Macheath. _The Charge is prepar’d_; _the Lawyers are met_, _The Judges all rang’d_ (_a terrible Show_!) _I go_, _undismay’d_.—_For Death is a Debt_, _A Debt on Demand_.—_So take what I owe_. _Then farewell_, _my Love_—_Dear Charmers_, _adieu_. _Contented I die_—_’Tis the better for you_. _Here ends all Disputes the rest of our Lives_, _For this way at once I please all my Wives_. Now, Gentlemen, I am ready to attend you. [_Exeunt_ Macheath, Lockit, _and_ Peachum. _Enter_ Filch. _Polly_. Follow them, _Filch_, to the Court. And when the Trial is over, bring me a particular Account of his Behaviour, and of every thing that happen’d—You’ll find me here with Miss _Lucy_. [_Exit_ Filch.] But why is all this Musick? _Lucy_. The Prisoners, whose Trials are put off ’till next Session, are diverting themselves. _Polly_. Sure there is nothing so charming as Music! I’m fond of it to Distraction!—But alas!—now, all Mirth seems an Insult upon my Affliction.—Let us retire, my dear _Lucy_, and indulge our Sorrows.—The noisy Crew, you see, are coming upon us. [_Exeunt_. _A Dance of Prisoners in Chains_, &c. SCENE V. _The_ Condemn’d Hold. Macheath, _in a melancholy Posture_. AIR LVII. Happy Groves. _O cruel_, _cruel_, _cruel Case_! _Must I suffer this Disgrace_? AIR LVIII. Of all the Girls that are so smart. _Of all the Friends in time of Grief_, _When threatning Death looks grimmer_, _Not one so sure can bring Relief_, _As this best Friend_, _a Brimmer_. [Drinks. AIR LIX. _Britons_ strike home. _Since I must swing_,—_I scorn_, _I scorn to wince or whine_. [Rises. AIR LX. Chevy Chase. _But now again my Spirits sink_; _I’ll raise them high with Wine_. [Drinks a Glass of Wine. AIR LXI. To old Sir _Simon_ the King. _But Valour the stronger grows_, _The stronger Liquor we’er drinking_; _And how can we feel our Woes_, _When we’ve lost the Trouble of Thinking_? [Drinks. AIR LXII. Joy to Great _Cæsar_. _If thus_—_A Man can die_ _Much bolder with Brandy_. [Pours out a Bumper of Brandy. AIR LXIII. There was an old Woman. _So I drink off this Bumper_.—_And now I can stand the Test_, _And my Comrades shall see_, _that I die as brave as the Best_. [Drinks.