I'll use thee kindly for thy mistress' sake,
That us'd me so; or else, by Jove I vow,

I should have scratch'd out your unseeing eyes,6
To make my master out of love with thee.

Again, in Julius Cæsar, Act II, sc. ii:

"She dreamt to-night she saw my statue.”

[Exit.

Here, to fill up the line, Mr. Capell adds the name of Decius and the last editor, deserting his usual caution, has improperly changed the regulation of the whole passage.

Again, in the same play, Act III, sc. ii:

"Even at the base of Pompey's statue."

In this line, however, the true mode of pronouncing the word is suggested by the last editor, who quotes a very sufficient authority for his conjecture. From authors of the times, it would not be difficult to fill whole pages with instances to prove that statue was at that period a trisyllable. Many authors spell it in that manner. On so clear a point the first proof, which occurs, is enough. Take the following from Bacon's Advancement of Learn ing, 4to. 1633: "It is not possible to have the true pictures or statuaes of Cyrus, Alexander, Cæsar, no nor of the kings or great personages of much later years," &c. p. 88. Again: "- without which the history of the world seemeth to be as the Statua of Polyphemus with his eye out," &c. Reed.

It may be observed, on this occasion, that some Latin words, which were admitted into the English language, still retained their Roman pronunciation. Thus heroe and heroes are constantly used for trisyllables; as in the following instances, by Chapman: "His speare fixt by him as he slept, the great end in the

ground,

"The point, that brisled the darke earth, cast a reflection round

"Like pallid lightnings throwne by Jove. Thus his Heroe

lay,

"And under him a big oxe hide." 10th Iliad.

Again, in the same book:

6

"This said, he on his shoulders cast a yellow lion's hide,

66

Big, and reacht earth; then took his speare; and Nestor's will applide,

"Rais'd the Heroes, brought them both. All met, the round

they went."

Steevens.

your unseeing eyes,] So, in Macbeth:

"Thou hast no speculation in those eyes·

?? Steevens.

ACT V.....SCENE I.

The same. An Abbey.

Enter EGLAMOUR.

Egl. The sun begins to gild the western sky;
And now, it is about the very hour,

That Silvia, at Patrick's cell, should meet me."
She will not fail; for lovers break not hours,
Unless it be to come before their time;
So much they spur their expedition.

Enter SILVIA.

See, where she comes! Lady, a happy evening!
Sil. Amen, amen! go on, good Eglamour!
Out at the postern by the abbey-wall;

I fear, I am attended by some spies.

Egl. Fear not: the forest is not three leagues off; If we recover that, we are sure enough,

The same.

SCENE II.

[Exeunt.

An Apartment in the Duke's Palace.

Enter THURIO, PROTEUS, and JULIA.

Thu. Sir Proteus, what says Silvia to my suit? Pro. O, sir, I find her milder than she was; And yet she takes exceptions at your person. Thu. What, that my leg is too long?

Pro. No; that it is too little.

Thu. I'll wear a boot, to make it somewhat rounder. Pro. But love will not be spurr'd to what it loathes. Thu. What says she to my face?

Pro. She says, it is a fair one.

Thu. Nay, then the wanton lies; my face is black. Pro. But pearls are fair; and the old saying is,

7 That Silvia, at Patrick's cell, should meet me.] The old copy redundantly reads: "friar Patrick's cell." But the omission of this title is justified by a passage in the next scene, where the Duke says

"At Patrick's cell this even; and there she was not."

Steevens.

8 sure enough.] Sure is safe, out of danger. Johnson.

Black men are pearls in beauteous ladies' eyes.9

Jul. 'Tis true, such pearls as put out ladies' eyes; For I had rather wink than look on them.

Thu. How likes she my discourse?

Pro. Ill, when you talk of war.

[Aside.

Thu. But well, when I discourse of love, and peace?
Jul. But better, indeed, when you hold your peace.

[Aside.

Thu. What says she to my valour?

Pro. O, sir, she makes no doubt of that.

Jul. She needs not, when she knows it cowardice.

[Aside.

Thu. What says she to my birth?

Pro. That you are well deriv'd.

Jul. True; from a gentleman to a fool.

[Aside.

Thu. Considers she my possessions?

Pro. O, ay; and pities them.

Thu. Wherefore?

Jul. That such an ass should owe them.

[Aside.

Pro. That they are out by lease.1

Jul. Here comes the duke.

Enter DUKE. [angerly ] MS. 1632 Duke. How now, sir Proteus? how now, Thurio? Which of you saw sir Eglamour of late?

Thu. Not I.

Pro.

Nor I.

2

9 Black men are pearls, &c.] So, in Heywood's Iron Age, 1632:

"Is always precious in a woman's eye.”

Again, in Sir Giles Goosecap:

but to make every black slovenly cloud a pearl in her eye." Steevens.

"A black man is a jewel in a fair woman's eye," is one of Ray's proverbial sentences. Malone.

1 That they are out by lease.] I suppose he means, because Thurio's folly has let them on disadvantageous terms. Steevens. She pities Sir Thurio's possessions, because they are let to others, and are not in his own dear hands. This appears to me to be the meaning of it. M. Mason.

"By Thurio's possessions, he himself understands his lands and estate. But Proteus chooses to take the word likewise in a figurative sense, as signifying his mental endowments: and when he says, they are out by lease, he means they are no longer enjoyed by their master, (who is a fool) but are leased out to another." Edinburgh Magazine, Nov. 1786. Steevens.

2.

· pr. fol. 1623. "Which of you saw Eglamour of late?

o. y., say, saw Sir Eglamour of lake?"

Ms. fol 1632 corrects as in the text above.

Duke.

Pro.

Saw you my daughter?

Neither.

Duke. Why, then, she 's fled unto that peasant Va

lentine;

And Eglamour is in her company.

"Tis true; for friar Laurence met them both,
As he in penance wander'd through the forest:
Him he knew well, and guess'd that it was she;
But, being mask'd, he was not sure of it:
Besides, she did intend confession

At Patrick's cell this even; and there she was not:
These likelihoods confirm her flight from hence.
Therefore, I pray you, stand not to discourse,
But mount you presently; and meet with me
Upon the rising of the mountain-foot
That leads towards Mantua, whither they are fled.
Despatch, sweet gentlemen, and follow me.

Thu. Why, this it is to be a peevish girl,
That flies her fortune when it follows her:
I'll after; more to be reveng'd on Eglamour,
Than for the love of reckless Silvia.3

[Exit. [in haste

[Exit.

Pro. And I will follow, more for Silvia's love, Than hate of Eglamour, that goes with her. [Exit. Jul. And I will follow, more to cross that love, Than hate for Silvia, that is gone for love.

SCENE III.

Frontiers of Mantua.

The Forest.

Enter SILVIA, and Out-laws.

Out. Come, come;

[Exit.

Be patient; we must bring you to our captain.
Sil. A thousand more mischances, than this one,
Have learn'd me how to brook this patiently.

2 Out. Come, bring her away.

1 Out. Where is the gentleman, that was with her? 3 Out. Being nimble-footed, he hath out-run us,

a peevish girl,] Peevish, in ancient language, signifies foolish. So, in King Henry VI. P. I:

3

"To send such peevish tokens to a king." Steevens. reckless Silvia.] i. e. careless, heedless. So, in Hamlet: like a puff'd and reckless libertine. Steevens.

But Moyses, and Valerius, follow him.

Go thou with her to the west end of the wood;

There is our captain: we 'll follow him that 's fled;
The thicket is beset, he cannot 'scape.

1 Out. Come, I must bring you to our captain's cave: Fear not; he bears an honourable mind,

And will not use a woman lawlessly.

Sil. O Valentine! this I endure for thee. [Exeunt.

SCENE IV.

Another part of the Forest.

Enter VALENTINE.

ས༣༡

Val. How use doth breed a habit in a man!
This shadowy desert, unfrequented woods,
I better brook than flourishing peopled towns.
Here can I sit alone, unseen of any,
And, to the nightingale's complaining notes,
Tune my distresses, and record my woes.'
O thou that dost inhabit in my breast,
Leave not the mansion so long tenantless;
Lest, growing ruinous, the building fall,
And leave no memory of what it was !5
Repair me with thy presence, Silvia;

4 · record my woes. 8.] To record anciently signified to sing. So, in The Pilgrim, by Beaumont and Fletcher:

O sweet, sweet! how the birds record too?" Again, in a pastoral, by N. Breton, published in England's Helicon, 1614:

"Sweet Philomel, the bird that hath the heavenly throat, "Doth now, alas! not once afford recording of a note." Again, in another Dittie, by Thomas Watson, ibid:

"Now birds record with harmonie."

Sir John Hawkins informs me, that to record is a term still used by bird-fanciers, to express the first essays of a bird in singing. Steevens.

5 0 thou that dost inhabit in my breast,

Leave not the mansion so long tenantless ;
Lest, growing ruinous, the building fall,

And leave no memory of what it was!] It is hardly possible to point out four lines, in any of the plays of Shakspeare, more remarkable for ease and elegance. Steevens.

And leave no memory of what it was!] So, in Marlowe's Jew of Malta:

"And leave no memory that e'er I was." Ritson.

These shadowy, desert, unfrequented woods " ms. 1632