lunatic!

Proph. Observe him, sweet, 'tis but his recreation.

Org. But will you hear alittle? you're so tetchy, You keep no rule in argument; philosophy Works not upon impossibilities,

But natural conclusions.-Mew!--absurd!
The metaphysics are but speculations
Of the celestial bodies, or such accidents
As, not mixt perfectly, in the air engender'd,
Appear to us unnatural; that's all.

Prove it ;-yet with a reverence to your gravity,
I'll baulk illiterate sauciness, submitting
My sole opinion to the touch of writers.
Proph. Now let us fall in with him.
Org. Ha, ha, ha!

Theseapish boys, when they but task the grammars,
The principles of theory, imagine

They can oppose their teachers. Confidence
Leads many into errors.

Proph. By your leave, sir.

Euph. Are you a scholar, friend?
Org. I am, gay creature,

With pardon of your deities, a mushroom,

On whom the dew of heaven drops now and then:
The sun shines on me too, I thank his beams;
Sometimes I feel their warmth, and eat and sleep.
Proph. Does Tecnicus read to thee?
Org. Yes, forsooth;

He is my master surely: yonder door
Opens upon his study.

Proph. Happy creatures!

Such people toil not, sweet, in heats of state,
Nor sink in thaws of greatness: Their affections
Keep order with the limits of their modesty :
Their love is love of virtues.-What's thy name?
Org. Aplotes, sumptuous master, a poor wretch.
Euph. Dost thou want any thing?
Org. Books, Venus, books.

Proph. Lady, a new conceit comes in my thought,

And most available for both our comforts.
Euph. My lord?

Proph. While I endeavour to deserve Your father's blessing to our loves, this scholar May daily, at some certain hours, attend What notice I can write of my success, Here in this grove, and give it to your hands; The like from you to me: so can we never, Barr'd of our mutual speech,want sure intelligence; And thus our hearts may talk, when our tongues

cannot.

Euph. Occasion is most favourable; use it. Proph. Aplotes, wilt thou wait us twice-a-day At nine i'th morning, and at four at night, Here in this bower, to convey such letters As each shall send to other? Do it willingly, Safely and secretly, and I will furnish Thy study, or what else thou canst desire. Org. Jove make me thankful! thankful, I beseech thee,

Propitious Jove!-I will prove sure and trusty. You will not fail me books?

Proph. Nor aught besides,

Thy heart can wish. This lady's name's Euphrania,

Mine Prophilus.

Org. I have a pretty memory, It must prove my

best friend. I will not miss One minute of the hours appointed. Proph. Write

The books thou would'st have brought thee in a note,

Or take thyself some money.

Org. No, no money;

Money to scholars is a spirit invisible,

We dare not finger it: or books, or nothing. Proph. Books of what sort thou wilt: do not forget

Our names.

Org. I warrant ye, I warrant ye.

Proph. Smile, Hymen, on the growth of our

desires!

We'll feed thy torches with eternal fires.

[Exeunt PROPH. and EUPH. Org. Put out thy torches, Hymen, or their light Shall meet a darkness of eternal night. Inspire me, Mercury, with swift deceits! Ingenious Fate has leapt into mine arms, Beyond the compass of my brains-Mortality Creeps on the dung of earth, and cannot reach The riddles which are purpos'd by the gods. Great arts best write themselves in their own stories:

They die too basely, who out-live their glories. [Exit

SCENE I.A Room at Bassanes' House.

Enter BASSANES and PHULAS.

Bass. I'll have that window next the street damm'd up;

It gives too full a prospect to temptation,
And courts a gazer's glances: there's a lust
Committed by the eye, that sweats and travails,
Plots, wakes, contrives, till the deformed bear-
whelp,
Adultery, be lick'd into the act,

That gaudy earwig, or my lord, your patron,
Whose pensioner you are. I'll tear thy throat out,
Son of a cat, ill-looking hounds-head, rip up
Thy ulcerous maw, if I but scent a paper,
A scroll but half as big as what can cover
A wart upon thy nose, a spot, a pimple,
Directed to my lady: it may prove
A mystical preparative to lewdness.

Phul. Care shall be had; I will turn every thread

About me to an eye. Here's a sweet life! Bass. The city house-wives, cunning in the traffic

Of chamber merchandise, set all at price By wholesale; yet they wipe their mouths and simper,

Cull, kiss, and cry sweetheart, and stroke the head Which they have branch'd, and all is well again. Dull clods of dirt, who dare not feel the rubs Struck on their foreheads!

Phul. 'Tis a villainous world,

One cannot hold his own in't.

Buss. Dames at court,

Who flaunt in riots, run another bias:
Their pleasure heaves the patient ass that suffers
Upon the stilts of office, titles, incomes;
Promotion justifies the shame, and sues for't:
Poor Honour! thou art stabb'd, and bleed'st to
death

By such unlawful hire. The country mistress
Is yet more wary, and in blushes hides

Whatever trespass draws her troth to guilt; But all are false. On this truth I am bold, No woman but can fall, and doth or would.Now for the newest news about the city; What blab the voices, sirrah?

Phul. Moreover, please your lordship, 'tis re

ported

For certain, that whoever is found jealous,
Without apparent proof that's wife is wanton,
Shall be divorced: but this is but she-news;
I had it from a midwife. I have more yet.

Bass. Antick, no more! ideots and stupid fools
Grate my calamities. Why, to be fair,
Should yield presumption of a faulty soul?
Look to the doors!

Phul. The horn of plenty crest him!

[Exit PHULAS. Bass. Swarms of confusion huddle in my thoughts In rare distemper. Beauty! O it is An unmatch'd blessing, or a horrid curse.

Enter PENTHEA, and GRAUSIS, an old Lady. She comes, she comes; so shoots the morning forth, Spangled with pearls of transparent dew! The way to poverty is to be rich; As I in her am wealthy, but for her, In all contents a bankrupt.-Lov'd Penthea, How fares my heart's best joy?

Gra. In sooth not well,

She is so over sad.

Bass. Leave chattering, magpye.Thy brother is return'd, sweet; safe, and honour'd With a triumphant victory: thou shall visit him; We will to court, where, if it be thy pleasure, Thou shalt appear in such a ravishing lustre Of jewels above value, that the dames Who brave it there, in rage to be outshin'd, Shall hide them in their closets, and, unseen, Fret in their tears; while every wond'ring eye Shall crave none other brightness but thy presence. Choose thine own recreations, be a queen Of what delights thou fancies best, what company, What place, what times; do any thing, do all things Youth can command, so thou wilt chase these clouds

From the pure firmament of thy fair looks.
Gra. Now, 'tis well said, my lord. What, lady?
laugh,

Be merry, time is precious.
Bass. Furies whip thee!

Penth. Alas, my lord! this language to your
handmaid

Sounds as would music to the deaf: I need
No braveries, nor cost of art, to draw
The whiteness of my name into offence.
Let such, if any such there are, who covet
A curiosity of admiration,

By laying out their plenty to full view,
Appear in gawdy outsides; my attires
Shall suit the inward fashion of my mind;
From which, if your opinion, nobly plac'd,
Change not the livery your words bestow,
My fortunes with my hopes are at the highest.
Bass. This house, methinks, stands somewhat
too much inward;

It is too melancholy, we'll remove
Nearer the court; or, what thinks my Penthea
Of the delightful island we command?
Rule me as thou canst wish.

Ith. Ambition! 'tis of viper's breed; it gnaws A passage through the womb, that gave it motion. Ambition, like a seeled dove, mounts upward, Higher and higher, still to perch on clouds, But tumbles headlong down with heavier ruin. So squibs and crackers fly into the air, Then, only breaking with a noise, they vanish In stench and smoke. Morality, applied To timely practice, keeps the soul in tune, At whose sweet music all our actions dance. But this is form of books and school-tradition, It physics not the sickness of a mind Broken with griefs: strong fevers are not eased With counsel, but with best receipts and means; Means, speedy means, and certain; that's the cure.

Enter ARMOSTES and CROTOLON.

Arm. You stick, lord Crotolon, upon a point Too nice and too unnecessary. Prophilus Is every way desertful. I am confident Your wisdom is too ripe to need instruction From your son's tutelage.

Crot. Yet not so ripe,

My lord Armostes, that it dares to dote
Upon the painted meat of smooth persuasion,
Which tempts me to a breach of faith.

Ith. Not yet

Resolved, my lord? Why, if your son's consent
Be so available, we'll write to Athens

For his repair to Sparta. The king's hand
Will join with our desires; he has been mov'd to't.
Arm. Yes, and the king himself importuned
Crotolon

For a dispatch.

Crot. Kings may command; their wills Are laws not to be question'd.

Ith. By this marriage

You knit an union so devout, so hearty, Between your loves to me, and mine to yours,

As if mine own blood had an interest in it ;
For Prophilus is mine, and I am his.

Crot. My lord, my lord !

Ith. What, good sir? speak your thought. Crot. Had this sincerity been real once, My Orgilus had not been now unwived, Nor your lost sister buried in a bride bed. Your uncle here, Armostes, knows this truth; For had your father Thrasus liv'd-but peace Dwell in his grave! I have done.

Arm. You're bold and bitter.

Ith. He presses home the injury, it smarts: No reprehensions, uncle; I deserve them.Yet, gentle sir, consider what the heat Of an unsteady youth, a giddy brain, Green indiscretion, flattery of greatness, Rawness of judgment, wilfulness in folly, Thoughts vagrant as the wind and as uncertain, Might lead a boy in years to; 'twas a fault, A capital fault, for then I could not dive Into the secrets of commanding love: Since when experience, by th' extremities in others, Hath forc'd me to collect. And trust me, Crotolon, I will redeem those wrongs with any service Your satisfaction can require for current.

Arm. Thy acknowledgment is satisfaction. What would you more?

Crot. I'm conquer'd: if Euphrania Herself admit the motion, let it be so. I doubt not my son's liking.

Ith. Use my fortunes;

Life, power, sword and heart, all are your own.

Enter BASSANES, Prophilus, Calantha, PenTHEA, EUPHRANIA, Chrystalla, PHILEMA, and GRAUSIS.

Arm. The princess, with your sister.
Cal. I present ye

A stranger here in court, my lord: for did not
Desire of seeing you draw her abroad,
We had not been made happy in her company.
Ith. You are a gracious princess.-Sister, wed-
lock

Holds too severe a passion in your nature,
Which can engross all duty to your husband,
Without attendance on so dear a mistress.
'Tis not my brother's pleasure, I presume,
T'immure her in a chamber.

Bass. 'Tis her will,

She governs her own hours. Noble Ithocles,
We thank the gods for your success and welfare.
Our lady has of late been indisposed,
Else we had waited on you with the first.
Ith. How does Penthea now?
Pen. You best know, brother,
From whom my health and comforts are derived.
Bass. [Aside.] I like the answer well; 'tis sad
and modest.

There may be tricks yet, tricks-Have an eye,
Grausis!

Cal. Now, Crotolon, the suit we join'd in must

not

Fall by too long demur.

Crot. 'Tis granted, princess, For my part.

Arm. With condition, that his son ; Favour the contract.

Cal. Such delay is easy.

The joys of marriage make thee, Prophilus,
A proud deserver of Euphranea's love,
And her of thy desert.

Proph. Most sweetly gracious.

Bass. The joys of marriage are the heaven on earth,

Life's paradise, great princess, the soul's quiet, Sinews of concord, earthly immortality, Eternity of pleasures; no restoratives

Like to a constant woman;-[Aside] but where is she?

'Twould puzzle all the gods, but to create Such a new monster:-I can speak by proof, For I rest in Elysium; 'tis my happiness. Crot. Euphranea, how are you resolv'd, (speak freely,)

In

your affections to this gentleman?

Euph. No more nor less than as his love as

Pen. Brother?

Ith. Let me an hour hence

Meet you alone, within the palace grove;

I have some secret with you.-Prythee, friend,
Conduct her thither, and have special care
The walks be clear'd of any to disturb us.
Proph. I shall.

Bass. How's that?

Ith. Alone, pray be alone.

I am your creature, princess.-On, my lords. [Exeunt all but Bass. Bass. Alone! alone! What means that word

alone? Why might not I be there?-Hum!-He's her brother.

Brothers and sisters are but flesh and blood,
And this same whoreson court-ease is temptation
To a rebellion in the veins :-Besides
His fine friend Prophilus must be her guardian.
Why may not he dispatch a business nimbly
Before the other come? Or pand'ring, pand'ring

For one another? be't to sister, mother,
Wife, cousin, any thing, 'mongst youths of metal
Is in request; it is so stubborn fate!

But if I be a cuckold, and can know it,

I will be fell, and fell.

Enter GRONEAS.

Gro. My lord, you're call'd for.

Pen. Be not frantic.

wife, pray?

Gro. Retir'd amongst the ladies.

Bass. Still I thank ye:

There's an old waiter with her; saw you her too? Gro. She sits i'th' presence-lobby, fast asleep,

SCENE III.-The Garden of the Palace.

Enter PROPHILUS and PENTHEA.

Pro. In this walk, lady, will your brother find you;

And, with your favour, give me leave a little
To work a preparation: in his fashion

I have observ'd of late some kind of slackness
To such alacrity as [his] nature

And custom did delight in: sadness grows
Upon his recreations, which he hoards
In such a willing silence, that to question

The grounds will argue [little] skill in friendship,
And less good manners.

Pen. Sir, I'm not inquisitive

Of secrecies without an invitation.

Pro. With pardon, lady, not a syllable

Of mine implies so rude a sense; the drift

Enter ORGILUS, habited as a Scholar.

From intercourse of troth-contracted loves;
No horror should deface that precious figure
Seal'd with the lively stamp of equal souls.

Pen. Away! Some fury hath bewitch'd thy tongue :

The breath of ignorance that flies from thence,
Ripens a knowledge in me of afflictions,
Above all sufferance. Thing of talk, begone!
Begone, without reply!

Org. Be just, Penthea,

In thy commands. When thou send'st forth a doom,

A banishment, know first on whom it lights:
Thus I take off the shroud, in which my cares
Are folded up, from view of common eyes.
[Taking off his cloak.

What is thy sentence next?

Pen. Rash man, thou lay'st

A blemish on mine honour, with the hazard
Of thy too desperate life: yet I profess,
By all the laws of ceremonious wedlock,
I have not given admittance to one thought
Of female change, since cruelty enforc'd
Divorce betwixt my body and my heart:
Why would you fall from goodness thus?
Org. Oh, rather

Examine me, how I could live to say

I have been much, much wrong'd; 'tis for thy sake
I put on this imposture. Dear Penthea,
If thy soft bosom be not turn'd to marble,
Thou'lt pity our calamities; my interest
Confirms me, thou art mine still.

Pen. Lend your hand;

With both of mine I clasp it thus, thus kiss it, Thus kneel before ye. [They kneel

Org. You instruct my duty.

Pen. We may stand up. Have you aught else

to urge

Of new demand? As for the old, forget it;
"Tis buried in an everlasting silence,

And shall be, shall be ever. What more would ye?
Org. I would possess my wife; the equity
Of very reason bids me.

Pen. Is that all?

Org. Why, 'tis the all of me, myself.
Pen. Remove

Your steps some distance from me; at this space
A few words I dare change; but first put on
Your borrow'd shape.

Org. You are obey'd: 'tis done.

Pen. How, Orgilus, by promise I was thine, The heavens do witness; they can witness too A rape done on my truth; how I do love thee Yet, Orgilus, and yet, must best appear In tendering thy freedom; for I find The constant preservation of thy merit,