Part 52 (1/2)

MEL. We are your lords.h.i.+p's creatures.

LORD TOUCH. And be each other's comfort. Let me join your hands.

Unwearied nights, and wis.h.i.+ng days attend you both; mutual love, lasting health, and circling joys, tread round each happy year of your long lives.

Let secret villany from hence be warned; Howe'er in private mischiefs are conceived, Torture and shame attend their open birth; Like vipers in the womb, base treachery lies, Still gnawing that, whence first it did arise; No sooner born, but the vile parent dies.

[_Exeunt Omnes_.]

EPILOGUE Spoken by MRS. MOUNTFORD.

Could poets but foresee how plays would take, Then they could tell what epilogues to make; Whether to thank or blame their audience most.

But that late knowledge does much hazard cost: Till dice are thrown, there's nothing won, nor lost.

So, till the thief has stolen, he cannot know Whether he shall escape the law, or no.

But poets run much greater hazards far Than they who stand their trials at the bar.

The law provides a curb for it's own fury, And suffers judges to direct the jury: But in this court, what difference does appear!