As you have whifpered faithfully, you were; [Exeunt, ACT III. SCENE I. The Palace, Enter Duke, Lords, and Oliver.“ Duke. Not fee him finçe? Sir, fir, that cannot be; But were I not the better part made mercy, I should not feek an abfent argument 7 Of my revenge, thou prefent: But look to it; Seek him with candle: bring him dead or living, Thy lands, and all things that thou doft call thine, Ol. Oh, that your highnefs knew my heart in this: I never lov'd my brother in my life. Duke. More villain thou.-Well, push him out of doors; 7 An abfent argument] An argument is ufed for the contents of a book, thence Shakspeare confidered it as meaning the fubject, and then ufed it for fubject in yet another fenfe. Jon NEON. And And let my officers of such a nature Make an extent upon his house and lands : SCENE II... The Foreft. Enter Orlando. Orla. Hang there, my verfe, in witness of my love: And, thou, thrice-crowned queen of nights, furvey With thy chafte eye, from thy pale fphere above, Thy huntrefs' name, that iny full life doth fway. O Rofalind! thefe trees fhall be my books, And in their barks my thoughts I'll character; That every eye, which in this foreft looks, Shall fee thy virtue witnefs'd every where. Run, run, Orlando; carve, on every tree, The fair, the chafte, and unexpreffive fhe. [Exit. Enter Corin, and Clown. Cor. And how like you this fhepherd's life, mafter Touchstone? And let my officers of fuch a nature Make an extent upon his houfe and lands:] "To make an extent of lands," is a legal phrafe, from the words of a writ (extendi facias) whereby the fheriff is directed to caufe certain lands to be appraised to their full extended valuc, before he delivers them to the perfon entitled under a recognizance, &c. in order that it may be certainly known how foon the debt will be paid. MALONE. 7 Expediently,] That is, expeditiously. JOHNSON. 8 Thrice-crowned queen of night,] Alluding to the triple charac ter of Proferpine, Cynthia, and Diana, given by fome mythologifts to the fame goddefs, and comprised in these memorial lines: "Terret, lujirat, agit, Proferpina, Luna, Diana, "Ima, fuperna, feras, fceptro, fulgore, fagittis." JoHNSON. 9 Unexpreffive] for inexpreffible. JOHNSON. Milton in like manner ufes unexpreffive for inexpreffible: 66 Harping with loud and folemn quire, "With unexpreffive notes to heaven's new-born heir." Hymn on the Nativity. MALONE. Cle Clo. Truly, fhepherd, in respect of itself, it is a good life; but in refpect that it is a fhepherd's life, it is naught. In respect that it is folitary, I like it very well; but in refpect that it is private, it is a very vile life. Now in refpect it is in the fields, it pleaseth me well; but in refpect it is not in the court, it is tedious. As it is a fpare life, look you, it fits my humour well; but as there is no more plenty in it, it goes much against my ftomach. Haft any philofophy in thee, thepherd? Cor. No more, but that I know, the more one fickens, the worse at eafe he is; and that he that wants money, means, and content, is without three good friends:-That the property of rain is to wet, and fire to burn: That good pafture makes fat fheep; and that a great caufe of the night, is the lack of the fun That he, that hath learned no wit by nature nor art, may complain of good breeding, or comes of a very dull kindred. Clo. Such a one is a natural philofopher". Waft ever in court, fhepherd? Cro. ▾ He that hath learned no wit by nature or art, may complain of good breeding, or comes of very dull kindred.] Common fenfe requires us to read: may complain of grofs breeding. The Oxford editor has greatly improved this emendation by reading-bad breeding. WARBURTON. I am in doubt whether the custom of the language in Shakfpeare's time did not authorife this mode of fpeech, and make complain of good breeding the fame with complain of the want of good breeding. In the last line of the Merchant of Venice we find that to fear the keeping is to fear the not keeping. JOHNSON. I think, he means rather may complain of a good education, for having been fo inefficient,- of fo little ufe to him.. MALONE. 2 Such a one is a natural philofopher.] The fhepherd had faid all the philosophy he knew was the property of things, that rain wetted, fire burnt, &c. And the Clown's reply, in a fatire on phyficks or natural philofophy, though introduced with a quibble, is extremely juft. For the natural philofopher is indeed as ignorant (notwithstanding all his parade of knowledge) of the efficient caufe of things, as the ruftic. It appears, from a thousand in ftances, 1 Gor. No, truly. Cle. Then thou art damn'd. Cor. Nay, I hope, Clo. Truly, thou art damn'd; like an ill-roafted egg3, all on one fide. Cor. For not being at court? Your reafon. Clo. 4 Why, if thou never waft at court, thou never faw'ft good manners; if thou never faw'ft good manners, then thy manners must be wicked; and wickedness is fin, and fin is damnation: Thou art in a parlous ftate, thepherd. Cor. Not a whit, Touchstone: thofe, that are good manners at the court, are as ridiculous in the country, as the behaviour of the country is most mockable at the court. You told me, you falute not at the court, but you kifs your hands; that courtesy would be uncleanly, if courtiers were fhepherds. ftances, that our poet was well acquainted with the phyfics of his time and his great penetration enabled him to fee this remediless defect of it. WARBURTON. Shakspeare is refponsible for the quibble only, let the commentator answer for the refinement. STEEVENS. 3 like an ill-roafted egg,] Of this jeft I do not fully compre hend the meaning. JOHNSON. There is a proverb, that a fool is the best roafter of an egg, becaufe he is always turning it. This will explain how an egg may be damn'd, all on one fide; but will not fufficiently fhew how Touchstone applies his fimile with propriety; unless he means that he who has not been at court is but half educated. STEEVENS. I believe there was nothing intended in the corresponding part of the fimile, to anfwer to the words" all on one fide." Shakspeare's fimiles (as has been already observed) seldom run on four feet. Touchftone, I apprehend, only means to fay, that Corin is completely damned; as irretrievably deftroyed, as an egg that is utterly fpoiled in the roafting by being done on one fide only. MALONE. 4 Why, if thou never waft at court, thou never fawf good manners; if thou never, &c.] This reafoning is drawn up in imitation of Friar John's to Panurge in Rabelais. Si tu es Coquu, ergo ta femme fera belle; ergo tu feras bien traité d'elle; ergo, tu auras des amis beaucoup; ergo tu feras fauvé. The laft interence is pleafantly drawn from the popish doctrine of the interceffion of faints, and, I fuppofe, our jocular English proverb, concerning this matter, was founded in Friar John's logic. WARBURTON. Clc. Clo. Inftance, briefly; come, instance. Cor. Why, we are still handling our ewes; and their fells you know are greasy. Clo. Why, do not your courtiers' hands fweat? and is not the greafe of a mutton as wholesome as the sweat of a man? Shallow, fhallow: A better inftance, I fay; come. Cor. Befides, our hands are hard. Clo. Your lips will feel them the fooner. Shallow again: A more founder inftance, come. Cor. And they are often tarr'd over with the fur gery of our fheep; And would you have us kiís tar? The courtiers hands are perfum'd with civet. Clo. Moft fhallow man! Thou worms-meat, in refpect of a good piece of flesh :-indeed!-Learn of the wife, and perpend: Civet is of a bafer birth than tar; the very uncleanly flux of a cat. the inftance, fhepherd. Mend Cor. You have too courtly a wit for me; I'll reft. Clo. Wilt thou reft damn'd? God help thee, fhallow man! God make incifion in thee thou art raw 6. 5 Make incifion in thee !] To make incifion was a proverbial expreffion then in vogue for, to make to underftand. So in Beaumont and Fletcher's Humorous Lieutenant : O excellent king, "Thus he begins, thou life and light of creatures, i. e. to make him understand what he would be at.WARBURTON Till I read Dr. Warburton's note, I thought the allufion hað been to that common expreffion, of cutting fuch a one for the fimples; and I must own, after confulting the paffage in the Humourous Lieutenant, I have no reason to alter my fuppofition. The editors of Beaumont and Fletcher declare the phrafe to be unintelligible in that as well as in another play where it is introduced. I find the fame expreffion in Monfieur Thomas: "We'll bear the burthen, proceed to incifion, fidler." STEEVENS. 6 thou art raw.] i. e. thou art ignorant; unexperienced So, in Hamlet: " - and yet but rasv neither, in refpect of his quick fail." MALONE. Cor. |