SCENE I.—On Board a Spanish Vessel.
After an alarum, enter a Spanish Captain, with Sailors, bringing in an English Merchant, SPENCER, and the Surgeon, prisoners.
SPANISH CAPTAIN.
For Fayal’s loss and spoil, by the English done,
We are in part revenged. There’s not a vessel
That bears upon her top St. George’s cross,
But for that act shall suffer.
MERCHANT.
Insult not, Spaniard,
Nor be too proud, that thou by odds of ships,
Provision, men, and powder, madest us yield.
Had you come one to one, or made assault
With reasonable advantage, we by this
Had made the carcase of your ship your graves,
Low sunk to the sea’s bottom.
SPANISH CAPTAIN.
Englishman, thy ship shall yield us pillage.
These prisoners we will keep in strongest hold,
To pay no other ransom than their lives.
SPENCER.
Degenerate Spaniard, there’s no nobless in thee,
To threaten men unarmed and miserable.
Thou mightst as well tread o’er a field of slaughter,
And kill them o’er that are already slain,
And brag thy manhood.
SPANISH CAPTAIN.
Sirrah, what are you?
SPENCER.
Thy equal, as I am a prisoner;
But once, to stay a better man than thou,
A gentleman in my country.
SPANISH CAPTAIN.
Wert thou not so, we have strappados, bolts,
And engines,[45] to the mainmast fastenèd,
Can make you gentle.
SPENCER.
Spaniard, do thy worst:
Thou canst not act more tortures than my courage
Is able to endure.
SPANISH CAPTAIN.
These Englishmen,
Nothing can daunt them. Even in misery,
They’ll not regard their masters.
SPENCER.
Masters! Insulting, bragging Thrasos![46]
SPANISH CAPTAIN.
His sauciness we’ll punish ’bove the rest;
About their censures[47] we will next devise.
And now towards Spain, with our brave English prize.
[Flourish. Exeunt.
SCENE II.—The Windmill Tavern.
Enter BESS, the Mayor of Foy, Alderman, and
CLEM.
BESS.
A table and some stools!
CLEM.
I shall give you occasion to ease your tails, presently.
[Tables and stools set out.
BESS.
Will’t please you sit?
MAYOR.
With all our hearts, and thank you.
BESS.
Fetch me that parchment in my closet window.
CLEM.
The three sheepskins with the wrong side outward?
BESS.
That with the seal.
CLEM.
I hope it is my indenture, and now she means to give me my time. [Exit.
ALDERMAN.
And now you are alone, fair Mistress Elzabeth,
I think it good to taste[48] you with a motion
That no way can displease you.
BESS.
Pray, speak on.
ALDERMAN.
’T hath pleased here Master Mayor so far to look
Into your fair demeanour, that he thinks you
A fit match for his son.
Re-enter CLEM, with the parchment.
CLEM.
Here’s the parchment; but if it be the lease of your house, I can assure you ’tis out.
BESS.
The years are not expired.
CLEM.
No; but it is out of your closet.
BESS.
About your business.
CLEM.
Here’s even Susannah betwixt the two wicked elders. [Exit.
ALDERMAN.
What think you, Mistress Elzabeth?
BESS.
Sir, I thank you;
And how much I esteem this goodness from you,
The trust I shall commit unto your charge
Will truly witness. Marry, gentle sir!
’Las, I have sadder business now in hand
Than sprightly marriage; witness these my tears.
Pray read there.
MAYOR.
[Reads.] “The last will and testament of Elzabeth Bridges; to be committed to the trust of the mayor and aldermen of Foy, and their successors for ever.
To set up young beginners in their trade, a thousand pound.
To relieve such as have had loss by sea, five hundred pound.
To every maid that’s married out of Foy, whose name’s Elzabeth, ten pound.
To relieve maimed soldiers, by the year, ten pound.
To Captain Goodlack, if he shall perform the business he’s employed in, five hundred pound.
The legacies for Spencer thus to stand:
To number all the poorest of his kin,
And to bestow on them—Item, to——”
BESS.
Enough! You see, sir, I am now too poor
To bring a dowry with me fit for your son.
MAYOR.
You want a precedent, you so abound
In charity and goodness.
BESS.
All my servants
I leave at your discretions to dispose;
Not one but I have left some legacy.
What shall become of me, or what I purpose;
Spare further to inquire.
MAYOR.
We’ll take our leaves,
And prove to you faithful executors
In this bequest.
ALDERMAN.
Let never such despair,
As, dying rich, shall make the poor their heir.
[Exeunt Mayor and
Alderman.
BESS.
Why, what is all the wealth the world contains,
Without my Spencer?
ENTER ROUGHMAN AND
FAWCETT.
ROUGHMAN.
Where’s my sweet Bess?
Shall I become a welcome suitor, now
That I have changed my copy?[49]
BESS.
I joy to hear it.
I’ll find employment for you.
Enter Captain GOODLACK, Sailors, and
CLEM.
GOODLACK.
A gallant ship, and wondrous proudly trimmed;
Well caulked, well tackled, every way prepared.
BESS.
Here, then, our mourning for a season end.
ROUGHMAN.
Bess, shall I strike that captain? Say the word,
I’ll have him by the ears.
BESS.
Not for the world.
GOODLACK.
What saith that fellow?
BESS.
He desires your love,
Good captain: let him ha’ it.
GOODLACK.
Then change a hand.
BESS.
Resolve me all. I am bound upon a voyage:
Will you, in this adventure, take such part
As I myself shall do?
ROUGHMAN.
With my fair Bess,
To the world’s end.
BESS.
Then, captain and lieutenant both join hands;
Such are your places now.
GOODLACK.
We two are friends.
BESS.
I next must swear you two, with all your ging,[50]
True to some articles you must observe,
Reserving to myself a prime command,
Whilst I enjoin nothing unreasonable.
GOODLACK.
All this is granted.
BESS.
Then, first you said your ship was trim and gay:
I’ll have her pitched all o’er; no spot of white,
No colour to be seen; no sail but black;
No flag but sable.
GOODLACK.
’Twill be ominous,
And bode disastrous fortune.
BESS.
I will ha’t so.
GOODLACK.
Why, then, she shall be pitched black as the devil.
BESS.
She shall be called the Negro. When you know
My conceit,[51] captain, you will thank me for’t.
ROUGHMAN.
But whither are we bound?
BESS.
Pardon me that:
When we are out at sea, I’ll tell you all.
For mine own wearing I have rich apparel,
For man or woman, as occasion serves.
CLEM.
But, mistress, if you be going to sea, what shall become of me a-land?
BESS.
I’ll give thee thy full time.
CLEM.
And shall I take time, when time is, and let my mistress slip away? No; it shall be seen that my teeth are as strong to grind biscuit as the best sailor of them all, and my stomach as able to digest powdered beef and poor-john.[52] Shall I stay here to score a pudding in the Half-moon, and see my mistress at the mainyard, with her sails up and spread? No; it shall be seen that I, who have been brought up to draw wine, will see what water the ship draws, or I’ll bewray the voyage.
BESS.
If thou hast so much courage, the captain shall accept thee.
CLEM.
If I have so much courage! When did you see a black beard with a white liver, or a little fellow without a tall stomach? I doubt not but to prove an honour to all the drawers in Cornwall.
GOODLACK.
What now remains?
FAWCETT.
To make myself associate
In this bold enterprise.
GOODLACK.
Most gladly, sir.
And now our number’s full, what’s to be done?
BESS.
First, at my charge, I’ll feast the town of Foy;
Then set the cellars ope, that these my mates
May quaff unto the health of our boon voyage,
Our needful things being once conveyed aboard;
Then, casting up our caps, in sign of joy,
Our purpose is to bid farewell to Foy.
[Exeunt. Hautboys long.[53]
SCENE III.—Morocco. The Court.
Enter MULLISHEG, Bashaw ALCADE, and Bashaw JOFFER, with other Attendants.
MULLISHEG.
Out of these bloody and intestine broils
We have at length attained a fortunate peace,
And now at last established in the throne
Of our great ancestors, and reign as King
Of Fez and great Morocco.
ALCADE.
Mighty Mullisheg,
Pride of our age and glory of the Moors,
By whose victorious hand all Barbary
Is conquered, awed, and swayed, behold thy vassals
With loud applauses greet thy victory.
[Shout; flourish.
MULLISHEG.
Upon the slaughtered bodies of our foes
We mount our high tribunal; and being sole,
Without competitor, we now have leisure
To stablish laws, first for our kingdom’s safety,
The enriching of our public treasury,
And last our state and pleasure; then give order
That all such Christian merchants as have traffic
And freedom in our country, that conceal
The least part of our custom due to us,
Shall forfeit ship and goods.
JOFFER.
There are appointed
Unto that purpose careful officers.
MULLISHEG.
Those forfeitures must help to furnish up
The exhausted treasure that our wars consumed:
Part of such profits as accrue that way
We have already tasted.
ALCADE.
’Tis most fit
Those Christians that reap profit by our land
Should contribute unto so great a loss.
MULLISHEG.
Alcade, they shall.—But what’s the style of king,
Without his pleasure? Find us concubines,
The fairest Christian damsels you can hire,
Or buy for gold; the loveliest of the Moors
We can command, and negroes everywhere;
Italians, French, and Dutch, choice Turkish girls,
Must fill our Alkedavy, the great palace
Where Mullisheg now deigns to keep his court.
JOFFER.
Who else are worthy to be libertines
But such as bear the sword?
MULLISHEG.
Joffer, thou pleasest us.
If kings on earth be termèd demigods,
Why should we not make here terrestrial Heaven?
We can, we will: our God shall be our pleasure;
For so our Meccan prophet warrants us.
And now the music of the drums surcease;
We’ll learn to dance to the soft tunes of peace.
[Hautboys. Exeunt.
SCENE IV.—On Board an English Ship.
Enter BESS as a Sea-captain, Captain GOODLACK, ROUGHMAN, and others.
BESS.
Good morrow, captain. Oh, this last sea-fight
Was gallantly performed! It did me good
To see the Spanish carvel[54] vail[55] her top
Unto my maiden flag. Where ride we now?
GOODLACK.
Among the Islands.
BESS.
What coast is this we now descry from far?
GOODLACK.
Yon fort’s called Fayal.
BESS.
Is that the place where Spencer’s body lies?
GOODLACK.
Yes; in yon church he’s buried.
BESS.
Then know, to this place was my voyage bound,
To fetch the body of my Spencer thence;
In his own country to erect a tomb
And lasting monument, where, when I die,
In the same bed of earth my bones may lie.
Then, all that love me, arm and make for shore:
Yours be the spoil, he mine; I crave no more.
ROUGHMAN.
May that man die derided and accursed
That will not follow where a woman leads.
GOODLACK.
Roughman, you are too rash, and counsel ill.
Have not the Spaniards fortified the town?
In all our ging we are but sixty-five.
ROUGHMAN.
Come, I’ll make one.
GOODLACK.
Attend me, good lieutenant;
And, sweet Bess, listen what I have devised.
With ten tall fellows I have manned our boat,
To see what straggling Spaniards they can take.
And see where Fawcett is returned with prisoners.
Enter FAWCETT, with two Spaniards.
FAWCETT.
These Spaniards we by break of day surprised,
As they were ready to take boat for fishing.
GOODLACK.
Spaniards, upon your lives, resolve us truly,
How strong’s the town and fort?
1ST SPANIARD.
Since English Raleigh won and spoiled it first,
The town’s re-edified, and fort new built,
And four field-pieces in the block-house lie,
To keep the harbour’s mouth.
GOODLACK.
And what’s one ship to these?
BESS.
Was there not, in the time of their abode,
A gentleman called Spencer buried there,
Within the church, whom some report was slain,
Or perished by a wound?
1ST SPANIARD.
Indeed, there was,
And o’er him raised a goodly monument;
But when the English navy were sailed thence,
And that the Spaniards did possess the town,
Because they held him for a heretic,
They straight removed his body from the church.
BESS.
And would the tyrants be so uncharitable
To wrong the dead! Where did they then bestow him?
1ST SPANIARD.
They buried him i’ the fields.
BESS.
Oh, still more cruel!
1ST SPANIARD.
The man that ought[56] the field, doubtful his corn
Would never prosper whilst a heretic’s body
Lay there, he made petition to the church
To ha’ it digged up and burnt; and so it was.
BESS.
What’s he, that loves me, would persuade me live,
Not rather leap o’er hatches into the sea?
Yet, ere I die, I hope to be revenged
Upon some Spaniards, for my Spencer’s wrong.
ROUGHMAN.
Let’s first begin with these.
BESS.
’Las, these poor slaves! Besides their pardoned lives,
One give them money.—And, Spaniards, where you come,
Pray for Bess Bridges, and speak well o’ the English.
1ST & 2ND SPANIARDS.
We shall.
BESS.
Our mourning we will turn into revenge,
And since the church hath censured so my Spencer,
Bestow upon the church some few cast pieces.—
Command the gunner do’t.
GOODLACK.
And, if he can,
To batter it to the earth.
[A gun is discharged.
Enter CLEM, falling through haste.
CLEM.
A sail! a sail!
BESS.
From whence?
CLEM.
A pox upon yon gunner! Could he not give warning, before he had shot?
ROUGHMAN.
Why, I prithee?
CLEM.
Why? I was sent to the top-mast, to watch, and there I fell fast asleep. Bounce! quoth the guns; down tumbles Clem; and, if by chance my feet had not hung in the tackles, you must have sent to England for a bone-setter, for my neck had been in a pitiful taking.
ROUGHMAN.
Thou told’st us of a sail.
Enter Sailor, above.
SAILOR.
Arm, gentlemen! a gallant ship of war
Makes with her full sails this way; who, it seems,
Hath took a bark of England.
BESS.
Which we’ll rescue,
Or perish in the adventure. You have sworn
That, howsoe’er we conquer or miscarry,
Not to reveal my sex.
ALL.
We have.
BESS.
Then, for your country’s honour, my revenge,
For your own fame, and hope of golden spoil,
Stand bravely to’t.—The manage of the fight
We leave to you.
GOODLACK.
Then, now up with your fights,[57] and let your ensigns,
Blest with St. George’s cross, play with the winds.—
Fair Bess, keep you your cabin.
BESS.
Captain, you wrong me: I will face the fight;
And where the bullets sing loud’st ’bout mine ears,
There shall you find me cheering up my men.
ROUGHMAN.
This wench would of a coward make a Hercules.
BESS.
Trumpets, a charge! and with your whistles shrill,
Sound, boatswains, an alarum to your mates.
With music cheer up their astonished souls,
The whilst the thundering ordnance bear the bass.
GOODLACK.
To fight against the Spaniards we desire.
Alarum, trumpets!
[Alarum.
ROUGHMAN.
Gunners, straight give fire!
[A shot is fired. Exeunt GOODLACK, BESS, &c.
RE-ENTER CAPTAIN GOODLACK, WOUNDED, BESS, ROUGHMAN, FAWCETT, AND
CLEM.
GOODLACK.
I am shot, and can no longer man the deck:
Yet let not my wound daunt your courage, mates.
BESS.
For every drop of blood that thou hast shed,
I’ll have a Spaniard’s life.—Advance your targets,
And now cry all, “Board! board! Amain for England!”
[Alarum. Exeunt GOODLACK, BESS, &c.
Re-enter BESS, ROUGHMAN, FAWCETT, CLEM, &c., victorious. The Spaniards prisoners.
BESS.
How is it with the captain?
ROUGHMAN.
Nothing dangerous;
But, being shot i’ the thigh, he keeps his cabin,
And cannot rise to greet your victory.
BESS.
He stood it bravely out, whilst he could stand.
CLEM.
But for these Spaniards: now, you Don Diegos,
You that made Paul’s to stink.[58]
ROUGHMAN.
Before we further censure them, let’s know
What English prisoners they have here aboard. [Exit.
1ST SPANIARD.
You may command them all. We that were now
Lords over them, fortune hath made your slaves.—
Release our prisoners.
BESS.
Had my captain died,
Not one proud Spaniard had escaped with life.
Your ship is forfeit to us, and your goods:
So live.—Give him his long boat: him and his
Set safe ashore; and pray for English
Bess.
1ST SPANIARD.
I know not whom you mean; but be’t your queen,
Famous Elizabeth, I shall report
She and her subjects both are merciful.
[Exeunt Spaniards.
Re-enter ROUGHMAN, with a Merchant, SPENCER and English Prisoners.
BESS.
Whence are you, sir, and whither were you bound?
MERCHANT.
I am a London merchant, bound for Barbary;
But by this Spanish man-of-war surprised,
Pillaged and captived.
BESS.
We much pity you.
What loss you have sustained, this Spanish prey
Shall make good to you, to the utmost farthing.
MERCHANT.
Our lives, and all our fortunes whatsoever,
Are wholly at your service.
BESS.
These gentlemen have been dejected long.
Let me peruse[59] them all, and give them money
To drink our health. And pray forget not, sirs,
To pray for——[She sees SPENCER.] Hold! support me, or I faint.
ROUGHMAN.
What sudden, unexpected ecstasy
Disturbs your conquest?
BESS.
Interrupt me not;
But give me way, for Heaven’s sake!
SPENCER.
I have seen
A face, ere now, like that young gentleman,
But not remember where.
BESS.
But he was slain;
Lay buried in yon church; and thence removed,
Denied all Christian rites, and, like an infidel,
Confined unto the fields; and thence digged up,
His body, after death, had martyrdom.
All these assure me ’tis his shadow dogs me,
For some most just revenge, thus far to sea.—
Is it because the Spaniards scaped with life,
That were to thee so cruel after death,
Thou haunt’st me thus? Sweet ghost, thy rage forbear;
I will revenge thee on the next we seize.
I am amazed; this sight I’ll not endure.
Sleep, sleep, fair ghost, for thy revenge is sure.
ROUGHMAN.
Fawcett, convey the owner to his cabin.
[EXIT FAWCETT WITH
BESS.
SPENCER.
I pray, sir, what young gentleman is that?
ROUGHMAN.
He’s both the owner of the ship and goods,
That for some reasons hath his name concealed.
SPENCER.
Methinks he looks like Bess; for in his eyes
Lives the first love that did my heart surprise.
ROUGHMAN.
Come, gentlemen, first make your losses good,
Out of this Spanish prize. Let’s then divide
Both several ways, and Heavens be our guide.
MERCHANT.
We towards Mamorah.
ROUGHMAN.
We where the Fates do please,
Till we have tracked a wilderness of seas.
[Flourish. Exeunt.
Enter Chorus.
CHORUS.
Our stage so lamely can express a sea,
That we are forced by Chorus to discourse
What should have been in action. Now, imagine
Her passion o’er, and Goodlack well recovered;
Who, had he not been wounded, and seen Spencer,
Had sure descried him. Much prize they have ta’en:
The French and Dutch she spares; only makes spoil
Of the rich Spaniard and the barbarous Turk.
And now her fame grows great in all these seas.
Suppose her rich, and forced, for want of water,
To put into Mamorah, in Barbary,
Where, wearied with the habit of a man,
She was discovered by the Moors aboard,
Which told it to the amorous King of Fez,
That ne’er before had English lady seen.
He sends for her on shore. How he receives her,
How she and Spencer meet, must next succeed.
Sit patient, then: when these are fully told,
Some may hap say, “Ay, there’s a girl worth gold.” [Exit.