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The fundamental reasons of this war;

now

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sing; pick his teeth, and sing: I know a man that
had this trick of melancholy, sold a goodly manor
for a song.

means to come.
Count. Let me see what he writes, and when he

Clo. I have no mind to Isbel, since I was at court: our old ling and our Isbel's o'the country are nothing like your old ling and your Isbels o'the court: the brain of my Cupid's knock'd out;

Whose great decision hath much blood let forth, 25 and I begin to love, as an old man loves money, And more thirsts after.

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Duke. Therefore we marvel much, our cousin 30"
Would, in so just a business, shut his bosom
Against our borrowing prayers.

2 Lord. Good my lord,

The reasons of our state I cannot yield',
But like a common and an outward man,
That the great figure of a council frames
By self-unable motion: therefore dare not
Say what I think of it; since I have found
Myself in my uncertain grounds to fail
As often as I guess'd.

Duke. Be it his pleasure.

[nature 3,

2 Lord. But I am sure the younger of our That surfeit on their ease, will, day by day, Come here for physick.

Duke. Welcome shall they be;

And all the honours, that can fly from us,

Shall on them settle: You know your places well;
When better fall, for your avails they fell:
To-morrow to the field.

SCENE II.
Rousillon, in France.

Enter Countess and Clown.

[Exeunt.

with no stomach.

[Exit.

Count. What have we here? Clo. E'en that you have there. Count. [reads a letter.] "I have sent you a daughter-in-law: she hath recover'd the king, and undone me. I have wedded her, not bed"ded her; and sworn to make the not eternal. You shall hear, I am run away; know it, before the report come. If there be breadth 35" enough in the world, I will hold a long distance. My duty to you.

166

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"Your unfortunate son,

"BERTRAM." This is not well, rash and unbridled boy, 40 To fly the favours of so good a king; To pluck his indignation on thy head, By the nisprising of a maid too virtuous For the contempt of empire.

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50

Count. It hath happened all as I would have had 55 it, save that he comes not along with her.

Clo. By my troth, I take my young lord to be very melancholy man.

Count. By what observance, I pray you?

Clo. Why, he will look upon his boot, and 60 sing; mend the ruff, and sing; ask questions, and

1i. e. I cannot inform you of fellows.

Re-enter Clown.

Clo. O, madam, yonder is heavy news within, between two soldiers and my young lady.

Count. What is the matter?

Clo. Nay, there is some comfort in the news, some comfort; your son will not be killed so soon as I thought he would.

Count. Why should he be killed?

Clo. So say I, madam, if he run away, as I hear he does: the danger is in standing to't; that's the Here they come, will tell you more: for my part, loss of men, though it be the getting of children. I only hear, your son was run away.

Enter Helena and two Gentlemen.

1 Gen. Save you, good madam.
Hel. Madam, my lord is gone, for ever gone,
2 Gen. Do not say so.

i. e. one not in the secret of affairs. * Meaning, our young

Count.

Count. Think upon patience:-'Pray you, gen-
tlemen,-

I have felt so many quirks of joy, and grief,
That the first face of neither, on the start, [you?|
Can woman me unto't :-Where is my son, I pray 5
2 Gen. Madam, he's gone to serve the duke of
Florence:

We met him thitherward; for thence we came,
And, after some dispatch in hand at court,
Thither we bend again.

[passport. 10
Hel. Look on this letter, madam; here's my
"When thou canst get the ring upon my
"finger, which never shall come off, and shew
me a child begotten of thy body, that I am
"father to, then call me husband; but in 15
"such a Then I write a Never."

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This is a dreadful sentence.

Count. Brought you this letter, gentlemen?
1 Gen. Ay, madam ;

And, for the contents' sake, are sorry for our pains.
Count. I pr'ythee, lady, have a better cheer;
If thou engrossest, all the griefs are thine,
Thou robb'st me of a moiety: He was my son;
But I do wash his name out of my blood, [he?
And thou art all my child.--Towards Florence is 25
2 Gen. Ay, madain.

Count. And to be a soldier?

2 Gen. Such is his noble purpose: and, believe't, The duke will lay upon him all the honour That good convenience claims.

Count. Return you thither?

[speed.

1 Gen. Ay, madam, with the swiftest wing of Hel. "Till I have no wife, I have nothing in "France."

"Tis bitter.

Count. Find you that there?

Hel. Ay, madam.

Count. Not so, but as we change our courtesies.
Will you draw near?

[Exeunt Countess and Gentlemen.
Hel.'Till I have no wife, I have nothing in France.
Nothing in France, until he has no wife!
Thou shalt have none, Rousillon, none in France,
Then hast thou all again. Poor lord, is't I
That chase thee from thy country, and expose
Those tender limbs of thine to the event
Of the none-sparing war; and is it I
That drive thee from the sportive court, where thou
Wast shot at with fair eyes, to be the mark
Of smoky muskets? O you leaden messengers,
That ride upon the violent speed of fire,
Fly with false aim; move the still-piercing air',
That sings with piercing, do not touch my
Whoever shoots at him, I set him there;
Whoever charges on his forward breast:
I am the caitiff, that do hold him to it;
And though I kill him not, I am the cause
His death was so effected: better 'twere,
I met the ravin lion when he roar'd
With sharp constraint of hunger; better 'twere,
That all the miseries, which nature owes,
Were mine at once: No, come thou home, Rousil
Whence honour but of danger wins a scar; [lon,
As oft it loses all; I will be gone:

lord!

My being here it is, that holds thee hence;
Shall I stay here to do't? no, no, although
30 The air of paradise did fan the house,
And angels offic'd all : I will be gone;
That pitiful rumour may report my flight,
To consolate thine ear. Come, night; end, day!
For, with the dark, poor thief, l'listeal away. [Exit.
SCENE III.

[Reading. 35
[which

1 Gen. Tis but the boldness of his hand, haply, His heart was not consenting to.

Count. Nothing in France, until he have no wife! 40
There's nothing here, that is too good for him,
But only she: and she deserves a lord,
That twenty such rude boys might tend upon,
And call her hourly, mistress. Who was with him?
1 Gen. A servant only, and a gentleman
Which I have some time known.

Count. Parolies, was't not?

1 Gen. Ay, my good lady, he.

Count. A very tainted fellow, and full of wickMy son corrupts a well-derived nature [edness: With his inducement.

1 Gen. Indeed, good lady,

The fellow has a deal of that, too much,
Which holds him much to have 2.

Count. You are welcome, gentlemen.

I will entreat you, when you see my son,
To tell him that his sword can never win
The honour that he loses: more I'll entreat you
Written to bear along.

2 Gen. We serve you, madam,

In that and all your worthiest affairs.

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45 A charge too heavy for my strength; but yet We'll strive to bear it for your worthy sake, To the extreme edge of hazard.

Duke. Then go forth;

And fortune play upon thy prosperous helm,

50,As thy auspicious mistress!

155

Ber. This very day,

Great Mars, I put myself into thy file:

Make me but like my thoughts; and I shall prove

A lover of thy drum, hater of love.

SCENE IV.

Rosillon, in France.

Enter Countess and Steward.

[Exeunt

Count. Alas! and would you take the letterofher? 60 Might younot know, she would do as she has done, By sending me a letter? Read it again.

1 That is, when thou canst get the ring, which is on my finger, into thy possession, vices stand him in stead. e. the air that closes immediately.

U 2

2 i. e. his

Stenv.

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Stow. "I am St. Jaques' pilgrim, hither gone; Ambitious love hath so in me offended, "That bare-foot plod I the cold ground upon, "With sainted vow my faults to have amended. "Write, write, that, from the bloody course of war, My dearest master, your dear son may hye; "Bless him at home in peace, whilst I from far, "His name with zealous fervour sanctify: "His taken labours bid him me forgive; "I, his despightful Juno, sent him forth From courtly friends, with camping foes to live, "Where death and danger dog the heels ofworth: "He is too good and fair for death and me; "Whom I myself embrace, to set him free." Ah, what sharp stings are in her mildest words!-15 Rinaldo, you did never lack advice' so much, As letting her pass so; had I spoke with her, I could have well diverted her intents, Which thus she hath prevented.

Stew. Pardon me, inadam;

If I had given you this at over-night,

She might have beeno'er-ta'en; and yet she writes,
Pursuit would be but vain.

Count. What angel shall

Bless this unworthy husband? he cannot thrive,
Unless her prayers, whom heaven delights to hear,
And loves to grant, reprieve him from the wrath
Of greatest justice.--Write, write, Rinaldo,
To this unworthy husband of his wife;
Let every word weigh heavy of her worth,
That he does weigh too light: my greatest grief,
Though little he do feel it, set down sharply.
Dispatch the most convenient messenger :-
When, haply, he shall hear that she is gone,
He will return; and hope I may, that she,
Hearing so much, will speed her foot again,
Led hither by pure love: which of them both
Is dearest to me, I have no skill in sense
To make distinction:-Provide this messenger:-
My heart is heavy, and mine age is weak;
Grief would have tears, and sorrow bids me speak.
[Exeunt.

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her name; and no legacy is so rich as honesty. Wid. I have told my neighbour, how you have been solicited by a gentleman his companion.

Mar. I know the knave; hang him! one Parolies: a filthy officer he is in those suggestions for the young earl.-Beware of them, Diana; their promises, enticements, oaths, tokens, and all these engines of lust, are not the things they g0 under2: many a maid hath been seduced by them; and the 10misery is, example, that so terrible shews in the wreck of maidenhood, cannot for all that dissuade succession, but that they are limed with the twigs that threaten them. I hope, I need not to advise you further; but, I hope, your own grace will keep you where you are, though there were no further danger known, but the modesty which is so lost.

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25

30

40

Dia. You shall not need to fear me.

Enter Helena, disguis'd like a Pilgrim.
Wid. I hope so.-Look, here comes a pilgrim:
I know she will lye at my house: thither they send
one another; I'll question her.-

God save you, pilgram! Whither are you bound?
Hl. To St. Jaques le grand.

Where do the palmers lodge, I do beseech you?
W d. Atthe St. Francis here, beside the port.
HI Is this the way?
[A march atar off.
Wd. Ay, marry, is it. Hark you! [pilgrim,
hey come this way:-If you will tarry, holy
But till the troops come by,

I will conduct you where you shall be lodg'd;
The rather, for I think I know your hostess
As ample as myself.

Het. Is it yourself?

Wid. If you shall please so, pilgrimn.

[sure.

Hel. I thank you, and will stay upon your lei
Wid. You came, I think, from France ?
Hel. I did so.

Wid. Here you may see a countryman of yours, That Bas done worthy service.

Hel. His name, I pray you?

[one!

Dia. The count Rousillon: Know you such a Hel. But by the ear, that hears most nobly of 45 His face I know not.

[him;

56

Wid. It is reported that he has ta'en their greatest commander; and that with his own hand he slew the duke's brother. We have lost our labour; 55 they are gone a contrary way: hark! you may know their trumpets.

Mar. Come, let's return again, and suffice ourselves with the report of it. Well, Diana, take heed of this French earl: the honour of a maid is 6

3

That is, discretion or thought. pearance they sezm to be." palm that they were wont to carry.

2

Dia. Whatsoe'er he is,
He's bravely taken here. He stole from France,
As 'tis reported, for the king had married him
Against his liking: Think you it is so [lady.
Hel. Ay, surely, meer the truth; I know his
Dia. There is a gentleman that serves the count,
Reports but coarsely of her.

Hel. What's his name?
Dia. Monsieur Parolles.
Hel. Oh, I believe with him,

In argument of praise, or to the worth
Of the great count himself, she is too mean
To have her name repeated; all her deserving
Is a reserved honesty, and that

I have not heard examined *.

Meaning, "they are not really so true and sincere as in apPilgrims that visited holy places; so called from a staff or bough of ~i. e. doubled.

Dia.

Act 3. Scene 6.]

Dia. Alas, poor lady!

ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL.

SCENE

'Tis a hard bondage, to become the wife

Of a detesting lord.

Wid. Aright good creature: wheresoe'er she is, Her heart weighs sadly: this young maid might 5 A shrewd turn, if she pleas'd.

Hl. How do you mean?

May be, the amorous count solicits her

In the unlawful purpose.

Wid. He does, indeed;

[do her

And brokes with all that can in such a suit
Corrupt the tender honour of a maid:

But she is arm'd for him, and keeps her guard,
In honestest defence.

Enter with Drum and Colours, Bertram, Pa-
rolles, Officers and Soldiers attending.

Mar. The gods forbid else!
Wid. So, now they come:

That is Antonio, the duke's eldest son;
That, Escalus.

Het. Which is the Frenchman?
Dia. He;

That with the plume; 'tis a most gallant fellow ;
I would, he lov'd his wife; if he were hone ter,
He were much goodlier:-Is't not a handsome
H. I like him well.

[gentleman?

Dia. 'Tis pity, he's not honest: Yond's that
same knave,

That leads him to these places; were I his lady,
I'd poison that vile rascal.

Hel. Which is he?

Dia. That jack-an-apes with scarfs: Why is he

melancholy?

Hel. Perchance he's hurt i' the battle.
Par. Lose our drum! well.

Mar. He's shrewdly vex'd at something: Look,
he has spied us.

Wid. Marry, hang you!

[Exeunt Bertram, Parolles, &c. Mar. And your courtesy, for a ring-carrier! Wid. The troop is past: Come, pilgrim, I will bring you

Where you shall host; of enjoin'd penitents
There's four or five, to great Saint Jaques bound,
Already at my house.

Hel. I humbly thank you :
Please it this matron, and this gentle maid,
To eat with us to-night, the charge, and thanking,
Shall be for me; and, to requite you further,
I will bestow some precepts on this virgin,
Worthy the note.

Both. We'll take your offer kindly.

10

VI.

Enter Bertram, and the two French Lords.

1 Lord. Nay, good my lord; put him to't; let him have his way.

2 Lord. If your lordship find him not a hilding, hold me no more in your respect.

1 Lord. On my life, my lord, a bubble.

Ber. Do you think I am so far deceiv'd in him? I Lord. Believe it, my lord, in mine own direct knowledge, without any malice, but to speak of him as my kinsman, he's a most notable coward, an infinite and endless liar, an hourly promise15 breaker, the owner of no one good quality worthy your lordship's entertainment.

2 Lord. It were fit you knew him; lest, reposing too far in his virtue, which he hath not, he might, at some great and trusty business, in a 20main danger fail you.

Ber. would, I knew in what particular action

to try him.

2 Lord. None better than to let him fetch off his drum, which you hear him so confidently un25 dertake to do.

30

1 Lord. I, with a troop of Florentines, will suddenly surprise him; such I will have, whom, I am sure, he knows not from the enemy: we will bind and hood-wink him so, that he shall suppose no other but that he is carried into the leaguer of the adversaries, when we bring him to our own tents: Be but your lordship present at his examination; if he do not, for the promise of his life, and in the highest compulsion of base fear, offer to 35 betray you, and deliver all the intelligence in his power against you, and that with the divine forfeit of his soul upon oath, never trust my judgment in any thing.

2 Lord. O, for the love of laughter, let him 40 fetch his drum; he says, he has a stratagem for't: when your lordship sees the bottom of his success in't, and to what metal this counterfeit lump of ore will be melted, if you give him not John Drum's entertainment, your inclining cannot be 45 removed. Here he comes.

Enter Parolles.

1 Lord. O, for the love of laughter, hinder not the humour of his design; let him fetch off his 50 drum in any hand.

Ber. How now, monsieur? this drum sticks sorely in your disposition.

2 Lord. Apox on't, let it go ; 'tis but a drum. Par. But a drum! Is't but a drum? A drum so [Exeunt. 55 lost! There was an excellent command! to charge

1 Deals as a broker. Theobald explains this passage thus: "My lord, as you have taken this fellow (Parolles) into so near a confidence, if, upon his being found a counterfeit, you don't cashier him from your favour, then your attachment is not to be remov'd;" and then adds the following history of John Drum's Entertainment, from Hollingshed's Chronicle: "This chronologer, in his description of Ireland, speaking of Patrick Scarsefield, (mayor of Dublin in the year 1551) and of his extravagant hospitality, subjoins, that no guest had ever a cold or forbidding look from any part of his family: so that his porter or any other officer durst not, for both his ears, give the simplest man, that resorted to his house, Tom Drum's entertainment, which is, to hale a man in by the head, and thrust him out by both the shoulders,"

in

in with our horse upon our own wings, and top rend our own soldiers.

2 Lord. That was not to be blamed in the command of the service; it was a disaster of war that Cæsar himself could not have prevented, if he had 5 been there to command.

Ber. Well, we cannot greatly condemn our success: some dishonour we had in the loss of that drum; but it is not to be recovered. Par. It might have been recover'd. Ber. It might; but it is not now.

Par. It is to be recover'd: but that the merit of service is seldom attributed to the true and exact performer, I would have that drum or another, or hic jacet.

Iparted, tell me what a sprat you shall find him; which you shall see this very night.

2 Lord. I must go look my twigs: he shall be caught.

you.

Ber. Your brother, he shall go along with me. 2 Lord. As't please your lordship: I'll leave [Exit. Ber. Now will I lead you to the house, and shew you 10 The lass I spoke of.

1 Lord. Put, you say, she's honest: [once, Ber. That's all the fault: I spoke with her but And found her wondrous cold; but I sent to her, By this same coxcomb that we have i' the wind, 13Tokens and letters, which she did re-send ;

Ber. Why, if you have a stomach to't, monsieur, if you think your mystery in stratagem can bring this instrument of honour again in'o its native quarter, be magnanimous in the enterprise, and go on ;! I will grace the attempt for a worthy exploit: if 20 you speed well in it, the duke shall both speak of it, and extend to you what further becomes his greatness, even to the utmost syllable of your worthiness.

Par. By the hand of a soldier, I will undertake it. 25 Ber. But you must not now slumber in it.

Par. I'll about it this evening: and I will presen ly pen down my dilemmas', encourage myself in my certainty, put myself into my mortal preparation, and, by midnight, look to hear fur-30 ther from me.

Ber. May I be bold to acquaint his grace, you are gone about it?

Par. I know not what the success will be, my] lord; but the attempt I VOW.

Ber. I know, thou art valiant; and, to the possibility of thy soldiership, will subscribe for thee. Farewel.

Pur. I love not many words

[Exit.

And this is all I have done: She's a fair creature;
Will you go see her?

1 Lord. With all my heart, my lord. [Exeunt.
SCENE VII.

Florence. The Widow's House.

Enter Helena and Widow.

Hel. If you misdoubt me that I am not she,
I know not how I shall assure you further,
But I shall lose the grounds I work upon. [born,
Wid. Though my estate be fallen, I was well
Nothing acquainted with these businesses;
And would not put my reputation now
In any staining act.

Hel. Nor would I wish you.

First, give me trust, the count he is my husband;
And, what to your sworn counsel I have spoken,
Is so, from word to word; and then you cannot,
By the good aid that I of you shall borrow,
35 Err in bestowing it.

1 Lord. No more than a fish loves water.-Is 40 not this a strange fellow, my lord? that so confidently seems to undertake this business, which he knows is not to be done: damns himself to do, and dares better be damn'd than do't?

2 Lord. You do not know him, my lord, as we 45 do: certain it is, that he will steal himself into a man's favour, and, for a week, escape a great deal of discoveries; but when you find him out, you have him ever after.

Ber. Why, do you think, he will make no deed 50 at all of this, that so seriously he does address himself unto?

2 Lord. None in the world: but return with an! invention, and clap upon you two or three probable lies: but we have almost imboss'd him2, you 55 shall see his fall to-night; for, indeed, he is not for your lordship's respect.

1 Lord. We'll make you some sport with the fox, ere we case him. He was first smok'd by the old lord Lafeu; when his disguise and he is 60

Wid. I should believe you;

For you have shew'd me that, which well approves You are great in fortune.

Hel. Take this purse of gold,

And let me buy your friendly help thus far,
Which I will over-pay, and pay again, [daughter,
When I have found it. The count he wooes your
Lays down his wanton siege before her beauty,
Resolves to carry her; let her, in fine, consent,
As we'll direct her how 'tis best to bear it,
Now his important' blood will nought deny
That she'll demand: A ring the county wears,
That downward hath succeeded in his house,
From son to son, some four or five descents
Since the first father wore it: this ring he holds
In most rich choice; yet, in his idle fire,
To buy his will, it would not seem too dear,
Howe'er repentod after.
Wid. Now I see

The bottom of your purpose.

HA. You see it lawful then: It is no more, But that your daughter, ere she seems as won, Desires this ring; appoints him an encounter; In fine, delivers me to fill the time, Herself most chastely absent; after this,

1A dilemma is an argument that concludes both ways. 2 To imboss a deer is to inclose him in a wood, The word, applied in this sense, being derived from emboscare, Ital. ought properly to be spelled imbasi`d. Meaning, before we strip him naked. 1. e. by discovering herself to the count. Important here means importunute.

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