ACT V.
SCENE, before Leonato's House.

Enter Leonato and Antonio.

ANTONIO
F you go on thus, you will kill yourself;

And 'tis not wisdom thus to second grief
Against yourself.

Leon. I pray thee, cease thy counsel,
Which falls into mine ears as profi: less
As water in a fieve; give not me counsel,
Nor let no Comforter delight mine ear,
But such a one whose wrongs do suit with mine.
Bring me a father, that so lov'd his child,
Whose joy of her is overwhelm'd like mine,
And bid him speak of patience ;
Measure his woe the length and breadth of mine,
And let it answer every Itrain for strain:
As thus for thus, and such a grief for such,
In every lineament, branch, shape and form;
If such a one will smile and stroke his beard, (22)

And (22) If such a one will smile, and stroke his beard,

And hallow, wag, cry kem, when be should groan,) Mr. Rowe is the first authority that I can find for this read ng. But what is the intention, or how are we to expound it? “ If a man will ballco, and “ whoop, and fidget, and wriggle about, to fhew a pleasure when he 6 fhould groan," &c. This does not give much decorum to the sentia ment. The old Quarto, and ebe ist and 2d Folio editions all read,

And sorrow, wagge, ory him, &c. We don't, indeed, get much by this reading; tho', I fatter myself, by a slight alteration it has led me to the true one,

And sorrow wage; cry, bem! when he should groan; i e. If such a one will combat wiib, Prive against sorrow, &c. Nor is this word infrequent with our author in theie significations. So, in his Lear ;

To wage ; against the enmity o'th' air,
Necessity's firong pinch.

So,

And Sorrow wage; cry, hem! when he should groan;
Patch grief with proverbs ; make misfortune drunk
With candle-walters; bring him yet to me,
And I of him will gather patience.
But there is no such man; for, brother, men
Can counsel, and give comfort to that grief
Which they themselves not feel; but tasting it,
Their counsel turns to paffion, which before
Would give preceptial medicine to rage;
Fetter strong madness in a filken thread,
Charm ach with air, and agony with words.
No, no; 'tis all mens office to speak patience (23)
To those, that wring under the load of sorrow;
But no man's virtue, nor sufficiency,
To be so moral, when he shall endure
So, in Oibello ;

Neglecting an attempt of ease and gain,

To wake and wage a danger profitless. And in the ist Henr. IV.

I fear the pow'r of Percy is too weak

To wuge an instant tryal with the king. (23) No, no; 'tis all men's office to speak patience

To ibose, that wring under tbe load of forrow ;
But no man's virtue, nor Sufficiency,
To be so moral, when be mall endure

The like bimself. ] Patience under misfortunes easier advis'd, than maintain'd, is one of the topics of Shakespeare, for which Mr. Gildon told us, he had met with no parallels among the ancients : And this observation is particularly directed to the passage now before us. A man of so much reading must certainly be betray'd by his memory in this point: For I have long ago obferv'd no lefs then five passages, all which seem to be a very reafonable foundation for our author's leatiments on this fubject.

Facile omnes, quum valemus, resta Confilia ægrotis damus ;
Tu fi bic fis, aliter sentias.

Terent.
Ελαφρόν όσις ανημάτων έξω σόδα
"Έχει, παραινείν, νοθετεί τε τους κακώς
1Πράσσούλας. .

Æfcbyl. "Αλλω σονάλο ράδιον σαραινέσαι "Εσιν, ποιήσαι δ' αυτόν έχι ράδιον.

Pbilem, *Απανθες εσμεν εις το νοθετείν σοφοί, 'Αυτοι δ' αμαριάνουλες και γινώσκομεν.

Eurip. “Ραον σαραινείν ή παθόνια καριερεύν.

Idem.
The

The like himself; therefore give me no counsel ;
My griefs cry louder than advertisement.

Ant. Therein do men from children nothing differ.

Leon. I pray thee, peace; I will be flesh and blood; For there was never yet philosopher, That could endure the tooth-ach patiently ; However they have writ the style of Gods, And made a pis at chance and sufferance.

Ant. Yet bend not all the harm upon yourself : Make those, that do offend you, suffer too.

Leon. There thou speak’t reason; nay, I will do so. My soul doth tell me, Hero is bely'd ; And that snall Claudio know, so shall the Prince ; And all of them, that thus dishonour her.

Enter Don Pedro, and Claudio. Ant. Here comes the Prince and Claudio hastily. Pedro. Good den, good den. Claud, Good-day to both of you. Leon. Hear you, my lords ? Pedro. We have some hafte, Leonato. Leon. Some hafte, my lord! well, fare you well, my lord.

so hafty now? well, all is one. Pedro. Nay, do not quarrel with us, good old man.

Ant. If he could right himself with quarrelling, Some of us would lye low.

Claud. Who wrongs him?

Leon.Marry, thou doft wrong me,thou dissembler, thou!
Nay, never lay thy hand upon thy sword,
I fear thee not.

Claud. Marry, beshrew my hand,
If it should give your age such cause of fear ;
In faith, my hand meant nothing to my sword.

Leon. Tush, tush, man, never fleer and jeft at me;
I speak not like a dotard nor a fool;
As, under privilege of age, to brag
What I have done being young, or what would co,
Were I not old: know, Claudio, to thy head,
Thou haft fo wrong'd my innocent child and me,
That I am forc'd to lay my reverence by;

And,

Are you

And, with grey hairs, and bruise of many days,
Do challenge thee to tryal of a man;
I say, thou hast bely'd mine innocent child,
Thy flander hath gone through and through her heart,
And she lies bury'd with her ancestors,
O, “in a tomb where never scandal slept,
Save this of hers, fram'd by thy villany 1

Cland. My villany!
Leon. Thine, Claudio; thine, I say.
Pedro. You say not right, old man.

Leon. My lord, my lord,
I'll prove it on his body, if he dare;
Despight his nice fence and his active practice,
His May of youth, and bloom of lustyhood.

Claud. Away, I will not have to do with you.
(24) Leon. Canit thou so daffe me? thou halt kill'd my

child;
If thou kill'st me, boy, thou shalt kill a man.

Ant. He shall kill two of us, and men indeed ;
But that's no matter, let him kill one first;
Win me and wear me, let him' answer me;
Come, follow me, boy ; come, boy, follow me;
Sir boy, I'll whip you from your foining fence;
Nay, as I am a gentleman, I will.

Leon. Brother,

Ant. Content yourself; God knows, I lov'd my niece; And she is dead, slander'd to death by villains, That dare as well answer a man, indeed, As I dare take a serpent by the tongue.

(24.) Canst thou so daffe me ?-] This is a country word, Mr. Pope tells us, fignifying, daunt. It may be fo; but that is not the expofition here: To daffe, and doffe are synonomous terms, that mean, to put off: which is the very fense requir’d here, and what Leonato would reply, upon Claudio's saying, he would have nothing to do with him. So Hotftur, in the i Henr. IV.

Where is his son,
The nimble-footed, mad-cap, Prince of Wa'es,
And his comrades, that daft the world aside.

And bid it, pass ?i. e. put it aside; neglected all confiderations of the world. Doffe is 100 perpetual in our author, to need any quotations in proof of it.

Boys,

Boys, apes, braggarts, jacks, milksops!

Leon. Brother Anthony,

Ant. Hola you content; what, man? I know them, yea, And what they weigh, even to the utmost scruple: Scambling, out-tacing, fashion-mongring boys, That lye, and cug, and flout, deprave and fander, Go antickly, and show an outward hideousness, And 1peak of half a dozen dangerous words, (25) How they might hurt their enenies, if they durit; And this is all.

Leon. But, brother Anthony,

Ant. Come, 'tis no matter;
Do not you meddle, let me deal in this.

Pedro. Gentlemen both, we will not wake your patience,
My heart is forry for your daughter's death,
But, on my Honour, the was charg’d with nothing
But what was true, and very full of proof.

Leon. My lord, my lord-
Pedro. I will not hear you.
Leon. No! come, brother, away, I will be heard.
Ant. And shall, or some of us will smart for it.'

[Exe, ambo.
Enter Benedick.
Pedro. See, see, here comes the man we went to seek.
Claud. Now, Signior, what news ?
Bene. Good day, my lord.

Pedro. Welcome, Signior; you are almost come to part almost a fray.

Claud. We had like to have had our two noses snapt off with two old men without teeth.

Pedro. Leonato and his brother; what think'st thou? had we fought, I doubt, we should have been too young for them.

(25) And (peak of half a dozen dangerous words,] These editors are persons of unmatchable indclence, that can't afford to add a single letter to retrieve common fense. To speak off, as I have reform’d the text, is to throw out boldly, with an oftentation of bravery, &c. So in Twelfth-night ; A terrible oath, with a swaggering accent sharply twang'd off:

Bene.