GONZAGA. Two main reasons (Seconding those you have already heard) Give us encouragement; the duty that I owe my mother country, and the love Descending to my daughter. For the first, Should I betray her liberty, I deserv’d To have my name with infamy razed from The catalogue of good princes; and I should Unnaturally forget I am a father, If, like a Tartar, or for fear or profit, I should consign her, as a bondwoman, To be disposed of at another’s pleasure; Her own consent or favour never sued for, And mine by force exacted. No, Alonzo, She is my only child, my heir; and if A father’s eyes deceive me not, the hand Of prodigal nature hath given so much to her, As, in the former ages, kings would rise up In her defence and make her cause their quarrel; Nor can she, if that any spark remain To kindle a desire to be possess’d Of such a beauty, in our time, want swords To guard it safe from violence.(171) Anyone who compares the metre of Massinger with that of Fletcher will find that our author observes far stricter laws than his friend. The plays of Massinger abound in lines divided between two speakers, or even three, which, nevertheless, observe the strict rule of the metre.(172) The way in which Massinger’s style and metre suit one another can best be illustrated by a passage or two from _The Parliament of Love_; the first is where Bellisant speaks about the decay of chivalry. BELLISANT. Ere they durst Presume to offer service to a lady, In person they perform’d some gallant acts The fame of which prepar’d them gracious hearing, Ere they made their approaches; what coy she, then,(173) Though great in birth, not to be parallel’d For nature’s liberal beauties (both set off With fortune’s trappings, wealth); but with delight, Gladly acknowledg’d such a man her servant, To whose heroic courage and deep wisdom, The flourishing commonwealth, and thankful king, Confess’d themselves for debtors? Whereas, now, If you have travelled Italy, and brought home Some remnants of the language, and can set Your faces in some strange and ne’er-seen posture, Dance a la volta, and be rude and saucy, Protest and swear and damn (for these are acts That most think grace them), and then view yourselves In the deceiving mirror of self-love, You do conclude there hardly is a woman That can be worthy of you.(174) The second is a speech of Leonora exposing Cleremond’s baseness: