Chapter XVIII: Act I: , Scene 1

_Enter_ ALBUMAZAR, HARPAX, RONCA.

ALB. Come, brave mercurials, sublim'd in cheating;
My dear companions, fellow-soldiers
I' th' watchful exercise of thievery:
Shame not at your so large profession,
No more than I at deep astrology;
For in the days of old, _Good morrow, thief_,
As welcome was received, as now _your worship_.
The Spartans held it lawful,[228] and the Arabians;[229]
So grew Arabia felix, Sparta valiant.

RON. Read on this lecture, wise Albumazar.

ALB. Your patron, Mercury, in his mysterious character
Holds all the marks of the other wanderers,[230]
And with his subtle influence works in all,
Filling their stories full of robberies.
Most trades and callings must participate
Of yours, though smoothly gilt with th' honest title
Of merchant, lawyer, or such like--the learned
Only excepted, and he's therefore poor.

HAR. And yet he steals, one author from another.
This poet is that poet's plagiary.
And he a third's, till they end all in Homer.

ALB. And Homer filch'd all from an Egyptian priestess,[231]
The world's a theatre of theft. Great rivers[232]
Rob smaller brooks, and them the ocean;
And in this world of ours, this microcosm,
Guts from the stomach steal, and what they spare,
The meseraics filch, and lay't i' the liver:
Where, lest it should be found, turn'd to red nectar,
'Tis by a thousand thievish veins convey'd,
And hid in flesh, nerves, bones, muscles, and sinews:
In tendons, skin, and hair; so that, the property
Thus alter'd, the theft can never be discover'd.
Now all these pilf'ries, couch'd and compos'd in order,
Frame thee and me. Man's a quick mass of thievery.

RON. Most philosophical Albumazar!

HAR. I thought these parts had lent and borrowed mutual.

ALB. Say, they do so: 'tis done with full intention
Ne'er to restore, and that's flat robbery.
Therefore go on: follow your virtuous laws,
Your cardinal virtue, _great necessity;_
Wait on her close with all occasions;
Be watchful, have as many eyes as heaven,
And ears as harvest: be resolv'd and impudent:
Believe none, trust none; for in this city
(As in a fought field, crows and carcases)
No dwellers are but cheaters and cheatees.

RON. If all the houses in the town were prisons,
The chambers cages, all the settles[233] stocks,
The broad-gates, gallowses, and the whole people
Justices, juries, constables, keepers, and hangmen,
I'd practise, spite of all; and leave behind me
A fruitful seminary of our profession,
And call them by the name of Albumazarians.

HAR. And I no less, were all the city thieves
As cunning as thyself.

ALB. Why, bravely spoken:
Fitting such generous spirits! I'll make way
To your great virtue with a deep resemblance
Of high astrology. Harpax and Ronca,
List to our project:[234] I have new-lodg'd a prey
Hard by, that (taken) is, so fat and rich,
'Twill make us leave off trading, and fall to purchase.

HAR. Who is't? speak quickly.

RON. Where, good Albumazar?

ALB. 'Tis a rich gentleman, as old as foolish;
The poor remnant of whose brain, that age had left him,
The doting love of a young girl hath dried:
And, which concerns us most, he gives firm credit
To necromancy and astrology.

_Enter_ FURBO.

Sending to me, as one, that promise both.
Pandolfo is the man.

HAR. What, old Pandolfo?

ALB. The same: but stay, yon's Furbo, whose smooth[235] brow
Shines with good news, and's visage promises
Triumphs and trophies to's. [FURBO _plays_.

RON. On my life
He has learnt out all; I know it by his music.[236]

_Then_ FURBO _sings this song_.

_Bear up thy learned brow, Albumazar;_
_Live long, of all the world admir'd,_
_For art profound and skill retir'd,_
_To cheating by the height of star:[237]_
_Hence, gipsies, hence; hence, rogues of baser strain,_
_That hazard life for little gain:_
_Stand off and, wonder, gape and gaze afar_
_At the rare skill of great Albumazar._

FUR. Albumazar,
Spread out thy nets at large, here's fowl abundance:
Pandolfo's ours; I understand his business,
Which I filch'd closely[238] from him, while he reveal'd
T' his man his purposes and projects.

ALB. Excellent!

FUR. Thanks to this instrument: for, in pretence
Of teaching young Sulpitia, th' old man's daughter,
I got access to th' house, and while I waited
Till she was ready, overheard Pandolfo
Open his secrets to his servant. Thus 'tis:
Antonio, Pandolfo's friend and neighbour,
Before he went to Barbary, agreed
To give in marriage----

ALB. Furbo, this is no place
Fit to consider curious points of business:
Come, let's away, I'll hear't at large above.
Ronca, stay you below, and entertain him
With a loud noise, of my deep skill in art;
Thou know'st my rosy[239] modesty cannot do it.
Harpax, up you, and from my bedchamber,
Where all things for our purposes are ready,
Second each beck and nod, and word of ours.
You know my meaning?

HAR. Yes, yes.

FUR. Yes, sir.

[FURBO _goes out singing, Fa la la, Pandolfo's ours_.

SCENE II.

RONCA, PANDOLFO, CRICCA.

RON. There's old Pandolfo, amorous as youthful May,
And grey as January: I'll attend him here.

PAN. Cricca, I seek thy aid, not thy cross counsel;
I am mad in love with Flavia, and must have her:
Thou spend'st thy reasons to the contrary,
Like arrows 'gainst an anvil: I love Flavia,
And must have Flavia.

CRI. Sir, you have no reason;
She's a young girl of sixteen, you of sixty.

PAN. I have no reason, nor spare room for any.
Love's harbinger hath chalk'd upon my heart,
And with a coal writ on my brain, for Flavia;[240]
This house is wholly taken up for Flavia.
Let reason get a lodging with her wit:
Vex me no more, I must have Flavia.

CRI. But, sir, her brother Lelio, under whose charge
She's now after her father's death, sware boldly,
Pandolfo never shall have Flavia.

PAN. His father, ere he went to Barbary,
Promis'd her me: who, be he live or dead,
Spite of a list[241] of Lelios, Pandolfo
Shall enjoy Flavia.

CRI. Sir, y' are too old.

PAN. I must confess, in years about threescore,
But in tough strength of body four-and-twenty,
Or few[242] months less. Love of Young Flavia,
More powerful than Medea's drugs, renews
All decay'd parts of man: my arteries,
Blown full with youthful spirits, move the blood
To a new business: my wither'd nerves grow plump
And strong, longing for action. Hence, thou poor prop
Of feebleness and age! walk with such sires,
[_Throws away his staff._]
As with cold palsies shake away their strength,
And lose their legs with cureless gouts. Pandolfo
New-moulded is for revels, masques and music. Cricca,
String my neglected lute, and from my armoury
Scour my best sword, companion of my youth,
Without which I seem naked.

CRI. Your love, sir, like strong water
To a deplor'd sick man, quicks your feeble limbs
For a poor moment; but, after one night's lodging,
You'll fall so dull and cold, that Flavia
Will shriek, and leap from bed as from a sepulchre.
Shall I speak plainer, sir? she'll cuckold you--
Alas! she'll cuckold you.

PAN. What, me! a man of known discretion;
Of riches, years, and this grey gravity?
I'll satisfy'r with gold, rich clothes, and jewels.

CRI. Were't not far fitter urge your son Eugenio
To woo her for himself?

PAN. Cricca, begone!
Touch no more there: I will and must have Flavia.
Tell Lelio, if he grant m' his sister Flavia,
I'll give my daughter to him in exchange.
Begone, and find me here within this half-hour.

SCENE III

RONCA, PANDOLFO.

RON. 'Tis well that servant's gone: I shall the easier
Wind up his master to my purposes.

PAN. Sure, this some novice of th' artillery,
That winks and shoots: sir, prime your piece anew,
The powder's wet. [_Knocks at the door._

RON. A good ascendant:[243] bless me, sir, are you frantic?

PAN. Why frantic? are not two knocks the lawful courses
To open doors and ears?

RON. Of vulgar men and houses.

PAN. Whose lodging's this? is't not the astrologer's?

RON. His lodging! no: 'tis the learn'd frontisterion[244]
Of most divine Albumazar.

PAN. Good sir,
If the door break, a better shall redeem it.

RON. How! all your land, sold at a hundred years' purchase,
Cannot repair the damage of one poor rap:
To thunder at the frontisterion
Of great Albumazar!

PAN. Why, man, what harm?

RON. Sir, you must know my master's heavenly brain,
Pregnant with mysteries of metaphysics,
Grows to an embryo of rare contemplation
Which, at full time brought forth, excels by far
The armed fruit of Vulcan's midwif'ry,
That leap'd from Jupiter's mighty cranium.

PAN. What of all this?

RON. Thus: one of your bold thunders may abortive,
And cause that birth miscarry, that might have prov'd
An instrument of wonders, greater and rarer
Than Apollonius the magician wrought.[245]

PAN. Are you your master's countryman?

RON. Yes; why ask you?

PAN. Then must I get an interpreter for your language.

RON. You need not;
With a wind-instrument my master made,
In five days you may breathe ten languages,
As perfect as the devil or himself.

PAN. When may I speak with him?

RON. When't please the stars.
He pulls you not a hair, nor pares a nail,
Nor stirs a foot, without due figuring
The horoscope. Sit down awhile, and't please you,
I see the heavens incline to his approach.

PAN. What's this, I pray you?

RON. An engine to catch stars,
A mace to arrest such planets as have lurk'd
Four thousand years under protection
Of Jupiter and Sol.

PAN. Pray you, speak English.

RON. Sir, 'tis a perspicil,[246] the best under heaven:
With this I'll read a leaf of that small Iliad
That in a walnut-shell was desk'd, as plainly
Twelve long miles off, as you see Paul's from Highgate.

PAN. Wonderful workman of so rare an instrument!

RON. 'Twill draw the moon so near, that you would swear
The bush of thorns in't pricks your eyes: the crystal
Of a large arch multiplies millions,
Works more than by point-blank, and by refractions
Optic and strange searcheth, like the eye of truth,
All closets that have windows. Have at Rome!
I see the pope, his cardinals and his mule,
The English college and the Jesuits,
And what they write and do.

PAN. Let me see, too.

RON. So far you cannot: for this glass is fram'd
For eyes of thirty; you are nigh threescore.
But for some fifty miles 'twill serve you,
With help of a refractive glass that's yonder.
For trial, sir; where are you now?

PAN. In London.

RON. Ha' you found the glass within that chamber?

PAN. Yes.

RON. What see you?

PAN. Wonders! wonders! I see, as in a landscape,
An honourable throng of noble persons,
As clear as I were under the same roof:
Seems by their gracious brows and courteous looks
Something they see, which if it be indifferent,
They'll fav'rably accept: if otherwise,
They'll pardon: who or what they be, I know not.

RON. Why, that's the court at Cambridge, forty miles hence.
What else?

PAN. A hall thrust full of bare heads, some bald, some bush'd,
Some bravely branch'd.[247]

RON. That's the university,
Larded with townsmen. Look you there, what now?

PAN. Who? I see Dover Pier, a man now landing.
Attended by two porters, that seem to groan
Under the burden of two loads of paper.

RON. That's Coriatus Persicus[248] and's observations
Of Asia and Afric.

PAN. The price?

RON. I dare not sell't;
But here's another of a stranger virtue.
The great Albumazar, by wondrous art,
In imitation of this perspicil,
Hath fram'd an instrument that magnifies
Objects of hearing, as this doth of seeing;
That you may know each whisper from Prester John
Against the wind, as fresh as 'twere delivered
Through a trunk or Gloucester's list'ning wall.[249]

PAN. And may I see it, sir? Bless me once more.

RON. 'Tis something ceremonious; but you shall try't.
Stand thus. What hear you?

PAN. Nothing.

RON. Set your hands thus,
That the vertex of the organ may perpendicularly
Point at our zenith. What hear you now? [_Laughing within._

PAN. A humming noise of laughter.

RON. Why, that's the court
And university, that now are merry
With an old gentlemen in a comedy. What now?

PAN. Celestial music; but it seems far off.
List, list! 'tis nearer now.

RON. Tis music 'twixt the acts. What now?

PAN. Nothing.

RON. And now?

PAN. Music again, and strangely delicate, O, most angelical!

RON. And now? [_They sing[250] within._]
_Sing sweetly, that our notes may cause_
_The heavenly orbs themselves to pause:_
_And at our music stand as still_
_As at Jove's amorous will.[251]_
_So now release them as before,_
_Th' have waited long enough; no more._

PAN. 'Tis gone, give me't again. O, do not so.

RON. What hear you now?

PAN. No more than a dead oyster.
O, let me see this wond'rous instrument.

RON. Sir, this is called an autocousticon.[252]

PAN. Autocousticon![253]
Why, 'tis a pair of ass's ears, and large ones.

RON. True; for in such a form the great Albumazar
Hath fram'd it purposely, as fitt'st receivers
Of sounds, as spectacles like eyes for sight.

PAN. What gold will buy't?

RON. I'll sell't you when 'tis finish'd.
As yet the epiglottis[254] is unperfect.

PAN. Soon as you can; and here's ten crowns in earnest.
For when 'tis done, and I have purchas'd it,
I mean t' entail it on my heirs-male for ever,
Spite of the ruptures of the common law.

RON. Nay, rather giv't to Flavia for her jointure:
For she that marries you deserves it richly.

SCENE IV.

CRICCA, PANDOLFO, RONCA.

CRI. Sir, I have spoke with Lelio, and he answers----

PAN. Hang Lelio and his answers. Come hither, Cricca,
Wonder for me, admire, and be astonish'd;
Marvel thyself to marble at these engines,
These strange Gorgonian instruments.

CRI. At what?

PAN. At this rare perspicil and autocousticon:
For with these two I'll hear and see all secrets;
Undo intelligencers. Pray, let my man see
What's done in Rome; his eyes are just as yours are.

RON. Pandolfo, are you mad? be wise and secret;
See you the steep danger you are tumbling in?
Know you not that these instruments have power
To unlock the hidden'st closets of whole states?
And you reveal such mysteries to a servant?
Sir, be advis'd, or else you learn no more
Of our unknown philosophy.

PAN. Enough.
What news from Lelio? Shall I have his sister?

CRI. He swears and vows he never will consent.
She shall not play with worn antiquities,
Nor lie with snow and statues; and such replies
That I omit for reverence of your worship.

PAN. Not have his sister! Cricca, I will have Flavia,
Maugre his head:[255] by means of this astrologer,
I'll enjoy Flavia. Are the stars yet inclin'd
To his divine approach?

RON. One minute brings him.

CRI. What 'strologer?

PAN. The learned man I told thee,
The high Almanac of Germany; an Indian
Far beyond Trebisond and Tripoli,
Close by the world's end: a rare conjuror
And great astrologer. His name, pray, sir?

RON. Albumazarro Meteoroscopico.

CRI. A name of force to hang him without trial.

PAN. As he excels in science, so in title.
He tells of lost plate, horses, and stray'd cattle
Directly, as he had stol'n them all himself.

CRI. Or he or some of his confederates.

PAN. As thou respect'st thy life, look to thy tongue;
Albumazar has an autocousticon.
Be silent, reverent, and admire his skill.
See what a promising countenance appears!
Stand still and wonder--wonder and stand still.

SCENE V.

ALBUMAZAR, RONCA, PANDOLFO, CRICCA.

ALB. Ronca, the bunch of planets new found out,
Hanging at the end of my best perspicil,
Send them to Galileo at Padua:[256]
Let him bestow them where he please. But the stars,
Lately discover'd 'twixt the horns of Aries,
Are as a present for Pandolfo's marriage,
And hence styl'd Sidera Pandolfaea.

PAN. My marriage, Cricca! he foresees my marriage:
O most celestial Albumazar!

CRI. And sends y' a present from the head of Aries.[257]

ALB. My almanac, made for the meridian
And height of Japan, give't th' East India Company;
There may they smell the price of cloves and pepper,
Monkeys and china dishes, five years ensuing.
And know the success of the voyage of Magores;[258]
For, in the volume of the firmament,
We children of the stars read things to come,
As clearly as poor mortals stories pass'd
In Speed or Holinshed. The perpetual motion[259]
With a true 'larum in't, to run twelve hours
'Fore Mahomet's return,[260] deliver it safe
To a Turkey factor: bid him with care present it
From me to the house of Ottoman.

RON. I will, sir.

CRI. Pray you, stand here, and wonder now for me;
Be astonish'd at his jargon,[261] for I cannot.
I'll pawn[262] my life he proves a mere impostor. [_Aside._

PAN. Peace, not a word, be silent and admire.

ALB. As for the issue of the next summer's wars.
Reveal't to none, keep it to thyself in secret,
As touchstone of my skill in prophecy. Begone.

RON. I go, sir. [_Exit._

ALB. Signior Pandolfo, I pray you, pardon me,
Exotical despatches of great consequence
Stay'd me; and casting the nativity
O' th' Cham of Tartary, and a private conference
With a mercurial intelligence.
Y' are welcome in a good hour, better minute,
Best second, happiest third, fourth, fifth, and scruple.
Let the twelve houses of the horoscope
Be lodg'd with fortitudes and fortunates,[263]
To make you bless'd in your designs, Pandolfo.

PAN. Were't not much trouble to your starry employments,
I, a poor mortal, would entreat your furtherance
In a terrestrial business.

ALB. My ephemeris[264] lies,
Or I foresee your errand. Thus, 'tis thus.
You had a neighbour call'd Antonio,
A widower like yourself, whose only daughter,
Flavia, you love, and he as much admir'd
Your child Sulpitia. Is not this right?

PAN. Yes, sir: O strange! Cricca, admire in silence.

ALB. You two decreed a countermatch betwixt you,
And purposed to truck daughters. Is't not so?

PAN. Just as you say't. Cricca, admire and wonder.

CRI. This is no such secret: look to yourself; he'll cheat you.
[_Aside._]

ALB. Antonio, after this match concluded,
Having great sums of gold in Barbary,
Desires of you, before he consummate
The rites of matrimony, he might go thither
For three months; but as now 'tis three and three,
Since he embark'd, and is not yet return'd;
Now, sir, your business is to me to know
Whether Antonio be dead or living.
I'll tell you instantly.

PAN. Hast thou reveal'd it?
I told it none but thee.

CRI. Not I.

PAN. Why stare you?
Are you not well?

ALB. I wander 'twixt the poles
And heavenly hinges, 'mongst excentricals,
Centres, concentrics, circles, and epicycles,
To hunt out an aspect fit for your business.

CRI. Mean ostentation! For shame, awake yourself. [_Aside._

ALB. And, since the lamp of heaven is newly enter'd
To Cancer, old Antonio is stark dead,
Drown'd in the sea, stone dead; for _radius directorius_
In the sixth house, and the waning moon by Capricorn;
He's dead, he's dead.

CRI. 'Tis an ill time to marry.
The moon grows fork'd, and walks with Capricorn.

PAN. Peace, fool! these words are full of mysteries.

ALB. What ominous face and dismal countenance,
Mark'd for disasters, hated of all the heavens,
Is this that follows you?

PAN. He is my servant;
A plain and honest speaker, but no harm in him.

CRI. What see you in my face?

ALB. Horror and darkness, death and gallowses:
I'd swear thou'rt hang'd, stood'st thou but two foot higher;
But now thy stars threaten a nearer death.
Sir, send to toll his knell.

PAN. What, is he dead?

ALB. He shall be by the dint of many stabs;
Only I spy a little hope of 'scaping
Thorough the clouds and foul aspects of death.

CRI. Sir, pray give no credit to this cheater;
Or with his words of art he'll make you doat
As much on his feign'd skill, as on fair Flavia.

SCENE VI.

_Enter_ HARPAX _and_ FURBO.

HAR. Stay, villain, stay! though safety 'tself defend thee,
Thou diest.

FUR. Come, do thy worst; thrust sure, or die.

CRI. For heaven's sake, gentlemen, stay your hands: help, help!
Help, Albumazar!

HAR. Thus to the hinderer
Of my revenge.

CRI. Save me, Albumazar.

FUR. And thus, and thus, and thus.

CRI. Master, I die, I die.

HAR. Fliest thou,
Base coward? Tis not thy heels can save thee. [_Exeunt._

SCENE VII.

ALBUMAZAR, PANDOLFO, CRICCA.

CRI. O, O!

PAN. What ails thee, Cricca?

CRI. I am dead, I am dead.
Trouble yourself no more.

PAN. What! dead, and speak'st?

CRI. Only there's left a little breath to tell you.

PAN. Why, where art hurt?

CRI. Stabb'd with a thousand daggers;
My heart, my lights, my liver, aud my skin,
Pierc'd like a sieve.

PAN. Here's not a wound: stand up,
'Tis but thy fear.

CRI. 'Tis but one wound all over:
Softly, O, softly! You have lost the truest servant.--
Farewell, I die.

ALB. Live by my courtesy; stand up and breathe.
The dangerous and malignant influence is pass'd:
But thank my charity, that put by the blows,
The least of which threaten'd a dozen graves.
Now learn to scoff [no more] divine astrology,
And slight her servants!

CRI. A surgeon, good sir, a surgeon.

ALB. Stand up, man, th' hast no harm; my life for thine.

PAN. Th' art well, th' art well.

CRI. Now I perceive I am:
I pray you pardon me, divine astrologer.

ALB. I do: but henceforth laugh [not] at astrology,
And call her servants cheaters.

PAN. Now to our business. On, good Albumazar.

ALB. Now, since the moon passeth from Capricorn,
Through Aquarius, to the wat'ry sign of Pisces,
Antonio's drown'd, and is devour'd by fishes.

PAN. Is't certain?

ALB. Certain.

PAN. Then let my earnestness
Entreat your skill a favour.

ALB. It shall; but first
I'll tell you what you mean to ask me.

PAN. Strange!

ALB. Antonio dead, that promis'd you his daughter:
Your business is to entreat me raise his ghost,
And force it stay at home, till it have perform'd
The promise pass'd, and so return to rest.

PAN. That, that; ye have hit it, most divine Albumazar.

ALB. 'Tis a hard thing; for _de privatione ad habitum non datur
regressus_.
O, what a business, what a masterpiece
'Tis to raise up his ghost whose body's eaten
By fish! This work desires a planetary intelligence
Of Jupiter and Sol; and these great spirits
Are proud, fantastical. It asks much charges,
To entice them from the guiding of their spheres
To wait on mortals.

PAN. So I may have my purpose, spare for no cost.

ALB. Sir, spare your purse; I'll do it an easier way;
The work shall cost you nothing.
We have an art is call'd præstigiatory,[265]
That deals with spirits and intelligences
Of meaner office and condition,
Whose service craves small charges: with one of these
I'll change some servant[266] or good friend of yours
To the perfect shape of this Antonio:
So like in face, behaviour, speech, and action,
That all the town shall swear Antonio lives.

PAN. Most necromantical astrologer!
Do this, and take me for your servant ever.
And, for your pains, after the transformation,
This chain is yours:[267] it cost two hundred pound,
Beside the jewel.

ALB. After the work is finish'd, then--how now?
What lines are these, that look sanguineous,
As if the stars conjur'd to do you mischief?

PAN. How! mean you me?

ALB. They're dusky marks of Saturn:
It seems some stone shall fall upon your head,
Threat'ning a fracture of the pericranium.

PAN. Cricca, come hither; fetch me my staff again;
Threescore and ten's return'd: a general palsy
Shakes out the love of Flavia with a fear.
Is there no remedy?

ALB. Nothing but patience.
The planet threatens so, whose prey you are.
The stars and planets daily war together;
For, should they stand at truce but one half-hour,
This wond'rous machine of the world would ruin:
Who can withstand their powerful influence?

PAN. You with your wisdom, good Albumazar.

ALB. Indeed, th' Egyptian, Ptolemy the Wise,
Pronounc'd it as an oracle of truth,
_Sapiens dominabitur astris_.
Who's above there? Ronca, bring down the cap,
Made in the point of Mercury being ascendant.
Here, put it on; and in your hand this image,
Fram'd on a Tuesday, when the fierce god of war
Mounted th' horizon in the sign of Aries.
With these walk as unwounded as Achilles,
Dipp'd by his mother Thetis.

PAN. You bind me to your service.

ALB. Next get the man you purpose to transform,
And meet me here.

PAN. I will not fail to find you.

ALB. Meanwhile, with sciotherical[268] instrument,
By way of azimuth[269] and almicantarath,[270]
I'll seek some happy point in heaven for you.

PAN. I rest your servant, sir.

ALB. Let all the stars
Guide you with most propitious influence.

SCENE VIII.

PANDOLFO, CRICCA.

PAN. Here's a strange man indeed, of skill profound!
How right he knew my business, 'fore he saw me!
And how thou scoff'st him, when we talk'd in private!
'Tis a brave instrument, his autocousticon.

CRI. In earnest, sir, I took him for a cheater;
As many, under name of cunning men,
With promise of astrology much abuse
The gaping vulgar, wronging that sacred skill,
That in the stars reads all our actions.

PAN. Are there no arches o'er our heads? Look, Cricca.

CRI. None but the arch of heaven, that cannot fall.

PAN. Is not that made of marble? I have read
A stone dropp'd from the moon;[271] and much I fear
The fit should take her now, and void another.

CRI. Fear nothing, sir; this charm'd mercurial cap
Shields from the fall of mountains: 'tis not a stone
Can check his art: walk boldly.

PAN. I do. Let's in. [_Exeunt._

FOOTNOTES:

[227] This play seems to have been planned on "L'Astrologo" of Giam
Battista della Porta.--_Pegge._

Battista Porta was the famous physiognomist of Naples. His play was
printed at Venice in 1606. See Mr Steevens's note on "Timon of
Athens," act iv. sc. 3.

[228] The Spartans held stealing lawful, and encouraged it as a piece
of military exercise; but punished it very severely if it was
discovered. See Stanyan's "Grecian History," i. 80.

[229] Mr Sale (p. 30 of "Preliminary Discourse to his Translation of
the Koran," 4º edit.) says, "The frequent robberies committed by these
people on merchants and travellers have rendered the name of an Arab
almost infamous in Europe: this they are sensible of, and endeavour to
excuse themselves by alleging the hard usage of their father Ishmael
who, being turned out of doors by Abraham, had the open plains and
deserts given him by God for his patrimony, with permission to take
whatever he could find there; and, on this account, they think they
may, with a safe conscience, indemnify themselves as well as they can,
not only on the posterity of Isaac, but also on everybody else; always
supposing a sort of kindred between themselves and those they plunder.
And in relating their adventures of this kind, they think it
sufficient to change the expression, and, instead of _I robbed a man
of such or such a thing_, to say, _I gained it_. We must not, however,
imagine that they are the less honest for this among themselves, or
towards those whom they receive as friends; on the contrary, the
strictest probity is observed in their camp, where everything is open,
and nothing ever known to be stolen."

[230] The _wanderers_ are the _planets_, called by the Greeks
_planetæ_, from their moving or wandering, and by the Latins,
from the same notion, _stellæ errantes;_ as on the contrary the
fixed stars are termed by them _stellæ inerrantes_. The
character appropriated by astronomers and astrologers to the
planet Mercury, is this [Symb. of Mercury], which may be
imagined to contain in it something of the characters of all
the other planets [Symb. of Saturn] [Symb. of Jupiter] [Symb.
of Mars] [Symb. of Sun] [Symb. of Venus] [Symb. of First
Quarter Moon]. The history of the heathen deities, whose names
were assigned to the several planets, is full of tricks and
robberies, to say no worse, as is remarked by the apologetical
fathers, who are perpetually inveighing against them on that
account; and to this mythological history the poet here
alludes.--_Pegge._

[231] Phantasia of Memphis, as Ptolemeus Hephestion tells us, in
Photius, Cod. 190. See Fabricius "Biblioth," gr. i. p. 152. This comes
excellently well out of the mouth of such a consummate villain as
Albumazar.--_Pegge._

See also Blackwell's "Inquiry into the Life and Writings of Homer,"
1736, p. 135.

[232] So Shakespeare, in "Timon of Athens," act iv. sc. 3--

"I'll example you with thievery.
The sun's a thief, and with his great attraction
Robs the vast sea: the moon's an arrant thief,
And her pale fire she snatches from the sun;
The sea's a thief, whose liquid surge resolves
The moon into salt tears; the earth's a thief.
That feeds and breeds, by a composture stolen
From general excrement: each thing's a thief;
The laws, your curb and whip, in their rough power
Have uncheck'd theft."

See also the 19th Ode of Anacreon.

[233] A _settle_ is a wooden bench with a back to it, and capable of
holding several people. These kind of seats are only to be found in
ancient halls, or the common drinking-rooms in the
country.--_Steevens._

[234] [Edits., _profit_.]

[235] Edits., _smoothest_. The versification of this play in general
is regular and without hemistiches, were the measure properly attended
to.

[236] [Steevens's emendation. Edits, have--

"My life h'as learnt out all, I know't by's music."

[237] The quartos read, _by the height of stars_, but the rhyme
requires the alteration.--_Collier._

[238] _Closely_ is _privately_, as in act iii. sc. 1--

"I'll entertain him here, meanwhile steal you
_Closely_ into the room."

Again, in "The Spanish Tragedy"--

"Boy, go, convoy this purse to Pedringano;
Thou knowest the prison, _closely_ give it him."

And again, _ibid._--

"Wise men will take their opportunity
_Closely_ and safely, fitting things to time."

--_Pegge._

[239] [Blushing.]

[240] Alluding to the custom of the harbingers, who in the royal
progresses were wont to mark the lodgings of the several officers of
the Court. _For Flavia_ should therefore be in italics. We now
commonly write harbinger with the first vowel; but the ancients
applied the second, which is more agreeable to the etymology. See
Junius _v._ Harbour.--_Pegge._

To this explanation I shall only add that the office of harbinger
remains to this day, and that the part of his duty above alluded to
was performed in the latter part of the 17th century. Serjeant
Hawkins, in his life of Bishop Ken, observes that when, on the removal
of the Court to pass the summer at Winchester, that prelate's house,
which he held in the right of his prebend, _was marked by the
harbinger_ for the use of Mrs Eleanor Gwyn, he refused to grant her
admittance; and she was forced to seek for lodgings in another
place.--_Reed._

[241] The 4º of 1615 reads--

"Spight of a _last_ of Lelios."

[242] [Edits., _two_.]

[243] A term of astrology.--_Pegge._

"_Ascendant_ in astrology denotes the horoscope, or the degree of the
ecliptic which rises upon the horizon at the time of the birth of any
one. This is supposed to have an influence on his life and fortune, by
giving him a bent to one thing more than another."--_Chambers's
Dictionary._

[244] [Entrance to a house.]

[245] Cornelius Agrippa, on "The Vanitie and Uncertaintie of Artes and
Sciences," 4º, 1569, p. 55, mentions _Apollonius:_ "They saie that
Hierome made mention thereof, writinge to Paulinus, where he saithe,
that _Apollonius Tianeus_ was a magitien, or a philosopher, as the
Pithagoreans were." He is also noticed among those who have written on
the subject of magic. Apollonius was born at Tyana about the time our
Saviour appeared in the world. He died at the age of near or quite 100
years, in the reign of Nerva. By the enemies of Christianity he was
reported to have worked miracles in the same manner as the Founder of
our religion, and in the works of Dr Henry More is inserted a parallel
between them. The degree of credit which the pagan miracles are
entitled to is very clearly shown in Dr Douglas's learned work,
entitled, "The Criterion, or Miracles Examined," 8º, 1757, p. 53. See
a further account of Apollonius in Blount's translation of "The Two
First Books of Philostratus, concerning the Life of Apollonius
Tyaneus," fol., 1680, and Tillemont's "Account of the Life of
Apollonius Tyaneus," translated by Dr Jenkin, 8º, 1702.

[246] Telescope.

[247] A stroke of satire in regard to cuckoldom: there are others
afterwards in this act.--_Pegge._

[248] Coriat the traveller.

[249] Before the rebuilding of St Paul's Cathedral, the wall at
Gloucester, here alluded to, was much more celebrated than it is at
present. Camden, in his "Britannia," i. 275, edit. 1722, speaking of
it, says: "Beyond the quire, in an arch of the church, there is a
_wall_, built with so great artifice, in the form of a semicircle with
corners, that if any one whisper very low at one end, and another lay
his ear to the other end, he may easily hear every syllable distinct."

[250] [In the edits, this direction is made part of the text.]

[251] Alluding to the following passage in the Amphitruo of Plautus,
where the night is lengthened, that Jupiter may continue the longer
with Alcmena. Mercury says--

"Et meus pater nunc intus hie cum ilia cubat;
Et haec ob eam rem nox est facta longior,
Dum ille, quaquam volt, voluptatem capit."

--"Prolog. Amphitr." 112.--_Pegge._

[252] An instrument to aid and improve the sense of hearing.

[253] [Edits., _A cousticon. Autocousticon_ is] a repetition, by way
of admiration, of the word in the preceding line; for it is plain it
was not intended by the poet that Pandolfo should blunder through
ignorance, because he has it right in the next scene, and Ronca has
never repeated the word in the interim.--_Pegge._

[254] The flap or cover of the windpipe.--_Steevens._ Ronca here
blunders _comicé_, and on purpose; for the _epiglottis_ is the cover
or lid of the larynx, and has no connection with the ear.--_Pegge._

[255] _i.e._, In spite of his head.--_Steevens._

[256] Galileo, the inventor of the telescope, was born February 19,
1564, according to some writers, at Pisa, but more probably at
Florence. While professor of mathematics at Padua, he was invited by
Cosmo the Second, Duke of Tuscany, to Pisa, and afterwards removed to
Florence. During his residence at the latter place, he ventured to
assert the truth of the Copernican system; which gave so much offence
to the Jesuits that, by their procurement, he was ever after harassed
by the Inquisition. He suffered very frequent and long imprisonments
on account of his adherence to the opinions he had formed, and never
obtained his liberty without renouncing his sentiments, and
undertaking not to defend them either by word or writing. His
assiduity in making discoveries at length proved fatal to him. It
first impaired his sight, and at length totally deprived him of it. He
died at Arcetre, near Florence, January 8, 1642, N.S., in the 78th
year of his age, having been for the last three years of his life
quite blind. See a comparison between him and Bacon in Hume's "History
of England," vi. 133, 8º, edit. 1763.

[257] [A horn.]

[258] To the great Mogul's country, who was then called
_Maghoore_.--Howes' "Continuation of Stowe's Chronicle," p. 1003,
where he esteems it a corruption to call him _Mogul_.

[259] [Edits, give this and next two lines, down to _return_, to
Ronca.]

[260: There was an opinion pretty current among Christians that the
Mahometans were in expectation of their prophet's return; and what
gave occasion to that was the 16th sign of the resurrection, the
coming of the Mohdi or director; concerning whom Mahomet prophesied
that the world should not have an end till one of his own family
should govern the Arabians, whose name should be the same with his own
name, and whose father's name should also be the same with his
father's name, and who should fill the earth with righteousness.
Sale's "Preliminary Discourse to the Koran," 4º, edit. 82.

[261] [Edits., _gorgon_.]

[262] [Edits., _Upon_.]

[263] Terms of astrology meaning, be they inhabited by the best and
most fortunate planets.--_Pegge._

[264] A book of astronomy, in use among such as erect figures to cast
men's nativities, by which is shown how all the planets are placed
every day and hour of the year.

[265] _i.e._, Juggling or deceiving.

[266] So in Jeffrey of Monmouth's History, 1718, p. 264, Merlin
changes _Uther, Ulfin_, and _himself_, into the shapes of _Gorlois_,
_Jordan of Tintagel_, and _Bricet_, by which means _Uther_ obtains the
possession of _Igerna_, the wife of Gorlois.--_Pegge._

[267] People of rank and condition generally wore chains of gold at
this time. Hence Trincalo says that, when he was a gentleman, he would

"Wear a gold chain at every quarter sessions."

--_Pegge._ Many instances of this fashion are to be met with in these
volumes. The Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London wear chains of gold on
public days at this time.

[268] Belonging to a sundial.--_Johnson's Dictionary._

[269] Azimuths, called also vertical circles, are great circles
intersecting each other in the zenith and nadir, and cutting the
horizon at right angles, in all the points thereof.--_Chambers's
Dictionary._

[270] An Arabic word, written variously by various authors, and
signifies a circle drawn parallel to the horizon. It is generally used
in the plural, and means a series of parallel circles, drawn through
the several degrees of the meridian.--_Johnson's Dictionary._

[271] See Bishop Wilkins's "Voyage to the Moon," p. 110.--_Pegge._