The First London Theatre 283 
fubiec|t but alfo verye de[leteriJous in example to [others] yf 
-fuch and fo fow[le m]ifdemeanors fhould [efc]ape their due and 
condigne punifhment Maye it therefore pleafe your excellen[t 
Mat'*] the premiffes confide[red to g]raunt vnto your fu[biecte] 
your highnes moft [graci]ous writtes of Su[bpoen]a to be directed 
v[nto] the fayd Cuthbert Burbage, Richard Burbage, Peeter 
Streate William Smyth, [Richar|]d Lane Richard H[udfon] and 
Thomas Ofbo[rne c]ommaunding them and [everye] of them 
therbye [on a] certen daye and v[nder] a certen payne therein 
to be lymitted perfonallye to be and appeare before yo[ur high- 
nes] moft honorable p[rivie] Counfell in your high[nes mofit] 
honorable Court [of Sta]rr-chamber to an[fwer]Je the mifde- 
mean[ors a|forefayd. And yo[ur] fayd fubiect fhall according 
to his bounden dutye daylye praye t[o Almig|htye god for your 
ro[yall] maiefties long lyfe [and pro|{perous Raigne./ 
J. Jeffreys [attorney] 
[During the years when the parchment of the above bill was rolled up, 
mice or rats gnawed through one side of the roll, making several holes 
an inch or more in diameter, when it is flattened out. Words and letters 
supplied in brackets, from the context, show where these defects occur.] 
ANSWER OF THE BURBAGES AND OTHERS 
Mercurti 28 Aprilis 
Anno 44° Elizabethe Regine 
William Mill 
The ioynt and feuerall Demurrers, and Pleas of 
Cuthbert Burbage, Richard Burbage Peeter 
Streete and William Smyth fyve [sic] of the 
Defend*®s to y® bill of compl of Giles Allen gent 
Compl 
The faid Defend'*s by proteftacion not acknowledginge nor con- 
feffinge any of the matters in the faid Bill conteyned to be true 
fayen. That the faid Bill of Compl' exhibited again{ft them and 
others into this moft honorable Courte is verie vncerteine and 
infufficient in the Lawe to be aunfweared vnto for diuers and 
283 
