And fometimes comes fhe with a tithe-pig's tail,
Tickling the parfon as he lies afleep,
Then dreams he of another Benefice.
Sometimes fhe driveth o'er a foldier's neck,
And then he dreams of cutting foreign throats,
Of breaches, ambufcadoes, Spanish blades,

anonymous cotemporary writer
of the life of Sir William Cecil)
called him [Sir William Cecil]
and after long talk with him, be-
ing much delighted with his an-
fawers, willed his Father to FIND
[i. e. to fmell out] A SUIT for
him. Whereupon he became SUIT-
ER for the reversion of the Cuftos
brevium office in the Common Pleas.
Which the King willingly granted,
it being the first SUIT be hat in
bis life. Indeed our Poet has
very rarely turned his fatire
againft lawyers and law proceed-
ings; the common topic of later
writers. For, to obferve it to
the honour of the English judi-
catures, they preferved the purity
and fimplicity of their firft infti-
tution, long after Chicane had
over run all the other laws of
Europe. Philip de Commines gives
us a very frank defcription of the
horrid abuses that had infected
the courts of juftice in France,
fo early as the time of Lewis XI.
Auli defiroit fort qu'en ce Roy-
axme on vfoft d'une couftume, d'un
poix, d'une mefure et que toutes
ces conftumes fuent mifes en
françoys, en un beau Livre, pour
eviter la cautelle & la pillerie des
advocats qui eft fi grande en
ce Royaume, que nulle autre
n'eft femblable, & les nobles d'ice-
lay la doivent bien cougnftre. At
this time the adminiftration of
the law in England was conduct-

2

ed with great purity and integrity. The reason of this difference I take to be, that, 'till of late, there were few gloffers or commentators on our laws, and those very able, honeft, and concife. While it was the fortune of the other municipal laws of Europe, where the Roman civil law had a fupplemental authority, to be, in imitation of that law, overloaded with gloffes and commentators. And what corruption this practice occafioned in the administration of the Roman law itself, and to what a miserable condition it reduced public justice, we may fee in a long and fine digreffion of the hiftorian Ammianus Marcellinus; who has painted, in very lively colours, the different kinds of vermine, which infected their tribunals and courts of law: whereby the ftate of public juftice became in a fhort time fo

defperately corrupt, that Juftinan was obliged to new-model and digeft the enormous body of their laws. WARBURTON.

2 Spanish blades,] A fword is called a Toledo, from the excellence of the Toletan fteel. So Grotius,

Enfs Toletanus
Un'a Tagi non eft ano celebran-'
aa mitalis,
Utilis in cives eft ibi lamna fuos.

Of

Of healths five fathom deep; and then anon
Drums in his ears, at which he ftarts and wakes;
And, being thus frighted, fwears a prayer or two,
And fleeps again. This is that very Mab,
That plats the manes of horfes in the night,
And cakes the elf-locks in foul fluttish hairs,
Which, once entangled, much misfortune bodes.
This is the hag, when maids lie on their backs,
That preffes them, and learns them first to bear,
Making them women of good carriage.
This is fhe-

Rom. Peace, peace, Mercutio, peace;
Thou talk'it of nothing.

Mer. True, I talk of dreams,

Which are the children of an idle brain,
Begot of nothing, but vain phantafy,
Which is as thin of fubftance as the air,
And more unconftant than the wind; who wooes
Ev'n now the frozen bofom of the north,
And, being anger'd, puffs away from thence,
Turning his face to the dew-dropping fouth.

Ben. This wind, you talk of, blows us from ourfelves;

Supper is done, and we fhall come too late.

Rom. I fear, too early; for my mind mifgives,
Some confequence, yet hanging in the Stars,
Shall bitterly begin his fearful date

With this night's revels; and expire the term
Of a defpifed life clos'd in my breast,
By fome vile forfeit of untimely death.
But he, that hath the fleerage of my courfe,
+ Direct my fuit! On, lufty Gentlemen.
Ben. Strike, drum.

[They march about the Stage, and Exeunt.

3 And cakes the elf-locks, &c.] This was a common fuperftition; and feems to have had its rife from the horrid difeafe called the

Plica Polnica.

WARB.

4 Direct my fuit!] Guide the Sequel of the adventure.

SCENE

1 Serv.

SCENE VI.

Changes to a Hall in Capulet's Houfe.

Enter Servants, with Napkins.

WH

HERE's Potpan, that he helps not to take away? He shift a trencher! he

fcrape a trencher!

2 Serv. When good manners fhall lie all in one or two mens' hands, and they unwash'd too, 'tis a foul thing.

1 Serv. Away with the joint-ftools, remove the court-cup-board, look to the plate; good thou, fave me a piece of march-pane; and, as thou loveft me, let the porter let in Susan Grindstone, and Nell.-Antony, and Potpan

2 Serv. Ay, boy, ready.

1 Serv. You are look'd for, call'd for,, afk'd for, and fought for, in the great chamber.

2 Serv. We cannot be here and there too. Cheerly, boys; be brisk a while, and the longer liver take all.

[Exeunt.

Enter all the Guefts and Ladies, with the mafkers.

1 Cap. Welcome, Gentlemen.

Ladies, that have

your feet Unplagu'd with corns, we'll have a bout with you. you all Ah me, my miftreffes, which of

Will now deny to dance? fhe that makes dainty, I'll fwear, hath corns; am I come near you now? Welcome, all, Gentlemen; I've seen the day That I have worn a vifor, and could tell

A

A whispering tale in a fair lady's ear,

Such as would please. 'Tis gone; 'tis gone; 'tis gone! 'You're welcome, Gentlemen. Come, musicians, play. A ball, a ball. Make room. And foot it, girls.

[Mufick plays, and they dance.

More light, ye knaves, and turn the tables up;
And quench the fire, the room is grown too hot.
Ah, Sirrah, this unlook'd for fport comes well.
Nay, fit; nay, fit, good coufin Capulet,
For you and I are past our dancing days:
How long is't now fince last yourself and I
Were in a mask?

2 Cap. By'r lady, thirty years.

1 Cap. What, man! 'tis not fo much, 'tis not fo much;

'Tis fince the nuptial of Lucentio,

Come Pentecoft as quickly as it will,

Some five and twenty years, and then we mask'd. 2 Cap. 'Tis more, 'tis more; his fon is elder, Sir: His fon is thirty.

1 Cap. Will you tell me that?

His fon was but a ward two years ago.

Rom. What lady's that, which doth enrich the hand

Of yonder knight?

Serv. I know not, Sir.

Rom. O fhe doth teach the torches to burn bright; Her beauty hangs upon the cheek of night,

Like a rich jewel in an Æthiop's ear:
Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear!

5 You're welcome, Gentlemen.] These two lines, omitted by the modern editors, I have replaced

from the folio.

good coufin Capulet.] This coufin Capulet is unkle in the paper of invitation, but as Capulet

is defcribed as old, coufin is pro

bably the right word in both places. I know not how. Capulet and his lady might agree, their ages were very difpropor tionate; he has been past masking for thirty years, and her age, as the tells Juliet, is but eight and twenty.

So

So fhews a snowy dove trooping with crows,
As yonder lady o'er her fellows fhows.

The measure done, I'll watch her place of Stand,
And, touching hers, make happy my rude hand.
Did my heart love till now? forfwear it, fight;
I never faw true beauty 'till this night.

Tyb. This by his voice fhould be a Montague.
Fetch me my rapier, boy. What! dares the flave
Come hither cover'd with an antick face,

To fleer and fcorn at our folemnity?
Now by the ftock and honour of my-kin,
To strike him dead I hold it not a fin.

Cap. Why, how now, kinfman, wherefore ftorm
you fo?

Tyb. Uncle, this is a Montague, our foe:
A villain, that is hither come in spight,
To fcorn at our folemnity this night.
Cap. Young Romeo, is't?

Tyb. 'Tis he, that villain Romeo.

Cap. Content thee, gentle coz, let him alone;
He bears him like a portly Gentleman:
And, to fay truth, Verona brags of him,
To be a virtuous and well-govern'd youth.
I would not for the wealth of all this town,
Here in my houfe, do him difparagement.
Therefore be patient, take no note of him;
It is my will, the which if thou respect,
Shew a fair prefence, and put off these frowns,
An ill-befeeming femblance for a feast.

Tyb. It fits, when fuch a villain is a guest.
I'll not endure him.

Cap. He fhall be endur'd.

What, goodman boy-I fay, he fhall. Go toAm I the mafter here, or you? go to

You'll not endure him? God fhall mend my foul. You'll make a mutiny among my guests?

You will fit cock-a-hoop? You'll be the man?

Tyb.