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Cel. There is more in it:-Cousin-Gany- have: For it is a figure in rhetoric, that driuk

mede.

Oli. Look, he recovers.

Ros. I would I were at home.

Cel. We'll lead you thither:

I pray you, will you take him by the arm?
Oli. Be of good cheer, youth :-You a man?—
You lack a man's heart.

Ros. I do so, I confess it. Ah! Sir, a body would think this was well counterfeited: I pray you, tell your brother how well I counterfeited. -Heigh ho!

Oli. This was not counterfeit; there is too great testimony in your complexion, that it was a passion of earnest.

Ros. Counterfeit, I assure you.

Oli. Well then, take a good heart, and counterfeit to be a man.

Ros. So I do: but, i'faith I should have been a woman by right.

Cel. Come, you look paler and paler; pray you, draw homewards :-Good Sir, go with us.

Oli. That will 1, for I must bear answer
back

How you excuse my brother, Rosalind.
Ros, I shall devise something: But I pray
you, commend my counterfeiting to him :-Will
you go?
[Exeunt.

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Touch. It is meat and drink to me to see a clown By my troth we that have good wits, have much to answer for; we shall be flouting; we cannot hold.

Will. Good even, Audrey.

Aud. God ye good even, William.
Will. And good even to you, Sir.

Touch. Good even, gentle friend: Cover thy head, cover thy head; nay, pr'ythee, be covered. How old are you, friend?

Will. Five and twenty, Sir.

Touch. A ripe age: Is thy name, William ?
Will. William, Sir.

Touch. A fair name: Wast born i'the forest here?

Will. Ay, Sir, I thank God.

Touch. Thank God ;-a good answer: Art rich ?

Will. 'Faith, Sir, so, so.

Touch. So, so, is good, very good, very excellent good-and yet it is not; it is but so so, Art thou wise?

Will. Ay, Sir, I have a pretty wit.

being poured out of a cup into a glass, by filling the one doth empty the other: For all your writers do consent, that ipse is he; now you are not ipse, for I am be.

Will. Which he, Sir?

Touch. He, Sir, that must marry this woman: Therefore, you clown, abandon,-which is in the vulgar, leave,-the society,-which in the boorish is, company,-of this female,-which in the common is, woman,-which together is, abandon the society of this female, or, clown, thou perishest; or, to thy better understanding, diest; to wit, I kill thee, make thee away, translate thy life into death, thy liberty into bondage: I will deal in poison with thee, or in bastinado, or in steel; I will bandy with thee in faction; i will o'er-run thee with policy; I will kill thee a hundred and fifty ways; therefore tremble and depart.

Aud. Do, good William.

Will. God rest you merry, Sir.

Enter CORIN.

[Exit.

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Oli. Neither call the giddiness of it in question, the poverty of her, the small acquaintance, my sudden wooing, nor her sudden consenting; but say with me, I love Aliena; say with her, that she loves me; consent with both, that we for my father's house, and all the revenue that may enjoy each other: it shall be to your good; was old Sir Rowland's will I estate upon you, and here live and die a shepherd.

Enter ROSALIND.

Orl. You have my consent. Let your wedding be to-morrow: thither will I invite the duke, and all his contented followers: Go you, and prepare Aliena; for, look you, here comes my Rosalind.

Ros. God save you, brother.

Oli. And you, fair sister.

Ros. O my dear Orlando, how it grieves me to see thee wear thy heart in a scarf. Orl. It is my arm.

Ros. I thought thy heart had been wounded with the claws of a lion.

Orl. Wounded it is, but with the eyes of a lady.

Ros. Did young brother tell you how I connterfeited to swoon, when he showed me your handkerchief?

Orl. Ay, and greater wonders than that.

Ros. Oh! I know where you are :-Nay, 'tis true: there was never any thing so sudden, but the fight of two rams, and Cæsar's thra

Touch. Why, thou say'st well. I do now re-sonical brag of-I came, saw, and overcame : member a saying: The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool. The heathen philosopher, when he had a desire to eat a grape, would open his lips when he put it into his mouth; meaning thereby, that grapes were made to eat, and lips to open. You do love this maid?

Will. I do, Sir.
Touch. Give me your band: Art thou learned?
Will. No, Sir.

Touch. Then learn this of me; To have, is to

for your brother and my sister no sooner met, but they looked; no sooner looked, but they loved; no sooner loved but they sighed; no sooner sighed, but they asked one another the reason; no sooner knew the reason, but they sought the remedy and in these degrees have they made a pair of stairs to marriage, which they will climb incontinent, or else be incontinent before marriage they are in the very wrath of love, and they will together; clubs cannot part them.

Orl. They shall be married to-morrow; and love you, [7o PHEBEJ if I could.-To-morrow I will bid the duke to the nuptial. But, oh! how hitter a thing it is to look into happiness through another man's eyes! By so much the more shall I to-morrow be at the height of heart-beaviness, by how much I shall think my brother happy, in having what he wishes for.

Ros. Why then, to-morrow I cannot serve your turn for Rosalind ?

Orl. I can live no longer by thinking.

Ros. I will weary you no longer then with idle talking. Know of me then, (for now I speak to some purpose,) that I know you are a gentleman of good conceit: I speak not this, that you should bear a good opinion of my knowledge, insomuch, I say, I know you are; neither do I labour for a greater esteem than may in some little measure draw a belief from you, to do yourself good, and not to grace me. Believe then, if you please, that I can do strange things: I have, since I was three years old, conversed with a magician, most profound in this art, and yet not damnable. If you do love Rosalind so near the heart as your gesture cries it out, when your brother marries Aliena, shall you mariy ber: I know into what straits of fortune she is driven; and it is not impossible to me, if it ap pear not inconvenient to you, to set her before your eyes to-morrow, human as she is, and without any danger.

Orl. Speakest thou in sober meanings ? Ros. By my life, I do; which I tender dearly, though I say I am a magician: Therefore, put you in your best array, bid your friends: for if will be married to-morrow, you shall; and to Rosalind, if you will.

Enter SILVIUS and PHEBE.

Look here comes a lover of mine, and a lover

of her's.

Phe. Youth, you have done me much ungentleness,

To show the letter that I writ to you.

Ros. I care not, if I have: it is my study,
To seem despiteful and ungentle to you:
You are there follow'd by a faithful shepherd;
Look upon him, love him; he worships you.
Phe. Good shepherd, tell this youth what 'tis

to love.

Sil. It is to be all made of sighs and tears;

And so am I for Phebe.

Phe. And I for Ganymede.

Orl. And I for Rosalind.

Ros. And I for no woman.

Sil. It is to be all made of faith and ser

vice ;

And so am I for Phebe.

Phe. And I for Ganymede.

Orl. And I for Rosalind.

Ros. And I for no woman

Sil. It is to be all made of fantasy.

All made of passion, and all made of wishes;
All adoration, duty, and observance,
All humbleness, all patience, and impatience,
All purity, all trial, all observance ;-
And so am I for Phebe.

Phe. And so am I for Ganymede
Orl. And so am I for Rosalind.
Ros. And so am I for no woman.

Phe. If this be so, why blame you me to love

you ?

you?

To ROSALIND.

Sil. If this be so, why blame you me to love [To PHEBE. Orl. If this be so, why blame you me to love you?

Ros. Who do you speak to, why blame you me to love you?

Orl. To her that is not here, nor doth not hear.

meet me all together.-I will many you, [To
PHEBE] if ever I marry woman, and I'll be
married to-morrow:-I will satisfy you, [To OR-
LANDO] if ever I satisfied man, and you shall be
married to-morrow:-1 will content you, [To
SILVIUS] if what pleases you contents you, and
you shall be married to-morrow.-As you, [To
ORLANDO] love Rosalind, meet; as you, (To
SILVIUS] love Phebe, meet; And as I love no
woman, I'll meet.-So fare you well; I have left
you commands.

Sil. I'll not fail if I live.
Phe. Nor 1.

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And therefore take the present time,
With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino ;
For love is crowned with the prime
In spring time, &c.

Touch. Truly, young gentlemen, though there was no greater matter in the ditty, yet the note was very untunable.

1 Page. You are deceived, Sir; we kept time, we lost not our time.

Touch. By my troth, yes; I count it but time
lost to hear such a foolish song. God be with
You; and God mend your voices! Come, Aud-
rey.
[Exeunt.

SCENE IV.-Another part of the Forest.
Enter DUKE, senior, AMIENS, JAQUES, OR-
LANDO, OLIVER, and CELIA.
Duke S. Dost thou believe, Orlando, that the
boy

Ros. Pray you, no more of this; 'tis like the
howling of Irish wolves against the moon.-!
will help you, [To SILVIUS] if I can :- would Can do all this that he batn promised?

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Orl. I sometimes do believe, and sometimes do not;

A those that fear they hope, and know they fear.

Enter ROSALIND, SILVIUS, and PHEBE. Ros. Patience once more, whiles our compact is urg'd:

You say, if I bring in your Rosalind,

[To the DUKE.

You will bestow her on Orlando here? Duke S. That would I, had I kingdoms to give with her.

Ros. And you say, you will have ner, when I bring her? [To ORLANDO. of all kingdoms

Orl. That would 1, were 1 king. Ros. You say, you'll marry me, if I be willing? [To PHEBE. Phe. That will I, should I die the hour after. Ros. But, if you do refuse to marry me, You'll give yourself to this most faithful shep

herd ?

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Keep you your word, O duke, to give your daughter ;

You your's, Orlando, to receive his daughter :-
Keep your word, Phebe, that you'll marry me ;
Or else, refusing me, to wed this shepherd :-
Keep your word, Silvius, that you'll marry her,
If she refuse me :-and from hence I go,
To make these doubts all even.

[Exeunt ROSALIND and CELIA. Duke S. I do remember in this shepherd-boy Some lively touches of my daughter's favour. Orl. My lord, the first time that I ever saw him,

Methought he was a brother to your daughter:
Bat, my good lord, this boy is forest-born!
And hath been tutor'd in the rudiments
Of many desperate studies by his uncle,
Whom he reports to be a great magician,
Obscured in the circle of this forest.

Enter TOUCHSTONE and AUDREY.

Touch. According to the fool's bolt, Sir, and such dulcet diseases.

Jaq. But for the seventh cause; how did yon find the quarrel on the seventh cause?

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Touch. Upon a lie seven times removed;·Bear your body more seeming, Audrey :-as thus, Sir. I did dislike the cut of a certain courtier's beard; he sent me word, if I said bis beard was not cut well, he was in the mind it was: This is called the Retort courteous. If I sent him word again, it was not well cut, he would send me word, he cut it to please himself: This is called the Quip modest. If again, it was not well cut, he disabled my judgment: This is called the Reply churlish. If again, it was not well cut, he would answer, I spake not true: This is called the Reproof valiant. If again, it was not well cut, he would say, I lie: This is called the Countercheck quarrelsome : and so to the Lie circumstantial, and the Lie direct.

Jaq. And how oft did you say, his beard was not well cut? Touch. I durst go no further than the Lie circumstantial, nor he durst not give me the Lie direct; and so we measured swords, and parted.

Jaq. Can you nominate in order now the degrees of the lie?

Touch. O Sir, we quarrel in print, by the book; as you have books for good manners: [ will name you the degrees. The first, the Retort courteous; the second, the Quip modest; the third, the Reply churlish; the fourth, the Reproof valiant ; the fifth, the Counterebeck quarrelsome: the sixth, the Lie with circumstance; the seventh, the Lie direct. All these you may avoid, but the lie direct; and you may avoid that too, with an If. I knew when seven justices could not take up a quarrel; but when the parties were met themselves, one of them thought but of an If, as If you said so, then I said so; and they shook hands, and swore brothers. Your If is the only peacemaker; much virtue in If.

Jaq. Is not this a rare fellow, my lord? he's as good at any thing, and yet a fool.

Duke S. He uses his folly like a stalking-borse, and under the presentation of that, he shoots his wit.

Jaq. There is, sure, another flood toward, and Enter HYMEN, leading ROSALIND in woman's these couples are coming to the ark! Here comes a pair of very strange beasts, which in ail tongues are called fools.

Touch. Salutation and greeting to you all! Jaq. Good my lord, bid him welcome: This is the motley-minded gentleman, that I have so often met in the forest: he hath been a courtier, he swears.

Touch. it any man doubt that, let him put me to my purgation. I have trod a measure; I have flattered a lady: I have been politic with my friend, smooth with my enemy; I have undone three tailors; I have had four quarrels, and like. to have fought one.

Jaq. And how was that ta'en up?

Touch. 'Faith, we met, and found the quarrel was upon the seventh cause.

Jaq. How seventh cause ?-Good my lord, like this fellow.

Duke S. I like him very well.

Touch. God'ild you, Sir; I desire you of the like. I press in here, Sir, amongst the rest of the country copulatives, to swear, and to forswear; according as marriage binds, and blood breaks -A poor vingin, Sir, an ill favoured thing, Sir, but mine own; a poor humour of mine, to take that that no man else will: Rich honesty owells like a miser, Sir, in a poor-house as your pearl, in your foul oyster.

Duke S. By ny faith, he is very swift and sententious.

A stately solemn dance.

clothes; and CELIA.
Still Music.

Hym. Then is there mirth in heaven,
When earthly things made even
Atone together.

Good duke, receive thy daughter,
Hymen from heaven brought her,
Yea, brought her hither;

That thou might'st join her hand with

his,

Whose heart within her bosom is.

Ros. To you I give myself, for I am your's. [To DUKE S.

To you I give myself, for I am your's.

[TO ORLANDO. Duke S. If there be truth in sight, you are my daughter.

Orl. If there be truth in sight, you are my Rosalind.

Phe. If sight and shape be true, Why then, my love, adieu !

Ros I'll have no father, if you be not he :[TO DUKE S.

I'll have no husband, if you be not he :—

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Hym. Peace ho! I bar confusion,
'Tis I must make conclusion

Of these most strange events:
Here's eight that must take hands,
To join in Hymen's bands,
If truth holds true contents.
You and you no cross shall part

[To ORLANDO and ROSALIND.

You and you are heart in heart:

[To OLIVER and CELIA.
You [To PHEBE to his love must accord,
Or have a woman to your lord :-
You and you are sure together,

According to the measure of their states.
Meantime, forget this new-fall'n dignity,
And fall into our rustic revelry:-
Play, mus. ;-and
grooms all,

you brides and bride

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 religions life,

And thrown into neglect the pompous court?
Jaq. de B. He hath.

Jaq. To him will I; out of these convertites

[TO TOUCHSTONE and AUDREY. There is much matter to be heard and learn'd.You to your former honour I bequeath;

As the winter to foul weather,
Whiles a wedlock-hymn we sing,
Feed yourselves with questioning;
That reason wonder niay diminish,

How thus we met, and these things finish.

SONG.

Wedding is great Juno's crown,

O blessed bond of board and bed! 'Tis Hymen peoples every town; High wedlock then be honoured: Honour, high honour and renown, To Hymen, god of every town!

Duke. S. O my dear niece, welcome thou art

to me;

Even daughter, welcome in no less degree.

[To DUKE S. Your patience, and your virtue well deserves 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 victual'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

Phe. I will not eat my word, now thou art I'll stay to know at your abandon'd cave.
mine;

Thy faith my fancy to thee doth combine. +
[TO SILVIUS.
Enter JAQUES DE BOIS.

Jaq. de B. Let me have audience for a word
or two:

I am the second son of old Sir Rowland,

[Ex it. Duke. S. Proceed, proceed : we will begin these rites, And we do trust they'll end in true delights. A dance

EPILOGUE.

Ros. It is not the fashion to see the lady the

That bring these tidings to this fair assembly:-epilogue: but it is no more unhandsome, than

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 bin, 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 again
That were with him exil'd: This to be true,
I do engage my life.

Duke. S. Welcome, young man ;
Thou offer'st fairly to thy brothers' wedding:
The 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 bave endur'd shrewd days and nights
with us,

Shall share the good of our returned fortune,

• Unless truth fails of veracity. t Bind

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; aud 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, for the love you bear to men, to like as much of this play as please them and so I charge you, O men, for the love you bear to women, (as I perceive by your simpering, none of you hate 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 1 make curt'sy, bid me farewell.

• Dressed.

[Exeunt.

That I liked.

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING.

LITERARY AND HISTORICAL NOTICE.

IN the fifth book of Orlandɔ Furioso, and in B. II. c. iv. of Spenser's Fairie Queene, a story partly similar to the fable of this drama may be found; but a novel in the Histoires Tragiques of Belleforest (taken from Bandello) approaches nearest to the design, and probably suggested the idea, of Much ado about Nothing. The plot is pleasingly intricate; the characters novel and striking; the dialogue exceedingly vivacious, and well supported to the end. Beatrice and Benedick are two of the most sprightly and amusing characters that Shakspeare ever drew. Wit, humour, nobility, and courage, are combined in the latter though his sallies are not always restrained by reverence or discretion: and if the levity of the forme is somewhat opposed to the becoming reserve and delicacy of the female character, it shows to more advantage the steadiness of her friendship, and the amiable decision of her character, when urging her lover to challenge his most intimate friend; and as the best claim upon her affection, to risk his life in viudicating the purity of her injured companion

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Leon. He hath an uncle here in Messina will be very much glad of it.

Mess. I have already delivered him letters, much, that joy could not show itself modest and there appears much joy in him; even so enough, without a badge of bitterness.

Leon. Did he break out into tears ?
Mess. In great measure. *

Leon. A kind overflow of kindness: There are no faces truer than those that are so washed. How much better is it to weep at joy, than to joy at weeping?

Beat. I pray you, is signior Montanto returned from the wars, or no?

Mess. I know none of that name, lady; there was none such in the army of any sort.

Leon. What is he that you ask for, niece ? Hero. My cousin meaus signior Benedick of Padua.

Mess. Oh he is returned; and as pleasant as ever he was.

Beat. He set up his bills here in Messina, and challenged Cupid at the flight: and my uncle's fool, reading the challenge, subscribed

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