Act 4, Scene 6

Street near the City Gate.

[Enter ISABELLA and MARIANA.]
Isabella
2121 To speak so indirectly I am loath;
2122 I would say the truth; but to accuse him so,
2123 That is your part: yet I am advis'd to do it;
2124 He says, to 'vailfull purpose.
Mariana
2125 Be ruled by him.
Isabella
2126 Besides, he tells me that, if peradventure
2127 He speak against me on the adverse side,
2128 I should not think it strange; for 'tis a physic
2129 That's bitter to sweet end.
Mariana
2130 I would Friar Peter.—
Isabella
2131 O, peace! the friar is come.
[Enter FRIAR PETER.]
Friar Peter
2132 Come, I have found you out a stand most fit,
2133 Where you may have such vantage on the duke
2134 He shall not pass you. Twice have the trumpets sounded;
2135 The generous and gravest citizens
2136 Have hent the gates, and very near upon
2137 The duke is entering; therefore, hence, away.
[Exeunt.]

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Notes

TLN 2124archaic vocab
“to 'vail full purpose”
'Vail' (also spelled 'veil' or 'avail') means to lower, abase, or put to use in service of a goal. The Duke has advised Isabella that speaking indirectly — even falsely accusing Angelo — will 'serve' or 'avail' the full purpose of his plan to expose Angelo publicly.
TLN 2126archaic vocab
“if peradventure / He speak against me”
'Peradventure' means 'by chance' or 'perhaps' — a common formal word in Shakespeare's English that has entirely dropped from modern use. Isabella is relaying the Duke's warning: if it happens by chance that Angelo speaks against her in public, she should not be surprised.
TLN 2128rhetorical device
“'tis a physic / That's bitter to sweet end”
'Physic' means medicine or a medicinal dose. Isabella is quoting the Duke's reasoning: the unpleasant task of lying publicly about Angelo is like a bitter-tasting medicine that produces a good cure. The proverb that medicine must taste bad to work was common in Elizabethan English.
biblical 'With what measure ye mete': the title from the Sermon on the Mount
TLN 2135archaic vocab
“generous and gravest citizens / Have hent the gates”
Two archaisms in a single sentence. 'Generous' here means 'of noble birth or high rank' — not 'giving' as it does today. 'Hent' is a past tense of 'hent' (to seize or take hold of) — Friar Peter reports that the most noble and serious citizens have already taken their places at the city gates to await the Duke's formal entry.