were wont—
Ban. And dyeted with dogs dung. P. Se. Why? you
whores,
My bawds, my inftruments, what íhould I call you,
Man may thinke bafe inough for you ? P. Iv. Heare you,
vncle. 60
I muft not heare this of my Princeff e feruants,
And in Apollo, in Pecunia's roome,
Goe, get you downe the ftaires: Home, to your Kennell,
As fwiftly as you can. Confult your dogges,
The Lares of your family ; or beleeue it, 65
The fury of a foote-man, and a drawer
Hangs ouer you. S11 v. Cudgell, and pot doe threaten
A kinde of vengeance. Mad. Barbers are at hand.
Alm. Wafliing and ihauing will enfue. Fit. he
Pumpe
They all threaten,
Is not farre off ; If't were, the fmk is neere : 70
Or a good Iordan. Mad. You haue now no money,
Shv. But are a Rafcall. P. Se. I am cheated, robb d
46 Months 1692, 1716 months W, G 69, 73 SN.] Ora. G
70 if 'twere W, G
Sc. iv]
The Staple of Nevves
91
Ieer'd by confederacy. Fit. No, you are kick'd
And fpurne him.
And vfed kindly, as you íhould be. Shv. Spurn'd,
From all commerce of men, who are a curre. [58]
Kicks him, out.
Alm. A ftinking dogge, in a dublet, with foule linnen. 76
Mad. A fnarling Rafcall, hence. Shv. Out. P. Se.
Wei, remember,
Hee exclaimes.
i am coozen'd by my Coufm and his whore !
Bane o'thefe meetings in Apollo ! Lie. Goe, Sir,
You will be toil like Block, in a blanket elfe. 80
One of his Dogges.
P. Iv. Downe with him, Lickfinger. P. Se. Saucy
lacke away,
Pecunia is a whore. P. Iv. Play him downe, Fidlers,
And drown his noife. Who's this ! Fit. O, Mailer Pyed-
mantle !
Act. IIIJ. Scene. IV.
Pyed-mantle. (to them.
BY your leaue, Gentlemen.
Pyed-mantle brings the Lady Pecunia her pedigree.
Fit. Her Graces Herald,
Alm. No Herald yet, a Heraldet. P. Iv. What's that?
P. Ca. A Canter, P. Iv. O, thou íaid'íl thou'díl fproue
vs all fo !
P. Ca. Sir, here is one will proue himfelfe fo, Freight,
So ihall the reft, in time. Pec. My Pedigree? 5
I tell you, friend, he mult be a good Schüller,
75 SN.] [They kick him. G 77 SN.] Om. G 79 o'] G
80 SN.] Om. G 83 [Exeunt P. sen. and Lickfinger,] G
Act. IV. Scene. IV.] Om. G [To them\ Pyedmantle. 1716, W
Enter Piedmantle with Pecunia's pedigree. G 1 SN.] Om. G
92 The Staple of Nevves [Act iv
Can my difcent. I am of Princely race,
And as good blood, as any is i'the mines,
Runnes through my veines. I am, euery limb, a Prince ff e !
Dutcheffe o' mynes, was my great Grandmother. 10
And by the Fathers fide, I come from Sol.
My Grand-father was Duke of Or, and match'd
In the blood-royall of Ophyr. Pye. Here's his Coat.
Pec. I know it, if I heare the Blason. Pye. He beares
In a field Azure, a Sunne proper, beamy, 15
Twelue of the fécond. P. Ca. How farr's this from
canting ?
P. Iv. Her Grace doth vnderítand ti. P. Ca. She can
cant, Sr.
Pec. Whatbethefe? Befants? Pye. Yes, an't pleafe
your Grace.
Pec. That is our Coat too, as we come from Or.
What line's this ? Pye. The rich mynes of Pot oft. 20
The Spanish mynes i'the Weft-Indies. Pec. This?
Pye. The mynes o' Hungary, this of Barbary.
Pec. But this, this little branch. Pec. The Wei fil¬
my ne that.
Pec. I ha' Weljh-blood in me too, blaze, Sir, that Coat.
Pye. She beares (an't pleafe you) Argent, three le ekes
vert 25
In Canton Or, and taffel'd of the firit.
P. Ca. Is not this canting? doe you vnderítand him?
P. Iv. Not I, but it founds well, and the whole thing
Is rarely painted, I will haue fuch a fcrowle,
What ere it coft me. Pec. Well, at better leafure, [59]
We'll take a view of it, and fo reward you. 31
P. Iv. Kiffe him, fweet Princeff e, and ilile him a Cou fin.
Pec. I will, if you will haue it. Coufin Pyed-mantle.
She kiffe th.
P. Iv. I loue all men of vertue, from my Princeffe,
9 I'm W 13 Here is G 16 far is W, G 17 ti] it f
20 line is W, G 33 SN.J [She kisses him. G
Sc. iv] The Staple of Nevves
93
Vnto my begger, here, old Canter, on, 35
On to thy proof e, whom proue you the next Canter?
P. Ca. The Doßor, here, I will proceed with the learned.
When he difcourfeth of diffeßion,
Or any point of Anatomy : that hee tells you,
Of Vena caua, and of vena porta, 40
The Meferaicks, and the Mefenterium.
What does hee elfe but cant? Or if he runne
To his Iudiciall Aftrologie,
And tro wie the Trine, the Quartile and the Sextile,
Platicke afpect, and Partile, with his Hyleg 45
Or Alchochoden, Cufpes, and Horrofcope.
Does not he cant? Who here does vnderitand him?
Alm. This is no Canter, tho! P. Ca. Or when my
M itft er-M aft er
Talkes of his Taßicks, and his Rankes, and Files ;
His Bringers vp, his Leaders on, and cries, 50
Faces about to the right hand, the left,
Now, as you were : then tells you of Redoubts,
Of Cats, and Cortmes. Doth not he cant? P. Iv. Yes,
'faith.
P. Ca. My Eg-chind Laureat, here, when he comes forth
With Dimeters, and Trimeters, Tetrameters, 55
Pentameters, Hexameters, Cat ale Dicks,
His Hyper, and his Brachy-Cataleßicks,
His Pyrrhichs, Epitrites, and Choriambicks.
What is all this, but canting ? Mad. A rare fellow !
Shv. Some begging Scholler \ Fit. A decay'd Doßor
at leait !
P. Iv. Nay, I doe cherifh vertue, though in rags. 61
P. Ca. And you, Mas Courtier. P. I v. Now he treats
of you,
Stand forth to him, faire. P. Ca. With all your fly-blowne
proießs,
And lookes out of the politicks, your fhut-faces,
62 [To Fitton. G 64 looks-out G
94
The Staple of Nevves
[Act iv
And referu'd Queflions, and Anfwers that you game
with, As 65
Is't a Cleare bufineffe? will it mannage well?
My name muit not be vf'd elfe. Here, 'twill daß.
Your bufineffe has receiu'd a taint, giue off,
I may not proflitute my felfe. Tut, tut,
That little du ft I can blow off, at pleafure. 70
Here's no fuch mountaine, yet, i'the whole worke !
But a light purfe may leuell. I will tyde
This affayre for you; giue it freight, and paffage,
And fuch mynt-phrafe, as 'tis the worfl of canting,
By how much it affedts the fenfe, it has not. 75
Fit. This is fome other then he feemes! P. Iv. How
like you him ?
Fit. This cannot be a Canter ! P. Iv. But he is, Sir,
And fhall be Hill, and fo ihall you be too : [60]
We'll all be Canters. Now, I thinke of it,
A noble Whimfte's come into my braine! 80
I'll build a Colledge, I, and my Pecunia,
And call it Canters Colledge, founds it well?
Canters-Colledge, begun to be erefîed.
Alm. Excellent! P. Iv. And here Hands my Father
Rector,
And you Profeffors, you fhall all profeffe
Something, and Hue there, with her Grace and me, 85
Your Founders'. I'll endow't with lands, and meanes,
And Lickfinger fhall be my Mafter-Cooke.
What? is he gone? P. Ca. And a Prof eff or. P. Iv.
Yes.
P. Ca. And read Apicius de re culinaria
To your braue Doxie, and you! P. Iv. You, Coufin
Fitton, 9°
Shall (as a Courtier) read the politicks',
DoBor Al-manack, hee ihall read Afirology,
Shunfield fhall read the Military Arts.
67 dash — G 73 passage : 1692, 1716, W passage :— G
82 SN.] Om. G 84(professors ; G 86 endow it G
Sc. iv]
The Staple of Nevves
95
P. Ca. As earning, and aiTaulting the cold cuitard.
P. Iv. And Horace, here, the Art of Poetry. 95
That's Madrigall.
His Lyricks, and his Madrigalls, fine Songs,
Which we will haue at dinner, ileept in claret,
And againit fupper, fowe't in facke. Mad. In troth
A diuine Whim fey \ S h v. And a worthy worke,
Fit for a Chronicle ! P. Iv. Is't not? Shv. To < all
ages. 100
P. Iv. And Pyed-mantle, fhall giue vs all our Armes,
But Picklocke, what wouldit thou be? Thou canil cant too.
Pic. In all the languages in Weftminfter-Hall,
Pleas, Bench, or Chancery. Fee-Farme, Fee-Tayle,
Tennant in dozver, At will, For Terme of life, 105
By Copy of Court Roll, Knights feruice, Homage,
Fealty, Efcuage, Soccage, or Frank almoigne,
Grand Sergeanty, or Burgage. P. Iv. Thou appear'ft,
KaT è£oxqv a Canter. Thou fhalt read
All Littletons tenures to me, and indeed no
All my Conueyances. Pic. And make 'hem too, Sir?
Keepe all your Courts, be Steward o'your lands,
Let all your Leafes, keepe your Euidences,
But firíl, I muit procure, and paiTe your mort-maine
You mult haue licence from aboue, Sir. P. Iv. Feare
not, 115
Pecunia's friends fhall doe it. P. Ca. But I ihall flop it.
Here his father difcouers himfelfe.
Your worfhips louing, and ohedient father,
Your painefull Steward, and loft Officer !
Who haue done this, to try how you would vfe
Pecunia, when you had her : which fince I fee, 120
I will take home the Lady, to my charge,
And thefe her /eruants, and leaue you my Cloak,
To trauell in to Beggers Buih ! A Seate,
95 sn.j om. g 98 sous'd 1692, 1716, w soused g
100 Is it g 101 Armes.\ Colonf hi sir: g
116 sn.] [ Throws off his patched cloke, àfc. and discovers himself. g
gô The Staple of Nevves
[Act iv
Is built already, furniih'd too, worth twentie [61]
Of your imagin'd ft ruptures, Canters Colledge. 125
Fit. 'Tis his Father ! Mad. Hee's aliue, me thinks.
Alm. I knew he was no Rogue ! P. Ca. Thou, Prodi-
gall,
Was I fo carefull for thee, to procure,
And plot wi' my learn'd Counfell, Mafter Picklocke,
This noble match for thee, and doit thou proftitute, 130
Scatter thy Mißreffe fauours, throw away
Her bounties, as they were red-burning coales,
Too hot for thee to handle, on fuch rafcalls?
Who are the fcumme, and excrements of men?
If thou had'ft fought out good, and vertuous perfons 135
Of thefe profeftions : I'had lou'd thee, and them.
For thefe fhall neuer haue that plea 'gainft me,
Or colour of aduantage, that I hate
Their callings, but their manners, and their vices.
A worthy Courtier, is the ornament 140
Of a Kings Palace, his great Maßers honour.
This is a moth, a rafcall, a Court-rat,
That gnawes the common-wealth with broking fuits,
And eating grieuances! So, a true Souldier,
He is his Country es flrength, his Soueraignes fafety, 145
And to fecure his peace, he makes himfelfe.
The heyre of danger, nay the fubieß of it,
And runnes thofe vertuous hazards, that this Scarre-crow
Cannot endure to heare of. S h v. You are pleafant, Sir.
P. Ca. With you I dare be! Here is Pyed-mantle, 150
'Caufe he's an Affe, doe not I loue a Herald?
Who is the pure preferuer of defcents,
The keeper faire of all Nobility,
Without which all would runne into confufion?
Were he a learned Herald, I would tell him 155
He can giue Armes, and markes, he cannot honour,
No more then money can make Noble : It may
126 It is w, G 129 with G 137 against w, g
142 [Points to Fitton. G 14h himself f 148 Scarecrow f
Sc. iv]
The Staple of N ewes
97
Glue place, and ranke, but it can giue no Vertue.
And he would thanke me, for this truth. This dog-Leach,
You itile him DoBor, 'cause he can compile 160
An Almanack ; perhaps ere6t a Scheme
For my great Madams monkey : when't has ta'ne
A glitter, and bewrai'd the Ephemerides.
Doe I defpife a learn'd Phyfician ?
In calling him a Quack-Saluer ? or blatt 165
The euer-liuing ghirlond, alwaies greene
Of a good Poet ? when I fay his wreath
Is piec'd and patch'd of dirty witherd flowers?
Away, I am impatient of thefe vlcers,
(That I not call you worfe) There is no fore, 170
Or Plague but you to infe£t the times. I abhorre [62 ]
Your very fcent. Come, Lady, fince my Prodi gall
Knew not to entertaine you to your worth,
I'll fee if I haue learn'd, how to receiue you,
With more refpeêt to you, and your faire traine here. 175
Farewell my Begger in veluet, for to day,
To morrow you may put on that graue Rohe,
Hee points him to his patch'd cloake throzvne off.
And enter your great worke of Canters Colledge,
Your worke and zuorthy of a Chronicle,
The fourth Intermeane after the fourth Acl.
Tatle. Why ? This was the zvorft of alll the Catas¬
trophe !
Cen. The matter began to he good, but now: and he has
fpoyl'd it all, with his Begger there!
Mirt. A heggerly lacke it is, I warrant him, and a kin 5
to the Poet.
163 glyster 1716, W, G 166 garland 1716, W, G 176 to¬
day ; 1716, W, G 177 SN.] [.Points to his patch'd cloke. G
179 [Exeunt. G
5 a-kin W akin G
98
The Staple of Nevves
[4th
Tat. Like enough, for hee had the chief eft part in his
play, if you marke it.
Exp. Ab fur dit y on him, for a huge ouergrowne Play-
maker ! why ftiould he make him line againe, when they, and 10
we all thought him deadf If he had left him to his ragges,
there had be ene an end of him.
Tat. I, but fet a beggar on horfe-backe, hee'll neuer
Untie till hee be a gallop.
Cen. The young heyre grew a fine Gentleman, in this 15
la ft ATI!
Exp. So he did, Goiïip : and kept the be ft company.
Cen. And feafted 'hem, and his MiftrefTe!
Tat. And fhew'd her to 'hem allI was not iealous!
Mirth. But very communieatiue, and liberall, and 20
begänne to he magnificent, if the churle his father would
haue let him alone.
Cen. It was fpitefully done o'the Poet, to make the
Chuffe take him off in his heighth, when he was going to
doe all his braue deedes! 25
Exp. 7o found an Academy !
Tat. Ereùl a Colledge !
Exp. Plant his ProfeiTors, and zvater his Lectures.
Mirth. With zvine, goffips, as he meant to doe, and then
to defraud his purpofes? 30
Exp/ Kill the hopes of fo many towardly young fpiritsf
Tat. As the DoStors ?
Cen. And the Courtiers ! I protest, I was in loue with
M after Fitton. He did weare all he had, from the hat-band,
to the ftiooe-tye, so politically, and would ftoop, and leere? 35
Mirth. And lie fo, in waite for a piece of wit, like a
Moufe-trap ?
Exp. Indeed Goffip, fo would the little Doctor, all his [63]
behauiour ivas meere glifter ! 0' my confcience, hee would
make any parties phyficke i' the world worke, with his dif- 40
courf e.
24 height f 29 do ; f 32 doctors— G 35 leer ! f
39 glyster G O' G
NORTH WC3TERH
UNIVERSITY
Li ttiiAM Y
Intermean] The Staple of Nevves 99
Mir. I wonder they would fuffer it, a- fooliß old for¬
nicating Father, to rauiß away his fonnes MiílreíTe.
Cen. And all her women, at once, as hee did!
Tat. I would ha'' fly en in his gypiies face 1 faith. 45
Mirth. It ivas a plaine piece of politicall inceft, and
worthy to he brought afore the high CommiiTion of wit.
Suppose we were to cenfure him, you are the youngeß
voyce, GolTip Tatle, beginne.
Tatle. Mary, I would ha' the old conicatcher coozen'd 50
of all he has, i'the young hey res defence by his learn'd Coun-
fell, Mr Picklocke !
Censvre. I would rather the Courtier had found out
fome tricke to begge him, from his eftate!
Exp. Or the Captaine had courage enough to beat him. 55
Cen. Or the fine Madrigall-maw, in rime, to haue runne
him out o' the countrey, like an Irifli rat.
Tat. No, I would haue Maßer Pyed-mantle, her Graces
Herald, to pluck downe his hatchments, reuerfe his coat-
armour, and nullifie him for no Gentleman. 60
Exp. Nay, then let Maßer Do6tor diffect him, haue him
open'd, and his tripes tranflated to Lickfinger, to make a pro¬
bation difh of.
Cen. Tat. Agreed! Agreed!
Mirth. Faith I would haue him flat difinherited, by a 65
decree of Court, bound to make reflitution of the Lady
Pecunia, and the vfe of her body to his fonne.
Exp. And her traine, to the Gentlemen.
Cen. And both the Poet and himfelfe, to aske them all
forgiueneffe! 70
Tat. And vs too.
Cen. In two large fheetes of paper—
Exp. Or to ßand in a ikin of parchment, (which the
Court pleafe)
Cen. And thofe fill'd with newes! 75
Mirth. And dedicated to the fußaining of the Staple !
45 flown f 50 Marry f 54 him, from] him for f
IOO
The Staple of Nevves [Act v
Exp. Which their Poet hath let fall, mo ft abruptly?
Mirth. Banckruptly, indeede !
Cen. You fay wittily, Goffip, and therefore let a pro-
teft goe out a gain ft him. 80
Mir. A mourniuall of proteits ; or a gleeke at leaft !
Exp. In all our names :
Cen. For a decay'd wit—
Exp. Broken—
Tat. Non-foluent— 85
Censvre. And, for euer, forfet—
Mirth. To fcorne, of Mirth?
Cen. Cenfure !
Exp. Expectation !
Tat. Subfign'd. Tatle, Stay, they come againe. 90
Act. V. Scene. I. M
Peny-boy. Iv. I to him Tho. Barber.
after, Picklocke.
Hee comes out in the patchd cloak his father left him.
NAy, they are fit, as they had been made for me,
And I am now a thing, worth looking at !
The fame, I faid I would be in the morning.
No Rogue, at a Comitia of the Canters,
Did euer there become his Parents Robes 5
Better, then I do thefe : great foole ! and begger !
Why doe not all that are of thofe focieties,
87 Mirth ! f go Subsign'd, Tattle, f
Scene I. Pennyboy's Lodgings. Enter Pennyboy jun. in the patched
and ragged cloke his father left him. G to him . . . Picklocke.] Om. G
G makes but one scene of Scenes I, II, and III. SN.J Om. G
6 these f
The Staple of Nevves
ioi
Come forth, and gratúlate mee one of theirs ?
Me thinkes, I ihould be, on euery fide, faluted,
Dauphin of beggers! Prince of Prodigalls!
That haue fo fall'n vnder the eares, and eyes,
And tongues of all, the fable o'the time,
Matter of fcorne, and marke of reprehenfion !
I now begin to fee my vanity,
Shine in this Glaffe, reflected by the foile ! 15
Where is my Fafhioner? my Feather-man?
My Linnener? Perfumer? Barber? all?
That tayle of Riot, follow'd me this morning ?
Not one ! but a darke folitude about mee,
Worthy my cloake, and patches ; as I had 20
The epidemicall difeaíe vpon mee :
And I'll lit downe with it. Tho. My M after \ Makerl
How doe you? Why doe you fit thus o'the ground, Sir?
Heare you the newes ? P. Iv. No, nor I care to heare none.
Would I could here fit itill, and flip away 25
The other one and twenty, to haue this
Forgotten, and the day rac'd out, expung'd,
In euer)'- Ephemerides, or Almanack.
Or if it mull be in, that Time and Nature
Haue decree'd ; Hill, let it be a day 30
Of tickling Prodigalls, about the gills ;
Deluding gaping heires, loofing their loues,
And their difcretions ; falling from the fauours
Of their beil friends, and parents ; their owne hopes ;
And entring the fociety of Canters. [65]
Tho. A dolefull day it is, and difmall times 36
Are come vpon us : I am cleare vndone.
P. Iv. How, Thom? Tho. Why? broke! broke!
wretchedly broke ! P. I v. Ha !
17 all f 19 one] none W 22 [Seals himself on the floor.
Enter Tho. Barber. G 23 on G 27 raz'd 1692, 1716, W
razed G 32 losing f 33 discretions, f 34 Parent
1692, 1716
I02
The Staple of Nevves [Act v
Tho. Our Staple is all to pieces, quite diffolu'd! P. Iv.
Ha !
Tho. Shiuer'd, as in an earth-quake ! heard you not 40
The cracke and ruines ? we are all blowne vp !
Soone as they heard th'Infanta was got from them,
Whom they had fo deuoured í'their hopes,
To be their Patroneffe, and foiourne with 'hem ;
Our Emiff aries, Re gifler, Examiner, 45
Flew into vapor : our graue Gouernour
Into a fubt'ler ayre ; and is return'd
(As we doe heare) granà-Captaine of the Ieerers.
I, and my fellow melted into butter,
And fpoyl'd our Inke, and fo the Office vaniih'd. 50
The laft hum that it made, was, that your Father,
And Picklocke are fall'n out, the man o'Law.
i
P. Iv. How? this awakes me from my lethargy.
Hee flarts vp at this,
Tho. And a great fuite, is like to be betweene 'hem,
Picklocke denies the Feofement, and the Truft, 55
(Your Father faies) he made of the whole eilate,
Vnto him, as refpeSting his mortalitie,
When he firit laid this late deuice, to try you.
P. Iv. Has Picklock then a trufl? Tho. I cannot tell,
Here comes the worfhipfull—
Picklocke enters.
Pic. What? my veluet-heyre, 60
Turn'd begger in minde, as robes? P. I v. You fee what
cafe,
Your, and my Fathers plots haue brought me to.
Pic. Your Fathers, you may fay, indeed, not mine.
Hee's a hard hearted Gentleman ! I am forie
To fee his rigid refolution ! 65
That any man fhould fo put off affe6lion,
42 the G 43 in G 47 subtler G 50 spoil' 1692
spoil 1716 51 it] is 1716 53 SN.] [starting up.\ G
56 Your father says, G 58 this] his W, G 60 [P.jun.
makes a sign to Tho. who retires behind the hangings. Enter Picklock. G
Sc. i] The Staple of N ewes 103
And humane nature, to deilroy his owne !
And triumph in a victory io cruell !
He's fall'n out with mee, for being yours,
And calls me Knaue, and Traytors to his Truft, 70
Saies he will haue me throwne ouer the Barre—
P. Iv. Ha'you deferu'd it? Pic. O, good heauen
knowes
My confcience, and the filly latitude of it!
A narrow minded man ! my thoughts doe dwell
All in a Lane, or line indeed ; No turning, 75
Nor fcarce obliquitie in them. I itill looke
Right forward to th'intent, and fcope of that
Which he would go from now. P. Iv. Had you a Truft,
then?
Pic. Sir, I had fomewhat, will keepe you itill Lord
Of all the eftate, (if I be honeft) as 80
I hope I ihall. My tender fcrupulous breit
Will not permit me fee the heyre defrauded, [66]
And like an Alyen, thru It out of the blood,
The Lawes forbid that I ihould giue confent,
To fuch a ciuill daughter of a Sonne. 85
P. Iv. Where is the deed ? hail thou it with thee ? Pic.
No,
It is a thing of greater confequence,
Then to be borne about in a blacke boxe,
Like a Low-countrey vorloffe, or Welfh-briefe.
It is at Lickfingers, vnder locke and key. 90
P. Iv. O, fetch it hither. Pic. I haue bid him bring it,
That you might fee it. P. Iv. Knowes he what brings?
Pic. No more then a Gardiners Affe, what roots he
carries,
P. Iv. I was fending my Father, like an Affe,
A penitent Epiitle, but I am glad 95
I did not, now. Pic. Hang him, an auitere grape,
That has no iuice, but what is veriuice in him.
67 human W, G 70 Traytor 1692, 1716 traitor W, G
80 honest, W, G 82 to see 1716, W 92 what he brings f
I04 The Staple of Nevves [Act v
P. Iv. I'll ihew you my letter!
Peny-boy runnes out to fetch his letter.
Pic. Shew me a defiance!
If I can now commit Father, and Sonne,
And make my profits out of both. Commence 100
A fuite with the oldman, for his whole ftate,
And goe to Laiv with the Sonnes credit, vndoe
Both, both with their owne money, it were a piece
Worthy my night-cap, and the Gowne I weare,
A Picklockes name in Law. Where are you Sir? 105
What doe you doe fo long? P. Iv. I cannot find
Where I haue laid it, but I haue laid it fafe.
Pic No matter, Sir, trull you vnto my Truft,
'Tis that that íhall fecure you, an abfolute deed !
And I confeffe, it was in Truft, for you, 110
Left any thing might haue hapned mortall to him :
But there muft be a gratitude thought on,
And aid, Sir, for the charges of the fuite,
Which will be great, 'gainil fuch a mighty man,
As is our Father, and a man poffeft 115
Of fo much Land, Pecunia and her friends.
I am not able to wage Law with him,
Yet muft maintaine the thing, as mine owne right,
Still for your good, and therefore muft be bold
To vie your credit for monies. P. Iv. What thou wilt, 120
So wee be fafe, and the Truft beare it. Pic. Feare not,
'Tis hee muft pay arréragés in the end.
Wee'l milke him, and Pecunia, draw their creame downe,
Before he get the deed into his hands.
My name is Picklocke, but hee'll finde me a Padlocke. 125
98 [Exit. G 101 Old man 1692, 1716 old man W, G
103 'twere W 106 Re-enter Pennyboy jttn. G 107 but
I've W in happen'd W, G 115 our] your W, G
118 my f
Sc. ii] The Staple of Nevves
105
Act. V. Scene. II.
[67]
Peny-boy. Can. Peny-boy. Iv.
Picklock. Tho. Barbar.
HOw now? conferring wi'your learned Counfell
Vpo'the Cheat? Are you o'the plot to coozen mee?
P. Iv. What plot ? P. Se. Your Counfell knowes there,
Mr Picklock,
Will you reilore the Truft yet? Pic. Sir, take patience.
And memory vnto you, and bethinke you, 5
What Trujl? where doll appeare? I haue your Deed,
Doth your Deed fpecifie any Truft f Is't not
A perfect A3? and abfolute in Law ?
Seal'd and deliuer'd before witneifes?
The day and date, emergent. P. Ca. But what confer¬
ence? 10
What othes, and vowes preceded ? Pic. I will tell you, Sir,
Since I am vrg'd of thofe, as I remember,
You told me you had got a growen eitate,
By griping meanes, íiniíterly. (P. Ca. How!) Pic.
And were
Eu'n weary of it ; if the parties liued, 15
From whom you had wrefted it— (P. Ca. Ha!) Pic.
You could be glad,
To part with all, for fatisfaHion :
But fince they'had yeelded to humanity,
And that iufl heauen had fent you, for a punifhment
(You did acknowledge it) this riotous heyre, 20
That would bring all to beggery in the end,
Act. V. . . . Barbar,] Enter Pennyboy Canter. G
i with G 2 Upon G 3 Picklock. 1692, 1716, W
4 Patience, 1692 patience 1716, W, G 6 dos't 1692 does't
1716, W, G 7 Is it G 10 date W, G 12 urg'd, W
those ; G 13 grown f 15 Even G
io6 The Staple of Nevves [Act v
And daily fow'd confumption, where he went—
P. Ca. You'old coozen both, then ? your Confederate, too ?
Pic. After a long, mature deliberation,
You could not thinke, where, better, how to place it— 25
P. Ca. Then on you, Rafcall? Pic. What you pleafe
i'your paffion,
But with your reafon, you will come about
And thinke a faithfull, and a frugall friend
To be preferr'd. P. Ca. Before a Sonne? Pic. A
Prodigall,
A tubbe without a bottome, as you term'd him ; 30
For which, I might returne you a vow, or two,
And feale it with an oath of thankfulneffe,
I not repent it, neither haue I caufe, Yet—
P. Ca. Fore-head of iteele, and mouth of braife! hath
impudence
Poliili'd fo groffe a lie, and dar'il thou vent it? 35
Engine, compos'd of all mixt mettalls ! hence,
I will not change a fyllab, with thee, more,
Till I may meet thee, at a Barre in Court,
Before thy Iudges. Pec. Thither it muft come, [68]
Before I part with it, to you, or you, Sir. 40
P. Ca. I will not heare thee. P. Iv. Sir, your eare to
mee, though.
His Son entreats him.
Not that I fee through his perplexed plots,
And hidden ends, nor that my parts depend
Vpon the vnwinding this fo knotted skeane,
Doe I befeech your patience. Vnto mee 45
He hath confeil the truft. Pic. How? I confeife it?
P. Iv. I thou, falfe man. P. Se. Stand vp to him, &
confront him.
Pic. Where? when? to whom? P. Iv. To me, euen
now, and here,
23 You'ld 1692 You'd 1716, W You would G 26 in your G
33 cause ; G 37 syllable W, G 41 SN.] Om. G
48 here : f
Sc. ii] The Staple of Nevves 107
Canft thou deny it ? Pic. Can I eate, or drinke ?
Sleepe, wake, or dreame? arife, fit, goe, or itand? 50
Doe any thing that's naturall? P. Iv. Yes, lye:
It feemes thou canft, and periure : that is naturall !
Pic. O me ! what times are thefe ! of frontleffe carriage !
An Egge o'the fame neft ! the Fathers Bird !
It runs in a blood, I fee ! P. I v. I'll flop your mouth. 55
Pic. With what ? P. Iv. With truth. Pic. With
noife, I mull haue witnes.
Where is your witnes ? you can produce witnes ?
P. Iv. As if my teftimony were not twenty,
Balanc'd with thine ? Pic. So fay all Prodigalls,
Sicke of felfe-loue, but that's not Law, young Scatter-
good. 60
I liue by Law. P. I v. Why ? if thou haft a confcience,
That is a thoufsnd witneftes. Pic. No, Court,
Grants out a Writ of Summons, for the Confcience,
That I know, nor Sub-pœna, nor Attachment.
I muft haue witneffe, and of your producing, 65
Ere this can come to hearing, and it muft
Be heard on oath, and witneffe. P. Iv. Come forth, Thom,
Hee produceth Thom.
Speake what thou heard'ft, the truth, and the whole truth,
And nothing but the truth. What faid this varlet ?
Pic. A rat behind the hangings ! Tho. Sir, he faid 70
It was a Trust ! an A 61, the which your Father
Had will to alter : but his tender breft
Would not permit to fee the heyre defrauded ;
And like an alyen, thruft out of the blood.
The Lazves forbid that he fhould giue confent 75
To fuch a ciuill flaughter of a Sonne—
P. Iv. And talk'd of a gratuite to be giuen,
And ayd vnto the charges of the fuite ;
Which he was to maintaine, in his owne name,
But for my vie, he faid. P. Ca. It is enough. 80
51 lie, 1692 lie 1716, W, G 56 noise ; 1692, W, G
62 thousand f 67 SN.] Re-enter Tho. Barber. G
io8
The Staple of Nevves [Act v
Tho. And he would milke Pecunia, and draw downe
Her creame, before you got the Truft, againe.
P. Ca. Your eares are in my pocket, Knaue, goe ihake
'hem,
The little while you haue them. Pic. You doe truft
To your great purfe. P. Ca. I ha' you in a purfe-net 85
Good Mailer Picklocke, wi'your worming braine, [69]
And wrigling ingine-head of maintenance,
Which I fhall fee you hole with, very fhortly.
A fine round head, when thofe two lugs are ofif,
To trundle through a Pillory. You are iure 90
You heard him fpeake this? P. Iv. I, and more. Tho.
Much more !
Pic. I'll proue yours maintenance, and combination,
And fue you all. P. Ca. Doe, doe, my gowned Vulture,
Crop in Reuerfion : I fhall fee you coyted
Ouer the Barre, as Barge-men doe their billets. 95
Pic. This 'tis, when men repent their good deeds,
And would ha'hem in againe— They are almoit mad !
But I forgiue their Lucida Interualla.
O, Lick finger? come hither. Where's my writing?
Pick-lock spies Lickfinger, and asks him afide for the writing.
Act. V. Scene. III.
Lickfinger. (to them.
Ifent it you, together with your keyes,
Pic. How? Lic. By the Porter, that came for it,
from you,
83 'em G 86 with your G 87 engine-head 1716, W, G
94 quoited G 97 have 'em G 98 Enter Lickfinger. G
99 SN. and Scene III. 17 SN. combined here by G thus : Comes forward
with Lickfinger while P.jun. discovers the plot, aside, to his father, and
that he is in possession of the deed.
Act. V. Scene. III.J Om. G Lickfinger. (to them.] Om. G
[to them] Lickfinger. 1692, 1716, W
Sc. m] The Staple of Nevves 109
And by the token, you had giu'n me the keyes,
And bad me bring it. Pic. And why did you not ?
Lie. Why did you fend a counter-mand ? Pic. Who, I ? 5
Lie. You, or fome other you, you put in trull.
Pic. In truft? Lie. Your Truft's another felfe, you
know,
And without Truft, and your Truft, how ihould he
Take notice of your keyes, or of my charge.
Pic. Know you the man ? Lic. I know he was a
Porter-, 10
And a feal'd Porter for he bore the badge
On breit, I am fure. Pic. I am loft! a plot! I fent it!
Lie. Why! and I fent it by the man you fent
Whom elfe, I had not trufted. Pic. Plague o'your truft.
I am trufs'd vp among you. P. Iv. Or you may be. 15
Pic. In mine owne halter, I haue made the Noofe.
Picklocke goes out.
P. Iv. What was it, Lick finger?
Young Peny-boy difcouers it, to his Father to he his plot of fending
for it by the Porter, and that hee is in poffefsion of the Deed.
Lie. A writing, Sir,
He fent for't by a token, I was bringing it :
But that he fent a Porter, and hee feem'd
A man of decent carriage. P. Ca. Twas good for¬
tune ! 20
To cheat the Cheater, was no cheat, but iuftice,
Put off your ragges, and be your felfe againe,
This A61 of piety, and good affection,
Hath partly reconcil'd me to you. P. Iv. Sir.
P. C. No vowes, no promifes: too much protefta-
tion [70]
Makes that fufpeHed oft, we would perfwade. 26
Lie. Heare you the Newes? P. Iv. The Office is
downe, how ihould we ?
12 on's W on his G scent f 14 on your G
16 [Exit. G 25 much] must 1716
I IO
The Staple of Nevves
[ Act v
Lie. But of your vncle? P. Iv. No, Lie. He's
runne mad, Sir.
P. Ca. How, Lick finger? Lie. Stark flaring mad,
your brother,
H'has almoil kill'd his maid. P. Ca. Now, heauen for¬
bid. 30
Elder Peny-boy flartles at the newes.
Lie. But that ihe's Cat-liu'd, and Squirrill-limb'd,
With throwing bed-ftaues at her : h'has fet wide
His outer doores, and now keepes open houfe,
For all the paliers by to fee his iultice :
Firil, he has apprehended his two dogges, 35
As being o'the plot to coozen him :
And there hee fits like an old worme of the peace,
Wrap'd vp in furres at a fquare table, fcrewing,
Examining, and committing the poore curres,
To two old cafes of clofe flooles, as priions ; 40
The one of which, he calls his Lollard's tower,
h'other his Blocke-houfe, 'caufe his two dogs names
Are Blocke, and Lollard. P. Iv. This would be braue
matter
Vnto the Ieerers. P. Ca. I, If fo the fubieSt
Were not fo wretched. Lie. Sure, I met them all, 45
I thinke, vpon that quell. P. Ca. 'Faith, like enough:
The vicious Fill are fwift to ihew their natures.
I'll thither too, but with another ay me,
If all fucceed well, and my fImples take.
28 He is G 30 SN.] Om. G 30, 32 He has G
31 She is G 36 of G 42 T'other G 49 [Exeunt. G
Sc. iv]
The Staple of Nevves
111
Act. V. Scene. inj.
Peni-boy. Sen. Porter.
Hee is feene fitting at his Table with papers before him.
/ Here are the prifoners? Por. They are forth-
V V coming, Sr,
Or comming forth at leail. P. Se. The Rogue is drunke,
Since I committed them to his charge. Come hither,
Neere me, yet neerer; breath vpon me. Wine!
Hee f me lis him.
Wine, o'my woriliip! facke! Canary facke! 5
Could not your Badge ha'bin drunke with fulfome Ale?
Or Beere ? the Porters element ? but facke !
Por. I am not drunke, we had, Sir, but one pynt,
An honeit carrier, and my felfe. P. Se. Who paid for't?
Por. Sir, I did giue it him. P. Se. What? and fpend
fixpence! 10
A Frocke fpend fixpence! fixpence! Por. Once in a
yeere, Sir,
P. Se. In feuen yeers, varlet ! Know'il thou what thou
hail done?
What a confumption thou hail made of a S tat el
It might pleafe heauen, (a luily Knaue and young) [71]
To let thee liue fome feuenty yeeres longer. 15
Till thou art fouref core, and ten ; perhaps a hundred.
Say feuenty yeeres ; how. many times feuen in feuenty?
Why, feuen times ten, is ten times feuen, marke me,
I will demonilrate to thee on my fingers,
Sir-pence in feuen yeere (vie vpon vie) 20
Act . . . him. ] Scene II. A Room in Pennyboy senior's House. Penny-
boy sen. discovered sitting at table with papers, arc. before him ; Porter,
and Block and Lollard {two dogs.) G 5 o'] G my] your 1716
H O] G
I i 2
The Staple of N ewes
[Act v
Growes in that firft feuen yeere, to be a twelue-pence.
That, in the next, ¿wö-ihillings ; the third /owr^-ihillings ;
The fourth feuen yeere, eight-fhiWmgs ; the fifth, fixteen :
The fixth, two and thirty; the feuenth, three-pound foure,
The eighth, fixe pound, and eyght ; the ninth, twelue pound
fixteen ; 25
And the tenth feuen, fine and twenty pound,
Twelue Shillings. This thou art fall'n from, by thy riot!
Should'ft thou Hue feuenty yeeres, by fpending fix-pence,
Once i'the /euen : but in a day to wail it !
There is a Summe that number cannot reach ! 30
Out o'my houfe, thou peil o' prodigality !
Seed o' confumption ! hence, a wicked keeper
Is oft worfe then the prifoners. There's thy penny,
Foure tokens for thee. Out, away. My dogges,
May yet be innocent, and honeil. If not, 35
I haue an entrapping quefiion, or two more,
To put vnto 'hem, a croffe Intergatory,
And I ihall catch 'hem ; Lollard ? Peace,
Hee calls forth Lollard, and examines him.
What whifpring was that you had with Mortgage,
When you lail lick'd her feet? The truth now. Hai 40
Did you fmell fiiee zvas going ? Put downe that. And not,
Not to returned You are filent, good. And, when
Leap'd you on Statute? As fhe went forth? Confent.
There was Confent, as ihee was going forth.
'Twould haue beene fitter at her comming home, 45
But you knew that fhe would not? To your Tower,
He commits him againe.
You are cunning, are you? I will meet your craft.
Blocke, fhew your face, leaue your careiles, tell me,
Calls forth Blocke, and examines him.
And tell me truly, what affronts do you know-
Were done Pecunia? that fhe left my houfe? 5°
29 waste f 34 [Exit Por. G 37 interrogatory 1692,
1716, W 42 silent? 1692, 1716, W silent : g
Sc. iv ;
The Staple of Nevves
None, fay you fo? not that you know? or will know ?
I feare me, I fhall find you an obftinate Curre.
Why, did your fellow Lollard cry this morning?
'Caufe Broker kickt him? why did Broker kicke him?
Becaufe he pi ft again ft my Ladies Gownel 55
Why, that was no affront ? no ? no diflaft ?
You knew o'none. Yo'are a diifembling Tyke,
Commits him.
To your hole, againe, your Blocke-houfe. Lollard, arife,
Lollard is call'd again.
Where did you lift your legge vp, laít ? 'gainíl what ?
Are you itruck Dümmerer now ? and whine for mercy ? 60
Whofe Kirtle was't, you gnaw'd too ? Miitreife Bands? [72]
And Waxe's stockings? who did Blocke befcumber
Statutes white fuite? wi' the parchment lace there?
And Brokers Sattin düblet? all will out.
They had offence, offence enough to quit mee. 65
Appeare Block, fough, 'tis manifeft. He fhewes it,
Blocke is fumon'd the fécond time.
Should he for-fweare't, make all the Affadauits,
Againft it, that he could afore the Bench,
And twenty furies ; hee would be conuinc'd.
He beares an ayre about him, doth confeffe it ! 70
To prifon againe, clofe prifon. Not you Lollard,
Hee is remanded-
Lollard has the Liberty of the houfe.
You may enioy the liberty o'the houfe,
And yet there is a quirke come in my head,
For which I muft commit you too, and clofe,
Doe not repine, it will be better for you. 75
57 none? 1716, W, G You're W You are G 58 (SN.)
Lollard . . .] Om. G 62 Who? did W Who? Did G
63 with G 66 SN.] Om. G 70 Enter Cymbal, . . . and
Madrigal behind. G 71 (SN.) Hee] Block W 71, 72 SN.]
Om. G
114
The Staple of Nevves [Act t
Act. V. Scene. II.
Enter the Ieerers.
Cymbal. Fitton. Shvnfield. Alma-
nach. Madrigal. Peny-boy. Sen.
Lickfinger.
THis is enough to make the dogs mad too,
Let's in vpon him. P. Se. How now? what's the
matter ?
Come you to force the prifoners ? make a refcue ?
Fit. We come to baile your dogs. P. Se, They are not
baileable,
They itand committed without baile, or mainprif e, 5
Your baile cannot be taken. Shv. Then the truth is,
We come to vex you. Alm. leere you. Mad. Bate you
rather.
Cym. A bated vferer will be good fleih.
Fit. And tender, we are told. P. Se. Who is the
Butcher,
Amongit you, that is come to cut my throat ? 10
Shv. You would dye a calues death faine: but 'tis an
Oxes,
Is meant you. Fit. To be fairely knock'd o'the head.
Shv. With a good leere or two. P. Se. And from
your iawbone,
Don Afsinigof Cym. Shunfield, a leere, you haue it.
Shv. I doe confeife a waihing blow? but Snarle, 15
You that might play the third dogge, for your teeth,
You ha' no money now? Fit. No, nor no Mortgage.
Alm. Nor Band. Mad. Nor Statute. Cym. No, nor
blufliet Wax.
Act. V. . . . Lickfinger.] Om. G (see var. line 70 above.)
Scene. II.] Scene V. 1692, 1716, W 2 [ They come forward. G
7 Bate] Bait 1716, W. G 8 baited f 11 calf's W, G
12 o'] G 15 swashing W, G but, G
Sc. v] The Staple of Nevves 115
P. Se. Nor you no Office, as I take it. S h v. Cymbal,
A mighty leere. Fit. Pox o'thefe true ieaíts, I fay. 20
Mad. He will turne the better ieerer. Alm. Let's vpon
him, [73]
And if we cannot ieere him downe in wit,
Mad. Let's do't in noyfe. Shv. Content. Mad. Charge,
man o'warre.
Alm. Lay him, abord. Shv. We'll gi' him a broad
fide, firft.
Fit. Wher's your venifon, now? Cym. Your red-
Deer-pyts ? 25
Shv. Wi' your bak'd Turkyesf Alm. and your Part¬
ridges ?
Mad. Your Phefjants, & fat Swans ? P. Se. Like you,
turn'd Geefe.
Mad. But fuch as will not keepe your Capitol ?
Shv. You were wont to ha'your Breams— Alm. And
Trout s fent in ?
Cym. Fat Carps, and Salmons? Fit. I, and now, and
then, 30
An Embleme, o'your felfe, an o're-growne Pyke ?
P. Se. You are a lack, Sir. Fit. You ha' made a fhift
To fwallow twenty fuch poore lacks ere now.
Alm. If he ihould come to feed vpon poort-Iohn ?
Mad. Or turne pure Iack-a-Lent after all this? 35
Fit. Tut, he'll liue like a Graf-hopper— Mad. On
dew.
Shv. Or like a Beare, with licking his owne clawes.
Cym. I, If his dogs were away. Alm. He'll eat them,
firft,
While they are fat. Fit. Faith, and when they are gone,
Here's nothing to be feene beyond. Cym. Except 40
His kindred, Spiders, natiues o'the foyle.
20 o'] G 21 He'll W, G 24 Lay him W, G give
W, G 25 where is W, G 26 with G 28 Capitol ?]
Period f 31 of G 35 pure] poor W 36 he will G
The Staple of Nevves [Act v
Alm. Duft, he will ha' enough here, to breed fleas.
Mad. But, by that time, he'll ha' no blood to reare 'hem.
Shv. He will be as thin as a lanterne, we fhall fee thorow
him,
Alm. And his gut colon, tell his Inteftina— 45
P. Se. Rogues, Raí calls ( *baw waw)
*His dogges barke.
Fit. He calls his dogs to his ayd.
Alm. O ! they but rife at mention of his tripes.
Cym. Let them alone, they doe it not for him.
Mad. They barke, je defenciendo. Shv. Or for cui¬
tóme,
As commonly currres doe, one for another. 50
Lic. Arme, arme you, Gentlemen Ieerers, th'old Canter
Is comming in vpon you, with his forces,
The Gentleman, that was the Canter. Shv. Hence.
Fit. Away. Cym. What is he? Alm. ftay not to
ask queftions.
Fit. Hee's a flame. Shv. A fornace. Alm. A con-
fumption, 55
Kills where hee goes.
They all run away.
Lie. See! the whole Couy is fcatter'd,
'Ware, 'ware the Hawk es. I loue to fee him flye.
44 lanthorn W, G through G 45 colon f 46 Rogues !
Rascals ! [ The dogs bark. [Bow, wow !] G 50 do 1692, 1716, W
51 Enter Lickfinger. G 55 He is W, G furnace f
56 [Cym. Fit. Mad. Aim. and Shun, run off. G 57 him] 'em W
them G
Sc. vi]
The Staple of Nevves
Act. V. Scene. VI. [74]
Peny-boy, Ca. Peny-boy. Se. Peni-boy.
Iv. Pecvnia. Traîne.
Y Ou fee by this amazement, and diilraôtion,
What your companions were, a poore, affrighted,
And guilty race of men, that dare to ftand
No breath of truth: but confcious to themfelues
Of their no-wit, or honeity, ranne routed 5
At euery Pannicke terror themfelues bred.
Where elfe, as confident as founding braffe,
Their tinckling Captaine, Cymbal, and the reft,
Dare put on any vifor, to deride
The wretched : or with buff on licence, ieaft 10
At whatfoe'r is ferious, if not facred.
P. Se. Who's this? my brother! and reftor'd to life!
Peny-boy Se. acknowledgeth his elder brother.
P. Ca. Yes, and fent hither to reftore your wits :
If your ihort madneffe, be not more then anger,
Conceiued for your loffe! which I returne you. 15
See here, your Mortgage, Statute, Band, and Waxe,
Without your Broker, come to abide with you :
And vindicate the Prodi gall, from ftealing
Away the Lady. Nay, Pecunia her felfe,
Is come to free him fairely, and difcharge 20
All ties, but thofe of Loue, vnto her perfon,
To vie her like a friend, not like a flaue,
Or like an I doll. Superftition
Doth violate the Deity it worihips :
No leffe then fcorne doth. And beleeue it, brother 25
Act. V. Scene. VI.] Om. G Enter Pennyboy Canter, Penny-
boy/««. Pecunia, Statute, Band, Wax , and Mortgage. G
10 buffoon f 12 SN.] Om. G 17 you, f
118 The Staple of Nevves [Act v
The vfe of things is all, and not the Store ;
Surfet, and fulneiïe, haue kill'd more then famine.
The Sparrow, with his little plumage, flyes,
While the proud Peacocke, ouer-charg'd with pennes,
Is faine to fweepe the ground, with his growne traine, 30
And load of feathers. P. Se. Wife, and honour'd brother!
None but a Brother, and fent from the dead,
As you are to me, could haue altered me :
I thanke my Deftiny, that is fo gracious.
Are there no paines, no Penalties decreed 35
Prom whence you come, to vs that (mother money, [75 J
In cheils, and ftrangle her in bagges. P. Ca. O, mighty,
Intolerable fines, and mul£ls impo'sd !
(Of which I come to warne you) forfeitures
Of whole eftates, if they be knowne, and taken/ 40
P. Se. I thanke you Brother for the light you haue giuen
mee,
I will preuent 'hem all. Firlt free my dogges,
Left what I ha' done to them (and againit Law)
Be a Premuniri, for by Magna Charta
They could not be committed, as clofe prifoners, 45
My learned Counfell tells me here, my Cooke.
And yet he ihew'd me, the way, firít. Lie. Who did ? I ?
I trench the liberty o'the fubieêts ? P. Ca. Peace,
Picklocke, your Ghefl, that Stentor, hath infected you,
Whom I haue fafe enough in a wooden collar. 50
P. Se. Next, I reitore thefe feruants to their Ladie,
With freedome, heart of cheare, and countenance ;
It is their yeere, and day of Iubilee.
Tra. We thanke you, Sir.
Her Traine thanks him.
P. Se. And laitly, to my Nephew,
I giue my houfe, goods, lands, all but my vices, 55
And thofe I goe to cleanfe ; killing this Lady
Whom I doe giue him too, and ioyne their hands.
49 Stentor] Senator 1716
Sc. vi] The Staple of Nevves 119
P. Ca. If the Spectators will ioyne theirs, wee thanke
'hem.
P. Iv. And wiih they may, as I, enioy Pecunia.
Pec. And fo Pecunia her felfe doth wiih, 60
That ihee may llill be ayde vnto their vies,
Not flaue vnto their pleafures, or a Tyrant
Oner their faire defires ; but teach them all
The golden meane : the Prodigall how to liue,
The / or did, and the couetous, how to dye, 65
That with found mind ; this fafe frugality.
THE END.
58 'em G 63 Oner] Over f 66 [Exeunt. G THE
END.] Om. W, G
120 The Staple of Nevves
The Epilogue.
T Hus haue you feene the Makers double fcope,
To profit, and delight; wherein our hope
Is, though the clout we doe not alwaies hit,
It will not be imputed to his wit:
A Tree Jo tri'd, and bent, as 'twill not ft art.
Nor doth he often cracke a firing of Art,
Though there may other accidents as ftrange
Happen, the weather of your lookes may change,
Or fome high wind of mii-conceit arife,
To caufe an alteration in our Sky es;
If fo, we'are forry that haue fo mif-fpent
Our Time and Tackle, yet he'is confident,
And vow's the next faire day, he'll haue vs fhoot
The fame match o're for him, if you'll come to't.
11 w'are 1692, 1716 12 he's f
NOTES
In general, where the notes of preceding editions are adequate,
I have preserved them in their exact words; where not, I have
omitted or abridged, according to value. Of the more strictly lexical
notes, nearly all have gone into the Glossary. Notes signed C. are
from Cunningham, G., from Gilford, W., from Whalley, CD., from
the Century Dictionary, LPP., from Wheatley and Cunningham's
London Past and Present, and NED., from the New English Dic¬
tionary. References to this play are by act, scene, and line of this
text; references to other plays of Jonson's are by act and scene,
Gilford's division. GC. refers to Cunningham's re-edition of
Gilford, 1875. For other references, see Bibliography.
TITLE-PAGE
1625. Fleay's discussion of the date in his History of the Stage
(p. 384) shows that The Staple of Nezves was acted in February
1626, New Style (cf. Introd., p. 18).
His Maiesties Servants. This company of actors was licensed in
1586 as Leicester's Company, and known as such till 1589. It was
known 1589-94 as Strange's ; 1594 as Derby's; 1594-6 as Chamber¬
lain's; 1596-7 as Hunsdon's; and 1597-1603 as Chamberlain's. In
1603 King James took it under his patronage, and henceforth, till
the closing of the theatres in 1642, it was known as the King's
Company, and popularly spoken of as the King's Men. Shakes¬
peare was a member of this company, and wrote all his plays for
it. He was the only great dramatist of the period who wrote for
but one company. Jonson, on the other hand, was connected with
three leading companies. He began in 1597 by writing for the
Admiral's Men (afterwards Prince Henry's Men), and wrote for
them again in 1602. For the company of boys known as Chapel
1592-1603, Queens Revels 1603-13, Lady Elisabeth's 1613-25, and
Queen Henrietta's 1625-42, he wrote in 1598, 1600-1, 1605, 1609,
1614, 1633. For the King's Majesties Servants, or King's Men, he
wrote 1598-9, 1603-5, 1610-11, 1617-32. Of his plays, Sejanus (1603),
Volpone (1605), Alchemist (1610), Catiline (1611), Devil is an Ass
(1616), Staple of News (1626), New Inn (1629), and Magnetic Lady
(1632) were acted by this company (cf. title-pages in the Jonson
folios, 1616 and 1631-41, and Fleay's Biog. Chron. 1. 356—87 ;
2. 403-4)-
122
The Staple of News
[T. P.
Aut prodesse volunt, etc. In his translation of the Ars Poética
Jonson renders thus :
Poets would either profit or delight;
Or mixing sweet and fit, teach life the right.
Cf. also Silent Woman, Prologue.
I. B. Fleay identifies this person with J. Benson, wh~ later
0635-40) became a publisher; and probably he is right. During
this same year (1631) I. B. printed also Bartholomew Fair and
The Devil is an Ass (see Jonson's letter to the Earl of Newcastle,
Introd., p. 14). In 1640 I. Benson published a small volume con¬
taining Jonson's mask, The Metamorphosed Gipsies, and a number
of short poems 'never before printed.' That same year John
Benson published in i2mo Jonson's translation of Horace's Art of
Poetry, and in 4t0 The Execration against Vulcan with Divers
Epigrams, etc., Never Published before (cf. Pub. of the Grolier
Club, N. Y. 1893, pp. 130, 132). No doubt I. B., I. Benson, and
John Benson are all one.
Robert Allot. Not the Robert Allot who in 1600 edited the poetic
miscellany, England's Parnassus. The Stationers' Register (3. 686,
Arb.) says he 'took up freedom' (i. e. from apprenticeship) Nov. 7,
1625. He published many books between 1626 and 1635 (cf. Hazlitt,
Handbook), among them the second impression, or second folio,
of Shakespeare's works (1632). For Jonson he published, besides
our play, Bartholomew Fair and Devil is an Ass, all in 1631. Under
date of Dec. 30, 1635, 'Mistris Allott' entered a book on the
Stationers' Register 'for her copie' (4. 353), and the inference is
that her husband was dead. Under date of July 1, 1637, she assigned
her interest in a long list of 'copies', among them our play, 'which
were Master Roberte Allotts deceased' {ib. 361-2).
the Beare. In the Shakespeare folio of 1632 Allot's sign reads
'the Blacke Beare.'
Pauls Church-yard. For a long time before the old Cathedral
was destroyed by fire in 1666, St. Paul's Churchyard was mostly
given up to stationers, each known by his sign. Several of Shakes¬
peare's plays, among them The Merchant of Venice and King Lear,
were first put on sale there.
THE PERSONS OF THE PLAY
In accordance with his practice in all of his later comedies,
Jonson here gives the persons of the play names descriptive either
of their characters or their callings (cf. Glossary).
5. Fitton. Cf. Cynthia's Revels 1. 1 : 'He doth feed you with
fittons, figments, and leasings.' There Gifford says : 'Thus old
Ind.]
Notes
123
Gascoigne, "to tell a fittone in your landlord's eares." And North,
in his Translation of Plutarch, "In many other places he commonly
used to fit ton, and to write devices of his own." It seems synony¬
mous with feign or fabricate.' Cf. Glossary.
7. Shvn-Field. So named partly because he is a seaman, but
mainly because he is a coward (cf. 2. 4. 15; 4. 4. 150).
10. Pyed-Mantle. Cf. note on 2. 2. 41.
14. Infanta of the Mynes. For a similar use of Infanta cf.
Devil is an Ass 4. 1 : 'The very infanta of the giants.'
20. Lick-Finger. Cf. Romeo and Juliet, ed. Furness, 4. 2. 6:
'Sec. Serv. Marry, Sir, 'tis an ill cook that cannot lick his own
fingers : therefore he that cannot lick his fingers goes not with me.'
Furness quotes Steevens : 'This adage is in Puttenham's Arte of
English Poesie, 1589, p. 157:
As the old cocke crowes so doeth the chick:
A bad cooke that cannot his own fingers lick.'
It is also in Heywood's Proverbs, ed. 1874, p. 151.
Gilford's variant: 'Buz, Ambler, grooms.' Though Buz and
Ambler are mentioned several times in the play, they nowhere appear
in person, and hence do not belong in the dramatis personae.
Moreover, they are emissaries, not grooms; cf. 1. 6. 52-3: 'two
Groomes Pawne, and his fellow.'
THE INDUCTION
i. For your owne sake, not ours. As Gifford points out, we
should read 'his' instead of ours (cf. Prologue for the Stage, line 1).
Gifford has the Gossips enter after line 1, because they interrupt
the Prologue. Cf. Dekker, Gull's Hornbook, chap. 6: 'Present not
yourself on the stage, especially at a new play, until the quaking
Prologue hath by rubbing got colour into his cheeks, and is ready
to give the trumpets their cue that he is upon point to enter; for
then it is time, as though you were one of the properties, or that
you dropt out of the hangings, to creep from behind the arras,
with your tripos or three-footed stool in one hand, and a teston
[tester = sixpence] mounted between a forefinger and a thumb in
the other; for if you should bestow your person upon the vulgar,
when the belly of the house is but half full, your apparel is quite
eaten up, the fashion lost, and the proportion of your body in
more danger to be devoured than f it were served up in the Counter
amongst the poultry.' Under Mirth's bold leadership, the gossips
emulate the practice of the gallants.
6. helpe vs to some stooles. Cf. Barth. Fair 5. 3: 'Have
you none of your pretty impudent boys now, to bring stools, fill
124
The Staple of Nezvs
!" i nX>.
tobacco, fetch ale.' Cf. Dekker, Gull's Hornbook, chap. 6 : 'By sitting
on the stage, you may, with small cost, purchase the dear acquaint¬
ance of the boys; have a good stool for sixpence.' Cf. also Induc¬
tion of Cynthia's Revels: 'What upon the stage too?' etc.
7. Where? o'the Stage, Ladies? 'It does not necessarily follow
from this that ladies were ordinarily provided with seats upon the
stage, as gentlemen were'(C.). Quite the contrary follows. Mirth's
first words (line 1) and the Prologue's question here both suggest
that the Gossips are doing a somewhat unusual and daring thing.
Tattle is ashamed to be seen there, and shrinks behind her mask.
Ward says (Hist. Eng. Dram. Lit. 1. 477) : 'No respectable woman
might appear at a playhouse except with her face concealed under
a mask,—a circumstance which, were it not for later experience,
would help to account in return for the license that pervades so
large a proportion of the Elisabethan drama. Nor will it be for¬
gotten that women's parts were invariably acted by boys.' Strutt
says (Antiq. 3. 105) : 'The masks in general covered only part of
the face, reaching down to the bottom of the nose, so that the
mouth and chin might be seen, as also part of the forehead.' Cf.
First Intermean, line 51.
11. Mirth, . . . Christmas. At this time, the English were
remarkable for their manner of celebrating Christmas. On Christ¬
mas Eve began a festivity, varied with sports and pastimes, which
lasted until Twelfth Day—i. e. January 6. In his Survey (p. 37)
Stow says : 'In the feast of Christmas, there was in the Xing' s house,
wheresoever he lodged, a Lord of Misrule, or Master of Merry
Disports, and the like had ye in the house of every nobleman of
honour or good worship.' Out of the freedom granted this transient
dignitary and his satellites came scandalous abuses, calling forth
denunciations from Prynne and other Puritans.
12. Shrouetide. Shrove Tuesday, or the day before the begin¬
ning of Lent, was formerly a day of feasting and merry-making.
The Book of Days says : 'The merriment began the day before, on
Collop Monday, so-called from the practice of eating collops of
salted meat and eggs on that day. When Shrove Tuesday dawned,
the bells were set ringing, and everybody abandoned himself to
amusement and good humour. All through the day there was a
preparing and devouring of pancakes. The pancake and Shrove
Tuesday are inextricably associated in the popular mind and in the
old literature.' Cf. also Taylor the Water-Poet, Works, 1630,
p. 114-5, and Halliwell, Diet.
12-13. It's merry when Gossips meet. Cf. Bailey, Diet. (1721) :
'A gossiping, a merry meeting of Gossips at a woman's lying-in.'
Apparently, the merry-making of gossips passed into a proverb,
Ind.]
Notes
125
though I have not found it in the proverb-books: 'Tis Merry when
Gossips Meet is the title of a light comedy by Samuel Rowlands,
published 1602. 'They say it is merry when gossips do meet' is
the first line of a song (GC. 9. 336) in an undated interlude of
Jonson's, written, Gifford thinks, for the christening of a son of
the Earl of Newcastle. On gossip, cf. note on Midsummer
N. D., ed. Furness, 2. 1.
Probably the Gossips are not intended as a satire upon the female
element in the audience—that was never more than a small fraction;
but rather to symbolize the shallow and 'ridiculous' (cf. To the
Readers) part of the audience, of either sex, and especially that
part of it—probably always men—which sat on the stage.
15. Noblemen . . . graue Wits. Also seated on the stage.
Cf. Dekker, Gull's Hornbook, chap. 6: 'Let our gallant, having paid
it [the price of admission], presently advance himself up to the
throne of the stage; I mean not into the lords room, [the stage-
box, or first seat at the theatre] which Is now but the stage's
suburbs; . . . But on the very rushes where the comedy is to
dance, yea, and under the state of Cambyses himself, must our
feathered estrich, like a piece of ordnance, be planted valiantly,
because impudently, beating down the mews and hisses of the
opposed rascality.' For the dramatist's relations with that part of
his audience which sat on the stage, cf. the whole of chapter 6 in
the Gull's Hornbook, and the induction of Cynthia's Revels.
25. find. Cf. the legal phrase find guilty; and see Glossary.
30. expect . . . understand. Cf. Neptune's Triumph (GC.
8. 24) :
'Poet. As, how, sir?
Cook. Expect. I am by my place¿ to know the palates of the
guests; so you are to know the palates of the times; . . .
Poet. That were a heavy and hard task, to satisfy Expecta¬
tion, who is so severe an exactress of duties; ever a tyrannous
mistress, and most times a pfessing enemy.
Cook. She is a powerful great lady, sir, at all times, and must
be satisfied; so must her sister, Madam Curiosity, who hath as
dainty a palate as she ; and these will expect.
Poet. But what if they expect more than they understand?'
Cf. Time Vindicated (GC. 8. 3).
36. Cry you mercy, etc. 'This is meant as a satire on a line in
Shakspeare's Julius Caesar} though it nowhere occurs as it is here
represented' (W.).
'The commentators are right at last. Here is evidently an allusion
to Shakspeare, and, for once, "old Ben speaks out."
i 20
The Staple of News
[Ind.
'The attacks on Jonson for this quotation, which are multiplied
beyond credibility, are founded on two charges—first, that he has
falsified the passage, and secondly, that he was actuated by malignity
in adverting to it at all. I cannot believe that the passage is "quoted
(as Steevens says) unfaithfully." It is sufficient to look at it in
the printed copy to be convinced that it never came, in this form,
from the pen of Shakspeare. One of the conspirators, Metellus
Cimber by name, kneels at the feet of Caesar, with this short address :
"Metellus Cimber throws before thy seat
An humble heart."—
And what is Caesar's reply?
"Know Caesar doth not wrong, nor without cause
Will he be satisfied."
How satisfied, and of what? Here is no congruity, and the poetry
is as mean as the sense. In Jonson it stands thus :
"Met. Caesar, thou dost me wrong.
Caes. Caesar did never wrong but with just cause."
Here is at least a reference to something. The fact seems to be
that this verse, which closely borders upon absurdity without being
absolutely absurd, escaped the poet in the heat of composition,
and being unluckily one of those quaint slips which are readily
remembered, became a jocular and familiar phrase for reproving,
as here, the perverse and unreasonable expectations of the male
or female gossips of the day.
'To suppose, with Steevens and Malone, that Jonson derived all
his knowledge of Shakspeare from his printed works, is not a little
ridiculous : those gentlemen choose to forget that he passed his
life among playhouses and players, and that he must have frequently
seen Julius Caesar on the stage. There he undoubtedly heard the
expression which he has quoted. He tells us himself that, till he
was past the age of forty, he could repeat everything that he had
written. His memory therefore was most retentive, and as his
veracity was never called in question but by the duumvirate just
mentioned, I cannot byt believe that he has faithfully given the
words as they were uttered . . . Julius Caesar was printed in
1623 ; but it does not necessarily follow from this that Jonson
consulted the players' copy. He had no occasion to look into it for
what he already knew ; and if he had opened it at all, the probability
is that he would have paid no attention to their botchery (for
theirs I am persuaded it was), when the genuine words were already
so familiar to him. He wrote and spoke at a time when he might
easily have been put to shame if his quotation had been unfaith¬
ful' (G.).
Ind.]
Notes
127
Professor Felix E. Schelling (ed. of Jonson's Timber, 1892, p.
107), after quoting Gífford's words, The fact seems . . . famil¬
iar phrase,' says: 'Craik, too (The English of Shakespeare, p. 273),
considers Jonson's criticism as "good evidence that the passage
did not originally stand as we have it." On the other hand, Mr.
W. Aldis Wright remarks the following (J. G, Clarendon Press
Series, pp. 152-153) : "I am not convinced that any change is neces¬
sary. Caesar claims infallibility in his judgments and a firmness
of temper in resisting appeals to his vanity. Metellus, bending low
before him, begins a flattering speech. Caesar, knowing that his
object was to obtain a reversal of the decree of banishment -which
had been pronounced against his brother, abruptly interrupts him.
To appeal against the decree implied that the decree was unjust;
to demand his brother's recall without assigning a cause was to
impute to Caesar that fickleness of purpose which he disdains in
such strong terms. If it had not been for Ben Jonson's story, no
one would have suspected any corruption in this passage. The
question is wrhether his authority is sufficient to warrant a change
. . . If the lines stood as Jonson quotes them, we must suppose
one of two things,—either that in consequence of the ridicule they
excited, Shakespeare himself altered them, or that they were altered
by the players who edited the first folio, as Gifford believed. The
former supposition is not probable, because if Jonson's remarks are
hypercritical, and the lines yield a tolerable sense, Shakespeare would
have been aware of this as well as any of his commentators, and
is not likely to have made a change which is confessedly unnecessary
. . . If the players introduced the alteration, it is not easy to
see why they should have left out the words which Jonson puts
into the mouth of Metellus, "Caesar, thou dost me wrong," nor
why they should have written, "Know, Caesar doth not wrong,"
instead of "Caesar did never wrong." . . . On the whole, I
am disposed to believe that Ben Jonson loved his jest better than
his friend, and repeated a distorted version of the passage without
troubling himself about its accuracy, because it afforded him an
opportunity of giving a hit at Shakespeare." There is one word to
add to this view of the question. I should prefer a more charitable
explanation of Ben Jonson's remark, and concur in the opinion of
Hudson, White, and Collier, that Jonson "was speaking only from
memory, which, as he himself says, was "shaken with age now"
(above 18 is), and so misquoted Shakespeare." In support of the
text of the folio many other commentaries might be cited. It is
sufficient to note here Mr. J. O. Halliwell-Phillips's observation:
"If wrong be taken in the sense of injury or harm, as Shakespeare
sometimes uses it, there is no absurdity in this line." Miss Lucy
128
The Staple of Nezvs
[Ind.
Toulmin Smith finally caps the question by referring Shakespeare's
passage to the well-known legal maxim, "The king can do no
wrong." It may be added that Mr. Fleay (Shakespeare's Manual,
p. 38) considers our present form of Julius Caesar a recension of
Jonson.'
Sidney Lee (The Life of William Shakespeare, p. 176) says:
'The most scornful criticism that Jonson is known to have passed
on any composition by Shakespeare was aimed at a passage in Julius
Caesar, and as Jonson's attack is barely justifiable on literary
grounds, it is fair to assume that the play was distasteful to him on
other considerations. "Many times," Jonson wrote of Shakespeare
in his Timber, "hee fell into those things [which] could not escape
laughter: As when hee said in the person of Caesar, one speaking
to him [i. e. Caesar] ; Caesar thou dost me wrong. Hee [i. e.
Caesar] replyed : Caesar did never wrong, but with just cause :
and such like which were ridiculous." Jonson derisively quoted
the same passage in the induction to The Staple of News (1625) :
"Cry you mercy, you Mid not wrong but with just cause." Possibly
the words that were ascribed by Jonson to Shakespeare's character
of Caesar appeared in the original version of the play, but, owing
perhaps to Jonson's captious criticism, they do not figure in the
Folio version, the sole version that has reached us. The only words
that correspond with Jonson's quotation are Caesar's remark:
Know, Caesar doth not wrong, nor without cause
Will he be satisfied.
(III. i. 47-8). The rhythm and sense seem to require the reinsertion
after the word "wrong" of the phrase "but with just cause", which
Jonson needlessly reprobated. Leonard Digges (1588-1635), one of
Shakespeare's admiring critics, emphasises the superior popularity
of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar in the theatre to Ben Jonson's
Roman play of Catiline, in his eulogistic lines on Shakespeare (pub¬
lished after Digges's death in the 1640 edition of Shakespeare's
Poems) :
So have I seen when Caesar would appear,
And on the stage at half-sword parley were
Brutus and Cassius—oh, how the audience
Were ravish'd; with what wonder they went thence
When some new day they would not brook a line
Of tedious, though well laboured, Catiline.'
40. whose clothes are best penn'd. Feathered. Stubbes in
1585 (Anat. of Abuses, p. 89) railed at the wearing of feathers,
1 Apparently the copy of the Folio from which Mr. Lee took down this
passage is different from that from which I got my text. I have seen one
other copy, that of Dr. J. M. Berdan of New Haven, and it agrees with that
in the Yale Library.
Ind.] Notes 129
and said that the custom was 'so aduanced' in England 'that every
child hath them in his hat or cap: many get good liuing by dying
and selling of them, and not a few prove themselues more than fooles
in wearyng of them.' Strutt says (Antiq. 3. 84) that the feather was
one of the chief external marks of the noble or 'gentleman of dis¬
tinction.' The allusion here seems to show that feathers were some¬
times attached to the clothes as well as to the covering of the head.
The costumes of the stage in those days made little or no
pretense at historical accuracy, but were like those of everyday men
and women, and reflected the changes of the world of fashion. I
incline to believe that Jonson includes in the allusion both the
gallants sitting on the stage and the actors. Gossip Censure is
indifferent to the play, provided she sees gallant costumes.
46. and, hauing got the tricke on't. 'There can be no doubt but
this is particular satire, though it is not easy to say at whom it
points' (W.).
monstrous. A Latinism (L. monstruum a prodigy). It harks
• . i
back to prodigiously in the preceding line. Censure is thinking of
the grotesque acting of the figures in the puppet-shows, or motions
(cf. note on 4. 2. 137).
52. fire-workes. Then a popular amusement (cf. Strutt, Sports
and Pastimes, p. 375). The Gossips may well start If fireworks
were introduced into plays, no doubt there were sometimes unhappy
results for those sitting on the stage.
57. Man-Midwife. 'Accoucheurs' were scarcely known in France
at this time. The profession found an obstacle in popular sentiment
and gained ground but slowly. At the beginning of the 18th
century Hequet wrote a work entitled De l'Indecence aux Hommes
d'accoucher les Femmes. Probably in England also, at the date
of this play, the man-midwife was a recent and an unpopular innova¬
tion; cf. the apologetic speech in 1. 5. 77-9. Nor does it appear
that he ever flourished there. In her autobiography, Mrs. Laetitia
Pilkington (1712-1750) says of her father, a Dublin physician:
"And there being but one man-midwife in the kingdom, my father
made himself master of that useful art, and practised it with great
Success, Reputation, and Humanity' (quoted in Notes and Queries,
5th S., 5. 99). Cf. also Notes and Queries, 2d S., 3. 156.
62. Yonder . . . Tiring-house. Cf. Cynthia's Revels, Induc¬
tion :
'3 Child. Most willingly, my good wag; but I would speak with
your author, where is he?
2 Child. Not this way, I assure you, sir; we are not so officiously
befriended by him, as to have his presence in the tiring-house, to
prompt us aloud, stamp at the book-holder, swear for our properties,
i3°
The Staple of News
[Ind.
curse the poor tireman, rail the music out of tune, and sweat for
every venial trespass we commit, as some author would, if he had
such fine enghles as we. Well, 'tis but our hard fortune!'
64. 'hem. See Glossary.
spurges. Whalley reads 'purges,' and Gifford follows him.
Cunningham says: 'The change is injurious in every way.' Jonson
has the word again, vol. 7, p. 117: "The spurging of a dead-man's
eyes," where the spelling is not interfered with.' It is not a question
of a change of spelling, however, but of substituting an entirely
different word. Halliwell (Diet.) quotes from Palsgrave:
'I spurge
T dense as wyne or ale dothe in the vessel.'
66-7. a good Shrouing dish ( . . . taken up for a seruice of
state somewhere, an't were knowne). Proba&ly in a good Shrov-
ing dish Mirth's primary meaning is a generous dish of hot food,
perhaps of pancakes, prepared for a Shrovetide feast. Possibly,
however, in the phrase a service of state, she has in mind the vessel
holding the food, and not the food itself.
In taken up for a service of state somewhere, an't were knowne,
I think we have an allusion to the system of extortion practiced by
James I. and Charles I. James had said that though the law forbade
the crown to demand forced gifts, it did not forbid it to ask for
voluntary loans or benevolences. As soon as he came to the throne,
Charles had recourse to the same arbitrary method. The response
was so meagre that in 1627 Charles passed from evasion into open
defiance of the law, and levied a forced loan. Green says (Hist.
3. 130-1) : 'Commissioners were named to assess the amount which
every landowner was bound to lend, and to examine on oath all
who refused. Poor men who refused to lend were pressed into
the army or navy. Stubborn tradesmen were flung into prison.'
In such a state of affairs, many persons, no doubt, as far as they
could, concealed all signs of wealth; hence the significance of the
words an't were knowne. Taken up means borrowed. Possibly
where he could not extort money, Charles sometimes 'took up'
plate. If we take Shroving dish, to mean not plate, nor a piece of
pottery, but a dish of food, then the allusion, though of course not
to be construed literally, is all the more suggestive of the shifts
to which royalty could stoop. Cf. also 5. 6. 40.
68. He doth sit . . . with one of his heads beaten out.
For this neuter use of his, see Glossary, But may not the form
of the pronoun here be due to a kind of attraction in He ?
73-4. dead Sacke. Stale sack would indeed have been a vexation
to Jonson, who preferred Canary sack. Cf. Epigram 101 :
A pure cup of rich Canary wine,
Which is the Mermaid's now, but shall be mine.
Prol. St.]
Notes
THE PROLOGUE FOR THE STAGE
4. showes. Jonson himself, by his masks, had for years been
helping to lead the public taste away from substance and acting to
the spectacular side of stage-representation.
7-12. Cf. Dekker, Gull's Hornbook, chap. 6: 'By sitting on the
stage, if you be a knight, you may happily get you a mistress; if a
mere Fleet-street gentleman, a wife/
10-12. and from her to walke With your discourse, etc. From
means beginning zuith, and with means in, in the course of. At
first the discourse (conversation) is personal : the female herself is
the flattered subject of it; but from her, and from the whole present
scene, it soon strays off into the field of society gossip.
14. Coaches in Hide-parke. Coaches, which according to Stow,
were introduced into England by Elizabeth's 'Dutch' coachman
in 1564, and 'the excessive use' of which had, on account of the
Queen's displeasure, been restrained by act of Parliament soon after
1590, had come to be used so commonly among the middle class
that, as Taylor the Water-Poet assures us, in 1623 they were kept
for hire. Knight (London 1. 27) quotes an old pamphlet, Coach and
Sedan, as saying that in 1636 'the coaches in London, the suburbs,
and within four miles compass without, are reckoned to the number
of six thousand and odd.' An old letter-writer, speaking of the ladies
appointed to meet the queen at Dover in May 1625, says (Court
and Times of Charles the First) : All their coaches [were] fur¬
nished with six horses, which comes altogether now in fashion;
a vanity of excessive charge, and of little use.' Taylor thought pride
was at the bottom of the passion for riding in coaches in his day,
and no doubt pride took many a coach to Hyde Park in 1625;
but flirting and intrigue also took them there. Cf. News from the
New World (GC. 8. 343) : 'Have they any places of meeting with
their coaches and taking the fresh open air, and then covert when
they please, as in our Hyde-park or so?
2 Her. Above all the Hyde Parks in Christendom, far more
hiding and private; they do all in clouds there; they walk in the
clouds, they sit in the clouds, they lie in the clouds, they ride and
tumble in the clouds, their very coaches are clouds.'
This kind of thing was made easier by the feminine fashion of
wearing masks; see note 011 Induction, line 7. Cf. also Stubbes,
Anat. of Abuses, p. 76.
15-16. Medleyes . . . Phoenix. 'Medley's was an ordinary
or eating-house . . The Phoenix was situated somewhere near
the playhouse of that name in Drury-lane' (G,). LP P. has nothing
on these two houses. For Dunstan's, see note on the Apollo Room,
2. 5. 127.
I32
The Staple of News
[Act i
26. Acme. As Gifford surmises, 'mature age.' Until Jonson here
wrote it as English, the word had always been written in Greek
characters (cf. NED.).
29-30. If that not like you, etc. If that does not please you.
'The conclusion of this prologue cannot be praised for its modesty;
but the audience heard a language not much unlike it from others.
Ben alludes to his long absence from the stage, (nine years,)
during which he fears not to affirm that, whatever change (for the
worse) may have taken place in them, he has suffered no deteriora¬
tion. He is not much out in the present case; but the wolves were
imperceptibly advancing upon Mocris' (G.).
THE PROLOGUE FOR THE COURT
For declarations similar to those of this prologue, cf. News from
the New World (GC. 8. 345).
3. writ to the Meridian of your Court. Written for, or in
accordance with, the highest or meridian standard of taste, namely
that represented by your Court.
9. Title. The board or play-bill which told the name of the piece.
Cf. The Spanish Tragédie, ed. Boas, 4. 3. 17:
Well doon, Balthazar, hang up the Title.
12. truths. Facts. Jonson had no patience with those who
insisted on seeing personal satire in the characters of his plays. Cf.
Barth. Fair, Induction : 'Any state-decypherer, or politic picklock of
the scene, so solemnly ridiculous as to search out who was meant
by the ginger-bread woman.' Cf. the Prologue of The Silent
Woman ; News from the New World ; and the dialogue in prose
between the Boy, Probee, and Damplay at the end of the second
act of The Magnetic Lady.
ACT I. Scene I.
2. And thou hast fitted me. 'I apprehend that an' should be the
reading instead of and' (C).
SN. Gowne. At the date of this play, and indeed till late in
that century, the gown was a regular part of the wardrobe of a
gentleman (cf. Planché, Cyc. of Costume 1. 217). Probably the
gown Peniboy wears here is a morning-gown, or dressing-gown.
Line 15 suggests that it may be a special kind of gown, which he is
obliged to wear as a sign of wardship; but I incline to think that
the symbolism he sees in the act of throwing it off is a mere fancy
of the moment.
3-5. Cf. Introduction, p. 26.
Notes
I33
5. Hermaphroditicke. In 1585 Stubbes wrote (Anat. of Abuses,
p. 68) : 'The women there have dubieties and íerkins, as men have
here, buttoned up the breast [etc.] Wherefore, these women may
not improperly bee called hermaphroditi, that is monsters of both
kinds, hälfe women, hälfe men.' Cf. Middleton, A Mad World,
ed. Bullen, 3. 3 : 'Why, the doublet serves as well as the best,
and is most in fashion; were all male to the middle.' Bullen
notes : 'Cf. Dekker's Seven Deadly Sins :—"If men get up French
standing collars, women will have the French standing collar
too: if doublets with little thick skirts (so short that none are able
to sit upon them), women's foreparts are thick-skirted too." Averell
in his Merualous Combat of Contrarieties, 1588 (quoted in the notes
to Furnivall's ed. of Stubbes), tells of women who "are so disguised,
that though they be in sex women, yet in attire they appeare to be
men, and are like Androgyni, who, counterfeiting the shape of either
kind, are indeed neither."' Cf. also News from the New World
(1620) : '1. Her. Only one island they have is called the isle of
the Epicoenes, because there under one article both kinds are
signified, for they are fashioned alike, male and female the same.'
The imitation, however, was reciprocal. Osborne {Sec. Hist. 1. 273),
says James bore himself towards his favorites 'as if he had mis¬
taken their sex, and thought them ladies ; which I have seene
Somerset and Buckingham labour to resemble, in the effeminateness
of their dressings.' In describing his early impressions of Court,
Wither says {Juvenilia 1. 9) :
The cruel Lycanthropi walkt in sight,
So did the beastly loose Hermaphrodite.
Cf., also, ib. 3. 838:
Never took her heart, delight
III your Court-Hermaphrodite.
As The Staple of Nezvs was presented at Court, it was none too
politic of Jonson to put this allusion into it. No doubt the objects
of it sat on the very stage itself.
6. And those bring all your helpes, and perspicills. And let
those [i. e. eyes] bring, etc. Helpes means helps for the eyes,
that is spectacles. I believe I have heard Canadians use the word
in this sense. Whalley defined perspicills as 'optic glasses', and
cited the first line of the passage below. Gifford criticised the
citation as inapt. 'Gifford', says Cunningham, 'may well be amused
with Whalley's quotation, but his mistake was only in withholding
what followed:
Sir, 'tis a perspicil, the best under heaven:
With this I'll read a leaf of that small Iliad
That in a walnut-shell was desk'd, as plainly,
Twelve long miles off, as you see Pauls from Highgate.
—Tomkins, Albumasar 1. 3/
I34
The Staple of Nezvs
[Act i
g, will. For this use of will in the first person to form the future
tense, see Schmidt, Shak. Lex. II. under will as irregular verb, 4).
11-12. deare watch . . . inough. 'Nares cites this as an
early mention of a repeating watch' (C).
15. wardship. Probably Peniboy is the King's ward. All the
lands of England are supposed to be held, mediately or immediately,
of the King, who is styled the lord paramount. Those who held
immediately under him in right of his crown and dignity were
called tenants in capite, or in chief. Until the middle of the 17th c.
most of the lands of the kingdom were held by this tenure. One
of the fruits of it was the institution of wardship. When a tenant
died who held in capite and by Knight-service, if his heir, to use
Blackstone's words (2. 67-8), 'was under the age of twenty-one,
being a male, or fourteen, being a female, the lord was entitled to
the wardship of the heir, and was called the guardian in chivalry.
This wardship consisted in having the custody of the body and
lands of such heir, without any account of the profits, till the age
of twenty-one in males, and sixteen in females. . . . When the
male heir arrived to the age of twenty-one, or the heir-female to
that of sixteen, they might sue out their livery or ousterlemain, that
is, the delivery of them out of their guardian's hands. For this they
were obliged to pay a fine, namely, half a year's profits of the land.'
The lord also had the right of disposing of his ward in marriage
and of exacting a heavy forfeit, in case of disobedience in this
matter. 'This', says Blackstone, 'sometimes led to enormous abuses.'
On coming to their own, heirs often found their estates ruined.
From time to time Parliament tried to alleviate the abuse. In 1610
King James made the proposal known as the Great Contract,
'a bargain with the commons by which the King was to sacrifice his
feudal revenue, most of which arose from the Court of Wards, and
to receive in return £200,000 a year' (DNB.). Nothing came of it.
He brought up the matter a second time in 1613, but again without
result. Later, he used his rights of wardship and marriage recklessly
as a means of extortion (cf. Green, Hist. 3. 92).
19. sue out no mans Liuery. Cf. Glossary, and note on line 15.
23-25. Cf. Introduction, p. 26.
24. prosecut'st. A Latinism (cf. Glossary).
26-27. Thus to retard ... to beat thee. Gifford deletes
the colon after longings, and the comma after man, making the
two lines mean: Thus to retard my longings to beat thee on the
day I doe write man—a pleasantry of which Peniboy is not inca¬
pable. On the other hand, it is possible that something has dropped
out. In view, however, of Jonson's habit of playing on words,
especially in this comedy, I believe the passage stands here as he
Sc. ii]
Notes
*35
wrote it. Peniboy's elation verges on playful incoherence, and
instead of sticking to his original intention of saying write unequiv¬
ocally and ending the sentence with man, he quibbles on write and
'right,' and then carries out the new idea suggested hy the latter.
33. aboue two thousand a yeere. What Peniboy's wardship
would have meant to the king (cf. note on line 15).
Scene II.
5. Before a quarter. A quarter before.
13. hindred thee. In this context, the omission of from or from
doing after the object is peculiar. It seems to be a distinct use of
the verb, rather than an ellipsis.
14. three Hues. lA lease, grant, etc., for {two, three, etc.)
lives : One which is to remain in force during the life of the longest
liver of (two, three, etc.) specified persons. Hence occasionally the
persons on whose length of life the duration of a lease depends are
called the lives' {NED.).
15. Copy-holder. Cf. Glossary, and Blackstone, Comm. 2. 95.
22-36. Cf. the passage quoted from News from the New World
in note on 1. 5. 36-50. Cf. also Introduction, pp. 18, 33, 44.
39. giue him a loaf, Thom. 'Again! Our old writers are never
weary of this jest. In the Rebellion, by Rowlins, allusions to this
artophagous propensity of the tailors occur in almost every page'
(G.). Nares says 'it was imputed to them that they were immod¬
erately fond of rolls, hot or cold.' He cites Barth. Fair, 5. 3 : 'I think
one tailor would go near to beat all this company of puppets with
a hand bound behind him.' In The Fair Maid of the Inn, 4. 2,
Forobosco, speaking of the cost of maintaining 'monsters,' says :
'And your elephant devours so much bread, brings in so little
profit, his keeper were better every morning cram fifteen tailors with
white manchet.'
Lit. Aye, and eat them all too, an they were in cake-bread.'
48. Emissaries. See Glossary. Cf. Underwoods (GC. 8. 301) :
You shall neither eat nor sleep,
No, nor forth your window peep,
With your emissary eye.
55. canst. I think, with Whalley, that this is the old independent
verb which means to know (cf. variant).
ordinaries. Cf. Volpone 5. 3:
Sir P. O, I shall be the fable of all feasts,
The freight of the Gazetti, ship-boys' tale;
And, which is worse, even talk for ordinaries.
I36
The Staple of Nezvs
[Act i
Cf. Dekker, Non-Dram. Works 4, 221 : 'In obseruing of whom and
of the place, he found, that an Ordinary was the only Rendeuous
for the most ingenious, most terse, most trauild, and most phan-
tastick gallant : the very Exchange for newes out of al countries.'
59. Pauls. Long before and for some time after Jonson's day, the
body, or middle aisle, of St. Paul's church, commonly called 'Paul's
Walk' or 'Duke Humphrey's Walk,' was a public resort and one
of the great news emporia of London. The literature of the time
contains many allusions to this fact. ... Cf. Osborne, Secret
Hist, of King James, p. 209: 'It was the fashion of those times,
and did so continue till these . . . for the principall gentry, lords,
courtiers, and men of all professions, not meerly mechanick, to meet
in Pauls church by eleven, and walk in the middle ile till twelve,
and after dinner from three to six; during which time some dis¬
coursed of businesse, others of newes. Now, in regard of the
universall commerce, there happened little that did not first or last
arrive here.' Cf. Earle, Microcosmographie, 1628, p. 73 : 'It is the
land's epitome, or you may call it the lesser isle of Great Britain.
It is more than this—the whole world's map, which you may here
discern in its perfectest motion, justling and turning. It is a heap
of stones and men, with a vast confusion of languages; and, were
the steeple not sanctified, nothing liker Babel. The noise in it is
like that of bees—a strange humming or buzz, mixed of walking,
tongues and feet. It is a kind of still roar or loud whisper. It is
the great exchange of all discourse, and no business whatsoever but
is here stirring and afoot. . . . It is the general mint of all
famous lies, which are here, like the legends of popery, first coined
and stamped in the church. All inventions are emptied here, and
not few pockets. . . . It is the ears' brothel, and satisfies their
lust and itch. The visitants are all men without exceptions ; but
the principal inhabitants and possessors are stale knights and cap¬
tains out of service—men of long rapiers and breeches—which after
all turn merchants here, and traffic for news.' Cf. also Dekker,
The Dead Terme (Non-Dram. Works 4. 42. if.), particularly Paules
Steeples Complaint.
Exchange. The first Royal Exchange, founded by Sir Thomas
Gresham, begun in 1566, opened in Jan. 1570-71, and burned
down in the great fire of 1666. In general plan, it was a quadrangle,
with a cloister running round the interior of the building, a cor¬
ridor, called the 'Pawn' (path or walk) above, and attics or
bedrooms at the top. The 'Pawn' was a vast bazaar. Foreign
merchants had booths there, each nationality being assigned a
separate space. There was a medley of costumes and tongues. 'At
every turn, 'says Dekker, 'a man is put in mind of Babel, there is
Sc. ii]
Notes
137
such a confusion of languages.' The Exchange was not only a mart
for material wares; it was a mart for news as well, and competed
almost on even terms with Paul's in its attractions for loungers.
'The doors were open,' says Knight (London 1. 376), 'till nine tn the
summer, and ten in the winter; and the crowd of loungers who
came for any other purpose than to buy, after they had spent the
afternoon in Paul's, gave the evening to the Exchange.'
Westminster-hall. The old hall in the palace of the Kings of
England at Westminster, built in the reign of William Rufus, and
originally consisting of a nave and aisles. 'The Law Courts of
England were of old held in the open hall; the Exchequer Courts
at the extreme end, and the Courts of Chancery and Kings at the
opposite end; and here, in certain courts built by Sir John Soane,
on the west of the hall, they continued to be held until the opening
of the New Law Courts in 1882. . . . Besides the Law Courts,
a part of Westminster Hall was taken up with stalls of booksellers,
law stationers, sempstresses, and dealers in toys and small wares'
(.LPP.).
67-70. Ambler . . . Buz. Cf. Neptune's Triumph (1624) :
Her frisking husband,
That reads her the Corranto every week.
Grave master Ambler, news-master o' Paul's,
Supplies your capon, and grown captain Buz,
His emissary, underwrites for Turkey.
6g-70. A fine pac'd . . . middle lie. For middle Ile, cf.
note on line 60 above, and note on 3. 3. 51. For the pacing there,
cf. Dekker, Gull's Hornbook, chap. 4: 'He therefore that would
strive to fashion his legs to his silk stockings, and his proud gate
to his broad garters, let him whiff down these observations : for if
he once get to walk by the book, and I see no reason but he may,
as well as fight by the book, Paul's may be proud of him; Will
Clarke shall ring forth encomiums in his honour; John in Paul's
Churchyard shall fit his head for an excellent block; Whilst all the
inns of court rejoice to behold his handsome calf.'
71. A Dutch-man. Nott, who edited The Gull's Hornbook in 1812,
says (p. 7) : 'Dutchman was a generick name in Decker's day, for
any one belonging to the German Continent. The old writers per¬
petually called the German the Dutch language.' Cf. Dekker, Non-
Dram. Works 4. 188: 'There was no Spaniard (in that Age) to
Braue his enemy in the Rich and Lofty Castillan: ... no
Germaine to thunder out the high and ratling Dutch.'
Exhange. All read 'Exchange.' The word stands here as Buz,
who was a 'Dutchman,' would be likely to pronounce it.
i38
The Staple of News
[Act i
88. iEsops Asse. Alluding to the fable of the ass who thought
to gain favor with his master by imitating the playful and affec¬
tionate behavior of the latter's dog, but gained only a sound beating.
Cf. Fuller, Gnomologia, p. 22 : 'An ass was never cut out for a
lap-dog.'
99. Right Spanish perfume, the Lady Estifania's. Strutt
(Antiq. 3. 89) cites line 99 to show that 'the beaux were none
behind' the ladies in the use of perfumes. Stubbes (1585) speaks
scornfully of the use of perfumes both by 'gentlemen' and 'gentle¬
women' as a kind of 'sweete pride'. See note on 1. 6. 69. Probably
Peniboy's pockets were of leather. In The Devil is an Ass (4. 1)
Jonson speaks of 'Spanish pumps of perfumed leather'. In The
New Inn (2. 2) Sir Glorious Tiptoe's gloves are 'the natives of
Madrid,' and highly perfumed.
The Lady Estifania seems to have been a dealer in cosmetics as
well as perfumes. In The Devil is an Ass (4. 1.) we hear of 'the
water of the white hen of Lady Estifania's,' a 'new complexion.'
102. Italian prints. Cf. Cynthia's Revels 2. 1 : 'Phil. I'll be
sworn, this is most excellent for the device, and rare; 'tis after the
Italian print we look'd on t'other night.' Gilford remarks on this
passage: 'Phantasie [Philautia rather] alludes, perhaps, to the
Habiti An tic hi e Mo demi di Cesare Vecellio, published at Venice
in 1589.'
103. Arras hangings. See Glossary. CD. cites Dyce, note on
Ford's Lover's Melancholy 2. 2: 'Arras was used precisely as a
curtain; it hung (on tenters or lines) from the Rafters, or from
some temporary stay, and was opened, held up, or drawn aside, as
occasion required.'
Taylors Libraries. Cf. citation from Pan's Anniversary in note
on 3. 2. 128-30.
104. silk-worme. A recent thing in England. In 1609, to
encourage the manufacture of silk, King James had several hundred
thousand young mulberry-trees brought over from France and dis¬
tributed throughout the island (cf. Harl. Misc. 2. 218-23).
no. and thence [sir] comes your proverbe. 'Gifford inter¬
polated the word sir, I think unnecessarily, as in all probability the
accent was thrown on the second syllable in proverb' (C).
112-18. Cf. Dejectio aulic in Jonsori's Timber.
113. fool'd you vp. Whalley thinks this 'got into the text by
mistake,' and he suggests for the correct reading followed you up,
as 'seeming to be countenanced' by the metaphors that follow.
Gilford says : 'But he [W.] overlooks the contrast between fool and
wit. . . . He might have learned from Shakespeare, that to
play the fool well doth ask a kind of wit. ... To fool up is a
Se ii]
Notes
*39
very common expression in our old writers, and means—to practice,
or humour any act or folly, to a ridiculous excess.' A young man
who formerly lived in Constantinople recently told me that the
phrase to fool up with, meaning to trifle with, is common among
the English residents there.
121. A broken sleeue, etc. Cf. Heywood, Proverbs, ed. 1874,
p. 36:
A broken sleeve holdeth th' arme back.
The editor of the Proverbs cites Parlament of Byrdes, 1550:
It is a terme with John and Jacke,
Broken sleeve draweth arme a backe.
Jonson uses this proverb again in The Fortunate Isles.
129. Giue me my hat. To the haberdasher, i. e. hatter. Gifford
has both a haberdasher and a hatter enter here, thus introducing an
extra person into the play (see variant).
131. Girdle. Leather and velvet were among the materials of
which gentlemen's girdles were made. According to Fairholt, it
was customary to suspend the purse from it, and, according to
Gifford, 'the dagger or small sword.' Cf. Planché, Cyc. of Costume
I. 206, and GC. 2. 146, note.
The second sentence in this line, and perhaps the first also, is
addressed to the linnener, who has just entered.
Ruffe. Cf. Stubbes' description of the 'great and monsterous
ruffes' of Elizabeth's reign, Anat. of Abuses, pp. 40-1. Planché's
reproductions of engravings of Justices of the King's Bench show
that in 1624 the ruff was still a large affair, and probably a costly one.
132. Inprint. Cf. Glossary. Cf. Ev. Man Out 2. 2 : 'Fal. O, you
are a gallant in print, now brother.' Whalley there cites All Fools :
'Tis such a pick'd fellow, not a hair
About his whole bulk, but it stands in print.
And Massinger, The Guardian :
. . Is he not madam,
A monsieur, now, in print ?
I33' O'the blocke passant. Made on the mold or shape that
is current, or in fashion. Cf. Much Ado 1. 1 : 'He wears his faith
but as the fashion of his hat, it ever changes with the next block.'
139. they appeare to 'hem presently. Gifford erroneously reads
'him' for 'hem. 'Hem refers to names. The whole expression
= 'they answer (appeare) to their names in person.' Cf. presently
in Glossary.
142. prime. This may mean either first in order of time, or first
in importance. It may also have the sense : Relating to the condi¬
tion of early manhood. All are pertinent.
140
The Staple of News
[Act i
144. Spurres. Strutt (Antiq, 3. 98) says that in the reign of
Charles I. it was 'the almost universal custom with the men of
wearing boots and spurs, insomuch that they were seldom seen
without them.' The spurs of knights were gilt, those of esquires
silvered. Probably ornaments called 'gingles' were often attached
to spurs to increase their clank.
Scene III.
3. breeches. Strutt says {Antiq. 3. 97) : 'When king James came
to the crown, many, nay most of the old fashions used in the days
of Elizabeth, came up again one after another ... In 1614,
the great breeches were again revived.' These were stuffed out to
an enormous size.
9. margents. The form used by Shakespeare.
10. Ioule of a Iaylor. Cf. Gipsies Met. (GC. 7. 394) :
The jowl of a jailor was serv'd for a fish.
16. Bill-men. 'The old quibble between a tradesman's bill and the
weapon of war so called. The word rarely suggests itself to any of
our ancient dramatists without furnishing matter for an equi¬
voke' (G.).
19. first newes. Cf. Introduction, p. 26.
29. two hundred. Cf. Introduction, p. 26.
30. Pyoners. Peniboy Canter uses the term contemptuously.
Pioneers were much despised in that city. Soldiers were often
relieved of their swords, and reduced to the work of pioneers, as a
punishment.
31. Secure your Casamates. ' "Casamatta", says Jonson's friend
Florio, "is a casamat, a canonrie or slaughter-house, so called of
enginers, which is a place built low under the wall or bulwarke not
arriving unto the height of the ditch [counter-scarp?], and serves
to annoy or hinder the enemie when he entreth the ditch to skale
the wall.' This is what we should now call a fausse-braye, but
the 'casamate' which Jonson intended is no doubt the 'canonrie'
described by Florio' (C).
35. Strengths. Whalley was not certain that strengths could
mean strongholds ; but even if it did, he said it does not well coin¬
cide with the expression of lining and perfuming them with gold
and amber. Hence he proposed the conjecture suits.
36. Amber. Ambergris, at that time much used in perfumery and
in cookery. It was also believed to be an aphrodisiac.
38. I looke on nothing but Totalis. Cf. Dekker, Gull's Horn¬
book : 'Cast your eye only upon the totalis.'
Sc. ni j
Notes
141
42. 'Gifford here interpolates a stage note : "They make legs to
him." It is rather exceeding the license of an editor to interpolate
without authority directions like these' (C.).
43. Chanter. See note on 1. 6. 70.
44. to cherish Shop-keepers, etc. Cf. Eastward Ho, ed. Bullen,
i. i. 35 : 'How could merchants thrive, if gentlemen would not be
unthrifts ?'
47. A long vacation, from their coozening. Alluding to the
Plague, which had decimated London during the preceding year,
and was not yet entirely over. While it was raging, the raw and
gullible country-men, who were the chief prey of the shop-keepers,
had, no doubt, kept away from London. See notes on 2. 3. 4;
and 4. 5. 171.
53. right Rippon. Genuine Ripon-made. Ripon is a town in
Yorkshire. Cf. Fuller, Gnomologia, p. 28: 'As true steel as Rippon
spurs.' Nares says: 'Ray has a local proverb, As true as Rippon
rowels; with this note subjoined: "It is said of trusty persons,
men of metal, faithful in their employments. Rippon in this county
is a town famous for Spurs of England, whose rowels may be
enforced to strike through a shilling, and will break sooner than
bow." '
In notes on Every Man Out, pp. 48, 80, Gifford maintains that
the jingling of spurs, often referred to in the literature of the time,
was due neither to small rings, as Whalley said, nor to bells, as
Theobald said, but solely to the large, loose, blunt rowels. His
strongest proof is from the Fleire: 'Your swaggerer is like your
walking spur; he gingles much, but he never cuts.' Blunt rowels,
however, would never strike through a shilling or an angel.
57. Sir Beuis Bullion. 'At this place Mr. Dyce wrote in his
copy, "Here Gifford has no note. The name sir Bevis Bullion
contains an evident allusion to sir Bevis Bulmer,-—a well known
personage of those days, who, I believe, was Superintendent of the
Royal Mines, or at least had some situation connected with them.
Prince, in the Proemium to the Worthies of Devon, mentions that
that 'famous artist,' sir Bevis Bulmer, Kt, by his excellent skill
in minerals, extracted a great quantity of silver from the Combe-
Martin mines, a portion of which he caused to be made into two
cups in 1593, and presented them inscribed with verses,—the one
to William Bourchier, earl of Bath, the other (weighing 137 ounces)
to sir Richard Martin, Lord Mayor of London, 'to continue to the
said city for ever.' "
'Very shortly after his accession to the throne of England James
sent him beyond the Tweed to develope the mineral wealth of his
native land. On April 14th, 1608, the King made him a free gift
142
The Staple of News
[Act- i
of £500, and on the 24th he received a discharge for £2,419 16s. 10d.
granted him to be employed about the mines in Scotland' (C).
65. Ale, and nutmegges. A writer in Notes and Queries
(8th S. 12. 133), who signs himself C. C. B., quotes from Gerard:
'Nutmegs cause a sweet breath and amend those that do stink.
They are good against freckles, they quicken the sight, strengthen
the belly, break wind, and stay the laske.' On the same page
another correspondent (Dudley Walton) says: 'According to Dr.
Jacob Schmidius, in his Ephemerides of the Curious (quoted in
the Annual Register, 1767, p. 107), nutmegs were then used as
domestic medicine. He relates that a young man ate four nutmegs
and drank some glasses of beer for a violent attack of dyspepsia,
and in consequence went insane for several days.' From Notes
and Queries, 8th S. 12. 27, 70, it would appear that pocket nutmeg-
graters used to be carried by both men and women. Men sometimes
carried them in the heads of their canes. Probably they were often
produced when ale or beer was being drunk. Nutmeg has narcotic
properties, and perhaps this was one reason why it was used in
ale and beer. Nutmeg seems also to have been regarded as an
aphrodisiac: cf. Gips. Metarn. (GC. 7. 387): 'And I have lost an
inchanted nutmeg, all gilded over, was inchanted at Oxford for me,
to put in my sweetheart's ale a'mornings.'
Scene IV.
2. Carpet. The word occurs in The Silent Woman (4. 2), where
Gifford makes the following note : 'Formerly these ornamental pieces
of tapestry furnished employment for the ladies, in the long nights
of winter. I have seen several of them in our old mansion-houses.
Carpets were not at this period laid on the floor, except occasionally,
to kneel on, or for purposes of state.' See Glossary.
6. Spinola, and his Egges. Cf. 3. 2. 46.
13-17. Butterwoman . . . Captaine liu'd. 'Fletcher's Fair
Maid of the Inn [4. 2], which appeared a few months after The
Staple of News, has a close imitation of this and similar passages.
"For. It shall be the ghost of some lying stationer, a spirit shall
look as if butter would not melt in his mouth; a new Mercurius-
Gallo-Belgicus.
Cox. O, there was a captain was rare at it.
For. Never think of him: though that captain writ a full hanih-
gallop, and wasted more harmless paper than ever did laxative
physic, yet will I make you to out-scribble him,"
'Not one of the poet's editors appears to have suspected the allu¬
sion here, or to have understood the passage. Both Jonson and
Fletcher had in view Nathaniel Butter, who, if we may trust the
Sc. iv]
Notes
*43
present account of him, was bred a stationer, failed in his profession,
and betook himself to the compilation of news from all quarters.
'The verse which mentions the captain is a parody of one in poor
old Jerónimo :
It is not now as when Andrea lived.
"The Captain, of whom I have nothing certain to say, appears to
have rivalled Butter in the dissemination of news. In that age the
middle aisle of St. Paul's swarmed with disbanded or broken
ancients, lieutenants, &c., who, on the strength of having served a
few months in the Low Countries, assumed, like Cavaliero Shift,
an acquaintance with all the great officers in the field, and amused
the idle citizens with pretended intelligence from the armies. One
of these (the Captain of Jonson and Fletcher) seems to have turned
his inventive faculties to account, and printed his imaginary corre¬
spondence, instead of detailing it viva voce' (G.).
Mr. H. C. Hart, in Notes and Queries for Sept. 3, 1904, suggests
that 'probably' the Captain Buz of the passage quoted from
Neptune's Triumph in the note on 1. 2, 68-70 is the same person
as the Captain here. He points out that in Neptune's Triumph
(designed for Jan. 6, 1624) the Captain is spoken of as alive, but
that in The Fair Maid (Jan. 1626), and here in The Staple of News
(Feb. 1626), he is spoken of as though dead. Mr. Hart dates our
play 1625. This, however, does not hurt his argument. He takes
'ghost' in The Fair Maid as referring to the Captain: it refers to
the 'lying stationer.' His inference, however, that the Captain was
dead when that passage and this in our play were written, is just.
'In a letter of John Chamberlain to Sir Dudley Carleton, dated
4 Sept., 1624 (Court and Times of James I., 2. 473-4),' continues
Mr. Hart, 'I believe we learn who this Captain was. He says :
"Sir James Crofts, our oldest pensioner at Court, and Captain Gais-
ford> our newsmonger and maker of gazettes, are gone the same
way."
'This Gaisford, or Gainsford, was a well-known writer, whose
works will be found mentioned in Loundes, Hazlitt's Index, &c.
His usual publisher was N. Butter, and his best publication was
An Answer to G. Wither's Motto' (1625), over which work of
Wither's Ben had got into trouble. From the date of Gainsford's
death and from Chamberlain's description of him I have little doubt
he is our missing Captain, and the probability is heightened by the
likelihood of "Grave Master Ambler" being an anagrammatic hit
at Master Chamberlain, who was an indefatigable "newsmaster of
Pauls," and the main part of whose name supplied the sobriquet.
There is evidence in a previous letter of Chamberlain's (2. 356) that
144
The Staple of News
[Act i
that letter-writer did not take Ben's part in the scrape he got into
for personating Wither as "Chronomastix" in his Time Vindi¬
cated. Moreover, Ben dearly loved an anagram.'
Probably Mr. Hart is right in both of his identifications. For
general information on Gainsford and Chamberlain, cf. DNB. For
Butter, cf. DNB., and Introduction, pp. 37-46.
15. Till Emissary Exchange, or Pauls send in. Cf. note on
i. 2. 60.
Scene V.
9. Barbers newes. 'Formerly the barber was also a practitioner
in surgery and dentistry' (NED.). He was, therefore, a rather
important man. The cittern, which might be heard at any time in
his shop, helped to make it a lounging-place for gallants, and conse¬
quently an exchange for news. See note on line 129.
10. Watermens newes. The watermen of the Thames, including
all kinds of boatmen, were a large and important class. Taylor the
Water-Poet says that in the time of Elizabeth 'the number of
watermen, and those that lived and were maintained by them, and
by the only labour of the oar and scull, betwixt the bridge of
Windsor and Gravesend, could not be fewer than 40000.'
12-13. As vacation newes, Terme-newes. Until the Judicature
Act of 1873 there were in England four fixed periods or terms in
the year, of about three weeks each, during which the law-courts
were open. These were Hilary, Jan. 11-31 ; Easter, Apr. 15-May
18; Trinity, May 22-June 12; Michaelmas, Nov. 2-25. Nares says:
'The law terms were formerly the great times of resort to London,
not only for business, but pleasure. They were the harvest times
of various dealers, particularly booksellers and authors, many of
whom made it a rule to have some new work ready for every term.
. . . In fact, books were seldom published except in term time.'
Dekker's The Dead Terme (Non-Dram. Works 4. 42 ff.) bears
witness to the bustle and the importance of term-time to business,
and the deadness of vacation-time.
14-21. Reformed newes . . . kingdome. Cf. the Factor's
first speech in the mask, News from the New World (1620-1) :
'I do write my thousand letters a week ordinary, sometime twelve
hundred, and maintain the business at some charge both to hold up
my reputation with mine own ministers in town and my friends of
correspondence in the country: I have friends of all ranks and of
all religions, for which I keep an answering catalogue of dispatch;
wherein I have my puritan news, my protestant news, and my
pontificial news.' There 'friends of correspondence' means persons
whom the Factor supplies with news by letter; here 'men of corre-
Sc. v]
Notes
T45
spondence' means persons who write news-letters from the shires
to the vendors in London. Cf., also Epigram 92, which is directed
against the hunger for news :
They all get Porta [Neapolitan writer on cipher codes,
d. 1615], for the sundry ways
To write in cipher, and the several keys
To ope the character.
16. Precedents. For precedent in the sense of sign or indication,
cf. Venus and Adonis, lines 26-7:
With this she seizeth on his sweating palm
The precedent of pith and livelihood.
23. Mercurius Britannicus. 'A news-journal then published with
that title' (W.). 'Whalley speaks entirely at random on this subject.
Mercurius Britannicus was the assumed name of the composer of
the "journal," or rather pamphlet, which was called the Weekly
News. Who this person was I cannot inform the reader. He was
evidently encouraged by the success of Butter. There were two
writers who subsequently joined him, Watts and Bourne;—one of
these might have been his competitor: but this is merely guesswork'
(G.). It would seem that Gifford did not know that Butter pub¬
lished the Weekly News.
32. The publique Chronicler. Mercurius Britannicus?
36-50. Cf. News from the New World (GC. 8. 337) :
*Factor. And I have hope to erect a Staple for News ere long,
whither all shall be brought, and thence again vented under the
name of Staple-news, and not trusted to your printed conundrums
of the serpent in Sussex, or the witches bidding the devil to dinner
at Derby: news, that when a man sends them down to the shires
where they are said to be done, were never there to be found!
Print. Sir, that's all one, they were made for the common people ;
and why should not they have their pleasure in believing of lies are
made for them, as you have in Paul's, that make them for your
selves.
i Her. There he speaks reason to you, sir.
Fact. I confess it; but it is the printing I am offended at, I
would have no news printed; for when they are printed they leave
to be news; While they are written, though they be false, they
remain news still.
Print. See men's divers opinions ! It is the printing of them
makes them news to a great many who will indeed believe nothing
but what's in print. For those I do keep my presses, and so many
pens going to bring forth wholesome relations, which once in half
146
The Staple of Netvs
[Act i
a score of years, as the age grows forgetful, I print over again with
a new date, and they are of excellent use.
Chro. Excellent abuse rather.'
See note on 1. 2. 22-36.
40. Monsters. Strutt remarks upon the fondness of the English
for seeing strange animals, 'and especially such of them as are of
the monstrous kind.' He reminds us of the Tempest 2. 4, where
Stephano, seeing Caliban, says : 'Were I in England now, as once I
was, and had this fish painted, not a holiday fool there but would
give me a piece of silver. There would this monster make a man:
any strange beast there makes a man. When they will not give a
doit to relieve a lame beggar, they will lay out ten to see a dead
Indian.' 'Indeed,' continues Strutt (Sports and Pastimes, Introd.,
p. 49), 'we may observe that a cow with two heads, a pig with
six legs, or any other unnatural production, with proper management
are pretty certain fortunes to their possessors.' The exhibitors of
such attractions had to pay a license-fee or be subject to the law
against vagrants. Jonson alludes here to the evasion of the law,
which, no doubt, was frequent. For another application of the term
monster, cf. note on 4. 2. 137.
58-62. Cheat, etc. See Introduction, p. 48.
77-8. Mid-wife. Cf. note on Induction, line 57.
86. seuenth-night. 'Jonson, as a rule, gave the most minute
attention to spelling. This word is printed seventh-night' (C).
This form seems to be rare. It does not appear in the dictionaries.
See variants.
88. I am here. Aside to Thorn. Peniboy imagines that, per¬
sonally, he is unknown to the people of the office; but no doubt
Thorn's eyes are at this very moment in correspondence with them.
89. An old Canting Begger. Cf. Cynthia's Revels, Induction:
'Look, these emmets put me out here—that with this Amorphus,
there comes along a citizen's heir, Asotus or the Prodigal, who in
imitation of the traveller, who hath the Whetstone following him,
entertains the Beggar, to be his attendant.' See Introduction, p. 32,
109. Cozen. Note the double meaning (see Glossary).
no. Ambler for Pauls, and Buz, etc. Cf. note on 1. 2. 68-70.
118. Gifts. Peniboy insinuates that he is willing to pay well for
Thorn's place.
120-3. A decay'd Stationer . . . Church-yard. See note on
stationers in Paul's Churchyard, Title-page. Also note on Paul's,
i. 2. 60.
122. True Paules bred. Cf. note on 1. 2. 60.
126. went out Master of Arts. 'That is, when honorary degrees
were conferred, in compliment to some person of high rank, foreign
prince, &c. who visited the University' (G.).
Sc. vi]
Notes
147
128-30. Probably, in his long experience as a writer of Court
Masques, Jonson had known of many such instances.
129. Cythern. Cf. Vision of Delight (GC. 7. 288) :
For grant the most barbers can play on the cittern.
Cf. Knight, London I. 102: 'The cittern was heard in every barber's
shop; and even up to the publication of the Tatler it was the same:
"Go into a barber's anywhere, no matter in what district, and it is
ten to one you will hear the sound of either a fiddle or guitar, or
see the instruments hanging up somewhere. The barbers and their
apprentices were the performers: "If idle, they pass their time in
life-delighting music." Thus writes a pamphleteer in 1597. . . .
The cittern twanged then in the barber's shops in the fresh mornings
especially.'
131. euery liberall Science. 'The seven liberal sciences, grammar,
logic, and rhetoric, constituting the "trivium," with arithmetic,
music, geometry, and astronomy, constituting the "quadrivium."
Also called the seven arts' (CD.).
150. Masters worship. The nick-name probably means that Pick¬
lock is in the habit of flattering his wealthy clients by saluting them
as Master or Your Worship at every opportunity. Stubbes in his
Anatomie of Abuses (1585), p. 134, denounced the 'flattering para¬
sites and glosing gnatoes' who would salute any one who had money
enough with the 'vayne titles' of 'Worshipfull' and 'Master' at
every word. Or does the nick-name allude to some formal phrase
used in addressing magistrates at that time?
Scene VI.
6-23. I should, etc. See Introduction, p. 26.
9. Trumpeters. Apparently, when a man of rank was buried
with ceremony, trumpeters were always part of the procession.
This passage is the only evidence I have found on this point,
however.
12. Tombe-stone. Cf. Much Ado, ed. Furness, 5. 2. 74: 'Hee
shall liue no longer in monuments, then the Bels ring, and the
Widdow weepes.' Furness cites Halliwell: 'It is just possible that
there is here an oblique allusion to the rage for costly monuments
which prevailed in Shakespeare's time. To this Hall alludes in his
Satires, III. 2 : "Great Osmond knows not how he shall be known,
When once great Osmond shall be dead and gone; Unless he
rear up some rich monument, Ten furlongs nearer to the firmament." '
15. I know it [I] ; a right kind-natured man. 'This is another
instance in which I think the line loses force by the interpolation
of the tenth syllable' (C). See variant.
148
The Staple of News \ Act i. Sc. vi
39. Cornish Gentlewoman. I do not see the import of making
Pecunia Cornish. Cornwall never has produced gold or silver in
commercial quantities.
40. Pecunia doe-all. Cf. Stubbes, Anat. of Abuses, p. 223: 'For,
as the saying is—Pecunia omnia potest—money can do all thinges.'
See Introduction, p. 21.
44-6. Her name is, Or rather, her three names are (for such
she is) Aurelia Clara Pecunia, A great Princesse. 'The "great
princess" with the "three names" was, of course, an allusion to
the Infanta [cf. note on 2nd. Intermean, lines 25-6]. She is always
called the Infanta Maria simply, and even Don Pascual de Gayangos
[1809-97. Sp. historian; lived much in London] has been unable
to supply the other two names. When the match with Charles fell
through, she married the King of Hungary, and became the ances¬
tress of other Marias renowned in history' (C).
48. contracted. The primary sense is limited, but, in view of the
legal character of Pecunia's household, I suspect Jonson is punning.
61. motions. Motion was the original name in England for a
puppet-show. Our Punch-and-Judy show is an unworthy descend¬
ant of the motion. The earliest puppet performances succeeded the
old Morality play, and were, in a sense, an outgrowth of it. They
were founded on Bible narratives and the lives of the saints. The
Prodigal Son, Nineveh, and Jonah and the Whale were popular
subjects in the 16th century. Encyc. Brit, quotes from a pamphlet
of 1641, describing Bartholomew Fair: 'Here a Knave in a fool's
coat with a trumpet sounding or a drum beating, invites you to see
his puppets. Here a rogue like a wild woodman, or in an antic
shape like an incubus, desires your company to view his motion.'
In the first year of James a law was passed requiring the owners
of puppet-shows to secure licenses, or else suffer the penalties
imposed upon "idle persons." 'While the people, however, were
willing to encourage them,' says Knight (London 1. 42), 'it was
not very easy for statutes to put them down; and if there were
fewer licensed players, the number of unlicensed, who travelled about
with Motions or puppet-shows, were prodigiously increased. The
streets of London appear to have swarmed with motions. They were
sometimes called drolleries'
67. You shall haue. Cf. Othello, ed. Furness, 1. 1. 48:
You shall marke
Many a dutious and knee-crooking Knave.
Furness cites Abbott, Shak. Gram. §3*5 : '"You shall" is especially
common in the meaning you may, you will, applied to that which is
of common occurrence, or so evident that it cannot but be seen.'
67-84. Diuines, etc. See Introduction, p. 57.
ist Int.]
Notes
149
80. well-chanted, etc. Dekker says in Lanthome and Candle-
Light (Non-Dram. Works) : 'This word canting seemes to bee
deriued from the latine verbe {canto) which signifies in English,
to sing, or to make a sound with words, thats to say to speake.
And very aptly may canting take his deriuation a cantando, from
singing, because amongst these beggarly consorts that can play
vpon no better instruments, the language of canting is a kinde of
musicke, and he that in such assemblies can cant best, is counted the
best Musitian.'
72. Masters worship. See note on 1. 5. 150.
73. corpulent curt'sies. Cf. Tale of a Tub 5. 3:
He must, for we can all take corpulent oath
We zaw un go there.
87. The Peni-boyes to Hue in't. This may mean (1) that Peni-
boy's deed will immortalize the family name; or (2) that the race of
Peniboys will get a kind of vitality from his deed, priding and
sustaining themselves upon the memory of it.
91-2. I haue . . . right eye. 'Here Mr. Dyce notes, "Jonson
as usual was thinking of the classics—Theocritus, Idyl 3. 37" :
[My right eyelid throbs. Is it a sign that I am to see her?"]' (C.).
91-3. Peniboy's facetious self-complacency is a high tribute to
the adroitness of the two conspirators.
93. worthy of a Chronicle. See note on 4. 4. 100.
FIRST INTERMEAN
i. Introducing into the play persons who, in the guise of specta¬
tors sitting on the stage, comment upon the action, was a favorite
device with Jonson: he used it in Every Man Out (1599), and in
The Magnetic Lady (1632). Our gossips have a strong family
resemblance to Venus, the deaf tire-woman in the Mask of Christmas
(1616), who is anxious to see her boy, Cupid, act before the king
and queen, and she in turn reminds one greatly of the grocer and
his wife in Beaumont and Fletcher's Knight of the Burning Pestle
(1611), who get their man, Ralph, permission to take part in the
play, they meanwhile sitting on the stage and keeping up a running
comment on the action. Langbaine believed {Eng. Dram. Poets,
p. 297) that Beaumont and Fletcher were imitating Jonson's Every
Man Out. The grocer and his wife, however, are so much like our
gossips that I incline to believe that Jonson had a hand in creating
them.
8-9. with the Begger to boote. See variant. 'This is no
improvement on "With the beggar to boot" which Jonson wrote;
nor, five lines lower down, is "could have endured him" so good
The Staple of News
[ist. Int.
as Jonson's "would have endured him'" (C). As to line n,
'could' seems to me the better reading. Cunningham's comment
shows that his four copies are all different from that in the Yale
Library.
13. Court-begger. See note on 4. Int. 51.
16. beggerly Poets. Alluding to the practice of poets in that day
of attaching themselves to wealthy patrons.
17. horseleech. Osborne (5>c, Hist. 1. 270) speaks of King
James's 'partiality used towards the Scots, which hung like horse¬
leeches on him, till they could get no more.' On page 254 he alludes
to the Scots as 'sonnes of the locusts and daughters of the horse¬
leech.' Probably they were often so spoken of, and perhaps Jonson
here alludes to them.
23-24. the Foole is the finest man. The primary meaning of
finest is 'accomplished' ; but it also alludes to the Fool's motley.
27. and no man say, blacke is his eye. 'In Love's Cure Beau¬
mont and Fletcher (vol. ix, p. 143) have the same expression, used
by a justice to a damsel at whose evil courses he had been conniving:
I can say black's your eye, though it be grey.
which seems to connect it with a vulgar saying of the present day,
which may be occasionally heard, ' No man can say black is the
white of your eye' (C.). 'Fie cannot say black is the white of my
eye; he cannot point out a blot in my character' (Grose, Lexicon).
You cannot say black is his eye or nail, That is you can find no
fault in him, charge him with no crime' (Ray, Proverbs, p. 229).
'Least any thing might be* gathered but that they [women] goe
about sereous matters in deede, they take their baskets in their
hands, or under their armes, under whiche pretence pretie conceites
are practized, and yet may no man say blacke is theyr eye' (Stubbes,
Anat. of Abusesj p. 87).
35. there was no Play without a Foole, and a Diuell in't.
I. e. a play was not a play without, etc. Gilford's note is : ' "It was
wont," says good master John Geb, (Coll. Ex.) 'when an Enter-
lude was to be acted in a countrey town, the first question that
an hob-nailed spectator made before he would pay his penny to goe
in, was, Whether there bee a devile and a foole in the play? And
if the foole get upon the divell's backe, and beat him with his
coxcombe till he rore, the play is complete.' The foot out of the
Snare, p. 68.
'This alludes to the old Moralities: the fool or clown of the new
comedy, however, succeeded to all the celebrity of his predecessor,
and was inquired after with equal impatience. Goffe, a great admirer
of Jonson, has a pleasant passage in his Careless Shepherdess
ist Int.]
Notes
[1656], which enters completely into mistress Tattle's idea of the
subject.
Why, I would have the fool in every act,
Be it comedy or Tragedy. I have laughed
Until I cry'd again, to see what faces
The rogue will make. O, it does me good
To see him hold out's chin, hang down his hands,
And twirle his bawble: there is never a part
About him but breaks jests.
I had rather hear him leap, or laugh, or cry,
Than hear the gravest speech in all the play.
I never saw Reade peeping thro' the curtain,
But ravishing joy enter'd into my heart.'
Cf. note on line 59 below.
39-40. homes . . . cuckold. For the origin of the old saying
that a deceived husband 'gets horns from his wife,' cf. Notes and
Queries, 6th S. vol. 4, and NED. under horn.
46. can read too. Cf. Pan's Anniv. (GC. 8. 45) : 'A great clerk,
who, they say, can write, and it is shrewdly suspected he can
read too.'
47-48. by the same token. By the way; this reminds me; and
speaking of that.
51. Doctor Lamb. 'He passed for a conjurer with the vulgar,
but was an ignorant and impudent impostor. He was indicted at
Worcester, 5 Jac. I. for diabolical witchcrafts and inchantments ;
and at the assizes of the same county, in the following year, for his
invocation and entertainment of evil spirits; but for both these,
judgment was suspended. Convicted of a rape, 21 Jac. I. upon the
body of a girl of eleven years old in Southwark, but had interest
enough to get the king's pardon. He was pelted by the mob, from
the Fortune play-house to the Old Jury, on the 13th of June, 1628,
and died the next morning in the Poultry-compter ; one of his eyes
being beaten out, and his skull fractured. The rabble were possessed
that the doctor dealt with the devil, and assisted the duke of Buck¬
ingham in misleading the king ; at which instant the parliament were
making a remonstrance' (W.). Cf. DNB.
56. through her masque. For the feminine practice of wearing
masks, see note on Induction, line 8.
64. as ere a Patriot of 'hem all. Alluding to the patriots in
Parliament, who, with Sir John Eliot at their head, had begun their
memorable struggle against the despotism of the Stuarts.
64-5. carry away the Vice. In The Devil is an Ass (5. 6) Jon-
son reverses the ancient usage, and makes the Iniquity run away with
the Fiend, saying—
The Divell was wont to carry away the Evill,
But now the Evill out-carries the Divell.
I52
The Staple of Nezvs
[ist. Int.
'As to the origin of the Vice', says Ward (Hist. Eng. Dram. Lit.
i. hi), 'no reasonable doubt remains. Inasmuch as he was
ordinarily dressed in a fool's habit, and occasionally assumes the
part of a jester pure and simple, it is obvious that the invention of
this popular character was first suggested by the familiar custom
of keeping an attendant fool. Hence, while the Vice is in some
sort an attendant or serving-man of the Devil's, his function is
to twit, tease and torment the fiend for the edification of the audi¬
ence. The latter very commonly takes his revenge for having been
ridden and beaten by the Vice by carrying him off on his back to
hell at the end of the play. Gradually the character was lost in,
or reverted to, that of the domestic Fool, who, as is well known,
survived as a standing figure of no small significance in the Eliza¬
bethan drama.'
67. Diuell of Edmonton. 'This alludes to a story told of Peter
Fabel.—When the time for which he had sold his soul was expired,
and the devil came to fetch him, he begged permission to live till
the taper, then nearly finished, was burnt out: this indulgence being
granted to his earnest entreaties, he seized the candle end, and
before the devil was aware, plunged it into a vessel of holy water!
Here it was secure from the devil's clutches, who vanished in great
dudgeon, without his errand. In the Devil of Edmonton, however,
as we now have it, Peter Fabel escapes by a different contrivance'
(G.). Peter Fabel, of whose real existence there seems to be no
doubt, was a native of Edmonton, who lived in the time of Henry
VII., and was known as a magician and alchemist. In the comedy
of which he is the 'merry devil' he is spoken of as 'a Cambridge
scholar.' The prologue tells us that in Edmonton,
Fixed in the wall of that old ancient church,
His monument remaineth to be seen.
But, according to DNB., the existence of this memorial is not certain.
The Merry Devil of Edmonton has been attributed to Shakespeare,
but Hazlitt thinks 'it is more likely, both from style and subject-
matter, to have been Heywood's than any other person's.' In his
tract, The Blacke Book, issued in 1604, Middleton, the dramatist,
speaks of it as though it were then a favorite stage-piece. Jonson
bears evidence to its popularity in the Prologue to The Devil is an
Ass (1616) :
If you'll come
To see new Plays, pray you afford us room,
And show this but the same face you have done
Your dear delight, The Devil of Edmonton.
There were editions of it in 1608, 1617, 1626, 1631, and 1655, all in
quarto. It was performed before the King by the King's Men, May
3, 1618 (cf. Fleay, Hist, of Stage, p. 257).
Act h. Sc. i]
Notes
*53
71. Smug, a Smith. 'Smug is a character in The Merry Devil of
Edmonton. He is, as Mirth says, a smith, and a deer-stealer : but
it is not easy to guess what particular amusement his part afforded,
unless, as the sequel seems to insinuate, the performer was actually
intoxicated at the time of representation. Blague, the host, seems to
be meant for the principal buffoon of the piece' (G.).
85. intend it. Cf. Cynthia's Revels 5. 2. There Gifford says:
'Note me heedfully. Our old writers sometimes use this word in
the sense of attend; and sometimes for a higher and more active
degree of observation. Jonson usually adopts the latter sense as
here.' 'Here Mr. Dyce wrote in his copy "Intend it: i. e. View
it attentively, give all heed to it"' (C).
ACT II. Scene I.
4. Although your Grace be falne, of two i'the hundred. 'The
rate of interest was fixed, by a law passed in the thirty-seventh year
of Henry VIII. and confirmed in the thirteenth of Elizabeth, to
ten per cent, per annum; but by the statute of the twenty-first of
James (the year [two years] before this play appeared), it was
reduced to eight. This was a grievous affliction to the Pennyboys
(misers) of the time, and to this the text here and elsewhere
alludes' (G.).
15-16. A sordid Rascall, one that neuer made Good meale in Ms
sleep, but sells the acates are sent him. 'Archdeacon Nares . . .
suggests that the second line should be altered by transferring the
word hut, making it read :
Good meal but in his sleep, sells the acates are sent him' (C.).
Cf. Poetaster 1. 1 : 'He was a poor blind, rhyming rascal, that lived
obscurely up and down in booths and tap-houses, and scarce ever
made a good meal in his sleep, the whoreson hungry beggar.' The
expression alludes to the old saying that beggars and misers may
feast in their dreams; but the passage in Poetaster intends a beggar
so poor that he scarcely ever does even this, and the passage in our
play a miser so sordid that he never does it.
16-18. sells the acates, etc. 'Pope has very happily transferred
this (for he did not find it in Horace) to the character of Avidienus
[cf. Second Satire of Second Book of Horace, to Mr. Bethel] whom,
like Pennyboy, he makes to
Sell his presented partridges and fruits
And humbly live on rabbits and on roots.'
—(G.)
27. rites. Probably a quibble on writes, vulgar or colloquial for
writings.
154
The Staple of News
[Act ii
33. They are a few. I. e. they are but few : a peculiar expression.
38. All this Nether-world, etc. Gifford notes :
. . . Omnis enirn res,
Virtus, fama, de cus, divina humanaque puichris
Divitiis parent. Hor. L. ii. Sat. 3.
And again:
. . . fidemque et amicos,
Et genus, et formam, Regina Pecunia donat. Lib. i. Ep. 6.
But Jonson has an eye constantly on Aristophanes, and has intro¬
duced various allusions to the highly humorous scene in which
Ghremylus and his servant let Plutus into the secret of his own
importance.' Gifford refers particularly to the following passage
(Hickie's trans. 2. 690-1) : 'Chr. [to Plutus.J. And, by Jupiter, if
there be any thing magnificent and beautiful or agreeable to men, it
is through you : for all things are subservient to riches.'
Cf. Introd., pp. 20-1.
52. Cold rheumes. Colds?
Scene II.
7. present. This intransitive use of present is peculiar; I know
of no other instance.
21. the Elements. A work on heraldry by Edmund Bolton, or
Boulton. 'The Elements of Armories, Lond. 1610, 4to. (anon.) Dedi¬
cated to Henry, earl of Northampton. The work consists of a
dialogue or conference between two knights, Sir Eustace and Sir
Annias, continuing through thirty-five chapters. It is written in a
very pedantic style, but many curious examples are brought forward
and illustrated by wood-cuts, spiritedly executed. The original
manuscript of this curious book is in the library of Christ Church,
Oxford' (DNB.).
22. Accidence. By Gerard Legh (d. 1563.) 'Legh's only work,
entitled The Accedens of Armory, 8vo, London, 1562 (1568, I572>
*576, 1591, 1597, 1612), is written in form of a colloquy between
"Gerarde the Herehaught and Legh the Caligat Knight," and
although put forth as an elementary treatise, is in reality a medley
of irrelevant learning. Richard Argali of the Inner Temple supplied
a prefatory address and probably part of the latter passages of the
book. In endeavoring to explain the art, Legh is purposely obscure
from fear of trending on the official privileges of the College of
Arms. Folio 228 of the work supplies what appears to be a portrait
of Legh himself in the fictitious character of Panther Herald
(DNB.).
Sc. ilj
Notes
*55
Probably Jonson mentions these two works, not because they were
the prime authorities, but because of the obscurity of the one and
the discursiveness of the other.
23-4. And I haue, now, vpon me a great ambition,
How to be brought to her Grace. This construction of
ambition with how is exceptional.
27. One is a Iudges Daughter. I do not see why Jonson says
Statute is a judge's daughter. The leges scriptae, or statute laws,
of England are creations of Parliament. I do not see, either, why
he uses the adversative but; we should expect a Judge's daughter
to be somewhat stately, that is, dignified and formal.
29. but a Scriuener, but she can. Broker affects to speak humbly
of his profession. For the reputation of scriveners and brokers in
that day, cf. Dekker, Non-Dram. Works 2. 37: 'Then hath she
[Usury] Sonnes in law, and they are all Scriueners ; those Scriueners
have base sonnes, and they are all common Brokers; those Brokers
likewise send a number into the world, & they are all Common
Theenes' Cf. also Stubbes, Anat. of Abuses, p. 144.
Note the independent use of can.
31. Rose Waxe the Chambermaid. Named Rose, no doubt,
because sealing-wax is so often vermilion. The phrase Rose Waxe
reminds us of the proverbial neatness of wax. Cf. Twelfth Night,
ed. Furness, 1. 2: 'My Neeces Chamber-maid.' Furness says:
'Let not the modern humble duties of making beds, airing rooms,
etc. be imputed to Maria, who stood in relation to Olivia, as a
companion, and as an assistant at the toilette. In I. v, 162, Olivia
calls her "my Gentlewoman," and Malvolio immediately responds
by summoning her, as "Gentlewoman." She can write—(II. iii, 154)
so "very like" the Lady Olivia that "in a forgotten matter we
can hardly make distinction of our hands." In the end, she marries
Sir Toby, and however disastrous a marriage to so turbulent a
husband may prove, we do not feel that there is any great dis¬
crepancy in social rank.'
32. Doe you not know her, Sir, neither? 'Many irregularities
may be explained by the desire of emphasis, which suggests repetition,
even where repetition, as in the case of a negative, neutralizes the
original phrase. This idiom is a very natural one, and quite
common in E.E.' (Abbott, Shak. Gram. §406).
35. Tenement. 'Land comprehends all things of a permanent or
substantial nature; being a word of very extensive signification.
. . . Tenement is a word of still greater extent, and though In
its vulgar acceptation it is only applied to houses and other buildings,
yet, in its original, proper, and legal sense, it signifies everything
that may be holden, provided it be of a permanent nature; whether
156
The Staple of News
[Act ii
it be of a substantial and sensible, or of an insubstantial ideal kind'
(Blackstone, Comm. 2. 17). It is not clear just what kind of tene¬
ment is meant here.
36. though shee haue no teeth. Does this allude to the leech¬
like nature of Mortgage?
40-1. How ... (A perfect Sanguine). Broker refers to
Pyedmantle's gown. Probably, as the specific this suggests, he
touches the garment. The tincture vert is indicated by diagonal
lines crossing the field or surface of the escutcheon, from dexter
chief to sinister base, and the tincture purpure by diagonal lines
from sinister chief to dexter base; the combination of the two
indicates the tincture murrey or sanguine, once used occasionally,
but now discarded in most countries. Pyedmantle's gown is varie¬
gated in green and purple squares to represent the tincture sanguine.
Hence, also, his name. Probably, too, there is a personal reference.
Perhaps some prominent herald of the day was of a sanguine
complexion. 'A sanguine man is large, loving, glad of cheer, laugh¬
ing, and ruddy of colour, stedfast, fleshly, right hardy, mannerly,
gentle, and well nourished' (quoted by Halliwell from Book of
Knowledge, ed. 1649, p. 35, in note on Marston's The Fawne 2. 1).
Hence Broker's words, How for your love, meaning how on account
of my love for you.
56. Concentricks. For the figure in lines 54-56, see orbe, Glos¬
sary. The centre about which they all revolve is Pecunia.
61. Light on her Grace. Pyedmantle uses light on innocently,
in the sense of happen upon, but Broker takes it in the sense of
swoop or drop upon.
62-3. That ayre of hope ... an ayrie Of Castrills. 'Airie
is spelt in this way here, [G. has "Aiery"] and at p. 200 [2. 4. 44]
partly to help a joke, and partly, perhaps, out of a mistaken idea of
the etymology of the word. It means a nestfull, and has nothing to
do with airiness of situation. It should be spelt eyry, which is simply
a form of eggery. The word Castril occurs in The Silent Woman,
4. 2, where Gifford notes : "A Kestril is a base, degenerate hawk.
It occurs in all our old writers as an expression of strong con¬
tempt'" (C.).
69. Hee'll neuer keepe his houre. Is this a quibble, meaning
that a vessel of kitchin-stuff will not keep an hour—that is, will
sour within an hour?
Scene III.
3. The pox. Nares says that with the old writers pox always
means small-pox. Usually it does, but not always; here it means
the French pox, or syphilis.
Sc. m]
Notes
I57
4. The plague. A contagious febrile disease, otherwise called the
Oriental, Levantine, or Bubonic Plague. Jonson had seen London
pass through several visitations of this dreadful disease: 1580-82;
1592 (hardly extinguished by the end of the century) ; 1603, with a
mortality of 38,000; and 1625, the third great London plague, with
35,417 deaths. With the epidemic scarcely over, Peniboy Senior's
words are anything but a vague or meaningless malediction.
4-5. on him, Knowes not to keepe. 'The relative is frequently
omitted, especially where the antecedent clause is emphatic and
evidently incomplete. ... In many cases the antecedent immedi¬
ately precedes the verb to which the relative would be the subject'
(Abbott, Shak. Gram. p. 244). Cf. Cymb. r. 6. 84 (cited by Abbott) :
What wreck discern you in me
Deserves your pity?
5. Fid keepe my word sure. Gifford reads comma after word.
This makes sure an adverb, meaning certainly. It is an adjective,
and means reliable.
11. light-foot Ralph. This is the only allusion I have seen to
this person—a foot-racer, no doubt.
12. wheel-barrow. Perhaps Lickfinger has a wheelbarrow to
carry his meats and groceries in. A wheel-barrow with a sayle is
a mere fancy of Lickfinger's. Cf. News from the New World (GC.
7- 343) > where we are told that the coaches in the moon 'go only
with wind.'
16. knots. Cf. Tale of a Tub 1. 1:
Ich' am no zive, or watering-pot, to draw
Knots i' your 'casions [occasions, i. e. interests, services].
What 'knots' means, I do not see.
19. A rosted pound of butter, etc. Cf. Fletcher, Fair Maid of the
Inn 4. 2 : 'Clown. Oh, oh, oh ! my kidneys are roasted ! I drop
away like a pound of butter roasted !'
21. venison. Stow tells us that in 1573 the use of venison was
forbidden in cook-shops and taverns 'by act of Common Council.'
Unless this act had been repealed, probably Lickfinger could not find
venison at the meat-stalls.
25. Yonder is venison sent mee. Peniboy Senior's wealth, like
Volpone's, gets him many gifts. The choice viands, acates, etc., he
sells to Lickfinger, who uses them in his cook-shop in Ram Alley.
41-4. Peniboy Senior's tirade is an excellent example of the
argumentum ad hominem. It is not clear whether spared means
remitted (bated), or given in alms.
51. play Crop i* the fleete. 'This must have been a slang phrase
for standing in the Pillory' (C).
The Staple of News
[Act ii
'Without Ludgate, on the right hand, or north side from the said
gate lieth the Old Bayly, as I said, then the high street called
Ludgate hill down to Fleet lane, in which lane standeth the Fleet,
a prison house so called of the Fleet or water running by it, and
sometime flowing about it, but now vaulted over' (Stow, Survey,
p. 146).
61. the custard politique, 'i, e. the huge custard prepared for the
Lord Mayor's feast' (G.) In a note on Devil is an Ass 1. 2, Gifford
says : 'Indeed no common supply was required ; for besides what
the Corporation (great devourers of custard) consumed on the spot,
it appears that it was thought no breach of city manners to send
or take some of it home with them for the use of their ladies.'
Whalley says that 'in the earlier days, when the city kept a fool,
it was customary for him at public entertainments to leap into a
large bowl of custard set on purpose.' There is an allusion to this
custom in All's Well 2. 5: 'You have made a shift to run into it,
boots and all, like him that leapt into the custard.' Cunningham
says : 'Poets of comparatively a recent date continue to associate
mayors and custards.' He cites an instance from Matthew Prior's
Alma, canto 1, and also a passage from a letter from Bishop
Warburton to Hurd (1766). Warburton having remarked to the
Lord Mayor the absence of the custard at his feast, the latter said
that 'they had been so ridiculed for their custard that none had
ventured to make its appearance for some years.'
68-9. You know my waies. LIC. They are a little crooked.
P. SE. How knaue? LIC. Because you do indent. 'A pun
upon the old meaning of the law word indentare (-——-—), to make
an impression on the wax of the seal with the teeth, which, before
writing was common, Cowel tells us, was the mode of testifying
the execution of covenants and deeds, etc.' (G.).
76. mouldie signes. Jonson puns on mould, the crust of a pie.
A writer in Notes and Queries, 9th S. 1. 145, says : 'In Douglas
Jerrold's Rent Day (1. 1) . . . Toby Heywood says: "If my
uncle had made me ploughman instead of a mongrel scholar, I might
have had a mouldy guinea or two." This looks as if mouldy had
been in use in the sense of hoarded.' Isn't this sense involved in
line 76?
82-5. Plouer, etc. See Introduction, p. 52.
Scene IV.
7. Muster-Master. Cf. the following from Gondomar's report to
the Spanish Council, Harl. Misc. 3. 336: 'For I have certain knowl¬
edge, that the Commons generally are so effeminate and cowardly,
that at their musters (which are seldom, or sleight, only for the
Sc. iv]
Notes
I59
benefit of their muster-masters) of a thousand soldiers scarce an
hundred dare discharge a musquet; and, of that hundred, scarce one
can use it like a soldier. And as for their arms, they are so ill
provided, that one corselet serves many men; when such, as use
their arms upon a day in one place, lend them to their friends in
other places, to shew them, when they have use; and this, if it be
spied, is only punished with a mulct in the purse, which is the
officer's aim; who, for his advantage, winketh at the rest, and is
glad to find and cherish by connivance profitable faults, which
increase his revenue. Thus stands the state of that poor miserable
country, which had never more people, and fewer men; so that, if
my master would resolve upon an invasion, the time never fits as
at this present, security of this marriage, and disuse of arms, having
cast them into a deep sleep; a strong and weakening faction being
ever amongst them, ready to assist us ; and they being unprovided
of ships and arms, or hearts to fight; an universal discontentment
filling all men. This have I from their muster-masters and captains,
who are, many of them, of our religion, or of none, and so ours,
ready to be bought and sold, and desirous to be any master's servants
in fee.'
9. as the scent displeased you. As Cunningham says, Gilford's
reading, 'has,' is no improvement.
11. tooke salt. When pork or beef is absorbing salt satisfactorily
we say it takes the salt well.
12. pickl'd security. Pickled of course, means salt or salty, and
caps the pun of the line above. But what was pickled security ?
I have found the phrase nowhere else.
16-28. faire fortune, etc. See Introduction, p. 52.
20. Heyre. Note the pun in H eyre on Madrigal and air.
24. An'he goe to't in ryme once, not a penny. That Whalley
and Gifford missed the force of once, is proved by their retaining
the Folio punctuation, comma after the adverb. Once is here
emphatic, and means once for all. Abbott (Shak. Gram., p. 46) cites
Much Ado 5. i. 212: 'Nay, an you be a cursing hypocrite, once you
must be looked to.' For the phrase goe to't, see Glossary. Com¬
pare also Gipsies Met.: 'Say you so, old gipsy! 'Slid, these go
to't in rhymes; this is better than canting by the one half.'
25. Why, hee's of yeares, though he haue little beard. See
Introduction, p. 51.
30. A golden pill to purge away this melancholy. 'Pills to
purge melancholy, which D'Urfey afterwards took as a title to his
collection of ballads, had long been a kind of proverbial phrase'
(Nares). Nares cites line 30, and also Beaumont and Fletcher,
Pilgrim i. i :
i6o
The Staple of News
I Act ii
Madam, I think a lusty handsome fellow,
If he be kind and loving, and a right one,
Is ev'n as good a pill to purge this melancholy,
As ever Galen gave.
34. a yong Haire in white-broth. Gififord either thought the pun
was not plain enough, or else that haire was a mis-spelling: he
reads 'heir.' Haire is a Scottish spelling for hare. For white-broth,
cf. the passage from Rollo, in note on 4. 2. 15-36. We frequently
hear of 'capons in white-broth' among the old dramatists.
36. Ram-Alley. 'Now Mitre Court, Fleet Street, over against
Fetter Lane, "Ram Alley [is] taken up by publick houses; a place
of no great reputation, as being a kind of privileged place for
debtors, before the late Act of Parliament for taking them away."
Strype, 3. 277. It was of no great reputation a century earlier.
Methinks he is a ruffian in his style,
Cuts, thrusts, and foins at whomsoe'er he meets!
And strows about Ram Alley meditations.
Character of Marston : Return from Parnassus, 1606.
And though Ram Alley stink with cooks and ale,
Yet say there's many a worthy lawyer's chamber
'Buts upon Ram Alley.
Ram Alley, or Merry Tricks [1. 1.] ; a Comedy by Lo. Barrey,
4to, 1611' (LPP.). For lawyers in Ram Alley, cf. 2. 5. 112.
38. fetch of. Cf. Gifford's variant, and Glossary. This use of of
is somewhat belated for Jonson's day, but probably he wrote it here
knowingly.
38-9. FIT. An odde bargaine, etc. Perhaps it is Lickfinger who
says this (cf. the next speech).
39-40. I must needs, You see who driues me, gentlemen. He
must needs go, wThom the Devil drives' (Ray, Proverbs). Cf. Pale
of a Tub 3. 5 :
Wife, I must go, needs, whom the devil drives.
41. Hee may be in time. See variant.
42-3. a Couy o'wits, . . . meales. Jonson had in mind here
An Epistle answering to one that asked to be sealed of the tribe of
Ben (Underwoods 65), which was written not long before The
Staple of News. Several passages in this play are reminiscent of
that poem.
43. call together. None of the dictionaries or glossaries gives
this phrase, or a meaning for the intransitive verb which approaches
the meaning here. Hence I have ventured to include this use in the
Glossary, and to characterize it as rare and obsolete except in
Sc. iv]
Notes
161
dialect. I have heard hunters say of a scattered flock of quail :
'They are calling together.'
49-50. O! the onely Oracle
That euer peept, or spake out of a dublet. 'The allusion
is to the heathen priests, who were E77aorpifivdoi, or had the art of
keeping their voice within, as if the demon spoke in their belly.
There is an allusion to this in the prophet Isaiah : "And when they
shall say unto you, seek unto them who have familiar spirits, and
unto wizards that peep and that mutter," viii. 19' (W.). 'Instead
of peep, Lowth has speak inwardly' (G.).
Jonson here alludes to the thick quilting of the doublet. 'Their
dublets are no lesse monstrous then the rest; for now the fashion
is to haue them hang down to the middle of their theighes, or
at least to their priuie members, being so hard quilted, stuffed, bom-
basted, and sewed, as they can neither worke, nor yet well playe in
them, through the excessiue heate thereof; and therefore are forced
to weare thë lose about them for the most part, otherwise they could
very hardly eyther stoupe or decline to the grounde, so stiffe and
sturdy they stand about them' (Stubbes, Anat. of Abuses, p. 44).
Strutt tells us that most of the fashions of Elizabeth's reign were
revived one after another in that of King James.
51. worse then a Fishmonger sleeues. 'This reproach is of no
modern date. The reader remembers the spiteful reflection in
Horace, whose father is supposed by some to have been a dealer
in fish :
Quoties ego vidi patrem tuum brachio se emungentem.'
—(G.)
54. possit. Cf. Macbeth 2. 2, and Malone's note : ' "Posset" says
Randle Holme, Academy of Armourie, b. iii, p. 84, "is hot milk
poured on ale or sack, having sugar, grated bisket, and eggs, with
other ingredients, boiled in it, which goes all to a curd." '
62. My meritorious Captaine (as I take it). Probably when
Shunfield—who no doubt is a piece of specific satire—was recom¬
mended for promotion from Muster-master to Captain (see lines
7-8) he had been spoken of as a 'meritorious' officer.
70. My worshipfull braue Courtier. I. e. Fitton.
76. And turning ouer for your Candle-rents. For candle-rent,
cf. Glossary. But what turning over means, I cannot even guess.
80. meere Bawd. P. Senior is a bawd in the same general sense
that any usurer is a bawd : he is an intermediary between Pecunia
and those who want to possess her. The epithet, however, seems
here to be applied loosely, as mere abuse.
93. attributes. I. e. dog and curre, or the qualities implied in
these names (see Glossary).
IÓ2
The Staple of News
[Act ii
98. Thank your dog-leech craft. 'In the days of bear-baiting
and bull-baiting, the poor dogs had a sorry time of it, and their
'leeches' on the bank drove a roaring trade. In the opening scene
of the Alchemist (vol. 4, p. 18) "dog-leach" is one of the worst
terms of abuse which Face can find for Subtle' (C).
102. What Arch was mended last. 'Two hundred years have
elapsed since this was written, and the observation still holds [1816].
This pernicious structure has wasted more money in perpetual
repairs than would have sufficed to build a dozen safe and com¬
modious bridges, and cost the lives, perhaps of as many thousand
people' (G.). The first London Bridge of stone was begun in 1176
and finished in 1209. It had twenty arches. The roadway was 926
feet long, 60 feet from the river, and 40 feet wide. In Jonson's
day it was getting old and crazy. In 1685 it was widened. The
first new London Bridge was begun in 1824, and finished in 1831.
The song which goes with the children's game, London Bridge is
falling down, etc., may have had its origin in the continual dilapida¬
tion of the ancient structure.
112. my Lords. In spite of the omission of the definite article
before this phrase, it seems to be used here as a common noun, in
much the same way as milord is now used on the Continent as a
name for English noblemen.
120. Blushet-Waxe. Cf. The Penates (GC. 6. 467) :
Go to, little blushet, for this, anan,
You'll steal forth a laugh in the shade of your fan.
122. Court, and Philosophy. Fitton and Almanach.
122-3. Gentlemen, . . . names. Pecunia. Gifford's punctua¬
tion is no doubt right. See variant.
your hope of Helicon. Madrigal is 'the hope of Helicon.'
144. Epitaph, etc. See Introduction, p. 52.
145. (Imagine it on departure). See on and departure in
Glossary.
151. porc'lane dishes. In 1671 Charles II. granted John Dwight
the first patent on porcelain ever given in England, upon the paten¬
tee's statement that wares of that kind had 'not hitherto been
wrought or made' in the Kingdom (cf. John Dwight in DNB.).
161. Make thee runne thorow a hoope, or a thombe-ring.
Strutt says (Sports and Pastimes, p. 229) : 'The performance of
leaping through barrels without heads, and through hoops, especially
the latter, is an exploit of long standing.' Strutt provides an
engraving, 'from a drawing in an ancient manuscript,' which pictures
these feats.
'The aldermen were distinguished by the thumb-ring, as may
appear from various passages in plays, ballads, etc. Thus FalstafF,
Sc. iv]
Notes
163
speaking of his youth, adds that then "he was so thin, that he could
have crept through an alderman's thumb-ring." 1 Hen. IV. 2. 4'
(Strutt, Antiq. 3. 101). Thumb-rings were often of agate cut in
cameo or intaglio. They were used as seals or signets, and probably
were worn only during business hours.
161-3. Make thee . . . knitting needle. Cf. Dekker, Witch
of Edmonton 5. 2 :
I'll stretch myself,
And draw this bulk small as a silver wire,
Enter the least pore tobacco-fume
Can make a breach for.
164. serue my subtill turnes. In this context, subtill turnes is a
troublesome phrase. The most obvious meaning is delicate or
ingenious turns of thought, changes of mood, etc. That turnes is
used in the sense of purposes is also suggested by semes. There
is a certain intelligibility about all this, but it allows only a vague
significance to the images in the three preceding lines, and to
Broker's next words. Compare Chapman's use of subtill in the
following passage (Iliad 9. 629) :
Patroclus then the men and maids required
To make grave Phoenix' bed with speed, and see he nothing lacks.
They straight obeyed, and thereon laid the subtile fruit of flax,
And warm sheep-fells for covering.
Subtill here has its original meaning (L, subtilis) of thin, fine,
finespun. Compare also Jonson's use of the word in 1. 1. 25:
Taylor thou art a vermine,
Worse then the same thou prosecutest, and prick'st
In subtill seame—
As for turne, Nares gives a meaning which is very helpful; namely,
a spinning-wheel. The whole image, then, is that of spinning a
fine thread of fancy. Hence the relevancy of the preceding images,
and of Broker's words :
I shall obey, sir,
And run a thred, like an houre-glasse.
For feeling and nerues (159-60), cf. Glossary.
169-81. I haue heard you ha' offered Sir, to lock vp smoake, etc.
Whalley says of this passage that 'it is improved with true comic
humour' from the passage in the Aulularia of Plautus quoted below.
Gilford says: 'The Aulularia was a great favourite with Jonson,
who has more obligations to it than Whajley was probably aware of.
Fitton's jeers are from the same source as Madrigal's.'
164
The Staple of News
[Act ii
Strobilvs.
quid ne got i sit, rogas?
pumex non aequest aridus atque hie est senex.
Congrio.
ain tandem it a esse ut dicis?
Strobilvs,
tute existima,
quin diuom atque hominum clamat continuo fidem,
suam rem perisse seque eradicarier,
de suo tigillo fumus si qua exit foras,
quin quam it dormitum, follem obstringit ob gulam.
Congrio.
cur?
Strobilvs.
ne quid animae forte amittat dormiens.
Congrio.
etiamne opturat inferiorem gutturem?
Strobilvs.
cur?
Congrio.
ne quid animae forte amittat dormiens.
Strobilvs.
haec ut mihi te, tibi me est aequom credere.
Congrio.
immo equidem credo.
Strobilvs.
at sein etiam quo modo?
aquam hercle plorat, quom lauat, profundere.
Congrio.
censen talentum magnum exorari pote
ab istoc sene ut det qui fiamus liberi?
Strobilvs.
famem hercle utendam, si roges, numquam dabit.
quin ipsi pridem tonsor unguis demserat,
conlegit, omnia abstulit praesegmina
—Aulularia, ed. Wagner, 2. 4. 16-34.
(Cf. Introd., p. 22.)
179. To fat old Ladies monkeyes. 'Spiders that kill a Man, cure
an Ape' (Fuller's Gnomologia, p. 182). Cf. Middleton, A Game at
Chess, ed. Bullen, 3. 1 :
To prevent that,
Your food shall be blackberries, and upon gaudy-days
A pickled spider, cut out like an anchovas:
I'm not to learn a monkey's ordinary.
Sc. iv]
Notes
Bullen notes : 'Compare Brome's City Wit : "Knavery is restoratiue
to me, as spiders to monkeys." Sig. fv. (Fiue New Playes, 1653).
Dyce. A monkey was sometimes called a spider-catcher.'
to stop balls with all. I. e. to stuff tennis balls with, 'A Moham¬
medan cruelty therefore is it to stuff breeches and tennis balls with
that, which when 'tis lost, all the hare-hunters in the world may
sweat their hearts out, and yet hardly catch again' (Dekker, Gull's
Hornbook, chap. 3). Beard as well as hair of the head, was used
as bombast, or stuffing. Cf. Coriolanus 2. 1. 97: 'And your beards
deserve not so honourable a grave as to stuff a botcher's cushion,
or to be entombed in an ass's pack-saddle.'
188. vicissitudes. A Latinism. See Glossary.
196. 'top of our house. Cf. The Devil is an Ass 4. 1 :
The top of woman ! All her sex in abstract.
202. old Harry Peny-boy. 'Harry groat, a groat coined by
Henry VIII ; the Old Harry groat is that which bears the King's
head with a long face and long hair' (NED.).
207. a slice of iuniper. 'Slice : A fire shovel ; a broad short-
handled fire-pan for wood fires. Dorset. "A slice, of the shape of
the ace of spades, a sort of firepan, flat and plain, without any edges
turn'd up by the sides." MS. Gloss.' (Halliwell, Diet.).
210. a Clapper Dudgeon. 'A Clapper-dudgeon, the Canting Dic¬
tionary informs us, is "a thorough-bred beggar, a beggar born of
a beggar." A clapper-dudgeon literally signifies one who claps his
wooden dish at the door, for broken meat, etc., as was once the
practice. . . . Daggers, or as they were more commonly called
knives, were worn at all times by every woman in England—whether
they were so in Italy, Shakspeare, I believe, never inquired, and I
cannot tell. In the haft of this universal appendage (for men also
wore them), there was of course much variety. The homeliest was
that a roelles, a plain piece of wood with an orbicular rim of iron
for a guard: the next in degree was the dudgeon, in which the
wood was gouged out in crooked channels, like what is now, and
perhaps was then called snail-cree ping' (G.). Cf. Macbeth 2. 1:
I see thee still;
And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood.
Here dudgeon plainly means the handle or haft of a dagger. For a
full discussion of the word dudgeon, see Furness's note on the lines
above. See also Cunningham's account of the 'progress of the word
to its present meaning,' 5. 452. 'The real clapper-dugeon, or beggar
born,' says hornbury (England 1. 264), 'was known by his peculiar
costume. He wore a patched cloak, a gown with high strong shoes,
and carried a brown dish at his girdle and a tassle to clean it;
i66
7 he Staple of News
[Act h
his head was covered with two greasy nightcaps and a hat.' On
page 286 Thornbury tells us that clapper-dudgeons 'were generally
Welshmen.'
Scene V.
SD. Broker. Pecvnia. . . . hid in the study. 'Evidently the
prompter's call on the actors required for the ensuing scene' (G.).
16-18. A Rogue, A very Canter, I Sir, one that maunds Vpon
the Pad. Rogue is used here in its more ancient sense of confirmed
or sturdy vagrant. Canter has precisely the same meaning. "Cant,
or cantingsays a sensible old writer, "is a term by which we do
usually express the gibberish of beggars and vagabonds." To maund
on the pad is to beg on the highway—somewhat, I believe, after
the impressive manner of Gil Bias' disabled soldier' (G.).
26-7. Vncle, he shall be a lohn . . . a better man. Gifford's
punctuation helps. His changes in And and An' are questionable.
Peniboy intends to make the Canter something pretty dignified—a
butler, or perhaps a steward on some one of his holdings. Cf. Fuller,
Gnomologia, p. 128: 'Jack in an Office, is a great Man.'
42-3. setting forth some Lady . . . Fleete. This speech
seems to belong to P. Senior. It is an answer to P. Junior's speech,
which is addressed to P. Senior rather than to the Canter. Besides,
is not the miser the one who would soonest remark Pecunia's
lavishness ?
England saw many fleets, great and small, furnished forth in the
later years of James and the first of Charles. In April 1623 James
equipped a fleet which was to fetch the Infanta to England. To
find the means for equipping fleets was a large part of the business
of Charles and his favorite, Buckingham. In the spring of 1625,
at an enormous expense, they fitted out a fleet of ninety vessels,
and in October sent them on an expedition against Cadiz. We read
in the Court and Times of Charles The First, p. 84 (letter to The
Rev. Joseph Mead, London, March 3, 1625-6) : 'Captain Pennington
is appointed admiral of thirty-two sail of ships riding now at Ply¬
mouth, most of them being those of the last fleet, which, where
they had but forty men before, have now eighty men in them, their
numbers being all doubled. Whether they are bound for Spain, to
visit the Spanish preparations by sea, or for Rochelle, as some
improbable surmise, time must tell us. We have some other smaller
fleets, as of sixteen ships, and others of less number, preparing forth
suddenly.' In the spring of 1628 the resources of Charles and his
favorite were tried to the utmost in getting ready a fleet which was
to raise the siege of Rochelle. •
Sc. v]
Notes
167
Cf. Lingua 4. 6: "Thus, 'tis five hours ago I set a dozen maids to
attire a boy like a nice gentlewoman; but there is such doing with
their looking-glasses, pinning, unpinning, setting, unsettings, form¬
ings, and conformings ; painting blue veins and bloomy cheeks ; such
a stir with sticks, and combs, cascanets, dressings, purls, falls, squares,
busks, bodice, scarfs, necklaces, carcanets, rabatoes, borders, tires,
fanns, palisadoes, puffs, ruffs, muffs, pusles, fusles, partlets, frislets,
bandlets, fillets, croslets, pendulets, amulets, bracelets, and so many
lets, that yet she's scarce drest to the girdle ; and now there is such
calling for fardingales, kirtles, buck points, shoe ties, etc. that seven
pedlars shops, nay all Stourbridge fair, will scarce furnish her.
A ship is sooner rigg'd by far, than a gentlewoman made ready.'
Lingua (1607, 4to) is a dramatic piece, partly morality and partly
masque, long ascribed to Anthony Brewer. See Dodsley's Old Plays,
4th ed., vol. 9. The resemblance between lines 42-3 and the closing
words of the passage quoted is remarkable. There can be little
doubt but that Jonson had those words in mind. Indeed the whole
passage is the complement of lines 42-3, and shows that they were
written in allusion to the dressing of a boy for a woman's part upon
the stage. Jonson was not given to adapting from contemporary
plays. Can it be that he wrote Lingua? To my mind¿ that play
savors throughout of Jonson in his more abstract moods.
50-7. And I haue my desire ... I doe not know. 'In this
passage,' says Gifford, 'there is an allusion to a very beautiful
passage in Apol. Rhodius, descriptive of the rising passion of Medea.'
The passage of which Gifford speaks is in Book 3. of the Argo-
nautica. Jonson has adapted it. In Arthur S. Way's translation it
stands thus :
Deep down in the maiden's bosom burned
His arrow like unto flame, and at Aison's son she cast
Side-glances of love evermore; and panted hard and fast
'Neath its burden the heart in her breast, nor did any remembrance remain
Of aught beside, but her soul was melted with rapturous pain.
And as some poor daughter of toil, who hath distaff ever in hand,
Heapeth the slivers of wood about a blazing brand
To lighten her darkness with splendour her rafters beneath, when her eyes
Have prevented the dawn; and the flame, upleaping in wondrous wise
From the one little torch, ever waxing consumeth all that heap;
So, burning in secret, about her heart, did he coil and creep,
Love, the destroyer: her soft cheeks' colour went and came,
Pale now, and anon, through her soul's confusion, with crimson aflame.
Cf. Cynthia's Revels, Induction : 'There Cupid strikes Money in
Love with the Prodigal,' etc. See Introd., p. 32.
59. That. That may refer to beauty, or it may refer to the whole
idea of the preceding line.
i68
The Staple of News
[Act ii
59-61. I cannot satisfie . . . beholding you. I. e. seeing you
is the only thing that makes me happy, but I cannot see enough
of you.
61. passe the complement. Cf. the old proverb: 'When quality
meets, compliments pass.'
65. I had such motions as the Sunne-beames make
Against a wall, etc. Cf. Aeneid 8. 25 :
Magno cur arum fluctuât aestu,
Atque animum nunc hue celerem, nunc dividit illuc,
In partis que rapit varias per que omnia ver sat:
Sicut aquae tremulum labris ubi lumen aenis
Sole repercussum, aut radiantis imagine Lunae,
Omnia pervolitat late loca, iamque sub auras
Erigitur summique ferit laquearía tecti.
In quoting this passage Gifford silently omits the second and third
verses.
73. They all kisse close. Cf. Alchemist 3. 2: 'Kiss, like a scallop,
close.' There Gifford says : 'We had this expression in Cynthia's
Revels ; it is an allusion to a little poem attributed to the emperor
Gallienus.
. . . non murmura vestra columbae,
Brachia non hederae, non vincant oscula conchae, etc.'
Cf. Cynthia's Revels 5. 2 : 'O, she kisses as close as a cockle.'
83-5. Me thinks my vncle, etc. 'This is not the first allusion
which we have had to the old proverb, A crafty knave needs no
broker' (G.). Gifford had in mind Every Man In 3. 5. Cf. also
Catiline 2. 1.
xoi. Are you aduis'd. 'I. e. have you found out that? Has it
struck you? It is a proverbial phrase, and used as a gentle note of
admiration' (G.).
101-2. Now o'my faith, this Canter
Would make a good graue Burgesse in some Barne.
Probably this is an allusion to the custom of beggars of gathering
in barns, which served them as inns, or hostelries. The Hostess of
the Beggers in Dekker's Bel-man of London (Non-Dram. Works
3. 110), at the end of her account of the sorts and conditions of
her tribe, says : 'If you haue a desire to know more of them, you
shall find whole congregations of them at Saint Quint ens, The
Three-Cranes in the Vintry, Saint Tybs, and at Knapsburie, which
foure places are foure seuerall barnes within one mile compassé
neere London, being but Nick-names giuen to them by the Upright-
men: In those Innes doe they lodge euery night.' The Upright-
man, the hostess tells us, was the 'chiefest' of the whole tribe. He
was the tyrant, and, we may infer, the magistrate (burgesse) of their
Sc. v]
Notes
169
assemblies. Probably Picklock here thinks of the Canter as a beggar
of this rank.
113. Ram-Alley. See note on 2. 4. 36.
120. Come forth. Picklock takes come forth in the sense of to be
born. See Glossary.
121-3. Pokahontas (as the Historian calls her
And great Kings daughters of Virginia). 'This historian
was John Smith, a famous traveller, and by far the most enterprising
of the first Virginian settlers. He seems to have been the prototype
of John Buncle, and in the dedication of his curious History of
Virginia [1624], to the Duchess of Richmond, thus enumerates his
bonnes fortunes: "Yet my comfort is, that heretofore honourable
and virtuous ladies, and comparable but among themselves, have
offered me rescue and protection in my greatest dangers. Even in
forraine parts, I have felt relief from that sex. The beauteous
Lady Trabigzonda [Arber, Tragabigzandaj, when I was a slave to
the Turks, did all she could to secure me. When I overcame the
Bashaw of Nalbritz in Tartaria, the charitable Lady Callamata
supplyed my necessities. In the utmost of my [Arber, many]
extremities, that blessed Pokahontas, the great king's daughter of
Virginia, oft saved my life," etc.'(G.).
In 1616, with her husband, John Rolfe, and her child, Pocahontas
went to England. There she renewed her friendship with Captain
Smith. The queen paid her marked attention. In 1617, in company
with the queen, she attended the Twelfth Night mask. This was
Jonson's Christmas, and perhaps the poet saw her then, possibly
talked with her. A few weeks later she died on ship-board at
Gravesend, when on the point of departure for America. Smith
died in 1631, the year our play was printed.
127. Dine in Apollo. The St. Dunstan Tavern, or, as it was
commonly called, The Devil Tavern/stood in Temple Bar. It took
its name from the church of St. Dunstan, which was nearly
opposite. 'But the painted sign represented St. Dunstan pulling
the Devil by the nose, and it naturally came to be called by the
name of the more popular of the two personages. ... In the time
of Ben Jonson, who has given a lasting reputation to the house,
the landlord's name was Simon Wadloe [d. 1627],—the original of
Old Sir Simon the King," the favourite air of Squire Western, in
Tom Jones. . . . The great room was called "The Apollo!"
Thither came all who desired to be "sealed of the tribe of Ben."
Here Jonson lorded it, with greater authority than Dryden did
afterwards at Will's, or Addison at Button's. The rules of the
club, Leges Convivales, drawn up in the pure and elegant Latin of
Jonson, and placed over the chimney, were, it is said, "engraven in
i7° The Staple of News [Act ii
[black] marble." In The Tatler (No. 79) they .are described as
being "in gold letters" ; and this account agrees with the rules
themselves—in gold letters upon board—still preserved in the bank¬
ing-house of the Messrs. Child, with another and equally interesting
relic of the Devil Tavern—the bust of Apollo. The laws were prob¬
ably drawn up in 1624, as on June 19th of that year John Chamber¬
lain sends to Sir Dudley Carleton as an interesting novelty certain
convivial laws of Ben Jonson "laid down for a chamber in the inn
of the Devil and St. Dunstan by Temple Bar" ' {LPP.). LPP. cites
the passage now in hand, and lines 8-10 in 3. 3, to show that 'ladies
appear to have been occasionally admitted to the social meetings at
the Apollo.' Above the door of the Apollo room were Jonson's
verses :
Welcome all who lead or follow,
To the Oracle of Apollo—
Here he speaks out of his pottle,
Or the tripos, his tower bottle:
All his answers are divine,
Truth itself doth flow in wine.
Hang up all the poor hop-drinkers,
Cries old Sim, the king of skinkers;
He the half of life abuses,
That sits watering with the Muses.
Those dull girls no good can mean us;
Wine it is the milk of Venus,
And the poet's horse accounted:
Ply it, and you all are mounted.
'Tis the true Phoebian liquor,
Cheers the brains, makes wit the quicker.
Pays all debts, cures all diseases,
And at once three senses pleases.
Welcome all who lead or follow,
To the Oracle of Apollo.
When the poet was gone, the words inscribed upon his tomb in
Westminster, 'O Rare Ben Jonson,' were set beneath these lines.
'At the Mermaid,' says Wheatley (ed. Ev. Man In, Introd., p. 60)
'Jonson had his rivals, but at the "Devil" in Fleet Street he
reigned omnipotent. When he started the "Apollo" Club is not
known, but it was probably not long before 1616, when the Devil
is an Ass was acted, which was written "when I and my boys
drank bad wine at the Devil." '
The Devil Tavern was a popular resort for men of letters for a
century and a half after Jonson's death. In 'the spring of I751/
says Cunningham, 'we find Johnson, like his earlier namesake,
making a night of it at the Devil.' Gifford says (9. 7°) : 1 ie
Apollo, of which a print was published in 1774» appears to have been
a handsome room, large and lofty, and furnished with a gallery
Sc. v]
Notes
171
for music. It was frequently used for balls, etc., and here Dr.
Kenrick gave, about 1775, his Lectures on Shakspeare.' 'In 1787/
says LPP., 'Messrs. Child bought the freehold, pulled down the
whole of the tavern premises, and erected Child's Place [a bank
building] on the site.'
135. And have her Armes set vp there, with her Titles. 'It
was the custom for foreign princes and noblemen of high rank or
office, to set up their arms and titles in the places through which
they passed, or the Inns in which they lodged. Thus our author in
his Discoveries : "The German lord, when he went out of Newgate
into the cart, took order to have his arms set up in his last har-
borough." Nor is the custom unknown in this country. The arms
and titles of the Lord Lieutenants of Ireland are usually set up in
the inns in which they occasionally rest on their journey to the
coast' (G.).
SECOND INTERMEAN
2-3. pray God, some on vs be not a witch. King James himself
had in 1597 written a book on witchcraft, called Demonology. The
third and last Act against witchcraft was passed soon after his
accession to the throne of England. This Act was law for more
than a century; it was repealed by George II. in 1736. The last
trial for witchcraft in England was that of Jane Wenham in Hert¬
ford in 1712. She was convicted, but not executed. 'Trials in
England were most numerous,' says Encyc. Brit.,, 'in the 17th cen¬
tury. In the case of the Lancashire witches in 1634 seventeen
persons were condemned on the evidence of one boy. In the period
from 1645 to 1647 between two and three hundred are said to have
been indicted in Suffolk and Essex alone, of whom more than half
were convicted.' In general, witches were haggard old women.
Brand (Antiq, 3. 7) quotes from an old tract called Round about
our Coal Fire : 'She must be of so dry a nature, that if you fling
her into a river she will not sink.' But sometimes comparatively
young persons were accused of being witches. So unquestioning
was the belief in witchcraft, and so intense the feeling against it,
that those accused of being witches often came to believe in their
own guilt. Blackstone tells us (Comm. 4. 61) that 'many poor
wretches were sacrificed to the prejudices of their neighbors and
their own illusions ; not a few having, by some means or other,
confessed the fact at the gallows.' Probably nearly every female
of mature years was occasionally visited by the fear that she herself
might turn out to be a witch. It is a tremor of this kind that makes
Censure say: 'Pray God, some on vs be not a witch.'
172
The Staple of News
[2D Int.
3. to forespeake the matter thus. 'I. e. to foretell, and thus incur
the suspicion of dealing with a familiar' (G.).
11-13. here's neuer a Fiend, etc. See note on ist Intermean, line
33. See also Furness' note on the Vice, Hamlet 3. 4. 98.
16. Hokos Pokos. 'Appears early in 17th c., as the appellation
of a juggler (and, apparently as the assumed name of a particular
conjuror) derived from the sham Latin formula used by him'
(NED.). NED. cites Tillotson, Sermon 26 : 'In all probability those
common juggling words of hocus pocus are nothing else but a cor¬
ruption of hoc est corpus, by way of ridiculous imitation of the
priests of the Church of Rome in their trick of Transubstantiation.'
NED. says in substance that Tillotson's conjecture is the only
authority for this origin of hocus pocus. Brand says (Antiq. 3. 61) :
'Ady, in his Candle in the Dark, p. 29, speaking of common jugglers,
that go up and down to play their tricks in fairs and markets, says:
"I will speak of one man more excelling in that craft than others,
that went about in King James his time, and long since, who called
himself the King's Majesties most excellent Hocus Pocus, and so
was he called, because at the playing of every trick he used to say:
'Hocus pocus tontus, talontus, vade celeriter jubeo,' a dark com¬
posure of words to blinde the eyes of beholders." ' Hone, the editor
of Strutt, in a foot-note (Antiq. 3. 61) says of line 14: 'This is
the earliest mention I have found of this term.' Jonson used it,
however, in the Masque of Augurs, 1622 (GC. 7. 420) : 'Hocos
Pocos! Paucos Palahr os.'
19. I have had better newes, etc. All omit had, and to the
detriment of the sense.
26-7. in the styling her Infanta, and giving her three names.
'I cannot give the reader the three names of the Infanta Maria of
Spain; but this is plainly an allusion to them. Charles returned
from his ill-fated visit to the princess, in October 1623, and the
match was finally broken off a few months before the appearance of
this play; Gossip Censure therefore might have spared her zeal on
the young lady's account, who was not much in favour at this time'
(G.). In a supplementary note (GC. 9. 503) Cunningham refers to
Gifford's note above and says : 'I was myself equally unsuccessful,
but found eventually that Gifford had put me on the wrong track.
When Jonson called his imaginary personage Aurelia Clara Pecunia,
the Infanta whom he had in view was not the lady whom prince
Charles had sought to win, but her far more celebrated aunt, the
daughter of Philip the Second, and governess of the Netherlands,
whose names of Isahella Clara Eugenia, so exactly chiming in with
those of Jonson's ideal princess, I discovered in the notes of the
"Discourses held between the Sieurs Rubens and Gerbier," Saints-
2d Int.]
Notes
173
bury's Rubens, p. 60.' No doubt Jonson intended Pecunia to suggest
the Spanish princess. In so far, she may be regarded as a special
satire directed at the royal fortune-hunters and their advisers. But
Pecunia has two other aspects : ( 1 ) she typifies the deity of money-
lovers the world over. In this aspect she answers more nearly to
the abstract character of her chief classical original, the god Plutus
in the Aristophanic play of that name (cf. Introduction, p. 20).. (2)
She has an alchemical aspect. Doubtless, if the Spanish princess had
three names, Jonson had those names in mind when he gave Pecunia
three; perhaps, too, as Cunningham thinks, he had in mind her aunt,
the governess of the Netherlands; but he also had in mind the
doctrine, found in the writings of all the leading alchemistical
philosophers, that gold is a trinity. This doctrine is stated at the
end of Part I. of the Coelum Philosophorum of Paracelsus (trans,
by A. E. Waite 1. 11) in tabular form thus:
'Gold is in its i i Celestial \ ¡ ( Dissolved
Essence three- •' 2 Elementary ; . ! Fluid
fold ( 3 Metallic > ' ( Corporeal.'
Jonson plainly alludes. to the supposed triune nature of gold in
i. 6. 44-6:
Her name is,
Or rather her three names are (for such she is)
Aurelia Clara Pecunia.
So also in Mirth's words in lines 24-5 : 'Do they any more, but
expresse the property of money?' This third aspect of Pecunia
served as a stalking-horse, behind which Jonson aimed his darts.
In case too sharp exception were taken to his satire, it might serve
also as an excuse and a refuge. At the same time that she expresses
this view of the meaning of Pecunia (lines 23-29), Gossip Mirth
—with a sly wink, I imagine—disclaims all personal reference.
Possibly, however, the applicability of the satire to the Spanish
match explains why the Staple of Nezvs was received with silence.
See Introduction, pp. 19-20.
Gifford, I think, misunderstands lines 22-35 ; it is Pecunia who
is abused. The two Gossips are at cross-purposes : Mirth has
some perception of the allegory, Censure has none. Censure con¬
siders it abuse to Pecunia to give her three names, and stile her
Infanta. Mirth takes it that Censure speaks in behalf of the
Spanish princess. What would be the harm, she says, even in
speaking of the Infanta of the Beggers, etc. But Censure—if there
were none wiser than she,—would sozv the poet in a sack and send
him by sea to his Princesse, i. e. certainly to the Spanish Infanta,
whom he so admires that he names an honorable princess like
Pecunia after her.
174
The Staple of News
; 2D INT.
The Spanish marriage had been almost universally execrated.
A Catholic queen on the throne of England! The joy of the people
was boundless when Charles returned, and it became rumored that
the match was off. Jonson celebrated the event in a Mask, Neptune's
Triumph for the Return of Albion, which was presented with unusual
magnificence in January 1624. But though as a Spaniard, and a
possible Catholic queen of England, the Infanta was an object of
execration, Osborne tells us (Secret Hist., p. 157) that 'the most
generali no lesse then the least suspected reports made her alone
owner, (though small in stature,) of the greatest beauty, virtue,
gallantry, and prudence, that were at that day extant in woman-kind.'
33. but what is subject to exception. I. e. but that it is liable
to be objected to.
45. to say she came foorth of a Tauern was said
like a paltry Poet. 'This is said, however, by the writers of
her life. The blessed Pocahontas was in womb of tavern both at
Deptford and Gravesend' (G.).
52. Butter. An allusion to Nathaniel Butter. See Introduction.
54. butter-box. 'A Dutchman, from the great quantity of butter
eaten by the people of that country' (Grose, Lexicon). 'Dutchmen,
who were ludicrously called butter-boxes, from their traffick in
salted butter' (Nott, note on Gull's Hornbook, chap. 7). 'Butter-
mouth, a contemptuous epithet for a Dutchman = Butter-box'
(NED.).
66. Or to the time of yeer. I. e. contrary to (cf. line 61).
67. Almond butter. NED. cites: 'c. 1440. Anc. Cookery in
Househ. Ord. (1790) 447. Botyr of Almondes. Take almonde
mylke, and let hit boyle, and in the boylinge cast thereto a lytel wyn
or vynegur. Cogan. Haven Heath (1636) 382. An other kinde of
butter made of Almonds with Sugar and Rose water, called Almond
Butter. 1753. Chambers Cycl. Supp., Almond-butter is a prepara¬
tion made of cream and whites of eggs boiled; to which is after¬
wards added, blanched almonds.'
71. mad butter. 'The allusion is to the old proverb, Butter is mad
twice a year, i. e., in July, when it is too soft, and in December, when
it is too hard' (G.).
TO THE READERS
'This Act, it appears, gave offence, and therefore Jonson thought
proper to prefix the following notice to it, before the play was given
to the press. It argues very little for the good sense of the audience
to take offence at a piece of satire so just and well timed, as this
evidently was. Not one part in a thousand of the ridiculous stories
Act m. Sc. i]
Notes
175
fabricated and propagated in the poet's time as authentic news, is
come down to us ; and yet more than enough remains to prove that
the public credulity was imposed upon by the Plttons of the day,
in the most gross and shameless manner' (G.). 'There is no reason
why this notice, on which Jonson placed such importance, should
have been detached from the text, and degraded in smaller type to
a note' (C). See variants.
12. hunger and thirst. Nouns, and in the same construction as
folly, line II.
ACT III. Scene I.
14. in pompe. With full ranks, and in all the panoply of office.
31. With all the migniardise, and quaint Caresses. 'This is
pure French. Cotgrave has : "Mignardise : quaintnesse, neatnesse,
daintinesse, wantonesse; smooth or fair speech ; kind usage." Jonson
had before used the adjective migniard. See The Devil is an Ass
[2. i : "Love is brought up with those soft migniard handlings"]' (C.).
32. Thou seem'st . . . Courtier. 'Alluding to Picklock's use
of the French word migniardise (affected delicacy of speech or
behavior), which was probably one of the perfumed terms of the
time' (G.).
34. Vertumnus. An Etruscan and Roman divinity, supposed to
preside over gardens and orchards and the changes of the seasons.
He had the power of assuming any shape he pleased.
37. like a turne-pike. T. e. a turnstile. It is probable that, in
Jonson's time, the roads or rather lanes, had 110 other barriers than
these, which every one opened for himself' (G.).
48. And hard, but, etc. Elliptical for and it shall go hard. Gifford
cites from Gent. Recreat. : * "Retrieve is when partridges having been
sprung, are to find again." ' Cf. Glossary. Hone says ( Strutt's
Sports and Pastimes, p. 23, note) : 'At the commencement of the
seventeenth century, it [hawking] seems to have been in the zenith
of its glory. Hentzner, who wrote his Itinerary in 1598, assures us
that hawking was the general sport of the English nobility, at the
same time, most of the treatises upon this subject were written.
At the close of the same century, the sport was rarely practised,
and a few years afterwards hardly known.'
51. What did I say? etc. Cf. lines 1-11
Scene II.
7. writes Clericus. Signs himself Clericus.
10. Two doe not doe one Office \yell. Possibly a playful allusion
to the legal prohibition of holding two benefices, or two lay offices,
at the same time.
176
The Staple of News
[Act in
il. to lose my curtesies. To have my kind acts go unacknowl¬
edged.
23. Is the Emperor dead? This was Ferdinand II, King of
Bohemia and Hungary, and Emperor of Rome—that is, of the Holy
Roman Empire. In December 1625, and November 1627, respec¬
tively, he resigned the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia to his son,
Ferdinand III.
24. And trades a pike now vnder Tilly. Johann Tzerklas, or
Tserclaes (1559-1632), Count Tilly, a Belgian by birth, was the great
leader of the Imperial forces, or forces of the Catholic League,
during the first fourteen years of the Thirty Years' War, i. e. from
1618 to 1632, See Schiller's Wallenstein.
Traile. Cf. the modern military phrase, trail arms, to grasp a rifle
with the right hand a little in front of the balance-point, so that
the piece hangs with the butt near ground in the rear, and the
muzzle in front, pointing obliquely upward.
A pike consisted of a long shaft with a sharp iron head. 'It
continued in use, although reduced in length, throughout the 17th c.,
and was replaced by the bayonet as the latter was improved' (CD.).
26. Spinola. Spinola, Marquis of Ambrosio (1570-1630), an
Italian in the service of Spain. He was the leader of the Spanish
army in the Netherlands. He conquered the Palatinate in 1620.
In May 1625 he took Breda, after a siege of ten months.
27. All are alike true, and certaine. 'They [the Corantoes] have
used this trade so long, that now every one can say "It's even as
true as a couranto"; meaning that it's all false' (Harl. Misc. 9. 331).
Cf. line 94.
28. fifth Monarchy. The monarchy which, according to a literal
interpretation of Daniel's prophecy, was to succeed the four great
monarchies of Antichrist—Assyria, Persia, Greece, and Rome.
Christ was to be its king, and reign a thousand years on earth.
29-31. vntill the ecclésiastique . . . Both in one person.
As reported in lines 21-2.
32. See but Maximilian. Maximilian I., Duke of Bavaria, the
founder of the Catholic League, and the supporter, in the Thirty
Years' War, of the cause of Ferdinand II. of Bohemia against King
James' son-in-law, the Elector-Palatine, Frederick II. Green's
History, 3. 104-20, contains an excellent view of the general political
situation at that time.
Protestantism throve especially in Bohemia and Austria; but under
Rudolf II. (1576-1612) a strong reaction, due for the most part to
the Jesuits, set in. In 1608 the Evangelical Union, and in 1609 the
Catholic League, were formed to protect their respective interests.
The Emperor Matthias gave certain guarantees of liberty, but in
Sc. ii]
Notes
177
1617 Ferdinand of Styria, who had been educated a Jesuit, was
crowned King of Bohemia, and persecution at once began. The
Protestants declared Ferdinand deposed, and invited the Elector-
Palatine, Frederick, to the throne of Bohemia. Frederick accepted,
and in 1618 the Thirty Years' War began.
33-34. Baron of Bouttersheim, etc. Bouttersheim and Scheiter-
huyssen, I think, are coinages of Jonson's brain. By Liechtenstein,
however, he probably meant the little principality of that name, lying
in the mountainous region between Austria and Switzerland. It
has an area of sixty-five square miles, and, excepting Monaco and
San Marino, is the smallest independent state in Europe, Its politi¬
cal insignificance was probably Jonson's main reason for introducing
it here.
37. he is dispenc'd with all. I. e. he is exempted from becoming
a priest.
40. They haue bin thought so long, and rightly too. In 1604
all Jesuits were commanded to leave England. In 1605 Garnet, the
Provincial of the English Jesuits, was executed for complicity in the
Gunpowder Plot. 'Though he had shrunk from all part in the plot,'
says Green (Hist. 3. 64), 'its existence had been made known to
him by another Jesuit, Greenway; and horror-stricken as he rep¬
resented himself to have been he had kept the secret and left the
Parliament to its doom.'
44. Vittellesco. I have found nothing about this person,
46. his excellence. Don Spinola.
48. wilde fire. See Glossary. Jonson has in mind something
highly explosive, as well as inflammable.
49-50. beleaguer no more towns. See note on line 26.
61. an inuisible Eele. The general idea of the submarine
destroyer, it appears, is at least as old as Jonson.
62. Dunkirke. A port on the strait of Dover, in the department
of Nord, France.
63. Why ha'not you this, Thom? Cf. Gifford's reading: 'Why
have not you this, Tom?' Cunningham says: 'It is in vain to
speculate why this has been changed from the "haven't you this"
of the original.' Another variation in copies of the Folio.
85. The Eele-boats. 'Close to Queen-hythe, was Brooke's Wharf,
and during Lent the Dutch eel boats lay here very thick. "At this
time of the year the pudding-house at Brooke's Wharf is watched
by the Hollanders eeles-ships, lest the inhabitants, contrary to the
law, should spill the blood of innocents, which would be greatly to
the hindrance of these butter-boxes." Westward for Smelts, 1603
or 1623. Percy Soc., p. 5' (C). A pamphlet published in 1615
complains that nearly all the sea-fish eaten in England was supplied
i78
The Staple of News
[Act in
by the Hollanders, and this too from British waters. Another, dated
1614, estimates the number of Hollanders then engaged in the indus¬
try at 20,000 (cf. Harl. Misc. 3. 395 if.; 4. 212-231). Probably the
Hollanders also supplied the English most of their eels.
'Hithe, Hythe. A port or haven, especially a small haven or land¬
ing-place on a river. Now obs. exc. in hist, use, and in place-names,
as Hythe, Rotherhithe, Lambeth (orig. Lamb-hithe), Hithe Bridge
at Oxford, and Bablock Hithe on the Thames above Oxford'
(NED.). 'Next unto Bread Street Ward, on the south side thereof,
is Queen Hithe, so called of a water gate, or harbour for boats,
lighters, and barges; and was of old time for ships, at that time
the timber bridge of London was drawn up, for the passage of them
to the said hithe, as to a principal strand for landing and unlading
against the midst and heart of the city. This Edred's hithe, after
the aforesaid grants, came again to the King's hands, by what means
I have not read, but it pertained to the queen, and therefore was
called Ripa reginae, the Queen's bank, or Queen's hithe, and great
profit thereof was made to her use" (Stow, Survey, p. 134).
88. But what if Spinola haue a new Proiect. ' "Spinola and
Gundomar, between them, had, in 1620, completely succeeded in
mystifying James as to the move upon the Palatinate." Spedding's
Bacon 7. 112' (C.).
90. Harwich. A seaport town of Essex, situated on a small
peninsula which projects into the estuary of the Stour and Orwell,
seventy miles north-east of London.
98-102. They write from Libtzig . . . tincture. A jibe at
the users of perfume. This art is mentioned in Devil is an Ass
also. For the 'Brotherhood of the Rosie-Crosse,' see note on
4. 2. 34.
105. spirit. The extraction.
106-8. perpetual Motion . . . Alewife in Saint Katherines
. . . tap. This alewife is no doubt identical with the person
mentioned in the Masque of Augurs (1623) as the keeper of the
'Three Dancing Bears in St. Kathrine's ... a distressed lady,
whose name for the honour of Knight-hood, will not be known.'
The words of the mask explain why The Dancing Bears was so
popular that its ale-tap might be called a perpetual motion.
The physicist's perpetual motion was also heard of in those days.
One of the most famous perpetual-motion devices of all time was
contrived by a contemporary of Jonson's, Edward Somerset, Marquis
of Worcester (1601-1667). When he began we do not know, but
from 1626 on he gave much time to mechanical experiments, and
about 1638 he claimed to have solved the problem of perpetual
motion, and exhibited his device to Charles I. in the Tower.
Sc. ii]
Notes
179
Saint Katherines. A precinct or liberty extending from the
Tower of London to Ratcliffe. It derived its name from St.
Katherine's by the Tower, a royal hospital, college, or free chapel
founded in 1148 by Matilda, wife of King Stephen. In the time of
Henry VII. it was noted for breweries.
115. We'll stand it out here. We may take stand it (1) as a
phrase, meaning simply stand, as to walk it means to walk. Then
the whole expression means, we'll stand, or remain standing, out¬
side here, or perhaps simply remain. Or (2) we may take stand it
out as a phrase, meaning to wait. I see no choice between these two
interpretations. Stand it, in the sense of put up with, or endure, is a
modern colloquialism.
115-16. and obserue your Office What Newes it issues. What
depends not upon observe, but on another verb, either of seeing or
hearing, implied in observe : i. e. observe your office to see, or hear,
what news it issues. Cf. Hamlet 1. 1 :
And let us once again assail your ears,
That are so fortified against our story,
What we two nights have seen.
See also Abbott, Shak. Gram., p. 172.
116-20. house of fame, etc. Jonson was thinking of the House
of Daedalus and House of Fame (cf. House of Fame 3. 830 if.).
See Introd., p. 22.
120. the Cornu copiae of her rumors. 'Cornu-copia, the horn of
plenty, which, according to the fable, afforded good store of all
things that could be wish'd for, by a peculiar privilege that Jupiter
gave nurse Amalthea : whence it is figuratively taken for great
plenty or abundance in all things' (Phillips, New World of Words,
1706).
124. I. Cust. 'A marginal note describes this first customer as a
dopper (dipper) or she-Baptist' (G.). 'I have four copies of the
folio, the only version, and in no one of them is there mention of
a dopper in this place. The marginal note is simply: T. Cust. A
she-baptist.' But in the text where Gifford prints T. Cust.' Jonson
wrote Dop' (C). For more about Doppers, see News from the New
World, GC. 7. 342.
125. Saints at Amsterdam. Cf. Fletcher, Fair Maid of the Inn,
ed. Dyce, 4. 2: 'School. I am a schoolmaster, sir, and would fain
confer with you about erecting four new sects of religion at Amster¬
dam.' Dyce notes : 'Allusions to Amsterdam as the receptacle of
fanatics from all quarters of Europe, are very frequent in our early
dramas.' Cf. Alchemist 2. 1 :
. . . for the holy brethren
Of Amsterdam, the exiled saints.
i8o
The Staple of News
[Act hi
There Cunningham notes : 'English and Scotch exiles of the highest
virtue and piety were collected together in Amsterdam. John Canne,
on the title-page of his Necessity of Separation, calls himself "Pastor
of the Ancient English Church in Amsterdam." They were Brown-
ists.' Brownists, a seceding sect which sprang up towards the close
of the 16th c. The sect was driven out of England, took refuge
in Holland, and there, sometime between 1593 and 1608, established
a church.
128-30. The Prophet Baal . . . Naometry. 'This was
intended to ridicule the fanatics of those days, who dealt much in
expounding the prophecies contained in the Revelations, and applied
them to themselves. We read, that the woman fled from the face
of the serpent into the wilderness, where she was nourished for a
time, and times, and half a time, Revel, xii. 14. By the prophet
Baal, is meant any factious leader like John Baal, a Kentish minister,
and fomenter of the rebellion by Wat Tyler in Richard the lid's
time' (W.). 'It was not necessary for the poet to have recourse to
the times of Richard II. for a fanatic; his own age furnished them
in abundance; Osborne says that many of the puritans believed
prince Henry to be prefigured in the Apocalypse, and boldly prophe¬
sied that he should overthrow the beast ; and that .one Ball, a tailor,
(and not improbably, the person whom Jonson had in view) was so
far over-run with this lunacy, "as to put out money on adventure,
i. e. to receive it back, double or treble, when James himself should
be elected Pope!" Traditional Mémoires of James I. sec. 38' (G.).
Cf. Fair Maid of the Inn 5. 2 : 'And the very Ball of your false
prophets, he's quashed too.' Cf. Pan's Anniv. : 'We have a prophet
amongst us of that peremptory pate, a tailor or master-fashioner,
that hath found it out in a painted cloth, or some old hanging, (for
those are his library) that we must conquer in such a time, and such
a half time.'
132. and set out by Archie. 'The old copy has a marginal note
here—Archie mourn'd then. This was Archibald Armstrong, jester
to James and Charles I. Why he was in black, does not appear.
The court was then in mourning, indeed, for the death of James:—
but Archy might also be in disgrace, and condemned to sable for
some act of impertinence. This licentious buffoon was something
of a fool, more than a knave, and altogether a meddling and mis¬
chievous agent of the factious in church and state. James contrived
to keep him in some order by means of the whip, which was fre¬
quently exercised upon him to advantage; but the unfortunate
Charles, with whom he was a favourite, gave a loose to his scurrility,
which he had more than one occasion to regret. The great object
of Archy's malignity were bishops, and of them, more particularly
Sc. ii]
Notes
i8i
Laud, who has been blamed for noticing his attacks. "As Laud was
at the head of state," says the author of the Discourse on Irony,
p. 71, "he should have despised the jests of a fool, and not been
hurried on to speak against him, (in the Privy Council,) but left it
to others who would have been glad, upon the least intimation, to
pay their court, by sacrificing a fool to his resentment." This has
been repeated a thousand times ; but there is neither truth nor
wisdom in the observation. Archy was a rancorous bigot to the
discipline of the Church of Scotland; this was quickly perceived by
the favourers of the puritans about the court, and they hastened
to avail themselves of his prejudices, by secretly instigating him to
scurrilous jests upon Laud, as the readiest means of bringing the
hierarchy into contempt. Not to know this, argues a very imperfect
acquaintance with the history of those disastrous times. Even
Osborne, who neither loved Laud nor his cause, has the candor to
acknowledge that Archy not only "carried on the contention against
the prelates for divers years, but received such encouragement, that
he often, in his own hearing, belched in his face such miscarriages
as he was really guilty of, and might, but for this foul-mouth'd Scot,
have been forgotten : adding such other reproaches of his own, as
the dignity of the Archbishop's calling and greatnesse of his parts
could not in reason or manners admit." Advice to a Son, Pt. ii,
p. 12' (G.). See DNB.
151. Amboyna. Amboyna, the most important of the Moluccas,
or Spice Islands. The Portuguese, who were the first Europeans
to settle there, were dispossessed by the Dutch in 1605. About 1615
the British formed a settlement on the island at Cambello. In 1623
the Dutch destroyed this settlement, with circumstances of great
atrocity. Gifford is eloquent upon the theme (see his note). In
1654 Cromwell exacted ¿300,000 and a small island from the United
Provinces for the outrage. Gifford says the massacre 'took place
in 1622, but the news of it did not reach this country till the com¬
mencement of 1624, so that the horror of it was in all its freshness.'
Cunningham says : 'In point of fact, the massacre of Amboyna took
place on the 17th of February, 1624, and the news of it did not
reach England till the commencement of 1625.' Johnson's Encyclo¬
pedia gives the year as 1623. Dryden wrote a play upon this theme.
164. And making them good, eating Christians. Gifford deletes
the comma after good, thereby hiding Jonson's jest.
161-4. a colony of cookes, etc. Probably these lines contain an
allusion to the popular belief that cooks were atheists. This, as
Knight tells us (London 1. 383), 'was supposed to be the result of
their knowledge from the world abroad—for travel was then neces¬
sary to make an accomplished cook.'
i82
The Staple of News
[Act hi
165. Colonell. 'In the 17th c. colonell was trisyllabic, and was
often accented (in verse) on the last syllable. But by 1669 it began
to be reduced in pronunciation to two syllables' (NED.).
178. old Iaphets. Whalley quotes from Underwoods 41 : An Ode
To Himself :
Then take in hand thy lyre,
Strike in thy proper strain,
With Japhet's line, aspire
Sol's chariot for new fire,
To give the world again.
with this remark : 'He means Prometheus, the son of Japetus, who,
as the poets say, was assisted by Minerva, in the formation of his
man, whom he animated with fire taken from the chariot of the Sun.'
189. To strew out the long meale. Cf. Underwoods 65 :
To vent their libels, and to issue rhymes,
i have no portion in them, nor their deal
Of news they get, to strew out the long meal.
191. any Proclamations. These were doubtful and expectant
times for London. Under date of Jan. 19, 1625-6, we read in the
Court and Times of Charles I., p. 72: 'Here be daily proclamations
come forth; one strict enough against papists and recusants, if it
may be duly executed; but it is thought to look toward the parlia¬
ment, which is to begin the 6th of February.'
200. A Precept for the wearing of long haire. 'Jonson liked
this joke. He told Drummond [GC. 9. 404], "One who wore side
hair, being asked of one other, who was bald, why he suffered his
hair to grow so long, answered, It was to see if his haire would
grow to seed, that he might sow of it on bald pates" ' (C.).
206. And Coachmen
To mount their boxes, reuerently. 'This seems to be a part
of Tom's speech: I imagine Lickfinger ought not to speak till he
asks the question, Have you no news of the stage? and I have
accordingly reformed the speeches in that manner' (W.). 'There
was no need of change : but I have not disturbed Whalley's reforma¬
tion, as he calls it' (G.).
Cf. Devil is an Ass 2. 1 :
. . . six mares to your coach, wife!
That's your proportion! and your coachman bald,
Because he shall be bare enough.
There Gifford says: 'It appears from innumerable passages in our
old plays, that it was then considered as a particular mark of state
and grandeur for the coachmen to be uncovered.'
Sc. h]
Notes
183
208. Like Lapwings. 'A well-known bird of the plover family,
Vanellus vulgaris or cristatus, common in the temperate parts of
the Old World. Called also Pewit, from its peculiar cry. Its eggs
are the "plovers' eggs" of the London markets. Allusions are
frequent to its crested head, to its wily method of drawing away a
visitor from its nest, and to the notion that the newly hatched
lapwing runs about with its head in the shell' (NED.). Cf. Hamlet,
ed. Furness, 5. 2. 17:
This Lapwing runs away with the shell on his head.
216. Archbishop of Spalato. 'Antonio de Dominis, archbishop of
Spalato, in Dalmatia, and the prototype of Archibald Bowyer, came
into this country about 1622. Under the pretence of having
renounced the errors of popery, he obtained considerable preferment
in the church, and was for some time dean of Windsor. Gondomar,
who suspected his sincerity, set all his engines to work, and at length
discovered the imposture. Antonio then fled from England, and
read a second recantation at Rome : he was however abandoned to
neglect, and died miserably. The reader now sees the drift of the
satire in noticing his bequest to players, for their dexterity in shifting
the scene, which does not, as Mr. Malone supposes, allude to the
use of what is now called scenery, but simply to a change of
place' (G.),
218. Gundomar. 'Gondomar, Diego Sarmiento de Acuña, Mar¬
quis de, Spanish ambassador in England from 1613 to 1621. He
acquired great influence over King James I., and plied him with all
the arts of persuasion to induce him to bring the projected Spanish
match to a successful termination. The ruling motive of his policy
was, however, the warmly cherished hope of being able eventually
to convert the English nation to Roman Catholicism' (Chambers'
Encyc.). Gondomar got King James to promise that no effectual
aid should be sent from England to the Elector Palatine, and
deceived him as to the plans of Spinola until the latter had his
army in the Palatinate.
220. For putting the poor English play was writ of him, etc.
'This play, as the margin of the old folio tells us, was the Game at
Chess. The game is played, as Langbaine says, between one of the
church of England, and one of the church of Rome, in the presence
of Ignatius Loyola. It does not promise much amusement, and yet
a MS. note taken by Capell from an old copy of this play, describes
it as exceedingly popular. "After nine days (the writer adds)
wherein I have heard the actors say they took fifteen hundred pounds,
(this is an incredible sum) the Spanish faction got the play sup¬
pressed, and the author, master Thomas Middleton, committed to
184
The Staple of News
[Act hi
prison, where he lay some time, and at last got out upon this petition
to King James :
A harmless Game coyned only for delight,
Was play'd betwixt the black house and the white:
The white house won. Yet still the black doth brag,
They had the power to put me in the bag.
Use but your royal hand, 'twill set me free,
'Tis but removing of a man—that's ME."
'From the MS. notes to Langbaine, it appears that Gondomar
(the black house) had other motives of complaint besides his defeat;
for the play was embellished with an engraved frontispiece, where
he was introduced in propria persona, in no very friendly conversa¬
tion with Loyola.
'Gondomar's second fistula must be set down to the poet's account;
his first is mentioned in all the histories of the time. The allusion
of the whole passage, as well as the exclamation of Lickfinger which
follows it, is taken from Rabelais' inimitable description of the
transactions which took place with the good bishop Homenas, at the
blessed Island of Papimania' (G.). 'Jonson, as if to call attention
to this passage, has a marginal note: "Gundomar's use of the Game
at Chesse, or Play so called." In the note Gifford speaks of an
engraved frontispiece, where Gundomar is engaged in propria
persona in no very friendly conversation with Loyola, but Mr. Dyce
has given a facsimile of a frontispiece where Loyola does not appear
at all, but Gondomar is represented handing a letter to the Fatte
Bishop Antonio. The letter is from His Holinesse. The bishop
takes it, but says Keepe yr distance, on which the White Knight
exclaims Check mate by Discovery. Gifford should have called
Gondomar the Black Knight, not the Black House. "Yonder Black
Knight, the Fistula of Europe." The pecuniary profits must, for the
time, have been enormous. On August 14th, 1624, Sir F. Nethersoll
wrote to Carleton (Cal. Jac. I. p. 327) that it was so "popular that
the players gained ¿100 a night"' (C.).
Jonson uses poor not in pity, but contempt. He despised Middle-
ton, and spoke of him to Drummond as 'a base fellow' {Conversa-
tions, §11).
223. he liues condemned to his share, at Bruxels. Cf. A Game
at Chess, ed. Bullen, 5. 1. SD : 'Enter Black Knight in his litter, as
passing over the Stage.' On this Bullen gives Dyce's note : ' "As he
[Gondomar] was carried in his litter or bottomless chair (the easiest
seat for his fistula)," etc. Wilson's Life and Reign of James, p. 146»
ed. 1653.' I have little doubt but that share is either a misprint for
chair, or an old colloquial form of the word; probably the first.
238-45. Cf. Introd., p. 50.
Sc. ii]
Notes
185
252-9. Why that's . . . base money 'gan to haue any. Cf.
Discoveries, Amor nummi (GC. 9. 181) : 'O ! but to strike blind the
people with our wealth and pomp, is the thing! what a wretchedness
is this, to thrust all our riches outward and be beggars within; to
contemplate nothing but the little, vile, and sordid things of the
world, not the great, noble, and precious?' Cf. ib., De stultitia
(9. 182): 'Nor is it only in our walls and ceilings; but all that
we call happiness is mere painting and gilt; and all for money:
what a thin membrane of honour that is? and how hath all true
reputation fallen, since base money began to have any?'
261. by description. Beyond or above description.
270. him. Fitton. So also he (273), his (274), and he (275).
271. State of yeeres. 'An estate of years is a contract for the
possession of lands or tenements for some determinate period.
. . . These estates were originally granted to mere farmers or
husbandmen, who every year rendered some equivalent in money,
provisions, or other rent, to the lessors or landlords ; but, in order
to encourage them to manure and cultivate the ground, they had a
permanent interest granted them, not determinable at the will of
the lord' (Blackstone, Comm. 2. chap. 9).
'We have before remarked, and endeavored to assign the reason
of, the inferiority in which the law places an estate for years, when
compared with an estate for life, or an inheritance : observing, that
an estate for life, even if it be pur anter vie, is a freehold; but that
an estate for a thousand years is only a chattel, and reckoned part
of the personal estate' (ib.).
277. He . . . his life. Let him and his deputy, etc. His
refers to Fitton, at whom all their jeering is directed.
279. Vpon his scarlet motion. His refers to Alderman Security.
The official gown of an alderman was always red or scarlet. Motion
means flourish of the hand ; hence suggestion or proposal.
And old Chaine . . . twirles. Still referring, I think, to
Alderman Security. Aldermen usually wore long chains of gold.
Usurers and lawyers also wore them. And when he twirles his
chain, he draws the city-eares, i. e. attracts the attention of the whole
city with its jingle. Osborne says (Sec. Hist. 1. 228) that it was
'then a fashion much in use,' to weare a black string in the ear.
Perhaps Jonson here alludes to this fashion ; to draw one's ear (by
the string) would be to draw one's attention in a very literal sense.
282-3. Dumb Rethoricke, and silent eloquence
As the fine Poet saies! 'A sneering allusion to these lines
of Daniel,' says Whalley :
Ah! beauty, siren, fair inchanting good,
Sweet silent rhetoric of persuading eyes,
Dumb eloquence, whose power doth move the blood,
More than the words, or wisdom of the wise.
The Staple of News
[Act hi
'It is but fair,' says Gifford, 'to give the remainder of this stanza,
in which the thought is woefully wire-drawn :
Still harmony, whose diapason lies
Within a brow, the key which passions move
To ravish sense, and play a world in love.
There was no great kindness between Daniel and our poet; but I
know not the cause of their mutual dislike. Both were patronized
by Lucy, countess of Bedford, and Jonson tells her noble friend, the
countess of Rutland, that Daniel "envied him, though he bore him
no ill will on his part." He could not have hazarded this to such
a personage, unless the fact had been notorious; and this circum¬
stance may serve to admonish us, when we find an occasional reflec¬
tion in Jonson, not to set it down immediately to the score of
malignity, and conclude with Messrs. Chalmers, Steevens, Malone,
etc., that he is, in every case, a wanton and unprovoked aggressor.'
'In 1618,' says Cunningham, 'Jonson told Drummond [Conversa¬
tions, GC. 9. 366; 378] that "Daniel was at jealousies with him,"
adding, however, that "he was a good honest man, had no children,
but no poet " ' Cf. Ev. Man Out 3. 1 : 'You shall see sweet silent
rhetorick, and dumb eloquence speaking in her eye.'
289-90. it would much advance Vnto the Office. I was at first
inclined to take advance as a verb, in the obsolete sense, to benefit.
But, so far as I can discover, this use never occurs in construction
with unto ; it is always transitive. Or if we take advance as a
noun, in the obsolete sense of advancement, how shall we explain
would? I have found no instance of will used as an independent
verb, except in the sense of ivish, etc. It remains to take the
expression as elliptical, some such verb as bring being understood
after would. Cf. 2 Hen. IV. 3. 2. 310: 'I must (go) a dozen mile
tonight.' Cf. Abbott, Shak. Gram-., p. 293.
296. Something of Bethlem Gabor. 'This person, who is some¬
times called Beth. Gabriel, was prince of Transilvania. He had
interest enough to get himself declared King of Hungary ; but being
shortly afterward suspected of meditating an alliance with the Turks,
and forming designs hostile to Christendom, he was abandoned by
his new subjects. His exploits were of the romantic kind, and he is
said to have been in forty general battles : so that the Mercuries,
foreign and domestic, rang with his achievements, about this time.
He died in 1629. Godwin has taken the name for the military hero
of his St. Leon' (G.).
305. Duke of Bauier. Maximilian of Bavaria.
309. Pageants. In imitation of continental usage, the guilds or
trade companies of London were accustomed to celebrate inaugura-
Sc. ii]
Notes
187
tions of lord mayors and royal coronations with processions and
pageants of great pomp.
312. Now, at the Coronation. Charles was crowned Feb. 2,
1626. Cf. Court and Times of Charles I., p. 72: 'The coronation
holds on Candlemas-day, but private, without any show or feast at
Westminster Hall.'
Whoever wishes to become acquainted with the nature of those
brave speeches expected by the country, must turn to those which
were introduced into the city pageants, on the accession of James,
by our poet, among many others, and of which enough and more
than enough is to be found in the Chronicles of the times' (G.).
'There are many traces of Jonson's having been offended at not
being employed in preparing speeches for this occasion. His descrip¬
tion (ante, line 274) of Alderman Security, has every mark of being
personal, and what he says [2. Int. 4] of "a true receipt to make an
alderman," is also evidence of what was rankling in his mind' (C).
313. they stand mute. I. e. the personages in the pageants. Cf.
the following from an account of the entertainment given in honor
of James, his queen, and son, March 15, 1603: 'The Personages (as
well mutes as speakers) in this Pageant, were these, viz.
1. The highest person was the Brittoyne Monarchy.
2. At her feete, sate Divine Wisedome.
3. Beneath her, stood the Genius of the City, a man.
4. At his right hand was placed a personage, figuring the Coun-
sell of the City.
5. Under all there lay a person representing Thamesis the river.
Of all which personages, Genius and Thamesis were the only
speakers; Thamesis being presented by one of the children of her
majesties revels; Genius by M. Allin (servant to the young prince)'
(Somers's Tracts 3. 8).
316-17. If May-day come, and the Sunne shine, perhaps
They'll sing like Memnons Statue, and be vocall.
Gifford says : 'May-day was a day of general festivity, and more
especially with the good citizens of London, who had the happiness
of enjoying some of their favourite processions on it. The trite
allusion in the next line may be best explained by a quotation from
Akenside :
As Memnon's marble form, renowned of old
By fabling Nilus, at the potent touch
Of morning, uttered from its inmost frame
Unbidden music. Pleasures of Imagf
In 1585 Stow wrote (Survey, p. 38) : 'These great Mayings and
May-games, made by the governors and masters of the city, with
i88
Che Staple of News
[Act hi
the triumphant setting up of the great shaft (a principal May-pole
in Cornehill, before the parish church of St, Andrew,) therefore
called Undershaft, by means of an insurrection of youths against
aliens on May-day, 1517, the 9th of Henry VIII., have not been so
freely used as afore.' 'Gradually, we presume,' says Knight (London
I. 174) the May-poles resumed their former ascendancy, for in
1644 the Parliamentarians ordered that "all and singular May-poles
be taken down." When Charles II. ascended the throne, the famous
May-pole of the Strand was restored with great pomp and rejoicing,
amidst multitudes of people, whose shouts and acclamations were
heard from time to time through the whole day.' By the end of
the 17th c., however, the May-day games had entirely disappeared.
Scene III.
2. Where shall we dine to day. The usual hours of dining and
supping at that time were eleven and six. Cf. Case is Altered 2. 3:
Eat when your stomach serves, saith the physician,
Not at eleven and six.
the leerers. Gifford gives these words to Nathaniel, with this
note: 'The old folio, which is miserably incorrect, gives this to
Shunfield. It must be as it now stands, unless the reader choose
rather to give the exclamation to Tho. Barber.' Thomas and
Nathaniel are the only clerks of the office mentioned in the Persons
of the Play. Gifford's suggestion that we may assign the speech in
question to Thomas has more warrant than the one he adopts,
because Thomas, as shown by the second speech below, has taken
upon himself the duty of spokesman for the office.
8. With the Muses. Cf. Jonson's verses quoted in note on 2. 5.127.
9. But with two Gentlewomen, call'd the Graces. Gifford says :
'It appears from the elegant rules drawn up by Jonson for the regula¬
tion of his Club, that women of character were not excluded from
attending the meetings.
Probae feminae non repudiantur.
so that we have an allusion to a fact well known at the time;
though the names of the "two Graces" were not mentioned. From
the manner in which Marmion (an enthusiastic admirer of Jonson,)
speakes of his entertainment there, it may be safely concluded that
an admission to it was a favour of no ordinary kind. 1 he "boon
Delphic god" was our poet.
Sc. in]
Notes
189
Careless. I am full
Of oracles, I am come from Apollo
Emilia. From Apollo !
Careless. From the heaven
Of my delight, where the boon Delphic god
Drinks sack, and keeps his Bacchanalia,
And has his incense, and his altars smoaking,
And speaks in sparkling prophecies, thence I come,
And braines perfum'd with the rich Indian vapour,
And heighten'd with conceits. From tempting beauties,
From dainty music, and poetic strains,
From bowls of nectar, and ambrosiac dishes,
From witty varlets, fine companions,
And from a mighty continent of pleasyre
Sails thy brave Careless.
—Fine Companion?
14. Dutch Ambassador. As shown in an earlier note, Dutch was
loosely synonymous in England with Teutonic. A Dutch Ambas¬
sador might be from some of the German principalities. The hard-
drinking of Dutchmen is often spoken of by the old dramatists.
15. If he dine there. Gilford's change is uncalled-for (see
variant).
21-2. He holds no man can be a Poet,
That is not a good Cooke, etc. 'This is literally from
Athena eus, of which more hereafter [see 4. 2. 7. and note thereon]'
(G.). This whole page is reconstructed from the first half of
Neptune's Triumph (1624). In his notes upon that masque Whalley
pointed out Jonson's indebtedness to Athenaeus.
21-40. Cf. Introd., p. 33.
27-8. He'll draw . . . Iulips. This means that Lickfinger is
a dangerous rival of the quacks and alchemists, such as Almanach.
He will extract the philosopher's stone from a mince-pie, and
recommend jellies before juleps. Julep was often used as a vehicle
for medicine. Jellies were then made from animal tissues; the
name was not applied to fruit or vegetable preparations until later.
33. funerall feast. Stow's Survey (cited in Brand's Antiq. 2. 240)
tells us that Margaret Atkinson, widow, provided in her will for
her funeral feast, and ordered 'a table to be set in the midst of the
church, with every thing necessary thereto.' Again Stow says that
at the funeral of Sir John Gresham, 1556, a sermon was preached
by the Archdeacon of Canterbury, 'and after all the Company came
home to as great a dinner as had been seen for a fish day,
for all that came; for nothing was lacking.' Cf. Rom. and Jul.
4. 5. 150: 'Come we'll in here; tarry for the mourners, and stay
dinner.' Furness cites Singer on Rom. and Jul. 4. 5. 87-8: 'The
usage was derived from the Roman caena pune ralis, and is not yet
disused in the North, where it is called an arvel supper.'
igo
The Staple of News
[Act hi
35-40. will make a Syren . . . for a Dolphin. Cf. Neptune's
Triumph :
Cook. I conceive you.
I would have had your isle brought floating in, now,
In a brave broth, and of a sprightly green.
Just to the colour of the sea; and then,
Some twenty Syrens, singing in the kettle,
With an Arion mounted on the back
Of a grown conger, but in such a posture,
As all the world should take him for a dolphin.
These lines describe what was known in Jonson's day as a subtilty.
Shakespeare uses the word in Tempest, ed. Furness, 5. 1. 142.
Furness supplies the following note: 'W. A. Wright: It denoted a
device in pastry and confectionery work such as is described by
Fabyan in his account of the feast at the Coronation of Katharine,
queen of Henry V. (Chronicle, ed. 1542, 2. 366), "And a sotyltie
called a Pellycane syttyng on his nest with he brydes, and an ymage
of saynte Katheryne holdyng a boke and disputyng with the doc-
toures." ' Cf. also Two 15th Century Cookery Books, Forewords:
'In the third Course was Porpoise, and in this Course was a subtlety
of a Tiger looking into a Mirror, with a man on horseback fully
armed, grasping a Tiger's whelp.' Again from the same source:
'There was a subtlety both before and after this Course [the third],
the last one representing the Virgin and Child, with St. George and
St. Denis kneeling on either side, and presenting to the Queen a
figure of Henry with the following ballad in his hand.' Probably
no great feast was complete without some such device. Cf. note on
4. 2. 27.
Arion, a Greek poet and musician, best known by the story of his
escape from drowning on the back of a dolphin, which he attracted
by his music. Chambers' Book of Days (1. 563) tells us that among
the pageants devised by Anthony Munday in 1616 for the mayoralty
of Sir John Leman, of the Fishmonger's Company, there was a
moving pageant of a ship ' "followed by a crowned dolphin, in allu¬
sion to the mayor's arms, and those of the company, in which the
dolphin's appear; and because it is a fish inclined much by nature
to musique, Arion, a famous musician and poet, rideth on his
backe." ' Cf. also Poetaster 4. 1.
51. This, and the next two speeches headed Cla., Gilford assigns
to Nathaniel. This, of course, is right; but two clerks of the office
are provided for in the Persons of the Play.
D. Humphries. Cf. Nares, Glossary : 'The so-called Duke Hum¬
phrey's tomb (really that of Sir John Beauchamp, K.G.) was the
only monument in the middle aisle of the nave . . .
Sc. iv]
Notes
191
'Humphrey Duke of Gloucester, though really buried at St. Alban's,
was supposed to have a monument in old St. Paul's, from which one
part of the church was termed Duke Humphrey's Walk. In this
(as the church was then a place of the most public resort) they who
had no means of procuring a dinner, frequently loitered about, prob¬
ably in hopes of meeting with an invitation, but under pretence of
looking at the monuments.' LPP. cites Bishop Corbet, Letter to
the Duke of Buckingham :
Poets of Paules, those of Duke Humfrye's messe,
That feed on nought but graves and emptinesse.
For the most recent information about the death of Humphrey, Duke
of Gloucester, cf. Notes and Queries, 9th S. 3. 264 (April 8, 1899).
53. obsonare famen ambulando. 'obsonare atribulando fame m,
phr: Lat. to purvey an appetite by walking. Cic., Tusc., 5. 34, 97'
(Stanford Diet.). Cites line 53.
54-7. brother, etc. See Introd., p. 48.
55. I ha'the wine for you. 'A proverbial expression. I have the
perquisites (of the office) which you are to share' (G.).
Scene IV.
3. charge. Pecunia.
8. they talke Six-thousand a yeere. Note the modern tang of
this colloquialism ; one may hear its like any day among tradesmen.
Cf. Third Intermean, line 51.
34. The trade of money, is fall'n, two i'the hundred. Cf. note
on 2. i. 4.
38. scatters away in coaches. Cf. note on Prologue for the
Stage, line 14.
42. mad. The modern colloquial sense, furious.
45-68. This whole passage is condensed from Amor nummi in the
Discoveries (GC. 9. 180-1).
46. The fury of mens gullets. The literature of Jonson's day
contains many allusions to the extravagant feasts of the wealthy
nobles, Stubbes, too, in 1585 (Anat. of Abuses, p. 107) had com¬
plained of English gourmandizing.
49. scarfes. Cf. Stubbes, Anat. of Abuses, p. 75: 'Then must they
have silke scarffes cast about their faces, and fluttering in the wind
with great tassels at euery ende, eyther of gold, silver, or silke. But
I know wherefore they wil say they weare these scarffes, namely, to
keep them from sunne burning.' Speaking of dress in the early days
of Elizabeth's reign, Howe says (Con. of Stow's Chron., quoted by
Strutt, Antiq. 3. 91) : 'Nor were scarfs above the value of four
nobles, or thirty shillings at most, worn by any persons whatsoever.
But at this day [towards the end of James' reign] . . . some
wear scarfs from ten pound apiece to thirty, nay and more.'
19 2
The Staple of News [Act hi. Sc. iv
52. What need hath Nature, etc. A classical conception of the
ars vivendi.
53. gold chamber-pots. 'Golden chamber utensils were among
the articles of luxury thundered against by him of the golden mouth
in ancient Constantinople' (C).
54. perfum'd napkins. In his note on As You Like It 4. 3. 97,
Furness cites Boswell : 'Napkin is still a handkerchief in Scotland
and probably in all northern English counties'; and Lover's Com¬
plaint■, line 2 :
Oft did she beare her napkin to her eyne.
57~68. Cf. Introduction, p. 50.
64. perishing. Used with its original figurative quality.
69. monopoly of sole-speaking. 'Monopolies, abandoned by
Elizabeth, extinguished by Act of Parliament under James, denounced
with the assent of Charles himself in the Petition of Right, were
again set on foot, and on a scale far more gigantic than had been
seen before ; the companies who undertook them paying a fixed duty
on their profits as well as a large sum for the original concession
of the monopoly. Wine, soap, salt, and almost every article of
domestic consumption fell into the hands of monopolists, and rose
in price out of all proportion to the profit gained by the Crown'
(Green, Hist. 3. 148). The period referred to is 1629, after Charles
had finally done with Parliament, and three years after the Staple
of News was acted. The allusion suggests that possibly Jonson
revised the play before publishing it, in order to glance at current
events.
79. I'll ha' no venter in your Ship, the Office
Your Barke of Six. See variant. 'The word shop in the first
line is an unwarrantable and ridiculous alteration of Jonson's ship.
The word barque in the next line ought to have stopped them from
meddling' (C.).
85. Horse-leach. Cf. note on First Intermean, line 15.
87. A shrunk old Dryfat. 'A dry-fat was a packing-case, or
loosely put together cask. In Sylvester's Du Bartas we read of :
A dry-fat sheathed in latten plates without'
—(C).
See Glossary.
THIRD INTERMEAN
3. Siluer-streete. 'Silver Street, Cheapside, from Wood street to
Falcon Square. "Down lower in Wood Street is silver Street (I
think of silversmiths dwelling there), in which be divers fair houses.
. . . "Stow, p. 112' (LPP.). Cites line 3.
3RD INT.]
Notes
I93
8. in chimia. Chi mi a is the second component in the Arabic word
of which alchemy is an adaptation. Cf. NED. : 'Alchemy . . .
[a. OFr. alquimie, . . . ad. med. L. alchimia, ... a. Arab.
al-kimia, i. e. al the + kimia, apparently a Gr. xvN0-, . • • ex¬
plained by most as "Egyptian Art"].' Expectation takes her cue
from Tattle's words above, 'an' he were well wrought vpon, accord¬
ing to Art.' By Art, Tattle means alchemy.
Ii. Either would, etc. I. e. both the difference between alder-
manity and urbanity, and the difference between aldermanity and
humanity.
12-20. Cf. Introd., p. 46.
17. he shall neuer come, etc. The news-dealer, Nathaniel Butter.
20. conduicts. 'The first cistern of lead, castellated with stone in
the city of London, was called the great Conduit in West Cheape,
which was begun to be built in the year 1285, Henry Wales being
then mayor' (Stow, Survey, p. 7). Stow gives the dates of construc¬
tion of over a dozen conduits between 1285 and 1583. On Michael¬
mas Day, 1613, the Londoners celebrated the entrance into the city
of Sir Hugh Myddleton's New River waters. Until then, Chambers
tells us (Book of Days 2. 392), 'two or three conduits in the princi¬
pal streets, some others in the northern suburbs, and the springs in
the neighborhood of the Fleet River, were all they had at their
service. The Cheapside conduits were the most used, as they were
the largest and most decorative of these structures. The Great
Conduit in the centre of this important thoroughfare, was an erection
like a tower, surrounded by Statuary; the Little Conduit stood in
West cheap, at the back of the church of St. Michael, in the Querne,
at the northeast end of Paternoster Row. . . . Except where
conveyed to some public building, water had to be fetched for
domestic use from these ever-flowing reservoirs. Large tankards
holding from two to three gallons, were constructed for this use.
. . . Many poor men lived by supplying water to the house¬
holders . . . When water was required in smaller quantities,
apprentices and servant-girls were sent to the Conduits. Hence they
were not only gossiping-places, but spots where quarrels constantly
arose.' It was not till some years after the opening of the New
River, however, that the conduits ceased to be used.
21. Tutle-street. 'Tothill, Tuthill or Tuttle Street, from the
Broad Sanctuary to the Broadway, Westminster' {LPP.).
21. both the Alm'ries. 'Almonry (The), or The Eleemosynary,
corruptly called, in Stow's time and in our own, The Ambry, a low
rookery of houses off Tothill Street, Westminster, where alms of
the adjoining Abbey were wont to be distributed. . . . The place
was divided into two parts called respectively the Great Almonry
and the Little Almonry' {LPP. ).
194
The Staple of News
[3RD INT.
22. the two Sanctuaries. 'Sanctuary, Westminster, a privileged
precinct, under the protection of the abbot and monks of West¬
minster, and adjoining Westminster Abbey on the west and north
side. The privileges survived the Reformation, and the bulk of the
houses which composed the precinct were not taken down till 1750.
. . . What is styled the Broad Sanctuary contains St. Margaret's
Church, the Guild Hall and Sessions House, and the Westminster
Hospital. . . . The portion styled the Sanctuary extends from
the open space in front of Westminster Hospital to Great Smith
Street' {LPP.).
Wool-staple. 'Woolstaple (The), Westminster, occupied as
nearly as possible the site of the present Bridge Street, outside the
north wall of New Palace Yard. Wool was in the 13th and 14th
centuries the great article of export from England, and the war-
making Plantagenets kept the trade in it under their immediate
control. Stow says that the staple was here in the reign of Edward
I., and that the merchants of the staple with the parishioners of St.
Margaret's "built of new the said church, the great chancel excepted,
which was lately before new built by the Abbot of Westminster."
. . . At this time (1354) all wool sent from London had tö be
brought for "trowage" to the Westminster Woolstaple . . . butas
late as Henry VI. the King had "six wool-houses within the Staple
at Westminster, which he granted to the Dean and Canons of St.
Stephen at Westminster'" {LPP.).
23. Kings-street. 'King-Street, Westminster, originally extended
from Charing Cross, through or past Whitehall, to the King's Palace
at Westminster' {LPP.).
Chanon-row. ' "Twas the old way when the King of England
had his House, there were canons to sing service in his chapel; so
at Westminster in St. Stephen's Chapel (where the House of Com¬
mons sits) from which canons the street called Canon Row has its
name, because they liv'd there." Seiden, Table Talk: Kings of
England, p. 56, ed. 1716. In the time of Edward VI. it was called
Chanon' (LPP.).
24-5. what fine slips grew in Gardiners-lane. 'Gardiner's Lane,
Westminster, between King Street and Duke Street' {LPP.).
'Jonson's minute knowledge of Westminster localities has never been
sufficiently appreciated by London historians. "Why I had it from
my maid Joan Hearsay, and she had it from a limb of the school,
she says, a little limb not nine years old," which we may suppose
to have been Jonson's age when the great Camden first took him
in hand. "The mill" which he mentions has its memory still pre¬
served in MilThz.Sk. The stream which turned it ran where Great
College Street now stands. . . . "Slips" were false coins, and
3RD INT.]
Notes
*95
so came to mean base-born children, as well as base productions of
other sorts. Wenceslaus Hollar [Bohemian engraver, 1607-1677J
died in Gardener's Lane' (C.). Cf. Underwoods 63:
For there are many slips and counterfeits.
26-7. bowling-Alley. 'Bowling Alley, now Bowling Street, lead¬
ing from Dean's Yard to Tuf ton street, Westminster' (LPP.). Cf.
Dekker, Non-Dram. Works 4. 132 : 'The Bankers are commonly men
apparelled like honest and substanciall Citizens, who came into the
Bowling Allies, for a rubber or so, as though it were rather for
sport, then for any gaines, protesting they care not whether they win
or loose.'
27. what bettes wonne and lost. In a note in Secret History of
King James (1. 264), Sir Walter Scott tells us that 'the custom of
betting rose to great height in the reigns of Queen Elizabeth and
James.'
27-8. how much griest went to the Mill. Cf. note on lines 24-5.
28. and what besides. Intended, perhaps, to suggest love-affairs
or intrigues.
28-9. who coniur'd in Tutle-fields. 'Tothill Fields (particularly
so called) comprised that portion of land between Tothill Street,
Pimlico, and the river Thames; this is a somewhat uncertain boun¬
dary—but it is the best that can be given, or, as Jeremy Bentham
says, writing in 1798, "If a place could exist of which it could be
said that it was no neighbourhood, it would be Tothill Fields" '
{LPP.). In early times Tothill Fields was the scene of tournaments,
wagers of battle, royal solemnities, the weekly market, and the annual
fair. Later it was one of the duelling grounds of London. Cun¬
ningham cites Shirley, The Wedding (1629) 4. 3: 'Lod. I have
expected you these two hours, which is more than I have done to
all the men I have fought since I slew the High German in Tuttle.'
'As long as they remained unbuilt on,' says LPP., 'Tothiil Fields
were used for military musters and as public Playing-Ground . . .
Locke in the directions for a foreigner visiting London, which he
wrote in 1679, says he may see "shooting in the long-bow and
stob-ball in Tothill Fields." Howell refers to the Gardens. "July
25, 1629.—I have sent you herewith a hamper of melons, the best
I could find in any of Tothill Field Gardens." Howell to Sir
Arthur Ingram {Letters, p. 214)' {LPP.).
30. Doctor Lambe. See note on First Intermean, line 50.
35-6. the Master left out his coniuring booke one day. Cf.
Much Ado, ed. Furness, 2. 1. 245: 'I would to God some scholler
would coniure her.' Furness says : 'Exorcisms were carried on only
in Latin, and therefore by scholars. Cf. Hamlet 1. 1. 42 : "Thou art
196
The Staple of News
[Act i y
a scholar; speak to it, Horatio." Dyer (p. 45) : "The schoolmaster
was often employed. Thus, in the Com. of Err. 4. 4, the school¬
master, Pinch, is introduced in this capacity. Within, indeed, the
last fifty years the pedagogue was still a reputed conj urer." '
43. Cunning Schoole-Master. See note on line 35.
46. They make all their schollers Play-boyes. 'Jonson of course
alludes to the annual performances of the Latin plays, which have
long constituted so marked a feature in the curriculum of the famous
old school. Camden was dead before the production of the Staple
of News, but it is evident there was some one among the masters of
1625 who was a poet, or at least had acquaintance with a poet, and
was cherished by Jonson accordingly' (C).
50. well, they talke, we shall haue no more Parliaments.
These "ridiculous gossips," as the author calls them [cf. To the
Readers], tattle the cant of the times: their language, however, was
fearfully ominous ; and actors and spectators were unconsciously
sporting on the verge of a precipice, which no long time after,
betrayed their feet, and plunged them into the abyss together' (G.).
Charles had dissolved his first parliament on August 12, 1625; he
dissolved his second June 15, 1626.
51-52. Zeale-of-the-land Buzy, and my Gossip, Rabby Trouble-
truth. Tt is pleasant to see old friends of Bartholomew Fair make
their appearance again even in a passing wajr. None but men of
real genius can venture 011 these allusions to the creatures of their
own invention' (C.).
53. good Ministers. Alluding to the Puritan hatred of the Stage.
56-7. with a wanion. Nares says : 'Used only in the phrase with
a wannion, but totally unexplained, though exceedingly common in
use. It seems to be equivalent to with a vengeance, or with a plague.
Latimer uses it when speaking ironically of some brother bishop:
"Was not this a good prelate? He should have been at home
preaching in *his dioces, with a wannion." ' Cf. Glossary.
ACT IV. Scene I.
This scene and the next represent what seems to have been a
favorite method among the sharpers of old London. Cf. Dekker,
Non-Dram. Works 3. 127: 'If the Cozen be such an Asse to go into
a tauerne, then he is sure to be vncled [gulled].' Cf. also ib. 4. 225-6.
2. dinner. The usual hour for dinner at the date of this play was
eleven in the forenoon (cf. Dekker, Gull's Hornbook, ed. Nott,
pp. 109-10).
3. shal's. On us for we in shall's, cf. Abbott, S hak. Gram. §215.
Notes
197
5. Let's leere a little. 'This jeering, has scarcely more to interest
the reader than the vapouring in Bartholomezv Fair. Jon son's
object was to expose to scorn and ridicule the pestilent humour of
a set of bullies then in vogue. As the chief characteristics of this
game were dullness and impudence, and as it did not enter into
the poet's plan to change its nature by admixture of any quality less
odious, he has contented himself with merely playing it as it was
unquestionably played in society, by the Shunfields and Madrigals of
the day' (G.).
12. Bet-lem. 'Bethlehem Royal Hospital (vulg. Bedlam), Lam¬
beth Road, St. George's Fields, a hospital for insane people, founded
in Bishops-gate Without, and for a different purpose, in 1246, by
Simon Fitz-Mary, one of the Sheriffs of London. "He founded it
to have been a priory of canons with brethren and sisters." (Stow,
p. 62.) The site of the original hospital was that known long after
its removal as Old Bethlehem, subsequently as Liverpool Street.
The greater part of it is now occupied by the stations of the North
London and Great Eastern Railways. On the petition of Sir John
Gresham, Lord Mayor, Henry VIII. gave the building of the dis¬
solved priory, in 1547, to the City of London, in order that it might
be converted into a hospital for lunatics' (LPP.).
16-17. Probably Picklock had fallen into rime at dinner.
22. Tennis. Tennis had long been a fashionable game in England.
James I. recommended it to his son as an 'exercise becoming a
prince.' What we now call hand-ball was then sometimes called
hand-tennis (cf. Strutt, Sports and Pastimes, pp. 73-4).
25. can. Can may here be an auxiliary, but it seems much more
probable that it is the old verb which means to know.
27. Coat-card. 'It is not easy to say how this word came to be
corrupted into the now familiar court-card. In 1681 the usage had
become doubtful' (C).
30. And your selfe a Foole. And they called you (P. Junior)
a fool.
35. Like Lepers, shewing one another their scabs. Leprosy was
so common in Europe in the Middle Ages that leper-houses were
founded in all towns of considerable size. At one time there were
ninety-five such houses in England dedicated to St. Lazarus. Stow
tells us (Survey, p. 184) that Edward III. in the twentieth year of
his reign made proclamation that all leprous persons should leave
the city, and had four lazar-houses built for them outside : 'They
wore a special costume, usually a long grey gown with a hood drawn
over the face, and carried a wooden clapper to give warning of their
approach. They were forbidden to enter inns, churches, mills, or
bake-houses, to touch healthy persons or eat with them, to wash in
198
The Staple of Nezvs
[Act iv
streams, or to walk on narrow footpaths.' 'A leper-house/ says
Encyc. Brit., was founded at Edinburgh ... as late as 1591,
and it was not till 1741 that the last known leper died in Shetland.'
39. They neuer lie, Sir, betweene meales. To take lie only in
the sense of falsify is to do small credit to the Canter's powers of
irony and equivoque. One of the old senses of lie as applied to the
wind, or the tongue, is, to be at rest. NED. cites: T611, Cotgr.,
Langaarde, ... A wench whose tongue never lyes.' What old
Canter means, then, is that the jeerers never rest from lying between
meals, and that before supper (cf. 'gainst, Glossary), or perhaps in
preparation for supper, they may bring in a bale or two of news
(lies).
45. Patrico. Cf. Barth. Fair 2. 1 : 'You are the Patrico, are you?
the patriarch of the cut-purses?' Cf. also Dekker, Non-Dram.
Works 3. 104: 'A Patrico, who amongst Beggers is their priest;
euery hedge beeing his parish, euery wandring harlot and Rogue
his parishioners, the service he says, is onely the marrying of couples,
which he does in a wood vnder a tree, or in the open field, and the
solemnity of it, is thus. The parties to be wedded, find out a dead
horse, or any other beast, and standing one on the one side and the
other on the other, the Patrico bids them to liue together till death
them part, & so shaking hands, the wedding dinner is kept at the
next Ale-house they stumble into, where the musick is nothing but
knocking with kannes, and their dances none but drunken Brawles.'
45-6. Arch-priest o'Canters, etc. Probably an allusion to Laud,
who was then archbishop of Canterbury, and, as such, Primate of all
England.
47. shot-clog. Cf. Glossary. Cunningham cites Eastward Ho :
Thou common shot-clog, gull of all companies;
also Poetaster 1. 1 : 'What shall I have my son ... a gull, a
rook, a shot-clog, to make suppers, and be laughed at?'
47-8. That Law And he does gouerne him. The pronoun he
refers to P. Canter, and him to P. Junior. Gifford says: 'By the
Law, Picklock is meant.'
51. O, good words. An exclamation of anger and protest. Cf.
P. Junior's resentment at what P. Senior says against the Canter
in 2. 5. 25-9.
52. gingling gipsies. Probably gipsies, and also vagabonds, who
seem to have been sometimes classed with gipsies, often wore small
bells on their clothing; cf. Gips. Metam. GC. 7. 380: 'The finest
olive-colour'd spirits, they have danced, and gingled here, as they
had been a set of overgrown fairies.
Clod. They should be morris-dancers by their gingle, but they
had no napkins.' See note on 4th Intermean, line 45.
Sc. ii]
Notes
199
Scene II.
i. I hope, etc. Of course Gifford is right in assigning these words
to Lickfinger.
4. Before these Gentlemen. 'The old copies read "gentlemen,"
which destroys at once the metre and the poet's meaning. Madrigal
alludes to what had already passed before the gentlemen; and he
now resumes the subject on the entrance of the ladies. The Oracle
of the Bottle (see the next speech), Ben found in Rabelais [Bks.
4 and 5], with whom he was apparently familiar' (G.). Cf. variant.
5. The perfect, etc. 'The whole of the text, from this line down
to "And 'tis divine" [line 40] is taken from the Masque of Neptune's
Triumph, vol. 8, p. 24, et seq, One line which reads something like
nonsense in the play,
Some he dry-dishes, some motes round with broths,
comes out clearly in the Masque—
Some he dry-ditches, some motes round with broths.
The "brethren of the Rosy-cross," who are "airy" in the Staple
of News, are "bare-breeched" in Neptune's Triumph' (G.). In the
mask, what precedes Seduced and what follows Mathematician is
prose.
6. Celler. See Glossary. Cf. Magnetic Lady 3. 1 :
Run for the celler of strong waters quickly.
7. fat Kitchin. Cf. Thornsbury's description (England 1. 224) of
that 'subterranean world,' the Elizabethan kitchin; and for the
fat there, cf. Taylor the Water-Poet, Works 1. 114-15. Probably
Jonson got the phrase fat Kitchin from one of the Italian proverbs :
(1) Grassa cucina magro testamento. (2) A grasse cucina poverta
è vicina. Cf. also the German : Fette Küche, magere Erbshaft. Cf.
Bohn, Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs.
9. The hogshead, etc. Lickfinger alludes to the lines above the
door of Apollo Room (cf. note on 2. 5. 127).
Trismegistus. Literally, thrice greatest In Neptune's Triumph
(Folio text) lines 8-9 are prose and read: 'O you are for
the Oracle of the Bottle, I see; Hogshead Trismegistus; He is
your Pegasus.' I think by 'Hogshead Trismegistus' Jonson means
Noah, and alludes to his indulgence in wine. Cf. Kelley, Alchemical
Writings, trans. A. E. Waite, pp. 116-17: 'All Sages agree that the
knowledge of this Art [alchemy] was first imparted to Adam by the
Holy Spirit, and He prophesied, both before and after the Fall, that
the world must be renewed, or rather, purged with water. Therefore
his successors erected two stone tablets, on which they engraved a
200
The Staple of News
[Act iv
summary of all physical arts, in order that this arcanum might
become known to posterity. After the Flood, Noah found one of
these tablets at the foot of Mount Ararat. Others say that the
knowledge of the Art was restored by Hermes Trismegistus [gen¬
erally spoken of as an Egyptian priest], whose mind was a treasury
of all arts and sciences, and alchemists are still called sons of
Hermes. Bernard of Trevisa states that the said Hermes came to
the valley of Hebron, and there found seven stone tables, on which
a summary of the seven liberal Arts had been inscribed before the
Flood; for this same Hermes flourished both before and after the
Flood, and is identified with Noah.'
14. they'are the Kitchins. Note this indefinite use of they where
we should now use it ; e. g., it is the kitchins that, etc.
19-38. A Master-Cooke, etc. Knight quotes this passage on Rom.
and Jul. 4. 2: 'Go hire me twenty cunning cooks.' Cf. Earle's
'character' of a cook, Micro-Cosmographie, ed. Arber, p. 46.
22-26. Makes Citadels, etc. Such a piece of cookery was called a
subtilty (see note on 3. 3. 36).
24. Mounts marrowbones. As cannon. Cf. Cartwright, The
Ordinary :
That weapons be not wanting,
We'll have a dozen of bows well charg'd with marrow
For ordnance, muskets, petronels, petards.
25. outerworkes. Printed as two words in the Folio text of
Neptune's Triumph.
27. And teacheth all the Tactics, etc. In a note on Neptune's
Triumph (GC. 8. 25) Whalley says: 'This seems to be taken from
the poet Posidippus, who, in Athenaeus, compares a good cook to a
good general :
Ayadov crrpar-qyov 8i.a<pepeiv ovdev doicei.
And Athenion in like manner (see Athenaeus, 1. 14c. 23) attributes
to the art of cookery, and kitchen philosophy, what the poets assign
to the legislators of society, and the first founders of states and
commonwealths.' Gifford says there: 'Cartwright has reduced this
into practice in his Ordinary [2. 1], and furnished out a military
dinner with great pleasantry, at the expense of Have-at-all, who is
desirous to grow valiant, as lawyers do learned, by eating. This
speech is also closely imitated by the master-cook in ' 'etcher's
tragedy of Rollo Duke of Normandy [2. 2].
31. seasons. The periods of time within which the several stars
have influence.
32. And so to fit. And so knows how to fit.
Sc. ii]
Notes
20I
34. airy brethren of the Rosie-crosse. The first mention of this
mysterious order appeared in a manifesto published at Cassel in
1614. A second book appeared in 1615, and a third at Strasburg
in 1616. The wonderful stories they told of the practical wisdom
of the brotherhood, and especially of their skill in chemistry, appealed
to the credulous among all classes, and caused much dispute. John¬
son's Encyclopedia says : 'The alchemists particularly were anxious
to join it, sure that it had found the philosopher's stone and could
make gold, but the whereabouts of the brotherhood remained
unknown. For several years the secret society of the Rosicrucians
was the all-absorbing topic of the day. Some think that the books
were written by Johann Valentin Andrea simply as a satire. Of
the real existence of such a society there never was found the
slightest trace.' In airy, Jonson alludes to their uncertain where¬
abouts. He says much of them in the Fortunate Isles (1626). In
News from the New World they 'have their college within a mile
of the moon ; a castle upon wheels with a winged lanthorne.'
64-5. A haire Large as the Mornings. To speak of the hairs of
a person's head collectively as a hair is very peculiar. If, however,
the coiffure of a lady was sometimes called a hair, then we can
understand from the following how the adjective large might prop¬
erly be applied to it. Stubbes wrote of the ladies in 1585 (Anat. of
Abuses, p. 60) : 'Then followeth the trimming and tricking of their
heades, in laying out their haire to the shewe, whiche of force must be
curled, fristed, and crisped, laid out (a world to see) on wreathes
and borders, from one eare to an other. And least It should fall
down, it is vnder propped with forks, wiers, and I cannot tell what,
like grim sterne monsters, rather then chaste Christian matrones.
Then, on the edges of their boulstered hair (for it standeth crested
rounde about their frontiers, and hanging ouer their faces like pen-
dices. or uailes, with glasse windowes on euery side) there is laied
great wreathes of golde and siluer, curiously wrought, and cunningly
applied to the temples of their heades.' Strutt tells us that the
fashions of the reign of Elizabeth were revived one after another in
that of James.
73. A front too slippery, etc. 'Literally from Horace,' says
Whalley [C. 1] :
Urit me Glycerae nitor
Splendentis Pario marmore purius,
Et vultus nimium lubricus aspici.
Jonson adapts Horace's line again in Gips. Metam. (GC. 7. 372).
77. A Theame, that's ouercome with her owne matter. Shake¬
speare often used her where we should expect its in speaking of
202
The Staple of News
'[Act iv
the mind and soul; also sometimes by way of personification in
speaking of the body (cf. Abbott, §229). It may be that her here
implies personification of 7 heame, but I think it goes back, by attrac¬
tion, to she in the preceding line.
78-9. Praise, etc. See Introd., p. 58.
80. Well pumpt. This is pump of the nautical phrase to pump
ship. The water that Shunfield has pumpt is flattery.
81. Poet-sucker. Nares says this word is 'formed by analogy
from rabbit-sucker, which means a sucking rabbit.' See Introd.,
P- 53-
84. 111. 'Although ill is not etymologically related to evil, the two
words have from the 12th c. been synonymous, and ill has been often
viewed as a mere variant or reduced form of evil' (NED.). This
explains the apostrophe.
90. his Rose. He can make nothing else. 'Alluding to the
painter, who could paint nothing but that flower' (W.). Cf. Sad
Shepherd, Prologue:
When he like poet yet remains, as those
Are painters who can only make a rose.
Cf. also Conversations with Drummond of Hawthornden 8: 'A
Painter who could paint nothing but a rose, when ane Innkeeper
had advised with him about ane ensing, said, That a horse was a
good one, so was a hare, but a rose was above them all.'
93. The Sunne is father of all mettalls. An alchemical geneal¬
ogy. Cf. Kelley, Alchem. Writings, trans. Waite, pp. 77-8: 'In the
same way, gold and silver receive their forms from their own proper
motive forces; the former is begotten of a single parent, the Sun,
cherishing the Lion within and without, hot and moist, cold and dry,
evenly tempered throughout. For being furnished with fixation
within, it possesses the maturing force of fire in every atom, and
this maturity is perfect life. . . . Now I say that . . . this
elementary fire, this first substance exists in all inferior metals,
though in different degrees of development. Hence all these inferior
metals in their inner being are potentially gold, and do potentially
possess metallic life; and there is no difference between gold and
these inferior metals, except in degree of maturity.'
94. Prologues. See Introduction, p. 58.
97. Mint. 'In Saxon times there were mints in most of the
important towns of England. After the Norman Conquest, the num¬
ber was greatly reduced, and in the reign of Richard I. the work of
coining for the whole Kingdom was concentrated in the mint in the
Tower of London' (Encyc. Brit.).
100. lines. An allusion to the practice of stamping the faces of
rulers upon coins ; but dynasties as well as lineaments is intended.
Sc. ii]
Notes
203
103. Looke how a Torch, of Taper light. For the construction,
supply takes place (that is, takes precedence, surpasses) after Torch;
and similarly in the next two lines. For light, see Glossary. See
Introd., p. 58.
108. Saraband. 'It was originally accompanied by singing, and at
one time was severely censured for its immoral character. . . .
In the old suite, the saraband was the distinctively slow movement,
and was usually placed before the gigue [the last movement of the
suite]' {CD.). See Glossary. Cf. also Strutt, Sports and Pastimes,
p. 223 : 'Sir John Hawkins observes that, within the memory of
persons living a saraband danced by a Moor constantly formed part
of the entertainment at a puppet-show; and this dance was always
performed with castenets.'
112. Shops of honour. Shops where honors, great and small, are
bought and sold.
more or lesse. Whalley and Gifford retain this reading, but I
think Jonson wrote more and lesse, i. e. great and small. See
Glossary.
116. as he stands for it. According as he defends it {Pecunia's
grace). The image intended is that of a knight of chivalry standing
for, or defending, the honor of his lady's name in the lists.
117. Fidlers. 'Tart meates go easily downe, being strewd with
sugar: as musicke in Tauerns makes that wine go downe merrily,
till it confound vs, which (if the Fiddlers were not there) would
hardly be tasted' (Dekker, Non-Dram. Works 4. 312).
119. Cousins. Note the double meaning (cf. Glossary).
122. Al-manach, though they call him Almanack. Jonson
alludes here to the popular pronunciation of almanac in his day.
The line shows that he not only disapproved of the flattening of the
a in the last syllable, and the conversion of ch into k, but the
hyphen in Al-manach suggests that he knew of the probable Spanish-
Arabic origin and composition of the word
123. P. Iv. Why, here's the Prodigall prostitutes his Mistresse.
'The names of the speakers are miserably out of place in the old
folio. The author assuredly never revised, probably never saw, a
line of this publication' (G.). See variant.
122. P. Ca. Almanack, etc., 'There is no authority whatever for
giving this speech to Picklock [cf. variant]. On studying the folio
I am persuaded that the line belongs to the preceding speech of
Pecunia. Gifford is rabid about the imaginary blunders of the folio,
which is here the only authority' (C.). Be it noted, however, that
Cunningham himself thinks there is a blunder. The line could not
well come from Pecunia's mouth, because she is meeting Almanach
The Staple of News
[Act iv
for the first time; it seems rather to belong to P. Junior. The chief
thing in the action of this scene is his behavior. The speech above
(line 117)j which the Folio gives to Picklock, also seems, as Gifford
believed, to belong to P. Junior; and for three reasons: In Peniboy
the powers of one-and-twenty are in full tide, and this lavish speech
is in keeping with his mood; moreover, it is this speech which calls
forth the Canter's exclamation in line 123 ; and thirdly, it is Peniboy
Junior who calls in the Fiddlers and Nick, as it is he who (line 130)
gives the boy the word to begin singing. As to the printing of this
play, there is good reason to believe that Jonson gave some attention
to it (cf. Introd., pp. 13-14).
Jonson had in mind here a passage in the Timon of Lucian, in
which Plutus complains of the extravagance of his master; in
Francklin's translation (1. 67) it stands thus: 'For I would ask you,
Jupiter, whether if a man were to marry a young and beautiful wife,
and afterwards should never watch or be jealous of her, but give her
leave to go wherever she would, night and day, and keep company
with whom she pleased, nay, should open his doors, invite every
body in, and expose her to prostitution, would you believe this man
loved her?'
128. want. Note the double meaning.
137. mere monsters. Absolute automata, machines, dancing
engines. As we saw in a previous note (1. 5. 40), monster was the
general name given to any animal, whether deformed or only strange,
which was kept and exhibited as a curiosity. The way the term is
used here shows that monster was also applied to any mechanical
contrivance made to resemble man or animal. Here it means
puppets. This is what Shakespeare means in Hamlet 3. 1 : 'For
wise men know well enough what monsters you make of them.'
138. subtill feet. Cf. Conversations with Drummond 19:
I'm sure my language to her is as sweet,
And all my closes meet
In numbers of as subtile feete
As makes the youngest hee,
That sits in shadow of Apollo's tree.
141-2. cry vp And downe mens wits. The phrases cry up credit
and cry down credit are of military origin. On the latter, James
Hooper says in Notes and Queries, gth. S. 12. 352: 'This ancient
custom was observed in Norwich on Thursday, 6 November, 1902.
I quote from the Eastern Daily Press of the following day: "A
couple of the Dragoon Guards stationed at the Barracks rode through
the streets, one sounding a bugle, and the other reading the proclama¬
tion, warning citizens against contracting debts with the private
soldiers of the 3rd and 4th Dragoon Guards. The custom is
Sc. ii]
Notes
205
undoubtedly new to many of the citizens, who listened with interest
to the proclamation." '
151-2. write like a Gentleman, etc. 'Old Canter was right; "the
mob of gentlemen who wrote with ease," about half a century later,
verified his observation' (G.). Cf. Fortunate Isles, 1626 (GC. 8. 71) •
Mere. But wrote he like a gentleman?
Johp. In rhyme, fine tinkling rhyme, and flowing verse,
With now and then some sense ! and he was paid for't,
Regarded and rewarded ; which few poets
Are now-a-days.
See Introduction, p. S7.
160. keepe house. Reside.
166. her distance of Hum. Gifford cites Shirley, The Wedding,
Act 2 :
Lod. They say that canary sack must dance again
To the apothecary's and be sold for
Physic in /¿«^-glasses and thimbles.
'I cannot pretend,' he says, 'to give the meaning of a distance of
hum. As it was drank in small glasses, it was probably of con¬
siderable strength, and the expression in the text may therefore
allude to some division, either real or imaginary, in the ordinary
vessels, by which the draughts of it were regulated, and below which
it was not allowable to go. That such rules once existed, is well-
known. But this is merely conjecture.' Cf. Devil is an Ass 1. 1 :
'Strong water, Hum, Meath and Obarni.' There Gifford notes :
'Hum, I have always understood to be an infusion of spirits in ale
or beer. It is mentioned by several of our old dramatists, and
appears to have been considered as a kind of cordial. Thus Fletcher :
"Lord, what should I ail ! what a cold I have over my stomach ;
would I had some hum!" Wild Goose Chace.' Nares cites Hey-
wood's Drunkard, p. 48: ' "Notwithstanding the multiplicity of wines,
yet there be stills and limbecks going, swetting out aqua vitae and
strong waters, deriving their names from cinnamon, balm, and ani¬
seed, such as stomach-water, humm, etc." ' 'It is introduced,' con¬
tinues Nares, 'in the Beggars Bush [Beaumont and Fletcher]
2. i, among terms of the cant language, which, probably, was its
origin.'
As to the origin of the name, it is significant that humming as
applied to liquor, means strong, powerful, possibly causing a hum¬
ming in the head (cf. NED.). Probably, as Gifford conjectures,
distance is an allusion to some kind of graduated drinking-mug.
Nash, in Pierce Penniless (Works 2. 80), says: 'I believe hoops
in quart-pots were invented that every man should take his hoop,
2o6
The Staple of News
Act iv
and no more.' The hoop-tankard was no doubt a modification of
the old peg-tankard instituted by King Edgar, 'that whilst every
man knew his just measure, shame should compel each, neither to
take more himself, nor oblige others to drink beyond their propor¬
tional share.' These tankards, which were made of staves bound
together with wooden hoops, held two quarts, and had eight pins;
hence each pin measured a gill (cf. Notes and Queries, 9th S. 9. 10,
256). Rivalry among drinkers in showing how many times they could
repeat their peg, led to results quite the opposite of those Edgar
intended. From this practice of 'drinking to pegs' we get our
phrase peg out, meaning originally to be overcome by too many
pegs of liquor (cf. Barrère and Leland, Slang Diet.). That Mother
Mortgage pegs out when she gets her distance of hum, is suggested
by the fact that though Statute, Band, and Waxe often speak in this
scene and the next, she is not heard from in either. Doze, in line
164, is not a misspelling, as Whalley and Gifford thought it (cf.
variant).
175. Scatter your selfe. Scatter, in this sense, is still a loose
colloquialism.
178. Claret. 'A name originally given (like F. vin clairet) to
wines of yellowish or light red colour, as distinct alike from "red
wine" and "white wine"; the contrast ceased about 1600, and it
was apparently then used for red wines generally, in which sense
it still, or was recently, dial! (NED.).
Scene III.
15-17. No Guardian. Cf. Introd., p. 27.
23. Why, my most noble money hath, or shall. Among the
shifts to which Tames I. resorted in order to raise money, was the
selling of peerages. 'Of the forty-five lay peers whom he added to
the upper House during his reign,' says Green (Hist. 3, 93),
'a large number were created by sheer bargaining. Baronies were
sold to bidders at ten thousand pounds apiece. Ten nobles were
created in a batch. Elizabeth, on the other hand, during the forty-
five years of her reign had raised but seven persons to the peerage,
and all of these but Burleigh were of historic descent. Charles con¬
tinued his father's policy, outraging the nation's reverence for pure
and noble descent. Cf. Secret Hist. 1. 255 : 'At this time the honour
of knighthood, . . . was promiscuously laid on any head belong¬
ing to the yeomandry, . . . that had but a court friend, or money
to purchase the favour of the meanest able to bring him into an
outward roome, when the king, the fountaine of honour, came downe,
and was uninterrupted by other businesse.' Cf. Eastward Hoe 4. 1 :
Sc. m]
Notes
207
'He's one of my thirty pound knights.' See also 4. 4. 152-S, and
notes thereon.
40. Of our bodies. Cunningham quotes Coleridge as saying:
'Perhaps the better reading is : O' your bodies.'
41. would ha' smother'd me in a chest. 'This is from Aris¬
tophanes' (G.). Cf. Plutus (Hickie's trans. 2. 696) : 'Plu. . . .
For if I chance to go into the house of a miser, he immediately
buries me deep in the earth : and if any good man, his friend, come
to him asking to get some small sum of money, he denies that he
has ever at any time seen me.' Compare, however, lines 28-46
with this from Lucian's Timon (Works, trans. Francklin, 1. 65) :
[Jupiter to Plutus] 'Sometimes, you used to be angry with the
rich, for. confining you with bars, bolts, and seals, in such a manner
that you could never see the light. This you lamented to me, and
complained that you were buried in utter darkness. I have met
you pale and full of care, with your fingers contracted, and
threatening to run away from them the first opportunity. Such a
horrible thing did you count it to be locked up, like Danae, in a
brazen or iron chest, or let out by a set of wretches on vile usury.'
46. In one sixe moneths. For one, see Glossary. Sixe moneths
has the flavor of a compound, after the analogy of twelve-month.
Such phraseology, once common, was used apparently for intensive
purposes. NED. cites: '1611 Bible Dan. iii. 19. That they should
heat the furnace one seven time more then it was wont to be heat.'
4g. forme. The immediate meaning of forme is proper shape or
figure; but an allusion is intended to the formula of words, letters,
or symbols with which the wax seal of a legal document was stamped.
59. instruments. An equivoque.
62. in Apollo, in Pecunias roome. Cf. note on 2. 5. 127. An
allusion to the alchemistic meaning of Apollo, namely Sol or the
Sun, i. e. gold.
64. Consult your dogges. NED. gives no instance of this use
of consult—to ask advice from—earlier than 1706.
78. I am coozen'd by my Cousin. 'Call me cousin, but cozen me
not' (Ray, Proverbs, p. 118).
79. Bane o\ The meaning is plain, woe or curse on, but the
phrase seems to be rare. There is no mention of it in any of the
principal dictionaries or glossaries. Eng. Dial. Diet, gives bane as
'a mild expletive' used in Yorkshire, and cites: 'Bane! Ah'll gan,
whativver comes on't.'
80. tost like Block, . . . [SN.] One of his dogges. Whalley,
Gifford, and Cunningham all acquiesce in the book-holder's note.
Probably tossing dogs in a blanket was often resorted to as a pastime.
Osborne, having told us (Sec. Hist. 1. 267) that Archie, the court
2o8
The Staple of News
[Act iv
jester, once tried to arouse the jealousy of King James by pointing
out that Prince Henry's larger retinue was a sign of his greater
popularity, adds : 'This I have heard by divers, that he was after
every night they [the Prince's retainers] could meet him tossed
like a.dog in a blancket.' Yet I suspect that the specific application
in the side-note is a mistake. Within the play itself nothing has
been said or done to which line 80 could be an allusion.
Scene IV.
7. Can my discent. Can is not an auxiliary, but an independent
verb, being used in its original sense of to know or to have skill.
It is so used several times in this play (see Glossary). It occurs
but rarely in Shakespeare; cf. Hamlet 4. 7:
I've seen myself and served against the French,
And they can well on horseback;
and Phoenix and Turtle, line 14:
And the priest in surplice white
That defunctive music can.
9. euery limb. Pecunia means that she is a princess in every
part or fibre of her body, and also in or by every limb or branch
of her genealogy (see limb in Glossary). Veines, also, is used in
a double sense—veins of the body, and veins of ore.
11. I come from Sol. See note on 4. 2. 93. For this and all
other technical terms in this scene, see Glossary.
13. blood-royall. Blood royal (sometimes simply The Blood), in
the sense of royal race or family, is an established phrase. Jonson
is here punning, however, upon the name of certain coins then
current. The Royall, commonly called Ryal, was a gold piece first
coined by Edward IV., and worth then about ten shillings. The
Rose-royal, worth about $7.50, and the Spur-royal, worth about $3-75,
were first coined by James I.
15. a Sunne proper, beamy. The disk of the sun, when it occurs
in heraldic devices, is usually filled with the features of a human
face. When anything is substituted for this, it is mentioned in the
blazon: as, 'the Sun, etc., charged in the centre with an eye.' It is
common, also, to surround the disk with rays. Sun in Splendor is
the sun with rays approximating in length the diameter of the disk,
and alternately straight and waved. Possibly this is what Jonson
means by beamy. Probably there is also a punning allusion to beam,
a bar of gold.
16. Twelue of the second. See note on line 26.
Sc. iv ]
Notes
209
18. Besants. The Besant is a common armorial charge or bear¬
ing. Originally it implied that the bearer had been in the Holy
Land; now, however, it is frequently introduced into the arms of
banks and of individuals who have had specially to do with money
—a practice which, as this passage indicates, existed in Jonson's day
also. See Glossary.
20. Potosí. Silver was discovered on Mt. Potosi in southwestern
Bolivia in 1546. For a long time the mines there were the richest
of the kind in the world. The central bearing of the arms of
Bolivia is the figure of Mt. Potosi. Pyedmantle's words show how
vague a thing the geography of the western hemisphere still was.
23. The Welsh-myne that. There are lead, copper, and zinc
mines in Wales. Silver occurs in combination with the lead. There
are two gold-mines in Great Britain—one in Wales, one in Ireland.
In 1876 the output of the Welsh mine was £1119, of the Irish, £18.
Jonson would hardly have referred to Welsh go/d-mines. Perhaps,
however, he did not care whether Wales had rich mines or not.
25. leekes. The leek, being the national emblem of the Welsh, is
often alluded to by the old writers. Cf. Henry V., 5. 1.
26. tassei'd of the first. Gifford says first refers to the first
color, i. e. Argent, and quotes in explanation, ' "because heraldry
abhors to repeat the name." '
43. Iudiciall Astrologie. 'Astrology was of two kinds : (a)
Natural Astrology : the Calculation and foretelling of natural phe¬
nomena as the measurement of time, fixing of Easter, prediction
of tides and eclipses ; also of meteorological phenomena, (b)
Judiciall Astrology : the art of judging of the reputed occult and
non-physical influences of the stars and planets upon human affairs ;
star-divination, astromancy (the only meaning of 'Astrology' since
end of 17th c.)' (NED.).
50. Bringers vp. NED. cites : '1604 Edmonds Observ. Caesar's
Comm. 130 The bringers-up or last rancke called Tergiductores.'
54. My egg-chin'd Laureat. See Introd., p. 51.
64. lookes out of the politicks, your shut-faces. NED. says
that looks out as the plural of look-out or look out is rare. Indica¬
tions, outlooks, or prospects is probably the meaning. What shut-
faces means I can only guess ; see Glossary.
89. Apicius de re culinaria. 'There were three Romans of this
name, all celebrated as epicures. The second, H. Gabius Apicius,
who lived under Tiberius, is the most famous. He invented cakes
and sauces which bore his name, and rival schools of cookery claimed
their descent from him. A treatise, De Re Culinaria, sive de
Obsoniis, etc., bearing the assumed name of Caelius Apicius, was
compiled at a later period' (Chambers' Encyc.).
2 I O
The Staple of News
[ Act iv
91. the politicks. Probably not the science, but the policy of the
government at the time.
92. Astrology. The whole subject of Practical Astronomy, or
Astrology (cf. note on line 43).
95. Horace, etc. Cf. Introd., p. 51.
100. Fit for a Chronicle. An allusion to Anthony Munday, and
the work he then had in hand of amplifying Stow's Survey. He
was a friend of Stow's, and had in 1618 brought out the first edition
of the Survey. Munday died in 1633, and a few months after his
death the Survey was reprinted, with additions. Jonson alludes here
to the trivial matters which Stow and Munday often included in
their record (cf. the Chronologer in News from the New World,
1620). Jonson had satirized Munday long before in the character of
Antonio Balladino in The Case in Altered (pub. 1609). Possibly
he also had in mind here Edmund Howes, who was then engaged
in continuing Stow's Chronicle or Annals. See 1. 6. 93; and also
the Chronicler in News from the Neiu World.
106. Copy of Court Roll. See Glossary under copyholder.
107. Escuage. The personal attendance of knight-service being
irksome, tenants found means of compounding for it ; first by send¬
ing others in their stead, and in process of time making a pecuniary
satisfaction to the lords in lieu of it. This pecuniary recompense
was called escuage (L. scutagium, scutum money) which in time
became scutage (cf. Blackstone, Comm. 2. 73-4).
no. Littletons tenures. The Tenures of Sir Thomas Littleton,
written in Law-French, was printed some time near the end of the
15th century. Fitzherbert cites it as early as 1534. Coke (1552-
1634) pronounced it the most perfect and absolute work that ever
was written in any human science. The Tenures with Coke's com¬
ment was for a long time the chief authority on English real-
property law.
in. And make 'hem too, Sir. Peniboy means that Picklock
shall explain to him all his transfers of property. Picklock means
that he will so completely control the prodigal as to make all his
bargains for him.
112. Keepe all your Courts. Keep all your manor-houses in
repair and order.
113. Let all your Leases. Leases refers neither to contracts nor
to writings, but to the things leased. Compare our real-estate-office
phrase, a good rent, meaning a piece of property well adapted for a
tenant's use, or one easily rented.
122. Leave you my Cloak. 'A Palliard comes next into my
minde, & he likewise is cal'd a Clapperdugeon: his vpper garment
is an olde cloake made of as many pieces patch'd together, as there
be villanies in him' (Dekker, Non-Dram. Works 3- 99)-
Sc. ivj
Notes
211
123. Beggars-Bush. 'Beggars-bush "is (as Fuller tells us) a tree
notoriously known, on the left hand of the London road from Hunt¬
ington to Caxton. It is spoken of such who use dissolute and
improvident courses, which tend to poverty." Huntingtonshire
Prov.' (G.). See Introd., p. 27.
138. colour of aduantage. Allegeable ground of advantage or
superiority.
147. danger. See Glossary. Cf. Mer. of Ven. 4. 1. 38:
You stand within his danger, do you not?
152-3. the pure preseruer of descents
The keeper faire of all Nobility. Pure probably modifies
preseruer, and means sole or only. Possibly, however, it modifies
descents predicatively, and means clear, free from confusion. Faire
modifies Nobility predicatively, and means free from doubt or blemish.
William Camden, Jonson's learned and revered preceptor, who
died in 1623, had been for more than twenty years one of the four
chief officers of the College of Heralds, with the title of Clarenceux
King-of-arms. These noble lines are a tribute to him.
153—8. Nobility . . . Vertue. Jonson had in mind here the
royal traffic in peerages, knighthoods, etc. Cf. note on 4. 3. 24.
'The marshaling of coat-armor,' wrote Blackstone in 1765-9 (Comm.
3. 105), 'which was formerly the pride and study of all the best
families in the kingdom, is now greatly disregarded; and has fallen
into the hands of certain officers and attendants upon this court,
called heralds, who consider it only as a matter of lucre, and. not of
justice; whereby such falsity and confusion have crept into their
records (which ought to be the standing evidence of families,
descents, and coat-armor,) that, though formerly some credit has
been paid to their testimony, now even their common seal will not
be received as evidence in any court of justice in the kingdom. But
their original visitation books, compiled when progresses were
solemnly and regularly made into every part of the kingdom, to
inquire into the state of families, and to register such marriages
and descents as were verified to them upon oath, are allowed to be
good evidence of pedigrees.'
I55- Were he. Even if he were.
160. compile. Used in the sense of pile up, or heap together. At
the mildest, Jonson means by it : 'collect and put together.' Certainly
he has not in mind the sense : 'compose as original work' ; for the
whole intention of the passage is to discredit Doctors of Astrology.
161. Almanack. Besides a calendar, list of dates and anni¬
versaries, etc., the almanac of Jonson's day contained astrological
and astrometeorological forecasts.
2 12
The Staple of News [Act iv. Sc. iv
166-7. euer-living ghirlond . . . good Poet. One cannot
but regret that Gifford followed 1716 and Whalley in changing the
beautiful old form ghirlond into 'garland.' Jonson chose this form
deliberately (cf. Glossary). Perhaps these lines are an allusion to
Fletcher, who died in August, 1625. He and Jonson had been friends
and collaborators. He had for several years been the chief poet
of the King's Men. See Introd., p. 54.
168. witherd. See Introd., pp. 55-9.
170. (That I not call you worse). Cf. 2 Hen. IV. 4, 1. 98: £It
not belongs to you' ; and ib. 107 : 'It not appears to me.' See Abbott.
170-1. no sore, Or Plague. As a matter of fact, however, at the
date when this play was presented, the Plague (cf. note on 2. 3. 4)
had not entirely disappeared. From the Court and Times of
Charles I. (pp. 81, 85, 92) we learn that for the weeks ending Feb. 9,
and 16, 1626, the deaths from this disease numbered ten each; for
the weeks ending March 23, and 30, three and two, respectively.
Under date of June 26 (p. 116) we read: 'There died none of the
plague this last week at London.' See Introd., p. 19.
179. worthy of a Chronicle. Cf. note on 4. 4. 100.
FOURTH INTERMEAN.
5. warrant him. When used in this emphatic way, warrant is now
usually followed by you.
a kin. Whalley reads a~kin and Gifford akin. No change is
needed (cf. Glossary, under kin).
Mirth is right; nowhere in his dramas did Jonson speak more
truly in his own person, or with a more eager and eloquent indigna¬
tion, than in some of the utterances of Peniboy Canter.
9-10. huge ouergrowne Playmaker. Jonson, always large, had
now grown very stout.
13-14. set a beggar on horse-backe, hee'll neuer linne till
hee be a gallop. 'To linne is to stop. Swift used the word in his
Journal to Stella, and says "lins is leaves off"' (C). Cf. Dekker,
Non-Dram. Works 2. 281 : 'Be thou a beagle to them all, and never
lin snuffing till you have scented them.' Cf. Ray, Proverbs, p. 99-
'Set a beggar on horse-backe, and he'll ride a gallop.' Bohn
(Polyglot) cites (1) from the Dutch: 'Helpt gij een' bedelaar te
paard hij draaft niet maar hij galoppeert. Set a beggar on horse¬
back, and he don't trot, but gallops'; (2) from the German: Wenn
ein Bettler auf's Pferd kömmt, so kann ihm kein Teufel mehr
■voreilen. Set a beggar on horseback, and he'll outride the devil."
Cf. Hislop, Scottish Proverbs : 'Set a beggar on horseback, he'll ride
to the deil.'
4TH INT.]
Notes
213
19. And shew'd her to 'hem all! was not îealous. Cf. the pas¬
sage from Lucian's Timon quoted in note on 4. 2. 123.
28. water his Lectures. Compare our modern commercial phrase,
to water stock.
32-3. Doctors? . . . Courtiers. Neither Whalley nor Gifford
makes any change in either Doctors or Courtiers. Both words are
possessive singular. There is but one person in the play whom the
rest call Doctor, and that is Almanach (cf. 4. 4. 37). Likewise there
is but one courtier in the play, Fitton (cf. 4. 4. 62).
34-5. hat-band. Planché says : 'Hat-bands of gold Vnd silver, and
sometimes of jewels, were worn by the nobility and wealthy gentle¬
men in the 16th and 17th centuries, and, of course, by those who
affected to be such.' Planché cites Samuel Rowland's Pair of Spy
Knaves :
If it be feather time, he wears a feather,
A golden hat-band or a silver either.
Cf. also Fastidious Brisk's recital of his duel in Every Man Out, 4. 4.
35. shooe-tye. Shoe-ties were sometimes called shoe-roses,
because, being of ribbon and tied in a bunch, they resembled a rose.
Apparently they were often of enormous size, and rich and costly.
In Match me in London (1631) Dekker speaks of 'rich spangled
Morrisco shoe-strings.' Planché quotes Taylor the Water-Poet as
reprobating the extravagance of wearing 'a farm in shoe-strings
edged with gold.'
42. I wonder they would suffer it, etc. This is the kind of inter¬
pretation that elicited the address To the Readers. Probably there
was a large element in the Jacobean audience who saw in the rela¬
tions of Pecunia and Peniboy Junior nothing but a questionable love-
affair, and in the old Canter's act only a selfish ravishing away of
his son's mistress. Cf. Introd., p. 27.
45. gypsies. At the end of the middle ages, the gipsies, as
Blackstone tells us (Comm. 4. 165), 'gained such a number of idle
proselytes (who imitated their language and complexion and betook
themselves to the same arts of chiromancy, begging, and pilfering)
that they became troublesome, and even formidable, to most of the
states of Europe.' Henry VIII. was the first to take the alarm
and legislate against them. In 1530 he enacted a statute directing
them 'to avoid the realm.' Elizabeth enacted that "if any such
person shall be imported into this Kingdom, the importer shall
forfeit £40. And if the Egyptians themselves remain one month in
this kingdom, or if any person, being fourteen years old, (whether
natural-born subject or stranger), which hath been seen or found
in the fellowship of such Egyptians, or which hath disguised him
214
The Staple of News
j[4TH INT.
or herself like them, shall remain in the same one month, at one or
several times, it is felony without benefit of clergy": and Sir
Matthew Hale informs us that at one Suffolk assizes no less than
thirteen gypsies were executed upon these statutes, a few years
before the restoration' (ib.). Owing to their practices and the
apparent similarity of their jargon to the language of gipsies, the
name was often applied to beggars and vagabonds in general.
Tattle's speech is an instance of this.
i yen. All change flyen into 'flown.' Changes of this kind are not
justifiable on the ground of modernizing the spelling; the difference
between the two words is not a mere matter of spelling, but one of
form.
46. politic all incest . . . high Commission of wit. Of
spiritual incest there is frequent mention in Church history. It
includes (1) marriage with a relative or with a person under a vow
of chastity, and (2) 'the holding by the same person of two benefices
one of which depends on the collation of the other' (NED.). The
term politic all incest Jonson coined for the nonce. The passage is
an allusion to the usurpation, by the ecclesiastical court of High
Commission, of authority in legal and political matters. 'This court,'
says Blackstone (Comm. 3. 68), 'was erected and united to the legal
power by virtue of the Statute 1 Eliz. c. 1, instead of a larger
jurisdiction which had before been exercised under the pope's
authority. It was intended to vindicate the dignity and peace of
the church, "by reforming, ordering, and correcting the ecclesiastical
state and persons, and all manner of errors, heresies, schisms, abuses,
offences, contempts, and enormities. Under the shelter of which
very general words, means were found, in that and the two succeed¬
ing reigns, to vest in the high commissioners extraordinary and
almost despotic powers of fining and imprisoning; which they
exerted much beyond the degree of the offence itself, and fre¬
quently over offences by no means of spiritual cognizance. For
these reasons this court was justly abolished by statute 16 Car. 1.
c. ii [1641]. And the weak and illegal attempt that was made to
revive it, during the reign of King James the Second, served only
to hasten that infatuated prince's ruin.'
54. begge him, from his estate. Gifford reads for instead of
from, but I think, with Cunningham, that the Folio is probably cor¬
rect. From here means out of.
'When monasteries were dissolved,' says Strype (Annals of Elisa¬
beth 2. 209), 'and the lands thereof, and afterwards colleges, chantries
and fraternities were all given to the crown, some demeans here
and there pertaining thereunto were still privily retained, and pos¬
sessed by certain private persons or corporations or churches. I his
4TH INT.]
Notes
2I5
caused the queen ... to grant commissions to some persons to
search after these concealments and to retrieve them to the crown.'
As a result, says Knight (London i. 388), 'there was not a title
in the kingdom that was safe from the rapacity of the begging
courtiers.' Seeking out such concealments, they begged the grant
of them to themselves. Elizabeth has the credit of having, in 1572,
withdrawn all commissions, for concealments—as Strype says, to the
'great quieting of her subjects'; but allusions in the dramatists show
that the evil persisted for a long time afterwards. Cf. Beaumont
and Fletcher, Honest Man's Fortune : 'So please you Grant me one
concealment' ; also Every Man In 4. 2 : 'You'll be begged else shortly
for a concealment' ; also Poetaster 5. 1 : 'Ay, and remember to beg
their lands betimes ; before some of these court-hounds scent it out.'
On this last, Gifford cites from Jack Drum's Entertainment : 'I have
followed ordinaries this twelvemonth, onely to find a fool that had
lands, or a fellow that would talke treason that I might beg.' Cf.
also Silent Woman 4. 2: 'We were fain to take away their weapons;
your house had been begg'd by this time else.' There Gifford says :
'For a riot, etc., for which it would have fallen, as a deodand, to
the crown. The quick-scented rapacity of James's courtiers is well
marked by this expression, which, though used in jest, contains little
more than the simple fact.' The words to find a fool, in the passage
from Jack Drum above, refer to the old phrase, to beg a person for
a fool. Blackstone says {Comm. 1. 303) : 'By the old common law
there is a writ de idiota inquirendo, to inquire whether a man be
an idiot or not: which must be tried by a jury of twelve men; and,
if they find him purus idiota, the profits of his lands and the custody
of his person may be granted by the King to some subject who has
interest enough to obtain them.' In short, any and all lands which,
for any reason—concealment, treason, riot, imbecility, etc.—stood
forfeited to the crown, were liable to 'begging.' The opportunity
to profit by informing and false accusation was great ; as our
passage indicates, beggers in velvet—court-rats—knew of many a
trick to rob the unwary.
56-7. in rime . . . Irish rat. 'The fanciful idea that rats
were commonly rhymed to death in Ireland,' says Nares, 'arose
probably from some metrical charm or incantation used there for
that purpose. Sir W. Temple [F-way on Poetry] seems to derive
it from the Runic incantations ; for, after speaking of them in
various ways, he adds, "And the proverb of rhyming rats to death,
came I suppose from the same root." ' Cf. Poetaster, To the Reader :
Rhime them to death, as they do Irish rats
In drumming tunes;
The Staple of News
[' Act. v
and As You Like It 3. 2. 188: 'I was never so be-rhimed since
Pythagoras' time, that I was an Irish rat.' On rat-rime, NED.
says : 'Sc. and north, from rat, probably onomatopoeic. A piece
of doggerel verse; a rigmarole.' Cites Scott, Hrt. Midi, chap. 8:
'I cannot nose a prayer like a rat rhyme, answered the honest clergy¬
man.' A writer in Notes and Queries, 9th S. 3. 394-5, says : 'This
is "rote rhyme," or a monotonous jingle, kindred in spirit and
movement, no doubt, to the butter-woman's rank to market. Gavin
Douglas, in the prologue to ZEneid 8. st. 12, has "rote rane" (black
letter ed. of 1553, "ratt rime") which is equivalent to "rote jargon."
. . . To this day in Scotland, a "rane" is a weary harping on a
trivial theme.'
59-60. reuerse his coat-armour and nullifie him for no Gentle¬
man. On the use of the double negative, cf. Abbott, §406.
'Coke,' says Blackstone (Comm. 1. 405), 'defines a gentleman to
be one qui arma gerit, who bears coat armor, the grant of which
adds gentility to a man's family.' ' "As for gentlemen," says Sir
Thomas Smith, "they- may be made good cheap in this kingdom :
for whoever studieth the laws of the realm, who studieth in the
universities, who professeth the liberal sciences, and to be short,
who can live idly, and without manual labor and will bear the
port, charge, and countenance of a gentleman, he shall be called
master, and shall be taken for a gentleman"' (ih. 406). A gentle¬
man ranks next below an esquire, and next above a yeoman. This
whole intermean is an extended allusion to the insecurity of fortune
and rank in those suspicious and mercenary times. Money could
buy honor and position, but quite as often it was the cause of losing
both.
62-3. to make a probation dish of. As a trial of skill.
65. disinherited. I can find no authority for this broad use of
disinherit. Mirth uses the word loosely for confiscated, in the
obsolete sense of to be deprived of one's property as forfeited to the
State.
ACT V Scene I.
1-22. Cf. Introd., p. 27.
16. Feather-man. 'No fool but has his feather,' says Marston in
The Malcontent. Ostrich, or 'estridge,' feathers were worn by men
in their hats and caps, single and in plumes. 'The introduction of
the cocked hat,' says Planché, 'limited the use of feathers by the
male sex to trimmings for the brim, a fashion which lasted till the
reign of George II.' Cf. note on Induction, line 40.
21. The epidemicall disease. Probably the Plague, which visited
London in 1625, and had not yet entirely disappeared (see notes
on 2. 3. 4, and 4. 4. 171).
Sc. i]
Notes
217
22. sit downe with it. It refers to solitude. For the phrase sit
down with, see Glossary.
24. No, nor I care to heare none. On the double negative, see
Abbott, §406.
29. Or if it must be in. In every Ephemerides or Almanac. A
dash after in would make the passage clearer.
32. loosing. All read 'losing,' but the change is needless (see
Glossary).
their loves. Those who love them; or possibly, the affections of
those who love them.
43-4. Whom they had so deuoured i'their hopes To be their
Patronesse. To he depends on a verb or verbal noun of asking
implied in had deuoured.
47. is return'd. 'Gone back to his former situation, etc. This
is sufficiently harsh' (G.). Cunningham says Dyce queries here in
his copy : ' "Is the word used here in the same sense in which we
speak of a candidate being returned to Parliament?"' The use of
return here is similar to the use of grow in 4. 1. 18 : 'Of an advocate,
he grew the client.'
48. is returned, etc. See Introd., p. 49.
57. as respecting his mortalitie. As if thinking of, or making
provision in case of, his own death.
71. throwne ouer the Barre. See bar in Glossary.
72-8. Picklock intends an emphatic denial, but his first words
are a sinister equivoque. He sees this at once, and begins to explain
carefully. In lines 76-8 he forgets what he is about, and lays bare
the true nature of his conscience (inmost thought) or purpose (see
conscience, silly, latitude in Glossary).
75. All in a Lane. Fleay (Shak. Manual, p. 266) in discussing
the Folio reading in Julius Caesar 3. 1. 38-9:
And turn preordinance and first decree
Into the lane of children,
says lane means 'narrow conceits.' He cites line 75 with the remark :
'I do not know an instance of such a usage in any other author.'
The reading usually adopted in Julius Caesar is law; but play, bane,
vane, and line have all been suggested.
85. ciuill slaughter. For this use of civil in the sense of legal
as opposed to natural, compare Blackstone, Comm. 2. 121 : 'And
moreover, in case an estate be granted to a man for his life, generally
it may also determine by his civil death : as if he enters into a
monastery, whereby he is dead in law : for which reason in con¬
veyances the grant is usually made "for the term of a man's natural
life" ; which can only determine by his natural death.'
2l8
The Staple of News
[Act. v
89. vorloffe. 'One of the terms picked up by the poet in his
Flemish campaign' (G.). See Glossary.
Welsh-briefe. This is the only instance of this phrase that
I know of. I think it means a begging petition. Under that defini¬
tion of brief, NED. cites: '1879 Miss Jackson Shropshire Word-bk.
(E. D. S.) Brief, a writing setting forth the circumstances by
which a poor person has incurred loss, as by fire, the death of a
horse, cow, etc. Such a one takes the brief about to collect money
for his indemnification.' Ihornbury says the clapper-dudgeons
were generally Welshmen, and probably there was a large element
of Welsh in other classes of vagabonds.
98. SN. 'Here the margin says, Pennyboy runs out to fetch his
letter. This is merely a pretence. He runs out to dispatch a ticket-
porter to meet Lickfinger, and take the deed of trust from him' (G.).
104. night-cap. 'Night-caps are first mentioned in the times of
the Tudors. They were worn in the day-time by elderly men and
invalids. They are frequent in portraits of the seventeenth century,
some of velvet or silk, occasionally richly embroidered and edged
with lace, . . . and were generally worn in the morning at the
beginning of the last century by gentlemen in the absence of their
wigs' (Planché).
115. our. Whalley and Gifford read 'your.' But Picklock's use
of our is calculated to give the heir the feeling that the lawyer has
made his interests entirely his own—which indeed, in another sense,
he has, or is trying to do.
117. to wage Law. Wager of Law. In Old Practice. An oath
taken by a defendant in an action of debt that he does not owe the
claim, supported by the oaths of eleven neighbors. When an action
of debt is brought against a man upon a single contract, and the
defendant pleads nil debet, and concludes his plea with this formula,
"And this he is ready to defend against him the said A B and his
suit, as the court of our lord here shall consider," etc., he is then
put in sureties (vadios) to wage his law on a day appointed by
the judge. The wager of law consists in an oath taken by the defend¬
ant on the appointed day, and confirmed by the oaths of eleven
neighbors or compurgators. This oath had the effect of a verdict
in favor of the defendant, and was only allowed in the actions of
debt on simple contract, and detinue ; nor was it allowed to any
one not of good character' (Bouvier, Law Diet.). It was last used
as a method of defence in 1824.
118. as mine owne right. Gifford reads my.' Cunningham says:
'Jonson wrote 'mine own right,' and he knew the force of the words
he was using.'
Sc. ii]
Notes
219
Scene II.
2. Cheat. Primarily, the plot or fraud, but in Jonson's day the
phrase The Cheat meant the gallows, and probably it was intended
that this idea also should cross the minds of the auditors.
8. A perfect Act? and absolute in Law. A complete instrument
and unrestricted in the eyes of the Law—that is, an unqualified deed.
33. I not repent it. In Jonson's day not still retained enough of
its original sense of no-whit, or naught, to render it emphatic;
hence we frequently see the auxiliary do omitted among the old
writers (see Abbott, Shak. Gram. §305).
36. Engine compos'd of all mixt mettalls. Engine refers to
Picklock. This application of the word to a personal being is rare.
The Canter means to call Picklock an infernal device, a machine
made in the likeness of a man, and endowed with devilish intelli¬
gence. For a somewhat similar application of the word, cf. the
phrase dancing engines, 4. 2. Cf. also Neptune's Triumph :
'Cook. What are you, Sir?
Poet. The most unprofitable of his servants, I, Sir, the Poet.
A kind of Christmas ingine : one that is used at least
once a year, for a trifling instrument of wit, or so.'
All mixt mettalls probably means all metals mixed together. Brass,
however, is itself a mixed metal.
37. I will not change a syllab, with thee, more. 'Jonson, as
usual with him, wrote syllab, for which Home Tooke commends him,
as does Gifford likewise in another place' (C). See variant. See,
also, To the Readers.
43. parts. This is rare. Schmidt defines it as 'merit or demerit,'
and cites Timon of Athens 3. 5. 77: 'If not for any parts in him—
though his right arm might purchase his own time and be in debt
to none—yet, more to move you, take my deserts to his.'
52. periure. Blackstone tells us (Comm. 4. 138) that by the
statute of Elizabeth against perjury, the punishment of that crime is
six months' imprisonment, perpetual infamy, and a fine of 20 pounds,
or to have both ears nailed to the pillory.
54. An Egge o' the same nest. Cf. Macbeth 4. 2. 83 : 'What, you
egge? Yong fry of treachery.' See Glossary.
57. witnes. Here witnes means testimony; in line 62 it means
one who bears testimony ; in line 65, testimony again ; and in line 67
it seems to mean personal knowledge or witnessing.
61. by Law. I. e. (1) according to; (2) by means of.
61-2. a conscience, . . . thousand witnesses. Cf. the Italian
proverb (Bohn, Polyglot) :
La coscienza vale per mille testimonj.
220
The Staple of News
[Act. v
70. A rat behind the hangings. We are reminded of Hamlet
3- 4- 23 :
How now! a rat? Dead, for a ducat, dead!
and Hamlet 4. 1. 10:
Hearing something stir, whips out his rapier, cries
A rat, a rat!
Hangings of arras (see note on 1. 2. 103) were a constant appur¬
tenance of the early stage. One of their chief uses was to serve as
a hiding-place. Cf. Silent Woman 4. 2: 'You two shall be the
chorus behind an arras, and whip out between the acts and speak.'
84-6. Here, as in many other places in this play, the moods of
caustic satire and verbal banter are combined—the thoughtful and
the careless—the serious and the entertaining.
87. maintenance. Maintenance and perjury were both prime
Star-Chamber offenses in the days of Henry VIII., and probably they
were still so in the days of James and Charles (cf. Green, Hist.
3- 147)-
88. hole with. The primary meaning of hole is : Go into
a hole, hole up, retire to a hole for hibernation. NED. cites line 88
as an example under this definition. But, as shown by trundle, line
90, Jonson is also alluding to the game called Hole, or Trunks. Cf.
NED. : 'An old game in which balls were rolled through little
cavities or arches. Called also Pigeon-hole, Troll-madam, Trunks'
Cf. also Wright, Glossary : 'A game played by ladies, consisting in
trundling little balls into eleven holes at the end of a bench, answer¬
ing to the old French game of Trou Madame.' Jonson also alludes
to The Hole, 'one of the worst apartments of the Counter Prison,
Woodstreet, London' (NED.). Cf. also NED.: 'To hole a person,
to send him to gaol. Craven Dial. 1. 231.'
92. I'll proue yours, etc. There is nothing for yours to refer to
directly; its antecedent is action or plot understood.
93. gowned Vulture. Cf. Voltore, the advocate in Volpone.
Lawyers wore gowns as a mark of their profession.
93-4. Crop in Reuersion: I shall see, etc. Crop may be (1) a verb,
meaning to eat. Then the passage means : 'Feast now, my gowned
vulture, in imagination or in anticipation of your triumph and your
booty; but I shall see you,' etc. Or (2) Crop may be a noun, mean¬
ing a person whose head is close-cropped (hence a convicted crim¬
inal), or possibly a person whose ears have been cropped (hence
one condemned to the pillory). Then the passage means: "Doe,
doe, my gowned vulture, crop-head or crop-ear to be," etc.
97-8. They . . . Lucida Interualla. An aside, I think. Does
Picklock mean that the Canter and his son are so nearly beside them-
Sc. m]
Notes
2 21
selves (hence so nearly at his mercy) that he can afford to pardon
their brief lucid intervals? Or does he use forgive in the sense of
mistrust, or fear? If so, then he means that, though they are almost
beside themselves now, he must beware of and provide against the
plans which will result from their calmer moments.
Scene III.
6-14. trust. For the meanings of trust in this passage, see
Glossary.
11. a seal'd Porter. A certificated member of the guild of
porters, as shown by his wearing the badge or livery.
15. Or you may be. Peniboy plays on the phrase trussed up.
Picklock means tied, or pinioned ; Peniboy means hanged as a
criminal.
20. Carriage. See Introd., p. 27.
23. good affection. Right feeling. Peniboy Junior has proved
himself to be on the side of what is just and decent.
32. bed-staues. See Glossary. Wheatley, in a note on Every
Man In 1. 5. 128, cites line 32, and says: 'The bedstaff appears to
have been still used as an offensive weapon up to a much later
period. In the Ingoldsby Legends, a faithless husband is attacked
by the Lady Rohesia, who grasped the bedstaff, "a weapon of mickle
might." '
37. worme of the peace. Probably a justice of the peace was
sometimes so called, though I have found no other instance of the
phrase. The name of worm might have been suggested by the
justice's method of screwing or cork-screwing, i. e. examining closely
or eliciting under pressure.
41. Lollard's tower. As to the origin of the name Lollard, NED.
says that it was adapted from the Middle Dutch lollaerd, a 'mumbler,'
or 'mutterer,' which in turn came from lollen, to mutter or mumble.
The name originated in the 14th century in Holland, where it was
applied to a semi-monastic sect. During the same century it was
adopted in England as a term of contempt for those who followed
Wyclif, or sympathized with his views. The Lollards were severely
persecuted in the reigns of Henry IV. and Henry V., and at the same
time in Scotland.
As to the Tower, Stow says (Survey, p. 138) : 'At either corner
of this west end [of old St. Paul's] is, also of ancient building, a
strong tower of stone, made for bell towers : in one of them, to wit,
next to the palace, is, at present to the use of the same palace; the
other, towards the south, is called Lowlarde's Tower, and hath been
used as the bishop's prison, for such as were detected for opinions
of religion, contrary to the faith of the church.'
222
The Staple of News
I Act v
44. subiect. Periiboy Senior.
49. and my simples take. Simples, of course, is used figuratively.
Possibly take is used in the sense of blast or infect, so common in
Jonson's day. Cf. Lear 2. 4 :
Strike her young bones, ye taking airs, with lameness.
But it seems to me to be used in the sense of work, operate, take
hold. Compare our modern medical phrase, the vaccination takes.
Scene IV.
Gifford points out that Jonson got the idea of this scene from
the scene in the Wasps of Aristophanes where Philocleon puts his
dog, Labes, on trial for stealing a Sicilian cheese. Except for two
or three small details, the resemblance is only general (cf. Hickie's
translation, pp. 16-22). It was hardly necessary, however, for Jonson
to go to Aristophanes for a precedent: from near the beginning of
the 12th till the middle of the 17th century the lower animals were,
on the Continent, considered to be in all respects amenable to the
laws. Domestic animals were tried with strict formality in the
common criminal courts, and wild animals in the ecclesiastical courts
(cf. Book of Days 1. 126-7; Notes and Queries, 3d S. 5. 218).
'Coleridge notes here: "I dare not, will not, think that honest Ben
had Lear in his mind in this mock mad scene"' (G).
5. Canary sacke. Cf. Glossary. The wine from the Canaries
was called Canary Sack, but the name is misleading. Nares quotes
Dr. Venner (Via recta ad Vit am longam, 1637) : 'Canarie-wine,
which beareth the name of the islands from whence it is brought,
is of some termed a sacke, with this adjunct, sweete; but yet very
improperly, for it differeth not only from sacke in sweetness and
pleasantness of taste, but also in colour and consistency. For it is
not so white in colour as Sack nor so thin in substance.' Canary
seems to have been Jonson's favorite wine : cf. Every Man Out,
The Stage : T drink this good draught to your health here. Canary,
the very elixir and spirit of wine.' Cf. also note on Induction,
line 74.
6. your Badge. Nares says : 'In the time of Shakespeare, etc.,
all the servants of the nobility wore silver badges on their liveries,
on which the arms of their masters were engraved. The color of
the coat was universally blue, which made this further distinction
necessary. It was also called a cognizance; and vulgarly corrupted
into cullisen.' Cf. The Case is Altered 4. 4:
But what badge shall we give, what cullison?
34. token. Leaden tokens, used instead of coins, were issued
under Elizabeth and under James I. In 1613 James granted a patent
Sc. iv]
Notes
223
to John, Lord Harrington, to coin brass farthings. These were
called Harringtons. 'During the Commonwealth and under Charles
II./ says CD., 'the tradesmen and tavern-keepers of nearly all
English towns issued brass or copper tokens, generally inscribed
with the name, address, and trade of the issuer, and with the nominal
value of the piece, usually id., Y¿d., or Yd- These specimens are
known to collectors as "Seventeenth-century tokens." In Every
Man In (1. 3) Jonson calls them 'tavern-tokens.' 'That most of
them would travel to the tavern,' says Gilford, 'may be easily
supposed.'
37. Intergatory. Cf. Merchant of Venice, ed. Furness, 5. 1. 327:
Gra. Let it be so, the first intergatory
That my Nerrissa shall be sworne on, is
Whether till the next night she had rather stay,
Or goe to bed, now being two houres to day.
Furness cites Campbell (p. 62) : '"In the Court of Queen's Bench,
when a complaint is made against a person for a "contempt," the
practice is that before sentence is finally pronounced he is sent into
the Crown Office, and being there "charged upon interrogatories,"
he is made to swear that he will "answer all things faithfully." '
38. Lollard? Peace. Probably, as in the case of their prototypes
in the Wasps, Block and Lollard were impersonated by boys dressed
as dogs.
51. or will know. Or will admit knowing.
60. Dümmerer. Dekker, Non-Dram. Works 3. 103: 'Equall to
the Cranck in dissembling is the Dummerar, for as the other takes
vpon him to haue the falling sicknesse, so this counterfets Dumbnes ;
but let him be whipped well and his tongue (which he doubles in
his mouth, and so makes a horrid strange noise in stead of speech)
will walke as fast, as his handes doe when hee comes where any
booty is.' Grose says (Lexicon) : 'A beggar pretending that his
tongue has been cut out by the Algerines, or cruel and blood-thirsty
Turks, or else that he was born deaf and dumb. Cant.' Dekker,
Non-Dram. Works 3. 86 : 'In another troope are Gabling Domerers.'
Cf. Notes and Queries, 5th S. 5. 99: 'Skitting Dealers was a Slang
phrase in George the 3rd's time for beggars who professed to be
tongueless.'
62. bescumber. See Glossary. Cf. Poetaster 5. 1 :
A critic, that all the world bescumbers
With satirical humours and lyrical numbers.
Scene V.
8-g. A bated vserer will be good flesh. FIT. And tender, we
are told. F. A. Russell, in Notes and Queries, 9th S. 9. 255, ^ys
224
The Staple of News
[Act v
that there used to be in England numerous borough and town laws
commanding bulls to be baited before butchering: 'In some towns
the butcher who sold the flesh of a bull in the market without having
produced the animal on the previous market to be baited was liable
to a penalty; the reason being that the flesh of a baited bull was
universally considered more tender and nutritious than that of
animals slaughtered without being first submitted to the process.
. . . Many still assert that the flesh of hunted hares, deer, and
rabbits is preferable to that of tame or snared animals. . . .
The baiting was undoubtedly by dogs, and not by being fed in
a stall.' Another correspondent, W. C. B. (ib. p. 314), says:
'Bulls were baited by dogs to make their flesh tender for food.
That solemn and severe old Puritan, William Perkins, who thought
the heathen were bound to know God, and that atheists ought to
be tortured, and that anger was only a physical defect, and that
baiting the bear was sinful, yet allows "the bayting of the bull hath
his use and therefore it is commanded by ciuill authoritie." '
13. jeere. Shunfield uses the word in a double sense: (1) a jibe;
(2) a blow from a jeer (gear), a rope or tackle for raising and
lowering the lower yards of a vessel. Sailors were often whipped
with the gears.
And from your iaw-bone, Don Assinigo. Cunningham says :
'This Portuguese word [see Glossary], which means a young ass,
occurs in Troilus and Cressida and in Beaumont and Fletcher's
Scornful Lady. It is right to mention this lest it should be thought
an introduction of Jonson's, and taught by him to his servant Richard
Brome. See his Mad Couple (vol. 3, p. 13). He [Jonson] intro¬
duces it in the Expostulation [with Inigo Jones, GC. 8. no], and
carries on the suggested image :
Are you so ambitious 'bove your peers,
You'd be an Assinigo by your ears.'
Troilus and Cressida 2. 1 : 'An Assinigo may tutor thee.'
15. washing blow. Whalley: 'Washing, by the error of the
press; whereas swashing is the true word. [Cites As You Like It
I. 3. 122].' Nares: 'Swashing. Exactly as we now say dashing;
spirited, and calculated to surprise. [Cites As You Like It 1. 3. 122] :
We'll have a swashing and a martial outside,
As many other mannish cowards have.
Also violent, overpowering. [Cites Rom. and Juliet 1. 1. 55.
Cites our instance and says of it] : The old editions have "a wash¬
ing blow"; but, as that is nonsense, swashing is very properly sub¬
stituted.' Cf. Rom. and Jul., ed. Furness, 1. 1. 55 : 'Sam. Draw, if
yoi^ be men. Gregory, remember thy swashing blow.' Furness5
Sc. v]
Notes
225
note, in part: 'Steevens. Jonson in his Staple of News: "I do
confess a swashing blow." Again in As You Like It 1. 3. 122: To
swash seems to have meant a bully, to be noisily valiant. Barrett,
in his Alvearie, 1580, says that "to swash is to make a noise with
swords against tergats." Delius. The "washing blow" of the Ff.
might be justified at a pinch, as a laughable mistake for the correct
phrase, purposely put into the mouth of a servant.'
There are several reasons why washing should be retained, both
here and in Romeo and Juliet. As regards the latter, the editors
have only the authority of the carelessly printed first quarto for their
reading. The second and third quartos and both folios all read
washing. Why was the change made in the second quarto? And
when made, why did it persist? For Steevens to cite what is only
Whalley's- emendation of Jonson's text is at best a poor argument
in favor of the first-quarto reading, and also very doubtful lexi¬
cography. The same remark applies to Nares's citation of it as an
example, and also, with but slight qualification, to his citation of
the word in Romeo and Juliet. Again, as we saw in line 13, Shun-
field is given to speaking in nautical terms. What would a sailor,
or one who affected sailors' terms, mean by a washing sea ? Plainly,
one that swept the decks ; hence an overwhelming sea. And a
washing blow would be one hard to stand against—though, as his
next words suggest, Shunfield uses washing ironically or in mock
distress. If, however, for any reason, this meaning cannot be put
upon washing, nevertheless is it not significant that it is not merely
the same word, but the same phrase, washing blow, which occurs
in both Romeo and Juliet and our play? Have we not to reckon
with the phrase rather than with the single word? And of the
two, is not the phrase much the harder to get round? May it not
be that Jonson is here making light of Shakespeare, as he did in
the Induction?
15. Snarle. A proper name, I think.
16. third dogge. Block and Lollard are the other two.
for you teeth. For may mean because of, but, more probably,
for all, notwithstanding.
18. blushet Wax. 'Nares thinks that this word blushet (one who
blushes) is peculiar to Jonson. He uses it again, vol. VI, p. 467,
as a substantive' (C). 'Apparently confined to Jonson' (NED.).
20. Pox o'these true leasts. Minsheu, 1623: 'True jests are ill.'
Bohn, Polyglot: 'Scherze nicht mit Ernst (motto of the Margrave
of Brandenburg). Bourdes vrayes ne plaisent jamais.'
26. Turkyes. It is not certain when the American wild turkey
was introduced into Europe, or by whom, Spaniards or English;
but it is plain that it was established there by 1530. Encyc. Brit.
22Ó
The Staple of News
[Act y
says: 'The comparatively low price of the two Turkeys and four
Turkey-chicks served at a feast of the serjeants-at-law in 1555
(Dugdale, Origines, p. 135) points to their having become by that
time abundant, and indeed by 1573 Tusser bears witness to the part
they had already begun to play in "Christmas husbandlie fare." '
27. Swans. 'In England it [the Swan] was far more abundant
formerly than at present, the young, or Cygnets, being highly
esteemed for the table, and it was under special enactments for its
preservation, and regarded as a "Bird Royal" that no subject could
possess without licence from the crown, the granting of which
licence was accompanied by the condition that every bird in a
"game" (to use the old legal term) of Swans should bear a dis¬
tinguishing mark of ownership (cygninota) on the bill. Originally
this privilege was conferred on the larger freeholders only, but it
was gradually extended, so that in the reign of Elizabeth upwards
of 900 distinct Swan-marks, being those of private persons or cor¬
porations, were recognized by the royal Swanherd, whose jurisdiction
extended over the whole kingdom' (Encyc. Brit.). 'Paulus Jovius,
who died in 1552, describing the Thames, says, "This river abounds
in swans, swimming in flocks ; the sight of whom, and their noise,
are vastly agreeable to the fleets that meet them in their course" '
(Knight, London 1. 8).
28. Keepe your Capitol. Alluding to the legend that the cackling
of geese roused the guards of the Capitol, and saved Rome from the
Gauls. Cf. Catiline 3. 2 :
They help them by such aids as geese and harlots.
31-32. Pyke . . . poore lacks. The English pike is a
peculiarly voracious fish, and preys upon the young of its own as
well as of other species. Jacks means here young pikes. Cf. Cleve¬
land, Works (1677), p. 97: 'The Jack may come to swallow the Pike,
as the Interest often eats out the principal.'
34. poore lohn. On Rom. and Jul. 1. 1. 28, Furness quotes
Staunton : 'The fish called hake, an inferior sort of cod, when dried
and salted, was probably the- staple fare of servants and the indigent
during Lent; and this sorry dish is perpetually ridiculed by the old
writers as poor John. Cf. Tempest 2. 2: 'a fish, hee smels like a
fish ; a very ancient and fish-like smell : a kind of not of the newest
poore-John.'
44. thin as a lanterne. Cf. Plautus, Aulularia 3. 6:
Nolo ego ex te scire qui sit agnus curio.
Quin ext a inspicere in sole etiam vivo licet',
ita is pellucet quasi lanterna Púnica.
Sc. v]
Notes
227
45. Intestina. NED. cites this passage incorrectly, giving Shun-
field's speech to Almanach and Almanach's to P. Sen.
One of the old meanings of colon was the belly ; and to feed colon
meant to appease hunger. Although Jonson here specifies an intes¬
tine, he probably had this popular sense of the word colon in mind.
57- fiye. See variant. Gifford's change of him into 'them' takes
much of the vigor out of the line. If we retain him, the figure is
that of a falcon giving chase, or perhaps of a falconer flying his
bird at a quarry. Still, it is to be said that this reading implies
that Lickfinger had a kind of admiration for the Canter, but of this
we have had no intimation until now.
Scene VI.
10. wretched: or with buff on licence. 'Here Jonson, as usual,
prints buff on, which is necessary for the rhythm, and ought on every
account to be preserved' (C). See variants.
Jonson was thinking here of Carlo Buffone in Every Man Out.
He is the prototype of the whole covey of jeerers. In The Character
of the Persons he is described as 'a public, scurrilous, and prophane
jester . . . His religion is railing, and his discourse ribaldry.'
And again (GC. 2. 26) : 'He will sooner lose his soul than a jest,
and profane even the most holy things, to excite laughter.'
16. your Mortgage, Statute, etc. Statutes, Blackstone says, are
either public or private. A public Statute 'is an universal rule that
regards the whole community. . . Special or private acts are
rather exceptions than rules, being those which only operate upon
particular persons. Thus, to show the distinction, the statute 13
Eliz. c. 10, to prevent spiritual persons from making leases for
longer terms than twenty-one years, or three lives, is a public act;
it being a rule prescribed to the whole body of spiritual persons in
the nation : but an act to enable the bishop of Chester to make a
lease to A.B. for sixty years is an exception to this rule ; it concerns
only the parties and the bishop's successors ; and is a private act.'
17. Without your Broker. The broker's calling was often repro¬
bated (cf. note on 2. 2. 29).
3I-33* Cf. Introd., p. 28.
35-6. decreed, From whence you came. There is an ellipsis of
the place between decreed and from.
39-40. forfeitures Of whole estates, if they be knowne, and
taken. This, no doubt, is an allusion to Charles' methods of replen¬
ishing the Exchequer. They refers to estates, Taken means bor¬
rowed (see Glossary) in the sense of forcibly appropriated. 'The
possession of such a weapon [i. e. the Star Chamber],' says Green
228
The Staple of News [Act v. Sc. vi
(Hist. 3. 147), 'would have been fatal to liberty under a great tyrant;
under Charles it was turned simply to the profit of the Exchequer.
Large numbers of cases which would ordinarily have come before
the Courts of Common Law were called before the Star Chamber,
simply for the purpose of levying fines for the Crown. The same
motive accounts for the enormous penalties which were exacted
for offences of a trivial character. The marriage of a gentleman
with his niece was punished by the forfeiture of twelve thousand
pounds, and fines of four and five thousand pounds were awarded
for brawls between lords of the Court.' See also note on Induction,
line 67.
46. My learned Counsell tells me here, my Cooke. 'Here of
course a little joke is intended on the name of that great lawyer,
but narrow-minded pedant, the lord chief justice Coke' (C).
49. Picklocke, your Ghest, that Stentor. 'An appellation not
improper for a noisy, bawling lawyer' (W.). Cf. 5. 2. 34: 'Mouth
of brass.' Cf. also Gips. Metam. GC. 7. 401 :
From a lawyer, three parts noise.
50. wooden collar. The pillory.
52. heart of cheare. This phrase is not in NED., but it seems
to mean about the same as heart of grace, a phrase of uncertain
origin, and not known before 1530. Probably they had a common
origin. Take heart of grace = pluck up courage.
53. It is their yeere, and day of Iubilee. Among the Jews the
year of Jubilee was 'a year of emancipation and restoration, which
according to the institution in Lev. XXV. was to be kept every
fifty years, and to be proclaimed by the blast of trumpets throughout
the land; during it the fields were to be left uncultivated, Hebrew
slaves were to be set free, and lands and houses in the open country
or unwalled towns that had been sold were to revert to their
former owners or their heirs' (NED.). Jubilee year in the Roman
Catholic Church is observed every twenty-fifth year from Christmas
to Christmas. The institution does not go back further than the
time of Boniface VIII., whose bull is dated Apr. 22, 1300. It was
originally appointed to recur every one hundred years, but Clement
VI. cut down the period to fifty years, and Urban VI. to thirty-three
(the supposed duration of the life of Christ). Finally it was fixed
by Paul II. at twenty-five years. 1625 was a Jubilee year. Probably
it was due to an oversight that Jonson did not change this line.
Ë PI L.j
Notes
229
EPILOGUE
3. though the clout we do not alwaies hit. 'The metaphor is
taken from archery : the clout is the white mark in the butts, which
the archers aimed at. And so it is used by Shakspeare' (W.).
'Clout is merely the French clou, the wooden pin by which the target
is fastened to the butt. As the head of this pin was commonly
painted white, to hit the white, and hit the clout, were of course
synonymous : both phrases expressed perfection in art, or success
of any kind. In pursuing his metaphor, Jonson mentions the acci¬
dents by which the highest skill in archery was occasionally defeated ;
humidity which affected the elasticity of the string and high winds
which diverted the course of the shaft' (G.). Cf. Glossary.
5. Tree. A bow. Cf. Lytell Geste of Rohyn H ode (Child's
Ballads 5. 57) :
Lytell Johan toke none other mesure
But his bowe tre.
6. cracke a string of Art. A quibble: it carries on the figure of
a bow begun in line 5, but also turns it into an image from music.
23°
The Staple of News
GLOSSARY
It has been my aim to include in this Glossary all obsolete, archaic, and
dialectal words, phrases, and meanings in our play; all obsolete and
archaic forms which are not merely old spellings; all technical terms
which are not likely to be readily understood ; and, in general, all words
which, though still current in the senses defined, are obscure from their
context or from their occurrence in the play in different senses. At
least one instance is cited under every meaning. Where but one is cited,
however, it does not necessarily mean that this is the only instance in
the play. My main resource in this work has been the New English
Dictionary (NED.), and where this is wanting, The Century Dictionary
(CD.), the Standard Dictionary, and the Lexicons of Nares, Halliwell,
Grose, etc.
Interrogation after a definition = Is this the sense in the instance
cited ?
When two or more definitions are given under one reference it means
that the word defined is there used equivocally.
SN. sa Side-note, or bookholder's note.
f before a word or a meaning = obsolete.
The other abbreviations are in common use in Dictionaries, and need
no explanation.
A, prep. [Worn down from of.]
Phr. a clocke — o'clock. Now dial.
3 2. 331.
Abuse, v. fi. refl. To make
false pretensions. Ind. 59.
f2. To misinterpret? 3. To re¬
vile? Ind. 61.
+4. To deceive. 1. 5. 36, 43, 55;
4. 3. 2.
5. To wrong. 2 Int. 22, 44.
6. To misuse. 4. 3. 37.
Abuse, n. fi- An imposture; an
error. 1. 5. 57.
2. A wrong. 2 Int. 25.
Academy, n. An institution for
the study of the higher learning.
Tn England the word has been
abused, and is now in discredit in
this sense' (NED.). 4 Int. 26.
fAcate, n. [OF achat, a pur¬
chase.] pi. Provisions; dainties,
delicacies. 2. 1. 16.
Acme, n. fThe full bloom of
life; mature manhood. Prol. for
the S. 26.
Ad soluendum. [L. gerundial
phr.] 'To payment' (Stanford
Glossary
231
Diet.)-, to paying; now for paying.
I- 3- 37-
Adaies, adv. phr. Obs. exe. in
combination with now. 4. 2. 180.
Admiration, n. Astonishment.
Arch. 3. 2. 251.
Admire, v. 1. To wonder. Const.
at, obs. 3. 4. 61.
2. To regard with mingled won¬
der and esteem. 1. 5. 66; 3. 1. 50;
4. 2. 41.
Aduance, v. fTo benefit? 3. 2.
289. See note.
Aduenture, n. 1. A prodigy or
marvel. 2. An enterprise ; venture ;
the object of venturesome activity.
1. 6. 63.
Aduised, pp. a. f Aware. To he
advised: to perceive a fact or truth.
2. 5. 101.
Affect, v. I. To take to, or like
(a thing). Arch. 2. 4. 155.
2. To like to practise (a thing).
4. 2. 88.
3. To assume the air of. 4. 4. 75.
Affection, n. fi. Parental love.
5. i. 66.
1*2. Disposition of mind; inten¬
tion. 5. 3. 23.
Afore, adv. Before. Arch. exc.
dial. i. 6. 18.
Against, prep. fi. Drawing to¬
wards; close to? 2. In preparation
for? 4. 4. 98.
Airy, a. 1. Intangible; undis-
coverable? 2. Visionary? 4. 2. 34.
Alchochoden, n. [Arab.] Tn
astrol., the giver of life or years ;
the planet which is the disposition
of hyleg [ruling planet of a nativity]
and in aspect with that planet when
a person is born, indicating by its
position the length of his life'
(CD.). 4. 4. 46.
Aldermanity, n. [In humorous
imitation of human-ity] The quality
of an alderman. 3 Int. 9.
All, adv. i. Exclusively; to the
exclusion of others. Rare. 3.
4. 70.
2. All through ; entirely. Obs. ?
2. 2. 65.
fAlmuten, n. [Arab.] Astrol.
The ruling planet in the horoscope.
2. 4. 78.
Alma cantara, n. [Arab, al the
-j- umqantarah deriv. of qantarah a
bridge, or arch.] Astron., and
Astrol. pi. 'Small circles of the
sphere parallel to the horizon, cut¬
ting the meridian at equal distances ;
parallel of altitude. (The horizon
itself was reckoned the first alma-
cantor)' (NED.). 2. 4. 78.
Alter, v. fTo change the mind
or attitude of (a person). 5.
6- 33-
Amazement, n. "[Consternation.
5- 6. i.
Amber, n. f Ambergris. 1. 3. 36.
Ambitious, a. Pretentious; os¬
tentatious. 3. 4. 56.
An', conj. [Weakened from and.]
If. Arch, or dial. 2. 5. 28.
And, conj. If (L. si.) Arch, or
dial. i. I. 2; 2. 5. 27.
Angel, n. 'An old English coin,
called more fully at first the Angel-
Noble, being originally a new issue
of the Noble, having as its device
the archangel Michael standing
upon, and piercing the dragon'
(NED.). Its value varied at dif¬
ferent dates from 6s. 8d. to ioj. It
was last coined by Charles I. 1. 3.
52; I. 5- 93-
Anon, adv. "[Straightway. 1 Int.
22.
232
The Staple of News
Argent, n. Her. The silver or
white color in armorial bearings.
4- 4- 25.
Argument, n. 1. Proof, reason¬
ing. 4. I. 54.
f2. A debate. 4. 2. 3.
Armes, n. pi. Her. A coat of
arms. 4. 4. 156.
Armoiry, n. [Form of armory.)
fHeraldry. 2. 2. 21.
Arraigne, v. fTo judge. Rare.
Ind. 21.
Arras, n. [Arras, a town in Ar¬
tois, famous for the cloth.] T. A
rich tapestry fabric, in which figures
and scenes are woven in colors.
2. A hanging screen of this mate¬
rial formerly placed round the walls
of household apartments, often at
such a distance from them as to
allow of people being concealed in
the space between' (NED.). 1. 2.
103. See note.
Arréragé, n. fExpense, cost. 5.
i. 122.
Art, n. "["Scientific principle ; sci¬
ence (here alchemy). 3 Int. 7.
As, adv. f i. With finite verb :
That. I. 5. 69; 4. 4. 74.
2. As though. Arch. 2. 4. 9;
3- 3- 33; S- i- 57-
3. According as; in that degree.
3- 3- So-
Aspect, n. Astrol. The relative
positions of the heavenly bodies as
they appear to an observer on the
earth's surface at a given time. 4.
4- 45-
fAssinigo, n. [Sp. asnico, dim.
of asno ass.] 1. A little ass. 2.
Hence, a foolish fellow. 5. 5. 14.
Assure, v. fi. To guarantee a
thing to a person. 3. 2. 271.
2. To insure. 3. 2. 277.
Astonish, v. fTo bewilder, con¬
fuse. 4. 2. 79.
Atchieue, v. [Form of achieve.]
To win. i. 6. 62.
Attachment, n. Eng. Law. 'The
action of apprehending (a person)
and placing him under the control
of a court of law; now, especially
used of arrest for contempt of court.
(b) The writ or precept command¬
ing such apprehension' (NED.).
5" 2' 64'
Attend, v. fTo wait. 1. 4. 20.
Attribute, n. A name implying
praise; hence,praise. Rare? Obs.f
2. 4. 93.
Authenticall, a. Authentic.
Arch. i. 5. 8.
fAutoma, erroneous sing, of auto¬
mata. 3. 2. 80.
Aid, n. Eng. Law. Help or as¬
sistance in defending an action,
legally claimed by the defendant
from some one who has a joint-
interest in the defence. 5. 2. 78
(ayd).
Ayre, n. [Form of air.j 1. The
element we breathe 2.2. 61 ; 2.4. 9.
f A breath : as, air of promise, air
of hope. 2. 2. 62.
t3. Odor. 4. Outward appear¬
ance. 3. i. 2.
5. A tune. 4. 2. 133; 3. I. 2 (in¬
volved in the quibble).
fó. Any aeriform body, as a gas
or a vapour. 5. 1. 47 (fig.).
7. An affected appearance. 5. 4.
70.
Ayrie, n. [Form of aerie.] The
nest of any bird of prey; hence,
the brood in the nest. 2. 2. 62,
Azure, n. and a. Her. Blue :
indicated in engraving by horizon¬
tal lines. 4. 4. 15.
Glossary
233
Badge, n. A name for a servant :
derived from the custom of putting
badges on servants to distinguish
them. Obs.? 5. 4. 6.
Band, n. fi. Security given.
(Now bond.) 1. 6. 51.
2. spec. 'The neck-band or col¬
lar of a shirt, originally used to
make it fit closely round the neck,
afterwards expanded ornamentally.
Hence, in 16th and 17th centuries,
a collar or ruff worn round the
neck by man or woman' (NED.).
i. i. 18.
Bar, n. Phr. f To cast over the
bar : to deprive of the status of a
barrister' (NED.). 5. 1'. 71.
Bate, v1. [Aphetic form of
abate.] 1. To lower in estimation;
reduce. 2. 3. 32; 5. 5. 7, 8 (see
also v2).
f2. Phr. Bate of: to reduce. 3.
4. 42.
Bate, v2. [Form of bait.] To
harass, or torment wantonly. 5. 5.
7, 8.
Bawd, n. A go-between in any
disreputable traffic. 2. 4. 80.
Bayliffe, n. A steward or man¬
ager of a landholder's estate. 1.
6. 20.
Be, v. Phr. Be in: To have
started, or to have begun to do a
thing. 4. i. 23.
Beame, n. 1. Outstreaming radi¬
ance. Í2. A large bar of metal.
4. 2. 48.
Beare, v. 1. To carry off as a
prize. Arch.? 1.6.85.
2. To display on a heraldic shield ;
to be entitled to wear or use as coat
armor. 4. 5. 14.
Beaten, pp. a. fEmbroidered.
Ind. 45.
fBed-staff, n. A short wooden
stick or pin for tucking in and
holding in place the covering of a
bed. Probably there were three on
each side. 5. 3. 32.
Beggers Bush, n. fig. Beggary,
ruin. ('Name of a tree near
Huntingdon, formerly a noted ren¬
dezvous for beggars' — Brewer.)'
(NED.). 4. 4. 123.
Besant, n. Her. A small circle
or a gold roundel, representing plain
and unstamped, the Besant or old
coinage of Byzantium, supposed to
have been brought home by the
Crusaders. 4. 4. 18.
fBescumber, v. To befoul. 5.
4. 62.
Beside, prep. fBeyond the range
or scope of. 1. 5. 11.
fBewraie, v. [Erroneous sp. of
beray, f. be -f- ray (aphetic form
of array) Generally 'mis-spelt by
modern writers through erroneous
confusion with Bewray' (NED.).]
To befoul with ordure. 4. 4. 163.
Bill-man, n. 1. A soldier armed
with a bill. 2. One who presents a
bill for goods purchased. 1. 3. 16.
Bin, obs. and dial, form of been.
3- 3- 34-
Black, n. pi. Black clothes worn
as a sign of mourning. Obs. exc.
Scottish, i. 6. 4.
Blaze, v. fHer. To describe
heraldically, to blazon. 4. 4. 24.
Blazon, n. Her. A description,
according to the rules of Heraldry,
of armorial bearings. 4. 4. 14.
Block-house, n. [Slang.] A
prison. Obs.? 5. 3. 42; 5. 4. 58.
fBlushet, n. [Blush, n. + dim.
ct.] Little blusher. 'Apparently
234
The Staple of Nezvs
confined to Ben Jonson' (NED.).
2. 4. 120.
Book-holder, n. fThe prompter
in a theater. Ind. 48.
Boord, n. [Form of board.] fi.
gen. A table. Obs. exc. spec. 1.
2. 20.
2. A table spread for a repast.
3. 2. 242.
Bounty, n. fi. Kindness, benefi¬
cence ; an act of kindness. 1. 2. 81 ;
2. i. 32; 2. 5. 35, 92.
2. A gift. I. 3. 54; 4. 4. 132?
3. Liberality. 2. 5. 109.
Boxe, n. A money-box; hence,
money. 1. 3. 51.
Brachycatalectick, n. 'Pros. A
verse wanting the last foot of the
last dipody [double foot]' (NED.).
Braue, a. Used loosely as a gen¬
eral epithet of admiration or praise.
Arch. i. 2. 24; i. 3. 61 ; 2. 5. 2.
Brauery, n. Finery, showiness.
3- 4- 63.
Bring, v. Phr. Bring about: To
win over; convince. Obs. ? 3. 1.
49 (SN.).
Bringer-vp, n. tM Hit. One of
those who 'bring up the rear' in an
army. 4. 4. 50.
Broach, n. fA rod to roast meat
upon; a spit. 3. 2. 176.
Broch, n. ffig. Gem, jewel. 3.
2. 276.
Broke, v. fTo act as a go-be¬
tween. i Int. 11.
Broke, pp. [Obsolescent form of
broken.] Shattered, dissolved. 5.
I. 38.
Broking, n. tLending of money
upon pawns or pledges; fraudulent
dealing. 4. 4. 143.
Buckle, v. To bend under pres¬
sure, or involuntarily. 2. 1. 7.
Buffon, attrib. a. [Form of buf¬
foon.] Vulgarly jocular. Arch.
5- 6. 10.
Burgage, n. 'A tenure whereby
lands or tenements in cities and
towns were held of the King or
other lord, for a certain yearly rent'
(NED.). 4. 4. 108.
Burgess, n. fA member of the
governing body of a town ; a mag¬
istrate. 2. 5. 102.
Burst, pp. a. financially ruined,
i. 2. 72.
But, conj. fi. Than. 1 Int. 25.
2. Except. Now superseded by
than. 2. Int. 29.
Butter-box, n. fA contemptu¬
ous name for a Dutchman. 2 Int.
54-
By, prep. I. Beyond, above; be¬
yond the reach of. Obs. exc. Scot¬
tish. 3. 2. 261.
2. Through? To see by (a per¬
son) : to understand his thought
by his face or actions. 4. 2. 82.
By and by, adv. phr. fAt once ;
straightway. 1. 1. 10; 2. 1. 58.
By'r Lady, int. A contraction of
By our Lady: used as an oath or
expletive. Obs. exc. dial. 2 Int. 41.
Call, v. intr. To assemble by
sounding the note or call of the
species. Obs. exc. dial? Rare? 2.
4. 43. See note.
Can, v. [OE. cunnan to know, to
know how; hence, to be able.]
f As an independent verb, trans. :
(a) To know. 1. 2. 55; 4. 1. 25;
4. 4. 7 (?). (b) In pregnant sense:
To be able to do. 2. 2. 29; 2. 4.
187. (Or is 'can' in these two in¬
stances a mere auxiliary with
ellipsis of the principal verb?)
Glossary
235
fCanary sacke, n. Canary, a
light sweet wine from the Canary
Islands. 5. 4. 5. See note.
fCandle-rent, n. 'Rent or rev¬
enue derived from house-property
(which is continually undergoing
deterioration or waste)' (NED.).
2. 4. 76.
Cant, v. tTo use the jargon of
a particular class or subject. 2. 4.
79-
Canter, n. One who uses the
'cant' of thieves or beggars ; hence,
a beggar or vagabond. Arch. 1. 3.
15; 2. 5. 16, 101.
Canting, pp. a. Speaking the
dialect of beggars. Arch.? 1.5.89.
Canton, n. Her. 'An ordinary
of a shield or escutcheon, being a
square division less than a quarter,
occupying the upper (usually dex¬
ter) corner of a shield' (NED.).
4. 4. 26.
Carefull, a. Anxious, solicitous.
Arch. i. 6. 32; 4. 4. 128.
Carpet, n. fA table-cloth. 1.
4. 2.
Carriage, n. 1. Conduct. Arch.
5- 2. 53-
2. Demeanour. Arch. f3. Ability
at carrying. 5. 3. 20.
Carry, v. To conduct; to lay,
as a plan, scheme, or mine. Obs.
exc. in const, with on or out? 1. 6.
26; I. 3. 30.
2. To win, conquer, prevail. 2.
4. 136.
3. To 'take' or escort a person.
Arch, and dial. 2. 5. 132.
fCasamate, n. [Form of case¬
mate.] A fortification. 1. 3. 31.
Cast, v. fi- To contrive or man¬
age. 2. 3. 74.
2. Astrol. To calculate astrologi-
cally, as to cast a figure, horoscope,
nativity, etc. 2. 4. 75.
3. To shed. Arch, or dial. 3. 2.
322.
Castrill, n. ' [Form of kestrel.]
A species of small hawk; fig. ap¬
plied to persons, usually in con¬
tempt. 2. 2. 63.
Casual, a. Uncertain; liable to
variations. 3. 4. 30.
Cat, n. A movable pent-house
used in early times by besiegers to
protect themselves in approaching
fortifications ; also called cat-house.
Obs. exc. hist. 4. 4. 53.
Catalectick, n. Pros. A verse
wanting a syllable in the last foot.
4. 4. 56.
Catechise, v. fTo instruct orally
in any subject. 3 Int. 54.
Caterpiller, n. One who preys
upon society. 3. 4. 84.
Cauke, v. [Form of caulk.] To
stop up the crevices of (windows,
etc.). 2. 4. 170.
Cause, n. Law. A subject of
litigation; a suit. 2. 5. 8.
Celebration, n. fCelebrity, re¬
nown. i. 6. 86.
Cellar, Celler, n. fi. A box or
case for bottles ; a case of bottles.
4. 2. 6.
"j"2. A store-room, or buttery.
Obs. exc. dial, in fish-cellar, wine-
cellar, etc. 4. 2. 177.
Censure, v. 1. To blame, con¬
demn. 2 Int. 38, 42.
"¡"2. To pronounce judicial sentence
upon. 4 Int. 48.
Censure, n. fCriticism; critical
judgment. Ind. 38.
Certaine, a. 1. Definite, exact.
Arch. 2. 4. 57.
236
The Staple of News
2. Sure, safe, free from risk. 3.
4. 30.
Chambermaid, n. fA lady's
maid. 2. 2. 31 ; 2. 5. 74.
Change, v. 1. To exchange.
Arch, and dial. 3. 2. 294.
2. To cause to change counte¬
nance; to cause to turn pale. (Not
noted in NED.: the nearest is intr.
f to change countenance, etc. ) Rare ?
4. 2. 47.
Character, n. A cipher for se¬
cret correspondence. 1. 5. 16.
Charge, n. ft- Care or burden,
i- 5- 31.
2. Expense, cost. 1. 6. 19; 2. 5.
105; 5. i. 113; 5. 2. 78.
3. A solemn request ; a command,
i. 6. 36.
4. Something entrusted to one's
care. (See also 2.) 2. 5. 138;
5- 3- 9-
Choriambick, n. Pros. A metri¬
cal foot composed of a choree fol¬
lowed by an iamb, and thus consist¬
ing of four syllables, the first and
the last long, the other two short.
4- 4- 58.
Chuff, n. A miser. 4 Int. 24.
Churle, n. fA miser. 3. 1. 18.
Chymist, n. [Form of chemist.]
fAn alchemist. 4. 2. 33.
Clapper dudgeon, n. 'arch.
[App. from Clapper sb. -f- Dudgeon
hilt of a dagger : the origin of the
appellation is unknown. Collier
suggests 'from his knocking the
clapdish he carried with a dud¬
geon'.] A cant name for a beggar
born; also used as a term of re¬
proach or insult' (NED.). 2.4.210.
See note.
Clarke, form of clerk. 1. 5. 113.
Cleare, a. Of business enter¬
prises: irreproachable, legitimate?
4. 4. 66.
Cleare, adv. "[Completely, quite.
(Still colloq. in America). 2. 5. 63;
3. 2. 50; 5. i. 37.
Cleare, v. fi. To settle with.
2. 4. 66.
2. To remove? f3. To prove?
3- 2. 143.
Clocke, n. 1. The gong of a
striking watch? 2. A watch? Obs.
exc. in modern slang. 1. 1. 28.
3. Phr. a clocke. Now dial. 3.
2. 331-
Clout, n. fArchery. 1. The
mark shot at? 2. The pin in the
centre of the mark? Epilogue, 3.
Coast, n. fA rib of a ship. 3.
2. 83.
Coat, n. fi. Garb as indicative of
profession. 1. 6. 72; 4. 1. 12.
tHer. A coat of arms. 4.4.13.
19, 24.
Coat-armour, n. Her. fCoatof
arms. 4 Int. 59-60.
fCoat-card, n. 'A playing card
bearing a 'coated' or habited figure
(King, Queen, or Knave). In regu¬
lar use down to 1688; afterwards
corrupted into Court-card' (NED.).
4. i. 27.
Coffin, n. fi. A mould of paste
for a pie; the crust of a pie? f2.
A pie-dish? 2. 3. 74.
Cogging, pp. a. [Cog to cheat
at dice.] Hence, cheating; wheed¬
ling. 2. 4. 42, 113.
Colour, n. fAllegeable ground;
pretext. 4. 4. 138.
Combination, n. Law. Confed¬
eracy with the purpose of defeating
the law; conspiracy. 5. 2. 92.
Come, v. Phrases. 1. Come
about: To come round to a per-
Glossary
237
son's side or opinion. Obs. or dial.
5- 2. 27.
2. Come by: To hear of. Obs. ?
1. 5. 98.
3. Come forth: f(a) To be born,
i- 5- 73- (b) To come out. 2. 5.
120.
Comely, a. Pleasing to aesthetic
taste ; 'nice' ; becoming. Arch, or
obs. 4- i- 34-
Comitia, n. pi. gen. An assem¬
bly. Rare. 5. 1. 4.
Command, v. fTo demand with
authority. 2. 2. 38.
Commit, v. To embroil. 'Cf.
Fr. Commettre le pere avec le fils
(Littré)' (NED.). 5- 1. 99-
Communicatiue, a. f Disposed
to make gifts or share benefits.
4 Int. 20.
Complement, n. fA ceremony
of civility or politeness. Now com¬
pliment. 2. 5. 61, 78 (SN.).
Complexion, n. fBodily consti¬
tution, or nature. 2. 1. 51.
2. The natural tint and texture
of the skin, especially of the face.
2. 2. 40.
Compose, v. fTo put together;
to fashion. 1. 5. 68.
Compound, v. fTo settle or ad¬
just. 2. 5. 9.
Conceive, v. fTo become pos¬
sessed with. Used with temporary
states, as anger, etc., obs. or arch.
5- 6. 15.
Conclude, v. 1 fTo reason, or
argue. 1. 6. 58.
2. To infer. f3. To demonstrate,
prove. 3. 3. 25.
Condition, n. fDisposition, or
temper. 2. 4. 82.
Conditioned, pp. a. fabsol. Pro¬
vided; on the condition. 2. 5. 95.
Conduict, n. [Form of conduit.]
fA reservoir for the distribution of
water. 3 Int. 20.
Conference, n. fgen. Conversa¬
tion. 5. 2. 10.
fConi-catcher, n. A swindler.
4 Int. 50.
Conscience, n. 1. Conscientious¬
ness. Obs. or arch. f2. Inmost
thought; heart. 5. 1. 73.
3. he moral sense. 5. 2. 61, 63.
Consent, n. 1. Agreement. Arch.
2. 4. 142.
2. gen. An affirmative answer.
Arch. ? 5. 4. 43.
Consumption, n. 1. A wasting
disease. Not specific, as now. 2.
I- 54-
2. Careless expenditure; waste.
Obs. ? 5. 2. 22 ; 5. 4. 13, 32.
3. A consuming force; an agent
of destruction; perhaps plague or
pestilence. Rare? 5. 5. 55.
Content, a. fx. Ready, willing?
2. Pleased (Fr. content) ? 2. 5. 79.
3. fellipt. I am content; agreed!
Obs. exc. as used in formal assent
in the House of Lords. 5. 5. 23.
Contrary, a. Self-contradictory.
Obs. ? Rare? 2. 5. 63.
Conuince, v. fTo convict. 5. 4.
69.
Coozen, v. [Form of cosen.]
To cheat. 1 Int. 69; 4. 3. 78; 4
Int. 50 ; 5. 2. 23.
Coozening, vbl. n. Cheating,
i. 3- 47-
fCoranto, n. [Form of courant.]
A newspaper. 1. 5. 11.
Cortine, n. Fortif. The plain
wall of a fortified place; the part
of the wall which connects two bas¬
tions, towers, gates, or similar
structures. 4. 4. 53.
238
The Staple of News
Countenance, w. fi. Credit, re¬
pute. i. 2. 127.
2. Calmness of look. Out of
countenance — disconcerted. 1. 2.
128.
Coupe, form of coop. 3. 4. 48.
Court, n. fA large house or
castle; a manor house. 4. 4. 112.
Cousin, n. gen. A kinsman.
Obs. or arch, fTo call cousins:
To claim relationship. 4. 2. 119.
Coyt, v. [Form of quoit.] To
throw like a quoit. 5. 2. 94.
Cozen, form of cousin. 1. 5. 109.
Crack, n. 'A sudden loud noise,
as of something breaking. For¬
merly applied also to the roar of a
cannon; of a trumpet, of thunder;
the last is still common dial., and in
the archaic phr. the "crack ot
doom"' (NED.). 5. I. 41.
Cracke, v. fi. Crepitum reddere.
i. 6. 73.
2. To break in two, as a string.
Obs.? 3. To break the musical
quality of (the voice or the string
of a musical instrument). Epi¬
logue 6.
Credit, n. 1. Reputation for sol¬
vency. 2. 4. 10; 5. i. 102.
f2. Trustworthiness. 2. 4. 18.
3. Good repute. 3. 1. 27.
4. Personal influence based on the
confidence of others. 3. 2. 268.
Crowned, pp. a. fConsummate.
I. 6. 81.
Cry, v. fTo beg. fCry you
mercy: nearly equivalent to I beg
your pardon. Ind. 36.
Cunger, n. [Form of conger.]
A large eel common on the coasts
of Britain. 3. 3. 39.
Cunning, a. fPossessing magical
knowledge or skill. 3 Int. 43.
fCunning-man, n. A man who
is reputed or pretends to have
magical knowledge or skill ; a
wizard. 3 Int. 44.
Curiosity, n. fi. Fastidiousness
in matters of taste and behavior.
Ind. 38. Implied in lines 44-46.
1*2. Undue desire to see, or know.
Ind. 39.
Curious, a. 1. Eager to see or
know. 2. 5. 60; 3. 2. 117.
f2. Relating to occult things. 3.
2. 96.
f3. Elaborate. 3. 2. 241.
t Of food : Exquisitely prepared,
dainty. 4. 2. 22.
Cuspes, n. [L. cuspis point.]
Astrol. = Cusp : the beginning or
entrance of a 'house'. 4. 4. 46.
Custard, n. f'Formerly, a kind
of open pie containing pieces of
meat or fruit covered with a prepa¬
ration of broth or milk, thickened
with eggs, sweetened, and seasoned
with spices, etc.' (NED.). 4. 2. 24.
fCypresse, n. ['Prob. f. OF.
Cipre, Cypre, the island of Cyprus,
from which, in and after the cru¬
sading times, various fabrics were
brought' (NED.).] A transparent
crape-like fabric. Black cypress
was much worn as a sign of mourn¬
ing, especially on hats. 1. 6. 3.
Cythern, n. An instrument simi¬
lar to the modern zither. 1. 5. 129.
Danger, n. 1. Chance or risk of
harm, f2. Power of a lord or mas¬
ter; power to dispose of, or hurt.
4. 4. 147 (f2 is implied).
Dash, v. To spoil (an enter¬
prise). 'In i6th-i7th c. the usual
word for the rejection of a bill in
Parliament . . . now obs. exc.
Glossary
239
in to dash (any one's) hopes'
(NED.).
Dead, a. Used of drink that has>
lost its sharpness or flavor; flat,
vapid. '?Obs' (NED.). Ind. 73-
Decay, n. fA falling off, de¬
crease. 3. 2. 199.
Decent, a. Suitable to the cir¬
cumstances. Obs. or arch. 5. 3. 20.
Defraud, v.. ffig. To deprive or
cheat (a thing) of what is due it.
Obs. or arch. 4 Int. 30.
Departure, n. The act of depart¬
ing this life; death. Obs. or arch.
2. 4. 145.
Designe, n. A device, a contriv¬
ance. Obs. ? 3. 2. 301.
Despise, v. fTo exhibit con¬
tempt for. 4. 4. 164.
Destiny, n. fWith possessive
pronoun : The power or agency
held to predetermine a particular
person's life or lot. 5. 6. 34.
Destroy, v. fTo undo in worldly
estate. 5. 1. 67.
Diet, n. fAn allowance of food.
Apparently rare, when applied, as
here, to the amount or 'helping'
consumed on a particular occasion.
4- 3- 53-
Digest, v. fTo distribute? 1.
6. 68.
Discharge, v. fTo remove. 5.
6. 20.
Discourse, n. 1. Conversation.
Arch. Prol. for the S. 11 ; 4 Int. 40.
f2. Matter for conversation ;
'talk'. Rare? 3 Int. 40.
Discouer, v. 1. refl. To reveal
one's identity. Arch. 4. 4. 116
(SN.).
2. To disclose. 5. 3. 17 (SN.).
Discouery, n. fAn investigation,
observation. 3. 2. 43; 3. 2. 110?
Discretion, n. fi. Discernment
in practical matters? 2. Prudence?
5- i- 33-
Disease, n. f A discomfort ; a
cause of discomfort? 2. A mal¬
ady? To the Readers 15.
Disgrace, v. To bring into dis¬
favour (with any one). 2. 5. 23.
Disguise, v. To intoxicate.
Arch. 4. 3. 53.
Disinherit, v. To dispossess; to
confiscate the property of (a per¬
son). Obs. ? Rare ? 4 Int. 65.
Dispatch, v. fi. To settle with?
f2. To get rid of; pay out; spend?
i- 3- 34-
3. intr. To be quick, hasten.
Obs. or arch. 1. 4. 9; 3. 2. 153.
4. To settle the business of and *
send away. Now rare. 1. 4. 19.
Dispatch, n. fSettlement of the
business (of a person) ; dismissal.
2. 2. 65.
Dispence, v. fTo exempt from.
3- 2. 27.
Disport, n. Entertainment,
amusement. Arch. Prol. for the
C. 2.
Distaste, n. fOffence, or cause
of offence. 5. 4. 56.
Distraction, n. f A scattering.
5. 6. i.
Do, v. Phr. Do upon-. To have
influence upon. Rare ? 1. 2. 109.
Doctor, n. fi. One who, by rea¬
son of skill or learning in any par¬
ticular branch of knowledge, is
entitled to teach it with authority.
Arch. i. 6. 67? 4. 4. 60.
2. A physician. (See also fi.)
4. 4. 160; 4 Int. 38, 61.
fDog-leech, n. A veterinary for
dogs ; a quack. 2. 4. 98 ; 4.
4- 159-
240
The Staple of News
fDomine, n. [Vocative case of L.
dominus lord, master.] Used in
addressing members of learned pro¬
fessions : equivalent to Master.
2. 5- 7-
Doper, n. [ad. Du. dooper bap¬
tist. f. doopen to dip.] A Dutch
Baptist or Anabaptist. 3. 2. 152.
Dosser, n. [OF. dossier, f. dos
back.] A basket made to be carried
on the back; a pannier. Obs. exc.
hist. 2. 4. 37.
Dower, n. 'The portion of a de¬
ceased husband's estate which the
law allows to his widow for her
life. Tenant in dower, the widow
who thus holds land' (NED.).
4. 4- ios-
Doxie, n. A prostitute. Slang.
4. 4. 90.
Drawer, n. A waiter. 4. 3. 66.
Drench, n. fA draught or drink.
Obs. in this general sense. 2. 4.
22.
Dress, v. fi- To train or break
in (a horse or other animal) ? 2.
To groom or curry (a horse) ? 1
Int. 76.
3. To prepare for use as food; to
cook. 3. 2. 46.
Dresser, n. A table or wide shelf
on which things are prepared for
cooking. 4. 2. 12.
Dri-dish, v. To dish up dry.
Nonce word. 4. 2. 23. See note.
Drop, v. To drip. Obsolescent.
2. 3. 17.
fDryfat, n. [f. dry a. + fat, sb.
— vat.] A large vessel (cask, bar¬
rel, tub, case, box, etc.) used to hold
dry things (as opposed to liquids).
3- 4- 87.
Dublet, n. 'A close-fitting body-
garment, with or without sleeves,
worn by men from the fourteenth
to the eighteenth centuries. (Rarely
applied to a similar garment worn by
women.) Obs. exc. hist. The doub¬
let had many changes of fashion,
being at one time with, at another
without, short skirts. In its various
sleeved and sleeveless forms, it was
the prototype of the modern coat,
jacket, and waistcoat' (NED.).
2. 4. 50.
fDummerer, n. The cant name
for a beggar who pretends to be
dumb. Slang. 5. 4. 60. See note.
Dyet, v. To board. Arch? 4.
3- 58.
Eager, a. flmpetuous, fierce.
1. 3- 7-
Ecclésiastique, v. Spelling of
ecclesiastic. Now rare. 3. 2. 29.
Egge, n. Applied in contempt to
a young person. Rare in lit. 5.
2. 54-
Element, n. Earth, soil ; with
reference to the doctrine of ancient
and mediaeval philosophy, that all
material bodies are compounded of
four simple substances or elements :
earth, water, air, and fire. Now
used merely as a matter of tradi¬
tional custom. 2. 4. 157.
Elf, n. fAs compared with a
true fairy, an inferior or subject
species. Prol. for the S. 20.
Else, adv. t1- ellipt. Something
else ; something other than. Ind.
25-
2. If not; otherwise. 2. 2. 16.
3. Formerly. Obs. exc. dial. 5.
6. 7.
Embrace, v. 1. To press to the
bosom? t2- To welcome the ser¬
vices of? 3. i. 34.
Glossary
241
Emergent, a. Not specially pro¬
vided for or appointed. Arch. 5.
2. 10.
Emissary, n. A news-gatherer.
'In Ben Jonson's Staple of News
the word is used apparently as a
novelty' (NED.). 1.2.48. passim.
Engine, n. f1- A scheme, plot.
3. I. 50 (ingine) ; 3. 2. 95; 5. 2. 36?
2. A mechanical device, machine.
3. 2. 41; 4. 2. 134; 4. 3. 34 (ingine).
3. A person, regarded as a ma¬
chine endowed with devilish in¬
genuity. Rare? 5. 2. 36.
Enginer, n. [Form of engineer.]
I. One who contrives or runs a
machine. 3. 2. 39.
f2. A plotter. 3. 2. 40 (implied).
f3. A constructor of military en¬
gines? 4. A constructor of fortifi¬
cations? 4. 2. 35 (inginer).
fEnterluder, n. One who plays
in an interlude. 3 Int. 47.
Enterprise, v. To attempt.
Arch. Prol. for the S. 26.
Entertaine, v. fi. To provide
sustenance for ; support. 1. 5. 90.
2. To receive hospitably into one's
house. 2. 4. 209.
t3. To keep in one's service. 3.
Ï. 5-
4. To engage the attention (of
a person) agreeably. 3. 1. 30.
t5- Of time: To fill up; pass
pleasantly. 3. 4. 68; 3 Int. 39.
f6. To treat in a (specified) man¬
ner. 4. 4. 173.
Entertainment, n. Provision for
the wants of a guest. Arch. 4.
3- 29.
Entreat, v. fi. To persuade by
pleading. Ind. 56 (intreat).
2. To plead earnestly with. With
obj. clause omitted, rare. 5. 2. 41
(SN.).
Entry, n. f An entrance upon (a
work or condition). 2. 4. 212.
Envious, a. fMalicious, spiteful.
4. i. 41.
Ephemerides, n. [PI. of ephem-
eris:\ fAn almariac or calendar
containing astrological and meteoro¬
logical predictions for each day of
the period embraced. 2. 4. 75; 4.
4- 163-
Epitrite, n. Pros. 'A foot con¬
sisting of three long syllables and
one short one, and called first,
second, third, and fourth epitrite
according as the short syllable
stands first, second, third, or fourth
respectively' (NED.). 4. 4. 58.
Erect, v. 1. To establish. Obs.
or arch. exc. in Law. 1. 2. 31 ; 4
Int. 27.
2. Astrol. To 'set up' (a scheme
or figure of the heavens). 4. 4. 161.
Errant, a. "[Thorough, down¬
right, absolute. Not in opprobrious
sense. Obs. exc. in the form arrant.
i Int. 45.
Escuage, n. Feudal Law.
[ <OF. escu (mod. F. écu) <L.
scutum shield.] fi. The chief form
of feudal tenure (lit. shield-ser¬
vice) ; personal service in the field
for a period of forty days in each
year. 2. A money payment in lieu
of military service; = scutage. Obs.
exc. hist. 4. 4. 107.
Essay, n. fA trial specimen. 1.
5. 102.
Ethnicke, n. [Gr. èdviK-bs hea¬
then] fA heathen. 2. 4. 58.
Euer, adv. At all times. Arch.
3■ 3- 10.
242
The Staple of News
Eu'n, adv. A vague use equiva¬
lent to just, forsooth. (In colloq.
use, e'en). Arch, and dial. 5.2. 15.
Evidence, n. A document by
means of which a fact is estab¬
lished; esp. title-deeds. Obs. exc.
hist, and in legal formulae. 4. 4.
113.
Excellent, a. fin a bad sense:
Prééminent, supreme. 1 Int. 84.
Excrement, n. fDregs. 4. 4.
134.
Exercise, n. f A pastime. Rare.
4. I. 34-
Exotick, a. i. Of foreign origin ?
f2. Outlandish? 3 Int. 15.
Expect, v. i. To surmise, sus¬
pect. Ind. 30; Ind. 33 (implied).
2. To look for, in the sense of
require. Ind. 32.
f3. To wait for. 1. 1 (SN.) ; 1.
i. 15-
f4. To wait to see or know. 1
Int. 85; 2 Int. 50; 4. I. 5.
5. To look for as likely to come
or happen. 3. 2. 127; 3. 2. 311,
312 (?).
Extraordinary, n. Something
extraordinary. Now rare. 1. 2. 57.
Fable, n. 1. A story. 3 Int. 37.
2. A play. Rare. 3 Int. 55.
f3 Common talk, 'byword'. 5.
1. 12.
Facultie, n. A craft or art.
Obs. exc. arch, or hist. 4. 3. 51.
Faire, adv. 1. Completely?
Obs. exc. dial. f2. Clearly? Prol.
for the C. 6.
3. Kindly, honestly. 1. 5. 145.
4. Creditably. 1. 6. 83.
5. Boldly? Rare? 4. 4. 63.
Faire, a. 1. Handsome, liberal.
2. 4. 21.
f2. Reputable, worthy. 5. 6. 63.
Fairely, a. 1. Auspiciously. 1.
5- 76.
2. Properly. 5. 5. 12.
3. Completely. 5. 6. 20.
'Faith, int. [Shortened from In
{good) faith.] In truth. Arch.
exc. dial. 2. 5. 126.
Fait, v. [Form of fault.] To
commit a fault. Obs. exc. arch.
2. 4. 205 (a euphemism).
Family, n. fA household; a
body of household servants. 1. 6.
48. passim.
Fancy, v. fTo like (with inf. as
object). 2. 5. 108.
Fashion, n. f Eminent social
standing. Ind. 9; I Int. 22.
Fashioner, n. A tailor, costumer.
Obs. or arch. 1. 1. 34.
Fat, a. Richly supplied. Arch.
4. 2. 7.
Fauour, n. fi. Leniency, indul¬
gence. Ind. 27.
f2. A privilege? 2. 4. 129.
3. An exceptional kindness. 2
Int. 20.
Feare, v. fTo regard with doubt
or suspicion. 2. 4. 10.
Fee-Farm, n. 'Land held of an¬
other in fee—that is, in perpetuity
by the tenant and his heirs at a
yearly rent, without fealty, homage,
or other services than such as are
specially comprised in the feoffment'
(Bouvier, Law Diet.). 4. 4. 104.
Feeling, n. fA sensible proof.
2. 4. 159.
Fee-Tail, n. '[Fr. tailler, to
dock, to shorten]. An inheritable
estate which can descend to certain
classes of heirs only. It is neces¬
sary that they should be heirs "of
the body" of the ancestor, and these
Glossary
243
are proper words of limitation'
(Bouvier, Law Diet.)- 4- 4- io4-
Fellow, n. fi. A colleague, co¬
worker, or partner. 1. 6. 53.
f2. A comrade. 1. 5. 26; 5. 1. 49.
■j-3. An accomplice. 5. 4. 53.
Feofement, n. Law. 'The action
of investing a person with a fief or
fee. In technical language applied
especially to the particular mode of
conveyance (originally the only one
used, but now almost obsolete) in
which a person is invested with a
freehold estate in lands by livery of
seisin (at common law generally but
not necessarily evidenced by a deed,
which, however, is now required by
Statute)' (NED.). 5. 1. 55.
Fetch, v. ft-To purchase. Rare.
i. 2. 85.
f2. Const, of: To buy at a bar¬
gain. 2. 4. 38.
Field, n. Her. That part of the
surface of an escutcheon or shield
on which the 'charge' is displayed.
Also the surface of one of the divi¬
sions of the shield. 4. 4. 15.
Figure, n. 'AstroI. A diagram
of the aspects of the astrological
houses; a horoscope. A figure of
Heaven or the heavens: A scheme
or table showing the disposition of
the heavens at a given time'
(NED.). 2. 4. 75.
Fill, v. Phr. Fill up : fTo equal ;
fulfil. 3. 4. 67.
Find, v. i. To determine and
declare; to judge. Now restricted
to legal use. Ind. 25.
2. Phr. fFind in: To supply. 3
Int. 39.
Fine, a. 1. Often, like brave,
used vaguely to express excellence
or admiration. 1. 5. 21 ; 1.6. 75, 78.
f2. Cunning. 1. 6. 57.
3. Smartly dressed? 4. Clever?
i Int. 24.
5. Choice. 2. 4. 33.
Fit, a. i. Ready. Obs. exc. dial.
i. 4. i.
2. Befitting the person or the cir¬
cumstances ; becoming, proper.
'Now only in predicative use, as
it is fit that, etc., or to with inf.'
(NED.). 2. 5. 80; 3. i. 29.
t3. Well-fitting. 5. i. i.
Fit, v. To provide with what is
fit; supply. Now fit out. Obs. ?
i. 4. 16.
fFitton, n. [f. fitten, v. to lie, or
fitten, n. a lie.] A liar. Nonce use.
A person in the play.
Flat, adv. Entirely. Now rare.
4 Int. 65.
Flesh, n. Meat. Arch. 5. 5. 8.
Flesh-bawd, n. A procurer.
Rare ? 2 Int. 10.
Flie, v. Hawking. To attack or
give chase to. Const, at. 2. 4. 45.
Flight, n. Hawking. The pur¬
suit of a quarry by a hawk. 3. 1. 47.
Flyen, form of pp. of fly. 4 Int.
45-
Follow, v. To look after, attend
to. Obs. ? 2. 5. 9.
For, prep. 1. At; in case of.
i. 5. 122.
2. At; because of. Obs. ? 4. 3.
13.
3. In place of; in imitation of.
i. 5. 130.
4. By reason of; because of;
from. 5. 5. 16; 5- 5- 495 5- 6. 15.
Forespeake, v. To foretell.
Now rare. 2 Int. 3.
Forfet, a. Used as pp. of for¬
feit : Lost or alienated by some
crime. 4 Int. 86.
244
The Staple of News
Forme, n. i. A bench, often
without a back. Ind. 15.
f2. Style of dress; 'cut'. 1.2.106.
3. A formula. 4. 3. 49.
Fornace, form of furnace. 5. 5.
55-
For-sweare, v. To deny on oath.
(NED. gives no example later than
1738.) Obs. ? 5. 4. 67.
Forth, adv. fOut. (In phr. sell
forth). 2. 3. 73.
Fouly, adv. fBadly. 1 Int. 46.
Frank almoigne, phr. 'A species
of ancient tenure, still extant in
England, whereby a religious cor¬
poration, aggregate or sole, holds its
lands of the donor, in consideration
of the religious services it performs'
(Bouvier, Law Diet.). 4. 4. 107.
Fresh-man, n. gen. A novice.
Arch. ? 2. 4. 17.
Frocke, n. One who wears a
smock-frock; hence a poor person.
(NED. cites no instance later than
17th c.). Obs. ? 5. 4. 11.
From, prep. fOut of. 4 Int. 51.
Front, n. "¡-Expression of coun¬
tenance. 4. 2. 73.
Frontlesse, a. Shameless, auda¬
cious. Now rare. 5. 2. 53.
Frost, n. flee. 4. 3. 48.
Fulnesse, n. fSatiety, repletion.
5- 6. 27.
Fulsome, a. +■Abundant; hence,
cheap. 5. 4. 6.
Furnish, v. fTo prepare for act¬
ive service; as to fit out (a ship).
2. 5- 43-
'Gainst, prep, and adv. t1- Close
to, towards (of time). 2. In prepa¬
ration for. f3- adv. By, before
(in reference to time). 4. 1. 39
(probably 13)-
Galley, n. A large open row-
boat appropriated to the captain of
a man-of-war ; a large pleasure-
boat. 2. 5. 44.
Game, v. To play. Obs. exc.
dial. 4. 4. 65.
Gamester, n. fAn actor. Rare.
Ind. 55.
Gap, n. "ffig. A breach by which
an entry or an attack may be made.
3. I. 10.
Gazette, n. A news-sheet. In
this gen. sense, now only hist. 1.
5- 11.
Gentle, a. Used in ingratiating
address. 'Obs. exc. as a playful
epithet in gentle reader' (NED.).
3. 2. 265, 267, 285.
Gentleman, n. 'A man of gentle
birth, or having the same heraldic
status as those of gentle birth ;
properly, one who is entitled to bear
arms, though not ranking among the
nobility, but also applied to a person
of distinction without precise defini¬
tion of rank. Now chiefly hist'
(NED.). 3. 3. 6.; 4. 2. 148; 5. 5.
54-
Gentleman-usher, n. A gentle¬
man acting as usher to a person of
superior rank. Ind. 5; 1. 6. 49.
Gentlewoman, n. 1. A woman
of good birth or breeding. 1. 6. 37.
2. A female attendant (orig. a
gentlewoman by birth) upon a lady
of rank. Now only hist. 1. 6. 50;
2. 5- 71.
Gentrie, n. fGood-breeding. 2.
4. 61, 66.
Ghirlond, form of garland. '[OF.
garlande, gerlande. . . . The
word is also found with a different
vowel in the first syllable, as F.
guirlande. ... It. ghirlanda
Glossary
245
. . . and no satisfactory origin
has yet been suggested for it. In
the 16th and 17th c. the spellings
ghir—, gir—, guirland are freq,
used by English writers, in imita¬
tion of the Fr. and It. forms.]'
(NED.)
Gill, n. 'Attributed to persons :
fWith jocular allusion to the cap¬
ture or holding of a fish by the
gills. Obs.' (NED.). 5- i. 3i-
Give, v. fi. To ascribe (a liter¬
ary work) to a person as author.
4. 2. 6.
2. Phr. Give off: fTo cease.
4. 4. 68.
Gleek, n. In the game of Gleek,
a set of three cards of a sort,
as three aces, three kings. 4 Int.
81.
Glister, B.1 Lustre. Arch. 4 Int.
39-
Glister, ft.2 [Form of clyster.]
Med. An enema. 4. 4. 163.
Go, v. fi. To walk. 5. 2. 50.
Phrases. 1. Go from. (a) To
forget. Obs. ? 3 Int. 13. (b) To
deny, go back on. 5. 1. 78.
2. Go to(o). Used to express
impatience or contempt. 1. 1. 25.
3. Go to it (in a thing) : To re¬
sort to or begin a thing. (Not
noted in NED.) 2. 4. 24.
4. Go upon: fTo attack. 1. 6. 76.
fGod a mercy, int. phr. [ = God
have mercy, and is sometimes so
written.] An exclamation of ap¬
plause, or thanks ; sometimes used
merely to express zeal or enthu¬
siasm. i. 3. 36.
fGods so, int. [Formof Gadso?]
An exclamation of surprise or en¬
thusiasm. I. 2. 143; i. 3. 23.
Goodwife, ft, fA form of ad¬
dress : when prefixed to a surname
= Mrs. 2. 4. 68.
Good morrow, phr. A saluta¬
tion used at meeting in the morning,
equivalent to the later good morn¬
ing. The original phrase was :
fGod give you good morrow. Now
arch. 2. 4. 130.
Gossip, m. i. A chum. Arch.
Ind. 2.
2. A woman's female friend in¬
vited to be present at a birth. Ind.
13-
t3. One's child's godmother. Ind.
18.
Grace, v. fTo show favour; to
be gracious to. 2. 5. 79.
Grace, n. 1. A courtesy-title,
once applied to a king or queen, but
now only to a duke, or a duchess,
or an archbishop. 2. 1. 4; 4. 2. 159
(My Ladies Grace).
2. The condition of being fa¬
voured. A (person's) good grace,
his favour or good opinion. Now
used only after Fr. idiom a (per¬
son's) good graces. 2. 1. 20; 4. 2.
113.
3. Benignant regard. Arch. 2.
I. 22.
f4. Efficacy. 2. 1. 44.
5. A favour. 2. 4. 103.
6. A delight or source of delight.
Rare? 2. 5. 133.
Gracious, a. fi. Enjoying grace
or favour ; acceptable. Const, with.
4. i. 50.
2. Indulgent, benignant. 5. 6. 34.
Gramercie, int. phr. [OF grant
great -j- merci thanks.] Much
thanks; thanks. Obs. exc. arch. 1.
i. i.
Grand, a. Used in official titles
with the sense: Highest in rank or
246
The Staple of News
office. Now chiefly used in frater¬
nal organizations, and hist. fGrand-
Captaine: a chief captain. 5. 1.
48.
Gratitude, n. f A gratuity, re¬
ward. 5. i. 112.
Gratuitie, n. A gift of money in
return for services; in bad sense,
a bribe. Now only in sense of a
'tip'. 5- 2. 77-
Gratúlate, v. To welcome; hail.
Arch. 5. I. 8.
Grave, a. fi- Having weight or
importance ; influential, respected.
Ind. 16.
2. Of colour, dress, etc. : Dull,
plain. 4. 4. 177.
Griest, form of grist. 3 Int. 27.
Grieve, v. To regret deeply.
Arch. 2. 4. 139.
Groat, n. 1. 'The English groat
coined in 1351-2 was made = to four
pence. The groat ceased to be
issued for circulation in 1662, and
was not afterwards coined under
that name' (NED.). f2. The type
of a very small sum. 3. Hence, fig.,
a small purchaser. 1. 4. 19.
fGroatsworth, n. As much as a
groat will buy. Also, fig., a small
amount. 1. 4. 11.
Groine, n. fThe fold or depres¬
sion on either side of the body be¬
tween the abdomen and the thigh
regarded as the seat of lust. 3. 4. 46.
Grosse, a. fCoarse, common. 2.
5- 115.
Grow, v. To become. With
noun as complement, arch. 4. 1. 18.
Growen, Growne, pp. a. [Forms
of grown.] fEnormous. 3. 3. 39;
5. 2. 13 (growen) ; 5. 6. 30.
Grudging, n. fA longing. 1. 2.
80.
Haberdasher, n. fA hatter. 1.
2. 129.
H ability, form of ability. 1. 5.
119.
Haire1, a Scottish spelling of hare.
2. 4. 34.
Haire, n.2 Coiffure. Rare? 4.
2. 64.
Half-brain'd, a nonce word. 4.
2. 143.
Hälfe in hälfe, phr. Half and
half. Obs.? i. 5. 24.
Hanch, n. [Form of haunch.]
fA pad to improve the shape of the
thighs or hips. 3. 4. 40.
Hand, n. tAn informant. 3. 2.
84.
Happy, a. fBlessed, beatified.
'Obs. Of happy memory, a phrase
conventionally applied to the de¬
ceased' (NED.), i. 6. 30.
Hatchment, n. [Shortened and
altered from achievement.] Her.
An escutcheon. 4 Int. 59.
Have, v. 1. To bring; take.
Arch. 4. 3. 16 (SN.).
2. Phr. Have forth: To take out
of doors. 2. 5. 89.
Head, n. In Venery: A set of
antlers. 3. 2. 322.
Healthfull, a. Healthy, sound.
Now rare. 3. 4. 65.
Heart of cheare, phr. Equiva¬
lent to a wish that one will take
courage or be cheerful or happy.
Cf. take heart of grace = take cour¬
age. (Not noted in NED.). Rare?
5- 6. 52.
Help, n. pi. Spectacles. Now
dial. i. i. 6.
Help forth, vbl. phr. To aid in
being born. Obs. 1. 5. 79.
'Hem, pers. pron., 3rd. pl., dat.
and acc. [Not an abbreviation, but
Glossary
247
a survival of a form which was
standard during the nth and 12th
centuries.] 1. 2. 139. passim.
fHeraldet, n. A petty herald.
4. 4- 2.
Her'n-sew. [OF. heronceau,
dim. of heron.] gen. A heron.
Arch, or dial. 1. 2. 3.
His, poss. a. pron. masc. Refer¬
ring to a neuter noun or an inani¬
mate thing, now obs. ? (NED.
cites no instance later than 1670.)
Ind. 69; 3. 2. 245.
Hole, v. f fo play at the game
of Hole. 5- 2. 88. See note.
Homage, n. 'In Feudal Law,
Formal and public acknowledge¬
ment of allegiance, wherein a tenant
or vassal declared himself the man
of the King or the lord of whom
he held, and bound himself to his
service' (NED.). 4. 4. 106.
Hope, v. With simple object:
To hope for. Now chiefly poetic.
i. I. 3.
Horn, n. In the plural, often
used contemptuously as a symbol
for cuckoldom. 1 Int. 39. See
note.
Horroscope, n. Astrol. 'An
observation of the sky and the con¬
figuration of the planets at a certain
moment, as at the instant of a per¬
son's birth ; hence, a plan or scheme
of the twelve houses or twelve signs
of the zodiac, showing the disposi¬
tion of the heavens at a particular
moment. In early use, spec. = As¬
cendant, or house of the Ascendant'
(NED.). 4; 4-46.
House, n. Astrol. 'A twelfth
part of the heavens as divided by
great circles through the north and
south points of the horizon; the
whole sky, excluding those parts
that never rise and that never set,
being thus divided into twelve
houses numbered eastwards, begin¬
ning with the house of the ascend¬
ant . . . and each having some
special signification attached to it'
(NED.). 2. 4. 77.
How doe you, phr. How fare
you. Obs. or dial. 5. 1. 23.
Hum, n. fA kind of liquor. 4.
2. 166. See note.
2. spec. A buzz of rumour; a
rumor. Obs. ? 5. 1. 51.
Humane, a. Human. 'The spell¬
ing humane remained, however,
down to the beginning of the 18th
Century (in Diets, to c. 1730), when
human (of which isolated examples
occur in 17th c.) was substituted
. . . leaving Humane with dis¬
tinctive pronunciation as a distinct
word' (NED.). 5. 1. 67.
Humanity, n. The nature of
man as rendering death inevitable.
Arch. ? Phr. Yield to humanity:
To die. Arch. ? 5. 2. 18.
Husband, n. A person regarded
as the manager of his own affairs
or business ; most commonly, as
here, good husband. Now rare or
arch. ' 3. 4. 36.
Hyleg, n. Astrol. The ruling
planet of a nativity. 4. 4. 45.
Hynd, n. A farm-laborer. Arch.
2. 4- 155-
Hypercatalectick, n. Pros. A
verse having an extra syllable after
the last complete dipody. Also ap¬
plied to the syllable itself. For¬
merly = hypermetric. 4. 4. 57.
I, int., form of aye. 1. 2. 59.
passim.
248
The Staple of News
If, conj. Phrases, f1- If case:
If perchance. 1. 3. 27.
"j"2. If so, [Ellipt. for the infre¬
quent phrase if so were that] : Sup¬
posing that. 5. 3. 44.
Indent, v. f 1. To turn from side
to side in one's course; to double.
2. To cut the two halves of a
document drawn up in duplicate, by
a toothed or zigzag line, so that the
two parts exactly match each other.
2. 3. 69.
f3. To promise, or guarantee?
2. 3- 70.
Induce, v. fTo introduce. 2.
2. 27.
Induction, n. A scene serving as
preamble or introduction to a play.
Arch.
Infanta, n. 1. A daughter of the
king and queen of Spain or Portu¬
gal; spec, the eldest daughter who
is not heir to the throne. f2. transf.
Applied fancifully to other young
ladies. 2. 2. 4.
Infect, v. fTo spoil ; to commu¬
nicate a bad habit to. 5. 6. 49.
Ingine-head, n. A scheme-head ;
a head for scheming or plotting.
Nonce. 5. 2. 87.
Inginer, n. See Enginer. 4. 2.
36.
Inprint, advbl. phr. [In print.]
fTo perfection. 1. 2. 132.
In procinctu. [L. procinctus
(Milit.) readiness for action.] In
readiness, at hand. 1. 2. 21.
Intend, v. [Fr. entendre.] fTo
listen attentively; 'note heedfully'
(Gifford). i Int. 85.
Intent, n. Law. -{intendment ;
the sense in which the law under¬
stands a thing. 5. i. 77.
flntergatory, n. A syncopated
form of interrogatory. (See note.)
5- 4- 37-
flntermeane, n. A dialogue be¬
tween the acts of a play; an inter¬
lude.
Intreat, v. fTo persuade by
pleading. Ind. 56.
Inuite, v. fi. To attract or in¬
duce (a person) to do a thing. 1.
5- 70.
2. To entertain as a guest. Obs.?
2. 3. 64.
It, neuter pron. fUsed for he.
4 Int. 5.
Iacke, n. fA low-bred fellow, a
'knave'. 2. 3. 53, 85 ; 5. 5. 32.
lack, n. i. A young or small
pike. 2. Poor lack, a name for
dried hake ; also called Poor John.
5- 5- 33-
Iack-a-Lent, n. fA Lenten
faster. 5. 5. 35.
Iealousie, n. fA suspicion; sus¬
piciousness. Now so used only by
fastidious writers. 2. 3. 23.
least, form of jest. 5. 5. 20.
leerer, n. A low order of man
of wit. 2. 4. 43 ; 3. 3. 2. passim.
Ierkin, n. 'A close-fitting jacket,
jersey, or short-coat often made of
leather, worn by men during the
16th and 17th centuries. (In lit.
now arch, or hist. App. still used
in some dialects for a waistcoat, or
under vest, or a loose jacket)'
(NED.). 2 Int. 16.
lohn, n. 'Used as a representa¬
tive name for a footman, butler,
waiter, messenger, or the like, and
in other ways' (NED.). (Prob¬
ably a butler.) 2. 5. 26.
lordan, n. A chamber-pot. Now
vulgar or dial. 4. 3. 71.
Glossary
Ioule, n. [Form of jowl.] A
jaw. I. 3. 10.
Iuniper, n. fThe wood of juni¬
per, formerly burnt as a disinfectant.
2. 4. 207.
lust, a. fx. Of things : Exact,
full. i. 2. 9; i. 5. 106, 114.
12. Of persons : Prompt, exact.
2. 3. 10.
3. Exact as regards the truth. 2.
3- 40.
Keepe, v. fTo bear (a person)
in mind. 1. 5. 145. **
Keeping, vbl. n. Guarding.
fConst. of. 2. 4. 31.
Kidney, n. fA contemptuous
name : Menial ; 'slave.' 2. 3. 1.
Kin, n. Used of a single person :
Kinsman. Arch. 4 Int. 5.
Kirtle, n. A woman's gown.
Arch. 5. 4. 61.
Kitchinstuffe, n. Kitchen-refuse.
Obs.? 2. 2. 69.
Knave, m. A menial. Arch. 4.3.2.
Knight-service, (also Knight's
service) n. phr. 'Under the feudal
System : The military service which
a knight was bound to render as a
condition of holding his lands ;
hence the tenure of lands under the
condition of performing a military
service' (NED.). 4. 4. 106.
Know, v. To indulge in (as
wine). Rare? 4. 2. 178.
Labor, n. f Trouble, pains. 3.
4- 85.
Lacke, v. fTo do without
Usually with cannot. 3. 4. 50.
Lady, n. 1. (a). A woman of
superior social position. 2. 2. 30;
3. 2. 239. (b) Vocatively. Now
only poet, or rhet. 4. 4. 172.
f2. A mistress in relation to ser¬
vants or slaves; the female head of
the household. 2. 5. 74; 5. 6. 51.
Lady-like, adv. fin a manner
befitting a lady. Ind., scene heading.
Large, a. fCopious; generous.
2. 4. 93 ; 4. 2. 65.
Last, a. Extreme, utmost. Now
rare exc. in phr. of the last impor¬
tance. 4. I. 28.
Latitude, n. 1. Range, scope.
Now rare, f2. Laxity of principle.
5- i- 73-
Lay, v. Phrases. 1. Lay abord.
Naut. To run one's ship alongside
of (another) for the purpose of
attacking; to attack. 5. 5. 24.
2. Lay forth: To spread out for
ornament. Now dial. 3. 4. 60.
Leader on, n. Milit. One in
the front rank of a body of armed
men? 4. 4. 50.
Learne, v. To teach. Now vul¬
gar. i Int. 53.
Leave, v. 1. To cease; desist
from. Arch. Prol. for S. 30; 1. 5.
49; 3- 2- 95; 4- 2- 94; 5- 4- 48.
f2. To neglect to perform (an act
or duty). 2. 3. 45.
Leere, v. fTo look obliquely ; to
cast side glances. (Free from the
modern senses of slyness, immod¬
esty, or malice.) 4 Int. 35.
Leg, legge, n. A bow or scrape.
Arch and prov. Ind. 41 ; 4. 2. 139.
Less, a. [Comparative of little.]
As opposed to more : Of lower
rank or order ; inferior, lower.
Obs. exc. in such phrases as no less
a person than, etc. Cf. More, a.
4. 2. 112.
Let, v. fTo lend (money) at
interest. 2. 5. 21.
Lewd, a. fBase. 4. 3. 16.
250
The Staple of News
Lie, v. I. To dwell or sojourn.
Now rare or arch. 1. 2. 43; 1.
5- 20.
f2. Of the wind, or the tongue :
To become still, to be at rest. 4.
i. 39-
fLieger, n. [Form of ledger.]
A resident agent. 1. 5. 20.
Light, a. i. Pale, weak. 4. 2.
103.
f2. Wanton. 4. 2. 133.
Lightly, adv. Easily, readily.
Obs. exc. arch. 2. 5. 100.
Like, a. Likely to. Still com¬
mon colloq., but rare in literary use.
Ind. 57.
Like, v. fTo please. Prol. for
the S. 29.
Limb, n. I. A young imp. Col¬
loq. (The word originally occurred
in phrases, as, the devil's limb, or
the fiend's limb, limb of the devil,
of Satan, or Hell, all meaning an
agent or scion of the Evil One : it
is now mostly applied to children.)
3 Int. 34.
2. Any organ or part of the body.
Obs. exc. dial. 4. 4. 9.
fLinne, v. [Form of lin, <OE.
linnan to cease.] To stop ; rest.
4 Int. 14.
fLinnener, n. A linen-draper or
shirt-maker. 5. 1. 17.
f Linnen-man, n. A linen-draper.
I. 3. 12.
List, v. To choose; please.
Arch. 2. 3. 20, 55.
Lodging, n. fA bed-chamber.
4. 3. 29.
Look-out, n. Indications ? Fore¬
casts? Nonce word?
Loose, v. To relax; alienate.
5- i- 32.
Lord, n. 1. An owner of lands,
houses, etc. Now only poet, or rhet.
5- i- 79-
2. Phr. My lord: formerly used
in speaking of a nobleman as we
now use Lord. Arch. 2. 4. 106,
108.
Lug, n. An ear. Dial. 5. 2. 89.
Madam, n. 1. The style of a
married woman of position. Dial.
Ind. 23.
2. Vocatively, a form of respect¬
ful address originally used only in
speaking to a lady of high rank.
2. 5- 70.
t3. A lady of rank or station. 4.
4. 162.
Magazine, n. A storehouse for
provisions. Now rare. 3. 4. 48.
Magisterium, n. Alchemy. The
philosopher's stone. 3. 3. 27.
Magnificent, a. f Gr eat in deeds.
Now rare. 4 Int. 21.
Maidenhead, n. fThe first of a
thing. I. 5. 33.
•[Mainprise, n. [OF. main-
prendre to take surety, <jmain hand
-f-prendre take.] Law. Surety,
bail. 5. 5. 5.
Maintenance, n. 'In Law. (a)
An officious intermeddling in a suit
in which the meddler has no inter¬
est, by assisting either party with
means to prosecute or defend it.
This is a punishable offense at com¬
mon Law. (b) Formerly a like in¬
termeddling with the controversy of
others as to land, by wrongfully
taking or holding possession in aid
of one party' (CD.). 5. 2. 87,
92.
Make, v. fTo write. 4. 2. 91.
Maker, n. A poet. Obs. exc.
arch. Prol. for S. 5; Epilogue 1.
Glossary
251
Making, », fPoetical composi¬
tion. Ind. 70.
Man, ». 1. An adult male per¬
son. f Applied to the Devil. 1 Int.
61.
2. A human being. Obs. when
'used explicitly as a designation
equally applicable to either sex'
(NED.). 4. 4. 34.
Man-midwife, ». A male who
practises midwifery. Obs. ? Ind. 55.
Manner, ». pi. Practices. Arch. ?
3. 4. 42 ; 4. 4. 139.
Man o'law, phr. A lawyer. Arch.
3- i- 33-
Man o'war, phr. A ship of war ;
hence, transf., the captain of such a
ship ; a sea-captain. 2. 4. 7.
Marchant, form of merchant. 1.
2. 72.
fMargent, n. [Form of margin.]
Milit. Outskirt, flank. 1. 3. 9
(%■)•
Mark, n. Her. An armorial
charge or device. 4. 4. 156.
Marie, v. To manure with marl,
a fertilizing mixture of clay and
carbonate of lime. 2. 4. 154.
Mary, int. [The original of
which Marry is a corruption : from
Mary the Virgin.] Indeed, for¬
sooth. 4 Int. 50.
fMas, n. An abbr. of Master (q.
v.). 2. 5. 106; 4. 4. 62.
Master, n. 1. A head or chief,
i. 6. 27, 56.
2. A title of address, correspond¬
ing to Magister. Arch. 1. 6. 78.
Matter, n. 1. Weight of mean¬
ing. 4. 2. 77.
2. The plot or action of a drama.
Rare? 4 Int. 3.
3. Subject; material for discus¬
sion. 5. i. 13
fMaund, v. To beg. Beggars'
cant. 2. 5. 16.
Meat, n. 1. Food in general.
Obs., arch., or local. 2. 3. 71 ; 2. 5.
117; 3- 2. 241; 3. 2. 295.
2. Flesh for food. 2. 3. 77; 4. 2.
30; 3- 3- 13?
Meere, a. tAbsolute. 2. 4, 80;
4. 2. 137 (mere) ; 4 Int. 39.
Melancholly, n. fi. Ill-nature.
2. Dejection, sadness. 2. 4. 30.
Mercat, n. [Form of market.}
A bargain; traffic? Obs. ? 2.4.37.
•Mesenterium, n. [Same as mes¬
entery. ] Anat. 'A fold or dupli-
cature of peritoneum investing the
intestine or other abdominal viscus
wholly or in part, and serving to
retain such viscus in its proper posi¬
tion in the abdominal cavity' (CD.).
4. 4- 41.
Meseraick, same as mesentery.
4. 4. 41.
Migniardise, ». [OF. rnigniar-
dise (mignard delicate.] Gentle or
gallant usage; flattery; softnesses.
3. I. 31. See note.
Milke, v. To drain the money
from. Obs.*exc. colloq. 5. 1. 123.
Mind, ». A desire. Obs. ? 3. 4.
37-
Mind, v. To remember. Obs.
exc. colloq. 2. 4. 100.
Minion, ». f One who is beloved ;
a favorite. 2. 1. 10.
Minute, ». fA petty detail ; a
particle. 1. 5. 138.
fMisconceit, ». Misconception,
error. Epilogue 9.
fMistery, ». A trade or craft.
3. 2. 203.
Moneth, form of month. 4. 3. 46.
Money-bawd, ». fA usurer. 2
Int. 10; 2. 4. i.
252
The Staple of News
Monstrous, a. [L. monstruum
prodigy. ] I. Unnatural, prodigious ?
f2. Having the qualities of a mon¬
ster, or puppet? Ind. 46.
f3. Full of monsters or strange
creatures. (See also 1.) 3 Int. 14.
More, a. [Comparative of EE.
ma or mo more.] Frequently used
in Jonson's day as the comparative
of the adjective 'great' with refer¬
ence both to degree and rank. Obs.
Cf. Less, a. 4. 2. 112.
Mortalitie, n. Decease. Of the
death of an individual, obs. ? 5. 1.
57-
Mort-main, n. Law. Possession
of lands or tenements in dead
hands, or hands that cannot alienate,
as those of ecclesiastical corpora¬
tions ; inalienable possession. 4. 4.
114.
Mortify, v. To turn green. Of
dead flesh, obs. ? 2. 3. 21.
Motion, n. fi- A puppet; also
a puppet-show. 1. 6. 61.
2. An impulse ; palpitating agita¬
tion. Now rare. 2. 5. 65.
3. A movement of the hand;
hence, a hint, request, on suggestion.
3. 2. 279.
fMournivall, n. In the card-
game of gleek, four cards of a sort,
as four aces. 4 Int. 81.
Murder, v. To ruin, destroy (an
inanimate object, as, a ship).
Arch.? 3. 2. 87.
Muse, v. fTo wonder. 1. 5. 97.
t Muster-master, n. Formerly,
one charged with taking account of
troops, and of their arms and other
military apparatus. 2. 3. 82 ; 2. 4. 7.
My Lord, n. 'Formerly the or¬
dinary prefix used in speaking to a
nobleman, where we now commonly
use simply 'Lord'. (Now only
arch.)' (NED.). 2. 4. 112.
fMyne-man, n. A miner. 1. 3.
58.
Mynt, pp. [Form of minted.]
Coined; invented. 4. 4. 74.
Mystery, n. A sacrament. 4. 2.
145-
Napkin, n. fA handkerchief. 3.
4- 54-
Native, a. Vitally related to
oneself; own. 2. 5. 53.
Naught, a. "[Worthless. 1 Int. 4.
Neat, a. 1. Finished, complete.
i- 5- 74-
2. Clever. 1. 5. 132.
Nerve, n. fA tendon, sinew or
cord: the original meaning. 2. 4.
160.
Nimble, a. 1. Ingenious. 3. 1.
5Q-
2. Keen, sharp. 3. 2. 81.
Noysome, a. Disagreeable, of¬
fensive. Rare. 2. 5. 126.
No-wit, n. fWitlessness. 5. 6. 5.
Nut-cracker, n. One of the rab¬
ble ; a groundling. Prol. for the
C. 8.
Obedient, a. fCompliant, oblig¬
ing. i. 6. 14; 4. 4. 117.
Observe, v. fTo treat with re¬
spect; gratify. 2. 5. 80; 4. 3. 18.
Odde, a. tExtra. 2. 4. 38.
Of, prep. fi. In the person of;
in. I. 6. 14.
■[2. From, out of. 2. 5. 120.
3. Expressing change from one
form or condition into another ;
from. Arch. 4. 1. 18.
f4. To. 4. 2. 87.
5. From; because of. Arch, or
dial. 4. 2. 154.
Glossary
253
6. On. Arch. 4. 4. 26.
7. With. Obs. or dial. 4. 4. 168.
8. By. Arch. 5. 2. 12; 4 Int. 23.
Of, adv. [The original form, of
which off was at first a mere variant
spelling. 'Off appears casually from
c 1400, but of and off were not com¬
pletely differentiated till after 1600.']
(NED.). Away. 2. 1. 4; 2. 4.
38.
Offer, v. With ai: To make an
attempt at. Now rare or obs. 1.
6. 82.
Oldman, n. A man advanced in
years. As single word, obs. 5. 1.
loi.
Olla Podrida. [Sp., lit., rotten or
putrid pot.] 'A dish of Spanish
origin composed of pieces of many
kinds of meat, vegetables, etc.
stewed or boiled together' (NED.).
3• 3- 29.
On, prep. 1. Of. 'Common in
literary use to c 1750; now dial, or
vulgar' (NED. ). Ind. 46 ; 2 Int. 3,
Si; 5- i. 112.
2. Of condition, action, etc., with
a substantive, as on sleep, on live,
on wait: now mostly replaced by in.
2. 4- 145-
Once, adv. fi. Emphatically :
Once for all, above all. 2. 3. 53 ; 2.
4. 24.
One, numeral a. fFormerly pre¬
fixed to other numeral expressions :
as, one sixe moneths. 4. 3. 46.
Onely, form of only. 3. 2. 185.
passim.
Oppresse, v. fTo harass, dis¬
tress. 3. 4. 2.
Or, n. [Fr. or gold.] Her.
One of the tinctures, the metal gold,
often represented by yellow, and in
the engraving of arms convention¬
ally by dots upon a white ground.
4. 4. 26.
Or, conj. Either. Arch, or poet.
2. 2. 51.
Orbe, n. 1. 'Old Astron. Each
of the concentric hollow spheres
supposed to surround the earth and
carry the planets and stars with
them in their revolution. Obs. exc.
Hist.' (NED.). f2. fig. A sphere
of activity. 2. 2. 56 (with immedi¬
ate ref. to 1).
Order, v. To put in order.
Arch. 3. 2. 330.
Ordinary, n. 1. A public meal
regularly provided at a fixed rate
in a tavern; hence, a tavern where
a meal can be had. 1. 2. 55.
2. A commonplace. Rare. 1. 2.
56.
Ore-growne, a. fi- Fully grown ;
hence, large ? 2. Abnormally large ?
5- 5- 31-
Other, a. fSecond ; next. 5. 1.
26.
Outerwork, n. [App. a var. of
outwork. Not noted in NED.] An
outer defence or bulwark. 1. 3. 28;
4. 2. 25.
Pad, n. A path; road. Orig.
vagabonds' cant, introduced in 16th
c. ; now also dial. 2. 5. 17.
Pageant, n. 1. A tableau or al¬
legorical device, erected on a fixed
stage or on a moving car, as a pub¬
lic show. Obs. exc. hist. 3. 2. 309.
Painefull, a. Painstaking, care¬
ful. Obs. or arch. 3 Int. 53; 4
4. 118.
Parcell, adv. or adj. In part,
partly. 'As qualifying sbs., Obs.
since 17th c., till revived by Scott'
(NED.). Persons of the Play 20.
254
The Staple of News
fParchment-lace, n. 'A kind of
lace, braid, or cord, the core of
which was parchment' (NED.).
5. 4- 63.
Part, n. Merit or demerit. Obs. ?
Rare ? 5. 2. 43.
Part, v. To divide. Arch. 1.
5. 108.
Partile, a. [LL. partilis single.]
Astrol. Exact to a degree : said of
a celestial aspect : opposed to platic.
4. 4. 45-
Passant, a. [Fr. passant.]
fCurrent; hence, fashionable. 1.
2. 133.
fPatrico, n. [Thieves'slang.] A
hedge-priest or orator among gipsies
and beggars. 4. 1. 45. See note.
Penned, pp. a. 1. Feathered.
Rare. Ind. 40.
2. Written. Ind. 41 (implied).
Penne, n. fA large feather of
the tail. 5. 6. 29.
Perboiled, pp. a. [Form of par¬
boiled.] f Boiled thoroughly. 2.
4- 52.
Perjure, v. fTo swear falsely;
to deceive by false swearing. 5. 2.
52.
Person, n. Personality; quality
as a person. Rare? 1. 6. 62.
fPerspicill, n. A magnifying
glass, i. i. 6.
Perswade, v. To recommend for
acceptance. Arch. 5- 3- 26.
Phant'sie, n. [Form of fantasy.]
The creative imagination. Prol. for
the C. 13.
Physick, n. gen. Medicine.
Arch. ? 3. 2. 178; 4 Int. 40.
Pickled, pp. a. 1. Preserved in
pickle. 2. Briny. Rare. f3.
Roguish. (Probably all three are
intended.) 2. 4. 12.
Piece, n. 1. A gold coin. 1. 3.
34-
2. A person : now used only con¬
temptuously, commonly of women;
as, she is a bold piece. 1 Int. 10.
3. A feat in one's special line or
calling: almost equivalent to mas¬
terpiece. (Distinct from the sense
of essay, and from the sense of an
artistic production, though related
to both.) Rare? 5. 1. 103.
Piety, n. Filial reverence or de¬
votion. Arch. 5. 3. 24.
Pipkin, n. A small earthen pot,
with a horizontal handle. 2. 4. 149.
Place, n. 1. Town? f2. A
stronghold? 3. 2. 51.
3. Precedence. Obs.? 4. 2. 107.
fPlatic, a. [Gr. Trrjarvs broad.]
Astrol. Pertaining to or in the
position of a ray cast from one
planet to another, not exactly, but
within the orbit of its own light :
opposed to partile. 4. 4. 45.
Play, v. i. To seek recreation
out of doors; take the air. Rare?
3. i. 17-
2. To give a fanciful turn to a
word or an idea. Omission of on
or upon, as here, rare? 4. 1. 19.
Play-maker, n. A writer of
Plays. Obs.? 4 Int. 9-10.
Pleasant, a. Facetious. Now
rare. 4. 4. 149.
Pleasure, n. Indulgence of the
appetites. 5. 6. 62.
Plover, n. fig. A swindler's
victim. Slang. 2. 3. 82.
Pockie, a. 1. Afflicted with pox.
2. Contemptible. Vulgar. 2. 4. 94.
Poet-sucker, n. A suckling poet.
Low. 4. 2. 81.
Point, n. Climax, acme, crown¬
ing stage. Obs. ? 2. 5. 93.
Glossary
255
Polish, v. To concoct, fabricate.
Rare? 5. 2. 35.
Polite, a. gen. Complete, fin¬
ished, elaborate. Rare. 1. 5. 74.
Politically, adv. f.Artfully; with
address. 4 Int. 35.
Politique, a. f1- Official ; state.
2. 3. 61.
2. Artful, cunning, ingenious.
Obs. ? 3.2.224; 1.5.29.
Pollard, n. A stag or an ox that
has been polled; a hornless stag or
ox. 3. 2. 323 (attrib.).
f Pontificiall, a. Pontifical ;
hence, popish. I. 5. 15; 3. 2. 64.
fPoore-John, n. The hake when
salted and dried. 5. 5. 34.
Possit, n. [Form of posset.] A
drink composed of hot milk curdled
by some infusion, as wine or other
liquor, formerly much used as a
luxury and as a medicine: often
taken at bed-time. 2. 4. 54.
Potch, form of poach. 3. 2. 47.
Poulter, an earlier and more cor¬
rect form of poulterer, the suffix er
in the latter being needless. 2. 4. 68.
Pox, n. [Irregular sp. of pocks,
pi. of pock.] Formerly much used
in Imprecative phrases : as, a pox
on; a pox of; pox on. 2. 3. 1 ; 3.
4. 40.
Pragmaticke, n. fA man of
business. 1. 5. 104.
Precedent, n. A sign or indica¬
tion. Obs.? i. 5. 16.
Precept, n. Law. An injunc¬
tion; ordinance. 3. 2. 200.
Preferre, v. [Form of prefer.]
i. To offer? f2. To recommend?
3- 3- 28.
Premunió, n. [So called from
the first word of the Writ, which
began 'Praemuniri facias'.] Eng.
Law. A species of writ, or the of¬
fense for which it is granted, or the
penalty incurred. 5. 6. 44 (the of¬
fense).
Presence, n. Person. Rare? 3.
2. 238.
Present, v. absol. To appear
formally before (a person) ; to ap¬
proach. Rare ? Obs. ? 2. 2. 7.
Presently, adv. fAt once. 1. 1.
2; 3-3- 46.
Pretty, a. [OE. praetig, crafty,
astute (glossed by L. callidus, sa-
gax.)] fi. Clever, shrewd. 1. 5.
125 ; 2. 4. 22.
2. Good, considerable. 2. 4. 87.
3. Used vaguely and ironically.
4. i. 10.
Prettily, adv. "[Excellently. 2.
5- 62.
Prevent, v. fTo frustrate, evade.
5. 6. 42.
Prime, a. Of the highest social
rank. Obs. ? 2 Int. 18.
Probation, n. A test or proof.
Arch. 4 Int. 63.
Procure, v. fTo solicit. 4. 4.
128.
Produce, v. To develope. Obs.?
Rare? 3. 2. 101.
Proper, a. 1. Fine; pretty; iron¬
ically of absurd or objectionable
things, i Int. 10.
2. Good-looking? Now only
prov. 3. Correct in behavior? 1
Int. 61.
4. Special or peculiar; belonging
to one. 2. I. 35.
5. Her. Having its natural color
or colors. Said of any object used
as a bearing: thus, a sun proper
would be a sun represented in its
own proper hue of yellow. 4. 4.
15-
256
The Staple of News
Property, n. Essential charac¬
ter; nature. Obs.? 2 Int. 30.
Prosecute, v. To follow up as
a quarry; to hunt. Obs.? 1. 1.
24"
Proud, a. Brilliant; attractive?
Obs. 2. s. 58.
Provide, v. fintr. To make
ready. 4. 1. 58.
Pseudodox, n. A false but com¬
mon opinion. 3. 3. 42.
Pull, v. i. To pick the feathers
from (a bird). 2. Hence, fig., to
pluck, to cheat. 2. 3. 83.
Pump, v. fig. To flatter. 4. 2.
80.
Pupillage, n. Minority. 1. 1. 16.
Pure, a. 1. Unmixed. 2. 2. 40.
"j"2. Only, sole? 3. Clear? 4. 4.
152.
4. Absolute. 5. 5. 35.
Purse-net, n. A net the mouth
of which may be drawn close with
cords, or closed quickly in any way.
5- 2. 85.
Pursiuant, n. [Form of pur¬
suivant.] One of the third and
lowest order of heraldic officers.
2. 2. 10.
Pyoner, n. [Form of pioneer.]
M Hit. One of a party or company
of foot-soldiers who march before
or with an army, and are furnished
with digging and cutting implements
to clear the way of obstructions,
repair roads, dig intrenchments, etc.
i. 3- 30.
Pyrrhick, n. Pros. A foot con¬
sisting of two short syllables. 4. 4.
58.
Quack-saluer, n. One who pre¬
tends to medical knowledge. Now
almost entirely superseded by quack,
which is an abbr. of it. 1 Int. 19;
4. 4- 165.
Quaint, a. fFine, dainty. 3.1.31.
Quality, n. 1. Rank, gentry.
Obsolescent. Ind. 8; 3. 2. 240.
2. Order, grade, standing. 4. 1.8.
t3- Essential character. 4. 2. 31.
Quarreil, n. fLaw. A suit or
action. 2. 5. 9.
Quartile, a. Astron. and Astrol.
Quartile aspect, the aspect of two
heavenly bodies which are ninety
degrees distant from each other.
4. 4. 44.
Quest, n. An expedition with
some exploit as its object, as in
mediaeval romance. Obs. exc. poet.
5- 3- 46.
Quick, a. fi. Of speech, writ¬
ings, etc.: Smart, lively. 1. 5. 133.
"j"2. Of trade : Brisk, lively. 2.4.87.
f3. Of the voice: Loud, clear.
Rare. 3. 4. 25.
•¡-4. Of wine, etc. : Brisk, efferves¬
cent. 5. Hence, enlivening. 4. 2. 6.
Quit, v. i. To remove, dismiss.
Now rare. 3. 2. 147.
f2. To make a return for (some¬
thing done to one). 4. 1. 20.
Quote, v. fTo speak of. 3. 3.18.
Quoth, preterite of fverb quethe.
Said. Arch. 1 Int. 41.
Race, v. [Form of rase, raze.]
To erase. (Often with out). Obs.
or arch. 5. 1. 27.
Ranke, v. fTo classify. 1. 5.121.
Rascall, n. fi. One of low birth ;
a boor. 1. 2. 131, 138.
2. A low unprincipled person; a
scamp. I. 3. 48; 2. I. 15.
t3. A young, lean, or inferior deer,
as distinguished from a full-grown
antlered stag. 3. 2. 321.
Glossary
257
tRauish, v. [ L. rap ere to snatch.]
To seize and carry off. 4 Int. 43
Read, v. fTo teach; discourse
upon. 4. 2. 18; 4. 4. 89.
Recouer, v. fTo restore to a
proper condition. 4. 3. 50.
Redoubt, n. Fortif. A general
name for nearly every class of
works wholly inclosed and unde¬
fended by reentering or flanking
angles. 4. 4. 52.
Reforme, v. To correct. Now
rare. 1. 5. 55; 1 Int. 66.
Relique, n. [Form of relic.] A
remnant, or leaving. 2. 3. 79.
Respect, v. 1. To consider, have
regard for. This sense is now al¬
most faded out of the verb, as com¬
monly used. 3. 4. 13.
2. To provide for; anticipate.
Rar el 5. 1. 57.
Respect, n. Courteous attention.
Arch.l 2. 5. 80.
Retriue, n. [Form of retrieve.]
In Hunting, the recovery of game
once sprung. 3. 1. 48.
Return, v. intr. To go back to a
former office or duty. (Const, obj.
case with omission of prep.).
Obs.l Rare1 5. 1. 47.
Reversion, n. Law. A right or
hope of future possession or enjoy¬
ment ; succession. 2. 3. 80 ; 5.
2. 94.
Ridiculous, a. 1. Preposterous?
f2. Derisive? To The Readers 6.
f3- Outrageous? (See also 1.)
To The Readers 11.
Rigged, pp. Dressed. Colloq.
2. 5. 42.
Right, a. fGenuine, reliable. 1.
2. 99; I. 3- 53; 3- 2. 84; 3 Int. 2.
Right, adv. Very. Arch, or
colloq. 2 Int. 65.
Riot, n. Luxurious living. Now
rar el 5. 4. 27.
Rite, n. A sacrifice or offering.
Obs.l Prol. for the C. 5.
Rival, n. fi. A companion? 2.
A competitor? 4. 2. 61.
Rogue, n. A confirmed beggar,
or vagabond. Obs.l 2.4.16; 4.4.
127; 5. i. 4.
Ruin, n. fA sudden collapse.
S- i. 41.
Runne, old preterite of run. Now
dial. 3 Int. 31.
fSack, n. [F. sec dry, <L.
siccus dry.] Any dry, light-colored
wine from the South. Ind. 74;
2. s. 104.
Sad, a. fSober; serious. 2. 1. 1.
Safety, n. fA safeguard. 4. 4.
145-
Saraband, n. 1. A slow stately
Spanish dance of Moorish origin,
primarily for a single dancer, but
iater used as a contra-dance. 2.
Music written in the slow triple
time of such a dance, usually with
decided emphasis upon the second
beat of the measure. 4. 2. 108, 133.
Sauour, v. fTo stink. 2. 5. 116.
f.Say, v. [ME. say en; by aphere
sis from ¿may.] To test; to try
on. i. 2. 16 (SN.).
fScanting, vbl. n. A stinting, or
limiting. Rarel 2. 1. 25.
Scarf, n. A band of fine cloth
partly decorative, and partly used
to cover the face. See note. 3.
4- 49-
Scattered, pp. a. Giddy, whirl¬
ing, rolling? Rarel 4.2.131. See
note.
Scene, n. A play. Now rarel
Prol. for the S. 13.
2$S
The Staple of News
Schedule, n. A memorandum of
instructions, Obs.? i. 6. 34.
Scheme, n. Astrol. A represen¬
tation of the aspects of the celestial
bodies ; an astrological figure of the
heavens. 4. 4. 161.
Scope, n. i. Aim. f2. A target.
Epilogue i.
Scriuener, n. A notary. Obs. ?
2. 2. 29.
Scrowle, n. [Form of scroll.]
Her. 'The ribbon-like appendage
to a crest or escutcheon on which
the motto is inscribed. Also
escroll' {CD.). 4. 4. 29.
Scrupulous, a. fl* Captious? 2.
Exact? 3. 2. 118.
Seasonable, a. Well-seasoned;
palatable. (A sense not noted in
the Diets.) Obs.? Rare? 2 Int.
65.
Seasoned, pp. a. 1. Tried; hence,
reliable. 2. Flavored and made
palatable ; hence, acceptable. 3.
Preserved from decay, pickled ;
hence, sound. 2. 4. 11.
Se defendendo. [L.] Law.
The plea of a person charged with
slaying another that he committed
the act in self-defense. 5. 5. 49.
Sense, n. spec. Hearing. Rare?
3. 4. 22.
fSent1, v. [Obs. but hist, more
correct sp. of scenty L. sentire per¬
ceive by the senses, observe.] To
perceive by smelling. 5. 3. 12.
Sent2, v. To send. 5. 3. 13.
Sentence, n. A maxim; a wise
saying. Arch. ? 3. 2. 14.
Serieant, n. [Form of sergeant.]
fA bailiff, i. 3. 9.
Serieanty, n. 'In English Law, a
species of service which cannot be
due or performed from a tenant to
any lord but the king, and is either
grand or petit. Grand serjeanty
consisted in some service immedi¬
ately respecting the person or dig¬
nity of the sovereign; as to carry
the king's standard or to be his
constable or marshal, his butler or
chamberlain, or to perform some
military service' (Bouvier, Law
Diet.). 4. 4. 108.
Seruant, n. 1. One who dedi¬
cates himself to the service of an¬
other. 2. i. 36; 2. 5. 92.
"j"2. A professed lover. 4. 2. 47.
Serve, v. Phr. Serve in: tTo
bring and set before (a person or
company), as food. 3. 2, 241.
Set, v. Phrases. 1. Set by: To
put aside. 3. 2. 205.
2. Set forth: fTo fit out. 2. 5. 42.
3. Set out: To publish; to put
on sale. To The Reader, 13; 3. 2.
132?
4. Set wide: To open wide.
Arch.? 5. 3. 32.
Set, pp. a. [Form of past par¬
ticiple of sit. According to CD., it
is 'now usually regarded as identi¬
cal with set, past participle of set,
v.'] Being in place; seated. 3. 1.
41 ; 3. 4. 10.
Seventh-night, n. A week.
Rare? Or nonce sp.? 1. 5. 86.
Sextile, a. Astrol. Noting the
aspect or position of two planets
when distant from each other sixty
degrees or two signs. The sextile,
like the trine, was considered one
of the good aspects; the square or
quartile, an evil one. 4. 4. 44.
Shall, aux. v. f May ; will. 1.
6. 67.
Shew, v. To seem, to look as
though. Cf. Ger. es scheint. 1. 5.69.
Glossary
259
fShot-clog, n. A person who is
a mere clog on a company, but is
tolerated because he pays the shot
or reckoning for the rest; a gull.
4- I. 47-
Show, v. To make one's appear¬
ance, be present. Colloq. Prol. for
the S. 14.
Showen, fpp. of show. Displayed.
3- 4- 63.
Shrewd, a. fSevere, vexatious,
i Int. 73.
fShrouing, n. A revelling at
Shrovetide. Ind. 66 (attrib.).
Shut-face, n. A wise look? A
non-committal look? Nonce word?
Silly, a. I. Guileless? Arch. 2.
Foolish? 5. i. 73.
Sirrah. 'Apparently an extension
of sir, or a modification of the
original dissyllabic sire. A word of
address generally equivalent to
'fellow'. Now Obs. or arch.' (CD.)
i. 3- Si-
Sit, v. Phr. Sit down: fTo
yield passively. 5. 1. 22.
Slice, n. A fire-shovel; a fire¬
pan. Dial. 2. 4. 207.
t'Slid, int. An old exclamation,
app. an abbr. of God's lid (eye).
Cf. 'Slife. 3. 3. 57.
Slip, n. fA counterfeit coin, ac¬
cording to Steevens, of brass cov¬
ered with silver. 3 Int. 24.
Slippery, a. Seductive. Obs. ?
4- 2. 73-
Slugge, n. A slow, heavy person.
Obs. or prov. 4. 2. 81.
Snap, n. Anything caught by a
snatch or grasp. Arch. 1. 5. 132.
So, adv. Then. Rare. 4. 4. 31.
Soccage, n. 'In law, a tenure of
lands in England by the perform¬
ance of certain determinate service;
distinguished both from Knight-ser¬
vice, in which the render was un¬
certain, and from Villeinage, where
the service was of the meanest kind :
the only tenure in England after the
abolition of military tenures' (CD.).
Sol, n. i. In Alchemy, gold. 2.
In Her., a tincture, the metal or, or
gold, used in blazing planets, as in
the arms of sovereigns. 4. 4. 11.
Sollicit, v. Law. fTo plead, to
advocate. 2. 5. 8.
Solicitously, adv. Painstakingly,
zealously. Obs. ? 4. 2. 144.
Some, pron. fA certain person,
i. I. 34-
Some, a. fWith singular: Many
a. 2. 5. 42.
Somewhat, n. Something not
specified. Arch. ? 3. 2. 246; 5. 1.
79-
Sordid, a. 1. Foul. Arch. 3. 2.
221.
2. Base, low-bred. 3. 2. 236.
Sort, v. fi. To select? 2. To
procure? 1. 5. 121.
Sowce, v. [Form of souse.] To
plunge into liquid. 4. 4. 98.
Spar, v. fTo bolt or bar. 2.4.170.
Spend, v. To consume, as food.
4. 4. 107. Obs. ? 2. 3. 72.
Spice, n. [ <OF. espice kind
<L. species kind, species.] A small
quantity; a touch. 1 Int. 77.
fSpurge, v. To froth or foam,
as fermenting ale. Ind. 64.
Squirrill-limbed, a. Having limbs
adapted for climbing; agile. Nonce
use. 5. 3. 31.
Stagger, n. In pl., used as a
name for 'various forms of func¬
tional and organic diseases of the
brain and spinal cord in domesti¬
cated animals, especially horses and
2ÓO
The Staple of News
cattle ; more fully called blind stag¬
gers' {CD.), i Int. 77.
Stand, v. fTo confront. 5. 6. 3.
Phrases. (1) Stand for: To
represent, defend. 2. 2. 116. (2)
Stand forth to (a person) : To
face, confront. Obs. ? 4. 4. 63.
(3) Stand upon: fTo observe, keep
to, be faithful to. 2. 3. 9.
^Staple, n. A general market or
exchange. Now chiefly attrib., as in
staple article. Title of the Play;
passim.
Startle, v. To start. Arch. 5.
3- 30 (SN.).
State, n. fi. An estate. 1.6. 18;
3. 2. 271 ; 5- 4- 13-
2. Lofty or stately manner?
Obs. ? 3. A raised platform? 3. 1.
46.
3. A raised platform? 3. 1. 46.
4. Nation. 2. 5. 34.
5. Pomp, brilliancy. 3. 2. 249.
Stationer, n. fA bookseller. 1.
5- 58.
f Statute-Merchant, phr. 'In law,
a bond of record, now obsolete,
acknowledged before the chief
magistrate of some trading town, on
which, if not paid at the day, an
execution might be awarded against
the body, lands, and goods of the
obligor' {CD.). 3. 2. 272.
fStatute-Staple, phr. Tn law, a
bond of record, now obsolete, ac¬
knowledged before the mayor of the
Staple or town constituting a grand
mart, by virtue of which the cred¬
itor might forthwith have execution
against the body, lands, and goods
of the debtor on non-payment'
{CD.). 3. 2. 272.
Stay, v. f i. To wait for. 1. 3. 51.
2. To tarry. 1. 4. 14.
t3- To cease. 4. 1 58; 4 Int. 90.
Sterued, pp. of sterve, a ME. form
of starve. 1 Int. 20.
Stewe, n. A pond for storing
table-fish alive. 3. 4. 48.
Stick, v. To hesitate; to haggle?
Const, with, obs. ? 3. 2. 72.
Stile, n. [Obs. but more correct
sp. of style.] A title. 2. 1. 43.
Still, a. "¡"Constant, permanent.
5- i. 79-
Still, adv. fi. Always; habitu¬
ally. Ind. 46; I Int. 36; 3. 2. 135;
3- 4- 51; 5- I- 30; 5- 3- 47-
2. Nevertheless. 1. 5. 50; 4. 2.
169; 5- i- 119-
3. Yet. 4. 2. 62.
Stocke, n. A fixed fund or prin¬
cipal. Arch.? Obs.? 2. 3. 13; 3.
4. 36.
Stoop, v. i. To bow. 2. Hence,
fig., to humble oneself ; submit.
Arch. ? 3. i. 46 (stoupe) ; 4 Int. 35.
Store, v. To supply (a person)
with a thing. Arch.? 3. 3. 49.
Strange, a. fi. Uncivil, heathen¬
ish. 3. 4. 76 ; 4. 3. 16.
"j"2. Unfavorable. Epilogue 7.
Strangle, v. To suffocate (as In
a bag). Arch.? 5. 6. 37.
Strength, n. 1. A stronghold.
Arch. i. 3. 35; 3. 2. 52.
f2. An army. 3. 2. 58.
3 A stay, support, security. 4. 4.
145-
Strew, v. Phr. Strew out : To
wile away; enliven. Rare? (Not
noted in Diets.) 3. 2. 189.
fStrooke, preterite of strike.
i. i. 28; i. 2. 4.
Subtill, a. I. Of material things :
Fine, minute. Obs. ? 1. 1. 25.
2. Of mental things: Refined,
delicate. 4. 2. 138; 4. 3. 51.
Glossary
261
Subtle, a. Rare, rarified. 5. 1. 47.
Sue, v. Phr. "fSue livery. Eng.
Law. To take proceedings, on com¬
ing of age, to recover lands which
the king had held as guardian in
chivalry during the plaintiff's minor¬
ity; hence, fig., to declare one's
self of age. 1. 1. 19. See note.
Sullen, a. 1. Thoughtful? Obs. ?
2. Foreboding ill ? Obs. ? 2 Int. 49.
Sunne, n. Her. A bearing rep¬
resenting the sun. 4. 4. 15.
Superstition, n. fldolatrous de¬
votion. 5. 6. 23.
Sweep, v. To wipe. Obs. ? 2.
3- 19 (SN.).
fSyllab, n. A syllable. 5. 2. 37.
Tackle, n. The tools of any work
or sport (in this case, archery).
Epilogue 12.
Take, v. 1. To absorb (as, salt).
2. 4. 11.
2. To have an effect; to work
(as, medicine). 5. 3. 49.
3. Phr. Take up. (a) To buy or
borrow on credit. Colloq. Ind. 67;
3.4.41. (b) To halt; to remain in
a place. 4. 2. 160.
Tale, v. To count. Rare? 1. 3.
16 (SN.). Misprint?
Tasseled, pp. a. Her. Adorned
with tassels. 4. 4. 26.
Tast, v. fi. To touch; hence, to
test or prove; hence, to testify,
i- 5- 75-
2. To partake of; hence, to enjoy.
3. 2. 120.
Temper, n. Astrol. The essen¬
tial character or nature of a star
as affecting the humours of the hu¬
man body? 2. i. 51.
Then, form of than. This was
the usual spelling until about 1670,
when it was changed to than, in
order to distinguish between the
conjunction and the adverb. Ind.
31. passim.
fThorow, prep. [Form of fthor¬
ough.] Through. 1. 3. 54; 5.
5- 44-
Throng, n. A time when there is
a great press of business. Scottish.
1. 5. 126.
Tide, v. To manage. 4. 4. 72.
Time, n. fMeasure; tune. 1. 3.
14.
Tireman, n. A dresser in a
theater. Obs. or rare. Ind. 49
(SN.).
fTiring-house, n. The room or
place where the actors dressed for
the stage. Ind. 62, 72.
Tissue, n. fdoth interwoven
with gold or silver; a kind of cloth
of gold. No longer spec. 3. 4. 49.
To, prep, fi- For. 1. 3. 51;
3. 2. 232 (SN.).
3. Besides. 3. 2. 175.
3. In accordance with. Prol. for
the C. 3; 4. 4. 173.
Token, n. A metal tablet issued
by private persons and used in lieu
of coin. 5. 4. 34. See note.
Towardly, a. "[Promising. 4
Int. 31.
Toy, n. fi- A whim. 1 Int. 27.
2. A trifle. 2. 2. 39.
Translate, v. fi. To remove, or
convey (spec, in Scripture, to
heaven, without natural death) ?
2. To transform? 3. 3. 19.
3. To transfer. Arch.? 4 Int. 62.
Tree, n. fA piece of timber ;
spec., a bow. Epilogue 5.
Trench, v. To violate, encroach
upon. (None of the Diets, assigns
this meaning to the transitive verb,
2Ó2
The Staple of News
exc. in const, with prep.) Rare?
5. 6. 48.
Tricke, n. A habit; mannerism.
Ind. 46.
Tried, pp. a. Seasoned: said of
wood. Epilogue 5.
Trine, n. Astrol. The aspect
of two planets distant from each
other 120 degrees, or the 3rd part of
the zodiac. The trine was supposed
to be a benign aspect. 4. 4. 44.
Tripes, n. Entrailes. Now only
in low use. 4 Int. 62; 5. 5. 47.
fTrouses, trowses, n. [Form of
trousers] 'The close drawers over
which the hose or slops (the loose
breeches) were drawn' (Gifford).
i. i. i (SN.) ; i. 2. 2.
Tro wie, v. [Form of troll.] To
sing in the manner of a catch or
round. 4. 4. 44.
Truss, v. i. To tie (gen. with
up). Arch. 5. 3. 15.
2. To hang as a criminal. Arch.
5. 3. 16 (implied).
Trust, n. 1. A duty or office en¬
trusted to one. 3. i. 6.
2. Confidence. 5. 1. 70; 5. 3. 8.
3. A deed of trust. 5. 2. 4.
4. Condition of one placed in a
position of confidence. 5. 3. 7.
5. One to whom business is en¬
trusted. Rare? 5. 3. 7.
f6. Trustworthiness. 5. 3. 8.
Truth, n. A fact. Obs. ? Prol.
for the C. 12.
Tune, v. To give a regular beat
to. Rare? 3. 2. 243.
Tune, n. Time, cadence. 4. 2.
139.
Turn-pike, n. A turn-stile.
Arch. 3. i. 37.
Tyke, n. A low-bred dog ; a
cur. Prov. 5. 4. 57.
Vnder-part, v. To subdivide.
Rare. 1. 5. 113.
Vnresistable, a. Irresistible.
Rare. Obs. ? 3. 2. 58.
Vnto, prep. [Formerly possess¬
ing most of the various senses of
to ; now a poet, and arch, form,
and of limited application.] 1. For.
3. 4. 60; 5. 2. 78.
2. Of. 2. 2. 3.
Vpon, prep. 1. With regard to.
i. 5- S8.
2. Against. I. 6. 28.
f3- At. i. 6. 64.
t4. In, within. 2. 2. 23.
Vrinall, n. Med. A glass vessel
used in urinalysis. 2. 4. 74.
Vse, n. t1- Interest; usury. 3.
4. 41, 42; 5. 4. 20.
2. Enjoyment. 4. 3. 39; 4 Int. 67;
5. 2. 26.
3. Benefit. 5. 2. 80.
4. A legitimate or reputable need
or purpose. Obs. ? 5. 6. 61.
Vse, v. i. To employ; spend;
enjoy. 2. 5. 19.
"j"2. To lend at interest. 2. 5.
20.
3. To act toward; treat. 4. 3. 31,
32 ; 5. 6. 22.
4. To resort to or practice fre¬
quently. Arch. 4. i. 7.
Vserer, n. [Form of usurer.]
fA person who lent money at inter¬
est. Now only applied to those
who lend at an exorbitant or illegal
rate of interest. 5. 4. 7.
Varlet, n. fi. In cards, the jack
or knave. 4. 1. 30.
2. A rogue. 5. 2. 69.
Vena caua, phr. One of the
main veins opening into the right
auricle of the heart. 4. 4. 40.
Glossary
263
Vena porta, phr. 'The portal
vein ; a large, short trunk receiving
the blood from the chylopoietic
viscera, formed from the union of
the splenic and superior mesenteric
veins. It enters the transverse fis¬
sure of the liver, which it divides
into a right and left branch, which
again subdivide to be distributed to
the liver. Also called vena portae
or portarum' (CD.)- 4- 4- 40.
Vent1, v. [ K.vent a sale <F.
vente.] To vend, or sell. 1. 2. 27.
Vent2, v. [ <vent a hole or open¬
ing.] i. intr. To discharge; erupt.
1. 2. 40.
2. trans. To publish; give out;
circulate. 1. 2. 52.
Venter, v. [Form of venture.]
To invest. Arch. 3. 2. 67.
Venter, n. [Form of venture.]
A commercial speculation. 3. 4. 79.
Vert, n. Her. The tincture
green. 4. 4. 25.
Vertuous, a. fi- Of the agent,
exhibiting strength and courage. 2.
Of the thing attempted, calling for
strength and courage. Rare? 4. 4.
148.
Vicissitude, n. Mutability. Rare r
2. 4. 188.
Visor, n. "[Countenance, visage.
5. 6. 9.
Volley, n. In Tennis, a return
of the ball by the racket before it
touches the ground, especially a
swift return. At volley, [F- à la
volée], on the fly; hence, fig., at
random. 4. 1. 24.
fVorloffe, n. [Du. verlof.] The
original form of furlough. 5. 1.
89.
Vow, ». fA solemn declaration.
5- 2. 31.
Wage, v. Phr. Wage law : 'In
old English Law, to come forward
as a defendant, with others, on oath
that he (the defendant) owes noth¬
ing to the plaintiff in the manner as
he has declared' (CD.). 5. 1.
II7-
Wait, v. fi. To watch for.
2. 2. 57.
2. With upon: (a) To escort.
Colloq. 3. 2. 327; 4. 3. 15. (b)
To attend as a servant or follower.
4- 3- 20.
Wake, ». fThe state of being
awake. 2. 5. 51.
fWanion, ». A word found only
in the phrases with a wanion, in the
wanton, and wantons on you, all îm-
precative. With a wanton : Bad
luck to you ; the mischief take you,
etc. 3 Int. 57.
Want, v. i. To miss (a person
or thing). Ohs.? 1. 6. 21.
2. To do without. Rare? 3.4.52.
3. To need; lack. 4. 2. 105.
'Ware, v. Imperative. Beware of.
(Exc. in a few phrases, as in ware,
hawk, ware hounds, beware is now
used instead of ware.) 5. 5. 57.
Washing, pp. a. Overwhelming?
5. 5. 15. See note.
What, rel. pron. Whatever.
Obs. ? 2. 5. 108.
What, adv. fExclamatory and
intensive : How ; how greatly.
4- 3- 13-
Where, rel. conj Whereas.
Arch. i. 5. 25; 5. 6. 7.
Whereto, rel. conj. In addition
to which. Obs.? i. 5. 11.
Which, rel. pron. Whichever.
Obs. ? 4 Int. 73.
Wholesome, a. Healthy, whole.
CD. says obsolescent. (Occasion-
264
The Staple of News
ally still heard in America.) 2. 4.
99; 4- I. 34-
Wilde, a. Volatile, flighty. 3. 2.
118.
Wilde-fire, ». 'Greek fire, the
general name of many sticky inflam¬
mable compositions much used in
naval warfare and sieges in me¬
diaeval times' (New Int. Encyc.).
3. 2. 48.
fWindore, a perverted form of
window, simulating door. 2. 4. 170.
Wit, ». i. A person of great
learning; a person of taste or dis¬
cernment. Arch. Ind. 16; Prol.
for the S. 19; 1. 2. 114.
2. Cleverness. 1. 5. 128.
3. Intelligence; discernment. 1.
i. 3; i. 2. 125.
With, prep. 1. In consequence
of. 2. 4. 168.
1*2. By. 4. 2. 77, 78.
With all, prep. An intensive
form of with. Arch. 2. 4. 181.
Wittily, adv. fi- Wisely? 2.
With a witty turn? 4 Int. 79.
Wooe, v. fTo seek to obtain.
3. 2. 236 (SN.).
Worship, ». i. An ascriptive
title. 2. 2. 2. passim.
2. Respect; honour. Arch.? 2.
4- 185-
Wort, ».' An infusion of malt.
Ind. 65.
Wrest, form of wrist. 4. 2. 52.
Writ, pp. Form of written. Obs.
or arch. Prol. for the C. 3 ; 3. 2.
220.
Year, ». Phr. Of years : Of age.
(Not noted in Diets.) Arch.} 2.
4• 25.
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N. Y. 1879.
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2 vols. Lond. 1876.
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Smith, Captain John. Works, (ed. Arber.) Birmingham, 1884.
Stationers' Register (Arber's Reprint.) 5 vols. Lond. 1875-94.
Stow, John. A Survey of London. Lond. 1842.
Strutt, Joseph. Antiquities. 3 vols. Lond. 1775.
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of England. Lond. 1776.
Stubbes, Philip. The Anatomie of Abuses, (ed. Turnbull.) Lond.
1836
Swinburne, A. G. A Study of Ben Jonson. N. Y. 1889.
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Taylor, John. (The Water Poet.) Works. (Spenser Soc. Publica¬
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Thornbury, G. W. Shakespere's England. 2 vols. Lond. 1856.
Ward, A. W. A History of English Dramatic Literature. 3 vols.
Lond. 1899.
Wheatley, H. B., Cunningham, P. London Past and Present. 3
vols. Lond. 1891.
Wither, George. Juvenilia. (Spenser Soc.). 3 vols. Lond. 1871.
Woodbridge, Elisabeth. Studies in Jonson's Comedy. Boston, 1898.
268
The Staple of News
INDEX
acates, 153.
acme, 132.
advance, 186.
advised, 168.
yEsop, 138.
affection, 221.
aldermanity, 193.
Allot, R., 122.
Almanach, 203, 211.
almond butter, 174.
Almonry, 193.
amber, 140.
ambition, 155.
Ambler, 143.
Amboyna, 181.
Andrews, A., Hist, of Brit. Journal¬
ism, xliii.
Apicius, 209.
Apollo, 207.
Apollonius, 167.
Apollo Room, 169-70.
Archie, 180.
Argurion, xxxii.
Arion, 190.
Aristophanes, Plutus, xx-i, xxxii,
154, 207.
IVasps, xxi, 222.
arms, set up, 171.
arras, 138.
Assinigo, 224.
astrology, 209, 210.
Athenaeus, 189, 200.
attributes, 161.
ayre, 156.
Baal, Prophet, 180.
badge, 222.
baiting bulls, 223-4.
bane o', 207.
barbers, 135, 144, 147.
Bates, K. L., xii.
Bavier, 186.
bawd, 161.
beamy, 208.
Bear, The, 122.
Beaumont and Fletcher, Knight of
the Burning Pestle, xxxiii.
bed-staff, 221.
beggars, 168.
Beggars-bush, 211.
begging lands, etc., 214.
benevolences, 130.
Benson, J. (I. B.), 122.
besant, 209.
bescumber, 223.
Bethlem Gabor, 186.
Betlem, 197.
betting, 195.
billmen, 140.
black is his eye, 150.
block, 139.
blood-royal, 208.
blushet, 225.
Bolton, Elements of Armories, 154.
Bourne, Fox, Eng. Newspapers,
xxxviii, xxxix, xliii.
Bowling Alley, 195.
breeches, 140.
bringers-up, 209.
broken sleeve, etc., 139.
broker, 227.
Buffone, Carlo, 227.
Bullion, Sir Bevis, 141.
burgess, 168.
Burton, Anatomy of Melancholy,
xxxv i.
Butter-box, 174.
butter, mad, 174.
roasted, 157.
Butter N., xviii, xxiii, xxxvii seq.
xlvi seq.
Specimen of his news, xli.
by description, 185.
call together, 160.
Camden, 211.
Canary sack, 222.
candle-rents, 161.
canter, 166.
canting, 149.
Capitol, 226.
Captain, 142, 161.
carpet, 142.
casamates, 140.
castril, 156.
celler, 199.
Index
269
Chamberlain, John, 143.
chambermaid, 155.
chamber-pots, gold, 192.
Charles I, xx.
Chaucer, House of Fame, xxii, xliv,
179.
cheat, 219.
chimia, 193.
Christmas, 124.
chronicler, 145.
civil, 217.
Clapper-dudgeon, 165, 210.
claret, 206.
clericus, 175.
clout, 229.
coaches, 131.
coachmen, 182.
coat-card, 197.
Coke, 228.
Coleridge, xxii.
Collier, J. P., xxx.
colon, 227.
colonel, 182.
colour of advantage, 211.
come forth, 169.
compile, 211.
complement, 168.
concentricks, 156.
conduits, 193.
conjuring-book, 195.
conscience, 219.
consult, 207.
contracted, 148.
cooks, 181, 200.
coozening, 141.
corantoes, 176.
cornucopia, 179.
Cornwall, 148.
coronation, 187.
cousins, 203, 207.
cozen, 146.
crafty knave, 168.
crop, 157, 220.
cry up credit, 204.
cry you mercy, 125-8.
Cunningham, F., xxx, Ii, Iii.
custard politique, 158.
Cymbal, xxxvii, xlvi seq.
cythern, 147.
danger, 211.
Daniel, Samuel, 185-6.
Devil, 150, 160.
Devil Tavern, 169-70.
dining, hour of, 188, 196.
disinherit, 216.
dispenced, 177.
dog-leech, 162.
Doppers, 179.
doublet, 161.
draws the city-ears, 185.
drinking to pegs, 206.
dry-fat, 192.
Duke Humphrey, 190-1.
dümmerer, 223.
Dunkirk, 177.
Dutchman, 137, 189.
eating Christians, 181.
eel, 177.
eel-boats, 177.
egg, 219.
emissaries, 135.
engine, 219.
escuage, 210.
Estifania, Lady, 138.
Exchange, The, 136.
fat kitchin, 199.
feather man, 216.
feathers on clothing, 128.
Ferdinand II, 176.
fetch of, 160.
fiddlers, 203.
Fielding, H., xxii.
Fifth Monarchy, 176.
fire-works, 129.
fishmonger's sleeves, 161.
Fitton, 122.
Fleay, xviii, xxxi, li.
fleets, 166.
Fletcher, Fair Maid, xxxi, xl, xlfi.
flyen,. 214.
Folio, First, xi, xiii.
Fool, 150.
fool up, 138.
forespeak, 172.
forfeitures of estates, 227.
form, 207.
Frankfurter Journal, xl.
funeral feast, 189.
Gainsford, Captain, 143.
Gardiner's Lane, 194.
gentlemen, 216.
gentlewomen at Jonson's club, 188.
Gifford, xiv, xvii, xviii, xxi, 132.
gifts, 146.
gipsies, 213, 198.
girdle, 139.
270
The Staple of News
Gondomar, 178, 183
gossips, 124.
gourmandizing, 191.
gown, 132.
Grant, A., Nezvspaper Press, xlii.
hair, 165, 182, 201.
Harwich, 178.
Hart, H. C., 143.
hat-band, 213.
have the wine for you, 191.
hawking, 175.
Hazlitt, W. C., xii.
heart of cheare, 228.
helps, 133.
her for its, 201.
heraldry, decline of, 211.
Herford, C. H., xliii.
hermaphroditic dress, 133
High Commission, 214.
hindred, 135.
his, neuter use of, 130.
hogshead, 199.
Hokos Pokos, 172.
hole, 220.
hoops, 162.
hoop-tankard, 206.
Horace, 154, 201.
horns, 151.
horse-leech, 150.
hum, 205.
identifications, xlvi seq.
'ill, 202.
indent, 158.
Infanta, 123, 172-4.
inprint, 139.
intend, 153.
interest, rate of, 153.
intergatory, 223.
intestina, 227.
Italian prints, 138.
Japhet, 182.
jeer, 224.
jeering, 197.
jellies, 189.
Jesuits, 177.
Jonson, Ben, and London Prodigal,
.xxv seq.
and Madrigal, 1 seq.
and Wither, lv seq.
Barth. Fair, xiv.
— Case is Altered, xix, xxii,
xxviii.
Jonson, Cynthia's Revels, xxi, xxxii,
129, 146.
Devil is an Ass, xiv.
Discoveries, 138, 185, 191.
Every Man In, xxxii.
— Magnetic Lady, xiv.
Neptune's Triumph, xix, 125,
I 137, 189, 190, 199, 200.
News from the New World,
xxxii, xlii, xliv, 144, 145.
Pan's Anniversary, 151.
Poetaster, 1.
Tale of a Tub, xxix, xxxi.
Time Vindicated, lv, lvi, lvii.
Jubilee year, 228.
judge's daughter, 155.
julep, 189.
King's Majesty's Servants, 121.
King Street, 194.
kiss close, 168.
kitchen, fat, 199.
Knight, C, xxiii.
knitting-needle, 163.
knots, 157.
Koeppel, E., xxii, xxiii, xxix.
Lamb, Doctor, 151.
lapwing, 183.
Laud, 198.
leases, 210.
Lee, Sidney, xxiii, xxxvii, xliii, xlvi.
leek, 209.
leges scriptae, 155.
Legh, Gerard, Accedens of Armory,
154-
lepers, 197.
Lessing, xxiii.
Lickfinger, 123.
lie, 198.
Liechtenstein, 177.
Light-foot Ralph, 157.
light on, 156.
limb, 208.
Lindsay, C. L., xxxviii.
lines, 202.
Lingua, 167.
linne, 212.
Littleton, Tenures, 210.
Lollards, 221.
London Bridge, 162.
London Prodigal, xxii-xxxi, xxxiii,
lix.
Lucian, Timon, xx, xxi, xxxii, 204,
207, 213, 217, 220.
Index
271
lucida int orvalla, 220.
Madrigal and Jonson, 1 seq.
and Wither, lv seq.
maintenance, 220.
Mallory, H. S., xv.
man-midwife, 129,
margents, 140.
marrowbones, 200.
Masson, xlv.
Master of arts, 146.
Masters worship, 147.
maund, 166.
Maximilian T, 176.
May-day, 187.
Medley's (tavern), 131.
Mercurius Britannicus, 145.
meridian, 132.
Merry Devil of Edmonton, 152.
Middle aisle, 137.
Middleton, Game at Chess, xix,
183-4.
migniardise, 175.
mint, 202.
Molière, xxii
monkeys, 164.
monopolies, 192.
monsters, 146, 204.
monstrous, 129.
more or lesse, 203.
mortgage, 156.
motions, 148.
mouldie, 158.
Munday, A., 210.
muster-master, 158,
my lords, 162.
napkin, 192.
needs must go whom the Devil
drives, 160.
negative, double, 155, 217,
never made good meal, etc., 153.
Newcastle, Earl of, xiv.
news-letters, xxxv.
news-pamphlets, xxxvi-vii.
Nicholson, B., xii, xiv, xxx.
Nieuive Tijdinghen, xl.
night-cap, 218.
not, 219.
nutmegs, and ale, 142.
obsonare famen ambulando, 191.
Old Harry groat, 165.
once, 159.
one six months, 207.
oracle, 161.
ordinaries, 135.
pageants, 186, 187.
Parliaments, 196.
parts, 219.
patrico, 198.
patriot, 151.
Paul's, 136.
Paul's Church-yard, 122, 146.
Pebody, C., Eng. Journalism, xlii.
Pecunia, xviii, 148, 172-3.
perishing, 192.
perjury, 219.
perpetual motion, 178.
persons in plays in guise of specta¬
tors, 149.
perspicills, 133.
Phoenix, the (tavern), 131.
Picklock, 217, 228.
pike, 176, 226.
pill to purge melancholy, 159.
plague, 141, 157, 212, 216.
Plautus, Aulularia,. xxii, xxvni,
163-4, 226.
Captivi, xxii, xxvii
play-boys, 196.
Pocahontas, 174.
poets, beggarly, 150.
poet-sucker, 202.
political incest, 214.
politicks, 210.
poor John, 226.
Pope A., 153.
porcelain, 162.
porter, 221.
posset, 161.
Potosi, 209.
pox, 156.
prime, 139.
proclamations, 182.
Prologue for the Court, 132.
pump, 202.
pure preserver, 211.
pyoners, 140.
Queen Hithe, 178.
Ram Alley, 160.
rat behind hangings, 220.
relative, omitted, 157.
respecting, 217.
returned, 217.
riming rats, 215
Ripon, 141.
272
The Staple of News
rites, 153.
rogue, 166.
Rose, 202.
Rosie-crosse, 201.
ruffe, 139.
sack, 130.
Saints at Amsterdam, 179.
Sanctuaries, 194.
sanguine, 156.
Saraband, 203.
scarfs, 191.
scatter, 206.
Schlegel, xxiii.
sciences, liberal, 147.
scrivener, 155.
seasons, 200.
selling peerages, 206, 211.
service of state, 130.
set a beggar on horseback, etc., 212.
seventh-night, 146.
Shadweîl, T., xxii.
Shakespeare and London Prodigal,
xxiii, xxv.
shall, 148.
shal's, 196.
share, 184.
sharpers of London, 196.
Shirley, James, Love Tricks, xl,
xlii.
shoe-tie, 213.
shopkeepers and country gulls, 141.
shot-clog, 198.
shows, 131.
Shrovetide, 124.
Shunfield, 123.
Sidney, Sir Robert, xxxv.
silk-worm, 138.
Silver Street, 192.
Sitting on the stage, 123, 124, 125.
slice, 165.
Smith, Captain, 169
Smug, 153.
Snarle, 225.
Sol, 208.
•pal ato, 153.
Spanish marriage, xix, xx, 174.
Spanish perfume, 138.
Spinola, 176, 178.
spurges, 130.
spurs, 140, 141.
stage-costumes, 129.
stand for, 203.
stand it out, 179.
Star Chamber, xli, xlv.
state of years, 185.
Stationers in Paul's Church-yard,
146.
statutes, 227.
St. Katherine's, 178-9.
stools on stage, 123.
strengths, 140.
strew out, 182.
subject to exception, 174.
subtill feet, 204.
subtill turnes, 163.
subtilties, 190, 200.
Sun, 202.
! swans, 226.
i syllab, 219.
tailors' libraries, 138.
take, 222.
take salt, 159.
talk six thousand, 191.
tassel'd of the first, 209.
tenement, 155.
tennis, 197.
terms of Court, 144.
that, 167.
Theocritus, 149.
they, indefinite use of, 200.
Thirty Years' War, 177.
three lives, 135.
thumb-ring, 162.
Tieck, xxiii.
Tilly, 176.
title, or play-bill, 132.
token, 222.
token, by the same, 151.
tomb-stone, 147.
torch, 203.
tossing dogs, 207.
totalis, 140.
To the Readers, 174, 213.
Tothill Fields, 195.
trail, 176.
tree, 229.
trials of animals, 222.
Trismegistus, 199.
true jests, 225.
trumpeters, 147.
trussed up, 221.
truths, 132.
turkeys, 225.
turn-pike, 175.
turns, subtill, 163.
Tuttle Street, 193.
two do not do one office well. 175
venison, 157.
Vertumnus, 175.
Vice, 151.
Vittellesco, 177.
Voltore, 220.
vorloffe, 218.
wage law, 218.
wannion, 196.
want, 204.
Ward, A. W., xii, xxxi.
wardship, 134.
warrant him, 212.
washing blow, 224.
watch, 134.
water lectures, 213.
watermen, 144,
Weekly News, xxxviii-xliv.
Welsh brief, 218.
Welsh mines, 209.
Westminster Hall, 137.
Index 273
Whalley, xiv, xvi.
wheel-barrow, 157.
wild-fire, 177.
will, 134.
white-broth, 160.
witches, 171.
Wither, and Jonson, lv seq.
and Madrigal, lv seq.
Abuses Stript and[ Whipt,
Fair Virtue, etc., lvii.
Fidelia, lvii.
Juvenilia, lv seq.
Motto, lvi.
Shepherd's Hunting, lvii.
witness, 219.
wits, covey of, 160.
Wool-Staple, 194.
worm of the peace, 221.
write like a gentleman, 205.
Zeale-of-the-land-Buzy, 196.
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