Ere the bat hath flown

His cloifter'd flight; ere to black Hecate's fummons
The fhard borne beetle, with his drowsy hums,
Hath rung night's yawning peal; there shall be done
A deed of dreadful note.

-Come, feeling night,

Macbeth, A. 3. Sc. 2.

Skarf up the tender eye of pitiful day;
And, with thy bloody and invifible hand,
Cancel, and tear to pieces, that great bond

Which keeps me pale-Light thickens; and the crow
Makes wing to the rooky wood:

Good things by day begin to droop and droufe :
While night's black agents to their preys do roufe.

Now the hungry lion roars,

And the wolf beholds the moon ;

Ibid. A. 3.

Whilft the heavy ploughman fnores,

All with weary task foredone.

Now the wafted brands do glow,
Whilst the skreech-owl, fkreeching loud,
Puts the wretch, that lies in woe,

In remembrance of a fhroud.

Now it is the time of night,
That the graves, all gaping wide,
Every one lets forth his fpright,
In the church-way paths to glide.
And we fairies, that do run
By the triple Hecate's team,

From the prefence of the fun
Following darkness like a dream,
Now are frolic; not a mouse
Shall difturb this hallow'd house.

NOBILITY.

Sc. 2.

Ibid. A. 5. Sc. 1.

Peace, mafter Marquis-you are malapert;

Your fire-new ftamp of honour is fcarce current.
O! that your young Nobility could judge
What 'twere to lose it, and be miserable!

They

They that ftand high, have many blasts to shake them; And, if they fall, they dafh themselves to pieces.

N U

Queftion your defires;

Richard III. A. 1. Sc. 3.

N.

Know of your youth, examine well your blood,
Whether, if you yield not to your father's choice,
You can endure the livery of a Nun;

For aye to be in fhady cloifter new'd,
To live a barren fifter all your life,

Chaunting faint hymns to the cold fruitless moon?
Thrice bleffed they, that mafter so their blood,
To undergo fuch maiden pilgrimage!
But earthlier happy is the rofe diftill'd,

Than that, which, withering on the virgin thorn,
Grows, lives, and dies, in fingle blessedness.

A Midfummer Night's Dream, A. 1. Sc. 1.

0 A T H.

No-not an oath : If not the face of men,
The fufferance of our fouls, the time's abuse-
If these be motives weak, break off betimes,
And every man hence to his idle bed;
So let high-fighted tyranny range on,
Till each man drop by lottery. But if thefe,
As I am fure they do, bear fire enough

To kindle cowards, and to fteel with valour
The melting fpirits of women; then, countrymen,
What need we any fpur, but our own caufe,
To prick us to redrefs? What other bond,
Than fecret Romans, that have fpoke the word,
And will not palter; and what other oath,
Than honefty to honefty engaged,
That this fhall be, or we will fall for it?
Swear priests and cowards, and men cautelous,
Old feeble carrions, and fuch fuffering fouls
That welcome wrongs: unto bad caufes fwear
Such creatures as men doubt; but do not stain
The even virtue of our enterprife,

Nor the infuppreffive mettle of our fpirits,
To think, that, or our cause, or our performance,
Did need an oath; when every drop of blood,

That

That every Roman bears, and nobly bears,
Is guilty of a feveral baftardy,

If he do break the fmalleft particle

Of any promise that hath past from him.

Julius Cæfar, A. 2. Sc. 1.

OBEDIENCE.

Be advis'd fair maid.

To you, your father should be as a God,
One that compos'd your beauties; yea, and one,
To whom you are but as a form in wax
By him imprinted; and within his power
To leave the figure, or disfigure it.

A Midfummer Night's Dream, A. 1. Sc. 1.

OBSOLET E L A W S.

-This new Governor

Awakes me all th' enrolled penalties,

Which have, like unfcour'd armour hung by th' wall So long, that nineteen zodiacs have gone round, And none of them been worn; and, for a name, Now puts the drowfy and neglected act

Freshly on me.

Measure for Measure, A. 1. Sc. 2.

We have strict statutes and most biting laws,
(The needful bits and curbs for headftrong steeds)
Which for thefe nineteen years we have let fleep;
Even like an o'ergrown lion in a cave,

That goes not out to prey: now, as fond fathers
Having bound up the threat'ning twigs of birch,
Only to stick it in their children's fight,
For terror, not to use; in time, the rod

Becomes more mock'd than fear'd: fo our decrees,
Dead to infliction, to themselves are dead;
And Liberty plucks Juftice by the nose;
The baby beats the nurse, and quite athwart
Goes all decorum.

OLD AGE.

It is as common to Old Age

To caft beyond itself in its opinions,
As it is common for the younger fort
To lack difcretion.

Ibid. A. 1. Sc.

3.

Hamlet, A. 2. Sc. 1.

Tho'

Tho' I look old, yet I am ftrong and lufty;
For in my youth I never did apply
Hot and rebellious liquors in my
blood;
Nor did I with unbashful forehead woo
The means of weakness and debility:
Therefore my age is as a lufty winter,
Frofty, but kindly; let me go with you;
I'll do the fervice of a younger man
In all your 'bufinefs and neceflities.

As You Like It, A. 2. Sc. 3.

Tho' now this grained face of mine be hid
In fap-confuming winter's drizzled fnow,
And all the conduits of my blood froze up;
Yet hath my night of life fome memory;
My wafting lamp fome fading glimmer left,
My dull deaf ears a little ufe to hear:
All these old witneffes, I cannot err,
Tell me, thou art my fon Antipholis.

The Comedy of Errors, A. 5. Sc. 1.

Do you fet down your name in the fcrowl of youth, that are written down old, with all the characters of age? Have you not a moift eye-a dry hand-a yellow cheek-1 white beard-a decreafing leg-an increafing belly? Is not your voice broken-your wind shortyour chin double-your wit fingle-and every part of you blafted with antiquity?-And will you yet call yourfelf young?-Fie, fie, fie!

Henry IV. Part II. A. I. Sc. 2.

OLD SONG.

Mark it, Cefario, it is old and plain;

The fpinfters and the knitters in the Sun,

And the free maids that weave their thread with bones, Do use to chant it: it is filly, footh,

And dallies with the innocence of love,

Like the old age.

Twelfth Night, A. 2. Sc. 3.

O MISSION.

Thofe wounds heal ill, that men do give themselves. Omiflion to do what is neceffary,

Seals

Seals a commiffion to a blank of danger;
And danger, like an ague, fubtly taints
Even then, when we fit idly in the fun.

Troil. and Creff. A. 3. Sc. 3.

OPPORTUNITY.

There is a tide in the affairs of men,

Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune ;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in fhallows, and in miferies.
On fuch a full fea are we now afloat;

And we must take the current when it ferves,
Or lofe our ventures.

Julius Cæfar, A. 4. Sc. 3.

ORATION.

Brutus's Funeral one on Julius Cæfar.

Had

Romans, countrymen, and lovers! hear me for my caufe; and be filent, that you may hear-Believe me for mine honour; and have refpect to mine honour, that you may believe: Cenfure me in your wifdom, and awake your fenfes, that you may be the better judge. If there be any in this affembly, any dear friend of Cafar's, to him, I fay that Brutus' love to Cæfar was no less than his. If then that friend demand, why Brutus rofe againft Cæfar-this is my anfwer-not that I loved Cæfar lefs-but that I loved Rome more. you rather Cæfar were living, and die all flaves, than that Cafar were dead, to live all freemen? As Cæfar lov'd me, I weep for him ; as he was fortunate, I rejoice at it; as he was valiant, I honour him: but as he was ambitious, I flew him: there are tears for his love ; joy for his fortune; honour for his valour, and death for his ambition. Who is here fo base, that would be a bondman? If any, fpeak; for him have I offended. Who is here fo rude, that would not be a Roman? If any, fpeak; for him have I offended. Who is here fo vile, that will not love his country? If any, fpeak; for him have I offended. I paufe for a reply.

All-None, Brutus, none.

Brutus. Then none have I offended-I have done no more to Cæfar, than you fhall do to Brutus- the queftion