SCENE III. Changes to E. Antipholis's houfe. Enter Adriana and Luciana.

Adr. Ah, Luciana, did he tempt thee fo? Might'ft thou perceive aufterely in his eye That he did plead in earneft, yea or no? Look'd he or red or pale, or fad or merrily? What obfervation mad'ft thou in this cafe, Of his heart's meteors tilting in his face *? Luc. Firft he deny'd you had in him a right. Adr. He meant, he did me none, the more my fpight. Luc. Then fwore he that he was a stranger here. Adr. And true he fwore, though yet forfworn he

were.

Luc. Then pleaded I for you.
Adr. And what faid he?

Luc. That love I begg'd for you, he begg'd of me.
Adr. With what perfuafion did he tempt thy love?
Luc. With words that in an honeft fuit might move.
First he did praife my beauty, then my speech.
Adr. Did'ft fpeak him fair?

Luc. Have patience, I beseech.

Adr. I cannot, nor I will not, hold me ftill; My tongue, though not my heart, fhall have its will. He is deformed, crooked, cld, and fere, Ill-fac'd, worfe-body'd, fhapelefs every where; Vicious, ungentle, foolish, blunt, unkind, Stigmatical in making, worfe in mind.

Luc. Who would be jealous then of such a one?

No evil loft is wail'd when it is gone.

Adr. Ah! but I think him better than I fay, And yet would he in others' eyes were worfe: Far from her neft the lapwing cries away;

My heart prays for him, tho' my tongue do curfe. SCENE IV. Enter Dromio of Syracufe. S. Dro. Here, go; the defk, the purfe; fweet now, make hafte.

Luc. How haft thou loft thy breath?

S. Dro. By running fast.

Alluding to thofe meteors in the fky which have the ance of lines of armies meeting in the shock.

appear

VOL. III.

Adr. Where is thy mafter, Dromio? Is he well?

S. Dro. No, he's in Tartar Limbo, worfe than hell. A devil in an everlafting garment hath him,

One whofe hard heart is button'd up with steel:
A fiend, a fury, pitilefs and rough,

A wolf, nay, worfe, a fellow all in buff;

A back friend, a fhoulder-clapper, one that commands
The paffages of allies, creeks, and narrow lands:
A hound that runs counter, and yet draws dry-foot well;
One that, before the judgment, carries poor fouls to

hell.

Adr. Why, man, what is the matter?

S. Dro. I do not know the matter; he is 'refted on the cafe.

Adr. What, is he arrefted? tell me, at whofe fuit. S. Dro. I know not at whofe fuit he is arrested, well; but he's in a fuit of buff which 'refted him, that I can tell. Will you fend him, Miftrefs, redemption, the money in his defk ?

Adr. Go fetch it, fifter. This I wonder at,

[Exit Luciana. That he, unknown to me, fhould be in debt! Tell me, was he arrefted on a bond?

S. Dro. Not on a bond, but on a stronger thing, A chain, a chain; do you not hear it ring?

Adr. What, the chain?

S. Dro. No, no; the bell; 'tis time that I were gone

-that I were gone.

It was two ere I left him, and now the clock ftrikes one.
Adr. The hours come back! that I did never hear.

S. Dro. O yes, if any hour meet a ferjeant, a' turns back for very fear.

Adr. As if Time were in debt! how fondly doft thou reafon? S. Dro. Time is a very bankrout, and owes more than he's worth, to feafon.

Nay, he's a thief too: have you not heard men fay,
That Time comes ftealing on by night and day?
If Time be in debt and theft, and a ferjeant in the way,
Hath Le not reafon to turn back an hour in a day?

Enter, &c.

Enter Luciana.

Adr. Go, Dromio; there's the money, bear it ftraight, And bring thy matter home immediately. Come, fifter, I am prefs'd down with conceit; Conceit, my comfort and my injury.

SCENE

[Exeunt.

V. Changes to the freet.

Enter Antipholis of Syracufe.

S. Ant. There's not a man I meet but doth falute me, As if I were their well-acquainted friend; And every one doth call me by my name. Some tender money to me, fome invite me; Some other give me thanks for kindnesses ; Some offer me commodities to buy. Ev'n now a tailor call'd me in his fhop, And show'd nie filks that he had bought for me, And therewithal took measure of my body. Sure thefe are but imaginary wiles,

And Lapland forcerers inhabit here.

Enter Dromio of Syracufe.

S. Dro. Mafter, here's the gold you fent me for; what, have you got rid of the picture of old Adam new-apparell'd?

S. Ant. What gold is this? what Adam doft thou mean?

S. Dro. Not that Adam that kept the paradife, but that Adam that keeps the prifon; he that goes in the calves fkin that was kill'd for the prodigal; he that came behind you, Sir, like an evil angel, and bid you forfake your liberty.

S. Ant, I understand thee not.

S. Dro. No? why, 'tis a plain cafe; he that went like a bafe-viol in a cafe of leather; the man, Sir, that, when gentlemen are tired, gives them a fob, and 'refts them; he, Sir, that takes pity on decay'd men, and gives 'em fuits of durance; he that fets up his

* Alluding to the coat of skins made for Adam after the fall and the leathern coat worn by the officer who made the arreft.

rest *

to do more exploits with his mace, than a Maurice pike +.

S. Ant. What! thou mean'it an officer?

S. Dro. Ay, Sir, the ferjeant of the band; he that brings any man to anfwer it that breaks his bond; one that thinks a man always going to bed, and faith, God give you good reft!

S. Ant. Well, Sir, there reft in your foolery. Is there any fhip puts forth to-night? may we be gone?

S. Dro. Why, Sir, I brought you word an hour Since, that the bark Expedition puts forth to-night, and then were you hinder'd by the ferjeant, to tarry for the hoy Delay. Here are the angels that you fent for, to deliver you.

S. Ant. The fellow is diftract, and fo am I, And here we wander in illufions;

Some bleffed power deliver us from hence!

SCENE VI.

Enter a Courtezan.

Cour. Well met, well met, Mafter Antipholis.
I fee, Sir, you have found the goldsmith now:
Is that the chain you promis'd me to-day?

S. Ant. Satan, avoid! I charge thee, tempt me not f

*Sets up his reft, is a phrafe taken from military exercife. When gunpowder was first invented, its force was very weak compared to that in prefent ufe. This neceffarily required fire-arms to be of an extraordinary length. As the artifts improved the strength of their powder, the foldiers proportionably thortened their arms and artilJery; fo that the cannon which Froiffart tells us was once fifty foot long, was contracted to lefs than ten. This proportion likewife held in their muskets; fo that, till the middle of the last century, the musketeers always fupported their pieces when they gave fire, with a reft ftuck before them into the ground, which they called Jetting up their reft, and is here alluded to. There is another quibbling allufion too to the fe jeant's office of arrefting. Mr Warburton.

ti. e. a pikeman of Prince Maurice's army. He was the greateft General of that age, and the conductor of the Low-country wars aga nft Spain, under whom all the English Gentry and Nobility were bred to the fervice. Being frequently overborn with numbers, he became famous for his fine retreats, in which a stand of pikes is of great fervice Hence the pikes of his army became famous for their military exploits.

Cour. Give me the ring of mine you had at dinner, Or for my diamond the chain you promis'd,

And I'll be gone, Sir, and not trouble you.

S. Dro. Some devils afk but the parings of one's nail, a rush, a hair, a drop of blood, a pin, a nut, a cherry-ftone; but fhe, more covetous, would have a chain. Master, be wife; an if you give it her, the devil will fhake her chain, and fright us with it.

Cour. I pray you, Sir, my ring, or elfe the chain; I hope you do not mean to cheat me fo.

S Ant. Avaunt, thou witch! come, Dromio, let us

go t.

VII.

SCENE

[Exeunt

Manet Courtezan.

Cour. Now, out of doubt, Antipholis is mad;
Elfe would he never fo demean himself.

A ring he hath of mine worth forty ducats,
And for the fame he promis'd me a chain;
Both one and other he denies me now.
The reafon that I gather he is mad,
(Befides this prefent inftance of his rage),
Is a mad tale he told to-day at dinner,

Of his own door being fhut against his entrance.
Belike his wife, acquainted with his fits,

S. Ant. It is the devil.

S. Dro. Nay, he is worfe, fhe's the devil's dam; and here fhe comes in the habit of a light wench, and thereof.comes, that the wenches fay, God dam me; that's as much as to fay, God make me a light wench. It is written, they appear to men like angels of light; light is an effect of fire, and fire will burn; ergo, light

wenches will burn: come not near her.

Cour. Your man and you are marvellous merry, Sir. Will you go with me, we'll mend our dinner here?

S. Dro. Mafter, if you do expect fpoon-meat, befpeak a long. spoon.

S. Ant. Why, Dromio?

S. Dro. Marry, he must have a long spoon that must eat with

the devil.

S. Ant. Avoid then, fiend? what tell'st thou me of fupping? Thou art, as you are all, a forcercis:

I conjure thee to leave me, and be gone.

Cour. Give me the ring, &c.

let us go.

S. Dro. Fly pride, fays the peacock; Mitrefs, that you know,

SCENE, c.

[Excunt