 | The Launching of the Mary |  |
31
Actus. 2.
Scena. Ia./
Enter . fitzI: Naupegus./.[Musick]
fitz.
Tell me Naupegus when's the lanchinge daye?
I longe to see her well aflote, & moorde,
the yeare spends fast, & tyme runs swift awaye
procrastination is a dangerous thinge,
Naup:
You neede not bid him runne that ys Compelld
nor needes that horse a spurre thates fierce & free:
my earnest longinge is as greate as yor s.
to see her safe aflote: when Cynthia next
shall make a Circled orbe, you may expect
the tyme at hand: tyll then haue patience
the next springe tyde shall bringe your wish to passe/
32
Heauen send a happy, Calme, & quiett daye.
meane while good syr lett me entreate your Care
to see the Cabbin well accom̄odated
I neede not instance much, you know the all
yt stands in need of: my aduise therein
would be vnsauorie: let her haue her due
of all thinges needfull:
Naup:
Captayne feare yt not:
my Care here ys yours, & more then yours
my Creditt lyes at stake: wch Ile not forfeyt
to my most honoured masters, for my life.
occasions Call me hence.
fitz.
What not a pinte
before wee parte?
Naup:
Good syr another tyme.
drinking's a Custome may as well be broke
as serious tyme be spent in vse thereof,
wth vnwett lipps (though Customeles) weele part
the shippe once lancht, haue at you for a quart.
Exit./.
fitz.
for . 2 . in [fayth] truthe, & . 3 . tymes . 2 . to that.
O happy, aboue many, happy man,
borne & brought vp in tymes full happines,
[next to the sole redeemer of my soule]
how am I [am] bound, obliegd, engagde, devoted
to my much honored masters: that on[e] me
haue thus vouchsafte to Cast theyr fayre aspect:
appointinge me Com̄aunder of a shippe
worthy the best Com̄aunder of a kingedome.
O. blest, blest heauens, vouchsafe your influence
on my designes: let me not like a drone
liue onely for mine owne peculiar endes,
farre be yt from me, to retaliate
sterrilitie, for grayne & fruite receaude.
by all that is in man Ile doe my best,
to doe them service to my vtmost date
& when I fayle in fayth, heauens fayle to be,
33
Enter dorotea Constance/
do:-
what meane these imprecations worthy Sr./
fitz.-
That's to my selfe . but tell me dorotea,
what make you heare so early: [the waye is darke] sunne scarse vp,
exceedinge [darke] cold, & slipery wthall,
walke soft & fayre least happily you fall./
doro:
You hitt the marke aright: I well may fall
nor haue I any hope to ryse but fall.
yet lower then I am, I Cannott fall./
would I had neuer knowne a maryed state
or else would India had beene neuer knowne.
how solitary doe I spend my dayes
encarcared like a forlorne wretch:
not once frequented, visited, or seene
by those, who [l] whilst my husband liude at home
made solem̄e oaths, deepe protestations
to see me daylie: I canne but admire
to see my selfe so vilifide by freinds
34
that sometymes helde me dearer then theyr liues.
Am I in one halfe yeare growne so deformd?
ys not my forme & feature still the same?
haue I an ill report? or doe I liue
after the obscene Custome of such wiues
as daylie haunt the tavernes, taphouses,
and keepe the Companie of sordid knaues?
Twixt Chast Camilla & adulterate Thais
is there no difference? must I or be bad
or liue in such anxietie of minde
as ys of force to ouercharge a woman?
Am I suspected for incontinent
because sometymes to recreate my selfe
I see a playe: yea such a one perhapps
as makes me feare both shame & punishment
doe not good women thus? & more then thus
wthout supicion? yf this may be graunted
why am I then an [al] alien to the sight
of those that knowe me, & should Comfort me
Oh: India, India, hadst thou nere beene knowne
I should haue had no Cause to make this mone./
Capt:
Why doe you thus exclayme gaynst India:
you rather should exclaime gaynst want of meanes.
India hath made you husbandles a while,
what then? is India therefore blameable?
did not your husband by petition
implore imployment? did the marchantes want
your husband more, then did your husband them?
the fayre imployment that's Conferrd on him
had beene supplyde by better [[illeg.]] abler men
had not his importunitie beene such
as would take no denyall? theyr imployment
ys not so easily purchast as you thinke.
good freindes indeed stucke Close vnto your husband
else had he Come farre short of what he gott.
Tis impudence euen in an-ill-tongd trull
(much more in you fayre mistres) to reuile
35
for shame, for shame forbeare: all ills amonge
there is none worser then a lavish tongue./.
do:/
Me thinkes you are too lauish in your tongue.
why wth such Checks such taunts, such reprehensions
am I by you s[[illeg.]]napt vp, snarld, & Contrould?
will you not giue the looser leaue to speake?
why should I spend the vigour of my yeares
in Contemplations onely? am not I
Composde of flesh and blood as other women?
Suppose I want what other women haue
I Could doe little Could I not Complaine
and Curse mine owne ill fortune: my disease
is more then of a dayes Continuance
How many dayes, weekes, months, & yeares must I
suffer exile from knowinge vse of man?
36
and yet I must not speake. heaūs beare me record
I honour the Imployers of my husband
wth all respectes, & reuerent regard
and wish my selfe (sans stayne vnto mine honour)
a seruant to the meanest of theyr seruants.
Thinke you my husbands absence is my greife?
weare I a man (your pardon yf you please)
I would not be so stupid: but all's one
I take my leaue:
Cap:
what so abruptly gone.
I prythee dorotea staye awhile
do:-
what yf I staye a tyme, tyme to beguile,
your Comforts will be bitter potions,
your best Confections, will be Corasiues.
you haue no fleshie heart: no sugred wordes
to please a woman: you are made of steele
or of some harder substance—adamant:
& yet Ile staye: me thinkes I see some good
appeare in that blacke visage: speake & spare not
or bad, or worse, or worst of all, I Care not.
Cap:
A constant resolution: canne you then
accept of Hemlocke as of Hyacinth,?
of fullsome weedes as fragrant Eglantine?
dor:
Bringe wth you fire to burne, or snow to Cooole,
speake wordes like wormwood, or like hony-suckles,
both shall haue equall hearinge: youle not make
so deepe a wound (I know your goodnes such)
but youle apply some balsamum to heale:
Cap:
To what may I Compare thee? To a Bee
that beares about her, hony, & a stinge.
or to a shippe, full fraught wth precious goodes,
yet must be pumpt, because she hath a leake.
or to a Rose, delightfull to the view,
but full of prickles in the gatheringe.
or to some learned Empericke, that kills
as well as Cures to manifest his skill.
all these thou art, & more, by many more
37
dor:
Well, saye I am all these:
yet haue I not the propertie of all,
I am a stingles bee a leakles shippe,
a prickles rose, an Empericke but kill not.
whom haue I stunge,? whose fingers haue I prickt,
whose goodes haue sufferd damage by my leake,
whom [I] haue I killd by my Chirurgerie?
yet am I all you haue Conferd one me
An Empericke, a rose, a shippe, a Bee./.
38
Thy beauty is most like a Basiliske
wch kills at sight:
dor:
Good syr a little patience.
Saye heauen hath made me beautifull, what then,
must natures feature moue a man to loue
whether he will or no, or Ile Consent?
shall I for the affection wch some shew
reciprocally shew the same affection?
By the instinct wch nature hath Conferd
on[e] me, (or any other) I doe knowe
that euery splendid thinge is amiable.
yet Canne I not Conceaue, why anie partie
[the] loude for her beautie, should reloue the louer,
there is no obligation for that acte.—
nor doe all beauties indifferently enamour:
some please the sight, but not subiect the will,
for yf all beauties Could worke both effects
mens wills would euer runne Confusedly.
not able once to make election.
for amorous subiects beinge infinite
make the desires likewise infinite.
True loue brookes no devision: and must be
more voluntary graunted, then enforcte./.
wch beinge true, as I presume yt ys,
must I, or any other woman, forcibly
subiect her will, to him that sayes, he loues her?
yf not, then saye that heauen had made me foule.
should I Complaine because men loue me not?
for as the viper doth not meritt blame
for Carying poyson wherewthall shee kills,
because by nature tis Conferd on her:
euen so doe women because beautifull
as little meritt reprehension./
beautie is like a fire, or sharpe-ground sword,
one Cannott burne, nor canne the other Cutt,
any that come not nere them.
Honour & vertues are the ornaments
39
the fayrest body is esteemed foule.
Let him Complaine that hath beene once deceaud;
Let him despayre, whose promisde Hopes haue faylde.
Let him Confesse yt, whom I euer Calld:
& let him vaunt, whom I haue once admitted:
but to be calld a Homicide, by him,
who neuer yet was promised, deceiud,
Calld, or admitted, ys selfe-Crueltie:
He that calls me a killinge Basiliske
let him eschew me as a dangerous thinge.
He that Calls me ingrate, let him not serue me:
He that doth thinke me strange let him not knowe me:
pardon me worthy syr, I haue beene longe
40
that beauty is no killinge Basiliske./
Cap:
You would become the Academie well
since you are growne so good a disputant.
how quaintly you dispute wth pro & Con,
what ænigmatique questions you Cane aske
and make replyes as Hierogliphicall.
what a promiscuous rabble haue you spoke
to make me thinke you lead a spotles lyfe
& yet Complayne you are a maryed wyfe./
dor:
Cannot an honest woman say she wantes
the sweete embracements of a lovinge husband
wthout [misprision] a scandall to her honestie?
shall bold facte, proud, licentious libertines
sicke (one would thinke) of loue, to kindle lust
be a sufficient argument, that all,
all women (sans exception) are like them.?
doth not the Citty nurse as dissolute
as whorish women, as lasciuious dames,
as Wappinge, Ratcliffe, lymehouse, or Blackwall.?
must sea mens wyues, especially those
that trace the seas to vtmost India
be table talke, nay tauerne-talke to all?
admitt there are some base ones mongst that Crew,
(as doubtles there are many, too too many)
yet should you finde (yf true enquirie made)
Ermins as well as otters, some pure white
that would not stayne her soule wth inkie synne.
all doe not swym̄e in bubled-troubled waters
borne vp wth bladders of ambition./
fayre heauens forbid.
You haue a wyfe (and longe [you] may you enioye her)
farre disagreeinge to the Com̄on strayne
of sea mens wyues, & may she not deplore
your discontinuance,? may she not desire,
your presence euer wth teares, sighes, grones, & sobbs,
wthout [misprision to] suspicion of her honestie?
41
I sayd I spent the vigour of my yeares
in Contemplations onely? doth that argue
I Coueted the Companie of man?
good fayth Sr. nothinge lesse: you vrgde my wants:
Tis true they speake the prologue of my woe?
but shall want make me wanton, false, disloyall?
farre be yt from my thoughts? some women seeme
to be what they are not: & so maye I
yf you Condemne me of dishonestie./
Cap:
Wonder of women, mirrour of thy sex,
fayre Dorotea pardon my amisse:
Here, here, yee wiues, whose husbands spend theyr dayes
in want, & danger, whilst like prodigalls,
you spend what they laboriously haue gott.
42
you that wth wanton[s] eyes, & flatteringe wordes
make prostitutes of your betrothed selues
bringinge dishonour to your husbands beds,
you, you luxurious dames (yf such there be
wthin this Circled orbe) whose husbands sayle
to Orientall India: heres a patterne,
for rich, for poore, for beauteous, & deformd.
liue, liue, by this example: O my soule,:
who would not trace the furthest verge on earth
for such a wyfe:? who would thinke any thinge
too hott, or Cold for such a Constant spouse./
Here dorotea: nay I prythee take yt,
giues his purse.
now by my life I neuer gaue a [thinge] gifte
more willingly:, nor with a freer heart:
Heauens be propitious to thy honest thoughts
& Chast intentions: neuer may disaster
assayle thy person: you that heretofore
haue throwne aspersions, ignomies, slanders
on sea mens wiues in generall: repent
your foule-mouthd Censures: here your eyes doe see
of that selfe sex, a Chast Penelope./.
dor:
Sr. what I Cannott really performe
in full requitall of these Curtesies
my husbands presence shall make satisfaction:
till then my slender thankes is all I haue
Cap:
And that'es ynough: & more then I expect:
farewell sweete Creature: heaūs [guard the spotles] prolonge thy lyfe
& send each honest seaman such a wyfe./.
exit./.
do:
Angells of grace, how swiftly are you bent
to the relieuinge of the innocent?
Enter Mary Sparke. & Isabell Nutt. two seamens wyues./ wth handbaskettes./
Spa:
What mistress Dorotea at your beades
your orysons, your meditations?
do:
A little musinge what shall come hereafter
Nutt:
fayth and I muse euery daye who shall Cracke
43
do:
Im̄odest woman are you not ashamde?
doe you not blush to speake so filthylie./
Nutt/.
Marry Come vp mistres puritan: what sayst thou Sparke:
is Crackinge of a nutt filthy?
Sp:
fayth I thinke not: for I haue often wisht for some good
liquid thinge to quench my Sparke: & ys that filthy?
Dor:
Two such im̄odest, shameles, beastlie Creatures
liue not wthin these quarters:
nutt:
I tell thee what Sparke: this younge giglett is euer
workinge, & yet shee doth but liue: & I neuer worke,
and yet liue, as well as shee: so that I thinke there ys
not three pence a yeare betwixt workinge & playinge./
44
Troth I thinke so too. but what thinkst thou Nutt yf fryar
Bacon weare now aliue that could make dumbe thinges
speake. what would my baskett saye at first word?/
dor:
Some shameles language I dare pawne my life
those needfull basketts serue[s] your needles vse
for—
Nutt-
for what Mr ess Minx. S'life I haue seene as good a
woman as you Carry a hand baskett:
dor:
I thinke no lesse, but twas for better vse
then eyther of you both doe Carry yours.
Spa:
Why mr ess dorotea I hope any quarter masters wyfe of
an East Indie shippe maye goe to London wth a hand baskett
wthout any impeach to her honestie
Nutt,
I or a [midshippe mans] botesons mates wyfe eyther, [for] I am
sure [theyr] wee maye doe so much by the vertue of
theyr office and Com̄aund./
Spa:
You shall vnderstand wee are no Com̄on mens wyues,
wee know our places in all Companies whatsoeuer/
dor:
I knowe you doe: & knew you not so much
twere better for the paynfull men abroad,
they Cannott spare so fast as you Canne spend,
you haue your wills & make your wills your lawe.
you lead such shameles, ill-beseeminge liues,
as bringes reproch vpon all sea-mens wyues./
Nutt.
fayth wee haue liude longe ynough to be taught
manners, by you, or any such flurts as you are—/
dor:
No matter what you saye, yet I Could wishe
you would giue better language—
Spa:
Not a whitt:
& weare yt not for this Concourse of people,
by this—thou shouldst feele more blowes then
heare wordes/. Tibb Nutt:
Nutt:
what sayst [Mall] Mall Sparke./
Spa:
where & wth whom doste meete todaye?
Nutt:
fayth I neuer keepe one Constant house: sometymes at
whitingtons venture by the six windmills: sometymes
45
the windmill beyond Milend, sometymes at the white
Lyon in Blackman streete, Sometymes at the shippe
in wappinge,: Sometymes at the hoope at lymehouse
Corner: sometymes at the man in the moone in
white Chappell: Sometymes at the queens head in
the little minories, but euery daye likely at a
seuerall house:
Spa:
And where to daye, merry Tibb. where to daye
Nutt:
To daye I must meete, 3. or 4. Grocers prentises
at a tauerne in west Smithfield, they bringe sugar
& nuttmegge, wch wee infuse into white wine &
rosewater, & then a barell of pickelld oysters
to rellish our liquor, & soe wee are mighty
merrie an houre or two & awaye, roundly for
Ratcliffe./ make no reply mall but Come
alonge wth me, thou art but newly marryed &
as yet vnentered into such Iouiall Companie[s]
Ile giue thee induction, & then shift for thy selfe,/
I will not spend my dayes wthout delight
nor keepe my lodginge like an anchorite./
exeunt./
46
fayre heauns why suffer you your sunne to shine
on such vile dunghill Creatures? what report
Canne be too base for such exorbitants:?
these, these are they wch bringe reproch & shame
on us, & [our] the profession of our husbands./
these thriftles, wittles, shameles, faythles Creatures
retayninge neyther thrift, witt, shame, nor fayth.
what scorpion stingeth more, what[h] Cocatrice
Canne sooner kill, what night owle screecheth worse,
what [are so] Pye more Chatteringe, or what Iaye more proud
then [many] are some sea-mens wyues? but yet shall all,
of all Conditions be Condemnd for fewe?
The gods forbid./—
kinde Courteous women let me begge a boone
I, one of you, begge of you all this boone.
Be not too rash to iudge of all alike,
let not your Censure be precipitate.
there is some Cockle mongst the finest wheate,
there are some weedes amongst the holsomste hearbes,
some wolues vpon the playnes as well as sheepe
some foxes in the woodes as well as deare.
there are Torpedoes in the ocean
as well as dolphins: [shall we then them dislike] puttocks haue theyr soare
into the loftie ayre, as well as larkes.
bad women must haue (nay they will haue) beinge
yea, & perhapps amongst the best: what then?
are the good ere the worse:? a dye in grayne
mauger the bitterst gall will neuer stayne./.
good women maye doe good vnto the bad,
bad women Cannot hurt the (inward) good.
once more I begge (let me not begge in vayne
perhapps she beggs, wch nere will begge agayne)
once more I saye, & but [thrice] this once no more
let me (for all) your mild Conceiptes implore,
your good Constructions, vpon seamens wiues,
I dare averre there's many lead theyr liues,
wthout least thought, (much lesse the acte) of yll—/
47
me thinkes I here you in a silent murmur
saye you will doe yt: heauns blesse you for the thought
& much more for the acte. my bended kn[en]eee
I hope will make you speake: speake loude & free—/
exit./
Enter Trun̄ell, Tallow, Tarre, Okum & Sheethinge nayle./.
Tarre/.
Why so: this ys as patt as a pancake: I am sure tis
too soone for the bell to ringe this halfe houre: Come
letts Call euery man his full pott & Chatt a little—
Why boye—
Boye.
Tis done. before you speake. (bringes. fire. stooles. & drinke—)
Okum./
doe you heare Shavinge, let no man Come into our
roome for—knocke wthin
Boye
anon, anon, by, & by. I warrant you, my lyfe, for,—by, & . by—
when you knocke Ile—by, & by—& feare nothinge
yf the deuill—there I Come
exit boye.
Okum:
This boyes tongue runnes as slippery as a rope newe
tallowde, quicke & nimble, yfayth, quicke & nimble—
48
You had best take a pott & wett your selfe, neighbour
Okum, for you are euer as drye as a spunge,:
Shea:
Leaue of this Ierkinge one of another, theres two of you
the more you striue, the more you stinke. I had rather
neuer drinke, then drinke with such whampard mesells,
Trun̄ell./.
Of all impossibilities, yt ys most impossible to please all
men/and yet me thinkes wee (beinge allmost of one
facultie) should neuer displease one another: for the
m'chants Canne finde fault (fast ynough) wth us all.
for one sayes the Tallow stinkes, another sayes, the Tarre
hath water & soote in yt: another says the Okum ys to
wett: a fourth sayes the sheathinge nayles are to short,
a fift sayes the Trunells are neyther longe ynough
nor round ynough: & euery one of us haue one [fuolt]
fault or other, & yet wee Cannott winke at one anothers
faults.—
Okum/.
Now by gisse neighbour Trun̄ell thou speakst roundly
to the busynes./ therefore let us drinke and—
All.
All frends: all frends: (drinke round)
Tarre:
[doste heare me Sym Sheathinge, I prythee tell us a]
[little of the story of Amboyna: & first what weare the]
[names of the dutchmen that Causde our men to be so]
[Cruelly torturd, & most inhumanely murthered./]
Shea:
[Well at your request, & in hope that no body heares me]
[me. Ile tell you: The Com̄aunder was: Harman van Speult:]
Tall:
[what mought he be for a man: that Harman van Spewd.]
She:
[I thinke his father was [a] some blinde Crowder, [as] or Certes]
[little better: for gentleman or m'chant would haue shewd]
[more humanitie: the rest weare his vnderlinges]
[as.]
[Laurence de Maerschalcke.]
[Klement Kerseboome.]
[Harman Crayvanger./]
[Peter van Zanten.]
[Leonart Clocq:]
[In all six persons./ the best inferior to the very]
[basest of our nation/.]
49
[In what manner was theyr torture./]
She:
[fire & water two merciles elements inflicted in such[illeg.]]
[abundant measure, as heretofore hath beene vnheard of,]
[& last of all followed death, the very period of theyr]
[longe sustayned miseries./]
Tarre./
[what might the dutch suggest?]
She:
[Treason/. & that mighty treason: for Eleuen english—]
[m'chants, one steward of the house, one taylor, & one]
[barber, wth . 3 . swords, 2 . hand gunns, & halfe a pound]
[of powder, should haue taken the Castle of Amboyna]
[wth . 3 . or . 4 . hundred men in yt, besides many greate]
[peeces of ordnance.]
Tarre:
[Ha: ha: ha: now thou makste me laugh, to thinke]
[that eyther our men should be so simple, or the dutch]
[so base:]
Shea:
[As I dare mayntayne the simplicitie of the one, so I dare]
[averre the basenes of the other to the best burghers teeth]
[in Amsterdam: vnder the rose be yt spoken/]
50
[Horrible, horrible, horrible: dare not a man, a freind,]
[or a kinsman—doe—doe,—doe—]
Shea:
[doe nothinge: not so much as speake your opinion: nor]
[would I haue spoke so much but—silence the]
[boye Comes: Shavinge let me aske thee a question/]
Enter. boye/.
Boye:
[Quickly & freely goodman Sheathinge nayle, for tyme slipps]
[a waye apace:]
Shea:
[Suppose, that wee fiue weare [so simple as]/[suspected] to vndertake]
[to take the [tower of London] Castle of Antwerpe]
Boye:
[yf I weare one of your beardles Iudges. (such as the]
[dutch weare at Amboyna) I would torture you wth]
[water & fire, & then, (snap St Magnes) cutt you]
[of as round as a whirlegigge.]
Tall:
[But Shavinge I hope you would be more m'cifull?]
Boye:
Trust not to that: [I would be as mercifull as the dutch weare] but no more [of this: the bell is]
[The bell is] ready to ringe, [gent] the Clerke of the Checke is vp, what
you will doe, doe quickly, & snap St Magnus/
Tarre:
3. full potts more & let the [the] bell ringe, a gods
name:
(enter boye . wth . 3 . pottes)
Shea:
Good syrs be silent: yt may be punishment to speake
somethynges that are in print: therefore—
Okū.
Therefore heres euery man will be as secret as a—
midwyfe yfayth: drinke:—drinke, drinke:—
Bell ringes. enter Naupegus & Clarke of the Checke./
Naup:
well sayd my masters, I see youle not starue: awaye to the
Call, to the Call good boyes & to worke lustily, but two
dayes, more, & then wee lanch:
Exeunt Tarre. &c'.
Here bringe a little table, & a paper booke: for Clerke of the Checke./
Clerke .
Calls:
answeare wt h i n all but: Mend: & . Ele .
Peter Pestlehead./ Alexander Hogh:
Quintilian Quicksiluer./ Hugh Hugmatye./
Roderego Rawbone. Humphrey Hum./
51
Timothie Tredvarges./ Nathaniell Nippe./
Valentine Vardegreese: Miles Mendpricke./ where./ [yt]
Williā Woolfange./ Gregorie Greensue./
Thomas Trunnell Batt Bendbowe.
Symon Sheathingenayle. Christopher Clote./
Tarquine Tarre./ Leonard Lourie/.
Osmond Okum./ Edmond Elephant
Takalmouth Tallow./ Gabriell Goateheard. where yt must be the least man wth a longbeard
Phillip fullmouth. Sampson Swabber./
francis firkin./.
david ap owen, ap Euan, ap meredeth: ap Iunkin./
Iohn ap rees of Aberhundie/.
llewellin ap morgan, ap david./
Iohn ap Euan of Langaddocke
52
A worke. well finisht. Sr. wthout offence,
what thinke you of the late Com̄aund sent downe
for preparation, gaynst the lanchinge daye,?
Clar:
By the Com̄aund, as t'was to me directed
wee may expect persons of Eminence,
and honour in the [Court] state, the Eye of Europe,
the hopefull mother of succeedinge kinges,
maye happily grace our sequestered Climbe
wth her all-glorious, presence, & for her
what preparation Canne be rich ynough?
Candy could not [not] receaue old Saturnes daughter
wth better welcome,: greate Semiramis
and Stately Cleopatra should attend
her sacred person, Pallas should giue waye,
Zenobia wayte, & all the Nimphes obaye./
Naup:
But thinke you syr her sacred maiestie
will grace our lanchinge?
Clar:
That's but my Idea:/
I onely wish, what I would gladly see,
the eye, heart, soule of Englands maiestie:
Naup:
Twould be a ioyous sight to all beholders
In whom greate Brittayne hath more hope to ioye
then other spacious kingdomes in theyr queenes,
but worthles wee to speake her worthynes,
let's Come a little nearer to our selues.
Some other[s] motiues hapily there are
wch Cause this preparation:
Clar:
That's best knowne,
To our most honourd masters . let our Care
be answearable vnto theyr Com̄aund.
wee Could doe little, Could wee not obey
the powers [supernall] & persons, by whose bounteous meanes
wee haue our lyvinge,: [I, you all yours, & mine]
[are bound to doe our homage at theyr shrine.]
Naup:
You speake but truth.
Cla:
you knowe I keepe the keyes,
Com̄aund, take what you will, provided allwayes
53
must render the acco. whats, lost, what's spent,
& what remaynes: your frugall [Care] providence
must husband the materialls of the worke.
Naup
[Myne] mine be that Care: all busynes sett apart,
all speedie preparation shall be made,
yf ought occurre betwixt this daye & that
that may Concerne the busynes, in hand,
let me partake thereof:
Cla:
You shall not fayle.
meane tyme let both our Cares be mutuall:
be mine [is] no lesse then yours, nor yours then mine,
& both respond our masters expectation.
This daye & worke well finisht, lets prepare
to giue a welcome to a second Care./
exeunt/.
| The Launching of the Mary | |