University of Virginia Library

Scena Secunda.

Enter Mirabell, Pinac, Belleure, and Servants.
Mir.
Welcom to Paris once more, Gentlemen:
We have had a merry, and a lusty Ord'nary,
And wine, and good meat, and a bounsing Reckning;
And let it go for once; 'Tis a good physick:
Only the wenches are not for my dyet,
They are too lean and thin; their embraces brawn-fall'n.
Give me the plump Venetian, fat, and lusty,
That meets me soft and supple; smiles upon me,
As if a cup of full wine leap'd to kiss me;
These slight things I affect not.

Pi.
They are ill built;
Pin-buttockt, like your dainty Barbaries,
And weak i'th pasterns; they'l endure no hardness.

Mir.
There's nothing good, or handsom, bred amongst us;
Till we are travail'd, and live abroad, we are coxcombs:
Ye talk of France, a slight, unseason'd Country;
Abundance of gross food, which makes us block-heads:
We are fair set-out indeed, and so are fore-horses.
Men say we are great Courtiers, men abuse us:
We are wise, and valiant too, non credo Signior:
Our women the best Linguists, they are Parrats;
O' this side the Alpes they are nothing but meer Drollaries:
Ha Roma la Santa, Italie for my money:
Their policies, their customs, their frugalities,
Their curtesies so open, yet so reserved too,
As when ye think y'are known best, ye are a stranger;
Their very pick-teeth speak more man than we do,
And season of more salt.

Pi.
'Tis a brave Country;
Not pester'd with your stubborn precise puppies,
That turn all usefull, and allow'd contentments
To scabs and scruples; hang 'em Capon-worshippers.

Bel.
I like that freedom well, and like their women too,
And would fain do as others do; but I am so bashfull,
So naturally an Ass: Look ye, I can look upon 'em,
And very willingly I go to see 'em,
(There's no man willinger) and I can kiss 'em,
And make a shift—

Mir.
But if they chance to flout ye,
Or say ye are too bold; fie Sir remember;
I pray sit farther off;—

Bel.
'Tis true, I am humbled,
I am gone, I confess ingenuously I am silenced,
The spirit of Amber cannot force me answer.

Pi.
Then would I sing and dance.

Bel.
You have wherewithall, Sir.

Pi.
And charge her up again.

Bel.
I can be hang'd first:
Yet where I fasten well, I am a tyrant.

Mir.
Why, thou darst fight?

Bel.
Yes, certainly, I dare fight;
And fight with any man, at any weapon,
Would th'other were no more; but, a pox on't,
When I am sometimes in my height of hope,
And reasonable valiant that way, my heart harden'd,
Some scornfull jest or other, chops between me
And my desire: What would ye have me to do then, Gentlemen?

Mir.
Belvere, ye must be bolder: Travell three years,
And bring home such a baby to betray ye
As bashfulness? a great fellow, and a souldier?

Bel.
You have the gift of impudence, be thankful;
Every man has not the like talent: I will study
And if it may be reveal'd to me.

Mir.
Learn of me,
And of Pinac: no doubt you'll find imployment;
Ladies will look for Courtship.

Pi.
'Tis but fleshing,
But standing one good brunt or two: ha'st thou any mind to mariage?
Wee'll provide thee some soft-natur'd wench, that's dumb too.

Mir.
Or an old woman that cannot refuse thee in charity.

Bel.
A dumb woman, or an old woman, that were eager,
And car'd not for discourse, I were excellent at.

Mir.
You must now put on boldness, there's no avoyding it;
And stand all hazards; fly at all games bravely;
They'll say you went out like an Ox, and return'd like an Ass else.

Bel.
I shall make danger sure.

Mir.
I am sent for home now,
I know it is to mary, but my father shall pardon me,
Although it be a witty ceremony,
And may concern me hereafter in my gravitie;
I will not lose the freedom of a Traveller;
A new strong lusty Bark cannot ride at one anchor;
Shall I make divers suits to shew to the same eyes?
'Tis dull, and home-spun: Study severall pleasures,
And want employments for 'em? I'll be hang'd first;
Tie me to one smock? make my travels fruitless?
I'll none of that: For every fresh behaviour,
By your leave, father, I must have a fresh Mistris,
And a fresh favour too.

Bel.
I like that passingly;
As many as you will, so they be willing;
Willing, and gentle, gentle.

Pi.
There's no reason
A Gentleman, and a Traveller, should be clapt up,
For 'tis a kind of Bæboes to be maryed
Before he manifest to the world his good parts:
Tug ever like at a rascall at one oar?
Give me the Italian liberty.

Mir.
That I study;
And that I will enjoy: Come, go in Gentlemen,
There mark how I behave my self, and follow.

Exeunt.