• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

Oh! Vortigern, my lov'd, once loving husband,

Why rend this bursting heart with cold disdain,

E'en the poor culprit brought before his judge

May boldly plead his cause; but I alas!

Most innocent, and ignorant of my fault,

Must bear the weight of judgment.

Enter PASCENTIUS.

FLAVIA.

What news of good import, my dearest brother,

Does this thy eager joy cloak from us?

PASCENTIUS.

Oh! I have tidings I would fain make known,

But they are of such wond'rous magnitude

That I can scarcely give them utterance.

EDMUNDA.

Oh! speak my child! my dear Pascentius, speak,

For much thy mother consolation needs.

PASCENTIUS.

The King then, madam, in his royal bounty,

Hath jointly with himself, conferr'd the sway

Of this our mighty kingdom, on my father.

EDMUNDA.

Now woe indeed hath made her masterpiece!

Ambition thou! thou art mine enemy;

Thy idle dreams have forc'd my husband from me;

Thy honey'd visions have deprived my soul

Of that alone which made life worth retaining;

Yes, thou art now, alas! become a flow'r

That by the radiance of the sun is parch'd,

And lacking drops of succour, droops and dies.

Enter FOOL, whimsically attired, with

his Bells and Ladle.

PASCENTIUS.

Whither so fast, good Fool?

FOOL.

Good Fool, say'st thou! marry, these are

sweet words, that do not often fall to our lot;

but let me tell you, good master, fools have

excellent wits, and those that ha' none will

gladly go flatter, lest the fool's folly should make

them still more foolish.

PASCENTIUS.

But, prithee, tell us what is thine affair?

FOOL.

Oh! my affair is weighty indeed, being

burdened with the speech o' royalty.

PASCENTIUS.

And wherefore so?

FOOL.

I pray you stay your patience but awhile,

and I will tell you; thou dost expect nought

from the Fool, but folly; but from a king thou

wouldst a cunning speech.

PASCENTIUS.

And is't no so?

FOOL.

Oh! no, by my troth, our good sovereign

hath unto my noble master betrayed great lack of policy.

PASCENTIUS.

How so?

FOOL.

Why your wise man will tell you, the

crown doth gall the wearer; but marry! I will

shew myself the fool indeed, for I do say the half

oft pinches more than the whole.

PASCENTIUS.

Thou wouldst be witty, Fool!

FOOL.

Marry, say not I would be, but that I am

so; for let me tell you, the wit of your Fool is

true wit, being solely his own, no man coveting

it; whereas that of your wise man comes from

books, and from those who went before. But

wherefore should I thus lose wind? my wit being

folly, is not by your wise man understood; there-

fore, I'll to the purpose. My master is made

half King, and sends me his swift Mercury, to

tell your gentle ladyship his honour's pleasure.

EDMUNDA.

Prithee, be brief, and tell thine errand quickly.

FOOL.

An please you then, my sweet mistress,

he wills that you do put on your best attire, and

that you do straight attend him, and go before

th' other half o'th' crown.

EDMUNDA.

We shall be ready at command.

[Exeunt.

SCENE III.

Another Apartment in VORTIGERN's Palace.

Enter VORTIGERN.

VORTIGERN.

Thus far, then have my deeds a sanction found,

For still each morn doth the resplendent sun

Dart forth its golden rays, to grace my sight.

O what an inconsistent thing is man!

There was a time when e'en the thought of murder

Would have congeal'd my very mass of blood;

"And, as a tree, on the approaching storm,

"E'en so my very frame would shake and tremble:"

But now I stand not at the act itself,

Which breaks all bonds of hospitality.--

To me, the King hath ever been most kind;

Yea, even lavish of his princely favours,--

And this his love I do requite with murder!

And wherefore this? What! for a diadem,

The which I purchase at no less a cost

Than even the perdition of my soul;

Still at that self same price will I obtain it.

The rooted hate the Britons bear the Scots

Is unto me an omen most propitious;

I have dispatch'd my secret emisaries,

And the young princes sons of the old King,

(A long time since for study sent to Rome)