Touch. By my troth, yes; I count it but time lost to hear such a foolish song. God be with you: and God mend your voices! Come, Audrey. [Exeunt.

SCENE IV. Another part of the Forest. Enter Duke senior, AMIENS, JAQUES, ORLANDO, OLIVER, and CELIA.

Duke S. Dost thou believe, Orlando, that the boy Can do all this that he hath promised?

Orl. I sometimes do believe, and sometimes do not:

As those that fear they hope, and know they fear1.

Enter ROSALIND, SILVIUS, and PHEBE.

Ros. Patience once more, whiles our compact is urg'd:

You say, if I bring in your Rosalind, [To the Duke. You will bestow her on Orlando here?

Duke S. That would I, had I kingdoms to give

with her.

Ros. And you say, you will have her, when I bring her? [TO ORLANDO. Orl. That would I, were I of all kingdoms king. Ros. You say, you'll marry me, if I be willing? [TO PHEBE. Phe. That will I, should I die the hour after.

This line is very obscure, and probably corrupt. Henley proposed to point it thus:

'As those that fear; they hope, and know they fear.' And Malone explains it: 'As those who fear,-they, even those very persons entertain hopes, that their fears will not be realized; and yet, at the same time, they well know there is reason for their fears.' Heath's appears to me the best emendation which has been proposed:

'As those that fear their hope, and know their fear.'

Ros. But if you do refuse to marry me,

You'll give yourself to this most faithful shepherd? Phe. So is the bargain.

Ros. You say, that you'll have Phebe, if she will?

[TO SILVIUS. Sil. Though to have her and death were both one

thing.

Ros. I have promis'd to make all this matter even. Keep you your word,O duke, to give your daughter;You yours, Orlando, to receive his daughter:Keep your word, Phebe, that you'll marry me; Or else, refusing me, to wed this shepherd:Keep your word, Silvius, that you'll marry her, If she refuse me :-and from hence I go, To make these doubts all even 2.

[Exeunt ROSALIND and CELIA. Duke S. I do remember in this shepherd-boy Some lively touches of my daughter's favour. Orl. My lord, the first time that I ever saw him, Methought he was a brother to your daughter; But, my good lord, this boy is forest-born; And hath been tutor❜d in the rudiments Of many desperate studies by his uncle, Whom he reports to be a great magician, Obscured in the circle of this forest.

Enter TOUCHSTONE and AUDREY.

Jaq. There is, sure, another flood toward, and these couples are coming to the ark! Here comes a pair of very strange beasts, which in all tongues are called fools.

Touch. Salutation and greeting to you all!
Jaq. Good, my lord, bid him welcome: This is

2 Thus, in Measure for Measure:

yet death we fear

That makes these odds all even.'

the motley-minded gentleman, that I have so often met in the forest: he hath been a courtier, he swears.

Touch. If any man doubt that, let him put me to my purgation. I have trod a measure 3; I have flattered a lady; I have been politick with my friend, smooth with mine enemy; I have undone three tailors; I have had four quarrels, and like to have fought one.

Jaq. And how was that ta'en up?

Touch. 'Faith, we met, and found the quarrel was upon the seventh cause.

Jaq. How seventh cause?-Good my lord, like this fellow.

Duke S. I like him very well.

Touch. God'ild you, sir; I desire you of the like. I press in here, sir, amongst the rest of the country copulatives, to swear, and to forswear; according as marriage binds, and blood breaks 5:-A poor virgin, sir, an ill-favoured thing, sir, but mine own; a poor humour of mine, sir, to take that that no man else will: Rich honesty dwells like a miser, sir, in a poor-house; as your pearl, in your foul oyster.

Duke S. By my faith, he is very swift and sententious".

3 Touchstone, to prove that he has been a courtier, particularly mentions a measure, because it was a stately dance peculiar to the polished part of society, as the minuet in later times. Hence the phrase was to tread a measure, as we used to say to walk a minuet. See note on Much Ado about Nothing, Act ii. Sc. 1.

4I desire you of the like.' This mode of expression occurs also in The Merchant of Venice, and in A Midsummer Night's Dream. It is frequent in Spenser:

of pardon you I pray.'

5 By the marriage ceremony a man SWEARS that he will keep only to his wife; but his blood or passion often makes him break his oath.

6 i. e. prompt and pithy.

Touch. According to the fool's bolt, sir, and such dulcet diseases7.

Jaq. But, for the seventh cause; how did you find the quarrel on the seventh cause?

Touch. Upon a lie seven times removed3:-Bear your body more seeming 9, Audrey :—as thus, sir, I did dislike the cut of a certain courtier's beard; he sent me word, if I said his beard was not cut well, he was in the mind it was: This is called the Retort courteous. If I sent him word again, it was not well cut, he would send me word, he cut it to please himself: This is called the Quip modest. If again, it was not well cut, he disabled 10 my judgment: This is call'd the Reply churlish. If again, it was not well cut, he would answer, I spake not true: This is call'd the Reproof valiant. If again, it was not well cut, he would say, I lie: This is called the Countercheck quarrelsome: and so the Lie circumstantial, and the Lie direct.

Jaq. And how oft did you say, his beard was not well cut?

Touch. I durst go no further than the Lie circumstantial, nor he durst not give me the Lie direct; and so we measured swords, and parted.

Jaq. Can you nominate in order now the degrees of the lie?

11;

Touch. O, sir, we quarrel in print, by the book 11;

7 'Dulcet diseases.' Johnson thought we should read—' discourses: but it is useless labour to endeavour to make the fantastic Touchstone orthodox in his meaning.

8 i. e. the lie removed seven times, counting backwards from the last and most aggravated species of lie, viz. the lie direct. 9 Seemly. 10 i. e. impeached, or dispraised.

11 The poet has, in this scene, rallied the mode of formal duelling, then so prevalent, with the highest humour and address. The book alluded to is intitled, 'Of Honour and Honourable Quarrels, by Vincentio Saviolo,' 1594, 4to. The first part of which is: A Discourse most necessary for all Gentlemen that VOL. III.

U

as you have books for good manners 12: I will name you the degrees. The first, the Retort courteous; the second, the Quip modest; the third, the Reply churlish; the fourth, the Reproof valiant; the fifth, the Countercheck quarrelsome; the sixth, the Lie with circumstance! the seventh, the Lie direct. All these you may avoid, but the lie direct; and you may avoid that too, with an If. I knew when seven justices could not take up a quarrel; but when the parties were met themselves, one of them thought but of an If, as If you said so, then I said so; and they shook hands, and swore brothers. Your If is the only peace-maker; much virtue in If.

Jaq. Is not this a rare fellow, my lord? he's as good at any thing, and yet a fool.

Duke S. He uses his folly like a stalking-horse 13, and under the presentation of that, he shoots his wit.

have in regard their Honours, touching the giving and receiving the Lie, whereupon the Duello and the Combat in divers Forms doth ensue; and many other inconveniences for lack only of true knowledge of Honour, and the right Understanding of Words, which here is set down.' The eight following chapters are, on the Lie and its various circumstances, much in the order of Touchstone's enumeration; and in the chapter of Conditional Lies, speaking of the particle if, he says: Conditional lies be such as are given conditionally, as if a man should say or write these words: if thou hast said that I have offered my lord abuse, thou liest; or if thou sayest so hereafter, thou shalt lie. Of these kind of lies, given in this manner, often arise much contention in wordes, whereof no sure conclusion can arise.' There are other works of the time on the same subject mentioned by the commentators; but this must suffice.

12 The Booke of Nurture; or, Schoole of Good Manners for Men, Servants, and Children, with stans puer ad mensam, 12mo. without date, in black letter, is most probably the work referred to. It was written by Hugh Rhodes, and first published in the reign of Edward VI.

13 A stalking-horse.' See note on Much Ado about Nothing, Act ii. Sc. 3, p. 152, note 6.