Jerome's Bible, Faustus; view it well.            [Reads.]      Stipendium peccati mors est. Ha! Stipendium, &c. The reward of sin is death:  that's hard.            [Reads.]      Si peccasse negamus, fallimur, et nulla est in nobis veritas; If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and there is no truth in us. Why, then, belike we must sin, and so consequently die:      Ay, we must die an everlasting death. What doctrine call you this, Che sera, sera, What will be, shall be? Divinity, adieu! These metaphysics of magicians, And necromantic books are heavenly;      Lines, circles, scenes, letters, and characters; 10 Ay, these are those that Faustus most desires. O, what a world of profit and delight, Of power, of honour, and omnipotence, Is promis'd to the studious artizan! All things that move between the quiet poles Shall be at my command:  emperors and kings Are but obeyed in their several provinces; But his dominion that exceeds in this, Stretcheth as far as doth the mind of man; A sound magician is a demigod:      Here tire, my brains, to gain 11 a deity. Enter WAGNER. Wagner, commend me to my dearest friends, The German Valdes and Cornelius; Request them earnestly to visit me. WAGNER. I will, sir.           [Exit.]       FAUSTUS. Their conference will be a greater help to me Than all my labours, plod I ne'er so fast. Enter GOOD ANGEL and EVIL ANGEL. GOOD ANGEL. O, Faustus, lay that damned book aside, And gaze not on it, lest it tempt thy soul, And heap God's heavy wrath upon thy head! Read, read the Scriptures:—that is blasphemy. EVIL ANGEL. Go forward, Faustus, in that famous art Wherein all Nature's treasure is contain'd:      Be thou on earth as Jove is in the sky, Lord and commander of these 12 elements.           [Exeunt ANGELS.]       FAUSTUS. How am I glutted with conceit of this!      Shall I make spirits fetch me what I please, Resolve me of all ambiguities, Perform what desperate enterprise 13 I will? I'll have them fly to India for gold, Ransack the ocean for orient pearl, And search all corners of the new-found world For pleasant fruits and princely delicates; I'll have them read me strange philosophy, And tell the secrets of all foreign kings; I'll have them wall all Germany with brass, And make swift Rhine circle fair 14 Wertenberg; I'll have them fill the public schools with silk, 15 Wherewith the students shall be bravely clad; I'll levy soldiers with the coin they bring, And chase the Prince of 

 Prev. P 4/72 next