Gentle spectators, that with graceful eye
Come to behold the Muses' colony
New planted in this soil, forsook of late
By the inhabitants, since made Fortunate.
The Prologue closes thus:
That on our branches now new poets sing;
And when with joy he shall see this resort
Phœbus shall not disdain to styl't his Court.
But the audiences at Salisbury Court were not large. For six performances of the play, says Malone, Sir Henry Herbert received "but one pound nineteen shillings, in virtue of the ninth share which he possessed as one of the proprietors of the house."[635]
Of the "new poets" referred to by the Prologue, one, of course, was Marmion himself. Another, I venture to say, was James Shirley, who, as I think, had been engaged to write the company's second play. This was The Changes, brought out at Salisbury Court on January 10. The Prologue is full of allusions to the company, its recent misfortunes, and its present attempt to establish itself in its new quarters:
That Muse, whose song within another sphere[636]
Hath pleased some, and of the best, whose ear
Is able to distinguish strains that are
Clear and Phœbean from the popular
And sinful dregs of the adulterate brain,
By me salutes your candour once again;
And begs this noble favour, that this place,
And weak performances, may not disgrace
His fresh Thalia.[637] 'Las, our poet knows
We have no name; a torrent overflows
Our little island;[638] miserable we
Do every day play our own Tragedy.
But 't is more noble to create than kill,
He says; and if but with his flame, your will
Would join, we may obtain some warmth, and prove
Next them that now do surfeit with your love.
Encourage our beginning. Nothing grew
Famous at first. And, gentlemen, if you
Smile on this barren mountain, soon it will
Become both fruitful and the Muses hill.
The similarity of this to the Prologue of Holland's Leaguer is striking; and the Epilogue is written in the same vein:
Opinion
Comes hither but on crutches yet; the sun
Hath lent no beam to warm us. If this play
Proceed more fortunate, we shall bless the day
And love that brought you hither. 'T is in you
To make a little sprig of laurel grow,
And spread into a grove.
All scholars who have written on the subject—Collier, Fleay, Greg, Murray, etc.—have contended that the King's Revels Company did not leave Salisbury Court until after January 10, 1632, because Herbert licensed Shirley's The Changes on that date,[639] and the title-page of the only edition of The Changes states that it was acted at Salisbury Court by His Majesty's Revels. But Herbert records payments for six representations of Marmion's Leaguer by Prince Charles's Men at Salisbury Court "in December, 1631."[640] This latter date must be correct, for on January 26 Holland's Leaguer was entered on the Stationers' Register "as it hath been lately and often acted with great applause ... at the private house in Salisbury Court." According to the generally accepted theory, however, the King's Men were still at Salisbury Court, and actually bringing out a new play there so late as January 10. This error has led to much confusion, and to no little difficulty for historians of the stage; for example, Mr. Murray is forced to suppose that two royal patents were granted to Prince Charles's Company.[641] It seems to me likely that the title-page of The Changes is incorrect in stating that the play was acted by the King's Revels. The play must have been acted by the new and as yet unpopular Prince Charles's Men, who had occupied Salisbury Court as early as December, and, as Herbert tells us, with poor success. The various dates cited clearly indicate this; and the Prologue and the Epilogue are both wholly unsuited for utterance by the successful Revels Company which had just been "made Fortunate," but are quite in keeping with the condition of the newly organized and struggling Prince Charles's Men, who might naturally ask the public to "encourage our beginning."
Whether Prince Charles's Men ultimately succeeded in winning the favor of the public we do not know. Presumably they did, for at some date before 1635 they moved to the large Red Bull Playhouse. Richard Heton wrote: "And whereas my Lord of Dorset had gotten for a former company at Salisbury Court the Prince's service, they, being left at liberty, took their opportunity of another house, and left the house in Salisbury Court destitute both of a service and company."[642]