apparently, a second scholarship at Corpus Christi College. This last discovery disposes for ever of the surmise that Marlowe was a pensioner at the University, and dependent upon a patron's bounty. JOHN H. INGRAM. PLATE ILLUSTRATIONS I. Edward Alleyn, . II. Canterbury, III. Church of St. George the Martyr, Canterbury, IV. The Font at St. George's Church, Canterbury, PAGE Frontispiece 3 12 16 20 29 v. Extract from the Church Register of St. George the Martyr, VI. The alleged Birthplace of Christopher Marlowe, VII. Leaf of the Treasurer's Accounts of Payments made to the Scholars of King's School, Canterbury, in 1578-9, VIII. The King's School, Canterbury, as it appeared in 1611, . IX. Extract from the Registrum Parvum at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, XI. Extract from the Admission Book of Corpus Christi XII. Marlowe's Room at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, Century, 65 XVII. Richard Boyle, Earl of Cork, XIV. Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury, xv. Extract from the Grace Book of the University of XVI. Extract from the Grace Book of the University of XVIII. Charles Howard, Lord High Admiral of England, Earl of Nottingham, etc.,. XIX. 'Recognizance, 31 Elizabeth,' October 1589, xx. William Shakespeare. Droeshout, After the engraving by Martin 165 XXVI. Extract from Burial Register of St. Nicholas Church, XXVII. Church of St. Nicholas, Deptford, before Restoration, CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE CHAPTER I CANTERBURY CHILDHOOD In the midst of verdant valleys and well-wooded hills reposes Canterbury, capital of the ancient kingdom of Kent. Branches of the sleepy Stour intersect the plain in all directions, and one of these branches dividing, clasps two arms round the ancient city-a city claimed by one of its many renowned sons to be older than Rome itself!1 Steeples and spires and time-tinted turrets rise from out the plain, whilst far above them all, soar into mid-air the lofty towers of the Cathedral, the guardian of this erstwhile sacred city. Canterbury, in many respects the second and in some even still the first city of the kingdom, in the latter half of the sixteenth century was gradually recovering from the shock it had received in the reign of King Henry the Eighth. It was not so much the spoliation of its enormous wealth—and sixand-twenty wagons had been employed in carrying off its gold and jewels-as the blow given to its sanctity by the desecration of its shrine, the decanonisation A of its patron saint, and the overthrow of its religious pre-eminence. The loss of the miracle-working reputation which Henry had deprived the city of did more to impair its position than did the loss of its material possessions. With the succession of Elizabeth, in 1558, brighter days seemed dawning on the distracted land, and 'the fair city of the East' shared in the general resuscitation. Civic prosperity, which had fluctuated sadly during the last two reigns, was, for a time at least, partially restored, and Canterbury smiled once more. Princes and ambassadors and other notabilities again made the city their halfway restingplace on the journey to London, and to some extent Canterbury resumed its wonted aspect. The prophets and the martyrs of the new mental era were born, but as yet they had neither preached, nor prophesied, nor had they yet suffered for the crime of knowledge. At present all went merrily, and men knew not the penalty of too much learning. Freed from internal and foreign strife the citizens of Canterbury reverted to the love of the good things of this world, and appeared to concern themselves little with the mental problems which so violently agitated people in some parts of the kingdom. The misdeeds and offences which had been ascribed to the rule of priestcraft continued, or rather revived with renewed prosperity, and the city was a hotbed of vice. Wealth and poverty still elbowed each other in the streets, and extravagance and usury still held |