And choke your good to come.

For his possessions,

Although by confiscation 39 they are ours,
We do instate and widow you withal,

To buy you a better husband.

Mari.

I crave no other, nor no better man.

O, my dear lord,

[Kneeling.

Duke. Never crave him; we are definitive.
Mari. Gentle, my liege,—

Duke.

You do but lose your labour;

Away with him to death.-Now, sir, [To LUCIO.] to

you.

Mari. O, my good lord!-Sweet Isabel, take my

Duke. Against all sense 40 you do impórtune her : Should she kneel down, in mercy of this fact, Her brother's ghost his paved bed would break, And take her hence in horror.

Mari.

Isabel,

Sweet Isabel, do yet but kneel by me;
Hold up your hands, say nothing, I'll speak all.
They say, best men are moulded out of faults;
And, for the most, become much more the better
For being a little bad: so may my husband.
O, Isabel! will you not lend a knee?

Duke. He dies for Claudio's death.

Isab.

Most bounteous sir, [Kneeling. Look, if it please you, on this man condemn'd, As if my brother liv'd: I partly think, A due sincerity govern'd his deeds,

Till he did look on me: since it is so,

39 The first folio has erroneously confutation; confiscation is the reading of the second.

40 Against all sense, i. e. against reason and affection.

Let him not die. My brother had but justice,
In that he did the thing for which he died:

For Angelc,

His act did not o'ertake his bad intent?

And must be buried but as an intent

That perish'd by the way11: thoughts are no subjects; Intents but merely thoughts.

Mari.

Merely, my lord. Duke. Your suit's unprofitable; stand up, I say.I have bethought me of another fault :Provost, how came it Claudio was beheaded At an unusual hour?

Prov.

:

It was commanded so.

Duke. Had you a special warrant for the deed? Prov. No, my good lord; it was by private message. Duke. For which I do discharge you of your office: Give up your keys.

Prov.

Pardon me, noble lord:
I thought it was a fault, but knew it not;
Yet did repent me, after more advice12 :
For testimony whereof, one in the prison
That should by private order else have died,
I have reserv'd alive.

Duke.

Prov.

What's he?

His name is Barnardine. Duke. I would thou had'st done so by Claudio.-— Go, fetch him hither; let me look upon him.

[Exit Provost. Escal. I am sorry, one so learned and so wise

41 i. e. like the traveller, who dies on his journey, is obscurely interred, and thought of no more:

"Illum expirantem

Obliti ignoto camporum in pulvere linquunt."

42 More advice, i. e. better consideration.

Sc. ?..

K. Henry V. Act ii

As you, lord Angelo, have still appear'd,
Should slip so grossly, both in the heat of blood,
And lack of temper'd judgment afterward.

Ang. I am sorry, that such sorrow I procure :
And so deep sticks it in my penitent heart,
That I crave death more willingly than mercy;
'Tis
my deserving, and I do entreat it.

Re-enter Provost, Barnardine, CLAUDIO, and JULIET.

Duke. Which is that Barnardine?

Prov.

This, my lord.

Duke. There was a friar told me of this man :— Sirrah, thou art said to have a stubborn soul, That apprehends no further than this world, And squar'st thy life according. Thou'rt condemn'd. But, for those earthly 13 faults, I quit them all;

And pray thee, take this mercy to provide

For better times to come :

-Friar, advise him;

I leave him to your hand.-What muffled fellow's

that?

Prov. This is another prisoner, that I sav'd,

That should have died when Claudio lost his head; As like almost to Claudio, as himself.

[Unmuffles CLAUDIO. Duke. If he be like your brother, [To ISABELLA.]

for his sake

Is he pardoned; And, for your lovely sake,
Give me your hand, and say you will be mine,
He is my brother too: But fitter time for that.
By this, lord Angelo perceives he's safe;
Methinks, I see a quick'ning in his eye :-
Well, Angelo, your evil quits you well:

43 i. e. so far as they are punishable on earth.

Look that

you love your wife; her worth, worth
44
yours

I find an apt remission in myself:

And yet here's one in place I cannot paraon;

You, sirrah, [To LUCIO.] that knew me for a fool, a coward,

One all of luxury, an ass, a madman ;
Wherein have I so deserved of you,
That you extol me thus ?

Lucio. 'Faith, my lord, I spoke it but according to
the trick 45: If you will hang me for it, you may, but
I had rather it would please you, I might be whipp'd.
Duke. Whipp'd first, sir, and hang'd after.—
Proclaim it, Provost, round about the city;
If any woman's wrong'd by this lewd fellow,
(As I have heard him swear himself, there's one
Whom he begot with child), let her appear,
And he shall marry her: the nuptial finished,
Let him be whipp'd and hang'd.

Lucio. I beseech your highness, do not marry me to a whore! Your highness said even now, I made you a duke; good my lord, do not recompense me in making me a cuckold.

Duke. Upon mine honour thou shalt marry her. Thy slanders I forgive: and therewithal

Remit thy other forfeits 46:-Take him to prison: And see our pleasure herein executed.

Lucio. Marrying a punk, my lord, is pressing to death, whipping, and hanging.

Duke. Slandering a prince deserves it.—

She, Claudio, that you wrong'd, look you restore.— Joy to you, Mariana !—love her, Angelo ;

44 Her worth worth yours; that is, her value is equal to yours, the match is not unworthy of you.

45 According to the trick, i. e. thoughtless practice.

46 Remit thy other forfeits, i. e. punishments.

I have confess'd her, and I know her virtue.—
Thanks, good friend Escalus, for thy much goodness :
There's more behind, that is more gratulate. 47
Thanks, Provost, for thy care and secrecy ;
We shall employ thee in a worthier place :-
Forgive him, Angelo, that brought you home
The head of Ragozine for Claudio's ;
The offence pardons itself.—Dear Isabel,
I have a motion much imports your good;
Whereto if you'll a willing ear incline,

What's mine is yours, and what is yours is mine
So, bring us to our palace; where we'll show

What's yet behind, that's meet you all should know.

[Exeunt.

47 More gratulate, that is, more to be rejoiced in; as Steevens rightly explained it. Dr. Jolinson's proposed arrangement of the text is very plausible; for it is evident, from the context, that this gratulation which is yet behind relates to Isabel, and not to Escalus, as Mason had imagined. In the Dedication to Lambarde's Archeion, which is dated 1591, the word occurs in this sense, to gratulate unto you that honourable place whereunto you are right worthily advanced." And in Thomas Heywood's Hierarchie of the blessed Angels, 1635, p. 240, “When his friends came about him to gratulate his unexpected safety, &c." In Hutton's Dictionary, 1583, "Rejoysing in ones behalfe: gratulation, thankes giving."

66

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