milian's palace; Count Paris is ſeen in mourning bewailing his loſs of Juliet; the prince in vain endeavours to conſole him.
Antonio comes; he is ſenſibly affected with his daughter's misfortune; ſhe was dear to him, and beſides, having no heirs, he can't tell to whom he ſhould leave his vaſt poſſeſſions. This conſideration induces him to take the reſolution to marry Dorothea, his niece, to prevent his great riches from being diſperſed among ſeveral different families after his death: he aſks advice of the duke on this ſubject, who approves of his intention.
A new ſcene preſents itſelf to the eyes of the ſpectator, the burial place of the Capulets, a vaſt cavern, where nothing but funeral objects are perceived, the ſight of which muſt of courſe ſhock in a comedy. Juliet at length awakes; her aſtoniſhment, her confuſion, her terror and her love, furniſh in theſe dreadful ſhades a long ſoliloquy, but which does not want beauty.
Romeo and Marino make their appearance: Marino carries a light; but, as he trembles as he walks, his fear makes him fall down, and the light is extinguiſhed. In this ſituation his diſcourſe and his action are ſo comic, that all the horror of the ſituation vaniſhes; the audience burſt out into loud peals of laughter, though the mournful pomp of death is before their eyes.
