Where then my Faulkner's Wife was brought a-bed
Of this Cefario; him I own'd for mine;
Prefented him unto a joyful Father.

Duke. Can yo' prove this true?

Mar. Proofs I have moft evident; But oh the Curse of my Impatience! fhortly, E'er three new Moons had spent their borrow'd Lights, I grew with Child indeed; fo juft is Heav'n, The Iffue of which Burthen was this Daughter: Judge now moft gracious Prince, my Lords and you, What Combats then, and fince, I have endur'd, Between a Mother's Piety, and Weakness Of a Soul-trembling Wife; to have reveal'd This Secret to Alberto, had been danger Of Ruin to my Fame, befides the conflict Of his Distractions; now to have fupprefs'd it, Were to defeat my Child, my only Child, Of her moft lawful Honours, and Inheritance. Cefario, thou'rt a Man ftill, Education Hath moulded thee a Gentleman, continue fo; Let not this fall from Greatness fink thee lower Than worthy Thoughts may warrant, yet disclaim All Intereft in Alberto's Blood, thou haft not One drop of his or mine.

Duke. Produce your Witness.

Mar. The Faulkner's Wife his Mother, And Women fuch as waited then upon me, Sworn to the Privacy of this great Secret. Duke. Give them all their Oaths.

Cefa. O let me crave forbearance, gracious Sir, Vouchfafe me hearing.

Duke. Speak, Cefario.

Cefa. Thus long

I have stood filent, and with no unwillingness
Attended the Relation of my Fall,

From a fair Expectation; what I fear'd

one, Ingenuity of Conjecture only carries us further out of our way. Where Words have the fame Sound, as Rights and Rites, nothing is fo common with Tranfcribers as to mistake one for the other; to rectify the Spelling therefore is all that is here wanted.

(Since the firft Syllable this Lady utter'd
Of my not being hers) benevolent Fates
Have eas'd me of; (26) for to be bafely born,
If not bafe-born, detracts not from the Bounty
Of Nature's Freedom, or an honeft Birth.
Nobility claim'd by the Right of Blood,
Shews chiefly, (27) that our Ancestors deferv'd
What we inherit; but that Man whose Actions
Purchase a real Merit to himself,

And ranks him in the file of Praife and Honour,
Creates his own Advancement; let me want
The Fuel which beft feeds the Fires of Greatness,
Lordly Poffeffions, yet fhall still my Gratitude
By fome Attempts, of mention not unworthy,
Endeavour to return (28) a fit Acquittance
To that large Debt I owe your Favours, Madam,
And great Alberto's Memory and Goodness;

O that I could as gently shake off Passion

For th' Lofs (29) of that great brave Man, as I can shake off

Remembrance of what once I was reputed;

for to be bafely born,

(26)

Is not bafe-born,

Mr. Sympfon justly read. If not bafeborn- which gives the Author's Meaning much more clearly, viz. To be born of mean Parents, if in Wedlock, is no Detraction to any

Man.

(27)

that our Ancestors defir'd

What we inherit;] Defir'd is undoubtedly corrupt, and fo appear'd to us all. Mr. Sympfon reads acquir'd, but I believe he will readily allow defer'd (in which Mr. Theobald and I concurr'd) to be the better Reading.

(38) a fit Acquaintance] This is only the grofs Miftake of the late Editions: Mr. Theobald and I concurr'd in the Emendation, without knowing it to be confirm'd by the old Folio.

(29)

of that great brave

of that once I

-] I fufpected the second that should have been what, and found in the old Folio an odd Confirmation of it. The two Lines there run thus:

of what great brave-
of that once I-

Here that and what evidently had chang'd Places, which the latter Editors did not perceive, though they faw the Abfurdity of what in the first Line.

I have not much to fay, this Princely Prefence
Needs not too ftrictly to examine farther
The Truth of this Acknowledgment; a Mother
Dares never difavow her only Son,

And any Woman must come fhort of Piety,
That can, or dif-inherit her own Iffue,
Or fears the Voice of Rumour for a Stranger.'
Madam, you have confefs'd, my Father was
A Servant to your Lord and you: By interest
Of being his Son, I cannot but claim juftly
The Honour of continuing ftill my Service
To you and yours; which granted, I beg leave
I may for this time be difmift.

Duke. Bold Spirit.

Bapt. I love thee now with pity.

Duke. Go not yet

A fudden Tempest that might shake a Rock,
Yet he ftands firm against it; much it moves me,
He, not Alberto's Son, and the a Widow,

And the a Widow, Lords, your Ear.

Omnes. Your Pleasure.

[Whispers

Duke. So, Lady, what you have avouch'd is Truth,

Mar. Truth only, gracious Sir.

Duke. Hear then our Sentence.

Since from his Cradle you have fed and fofter'd
Cefario as your Son, and train'd him up
To hopes of Greatnefs; which now in a Moment
You utterly again have ruin'd, this way
We with our Counsel are refolv'd, you being
A Widow, fhall accept him for a Husband.
Mar. Husband to me, Sir?

Duke. 'Tis in us to raise him

To Honours, and his Virtues will deferve 'em.

Mar. But Sir, 'tis in no Prince, nor his Prerogative,

To force a Woman's Choice against her Heart.
Duke. True, if then you appeal to higher Juftice,
Our Doom includes this Claufe upon refusal,
Out of your Lord's Revenues fhall Cefario
Affure to any, whom he takes for Wife,
Th' Inheritance of three Parts; the lefs remainder

Is Dowry large enough to marry a Daughter;
And we, by our Prerogative, which you question,
Will publickly adopt him into th' Name
Of your deceas'd Albertus, that the Memory
Of fo approv'd a Peer may live in him

That can preferve his Memy; 'lefs you find out
Some other means, which may as amply fatisfy
His Wrong, our Sentence ftands irrevocable:
What think you, Lords?

Omnes. The Duke is just and honourable.
Bapt. Let me embrace Cefario, henceforth ever
I vow a conftant Friendship. Ment. I remit
All former Difference. Cefa. I am too poor
In Words to thank this Juftice. Madam, always
My Studies fhall be Love to you, and Duty.
Duke. Replies we admit none.

Cefario wait on us.

[Exeunt. Manent Ment. Bapt. Mar, and Cla,

Bapt. Mentivole.

Ment. My Lord,

Bapt. Look on Clariffa,

She's noble, rich, young, fair. Ment. My Lord, and

virtuous.

Bapt. Mentivole, and virtuous.

Tyranny

Of Juftice, I fhal live Report's Derifion,

Madam. Mar.

That am compell'd t' exchange a graceful Widow-hood For a continual Martyrdom in Marriage,

With one fo much beneath me.

Bapt. I'll plead for ye

Boldly and conftantly, let your Daughter only

Admit my Son her Servant at next Vifit,

Madam, I'll be a Meffenger of Comfort.

Mentivole, be confident and earnest.

[Exit:

Mar. Married again, to him too! better 't had been

The young Man fhould have still retain'd the Honours Of old Alberto's Son, than I the Shame

Of making him Succeffor of his Bed;

I was to blame. Ment. Indeed without Offence,
Madam, I think you were.

Cla. You urge it fairly,

And

And like a worthy Friend.

Mar. Can you fay any thing

In commendation of a Mushroom withered,
As soon as started up?

Ment. You fcorn an Innocent

Of noble growth, for whiles your Husband liv'd
I've heard you boaft, Cefario in all Actions
Gave matter of Report, of Imitation,

Wonder and Envy; let not discontinuance
Of fome few Days eftrange a fweet Opinion
Of Virtue, chiefly when, in fuch Extremity,
Your Pity, not Contempt, will argue Goodness.
Mar. O Sir.

Cla. If you would use a thriving Courtship,
You cannot utter a more powerful Language,
That I fhall liften to with greater Greediness,
Than th' Argument you profecute; this speaks you
A Man compleat and excellent.

Ment. I speak not,

They are his own Deferts.

Mar. Good Sir, forbear,

I am now fully fenfible of running

Into a violent Lethargy, whofe deadliness

Locks up all Reason, I fhall never henceforth

Remember my paft Happiness.

Ment. Thefe Clouds

May be difpers'd.

Mar. I fear continual Night

Will over-shroud me, yet poor Youth his Trefpafs.

Lies in his Fortune, not the Cruelty

Of the Duke's Sentence.

Cla. I dare think it does:

Mar. If all fail, I will learn then to conquer

Adverfity with Sufferance.

Ment. You refolve nobly.

[Exeunt.

ACT