Hosr. Gone to feek his dog; which, to-morrow, by his master's command, he must carry for a prefent to his lady, JUL. Peace! ftand aside; the company parts. PRO. Sir Thurio, fear not you; I will fo plead, That you shall fay, my cunning drift excels. THU. Where meet we? PRO. At faint Gregory's well. THU. Farewell. [Exeunt THURIO and Musicians. SILVIA appears above, at her window. PRO. Madam, good even to your ladyship. SIL. I thank you for your mufick, gentlemen: Who is that, that spake? PRO. One, lady, if you knew his pure heart's truth, You'd quickly learn to know him by his voice. SIL. Sir Proteus, as I take it. PRO. Sir Proteus, gentle lady, and your fervant. SIL. What is your will? PRO. That I may compass yours. SIL. You have your wifh; my will is even this,'- That haft deceiv'd fo many with thy vows? 9 You have your wish; my will is even this,] The word will is here ambiguous. He wishes to gain her will: fhe tells him, if he wants her will he has it. JOHNSON. That I despise thee for thy wrongful fuit; Even for this time I fpend in talking to thee. JUL. 'Twere falfe, if I fhould fpeak it; [Afide. SIL. Say, that she be; yet Valentine, thy friend, Survives; to whom, thyfelf art witness, I am betroth'd: And art thou not afham'd PRO. I likewife hear, that Valentine is dead. SIL. And fo, fuppofe, am I; for in his grave 2 Affure thyfelf, my love is buried. PRO. Sweet lady, let me rake it from the earth. SIL. Go to thy lady's grave, and call her's thence; Or, at the leaft, in her's fepulchre thine. JUL. He heard not that. [Afide. PRO. Madam, if your heart be so obdúrate, And to your fhadow will I make true love. JUL. If 'twere a fubftance, you would, fure, deceive it, And make it but a fhadow, as I am. SIL. I am very loth to be your idol, fir; [Afide. 2- in his grave] The old copy has her grave. The emendation was made by the editor of the fecond folio. MALONE. To make fuch means for her as thou haft done,4 And think thee worthy of an emprefs' love." I now beseech you, for your daughter's fake, DUKE. I grant it, for thine own, whate'er it be. 4 To make fuch means for her as thou haft done,] i. e. to make fuch intereft for, to take fuch difingenuous pains about her. So, in King Richard III: "One that made means to come by what he hath." STEEVENS. 5 And think thee worthy of an emprefs' love.] This thought has already occurred in the fourth scene of the second act: "He is as worthy for an emprefs' love." STEEVENS. 6 - all former griefs,] Griefs in old language frequently fignified grievances, wrongs. MALONE. ? Plead a new ftate —] Should not this begin a new sentence? Plead is the fame as plead thou. TYRWHITT. I have followed Mr. Tyrwhitt's direction. STEEVENS. JUL. Pray you, where lies fir Proteus? Hosr. Marry, at my house: Trust me, I think, 'tis almost day. JUL. Not fo; but it hath been the longest night That e'er I watch'd, and the most heavieft." SCENE III. The fame. Enter EGLAMOUR. [Exeunt. EGL. This is the hour that madam Silvia Entreated me to call, and know her mind; There's fome great matter she'd employ me in.Madam, madam! SIL. EGL. SILVIA appears above, at her window. Who calls? Your fervant, and your friend; One that attends your ladyship's command. SIL. Sir Eglamour, a thousand times good-mor row. EGL. As many, worthy lady, to yourself. SIL. O Eglamour, thou art a gentleman, moft heavieft.] This ufe of the double fuperlative is frequent in our author. So, in King Lear, Act II. fc. iii: "To take the basest and most pooreft shape." STEEVENS. your ladyship's impofe,] Impofe is injunction, command. A task fet at college, in confequence of a fault, is ftill called an impofition. STEEVENS, (Think not, I flatter, for, I fwear, I do not,) Nor how my father would enforce me marry To Mantua, where, I hear, he makes abode; Upon whose faith and honour I repose. 6 remorseful,] Remorfeful is pitiful. So, in The Maids Metamorphofis by Lyly, 1600: "Provokes my mind to take remorse of thee." Again, in Chapman's tranflation of the 2d book of Homer's Iliad, 1598: "Defcend on our long-toyled host with thy remorseful eye.” STEEVENS. "Upon whofe grave thou vow'dft pure chastity.] It was common in former ages for widowers and widows to make vows of chastity in honour of their deceased wives or husbands. In Dugdale's Antiquities of Warwickshire, page 1013, there is the form of a commiffion by the bishop of the diocefe for taking a vow of chastity made by a widow. It feems that, befides obferving the vow, the widow was, for life, to wear a veil and a mourning habit. Some fuch distinction we may fuppofe to have been made in refpect of male votarists; and therefore this circumftance might inform the players how fir Eglamour should be dreft; and will account for Silvia's having chosen him as a perfon in whom she could confide without injury to her own character. STEEVENS. |