fhoot at me; and he that hits me, let him be clapt on the shoulder, and call'd Adam.

Pedro. Well, as time fhall try: In time the favage bull doth bear the yoke. "

2

Bene. The favage bull may; but if ever the fenfible Benedick bear it, pluck off the bull's-horns, and fet them in my forehead, and let me be vilely painted; and in fuch great letters as they write, Here is good horfe to bire, let them fignify under my fign, Here you may fee Benedick the marry'd man.

Claud. If this fhould ever happen, thou would'st be horn-mad.

3

Pedro. Nay, if Cupid hath not spent all his quiver in Venice, thou wilt quake for this shortly.

Bene.

In fome counties of England, a cat was formerly clofed up with. a quantity of foot in a wooden bottle, (fuch as that in which fhepherds carry their liquor) and was fufpended on a line. He who beat out the bottom as he ran under it, and was nimble enough to escape its contents, was regarded as the hero of this inhuman diverfion. STEEVENS.

5 and be that hits me, let him be clap'd on the shoulder, and call'd Adam.] But why fhould he therefore be called Adam? Perhaps, by a quotation or two we may be able to trace the poet's allufion here. In Law-Tricks, or, Who would have thought it, (a comedy written by John Day, and printed in 1608) I find this fpeech. Adam Bell, a fubftantial outlaw, and a paffing good archer, yet no tobacconif.-By this it appears, that Adam Bell at that time of day was of reputation for his fkill at the bow. I find him again mentioned in a burlesque poem of fir William Davenant's, called, The long Vacation in London. THEOBALD.

Adam Bell was a companion of Robin Hood, as may be seen in Robin Hood's Garland; in which, if I do not mistake, are thefe lines,

For he brought Adam Bell, Clim of the Clough,

And William of Cloudeflea,

To fhoot with this forefter for forty marks,

And the forefter beat them all three. JOHNSON.

2 In time the favage ball doth bear the yoke.] This line is taken from the Spanish Tragedy, or Hieronymo, &c. 1605. STEEVENS. 3 if Cupid bath not spent all his quiver in Venice,] All modern writers agree in reprefenting Venice in the fame light as the ancients

did

Bene. I look for an earthquake too then.

Pedro. Well, you will temporize with the hours. In the mean time, good fignior Benedick, repair to Leonato's; commend me to him, and tell him, I will not fail him at fupper; for, indeed, he hath made great preparation.

Bene. I have almost matter enough in me for fuch an embaffage; and fo I commit you

Claud. To the tuition of God: From my house, if I had it,

Pedro. The fixth of July; your loving friend, Benedick.

Bene. Nay, mock not, mock not: The body of your difcourfe is fometime guarded with fragments, and the guards are but slightly basted on neither: ere you flout old ends any further, examine your conscience ; and fo I leave you.

[Exit. Claud. My liege, your highness now may do me

good.

Pedro. My love is thine to teach; teach it but how, And thou shalt fee how apt it is to learn

Any hard leffon that may do thee good.
Claud. Hath Leonato any fon, my lord?

Pedro. No child but Hero, fhe's his only heir:
Doft thou affect her Claudio?

Claud. O my lord,

When you went onward on this ended action,
I look'd upon her with a foldier's eye,
That lik'd, but had a rougher task in hand
Than to drive liking to the name of love:

did Cyprus. And 'tis this character of the people that is here alluded to. WARBURTON.

4 ere you flout old ends, &c.] Before you endeavour to diftinguish yourself any more by antiquated allufions, examine whether you can fairly claim them for your own. This, I think is the meaning; or it may be understood in another sense, examine, if your sarcasms do not touch yourself. JOHNSON.

But

But now I am return'd, and that war-thoughts
Have left their places vacant, in their rooms
Come thronging foft and delicate delicate defires,
All prompting me how fair young Hero is,
Saying, I lik'd her ere I went to wars.

Pedro. Thou wilt be like a lover presently,
And tire the hearer with a book of words.
If thou doft love fair Hero, cherish it;

And I will break with her, and with her father,
And thou fhalt have her. Was't not to this end,
That thou began'ft to twist so fine a story?

Claud. How fweetly do you minifter to love, That know love's grief by his complection! But left my liking might too fudden feem, I would have falv'd it with a longer treatise. Pedro. What need the bridge much broader than the flood?

The fairest grant is the neceffity.

Look, what will ferve, is fit: 'tis once, thou lov't j
And I will fit thee with the remedy.

I know, we shall have revelling to-night;
I will affume thy part in fome disguise,
And tell fair Hero I am Claudio
And in her bofom I'll unclafp my heart,
And take her hearing prifoner with the force
And strong encounter of my amorous tale:
Then, after, to her father will I break;
And the conclufion is, fhe fhall be thine:
In practice let us put it presently.

[Exeunt.

The faireft grant is the neceffity.] i. e, no one can have a better reafon for granting a request than the neceffity of its being granted. WARBURTON.

SCENE

SCENE II.

A Room in Leonato's Houfe.

Enter Leonato and Antonio.

Leo. How now, brother? Where is my cousin your fon? Hath he provided this mufick?

Ant. He is very bufy about it. But, brother, I can tell you news that you yet dream'd not of. Leon. Are they good?

Ant. As the event ftamps them; but they have a good cover, they fhow well outward. The prince and count Claudio, walking in a thick-pleached alley in mine orchard, were thus over-heard by a man of mine: The prince difcover'd to Claudio, that he lov'd my niece your daughter, and meant to acknowledge it this evening in a dance; and, if he found her accordant, he meant to take the prefent time by the top, and inftantly break with you of it.

Leon. Hath the fellow any wit that told you this? Ant. A good fharp fellow; I will fend for him, and question him yourself.

Leon. No, no; we will hold it as a dream, till it appear itself. But I will acquaint my daughter withal, that he may be the better prepared for an anfwer, if peradventure this be true: Go you, and tell her of it. [Several Servants cross the flage here.] Coufin, you know what you have to do.-0, cry you mercy, friend; go you with me, and I will ufe your skill. Good coufin, have a care this bufy time.

[Exeunt.

I

こ

SCENE

SCENE III.

Another Apartment in Leonato's House,

Enter Don John and Conrade,

Conr. What the good-jer, my lord! why are you thus out of measure fad?

John. There is no meafure in the occafion that breeds it; therefore the fadness is without limit. Conr. You fhould hear reafon.

John. And when I have heard it, what bleffing bringeth it?

Conr. If not a prefent remedy, yet a patient fuffe

rance.

John. I wonder, that thou being, (as thou fay'st thou art) born under Saturn, goest about to apply a moral medicine to a mortifying mifchief. I cannot hide what I am: I must be fad when I have caufe, and fmile at ro man's jefts; eat when I have ftomach, and wait for no man's leifure; fleep when I am drowsy, and tend on no man's business; laugh when I am merry, and claw no man in his humour.

Conr. Yea, but you must not make the full show of this, till you may do it without controulment. You have of late stood out against your brother, and he hath ta'en you newly into his grace, where it is impoffible you fhould take root, but by the fair weather

• I cannot hide what I am :] This is one of our authour's natu ral touches. An envious and unfocial mind, too proud to give pleasure, and too fullen to receive it, always endeavours to hide its malignity from the world and from itfelf, under the plainnefs of fimple honesty, or the dignity of haughty independence.

JOHNSON. 7 claw no man in his humour.] To claw is to flatter. So the pope's claw-backs, in bithop Jewel, are the pope's flatterers. The fenfe is the fame in the proverb, Mulus mulum fcabit. JOHNSON.

VOL, H.