At sight whereof he suddenly start up,

And then reveal'd the murder.
James. I'll tell you Sir, one more to quit your tale :-

A woman that had made away her husband,
And sitting to behold a tragedy,
At Lyon a town in Norfolk,
Acted by players travelling that way,
Wherein a woman that had murthered her's
Was ever haunted with her husband's ghost :-
The passion written by a feeling pen,
And acted by a good tragedian,
She was so moved with the sight thereof,
That she cried out, -the play was made for her,-

And openly confest her husband's murder.
Barnes. However their's, Gods name be praised for this !

Yoy Master Mayor I see must to the court,

I pray you do my duty to the Lords.
Mayor. That will I Sir.
James. Come, I'll go along with you.

(Exeant.)

1

TRAGEDY enters to conclude.

Tragedy. Here are the launces that have sluic'd forth sin,

And ript the venom'd ulcer of foul lust,
Which being by due vengeance qualified,
Here Tragedy of force must need conclude.
Perhaps it may seem strange unto you all,
That one hath not reveng'd another's death,
According to the observation of such course :
The reason is, that now of truth I sing,
And should I add, or else diminish ought,
Many of these spectators then could say,

1

I have committed error in my play.
Bear with this true and home-born tragedy,
Yielding so slender argument and scope,
To build a matter of importance on;
And in such form as haply you expected,
What now hath failed, to-morrow you shall see,
Performed by History or Comedy.

It remains now to say a few words respecting the following pages.

They were undertaken, by the present writer, in conjunction with an old and much valued Friend, whose state of health and more important avocations, prevented him from bearing the part in it which he at first proposed, and the work has suffered materially in consequence. Thus much to explain the use of the plural pronoun, which without this explanation, might seem to be an affectation.

No small number of books have been consulted in the compilation of these pages, a far greater number indeed than by the scanty fruits may appear. The compiler claims the merit of having taken nothing upon trust; he has read carefully all the works which he could procure of the several writers upon whose merits he has ventured to pass an opinion, and that opinion has in every instance been his own, whatever may be said of its justice or correctness,

The orthography has been modernized throughout to fit the work for general readers; and the lines have been arranged according to the rhyme. No other

liberties have been taken with the extracts, except where, in a few instances, obvious incorrectness in the printing or punctuation demanded to be put right.

To his Friend above alluded to, the Writer is under the greatest obligation for the use of books, for procuring him the loan of books, and introducing him to various sources of original information. His thanks are also due to the Very Rev. the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury Cathedral, for permission to examine a manuscript poem in their library ; to the Rev. H. J. Todd for the loan of a scarce poem by the Rev. Thomas Curteis, and other books from his library; to Messrs. Longman and Co. Booksellers, for the loan of scarce and valuable books from their extensive collections; to Miss Duncombe of Canterbury, in an especial manner, for communications respecting Dr. Hawkesworth, the Rey. John Duncombe, Mrs. Duncombe, and Mr. William Jackson ; to Mrs. Lukyn, of Canterbury, for the use of some manuscript poems, bay Mr. William Jackson ; and to Mrs. May of Herne, near Canterbury, for correct copies of some poems written, aud published incorrectly, by her late brother Mr. James Six.

To those who, knowing the compiler's professional einployments, may be inclined to censure him for

supposed neglect of his more serious “calling” for the “ idle trade" of authorship, upon a subject which they may deem light and trifling, he might reply, if there were not a tinge of vanity it, in the words of the poet,

he bas, however, another quotation at hand, and with that, as it exactly suits his case, he will take his leave.

“ Forsitan hoc studium possit furor esse videri :

Sed quiddam furor, hic utilitatis habet ;
Semper in obtutu mentem vetat esse malorum,
Præsentis casus immemoremque facit."*

(Ovid. Trist. Lib. iv. Eleg. 1.)

* Haply my love of vefse may fully seem :

All though it be, this recompence I share,
My mind it lures from many a painful theme,

And sweet oblivion briogs of present care.