UC-NRLF 
 
fl). 
 
THE TEMPLE 
 
 Greene's SELIMUS 
 
THE TRAGICA] 
 REIGN OF SELIMUi 
 
 Sometime Emperor of the Turks 
 
 // Play reclaimed for 
 ROBERT GREENE, M.A. 
 
 OF BOTH UNIVERSITIES 
 
 Edited with a Preface, Notes 
 
 and Glossary by 
 ALEXANDER B. GROSART 
 
 D.D., LL.D. 
 
 J. M. DENT AND CO. 
 
 ALDINE HOUSE : LONDON 
 
 I8Q8 
 
ENGL. LIB. FO. 
 
 ' Cut is the branch that might have grown full straight, 
 And burned is Apollo's laurel bough 
 That sometime grew within this learned man.' 
 
 MARLOWE'S Faustus. 
 
-t 
 
 PREFACE 
 
 Editions of the Play. Until Selimus was reclaimed by me 
 for Robert Greene and included in his collected Works (in 
 'Huth Library/ vol. xiv. pp. 189-291), it had never been 
 reprinted. The following is the original title-page : 
 
 THE 
 
 First part of the Tra- 
 
 gical raigne of Selimus, sometime Empe- 
 
 rour of the Turkes, and grandfather to him 
 
 that now raigneth. 
 
 Wherein is showne how hee most unnaturally 
 
 raised warres against his owne father Baiazet, and pre- 
 
 uailing therein, in the end caused him to 
 
 be poysoned. 
 Also with the murthering of his two brethren, 
 
 Cor cut and A com at. 
 As it was playd by the Queenes Maiesties 
 
 Players. 
 
 Viressit vulnera veritas. 
 [Creede's woodcut device.] 
 
 LONDON 
 
 Printed by Thomas Creede, dwelling in Thames 
 
 Streete at the signe of the Kathren wheele, 
 
 neare the olde Swanne. 
 
 I594- 
 A v 
 
PREFACE The First Part of the 
 
 It is a small quarto of thirty-eight leaves (A-K in fours), first 
 and last pages blank. 
 
 The unsold copies of the play were disposed of to certain 
 stationers, who re-issued it with a fresh title-page : ' London : 
 Printed for John Crooke and Richard Serger 1638.' l Had the 
 new issuers of the play done no more than this, they should 
 have gone without much blame ; but, unfortunately, they put on 
 the abridged title-page ' written [by] T. G. ,' with most pro- 
 bably the maleficent design of palming it off as by Thomas 
 Goffe ; whose two plays, of very much the same type, had been 
 recently collected by Meighen, his not over-wise friend. The 
 plays of Goffe are, The Raging Turk, or Bajazet the Second, 
 and The Courageous Turke, or Amur at k the First. Langbaine 
 fell into the snare, and filled in T[homas] G[offe] s.n. ; and, 
 like a flock of sheep, editors and critics from whom something 
 better might have been expected, have followed suit. Of course, 
 Goffe's was an impossible authorship; as, having only been 
 born in 1591, he was in 1594, when Selimus was published, still 
 in the first of the seven famous stages. 2 It has struck me that 
 perhaps Langbainje rather than John Crooke or Richard Serger 
 ought to bear the responsibility of the misappropriation of the 
 initials. More than that, one of many similar blunderings on 
 old as well as on recent title-pages, makes me ask whether, 
 after all, T. G. were not an unlucky misprint for R. G. ? If so, 
 
 1 This was first discovered by the Rev. H. O. Coxe, M.A., and re- 
 corded by him in the Bodleian Catalogue appropriated by Mr. W. C. 
 Hazlitt s.n. 
 
 suggests that it was originally a Latin play. 
 VI 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus PREFACE 
 
 the re-issuers may really have known that R[obert G[reene] 
 was the author, and intended R. G. not T. G. 
 
 The original and (ut supra] only edition of 1594 bears no 
 name or initials, and there is no entry of it in the Stationers' 
 Register (Arber 1592-94) ; nor does it come up in either 
 Henslowe's Diary or the Alleyn Papers. 
 
 I was the first to reclaim it for Robert Greene. Our text was 
 necessarily the original of 1594* from a fine exemplar lent me 
 by the late Duke of Devonshire {Kemble Plays, vol. i. 306). 
 Only other three copies appear to be known two of them in 
 the Dyce Library, South Kensington, and the third in the 
 Bodleian. By the kindness of the present Duke of Devonshire 
 though the collection has been removed to Chatsworth I 
 have been enabled carefully to collate my former reproduction 
 not without advantage, as must be noted in two places. 1 The 
 quarto of 1594 has too many misprints, but on the whole has 
 the neatness and general accuracy of the books of the original 
 publisher, Thomas Creede. 
 
 On Selimus the man, i.e. Selim I. Curiously enough, 
 an early English book exists that sheds some light on this 
 extraordinary personality. This rare, if not absolutely unique, 
 book is recorded by Dr. Robert Watt in his Bibliotheca 
 Britannica (1824) s.n. ; but as the late Mr. J. Payne Collier 
 was the first to describe it from a personal examination, I gladly 
 avail myself of his quotations in his Bibliographical Account of 
 
 ^ ! By one of those vexatious accidents to which the best copyists are 
 liable, my copyist turned over the wrong page, and so left out 11. 100-171, 
 and 11. 644-5. Both are important restorations, and I suggest, with sincere 
 apology, their being written-in in the play in vol. xiv. of the Works. 
 
PREFACE The First Part of the 
 
 Early English Literature (1865), ii. pp. 65, 66. The following 
 is the title-page : * Ottoman, The offspring of the house of 
 Ottomanno and officers pertaining to the greate Turkes Court. 
 Whereunto is added Bartholomeus Georgieviz Epitome of the 
 Customes, Rytes, Ceremonies and Religion of the Turkes, &c. 
 In the ende also is adjoyned the maner how Mustapha, eldest 
 sonne of Soltan Soliman, twelfth Emperour of the Turkes, was 
 murthered by his father in the yere of our Lorde 1553 all 
 Englished by Hugh Goughe. Imprinted at London in Flete- 
 streate, neare unto saint Dunestones church by Thomas Marshe. 
 8vo B.L. 92 leaves.' On this Mr. Collier annotates: 'How 
 long after 1553 (the figures on the title-page referring to the 
 date when Sultan Soliman murdered his son) the work was 
 published, we cannot fix precisely, but it is dedicated by Hugh 
 Goughe to Sir Thomas Gressam (so spelt), and his new edifice 
 of the Royal Exchange is mentioned as one of the great benefits 
 entitling him to the gratitude of his country.' Goughe says 
 that he took ' the translation in hand for the purpose of inform- 
 ing people who were ignorant of the rise and origin of the 
 Turks, although many were acquainted with the rapid and 
 fatal progress they had made as conquerors in Europe since 
 the capture of Constantinople.' He commences with ' a brefe 
 rehersal o? the Emperours of Turkeye from Otthomannus 
 to Solymannus,' including SELIMUS in the year 1512, who 
 became the subject of an English tragedy, printed first in 1594, 
 and again in 1638 [a mistake ut sup.~\. Of him we are told by 
 Goughe 'Selimus, eleventh Emperour of the Turkes, was 
 marvellous cruel. He poisoned his father, and by that meanes 
 obteined the Turkish Empire in the yeare of our Lorde God a 
 thousand five hundred and twelve. Afterwarde, when he had 
 viii 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus PREFCAE 
 
 subdewed the great Sultan, he sacked the most populous citye 
 Alkairum, and raigned but eight yeares, at what tyme he was 
 justly punished for his cruelty e. } 
 
 Unfortunately, Hugh Goughe is not known to have published 
 any other book, so that we are no nearer the date of * Ottoman' 
 than was the indefatigable Collier ; but we may safely assume 
 that the author of * SELIMUS ' had read and been interested in 
 the work. Of course, all the Encyclopaedias give more or less 
 full accounts of the Bajazets and Selimus, under Turkey and 
 their names. 
 
 Grounds of claim for Robert Greene as author of 
 Selimus. These are stated in full in the Editor's Introduction 
 and Annotations to Hodgetts' translation of Storojenko's Life 
 of Robert Greene (vol. i. of Works, pp. Ixxi-lxxvii) ; and I must 
 as summarily as may be borrow from myself, though with re- 
 arrangement and additions. 
 
 (a) External. This evidence is found in the simple matter 
 of fact, that two considerable quotations from Selimus appeared 
 in a celebrated and really priceless collection of quotations 
 from English literature up to 1600, as by Robert Greene. 
 It is expedient, that though well known, the title-page of this 
 book should be given : 
 
 'Englands Parnassus: or the choysest Flowers of our 
 Moderne Poets, with Poeticall comparisons ; Descriptions of 
 Bewties, Personages, Castles, Pallaces, Mountains, Groves, 
 Seas, Springs, Rivers, &c. Whereunto are annexed other 
 various discourses both pleasaunt and profitable. Imprinted 
 at London for N. L., C. B., and T. H., 1600.' 
 ix 
 
PREFACE The First Part of the 
 
 The following are the two quotations from Selimus : 
 
 I. No. 4. Delaie. 
 
 He that will stop the brooke, must then begin 
 
 When sommer's heat hath dried vp the spring ; 
 
 And when his pittering streams are low and thin : 
 
 For let the winter aid vnto them bring, 
 
 He grows to be of watry flouds the King, 
 
 And though you damme him vp with loftie rankes, 
 
 Yet will he quickly overflow his bankes. 
 
 R. GREENE. 
 
 II. No. ii. Damocles. 
 Too true that Tyrant Dyonisyus 
 Did picture out the image of a king, 
 When Damocles was placed in his throne ; 
 And ore his head a threatning sword did hang, 
 Fastned vp onely by a horse's haire. R. GREENE. 
 
 The former will be found in the play, 11. $03-509; the 
 latter, 11. 853-857. 
 
 That the collector of England's Parnassus was well ac- 
 quainted with the writings of Robert Greene is clear by this, 
 that therein he makes no fewer than thirty-nine quotations from 
 them, and the whole as shall be seen assigned to Greene 
 have been traced to his acknowledged works and Selimus, save 
 four to be after-noted, and these, untraced to any other. 
 
 Who, then, was the collector ? The dedication and address to 
 the reader in verse are simply signed R. A. ; so that but for 
 the lucky accident of a discovery by Doctor Farmer, we should 
 have been left to choose between Robert Armin and Robert 
 Allot, or any other contemporary R. A. As it is, Doctor 
 Farmer's copy of England's Parnassus is in the British Museum, 
 x 
 
UNIVERSITY j 
 
 ..., 
 Tragedy and Reign of Selimus PREFACE 
 
 and he therein distinctly records that he had seen a copy with 
 the initials filled up contemporarily R[obert] A[llot]. Since 
 this note was written and made known, no literary man of any 
 knowledge or authority has failed to recognise Robert Allot as 
 the man to whom we are debtors for England's Parnassus. 
 This being so, none of the period could have been better 
 advantaged to know authors and authorities than this fine old 
 English publisher and gentleman. Conceded, that his slips 
 must have got occasionally mixed, seeing that under Greene he 
 gives two familiar passages from Spenser ; and there are a few 
 other inadvertences. None the less, the book is of palmary 
 authority. Allot, besides printed books, must have had access 
 to, if not possession of, not a few authors' MSS. , for a somewhat 
 large body of quotations still remains unidentified and untraced 
 to their sources. Nor is it impossible that the slight variations, 
 besides orthographic, in the two extracts of Delate and Damocles, 
 indicate that he drew them from a MS. It may be as well to 
 note here these variations, viz. Delate, 1. 2, ' the ' for * his,' 1. 4, 
 ' them ' for * him ' ; Damocles, 1. 3, ' on * for ' in. ; Be this as it 
 may, the name of Robert Allot is a strong authority for Greene's 
 authorship of Selimus having been known by him when he 
 placed * R. Greene ' twice over under the extracts from it. 1 
 
 I would here en passant give credit to Mr. Collier for having 
 traced and recorded accurately a considerable portion of the 
 quotations in England's Parnassus in his excellent reprint 
 (Blue Series). But he was mistaken in stating that No. 4 
 
 1 Be it also noted that it was from England 's Parnassus alone, the 
 Battle of Alcazar anonymous, like Selimus was traced to George 
 Peele (1594) an assignment second only in importance to Selimus itself; 
 and so with Guilpin and various others. 
 
PREFACE The First Part of the 
 
 was only to be found in England's Parnassus ; for it and No. 1 1 
 occur in Selimus, as we have seen. 1 
 
 Externally, then, as the two quotations are found, and found 
 only, in Selimus, Robert Greene, to whom they are assigned, 
 must be pronounced author of the play containing them. No 
 other claimant has ever been brought forward ; for, as we have 
 shown, Thomas Goffe is impossible. 
 
 Another little bit of external evidence is, that Thomas Creede, 
 the publisher of Selimus, also published, and with the same 
 device on each title-page, Greene's James IV. and Alphonsus, 
 King of Arragon. 
 
 (b) Internal. One specific passage by itself would have deter- 
 mined my assigning Selimus to Greene. Here it is (11. 2049-53) 
 
 1 The sweet content that country life affords, 
 
 Passeth the royal pleasures of a King ; 
 
 For there our joys are interlaced with fears ; 
 
 But here no fear nor care is harboured, 
 
 But a sweet calm of a most quiet state.' 
 
 Every one who knows his Greene, knows that over and 
 over he returns on anything of his that caught on, sometimes 
 abridging and sometimes expanding, as in this of 'sweet 
 content ' in his Farewell to Folly ; which (meo judicio] needs 
 only to be pondered to affirm the Selimus words to be from the 
 same mind and pen. The following are the words : 
 
 1 I may restate here that Nos. 13 and 21, which are also untraced by 
 Mr. Collier, I found respectively in Greene's James IV.^ iii. 3 (Works, xiii. 
 p. 273), and Orlando Furioso (ibid. p. 134). I venture to appeal to fellow- 
 students of our elder literature to keep a sharp look-out for Nos. 6, 15, 24, 
 and 26 of England's Parnassus, which all have Greene's name. I indulge 
 the pleasures of hope that all four will some day be happed on in some 
 anonymous play or plays, and so rescue more of Greene's works. 
 
 xii 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus PREFACE 
 
 1 Sweet are the thoughts that savour of content, 
 The quiet mind is richer than a crowne ; 
 
 Sweet are the nights in carelesse slumber spent, 
 The poore estate scornes fortunes angrie frowne ; 
 
 Such sweet content, such mindes, such sleep, such blis 
 
 Beggers injoy, when princes oft do mis. 
 
 The homely house that harbors quiet rest, 
 The cottage that affoords no pride, nor care ; 
 
 The meane that 'grees with countrie musick best, 
 The sweet consort of mirth and musicks fare : 
 
 Obscured life sets downe a type of blis, 
 
 A minde content both crowne and kingdome is. 
 
 Works, ix. pp. 279, 280. 
 
 Neither is imitation, but a characteristically Greeneian repeti- 
 tion. 1 
 
 Now, looking more widely, I would accentuate a fact that 
 carries a contributory weight of internal evidence, viz. that at 
 the close of Alphonsus, King of Arragon (Works, vol. xiii. 
 p. 414), Greene prepares us for just such a second play as 
 Selimus proved t9 be. Thus 
 
 ' Meanetime, deare Muses, wander you not farre 
 Forth of the path of high Pernassus hill, 
 That, when I come to finish vp his life, 
 You may be readie for to succour me : 
 Adieu, deare dames; farwell Calliope.' 
 
 1 I add here, that in Henry VI., Part iii., which is generally admitted 
 to have been Greene's and possibly others', revised by Shakespeare, we have 
 in Act iii. Sc. i. this parallel : 
 
 ' My crown is in my heart, not on my head, 
 Nor to be seen ; my crown is called Content ; 
 A crown it is that seldom kings enjoy.' 
 
 Cf. the whole Scene. 
 
 xiii 
 
PREFACE The First Part of the 
 
 Dyce annotates here : ' This proves that Greene intended to 
 write a second part of Alphonsus. Perhaps, indeed, he did 
 write one.' ' Possibly,' observes Mr. Collier (Hist, of English 
 Dram. Poets , iii. 171), 'the continuation has perished.' Granted 
 alike the ' perhaps ' of Dyce and the ' possibly ' of Collier, and 
 that, literally interpreted, the words intimate an intended 
 ' finishing up ' of the ' life ' of Alphonsus ; granted, too, that 
 this may have been Greene's intention at the moment ; yet I am 
 too well aware of his changeableness and instability of purpose 
 and catching at opportunity and what was most likely to sell, 
 to hesitate in thinking rather, that having met with the story of 
 Selimus (in Goughe's book, or elsewhere), and discovered its 
 scope for bloody scenes whereby to 'split the ears of the 
 groundlings, 3 and finally discovering that Alphonsus did not 
 furnish materials for an effective ' second part,' he selected a 
 story of a cast and character kindred with his former, and so 
 produced Selimus. 
 
 It is no objection to this that Alphonsus was not published 
 until 1599 (so far as we know), whereas Selimus had appeared 
 in 1594. Both having been posthumously printed, their issue 
 was very much accidental, and does not determine their chrono- 
 logy of composition. 
 
 If he ever wrote a ' second part ' of Selimus , which itself is 
 named the first part and a second and still bloodier is pro- 
 mised in the Epilogue it has disappeared in the general 
 wreck. 
 
 Further, it will be observed that not only does Selimus, like 
 
 Alphonsus, develop itself on Eastern (Asiatic) and Turkish 
 
 ground, and by Eastern and Turkish 'characters,' but that the 
 
 character-names of Alphonsus are echoed in Selimus. I go 
 
 xiv 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus PREFACE 
 
 no further than the names, for the characters are quite different 
 save superficially and in subordinate points. Nevertheless, be 
 it marked and digested, that if in Alphonsus we have * Amu- 
 rack, the Great Turk,' in Selimus we have ' Bajazet, Emperour 
 of Turke,' and Selimus himself, * Emperour of the Turkes, 
 youngest son of Bajazet ' ; in Alphonsus, ' Arcastus, King of the 
 Moors/ and * Claramont, King of Barbary,' and in Selimus, 
 'Acomat, Corcut, sons of Bajazet, Mustaffa, high official of 
 Bajazet ' 5 in Alphonsus, ' Crocon, King of Arabia,' and 
 'Faustus, King of Babylon,' and in Selimus, besides Mustaffa, 
 are 'Alladin, Amurath, sons of Acomat'; in Alphonsus, 'Fausta, 
 wife of Amurack,' and in Selimus, * Zonara, sister to Mahomet,' 
 and ' Solyma, sister to Selimus, wife of Mustaffa,' and * Queen 
 Amasia, wife of Acomat ' ; in Alphonsus, ' two priests of 
 Mahomet,' and 'provost, soldiers, janissaries, etc.,' and in 
 Selimus, 'janissaries, soldiers, messengers, page.' It will be 
 recognised that the whole of these names and characters in 
 Selimus might have gone into Alphonsus, and so have 
 figured in the * Second Part ' ; and to a large extent 
 conversely. 
 
 Still further, the treatment of the subject is similar. The 
 ' plot * unfolds itself in both along the same lines, and the 
 successive characters deliver themselves of the same sentiments ; 
 and more than that, in Selimus, peculiarly and notably, we 
 find ever and anon those autobiographic touches that were 
 inevitable to Greene. As examples, I ask the critical reader f 
 to read deliberatively the daring and superbly mocking speeches 
 of Selimus ; I would specify 11. 235-444. There are elsewhere 
 similar audacities ; and, unless I very much mistake, there we 
 have the very substance of those evil ' opinions ' and sentiments 
 
PREFACE The First Part of the 
 
 that so stung him with remorse in his final and, to me, measure- 
 lessly pathetic and genuine ' repentance.' : 
 
 More specifically, Selimus (like Alphonsus] belongs to 
 Greene's first period (assuming it now to be proven his), when 
 he had not yet surceased his love of rhymed lines, or fully 
 acquiesced in Marlowe's splendid blank verse. The opening 
 scene of Selimus (11. 8-163) presents a crucial example of his 
 odd and quaint blending of rhyme and blank verse, couplet and 
 alternate rhyming and old-fashioned stanza-form, albeit there 
 is far more of the latter two in Selimus than in Alphonsus. 
 Compare with this opening, among various, the interview 
 between 'Carinus the father,' and 'Alphonsus his sonne,' in 
 Alphonsus (Works, vol. xiii. pp. 336-338), where rhyme and 
 blank verse are intermittent. So throughout in both. But it 
 demands painstaking study and comparisons (not ' odious ') to 
 feel the full force of this internal evidence of the single author- 
 ship of Alphonsus and Selimus. 
 
 I Yet further, as in Alphonsus and Orlando Furioso and 
 Friar Bacon, there are found in Selimus those semi-parodyings 
 of Marlowe so characteristic of Greene. Let the reader pause 
 over 11. 423-444; 11. 1316-1340; 11. 1472-1493. 
 
 In another direction, identically as in Friar Bacon, and 
 James IV., and the Looking- Glass, and elsewhere, Greene's 
 unmistakably 'humorous vein* breaks out in Selimus, 11. 
 1874-1990. 
 
 1 Can any one inform me who the R. W. of the following polemical book 
 was? ' Martine MarSixtus'. a second replie against the defensory and 
 apology of Sixtus the Fifth, late Pope of Rome, defending the execrable 
 fact of the Jacobine Frier upon the person of Henry in., late king of 
 France.' London, 1592. R. W. shares with Gabriel Harvey the shame of 
 assailing the dead genius. 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus PREFACE 
 
 Be it also noted, with our restoration of Greene's own 
 directions of the movements and arrangements on the stage (so 
 mutilated and smothered by Dyce in his other plays), it will be 
 seen how in Selimus these are exactly such descriptive bits as 
 in the other plays. I note the following : 11. 576-578, 662-663, 
 868, 956, 1074-5, 1276, 1833, 1873-4, etc. etc. 
 
 Finally, here, the critical reader of Selirmts will discover 
 Greene's words, epithets, turns of phrase, occasional looseness 
 of syntax, false quantities, etc. 1 My space is limited, and I 
 must content myself with a very few examples of Greene's 
 vocabulary in so far as words in Selimus occur and recur all 
 through his writings. Our General Glossarial Index (vol. xv. 
 of the Works) will readily guide to the several places. Taking 
 them alphabetically, I have found these in a very hurried 
 search: 'adamant,' 'adamantine,' 'alcoran,' 'armstrong,' 
 'barbed, 9 'barded,' 'careful,' 'cast,' 'character,' 'closely,' 
 'comets,' 'crocodile,' 'complots,' 'consort,' 'crosbiter,' 'die,' 
 'disease, "unrest,' 'emperie,' 'enterprise,' 'echinus, "extent,' 
 'flesheth,' 'for to,' 'forged,' 'flatterie,' 'front,' 'gentles,' 
 'gratulate,' 'groan,' 'harbinger,' 'hap,' 'intent,' 'janissaries,' 
 'lets,' 'like,' 'misconsters,' ' negromancy, ' 'nutrimented,' 'only,' 
 'overgone,' 'overslipt,' ' ought = owed,' ' polypus ' frequenter, 
 'valure,' 'vildly,' 'whereas,' 'wreak.' I purposely limit 
 myself to words recorded in our present brief Glossary. It 
 would have been a pleasure to me to quote the passages where- 
 in the whole of the above occur. That is impossible. But as 
 this factor in the evidence is important, I would here notify a 
 dozen of somewhat uncommon words of Selimus , together with 
 Greene's employment of them elsewhere. 
 
 1 See Glossary Proper Names under ' Euripus.' 
 
 xvii 
 
PREFACE The First Part of the 
 
 1. Armstrong. In Selimus, 1. 1668, 'now sit I like the 
 
 armestrong son of love.' 
 
 In Reports of the Shepheards (Works, vi. 83), * as if 
 another Alcides (the arme-strong darling of the 
 doubled night) . . . should prophecy . . . the 
 wonders of his prowesse. ' See in Glossary. 
 
 2. Closely. In Selimus, 1. 2087, '. . . stealing from 
 
 them closely. 9 
 
 In Carde of Fancie (Works, iv. 159), ' Ladie Castania 
 . . . hath consented not onelie to keepe his counsaile 
 to your confusion, but also closelie to convey herself 
 with him into his countrie.' 
 
 3. Enterprise. In Selimus, 11. 606, 617, ' . enterprise 
 
 thy iourney from the East. ' 
 
 ' foolish had I been to enterprise, 
 
 That which the gout and death would do for me.' 
 In Mamillia (Works, ii. 144), 'Alexander smiled at 
 
 the follie of the man which would enterprise such a 
 
 curious worke.' 
 In Carde of Fancie (Works, iv. 13), 'no mischiefe so 
 
 monstrous, which he would not enterprise.' 
 Greene's Metamorphosis (Works, ix. 93), 'how dare he 
 
 enterprise to attempt so great an assault. ' 
 
 4. Forged. In Selimus, Prologue, 1. I, 'no forged 
 
 Tragedie.' 
 In Mamillia (Works, ii. 183), 'his fained faith and 
 
 5. Gentles. In Selimus, Prologue, 1. 2, 1. 2571 
 ' Gentles, we here present vnto your view . . 
 ' If this first part, Gentles, do like you well.' 
 xviii 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus PREFACE 
 
 In Farewell to Follie (Works, ix. 297), 'amongst all 
 these, Gentles, an historic at large . . .' 
 
 6. Gratulate. In Selimus, 1. 973, 'and gratulate your 
 
 highness' good success.' 
 
 In James IV. (Works, xiii. 209), ' to gratulate thee I 
 brought those antiques.' 
 
 7. Harbinger. Line 156-7 
 
 ' a hoare frost of silver-coloured hair 
 The harbinger of honourable eld.' 
 In Penelope 's Web (Works, v. 226), ' many yeeres as 
 harbingers prouide me my long home.' 
 
 8. Misconsters. In Selimus, 1. 180, 'Your maiesty mis- 
 
 consters Selimus.' 
 In Philomela (Works, xi. 121), ' misconsters of her 
 
 whose vertuous life was so famous.' 
 In Greene's Vision (Works, xii. 256), 'Hath ever 
 
 spoken well of thy wife, whatsoeuer thou hast mis- 
 
 constred* 
 In James IV. (Works, xiii. 252), ' ah, Douglas, thou 
 
 misconstrest his intent.' 
 
 9. Negromancy. In Selimus, 1. 1696, 'by devellish 
 
 Negromancie. ' 
 In Defence of Conny -catching (Works, xi. 101), 'that 
 
 same man ... is passing skilful in Negromancy. * 
 In Greene's Vision (Works, xii. 258), * I having some 
 
 skill in Negromancie. ' 
 10. Nutrimented. In Selimus, 1. 1979, 'a good, well- 
 
 nutrimented lad.' 
 In Orlando Furioso (Works, xiii. 132), ' my well-;z 
 
 mented knave.' 
 
 xix 
 
PREFACE The First Part of the 
 
 11. Ouerslipt. In Selimus^ 1. 880, ' ouerslipt the dutie 
 
 of a sonne.' 
 In Etiphues his Censure (Works, vi. 169), ' quickly 
 
 ouerslipt by the eye.' 
 In Perymedes (Works, vii. 28), * if I ouerslip duty or 
 
 reverence.' 
 In Farewell to Follie (Works, ix. 227), 'gentlemen . . . 
 
 have ouerslipt my follies.' 
 
 12. Ought = owed. In Selimus, 1. 658, 'Your Emperour 
 
 ought his safetie vnto you.' 
 In Dorastus and Fawnia (Works, iv. 235), 'willing to 
 
 shew their friendship they ought to Pandosta.' 
 In Never too Late (Works, viii. 106), ' the token of too 
 
 much love I ought thee.' 
 
 These must suffice. I accentuate that these are not at all 
 common words, e.g. to Shakespeare or 'rare Ben,' and that 
 they should be found almost wholly in Greene's avowed works 
 and in Selimus, I for one regard as most noticeable subsidiary 
 evidence. The same must be said of the proper names in 
 Selimus. The list is exceptionally short, and yet I mark these 
 out of the list as occurring in Greene's avowed works: 
 Amphiaraus, Anthropophagi, Armenian, Briareus, Damocles, 
 Eriphile, Ixion (frequenter], Tamberlane (frequenter}. There 
 is also throughout Selimus Greene's quaint faith in the virtues 
 of plants, stones, gems, etc. , laughed at by Nashe. 
 
 It must be permitted me, in conclusion, to call attention to 
 a paper of mine in Englische Studien, xxii., band 1896, 
 pp. 389-436, entitled, Was Robert Greene substantially the 
 author of Titus Andronicus? the question being answered, 
 as I ventured to say, demonstratively in the affirmative. In 
 xx 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus PREFACE 
 
 this study I show the many correspondences in matter and 
 manner between Titus Andronicus and Selimus. ^ I add that 
 of both equally it holds, that we have expression given to the 
 strange hunger and thirst, so to say, after * crowns ' of the Eliza- 
 bethans. They simply panted after exhibitions of kingly 
 majesty. The great Queen seems to have magnetised them in 
 succession to her mighty father. One is constantly reminded 
 of Samuel Daniel's call in Tethys* Festival 
 
 ' Feed apace, then, greedy eyes, on the wonder you behold.' 
 
 I might, indeed, have placed on the title-page of Selimus 
 Marlowe's splendid bombast put into Theridamas' mouth 
 (Tamberlane) 
 
 ' A god is not so glorious as a king ; 
 I think the pleasure they enjoy in heaven 
 Cannot compare with kingly joys on earth . . .' 
 
 I indulge the pleasures of hope that the assignment off* 
 Selimus to Robert Greene has been vindicated. Intrinsically, 
 and spite of glaring faults, pace Mr. Fleay's purblindness, the 
 play has passages of rare power, of Marlowe-like passion, of 
 beauty, of melody, of distinction, of memorableness, far beyond 
 others that have been over-praised and reproduced elaborately 
 in Dodsley's Collection, original and subsequent. I am glad 
 
 1 In the Glossary to Setimus I have noted two additional words that occur 
 in Titus Andronicus'. (i) ' Complots,' 1. 1735, 'cloathe thy complots in a 
 fox's skin.' Cf. T. A. (v.2), ' Revenge now goes to lay a complot to betray 
 thy foes.' (2) ' To-fore? \. 1129, 'as Selim did to fore.' Cf. T. A. iii. i, 
 ' O that thou wert as thou to-fore hast been.' 
 
 I may also call attention to the frequent occurrence of ' for to,' as noted 
 in the Glossary, a notoriously abundant form with Greene. 
 
 B XXI 
 
PREFACE Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 that in the present edition it will at long -last be accessible to 
 students at home, in America, Germany, and Italy. 
 
 I cannot close this preface without cordially thanking 
 Principal Ward of the Owens College, Manchester, and Mr. 
 W. Keith-Leask, M.A., of Aberdeen, for their reading of my 
 ' copy. ' They have placed me in their debt by their interest 
 and willing helpfulness out of rich stores. 
 
 ALEXANDER B. GROSART. 
 
 BANK VILLA, BELFAST TERRACE, 
 NORTH CIRCULAR ROAD, DUBLIN. 
 
 %* Norwich having been Greene's birthplace, our frontispiece 
 
 cfits Cathedral -will be acceptable. Doubtless it 
 
 was a familiar object to him. 
 
PROLOGUE 
 
 No feigned toy nor forged Tragedy, 
 
 Gentles, we here present unto your view, 
 
 But a most lamentable history 
 
 Which this last age acknowledgeth for true. 
 
 Here shall you see the wicked son pursue 
 
 His wretched father with remorseless spite ; 
 
 And daunted once, his force again renew, 
 
 Poison his father, kill his friends in fight. 
 
 You shall behold him character in blood, 
 
 The image of an unplacable King, 10 
 
 And like a sea or high resurging flood, 
 
 All obstant lets, down with his fury fling. 
 
 Which, if with patience of you shall be heard, 
 
 We have the greatest part of our reward. [Exit. 
 
DRAMATIS PERSON^ 1 
 
 BAJAZET, Emperor of Turkey 
 
 SELIMUS (or Selim), Emperor of the Turks, youngest son 
 
 of Bajazet 
 ACOMAT, ~l .., , _, . 
 
 Concur,/ 501150 ^* 261 
 
 MUSTAFFA, high official of Bajazet 
 
 AGA 
 
 CHERSEOLI 
 
 SINAM BASHAW 
 
 CALI BASHAW 
 
 HALI BASHAW 
 
 PRINCE MAHOMET, son of Bajazet's eldest son, deceased 
 
 OTTRANTE 
 
 OCCHIALI 
 
 REGAN 
 
 TONOMBEY, a great warrior 
 
 Vizier 
 
 BELIERBEY, of Natolia 
 
 ALLADIN, ).., 
 
 BULLITHRUMBLE, a shepherd 
 
 ABRAHAM, the Jew 
 
 Janissaries, Soldiers, Messengers, Page 
 
 ZONARA, sister to Mahomet 
 
 SOLYMA, sister to Selimus, wife to MustafTa 
 
 QUEEN AMASIA, wife of Acomat 
 
 1 No dramatis persona in the original ; above taken from the play 
 itself. 
 
THE FIRST PART OF THE 
 
 most tyrannical Tragedy and reign of 
 
 Setimus, Emperor of the Turks, and 
 
 grandfather to him that now reigneth 
 
 Enter Bajazet^ Emperor of Turkey -, Mustafa, Cherseoli 
 and the Janissaries. 
 
 Bajazet. Leave me my Lords until I call you forth, 
 For I am heavy and disconsolate. 
 
 \Exeunt all but Bajazet. 
 
 So Bajazet, now thou remain'st alone, n 
 
 Unrip the thoughts that harbour in thy breast 
 And eat thee up : for arbiter here 's none, 
 That may descry the cause of thy unrest, 
 Unless these walls thy secret thoughts declare : 
 And Princes' walls they say, unfaithful are. 
 Why, that 's the profit of great regiment, 
 That all of us are subject unto fears, 
 And this vain show and glorious intent, 
 Privy suspicion on each scruple rears. 20 
 
 Ay, though on all the world we make extent, 
 I 
 
The First Part of the 
 
 From the South-pole unto the Northern Bear's, 
 And stretch our reign from East to Western shore, 
 Yet doubt and care are with us evermore. 
 Look how the earth clad in her Summer's pride, 
 Embroidereth her mantle gorgeously 
 With fragrant herbs, and flowers gaily dyed, 
 Spreading abroad her spangled tapestry ; 
 Yet under all a loathsome snake doth hide. 
 Such is our life under crowns cares do lie, 30 
 
 And fear the sceptre still attends upon. 
 O who oan take delight in kingly throne ? 
 Public disorder joined with private carke, 
 Care of our friends, and of our children dear, 
 Do toss our lives, as waves a silly bark. 
 Though we be fearless, 'tis not without fear, 
 For hidden mischief lurketh in the dark ; 
 And storms may fall, be the day ne'er so clear. 
 He knows not what it is to be a King, 
 That thinks a sceptre is a pleasant thing. 40 
 
 Twice fifteen times hath fair Latona's son 
 Walked about the world with his great light 
 Since I began, would I had ne'er begun ! 
 To sway this sceptre. Many a careful night 
 When Cynthia in haste to bed did run, 
 Have I with watching vexed my aged spright ! 
 Since when, what dangers I have over-past, 
 Would make a heart of adamant aghast. 
 The Persian Sophi, mighty Ismael 
 2 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 Took the Levant clean away from me ; 50 
 
 And Caraguis Bashaw, sent his force to quell, 
 
 Was killed himself, the while his men did flee. 
 
 Poor Hali Bashaw having once sped well 
 
 And gained of him a bloody victory, 
 
 Was at the last slain fighting in the field ; 
 
 Charactering honour in his batt'red shield. 
 
 Ramirchan the Tartarian Emperor, 
 
 Gathering to him a number numberless, 
 
 Of big-boned Tartars, in a hapless hour 
 
 Encountered me ; and there my chiefest bless 60 
 
 Good Alemshae (ah this remembrance sour !) 
 
 Was slain, the more to augment my sad distress. 
 
 In losing Alemshae, poor I lost more 
 
 Than ever I had gained theretofore. 
 
 Well may thy soul rest in her latest grave, 
 
 Sweet Alemshae, the comfort of my days ; 
 
 That thou mightst live, how often did I crave ! 
 
 How often did I bootless prayers raise 
 
 To that high power that life first to thee gave ! 
 
 Trusty wast thou to me at all assays ; 70 
 
 And dearest child, thy father oft hath cried 
 
 That thou hadst liv'd, so he himself had died. 
 
 The Christian armies, oftentimes defeated 
 
 By my victorious father's valiance, 
 
 Have all my Captains famously confronted, 
 
 And cracked in two our uncontrolled lance. 
 
 'My strongest garrisons they have supplanted, 
 
The First Part of the 
 
 And overwhelmed me in sad mischance ; 
 And my decrease so long wrought their increase, 
 Till I was forced conclude a friendly peace. 80 
 
 Now all these are but foreign damages 
 Taken in war, whose die uncertain is ; 
 But I shall have more home-borne outrages, 
 Unless my divination aims amiss. 
 I have three sons all of unequal ages, 
 And all in diverse studies set their bliss. 
 Corcut my eldest, a Philosopher ; 
 Acomat pompous, Selim, a warrior ; 
 Corcut in fair Magnesia leads his life 
 In learning Arts, and Mahound's dreaded laws : 90 
 Acomat loves to court it with his wife, 
 And in a pleasant quiet 'joys to pause ; 
 OP ,1it Selim follows wars in dismal strife, 
 And snatcheth at my crown with greedy claws : 
 But he shall miss of that he aimeth at, 
 For I reserve it for my Acomat. 
 For Acomat ? Alas it cannot be ! 
 Stern Selimus hath won my people's heart ; 
 The Janissaries love him more than me, 
 And for his cause will suffer any smart 100 
 
 They see he is a friend to chivalry, 
 And sooner will they from my faith depart, 
 And by strong hand, Bajazet, pull thee down 
 Than let their Selim hop without the crown. 
 Ah ! if the soldiers over-rule thy State, 
 4 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 And nothing must be done without their will ; 
 If every base and upstart runnagate 
 Shall cross a prince and overthwart him still ; 
 If Corcut, Selim and Acomat, 
 
 With crowns and kingdoms shall their hungers fill ; 
 Poor Bajazet, what then remains to thee 1 1 1 
 
 But the bare title of thy dignity ? 
 Ay, and unless thou do dissemble all, 
 And wink at Selimus' aspiring thought ; 
 The bashaws cruelly shall work thy fall, 
 And then thy empire is but dearly bought. 
 Ah ! that our sons thus to ambition thrall, 
 Should set the law of Nature all at nought ! 
 But what must be, cannot choose but be done ; 
 Come, bashaws, enter, Bajazet hath done. 120 
 
 - 
 
 Enters again. 
 
 Cherseoli. Dread Emperor ! long may you happy live, 
 Lov'd of your subjects and feared of your foes. 
 We wonder much what doth your highness grieve 
 That you will not unto your lords disclose. 
 Perhaps you fear that we your loyal peers 
 Would prove disloyal to your Majesty, 
 And be rebellious in your dying years. 
 But mighty prince, the heavens can testify 
 How dearly we esteem your safety. 130 
 
 Must. Perhaps you think Mustaffa will revolt 
 5 
 
The First Part of the 
 
 And leave your Grace, and cleave to Selimus ; 
 But sooner shall th' Almighty's thunderbolt 
 Strike me down to the cave tenebrious, 
 The lowest bank, and damned spirits holt, 
 Than true Mustaffa prove so treacherous : 
 Your Majesty then needs not much to fear, 
 Since you are lord of subjects, prince and peer. 
 First shall the sun rise from the Occident, 
 And leave his steeds benighted in the East ; 140 
 First shall the sea become the continent ; 
 Ere we forsake our sovereign's behest. 
 We fought not for you 'gainst the Persian's tent, 
 Breaking our lances on his sturdy crest ; 
 We fought not for you 'gainst the Christian host ; 
 To become traitors after all our cost. 
 Baja. Hear me, Mustaffa and Cherseoli. 
 I am a father of a headstrong brood ; 
 Which, if I look not closely to myself, 
 Will seek to ruinate their father's State ; 150 
 
 Even as the vipers in great Nero's fen 
 Ate up the belly that first nourish'd them. 
 You see the harvest of my life is past, 
 And aged winter hath besprent my head 
 With a hoarfrost of silver-coloured hairs, 
 The harbingers of honourable eld : 
 These branch-like veins which once did gird my 
 
 arms 
 
 To toss the spear in battleous array, 
 6 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 Now withered up, have lost their former strength ; 
 My sons whom now ambition 'gins to prick 160 
 May take occasion of my weaken'd age, 
 And rise in rebel arms against my State 
 But ^stay, here comes a messenger to us. 
 
 Sound within. Enter a Messenger. 
 
 Messenger. Health and good hap to Bajazet, 
 
 The great commander of all Asia ! 
 
 Selim, the soldan of great Trebizond 
 
 Sends me unto your Grace, to signify 
 
 His alliance with the King of Tartary. 
 Baja. Said I not, lords, as much to you before, 170 
 
 That mine own sons would seek my overthrow ? 
 
 And see, here comes a luckless messenger, 
 
 To prove that true, which my mind did foretell. 
 
 Does Selim make so small account of us, 
 
 That he dare marry without our consent, 
 
 And to that devil, too, of Tartary ? 
 
 And could he then unkind, so soon forget 
 
 The injuries that Ramir did to me, 
 
 Thus to consort himself with him 'gainst me ? 
 Cher. Your Majesty misconstrues Selimus ; 180 
 
 It cannot be, that he in whose high thoughts 
 
 A map of many valours is enshrin'd, 
 
 Should seek his father's ruin and decay. 
 
 Selimus is a Prince of forward hope, 
 7 
 
The First Part of the 
 
 Whose only name affrights your enemies ; 
 
 It cannot be he should prove false to you. 
 Baja. Can it not be ? Oh yes, Cherseoli ; 
 
 For Selimus' hands do itch to have the crown ; 
 
 And he will have it, or else pull me down. 
 
 Is he a Prince ? ah no, he is a sea, 190 
 
 Into which run nought but ambitious reaches, 
 
 Seditious complots, murder, fraud and hate. 
 
 Could he not let his father know his mind, 
 
 But match himself where I least thought on it ? 
 Must. Perhaps, my Lord, Selimus loved the dame, 
 
 And fear'd to certify you of his love, 
 
 Because her father was your enemy. 
 Baja. In love, Mustaffa ? Selimus in love ? 
 
 If he be, lording, 'tis not lady's love 
 
 But love of rule, and kingly sovereignty ; 200 
 
 For wherefore should he fear t' ask my consent ? 
 
 Trusty Mustaffa, if he had fear'd me, 
 
 He never would have loved mine enemy. 
 
 But this his marriage with the Tartar's daughter, 
 
 Is but the prologue to his cruelty, 
 
 And quickly shall we have the Tragedy ; 
 
 Which, though he act with meditated bravery, 
 
 The world will never give him plaudite. 
 
 What, yet more news ? 
 
 Sound within. Enters another Messenger. 210 
 
 Mess. Dread Emperor, Selimus is at hand ; 
 8 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 Two hundred thousand strong Tartarians 
 Armed at all points does he lead with him, 
 Besides his followers from Trebizond. 
 Baja. I thought so much of wicked Selimus : 
 Oh forlorn hopes and hapless Bajazet ! 
 Is duty then exiled from his breast, 
 Which Nature hath inscribed with golden pen, 
 Deep in the hearts of honourable men ? 
 Ah Selim, Selim, wert thou not my son, 220 
 
 But some strange unacquainted foreigner, 
 Whom I should honour as I honoured thee ; 
 Yet would it grieve me even unto the death, 
 If he should deal as thou hast dealt with me. 
 And thou my son to whom I freely gave 
 The mighty Empire of great Trebizond, 
 Art too unnatural to requite me thus. 
 Good Alemshae, hadst thou lived till this day, 
 Thou wouldst have blushed at thy brother's mind. 
 Come sweet Mustaffa, come Cherseoli, 230 
 
 And with some good advice recomfort me. 
 
 \Exeunt all. 
 
 Enter Selimus^ Sinam Bashaw, Ottrante^ Occhiali, 
 and the Soldiers. 
 
 Seli. Now Selimus, consider who thou art ; 
 
 Long hast thou marched in disguis'd attire, 
 But now unmask thyself, and play thy part, 
 And manifest the heat of thy desire ; 
 9 
 
The First Part of the 
 
 Nourish the coals of thine ambitious fire ; 
 
 And think that then thy Empire is most sure, 240 
 
 When men for fear thy tyranny endure, 
 
 Think, that to thee there is no worse reproach, 
 
 Than filial duty in so high a place. 
 
 Thou oughtst to set barrels of blood abroach, 
 
 And seek with sword whole kingdoms to displace ; 
 
 Let Mahound's laws be locked up in their case, 
 
 And meaner men and of a baser spirit, 
 I In virtuous actions seek for glorious merit. 
 f I count it sacrilege, for to be holy, 
 Or reverence this thread-bare name of good ; 250 
 
 Leave to old men and babes that kind of folly, 
 
 Count it of equal value with the mud : 
 \Make thou a passage for thy gushing flood, 
 JjBy slaughter, treason, or what else thou can, 
 I And scorn religion ; it disgraces man. 
 My father Bajazet is weak and old, 
 
 And hath not much above two years to live ; 
 
 The Turkish crown of pearl and Ophir gold, 
 
 He means to his dear Acomat to give ; 
 
 But ere his ship can to her haven drive, 260 
 
 I '11 send abroad my tempests in such sort, 
 
 That she shall sink before she get the port. 
 
 Alas, alas, his highness' aged head 
 
 Is not sufficient to support a crown ; 
 
 Then Selimus, take thou it in his stead ; 
 
 And if at this thy boldness he dare frown, 
 10 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 Or but resist thy will, then pull him down ; 
 For since he hath so short a time t' enjoy it, 
 I '11 make it shorter, or I will destroy it. 
 Nor pass I what our holy votaries 270 
 
 Shall here object against my forward mind ; 
 I reck not of their foolish ceremonies, 
 But mean to take my fortune as I find : 
 Wisdom commands to follow tide and wind, 
 And catch the front of swift Occasion 
 Before she be too quickly overgone. 
 Some man will say I am too impious, 
 Thus to lay siege against my father's life, 
 And that I ought to follow virtuous 
 And godly sons ; that virtue is a glass 280 
 
 Wherein I may my errant life behold, 
 And frame myself by it in ancient mould. 
 Good sir, your wisdom's overflowing wit, 
 Digs deep with learning's wonder-working spade ; 
 Perhaps you think that now forsooth you sit 
 With some grave wizard in a prattling shade. 
 Avaunt such glasses ! let them view in me, 
 The perfect picture of right tyranny. j__ - 
 I like a lion's look not worth a leek, 
 When every dog deprives him of his prey. 290 
 
 These honest terms are far enough to seek, 
 When angry Fortune menaceth decay ; 
 My resolution treads a nearer way. 
 Give me the heart conspiring with the hand, 
 ii 
 
The First Part of the 
 
 In such a cause my father to withstand. 
 Is he my father ? why, I am his son ; 
 I owe no more to him than he to me. 
 If he proceed as he hath now begun, 
 And pass from me the Turkish seignory 
 To Acomat ; then Selimus is free : 300 
 
 And if he injure me that am his son, 
 Faith, all the love 'twixt him and me is done. 
 But for I see the Schoolmen are prepar'd, 
 To plant 'gainst me their bookish ordinance, 
 I mean to stand on a sententious guard ; 
 And without any far-fetch'd circumstance, 
 Quickly unfold mine own opinion, 
 To arm my heart with irreligion. 
 When first this circled round, this building fair, 
 Some God took out of the confused mass 310 
 
 (What God I do not know, nor greatly care), 
 Then every man of his own dition was, 
 And every one his life in peace did pass ; 
 War was not then, and riches were not known, 
 And no man said, this, or this, is mine own ; 
 The ploughman with a furrow did not mark 
 How far his great possessions did reach ; 
 The earth knew not the share, nor sea the bark ; 
 The soldiers entered not the batter'd breach, 
 Nor trumpets the tantara loud did teach ; 320 
 
 There needed then no judge, nor yet no law, 
 Nor any King of whom to stand in awe : 
 12 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 But after Ninus, warlike Belus' son, 
 The earth with unknown armour did array, 
 Then first the sacred name of King begun, 
 And things that were as common as the day, 
 Did then to set possessors first obey. 
 Then they established laws and holy rites, 
 To maintain peace, and govern bloody fights. 
 Then some sage man, above the vulgar wise, 330 
 Knowing that laws could not in quiet dwell 
 Unless they were observed, did first devise 
 The names of Gods, religion, heaven, and hell, 
 And 7 gan of pains, and feign'd rewards, to tell : 
 Pains for those men which did neglect the law, 
 Rewards, for those that lived in quiet awe. 
 Whereas indeed, they were mere fictions, 
 And if they were not, Selim thinks they were ; 
 And these religious observations, 
 Only bug-bears to keep the world in fear. 340 
 
 And make men quietly a yoke to bear. 
 So that religion, of itself a bauble, 
 Was only found to make us peaceable. 
 Hence in especial comes the foolish names 
 Of father, mother, brother, and such like ; 
 For who so well his cogitation frames, 
 Shall find they serve but only for to strike 
 Into our minds a certain kind of love. 
 For these names too are but a policy, 
 To keep the quiet of society. 350 
 
 c 13 
 
The First Part of the 
 
 Indeed, I must confess they are not bad, 
 Because they keep the baser sort in fear ; 
 But we, whose mind in heavenly thoughts is 
 
 clad, 
 
 Whose body doth a glorious spirit bear, 
 That hath no bounds, but flieth everywhere ; 
 Why should we seek to make that soul a slave, 
 To which dame Nature so large freedom gave ? 
 Amongst us men, there is some difference 
 Of actions, term'd by us good or ill : 
 As he that doth his father recompense, 360 
 
 Differs from him that doth his father kill. 
 And yet I think, think others what they will, 
 That parricides, when death hath given them rest, 
 Shall have as good a part as [have] the best : 
 And that's just nothing : for, as I suppose, 
 In Death's void kingdom reigns eternal Night ; 
 Secure of evil, and secure of foes, 
 Where nothing doth the wicked man affright, 
 No more than him that dies in doing right. 
 Then since in death nothing shall to us fall, 370 
 Here while I live, I '11 have a snatch at all, 
 And that can never, never be attain'd, 
 Unless old Bajazet do die the death. 
 For long enough the gray-beard now hath reign'd, 
 And liv'd at ease, while others liv'd uneath ; 
 And now it 's time he should resign his breath ; 
 'Twere good for him if he were pressed out, 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 5 Twould bring him rest, and rid him of his gout. 
 
 Resolv'd to do it, cast to compass it 
 
 Without delay, or long procrastination ; 380 
 
 It argueth an unmanured wit, 
 
 When all is ready for so strong invasion, 
 
 To draw out time ; an unlook'd for mutation 
 
 May soon prevent us if we do delay ; 
 
 Quick speed is good, where wisdom leads the way. 
 
 Occhiali ? 
 Occhi. My lord. 
 Sel Lo fly, boy, to my father Bajazet, 
 
 And tell him Selim, his obedient son, 
 
 Desires to speak with him and kiss his hands ; 390 
 
 Tell him I long to see his gracious face, 
 
 And that I come with all my chivalry, 
 
 To chase the Christians from his Seignory : 
 
 In any wise say I must speak with him. 
 
 \Exit Occhiali. 
 
 Now Sinam, if I speed. 
 Sinam. What then, my lord ? 
 Sel. What then ? why Sinam, thou are nothing worth ; 
 
 I will endeavour to persuade him, man, 
 
 To give the Empire over unto me ; 400 
 
 Perhaps I shall attain it at his hands. 
 
 If I can not, this right hand is resolv'd 
 
 To end the period with a fatal stab. 
 Sin. My gracious lord, give Sinam leave to speak ; 
 
 If you resolve to work your father's death, 
 15 
 
The First Part of the 
 
 You venture life ; think you the Janissaries 
 Will suffer you to kill him in their sight, 
 And let you pass free without punishment ? 
 
 SeL If I resolve ? as sure as heaven is heaven, 
 
 I mean to see him dead, or myself king ; 410 
 
 As for the bashaws, they are all my friends, 
 And I am sure would pawn their dearest blood, 
 That Selim might be Emperor of Turks. 
 
 Sin. Yet Acomat and Corcut both survive 
 To be revenged for their father's death. 
 
 SeL Sinam, if they, or twenty such as tihey, 
 Had twenty several armies in the field ; 
 If Selimus were once your Emperor 
 I 'd dart abroad the thunderbolts of war, 
 And mow their heartless squadrons to the ground. 
 
 Sin. Oh ! yet, my Lord, after your highness 5 death 421 
 There is a hell and a revenging God. 
 
 SeL Tush Sinam ! these are school conditions, 
 To fear the devil or his cursed dam : 
 Think'st thou I care for apparitions, 
 Of Sisiphus and of his backward stone, 
 And poor Ixion's lamentable moan ? 
 No no, I think the cave of damned ghosts, 
 Is but a tale to terrify young babes ; 
 Like devils' faces scor'd on painted posts, 430 
 
 Or feigned circles in our astrolabes. 
 Why, there 's no difference when we are dead ; 
 And death once come then all alike are sped. 
 16 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 Or, if there were, as I can scarce believe, 
 A heaven of joy, and hell of endless pain ; 
 Yet by my soulj it never should me grieve, j 
 So I might on the Turkish empire reign, \ ^~~ 
 To enter hell, and leave fair heaven's gain| 
 v \ \An Empire, Sinam, is so sweet a thing, 
 
 x lAs I could be a devil to be a King. 440 
 
 But go we, lords, and solace in our camp, 
 Till the return of young Occhiali ; 
 And if his answer be to thy desire, 
 Selim, thy mind in kingly thoughts attire. 
 
 [Exeunt all. 
 
 Enter Bajazet, Mustafa, Cherseoli, Occhiali, and the 
 Janissaries. 
 
 Baja. Even as the great Egyptian crocodile 
 Wanting his prey, with artificial tears, 
 And feigned plaints, his subtle tongue doth file, 450 
 T' entrap the silly wandering traveller, 
 And move him to advance his footing near ; 
 That when he is in danger of his claws, 
 He may devour him with his famished jaws : 
 So playeth crafty Selimus with me. 
 His haughty" thoughts still wait on diadems, 
 And not a step but treads to majesty. 
 The phoenix gazeth on the sun's bright beams, 
 The echinaeis swims against the streams. O/, C^/ 
 
 Nought but the Turkish sceptre can him please, 
 17 
 
The First Part of the 
 
 And there I know lieth his chief disease. 460 
 
 He sends his messenger to crave access, 
 And says he longs to kiss my aged hands ; 
 But howsoever he in shew profess, 
 His meaning with his words but weakly stands. 
 And sooner will the Syrtis' boiling sands, 
 Become a quiet road for fleeting ships, 
 Than Selimus' heart agree with Selim's lips. 
 Too well I know the crocodile's feigned tears, 
 Are but [the] nets wherein to catch his prey ; 470 
 Which, who so mov'd with foolish pity hears, 
 Will be the author of his own decay. 
 Then hie thee, Bajazet, from hence away. 
 A fawning monster is false Selimus, 
 Whose fairest words are most pernicious. 
 Young man, would Selim come and speak with us ? 
 What is his message to us, canst thou tell ? 
 Occhi. He craves, my lord, another seignory, 
 
 ^Nearer to you and to the Christians, 
 \ $z y That he may make them know, that Selimus 480 
 
 Is born to be a scourge unto them all. 
 ^ Baja. He 's born to^'e^rs J courge to me and mine. 
 He never would have come with such a host, 
 Unless he meant my State to undermine. 
 What though in word he bravely seems to boast 
 The foraging of all the Christian coast ? 
 Yet we have cause to fear when burning brands, 
 Are vainly given into a madman's hands. 
 18 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 Well ! I must seem to wink at his desire, 
 
 Although I see it plainer than the light, 490 
 
 My lenity adds fuel to his fire ; 
 
 Which now begins to break in flashing bright. 
 
 Then, Bajazet, chastise his stubborn spright, 
 
 Lest these small sparkles grow to such a flame 
 
 As shall consume thee, and thy house's name. 
 
 Alas, I spare when all my store is gone, 
 
 And thrust my sickle where the corn is reap'd 1 
 
 In vain I send for the physician, 
 
 When on the patient in his grave dust ; s heap'd. 
 
 In vain, now all his veins in venom steep'd 500 
 
 Break out in blisters that will poison us, 
 
 We seek to give him an antidotus. 
 
 He that will stop the brook, must then begin 
 
 When Summer's heat hath dried up his spring, 
 
 And when his pittering streams are low and thin ; 
 
 For let the Winter aid unto him bring, 
 
 He grows to be of watery floods the king. 
 
 And though you dam him up with lofty ranks, 
 
 Yet will he quickly overflow his banks. 
 
 Messenger, go and tell young Selimus, 510 
 
 We give to him all great Samandria, 
 
 Bordering on Belgrade of Hungaria ; 
 
 Where he may plague those Christian runnagates, 
 
 And salve the wounds that they have given our 
 
 States. 
 
 Cherseoli, go and provide a gift, 
 19 
 
The First Part of the 
 
 A royal present for my Selimus ; 
 And tell him, messenger, another time 
 He shall have talk enough with Bajazet. 
 
 \Exeunt Cherseoli and Occkiali. 
 And now, what counsel gives Mustaffa to us ? 520 
 I fear this hasty reckoning will undo us. 
 
 Must. Make haste, my lord, from Adrianople's walls, 
 And let us fly to fair Byzantium : 
 Lest if your son before you take the town, 
 He may with little labour win the crown. 
 
 Baja. Then do so, good Mustaffa ; call our guard, 
 And gather all our warlike janissaries ; 
 Our chiefest aid is swift celerity ; 
 Then let our winged coursers tread the wind, 
 And leave rebellious Selimus behind. 530 
 
 \Exeunt all. 
 
 Enter Selimus^ Sinam^ Occhiali, Ottrante, and their 
 soldiers. 
 
 Sel. And is his answer so, Occhiali ? 
 
 Is Selim such a corsive to his heart, 
 
 That he cannot endure the sight of him ? 
 
 Forsooth, he gives thee all Samandria, 
 
 From whence our mighty Emperor Mahomet, 
 
 Was driven to his country back with shame. 
 
 No doubt thy father loves thee, Selimus, 540 ' 
 
 To make thee regent of so great a land ; 
 
 Which is not yet his own, or if it were, 
 
 20 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 What dangers wait on him that should it steer 1 
 
 Here the Polonian, he comes hurtling in 
 
 Under the conduct of some foreign prince, 
 
 To fight in honour of his crucifix ! 
 
 Here the Hungarian, with his bloody cross, 
 
 Deals blows about to win Belgrade again. 
 
 And after all, forsooth Bassilius 
 
 The mighty Emperor of Russia, 550 
 
 Sends in his troops of slave-born Muscovites ; 
 
 And he will share with us, or else take all. 
 
 In giving such a land so full of strife, 
 
 His meaning is to rid me of my life. 
 
 Now by the dreaded name of Termagant, 
 
 And by the blackest brook in loathsome hell, 
 
 Since he is so unnatural to me, 
 
 I I will prove as unnatural as he. 
 
 Thinks he to stop my mouth with gold or pearl ? 
 
 Or rusty jades fet from Barbaria ? 560 
 
 No let his minion, his philosopher 
 
 Corcut, and Acomat, be enrich'd with them ; 
 
 I will not take my rest, till this right hand 
 
 Hath pull'd the crown from off his coward's head, 
 
 And on the ground his bastard's gore-blood shed ; 
 
 Nor shall his flight to old Byzantium 
 
 , Dismay my thoughts, which never learn'd to stoop. 
 March, Sinam march, in order after him : 
 Were his light steeds as swift as Pegasus, 
 And trod the airy pavement with their heels, 570 
 21 
 
The First Part of the 
 
 Yet Selimus would overtake them soon. 
 /And though the heavens do ne'er so crossly frown, 
 / In spite of heaven, shall Selim wear the crown. 
 
 [Exeunt. 
 
 Alarum within. Enter Bajazet, Mustafa, Cherseoli, 
 and the Janissaries, at one door, Selimus, Sinam, 
 Ottrante, Occhiali, and their soldiers at another. 
 
 Baja. Is this thy duty, son, unto thy father 
 
 So impiously to level at his life ? 580 
 
 Can thy soul wallowing in ambitious mire 
 
 Seek for to reave that breast with bloody knife, 
 
 From whence thou hadst thy being, Selimus ? 
 
 Was this the end for which thou join'dst thy self 
 
 With that mischiveous traitor Ramirchan ? 
 
 Was this thy drift to speak with Bajazet ? 
 
 Well hoped I (but hope I see is vain) 
 
 Thou would'st have been a comfort to mine age, 
 
 A scourge and terror to mine enemies ; 
 
 That this thy coming with so great an host 590 
 
 Was for no other purpose and intent, 
 
 Than for to chastise those base Christians 
 
 Which spoil my subjects' wealth with fire and 
 
 sword : 
 
 Well hoped I the rule of Trebizond 
 Would have increased the valour of thy mind, 
 To turn thy strength upon the Persians ; 
 But thou, like to a crafty polipus, 
 
 22 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 Dost turn thy hungry jaws upon thy self; 
 
 For what am I, Selimus, but thy self? 
 
 When courage first crept in thy manly breast 600 
 
 And thou began'st to rule the martial sword, 
 
 How oft said thou the sun should change his course, 
 
 Water should turn to earth, and earth to heaven ; 
 
 Ere thou wouldst prove disloyal to thy father. 
 
 Titan ! turn thy breathless coursers back, 
 And enterprise thy journey from the East. 
 Blush, Selim, that the world should say of thee 
 That by my death thou gain'st the empery. 
 
 SeL Now let my cause be pleaded, Bajazet, 
 
 For father I disdain to call thee now ; 610 
 
 1 took not arms to seize upon thy crown, 
 
 For that if once thou hadst been laid in grave, 
 
 Should sit upon the head of Selimus 
 
 In spite of Corcut and [of] Acomat. 
 
 I took not arms to take away thy life ; 
 
 The remnant of thy days is but a span ; 
 
 And foolish had I been to enterprise 
 
 That which the gout and death would do for me. 
 
 I took not arms to shed my brothers' blood, 
 
 Because they stop my passage to the crown ; 620 
 
 For whilst thou liv'st Selimus is content 
 
 That they should live ; but when thou once art dead, 
 
 Which of them both, dares Selimus withstand ? 
 
 I soon should hew their bodies in piecemeal, 
 
 As easy as a man would kill a gnat. 
 
The First Part of the 
 
 But I took arms, unkind, to honour thee, 
 
 And win again the fame that thou hast lost. 
 
 And thou thought'st scorn Selim should speak with 
 
 thee; 
 
 But had it been your darling Acomat, 
 You would have met him half the way yourself. 630 
 I am a prince and, though your younger son, 
 Yet are my merits better than both theirs ; 
 But you do seek to disinherit me, 
 And mean t' invest Acomat with your crown. 
 So, he shall have a prince's due reward, 
 That cannot show a scar receiv'd in field. 
 We that have fought with mighty Prester John, 
 And stripp'd th' Egyptian soldan of his camp, 
 Venturing life and living, to honour thee ; 
 For that same cause shall npw dishonour'd be. 640 
 Art thou a father? Nay, false Bajazet, 
 Disclaim the title which thou dost not merit. 
 A father would not thus flee from his son, 
 As thou dost fly from loyal Selimus ; 
 A father would not injure thus his son 
 As thou dost injure loyal Selimus. 
 Then Bajazet prepare thee to the fight ; 
 Selimus, once thy son, but now thy foe, 
 Will make his fortunes by the sword (and shield) ; 
 And since thou fear'st as long as I do live, 650 
 
 I '11 also fear, as long as thou dost live. 
 
 \Rxit Selim and his company. 
 
 24 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 Baja. My heart is overwhelm'd with fear and grief \ 
 What dismal comet blazed at my birth, 
 Whose influence makes my strong unbridled son 
 Instead of love to render hate to me? 
 Ah Bashaws, if that ever heretofore 
 Your emperor owed his safety unto you, 
 Defend me now 'gainst my unnatural son : 659 
 
 Non timeo mortem : mortis mihi displicet author. 
 
 [Exit Bajazet and his company. 
 
 Alarum. Must off a beats Selimus z>z, Ottrante and 
 Cherseoli enter at divers doors. 
 
 Cher. Yield thee, Tartarian, or thou shalt die ; 
 
 Upon my sword's sharp point standeth pale Death 
 Ready to rive in two thy caitiff breast. 
 
 Ott. Art thou that knight that, like a lion fierce, 
 Tiring his stomach on a flock of lambs, 
 Hast broke our ranks and put them clean to flight ? 
 
 Cher. Ay, and unless thou look unto thyself, 670 
 
 This sword here, drunk in the Tartarian blood, 
 Shall make thy carcase as the outcast dung. 
 
 Ott. Nay, I have match'd a braver knight than you, 
 Strong Alemshae, thy master's eldest son ; 
 Leaving his body naked on the plains : 
 And Turk, the self same end for thee remains. 
 
 [They fight. He killeth Cherseoli andflieth. 
 25 
 
The First Part of the 
 
 Alarum. Enter Selimus. 
 
 SeL Shall Selim's hope be buried in the dust ? 
 
 And Bajazet triumph over his fall ? 680 
 
 Then, Oh thou blindful mistress of mishap, 
 
 Chief patroness of Ramus' golden gates ; 
 
 I will advance my strong revenging hand, 
 
 And pluck thee from thy ever-turning wheel. 
 
 Mars, or Minerva, Mahound, Termagaunt, 
 
 Or whosoe'er you are that fight 'gainst me, 
 
 Come and but show yourself before my face, 
 
 And I will rend you all like trembling reeds. 
 
 Well, Bajazet, though Fortune smile on thee, 
 
 And deck thy camp with glorious victory ; 690 
 
 Though Selimus now conquered by thee 
 
 Is fain to put his safety in swift flight ; 
 
 Yet so he flies that, like an angry ram, 
 
 He '11 turn more fiercely than before he came. 
 
 \Exit Selimus. 
 
 Enter Bajazet, Mustaffa, the soldier with the body of 
 Cherseolij and Ottr ante prisoner. 
 
 Baja. Thus have we gain'd a bloody victory, 
 And though we are the masters of the field, 
 Yet have we lost more than our enemies : 700 
 
 Ah luckless fault of my Cherseoli ! 
 As dear, and dearer wert thou unto me, 
 Than any of my sons, than mine own self. 
 26 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 When I was glad, thy heart was full of joy ; 
 
 And bravely hast thou died for Bajazet. 
 
 And though thy bloodless body here do lie, 
 
 Yet thy sweet soul, in heaven for ever blest, 
 
 Among the stars enjoys eternal rest. 
 
 What art thou, warlike man of Tartary, 
 
 Whose hap it is to be our prisoner? 710 
 
 Ott. I am a prince, Ottrante is my name ; 
 
 Chief captain of the Tartar's mighty host. 
 Baja. Ottrante ? Was ; t not thou that slew my son ? 
 Ott. Ay, and if Fortune had but favour'd me, 
 
 Had sent the sire to keep him company. 
 Baja. Off with his head and spoil him of his arms ; 
 
 And leave his body for the airy birds. 
 
 \Exit one with Ottrante. 
 
 The unrevenged ghost of Alemshae, 
 
 Shall now no more wander on* Stygian banks, 720 
 
 But rest in quiet in th' Elysian fields. 
 
 Mustaffa, and you worthy men-at-arms, 
 
 That left not Bajazet in greatest need, 
 
 When we arrive in Constantine's great tower, 
 
 You shall be honoured of your emperor. 
 
 [Exeunt all. 
 
 Enter Acomat, Vizier, Regan, and a band of soldiers. 
 
 Aco. Perhaps you wonder why prince Acomat, 
 
 Delighting heretofore in foolish love, 730 
 
 Hath chang'd his quiet to a soldier's state ; 
 27 
 
The First Part of the 
 
 And turn'd the dulcet tunes of Hymen's song, 
 Into Bellona's horrible outcries ; 
 You think it strange, that whereas I have liv'd, 
 Almost a votary to wantonness ; 
 To see me now lay off effeminate robes, 
 And arm my body in an iron wall. 
 I have enjoyed quiet long enough, 
 And surfeited with pleasures surquedry ; 
 A field of dainties I have passed through, 740 
 
 And been a champion to fair Cytherea. 
 Now, since this idle peace hath wearied me, 
 I ; 11 follow Mars, and war another while, 
 And dye my shield in dolorous vermeil. 
 My brother Selim through his manly deeds 
 Hath lifted up his fame unto the skies, 
 While we like earth-worms lurking in the weeds 
 Do live inglorious in all men's eyes. 
 What lets me then from this vain slumber rise, 
 And by strong hand achieve eternal glory, 750 
 
 That may be talk'd of in all memory ? 
 And see how Fortune favours mine intent ! 
 Heard you not, lordings, how prince Selimus 
 Against our royal father armed went ? 
 And how the janissaries made him flee 
 To Ramir emperor of Tartary ? 
 That his rebellion greatly profits me ; 
 For I shall sooner win my father's mind, 
 To yield me up the Turkish empery ; 
 28 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 Which if I have, I am sure I shall find 760 
 
 Strong enemies to pull me down again, 
 That fain would have prince Selimus to reign. 
 Then civil discord, and contentious war, 
 Will follow Acomat's coronation. 
 Selim no doubt will broach seditious jar, 
 And Corcut too will seek for alteration. 
 Now to prevent all sudden perturbation, 
 We thought it good to muster up our power, 
 That danger may not take it unprovided. 
 Vizier. I like your highness' resolution well ; 770 
 
 For these should be the chief arts of a king, 
 To punish those that furiously rebel, 
 And honour those that sacred counsel bring ; 
 To make good laws, ill customs to expell ; 
 To nourish peace, from whence your riches spring ; 
 And, when good quarrels call you to the field, 
 T ; excel your men in handling spear and shield. 
 Thus shall the glory of your matchless name 
 Be register'd up in immortal lines : 
 Whereas that prince that follows lustful game, 780 
 And to fond toys his captive mind inclines, 
 Shall never pass the temple of true fame ; 
 Whose worth is greater than the Indian mines. 
 But is your Grace assured certainly 
 That Bajazet doth favour your request ? 
 Perhaps you may make him your enemy ; 
 You know how much your father doth detest, 
 D 29 
 
The First Part of the 
 
 Stout [dis]obedience and obstinacy. 
 
 I speak not this as if I thought it best, 
 
 Your highness should your right in it neglect, 790 
 
 But that you might be close and circumspect. 
 
 Aco. We thank thee, Vizier, for thy loving care ; 
 As for my father Bajazet's affection, 
 Unless his holy vows forgotten are, 
 I shall be sure of it by his election ; 
 But after Acomat's erection 
 We must forecast what things be necessary, 
 Lest that our kingdom be too momentary. 
 
 Reg. First, let my lord be seated in his throne 
 
 Enstalled by great Bajazet's consent ; 800 
 
 As yet your harvest is not fully grown, 
 But in the green and unripe blade is pent ; 
 But, when you once have got the regiment, 
 Then may your lords more easily provide 
 Against all accidents that may betide. 
 
 Aco. Then set we forward to Byzantium, 
 
 That we may know what Bajazet intends. 
 Advise thee, Acomat, what 's best to do ; 
 The janissaries favour Selimus, 
 And they are strong undaunted enemies, 810 
 
 Which will in arms 'gainst thy election rise. 
 Then wile them to thy will with precious gifts, 
 And store of gold ; timely largition 
 The stedfast persons from their purpose lifts : 
 But then beware lest Bajazet's affection 
 30 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 Change into hatred by such premunition. 
 
 For then he '[11] think that I am factious, 
 
 And imitate my brother Selimus. 
 
 Besides, a prince his humour doth debase, 
 
 That begs the common soldiers' suffrages ; 820 
 
 And if the Bashaws knew I sought their grace, 
 
 It would the more increase their insolentness. 
 
 To resist them were overhardiness, 
 
 And worse it were to leave my enterprise. 
 
 Well, howsoe'er, resolve to venture it ; 
 
 Fortune doth favour every bold assay, 
 
 And 'twere a trick of an unsettled wit 
 
 Because the bees have stings with them alway, 
 
 To fear our mouths in honey to embay. 
 
 Then Resolution for me leads the dance, 830 
 
 And thus resolv'd, I mean to try my chance. 
 
 \Exetmt all. 
 
 Enter Bajazet, Mustafa, Call Bashaw, Hali Bashaw, 
 and the Janissaries. 
 
 Baja. What prince soe'er trusts to his mighty power, 
 Ruling the reins of many nations, 
 And feareth not lest fickle Fortune lower, 
 Or thinks his kingdom free from alterations ; 
 If he were in the place of Bajazet, 
 He would but little by his sceptre set. 840 
 
 For what hath rule that makes it acceptable ? 
 31 
 
The First Part of the 
 
 Rather, what hath it not worthy of hate ? 
 
 First of all is our state still mutable, 
 
 And our continuance at the people's rate ; 
 
 So that it is a slender thread whereon 
 
 Depends the honour of a prince's throne. 
 
 Then do we fear, more than the child new-born, 
 
 Our friends, our lords, our subjects, and our 
 
 son. 
 
 Thus is our mind in sundry pieces torn 
 By care, by fear, suspicion, and distrust ; 850 
 
 In wine, in meat we fear pernicious poison ; 
 At home, abroad, we fear seditious treason. 
 Too true that tyrant Dionysius 
 Did picture out the image of a King, 
 When Damocles was placed in his throne, 
 And o'er his head a threat'ning sword did hang, 
 Fastned up only by a horse's hair. 
 Our chiefest trust is, secretly, distrust ; 
 For whom have we whom we may safely trust, 
 If our own sons, neglecting awful duty, 860 
 
 Rise up in arms against their loving father ? 
 Their heart is all of hardest marble wrought, 
 That can lay wait to take away their breath, 
 From whom they first sucked this vital air : 
 My heart is heavy, and I needs must sleep. 
 Bashaws, withdraw yourselves from me awhile, 
 That I may rest my overburdned soul. 
 
 [ They stand aside 'while the curtains are drawn. 
 32 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 Eunuchs, play me some music while I sleep. 
 
 [Music within. 
 
 Must. Good Bajazet, who would not pity thee, 871 
 
 Whom thine own son so vildly persecutes ? 
 More mildly do th' unreasonablest beasts 
 Deal with their dams, than Selimus with thee. 
 
 Hali. Mustaffa, we are princes of the Land, 
 And love our emperor as well as thou ; 
 Yet we will not, for pitying his estate, 
 Suffer our foes our wealth to ruinate. 
 If Selim have played false with Bajazet 
 And overslipt the duties of a son, 880 
 
 Why, he was mov'd by just occasion. 
 Did he not humbly send his messenger 
 To crave access unto his Majesty ? 
 And yet he could not get permission 
 To kiss his hands, and speak his mind to him. 
 Perhaps he thought his aged father's love 
 Was clean estrang'd from him, and Acomat 
 Should reap the fruit that he had laboured for. 
 'Tis lawful for the father to take arms, 
 Ay and by death chastise his rebel son. 890 
 
 Why should it be unlawful for the son 
 To levy arms 'gainst his injurious sire ? 
 
 Must. You reason, Hali, like a sophister ; g/ 
 As if 'twere lawful for a subject-prince 
 To rise in arms against his sovereign, 
 Because he will not let him have his will ; 
 33 
 
The First Part of the 
 
 Much less is 't lawful for a man's own son. 
 If Bajazet had injured Selimus, 
 Or sought his death, or done him some abuse, 
 Then Selimus' cause had been more tolerable. 900 
 But Bajazet did never injure him, 
 Nor sought his death, nor once abused him ; 
 Unless because he gives him not the crown, 
 Being the youngest of his highness' sons. 
 Gave he not him an empire for his part, 
 The mighty empire of great Trebizond ? 
 So that if all things rightly be observed, 
 Selim had more than ever he deserv'd ; 
 I speak not this because I hate the prince, 
 For, by the heavens, I love young Selimus, 910 
 Better than either of his brethren. 
 But for I owe allegiance to my king, 
 And love him much that favours me so much, 
 Mustaffa, while old Bajazet doth live, 
 Will be as true to him as to himself. 
 Call. Why, brave Mustaffa, Hali and myself 
 Were never false unto his Majesty. 
 Our father Hali died in the field, 
 Against the Sophi, in his highness' wars. 
 And we will never be degenerate. Q2O 
 
 Nor do we take part with prince Selimus, 
 Because we would depose old Bajazet, 
 But for because we would not Acomat 
 That leads his life still in lascivious pomp ; 
 34 
 
r U 
 
 . 
 Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 Nor Corcut, though he be a man of worth ; 
 Should be commander of our empery. 
 For he that never saw his foeman's face, 
 But always slept upon a lady's lap, 
 Will scant endure to lead a soldier's life. 
 And he that never handled but his pen 930 
 
 Will be unskilful at the warlike lance. 
 Indeed, his wisdom well may guide the crown, 
 And keep that safe his predecessors got : 
 But being given to peace, as Corcut is, 
 He never will enlarge the empery : 
 So that the rule and power over us 
 Is only fit for valiant Selimus. 
 Must. Princes, you know how mighty Bajazet 
 Hath honoured Mustaffa with his love. 
 He gave his daughter beauteous Solyma, 940 
 
 To be the sovereign mistress of my thoughts ; 
 He made me captain of the janissaries, 
 And too unn atural should Mustaffa be, 
 To rise against him in his dying age. 
 Yet know, you warlike peers, Mustaffa is 
 A loyal friend unto prince Selimus ; 
 And ere his other brethren get the crown, 
 For his sake, I myself will pull them down. 
 I love, I love them dearly, but the love 
 Which I do bear unto my country's good, 950 
 
 Makes me a friend to noble Selimus ; 
 Only let Bajazet while he doth live 
 35 
 
The First Part of the 
 
 Enjoy in peace the Turkish diadem ; 
 When he is dead, and laid in quiet grave, 
 Then none but Selimus our help shall have. 
 
 Sound within. A messenger enters ; Bajazet awaketh. 
 
 Baja. How now, Mustaffa, what news have we there ? 
 
 Is Selim up in arms 'gainst me again ? 
 
 Or is the Sophi entred our confines ? 
 
 Hath the Egyptian snatch'd his crown again ? 960 
 
 Or have the uncontrolled Christians 
 
 Unsheath'd their swords to make more war on us ? 
 
 Such news, or none will come to Bajazet. 
 Must. My gracious Lord, here 's an embassador 
 
 Come from your son the Soldan Acomat. 
 Baja. From Acomat ? Oh let him enter in. 
 
 Enter Regan. 
 
 Embassador, how fares our loving son ? 
 Reg. Mighty commander of the warlike Turks, 
 
 Acomat, Soldan of Amasia, 970 
 
 Greeteth your Grace by me his messenger. 
 
 [He gives him a letter. 
 And gratulates your highness' good success, 
 Wishing good fortune may befall you still. 
 Baja. Mustaffa, read. 
 
 \He gives the letter to Mustaffa, and speaks 
 the rest to himself. 
 
 36 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 Acomat craves thy promise, Bajazet, 
 
 To give the empire up into his hands, 
 
 And make it sure to him in thy life-time : 
 
 And thou shalt have it, lovely Acomat, 980 
 
 For I have been encumbred long enough, 
 
 And vexed with the cares of kingly rule ; 
 
 Now let the trouble of the empery 
 
 Be buried in the bosom of thy son. 
 
 Ah Acomat ! if thou have such a reign 
 
 So full of sorrow as thy father's was, 
 
 Thou wilt accurse the time, the day and hour, 
 
 In which thou was establish'd emperor. 
 
 Sound. A messenger from Corcut. 
 
 Yet more news ? 990 
 
 Mess. Long live the mighty emperor Bajazet ! 
 Corcut, the Soldan of Magnesia, 
 Hearing of Selim's worthy overthrow, 
 And of the coming of young Acomat, 
 Doth certify your Majesty by me, 
 How joyful he is of your victory. 
 And therewithal he humbly doth require 
 Your Grace would do him justice in his cause. 
 His brethren both, unworthy such a father, 
 Do seek the empire while your Grace doth live, 
 And that by indirect sinister means. 1001 
 
 But Corcut's mind, free from ambitious thoughts, 
 And trusting to the goodness of his cause, 
 37 
 
The First Part of the 
 
 Joined unto your highness' tender love, 
 Only desires your Grace would not invest 
 Selim nor Acomat, in the diadem, 
 Which appertaineth unto him by right ; 
 But keep it to yourself the while you live : 
 And when it shall the great Creator please, 
 Who hath the spirits of all men in His hands, 1010 
 Shall call your highness to your latest home, 
 Then will he also sue to have his right. 
 Baja. Like to a ship sailing without stars' [sight] 
 
 Whom waves do toss one way and winds another, 
 
 Both without ceasing ; even so my poor heart 
 
 Endures a combat between love and right. 
 
 The love I bear to dear Acomat 
 
 Commands me give my suffrage unto him ; 
 
 But Corcut ; s title, being my eldest son, 
 
 Bids me recall my hand, and give it him. 1020 
 
 Acomat, he would have it in my life, 
 
 But gentle Corcut, like a loving son, 
 
 Desires me live and die an Emperor, 
 
 And at my death bequeath my crown to him. 
 
 Ah Corcut ! thou I see lov'st me indeed ; 
 
 Selimus sought to thrust me down by force, 
 
 And Acomat seeks the kingdom in my life ; 
 
 And both of them are griev'd thou liv'st so long ; 
 
 But Corcut numbreth not my days as they ; 
 
 O how much dearer loves he me than they ! 1030 
 
 Bashaws, how counsel you your emperor ? 
 
 33 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 Must. Most gracious Lord, myself will speak for all ; 
 For all I know are minded as I am. 
 Your highness knows the janissaries' love, 
 How firm they mean to cleave to your behest ; 
 As well you might perceive in that sad fight, 
 When Selim set upon you in your flight. 
 Then do we all desire you on our knees 
 To keep the crown and sceptre to your self. 
 How grievous will it be unto your thoughts 1040 
 If you should give the crown to Acomat, 
 To see the brethren disinherited, 
 To flesh their anger one upon another, 
 And rend the bowels of this mighty realm. 
 Suppose that Corcut would be well content, 
 Yet thinks your Grace if Acomat were king 
 That Selim ere long would join league with him ? 
 Nay, he would break from forth his Trebizond, 
 And waste the empire all with fire and sword. 
 Ah! then too weak would be poor Acomat, 1050 
 To stand against his brother's puissance, 
 Or save himself from his enhanced hand ; 
 While Ismael and the cruel Persians, 
 And the great Soldan of th' Egyptians, 
 Would smile to see our force dismembred so ; 
 Ay, and perchance the neighbour Christians 
 Would take occasion to thrust out their heads : 
 All this may be prevented by your Grace, 
 If you will yield to Corcut's just request, 
 39 
 
The First Part of the 
 
 And keep the kingdom to you while you live ; 1060 
 Meantime, we that your Grace's subjects are 
 May make us strong, to fortify the man, 
 Whom at your death your Grace shall choose as king. 
 Baja. O how thou speakest ever like thyself, 
 Loyal Mustaffa ! well were Bajazet 
 If all his sons did bear such love to him. 
 Though loth I am longer to wear the crown, 
 Yet for I see it is my subjects' will, 
 Once more will Bajazet be emperor. 
 But we must send to pacify our son, 1070 
 
 Or he will storm, as erst did Selimus. 
 Come, let us go into our Council lords, 
 And there consider what is to be done. 
 
 Enter Acomat, Regan, Vizier, and his soldiers. Acomat 
 must read a letter, and then rending it say : 
 
 Aco. Thus will I rend the crown from off thy head, 
 False-hearted and injurious Bajazet, 
 To mock thy son that loved thee so dear. 
 What ? for because the head-strong janissaries 
 Would not consent to honour Acomat, 1081 
 
 And their base Bashaws vow'd to Selimus, 
 Thought me unworthy of the Turkish crown ; 
 Should he be ruled and overrul'd by them, 
 Under pretence of keeping it himself, 
 To wipe me clean for ever being king ? 
 Doth he esteem so much the Bashaws' words, 
 40 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 And prize their favour at so high a rate, 
 
 That for to gratify their stubborn minds, 
 
 He casts away all care, and all respects 1090 
 
 Of duty, promise, and religious oaths ? 
 
 Now, by the holy prophet Mahomet 
 
 Chief president and patron of the Turks ; 
 
 I mean to challenge now my right by arms, 
 
 And win by sword that glorious dignity 
 
 Which he injuriously detains from me. 
 
 Haply he thinks because that Selimus, 
 
 Rebutted by his warlike janissaries, 
 
 Was fain to fly in haste from whence he came ; 
 
 That Acomat, by his example mov'd, noo 
 
 Will fear to manage arms against his sire ; 
 
 Or that my life forepassed in Pleasure's court 
 
 Promises weak resistance in the fight ; 
 
 But he shall know that I can use my sword, 
 
 And like a lion seize upon my prey. 
 
 If ever Selim mov'd him heretofore, 
 
 Acomat means to move him ten times more. 
 
 Vizier. 'Twere good your Grace would to Amasia, 
 And there increase your camp with fresh supply. 
 
 Aco. Vizier, I am impatient of delay ; mo 
 
 And since my father has incens'd me thus, 
 I '11 quench those kindled flames with his heart's 
 
 blood. 
 
 Not like a son, but a most cruel foe, 
 Will Acomat be henceforth unto him. 
 41 
 
The First Part of the 
 
 March to Natolia, there we will begin 
 And make a preface to our massacres. 
 My nephew Mahomet, son to Alemshae, 
 Departed lately from Iconium, 
 Is lodged there ; and he shall be the first 
 Whom I will sacrifice unto my wrath. 1120 
 
 [Exeunt all. 
 
 Enter the young Prince Mahomet, the Belierbey of 
 Natolia^ and one or two soldiers. 
 
 Maho. Lord Governor, what think you best to do ? 
 If we receive the soldan Acomat, 
 Who knoweth not but his blood-thirsty sword 
 Shall be embowel'd in our country-men ? 
 You know he is displeas'd with Bajazet, 
 And will rebel as Selim did to fore, 
 And would to God, with Selim's overthrow. 1130 
 You know his angry heart hath vow'd revenge 
 On all the subjects of his father's Land. 
 
 Belt. Young prince, thy uncle seeks to have thy life, 
 Because by right the Turkish crown is thine ; 
 Save thou thyself by flight or otherwise, 
 And we will make resistance as we can. 
 Like an Armenian tiger that hath lost 
 Her loved whelps, so raveth Acomat : 
 And we must be subject [un]to his rage, 
 But you may live to 'venge your citizens ; 1140 
 
 Then fly, good prince, before your uncle come. 
 42 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 Maho. Nay, good my lord, never shall it be said 
 That Mahomet, the son of Alemshae, 
 Fled from his citizens for fear of death ; 
 But I will stay, and help to fight for you, 
 And if you needs must die, I '11 die with you. 
 And I among the rest with forward hand 
 Will help to kill a common enemy. \Exeunt all. 
 
 Enter Acomat, Vizier, Regan, and the soldiers. 
 
 Aco. Now, fair Natolia, shall thy stately walls 1150 
 
 Be overthrown and beaten to the ground ; 
 My heart within me for revenge still calls. 
 Why, Bajazet, thoughtst thou that Acomat 
 Would put up such a monstrous injury ? 
 Then had I brought my chivalry in vain, 
 And to no purpose drawn my conquering blade ; 
 Which, now unsheath'd, shall not be sheath'd 
 
 again, 
 
 Till it a world of bleeding souls hath made. 
 Poor Mahomet, thou thoughtst thyself too sure 
 In thy strong city of Iconium, 1 160 
 
 To plant thy forces in Natolia, 
 Weakned so much before by Selim's sword. 
 
 bummon a parley to the citizens, M 
 
 That they may hear the dreadful words I speak, $Jf 
 And die in thought before they come to blows. 
 
 43 \ 
 
The First Part of the 
 
 All. A parley. Mahomet \ Belierbey, and soldiers 
 on the walls. 
 
 Maho. What craves our uncle Acomat with us ? 
 
 Aco. That thou and all the city yield themselves ; 
 
 Or by the holy rites of Mahomet 1170 
 
 His wondrous tomb, and sacred Alcoran 
 You all shall die ; and not a common death, 
 But even as monstrous as I can devise. 
 
 Maho. Uncle, if I may call you by that name, 
 Which cruelly hunt for your nephew's blood ; 
 You do us wrong thus to besiege our town, 
 That ne'er deserv'd such hatred at your hands, 
 Being your friends and kinsmen as we are. 
 
 Aco. In that thou wrong'st me that thou art my 
 kinsman. 
 
 Maho. Why, for I am thy nephew, dost thou frown ? 
 
 Aco. Ay, that thou art so near unto the crown. 1181 
 
 Maho. Why, uncle, I resign my right to thee, 
 And all my title were it ne'er so good. 
 
 Aco. Wilt thou? then know assuredly from me, 
 I '11 seal the resignation with thy blood ; 
 Though Alemshae thy father lov'd me well, 
 Yet Mahomet, his son, shall down to hell. 
 
 Maho. Why, uncle, doth my life put you in fear ? 
 
 Aco. It shall not, nephew, since I have you here. 
 
 Maho. When I am dead, more hindrers shalt thou find. 
 44 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 Aco. When one's cut off, the fewer are behind. 1191 
 
 Maho. Yet think the gods do bear an equal eye. 
 
 Aco. Faith if they all were squint-eyed, what care I ? 
 
 Maho. Then, Acomat, know we will rather die, 
 Than yield us up into a tyrant's hand. 
 
 Aco. Beshrew me but you be the wiser, Mahomet ; 
 For if I do but catch you, boy, alive, 
 'Twere better for you run through Phlegethon. 
 Sirs, scale the walls, and pull the caitiffs down, 1200 
 I give to you the spoil of all the town. 
 
 Alarum. Scale the walls. Enter Acomat \ Vizier, and 
 Regan, with Mahomet. 
 
 Aco. Now, youngster, you that brav'dst us on the walls, 
 And shook your plumed crest against our shield, 
 What wouldst thou give, or what wouldst thou not 
 
 give, 
 
 That thou wert far enough from Acomat ? 
 How like the villain is to Bajazet ! 
 Well, nephew, for thy father lov'd me well, 
 I will not deal extremely with his son : 1210 
 
 Then hear a brief compendium of thy death. ^. 
 Regan, go cause a grove of steel-head spears 
 Be pitched thick under the castle wall, 
 And on them let this youthful captain fall. 
 
 Maho Thou shalt not fear me, Acomat, with death, 
 No* will I beg my pardon at thy hands. 
 E 45 
 
The First Part of the 
 
 But, as thou giv'st me such a monstrous death, 
 So do I freely leave to thee my curse : 
 
 [Exit Regan with Mahomet. 
 A co. O, that will serve to fill my father's purse ! 1220 
 
 Alarum. Enter a soldier with Zonara^ sister 
 to Mahomet. 
 
 Zon. Ah pardon me, dear uncle, pardon me ! 
 
 A co. No, minion, you are too near akin to me. 
 
 Zon. If ever pity entered thy breast, 
 
 Or ever thou wast touch'd with woman's love, 
 Sweet uncle, spare wretched Zonara's life. 
 Thou once wast noted for a quiet prince, 
 Soft-hearted, mild, and gentle as a lamb ; 
 Ah do not prove a lion unto me ! 
 
 A co. Why wouldst thou live, when Mahomet is dead ? 
 
 Zon. Ah ! who slew Mahomet? Uncle, did you? 1231 
 
 A co. He that's prepar'd to do as much for you. 
 
 Zon. Dost thou not pity Alemshae in me ? 
 
 A co. Yes, that he wants so long thy company. 
 
 Zon. Thou art not, false groom, son to Bajazet ; 
 He would relent to hear a woman weep, 
 But thou wast born in desert Caucasus, 
 And the Hyrcanian tigers gave thee suck ; 
 Knowing thou wert a monster like themselves. 
 
 Aco. Let you her thus to rate us? Strangle her. 1240 
 
 [They strangle her. 
 46 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 Now scour the streets, and leave not one alive 
 
 To carry these sad news to Bajazet ; 
 
 That all the citizens may dearly say 
 
 This day was fatal to Natolia. [Exeunt all. 
 
 Enter Bajazet^ Mustaffa^ and the Janissaries. 
 
 Baja. Mustaffa, if my mind deceive me not, 
 
 Some strange misfortune is not far from me. 
 
 I was not wont to tremble in this sort ; 1250 
 
 Methinks I feel a cold run through my bones, 
 
 As if it hastned to surprise my heart ; 
 
 Methinks some voice still whispereth in my ears 
 
 And bids me to take heed of Acomat. 
 Must. 'Tis but your highness 3 overcharged mind 
 
 Which feareth most the things it least desires. 
 
 Enter two soldiers with the Belierbey of Natolia in a 
 chair ', and the bodies of Mahomet and Zonara in < 
 two coffins. 
 
 Baja. Ah sweet Mustaffa, thou art much deceiv'd ; 1260 
 My mind presages me some future harm ; 
 And lo ! what doleful exequy is here. 
 Our chief commander of Natolia, 
 What caitiff hand is it hath wounded thee ? 
 And who are these covered in tomb-black hearse ? 
 
 Belt. These are thy nephews, mighty Bajazet, 
 47 
 
s 
 
 The First Part of the 
 
 The son and daughter of good Alemshae ; 
 Whom cruel Acomat hath murdred thus. 
 These eyes beheld, when from an airy tower, 
 They hurld the body of young Mahomet, 1270 
 
 Whereas a band of armed soldiers, 
 Received him falling on their spears' sharp points. 
 His sister, poor Zonara [luckless maid], 
 Entreating life and not obtaining it, 
 Was strangled by his barbarous soldiers. 
 
 \Bajazet falls in a swoon^ and being recovered say. 
 Baja. O ! you dispensers of our hapless breath, 
 Why do ye glut your eyes, and take delight 
 To see sad pageants of men's miseries ? 
 Wherefore have you prolong'd my wretched life, 
 To see my son, my dearest Acomat, 1281 
 
 To lift his hands against his father's life ? 
 
 , Selimus, now do I pardon thee, 
 For thou didst set upon me manfully, 
 And mov'd by an occasion, though unjust. 
 But Acomat, injurious Acomat, 
 Is ten times more unnatural to me. 
 Hapless Zonara ! hapless Mahomet ! 
 The poor remainder of my Alemshae ; 
 Which of you both shall Bajazet most wail ? 1290 
 Ah ! both of you are worthy to be waild. 
 Happily dealt the forward fates with thee 
 Good Alemshae, for thou didst die in field 
 And so preventedst this sad spectacle ; 
 48 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 Pitiful spectacle of sad dreeriment ! 
 
 Pitiful spectacle of dismal death ! 
 
 But I have liv'd to see thee, Alemshae, 
 
 By Tartar pirates all in pieces torn ; 
 
 To see young Selim's disobedience, 
 
 To see the death of Alemshae's poor seed. 1300 
 
 And last of all to see my Acomat 
 
 Prove a rebellious enemy to me. 
 
 Belt. Ah ! cease your tears, unhappy emperor, 
 
 And shed not all for your poor nephews' death. 
 
 Six thousand of true-hearted citizens 
 
 In fair Natolia, Acomat has slain : 
 
 The channels run like riverets of blood, 
 
 And I escap'd with this poor company, 
 
 Bemangled and dismembred as you see ; 
 
 To be the messenger of these sad news. 1310 
 
 And now mine eyes fast swimming in pale death 
 
 Bids me resign my breath unto the heavens : 
 
 Death stands before ready for to strike. 
 
 Farewell, dear emperor, and revenge our loss, 
 
 As ever thou dost hope for happiness. \He dies. 
 
 Baja. Avernus' jaws and loathsome Taenarus, 
 
 From whence the damned ghosts do often creep 
 Back to the world, to punish wicked men, 
 Black Demogorgon, grandfather of Night, 
 Send out thy furies from thy fiery hall ; 1320 
 
 The pitiless Erynnis arm'd with whips 
 And all the damned monsters of black hell ; 
 49 
 
The First Part of the 
 
 To pour their plagues on cursed Acomat. 
 How shall I mourn, or which way shall I turn 
 To pour my tears upon my dearest friends ? 
 Couldst thou endure, false-hearted Acomat, 
 To kill thy nephew and his sister thus, 
 And wound to death so valiant a lord ? 
 And will you not, you all-beholding heavens, 
 Dart down on him your piercing lightning brand, 
 Enroll'd in sulphur, and consuming flames ? 1 330 
 Ah ! do not, Jove, Acomat is my son, 
 And may perhaps by counsel be reclaim'd, 
 And brought to filial obedience. 
 Aga, thou art a man of peirsant wit ; 
 Go thou and talk with my son Acomat, 
 And see if he will any way relent ; 
 Speak him fair, Aga, lest he kill thee too. 
 And we my lords will in, and mourn a while 
 Over these princes' lamentable tombs. 1 340 
 
 [Exeunt all. 
 
 Enter Acomat, Vizier, Regan, and their soldiers. 
 
 A co. As Tityus in the country of the dead 
 
 With restless cries doth call upon high Jove, 
 The while the vulture tireth on his heart ; 
 So Acomat, revenge still gnaws thy soul. 
 I think my soldiers' hands have been too slow, 
 <s. In shedding blood, and murdring innocents. 
 5 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 I think my wrath hath been too patient, 
 Since civil blood quencheth not out the flames 1350 
 Which Bajazet hath kindled in my heart. 
 Vizier, My gracious lord, here is a messenger 
 Sent from your father the emperor. 
 
 Enter Aga and one with him. 
 
 Aco. Let him come in : Aga, what news with you? 
 
 Aga. Great prince, thy father, mighty Bajazet, 
 
 Wonders your Grace whom he did love so much, 
 Ar.d thought to leave possessor of the crown ; 
 Would thus requite his love with mortal hate, 
 To kill thy nephews with revenging sword, 1360 
 And massacre his subjects in such sort. 
 
 Aco. Aga, my father, traitorous Bajazet, 
 
 Detains the crown injuriously from me ; 
 Which I will have if all the world say nay. 
 I am not like the unmanured land, 
 Which answers not his carers' greedy mind ; 
 I sow not seeds upon the barren sand ; 
 A thousand ways can Acomat soon find, 
 To gain my will ; which if I cannot gain, 
 Then purple blood my angry hands shall stain. 
 
 Aga. [Ah] Acomat, yet learn by Selimus 1371 
 
 That hasty purposes have hated ends. 
 
 A co Tush, Aga, Selim was not wise enough, 
 To set upon the head at the first brunt ; 
 He should have done as I do mean to do ; 
 
The First Part of the 
 
 / Fill all the confines, with fire, sword, and blood, 
 Burn up the fields, and overthrow whole towns ; 
 And, when he had endamaged that way, 
 Then tear the old man piecemeal with my teeth, 
 And colour my strong hands with his gore-blood. 
 
 Aga. O see, my lord, how fell ambition 1381 
 
 Deceives your senses and bewitches you ; 
 Could you unkind perform so foul a deed, 
 As kill the man that first gave life to you ? 
 Do you not fear the people's adverse fame ? 
 
 Aco. It is the greatest glory of a king 
 
 When, though his subjects hate his wicked deeds, 
 Yet are they forc'd to bear them all with praise. 
 
 Aga. Whom fear constrains to praise their prince's 
 
 deeds, 
 That fear eternal hatred in them feeds. 1390 
 
 Aco. He knows not how to sway the kingly mace, 
 That loves to be great in his people's grace : 
 
 IThe surest ground for kings to build upon, 
 Is to be fear'd and curs'd of every one. 
 What, though the world of nations me hate ? 
 Hate is peculiar to a prince's state. 
 Aga. Where there 's no shame, no care of holy lav, 
 No faith, no justice, no integrity, 
 That state is full of mutability. 
 
 Aco. Bare faith, pure virtue, poor integrity, 1400 
 
 Are ornaments fit for a private man ; 
 Beseems a prince for to do all he can. 
 52 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 Aga. Yet know it is a sacrilegious will, 
 To slay thy father, were he ne'er so ill. 
 
 Aco. Tis lawful, gray-beard, for to do to him, 
 What ought not to be done unto a father. 
 Hath he not wip'd me from the Turkish crown ? 
 Preferr'd he not the stubborn janissaries, 
 And heard the Bashaws' stout petitions, 
 Before he would give ear to my request ? 1410 
 
 As sure as day, mine eyes shall ne'er taste sleep, 
 Before my sword have riven his perjur'd breast. 
 
 Aga. Ah, let me never live to see that day. 
 
 Aco. Yes, thou shalt live, but never see that day ; 
 Wanting the tapers that should give thee light . 
 
 \Pulls out his eyes. 
 Thou shalt not see so great felicity, 
 When I shall rend out Bajazet's dim eyes, 
 And by his death install myself a king. 
 
 Aga. Ah ! cruel tyrant and unmerciful, 1420 
 
 More bloody than the Anthropophagi, 
 That fill their hungry stomachs with man's flesh. 
 Thou shouldst have slain me, barbarous Acomat, 
 Not leave me in so comfortless a life ; 
 To live on earth, and never see the sun. 
 
 Aco. Nay, let him die that liveth at his ease ; 
 
 Death would a wretched caitiff greatly please. 
 
 Aga. And think'st thou then to escape unpunished ? 
 No, Acomat, though both mine eyes be gone, 
 Yet are my hands left on to murder thee. 1430 
 
 53 
 
The First Part of the 
 
 A co. 'Twas well remembered : Regan, cut them off. 
 
 [They cut off his hands and give them Acomat. 
 Now in that sort go tell thy emperor 
 That, if himself had but been in thy place, 
 I would have us'd him crueller than thee : 
 Here take thy hands, I know thou lov'st them well. 
 \Opens his bosom, and puts them in. 
 Which hand is this ? right ? or left ? canst thou tell ? 
 
 Aga. I know not which it is, but 'tis my hand. 
 
 But oh thou Supreme Architect of all, 1440 
 
 First mover of those tenfold crystal orbs, 
 
 Where all those moving and unmoving eyes 
 
 Behold Thy goodness everlastingly ; 
 
 See, unto Thee I lift these bloody arms : 
 
 For hands I have not for to lift to Thee ; 
 
 And, in Thy justice, dart Thy smouldring flame 
 
 Upon the head of cursed Acomat. 
 
 Oh cruel heavens and injurious fates ! 
 
 Even the last refuge of a wretched man 
 
 Is took from me : for how can Aga weep ? 1450 
 
 Or run a brinish shower of pearled tears, 
 
 Wanting the watery cisterns of his eyes ? 
 
 Come lead me back again to Bajazet, 
 
 The woefullest, and sadd'st embassadour. 
 
 That ever was dispatch'd to any king. 
 
 Aco. Why so, this music pleases Acomat. 
 And would I had my doting father here, 
 I would rip up his breast, and rend his heart ; 
 54 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 Into his bowels thrust my angry hands, 
 
 As willingly, and with as good a mind, 1460 
 
 As I could be the Turkish emperor. 
 
 And by the clear-declining vault of heaven, 
 
 Whither the souls of dying men do flee, 
 
 Either I mean to die the death myself, 
 
 Or make that old false traitor bleed his last. 
 
 For death no sorrow could unto me bring*? 
 
 So Acomat might die the Turkish king, f 
 
 [Exeunt all. 
 
 Enter Bajazet^ Mustafa, Cali, Hali> and Aga> led by a 
 soldier; who [shewn} kneeling before Bajazet, and 
 holding his legs shall say : 
 
 Aga. Is this the body of my sovereign? 1472 
 
 Are these the sacred pillars that support 
 The image of true magnanimity ? 
 Ah Bajazet ! thy son false Acomat 
 Is full resolv'd to take thy life from thee , 
 'Tis true ! 'tis true ! witness these handlers arms ! 
 Witness, these empty lodges of mine eyes ! 
 Witness, the gods that from the highest heaven 
 Beheld the tyrant with remorseless heart, 1480 
 
 Pull out mine eyes, and cut off my weak hands ! 
 Witness, the sun whose golden-coloured beams 
 Your eyes do see, out mine can ne'er behold ; 
 Witness, the earth, that sucked up my blood, 
 55 
 
The First Part of the 
 
 Streaming in rivers from my tronked arms ! 
 Witness, the present that he sends to thee ! 
 Open my bosom, there you shall it see. 
 
 \_Mustaffa opens his bosom and takes out his hands. 
 Those are the hands which Aga once did use 
 To toss the spear, and in a war-like gyre 1490 
 
 To hurtle my sharp sword about my head ; 
 These sends he to the woeful emperor, 
 With purpose so [to] cut thy hands from thee. 
 W T hy is my sovereign silent all this while ? 
 
 Baja. Ah, Aga, Bajazet fain would speak to thee, 
 But sudden sorrow eateth up my words. 
 Bajazet, Aga, fain would weep for thee, 
 But cruel sorrow drieth up my tears. 
 Bajazet, Aga, fain would die for thee, 
 But grief hath weakned my poor aged hands. 1500 
 How can he speak, whose tongue sorrow hath tied? 
 How can he mourn, that cannot shed a tear ? 
 How shall he live, that full of misery 
 Calleth for Death, which will not let him die ? 
 
 Mitst. Let women weep, let children pour forth tears, 
 And cowards spend the time in bootless moan. 
 We 3 11 load the earth with such a mighty host 
 Of janissaries, stern-born sons of Mars, 
 That Phoeb shall fly and hide him in the clouds 
 For<fear our javelins thrust him from his wain. 
 Old Aga was a prince among your lords, 1511 
 
 His counsels always were true oracles ; 
 
 56 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 And shall he thus unmanly be misus'd, 
 And he unpunished that did the deed ? 
 Shall Mahomet and poor Zonara's ghosts 
 And the good governor of Natolia 
 Wander in Stygian meadows unreveng'd ? 
 Good emperor stir up thy manly heart, 
 And send forth all thy warlike janissaries 
 To chastise that rebellious Acomat. 1520 
 
 Thou knowst we cannot fight without a guide, 
 And he must be one of the royal blood, 
 Sprung from the loins of mighty Ottoman ; 
 And who remains now, but young Selimus ? 
 So please your Grace to pardon his offence, 
 And make him captain of th 5 imperial host. 
 Baja. Ay, good Mustaffa, send for Selimus ; 
 So I may be reveng'd, I care not how ; 
 The worst that can befall me is but death ; 
 [ 7 Tis] that would end my woeful misery. 1530 
 
 Selimus, he must work me this good turn ; 
 I cannot kill myself, he '11 do J t for me. 
 Come, Aga, thou and I will weep the while : 
 Thou for thy eyes and loss of both thy hands, 
 I for the unkindness of my Acomat. \Exeunt all. 
 
 Enter Selimns, and a messenger with a letter from 
 Bajazet. 
 
 Sel. Will Fortune favour me yet once again ? 
 
 And will she thrust the cards into my hands ? 
 57 
 
The First Part of the 
 
 Well, if I chance but once to get the deck, 1540 
 
 To deal about and shuffle as I would ; 
 
 Let Selim never see the daylight spring, 
 
 Unless I shuffle out myself a king. 
 
 Friend, let me see thy letter once again, 
 
 That I may read these reconciling lines. 
 
 [Reads the letter. 
 
 Thou hast a pardon, Selim, granted thee. 
 Mustaffa and the forward janissaries 
 Have sued to thy father Bajazet, 
 That thou may'st be their captain-general 1550 
 
 Against th 3 attempts of soldan Acomat. 
 Why, that 's the thing that I requested most, 
 That I might once the imperial army lead ; 
 And since it 's offred me so willingly, 
 Beshrew me but I '11 take their courtesy. 
 Soft, let me see is there no policy 
 T' entrap poor Selimus, in this device ? 
 It may be that my father fears me yet, 
 Lest I should once again rise up in arms, 
 And like Antaeus quelled by Hercules, 1560 
 
 Gather new forces by my overthrow ; 
 And therefore sends for me under pretence 
 Of this, and that ; but when he hath me there, 
 He '11 make me sure for putting him in fear. 
 , Distrust is good when there 's cause of distrust : 
 Read it again, Jperchance thou dost mistake. 
 
 [Reads. 
 * 58 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 O ! here 's Mustaffa's signet set thereto ! 
 Then, Selim, cast all foolish fear aside, 
 For he 's a prince that favours thy estate, 1570 
 
 And hateth treason worse than death itself. 
 And hardly can I think he could be brought 
 If there were treason, to subscribe his name. 
 Come, friend, the cause requires we should be gone : 
 Now once again have at the Turkish throne. 
 
 \Exeunt both. 
 
 Enter Bajazet leading Aga^ Mustafa, Hali^ Calz, 
 Selinius, and the Janissaries., 
 
 Baja. Come, mournful Aga, come and sit by me, 
 
 Thou hast been sorely griev'd for Bajazet ; 1580 
 Good reason then that he should grieve for thee. 
 Give me thy arm ; though thou hast lost Ithy hands, 
 And liv'st as a poor exile in this light, 
 Yet hast thou won the heart of Bajazet. 
 
 Aga. Your Grace's words are very comfortable 
 And well can Aga bear his grievous loss, 
 Since it was for so good a prince's sake. 
 
 Sel. Father, if I may call thee by that name, 
 
 Whose life I aim'd at with rebellious sword, 
 In all humility thy reformed son 1 590 
 
 Offers himself into your Grace's hands, 
 And at your feet layeth his bloody sword, 
 Which he advanc'd against your Majesty. 
 59 
 
The First Part of the 
 
 If my offence do seem so odious 
 That I deserve not longer time to live, 
 Behold I open unto you my breast, 
 , Ready-prepared to die at your command. 
 But if repentance in unfeigned heart, 
 And sorrow for my grievous crime forepast, 
 May merit pardon at your princely hands ; 1600 
 Behold where poor inglorious Selimus 
 Upon his knees begs pardon of your Grace. 
 
 Baja. Stand up, my son, I joy to hear thee speak ; 
 But more, to hear thou art so well reclaim'd. 
 Thy crime was ne'er so odious unto me, 
 But thy reformed life and humble thoughts 
 Are thrice as pleasing to my aged spirit. 
 Selim, we here pronounce thee by our will, 
 Chief-general of the warlike janissaries : 
 Go lead them out against false Acomat, 1610 
 
 Which hath so grievously rebell'd 'gainst me. 
 Spare him not, Selim ; though he be my son, 
 Yet do I now clean disinherit him, 
 As common enemy to me and mine. 
 
 Sel. May Selim live to shew how dutiful 
 And loving he will be to Bajazet. 
 So now doth Fortune smile on me again, [Aside. 
 And in regard of former injuries, 
 Offers me millions of diadems : 
 I smile to see how that the good old man 1620 
 
 Thinks Selim's thoughts are brought to such an ebb 
 60 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 As he hath cast off all ambitious hope. 
 But soon shall that opinion be remov'd ; 
 For if I once get 'mongst the janissars, 
 Then on my head the golden crown shall sit. 
 Well, Bajazet, I fear me thou wilt grieve 
 That ever thou didst thy feigning son believe. 
 
 Exit Selim, with all the rest, save Bajazet and Aga. 
 
 Baja. Now, Aga, all the thoughts that troubled me. 
 
 Do rest within the centre of my heart ; 1630 
 
 And thou shalt shortly joy as much with me ; 
 Then Acomat, by Selim's consuming sword, 
 Shall leave that ghost which made thee losethy sight. 
 
 Aga. Ah Bajazet ! Aga looks not for revenge, 
 But will pour out his prayers to the heavens, 
 That Acomat may learn by Selimus, 
 To yield himself up to his father's grace. 
 [Sound within, long live Selimus Emperor of Turks. 
 
 Baja. How now, what sudden triumph have we here ? 
 
 Must. Ah gracious Lord ! the captains of the host, 1640 
 With one assent have crown'd prince Selimus ; 
 And here he comes with all his janissaries, 
 To crave his confirmation at thy hands. 
 
 Enter Call Bashaw, Selimus, Halt Bashaw, Sinam, 
 and the Janissaries. 
 
 Sinam. Bajazet, we the captains of thy host, 
 Knowing thy weak and too unwieldy age, 
 F 61 
 
The First Part of the 
 
 Unable is longer to govern us ; 
 
 Have chosen Selimus thy younger son 
 
 That he may be our leader and our guide, 1650 
 
 Against the Sophi and his Persians ; 
 
 'Gainst the victorious soldan Tonombey. 
 
 There wants but thy consent, which we will have, 
 
 Or hew thy body piece-meal with our swords. 
 
 Baja. Needs must I give, what is already gone. 
 
 [He takes off his crown. 
 Here Selimus, thy father Bajazet 
 Wearied with cares that wait upon a king, 
 Resigns the crown as willingly to thee, 
 As ere my father gave it unto me. 1 660 
 
 [Sets it on his head. 
 
 All. Long live Selimus Emperor of Turks ! 
 
 Baja. Live thou a long and a victorious reign, 
 And be triumpher of thine enemies. 
 Aga and I will to Dimoticum, 
 And live in peace the remnant of our days. 
 
 \Exit Bajazet and Aga. 
 
 Sel. Now sit I like the arm-strong son of Jove, 
 When, after he had all his monsters quell'd, 
 He was receiv'd in heaven 'mongst the gods, 1670 
 And had fair Hebe for his lovely bride. 
 As many labours Selimus hath had, 
 And now at length attained to the crown ; 
 This is my Hebe, and this is my heaven. 
 Bajazet goeth to Dimoticum, 
 62 
 
I UNIVERSITY 
 
 Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 And there he purposes to live at ease ; 
 
 But Selimus, as long as he is on earth, 
 
 Thou shalt not sleep in rest without some broil ; 
 
 For Bajazet is as unconstant as the wind: : 
 
 To make that sure I have a platform laid. 1680 
 
 Bajazet hath with him a cunning Jew, 
 
 Professing physic ; and so skill'd therein, 
 
 As if he had pow'r over life and death, 
 
 Withal, a man so stout and resolute, 
 
 That he will venture anything for gold. 
 
 This Jew with some intoxicated drink,^-n 
 
 Shall poison Bajazet and that blind lord ; 
 
 Then one of the Hydra's heads is clean cut off. 
 
 Go some and fetch [here] Abraham the Jew. 
 
 {Exit one for Abraham. 
 
 Corcut, thy pageant next is to be played ; 1691 
 
 For though he be a grave philosopher, 
 Given to read Mahomet's dread laws, 
 And Razin's toys, and Avicenna's drugs ; 
 Yet he may have a longing for the crown. 
 Besides, he may by devilish Negromancy 
 Procure my death, or work my overthrow : 
 The devil still is ready to do harm. 
 Hali, you and your brother presently 
 Shall with an army to Magnesia ; 1700 
 
 There you shall find the scholar at his book ; 
 And hear'st thou, Hali ? strangle him. 
 
 \Exeunt Hali and Cali. 
 63 
 
The First Part of the 
 
 Corcut once dead, then Acomat remains, 
 
 Whose death will make me certain of the crown. 
 
 These heads of Hydra are the principal ; 
 
 When these are off, some other will arise, 
 
 As Amurath and Alladin, sons to Acomat ; 
 
 My sister Solyma, Mustaifa's wife ; 
 
 All these shall suffer shipwreck on a shelf, 1710 
 
 Rather than Selim will be drowned himself. 
 
 Enter Abraham the Jew. 
 
 Jew, thou art welcome unto Selimus ; 
 I have a piece of service for you, sir, 
 But, on your life, be secret in the deed. 
 Get a strong poison, whose envenom'd taste 
 May take away the life of Bajazet, 
 Before he pass forth of Byzantium. 
 A bra. I warrant you, my gracious sovereign, 
 
 He shall be quickly sent unto his grave ; 1720 
 
 For I have potions of so strong a force, 
 That whosoever touches them shall die. 
 
 \Speaks aside. 
 And would your Grace would once but taste of 
 
 them, 
 
 I could as willingly afford them you, 
 As your aged father Bajazet. 
 My Lord, I am resolv'd to do the deed. 
 
 {Exit Abraham. 
 64 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 SeL So this is well : for I am none of those 
 
 That make a conscience for to kill a man. 1730 
 
 For nothing is more hurtful to a prince,N 
 
 Than to be scrupulous and religious. ^^ 
 
 I like Lysander's counsel passing well ; 
 
 ' If that I cannot speed with lion's force, 
 
 To clothe my complots in a fox's skin.' 
 
 For th' only things that wrought our empery, 
 
 Were opejuwrongs, and hidden treachery. 
 
 Oh ! th' are two wings wherewith I use to fly, 
 
 And soar above the common sort. 
 
 If any seek our wrongs to remedy, 1740 
 
 With these I take his meditation short ; 
 
 And one of these shall still maintain my cause, 
 
 Or fox's skin, or lion's rending paws. 
 
 \Exeunt all. 
 
 Enter Bajazet, Aa, in mourning cloaks, Abraham the 
 Jew with a cup. 
 
 Baja. Come, Aga, let us sit and mourn a while, 
 For Fortune never shew'd herself so cross 
 To any prince as to poor Bajazet. 
 That woeful emperor first of my name, 1750 
 
 Whom the Tartarians locked in a cage 
 Tt> be a spectacle to all the world, 
 Was ten times happier than I am. 
 For Tamberlaine the scourge of nations, 
 65 
 
The First Part of the 
 
 Was he that pull'd him from his kingdom so ; 
 But mine own sons expel me from the throne. 
 Ah ! where shall I begin to make my moan ? 
 Or what shall I first reckon in my plaint ? 
 From my youth up I have been drown'd in woe, 
 And to my latest hour I shall be so. 1760 
 
 You swelling seas of never-ceasing care, 
 Whose waves my weather-beaten ship do toss ; 
 Your boistrous billows too unruly are, 
 And threaten still my ruin and my loss : 
 Like hugy mountains do your waters rear 
 Their lofty tops, and my weak vessel cross. 
 Alas ! at length allay your stormy strife ; 
 And cruel wrath within me raging rife. 
 Or else my feeble bark cannot endure, 
 Your flashing buffets and outrageous blows : 1770 
 But while thy foamy flood doth it immure, 
 Shall soon be wrecked upon the sandy shallows. 
 Grief, my lewd boat-swain, stirreth nothing sure, 
 But without stars 'gainst tide and wind he rows, 
 And cares not though upon some rock we split : 
 A restless pilot for the charge unfit. 
 But out alas, the god that rules the seas, 
 And can alone this raging tempest stent, 
 Will never blow a gentle gale of ease, 
 But suffer my poor vessel to be rent. 1780 
 
 Then O thou blind procurer of mischance, 
 That stay'st thyself upon a turning wheel, 
 66 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 Thy cruel hand, even when thou wilt, enhance, 
 And pierce my poor heart with thy thrillant steel. 
 
 Aga. Cease, Bajazet, now it is Aga's turn ; 
 
 Rest thou awhile and gather up more tears, 
 
 The while poor Aga tells his tragedy. 
 
 When first my mother brought me to the world, 
 
 Some blazing comet ruled in the sky, 
 
 Portending miserable chance to me. 1790 
 
 My parents were but men of poor estate ; 
 
 And happy yet had wretched Aga been, 
 
 If Bajazet had not exalted him. 
 
 Poor Aga, had it not been much more fair, 
 
 T J have died among the cruel Persians, 
 
 Than thus at home by barbarous tyranny 
 
 To live and never see the cheerful day, 
 
 And to want hands wherewith to feel the way ? 
 
 Baja. Leave weeping, Aga, we have wept enough ; 
 
 Now Bajazet will ban another while, 1800 
 
 And utter curses to the concave sky 
 Which may infect the regions of the air, 
 And bring a general plague on all the world. 
 'Night ! thou most ancient grand-mother of all, 
 IFirst made by Jove, for rest and quiet sleep, 
 When cheerful day is gone from th' earth's wide 
 
 hall ; 
 
 Henceforth thy mantle in black Lethe steep, 
 And clothe the world in darkness infernal. 
 Suffer not once the joyful daylight peep, 
 67 
 
The First Part of the 
 
 But let thy pitchy steeds aye draw thy wain, 1810 
 
 And coal-black Silence in the world still reign. 
 
 Curse on my parents that first brought me up, 
 
 And on the cradle wherein I was rock'd ! 
 
 Curse on the day when first I was created 
 
 To chief commander of all Asia ! 
 
 Curse on my sons that drive me to this grief ! 
 
 Curse on myself that can find no relief ! 
 
 And curse on him, an everlasting curse, 
 
 That quench'd those lamps of ever-burning light, 
 
 And took away my Aga's warlike hands ! 1820 
 
 And curse on all things under the wide sky : 
 
 Ah Aga, I have cursed my stomach dry. 
 
 A bra. I have a drink, my lords, of noble worth, 
 Which soon will calm your stormy passions, 
 And glad your heart, if so you please to taste it. 
 
 Baja. And who art thou that thus dost pity us ? 
 
 Abra. Your highness' humble servant Abraham. 
 
 Baja. Abraham, sit down and drink to Bajazet. 
 
 Abra. Faith I am old as well as Bajazet, 
 
 And have not many months to live on earth ; 1830 
 ; I care not much to end my life with him. 
 Here 's to you, lordings, with a full carouse. 
 
 [He drinks. 
 
 Baja. Here, Aga, woeful Bajazet drinks to thee : 
 Abraham, hold the cup to him while he drinks. 
 
 Abra. Now know, old lords, that you have drank your 
 last; 
 
 68 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 This was a potion which I did prepare 
 
 To poison you, by Selimus' instigation, 
 
 And now it is dispersed through my bones ; 
 
 And glad I am that such companions 1840 
 
 Shall go with me down to Proserpina. [He dies. 
 
 Baja. Ah wicked Jew ! ah cursed Selimus ! 
 How have the Destins dealt with Bajazet ! 
 That none should cause my death but mine own 
 
 son : 
 
 Had Ismael and his warlike Persians 
 Pierced my body with their iron spears, 
 Or had the strong unconquer'd Tonombey 
 With his Egyptians took me prisoner, 
 And sent me with his valiant Mamelukes, 1850 
 
 To be prey unto the crocodilus ; 
 It never would have griev'd me half so much. 
 But welcome Death, into whose calm port 
 My sorrow-beaten soul joys to arrive. 
 And now farewell, my disobedient sons ! 
 Unnatural sons, unworthy of that name. 
 Farewell sweet life ! and Aga now farewell, 
 Till we shall meet in the Elysian fields. 
 
 [He dies. 
 
 Aga. What greater grief had mournful Priamus. 1860 
 Than that he liv'd to see his Hector die, 
 His city burnt down by revenging flames, 
 And poor Polites slain before his face ? 
 Aga, thy grief is matchable to his, 
 69 
 
The First Part of the 
 
 For I have liv'd to see my sovereign's death ; 
 
 Yet glad that I must breathe my last with him. 
 
 And now farewell, sweet light, which my poor eyes 
 
 These twice six months never did behold : 
 
 Aga will follow noble Bajazet, 
 
 And beg a boon of lovely Proserpine, 1870 
 
 That he and I may in the mournful fields 
 
 Still weep and wail our strange calamities. [He dies. 
 
 Enter Bullithrumble^ the shepherd running in haste, and 
 toughing to himself. 
 
 Bulli. Ha ! ha ! ha ! married, quoth you ? Marry and 
 Bullithrumble were to begin the world again, I 
 would set a tap abroach, and not live in daily fear 
 of the breach of my wife's ten-commandments. 
 I '11 tell you what, I thought myself as proper a 
 fellow at wasters, as any in all our village, and yet 
 when my wife begins to plays clubs trump with me, 
 I am fain to sing : iSSi 
 
 What hap had I to marry a shrow, 
 For she hath given me many a blow ; 
 And how to please her alas I do not know. 
 
 From morn to even, her tongue ne'er lies, 
 Sometime she laughs, sometime she cries, 
 And I can scarce keep her talents from my eyes. 
 
 When from abroad I do come in, 
 Sir knave, she cries, where have you bin? 
 Thus please, or displease, she lays it on my skin. 1890 
 70 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 Then do I crouch, then do I kneel, 
 
 And wish my cap were furr'd with steel, 
 
 To bear the blows that my poor head doth feel. 
 
 But our sir John, beshrew thy heart, 
 For thou hast join'd us, we cannot part, 
 And I poor fool must ever bear the smart. 
 
 I '11 tell you what, this morning while I was making 
 me ready, she came with a holly wand, and so 
 blest my shoulders that I was fain to run through 
 a whole alphabet of faces : now at the last, seeing 
 she was so cramuk with me, I began to swear all 
 the criss cross row over, beginning at great A 9 
 little a, till I came to w, x, y. And snatching up 
 my sheephook, and my bottle and my bag, like a 
 desperate fellow ran away, and here now I '11 sit 
 down and eat my meat. 
 
 While he is eating^ enter Corcut and his Page^ disguised 
 like mourners. 
 
 Cor. O hateful hellish snake of Tartary, 
 
 That feedest on the soul of noblest men, 1910 
 
 Damned Ambition, cause of all misery ! 
 
 Why dost thou creep from out thy loathsome fen, 
 
 And with thy poison animatest friends, 
 
 And gape and long one for the other's ends ? 
 
 Selimus, could thou not content thy mind 
 
 With the possession of the sacred throne, 
 
The First Part of the 
 
 Which thou didst get by father's death unkind ; 
 
 Whose poisoned ghost before high God doth groan ? 
 
 But thou must seek poor Corcut's overthrow, 
 
 That never injured thee, so, nor so? 1920 
 
 Old Hali's sons with two great companies 
 
 Of barded horse, were sent from Selimus, 
 
 To take me prisoner in Magnesia ; 
 
 And death I am sure should have befel to me, 
 
 If they had once but set their eyes on me. 
 
 So thus disguised, my poor page and I, 
 
 Fled fast to Smyrna ; where in a dark cave 
 
 We meant t' await the arrival of some ship 
 
 That might transfreight us safely unto Rhodes. 
 
 But see how Fortune cross'd my enterprise. 1930 
 
 Bostangi Bashaw, Selim's son-in-law, 
 
 Kept all the sea-coast with his brigandines, 
 
 That if we had but ventured on the sea, 
 
 I presently had been his prisoner. 
 
 These two days have we kept us in the cave, 
 
 Eating such herbs as the ground did afford ; 
 
 And now through hunger are we both constraint 
 
 Like fearful snakes to creep out step by step, 
 
 And see if we may get us any food. 
 
 And in good time, see yonder sits a man, 1940 
 
 Spreading a hungry dinner on the grass. 
 
 Bullithrumble spies them^ and puts up his meat. 
 
 Built. These are some felonians, that seek to rob me ; 
 72 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 well, I '11 make myself a good deal valianter than I 
 am indeed, and if they will needs creep into kindred 
 with me, I '11 betake me to my old occupation, and 
 run away. 
 
 Corcut. Hail, groom ! 1948 
 
 Bulli. Good Lord, sir, you are deceived, my name is 
 master Bullithrumble : this is some cousening coni- 
 catching crosbiter, that would fain persuade me he 
 knows me, and so under a 7 tence of familiarity and 
 acquaintance, uncle me of victuals. 
 
 Corcut. Then, Bullithrumble, if that be thy name : 
 
 Bulli. My name, sir ? oh Lord, yes, and if you will not 
 believe me, I will bring my godfathers and god- 
 mothers, and they shall swear it upon the font-stone, 
 and upon the church-book too, where it is written. 
 Mass, I think he be some Justice of peace, ad 
 quorum, and omnium populorum^ how he 'samines 
 me : a Christian, yes, marry am I, sir, yes verily and 
 do believe : and it please you I '11 go forward in my 
 catechism. 1963 
 
 Corcut. Then, Bullithrumble, by that blessed Christ, 
 And by the tomb where He was buried, 
 By sovereign hope which thou conceiv'st in Him, 
 Whom dead, as everlasting thou adorest 
 
 Built. O Lord help me, I shall be torn in pieces with 
 devils and goblins. 
 
 Corcut. By all the joys thou hop'st to have in heaven, 
 Give some meat to poor hunger-starved men. 1971 
 73 
 
The First Part of the 
 
 Bulli. Oh, these are as a man should say beggars : 
 Now will I be as stately to them as if I were master 
 Pigwiggen our constable : well, sirs, come before me, 
 tell me if I should entertain you, would you not steal ? 
 
 Page. If we did mean so, sir, we would not make your 
 worship acquainted with it. 
 
 Bulli. A good well-nutrimented lad : well, if you will 
 keep my sheep truly and honestly, keeping your 
 hands from lying and slandering, and your tongues 
 from picking and stealing, you shall be master 
 Bullithrumble's servitors. 1983 
 
 Corcut. With all our hearts. 
 
 Bulli. Then come on and follow me ; we will have a 
 hog's cheek, and a dish of tripes, and a society of 
 puddings, and to field : a society of puddings ? 
 did you mark that well-used metaphor? Another 
 would have said a company of puddings : if you dwell 
 with me long, sirs, I shall make you as eloquent as 
 our parson himself. 1990 
 
 \Exeunt Corcut and Bullithrumble. 
 
 Page. Now is the time when I may be enrich'd : 
 The brethren that were sent by Selimus 
 To take my lord, prince Corcut, prisoner, 
 Finding him fled, proposed large rewards 
 To them that could declare where he remains : 
 Faith, I '11 to them and get the portagues, 
 Though by the bargain Corcut lose his head. 
 
 {Exit Page. 
 74 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 Enter Selimus, Sinam Bashaw, the corpses of Bajazet 
 and Aga with funeral pomp, Mustaffa, and the 
 Janissaries. 
 
 Sel. Why, thus must Selim blind his subjects' eyes, 
 
 And strain his own to weep for Bajazet ! 2004 
 
 They will not dream [that] I made him away 
 
 When thus they see me with religious pomp 
 
 To celebrate his tomb-black mortuary. [To himself. 
 
 And though my heart, cast in an iron mould 
 
 Cannot admit the smallest dram of grief ; 
 
 Yet, that I may be thought to love him well, 2010 
 
 I '11 mourn in shew, though I rejoice in deed. 
 
 [ To the corses. 
 
 Thus, after he has five long ages liv'd, 
 The sacred phoenix of Arabia 
 Loadeth his wings with precious perfumes, 
 And on the altar of the golden sun 
 Offers himself a grateful sacrifice. 
 Long didst thou live, triumphant Bajazet, 
 A fear unto thy greatest enemies ; 
 And now that Death, the conqueror of kings, 2020 
 Dislodged hath thy never-dying soul, 
 To flee unto the heavens from whence she came, 
 And leave her frail, earthly pavilion 
 Thy body in this ancient monument, 
 Where our great predecessors sleep in rest ; 
 
 \_Suppose the Temple of Mahomet. 
 75 
 
The First Part of the 
 
 Thy woeful son Selimus thus doth place. 
 
 Thou wert the Phoenix of this age of ours, 
 
 And diedst wrapped in the sweet perfumes 
 
 Of thy magnific deeds ^ whose lasting praise 2030 
 
 Mounteth to highest heaven with golden wings. 
 
 Princes, come bear your emperor company 
 
 In, till the days of mourning be o'er-past, 
 
 And then we mean to rouse false Acomat 
 
 And cast him forth of Macedonia. 
 
 \Exeunt all. 
 
 Enter Hali^ Cali, Corcufs Page, and one or two 
 soldiers. 
 
 Page. My lords, if I bring you not where Corcut is, 
 then let me be hanged, but if I deliver him up 
 into your hands, then let me have the reward due 
 to so good a deed. 2042 
 
 Hali. Page, if thou shew us where thy master is, 
 Be sure thou shalt be honoured for the deed, 
 And high exalted above other men. 
 
 Enter Corcut and Bullithrumble. 
 
 Page. That same is he, that in disguised robes, 
 Accompanies yon shepherd to the fields. 
 
 Corcut. The sweet content that country life affords, 
 
 Passeth the royal pleasures of a King ; 2050 
 
 For there our joys are interlaced with fears, 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 But here no fear nor care is harboured, 
 
 But a sweet calm of a most quiet state. 
 
 Ah Corcut ! would thy brother Selimus 
 
 But let thee live, here shouldst thou spend thy life ; 
 
 Feeding thy sheep among these grassy lands : 
 
 But sure I wonder where my page is gone. 
 
 Halt. Corcut. 
 
 Corcut. Ay me, who nameth me ? 
 
 Halt. Hali, the governor of Magnesia. 2060 
 
 Poor prince, thou thoughtest in these disguised 
 
 weeds, 
 
 To mask unseen ; and happily thou mightst, 
 But that thy page betrayed thee to us. 
 And be not wrath with us, unhappy prince, 
 If we do what our sovereign commands : 
 'Tis for thy death that Selim sends for thee. 
 
 Cor. Thus I like poor Amphiaraus, sought 
 By hiding my estate in shepherd's coat 
 T' escape the angry wrath of Selimus. 
 But, as his wife false Eriphyle did 2070 
 
 Betray his safety for a chain of gold, 
 So my false page hath vilely dealt with me ; 
 Pray God that thou mayst prosper so as she. 
 Hali, I know thou sorrowest for my case, 
 But it is bootless ; come and let us go, 
 Corcut is ready, since it must be so. 
 
 Call. Shepherd. 
 
 BullL That ; s my profession, sir. 
 G 77 
 
The First Part of the 
 
 Cali. Come, you must go with us. 2079 
 
 Built. Who I ? Alas, sir, I have a wife and seventeen 
 cradles rocking, two ploughs going, two barns fill- 
 ing, and a great herd of beasts feeding ; and you 
 should utterly undo me, to take me to such a great 
 charge. 
 
 Call. Well, there is no remedy. 
 
 \Exeunt all, but Bullithrumble stealing 
 from them closely away. 
 
 Bulli. The more's the pity. Go with you, quoth he, 
 marry that had been the way to preferment down 
 Holborn, up Tyburn : well, I '11 keep my best joint 
 from the strappado as well as I can hereafter, I '11 
 have no more servants. \_Exit running away. 
 
 Enter Selimus, Sinam Bashaw, Mustafa, 
 and the Janissaries. 
 
 Sel. Sinam, we hear our brother Acomat 
 Is fled away from Macedonia, 
 To ask for aid of Persian Ismael, 
 And the Egyptian solda'n our chief foes. 
 
 Sinam. Herein, my lord, I like his enterprise, 
 
 For if they give him aid, as sure they will, 2100 
 Being your highness' vowed enemies, 
 You shall have just cause for to war on them, 
 For giving succour 'gainst you, to your foe. 
 You know they are two mighty potentates, 
 78 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 And may be hurtful neighbours to your Grace; 
 And to enrich the Turkish diadem, 
 With two so worthy kingdoms as they are, 
 Would be eternal glory to your name. 
 SeL By heaven, Sinam, th j art a warrior, 
 
 And worthy councillor unto a King. 2110 
 
 Sound within. Enter Call and Hali> with Corcut 
 and his Page. 
 
 How now, what news ? 
 Cali. My gracious Lord, we here present to you 
 
 Your brother Corcut ; whom in Smyrna coasts, 
 
 Feeding a flock of sheep upon a down, 
 
 His traitrous page betrayed to our hands. 
 SeL Thanks, ye bold brethren ; but for that false part 
 
 Let the vile page be famished to death. 
 Corcut. Selim, in this I see thou art a prince, 2120 
 
 To punish treason with condign re\vard. 
 SeL O sir ! I love the fruit that treason brings, 
 
 But those that are the traitors, them I hate. 
 
 But Corcut, could not your philosophy 
 
 Keep you safe from my Janissaries' hands. 
 
 We thought you had old Gyges' wondrous ring, 
 
 That so you were invisible to us. 
 Cor. Selim, thou deal'st unkindly with thy brother, 
 
 To seek my death, and make a jest of me. 
 
 Upbraid'st thou me with my philosophy? 2130 
 
 Why, this I learn'd by studying learned arts, 
 79 
 
The First Part of the 
 
 That I can bear my fortune as it falls, 
 And that I fear no whit thy cruelty ; 
 Since thou wilt deal no otherwise with me 
 Than thou hast dealt with aged Bajazet. 
 
 Sel. By heavens, Corcut, thou shall surely die, 
 For slandering Selim with my father's death. 
 
 Cor. Then let me freely speak my mind this once, 
 For thou shalt never hear me speak again. 
 
 Sel. Nay, we can give such losers leave to speak. 2140 
 
 Cor. Then, Selim, hear thy brother's dying words, 
 And mark them well ; for, ere thou die thyself, 
 Thou shalt perceive all things will come to pass, 
 That Corcut doth divine before his death. 
 Since my vain flight from fair Magnesia, 
 Selim, I have convers'd with Christians, 
 And learn'd of them the way to save my soul, 
 And please the anger of the highest God. 
 'Tis He that made this pure chrystaline vault 
 Which hangeth over our unhappy heads ; 2150 
 From thence He doth behold each sinner's fault; 
 And, though our sins under our feet He treads, 
 And for a while seem for to wink at us, 
 It is to recal us from our [ill] ways. 
 But if we do, like head-strong sons, neglect 
 To hearken to our loving Father's voice ; 
 Then in His anger will He us reject, 
 And give us over to our wicked choice. 
 Selim, before His dreadful majesty, 
 80 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 There lies a book written with bloody lines, 
 
 Where our offences all are registred ; 
 
 Which if we do not hastily repent, 
 
 We are reserved to lasting punishment. 
 
 Thou, wretched Selimus, hast greatest need 
 
 To ponder these things in thy secret thoughts ; 
 
 If thou consider what strange massacres 
 
 And cruel murders thou hast caus'd be done. 
 
 Think on the death of woful Bajazet : 
 
 Doth not his ghost still haunt thee for revenge ? 2170 
 
 Selim, in Chiurlu didst thou set upon 
 
 Our aged father in his sudden flight ; 
 
 In Chiurlu shalt thou die a grievous death. 
 
 And if thou wilt not change thy greedy mind, 
 
 Thy soul shall be tormented in dark hell ; 
 
 Where woe, and woe, and never-ceasing woe, 
 
 Shall sound about thy ever-damned soul. 
 
 Now, Selim, I have spoken, let me die : 
 
 I never will entreat thee for my life. 
 
 Selim, farewell : thou God of Christians, 2180 
 
 Receive my dying soul into thy hands. 
 
 [Strangles him. 
 
 Sel. What, is he dead ? Then Selimus is safe 
 And hath no more co-rivals in the crown. 
 For, as for Acomat, he soon shall see 
 His Persian aid cannot save him from me. 
 Now, Sinam, march to fair Amasia's walls, 
 Where Acomat's stout Queen immures herself, 
 Si 
 
The First Part of the 
 
 And girt the city with a warlike siege ; 
 
 For since her husband is my enemy, 2190 
 
 I see no cause why she should be my friend. 
 
 They say young Amurath and Alladin, 
 
 Her bastard brood, are come to succour her. 
 
 But I'll prevent this their officiousness, 
 
 And send their souls down to their grandfather. 
 
 Mustaffa, you shall keep Byzantium, 
 
 While I and Sinam girt Amasia. 
 
 \Exit Selimus, Sinam, Janissaries^ all save one. 
 Must. It grieves my soul that Bajazet's fair line, 
 
 Should be eclipsed thus by Selimus ; 2200 
 
 Whose cruel soul will never be at rest 
 
 Till none remain of Ottoman's fair race 
 
 But he himself ; yet for old Bajazet 
 
 Loved Mustaffa dear unto his death, 
 
 I will show mercy unto his family. 
 
 Go, sirra, post to Acomat's young sons, 
 
 And bid them as they mean to save their lives, 
 
 To fly in haste from fair Amasia, 
 
 Lest cruel Selim put them to the sword. 
 
 [Exit one to Amurath and Alladin. 
 And now, Mustaffa, prepare thou thy neck, 221 1 
 For thou art next to die by Selim's hands. 
 Stern Sinam Bashaw grudgeth still at thee, 
 And crabbed Hali stormeth at thy life ; 
 All repine that thou art honour'd so, 
 To be the brother of their emperor. 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 Enter Solyma. 
 
 But wherefore comes my lovely Solyma ? 
 
 Soly. Mustaffa, I am come to seek thee out ; 
 
 If ever thy distressed Solyma 2220 
 
 Found grace and favour in thy manly heart, 
 
 Fly hence with me unto some desert land ; 
 
 For if we tarry here we are but dead. 
 
 This night, when fair Lucina's shining wain 
 
 Was past the chair of bright Cassiopey, 
 
 A fearful vision appear'd to me. 
 
 Methought, Mustaffa, I beheld thy neck 
 
 So often folded in my loving arms, 
 
 In foul disgrace of Bashaw's fair degree, 
 
 With a vile halter basely compassed ; 2230 
 
 And, while I pour'd my tears on thy dead corpse, 
 
 A greedy lion with wide-gaping throat 
 
 Seiz'd on my trembling body with his feet, 
 
 And in a moment rent me all to nought : 
 
 Fly, sweet Mustaffa, or we be but dead. 
 
 Must. Why should we fly, beauteous Solyma, 
 Mov'd by a vain and a fantastic dream ? 
 Or if we did fly, whither should we fly ? 
 If to the farthest part of Asia, 
 
 Know'st thou not, Solyma, kings have long hands ? 
 Come, come, my joy, return again with me, 2241 
 And banish hence these melancholy thoughts. 
 
 [Exeunt. 
 
 83 
 
The First Part of the 
 
 Enter Alladin, Amuratk, the messenger. 
 
 Alia. Messenger, is it true that Selimus 
 
 Is not far hence encamped with his host ? 
 And means he to disjoin the hapless sons 
 From helping our distressed mother's town ? 
 
 Mess. J Tis true, my lord, and if you love your lives 
 
 Fly from the bounds of his dominions ; 2250 
 
 For he, you know, is most unmerciful. 
 
 Amur. Here, messenger, take this for thy reward. 
 
 \Exit Messenger. 
 
 But we, sweet Alladin, let us depart, 
 Now in the quiet silence of the night ; 
 That, ere the windows of the Morn be ope, 
 We may be far enough from Selimus. 
 I ; 11 to Egyptus. 
 
 Alia. I to Persia. [Exeunt. 
 
 Enter Selimus, Sinam, Hali, Cali, Janissaries. 
 
 Sel. But is it certain, Hali, they are gone ? 2261 
 
 And that Mustaffa moved them to fly ? 
 
 Hali. Certain, my lord ; I met the messenger 
 As he returned from young Alladin ; 
 And learned of them, Mustaffa was the man 
 That certified the princes of your will. 
 
 Sel. It is enough : Mustaffa shall aby 
 At a dear price his pitiful intent. 
 Hali, go fetch Mustaffa and his wife ; [Exit Halt. 
 84 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 For though she be sister to Selimus, 2270 
 
 Yet loves she him better than Selimus. 
 
 So that if he do die at our command, 
 
 And she should live, soon would she work a mean 
 
 To work revenge for her Mustaffa's death. 
 
 Enter Hali^ Mustafa and Solyma, 
 
 False of thy faith, and traitor to thy king, 
 Did we so highly alway honour thee, 
 And dost thou thus requite our love with treason ? 
 For why shotildst thou send to young Alladin, 
 And Amurath, the sons of Acomat, 2280 
 
 To give them notice of our secrecies, 
 Knowing they were my vowed enemies ? 
 Must. I do not seek to lessen my offence 
 Great Selimus, but truly do protest 
 I did it not for hatred of your Grace, 
 So help me God, and holy Mahomet ; 
 But for I griev'd to see the famous stock 
 Of worthy Bajazet fall to decay ; 
 Therefore, I sent the princes both away. 
 Your highness knows Mustaffa was the man 2290 
 That sav'd you in the battle of Churlu, 
 When I and all the warlike janissaries 
 Had hedg'd your person in a dangerous ring. 
 Yet I took pity on your danger there, 
 And made a way for you to 'scape by flight. 
 But those your Bashaws have incensed you, 
 85 
 
The First Part of the 
 
 Repining at Mustaffa's dignity. 
 
 Stern Sinam grinds his angry teeth at me, 
 
 Old Hali's sons do bend their brows at me, 
 
 And are aggrieved that Mustaffa hath 2300 
 
 Showed himself a better man than they. 
 
 And yet the janissaries mourn for me ; 
 
 They know Mustaffa never proved false : 
 
 Ay, I have been as true to Selimus 
 
 As ever subject to his sovereign ; 
 
 So help me God, and holy Mahomet ! 
 Sel. You did it not because you hated us, , 
 
 But for you lov'd the sons of Acomat. 
 
 Sinam, I charge thee quickly strangle him ; 
 
 He loves not me that loves mine enemies. 2310 
 
 As for your holy protestation, 
 
 It cannot enter into Selim's ears : 
 
 For why, Mustaffa ? every merchant-man 
 
 Will praise his own ware be it ne'er so bad. 
 Soly. For Solyma's sake, mighty Selimus, 
 
 Spare my Mustaffa's life, and let me die ; 
 
 Or if thou wilt not be so gracious, 
 
 Yet let me die before I see his death. 
 Sel Nay, Solyma, your self shall also die, 
 
 Because you may be in the selfsame fault. 2320 
 
 Why stay'st thou, Sinam ? strangle him I say. 
 
 [ ..." [Smam strangles him. 
 Soly. Ah Selimus ! he made thee emperor, 
 
 And wilt thou thus requite his benefits ? 
 86 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 Thou art a cruel tiger and no man, 
 That couldst endure to see before thy face 
 So brave a man as my Mustaffa was 
 Cruelly strangled for so small a fault. 
 SeL Thou shalt not live after him, Solyma. 
 
 'Twere pity thou shouldst want the company 2330 
 
 Of thy dear husband : Sinam, strangle her : 
 
 And now to fair Amasia let us march. 
 
 Acomat's wife, and her unmanly host, 
 
 Will not be able to endure our sight, 
 
 Much less make strong resistance in hard fight. 
 
 \Exeunt. 
 
 Enter Acomat^ Tonombey, Vizier , Regan, 
 and their soldiers. 
 
 A co. Welcome, my lords, into my native soil ; 
 
 The crown whereof by right is due to me, 2340 
 
 Though Selim by the janissaries choice, 
 
 Through usurpation keep the same from me. 
 
 You know contrary to my father's mind, 
 
 He was enthronized by the Bashaws' will, 
 
 And, after his installing, wickedly 
 
 By poison made good Bajazet to die. 
 
 And strangled Corcut, and exiled me. 
 
 These injuries we come for to revenge, 
 
 And raise his siege from fair Amasia walls. 
 
 Ton. Prince of Amasia, and the rightful heir 
 Unto the mighty Turkish diadem ; 
 $7 
 
The First Part of the 
 
 With willing heart great Tonombey hath left 
 Egyptian Nilus and my father's court, 
 To aid thee in thy undertaken war ; 
 And by the great Usan-Cassano's ghost, 
 Companion unto mighty Tamberlaine, 
 From whom my father lineally descends ; 
 Fortune shall shew herself too cross to me, 
 But we will thrust Selimus from his throne, 
 And re-vest Acomat in the empery. 2360 
 
 Aco. Thanks to thee, uncontrolled Tonombey ! 
 But let us haste us to Amasia, 
 To succour my besieged citizens. 
 None but my queen is overseer there, 
 And too too weak is all her policy, 
 Against so great a foe as Selimus. \Excunt all. 
 
 Enter Selimus , Sincim, Hali^ Cali^ and the Janissaries, 
 
 Sel. Summon a parley, sirs, that we may know 
 
 Whether these mushrooms here will yield or no. 
 
 A parley : Queen of Amasia and her soldiers on 
 the walls. 
 
 Queen. What cravest thou, thou bloodthirsty parricide ? 
 Is 't not enough that thou hast foully slain 2373 
 Thy loving father, noble Bajazet ? 
 And strangled Corcut, thine unhappy brother ? 
 Slain brave Mustaffa? and fair Solyma? 
 88 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 Because they favoured my unhappy sons, 
 But thou must yet seek for more massacres ? 
 Go, wash thy guilty hands in luke-warm blood ; 
 Enrich thy soldiers with robberies ; 2380 
 
 Yet do the heavens still bear an equal eye, 
 And vengeance follows thee even at the heels. 
 
 Sel. Queen of Amasia, wilt thou yield thyself? 
 
 Queen. First shall the overflowing Euripus 
 Of swift Eubcea stop his restless course, 
 AndPhceb's bright globe bring the day from the West, 
 And quench his hot flames in the Eastern sea. 
 The bloody sword, ungracious Selimus, 
 Sheath'd in the bowels of thy dearest friend ; 
 Thy wicked guard which still attends on thee, 2390 
 Fleshing themselves in murder, lust, and rape ; 
 What hope of favour ? what security ? 
 Rather what death do they not promise me ? 
 Then think not, Selimus, that we will yield, 
 But look for stronger resistance at our hands. 
 
 Sel. Why then, you never-daunted janissaries, 
 
 Advance your shields and uncontrolled spears ; 
 Your conquering hands in foemen's blood embay, 
 For Selimus himself will lead the way. 
 
 [Alarum, beats them off the walls. Alarum. 
 
 Enter Selimus, Sinam, Hali, Cali, Janissaries with 
 Acomafs Queen prisoner. 
 
 Sel. Now, sturdy dame, where are your men of war 
 89 
 
The First Part of the 
 
 To guard your person from my angry sword? 2404 
 
 What ? though [you] brav'd us on your city- walls, 
 
 Like to that Amazonian Menalip, 
 
 Leaving the banks of swift-stream'd Thermodon 
 
 To challenge combat with great Hercules ; 
 
 Yet Selimus hath plucked your haughty plumes ; 
 
 Nor can your spouse rebellious Acomat, 2410 
 
 Nor Alladin, nor Amurath your sons, 
 
 Deliver you from our victorious hands. 
 
 Queen. Selim, I scorn thy threatnings as thy self; 
 And though ill hap hath given me to thy hands, 
 Yet will I never beg my life of thee. 
 Fortune may chance to frown as much on thee ; 
 And Acomat whom thou dost scorn so much, 
 May take thy base Tartarian concubine, 
 x As well as thou hast took his loyal queen. 
 
 Thou hast not Fortune tied in a chain, 2420 
 
 Nor dost thou like a wary pilot sit, 
 And wisely stir this all-containing barge. 
 Thou art a man as those whom thou hast slain, 
 And some of them were better far than thou. 
 
 Sel. Strangle her, Hali, let her scold no more. 
 Now let us march to meet with Acomat ; 
 He brings with him that great Egyptain bug, 
 Strong Tonombey, Usan-Cassano's son. 
 But we shall soon with our fine-tempered swords 
 Engrave our prowess on their burganets ; 2430 
 
 Were they as mighty and as fell of force 
 90 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 As those old earth-bred brethren, which once 
 Heap'd hill on hill to scale the starry sky, 
 When Briareus, arm'd with a hundreth hands, 
 Flung forth a hundreth mountains at great Jove ; 
 And when the monstrous giant Monichus 
 Hurled mount Olympus at great Mars his targe, 
 And darted cedars at Minerva's shield. 
 
 \Exeunt all. 
 
 Alarum. Enter Selimus, Sinam, Cali, Halt, and the 
 Janissaries, at one door, and Acomat, Tonombey, 
 Regan, Vizier, and their soldiers at another. 
 
 Sel. What, are the urchins crept out of their dens, 2443 
 Under the conduct of this porcupine? 
 Dost thou not tremble, Acomat, at us, 
 To see how courage masketh in our looks, 
 And white-wing'd victory sits on our swords ? 
 Captain of Egypt, thou that vaunt'st thyself 
 Sprung from great Tamberlaine the Scythian thief, 
 Who bade thee enterprise this bold attempt, 2450 
 To set thy feet within the Turkish confines, 
 Or lift thy hand against our majesty ? 
 
 A co. Brother of Trebizond, your squared words 
 
 And broad-mouth'd terms can never conquer us. 
 We come resolv'd to pull the Turkish crown, 
 Which thou dost wrongfully detain from me, 
 By conquering sword, from off thy coward crest. 
 91 
 
The First Part of the 
 
 Sel. Acomat, sith the quarrel toucheth none 
 
 But thee and me, I dare, and challenge thee. 
 
 Ton. Should he accept the combat of a boy ? 2460 
 
 Whose unripe years and far unriper wit, 
 Like to the bold fool-hardy Phaeton 
 That sought to rule the chariot of the sun, 
 Hath mov'd thee t 3 undertake an empery. 
 
 Sel. Thou that resolvest in peremptory terms 
 
 To call him boy that scorns to cope with thee 
 (But thou canst better use thy bragging blade, 
 Than thou canst rule thy overflowing tongue :) 
 Soon shalt thou know that Selim's mighty arm 
 Is able to overthrow poor Tonombey. 2470 
 
 Alarum. Tonombey beats Hali and Call in. Selim beats 
 Tonombey in. Alarum. Enter Tonombey. 
 
 Ton. The field is lost, and Acomat is taken : 
 
 Ah Tonombey, how canst thou shew thy face 
 To thy victorious sire, thus conquered ?, 
 I A matchless knight is warlike Selimusy 
 And, like a shepherd 'mongst a swarm 2 of gnats, 
 Dings down the flying Persians with their swords. 
 Twice I encountred with him, hand to hand, 
 And twice returned foiled and asham'd. 2480 
 
 For never yet, since I could manage arms, 
 Could any match with mighty Tonombey 
 But this heroic Emperor Selimus. 
 92 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 Why stand I still, and rather do not fly 
 The great occasion which the victors make ? 
 
 \Exit Tonombey. 
 
 Alarum. Enter Selimus , Sinam Bashaw ', with 
 A comat prisoner ) Hali, Cali, Janissaries. 
 
 SeL Thus, when the coward Greeks fled to their ships, 
 The noble Hector all besmear ; d in blood 2490 
 
 Return'd in triumph to the walls of Troy. 
 A gallant trophy, Bashaws, have we won, 
 Beating the never-foiled Tonombey, 
 And hewing passage through the Persians, 
 As when a lion rav'ning for his prey, 
 Falleth upon a drove of horned bulls, 
 And rends them strongly in his kingly paws ; 
 Or Mars arm'd in his adamantine coat, 
 Mounted upon his fiery-shining Wain, 
 Scatters the troops of warlike Thracians, 2500 
 
 And warms cold Hebrus with hot streams of blood. 
 Brave Sinam, for thy noble prisoner, 
 Thou shall be general of my janissaries ; 
 And Belierby of fair Natolia. 
 Now Acomat, thou monster of the world, 
 Why stoop'st thou not with reverence to thy king ? 
 
 Aco. Selim, if thou have gotten victory, 
 Then use it to thy contentation. 
 If I had conquer^, know assuredly 
 H 93 
 
The First Part of the 
 
 I would have said as much and more to thee. 2510 
 Know I disdain them, as I do thy self, 
 And scorn to stoop or bend my lordly knee 
 To such a tyrant as is Selimus. 
 Thou slew'st my queen without regard or care, 
 Of love or duty, or thine own good name. 
 Then, Selim, take that which thy hap doth give ; 
 Disgra'ct, displa'ct, I longer loathe to live. 
 Sel. Then, Sinam, strangle him : now he is dead, 
 Who doth remain to trouble Selimus ? 
 Now I am King alone, and none but I ; 2520 
 
 For since my father's death until this time 
 I never wanted some competitors. 
 Now as the weary wand'ring traveller 
 That hath his steps guided through many lands, 
 Through boiling soil of Africa and Ind, 
 When he returns into his native home, 
 Sits down among his friends, and with delight 
 Declares the travels he hath overpast ; 
 So mayst thou, Selimus, for thou hast trod 
 The monster-guarded paths that lead to crowns. 
 Ha ! ha ! I smile to think how Selimus 2531 
 
 Like the Egyptian Ibis hath expelled 
 Those swarming armies of swift-winged snakes, 
 That sought to overrun my territories. 
 When soultring heat the Earth's green children 
 
 spoils, 
 
 From forth the fens of venomous Africa 
 94 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 The generation of those flying snakes 
 Do band themselves in troops, and take their way 
 To Nilus' bounds ; but those industrious birds, 
 Those Ibises meet them less in set array, 2540 
 
 And eat them up like to a swarm of gnats, 
 Preventing such a mischief from the Land. 
 But see, how unkind Nature deals with them ; 
 From out their eggs rises the basilisk, 
 Whose only sight kills millions of men. 
 When Acomat lifted his ungracious hands 
 Against my aged father Bajazet, 
 They sent for me, and I like Egypt's bird 
 Have rid that monster, and his fellow-mates. 
 But as from Ibis springs the basilisk, 2550 
 
 Whose only touch burneth up stones and trees ; 
 So Selimus hath prov'd a cocatrice, 
 And clean consumed all the family 
 Of noble Ottoman, except himself. 
 And now to you my neighbour emperors, 
 That durst lend aid to Selim's enemies, 
 Sinam, those soldans of the Orient, 
 Egypt and Persia, Selimus will quell, 
 Or he himself will sink to lowest hell. 
 This Winter will we rest and breathe ourselves, 
 But soon as Zephyrus 5 sweet-smelling blast 2561 
 Shall gently creep over the flowery meads, 
 We '11 have a fling at the Egyptian crown, 
 And join it unto ours, or lose our own. {Exeunt. 
 95 
 
 t 
 
The First Part of the 
 
 Conclusion. 
 
 Thus have we brought victorious Selimus 
 
 Unto the crown of great Arabia ; 
 
 Next, shall you see him with triumphant sword, 
 
 Dividing kingdoms into equal shares, 
 
 And give them to his warlike followers. 2570 
 
 If this first part, Gentles, do like you well, 
 
 The second part shall greater murthers tell. 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus 
 
 GLOSSARY AND NOTES 
 AND ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 A s in all the Series, the spelling is modernised in the text 
 
 I. WORDS 
 
 ABROACH, 244, flowing. 
 
 ADAMANT, 48, an unconquerable 
 heart. No reference to magnet, 
 or loadstone, or diamond. Cf. 
 Ezek. iii. 8. Subsidiarily there is 
 the idea of ' unfeeling.' Macaulay 
 has the phrase of Titus Gates : 
 'An unblushing forehead, a smooth 
 lying tongue, and a heart of ada- 
 mant' (History, chap, xviii.). 
 
 ADAMANTINE COAT, 2498, clad in 
 strongest coat-of-mail, and so in- 
 vulnerable. 
 
 AGE, LAST, Prologue, 4. Millennial 
 expectations have always abounded 
 among theologians and the vulgar. 
 How often in England and in 
 Germany have wise fools pro- 
 nounced the passing to be certainly 
 the worst and most surely the ' last 
 age ' of the world a world in its 
 mere infancy ! The Harvey as- 
 trological - astronomical prophetic 
 books convulsed England ; yet 
 sorrier rubbish is inconceivable. 
 
 ALAS ! ALAS ! 263, merely interjec- 
 tional, with manifestly no touch of 
 grief or pity. 
 
 ALCORAN, 1171, Al-Koran, ' ike 
 Reading,' or code of Islam. 
 
 ALPHABET OF FACES, 1900. I sup- 
 pose Bullithrumble meant, with 
 as many changes of expression on 
 the face as there are characters or 
 letters in the alphabet. 
 ANTIDOTUS, 502, one of the tadpole 
 forms like antidotium (long in use) 
 for our antidote or remedy. 
 ARE, 398. We would have written 
 
 'art.' 
 
 ARMSTRONG, 1668, strong -of -arm. 
 
 Latin armipctens, from arma, 
 
 arms, armour, or armi, arms. See 
 
 our Preface. 
 
 ARTIFICIAL, 449, by art not nature, 
 
 forced not felt. 
 
 ASTROLABES, 431, any instrument 
 for taking the altitude of any- 
 heavenly body : here, a plani- 
 sphere. Dryden spells ' as'rolabe ' 
 in poem on death of Lord Hast- 
 ings (v. 45) : 
 ' Liv'd Tycho now, struck with 
 
 this ray which shone 
 More bright i' the morn than 
 
 others' beam at noon, 
 He'd take his as'rolabe, and 
 
 seek out here 
 
 What new star 'twas did gild 
 our hemisphere.' 
 
 97 
 
GLOSSARY 
 
 The First Part of the 
 
 ASSAYS, AT ALL, 70, at all hazards, 
 or in all trials. So Heywood in 
 Troia Britannica (1609), ' I will 
 freely serve at all assays* So, 
 too, Stubbes, in Two Wonderfid 
 and Rare Examples (1581), 
 'Which thing we ought at all 
 assays to lothe and to abhorre.' 
 
 AY ME, 2059. ' Ay mi '= Portuguese 
 'Ay di mi' = O mi Deus, my God, 
 not ' Yes, me who wants me ? ' 
 but feeling of, ' Woe 's me I am 
 caught.' 
 
 BARDED, 1922, covered with defen- 
 sive armour: old French barde, 
 horse-armour. So Scott : ' barbed 
 with frontlet of steel, I trow ' (Lay 
 of the Last Minstrel, I. v.). 
 
 BASSA, 51, Bashaw, and so printed in 
 our text. OS.. pacha or pasha, Turk- 
 ish officer, and sometimes ruler. 
 
 BATTELOUS, 158, in battle array, or 
 ready for battle, and so combative. 
 It is spelled 'battalouse' in Byron s 
 Tragedy as quoted by Meres : 
 ' Holds firm his stand 
 Of battalouse bristles ' (of a boar). 
 
 BUT WHAT MUST BE, 119. Cf. Mar- 
 lowe's FaustuSj I. i. : 
 ' What doctrine call you this ? 
 
 Che sara sara. 
 What will be, shall be.' 
 Motto of the Russells. 
 
 BEST, 364, misprinted ' rest ' in the 
 original. 
 
 BRIGANDINES, 1932 (French), light- 
 armed soldiers ; but the text im- 
 plies naval service, and so should 
 have been spelled 'brigantines,' 
 i.e. pirate ships^ as in Marlowe 
 (i Tamburlaine, iii. 3), 'the galleys 
 and the pilling [piratical plunder- 
 ing] brigandines.' Cf. Macaulay's 
 History, chap. xxv. 
 
 BRIGHT, 492, example of substantive 
 
 use as in Milton later (Paradise 
 Lost, iii. 380), ' dark with excessive 
 bright. 1 
 
 CAPTAIN, 1214, misprinted 'captive 
 in Works. 
 
 CAREFUL, 44, full of care. So 'O 
 full of careful business are his 
 looks ' (Richard II., ii. 75) ; ' him 
 that raised me to this carefttl 
 height ' (Richard III., I. iii. 83), 
 e tfrequen ter. 
 
 CARKE, 33, care, but here by stress 
 of rhyme. John Taylor (Works, 
 1630) distinguishes it from simple 
 ' care ' : ' men labour with much 
 care and cark,' i.e. care, and 
 fretting over it. Burns, in his 
 Cotter's Saturday Night, had 
 originally 'kiagh ' for 'cark.' 
 
 CAST, 379, astrological term, as to 
 'cast nativities.' 
 
 CERTIFY, 196, inform. 
 
 CHARACTER, Prologue, 9, inscribe, 
 strongly infix. So in A s You Like 
 It (in. ii. 6), 'in these barks my 
 thoughts I '11 character.' 
 
 CHARACTERING, 56, inscribing. 
 
 CHIVALRY, 392, cavalry, perhaps 
 with a sub-idea of the knighthood 
 high spirit. Campbell's Hohen- 
 linden has it, ' charge with all thy 
 chivalry ' a mouth-filling word. 
 
 CLEAN, 669, 1613, totally. 
 
 CLOSELY, 2087, secretly, covertly. 
 
 COMET, 654, 1789, astrological belief. 
 
 COMMANDMENTS, 1878, ten fingers, 
 with sharp nails. Common use in 
 Scotland. 
 
 COMPLOTS, 1735, evil plottings and 
 conspiracies. See our Preface for 
 parallels in Titus Andronicus. 
 
 CONFINES, 959, frontiers or boun- 
 daries. 
 
 CONSORT, 179, take a wife or con- 
 sort. Sec context. 
 
 9 8 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus GLOSSARY 
 
 CORSIVE, 534, corrosive. 
 CRAMUK, 1901. Nares gives ' cam- 
 ock' as = crooked (tree or beam), 
 
 with various quotations. He thinks 
 
 4 cramock ' to be a mis-spelling for 
 
 'camock.' So 'cramuk'may be. 
 
 Here, evidently = perverse, con- 
 trary, cantankerous. 
 CRISS-CROSS, 1902, Christ-cross-row, 
 
 i.e. horn-book, wherein the letters 
 
 were arranged in the form of a 
 
 Latin cross, with A at the top and 
 
 Z at the bottom. See Tickell's 
 
 Hornbook, and Tuer's monumental 
 
 work for abundant lore. 
 CROCODILUS, 1851. Cf. 'Antidotus.' 
 CROSBITER, 1951, swindler. Henry 
 
 VI.) v. T. Greene's raciest and 
 
 most manners-painting books are 
 
 dedicated to exposure of their 
 
 tricks and rogueries. 
 
 DECK, 1540, pack of cards (a favour- 
 ite word with Bret Harte's Cali- 
 fornian gamblers). So 
 
 ' But while he thought to steal 
 
 the single ten, 
 The King was slily fingered 
 
 from the deck' 
 
 DESCRY, 14, discover or reveal 
 * What 's past and what 's to come, 
 she can descry* (Henry VI. t i. 
 ii. 57). More than simply to ob- 
 serve or behold. 
 
 DIE, 82, throw of a die, dice. Cf. 
 Spenser (Faerie Quecne, n. v. 
 13) 
 
 ' Th equall die of warre he well 
 
 did know.' 
 
 DINGS, 2478, dashes down. An 
 illustrious use of the word is found 
 in Drayton's great ballad of Agin- 
 court : 
 
 * Then while our noble king, 
 His broad-sword brandishing, 
 Down the French host did ding.* 
 
 DISEASE, 460, unrest, trouble. 
 
 DITION, 312, power, dominion. 
 ' Lords of the dition of Kersel in 
 the Dutchy of Gelderlandht ' 
 (Wood's Athen. Oxon.). The 
 text is much earlier. So dition- 
 ary, tributary. 
 
 DREERIMENT, 1295, sorrow. So 
 Spenser {Faerie Queene, I. ii. 
 44) 
 
 ' Full of red feare and ghastly 
 
 dreritnent.' 
 So, too, in Epithala-mion, v. 10. 
 
 EARERS, 1366, tillers. Misprinted 
 ' honours ' in the original. 
 
 ECHINUS, 459, would not scan as 
 ' echinus.' 
 
 EVEN, 1015, read 'e'en.' 
 
 EMBAY, 829, embathe. So Spenser 
 (Faerie Queene, I. ix. 13) 
 
 ' While every sence the humour 
 sweet embay d.' 
 
 EMPERY, 608, empire. Frequent 
 in Elizabethans, and Milton later. 
 
 E-NTERPRISE, 606, 617, undertake. 
 
 EEQUEY, 1262, funeral and atten- 
 dant rites. Latin, exsequioe. 
 
 EXTENT, 21, extension. 
 
 FAITOUR (in original), 1465, traitor, 
 malefactor ; ' down, down dogs ! 
 down fait ours ' (2 Henry IV.^ n. 
 iv.). 
 
 FEAR, 340. So Richard Bame said 
 of Christopher Marlowe, ' that the 
 first beginning of religion was only 
 to keep man in awe.' Note too 
 what follows, that ' Moyses was 
 but a juggler, and that one Heriots 
 can do more than he.' One wishes 
 to know who this ' negromancer ' 
 Heriots was. 
 
 FELONIANS, 1943, wicked, malig- 
 nant : here simply suspected to 
 be thieves. 
 
 99 
 
GLOSSARY 
 
 FELL, 2431, cruel, fierce. Scotice 
 still = wonderfully : ' he 'sfell wise. ' 
 
 FET, 560. Cf. Henry V., Act in. 
 Sc. i., 'Whose blood is fet from 
 fathers of war proof,' and Mar- 
 lowe, ' Like fire from heaven fet ' 
 (Hero and Leander). 
 
 FLASHING, 1770, query slashing ?_ 
 
 FLESH, FLESHING, 1043, 2391, excite 
 perhaps with an idea of 'com- 
 mencing.' 
 
 FOR TO, 249, 347, 582, 592, 1089, 
 1313, 1402, 1445, 1730, 2153. 2348. 
 
 FORGED, Prologue, i, framed, in- 
 vented. 
 
 FORAGING, 486, query = foraying, 
 ravaging, invading for plunder? 
 
 FOUND, 343, founded. 
 
 FRONT, 275, forelock, as in old 
 Emblem- books. See 'Occasion.' 
 
 GARDEN-MONSTER, 2530. I print 
 monster-guarded. The allusion 
 may be to the gardens of Hes- 
 perides guarded by dragons. Cf. 
 also Genesis iii. 24. 
 
 GENTLES, Prologue, 2, 2571, gentle- 
 men. ' Gentles, methinks you 
 frown' (Tamine?' a Shrew, in. ii. 
 95). Scotice still for well-born. 
 
 GORE-BLOOD, 565, 1380, clotted mass 
 of blood. 
 
 GRACE, YOUR, 971. ' Your grace ' 
 was the common title for the Kings 
 of England, 'your majesty' hav- 
 ing been assumed only by Henry 
 vni. ; but the two titles were long 
 concurrent (Froude, iii. 53). So 
 ' your highness,' 973. Applied to 
 the huge and 'majestic' King 
 Hal, it was rightly applied, but it 
 becomes grotesque in many cases 
 of diminutive stature. 
 
 GRATULATES, 973, congratulates. 
 
 GRAVE DUST, 499. We would per- 
 haps write 'grave-dust.' Seems 
 
 The First Part of the 
 
 to support the text in Macbeth, 
 ' have lighted fools the way to 
 dusty death,' instead of ' dusky.' 
 
 GROOM, 1235, young man, lad. 
 
 GYRE, 1490, ring, revolution. 
 
 HARBINGERS, 156, fore-runners. 
 
 HEARTLESS, 420, cowardly. 
 
 HOLT, 135, hold; but usually 
 ' woody hill.' 
 
 HOP, 104, limp, halt ; i.e. go halt- 
 ingly, but a mean word. 
 
 HUGY, 1765, huge. Cf. ' loftie.' 
 So in Marlowe, and also in Dry- 
 den. 
 
 HUNGRY DINNER, 1941, dinner for 
 hungry. Spenser abounds in this 
 peculiar construction. 
 
 HURTLE, HURTLING, 544, 1491, 
 hurl, dash. Spenser spells ' hi'rtle 
 (Faerie Queene, n. vii. 42). 
 
 IBIS, 2532. Sir Thomas Browne, in 
 his Vuigar Errors^, has quaint 
 lore and chat on this (Works, by 
 Wilkins, ii. 421). 
 
 INJURIOUS, INJURIOUSLY, 1006, 
 1363, unjustly. 
 
 INSOLENTNESS, 822, early form of 
 ' insolence.' 
 
 INTENT, 19, 752, intention. 
 
 JANISSARIES, 406; i.e. janizaries, 
 soldiers of the old Turkish foot- 
 guard. Bacon has the word 
 (Essays, of Empire). 
 
 JOHN, SIR, 1894, reverend. It is 
 odd, in reading old parish registers, 
 to come on so many seeming 
 knights. Sir Hugh, Sir Topas, 
 Sir Oliver Martext, Sir Nath- 
 aniel (Shakespeare) name for 
 secular priests who had not taken 
 the Master's degree at the uni- 
 versity. 
 
 100 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus GLOSSARY 
 
 LARGITION, 813, largess or gift. 
 LATEST, 65, last resting-place. ^ 
 LEESING, 63, losing not leasing = 
 
 (in original) lying. 
 LETS, Prologue, 12, hindrances, ob- 
 stacles. 
 
 LETS, 749, hinders. 
 LEWD, 1773, spelled in original 
 'leaud' = rustic. Robert of Bourne 
 said of his great poem : 
 
 ' For lewde men y under tok 
 On Englyshe tunge tomakthis 
 boke.' 
 
 Cf. Acts xvii. 5 (A.V.), /.*. 
 
 common, from ' leod,' the people. 
 The word has sadly degenerated. 
 
 LIKE, 289 = 1 regard and liken? 
 
 LORDING, lordings, 199, 753, 1832 = 
 lords. Not here a diminutive, or 
 in ridicule, ' Room, lordings, for 
 Lord Marmion' {Marmion, I. 
 xii.). 
 
 LUCKLESS, 172, unhappy. 
 
 MISCONSTERS, 181, misconstrues. 
 
 NECROMANCY, 1696, black art play 
 on negro? (Greek i/e^po/acu/Teio.) 
 
 NUMBER, NUMBERLESS, 58, a com- 
 monplace of Elizabethans. 
 
 NUTRIMENTED, 1979, nourished. 
 
 OBSERVATIONS, 339, observances, 
 Bain's Higher English Grammar, 
 
 P- 330- 
 
 OBSTANT, Prologue, 12, opposing. 
 OCCASION, 275, ' Rem tene, post 
 
 Occasio calva.' 
 ONLY NAME, 185, 2545, his name 
 
 alone, or on mere rumour of 
 
 him. 
 
 ORBS TEN-FOLD CRYSTAL, 1441. 
 
 For the Ptolemaic scheme of the 
 heavens, see the woodcut in 
 
 Masson's Milton (Globe series), 
 p. 28, with the explanations. 
 
 OVER GONE, 276, gone away, de- 
 parted. 
 
 OVER-SLIPT, 880, neglected, omitted. 
 
 OWEDJ spelled ' ought ' in the 
 original, 658. 
 
 PEIRSANT, 1334, penetrative. 
 
 PITTERING, 505 mere expressive 
 than ' pattering,' = shrillish noise. 
 Herrick applies it to the sound 
 emitted by the grasshopper. 
 
 PLATFORM, 1680, ground-.plan. So 
 Marlowe (D ; ido Queen of Carthage, 
 Act v. Sc. ii.), ' When I was lay- 
 ing a platform for these walls.' 
 
 PLAUDITE, 208, applause. 'Valete 
 et plaudite ' of the Latin drama = 
 ' Farewell and grant us your 
 applause. ' 
 
 PORTAGUES, 1997, Portuguese coin. 
 See Nares, in. v. 
 
 PRATLING SHADE, 286, shade for 
 prattle or talk. See under 
 'hungry.' 
 
 RAM, 693, homely but Homeric. _ 
 
 REACHES, 191, a reach is a straight 
 space in a river between one point 
 and another (metaphorical use). 
 
 REBUTTED, 1098, repulsed. 
 
 REGIMENT, 17, 803, government, 
 sovereign rule. ' The adulterous 
 Antony . . . gives his potent 
 regiment to a trull ' (A ntony 
 and Cleopatra, in. vi.). A famous 
 historical and unlucky use of it 
 was in title-page of John Knox's 
 book on the 'Monstrous Regement 
 of Wemen ' (1558). 
 
 REMORSELESS, 1480, without re- 
 morse or compassion. 
 
 RIVERETS, 1307, little rivers or 
 rivulets. 
 
 101 
 
GLOSSARY 
 
 The First Part of the 
 
 ROAD, 467, place for ships riding at 
 anchor. So Merchant of ' Venice > 
 i. i. 
 
 ' Peering in maps for ports and 
 roads.' 1 
 
 ROUZE, 2034, wake up, startle a 
 deer-hunting term as in Greene's 
 George a-Greene. Scoticein. Burns's 
 Lea-rig '. ' To rouse the mountain 
 deer, my jo.' 
 
 RUNNAGATE, 107, 513, fugitive not 
 necessarily a renegade in bad sense. 
 
 RUINATE, 150, 878, ruin. 
 
 SAMINES, 1960. At first and even 
 second reading this word puzzled 
 me, and erudite Shakespearean cor- 
 respondents could make nothing of 
 it. I suggest rustic pronuncia- 
 tion (clipped) of examines = scruti- 
 nises. 
 
 SECRETLY (parenthetical) or query 
 secrecy? 858. 
 
 SERVITORS, 1083, servants spelled 
 * servitures ' in the original. 
 
 SHREW, 1882, pronounced * shrow ' 
 to rhyme with ' blow.' 
 
 SNAKE, 29. So 'A Snake in the 
 Grass ' of a famous title-page. 
 
 SOCIETY, OF PUDDINGS, 1987, a mere 
 nonsense phrase. 
 
 SOLDAN, 166, sultan. 
 
 SOPHI, 49, i.e. sofi, title of the 
 emperor or shah of Persia. So 
 Merchant of Venice, n. i. 
 
 * If this scimitar 
 
 That slew the s0pfria.tid a Persian 
 prince.' 
 
 SOPHISTER, 893, sophist, fallacious 
 arguer. 
 
 SOULTRING, sultry or sweltering, 
 2 535- So Clavell in Recantation 
 (1634), ' melts, drops, soulters, and 
 consumes away.' 
 
 STARS, 1774. Not a merely starless 
 
 night, but the Greater or Lesser 
 Bear to steer by, as in Milton's 
 lines in Comus ' 
 
 'Thou shaltjbe our s far of Arcady 
 Or Tyrian cynosure.' 
 
 STENT, 1778, stentorstop. Scotice= 
 a given quantity or piece of task- 
 work, as in Robert Fergusson's 
 charming Farmers Ingle proto- 
 type of Burns's Cotter's Saturday 
 Night ' Her eenin stent reels she 
 as weel 's the lave ' (St. ix). He 
 also uses it as a vvfo frequenter. 
 So Burns's Mary Morison, ' Yes- 
 streen as to the s tented string ' = the 
 tuning completed by its being 
 drawn tight. 
 
 SURQUEDRY, 739, arrogance, insol- 
 ence, but here luxurious indul- 
 gence or gratification of appetite. 
 
 SWEET, 230, an abundantly used 
 adjective in Elizabethan writers, 
 so that Shakespeare's use of it to 
 Southampton or Pembroke, i.e. to 
 men, is in nowise exceptional or 
 indicative of unhallowed passion. 
 
 TALENTS, 1887, talons. 
 TANTARA, 320, onomatopoeia, ' At 
 tuba terribili sonitu taratantara 
 dixit ' (Ennius). 
 'TENCE, 1952, pretence. 
 TENEBRIOUS, 134, dark, _ gloomy, 
 from Latin. Young has it (Night 
 Thoughts , ix. 969) 
 'Were moon and stars for 
 
 villains only made, 
 To guide yet screen them with 
 
 tenebrious light.' 
 
 THRILLANT, 1784, misprinted 'chril- 
 lant ' in the original = thrilling, 
 piercing. So Spenser (Faerie 
 Queene, n. iv. 46.) 
 
 ' With that, one of his thrillant 
 
 darts he threw.' 
 TIRING, 668, 1345: a term of fai- 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus GLOSSARY 
 
 conry, from the French tirer, to 
 drag or pull, really an early form 
 of ' tearing.' Shakespeare has it 
 (3 Henvy VI., i. i.;, 'Like an 
 empty eagle tire on the flesh of me 
 and of my son,' and again (Venus 
 and Adonis), ' Even as an emptie 
 eagle, sharpely fast, Tires with her 
 beake on feather, flesh and bone.' 
 
 TO-FORE, 1129, before. See our 
 Preface for its appearance in 
 Titus Andronicus, in. i. 
 * Farewell Lavinia, my noble 
 
 sister, 
 
 O that thou wert as thou tofore 
 hast been ! ' 
 
 TOY, Prologue, i ' a trifle for a toy, 
 a thing of no regard . . . destroy'd 
 me ' (i Henry VI., iv. i. 145). 
 
 TiiANSFREiGHT, 1929, here = trans- 
 fer. Etymologically a corruption 
 of ' transfrete,' from French trans- 
 friter, after Latin transfreto, to 
 pass over a strait or narrow sea. 
 
 UNEATH, 375, uneasily. 
 
 UNMANURED, 381, misprinted in 
 Works 'unnatured' = unfilled, un- 
 cultivated. 
 
 UNPLACABLE, Prologue, 10, corrup- 
 tion of ' implacable.' 
 
 UNRIP, 12. Cf. ' unrip dst, the 
 bowels of the sovereign's son ' 
 {Richard III., i. iv. 212). 
 
 UNWIELDY, 1647, ponderous, and 
 so not easily borne. 
 
 URCHINS, 2443 ; hedgehogs meta- 
 phorically used. See ' porcupine ' 
 in next line. 
 
 VALIANCE, 74, valour. So Faerie 
 Queene, n. iii. 14. 
 
 VALURES, valours, 182. 
 
 VERMEIL, 744, vermilion. Words- 
 worth has it (White Doe, ii.), ' In 
 vermeil colours and in gold,' 
 fetched no doubt from Milton 
 (Comus, 752), ' A vermeil tinc- 
 tured lip.' Here=bloody. 
 
 VILDLY, 872, vilely. So Spenser 
 (Faerie Queene, i. i. 20), 'stunk so 
 vildly.' 
 
 WALLS, PRINCES , 15-16. Cf. 
 Ecclesiastes x. 20. 
 
 WASTERS, 1879, cudgelling waster, 
 meaning cudgel. So Thomas 
 Churchyard (Challenge) : 
 ' And suddenly a stout cobler will 
 lay down the waster and yield 
 to him that hath more prac- 
 tice.' 
 
 WHEREAS, 1271, whereat or where- 
 upon. 
 
 WHY, FOR, 2313, because. Ignorance 
 of this meaning has led that de- 
 testable class of editors, hymn- 
 tinkerers, to alter Kethe's old 
 version of Psalm c., ' For ivhy the 
 Lord our God is good,' into ' For 
 He the Lord,' etc. Chaucer has it, 
 ' He saw me not_/0r why he hung 
 his head adown ' (Book of Duch- 
 esse) ; and yet these dunderpates 
 pronounce it a Scotticism ! 
 
 WILL, 8 10, wile in original ' will.' 
 
 WIZARD, 286, wise man. 
 
 WORTHY, 993, deserved. See under 
 ' hungry' and ' pratling.' 
 
 WREAK, 272, reck or reckon. 
 ' Wreaks to find the way to heaven.' 
 As You Like It (First Folio). 
 Spelled ' wreake ' in original. 
 
 I0 3 
 
GLOSSARY 
 
 The First Part of the 
 
 II. PROPER NAMES 
 Familiar classical and apocryphal names are not noticed. 
 
 AMASIA, 970, city of Pontus; the 
 birthplace of Mithridates and 
 the residence of the Kings of 
 Pontus. 
 
 AMPHIARAUS, 2067. Spelled in the 
 original ' Ampharaus.' The mean- 
 ing is, both were eager to hide 
 their condition. There seems no 
 warrant for the legend of the text 
 in the history of Amphiaraus, and 
 it is possible that Sir Philip 
 Sidney's Amphialus (Arcadia) 
 was intended. 
 
 ANTHROPOPHAGI, 1421, cannibals. 
 Shakespeare has it (Othello, I. iii. 
 144), ^AnthropopJiagi and men 
 whose heads Do grow beneath 
 their shoulders.' Cf. Merry 
 Wives of Windsor ', iv. v. 10. 
 
 ANTAEUS, 1560, Antaeos of Greek 
 mythology, slain by Hercules as 
 noted in the text. The allusion 
 is a classical commonplace the 
 giant renewing his exhausted 
 strength by the very overthrows 
 that caused him again and again 
 to ' touch ' the earth. 
 
 ARMENIAN TIGER, 1137, haunting the 
 North Highlands of the gigantic 
 plain of Iran and the fastnesses of 
 Ararat. 
 
 AVICENNA, 1604, misprinted in the 
 original 'Auicemaes : so in 1716, 
 ' enuemomd.' 
 
 BAJAZET, IN CAGE, 1751 the well- 
 known historic humiliation and 
 cruelty. 
 
 BRIAREUS, 2434, Briareos (Greek) 
 
 the fabled giant who had fifty 
 heads and a hundred hands. 
 
 BYZANTIUM, 806, Constantinople, 
 as capital of the Byzantine empire. 
 
 CHIURLU, 2171, 2173: Churlu, 2291. 
 Query Cairo? or possibly Chaukah, 
 near Cairo, where Selim pitched 
 his camp before the battle (usu- 
 ally called the battle of Radania) 
 which decided the fall of Cairo 
 
 (1517)? 
 
 CYTHERA, 741, Aphrodite: so called 
 from the island on the coast of 
 Laconia, where the goddess rose 
 from the sea, in the myth. 
 
 DAMOCLES, 855, the sycophant of 
 Dionysius the elder of Syracuse, 
 who was subjected to the trial of 
 the text when set down to a 
 sumptuous banquet. 
 
 DEMOGORGON, 1319, an appalling 
 deity of the Himalayas, whose very 
 name was a terror. Hence Milton 
 (Paradise Lost, ii. 965) has ' the 
 dreaded name of Demogorgon.' 
 The oddity is that so terrible a 
 god should be king of the tiny 
 elves or fairies. 
 
 DIMOTICUM, 1665, Demitoka, the 
 birthplace of Bajazet n. 
 
 ECHINUS, 459, sea-hedgehog a 
 favourite reference with Greene. 
 See Glossary, ' Echinaeis.' 
 
 ERIPHYLE, 2070, daughter of Talaus 
 and Lysimache and wife of 
 Amphiaraus (as before), whom she 
 
 IO4 
 
Tragedy and Reign of Selimus GLOSSARY 
 
 betrayed for the sake of a necklace 
 from Harmonia. 
 
 ERINNYS, 1321, goddess of ven- 
 geance, one of the Greek furies. 
 Misprinted 'Erymnies.' 
 
 EURIPUS, 2384, a narrow strait, 
 dividing Euboea from the main- 
 land of Greece. It is character- 
 istic of Greene's carelessness, spite 
 of his M. A. of ' both Universities,' 
 to have here the false quantity 
 of ' Euripus,' as of ' Thermodon ' 
 (2407). False quantities were not 
 uncommon with Elizabethans, e.g. 
 Marlowe has ' Euphrates ' just as 
 Greene has Titus Andronlcus. 
 Even Milton has ' Bellerus ' (Lyci- 
 das) and ' Serapis ' and ' SelucTa.' 
 Every one knows Shakespeare's 
 ' Hyperion ' (Hamlet). 
 
 GYGES, 2126, the Lydian to whom 
 Candaules showed his wife naked. 
 Plato has the strange myth of the 
 ring that conferred invisibility. In 
 the Fair Maid of the Inn (i. i., 
 Beaumont and Fletcher) it is re- 
 ferred to as in the text 
 
 ' Why did you think that you 
 
 had Gyges' ring 
 Or the herb [fern-seed] that gives 
 invisibility? ' 
 
 HEBE, 1674, goddess of youth, and 
 cup-bearer to the heavenly gods. 
 
 HEBRUS, 2501, principal river of 
 Thrace.^ Misprinted ' Hebras' in 
 the original. 
 
 HYRCANIAN, 1238, a province of 
 Asia. Am. Marcel, (xxiii. 6) 
 tells of these tigers. So too Mela, 
 iii. 5. Cf. ALneid, iv. 367 sq. See 
 'Armenian.' 
 
 IXION, 427, the King of the Lapithae, 
 who, purged by Zeus of his guilt of 
 murder he is a sort of Cain 
 
 ventured to desire Juno, but was 
 deluded by her into embracing a 
 cloud to which she had given her 
 semblance. He boasted of his 
 success ('kissed and told'), and 
 was doomed to the everlasting 
 revolving wheel. 
 
 LATONA'S SON, 41, the sun, i.e. 
 Apollo, Diana or the moon being 
 her other child. 
 
 LYSANDER, 1733. Commander of 
 the Spartan fleet, B.C. 407, friend 
 of Cyrus the Younger : defeated 
 the Athenians at Aegospotami in 
 B.C. 404. In his combination of 
 daring and cunning he boasted of 
 ' eking out the lion's skin with the 
 fox's.' 
 
 MAGNESIA, 992, either in Lydia or 
 in Caria, but Greene may have 
 meant Magnesia in Thessaly. 
 His geography was often vague, as 
 was Shakespeare's. 
 
 MAHOUND, 90, 246, 685 ; contemp- 
 tuous yet semi-awed name for 
 Mahomet. Spenser has it several 
 times. 'Oft-times by Termagant 
 and Makound swore ' (Faerie 
 Queene, vii. 47). Cf. Mahu in King 
 Lear, iv. i. Sc0tzce=the Devil, as 
 in Dunbar's Dance of the Seven 
 Deadly Sins. 
 
 MAHOMET'S TOMB, 1171. As there 
 was nothing ' wonderful ' in the 
 ' tomb ' of Mahomet itself, Greene 
 doubtless had in his thoughts the 
 myth, so long of being exploded, 
 that the pseudo-prophet's coffin 
 was suspended in mid-air without 
 any visible supports. Unlike the 
 shrewd member of the Royal 
 Society who met Charles ii.'s wag- 
 gish query of the fish and bowl ot 
 water, Science was invoked to ex- 
 
 105 
 
GLOSSARY 
 
 The First Part of the 
 
 plain the miracle-seeming pheno- | 
 menon,and did so to its satisfaction, 
 until it was discovered that neither 
 by magnets nor otherwise was the 
 coffin suspended, but lay on the 
 floor. 
 
 MAMELUKES, 1850, spelled in the 
 original ' Mammalukes.' From 
 Arabic ma.mluc, a slave. The 
 name was given to the slaves of 
 the Beys brought from the 
 Caucasus and formed into a 
 standing army. One of the sights 
 of Cairo still is the scene of the 
 wholesale massacre of the Mame- 
 lukes by Mehemet Ali in 1811. 
 
 MENALIP, 2406, misprinted in the 
 original 'Amanonian M.' queen 
 of Amazons and sister of Hippo- 
 lyte. ' Amazonai ' = brave, valiant, 
 strong. 
 
 MONICHUS, 2436 ; one of the 
 Centaurs who could uproot trees 
 for javelins. Cf. Juvenal, i. IT. 
 
 NERO'S FEN = Campagna Romana, 
 151. The reference seems to con- 
 nect him with the draining of the 
 marsh. Artaxata was rebuilt by 
 Tiridates, and given the name of 
 Neroniana after Nero. Of course 
 Greene's allusion is problematical. 
 
 NINUS, 323, son of Belus, husband 
 of ^ Semiramis, and the fabled 
 builder of Nineveh. 
 
 PHLEGETHON, 1198, one of the four 
 rivers of the infernal regions, the 
 other three being Styx, Lethe, 
 Acheron. 
 
 POLIPUS, 597, radiate animal with 
 many feet. 
 
 POLITES, 1863, the classical incident 
 told of Priamus, that while he was 
 kneeling at the altar of Zeus 
 
 Herceius, his son Pplites, pursued 
 by Pyrrhus, rushed into the temple 
 and expired at his aged father's 
 feet. Priamus was killed by 
 Pyrrhus : Virgil, ^Eneid, ii. 512 
 sg. ; Euripides, Troad, 17. 
 
 PRESTER JOHN, 637, Mandevilleand 
 Ariosto and commentators on 
 Much Ado Abo lit Nothing (n. i.) 
 supply abundant myths on this 
 celebrity. 
 
 PROSERPINA, 1841. She was seized 
 by Pluto and borne off to the in- 
 fernal regions as his bride. Cf. 
 Winters Tale, iv. iv. 
 
 RAZIUS, 1694, Rhazes, author of a 
 Greek medical treatise rrepi 
 Aoi/iuKrjs on smallpox and measles. 
 
 RHAMUS and RAMUS, 682, Rham- 
 nusia, a surname of Nemesis, who 
 was worshipped at Rhamnus in 
 Attica so celebrated a cult that 
 Nemesis was generally called 
 Rhamnusia. 
 
 SISIPHUS, 426, the fraudulent and 
 avaricious King of Corinth, whose 
 well-known punishment is alluded 
 to in the text. 
 
 SYRTIS, 465, a quicksand off the 
 African coast. 
 
 TAENARUS, 1316, a son of Elatus 
 and Erimede, after whom Tae- 
 narum in Laconia took its name. 
 
 TAMBERLAINE, 1754, Tamerlane, 
 which again is a corruption of 
 Timour Lengh = Timour the Lame 
 (A.D. 1380-1405). Marlowe has 
 immortalised him to infamy. 
 
 TERMAGANT and TERM AGAUNT, 555, 
 685, usually coupled with Mahound 
 (which see). This has a singular 
 decadent history as a word, being 
 
 1 06 
 
JL ragedy and Reign of Selimus GLOSSARY 
 
 now as low as or lower than Jehu 
 signifying only a vulgar scold. 
 
 THERMODON, 2407, a river in 
 Ppntus, famed for its connection 
 with the Amazons in legend. 
 
 TITYUS, 1343, Tityos, the fabled 
 giant, whose body covered nine 
 acres of land. Cast into Tartarus 
 for his attempt at rape on Latona, 
 a vulture fed on his perpetually 
 renewed liver. 
 
 TONOMBEY, 2428, Tumbanbeg. 
 
 TREBIZOND, 214. A curious thing 
 is that Thomas Gaisforde entitled 
 his English romance The Historic 
 of Trebizond (1616). 
 
 USAN-CASSANO'S, 2355, Usunbrasqn. 
 These are historical names in Selim 
 i. 's conquest of Egypt. 
 
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