Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 7.djvu/333

 9" s. vn. APRIL 27, i9oi.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

325

toy, a fable, an old wives' tale, a mere sound without a definite meaning ; and he tells us he was ashamed of men who paid heed to such foolery. I will quote :

Guise. My policy hath fram'd religion. Religion ! O Diabole ! Fie, I am asham, however that I seem, To think a word of such a simple sound, Of so great matter should be made the ground.

4 The Massacre at Paris,' p. 228, col. 2.

Machiavel. I count religion but a childish toy, And hold there is no sin but ignorance.

I am asham'd to hear such fooleries.

Prologue, * The Jew of Malta.' Compare

I count it sacrilege for to be holy, Or reverence this thread-bare name of good ; Leave to old men and babes that kind of folly, Count it of equal value with the mud.

And scorn religion ; it disgraces man.

So that religion, of itself a bauble, &c.

'Selimus,' 11. 249-52, 255, and 342. Again :

Sinam. There is a hell and a revenging God. Selimus. Tush Sinam ! these are school conditions, To fear the devil or his cursed dam.

4 Selimus,' 11. 422-4.

One is reminded of Tamburlaine's boast : There is a God, full of revenging wrath, From whom the thunder and the lightning breaks, Whose scourge I am.

'2Tamb.,'V. i. p. 69, col. 2.

In 'Tamburlaine,' 'Edward II.,' and 'The Massacre at Paris,' as well as in 'Selimus,' Marlowe's idea of ultimate happiness never reaches beyond the possession of an earthly crown, in which he centred all joy. In his philosophy there was no room for heaven nor hell. And, he argued, if there be a heaven, the joys of heaven are not to be compared with kingly joys on earth. See Tamburlaine's speech, Dyce, p. 18, col. 2, commencing The thirst of reign and sweetness of a crown, &c. With him the crown is " the ripest fruit of all"; it is "perfect bliss and sole felicity"; and to obtain the prize all things are lawful that favour the end. Compare what follows :

Tanib. Is it not passing brave to be a king ?

Tech. O, my lord, it is sweet and full of pomp !

Umm. To be a king is half to be a god.

Ther. A god is not so glorious as a king ; I think the pleasures they enjoy in heaven, Cannot compare with kingly joys in earth.

4 1 Tamb.,' Act II. sc. v, p. 17, col. 2.

Sel. Yet by my soul it never should me grieve, So I might on the Turkish empire reign, To enter hell, and leave fair heaven's gain. An Empire, Sinam, is so sweet a thing, As I could be a devil to be a king.

4 Selimus,' 11. 436-40,

I am reminded again of ' Tamburlaine ' :

Cel. If his chair [=throne] were in a sea of blood, I would prepare a ship and sail to it, Ere I would lose the title of a king, &c.

4 2 Tamb.,' I. lii. p. 47, col. Faustus, too, became a " devil " to be a mighty magician, having sold his soul to Lucifer for " the vain pleasure of four and twenty years " ; and Barabas was such a covetous wretch that, to use his own words, he would "for lucre's sake have sold my soul." Even Barabas is an atheist, for he counsels his daughter to use religion as a cloak, which

Hides many mischiefs from suspicion. Again, Selimus, when he has attained to the crown, compares his labours and his reward with the labours and reward of Hercules, who obtained Hebe for his bride and a place with the gods in heaven. Selimus would not change places with Hercules : This is my Hebe, and this is my heaven. L. 1674. He refers to the crown.

In Marlowe's philosophy might is right, and tyranny the only sure prop to the throne :

Machiavel. Might first made kings, and laws were

then most sure

When, like the Draco's, they were writ in blood. Prologue, 'The Jew of Malta.'

Sel. And think that then thy Empire is most sure When men for fear thy tyranny endure.

' Selimus,' 11. 240-1.

Moreover, all men are enemies who do not hate, and actively assist you against, your rivals or opponents : K. Ediv. They love me not that hate my Gaveston.

4 Ed ward II., 'p. 195, col. 1. Sel. He loves not me that loves mine enemies. 'Selimus,' 1.2310.

Much is made of this sentiment in Marlowe.

Trickery, too, is a commendable thing in the pursuit of one's aims ; and therefore, if you j)lay cards with your friend the enemy, shuffle them in such a way as to deal yourself all the trumps :

Guise. Then, Guise,

Since thou hast all the cards within thy hands, To shuffle or cut, take this as surest thing, That, right or wrong, thou deal thyself a king.

4 The Massacre at Paris,' p. 229, col. 1.

Compare

Sel. Will Fortune favour me yet once again ? And will she thrust the cards into my hands ? Well, if I chance but once to get the deck, To deal about and shuffle as I would ; Let Selim never see the daylight spring, Unless I shuffle out myself a king.

4 Selimus,' 11. 1538-43.

CHARLES CRAWFORD. 53, Hampden Road, Hornsey, N.

(To be completed in the next part.)