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And, while thou'rt scoffing, pr'ythee, mark,
At thee thy dame jeers with her spark:
Or, with a wench, if wedded, Will

His carnal purpose should fulfil:

Think not, when thou enact'st the same fond

game,

But others know that all thy sin proclaim.

Hast thou thy course so ever run,

That thou need'st know thy neighbour's dun? With thee so jocund passeth time, That folly's peal doth never chime; That thou, in conscious purity Unblushing, others' faults may'st see? Away, conceited fool; some plan devise,

To hoodwink men; for they, like thee, have eyes.

time Leander entered the court-hall of the palace, with his red cap upon his head, so that he was not to be seen; and perceiving Fouribon listening at the door of the king's chamber, he took a nail and a hammer, and nailed his ear to the door." The tale then proceeds to relate, that the cries of Fouribon reaching his mother, she flew to the portal; when, in the hurry of opening it, to learn the cause of his distress, she adds to his first punishment, by tearing off the ear which had been so nailed to the door.

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L'ENVOY OF THE POET.

The curious fool, who others' acts must know, Finds out the semblance of his own disgrace; And while he ridicules their faults, doth show His own reflected, as on mirror's face.

THE POET'S CHORUS TO FOOLS.

Come, trim the boat, row on each Rara Avis,
Crowds flock to man my Stultifera Navis.

SECTION XXIV.

OF THE FOOL THAT IS JEALOUS OF HIS WIFE WITHOUT A CAUSE.

For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.

THE jealous fool, though bless'd with prudent wife, Knows not the value of the gem he wears; Corrosive poison gangrenes all his life,

And each connubial joy is strew'd with cares.

The purest mirth to him seems vicious joy,
The silent sadness speaks unlicens'd love;
Fancies his wife's calm pleasures thus destroy,
Tho' chaste as snow, and gentle as the dove.*

The dire effects of this dreadful passion are most inimitably displayed in the well known tragedy of Othello, where a noble unsuspecting nature is wrought upon by the base arts of an insidious villain, and truly indeed may lage exclaim:

The kind attention to politeness due,

Though offer'd by the dearest of his friends, Will rouse the demon till revenge pursue;

Thus love in jealousy's fell hatred ends.

"My medicine works! Thus credulous fools are caught; and many worthy and chaste dames, even thus (all guiltless) meet reproach."

In vain may beauty and the voice of innocence cry out; jealousy hath no ears but for revenge, no satisfaction but in blood; it is a monster that gluts upon its proper bane, feeding with fancies, the corrosive poison that destroys all peace. For though it dreads the truth it seeks to ascertain, yet will it not give credence to the fact that would afford it consolation: 'tis thus with Othello, speaking to his wife before the murder:

Therefore confess thee freely of thy sin,

For to deny each article with oath

Cannot remove, nor choke the strong conception
That I do groan withal: thou art to die.

In the tragedy of The Revenge, is also depictured the dire effects of this raging passion, which, like a whirlwind, sweeps every thing away in its destructive course, or as the resistless torrent, that, dashing from some maddening height, bears away in its vortex every thing that would oppose its fury; even so doth vengeful jealousy carry with it universal destruction.

Absent new fears assail, then home like thief,
He sneaks to verify the fancy'd ill;
And though all's well, but short-liv'd the relief,
A word or look new jealous thoughts instil.

Thus always tortur'd, always fill'd with fear,

Nor time, nor long conviction cures thy pain; And though thou hat'st the object once most dear, Fell jealousy inhabits still thy brain.

L'ENVOY OF THE POET.

With care select from womankind a wife,
For many are the blanks in wedlock's wheel;
Who does not, plants at home eternal strife,
Since death alone his jealous pangs can heal.

THE POET'S CHORUS TO FOOLS.

Come, trim the boat, row on each Rara Avis, Crowds flock to man my Stultifera Navis.

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