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Not by the title. She is young, wife, fair;

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In thefe to nature fhe's immediate heir;
And these breed honour: that is honour's scorn,
Which challenges itself as honour's born,
And is not like the fire: Honours beft thrive,"
When rather from our acts we them derive
Than our fore-goers: the mere word's a flave,
Debauch'd on every tomb; on every grave,
A lying trophy; and as oft is dumb,

Where duft, and damn'd oblivion, is the tomb

would ftill be vilenefs, though we had no fuch name to distinguish it by. A fimilar expreffion occurs in Macbeth:

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Though all things foul would wear the brows of grace, "Yet grace must still look fo."

That is, grace would ftill be grace, as vilenefs would still be vilenefs. M. MASON.

The meaning is,-Good is good, independent on any worldly diftinction or title: fo vilenefs is vile, in whatever state it may appear. MALONE.

8 In thefe to nature he's immediate heir;] To be immediate heir is to inherit without any intervening tranfmitter: thus fhe inherits beauty immediately from nature, but honour is tranfmitted by anceftors. JOHNSON.

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that is honour's fcorn,

Which challenges itself as honour's born,

And is not like the fire:] Perhaps we might read more elegantlyas honour-born,-honourably defcended: the child of honour.

MALONE.

Honour's born, is the child of honour. Born is here used, as bairn ftill is in the North.

HENLEY.

And is not like the fire: Honours beft thrive, &c.] The first folio omits-beft; but the fecond folio fupplies it, as it is neceffary to enforce the fenfe of the paffage, and complete its measure. STEEVENS.

The modern editors read-Honours best thrive; in which they have followed the editor of the second folio, who introduced the word beft unneceffarily; not obferving that fire was ufed by our author, like fire, hour, &c. as a diffyllable. MALONE.

Where is an example of fire, used as a diffyllable, to be found? Fire and hour were anciently written fier and bower; and confequently the concurring vowels could be feparated in pronunciation.

STEEVENS.

Of honour'd bones indeed. What fhould be faid? If thou canst like this creature as a maid,

I can create the reft: virtue, and fhe,

Is her own dower; honour, and wealth, from me. BER. I cannot love her, nor will strive to do't. KING. Thou wrong'ft thyself, if thou should'st ftrive to choose.

HEL. That you are well reftor'd, my lord, I am glad; Let the reft go.

KING. My honour's at the stake; which to defeat, I must produce my power: Here, take her hand, Proud fcornful boy, unworthy this good gift; That doft in vile mifprifion fhackle up

My love, and her defert; that canft not dream,
We, poizing us in her defective scale,

Shall weigh thee to the beam; that wilt not know,

3 My honour's at the flake; which to defeat,

I muft produce my power:] The poor King of France is again made a man of Gotham, by our unmerciful editors. For he is not to make ufe of his authority to defeat, but to defend, his honour. THEOBALD.

Had Mr. Theobald been aware that the implication or clause of the fentence (as the grammarians fay) ferved for the antecedent "Which danger to defeat," there had been no need of his wit or his alteration. FARMER.

Notwithstanding Mr. Theobald's pert cenfure of former editors for retaining the word defeat, I fhould be glad to fee it restored again, as I am perfuaded it is the true reading. The French verb defaire (from whence our defeat) fignifies to free, to dijembarrass, as well as to deftroy, Defaire un naud, is to untie a knot; and in this fenfe, I apprehend, defeat is here ufed. It may be obferved, that our verb undo has the fame varieties of fignification; and I fuppofe even Mr. Theobald would not have been much puzzled to find the fenfe of this paffage, if it had been written ;My honour's at the ftake, which to undo I muft produce my power. TYRWHITT.

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We, poizing us in her defective fcale,

Shall weigh thee to the beam;] That canft not understand, that

It is in us to plant thine honour, where
We please to have it grow: Check thy contempt:
Obey our will, which travails in thy good:
Believe not thy disdain, but prefently

Do thine own fortunes that obedient right,
Which both thy duty owes, and our power claims;
Or I will throw thee from my care for ever,
Into the staggers,' and the careless lapfe

Of youth and ignorance; both my revenge and hate,
Loofing upon thee in the name of justice,
Without all terms of pity: Speak; thine anfwer.

BER. Pardon, my gracious lord; for I fubmit My fancy to your eyes: When I confider, What great creation, and what dole of honour, Flies where you bid it, I find, that she, which late Was in my nobler thoughts most base, is now The praised of the king; who, fo ennobled, Is, as 'twere, born fo.

KING.

Take her by the hand, And tell her, fhe is thine: to whom I promise A counterpoize; if not to thy estate,

A balance more replete.

I take her hand.

BER.
KING. Good fortune, and the favour of the king,

if you and this maiden fhould be weighed together, and our royal favours fhould be thrown into her fcale, (which you efteem fo light,) we should make that in which you should be placed, to ftrike the beam. MALONE.

5 Into the ftaggers,] One fpecies of the flaggers, or the horse's apoplexy, is a raging impatience which makes the animal dafh himself with deftructive violence against posts or walls. To this the allufion, I fuppofe, is made. JOHNSON.

Shakspeare has the fame expreffion in Cymbeline, where Pofthumus fays:

"Whence come these flaggers on me?" STEEVENS.

Smile upon this contráct; whofe ceremony
Shall feem expedient on the now-born brief,
And be perform'd to-night: the folemn feast

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whofe ceremony

Shall feem expedient on the now-born brief,

And be perform'd to-night:] Several of the modern editors. read-new-born brief. STEEVENS.

This, if it be at all intelligible, is at least obfcure and inaccurate. Perhaps it was written thus:

what ceremony

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The brief is the contract of efpoufal, or the licence of the church. The King means, What ceremony is neceffary to make this contract a marriage, fhall be immediately performed; the reft may be delayed. JOHNSON.

The only authentick ancient copy reads-now-born. I do not perceive that any change is neceffary. MALONE.

The whole fpeech is unnaturally expreffed; yet I think it intelligible as it ftands, and fhould therefore reject Johnson's amendment and explanation.

The word brief does not here denote either a contract or a licence, but is an adjective, and means short or contracted: and the words on the now-born, fignify for the prefent, in oppofition to upon the coming Space, which means hereafter. The fenfe of the whole paffage feems to be this:-"The king and fortune fmile on this contract; the ceremony of which it feems expedient to abridge for the prefent; the folemn feaft fhall be performed at a future time, when we shall be able to affemble friends." M. MASON.

Though I have inferted the foregoing note, I do not profefs to comprehend its meaning fully. Shakspeare ufes the words expedience, expedient, and expediently, in the fenfe of hafte, quick, expeditiously. A brief, in ancient language, means any fhort and fummary writing or proceeding. The now-born brief is only another phrafe for the contract recently and fuddenly made. The ceremony of it (fays the king) fhall feem to haften after its short preliminary, and be performed to-night, &c. STEEVENS.

Now-born, the epithet in the old copy, prefixed to brief, unqueftionably ought to be restored. The Now-born brief, is the breve originale of the feudal times, which, in this inftance, formally notified the king's confent to the marriage of Bertram, his ward.

HENLEY.

Shall more attend upon the coming fpace,
Expecting abfent friends. As thou lov'ft her,
Thy love's to me religious; else, does err.

[Exeunt King, BERTRAM, HELENA, Lords, and
Attendants.

LAF. Do you hear, monfieur? a word with
PAR. Your pleasure, fir?

you.

LAF. Your lord and mafter did well to make his recantation.

PAR. Recantation?-My lord? my master? LAF. Ay; Is it not a language, I speak? PAR. A moft harsh one; and not to be underftood without bloody fucceeding. My mafter?

LAF. Are you companion to the count Roufillon? PAR. To any count; to all counts; to what is man. LAF. To what is count's man; count's mafter is of another style.

PAR. You are too old, fir; let it fatisfy you, you are too old.

Our author often ufes brief in the fenfe of a fhort note, or intimation concerning any bufinefs; and fometimes without the idea of writing. So, in the laft Act of this play:

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fhe told me

"In a sweet verbal brief," &c.

Again, in the Prologue to Sir John Oldcastle, 1600:

"To ftop which fcruple, let this brief fuffice:

"It is no pamper'd glutton we prefent," &c.

The meaning therefore of the prefent paffage, I believe, is;Good fortune, and the king's favour fmile on this short contract ; the ceremonial part of which fhall immediately pafs,-shall follow clofe on the troth now plighted between the parties, and be performed this night; the folemn feast shall be delayed to a future time. MALONE.

7 The old copy has the following fingular continuation: Parolles and Lafeu ftay behind, commenting of this wedding. This could have been only the marginal note of a prompter, and was never defigned to appear in print. STEEVENS.

To comment means, I believe, to affume the appearance of perfons deeply engaged in thought. MALONE,

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