Of virtue for the name: but do not fo.

• From lowest place 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
Is good, without a name vileness is fo
The property by what it is fhould go,
Not by the title. She is young, wife, fair ';
In thefe, to nature fhe's immediate heir;

5 Whence from lowest place virtuous things proceed,] This eafy Correction was prefcribed by Dr. Thrilby. THEOBALD. good alone,

6

Is good without a name. Vile nefs is fo:] The text is here corrupted into nonfenfe. We fhould read,

good alone

Is good; and, with a name, vile

nefs 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. WARBURTON.

The prefent reading is certainly wrong, and, to confefs the truth, I do not think Dr. Waburton's emendation right; yet I have nothing that I can propofe with much confidence. Of all the conjectures that I can make, that which leaft difpleafes me is this: virtue alone,

Is good without a name; Helen

is fo; The rest follows eafily by this change.

7

She is YOUNG, wife, fair; In thefe, to nature he's imme. diate heir;

And

had neither riches nor title: To this the King replies, fhe's the immediate heir of nature, from whom the inherits youth, wifdom, and beauty. The thought is fine. For by the immediate heir to nature, we must 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 wifdom and beauty, admit of different degrees of excellence; therefore she could not, with regard to that, be faid to be the immediate heir of nature; for in that he was only joint-heir with all the rest 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 foolifh 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 he was propofed to a lord, and not confidering that it was comprifed in the word fair, foisted in young, to the exclufion of a word much more to the purpose. For I make no queftion but Shakespeare wrote,

She is GOOD, wife, fair. Y 2

For

And thefe breed honour: That is honour's fcorn,
Which challenges itfelf as honour's born,
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 every 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 rest: virtue and the,

Is her own dow'ry; honour and wealth from me,
Ber. I cannot love her, nor will strive to do't.
King. Thou wrong'ft thy felf, if thou fhould'ft ftrive
to chufe.

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

9

King. My honour's at the ftake; which to defend,

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 exact riels in our author which we fhould not expect. For he who could reafon with the force our author doth here (and we ought always to diftinguish between Shakespeare on his guard and in his rambles), and illuftrate that reafoning with fuch beauty of thought and propriety of expreffion, could never make use of a word which quite destroyed the exactness of his reafoning, the propriety of his thought, and the elegance of his expreffion..

WARBURTON.

Here is a long note, which I with had been thorter. Good is

I

better than young, as it refers to honour. But fhe is more the immediate heir of nature with respect to youth than goodness. To be immediate heir is to inherit without any intervening tranfmitter: thus fhe inherits beauty immediately from nature, but honour is tranfmitted by ancestors; youth is received immediately from nature, but goodness may be conceived in part the gift of parents, or the effect of education. The alteration therefore lofes on one fide what it gains on the other.

My honour's at the Stake; which to defeat

I must produce my Power.-] The poor King of France is again made a Man of Getham, by our unmerciful Editors. For he is not to make ufe of his Authority to defeat, but to defend his Honour. THEOBALD,

I muft

I must produce my power. Here, take her hand,
Proud fcornful boy, unworthy this good gift!
That doft in vile mifprifion fhackle up

My love, and her defert; that canst 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

claims;

We please to have it grow. Check thy contempt:
Obey our will, which travels in thy good;
Believe not thy disdain, but presently
Do thine own fortunes that obedient right,
Which both thy duty owes, and our power
Or I will throw thee from my care for ever
Into the ftaggers', and the careless lapfe
Of youth and ignorance; my revenge and hate
Loofing upon thee in the name of juftice,
Without all terms of pity. Speak, thine anfwer.
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 praised 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 estate,

A balance more repleat.

Ber. I take her hand.

King. Good fortune, and the favour of the King
Smile upon this contract; whole ceremony
Shall feem expedient on the new-born brief,

- And

And be perform'd to-night; the folemn feaft
Shall more attend upon the coming space,
Expecting abfent friends. As thou lov❜st her,
Thy love's to me religious; elfe does err.

[Exeunt.

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

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 mafter?

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 fatisfy 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 3, to be a pretty wife fellow; thou didst make tolerable vent of thy travel; it might pafs; yet the fcarfs and the ban

nerets about thee did manifoldly diffuade me from believing 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 scarce worth.

Par. Hadft thou not the privilege of antiquity up

on thee

Laf. Do not plunge thyself too far in anger, left thou haften thy trial; 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 of it.

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

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

Par. Well, I shall be wifer

Laf. Ev'n as foon as thou canft, for thou haft to pull at a fmack o'th' contrary. If ever thou be'st 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: for doing, I am paft; as I will by thee, in what motion age will give me leave ".

taking up,] To take up, is to contradic, to call to account, as well as to pick off the ground.

[Exit.