Sivut kuvina
PDF
ePub

1. Are you not proud of your cloaths?
Why then you were never proud of any thing;
For therein chiefly confifteth pride; for you
Never faw pride pictur'd, but in gay attire.
2. True; but in my opinion, pride might as well
Be pourtray'd in any other fhape; being

The caufes thereof are fo fev'ral and

Divers as fome are proud of their ftrength, although
That pride coft them the lofs of a limb or
Two, by over-daring: Some are proud of
'Their humour; although in that humour, they
Be often knock'd for being fo: Some are
Proud of their drink, although that liquid
Operation cause them to wear a night-cap
Three weeks after: Some are proud of their good
Parts, although they were never put to better
Ufes, than the enjoying of a common
Strumpet's company: And fome are only

Made proud, by the favour of a waiting woman.

Taylour's Hog hath loft his Pearl.

-I believe cunning

Court ladies chufe fome pretty venial errors,
To fet perfection off: For fhould you not
Ufurp a handfome pride, your fame would lie
Like unwall'd cities, open to the prey

Of each invading youth. Did you not fhew
A fcorn, you would deferve it.

Habbington's Queen of Arragon.

He like a high-fwol'n and impetuous tide,
Bore all before him; rais'd to fuch a pride
As did his own approaching ruin fhew,
And draw it on: Plethorick bodies fo,
From whence difeafes of themfelves do breed,
The feeds of death in that ftrong fulness feed.

May's Edward III.

I'll offer, and I'll suffer no abuse,
Because I'm proud; pride is of mighty ufe.

Th:

The affectation of a pompous name,
Has oft fet wits and heroes in a flame:

Volumes, and buildings, and dominions wide,
Are oft the noble monuments of pride.

Crown's Caligula.

PRODIGALITY.

What will this come to? He commands us to
Provide, and give great gifts, and all out of
An empty coffer: Nor will he know

His purfe, or yield me this

To fhew him what a beggar his heart is,
Be'ng of no pow'r to make his wishes good;

His promifes fly fo beyond his ftate,

That what he speaks is all in debt; he owes for ev'ry word :

He is fo kind, that he pays inter'ft for't:

His land's put to their books. Well, would I were

Gently put out of office, ere I were forc'd.

[blocks in formation]

Shakespear's Timon.

Johnson's Catiline.

That which made him gracious in your eyes,
And gilded over his imperfections,
Is wafted and confumed ev'n like ice,
Which by the vehemence of heat diffolves,
And glides to many rivers; fo his wealth,
That felt a prodigal hand, hot in expence,
Melted within his gripe, and from his coffers,
Ran like a violent ftream to other mens.

Cook's Green's Tu quoque. Young heirs, left in this town, where fin's fo rank, And prodigals gape to grow fat by them,

Are like young whelps, thrown in the lion's den,
Who play with them a while, at length devour them.
Wilkins's Miseries of enforc'd Marriage.

Thus like a fever that doth fhake a man
From ftrength to weakness, I confume myself:

D 2

I know

[ocr errors]

I know this company, their custom wild,
Hated, abhorr'd of good men; yet, like a child,
By reafon's rule inftructed how to know

Evil from good, I to the worfer go.

1

Wilkins's Miferies of enforced Marriage.

What is a prodigal? Faith, like a brush,
That wears himself, to flourish others cloaths;
And having worn his heart ev'n to the stump,
He's thrown away like a deformed lump:
Oh fuch am I! I have spent all the wealth
My ancestors did purchase; made others brave.
In fhape and riches, and myself a knave :
For tho' my wealth rais'd fome to paint their door,
'Tis fhut 'gainst me, faying, I am but poor.
Nay, ev'n the greateft arm, whofe hand had grac'd
My prefence to the eye of majesty, shrinks back,
His fingers clutch, and like to lead

They're heavy to raise up my ftate, b'ing dead:
By which I find spend-thrifts, and fuch am I,
Like ftrumpets flourish, but are foul within ;
And they like fnakes, know when to caft their skin.

Ibid.

My old mafter kept a good houfe, and twenty
Or thirty tall fword and buckler-men about
Him; and in faith his fon differs not much,
He will have metal too; tho' he has no
Store of cutlers blades, he will have plenty
Of vintners pots. His father kept a good
House for honeft men, his tenants, that brought
Him in part: And his fon keeps a bad houfe
With knaves that help to confume all: 'Tis but
The change of time: Why fhould any man repine
At it? Crickets, good loving and lucky worms,
Were wont to feed, fing, and rejoice in the
Father's chimney: And now carrion-crows build
In the fon's kitchen.

Our

-Our eyes

See daily prefidents: hopeful gentlemen
Being trufted in the world with their own will,
Divert the good is look'd from them, to ill :
Make their old names forgot, or not worth note;
Such company they keep, fuch revelling
With panders, parafites, prodigies of knaves,
That they fell all, ev'n to their old fathers graves.
Wilkins's Miferies of enforced Marriage.

He has not felt

The weight of need, that want is virtue's clog;
Of what neceflity, refpect and value
Wealth is; how bafe and how contemptible
Poverty makes us liberality

In fome circumftances, may be allow'd ;
As when it has no end but honesty;
With a refpect of perfon, quantity,
Quality, time, and place: but this profufe,
Vain, injudicious fpending makes him idiot :
And yet, the best of liberality

Is to be lib'ral to ourfelves: And thus
Your wifdom is most liberal, and knows
How fond a thing it is for difcreet men
To purchase with the lofs of their estate
The name of one poor virtue, liberality,
And that too, only from the mouths of beggars!
One of your judgment would not, I am fure,
Buy all the virtues at fo dear a rate.

Randolph's Mufes Looking-Glafs.

1. Two thousand pounds a year

Cannot be melted fuddenly; when 'tis,
Men can but fay, her prodigality

Has done an act of juftice, and tranflated

That wealth which fortune's blindness had mifplac'd

On fuch a fellow what should he do with it?

2. And thou fay'ft right. Some men were made to be The conduit-pipes of an eftate; or rather

The fieves of fortune, thro' whofe leaking holes

D 3

She

She means to scatter a large flood of wealth,
Besprinkling many with refreshing show'rs:
So ufurers, fo dying aldermen

Pour at once upon their fieve-like heirs

Whole gufts of envy'd wealth; which they together Through many holes let out again in show'rs,

And, with their ruin water a whole country.

May's Old Couple.

PROJECTÒ

1. What is a projector, I would conceive? 2. Why, one, fir, that projects

R.

Ways to enrich men; or to make 'em great,
By fuits, by marriages, by undertakings:
According as he fees they humour it.

Johnfon's Devil is an Afs,

Money's a whore, a bawd, a drudge;
Fit to run out on errands: Let her go.
Via pecunia! When fhe's run and gone,
And fled, and dead; then will I fetch her again
With Aqua vita, out of an old hogfhead!
While there are lees of wine, or dregs of beer,
I'll never want her! coin her out of cobwebs,
Duft, but I'll have her! raife wool upon Egg-fhells,
Sir, and make grafs grow out o'marrow bones!

-He fhall not draw

A firing of's purfe. I'll drive his patent for him.
We'll take in citizens, commoners, and aldermen,
To bear the charge; and blow them off again,
Like fo many dead flies, when 'tis carry'd:
The thing is for recov'ry of drown'd land,
Whereof the crown's to have a moiety,
If it be owner; elfe the crown and owners
To share that moiety, and the recoverers
l'enjoy the other moiety for their charge.

It fhall be no fhame to me, to confefs

To you, that we poor gentlemen, that want acres,

Ibid.

Ibid.

Muft

« EdellinenJatka »