University of Virginia Library

Scene 2.

Prudence vsher'd by the Host, takes her seat of Iudicature, Nurse, Franke, the two Lords Beaufort, and Latimer, assist of the Bench: The Lady and Louel are brought in, and sit on the two sides of the stage, confronting each the other.
Ferret. Trundle.
Pru.
Heere set the hower; but first produce the parties:
And cleere the court. The time is now of price.

Hos.
Iug, get you down, and Trundle get you vp,
You shall be Crier. Ferret here, the Clearke.
Iordan, smell you without, till the Ladies call you;
Take downe the Fidlers too, silence that noyse,
Deepe, i'the cellar, safe.

Pru.
Who keepes the watch?

Hos.
Old Sheelinin heere, is the Madame. Tel-clocke.

Nur.
No fait and trot, sweet Maister, I shall sleep;
I fait. I shall.

Bea.
I pr'y thee, doe then, Sebrich Owle.
She brings to mind the fable o'the Dragon,
That kept the Hesperian fruit. Would I could charme her.

Hos.
Trundle will do it with his hum. Come Trundle.
Precede him Ferret, i'the forme.

Fer.
Oyez, oyez, oyez.

[Tru.]
O yez, &c.

[Fer.]
Whereas there hath beene awarded,

[Tru.]
Whereas, &c.

[Fer.]
By the Queene Regent of Loue,

[Tru.]
By the Qu. &c.

[Fer.]
In this high court of soueraignty,

[Tru.]
In this high, &c.

[Fer.]
Two speciall howers of addresse,

[Tru.]
Two speciall, &c

[Fer.]
To Herebert Lovel, appellant,

[Tru.]
To Herebert, &c.

[Fer.]
Against the Lady Frampul, defendant

[Tru.]
Against the, &c.

[Fer.]
Herebert Lovel, Come into the Court.

[Tru.]
Herebert Lov. &c.

[Fer.]
Make challenge to thy first hower,

[Tru.]
Make, &c.

[Fer.]
And saue thee, and thy bayle.

[Tru.]
And saue, &c.

Hos.
Loe, louting where he comes into the Court!
Clearke of the sou'raignty take his apparance.
And how accoutred, how design'd he comes!

Fer.
T's done. Now Crier, call the Lady Frampul,
And by the name of,
Francis, Lady Frampul, defendant,

[Tru.]
Francis &c.

[Fer.]
Come into the Court,

[Tru.]
Come into the, &c.

[Fer.]
Make answer to the award,

[Tru.]
Make answer, &c.

[Fer.]
And saue thee, and thy bayle.

[Tru.]
And saue thee, &c.

Enter Lady
Hos.
She makes a noble, and a iust apparance.
Set it downe likewise, and how armd she comes.

Pru.
Vsher of Loues Court, giue 'hem their oath.
According to the forme, vpon Loue's Missal.

Hos.

Arise, and lay your hands, vpon the Booke.
Herebert Lovel Appellant, and Lady Frances Frampul,
Defendant, you shall sweare vpon the Liturgie of
Loue, Ouid de arte amandi, that you neither haue, ne
will haue, nor in any wase beare about you, thing, or
things, pointed, or blunt, within these lists, other then

what are naturall, and allow'd by the Court: No inchanted
Armes, or weapons, Stones of vertue, Herbe
of Grace, Charme, Character, Spel, Philtre, or other
power, then Loues only, and the iustnesse of your cause.
So helpe you Loue, his Mother, and the contents of this
Booke: Kisse it. Returne vnto your seats. Crier bid silence.

Tru.
Oyez. Oyez. Oyez.

Fe.
I'the name o'the Soueraigne of Loue

[Tru.]
I'the &c.

[Fe.]
Notice is giuen by the Court,

[Tru.]
Notice is &c.

[Fe.]
To the Appellant, and Defendant,

[Tru.]
To the Ap &c.

[Fe.]
That the first houre of addresse proceeds.

[Tru.]
That the &c.

[Fe.]
And Loue saue the Soueraigne.

[Tru.]
And loue &c.

Tru.
Euery man, or woman keep silence paine of imprisonment.

Pru.
Do your endeuours, in the name of Loue.

Lov.
To make my first approaches, then, in loue.

Lad.
Tell vs what Loue is, that we may be sure
There's such a thing, and that it is in nature.

Lov.
Excellent Lady, I did not expect
To meet an Infidell! much lesse an Atheist!
Here in Loue's lists! of so much vnbeleefe!
To raise a question of his being—

Host.
Well-charg'd!

Lov.
I rather thought, and, with religion, thinke,
Had all the character of loue beene lost,
His lines, demensions, and whole signature
Raz'd, and defac'd, with dull humanity:
That both his nature, and his essence might
Haue found their mighty instauration here,
Here where the confluence of faire, and good,
Meets to make vp all beauty. For, what else
Is Loue, but the most noble, pure affection
Of what is truly beautifull, and faire?
Desire of vnion with the thing beloued?

(Beau.
Haue the assistants of the Court their votes,
And writ of priuiledge, to speake them freely?

Pru.
Yes, to assist; but not to interrupt.

Bea.
Then I haue read somwhere, that man and woman
Were, in the first creation, both one piece,
And being cleft asunder, euer since,
Loue was an appetite to be reioyn'd.
As for example—

Nur.
Cramo-cree! what meansh' tou?

Bea.
Only, to kisse, and part.

Hos.
So much is lawfull.

Lat.
And stands with the prerogatiue of loues Court!

Lov.
It is a fable of Plato's, in his Banquet,
And vtter'd , there, by Aristophanes.

Hos.
'Twas well remembred here, and to good vse.)
But on with your description, what Loue is.
Desire of vnion with the thing belou'd.

Lov.
I meant a definition. For I make
The efficient cause, what's beautifull, and faire.
The formall cause, the appetite of vnion.
The finall cause, the vnion it selfe.
But larger, if you'l haue it, by description,
It is a flame, and ardor of the minde,
Dead, in the proper corps, quick in anothers:
Trans-ferres the Louer into the Loued.
The he, or she, that loues, engraues, or stamps
Th'Idea of what they loue, first in themselues:
Or, like to glasses, so their mindes take in
The formes of their belou'd, and them reflect,
It is the likenesse of affections,
Is both the parent, and the nurse of loue.
Loue is a spirituall coupling of two soules,
So much more excellent, as it least relates
Vnto the body; circular, eternall;
Not fain'd, or made, but borne: And then, so pretious,
As nought can value it, but it selfe. So free,
As nothing can command it, but it selfe.
And in it selfe, so round and liberall,
As where it fauours, it bestowes it selfe.

(Bea.
And, that doe I; here my whole selfe, I tender,
According to the practise o'the Court.

Nur.
I'tish a naughty practish, a lewd practish,
Be quiet man, dou shalt not leip her, here.

Bea.
Leape her? I lip her, foolish Queene at Armes,
Thy blazon's false: wilt thou blaspheme thine office?)

Lov.
But, we must take, and vnderstand this loue
Along still, as a name of dignity;
Not pleasure.

(Hos.
Mark you that, my light yong Lord?)

Lov.
True loue hath no vnworthy thought, no light,
Loose, vn-becoming appetite, or straine,
But fixed, constant, pure, immutable.

(Bea.
I relish not these philosophicall feasts:
Giue me a banquet o'sense, like that of Ovid:
A forme, to take the eye; a voyce, mine care;
Pure aromatiques, to my sent; a soft,
Smooth, deinty hand, to touch; and, for my taste,
Ambrosiack kisses, to melt downe the palat.)

Lov.
They are the earthly, lower forme of louers,
Are only taken with what strikes the senses!
And loue by that loose scale. Although I grant,
We like, what's saire and gracefull in an obiect,
And (true) would vse it, in the all we tend to,
Both of our ciuill, and domestick deedes.
In ordering of an army, in our style,
Apparell, gesture, building, or what not?
All arts, and actions doe affect their beauty.
But put the case, in trauayle I may meet
Some gorgeous Structure, a braue Frontispice,
Shall I stay captiue i'the outer court,
Surpris'd with that, and not aduance to know
Who dwels there, and inhabiteth the house!
There is my friendship to be made, within;
With what can loue me againe: not, with the walles,
Dores, windo'es, architrabes, the frieze, and coronice.
My end is lost in louing of a face,
An eye, lip, nose, hand, foot, or other part,
Whose all is but a statue, if the mind
Moue not, which only can make the returne.
The end of loue is, to haue two made one
In will, and in affection, that the mindes
Be first inoculated, not the bodies.

Bea.
Gi' me the body, if it be a good one.

Fra.
Nay, sweet my Lord, I must appeale the Soueraigne
For better quarter; If you hold your practise.

Tru.
Silence, paine of imprisonment: Heare the Court.

Lov.
The bodyes loue is fraile, subiect to change,
And alter still, with it: The mindes is firme,
One, and the same, proceedeth first, from weighing,
And well examining, what is faire, and good;
Then, what is like in reason, fit in manners;
That breeds good will: good will desire of vnion.
So knowledge first, begets beneuolence,
Beneuolence breeds friendship, friendship loue.
And where it starts or steps aside from this,
It is a mere degenerous appetite,
A lost, oblique, deprau'd affection,
And beares no marke, or character of Loue.

Lad.
How am I changed! By what alchimy
Of loue, or language, am I thus translated!
His tongue is tip'd with the Philosophers stone,
And that hath touch'd me through euery vaine!
I feele that transmutation o' my blood,
As I were quite become another creature,
And all he speakes, it is proiection!

Pru.
Well fain'd, my Lady: now her parts begin!

Lat.
And she will act 'hem subtilly.

Pru.
She fails me else.

Lov.
Nor doe they trespasse within bounds of pardon,
That giuing way, and licence to their loue,
Di-uest him of his noblest ornaments,
Which are his modesty, and shamefac'tnesse:
And so they doe, that haue vnfit designes,
Vpon the parties, they pretend to loue.
For, what's more monstrous, more a prodigie,
Then to heare me protest truth of affection
Vnto a person that I would dishonor?
And what's a more dishonor, then defacing
Anothers good, with forfeiting mine owne?
And drawing on a fellowship of sinne;
From note of which, though (for a while) we may
Be both kept safe, by caution, yet the conscience
Cannot be cleans'd. For what was hitherto
Cal'd by the name of loue, becomes destroyd
Then, with the fact: the innocency lost,
The bating of affection soone will follow:
And Loue is neuer true, that is not lasting.
No more then any can be pure, or perfect,
That entertaines more then one obiect. Dixi.

Lad.
O speake, and speake for euer! let min'eare
Be feasted still, and filled with this banquet!
No sense can euer surfet on such truth!
It is the marrow of all louers tenents!
Who hath read Plato, Heliodore, or Tatius,
Sydney, D'Vrfé, or all Loues Fathers, like him?
He, is there the Master of the Sentences,
Their Schoole, their Commentary, Text, and Glosse,
And breathes the true diuinity of Loue!

Pru.
Excellent actor! how she hits this passion!

Lad.
Where haue I liu'd, in heresie, so long
Out o'the Congregation of Loue,
And stood irregular, by all his Canons?

Lov.
But doe you thinke she playes?

Pru.
Vpo'my Soueraignty,
Marke her anon.

Lat.
I shake, and am halfe iealous.

Lad.
What penance shall I doe, to be receiu'd,
And reconcil'd, to the Church of Loue?
Goe on procession, bare-foot, to his Image,
And say some hundred penitentiall verses,
There, out of Chaucers Troilus, and Cresside?
Or to his mothers shrine, vow a Waxe-candle
As large as the Towne May-pole is, and pay it!
Enioyne me any thing this Court thinks fit,
For I haue trespass'd, and blasphemed Loue.
I haue, indeed, despis'd his Deity,
Whom (till this miracle wrought on me) I knew not.
Now I adore Loue, and would kisse the rushes
That beare this reuerend Gentleman, his Priest,
If that would expiate—but, I feare it will not.
For, tho' he be somewhat strooke in yeares, and old
Enough to be my father, he is wise,
And onely wise men loue, the other couet.
I could begin to be in loue with him,
But will not tell him yet, because I hope
T'enioy the other houre, with more delight,
And proue him farther.

Pru.
Most Socratick Lady!
Or, if you will Ironick! gi' you ioy
O' you Platonick loue here, Mr Lovel.
But pay him his first kisse, yet, i'the Court,
Which is a debt, and due: For the houre's run.

Lad.
How swift is time, and slily steales away
From them would hug it, value it, embrace it?
I should haue thought it scarce had run ten minutes,
When the whole houre is fled. Here, take your kisse, Sir,
Which I most willing tender you, in Court.

(Bea.
And we doe imitate—)

Lad.
And I could wish,
It had bene twenty—so the Soueraignes
Poore narrow nature had decreed it so—
But that is past, irreuocable, now:
She did her kind, according to her latitude—

Pru.
Beware, you doe not coniure vp a spirit
You cannot lay.

Lad.
I dare you, doe your worst,
Shew me but such an iniustice: I would thanke you
To alter your award.

Lat.
Sure she is serious!
I shall haue another fit of iealousie!
I feele a grudging!

Host.
Cheare vp, noble ghest,
We cannot guesse what this may come to, yet;
The braine of man, or woman, is vncertaine!

Lov.
Tut, she dissembles! All is personated,
And counterfeit comes from her! If it were not,
The Spanish Monarchy, with both the Indies,
Could not buy off the treasure of this kisse,
Or halfe giue balance for my happinesse.

Host.
Why, as it is yet, it glads my light Heart
To see you rouz'd thus from a sleepy humor,
Of drouzy, accidentall melancholy;
And all those braue parts of your soule awake,
That did before seeme drown'd, and buried in you!
That you expresse your selfe, as you had back'd
The Muses Horse! or got Bellerophons armes!
What newes with Fly?

Fly.
Newes, of a newer Lady,
A finer, freshes, brauer, bonnier beauty,
A very bona-Roba, and a Bouncer!
In yeallow, glistering, golden Satten.

Lad.
Pru,
Adiourne the Court.

Pru.
Cry Trundle—

Tru.
Oyez,
Any man, or woman, that hath any personal attendance
To giue vnto the Court; Keepe the second houre,
And Loue saue the Sou'raigne.