his words, to difgrace Hero before the whole affembly, and not marry her.

To. Cl. O villain! thou wilt be condemn'd into everlasting redemption for this. Sexton. What else?`

Sexton. And this is more, mafters, than you can deny. Prince John is this morning fecretly ftoll'n away: Hero was in this manner accus'd, and in this very manner refus'd, and upon the grief of this fuddenly dy'd. Mafter Conftable, let these men be bound and brought to Leonato; I will go before, and fhew him their examination.

Dogb. Come let them be opinion'd.
Sexton. Let them be in hand'.

Conr. Off, Coxcomb.

Dogb. God's my life, where's the Sexton? let him write down the Prince's officer Coxcomb: come, bind them, thou naughty varlet.

Conr. Away! you are an afs, you are an afs

Dogb Doft thou not fufpect my place? doft thou not fufpect my years? O that he were here to write me down an afs! but, mafters, remember, that I am an afs; though it be not written down, yet forget not that I am an afs; no, thou villain, thou art full of piety, as shall be prov'd upon thee by good witnefs; I am a wife fellow, and which is more, an officer; and which is more, an houfholder; and which is more, as pretty a piece of flefh as any in Meffina, and one that knows the law: go to, and a rich fellow enough; go to, and a fellow that hath had loffes; and one that hath two gowns, and every thing handfome about him; bring him away; O, that I had been writ down an als! [Exeunt.

F

SCENE I.

Before Leonato's Houfe.

Enter Leonato and Antonio.

ΑΝΤΟΝΙΟ.

I' you go on thus, you will kill yourself;

And 'tis not wisdom thus to fecond grief
Against yourself.

Leon. I pray thee, ceafe thy counfel,
Which falls into mine ears as profitlefs
As water in a fieve; give not me counfel,
Nor let no Comforter delight mine ear,

There is nothing in the old quarto different in this fcene from the common copies, except that the names of two actors, Kempe

and Cooley, are placed at the beginning of the fpeeches, inRead of the proper words.

But

But fuch a one whofe wrongs do fuite with mine.
Bring me a father, that fo lov'd his child,
Whose joy of her is overwhelm'd like mine,'
And bid him fpeak of patience;

Measure his woe the length and breadth of mine,
And let it answer every ftrain for strain:
As thus for thus, and fuch a grief for such,
In every lineament, branch, fhape and form.
If fuch a one will fmile and ftroke his beards,
And, Sorrow wag! cry; hem, when he fhould groan;
Patch grief with proverbs; make misfortune drunk
With candle-wafters; bring him yet to me,
And I of him will gather patience.

But there is no fuch man; for, brother, men
Can counsel, and give comfort to that grief

1

8 If fuch a one will Smile, and tions. 'firoke his Beard, And hallow, wag, cry hem, when

he fhould groan, Mr. Rowe is the first Authority that I can find for this Reading. But what is the Intention, or how are we to expound it ? "If a Man will "ballos, and whoop, and fidget, "and wriggle about, to fhew a "Pleasure when He should 65 groan," &c. This does not give much Decorum to the Sentiment. The old Quarto, and the 1st and 2d Folio Editions all read,

And forrow, wagge; cry hem,&c. We don't, indeed, get much by this Reading; tho', I flatter my felf, by a flight Alteration, it has led me to the true one,

And Sorrow wage; cry, hem!

when he should groan; i. e. lf fuch a one will combat with, frive against Sorrow, &c. Nor is this Word infrequent with our Author in thefe Significa

THEOBALD

Sir Thomas Hammer, and after him Dr. Warburton, for wag, read waive, which is, I fuppofe, the fame as, put afide, or shift of None of thefe conjectures fatisfy me, nor perhaps any other reader. I cannot but think the true reading nearer than it is imagined. I point thus,

If fuch an one will smile, and
Aroke his beard,
And, forrow, wag! cry; bem,

when he should groan;
That is, If he will smile, and
cry, forrow, be gone, and hem in-
flead of groaning. The order in
which and and cry are placed is
harsh, and this harthness made
the fenfe mistaken. Range the
words in the common order, and
my reading will be free from ail
difficulty.

If fuch an one will Smile, and
Stroke his beard,
Cry, forrow, wag! and hem
when he fhould groan.

Which they themfelves not feel; but tafting it,
Their counfel turns to paffion, which before
Would give preceptial medicine to rage;
Fetter ftrong madness in a filken thread;
Charm ach with air, and agony with words.
No, no; 'tis all mens office to speak patience
To thofe, that wring under the load of forrow;
But no man's virtue, nor fufficiency,

To be fo moral, when he fhall endure

The like himfelf; therefore give me no counsel;
My griefs cry louder than advertisement ".

Ant. Therein do men from children nothing differ. Leon. I pray thee, peace; I will be flesh and blood; For there was never yet philofopher,

That could endure the tooth-ach patiently
However they have writ the style of Gods',
And made a pish at chance and fufferance *.
Ant. Yet bend not all the harm upon yourself:
Make thofe, that do offend you, fuffer too.

Leon. There thou speak'ft reafon; nay, I will do fo. My foul doth tell me, Hero is bely'd;

And that fhall Claudio know, fo fhall the Prince;
And all of them, that thus dishonour her.

9

SCENE II.

Enter Don Pedro, and Claudio.

Ant. Here comes the Prince and Claudio haftily.
Pedro. Good den, good den.

than advertisement. ] That is, than admonition, than moral inftruction.

However they have writ the ftyle of Gods.] This alludes to the extravagant titles the Stoics gave their wife men. Sapiens ille cum Diis, ex pari, vivit. Senec. Epift. lix. Jupiter

Claud. Good day to both of you.
Leon. Hear you, my lords?

Pedro. We have fome hafte, Leonato.

Leon. Some hafte, my lord! well, fare you well, my lord.

Are you fo hafty now? well, all is one.

Pedro. Nay, do not quarrel with us, good old man. Ant. If he could right himself with quarrelling, Some of us would lye low.

Claud. Who wrongs him?

Leon. Marry, thou doft wrong me, thou diffembler, thou!

Nay, never lay thy hand upon thy fword,

I fear thee not.

Claud. Marry, befhrew my hand,

If it fhould give your age fuch caufe of fear;
In faith, my hand meant nothing to my fword.
Leon. Tufh, tufh, man, never fleer and jeft at me ;
I fpeak not like a dotard, nor a fool;

As, under privilege of age, to brag

What I have done being young, or what would do,
Were I not old: know, Claudio, to thy head,
Thou haft fo wrong'd my innocent child and me,
That I am forc'd to lay my reverence by ;
And, with grey hairs, and bruife of many days,
Do challenge thee to tryal of a man ;

I fay, thou haft bely'd mine innocent child,
Thy flander hath gone through and through her heart,
And the lyes bury'd with her ancestors,

O, in a tomb where never fcandal flept,
Save this of hers, fram'd by thy villany!
Claud. My villany ?、

Leon. Thine, Claudio; thine, I fay.
Pedro. You fay not right, old man.
Leon. My lord, my lord,

I'll prove it on his body, if he dare;

Defpight his nice fence and his active practice,
His May of youth, and bloom of lustyhood.

4

Claud.