SELLING THE SOUL. 



517 



ter this period that Marlowe wrote his tragedy, 

 and had it produced on the stage, though it seems 

 not to have been printed till some years later. 



This subject was produced in various forms 

 during the next twenty years ; but it is remark- 

 able how closely they all held to the main prin- 

 ciple of the early legend. A curious old theat- 

 rical pamphlet is now before me, entitled " The 

 Necromancer, or Harlequin Doctor Faustus, as 

 performed at the Theatre Royal in Lineoln's-inn- 

 fields. Printed and Sold at the Bookseller's Shop 

 at the corner of Searle Street, and by A. Dock! at 

 the Peacock, without Temple Bar. 1123." It is 

 preceded by " The Vocal Parts of the Entertain- 

 ment." The reader of the present day, having 

 before his mind the vulgar comic stuff that is 

 " said and sung " at three-fourths or more of the 

 London theatres, and at nine-tenths of our pro- 

 vincial theatres, and of the theatres in all English- 

 speaking countries — for which London managers 

 are directly answerable — will naturally anticipate 

 that these " Vocal Parts," introductory to the 

 Necromantic Entertainment of " Harlequin Doc- 

 tor Faustus," can be nothing else than a bur- 

 lesque, and one of the most unmitigated kind. 

 It is no such thing. The title, no doubt, is not 

 a little misleading ; but the treatment of the old 

 legend is worthy of all respect, as the opening 

 scene will testify : 



" Scene— A Study. The Doctor discovered reading 

 at a Table. A Good and Bad Spirit appear. 



" Good Spirit. 

 Faustus ! thy good Genius warns ; 

 Break off in time ; pursue no more 

 An Art that will thy Soul ensnare 1 



" Bad Spirit. 



Faustus, go on !— That Fear is vain : 

 Let thy great Heart aspire to trace 

 Dark Nature to her secret Springs, 

 Till Knowledge make thee deemed a God. 



[ Good and Bad Spirits disappear. The 



Doctor uses magical Motions, and an 



Infernal Spirit rises.' 1 '' 



This infernal Spirit informs the Doctor that his 

 spells have been successful, and that the " King 

 of Night " proposes to divide his power with the 

 Magician. The infernal Spirit then significantly 

 shows a paper. The good Spirit again appears, 

 and warns Faustus ; but in vain, and we then 

 have the following 



"Incantation. 



Arise I ye subtle Forms that sport 

 Around the Throne of sable Night, 

 Whose Pleasures in her silent Court 

 Are unprofaned with baleful Light." 



As the Doctor still hesitates to sign the fatal 

 "paper," the infernal Spirit "strikes the Table, 

 and it appears covered with Gold, Crowns, Scep- 

 tres, etc." All sorts of promises are then made, 

 and finally the apparition of the beautiful Helen 

 of Troy is called up. The Doctor's scruples being 

 overcome by that, he is " preparing to address 

 Helen with Fondness," when the infernal Spirit 

 "interposes," and, conditionally, "offers the pa- 

 per!" 



The Doctor — " gazing at Helen " — signs the 

 bond, but after this, on " attempting to approach 

 Helen," she vanishes, together with the infernal 

 Spirit, "who sinks laughing," in the most dis- 

 honorable manner. The next scene is called 

 " The Doctor's School of Magic ; " and pupils are 

 seated on each side of the stage to receive lessons, 

 and " see the Power of his Art." Not much, 

 however, comes of this, even though the phantom 

 of the Stygian ferryman, Charon, proposes to 

 show them " Ghosts of every occupation." We 

 are not favored in this old theatrical curiosity 

 with an account of the " Harlequinade," which is 

 to follow ; and as we know nothing of the scene- 

 ry, the dresses, and the music, it is impossible to 

 form any judgment or conjecture as to its effect 

 as a stage representation. My only object was 

 to make apparent the earnestness with which this 

 old necromantic legend was treated by all parties. 

 Even the prose stories had a grim air of reality 

 about them. In an old pamphlet I picked up 

 when a child, one of the feats of magic performed 

 by Dr. Faustus was during a walk in the high- 

 road near a little market-town, when, for a 

 " pleasant wager " with some friend, he stops a 

 wagoner, and " eats a load of hay." A moment 

 never to be forgotten, from its startling effect 

 upon the imagination of childhood, on reading — 

 all in secret — the heading of one of the chapters 

 — " Doctor Faustus eats a load of hay ! " With 

 devouring eyes we read the account of the pre- 

 posterously impossible performance, and more 

 than half believed it. 



That scenes of comedy, even of low comedy, 

 and occasionally broad farce, have been intro- 

 duced in the great majority of the numerous 

 dramas that have been written on this subject, is 

 well known. Even the classic Spanish of "El 

 Magico Prodigioso " is made to stoop from its 

 dignified earnestness and poetical altitude to in- 

 dulge in several of the dullest attempts at fun, 

 and the dreariest of humor, except in the malig- 

 nant gymnastics of the Demon in his several 

 manoeuvres to destroy the reputation of Justina. 

 The "jovial fellows" in Auerbach's cellar, and 



