"I'll burst him, _I will bray_ _His bones, as in a mortar_." "Except you would _bray_ christendom _in a mortar_, and mould it into a new paste, there is no possibility of a holy war."--_Bacon_. See Johnson's Dictionary, _v._ Bray. It also means only to _stamp with the feet_: thus in Fortescue's "Foreste of Histories," 1571, fol. 68: "When Apelles his horse was brought into the place the other began to _braie_ and stirre, as is their common usage."--_Collier._ [238] This is intended to ridicule the Puritans of the times, who, on account of the severe censures of the Star Chamber, the greatness of the fines there, the rigorous proceedings to impose ceremonies, the suspending and silencing ministers for not reading in church "The Book of Sports," and other grievances, sold their estates, and settled in _New England_. The emigrations, on these accounts, at length became so general, that a proclamation was put forth in 1635 to stop those who had determined to follow their friends. It is remarkable that amongst those who were actually on shipboard, and prevented by the proclamation from proceeding on their voyage, were the patriot Hampden and his cousin Oliver Cromwell. THE EPILOGUE SHAPE. We have escap'd the law, but yet do fear Something that's harder answered--your sharp ear. O, for a present sleight now to beguile That, and deceive you but of one good smile. 'Tis that must free us: th' Author dares not look For that good fortune, to be sav'd by's book. To leave this blessed soil is no great woe; Our griefs in leaving you, that make it so; For if you shall call in those beams you lent, 'Twould ev'n at home create a banishment. THE LONDON CHANTICLEERS. _EDITION._ _The London Chaunticleers. A Witty Comoedy, full of Various and Delightfull Mirth. Often Acted with Great applause, and never before Published. London, Printed for Simon Miller, at the Star in St. Pauls Churchyard._ 1659. 4o. This amusing and peculiar play has never hitherto been re-published from the original edition. It is a performance, as the title-page partly intimates, considerably older than the date of publication. Mr Halliwell ("Dictionary of Old Plays," 1860, p. 144) observes: "This piece is rather an interlude than a play; but it is curious, the characters being London criers. "From a passage in the prologue we may perhaps infer that the production originally appeared during a visitation of the plague at London, and that it was first presented (the machinery required being simple enough) on some suburban or provincial stage. The metropolis was ravaged by pestilence in 1636, which is a not unlikely date for the composition and original presentation of 'The London Chanticleers.'" The allusions to old usages, with the mention of many well-known ballads, and of some known no longer, contribute to give the present piece an interest and value of its own. DRAMATIS PERSONÆ.