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For wisdom's fake, a word that all men love;
Or for love's fake, a word that moves all men ;
Or for men's fake, the author of these women;
Or women's fake, by whom we men are men;
Let us once lose our oaths, to find ourselves;
Or else we lose ourselves, to keep our oaths.
It is religion to be thus forfworn,

For charity itself fulfills the law;

And who can fever love from charity?

King. Saint Cupid, then! and, foldiers, to the field! Biron. Advance your ftandards, and upon them, lords; Pellmell, down with them! but be first advis'd,

In conflict that you get the fun of them.

Long. Now to plaindealing; lay these gloffes by: Shall we refolve to woo these girls of France?

King. And win them too; therefore let us devise

Some entertainment for them in their tents.

Biron. First, from the park let us conduct them thither;
Then, homeward, every man attach the hand
Of his fair mistress; in the afternoon

We will with some strange pastime folace them,
Such as the shortnefs of the time can shape:
For revels, dances, masks, and merry hours,
Forerun fair love, ftrewing her way with flowers.
King. Away, away! no time fhall be omitted,
That will be time, and may by us be fitted.
Biron. Allons! Allons! fowed cockle reaps no corn,
And justice always whirls in equal measure:
Light wenches may prove plagues to men forfworn;
If so, our copper buys no better treasure.

[Exeunt.

ACT

*****

A CT V. SCENE I.

Enter Holofernes, Nathaniel, and Dull.

Atis quod fufficit.

Satis

HOLOFERNES.

******

Nath. I praife god for you, fir; your reasons at dinner have been sharp and fententious; pleafant without fcurrility, witty without affectation, audacious without impudency, learned without opinion, and ftrange without herefy: I did converse this quondam-day with a companion of the king's, who is entitled, nominated, or called, don Adriano de Armado.

Hol. Novi hominem tanquam te. His humour is lofty, his discourse peremptory, his tongue filed, his eye ambitious, his gait majestical, and his general behaviour vain, ridiculous, and thrafonical. He is too picked, too spruce, too affected, too odd, as it were, too peregrinate, as I may call it. Nath. A moft fingular and choice epithet!

[draws out his tablebook. Hol. He draweth out the thread of his verbofity finer than the staple of his argument. I abhor fuch fanatical phantafms, fuch infociable and point-devife companions, fuch rackers of orthography, as do fpeak, dout, fine, when he fhould fay, doubt; det, when he fhould pronounce debt; d, e, b, t; not d, e, t: he clepeth a calf, cauf: half, hauf: neighbour vocatur nebour; neigh, abbreviated ne: this is abominable, which we would call abhominable, it infinuateth to me of infany: ne intelligis, domine? to make frantick, lunatick?

Nath. Laus deo, bone intelligo.

Hol. Bone? bone for benè; Prifcian a little scratch'd, 'twill ferve.

SCENE

SCENE II.

Enter Armado, Moth, and Coftard.

Nath. Videfne quis venit?

Hol. Video, & gaudeo.

Arm. Chirra!

Hol. Quare chirra, not firrah?

Arm. Men of peace, well encountred.

Hol. Moft military fir, falutation.

Moth. They have been at a great feast of languages, and stole the fcraps.

Coft. O, they have liv'd long on the almsbasket of words. I marvel, thy mafter hath not eaten thee for a word, for thou art not fo long by the head as honorificabilitudinitatibus : thou art eafier fwallow'd than a flapdragon.

Moth. Peace the peal begins.

Arm. Monfieur, are you not letter'd?

Moth. Yes, yes, he teaches boys the hornbook:

What is A B spelt backward with the horn on his head?

Hol. Ba, pueritia, with a horn added.

Moth. Ba, moft filly fheep with a horn. You hear his learning. Hol. Quis, quis, thou confonant?

Moth. The third of the five vowels, if you repeat them, or the fifth, if I.

Hol. I will repeat them, a, e, i,---

Moth. The fheep; the other two concludes it, o, u.

Arm. Now, by the falt wave of the Mediterraneum, a fweet touch, a quick venew of wit; fnip, fnap, quick and home`; it rejoiceth my intellect; true wit.

Moth. Offer'd by a child to an old man: which is wit-old. Hol. What is the figure? what is the figure?

Moth. Horns.

Hol. Thou disputest like an infant; go, whip thy gig. Moth. Lend me your horn to make one, and I will whip your infamy circum circa, a gig of a cuckold's horn.

about

Coft.

Coft. An I had but one penny in the world, thou should'st have it to buy gingerbread; hold, there is the very remuneration I had of thy master, thou half-penny purfe of wit, thou pigeon-egg of discretion. O, an the heav'ns were so pleased, that thou wert but my bastard! what a joyful father wouldst thou make me? go to, thou haft it ad dunghil, at the finger's ends, as they say.

Hol. O, I fmell falfe latin, dunghil for unguem.

Arm. Arts-man, præambula; we will be fingled from the barbarous. Do you not educate youth at the charge-house on the top of the mountain?

Hol. Or, mons, the hill.

Arm. At your fweet pleasure, for the mountain.

Hol. I do, fans question.

Arm. Sir, it is the king's most sweet pleasure and affection, to congratulate the princess at her pavilion, in the posterior of this day, which the rude multitude call, the afternoon.

Hol. The pofterior of the day, moft generous fir, is liable, congruent, and measurable for the afternoon: the word is well cull'd, choice, sweet, and apt, I do affure you, fir, I do affure.

Arm. Sir, the king is a noble gentleman, and my familiar, I do affure ye, my very good friend; for what is inward between us, let it pass-I do befeech thee, remember thy courtesy; I beseech thee, apparel thy head—and among other importunate and most serious designs, and of great import, indeed, too— but let that pass—for I rnuft tell thee, it will please his grace, by the world, fometime to lean upon my poor shoulder; and with his royal finger thus dally with my excrement, with my mustachio; but, fweet heart, let that pass — by the world, I recount no fable; some certain fpecial honours it pleaseth his greatness to impart to Armado, a foldier, a man of travel, that hath feen the world; but let that pass the very all of all is but, fweet heart, I do implore fecrecy that the king would have me present the princess, fweet chuck, with fome delightful oftentation, or show, or pageant, or antick, or firework. Now, understanding that the curate and your sweet self are good at fuch eruptions, and

fudden

fudden breaking out of mirth, as it were, I have acquainted you withal, to the end to crave your affiftance.

Hol. Sir, you fhall present before her the nine worthies. Sir, [to Nathaniel] as concerning fome entertainment of time, fome how in the pofterior of this day, to be render'd by our affistance at the king's command, and this moft gallant, illustrate, and learned gentleman; before the princess: I fay, none so fit as to present the nine worthies.

Nath. Where will you find men worthy enough to present them?

Hol. Joshua, yourself; this gallant gentleman, Judas Maccabeus; this fwain, because of his great limb or joint, fhall pafs for Pompey the great; and the and the page, Hercules.

Arm. Pardon, fir, errour: he is not quantity enough for that worthy's thumb; he is not fo big as the end of his club.

Hol. Shall I have audience? he fhall prefent Hercules in minority: his enter and exit fhall be, ftrangling a snake; and I will have an apology for that purpose.

Moth. An excellent device! fo, if any of the audience hifs, you may cry, well done, Hercules! now thou crufheft the fnake! that is the way to make an offence gracious, though few have the grace to know it.

Arm. For the reft of the worthies?

Hol. I will play three myself.
Moth. Thrice worthy gentleman!
Arm. Shall I tell you a thing?

Hol. We attend.

Arm. We will have, if this fadge not, an antick. I befeech you, follow.

Hol. Via! goodman Dull, thou haft spoken no word all this

while.

Dull. Nor understood none neither, fir.

Hol. Allons! we will employ thee.

Dull. F'll make one in a dance, or fo: or I will play on the tabour to the worthies, and let them dance the hay.

Hol. Moft Dull, honest Dull, to our sport away.

VOL. II.

S

[Exeunt.

SCENE

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