husband. Mi. Father! To. I am deaf still, I say. I will neither yield to the song of the siren nor the voice of the hyena, the tears of the crocodile nor the howling o' the Wolf. Avoid my habitation, monsters! Wo. Why, you are not mad, sir? I pray you look forth, and see the token I have brought you, sir. To. Ha! what token is it? Are you Wo. Ay, by my faith, sir. He is in prison, and required me to use all speed and secrecy to you. To. My cloak, there (pray you be patient). I am plagued for my austerity. My cloak! At whose suit, Master Wolf? Wo. I'll tell you as we go, sir. [Exeunt. Enter Friend. Prisoners. Fr. Why, but is his offence such as he cannot hope of life? 1st Pr. Troth, it should seem so; and 'tis great pity, for he is exceeding peni 1st Pr. O, 'tis rarely written; why, Toby may get him to sing it to you; he's not curious to anybody. 2nd Pr. O no! He would that all the world should take knowledge of his repentance, and thinks he merits in't the more shame he suffers. do. 1st Pr. Pray thee, try. what thou canst 2nd Pr. I warrant you he will not deny it, if he be not hoarse with the often [Exit. repeating of it. 1st Pr. You never saw a more courteous creature than he is, and the knight too. the poorest prisoner of the house may command 'hem. You shall hear a thing admirably penned. Fr. Is the knight any scholar too? 1st Pr. No, but he will speak very well, and discourse admirably of running horses and White-Friars, and against bawds; and of cocks; and talk as loud as a hunter, but is none. Enter Wolf and Touchstone. Wo. Please you, stay here; I'll call his worship down to you. 1st Pr. See, he has brought him, and the knight too; salute him, I pray. Sir, this gentleman, upon our report, is very desirous to hear some piece of your Repentance. Enter Quicksilver, Petronel, &c. Qu. Sir, with all my heart; and, as I told Master Toby, I shall be glad to have any man a witness of it. And the more openly I profess it, I hope it will ap pear the heartier, and the more feigned. To. Who is this?-my man Francis, and my son-in-law? Qu. Sir, it is all the testimony I shall leave behind me to the world, and my master that I have so offended. Fr. Good, sir! Qu. I writ it when my spirits were oppressed. Pe. Ay, I'll be sworn for you, Francis. Qu. It is in imitation of Mannington's, he that was hanged at Cambridge, that cut off the horse's head at a blow. Qu. In Cheapside, famous for gold and plate, Quicksilver I did dwell of late; He bade me still, Work upon that, He was a Touchstone black, but true, And told me still what would ensue; Yet woe is me! I would not learn; I saw, alas! but could not discern! Fr. Excellent, excellent well! Go. O let him alone: he is taken already. Qu. I cast my coat and cap away, I went in silks and satins gay; I scorn'd my master, being drunk; name, Who now is sorry for the same. Qu. I thought by sea to run away, But Thames and tempest did me stay. To. This cannot be feigned, sure. Heaven pardon my severity! "The ragged colt may prove a good horse." Go. How he listens, and is transported! He has forgot me. Qu. Still "Eastward-ho" was all my word: But westward I had no regard, Nor never thought what would come after, As did, alas! his youngest daughter. At last the black ox trod o' my foot, And I saw then what 'long'd unto 't; Now cry I, "Touchstone, touch me still, And make me current by thy skill." To. And I will do it, Francis. Wo. Stay him, Master Deputy; now is the time we shall lose the song else. Fr. I protest it is the best that ever I heard. Qu. How like you it, gentlemen? Qu. This stanze now following, alludes To. I can no longer forbear to do your humility right. Arise, and let me honour your repentance with the hearty and joyful embraces of a father and friend's love. Quicksilver, thou hast eat into my breast, Quicksilver, with the drops of thy sorrow, and killed the desperate opinion I had of thy reclaim. Qu. O, sir, I am not worthy to see your worshipful face! Pe. Forgive me, father. To. Speak no more; all former passages are forgotten; and here my word shall O Master Touchstone, And bawd, as all you know, My heart is full of woe. To. Bring him forth, Master Wolf, and release his bands. This day shall be sacred to mercy and the mirth of this encounter in the Counter. See, we are encountered with more suitors! Enter Mistress Touchstone, Gertrude, Mildred, Syndefie, Winnifred, &c. Save your breath, save your breath! All things have succeeded to your wishes; and we are heartily satisfied in their events. Ge. Ah, runaway, runaway! have I caught you? And how has my poor knight done all this while? Pe. Dear lady-wife, forgive me! Ge. As heartily as I would be forgiven, knight. Dear father, give me your blessing, and forgive me too; I ha' been proud and lascivious, father; and a fool, father; and being raised to the state of a wanton coy thing, called a lady, father; have scorned you, father, and my sister, and my sister's velvet cap too; and would make a mouth at the city as I rid through it; and stop mine ears at Bow-bell. I have said your beard was a base one, father; and that you looked like Twierpipe the taberer; and that my mother was but my midwife. Mist. T. Now, God forgi' you, child madam ! To. No more repetitions. What else is wanting to make our harmony full? Go. Only this, sir, that my fellow Francis make amends to Mistress Syndefie with marriage. Qu. With all my heart. Go. And Security give her a dower, which shall be all the restitution he shall make of that huge mass he hath so unlawfully gotten. To. Excellently devised! a good motion! What says Master Security? Sec. I say anything, sir, what you'll haʼ me say. Would I were no cuckold! Wi. Cuckold, husband? Why, I think this wearing of yellow has infected you. To. Why, Master Security, that should rather be a comfort to you than a coras.ve. If you be a cuckold, it's an argument you have a beautiful woman to your wife; then you shall be much made of; you shall have store of friends, never want money; you shall be eased of much o' your wedlock pain; others will take it for you. Besides, you being a usurer (and likely to go to hell), the devils will never torment you: they'll take you for one o' their own race. Again, if you be a cuckold, and know it not, you are an innocent; if you know it and endure it, a true martyr. Sec. I am resolved, sir. Come hither, i Winny. To. Well, then, all are pleased, or shall be anon. Master Wolf, you look hungry, methinks; have you no apparel to lend Francis to shift him? Qu. No, sir, nor I desire none; but here make it my suit, that I may go home through the streets in these, as a spectacle, or rather an example to the children of Cheapside. To. Thou hast thy wish. Now, London, And in this moral see thy glass run out: The usurer punish'd, and from fall so The prodigal child reclaim'd, and the lost EPILOGUS. to seek ; Stay, sir, I perceive the multitude are | O may you find in this our Pageant, here, gathered together to view our coming out The same contentment which you came at the Counter. See, if the streets and the fronts of the houses be not stuck with people, and the windows filled with ladies, as on the solemn day of the pageant ! And as that Show but draws you once a year, May this attract you hither once a week. The Ball.* THE BALL.] This Comedy, which was licensed in November, 1632, and first printed in 1639, is the joint production of Chapman and Shirley; the largest portion of it seems to be from the pen of the former. Jonson's Puntarvolo, in Every Man out of his Humour, probably furnished the hint for Jack Freshwater, and his notable scheme of foreign travel. From some incidental notices which occur in our old dramas, it should seem that there really was about this time a party of ladies and gentlemen who met in private, at stated periods, for the purpose of amusing themselves with masques, dances, &c. Scandalous reports of improper conduct at these assemblies were in circulation, and evidently called forth this comedy, the object of which is to repel them. The gilded or golden Ball, from which the piece takes its name, was probably worn as an ornament and mark of authority, by the presiding beauty of the entertainment. We have here the first rude specimen of what are now termed Subscription Balls.-GIFford. |