Sil. O heaven!

Pro. I'll force thee yield to my desire.

Val. Ruffian, let go that rude uncivil touch ;

Thou friend of an ill fashion!

Pro. Valentine !

Val. Thou common friend, that's without faith or love; (For such is a friend now,) treacherous man!

Thou hast beguil'd my hopes; nought but mine eye
Could have persuaded me :
Now I dare not say

I have one friend alive; thou wouldst disprove me.
Who should be trusted now, when one's own right hand
Is perjur'd to the bosom? Proteus,

I am sorry, I must never trust thee more,

But count the world a stranger for thy sake.

The private wound is deepest: O time, most curst!
'Mongst all foes, that a friend should be the worst!
Pro. My shame and guilt confounds me.—
Forgive me, Valentine: if hearty sorrow

Be a sufficient ransom for offence,

I tender it here; I do as truly suffer,
As e'er I did commit.

Val. Then I am paid;

And once again I do receive thee honest :-
Who by repentance is not satisfied,

Is nor of heaven, nor earth; for these are pleas'd;
By penitence the Eternal's wrath's appeas'd:-

And, that my love may appear plain and free,
All that was mine in Silvia, I give thee.

Jul. O me unhappy!

Pro. Look to the boy.

[Faints.

Val. Why, boy! why wag! how now? what is the

matter?

Look up; speak.

[8] It is (I think) very odd, to give up his mistress thus at once, without any reason alledged. But our author probably followed the stories just as he found them in his novels as well as his histories. POPE.

This passage either hath been much sophisticated, or is one great proof that the main parts of this play did not proceed from Shakspeare; for it is impossible he could make Valentine act and speak so much out of character, or give to Silvia so unnatural a behaviour,as to take no notice of this strange concession, if it had been made. HANMER.

Transfer these two lines to the end of Thurio's speech in page 63, and all is right. Why then should Julia faint? It is only an artifice, seeing Silvia given up to Valentine, to discover herself to Proteus, by a pretended mistake of the rings. One great fault of this play is the hastening too abruptly, and without due preparation to the denouement, which shews that, if it be Shakspeare's, (which I cannot doubt,) it was one of his very early performances. BLACKSTONE.

Jul. O good sir, my master charg'd me
To deliver a ring to madam Silvia ;
Which, out of my neglect, was never done.
Pro. Where is that ring, boy?
Jul. Here 'tis this is it.

Pro. How! let me see ::

Why, this is the ring I gave to Julia.

[Gives a ring.

Jul. O, cry your mercy, sir, I have mistook;

This is the ring you sent to Silvia. [Shows another ring. Pro. But, how cam'st thou by this ring? at my depart,

I gave this unto Julia.

Jul. And Julia herself did give it me;

And Julia herself hath brought it hither.

Pro. How! Julia!

Jul. Behold her that gave aim to all thy oaths,
And entertain'd them deeply in her heart:
How oft hast thou with perjury cleft the root?
O Proteus, let this habit make thee blush!
Be thou asham'd, that I have took upon me
Such an immodest raiment; if shame live
In a disguise of love:

It is the lesser blot, modesty finds,

Women to change their shapes, than men their minds. Pro. Than men their minds! 'tis true: O heaven!

were man

But constant, he were perfect: that one error

Fills him with faults; makes him run through all sins:
Inconstancy falls off, ere it begins.

What is in Silvia's face, but I may spy
More fresh in Julia's with a constant eye?

Val. Come, come, a hand from either:

Let me be blest to make this happy close;
'Twere pity two such friends should be long foes.
Pro. Bear witness, heaven, I have my wish forever.
Jul. And I have mine.

Enter Out-laws, with Duke and THURIO.

Out. A prize, a prize, a prize!

Val. Forbear, I say; it is my lord the duke. Your grace is welcome to a man disgrac❜d, Banished Valentine.

Duke. Sir Valentine !

Thu. Yonder is Silvia ; and Silvia's mine. ;

Fal. Thurio, give back, or else embrace thy death;

Come not within the measure of my wrath:
Do not name Silvia thine; if once again,
Milan shall not behold thee. Here she stands,
Take but possession of her with a touch;-
I dare thee but to breathe upon my love.-

Thu. Sir Valentine, I care not for her, I;
I hold him but a fool, that will endanger
His body for a girl that loves him not:
I claim her not, and therefore she is thine.
Duke. The more degenerate and base art thou,
To make such means for her as thou hast done,
And leave her on such slight conditions.—
Now, by the honour of my ancestry,

I do applaud thy spirit, Valentine,

And think thee worthy of an empress' love.
Know then, I here forget all former griefs,9
Cancel all grudge, repeal thee home again.-
Plead a new state in thy unrivall❜d merit,
To which I thus subscribe,-sir Valentine,
Thou art a gentleman, and well deriv'd ;
Take thou thy Silvia, for thou hast deserv'd her.
Val. I thank your grace; the gift hath made me
happy.

I now beseech you, for your daughter's sake,

To grant one boon that I shall ask of you.

Duke. I grant it, for thine own, whate'er it be. Val. These banish'd men, that I have kept withal,

Are men endued with worthy qualities;

Forgive them what they have committed here,
And let them be recalled from their exile:

They are reformed, civil, full of good,

And fit for great employment, worthy lord.

Duke. Thou hast prevail'd: I pardon them and thee; Dispose of them, as thou know'st their deserts.————Come, let us go; we will include all jars1 With triumphs, mirth, and rare solemnity.2 Val. And, as we walk along, I dare be bold With our discourse to make your grace to smile: What think you of this page, my lord?

[9] Griefs in old language frequently signified grievances, wrongs.

MALONE.

[1] To include is to shut up, to conclude. STEEVENS. [2] Triumphs in this and many other passages of Shakspeare, signify Masques and Revels, &c. STEEVENS.

Duke. I think the boy hath grace in him; he blushes. Val. I warrant you, my lord, more grace than boy. Duke. What mean you by that saying?

Val. Please you, I'll tell you as we pass along,

That you will wonder, what hath fortuned.-
Come, Proteus ; 'tis your penance, but to hear
The story of your loves discovered:

That done, our day of marriage shall be yours;

One feast, one house, one mutual happiness. [Exeunt.

THE MERRY WIVES OF

WINDSOR.