Then bear with true patience thy cross as 't is fit,
And thou to a blessing thereby may'st turn it,
But be not thou jealous, I prithee, dear lad,

For jealousy makes many good women bad.

Between these three wives, the good, bad, and the mean,
I ground the whole argument of this my theme,
For in them a man's human bliss or his woe

Doth chiefly consist as experience doth show,
Thus is it not counsel that's worthy regard,
Which teaches to soften a thing that is hard,
And what I intend is in every man's will

To turn to a virtue what seemeth most ill. Then be not thou jealous, I prithee, dear lad, For jealousy makes many good women bad.

A wife that is good, being beautiful, may

Perhaps raise suspicion, that she'll go astray, O note the fond humours that most men possess, They're neither content with the more nor the less, For if she be homely, then her will he slight, Such man neither fair nor foul can delight, If once he be jealous the other he scorns, There's no greater plague than imagin'd horns. Then be not thou jealous, I prithee, dear lad, For jealousy makes many good women bad.

A wife that's indifferent between good and ill,
Is she that in houswifery shews her good will,

Yet sometimes her voice she too much elevates,
Is that the occasion for which he her hates?
A sovereign remedy for this disease

Is to hold thy tongue, let her say what she please: Judge, is not this better than to fight and scratch, For silence will soonest a shrew overmatch.

However I pray thee shun jealousy, lad,

For jealousy makes many good women bad.

A wife that's all bad, if thy luck be to have,
Seek not to reclaim her by making her slave,
If she be as bad as ever trod on ground,

Not fighting or jealousy will heal thy wound :
For mark when a river is stopt in its course,

It o'erflows the banks, then the danger is worse, Thy own example and patience withall,

May her from her vices much rather recall. Then be not thou jealous, I prithee, dear lad, For jealousy makes many good women bad.

SECOND PART.

A wife that is virtuous in every respect,

Who doth her vow'd duty at no time neglect,
She's not free from censure, for fools their bolts shoot
As oft at the head as they do at the foot:

A kiss or a smile, or a jest or a dance,
Familiar discourse, or an amorous glance,

All these, as her witness, Envy doth bring,
The credit of innocent women to sting.
But be not thou jealous, I pray thee, dear lad,
For jealousy makes many good women bad.

A wife's that's indifferent if curb'd overmuch,
Will grow worse and worse, for their nature is such.
The more thou with rigor doth seek her to mend,

The more they'll persist, and grow desperate in th' end. And thus from indifferency wanting good means,

Some well meaning women turn impudent queans. If goodness, by beating them, thou seek'st to infuse, For breaking her flesh thou all goodness dost bruise.

A wife at the worst (as I told you before)

A drunkard, a swearer, a scold, thief, or whore,
By gentle persuasions reclaimed may be,

Myself by experience but lately did see;
A man that with jealousy plagued hath been,
When he the last labour and trouble had seen,
He cast off his care and refer'd all to 's wife,
Who soon left her vices and led a new life.

I also have known a wife, handsome and neat,

Of whom her fond husband did take a conceit, That other men lov'd her because she was fair,

Though on the contrary to him she did swear, He watcht her, he eyed her, he noted her ways,

And once he in 's drink a scandal would raise,

This usage irregular set her on fire,

And so from thenceforward she prov'd him no liar.

Consider each circumstance with good regard,

How oft causeless jealousy wins due reward, And likewise I wish thee to bear in thy breast,

That patience and quietness still is the best, For if she be naught she'll grow worse with restraint, But patience may make of a harlot a saint,

If fair means prevail not thou'll ne'er do it by foul, For meekness (if any thing) must win a soul.

Now, lastly, to both men and women I speak, From this foolish fancy their humours to break ; Be loving and tractable each unto other,

And what is amiss let affection still smother. So shall man and wife in sympathy sweet,

At board and at bed (as they ought to do) meet, All fighting, and scratching, and scolding shall cease, Where jealousy's harbour'd there can be no peace. Then be not thou jealous, I pray thee, dear lad,

For jealousy makes many good women bad.

XLII.

A merry jest of John Tomson, and Jackaman his wife, Whose jealousie was justly the cause of all their strife.”

To the tune of Pegge of Ramsay.

WHEN I was a bachelor,
I liv'd a merry life,
But now I am a married man,
And troubled with a wife,
I cannot do as I have done,
Because I live in fear;

If I go but to Islington

My wife is watching there.
Give me my yellow hose again,
Give me my yellow hose,
For now my wife she watcheth me,
See yonder where she goes.

But when I was apprentice bound,
And my indentures made,
In many faults I have been found,

Yet never thus afraid;