Do not_ run upon that topick; talk of any thing else that I can bear to hear.
I have another conceit upon this passage, which I would be thought to offer without much confidence:
No more of that! I pr'ythee do not strive—against my voice I was compell'd to her.
Diana tells him unexpectedly of his wife. He answers with perturbation, No more of that! I pr'ythee do not play the confessor —against my own consent I was compelled to her.
When a young profligate finds his courtship so gravely repressed by an admonition of his duty, he very naturally desires the girl not to take upon her the office of a confessor.
IV.ii.23 (95,6) [What is not holy, that we swear not 'bides] [W: not 'bides] This is an acute and excellent conjecture, and I have done it the due honour of exalting it to the text; yet, methinks, there is something yet wanting. The following words, but take the High'st to witness, even though it be understood as an anticipation or assumption in this sense,—but now suppose that you take the Highest to witness,—has not sufficient relation to the antecedent sentence. I will propose a reading nearer to the surface, and let it take its chance.
Ber. How have I sworn!
Diana. 'Tis not the many oaths, that make the truth,
But the plain single vow, that is vow'd true.
Ber. What is not holy, that we swear not by.
But take the High'st to witness.
Diana. Then, pray tell me.
If I should swear, &c.