I am the second son of old Sir Roland,

That bring these tidings to this fair assembly.-
Duke Frederick, hearing how that every day
Men of great worth resorted to this forest,
Address'd a 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(165) again
That were with him exíl'd.
This to be true,

I do engage my life.

Duke S.

Welcome, young man ;
Thou offer'st fairly to thy brothers' wedding:
To one, his lands withheld; and to the other,
A land itself at large, a potent dukedom.
First, in this forest, let us do those ends
That here were well begun and well begot:

And after, every of this happy number,

That have endur'd shrewd days and nights with us,
Shall share the good of our returnèd fortune,
According to the measure of their states.(166)
Meantime forget this new-fall'n dignity,
And fall into our rustic revelry.—

Play, music!-and you, brides and bridegrooms all,
With measure heap'd in joy, to the measures fall.

Jaq. Sir, by your patience.—If I heard you rightly,
The duke hath put on a religious life,

And thrown into neglect the pompous court?

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 Duke S.] to your former honour I bequeath;
Your patience and your virtue well deserve 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:

I am for other than for dancing measures.
Duke S. Stay, Jaques, stay.

Jaq. To see no pastime I:-what you would have

I'll stay to know at your abandon'd cave.

[Exit.

Duke S. Proceed, proceed: we will begin these rites, As 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, 'tis true that a good play needs no epilogue: yet to good wine they do use good bushes; and good plays prove the better by 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,(167) 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.

P. 5. (1)

“As I remember, Adam, it was upon this fashion,—he bequeathed me by will but poor a thousand crowns; and, as thou sayest, charged my brother, on his blessing, to breed me well:”

The folio has "As I remember Adam, it was vpon this fashion bequeathed me by will," &c.,—where "fashion" being the last word of the first line, I have little doubt that "he" was omitted by a mistake of the compositor: at p. 6 Orlando says, “My father charged you in his will to give me good education." Mr. W. N. Lettsom observes; To avoid awkwardness and obscurity, we must insert the pronoun 'he' before 'bequeathed:' otherwise, from 'it was' occurring just before, it might be doubted whether 'bequeathed' and ‘charged' were aorists or past participles.”—In defence of the expression, “poor a thousand,” Mr. Staunton and Mr. Grant White adduce what they consider to be instances of similar phraseology: but I am inclined to agree with Mr. W. N. Lettsom, who "feels pretty sure that we have here nothing more than a printer's transposition, such as occurs at the end of the act (in we' for 'we in'), and thinks that we cannot do better than read, with the second folio, ‘a poor thousand”.”

In opposition to Warburton's reading "sty," Mr. Grant White remarks; "The similarity of thought between 'stay' and 'keep' is necessary to the antithetical point of the sentence."

Warburton reads “revenue" (which Hanmer and Capell adopt).

P. 7. (5)

"Cha. Good morrow to your worship.

Oli. Good morrow, Monsieur Charles.—What's the new news at the new

court?"

So Walker (Crit. Exam. &c. vol. ii. p. 263).—The folio has “Oli. Good Mounsier Charles: what's," &c.;-the word " morrow" being evidently omitted by mistake.

P. 7. (6)

"There's no news at the court, sir, but the old news:" "Ought we not to read There's no new news at the new court, sir, but the old news'? Compare the preceding speech." W. N. LETTSOM.

Here Hanmer printed “the old duke's daughter;" and in the next speech, “ the new duke's daughter,”—alterations which Mr. Collier's Ms. Corrector also makes; and from the context it is highly probable that so Shakespeare wrote.

The folio has "hee."-Corrected in the third folio.

The folio has " perceiueth."-Corrected in the second folio.

Is altered by Walker (Crit. Exam. &c. vol. i. p. 309) to "wise,”—which Mr. Spedding also proposes, and which I think a doubtful emendation because it seems to be at variance with what Celia says just before, "who, perceiving our natural wits too dull," &c.

P. 11. (15) "Cel."

The folio has "Ros."-Corrected by Theobald. (With respect to the epithet "old" in the preceding speech, Steevens remarks that it "is an unmeaning term of familiarity: it is still in use, and has no reference to age.")

66

P. 11. (16)

"Le Beau. Fair princess, you have lost much good sport.
Cel. Sport! of what colour?"

In the second of these speeches Mr. Collier's Ms. Corrector alters "sport" to spot," to indicate that Celia is ridiculing the affected pronunciation of Le Beau.