She knows the heat of a luxurious bed:'
Her blush is guiltinefs, not modesty.
LEON. What do you mean, my lord?
CLAUD.
Not knit my foul to an approved wanton.

Not to be married,

LEON. Dear my lord, if you, in your own proof Have vanquish'd the refiftance of her youth, And made defeat of her virginity,

CLAUD. I know what you would say; If I have known her,

You'll fay, fhe did embrace me as a husband,
And fo extenuate the 'forehand fin:
No, Leonato,

I never tempted her with word too large;"
But, as a brother to his fifter, show'd
Bafhful fincerity, and comely love.

HERO. And feem'd I ever otherwise to you?

CLAUD. Out on thy feeming! I will write against

it: 2

luxurious bed:] That is, lafcivious. Luxury is the confeffor's term for unlawful pleasures of the fex. JOHNSON. Thus Pistol, in King Henry V. calls Fluellen a

damned and luxurious mountain goat." STEEVENS. Again, in The Life and Death of Edward II. p. 129:

"Luxurious Queene, this is thy foule defire." REED.

Not knit my foul, &c.] The old copies read, injuriously to metre,-Not to knit, &c. I fufpect, however, that our author wrote-Nor knit, &c. STEEVENS.

7 Dear my lord, if you, in your own proof-] In your own proof may fignify in your own trial of her. TYRWHITT.

Dear like door, fire, hour, and many fimilar words, is here used as a diffyllable. MALONE.

8

word too large;] So he ufes large jefts in this play, for licentious, not reftrained within due bounds. JOHNSON.

9 thy feeming!] The old copies have thee. The emendation is Mr. Pope's. In the next line Shakspeare probably wrotefeem'd. MALONE.

You seem to me as Dian in her orb;
As chafte as is the bud' ere it be blown;
But you are more intemperate in your blood
Than Venus, or those pamper'd animals
That rage in favage fenfuality.

HERO. Is my lord well, that he doth speak fo wide? +

LEON. Sweet prince, why speak not you?
D. PEDRO.

What should I speak?

I ftand difhonour'd, that have gone about
To link my dear friend to a common ftale.
LEON. Are these things spoken? or do I but
dream? '

D. JOHN. Sir, they are spoken, and these things

are true.

BENE. This looks not like a nuptial.

HERO.

True, O God!

CLAUD. Leonato, ftand I here? Is this the prince? Is this the prince's brother? Is this face Hero's? Are our eyes our own?

LEON. All this is fo; But what of this, my lord?

2- I will write againft it :] So, in Cymbeline, Pofthumus fpeaking of women, fays,

I'll write against them,

"Deteft them, curfe them." STEEVENS.

3 -chafte as is the bud-] Before the air has tafted its sweetnefs. JOHNSON.

4 that he doth Speak fo wide?] i. e. fo remotely from the prefent business. So, in Troilus and Creffida :-" No, no; no fuch matter, you are wide." Again, in The Merry Wives of Windfor: "I never heard a man of his place, gravity, and learning, fo wide of his own respect." STEEVENS.

5 Are these things spoken? or do I but dream?] So, in Macbeth: "Were fuch things here, as we do speak about? "Or have we," &c. STEEVENS.

CLAUD. Let me but move one question to your daughter;

And, by that fatherly and kindly power'
That you have in her, bid her answer truly.

LEON. I charge thee do fo, as thou art my child. HERO. O God defend me! how am I befet!What kind of catechizing call you this?

CLAUD. To make you answer truly to your name. HERO. Is it not Hero? Who can blot that name With any just reproach?

CLAUD.

Marry, that can Hero; Hero itself can blot out Hero's virtue. What man was he talk'd with you yefternight Out at your window, betwixt twelve and one? Now, if you are a maid, anfwer to this.

HERO. I talk'd with no man at that hour, my lord.
D. PEDRO. Why, then are you no maiden.-
Leonato,

I am forry you must hear; Upon mine honour,
Myfelf, my brother, and this grieved count,
Did fee her, hear her, at that hour last night,
Talk with a ruffian at her chamber-window:
Who hath, indeed, most like a liberal villain,*

3

kindly power-] That is, natural power. Kind is nature. JOHNSON.

Thus, in the Introduction to The Taming of the Shrew; "This do, and do it kindly, gentle firs."

i. e. naturally. STEEVENS.

4

liberal villain,] Liberal here, as in many places of these plays, means frank beyond honefty, or decency. Free of tongue. Dr. Warburton unneceffarily reads, illiberal. JOHNSON. So, in The Fair Maid of Briftow, 1605:

"But Vallinger, most like a liberal villain "Did give her fcandalous ignoble terms." Again, in The Captain, by Beaumont and Fletcher: "And give allowance to your liberal jests Upon his perfon." STEEVENS,

Confefs'd the vile encounters they have had
A thousand times in fecret.

D. JOHN.

Fie, fie! they are Not to be nam'd, my lord, not to be spoke of; There is not chastity enough in language,

Without offence, to utter them: Thus, pretty lady, I am forry for thy much mifgovernment,

CLAUD. O Hero! what a Hero hadft thou been,' If half thy outward graces had been placed About thy thoughts, and counfels of thy heart! But, fare thee well, most foul, most fair! farewell, Thou pure impiety, and impious purity! For thee I'll lock up all the gates of love, And on my eye-lids fhall conjecture" hang, To turn all beauty into thoughts of harm, And never shall it more be gracious."

me? 8

LEON. Hath no man's dagger here a point for [HERO fwoons. BEAT. Why, how now, coufin? wherefore fink you down?

This fenfe of the word liberal is not peculiar to Shakspeare. John Taylor, in his Suite concerning Players, complains of the "many afperfions very liberally, unmannerly, and ingratefully bestowed upon him." FARMER.

5 what a Hero had ft thou been,] I am afraid here is intended a poor conceit upon the word Hero. JOHNSON. 6 —— conjecture —] Conjecture is here used for suspicion.

MALONE.

And never shall it more be gracious,] i. e. lovely, attractive,

So, in King John:

MALONE.

"There was not such a gracious creature born." STEEVENS. 8 Hath no man's dagger here a point for me?] So, in Venice Preferv'd:

"A thousand daggers, all in honest hands!

"And have not I a friend to stick one here?" STEEVENS.

D. JOHN. Come, let us go: these things, come thus to light,

Smother her fpirits up.

[Exeunt Don PEDRO, Don JOHN, and CLAUDIO. BENE. How doth the lady?

BEAT.

Dead, I think;-Help, uncle ;

Hero! why, Hero!-Uncle!-Signior Benedick!

friar!

LEON. O fate, take not away thy heavy hand! Death is the faireft cover for her fhame,

LEON. Wherefore? Why, doth not every earthly

thing

Cry fhame upon her? Could the here deny
The story that is printed in her blood?"-
Do not live, Hero; do not ope thine eyes:
For did I think thou would'ft not quickly die,
Thought I thy fpirits were stronger than thy fhames,
Myself would, on the rearward of reproaches,
Strike at thy life. Griev'd I, I had but one?
Chid I for that at frugal nature's frame?"

8 Doft thou look up?] The metre is here imperfect. Perhaps our author wrote-Doft thou still look up? STEEVENS.

9 The ftory that is printed in her blood?] That is, the ftory which her blushes difcover to be true. JOHNSON.

2 Chid I for that at frugal nature's frame?] Frame is contrivance, order, difpofition of things. So, in The Death of Robert Earl of Huntington, 1603:

"And therefore feek to fet each thing in frame." Again, in Holinfhed's Chronicle, p. 555:

man that studied to bring the unrulie to frame."

there was no