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Con. His own profession, if it please your ho

nour.

SJudge. And that's an ill profession, to be a murderer; thou meanest he has confest the fact? Con. Yes, my lord, he cannot deny it.

1 Judge. Did he not name the party, who it was that he had poisoned?

Con. Marry, with reverence be it spoken, it was Eugenio, my lord Polymetes' son. Poly. How's this!

1 Judge. He died long since at Athens. Poly. I cannot tell what I should think of it; This is the man that lately brought me news My son was living.

2 Judge. Fellow, stand to the bar; thou hear'st thy accusation, what can'st thou say? Eug. Ah, my good lord,

I cannot now deny what I have said;
This man o'erheard me, as iny bleeding heart
Was making a confession of my crime.

Con. I told him, an't shall please your lordships, the king's officers had eyes to hear such

rascals.

1 Judge. You have been careful in your office, constable;

You may now leave your prisoner.

Con. I'll leave the felon with your lordship. 1 Judge. Farewell, good constable; murder, I see, will out. [Exit Constable.

Why didst thou poison him? Eug. I was poor, and want made me be hired. 2 Judge. Hired, by whom?

Eug. By count Virro; there he stands.

Vir. I do beseech your lordships not to credit what this base fellow speaks; I ain innocent.

1 Judge. I do believe you are; sirrah, speak truth,

You have not long to live.

2 Judge. Why, then, against you both do I pro

nounce

Sentence of death.

Ambo. The law is just.

Poly. Wretch that I am, is my dissembled grief Turned to true sorrow? Were my acted tears But prophecies of my ensuing woe, And is he truly dead? Oh pardon me, Dear ghost of my Eugenio, 'twas my fault That called this hasty vengeance from the gods, And shortened thus thy life; for whilst with tricks I sought to fasten wealth upon our house, I brought a cannibal to be the grave Of me and mine! base, bloody, inurderous count! Vir. Vile cozener! cheating lord! dissembler! 1 Judge. Peace! stop the mouth of malediction there,

This is no place to rail in.

Euph. Ye just powers,

That to the quality of man's offence
Shape your correcting rods, and punish there
Where he has sinned! did not my bleeding heart
Bear such a heavy share in this day's woe,
I could, with a free soul, applaud your justice.
Poly. Lord Euphues, and Philocles, forgive me;
To make amends, I know's impossible,
For what my malice wrought; but I would fain
Do somewhat that might testify my grief
And true repentance.

Eug. That is what I looked for.

Euph. You're kiud too late, my lord; had you

been thus

When need required, y' had saved yourself and

me,

Our hapless sons; but if your grief be true,
I can forgive you heartily.
Phil. And I.

Eug. Now comes iny cue. My lord Polymetes,

Eug. Please it your lordship, I may relate the Under correction, let me ask one question.

manner.

3 Judge. Do.

Eug. Eugenio was alive, when first the news
Was spread in Syracuse that lie was dead;
Which false report, count Virro crediting,
Became an earuest suitor to his sister,
Thinking her beir; but finding afterwards
Her brother lived, and coming home,
Not a day's journey hence, he sent me to him,
And, with a promise of five hundred crowns,
Hired me to poison him: that this is true,
Here's his own hand to witness it against him.
Please it your lordships to peruse the writing.
1 Judge. This is his hand.

2 Judge. Sure as I live, I have seen warrants from him with just these characters.

3 Judge. Besides, methinks this fellow's tale is likely.

Poly. 'Tis too true.

This fellow's sudden going from my house
Put me into a fear.

1 Judge. Count Virro, stand to the bar; What can you say to clear you of this murder? Vir. Nothing, my lords, I must confess the fact.

VOL. I.

Poly. What question? speak.

Eug. If this young lord should live, would you bestow your daughter willingly upon him? would you, my lord?

Poly. As willingly as I would breathe myself. Eug. Then dry all your eyes,

There's no man here shall have a cause to weep. Your life is saved, Leucothoë is no heir, [To PHIL. Her brother lives; and that clears you, count Virro,

Of your supposed murder,

All. How lives?

Eug. Yes, lives to call thee brother, Philocles. Leucoth. Oh, my dear brother!

[He discovers himself. Poly. My son, welcome from death. Eug. Pardon me, good my lord, that I thus

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Her portion shall be double what I meant it.
Phil. I thank your lordship.
Poly. Brother Euphues,

I hope all enmity is now forgot
Betwixt our houses.

Euph. Let it be ever so, I do embrace your
love.

Vir. Well, my life is saved yet, though my wench be lost.

God give you joy!

Phil. Thanks, good my lord.

King. Thanks, good Philocles.

But where's the man, whose happy presence
brought

All this unlooked for sport? where is Eugenio?
Eug. Here, my dread liege.
King. Welcome to Syracuse.

Welcome Eugenio; pr'ythee ask some boon,
That may requite the good that thou hast done.
Eug. I thank your majesty; what I have done
Needs no requital: but I have a suit
Unto lord Euphues; please it your majesty

1 Judge. How suddenly this tragic scene is To be to him an intercessor for me,

changed,

And turned to comedy!

2 Judge. 'Tis very strange.

Poly. Let us conclude within.

King. Stay, and take my joy with you.

[The King speaks from above.

Euph. His majesty is coming down, let us attend.

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I make no question but I shall obtain.

King. What is it? speak; it shall be granted thee.

Eug. That it would please him to bestow on

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THE EPILOGUE.

Her higher yet; and from your pleased hands give
A dowry, that will make her truly live.

OUR Heir is fallen from her inheritance;
But has obtained her love: you may advance

EDITION.

The Heire, a Comedie, as it was acted by the Company of the Revels, 1620. Written by T. M. The second impression. London, printed by Augustine Mathewes for Thomas Jones; and are to be sold at his shop in S. Dunstans Church-yard, in Fleet-street, 1633. 4to.

THE

BIRD IN A CAGE.

BY

JAMES SHIRLEY.

JAMES SHIRLEY was descended from the family of the Shirleys, of Sussex, or Warwickshire. Ho was born in the year 1594, in the parish of St Mary Wool-church, where Stocks-market formerly stood. His grammatical learning he acquired in Merchant-Taylors School, and from thence was removed to St John's College, Oxford; but in what condition he lived there, whether as servitor, batler, or commoner, Wood* says, he was not able to discover. At that time, Dr Laud, afterwards archbishop of Canterbury, presided in that seminary; and, having observed early marks of genius in young Shirley, conceived a great regard for him, but is said to have prevented him from entering into holy orders, on account of a large mole, which disfigured his left cheek, and which he deemed a sufficient reason for refusing to permit him to be ordained. He afterwards left Oxford, and removed to Catharine Hall, Cambridge, where Wood supposes he took his degrees in arts, and entering into holy orders, began his ministry in or near St Albans. It was not long before he began to entertain scruples about his religion, which ended in his embracing the tenets of the Roman Catholic church. On this change he quitted his living, and taught a grammar school at St Albans; but this also growing irksome to him, he came to reside in the metropolis, lived in Gray's Inn, and commenced writer for the stage. In this profession he met with considerable success, and obtained sufficient advantages to enable him to live with credit and decency, until the breaking out of the civil wars, which occasioning the theatres to be shut up, he was compelled to leave London, and accepted an invitation from William, then earl, afterwards duke of Newcastle, to take his fortune with him in the wars. On the decline of the king's fortune, he retired obscurely to London, where, in 1647, he published the folio edition of Beaumont and Fletcher's works, and was some time maintained at the expence of Thomas Stanley, Esq.|| He afterwards returned to his former profession of teaching school, chiefly in White-Friars, and gained a decent subsistence from it until the king's return; but whether on that event he had any office or employment conferred on him to recompense his sufferings, Wood says he could not discover. At length, after a life of full seventy-two years, in which he had experienced various fortunes, he, with his second wife, Frances, were driven from their house near Fleet-street, by the great fire which happened in 1666, into the parish of St Giles in the Fields, where, being overcome by the fright and the loss they had sustained, added to the infirmities of old age, they both died in one day, and were buried in one grave in St Giles's church-yard, on the 29th of October, 1666. Wood says, that Shirley assisted his patron, the duke of Newcastle, in composing of certain plays, which the duke afterwards published; he also was consulted by Fletcher, after the death of his coadjutor Beaumont, and was besides a drudge for John Ogilvy, in writing annotations for that author's translations of Homer and Virgil. Dryden,§ with great injustice, has classed him with Flecknoe, a writer too contemptible to de

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serve the slightest mention. According to the fashion of the times, in which every poet of reputation took another as his poetical son, and as such patronised and supported his reputation; Shirley was adopted by Chapman, in the same manner as Brome was by Dekker, Field by Massinger, Randolph first, and afterwards Cartwright, by Ben Jonson.

Shirley wrote several books for the instruction of youth in grammatical learning, many poems, and the following dramatic pieces :

1. The Wedding, a comedy, acted at the Phenix, in Drury-Lane. 4to, 1629. 4to, 1633. 4to, 1660. 2. The Grateful Servant, a comedy, acted at the Private House, Drury-Lane. 4to, 1633. 4to,

1637.

3. The School of Compliments, a comedy, acted at the Private House, Drury-Lane. 4to, 1631. 4to, 1637, and in 4to, 1667, under the title of, Love Tricks, or the School of Compliments, as acted at the duke of York's theatre, Little Lincoln's-Inn-Fields.

4. Changes, or Love in a Maze, a comedy, acted at the Private House, Salisbury Court. 4to, 1632. 5. A Contention for Honour and Riches, a Masque. 4to, 1633.

6. The Witty Fair One, a comedy, acted at the Private House, Drury-Lane. 4to. 1633.

7. The Triumph of Peace, a masque, presented by the Four Inns of Court, at the BanquetingHouse, Whitehall, Feb. 3, 1633. 4to. 1633. See Warton's History of Poetry, Vol. II. p. 400. 8. The Bird in a Cage, a comedy, acted at the Phanix, Drury-Lane. 4to, 1633.

9. The Traitor, a tragedy, acted by his majesty's servants.

4to. 1635.

This play was revived and reprinted in 4to, 1692 : and P. Motteaux, in his Gentleman's Journal, says, "Shirley only ushered it on the stage, but that it was written by one Mr Rivers, a Jesuit, who wrote it, and died in Newgate." See also Gildon on it. Oldys MS. Notes on Langbaine. It was also revived in 1718, at Lincoln's-Inn-Fields, and printed in 8vo the same year. To that edition, as well us the former in 1692, the name of Rivers is put as the author.

4to, 1637.

10. The Lady of Pleasure, a comedy, acted at the Private House, Drury-Lane. 4to, 1637. 11. The Young Admiral, a tragi-comedy, acted at the Private House, Drury-Lane. 12. Hide Parke, a comedy, acted at the Private House, Drury-Lane. 4to, 1657. 13. The Gamester, a comedy, acted at the Private House, Drury-Lane. 4to. 1637. 14. The Example, a comedy, acted at the Private House, Drury-Lane. 4to, 1637. 15. The Royal Master, a tragi-comedy, acted at the New Theatre in Dublin, and before the Lord Deputy of Ireland in the Castle. 410, 1638.

By the Dedication to the Earl of Kildare, it appears that the author was that year in Ireland. 16. The Duke's Mistress, a tragi-comedy, acted at the Private House, Drury-Lane. 4to, 1688. 17. The Maid's Revenge, a tragedy, acted at the Private House, Drury-Lane. 4to, 1639.

18. Chabot, Admiral of France, a tragedy, acted at the Private House, Drury-Lane. 4to, 1639. Chapman joined in writing this play.

19. The Ball, a comedy, acted at the Private House, Drury-Lane. 4to, 1659.

Chapman also joined in writing this play.

20. Arcadia, a pastoral, acted at the Phanix, Drury-Lane. 4to, 1640.

21. The Opportunity, a comedy, acted at the Private House, Drury-Lane. 4to, 1640.

22. Love's Cruelty, a tragedy, acted at the Private House, Drury-Lune. 4to, 1640.

23. St Patrick for Ireland, the first part. 4to, 1640.

24. The Constant Maid, a comedy. 4to, 1610.

This was afterwards published under the title of Love will find out the Way. By T. B. 4to,

1662.

25. The Coronation, a comedy, acted at the Private House, Drury-Lane. 4to, 1640.

This play was printed with the name of John Fletcher, as the author, and as such it is included in the works of him and Beaumont; Shirley, however, claims it, in the catalogue printed at the end of The Cardinal, and says it was falsely ascribed to Fletcher.

26. The Humorous Courtier, a comedy, acted at the Private House, Drury-Lane. 4to, 1640.

27. The Triumph of Beauty, a masque. 8vo. 1646.

28. The Brothers, a comedy, acted at the Private House in Blackfriars. 8vo, 1652.

29. The Sisters, a comedy, acted at the Private House, Blackfriars. 8vo, 1652.

So. The Doubtful Heir, a tragi-comedy, acted at the Private House, Blackfriars. 8vo, 1652.

31. The Imposture, a tragi-comedy, acted at the Private House, Blackfriars. 8vo, 1652. 32. The Cardinal, a tragedy, acted at the Private House in Blackfriars. 8vo, 1652.

33. The Court Secret, a tragi-comedy, never acted, but prepared for the scene at Blackfriars. Svo,

1653.

These last six were printed in one volume.

S4. Cupid and Death, a masque, presented before the ambassador of Portugal, on the 26th of March, 1653. 4to, 1653. 4to, 1659.

35. The Politician, a tragedy, presented at Salisbury-Court. 4to, 1655.

36. The Gentleman of Venice, a tragi-comedy, presented at a private house in Salisbury-Court. 4to, 1655.

37. The Contention of Ajax and Ulysses for Achilles's Armour, a masque. 8vo, 1659.

S8. Honoria and Mammon, a comedy. 8vo, 1659.

39. Andromana, or the Merchant's Wife, a tragedy. 4to, 1660.

Langbaine mentions only thirty-seven dramatic pieces by Shirley, but says there were others in MS. One of them was intitled, Rosanio, or Love's Victory, a comedy. Shirley appears to have left some children; one of them, in Wood's time, was the butler of Furnival's inn in Holborn.

ΤΟ

MASTER WILLIAM PRINNE, †

UTTER-BARRISTER OF LINCOLN'S-INN.

SIR,

THE fame of your candour and innocent love to learning, especially to that musical part of human knowledge, poetry, and, in particular, to that which concerns the stage and scene, (yourself, as I hear, having lately written a tragedy,) doth justly challenge from me this dedication. I had an early desire to congratulate your happy retirement; but no poem could tempt me with so fair a circumstance as this in the title, wherein I take some delight to think (not without imitation of yourself, who have ingeniously fancied such elegant and apposite names for your own compositions, as "Health's Sickness," "The Unloveliness of Love-Locks," &c.) how aptly I may present you at his time with "The Bird in a Cage" a comedy which wanteth, I must confess, much of that ornament which the stage and action lent it, for, it comprehending also another play or interlude, personated by ladies, I must refer to your imagination, the music, the songs, the dancing, and other varieties, which I know would have pleased you infinitely in the presentment. I was the rather inclined to make this oblation, that posterity might read you a patron to the Muses, and one that durst, in such a critical age, bind up the wounds which ignorance had printed upon wit and the professors. Proceed, inimitable Mecenas, and having such convenient leisure, and an indefatigable Pegasus, I mean your prose, (which scorneth the road of common sense, and despiseth any stile in his way,) travel still in the pursuit of new discoveries; which you may publish, if you please, in your next book of Digressious. If you do not happen presently to convert the organs, you may in time confute the steeple, and bring every parish to one bell.

This is all I have to say at this time; and my own occasions not permitting my personal attendance, I have entreated a gentleman to deliver this testimony of my service. Many faults have escaped the press, which your judgment will no sooner find than your mercy correct; by which you shall teach others a charity to your own volumes, though they be all errata. If you continue where you are, you will every day enlarge your fame; and, beside the engagement of other poets to celebrate your Roman constancy, in particular oblige the tongue and pen of your devout honourer, JAMES SHIRLEY.

* Mr Malone's attempt to ascertain the order of Shakespeare's plays, p. 331.

This is he who wrote Histrio-mastrix, the Players Scourge, or Actors Tragedy, printed in 1633. It is a large railing rhapsody, consisting chiefly of stupid quotations from the Fathers; from whence he endeavours to prove, that all who write, act, or frequent plays, are certainly damned. He particularly reflected upon the king and queen for the countenance and encouragement they gave to plays, for which he was prosecuted in the Star-Chamber, and sentenced to stand twice in the pillory, lose an ear each time, pay 50001., suffer perpetual imprisonment, and have his book burnt by the common hangman.

MR DODSLEY.

This very extraordinary man, whose severe punishment, and Roman constancy in submitting to it, hat

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