Ber. Now will I lead you to the house, and shew you the lafs I spoke of.

1 Lord. But you fay, fhe's honeft. ‚'

Ber. That's all the fault: I fpoke with her but once, And found her wondrous cold; but I fent to her, By this fame coxcomb that we have i'th'wind, Tokens and letters, which fhe did re-fend; And this is all I've done; fhe's a fair creature, Will you go see her?

1 Lord. With all my heart, my Lord.

[Exeunt.

Hel.

Changes to the Widow's Houfe.

Enter Helena, and Widow.

IF you

mifdoubt me that I am not fhe,

I know not, how I fhall affure you further;

+ But I fhall lofe the grounds I work upon.

Wid. Tho' my eftate be fallen, I was well born,
Nothing acquainted with these bufineffes

And would not put my reputation now
In any staining act.

Hel. Nor would I wish you.

*

First, give me truft, the Count he is my hufband;
And what to your fworn counsel I have spoken,
Is fo, from word to word; and then you cannot,
By the good aid that I of you fhall borrow,
Err in beftowing it.

Wid. I fhould believe you,

For you have fhew'd me that, which well approves Y'are great in fortune.

Hel. Take this purse of gold,

And let me buy your friendly help thus far,

3 But I fhall lose the grounds 1 work upon.] i. e. By difcovering herself to the Count.

VOL. III.

WARBURTON.

To your faworn counsel. To your private knowledge, after having required from you an oath of fecrecy. A a

which

Which I will over-pay, and pay again

When I have found it. The Count wooes your

daughter,

Lays down his wanton fiege before her beauty,
Refolves to carry her; let her confent,

As we'll direct her how, 'tis best to bear it.
* Now his importat blood will nought deny,
That fhe'll demand: a ring the Count does wear,
That downward hath fucceeded in his house
From fon to fon, fome four or five descents,
Since the first father wore it. This ring he holds
In moft rich choice; yet in his idle fire,
To buy his will, it would not feem too dear,
Howe'er repented after.

Wid. Now I fee the bottom of your purpose.
Hel. You fee it lawful then. It is no more,
But that your daughter, ere fhe feems as won,
Defires this ring; appoints him an encounter;
In fine, delivers me to fill the time,

Herself most chaftly abfent: after this,

To marry her, I'll add three thousand crowns
To what is paft already.

Wid. I have yielded:

Inftruct my daughter how the shall perfevere,
That time and place, with this deceit fo lawful,
May prove coherent. Every night he comes
With mufick of all forts, and fongs compos'd
To her unworthiness: it nothing steads us
To chide him from our eaves, for he perfifts,
As if his life lay on't.

5

Hel. Why then, to night

Let us affay our plot; which if it speed,

Is wicked meaning in a lawful deed ;

+ Important here, and elfewhere, is importunate.

5 Is wicked meaning in a lawful deed;

And

And laruful meaning in a LAW

FUL a&;] To make this gingling riddle complete in all its parts, we should read the fecond

And lawful meaning in a lawful act,

Where both not fin, and yet a finful fact.
But let's about it..

[Exeunt.

ACT IV.

SCENE I.

Part of the French Camp in Florence.

Enter one of the French Lords, with five or fix Soldiers in ambush.

LORD.

E can come no other way but by this hedge corner; when you fally upon him, fpeak what terrible language you will; though you understand it not yourselves, no matter; for we must not feem to underftand him, unless fome one amongst us, whom we muft produce for an interpreter.

Sol. Good captain, let me be th' interpreter.

Lord. Art not acquainted with him? knows he not thy voice?

Sol. No, Sir, I warrant you.

Lord. But what linfy-woolfy haft thou to fpeak to us again?

Sol. Ev'n fuch as you fpeak to me.

cond line thus,

commit adultery. The riddle

And lawful meaning in a wICK- concludes thus, Where both not

ED act;

The fenfe of the two lines is this, It is a wicked meaning becaufe the woman's intent is to deceive; but a lawful deed because the man enjoys his own wife. Again, it is a lawful meaning becaufe done by her to gain her husband's estranged af fection, but it is a wicked aft because he goes intentionally to

fin and yet a finful fact. i. e. Where neither of them fin, and yet it is a finful fact on both fides; which conclufion, we fee, requires the emendation here made. WARBURTON.

Sir Thomas Hanmer reads in the fame fenfe,

A a 2

Unlawful meaning in a lawful

aal.

Lord.

Lord. He must think us fome band of ftrangers i'th' adverfary's entertainment. Now he hath a fmack of all neighbouring languages, therefore we must every one be a man of his own fancy; not to know what we speak one to another, fo we feem to know, is to know ftraight our purpose: chough's language, gabble enough, and good enough. As for you, interpreter, you must feem very politick, but couch, hoa! here he comes, to beguile two hours in a fleep, and then to return and fwear the lies he forges.

Enter Parolles.

Par. Ten o'clock; within these three hours 'twill be time enough to go home. What fhall I fay, I have done? it must be a very plaufive invention that carries it. They begin to fmoak me, and difgraces have of late knock'd too often at my door; I find, my tongue is too fool-hardy; but my heart hath the fear of Mars before it and of his creatures, not daring the reports of my tongue.

Lord. This is the first truth that e'er thine own tongue was guilty of.

[Afide. Par. What the devil fhould move me to undertake the recovery of this drum, being not ignorant of the impoffibility, and knowing I had no fuch purpose? I muft give myself fome hurts, and fay, I got them in exploit; yet flight ones will not carry it. They will fay, came you off with fo little? and great ones I dare not give; wherefore what's the inftance? Tongue, I must put you into a butter-woman's mouth, and buy another of Bajazet's mule, if you prattle me into thefe perils.

8

Some band of frangers in the adversaries entertainment.] That is, foreign troops in the enemy's pay.

Lord.

7 The Inflance.] The proof. 8 and buy myself another of Bajazet's MULE.] We fhould read, Bajazet's MUTE, i. e. a

Tur

Lord. Is it poffible, he fhould know what he is, and be that he is?

[Afide. Par. I would, the cutting of my garments would serve the turn, or the breaking of my Spanish fword. Lord. We cannot afford Par. Or the baring of my beard, and to fay, it

was in ftratagem.

Lord. 'Twould not do.

you fo.

[Afide.

Par. Or to drown my cloaths, and fay, I was stript.

[Afide.

Lord. Hardly ferve.

[Afide.

Par. Though I fwore, I leap'd from the window of

the citadel

Lord. How deep?

[Afide.

Par. Thirty fathom.

Lord. Three great oaths would fcarce make that be believed.

[Afide.

Par. I would, I had any drum of the enemies; I would fwear, I recover'd it.

Lord. You fhall hear one anon.

[Afide.

Par. A drum now of the enemies! [Alarum within. Lord. Throco movoufus, cargo, cargo, cargo. All. Cargo, cargo, villiando par corbo, cargo. Par. Oh! ransom, ransom :-do not hide mine eyes. [They feize him and blindfold him. Inter. Bofkos thromuldo bosķos.

Par. I know, you are the Muskos regiment,
And I fhall lofe my life for want of language.
If there be here German, or Dane, low Dutch,
Italian, or French, let him fpeak to me,

I'll discover That which fhall undo the Florentine.
Inter. Bofkos vauvado; I understand thee, and can
Sir, betake thee

fpeak thy tongue; Kerelybonto,

to thy faith, for feventeen poniards are at thy bofom.

Turkish mute. So in Henry V. Either our biftory fhall with full mouth

Speak freely of our acts; or

A a 3

else our grave, Like Turkish mute, shall have a tonguelefs mouth.

WARBURTON.

Par.