[it) I can plot too, good madam, (you shall find And, in the stead of licking of my fingers, Kneeling and whining like a boy new-breech'd, To get a toy, forsooth, not worth an apple, Thus make my way, and with authority Command what I would have. Lam. I'm lost for ever! Good sir, I do confess my fault, my gross fault, me; I am girt round with sorrow, hell's about me, And ravishment the least that I can look for! Do what you please. Din. Indeed I will do nothing, Nor touch nor hurt you, lady; nor had ever Such a lewd purpose. Lam. Can there be such goodness, And in a man so injur'd? Dia. Be confirm'd in't; I seal it thus. I must confess yon vex'd me, tion. Lam. All I possess comes short of satisfac[night Din. No compliments. The terrors of this Imagine but a fearful dream, and so With ease forget it: For Dinant, that labour'd To blast your honour, is a champion for it, And will protect and guard it. Lam. 'Tis as safe then, As if a complete army undertook it. [Exeunt. La-Writ. Monsieur Sampson, My honourable friend, my valiant friend, Receive that castigation with a cudgel———— All over me bear it, monsieur Sampson; The oils, and the old woman that repairs to me, To 'noint my beaten body. Sump. It concerns you, You have been swing'd. La-Writ. Let it concern thee too; Gu, and be beaten, speak scurvy words, as Speak to that lion lord, waken his anger, Thy valiant arins and legs beaten to poultices, 1 Client. You wrong the gentleman, To try to put him out of his right mind thus: You wrong us, and our causes. La-Writ. Down with him, gentlemen, Turn him, and beat him, if he break our peace. Then when thou hast been lam'd, thy small guts perish'd, Then talk to me; before, I scorn thy counsel: Feel what I feel, and let my lord repair thee. Samp. And can the brave La-Writ 2 Client. Tempt him no further; Be warn'd, and say no more! La-Writ. If thou dost, Sampson, Thou seest my myrmidons (I'll let 'em loose) That in a moment Samp. I say nothing, sir; But I could wish La-Writ. They shall destroy thee wishing! There's ne'er a man of these but have lost ten causes, [diest! Dearer than ten men's lives; tempt, and thou Go home, and smile upon my lord thine uncle, Take money of the men thou mean'st to cozen, Drink wine, and eat good meat, and live dis creetly; Talk little, 'tis an antidote against a beating; Keep thy hand from thy sword, and from thy And thou'lt live long. [landress' placket, 1 Client. Give ear, and be instructed. La-Writ. I find l'in wiser than a justice of peace now : Give me the wisdom that's beaten into a man! Thy learned precepts bave enchanted me. [Exit Samp. Farewell!-Come, chearly, boys, about our business! Now, welcome tongue again, hang swords! 1 Client. Sweet Advocate ! [Exeunt. Enter Nurse and Charlotte. Nurse. I know not, wench; they may call 'em what they will, Outlaws, or thieves, but, I am sure, to me Some coy thing would say rude, but 'tis no Nurse. Alas, there was no hurt! If't be a sin for such as live at hard meat, And keep a long Lent in the woods as they do, To taste a little flesh Char. God help the courtiers, That lie at rack and manger! Nurse. I shall love That French thieves use not often. I much The gentle ladies; yet, I know not how, [pity I rather hope than fear. Are these the prisoners? Enter Dinant, Cleremont, Verdone, Beaupre, Lumira, Anabel, Charlotte, and Nurse. Din. We were such. Vert. Kill me ɔt, excess of joy! Champ. I see thou liv'st; but hast thou had no foul play? [noble, Lum. No, on my soul; my usage hath been Far from all violence. Champ. How were you freed? But, kiss me first; we'll talk of that at leisure; I'm glad I have thee. Nicce, how you keep As you knew me not! Ana. Sir, I am where I owe most duty. Cler. 'Tis indeed most true, sir; [off, The man that should have been your bed- Champ. How! is she dishonour'd? [able: Champ. Is this true, niece? Din. Her blushing silence grants it. Nay, sir, storm not; He is my friend, and I can make this good, Vert. That were not manly. Lam. Let me persuade you. [fect She shall not come a beggar to you, sir. [you Din. I thank you, sir. [vel ends Champ. Back then to Paris. Well that tra That makes of deadly enemies perfect friends. [Exeunt omnes. 49 Farewel, and cry not roast meat.] The proverb proves, as well as the sense, that we should read, fure well. The corruption was easy. GENTLEMEN, EPILOGUE. AM sent forth to enquire what you decree Of us, and of our Poets; they will be This night exceeding merry, so will we, If you approve their labour. They profess You are their patrons, and we say no less: Resolve us then: for you can only tell Whether we have done idly, or done well. THE TRAGEDY OF VALENTINIAN. The Co-umendatory Verses by Lovelace and Stanley speak of Fletcher singly as Author of this Tragedy. Its first publication was in the folio of 1647. About the year 1685, the Earl of Rochester made some considerable alterations in Valentinian, with which it was performed. 1 SCENE I. АСТ І. Enter Balbus, Proculus, Chilux, and Licinius. Let 'em be ne'er so weighty, ne'er so winning, You are a stranger yet in these designs, In all the ways of woman you have run thro'(For I presume you have been brought up, As we, to fetch and carry-) Chi. True; I have so. [Chilax, [gress, pro Proc. Did you, I say again, in all this Ay, and be flatter'd, else 'tis none; and honest? Chi. I confess it freely, I never saw her fellow, nor e'er shall: And all the constancy of all these faces, Maids, widows, wives, of what degree or calling, [cunning) So they be Greeks, and fat, (for there's my I'd undertake, and not sweat for it, Proculus, Were they to try again, say twice as many, Under a thousand pound, to lay 'em bed-rid: But this wench staggers me. Licin. D' you see these jewels? [sure you, You'd think these pretty baits; now, I'll asHere's half the wealth of Asia. Bal. These are nothing To the full honours 1 propounded to her: Proc. And cold at all these offers? Ne'er to be thaw'd again. Chi. I tried her further, And so far, that I think she is no woman, Proc. That was pretty. [tell ye Chi. I ne'er knew that way fail; yet I will The law to be her creature, she to make it, Should bless to all posterities: Her air [us; Licin. And she heard you? Chi. Yes, as a sick man hears a noise, or he That stands condemn'd his judgment. Let me perish, But, if there can be virtue, if that name Bal. I would the emperor were that god. All the contempt of glory and vain-seeming It is the holiest thing to look upon; The purest temple of her sect, that ever Proc. Is there no way To take this phenix? Like a full sail, she bears against. I ask'd her, She pointed to a Lucrece 3, that hung by, pos'd in ; Proc. This is the first wench I was ever Chi. I find, by this wench, Bal. Well, what's thought of? Should chance to fail too? Chi. As 'tis ten to onc. Proc. Why, what remains, but new nets for the purchase? 'Chi. I ne'er knew that way fail; yet I'll tell ye I offer'd her a gift beyond all yours.] Chilax had before mentioned his temptations; and had this speech been his, he would have said "beyond all these." Proculus was the only one that had not mentioned what he had done; there seems therefore no doubt of this and the following speech belonging to him. Seward. This change seems as improper as arbitrary; there being no reason to suppose Proculus had attempted to seduce Lucina. So far from it, he is surprised at the accounts the others give: "And cold at all these offers?" Aspect.] In the time of our Authors, and long after, this word was always accented on the last syllable: Many instances might be produced of it; and from this circumstance, Mr. Farmer appears convinced that the play called Double Falshood, ascribed by Theobald to Shakespeare, was the production of an Author who lived at a later period. See Farmer's Essay on the Learning of Shakespeare, p. 26. R. She pointed to a Lucrece.] This is extremely poetical, and a very eminent modern has imitated it in the very best tragedy that the English stage has produced for many years past; I have not Mr. Fenton's Mariamne by me, but the lines, as I remember, are, -Frowning, with a victor's haughty air, "Her. Perseus led in chains thro' Rome." The reader will observe, that Mr. Fenton is not so concise and striking as our Authors: He rises into beauty like the gradual opening of a fair morning; our Poets break out at once in full lustre, like the sun bursting from an eclipse. Seward. To gaze upon you in your age? can honour, Lucina. I'll hear no more. Phorba. That white and red, and all that blessed beauty, [thing: The phenix, were she never seen, were But when the virtue's known, the honour's too; we come not To make a monster of you. Lucina. Are ye women? It must not be! a better orb stavs for Made easy, and allowable. [damnation. Lucina. Ye are devils! Tempt me no more! How ugly ye seem to me! If ye had eyes to see yourselves, or sense If ever any of your ancestors Died worth a noble deed, that would be che rish'd; Soul-frighted with this black infection, 4 You still insist, &c.] The reader who will compare this scene with the persuasives against Chastity, introduced by Milton into the character of Comus, will readily see how much that excellent author has been indebted to this play. 5 Come goddesse, come, you move too neer the earth, It must not be, a better orbe staies for you: Here: be a mayd, and take'en,] So first folio. The second folio varies in the third line, where it says, "take 'em," and is copied in the subsequent editions. We have no doubt of "take 'en" meaning "take him." If ever ye had mothers, and they souls; If ever fathers, and not such as you are.] The necessity of the transposition of mothers and fathers in these two lines must be self-evident. Seward. 7 If ever any thing were constant in you, Beside your sins, or coming but your courses.] The old folio reads, "comming but your curses." In attempting to correct this, the latter editions make something worse than nonsense. Before I saw the old folio I conjectured, or comely but your dresses,' but was unsatisfied with it. Common being exceeding near the old word comming, I now keep nearer the trace of the letters than the late editions, and read, or common but your curses;' i e. If you have even any thing in common with the rest of woman-kind, except the curses that are entailed on all. Seward. We think Mr. Seward's reading right, but his explanation of that reading wrong. The simple meaning is, 'If there is any essential ingredient in your composition beside your sus, or any thing common to you all beside the curses that attend those sins, &c.' |