SCENE III.

FLO. You overglad me, Madam Fricase, With your select discourse, closing so fairly With our expected wishes.

CAR. No conceit Struck more on fancy than the tale you told me; 'Tis so attractive, Madam Caveare. It acts delight without a passive object, And forms an embryo in the phantasy By love's mysterious spell. May Ida's court Ne'er see Caranto exercise his revels, If he neglect those ceremonial rites Which love and duty have oblig'd him to. May all the orbs make music in their motion, And smile on our enjoyment!

PAL. Fair Julippe, Your choice has crown'd me; nor shall track of time Raze out that imprese which[119] your free assent Has here engraven. Palisado's zeal Shall merit your affection, if endeavours May mount to such a pitch as they may cheer My hopes in retribution. Secrecy, Or what may most suit with a lady's honour, Shall in this breast keep constant sentry.[120]

SAL. If Salibrand fall short, may he be forc'd To sue his own divorce. Dear Joculette, May your estrangement from a loathed bed Complete your choice with a delightful change.

MOR. Balls, treats, rear-banquets, theatral receipts To solace tedious hours, shall entertain My mellow Medlar; and when evening pleasure Shall with enlivening vigour summon more Duly-reserved offices, which Love In her arrival, her desir'd repose, Shall pay his loyal tribute, only due To crowns and nuptial rites: or as pure times Make these divisions legal, to supply Defects by abler farmers, which defray'd, Proves man to be himself. I'll vow no more: Only give leave to your devoted servant, Whose purest victim is a constant heart, To make this tender good. Before I fail In acting your content, may youthful heat Disclaim its interest in me, and this spirit, Active and sprightly, lose his native strength-- Nay, thaw itself to atoms, and resolve To ophic powder, juice of cucumber, Or what may show most chilness in the blood.

TIL. Like brave Platonic, you profess much love, Which, you enamel with gilt promises; But my affection's conscious of no guilt,[121] Nor a rhetoric tincture. Some can speak, And call the heavens to record, when their fancy, Mere planet-struck, has fix'd their influence On various objects: this deludes poor wenches, And makes them melt like ceruse! Heav'ns forgive them! I'm none of that light leaven; nor, Florello, Caranto, Palisado, Salibrand, Nor you, Morisco. Moments of delight May prompt unmanag'd youths to damn'd protests And vows which they intend not: whereas, madams, Your choice has made you happy in your change. This shall my dear affianc'd Tinder find In her embraces; and in those conclude Stol'n waters be the sweetest.

ALL. Excellent; Thou shalt be styl'd th' Platonic Pythias.

FRI. Our faith is not confirm'd by oratory. If man, he cannot falsify his trust In offices of love; we leave our own For your enjoyment; were there piety In making love the anvil of your treason? No, no; we shall not entertain a thought, That may suggest suspicion, nor retain In our late-widow'd breasts a crime so foul As jealousy. Let our cornutos harbour That marrow-eating fury. Dear Florello, Hold my exchanged love complete in thee!

CAV. Hold same opinion of thy Caveare, My best Caranto.

JUL. Treasure like esteem In thy Julippe's choice, brave Palisado.

JOC. In Joculette, active Salibrand.

MED. Thy sprightliest revels, may they be reserv'd For thy endearA"d Medlar, my Morisco.

TIN. So may thy hopes be crownA"d in thy Tinder, My valiant Tilly; and rest thus resolv'd: That th' tender tinder of my tried affection Shall ne'er obscure its lustre, if neglect Extinguish not that heat.

TIL. May th' frigid zone Sooner contract my sinews!

MOR. And love's grove Become an hermit's cell!

SAL. And our revels A sullen stoic dream.

PAL. And this exchange A period to our joys.

CAR. And our protests Affrighting shadows.

FLO. Or (what's worst of all) May those contents, which you expect from us, Discover our defects, and make you wish Your nuptial beds untouch'd.

ALL. May all these fall, And crush us with their grandeur.

LADIES. Be it so, And if our levity disvalue vows, Or what may most oblige us: may like censure Impeach our perish'd honours.

[_They retire._

1ST BOY. So: the match Is clapp'd already up. They need no witness.

2D BOY. Trust me, they couple handsomely, as if they had been married after th' new fashion.

1ST BOY. These need no dispensation. Fancy can act it without more ado. A mad match soon shuffled up!

2D BOY. But what shuffling would there be, if any of these wanton gossips should cry out before their time?

1ST BOY. That cry, my dainty wag, would be soon stifled. There be many ways, as I have heard my old grannam say (who had been in her youth a Paracelsian doctor's leman), to impregnate a birth, and, by secret applications o' possems[122] and cordials, not only to facilitate, but expedite, their production.

2D BOY. And what of all this?

1ST BOY. Why then, Tim, the only safe way for these gamesome macquerellas[123] is to antedate their conception before their separation. This has been an approved receipt; and, upon a long consult, found so, and returned authentic. Joy or grief produce wondrous effects in humorous[124] ladies.

2D BOY. Thou art a cunning, sifting ningle for all rogueries.