FLO. My prettieft Perdita. But, O, the thorns we stand upon !-Camillo,- The medicin of our houfe !-how fhall we do? Nor shall appear in Sicily——— CAM. My lord, Fear none of this: I think, you know, my fortunes Do all lie there: it fhall be so my care To have you royally appointed, as if The scene you play, were mine. For inftance, fir, That you may know you shall not want,-one word. [They talk afide. Enter AUTOLYCUS. Aur. Ha, ha! what a fool honefty is! and trust, his fworn brother, a very fimple gentleman! I have fold all my trumpery; not a counterfeit ftone, not a riband, glass, pomander, brooch, table-book, ballad, knife, tape, glove, fhoe-tye, bracelet, horn 8 8 pomander,] A pomander was a little ball made of perfumes, and worn in the pocket, or about the neck, to prevent infection in times of plague. In a tract, intituled, Certain neceffary Directions, as well for curing the Plague, as for preventing infection, printed 1636, there are directions for making two forts of pomanders, one for the rich, and another for the poor. GREY. In Lingua, or a Combat of the Tongue, &c. 1607, is the following receipt given, Act IV. fc. iii: "Your only way to make a good pomander is this. Take an ounce of the pureft garden mould, cleans'd and fteep'd seven days in change of motherlefs rofe-water. Then take the best labdanum, benjoin, both ftoraxes, amber-gris and civet and mufk. Incorporate them together, and work them into what form you please. This, if your breath be not too valiant, will make you fmell as fweet as iny lady's dog." The speaker reprefents Odor. STEEVENS. ring, to keep my pack from fafting: they throng who fhould buy firft; as if my trinkets had been hallowed, and brought a benediction to the buyer: by which means, I faw whofe purse was beft in picture; and, what I faw, to my good ufe, I remember'd. My clown (who wants but fomething to be a reasonable man,) grew fo in love with the wenches' fong, that he would not ftir his pettitoes, till he had both tune and words; which fo drew the rest of the herd to me, that all their other senses stuck in ears you might have pinch'd a placket,3 it was fenfelefs; 'twas nothing, to geld a codpiece of a purfe; I would have filed keys off, that hung in chains no hearing, no feeling, but my fir's fong, and admiring the nothing of it. So that, in this time of lethargy, I pick'd and cut most of their feftival purfes and had not the old man come in with a hubbub against his daughter and the king's fon, and scared my choughs from the chaff, I had not left a purfe alive in the whole army. Other receipts for making pomander may be found in "Plat's Delightes for ladies to adorne their perfons, &c. 1611," and in "The accomplisht Lady's Delight, 1675." They all differ. 9 DOUCE. as if my trinkets had been hallowed,] This alludes to beads often fold by the Romanifts, as made particularly efficacious by the touch of fome relick. JOHNSON. 2 all their other fenfes ftuck in ears:] Read-" ftuck in their ears." M. MASON. 66 3 -a placket,] Placket is properly the opening in a woman's petticoat. It is here figuratively used, as perhaps in King Lear: Keep thy hand out of plackets." This fubject, however, may receive further illuftration from Skialetheia, a collection of epigrams, &c. 1598. Epig. 32: "Wanton young Lais hath a pretty note "In nipping would her petticoate weare up." STEEVENS, [CAMILLO, FLORIZEL, and PERDITA, come forward. CAM. Nay, but my letters by this means being there So foon as you arrive, fhall clear that doubt. FLO. And thofe that you'll procure from king Leontes, CAM. Shall fatisfy your father. PER. All, that you speak, fhows fair. CAM. Happy be you! Who have we here? [Seeing AUTOLYCUS. We'll make an inftrument of this; omit Aur. If they have overheard me now,why hanging. [Afide. CAM. How now, good fellow? Why shakeft thou fo? Fear not man; here's no harm intended to thee. Aur. I am a poor fellow, fir. CAM. Why, be fo ftill; here's nobody will steal that from thee: Yet, for the outside of thy poverty, we must make an exchange: therefore, difcafe thee inftantly, (thou must think, there's neceffity in't,) and change garments with this gentleman: Though the penny worth, on his fide, be the worst, yet hold thee, there's fome boot.+ Aur. I am a poor fellow, fir-I know ye well enough. [Afide. CAM. Nay, pr'ythee, defpatch: the gentleman is half flay'd already." 4 boot.] That is, fomething over and above, or, as we now fay, fomething to boot. JOHNSON. 5 is half flay'd already.] I fuppofe Camillo means to fay no more, than that Florizel is half fripped already. MALONE. Aur. Are you in earneft, fir?-I fmell the trick of it. FLO. Despatch, I pr'ythee. [Afide. AUT. Indeed, I have had earneft; but I cannot with confcience take it. CAM. Unbuckle, unbuckle. [FLO. and AUTOL. exchange garments. Fortunate mistress,-let my prophecy Come home to you!-you must retire yourself No hat:-Come, lady, come.-Farewell, my friend. Aur. Adieu, fir. FLO. O Perdita, what have we twain forgot? Pray you, a word. [They converfe apart. CAM. What I do next, fhall be, to tell the king Of this escape, and whither they are bound; [Afide. 4 —over you,] You, which feems to have been accidentally omitted in the old copy, was added by Mr. Rowe. MALONE. I have a woman's longing. FLO. Fortune speed us !— Thus we fet on, Camillo, to the fea-fide. CAM. The fwifter speed, the better. [Exeunt FLORIZEL, PERDITA, and CAMILLO. Aur. I understand the business, I hear it: To have an open ear, a quick eye, and a nimble hand, is neceffary for a cut-purfe; a good nofe is requifite alfo, to smell out work for the other fenfes. I fee, this is the time that the unjust man doth thrive. What an exchange had this been, without boot? what a boot is here, with this exchange? Sure, the gods do this year connive at us, and we may do any thing extempore. The prince himself is about a piece of iniquity; ftealing away from his father, with his clog at his heels: If I thought it were not a piece of honefty to acquaint the king withal, I would do't: I hold it the more knavery to 5If I thought it were not a piece of bonefty to acquaint the king withal, I would do't:] The old copy reads-If I thought it were a piece of honefty to acquaint the king withal, I would not do't. See the following note. STEEVENS. The reasoning of Autolycus is obfcure, because something is fuppreffed. The prince, fays he, is about a bad action, he is ftealing away from his father: If I thought it were a piece of honefty to acquaint the king, I would not do it, because that would be inconfiftent with my profeffion of a knave; but I know that the betraying the prince to the king would be a piece of knavery with reSpect to the prince, and therefore I might, confiftently with my charac ter, reveal that matter to the king, though a piece of honesty to him: however, I hold it a greater knavery to conceal the prince's scheme from the king, than to betray the prince; and therefore, in concealing it, I am still conftant to my profeffion.-Sir T. Hanmer and all the fubfequent editors read-If I thought it were not a piece of honefty, &c. I would do it: but words feldom ftray from their places in fo extraordinary a manner at the press: nor indeed do I perceive any need of change. MALONE. I have left Sir T. Hanmer's reading in the text, because, in my opinion, our author, who wrote merely for the ftage, must have |