beeing taken vp without any wrong meant to the body it nowe lyes vnburied in a poore Coffin of bordes and with the least touch falleth into ashes Adde to these Anne the wife of Richard the third Margaret Countesse of Richmond and Darby mother to Henry the 7. Anne of Clâ—ue wife to Henry the 8. Henry 7. and Elizabeth his wife do in mine armes likewise take their euerlasting sleeps so does Elizabeth daughter to those most happy Princes So doth Margaret daughter to Edward 4. So doth Edward the 6. Sonne to that famous prince Henry 8. So doth Mary whose name serues her only as a Monument And lastly so doth Elizabeth daughter to that great wariour who if shee had no Monnument at all consecrated to memory yet were her name sufficient to eternize her Sacred worth and the wonder of her 44. years gouernement Thus besides other personages of great byrth too many in number for me to recite and too tedious for thée to heare am I compassed about with the dead bodies of 42 Kings Quéenes and the sons and daughters of Kings Quéens y e remembrance of whom is able to turn me w c sorrow into Marble but y t their statues sumptuous monuments do shine in my Temples and worke such astonishment in the eyes euen of straungers that I estéeme that hurt of mine the best part of my glory Besides all these gallant obiects The swifte-footed Thamesis daunseth all the day long in wanton Water-ringes before mee shee transformes her Christall body into a thousand shapes to delight mee Sometimes does shee chaunge her selfe into a Girdle of Siluer and then doe I weare it about my middle Sometimes lookes shee like an Amazon along curled hayre hanging loosely about her shoulders and then dooes shee fight with the windes and her combates are discharged with excellent grace Anon shall you beholde her lymbes stretcht out to an infinite but comely length and then O my worthyest Sister doe we two grow proude and take her for a Ryuer whilest shee continues in that shape thou knowest what delicate turnings and windinges shee does make euen at our féete thy habitations stande then like a rich Embrodery about the skirts of an imperial garment but my buildinges shew like so many Castles raised by Enchantment where faire Ladies locke vppe their beauties whilst knights aduenturers come armed thether with loyalty challenging them for their loues yea in such goodly in so artificial an order are my Turrets and Towers errected that the Sun at his rising makes mee beléeue they are Rockes of Burnisht Siluer with his blushing vpon them at his going downe I haue a thousande times sworne they were so many hils of Gold Bee thou nowe an indifferent Iudge O London thou fayrest Daughter of Europe if I beeing accustomed to this fulnesse of dignitie and this variety of pleasures haue not good cause to languishe when I am depriued of them all The more princely are my guests the more insufferable and more to be pittied are my passions spent for their absence Well was it for thée thou Metropolis of the world that the honours the Habits the Tryumphes the gifts of Kinges and the Reuennewes that belong to my Royaltyes are not made Thine thou swellest in thy heart enough already but then wouldst thou haue bin too proud and insolent How therefore can I choose but buffet my owne chéekes through the anguish of my Soule Teare my owne hayre to sée my selfe distressed and euen drinke mine own hart-bloud in teares to looke on my present miserie Listen to me for now O my déerest Play-fellow shalt thou heare the very true tunes of my most iust bewaylings Those throwes of sorowe come vppon mee foure times euery yéere but at one time more and with more paines then at all the rest For in the height and lustiest pride of Summer when euery little Uillage hath her Bathilers her Damosels tripping deftly about May-pols when Medowes are full of Hay-makers when the fieldes vpon the workidaies are full of Haâ—â—estars singing and the towngréenes vpon Hollydayes trodden downe by the Youthes of the Parâ—â— dancing when thou O thou beautifull but bewitching Citty by the wantonnesse of thine eye and the Musicke of thy voyce allurest people from all the corners of the Land to throng in heapes at thy Fayres and thy Theators Then euen then sit I like a Widdow in the middest of my mourning then doe my buildings shew like infected lodgings from which the Inhabitants are fledde then are my chambers empty and my common paths vntrodden then doe I not looke like thy next neighbour but like a creature forlorâ—e and vtterly forsaken Were it not that my state is vphold by fiue great Pillers the chiefe of them being so hie that Kinges and Princes sit on the top of it I should euen loose my name and the memory of mée would be buryed in the earth that now beares me vp That first and Capitall Columne on which leanes all my strength is a Pyramides whose point reaches vppe to the Starres whilest that stands in mine eye I behold a Maiesty equall to Ioues I sée a Vine whose braunches shall spread so farre and so hie that one day they shall couer Kingdomes I see likewise a Table at which sit none but Those whose heads grow white onely with the Cares of a Kingdom I sée a Row of Lords too whose flourishing doth dignify the place vppon which they grow and whose shady boughes beate backe and kéepe off from the people the violent heate of Tyrrany and oppression Besides all these do I behold a goodly Fountain large cleare strongly and curiously built out of which come a thousand pipes some greater then the rest thorough whome a swéete water flowes that giues life vnto the Soule And last of all so full is my happinesse in stead of earthly Creatures I see none but Goddesses But woe is me when this great Piller is remooued from my sight then casting vp mine eye me thinks I looke vpon nothing but my owne Ruines Nay that calamitie of mine doth euen stretch to thée for thou thy selfe for all thy loftinesse and boasting dooest at that time droope and hauge the head But note how the Rulers of this Land haue loued mee though they giue mee woundes they giue mee Balme to cure them though the Sunne goe from me yet am I comforted with the brighnesse of the Stars The Law which lyes in at euery Uacation is brought to bed in foure seuerall months of the yeare and deliuered of foure Sonnes Those Sonnes inuite me to foure kingly Feasts they kéep their Tournes and their Returnes are so many seuerall Seruices They are the Foure Elements that gouerne and giue life to my body yea so déere doe I make them vnto me that I account of them as of Foure Golden Ages Whilest any of these foure abide in my Company I am more Iocond
The Principall matters contayned in this discourse A Short Encomiasticke speech in praise of Charing-crosse The sinnes of Westminster The sinnes of London The Buildings of Westminster and London The Names of all the Kings and Queenes that lie buried in Westminster Westminsters complaint Vacations and Tearmes compared A paradox in praise of going to Law A paradox in praise of a Pen. Londons answere to Westminster Paules steeples Complaint The walkes of Paules described The Stewes on the Banke-side and the Suburbe-houses of iniquity at 〈…〉 compared together A paradox in 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 An Inuectiue against 〈◊〉 The Originall of London A description of 〈◊〉 bridge-Fayre A merrie lest of two London Porters performed there about burying of a Londoâ—â—â— To the very Woorthy Learned Iuditious and Noble Gentleman Syr Iohn Harrington Knight SIR the Loue which your immortall Ariosto tels to the world that you really beare to Diuine but now Poore and Contemned Poesie hath a long time made me an Honorer of those bright ascending Vertues in you which those Holy and Pure Flames of Her haue kindled in your bosome Happy you are by Birth Happy by your bringing vp but most happy in that the Muses were your Nurses to whome you haue beene so tender that they make you an Elder sonne and Heyre of their Goodliest Possessions So that your Loue to Them hath drawne from Others an Honourable Loue and Regarde of you The Path which True Noblenesse had wont and ought to tread lyes directly before you you haue beene euer and are now in the way which emboldens me to presume that as our Greatest Commanders will not disdaine to instruct euen Fresh-water souldiers in the Schoole-poynts of war so out of your Noble disposition you will vouchsafe to viewe the labours of so dull a Pen as This that writes vnto you Two Citties haue I summoned to a Parley and of their great Enter-view haue I chosen you to be Arbiter It is Boldnes in me I confesse but it is the Boldnes of my Loue referring which and my selfe to your worthy Censure I Rest. Deuoted to you in all seruice Thomas Dekker Westminsters speech to London O Thou goodliest Queene euen ouer the greatest Citties How glad am I O London that wee two are met together For now will I poure my sorrows into thy bosome Thou art Reuerend for thy Age as béeing now two thousand seauen hundred and fouretéene yeares old which is more then my selfe am by a thousand six hundred and foure yeares for I am but one thousand one hundred and tenne yeares of age Thou art Grandam almost to this whole Kingdome A blessed Mother thou art for no lesse then one hundred and thréescore Emperours Kinges and Queens hast thou borne in thy Wombe Healthfull thou art of body it appeareth by thy strength in holding out so long pure thou art of complexion It is séene by thy Chéekes the Roofes of them are nothing wythered Rich thou art in the treasure of all thinges witnesse the number of Nations that for thy substaunce are thy dayly suitors stored are thy breastes with wisedome and the glory thereof shines in the gouernment of thy Rulers Thou art full of pollicy great with experience renowned for Learning Thou art full of loue full of pitty full of piety yea thou art O Noblest Daughter of Brutus my Eldest Sister thou rather if our descents bee well looked into art my Mother Unto whom therefore can my condolements better come than to thée Upon whose lap shall I lay my aking temples if not vpon thine One eye of Heauen lookes downe vpon vs both one and the same handfull of earth serues vs both to dwell vppon The teares that fall from both our eyes make vp one Riuer and that Riuer serues againe for both our bodyes to bath in Since therefore wee are partners in all other thinges why should wee not be Sharers in our mothers affliction Thou standest silent I sée at these my spéeches as beeing driuen into wonder why I that haue alwayes kept company with the proudest and beene euer Iocond should now sinke downe into any kinde of complayninges But to kéepe thée O my best and fayrest Neighbour from tormenting thy selfe with thinking on the causes of this my grieuing let mée tell thée thou Nurse to many thousandes of people that I doe not pine to see that Auncient and oldest Sonne of mine with his Limbes broken to péeces as if hee were a Male-factor and hadde beene tortured on the Germaine Whéele his Reuerend Head cut off by the cruelty of Time The Ribbes of his body bruizes His Armes lop't away His backe that euen grew crooked with age almoust cleft in sunder yea and the ground on which hee hath dwelt so many hundreds of yeeres ready to bee pulled from vnder his feete so that with gréefe his very heart séemes to be broken I confesse thou brauest of Citties that this Graund-Childe of mine hath beene the tallest and hardiest of all the Sonnes of my body for thou knowest it aswell as I that hee hath borne himselfe valiantly and without shrinking in many a storme Many a tempest hath beene flung from Heauen to shake him yet still hath hee kept his owne footing Many astounding blow hath he taken on his head yet for a long time did he beare them without réeling So well beloued hath hee beene amongst the Kinges and Princes of this Nation that they would almost neuer passe to these Royall Pallaces where I inhabit and neuer repayre to their Houses of Parliaments or to their places of Kingly Tryumphes but they would of purpose take their way by him yea so greatly hath hee in times past beene helde in honour that the knees of common people hath beene bowed before him and the bare heades of the greatest Prelates héertofore haue shewed to him a kinde of reuerence Yet it is not for his sake O farre renowed Troynouant that my Soule liues in sorrow albeit I see him now laughed at â—nd contemned Neither am I afflicted by beholding the vnrulynesse of those Children that are vnder my kéeping It were a madnesse in mee to trette at theyr wickednesse because no sorrow of mine can amend it I know it and am ashamed to tell thée that Drunkennesse reeles euery day vp and down my streetes Fellowes there are that follow mee who in déepe bowles shall drowne the Dutchman and make him lie vnder the Table At his owne weapon of Vpsie freeze will they dare him and beat him with wine-pots till hée be dead drunke Out swagger they will besides being armed with that French weapon a whole Fayre full of Butchers and Tinkers who commonly are the greatest Fighters and most profound swearers As for that sin that is after serued in dinner and after Supper or rather that sinne that is vp night and day and can see aswell in darkenesse as in Lights that Monster with two bellies Lechery I meenne doe what I can no whips are
tyrranized ouer Straungers and threatned to lead me and my Inhabitantes into Captiuitâ— and so bring vpon me vtter disolation The other in those tempestuous and variable tossinges of that vertuous but wretched King Henry the sixt in the handes of Fortune when a fire of commotion was kindled by Kentish-men whose flames euen beganne to burne in my owne bosome Or had that Sonne of thine perished betwéene the rage of those two great Families the Yorkists and Lancastrians that was nourished so many yéers together with the liues honors and ouerthrowes of so many Princes of the bloud Royall and with the fall of so many Subiects that in one batâ—aile were discomfited on both sides 35111. Persons then if thou hadst not lamented for him I should worthily haue blamed thee then would I my selfe haue borne a parâ— in thy sorrow A better and not so blacke a fate hath weighted vppon That Mirror of antiquity belonging to thee than euer since the first raâ—sing hath falne vpon the Goodliest the Greatest the Highest and most Hallowed Monument of mine His miseries haue béene so many and the top of his calamities is clymbed vp to such a height that I should do his sorrows wrong to set theÌ„ to the tune of my voyce whoÌ„ no notes but his owne are able to sing them foorth Lift vp therefore thy heauy head O thou that art maintayned by the Pillers of the Church and though thou hast a leaden countenance of which may be gathered the true and full weight of that which lyes vppon thée to presse thée downe yet with a voyce lower then theirs that are daily Singers of heauenly songs in thy hearing ring thou forth the Allarâ—â— of those passionate heart-breaking vlulations which like the ruptures of Thunder force a continuall passage through thy bosome Bee thou attentiâ—e likewise thou Nurser vp of all our English Nobility and as I haue lent an erected and serious eare to those Complaints which thou powrest forth in behalfe of thy Sonne So be thou I coniure thée a silent and obseruing Auditor of these Lamentations which I sée are already striuing to make way through the lips of this afflicted Child of mine Marke him well for now he begins Paules Steeples complaint WHerein O wherein haue I â—he most infortunate of all this Kingdome offended so highly that thus often and with such dreadfull blowes I shold be smote by the hand of heauen So cruelly haue I béene strucke that euen fire to my thinking hath â—lasâ—en out at mine eye and such â—éepe woundes haue I receiued on my head that instead of teares my vary batilements haue dropt downe and in their falling haue scalded my chéekes as if they had béene shewers of molten Lead Doth this hot Uengeance fly as if it were with the swiftest winges of Lightning from aboue to seâ—ze vpon me for my owne sinnes or for his that first beganne to set me vppe But alasse How ingratefâ—ll am I to haue of my Patron so vnrighteous and so godlesse a remembraunce Ethelbert King of Kent was my Founder out of the dust of the earth did he raise mée out of the hard Rock was I fashioned to a beautifull shape and by him consecrated to a most holy and religious vse For Ethelbert that good King was the first that gaue entertainment to Augustine Melitus Iustus and Iohn who by Saint Gregory were sent hither to preach the Misteries Diuine The deuotion of which men like foure streames caused the Christian Fayth to fly into this land and that princely father of moe was the first whom they conuerted In aduauncement of Religion and to make it spread higher did hee set mee into the earth planted mée and hadde a reuerend care to haue mee grow vppe in state and beauty It cannot be therefore that so good and meritoryous a worke in him should be so ill rewarded No no it is not for his sake that I haue béene punnished but eyther for my owne or some others wicked deseruing Howsoeuer it be or in whom-soeuer the fault lyes on mée are the plagues inflicted on my head are heaped the disgraces and dishonours mine is the smart mine is the Sorrow And though the eyes of euery Straunger and of euery starting Passenger be cast vp vppon mee all of them wondering at but none pittying my misfortune because to them it appeares sleight or else it appeares to them nothing at all yet let mee stand before a Iuditious cleéere and impartiall Censor and the condition of the most wretched will not séeme so miserable and base as mine When the Hawthorne and Low Bryer are cut downe the spoyle of them is not regarded for it moones not any But when the Prince of the Forrest the mighty and sacred Oake hath the Axe layed to his roote at euery blow that is giuen the very woods send out Grones Small Cottages beeing on fire are quickly either quenched or if not quenched the wound that a Common-wealth receiues by them is easily cured But when a body so noble So antient so comely for Stature so reuerenced for State so richly adorned so full of beauty of strength of Ceremonies so followes so kneeled vnto and almost so adored as my selfe am and euer haue béene daily is defaced by flames and shaken into dust by the wrath of the breath Almighty The very sight of this is able to bréede Earthquakes in Citties that behold it And euen from such a height such a happinesse and such an honor am I fallen My head was aduanced with the loftiest in the Kingdome and so tender a care had the heauens ouer it that it was taken vp and layde in the bosome of the Clouds My aking browes rested themselues vpon the Christall Chariot of the Moone and the Crowne of my head when I stoode on Tiptoe and stretched my body to the length touched that Celestiall roofe embossed all ouer with studs of golde I did not onely ouer-looke the proudest buildinges in thée O thou Land-lady to so many thousands of houses with those also that are the inheritance of her thy next neybour But mine eye at euery opening hadde the greatest part of the kingdome as a prospect The Marriner then called mee his Sea-marke for to him I stood as a Watch-tower to guide him safely to our English shore No sooner did y e Traueller by land sée me but his heart leaped for ioy and the wearisomnesse of his way seemed to go from him because he knew he was in sight of the most goodly Cittie which he loued But how often hath this glory of mine bin Ecâ—lipsed and at such times when it was in the fulnes whether my own ambition in aspyring too high or whether the Iustice of those aboue mee in punnishing my pride were the cause of my Fall I know not But sure I am that my head hath beene often laid to the blocke and many blowes giuen to strike it off The first blow was giuen me when I had stood vntaynted