Out of the circumstances.

Man. Will you so, sir?

Sir P. Eith. Yes, they are palpable.
Man. Not as your folly.

Sir P. Eith. I will discharge my conscience, and do all

To the meridian of justice.

Gilt. You do well, sir.

Fitz. Provide me to eat, three or four dishes o' good

meat,

I'll feast them and their trains, a justice head and brains Shall be the first.—

Sir P. Eith. The devil loves not justice,

There you may see.

Fitz. A spare rib of my wife,

And a whore's purtenance; a Gilthead whole.

Sir P. Eith. Be not you troubled, sir, the devil speaks it.

Fitz. Yes, wis, knight, shite, Poul, joul, owl, foul, troul, boul!

Sir P. Eith. Crambo! another of the devil's games. Meer. Speak, sir, some Greek, if you can. [Aside to FITZ.] Is not the justice

A solemn gamester?

Ever. Peace.

Fitz. Οι μοὶ, κακοδαίμων,

Καὶ τρισκακοδαίμων, καὶ τετράκις, καὶ πεντάκις,

Καὶ δωδεκάκις καὶ μυριάκις.

3

Sir P. Eith. He curses

In Greek, I think.

Ever. Your Spanish, that I taught you.

Fitz. Quebrémos el ojo de burlas.

Ever. How!-your rest

3 Fitz. Οι μοὶ, κακοδαίμων,

[Aside to FITZ.

Καὶ τρισκακοδαίμων, &c.] This is from the Plutus of Aristophanes, Áct iv. S. 3. WHAL.

Let's break his neck in jest, the devil says.

Fitz. Di gratia, signor mio, se havete denari fataméne parte.

Meer. What! would the devil borrow money?
Fitz. Ouy,ouy, monsieur, un pauvre diable, diabletin.
Sir P. Eith. It is the devil, by his several lan-
guages.

Enter SHACKLES, with the things found on the
body of the Cut-purse.

Shack. Where's sir Paul Eitherside?

Sir P. Eith. Here; what's the matter? Shack. O, such an accident fallen out at Newgate, sir :

A great piece of the prison is rent down!

The devil has been there, sir, in the body

Of the young cut-purse, was hang'd out this morning, But in new clothes, sir; every one of us know him. These things were found in his pocket.

Amb. Those are mine, sir.

Shack. I think he was committed on your charge, sir,

For a new felony.

Amb. Yes.

Shack. He's gone, sir, now,

And left us the dead body; but withal, sir,
Such an infernal stink and steam behind,
You cannot see St. Pulchre's steeple yet :
They smell't as far as Ware, as the wind lies,
By this time, sure.

Fitz. [starts up.] Is this upon your credit, friend?
Shack. Sir, you may see, and satisfy yourself.
Fitz. Nay then, 'tis time to leave off counterfeit-

ing.

Sir, I am not bewitch'd, nor have a devil,

No more than you; I do defy him, I,

And did abuse you: these two gentlemen

Put me upon it. (I have faith against him.)
They taught me all my tricks. I will tell truth,
And shame the fiend. See here, sir, are my bellows,
And my false belly, and my mouse, and all
That should have come forth.

Man. Sir, are you not ashamed

Now of your solemn, serious vanity?

Sir P. Eith. I will make honourable amends to truth.

Fitz. And so will I. But these are cozeners still,
And have my land, as plotters, with my wife;
Who, though she be not a witch, is worse, a whore.
Man. Sir, you belie her: she is chaste and virtuous,
And we are honest. I do know no glory

A man should hope, by venting his own follies;
But you'll still be an ass in spite of providence.
Please you go in, sir, and hear truths, then judge 'em,
And make amends for your late rashness: when
You shall but hear the pains, and care was taken
To save this fool from ruin, his Grace of Drown'd-
land--

Fitz. My land is drown'd indeed

Sir P. Eith. Peace.

Man. And how much

His modest and too worthy wife hath suffer'd
By misconstruction from him, you will blush,
First, for your own belief, more for his actions.
His land is his; and never by my friend,
Or by myself, meant to another use,
But for her succours, who hath equal right.
If any other had worse counsels in it,

(I know I speak to those can apprehend me)
Let them repent them, and be not detected.-
It is not manly to take joy or pride

In human errors: we do all ill things;

They do them worst that love them, and dwell there, Till the plague comes. The few that have the seeds

Of goodness left, will sooner make their way
To a true life, by shame, than punishment.

[He comes forward for the Epilogue.

Thus the projector here is overthrown ;
But I have now a project of mine own,
If it may pass, that no man would invite
The poet from us, to sup forth to-night,
If the play please. If it displeasant be,
We do presume that no man will, nor we.

[Exeunt.

So much has incidentally appeared in the notes, on the two great objects of this drama, the powerful ridicule of monopolists and projectors, and the exposure of pretended demoniacs and witch-finders, (the crying evils of the time,) that little or nothing remains to be added on either, in this place. Another opportunity will be afforded of recurring to the subject of witchcraft, and the subsequent play brings forward another set of projectors.

There is much good writing in this comedy. All the speeches of Satan are replete with the most biting satire, delivered with an appropriate degree of spirit. Fitzdottrel is one of those characters which Jonson delighted to draw, and in which he stood unrivalled, a gull, i. e. a confident coxcomb, selfish, cunning, and conceited. Mrs. Fitzdottrel possesses somewhat more interest than the generality of our author's females, and is, indeed, a well-sustained character. In action, the principal amusement of the scene (exclusive of the admirable burlesque of witchery in the conclusion) was probably derived from the mortification of poor Pug, whose stupid stare of amazement at finding himself made an ass of on every possible occasion, must, if pourtrayed as some then on the stage were well able to pourtray it, have been exquisitely comic.

This play is strictly moral in its conception and conduct. Knavery and folly are shamed and corrected, virtue is strengthened and rewarded, and the ends of dramatic justice are sufficiently answered by the simple exposure of those whose errors are merely subservient to the minor interests of the piece.

THE STAPLE OF NEWS.