Most rude melancholy, valour gives thee place,
My herald is return'd.

Re-enter Moth and Coftard.

Moth. A wonder, mafter; here's a Coftard broken in a fhin.

Arm. Some enigma, fome riddle: come,-thy l'envoy ;-begin.

Coft. No egma, no riddle, no l'envoy; no falve in the male, Sir. O Sir, plantain, a plain plantain, no l'envoy, no l'envy, or falve, Sir, but plantain !

Arm. By virtue, thou enforcest laughter; thy filly thought, my fpleen; the heaving of my lungs provokes me to ridiculous fmiling: O, pardon me, my ftars! Doth the inconfiderate take falve for l'envoy, and the word l'envoy for a falve?

Moth. Doth the wife think them other? is not l'envoy a falve?

Arm. No, page, it is an epilogue or difcourfe, to make plain

Some obfcure precedence that hath tofore been fain.

no l'envoy ;] The l'envoy is a term borrowed from the old French poetry. It appeared always at the head of a few concluding verfes to each piece, which either ferved to convey the moral, or to addrefs the poem to fome particular perfon. It was frequently adopted by the old English writers. STEEVENS.

3

:

no falve in the male, fir] The old folio reads, no falve in thee male, fir, which, in another folio, is, no falve, in the male, fir. What it can mean is not eafily difcovered if mail for a packet or bag was a word then in ufe, no falve in the mail may mean, no falve in the mountebank's budget. Or fhall we read, no enigma, ro riddle, no l'envey-in the vale, fir-O, fir, plantain. The matter is not great, but one would wish for fome meaning or other.

JOHNSON.

Male or mail was a word then in ufe. Reynard the fox fent Kayward's head in a male. I believe Dr. Johnson's firft explana tion to be right. STEEVENS.

Perhaps we should read-no falve in them all, fir. T. T.

I will example it. Now will I begin your moral, and do you follow with my l'envoy.

The fox, the ape, and the humble bee,
Were ftill at odds, being but three.

There's the moral: Now the l'envoy.

Moth. I will add the l'envoy; Say the moral again, Arm. The fox, the ape, and the humble-bee, Were ftill at odds, being but three.

Moth. Until the goose came out of door,

Staying the odds by adding four.

A good l'envoy, ending in the goofe; Would you defire more?

Coft. The boy hath fold him a bargain; a goofe, that's flat:

Sir, your penny-worth is good, an' your goofe be

fat.

To fell a bargain well is as cunning as faft and loofe: Let me fee a fat l'envoy; ay, that's a fat goofe.

Arm. Come hither, come hither: How did this argument begin?

Moth. By faying, that a Coftard was broken in a fhin. Then call'd you for the l'envoy.

Coft. True, and I for a plantain; thus came your argument in:

Then the boy's fat l'envoy, the goofe that you bought, And he ended the market.+

Arm. But tell me; how was there a Coftard broken in a fhin?

Moth. I will tell you fenfibly.

Coft. Thou haft no feeling of it, Moth.

I will fpeak that l'envoy.

↑ And be ended the market.] Alluding to the English proverbThree women and a gooje make a market. Tre donne et un occa fan un mercato. Ital. Ray's Proverbs.

STEEVENS.

5 bow was there a Costàrd broken in a fhin.] Coftard is the name of a fpecies of apple. JOHNSON.

I Cof

I Coftard running out, that was fafely within,
Fell over the threfhold and broke my fhin.

Arm. We will talk no more of this matter.
Coft. 'Till there be more matter in the fhin.
Arm. Sirrah, Coftard, I will infranchise thee.
Coft. O, marry me to one Frances; I smell fome
l'envoy, fome goofe in this.

Arm. By my fweet foul, I mean, fetting thee at liberty; enfreedoming thy perfon; thou wert immur'd, restrained, captivated, bound.

Caft. True, true; and now you will be my purgation, and let me loose.

Arm. I give thee thy liberty, fet thee from durance; and, in lieu thereof, impofe on thee nothing but this: bear this fignificant to the country-maid Jaquenetta: there is remuneration; [Giving him fomething.] for the beft ward of mine honour, is rewarding my dependants. Moth, follow. Moth. Like the fequel, I. Signior Coftard, adieu.

6

[Exit.

[Exit.

Coft. My fweet ounce of man's flefh! my in-cony Jew !7

Now

Like the fequel, I.] Sequele, in French, fignifies a great man's train. The joke is, that a fingle page was all his train. WARBURTON.

I believe this joke exifts only in the apprehenfion of the com mentator. Sequelle, in French, is never employed but in a derogatory fenfe. They ufe it to exprefs the gang of a highwayman, but not the train of a lord. Moth ufes the fequel only in the literary acceptation. STEEVENS.

7

my in-cony Jew!} Incony or kony in the north fignifies, fine, delicate- —as a kony thing, a fine thing. It is plain there fore, we should read,

my in-conv jewel. WARBURTON.

I know not whether it be right, however fpecious, to change Few to jewel. Jew, in our author's time, was, for whatever reas fon, apparently a word of endearment. So in Midfummer-Night's Dream,

Moft tender Juvenile, and eke moft lovely Jew. JOHNSON.

The

Now will I look to his remuneration. Remuneration! O that's the Latin word for three farthings: three farthings, remuneration.-What's the price of this incle? a penny: No, I'll give you a remuneration: why, it carries it.Remuneration !-why, it is a fairer name than a French crown. I will never buy and fell out of this word.

Enter Biron.

Biron. O my good knave Coftard! exceedingly well met

Coft. Pray you, Sir, how much carnation ribbon may a man buy for a remuneration?

Biron. What is a remuneration?

Coft. Marry, Sir, half-penny farthing.

Biron. O, why then, three-farthing-worth of filk.

The word is used again in the 4th act.

moft incony vulgar wit.

In the old comedy called Blurt Mafter Conftable, I meet with it again. A maid is fpeaking to her mistress about a gown:

-it makes you have a most inconie body.

Cony and incony have the fame meaning. So Metaphor says in Jonfon's Tale of a Tub.

"O fuperdainty canon, vicar inconey."

So in the Two Angry Women of Abington, 1599. "OI have fport in-conry i'faith."

So in Heywood's Jew of Malta, 1633.

"While I in thy in-cony lap do tumble."

Again in Doctor Dodypoll, com. 1600.

8

"A cockcomb incony, but that he wants money," STEEVENS.

No, I'll give you a remuneration: Why? it carries its remuneration. Why? it is a fairer name than a French crown.] Thus this paffage has hitherto been writ, and pointed, without any regard to common fenfe, or meaning. The reform, that I have made, flight as it is, makes it both intelligible and humourous.

THEOBALD.

Coft.

Coft. I thank your worship: God be with you.
Biron. O ftay, flave; I must employ thee:
As thou wilt win my favour, my good knave,
Do one thing for me that I fhall intreat.
Coft. When would you have it done, fir?
Biron. O, this afternoon.

Colt. Well, I will do it, fir: Fare you well.
Biren. O, thou knoweft not what it is.

Ceft. Ifhall know, fir, when I have done it.
Biren. Why, villain, thou must know first.
Coft. I will come to your worship to-morrow morn-

ing.

Biron. It must be done this afternoon.

Hark, flave, it is but this:

The princefs comes to hunt here in the park :
And in her train there is a gentle lady;

When tongues fpeak fweetly, then they name her

name,

And Rofaline they call her: afk for her;

And to her fweet hand fee thou do commend This feal'd up counfel. There's thy guerdon; go. [Gives him a fhilling.

Coft. Guerdon,-O fweet guerdon! better than remuneration; eleven-pence farthing better: Most fweet guerdon! I will do it, fir, in print.-Guerdon, remuneration.

Biron. O! and I, forfooth, in love! I, that have been love's whip;

A

very beadle to a humorous figh;

A critic; nay, a night-watch constable;

A domineering pedant o'er the boy,
Than whom no mortal more magnificent!

[Exit.

in print.] i. e. exactly, with the utmost nicety. It has been proposed to me to read in point, but, I think, without neceffity, the former expreffion being fill in ufe. STEEVENS.