If this fond love were not a blinded god?
Come, fhadow, come, and take this fhadow up,
For 'tis thy rival. O thou fenfeless form,

Thou shalt be worshipp'd, kifs'd, lov'd, and ador'd';
And, were there fenfe in his idolatry,

5 My fubftance should be ftatue in thy ftead.
I'll use thee kindly for thy mistress' sake,
That us'd me fo; or elfe, by Jove I vow,
I should have scratch'd out your unfeeing eyes,
To make my mafter out of love with thee.

[Exit.

ACT V.

SCENE I.

Near the Friar's cell, in Milan.

Enter Eglamour.

Egl. The fun begins to gild the western sky;

And now it is about the very hour

That Silvia, at friar Patrick's cell, fhould meet me.

My fubftance fhould be STATUE in thy ftead.] It is evident this noun fhould be a participle ftatued, i. e. placed on a pedestal, or fixed in a fhrine to be adored. WARBURTon.

Statued is, I am afraid, a new word, and that it should be received, is not quite evident. JOHNSON.

It would be eafy to read with no more roughness than is to be found in many lines of Shakespeare:

-fhould be a statue in thy stead.

The fenfe, as Mr. Edwards obferves, is, " He fhould have my fubftance as a ftatue, instead of thee [the picture] who art a senselefs form." This word, however, is ufed without the article a in Maffinger's Great Duke of Florence:

"it was your beauty

"That turn'd me ftatue."

And again, in Lord Surrey's tranflation of the 4th Eneid:

"And Trojan ftatue throw into the flame."

Again, in Dryden's Don Sebaftian :

"try the virtue of that Gorgon face, "To ftare me into ftatue." STEEVENS.

She

She will not fail; for lovers break not hours,
Unless it be to come before their time;
So much they fpur their expedition.

See, where the comes: Lady, a happy evening.
Enter Silvia.

Sil. Amen, amen! go on, good Eglamour,
Out at the poftern by the abbey-wall;

I fear, I am attended by fome fpies.

Egl. Fear not the foreft is not three leagues off; If we recover that, we are fure enough. [Exeunt.

An apartment in the Duke's palace.

Enter Thurio, Protheus, and Julia.

Thu. Sir Protheus, what fays Silvia to my fuit? Pro. Oh, fir, I find her milder than fhe was; And yet she takes exceptions at your perfon. Thu. What, that my leg is too long?

Pro. No; that it is too little.

Thu. I'll wear a boot, to make it somewhat rounder.
Pro. But love will not be fpurr'd to what it loaths.
Thu. What fays fhe to my face?

Pro. She fays, it is a fair one.

Thu. Nay, then the wanton lies; my face is black. Pro. But pearls are fair; and the old faying is, "Black men are pearls in beauteous ladies' eyes 7."

.

8 Jul. 'Tis true, fuch pearls as put out ladies' eyes; For I had rather wink, than look on them. [Afide. •-fure enough.] Sure is fafe, out of danger. JOHNSON. 7" Black men are pearls, &c.] So in Heywood's Iron Age, 1632: a black complexion

(6

"Is always precious in a woman's eye."

Again, in Sir Giles Goofecap: "

but to make every black

flovenly cloud a pearl in her eye." STEEVENS.

8

Jul. 'Tis true, &c.] This fpeech, which certainly belongs to

Julia, is given in the old copy to Thurio. Mr. Rowe reftored it

to

its

proper owner. STEEVENS.

Pro.

Thu. How likes fhe my difcourfe?

Pro. Ill, when you talk of war.

Thu. But well, when I difcourfe of love, and peace? ful. But better, indeed, when you hold your peace.

Thu. What fays fhe to my valour?

Pro. Oh, fir, fhe makes no doubt of that.

Afide

ful. She needs not, when she knows it cowardice.

Thu. What fays fhe to my birth?

Pro. That you are well deriv'd.

[Afide.

Jul. True; from a gentleman to a fool. [Afide Thu. Confiders fhe my poffeffions?

Pro. O, ay; and pities them.

Thu. Wherefore?

Jul. That fuch an afs fhould owe them.

Pro. That they are out by leafe 9.

Jul. Here comes the duke.

Enter Duke.

[Afide.

Duke. How now, fir Protheus? how now, Thurio? Which of you faw fir Eglamour of late?

Duke. Why, then fhe's fled unto that peasant Valentine;

And Eglamour is in her company.

"Tis true; for friar Laurence met them both,
As he in penance wander'd through the foreft:
Him he knew well, and guefs'd that it was fhe;
But, being mafk'd, he was not sure of it:
Befides, the did intend confeffion

At Patrick's cell this even; and there fhe was not:
These likelihoods confirm her flight from hence.

That they are out by leafe.] I fuppofe he means because Thurio's folly has let them on difadvantageous terms. STEEVENS.

Therefore,

Therefore, I pray you, ftand not to difcourfe,
But mount you presently; and meet with me
Upon the rifing of the mountain-foot

That leads toward Mantua, whither they are fed :
Dispatch, fweet gentlemen, and follow me.

[Exit Dukes Thu. Why, this it is to be a peevish girl, That flies her fortune when it follows her I'll after; more to be reveng'd on Eglamour, Than for the love of reckless Silvia.

Pro. And I will follow, more for Silvia's love, Than hate of Eglamour that goes with her.

ful. And I will follow, more to cross that love, Than hate for Silvia, that is gone for love. [Exeunt.

Out. Come, come;

Be patient, we must bring you to our captain.
Sil. A thousand more mifchances, than this one,
Have learn'd me how to brook this patiently.

2 Out. Come, bring her away.

1 Out. Where is the gentleman that was with her? 3 Out. Being nimble-footed, he hath out-run us; But Moyfes, and Valerius, follow him.

Go thou with her to the weft end of the wood, There is our captain: we'll follow him that's fled; The thicket is befet, he cannot 'scape.

1 Out. Come, I must bring you to our captain's

cave:

Fear not; he bears an honourable mind,

And will not use a woman lawlessly.

Sil. O Valentine, this I endure for thee! [Exeunt.

SCENE

The Out-laws cave in the foreft.

Enter Valentine.

Val. How ufe doth breed a habit in a man!
This fhadowy defart, unfrequented woods,
I better brook than flourishing peopled towns :
Here can I fit alone, unfeen of any,
And, to the nightingale's complaining notes,
Tune my diftreffes, and record my woes.

1

୨

O thou, that doft inhabit in my breast, Leave not the manfion fo long tenantlefs; Left, growing ruinous, the building fall, And leave no memory of what it was! Repair me with thy prefence, Silvia;

Thou gentle nymph, cherish thy forlorn fwain !-
What hallowing, and what ftir, is this to-day?
These are my mates, that make their wills their law,
Have fome unhappy paffenger in chace :
They love me well; yet I have much to do,

9-record my woes.] To record anciently fignified to fing. Sa in the Pilgrim, by B. and Fletcher :

66 O fweet, sweet! how the birds record too?" Again, in a pastoral, by N. Breton, published in England's Helicon, 1614:

"Sweet philomel, the bird that hath the heavenly throat, "Doth now, alas! not once afford recording of a note."

Again, in another Dittie, by Tho. Watson, ibid:

"Now birds record with harmonie."

Sir John Hawkins informs me, that to record is a term still used by bird-fanciers, to express the first effays of a Bird in finging.

O thou, that doft inhabit in my breaft,
Leave not the manfion fo long tenantless ;
Left, growing ruinous, the building fall,

STEEVENS.

And leave no memory of what it was!] It is hardly poffible to point out four lines in any of the plays of Shakespeare, more remarkable for eafe and elegance. STEEVENS.

VOL. I.

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