Page:The Rehearsal - Villiers (1672).djvu/45

 Pret. Durst any of the Gods be so uncivil, I'ld make that God subscribe himself a Devil.

Bayes. Ah, Godsookers, that's well writ!

Vols. Could'st thou that God from Heav'n to Earth translate, He could not fear to want a Heav'nly State. Parthenope, on Earth, can Heav'n create.

Pret. Cloris does Heav'n it self so far excel, She can transcend the joys of Heav'n in Hell.

Bayes. There's a bold flight for you now! 'Sdeath, I have lost my peruke. Well, Gentlemen, this is that I never yet saw any one could write, but my self. Here's true spirit and flame all through, I gad. So, So; pray clear the Stage.

Johns. But, Mr. Bayes, pray why is this Scene all in Verse?

Bayes. O, Sir, the subject is too great for Prose.

Smi. Well said, i'faith; I'l give thee a pot of Ale for that answer: 'tis well worth it.

Bayes. Come, with all my heart. I'l make that God subscribe himself a Devil. That single line, I gad, is worth all that my brother Poets ever writ. So, now let down the Curtain.