[misery, Rut. I am gone. Gui. And when thou went'st, to imp thy Did I not give thee means? 57 But haik, ungrateful! swear then, Was it not thus, to hide thy face and Яy me? To keep thy name for ever from my memory? Thy cursed blood and kindred? Did I not [me, If ever (in this wretched life thou hast left Short and unfortunate) I saw thee again, Or came but to the knowledge where thou wandredst, [geance, To call my vow back, and pursue with venWith all the miseries a mother suffers? Rut. I was born to be hang'd; there's no avoiding it. Gui. And dar'st thou with this impudence appear here? [in, Walk like the winding sheet my son was put Dua. I am happy now again! Ser. The governor's come in. Rut. I have fool'd myself a fair thread! This strikes me most; not that I fear to perish, But that this unmannerly boldness has brought me to it. Enter Governor, Clodio, and Charino. Gov. Are these fit preparations for a wedding, lady? I came prepar'd a guest. Gui. Oh, give me justice! As ever you will leave a virtuous name, fit. Go". You need not ask it; I am bound to Gui. Justice upon this man, that kill'd my Gov. Do you confess the act? Rut. Yes, Sir. Clod. Rutilio? Char. 'Tis the same. Clod. How fell he thus? [son! to imp thy misery, One for her son, another for her sorrow! Excellent lady, now rejoice again; [blood, For though I cannot think you're pleas'd in Nor with that greedy thirst pursue your ven[that) geance; (The tenderness, even in those tears, denies Gui. Shall I have justice? Rut. I'll ask it for you; I'll follow it myself, against myself. Sir, 'tis most fit I die; dispatch it quickly: The monstrous burden of that grief she labours with Will kill her else; then blood on blood lies on me! Had I a thousand lives, I'd give 'em all, Before I'd draw one tear more from that vir[bold sword tue. Gui. Be not too cruel, Sir- and yet his But his life cannot restore that-he's a man too Of a fair promise-but, alas! my son's dead!— If I have justice, must it kill him? Gov. Yes. [goodly! Gui. If I have not, it kills me; strong and Why should he perish too? Gov. It lies in your pow'r; You only may accuse him, or may quit him. Clod. Be there no other witnesses? manly. Gui. Not any. [claim, And, if I save him, will not the world proI have forgot a son, to save a murderer? And yet he looks not like one; he looks [perish! Clod. Pity, so brave a gentleman should She cannot be so hard, so cruel-hearted. Gui. Will you pronounce? - Yet, stay a little, Sir. Rut. Rid yourself, lady, of this misery, And let me go: I do but breed more tempests, With which you are already too much shaken. Gui. Do, now pronounce! I will not hear. Dua. You shall not! [Discovering himself. Yet turn and see, good madam. Did I not give thee means i. e. Did I not furnish thee with money, to assist thy flight? It is a term in falconry; to imp is said, when a fresh feather of a hawk is put to an old broken stump. Theobald. 55 Stand with those wounds!] Thus say all the editions. We have ventured to substitute stain'd for stand. 59 That I have not two lives lent me for his sacrifice;] For whose sacrifice? Not for Duarte's; that the beginning of the subsequent verse contradicts. To make any sense, we must read, Sir, I am sorry for that cruelty [again; I urg'd against you. Gui. You sent this letter? Rut. My boldness makes me blush now. And, with this kiss, I take you for my husband. Or for her sake Arnoldo's, join with us Char. She deserves i.. [hereafter: Hip. Hippolyta's life shall make that good Not altogether innocent,60 shall from me Το any course of life, but what the law Zab. and Sul. Your ladyship's creatures. ter! 69 For these, whose wants, perhaps, have made their actions Not altogether innocent, &c.] Hippolyta had obligations to the agency both of Zabulon and Sulpitia; and she shews a sort of romantic generosity in requiting their services; but, indeed, in poetical justice, they both ought to have been punished: Zabulon was a scoundrel pimp to a bawdy-house; and Sulpitia was not only a notorious bawd, but a dealer in magic and a poi soner. Theobald. Mr. Theobald, we apprehend, has mistaken the Poets here: Hippolyta does not mean to give Zabulon and Sulpitia a reward, instead of a punishment, for their malversation; she means to 'better' the community at large, by placing these vile instruments in such a state, as that 'need shall not compel them to any course of life, but what the law shall give allowance to.' It must be confessed, however, that all this MAGICAL episode is both unpleasing and improbable. Hippolyta's character, too, is almost too vicious even for reformation sufficient to recommend her to the favour of the audience. - from unchaste art, Heav'n knows, I am free.] The Editors of 1750 concur in altering, we think properly, A COMEDY. The Commendatory Verses by Hills speak of Fletcher as sole Author of this Comedy; and some of the old quartos have his name only in the title, while others have Beaumont's also, The Prologue, and the Epilogue, ascribe it totally to Fletcher. The first copy we have seen was printed in 1637; which we apprehend Mr. Theobald was not possessed of, as he speaks of an edition of 1640 as the oldest. We have heard of one bearing date 1629; but have not seen it, nor that of 1640; and that which is dated 1651, is said in the title to be the second edition.' Colley Cibber, as has been mentioned in our account of the Custom of the Country, has introduced parts of this Play into his Comedy of Love makes a Man, or the Fop's Fortune. But, now dead, commends This orphan to the care of noble friends.] By this passage it should seem, the Elder Brother was not given to the stage till after Fletcher's demise; a circumstance on which it is impossible for us to decide. All the information we can give is, that this prologue is printed to the edition of 1637; and, if the play was published in 1629, that was not till four years after Fletcher died. 5 Friends to Eustace.] This is the reading of all the copies prior to 1750; when Mr. Theobald chose to substitute dependants on Eustace; which may, perhaps, be more characteristic of the persons: But an arbitrary variation should at least be mentioned. VOL. 1. 2 B |