Rinaldo, you did never lack advice so much,5
As letting her pass so; had I spoke with her,
I could have well diverted her intents,
Which thus she hath prevented.

Stew.

Pardon me, madam:

If I had given you this at over-night,

She might have been o'erta'en; and yet she writes,
Pursuit would be but vain.

Count.

What angel shall
Bless this unworthy husband? he cannot thrive,
Unless her prayers, whom heaven delights to hear,
And loves to grant, reprieve him from the wrath
Of greatest justice. -Write, write, Rinaldo,
To this unworthy husband of his wife;
Let every word weigh heavy of her worth,
That he does weigh too light: my greatest grief,
Though little he do feel it, set down sharply.
Despatch the most convenient messenger:-
When, haply, he shall hear that she is gone,
He will return; and hope I may, that she,
Hearing so much, will speed her foot again,
Led hither by pure love: which of them both
Is dearest to me, I have no skill in sense
To make distinction:-Provide this messenger:-
My heart is heavy, and mine age is weak;
Grief would have tears, and sorrow bids me speak.

SCENE V.

Without the Walls of Florence.

[Exeunt.

A tucket afar off. Enter an old Widow of Florence, DIANA, VIOLENTA, MARIANA, and other Citizens.

Wid. Nay, come; for if they do approach the city, we shall lose all the sight.

5 lack advice so much,] Advice, is discretion or thought.

So, in King Henry V:

Johnson.

“And, on his more advice we pardon him." Steevens. 6 That he does weigh too light:] To weigh here means to value, or esteem. So, in Love's Labour's Lost:

“You weigh me not, O, that's you care not for me.'

Malone

Dia. They say, the French count has done most honourable service.

Wid. It is reported that he has taken their greatest commander: and that with his own hand he slew the duke's brother. We have lost our labour; they are gone a contrary way: hark! you may know by their trumpets.

Mar. Come, let's return again, and suffice ourselves with the report of it. Well, Diana, take heed of this French earl: the honour of a maid is her name; and no legacy is so rich as honesty.

Wid. I have told my neighbour, how you have been solicited by a gentleman his companion.

Mar. I know that knave; hang him! one Parolles: a filthy officer he is in those suggestions for the young earl.7-Beware of them, Diana; their promises, enticements, oaths, tokens, and all these engines of lust, are not the things they go under: many a maid hath been seduced by them; and the misery is, example, that so terrible shows in the wreck of maidenhood, cannot for all that dissuade succession, but that they are limed with the twigs that threaten them. I hope, I need not to advise you further; but, I hope, your own grace will keep you where you are, though there were no further danger known, but the modesty which is so lost.

Dia. You shall not need to fear me.

Enter HELENA, in the dress of a Pilgrim.

Wid. I hope so.- -Look, here comes a pilgrim: I know she will lie at my house: thither they send one another: I'll question her.

God save you, pilgrim! Whither are you bound?
Hel. To Saint Jaques le Grand.

Where do the palmers' lodge, I do beseech you?

7

those suggestions for the young earl.] Suggestions are temptations. So, in Love's Labour's Lost:

"Suggestions are to others as to me." Steevens.

8 are not the things they go under:] They are not really so true and sincere, as in appearance they seem to be. Theobald.

To go under the name of any thing is a known expression. The meaning is, they are not the things for which their names would make them pass. Johnson.

· palmers -] Pilgrims that visited holy places; so called

Wid. At the Saint Francis here, beside the port.
Hel. Is this the way?

Wid.

Ay, marry, is it.—Hark you! [A march afar off.

They come this way:-If you will tarry, holy pilgrim,1
But till the troops come by,

I will conduct you where you shall be lodg'd;
The rather, for, I think, I know your hostess
As ample as myself.

Hel.

Is it yourself?

Wid. If you shall please so, pilgrim.

Hel. I thank you, and will stay upon your leisure.
Wid. You came, I think, from France?

Hel.

I did so.

Wid. Here you shall see a countryman of yours, That has done worthy service.

Hel. His name, I pray you? Dia. The count Rousillon: Know you such a one? Hel. But by the ear, that hears most nobly of him: His face I know not.

Dia.

Whatsoe'er he is,

He's bravely taken here. He stole from France,
As 'tis reported, for the king2 had married him
Against his liking: Think you it is so?

Hel. Ay, surely, mere the truth;3 I know his lady.

from a staff, or bough of palm they were wont to carry, especially such as had visited the holy places at Jerusalem." A pilgrim and a palmer differed thus: a pilgrim had some dwellingplace, a palmer none; the pilgrim travelled to some certain place, the palmer to all, and not to any one in particular; the pilgrim must go at his own charge, the palmer must profess wilful poverty; the pilgrim might give over his profession, the palmer must be constant, till he had the palm, that is, victory over his ghostly enemies, and life by death." Blount's Glossography, voce Pilgrim. Reed.

1

holy pilgrim,] The interpolated epithet holy, which adds nothing to our author's sense, and is injurious to his metre, may be safely omitted. Steevens.

2

for the king &c.] For, in the present instance, signifies because. So, in Othello:

66

and great business scant,
Steevens.

"For she is with me."

3 mere the truth;] The exact, the entire truth. Malone.

Dia. There is a gentleman, that serves the count, Reports but coarsely of her.

Hel,

Dia. Monsieur Parolles.

Hel.

What's his name?

O, I believe with him,

In argument of praise, or to the worth

Of the great count himself, she is too mean
To have her name repeated; all her deserving
Is a reserved honesty, and that

I have not heard examin'd.4

Dia.

Alas, poor lady!

'Tis a hard bondage, to become the wife

Of a detesting lord.

Wid. A right good creature: 5 wheresoe'er she is, Her heart weighs sadly: this young maid might do her A shrewd turn, if she pleas'd.

Hel.

May be, the amorous count solicits her

In the unlawful purpose.

Wid.

How do you mean?

He does, indeed;

And brokes with all that can in such a suit

examin'd.] That is, questioned, doubted. Johnson.

5 A right good creature:] There is great reason to believe, that when these plays were copied for the press, the transcriber trusted to the ear, and not to the eye; one person dictating, and ano. ther transcribing. Hence, probably, the error of the old copy, which reads-I write good creature. For the emendation now made I am answerable. The same expression is found in The Two Noble Kinsmen, 1634:

“ A right good creature, more to me deserving," &c. Malone.

Perhaps, Shakspeare wrote

I weet, good creature, wheresoe'er she is,—

i. e. I know, I am well assured. He uses the word in Antony and Cleopatra. Thus also, Prior:

"But well I weet, thy cruel wrong

"Adorns a nobler poet's song." Steevens.

1 should prefer the old reading to this amendment. I write good creature, may well mean, I set her down as a good creature. The widow could not well assert, that a woman was a right good creature, that she had never seen before. M. Mason.

In Bell's edition the passage is printed thus:

"Ay! right: good creature! wheresoe'er," &c.

VOL. V.

Y

Amer. Edit.