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Boult. We should have both lord and lown, if the peevish baggage would but give way to customers.

Enter LYSIMACHUS.

Lys. How now? How a dozen of virginities?5 Bawd. Now, the gods to-bless your honour!6 Boult. I am glad to see your honour in good health. Lys. You may so; 'tis the better for you that your resorters stand upon sound legs. How now, wholesome iniquity? Have you that a man may deal withal, and defy the surgeon?

Bawd. We have here one, sir, if she would

there never came her like in Mitylene.

say.

but

Lys. If she'd do the deeds of darkness, thou would'st

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"d. Your honour knows what 'tis to say, well enough. Lys. Well; call forth, call forth.

Boult. For flesh and blood, sir, white and red, you shall see a rose; and she were a rose indeed, if she had but

Lys. What, pr'ythee?

Boult. O, sir, I can be modest.

Lys. That dignifies the renown of a bawd, no less than it gives a good report to a number to be chaste.

So also, in the Gesta Romanorum: "Cum Lenone antecedente et tuba, tertia die cum symphonia ducitur [Tharsia] ad lupanar. Sed Athenagoras princeps primus ingreditur velato corpore. Tharsia autem videns eum projecit se ad pedes ejus, et ait," &c. No mention is made in the Confessio Amantis of this interview between Athenagoras (the Lysimachus of our play) and the daughter of Appollinus. So that Shakspeare must have taken this circumstance either from Kyng Appolyn of Thyre, or some other translation of the Gesta Romanorum. Malone. The same circumstances are found in Twine's translation. Steevens. 5 How now? How a dozen of virginities ?] For what price may a dozen of virginities be had? So, in King Henry IV, Part II: "How a score of ewes now?" Malone.

6 Now, the gods to-bless your honour!] This use of to in composition with verbs (as Mr. Tyrwhitt remarks) is very common in Gower and Chaucer. See Vol. III, p. 131, n. 4. Steevens. wholesome iniquity?] Thus the quarto, 1609. The se cond quarto and the modern editions read-impunity.

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Malone

8 That dignifies the renown of a bawd, no less than it gives a good report to a number to be chaste.] This is the reading of the

Enter MARINA.

Bawd. Here comes that which grows to the stalk;never plucked yet, I can assure you. Is she not a fair creature?

Lys. 'Faith, she would serve after a long voyage at sea. Well, there 's for you ;-leave us.

Bawd. I beseech your honour, give me leave: a word, and I'll have done presently.

Lys. I beseech you, do.

Bawd. First, I would have you note, this is an honourable man. [To MAR. whom she takes aside. Mar. I desire to find him so, that I may worthily note him.

Bawd. Next, he 's the governor of this country, and a man whom I am bound to.

Mar. If he govern the country, you are bound to him indeed; but how honourable he is in that, I know not. Bawd. 'Pray you, without any more virginal fencing, will you use him kindly? He will line your apron with gold.

Mar. What he will do graciously, I will thankfully receive.

Lys. Have you done?

Bawd. My lord, she 's not paced yet;1 you must take some pains to work her to your manage. Come, we will leave his honour and her together.2

[Exeunt Bawd, PAND. and BoULT.

quarto, 1619. The first quarto has-That dignities &c. Perhaps the poet wrote-That dignity is the renown &c. The word number is, I believe, a misprint; but I know not how to rectify it. Malone. The intended meaning of the passage should seem to be this: "The mask of modesty is no less successfully worn by procuresses than by wantons. It palliates grossness of profession in the former, while it exempts a multitude of the latter from suspicion of being what they are. 'Tis politick for each to assume the appearance of this quality, though neither of them in reality possess it."-I join with Mr. Malone, however, in supposing this sentence to be corrupt. Steevens.

9 without any more virginal fencing,] This uncommon adjective occurs again in Coriolanus:

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the virginal palms of your daughters" Malone. 1 My lord, she's not paced yet;] She has not yet learned her paces. Malone.

2 Come, we will leave his honour and her together.] The first VOL. XVII.

Z

Lys. Go thy ways. Now, pretty one, how long have you been at this trade?

Mar. What trade, sir?

Lys. What I cannot name but I shall offend.3

Mar. I cannot be offended with my trade. Please you to name it.

Lys. How long have you been of this profession?
Mar. Ever since I can remember.

Lys. Did you go to it so young? Were you a gamester at five, or at seven?4

Mar. Earlier too, sir, if now I be one.

Lys. Why, the house you dwell in, proclaims you to be a creature of sale.

Mar. Do you know this house to be a place of such resort, and will come into it? I hear say, you are of honourable parts, and are the governor of this place.

Lys. Why, hath your principal made known to you who I am?

Mar. Who is my principal?

Lys. Why, your herb-woman; she that sets seeds and roots of shame and iniquity. O, you have heard something of my power, and so stand aloof for more serious wooing. But I protest to thee, pretty one, my authority shall not see thee, or else, look friendly upon thee. Come, bring me to some private place. Come, come.

quarto adds Go thy ways. These words, which denote both authority and impatience, I think, belong to Lysimachus. He had before expressed his desire to be left alone with Marina: Well, there 's for you;—leave us.” Malone.

These words may signify only-Go back again, and might have been addressed by the bawd to Marina, who had offered to quit the room with her. Steevens.

3 What I cannot name but I shall offend.] The old copies read: Why I cannot name &c. Malone.

I read-What I cannot &c. So, in Measure for Measure:

"What but to speak of would offend again." Steevens. 4 Were you a gamester at five or at seven ?] A gamester was formerly used to signify a wanton. So, in All's Well that Ends Well:

"She 's impudent, my lord,

"And was a common gamester to the camp." Malone. Again, in Troilus and Cressida:

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sluttish spoils of opportunity,

"And daughters of the game.”

Steevens.

and so stand alcof] Old copies-aloft. Corrected by Mr. Rowe. Malone.

Mar. If you were born to honour, show it now;6 If put upon you, make the judgment good

That thought you worthy of it.

Lys. How 's this? how 's this?-Some more ;-be sage.7

Mar. For me,

That am a maid, though most ungentle fortune
Hath plac'd me here within this loathsome stie,
Where, since I came, discases have been sold
Dearer than physick,-O that the good gods
Would set me free from this unhallow'd place,
Though they did change me to the meanest bird
That flies i' the purer air!

Lys.

I did not think

Thou could'st have spoke so well; ne'er dream'd thou could'st.

Had I brought hither a corrupted mind,

Thy speech had alter'd it. Hold, here 's gold for thee: Perséver still in that clear way thou goest,

6 If you were born to honour, show it now;] In the Gesta Romanorum, Tharsia (the Marina of the present play) preserves her chastity by the recital of her story: "Miserere me propter Deum et per Deum te adjuro, ne me violes. Resiste libidini tuæ, et audi casus infelicitatis meæ, et unde sim diligenter considera. Cui cum universos casus suos exposuisset, princeps confusus et pietate plenus, ait ei,- Habeo et ego filiam tibi similem, de qua similes casus metuo.' Hæc dicens, dedit ei viginti aureos, dicens, ecce habes amplius pro viginitate quam impositus est. Dic advenientibus sicut mihi dixisti, et liberaberis."

The affecting circumstance which is here said to have struck the mind of Athenagoras, (the danger to which his own daughter was liable) was probably omitted in the translation. It hardly, otherwise, would have escaped our author. Malone. It is preserved in Twinc's translation, as follows: "Be of good cheere, Tharsia, for surely I rue thy case; and I myselfe have also a daughter at home, to whome I doubt that the like chances may befall," &c. Steevens.

7 Some more;-be sage.] Lysimachus says this with a sneer.-Proceed with your fine moral discourse. Malone.

8 Perséver still in that clear way thou goest,] Continue in your present virtuous disposition. So, in The Two Noble Kinsmen, 1634:

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"Of clear virginity, be advocate

"For us and our distresses."

Malone.

See Timon of Athens, Act III, sc. iii, Vol. XVI. Steeevens.

And gods strengthen thee!

Mar. The gods preserve you!
Lys.

For me, be you thoughten

That I came with no ill intent; for to me
The very doors and windows savour vilely.
Farewel. Thou art a piece of virtue, and
I doubt not but thy training hath been noble.--
Hold; here's more gold for thee.-

A curse upon him, die he like a thief,

That robs thee of thy goodness! If thou hear'st from me, It shall be for thy good.

[As Lys. is putting up his Purse, BOULT enters. Boult. I beseech your honour, one piece for me. Lys. Avaunt, thou damned door-keeper! Your house, But for this virgin that doth prop it up,

Would sink, and overwhelm you all. Away! [Exit. Lys.

Boult. How's this? We must take another course with you. If your peevish chastity, which is not worth a breakfast in the cheapest country under the cope,1 shall undo a whole household, let me be gelded like a spaniel. Come your ways.

Mar. Whither would you have me?

Boult. I must have your maidenhead taken off, or the common hangman shall execute it. Come your way. We'll have no more gentlemen driven away. Come your ways, I say.

I

Re-enter Bawd,

Bawd. How now! what 's the matter?

Boult. Worse and worse, mistress; she has here spoken holy words to the lord Lysimachus.

Bawd. O abominable!

Boult. She makes our profession as it were to stink afore the face of the gods.2

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Tempest:

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a piece of virtue,] This expression occurs in The

thy mother was

"A piece of virtue --.”

Steevens.

Again, in Antony and Cleopatra:

"Let not the piece of virtue, which is set

"Betwixt us,

Octavius is the person alluded to. Malone.

1 under the cope,] i. e. under the cope or covering of hea ven. The word is thus used in Cymbeline. In Coriolanus we have "under the canopy;" with the same meaning. Steevens.

2

She makes our profession as it were to stink afore the face of

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