The Works of Ben Jonson/Volume 4/The Alchemist/Act 4 Scene 1
ACT IV. SCENE I.
A Room in Lovewit's House.
Enter Face and Mammon.
Face.O sir, you are come in the only finest time.―
Mam.Where's master?
Face.Now preparing for projection, sir.
Your stuff will be all changed shortly.
Your stuff will be all changed shortly.
Mam.Into gold?
Face.To gold and silver, sir.
Mam.Silver I care not for.
Face.Yes, sir, a little to give beggars.
Mam.Where's the lady?
Face.At hand here. I have told her such brave things of you,
Touching your bounty, and your noble spirit—
Touching your bounty, and your noble spirit—
Mam.Hast thou?
Face.As she is almost in her fit to see you.
But, good sir, no divinity in your conference,
For fear of putting her in rage.—
But, good sir, no divinity in your conference,
For fear of putting her in rage.—
Mam.I warrant thee.
Face.Six men [sir] will not hold her down: and then,
If the old man should hear or see you———
If the old man should hear or see you———
Mam.Fear not.
Face.The very house, sir, would run mad. You know it,
How scrupulous he is,[1] and violent,
'Gainst the least act of sin. Physic, or mathematics,
Poetry, state, or bawdry, as I told you,
She will endure, and never startle; but
No word of controversy.
How scrupulous he is,[1] and violent,
'Gainst the least act of sin. Physic, or mathematics,
Poetry, state, or bawdry, as I told you,
She will endure, and never startle; but
No word of controversy.
Mam.I am school'd, good Ulen.
Face.And you must praise her house, remember that,
And her nobility.
And her nobility.
Mam.Let me alone:
No herald, no, nor antiquary, Lungs,
Shall do it better. Go.
No herald, no, nor antiquary, Lungs,
Shall do it better. Go.
Face.Why, this is yet
A kind of modern happiness, to have
Dol Common for a great lady. [Aside, and exit.
A kind of modern happiness, to have
Dol Common for a great lady. [Aside, and exit.
Mam.Now, Epicure,
Heighten thy self, talk to her all in gold;
Rain her as many showers as Jove did drops
Unto his Danäe; shew the god a miser,
Compared with Mammon. What! the stone will do't.
She shall feel gold, taste gold, hear gold, sleep gold;
Nay, we will concumbere gold: I will be puissant,
And mighty in my talk to her.—
Re-enter Face with Dol richly dressed.
Here she comes.
Heighten thy self, talk to her all in gold;
Rain her as many showers as Jove did drops
Unto his Danäe; shew the god a miser,
Compared with Mammon. What! the stone will do't.
She shall feel gold, taste gold, hear gold, sleep gold;
Nay, we will concumbere gold: I will be puissant,
And mighty in my talk to her.—
Re-enter Face with Dol richly dressed.
Here she comes.
Face.To him, Dol, suckle him.—This is the noble knight,
I told your ladyship———
I told your ladyship———
Mam.Madam, with your pardon,
I kiss your vesture.
I kiss your vesture.
Dol.Sir, I were uncivil
If I would suffer that; my lip to you, sir.
If I would suffer that; my lip to you, sir.
Mam.I hope my lord your brother be in health, lady.
Dol.My lord, my brother is, though I no lady, sir.
Face.Well said, my Guinea bird. [Aside.
Mam.Right noble madam———
Face.O, we shall have most fierce idolatry. [Aside.
Mam.'Tis your prerogative.
Dol.Rather your courtesy.
Mam.Were there nought else t'enlarge your virtues to me,
These answers speak your breeding, and your blood.
These answers speak your breeding, and your blood.
Dol.Blood we boast none, sir, a poor baron's daughter.
Mam.Poor! and gat you? profane not. Had your father
Slept all the happy remnant of his life
After that act, lien but there still, and panted,
He had done enough to make himself, his issue,
And his posterity noble.
Slept all the happy remnant of his life
After that act, lien but there still, and panted,
He had done enough to make himself, his issue,
And his posterity noble.
Dol.Sir, although
We may be said to want the gilt and trappings,
The dress of honour, yet we strive to keep
The seeds and the materials.
We may be said to want the gilt and trappings,
The dress of honour, yet we strive to keep
The seeds and the materials.
Mam.I do see
The old ingredient, virtue, was not lost,
Nor the drug money used to make your compound.
There is a strange nobility in your eye,
This lip, that chin! methinks you do resemble
One of the Austriac princes.[2]
The old ingredient, virtue, was not lost,
Nor the drug money used to make your compound.
There is a strange nobility in your eye,
This lip, that chin! methinks you do resemble
One of the Austriac princes.[2]
Mam.The house of Valois just had such a nose,
And such a forehead yet the Medici
Of Florence boast.
And such a forehead yet the Medici
Of Florence boast.
Dol.Troth, and I have been liken'd
To all these princes.
To all these princes.
Face.I'll be sworn, I heard it.
Mam.I know not how! it is not any one,
But e'en the very choice of all their features.
But e'en the very choice of all their features.
Face.I'll in, and laugh. [Aside and exit.
Mam.A certain touch, or air,
That sparkles a divinity, beyond
An earthly beauty!
That sparkles a divinity, beyond
An earthly beauty!
Dol.O, you play the courtier.
Mam.Good lady, give me leave———
Dol.In faith, I may not,
To mock me, sir.
To mock me, sir.
Mam.To burn in this sweet flame;
The phœnix never knew a nobler death.
The phœnix never knew a nobler death.
Dol.Nay, now you court the courtier, and destroy
What you would build this art, sir, in your words,
Calls your whole faith in question.
What you would build this art, sir, in your words,
Calls your whole faith in question.
Mam.By my soul———
Dol.Nay, oaths are made of the same air, sir.
Mam.Nature
Never bestow'd upon mortality
A more unblamed, a more harmonious feature;
She play'd the step-dame in all faces else:
Sweet madam, let me be particular———
Never bestow'd upon mortality
A more unblamed, a more harmonious feature;
She play'd the step-dame in all faces else:
Sweet madam, let me be particular———
Dol.Particular, sir! I pray you know your distance.
Mam.In no ill sense, sweet lady; but to ask
How your fair graces pass the hours? I see
You are lodg'd here, in the house of a rare man,
An excellent artist; but what's that to you?
How your fair graces pass the hours? I see
You are lodg'd here, in the house of a rare man,
An excellent artist; but what's that to you?
Mam.O, I cry your pardon.
He's a divine instructor! can extract
The souls of all things by his art; call all
The virtues, and the miracles of the sun,
Into a temperate furnace; teach dull nature
What her own forces are. A man, the emperor
Has courted above Kelly;[5] sent his medals
And chains, to invite him.
He's a divine instructor! can extract
The souls of all things by his art; call all
The virtues, and the miracles of the sun,
Into a temperate furnace; teach dull nature
What her own forces are. A man, the emperor
Has courted above Kelly;[5] sent his medals
And chains, to invite him.
Dol.Ay, and for his physic, sir———
Mam.Above the art of Æsculapius,
That drew the envy of the thunderer!
I know all this, and more.
That drew the envy of the thunderer!
I know all this, and more.
Dol.Troth, I am taken, sir,
Whole with these studies, that contemplate nature.
Whole with these studies, that contemplate nature.
Mam.It is a noble humour; but this form
Was not intended to so dark a use.
Had you been crooked, foul, of some coarse mould,
A cloister had done well; but such a feature
That might stand up the glory of a kingdom,
To live recluse! is a mere solœcism,
Though in a nunnery. It must not be.
I muse, my lord your brother will permit it:
You should spend half my land first, were I he.
Does not this diamond better on my finger,
Than in the quarry?
Was not intended to so dark a use.
Had you been crooked, foul, of some coarse mould,
A cloister had done well; but such a feature
That might stand up the glory of a kingdom,
To live recluse! is a mere solœcism,
Though in a nunnery. It must not be.
I muse, my lord your brother will permit it:
You should spend half my land first, were I he.
Does not this diamond better on my finger,
Than in the quarry?
Dol.Yes.
Mam.Why, you are like it.
You were created, lady, for the light.
Here, you shall wear it; take it, the first pledge
Of what I speak, to bind you to believe me.
You were created, lady, for the light.
Here, you shall wear it; take it, the first pledge
Of what I speak, to bind you to believe me.
Dol.In chains of adamant?
Mam.Yes, the strongest bands.
And take a secret too—here, by your side,
Doth stand this hour, the happiest man in Europe.
And take a secret too—here, by your side,
Doth stand this hour, the happiest man in Europe.
Dol.You are contented, sir?
Mam.Nay, in true being,
The envy of princes and the fear of states.
The envy of princes and the fear of states.
Dol.Say you so, sir Epicure?
Mam.Yes, and thou shalt prove it,
Daughter of honour. I have cast mine eye bal
Upon thy form, and I will rear this beauty
Above all styles.
Daughter of honour. I have cast mine eye bal
Upon thy form, and I will rear this beauty
Above all styles.
Dol.You mean no treason, sir?
Mam.No, I will take away that jealousy.
I am the lord of the philosopher's stone,
And thou the lady.
I am the lord of the philosopher's stone,
And thou the lady.
Dol.How, sir! have you that?
Mam.I am the master of the mastery.[6]
This day the good old wretch here o' the house
Has made it for us: now he's at projection.
Think therefore thy first wish now, let me hear it;
And it shall rain into thy lap, no shower,
But floods of gold, whole cataracts, a deluge,
To get a nation on thee.
This day the good old wretch here o' the house
Has made it for us: now he's at projection.
Think therefore thy first wish now, let me hear it;
And it shall rain into thy lap, no shower,
But floods of gold, whole cataracts, a deluge,
To get a nation on thee.
Dol.You are pleased, sir,
To work on the ambition of our sex.
To work on the ambition of our sex.
Mam.I am pleased the glory of her sex should know,
This nook, here, of the Friers[7] is no climate
For her to live obscurely in, to learn
Physic and surgery, for the constable's wife
Of some odd hundred in Essex; but come forth,
And taste the air of palaces; eat, drink
The toils of empirics, and their boasted practice;
Tincture of pearl, and coral, gold and amber;
Be seen at feasts and triumphs; have it ask'd,
What miracle she is? set all the eyes
Of court a-fire, like a burning glass,
And work them into cinders, when the jewels
Of twenty states adorn thee, and the light
Strikes out the stars! that, when thy name is mention'd,
Queens may look pale; and we but shewing our love,
Nero's Poppæa may be lost in story!
Thus will we have it.
This nook, here, of the Friers[7] is no climate
For her to live obscurely in, to learn
Physic and surgery, for the constable's wife
Of some odd hundred in Essex; but come forth,
And taste the air of palaces; eat, drink
The toils of empirics, and their boasted practice;
Tincture of pearl, and coral, gold and amber;
Be seen at feasts and triumphs; have it ask'd,
What miracle she is? set all the eyes
Of court a-fire, like a burning glass,
And work them into cinders, when the jewels
Of twenty states adorn thee, and the light
Strikes out the stars! that, when thy name is mention'd,
Queens may look pale; and we but shewing our love,
Nero's Poppæa may be lost in story!
Thus will we have it.
Dol.I could well consent, sir.
But, in a monarchy, how will this be?
The prince will soon take notice, and both seize
You and your stone, it being a wealth unfit
For any private subject.
But, in a monarchy, how will this be?
The prince will soon take notice, and both seize
You and your stone, it being a wealth unfit
For any private subject.
Mam.If he knew it.
Dol.Yourself do boast it, sir.
Mam.To thee, my life.
Dol.O, but beware, sir! you may come to end
The remnant of your days in a loth'd prison,
By speaking of it.
The remnant of your days in a loth'd prison,
By speaking of it.
Mam.'Tis no idle fear:[8]
We'll therefore go withal, my girl, and live
In a free state, where we will eat our mullets,
Soused in high-country wines,[9] sup pheasants eggs,
And have our cockles boil'd in silver shells;
Our shrimps to swim again, as when they liv'd,
In a rare butter made of dolphins milk,
Whose cream does look like opals; and with these
Delicate meats set our selves high for pleasure,
And take us down again, and then renew
Our youth and strength with drinking the elixir,
And so enjoy a perpetuity
Of life and lust! And thou shalt have thy wardrobe
Richer than nature's, still to change thy self,
And vary oftener, for thy pride, than she,
Or art, her wise and almost-equal servant.
We'll therefore go withal, my girl, and live
In a free state, where we will eat our mullets,
Soused in high-country wines,[9] sup pheasants eggs,
And have our cockles boil'd in silver shells;
Our shrimps to swim again, as when they liv'd,
In a rare butter made of dolphins milk,
Whose cream does look like opals; and with these
Delicate meats set our selves high for pleasure,
And take us down again, and then renew
Our youth and strength with drinking the elixir,
And so enjoy a perpetuity
Of life and lust! And thou shalt have thy wardrobe
Richer than nature's, still to change thy self,
And vary oftener, for thy pride, than she,
Or art, her wise and almost-equal servant.
Re-enter Face.
Face.Sir, you are too loud. I hear you every word
Into the laboratory. Some fitter place;
The garden, or great chamber above. How like you her?
Into the laboratory. Some fitter place;
The garden, or great chamber above. How like you her?
Mam.Excellent! Lungs. There's for thee.
[Gives him money.
[Gives him money.
Face.But do you hear?
Good sir, beware, no mention of the rabins.
Good sir, beware, no mention of the rabins.
Mam.We think not on 'em.
[Exeunt Mam. and Dol.
[Exeunt Mam. and Dol.
Face.O, it is well, sir.—Subtle!
Enter Subtle.
Dost thou not laugh?
Enter Subtle.
Dost thou not laugh?
Sub.Yes; are they gone?
Face.All's clear.
Sub.The widow is come.
Face.And your quarrelling disciple?
Sub.Ay.
Face.I must to my captainship again then.
Sub.Stay, bring them in first.
Face.So I meant. What is she?
A bonnibel?
A bonnibel?
Sub.I know not.
Face.We'll draw lots:
You'll stand to that?
You'll stand to that?
Sub.What else?
Sub.To the door, man.
Face.You'll have the first kiss, 'cause I am not ready.
[Exit.
[Exit.
Sub.Yes, and perhaps hit you through both the nostrils.
Face. [within.]Who would you speak with?
Kas. [within.]Where's the captain?
Face. [within.]Gone, sir,
About some business.
About some business.
Kas. [within.]Gone!
Face. [within.]He'll return straight.
But master doctor, his lieutenant, is here.
But master doctor, his lieutenant, is here.
Enter Kastril, followed by dame Pliant.
Sub.Come near, my worshipful boy, my terræ fili,
That is, my boy of land; make thy approaches:
Welcome; I know thy lusts, and thy desires,
And I will serve and satisfy them. Begin,
Charge me from thence, or thence, or in this line;
Here is my centre: ground thy quarrel.
That is, my boy of land; make thy approaches:
Welcome; I know thy lusts, and thy desires,
And I will serve and satisfy them. Begin,
Charge me from thence, or thence, or in this line;
Here is my centre: ground thy quarrel.
Kas.You lie.
Sub.How, child of wrath and anger! the loud lie?
For what, my sudden boy?
For what, my sudden boy?
Kas.Nay, that look you to,
I am afore-hand.
I am afore-hand.
Sub.O, this is no true grammar,
And as ill logic! You must render causes, child,
Your first and second intentions, know your canons
And your divisions, moods, degrees, and differences,
Your predicaments, substance, and accident,
Series extern and intern, with their causes,
Efficient, material, formal, final,
And have your elements perfect?
And as ill logic! You must render causes, child,
Your first and second intentions, know your canons
And your divisions, moods, degrees, and differences,
Your predicaments, substance, and accident,
Series extern and intern, with their causes,
Efficient, material, formal, final,
And have your elements perfect?
Kas.What is this!
The angry tongue he talks in? [Aside.
The angry tongue he talks in? [Aside.
Sub.That false precept,
Of being afore-hand, has deceived a number,
And made them enter quarrels, often-times,
Before they were aware; and afterward,
Against their wills.
Of being afore-hand, has deceived a number,
And made them enter quarrels, often-times,
Before they were aware; and afterward,
Against their wills.
Kas.How must I do then, sir?
Sub.I cry this lady mercy: she should first
Have been saluted. [Kisses her.] I do call you lady,
Because you are to be one, ere 't be long,
My soft and buxom widow.
Have been saluted. [Kisses her.] I do call you lady,
Because you are to be one, ere 't be long,
My soft and buxom widow.
Kas.Is she, i'faith?
Sub.Yes, or my art is an egregious liar.
Kas.How know you?
Sub.By inspection on her forehead,
And subtlety of her lip, which must be tasted
Often, to make a judgment. [Kisses her again.] 'Slight, she melts
Like a myrobolane:[11]—here is yet a line,
In rivo frontis, tells me he is no knight.
And subtlety of her lip, which must be tasted
Often, to make a judgment. [Kisses her again.] 'Slight, she melts
Like a myrobolane:[11]—here is yet a line,
In rivo frontis, tells me he is no knight.
Dame P.What is he then, sir?
Sub.Let me see your hand.
O, your linea fortunæ makes it plain;
And stella here in monte Veneris.
But, most of all, junctura annularis.
He is a soldier, or a man of art, lady,
But shall have some great honour shortly.
O, your linea fortunæ makes it plain;
And stella here in monte Veneris.
But, most of all, junctura annularis.
He is a soldier, or a man of art, lady,
But shall have some great honour shortly.
Dame P.Brother,
He's a rare man, believe me!
He's a rare man, believe me!
Re-enter Face, in his uniform.
Kas.Hold your peace.
Here comes the t'other rare man.—'Save you, captain.
Here comes the t'other rare man.—'Save you, captain.
Face.Good master Kastril! Is this your sister?
Kas.Ay, sir.
Please you to kuss her, and be proud to know her.
Please you to kuss her, and be proud to know her.
Face.I shall be proud to know you, lady.
[Kisses her.
[Kisses her.
Dame P.Brother,
He calls me lady too.
He calls me lady too.
Kas.Ay, peace: I heard it. [Takes her aside.
Face.The count is come.
Sub.Where is he?
Face.At the door.
Sub.Why, you must entertain him.
Face.What will you do
With these the while?
With these the while?
Sub.Why, have them up, and shew them
Some fustian book, or the dark glass.
Some fustian book, or the dark glass.
Face.Fore God,
She is a delicate dab-chick! I must have her.
[Exit.
She is a delicate dab-chick! I must have her.
[Exit.
Sub.Must you! ay, if your fortune will, you must.—
Come, sir, the captain will come to us presently:
I'll have you to my chamber of demonstrations,
Where I will shew you both the grammar, and logic,
And rhetoric of quarrelling; my whole method
Drawn out in tables; and my instrument,
That hath the several scales upon't, shall make you
Able to quarrel at a straw's-breadth by moon-light.
And, lady, I'll have you look in a glass,
Some half an hour, but to clear your eye-sight,
Against you see your fortune; which is greater,
Than I may judge upon the sudden, trust me.
[Exit, followed by Kast. and Dame P.
Come, sir, the captain will come to us presently:
I'll have you to my chamber of demonstrations,
Where I will shew you both the grammar, and logic,
And rhetoric of quarrelling; my whole method
Drawn out in tables; and my instrument,
That hath the several scales upon't, shall make you
Able to quarrel at a straw's-breadth by moon-light.
And, lady, I'll have you look in a glass,
Some half an hour, but to clear your eye-sight,
Against you see your fortune; which is greater,
Than I may judge upon the sudden, trust me.
[Exit, followed by Kast. and Dame P.
Re-enter Face.
Face.Where are you, doctor?
Sub. [within.]I'll come to you presently.
Face.I will have this same widow, now I have seen her,
On any composition.
On any composition.
Re-enter Subtle.
Sub.What do you say?
Face.Have you disposed of them?
Sub.I have sent them up.
Face.Subtle, in troth, I needs must have this widow.
Sub.Is that the matter?
Face.Nay, but hear me.
Sub.Go to,
If you rebel once, Dol shall know it all:
Therefore be quiet, and obey your chance.
If you rebel once, Dol shall know it all:
Therefore be quiet, and obey your chance.
Face. Nay, thou art so violent now—Do but conceive,
Thou art old, and canst not serve———
Thou art old, and canst not serve———
Sub. Who cannot? I?
'Slight, I will serve her with thee, for a———
'Slight, I will serve her with thee, for a———
Face. Nay,
But understand: I'll give you composition.
But understand: I'll give you composition.
Sub. I will not treat with thee; what! sell my fortune?
'Tis better than my birth-right. Do not murmur:
Win her, and carry her. If you grumble, Dol
Knows it directly.
'Tis better than my birth-right. Do not murmur:
Win her, and carry her. If you grumble, Dol
Knows it directly.
Face. Well, sir, I am silent.
Will you go help to fetch in Don in state? [Exit.
Will you go help to fetch in Don in state? [Exit.
Sub. I follow you, sir: we must keep Face in awe,
Or he will over-look us like a tyrant.
Re-enter Face, introducing Surly disguised as a Spaniard.
Brain of a tailor! who comes here? Don John![12]
Or he will over-look us like a tyrant.
Re-enter Face, introducing Surly disguised as a Spaniard.
Brain of a tailor! who comes here? Don John![12]
Sur. Señores, beso las manos a vuestras mercedes.
Sub. Would you had stoop'd a little, and kist our anos!
Face. Peace, Subtle.
Sub. Stab me; I shall never hold, man.
He looks in that deep ruff like a head in a platter,
Serv'd in by a short cloke upon two trestles.
He looks in that deep ruff like a head in a platter,
Serv'd in by a short cloke upon two trestles.
Face. Or, what do you say to a collar of brawn, cut down
Beneath the souse, and wriggled with a knife?
Beneath the souse, and wriggled with a knife?
Sub. 'Slud, he does look too fat to be a Spaniard.
Face. Perhaps some Fleming or some Hollander got him
In d'Alva's time; count Egmont's bastard.
In d'Alva's time; count Egmont's bastard.
Sub. Don,
Your scurvy, yellow, Madrid face is welcome.
Your scurvy, yellow, Madrid face is welcome.
Sur. Gratia.
Sur. Por dios, señores, muy linda casa!
Sub. What says he?
Sub. Yes, the casa,
My precious Diego, will prove fair enough
To cozen you in. Do you mark? you shall
Be cozen'd, Diego.
My precious Diego, will prove fair enough
To cozen you in. Do you mark? you shall
Be cozen'd, Diego.
Face. Cozen'd, do you see,
My worthy Donzel, cozen'd.
My worthy Donzel, cozen'd.
Sur. Entiendo.
Sub. Do you intend it? so do we, dear Don.
Have you brought pistolets, or portagues,
My solemn Don?—Dost thou feel any?
Have you brought pistolets, or portagues,
My solemn Don?—Dost thou feel any?
Face. [Feels his pockets] Full.
Sub. You shall be emptied, Don, pumped and drawn
Dry, as they say.
Dry, as they say.
Face. Milked, in troth, sweet Don.
Sub. See all the monsters; the great lion of all, Don.[15]
Sur. Con licencia, se puede ver a esta señora?
Sub. What talks he now?
Face. Of the sennora.
Sub. O, Don,
That is the lioness, which you shall see
Also, my Don.
That is the lioness, which you shall see
Also, my Don.
Face. 'Slid, Subtle, how shall we do?
Sub. For what?
Face. Why Dol's employ'd, you know.
Sub. That's true.
'Fore heaven, I know not: he must stay, that's all.
'Fore heaven, I know not: he must stay, that's all.
Face. Stay! that he must not by no means.
Sub. No! why?
Face. Unless you'll mar all. 'Slight, he will suspect it:
And then he will not pay, not half so well.
This is a travelled punk-master, and does know
All the delays; a notable hot rascal,
And looks already rampant.
And then he will not pay, not half so well.
This is a travelled punk-master, and does know
All the delays; a notable hot rascal,
And looks already rampant.
Sub. 'Sdeath, and Mammon
Must not be troubled.
Must not be troubled.
Face. Mammon! in no case.
Sub.What shall we do then?
Face.Think you must be sudden.
Sur.[16]Entiendo que la señora es tan hermosa, que codicio tan verla, como la bien aventuranza de mi vida.
Face.Mi vida! 'Slid, Subtle, he puts me in mind o' the widow.
What dost thou say to draw her to it, ha!
And tell her 'tis her fortune? all our venture
Now lies upon't. It is but one man more,
Which of us chance to have her: and beside,
There is no maidenhead to be fear'd or lost.
What dost thou think on't, Subtle?
What dost thou say to draw her to it, ha!
And tell her 'tis her fortune? all our venture
Now lies upon't. It is but one man more,
Which of us chance to have her: and beside,
There is no maidenhead to be fear'd or lost.
What dost thou think on't, Subtle?
Sub.Who, I? why———
Face.The credit of our house too is engaged.
Sub.You made me an offer for my share erewhile,
What wilt thou give me, i' faith?
What wilt thou give me, i' faith?
Face.O, by that light
I'll not buy now: You know your doom to me.
E'en take your lot, obey your chance, sir; win her,
And wear her out, for me.
I'll not buy now: You know your doom to me.
E'en take your lot, obey your chance, sir; win her,
And wear her out, for me.
Sub.'Slight, I'll not work her then.
Face.It is the common cause; therefore bethink you.
Dol else must know it, as you said.
Dol else must know it, as you said.
Sub.I care not.
Sur.Senores, porque se tarda tanto?
Sub.Faith, I am not fit, I am old.
Face.That's now no reason, sir.
Sur.Puede ser de hazer burla de mi amor?
Face.You hear the Don too? by this air, I call,
And loose the hinges: Dol!
And loose the hinges: Dol!
Sub.A plague of hell———
Face.Will you then do?
Sub.You are a terrible rogue!
I'll think of this: will you, sir, call the widow?
I'll think of this: will you, sir, call the widow?
Face.Yes, and I'll take her too with all her faults,
Now I do think on't better.
Now I do think on't better.
Sub.With all my heart, sir;
Am I discharg'd o' the lot?
Am I discharg'd o' the lot?
Face.As you please.
Sub.Hands. [They take hands.
Face.Remember now, that upon any change,
You never claim her.
You never claim her.
Sub.Much good joy, and health to you, sir.
Marry a whore! fate, let me wed a witch first.
Marry a whore! fate, let me wed a witch first.
Sur.Por estas honradas barbas———
Sub.He swears by his beard.
Dispatch, and call the brother too. [Exit Face.
Dispatch, and call the brother too. [Exit Face.
Sur.Tengo duda,[17] señores, que no me hagan alguna traycion.
Sub.How, issue on? yes, præsto, sennor. Please you
Enthratha the chambratha, worthy don:
Where if you please the fates, in your bathada,
You shall be soked, and stroked, and tubb'd, and rubb'd,
And scrubb'd, and fubb'd, dear don, before you go.
You shall in faith, my scurvy baboon don.
Be curried, claw'd and flaw'd, and taw'd, indeed.
I will the heartlier go about it now,
And make the widow a punk so much the sooner,
To be revenged on this impetuous Face:
The quickly doing of it, is the grace.
[Exeunt Sub. and Surly
Enthratha the chambratha, worthy don:
Where if you please the fates, in your bathada,
You shall be soked, and stroked, and tubb'd, and rubb'd,
And scrubb'd, and fubb'd, dear don, before you go.
You shall in faith, my scurvy baboon don.
Be curried, claw'd and flaw'd, and taw'd, indeed.
I will the heartlier go about it now,
And make the widow a punk so much the sooner,
To be revenged on this impetuous Face:
The quickly doing of it, is the grace.
[Exeunt Sub. and Surly
- ↑ How scrupulous he is, &c.] I have already noticed the sanctity, real or pretended, of the workers in Alchemy. Norton tells them, thatAnd he declaims violently against the admission of any female into the presence of the other sex while thus employed. This explains the caution of Subtle, the alarm of Face, and lays, besides, a probable and artful preparation for the impending catastrophe."While thei worke thei must needes eschewe,
"All ribaudry, els thei shal finde this trewe,
"That such mishap shall them befall,
"Thei shal destroy part of their works or all."
Erasmus has treated the subject of Alchemy with much pleasantry, though with no part of the deep knowledge of Jonson: he has not forgotten, however, to make his adepts affect an unusual strain of piety. "Admonebat alcumista, rem felicius (they had hitherto failed) successuram, si Virgini matri, quæ, ut scis, Paraliis colitur, mitteret aliquot aureos dono: artem enim esse sacram, nec absque numinum favore rem prosperè geri." Alcum. Their ill success is attributed, in some measure, to their using an improper kind of coal. "Caussabatur erratum in emendis carbonibus: quernos enim emerat, cum abiegnis esset opus," &c. Ibid. A note on this dialogue, in the Elzevir edition, proves that Jonson's satire was, at least, well timed. "Sunt adhuc (apud Britannos) qui in alcumistica parum sobrii sint, quanquam lex capitalis apposita est." - ↑ ———Methinks do resemble
''One of the Austriac princes.] "It is observed (Bulwer says) that all of the house of Austria have a sweet fulnesse of the lower lip. The Austrian lip being at this day therefore by good right, in high esteeme." Artificial Changling, p. 173.
The Austrian lip is mentioned by Shirley:Swift gives the Austrian lip to the potent emperor of Lilliput. The Valois nose is the rising, or Roman nose."Your lip is Austrian,
"And you do well to bite it." Hyde Park. - ↑ Her father was an Irish costarmonger.] It would seem from many passages in our old writers, that the petty dealers in fruit were, in their days, as in ours, principally Irish. Thus Decker; "In England, sir—troth I ever laugh when I think on't—why, sir, there all costarmongers are Irish." Honest Whore, A. I. sc. 1. Part II.
A-propos of costarmongers. Mr. Weber, the late editor of Ford, has a note on this word, which may be worth transcribing. "Mr Steevens observes, in answer to a superficial remark by Johnson, that a costarmonger is a costard-monger! a dealer in apples called by that name, because they are shaped like a costard, i. e. a man's head." Vol. ii. p. 373. After due thanks for so important a piece of intelligence, I would "observe," in my turn, that it ill becomes a person of Mr. Weber's no rank in literature, to use such contemptuous language of Dr. Johnson:and Mr. Weber's cloak is pertusa indeed! The note of Dr. Johnson, which he presumes to call "superficial," is judicious and pertinent in every sense of the words; while "the answer of Steevens" (as it is absurdly termed) is one of those frivolous displays of infantine knowledge which so frequently disgrace the pages of Shakspeare, and which was never less called for than on the present occasion. See Hen. IV. Part II. A. i. sc. 5. With respect to the origin of the word, Steevens has, as usual, misled Mr. Weber. The apple does not take its name from the head, but the head from the apple. The commentator was ignorant of the derivation of costard.}}plurima sunt quæ
Non debent homines pertusa dicere læna; - ↑ I study here the mathematics,
And distillation.] i.e. astrology and chemistry. - ↑ A man, the emperor
Hus courted above Kelly,] Edward Kelly, (or, as he is sometimes called, Talbot,) the most daring and unprincipled of all the pretenders to alchemy, was born at Worcester, about the middle of the 16th century, and bred an apothecary. Having acquired a smattering of chemistry, and very opportunely lost his ears for a fraud,—for, as Juvenal observes. Nemo mathematicus genium indemnatus habebit—he took advantage of the simple credulity of the times, and boasted that he was possessed of the philosopher's stone. He was taken abroad by the noted Dee, who appointed him his speculator, much to the displeasure of the angels, it seems, who frequently refused to appear, (as Lilly informs us,) on account of his vicious manner of life. These impudent knaves travelled over a great part of Germany, with a young Pole, whom they had drawn into their confederacy, raising spirits, making gold, and working miracles of all kinds. Their fame, at length, reached the emperor. Rodolph II., who sent for them to Prague. Dee, who was an egregious coward, now thought it full time to return to England; but the intrepid Kelly readily agreed to teach the emperor his secret. While Rodolph (like Mammon) continued to furnish money, Kelly escaped detection; but on his growing suspicious, and witholding his hand, the cheat was speedily discovered. Kelly was thrown into confinement; and had the good fortune to defraud the gallows, by dying of a broken leg, got in an attempt to let himself down, by his sheets, from the window of his prison.
Ashmole has disgraced his probity (I cannot say his judgment, for he had none) by a laboured panegyric on this profligate impostor, this "eminent light of the world," as he calls him; while Lilly, out of jealousy perhaps, treats him with very little ceremony: though both agree that "he certainly had the elixir." It is far from improbable that Jonson, in his "indenture tripartite," (Subtle, Face, and Dol,) had this triumvirate in view. Subtle was, beyond question, meant for Dee, and has much of his hypocritical and juggling language: the more daring Kelly, who seems to be personified by Face, pretended to have the power of changing himself into an animal, at will, and might therefore be alluded to in "the dog snarling err!" Dol has many traits of Laski, the young Pole; and her assumed character of queen of the fairies, might be intended to glance at the part usually played by him in the magical mummery of his confederates, which was that of an angel:—but enough of such folly. - ↑ I am the master of the mastery.] i.e. of the magisterium: so they called the great work when brought to perfection, the philosopher's stone.
- ↑ The Friers] Black-friars, where the scene of their imposture lay: see p. 12.
- ↑ 'Tis no idle fear: &c.] "I might answer by asking—why so many have spent their lives and estates on the art of making gold; which, if it were much known, would only exalt silver into the place which gold now occupies; and if it were known but to one, the same single adept could not, nay durst not enjoy it, but must either be a prisoner to some prince, and slave to some voluptuary, or else skulk obscurely up and down for his concealment." Political Observations by J. Graunt.
This quotation, for which I am indebted to Mr. Waldron, comprises the whole plan of Godwin's St. Leon. - ↑ We will eat our mullets,
Soused in high country wine, &c.] It seemed almost impossible to add any thing to the boundless profusion of vicious luxuries already enumerated in the second act: here, however, they are poured forth as lavishly, as if none had been introduced before. The judgment is absolutely overwhelmed by the torrent of magnificent images, with which Mammon confounds the incredulity of Surly, and inflames the supposed ambition of Dol. There is a "towering bravery" in his sensuality which sets him above all power of imitation.
When we revert to the Fox, (p. 254, et seq.) and mark the exuberance of temptation with which Jonson had previously assailed the purity of Celia, it must excite a feeling not altogether favourable to the knowledge or candour of those who accuse him of sterility. No poet that can be named, (no, not even Milton,) ever brought to his subject a mind so richly furnished as this great dramatist. - ↑ O, for a suit, &c.] i.e. his captain's uniform, for which he is compelled to go out, while Subtle is left to take advantage of his absence, and receive the lady.
- ↑ 'Slight, she melts
Like a myrobolane!] A foreign conserve: Cotgrave informs us "that it was a dried plum brought from the Indies;" or, rather, perhaps, from the Levant. It is frequently mentioned by our old dramatists, and seems to have been in high estimation as a sweet-meat. The lady's fortune is told out of Cardan's Metoposcopy, where the "rivus frontis," &c. are very strongly marked. The variety and extent of Jonson's reading are altogether surprising; nothing seems to have been too poor and trifling, too recondite and profound, for his insatiable curiosity, and thirst of knowledge. It is but seldom, and, even then accidentally, that I can fall in with him: the general range of his wide and desultory track is, to me, nearly imperceptible. - ↑ Who comes here? Don John!] It appears from Cynthia's Revels, that the "battle of Lepanto," formed the subject of tapestry-work in Jonson's time; and we may be pretty confident that Don John of Austria, the fortunate hero of the day, was pourtrayed in it with features of the most formidable grandeur. To some staring representation of this kind, Subtle probably alludes. See vol. ii. p. 293.
- ↑ Pray God he have no squibs in those deep sets.] i.e. in the deep plaits of his ruff: our old writers abound in satirical allusions to the enormous ruffs worn by the Spaniards, and to the mischief which might be concealed in them. Thus Glapthorne:1 Watch. "No news stirring, neighbours?
2 Watch. "Yes, strange and true—twixt Deale
"And Dover one, fishing for flounders, drew
"A Spaniard's body up, slain in the late fight,
"And searching him for money, found, in the sets
"Of his great ruff, the———I shall think on't presently,
"'Tis a hard word———the Inquisition."
Wit in a Constable, A. V. sc. 1. - ↑ Praises the house, I think;] Face is right; he does so. I have corrected the language, which Whalley appears not to have understood, and which Jonson, or his printer, had in more than one place confounded.
- ↑ See all the monsters, the great lion &c.] Till I met with this passage, I had no idea that the phrase of "shewing the lions." was of such venerable antiquity.
- ↑ Entiendo &c.] "I hear the lady is so handsome, that I am anxious to see her, as the most fortunate circumstance of my life."
- ↑ Tengo duda, &c.] "I fear, gentlemen, that you are about to play me some foul trick." All these speeches, though sufficiently pertinent, have greatly the air of being taken from some grammar. In this scene Jonson seems to have had the Pænulus of Plautus in view. Hanno, like Surly, speaks a language not understood by the rest, and is played upon by Milphio (the Face of the piece) till his patience is exhausted, and he breaks out, as he says, in Latin, "to confound the rogue."