With great ingenuity the sister, in both plays, turns the unlawful solicitations of the magistrate into an extenuation of her brother's crime; and, as an argument in favour of his pardon, urges,

"If that you love (as so you say) the force of love you know; Which felt, in conscience you should my brother favour show."*

"Angelo. Isabel.

Plainly conceive, I love you.
My brother did love Juliet; and

That he shall die for it."+

And Angelo himself, in endeavouring to curb by reason the evil suggestions of his passions, and reflecting on the guilt of his heart, pursues the same train of thought:

"O let her brother live:

Thieves for their robbery have authority,
When judges steal themselves."+

It is equally remarkable that both the sisters affect to believe they are solicited to sin by the judge for the purpose of making trial of their

"Renowned lord, you use this speech (I hope) your thrall to try;" §

* Promos and Cassandra, Part I. Act III. sc. 2. + Measure for Measure, Act II. sc. 4.

Act II. sc. 2.

§ Promos and Cassandra, Part I. Act III. sc. 2.

which is a little amplified by Isabella :

"I know your virtue hath a licence in't,
Which seems a little fouler than it is,
To pluck on others." *

The communication to the condemned brother of the detestable alternative by which his life might be saved, is in each play strikingly similar:

"If thou dost live, I must my honour lose.
Thy ransom is, to Promos' fleshly will
That I do yield.

O! would my life would satisfy his ire!
Cassandra then would cancel soon thy band."+

Thus Isabella :

"If I would yield him my virginity,

Thou might'st be freed.

O! were it but my life,

I'd throw it down for your deliverance
As frankly as a pin." +

When Isabella first tells Claudio of Angelo's proposal, he answers, with honest indignation, "Thou shalt not do't;" and in his willingness to meet his fate, nobly exclaims,

* Measure for Measure, Act II. sc. 4.

+ Act III. sc. 4.

Act III. sc. 1.

"If I must die,

I will encounter darkness as a bride,
And hug it in my arms.'

But the fear of death, nevertheless, ultimately proves fatal to his virtue; and the play of Whetstone supplied Shakspeare with the sophistical arguments by which Claudio endeavours to persuade his sister, that a compliance with Angelo's wishes could not be very dangerous to her soul:

* 1

"Nay, Cassandra; if thou thyself submit
To save my life
Justice will say thou dost no crime commit,
For in forc'd faults is no intent of ill."†

The argument in Measure for Measure is pushed beyond the original :

"Sweet sister, let me live!

What sin you do to save a brother's life,
Nature dispenses with the deed so far,
That it becomes a virtue." ‡

Shakspeare was so well satisfied with this sophistry, that he placed it also in the mouth of Angelo; who confidently uses it in urging his dishonourable suit, insisting, that—

* Act III. sc. 1.

+ Promos and Cassandra, Part I. Act III. sc. 4.

Act III. sc. 1.

"Our compell'd sins

Stand more for number than account;"

and insidiously demanding,

66 Might there not be a charity in sin
To save this brother's life?" *

It appears sufficiently extraordinary that the wretched Cassandra of Whetstone should plead with earnestness for the life of the actual violator of her person, and the supposed murderer of her brother; but what will be thought of her thus addressing the lustful and sanguinary Promos,—

"Yet ere we part, sweet husband, let us kiss

O! at his lips why faileth not my breath?" †

and of her declaration —

"Unto the king with me yet once more go,

See if his grace my husband's life will save;
If not, with his death shall my corps ingrave?"

Shakspeare avoids this inconsistency by the expedient of introducing Mariana, a lady to whom Angelo had been affianced. Mariana modestly undertakes to avail herself of silence and darkness, and she counterfeits Isabella in a private meeting with Angelo. Her acceptance

* Act II. sc. 4.

+ Promos and Cassandra, Part II. Act V. sc. 4.

Promos and Cassandra, Part II. Act V. sc. 3.

of him as a husband, after these circumstances, is not very extraordinary; and, moreover, the injuries of Angelo against Mariana are by no means of so deep a dye as those of Promos against Cassandra. But Angelo is a man equally as depraved as Promos, and Mariana is fully acquainted with his villany; circumstances not very consistent with her expression of perfect satisfaction with her bargain:

"O my dear lord!

I crave no other, nor no better man.",

The Cassandra of Whetstone is a wretched creature, whose abjectness Shakspeare has cast on Mariana, and thus enabled himself to present his Isabella in spotless and austere chastity; not exciting our love,- for her self-involved virtue needs no human sympathy, but commanding our reverence for her purity and sacredness. Occasionally, the influence of the old play may be traced in her sentiments; but her pathetic earnestness, powerful argument, and impassioned eloquence, throw Whetstone's heroine to an immeasurable depth of inferiority.

The leading features in the characters, of Promos and Angelo are the same; though the

* Act V. sc. 1.