VOL. Then his good report fhould have been my fon; I therein would have found iffue. Hear me profefs fincerely:-Had I a dozen fons,-each in my love alike, and none lefs dear than thine and my good Marcius,-I had rather had eleven die onbly for their country, than one voluptuously furfeit out of action. Enter a Gentlewoman. GENT. Madam, the lady Valeria is come to vifit you. VIR. 'Beseech you, give me leave to retire myfelf.5 VOL. Indeed, you shall not. Methinks, I hear hither your husband's drum; As children from a bear, the Volces fhunning him: 5 VIR. His bloody brow! O, Jupiter, no blood! VOL. Away, you fool! it more becomes a man, to retire myself.] This verb active (fignifying to withdraw) has already occurred in The Tempest: I will thence "Retire me to my Milan-." Again, in Timon of Athens: "I have retir'd me to a wasteful cock,-." STEEVENS, See Vol. XI. p. 67, n. 4. MALONE. • With his mail'd hand then wiping,] i. e. his hand cover'd or arm'd with mail. DOUCE. Than gilt his trophy :7 The breasts of Hecuba, When the did fuckle Hector, look'd not lovelier Than Hector's forehead, when it fpit forth blood At Grecian fwords' contending.-Tell Valeria,8 We are fit to bid her welcome. [Exit Gent. VIR. Heavens bless my lord from fell Aufidius ! VOL. He'll beat Aufidius' head below his knee, And tread upon his neck. Re-enter Gentlewoman, with VALERIA and her VAL. My ladies both, good day to you. VIR. I am glad to see your ladyship. VAL. How do you both? you are manifest housekeepers. What, are you fewing here? A fine spot," in good faith.-How does your little fon? VIR. I thank your ladyfhip; well, good madam. VOL. He had rather see the swords, and hear a drum, than look upon his fchool-master. 7 Than gilt his trophy :] Gilt means a fuperficial display of gold, a word now obfolete. So, in King Henry V: “Our gayness and our gilt, are all besmirch'd." STEEVENS. At Grecian fwords' contending.-Tell Valeria,] The accuracy of the firft folio may be ascertained from the manner in which this line is printed: At Grecian fword. Contenning, tell Valeria. STEEVENS. ? A fine Spot,] This expreffion (whatever may be the precife meaning of it,) is ftill in ufe among the vulgar: "You have made a fine fpot of work of it," being a common phrase of reproach to those who have brought themselves into a scrape. VAL. O' my word, the father's fon: I'll fwear, 'tis a very pretty boy. O' my troth, I looked upon him o' Wednesday half an hour together: he has fuch a confirmed countenance. I faw him run after a gilded butterfly; and when he caught it, he let it go again; and after it again; and over and over he comes, and up again; catched it again or whether his fall enraged him, or how 'twas, he did fo fet his teeth, and tear it; O, I warrant, how he mammocked it !! VOL. One of his father's moods. VAL. Indeed la, 'tis a noble child. VAL. Come, lay afide your stitchery; I must have you play the idle hufwife with me this afternoon. VIR. No, good madam; I will not out of doors. VAL. Not out of doors! VOL. She fhall, she shall. VIR. Indeed, no, by your patience: I will not over the threshold, till my lord return from the wars. VAL. Fye, you confine yourself most unreasonably; Come, you must go vifit the good lady that lies in. I mammocked it !] To mammock is to cut in pieces, or to tear. So, in The Devil's Charter, 1607: "That he were chopt in mammocks, I could eat him." A crack, madam.] Thus in Cynthia's Revels by Ben Jonson: act freely, carelefly, and capriciously." Again, in The Four Prentices of London, 1615: "A notable, diffembling lad, a crack." Crack fignifies a boy child. See Mr. Tyrwhitt's note on The Second Part of King Henry IV. Vol. XII. p. 129, n. 8. STEEVENS. VIR. I will with her fpeedy ftrength, and visit her with my prayers; but I cannot go thither. VOL. Why, I pray you? VIR. "Tis not to fave labour, nor that I want love. VAL. You would be another Penelope : yet, they fay, all the yarn 'fhe fpun, in Ulyffes' abfence, did but fill Ithaca full of moths. Come; I would, your cambrick were fenfible as your finger, that you might leave pricking it for pity. Come, you fhall go with us. VIR. No, good madam, pardon me; indeed, I will not forth. VAL. In truth, la, go with me; and I'll tell you excellent news of your husband. VIR. O, good madam, there can be none yet. VAL. Verily, I do not jeft with you; there came news from him last night. VIR. Indeed, madam? VAL. In earneft, it's true; I heard a fenator speak it. Thus it is:-The Volces have an army forth; against whom Cominius the general is gone, with one part of our Roman power: your lord, and Titus Lartius, are fet down before their city Corioli; they nothing doubt prevailing, and to make it brief wars. This is true, on mine honour; and fo, I pray, go with us. VIR. Give me excufe, good madam; I will obey you in every thing hereafter. VOL. Let her alone, lady; as fhe is now, she will but disease our better mirth. VAL. In troth, I think, fhe would :-Fare you well then.-Come, good fweet lady.-Pr'ythee, Virgilia, turn thy folemness out o'door, and go along with us. VIR. No: at a word, madam; indeed, I must not. I wish I wish you much mirth. VAL. Well, then farewell. [Exeunt. SCENE IV. Before Corioli. Enter, with Drum and Colours, MARCIUS, TITUS LARTIUS, Officers, and Soldiers. To them a Meffenger. MAR, Yonder comes news:-A wager, they have MAR. Say, has our general met the enemy? MESS. They lie in view; but have not spoke as yet. LART. So, the good horfe is mine. MAR. I'll buy him of you. LART. No, I'll nor fell, nor give him : lend you him, I will, For half a hundred years.-Summon the town. MESS. Within this mile and half.3 Within this mile and half.] The two laft words, which dif |