The fame. A Room in Anthonio's Houfe.

Enter ANTHONIO and PANTHINO.

Ant. Tell me, Panthino, what fad talk was that,
Wherewith my brother held you in the cloister?
Pant. 'Twas of his nephew Protheus, your fon.
Ant. Why, what of him?

Pant. He wonder'd, that your lordship
Would fuffer him to spend his youth at home;
While other men, of flender reputation,
Put forth their fons to feek preferment out:
Some to the wars, to try their fortune there;
Some, to discover iflands far away;
Some, to the ftudious univerfities.
For any, or for all these exercises,

He faid, that Protheus, your fon, was meet;
And did requeft me, to impórtune you,

To let him fpend his time no more at home,
Which would be great impeachment to his age,
In having known no travel in his youth.

Ant. Nor need'ft thou much impórtune me to that
Whereon this month I have been hammering,
I have confider'd well his lofs of time;
And how he cannot be a perfect man,
Not being try'd, and tutor'd in the world;
Experience is by induftry atchiev'd,

And perfected by the fwift courfe of time:

Then, tell me, whither were I best to send him?

11

-what fad talk] Sad is the fame as grave or ferious. JOHNSON. Some, to difcover islands far away;] In Shakspeare's time, voyages for the difcovery of the islands of America were much in vogue. And we find, in the journals of the travellers of that time, that the fons of noblemen, and of others of the best families in England, went very frequently on thefe adventures. Such as the Fortefcues, Collitons, Thornhills, Farmers, Pickerings, Littletons, Willoughbys, Chefters, Hawleys, Bromleys, and others. To this prevailing fashion our poet frequently alludes, and not without high commendations of it. WARB. 9- great impeachment to bis age,] Impeachment is bindrance.

I 3

STEEVENS.

Pant.

Pant. I think, your lordship is not ignorant,
How his companion, youthful Valentine,
Attends the emperor in his royal court '.
Ant. I know it well.

Pant. "Twere good, I think, your lordship fent him
thither:

There fhall he practife tilts and tournaments,
Hear fweet difcourfe, converfe with noblemen;
And be in eye of every exercise,

, Worthy his youth and nobleness of birth.

Ant. I like thy counfel; well haft thou advis'd: And, that thou may'ft perceive how well I like it, The execution of it shall make known;

Even with the fpeedieft expedition

I will dispatch him to the emperor's court.

Pant. To-morrow, may it pleafe you, Don Alphonfo, With other gentlemen of good esteem,

Are journeying to falute the emperor,

And to commend their fervice to his will.

Ant. Good company; with them fhall Protheus go: And, in good time 2,-now will we break with him. Enter PROTHEUS.

Pro. Sweet love! fweet lines! fweet life! Here is her hand, the agent of her heart; Here is her oath for love, her honour's pawn: O, that our fathers would applaud our loves,

1 Attends the emperor in his royal court.] Shakspeare has been guil ty of no mistake in placing the emperor's court at Milan in this play. Several of the first German emperors held their courts there occafionally, it being, at that time, their immediate property, and the chief town of their Italian dominions. Some of them were crowned kings of Italy at Milan, before they received the imperial crown at Rome. Nor has the poet fallen into any contradiction, by giving a duke to Milan at the fame time that the emperor held his court there. The first dukes of that, and all the other great cities in Italy, were not fovereign princes, as they afterwards became; but were merely governors, or viceroys, under the emperors, and removeable at their pleasure. Such was the Duke of Milan mentioned in this play. STEEVENS.

2-in good time,] In good time was the old expreffion when fomething happened which fuited the thing in hand, as the French fay, à propos. JOHNSON.

Το

To feal our happiness with their confents!

O heavenly Julia!

Ant. How now? what letter are you reading there? Pro. May't pleafe your lordship, 'tis a word or two Of commendation fent from Valentine,

Deliver'd by a friend that came from him.

Ant. Lend me the letter; let me fee what news.
Pro. There is no news, my lord; but that he writes
How happily he lives, how well belov❜d,
And daily graced by the emperor;

Withing me with him, partner of his fortune.
Ant. And how ftand you affected to his with?
Pro. As one relying on your lordship's will,
And not depending on his friendly with.

Ant. My will is fomething forted with his wish:
Mufe not that I thus fuddenly proceed;
For what I will, I will, and there an end.
I am refolv'd, that thou shalt spend some time
With Valentinus in the emperor's court;
What maintenance he from his friends receives,
Like exhibition thou fhalt have from me.
To-morrow be in readiness to go:

Excuse it not, for I am peremptory.

Pro. My lord, I cannot be fo foon provided;

Please you, deliberate a day or two.

Ant. Look, what thou want'ft, fhall be fent after thee:

No more of stay; to-morrow thou must go.

Come on, Panthino; you fhall be employ'd

To haften on his expedition.

[Exeunt ANTHONIO and PANTHINO,

Pro. Thus have I fhunn'd the fire, for fear of burn

ing;

am

And drench'd me in the fea, where I
I fear'd to fhew my father Julia's letter,
Left he should take exceptions to my love;
And with the vantage of mine own excuse
Hath he excepted moft against my love.

3 -exbibition] i. e. allowance. STEEVENS.

drown'd;

O, how

Speed. This proves me ftill a fheep.

Pro. True; and thy mafter a fhepherd.

Speed. Nay, that I can deny by a circumftance. Pro. It fhall go hard, but I'll prove it by another. Speed. The shepherd feeks the theep, and not the fheep the shepherd; but I feek my mafter, and my master seeks not me: therefore, I am no fheep.

Pro. The fheep for fodder follow the fhepherd, the fhepherd for food follows not the fheep; thou for wages followeft thy mafter, thy mafter for wages follows not thee: therefore, thou art a fheep.

Speed. Such another proof will make me cry baa.

Pro. But doft thou hear? gav'ft thou my letter to Julia ? Speed. Ay, fir: I, a loft mutton, gave your letter to her, a laced mutton'; and fhe, a laced mutton, gave me, a loft mutton, nothing for my labour.

Pro. Here's too fmalt a pasture for such a store of mut

tons.

Speed. If the ground be overcharg'd, you were best flick her.

Pro. Nay, in that you are aftray; 'twere beft pound you.

Speed. Nay, fir, lefs than a pound fhall fhall ferve me for carrying your letter.

Pro. You mistake; I mean the pound, a pinfold.

Speed. From a pound to a pin? fold it over and over, 'Tis threefold too little for carrying a letter to your lover.

9 I, a loft mutton, gave your letter to her, a laced mutton;] Speed calls himself a lo mution, because he had lost his mafter, and because Protheus had been proving him a fheep. But why does he call the lady a laced mutton? Wenchers are to this day called mutton-mongers, and confequently the object of their paffion must be the mutton. THEOS. A laced mutton was in our author's time fo eftablished a term for a courtezan, that a street in Clerkenwell, which was much frequented by women of the town, was then called Mutton-lane. It feems to have been a phrafe of the fame kind as the French expreffion-caille coifée, and might be rendered in that language, mouton en corfet. This appellation appears to have been as old as the time of king Henry III. "Item fequitur gravis pœna corporalis, fed fine amiflione vitæ vel membrorum, fi raptus fit de concubina legitima, vel alia quæftum faciente, fine delectu perfonarum has quidem oves debet rex tueri pro pace fuâ," Bracton de Legibus, lib. ii. MALONE.

:

Pro.

Pro. Nod, I why that's noddy 3.

[Speed nods.

Speed. You miftook, fir; I fay fhe did nod: and you afk me, if fhe did nod; and I fay, I.

Pro. And that fet together, is noddy.

Speed. Now you have taken the pains to fet it together, take it for your pains.

Pro. No, no, you fhall have it for bearing the letter. Speed. Well, I perceive, I must be fain to bear with you. Pro. Why, fir, how do you bear with me?

Speed. Marry, fir, the letter very orderly; having nothing but the werd, noddy, for my pains.

Pro. Befhrew me, but you have a quick wit.

Speed. And yet it cannot overtake your flow purfe. Pro. Come, come, open the matter in brief: What faid the ?

Speed. Open your purfe, that the money, and the matter, may be both at once deliver'd.

Pro. Well fir, here is for your pains: What faid fhe? Speed. Truly, Sir, I think you'll hardly win her.

Pro. Why? Couldst thou perceive fo much from her? Speed. Sir, I could perceive nothing at all from her; no, not fo much as a ducat for delivering your letter: And being fo hard to me that brought your mind, I fear fhe'll prove as hard to you in telling your mind +. Give her no token but ftones; for fhe's as hard as fteel.

Pro. What, faid she nothing?

2-did fhe nod ] Thefe words have been fupplied by fome of the editors, to introduce what follows. STEEVENS.

They were fupplied by Mr. Theobald. In Speed's answer the old fpelling of the affirmative particle has been retained; otherwife the conceit of Protheus (fuch as it is) would be unintelligible. MALONE. STEEVENS. 3 that's noddy.] Noddy was a game at cards. This play upon fyllables is hardly worth explaining. The fpeakers intend to fix the name of noddy, that is fool, on each other. REED. 4-in telling your mind.] The editor of the fecond folio, not underftanding this, altered your to ber, which has been followed in all the fubfequent editions. The old copy is certainly right. The meaning is, She being fo bard to me who was the bearer of your mind, I fear fhe will prove no less fo to you, when you addrefs her in perfon. The oppofition is between brought and telling. MALONE.

Speed.