were, I have acquainted you withal, to the end to crave your aflistance.

Hol. Sir, you fhall prefent before her the nine worthies. -Sir Nathaniel, as concerning fome entertainment of time, fome fhew in the posterior of this day, to be render'd by our affiftance,-at the king's command; and this moft gallant, illustrate, and learned gentleman,-before the princess; I fay,none fo fit as to prefent the nine worthies.

Nath. Where will you find men worthy enough to pre

fent them?

Hol. Jofhua, yourself; myself, or this gallant gentleman, Judas Maccabæus; this swain, because of his great limb or joint, fhall pass Pompey the great; the page,

Hercules.

Arm. Pardon, fir, error: he is not quantity enough for that worthy's thumb; he is not fo big as the end of his club.

Hol. Shall I have audience? he fhall prefent Hercules in minority: his enter and exit fhall be ftrangling a fnake; and I will have an apology for that purpose.

Moth. An excellent device! fo, if any of the audience hifs, you may cry; well done, Hercules! now thou crushest the fnake! that is the way to make an offence gracious; though few have the grace to do it.

Arm. For the reft of the worthies ?-
Hol. I will play three myself.

Moth. Thrice-worthy gentleman!
Arm. Shall I tell you a thing?

Hol. We attend.

Arm. We will have, if this fadge not, an antick. I befeech you, follow.

a

fadge]-do not fuit, prove not acceptable.

"How will this fadge ?" TWELFTH NIGHT, A& II, S. 2. Vio.

Hol.

b

Hol. Via, goodman Dull! thou haft spoken no word all this while.

Dull. Nor understood none neither, fir.

Hol. Allons! we will employ thee.

Dull. I'll make one in a dance, or fo; or I will play on the tabor to the worthies, and let them dance the hay. Hol. Moft dull, honest Dull, to our sport, away. [Exeunt.

Before the Princess's Pavillion.
Enter Princefs and Ladies.

Prin. Sweet hearts, we fhall be rich ere we depart,
If fairings come thus plentifully in:

A lady wall'd about with diamonds !----

Look you, what I have from the loving king.

Rof. Madam, came nothing elfe along with that? Prin. Nothing but this? yea, as much love in rhimie, As would be cramm'd up in a fheet of paper, Writ on both fides the leaf, margent and all; That he was fain to feal on Cupid's name.

Rof. That was the way to make his god-head wax;
For he hath been five thousand years a boy.

Kath. Ay, and a fhrewd unhappy gallows too.
Rof. You'll ne'er be friends with him; he kill'd your

fifter.

Kath. He made her melancholy, fad, and heavy;
And fo fhe died: had he been light, like you,
Of fuch a merry, nimble, ftirring fpirit,
She might have been a grandam ere she dy'd :
And fo may you; for a light heart lives long.

b Via]-Come on.

d

ין

Via! fays the fiend; away!
MERCHANT OF VENICE, A& II, S. 2.

Laun.

wax ;]-grow a man. "wax." HENRY IV, P. II, A&t I, S. 2. Fal. unhappy gallows]-unlucky gallows bird.

Q9 2

Rof.

Rof. What's

your

dark meaning, mouse, of this light

word?

Kath, A light condition in a beauty dark.

Rof. We need more light to find your meaning out. Kath. You'll mar the light, by taking it in fnuff; Therefore, I'll darkly end the argument.

Rof. Look, what you do, you do it still i' the dark. Kath. So do not you; for you are a light wench. Rof. Indeed, I weigh not you; and therefore light. Kath. You weigh me not,-O, that's, you care not for me. Rof. Great reason; for, Paft cure is still past care. Prin. Well bandied both; a fet of wit well play'd. But Rofaline, you have a favour too :

Who fent it? and what is it?

Rof. I would, you knew:

An if my face were but as fair as yours,
My favour were as great; be witness this.
Nay, I have verses too, I thank Biron:

The numbers true; and, were the numb'ring too,
I were the fairest goddess on the ground:
I am compar'd to twenty thoufand fairs.
O, he hath drawn my picture in his letter!

Prin. Any thing like?

Rof. Much, in the letters; nothing in the * praise.
Prin. Beauteous as ink; a good conclufion.
Kath. Fair as a text B in a copy-book.

Rof. Ware pencils! How? let me not die your debtor. My red i dominical, my golden letter:

in fnuff-a pun-anger and the fnuff of a candle.

"Took it in fnuff" HENRY IV, Part I, A&t I, S. 3. Hot.

fa fet]-onfet, trial, fkirmish.

8 numb'ring]-the matter of the compofition.

*

hin the letters ;]-the colour of them. phrafe-the contents. iWare pencils!]-painting, drawing of pictures.

j dominical,]-funday letter.

O, that

O, that your face were not fo full of *O's!

Kath. A pox o' that jeft! and beshrew all shrows!
Prin. But what was fent to you from fair Dumain?
Kath. Madam, this glove.

Prin. Did he not fend you twain?

Kath. Yes, madam; and moreover,

Some thousand verses of a faithful lover:

A huge tranflation of hypocrify,

Vilely compil'd, profound fimplicity.

Mar. This, and thefe pearls, to me fent Longaville; The letter is too long by half a mile.

Prin. I think no lefs; Doft thou not wish in heart,
The chain were longer, and the letter short?
Mar. Ay, or I would these hands might never part.
Prin. We are wife girls to mock our lovers fo.
Rof. They are worse fools, to purchase mocking fo.
That fame Biron I'll torture ere I go.

O, that I knew he were but in by the week!
How I would make him fawn, and beg, and feek
And wait the season, and observe the times,
And spend his prodigal wits in bootlefs rhimes;
And shape his service all to my behest;

And make him proud to make me proud that jeft!
So portent-like would I o'erfway his state,

That he should be my fool, and I his fate.

Prin. None are fo furely caught, when they are catch'd,

As wit turn'd fool: folly, in wisdom hatch'd,
Hath wisdom's warrant, and the help of school;
And wit's own grace to grace a learned fool.

k O's-Pits, dints, marks of the fmall pox.

1 and befhrew all shrows !]—and a plague on all flirts.

m The chain]-The ftring of pearls.

in by the week!]-bound to ferve me for a stated time. •portent-like]-like deftiny I'd prefide o'er his fortunes-pageant-like -as we see in the representation of Death and the fool in the old morali-" merely thou art Death's Fool."

ties.

MEASURE FOR MEASURE, A& III, S. 1. Duke.
Q93

Rof.

Rof. The blood of youth burns not with fuch excess, As gravity's revolt to wantonnefs.

Mar. Folly in fools bears not fo ftrong a note,
As foolery in the wife, when wit doth dote;
Since all the power thereof it doth apply,
To prove, by wit, worth in fimplicity.

Enter Boyet.

Prin. Here comes Boyet, and mirth is in his face. Boyet. O, I am ftabb'd with laughter! Where's her grace?

Prin. Thy news, Boyet?

Boyet. Prepare, madam, prepare!—

Arm, wenches, arm!-encounters mounted are
Against your peace: Love doth approach difguis'd,
Armed in arguments; you'll be furpris❜d :
Mufter your wits; ftand in your own defence;
Or hide your heads like cowards, and fly hence.

Prin. Saint Dennis to St. Cupid! What are they,
That charge their breath against us? fay, fcout, say.

Boyet. Under the cool fhade of a sycamore,
I thought to close my eyes fome half an hour:
When, lo! to interrupt my purpos'd reft,
Toward that shade I might behold 1 addrest
The king and his companions: warily
I ftole into a neighbour thicket by,
And overheard what you fhall overhear;
That, by and by, difguis'd they will be here.
Their herald is a pretty knavifh page,

That well by heart hath conn'd his embaffage :

P Saint Dennis to St. Cupid!]-I'll invoke the Patron of France, as the king did the God of love: St. Dennis fhall be my word of battle, as St. Cupid was his. Act IV, at the end.

9 addreft]-advancing.

I overhear ;]-hear again.

Action,