In the Emblem-books of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Latin mottoes very greatly preponderated over those of other languages; and had Shakespeare confined himself to Latin, it might remain doubtful whether he knew anything of Emblem works beyond those of our own countrymen—Barclay and Whitney—and of the two or three translations into English from Latin, French, and Italian. But the quotation of a purely Spanish motto, that on the second knight’s device, _Piu por dulzura que por fuerza_,—“More by gentleness than by force” (act ii. sc. 2, l. 27),—shows that his reading and observation extended beyond mere English sources, and that with other literary men of his day he had looked into, if he had not studied, the widely-known and very popular writings of Alciatus and Sambucus among Latinists, of Francisco Guzman and Hernando Soto among Spaniards, of Gabriel Faerni and Paolo Giovio among Italians, and of Bartholomew Aneau and Claude Paradin among the French. Shakespeare gives several snatches of French, as in _Twelfth Night_, act iii. sc. 1, l. 68, vol. iii. p. 265,— “_Sir Andrew._ Dieu vous garde, monsieur, _Viola._ Et vous aussi; votre serviteur;” and in _Henry V._ act iii. sc. 4; act iv. sc. 4 and 5; act v. sc. 2, vol. iv. pp. 538–540, 574–577, and 598–603: in the scenes between Katharine and Alice; Pistol and the French soldier taken prisoner; and Katharine and King Henry. Take the last instance,— “_K. Hen._ Fair Katharine, and most fair, Will you vouchsafe to teach a soldier terms Such as will enter at a lady’s ear And plead his love-suit to her gentle heart? _Kath._ Your majesty shall mock at me; I cannot speak your England. _K. Hen._ O fair Katharine, if you will love me soundly with your French heart, I will be glad to hear you confess it brokenly with your English tongue. Do you like me, Kate? _Kath._ Pardonnez-moi, I cannot tell vat is ‘like me.’ _K. Hen._ An angel is like you, Kate, and you are like an angel. _Kath._ Que dit-il? que je suis semblable à les anges? _Alice._ Oui, vraiment, sauf votre grace, ainsi dit-il. _K. Hen._ I said so, dear Katharine; and I must not blush to affirm it. _Kath._ O bon Dieu! les langues des hommes sont pleines de tromperies.” Appropriately also to the locality of the _Taming of the Shrew_ (act i. sc. 2, l. 24, vol. iii. p. 23), Hortensio’s house in Padua, is the Italian quotation. “_Pet._ ‘Con tutto il core ben trovato,’ may I say. _Hor._ Alla nostra casa ben venuto, molto honorato, signor mio Petrucio.” We find only two Spanish sentences, those already quoted,—one being Pistol’s motto on his sword, _Si fortuna me tormenta sperato me contenta_; the other, that of the Prince of Macedon, on his shield, _Piu por dulzura que por fuerza_.