In learning loe my Uncle brought up me,
And made me Doctor in Divinity:

And when he dy'd he left me all his wealth,
Whose cursed gold did hinder my soul's health.

Then did I shun the Holy Bible book,
Nor on Gods word would ever after look,
But studied accursed Conjuration,

Which was the cause of my utter Damnation.

The Devil in Fryar's weeds appeared to me,
And streight to my Request he did agree,
That I might have all things at my desire,
I gave him soul and body for his hire.

Twice did I make my tender flesh to bleed,
Twice with my blood I wrote the Devils dec
twice wretchedly I soul and body sold,
to live in peace and do what things I would.

For four and twenty Years this bond was made,
And at the length my soul was truly paid,
Time ran away, and yet I never thought

How dear my soul our Saviour Christ had bought.

Would I had first been made a Beast' by kind, then had not I so vainly set my mind;

Or would when reason first began to bloom, Some darksome Den had been my deadly tomb.

Woe to the Day of my nativity,

Woe to the time that once did foster me,

1 v. Marlowe.

Host.

And woe unto the hand that sealed the Bill,
Woe to myself the cause of all my ill.

The time I past away with much delight,
'Mongst princes peers, & many a worthy kt.
I wrought such wonders by my Magick Skill,
that all the world may talk of Faustus still.'

the Devil he carried me up into the sky,
Where I did see how all the world did lie;
I went about the world in eight Daies space,
And then return'd unto my Native place.

What pleasure I did wish to please my mind,
He did perform as bond and seal did bind,
the secrets of the Stars and Planets told,
urth and sea with wonders manifold.

When four and twenty years was almost run,
I thought of all things that was past and done;
How that the Devil would soon claim his right,
And carry me to Everlasting Night.

then all too late I curst my wicked deed,
the deed whereof doth make my heart to bleed,
All daies and hours I mourned wondrous sore,
Repenting me of all things done before.

This couplet is quoted in "The Surprising Life and Death of Dr. John Faustus," 1740: "Wherefore this was voted by them as a thing miraculous, every one gathering and carrying away all such Things as they liked, and so departed with those sweet smelling Flowers, making good the Words of the Poet

'He wrought such wonders with his Magick skill, That all the world might talk of Faustus still." A misprint, probably, for “dread." Cf. Bagford ballad.

I then did wish both Sun and Moon to stay
All times and Seasons, never to decay;
then had my time nere come to dated end,
Nor soul and body down to Hell descend.

At last when I had but one hour to come,
I turn'd my glass, for my last hour to run,
And call'd in learned men to comfort me,
But faith was gone & none could comfort me.

By twelve a Clock my glass was almost out,
My grieved Conscience then began to doubt;
I wisht the Students stay in Chamber by,
But as they staid they heard a dreadful cry.

then presentlo they came into the hall,
WWhereas my brains was cast against the wall,
Both arms and legs in pieces torn they see,
My bowels gone, this was an end of me.'

Not quite.

"The time has been

That, when the brains were out, the man would die,

And there an end,"

exclaims Macbeth (Act III. sc. iv.). It is more than probable that when Shakespeare put this strange reflection in Macbeth's mouth, he had in his mind's eye the posthumous doggerel of this woeful ballad. Like nearly all the playwrights of his time, Shakespeare felt the influence of Marlowe's "Faust." Thus, in the "Merry Wives of Windsor," we find at least two references to the two principal characters of the play as to well-known personages.

Bard. You Banbury cheese!
Slen. Ay, it is no matter.

ACT I. SC. I.

Pist. How now, Mephistophilus!

Slen. Ay, it is no matter.

You Conjurors and damned WWitches all,
Example take by my unhappy fall:

Give not your souls and bodies unto Hell,
See that the smallest hair you do not sell.

But hope that Christ his Kingdom you may gain,
WWhere you shall never fear such mortal pain:
Forsake the Devil and all his crafty ways,
Embrace true faith that never more decays.

Printed by and for A. M., and sold by the Booksellers
of London.

ACT IV. SC. v.

Bard. Out, alas, sir! cozenage, mere cozenage!

Host. Where be my horses? Speak well of them, Varletto.

Bard. Run away with the cozeners; for so soon as I came beyond Eton, they threw me off from behind one of them in a slough of mire, and set spurs and away, like three German devils, three Doctors Faustuses.

One may imagine the raillery and merriment, perhaps Macbeth's excla. mation may be a reminiscence of some of it, to which the ballad of Faustus would give rise among the wits and bards who met at the Mermaid.

EDITIONS OF THE PUPPET-PLAY.

1. DOCTOR FAUST, oder: Der Grosse Negromantist. Schauspiel mit Gesang in fünf Aufzügen. Berlin, ganz neu gedruckt 1832. 12o, MS. Geisselbrecht. Oberst von Below.

[This appears to be the first known publication of any version of the Puppet-play. The Oberst von Below had twenty-four copies only printed for private circulation. The performances of the play, by Schutz and Dreher, at Berlin i the year 1804, excited a good deal of attention in literary circles and an attempt to transcribe it seems to have been made. Th attempt, however, does not appear to have proceeded beyon the transcription of three scenes of Act I. These, togethe: with a descriptive account of the rest of the performance by Fr. Heinr. von der Hagen, were published in "Germania. Von der Berlin. Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache und Alterthumskunde." Bd. IV., Berlin, 1841, ss. 211-224; v. also Scheible's "Kloster," Bd. V. s. 729.j

2. Doktor Johann Faust. Schauspiel in zwei Theilen. (Vom Ulmer Puppentheater.) v. Scheible's "Kloster," Bd. V. ss. 783-805.

[This Ulm version is supposed by Creizenach to be clearer from subsequent alterations and additions than any of the others. Creizenach, however, is one of those who seem to regard the German Puppet-play of "Faust" as of great antiquity, a view difficult to substantiate.]

3. Faust. Zu einem Schauspiele in drei Akten bearbeitet