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From whom we thought it meet to hide our love,
Till time had made them for us. But it chances,
The ftealth of our moft mutual entertainment,
With character too grofs, is writ on Juliet.
LUCIO. With child, perhaps?
CLAUD. Unhappily, even fo,

And the new deputy now for the duke, —
Whether it be the fault and glimpse of newness;
Or whether that the body public be

A horfe whereon the governor doth ride,
Who, newly in the feat, that it may know
He can command, lets it ftraight feel the fpur:
Whether the tyranny be in his place,

Or in his eminence that fills it up,

I flagger in: But this new governor
Awakes me all the enrolled penalties,

love till we had gained their favour. Propagation being here used to fignify payment, muft have its root in the Italian word pagare. Edinburgh Magazine for November, 1786.

I fuppofe the speaker means for the fake of getting fuch a dower as her friends might hereafter beftow on her, when time had reconciled them to her clandeftine marriage. STEEVENS.

Perhaps we should read only for prorogation. MALONE.

9 the fault and glimpse of newness;] Fault and glimpse have fo little relation to each other, that both can fcarcely be right: we may read flash for fault: or, perhaps, we may read,

Whether it be the fault or glimpfe

That is, whether it be the feeming enormity of the action, or the glare of new authority. Yet the fame fenfe follows in the next lines. JOHNSON.

Fault, I apprehend, does not refer to any enormous act done by the deputy, (as Dr. Johnfon feems to have thought,) but to newness. The fault and glimpfe is the fame as the faulty glimpse. And the meaning feems to be Whether it be the fault of newness, a fault arifing from the mind being dazzled by a novel authority, of which the new governay has yet had only a glimpse, has yet taken only a hafty Survey, or whether, &c. Shakspeare has many fimilar expreffions. MALONE.

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Which have, like unfcour'd armour, hung by the

wall

So long, that nineteen zodiacks have gone round, ' And none of them been worn; and, for a name, Now puts the drowsy and neglected act

Frefly on me: 'tis, furely, for a name.

LUCIO. I warrant, it is: and thy head stands fo tickle on thy fhoulders, that a milk-maid, if fhe be in love, my figh it off. Send after the duke, and appeal to him.

CLAUD. I have done fo, but he's not to be found. I pr'ythee, Lucio, do me this kind service:

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like unfcour'd armour,] So, in Troilus and Creffida:

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« Like rusty mail in monumental mockery. STEEVENS.

3 So long, that nineteen zodiacks have gone round, ] The Duke, in the fcene immediately following, fays:

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Which for thefe fourteen years we have let flip.

But this new governor

Awakes me all the enrolled penalties

Which have, like unfcour'd armour, hung by the wall

So long,

Now puts the drowfy and neglected act

THEOBALD.

Freshly on me: Lord Strafford, in the conclufion of his Defence in the Houfe of Lords, had, perhaps, thefe lines in his thoughts:

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It is now full two hundred and forty years fince any man was touched for this alledged crime, to this height, before myself. Let us reft contented with that which our fathers have left us; and not awake thofe fleeping lions, to our own deftruction, by raking up a few mufty records, that have lain fo many ages by the walls, quite forgotten and neglected." MALONE. S -fo tickle] i. e. ticklish. by our old dramatic authors. So, and Scilla, 1594:

lords of Afia

Have ftood on tickle terms.

This word is frequently used in The true Tragedy of Marius

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Again, in The Widow's Tears, by Chapman, 1612:
upon as tickle a pin as the needle of a dial.

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STEEVENS.

This day my fifter fhould the cloifter enter,
And there receive her approbation: 6
Acquaint her with the danger of my ftate;
Implore her, in my voice, that fhe make friends.
To the ftrict deputy; bid herfelf assay him;
I have great hope in that: for in her youth
There is a prone and fpeechlefs dialect,

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her approbation: ] i. c. enter on her probation, or noviciate. So again, in this play:

I, in probation of a fifterhood.

Again, in The Merry Devil of Edmonton, 1608:

«Madam, for a twelvemonth's approbation,
"We mean to make the trial of our child. "

MALONE.

prone and Speechless dialect,] I can fcarcely tell what fignification to give to the word prone. Its primitive and tranflated fenfes are well known. The author may, by a prone diale&, mean a dialect which mean are prone to regard, or a diale& natural and unforced, as thofe actions feem to which we are prone. of these interpretations is fufficiently ftrained; but fuch diftortion of words is not uncommon in our author. For the fake of an cafier, fenfe, we may read:

in her youth

There is a pow'r, and Speechless dialect,

Such as moves men;

Or thus:

There is a prompt and Speechless dialed. Prone, perhaps, may ftand for humble, as

pofture of fupplication.

So, in The Opportunity, by Shirley, 1640:

You have proftrate language. "

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The fame thought occurs in The Winter's Tale:

"The filence often of pure innocence

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Perfuades, when speaking fails.

Sir W. D'Avenant, in his alteration of the play, changes prone to fweet. I mention fome of his variations, to fhew that what appear difficulties to us, were difficulties to him, who, living nearer the time of Shakspeare, might be fuppofed to have underftood his language more intimately. STEEVENS.

Prone, I believe, is used here for prompt, fignificant, expressive (though speechlefs), as in our author's Rape of Lucrece it means ardent, head-ftrong, rufhing forward to its obje&:

"O that prone luft should ftain fo pure a bed!"

Such as moves men; befide, fhe hath profperous art
When fhe will play with reafon and difcourfe,
And well fhe can perfuade.

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LUCIO. I pray, fhe may: as well for the encouragement of the like, which elfe would ftand under grievous impofition; as for the enjoying of thy life, who I would be forry should be thus foolishly loft at a game of tick-tack. I'll to her.

CLAUD. I thank you, good friend Lucio.
LUCIO. Within two hours,

CLAUD. Come, officer, away.

SCENE

A Monaftery.

[Exeunt.

IV.

Enter DUKE, and Friar Thomas.

DUKE. No; holy father; throw away that thought;

Believe not that the dribbling dart of love

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Can pierce a cómplete bofom: why I defire thee

Again, in Cymbeline: Unless a "C man would marry a gallows, and beget young gibbets, I never saw any one so prone.”

MALONE.

Under grievous impofition ;] I once thought it should be inquiition, but the prefent reading is probably right. The crime would be under grievous penalties impofed. JOHNSON.

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·loft at a game of tick-tack.] Tick-tack is a game at Jouer au tric-trac," is used in French, in a wanton fenfe. MALONE.

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The fame phrafe, in Lucio's sportive fenfe, occurs in Lufty Juventus. STEEVENS.

Believe not that the dribbling, dart of love

Can pierce a complete bofom:] Think not that a breast compleatly armed can be pierced by the dart of love, that comes fluttering without force. JOHNSON.

To give me fecret harbour, hath a purpose

More grave and wrinkled than the aims and ends Of burning youth.

FRI.

May your grace speak of it?

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DUKE. My holy fir, none better knows than you How I have ever lov'd the life remov'd; '; And held in idle price to haunt affemblies, Where youth, and coft, and witless bravery "keeps." I have deliver'd to lord Angelo

(A man of ftricture, and firm abftinence,)

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the life remov'd;] i. e. a life of retirement, a life remote, or removed, from the buftle of the world.

So, in the Prologue to Milton's Mafque at Ludlow Caftle: I mean the MS. copy in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge:

I was not fent to court your wonder
"With distant worlds, and ftrange removed climes."

STEEVENS.

witless bravery-] Bravery, in the prefent inftance, fignifies howy drefs. So, in The Taming of a Shrew:

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"With scarfs, and fans, and double change of bravery.” STEEVENS.

keeps. i. e. dwells, refides. In this fenfe it is ftill ufed at Cambridge, where the ftudents and fellows, referring to their collegiate apartments, always fay they keep, i. e. refide there. REED.

6 A man of ftri&ture, and firm abftinence,] Stricture makes no fenfe in this place. We fhould read:

A man of ftri& ure and firm abftinence.

i. e. a man of the exacteft conduct, and practised in the fubdual of his paffions. Ure is an old word for ufe, practice: fo enur'd, habituated to. WARBURTON.

Stricture may eafily be used for ftridlness; ure is indeed an old word, but, I think, always applied to things, never to persons.

JOHNSON.

Sir W. D'Avenant, in his alteration of this play, reads, fri&nefs. Ure is fometimes applied to perfons, as well as to things. So, in the Old Interlude of Tom Tyler and his Wife, 1661:

"So fhall I be fure

"To keep him in ure."

The fame word occurs in Promos and Caffandra, 1578:

«The crafty man oft puts these wrongs in ure." \.

STREVENS

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