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Duke, And, Proteus, we dare trust you in this kind; | Of which if you should here disfurnish me,
Because we know, on Valentine's report,
You are already love's firm votary,

may

And cannot soon revolt and change your mind.
Upon this warrant shall you have access,
Where with Silvia
you
confer at large;
For she is lumpish, heavy, melancholy,
And, for your friend's sake, will be glad of you;
Where you may temper her, by your persuasion,
To hate young Valentine, and love my friend.

Pro. As much as I can do, I will effect:-
But you, Sir Thurio, are not sharp enough;
You must lay lime,' to tangle her desires,
By wailful sonnets, whose composed rhymes,
Should be full fraught with serviceable vows.
Duke. Ay, much is the force of heaven-bred poesy.
Pro. Say, that upon the altar of her beauty
You sacrifice your tears, your sighs, your heart:
Write till your ink be dry; and with your tears
Moist it again; and frame some feeling line,
That may discover such integrity: 2-
For Orpheus' lute was strung with poets' sinews;
Whose golden touch could soften steel and stones,
Make tigers tame, and huge leviathans
Forsake unsounded deeps to dance on sands.
After your dire-lamenting elegies,

Visit by night your lady's chamber window
With some sweet consort :3 to their instruments
Tune a deploring dump ;4 the night's dead silence
Will well become such sweet complaining grievance.
This, or else nothing, will inherit her."

Duke. This discipline shews thou hast been in love.
Thu. And thy advice this night I'll put in practice:
Therefore, sweet Proteus, my direction-giver,
Let us into the city presently

To sort some gentlemen well skill'd in music:
I have a sonnet, that will serve the turn,
To give the onset to thy good advice.

Duke. About it, gentlemen.

Pro. We'll wait upon your grace till after supper: And afterward determine our proceedings. Duke. Even now about it; I will pardon you.

ACT IV.

SCENE I-A Forest, near Mantua. tain Out-laws.

[Exeunt.

Enter cer

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You take the sum and substance that I have. 2 Out. Whither travel you?

Val. To Verona.

1 Out. Whence came you? Val. From Milan.

3 Out. Have you long sojourned there? Val. Some sixteen months; and longer might have staid,

If crooked fortune had not thwarted me.

1 Out. What, were you banish'd thence? Val. I was.

2 Out. For what offence?

Val. For that which now torments me to re⚫ hearse :

I kill'd a man, whose death I must repent;
But yet I slew him manfully in fight,
Without false vantage, or base treachery.

1 Out. Why ne'er repent it, if it were done so; But were you banish'd for so small a fault? Val. I was, and held me glad of such a doom. 1 Out. Have you the tongues?

Val. My youthful travel therein made me happy; Or else I often had been miserable.

3 Out. By the bare scalp of Robin Hood's fat

friar,

8

This fellow were a king for our wild faction.
1 Out. We'll have him; sirs, a word.
Speed. Master, be one of them;

It is an honourable kind of thievery.
Val. Peace, villain!

2 Out. Tell us this: have you any thing to take to? Val. Nothing but my fortune.

3 Out. Know, then, that some of us are gentlemen, Such as the fury of ungovern'd youth Thrust from the company of awful men: Myself was from Verona banish'd, For practising to steal away a lady, An heir, and near allied unto the duke.

2 Out. And I from Mantua, for a gentleman, Whom, in my mood,1° I stabbed unto the heart.

1 Out. And I, for such like petty crimes as these. But to the purpose,-(for we cite our faults, That they may hold excus'd our lawless lives,) And, partly, seeing you are beautify'd With goodly shape; and by your own report A linguist, and a man of such perfection, As we do in our quality much want;

2 Out. Indeed, because you are a banish'd man, Therefore, above the rest, we parley to you: Are you content to be our general?

And live, as we do, in this wilderness?
To make a virtue of necessity,

3 Out. What say'st thou? wilt thou be of our

consort ?

3 Out. Stand, sir, and throw us that you have Say ay, and be the captain of us all ;

about you;

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I i. e. birdlime.

2 i. e. sincerity, such as would be manifested by such impassioned writing. Malone suspects that a line following this has been lost.

3 The old copy has consort, which, according to Bullokar and Philips, signified "a set or company of musicians." If we print concert, as Malone would have it, the relative pronoun their has no correspondent word. It is true that Shakspeare frequently refers to words not expressed, but implied in the former part of a sentence. But the reference here is to consort, as appears by the subsequent words, "to their instruments,"

4 A dump was the ancient term for a mournful elegy.

We'll do thee homage, and be rul'd by thee,
Love thee as our commander and our king.

1 Out. But if thou scern our courtesy, thou diest. 2 Out. Thou shalt not live to brag what we have offer'd.

Val. I take your offer, and will live with you; Provided that you do no outrages On silly women, or poor passengers.

3 Out. No, we detest such vile base practices. Come, go with us, we'll bring thee to our crews, And shew thee all the treasure we have got; Which, with ourselves, all rest at thy dispose.

[Exeunt.

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SCENE II.-Milan. Court of the Palace. Enter
PROTEUS.

Pro. Already have I been false to Valentine,
And now I must be as unjust to Thurio.
Under the colour of commending him,
I have access my own love to prefer;
But Silvia is too fair, too true, too holy,
To be corrupted with my worthless gifts.
When I protest true loyalty to her,

She twits me with my falsehood to my friend;
When to her beauty I commend my vows,
She bids me think, how I have been forsworn
In breaking faith with Julia whom I lov'd:
And, notwithstanding all her sudden quips,1
The least whereof would quell a lover's hope,
Yet, spaniel-like, the more she spurns my love,
The more it grows and fawneth on her still.
But here comes Thurio; now must we to her
window,

And give some evening music to her ear.

Enter THURIO, and Musicians.

Thu. How now?
Sir Proteus? are you crept

before

Pro. Ay, gentle Thurio; for, you know, that love
Will creep in service where it cannot go.

Thu. Ay, but, I hope, sir, that you love not here.
Pro. Sir, but I do; or else I would be hence.
Thu. Who? Silvia ?

Pro. Ay, Silvia,-for your sake.

Thu. I thank you for your own. Now, gentlemen,

Let's tune, and to it lustily awhile.

Enter Host, at a distance; and JULIA in boy's clothes. Host. Now, my young guest! methinks you're allycholly; I pray you, why is it?

Jul. Marry, mine host, because I cannot be

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Who is Sylvia? What is she?

[Music plays.

That all our swains commend her?

Holy, fair, and wise is she;

The heavens such grace did lend her,
That she might admired be.

Is she kind, as she is fair?
For beauty lives with kindness:
Love doth to her eyes repair,

To help him of his blindness;
And, being help'd, inhabits there.

Then to Silvia let us sing,
That Silvia is excelling;
She excels each mortal thing,
Upon the dull earth dwelling:
To her let us garlands bring,

Host. How now? are you sadder than you were

before?

How do you, man? the music likes you not.
Jul. You mistake; the musician likes me not.
Host. Why, my pretty youth?

Jul. He plays false, father.

Host. How? out of tune on the strings?

Jul. Not so; but yet so false that he grieves my very heart-strings.

Host. You have a quick car.

Jul. Ay, I would I were deaf! it makes me have a slow heart.

1 Sudden quips, hasty, passionate reproaches.

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Ju Where is Launce?

Host. Gone to seek his dog; which, to-morrow, by his master's command, he must carry for a present o his lady.

Ju. Peace! stand aside! the company parts.
Pr. Sir Thurio, fear not you! I will so plead,
That you shall say, my cunning drift excels.
Thi. Where meet we?

Pr. At Saint Gregory's well.

Thu. Farewell. [Exeunt THU. and Musicians.
SILVIA appears above, at her window.
P. Madam, good even to your ladyship.
St. I thank you for your music, gentlemen:
Whe is that, that spake?

Po. One, lady, if you knew his pure heart's
truth,

Youd quickly learn to know him by his voice.
Sa. Sir Proteus, as I take it.

Pro. Sir Proteus, gentle lady, and your servant.
Sil. What is your will?

Pro. That I may compass yours.

Sil. You have your wish; my will is even this,-
Thou subtle, perjur'd, false, disloyal man!
That presently you hie you home to bed.
Think'st thou, I am so shallow, so conceitless,
To be seduced by thy flattery,

Tha hast deceiv'd so many with thy vows
Return, return, and make thy love amends.
For me,-by this pale queen of night I swear,
I am so far from granting thy request,
That I despise thee for thy wrongful suit;
And by and by intend to chide myself,
Even for this time I spend in talking to thee.
Pro. I grant, sweet love, that I did love a lady;
But she is dead.

Jul. "Twere false, if I should speak it;
For, I am sure, she is not buried.

[Aside.

Sil. Say, that she be; yet Valentine, thy friend, Survives; to whom, thyself art witness,

I am betroth'd: And art thou not asham'd

To wrong him with thy importunacy?
Pro. I likewise hear, that Valentine is dead.
Sil. And so suppose am I; for in his
Assure thyself, my love is buried.

grave,

Pro. Sweet lady, let me rake it from the earth.
Sil. Go to thy lady's grave, and call her's thence
Or, at the least, in her's sepulchre thine.
Jul. He heard not that.

[Aside.

Pro. Madam, if your heart be so obdurate,
Vouchsafe me yet your picture for my love,
The picture that is hanging in your chamber;
To that I'll speak, to that I'll sigh and weep:
For, since the substance of your perfect self
Is else devoted, I am but a shadow;
And to your shadow will I make true love.
Jul. If 'twere a substance, you would, sure,
ceive it,

And make it but a shadow, as I am.

;

de

[Aside.

But, since your falsehood shall become you well
Sil. I am very loth to be your idol, sir;
To worship shadows, and adore false shapes,
Send to me in the morning and I'll send it:
And so good rest.

Pro.
As wretches have o'ernight,
That wait for execution in the morn.

[Exeunt PROTEUS; and SILVIA from above. Jul. Host, will you go?

Host. By my halidom, I was fast asleep.

2 i. e. Out of all reckoning or count; reckonings were kept upon nicked or notched sticks or tallies.

3 Halidom, (says Minshen,) an old word, used by old countrywomen by manner of swearing.

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Egl. As many, worthy lady, to yourself.
According to your ladyship's impose,2
I am thus early come, to know what service
It is your pleasure to command me in.

Sil. O Églamour, thou art a gentleman,
(Think not, I flatter, for I swear, I do not,)
Valiant, wise, remorseful, well accomplish'd.
Thou art not ignorant, what dear good-will
I bear unto the banish'd Valentine;
Nor how my father would enforce me marry
Vain Thurio, whom my very soul abhorr'd.
Thyself hast lov'd; and I have heard thee say,
No grief did ever come so near thy heart,
As when thy lady and thy true love died,'
Upon whose grave thou vow'dst pure chastity.4
Sir Eglamour, I would to Valentine,
To Mantua, where, I hear, he makes abode;
And, for the ways are dangerous to pass,
I do desire thy worthy company,
Upon whose faith and honour Í
Urge not my father's anger, Eglamour,
But think upon my grief, a lady's grief;
And on the justice of my flying hence,
To keep me from a most unholy match,
Which heaven and fortune still reward with plagues.
I do desire thee, even from a heart
As full of sorrows as the sea of sands,
To bear me company, and
with me:
go
If not, to hide what I have said to thee,
That I may venture to depart alone.

repose.

Egl. Madam, I pity much your grievances;
Which since I know they virtuously are placed,
I give consent to go along with you;
Recking as little what betideth me,

As much I wish all good befortune you.
When will you go?

Sil. This evening coming.

Egl. Where shall I meet you?

Sil. At friar Patrick's cell,

Where I intend holy confession.
Egl. I will not fail your ladyship:

Good-morrow, gentle lady.

Sil. Good-morrow, kind Sir Eglamour.

[Exeunt. SCENE IV. The same. Enter LAUNCE, with his Dog.

When a man's servant shall play the cur with him, look you, it goes hard: one that I brought up of a puppy; one that I saved from drowning, when three or four of his blind brothers and sisters went

1 The double superlative is very often used by the writers of Shakspeare's time.

to it! I have taught him-even as one would say precisely, Thus I would teach a dog. I was sent to deliver him, as a present to mistress Silvia, from my master; and I came no sooner into the diningchamber, but he steps is a foul thing, when a cur eps me to her trencher, and steals her capon's leg. cannot keep himself in all companies! I would have, as one should say, one that takes upon him to be a dog indeed, to be, as it were, a dog at all things. If I had not had more wit than he, to take a fault upon me that he did, I think verily he had been hanged for't sure as I live, he had suffer'd for't: you shall judge. He thrusts me himself into the company of three or four gentleman-like dogs, under the duke's table: he had not been there (bless the mark) a with the dog, says one; What cur is that? says pissing while; but all the chamber smelt him. Out another; Whip him out, says the third; Hang him up, says the duke. I, having been acquainted with the smell before, knew it was Crab; and goes me to the fellow that whips the dogs: Friend, quoth 1, you mean to whip the dog? Ay, marry, do I, quoth he. You do him the more wrong, quoth I; 'twas I did the thing you wot of. He makes me no more ado, but whips me out of the chamber. How many masters would do this for their servant? Nay, I'll be sworn, I have sat in the stocks for puddings he hath stolen, otherwise he had been executed: I have stood on the pillory for geese he hath killed, otherwise he had suffered for't: thou think'st not of this now!-Nay, I remember the trick you served me, when I took my leave of madame Silvia: did not I bid thee still mark me, and do as I do? When didst thou see me heave up my leg, and make water against a gentlewoman's farthingale? didst thou ever see me do such a trick?

Enter PROTEUS and JULIA.

Pro. Sebastian is thy name? I like thee well, And will employ thee in some service presently. Jul. In what you please ;-I will do what I can. Pro. I hope, thou wilt.-How now, you whoreson [TO LAUNCE Where have you been these two days loitering? Laun. Marry, sir, I carried mistress Silvia the dog you bade me.

peasant!

Pro. And what says she to my little jewel? Laun. Marry, she says, your dog was a cur; and tells you, currish thanks is good enough for such a

present.

Pro. But she received my dog?

Laun. No, indeed, did she not: here have I brought him back again.

Pro. What, didst thou offer her this from me? Laun. Ay, sir; the other squirrel was stolen from me by the hangman's boys in the market-place: and then I offered her mine own; who is a dog as big as ten of yours, and therefore the gift the greater. Pro. Go, get thee hence, and find my dog again, Or ne'er return again into my sight. Away, I say: Stay'st thou to vex me here? A slave, that, still an end turns me to shame. [Exit LAUNCE

Sebastian, I have entertained thee,
Partly, that I have need of such a youth,
That can with some discretion do my business,
For 'tis no trusting to yon foolish lowt;
But, chiefly for thy face and thy behaviour:
Which (if my augury deceive me not)

5 In Shakspeare's time griefs frequently signified 2 Impose is injunction, command; a task set at col- grievances; and the present instance shows that in re lege in consequence of a fault is still called an imposi-turn grievance was sometimes used in the sense of

tion.

3 i. e. pitiful. 4 It was common in former ages for widowers and widows to make vows of chastity in honour of their de. ceased wives or husbands. Besides observing the vow, the widow was, for life, to wear a veil, and a mourning habit. The same distinction may have been made in respect of male votarists; this circumstance might inform the players how Sir Eglamour should be dressed; and will account for Silvia's having chosen him as a person in whom she could confide without injury to her Character.

grief.

6 To reck is to care for. So in Hamlet: "And reeks not his own read."

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Pro. Why dost thou cry, alas?

Jul. I cannot choose but pity her.

Pro. Wherefore should'st thou pity her?

Jul. Because, methinks, that she lov'd you as well As you do love your lady Silvia:

She dreams on him that has forgot her love;
You dote on her that cares not for your love.
"Tis pity, love should be so contrary:
And thinking on it makes me cry, alas!

Pro. Well, give her that ring, and therewithal
This letter;-that's her chamber.-Tell my lady,
I claim the promise for her heavenly picture.
Your message done, hie home unto my chamber,
Where thou shalt find me sad and solitary.

[Exit PROTEUS.
Jul. How many women would do such a message?
Alas, poor Proteus! thou hast entertained
A fox, to be the shepherd of thy lambs:
Alas, poor fool! why do I pity him
That with his very heart despiseth me?
Because he loves her, he despiseth me;
Because I love him, I must pity him.

This ring I gave him, when he parted from me,
To bind him to remember my good-will:
And now am I (unhappy messenger !)
To plead for that, which I would not obtain;
To carry that which I would have refus'd;

To praise his faith which I would have disprais'd.
I am my master's true confirmed love;
But cannot be true servant to my master,
Unless I prove false traitor to myself.
Yet I will woo for him: but yet so coldly,
As, heaven it knows, I would not have him speed.

Enter SILVIA, attended.

Gentlewoman, good day! I pray you be my mean
To bring me where to speak with madam Silvia.
Sil. What would you with her, if that I be she?
Jul. If you be she, I do entreat your patience
To hear me speak the message I am sent on.
Sil. From whom?

Jul. From my master, Sir Proteus, madam.
Sil. O!-he sends you for a picture?
Jul. Ay,. madam.

Sil. Ursula, bring my picture there.

[Picture brought.
Go, give your master this: tell him from me,
One Julia, that his changing thoughts forget,
Would better fit his chamber than this shadow.

Jul. Madam, please you peruse this letter.-
Pardon me, madain; I have unadvis'd
Deliver'd you a paper that I should not;
This is the letter to your ladyship.

Sil. I pray thee let me look on that again.
Jul. It may not be; good madam, pardon mc.
Sil. There, hold.

I will not look upon your master's lines:
I know they are stuff'd with protestations,
And full of new-found oaths; which he will break
As easily as I do tear his paper.

Jul. Madam, he sends your ladyship this ring.
Sil. The more shame for him that he sends it me;
For, I have heard him say a thousand times,
11. e. in good earnest, tout de bon.

2 To passion was used as a verb formerly.

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Sil. Is she not passing fair?

Jul. She hath been fairer, madam, than she is: When she did think my master lov'd her well, She, in my judgment, was as fair as you; But since she did neglect her looking-glass, And threw her sun-expelling mask away, The air hath starv'd the roses in her cheeks, And piach'd the lily-tincture of her face, That now she is become as black as I.

Sil. How tall was she?

Jul. About my stature: for, at Pentecost,
When all our pageants of delight were play'd,
Our youth got me to play the woman's part,
And I was trimm'd in madam Julia's gown,
Which served me as fit, by all men's judgment,
As if the garment had been made for me;
Therefore, I know she is about my height.
And, at that time, I made her weep a good,'
For I did play a lamentable part:
Madam, 'twas Ariadne, passioning2
For Theseus' perjury, and unjust flight;
Which I so lively acted with my tears,
That my poor mistress, moved therewithal,
Wept bitterly; and, would I might be dead,
If I in thought felt not her very sorrow!

Sil. She is beholden to thee, gentle youth!-
Alas, poor lady! desolate and left!—

I weep myself, to think upon thy words.
Here, youth, there is my purse; I give thee this
For thy sweet mistress' sake, because thou lov'st
[Exit SILVIA.
Jul. And she shall thank you for't, if e'er you

Farewell.

her.

know her.

A virtuous gentlewoman, mild, and beautiful.
I hope my master's suit will be but cold,
Since she respects my mistress' love so much.
Alas, how love can trifle with itself!
Here is her picture: Let me see; I think,
If I had such a tire, this face of mine
Were full as lovely as is this of hers:
And yet the painter flatter'd her a little,
Unless I flatter with myself too much.
Her hair is auburn, mine is perfect yellow:
If that be all the difference in his love,
I'll

get me such a colour'd periwig.3
Her eyes are grey as glass; and so are mine:
Ay, but her forehead's low, and mine's as high.
What should it be, that he respects in her,
But I can make respective in myself,
If this fond love were not a blinded god?
Come, shadow, come, and take this shadow
For 'tis thy rival. O thou senseless form,
Thou shalt be worshipp'd, kiss'd, lov'd, and ador'd;
And, were there sense in this idolatry,
My substance should be statue' in thy stead.

up,

5 A high forehead was then accounted a feature eminently beautiful. Our author, in The Tempest, shows that low foreheads were in disesteem. with foreheads villanous low.

6 Respective, i. e. considerative, regardful, v. Mer. chant of Venice, Act v. Sc. 1.

3 False hair was worn by the ladies long before wigs were in fashion. So, in Northward Hoe,' 1607, "There is a new trade come up for cast gentlewomen of periwig making." Perwickes are mentioned by Churchyard in one of his earliest poems. And Barnabe 7 The word statue was formerly used to express a Rich, in The Honestie of this Age,' 1615, has a phi-portrait, and sometimes a statue was called a picture. hippie against this folly.

4 By grey eyes were meant what we now call blue eyes. Grey, when applied to the eyes is rendered by Coles, in his Dictionary, 1679, Ceruleus, glaucus.

Stowe says (speaking of Elizabeth's funeral,) that when the people beheld "her statue or picture lying upon the coffin, there was a general sighing." Thus in the City Madam,' by Massinger, Sir John Frugal de

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See, where she comes; Lady, a happy evening!
Sil. Amen, amen! go on, good Eglamour!
Out at the postern by the abbey wall;
I fear I am attended by some spies.

Egl. Fear not the forest is not three leagues off:
If we recover that, we are sure enough. [Exeunt.
SCENE II.-The same. A Room in the Duke's
Palace. Enter THURIO, PROTEUS, and JULIA.
Thu. Sir Proteus, what says Silvia to my suit?
Pro. O, sir, I find her milder than she was;
And yet she takes exceptions at your person.
Thu. What, that my leg is too long?
Pro. No; that it is too little.

Thu. I'll wear a boot, to make it somewhat
rounder.

Pro. But love will not be spurr'd to what it
loaths.1

Thu. What says she to my face?
Pro. She says it is a fair one.

Thu. Nay, then the wanton lies; my face is

black.

Pro. But pearls are fair; and the old saying is,
Black men are pearls in beauteous ladies' eyes.
Jul. 'Tis true; such pearls as put out ladies eyes;
For I had rather wink than look on them. [Aside.
Thu. How likes she my discourse?
Pro. Ill, when you talk of war.

Thu. But well, when I discourse of love and
peace?

Jul. But better indeed, when you hold your

peace.

Thu. What says she to my valour?
Pro. O, sir, she makes no doubt of that.
Jul. She needs not, when she knows

ardice.

Thu. What says she to my birth?
Pro. That you are well deriv'd.

Jul. True, from a gentleman to a fool.
Thu. Considers she my possessions?
Pro. O, ay; and pities them.

Thu. Wherefore ?

it

[Aside.

Pro. Neither.

Duke. Why, then she's fled unto that peasant
Valentine;

And Eglamour is in her company.

"Tis true; for friar Laurence met them both,
As he in penance wander'd through the forest;
Him he knew well, and guess'd that it was she:
But, being mask'd, he was not sure of it:
Besides, she did intend confession

At Patrick's cell this even: and there she was not:
These likelihoods confirm her flight from hence.
Therefore, I pray you, stand not to discourse,
But mount you presently; and meet with me
Upon the rising of the mountain foot

That leads towards Mantua, whither they are fled:
Despatch, sweet gentlemen, and follow me. [Exit.
Thu. Why, this it is to be a peevish girl,
That flies her fortune when it follows her:
I'll after; more to be reveng'd on Eglamour,
Than for the love of reckless' Silvia.

[Exit.

Pro. And I will follow, more for Silvia's love, Than hate of Eglamour that goes with her. [Exit. Jul. And I will follow more to cross that love, Than hate for Silvia, that is gone for love. [Exit. SCENE III.-Frontiers of Mantua. The Forest. Enter SILVIA, and Out-laws.

Out. Come, come;

Be patient, we must bring you to our captain.
Sil. A thousand more mischances than this one
Have learn'd me how to brook this patiently.
2 Out. Come, bring her away.

1 Out. Where is the gentleman that was with
her?

3 Out. Being nimble-footed, he hath outrun us, But Moyses and Valerius follow him.

Go thou with her to the west end of the wood,
There is our captain: we'll follow him that's fled:
The thicket is beset, he cannot 'scape.

1 Out. Come, I must bring you to our captain's

cave:

Fear not; he bears an honorable mind,
And will not use a woman lawlessly.

Sil. O Valentine, this I endure for thee!

[Exeunt. SCENE IV. Another part of the Forest. Enter VALENTINE.

Val. How use doth breed a habit in a man!
This shadowy desert, unfrequented woods,
I better brook than flourishing peopled towns:
Here can I sit alone, unseen of any,

cow-Tune my distresses, and record my woes.
And, to the nightingale's complaining notes,
[Aside. O thou that dost inhabit in my breast,

Leave not the mansion so long tenantless;
Lest, growing ruinous, the building fall,
Aside. And leave no memory of what it was !

Repair me with thy presence, Silvia;
Thou gentle nymph, cherish thy forlorn swain!-
What halloing, and what stir, is this to-day?

Jul. That such an ass should owe them. [Aside. These are my mates, that make their wills their law, Pro. That they are out by lease.3

Jul. Here comes the Duke.

Enter DUKE.

Duke. How now, Sir Proteus? how now, Thurio?
Which of you saw Sir Eglamour of late?
Thu. Not I.

Pro. Nor I.

Duke. Saw you my daughter?

sires that his daughters may take leave of their lovers' statues, though he had previously described them as pictures, which they evidently were.

1 Mr. Boswell thought that this line should be given to Julia, as well as a subsequent one, and that they were meant to be spoken aside. They are exactly in the style of her other sarcastic speeches; and Proteus, who is playing on Thurio's credulity, would hardly represent him as an object of loathing to Silvia.

2 i. e. possess them, on them.

Have some unhappy passenger in chase:
They love me well; yet I have much to do
To keep them from uncivil outrages.
Withdraw thee, Valentine; who's this comes here?
[Steps aside.

Enter PROTEUS, SILVIA, and JULIA.
Pro. Madam, this service I have done for you,
(Though you respect not aught your servant doth)
fool,) but are leased out to another. Edinburgh Maga-
zine, Nov. 1786.

4 Peevish in ancient language signified foolish.
5 i. e. careless, heedless.

6 To record, anciently signified to sing. It is still
used by bird fanciers to express the first essays of a bird
to sing and is evidently derived from the recorder or
pipe with which they were formerly taught.
7" thou that dost inhabit in my breast,

Leave not the mansion so long tenantless; Lest growing ruinous, the building fall, And leave no memory of what it was." is hardly possible (says Steevens) to point out four lines in Shakspeare more remarkable for casc and clegance than the preceding.

3 By Thurio's possessions he himself understands his lands. But Proteus chooses to take the word likewise in a figurative sense, as signifying his mental endowments,It and when he says they are out by lease, he means, that they are no longer enjoyed by their master (who is a

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