sooner knew the reason, but they sought the remedy: Orl. They shall be married to-morrow; and I will bid the duke to the nuptial. But, O, how bitter a thing it is to look into happiness through another man's eyes! By so much the more shall I to-morrow be at the height of heart-heaviness, by how much I shall think my brother happy, in having what he wishes for. Ros. Why, then, to-morrow I cannot serve your turn for Rosalind? Orl. I can live no longer by thinking. Ros. I will weary you no longer then with idle talking. Know of me then, (for now I speak to some purpose,) that I know you are a gentleman of good conceit: I speak not this that you should bear a good opinion of my knowledge, insomuch, I say, I know you are; neither do I labour for a greater esteem than may in some little measure draw a belief from you, to do yourself good, and not to grace me. Believe, then, if you please, that I can do strange things: I have, since I was three year old, conversed with a magician, most profound in his art, and yet not damnable. If you do love Rosalind so near the heart as your gesture cries it out, when your brother marries Aliena shall you marry her: I know into what straits of fortune she is driven; and it is not impossible to me, if it appear not inconvenient to you, to set her before your eyes to-morrow, human as she is, and without any danger. I Orl. Speakest thou in sober meanings? Ros. By my life I do; which I tender dearly, though say I am a magician: Therefore, put you in your best array, bid your friends; for if you will be married to-morrow, you shall; and to Rosalind, if you will. Enter SILVIUS and PHEbe. Look, here comes a lover of mine, and a lover of hers. Ros. I care not if I have: it is my study Phe. Good shepherd, tell this youth what 't is to love. And so am I for Phebe. Phe. And I for Ganymede. Orl. And I for Rosalind. Ros. And I for no woman. Sil. It is to be all made of faith and service; And so am I for Phebe. Phe. And I for Ganymede. Orl. And I for Rosalind. Ros. And I for no woman. Sil. It is to be all made of fantasy, All made of passion, and all made of wishes; Phe. And so am I for Ganymede. Orl. And so am I for Rosalind. you a Incontinent-immediately Orl. To her, that is not here, nor doth not hear. Ros. Pray you, no more of this; 't is like the howlof Irish wolves against the moon.-I will help you, [to SILVIUS] if I can:-I would love you, [to PHEBE] if I could.-To-morrow meet me all together.-I will marry you, [to PHEBE] if ever I marry woman, and I'll be married to-morrow:-I will satisfy you, [to ORLANDO] if ever I satisfied man, and you shall be married to-morrow :-I will content you, [to SILVIUS] if what pleases you contents you, and you shall be married to-morrow. As you [to ORLANDO] love Rosalind. meet;-as you [to SILVIUS] love Phebe, meet; And as I love no woman, I'll meet.-So, fare you well; I have left you commands. Sil. I'll not fail, if I live. Orl. Nor I. Nor I. [Exeunt. SCENE III.-The same. Enter TOUCHSTONE and AUDREY. Touch. To-morrow is the joyful day, Audrey; tomorrow will we be married. Aud. I do desire it with all my heart: and I hope it is no dishonest desire, to desire to be a woman of the world." Here comes two of the banished duke's pages. Enter two Pages. 1 Page. Well met, honest gentleman. a song. 2 Page. We are for you: sit i' the middle. 1 Page. Shall we clap into 't roundly, without hawking, or spitting, or saying we are hoarse; which are the only prologues to a bad voice? 2 Page. I faith, i' faith; and both in a tune, like two gipsies on a horse. SONG. It was a lover, and his lass, With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino, In spring time, the only pretty ring time, II. And therefore take the present time, With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino; III. Between the acres of the rye, With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino, IV. This carol they began that hour, With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino, Touch. Truly, young gentlemen, though there was no great matter in the ditty, yet the note was very untuneable. 1 Page. You are deceived, sir; we kept time, we lost not our time. Touch. By my troth, yes; I count it but time lost to hear such a foolish song. God be with you; and Goc 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? a To be married. Oli. I sometimes do believe, and sometimes do not; | As those that fear,-they hope, and know they fear. 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 Phe. That will I, should I die the hour after. Ros. You say, that you 'll have Phebe, if she will? Sil. Though to have her and death were both one thing. Ros. I have promis'd to make all this matter even. Orl. My lord, the first time that I ever saw him, Enter TOUCHSTONE and AUDREY. Jag. 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 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; I have flattered a lady; I have been politic 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?a Touch. Faith, we met, and found the quarrel was upon the seventh cause? Jaq. How, seventh cause?-Good my lord, like this kllow. 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 culatives, to swear, and to forswear; according as marriage binds, and blood breaks: 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 bunesty 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 sen tentious. Touch. According to the fool's bolt, sir, and such dulcet diseases. a Ta'en up-made up. Jaq. But, for the seventh cause; how did you find the quarrel on the seventh cause? Touch. Upon a lie seven times removed;-Bear your body more seeming," 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 my judgment: This is called the "Reply churlish." If again, it was not well cut, he would answer, I spake not true: This is called the "Reproof valiant." If again, it was not well cut, he would say, I lie: This is called the "Countercheck quarrelsome:" and so to the "Lie circumstantial," and the "Lie direct." b 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? Touch. O sir, we quarrel in print, by the book; as you have books for good manners. 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 anything, and yet a fool. Duke S. He uses his folly like a stalking-horse, and under the presentation of that he shoots his wit. Enter HYMEN, leading ROSALIND and Celia. Good duke, receive thy daughter, That thou mightst join her hand with his, Ros. To you I give myself, for I am yours. [To DUKE S. To you I give myself, for I am yours. [To ORLANDO. Duke S. If there be truth in sight, you are my daughter. Orl. If there be truth in sight, you are my Ro salind. Phe. If sight and shape be true, Why, then, my love adieu! Ros. I'll have no father, if you be not he: [TO DUKE S. I'll have no husband, if you be not he :- "T is I must make conclusion Seeming-scemly. To ORI.. [To PHE b Disabled-impeached. Atome together-unite. You and you no cross shall part: [To ORL. and Ros. You and you are heart in heart: [To OLI. and CEL. You [to PHE.] to his love must accord, Or have a woman to your lord :You and you are sure together, Shall share the good of our returned fortune, Play, music;-and you brides and bridegrooms all, Jaq. Sir, by your patience; If I heard you rightly, [To TOUCH. and AUD. The duke hath put on a religious life, And thrown into neglect the pompous court? As the winter to foul weather. Jaq. de B. Let me have audience for a word, or two; I am the second son of old sir Rowland, That bring these tidings to this fair assembly: Duke Frederick, hearing how that every day Men of great worth resorted to this forest, Address'da mighty power; which were on foot, In his own conduct, purposely to take His brother here, and put him to the sword: And to the skirts of this wild wood he came; Where, meeting with an old religious man, After some question with him, was converted Both from his enterprise, and from the world: His crown bequeathing to his banish'd brother, And all their lands restor'd to them again That were with him exil'd: This to be true, I do engage my life. Duke S. one, Welcome, young man; That have endur'd shrewd days and nights with us, Jaq. de B. He hath. Jaq. To him will I: out of these convertites There is much matter to be heard and learn'd.You to your former honour I bequeath; [To DUKE S. Your patience, and your virtue, well deserves it :You [to ORLANDO] to a love that your true faith doth merit : You [to OLIVER] to your land, and love, and great allies: You [to SILVIUS] to a long and well-deserved bed :— And you [to TOUCHSTONE] to wrangling; for thy loving voyage Is but for two months victuall'd:-So to your pleasures; Jaq. To see no pastime I:-what you would have [Exit. Duke S. Proceed, proceed: we will begin these rites, And we do trust they'll end in true delights. [A dance. EPILOGUE. Ros. It is not the fashion to see the lady the epilogue: but it is no more unhandsome, than to see the lord the prologue. If it be true, that "good wine needs no bush," 't is true, that a good play needs no epilogue · Yet to good wine they do use good bushes; and good plays prove the better for the help of good epilogues. What a case am I in then, that am neither a good epilogue, nor cannot insinuate with you in the behalf of a good play! I am not furnished like a beggar, therefore to beg will not become me: my way is, to conjure you; and I'll begin with the women. I charge you, O women, for the love you bear to men, to like as much of this play as please you and I charge you, O men, for the love you bear to women, (as I perceive by your simpering, none of you hates them,) that between you and the women, the play may please. If I were a woman, I would kiss as many of you as had beards that pleased me, complexions that liked me, and breaths that I defied not: and, I am sure, as many as have good beards, or good faces, or sweet breaths, will, for my kind offer, when I make curtsy, bid me farewell. [Exeunt INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. questionably, upon the very highest principle upon THIS comedy was first printed in the folio collection of "A man of stricture and firm abstinence." "Precise; Stands at a guard with envy; scarce confesses "Doth rebate and blunt his natural edge With profits of the mind, study and fast.” The general outline of the story upon which Measure for Measure' is founded is presented to us in such different forms, and with reference to such distinct times He is one who and persons, that, whether historically true or not, we can have no doubt of its universal interest. It is told of an officer of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy; of Oliver le Diable, the wicked favourite of Louis XI.; of Colonel Kirke, in our own country; of a captain of the Duke of Ferrara. In all these cases an unhappy woman sacrifices her own honour for the promised safety of one she loves; and in all, with the exception of the case of Colonel Kirke, the abuser of authority is punished with death. Whatever interest may attach to the narrative of such an event, it is manifest that the dramatic conduct of such a story is full of difficulty, especially in a scrupulous age. But the public opinion, which, in this particular, would operate upon a dramatist in our own day, would not affect a writer for the stage in the times of Elizabeth and James; and, in point of fact, | plots far more offensive became the subject of very popular dramas long after the times of Shakspere. It appears to us that, adopting such a subject in its general bearings, he has managed it with uncommon adroitness by his deviations from the accustomed story. By introducing a contrivance by which the heroine is not sacrificed, he preserves our respect for her, which would be involuntarily lost if she fell, even though against her own will; and by this management he is also enabled to spare the great offender without an unbearable violation of our sense of justice. And here, then, as it appears to us, we have a key to the purpose of the poet in the introduction of what constitutes the most unpleasant portion of this play,-the exhibition of a very gross general profligacy. There is an atmosphere of impurity hanging like a dense fog over the city of the poet. The philosophical ruler, the saintly votaress, and the sanctimonious deputy, appear to belong to another region to that in which they move. This, possibly, was not necessary for the higher dramatic effects of the comedy; but it was necessary for those lessons of political philosophy which we think Shakspere here meant to inculcate, and which he appears to us on many occasions to have kept in view in his later plays. In this play he manifests, as we appre The leading idea of the character of Isabella is that of one who abides the direst temptation which can be presented to a youthful, innocent, unsuspecting, and affectionate woman—the temptation of saving the life of one most dear, by submitting to a shame which the sophistry of self-love might represent as scarcely criminal. All other writers who have treated the subject have conceived that the temptation could not be resisted. Shakspere alone has confidence enough in female virtuehend, his philosophical view of a corrupt state of manners to make Isabella never for a moment even doubt of her fostered by weak government: but the subject is scarcely |
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