The thrifty hire I fav'd under your father,
Which I did store to be my fofter-nurse
When fervice should in my old limbs lie lame,
And unregarded age in corners thrown.
Take that; and he that doth the ravens feed,
Yea, providently caters for the fparrow,
Be comfort to my age: here is the gold;
All this I give you; let me be your
As You Like It, A. 2. Sc. 3.
GRAVITY.
There are a fort of men, whose visages
Do cream and mantle like a standing pond;
And do a wilful ftillness entertain,
With purpose to be dreft in an opinion
Of wisdom, gravity, profound conceit;
As who fhould fay, I am Sir Oracle,
And when I ope my lips let no dog bark!
O, my Anthonio, I do know of thofe
That therefore only are reputed wife
For faying nothing; who, I'm very fure,
If they should fpeak, would almoft damn thofe ears
Which, hearing them, would call their brothers fools.
The Merchant of Venice, A. 1. Sc. 1.
Great men have reaching hands: oft have I ftruck
Those that I never faw,and ftruck them dead.
Henry VI. Part II. A. 4. Sc. 7.
I pray thee ceafe thy counfel,
Which falls into mine ears as profitlefs
As water in a fieve; give not me counsel,
Nor let no comforter delight mine ear,
But fuch a one whofe wrongs do fuit with mine.
Bring me a father that fo lov'd his child,
Whofe joy of her is overwhelm'd like mine,
And bid bim fpeak of patience;
Measure his woe the length and breadth of mine,
And let it anfwer every ftrain for ftrain,
As thus for thus, and fuch a grief for fuch,
In every lineament, branch, fhape, and form
If fuch a one will fmile, and stroke his beard,
And forrow wag; cry hem! when he should
groan;
Patch grief with proverbs; make misfortune drunk
With candle-wafters; bring him yet to me,
And I of him will gather patience.
Much Ado about Nothing, A. 5. Sc. 1.
I will inftruct my forrows to be proud :
For grief is proud, and makes his owner ftout.
To me, and to the state of my great grief,
Let kings affemble; for my grief's fo great
That no fupporter but the huge firm earth
Can hold it up: here I and forrow fit:
Here's my throne; bid kings come bow to it.
King John, A. 3. Sc..
Grief fills the room of my abfent child;
Lies in his bed, walks up and down with me,
Puts on his pretty looks, repeats his words,
Remembers me of all his gracious parts,
Stuffs out his vacant garments with his form;
Then have I reason to be fond of grief.
Fare you well; had you fuch lofs as I,
I could give better comfort than you do.
Each fubftance of a grief hath twenty shadows,
Which fhew like grief itself, but are not fo:
For forrow's eye glaz'd with blinding tears,
Divides one thing entire to many objects;
Like perspectives which rightly gaz'd upon,
Shew nothing but confufion; ey'd awry,
Distinguish form.
Seems, Madam! nay it is; I know not feems:
'Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother,
Nor cuftomary fuits of folemn black,
Nor windy fufpiration of forc'd breath,
No, nor the fruitful river in the eye,
Nor the dejected 'haviour of the vifage,
Together with all forms, modes, fhews of grief,
That can denote me truly: these indeed, feem;
For they are actions that a man might play:
But I have that within, which paffeth fhow.
These but the trappings and the fuits of woe.
When remedies are paft, the griefs are ended
By feeing the worst, which late on hopes, depended.
To mourn a mischief that is paft and gone,
Is the next way to draw new mischief on:
What cannot be preferved, when fortune takes,
Patience her injury a mocking makes:
The robb'd that fmiles, fteals fomething from the thief;
He robs himself that spends a bootlefs grief.
What doft thou mean by fhaking of thy head?
Why doft thou look fo fadly on my fun?
What means that hand upon that breast of thine?
Why holds thine eye that lamentable rheum,
Like a proud river peering o'er his bounds?
Be thefe fad figns confirmers of thy words?
So full of artless jealoufy is guilt,
It fpills itself in fearing to be fpilt.
HENRY V. DESCRIBED BY HIS FATHER.
He is gracious if he be obferv'd;
He hath a tear for pity, and a hand
Open as day for melting charity:
Yet notwithstanding, being incens'd, he's flint:
As humorous as winter, and as fudden
As flaws congealed in the spring of day,
His temper, therefore, must be well obferved;
Chide him for faults, and do it reverently,
When you perceive his blood inclin'd to mirth;
But being moody, give him line and scope,
Till that his paffions, like a whale on ground,
Confound themselves with working.
Henry IV. Part II. A. 4.
HENRY V. DEFENCE OF HIMSELF.
Heaven forgive them that so much have sway'd
Your Majefty's good thoughts away from me!
I will redeem all this on Percy's head,
And, in the closing of fome glorious day,
Be bold to tell you that I am your fon ;
When I will wear a garment all of blood,
And ftain my favours in a bloody mask,
Which, wafht away, fhall fcour my shame with it.
And that shall be the day, whene'er it lights,
That this fame child of honour and renown,
This gallant Hotspur, this all-praised knight,
And your unthought-of Harry, chance to meet :
For every honour fitting on his helm,
Would they were multitudes, and on my head
My fhames redoubled! for the time will come,
That I fhall make this northern youth exchange
His glorious deeds for my indignities.
Percy is but my factor, good my lord,
T'engrofs up glorious deeds on my behalf ::
And I will call him to fo ftrict account,
That he fhall render every glory up,
Yea, even the flightest worship of his time,.
Or I will tear the reck'ning from his heart.
This, in the name of heaven, I promise here:
The which if I perform, and do furvive,
I do befeech your Majesty, may falve
The long-grown wounds of my intemperature..
If not, the end of life cancels all bonds;
And I will die a thousand thousand deaths,
Ere break the fmalleft parcel of this vow.
Henry IV. Part I. A. 3. Sc. 4
HONOUR.
To wear an undeserved dignity.
O that eftates, degrees, and offices,
Were not deriv'd corruptly; that clear honour
Were purchas'd by the merit of the wearer!
How many then fhould cover, that stand bare!
How many be commanded, that command!
How much low peafantry would then be gleaned
From the true feed of honour! How much honour
Pickt from the chaff and ruin of the times,
The Merchant of Venice, A. 2, Sc. 9.
By heav'n, methinks it were an eafy leap,
To pluck bright honour from the pale-face moon;
To dive into the bottom of the deep,
Where fathom-line could never touch the ground;
And pluck up drowned honour by the locks:
So he that doth redeem her thence, might wear,
Without corrival, all her dignities.
Henry IV. Part I. A. 1. Sc. 3.
His nature is too noble for the world :
He would not flatter Neptune for his trident,
Or Jove for his power to thunder.
What his breaft forges, that his tongue must vent :
And, being angry, doth forget that ever
He heard the name of death.
Should from yon cloud fpeak divine things, and fay, 'Tis true, I'd not believe them more than thee,
Hope is a lover's ftaff: walk hence with that,
And manage it against despairing thoughts.
The Two Gentlemen of Verona, A. 3. Sc. 1.
I will defpair; and be at enmity
With cozening hope he is a flatterer,
A parafite, a keeper-back of death,
Who gently would diffolve the bands of life,
Which falte hopes linger in extremity.
King Richard II: A. 2. Sc. 2.
HORRORS OF A PREMEDITATED MURDER.
Good friend, thou haft no cause to fay fo yet;-
But thou shalt have :—and, creep time ne'er fo flow,
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