"Cit. No, lamb; that's Ralph and Lucrece. "Wife. Ralph and Lucrece? which Ralph? our Ralph ?

"Cit. No, mouse; that was a Tartarian.'

Wife. A Tartarian? Well, I would the fiddlers had done, that we might see our Ralph again!"

the fourth act, where the boy answers to the demand of the wife, that the players cannot represent the King of Cracovia's house covered with black velvet.

"

That was a Tartarian.] The citizen's mistake and his wife's consequent surprise will not be understood without recollecting that Tartarian was a cant term for a thief. So in The Merry Devil of Edmonton, the Host says-" There's not a Tartarian nor a carrier shall breathe upon your geldings; they have villainous rank feet the rogues, and they shall not sweat in my linen.' And in The Wandering Jew, 1640, as quoted by Mr Reed, the Hangman says " I pray, master Jew, bestow a cast of your office upon me, a poor member of the law, by telling me my fortune, whether I shall die in my bed or no, or what else shall happen to me; and if any thieving Tartarian shall break in upon you, I will with both hands nimbly lend a cast of my office upon him."

ACT III. SCENE I.

Waltham Forest.

Enter JASPER and LUCE.

Jasp. Come, my dear deer! though we have lost

our way,

We have not lost ourselves. Are you not weary
With this night's wand'ring, broken from your rest?
And frighted with the terror that attends
The darkness of this wild unpeopled place?

Luce. No, my best friend; I cannot either fear,
Or entertain a weary thought, whilst you
(The end of all my full desires) stand by me:
Let them that lose their hopes, and live to languish
Amongst the number of forsaken lovers,
Tell the long weary steps, and number time,
Start at a shadow, and shrink up their blood,
Whilst I (possessed with all content and quiet)
Thus take my pretty love, and thus embrace him.
Jasp. You have caught me, Luce, so fast, that
whilst I live

I shall become your faithful prisoner,

And wear these chains for ever.-Come, sit down,
And rest your body, too, too delicate

For these disturbances.-So! will you sleep?
Come, do not be more able than you are;
I know you are not skilful in these watches,
For women are no soldiers: Be not nice,

But take it; sleep, I say.
Luce. I cannot sleep;
Indeed I cannot, friend.

Jasp. Why then we'll sing,

And try how that will work upon our senses. Luce. I'll sing, or say, or any thing but sleep. Jasp. Come, little mermaid, rob me of my heart With that enchanting voice.

Luce. You mock me, Jasper.

SONG.

Jasp. Tell me, dearest, what is love?"
Luce. 'Tis a lightning from above;

'Tis an arrow, 'tis a fire,

'Tis a boy they call Desire.
'Tis a smile

Jasp. The

Doth beguile

poor hearts of men that prove.

Tell me more, are women true?

Luce. Some love change, and so do you.

Jasp.

Are they fair, and never kind?

Luce. Yes, when men turn with the wind.

Jasp.

Luce.

Are they froward?

-Ever toward

Those that love, to love anew.

Jasp. Dissemble it no more; I see the god
Of heavy sleep lay on his heavy mace
Upon your eye-lids.

Luce. I am very heavy.

[Sleeps.

* Tell me, dearest, what is love.] This song, with a little varia

tion, is also in The Captain, vol. IX. p. 175.—Ed. 1778.

Jasp. Sleep, sleep; and quiet rest crown thy sweet thoughts!

Keep from her fair blood [all] distempers, 3 startings,
Horrors, and fearful shapes! let all her dreams
Be joys, and chaste delights, embraces, wishes,
And such new pleasures as the ravish'd soul
Gives to the senses!-So; my charms have took.
Keep her, ye powers divine, whilst I contemplate
Upon the wealth and beauty of her mind!
She's only fair, and constant, only kind,
And only to thee, Jasper. Oh, my joys!
Whither will you transport me? let not fullness
Of my poor buried hopes come up together,
And overcharge my spirits; I am weak!
Some say (however ill) the sea and women
Are govern'd by the moon; both ebb and flow,
Both full of changes; yet to them that know,
And truly judge, these but opinions are,
And heresies, to bring on pleasing war
Between our tempers, that without these were
Both void of after-love, and present fear ;
Which are the best of Cupid. Oh, thou child
Bred from despair, I dare not entertain thee,
Having a love without the faults of women,
And greater in her perfect goods than men ;
Which to make good, and please myself the
stronger,

Though certainly I am certain of her love,
I'll try her, that the world and memory
May sing to after-times her constancy.- [Draws.
Luce! Luce! awake!

Luce. Why do you fright me, friend,

With those distemper'd looks? what makes your sword

3 Keep from her fair blood distempers, startings.] Sympson, to assist the measure, added the word ALL.-Ed. 1778.

Drawn in your hand? who hath offended you ?I pr'ythee, Jasper, sleep; thou'rt wild with watching.

Jasp. Come, make your way to Heaven, and bid the world,

With all the villainies that stick upon it,
Farewell; you're for another life.
Luce. Oh, Jasper,

How have my tender years committed evil,
Especially against the man I love,

Thus to be cropp'd untimely ?

Jasp. Foolish girl,

Canst thou imagine I could love his daughter
That flung me from my fortune into nothing?
Discharged me his service, shut the doors
Upon my poverty, and scorn'd my prayers,
Sending me, like a boat without a mast,
To sink or swim? Come; by this hand, you die!
I must have life and blood, to satisfy

Your father's wrongs.

"Wife. Away, George, away! raise the watch at Ludgate, and bring a mittimus from the justice for this desperate villain! Now I charge you, gentlemen, see the king's peace kept! Oh, my heart, what a varlet's this, to offer manslaughter upon the harmless gentlewoman!

"Cit. I warrant thee, sweetheart, we'll have him hampered."

Luce. Oh, Jasper, be not cruel!

If thou wilt kill me, smile, and do it quickly,
And let not many deaths appear before me!
I am a woman made of fear and love,

A weak, weak woman; kill not with thy eyes! They shoot me through and through. Štrike! I am ready;

And, dying, still I love thee.