THE LITTLE FRENCH LAWYER. Gardiner, Lovelace, and Hills, in their Commendatory Verses, ascribe this Comedy to Fletcher; but more credible witnesses, the Prologue and Epilogue, mention it as a joint production. Its first publication was in the folio of 1647. The greatest applause was always bestowed on this play, and it used to be frequently performed, till modern refinement banished it from the Theatres. In 1749, some of the scenes were selected for a farce, and acted under the title of this Comedy. DINANT, a Gentleman that formerly loved, | SAMPSON, a foolish Advocate, Kinsman to Ver. and still pretends to love Lamira. CLEREMONT, a merry Gentleman, his Friend. SCENE, France. ACT I. Or cast it off; let that direct your arm; Din. Why, would you have me Sit down with a disgrace, and thank the doer? Cler. Do not cherish [suffers. That daring vice, for which the whole age Or to defend or to enlarge the kingdom, For th' honour of our country, and our prince, Are banish'd from all civil governments: Which gladly imitate our other follies, [late kings, Din. Will you end yet? With confidence of a glorious victory: Din. No more, for shame, no more! To talk thus to his friend, his friend that knows him, Dinant that knows his Cleremont, is absurd, And mere apocrypha. Cler. Why, what know you of me ? Din. Why, if thou hast forgot thyself, I'll tell thee, [second And not look back, to speak of what thou wert But thou wert so delighted with the sport, make one, Are you become a patron too? 'Tis a new one, I have seen fools and fighters chain'd together, And the fighters had the upper-hand, and whip'd first, [been The poor sots laughing at 'em. What I have It skills not; what I will be is resolv'd on. Din. Why, then you'll fight no more? Cler. Such is my purpose. Din. On no occasion? Cler. There you stagger me. [and blood Some kind of wrongs there are, which flesh Cannot endure. Din. Thou wouldst not willingly Live a protested coward, or be call'd one? Cler. Words are but words'. Din. Nor wouldst thou take a blow? Cler. Not from my friend, tho' drunk ; and I think much less. [from an enemy, Din. There's some hope of thee left then, Wouldst thou hear me behind my back disgrac'd? Cler. D'you think I am a rogue? They that should do it Had better been born dumb. Din. Or in thy presence, Din. Wouldst thou endure thy mistress be Din. Plague upon thee! [dar'st suffer Why dost thou talk of peace then, that Nothing, or in thyself, or in thy friend, That is unmanly? Cler. That I grant, I cannot: But I'll not quarrel with this gentleman For wearing stainmel breeches3; or this game ster [nothing; For playing a thousand pounds, that owes me No more on't, bure it, give it to some orator.] Tatron, here, has its Latin meaning, i. e. a pleader, or advocate; but the word speech, declamation, harangue, or something to that effect, must be understood, to make the following line sense; and it is highly probable that a whole line is lost, which might have been something like the following: Are you become a patron too? 'Tis a new one.] We suspect patron to be a corruption of pattern, a word which would give good sense to the passage, and comes very near that admitted into the text. 2 Words are but words.] After Cleremont has said this, which seems to assert that he would not mind being called a coward, nor make that a cause of fighting, Dinant goes on as if he had said directly the contrary; and perhaps a ne may here be lost again to the following import: Words are but words, but coward is a name I could not brook. With this addition the whole context seems consonant to itself. Seward. 3 Stammel breeches.]'i. e. Red breeches. Mr. Sympson has given an explanation of the word from Ben Jonson, more clear than what we have in dictionaries. Octavo edition, page 288. Red-hood the first that does appear In stammel; scarlet is too dear.' It is highly probable that red breeches were in our Authors' time wore only by smarts, and were esteemed coxcomical. In that age of duelling, therefore, a sucer upon this topic might have produced bloodshed. Seward, |