I have not seen it anywhere noticed that this play, printed under Elkanah Settle's name, with a long dedication by him to the Earl of Shaftsbury, in 1680, 4to., was certainly a mere alteration of an old play on the same subject. It is impossible for any one to read many pages of it, without seeing everywhere traces of a much more powerful hand than "poor Elkanah's," although he needed no assistance in managing the ceremony of pope-burning. Take at random the following quotation, which is much more like Middleton's or Decker's than the debased style after the Restoration: "_Saxony._ And art thou then in earnest? Come, prithee, speak: I was to blame to chide thee; Be not afraid; speak but the fatal truth, And by my hopes of heav'n I will forgive thee. Out with it, come; now wouldst thou tell me all, But art ashamed to own thyself a bawd: 'Las, that might be thy father's fault, not thine. Perhaps some honest humble cottage bred thee, And thy ambitious parents, poorly proud, For a gay coat made thee a page at court, And for a plume of feathers sold thy soul; But 'tis not yet, not yet too late to save it. _Amir._ Oh, my sad heart! _Sax._ Come, prithee, speak; let but A true confession plead thy penitence, And Heaven will then forgive thee as I do. _Amir._ But, Sir, can you resolve to lend an ear To sounds so terrible, so full of fate, As will not only act a single tragedy, But even disjoint all Nature's harmony, And quite untune the world? for such, such are The notes that I must breathe. _Sax._ Oh, my dear murderer, Breathe 'em as cheerfully as the soaring lark Wakes the gay morn. Those dear sweet airs that kill me Are my new nuptial songs. My Angeline Has been my first, and Death's my second bride." _Fem. Prel._ p. 58. Or the following: "_Sax._ Carlo, she must die; The softest heart that yon celestial fire Could ever animate, must break and die. We are both too wretched to outlive this day; And I but send thee as her executioner. _Carlo._ I flie to obey you, Sir.