ter, and the service, and the tide. Why, man, if the river were dry, I am able to fill it with my tears; if the wind were down, I could drive the boat with my sighs.

Pant. Come; come, away, man: I was sent to call thee.

Launce. Sir, call me what thou dar'st.

Pant. Wilt thou go?

Launce. Well, I will go.

[Exeunt.

SCENE IV.

Milan. A Room in the DUKE'S Palace.

Enter VALENTINE, SILVIA, THURIO, and SPEED.

Sil. Servant.

Val. Mistress.

Speed. Master, sir Thurio frowns on you.

Val. Ay, boy, it's for love.

Speed. Not of you.

Val. Of my mistress, then.

Speed. "Twere good you knock'd him.

Sil. Servant, you are sad.

Val. Indeed, madam, I seem so.

Thu. Seem you that you are not?

Val. Haply, I do.

Thu. So do counterfeits.

Val. So do you.

Thu. What seem I that I am not?

Val. Wise.

Thu. What instance of the contrary?

3- and the TIDE.] The first tied refers to the dog, and the last to the river, as we see from what follows-"Why man, if the river were dry," &c. The joke which has occupied Launce and Panthino is more evident in the old copy, where the tide of the river and the tied dog are spelt in the same waytide.

Val. Your folly.

Thu. And how quote you my folly"?
Val. I quote it in your jerkin.

Thu. My jerkin is a doublet.

Val. Well, then, I'll double your folly.
Thu. How?

Sil. What, angry, sir Thurio? do you change colour? Val. Give him leave, madam: he is a kind of cameleon.

Thu. That hath more mind to feed on your blood, than live in your air.

Val. You have said, sir.

Thu. Ay, sir, and done too, for this time.

Val. I know it well, sir: you always end ere you begin.

Sil. A fine volley of words, gentlemen, and quickly shot off.

Val. 'Tis indeed, madam; we thank the giver.

Sil. Who is that, servant?

Val. Yourself, sweet lady; for you gave the fire. Sir Thurio borrows his wit from your ladyship's looks, and spends what he borrows kindly in your company.

Thu. Sir, if you spend word for word with me, I shall make your wit bankrupt.

Val. I know it well, sir: you have an exchequer of words, and, I think, no other treasure to give your followers; for it appears by their bare liveries, that they live by your bare words.

Sil. No more, gentlemen, no more.

my father.

Enter the Duke.

Here comes

Duke. Now, daughter Silvia, you are hard beset.

4 how QUOTE you my folly ?] To "quote" is to note or observe. See Vol. iv. p. 74; Vol. vi. pp. 106. 393, &c. Valentine in his answer, perhaps, plays upon the word, which was pronounced coat.

Sir Valentine, your father's in good health:
What say you to a letter from your friends
Of much good news?

Val.

My lord, I will be thankful To any happy messenger from thence.

Duke. Know you Don Antonio, your countryman? Val. Ay, my good lord; I know the gentleman To be of worth, and worthy estimation,

And not without desert so well reputed.

Duke. Hath he not a son?

Val. Ay, my good lord; a son, that well deserves The honour and regard of such a father.

Duke. You know him well?

Val. I knew him, as myself; for from our infancy

We have convers'd, and spent our hours together:

And though myself have been an idle truant,
Omitting the sweet benefit of time

To clothe mine age with angel-like perfection,
Yet hath sir Proteus, for that's his name,
Made use and fair advantage of his days:
His years but young, but his experience old;
His head unmellow'd, but his judgment ripe;
And, in a word, (for far behind his worth
Come all the praises that I now bestow)
He is complete in feature, and in mind,
With all good grace to grace a gentleman.

Duke. Beshrew me, sir, but, if he make this good,
He is as worthy for an empress' love,
As meet to be an emperor's counsellor.
Well, sir, this gentleman is come to me
With commendation from great potentates;
And here he means to spend his time a-while.

I think, 'tis no unwelcome news to you.

Val. Should I have wish'd a thing, it had been he. Duke. Welcome him, then, according to his worth. Silvia, I speak to you; and you, sir Thurio :—

For Valentine, I need not 'cite him to it.
I'll send him hither to you presently.

[Exit DUKE. Val. This is the gentleman, I told your ladyship, Had come along with me, but that his mistress Did hold his eyes lock'd in her crystal looks.

Sil. Belike, that now she hath enfranchis'd them, Upon some other pawn for fealty.

Val. Nay, sure, I think, she holds them prisoners still.

Sil. Nay, then he should be blind; and, being blind, How could he see his way to seek out you?

Val. Why, lady, love hath twenty pair of eyes. Thu. They say, that love hath not an eye at all. Val. To see such lovers, Thurio, as yourself: Upon a homely object love can wink.

Enter PROTEUS.

Sil. Have done, have done. Here comes the gen[Exit THURIO. Val. Welcome, dear Proteus!-Mistress, I beseech

tleman.

you,

Confirm his welcome with some special favour.

Sil. His worth is warrant for his welcome hither,
If this be he you oft have wish'd to hear from.
Val. Mistress, it is. Sweet lady, entertain him
To be my fellow-servant to your ladyship.

Sil. Too low a mistress for so high a servant.
Pro. Not so, sweet lady; but too mean a servant
To have a look of such a worthy mistress".
Val. Leave off discourse of disability.—
Sweet lady, entertain him for your servant.
Pro. My duty will I boast of, nothing else.
Sil. And duty never yet did want his meed.

6 A worthy mistress.] The first folio puts the article a both before and after "worthy," which is corrected in the second folio.

Servant, you are welcome to a worthless mistress.
Pro. I'll die on him that says so, but yourself.

Sil. That you are welcome?

Pro.

That you are worthless.

Enter THURIO".

Thu. Madam, my lord, your father, would speak with you.

Sil. I wait upon his pleasure: come, sir Thurio,
Go with me.-Once more, new servant, welcome:
I'll leave you to confer of home-affairs;

When you have done, we look to hear from you.
Pro. We'll both attend upon your ladyship.

[Exeunt SILVIA, THURIO, and SPEED. Val. Now, tell me, how do all from whence you

came?

Pro. Your friends are well, and have them much commended.

Val. And how do yours?

Pro.

I left them all in health.

Val. How does your lady, and how thrives your

love?

Pro. My tales of love were wont to weary you:
I know, you joy not in a love-discourse.

Val. Ay, Proteus, but that life is alter'd now:
I have done penance for contemning love;
Whose high imperious thoughts have punish'd me

7 Enter Thurio.] All the editors, from Theobald downwards, make “ Servant" enter here, and not Thurio, to whom the old copies assign the sentence, “Madam, my lord, your father, would speak with you." They say also that the commencement of Silvia's answer is "addressed to two persons." This is by no means clear: "I wait upon his pleasure: come, sir Thurio, go with me," is spoken to Thurio with more propriety than to two distinct persons. It is much more likely that Thurio went out on the entrance of Proteus, and returned with the message of the Duke to his daughter. The economy of the old stage, with many characters and with few performers, did not allow the waste of an actor in the part of a mere message-carrier. The great probability, therefore, is that the old copies are right, and that Thurio is employed from the Duke.