d eyes
Of Princely auditors. The time was, when
To hear the rapture of one poet's pen
A Theatre hath been built.

By the Fates' doom,
When th' Empire was removed from thence to Rome,
The Potent Caesars had their _circi_, and
Large amphitheatres, in which might stand
And sit full fourscore thousand, all in view
And touch of voice. This great Augustus knew,
Nay Rome its wealth and potency enjoyed,
Till by the barbarous Goths these were destroy'd.

But may this structure last, and you be seen
Here a spectator, with your princely Queen,
In your old age, as in your flourishing prime,
To outstrip Augustus both in fame and time.

The exact date of this _Speech_ is not given, but it was printed[665]
in 1637 along with "The Prologue to the Famous Tragedy of _The Rich
Jew of Malta_, as it Was Played Before the King and Queen in His
Majesty's Theatre at Whitehall"; and this Prologue Heywood had already
published with the play itself in 1633. He dedicated the play to Mr.
Thomas Hammon, saying, "I had no better a New-Year's gift to present
you with." Apparently, then, the play had been acted at Court shortly
before New Year's, 1633; and this sets a forward date to Heywood's
_Speech_. Other evidence combines with this to show that "His
Majesty's Theatre at Whitehall" was "new" at the Christmas season of
1632-33.

[Footnote 665: See _The Dramatic Works of Thomas Heywood_ (1874), VI,
339.]

In erecting this, the first "theatre royal," King Charles would
naturally call for the aid of the great Court architect Inigo
Jones,[666] and by good luck we have preserved for us Jones's original
sketches for the little playhouse (see page 396). These were
discovered a few years ago by Mr. Hamilton Bell in the Library of
Worcester College (where many valuable relics of the great architect
are stored), and printed in _The Architectural Record_ of New York,
March, 1913. Mr. Bell accompanied the plans with a valuable
discussion, but he was unable to discover their purpose. He writes:

We have still no clue as to what purpose this curiously
anomalous and most interesting structure was to
serve--whether the plan was ever carried out, or whether it
remained part of a lordly pleasure-house which its prolific
designer planned for the delectation of his own soul.

[Footnote 666: Whether he merely made over the old Cockpit which Henry
VIII had co