MEPHISTOPHeles. Not any thing, my lord-poor men so fervent Der Herr. Dost thou know FAUST? MEPHISTOPHELES. The doctor? Der Herr. Yes: my servant. MEPHISTOPHELES. Truly, he serves in a peculiar fashion; Foolish even he at times will feel The folly in such hopes to deal: — Of heaven he asks its highest star; Der Herr. Yes: for he serves in a perplexing scene, That oft misleads him. Still his wILL is right; Soon comes the time to lead him into light. The hopes and promises of spring, The unformed bud and blossoming; And he who reared the tree and knows the clime Will seek and find fair fruit in fitting time. MEPHISTOPHeles. What will you wager you don't lose him yet, Der Berr. As long as on the earth endures his life MEPHISTOPHEles. Cheerfully I agree to the condition; I have no fancy for the dead: your youth, Der Herr. Be it permitted: from his source divert His consciousness of good will it desert The good man? -yea, even in his darkest hours Still doth he war with Darkness and the Powers Of Darkness; for the light he cannot see Still round him feels; — and, if he be not free, MEPHISTOPHEles. Well, this can neither make me fear nor fret ; Still visit here. With any thing but loathing (A lazy being at the best) And sting and spur requires. * In the original "Der Schalk" the droll of the old mysteries and moralities." The formal Vice Iniquity."― RICHARD THE THIRD. " — the old VICE, Who, with dagger of lath, In his rage and his wrath, Cries ah! ha! to the Devil."-TWELFTH NIGHT. The characters of the DEVIL and the VICE which were originally distinct became in the progress of the dramatic art soon blended into one. "The province of making the spectators merry descended from the Devil in the mystery to the Vice or Iniquity of the Morality, who originally personified some bad quality incident to human nature, as Pride, Lust, &c."-STRUTT. "Some traces of this antiquated exhibition are still retained in the rustic puppet-plays, in which I have seen the Devil very lustily belaboured by Punch, whom I hold to be the legitimate successor of the old Vice."-JOHNSON. The best account I know of the word "Der Schalk " is in KOLLER'S Faust Papers. In indolent enjoyment Man would live, MEPHISTOPHELES (alone). I'm very glad to have it in my power |