The back-ground of this design represents the houses join in the fray : but the Prince entering, his church of Santa Maria Antica , as also part of the attendants, separate the combatants. Capulet and Piazza, in Verona, with the domestics of the Ca- | Montague, who had come out, are ordered, the pulets and of the Montagues, quarrelling and fight- former to attend the Prince immediately; and the ing. The fore-ground represents Benvolio, Monta- latter to come, the same evening, to the palace. All gue’s nephew, who has interposed, with his drawn present are then commanded to disperse, on pain sword, to force the servants to part; when of death. It is after this broil that Romeo appears; « The fiery Tybalt, with his sword prepar'd,»

whilst Montague is discussing with his nephew, arrives, and ever-ready to breathe defiance to any of his frequent visiting

Benvolio , the cause of his son's present grief, and of the Montagues, exclaims furiously

The grove of sycamore,
«What, art thou drawn among these heartless hinds ?
Turn thee , Benvolio, look upon thy death.»

That westward rooteth from the city's side, -
Although challenging, it might be said, that, in Many a morning hath be there been seen,
the design, Tybalt seems to turn from his adversary. With lears augmenting the fresh morning's dew,
It must, however, be remembered, that bis contempt

Adding to clouds more clouds with his deep sigls : for the « beartless hinds » around, sufficiently points

But all so soon as the all-cheering sun

Should in the furthest east begin to draw
out his wish to seek another, and less contaminated

The shady curtains from Aurora's bed,
spot, to fight upon : when Benvolio's answer, Away from light steals home my beavy son,
«I do but keep the peace; put up thy sword,

And private in his chamber pens bimself;
Or
manage it to part these men with me, »

Shuts up his windows, locks fair day light out,

And makes himself an artificial night:
again urges him; and he retorts :

Black and portentous must this humour prove ,
« What, drawn, and talk of peace? I hate the word, Unless good counsel may the cause remove. »
As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee :

Benvolio accosts Romeo, and finally succeeds in
Have at thee, coward. »

making his cousin acknowledge the cause of the They fight, and several of the followers of both deep-rooted sorrow that has so altered him.

SERIES II.

ROMEO AND JULIET.

PL. 2.

ACT I. SCENE 2.

The friends of Montague, anxious to wean Romeo from a fruitless flame, use various means to divert his attention from it : amongst other devices, they have induced him to go, under favour of a disguise, to a masked ball, given by Capulet; that he may thus have an opportunity, as Benvolio has already said to him, of comparing Rosaline with other beauties of Verona; and more particularly with one, he will show him;

Shining at this feast,
And she sball scant show well, that now shows best. »
it is, in the street, previous to entering Capulet's
house, that the sprightly Mercutio addresses to
Romeo, the inimitable description of « the fairies'
midwife » and of her vagaries — the subject of the
second design :

«0, then, I see, queen Mab hath been with you.
She is the fairies' midwife; and she comes
In shape no bigger than an agate-stone
On the fore finger of an alderman,
Drawn with a team of little atomies
Athwart men's noses as they lie asleep:
Her waggon-spokes made of long-spinners' legs ;
The cover, of the wings of grasshoppers;
The traces, of the smallest spider's web;
The collars, of the moonshine's watery beams:
Her whip, of cricket's bone; the lash, of film:
Her waggoner, a small grey.coated gnat,
Not half so big as a round little worm
Prick'd from the lazy finger of a maid:

Her chariot is an empty hazel-nat,
Made by the joiner squirrel, or old grub,
Time out of mind the fairies' coach-makers.
And in this state she gallops night by night
Through lovers' brains, and then they dream of love:
On courtiers' knees, that dream on court'sies straight:
O'er lawyers' fingers, who straight dream on fees :
O'er ladies' lips , who straight on kisses dream;
Which oft the angry Mab with blisters plagues ,
Because their breaths with sweet-meats tainted are.
Sometimes she gallops o'er a courtier's nose,
And then dreams he of smelling out a suit:
And sometimes comes she with a tithe-pig's tail,
Tickling a parson's nose as 'a lies asleep,
Then dreams be of another benefice:
Sometimes she driveth o'er a soldier's neck,
And then dreams he of cutting foreign throats,
Of breaches, ambuscadoes, Spanish blades,
Of healths five fathom deep; and then anon
Drums in his ears; at which he starts, and wakes;
And, being thus frighted, swears a prayer or two
And sleeps again. »
Notwithstanding Mercutio and Benvolio's gay
efforts, Romeo feels a cruel foreboding, which he
expresses thus: -

My mind misgives,
Some consequence, yet hanging in the stars',
Shall bitterly begin his fearful date
With this night's revels; and expire the term
Of a despised life , clos'd in my breast,
By some vile forfeit of untimely death
But he, that hath the steerage of my course,
Direct my saill - On, lusty gentlemen. -

:

5.