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Of virtue for the name: but do not fo...

From lowest place (a) when virtuous things proceed,
The place is dignify'd by th' doer's deed.

Where great addition fwells, and virtue none,
It is a dropfied honour; good alone

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Is good; and, with a name, vileness is fo:
The property by what it is fhould go,
Not by the title. She is good, wife, fair;
In thefe, to nature fhe's immediate heir;

And these breed honour: That is honour's fcorn,
Which challenges itself as honour's born,

8

good alone,

And

Is good without a name. Vileness is fo:] The text is here corrupted into nonfenfe. We should read

good alone

Is good; and, with a name, vileness is fo.

i. e. good is good, tho' there be no addition of title; and vilenefs is vilenefs, tho' there be. The Oxford Editor, understanding nothing of this, ftrikes out vileness and puts in its place, in'tfelf.

9

She is YOUNG,

In thefe, to nature she's
And these breed honour ;-

wife, fair; immediate heir;

-] The objection was, that Helen had neither riches nor title: To this the King replies, fhe's the immediate heir of nature, from whom the inherits youth, wisdom, and beauty. The thought is fine. For by the immediate heir to nature, we muft understand one who inherits wifdom and beauty in a fupreme degree. From hence it appears that young is a faulty reading, for that does not, like wisdom and beauty, admit of different degrees of excellence; therefore fhe could not, with regard to that, be faid to be the immediate heir of nature; for in that the was only joint-heir with all the reft of her fpecies. Befides, tho wisdom and beauty may breed honour, yet youth cannot be faid to do fo. On the contrary, it is age which has this advantage. It feems probable that fome foolish player when he tranfcribed this part, not apprehending the thought, and wondring to find youth not reckoned amongst the good qualities of a woman when she was propofed to a lord, and not confidering that it was comprised in the word fair, foifted in young, to the exclufion of a word much more to the purpose. For I make no question but Shakespear

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And is not like the fire. Honours beft thrive,
When rather from our acts we them derive
Than our fore-goers: the mere word's a flave
Debaucht on every tomb, on ev'ry grave;
A lying trophy; and as oft is dumb,
Where duft and damn'd oblivion is the tomb
Of honour'd bones, indeed. What should be faid?
If thou can't like this creature as a maid,

I can create the reft: virtue and fhe,

Is her own dow'r; honour and wealth from me.
Ber. I cannot love her, nor will ftrive to do't.
King. Thou wrong'ft thyfelf, if thou should'st strive
to chufe.

Hel. That you are well reftor'd, my lord, I'm glad: Let the rest go.

King. My honour's at the ftake; which to (a) defend,
I must produce my power. Here, take her hand,
Proud fcornful boy, unworthy this good gift!
That doth in vile mifprifion fhackle up

My love, and her defert; that canft not dream,
We, poizing us in her defective scale,

Shall weigh thee to the beam; that wilt not know,
It is in us to plant thine honour, where

We please to have it grow. Check thy contempt:
Obey our will, which travels in thy good;

For the greatest part of her encomium turned upon her virtue. To omit this therefore in the recapitulation of her qualities, had been against all the rules of good speaking. Nor let it be objected that this is requiring an exactness in our author which we should not expect. For he who could reafon with the force our author doth here, (and we ought always to diftinguish between Shakespear on his guard and in his rambles) and illustrate that reafoning with fuch beauty of thought and propriety of expreffion, could never make use of a word which quite deftroyed the exactness of his reasoning, the propriety of his thought, and the elegance of his expreffion.

Commas and points here fet exactly right by Mr. Theobald. [(a) defend, Mr. Theobald

-vulg. defeat.]

Believe

t

Believe not thy difdain, but prefently

Do thine own fortunes that obedient right,
Which both thy duty owes, and our power claims;
Or I will throw thee from my care for ever
Into the staggers, and the careless lapfe

Of youth and ignorance; my revenge and hate
Loofing upon thee in the name of justice,
Without all terms of pity. Speak, thine answer.
Ber. Pardon, my gracious Lord; for I fubmit
My fancy to your eyes. When I confider,
What great creation, and what dole of honour
Flies where you bid; I find, that fhe, which late
Was in my nobler thoughts most base, is now
The prised of the King; who, fo enobled,
Is, as 'twere, born fo.

King. Take her by the hand,

And tell her, fhe is thine: to whom I promise
A counterpoize; if not in thy eftate,
A balance more repleat.

Ber. I take her hand.

King, Good fortune and the favour of the King Smile upon this contract; whofe ceremony. Shall feem expedient on the new-born brief, And be perform'd to night; the folemn feast Shall more attend upon the coming space, Expecting abfent friends. As thou lov'ft her, Thy love's to me religious; elfe does err.

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[Exeunt.

Laf. Do you hear, Monfieur? a word with you. Par. Your pleafure, Sir?

2 The PRAISED of the King;] We fhould read PRISED, ie valued, held in eftimation, and antwers to most base in the preceding

line.

a

Laf.

Laf. Your Lord and Mafter did well to make his

recantation.

Par. Recantation ?--my Lord? my Mafter? Laf. Ay, is it not a language I fpeak?

Par. A moft harfh one, and not to be understood without bloody fucceeding. My master?

Laf. Are you companion to the Count Roufillon? Par. To any Count; to all Counts; to what is

man.

Laf. To what is Count's man; Count's mafter is of another ftile.

Par. You are too old, Sir; let it fatisfie you, you are too old

Laf. I must tell thee, Sirrah, I write man; to which title age cannot bring thee.

Par. What I dare too well do, I dare not do.

Laf. I did think thee, for two ordinaries, to be a pretty wife fellow; thou didft make tolerable vent of thy travel; it might pafs; yet the scarfs and the bannerets about thee did manifoldly diffuade me from be lieving thee a veffel of too great a burthen. I have now found thee; when I lofe thee again, I care not: yet art thou good for nothing but taking up, and that thou'rt fcarce worth.

Par. Hadft thou not the privilege of antiquity upon thee

Laf. Do not plunge thyfelf too far in anger, left thou haften thy tryal; which if, Lord have mercy on thee for a hen! fo, my good window of lattice, fare thee well; thy cafement I need not open, I look thro' thee. Give me thy hand.

Par. My Lord, you give me most egregious indignity.

Laf. Ay, with all my heart, and thou art worthy ofit

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Par. I have not, my Lord, deferv'd it.

Laf.

Laf. Yes, good faith, ev'ry dram of it; and I will not bate thee a scruple.

Par. Well, I fhall be wifer

Laf. Ev'n as foon as thou can'ft, for thou haft to pull at a fmack o' th' contrary. If ever thou beeft bound in thy fcarf and beaten, thou fhalt find what it is to be proud of thy bondage. I have a defire to hold my acquaintance with thee, or rather my knowledge, that I may fay in the default, he is a man I know.

Par. My Lord, you do me moft infupportable

vexation.

Laf. I would, it were hell-pains for thy fake, and my poor doing eternal: 3 for doing, I am paft; as I will by thee, in what motion age will give me leave. [Exit. Par. Well, thou haft a fon fhall take this dif grace off me; fcurvy, old, filthy, fcurvy Lord! well, I must be patient, there is no fettering of authority. I'll beat him, by my life, if I can meet him with any convenience, an he were double and double a Lord. I'll have no more pity of his age, than I would have of -I'll beat him, an if I could' but meet him again.

3. for doing I am paft; as I will by thee, in what motion age will give me leave.] Here is a line loft after paft; fo that it should be diftinguished by a break with afterisks. The very words of the loft line it is impoffible to retrieve; but the fenfe is obvious enough. For doing I am paft; age has deprived me of much of my force and vigour, yet I have still enough to fhew the world I can do myself right, as I will by thee, in what mation [or in the best manner] age will give me leave.

4 Well, thou haft a fon fhall take this difgrace off me;] This the poet makes Parolles fpeak alone; and this is nature. A coward would try to hide his poltroonry even from himself. An ordi nary writer would have been glad of fuch an opportunity to bring him to confeffion.

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