THE PRINCIPLES OF GOVERNMENT
Scene I. An apartment in the Duke's palace.
Enter Duke, Escalus, Lords and Attendants
Duke. Escalus.
Escal. My lord.
Duke. Of government the properties to unfold,
Would seem in me to affect speech and discourse;
Since I am put to know that your own science
Exceeds, in that, the lists of all advice
My strength can give you: then no more remains,
But that to your sufficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . as your worth is able,
And let them work. The nature of our people,
Our city's institutions, and the terms
For common justice, you're as pregnant in
As art and practice hath enriched any
That we remember. There is our commission,
From which we would not have you warp.
(Measure for Measure, i, 1, 8, Modern editions)
Then no more remains
But that, to your sufficiency, as your worth is able
And let them work.
(First Folio, 1623)
The vacancy indicated by the row of dots does not occur in the original editions of Shakespeare. The passage is thus printed by modern editors upon the theory that part of the text is missing. Many attempts have been made to fill out the supposed lacuna by conjecture, but as none have proved successful, the most approved practice is to indicate a loss in the text.
