Macbeth, it will be recollected, congratulates himself that chance will have him king;' and expresses his hope that chance would further his success,' and crown him.

In the same scene, Gawin, one of Mordred's allies, reminds him of the peril of defeat to which he exposed himself; and Mordred replies, in a noble spirit of daring,

'I bear no breast so unprepar'd for harms.
'Ev'n that I hold the kingliest point of all
'To brook misfortunes well; and by how much
'The more his state and tott'ring empire swags,

To fix so much the faster foot on ground.

No fear but doth forejudge, and many fall

* Into their fate, while they do fear their fate.
'Where courage quails, the fear exceeds the harm:
'Yea, worse than war itself is fear of war.'

It cannot be denied that Hughes is here and there indebted to Seneca and others for some of his thoughts, as in the last line, which is the well-known pejor est bello timor ipse belli of the chorus to Act iii. of Thyestes. It will, however, not be disputed, that the lines I have quoted must have been the work of a man of no common talent, and that a piece which contains such passages, and many more scarcely inferior, de

serves to be rescued from oblivion. Of Thomas Hughes, I believe, nothing more is known, than that he was one of the Society of Gray's Inn.'

Two years after the above tragedy had been played and printed, another piece, of a very different character, was published, which also, on the title-page, pro

fesses to have been performed in the presence of the Queen. It is a production of the utmost rarity, only one copy of it being known *; but in point of positive merit as a drama, it would require a comparatively brief notice. It is entitled The rare Triumphs of Love and Fortunet, and the principal design of the author seems to have been, to compose a court entertainment, which should at least possess the requisites of show and variety. The best portion may be considered the induction, in which Jupiter, Juno, and all the heathen Gods and Goddesses are either exhibited or engaged, together with the fury Tysiphone: the first stage direction shows the nature of the assembly, which must be supposed to take place on Olympus :- Enter Mercury then riseth a Fury: then enter the assembly of the Gods; Jupiter with Juno; Apollo with 'Minerva; Mars and Saturn after, Vulcan with Venus. The Fury sets debate amongst them, and after Jupiter speaks as followeth.'

6

He demands the reason of this mutiny,' not at first seeing Tysiphone: at last he perceives her, and asks,

* It is in the collection at Bridgewater-House, to which I obtained ready access by the kindness of Lord F. Leveson Gower, who placed that most rare assemblage of books at my disposal.

The full title runs as follows:- The Rare Triumphes of Love and 'Fortune. Plaide before the Queenes most excellent Majestie: wherin ' are many fine Conceites with great delight. At London. Printed 'by E. A. for Edward White, and are to be solde at the little North doore of S. Paules Church, at the signe of the Gunne. 1589. 4to.' B. 1.

Thou Fury fell,

'Bred in the dungeon of the deepest hell,

Who causeth thee to show thy selfe in light?

' And what thy message is, I charge thee tell upright.' By far the greater part of the production is in rhyme, intermixed with prose, the blank-verse being confined to the induction: even here, as is proved by the passage just quoted, rhymes are frequent. It will be seen hereafter, when speaking of Marlow, that I attribute to him the introduction of blank-verse upon the public stage at least two years before this piece was printed; and judging merely from internal evidence, I am inclined to believe, that the induction, some interlocutory matter between the acts (for it has five regular divisions), and the conclusion, were of more recent authorship than the main body of the story*. This circumstance will account for the insertion of blankverse, which was then fast superseding rhyme. The measure, whether blank-verse or rhyme, is often extremely careless and irregular, as may be seen from the opening of the reply of Tysiphone to the demand of Jupiter.

'O Jupiter, thou dreadfull king, of gods and men the father hie,

'To whose commaund the heavens, the earth, and lowest

hell obey,

'Tysiphone, the daughter of eternall night,

'Bred in the bottome of the deepest pit of hell,

Brought up in blood, and cherisht with scrauling

snakes,

*A history of Love and Fortune' was played before Elizabeth in 1582. See the 'Annals of the Stage' of that date.

Tormenting therewithall the damned soules of them 'Heer upon earth, that carelesse live of thy commaunde

ment.

I am the same.'

It is clear that these lines have been ill regulated by the printer :-they would run better thus; but still no change, without a change of words, would make measure of part of what is above quoted.

'O Jupiter, thou dreadfull king, of gods 'And men the father hie, to whose commaund 'The heavens, the earth, and lowest hell obey, Tysiphone, the daughter of eternall night, 'Bred in the bottom of the deepest pitt of hell, 'Brought up in blood and cherisht with scrauling snakes, 'Tormenting therewithall the damned soules

'Of them heer upon earth, that carelesse live

Of thy commaundement-I am the same.'

After delivering this answer, she proceeds in a new measure of twelve-syllable blank-verse:

'I am the same whom both my lothsom sisters hate, 'Whom hell itself complaines to keep within her race, 'Whom every fearfull soule detesteth with a curse.'

She then relates, in the same kind of verse, that she had been sent to Olympus by Pluto, 'King of hell and golden mines,' to complain that Venus had proudly endeavoured to destroy the power of Fortune, in order that she might be thought the only goddess of the world.' Jupiter requires to hear Fortune, and while Tysiphone is gone to hell for her, and in her absence, in ten-syllable rhymes, calls upon Venus for her justification. She asserts her supe

riority in alternate twelve and fourteen-syllable lines, and denies the power of Fortune over the mind :

Yet divers things there be that Fortune cannot tame, 'As are the riches of the minde, or else an honest name, 'Or a contented hart, still free from Fortune's power.' Fortune, when she arrives, maintains her original accusation; after which, at the bidding of Jupiter, Mercury exhibits six dumb shows of persons slain by Love or Fortune, viz., Troilus and Cressida, Alexander, Dido, Pompey, Cæsar, and Hero and Leander. Music is played during the spectacle.

In the intervals between each, Mercury interprets and explains, and Vulcan comments with some humour, but more grossness, sometimes alluding to the manners of the day; as, for instance, of Cæsar and Pompey he observes,

They were served well enough: why could not they be

content

'With a roche and a red herring in the holy time of Lent?'

from whence we may, perhaps, infer that the piece was performed before the Queen, as was customary, at Shrovetide. Venus and Fortune afterwards renew their contention, and Jupiter interposes :—

'Content ye both, I'le hear no more of this;
'And, Mercury, surcease, call out no more.
'I have bethought me how to worke their wishe,
'As you have often prov'd it heertofore.

Heere in this land, within that princely bower, 'There is a Prince beloved of his love,

'On whom I meane your soverainties to prove.

Venus, for that thy love, thy sweet delight,