The Jew of Malta by Christopher Marlowe (great books to read TXT) 📕

this the banquet he prepar’d for us? Let’s hence, lest further mischief be pretended.<208>

FERNEZE. Nay, Selim, stay; for, since we have thee here, We will not let thee part so suddenly: Besides, if we should let thee go, all’s one, For with thy galleys couldst thou not get hence, Without fresh men to rig and furnish them.

CALYMATH. Tush, governor, take thou no care for that; My men are all aboard, And do attend my coming there by this.

FERNEZE. Why, heard’st thou not the trumpet sound a charge?

CALYMATH. Yes, what of that?

FERNEZE. Why, then the house was fir’d, Blown up, and all thy soldiers massacred.

CALYMATH. O, monstrous treason!

FERNEZE. A Jew’s courtesy; For he that did by treason work our fall, By treason hath deliver’d thee to us: Know, therefore, till thy father hath made good The ruins done to Malta and to us, Thou canst not part; for Malta shall be freed, Or Selim ne’er return to Ottoman.

CALYMATH. Nay, rather, Christians, let me go to Turkey, In person there to mediate<209> your peace: To keep me here will naught advantage you.

FERNEZE. Content thee, Calymath, here thou must stay, And live in Malta prisoner; for come all<210> the world To rescue thee, so will we guard us now, As sooner shall they drink the ocean dry, Than conquer Malta, or endanger us. So, march away; and let due praise be given Neither to Fate nor Fortune, but to Heaven. [Exeunt.]

 

<1> Heywood dedicates the First Part of THE IRON AGE (printed 1632) “To my Worthy and much Respected Friend, Mr. Thomas Hammon, of Grayes Inne, Esquire.”

<2> Tho. Heywood] The well-known dramatist.

<3> censures] i.e. judgments.

<4> bin] i.e. been.

<5> best of poets] “Marlo.” Marg. note in old ed.

<6> best of actors] “Allin.” Marg. note in old. ed.—Any account of the celebrated actor, Edward Alleyn, the founder of Dulwich College, would be superfluous here.

<7> In HERO AND LEANDER, &c.] The meaning is—The one (Marlowe) gained a lasting memory by being the author of HERO AND LEANDER; while the other (Alleyn) wan the attribute of peerless by playing the parts of Tamburlaine, the Jew of Malta, &c.—The passage happens to be mispointed in the old ed. thus,

“In Hero and Leander, one did gaine A lasting memorie: in Tamberlaine, This Jew, with others many: th’ other wan,” &c.

and hence Mr. Collier, in his HIST. OF ENG. DRAM. POET. iii. 114, understood the words,

“in Tamburlaine, This Jew, with others many,”

as applying to Marlowe: he afterwards, however, in his MEMOIRS OF ALLEYN, p. 9, suspected that the punctuation of the old ed. might be wrong,—which it doubtless is.

<8> him] “Perkins.” Marg. note in old ed.—“This was Richard Perkins, one of the performers belonging to the Cock-pit theatre in Drury-Lane. His name is printed among those who acted in HANNIBAL AND SCIPIO by Nabbes, THE WEDDING by Shirley, and THE FAIR MAID OF THE WEST by Heywood. After the play-houses were shut up on account of the confusion arising from the civil wars, Perkins and Sumner, who belonged to the same house, lived together at Clerkenwell, where they died and were buried. They both died some years before the Restoration. See THE DIALOGUE ON PLAYS AND PLAYERS [Dodsley’s OLD PLAYS, 1. clii., last ed.].” REED (apud Dodsley’s O. P.). Perkins acted a prominent part in Webster’s WHITE DEVIL, when it was first brought on the stage, —perhaps Brachiano (for Burbadge, who was celebrated in Brachiano, does not appear to have played it originally): in a notice to the reader at the end of that tragedy Webster says; “In particular I must remember the well-approved industry of my friend Master Perkins, and confess the worth of his action did crown both the beginning and end.” About 1622-3 Perkins belonged to the Red Bull theatre: about 1637 he joined the company at Salisbury Court: see Webster’s WORKS, note, p. 51, ed. Dyce,

1857.

 

<9> prize was play’d] This expression (so frequent in our early writers) is properly applied to fencing: see Steevens’s note on Shakespeare’s MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR, act. i. sc. 1.

<10> no wagers laid] “Wagers as to the comparative merits of rival actors in particular parts were not unfrequent of old,” &c. Collier (apud Dodsley’s O. P.). See my ed. of Peele’s WORKS, i. x. ed. 1829; and Collier’s MEMOIRS OF ALLEYN, p. 11.

<11> the Guise] “i.e. the Duke of Guise, who had been the principal contriver and actor in the horrid massacre of St. Bartholomew’s day, 1572. He met with his deserved fate, being assassinated, by order of the French king, in 1588.” REED (apud Dodsley’s O. P.). And see our author’s MASSACRE AT PARIS.

<12> empery] Old ed. “Empire.”

<13> the Draco’s] “i.e. the severe lawgiver of Athens; ‘whose statutes,’ said Demades, ‘were not written with ink, but blood.’” STEEVENS (apud Dodsley’s O. P.).—Old ed. “the Drancus.”

<14> had] Qy. “had BUT”?

<15> a lecture here] Qy. “a lecture TO YOU here”?

<16> Act I.] The Scenes of this play are not marked in the old ed.; nor in the present edition,—because occasionally (where the audience were to SUPPOSE a change of place, it was impossible to mark them.

<17> Samnites] Old ed. “Samintes.”

<18> silverlings] When Steevens (apud Dodsley’s O. P.) called this “a diminutive, to express the Jew’s contempt of a metal inferior in value to gold,” he did not know that the word occurs in Scripture: “a thousand vines at a thousand SILVERLINGS.” ISAIAH, vii. 23.—Old ed. “siluerbings.”

<19> Tell] i.e. count.

<20> seld-seen] i.e. seldom-seen.

<21> Into what corner peers my halcyon’s bill?] “It was anciently believed that this bird (the king-fisher), if hung up, would vary with the wind, and by that means shew from what quarter it blew.” STEEVENS (apud Dodsley’s O. P.),—who refers to the note on the following passage of Shakespeare’s KING LEAR, act ii. sc. 2;

“Renege, affirm, and turn their HALCYON BEAKS With every gale and vary of their masters,” &c.

<22> custom them] “i.e. enter the goods they contain at the Custom-house.” STEEVENS (apud Dodsley’s O. P.).

<23> But] Old ed. “By.”

<24> fraught] i.e. freight.

<25> scambled] i.e. scrambled. (Coles gives in his DICT. “To SCAMBLE, certatim arripere”; and afterwards renders “To scramble” by the very same Latin words.)

<26> Enter three JEWS] A change of scene is supposed here, —to a street or to the Exchange.

<27> Fond] i.e. Foolish.

<28> Aside] Mr. Collier (apud Dodsley’s O. P.), mistaking the purport of this stage-direction (which, of course, applies only to the words “UNTO MYSELF”), proposed an alteration of the text.

<29> BARABAS. Farewell, Zaareth, &c.] Old ed. “Iew. DOE SO; Farewell Zaareth,” &c. But “Doe so” is evidently a stage-direction which has crept into the text, and which was intended to signify that the Jews DO “take their leaves” of Barabas: —here the old ed. has no “EXEUNT.”

<30> Turk has] So the Editor of 1826.—Old ed. “Turkes haue”: but see what follows.

<31> Ego mihimet sum semper proximus] The words of Terence are “Proximus sum egomet mihi.” ANDRIA, iv. 1. 12.

<32> Exit] The scene is now supposed to be changed to the interior of the Council-house.

<33> bassoes] i.e. bashaws.

<34> governor] Old ed. “Gouernours” here, and several times after in this scene.

<35> CALYMATH. Stand all aside, &c.] “The Governor and the Maltese knights here consult apart, while Calymath gives these directions.” COLLIER (apud Dodsley’s O. P.).

<36> happily] i.e. haply.

<37> Officer] Old ed. “Reader.”

<38> denies] i.e. refuses.

<39> convertite] “i.e. convert, as in Shakespeare’s KING JOHN, act v. sc. 1.” STEEVENS (apud Dodsley’s O. P.).

<40> Then we’ll take, &c.] In the old ed. this line forms a portion of the preceding speech.

<41> ecstasy] Equivalent here to—violent emotion. “The word was anciently used to signify some degree of alienation of mind.” COLLIER (apud Dodsley’s O. P.).

<42> Exeunt three Jews] On their departure, the scene is supposed to be changed to a street near the house of Barabas.

<43> reduce] If the right reading, is equivalent to—repair. But qy. “redress”?

<44> fond] “i.e. foolish.” REED (apud Dodsley’s O. P.).

<45> portagues] Portuguese gold coins, so called.

<46> sect] “i.e. sex. SECT and SEX were, in our ancient dramatic writers, used synonymously.” REED (apud Dodsley’s O. P.).

<47> Enter FRIAR JACOMO, &c.] Old ed. “Enter three Fryars and two Nuns:” but assuredly only TWO Friars figure in this play.

<48> Abb.] In the old ed. the prefix to this speech is “1 Nun,” and to the next speech but one “Nun.” That both speeches belong to the Abbess is quite evident.

<49> Sometimes] Equivalent here (as frequently in our early writers) to—Sometime.

<50> forgive me—] Old ed. “GIUE me—”

<51> thus] After this word the old ed. has “�”,—to signify, perhaps, the motion which Barabas was to make here with his hand.

<52> forget not] Qy. “forget IT not”

<53> Enter BARABAS, with a light] The scene is now before the house of Barabas, which has been turned into a nunnery.

<54> Thus, like the sad-presaging raven, that tolls The sick man’s passport in her hollow beak] Mr. Collier (HIST. OF ENG. DRAM. POET. iii. 136) remarks that these lines are cited (with some variation, and from memory, as the present play was not printed till 1633) in an epigram on T. Deloney, in Guilpin’s SKIALETHEIA OR THE SHADOWE OF TRUTH,

1598,—

“LIKE TO THE FATALL OMINOUS RAVEN, WHICH TOLLS THE SICK MAN’S DIRGE WITHIN HIS HOLLOW BEAKE, So every paper-clothed post in Poules To thee, Deloney, mourningly doth speake,” &c.

<55> of] i.e. on.

<56> wake] Old ed. “walke.”

<57> Bueno para todos mi ganado no era] Old ed. “Birn para todos, my ganada no er.”

<58> But stay: what star shines yonder in the east, &c.] Shakespeare, it would seem, recollected this passage, when he wrote,— “But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun!” ROMEO AND JULIET, act ii. sc. 2.

<59> Hermoso placer de los dineros] Old ed. “Hormoso Piarer, de les Denirch.”

<60> Enter Ferneze, &c.] The scene is the interior of the Council-house.

<61> entreat] i.e. treat.

<62> vail’d not] “i.e. did not strike or lower our flags.” STEEVENS (apud Dodsley’s O. P.).

<63> Turkish] Old ed. “Spanish.”

<64> luff’d and tack’d] Old ed. “LEFT, and TOOKE.”

<65> stated] i.e. estated, established, stationed.

<66> Enter OFFICERS, &c.] The scene being the market-place.

<67> Poor villains, such as were] Old ed. “SUCH AS poore villaines were”, &c.

<68> into] i.e. unto: see note �, p. 15.

<note �, p. 15, The First Part of Tamburlaine the Great: “� into] Used here (as the word was formerly often used) for UNTO.”>

<69> city] The preceding editors have not questioned this word, which I believe to be a misprint.

<70> foil’d]=filed, i.e. defiled.

<71> I’ll have a saying to that nunnery] Compare Barnaby Barnes’s DIVILS CHARTER, 1607;

“Before I do this seruice, lie there, peece; For I must HAUE A SAYING to those bottels. HE DRINKETH. True stingo; stingo, by mine honour. *

I must HAUE A SAYING to you, sir, I must, though you be prouided for his Holines owne mouth; I will be bould to be the Popes taster by his leaue.” Sig. K 3.

<72> plates] “i.e. pieces of silver money.” STEEVENS (apud Dodsley’s O. P.).—Old ed. “plats.”

<73> Slave] To the speeches of this Slave the old ed. prefixes “Itha.” and “Ith.”, confounding him with Ithamore.

<74> Lady Vanity] So Jonson in his FOX, act ii. sc. 3.,

“Get you a cittern, LADY VANITY, And be a dealer with the virtuous man,” &c.;

and in his DEVIL IS AN ASS, act i. sc. 1.,—

“SATAN.