Took up a beggar's iffue at my gates;
Who fmeared thus, and mir'd with infamy,
I might have said, No part of it is mine;
This fhame derives itfelf from unknown loins?
But mine, and mine I lov'd, and mine I prais'd,
And mine that I was proud on; mine fo much,
That I myself was to myself not mine,
Valuing of her; why, fhe-O, fhe, is fallen
Into a pit of ink! that the wide fea

Hath drops too few to wash her clean again;
And falt too little, which may feafon give
To her foul tainted flesh!

Bene. Sir, fir, be patient:

For my part, I am fo attir'd in wonder,
I know not what to say.

Beat. O, on my foul, my coufin is bely'd.

Bene. Lady, were you her bedfellow last night?
Beat. No, truly, not; altho', until last night,
I have this twelvemonth been her bedfellow.

Leon. Confirm'd, confirm'd! O, that is stronger made,

Which was before barr'd up with ribs of iron!
Would the two princes lie? and Claudio lie?
Who lov'd her fo, that, speaking of her foulness,
Wash'd it with tears? Hence from her; let her die.
Friar. Hear me a little;

4 But mine, and mine I lov'd, and mine I prais'd, And mine that I was proud on;

-]

The fenfe requires that we fhould read, as in thefe three places. The reafoning of the fpeaker ftands thus,-Had this been my adop ted child, -his shame would not have rebounded on me. But this child was mine, as mine I loved her, praised her, was proud of her confequently, as I claimed the glory, I mufi needs be fubjected to the shame, WARBURTON.

&c.

Even of this fmall alteration there is no need. The speaker utters his emotion abruptly, But min, and mine that I loved, &c. by an ellipfis frequent, perhaps too frequent, both in verfe and profe. JOHNSON.

For

For I have only been filent fo long,

And given way unto this course of fortune,
By noting of the lady. I have mark'd

A thousand blushing apparitions

To start into her face; a thousand innocent shames
In angel whiteness bear away those blushes ;
And in her eye there hath appear'd a fire,
To burn the errors that these princes hold
Against her maiden truth.-Call me a fool,
Trust not my reading, nor my observations,
Which with experimental feal do warrant
The tenour of my book; truft not my age,
My reverence, calling, nor divinity,

If this sweet lady lie not guiltless here
Under fome biting error.

Leon. Friar, it cannot be :

Thou feeft, that all the grace, that she hath left,
Is, that fhe will not add to her damnation

A fin of perjury; fhe not denies it:

Why feek'st thou then to cover with excuse
That, which appears in proper nakedness ?

Friar. Lady, what man is he you are accus'd of?!
Hero. They know, that do accufe me; I know

none:

5 Friar. What man is be you are accus'd of?] The friar had juft before boasted his great skill in fishing out the truth. And indeed, he appears by this queftion to be no fool. He was by, all the while at the accufation and heard no names mentioned. Why then should he ask her what man fhe was accused of? But in this lay the fubtilty of his examination. For, had Hero been guilty, it was very probable that in that hurry and confufion of spirits, into which the terrible infult of her lover had thrown her, the would never have obferved that the man's name was not mentioned; and fo, on this question, have betrayed herself by naming the perfon fhe was confcious of an affair with. The friar obferved this, and fo concluded, that, were the guilty, fhe would probably fall into the trap he laid for her.I only take notice of this to fhew how admirably well Shakespeare knew how to fuftain his characters. WARBURTON.

If

If I know more of any man alive,

Than that which maiden modesty doth warrant,
Let all my fins lack mercy! O my father,
Prove you that any man with me convers'd
At hours unmeet, or that I yefternight
Maintain'd the change of words with any creature,
Refuse me, hate me, torture me to death.

Friar. There is fome ftrange mifprifon in the
princes.

Bene. Two of them have the very bent of ho

nour;

And if their wifdoms be mifled in this,

The practice of it lives in John the bastard,
Whofe fpirits toil in frame of villainies.

Leon. I know not: If they fpeak but truth of her, These hands fhall tear her; if they wrong her ho

nour,

The proudest of them fhall well hear of it.
Time hath not yet fo dry'd this blood of mine,
Nor age fo eat up my invention,

Nor fortune made fuch havock of my means,
Nor my bad life reft me so much of friends,
But they fhall find, awak'd in fuch a kind,
Both ftrength of limb, and policy of mind,
Ability in means, and choice of friends,
To quit me of them thoroughly.
Friar. Paufe a while,

And let my counsel fway you in this cafe.
Your daughter here the princes left for dead; "

Let

bent of honour,] Bent is used by our authour for the utmost degree of any paffion, or mental quality. In this play before Benedick fays of Beatrice, ber affection has its full bent. The expreffion is derived from archery; the bow has its bent, when it is drawn as far as it can be. JOHNSON.

7 Your daughter here the princes left for dead;] In former copies, Your daughter here the princess (left for dead;

But

Let her awhile be fecretly kept in,
And publish it, that he is dead, indeed:
Maintain a mourning' oftentation;
And on your family's old monument
Hang mournful epitaphs, and do all rites
That appertain unto a burial.

Leon. What fhall become of this? What will this

do?

Friar. Marry, this, well carry'd, fhall on her be

half

Change flander to remorfe; that is fome good:
But not for that dream I on this ftrange course,
But on this travail look for greater birth.
She dying, as it must be fo maintain'd,
Upon the inftant that she was accus'd,
Shall be lamented, pity'd, and excus'd,
Of every hearer. For it so falls out,
That what we have we prize not to the worth,
Whiles we enjoy it; but being lack'd and loft,
Why, then we rack the value; then we find
The virtue that poffeffion would not fhew us.
Whilft it was ours: So will it fare with Claudio:
When he shall hear fhe dy'd upon his words,
The idea of her life fhall fweetly creep

Into his study of imagination;

And every lovely organ of her life

But how comes Hero to ftart up a princess here? We have no intimation of her father being a prince; and this is the first and or ly time the is complimented with this dignity. The remotion of a fingle letter, and of the parenthefis, will bring her to her own rank, and the place to its true meaning.

Your daughter here the princes left for dead;

i. e. Don Pedro, prince of Arragon; and his bastard brother who is likewife called a prince. THEOBALD.

-] i. e. We exaggerate

the value. The allufion is to rack-rents. STEEVENS,

2

Shall

Shall come apparel'd in more precious habit,
More moving, delicate, and full of life,

Into the eye and profpect of his foul,

Than when she liv'd indeed.-Then fhall he mourn,
(If ever love had intereft in his liver)
And wish he had not so accused her;
No, though he thought his accufation true.
Let this be fo, and doubt not but fuccefs
Will fashion the event in better shape
Than I can lay it down in likelihood.
But if all aim but this be levell'd false,
The fuppofition of the lady's death
Will quench the wonder of her infamy.
And, if it fort not well, you may conceal her,
(As beft befits her wounded reputation)
In fome reclufive and religious life,

Out of all eyes, tongues, minds, and injuries.
Bene. Signior Leonato, let the friar advise you:
And though, you know, my inwardness and love
Is very much unto the prince and Claudio,
Yet, by mine honour, I will deal in this
As fecretly and justly as your foul
Should with your body.

Leon. Being that I flow in grief,

The smalleft twine may lead me.'

Friar. 'Tis well confented; prefently away;
For to ftrange fores, ftrangely they strain the

cure..

Come, lady, die to live: this wedding day, Perhaps, is but prolong'd; have patience and [Exeunt,\

endure.

• The smallest twine may lead me ] This is one of our authour's obfervations upon life. Men overpowered with diftrefs, eagerly liften to the firft offers of relief, close with every fcheme, and believe every promife. He that has no longer any confidence in himself, is glad to repofe his truft in any other that will undertake to guide him. JOHNSON.

VOL. II.

X

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