A Collection of Old English Plays, Vol. II | Page 2

like For noble prowess for our
Tav'stock Pike, In whose renowned never-dying name Live England's
honour and the Spaniard's shame."
There is a curious notice of our hero in a private letter, dated May 19,
1626, of Dr. Meddus to the Rev. Joseph Mead:[3]--"Yesterday being
Holy Thursday, one Pyke, a common soldier, left behind the fleet at
Cadiz, delivered a challenge to the Duke of Buckingham from the
Marquis of ----, brother-in-law to the Conde d'Olivares, in defence of

the honour of his sister; affirming, moreover, that he had wronged
Olivares, the King of Spain, and the King of England, and therefore he
would fight with him in any part of France. This Pike, a Devonshire
man, being presented prisoner to the Duke of Medina, he would needs
have him fight at rapier or dagger with a Spaniard, supposing he would
not stand him two thrusts: but Pyke, by a dexterous sleight, presently
disarmed the Spaniard of his rapier without hurting him, and presented
it to the Duke," &c.
As to the authorship of the play, though I should be loth to speak with
positiveness, I feel bound to put forward a claim for Thomas Heywood.
Through all Heywood's writings there runs a vein of generous
kindliness: everywhere we see a gentle, benign countenance, radiant
with love and sympathy. On laying down one of his plays, the reader is
inclined to apply to him Tacitus' judgment of Agricola, "bonum virum
facile crederes, magnum libenter." Now, when we open _Dick of
Devonshire_, the naturalness and simplicity of the first scene at once
suggest Heywood's hand. In the second scene, the spirited eulogy on
Drake--
"That glory of his country and Spayne's terror, That wonder of the land
and the seas minyon, _Drake_, of eternall memory--"
and the fine lines descriptive of the Armada are just such as we might
expect from the author of the closing scenes of the second part of _If
you know not me, you know nobody_. Heywood was fond of stirring
adventures: he is quite at home on the sea, and delights in nothing more
than in describing a sea-fight; witness his _Fortunes by Land and Sea_,
and the two parts of the Fair Maid of the West. But the underplot bears
even clearer traces of Heywood's manner. Manuel is one of those
characters he loved to draw--a perfect Christian gentleman, incapable
of baseness in word or deed. Few situations could be found more
touching than the scene (iii. 3), where Manuel defends with passionate
earnestness the honour of his absent brother, Henrico, and tries to
comfort his heart-broken father. Heywood dealt in extremes: his
characters are, as a rule, either faultless gentlemen or abandoned
scoundrels. Hence we need not be surprised that Henrico exceeds other
villains in ruffianism as much as his brother, the gentle Manuel,
surpasses ordinary heroes in virtue. The characters of Henrico's
contracted bride, Eleonora, and Catalina, the good wife of a vicious

husband, are drawn tenderly and skilfully. Heywood's eyes were
oftener dim with tears than radiant with laughter; yet, with all his
sympathy for the afflicted and the fallen, he never took a distorted view
of society, but preserved untainted to the end a perennial spring of
cheerfulness.
I now leave the reader to the enjoyment of this old play, which, whether
it be Heywood's or not, certainly deserves the attention of all faithful
students of our inexhaustible dramatic literature.
NOTE.--I gratefully acknowledge the assistance that I have received
from F.G. Fleay, Esq., in preparing this volume for the press. To ensure
as much accuracy as possible, Mr. Fleay has read the proof-sheets
throughout.[4] By the same gentleman's kindness I am able to correct
the following misprints in the first volume:--
p. 37, l. 23, for "Yet can give," read, "Yet can I give."
p. 71, l. 18, del. comma after "live."
p. 103, l. 9, del. "we."
p. 119, 7 from bottom, for "she doth preferd doth see," read "she thus
preferd," &c.
p. 142, 9 from bottom, for "vouchsafed," read "vouchsafe."
p. 154, l. 19, for "There they are," read "I, here they are."
p. 190, l. 24, for "woman" read "women."
p. 194, l. 12, for "unwist," read "unjust."
p. 228, last line, for "Equire," read "Squire."
p, 258, l. 29, for "1639," read "1612."
p. 274, l. 16, for "whore," read "whore's;" and in the next line, for
"sunnes," read "sinnes."
p. 276, l. 4, after "Do not my Dons know," add "me."
p. 281, 4 from bottom, for "wo," read "two."
p. 311, l. 12, for "sol-Re-fa-mi," read "sol-Re-me-fa-mi." In l. 19, for
"Ra." read "Re."
p. 317, l. 21, for "goon," read "good."
p. 331, l. i, for "Med,," read "King."

THE PLAY OF DICKE OF DEVONSHIRE.
_A Tragi-Comedy_.
Hector adest secumque Deos in praelia ducit.

Drammatis