A Gentleman Player; His Adventures on a Secret Mission for Queen Elizabeth

by Robert Neilson Stephens

  CHAPTER XXV.

  SIR HARRY AND LADY MARRYOTT.

  "This wild-goose chase is done; we have won o' both sides."--_TheWild-Goose Chase._

  Marryott, in the midst of the fight with Mercutio, had in a flash twothoughts, one springing from the contact of his glance with the balcony,the other following instantly upon the first. The first was, that a manmight gain the balcony by one swift effort of agility and strength; thesecond was, that when momentous action holds the attention of spectatorsto one part of a stage, a person elsewhere on the stage may moveunobserved before their eyes, if his movement be swift, silent, and inharmony with what has preceded,--a fact well known to people of stageexperience. No incident in the drama more focuses attention than thedying scene of Mercutio; spectators have no eyes for Tybalt, of whomthey retain but a vague impression of hasty flight.

  The thing was scarce thought, when the time had come to act it. To makeall seem right to those he must pass near, and inspired by necessity, heindeed spoke, for their ears alone, the words, "Away! Nay, I'll to thebalcony;" at the same time casting his sword against the curtain, sothat it fell less loudly to the stage. He seized two balusters, swiftlyraised himself, and then--not proceeding exactly as the rustic beau haddescribed--lodged a foot in the angle of a brace supporting the balcony,set his other foot on the balcony's edge, and rose ready to swing hisbody over the rail. To do this, and to glide across the balcony andthrough the way left open for Juliet, was the matter of a second. He wasconscious, as he crossed the balcony, of slightly surprised looks fromthe musicians at one side, and from a few spectators at the other; butas he plunged into the room, he heard behind him only the lamentingvoice of Romeo. Most of the spectators, and those chiefly concerned inhis doings, had not observed his flight; like the dupes of a juggler, inwatching one thing they had missed another; and those who perforce hadseen his exit thought all was as it should be.

  Across the room he ran, to a door leading into a passage. He traversedthis to the end, where a window gave upon the street. Through the windowere he had time to think of possible broken bones, he hung from theledge, and dropped. The fall was from the second story only. He slippedsidewise on alighting, jarred his elbow, and bruised his leg. But he wasup in a moment. The street was deserted,--everybody in the neighborhoodwas at the play.

  He looked in both directions, but saw no horse. Then he started on arun, to make a circuit of the inn. If the horse was not in sight on oneside, it must be so on another. Fortune could not so cruelly will itthat when at last he had made the dash, performed the miracle, hisfriends should, for the first time, fail him. He directed his steps soas first to pass the inn gate, and be gone from it ere Barnet's menshould have time to sally out. This he accomplished, but without glimpseof the horse. He turned into a street on the third side of the inn;traversed it to its junction with a lane leading toward the side wherehe had landed from the window; darted into this lane with thefast-beating heart of a dying hope, passed half-way through it, glancedwith dreading eyes down a narrow passage conducting from it, and saw, ina street beyond, the waiting horse.

  How he covered the length of the passage, and vaulted into the saddle,he never could recall. His first remembered impression, after sight ofthe horse, was of being surrounded by Anne, Kit, and Anthony, allmounted; and seeing Francis glide away afoot in quest of a horse for hisown riding. There was more gravity than joy in the faces of the three;the sight of him alive and free of his guards was too marvellous foroutward rejoicing. Such joy is like passions, of which Raleigh wrote,that they--

  "... are likened best to floods and streams: The shallow murmur, but the deep are dumb."

  Anthony avoided Hal's glance by looking down; Kit Bottle cleared histhroat; from Anne's eyes there was the least gush of tears, and hervoice trembled as she spoke:

  "God be thanked! I dared not hope for this!"

  "Nor I," he replied. "Whither do we ride?"

  "You, to the Lincolnshire coast, with Anthony. He knows secret ways ofembarkation to France."

  "But you?--you waited with the horse, that you might ride with me, is'tnot so?"

  "No; that I might see all done, with mine own eyes, and you escaped.Anthony has money for your needs to France. I will ride home, withCaptain Bottle and Francis. Tarry not another moment. You are to ridefirst alone. Anthony will leave this town with us, and then make bycross-ways to join you soon on the Stamford road. This paper tells whereone shall wait for the other, for Anthony may ride the faster, knowingbetter the ways. I have writ it so, for greater surety and less delay.Go now; here's money, of Anthony's lending. Nay, for God's sake, tarrynot!"

  "But thou? When shall I see or hear?"

  "Anthony will tell you how to send word. Tarry not, I entreat!"

  "Thou'st been too good to me!"

  "Nay, 'tis not goodness alone--"

  And she finished with a look straight and deep into his eyes. He seizedher hand, and kissed it fervently.

  "And thou'lt wait?" he whispered.

  "Forever, if need!--but let it not be so long."

  With his free hand, he grasped Kit Bottle's, and wrung from the oldsoldier a husky "God bless thee, boy!" Then he spurred forward in thedirection silently pointed out by Anthony. At a bend of the street, heturned in his saddle, and cast a look back. His friends were motionlessupon their horses, gazing after him with saddened, softened faces. Aslight movement of Mistress Hazlehurst's gloved hand, and his horse hadcarried him from the scene; but he bore that scene ever in his heart'seye, day and night, to the coast, which, thanks to his good start andtireless riding, he reached uncaught; over sea to France, where Anthonysoon brought him into sight of Sir Valentine Fleetwood, who had arrivedat Dieppe not a day sooner than Hal had disembarked at Boulogne; inParis, where Hal got an honorable post in a great man's householdthrough the influence of Sir Valentine's wife,--for it turned out thatthe knight, unknown to Queen Elizabeth, had a wife, after all, a Frenchlady whose virtue and beauty easily explained her husband's willingnessto save his life at another's risk.

  She was of great wealth, and, it happened, of equal gratitude; whence itfell out that, when Master Marryott returned to England, after theaccession of King James, he came as owner of an estate previouslypurchased in his name by Anthony Underhill; an estate sold by the crown,under confiscation,--no other estate, in fact, than that pertaining toFoxby Hall, in Yorkshire.

  Now it had come out that Mistress Hazlehurst's brother, before gettinghimself killed by Sir Valentine Fleetwood, had overladen his estate withdebt, and, in conspiracy with his sister's man of business, had made waywith her portion also. When the courts of law had finally establishedbeyond doubt that she was penniless, Master Marryott was about returningto his own country, fully informed, by Anne's correspondence, of thestate of her affairs. So there was afforded the unique spectacle of alady who had remained unmarried while she was supposably an heiress,obtaining a husband the moment she was shown to be a beggar.

  * * * * *

  "I think, love," said Sir Harry (he was knighted under King James, on nobetter pretext than having, with his own servants, rid the northerncounties of a famous robber called Rumney the Highway, whom Marryott'sman Bottle slew in single combat), "I think I will write my memoirs, aseverybody in France does." He sat idly touching a viol in an upperwindow-seat of Foxby Hall, one summer evening, while Lady Marryott asidly fingered a virginal near him.

  "How now, Hal? Hast done aught wonderful in thy time? 'Faith, thoushouldst have told me!"

  "Rail an thou wilt, sweet! But there is much for wonder in the matterthat brought us together,--not in any doing of mine, forsooth, but inFortune's doing. For look you, had I not indeed tarried here that nightyou counterfeited illness in this room, you might perforce have talkedwith Roger Barnet ere the six days were done, and he have sent back toSir Valentine, who left not Fleetwood house till the last hour. Thus,perchance, Sir Valentine had not escaped to France; had he not done so,I had not fared well there, and met his
lady, whose gratitude took theshape of filling my purse. I had not then come back as owner of FoxbyHall at the very time my love was disowned of Fortune. But for the sadquarrel 'twixt your brother and Sir Valentine, and for my having takenup the queen's thankless errand, I had not met you in the road thatnight; but for the continuance of my pretence to be Sir Valentine, thouhadst not followed me to the end we wot of."

  The queen's death had unsealed his lips,--though only to his wife, whowas one woman that could keep a secret,--regarding her Majesty'scommission.

  "Why, then," said Anne, "but for the queen's lingering love of theknight, and but for her dread of seeming weak to her councillors,--forthat I will take oath was her reason,--we should not be here togetherthis moment. Ne'ertheless, 'twas a cruel queen, merely to save her pridea brief unpleasantness, to send a young gentleman to risk his life!"

  "Marry, Anne, I have heard of ladies who were not queens, sending greatlords further, for less! But look you, I took the errand for no reward,being minded like to Master Spenser's knight:

  "'Upon a great adventure he was bond. That greatest Gloriana to him gave (That greatest glorious Queen of Faerie land). To win him worship, and her grace to have.'

  "Nay, I know thou'lt say, much virtue in her grace! But bethink you, ifI looked for no other direct reward, and got none, neither did I lookfor the indirect rewards Fortune took it on herself to pay me withal. IfI sought only the queen's grace, and mayhap received small share ofthat, was I not put in the way of winning thy grace, my sweet, and ofall else I have?"

  "Nay, perhaps Fortune had found other ways to bring these things tothee. Look out of the window, Harry, and bid Kit Bottle not make littleWill run so fast. Thine old bully is the child's undoing!"

  "Nay, the lad is safe with Kit; though indeed the old rascal spoils himsome. What was he doing yesterday, but teaching him to counterfeitAnthony Underhill's psalm-singing? A steward of Anthony's years deservesmore courtesy."

  "If the boy grow up as brave a gentleman as thou, Hal, I shall becontent. There be honors waiting for him in the world, I trow."

  "Why, he hath some honor already, methinks, in being Will Shakespeare'sgodson. 'Sooth, the players will not know him for the same lad when wego again to London, he hath shot up so tall. But thou wert speaking ofthat night, when thy feigned tears conquered me in this room--"

  "Nay, thou wert speaking of it, love."

  "Thou hast never told me; never have I dared ask: was--all--counterfeitthat night?"

  "Why,--my lord,--the illness, indeed, was counterfeit; but thekisses--though perhaps I had withheld them, save for my purpose--werereal enough. God wot, once my lips were loosed! And I marvel I couldstill cling to my revenge, yet yield myself to thine arms so willingly!Nay, Hal, there's no need to act the scene anew! Out on thee, madcap,thou'st crushed my kirtle--!"

  THE END.

  NOTES.

  NOTE 1. (Page 12.)

  Mr. Fleay seems satisfied that 1601 was the year of the production ofShakespeare's first "Hamlet." But he believes it was "hurriedly preparedduring the journey to Scotland," where the players had arrived byOctober, when they were at Aberdeen. "In their travels this year theyvisited the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, where they performed'Julius Caesar' and 'Hamlet.'" That "Hamlet" was the second of these twoplays produced, seems evident from the allusion of "Corambis"("Polonius") to his having played "Julius Caesar" at the University. Butthis speech might have been added to the first version after itsoriginal production, and before the publication in 1603 of the garbledfirst quarto; for two plays whose London productions are assigned byFleay to 1601 ("Satiromastix" and "The Malcontent") contain allusions to"Hamlet." If the lord chamberlain's company did not act again in Londonin 1601 after its departure on its travels, how account for theseallusions, unless "Hamlet" had been acted in London before the company'sdeparture? Dr. Furnivall would forestall this question by saying that"the 'Hamlet' allusions in and before 1602 are to an old play." But itseems as fair to conjecture a slightly earlier production of the newplay, in accounting for these allusions, as a general revival ofinterest in an old play; and the fact that the allusions are not true tospeeches actually occurring in Shakespeare's first "Hamlet" will notweigh with those who consider the methods of satire and burlesque. Thelines in the play that seemingly attribute the company's travelling tothe popularity of the "little eyases" (the Chapel Royal children actingat the Blackfriars Theatre) are rather such as would have been designedfor a London audience on the eve of the company's departure, as apretext for an exile due to royal disfavor, than for Universityaudiences, to whom the players would less willingly confess a waning ofLondon popularity; or than for a London audience after the company'sreturn, when the allusion, though still of interest, would be the lesslikely to serve a purpose. The conclusion here driven at is, that SirHenry Marryott's narrative is not to be impugned because he places thefirst "Hamlet" performance before the company's departure from London,while the investigators place it after. Heaven forfend that, even on asingle unimportant question, the present writer should rush in whereangels fear to tread, to the arena of Shakespearean controversy, towhose confusion even such a master as Mr. Saintsbury refrains fromadding!

  NOTE 2. (Page 14.)

  The occasion for the lord chamberlain's players to travel was one of thenumerous minor episodes of the Essex conspiracy. That plot to seizeWhitehall, and dictate a change of government to the queen, was hatchedat Drury House by the Earl of Essex and his friends, in January. Earlyin February Essex was ordered to appear before the council, and hereceived an anonymous letter of warning. It was decided that the risingshould occur Sunday, February 8th. On Thursday, February 5th, Essex'sfriends went to the Globe Theatre to see Shakespeare's "Richard II."performed,--a play affording them a kind of example for their intendedaction. (In the trials in March, Meyrick was indicted for "havingprocured the out-dated tragedy of 'Richard II.' to be publicly acted athis own charge, for the entertainment of the conspirators.") Of theshareholding members of the company of players, the one who had arrangedthis performance was Augustine Phillips. The rising in London, when itoccurred, was abortive, and Essex was taken to the Tower, those of hisadherents who surrendered, or were caught, being distributed amongdifferent London prisons. On February 18th, the confessions of severalof Essex's friends were taken. The next day, Essex and Southampton,Shakespeare's friend, were brought before a commission of twenty-fivepeers and nine judges, in Westminster Hall. Things were doneexpeditiously in that reign: at 7 P.M., the same day, sentence of deathwas pronounced upon Essex, and he was taken back to the Tower. Six dayslater, February 25th, he was beheaded. Southampton was kept a long timein prison. Four of Essex's associates were executed. One of severalremarkable features of this little affair was that the band ofconspirators included Catholics and Puritans, as well as men of theestablished church. To return to the players: Mr. Fleay says it is"clear that the subjects chosen for historical plays by Marlowe andShakespeare were unpopular at court, but approved of by the Essexfaction, and that at last the company incurred the serious displeasureof the queen. So they did not perform at court at Christmas, 1601." Inthe previous Christmas season, they had given three performances atcourt. In Elizabeth's reign, this company acted at court twenty-eightplays, twenty of which were by Shakespeare, eight by other men. Thisshows that the age which could produce a Shakespeare could appreciatehim,--as somebody has said, or ought to have said.

  NOTE 3. (Page 18.)

  "Boys were regularly apprenticed to the profession in those days," saysthe anonymous author of "Lights of the Old English Stage." "Eachprincipal was entitled to have a boy or apprentice, who played the youngand the female characters, and for whose services he received a certainsum." This certain sum was, of course, paid out, like the rent and othercommon expenses of the theatre, before money taken in was divided amongthe different shareholders. All the principals were shareholders. TheGlobe Theatre was owned by the Burbages. Hence Richard Burbage wouldfirst receive rent, as owner of t
he playhouse, and would later receivehis part of the profits as a shareholder. As to these apprentices, onefinds mention of "coadjutors," "servitors," and "hired men," not tospeak of "tire-boys," "stage-boys," etc. Those boys that played femaleparts must have played them effectively, notwithstanding theunwillingness of Shakespeare's Egyptian queen to see, on the Romanstage, "some squeaking Cleopatra boy my greatness." Else wouldShakespeare have dared to write, for acting, such parts as Juliet andBeatrice, and, above all, such as Rosalind and Viola, in which a boy,dressed as a boy, should yet have to seem a girl disguised? Theanonymous writer already quoted says of these boys: "Thus trained undergreat masters, it is not to be wondered at that they grew up to be suchconsummate masters of their art." It is well known that women did notappear on the stage in England before 1662, forty-six years afterShakespeare's death.

  NOTE 4. (Page 19.)

  If anybody supposes that Burbage would not be thought a great or afinished actor, were he now alive and acting just as he did in his ownday, let that person read the various poems written at his death anddescriptive of the effect produced by him on his audiences. His Romeo"begot tears." His Brutus and Marcius "charmed the faculty of ears andeyes." "Every thought and mood might thoroughly from" his "face beunderstood." "And his whole action he could change with ease, fromancient Lear to youthful Pericles." In the part of the "grieved Moor,""beyond the rest he moved the heart." "His pace" suited with "hisspeech," and "his every action" was "grace." His tongue was"enchanting" and "wondrous." Bishop Corbet tells in verse how his hostat Leicester, in describing the battle of Bosworth field, used the nameof Burbage when he meant King Richard. Or let the skeptic read whatFlecknoe says: "He was a delightful Proteus, so wholly transforminghimself into his part, and putting off himself with his clothes, as henever (not so much as in the tyring-house) assumed himself again untilthe play was done.... His auditors" were "never more delighted than whenhe spoke, nor more sorry than when he held his peace; yet even then hewas an excellent actor still, never failing in his part when he had donespeaking; but with his looks and gesture, maintaining it still unto theheight." His death, in 1618, so over-shadowed that of the queen of JamesI., as a public calamity, that after weeping for him, the people had nogrief left for her Majesty.

  NOTE 5. (Page 20.)

  As to false beards worn on the stage at that time, recall Nick Bottom'sreadiness to discharge the part of "Pyramus" in "either your straw-colorbeard, your orange-tawny beard, your purple-in-grain beard, or yourFrench crown-color beard, your perfect yellow;" and, later, hisinjunction to his fellow actors to get good strings to their beards;regarding which injunction. George Steevens says: "As no false beardcould be worn without a ligature to fasten it on, Bottom's caution mustmean more than the mere security of his comrades' beards. The goodstrings he recommends were probably ornamental. This may merely showhow little a former-day Shakespearean commentator might know of theacting stage. A bad "ligature" might give way and make the actorridiculous by the sudden shedding of his beard. Such an accident was oneagainst which Bottom, being of an active jaw, might be particularlyprecautious. In a full beard, ascending at the sides of the face to meetthe hair of the head, the ligature could be completely concealed. Butoften glue was used, to fasten on false beards. "Some tinker's trull,with a beard glued on," says a character in Beaumont and Fletcher's "TheWild-Goose Chase." Sir Walter Raleigh wore a false beard in his betrayedattempt to escape down the Thames, night of August 9, 1618. Real beardsof the time were of every form,--pointed, fan-shaped, spade-shaped,T-shaped, often dyed.

  NOTE 6. (Page 32.)

  "Fencing was taught as a regular science," says George Steevens, in anote to "The Merry Wives of Windsor." "Three degrees were usually takenin this art, a master's, a provost's, and a scholar's. For each of thesea prize was played. The weapons they used were the axe, the pipe, rapierand target, rapier and cloak, two-swords, the two-hand sword, thebastard-sword, the dagger and staff, the sword and buckler, the rapierand dagger, etc. The places where they exercised were, commonly,theatres, halls, or other enclosures." A party of young gallants at atavern, says Thornbury, would often send for a fencing-master to comeand breathe them. The great dictator in fencing, duelling, etc., inLondon, about 1600, was Vincentio Savolio, whose book on the "Use of theRapier and Dagger" and on "Honor and Honorable Quarrels" was printed inLondon in 1595. The Dictionary of National Biography says he was born inPadua, and, after obtaining a reputation as a fencer, came to Englandand was taken into the service of the Earl of Essex. "In 'As You LikeIt,' Touchstone's description of the various forms of a lie is obviouslybased on Savolio's chapter 'Of the Manner and Diversitie of Lies.'"Though a great swordsman, Savolio seems to have been anything but abrawler, or an abettor of fighting. In his book he deprecates quarrelsupon insufficient causes.

  NOTE 7. (Page 45.)

  Nobody needs to be reminded that the original of Justice Shallow issupposed to have been Sir Thomas Lucy, the knight of Charlecote Hall,whose deer the legend has it Shakespeare stole; as steal them heprobably did, if deer there were to steal, and if Shakespeare was nottotally different from other boys with the opportunities for dangerousfrolic afforded by a rustic environment and a middle-class condition oflife. On this subject one might pleasurably re-read Washington Irving'saccount (in "The Sketch Book") of his visit to Charlecote Hall.Regarding the proneness of provincial great men to boast of theirwickedness in the metropolis, Falstaff hits off the type, as it is notyet entirely dead, when he says of Shallow: "This same starved justicehath done nothing but prate to me of the wildness of his youth, and thefeats he hath done about Turnbull Street: and every third word a lie,duer paid to the hearer than the Turk's tribute." The rest of thespeech, wherein it is shown what figure Master Shallow really made inTurnbull Street, is not here quotable; but it is none the less readable.

  NOTE 8. (Page 46.)

  One might fill pages with the mere names of the differentclassifications of Elizabethan rogues, and of the several members ofeach kind of gang. We have not at all advanced in thievery sinceElizabeth's day. The "confidence game" played by New York "crooks" onvisitors from the interior, this present year, was played under anothername, in Shakespeare's time. The "come-on" of present-day New York isbut the lineal descendant of the "cony" of Sixteenth Century London. Ofthieves, impostors, and beggars, a few of the varieties were: Rufflers,upright men, hookers, wild rogues, priggers of prancers (horse-thieves),pallyards, fraters, prigs, curtals, Irish rogues, ragmen, jackmen, abrammen, mad Toms of Bedlam, whipjacks, cranks, dommerers, glimmerers,travelling tinkers, and counterfeit soldiers, besides the real soldierswho turned to crime. "Laws were made against disbanded soldiers who tookto robbing and murder," says Thornbury; "and the pursuit by hue and cry,on horse and foot, was rendered imperative in every township." Therewere ferreters, falconers, shifters, rank riders,--the list is endless.The generic name for gambling cheats was rooks, and these were dividedinto puffs, setters, gilts, pads, biters, droppers, filers.Gull-gropers were gamblers who hunted fools in the ordinaries(eating-houses); each gang was composed of four men,--leader, eagle,wood-pecker, gull-groper (this name serving for the variety as well asfor the species). A gambling gang with another method of operation wasmade up of the setter or decoy duck, the verser and barnacle, theaccomplice, the rutter or bully. Some gamesters used women as decoys. Ofdice tricks, there were those known as topping, slurring, stabbing,palming, knapping, besides various others. In addition to having allthese--and many more--varieties of rogues to support, the nation wasoverrun with gipsies, who thieved in a world of ways. The wholepopulation of England in 1604 is said to have been only about 5,000,000;that of London was little more than 150,000. And yet, the known roguesbeing deducted, and the secret rogues, there seem to have been somehonest people left.

  NOTE 9. (Page 48.)

  The Marryott memoirs (chief source of this narrative), in recounting thetalk at the Mermaid, naturally do not pause to describe the tavern. Theslight description here given has had to be pieced together, of scrapsfoun
d in various places, one being a magazine article containing whatpurport to be actual details, but which have the look of coming fromsome bygone work of fiction. Stow, in his "Survay of London" (1598), hasnothing to say of the Mermaid; he twice mentions the "fair inns" inBread Street. I fancy that if there were anywhere the authenticmaterials for a full description of the house, such zealous lighters-upof the past as Besant (who in his "London" describes the Falcon but notthe Mermaid), F. F. Ordish ("Shakespeare's London," a charming littlebook, inside and out), Loftie (in his excellent history of London).Hubert Hall (who in his "Society in the Elizabethan Age" describes theTabard in Southwark but not the Mermaid), Walter Thornbury (whose twovolumes on the England of Shakespeare are rich especially on tavernlife, mainly as reflected in plays and pamphlets of the time). EdwinGoadby (whose compact little book on the same subject is crowded withmatter), and the host of others, including the most recent biographersof Shakespeare, would have found it out. A thing we certainly know ofthe Mermaid, in addition to its location and its three entrances, isthat the wine and the wit there elicited from Francis Beaumont to BenJonson these famous "Lines sent from the country with two unfinishedcomedies, which deferred their merry meetings at the Mermaid:"

  "In this warm shine I lie and dream of your full Mermaid wine.

  * * * * *

  Methinks the little wit I had is lost. Since I saw you, for wit is like a rest Held up at tennis, which men do the best With the best gamesters. What things have we seen Done at the Mermaid! Heard words that have been So nimble, and so full of subtle flame. As if that every one from whence they came Had meant to put his whole wit in a jest, And had resolved to live a fool the rest Of his dull life; than when there hath been thrown Wit able enough to justify the town For three days past, wit that might warrant be For the whole city to talk foolishly. Till that were cancelled; and when that was gone. We left an air behind us, which alone Was able to make the two next companies Right witty, though but downright fools more wise."

  NOTE 10. (Page 48.)

  For the better observance of the Lenten statutes, in every ward ofLondon a jury was sworn, and charged by the aldermen, "for the trueinquisition of killing, selling, dressing, or eating of flesh thispresent Lent, contrary to the laws and statutes of this realm and herMajesty's proclamation and express commandment." In accordance with thisthe jury "made diligent search divers and sundry times in all inns,tabling-houses, taverns, cook-houses, and victualling-houses withintheir ward," and thereupon either "resolved that they" had "not hithertofound any to offend against these laws," or they presented the names ofthose who had "so continued to offend, to the officer." Mr. Hubert Hallsays: "The non-observance of these fast-days was no slight matter. Notonly did the fisheries suffer in consequence, but the benefits of anoccasional variation of the interminable diet of salt beef and bad beermust have been incalculable. The obligation of the crown toward oneclass of its subjects may not have been economically imperative, but apatriarchical government was bound to consult the welfare of each."When Philip Sidney was at Oxford, his uncle solicited for him "a licenseto eat flesh during Lent," he being "somewhat subject to sickness."

  NOTE 11. (Page 50.)

  According to Mr. Fleay, "Every Man out of His Humor," produced at theGlobe Theatre in 1599, was the first of Ben Jonson's personal satiresagainst his contemporaries. Jonson had to remove these satires to theBlackfriars, that same year; when began the "war of the theatres," a warconducted, through plays laden with personalities, by the writers andactors of one theatre against the writers and actors of another. This"war" seems to have endured till after the time of our narrative, and tohave died a natural death. Its most celebrated productions were Jonson's"The Poetaster" and Thomas Dekker's reply thereto, "Satiromastix."Jonson's "comical satires" were acted at the Blackfriars by the ChapelRoyal boys, the "little eyases" derided in "Hamlet." Mr. Fleay findsthat Jonson's satires were directed against Shakespeare as well asagainst Dekker and Marston. Certain allusions and characters, inShakespeare's plays produced apparently about this time, have been takenas his contributions to this war. With another rival company, also ofboys,--those of St. Paul's cathedral,--the lord chamberlain's playerswere friendly. Mr. Saintsbury says that Jonson, Dekker, Chapman, andMarston "were mixed up, as regards one another, in an extricable but notuninteresting series of broils and friendships, to some part of whichShakespeare himself was, it is clear, by no means a stranger." But heobserves that the direct connection of these quarrels, "even with theliterary work which is usually linked to them, will be betterestablished when critics have left being uncertain whether A was B, orB, C." I have heard it suggested, in fun, that the war may have been adevice to stimulate public interest in the theatres. The Elizabethan agehad its visitations of the plague, and was therefore, by the not toocruel dispensers of good and evil, spared the advertising malady of ournineteenth and twentieth centuries. Should anything like this war of thetheatres occur to-day, it would not take a Scotland Yard or MulberryStreet detective to smell out ulterior motives at the back of it. TheElizabethans, besides their other advantages, enjoyed that of living toosoon to know or even foresee the crafty self-advertiser or the "cleverpress agent;" else had there surely been an additional verse in theirLitany, followed by a most fervent "Good Lord, deliver us!"

  NOTE 12. (Page 51.)

  "But that a gentleman should turn player hath puzzled me." To make anactor of a young gentleman, might, indeed, become a "Star Chambermatter." Among other "misdemeanors not reducible to heads," given in aBodleian Library MS., entitled "A Short View of Criminal CasesPunishable and Heretofore Punished in the Court of the Star Chamber inthe Times of Queen Elizabeth. King James, and His Late Majesty KingCharles," is this: "Taking up a gentleman's son to be a stage player."See John S. Burn's notices of the "Star Chamber."

  NOTE 13. (Page 56.)

  All the world knows that in 1623, seven years after Shakespeare's death,the first collected edition of his plays appeared, under the supervisionof, and from manuscripts provided by, Masters Heminge and Condell. "Wehave but collected them," say they in their dedication inserted in thesubsequent folio (1632), "and done an office to the dead, to procure hisorphans, guardians; without ambition either of self-profit or fame: onlyto keep the memory of so worthy a friend and fellow alive, as was ourShakespeare." In the first folio are printed "The names of the principalactors in all these plays." "William Shakespeare," heading the list, isfollowed in order by "Richard Burbadge," "John Hemings," and "AugustinePhilips;" further down come "William Slye" and "Henry Condell." HarryMarryott's association with the company was too brief, his position toofar from that of a "principal actor," for his name to be included in thelist.

  NOTE 14. (Page 59.)

  Shakespeare's London residence in October, 1598, was in the parish ofSt. Helen's, Bishopsgate (Fleay, Ordish, and others). Countlessbiographers make him a resident of the Southwark side of the river, as,"He lived near the Bear Garden, Southwark, in 1596. In 1609 he occupieda good house within the liberty of the Clink." "His house was somewherein Clink Street. As he grew more prosperous, he purchased a dwelling onthe opposite shore near the Wardrobe, but he does not seem to haveoccupied it." But it turns out that William Shakespeare had twobrothers, either or both of whom dwelt in Southwark, a fact thatconfuses the apparent evidence of his own residence there. His house inBlackfriars, "near the Wardrobe," descended by will to his daughter,Susannah Hall. His purchase of New Place, at Stratford, was made in1597; but, though he may have at once installed his family there, hecertainly remained for some years afterward a Londoner.

  NOTE 15. (Page 63.)

  Turnbull Street was a notorious nest of women of ill fame, and of menequally low in character. Falstaff's mention of it has been quoted in aprevious note. In Beaumont and Fletcher's burlesque, "The Knight of theBurning Pestle," the speech of a prisoner, alluding to his faircompanion, contains this bit of humor:

  "I am an erran
t knight that followed arms With spear and shield; and in my tender years I stricken was with Cupid's fiery shaft. And fell in love with this my lady dear. And stole her from her friends in Turnbull Street."

  It was also known as Turnmill Street. "Turnemill Street," says Stow,"which stretcheth up to the west of Clerkenwell" (from the "lane calledCow Cross, of a cross sometime standing there").

  NOTE 16. (Page 69.)

  Concerning Queen Elizabeth's temper, there is, besides a wealth of otherevidence, this from the "Character of Queen Elizabeth," by Edmund Bohun,Esq., published in Nichols's "Progresses and Public Processions of QueenElizabeth:" "She was subject to be vehemently transported with anger,and when she was so, she would show it by her voice, her countenance,and her hands. She would chide her familiar servants so loud, that theythat stood afar off might sometimes hear her voice. And it was reportedthat for small offences she would strike her maids of honor with herhand; but then her anger was short and very innocent. And when herfriends acknowledged their offences, she, with an appeased mind, easilyforgave them many things."

  NOTE 17. (Page 78.)

  The famous story of the ring is perhaps too well known to be repeatedhere. The queen had once given the Earl of Essex a ring, which, if eversent to her as a token of his distress, "might entitle him to herprotection." While under sentence of death, the earl, looking out of hisprison window one morning, engaged a boy to carry the ring to LadyScroope, the Countess of Nottingham's sister, an attendant on the queen,and to beg that she would present it to her Majesty. "The boy, bymistake," continues Birch's version of the story, "carried it to theLady Nottingham, who showed it to her husband, the admiral, an enemy ofLord Essex. The admiral forbid her to carry it, or return any answer tothe message, but insisted on her keeping the ring." When, two yearslater, this countess was on her death-bed, she sent for the queen, toldher all, and begged forgiveness. "But her Majesty answered, 'God mayforgive you, but I never can,' and left the room with great emotion. Hermind was so struck with the story, that she never went into bed, nortook any sustenance from that instant, for Camden is of opinion that herchief reason for suffering the earl to be executed was his supposedobstinacy in not applying to her for mercy."

  NOTE 18. (Page 80.)

  Of one of Queen Elizabeth's most characteristic traits. Miss Aikin says:"It has been already remarked that she was habitually, orsystematically, an enemy to matrimony in general; and the higher anypersons stood in her good graces, and the more intimate theirintercourse with her, the greater was her resentment at detecting inthem any aspirations after this state; for a kind of jealousy was inthese cases superadded to her malignity; and it offended her pride thatthose who were honored with her favor should find room in their thoughtsto covet another kind of happiness, of which she was not the dispenser."When Leicester married the widowed Countess of Essex, the queen had himconfined in a small fort in Greenwich Park, and would probably have senthim to the Tower, but that the Earl of Sussex dissuaded. Later, whenEssex married Sir Philip Sidney's widow, Walsingham's daughter,Elizabeth showed rage and chagrin in a degree only less than in the caseof Leicester. One of her attendants wrote, "Yet she doth use it moretemperately than was thought for, and, God be thanked, doth not strikeat all she threats." Both these marriages were conducted secretly, andwithout previous request for the permission her Majesty would haverefused. So was that of Southampton, in 1598, by which that nobleman soincurred the queen's displeasure that, when she heard that Essex,commanding the troops in Ireland, had appointed him general of thehorse, she reprimanded and ordered Essex to recall his commission. Itwas her unhappy fate that all her favorites, save Hatton, should marry.

  NOTE 19. (Page 82.)

  "She was jealous of her reputation with the old and cool-headed lordsabout her," writes Leigh Hunt, of Elizabeth at the time of the Essexconspiracy. That she had grown loath to betray the weaknesses which inearlier years she had made no attempt to conceal, is to be inferred alsofrom the lessening degrees of wrath she evinced as her favorites, oneafter another, married; and from Bohun's statement, regarding her anger,that "she learned from Xenophon's book of the Institution of Cyrus, themethod of curbing and correcting this unruly passion." A wonderfullyhuman and pathetic figure: the vain woman whose glass belied the grossflattery of her courtiers, yet who could delude herself into believingthem sincere; the "greatest Gloriana" whose worshippers declared herfavor their breath of life, yet risked it for the smiles of meregentlewomen; the stateswoman, wise enough to see her kingdom's futuresafety in the death of her beautiful rival, courageous enough tosanction that death, weak enough to shift the blame on poor Davison; thequeen, who could say on horseback, to her "loving people," "I know Ihave but the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart of aking, and of a king of England, too, and think foul scorn that Parma, orSpain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of myrealms;" and yet had to study in a classic author, how to keep fromslapping the faces of her maids!

  NOTE 20. (Page 85.)

  The pursuivants who, in this and the next reign, executed warrants ofarrest, are not to be confused with the pursuivants of the Heralds'College. "Send for his master with a pursuivant, presently," ordersSuffolk, concerning an apprentice's master accused of treason, in "HenryVI., Part II." It is of these pursuivants that Hume writes as follows,concerning persons who sued great lords for debt in Elizabeth's reign:"It was usual to send for people by pursuivants, a kind of harpies, whothen attended the orders of the council and high commission; and theywere brought up to London, and constrained by imprisonment, not only towithdraw their lawful suits, but also to pay the pursuivants great sumsof money." The pursuivant, with his warrants, proclamations, and hisconstant "In the queen's name," is a familiar figure in Elizabethanliterature. In Sir Valentine Fleetwood's case, the council would havebeen perhaps equally or more in custom had it entrusted the prisoner'sconveyance to London to some gentleman of equal rank to his.

  NOTE 21. (Page 86.)

  In telling Marryott that she was "not wont to go so strong in purse,"the queen spoke figuratively, rather than meant that she had for onceassumed the functions of purse-bearer, or that a purse habituallycarried by her was now uncommonly well provided. True, either of thesemay have been the case. Shakespeare must have modelled the minor habitsof his queens somewhat upon those of Elizabeth; and he makes Cleopatragive a messenger gold, presumably with her own hand. But Elizabeth'sallusion was to her poverty, and in keeping with her extreme economy,concerning which Hume says: "But that in reality there was little or noavarice in the queen's temper, appears from this circumstance, that shenever amassed any treasure, and even refused subsidies from theParliament, when she had no present occasion for them. Yet we must notconclude that her economy proceeded from a tender concern for herpeople; she loaded them with monopolies and exclusive patents. The realsource of her frugal conduct was derived from her desire ofindependency, and her care to preserve her dignity, which would havebeen endangered had she reduced herself to the necessity of havingfrequent recourse to Parliamentary supplies. The splendor of a courtwas, during this age, a great part of the public charge; and asElizabeth was a single woman, and expensive in no kind of magnificenceexcept clothes, this circumstance enabled her to perform great things byher narrow revenue. She is said to have paid four millions of debt, lefton the crown by her father, brother, and sister,--an incredible sum forthat age."

  NOTE 22. (Page 87.)

  Elizabeth's forenoons, according to Bohun, were usually thus passed:"First in the morning, she spent some time at her devotions; then shebetook herself to the despatch of her civil affairs, reading letters,ordering answers, considering what should be brought before the council,and consulting with her ministers. When she had thus wearied herself,she would walk in a shady garden, or pleasant gallery, without any otherattendance than that of a few learned men. Then she took her coach, andpassed in sight of her people to the neighboring groves and fields; andsometimes would hunt or hawk. There was scarce a day b
ut she employedsome part of it in reading and study."

  NOTE 23. (Page 92.)

  "The circuit of the wall of London on the land side" (writes Stow in1598), "to wit, from the Tower of London in the east unto Aldgate, is 82perches; from Aldgate to Bishopsgate, 86 perches; from Bishopsgate inthe north, to the postern of Cripplegate, 162 perches; from Cripplegateto Aldersgate, 75 perches; from Aldersgate to Newgate, 66 perches; fromNewgate in the west, to Ludgate, 42 perches; in all, 513 perches ofassize. From Ludgate to the Fleet Dike west, about 60 perches; fromFleet Bridge south, to the river Thames, about 70 perches; and so thetotal of these perches amounteth to 643, ... w hich make up two Englishmiles, and more by 608 feet." The gates here mentioned, as Besant says,"still stood, and were closed at sunset, until 1760. Then they were allpulled down, and the materials sold." Even in Stow's time, the city hadmuch outgrown its walls; of its outer part, the highways leading to thecountry had post-and-chain bars, which were closed at night.

  NOTE 24. (Page 100.)

  Plays of the time, notably Ben Jonson's "Bartholomew Fair," show in whatcontempt and ridicule the first Puritans were held. Shakespeare'sMalvolio, as Maria says, is "sometimes a kind of Puritan." The attitudeof the obtrusive kind of Puritanism to the world, and of the world tothat kind of Puritanism, is expressed once and forever in what Hazlittterms Sir Toby's "unanswerable answer" to Malvolio, "Dost thou think,because thou art virtuous, there shall be no more cakes and ale?" Thoughfellow sufferers of governmental severity, the Catholics and Puritanswere no less naturally antipathetic to each other. Ben Jonson, satiristof the Puritans, was, in his time, alternately Catholic and Anglican.But if the government, in support of the established church, wasoutwardly severe against the Puritans, they had much covert protectionat court, some of the chief lords and ministers inclining their way. Asto the quality of voice affected by these early Puritans in theirdevotions, recall the clown's speech in the "Winter's Tale:" "Three-mansongmen all, and very good ones; but they are most of them means andbases; but one Puritan amongst them, and he sings psalms to hornpipes."

  NOTE 25. (Page 131.)

  The Babington conspiracy gave the occasion for removing that constantmenace to England's future peace,--Mary Stuart. The skill with which SirFrancis Walsingham possessed himself, one by one, of the secrets of theconspirators, and nursed the plot forward until he had complete evidenceof every participant's guilt, and of Mary's complicity, is fascinatingto study. Mary of course, as an unwilling prisoner, had a perfect moralright to plot for herself; but she knew what she risked in doing so, andshe and her adherents ran against their fatal rock in Walsingham. Thisman's journal is characteristic of himself: merely the briefest entries,of this messenger's arrival from France, or that one's departure for theLow Countries, or of a letter from X, or an order transmitted to B. Whatnews the messengers brought, what the letters told, or the orders were,is not confided to the paper. In vigilance and craft, he was theElizabethan predecessor of Richelieu and Fouche; yet a quiet, virtuousman, who loved his wife, died poor, and leaned toward Puritanism. Hisspy system has excited the righteous horror of certain historians whowould never have ceased to admire it, had it been exercised for, notagainst, their heroine, Mary Stuart. His own direct instruments servedhim better than he was served by the rank and file of the law'sservants, as this letter to him, from Lord Burleigh, August 10, 1586,shows: "As I came from London homeward in my coach, I saw at everytown's end, a number of ten or twelve, standing with long staves, anduntil I came to Enfield I thought no other of them but that they hadstaid for the avoiding of the rain, or to drink at some ale-houses, forso they did stand under pentices at ale-houses; but at Enfield, findinga dozen in a plump, when there was no rain, I bethought myself that theywere appointed as watchmen for the apprehending of such as are missing;and thereupon I called some of them to me apart, and asked themwherefore they stood there, and one of them answered, to take threeyoung men; and, demanding how they should know the persons, one answeredwith the words, 'Marry, my lord, by intelligence of their favor.' 'Whatmean you by that?' 'Marry,' said they, 'one of the parties hath a hookednose.' 'And have you,' quoth I,'no other mark?' 'No,' said they. Andthen I asked who appointed them, and they answered one Banks, a headconstable, whom I willed to be sent to me. Surely, sir, whosoever hadthe charge from you hath used the matter negligently; for these watchmenstand so openly in plumps as no suspected person will come near them,and if they be no better instructed but to find three persons by one ofthem having a hooked nose, they may miss thereof. And this I thoughtgood to advertise you, that the justices who had the charge, as I think,may use the matter more circumspectly." Harrison (writing 1577-87)complains of the laxity of these lesser arms of the law, saying: "Thatwhen hue and cry have been made even to the faces of some constables,they have said, 'God restore your loss! I have other business at thistime.'"

  NOTE 26. (Page 229.)

  "But now of late years," writes Stow (1598), "the use of coaches,brought out of Germany, is taken up, and made so common, as there isneither distinction of time nor difference of persons observed; for theworld runs on wheels with many whose parents were glad to go on foot."As to their rate of travel, Mr. Goadby instances that Mary, Queen ofScots, was from early morning to late evening of a January day, in goingfrom Bolton Castle to Ripon, sixteen miles. Charles Dudley Warner (in"The People for Whom Shakespeare Wrote") says that, in 1640. QueenHenrietta was four days on the way from Dover to London, the best roadin England (distance, 71 miles); and quotes the Venetian ambassador,whose journey to Oxford and back (in all, 150 miles, as he travelled)consumed six days, his coach often sticking in the mud, and oncebreaking down. Queen Mary had established a kind of postal service.Elizabeth had a postmaster-general in 1581. After the Armada, ahorse-post was ordered established in every town, a foot-post (to livenear the church) in every parish. But letter-writers usually sent theirown messengers, or relied on the slow carriers' wagons.

  NOTE 27. (Page 255.)

  In this reign, many were the cases wherein people took vengeance intotheir own hands, in true feudal fashion, whether from the heat of theirimpulses, or in view of that "bad execution of the laws" and "neglect ofpolice," for which Hume found it not easy to account. Miss Aikin givesan instance, arising from a long-standing feud between two proudfamilies. Orme, a servant of Sir John Holles, killed in a duel themaster of horse to the Earl of Shrewsbury. "The earl prosecuted Orme,and sought to take away his life; but Sir John Holles caused him to beconveyed away to Ireland, and afterward obtained his pardon of thequeen. For his conduct in this business, he was himself challenged byGervase Markham, champion and gallant to the Countess of Shrewsbury; butHolles refused the duel, because the demand of Markham, that it shouldtake place in a park belonging to the earl, his enemy, gave him groundto apprehend treachery. Anxious, however, to wipe away the aspersionscast upon his courage, he sought a reencounter which might wear theappearance of accident; and soon after he met Markham on the road, whenthe parties immediately dismounted and attacked each other with theirrapiers; Markham fell, severely wounded; and the Earl of Shrewsbury lostno time in raising his servants and tenantry to the number of 120, inorder to apprehend Holles, in case Markham's hurt should prove fatal.On the other side Lord Sheffield, the kinsman of Holles, joined him withsixty men; and he and his company remained at Houghton till the woundedman was out of danger. We do not find the queen and council interferingto put a stop to this private war." Markham, who wrote the poem on thelast fight of "The Revenge," is a minor but prolific figure inElizabethan literature.

  NOTE 28. (Page 266.)

  Moll Cutpurse, whose real name was Mary Frith, a shoemaker's daughter,born probably in 1584, is described by her biographer as in her girlhooda "very tomrig or rumpscuttle" who "delighted and sported only in boy'splays and costume." She was put to domestic service, but her calling laynot in tending children. She donned man's attire and found true outletfor her talents as a "bully, pick-purse, fortune-teller, receiver, andforger." She is the heroine of Middleton and Dekker
's breezy comedy,"The Roaring Girl" (1611), and of a work thus entered on the Stationers'Register in August, 1610: "A Booke called the Madde Prancks of MerryMall of the Bankside, with her walkes in Man's Apparel, and to whatpurpose. Written by John Day." Her career is set forth in the veryinteresting "Lives of Twelve Bad Women," recently published in abeautiful edition.

  NOTE 29. (Page 314.)

  The use of firearms was slow work in the earlier centuries. Concerningthe wheel-lock, invented in 1515, at Nuremburg, Greener says: "Whenready for firing, the wheel was wound up, the flash-pan lid pushed back,and the pyrites held in the cock allowed to come in contact with thewheel. By pressure on the trigger a stop was drawn back out of thewheel, and the latter, turning round its pivot at considerable speed,produced sparks by the friction against the pyrites, and thus ignitedthe priming." "We find the greater portion of the pistols of thesixteenth and seventeenth centuries fitted with wheel-locks."Wheel-locks being expensive, the old match-locks, as a rule, were stillfitted to the longer firearms, such as the arquebus, of which Greenersays: "The slow match is kept burning in a holder on the top of thebarrel; the flash-pan and touch-hole are at the side. The serpentine ishung upon a pivot passing through the stock, and continued past thepivot, forming a lever for the hand. To discharge the piece, the matchin the serpentine is first brought into contact with the burning matchon the barrel until ignited; then by raising the lever and moving it toone side, the serpentine is brought into the priming in the touch-hole,and the gun discharged,--though it is highly probable that the firstarquebuses did not carry the fire in a holder on the barrel, but onlythe match in the serpentine." "All the early firearms were so slow toload, that, as late as the battle of Kuisyingen in 1636, the slowestsoldiers managed to fire seven shots only during eight hours."

  NOTE 30. (Page 374.)

  In London the playhouses were allowed to be open in Lent on all daysbut sermon days,--Wednesday and Friday. In 1601, Lent began February25th; Easter Sunday was April 12th. The historical year--conforming toour present calendar--is here meant. The civil year then began March25th.

  * * * * *

  _SELECTIONS FROM L.C. PAGE AND COMPANY'S LIST OF FICTION_

  * * * * *

  Selections from L. C. Page and Company's List of fiction

  =An Enemy to the King.= (_Twentieth Thousand._)

  From the Recently Discovered Memoirs of the Sieur de la Tournoire. By ROBERT NEILSON STEPHENS. Illustrated by H. De M. Young. 1 vol., lib. 12mo, cloth =$1.25=

  "Brilliant as a play; it is equally brilliant as a romantic novel."--_Philadelphia Press._

  "Those who love chivalry, fighting, and intrigue will find it, and of good quality, in this book."--_New York Critic._

  =The Continental Dragoon.= (_Eighteenth Thousand._)

  A Romance of Philipse Manor House, in 1778. By ROBERT NEILSON STEPHENS, author of "An Enemy to the King." Illustrated by H. C. Edwards. 1 vol., lib. 12mo, cloth =$1.50=

  "It has the sterling qualities of strong dramatic writing, and ranks among the most spirited and ably written historical romances of the season. An impulsive appreciation of a soldier who is a soldier, a man who is a man, a hero who is a hero, is one of the most captivating of Mr. Stephens's charms of manner and style."--_Boston Herald._

  =The Road to Paris.= (_Sixteenth Thousand._)

  By ROBERT NEILSON STEPHENS, author of "An Enemy to the King," "The Continental Dragoon," etc. Illustrated by H. C. Edwards. 1 vol., lib. 12mo, cloth =$1.50=

  "Vivid and picturesque in style, well conceived and full of action, the novel is absorbing from cover to cover."--_Philadelphia Public Ledger._

  "In the line of historical romance, few books of the season will equal Robert Neilson Stephens's 'The Road to Paris.'"--_Cincinnati Times-Star._

  =A Gentleman Player.=

  His Adventures on a Secret Mission for Queen Elizabeth. By ROBERT NEILSON STEPHENS, author of "An Enemy to the King," "The Continental Dragoon," "The Road to Paris," etc. Illustrated by Frank T. Merrill. 1 vol., lib. 12mo, cloth, 450 pages =$1.50=

  "A Gentleman Player" is a romance of the Elizabethan period. It relates the story of a young gentleman who, in the reign of Elizabeth, falls so low in his fortune that he joins Shakespeare's company of players, and becomes a friend and protege of the great poet. Throughout the course of his adventures the hero makes use of his art as an actor and his skill as a swordsman, and the denouement of the plot is brought about by means of a performance by Shakespeare's company of a play in an inn yard.

  =Rose a Charlitte.= (_Eighth Thousand._)

  An Acadien Romance. By MARSHALL SAUNDERS, author of "Beautiful Joe," etc. Illustrated by H. De M. Young. 1 vol., lib. 12mo, cloth =$1.50=

  "A very fine novel we unhesitatingly pronounce it ... one of the books that stamp themselves at once upon the imagination and remain imbedded in the memory long after the covers are closed."--_Literary World, Boston._

  =Deficient Saints.=

  A Tale of Maine. By MARSHALL SAUNDERS, author of "Rose a Charlitte," "Beautiful Joe," etc. Illustrated by Frank T. Merrill. 1 vol., lib. 12mo, cloth, 400 pages =$1.50=

  In this story Marshall Saunders follows closely the fortunes of a French family whose history is bound up with that of the old Pine-tree State. These French people become less and less French until, at last, they are Americans, intensely loyal to their State and their country. Although "Deficient Saints" is by no means a historical novel, frequent references are made to the early romantic history of Maine.

  =Her Sailor.= (_In Press._)

  A Novel. By MARSHALL SAUNDERS, author of "Rose a Charlitte," "Beautiful Joe," etc. Illustrated. 1 vol., lib. 12mo, cloth, 250 pages =$1.25=

  A story of modern life of great charm and pathos, dealing with the love affairs of a Canadian girl and a naval officer.

  =Midst the Wild Carpathians.=

  By MAURUS JOKAI, author of "Black Diamonds." "The Lion of Janina," etc. Authorized translation by R. Nisbet Bain. Illustrated by J. W. Kennedy. 1 vol., lib. 12mo, cloth =$1.25=

  "The story is absorbingly interesting and displays all the virility of Jokai's powers, his genius of description, his keenness of characterization, his subtlety of humor and his consummate art in the progression of the novel from one apparent climax to another."--_Chicago Evening Post._

  =Pretty Michal.=

  A Romance of Hungary. By MAURUS JOKAI, author of "Black Diamonds," "The Green Book," "Midst the Wild Carpathians," etc. Authorized translation by R. Nisbet Bain. Illustrated with a photogravure frontispiece of the great Magyar writer. 1 vol., lib. 12mo, cloth decorative, 325 pages =$1.50=

  "It is at once a spirited tale of 'border chivalry,' a charming love story full of genuine poetry, and a graphic picture of life in a country and at a period both equally new to English readers."--_Literary World, London._

  =In Kings' Houses.=

  A Romance of the Reign of Queen Anne. By JULIA C. R. DORR, author of "A Cathedral Pilgrimage," etc. Illustrated by Frank T. Merrill. 1 vol., lib. 12mo, cloth =$1.50=

  "We close the book with a wish that the author may write more romance of the history of England which she knows so well."--_Bookman, New York._

  "A fine strong story which is a relief to come upon. Related with charming simple art."--_Philadelphia Public Ledger._

  =Manders.=

  A Tale of Paris. By ELWYN BARRON. Illustrated. 1 vol., lib. 12mo, cloth, 350 pages
=$1.50=

  "Bright descriptions of student life in Paris, sympathetic views of human frailty, and a dash of dramatic force, combine to form an attractive story. The book contains some very strong scenes, plenty of life and color, and a pleasant tinge of humor. ... It has grip, picturesqueness, and vivacity."--_The Speaker (London)._

  "A study of deep human interest, in which pathos and humor both play their parts. The descriptions of life in the Quartier Latin are distinguished for their freshness and liveliness."--_St. James Gazette (London)._

  "A romance sweet as violets."--_Town Topics (New York)._

  =In Old New York.= (_In Press._)

  A Romance. By WILSON BARRETT, author of "The Sign of the Cross," etc., and ELWYN BARRON, author of "Manders." Illustrated. 1 vol., lib. 12mo, cloth, 350 pages =$1.50=

  A historical romance of great vigor and interest. The collaboration of Mr. Barrett with Mr. Barron, the successful author of "Manders," is a sufficient guarantee of the production of a volume of fiction which will take very high rank.

  =Omar the Tentmaker.=

  A Romance of Old Persia. By NATHAN HASKELL DOLE. Illustrated by F. T. Merrill. 1 vol., lib. 12mo, cloth =$1.50=

  "The story itself is beautiful and it is beautifully written. It possesses the true spirit of romance, and is almost poetical in form. The author has undoubtedly been inspired by his admiration for the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam to write this story of which Omar is the hero."--_Troy Times._

  "Mr. Dole has built a delightful romance."--_Chicago Chronicle._

  "It is a strong and vividly written story, full of the life and spirit of romance."--_New Orleans Picayune._

  =The Golden Dog.=

  A Romance of Quebec. By WILLIAM KIRBY. New authorized edition. Illustrated by J. W. Kennedy. 1 vol., lib. 12mo, cloth =$1.25=

  "A powerful romance of love, intrigue, and adventure in the time of Louis XV, and Mme. de Pompadour, when the French colonies were making their great struggle to retain for an ungrateful court the fairest jewels in the colonial diadem of France."--_New York Herald._

  =The Making of a Saint.=

  By W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM. Illustrated by Gilbert James. 1 vol., lib. 12mo, cloth =$1.50=

  "An exceedingly strong story of original motive and design.... The scenes are imbued with a spirit of frankness ... and in addition there is a strong dramatic flavor."--_Philadelphia Press._

  "A sprightly tale abounding in adventures, and redolent of the spirit of mediaeval Italy."--_Brooklyn Times._

  =Friendship and Folly.=

  A novel. By MARIA LOUISE POOL, author of "Dally," "A Redbridge Neighborhood," "In a Dike Shanty," etc. Illustrated by J. W. Kennedy. 1 vol., lib. 12mo, cloth =$1.25=

  "The author handles her elements with skillful fingers--fingers that feel their way most truthfully among the actual emotions and occurrences of nineteenth century romance. Hers is a frank, sensitive touch, and the result is both complete and full of interest."--_Boston Ideas._

  "The story will rank with the best previous work of this author."--_Indianapolis News._

  =The Knight of King's Guard.=

  A Romance of the Days of the Black Prince. By EWAN MARTIN. Illustrated by Gilbert James. 1 vol., lib. 12mo, cloth, 300 pages =$1.50=

  An exceedingly well written romance, dealing with the romantic period chronicled so admirably by Froissart. The scene is laid at a border castle between England and Scotland, the city of London, and on the French battle-fields of Cressy and Poitiers. Edward the Third. Queen Philippa, the Black Prince, Bertrand du Guesclin, are all historical characters, accurate reproductions of which give life and vitality to the romance. The character of the hero is especially well drawn.

  =The Rejuvenation of Miss Semaphore.=

  A farcical novel. By HAL GODFREY. Illustrated by Etheldred B. Barry. 1 vol., lib. 12mo, cloth =$1.25=

  "A fanciful, laughable tale of two maiden sisters of uncertain age who are induced, by their natural longing for a return to youth and its blessings, to pay a large sum for a mystical water which possesses the value of setting backwards the hands of time. No more delightfully fresh and original book has appeared since 'Vice Versa' charmed an amused world. It is well written, drawn to the life, and full of the most enjoyable humor."--_Boston Beacon._

  =Cross Trails.=

  By VICTOR WAITE. Illustrated by J. W. Kennedy. 1 vol., lib. 12mo, cloth =$1.50=

  "A Spanish-American novel of unusual interest, a brilliant, dashing, and stirring story, teeming with humanity and life. Mr. Waite is to be congratulated upon the strength with which he has drawn his characters."--_San Francisco Chronicle._

  "Every page is enthralling."--_Academy._

  "Full of strength and reality."--_Athenaeum._

  "The book is exceedingly powerful."--_Glasgow Herald._

  =The Paths of the Prudent.=

  By J. S. FLETCHER, author of "When Charles I. was King," "Mistress Spitfire," etc. Illustrated by J. W. Kennedy. 1 vol., lib. 12mo, cloth, 300 pages =$1.50=

  "The story has a curious fascination for the reader, and the theme and characters are handled with rare ability."--_Scotsman._

  "Dorinthia is charming. The story is told with great humor."--_Pall Mall Gazette._

  "An excellently well told story, and the reader's interest is perfectly sustained to the very end."--_Punch._

  =Bijli the Dancer.=

  By JAMES BLYTHE PATTON. Illustrated by Horace Van Rinth. 1 vol., lib. 12mo, cloth =$1.50=

  "A novel of Modern India.... The fortunes of the heroine, an Indian Nautch girl, are told with a vigor, pathos, and a wealth of poetic sympathy that makes the book admirable from first to last."--_Detroit Free Press._

  "A remarkable book."--_Bookman._

  "Powerful and fascinating."--_Pall Mall Gazette._

  "A vivid picture of Indian life."--_Academy (London)._

  =Drives and Puts.=

  A Book of Golf Stories. By WALTER CAMP and LILLIAN BROOKS. Illustrated. 1 vol., lib. 12mo, cloth decorative =$1.50=

  Considering the great and growing interest in golf,--perhaps the king of sports,--this volume, written by Walter Camp, the eminent authority on sports, in collaboration with Lillian Brooks, the well known writer of short stories, is sure to be a success.

  ="To Arms!"=

  Being Some Passages from the Early Life of Allan Oliphant, Chirurgeon, Written by Himself, and now Set Forth for the First Time. By ANDREW BALFOUR. Illustrated by F. W. Glover. 1 vol., lib. 12mo, cloth =$1.50=

  "A tale of 'Bonnie Tweedside,' and St. Dynans and Auld Reekie,--a fair picture of the country under misrule and usurpation and all kinds of vicissitudes. Allan Oliphant is a great hero."--_Chicago Times-Herald._

  "A recital of thrilling interest, told with unflagging vigor."--_Globe._

  "An unusually excellent example of a semi-historic romance."--_World._

  =The River of Pearls=; OR, THE RED SPIDER.

  (_In Press._) A Chinese Romance. By RENE DE PONT-JEST, with sixty illustrations from original drawings by Felix Regamey. 1 vol., lib. 12mo, cloth, 300 pages =$1.50=

  Close acquaintance with the manners and customs of the Chinese has enabled the author to write a story which is instructive as well as interesting. The book, as a whole, shows the writer to be possessed of a
strong descriptive faculty, as well as keen insight into the characters of the people of whom he is writing. The plot is cleverly conceived and well worked out, and the story abounds with incidents of the most exciting and sensational character. Enjoyment of its perusal is increased by the powerful illustrations of Felix Regamey.

  The book may be read with profit by any one who wishes to realize the actual condition of native life in China.

  =Frivolities.=

  Especially Addressed to Those who are Tired of being Serious. By RICHARD MARSH, author of "Tom Ossington's Ghost," etc. 1 vol., lib. 12mo, cloth, 340 pages =$1.50=

  A dozen stories in an entirely new vein for Mr. Marsh. The humor is irresistible, and carries the reader on breathlessly from one laugh to another. The style, though appealing to a totally different side of complex human nature, is as strong and effective as the author's intense and dramatic work in "Tom Ossington's Ghost."

  =Via Lucis.=

  By KASSANDRA VIVARIA. With portrait of the author. 1 vol., lib. 12mo, cloth =$1.50=

  "'Via Lucis' is--we say it unhesitatingly--a striking and interesting production."--_London Athenaeum._

  "Without doubt the most notable novel of the summer is this strong story of Italian life, so full of local color one can almost see the cool, shaded patios and the flame of the pomegranate blossom, and smell the perfume of the grapes growing on the hillsides. It is a story of deep and passionate heart interests, of fierce loves and fiercer hates, of undisciplined natures that work out their own bitter destiny of woe. There has hardly been a finer piece of portraiture than that of the child Arduina,--the child of a sickly and unloved mother and a cruel and vindictive father,--a morbid, queer, lonely little creature, who is left to grow up without love or training of any kind."--_New Orleans Picayune._

  =Lally of the Brigade.=

  A Romance of the Irish Brigade in France during the Time of Louis the Fourteenth. By L. MCMANUS, author of "The Silk of the Kine," "The Red Star," etc. Illustrated. 1 vol., lib. 12mo, cloth, 250 pages =$1.25=

  The scene of this romance is partly at the siege of Crimona (held by the troops of Louis XIV.) by the Austrian forces under Prince Eugene. During the siege the famous Irish Brigade renders valiant service, and the hero--a dashing young Irishman--is in the thick of the fighting. He is also able to give efficient service in unravelling a political intrigue, in which the love affairs of the hero and the heroine are interwoven.

  =Sons of Adversity.=

  A Romance of Queen Elizabeth's Time. By L. COPE CORNFORD, author of "Captain Jacobus," etc. Illustrated by J. W. Kennedy. 1 vol., lib. 12mo, cloth =$1.25=

  "A tale of adventure on land and sea at the time when Protestant England and Catholic Spain were struggling for naval supremacy. Spanish conspiracies against the peace of good Queen Bess, a vivid description of the raise of the Spanish siege of Leyden by the combined Dutch and English forces, sea fights, the recovery of stolen treasure, are all skilfully woven elements in a plot of unusual strength."--_Pittsburg Bulletin._

  =The Archbishop's Unguarded Moment.=

  By OSCAR FAY ADAMS. Illustrated. 1 vol., lib. 12mo, cloth decorative =$1.25=

  Mr. Adams is well known as a writer of short stories. As the title indicates, these stories deal with dignitaries of the Episcopal Church. The mingled pathos and humor, which Mr. Adams has handled so admirably in describing his characters, make a book of more than average interest for the reader of fiction.

  =Captain Fracasse.=

  Translated from the French of Gautier. By ELLEN MURRAY BEAM. Illustrated by Victor A. Searles. 1 vol., lib. 12mo, cloth =$1.25=

  "The story is one of the best in romantic fiction, for upon it Gautier lavished his rare knowledge of the twelfth century."--_San Francisco Chronicle._

  "One of those rare stories in which vitality is abundant."--_New York Herald._

  =The Count of Nideck.=

  From the French of Erckmann-Chatrian, translated and adapted by RALPH BROWNING FISKE. Illustrated by Victor A. Searles. 1 vol., lib. 12mo, cloth =$1.25=

  "'The Count of Nideck,' adapted from the French of Erckmann-Chatrian by Ralph Browning Fiske, is a most interesting tale, simply told, and moving with direct force to the end in view."--_Minneapolis Times._

  "Rapid in movement, it abounds in dramatic incident, furnishes graphic descriptions of the locality and is enlivened with a very pretty love story."--_Troy Budget._

  =Muriella=; OR, LE SELVE.

  By OUIDA. Illustrated by M. B. Prendergast. 1 vol., lib. 12mo, cloth =$1.25=

  "Ouida's literary style is almost perfect in 'Muriella.'"--_Chicago Times-Herald._

  "'Muriella' is an admirable example of the author's best work."--_Brooklyn Times._

  "It dwells in the memory, and bears the dramatic force, tragic interest, and skilfulness of treatment that mark the work of Ouida when at her best."--_Pittsburg Bulletin._

  =Bobbie McDuff.=

  By CLINTON ROSS, author of "The Scarlet Coat." "Zuleika," etc. Illustrated by B. West Clinedinst. 1 vol., large 16mo, cloth =$1.00=

  "'Bobbie McDuff,' by Clinton Ross, is a healthy romance, tersely and vigorously told."--_Louisville Courier-Journal._

  "It is full of mystery and as fascinating as a fairy tale."--_San Francisco Chronicle._

  "It is a well-written story, full of surprises and abounding in vivid interest."--_The Congregationalist, Boston._

  =The Shadow of a Crime.=

  A Cumbrian Romance. By HALL CAINE, author of "The Manxman," "The Deemster," etc., with twelve full-page illustrations in half-tone, from drawings by M. B. Prendergast. 1 vol., cloth, illustrated, gilt top =$1.25=

  * * * * *

  _The Works of Gabriel d'Annunzio._

  =The Triumph of Death.==The Intruder.==The Maidens of the Rocks.==The Child of Pleasure.= Each, 1 vol., lib. 12mo, cloth =$1.50=

  "The writer of the greatest promise to-day in Italy, and perhaps one of the most unique figures in contemporary literature, is Gabriel d'Annunzio, the poet-novelist."--_The Bookman._

  "This book is realistic. Some say that it is brutally so. But the realism is that of Flaubert and not of Zola. There is no plain speaking for the sake of plain speaking. Every detail is justified in the fact that it illuminates either the motives or the actions of the man and woman who here stand revealed. It is deadly true. The author holds the mirror up to nature, and the reader, as he sees his own experiences duplicated in passage after passage, has something of the same sensation as all of us know on the first reading of George Meredith's 'Egoist.' Reading these pages is like being out in the country on a dark night in a storm. Suddenly a flash of lightning comes and every detail of your surroundings is revealed."--_Review of the Triumph of Death, in the New York Evening Sun._

  =Mademoiselle de Berny.=

  A Story of Valley Forge. By PAULINE BRADFORD MACKIE. With five full-page photogravures from drawings by Frank T. Merrill. Printed on deckle-edged paper, with gilt top, and bound in cloth. 272 pages =$1.50=

  "The charm of 'Mademoiselle de Berny' lies in its singular sweetness."--_Boston Herald._

  "One of the very few choice American historical stories."--_Boston Transcript._

  "Real romance ... admirably written."--_Washington Post._

  "A stirring romance, full o
f life and action from start to finish."--_Toledo Daily Blade._

  "Of the many romances in which Washington is made to figure, this is one of the most fascinating, one of the best."--_Boston Courier._

  =Ye Lyttle Salem Maide.=

  A Story of Witchcraft. By PAULINE BRADFORD MACKIE, with four full-page photogravures from drawings by E. W. D. Hamilton. Printed on deckle-edged paper, with gilt top, and bound in cloth. 321 pages =$1.50=

  A tale of the days of the reign of superstition in New England, and of a brave "lyttle maide," of Salem Town, whose faith and hope and unyielding adherence to her word of honor form the basis of a most attractive story. Several historical characters are introduced, including the Rev. Cotton Mather and Governor and Lady Phipps, and a very convincing picture is drawn of Puritan life during the latter part of the seventeenth century. An especial interest is added to the book by the illustrations, reproduced by the photogravure process from originals by E. W. D. Hamilton.

  =In Guiana Wilds.=

  A Study of Two Women. By JAMES RODWAY, author of "In the Guiana Forest," etc. Illustrated. 1 vol., library 12mo, cloth, decorative cover, 250 pages =$1.25=

  "In Guiana Wilds" may be described as an ethnological romance. A typical young Scotchman becomes, by the force of circumstances, decivilized, and mates with a native woman.

  It is a psychological study of great power and ability.

  =Vivian of Virginia.=

  Being the Memoirs of Our First Rebellion, by John Vivian, Esq., of Middle Plantation, Virginia. By HULBERT FULLER. With ten full-page illustrations by Frank T. Merrill. 1 vol., library 12mo, cloth, gilt top, deckle-edge paper =$1.50=

  "A stirring and accurate account of the famous Bacon rebellion."--_Los Angeles Sunday Times._

  "We shall have to search far to find a better colonial story than this."--_Denver Republican._

  "A well-conceived, well-plotted romance, full of life and adventure."--_Chicago Inter-Ocean._

  "A story abounding in exciting incidents and well-told conversations."--_Boston Journal._

  "Mr. Fuller will find a large circle of readers for his romance who will not be disappointed in their pleasant expectations."--_Boston Transcript._

  "Instead of using history as a background for the exploits of the hero, the author used the hero to bring out history and the interesting events of those early days in Virginia. The author has preserved the language and customs of the times admirably."--_Philadelphia Telegram._

  =The Gray House of the Quarries.=

  By MARY HARRIOTT NORRIS. With a frontispiece etching by Edmund H. Garrett. 1 vol., 8vo, cloth, 500 pages =$1.50=

  "The peculiar genre, for which, in a literary sense, all must acknowledge obligation to the author of a new type, is the Dutch-American species. The church-goings, the courtings, the pleasures and sorrows of a primitive people, their lives and deaths, weddings, suicides, births and burials, are Rembrandt and Rubens pictures on a fresh canvas."--_Boston Transcript._

  "The fine ideal of womanhood in a person never once physically described will gratify the highest tone of the period, and is an ennobling conception."--_Time and The Hour, Boston._

  =A Man-at-Arms.=

  A Romance of the days of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, the Great Viper. By CLINTON SCOLLARD, author of "Skenandoa," etc. With six full-page illustrations and title-page by E. W. D. Hamilton. 1 vol., library 12mo, cloth, gilt top, deckle-edge paper =$1.50=

  The scene of the story is laid in Italy, in the latter part of the fourteenth century. The hero, Luigi della Verria, unable to bear the restrictions of home or to reconcile himself to the profession of law, as desired by his father, leaves his family and, as the result of chance, becomes a man-at-arms in the service of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, the cunning and unscrupulous Lord of Pavia, known as the Great Viper. Thenceforward the vicissitudes and adventures, both in love and war, of Della Verria, are told in a way to incite the interest to the highest point; and a strong picture is drawn of Italian life at this period, with its petty vendettas, family broils, and the unprincipled methods employed by the heads of noble families to gain their personal ends.

  An individual value is added to the book by the illustrations and title-page, drawn by Mr. E. W. D. Hamilton.

  "The style is admirable, simple, direct, fluent, and sometimes eloquent; and the story moves with rapidity from start to finish."--_The Bookman._

  "A good story."--_N. Y. Commercial Advertiser._

  "It is a triumph in style."--_Utica Herald._

  =Cyrano de Bergerac.=

  A Heroic Comedy from the French of Edmond Rostand, as accepted and played by Richard Mansfield. Translated by HOWARD THAYER KINGSBURY. 1 vol., cloth decorative, with a photogravure frontispiece =$1.00= 1 vol., paper boards =.50=

  The immediate and prolonged success of "Cyrano de Bergerac." in Paris, has been paralleled by Mr. Mansfield's success with an English version, dating from its first night at the Garden Theatre, New York. October 3, 1898.

  As a literary work, the original form of Rostand took high rank; and the preference of Mr. Mansfield for Mr. Kingsbury's new translation implies its superior merit.

  Transcriber's Notes:

  * Obvious punctuation and spelling errors repaired.

  * Text enclosed between equal signs was in bold face in the original (=bold=).

  * Deleted a duplicate title named NOTES in Notes section.

  * Several compound words had dual spellings: They were changed for consistency's sake to the hyphenated form as follows: Changed inn-keeper to innkeeper, alehouse to ale-house, whereupon to where-upon, crossroad to cross-road, firewood to fire-wood, inkhorn to ink-horn, nonconformity to non-conformity, out-doors to outdoors. Gentle-woman was not changed to gentlewoman as the dash was an end-of-page dash.

  * Page 199: Added period to the end of Much Ado about Nothing.

  * Advertisements, page 3: Changed single quote to double quote in "The Road to Paris."

  * Advertisements, page 14: Added opening quote to "It is a triumph in style."

  * Advertisements, page 14: Edward Rosstand corrected to Edmond Rostand.