in The Triumphs of Honor and Industry — Middleton, Thomas
Metadata
Play
The Triumphs of Honor and Industry
Author
Middleton, Thomas
Year (catalogued)
1617
First performance
1617
Decade
1610s
Genre
Civic Pageant
Play type
Occasional
Speech prefix(es)
Iuſtice.
Words
155
Characters
883
Typicality
0.42 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP id
A07513
BritDrama no.
1847
Cluster
Cluster 14 — Law & judgment
Important excerpts
No keyword-matching excerpt could be extracted (the cluster label doesn't share vocabulary with this character's speech).
Full speech
TRue, but not yet to be possessed, hear me, Justice must flow through him, before that be, Great works of Grace must be required and done, Before the honour of this Seat be wone. A whole years reverend care in righting wrongs, And guarding Innocence from malicious tongues. Must be imployde in Virtues sacred right, Before this place be filled; 'tis no mean fight, That wins this Palm, truth, and a virtuous care, Of the oppressed, those the Loadstones are, That will gainst Envies power draw him forth, To take this merit in this seat of worth: Where all the memorable worthies shine, In works of brightness, able to refine, All the beholders minds, and strike new fire, To kindle and industrious desire, To imitate their actions, and their Fame, Which to this Castle adds that glorious Name. Wherefore Reward, free as the Air or Light, There must be Merit, or our work's not right.
Plot summary
Plot — The Triumphs of Honor and Industry
As he returns by river from taking his oath, the new Lord Mayor of London witnesses a show of Indians on an island, who gather spices. Industry expounds the importance of hard work in youth, which leads to fame in old age, and describes how industry generates both wealth and love. A pageant of nations follows, and the Frenchman and Spaniard wish him well. At the Castle of Fame, there is a seat vacant. Reward invites the Lord Mayor to sit in it, but Justice says that he must first earn it by acting justly during his term in office; Reward is confident he will get his seat in a year’s time. When the Lord Mayor returns home that evening, Honour bids him welcome and asks him to embrace honour. Middleton's text implies that the pageant of Indians is water- borne, but Busino seems to describe it as a land pageant.