Enter Chorus.

Chorus. Not marching now in fields of Thrasy

mene,

Where Mars did mate* the Carthaginians;
Nor sporting in the dalliance of love,

In courts of kings where state is overturn'd;
Nor in the pomp of proud audacious deeds,
Intends our Muse to vaunt + her heavenly

verse:

Only this, gentlemen,-we must perform
The form of Faustus' fortunes, good or bad:
To patient judgments we appeal our plaud,
And speak for Faustus in his infancy.
Now is he born, his parents base of stock,
In Germany, within a town call'd Rhodes:
Of riper years, to Wertenberg he went,
Whereas § his kinsmen chiefly brought him up.
So soon he profits in divinity,

The fruitful plot of scholarism grac'd,

That shortly he was grac'd with doctor's name,
Excelling all whose sweet delight disputes
In heavenly matters of theology;
'Till swoln with cunning,|| of a self-conceit,
His waxen wings did mount above his reach,
And, melting, heavens conspir'd his overthrow;
For, falling to a devilish exercise,

And glutted now with learning's golden gifts,
He surfeits upon cursed necromancy;
Nothing so sweet as magic is to him,
Which he prefers before his chiefest bliss:
And this the man that in his study sits.

* mate] i. e. confound, defeat.

[Exit.

+ vaunt] So the later 4tos.-2to 1604 "daunt." ther] All the 4tos "his."

§ Whereas] i. e. where.

cunning] i. e. knowledge.

now] So the later 4tos.-2to 1604 "more."

FAUSTUS discovered in his study.*

Faust. Settle thy studies, Faustus, and begin To sound the depth of that thou wilt profess: Having commenc'd, be a divine in shew, Yet level at the end of every art,

And live and die in Aristotle's works.

Sweet Analytics, 'tis thou hast ravish'd me!
Bene disserere est finis logices.

Is, to dispute well, logic's chiefest end?
Affords this art no greater miracle?

Then read no more; thou hast attain'd that end:

A greater subject fitteth Faustus' wit:
Bid Economy § farewell, and || Galen come,
Seeing, Ubi desinit philosophus, ibi incipit medi-

cus:

Be a physician, Faustus; heap up gold,
And be eterniz'd for some wondrous cure:
Summum bonum medicinæ sanitas,
The end of physic is our body's health.
Why, Faustus, hast thou not attain'd that end?
Is not thy common talk found aphorisms?
Are not thy bills hung up as monuments,
Whereby whole cities have escap'd the plague,
And thousand desperate maladies been eas'd?
Yet art thou still but Faustus, and a man.

* Faustus discovered in his study] Most probably, the Chorus, before going out, drew a curtain, and discovered Faustus sitting. In B. Barnes's Divils Charter, 1607, we find; "Scen. Vltima. Alexander vnbraced betwixt two Cardinalls in his study looking vpon a booke, whilst a groome draweth the Curtaine." Sig. L 3.

+ Analytics, 'tis thou, &c.] Qy. "Analytic"? (but such phraseology was not uncommon).

that] So the later 4tos.-2to 1604 "the" (the printer having mistaken "yt" for "ye”).

§ Economy] So the later 4tos (with various spelling).2to 1604 "Oncaymaon."

[and] So the later 4tos.-Not in 4to 1604.

[Reads.

When all is done, divinity is best:
Jerome's Bible, Faustus; view it well.
Stipendium peccati mors est. Ha! Stipendium, &c.
The reward of sin is death: that's hard. [Reads]
Si peccasse negamus, fallimur, et nulla est in nobis
veritas; If we say that we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves, and there's no truth in us. Why, then,
belike we must sin, and so consequently die:
Ay, we must die an everlasting death.
What doctrine call you this, Che sera, sera,++
What will be, shall be? Divinity, adieu!
These metaphysics of magicians,

And necromantic books are heavenly;

Lines, circles, scenes, ‡‡ letters, and characters;
Ay, these are those that Faustus most desires.
O, what a world of profit and delight,
Of power, of honour, of omnipotence,
Is promis'd to the studious artizan !

All things that move between the quiet poles
Shall be at my command: emperors and kings
Are but obeyed in their several provinces,
Nor can they raise the wind, or rend the
clouds ;

But his dominion that exceeds in this,
Stretcheth as far as doth the mind of man;
A sound magician is a mighty god:

Here, Faustus, tire §§ thy brains to gain a deity.

Couldst] So the later 4tos.-2to 1604 "Wouldst." + men] So the later 4tos.-2to 1604 "man." legatur] All the 4tos "legatus."

§ &c.] So two of the later 4tos.-Not in 4to 1604. law] So the later 4tos.-2to 1604 "Church." This] So the later 4tos.-2to 1604 "His."

** Too servile] So the later 4tos.-2to 1604 "The deuill."

tt Che sera, sera] Lest it should be thought that I am wrong in not altering the old spelling here, I may quote from Panizzi's very critical edition of the Orlando Furioso, "La satisfazion ci serà pronta." C. xviii. st. 67.

1 scenes] "And sooner may a gulling weather-spie By drawing forth heavens Sceanes tell cortainly," &c.

Donne's First Satyre,-p. 327, ed. 1633. 88 tire] So the later 4tos.-2to 1604 "trie."

Faust. How am I glutted with conceit of this! Shall I make spirits fetch me what I please, Resolve me of all ambiguities,

Perform what desperate enterprise I will?
I'll have them fly to India for gold,
Ransack the ocean for orient pearl,

And search all corners of the new-found world
For pleasant fruits and princely delicates;
I'll have them read me strange philosophy,
And tell the secrets of all foreign kings;
I'll have them wall all Germany with brass,
And make swift Rhine circle fair Wertenberg;
I'll have them fill the public schools with silk, ¶

* Enter Wagner, &c.] Perhaps the proper arrangement is,"Wagner!

Enter WAGNER,

Commend me to my dearest friends," &c.

↑ treasure] So the later 4tos.-2to 1604 "treasury.” Jove] So again, p. 84, first col.,

"Seeing Faustus hath incurr'd eternal death By desperate thoughts against Jove's deity," &c. : and I may notice that Marlowe is not singular in applying the name Jove to the God of Christians :— "Beneath our standard of Joues powerfull sonne [i. e. Christ]".

Mir. for Magistrates, p. 642, ed. 1610. "But see the judgement of almightie Joue," &c. Id. p. 696.

"O sommo Giove per noi crocifisso," &c. Pulci,-Morgante Mag. C. ii. st. 1. these elements] So again, "Within the bowels of these elements," &c., p. 87, first col,-"these" being equivalent to the. (Not unfrequently in our old writers these is little more than redundant.)

Resolve] i. e. satisfy, inform.

silk] All the 4tos "skill" (and so the modern editors!).

First Schol. How now, sirrah! where's thy master?

Wag. God in heaven knows.

Sec. Schol. Why, dost not thou know? Wag. Yes, I know; but that follows not. First Schol. Go to, sirrah! leave your jesting, and tell us where he is.

Wag. That follows not necessary by force of argument, that you, being licentiates, should stand upon: § therefore acknowledge your error, and be attentive.

Sec. Schol. Why, didst thou not say thou knewest ?

Wag. Have you any witness on't?
First Schol. Yes, sirrah, I heard you.
Wag. Ask my fellow if I be a thief.
Sec. Schol. Well, you will not tell us?

Wag. Yes, sir, I will tell you: yet, if you were not dunces, you would never ask me such a question; for is not he corpus naturale? and is not that mobile? then wherefore should you ask me such a question? But that I am by nature

* Albertus'] i. e. Albertus Magnus.-The correction of I. M. in Gent. Mag. for Jan. 1841.-All the 4tos "Albanus."

t cunning] i. e. skill.

Enter two Scholars] Scene, perhaps, supposed to be before Faustus's house, as Wagner presently says, "My master is within at dinner."

§ upon] So the later 4tos.-2to 1604 "vpon't."

phlegmatic, slow to wrath, and prone to lechery (to love, I would say), it were not for you to come within forty foot of the place of execution, although I do not doubt to see you both hanged the next sessions. Thus having triumphed over you, I will set my countenance like a precisian, and begin to speak thus:-Truly, my dear brethren, my master is within at dinner, with Valdes and Cornelius, as this wine, if it could speak, would inform your worships: and so, the Lord bless you, preserve you, and keep you, my dear brethren, my dear brethren!+ [Erit.

First Schol. Nay, then, I fear he is fallen into that damned art for which they two are infamous through the world.

Sec. Schol. Were he a stranger, and not allied to me, yet should I grieve for him. But, come, let us go and inform the Rector, and see if he by his grave counsel can reclaim him.

First Schol. O, but I fear me nothing can reclaim him!

Sec. Schol. Yet let us try what we can do. [Exeunt. Se lii

Enter FAUSTUS to conjure.t

Faust. Now that the gloomy shadow of the
earth,

Longing to view Orion's drizzling look,
Leaps from th' antartic world unto the sky,
And dims the welkin with her pitchy breath,
Faustus, begin thine incantations,

And try if devils will obey thy hest,
Seeing thou hast pray'd and sacrific'd to them.

Within this circle is Jehovah's name,
Forward and backward anagrammatiz'd,§
Th' abbreviated || names of holy saints,
Figures of every adjunct to the heavens,
And characters of signs and erring ¶ stars,
By which the spirits are enforc'd to rise:
Then fear not, Faustus, but be resolute,
And try the uttermost magic can perform.—
Sint mihi dei Acherontis propitii Valeat numen
triplex Jehova! Ignei, aërii, aquatani spiritus,
salvete! Orientis princeps Belzebub, inferni arden-
tis monarcha, et Demogorgon, propitiamus vos, ut

speak, would] So the later 4tos.-2to 1604 "speake, it would."

↑ my dear brethren] This repetition (not found in the later 4tos) is perhaps an error of the original compositor. Enter Faustus to conjure] The scene is supposed to be

a grove; see p. 81, last line of sec. col.

§ anagrammatiz'd] So the later 4tos.-2to 1604 "and Agramithist."

Th' abbreviated] So the later 4tos.-2to 1604 "The breuiated."

¶erring] i. e. wandering.