worke them.

Would thy Melancholy have a cure? thou shalt laugh at_ Democritus
_himselfe, and but reading one piece of this Comick variety, finde thy
exalted fancie in Elizium; And when thou art sick of this cure, (for the
excesse of delight may too much dilate thy_ soule,) _thou shalt meete
almost in every leafe a soft purling passion or_ spring _of sorrow so
powerfully wrought high by the teares of innocence, and_ wronged Lovers,
_it shall persuade thy eyes to weepe into the streame, and yet smile when
they contribute to their owne ruines.

Infinitely more might be said of these rare Copies, but let the ingenuous
Reader peruse them & he will finde them so able to speake their own
worth, that they need not come into the world with a trumpet, since any
one of these incomparable pieces well understood will prove a_ Preface _to
the rest, and if the Reader can fast the best wit ever trod our English
Stage, he will be forced himselfe to become a_ breathing Panegerick _to
them all.

Not to detaine or prepare thee longer, be as capritious and sick-brain'd,
as ignorance & malice can make thee, here thou art rectified, or be as
healthfull as the inward calme of an honest_ Heart, Learning, _and_
Temper _can state thy disposition, yet this booke may be thy fortunate_
concernement _and Companion.

It is not so remote in Time, but very many Gentlemen may remember these
Authors & some familiar in their conversation deliver them upon every
pleasant occasion so fluent, to talke a Comedy. He must be a bold man
that dares undertake to write their Lives. What I have to say is, we have
the precious_ Remaines, _and as the wisest contemporaries acknowledge
they Lived a_ Miracle, _I am very confident this volume cannot die without
one.

What more specially concerne these Authors and their workes is told
thee by another hand in the following Epistle of the_ Stationer to the
Readers.

_Farwell, Reade, and feare not thine owne understanding, this Booke will
create a cleare one in thee, and when thou hast considered thy purchase,
thou wilt call the price of it a Charity to thy selfe, and at the same
time forgive thy friend, and these Authors humble admirer_,

JA. SHIRLEY.

The Stationer to the Readers.

_Gentlemen,_ before you engage farther, be pleased to take notice of
these Particulars. You have here a _New Booke_; I can speake it clearely;
for of all this large Volume of _Comedies_ and _Tragedies_, not one, till
now, was eve