Luc. As of a knight well-spoken, neat and fine; But, were I you, he never should be mine.1

Jul. What think'st thou of the rich Mercatio? Luc. Well of his wealth; but of himself, so, so. Jul. What think'st thou of the gentle Proteus? Luc. Lord, lord! to see what folly reigns in us! Jul. How now! what means this passion at his name? Luc. Pardon, dear madam: 'tis a passing shame, That I, unworthy body, as I am,

Should censure thus on lovely gentlemen.2

Jul. Why not on Proteus, as of all the rest?
Luc. Then thus,of many good I think him best.
Jul. Your reason;

Luc. I have no other, but a woman's reason;

I think him so, because I think him so.

Jul. And would'st thou have me cast my love on him?
Luc. Ay, If you thought your love not cast away.
Jul. Why, he of all the rest hath never mov'd me.
Luc. Yet, he of all the rest, I think, best loves ye.
Jul. His little speaking shews his love but small.
Luc. Fire, that is closest kept, burns most of all.
Jul. They do not love, that do not shew their love.
Luc. O, they love least, that let men know their love.
Jul. I would, I knew his mind.
Luc.

Peruse this paper, madam.

Jul. To Julia,Say, from whom?
Luc.

That the contents will shew.

Jul. Say, say; who gave it thee?
Luc. Sir Valentine's page; and sent, I think, from
Proteus:

11

- he [Sir Eglamour] never should be mine.] Perhaps Sir Eglamour was once the common cant term for an insignificant inamorato. So, in Decker's Satiromastix:

Adieu, sir Eglamour; adieu lute-string, curtain-rod, goosequill," &c. Sir Eglamour of Artoys, indeed, is the hero of an ancient metrical romance, "Imprinted at London, in Foster Lane, at the sygne of the Harteshorne, by John Walley," bl. 1. no date. Steevens.

2 Should censure thus, &c.] To censure means, in this place, to pass sentence. So, in Hinde's Eliosto Libidinoso, 1606: "Eliosto and Cleodora were astonished at such a hard censure, and went to limbo most willingly." Steevens.

To censure, in our author's time, generally signified to give one's judgment, or opinion. Malone.

He would have given it you, but I, being in the way,
Did in your name receive it; pardon the fault, I pray.
Jul. Now, by my modesty, a goodly broker!3
Dare you presume to harbour wanton lines?
To whisper and conspire against my youth?
Now, trust me, 'tis an office of great worth,
And you an officer fit for the place.

There, take the paper, see it be return'd;
Or else return no more into my sight.

Luc. To plead for love deserves more fee, than hate.
Jul. Will you be gone?

Luc.

That you may ruminate. [Exit.
Jul. And yet, I would I had o'erlook'd the letter.
It were a shame to call her back again,

And pray her to a fault for which I chid her.
What fool is she, that knows I am a maid,
And would not force the letter to my view?
Since maids, in modesty, say No, to that
Which they would have the profferer construe, Ay.
Fie, fie! how wayward is this foolish love,
That, like a testy babe, will scratch the nurse,
And presently, all humbled, kiss the rod!

How churlishly I`chid Lucetta hence,
When willingly I would have had her here!
How angerly I taught my brow to frown,
When inward joy enforc'd my heart to smile!
My penance is, to call Lucetta back,

And ask remission for my folly past:-
What ho! Lucetta!

That you might kill your stomach on your meat,

3 — a goodly broker!] A broker was used for matchmaker, sometimes for a procuress. Johnson.

So, in Daniel's Complaint of Rosamond, 1599:

4

"And flie (o flie) these bed-brokers unclean,

"The monsters of our sex," &c. Steevens.

say No, to that, &c.] A paraphrase on the old proverb, "Maids say nay, and take it." Steevens.

5 stomach on your meat,] Stomach was used for passion, or obstinacy. Johnson.

Why didst thou stoop then?

Nothing concerning me.

Luc. To take a paper up, that I let fall.
Jul. And is that paper nothing?

Luc.

Jul. Then let it lie for those that it concerns. Luc. Madam, it will not lie where it concerns, Unless it have a false interpreter.

Jul. Some love of yours hath writ to you, in rhyme. Luc. That I might sing it, madam, to a tune:

Give me a note: your ladyship can set.

Jul. As little by such toys as may be possible:

Best sing it to the tune of Light o' love.

Luc. It is too heavy for so light a tune.

Jul. Heavy? belike, it hath some burden then.
Luc. Ay; and melodious were it, would you sing it.
Jul. And why not you?

Luc.

I cannot reach so high. Jul. Let's see your song:-How now, minion? Luc. Keep tune there still, so you will sing it out: And yet, methinks, I do not like this tune.

Jul. You do not?

Luc. No, madam; it is too sharp.
Jul. You, minion, are too saucy.

Luc. Nay, now you are too flat,

And mar the concord, with too harsh a descant:7
There wanteth but a mean, to fill your song.

Jul. The mean is drown'd with your unruly base.
Luc. Indeed, I bid the base for Proteus."

6 Light o' love.] This tune is given in a note on Much Ado About Nothing, Act III. sc. iv. Steevens.

7

too harsh a descant:] Descant is a term in music. See Sir John Hawkins's note, on the first speech in K. Richard III.

8

Steevens.

but a mean, &c.] The mean is the tenor in music. So, in the interlude of Mary Magdalen's Repentance, 1569:

"Utilitie can sing the base full cleane,

"And noble honour shall sing the meane." Steevens.

9 Indeed, I bid the base for Proteus.] The speaker here turns the allusion (which her mistress employed) from the base in mu

Jul. This babble shall not henceforth trouble me. Here is a coil with protestation!—

[Tears the letter.

Go, get you gone; and let the papers lie:

You would be fingering them, to anger me.

Luc. She makes it strange; but she would be best pleas'd

To be so anger'd with another letter.

[Exit.
Jul. Nay, would I were so anger'd with the same!
O hateful hands, to tear such loving words!
Injurious wasps! to feed on such sweet honey,
And kill the bees, that yield it, with your stings!
I'll kiss each several paper for amends,

And, here is writ-kind Julia ;—unkind Julia!
As in revenge of thy ingratitude,

I throw thy name against the bruising stones,
Trampling contemptuously on thy disdain.
Look, here is writ-love-wounded Proteus:—
Poor wounded name! my bosom, as a bed,
Shall lodge thee, till thy wound be thoroughly heal'd;
And thus I search it with a sovereign kiss.

But twice, or thrice, was Proteus written down?1
Be calm, good wind, blow not a word away,
Till I have found each letter in the letter,

Except mine own name; that some whirlwind bear

sick to a country exercise, Bid the base: in which some pursuc, and others are made prisoners. So that Lucetta would intend, by this, to say, Indeed I take pains to make you a captive to Proteus's passion. He uses the same allusion, in his Venus and Adonis: "To bid the winds a base he now prepares."

And, in his Cymbeline, he mentions the game:

Dr. Warburton is not quite accurate. The game was not called Bid the Base, but the Base. To bid the base means here, I believe, to challenge to a contest. So, in our author's Venus and Adonis : "To bid the wind a base he now prepares,

"And wh'er he run, or fly, they knew not whether." Again, in Hall's Chronicle, fol. 98. b: "The queen marched from York to Wakefield, and bade base to the duke, even before his castle." Malone.

Mr. Malone's explanation of the verb-bid, is unquestionably just. So, in one of the parts of K. Henry VI:

1

"Of force enough to bid his brother battle." Steevens.

written down?] To write down, is still a provincial expression, for to write. Henley.

Unto a ragged, fearful, hanging rock,
And throw it thence into the raging sea!

Lo, here in one line is his name twice writ.-
Poor forlorn Proteus, passionate Proteus,
To the sweet Julia; that I'll tear away;
And yet I will not, sith so prettily
He couples it to his complaining names;
Thus will I fold them one upon another;
Now kiss, embrace, contend, do what you will.
Re-enter LUCETTA.

Luc. Madam, dinner's ready, and your father stays. Jul. Well, let us go.

Luc. What, shall these papers lie, like tell-tales, here? Jul. If you respect them, best to take them up. Luc. Nay, I was taken up for laying them down: Yet here they shall not lie, for catching cold.2 Jul. I see, you have a month's mind to them.3

2 Yet here they shall not lie, for catching cold.] That is, as Mr. M. Mason observes, lest they should catch cold. This mode of expression (he adds) is not frequent in Shakspeare, but occurs in every play of Beaumont and Fletcher.

So, in The Captain:

"We'll have a bib, for spoiling of your doublet."

Again, in Love's Pilgrimage:

"Stir my horse, for catching cold.”

Again, in The Pilgrim:

"All her face patch'd, for discovery."

To these I shall add another instance from Barnabie Riche's Souldiers Wishe to Britons Welfare, or Captaine Skill and Captaine Pill, 1604, p. 64: "-such other ill disposed persons, being once pressed must be kept with continuall guard, &c. for running away." Again, in Chapman's version of the first Iliad:

then forked anchor cast,

“And 'gainst the violence of storms, for drifting made her fast."

Again, in Tusser's Five Hundred Pointes of Good Husbandrie, 1586: "Take heed how thou laiest the bane for the rats,

"For poisoning thy servant, thyself, and thy brats." Steevens. 3 I see, you have a month's mind to them.] A month's mind was an anniversary, in times of popery; or, as Mr. Ray calls it, a less solemnity, directed by the will of the deceased. There was also a year's mind, and a week's mind. See Proverbial Phrases.

This appears from the interrogatories and observations against the clergy, in the year 1552, Inter. 7: "Whether there are any months' minds, and anniversaries?" Strype's Memorials of the Reformation, Vol. II. p. 354.