es to enter a convent. Fortunately Lacy himself comes down to set
matters in order for their marriage before she has taken the vows, and
though his second wooing is done in a very peremptory, cavalier fashion,
she returns to his arms. Their wedding is celebrated on the same day as
that of Prince Edward and Elinor of Castile.--Independent of this
romance, but linked to it through the person of Prince Edward, are the
visit of the kings to Oxford, the wonder-workings of Friar Bacon, and
the mischievous fooling of such light-headed persons as the king's
jester, Ralph Simnell, and the friar's servant, Miles. Friar Bacon's
power is exercised in the spiriting hither and thither of desirable and
undesirable folk, the most notable victim being a much vaunted and
self-confident German magician who has been brought over by the emperor
to outshine his English rivals. There is some fun when Miles is set to
watch for the first utterance of the mysterious brazen head, and,
delaying to wake his master, lets the supreme moment pass unused. The
curses which this mistake calls upon him from Friar Bacon bring about
his ultimate removal to hell on a devil's back.

Here then is a slight but charming story of romance, supported through
the length of a whole play by all the adventitious aids which Greene can
command. One of the minor characters, Ralph Simnell, invites passing
notice as the rough sketch of a type which Shakespeare afterwards
perfected, the Court Fool: his jesting questions and answers may be
compared with those of Feste in _Twelfth Night_. Disguised as the
prince, to conceal the identity of the real prince at Oxford, he is
served by the merry nobles and proves himself humorously unprincely. But
that which has given most fame to the author is the love-plot. The
Fressingfield scenes bring upon the stage a direct picture of simple
country life--of a dairy-maid among her cheeses, butter and cream, and
of a country fair with farm-lads eager to buy fairings for their
lassies. Unfortunately, under the influence of the fashionable
affectation, Margaret is unusually learned in Greek mythology, citing
Jove, Danae, Phoebus, Latona and Mercury within the compass of a bare
five lines. The indebtedness of Greene to Lyly's _Campaspe_ for the idea
of a simple love romance as plot has been acknowledged. In the use of
pastoralism, too, he borrowed a hint, perhaps, from Peele. Yet, when
both debts have been allowed, the reader of Greene's comedy i