courtly finds fault with them one after another, and never fetcheth them; they in revenge of this, execute her in pictures as they do in Germany, and hang her in their shops; by this means is she better known to the stinkards, than if she had been five times carted. Bil. 'Fore God, an excellent policy. Pas. Are there any revels to-night, my lord? Pas. Good, my lord, give me leave to break a fellow's pate that hath abused me. Bil. Whose pate? Pas. Young Ferrard, my lord. Bil. Take heed, he's very valiant; I have known him fight eight quarrels in five days, believe it. Pas. O is he so great a quarreller? why then he's an arrant coward. that? Bil. How prove you Pas. Why thus; He that quarrels seeks to fight; and he that seeks to fight, seeks to die; and he that seeks to die, seeks never to fight more; and he that will quarrel, and seeks means never to answer a man more, I think he's a coward. Bil. Thou canst prove any thing. Pas. Any thing but a rich knave, for I can flatter no man. Bil. Well, be not drunk, good fool; I shall see Mal, The Dutchman for a drunkard. Mal. O thou art a blessed creature! had I a modest woman to conceal, I would put her to thy custody, for no reasonable creature would ever suspect her to be in thy company; ha, thou art a melodious Maquerelle; thou picture of a woman, and substance of a beast. Enter PASSARELLO. Maq. O fool, will ye be ready anon to go with me to the revels? The hall will be so pestered anon. Pas. Ay, as the country is with attornies. went with my lord ambassador: I'll drink to the health of Madam Maquerelle. Mal. Why, thou wast wont to rail upon her. Or as knights send venison to the city; Mal. Give me the bowl; I drink a health to Pas. I'll take it so; now I'll begin a health to Mal. Pugh! I will not pledge her. Mal. I care not. Pus. Not pledge Madam Maquerelle? why, them, will I spew up your lord again with this fool's finger. Mal. Hold, I'll take it. Maq. Now thou hast drank my health, fool, I am friends with thee. Pas. Art, art? "When Griffon 75 saw the reconciled quean "Offering about his neck her arms to cast; "He threw off sword, and heart's malignant stream, "And her below the lovely loins embraced." Adieu, Madam Maquerelle. [Exit PASSARELLO, mation of state now? Mal. And how dost thou think o'this transfor zens. Maq. Verily, very well; for we women always note, the falling of the one is the rising of the other. Some must be fat, some must be lean, some must be fools, and some must be lords; some must be knaves, and some must be officers; some must be beggars, some must be knights; some must be cuckolds, and some must be citiAs for example, I have two court-dogs, the most fawning curs, the one called Watch, the other Catch; now I, like lady Fortune, sometimes love this dog, sometimes raise that dog; sometimes favour Watch, most commonly fancy Catch. Now that dog which I favour I feed; and he's so ravenous, that what I give he never chaws it, gulps it down whole, without any relish of what he has, but with a greedy expectation of what he shall have. The other dog, now, Mal. No more dog, sweet Maquerelle, no Pas. Wine; I have learnt to drink since I more dog.—And what hope hast thou of the du 74 The Irishman for usquebaugh-The Irish have long been celebrated on account of their fondness for this liquor. Dericke, in The Image of Irelande, 1581, Sign. F 2, takes notice of it: "Againe if fortune faunth, Or on them chaunce to smile: She filles them then with uskebeagle, In the margin he observes, that uskebeaghe is aqua vita. See also Mr Malone's Note on the Merry Wives of Windsor, A. 2 S. 2. 75 When Griffon, &c.-Griffon is one of the heroes of Orlando Furioso, from whence one might suspect these lines to be taken. I do not, however, find them there. chess Maria? will she stoop to the duke's lure? will she coo, think'st? Maq. Let me see, where's the sign now? ha' ye e'er a calendar? where's the sign trow you? Mal. Sign! why is there any moment in that? Maq. O, believe me, a most secret power! Look ve, a Chaldean or an Assyrian, I am sure 'twas a most sweet Jew, told me, court any woman in the right sign, you shall not miss. But you must take her in the right vein, then; as, when the sign is in Pisces, a fishmonger's wife is very sociable; in Cancer, a physician's wife is very flexible; in Capricorn, a merchant's wife hardly holds out; in Libra, a lawyer's wife is very tractable, especially if her husband be at the term; only in Scorpio 'tis very dangerous meddling. Has the duke sent any jewel, and rich stones? Enter Captain. Mal. Ay, I think those are the best signs to take a lady in. By your favour, signior, I must discourse with the lady Maria, Altofront's duchess; I must enter for the duke. Capt. She here shall give you interview. I received the guardship of this citadel from the good Altofront, and for his use I'll keep it till I am of no use. Mal. Wilt thou? O heavens, that a Christian should be found in a buff-jerkin! Captain Conscience, I love thee, captain. [Exit Captain. We attend; and what hope hast thou of the duchess's easiness? Maq. 'Twill go hard: She was a cold creature ever; she hated monkies, fools, jesters, and gentlemen-ushers, extremely; she had the vile trick on't, not only to be truly modestly honourable in her own conscience, but she would avoid the least wanton carriage that might incur suspect. As God bless me, she had almost brought bed-pressing out of fashion; I could scarce get a fine for the lease of a lady's favour once in a fortnight. Mal. Now, in the name of immodesty, how many maidenheads hast thou brought to the block? Mag. Let me see: Heaven forgive us our misdeeds! Here's the duchess. SCENE II. Enter MARIA and Captain. Mal. God bless thee, lady. Maria. Out of thy company. Maq. Nay, by mine honour, madam, as good ha' ne'er a husband as a banished husband; he's in another world now. I tell ye, lady, I have heard of a sect that maintained, when the husband was asleep, the wife might lawfully entertain another man, for then her husband was as dead; much more when he is banished. Maria. Unhonest creature! Maq. Pish, honesty is but an art to seem so! Pray ye, what's honesty? what's constancy? but fables feigned; odd old fools' chat, devised by jealous fools, to wrong our liberty. Mal. Molly, he that loves thee is a duke: Mendozo; he will maintain thee royally, love thee ardently, defend thee powerfully, marry thee sumptuously, and keep thee in despite of Rosiclear, or Donzel del Phobo. 76 There's jewels; if thou wilt, so; if not, so. Maria. Captain, for God's sake, save poor. From tyranny of lustful insolence; Mal. 'Gainst him that can enforce, how vain is strife? Maria. She that can be enforced, has ne'er a knife. "She that, through force, her limbs with lust enrols, "Wants Cleopatra's asps, and Portia's coals." God amend you! [Exit with Captain. Mal. Now the fear of the devil for ever go with thee !-Maquerelle, I tell thee, I have found an honest woman: Faith, I perceive, when all is done, there is of women as of all other things, some good, most bad; some saints, some sinners; for as, now-a-days, no courtier but has his mistress, no captain but has his cockatrice, 77 no cuckold but has his horns, and no fool but has his feather; even so, no woman but has her weakness, and feather too; no sex but has his: I can hunt the letter no farther. O God, how loathsome this toying is to me! That a duke should be forced to fool it! well, stultorum plena sunt omnia. Better play the fool lord, than be the fool lord. Now, where's your slights, Madam Maquerelle ? Maq. Why, are ye ignorant that 'tis said, a squeamish affected niceness is natural to women, Mal. We have brought thee tender of a hus- and that the excuse of their yielding is only, forband. Maria. I hope I have one already. sooth, the difficult obtaining. You must put her to't; women are flax, and will fire in a moment. : 76 Rosiclear, Donzel del Phœbo-See The Mirror of Knighthood. S. 77 Cockatrice-See Note 41 to The Antiquary. Mal. Hence, ye gross-jawed, peasantly,-Out, go! Bil. Nay, sweet Malevole, since my return, I hear you are become the thing I always prophesied would be; an advanced virtue, a worthily employed faithfulness, a man of grace, dear friend. Come, what? Si quoties peccant homines. If, as often as courtiers play the knaves, honest men should be angry. Why, look ye, we must collogue 7 sometines, forswear sometimes. Mal. Be damned sometimes! Bil. Right! Nemo omnibus horis sapit. No man can be honest at all hours. Necessity often depraves virtue. Mal. I will commend thee to the duke. Bil. Right, let us prosper and purchase; our lordships shall live, and our knavery be forgotten. Mal. He that by any ways gets riches, his means never shame him. Bil. True. Mal. For impudence and faithlessness are the main-stays to greatness. Bil. By the Lord, thou art a profound lad! Mal. By the Lord, thou art a perfect knave! Out, ye ancient damnation ! 79 Bil. Peace, peace; and thou wilt not be a friend to me as I am a knave, be not a knave to me as I am thy frieud, and disclose me. Peace, cornets. SCENE III. Enter PREPASSO and FERRARDO, two Pages with Lights, CELSO and EQUATO, MENDOZO in Duke's Robes, BILIOSo and GUERRINO. [Exeunt all save MALEVOLE and MENDOzo. Men. On, on; leave us, leave us: Stay, where is the hermit? Mal. With Duke Pietro, with Duke Pietro. Mal. Dead as the duke is. Men. Good, excellent! he will not blab; secureness lives in secresy. Come hither, come hither. Mal. Thou hast a certain strong villainous scent about thee, my nature cannot endure. Men. Scent, man? What returns Maria, what answer to our suit? Mal. Cold, frosty; she is obstinate. Men. Then she's but dead; 'tis resolute, she dies. "Black deed only through black deed safely flies." Mal. Pugh! per scelera semper sceleribus tutum est _iter. Men. What, art a scholar? art a politician? sure thou art an errand knave. Mal. Who, I? I have been twice an undersheriff, man. Well, I will go rail upon some great man, that I may purchase the bastinado; or else go marry some rich Genoan lady, and instantly go travel. Men. Travel when thou art married! Mal. Ay, 'tis your young lord's fashion to do so, though he was so lazy, being a bachelor, that he would never travel so far as the university; yet when he married her, tales off, and Catsoe for England. Men. And why for England? Mal. Because there is no brothel-houses there. Mal. Neither; your whore went down with the stews, and your punk came up with the puritan. Men. Canst thou impoison? canst thou impoison? Mal. Excellently; no Jew, 'pothecary, or po litician better. Look ye, here's a box; whom would'st thou impoison? Here's a box, which, when opened, and the fume taken up in the conduits through which the brain purges itself, doth instantly for twelve hours space bind up all shew of life in a deep senseless sleep: Here's another, which, being opened under the sleeper's nose, chokes all the powers of life; kills him suddenly. 78 Collogue-In cant language, the word collogue means to wheedle. See several instances of it in Mr Steevens' Note on Hamlet, A. 1. S. 2. 79 Ancient damnation-A very strong, though not a very delicate phrase, which Shakespeare has put into the mouth of Juliet. S. Men. I'll try experiments; 'tis good not to be deceived: So, so, catzo. [Seems to poison MALEVOLE. "Who would fear that may destroy? "Death hath no teeth, or tongue; "And he that's great, to him are slaves, "Shame, murder, fame, and wrong."Celso! Enter CELSO. Cel. My honoured lord! Men. The good Malevole, that plain-tongued man, alas, is dead on sudden, wonderous strangely! He held in our esteem good place.-Celso, see him buried, see him buried. Cel. I shall observe ye. comes to court; there is a whirl of fate comes tumbling on; the castle's captain stands for me; the people pray for me; the great leader of the just stands for me: Then courage, Celso. For no disastrous chance can ever move him, "That loveth nothing but a God above him." [Exeunt. Enter PREPASSO and BILIOSO, two Pages before them, MAQUERELLE, BIANCA, and EMILIA. Bian. Make room there, room for the ladies: Why, gentlemen, will not ye suffer the ladies to be entered in the great chamber? why, gallants? and you, sir, to drop your torch where the beauties must sit too! Pre. And there's a great fellow plays the Men. And, Celso, pr'ythee let it be thy care knave; why dost not strike him? to-night To have some pretty show, to solemnize Men. What shape? Why any quick-done fic- As some brave spirits of the Genoan dukes, Men. All thanks; our hand shall not be close Now is my treachery secure, nor can we fall; "Keeps them with steel; no man securely breathes "Who cannot bear with spite, he cannot rule. I'll make one of the mask; thou shalt have some Cel. My lord, what strange delusion- Bil. Let him play the knave a God's name! Think'st thou, I have no more wit than to strike a great fellow? The music, more lights, revelling, scaffolds! do you hear? let there be oaths enough ready at the door; swear out the devil himself. Let's leave the ladies, and go see if the lords be ready for them. [All save the Ladies depart. 80 Maq. And, by my troth, beauties, why do you not put you into the fashion? this is a stale cut, you must come in fashion. Look ye, you must be all felt, felt and feather, a felt upon your bare hair: look ye, these tiring things are justly out of request now; and, do you hear? you must wear falling bands, you must come into the falling fashion. There is such a deal a pinning these ruffs, when the fine clean fall is worth all; and again, if you should chance to take a nap in the afternoon, your falling band requires no pokingstick 81 to recover its form; believe me, no fashion to the falling band, I say: Bian. And is not Siguior St Andrew a gallant fellow now? Maq. By my maidenhead, la, honour and he agree as well together, as a satin suit and woollen stockings. Emil. But is not Marshal Make-room, my servant in reversion, a proper gentleman? Maq. Yes, in reversion, as he had his office; as, in truth, he hath all things, in reversion. He has his mistress in reversion, his clothes in reversion, his wit in reversion; and, indeed, he is a suitor to me for my dog in reversion; but in good verity, la, he is as proper a gentleman in rever sion as and indeed as fine a man as may be, having a red beard, and a pair of warpt legs. Bian. But I, faith I am most monstrously in love with Count Quidlibet in quodlibet; is he not a pretty, dapper, unidle 82 gallant? Maq. He is even one of the most busy-finger VOL. II. 80 Falling bands-See Note 4 to The Roaring Girl. 81 Poking stick-See Note 24 to The Honest Whore, Vol. I. P. 529. E e lords; he will put the beauties to the squeak Lost hideously. Bil. Room! make a lane there! the duke is entering: Stand handsomely; for beauty's sake, take up the ladies there. So, cornets, cornets! SCENE IV. Enter PREPASSO, joins to BILIOSO, two Pages and Lights; FERRARDO, MENDOZO, at the other Door, two Pages with Lights, and the Captain leading in MARIA. The Duke meets MARIA, and closeth with her; the rest fall back. Men. Madam, with gentle ear receive my suit; A kingdom's safety should o'erpoise slight rites; Marriage is merely nature's policy: Then since, unless our royal beds be joined, Thou ever devii! 'twas thou that banished'st "She that dear loves, her love's still in her soul." Men. You are but a woman, lady; you must yield. Maria. O save me, thou innated bashfulness, Thou only ornament of woman's modesty. Men. Modesty! death, I'll torment thee. Maria. Do; urge all torments, all afflictions try, I'll die my lord's, as long as I can die. Men. Thou obstinate, thou shalt die !— The reverend hermit; therefore we command Maria. O thou art merciful! Ö gracious devil! Rather by much let me condemned be For seeing murder, than be damned for thee. I'll mourn no more; come, girt my brows with flowers, Revel, and dance; soul, now thy wish thou hast, Die like a bird; poor heart, thou shalt die chaste. Aur. I ha' done; one word, take heed: I ha done. Enter MERCURY, with loud Music. Mer. Cyllenian Mercury, the god of ghosts, From gloomy shades that spread the lower coasts, Calls four high-famed Genoan dukes to come, And make this presence their Elysium. To pass away this high triumphal night, With song and dances, courts more soft delight. Aur. Are you god of ghosts? I have a suit depending in hell betwixt me and my conscience; I would fain have thee help me to an advocate. Bil. Mercury shall be your lawyer, lady. Aur. Nay, faith, Mercury has too good a face to be a right lawyer. Prep. Peace, forbear: Mercury presents the mask. Cornets. The Song to the Cornets; which playing, the Mask enters. MALEVOLE, PIETRO, FERNEZE, and CELSO, in White Robes, with Dukes' crowns upon laurel wreathes; Pistolets, and Short Swords under their Robes. Men. Celso, Celso, court Maria for our love : Lady, be gracious, yet grace. Maria. With me, sir? [MALEVOLE takes his Wife to Dance. Mal. Yes, more loved than my breath, With you I'll dance.. Maria. Why then you dance with death. But come, sir, I was ne'er more apt to mirth. "Death gives eternity a glorious breath; "O, to die honoured, who would fear to die?" Mal. "They die in fear who live in villainy." Men. Yes, believe him, lady, and be ruled by him. P. Jac. Madam, with me. [PIETRO takes his Wife AURELIA to Dance. Aur. Would'st then be miserable? P. Jac. I need not wish. Aur. O yet forbear my hand! away! fly, fly! Aur. What, would'st court misery? Aur. She'll come too soon: O my grieved heart! Come, let's dance; be once from sorrow free. |