Syl. Her lust! You are her father. Syl. Were you ten lords, 'tis false; Ang. As I have a soul, Sir [tains not Lew. I am not to be alter'd: To sit down With this disgrace would argue me a peasant, And not born noble: All rigour that the law, And that encrease of pow'r by favour yields, Shall be with all severity inflicted; [serve, You have the king's hand for't; no bail will And therefore at your perils, officers, away Bri. This is madness. [with 'em. Lew. Tell me so in open court, And there I'll answer you. Enter Miramont, Charles, Eustace, aud Andrew. Char. This is a most strong truth, Sir. Let us be right Frenchmen; violent to charge, On Angellina, shall dispute in her belly, He was an ass, but now is grown an Amadis; Bri. Your brother, Sir. Mir. But I'll not chide; Hereafter, like me, ever dote on learning; The mere belief is excellent, 'twill save you. And next, love valour; though you dare not fight [stace Yourself, or fright a foolish officer, young EuCan do it to a hair. And to conclude, Let Andrew's farm b' increas'd, that is your penance, You know for what; and see you rut no more, THE EPILOGUE. 'Tis not the hands, or smiles, or common way 54 And shew your loves and liking to his wit, not worth a cardecue.] We have made an English word of this from a corruption of the French, un quart d' écu, i. e. the fourth part of a French crown. Theobald. THE SPANISH CURATE. A COMEDY. The Commendatory Verses by Gardiner and Lovelace attribute this Comedy wholly to Fietcher; but we see no more reason for assigning this Play to him exclusively, than any other published in the joint names of him and Beaumont. The folio of 1647 contains the first printed copy. The Spanish Curate was revived at Drury-Lane Theatre in 1749; but it has not been performed for many years past. Dryden (in his Spanish Fryar) and Congreve (in his Old Batchelor) are greatly indebted to the Comedy now before us; and it seems very evident, that it afforded some material hints towards framing a musical entertainment, of a modern date, called the Padlock. THE PROLOGUE. To tell ye, gentlemen, we have a play, The streams that guide ye, easy to attend: Angelo.] This character, Mr. Theobald, with a freedom unknown to any Editors but those of Beaumont and Fletcher's Works in 1750, expunges from the drama; and yet he suf fers the name Angelo to remain to those speeches which are allotted to him in the play. VOL. I. 2 F Don Henrique rich, and his revenues long since Encreas'd by marrying with a wealthy heir, Ars. Yet, 'tis said, He hath no child; and, by the laws of Spain, Mil. Why, that's the reason [lord Of their so many jars. Though the young Be sick of th' elder brother, and in reason Should flatter and observe him; he's of a na ture Too bold and fierce to stoop so, but bears up, Presuming on his hopes. Ars. What's the young lad That all of 'em make so much of? Mil. "Tis a sweet one, And the best-condition'd youth I ever saw yet; And she, that once was call'd the fair Jacintha, Is happy in being his mother. For his sake, [Enter Jamie, Leandro, and Ascanio.] Though in their fortunes fal'n, they are esteem'd of [come. And cherish'd by the best. Oh, here they Jam. My good Ascanio, [him, Asc. My lord, your favours May quickly teach a raw untutor'd youth To be both rude and saucy. Lean. You cannot be Too frequent, where you are so much desir'd. And give me leave, dear friend, to be your rival In part of his affection; I will buy it At any rate. Jam. Stood I but now possess'd The funeral black (your rich heir wears with joy, When he pretends to weep for his dead father.] This sentiment is shadowed out from one of the select sentences of Seneca, and Publ. Syrus. Hæredis fletus sul personâ risus est. Which Ben Jonson has thus very closely translated, in his Fox. Tut! forget, Sir. The weeping of an heir should still be laughter, Under a visor. Theobald. In Salamanca, I'll supply your studies Asc. Your goodness, Signiors, I must destroy the lives of my poor parents, To whom I owe my being; they in me Place all their comforts, and, as if I were The light of their dim eyes, are so indulgent, They cannot brook one short day's absence from me; [young, And, what will hardly win belief, though I am their steward and their nurse: The bounties ['em; Which others bestow on me, serve to sustain And to forsake them in their age, in me Were more than murder. Enter Henrique. Ang. This is a kind of begging Would make a broker charitable. Mil. Here, sweetheart, I wish that it were more. Lean. When this is spent, For ever be remeinber'd! Nay, take all, Asc. High Heav'ns reward your goodness! Jam. A slip, Sir? Hen. Yes, A slip; or call it by the proper name, [voke me: Hen. So brave! Pray you, give me hearing: Who am I, Sir? Jam. My elder brother: One, [puted, That might have been born a fool, and so reBut that you had the luck to creep into The world a year before me. Lean. Be more temperate. Tit Jam. I neither can nor will, unless I learn By his example. Let him use his harsh Unsavory reprehensions upon those [land That are his hinds, and not on me. The Our father left to him alone, rewards him For being twelve months elder: Let that be Forgotten, and let his parasites remember One quality of worth or virtue in him, That inay authorize him to be a censurer Of me, or of my manners, and I will Acknowledge him for a tutor; till then, [Sir? Hen. From whom have you your means, Jam. From the will never. Leon. Pray you, hold; And give me leave, my lord, to say thus much, And in mine own defence; I am no gull To be wrought on by persuasion, nor no [whom coward To be beaten out of my means, but know to All that he does, Leandro, 's for my good: Jam. Yes, and a provident one. be [yoke That he, that sixteen years hath worn the Could be so sold to base and sordid thrift, Jam. When thou'rt dead, I am sure, I shall not. Mil. Now they begin to burn Like oppos'd meteors. Ars. Give them line and way; My life for don Jamie. Jam. Continue still The excellent husband, and join farm to farin; tenants, wars. merry, All plagues go [stirring? What news is That the next summer will determine much Of that we long have talk'd of, touching the [us discourse Leon What have we to do with them? Let Of what concerns ourselves. "Tis now in fashion, To have your gallants set down, in a tavern, What the arch-duke's purpose is the next spring, and what [course Defence my lords the States prepare, what The emperor takes against the encroaching Turk, And whether his moony standards are design'd For Persia or Polonia: And all this The wiser sort of state-worms see to know Better than their own affairs. This is dis[young, course Fit for the council it concerns: We are And if that I might give the theme, 'twere better To talk of handsome women. Mil. And that's one Almost as general. Ars. Yet none agree Who are the fairest. Lean. Some prefer the French, For their conceited dressings; some the plump Italian bona-roba's; some the state That ours observe; and I have heard one swear, [don A merry friend of mine, that once in LonHe did enjoy the company of a gamester, A common gamester too, that in one night Met him th' Italian, French, and Spanish [self, ways, And ended in the Dutch; for, to cool herShe kiss'd him drunk i' th' morning. Jam. We may spare The travel of our tongues in foreign nations, When in Corduba, if you dare give credit To my report (for I have seen her, gallants) There lives a woman, of a mean birth too, And meanly match'd, whose all-excelling form |