University of Virginia Library

ACT I.

SCENE I.

Enter Duke, Angelo, and Attendants.
Duke.
I'm sure in this your science does exceed
The measures of advice; and to your skill,
By deputation, I resolve to leave a while
My place and strength.

Ang.
Your Highness does amaze me with your trust.

Duke.
Your Brother will be here to night; and brings
His share of Victory and fair renown.
That Victory gives me now free leisure to
Pursue my old design of travelling;
Whilst, hiding what I am, in fit disguise,
I may compare the Customs, prudent Laws,
And managements of foreign States with ours.

Ang.
Your Highness has a plenteous choice of men,
Whom you may here depute with more success,
Than my abilities can promise.

Duke.
Here, take our Commission—
In which we have enabled you with all
The sev'ral strengths and organs of my Pow'r:
Your youth may bear that weight, which tires my Age.

Ang.
In this acceptance, Sir, I do with some
Unwillingness obey your pleasure.

Duke.
Heaven does with us, as we with Torches do,
Not light them for themselves, but others use.
For if our virtues go not forth of us,
It were alike as if we had them not.
Be thou at full our self, whilst we are absent
From our Seat in Turin.

Ang.
Sir, I could wish
There were more tryal of my mettle made,
Before so noble and so great
A Figure as your own be stampt on it.

Duke.
No more evasion,
I have proceeded towards you with choice,
[Enter Eschalus.
Sufficiently prepar'd. Good Eschalus
Your ceremony now of taking leave
Must needs be short. You know the purpose of
My trust to Angelo, who here has my
Commission seal'd.

Esch.
Your Highness having been
So long resolv'd to travel, could not leave
A Deputation of your Pow'r in better hands.

Duke.
Farewel! our haste from hence is of import.
You shall, as time and fit occasion serves,
Have Letters from us; and I hope to know,
With equal care, what does befall you here.

Ang.
Will not your Highness give us leave to bring
You onward on the way?

Duke.
My haste permits it not.
You need not (on mine honour) have to do
With scruple, for your scope is as mine own;
So to inforce, or qualifie the Laws,
As to your soul seems good. Give me your hand,
I'll privately away; I love the People;
But would not on a Stage salute the Crowd.
I never relisht their applause; nor think
the Prince has true discretion who affects it.
Be kind still to your Brother Benedick,
And give him that respect which he
Hath by his share in Victory deserv'd.
Once more farewell.

Ang.
The Heavens give safety to your purposes.

Esch.
Lead forth, and bring you back in happiness.

[Ex. Duke.
Ang.
I shall desire you Eschalus, to let
Me have free speech with you: for it concerns
Me much to see the bottom of my place.
The Duke has left me pow'r, but of what strength
And nature it will prove, may haply
Require your friendship to consider.

Esch.
My Lord, if it shall please you to withdraw,
You may command my secresie and service.

[Exeunt.
Enter Beatrice, Julietta, Viola, Balthazar.
Beat.
Does Signior Benedick return to night?

Balt.
We may expect him presently. He brings
A share of conquest with him, and intends
To make a modest Entry here by stealth:
But he is still as pleasant as you left him.

Beat.
How many has he kill'd, and eaten, in
These Wars? but pray, how many has he kill'd?
For I promis'd to eat all of his killing.

Balt.
He has done great service in these Wars, Lady.

Beat.
Sure you had musty victual then;
And he has helpt to eat it. I know, Sir,
He is a valiant Trencher-man, and has
A good stomach.

Balt.
He is a good Souldier, Lady.

Beat.
A good Souldier
To a Lady, but what is he to a Lord?

Balt.
A Lord to a Lord, a man to a man:
Stuft with all honourable virtues.

Beat.
He is, indeed, no less than a stuft man.
But for the stuffing—Well, we are all mortal.

Jul.
Do not mistake my Cousin Beatrice, Sir,
There is a kind of a merry war between
Count Benedick and her: they never meet,
But there is a skirmish of wit between 'em.

Beat.
He got nothing by that. In our last encounter
Four of his five wits did go halting off;
And now the whole man is govern'd by one.
I pray, Sir, who's his Companion now? for he was wont,
Every Month to have a new sworn Brother.

Balt.
Is't possible?

Beat.
Very possible.
He wears his faith but as the fashion of
His Hat; it still changes with the next Block.

Balt.
Madam, the Gentleman is not in your Books.

Viol.
If he were, I have heard my Sister say
She would burn her Study.

Balt.
Small Mistress, have you learnt that in your Primer?
This, Madam, is your pretty Bud of wit.

Viol.
A Bud that has some prickles, Sir. Take heed;
You cannot gather me.

Beat.
But, Signior Balthazar,
I pray who is Count Benedicks Companion?

Balt.
At idle seasons, Madam, he is pleas'd
To use no better company than mine.

Beat.
He will hang on you like a disease,
He's sooner caught than the Pestilence;
And the taker does run presently mad.
Heaven help you Balthazar, if you have caught
The Benedickt, for it will cost you more
Than a thousand pounds to be cur'd.

Balt.
I wish I may hold friendship with you, Lady.

Beat.
Y'ave the wit, Sir, to wish for your self.

Jul.
You'll never run mad Cousin.

Beat.
Not till a hot January.

[Enter Servant.
Serv.
Madam, your Guardian's Brother, Count Benedick,
Is newly enter'd.

Beat.
The man of War, having been flesht
In the last Battel, will bear all before him.
Let us sound a retreat, and hide our selves
Behind the Hangings, to mark his behaviour.

Viol.
Dear Sister, let me hide my self too—

[Beatrice, Viola, Juliet, step behind the Hangings.
Balt.
O pray do, with a Bongrace from the Sun.
Madam, I'll leave you to your Ambush.

Enter Benedick, Eschalus.
Ben.
My Brother private in affairs of State?

Esch.
My Lord, he's at this instant much reserv'd;
But, when I shall acquaint him you are here,
He will dismiss his business to receive,
And welcome you?

Ben.
Signior Eschalus, I thank you: but it
Is fit our private love should give free way
To service which concerns the publick profit.
I am, Sir, in some trouble, that I could
Not have the happiness of paying my
Obedience to his Highness e're he went.
Will he be absent long?

Esch.
That is unknown
Even to your Brother Angelo; who is his full
Vicegerent here, and hath receiv'd commands
To let you taste his Pow'r, to every use
That can procure you any benefit,
In memory of your last service.

[Enter Lucio.
Luc.
My Lord you are most happily return'd,
And met with all the joys we can express.

Ben.
Lucio, I am much pleas'd to see you well;
It gives me hope that I shall have but few
Sad Evenings here in Turin, if the
Beauties which I left be not quite wither'd,
Their Voices cract, and their Lutes hung on Willows.

Luc.
My Lord, I am not only hasten'd hither by
My Love to be the first that shall congratulate
Your good success abroad, but to entreat
Your aid at home. If you will please but to
Take leave of that grave Magistrate a while,
I shall deliver you a message from mankind.

Ben.
How, Lucio? That is of concern indeed.
Signior, I shall beseech you to observe
My Brother's leisure, that I may attend him.

Esch.
Your Lordship is most welcome to Turin.
[Exit Eschalus.

Ben.
Now, Lucio, speak your affair from that great
Common-Wealth which sent you, Mankind.

Balth.
They are too many for you to enquire
Particularly after their healths; therefore
He may without Ceremony proceed.

Luc.
You have heard of the Supream Pow'r plac'd in
Count Angelo your Brother?

Ben.
I have, Lucio.

Luc.
Under your favour, Sir,
I may say the beginning of his rule
Is not pleasing to the best sort of men,
He deals very hardly with Lovers.

Ben.
I am sorry to hear that of a Brother.

Luc.
My Lord, I am more sorry to report it.
He has already reviv'd an old Law,
Which condemns any man to death, who gets,
Being unmarry'd, a Woman with Child.

Ben.
How Lucio? does he mean to govern like
The Tyrant Turk, with Ev'nuchs of his Council?

Luc.
You must asswage the choler of his wisdom,
And put him in mind that men are frail.

Ben.
This business, Balthazar, requires our care;
For we having professed against the bonds
Of Marriage, and he, restraining
The liberty of Lovers, the good Duke
When he returns, will find no Children left
In Turin.

Luc.
For my part, Sir,
I only fear the destruction of Learning:
For if there be no Children, farewel Gramar-Schools.

Ben.
Come, we must sit in Council, Balthazar,
Increase our party, and still desie marriage.

Beat.
We cannot hear 'em, Juliet; let us enter.

[Enter Beat. Jul. Viol.
Ben.
My dear Lady disdain! are you yet living?

Beat.
Can disdain dye when she has so fit food
To feed it as Benedick?

Ben.
I am belov'd of all Ladies, only
You excepted; and I am sorry they must lose
Their sighs; for I have a hard heart,
And can love none.

Beat.
A happiness to Women; who would else
Be troubled with a most pernicious Suitor?
But I can answer your humour; for I
Had rather hear my Dog bark at a Crow,
Than a Man swear he loves me.

Ben.
Keep in that mind, Lady, for then some of my
Friends may scape a predestinate scratcht face.

Beat.
Scratching could not make it worse,
If it were such a Face as Benedick's.

Ben.
You are a rare Parrot-teacher.

Beat.
A Bird of my tongue, is better than a Beast of yours.

Ben.
I would my Horse had the speed of your Tongue;
But keep your way: I have done.

Beat.
Juliet, he always ends with a Jades trick.

Jul.
The Gentleman's wit is tir'd after spurring.

Vio.
Y'are welcome home my Lord. Have you brought
Any Pendants, and fine Fans, from the Wars?

Ben.
What my sweet Bud, you are grown to a Blossom!

Vio.
My Sister has promis'd me that I shall be
A Woman, and that you shall make love to me,
When you are old enough to have a Wife.

Ben.
This is not a chip of the old Block, but will prove
A smart Twig of the young Branch.

[Enter Esch. and Serv.
Esch.
Lord Angelo expects you, Sir, and this
Fair Company.

[Ex. Beat. Ben. Balth. Jul. Esch. Vio.
Serv.
Signior Claudio, now under an Arrest,
Desires to speak with you.

Luc.
How! under Arrest? The Governour's house
Is no proper place for a Prisoners visit.
Pray favour me so much as to tell him that
I'll come down to receive his commands.

[Ex. Serv. Luc.
Enter Provost, Claudio, Officers.
Claud.
Thus can the Demi-god Authority make
Us pay down for our offence by weight

[Enter Lucio.
Luc.
Claudio! how now! from whence comes this restraint?

Claud.
From too much liberty.
As Surfet is the father of a Fast,
So Liberty by the immoderate use,
Turns to restraint. Our Nature does pursue
An evil Thirst, and when we drink we dye.

Luc.
If I could speak as wisely under Arrest,
I would send for some of my Creditors;
Yet (to say truth) I had rather enjoy
The foppery of freedom, than the wise
Morality of Imprisonment. What
Is thy offence Claudio?

Claud.
To speak of it were to offend again.

Luc.
What is it, Murder?

Claud.
No.

Luc.
I believe 'tis that which the precise call Incontinence.

Claud.
You may call it so.

[Enter Balthazar.
Bal.
I am told Claudio is Arrested.

Luc.
'Tis too true, Balthazar.

Bal.
What is his crime?

Luc.
Lord Angelo has taught us so much modesty,
That I am asham'd to name it.

Balth.
What, is there a Maid with Child by him?

Luc.
No, but I fear there is a Woman with Maid by him.

Prov.
Signior, I shall offend if you stay here:
Be pleas'd to go.

Claud.
Provost, allow me but a few words more.

Luc.
Pray Claudio speak your mind: we are your friends.

Claud.
I grieve to tell you, Gentlemen, that I
Have got possession of Julietta's bed.
She is my Wife by sacred vows, and by.
A contract seal'd with form of witnesses.
But we the ceremony lack of marriage,
And that, unhappily, we did defer
Only for the assurance of a Dowry,
Remaining in the Coffers of her Friends;
From whom we thought it fit to hide our love,
Till time had master'd their consent to it.
But so it happens, that
Our oft stoln pleasure is now writ
With Characters too gross in Juliet.

Bal.
With Child perhaps.

Claud.
'Tis so;
And the new Deputy
Awakens all the enroll'd penalties,
Which have been Nineteen years unread, and makes
Me feel the long neglected punishment,
By such a Law, as three days after
Arrest, requires the forfeit of my head.

Luc.
Thy head stands now so slightly
On thy shoulders, that a Milk-maid, if she
Be in love, may sigh it off.

Bal.
Lucio, you are a stranger to Lord Angelo,
But I well know the sowreness of his Soul:
And I was told in passing to you hither,
That Juliet is Arrested in his house,
And forc'd from the protection of
The Lady Beatrice his fair Ward.

Luc.
I like it not: send quickly to the Duke,
And then appeal to him.

Claud.
I have done so; but he's not to be found.
I prethee, Lucio, lend me thy assistance;
This day my Sister should the Cloister enter,
And there receive her approbation.
Acquaint her with the danger I am in.
Implore her in my name, that she make friends
To the strict Deputy: she must her self assay him;
I have great hope in that; for in her youth
There is a sweet and speechless dialect,
Such as moves men; and well she can perswade.

Luc.
I wish she may. I would be loth
That any of my friends should foolishly
Play away their lives at a Game of Tick-tack.

Bal.
We will both to her presently.

Claud.
Come Officers, away!

[Exeunt.
Enter Duke and Fryer Thomas.
Duke.
No, Holy Father; throw away that thought;
Lov's too tender to dwell in my cold bosom.
I desire you to give me secret harbour,
For a design more grave and wrinkled than
The aims of giddy youth can have.

Fryer.
May your Grace speak of it?

Duke.
None, Holy Father, better knows than you,
How I have ever lik'd a life retir'd;
And still have weary of Assemblies been,
Where witless youth comes drest to be ador'd.
I have deliver'd to Lord Angelo
(A man of strictness, and firm abstinence)
My absolute pow'r and place here in Turin;
And he believes me travelling to Spain;
Now (pious Sir) you will demand of me
Why I did this?

Fryer.
I fain would know.

Duke.
We have strict Statutes, and chastising Laws,
Which I have suffer'd Nineteen years to sleep,
Even like an o'regrown Lyon in a Cave
That goes not out to Prey. But as fond Fathers
Bind up the threatning Rod, and stick it in
Their Childrens sight, for terror more than use,
Till it in time become more markt than fear'd;
So our decrees, dead to infliction, to
Themselves are dead, and froward liberty,
Does Justice strike, as Infants beat the Nurse.

Fryer.
This ty'd-up Justice, Sir, you might have soon
Let loose, which would have seem'd more dreadful
Than in Angelo.

Duke.
Too dreadful, Sir. For since
It was my fault to give the People scope,
It may seem tyranny to punish them,
For what I bid them act. We do no less
Than bid unlawful actions to be done,
When evil deeds have their permissive Pass.

Fry.
I am convinc'd.

Duke.
I have on Angelo impos'd
Th'unpleasant pow'r of punishing; who may
Within the Ambush of my name,—strike home.
And to behold how he does rule, I will,
As if I were a Brother of your Order,
Visit both Prince and People. Therefore, I pray,
Supply me with the Habit, and instruct me how
I may in person a true Fryar seem.
I can allow you no more reasons for
This action now, than that Lord Angelo
Stands at a Guard with Envy, and does scarce
Confess that his bloud flows;
The Man seems singular, but we shall see,
If Pow'r change purpose, what our seemers be.

[Exeunt.
Enter Isabella, and Francisca a Nun.
Isa.
But have you Nuns no further priviledge?

Nun.
Are not these large enough?

Isa.
They are; I speak not as desiring more,
But rather wishing a more strict restraint
Were on the Sisterhood vow'd to Saint Clare.

Luc.
Ho! peace be in this place!

[Lucio, Balthazar within.
Isab.
Who is it that does call?

Nun.
It is a mans voice. Gentle Isabella,
Pray turn the Key, and know his business of him:
You may, I may not; you are yet unsworn.
When you have vow'd you must not speak with men,
But in the presence of the Prioress;
Then if you speak, you must not shew your face;
Or if you shew your face, you must not speak.

Luc.
Ho! the Sisterhood.

Nun.
He calls again; I pray you answer him.

Isab.
Peace and Prosperity. Who is't that calls?

[Enter Luc. Balt.
Luc.
Hail Virgin! please you befriend us so,
As to permit us to the sight of Isabell,
A novice of this place, and Sister to
Young Claudio, her unhappy Brother.

Isab.
Why her unhappy Brother? Let me ask;
The rather since I now must make it known
I am that Isabella, and his Sister.

Luc.
Gentle, and fair; your Brother kindly greets you.

Bal.
We cannot, Lucio, come too suddenly
With sorrows to a mind prepar'd; 'tis fit
You tell her that her Brother is in Prison.

Isab.
Ay me! for what?

Luc.
For that which cannot be excus'd;
And yet, perhaps if he were try'd
By Judges not much older than himself,
Would have an easie punishment. He has,
I hope unwillingly, got his friend with Child.

Is.
Sir, make me not your scorn.

Luc.
I would not, though 'tis my familiar sin,
To jest with Maids, play with all Vigins so.
I hold you as a thing inshrin'd, and to
Be talkt with as a Saint in all sincerity.

Is.
You hurt the good in mocking me.

Bal.
Believe what he has said is truth.

Isab.
Some one with Child by him? my Cousin Juliet?

Luc.
Is she your Cousin?

Isab.
Adoptedly, as School-maids change their names.

Luc.
She it is.

Isab.
Let him marry her.

Bal.
Marry'd, they are in sight of Heaven, though not
With such apparent forms, as makes the Law
Approve and witness it.

Luc.
The Duke is very strangely gone from hence;
And with full force of his authority,
Lord Angelo now Rules; a man whose bloud
Is very Snow-broth, one who never feels
The wanton motions of the sense; but does
Rebate and blunt his natural edge,
With Morals, Lady. He studies much,
And fasts.

Balt.
To frighten Libertines (who long have scap'd,
And silently have run by th'sleeping face
Of hideous Law, as Mice by Lyons steal)
Lord Angelo has hastily awak'd
A dreadful act, under whose heavy sense,
Your Brothers life falls into desperate forfeit.

Luc.
All hope is gone, unless you have the grace,
By moving Prayers, to soften Angelo.

Isab.
Does he so sternly seek his life?

Luc.
He has already sentenc'd him, and (as
I hear) the Provost has a Warrant for
His Execution.

Isab.
Alas, what poor abilities
Have I to do him good?

Balt.
Make tryal of what pow'r you have.

Isab.
My pow'r alas I doubt!

Luc.
Go to Lord Angelo, and let him know,
When Virgins sue, men give like Gods;
But when they weep and kneel, no pow'r has then
So much of Devil in't, as not to yield.

Isab.
I'll see what I can do.

Luc.
But speedily.

Isab.
I will about it straight;
Not staying longer, than to give the Mother
Notice of my business. I humbly thank you.
Commend me to my Brother. Soon at night
I'll send him certain word of my success.

Luc.
We take our leaves.

Isab.
Heaven guide you, Gentlemen;
And so prepare to Angelo my way,
As if Saint Clare did prompt me how to pray.

[Exeunt.