2 Scho. Oh, help us, heavens! see, here are Faustus' limbs, All torn asunder by the hand of death. 3 Scho. The devils whom Faustus serv'd have torn him thus; For twixt the hours of twelve and one, methought 2 Scho. Well, gentlemen, though Faustus' end be such As every christian heart laments to think on; For wondrous knowledge in our German schools, And all the students, clothed in mourning black, Shall wait upon his heavy funeral. [Exeunt. Enter CHORUS. Cut is the branch that might have grown full straight, And burned is Apollo's laurel bough, That sometime grew within this learned man : Whose deepness doth entice such forward wits, Terminat hora diem, terminat Author opus. WHITTINGHAM and ROWLAND, Printers, Goswell Street, London. Ir the multiplicity of editions may be considered the criterion of public opinion, Faustus ranked considerably above this play, in the estimation of our ancestors; it was called for early, and went through five editions before 1663; whereas Lust's Dominion was not published till 1657, upwards of sixty years after the decease of its author. In particular passages, and some whole scenes, Faustus has great beauties; but it must have been principally indebted for its success, to the superstitious ignorance of the times; Lust's Dominion is a much better play: it was altered by Mrs. Behn, and performed at the Duke of York's Theatre in 1671, under the title of Abdelazar; and probably furnished hints for the admirable tragedy of The Revenge. But, notwithstanding the luxuriance of imagery in the first scenes, the exquisite delicacy of the language that is throughout given to Maria, and the great beauty of parts, "it has too much of King Cambyses' vein; rape, and murder, and superlatives ;" and if the stage be intended as a portraiture of real character, such representations tend only to excite a disgust and abhorrence of human nature: with the exception of the innocent Maria, the fiery Philip, Isabella, Alvero, and Hortenzo, there is not one with whom our feelings hold communion. The open representation of the devil in Faustus is less offensive than the introduction of him here in the garb of a Moor: but the philantropy of our ancestors was not shocked at any representation of an African or an Israelite. DRAMATIS PERSONÆ. Eleazar, the Moor, Prince of Fesse and Barbary. Philip, King of Spain; Father to Fernando, Philip, and Isabella. Fernando, King of Spain, Sons to Philip. Philip, Prince of Spain, Alvero, a Nobleman, and Father-in-Law to Eleazar, and Father to Hortenzo and Maria. Hortenzo, Lover to Isabella, and Son to Alvero. Zarack, Baltazar, Cole, } Crab, two Friars. Emmanuel, King of Portugal. Captain, Soldiers, cum aliis. Two Pages attending the Queen. The Queen Mother of Spain, and Wife to King Philip. Isabella, the Infanta of Spain. Maria, Wife to Eleazar, and Daughter to Alvero. The Scene, Spain. |