Though, I confess, much like the character : First told me, thou wast mad; thou cam'st in smiling, Of thine own cause: Fab. Good madam, hear me speak; And let no quarrel, nor no brawl to come, Upon some stubborn and uncourteous parts Oli. Alas, poor fool! how have they baffled thee! Clo. Why, some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrown upon them. I was one, sir, in this interlude; one sir Topas, sir; but that's all one : -By the Lord, fool, I am not mad ;-But do you remember? Madam why laugh you at such a barren rascal? an smile not, he's gagg'd: And thus the whirligig of time brings in his revenges. Mal. I'll be reveng'd on the whole pack of you. [Exit. Duke. Pursue him, and entreat him to a peace : He hath not told us of the captain yet; When that is known and golden time convents, 5 presuppos'd-] Previously pointed out for your imitation. h i k against-] Tyrwhitt reads in. importance;] Importunacy. A solemn combination shall be made Of our dear souls-Mean time, sweet sister, We will not part from hence. Cesario, come; For so you shall be, while you are a man; SONG. CLO. When that I was and a little tiny boy, For when I came to man's estate, And we'll strive to please you every day. [Exeunt. [Exit. This play is in the graver part elegant and easy, and in some of the lighter scenes exquisitely humorous. Ague-cheek is drawn with great propriety, but his character is, in a great measure, that of natural fatuity, and is therefore not the proper prey of a satirist. The soliloquy of Malvolio is truly comic; he is betrayed to ridicule merely by his pride. The marriage of Olivia, and the succeeding perplexity, though well enough contrived to divert on the stage, wants credibility, and fails to produce the proper instruction required in the drama, as it exhibits no just picture of life. - JOHNSON. : MEASURE FOR MEASURE. THIS play was not printed till 1623. Mr. Malone supposes it to have been written in 1603. The plot is found in Cinthio's Novels, Decad 8. Novel 5.-But Shakspeare took the subject of his drama from an old play called Promos and Cassandra written by George Whetstone, and published in 1578. A hint, like a seed, is more or less prolific, according to the qualities of the soil on which it is thrown. The story, which in the hands of Whetstone, produced little more than barren insipidity, under the culture of Shakspeare became fertile of entertainment. The curious reader will find that the old play of Promos and Cassandra, exhibits an almost complete embryo of Measure for Measure; yet the hints on which it is formed are so slight, that it is nearly as impossible to detect them, as it is to point out in the acorn the future ramifications of the oak.-MALONE. PERSONS REPRESENTED. VICENTIO, Duke of Vienna. ANGELO, lord deputy in the Duke's absence. ESCALUS, an ancient lord, joined with ANGELO in the depu tation. CLAUDIO, a young gentleman. LUCIO, a fantastic. Two other like gentlemen. VARRIUS, a gentleman servant to the Duke. THOMAS, two Friars. PETER, A Justice. ELBOW, a simple constable. FROTH, a foolish gentleman. BARNARDINE, a dissolute prisoner. ISABELLA, sister to Claudio. Mistress OVER-DONE, a bawd. Lords, Gentlemen, Guards, Officers, and other Attendants. Scene, VIENNA. a Varrius might be omitted, for he is only once spoken to, and says nothing. -JOHNSON. MEASURE FOR MEASURE. ACT I. SCENE I.-An Apartment in the Duke's Palace. Enter DUKE, ESCALUS, Lords, and Attendants. Duke. ESCALUS, - Duke. Of government the properties to unfold, My strength can give you: Then no more remains For common justice, you are as pregnant in, From which we would not have you warp. -Call hither, Lent him our terror, drest him with our love; a Since I am put to know,]-may mean, I am compelled to acknowledge. b lists] i. e. Limits. Then no more remains But that to your sufficiency, &c.] This passage is considered as corrupt, as defective, as inexplicable. May it not mean-That the Duke has no further counsel to give, but that Escalus should apply himself to his sufficiency ? i. e. his skill and knowledge of law and government, as his worth is able, to the best of his ability, and let them, i. e. his sufficiency and his worth work-produce their natural consequences. |