Nor, to his service, no such joy on earth!
Now, no discourse, except it be of love;
Now can I break my faft, dine, fup, and sleep,
Upon the very naked name of love.

Pro. Enough ; I read your fortune in your eye:
Was this the idol that you worship fo?

Val. Even the ; and is she not a heavenly saint?
Pro. No, but she is an earthly paragon.
Val. Call her divine.
Pro.

I will not flatter her.
Val. O, flatter me ; for love delights in praises.

Pro. When I was sick, you gave me bitter pills;
And I muft minifter the like to you.

Val. Then speak the truth of her ; if not divine,
Yet let her be a principality,
Sovereign to all the creatures on the earth.

Pro. Except my mistress.
Val.

Sweet, except not any;
Except thou wilt except against my love.

Pro. Have I not reason to prefer mine own?

Vol. And I will help thee to prefer her too : She shall be dignified with this high honour, To bear my lady's train; left the base earth Should from her vesture chance to steal a kiss, And, of fo great a favour growing proud, Disdain to root the summer-swelling flower, And make rough winter everlastingly.

Pro. Why, Valentine, what braggardism is this?

Val. Pardon me, Proteus : all I can is nothing
To her, whose worth makes other worthies nothing;
She is alone.6

Pro. Then let her alone.
Val. Not for the world : why, man, she is mine own;

And s The first or principal of women. So the old writers use fate, « Sbe is a lady, a great state.” Latymer. JOHNSON.

Mr. M. Maion thus judiciously parapbrases the sentiment of Valentine, 6. If you will not acknowledge her as divine, let her at least be considered as an angel of the first order, superior to every thing on earth."

STEEVENS. 6 She stands by herself. There is none to be compared to her

6

7

JOHNSON.

And I as rich in having such a jewel,
As twenty seas, if all their fand were pearl,
The water nectar, and the rocks pure gold.
Forgive me, that I do not dream on thee,
Because thou seeft me dote upon my love.
My foolish rival, that her father likes,
Only for his poffeffions are so huge,
Is gone with her along; and I must after,
For love, thou know'A, is full of jealousy.

Pro. But she loves you?
Val.

Ay, and we are betroth'd ;
Nay, more, our marriage hour,
With all the cunning manner of our Aight,
Determind of: how I must climb her window;
The ladder made of cords; and all the means
Plotted; and 'greed on, for my happiness.
Good Proteus, go with me to my chamber,
In these affairs to aid me with thy counsel.

Pro. Go on before; I shall enquire you forth :
I must unto the road, to disembark
Some necessaries that I needs must use;
And then I'll presently attend you.

Val. Will you make haste?
Pro. I will.

[Exit VAL.
Even as one heat another heat expels,
Or as one nail by strength drives out another,
So the remembrance of my former love
Is by a newer object quite forgotten.
Is it mine

eye,
Valentinus' praise,

Her 9 The haven, where ships ride at anchor. MALONE. 8 Is it mine eye, or Valentinus' praise, ] The old copy reads

“ Is is mine or Valentine's praise ?” STEEVENS. Here Proteus queftions with himself, whether it is his own praise, or Valentine's that makes him fall in love with Valentine's mistress. But not to infift on the absurdity of falling in love through his own praises, he had not indeed praised her any farther than giving his opinion of her in three words, when his friend asked it of him.

Proteus had just feen Valentine's mistress, whom her lover had been lavishly praising. His encomiums therefore heightened Proteus's ideas of her at the interview, it was the less wonder he should be uncertain which had made the strongest impression, Valentine's prailes, or his own view of her. WARBURTON,

8

1

Her true perfection, or my false trangreflion,
That makes me, reasonless, to reason thus:
She's fair ; and so is Julia, that I love ;-
That I did love, for now my love is thaw'd;
Which, like a waxen image, 'gainst a fire, 9
Bears no impression of the thing it was.
Methinks, my zeal for Valentine is cold;
And that I love him not, as I was wont :
O! but I love his lady too, too much;
And that's the reason I love him so little.
How fhall I dote on her with more advice,?
That thus without advice begin to love her?
'Tis but her picture 3 I bave yet beheld,
And that hath dazzled.

my

reason’s light;
But when I look on her perfections,
There is no reason but I shall be blind.
If I can check my erring love, I will;
If not, to compass her I'll use my skill.

[ Exit.

SCENE V.

The fame. A ftreet.

Enter Speed and LAUNCE.
Speed. Launce! by mine honefty, welcome to Milan.

Laun. Forswear not thyself, sweet youth ; for I am not welcome. I reckon this always that a man is never undone, till he be hang’d; nor never welcome to a place, till some certain shot be paid, and the hoftefs fay, welcome.

Speed. Come on, you mad.cap, I'll to the alehoufe with you presently ; where, for one shot of five pence, thou shalt

have

2 Alluding to the figures made by witches, as representatives of those whom they designed to torment or destroy. STEEVENS.

King James ascribes these images to the devil, in his treatise of Daemonologie. S. W.

2 Witb more advice, is on further knowledge, on better confideration.

3 This is evidently a lip of attention, for he has seen her in the last scene, and in high terms offered her his service. JOHNSON,

I believe Proteus means, that, as yet, he had only seen her outward form, without having known her long enough to have any acquaintance with her mind. STEEVENS.

have five thousand welcomes. But, firrah, how did thy master part with madam Julia ?

Laun. Marry, after they closed in earneft, they parted very fairly in jest.

Speed. But shall the marry him?
Laun. No.
Speed. How then ? Shall he marry her ?
Laun. No, neither.
Speed. What, are they broken?
Laun. No, they are both as whole as a fifh.
Speed. Why then, how stands the matter with them?

Laun. Marry, thus; when it stands well with him, it stands well with her.

Speed. What an ass art thou? I understand thee not. Laun. What a block art thou, that thou canst not? My staff understands me.

Speed. What thou fay'st ?

Laun. Ay, and what I do too : look thee, I'll but lear, and my

staff understands me.
Speed. It stands under thee, indeed.
Laun. Why, stand under and understand is all one.
Speed. But tell me true, will’t be a match?

Laun. Ask my dog : if he fay, ay, it will; if he say, no, it will; if he shake his tail, and say nothing, it will

Speed. The conclusion is then, that it will.

Laun. Thou shalt get such a secret from me, but by a parable.

Speed. 'Tis well that I get it fo. But, Launce, how fay'st thou, that my master is become a notable lover ? *

Laun. I never knew him otherwise. Speed. Than how? Laun. A notable lubber, as thou reportest him to be, Speed. Why, thou whorson afs, thou mistakest me. Laun. Why, fool, I meant not thee; I meant thy master. Speed. I tell thee, my master is become a hot lover. Laun. Why, I tell thee, I care not though he burn himself in love. If thou wilt go with me to the ale-house, fo;

if 4 i. e. (as Mr. M. Mason has elsewhere observed) What fay'st thou to this circumstance,.-namely, that my master is become a notable lover?.

MALONE.

never

if not, thou art an Hebrew, a Jew, and not worth the name of a Christian.

Speed, Why?

Laun. Because thou hast not so much charity in thee, as to go to the ale s with a Christian : Wilt thou go? Speed. At thy service.

[Exeunt.

SCENE V1.6
The fame, An Apartment in the Palace.

Enter PROTEUS.

power, which

gave me first

oath,

Pro. To leave my Julia, shall I be forfworn ;
To love fair Silvia, shall I be forsworn;
To wrong my friend, I shall be much forfworn;
And even that

my
Provokes me to this threefold perjury.
Love bade me swear, and love bids me forswear :
O sweet-fuggesting love, if thou haft finn'd,
Teach me, thy tempted subject, to excuse it!
At first I did adore a twinkling star,
But now I worship a celestial fun.
Unheedful vows may heedfully be broken ;
And he wants wit, that wants resolved will
To learn his wit to exchange the bad for better.
Fie, fie, unreverend tongue ! to call her bad,
Whose sovereignty so oft thou hast preferr'd
With twenty thousand soul-confirming oaths.
I cannot leave to love, and yet I do;

But

s Ales are merry meetings instituted in country places. STEEVENS.

6 It is to be observed, that, in the folio edition there are no directions concerning the scenes; they have been added by the later editors, and may therefore be changed by any reader that can give more confiftency or regularity to the drama by such alterations. I make this remark in this place, because I know not whether the following soliloquy of Proteus is fo proper in the ftreet. JOHNSON.

The reader will perceive that the scenery has been changed, though Dr. Johnson's observation has been continued. STEEVENS.

7 To fuggeft is'to tempt, in our author's language. The sense is, 0 tempting love, if thou baft influenced me to fin, teach me to excuse it.

JOHNSON