2

Who lets go by no vantages, that may
Prefer you to his daughter: Frame yourself
To orderly solicits'; and be friended
With aptness of the season: make denials
Increase your services: so seem, as if
You were inspir'd to do those duties which
You tender to her; that you in all obey her,
Save when command to your dismission tends,
And therein you are senseless.

CLO.

Senseless? not so.

Enter a Messenger.

MESS. So like you, sir, ambassadors from Rome; The one is Caius Lucius.

CYM.

A worthy fellow, Albeit he comes on angry purpose now;

But that's no fault of his: We must receive him According to the honour of his sender;

And towards himself his goodness forespent on us We must extend our notice 3.-Our dear son, When you have given good morning to your mistress,

To orderly SOLICITS;] i. e. regular courtship, courtship after the established fashion. STEEVENS.

The oldest copy reads-solicity. The correction was made by the editor of the second folio. MALOne.

and BE FRIENDED, &c.] We should read:

66

and befriended

"With aptness of the season."

That is, "with solicitations not only proper but well timed." So Terence says: "In tempore ad eam veni, quod omnium rerum

est primum." M. MASON.

3 And towards himself his goodness forespent on us

We must extend our notice.] i. e. The good offices done by him to us heretofore. WARBURTON.

That is, we must extend towards himself our notice of his goodness heretofore shown to us. Our author has many similar ellipses. So, in Julius Cæsar:

"Thine honourable metal may be wrought
"From what it is dispos'd [to]."

See again, in this play, p. 83. MALONE.

Attend the queen, and us; we shall have need To employ you towards this Roman.-Come, our queen.

[Exeunt Crм. Queen, Lords, and Mess. CLO. If she be up, I'll speak with her; if not, Let her lie still, and dream.-By your leave ho!— [Knocks.

I know her women are about her; What
If I do line one of their hands? 'Tis gold

Which buys admittance; oft it doth; yea, and makes

Diana's rangers false themselves, yield up

Their deer to the stand of the stealer; and 'tis

gold

Which makes the true man kill'd, and saves the

thief;

Nay, sometime, hangs both thief and true man:

What

Can it not do, and undo? I will make
One of her women lawyer to me; for
I yet not understand the case myself.
By your leave.

Enter a Lady.

LADY. Who's there, that knocks?

CLO.

LADY.

[Knocks.

A gentleman.

No more?

CLO. Yes, and a gentlewoman's son.
LADY.

That's more

4 FALSE themselves,] Perhaps, in this instance false is not an adjective, but a verb; and as such is used in The Comedy of Errors: "Nay, not sure, in a thing falsing." Act II. Sc. II. Spenser often has it:

"Thou falsed hast thy faith with perjury." STEEVENS. So, in Tamburlaine, Part I.:

"And he that could with gifts and promises,

66

Inveigle him that had a thousand horse,

"And make him false his faith unto the king." MALONE.

Than some, whose tailors are as dear as yours,
Can justly boast of: What's your lordship's plea-
sure?

CLO. Your lady's person: Is she ready?
LADY.

To keep her chamber.

Ay,

CLO. There's gold for you; sell me your good

report.

LADY. HOW! my good name? or to report of

you

What I shall think is good ?-The princess

Enter IMOGEN.

CLO. Good morrow, fairest: sister your sweet hand.

IMO. Good-morrow, sir: You lay out too much

pains

For purchasing but trouble: the thanks I give,
Is telling you that I am poor of thanks,
And scarce can spare them.

CLO.

Still, I swear, I love you. IMO. If you but said so, 'twere as deep with me: If you swear still, your recompense is still

That I regard it not.

CLO.

This is no answer.

IMO. But that you shall not say I yield, being

silent,

I would not speak. I pray you, spare me : i' faith, I shall unfold equal discourtesy

To your best kindness; one of your great knowing Should learn, being taught, forbearance 5.

CLO. To leave you in your madness, 'twere my sin:

I will not.

5

one of your GREAT KNOWING Should learn, being TAUGHT, forbearance.] is taught forbearance should learn it. JOHNSON.

i. e. A man who

IMO. Fools are not mad folks 6.

CLO.

IMO. As I am mad, I do:

Do you call me fool?

If you'll be patient, I'll no more be mad;
That cures us both. I am much sorry, sir,
You put me to forget a lady's manners,
By being so verbal and learn now, for all,
That I, which know my heart, do here pronounce,
By the very truth of it, I care not for
And am so near the lack of charity,
(To accuse myself) I hate you: which I had rather
You felt, than make't my boast.

you;

CLO. You sin against Obedience, which you owe your father. For

8

The contract you pretend with that base wretch,
(One, bred of alms, and foster'd with cold dishes,
With scraps o' the court,) it is no contract, none:
And though it be allow'd in meaner parties,
(Yet who, than he more mean?) to knit their
souls

(On whom there is no more dependency
But brats and beggary) in self-figur'd knot';

Fools are not mad folks.] This, as Cloten very well understands it, is a covert mode of calling him fool. The meaning implied is this: If I am mad, as you tell me, I am what you can never be," Fools are not mad folks." STEEVENS.

7 -SO VERBAL :] Is, so verbose, so full of talk. JOHNSON. 8 The contract, &c.] Here Shakspeare has not preserved, with his common nicety, the uniformity of his character. The speech of Cloten is rough and harsh, but certainly not the talk of one"Who can't take two from twenty, for his heart, "And leave eighteen-."

His argument is just and well enforced, and its prevalence is allowed throughout all civil nations: as for rudeness, he seems not to be much undermatched. JOHNSON.

-

We should

9 in SELF-FIGUR'D knot ;] This is nonsense. read-self-finger'd knot, i. e. A knot solely of their own tying, without any regard to parents, or other more publick considerations. WARBURTON.

But why nonsense? A self-figured knot is a knot formed by yourself. JOHNSON.

Yet you are curb'd from that enlargement by
The consequence o' the crown; and must not soil'
The precious note of it with a base slave,

A hilding for a livery 2, a squire's cloth,

A pantler, not so eminent.

IMO.

Profane fellow!

Wert thou the son of Jupiter, and no more,
But what thou art besides, thou wert too base
To be his groom: thou wert dignified enough,
Even to the point of envy, if 'twere made
Comparative for your virtues, to be styl'd

The under-hangman of his kingdom; and hated
For being preferr'd so well.

CLO.

The south-fog rot him! IMO. He never can meet more mischance, than

come

To be but nam'd of thee. His meanest garment,
That ever hath but clipp'd his body, is dearer,
In my respect, than all the hairs above thee,
Were they all made such men.-How now, Pisa-
nio * ?

I

Enter PISANIO.

CLO. His garment? Now, the devil

IMO. To Dorothy my woman hie thee presently:-
CLO. His garment?

1 - soil-] Old copy-foil. See vol. xii. p. 201, n. 8.

STEEVENS.

2 A HILDING for a livery,] A low fellow, only fit to wear a livery, and serve as a lacquey. See vol. v. p. 412, n. 3.

3

MALONE.

- if 'twere made COMPARATIVE for your virtues,] If it were considered as a compensation adequate to your virtues, to be styled, &c. MALONE. 4 Were they all made such men.-How now, Pisanio?] Sir T. Hanmer regulates this line thus:

66

all such men,

"Clot. How now?

"Imo. Pisanio!" JOHNSON.