The Devil's Law Case (When Women Go to Law the Devil Is Full of Business) · chunk 31 of 45
Webster, John · published 1623 · first performed or written 1619 [1617-1621] (Annals) tragicomedy · Queen Anne's Men T6 Money, debt and credit typicality 0.78 · 490 words
Marked words are the most distinguishing words of T6: money, master, pound, law, lawyer, chain, gentleman, gold, pay, pray.
Well, have your entreaty: (purpose, And if your own credulity undo you, Blame not the Court hereafter: fall to your Plea. May it please your Lordsh. & the reverend Court, To give me leave to open to you a Case So rare, so altogether void of precedent, That I do challenge all the spacious Volumes, Of the whole Civil Law to show the like. We are of Council for this Gentlewoman, We have received our Fee, yet the whole course Of what we are to speak, is quite against her, Yet we'll deserve our fee too. There stands one, Romelio the Merchant; I will name him to you, Without either title or addition: For those false beams of his supposed honour, As void of true heat, as are all painted fires, Or Glowworms in the dark, suit him all basely, As if he had bought his Gentry from the Herald, With money got by extortion: I will first Produce this Aesop's Crow, as he stands forfeit, For the long use of his gay borrowed plumes, And then let him hop naked: I come toth' point, T'as been a Dream in Naples, very near This eight and thirty years, that this Romelio, Was nobly descended, he has ranked himself With the Nobility, shamefully usurped Their place, and in a kind of saucy pride, Which like to Mushrooms, ever grow most rank, When they do spring from dunghills, sought to o'ersway, The Fliski, the Grimaldi, Dori, And all the ancient pillars of our State; View now what he is come to: this poor thing Without a name, this Cuckoo hatched i'th' nest Of a Hedge-sparrow. Speaks he all this to me? Only to you sir. I do not ask thee, prithee hold thy prating. Why very good, you will be presently As angry as I could wish. What title shall I set to this base coin; He has no name, and for's aspect he seems, A Giant in a May-game, that within Is nothing but a Porter's I'll undertake, He had as good have traveled all his life With Gypsies: I will sell him to any man For an hundred chequins, and he that buys him of me, Shall lose byth' hand too. lo, what you are come too: You that did scorn to trade in any thing; But Gold or Spices, or your cochineal, He rates you now at poor Iohn. Out upon thee, I would thou wert of his side, Would you so? The devil and thee together on each hand, To prompt the lawyer's memory when he founders. Signior Contilupo, the Court holds it fit, You leave this stale declaiming 'gainst the person, And come to the matter. Now I shall my Lord. It shows a poor malicious eloquence, And it is strange, men of your gravity Will not forgo it: verily, I presume, If you but heard yourself speaking with my ears, Your phrase would be more modest.
nodes 2017–2080 (positions in the processed text, not lines of the printed book) · chunk 31 of 45 in this edition
Length
490 words · 666 tokens
Topic (seed 42)
T6 — Money, debt and creditcross-work theme (confirmed, in the genre comparison) · typicality 0.782 (cosine to the topic centroid)
Other seeds
seed 43: T9 · seed 44: T10 — topic numbers are assigned independently in each run; equal or different numbers say nothing by themselves
Original spelling (EEBO-TCP, unregularized)
Well, haue your intreatie: (purpose, And if your owne credulitie vndoe you, Blame not the Court hereafter: fall to your Plea. May it please your Lordsh. & the reuerend Court, To giue me leaue to open to you a Case So rare, so altogether voyd of President, That I doe challenge all the spacious Volumes, Of the whole Ciuill Law to shew the like. We are of Councell for this Gentlewoman, We haue receiu'd our Fee, yet the whole course Of what we are to speake, is quite against her, Yet weele deserue our fee too. There stands one, Romelio the Marchant; I will name him to you, Without either title or addition: For those false beames of his supposed honour, As voyd of true heat, as are all painted fires, Or Glow-wormes in the darke, suite him all basely, As if he had bought his Gentry from the Herauld, With money got by extortion: I will first Produce this Aesops Crow, as he stands forfeit, For the long vse of his gay borrowed plumes, And then let him hop naked: I come to'th poynt, T'as been a Dreame in Naples, very neere This eight and thirtie yeares, that this Romelio, Was nobly descended, he has rankt himselfe With the Nobilitie, shamefully vsurpt Their place, and in a kind of lawcy pride, Which like to Mushromes, euer grow most ranke, When they do spring from dung-hills, sought to oresway, The Fliski, the Grimaldi, Dori, And all the ancient pillars of our State; View now what he is come to: this poore thing Without a name, this Cuckow hatcht ith nest Of a Hedge-sparrow. Speakes he all this to me? Onely to you sir. I doe not aske thee, prethee hold thy prating. Why very good, you will be presently As angry as I could wish. What title shall I set to this base coyne; He has no name, and for's aspect he seemes, A Gyant in a May-game, that within Is nothing but a Porter' Ile vndertake, He had as good haue traueld all his life With Gypsies: I will sell him to any man For an hundred Chickeens, and he that buyes him of me, Shall loose byth hand too. Loe, what you are come too: You that did scorne to trade in any thing; But Gold or Spices, or your Cochineele, He rates you now at poore Iohn. Out vpon thee, I would thou wert of his fide, Would you so? The deuill and thee together on each hand, To prompt the Lawyers memory when he founders. Signior Contilupo, the Court holds it fit, You leaue this stale declaiming 'gainst the person, And come to the matter. Now I shall my Lord. It showes a poore malicious eloquence, And it is strange, men of your grauitie Will not forgoe it: verely, I presume, If you but heard your selfe speaking with my eares, Your phrase would be more modest.