Re-enter LE BEAU.

poor Orlando! thou art overthrown;

Or Charles, or something weaker, masters thee.
LE BEAU. Good fir, I do in friendship counsel you
To leave this place: Albeit you have deferv'd
High commendation, true applause, and love;
Yet fuch is now the duke's condition, 8

That he mifconftrues all that you have done.
The duke is humorous; what he is, indeed,
More fuits you to conceive, than me to speak of."
ORL. I thank you, fir: and, pray you, tell me this;
Which of the two was daughter of the duke
That here was at the wrestling?

LE BEAU. Neither his daughter, if we judge by

manners;

But yet, indeed, the fhorter is his daughter:

8 the duke's condition,] The word condition means character, temper, difpofition. So Antonio, the merchant of Venice, is called by his friend the beft condition'd man. JOHNSON.

9

than me to speak of.] The old copy has-than I. Corrected by Mr. Rowe. MALONE.

2

the fhorter-] Thus Mr. Pope. The old copy readsthe taller. Mr. Malone-the smaller. STEEVENS.

Some change is abfolutely neceffary, for Rofalind, in a fubfequent fcene, exprefsly fays that he is "more than common tall,” and affigns that as a reafon for her affuming the drefs of a man, while her coufin Celia retained her female apparel. Again, in Act IV. fc. iii. Celia is defcribed by these words" the woman low, and browner than her brother;" i. e. Rofalind. Mr. Pope reads—“ the shorter is his daughter;" which has been admitted in all the fubfequent editions: but furely horter and taller could never have been confounded by either the eye or the ear. The prefent emendation, it is hoped, has a preferable claim to a place in the text, as being much nearer to the corrupted reading. MALONE.

Shakspeare fometimes fpeaks of little women, but I do not recollect that he, or any other writer, has mentioned fmall ones. Otherwife, Mr. Malone's conjecture should have found a place in our text. STEEVENS,

The other is daughter to the banish'd duke,
And here detain'd by her ufurping uncle,
To keep his daughter company; whofe loves
Are dearer than the natural bond of fifters.
But I can tell you, that of late this duke
Hath ta'en displeasure 'gainst his gentle niece;
Grounded upon no other argument,

But that the people praise her for her virtues,
And pity her for her good father's fake;
And, on my life, his malice 'gainst the lady
Will fuddenly break forth.-Sir, fare you well;
Hereafter, in a better world than this,"
I fhall defire more love and knowledge of
ORL. I reft much bounden to you: fare you well!

you.

[Exit LE BEAU. Thus muft I from the fmoke into the fmother; From tyrant duke, unto a tyrant brother:But heavenly Rofalind!

SCENE III.

A Room in the Palace.

Enter CELIA and ROSALIND.

[Exit.

CEL. Why, coufin; why, Rofalind ;-Cupid have mercy!-Not a word?

Ros. Not one to throw at a dog.

CEL. No, thy words are too precious to be caft away upon curs, throw fome of them at me; come, lame me with reasons.

Ros. Then there were two coufins laid up; when the one should be lamed with reafons, and the other mad without any.

2

fc. iii:

in a better world than this,] So, in Coriolanus, A& III. "There is a world elsewhere." STEEVENS.

CEL. But is all this for your father?

Ros. No, fome of it is for my child's father: O, how full of briars is this working-day world!

31

3

CEL. They are but burs, coufin, thrown upon thee in holyday foolery; if we walk not in the trodden paths, our very petticoats will catch them. Ros. I could shake them off my coat; these burs are in my heart.

CEL. Hem them away.

Ros. I would try; if I could cry hem, and have him. CEL. Come, come, wrestle with thy affections. Ros. O, they take the part of a better wrestler than myself.

CEL. O, a good wish upon you! you time, in despite of a fall.-But, turning thefe jests will try in out of fervice, let us talk in good carneft: Is it poffible, on fuch a fudden, you should fall into fo ftrong a liking with old fir Rowland's youngest fon?

Ros. The duke my father lov'd his father dearly. CEL. Doth it therefore enfue, that you fhould love his fon dearly? By this kind of chase, I should hate him, for my father hated his father dearly; yet I hate not Orlando.

my fake.

Ros. No 'faith, hate him not, for
CEL. Why fhould I not? doth he not deferve well?s

3 for my child's father :] i. e. for him whom I hope to marry, and have children by. THEOBALD.

4 By this kind of chafe,] That is, by this way of following the argument. Dear is ufed by Shakspeare in a double fenfe for beloved, and for hurtful, hated, baleful. Both fenfes are authorised, and both drawn from etymology; but properly, beloved is dear, and hateful is dere. Rofalind ufes dearly in the good, and Celia in the bad fenfe. JOHNSON.

5 Why Should I not? doth he not deferve well?] Celia anfwers Rofalind, (who had defired her "not to hate Örlando, for her

Ros. Let me love him for that; and do you love him, because I do:-Look, here comes the duke. CEL. With his eyes full of anger.

Enter Duke FREDERICK, with Lords.

DUKE F. Miftrefs, defpatch you with your hafte,

And get you from our court.

Ros.

DUKE F.

fafeft

Me uncle?

You, coufin:

Within these ten days if that thou be'ft found
So near our publick court as twenty miles,
Thou dieft for it.

Ros.

I do beseech your grace,

Let me the knowledge of my fault bear with me:
If with myself I hold intelligence,

Or have acquaintance with mine own defires;
If that I do not dream, or be not frantick,
(As I do truft I am not,) then, dear uncle,
Never, fo much as in a thought unborn,
Did I offend your highness.

DUKE F.

Thus do all traitors;

If their purgation did consist in words,
They are as innocent as grace itfelf:-
Let it fuffice thee, that I trust thee not.

Ros. Yet your miftruft cannot make me a traitor: Tell me, whereon the likelihood depends.

fake,") as if she had faid—" love him, for my fake:" to which the former replies, Why should I not [i. e. love him]? So, in

the following paffage, in King Henry VIII:

66

Which of the peers

"Have uncontemn'd gone by him, or at least
"Strangely neglected?"

Uncontemn'd must be understood as if the author had written-not contemn'd; otherwife the fubfequent words would convey a meaning directly contrary to what the speaker intends. MALONE.

DUKE F. Thou art thy father's daughter, there's

enough.

Ros. So was I, when your highness took his dukedom;

So was I, when your highness banish'd him:
Treafon is not inherited, my lord;

Or, if we did derive it from our friends,
What's that to me? my father was no traitor:
Then, good my liege, mistake me not so much,
To think my poverty is treacherous.

CEL. Dear fovereign, hear me speak.

DUKE F. Ay, Celia; we ftay'd her for your fake, Elfe had she with her father rang'd along.

CEL. I did not then entreat to have her stay, It was your pleasure, and your own remorfe;" I was too young that time to value her, But now I know her: if she be a traitor, Why fo am I; we ftill have slept together, Rofe at an inftant, learn'd, play'd, eat together;" And wherefoe'er we went, like Juno's fwans, Still we went coupled, and infeparable.

DUKE F. She is too fubtle for thee; and her fmoothness,

Her very filence, and her patience,

Speak to the people, and they pity her.
Thou art a fool: the robs thee of thy name;

6

remorfe ;] i. e. compaffion. So, in Macbeth:

Stop the accefs and paffage to remorse." STEEVENS. 7 we ftill have flept together,

Rofe at an inftant, learn'd, play'd, eat together;] Youthful friendship is defcribed in nearly the fame terms in a book published the year in which this play first appeared in print. They ever went together, plaid together, cate together, and ufually flept together, out of the great love that was between them." Life of Guzman de Alfarache, folio, printed by Edward Blount, 1623, P. I. B. 1. viii. P. 75. REED.

C.