Justice Overdo "Over-does" It Again

A character I find particularly interesting in Jonson’s Bartholomew Fair is the Justice. Despite his attempts to remain inconspicuous (at least during parts of the play), he constantly finds himself in the middle of drama and difficult situations.  In a way, there is irony simply in the fact that Justice Overdo is supposed to be the Justice of the Peace—his duty is to maintain justice and peace, yet he is continually in the midst of chaotic scenarios.  In Act three, scene three, the Justice does himself a sort of in-justice (cheesey pun not-really-inteded J ) and goes into an overly long soliloquy.  The very first lines he speaks is that he “will make no more orations shall draw / on these tragical conclusions.” (Act 3, scene 3, lines 1-2)  Justice Overdo then proceeds to speak for forty-two straight lines—about said “tragical conclusions,” no less.  This soliloquy is the longest (so far as I remember, and can tell from skimming the rest of the play) single, solid section spoken by one character!  The fact that Justice “Over-do” overdoes his speech, as well as hypocritically stating that he will no longer speak of the very situation that he ends up giving a speech about, reveals that the Justice is yet another character whose own spoken words lead to a minor sort of self-demise.