113 II., 2, 59-77. _Cf._ _The Virgin Martyr_, I., 1 (the three kings); _Emperor of the East_, II., 1 (Theodosius and his courtiers); _A New Way_, I., 3, 43 (the servants); _City Madam_, IV., 1 (Luke and the three creditors); IV., 2 (Luke and the two apprentices); _Bashful Lover_, I., 1 (Matilda and the waiting-women); V., 1 (Octavio and three friends); _Bondman_, I., 3 (Timoleon and four senators); _Unnatural Combat_, II., 2 (Theocrine and three attendants); _Great Duke of Florence_, I., 2 (three councillors); II., 2; V., 2 and 3 (Cozimo and courtiers); _Guardian_, IV., 4 (Severino and four banditti); _Maid of Honour_, I., 1 (Bertoldo and the two heirs “city bred”); _Roman Actor_, IV., 1, 98; V., 1, 213 (the three tribunes); V. 2, 1-19 (the conspirators); _Duke of Milan_ I., 3, _ad init._ (three gentlemen). We find this method again and again in Webster; _cf._ _The Duchess of Malfi_, p. 63_a_; p. 78_b_; p. 80_b_; _The White Devil_, p. 56; p. 42_a_; _The Devil’s Law-case_, p. 111_b_; p. 116_a_. _Cf._ also Cymbal and Fitton in _The Staple of News_, I., 2; and the three courtiers in _Cupid’s Revenge_. 114 The exact cause of the son’s anger is the murder of his mother by his father. The secret is not revealed until Act V., 2, 122, though it is hinted at in II., 1, 118-120. The son knows nothing of the other terrible charge. 115 In _The Renegado_ the brother and sister are not revealed until V., 4. 116 IV., 3. 117 I., 1. 118 The best instance of Euripidean art is the scene in _The Emperor of the East_ (II., 1), where all the arguments for the Emperor’s speedy marriage are cleverly amassed. _Cf._ also Luke’s appeal for mercy to the creditors in _The City Madam_, I., 3; the long preparation which Sforza makes in _The Duke of Milan_, I., 3, 268; the skill which leads up to the disclosure of Marullo’s name in _The Bondman_ (IV., 3, 124), and the way in which he persuades the slaves to revolt (II., 3). For other instances of what we may call the gradual method, compare _The Virgin Martyr_, I., 1, 294, and _A Very Woman_, V., 4, 91. _ 119 Cf._ _Fatal Dowry_, I., 2; IV., 4; V., 2; _Roman Actor_, I., 3; _Bondman_, I., 3; _Parliament of Love_, V., 1; _Great Duke of Florence_, V., 3. 120 Here he incurs the censure of Milton on such plays (Preface to _Samson Agonistes_): “This is mentioned to vindicate tragedy from the small esteem, or rather infamy, which in the account of many it undergoes at this day with other common interludes; happening through the poet’s error of intertwining comic stuff with tragic sadness and gravity; or introducing trivial and vulgar persons, which by all judicious hath been counted absurd, and brought in without discretion, corruptly to gratify the people!”