Conr. Off, Coxcomb. Dogb. God's my life, where's the Sexton? let him write down the 'Prince's officer Coxcomb: come, bind them, thou naughty varlet. Conr. Away! you are an ass, you are an afs Dogb. Doft thou not fufpect my place? doft, thou not fufpect my years? O that he were here to write me down an afs! but, mafters, remember, that I am an afs; though it be not written down, yet forget not that I am an afs; no, thou villain, thou art full of piety, as fhall be prov'd upon thee by good witness; I am a wife fellow, and which is more, an officer; and which is more, an houfholder; and which is more, as pretty a piece of flefh as any in Messina, and one that knows the law; go to, and a rich fellow enough; go to, and a fellow that hath had loffes; and one that hath two gowns, and every thing handfome about him; bring him away; O, that I had been writ down an ais! [Exeunt. I ACT V. SCENE I. Enter Leonato and Antonio. ΑΝΤΟΝΙΟ. F you go on thus, you will kill yourself; Leon. 1 pray thee, ceafe thy counsel, There is nothing in the old quarto different in this fcene from the common copies, except that the names of two actors, Kempe and Cooley, are placed at the beginning of the fpeeches, initead of the proper words. But But fuch a one whofe wrongs do fuite with mine. Measure his woe the length and breadth of mine, But there is no fuch man; for, brother, men 8 If fuch a one will Smile, and froke his Beard, And hallow, wag, cry hem, when be bould groan,] Mr. Rowe is the first Authority that I can find for this Reading. But what is the Intention, or how are we to expound it?" If a Man will 66 halloo, and whoop, and fidget, "and wriggle about, to fhew a "Pleafure when He fhould "groan," &c. This does not give much Decorum to the Sentiment. The old Quarto, and the 1st and 2d Folio Editions all read, And forrow, wagge; cry hem, &c. We don't, indeed, get much by this Reading; tho', I flatter myfelf, by a flight Alteration, it has led me to the true one, And Sorrow wage; cry, hem! when he fould groan; i. e. If fuch a one will combat with, firive against Sorrow, &c. Nor is this Word infrequent with pur Author in thefe Significa Sir Thomas Hanmer, and after him Dr. Warburton, for wag, read waive, which is, I fuppofe, the fame as, put aside, or shift off. None of thefe conjectures fatisty me, nor perhaps any other reader. I cannot but think the true reading nearer than it is imagined. I point thus, If fuch an one will smile, and when be fould groan; If fuch an one will Smile, and Which they themselves not feel; but tafting it, To be fo moral, when he fhall endure The like himfelf; therefore give me no counsel; Ant. Therein do men from children nothing differ. Leon. I pray thee, peace; I will be flesh and blood; For there was never yet philosopher, That could endure the tooth-ach patiently; Leon. There thou speak'st reason; nay, I will do fo. My foul doth tell me, Hero is bely'd; And that fhall Claudio know, fo fhall the Prince;- SCENE II. Enter Don Pedro, and Claudio. Ant. Here comes the Prince and Claudio hastily. Pedro. Good den, good den. Claud. Good day to both of you. Pedro. We have fome hafte, Leonato. 1 Leon. Some hafte, my lord! well, fare you well, my lord. Are you fo hafty now? well, all is one. Pedro. Nay, do not quarrel with us, good old man. Ant. If he could right himself with quarrelling, Some of us would lye low. Claud. Who wrongs him? Leon. Marry, thou doft wrong me, thou diffembler, thou! Nay, never lay thy hand upon thy sword, I fear thee not. Claud. Marry, befhrew my hand, If it fhould give your age fuch cause of fear; As, under privilege of age, to brag What I have done being young, or what would do, I fay, thou haft bely'd mine innocent child, Thy flander hath gone through and through her heart, O, in a tomb where never fcandal flept, Claud. My villany? Leon. Thine, Claudio; thine, I say. I'll prove it on his body, if he dare; Defpight his nice fence and his active practice, 4. Claud. Claud. Away, I will not have to do with you. Leon. 3 Canft thou fo daffe me? thou haft kill'd my child; If thou kill'ft me, boy, thou fhalt kill a man. Ant. He fhall kill two of us, and men indeed; Leon. Brother, Ant. Content yourself; God knows, I lov'd my And she is dead, flander'd to death by villains, That dare as well anfwer a man, indeed, As I dare take a ferpent by the tongue. Ant. Hold you content; what, man? I know them, yea, And what they weigh, even to the utmost scruple: 3 Canft Thou fo daffe me?-] This is a Country Word, Mr. Pope tells us, fignifying, daunt, It may be fo; but that is not the Expofition here: To daffe, and deffe are fynonymous Terms, that mean, to put off which is the very Senfe requir'd here, and what Leonato would reply, upon Claudio's faying, He would have nothing to do with him. THEOBALD. 4 Ant. He fall kill two of us, &c.] This Brother Anthony is the trueft picture imaginable of human nature. He had af fumed the Character of a Sage to comfort his Brother, o'er whelm'd with grief for his only That |