■lass 
 
 it 
 
 Book 
 
Shakspeare's Genius Justified: 
 
 ^ . 
 
 EEIXG 
 
 RESTORATIONS AND ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 OF 
 
 SEVEN HUNDRED PASSAGES 
 
 i 
 
 WHICH HAVE AFFORDED 
 
 ABUNDANT SCOPE FOR CRITICAL ANIMADVERSION; 
 
 AND 
 
 HITHERTO HELD AT DEFIANCE THE PENETRATION 
 OF ALL 
 
 SHAKSPEARE'S COMMENTATORS. 
 By Z. JACKSON. 
 
 They are all plain to him that understandeth, and right to them that find knowledge. 
 
 Pi-jierbs, chap. Tiii.' 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed by J. Johnson, Apollo Press, Brook Slreet, Holborn, 
 
 FOR JOHN MAJOR, N» 18, SKINNER STREET. 
 
 1819. 
 
^ 
 
TO 
 
 I'll ABSffMBBBS ©IF SmABSffBABBs 
 
 THE POET OF NATURE. 
 
 WHOSE FAME CANNOT PERISH 
 
 THE LANGUAGE IX WHICH HIS INIMITABLE WORKS ARE WRITTEN. 
 
 THIS VOLUME, 
 
 WHICH AIMS AT 
 
 PLACING AN ADDITIONAL WREATH ON THE BROW 
 
 Cfje Immortal SSavtr, 
 
 IS MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED, 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 Leu don, Dec. 30, 1818. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 It was the fatality of the greatest Dramatic Poet the 
 world ever produced to flourish at a period when genius 
 rarely found its merited reward, and when that art, 
 which is the salt of literature, and which was to transmit 
 to futurity his inimitable productions, was but in its in- 
 fant state. 
 
 Regardless of immortalizing his name, he who had 
 penetrated the most hidden stores of Nature; he who 
 had studied man in all his various capacities and fail- 
 ings; he to whom the retrospect of all that had been 
 seemed familiar, and who, as it were, looked into the 
 very soul of time, and read futurity, yet would not see 
 his own greatness beyond mortality, but suffered the 
 hand of ignorance to plant sickly weeds among his ever- 
 blooming flowers, and which the unabated exertions of 
 genius, for more than a century, have not been able to- 
 tally to destroy. 
 
 Many, indeed, have been the labourers that toiled iii 
 the extensive garden planted by the Immortal Bard; in- 
 numerable the weeds they separated from the flowers, 
 and others rooted up ; many the slips from parent stalks 
 they planted, which now flourish, and, blooming in the 
 enamelled fields of Nature, display their beauties to 
 the gladdening sun. 
 
 But what individual could have gone over the vast 
 garden and overcome, even in an age, each twining 
 weed that had knitted itself to, and become as a part of 
 
yi PREFACE. 
 
 the fair stem it grew by ? — Say, ye sons of science, can 
 you point out one ? No : And though ages have been 
 employed to root up those vicious weeds, yet still are 
 they intermixed; nor has the hand of indefatigable 
 industry dared, in many instances, to disturb them, 
 dreading that, in the exertion, blooming carnations 
 must fall with sickening poppies. But whither doth 
 metaphor lead? — Fain would she make me tread her 
 path throughout the limitation of my prefatory walk, 
 and introduce me to the admirers of the Immortal Bard 
 as a son of Nature studied only in the exercise of com- 
 mon sense. But I must be more; Nature and Art 
 must take me by the hand, and, quitting metaphor, 
 display how far their fair instructions have aided me 
 in destroying those noxious weeds which dared to rear 
 their heads 'mongst purest flowers. 
 
 In gloomy obscurity, labouring at times under indis- 
 position, the guillotine, as it were, suspended over my 
 head, towards the latter period of eleven years' captivity 
 in France, misery was almost forgotten in studying the 
 writings of the matchless Shakspeare, and in penetrat- 
 ing through obscurity to dissipate the misty vapours 
 which veiled many of his greatest beauties, that there- 
 by his unerring genius might be justified. 
 
 However eminently distinguished Shakspeare's Com- 
 mentators, however highly exalted their rank in the 
 republic of letters, and however true that they merit 
 strong encomium for their indefatigable exertions to 
 purify our Author's text from the innumerable corrup- 
 tions which, from many causes, had gained footing 
 therein, yet did the star of genius often withdraw its 
 beams, and suffer the cloud of obscurity to veil from their 
 penetration the necessary corrections that would restore 
 our Author's readings,, and afford brilliant illustrations 
 to several hundred passages! — passages which contain 
 
PREFACE. Vll 
 
 the most striking beauties inventive genius could pro- 
 duce, or Nature's most fertile valley yield for poetic 
 scenery. 
 
 The ingenious Author of the Pursuits of Literature, 
 in his satirical animadversions on Shakspeare's Com- 
 mentators, says, — 
 
 " Enough for me great Shakspeare's words to hear, 
 Though but in common with the vulgar ear; 
 Without one note or horn-hook in my hand," &c. 
 
 With this very learned Critic, and whose production 
 I duly appreciate, I must so far concur, that if we had 
 Shakspeare purified from the foul perversions occasioned 
 by careless transcribers, the dross of typographical blun- 
 derers, the barbarisms of daring interpolators, and the 
 obscurities raised upon the fabric of sense by the mis- 
 conceptions of early Editors — then, indeed, should we 
 have Shakspeare's Words, — then, indeed, would the 
 language of Nature be conspicuous, and neither note nor 
 horn-book be required in perusing the fair pages of un- 
 exampled genius. 
 
 But what must have been the corrupt state of his 
 matchless productions at the present day, had not the 
 active exertions of enlightened understanding, for more 
 than a century, been employed to remove those errors 
 which the hand of corruption had diffused throughout ? 
 The rich gems undoubtedly would still sparkle, but 
 their light could not remove opacity from the incrusted 
 diamonds that surrounded them, and which required the 
 eye of genius to penetrate, and the hand of judgment to 
 clear from the petrifactions in which they were en- 
 veloped. To Shakspeare's Commentators, then, we are 
 indebted for the comparatively perfect state in which we 
 have his Works at present ; and notwithstanding they 
 have done much, most of them were aware that much 
 
Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 more remained to be done; though, in the confidence of 
 their own judgment, they conceived the task insurmount- 
 able, and that genius could neither restore what proved 
 too difficult for themselves, nor add farther light on that 
 which they had in vain attempted to illustrate. 
 
 Who, then, will not admit that the Works of our un- 
 rivalled Bard become an object of national importance, 
 and that critical investigation is a debt we owe him until 
 his text be perfectly restored ? Who will not indulge 
 the hope that from year to year proofs equal to demon- 
 stration may be advanced to expunge corruption and 
 display purity? And who will not welcome that truth, 
 in garb however humble, which, dispelling the mists of 
 obscurity, exhibits the productions of Nature ? For who, 
 so vitiate in taste, will drink from the troubled waters 
 of impurity, when the well-spring of truth invites to its 
 wholesome beverage ? 
 
 It is now little more than three months since I pub- 
 lished a pamphlet, entitled, " A few Concise Examples of 
 Errors corrected in Shakspeare's Plays:" and perhaps 
 we have not many instances where a mere Specimen had 
 so rapid a sale : in less than a month a second edition 
 was demanded, and which has now also become scarce : 
 but however flattered by these marks of public approba- 
 tion, nevertheless the intemperate dart of invidious jea- 
 lousy was aimed at me.* In truth, it passed by; I heard 
 its whizzing sound, but remained perfectly safe; and 
 now would I pass by the party from whence it came, and 
 leave the disappointed votaries of mammon to fatten on 
 their own maliciousness, but that the most active exer- 
 tions continue to be used, in order to raise a troop of 
 
 * See the second edition of ray Examples, &c. where, like a ball 
 that rebounds, the aimed arrow is made to lodge in the bosom from 
 whence it came. 
 
PREFACE. j x 
 
 Would-be Critics to attack the citadel, where fair fame 
 would raise a small standard to the honour of him who 
 aspires to be, in part, a Restorer of Shakspeare's Text 
 to its original beauty; and who justifies him, where the 
 severe lash of animadversion has been falsely aimed to 
 wound his unerring genius. 
 
 Indeed, it is truly distressing- to find, that even among 
 the higher order of educated genius, the most extrava- 
 gant jealousies will arise, when that degrading principle, 
 self-interest, is suffered to send its corroding poison to 
 the heart. Beholding with jaundiced eye the full gale 
 that was set to waft my labours into public favour, a 
 paper, called The Literary Gazette, w as employed as the 
 vehicle to run down, not only the Examples I had pub- 
 lished of my Restorations and Elucidations of Shak- 
 spear-e, but also to condemn my unpublished Work, 
 (this now offered to fair and honourable criticism :) yea, 
 to condemn it even to the flames, that party prejudice, 
 like the tyrant of Rome, might rejoice during the con- 
 flagration ! But with the Gazette and its Editor I have 
 no farther concern: they did their worst, — the reproba- 
 tion of impartial judgment attended their temerity; and 
 I believe the Proprietor will not again afford cause for 
 the index of contempt to be pointed at him. 
 
 That the law of reprisal was necessary to be enforced 
 on the occasion, a generous public not only admitted, 
 but perceived its effects with glowing satisfaction; and 
 here I should have been cautious in farther recrimina- 
 tion, but that the asperity of disappointed profit (not 
 fame) still circulates its venom, and, under the garb of 
 criticism, argues on one particular point, — that my Re- 
 storations are founded merely on conjecture! 
 
 Now this remark, however invidiously designed, seems 
 better adapted to the labours of all my predecessors; for 
 
x PREFACE. 
 
 I trust to prove that the principles which have guided 
 me, and the clue which I have obtained, bring my Restora- 
 tions, in the eye of candour, even to demonstration. 
 
 Shakspeare being, as all our Commentators agree, 
 ignorant of both the Greek and Latin languages, of 
 what value can either prove in restoring or illustrating 
 his text? Upon what principle must a Restorer or Com- 
 mentator act? Can he call magic to his aid? or a 
 Hecate to conjure the shade of Shakspeare to answer 
 questions? Has the erudition of Dr. Johnson or the 
 researches of Mr. Steevens enabled either to suggest 
 any restorations in Shakspeare but merely on con- 
 jecture ? As for preferring the text of one copy to 
 that of another, such cannot be called restoration ; neither 
 can those impurities in grammar occasioned by ignorant 
 transcribers and compositors be considered restoration ; 
 for justice to the Author's unerring genius demanded 
 that which even lay within the abilities of a village 
 schoolmaster. But if any Commentator, studious to 
 restore, on principles of reason, the Author that he would 
 illustrate on those of truth, ever had an auxiliary at 
 command, surely I may safely say that I had one which 
 proved most serviceable : — I mean my practical know- 
 ledge of the typographic art ; for what penetration dis- 
 played, this confirmed, in pointing out how the errors 
 originated. Recourse to books I had none ; and con- 
 vinced I am that deep researches often destroyed, in 
 my predecessors, what the first impulse of reason dic- 
 tated ; for, whilst fancy, in the confluence of parallelisms, 
 compelled them to seek anchorage in false soundings, 
 they accepted any aid rather than be wrecked in the 
 stream to which laboured investigation had carried 
 them. 
 
 The causes which introduce errors into a work while 
 in the hands of a Printer are so numerous, that to re- 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 XI 
 
 count and explain them would make my preface a vo- 
 lume. Indeed, throughout this work, I have been as 
 explicit as possible in displaying how the many errors 
 arose; but that the reader may form a just conception 
 of the means by which one letter has been falsely intro- 
 duced for another, and which, helping to form a word, 
 enabled it to maintain the place it usurped, I here prefix, 
 on a reduced scale, the plan of a pair of letter-cases, by 
 referring to which, it will be found how close the con- 
 nection is between certain types, and which, when in 
 their respective boxes, the least shaking of the frame 
 whereon the cases rest must dislodge from their own 
 compartments, and scatter them into those of their 
 neighbouring types. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 UPPER 
 
 CASE. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 A 
 
 B 
 
 C 
 
 D 
 
 E 
 
 F 
 
 G 
 
 A 
 
 B 
 
 c 
 
 D 
 
 " 
 
 T 
 
 • 
 
 H 
 
 I 
 
 K 
 
 - 
 
 M 
 
 N 
 
 
 
 a 
 
 i 
 
 K 
 
 L 
 
 M 
 
 N 
 
 
 
 P 
 
 * 
 
 R 
 
 s 
 
 T 
 
 V 
 
 vv 
 
 P j, 
 
 . 
 
 S 
 
 • 
 
 V 
 
 . 
 
 X 
 
 Y 
 
 z 
 
 M 
 
 CE 
 
 J u 
 
 X 
 
 Y 
 
 z 
 
 M 
 
 CE 
 
 J 
 
 u 
 
 1 
 
 5 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 a 
 
 e 
 
 i 
 
 6 
 
 * 
 
 § 
 
 I 
 
 8 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 — 
 
 ft 
 
 fk 
 
 a 
 
 e 
 
 i 
 
 6 
 
 U 
 
 1! 
 
 t 
 
 a 
 
 8 
 
 V 
 
 o 
 
 li 
 
 it 
 
 k 
 
 a 
 
 e 
 
 i 
 
 6 
 
 u 
 
 < 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 LOWER 
 
 CASE. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 cl 
 
 [ 
 
 as 
 
 CE 
 
 > 
 
 J 
 
 e 
 
 s 
 
 eh 
 
 ! 
 
 ; j fl | fl 
 
 & 
 
 b 
 
 c 
 
 d 
 
 « 
 
 f 
 
 f 
 
 t> 
 
 (h 
 
 1 < ! ' 
 
 ffi 
 
 ffi 
 ffl 
 
 I 
 
 m 
 
 n 
 
 h 
 
 
 
 y 
 
 p 
 
 1 
 i 
 
 ' 1 
 1 
 
 w 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 n 1 m 
 Qu Qu 
 
 1 
 
 z 
 
 X 
 
 V 
 
 
 
 Spaces. 
 
 a 
 
 
 q 
 
 
 Quadrat* 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 " 1 
 
 | 
 
 1 
 ' 1 
 
 . 
 
Xll 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 In the upper-case, it will be perceived that the letters 
 are alphabetically arranged; but the lower-ease is so 
 divided, that the letters most frequently demanded, par- 
 ticularly the vowels, are nearest to the compositor's 
 hand, and have larger compartments than most of the 
 consonants. 
 
 Though the Art of Printing had made great advances 
 towards perfection in Holland, France, Germany, and 
 Venice, yet, in England, when Shakspeare flourished, 
 it was merely in a state of infancy; the very workmen 
 were comparatively but apprentices, and so ignorant in 
 the minutiae, now familiar to youths not more than three 
 or four years at the business, that every work then pro- 
 duced displayed innumerable typographical blunders. 
 Can we then be surprised that the Works of Shakspeare 
 shared the same fate — even a worse fate than the gene- 
 rality ? for it is well authenticated that transcripts were, 
 in general, made from the piecemeals of the performers, 
 and those still more hurried, by the transcriber writing 
 that which was read to him by another person, and the 
 copy thus produced was, without revisal, sent to the 
 printer. That our Author became, by such active exer- 
 tions for precedency of publication, doubly exposed to 
 blunders, exclusive of those ever attendant on hurried 
 works in a printing-office, we need not be surprised; 
 for if the person who read had a bad articulation, and 
 the transcriber an unchaste ear, words most familiar to 
 the comprehension of the latter would unquestionably 
 be inserted ; and that this has been the case, my prede- 
 cessors have so strongly proved, that I shall not trouble 
 the reader by entering farther into a detail that must 
 be the echo of opinions already universally received. 
 
 The point then which I contend is this, — that if ever 
 any principle could be advanced, tending to bring order 
 out of confusion by the substituting of words, correspond- 
 
PREFACE. xiii 
 
 ing* in sound and characters with the corrupt words which 
 have crept into Shakspeare's text, and which, by context, 
 afford a clear and comprehensive meaning-, and also sup- 
 port both figure and metaphor where their aid is de- 
 manded, — I sav, such principles have guided me through 
 the entire of my work: thus, by the intuitive power 
 of reason, every mode by which corruption could creep 
 in has become familiar, and in analyzing that which I 
 was determined to make pure, 1 never suffered the fur- 
 nace of penetration to cool until all that was base was 
 separated from the choicer metal. Having then reduced 
 those principles to a regular system, I entertain the hope, 
 that ultimately I shall succeed in removing every cor- 
 ruption from our Author's text, and that I shall be 
 enabled to say, what Mr. Malone too hastily advanced, 
 " The text of the Author seems now to be finally settled." 
 
 It is expected by many, that I shall enter into a farther 
 exposure of that imbecility which made an effort to 
 attack the Specimen of my Work, as first offered to 
 public notice; but imbecile should I consider myself, 
 were I to devote another part of a page against those, 
 who, forcing wind enough to blast peas from a pop-gun, 
 suffered fancy to indulge the idea that they aimed 
 Waterloo Artillery against me! No; I leave the 
 party to those attendants that ever lackey the heels of 
 disappointed pride, and, exulting in this confidence — that 
 even the collective party cannot do the one-tenth part 
 towards restoring and illustrating the text of our Immor- 
 tal Bard, as this Volume exhibits, I shall limit myself to 
 a few observations, and those only which the nature of 
 my Work requires. 
 
 I have, in a former part of my preface, slightly hinted 
 that I commenced this undertaking while labouring 
 under the daily accumulating miseries of a prisoner of 
 war in France ; and as, in this state of slavery, I had no 
 
XIV 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 opportunity of resorting to any of the old editions of 
 Shakspeare's Plays, I made the labours of my prede- 
 cessors subservient in obtaining the different readings 
 from the folios and quartos of such corrupt passages, as 
 necessarily claimed my attention in penetrating into the 
 origin and causes of those numerous corruptions. The 
 labour of collating, then, like Mr. M. Mason, I expe- 
 rienced not; but make no doubt the aid I derived was 
 equal, so far, to my wishes, as in such short extracts in- 
 accuracies could not be expected. However, convinced 
 that several corruptions still remain, I trust that, ere 
 long, I shall have an opportunity of comparing the 
 different readings, and if corruptions have escaped my 
 predecessors' notice, that I shall be enabled to restore 
 the text to its pristine purity, and make it shed that lustre 
 which the genius of the Bard originally designed. 
 
 When I first submitted a specimen of my labours to 
 critical penetration, the title of my pamphlet announced 
 that I proposed to correct Seven Hundred Errors in 
 Shakspeare's Plays. Honoured by the notice of several 
 literary characters who highly approved my Specimen, 
 one gentleman particularly suggested that the more 
 appropriate title would be — Restorations of Seven 
 Hundred Passages : to this I immediately acquiesced; 
 but in the progress of reading my manuscript for press, 
 I found some passages that required farther investiga- 
 tion, and an absolute necessity of resorting to the early 
 editions, for which reason I have omitted nearly sixty in 
 this Work, though hoping, at a future period, to offer 
 them with the same confidence that I do the present 
 restorations. But, however, it will be found, that though 
 I am short of seven hundred passages, yet there are 
 more than seven hundred errors corrected; as also about 
 one hundred and sixty illustrations given of passages 
 which, though correct, have been misinterpreted by my 
 predecessors, although these misinterpretations have 
 
PREFACE. XV 
 
 long since passed the ordeal of criticism as incontro- 
 vertibly just. 
 
 It is almost unnecessary to observe, that where the 
 text was corrupt, it could not afford the Author's mean- 
 ing; but these passages now restored afford quite dif- 
 ferent illustrations to those hitherto given ; so that, in 
 restorations and illustrations, the Work now most re- 
 spectfully submitted to public inspection, contains eight 
 hundred and sixty proofs against the accuracy of all 
 Shakspeare's former Commentators, 
 
 Though the most modern writer on Shakspeare, and 
 I would indulge the hope, not inferior to any of my 
 predecessors as a restorer of his text, yet, as a Printer, I 
 can say what, perhaps, no person of that profession ever 
 had or ever will have to say, — At one period, three dif- 
 ferent editions of Shakspeare's Works were printing 
 in my Office: A part of Mr. Malone's for the Company 
 of Booksellers; — the plays of Lear and Cymbeline, 
 each making a volume, with illustrations by Isaac Am- 
 brose Eccles, Esq.; and a reprint of that edition, com- 
 monly known as Stockdale's Shakspeare. If, then, in 
 the course of reading the proofs of these respective 
 editions, that I became early acquainted with our in- 
 imitable Bard, it will appear less extraordinary, that at 
 a more advanced period I should become one of his 
 Commentators. 
 
 To me it would have been a high gratification had 
 any of those eminent characters who have edited Shak- 
 speare been still living ; for, convinced I am, that they 
 would have been my strenuous friends in giving sanction 
 to, and in recommending this Work to public notice. 
 
 I shall not trespass farther in prefatory remarks, than 
 merely to mention, that having recently perused an 
 
xv i PREFACE. 
 
 article in the Edinburgh Review, relative to the species 
 of comments on Shakspeare which the Editor of that 
 Work would recommend, I submit to the reader how 
 far I meet the opinion of this judicious Critic: — he 
 observes,— 
 
 " The real admirers of Shakspeare, we believe, care very little 
 about his commentators. Yet, if we wish to understand every word 
 of an author who wrote more than two hundred years ago, we must 
 accept of the services of the antiquary and verbal critic. A short 
 glossary, a few explanations of old usages, and a few suggestions for 
 the restoration of a corrupted text, would be gratefully accepted, and 
 generally consulted. But these helps become hinderances, — and 
 nuisances indeed of the first magnitude, when they swell to six times 
 the bulk of the original author, and engage us, at every tenth line, 
 in the paltry polemics of purblind annotators, and grovelling tran- 
 scribers of black-letter. The great popularity of Shakspeare has held 
 out such temptations to this industrious class of beings, that we have 
 now an edition of his thirty-five plays distended into twenty-one thick 
 octavos; in which the text bears such a slender proportion to the 
 commentary, that he who wishes to read nothing but Shakspeare, 
 must keep his forefinger constantly employed in turning over the 
 leaves, — and frequently earn no more by the labour than a single 
 line in a page. When we look into the mass which fills the remain- 
 der of it, we find it made up of long quotations from contemporary 
 authors, tedious dissertations on old customs, and keen and solemn 
 controversies upon the comparative merit of rival readings or pro- 
 jects of punctuation. 
 
 See Edinburgh Review for July, 1808, p. 449. 
 
 From this, I trust, it will readily appear that the plan 
 which I have pursued, precisely accords with the princi- 
 ples suggested by the learned Editor ; and should my 
 labours be sanctioned by the Literary World, more than 
 three thousand notes, occupying about six Volumes of 
 what is now considered the best edition of Shakspeare, 
 will thereby become totally unncessary. 
 
SHAKSPEARE'S GENIUS JUSTIFIED. 
 
 RESTORATIONS and ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 OF 
 
 SEVEN HUNDRED PASSAGES 
 
 SHAKSPEARE'S PLAYS 
 
 Wi)t Wtmptgb 
 
 ACT I. 
 
 Scene I. — page 6. 
 Boatswain. Blow, till thou burst thy wind, if room enough! 
 
 Ariel has so disposed the wind, that the ship is in 
 danger of being driven against the Island; and which, 
 as Adrian observes in Act II. sc. i. is "almost inacces- 
 sible." This being perceptible to the Boatswain, he is 
 supposed to address himself to Boreas ; and, seaman- 
 like, defies his power, provided the vessel has sufficient 
 sea-room. 
 
 In Pericles, Prince of Tyre, the sailors express 
 themselves in a similar manner : 
 
 1 Sailor. " Blow, and split thyself." 
 
 2 Sailor. " But sea-room, an the brine and cloudy billow kiss 
 
 the moon: I care not."' 
 
 E 
 
THE TEMPEST. 
 
 Scene I. — page 6. 
 
 Alonso. Good Boatswain, have care. Where's the Master? ptay 
 the men. 
 
 Although the authorities introduced by various Com- 
 mentators in support of the word play, seem plausibly 
 strong ; yet, in my opinion, the transcriber mistook the 
 sound of the word. We certainly should read, u ply the 
 men :" meaning-, that he should make the men work with 
 
 Scene II. — page 19. 
 
 Prospero. Who having unto truth, hy telling of it. 
 
 Mr. M. Mason recommends, "by telling oft;" which 
 elision is to limit the verse to its due measure. But, I 
 am of opinion that we should read, "by telling oft:" 
 meaning, that by frequently telling a falshood, he be- 
 lieved it to be a truth. Thus the verse is perfect. 
 
 Scene II. — page 22. 
 
 Prospero. — the very rats 
 
 Instinctively had quit it. 
 
 It is said of rats, that they generally quit a tottering 
 house a few days before it falls. 
 
 Scene II. — page 25. 
 
 Prospero. Row I arise: 
 
 Sit still and hear the last of our sea-sorrow. 
 
 Sir William Blackstone demands, "Why does Pro- 
 spero arise?" He then proposes to give the words — 
 " Now I arise" to Miranda. But, why should Miranda 
 
THE TEMPEST. 
 
 arise ; she who has manifested so lively an interest in the 
 narration of her father ? However, it is evident, from the 
 sequent verse, that she attempts to move from her seat, but 
 is prevented by Prospero ; the reason of which will be 
 obvious, by reading- as the Author wrote : 
 
 3S ow ire. rise ! 
 
 Sit still and hear the last of oar sea-sorrow. 
 
 Prospero, in the course of his narration, smothers all 
 indignation against his brother ; but now the retrospect 
 of his treachery figures to his imagination all the dangers 
 and all the calamities he has endured ; and which raising 
 the passion of vengeance in his bosom, he exclaims — 
 Now ire, rise ! which words, from his enraged look, at- 
 titude, and action, awaking sensations of fear in the breast 
 of Miranda, she attempts to move from her seat; but 
 judging the true cause of her emotion, Prospero curbs 
 his indignant fury, and modulating his voice, tells her 
 to "Sit still, and hear" him recount "the last of their 
 sea-sorrows," and the care he had taken of her education. 
 
 The transcriber made the blunder: I arise, and, ire, 
 rise! have, perhaps, as close a similarity of sound as any 
 two words formed of different characters. 
 
 Scene II.— page 37. 
 
 Prospero. Come forth thou tortoise! When? 
 
 Prospero calls Caliban, who is a rude monster, from 
 his cell : he is a mass of flesh, destitute of reason ; and 
 who, like the tortoise, merely eats, drinks, and crawls 
 about, in sluggish inactivity. In short, Prospero con- 
 siders him as a piece of unmeaning matter — a mere ex- 
 crescence. To prepare us, therefore, for the object he is 
 about to introduce, Prospero marks his contempt of him, 
 by the most contemptible appellation that can be given 
 to any object partaking of human form. 
 
 B2 
 
4 THE TEMPEST. 
 
 Come forth thou tortoise wen ! 
 
 i.e. Thou animated excrescence! Prospero considers him 
 no nearer to human nature than is that protuberance 
 called a wen. 
 
 In the Second Part of King Henry IV. Act I. sc. ii. 
 y/e have a passage that puts this restoration beyond con- 
 troversy. Prince Henry, in speaking of the familiarity 
 with which he indulges Falstaff, says — 
 
 " I do allow this wen to be as familiar with me as my dog," &c. 
 
 which Dr. Johnson thus elucidates: — "This swoln ex- 
 crescence of a man." 
 
 Scene II. — page 91, 
 
 Caliban. I'll get thee 
 
 Young sesi-mells from the rock. 
 
 The researches of my predecessors have been great to 
 establish the existence of sea-mells, or sea-malls; but I 
 profess myself unacquainted with either ; and, I believe 
 our great Poet was equally so : for, though many words 
 are now obsolete which took a lead in literature two 
 centuries ago ; yet substantives have no more varied than 
 proper-names. Therefore, if sea-mells were known in 
 Shakspeare's time, they must be equally so at present. 
 But they are unknown; nor have our Commentators 
 been able to ascertain that any naturalist, from the time 
 of Pliny to Buffon, ever mentioned such a bird. From 
 these considerations, I am confident the original read : 
 
 I'll get thee 
 
 Young sea-mews from the rock. 
 
 The sea-mews make their nests in rocks close to the 
 sea. The manner in which the error took place is ob- 
 vious. The transcriber formed the w in mews larger 
 
THE TEMPEST 
 
 than the other letters connected with the word; and 
 which was taken by the compositor for 11. 
 
 ACT III. 
 
 Scene I.— page 9^. 
 
 Ferd. My sweet mistress 
 
 Weeps when she sees me work; and says, such baseness 
 
 Had ne'er like executor. I forget: 
 
 But these sweet thoughts do even refresh my labours, &c„ 
 
 It is difficult to say, whether the blunders in this pas- 
 sage should be attributed to the transcriber's unchaste 
 ear, or to the compositor's not deciphering the letters of 
 the true words: we must be satisfied in obtaining the 
 original, which certainly read : 
 
 My sweet mistress 
 
 Weeps when she sees me work; and says, such baseness 
 
 Had ne'er like executor. I forgiv't: 
 
 For these sweet thoughts do even refresh my labours, &c. 
 
 Meaning: — The tears which Miranda sheds, at see- 
 ing me striving to fulfil the laborious task enjoined on 
 me by Prospero, give such consolation to my soul, that 
 I forgive the iron-heart which imposes it. 
 
 The subsequent word — But, should read — For: the 
 necessity of this latter correction was obvious to Mr. 
 Malone, even in the present corrupt state of the passage. 
 
 Scene I. — page9£. 
 Most busy-fcss, when I do it. 
 The two first folios read — Most busy-lest; altered 
 by Mr. Theobald to busy -less ; who observes, on this 
 correctio?i — "I cannot afford to think well of my own 
 sagacity, as even with this alteration, the passage is 
 corrupt." 
 
6 THE TEMPEST. 
 
 Formerly the long / and round s were used indis- 
 criminately, by some printers, in the middle of words; 
 though a cautious printer made the distinction, by placing 
 the long at the beginning, and the round s in the middle 
 of words; as in fubscription ; unless a £, or an i followed 
 the s y as in fubflanee and fubfijl. Thus, then, the error 
 originated : — The compartments for the long f and f 
 being next each other, these letters were frequently 
 mixed; and as it required a sharp eye to distinguish 
 them, the compositor took up an /instead of an/J and 
 produced the corrupt reading, as in the two first folios. — 
 We should read : 
 
 I forgiv't : 
 
 For these sweet thoughts do even refresh my labours; 
 Most busy left, when I do it. 
 
 Thus corrected, the meaning is clearly and compre- 
 hensively familiar. When Ferdinand had accomplished 
 the daily labour enjoined on him by Prospero, he was 
 more busy left than while at work ; i. c. the severe task 
 occupied his mind, and banished disagreeable reflections ; 
 but labour over, and oppressed with fatigue; then his 
 mind became busily employed^ in reflecting on the tears 
 shed for him by his mistress ; the cutting thoughts of his 
 servile state ; the irreparable loss of his father ; and, the 
 desponding idea of never returning to his dominions. 
 
 ACT IV. 
 
 Scene I. — page 122. 
 
 Phospero. If I have too austerely punish'd you, 
 
 Your compensation makes amends; for I 
 
 Have given you here a thread of mine own life, &c„ 
 
 The old copy reads third. According to the passage 
 quoted by Mr. Hawkins, from the Comedy of Mucedorus: 
 
THE TEMPEST. 7 
 
 thread, was formerly spelt third; but in Markham's 
 English Husbandman, the same word is spelt thrift; 
 
 and in this manner, I believe Shakspeare gave it in this 
 passage. A slight transposition, however, seems to have 
 been made by the compositor, who, from a cursory glance 
 at his copy, made third; which, being understood by 
 the corrector, in reading the proof, to mean a third part 
 of Prospero's existence, he changed the definite for the 
 indefinite article : and thus perverted the Author's mean- 
 ing, by leaving Prospero tico-thirds of his life in reserve. 
 We should read : 
 
 If I have too austerely punish'd you, 
 Your compensation makes amends ; for I 
 Have given you here the thread of mine own life, 
 Or that for which I live, &c. 
 
 Why should Prospero say, — "Or that for which I 
 live," if he reserves two-thirds of his life; even should 
 Ferdinand prove the worst of husbands ? Ridiculous ! 
 No : he means, that, in giving Miranda to Ferdinand, he 
 gives the very thread of his own life, and which Ferdi- 
 nand cuts, the moment he withdraws from Miranda the 
 affectionate tenderness of a husband. 
 
 ACT V. 
 
 Scene I. — page 168. 
 
 Axtoxio. One of them is a plain fish, &c. 
 
 To explain what Antonio calls a plain jish, we must 
 resort to Act IV. sc. i. where Ariel relates the trick she 
 played on Caliban, Stephano, and Trinculo : 
 
 " — So I charufd their ears, 
 
 That, calf-like, they my lowing* followd, through 
 Tootlvd hriers, sharp furzes, pricking goss, and thorns, 
 Which enter d their frail shins : at last I left them 
 Vthejilthy mantled pool beyond your cell, 
 There dancing up to the chins," &c 
 
8 THE TEMPEST. 
 
 Thus mantled with the green superficies of the stagnant 
 pool, (scale-like substances, which float on the surface of 
 ditches,) they appeared before the cell, where Stephano 
 and Trinculo habited themselves in the glittering apparel 
 left on the lines ; but Caliban remained in his filthy state, 
 and thus appeared like an amphibious monster, which 
 Antonio calls a. plain fish. 
 
 Scene I. — page 169. 
 
 Alonso. Where should they 
 
 Find this grand liquor that hath gilded them? 
 
 Gilded is designed to convey a double meaning : — their 
 external appearance in the glittering robes of Prospero ; 
 and, as drinking much liquor heightens the complexion 
 and gives it a gloss, their inebriation adds to the gilded 
 figure. 
 
®too (BrMtttmm of Vtttm. 
 
 ACT I. 
 
 Scexe I. — page 1ST. 
 
 Speed. And being so hard to me that brought your mind, I fear, 
 she'll prove as hard to you in telling her mind. 
 
 The old copy lias — " in telling your mind." It appears 
 to me that we should read — -"In telling you her mind." 
 The person who read to the transcriber coupled the 
 words you her as youer, omitting to aspirate the h; the 
 want of which sound deceiving the transcriber, he took 
 it for your, as in the old copy. — Thus corrected we gain 
 Speed's meaning. 
 
 ACT II. 
 
 Scexe II. — page 212. 
 
 Julia. If you turn not, you will return the sooner: 
 
 If your affections do not change, you will return the 
 sooner. 
 
 ACT III. 
 
 Scene I. — page 249. 
 
 Launce. I am but a fool, look you; and yet I have the wit to 
 think, my master is a kind of knave: but that's all 
 one, if he be but one knave. 
 
 Launce, convinced that his master is the cause of 
 Valentine's banishment, calls him a kind of knave; and 
 
10 TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. 
 
 having a shrewd suspicion, that he will rob him of his 
 mistress as well as his liberty, will, thereby, prove him- 
 self doubly a knave. 
 
 ACT IV. 
 
 Scene I. — page 21b. 
 
 Sylvia. I am very loth to be your idol, Sir; 
 
 But, since yourfahhood shall become you well 
 To worship shadows, and adore false shapes, 
 Send to me in the morning, and I'll send it : 
 
 Dr. Johnson proposes to correct this unmeaning pas- 
 sage by reading — "But since you? re false, it shall become 
 you well;" which certainly removes the obscurity; and 
 Mr. Tyrwhitt, is satisfied with the present text, " only to 
 suppose," as he says, "that it is understood." 
 
 I, however, am confident that the obscurity of this 
 passage is owing both to the transcriber and composi- 
 tor; to the first, from false punctuation; and to the lat- 
 ter, from having composed a T in place of a G, which 
 making To, (it being a word) escaped the corrector's 
 notice. I read, as I believe the author wrote : 
 
 But, since your falshood shall become you ; well — 
 Go: worship shadows and adore false shapes: 
 Send to me in the morning, and Til send it: 
 
 Thus the indignation of Sylvia is displayed ; her lan- 
 guage emphatic; her determination conclusive; and ? 
 ordering him from her presence, she tells him to send m 
 the morning for the picture. 
 
$&iiittnmmtv^iqfoV$ &ttam+ 
 
 ACT II. 
 
 Scene II. — page 357. 
 
 Titania. Therefore the winds, piping- to us in vain, 
 As in revenge, have suck'ci up from the sea 
 Contagious fogs; which falling in the land, 
 Have every pelting river made so proud, 
 That they have overborne their continents. 
 
 The transposition of one letter obtains the Author's 
 word. We should read : 
 
 Have every petling river made so proud, &c. 
 
 Petting is a diminutive, used either as a word of en- 
 dearment, or contempt. The text, thus corrected, means : 
 That every little insignificant river, by heavy rains falling 
 into them, had become so proud, they broke down the 
 banks which originally confined them. 
 
 Scene II. — page 360. 
 
 Titania. The human mortals want their winter here. 
 
 The word here y limits the desolation, occasioned by 
 the quarrels between Oberon and Titania, to Athens, 
 only ; whereas, the text should make the calamity ge- 
 neral. See a subsequent part of this speech : 
 
 "Therefore the moon, the governess of the floods, 
 Pale in her anger, washes all the air," &c. 
 
 If " all the air" has been so incessantly washed, the 
 " progeny of evils" must have been scattered over the 
 world : and this Titania evinces, by observing, that* — 
 
 the mazed world 
 
 By their increase, now know not which is which :" 
 
12 MIDSUMMER-NIGHT'S DREAM. 
 
 Surely then, when she speaks in such pointed terms 
 of the general calamity, she cannot mean, so immediately, 
 to limit its effects. I am, therefore, inclined to think 
 Mr. M. Mason correct, and that we should read cheer : 
 meaning — That human mortals cannot enjoy their festive 
 cheer, or chant their songs of praise at the accustomed 
 season, on account of this extraordinary revolution in 
 the order of nature, 
 
 ACT III. 
 
 Scexe I. — page 375. 
 
 Demetrius. Where is Lysander, and fair Hermia? 
 The one I'll slay, the other slayeth me. 
 
 The old copies read: — "The one I'll stay, the other 
 slayeth me." The present text is from the suggestion 
 of Dr. Thirlby. I, however, think the old copies right. 
 
 According to the present text, Demetrius is made to 
 say, "the one Til slay," (Lysander) for which murder, 
 the Athenian laws must condemn him : he then continues, 
 Ci the other slayeth me ;" meaning Hermia : by which alter- 
 ation, the sense is perverted and the persons changed. 
 
 Helena having signified to Demetrius, that Lysander 
 and Hermia intend to elope; Demetrius, jealous of the 
 one, and winged by passion for the other, pursues them. 
 Now, according to Dr. Thiriby's correction, Is it said, for 
 what purpose Demetrius goes in pursuit of the fugitives ? 
 Yes ; The one he will slay ! What then becomes of the 
 other? But see how clearly the original disposes of 
 Hermia, and assigns sufficient cause for his saying — "the 
 other stayeth me." He will stay, that is, he will stop 
 Hermia; she being already destined by her father to 
 become his bride, and prevent her from eloping with 
 
MIDSUMMER-NIGHT'S DREAM. 13 
 
 Lysander, who stayeth him, i. e. stops him from obtaining 
 the object of his passion. 
 
 According to the present text — the one I'll slay, must 
 mean Lysander ; whereas, it should be Hermia whom he 
 intends to stay. 
 
 In a subsequent part of this scene, that the Author's 
 meaning of the word should not be misunderstood, he 
 makes Demetrius repeat it : 
 
 " I will not stay thy questions ; let me go." 
 
 In other words— I will not stop to hear you ; let me 
 go. — The original reading should be restored. 
 
 Scene I.— page 378. 
 
 Oberon. Hast thou the flower there? Welcome, Wanderer. 
 
 According to the present reading — Welcome Wanderer ■, 
 is made the name of the flower; and which is strength- 
 ened by Puck's direct reply : — "Ay, there it is." — Surely 
 the salutation should take the lead, thus : 
 
 Oberon. Welcome, Wanderer; hast thou the flower there? 
 Puck. Ay, there it is. 
 
 . The compositor might have made this transposition 
 when correcting some error in the verse. 
 
 ACT III. 
 
 Scene I. — page 396. 
 
 Pyramus. So doth thy breath, my dearest Thisby dear — 
 But, hark, a voice ! stay thou but here a while, 
 And by and by I will to thee appear. 
 
 I cannot agree with Mr. Malone, that two lines have 
 been lost; nor do I think Mr. Theobald comes a whit 
 nearer to sense than the old copy, by his alteration. In 
 short, the present obscurity of the passage, and breach in 
 
14 MIDSUMMER-NIGHT'S DREAM. 
 
 the metre, arise from a careless compositor, who trans- 
 posed the words : the Author designed a triplet, thus : 
 
 So doth thy breath, my dearest Thisby dear — 
 But, hark, a voice! stay thou a while but here, 
 And by and by I will to thee appear. 
 
 Where are the two lines wanting ? — What sense can 
 be clearer ? 
 
 Scene II. — page 419. 
 
 Lysander. You are unkind, Demetrius; be not so; 
 
 For you love Hermia, this, you know, I know. 
 
 Another error of the compositor, who taking the line 
 on his mind forgot do, and composed know. — We should 
 read : — For you love Hermia, this you do, I know. In 
 the same speech, Lysander says, 
 
 "And your's of Helena to me bequeath, 
 Whom I do love, and will do to my death." 
 
 Scene II. — page 425. 
 Demetrius. No, no, Sir — he will. 
 
 I am convinced that a greater number of sudden tran- 
 sitions, or breaks, have been introduced than the Author 
 intended; and owing to loss of words, which the early 
 Editors had not sufficient penetration to supply. 
 
 This passage has been tortured by various alterations. 
 Mr. Malone's text is formed, from the Quarto (printed 
 by Fisher) and the first Folio; by which junction, he 
 reads: — "No, no, he'll — Sir" — 
 
 The Scene before us, exhibits Hermia using all her 
 efforts to prevent Lysander from combating with De- 
 metrius. Lysander really strives to extricate himself 
 from her hold; but, respecting her person, will not use 
 
MIDSUMMER-NIGHT'S DREAM. \j 
 
 that violence which might "hurt her" nor will he "-strike 
 her" but tells her to quit him. " Away," he says, "you 
 Ethiop!" — But Demetrius believes his struggles a mere 
 feint: that he does not use sufficient force; but, that 
 through cowardice he suffers himself to be detained. 
 This, I believe to have been the Author's meaning, and 
 which is obtainable by a slight correction : 
 
 No, no, hell not stir: 
 
 Seem to break loose; take on as you would follow. 
 
 Thus the sarcasm is levelled at Lysander with force ; 
 and the passage so clear, that any person, who can read, 
 must understand it. 
 
 The word not was lost in the first Edition of this Play ; 
 stir, instead of sir, requires but the addition of a i: and 
 thus corrected the metre is also perfected. 
 
 ACT IV. 
 
 Scene I. — page 443. 
 
 Tit ax i a. Fairies, be gone, and be all ways away. 
 
 The old copies read: — "And be akcays away." I 
 suppose the present text (Mr. Theobald's) means — to be 
 o?i every direction : and that of the old copies, — not to ap- 
 proach the Fairy Queen in future. Now, though Mr. 
 Theobald's correction gives a more plausible meaning, 
 yet the old copy contains the Author's words, but not his 
 punctuation. — I correct thus, 
 
 Fairies, be gone, and be always: — J way ! 
 
 In the Fairy language, meaning: — Be invisible, though 
 present. — She orders the fairies to be invisible while her 
 lover seeks repose. — Thus, Titania displays her power. 
 
16 MIDSUMMER-NIGHT'S DREAM. 
 
 ACT V. 
 
 Scene I— page 479. 
 
 Theseus. Here come two noble beasts in, a moon and a lion. 
 
 Truly, the moon is paid a pretty compliment : the pas- 
 sage is beastly corrupt. We should read : 
 
 Here come two noble beasts in ; a man and a lion. 
 
 As a man is the most noble of the animal creation, so is 
 the lion of all quadrupeds : Theseus, therefore, considers 
 Snout as a beast from his manners and actions. The Au- 
 thor's word, man^ should be restored. The metamorphose 
 of man to moon is the witchcraft of Mr. Theobald. 
 
 We are not to take this passage in a sense so strictly 
 literal, as, a man in a whale; which was the case with 
 Jonah, when in the whale's belly; though, I doubt not 
 our Author had this figure in view, and most probably 
 wrote — u a man in a lion." Meaning Snout, who enters 
 
 enveloped in a Lion's skin. 
 
Httrt£ nmibt$ of OSttitfytor* 
 
 ACT I. 
 
 Scene III. — page 40. 
 
 Falstaff. I spy entertainment in her; she discourses, she carves, 
 she gives the leer of invitation. 
 
 No doubt Mrs. Ford was an excellent carver, perhaps 
 equal to any in Windsor; and entertained her friends 
 with choice viands : but the entertainment to which Fal- 
 staff alludes being that of love, her adroitness in the 
 art of carving is not absolutely necessary. 
 
 Falstaff has spied a certain craving in the eye of this 
 merry wife ; and as she has given him the leer of invita- 
 tion, he, in his lascivious humour, says, — 
 
 She craves, she give3 the leer of invitation. 
 
 See a subsequent speech in this scene, where Falstaff 
 boasts of the impression he has also made on the heart 
 of Mrs. Pao-e : 
 
 " 0, she did so course o'er my exteriors with such a greedy inten- 
 tion, that the appetite of her eye did seem to scorch me up like 
 
 And by the appetite of Mrs. Ford's eye, Falstaff thinks 
 he knows that for which she craves. 
 
 It is almost unnecessary to say, that the compositor, 
 from the cursory view he took of the copy, read, she 
 carves, instead of she craves. 
 
18 MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR. 
 
 Scene III. — page 41. 
 Nym. The anchor is deep : Will that humour pass? 
 
 The anchor and arrow being similarly pointed, Nym 
 compares the former to the arrow used by the wanton 
 archer ; and, as an anchor , when cast, darts through the 
 bosom of the deep, so Nym displays his humour by 
 saying, the anchor is deep in Mrs. Ford's bosom. 
 
 Scene III. — page 47. 
 
 Nym. I will possess him with yellowness, for the revolt of mien is 
 dangerous. 
 
 The old copies read— "the revolt of mine" I am of 
 opinion we should read — the revolt of mind; meaning-, 
 that by making Page jealous, he will become so enraged, 
 so mad, as to chastise FalstafF. The revolt, or revolution 
 in his mind, occasioned by jealousy, will divest him of all 
 prudence. 
 
 ACT II. 
 
 Scene I. — page 60. 
 
 Mrs. Page. Why, I'll exhibit a bill in the parliament for the putting 
 down of men. 
 
 No doubt Mrs. Page means fat men. Her passion is 
 blended with revenge and humour : — she will pray the 
 parliament to pass a bill, that all fat men shall be re- 
 stricted in diet; and thereby, their lustful passions being 
 subdued, virtuous women may be neither subject to their 
 arts or insolence. Perhaps the original read — palling 
 down. We frequently say, pull down your flesh with 
 exercise, and use spare diet. 
 
MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR. 19 
 
 Scene I. — page 68. 
 
 Pistol. Away, Sir Corporal JVym. — 
 
 Believe it, Page ; he speaks sense. 
 
 He may speak sense, but I cannot develop it according 
 to the present arrangement of the passage. 
 
 The characters present are Pistol, Nym, and Page. — 
 Nym has been filling Page with yellowness ; and Pistol, 
 thinking that enough has been said to give a good dose, 
 wishes Nym to depart. We shall obtain order out of 
 confusion, by arranging the lines as our Author wrote 
 them: 
 
 PlSTOL. Away, Sir Corporal. [To Nym, meaniug, Let us depart. 
 
 Nym. Believe it. [Impressing on Page's mind that all he told him tvas trite. 
 
 PAGE. He speaks sense. [To himself: giving credit to what Nym related. 
 
 I am certain the error originated thus: the person 
 who read to the transcriber did not make sufficient pauses, 
 and the names and words corresponded so well, that he, 
 disregarding the sense, perceived not the blunder he was 
 making, Moreover, are we to believe that Nym would 
 take such a liberty with so respectable a character as 
 Page, and thus address him, Believe it, Page — as though 
 he were his familiar acquaintance ? 
 
 Scene II. — page 78. 
 Pistol. I will retort the sum in equipage. 
 
 Equipage is certainly a very familiar word ; but, with 
 Mr. Steevens, I must say, — "that it ever meant stolen 
 goods, I am yet to learn." The compositor mistook the 
 word : our Author wrote : 
 
 I will retort the sum in equipoise. 
 
 Retort, (return) Equipoise (equal weight.) I will 
 return you equal weight in money. " No," says Falstaff, 
 4i not a penny." The oi was taken for an a, the i being 
 closely joined to the o; and the % for a g, the word 
 ecpuipoise being formerly spelt equipoize. 
 
 C '2 
 
MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR. 
 
 Scene III. — page 106. 
 
 Host. I will bring thee where mistress Ann Page is, at a farm-house 
 a feasting; and thou shall woo her: Cry'' d game, said I 
 well? 
 
 We have three pages of close notes on this passage in 
 Johnson and Steevens' edition : all of which, I think, 
 may hereafter be dispensed with. 
 
 Let it be considered, that the Host avails himself of 
 Caius's ignorance of the English language, and conveys 
 gross abuse under the mask of friendship. — In one place 
 he calls him Heart of Elder; which means a spiritless- 
 fellow — the elder-tree having no heart, its interior being 
 all pulp. In another place, he gives him the genteel name 
 of Monsieur Muck-water ; which he interprets — valour, 
 bully: again, — He will clapper-claw thee tightly, bully: 
 which he interprets — lie will make thee amends. But 
 the epithet which he gives him at present is even worse 
 than these ; the grossest he could use to a man going to 
 court a young and beautiful damsel; yet, for this, Caius's 
 ignorance of what the other says, is such, that he promises 
 to procure him guests of the first distinction : — de good 
 guest, de earl, de knight, de lords, de gentlemen, fyc. and all 
 this for being called — JDri/d game: i. e. an old sapless 
 fellow, in whom the animal juices that could create pas- 
 sion are extinct. Thus then the original : 
 
 Mistress Ann Page is, at a farm-house a feasting ; and thou 
 shall woo her : Bry'd game, said I well ? 
 
 The case in which the capital letters are deposited has 
 uniform compartments, and the letters follow successively 
 in each. The C and D, therefore, being next door neigh- 
 bours, often visit each other ; and such a visit being un- 
 fortunately paid by C to JD, about the time when the 
 manuscript of this play made its first appearance in a 
 printing-office, Cry'd game has maintained its situation 
 ever since. 
 
MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR. gl 
 
 ACT III. 
 
 Scene III. — page 138. 
 
 Mrs. Ford. Shall we send that foolish carrion, mistress Quickley, 
 to him ? 
 
 The old copy reads— -foolishion carrion. 
 
 Mrs. Quickley is one of those gossipers with which 
 every village is infested, those who have an eye on every 
 person, and carry on any intrigue or plot in which they 
 are made privy by the party : to this may be added their 
 artful manner of making' scandal current. In Dame 
 Quickley, we cannot say this malevolent trait prevails 
 but being loquacious and fond of gossipping ; com 
 municative, and desirous of being made a sort of con 
 fidant, she has obtained the nickname olVj/e on — carry on s 
 perhaps from often saying — I have an eye on him, or her 
 or, an eye on it ; as also carry on, in a similar manner 
 By the frequent repetition of such phrases many persons 
 obtain nicknames ; and, no doubt, our intriguing dame 
 was better known in Windsor as Mrs. Eye on — carry 
 on, than Mrs. Quickley. 
 
 The transcriber being ignorant of the sense, followed 
 sound ; and, for foolish eye on — carry on, wrote foolishion 
 carrion : thus giving the vowel i for eye (to observe or 
 look after,) and carrion (coarse meat) for carry on (to 
 proceed actively in an undertaking). Thus it will be 
 perceived, that the correction is simple by which the Au- 
 thor's sense is obtained. 
 
 Scene V. — page 153. 
 
 Falstaff. next, to be compassed, like a good hilbo, in the cir- 
 cumference of a peck, hilt to point, heel to head: 
 
 Falstaff doe's not say, that he was compassed either 
 within the circumference of a pack, or peck, as Mr.Malone 
 supposes; but "like a good bilbo," that would bend from 
 
22 MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR. 
 
 " hilt to point" so was he bent from "heel to head." By 
 the description he gives of his situation, he must have 
 been placed on his belly, in the buck-basket ; and so com- 
 passed, that his heels touched his head. The inference^ 
 therefore, to be drawn is — that a good bilbo was of such 
 flexibility, that it could be incurvated within the small 
 circle of a peck-measure. 
 
 Tumblers may have that surprising flexibility of body 
 which Falstaff describes ; but, in himself, it is hyperbolical 
 to an extreme, and received, not literally, but wittily. 
 
 ACT IV. 
 
 Scene I. — page 158. 
 
 Mrs. Quickley. and to call horum: — fie upon you! 
 
 Mrs. Quickley seems too perfect in the Latin word, 
 horum. She has already perverted genitive case, to — 
 "Jenny's case" surely, then, in the present instance, 
 she should say, u whoreum: — fie upon you!" 
 
 Scene II. — page 162. 
 
 Mrs. Page. Alas, three of master Ford's brothers watch the door 
 with pistols, that none shall issue out. 
 
 This anachronism is not Shakspeare's, but the Printer's, 
 We must call to remembrance, that Pistol having quar- 
 relled with Falstaff, disclosed the Knight's intentions to 
 Ford: and we also find Pistol employed as the Crier 
 Hobgoblin in Windsor forest. If then, that Ford really 
 employed three of his brothers to watch the door, is it not 
 highly probable, that the treacherous Pistol was also 
 employed to identify Falstaff? Under these considera- 
 tions, I believe our Author wrote : 
 
 Three of master Ford's brothers watch the door, with Pistol, &c. 
 
MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR. 23 
 
 ACT V. 
 
 Scene IV. — page 197. 
 
 Mrs. Page. They are all couched in a pit hard by Heme's oak, with 
 obscured lights ; which, at the very instant of Fal- 
 staff's and our meeting, they will at once display to 
 the night. 
 
 The troop of supposed fairies, with obscured lights, 
 are to display their lights, not "to the night" (darkness) 
 but, to Sir John FalstafF, knight; and which, as Mrs. Ford 
 observes, "cannot choose but amaze him." — We should 
 read : — they will at once display to the knight. 
 
 This error has kept the true sense of the passage long 
 enough in darkness ; the light now thrown on it, will, I 
 hope, have its effect. 
 
 Scene V. — page 211. 
 
 Mrs. Page. Now, good sir John, how like you Windsor wives T 
 See you these, husband? do not tliese fair yokes 
 Become the forest better than the town? 
 
 Before Falstaff rises from the ground, he divests him- 
 self of the buck's-head; and we see no stage direction to 
 warrant Mr. Theobald's observation, that, — the types of 
 cuckoldom remain in Falstajf's hands. 
 
 After the first verse of this speech, (according to the 
 present reading,) Mrs. Page is made to address her hus- 
 band : How then could Ford, with propriety, become the 
 next speaker? In short, the text is corrupt; and the 
 forced elucidations of it, possess more horn than marrow. 
 Our Author wrote : 
 
 Now, good sir John, how like you Windsor wives ? 
 See you these husbands? do not these fairy jokes 
 Become the forest better than the town ? 
 
 Thus the entire of Mrs. Ford's speech is addressed to 
 Falstaff, and conveys such cutting words, that, if Falstaff 
 has sensibility to feel a wound, — " See you these hus- 
 
24 MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR. 
 
 bands .?" sends an arrow to his very soul. — " See you these 
 husbands?" pointing at the same time to the very men, 
 whose domestic peace — whose earthly happiness, his lust 
 and avarice intended to destroy. 
 
 Thus, neither horns, yokes, nor oaks, have any concern 
 with the text; and this long- controverted point, ulti- 
 mately ends in— fairy jokes. 
 
 Why a fairy jokes become the forest better than the 
 town," is easily explained. The town could not yield 
 effect to the scene planned by the merry wives ; and, that 
 Falstaff may know who played the former jokes on his 
 credulity, she makes the observation. 
 
 In the folio of 1623, there is no comma after the words, 
 " See you these" — a convincing proof that Shakspeare 
 wrote " See you these husbands f and not only to convey 
 the rebuke, but also to make the plural — husbands, cor- 
 respond with wives, as in the preceding verse : the s was 
 lost in the turn of the note of interrogation. The y 
 which makes the corrupt word — yokes, belonged to the 
 word fairy ; and thej which should have made jokes, was 
 omitted by the transcriber, the down-stroke and turn of 
 the y being precisely a j, which made him think he had 
 already formed that letter. 
 
 Scene V. — page 215. 
 Falstaff. — ignorance itself is a plummet o'er me : 
 
 Very few words show Falstaff' s meaning : — / act with 
 so little cautionj that ignorance can sound, or fathom my 
 intentions. i 
 
Vtotim ttftgfjt 
 
 ACT I. 
 
 Scene IL— page 2iS. 
 
 Captaix. Assure yourself, after our ship did split, 
 
 When you, and that poor number saved with you, &c. 
 
 When the Captain, and those who were saved from 
 the wreck, got on shore, he enumerated them, thereby 
 ascertaining the number that perished ; and as Viola was 
 present at the muster, and knew the number saved, the 
 Captain alludes to that poor number ; part of whom may 
 have been sent to seek provisions, and others left to guard 
 whatever effects were saved from the wreck. 
 
 Scene II. — page 244. 
 
 Viola. 0, that I served that lady: 
 
 And might not he delivered to the world, 
 Till I had made mine own occasion mellow, 
 What my estate is, &c. 
 
 I cannot read Dr. Johnson's observations on the present 
 intentions of Viola, without some degree of astonishment ! 
 he says, — "Viola seems to have formed a very deep de- 
 sign with very little premeditation : she is thrown by ship- 
 wreck on an unknown coast, hears that the prince is a 
 bachelor, and resolves to supplanc the lady whom he courts." 
 Thus, the poet is arraigned for incongruity, and Viola's 
 character unmeritedly tarnished. Again, the Doctor ob- 
 serves, — "Viola is an excellent schemer, never at a loss : 
 if she cannot serve the lady, she will serve the duke." 
 Now, let us see whether the Author or Critic be correct : 
 whether the Critic or Character be reprehensible. 
 
96 TWELFTH NIGHT. 
 
 Viola and her brother, deprived by death of their pa- 
 rents, embark for some port, where their presence, per- 
 haps, is necessary, in order to obtain part of that fortune 
 bequeathed them by their father : or, perhaps, a spirit of 
 enterprize in the young man (her brother,) induced him to 
 risk a part of their mutual fortune in merchandise ; and 
 Viola, considering him her best protector, accompanied 
 him. On their voyage, the ship is unhappily wrecked off 
 the coast of Illyria : Viola is saved ; her brother is sup- 
 posed to have perished; and, in addition to this calamity, 
 whatever property she had on board, lost. Thus, in a 
 strange country, destitute of friends, unknowing and un- 
 known, she hears that Olivia, a lady of the first distinction, 
 has made a vow to seclude herself for a certain period from 
 society, that she may give full scope to that affliction which 
 overpowers her for the loss of an only brother. Here, simi- 
 larity of misfortune, or leading cause of sorrow, between 
 Olivia and Viola, being striking, poor Viola exclaims : 
 
 " O, that I served that lady ! 
 And might not be deliver'd to the world." 
 
 Surely this is a pious virtuous wish : — a wish prompted 
 both by prudence and good sense. 
 
 But Viola's fair star is destined to light her to a 
 happier abode. Olivia admits no stranger near her per- 
 son, save a very select few of her most esteemed relations. 
 Thus disappointed, and knowing that, as a youthful 
 female who has pretensions to beauty, she becomes ex- 
 posed to the insults of the dissolute, Viola, to avoid the 
 the snares of seduction, testifies an inclination to obtain 
 a situation in the palace ; and, that all suspicion of her 
 sex may be perfectly lulled, intends to disguise herself 
 in the habiliments of a man: nay, farther, that the 
 females about the court should look on her more with 
 contempt than desire, intends to pass for an eunuch. 
 Her plan succeeds; and though she promised herself 
 nothing more than temporary protection from distress 
 and insult, until a favourable opportunity of returning to 
 
TWELFTH XIGHT. 27 
 
 her own country might arrive; or, until she had made 
 her own occasion mellow^ what her estate should be ; yet. 
 when she becomes so highly favoured by the Duke ; and 
 is a constant witness of his good qualities; her heart, 
 hitherto free, becomes his slave : she loves, and wishes to 
 become his wife. 
 
 Surely there is neither premeditation in this: nor any 
 immediate resolution to supplant the lady to whom the 
 Duke wishes to pay his addresses? 
 
 Scene III.— page 248. 
 
 Maria. He hath, indeed, — almost natural: for, besides that he's 
 
 a fool, he's a great quarreller. &c. 
 
 Maria plays on the words — almost natural ; meaning, 
 that, whatever language Sir Andrew attempts to speak, 
 he displays the same knowledge of it that he does of his 
 mother tongue, in which he is no great proficient : by 
 almost natural^ she also means, that he is almost an idiot. 
 
 Scene V. — -page 272. 
 Olivia. Look. you. sir, such a one as I was this present. 
 The addition of an s. gives, I believe, the true text. 
 
 Look you. sir, such a one as I was this presents. 
 
 Thus the allusion to the picture is supported : — by pre- 
 sents^ she means exhibits. 
 
 ACT II. 
 Scexe II.— page 283. 
 
 Viola. She made good view of me; indeed, so much, 
 
 That, sure, methought, her eyes had lost her tongue, &c. 
 
 See Mr. Malone's observations on this passage. Foi 
 
 the word sure. I am certain, we should read — 
 
 That, oft, methought, her eyes had lost her tongue, &c. 
 
28 TWELFTH NIGHT. 
 
 Scene II. — page 283. 
 
 Viola. Disguise, I see, thou art a wickedness, 
 
 Wherein the pregnant enemy does much. 
 
 How easy is it, for the proper-false 
 
 In women's waxen hearts to set their forms ! 
 
 The proper false, though an unexampled phrase, Mr. 
 Steevens has, from his accommodating maxim, not to alter 
 the text, defended with much ingenuity. I am, however, 
 inclined to think it corrupt : and, that the true word not 
 being sufficiently legible in the manuscript, that which 
 has been introduced, occasioned the alteration of two 
 other words. I read: 
 
 How easy is it, for thy purpose false, 
 
 In women's waxen hearts to set t hi/ forms ! 
 
 Disguise is made a person, and to whom Viola is sup- 
 posed to address herself. Thus corrected, the passage 
 means : 
 
 How easy is it for Disguise, by assuming a specious 
 appearance, to work false purposes on the waxen hearts 
 of women, whose credulity is ever ready to receive 
 impressions. By " thy forms" she means, assumed ap- 
 pearances, — appearances studied to deceive, and which, 
 fixing on the heart, make the impression. 
 
 Scene III.— page 292. 
 
 Sir Toby. Shall we rouse the night-owl in a catch, that 
 
 will draw three souls out of one weaver. 
 
 This passage was never intended to bear that sublime 
 illustration given by Dr. Warburton. If the French 
 coin, called a sol, (plural, sols) or sous, was formerly spelt 
 souls, the text is correct, and the Author played on the 
 word : if not, sols, I believe was the original. Sir Toby 
 means, that he would draw three sols, (three halfpence) 
 out of one weaver; a sum, that extraordinary powers 
 only could obtain. 
 
TWELFTH NIGHT. 29 
 
 The name of the coin not being- familiar; either the 
 transcriber or compositor thought it should be souls. 
 Whoever made this error, is not highly culpable. 
 
 Scene III.— page 298. 
 
 Sir Toby. We did keep time, sir, in our catches, sneclc up ! 
 
 We certainly should read : snack up. — Snack, means 
 share, or part by agreement. Each supported his share or 
 part of the catch, — first, second, and third, as by agree- 
 ment. 
 
 Scene IV. — page 311. 
 
 The Duke. But 'tis that miracle, and queen of gems, 
 
 That nature pranks her in, attracts my soul. 
 
 There is a transposition in this passage. We should 
 read — "That nature pranks in her.'" 
 
 The Duke compares the heart of Olivia to a gem mira- 
 culously beautiful ; nature the artist, who adorned and 
 set that heart in her. Olivia cannot be in her own heart ! 
 The Duke seeks that miracle and queen of gems, which 
 nature pranks in her; i. e. has adorned, by setting it in 
 her most lovely person. 
 
 Scene IV. — page 313. 
 
 Viola. she pin'd in thought; 
 
 And, with a green and yellow melancholy, 
 She sat like patience on a monument, 
 Smiling at grief. 
 
 All the united exertions of criticism, sculpture, and 
 painting, have been displayed to illustrate this admirable 
 passage : but vain the efforts, neither the powers of eru- 
 dition nor scientific knowledge, have been able to recon- 
 
SO TWELFTH NIGHT. 
 
 cile the incongruity of — patience sitting on a monument 
 smiling at grief: and yet, the transposition of a comma, 
 and the addition of two parenthesis, give full power and 
 perfect beauty to the whole figure. I read : 
 
 -she pin'd in thought; 
 
 And, with a green and yellow melancholy 
 She sat, (like patience on a monument,) 
 Smiling at grief. 
 
 The parenthetical part of the passage requires mo- 
 dulation of the voice. The Poet represents his object, 
 as seated in the same attitude, as that in which sculptors 
 delineate patience on a monument. Patience does not smile 
 at grief: it is the poor girl who sat, in that disconsolate 
 attitude; her eyes thoughtlessly fixed, i. e. not turning 
 from any insignificant object on which they lodged, and 
 which a spectator would have imagined occupied her 
 thoughts : — she sat smiling in the midst of tears, whilst 
 inward sorrow gnawed her bosom, and bade defiance to 
 the balm of consolation. 
 
 Scene V. — page S c 2o. 
 
 Fabian. Though our silence he drawn from us with cars, yet 
 peace. 
 
 Since neither cars, carts, nor cables have produced the 
 desired effect ; I think a smart cat, made of whip-chord, 
 and with which offenders are often castigated, will stand 
 a chance : however, Fabian thinks the contrary ; for 
 though they were whipped with cats, yet still, he says, 
 they must preserve peace. Our Author certainly wrote : 
 
 Though our silence be drawn from us with cats, yet peace. 
 
 The word cats, speaks feelingly for itself: a t for an r 
 corrects the error. 
 
TWELFTH NIGHT. 31 
 
 ACT IV. 
 
 Scene III.— page 392. 
 
 Sebastian. Where's Antonio then? 
 
 I could not find him at the Elephant : 
 
 Yet there he was ; and there I found this credit 
 
 That he did range the town to seek me out. 
 
 This credit^ is a letter left by Antonio at the Elephant 
 for Sebastian, and which he should hold in his hand. 
 There wants this stage direction : (He takes a letter 
 from his pocket,) which letter displays at once what this 
 credit means. 
 
 ACT V. 
 
 Scene I. — page 416. 
 
 Olivia. And now I do bethink me, it was she 
 
 First told me, thou wast mad; then came in smiling;, &c. 
 
 A slight alteration gives the original. We should read : 
 
 And now I do bethink me, it was she 
 
 First told me thou wast mad. — Thou cam'st in smiling, &c. 
 
 Thus corrected, the text corresponds with the eluci- 
 dation given by Mr. Steevens. The ou in manuscript, 
 might very easily be taken for en. 
 
Mutl) alio afcout tf ot&tstg* 
 
 ACT II. 
 
 Scene I.— page 47. 
 
 Benedict. it is the base, the hitter disposition of Beatrice, that 
 
 puts the world into her person, and so gives me out. 
 
 Dr. Johnson's elucidation is perfectly correct : he, how- 
 ever, could not reconcile how "base and bitter are in^ 
 consistent; or, why what is bitter should not be base." 
 Truly, he might well make this observation, the passage 
 being corrupt. 
 
 The old copies read — "base though bitter disposition :" 
 And here we find two bad qualities, with an unpre- 
 cedented aim to soften one, by making it exceptionable, 
 as though there was some goodness attached to it. The 
 Author's text, however, can only be obtained by means 
 of the old reading — " base though bitter," &c. 
 
 it is the base, tough, bitter disposition of Beatrice, &c. 
 
 Thus he points out three bad qualities in Beatrice, to 
 prove that her evil reports proceed from a malevolent 
 disposition. She is base, (wicked) tough, (vicious) and 
 bitter, (sharp.) The compositor, having merely glanced 
 at the copy, mistook tough for though: the omission of 
 an h corrects the error. 
 
 Scene I. — page 49. 
 
 Benedict. huddling jest upon jest, with such impossible 
 
 conveyance, upon me, that I stood like a man at a 
 mark, with a whole army shooting at me : 
 
 I find it utterly impossible to extract any sense from 
 the censurable word, in its present place ; nor can I re- 
 ceive any light from the forced elucidations before me. 
 
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. 33 
 
 From the characteristics attributed to Beatrice by her 
 antagonist, she seems to be totally destitute of pity: I, 
 therefore, not only think, but am confident, that our 
 Author wrote : 
 
 Huddling jest upon jest with such impitiable conveyance upon 
 me, that I stood like a man at a mark, &c. 
 
 In this speech, Benedick calls her the infernal Ate (the 
 goddess of Revenge) and where revenge is a prevailing 
 passion, pity never enters. 
 
 The compositor took but a cursory view of his copy, 
 and read, impossible for impitiable. 
 
 Scene I.— page 53. 
 Beatrice. Good lord, for alliance ! 
 
 Beatrice plays on the word cousin, as used by Claudio, 
 and turns its sense from cousin (a relation) to cozen (to 
 cheat) — meaning, that Hero, by telling Claudio he is in 
 her heart, has cheated him into an alliance. In represen- 
 tation, ^Beatrice should follow the word cousin immedi- 
 ately, to give the idea the same force as though she said, 
 she cozens, good lord, for alliance. 
 
 Our Author frequently plays on this word : one ap- 
 posite example may be necessary. — See Henry IV. 
 Act I. sc. iii. where Hotspur, speaking of Henry, says : 
 
 "Look, — when his infant fortune came to age, 
 And, — gentle Harry Percy, — and kind cousin, 
 O, the devil take such cozeners /" 
 
 Scene I. — page 53. 
 
 Beatrice. Thus goes every one to the world but I, and 
 
 I am sun-burned, &c. 
 
 The transcriber mistook the sound of the word : the 
 error lies in the word to. We should read : 
 
 Thus goes every one through the world but I, and I am sun- 
 burned, &c. 
 
 D 
 
34 MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. 
 
 Beatrice means, that Hero, in having cozened Claudio-. 
 has only acted like the rest of her sex, when striving to 
 obtain a husband; and "thus" she observes, " goes every 
 one through the world, (cheating) but, I;" and, as I am 
 ingenuous and veil not my true sentiments of mankind* 
 but expose them, as I do my honest countenance, to the 
 rays of the sun, I am neglected and may sit in a corner, 
 and cry, heigh ho ! for a husband. 
 
 If the r in through be not sounded, it nearly resembles 
 to. There are many persons who sound to — tho: but, 
 however the error took place, the correction manifestly 
 displays its own value. 
 
 Scene I. — page 56. 
 
 Don Pedro. 1 will, in the interim, undertake one of Hercules' 
 
 labours; which is, to bring Signior Benedick and the 
 lady Beatrice into a mountain of affection, the one 
 with the other. 
 
 The labour is Herculean, because there are many ob- 
 structions to remove ; but, when overcome, as the union 
 of bodies forms a mountain; so will their union prove in 
 affection.. 
 
 ACT III. 
 
 Scene I. — page 84. 
 
 Ursula. Signior Benedick, 
 
 For shape, for bearing, argument, and valour. 
 Goes foremost in report through Italy. 
 
 Thus the text makes Benedick support a greater weight 
 than any porter in all Italy. For argument, I shall only 
 say, it is the very worst recommendation to a lady's love, 
 
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. 35 
 
 as it is not only productive of serious quarrels abroad, 
 but also the strongest poison to domestic happiness. 
 
 Dr. Johnson, in his elucidation of argument, gives it 
 the most favourable meaning : — discourse, or the powers 
 of reasoning." But the powers of reasoning scent too 
 strongly of an argumentative disposition, to prove a 
 recommendation : In fact, the Doctor and his contem- 
 poraries wanted their accustomed penetration. Our 
 Author wrote : 
 
 Signior Benedick, 
 
 For shape, forbearing argument, and valour, 
 Goes foremost in report through Italy. 
 
 Thus the recommendation is strong; for, though Be- 
 nedick is the most valorous man throughout Italy, yet, 
 he ever forbears argument, in order to avoid dissention : 
 such endowments, I think, could not fail of finding suf- 
 ficient influence in the heart of Beatrice. 
 
 Scene IV. — page 110. 
 Beatrice. For the letter that begins them all, H. 
 
 However poor this jest appeared to Dr. Johnson, I 
 think he mistook its meaning. Heigh ho ! always comes 
 with a thoughtful sigh — a want of something: not an 
 exclamation resulting from pain. 
 
 Margaret, who is privy to the trick played on Beatrice, 
 follows up the heigh ho! with — "for a hawk, a horse, or 
 a husband." Now, Margaret only demands, which of the 
 three she sighs for ; and Beatrice, that her secret wish 
 may remain unknown, answers — H ; meaning, each — she 
 would have the three. Margaret knows the wish of her 
 heart, and in a subsequent speech, addrest to Beatrice, 
 says, — u God send evert/ one their heartfs desire." 
 
36 MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. 
 
 ACT V. 
 
 Sce:%e I. — page 144. 
 
 Leo nate. Make misfortune drunk 
 
 With candle-wasters. 
 
 The antecedent part of this speech displays the feel- 
 ings of a fond parent, labouring under the afflicting wound 
 his honour has received in the base defamation of his 
 guiltless child : so great, indeed, is his affliction, that it 
 refuses every consoling balm which friendship offers. To 
 ordinary calamities, no doubt, he would have been sub- 
 missive ; but the oppressive weight of his grief, he con- 
 ceives beyond human power to bear, and that no person 
 could measure woe with his woe, who could "hem when 
 he should groan" or " patch grief zoith proverbs /' which 
 being, as he conceives, incompatible with real affliction, 
 he starts a third impossibility ; and, if any person labour- 
 ing under equal distress of mind can do these things, bring 
 him hither , says he, u and I of him will gather patience " — 
 That which Leonate now requires is, to "make misfor- 
 tune drunk with candle-wasters:" — So says the text. 
 
 Had Mr. Steevens reflected, that they are impossibilities 
 which the unhappy Leonate requires to be overcome, he 
 would not have sent a person labouring under a most 
 weighty affliction to a tavern, there to sit during the night 
 in dissipated company, and to get drunk by swallowing 
 flap-dragons ! — Surely, instead of proposing an impos- 
 sibility, a much more effectual mode of getting drunk 
 could not be pointed out ; for, by such intemperance, a 
 man might drown all sorrow, if drinking and swallowing 
 flap-dragons could do it, long before Aurora made her 
 appearance. 
 
 Mr. Whally's plan for making misfortune drunk, is a 
 very dry one, and would require too large a portion of 
 that article which Leonate cannot command — patience. 
 
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. 37 
 
 I could give a good recipe for making the beverage to 
 which Leonate alludes, but prefer recommending the 
 curious to some experienced midwife, who can tell the 
 exact quantity of barley, aqua-purae, sugar, spices, &c. 
 necessary to make a good Caudle-water ; and if a man, 
 labouring under affliction, gets drunk by drinking Caudle- 
 waters, then will Leonate gather patience. In future 
 then — 
 
 With caudle-waters. 
 
 -Make misfortune drunk 
 
 That is, if it be possible : sick, it may make one who 
 would drink of it profusely, but drunk — never. 
 
 The word in the manuscript not being sufficiently in- 
 telligible, the compositor made the best he could of it : — 
 the u and n are scarcely distinguishable one from the 
 other; and having composed candle instead of caudle, 
 concluded, that, as there was no such thing as candle- 
 waters, it necessarily must be candle-wasters ; and thus, 
 with the art of Dr. Faustus, he turned caudle-waters 
 into candle-wasters ! 
 
 In Timon of Athens, Act IV. sc. iii. an allusion is 
 made to caudle-water, as a grateful beverage after pro- 
 fuse drinking. 
 
 " Will the cold brook, 
 
 Candied with ice, caudle thy morning taste, 
 To cure thy o'er-night's surfeit ?" 
 
 An insatiable thirst, the following morning, is the con- 
 sequence of inebriation ; and, as that thirst should be 
 assuaged by a grateful beverage that could not affect 
 the head, a caudle-water, such as barley-water, was, we 
 may suppose, generally resorted to : for tea, and, I be- 
 lieve, coffee also, was not used in England in the time 
 of Shakspeare. 
 
$mt&&ntt for Mt&$uvt. 
 
 ACT I. 
 
 Scene I. — page 188. 
 
 Duke. Then no more remains 
 
 But that to your sufficiency, as your worth is able, 
 And let them work. 
 
 This conspicuous jumble of nonsense, which has occa- 
 sioned various opinions, requires but one letter and the 
 changing of another, to give the passage its original per- 
 spicuity, and which unquestionably read : 
 
 . Then no more remains 
 
 But state to your sufficiency, as your worth is able, 
 And let them work. 
 
 The Duke having given the seal of sovereign power 
 to Escalus, and appointed two magistrates to be co- 
 adjutors in the administration, considers, that nothing 
 more remains for him to say, except recommending ne- 
 cessary splendour, according to his (Escalus' s) sufficiency 
 (dignity), and which his worth (wealth), is able to main- 
 tain ; and that the more active part of the administration, 
 wherein labour is necessary, must devolve on his partners 
 in the government. 
 
 The letters being badly formed in the copy, the com- 
 positor read — that for state. 
 
 Scene III, — page 205. 
 
 Claudio. Thus can the demi-god, Authority, 
 
 Make us pay down for our offence by weight. — 
 The words of heaven; — on whom it will, it will; 
 On whom it will not, so ; yet still 'tis just. 
 
 However ingenious the proposed emendation of Dr* 
 Roberts may appear, there is another word offers itself 
 
MEASURE FOR MEASURE, 39 
 
 on this occasion, which corrects the error effectually; 
 and which, I have no doubt, was the original. 
 
 The works of heaven; — on whom it will, it will; 
 On whom it will not, so; yet still 'tis just. 
 
 Claudio, at first, vents his passion on the Provost for 
 his illiberality in making a public show of him ; but find- 
 ing that he has only acted according to the orders of 
 Angelo, he styles Angelo, the demi~god. Authority, who 
 proportions the weight of punishment according to the 
 offence; and calling to remembrance the heinousness of 
 his crime, he considers the punishment as the zcork, or 
 decree of heaven. 
 
 Scene III. — page 208. 
 
 Claudio. Only fox propagation of a dower 
 
 Remaining in the coffer of her friends. 
 
 This error is owing to the carelessness of the person 
 who read to the transcriber; who, taking but a hasty 
 view of the word, mistook procuration for propagation, 
 Claudio means, the dower of Julian, which he deemed 
 necessary to procure, or obtain from her friends, prior to 
 We should read: 
 
 Only for procuration of a dower 
 Remaining in the coffer of her friends. 
 
 Scene IV.— page 217. 
 
 Duke. I have on Angelo imposed the office; 
 
 Who may, in the ambush of my name, strike home, 
 And yet my nature never in the sight, 
 To do it slander : And to behold his sway. 
 
 This passage has been corrected by two able writers, 
 Mr. Pope and Sir Thomas Hanmer. On reading Mr. 
 Pope's emandation, — sight for Jight, I was of opinion, 
 that it was highly judicious, thinking, an antithethis had 
 been designed between ambush (hid) and sight (exposed;) 
 
40 MEASURE FOR MEASURE. 
 
 but, after analizing the whole, I found the speech so 
 unmeaning, that nonsense, only, was conspicuous. — The 
 old copies read : 
 
 " And yet my nature never in the fight 
 To do in slander, and to behold his sway." 
 
 There are four errors in the present text, two only, in 
 the old copy. 
 
 The Duke is supposed to be a considerable distance 
 from his territories ; the government of which is placed in 
 the hands of certain nobles. Angelo, with the title of 
 Deputy, enforces laws, so long dormant, that the people 
 had considered them abrogated. But the Duke, in order 
 to see to what extent Angelo may stretch power, and 
 how far the people may either prove amenable, or re- 
 bellious to his laws, will be ever present; but so dis- 
 guised, that none shall know him. Thus, then, says the 
 Duke, I shall see Angelo "strike home;" t. e. enforce 
 the laws to the very letter ; "and yet my nature ever in 
 the fight ," (himself not his dignity ', ever present,) to 
 witness the contentions and murmurings of the people ; 
 66 to dole in slander" that is, to share in the slander with 
 Angelo, for enforcing those penal laws, and, at the 
 same time, u to behold his sway." 
 
 And, truly, the Duke did dole in the slander ; for, 
 Lucio gave him a tolerable share of it : — thus then the 
 original : 
 
 And yet my nature ever in the fight 
 
 To dole in slander r and to behold his sway. 
 
 The word fght, being according to the old copy, is 
 a restoration : never for ever, mistake of sound and mis- 
 conception of the sense : the le in dole, was lost in sound ; 
 the emphasis being on the o, it sounded as do-lin, and 
 which the transcriber took for do in : the word dole 
 might also have been unfamiliar to the transcriber : — in, 
 as changed by Sir T. Hanmer for it, must again resume 
 its situation ► 
 
MEASURE FOR MEASURE. 41 
 
 A few words more in defence of ever. If the Duke's 
 nature never appears in the fight or sight, how is he to 
 
 behold the sway of Angelo ? and farther, Why should 
 the conjunction and precede behold? Is it not, that he 
 (the duke) means to hear the scandal and behold his 
 (Angelo's) sway. With the word never, the passage 
 should read — or to behold, &c. 
 
 ACT II. 
 
 Scene I. — page 228. 
 
 Escalus. Whether you had not sometime in your life 
 
 Err'd in this point which now you censure htm. 
 
 Mr. Steevens supposes some words wanting to com- 
 plete the sense of this passage : I am of a contrary 
 opinion ; as it appears to me that the object on whom 
 the censure is made to fall was in the mind of either the 
 transcriber or compositor, one of whom inserted him for 
 in : we should read — 
 
 Whether you had not sometime in your life 
 Err'd in this point which now you censure in. 
 
 Thus, the demand is a strong appeal to conscience : 
 Whether he ever committed the same offence which he 
 now so strongly censures in another. 
 
 Scene II. — page 257. 
 Isabella. Not with fond shekels of the tested gold, &c. 
 I am certain Shakspeare designed an antithesis, and 
 wrote — 
 
 Not with fond shekels of detested gold. 
 
 Meaning : I will not bribe you with an article which, 
 though fondly prized by man, should be detested on ac- 
 count of the mischief it creates, and the corrupt pur- 
 
42 MEASURE FOR MEASURE. 
 
 poses to which it is appropriated ; but I will bribe you 
 " with such gifts that Heaven shall share with you." 
 See the antecedent speech of Isabella. 
 
 The word — detested, comes with peculiar force from 
 Isabella, who, having relinquished all the vanities and 
 luxuries which gold produce, considers it to be the 
 source of evil, and therefore should be detested. 
 
 In St. Paul's Epistle to Titus, he observes, that a 
 bishop must not be "given to filthy lucre :" and, again, 
 u teaching things they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake." 
 Surely, whatever is filthy should be detested! 
 
 The person who read to the transcriber, sounded de 
 like the, an error very common. 
 
 Scene IV. — page 278. 
 
 Angelo. as these black masks 
 
 Proclaim an enshield beauty ten times louder 
 Than beauty could displayed. 
 
 Had my learned predecessors considered, that Isabella 
 is in her probation, and habited in the sables of the 
 sisterhood, they would have discovered to whom Angelo 
 pays this compliment. Her lovely person is enshielded 
 in black ; and from her head to the ceinture is covered 
 with a black veil, (perhaps raised on the present occa- 
 sion :) each part of her dress then, becomes a black mask ; 
 and collectively, black masks which proclaim an enshield 
 beauty. 
 
 Scene IV. — page 279. 
 
 Angelo. Admit no other way to save his life, 
 
 (As I subscribe not that, nor any other, 
 But in the loss #/* question,) 
 
 The question to which Angelo alludes, and which 
 Isabella strives to avoid answering, is well understood : 
 but though we derive this knowledge from the text, 
 nevertheless it is corrupt : we should read — 
 
MEASURE FOR MEASURE, 43 
 
 Admit no other way to save his life, 
 
 (As I subscribe not to that nor any other,) 
 
 Put in the loss in question. 
 
 The artifice of Angelo wants to obtain an avowal 
 from Isabella that, to save her brother's life, she would 
 submit to lose her virginity. That he may, therefore, 
 take her oflP her guard, he tells her, merely to suppose 
 no other means left : though, says he, / do not subscribe 
 to that nor any other ; therefore, " put in the loss in 
 question," as a means, — would you submit to such terms ? 
 <; The loss in question," means her virginity. 
 
 Scene IV. — page 287. 
 Isabella. Yet hath he in him such a mind of honour, 
 
 It scarcely requires preamble to impress on the rea- 
 der's mind, that we should read: 
 
 Yet hath he in him such a mine of honour, 
 His honour is as inexhaustible as a rich mine. 
 
 ACT III. 
 
 Scene I. — page 304. 
 
 Claudio. And the delighted spirit 
 
 To bathe in fiery floods, &c. 
 
 Greater nonsense cannot be exhibited ! How can the 
 
 spirit be delighted, that is condemned to bathe in fiery 
 
 floods ? We should read : 
 
 And the delated spirit 
 
 To bathe in fiery floods, &c. 
 
 Delated (accused) the spirit, or soul accused for its 
 criminality, is thus condemned. The transcriber mis- 
 took the sound of the word. 
 
44 MEASURE FOR MEASURE. 
 
 Scene I. — page 312. 
 
 The Duke. And the corrupt deputy scaled. 
 
 When Angelo is found to have been guilty of the 
 same offence for which he condemned Claudio to be exe- 
 cuted; then crime against crime, opposed in the scales 
 of Justice, being of equal weight, will enable the Duke 
 to award, Measure for Measure. 
 
 Scene II. — page 314. 
 
 Clown. 'Twas never merry world, since of two usuries, the merriest 
 was put down, and the worser allow'd by order of law 
 a furr'd gown to keep him warm. 
 
 The passage seems correct. The Clown's idea appears 
 to be this — Vice is so prevalent, that virtue has deserted 
 the seat where justice should preside. To advance a cor- 
 roborant proof, he produces two principles of usury : the 
 one in the bawd, who lets out her house on the most 
 usurous terms for prostitution: — See Act I. sc. ii. where 
 the Bawd says : 
 
 " But shall all our houses of resort in the suburbs he pulFd down?" 
 Which immediately corresponds with the text, — " the 
 merriest was put down." The other species of usury 
 is, a reflection on corrupt magistrates, who, swayed by 
 avarice, take bribes and disregard justice. 
 
 The gown so particularized is now worn, in common, 
 in all parts of Germany : the body is lined with lamb's 
 skin, and the cape, cuffs, and facings, are generally of 
 fox skin. A magistrate's gown, formerly, might have 
 been distinguished by its colour. 
 
 Scene II. — } )a S e ^20. 
 Lucio. Ha? What say'st thou, trot ? 
 I am certain we should read: — What say'st thou, 
 
 troth? 
 
MEASURE FOR MEASURE. 45 
 
 Troth is a petty oath, and which, from Lucio's hear- 
 ing the Clown make frequent use of, he has nicknamed 
 him, Troth. One instance, perhaps, may suffice : — See a 
 subsequent speech in this scene, where the Clown says, 
 
 " Troth, sir, she hath eaten up all her heef, and she is herself in 
 the tub/' 
 
 Scene II.— page 329. 
 
 Escalus. This would make mercy swear, and play the tyrant. 
 
 How can this passage be misunderstood ? Mercy is 
 all mildness ; therefore, the frequent misconduct of the 
 Clown obliges Escalus to correct him. Such misconduct 
 would put Mercy in a passion ; nay, even induce Mercy 
 to swear , that he should be punished, and thus oblige him 
 to play the tyrant. 
 
 Scexe II. — page 334. 
 
 Duke. Twice treble shame on Angelo, 
 
 To weed my vice, and let his grow! 
 
 The Duke charges himself with the vices of his people ; 
 who, from his lenity in not enforcing certain laws, had 
 become corrupt and lascivious ; and whilst Angelo 
 weeded those vices by punishing the offenders, he let 
 similar vices grow in himself. 
 
 Scexe II. — page 33i. 
 
 Duke. How may likeness, made in crimes, 
 Making practice on the times, 
 Draw with idle spiders' strings 
 Most pond'rous and substantial things ! 
 
 Mr. Malone's note on this passage is not solely eluci- 
 datory, but tends also to prove the necessity of making 
 such alterations in the text, as sense and reason require. 
 He, however, observes ; that he has adopted the plan 
 
46 MEASURE FOR MEASURE. 
 
 successfully pursued by Dr. Farmer and Mr. Steevens, in 
 supporting the Author's text, by illustrations from con- 
 temporary writers. But, while I acknowleged his pro- 
 priety, I cannot avoid saying, that such scrupulous 
 principles have occasioned many errors to remain undis- 
 covered ; for, had a larger field been opened, the eye 
 of discrimination could have wandered more at large : 
 and Commentators, instead of giving several pages of 
 forced elucidations on a single word, as is frequently 
 the case, would, by consulting sound and context, have 
 discovered truth ; which, being in most cases sufficiently 
 clear, required but little additional light from the torch 
 of a Commentator. 
 
 In the present passage, which is very dark indeed, 
 Doctor Warburton has omitted the word — To. The 
 old copy reads: " To draw with," &c. and Mr. Malone, 
 deviating from the plan so successfully pursued by Dr. 
 Farmer and Mr. Steevens, has changed the word Making 
 to Mocking; and for which, he observes, that he is ac- 
 countable. But, however judicious this alteration may 
 have appeared, I expect it must give way to the origi- 
 nal reading. 
 
 The old mode of spelling making, was makeing. Let 
 the word Make be detached from makeing, and instead 
 of the terminating g, place an s before in, and you have 
 the words — Make sin. Thus then we should read : 
 
 How may likeness made in crimes, 
 Make sin practice on the times, 
 To draw with idle spiders' strings 
 Most pond'rous and substantial things ! 
 
 Meaning, He who has the semblance of virtue, with 
 a corrupt heart, is so perfect in hypocrisy, that his sinful 
 practices are veiled from discrimination, and which he 
 often makes the source of riches, honour, and influence, 
 
 In Henry V. we meet a similar idea : 
 
 " When devils do their blackest sins put on, 
 They do suggest at first with heavenly shows." 
 
MEASURE FOR MEASURE, 47 
 
 ACT IV. 
 
 Scene II. — page 352. 
 
 Duke. That spirit's possess'd with haste, 
 
 That wounds the unsisting postern with the.se strokes. 
 
 Judge Blackstone says, " unsisting may signify never 
 at rest, always opening" Mr. Rowe reads, unresisting: 
 Sir T. Hanmer, unresting . In my opinion, the author 
 wrote, unlisting postern ; meaning-, that which hears not, 
 though it produces the noise. 
 
 On my first reading of this passage, I had not observed 
 Mr. M. Mason's proposed emendation. I am happy to 
 find, that my idea of the original word corresponds with 
 a gentleman's, whose critical judgment so eminently il- 
 lustrates the works of our great Bard. 
 
 Scene II. — page 357. 
 Duke. Shave the head, and tie the beard, &c. 
 
 Surely scrupulous delicacy should give way to just pro- 
 priety. Mr. Simson is certainly correct; no doubt our 
 Author wrote — "die the beard." This reading is justi- 
 fied by a passage in the third scene of this Act: 
 " A man of Claudio's years: his beard and head just of his colour. 
 
 Moreover, if the age of Claudio be considered, his 
 beard could not have attained a sufficient length for 
 tying. 
 
 Scene II.— page 364. 
 
 Clown. — all great doers in our trade, and are now for 
 
 the Lord's sake. 
 
 Those debauchees, who were all great doers in his trade, 
 were well fleeced in the brothels; and beiiis: now in 
 
48 MEASURE FOR MEASURE. 
 
 prison, will become the prey of lawyers. I am confi- 
 dent our Author wrote : 
 
 And are now for the law's sake. 
 
 Scene TV.— page 375. 
 
 An gelo. But that her tender shame 
 
 Will not proclaim against her maiden loss, 
 
 How might she tongue me ? Yet reason dares her ? — No : 
 
 This blunder belongs to the transcriber, and which 
 has given vast labour to my predecessors. We should 
 read : 
 
 Yet treason dares her ? — No : 
 
 For my authority bears a credent bulk, 
 That no particular scandal once can touch, 
 But it confounds the breather. 
 
 Thus, the internal accuser awakens his apprehensive 
 fears ; — " Isabella is deflowered, and that by me, — I en- 
 forced the laws against her brother for an oifence similar 
 to that which I have committed; and were it not for 
 making known her maiden loss, how strongly would her 
 elocution plead against me?" Here, Angelo conceives 
 himself secure ; but recollecting the sacred promise he 
 had made to Isabella, and which he basely violated, by 
 causing her brother to be executed ; the treason of this 
 nefarious act strikes terror to his soul ; and, for a moment 
 he beholds himself arraigned, and charged with the 
 double offence, even in the Duke's presence. "Treason, 1 ' 
 says he, "will dare her:" i. e. will actuate, will impel 
 her to seek revenge : but recollecting his authority in 
 the state; his character for austerity; his great credit 
 with the Duke; and, his activity in enforcing the laws, 
 confidence is renewed in his bosom, and he, emphatically, 
 defies even the charge of this vile treason: — -"No!" 
 says he, "for my authority bears a credent bulk," &c. 
 and thus depending on his reputed virtues and rigid 
 principles, he fondly lulls apprehension, and thinks, that 
 
MEASURE FOR MEASURE. 49 
 
 the cries of real injuries, seeking for redress, would ap- 
 pear in the eyes of the Duke as a base calumniation of 
 his character. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to say, that the t in yet being 
 sounded rather emphatically, the t in treason was lost to 
 the ear of the transcriber. 
 
 ACT V. 
 
 Scene I. — page 402. 
 
 Duke. — — laws, for all faults ; 
 
 But faults so countenanc'd, that the strong statutes 
 Stand like the forfeits in a barber's shop, 
 As much in mock as mark. 
 
 This is as ludicrous a blunder as any in our Author's 
 plays ; and various have been the attempts to force its 
 elucidation : nay, forgery, it is said, was adopted by 
 Mr. Kenrick, to give a list of the supposed forfeits which 
 barber-surgeons exacted from those customers that de- 
 viated from their established rules ! 
 
 On the absurd idea that such a custom ever prevailed, 
 either on the Continent or in England, I shall be silent; 
 and, being satisfied that the passage is grossly corrupt, I 
 hasten to restore the original reading. 
 
 This error, like numbers of the same class, originates 
 from mistake of sound: instead of forceps, the very sa- 
 gacious transcriber gave the more familiar word— forfeits. 
 The passage corrected affords a new figure. 
 
 laws, for all faults; 
 
 But faults so countenanc'd, that the strong statutes 
 Stand like the forceps in a barber's shop, 
 As much in mock as mark. 
 
 The exasperated Duke considers his laws as mocked 
 by the people ; and that they afford as much food for 
 
50 MEASURE FOR MEASURE. 
 
 merriment, as loungers in a barber's shop, derive, by 
 playing tricks on each other with the forceps, which is 
 exposed as a mark of the barber's profession. Thus the 
 forceps in a barber-surgeon's shop, became the mock of 
 idlers, though exhibited as a mark of surgical knowledge ; 
 and, in like manner, the Duke's laws had become the 
 mock of the dissolute, though they were the mark of le- 
 gislative wisdom. 
 
 One use of the forceps, and which might have been 
 food for mirth, was, their application in extracting a 
 bone, when lodged in the throat of any person : and gay 
 idle loungers in a barber's shop, no doubt, found amuse- 
 ment in pointing the forceps to the mouth of a compa- 
 nion, while under the operation of shaving : the posi- 
 tion for shaving, and that, when seated to have a bone 
 extracted from the throat, being precisely the same. 
 
 Then, again: The forceps used by an accoucheur, 
 would, to the dissolute, afford similar cause for idle 
 mirth. 
 
Hobt'iS 3tatK>ttr ilogt 
 
 ACT I. 
 
 Scene I. — page 14. 
 
 King. A man of complements, whom right and wrong 
 Have chose as umpire of their mutiny, &c. 
 
 Armado is so full of false compliments, and so con- 
 descending, that he agrees with every opinion; and, 
 whether through policy or principle, so sworn an enemy 
 to contradiction, that he will side with right, when ad- 
 dressed by right, and with wrong, in like manner ; there- 
 fore, if right and wrong cannot be friends, it is not the 
 fault of the umpire. 
 
 Scene I. — page 15. 
 
 King. This child of fancy, that Armado hight, 
 For interim to our studies, shall relate, 
 In high-born words, the worth of many a knight 
 From tawny Spain, lost in the world's debate. 
 
 The words, lost in the worlds debate, allude to the 
 Emperor Charles V. who, about the period when this 
 play was produced, had abdicated his throne in favour 
 of his son, Philip ; and having- retired from the world, 
 by taking up his residence in the monastery of St. Just, 
 was there lost in the world's debate. 
 
 Scene I. — page 18* 
 Longaville. A high hope for a low having -. God grant us patience. 
 The allusion is to a ship's head, decorated with the 
 figure of Hope. Longaville compares the high flowing 
 
 E'2 
 
52 LOVE'S LABOUR LOST. 
 
 words of Armado, to the awkward appearance of a ship, 
 with an elevated figure of Hope, lying* in a low haven. 
 Lcngaville also plays on the word hope, which is used 
 as a verb by Biron, but, by himself as a substantive ; 
 and Hope being- symbolical of Patience, he concludes 
 his speech with, God grant us patience. 
 
 The old copies read, a low heaven : the transcriber 
 mistook the word, and wrote heaven, instead of haven. 
 
 Scene II. — page 30. 
 Armado. Is there not a ballad, boy, of the King and the Beggar? 
 
 I do not think our Author had in view the old ballad 
 in Dr. Percy's Collection, as supposed by Mr. Steevens ; 
 but, that he might reflect on the weakness of the Em- 
 peror Charles V., personifies both the King and the 
 Beggar in him. It is well authenticated, that the small 
 revenue he was to receive from Philip, to support him- 
 self and followers, was not paid; which compelled 
 Charles to solicit relief from others, who had formerly 
 been his dependents ; and thus, the King became a beggar. 
 The subsequent speech of Armado confirms this expli- 
 cation : 
 
 " I will have the subject newly writ o'er, — that I may example 
 my digression by some mighty 'precedent." 
 
 ACT II. 
 
 Scene I. — page 37. 
 
 Maria. In Normandy saw I this Longaville : 
 
 A man of sovereign parts he is esteem'd. 
 
 The first quarto, 1598, has the line thus : 
 
 "A man of sovereign peerlesse, he's esteem'd.' 
 
LOVE'S LAEOLR LOST. 53 
 
 The word his would have saved our Commentators an 
 infinity of trouble. Our Author wrote : 
 
 A man of his sovereign peerless he's esteem'd. 
 
 The hissing sound of the terminating- letter in his, and 
 the 5 in sovereign, deceived the transcriber. The sense 
 of the passage is obvious : — A man who, in the estimation 
 of his sovereign, has no equal. 
 
 Scene I. — page 43. 
 
 King. Which we much rather had depart withal, 
 And have the money by our father lent, 
 Than Aquitain so gelded as it is. 
 
 Gelded has a double meaning here:— Gelt, in the 
 German language, means money ; and with which word, 
 our Author makes gelded correspond. The King alludes 
 to the heavy sum lent by his father on part of Aquitain ; 
 and the other part being cut off from his possession, he 
 deems what he holds not sufficient security for his money. 
 
 Scene I. — page 49. 
 
 Bo yet. All senses to that sense did make their repair, 
 To feel only looking on fairest of fair. 
 
 This jumble proceeds from unintelligible copy, and of 
 of which the compositor made the best he could. Our 
 Author wrote : 
 
 All senses to that sense did make their repair, 
 To feed on by looking on fairest of fair, 
 
 Meaning : That all his other senses flew to his eyes, 
 and enjoyed the delicious luxury of feeding on her 
 beauties. 
 
 The d being badly formed in the copy, was taken for 
 an / — on by, and only, are alike in writing, if on and by 
 be apparently joined. 
 
hi LOVE'S LABOUR LOST, 
 
 ACT IV. 
 
 Scene 111.— page 107. 
 Dumain. Her amber hairs for foal have amber coted. 
 
 There are three errors in this verse, and all owing to 
 mistake of sound. The old copies read — coted, which 
 Dr. Johnson observes, is the old mode of spelling quoted. 
 But, admitting the word to mean quoted, what weight can 
 it have in the scales of elucidation ? From the text we 
 must conclude, that amber coloured hair was esteemed a 
 beauty, and that Dumain, as the admirer of Catherine,, 
 praises her hair for its colour. But, how, according to 
 the form of the present reading ? Mr. Malone says, 
 quoted means — marked, or written down; but if amber 
 has writte?? down, that Catherine's hairs are foul, does not 
 the lover dispraise what he considers a beauty ? and, if 
 we take the explication,, that her hairs, have written down 
 amber for foul, all beauty is lost, and we also lose the 
 comparison ; for the amber hair is no longer considered 
 a beauty. In short, the text is so foul, that all attempts 
 at satisfactory elucidation are vain. Our Author wrote : 
 
 Her amber hairs four -fold have amber coated. 
 Meaning : that nature, in giving Catherine's hairs that 
 beautiful gloss and colour^ had, as it were, coated them 
 four-fold with amber. 
 
 Now, let us see how far this reading is connected with 
 Biron r s observation, who immediately says, — 
 
 "An amber-colour'd raven was well noted." 
 Meaning : that Catherine's hairs were as black as a ra- 
 ven : but that she had coated them with amber colour. 
 
 Scene III. — page 114. 
 
 Bin ox. I am betray'd, by keeping company 
 
 With moon-Wee men, of strange inconstancy. 
 
 The old copies read: — "With men-like men." The 
 present reading is supplied by Mr. M. Mason. The 
 
LOVE'S LABOlR LOST. 55. 
 
 penetration of Mr. Mason is generally very acute; but, 
 in this instance, I cannot concur in opinion that our 
 Author wrote — moon-like men. 
 
 The moon's changes being established by the order 
 of nature, and governed by system, cannot be termed 
 inconstant : from month to month, and to eternity, the 
 same system produces the same effects. What simila- 
 rity then can be drawn between an inconstant man, who 
 has no fixed principle to govern his actions, and the 
 moon ; which, since the creation of the world, has never 
 varied from its established order ? 
 
 Now, in my opinion, the text in the old copies, — 
 " men -like men," is not so far removed from good 
 sense as our Commentators have imagined; and the 
 entire error is owing to a break rule, thus : ( — ) being- 
 taken by the compositor for a hyphen. See the error 
 corrected : 
 
 I am betray'd, by keeping company 
 
 With men, — like men of strange inconstancy. 
 
 Surely, nothing can be clearer. Biron means, that he 
 is ashamed to have associated with men, who, by de- 
 viating from their solemn vow, have acted like men of 
 strange inconstancy ^ i. e. like men devoid of stability. 
 
 Scene III. — page 126. 
 
 Biron. And, when love speaks, the voice of all the gods 
 Makes heaven, drowsy with the harmony. 
 
 Mr. Tyrwhitt observes, " few passages have been more 
 canvassed than this." The changing a single letter may, 
 however, prevent literary labour on this passage here- 
 after. The M and W have,, what printer's term, the 
 same body ; and the ancient TV y reversed, had all the 
 appearance of an M: thus, then, arose the error ; the 
 W was reversed, which gave the word Makes , instead of 
 
 Wakes heaven, drowsy with the harmony. 
 
56 LOVE'S LABOUR LOST. 
 
 Which beautiful idea means: When Love speaks, the 
 heavenly bodies and elementary system are lulled to a 
 drowsy calmness, and which continues until the heavenly 
 choir, exalting the voice of praise, wakes them ; when 
 they resume the functions ordained by nature, and which 
 could only have been suspended by the harmonious voice 
 of Love. 
 
 Thus, the antithesis designed by the Author is brought 
 to light. The heavenly bodies, which were lulled to 
 drowsiness, are awakened. 
 
 ACT V. 
 
 Scene I. — page 139. 
 
 Armado. -I do beseech thee, remember thy courtesy;— I 
 
 beseech thee apparel thy head : 
 
 My and thy, if not distinctly written, are frequently 
 mistaken. We certainly should read, my courtesy; 
 meaning, his condescension, in telling Holofernes to 
 wear his hat in his presence. 
 
 Scene II. — page 156. 
 Kin©. Yet still she is the moon, and I the man. 
 
 I am of Mr. Malone's opinion, that this line should 
 have a corresponding one to rhyme with it, but do not 
 think a line lost. Both the King and Rosaline play on 
 the word it. In all probability our Author wrote — 
 
 King. Yet still she is the moon, and I to man it, 
 
 The music plays; vouchsafe some motion to it. 
 , Rosaline. Our ears vouchsafe it. 
 King. But your legs should do it. 
 
 Thus, each line corresponds in measure. The King^s 
 meaning is obvious. 
 
LOVE'S LABOUR LOST. 57 
 
 Scene I. — page 158. 
 
 Katherixe. Veal, quoth the Dutchman;— Is not veal a calf? 
 
 As we derive calf from the German calb. The Ger- 
 mans and Dutch are surprised that we call a calf, when 
 slaughtered, veal,- they call it calb-Jlesch. 
 
 Scene I. — page 1T5. 
 
 Biro*. Some mumble-news, some trencher-knight, some Dick,— 
 That smiles his cheek in years; and knows the trick 
 To make my lady laugh, when she's dispos'd. — 
 
 Mr. Theobald's head has been attacked by Dr. War- 
 burton for not comprehending the meaning of this pas- 
 sage : for my part, in its present state, I cannot fathom 
 sense out of that deep phrase, smiles his cheek in years. 
 
 The Dick, the character particularized, that makes his 
 lady laugh when she's disposed for mirth, is a sort of 
 buffoon, or merry-andrew, who plays off his tricks for 
 that purpose. Among other tricks practised by such 
 drolls, that of smiting their cheek, which is performed 
 by a sleight, has an effect that creates risibility in the 
 spectators ; and, as the stroke is generally followed by 
 distortion of countenance and tears, I am strongly in- 
 clined to think our Author wrote — 
 
 some Dick, 
 
 That smites his cheek in tears, and knows the trick, &c. 
 
 In the word smites, there requires but a t for an I ; 
 which error was owing to the cross to the t having been 
 omitted : — tears for years, requires but aHn place of the 
 y: the passage, thus corrected, is perfectly familiar : 
 
 Scene II. — page 183. 
 
 Birox. Abate a throw at novum; and the whole world again, 
 Cannot prick out live such, take each one in his vein. 
 
 The authentic copies read, "Abate throw at novum." 
 The second folio, u a bare throw /' and Mr. Malone 
 
58 LOVE'S LABOUR LOST. 
 
 reads, " Abate a throw/' which, being considered judi- 
 cious, has received literary sanction. However, a more 
 conspicuous corruption cannot be found in these plays. 
 I read : 
 
 A bait throw at novum, and the whole world again, 
 Cannot prick out five such, take each one in his vein. 
 
 By which bait, the person whom the King styles Novum 
 (Holofernes), shall be so confounded in his part, that 
 great sport may be expected. When Holofernes ap- 
 pears, as Judas Macabaeus, the bait is thrown, and so 
 effectually to his confusion, that the Princess exclaims — 
 
 " Alas, poor Macabaeus, how hath he been baited!" 
 
 The error is easily accounted for; the transcriber 
 gave the verb abate, instead of the article and substan- 
 tive : — a bait and abate, being exactly alike in sound., 
 
 Scene II. — page 203. 
 
 Princess. If frosts, and fasts, hard lodging, and thin weeds, 
 Nip not the gaudy blossoms of your love, 
 But that it bear this trial, and last love. 
 
 The text is correct. The Princess means : If what he 
 now professes, continues; that is, if his love continues un- 
 altered; after these trials, she will give him her hand. 
 
 Scene II. — page 207. 
 
 Rosaline. then, if sickly ears, 
 
 Deaf 'd with the clamours of their own dear groans. 
 
 There requires but a letter to obtain the original 
 reading : 
 
 Deaf 'd with the clamours of their own drear groans. 
 
 Meaning, the melancholy groans which issue from those 
 who languish in hospitals, on the bed of sickness. 
 
 The compositor took but a cursory view of the word r 
 and gave that most familiar, though void of sense,. 
 
gftm&ant of tJtnitt. 
 
 ACT II. 
 
 Scene II. — page 265. 
 
 Lauivcelot. Away; says the fiend, for the heavens; rouse vp a 
 brave mind, says the fiend, and run. 
 
 The obscurity of this passage arises from false punc- 
 tuation : corrected, the sense is obvious. 
 
 Away ; says the fiend; for the heavens rouse up a brave mind, says 
 the fiend, and run. 
 
 We have already in this play, — " The devil cites scrip- 
 ture for his purpose ;" and, for the arch fiend to stimulate 
 the breast of innocence, by an instigation, that heaven 
 will approve the action, is perfectly consonant with his 
 evil machinations. 
 
 Scene II. — page 267. 
 Gobbo. By God's sonties, 'twill be a hard way to hit. 
 
 " Sonties seems a corruption from the French word saute, 
 (health,) and in allusion to the Almighty — ever perfect, 
 unchangeable: or, perhaps, from bonte (goodness.) To 
 swear, by the goodness of God, is considered a venial 
 oath. If the latter, perhaps our Author wrote — By 
 God's bonties. The corruption either way is admissible. 
 
 Scene II. — page 272. 
 
 Launcelot. Well; if any man in Italy have a fairer table, which 
 doth offer to swear upon a book. — I shall have 
 good fortune, &c. 
 
 This controverted passage will read perfectly clear by 
 
 closing the breach, and introducing two parenthesis. 
 
 Well; if any man in Italy have a fairer table, (which doth offer 
 to swear upon a book,) I shall have good fortune, &c. 
 
60 MERCHANT OF VENICE. 
 
 Launcelot prognosticates his own good fortune with 
 confidence ; he is convinced there are many men in Italy 
 have fairer hands; therefore, he is certain that the table 
 of his hand denotes good fortune : he plays on the word 
 fairer; alluding to purity, in extending the hand to re- 
 ceive the sacred book to make a judicial attestation, and 
 to fairer , (whiter) : he knows his own hand is not fair. 
 
 Scene III. — page 277. 
 
 Launcelot. ; — If a Christian do not play the knave and 
 
 get thee, — I am much deceived: 
 
 Mr. M. Mason would read, — " did not play the knave," 
 &c. which gives the passage quite a different meaning. 
 Surely, a Christian could not marry Jessica, without play- 
 ing the knave, should he carry her off clandestinely ? But 
 who, for a moment, can doubt Launcelot's meaning ? He 
 is the confidant of the lovers — their letter-carrier ; and, 
 certainly, could not be blind to their intentions. Besides, 
 would a servant bastardize his mistress to her face, and 
 cast a blot of infamy upon her mother ? That Launcelot, 
 therefore, means the elopement of Jessica is, in my 
 opinion, evident; and strongly corroborated by other 
 subsequent passages. In the fifth scene of this Act, 
 Launcelot says to Jessica, — 
 
 " There will come a Christian by, 
 Will be worth a Jewess' eye." 
 
 Accordingly, she awaits Lorenzo's arrival, and elopes 
 with him. But, see how far the Christian conceives him- 
 self to be a knave : 
 
 "When you shall please to play the thieves for wives, 
 I'll watch as long for you then." 
 
 Thus, we have almost a repetition of Launcelot's words. 
 
MERCHANT OF VENICE. 61 
 
 Scene IV.— page 286. 
 
 Lorenzo. When you shall please to play the thieves for wives, 
 I'll watch as long for you then.— Approach. 
 
 Though Sir Thomas Hanmer's emendation gives this 
 
 verse its due measure; by a slight transposition, the 
 
 Author's words will have the same effect. I would 
 
 read : 
 
 When you shall please to play the thieves for wives, 
 Then will I watch as long for you. — Approach. 
 
 Scene TO!.— page 294. 
 
 Salarin o. And for the Jew's bond, which he hath of me, 
 Let it not enter in your mind of love : 
 
 Three errors appear in this passage, all owing to the 
 loss of fa, which having dropped out of the page in its 
 metal state, left two words remaining instead of one : 
 and this error occasioned a second in the word of The 
 original, unquestionably, read : 
 
 And for the Jew's bond, which he hath of me, 
 Let it not entertain your mind off love. 
 
 Meaning : Let not the Jew's bond dwell upon your me- 
 mory, so as to intervene between you and happiness, or 
 draw your attention off love ; but, be merry; and employ 
 your ehiefest thoughts to courtship. 
 
 Scene VIII. — page 296. 
 
 Salanio. I pray thee, let us go, and find him out, 
 And quicken his embraced heaviness, &c. 
 
 Antonio, as yet, is ignorant of any loss; why then 
 should he embrace heaviness ? The transcriber certainly 
 mistook the word, and for impressed, wrote embraced. 
 
 let us go, and find him out, 
 
 And quicken his impressed heaviness. 
 
62 MERCHANT OF VENICE. 
 
 Meaning : Let us introduce him where, by some delight 
 or other, the heavy impression may be removed. 
 
 Scene IX. — page 301. 
 
 Arragon. Take what wife you will to bed, 
 I will ever be your head : 
 
 Dr. Johnson observes: "Perhaps the Poet had for- 
 gotten, that he who missed Portia was never to marry 
 any woman." In my opinion, the Poet had not so 
 treacherous a memory; but, the compositor, because a 
 bed was introduced, deemed it necessary to place a wife 
 therein. — The Poet wrote : 
 
 Take what wise you will to bed, 
 I will ever be your head : 
 
 i. e. Go to bed in what manner you will, a blinking- idiofs 
 head will rest upon your pillow: politely, calling the 
 Prince of Arragon, a blinking idiot, for not choosing the 
 valuable casket. 
 
 ACT III. 
 
 Scene II.— page 318. 
 
 Bassakio. But her eyes, — 
 
 How could he see to do them ? having made one, 
 Methinks, it should have power to steal both his, 
 And leave itself unfurnish'd: 
 
 The artist must finish one eye in a painting, before he 
 can give corresponding beauty to the other. This is the 
 figure which strikes Bassanio; he wonders, when the 
 painter had made one eye, that its beauty did not steal 
 both his, — 
 
 And leave it's self unfurnish'd. 
 
 Meaning : — Its fellow eye. By the word unfurnish'd, he 
 means, the ornaments of the eye — the eye-brows^ &c. 
 
MERCHANT OF VENICE. 63 
 
 In this blunder there is some apology for the tran- 
 scriber, who wrote as another person read to him ; no 
 ear can distinguish itself horn its self unless a short pause 
 be observed between its and self. 
 
 The delicate idea which this passage now conveys, is, 
 I believe, original; I do not recollect meeting, in our 
 Author's works, its similitude. 
 
 Scene IV.— page 333. 
 
 Portia. Bring them, I pray thee, with imagin'd speed 
 Unto the tranect, to the common ferry 
 Which trades to Venice : — waste no time in words, &c. 
 
 This passage would certainly have defied my pene- 
 tration, had it not been for the light I received from 
 part of Mr. Malone's note, which is as follows : 
 
 " Twenty miles from Padua, on the river Brenta, there 
 is a dam, or sluice, to prevent the water of that river from 
 mixing with that of the marches of Venice. Here the 
 passage-boat is drawn out of the river, and lifted over 
 the dam by a crane. From hence to Venice the distance 
 is five miles." 
 
 A crane, thus particularized, and but five miles from 
 Venice, whither Portia is going, becomes, not only an 
 object of curiosity, but a guide to travellers on the road 
 to Venice. It is immediately connected, or adjoining the 
 ferry which receives the boats when drawn out of the 
 river Brenta. It requires then no great skill to develop 
 the Author's meaning, his text having been, originally, 
 sufficiently clear. 
 
 Bring them, I pray thee, with imagin'd speed 
 
 Unto the crane, next to the common ferry 
 
 Which trades to Venice: — waste no time in words, &c. 
 
 Mr. Malone's note is a clear elucidation : and if the old 
 crane, next to the common ferry, be not there at present, 
 no doubt a new one has been erected. 
 
64 MERCHANT OF VENICE. 
 
 The compositor having composed the word crane, for* 
 got the ne of next, from having just composed the same 
 letters ; which making cranext, the person who read for 
 the press, not knowing such a word, made it tranect, 
 which proved equally incapable of illustration. 
 
 I cannot but testify some surprise, that Mr. Malone, 
 with this knowledge of the crane, should have overlooked 
 the necessary correction; and yet so perfectly was it 
 veiled from him, that he supposed "some novel-writer 
 of Shakspeare's time might have called the dam by the 
 name of the tranect" Mr. Rowe changed tranect to 
 traject, which, though it made gross tautology, was 
 adopted by all the subsequent Editors. 
 
 Scene V. — page 338. 
 Lorenzo. Goodly lord, what a wit-snapper are you ! 
 
 False punctuation has rendered this passage corrupt ; 
 we should read : 
 
 Goodly : — lord, what a wit-snapper are you ! 
 
 Launcelot says, — "they have all good stomachs." — 
 Ay, goodly, says Lorenzo: — meaning, goodly stomachs. 
 This is a common ellipsis. 
 
 Scene V. — page 339. 
 
 Lorenzo. Yet more quarrelling with occasion ! 
 
 Some strokes of wit pass between master and man, but 
 I perceive no quarrelling : nor can I make any reasonable 
 sense out of the passage. The transcriber seems to have 
 mistaken two words : I read — 
 
 Yet more quibbling: — What occasion? 
 Or, 
 
 Yet more quibbling without occasion! 
 
MERCHANT OF VENICE. 65 
 
 Lorenzo thinks Launcelot has quibbled too much on 
 words. A hungry man, awaiting- his dinner, disapproves 
 unnecessary loquacity. 
 
 Scene V.—page 339. 
 Lorenzo. O dear discretion, how his words are suited! 
 
 If Lorenzo does not mean the contrary, we should 
 read — sorted. 
 
 Launcelot had sorted out an army of good words, and 
 now misapplies them. 
 
 ACT IV. 
 
 Scene I. — page 344. 
 
 >HYLOCK, 
 
 Some, that are mad, if they behold a cat; 
 And others, when the bag-pipe sings i'the nose, 
 Cannot contain their urine; For affection, 
 Mistress of passion, sways it to the mood 
 Of what it likes, or loaths. 
 
 This passage has afforded more than common scope 
 for controversy, and is deemed by all my predecessors 
 as peculiarly difficult : Some Commentators mistress it; 
 others master it; but still, it has mastered all their in- 
 genuity. Mr. Rowe has — masterless ; yet, after all, by 
 changing a single letter — a t for an s, the error being 
 merely a misprint, we gain the Author's word. The 
 old copies read : 
 
 " And others, when the bag-pipe sings i'the nose, 
 Cannot contain their urine for affection. 
 Masters of passion, sways it to the mood 
 Of what it likes or loaths." 
 
 The reader will observe that, according to the reading 
 of the old editions, there is no point after the word 
 urine, and that a full point is placed after affection. 
 
66 MERCHANT OF VENICE. 
 
 The allusion of Shylock is not confined to the influence 
 which music has upon our sense; but also extends to 
 the various constitutional affections of the mind, and to 
 habits become constitutional from antipathies, and which 
 reason cannot overcome. Thus, a gaping pig, which 
 affects some, may be indifferent to those who cannot 
 behold a cat ; and those who cannot contain their urine 
 for affection , when they hear a bag-pipe sing Vthe nose, 
 may disregard both pig and cat, or any other antipathy 
 attached to humanity : therefore, Shylock means : — that 
 matters of passion sway our understanding, and hold such 
 influence over the mind, that, though reason disap- 
 proves, yet will those passions predominate, and subject 
 us to what it either likes, or loaths. See the passage 
 corrected, and its closeness to the reading of the old 
 copies. 
 
 And others, when the bag-pipe sings i'the nose, 
 Cannot contain their urine for affection: 
 Matters of passion sway it to the mood 
 Of what it likes or loaths. 
 
 Affection is the relative : Matters of passion sway the 
 affections of the mind : as though he said, — The influence 
 of fancy operates upon the imagination. Now, that which 
 governs Shylock is, — a lodged hate and a certain loathing 
 which he bears Antonio, and which nothing but a pound of 
 his flesh can satisfy. 
 
 Scene I. — page 347. 
 
 Shylock. Why he, a swollen bag-pipe; but of force 
 Must yield to such inevitable shame, 
 As to offend, himself being offended; 
 
 Our Commentators all agree, that the pipes to which 
 Shylock alludes, must have had a bag; but whether a 
 woollen-bag ; a wooden-bag; or a swollen-bag, has not 
 been definitely arranged : however, as the swollen-bag of 
 
MERCHANT OF VENICE. 67 
 
 Sir John Hawkins seems to have created the best sound, 
 it has gained the preference. 
 
 In the sylvan scenes in Scotland, we frequently behold 
 lovers seated on a bank ; the swain charming his nymph 
 with the mellifluous sound of his bag-pipe : but the 
 drone, and which is very dissonant to many, he, on such 
 occasions, arrests : and then, his bag-pipe sings fthe nose. 
 Now, a bag-pipe thus played, is called a wooing bag- 
 pipe ; and, for this reason: the drone is seldom stopped, 
 but for soft airs ; and, as such airs have greatest influ- 
 ence on the heart, the softness, or wooing sound of the 
 pipes, aids the lover in wooing his mistress. This, then, 
 is the sound which makes Shylock say, — as there is no 
 Jinn reason to be rendered why some cannot contain their 
 urine, when they hear — 
 
 a wooing bag-pipe; but of force 
 
 Must yield to such inevitable shame, 
 
 As to offend, himself being offended; 
 
 So can I give no reason, nor I will not, 
 
 More than a lodg'd hate, and a certain loathing, 
 
 I bear Antonio, &c. 
 
 Woollen is the reading of all the old copies : evidently 
 from the transcriber mistaking the sound of the word : 
 but surely, common sense must tell us, that it is not what 
 the bag is made of causes that peculiar affection to which 
 Shylock alludes ; for, a bag of any elastic substance which 
 confines the air, must yield that effect which the pipes 
 require. 
 
 Scexe I. — page 365. 
 Portia. I humbly do desire your grace of pardon. 
 
 This passage has been misunderstood, and altered by 
 modern Editors to — " Your grace's pardon," But Por- 
 tia does not address the Duke by the title of u Your 
 Grace;''' but applies the word grace, — meaning, favour; 
 as though she said — I humbly do desire , the favour of 
 your pardon. 
 
&6 ¥ou Htfte it 
 
 ACT I. 
 
 Scene I. — page 8. 
 Oliver. Marry, sir, be better employ'd, and be naught awhile. 
 
 Why should Orlando reply, — " Shall I keep your 
 hogs?" if Oliver, (as Mr. Malone explains this passage) 
 tells him to remain a cypher till he shall elevate him into 
 consequence. Surely, from this promising aspect, good 
 fruit is likely to be the result of patience. But, this 
 Orlando expects not; for, in his preceding speech, he 
 observes, that " he is spoiling with idleness, that which 
 God made perfect:" from which observation, Oliver, in 
 my opinion, retorts, by telling him to be, — 
 
 better employ'd, and be wrought awhile. 
 
 Meaning: go work then. What work? says Orlando, 
 " I am not taught to make any thing," — " shall I keep 
 your hogs?" Thus, he exposes his brother's cruelty, 
 neglect, and injustice. The reply speaks conviction, that 
 wrought was the original reading. 
 
 Scene I.— page 10. 
 
 Orlando. albeit, I confess, your coming before me is nearer 
 
 to his reverence. 
 
 Dr. Warburton would read, revenue. But the sense 
 of the passage has been mistaken by the learned Com- 
 mentator. Orlando means,— that his brother being the 
 senior by years, brings him nearer to his father's reverend 
 appearance. This cut has its effect : Oliver is satisfied 
 at being the senior, but would avoid a distinction which 
 
AS YOU LIKE IT. 69 
 
 brings him nearer the appearance of that age, which he 
 remembers in his father. 
 
 Scene II. — page 23. 
 
 Rosalind. But is there any else longs to see this broken musick 
 in his sides ? 
 
 Has any person attempted to set the ribs of the three 
 wrestlers? that Dr. Warburton should say, the poet 
 wrote, set this broken musick, &c. Surely, " his sides''' 
 must mean another person, and has no relation with the 
 wrestlers who have got broken ribs. But, as Dr. John- 
 son, who proposes to readme/, has explained the impos- 
 sibility of setting broken ribs to musick, I shall try if I 
 can set the passage to rights with my pen. 
 
 Three men have been defeated by the wrestler, and 
 all come off with broken ribs. Rosalind, astonished that 
 men will subject themselves to such disasters, demands : 
 
 But is there any else longs to seek this broken musick in his sides ? 
 
 Meaning : Is there any one else foolish enough to seek ho- 
 nour, by wrestling with a man who has already broken 
 the ribs of three competitors. The word, musick, is wan- 
 tonly employed to denote her disgust of such dangerous 
 games, and alludes to the crash which breaks the ribs. 
 
 The k dropped out of the page, and as the remaining 
 letters formed a word, the error passed unnoticed. 
 
 Scene II. — page 26. 
 
 Orlando. I beseech you, punish me not with your hard thoughts; 
 wherein I confess me muc 
 excellent ladies any thing 
 
 wherein I confess me much guilty, to deny so fair and 
 
 In my opinion a word is wanting. I would read, and. 
 I believe, correctly, — 
 
70 AS YOU LIKE If. 
 
 I beseech you, punish me not with your hard thoughts: wherein 
 I find myself guilty is, to deny so fair and excellent ladies any 
 thing. 
 
 This reading elucidates itself. 
 
 Scene I. — page 29. 
 Rosalind. one out of suits with fortune. 
 
 Suits — solicitations. One whose solicitations Fortune 
 disregards. 
 
 Scene III. — page 37. 
 
 Celia. And do not seek to take your change upon you, 
 To bear your griefs yourself, and leave me out; 
 
 The second folio reads, charge; which corresponds 
 with "bear your griefs" Celia will not suffer her to 
 bear the eJiarge^ but will share in the oppressive weight 
 of her afflictions. 
 
 The second folio gives a much better sense than can 
 possibly be extracted from the present text. 
 
 ACT II. 
 Scene VII. — page 64. 
 
 Jaques. A fool, a fool ! 1 met a fool i'-the forest y 
 
 A motley fool; — a miserable world! — 
 
 This passage is evidently corrupt. I am certain the 
 Author wrote, — 
 
 A fool, a fool !■ 1 met a fool i'the forest, 
 
 A motley fool; — a miserable! — Well, — 
 As I do live by food, I met a fool, &c. 
 
 In All's Well that Ends Well, Act IV. sc. v. 
 Lafeu says, " A shrewd knave, and an unhappy." This 
 corresponds with a miserable , and is a similar phraseology. 
 
AS YOU LIKE IT. 71 
 
 Scene VII. — page G8. 
 
 Jaques. Why, who cries out on pride, 
 
 That can therein tax any private party? 
 Doth it not flow as hugely as the sea, 
 Till that the very very means do ebb? 
 
 The old copy reads, weary very, which Mr. Pope 
 altered to very very. But I would be glad to know, what 
 are the very very means of pride, that doth ebb ? — If 
 high birth, though in poverty, it will not ebb while the 
 blood flows. If it ebbs from loss of fortune in some, it 
 is not so in general ; for pride is stubborn, and will not 
 quit that bosom wherein it was planted by nature. In 
 short, the passage, though it has received assistance by 
 Mr. Pope's correction, is very corrupt. 
 
 Pride, in humanity, is compared to the flowing of the 
 sea: Jaques supposes it inherent in our nature: and 
 more or less predominant, according to the quality or 
 power of the blood. In short 7 he considers pride as a 
 venom, incorporated with the blood, and which will con- 
 tinue to flow until the blood means to ebb, at which 
 period pride and life cease. This is the interpretation I 
 draw from the passage thus corrected : 
 
 Doth it not flow as hugely as the sea, 
 Till that the weary venom means to ebb. 
 
 There seems to have been a confusion created by the 
 terminating m in venom, and m commencing means : the 
 word to was probably changed to do, in order to throw 
 some light on Jaques' meaning. 
 
 ACT III. 
 
 Scene II. — page 97. 
 
 Rosalind. Good my complexion! dost thou think, though I am 
 caparison'd like a man, I have a doublet and hose 
 in my disposition ? 
 
72 AS YOU LIKE IT. 
 
 This passage, in its present state, cannot admit of 
 elucidation ; but, corrected, I think it produces a lively 
 sense. 
 
 And here, I hope it will not be deemed invidious, that 
 I introduce my predecessor's notes on this passage. 
 
 Good ivy complexion!^ — This is a mode of expression, Mr. Theobald 
 says, which he cannot reconcile to common se?ise. Like enough: 
 and so too the Oxford Editor. But the meaning is — Hold good 
 my complexion, i. e. let me not blush. Warburtotv. 
 
 That both Mr. Theobald and the Oxford Editor were 
 correct in their observations, I am certain ; and, that 
 Dr. Warburton has put a construction on the passage, 
 incapable of being obtained from the nonsense it exhibits, 
 I assert with equal confidence, and believe it diametrically 
 opposite to our Author's meaning. 
 
 Good my complexion!^ — My native character^ my female inquisitive 
 disposition, canst thou endure this ! — For thus characterizing the 
 most beautiful part of the creation, let our Author answer. 
 
 Ma lone- 
 
 Mr. Malone should rather answer, for thus charac- 
 terizing the most beautiful part of the creation! as for the 
 Author, I shall answer for him. 
 
 Good my complexion /] — Is a little unmeaning exclamatory address 
 to her beauty; in the nature of a small oath. Ritson. 
 
 It must be very small indeed, for, I swear, I cannot 
 perceive it. 
 
 The circumstance of the chain, has already whispered 
 to the heart of Rosalind, that Celia means Orlando ; but, 
 pretending ignorance, she displays all that agitation of 
 mind, prompted by curiosity, which the natural feelings 
 of a female, who knows her own charms, testifies, on hear- 
 ing that she is the theme of admiration ; and, therefore, 
 with most petitionary vehemence, she desires to know 
 the name of her woodland admirer : but Celia still sports 
 with her agitation, and wishes to make her blush ; which 
 
AS YOU LIKE IT. 73 
 
 playful maliciousness being; perceived by Rosalind, she 
 tells her, the only means to effect her purpose, is to name 
 her admirer; which will have such influence as to stimu- 
 late her blood, and cause a sensation in her heart, that 
 must mantle her face with blushes : therefore, she says, — 
 Goad my complexion ! 
 
 Sound but the name! you stimulate my blood, and 
 rouse it from my heart to strike upon my face; for, 
 though "i" am caparisoned like a man, dost thou think 
 / have a doublet and hose in my disposition, that can veil 
 my blushes, as they do my sex. 
 
 Thus, by the aid of the verb, the phrase gains cor- 
 responding uniformity ; but which, in its present state, 
 as Mr. Theobald justly observes, cannot be reconciled to 
 common sense. 
 
 This word is doubly applicable, for, if struck with a 
 goad on the face, the part must become inflamed and red. 
 
 Scene II.— page 119. 
 
 Touchstone. Not — sweet Oliver, 
 brave Oliver, 
 Leave me not behind thee; 
 But — wind away, 
 Begone, I say. 
 I will not to wedding wi'thee. 
 
 Wind away, is a low phrase, and frequently used by 
 the knowing ones, among the vulgar : it means, set off 
 with yourself; or, be off with the wind. 
 
 Scene V. — page 126. 
 
 Silvius. The common executioner, 
 
 Whose heart the accustom'd sight of death makes hard, 
 Falls not the axe upon the humbled neck, 
 But first begs pardon; Will you sterner be 
 Than he that dies and lives by bloody drops? 
 
 The obscurity of this passage seems to arise from 
 its being elliptically expressed. Than he that dies and 
 lines by bloody drops, allude, in my opinion, to both 
 
74 AS YOU LIKE I.T. 
 
 the criminal and executioner. The executioner t)egs 
 pardon, before the criminal humbles his neck to receive 
 the fatal axe: "Will you sterner be," says Silvius, 
 than the unfortunate criminal, who forgives the hand 
 that deprives him of life ? Or, will you sterner be than 
 the executioner, whose heart, incased in adamant, lets 
 not pity enter ; and yet, asks pardon for being the 
 executioner of the law. Thus then, the question is, 
 Will you sterner be than he that dies, and he that lives by 
 bloody drops ? The one dies by the loss of blood; the 
 other lives by the blood he spills. 
 
 ACT IV. 
 Scene III. — -page 150. 
 
 Rosalind. How say you now? Is it not past two o'clock? and 
 here much Orlando ! 
 
 Some of the modern Editors read: I wonder much 
 Orlando is not here : a stretch of power to correct a pas- 
 sage, which overcomes ail that scrupulous delicacy of 
 which Dr. Farmer, Mr. Steevens, and Mr. Malone, so 
 particularly boast. In fact, when such unlimited altera- 
 tion is sanctioned, I should not wonder if entire passages 
 were expunged, and others substituted, to gratify mere 
 opinion and false judgment. 
 
 Rosalind, confident of Orlando's punctuality, after 
 sighing away two hours, flies on the wings of impatience 
 to meet her lover. Fancy had pictured in her mind 
 equal impatience on the part of Orlando ; and, from the 
 lesson she had taught him, Rosalind indulged the hope 
 of meeting him ; while with some fond exclamation, as 
 Oh, my gentle Rosalind, you are punctual! he announced 
 his happiness. But, how disappointed ! Arrived at the 
 place of assignation, she looks about :-— she doubts her 
 
AS YOU LIKE IT. 75 
 
 senses : — she looks again ; and wofully convinced of her 
 lover's absence, with a perturbed heart, she exclaims — 
 
 How say you now? Is it not past two o'clock? and here, — mute 
 is Orlando. 
 
 Thus, the passage is clearly understood. The te in 
 mute being badly formed, the compositor made much of 
 it ; he might as well have made more. 
 
 ACT V. 
 
 Scene IV. — page Yi^. 
 Orlando. As those that fear they hope, and know they fear, 
 
 A greater variety of attempts have been made to 
 
 correct this verse, than any other that I have noticed in 
 
 our Author's plays. I could have wished to lay the 
 
 respective suggestions before my readers, but must refer 
 
 them to Johnson and Steevens's edition, 1813; and, at 
 
 once, submit my correction to their judgment. I read : 
 
 I sometimes do believe, and sometimes do not ; 
 As those that fear the hope, and know the fear. 
 
 He sometimes believes, that what has been promised 
 by Rosalind will be accomplished ; but, at other times, 
 considering such promises as illusory, he believes the 
 promised object unattainable : thus, finding his mind 
 agitated between hope and fear, he considers himself — 
 like those who fear the extreme of joy in obtaining a 
 perfect accomplishment of their most anxious wishes ; 
 and yet, know, i. e. feel, at the same time, the pangs 
 that must result from disappointment. 
 
 Hope, has been made a verb, and the plural pronoun 
 they, made to precede it : instead of which, hope should 
 have been made a substantive, and preceded by the 
 definite article. What led to this error, in both instances, 
 was, that they and the sound exactly alike. 
 
m$ mtll tljat IStttrjs m&L 
 
 ACT I. 
 
 Scene I. — page 213. 
 Helena. Ay. You have some stain of soldier in you ; 
 
 It is not the dress of Parolles occasions this observa- 
 tion; Helena knows him to be a soldier, by profession; 
 and, in a subsequent part of this scene, styles him Cap- 
 tain. Her meaning is, — I know you to be a soldier by 
 profession, but have strong doubts of your courage. See 
 the character she has just drawn of Parolles : — 
 
 " And yet I know him a notorious liar, 
 Think him a great way fool, solely a coward." 
 
 Scene I. — page 216. 
 
 Parolles. within ten years it will make itself tew, 
 
 The form which this passage retains at present, is not 
 sufficiently subtle for that physical scrutiny which Shak- 
 speare intended. It becomes a clear principle that, within 
 ten years, Helena may have ten children; but what is to 
 warrant the positive assertion of Parolles, that, within 
 ten years, it will make itself ten, i. e. ten girls? For we 
 are not to understand that he alludes, in any manner, to 
 boys. In the former passage, to which Mr. Malone 
 refers, possibility takes an active part: " Virginity, by 
 being once lost, may be ten times found;" i. e. one 
 woman may give birth to ten females, and each provs 
 
ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL. %% 
 
 equally fecund ; but none of them can be styled virgins, 
 until they arrive at that stage of life, called puberty. 
 These considerations influence me to vindicate the text 
 of the old copy, which reads, — 
 
 "within ten years it will make itself two" 
 
 There is a material difference between the conditional 
 may, and positive will. Here Parolles makes the dis- 
 tinction : " Virginity, by being once lost, may be ten 
 times found ;" i. e. it may produce ten virgins : — but he 
 gives no stated period for such a mark of fecundity. 
 Now, when he says, Within ten years it will make itself 
 two, — he considers, that he comes within the limits of 
 possibility. What is termed a virgin state, is puberty 
 imdefiled. The first age is called infancy; and all chil- 
 dren of nine years of age, are but rising from a state of 
 infancy. If, then, Helena should bear ten children in ten 
 years, all females, one only could approach virginity ; 
 for, according to the order of nature, it would be but 
 nine years and three months old. These premises con- 
 sidered, reason dictates that the lascivious Parolles cal- 
 culates, that the virgin state, or puberty, commences at 
 this green age ; and, to prevent virginity from being 
 subject to the evils he has particularized, would have it 
 deflowered at that early dawn, when female susceptibi- 
 lity may give way to the passion of love. Thus, Helena, 
 having in her child a second self her virginity makes itself 
 two, and the principle itself not much the worse; for, within 
 the ten years, Helena has been a virgin herself, as is her 
 daughter at nine years and three months old. 
 
 In my opinion, the old copy is the original reading. 
 
 Scene I. — page 217. 
 
 Helena. JVot my virginity yet. 
 
 Were we not convinced, that Helena's principles are 
 strictly pure; her giving even a reply to Parolles, after 
 
78 ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL- 
 
 the indelicate question : — "Will you any thing with it?" 
 (alluding to her virginity) would induce us to suppose 
 her of very loose morals. But, though she takes his words 
 in good part, knowing his character, her answer to his 
 impertinence is much stronger than the present text ex- 
 hibits. The word not, I am certain, is an error; a note of 
 admiration being taken by the compositor for a t, which 
 error, and want of due punctuation, has destroyed the 
 entire force of her reply. I read, — 
 
 JVo ! — My virginity ! — Yet, 
 
 There shall its master have a thousand loves, &c. 
 
 Thus, the cold undecided reply, is changed to the bold 
 and determined negative, and marked by astonishment 
 at his insolence ; as also, the innate pride of virtue is 
 roused; and which makes her look with scorn at him, 
 when she says, "My virginity!" Then, looking into 
 her heart, at the object painted there who holds her affec- 
 tions, a thousand pleasing fancies sport on her imagina- 
 tion, which, in the chaste endearments of connubial bliss, 
 she expects will be realised. 
 
 Scene I. — page 217. 
 Helena. There shall your master have a thousand loves, 
 
 In supporting the corrections of the preceding he- 
 mistic, I was compelled to call in the assistance of the 
 verse now under investigation ; I also corrected it, and 
 shall now assign my reasons. 
 
 Parolles is not the servant of Bertram, but an officer, 
 holding the rank of Captain, and deemed, by the Coun- 
 tess, a suitable companion to accompany her son to court. 
 To prove this is necessary, not only in justification of 
 correcting this verse, but also towards explaining the 
 fourth, which has been totally misunderstood by the 
 Commentators. 
 
ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL. 79 
 
 In Act II. sc. i. we find Parolles at court, in the pre- 
 sence of the King, and conversing familiarly with the 
 nobles; a situation, which no partiality for a servant 
 could admit When the two lords take leave of Ber- 
 tram, they do not forget Parolles. The Jirst lord says 
 to him, '•'Farewell, Captain" The second lord — "We 
 shall, noble Captain ." Again, Act IV. sc. ii. Bertram 
 salutes Parolles — Good -morrow, noble Captain. And 
 again, the two Lords : the first — God bless you, Captain 
 Parolles :. the second — God save you, Captain Parolles. 
 
 Presuming these instances sufficient to establish the 
 rank of Parolles, can we for a moment suppose that 
 Helena would call Bertram his master ? But more, that 
 Helena, who conceals her passion for Bertram with the 
 most scrupulous delicacy, would say, 
 
 There shall your master have a thousand loves. 
 Surely not; so open a violation of modesty could never 
 issue from her lips ; for, had Parolles been the servant 
 of Bertram, as the words, your master , imply, he must 
 naturally conclude they were designed for him to convey 
 to his master ; and this could not, in any manner, cor- 
 respond with the wishes of Helena, for she is scrupulous- 
 ly cautious in retaining the secret of her passion in her 
 own bosom. 
 
 I have, therefore, no hesitation in declaring the text 
 corrupt ; and that, for your master, we should read, its 
 master : meaning, him on whom her affections are fixed, 
 and who only, shall become master of her virginity. 
 
 Scene I. — page 218. 
 
 Helena. A mother, and a mistress, and a friend, 
 A phoenix, captain, and an enemy, 
 A guide, a goddess, and a sovereign, 
 A counsellor, a traitress, and a dear; 
 His humble ambition, proud humility, 
 His jarring concord, and his discord dulcet. 
 His faith, his sweet disaster; with a world 
 Of pretty, fond, adoptious Christendoms, 
 That blinking Cupid gossips. 
 
80 ALLS WELL THAT ENDS WELL. 
 
 Here my predecessors have considered Captain to 
 mean one of the thousand loves, which Helena promises to 
 the master of her virginity. Instead of which, Captain 
 is used in the vocative case, as though she said, a phoenix, 
 Sir; or, a phoenix, General, &c. Moreover, let it be 
 noticed, that each substantive, forming part of her 
 thousand loves, has its article ; but Captain, none. 
 
 As the entire of this speech has been condemned by 
 some of our best Commentators, and called a rhapsody 
 of nonsense ; it becomes a duty, in defence of the Author, 
 to extract, if possible, some meaning from those endear- 
 ing names, part of the thousand loves, which Helena 
 promises to the master of her virginity; first observing, 
 that taking the thousand loves collectively, I consider 
 them to mean, — every delight a virtuous passion can 
 yield, and every endearment that a wife can testify. 
 
 A mother, and a mistress, and a friend J] — These three 
 endearing appellations, being sufficiently understood, 
 require no explanation. 
 
 A phoenix.] — Most naturalists say, that this bird 
 belongs to fabulous history. However, according to 
 received opinion, there is but one phoenix in the world, 
 and the death of the old, is the birth of the new phoenix, 
 that rises in full perfection from the ashes of its mo- 
 ther. As a phoenix, then, Helena will surrender herself 
 to her husband, pure and unsullied, as when she came 
 from her mother's womb. 
 
 Captain.'] — This is the title by which she addresses 
 Parolles, and has no connection with the thousand loves. 
 
 And an enemy.] — As enemies, in battle, oppose each 
 other, breast to breast, she will oppose her's to that of 
 her husband. 
 
ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL. 81 
 
 A guide.] — As a guide, she will lead him in the paths 
 of virtue. 
 
 A goddess J] — As a goddess, she will preside over his 
 happiness. 
 
 A sovereign.] — She will reign the sovereign mistress 
 of his affections. 
 
 A counsellor.] — If he requires advice, she will counsel 
 him for the best. 
 
 A traitress, and a dear.] — She will inflame his love, then 
 rebel against his desires ; but, called to a sense of duty, 
 will prove his dear. 
 
 His humble ambition, proud humility. ,] — Her ambition 
 will be to humble herself to his wishes, and be proud in 
 that humility which corresponds with her duty. 
 
 His jarring concord.] — She will dispute with him, for 
 the sake of concording afterwards in his opinion. 
 
 His discord dulcet."] — As lovers' quarrels only tend to 
 harmonize and strengthen passion, so shall their dis- 
 agreements be sweetened by love. 
 
 His faith.] — His faith shall be great in her virtue. 
 
 His sweet disaster.] — Though the disasters of mankind 
 originated in woman ; from which some illiberal minds 
 say, — Where there is a wife there is a disaster ; yet, she 
 will prove a sweet disaster; that is, a good wife to her 
 husband. 
 
 With a world of pretty, fond, adoptious Christendoms.] — 
 An infinity of other pretty endearing names, which she 
 
 G 
 
82 ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL. ■ 
 
 will adopt and christen to her own fancy. — Christendom, 
 means the collective body of Christianity, and of which 
 the ceremony of christening forms a part. But the word 
 in the text, and which seems expressly plural, does not 
 perfectly correspond with those adoptions of her imagi- 
 nation : probably, Christendoms had, formerly, the same 
 meaning as christenings. 
 
 Scene I. — page 221. 
 
 Helena. Now shall he 
 
 I know not what he shall: — God send him well 
 The court's a learning place: — and he is one — 
 
 Flights of fancy having nearly thrown Helena off her 
 guard, she breaks her sentences ; nor can she recover 
 herself, until Parolles, astonished at her unconnected 
 expressions, relieves her, by demanding — "What one, 
 i' faith?" which is a conclusive evidence, that he is 
 ignorant of the person to whom she alludes. 
 
 Scene I.— page 222. 
 
 Helena. So is running away, when fear proposes the safety: But 
 the composition, that your valour and fear makes in 
 you, is a virtue of a good wiug, and / like the wear 
 well. 
 
 No woman loves a coward : Can we then believe that 
 our Author wrote — I like the wear well? I think not: 
 and am certain we should read — and like to wear well. 
 
 Old age gives to many, the virtue of prudence; so 
 cowardice gives Parolles the virtue of personal safety; 
 and by running away from the dangers of battle, he may 
 run a long career of life. 
 
ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL. 83 
 
 Scene I. — page 224. 
 
 Helena. The mightiest space in fortune, nature brings 
 To join like likes, and kiss like native things. 
 Impossible be strange attempts to those 
 That weigh their pains in sense; and do suppose, 
 What hath been cannot be : 
 
 However elevated the one, and humble and obscure 
 the other, yet, the powerful influence of nature over- 
 comes that mighty space by which fortune had divided 
 them, and unites them, as though originally of equal birth 
 and distinction. But, bold attempts are unequal to those 
 who feel too acutely, and view obstacles as insurmount- 
 able ; for, notwithstanding they allow extraordinary 
 events to have taken place, yet they will not believe, 
 that the nature of things, or circumstances, will produce 
 the like again. 
 
 Scene II. — page 228. 
 
 King. who were below him 
 
 He us'd as creatures of another place; 
 And bow'd his eminent top to their low ranks, 
 Making them proud of his humility, 
 In their poor praise he humbled : 
 
 He maintained his dignity with becoming pride ; 
 making all his inferiors know their distance; yet, his 
 lofty demeanour, which struck awe, was softened by occa- 
 sional condescension : thus, in bowing his eminent top to 
 their low ranks; he made his inferiors more submissive 
 to his will, by the small portion of praise which he be- 
 stowed upon them. 
 
 Weak, indeed, must those inferiors have imagined the 
 father of Bertram, had they approached him with the 
 fawning servility of their poor praise ; and very far must 
 he have been from the dignified character portrayed by 
 
 G 2 
 
84 ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL. 
 
 the King, had he listened to their insinuative adulation. 
 The antithesis formed by proud and humbled, reflect on 
 those inferiors, whom his humility rendered at once both 
 proud and humble. 
 
 Bishop Warburton makes the humility of Bertram's 
 father stoop so low, as to humble his humility I 
 
 Scene III. — page 241. 
 
 Clown. an we might have a good woman born, but every 
 
 blazing star. 
 
 How can a woman be born ? A female, when introduced 
 
 into life, is an infant: — the reading is highly injudious ; 
 
 and the correction seems to have been made, without 
 
 reflecting on the incongruity which it produced. The 
 
 old copy reads : — a but o'er every blazing star." In my 
 
 opinion, from the word on being badly formed, the 
 
 compositor mistook it for ore. I read: 
 
 an we might have a good woman, but on every blazing 
 
 star, or at an earthquake, &c. 
 
 Meaning : If on the appearance of a blazing star, or at the 
 calamitous event of an earthquake, a good woman were 
 in existence, it would prove a matter of equal astonish- 
 ment. 
 
 Scene II. — page 241. 
 
 Clown. Though honesty be no puritan, yet it will do no hurt; 
 it will wear the surplice of humility over the black 
 gown of a big heart. 
 
 This passage has occasioned much discussion ; and all 
 for want of paying attention to the Clown's dress. Fools 
 and clowns, retained in noble families, were accustomed 
 to wear a loose fantastical dress with long sleeves, over 
 which was thrown a circular cape, made of white linen, 
 which covered the breast and shoulders. Now, be it 
 remembered, that the family and servants of the Countess 
 
ALLS WELL THAT ENDS WELL. 85 
 
 appear in mourning; and of course, the Clown's habit, 
 though of black colour, lost nothing of its fashion ; add 
 to this, the circular cape, which in his fancy, bears con- 
 formity with that part of the ecclesiastical appendage, 
 called a surplice, and you find in his dress, the surplice 
 of humility over the black gown, which covers a big heart. 
 This light thrown on the passage, makes the Clown's 
 meaning obvious. — Though honesty be no puritan, fyc. 
 meaning : Though my honesty has not that conspicuous 
 appearance which puritanical principles display ; yet I will 
 do no hurt : I will wear the surplice of humility, (his fool's 
 cape) which policy, not principle, compels me to do, over 
 the black gown, (his loose gown of black colour) which 
 covers a big heart: i. e. a proud heart; but which is 
 obliged to humble itself, or want support. 
 
 It is, however, very clear, that he satirizes the pre- 
 tended humility of the puritans, who reprobated the 
 ecclesiastical garments. The Author's text is evidently 
 correct, and requires not the emendation proposed by 
 Mr. Tyrwhitt. 
 
 In the representation of this play, the Clown's dress 
 should be regarded. For want of due attention to the 
 dress of Issabella, in Measure for Measure, Act II. 
 sc. iv. The passage has been equally misunderstood. 
 See my notes on that play, p. 42. 
 
 Scene III. — page 249. 
 
 Helena. I know I love in vain, strive against hope; 
 Yet, in this captious and intenible sieve, 
 I still pour in the waters of ray love, 
 And lack not to lose still. 
 
 This unintelligible passage, and which has been almost 
 despairingly relinquished by my predecessors, may, I 
 think, be made to recover its pristine beauty. 
 
86 ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL. 
 
 Dr. Johnson observes, — " The word captious, I never 
 found in this sense : yet I cannot tell what to substitute, 
 unless carious , for rotten." In what sense my predecessor 
 understood the passage, I know not : but, from my con- 
 ception of it, the word, carious, would prove the most 
 impotent of any in his Dictionary. 
 
 Far be it from me, by this observation, to dare a 
 reflection on the judgment of so great and so good a 
 man ! — No : but, as he has not given any explication of 
 the passage, I cannot possibly comprehend his idea ; nor 
 can I see how the word, carious, if substituted, could 
 afford aid towards elucidation. 
 
 Few passages in these plays are more difficult to ex- 
 plain, than this : for, we have not only to develop the 
 meaning of Helena's words, but also to hold in imagi- 
 nary view her attitude and actions. I read : 
 
 I know I love in vain, strive against hope ; 
 Yet, in this copious and intenible sieve, 
 I still pour in the waters of my love, 
 And lack not to lose still. 
 
 i. e. I know I love in vain : I strive to obtain a return 
 of my passion, but all my endeavours are fruitless. 
 
 Here it is necessary to hold Helena in view: — Her 
 words call the action of her hand to her heart. " Yet, in 
 this copious and intenible sieve," (her full heart, from 
 which the spring of nature flows, — ever running out, yet 
 ever full) I still pour in the waters of my love, (her 
 increase of passion, which, however overflowing with 
 love her heart may be, it still receives. And lack not to 
 lose still : i. e. nor do I want it to diminish^ but still to 
 increase. 
 
 Scene III. — page 250. 
 
 Countess. Had you not lately an intent, speak truli/^ 
 
 To go to Paris ? 
 Helena. Madam, I had. 
 Countess. Wherefore? tell true. 
 Helena. I will tell truth; by grace itself, I swear 
 
4 
 
 ALLS WELL THAT ENDS WELL. 87 
 
 Mr. Steevens thinks the words, tell true, should be ex- 
 punged, the repetition being superfluous. But, surely, 
 the positive reply of Helena, J will tell trite, must over- 
 rule his supposition. 
 
 ACT II. 
 
 Scene I. — page %b3. 
 
 Ki\g. Farewell, young lords, these warlike principles 
 
 Do not throw from you: — and you, my lord, farewell: — 
 Share the advice betwixt you; if both gain all, 
 The gift doth stretch itself as 'tis receiv'd, 
 And is enough for both. 
 
 Had attention been paid to the nobleman's reply, the 
 error in this passage would have been more easily 
 discovered ; but, as the speech is more particularly ad- 
 dressed to the two lords, the gift has been supposed 
 designed for them ; whereas, they are the gift which 
 the king sends to the Duke of Tuscany. The latter 
 copies read: — " If both again." 
 
 I think it requires no argument to convince, that our 
 
 Author wrote : — 
 
 Farewell, young lords, these warlike principles 
 
 Do not throw from you : — and you, my lord, farewell : — 
 
 Share the advice betwixt you; if back again, 
 
 The gift doth stretch itself as 'tis receiv'd, 
 
 And is enough for both. 
 
 To which, the first lord replies — 
 
 It is our hope, sir, 
 
 After well-enter' d soldiers, to return 
 And find your grace in health. 
 
 Though convinced the sense is sufficiently clear, I 
 shall give its meaning : — The King has been advising 
 the two young noblemen how to conduct themselves, 
 and here bids them farewell ; observing, that they are 
 equally to participate in his advice. Now, says the 
 
88 ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL. 
 
 King, you are a gift, which I send to the Duke of Tus- 
 cany ; conduct yourselves as valiant soldiers ; and, if 
 you return " back again, the gift doth stretch itself 
 where His received, and is enough for both:" (meaning, 
 the Duke of Tuscany and himself;) for, should they 
 return, after fulfilling their duty, the gift is still as 
 highly prized by the Duke of Tuscany, as though 
 they continued to remain at his court ; and, their return 
 stretches the gift from Tuscany to Paris. See the first 
 lord's reply. 
 
 The word back, was taken for both, either by the 
 transcriber or compositor, who thought it meant the 
 two noblemen. 
 
 Scene I. — page 258. 
 
 Farolles. they wear themselves in the cap of the time, 
 
 there, do muster true gait, eat, speak, and move, 
 under the influence of the most received star. 
 
 This passage, considered very obscure, is rendered 
 perfectly familiar by a most trifling alteration : for there, 
 do, read — they do muster true gait, &c. The meaning 
 is obvious : — They imitate the received star, or leader 
 of fashion, both in his dress and actions. The tran- 
 scriber turned the down stroke of the y too short, 
 which left the appearance of re : thus, I imagine, the 
 error took place. 
 
 Scene I. — page 265. 
 
 Helena. I am not an impostor, that proclaim 
 Myself against the level of mine aim. 
 
 I am not an impostor, to pretend greater things than 
 lie within the compass of human power ; and that which 
 I propose I will accomplish. 
 
ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL. 89 
 
 Scene I. — page 268. 
 
 King. Youth, beauty, wisdom, courage, virtue, all 
 That happiness and prime can happy call : 
 
 We should read — " Happiness in prime ;" meaning, 
 youthful happiness. Prime was substituted for youth, 
 by the Author, in order to avoid tautology ; youth 
 having been introduced at the commencement of the 
 antecedent verse. Dr. Johnson's interpretation of prime 
 is perfectly correct. 
 
 ACT III. 
 
 Scene III. — page 278. 
 Lafeu. Why your dolphin is not lustier. 
 
 Lustier is certainly English, and sufficiently expres- 
 sive to afford a sort of meaning ; but the Commentators 
 have left it a matter undecided^ — whether Lafeu means 
 the Dauphin, (a title given to the eldest son of the 
 French king ;) or Dolphin, (a fish.) But while argu- 
 ments, in support of opinion on one side, and answers 
 to confute on the other, were increasing notes, the cor- 
 rupt word remained unnoticed. 
 
 When the King, after being cured, enters with Helena, 
 Parolles says to Lafeu, " Here comes the King." — To 
 which Lafeu adds, " Lu stick, as the Dutchman says." — 
 Now, the German word, lustig, and the Teutonic, lus- 
 tick, are the same, and mean playful, or sportive ; the 
 comparative of which adjective is — lustiger, meaning, 
 more playful. Thus, then, Lafeu sports his German on 
 the occasion, — 
 
 Why your dolphin is not lustiger. 
 
90 ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL. 
 
 Meaning : that the King was now so perfectly recovered, 
 he had become as sportive and playful as a dolphin ; 
 for, of all fishes, the dolphin is most given to sport. 
 
 To compare the King, in stature or corpulency, to a 
 small fish, is ridiculous ; and we know not whether his 
 son be either lusty or playful. 
 
 In Antony and Cleopatra, Act V. sc. ii. We 
 find the sportive and wanton manners of Antony, thus 
 compared to a dolphin : 
 
 His delights 
 
 Were dolphin-like ; they shew'd his back above 
 The element they liv'd in." 
 
 Thus, the addition of a g, settles this strongly con- 
 troverted point. The manner in which the error took 
 place is obvious. — The compositor, or, perhaps, the 
 transcriber, being unacquainted with the German word, 
 lustiger, concluded it should be lustier ; and, therefore, 
 omitted the g", not doubting himself perfectly correct. 
 
 Scene III. — page 285. 
 
 King. good alone 
 
 Is good, without a name, vileness is so : 
 
 The punctuation recommended by Mr. M. Mason 
 should be adopted : 
 
 good alone 
 
 Is good ; — without a name, vileness is so : 
 
 Goodness, is ever good: in the eyes of mankind it 
 requires no other name to strengthen its force. Vile- 
 ness, would be ever vile, did not rank, power, and for- 
 tune screen it from opprobrium, and give it qualities to 
 which it can never be justly entitled. This explication is, 
 I think, strengthened by the subsequent passage : 
 
 " The property by what it is should go, 
 Not by the title." 
 
ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL. 91 
 
 Scene III.— page 288. 
 
 King. Obey our will, which travails in thy good : 
 Believe not thy disdain, but presently 
 Do thine own fortunes that obedient right, 
 Which both thy duty owes, and our power claims ; 
 Or I will throw thee from my care for ever, 
 Into the staggers, B$c. 
 
 Bertram is at present on the high pillar of greatness, 
 from whence it is in the King's power to throw him 
 down. If, then, he disobeys the King's orders, his 
 descent will be so rapid, that giddiness shall seize him, 
 and, staggering like a drunken man, unable to support 
 himself, great must be his fall. 
 
 Scene V. — page 303. 
 
 Lafeu. 1 have spoken better of you than you have or will 
 
 deserve at my hand. 
 
 His meaning is sufficiently clear. — I have spoken better 
 of you than you have deserved, or will deserve at my hand. 
 
 He thinks him incorrigible, and that his future actions 
 will be such as not to merit praise. 
 
 ACT III. 
 
 Scene I. — jjage 306. 
 
 Secosd Lord. The reasons of our state I cannot yield, 
 But like a common and an outward man, 
 That the great figure of a council frames 
 By self -unable motion : therefore dare not 
 Say what I think of it ; since I have found 
 Myself in my uncertain grounds to fail 
 As often as I guess'd. 
 
 There is scarcely a passage in these plays, that shows 
 to what extent the sense of our Author has been per- 
 
92 ALLS WELL THAT ENDS WELL. 
 
 verted by false punctuation, more than the present; and, 
 indeed, I am not a little amazed that the two learned 
 Commentators, who have considered notion as the 
 original word, and even recommended it in place of 
 motion, did not perceive from whence the error arose; 
 for, either motion or notion, in the present state of the 
 passage, is equally obscure. 
 
 I take up the Author's words, where he speaks of the 
 great figure of a council. In my opinion, the great figure 
 of a council, means — the grand machine, t. e, the collective 
 body of the council, that gives movement to the many 
 figures of a state, and by whose operations the govern- 
 ment of a realm is duly maintained, according to the 
 chartered covenant between the king and the people. 
 By the wisdom of this body, armies are raised ; the 
 kingdom defended; the laws maintained; justice ad- 
 ministered ; and the rich and poor equally protected from 
 fraud and violence. How, then, can this great Jigure of 
 a council be termed self unable motion, or notion, without 
 abstracting from it the power of thought, movement, and 
 opinion? for, certainly, the text precludes it from all 
 these powers. But see how clearly we gain the Author's 
 meaning, by the transposition of a colon, and the intro- 
 duction of two commas: 
 
 The reasons of our state I cannot yield, 
 But like a common and an outward man, 
 That the great figure of a council frames: — 
 By self-unable notion, therefore, dare not 
 Say what I think of it ; since I have found 
 Myself in my uncertain grounds to fail 
 As often as I guess'd. 
 
 Thus, the nobleman, from his inexperience, acknow- 
 ledges his incapacity of judging the principles which 
 guide the actions of a state ; he, considering himself no 
 better informed in state affairs, than a common and out- 
 ward man, that the great figure of a council frames ; and, 
 therefore, dares not hazard an opinion : for, whenever 
 he formed an opinion of its principles, he found his 
 judgment erroneous. 
 
ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL. 93 
 
 Scene II. — page 308. 
 
 Clown. Why, he will look upon his boot, and sing; mend the 
 ruff, and sing ; ask questions, and sing ; pick his teeth, 
 and sing : I know a man that had this trick of melan- 
 choly, sold a goodly manor for a song. 
 
 Shakspeare's Clowns and Jesters have, in most in- 
 stances, a double meaning in their expressions ; that is, a 
 covert allusion is equally obvious, as the literal meaning-. 
 In the present passage we have one so closely veiled, 
 that the Editor of the third folio, and all successive 
 Editors, have made the man, who had this trick of melan- 
 choly , turn idiot, and sell his goodly manor for a song! 
 whereas, the poor fellow only held a goodly manor as the 
 burden, or chorus of his song*, when in his fits of melan- 
 choly. See the old reading : 
 
 I know a man that had this trick of melancholy, hold a goodly 
 manor for a song. 
 
 The construction which the Editor of the third folio 
 put on this passage was, that the man who had this trick 
 of melancholy, obtained, and held, a goodly manor in 
 possession for a song ; and as he thought the bargain too 
 great, made him sell it on the same terms ! Mr. Steevens 
 was so far deceived, as to give sanction to this emendation. 
 I am, however, bold enough to say, that hold is the Au- 
 thor's word, and should be restored. 
 
 Scene II. — page 309. 
 
 Countess. What have we here ? 
 
 Clown. E'en that you have there. 
 
 Countess (reads.) I have sent you a daughter-in-law. 
 
 Mr. Theobald has been too hasty in his correction. 
 The old copy reads : 
 
 Countess. What have we here ? 
 
 Clown. In th at y o u ha ve there . 
 
 Countess, (reads.) I have sent you a daughter-in-law. 
 
94 ALLS WELL THAT ENDS WELL. 
 
 The humour depends on the reading : the Countess 
 should follow, after the Clown's speech, without a pause, 
 which produces this effect : — In that you have there, I 
 have sent you a daughter-in-law. 
 
 Scene II. — page 311. 
 
 Countess. If thou engrossest all the griefs are thine, 
 
 Thou robb'st me of a moiety : he was my son ; 
 
 How can Helena rob the Countess of a moiety of the 
 grief, at the same time that she retains the entire ? and 
 yet, from the present text, neither this sense is obtained, 
 nor does the Countess seem anxious to participate in her 
 griefs. If a meaning is to be obtained by suffering the 
 word — are, to remain, the passage will require additional 
 words; and we should read, — If thou engrossest all, the 
 griefs are thine; but then, thou robbest me of a moiety. 
 Thus, the Countess lets Helena retain all the griefs, 
 and surrenders her share very calmly. 
 
 In some of these plays, not only words, but sentences 
 
 have been changed, to gratify the opinion of celebrity; 
 
 and here, — where the change of a single monosyllable 
 
 gives, not only perfectly good sense, but appears also to 
 
 have been the original, some of our late Commentators 
 
 have rejected it. Mr. Mason proposes to read: 
 
 If thou engrossest all the griefs as thine, 
 Thou robb'st me of a moiety : he was my son ; 
 
 No sense can speak clearer, and the most obstinate 
 prejudice should give it cheerful concurrence. Thus 
 corrected, the sensibility, fortitude, and friendship, of the 
 Countess are strongly displayed : she beholds Helena, 
 whom she prizes as her child, overwhelmed with grief: 
 she wishes to share in that grief, and claims, as the mother 
 of Bertram, her moiety; having, as she conceives, as 
 much cause for affliction in her son's misconduct, as 
 Helena has in the neglect of her husband. 
 
ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL. 95 
 
 Scene II. — page 313. 
 
 Helena. and is it I 
 
 That drive thee from the sportive court, where thou 
 
 Wast shot at with fair eyes, to be the mark 
 
 Of smoky muskets ? — O you leaden messengers, 
 
 That ride upon the violent speed of fire, 
 
 Fly with false aim ; move the still-piecing air, 
 
 That sings with piercing, do not touch my lord ! 
 
 There is no passage in our Author's works has occa- 
 sioned a greater diversity of opinion than this. The 
 corrupt phrase — still-piecing, has obtained many forced 
 elucidations; but it is not merely piecing, or piercing, 
 as some Editors read, that is corrupt, but also the word 
 move. 
 
 It appears very obvious to me, that our Author de- 
 signed an antithesis in this passage ; but which, from 
 a corrupt reading, has been totally obscured : however, 
 in restoring the text to its original beauty, the veil will 
 be removed. I read, as I am confident our Author wrote : 
 
 you leaden messengers, 
 
 That ride upon the violent speed of fire, 
 Fly with false aim ; mow the still-pacing air, 
 That sings with piercing, do not touch my lord. 
 
 Thus, violent speed is opposed to still-pacing. The 
 word, still, is doubly appropriate ; for, the air is still 
 (constantly) pacing ; i. e. ever moving : still, also means, 
 silent : so, that Helena invokes the leaden messengers, that 
 ride upon the violent speed of fire, to mow the silent- 
 moving air that sings with piercing : — The air is silent in 
 its movement, but when pierced, it sings. The velocity 
 of a bullet's speed, is compared to a scythe, that cuts 
 its sweep of grass. 
 
 Though I consider it almost unnecessary to make far- 
 ther observations on the present text, the nonsense of 
 which bids defiance to elucidation ; yet, I cannot avoid de- 
 manding, — Why should Helena invoke the leaden mes- 
 sengers to move the air ? What figure can this phrase 
 
96 ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL. 
 
 produce ?■ — Was the air ever known to be immoveable ? 
 Is it not still-pacing ; still in movement, like the waters 
 of the ocean ? An element cannot be confined ; nor is 
 it in the order of nature to divide the atmospheric air, 
 that it should be still-piecing, as in the present text, and 
 attempted to be elucidated by our Commentators. In 
 reading an account of a battle, do we not frequently meet 
 this phrase : — whole ranks were mowed down by the fire 
 of the enemy ? 
 
 The words, sings with piercing, also convey a figure, 
 perhaps, hitherto unnoticed. To sing, is to rejoice. 
 The air sings, when cut through with velocity; but 
 should the leaden messengers, which cut the air, touch 
 her lord, they must produce a contrary effect — sorrow. 
 Therefore, she invokes the leaden messengers to pierce 
 that only, which sings with piercing. 
 
 The clouds, like the air, keep ever pacing: at times 
 rapid, at other times slow and heavy ; and this our Au- 
 thor notices, in Romeo and Juliet, Act II, sc. ii. 
 
 " O speak again, bright angel ! for thou art 
 As glorious to this night, being o'er my head, 
 As is a winged messenger of heaven 
 Unto the white-upturn'd wond'ring eyes 
 Of mortals, that tall back to gaze on him, 
 W r hen he bestrides the lazy-pacing clouds, 
 And sails upon the bosom of the air." 
 
 Scene V. — page 322. 
 
 Diana. A right good creature : wheresoe'er she is, 
 Her heart weighs sadly: 
 
 That the old copy, which reads, — " I write good crea- 
 ture," is incorrect, cannot be doubted; and that the cause 
 of the same, is precisely as stated by Mr. Malone, we 
 cannot doubt ; but, to say, with the advantage of this 
 discovery, that Mr. Malone's correction is right, I can- 
 not; although, for the emendation, he makes himself 
 accountable. 
 
ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL. 97 
 
 What character has been given of Helena to the old 
 Widow, to warrant the high eulogium which the text 
 displays ? Helena, when speaking of herself, claims no 
 merit ; she modestly observes, that all her deservings is 
 but a reserved honesty : — why, then, should the old 
 Widow, at once, pronounce her — " a right good crea- 
 ture?" — But, look to Diana's observation: — 
 
 " 'Tis a hard bondage, to become the wife 
 Of a detesting lord." 
 
 This is the language of nature ; and which, springing 
 from a female breast, displays strong sympathy : it is 
 not lost on the mother; she approves the observation 
 of Diana, and also sympathizes in the afflictions of 
 Helena : not as we have it either in the old copy, or pre- 
 sent text, but as the Author wrote : 
 
 Ay, right ! good creature: wheresoe'er she is, 
 Her heart wears sadly. 
 
 Thus, the mother approves the daughter's sentiments, 
 by telling her, that she has expressed herself with be- 
 coming feeling for the misfortune under which the good 
 creature labours, of whom they have been speaking : — 
 The old Widow would, most probably, have said, poor 
 creature, but, for that necessary respect due to a lady of 
 distinction. 
 
 Scene VI. — page Sol. 
 
 First Lord. I must go look my twigs ; he shall be caught. 
 
 " I must go look my twigs," — and when he has found 
 them, I would be glad to know what he intends doing 
 with them. The passage is corrupt, our Author wrote : 
 
 I must go lack my twigs ; he shall be caught. 
 
 As birds are caught by twigs, lackered with bird-lime, 
 whatever plan he intends to adopt, shall have as good 
 an effect. 
 
 H 
 
98 ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL. 
 
 Look and lack, in writing, if not clearly written, might 
 very easily be mistaken, the one for the other. 
 
 ACT IV. 
 
 Scene 11.— page 341. 
 
 Bertram. No more of that! 
 
 I pry'thee, do not strive against my vows : 
 
 I was compell'd to her ; but I love thee 
 
 By love"s own sweet constraint, and will for ever 
 
 Do thee all rights of service. 
 
 Bertram alludes to the vows of love which he had 
 made to Diana, at a former meeting. My predecessors 
 erroneously imagine, that Bertram means his nuptial 
 vows. 
 
 Scene II. — page 341. 
 
 Diana. 'Tis not the many oaths, that make the truth ; 
 But the plain single vow, that is vow'd true. 
 What is not holy, that we swear not by, 
 But take the Highest to witness : Then, pray you, tell me, 
 If I should swear by Jove's great attributes, 
 I lov'd you dearly, would you believe my oaths, 
 When I did love you ill? this has no holding, 
 To swear by him whom I protest to love, 
 That I will work against him : 
 
 This is one of the many passages that received early 
 mutilation ; and which the most skilful dramatic archi- 
 tects have not been able to repair ; and yet, the only- 
 error in the entire speech, is the transposition of a line ; 
 a very common error with compositors, in what they 
 term, making up the matter. We should read : 
 
 'Tis not the many oaths, that make the truth; 
 
 But the plain single vow, that is vow'd true. 
 
 But take the Highest to witness: Then, pray you, tell me, 
 
 What is not holy that we swear not by? 
 
 Though this stumbling block is removed, the passage 
 may require elucidation. We shall, therefore, suppose, 
 
ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL. 99 
 
 that Diana says, — Confidence is not to be placed in that 
 person who is prodigal of oaths : One plain single vow, 
 when vowed with sincerity, establishes truth. If we 
 call Omnipotence to witness our oath, all that we swear 
 by, must be holy. Now, should I swear by Jove's great 
 attributes, that I loved you dearly ; would you believe 
 me, well knowing, that I intended your destruction ? 
 Thus truth, that sacred link of human confidence, being 
 broke by me, my oath is not to be credited, when I 
 swear by Him whom I protest to love, and not testify 
 that love by sincerity. To hold an oath sacred, is not 
 to violate it ; and this non-violation proceeds from the 
 love and awe in which we hold the Deity, by whom we 
 swear. If, then, we should swear by the Omnipotent 
 power, whom we profess to love, we display that love no 
 longer than while we hold sacred that oath ; and if we 
 swear, being pre-determined to break our oath, we love 
 him not at all. — Thus, Diana draws her conclusion; 
 that, as Bertram, by his oaths, meditates her destruction, 
 he cannot love her. 
 
 Scene II.— page 343. 
 
 Diana. I see, that men make hopes, in such affairs, 
 
 That well forsake ourselves. Give me that ring. 
 
 Here, it becomes necessary to insert the reading of 
 the four folio editions : 
 
 I see, that men make ropes in such a scarre, 
 That we forsake ourselves. 
 
 A scarre, is a rugged cliff, or promontory, washed 
 either by rivers or the sea. Diana, therefore, makes 
 her imagery truly frightful, to show how far human 
 perseverance will extend, in order to overcome apparent 
 impossibilities, that the object of their desires may be 
 achieved. Thus, then, she compares such a person to one, 
 who, notwithstanding the highly alarming danger, will 
 
 H 2 
 
100 ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL. 
 
 make a rope upon the summit of a scarre, though, in his 
 retrogressive motion, (the act of making a rope, obliging- 
 him to step backwards,) each step may hurl him to 
 destruction. 
 
 Shuddering fancy cannot draw a more terrific picture 
 of danger ; nor can the influence of any passion force 
 the possibility of human industry to attempt a more 
 hazardous undertaking. 
 
 For irij we should read, on ; this is merely a misprint : 
 the i and o compartments being next each other, an i 
 dropped into the o box, and the compositor perceived 
 not his error, as it formed a word : from the same cause, 
 it also escaped the notice of the corrector. 
 
 Scene III.— page 348. 
 
 First Lord. Is it not meant damnable in us, to be trumpeters 
 of our unlawful intents ? 
 
 In my opinion, a t has been composed instead of a 
 colon : we should read — 
 
 Is it not mean: — damnable in us, to be trumpeters of our unlaw- 
 ful intents? 
 
 As though he said — Is it not mean : nay, damnable 
 in us to be trumpeters of our unlawful intentions ? 
 
 Scene III. — page 358. 
 
 First Lord. Nay, look not so upon me; we shall ear of your 
 Lordship anon. 
 
 Modern printers can make blunders as well as those 
 of former times : such a reading as ear, for hear — would 
 have afforded food for strong controversy. We should 
 read, hear of your lordship anon. 
 
 This is an error in the last edition of Shakspeare, 
 edited by Mr. Read. 
 
ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL. 101 
 
 Scene III.— page 560. 
 
 Inter p. Dian,— The Count's a fool, and full of gold, 
 
 When he swears oalhs, bid him drop gold, and take it ; 
 
 After he scores, he never pays the score: 
 
 Half -won, is match well made: match, and well make it ; 
 
 He ne'er pays after debts, take it before; 
 
 And say, a soldier, Dian, told thee this, 
 
 Men are to mell with, boys are not to kiss : 
 
 For count of this, the count's a fool, I know it, 
 
 Who pays before, but not when he does owe it. 
 
 The two last couplets being metrical, the former must 
 have been so originally. Dr. Johnson says, — " there 
 is apparently aline lost:" — I, however, think the con- 
 trary ; but there is clearly a line transposed ; and, ap- 
 parently, three words deficient in the first verse. I 
 submit the following reading, as an attempt to bring 
 order out of confusion : 
 
 Dian, 
 
 The Count's a fool, and full of gold, / speak it, 
 When he swears oaths, hid him drop gold, and take it; 
 Half-won, is match half-made ; match well, and make it, 
 He ne'er pays after debts, take it before; 
 After he scores, he never pays the score : 
 
 Mr. M. Mason says, "A match well made, is a match 
 half- won." But, surely, in the language of the turf, a 
 match well made, is an equal match; and, in a match of 
 love, — that perfect agreement and good understanding 
 between the party, which only requires the seal of com- 
 pletion. The proviso, that half the sum be paid in 
 advance, as interpreted by Mr. Henly, is, in direct 
 opposition to the caution given by Parolles, to Dian ; 
 for, as he says, Bertram never pays after he scores; were 
 she to propose her favours at four hundred pounds, and 
 receive but two, the other half must be nominal. 
 
 According to the above regulation of the passage, the 
 sense is not only within the compass of understanding ; 
 but, as I think, obviously clear to unlettered sense : it 
 now bears this illustration : When the Count swears 
 that he loves you, demand a pecuniary proof of his 
 
102 ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL. 
 
 sincerity: whatever sum you may demand, and which 
 he, no doubt, will promise to pay you; insist on half 
 of it in hand, which wins him half over to your pro- 
 positions ; but, though you have gained this, still per- 
 severe, nor let him take possession of your charms, until 
 the match be perfected to your wishes; for, after he 
 scores^ he never pays the score. 
 
 Scene III. — page 362. 
 
 Parolles. let me live, sir, in a dungeon, 
 
 I'the stocks, or any where, so I may live. 
 
 Equally abject were the words of the great Mecenas : 
 He was satisfied to be infirm, deformed ; all his members 
 to be unsound ; to be tormented with the gout, in both 
 hands and feet; to suffer the most rigorous torments; 
 and, that grief should perpetually assail him, provided 
 he could preserve life. 
 
 Scene IV. — page 368. 
 
 Helena. Yet, I pray you, 
 
 But with the word, the time will bring on Summer, 
 When briers shall have leaves as well as thorns, 
 And he as sweet as sharp. 
 
 This is corrupt : — Helena, in her preceding speech, 
 
 says — 
 
 " You, Diana, 
 
 Under my poor instructions yet must suffer 
 Something in my behalf." 
 
 To which Diana replies :- 
 
 I am yours, 
 
 Upon your will to suffer" 
 Then, Helena, as in the present speech : but corrected : 
 
 yet, I play you 
 
 But with the word: the time will bring on Summer, 
 When briers shall have leaves as well as thorns, &c. 
 
ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL. 103 
 
 Meaning ; I merely play upon your feelings with the 
 word, in order to try your affection ; for the time is 
 near at hand, when, my probation being over, the same 
 root, which has produced affliction, shall also produce 
 the purest sweets. 
 
 The word is suffer; which Helena uses, and Diana 
 replies to the same word: she is satisfied to suffer, if it 
 be her will and pleasure. 
 
 Scene V. — page 371. 
 
 Lafeu. Your son was misled with a snipt-tafFata fellow there; 
 whose villainous saffron would have made all the un- 
 baked and doughy youth of a nation in his colour: 
 
 By villainous saffron, Lafeu means, brazen impudence : 
 That the brazen impudence, and fascinating irregu- 
 larities of Parolles, would seduce and corrupt all the 
 inexperienced youth of a nation, and, ultimately, make 
 them become as brazen as himself. Thus, Lafeu com- 
 pares the pernicious counsel of Parolles, and his viscious 
 practices, (which those who associate with him, imitate,) 
 to saffron; which, being mixed with dough, colours the 
 entire mass. 
 
 Scene V. — page 375. 
 
 Clown. Why, sir, if I cannot serve you, I can serve as great a 
 
 prince as you are. 
 Lafeu. Who's that? a Frenchman? 
 Clown. Faith, sir, helms an English name; but his phisnomy 
 
 is more hotter in France, than there. 
 
 Bishop Warburton observes, — " This is intolerable 
 nonsense. . The stupid Editors, because the devil was 
 talked of, thought no quality would suit him, but hotter. 
 We should read, more honoured. A joke upon the 
 
104 ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL. 
 
 French people, as if they held a dark complexion, which 
 is natural to them, in more estimation than the English 
 do, who are generally white and fair." 
 
 Mr. Steevens observes, — " This attempt at emendation 
 is unnessary. The allusion is, in all probability, to the 
 morbus Gallicus" 
 
 As the word hotter, is not the first link of the chain 
 which the subsequent parts of this scene form, it becomes 
 necessary to commence our elucidation after Lafeu's 
 demand. 
 
 Clown. Why, sir, if I cannot serve you, I can serve as great a 
 
 prince as you are. 
 Lafeu. Who's that? a Frenchman? 
 Clown. Faith, sir, he has an English name, 
 
 That name — Edward Plantagenet. 
 
 Clown. But his phisnomy is more hotter in France than there. 
 
 And so it proved, at the battles of Cressy and Poic- 
 tieures. In the former, 100,000 French were defeated 
 by his valour ; and here, for the first time, the English 
 made use of canon, which, helping to gain the victory, 
 made him hotter in France than in England, where 
 domestic peace required not these engines of destruction. 
 
 Lafeu. What prince is that? 
 Clown. The Black Prince, sir. 
 
 Edward, Prince of Wales, commonly called the Black 
 Prince, from his wearing black armour : — " alias, the 
 Prince of Darkness,'" from the same cause : — " alias, the 
 Dei)//,". from his undaunted courage, invincible arms, 
 and amazing victories ; which were not merely confined 
 to France, but also extended into Spain. 
 
 Clown. I am a woodland fellow, sir, that always lov'd a great 
 fire ; and the master I speak of, ever keeps a good 
 fire. 
 
 Bishop Warburton observes, — " Shakspeare is but 
 rarely guilty of such impious trash. And it is observ- 
 
ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL. 105 
 
 able, that then he always puts that into the mouth of 
 his fools, which is now grown the characteristic of the 
 fine gentleman" 
 
 On the phrase, impious trash ! I shall be silent. It 
 is, however, pretty obvious, that the Clown makes known 
 that he was born in the woods, and always loved a 
 great fire ; but the goodjire which the master he speaks 
 of, keeps, is the constant fire of the artillery, musketry, 
 &c. and the number of villages that became a prey to 
 the flames, at the battles of Cressy and Poictieures. 
 
 Clown. But, sure, he is the prince of the world, let his nobility 
 remain in his court. 
 
 At the battles of Poictieures, the princes of the 
 blood, tributary princes, and all the nobles of France, 
 accompanied the King ; as also the King of Bohemia, 
 whose trophy, three ostrich feathers, with the motto, 
 Ich dien (I serve,) was taken from him by the Prince 
 of Wales. Such a display of nobility, the Clown deems 
 unnecessary for the Black Prince, whose name being 
 sufficient to appal the enemy, his nobility may remain 
 in the court of England. — At the battle of Cressy, but 
 three of his knights and one esquire fell : — the French 
 lost the flower of their nobility. 
 
 Clown. I am for the home with the narrow gate, which I take 
 to be too little for pomp to enter : 
 
 The house — England. The narrow gate — the Streights 
 of Dover. His allusion to pomp, the ostentatious finery 
 of the French nobility; and that, notwithstanding their 
 brilliant appearance, British valour would protect 
 Britain's territories from all invaders. 
 
 What led Bishop Warburton astray, and induced hint 
 to term this. passage blasphemy, was, its seeming affinity 
 with Sacred Writ : Straight is the gate and narrow is the 
 way that leadeth to heaven, and few there be that find it* 
 
106 ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL. 
 
 Clown. Some, that humble themselves, may ; 
 
 Those princes and nobles of France, who submitted 
 to the Black Prince; and the Spaniards, whom he 
 humbled, by reinstating Peter the Cruel on the Spanish 
 throne. 
 
 Clown. But the many will be too chill and tender; and they'll 
 be for the flowery way, that leads to the broad gate 
 and the great fire. 
 
 Edward the Third resigned the French dominions 
 to his son, the Black Prince. Numbers who were 
 attached to the French monarchy, and who would not 
 humble themselves, by promising allegiance to the Prince, 
 quitted their estates, and settled in the south, the garden 
 of France, or flowery way, that leads to the broad gate, (the 
 Mediterranean Sea.) and the great fire, (Mount Visuvius.) 
 
 This is another passage, which gained the imputation 
 of blasphemy : Dr. Warburton imagined, that it had re- 
 lation with the following Sacred extract :~ Broad is the 
 gate, and wide is the way that leadeth to destruction, and 
 many there be that enter therein. 
 
 Oh, Shakspeare ! having thus brought thy devil from 
 darkness to be exposed to light ; and having found the 
 key which opens the narrow and the broad gates, which 
 thy unerring genius had closed for nearly two centuries ; 
 I trust, that this part of thy treasures will no longer meet 
 the imputation of diabolical nonsense and impious trash I 
 
 Scene V .—page 376. 
 
 Countess, —and, indeed, he has no pace, but runs where he will. 
 
 Privileged by the station he holds, the Clown has 
 no limits, either in his speech, actions, or wanderings ; 
 but speaks what he pleases ; acts as he likes ; and goes 
 whither his inclinations prompt him. 
 
ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL. 107 
 
 ACT V. 
 
 Scene II. — page 381. 
 Parolles. Good Monsieur Lavalch, give my Lord Lafeu this letter. 
 
 Mr. Steevens observes, — u This is an undoubted, and 
 perhaps irremediable corruption, of some French word." 
 I should think, that any person acquainted with the 
 French language must know, that la -catch, means, a cow. 
 
 Scene II. — page 384. 
 
 Clown. Here is a pur of fortune's, sir, or of fortune's cat, (hut 
 not a musk cat), that has fallen into the unclean fish- 
 pond of her displeasure, and, as he says, is muddied 
 withal. 
 
 The purring of a cat, is as the fawning of a dog : the 
 Clown means, — here is a fawning wretch, an outcast of 
 fortune, or rather, of fortune's cat, who stinks with her 
 displeasure, and comes with fawning servility to solicit 
 your protection. 
 
 Scene II. — page 384. 
 Clown. I do pity his distress in my smiles of comfort. 
 
 The language of the Clown has been, throughout, 
 uniformly correct ; he, therefore, cannot have made 
 a blunder on a familiar word. The dirty comparisons 
 which he has made, on the unfortunate Parolles, are 
 what he alludes to : — they were, therefore, designed to 
 torment, not comfort him ; but, thinking that he has 
 levelled a sufficiency of jokes at him, he says, — 
 I do pity him in my similes of comfort. 
 
108 ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL. 
 
 In Henry V. Act II. sc. i. a similar blunder appears. 
 Nym, is made to say, — "there shall be smiles" instead 
 of which, the true word is similes. I scarcely think the 
 word, in either instance, designedly corrupt; but that 
 the person who read to the transcriber, sounded it 
 simtniles, which was taken for smiles. 
 
 Scene III. — page 392. 
 
 Bertram. You are deceiv'd my lord, she never saw it: 
 
 In Florence was it from a casement thrown me, 
 Wrapp'd in a paper, which contain'd the name 
 Of her that threw it : nohle she was, and thought 
 / stood ingag'd; hut when I had subscrib'd 
 To mine own fortune, &c. 
 
 Few English compositors are acquainted with the 
 French language. In the present instance, two French 
 words, holding some similarity, both in sound and cha- 
 racters, with an English word, have been mistaken for 
 the latter ; by which, the Author's meaning is so per- 
 verted, as to render the passage quite obscure. We 
 should read : 
 
 In Florence was it from a casement thrown me, 
 Wrapp'd in a paper, which contain'd the name 
 Of her that threw it: noble she was, and thought 
 I stood in gage: 
 
 in gage, i. e. in pledge. The ring being of great value ; 
 the Lady considered that Bertram, as a man of honour, 
 would consider himself as a pledge to her for the ring. 
 He proved so; for, as as he could not answer in that 
 course of honour, which she expected from a man of 
 gallantry, he offered to restore the ring ; but which, in 
 heavy satisfaction, at the reasons he assigned, she would 
 never receive again. 
 
 Gage aV amour, (pledge of love) is a common motto 
 on rings. The compositor not understanding the word, 
 made in gage — engaged. 
 
ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL. 109 
 
 But the render will be more firmly persuaded that 
 in gage is the true reading", by the following extract 
 from the Spanish Tragedy : 
 
 Bai.thasf.r- What if conceit have laid my heart to gage? 
 Bcl-Imperio. Pay that you borrow'd, and recover it. 
 
 Scene III. — page 396. 
 
 La feu. I will huy me a son-in-law in a fair, and toll him : for this 
 I'll none of him. 
 
 From divers interpretations of this passage, Bertram 
 becomes involved in three different kinds of toll. First, 
 toll the bell for this, meaning, Bertram : — Secondly, he is 
 to be tolled out of the fair : — Thirdly, he is to be sold in a 
 fair, as a person would sell a horse (to the best bidder,) 
 the particulars of which is to be entered on the toll-book. 
 And, yet, the toll has nothing to do with the confuted 
 Bertram. 
 
 The idea which Dr. Percy conceived of this passage, 
 is perfectly just. Mr. M. Mason, also, pays toll on the 
 same principle ; but, neither of these highly respectable 
 authorities assign the reason, why Lafeu will toll the 
 son-in-law he intends to purchase. Now, it is not to 
 prove that he came honestly by him, as a man will toll 
 in a fair when he buys a horse; but, that by means of 
 this entry, notoriety shall be added to the transaction ; 
 that such son-in-law shall not dare to disclaim his wife : 
 nor act with that infidelity and perfidy with which Ber- 
 tram is charged, in Diana's letter to the King. 
 
 A modern edition of this comedy, has the passage 
 thus : 
 
 " I will buy me a son-in-law in a fair, and toll for this—V\\ none 
 of him." 
 
110 ALL'S WELL THAT Ex\DS WELL. 
 
 I believe the text originally read : — 
 
 1 will buy me a son-in-law in a fair, and toll: for this I'll none 
 of him. 
 
 I have recently learned, that this is the reading of the 
 first folio. 
 
 Scene III. — page 401. 
 
 Bertram. certain it is, I lik'd her, 
 
 And hoarded her i'the wanton way of youth: 
 She knew her distance, and did angle for me, 
 Madding my eagerness with her restraint ; 
 As all impediments in fancy's course, 
 Are motives of more fancy; and, in fine, 
 Her insuit coming with her modern grace, 
 
 In my opinion, we should read — modest grace : that 
 modest grace which she displays before the king, and 
 which Bertram would insinuate as assumed, in order to 
 impress on the mind of the king, that her principles are 
 pure. — The st, in modest, if not clearly written, might 
 easily deceive a compositor : the sense of the passage is 
 obvious. 
 
 My predecessors defend the present reading : Dr. 
 Johnson thinks, modern — means, meanly pretty. — Mr. 
 Steevens, common, or the appearance of her being to be 
 had: — And Mr. M. Mason — a tolerable degree of beauty . 
 However, I simplify the passage to plain sense, and have 
 strong grounds to support both the beauty and modesty of 
 Diana. See the gentleman's speech, who delivers 
 Diana's letter to the King : 
 
 I undertook it, 
 
 Vanquish' d thereto hy the fair grace and speech 
 Of the poor suppliant, who hy this, I know, 
 Is here attending: her husiness looks in her 
 With an importing visage; and she told me, 
 In a sweet verbalhr'ief, it did concern 
 Your highness with herself." 
 
ALL'S WELL THAT EXDS WELL. \\\ 
 
 Scene III. — page 402. 
 
 Diana. I must be patient 
 
 You, that turn'd off a first so noble wife, 
 May justly diet me, 
 
 On the various and forced elucidations of this pas- 
 sage, I shall be silent: the Commentators have made 
 the most they could of it. We should read : 
 
 I must be patient : 
 You, that turn'd off a first so noble wife, 
 May justly edict me. 
 
 And which he has done before the court, by proclaim- 
 ing her to be a common prostitute. 
 
 In the Winter's Tale, Act III. sc. ii. where Her- 
 mione strives to defend her character against the unjust 
 imputations of Leontes, we have nearly the same phrase : 
 
 Myself on every post 
 
 Proclaim'd a strumpet," &c. 
 
 The c, in edict, was taken for an e, and as the word 
 then read, ediet, the first e was expunged, and thus, diet 
 was intruded, to the confusion of all sense and reason. 
 For the explanation of the word diet, I refer the reader 
 to Johnson and Steevens' edition of these plays, where 
 it is curiously defended. 
 
 I admit that edict is a substantive ; but it will also be 
 admitted, that Shakspeare has repeatedly used substan- 
 tives as verbs, where fancy led him to assert a preroga- 
 tive, which, in his time, more peculiarly belonged to 
 poets. Had he used the word, proclaim, the verse would 
 be rather hobbling, on account of the terminating m, in 
 proclaim, being followed by m in the next word. Let 
 honourable criticism determine. 
 
Earning of tfjf &i)t*fo* 
 
 INDUCTION. 
 
 Scene I. — page 13. 
 
 Si,y. No, not a denier: Go by, says Jeronimy ; — go to thy cold 
 bed, and warm thee. 
 
 The threat made use of by Sly, on the opening of this 
 scene, is a sufficient proof, that his present words mean 
 to terrify the hostess, and so swear her out of her 
 money ; an effect which the moderation of the present 
 reading cannot yield. 
 
 Mr. Theobald observes, that a " Saint has been 
 coined by Sly, to swear by." I, however, do not think 
 that Shakspeare turned coiner on this occasion : the 
 early editions having, — 
 
 No, not a denier: Go by, Saint Jeronimie. 
 
 That Jeronimie and Hieronimie, mean the same, will, 
 I think, be admitted ; and, that Hieronimie was a saint, 
 and held in great veneration by the Spaniards, is indis- 
 putable. Charles V. when he abdicated the throne, 
 in favour of his son, Philip, retired to the monastery of 
 Saint Just, of the Order of Hierommites ; from Hiero- 
 nimie, who was sainted as the founder of that order. Is 
 it not highly probable, then, that to swear by Saint Je- 
 ronimie^ was in derision of the Emperor's weakness ? 
 
 But, notwithstanding the efforts of the Commentators 
 to correct this passage, they have all been far from the 
 mark ; and, even the piece of stage history ', that has been 
 introduced, avails nothing in the scales of reason : The 
 
TAMING OF THE SHREW. l]yj 
 
 changing of a single letter perfects the sense : our 
 Author wrote : 
 
 No. not a denier: JV*0, by saint Jeronimy! 
 
 Sly strengthens the negative, which he uses at the 
 commencement, by repeating it a second time, and then 
 follows it with the oath. 
 
 The compositor happened to compose a G. which he 
 found in the iVbox, and as it formed a word, passed ob- 
 servation. We have innumerable errors of this de- 
 scription in the old editions : even in this play, the old 
 copy reads — ;; Balk logick," for •• Talk logick." 
 
 Scene I. — page 16. 
 
 Lord. Brach Merriman. — the poor cur is embossed. 
 
 JMerriman, is clearly the name of the hound; but a 
 name by no means adapted for a female of the canine 
 species. However, by transposing the article, a clear 
 sense is obtained : 
 
 The brach, Merriman, poor cur is emboss'd. 
 
 Mr. Ritson seems rather positive in asserting, that 
 the word, brach^ should read — bathe : and though Dr. 
 Johnson also recommends the bath ; and Sir Thomas 
 Hannier. to have the poor cur leeched. I cannot think 
 the nobleman recommended either ; nor is it a natural 
 supposition that he would turn dog-doctor, and prescribe 
 a cure for his hound, when the huntsman, retained in 
 his service for such purposes, is the person whom he 
 addresses. 
 
 Scexe I. — page £0. 
 
 Lord. Persuade him. that he hath been lunatick: 
 
 And. when he says he is — .say. that he dreams, 
 For he is nothing but a mighty lord. 
 
114 TAMING OF THE SHREW. 
 
 This is one of the most extraordinary orders ever 
 given by a master to his servants. The nobleman first 
 tells them, to persuade Sly, that he hath been lunatick: 
 and when Sly, from the grand state in which he finds 
 himself, acknowledges that he is so, they are to con- 
 tradict their former assertion, and say, — that he dreams! 
 Can greater nonsense be exposed to common sense ? 
 Our Author, unquestionably, wrote : — 
 
 And, what he says he is, say, that he dreams. 
 
 The nobleman tells his servants to persuade Sly, that 
 he hath been lunatick; but now, as he appears sane, 
 though telling them what he really is; they must per- 
 suade him, that his ideas proceed from a mind long 
 unaccustomed to its natural tranquillity ; and, that fancy 
 still sports with his imagination. That what, is the 
 true reading, is fully proved in the second scene; for, 
 when the servants address Sly, by the title of lord, and 
 your honour, he then declares what he is ; and gives them 
 his name, birth, and education. 
 
 See also the subsequent speech of the huntsman : 
 
 " My lord, I warrant you, we'll play our part, 
 As he shall think, hy our true diligence, 
 He is no less than what we say he is." 
 
 Thus, u what he says he is," they are to tell him is 
 the phantom of imagination ; but, " what they choose 
 to say he ?s," Sly must believe. 
 
 Scene II. — page 31. 
 
 Sly. What, I am not bestraught: 
 
 Of this participle, Dr. Johnson observes, he has not 
 found the verb : I believe it but an old inflection of the 
 verb bestride. The allusion is to the incubus, or night- 
 mare, with which Sly thinks himself bestrid. 
 
TAMING OF THE SHREW. 115 
 
 ACT I. 
 
 Scene I. — page 39. 
 
 Lucentio. Pisa, renowned for grave citizens, 
 
 Gave me my being, and my father first, 
 
 A merchant of great traffick through the world, 
 
 Vincentio, come of the Bentivolii, 
 
 Vincentio his son, brought up in Florence, 
 
 It shall become, to serve all hopes conceiv'd, 
 
 To deck his fortune with his virtuous deeds : 
 
 All the Bentivolii of Pisa cannot make good sense of 
 this passage, in its present state. What effect has the 
 impersonal pronoun it : without a relative ? Vincentio is 
 a proper name, and requires, if a pronoun in the subse- 
 quent verse were necessary, the personal, /. — The old 
 copy reads : 
 
 Vincentio' s son, brought up in Florence, &c. 
 
 And which seems so far correct ; but the verse is im- 
 perfect, and should have been preceded by the personal 
 pronoun, /,— and which, I am certain, was the original 
 reading : 
 
 I, Vincentio's son, brought up in Florence, 
 Shall become, to serve all hopes conceiv'd, 
 To deck his fortunes with his virtuous deeds : 
 
 The compositor took up a £, instead of a comma, which 
 making — It Vincentio's son ; the corrector imagined, 
 that It belonged to the sequent verse, and changed its 
 position. 
 
 Scene I. — page 45. 
 
 Gremio. Their love is not so great, Hortensio, but we 
 
 may blow our nails together, and fast it fairly out; 
 our cake's dough on both sides. 
 
 Gremio and Hortensio are rivals for Bianca. With 
 Katharina they have no concern : why, then, should both 
 sisters be apparently included by the word, Their? The 
 
116 TAMING OF THE SHREW. 
 
 transcriber certainly mistook the word; — we should 
 
 read: 
 
 There love is not so great Hortensio, &c. 
 
 Gremio and Hortensio have been conversing with 
 Baptista and his daughters, in that part of the street, 
 opposite their dwelling-house ; consequently, there the 
 object of their love resides. Discoursing, then, on the 
 cold manner in which they have been treated, Gremio 
 says, — There, (pointing to the house,) love is not so great , 
 but we may blow our nails together, and fast it fairly out. 
 Thus, Gremio reconciles the coldness of his mistress, 
 who prefers " books and instruments," to the courtship 
 of her two admirers ; and recommends his friend not to 
 indulge a passion, where there is no hope of obtaining^ 
 the object ; for, their cake is dough on both sides, i. e. 
 both have been treated with equal coldness. 
 
 Scene II. — page 56. 
 
 Petruchio. Signior Hortensio, twixt such friends as we, 
 
 Few words suffice: and, therefore, if thou know 
 One rich enough to be Petruchio's wife, 
 (As wealth is burthen of my wooing dance,) 
 
 Love, is the burden of a wooing song : — wealth, the 
 
 burthen of a wooing dance. His journey from Verona 
 
 to Padua, is his dance after a wife. See the last lines of 
 
 this speech : 
 
 I come to wive it wealthily in Padua ; 
 If wealthily, then happily in Padua. 
 
 Scene 11.-— page 58. 
 
 Grumio. Why, give him gold enough and marry him to a 
 
 puppet, or an aglet-baby ; or an old trot with ne'er a 
 tooth in her head, &c. 
 
 The word, trot, has but one meaning; and, as it denotes 
 activity, cannot be well adapted to an old woman with 
 ne'er a tooth in her head! We certainly should read, — 
 — or an old trol with ne'er a tooth in her head. 
 
TAMING OF THE SHREW. 117 
 
 All old trot, the contraction for trollop — meaning, a 
 dirty, slovenly old woman ; and who, in the progress of 
 prostitution, has gained complaints which not only occa- 
 sioned her loss of teeth, but left also the many diseases 
 enumerated in the text. What strongly induces me to 
 think trot, the true reading, is, that the transcriber, in 
 making the stroke to the f, drew it also across the I; a 
 piece of carelessness from which few writers are exempt. 
 
 Scene II. — page 59. 
 
 Grvmio. She may, perhaps, call him half a score knaves, 
 
 or so: why, that's nothing; an he begin once, hell 
 rail in his rope tricks. 
 
 By rope tricks, Grumio means, — that should Katherina 
 display any of her violent passions before Petruchio, she 
 may rail for awhile ; but, should he resent her conduct, 
 he will make a rope play tricks across her back and 
 shoulders. 
 
 Scene II. — page 60. 
 
 Grumio. I'll tell you what, sir, — an she stand him but a 
 
 little, he will throw a figure in her face. 
 
 Should she resist him, he will not even respect her 
 beauty : every welt of the rope must be a figure. 
 
 Scene II. — page 60. 
 -and so disfigure her with it, that she shall haiu 
 
 no more eyes to see withal than a cat. 
 
 This points to the scourge of correction with which 
 Petruchio plays his rope-tricks. With that small kind 
 of rope, called whip-chord, he has made a cat; the effect 
 of which, not only his hounds, but, perhaps, his servants 
 also, have experienced : with this, Petruchio will so dis- 
 figure Katherina, that she shall have no more eyes to see 
 withal, than the cat with which he corrects her. 
 
US TAMING OF THE SHREW. 
 
 ACT II. 
 
 Scene I.— page 76. 
 
 Tkamo. I here bestow a simple instrument, 
 
 And this small packet of Greek and Latin books : 
 If you accept them, then their worth is great. 
 
 Baptista. Lucentio is your name? of whence I pray? 
 
 The suppositions of the Editors, as mentioned by Mr. 
 Mai one, carry not sufficient weight to warrant absurdities 
 so out of dramatic order : the true mode, is the most 
 simple ; and, as Tranio assumes the rank and name of 
 Lucentio, and as he declares the occasion of his visit, 
 it becomes equally necessary for him to declare that 
 name : such, in my opinion, was the Author's regulation, 
 and such we gain without any difficulty. 
 
 Tranio. And this small packet of Greek and Latin books : 
 If you accept them, then their worth is great: — 
 Lucentio is my name. 
 
 Baptista. Of whence, I pray ? 
 
 Tranio. Of Pisa, sir, son to Vincentio. 
 
 Thus, supposition gives way to familiar understanding. 
 
 Scene I.— page 80. 
 
 Hortensio. While she did call me, — rascal fiddler, 
 And — tw angling Jack. 
 
 Twang, means, a sharp sound ; such as is greeting to 
 the sense. Katharina, in a subsequent part of this scene, 
 when expostulating with her father on her projected 
 marriage, styles Petruchio, a swearing Jack; which 
 means, a swearing fellow: on which principle, a twang- 
 ling Jack must mean, a noisy ^ or discordant fellow . 
 
TAMING OF THE SHREW, 119 
 
 Scene II. — page S3. 
 
 Petruchio. Women are made to bear, and so arc you. 
 Katiiarixa. No such jade, sir, as you, if me you mean. 
 
 This passage, it seems, lost a word, through careless- 
 ness in printing the old copy, and for which Sir was 
 substituted: but Sir carries too much moderation in the 
 retort of a virago, for a lash so well aimed at her in- 
 feriority : besides, the word jade, preceding Sir, is quite 
 in opposition to character. I am, therefore, inclined to 
 think, that Katharina plays upon the word bear, as used 
 by Petruchio, and that she pays him in his own coin. I 
 read : 
 
 No such jade as you, — bear! if me you mean. 
 
 L e. No such jade as you, you rough savage animal. 
 
 Scene I. — page 96. 
 
 Tranio. A vengeance on your crafty wither'd hide! 
 Yet I nave fac'd it with a card of ten. 
 
 What Mr. Steevens calls a common blunder, relative to 
 the figured cards, the following historical relation, from 
 a French work, will, I think, contradict. The game 
 of cards was invented, in 1392, by a painter, named 
 Jacquenin Gringonneur, to amuse Charles VI. during 
 his sane moments. The trefle (clubs) was designed as a 
 precaution to generals, that they should form their camp 
 in places where forage was abundant :— the piques and 
 carreux (spades and diamonds) were to denote military 
 stores of every description: — the cceur (hearts) repre- 
 sented the bravery of the chiefs and soldiers :- — the ace, 
 ancient money of the Romans, was designed as the symbol 
 of finance: — the four valets, or knaves, were repre- 
 sentations of four famous warriors— Hog ier, L*aun- 
 celot, La Hire, and Hector : the first two, were the 
 
120 TAMING OF THE SHREW. 
 
 most valiant and renowned chieftains in the time of 
 Charlemagne. Hector and La Hire, were celebrated 
 captains, who eminently distinguished themselves in the 
 reign of Charles VI. The title of variety in modern 
 French, valet, was anciently honourable; and next in 
 rank to chevalier, or knight; (though, in our English 
 cards, we style the valets — knaves.) Thus, the four knaves 
 represented nobility; and all the cards from the ten, 
 (the ace excepted) soldiers. — The four kings, were the 
 then existing monarchs of France, Italy, Germany, and 
 Spain. Argine, the queen of clubs, represented Maria 
 of Anjou, queen of Charles VII. Rachel, queen of dia- 
 monds, — the beautiful Agnes Sorrel. Isabella of Bavaria, 
 under the name of Judeth, — the queen of hearts: and, 
 the queen of clubs, as Pallas, — the Maid of Orleans. 
 
 Thus, as the figured cards represented royal per- 
 sonages, and the most distinguished characters, they 
 obtained the name of Cartes de la Cour\ — literally, court 
 cards ; and which name they still retain in France : — 
 Coat cards, therefore, is evidently a corruption ; and 
 erroneously so called, from the robes in which the court 
 characters are painted. 
 
 ACT III. 
 
 Scene II. — page 102. 
 
 Bianca. Old fashions please me best ; I am not so nice, 
 To change true rules for odd inventions. 
 
 It appears to me, that Bianca wishes to display her 
 marked disapprobation of Hortensio's suit ; and which 
 he gives her an opportunity of calling impertinent, by 
 the false mode of gallantry which he adopts. I believe 
 our Author wrote : 
 
 Old fashions please me best; I am not so nice, 
 To change true rules for bold inventions. 
 
TAMING OF THE SHREW. Ul 
 
 Scexe II. — page 105. 
 
 Biondella. Why, Petruchio is coming, in a new hat, and an old 
 jerkin; a pair of old breeches, thrice turned; a 
 pair of boots that have been candle-cases, one 
 buckled, another laced; an old rusty sword ta'en 
 out of the town armory, with a broken hilt, and 
 chapeless ; with two broken points: 
 
 Two broken points! All the Commentators concur in 
 opinion, that this passage is corrupt : " For, how a sword 
 could have two broken points," says Dr. Johnson, "I 
 know not." Mr. Steevens thinks there was a deficiency 
 in the broad and rich belt of Petruchio, and that the 
 broken points refer to it. But, notwithstanding the various 
 opinions on this two-pointed puzzle, nothing is clearer 
 than, that the sword which Petruchio took out of the town 
 armoury had two broken points ; and, that the character 
 may, in future, be furnished with a sword to correspond 
 with the Author's words, I shall explain this extraor- 
 dinary paradox! — Petruchio's sword, notwithstanding 
 all its other deficiencies, had — a scabbard; but, unfor- 
 tunately, that scabbard had a broken point ; i. e. had lost 
 its tip ; nay, perhaps wanted one fourth of its due length : 
 thus, his broken-pointed sword, (the blade; for the blade 
 is but a part of the sword.) had a full opportunity of 
 peeping out; and, to the amazement of Biondella, dis- 
 covered that this famous sword had — two broken points ! 
 
 Had the blade been shorter than the scabbard, not- 
 withstanding the scabbard had lost its tip. or point, one 
 broken point (only) could be seen. 
 
 Scene II. — page 107. 
 
 Biondella. an old hat, and The humour of forty fancies 
 
 prick* d in't for a feather. 
 
 Whatever object of fashion or folly, this emblem was 
 intended to caricature, it could not be prick' d in either 
 
122 TAMING OF THE SHREW. 
 
 an old or new hat, and which, according to the text, we 
 are taught to credit. But, the word prick' d has nothing 
 to do with the manner in which The humour of forty 
 fancies was fastened to the hat: it might have been 
 sewed, or it might have been pinned : Injudicious punc- 
 tuation occasions this obscurity. I read : 
 
 An old hat, and The humour of forty fancies prick'd; in't for a feather. 
 
 Long before Shakspeare's time, (though the art is not 
 yet lost;) there was a kind of ornamental work pricked 
 on paper. The art belonged, I imagine, more particu- 
 larly to the fair sex. The designs were various : I have 
 met with some between the leaves of old books ; such as 
 birds, bunches of flowers, &c. Of such handy - work, 
 then, was The humour oj forty fancies , which Petruchio's 
 lackey had attached to his hat, instead of a feather. 
 
 I dare say, most of my readers have seen ornaments 
 of this nature, and, therefore, may form an idea of its 
 effect in a hat, as a substitute for a feather. But, though 
 I can thus far divine the Author's meaning, yet, I profess 
 myself unacquainted with the device of The forty fancies. 
 However, it so far removes obscurity from the text; and 
 overcomes, I should imagine, the idea conceived by one 
 of Shakspeare's Commentators, that a bunch of ballads, 
 was prick'd in his (Grumio's) hat, for a feather ! 
 
 Scene II. — page 117. 
 
 Kathauina. Let me entreat you. 
 
 Propriety should never be violated for the sake of a 
 word, to complete a verse, particularly, when that verse 
 is divided. The word stay, is already used five times ; 
 and, according to the opinion entertained by Mr. Steevens, 
 must have been repeated seven times, in seven lines ! But, 
 
TAMING OF THE SHREW. US 
 
 had this been the case, Petruchio's answer to Katharina 
 must have lost its effect, and prevented the positive 
 negative, which he gives to her second entreaty : for 
 instance, according to the idea of Mr. Steevens : 
 
 Katharina. Let me entreat you, stay ? 
 Petruchio. I am content. 
 
 This reply is a direct acquiescence to the entreaty 
 of Katharina ; but, without the word stay, she perceives 
 the ambiguity of Petruchio' s answer, which implies : — 
 / am content that you may entreat me: therefore, to 
 obtain a direct answer, she demands more explicitly : 
 " Are you content to stay ?" 
 
 Here the word stay, is used with propriety, and obtains 
 the positive denial : 
 
 Petruchio. I am content you shall entreat me stay ; 
 
 But yet not stay, entreat me how you can. 
 
 Scene II. — page 117. 
 
 Petruchio. Grumio, my horses. 
 
 Grumio. Ay, sir, they he ready : the oats have eaten the horses. 
 
 Mr. Steevens's elucidation of this passage appears 
 erroneous: the following observations will, I think, 
 justify this assertion. 
 
 On Petruchio's arrival at Padua, he hastened off to 
 church with Katharina ; from whence he returned, im- 
 mediately after the marriage ceremony, to the house of 
 Baptista. Now, during this short period, the horses 
 had not even time to rest, if stabled; which makes 
 Grumio give this quaint reply: — Ay, sir, they are 
 ready " meaning, that the horses were in the same state 
 as when they arrived — ready saddled and bridled ; there- 
 fore, u the oats have eaten the horses:" i. e. all the oats 
 that were laid before them — none at all. 
 
124 TAMING OF THE SHREW. 
 
 Scene II. — page 119. 
 
 Petruchio. Nay, look not big, nor stamp, nor stare, nor fret; 
 I will be master of what is mine own : 
 She is my goods, my chatties ; she is my house, 
 My household stuff, my field, my barn, 
 
 Read— 
 
 My household stuff, my field ,• she is my barn. 
 This repetition of the words, she is, perfects the 
 measure. 
 
 ACT IV. 
 
 Scene I. — page 121. 
 
 Grumio. Fye, fye, on all tired jades! on all mad masters ! and all 
 foul ways ! Was ever man so beaten ? was ever man so 
 ray'd ? was ever man so weary ? 
 
 The word beaten, seems to have led Dr. Johnson into 
 an error: he interprets ray'd, to mean, marks of lashes. 
 Grumio is a servant, who stands first in the confidence 
 of his master ; is privy to all his whims, and knows that 
 those irregularities and passions, practised by Petruchio, 
 are assumed to intimidate the imperious Katharina. Is 
 it then to be supposed, that Petruchio would so sport 
 with Grumio's feelings as to beat him to such a degree 
 that his frame became ray'd, or welted, by the severity 
 of lashes ? No, no : another very sufficient cause gives 
 poor Grumio reason to say, "was ever man so beaten? 
 was ever man so ray'd? was ever man so weary?" — 
 He had come a long journey: bleak was the weather, 
 a chilling frost prevailed : his horse, weak, hungry, and 
 spiritless, had encountered many stumbling disasters; 
 and often was Grumio compelled to trudge the frosted 
 roads. Arrived at his master's house, he there bewails 
 his situation, and feelingly complains of the three 
 greatest evils attendant on an unfortunate traveller : he 
 was weather-beaten, frost-bitten, and weary! — thus, by 
 
TAMING OF THE SHREW. 125 
 
 beaten, he means, weather -be at en ; by raifd, he means, 
 the cracks and streaks which such parts of his frame 
 received as were exposed to the nipping- frost; and, for 
 weary, it explains itself. 
 
 Scene II. — page 124. 
 
 Curtis. There's fire ready; And, therefore, good Grumio, the news? 
 Grumio. Why, Jack boy ! ho boy! and as much news as thou wilt. 
 
 The humour of Grumio's reply seems to have been 
 lost on the Editor of the second folio. Curtis is im- 
 patient for news ; and Grumio, too much fatigued, and 
 too cold to gratify his curiosity, cuts him short with a 
 few words from a catch ; to which he adds, " and as 
 much news as wilt thou I" as though he snapt his fingers 
 at him, and said, as much news as — that ! 
 
 Had the original text been according to the present 
 reading, there was no room for Curtis to mark his dis- 
 pleasure: for, the words, "as much news as thou wilt," 
 implies a ready inclination to gratify curiosity: but 
 Curtis felt himself hurt at Grumio's reply, and denotes 
 his dissatisfaction, by saying, " Come, you are so full of 
 cony catching" 
 
 The original reading, u As much news as wilt thou!" 
 should be restored. 
 
 Scene H.—page 124. 
 
 Grumio. Be the Jacks fair within, the Jills fair without. 
 
 He alludes to a japanned vessel, called a black-jack: 
 
 this vessel generally held a quart; was black outside, but 
 
 fair within : the jill, or rather gill, held about half-a- 
 
 pint, and was generally of silver, or plated; conse- 
 
126 TAMING OF THE SHREW. 
 
 quently, fair without': such were, formerly, the drinking- 
 vessels used at table. 
 
 Scene II.— page 140. 
 
 Biondella. Oh master, master, I have watch'd so long 
 That I am dog-weary ; but at last I spied 
 An ancient angel coming down the hill, 
 Will serve the turn. 
 
 Biondella, fatigued with watching, had given up all 
 hopes of finding a person suitable to his purpose ; when 
 this old man appearing, " coming down the hill" was to 
 him as the appearance of an angel. The subsequent 
 part of the dialogue proves, that the word is used figu- 
 ratively, and merely to denote his satisfaction. 
 
 Tranio. What is he, Biondella ? 
 
 Biondella. Master, a mercatante, or a pedant, 
 
 / know not what ; but formal in apparel, 
 In gait and countenance surely like a father. 
 
 The words, "J know not what;" prove sufficiently, 
 that neither rank, title, order, or profession, induced 
 Biondella to give this fatherly-looking man the epithet 
 of angel. 
 
 Scene H.~—page 165. 
 
 Biondella. I cannot tell ; except they are busied about a coun- 
 terfeit assurance: — Take your assurance of her, 
 cum privilegio ad imprimcndum solum : to the 
 church; — take the priest, clerk, and some suffi- 
 cient honest witnesses. 
 
 However chaste the judgment of Mr. Malone, yet I 
 must dissent from his explanation of the word, expect ; 
 it being in no measure applicable to the present state 
 of the plot : for instance, see its effect : — " I cannot tell," 
 wait the event, " they are busied about a counterfeit 
 assurance, take assurance of her." 
 
TAMING 0* THE SHREW. 127 
 
 Now, should Lucentio wait the event, which is the 
 perfecting of marriage settlements ; the old man, who 
 personates Vincentio, may be detected, and so blast all 
 Lucentio's promised hopes. But Biondella, knowing 
 that Baptista is engaged with the fictitious Vincentio, 
 wishes his master to avail himself of the present moment, 
 and make sure of Bianca, by marrying her in the 
 presence of " sufficient honest witnesses ." This was also 
 the grand object of Tranio, when he told Lucentio to 
 apprize Bianca of her father's intentions : — ■ 
 
 " Dally not with the gods, but get thee gone:" 
 
 i. e. The gods give you this favourable opportunity to 
 effect your wishes; lose it not, but go about it im- 
 mediately. 
 
 The text, in its present state, is defective and obscure. 
 If the word expect, as in the first folio, be preferred, 
 the passage should read : 
 
 I cannot tell, but expect, while they are busied about a counterfeit 
 assurance, take you assurance of her. 
 
 If the word except, we should read : 
 
 I cannot tell, except while they are engaged about a counterfeit 
 assurance, &c. 
 
 Of this hint, it is evident, Lucentio avails himself: he 
 waits not for the event, for the event may be the detection 
 of the fictitious Vincentio; but embraces the golden 
 opportunity, and flies off with Bianca to the old priest, 
 at St. Luke's Church, and gets married. 
 
 ACT V. 
 
 Scene I. — page 172. 
 
 Biondella. Nay, faith, I'll see the church o'your back; and 
 then come back to my master as soon as I can. 
 
128 TAMING OF THE SHREW. 
 
 The old copies read : — u Come back to my mistress," 
 which reading, I believe perfectly correct. 
 
 In the present scene, Biondella addresses his real 
 master, and not wishing' to give the empty title of master 
 to his fellow servant, Tranio, he facetiously styles him, 
 mistress, as being secondary in command. 
 
 The word mistress should be restored. 
 
 Scene I. — page 178. 
 
 Lucentio. Here's Lucentio, 
 
 Right son unto the right Vincentio ; 
 
 That have by marriage made thy daughter mine, 
 
 While counterfeit supposes blear'd thine eyne. 
 
 The word, supposes, in its present situation, holds the 
 rank of a substantive, though its true place is, third 
 person singular of the verb — to suppose. Suppositions, 
 are ideas to which the mind gives partial credit. Coun- 
 terfeit supposes, then, must be ideas by which Baptista has 
 deceived himself; and, surely, this is not the case; for he 
 has been deceived by others, who, to effect their views, 
 counterfeited on him, by false characters and notorious 
 falshoods. 
 
 Counterfeit supposers, is the reading of many editions : 
 counterfeit supposers, must mean, those, who convinced 
 of the falsity of their own suppositions, would strive to 
 make proselytes to their erroneous manner of thinking: 
 this cannot answer. Let me suppose then, that the 
 original was — counterfeit supporters: I think, an ap- 
 propriate meaning is thereby gained: counterfeit sup- 
 porters, must mean, those, who supported false characters, 
 in order to deceive : and, surely, the entire aim of 
 Lucentia and his confederates was, to impose on Bap- 
 tista; and which they effectually did, by obtaining the 
 object for which they supported false appearances. 
 
TAMING OF THE SHREW. 129 
 
 Scene I. — page 183. 
 
 Petruchio. Nay, that you shall not; since you have begun, 
 Have at you for a better jest or two. 
 
 From the time that the old copy was printed, to the 
 present, this passage seems to have been made a jest of, 
 at the Author's expense; who, in my opinion, neither 
 designed it for a bitter, nor for a better jest. In the first 
 place, the wit of Bianca is levelled at Gremio and Vin- 
 centio : — secondly, Petruchio, having tamed the Shrew, 
 resumes his natural character, which is easy, cheerful, 
 and facetious ; and he no longer "hides his bitter jests 
 in blunt behaviour :" As this is conspicuous, how can we 
 suppose that any malevolent passion should induce him 
 to make a bitter jest of a delicate female so recently 
 married, and to whom he is so closely allied? or, that he 
 should propose a better jest, when she had levelled no jest 
 whatever at him ? But, Petruchio takes her not up on 
 such principles ; on the contrary, he wishes to display 
 his truly cheerful disposition before his new relations, 
 or connections ; and, to prove that he is a piece of a 
 wag, ready to answer Bianca's wit, he gives her a fair 
 challenge, and attacks her thus : 
 
 Nay, that you shall not; since you have begun, 
 Have at you for a bet, a jest or two. 
 
 Thus, to give additional hilarity to the happy party, 
 he proposes jest against jest for a wager. 
 
 Let it be also observed, that Petruchio is in a betting 
 humour : he has just offered a bet of one hundred marks, 
 that his Kate will beat the widow at repartee; but 
 which none of the company dare accept : he then offers 
 the present bet; which Bianca, thinking herself unable 
 to cope with him, declines, by observing — Ci I mean to 
 shift my bush,' ' and accordingly retires. Thus, frustrated 
 
150 TAMING OF THE SHREW. 
 
 in two efforts to get a wager, he proposes the following, 
 and succeeds : 
 
 " Let's each one send unto his wife; 
 And he, whose wife is most obedient 
 To come at first when he doth send for her, 
 Shall win the wager which we will propose." 
 
 This wager is fixed at a hundred crowns: but the 
 perfect obedience of Katharina to her husband's orders, 
 pleases her father so highly, that he adds twenty thou- 
 sand crowns to her dowry. Here the Author's intention 
 becomes conspicuous; for the two former bets, which 
 Petruchio proposed, were made introductory of this, 
 which turns out of such importance to his interest. 
 
 The old copy reads, " a better jest." The word — bitter, 
 Mr. Steevens seems to have admitted into the text with 
 great reluctance: but Mr. Mai one observes, — "The 
 emendation, (of the propriety of which, there cannot, I 
 conceive, be the smallest doubt,) is one of the very few 
 corrections of any value made by Mr. Capell." 
 
 It remains with the reader to determine, whether the 
 very few should be made less. 
 
 The manner in which the present corrupt reading took 
 place, is very obvious to me. When the old copy was 
 printed, the orthography of the word bet, was bette : 
 Now, the compositor having composed the word bette, 
 he, proceeding in his work, took up an r instead of an a, 
 (for the r and a compartments are immediately next each 
 other, and frequently mix, when the letter-case is too 
 full, in each other's box :) thus, the proof displayed— 
 bette r, and which the corrector thinking should read 
 better, he marked the r to be joined to bette, and thus, 
 we have had either a better jest, or a bitter jest, in all 
 subsequent editions of this play. 
 
WtinUv i $ ^ale* 
 
 ACT I. 
 
 Scene II. — page 224. 
 
 Leontes. This entertainment 
 
 May a free face put on ; derive a liberty 
 From heartiness, from bounty, fertile bosom, 
 And well become the agent. 
 
 My predecessors perceived some gross error in this 
 passage, but placed their attention on the wrong- word. 
 Mr. Malone would read — bounty *s fertile bosom, which, 
 from the words preceding bosom, was an emendation 
 sufficiently plausible ; however, bosom is the very word 
 that destroys the sense, and, like the " stuff' 'd bosom" of 
 Lady Macbeth, must get rid of that which corrupts it, 
 ere regularity can be obtained. I am perfectly con- 
 vinced our Author wrote : 
 
 -This entertainment 
 
 May a free face put on; derive a liberty 
 From heartiness, from bounty: — fertile become, 
 And well become the agent. 
 
 This is the first fit of jealousy that Leontes feel*; and 
 he argues with himself, how far friendship may warrant 
 -certain liberties between Hermione and Polixenes : It is 
 true, says Leontes, my wife should display every degree 
 of polite attention to my guest ; and be free and unreserved 
 in her manners ; nay, derive a liberty from the natural 
 sincerity of her disposition and bounty of her hetirt; and 
 fertile become in adopting measures to render our guest 
 perfectly at his ease; and which may well become her, 
 
 k 2 
 
132 WINTER'S TALE. 
 
 as the supposed agent of my wishes ; all this I admit : 
 but to be acting, as she does at present, a O, that is 
 entertainment my bosom likes not." 
 
 Scene II. — page 230. 
 
 Leoxtes. Mine honest friend, 
 
 Will you take eggs for money ? 
 
 Leontes, in the midst of his jealous reflections, being 
 interrupted by those who occasion them, wishes to throw 
 off all suspicion, by trumping up a tale foreign from 
 truth. This having so far answered, he is surprised that 
 they should be so easily deceived, and demands of his 
 son, "Will you take eggs for money?" But, though he 
 addresses his son, the dart is thrown at Hermione, and 
 means, — will you be so easily deceived; so blinded by 
 your passion, as not to perceive that my looks betray 
 reflections of a different nature ? If you are, then must 
 you be as blind as one who cannot see the difference be- 
 tween eggs and money. 
 
 Scene II. — page 235. 
 
 Leontes. They're here with me already; whispering, rounding, 
 Sicilia is a so forth. 
 
 Though the woman at the corner of Fleet Market 
 helped Mr. Steevens in the elucidation of this passage, 
 he might have developed its meaning without her as- 
 sistance, even in its present corrupt state ; for, certainly, 
 Sicilia was never made a so-forth. 
 
 Leontes, overcome by jealousy, considers himself as an 
 object of scorn. Already he thinks he hears his courtiers 
 whispering his disgrace, and which he conceives, will be 
 generally spoken of throughout his dominions. Yes. 
 
WINTER'S TALE. 133 
 
 yes, says he, " They're here with me already ; whispering, 
 
 rounding, — 
 
 Sicilia is a sea-froth : 
 
 2. e. A mere nothing ; like the rejected froth which the 
 ocean casts upon the beech of Sicily. 
 
 But though the passage as restored, (and, I presume, 
 to the original reading,) affords this elucidation ; yet it 
 is susceptible of another, more closely veiled. 
 
 Sea-froth, is the scum of the deep : so Leontes thinks 
 himself the dupe of the designing. 
 
 Scene II.— page 240. 
 
 Leontes. My wife's a hobby-horse. 
 
 The old copy reads, — "My wife's a holy horse:" the 
 correction is Mr. Pope's, and, in my opinion, very inju- 
 dicious. Leontes has just said, — " My wife is slip- 
 pery;" meaning, that she is apt to stumble: and this 
 he desires Camillo to acknowledge as a truth; but, if he 
 will be impudently negative to it, "then say" he con- 
 tinues, " my wife is a holy horse;" which is well known, 
 in allusion to horses, to mean — a slippery jade: and 
 called holy, because a stumbling horse falls on its knees : 
 to such Leontes compares his wife; because he cannot 
 place confidence in her : no more can any person be con- 
 fident of safety, when riding a stumbling horse. 
 
 I believe it is unnecessary to say, that the text, as in 
 the old copy, should be restored. 
 
 Any horse dealer, or country clown, accustomed to 
 horses, could have elucidated this passage, when in its 
 original state ; but the learned Commentator was hobby - 
 horsically inclined, and did not deem it necessary to ask 
 a horse dealer, — What is said of a horse when it has 
 broken knees ? 
 
134 WINTERS TALE. 
 
 ScEx\e II. — page 24(L 
 
 -deserves a name 
 
 As rank as any flax-wench that puts to 
 Before her troth-plight. 
 
 This passage, though very corrupt, is not altogether 
 obscure ; a meaning may be obtained, but totally foreign 
 from the figure which the Author's words display, as 
 now restored : 
 
 My wife's a holy horse ; deserves a name 
 As rank as any flax-wench that buts tow 
 Before her troth-plight. 
 
 To but tow is the business of the flax-wench, who twists 
 the tow into a hank; and this is called butting, because 
 it confines all the fibres of the tow, and each end becomes 
 a but-end. 
 
 In the act of butting, the flax-wench is compelled to 
 place herself in an indelicate position : and when the 
 first but-end is perfected, it is placed in a manner that 
 would create risibility in a libertine, and draw a blush 
 from female delicacy. The troth-plight is a sort of apron, 
 before which she buts the tow; and a troth-plight is also 
 a sweetheart; or, one to whom a female has plighted 
 her troth: therefore, butting tow before him, conveys 
 ideas that hold no affinity with chastity. Thus, our 
 ingenious Bard plays on the words, to mark the supposed 
 infamy of Hermione. 
 
 Scene 11.— page 242. 
 
 Leontes. Why he, that wears her like her medal, hanging 
 About his neck. 
 
 We certainly should read with Mr. Malone— " like 
 Ms medal," &c. The medal which Polixenes wears, is a 
 decoration, or insignia of honour : were it the portrait of 
 
WINTER'S TALE. 135 
 
 Hermione, the unhappy Leontes might have had some 
 feeble grounds for suspicion. 
 
 The picture which jealousy draws, is that of a female 
 whose hands are clasped round the neck of her lover, 
 while her head rests on his bosom. 
 
 His, was, undoubtedly, the Author's reading; but the 
 players, or Editors, thinking the medal was the portrait 
 of Hermione, changed the word, as in the present text. 
 
 Scene II. — page 244. 
 Leoktes. Make't thy question, and go rot! 
 
 The present passage has occasioned strong contro- 
 versy : the reading has certainly a sense ; but not that 
 corresponding sense which propriety demands. Camillo, 
 perfectly moderate and respectful to Leontes, merits not 
 that high mark of displeasure which the words — go rot, 
 convey; nor are we to suppose the jealous King capable 
 of using so harsh an expression to one who is his faithful 
 confidant, and who has so far come into his measures, as 
 to propose the destruction of Polixenes by a lingering 
 poison. But, though he has so far acceded to the wishes 
 of Leontes, he still entertains hopes that, by argument, 
 he may overcome, what, on reflection, he considers a 
 false impression; and he desires a stronger conviction 
 of Hermione's guilt, than the mere suggestions which 
 a jealous and disordered mind has conveyed. Being 
 anxious, then, to defend her loyalty, he apostrophizes his 
 defence of her character, by reminding Leontes of his 
 affectionate zeal: "I have loved thee" says Camillo: 
 Here the King, catching words so correspondent with 
 his views, interrupts him — 
 
 Make't thy question, arid go doH! 
 
 Meaning : prove thy words to be true, and go do that 
 which you have said you could do : that is, to poison 
 
136 WINTER'S TALE. 
 
 Polixenes. The words, go do't, strongly mark the King's 
 impatience, 
 
 When Camillo agrees to the measure, he uses the 
 same words : nay, Leontes himself repeats them more 
 than once. 
 
 Leontes. Do't and thou hast the one half of my heart; 
 
 Do't not, thou split'st thine own. 
 Camillo. I'll do't, my lord. 
 
 The person who recited to the transcriber, paid no 
 attention to the mark of elision, in do't; but read — dot, 
 which the transcriber took for rot. 
 
 Scene II. — page 250. 
 
 Camillo. Swear his thought over 
 
 By each particular star in heaven, and 
 By all their influences, you may as well 
 Forbid the sea for to obey the moon, 
 As or, by oath, remove, or counsel, shake, 
 The fabrick of his folly. 
 
 However ingenious the emendation proposed by Mr* 
 Theobald, may have appeared to others, I cannot extract 
 that sense from it which the passage requires. " Szcear 
 this though over:' 7 Polixenes has not been swearing: 
 he has, indeed, been calling down severe maledictions 
 upon his own head to prove the truth of his assertions : 
 but, how can maledictions be construed into oaths ? It 
 is true, Mr. Theobald's emendation has been rejected, 
 and very properly ; but still, all the Commentators con- 
 cur, that Camillo means — though Polixenes were to 
 swear, " By each particular star in heaven" fyc. Now, it 
 will appear very curious that, instead of Polixenes being- 
 the person to swear by each particular star, &c. Camillo 
 himself becomes the swearer ; and this I will prove by a 
 simple note of admiration, which marks his astonish- 
 ment, and gives every beauty — every effect to the passage 
 which our inimitable Author designed : 
 
WINTER'S TALE. 137 
 
 Swear his thought over!- 
 
 By each particular star in heaven, and 
 By all their influences, you may as well 
 Forbid the sea for to obey the moon, 
 As or, by oath, remove, or counsel, shake, 
 The fabrick of his folly. 
 
 With this simple correction, is there any reader, how- 
 ever slightly acquainted with the Plays of Shakspeare, 
 that requires an illustration ? 
 
 The importance of this hemistich depends entirely on 
 the mode of articulation : the word which commands the 
 greatest force of emphasis is the pronoun ; but the entire 
 must be marked by a certain degree of astonishment. 
 
 The word, thought, seems to have been expressly 
 chosen on account of being a monosyllable ; for, no other 
 word, except a dissyllable, could have conveyed equal 
 force so as to display the influence which an imaginary, 
 or evil conceit, holds upon the understanding of the 
 unhappy Leontes. 
 
 Scene II. — page 252. 
 
 Polixenes. Good expedition be my friend, and comfort 
 
 The gracious queen, part of his theme, but nothing 
 Of his ill-ta'en suspicion. 
 
 My predecessors advance nothing but conjectures on 
 this very corrupt passage, but conjecture can never prove 
 a satisfactory elucidation; especially when forced, and 
 void of rational support. 
 
 Our Author could not write nonsense. This passage 
 I have examined with particular care, and am confident, 
 that two egregious blunders, made by the compositor, 
 are conspicuous : The word comfort, should read consort ; 
 and theme — throne. See the passage corrected : 
 
 Good expedition be my friend; and consort 
 
 The gracious queen, part of his throne, but nothing 
 
 Of his ill-ta'en suspicion ! 
 
138 WINTER'S TALE. 
 
 Thus, the text is familiarly clear. Polixenes invokes 
 good expedition to be his friend, that he may get out of 
 the dominions of Leontes with safety; and, at the same 
 time, he invokes the same influence to facilitate the 
 re-union of Leontes and Hermione ; that she may consort 
 or associate with her husband in the participation of his 
 throne ; but never partake of his ill-judged suspicions. 
 
 An / has been composed instead of a long /, in the 
 word comfort; which, making confort, the corrector 
 imagined the word should read comfort, and marked an 
 m in the place of an n. Theme, for throne , owes its 
 origin to careless writing ; the letters ron, in the word 
 throne, were taken for em. 
 
 ACT II. 
 
 Scene I. — page 257. 
 
 Leontes. He has discover'd my design, and I 
 Remain a pinch? d thing ; 
 
 Mr. Heath's interpretation of this passage has too 
 much of the nursery to be sterling. If the text be 
 correct, Leontes means, that the shoe pinches : he feels 
 it; and more acutely now, under the conviction, that 
 the precipitate retreat of Polixenes is owing to the 
 dread of punishment for his illicit intercourse with the 
 Queen. But, notwithstanding we obtain this sense from 
 the present reading, yet I am strongly of opinion that 
 our Author wrote : 
 
 He has discover'd my designs, and I 
 Remain a perch? d thing. 
 
 i. e. Like a bird, roosted in its cage, on which its keepers 
 may play tricks at their will or pleasure. Leontes 
 thought, that he had Polixenes caged, but he finds him- 
 self to be the caged bird, and that Polixenes has escaped. 
 
WINTER'S TALE. 139 
 
 It appears, that the compositor mistook the er, in the 
 word perch' 'd, for in : the rest of the characters are 
 perfect. 
 
 Scene I. — page 264. 
 
 You are abused, and by some putter-ou, 
 
 That will be damu'd for't ; would I knew the villain, 
 
 I would land-damn him : 
 
 If the compound word, land-damn, be correct, Anti- 
 gonus figures, in his own mind, torments which should 
 come as near as possible to those inflicted on the damned 
 in the infernal regions, and with which the base putter- 
 on should be incessantly tormented on earth ; and that, 
 when nature had groaned out her last sigh in him, then 
 should he receive the awful doom of perpetual punish- 
 ment. 
 
 But it is presumptuous, to a high degree, for any 
 mortal to arrogate such a power : — Man cannot damn 
 his fellow-man, by any act on earth: he may inflict 
 punishment; and the greater the punishment, the sooner 
 there is a termination of earthly sufferings. In short, 
 the text is corrupt; and, I am perfectly convinced that 
 Shakspeare wrote — I would land-dam him : — which 
 punishment our Author had in view, when he made 
 Lucius pass sentence on the moor, Aaron : — 
 
 Set him breast-deep in earth, and famish him ; 
 There let him stand, and rave, and cry for food : 
 If any one relieves or pities him, 
 For the offence he dies. This is our doom : 
 Some stay, to see him fasten'd in the earth. 
 
 Titus Andronicus, Act V. sc. iii. 
 
 Thus, he was to be land-dammed, by placing him breast 
 deep in the earth : to dam, is to shut up, or confine ; 
 which word perfectly corresponds with the punishment. 
 
140 WINTERS TALE. 
 
 And it is very evident, from what Antigonus says, 
 that he could mean no other punishment : he has just 
 observed : — 
 
 " You are abus'd by some putter-on, 
 That will be damn'd for't," &c. 
 
 Meaning, the awful punishment of an hereafter : but 
 the greatest punishment, he conceives, that could be 
 inflicted on earth, would be to land-dam him. 
 
 The word damtfd, having occurred in the preceding 
 verse, and the sense of land-dam, perhaps, totally un- 
 known to the transcriber, he wrote land-damn, from its 
 having the same sound. 
 
 This passage seems to have distracted some of my pre- 
 decessors, one of whom recommends a dose of lauda* 
 num. ! 
 
 Scene I. — page 281. 
 
 Paulina. And, thou, good goddess nature, which hast made it 
 So like to him that got it, if thou hast 
 The ordering of the mind too, 'mongst all colours 
 No yellow in't; lest she suspect, as he does, 
 Her children not her husband's! 
 
 The aim of Paulina is, to expose to Leontes his 
 unfounded jealousy. She means, that the woman who 
 is faithful to her husband, may as well have suspicions 
 that her children are not his legitimate offspring, as that 
 Leontes is not the father of the child, whose cause she 
 pleads: and, therefore, that jealousy, which maddens 
 the mind, may not deform Nature's work, in Perdita, 
 she makes the invocation, " lest Perdita should suspect, 
 as her father does, her children not her husband' 's ! i. e. 
 that she should not be so devoid of sensibility, in the just 
 distinction of Nature's rights. 
 
WINTER'S TALE. 141 
 
 ACT III. 
 
 Scene III.— page 309. 
 Shepherd. Would I had been by, to have helped the old man! 
 
 The Clown has, in alluding to Antigonus, called him 
 both a nobleman and a poor gentleman: but, surely, he 
 has not signified to the Shepherd, whether he appeared 
 old or young. Mr. Theobald, for this reason, would 
 read, nobleman: and Mr. Malone conceives, that old was 
 inadvertently omitted; and, that the Clown, in his pre- 
 ceding speech, should have said, " Nor the bear half- 
 dined on the old gentleman." There are many other 
 opinions given on this corrupt passage ; but, being con- 
 vinced that all are equally erroneous, I pass them over. 
 
 And now, let me ask, is it possible, that during the 
 raging of the storm, which would try the Clown's 
 strength of limbs; and, whilst viewing the sad calamity 
 of the wreck ; as also, seeing the bear devour Antigonus ; 
 together with those ideas natural to man, — personal 
 safety; for, the bear might have turned on the Clown: 
 I say, with so much to occupy his mind at the same 
 moment, could the Clown see whether Antigonus was 
 old or young ? Antigonus, who was lying flat, and in 
 the fangs of the bear ! I should think not. In short, I 
 am convinced the old Shepherd alludes to himself, and 
 that our Author wrote : 
 
 Would I had been by to have helped, tho' old man! 
 
 Thus, I read, in order to approach nearer to the 
 present text; as, an o for an e, and the additon of an 
 apostrophe is only required : but we obtain a more cor- 
 rect reading, thus — 
 
 Would I had been by to have helped, tho' an old man! 
 
 But an allowance may be made for the phraseology 
 of an old ignorant Shepherd; for, as such he is intro- 
 
142 WINTERS TALE. 
 
 duced. Besides, let it be observed, that, by the reading, 
 as thus restored, the old Shepherd arraigns the young 
 Clown, for neglecting to do an act of humanity ; as though 
 he said — I, though an old man, would have lent my aid 
 to extricate the person from the fangs of the bear; 
 which you, though young and strong, have shamefully 
 neglected. That the Clown felt the force of this rebuke, 
 we see in his reply: 
 
 " I would you had been by the ship's side, to have helped her ; 
 there your charity would have lacked footing." 
 
 Now, why does he make this sharp reply? Because 
 it would have been equally possible for him to aid the 
 ship, as to assist Antigonus; therefore, he dared not 
 approach to see whether he was young or old. 
 
 Scene III.— page 329. 
 
 Perdita. But that our feasts 
 
 In every mess have folly, and the feeders- 
 Digest it with a custom, I should blush 
 To see you so attir'd; sworn, I think, 
 To show myself a glass. 
 
 Sir Thomas Hanmer reads swoon: but, surely, we 
 cannot imagine, that a young and beautiful girl of 
 sixteen, one accustomed to an active life, and living with 
 a rude peasantry, could ever harbour such an affected 
 thought, as to think of swooning at being dressed out in 
 finery, to make her appear more amiable in the eyes of 
 her lover. 
 
 The error is certainly in the word sworn. I read : 
 
 1 should blush 
 
 To see you so attir'd ; so worn, I think, 
 To show myself a glass. 
 
 So worn, i. e. So reduced in your external appearance, 
 that I should think you intended to remind me of my own 
 condition; for, by looking atyou ? thus attired, I behold 
 
WINTER'S TALE. 143 
 
 myself, as it were, reflected in a glass, habited in robes be- 
 coming my obscure birth, and equally obscure fortune. 
 
 The words sworn, and so worn, have the same sound, 
 unless due emphasis be laid on the word so. 
 
 The phrase, I admit, is not familiar; but it cor- 
 responds with one equally discordant to modern poetry, 
 which Perdita has just used: 
 
 Your high self, 
 
 The gracious mark o'the land, you have obscurd 
 With a swain's wearing. 
 
 Scene III.— page 342. 
 Perdita. I'll swear for 'em. 
 
 Sworn and swear have been made quite familiar to the 
 innocent Perdita. I hope the manner in which I have 
 removed the word sworn, will be as well received as 
 this attempt to remove swear, from our Author's text. 
 
 Florizel, on taking the hand of Perdita, observes, — 
 
 So turtles pair, 
 
 That never mean to part. 
 
 But poor Perdita, from the certain knowledge, that 
 Florizel, (her turtle,) must part from her, and leave 
 her to brood over the disparity of rank, which causes 
 their separation, laments, that such cannot be their hap- 
 piness; for turtles, ever free, and under no restraint, 
 pair elsewhere than in cottages. In my opinion, our 
 Author wrote, — 
 
 Elsewhere for them. 
 
 As though she said, — Yes, Florizel ; and if we mean 
 to be as turtles, never to part, it must be elsewhere than 
 here. 
 
 Pll swear and elsewhere have very little difference in 
 sound. 
 
144 WINTER'S TALE. 
 
 Scene III. — page 344. 
 
 Shepherd. I think, there is not half a kiss to choose, 
 Who loves another hest. 
 
 This is evidently a blunder of the transcriber : We 
 should read, with Mr. M. Mason : — who loves the other 
 best. 
 
 Scene III. — page 351. 
 
 Clown. Clamour your tongues, and not a word more. 
 
 We should read, — 
 
 Chamber your tongues, and not a word more. 
 
 From the old saying — " Keep your tongue within your 
 teeth, and shut the chamber door." See Psalm cxli.i?. 3. 
 
 Scene HI.— page 373. 
 
 Camillo. Things known betwixt us three, I'll write you down: 
 The which shall point you forth at every sitti?ig, 
 What you must say; that he shall not perceive, 
 But that you have your fathers bosom there, 
 And speak his very heart. 
 
 Camillo is desirous that Florizel shall be prepared to 
 answer any questions put to hi in by Leontes ; who, to be 
 assured that Florizel is no impostor, may ask him certain 
 questions, the direct answers to which, must remove all 
 suspicion. This is what we frequently term — sifting 
 the truth; and, as confirming truths will be required by 
 Leontes, I would be glad to know, what council-sittings 
 have to do with the private affairs of a prince who comes 
 to visit a foreign court, and signify to an individual, 
 though a King, that his father entertains the same de- 
 gree of friendship for him that he did, before mistaken 
 
WINTER'S TALE. 145 
 
 jealousy had sowed the seeds of enmity between them? 
 Surely, at the sittings of a King's Council, where business 
 relative to the state is discussed, we are not to suppose 
 Leontes would put interrogations of a private nature ; 
 and, especially such as must remind that council of the 
 outrage committed by their King- in violating the rights 
 of friendship and hospitality : but more particularly, in 
 sending his wife to an early tomb ; and, in causing his 
 innocent child to be destroyed ! The passage is corrupt. 
 Our Author wrote : 
 
 Things known betwixt us three, I'll write you down : 
 The which shall point you forth at every sifting, 
 What you must say, &c. 
 
 Thus, every probable question that Leontes may put 
 to Florizel, in order to sift from him convincing proofs, 
 that he is no impostor, Camillo will write down; by 
 which, he will be prepared to give such answers us must 
 remove every doubt, either of his quality, or the cause 
 which induces him to visit Sicilia. 
 
 ACT V. 
 
 Scexe I. — page 391. 
 
 Leontes. Thou speak'st truth. 
 
 No more such wives; therefore, no wife: one worse. 
 And better us'd, would make her sainted spirit 
 Again possess her corps; and, on this stage, 
 (Where we offenders now appear,) soul vex'd, 
 Begin, And w1\y to me? 
 
 Who are the offenders ? who violated, even bv '? breath 
 of slander, the chaste principles of Hermione? who, 
 except the jealous Leontes? why, then, say (" where we 
 offenders now appear.") The old copy reads— u And 
 begin, why to me?" The present reading is the result 
 of Mr. Steevens's deliberation : it did not, however, 
 receive general sanction ; and his defence of it appears 
 
146 WINTER'S TALE. 
 
 in answer to Mr. Malone's disapprobation. I read, as 
 I am certain our Author wrote : 
 
 __ . therefore, no wife: one worse, 
 
 And better usd, would make her sainted spirit 
 Again possess her corps; and, on this stage, 
 (Where we offended,) now appear, soul-vexd, 
 And begin, Why to me? 
 
 Leontes uses the plural we, (the distinction of royalty:) 
 he is the only offender, and this he acknowledges. 
 
 Scene I. — page 396. 
 
 Florizel. By his command 
 
 Have I here touch'd Sicilia: and from him 
 Give you all greetings, that a king, at friend, 
 Can send his brother : 
 
 Though this reading — at friend, is admitted to be a 
 species of phraseology of which we have no example ; 
 yet, has it been permitted to remain, as if Shakspeare, 
 even in his most careless moments, could have written 
 nonsense. I hesitate not to say, the original read : 
 and from him 
 
 Give you all greetings, that a king, as friend, 
 Can send his brother. 
 
 The article, which the substantive (friend) demands, 
 was designedly omitted to avoid tautology, and pre- 
 serve the measure of the verse. 
 
 Scene II. — page 406. 
 
 Third Gentleman. Who was most marble there changed 
 colour, &c. 
 
 Those, from whose hearts tears could not spring, 
 testified their feelings, by alternate changes of colour 
 and countenance, according as the operations of nature 
 worked on the sensibility of the royal party. 
 
WINTER'S TALE. 147 
 
 Scene III. — page 416. 
 
 Leontes. The figure of her eye has motion in't, 
 As we are mock'd with art. 
 
 In Dr. Johnson's Dictionary, to illustrate the word 
 fixture, this passage is given : And here we find, in what 
 is termed the corrected text, (by Johnson and Steevens,) 
 the wordjixure. I would ask, how is this to be recon- 
 ciled, but that I deem either fixture or fixure equally 
 corrupt. 
 
 The organ of sight has three prominent features : the 
 pupil, the eye-lid, and the eye-lash ; these are parts of 
 the eye: but, what part of the eye is "the fixure ," and 
 which " has motion in it ?" We may say, the fixing of her 
 eyes so sternly on him, made him start; — for this speaks 
 the action of the eyes : but, it is the open of the eye — the 
 pupil, and its movement, that strikes Leontes with 
 astonishment; for, we cannot suppose that Hermione 
 could remain, as it were, inanimate, and free from agita- 
 tion, on so trying an occasion ; and all must admit, that 
 with the least movement of the head, the eye moves also. 
 From these premises, I am convinced the text is corrupt, 
 and that our Author wrote : 
 
 The fissure of her eye has motion in't, 
 As we are mock'd with art. 
 
 The closing of the eye, and the opening of the eye, are 
 terms too familiar to require comment : & fissure is a cleft 
 or opening: therefore, Hermione's eyes being open, she 
 could not prevent them from moving; and which was 
 immediately observed by Leontes. 
 
 I must again repeat, that no part of the eye can be 
 called either the fixture or fixure. Two distinct powers 
 belong to the eye, namely, the operation of opening and 
 that of closing: as for fixing the eye on any object, it 
 cannot be effected if the fissure be closed ; therefore, the 
 fissure opens or closes, according to the influence of in- 
 clination. 
 
 l 2 
 
Matbttfi. 
 
 ACT I. 
 
 Scene I. — page 12. 
 
 Third Witch. There to meet with Macbeth. 
 
 This verse has occasioned a great diversity of opinion, 
 Mr. Pope reads, — 
 
 " There I go to meet Macbeth.'" 
 
 And Mr. Capell overcomes the defect, by reading : 
 " There to meet with brave Macbeth." 
 
 On the opening of this scene, the Witches are about 
 to separate ; but intend to rejoin about sun-set. Surely, 
 then, as infernal agents can, with the thought, arrive 
 at any appointed place, what necessity has this Witch 
 to fatigue herself by setting-off so early on foot, as Mr. 
 Pope would make her? 
 
 Mr. Malone says — there ^ is used as a dissyllable! 
 This is a bold hazard, and does not correspond with his 
 customary penetration. 
 
 The interrogative pronoun, and dividing the verse 
 between the three Witches, is strongly over-ruled ; par- 
 ticularly from this consideration, that, as the Witches 
 know each other's mind respecting Macbeth, the inter- 
 rogatory must display their ignorance. 
 
 " When the battle's lost and won," 
 
 is a sufficient indication that Macbeth was the object of 
 
MACBETH. 149 
 
 their consideration. Why, then, say — whom? Had Mr. 
 Steevens given this a thought, he must have been con- 
 vinced, that his proposed emendation must injure the 
 passage. In my opinion, it requires no great argument 
 to convince, that our Author wrote, — 
 
 There to meet and greet Macbeth. 
 
 The compositor charged his memory with the verse, 
 and having composed — to meet, omitted the words — to 
 greet: the three terminating letters of each verb being 
 the same : with this blunder, the proof sheet read, — 
 
 There to meet Macbeth ; 
 
 Which appearing defective, the very ingenious corrector 
 added the word — with. 
 
 The Witches are not only to meet Macbeth, but, also, 
 to greet him as Thane of Cawdor, fyc. See Bancho's 
 address to the Witches, in the third scene of this Act ; 
 which is a convincing proof, that the Author Avrote as I 
 have suggested : 
 
 " My noble partner 
 
 You greet with present grace.' 
 And how far similarity of speech may be admissible 
 between a King and a Witch, I shall not pretend to 
 say; but, Duncan uses the same phrase, on ordering 
 Rosse to announce the death of the rebel Thane of 
 Cawdor, — 
 
 " Go, pronounce his death, 
 
 And with his former title greet Macbeth.'''' 
 
 Scene II. — page 17. 
 
 Soldier. And fortune, on his damned quarrel smiling, 
 Show'd like a rebel's whore : 
 
 The old copy has — damned quarry; but, which, 
 through the influence of Dr. Johnson's opinion, was 
 changed to the present reading. In my judgment, where 
 
150 MACBETH, 
 
 only one error appeared before, the Doctor's influence 
 has made two conspicuous. 
 
 The soldier compares the royal, and the rebel armies 
 to two expert swimmers ; who, after a long struggle to 
 excel each other, are nearly lost : weakened and dis- 
 spirited, unexpected relief comes to the one; while the 
 other, with difficulty, reaches the shore. Thus far, the 
 similitude of the two armies. 
 
 Fortune, in war, is every thing. Prior to the arrival 
 of fresh troops from the western isles, fortune remained 
 an unconcerned spectator of the contest : but when the 
 troops arrived, then she invigorated the desponding and 
 wounded soldiery of Macdonwald : thus, then, — 
 
 fortune, on his damped quarry smiling, 
 
 Show'd like a rebel's whore : 
 
 She embraced them all; so that the damped game got 
 wing again; and, re-animated by fortune, would have 
 overcome the King's party, but for the the valour of 
 Macbeth, who boldly opposed the enemy, and subdued 
 the rebel chief. 
 
 To troops, that fought a length of time without gain- 
 ing any advantage over the enemy, and saw their slain 
 companions lying on the field of battle, and others dying, 
 must not their courage be damped? — The transcriber 
 wrote damned) instead of damped. 
 
 It may be asked: — Is the word damned to be used by 
 a private soldier in recounting circumstances to his king? 
 particularly, as the phrase, damned quarrel, throws the 
 reflection in the teeth of the King; as though he had 
 wantonly quarrelled with his subjects. 
 
 In Act IV. sc. iii. of this play, where Rosse recounts 
 to Macduff the fate of his family, he says, — 
 " to relate the manner, 
 
 Were, on the quarry of these murder'd deer, 
 To add the death of you." 
 
MACBETH. 151 
 
 Scene II. — page 26. 
 
 Rosse. Till that Bellonas bridegroom, lapp'd in proof, 
 Confronted him. 
 
 Bellona's bridegroom : Macbeth, who, cased in armour. 
 was proof against the assaults of Cawdor. 
 
 Scene III. — page 32. 
 
 First Witch. I'll do, I'll do, and I'll do. 
 
 The metre of this verse, I think, may be recovered. 
 Perhaps, our Author wrote : 
 
 But in a sieve I'll thither sail, 
 And, like a rat without a tail, 
 I'll do, I'll do, and I'll not fail. 
 
 She will not fail to accomplish her evil intentions. 
 
 Scene III. — page 48. 
 
 Macbeth. This supernatural soliciting 
 
 Cannot be ill ; cannot be good: — 
 
 Cannot be ill; cannot be good. Then what can this 
 supernatural soliciting amount to ? The text is corrupt. 
 I am convinced the Author wrote : 
 
 This supernatural soliciting 
 Cannot be ill: — can it be good? 
 
 Macbeth, reflecting on supernatural agency, debates 
 with himself, whether evil or good may result from his 
 credulity: — he is not, at this moment, the hardened 
 villain; but, ambition spurring him on, he says, — If ill, 
 " why hath it given me an earnest of success?" — here he 
 pauses ; and taking in his mind's eye the horrid picture 
 
152 MACBETH. 
 
 occasioned by ambition, he demands — Can it be good/ 
 If good, " why do I yield to that suggestion whose horrid 
 image doth unfix my hairf for, can good result from 
 that which proceeds from evil ? 
 
 The transcriber mistook the sound of the words from 
 having just written cannot. 
 
 Scene III. — page 51. 
 
 Macbeth. Come what come may ; 
 
 Time and the hour runs through the roughest day. 
 
 This passage seems corrupt. An hour is a space of 
 time, therefore, tautology. I am persuaded our Author 
 wrote : 
 
 Time and the honour runs through the roughest day. 
 
 Macbeth, somewhat overcome by scrupulous fears, 
 seems inclined to leave the event of being king to chance. 
 " Happen what will," says he, even should the honour 
 be mine; as time must run through the roughest day, 
 so must time terminate my greatness. 
 
 The compositor having composed ho, thought he had 
 hono, from the o coming before ur; and thus, hour for 
 honour. 
 
 Scene V. — page 70. 
 
 Lady Macbeth. 0, never 
 
 Shall sun that morrow see ! 
 
 This is a daring prediction; and false as the assertion 
 is weak. However dark the intentions of Lady Macbeth : 
 or, however far a wicked determination may have given 
 her presumption to prophesy, that Duncan should not 
 see that morrow's sun, we cannot suppose her weak enough 
 
MACBETH. 153 
 
 to say, never shall sun that morrow see! Must not the sun 
 see that morrow, and every morrow to eternity? Have 
 her words power to change the system of nature ? — A 
 phrase, so outrageous to common sense, never came from 
 our Author's pen. — He certainly wrote : 
 0, never 
 
 Shall his sun that morrow see ! 
 
 Figuratively : that Duncan's sun of life shall be extinct. 
 The transcriber lost the pronoun his, by the hissing 
 sound of the two s's; the one terminating the pronoun, 
 the other commencing the substantive. A similar error 
 has, hitherto, destroyed a beautiful figure in Antony 
 and Cleopatra, Act IV. sc. xiii. where Cleopatra, in 
 the monument, aided by Charmain and Iris, draw up 
 the expiring Antony. During this melancholy exertion, 
 Cleopatra is made to say, " Here's sport indeed:" — in- 
 stead of saying, — Here's his port indeed. Thus, by the 
 hissing sound of the s's, the transcriber lost the same 
 pronoun. 
 
 Scene VI. — page 74. 
 
 Duncan. The love that follows us, sometime is our trouble, 
 Which still we thank as love. Herein I teach you, 
 How you shall bid God yield us for your pains, 
 And thank us for your trouble. 
 
 The King has expressed himself in very few words, 
 but some of our Commentators have made a great deal 
 of them. 
 
 a Herein I teach you horn" appears as if the King had 
 laid down, or was about to suggest, some principle that 
 was to be pursued in future by Lady Macbeth. But, 
 proper punctuation regulates the entire passage. 
 
 Herein I teach you :- 
 
 How? — You shall bid God yield us for your pains, 
 And thank us for your trouble. 
 
154 MACBETH. 
 
 This is a mode of interrogating too familiar to be mis- 
 understood. The King both interrogates, and answers : 
 He teaches, by giving her an opportunity to offer up 
 prayers to heaven for his safety; — a task, which he 
 considers will be pleasing; and for which she cannot fail 
 to thank him. 
 
 Scene VII. — page 83. 
 
 Macbeth. 1 have no spur 
 
 To prick the sides of my intent, but only 
 Vaulting ambition, which o'er-leaps itself, 
 And falls on the other. 
 
 If the intent of Macbeth be compared to a horse, 
 (which is Mr. Steevens' idea,) what has the sides of the 
 animal to do with the opposite sides of either the road 
 or bank of the ditch from whence it bounds ? The text 
 says, — ''And falls on the other ." On the other, what? 
 The text replies not to this question. In short, my 
 predecessors say, that the Author has obscured himself, 
 by a long-drawn metaphor: and after one has made 
 Macbeth fall on the other side; and another made the 
 rider fall under the horse; and also, made the spur over- 
 leap itself; the conclusive note terminates with calling 
 Shakspeare a careless writer. Now, I am confident, the 
 obscurity of the passage must be attributed either to 
 mistake of sound, by the transcriber, or the manuscript 
 not being sufficiently legible, the compositor made the 
 best he could of it. Under such conviction, I hesitate 
 not to say, the Author wrote : 
 
 I have no spur 
 
 To prick the sides of my intent, but only 
 Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself, 
 And falls on theory. 
 
 Macbeth's intent is regal dignity : he has no spur, — 
 i. e. no pure motive for aspiring to this, but only vaulting 
 ambition: thus, as no virtuous principle, such as truly 
 studying the improvement of the country, and happiness 
 
MACBETH. 155 
 
 of the people, stimulates him ; he reflects, that his ambi- 
 tious intent overleaps itself; L e. goes beyond the bounds 
 of propriety ; and, therefore, unproductive of true hap- 
 piness, his vaulting- ambition falls on theory. In other 
 words: — the plan he has in view not promising that 
 fruition which the practice of villainy seemed to offer, his 
 4 - vaulting ambition over-leaps itself," and sinks into 
 mere theory 7 
 
 The words — the other, contain the first four letters 
 which form theory ; and, by substituting a y for the, as 
 repeated, we gain the true reading. 
 
 ACT II. 
 
 Scene I. — page 96. 
 
 Macbeth. If you shall cleave to my consent, — when 'tis, 
 It shall make honour for you. 
 
 Though ingenuity has tortured these words of Macbeth 
 to various meanings ; and, in my opinion, without any 
 effect; I believe, not only his true meaning, but also 
 the Author's words are obtainable by a very trivial 
 alteration. 
 
 In Macbeth's preceding speech, he pretends to dis- 
 regard the prediction of the Witches ; as though he said, 
 I never gave it farther consideration ; but, as such things 
 are not impossible, now that you remind me of the 
 Weird Sisters' strange prediction, — should such an event 
 take place, — 
 
 If you shall cleave to me constant, — when 'tis y 
 It shall make honour for you. 
 
 Thus, Bancho can have no suspicion of any treason 
 on the part of Macbeth : nor does Macbeth want him to 
 consent to any act derogatory to the principles of attach- 
 ment displayed by Bancho for his king: but, on the 
 contrary, leaving such an event to time and circurn- 
 
156 MACBETH. 
 
 stances: — " When 'tis" says he, " if you shall cleave to 
 me constant" by uniting your interest to mine; honour 
 shall be your reward. 
 
 The sound of me and my are nearly the same : consent 
 and constant, exclusive of similarity of sound, are com- 
 posed of nearly the same letters. 
 
 Scene I. — page 102. 
 
 Macbeth. thus with stealthy pace, 
 
 With Tarquin's ravishing strides, towards his design 
 Moves like a ghost. 
 
 There are plenty of moving figures in this passage ! 
 In two lines we have — stealthy pace, — ravishing strides ; 
 and, the movement of a ghost!— All of which may be 
 admitted, except the ravishing strides of Tarquin. A 
 stealthy pace, is a cautious pace ; therefore, so light, that 
 movement shall scarce be heard : — a ravishing stride, is 
 bold and determined : — and, the movement of a ghost, 
 slow and solemn. — How, then, can the combination of 
 these movements be reconciled in one figure ? 
 
 The old copy reads, — "With Tarquin's ravishing 
 sides" Take away the first s in sides, and place an a 
 before the terminating s, and you have the Author's 
 words, — 
 
 " With Tarquin's ravishing ideas." 
 
 Thus, the hardened villain, with stealthy pace; his 
 ideas fixed on murder, (as were the ideas of Tarquin to 
 deflower the chaste Lucrece,) moves like a ghost towards 
 
 his design. 
 
 Scene II. — page 112. 
 
 Macbeth. Sleep, that knits up the ravelVd sleave of care. 
 
 With the information received from four Commen- 
 tators on the words — ravelVd sleave, all we can learn is, 
 
MACBETH. 157 
 
 that shave, means, "the ravelled knotty part of silk." 
 Heath. "Silk that has not been twisted," — Steevens. 
 u Coarse, soft, unwrought silk," — Maloxe. " Ravelled 
 means entangled," — M. Mason. Surely, these expla- 
 nations of ravelled shave cannot be considered as aids to 
 unravel the passage? If the Commentators kneAv the 
 application of the metaphor, why not say, that the 
 ravelVd shave of care, meant — the brain ? — and which is 
 compared to the ball of the silk- worm. This ball be- 
 comes the insect's tomb, and wherein it remains, until 
 the heat of the sun re-animates it: when it awakens trans- 
 formed : — so with man, in sleep, all his cares cease, and 
 when he awakes, it is with renovated vigour. 
 
 Scexe II. — page 133. 
 
 Macbeth. Here lay Duncan, 
 
 His silver skin lac'd with his golden blood. 
 
 Doctor Johnson says, — "No amendment can be made 
 to this line, of which every word is equally faulty, but 
 by a general blot." Doctor Warburton reprobates it 
 with equal acrimony, and calls it — "an unnatural mix- 
 ture of far-fetched and common-place thoughts." I shall 
 not cast a reflection on the opinions of those great cha- 
 racters ; but cannot avoid saying, that a silver shin has 
 ever been considered a poetical beauty; as also golden 
 blood; and, that the Author evidently designed an an- 
 tithesis in this passage. As for the word fecV, it is 
 corrupt, and owes its long continuance in our Author's 
 plays to the person who recited to the transcriber : and, 
 surely, for his blunder, and want of penetration in the 
 Critics, the Poet's fame should not be tarnished ! our 
 Author, unquestionably, wrote: 
 
 -Here lay Duncan, 
 
 His silver skin lacked with his golden blood. 
 Lacked, the contraction of lackered; i. e. varnished : 
 The blood which flowed from Duncan's wounds had 
 
158 MACBETH. 
 
 spread over various parts of his body, and, having dried 
 
 thereon, his silver skin appeared as if lackered with a 
 
 golden varnish. A passage in Act II. sc. ii. gives the 
 
 same figure, and will prove, perhaps, a more satisfactory 
 
 illustration, — 
 
 Lady Macbeth. » " If he do bleed, 
 
 I'll gild the faces of the grooms withal." 
 
 Scene III. — page 134. 
 
 Macbeth. — their daggers 
 
 Unmannerly breech'd with gore. 
 
 This passage has occasioned deep researches ; but, in 
 my opinion, to little effect. The allusion, however, is 
 simple, and sufficiently familiar. 
 
 Though Macbeth retains his own dagger about him, 
 (as we learn from his soliloquy,) yet, as he returns, after 
 murdering Duncan, with a dagger in each hand, and which 
 belonged to the two grooms, who slept near the King, 
 we must conclude these to have been the instruments 
 with which he committed the bloody deed. The figure, 
 then, which Macbeth draws, he derives from experience. 
 In the act of stabbing Duncan, he held a dagger in each 
 hand; striking with both at the same time. In plunging 
 each dagger into the body, it penetrated but deep enough 
 to receive blood half-way up the blade; and, as his 
 bloody business required expedition, he drew the daggers 
 out with quickness, and repeated his strokes again and 
 again, until death secured his victim. Thus, the two 
 daggers being but half-way covered with blood, and that 
 blood congealed, half the steel remained unstained. Now 
 the comparison is this ; Macbeth views them, as he would 
 a man, who had drawn a pair of breeches but half-way 
 on. The elucidation of this passage demands inexpres- 
 sible delicacy; the increased refinement of the present 
 age forbids me to enlarge on that which, in our Author's 
 time, would scarcely have been deemed an objectionable 
 simile. 
 
MACBETH. 159 
 
 Scene lll.—jmge 136. 
 
 Donalbain. Where our fate, hid ivithin an augre-hole. 
 
 I do not think the present error attributable to the 
 compositor, but, to the transcriber. The old copy reads, 
 " hid in an augre-hole." The transcriber lost the ter- 
 minating syllable of the participle hidden. In sounding 
 the word hidden, one d was lost; and the terminating en, 
 became also lost in the stronger sound of the word in 9 
 which followed. We should read : 
 
 Where our fate, hidden in an augre-hole. 
 
 ACT III. 
 
 Scene I. — page 158. 
 
 Macbeth. Within this hour at most, 
 
 I will advise you where to plant yourselves. 
 Acquaint you with the perfect spy o'the time, 
 The moment oivt; — 
 
 On the various and unqualified explications given of 
 this extraordinary passage, I shall be silent ; merely ob- 
 serving, that, in its present corrupt state, all elucidation 
 has been thrown away. 
 
 The reader can scarcely be reminded too often, that 
 most of the errors in these plays arise from mistake of 
 sound; (the transcriber having written as another person 
 recited,) and from bad manuscript (the printer's term) ; 
 for, where the compositors met with erasures, blots, 
 and interlineations, or any jumble of words, not suffi- 
 ciently legible, and not familiar to comprehension, they 
 were compelled to make the best sense the characters 
 could produce, leaving the corrector of the press to 
 determine its value. But correctors are often as much 
 astray as compositors ; and, if an author does not read 
 
160 MACBETH. 
 
 the proofs of his own work, before it goes to press, he 
 may expect blunders. 
 
 Before I correct the passage, it is necessary that I 
 make a few observations. Macbeth tells the murderers 
 to meet him within an hour, when he will tell them where 
 to plant themselves. Now, are we to suppose that these 
 murderers were acquainted with the various avenues, 
 entrances, windings, &c. of the Park ? Could they know 
 at which gate Bancho would enter ? Certainly not : nor 
 are we to suppose that this was more than the second 
 time they had been within the court of Inverness. Of 
 all this Macbeth is well aware, and therefore he pro- 
 vides accordingly. 
 
 Now, as the murder is to be perpetrated near the 
 inner court of the Palace, it becomes necessary, for two 
 reasons, that the murderers should be made acquainted 
 with the different avenues leading towards it; first, that 
 when Macbeth advises them where to plant themselves, 
 they may know the particular place from his description 
 of it ; for, it is not to be supposed that Macbeth would 
 be so incautious as to be seen walking about his park 
 with these suspicious looking characters; for, should 
 they be taken in the sanguinary deed, the instigator of 
 it would be conspicuous : and, secondly, that when the 
 murder is perpetrated, the avenue to escape by, may be 
 familiar to the murderers. These are the present 
 objects of Macbeth's consideration ; and, that they may 
 make themselves acquainted with the different avenues, 
 entrances, &c. he gives them an hour to make the 
 necessary observations ; during which time, he will en- 
 deavour to learn by what road Bancho will return. 
 
 That the Author's original corresponded with the 
 above necessary considerations, I am convinced; and to 
 obtain which, I am eqally convinced he wrote : 
 
 Within this hour at mosi 
 
 I will advise you where to plant yourselves, 
 Acquaint you with the precincts by the time: 
 The moment on't. 
 
MACBETH. 161 
 
 i.e. Make yourselves acquainted with the precincts of 
 the castle by that time : — go about it immediately. 
 
 Thus, the verse maintains its due measure. 
 
 In the First Part of King Henry VI. Act II. sc. i. the 
 ?ame word is used, in alluding to a particular boundary : 
 
 Charles. " And for myself most part of all the night, 
 
 Within her quarter, and mine own precinct, 
 I was emplo.y'd in passing- to and fro, 
 About relieving of the sentinels." 
 
 The words — precincts hy and perfect spy, are composed 
 of nearly the same letters, and have the same number: 
 but the word precincts was unknown, or not familiar to 
 the compositor, and, probably, having been, at first, 
 equally so to the transcriber, he, in correcting, blotted 
 the words, and thus created an insurmountable difficulty 
 to the compositor. 
 
 To the introduction of the word — perfect, this passage 
 owes all its imperfections ; for, had precincts been in- 
 serted, instead of perfect, the intention of Macbeth would 
 have been understood, though some of the words in suc- 
 cession remained incorrect. 
 
 Scene I. — page 158. 
 
 Macbeth. And something from the palace; always thought. 
 That I require a clearness: And with him, 
 (To leave no rubs, nor botches in the work,) 
 Fleance, his son, that keeps him company. 
 
 This passage, when corrected, strengthens the restor- 
 ation and illustration of the preceding : the corruptions 
 in both passages seem to have arisen from the same 
 cause, namely, a cloudy manuscript, and of which the 
 compositor endeavoured to make the best sense he pos- 
 sibly could : I read, — 
 
 And something from the palace; a way, though, 
 That I require a clearness-. 
 
 M 
 
162 MACBETH. 
 
 Meaning: Let it be some small distance from the 
 palace ; but, at a place from whence you may immediately 
 effect your escape ; for, should you be taken, having been 
 seen here, suspicion would fall on me, that I hired you 
 to slay them; therefore, I require a clearness. 
 
 Thus, the phrase — a way, though, becomes linked to 
 the antecedent and subsequent parts of this speech. 
 
 Three superfluous letters have been introduced to 
 render this passage corrupt : an /, an s, and a t. Which 
 in the copy were nothing more than false flourishes, (a 
 practice common with many writers at the termination 
 of each word,) but taken by the compositor for letters. 
 Any person who thinks proper to try the experiment by 
 turning the terminating part of the a round and rather 
 elevated, will find it to resemble an /: the y in alway, by 
 giving a curl round, which is common, will have the ap- 
 pearance of an s; and the //, by bringing the round stroke 
 quick, and a second down-stroke, has the appearance of an 
 imperfectly formed t. — To one who has had a variety of 
 manuscripts through his hands, the manner in which such 
 errors took place, is obvious. 
 
 Scene VI. — page 196. 
 
 Lenox. Who cannot want the thought, how monstrous 
 It was for Malcolm, and for Donalbain, 
 To kill their gracious father ? 
 
 This passage seems corrupt : I am inclined to think, 
 our Author wrote : 
 
 Who care not, want the thought, how monstrous 
 It was for Malcolm, and Donalbain, 
 To kill their gracious father. 
 
 i. e. Those who are indifferent about the matter, never 
 reflect how monstrous it was for Malcolm and Donalbain 
 to kill their gracious father. 
 
MACBETH. 163 
 
 Scene VI. — page 197. 
 
 Lord. Give to our tables meat, sleep to our nights; 
 
 Free from our feasts and banquets bloody knives: 
 
 The word— -free, as in this passage, means — banish : 
 transposition is unnecessary. 
 
 ACT IV. 
 
 Scene I. — page 201. 
 Second Witch. Thrice; and once the hedge-pig whin'd. 
 
 Both Mr. Theobald and Mr. Steevens, mistook the 
 force of this passage : — When the second Witch spoke, 
 the hedge-pig had whin'd but once : — To explain this, see 
 the subsequent note. 
 
 Thrice : alludes to the brindled cat. 
 
 Scene I. — page 202. 
 Third Witch. Harper cries: — 'Tis time, 'tis time. 
 
 . In this scene we perceive a cauldron, in which, it 
 must be supposed, are various ingredients towards com- 
 posing an infernal broth. In the progress of this magi- 
 cal preparation, the Witches await certain signals : the 
 mewing of the brindled cat three times, is the first. The 
 hedge-pig has wkin'd once : but before the Witches can 
 proceed in their infernal ceremony, the hedge-pig must 
 repeat its cries, to make the magical number — thrice, 
 and which they await. Scarcely hath the second Witch 
 finished her observation, that the hedge-pig had wkin'd 
 once; when that animal whines again and again: this 
 is the critical moment for the Witches to proceed in 
 their infernal ceremony; and, immediately, the third 
 Witch exclaims: 
 
 Hark, her cries!— 'Tis time 'tis time. 
 
 31 2 
 
164 MACBETH. 
 
 Then they go round about the cauldron and throw in 
 the additional ingredients. 
 
 It is almost unnecessary to say, that the transcriber, 
 who wrote as another person recited, mistook the sound 
 of the words, and, for — Hark her, wrote — Harper. 
 
 Mr. Steevens thinks Harper is some imp, or familiar 
 spirit! but, in my opinion, Mr. Harper was as little 
 known to Sliakspeare, as to any of his Commentators. 
 
 Scene I. — page 216. 
 
 3V1 . cBETH. And thy hair 
 
 Thou other gold-bound brow is like the first : — 
 
 Through the incantation of the Weird Sisters, eight 
 
 O 7 O 
 
 persons appear : to denote that they will be kings, each 
 wears a crown. Now, surely, a crown must so cover 
 the hair, that Macbeth, in his present agitated state, 
 would not pay attention to any scattered locks, or regard 
 the colour of the hair ! 
 
 A succession of eight kings originate from the loins 
 of Bancho ; each king is heir to his predecessor. The 
 first having passed, his heir follows. Is it not, then, 
 most likely, that the transcriber wrote hair (an integu- 
 ment of the head,) instead of heir, a successor? The 
 first king, is like the spirit of Bancho. — Observe, u like 
 the spirit of Bancho;" he is a striking likeness of what 
 Bancho was, when living : — thus, as the first king is like 
 Bancho; the second king, (his heir,) is like the first; the 
 third, is like the former ; and so on, is each successive 
 heir : — all known to Macbeth, to be of the race of Bancho, 
 from the very strong resemblance they bear to their un- 
 fortunate progenitor. 
 
 The colour of the hair is an object of too little con- 
 sideration to attract Macbeth's notice at such a juncture ; 
 nay, it is weak and frivolous: whereas, a descendant, 
 known, by his majestic form, to be like his great ancestor. 
 
MACBETH. 165 
 
 whose heir he is, conveys a lofty sound, and is a striking 
 picture of legitimate royalty. 
 
 Scene II.— vase 224 
 
 :- 
 
 Rosse. But fioat upon a wild and violent sea, 
 Each way, and move. — 
 
 This metaphor compares Scotland, under the dominion 
 of Macbeth, to a wild and violent sea: the subjects, as 
 despairing mariners, lost to every hope. Thus far we 
 can keep pace with the text; but what are we to do 
 with — iw Each way and move?" — I shall continue the 
 metaphor, according to words which I shall substitute, 
 and which, I am persuaded, must have been the Author's. 
 
 In this perilous and lamentable state, expecting every 
 moment to be ingulphed, despairing moans, wailing, and 
 lamentation, issue from the unfortunate sufferers; and 
 friendship forgets friends in its own sorrows. To gain 
 a corresponding idea from the text, I read : 
 
 But floating on a wild and violent sea ; 
 Each wail and moan. 
 
 When Macduff visits Malcolm, in England, he draws 
 a picture of Scotland's misery, which gives strong au- 
 thority to this correction : 
 
 " Each new morn, 
 
 New widows howl; new orphans cry; new borrows 
 Strike heaven on the face, that it resounds 
 As if it felt with Scotland, and yelVd out 
 Like syllable of dolour." 
 
 To which Malcolm replies, — 
 
 "What I believe I'll wail;" 
 
 And again, in the same scene, Rosse says, — 
 
 "Where sighs, and groans, and shrieks that rent the air, 
 Are made, not mark'd.'' 
 
 The transcriber lost the /, in wail; from its heing 
 followed by and, it sounded as way land. Moan, was 
 
16(i MACBETH. 
 
 spelt' morie, and the n, u, and v, in old writings, were, 
 generally, as the w, in present use : our nice distinction 
 of these three letters was not then observed. 
 
 Scene II. — page 257. 
 
 Macduff. This avarice 
 
 Sticks deeper; grows with more pernicious root 
 Than summer-seeding lust. 
 
 As all my predecessors concur in support of Sir 
 William Biackstone's emendation, it may appear pre- 
 sumptuous in me to hazard a doubt of its authenticity; 
 but, as the literary field is open to all, I must beg leave 
 to make my observations. Avarice and lust are both 
 sins; both turbulent passions; and, inherent in most 
 men : figuratively, both are slips from the great tree of 
 evil; and, so ingrafted in man, that, instead of curbing 
 their growth, — passion, the cultivator, is suffered to suit 
 the soil to the slips; which taking root, and branching out, 
 overspread the natural inheritance of reason. But these 
 pernicious roots, though equally strong, are not of equal 
 durability; the one exists but for the summer of life; 
 and, on its decay, the other strengthens, and even poisons 
 that vital moisture which man should sweeten in the 
 winter of his age. 
 
 Avarice and lust are, therefore, considered by Macduff, 
 as pernicious roots; in other words, destructive sins; 
 which, while they exist in man, prove the bane of wis- 
 dom: "Avarice," says he — 
 
 Sticks deeper; grows with more pernicious root 
 Than summer-sinning lust: 
 
 And why ? Because the sin of avarice takes deeper 
 root in man, according as he advances in the frosted 
 winter of his age : whereas, the sin of lust lasts only 
 during the summer of his life. 
 
MACBETH. 167 
 
 In a preceding- speech, Malcolm says, Macbeth " smacks 
 of every sin that has a name;" but, at the same time, he 
 professes himself to be a greater sinner; particularly, 
 in the sins of lust and avarice. That of lust, Macduff 
 would palliate; and prove more venial, as being a 
 summer-sin, attached to man but during the glowing 
 season of his life ; bit't, that — 
 
 Avarice 
 
 Sticks deeper; grows with more pernicious root 
 Than summer-sinning lust : 
 
 I shall now make a slight observation on — "sum- 
 mer-seeding lusty There are two periods in the year 
 called the seeding seasons ; the one for sowing seed; the 
 other, — the shedding of seed. What moral ear, — what 
 ear accustomed to delicacy, can reconcile the idea which 
 either of these convey, before the word — lust? 
 
 The old copy reads — "summer-se^/wg* lust." Let 
 any person write the word — sinning, and omit the dot 
 over the first i, (which is frequently neglected by all 
 writers,) and it will be found as much like seeming, as 
 sinning. 
 
 I am confident our Author wrote — summer-sinning 
 lust. At least, some modern critic must convince me to 
 the contrary, by more cogent reasons than my predeces- 
 sors have advanced, in their defence of Sir William 
 Blackstone's emendation. 
 
 Scene II.— page 238. 
 
 Malcolm. Nay, had I power, I should 
 
 Pour the sweet milk of concord into hell. 
 
 I am quite of Mr. Malone's opinion, that he has made 
 t-oo strained an interpretation of this passage. That the 
 text is very corrupt, I hope to prove ; though I cannot 
 refrain from smiling at Malcolm's consideration for the 
 inhabitants of the infernal regions; who, if he had the 
 
168 MACBETH. 
 
 power, would Pour the sweet milk of concord into hell, and 
 thereby render the subjects of Lucifer peaceable and 
 quiet; and establish a good understanding- where, 
 hitherto, there has been discord; weeping, wailing, and 
 gnashing of teeth. 
 
 In the present passage, we behold the mischief and 
 confusion which a single letter produces. Our inimi- 
 table Author wrote : 
 
 Nay, had I power, I should 
 
 Sour Wig sweet milk of concord into hell, 
 
 Thus, we gain the designed antithesis. Elucidation is 
 almost unnecessary. Had he power, he would change 
 concord into discord: — what was sweet on earth, he 
 would sour, to gratify his baneful passions ; and, thereby, 
 make this fair world a hell. 
 
 In Richard II. Act III. sc. ii. we have a similar 
 antithesis : 
 
 " Speak sweetly , man, although thy looks he sowr." 
 
 Again, Act V. sc. v. — 
 
 " How sour sweet musick is." 
 
 Scene II. — page 241. 
 
 Malcolm. And the cha?ice, of goodness, 
 
 5e like our warranted quarrel ! 
 
 Dr. Johnson, whose discrimination was great, observes, 
 cm this passage, " If there be not some more important 
 error, it should, at least, be pointed thus." Accordingly, 
 his punctuation has been adopted. 
 
 In a matter of such importance as the text of 
 Shakspeare, the opinion of an individual is no standard; 
 the literary world must judge. In this passage, then, 
 I am but merely of opinion, that the Author's MS. 
 read: 
 
MACBETH. 169 
 
 Now we'll together. And the chain of goodness 
 Be-Unk our warranted quarrel! 
 
 By * : the chain of goodness," he means, the influence, 
 or protection of heaven; and, that as the tyrant, 
 Macbeth, has occasioned both their sufferings, he prays, 
 that their hearts and military powers may be linked 
 together, in order to avenge their common cause. 
 
 The word chain, was formerly spelt chaine: if the dot 
 be omitted over the i, in writing the word chaine, it will 
 be found as like chance, as if expressly designed for that 
 word. — Be-like and Be-Unk only vary in one letter. 
 
 I know not whether we have an example of the word 
 he-link in our Author's works; but it seems as good a 
 word as he-gird. 
 
 Any literary gentleman who can furnish an example of 
 the use of he-link, will, I think, render the passage a 
 service. 
 
 Scene II. — page 252. 
 
 Malcolm. This tune goes manly. 
 
 The folio reads — "This time goes manly." — Tune is 
 the musical emendation of Mr. Rowe. 
 
 Macduff's sorrow has just made him exclaim, — 
 
 " 0, / could play the woman with mine eyes." 
 
 During this effusion, time moved weak and womanly 
 with Macduff: but having repelled his sorrow, by calling 
 up manly fortitude, and seeing a prospect of revenge, he 
 invokes heaven, to cut short all intermission of time be- 
 tween him and the hour of revenge ; that, front to front, he 
 may measure swords with the tyrant. — This revolution 
 of mind displayed by Macduff's words and actions, so 
 perfectly correspond with Malcolm's wishes, he testifies 
 his approbation, by figuring time as having changed his 
 pace from the feeble steps of sorrow, to the bold movement 
 
170 MACBETH. 
 
 of an intreped warrior. However, there appears an error 
 in the word — This; I am almost certain the Author's 
 original read : — 
 
 Thus, time goes manly. 
 The correction is simple, but the sense material. 
 
 ACT V. 
 
 Scene III. — page 265. 
 Macbeth. I have liv'd long enough : my way of life. 
 
 In the year 1745, Dr. Johnson published some remarks 
 on Shakspeare; this passage, he observed, should read, 
 "my May of life;" and ever since that period it has 
 occasioned strong controversy. That way is the true 
 reading, there can be no doubt ; but a trifling error has 
 vitiated the sense. 
 
 Macbeth, in the May of his life, flourished : he was 
 honoured by his king, and respected by his friends : In the 
 autumn of his life, iniquity caused him to be universally 
 abhorred ; and, now entering into the winter of his life, 
 when, like the yellow leaf that has lost its sap, the animal 
 juices decay in him, he expects, that even should he live, 
 neither honour, love, obedience, nor friends will help to 
 smooth the way that leads him unto death, and calls him 
 off the stage of life : viewing, then, nothing but ruin 
 before him, he prefers death, and exclaims,— 
 
 I have liv'd long enough : my way off life 
 Is fallen into the sear, the yellow leaf. 
 
 Thus, his way off (from) this life to eternity, should 
 he live, promises nought but gloom ; and that brightness 
 with which a virtuous man is cheered in his declining 
 years, when passing off from life to death, he cannot 
 expect; but, like the yellow leaf trembling at every 
 blast, must fall — and fall disregarded. 
 
MACBETH. 171 
 
 Scene III. — page 271. 
 
 Macbeth. Cleanse the stuff' d bosom of that perilous stuff, 
 Which weighs upon the heart. 
 
 The hissing sound of the s in the word perilous before 
 t, in the word tuft, deceived the transcriber, who having 
 so lately written — stuffed; his ear with greater facility 
 received the impression. Our Author wrote : 
 
 Cleanse the stuff'd bosom of that perilous tuft, 
 Which weighs upon the heart. 
 
 Macbeth feels, that guilt has stuffed his own bosom, 
 and that the oppressive weight, now lodged upon his 
 heart, seems as a knotty tuft ; the perilous influence of 
 which, (conscience,) has caused his mind to become rather 
 diseased; and, he is well convinced, that from the same 
 cause originates the confirmed malady of mind under 
 which Lady Macbeth labours. 
 
 It would appear, that he alludes to Lady Macbeth : 
 her indisposition, certainly, occasions the observation: 
 but he speaks indefinitely. — See the commencement of 
 this speech: — However, from what he afterwards ob- 
 serves, we may infer that he seemed to think he also 
 wanted physic. 
 
 Scene III. — page 275. 
 
 Macduff. Let our just censures 
 
 Attend the true event, and put we on 
 Industrious soldiership. 
 
 On whom are their just censures to fall ? Macbeth is 
 out of the question : and, surely, when Malcolm says — 
 " None serve the Usurper but those who are constrained, 
 and whose hearts are absent too," — no censure can be 
 < attached to. them: their hearts being with Malcolm, 
 though their arms are compelled to oppose him: but 
 highly imbecile, indeed, is the sense we obtain from the 
 present corrupt reading. 
 
172 MACBETH. 
 
 " The second folio" Mr. Malone says, " has arbitrarily 
 
 changed the passage:" however, with all its errors, it 
 
 seems to have had a tolerable correct copy for this 
 
 play. — It reads : 
 
 ■ " Let our best censures 
 
 Before the true event, and put we on 
 Industrious soldiership." 
 
 The Roman legions, which consisted of five thousand 
 men each, were (as all military bodies are) divided into 
 companies : each company was composed of one hundred 
 men; the company called a centure, — the officer, a 
 centurion. 
 
 Following the military regulations of the Romans, 
 and with which the Scottish chiefs were well acquainted, 
 Macduff has divided his forces; and, in addressing- 
 Malcolm, says — a Let our best centures before!" i. e. Let 
 our best companies go in advance, and attack the fortress : 
 at u the true event " — that is, at the grand onset, which 
 must decide the battle, " put we on" says Macduff, 
 '• industrious soldiership!" — i. e. Let us display that un- 
 daunted courage which our cause demands, and which 
 befits experienced generals. 
 
 Accordingly, the best centures go in advance to attack 
 the fortress of Dunsinane. — See Act. V. sc. vi. where 
 Malcolm says, — 
 
 You. worthy uncle. 
 
 Shall, with my cousin, your right-noble son. 
 Lead our first battle: Worthy Macduff, and we, 
 Shall take upon us what else remains to do, 
 According to our order."' 
 
 This is the very arrangement that Macduff proposes : 
 The best centures are the British troops, under the com- 
 mand of old Siward. - 
 
 By glancing at the passage, as extracted from the 
 second folio, and comparing it with the following, as 
 corrected, and which the more enlightened the critic, 
 the more he will be convinced Avas the Author's text, it 
 will be found, that the second folio contains but one 
 
MACBETH. 173 
 
 literal error, — an s for a t, and that it requires but a 
 colon after the word — Before. 
 
 -Let our best centures 
 
 Before: — The true event, and put we on 
 Industrious soldiership. 
 
 Or, more immediately to correspond with parallel pas- 
 sages, we, perhaps, should read, — centuries. 
 
 Great, indeed, is the difference between the words — 
 best and just, and much greater between — attend and 
 before! so great, that neither transcriber nor compositor 
 could make the mistake. But these alterations were 
 made, from the very unmeaning state of the passage, 
 with the word censures, instead of centures, or centuries. 
 
 I believe, that in many parts of these plays, the same 
 word occurs : In Coriolaxus, Act I. sc. vii. we have. — 
 • ; If I do send, despatch 
 
 Those centuries to our aid:"' 
 
 which Mr. Steevens thus elucidates ; Those centuries, — ■ 
 i. e. companies consisting each of a hundred men. 
 
 And again, Act III. sc. ill. — 
 
 " The centurions and their charges distinctly billeted."' 
 
 Should the word centuries be deemed more correct, an 
 additional i will make the passage be seen clearer. 
 
 Scene V. — page 277 '. 
 
 Macbeth. She should have died hereafter, 
 
 There would have been a time for such a word. 
 
 Some of my predecessors say, this passage is corrupt : 
 others, that it is a broken speech. In my opinion, the 
 punctuation only wants correcting. We should read, — 
 
 She should have died : Hereafter, 
 
 There would have been a time for such a word. 
 
 Meaning: that she should die one time or another; but, 
 that, hereafter, he would have been better prepared to 
 meet so great an affliction. 
 
IWttS Wofyn. 
 
 ACT I. 
 
 Scene I. — page 359. 
 
 Faulconbridge. — Now your traveller, — 
 
 He and his tooth-pick at ray worship's mess; 
 And when ray knightly stomach is suffic'd, 
 Why then I suck my teeth, and catechise 
 My picked man of countries. 
 
 Though the custom of using a tooth-pick at table, has 
 been received as an elucidation of this passage, I cannot 
 think that Shakspeare meant it literally , but adapted it 
 as a suitable title for such condescending gentlemen of 
 reduced fortune, or no fortune at all, with whom a patron 
 can make as free as with his tooth-pick. A character 
 of this description, is generally a copier of fashions; 
 a retailer of anecdotes ; and, who, for scarcity of news, 
 will not hesitate to advance, as sterling, whatever his 
 own inventive powers can produce. Such a character 
 seems to come under that class alluded to by Green, in 
 his "Defence of Coney -catching" and whom he calls, 
 a Quaint, picWt^andneat companions, attired^c. a-la-mode 
 de France/'' and, who, according to Sir W. Cornwallis, 
 seem to have had a phraseology peculiar to themselves. 
 See Mr. Toilet's note on this passage. 
 
 According to the present text, Faulconbridge, in his 
 soliloquy, particularizes but one object at his mess; 
 whereas, our Author, I am convinced, designed two : 
 namely, the Traveller with whom Faulconbridge is sup- 
 posed to converse about "the Alps and Appenines ;" but 
 whom he quits, that he may such his teeth and catechise 
 
KING JOHN. 175 
 
 the pick y d man, (not of countries) but — of courtesies: that 
 is, a courteous, obsequious character, (probably the 
 tooth-pick), who supports a conversation of compliments; 
 such as extravagant folly authorizes : — for instance — 
 
 Question. " My dear sir, I shall beseech you. 
 Answer. " sir, at your best command; at your employ- 
 ment ; at your service ; sir, at yours .'' 
 
 Thus, with the picked man of courtesies, (who never 
 contradicts,) a dialogue of compliment is maintained; 
 and, with the traveller, in "talking of the Alps and 
 Appenines, the Pyrenean and the river Po," 
 
 If he would catechise of countries, why commence a 
 
 dialogue of compliment? or, why expect answers from a 
 
 traveller ,- and such answers to be regulated on the system 
 
 of an a, b, c, book? A traveller, though he may have 
 
 imported with him to his own country, all the fopperies 
 
 and follies of the continent, may, nevertheless, be a man 
 
 of information, and give satisfactory answers to questions 
 
 asked on foreign manners, customs, and countries. I 
 
 am certain our Author read: 
 
 And catechise 
 
 My picked man of courtesies. — My dear sir, &c. 
 
 Countries and courtesies, are not unlike in writing : the 
 compositor took the most familiar word. 
 
 But, farther : with the word — countries, the verse is 
 defective, whereas, courtesies, gives it due measure. 
 
 ACT II. 
 Scene I. — page 383. 
 Kikg Philip. It ill beseems this presence, to cry aim. 
 
 From the tenor of the subject, and the strong rebuke 
 which Philip's words convey, I am incliued to think our 
 Author wrote : 
 
 It Hi beseems this presence, to cry, shame. 
 
176 KING JOHN. 
 
 Thus, we obtain a reading that requires no elucida- 
 tion; nor does it admit of controversy, the sense being 
 obvious. 
 
 Scene II.— page 393. 
 First Citizen. King\d of our fears; until our fears, resolv'd, 
 
 Notwithstanding much labour has been used to eluci- 
 date this passage, I think it both corrupt and incompre- 
 hensible. Our Author's word must have been kind: 
 
 we do lock 
 
 Our former scruple in our strong barr'd gates : 
 Kind of our fears; until our fears, resolv'd, 
 Be by some certain king purg'd and depos'd. 
 
 Kind, i. e. a-kin. Thus, the figure is immediately re- 
 conciled. The citizens are alarmed; they know not to 
 which party they should, with confidence, open their 
 gates, so as to be secured from the calamities of war. 
 The gates of Angers, equally afraid of the city which 
 they protect, will also resist any powers that oppose 
 them ; and, until the conquest of one party or the other, 
 the gates will keep steady to their trust. 
 
 The transcriber mistook the sound of the word; and, 
 as there were two kings present, made king'd, instead 
 of kind I 
 
 Scene 1. — page 401. 
 
 Elinor. urge them, while their souls 
 
 Are capable of this ambition: 
 Lest zeal, now melted by the windy breath 
 Of soft petitions, pity, and remorse, 
 Cool and conceal again to what it was. 
 
 Too scrupulous an adherence to words legalized by 
 sound, has often induced our Commentators to labour 
 with infinite toil to force a meaning, even where mean- 
 ing was irreconcilable to common sense ; but labour was 
 
KIXG JOHN. 177 
 
 not to be thrown away; and parallelisms were to suffice 
 for explication : however, I see none sufficiently strong 
 to reconcile the present corrupt reading. 
 
 The king" of France, at peace with England, disregards 
 the illegal tenure by which John holds the sovereignty. 
 Repeated were the supplications of Constance in right 
 of her son ; to all of which, Philip was frigid. Zeal 
 springs from the heart ; but the heart of Philip was 
 frozen. At length, however, the whining breath of soft 
 petitions, and the legality of Arthur's claim, melted 
 Philip's heart: he relented; he became the advocate of 
 Arthur's rights ; ~vvas zealous in his cause ; and, finally, 
 took up arms, determined to dethrone the Usurper. In 
 this state of glowing ardour, a proposition is made by 
 John, to which Philip listens; but, however apparently 
 advantageous, his zeal is not cooled ; and Elinor per- 
 ceiving this, and anxious that it should cool, nay, congeal 
 to what it was, before the persuasive eloquence of Con- 
 stance softened him to pity, she urges the advantages that 
 may result from the proposed alliance, and says, — 
 
 Let zeal, now melted, by the windy breath 
 Of soft petitions, pity, and remorse, 
 Cool and congeal again to what it was. 
 
 Thus, she tells Philip to " Let that zeal cool and con- 
 geal again to what it was" before the whining breath of 
 Constance melted it to pity; for, before that, he was 
 zealous in the cause of King John, and frigid to the 
 claims of Prince Arthur. 
 
 The word — Let, was spelt lett ; the compositor took the 
 first t for an s. 
 
 But though the word windy produces a meaning, yet 
 I am not altogether satisfied that it came from our 
 Author; — breath, is wind; and thus, we have windy wind. 
 Besides, a windy breath, (if such a phrase can be recon- 
 ciled,) denotes violent exertion of the tongue, and by no 
 means corresponds with soft petitions. I certainly think 
 our Author wrote — whining breath; which is perfectly 
 adapted to the speaker. 
 
 N 
 
178 KING JOHN. 
 
 Scene I. — page 41 3. 
 
 Constance. I will instruct my sorrows to be proud; 
 
 For grief is proud, and makes his owner stout, 
 
 This is, indeed, a stout attempt at emendation; and 
 which, from Dr. Johnson's note, I find to have been 
 made by Sir Thomas Hanmer ; I shall not animadvert, 
 but regret very much, that in so many instances, where 
 the text has suffered by transcribers and compositors, 
 that learning and genius, because they have not been 
 able to remove the veil of obscurity, have licentiously 
 attached those errors to our Author. The old editions 
 have — "For grief is proud and makes its owner stoop." 
 Mr. Malone is satisfied to make its owner stoop; but, I 
 am of a contrary opinion; being convinced, that our 
 Author made the party stoop who caused the affliction, 
 I read: 
 
 I will instruct my sorrows to be proud ; 
 
 For grief is proud, and makes its donor stoop. 
 
 Afflictions, occasioned by oppression, swell the heart 
 with dignified resentment. Constance feels this, and 
 even encourages her sorrows to be proud. It is fallen 
 greatness striving to gain a victory by the proud elo- 
 quence of unrestrained affliction : It is an effort which 
 despair impels to torture the heart that has inflicted the 
 wound; and thus, in the excess of grief, Constance is 
 determined to remain. — u Here is my throne" says she, 
 ^bid kings come bow to it." — Meaning: the Kings of 
 England and France; particularly the latter, who, by 
 his breach of promise, hath given her this weighty cause 
 for grief. Should he pass that avenue, then, as she 
 expects he will, Constance, in the dignity of proud grief, 
 is determined to spurn whatever consolation he may 
 sloop to offer ; and thus, he, the donor of that grief, is 
 made to bow or stoop , in order to console her whom his 
 tyeach of faith has afflicted. 
 
KING JOHN. 179 
 
 \ 
 
 Scene I. — page 415. 
 
 Constance. here I and sorrow sit; 
 
 Here is my throne, bid kings come bow to it. 
 
 If sorrow be personified and made the partner of her 
 throne, we should read— "Here is our throne." But 
 I am inclined to .think, our Author wrote: 
 
 here I in sorrow sit; 
 
 Here is my throne, bid kings come bow to it. 
 
 Meaning : that she would seat herself in the majesty 
 of proud grief, and spurn all consolation. Sorrow's 
 throne is elsewhere, — in her heart : therefore, sorrow, 
 thus personified, cannot be seated on two thrones at the 
 same time. 
 
 If sorrow be seated by her, sorrow is only near her ; 
 but, seated in sorrow, she displays it in her words and 
 actions. 
 
 Scene I. — page 427. 
 
 Constance. Lewis, stand fast; the devil tempts thee here, 
 In likeness of a new untrimmed bride. 
 
 Lewis has just declared sentiment contrary to the 
 wishes of Blanche, his wife; and, as he is the first who, 
 to avoid the weighty maledictions of Rome, is desirous 
 to break the recently-established league between France 
 and England, Constance stimulates him to stand fast to 
 his purpose, and not let the devil tempt him, in the likeness 
 of an untrimmed bride, to waver in his determination ; 
 for, that the influence of the Holy See would strip King 
 John of his present royalty. Where, then, would be 
 the great dowry Lewis was to receive with his wife ? 
 At present, he has only the promise of five provinces, 
 and thirty thousand marks of English coin ; therefore, 
 as the dowry has not been paid, Blanche is still an 
 untrimmed bride ; nor can she be trimmed, until the con- 
 ditions be fulfilled on the part of England. See Blanche's 
 observation in the subsequent speech. 
 
 N 2 
 
180 KING JOHN. 
 
 The Lady Constance speaks not from her faith, 
 But from her need. 
 
 Meaning : that Constance speaks not what she thinks, 
 but what she wishes : and which is, that the Pope's in- 
 fluence may dethrone King John : consequently, Blanche 
 must still remain an untrimmed bride. 
 
 Scene I. — page 431. 
 
 Pandulpk. France, thou may'st hold a serpent by the tongue, 
 A cased lion by the mortal paw, 
 A fasting tiger safer by the tooth, 
 Than keep in peace that hand which thou dost hold. 
 
 The old copies reads cased, — as in the text : but most 
 modern Editors read — chafed. To chafe, is to make 
 angry ; — chafed, as an adjective, conveys no idea how a 
 lion becomes chafed: the reader is, therefore, in the 
 dark ; he knows not whether it proceeds from violence 
 or exercise. A cased lion is often rendered familiarly 
 tame; and, no doubt, in many instances, has suffered 
 itself to be taken by the paw : hence, it is highly proba- 
 ble, that a person might take a cased lion by the paw 
 with impunity. But where is the temerity that would 
 hold a chased lion by the paw, and not immediately 
 experience its mortal power? Of the effects of such 
 rashness, shuddering fancy may form an idea; and such 
 was, I am certain, the original terrific picture our Author 
 imagined. 
 
 The transcriber mistook the sound of the word. Cased 
 and chased are nearly alike ; an h is the only difference 
 even in the spelling. Besides, we are to consider a 
 cased lion to mean, a caged lion : and, for my part, I never 
 heard that case and cage were synonymous. 
 
 Mr. Steevens says, — u A cased lion, is a lion irritated 
 by confinement." I believe those who exhibit lions 
 become so familiar with them, that they may take them, 
 with confidence, by the paw. 
 
KING JOHX. 181 
 
 Scene I .—page 432. 
 
 Paxoulpii, For that, which thou hast sworn to do amiss, 
 Is not amiss when it is truly done. 
 
 This passage is designedly enigmatical. Pandulph 
 means — What you have sworn to do, under the con- 
 viction of doing right, is not amiss, though evil must 
 have arisen from it, had you fulfilled your oath; but, 
 being undeceived, and not doing that which you had 
 sworn to do, where the doing tends to ill, the truth is most 
 done in not doing it. The words — truly done, mean, truly 
 -i. e. sworn under the conviction of doing right. 
 
 Scene I. — page 434. 
 
 ASDULPII. 
 
 The truth thou art unsure 
 
 To swear, swear only not to be forsworn v 
 
 The truth thou art so wavering about to swear, merely 
 swears you not to he forsworn of the oath you have already 
 taken to defend the rights of religion. I think Mr. Malone 
 mistaken in saying, that two half-lines have been lost. 
 
 The old copy reads swears, — meaning, that it swears 
 him. It seems the true reading, and should be restored. 
 
 Scene IV. — page 452. 
 
 Constance. Which cannot hear a lady's feeble voice, 
 Which scorns a modern invocation. 
 
 Read — "modest invocation." 
 
 The invocation is in the preceding speech of Constance ; 
 and which she conceives to have been addressed with 
 such humility, that it should have been immediately 
 granted; but, finding the contrary, mildness changes to 
 madness; and, had she power, she would shake the world 
 
182 KING JOHN. 
 
 to rouse from sleep the fell anatomy which cannot hear a 
 lady's feeble voice: for, a lady's feeble voice, she conceives, 
 should have been immediately regarded, when a modest 
 invocation was made. 
 
 The word — modesty holds such natural correspondence 
 with a lady's feeble voice, that no modern critic should 
 doubt its purity : I am certain Shakspeare did not. The 
 two terminating letters were not sufficiently legible in 
 the manuscript, hence the compositor made — modern, 
 instead of modest. 
 
 Scene IV. — page 456. 
 
 Lewis. And hitter shame hath spoil'd the sweet world's taste, 
 That it yields naught, but shame, and bitterness. 
 
 The old copy reads — word: altered by Mr. Pope, and 
 very injudiciously ; the error is in the word — taste. Our 
 Author, unquestionably, wroj:e: 
 
 And bitter shame hath spoil'd the sweet word, state. 
 That it yields naught, but shame, and bitterness. 
 
 Lewis has just observed, that nothing in this world 
 can yield him pleasure ; his dignity as a prince, and name 
 as a warrior, being obscured by the conquering arms of 
 England. Thus, the state and parade attached to royalty 
 being tarnished, he cannot appear again with eclat among 
 his people; nor can he enjoy that state, in which his am- 
 bition delighted: for, 
 
 bitter shame hath spoil'd the sweet word, state, 
 
 That it yields naught, but shame, and bitterness. 
 
 Mr. Malone says, the sweet word is life, and, that life 
 was no longer sweet to the Prince. Had this been the 
 Prince's idea, death must have been so far preferable to 
 life, that though he wpuld not seek death, yet he would 
 willingly hazard life, to regain lost honour ; but, notwith- 
 standing his defeat, we find him so cautious of risking 
 
KING JOHN. 183 
 
 his lite, that ho argues against running in danger. See 
 his reply to the Cardinal: — 
 
 "And lose it, life and all, as Arthur did/' 
 
 The sweet word state, to which all kings and queens 
 are partial, is changed into grief, from a similar cause : 
 See Act III. sc. i. — 
 
 Constance. "To me, and to the state of my great grief, 
 Let kings assemble." 
 
 Again, Act IV. sc. iii. — 
 
 " And England is now left 
 
 To tug andscamble, and to part by the teeth 
 The unow'd interest of proud-swelling state.''' 
 
 State is the luxury of a proud monarch : it is the food 
 of his ambition, and the idol of his thoughts. 
 
 ACT IV. 
 
 Scene II. — page 472. 
 
 Pembroke. If, what in rest you have, in right you hold, 
 
 Why then your fears, (which, as they say, attend 
 The steps of wrong,) should move you to mew up 
 Your tender kinsman, &c. 
 
 Mr. Steevens proposes a word for Pembroke, which, 
 according to his own explication, would send the speaker 
 to the Tower. The present reading — in rest, we must 
 suppose to mean — repose. But John does not wear the 
 crown either in rest, or in repose; for constant fears 
 awake his mind to Arthur's claim : and the murmurs of 
 the people, who " break out into the dangerous argument 
 in question," prove that he holds it not with confidence, 
 while he holds it without the good- will of his subjects. 
 I am confident, that a t and an apostrophe have been 
 overlooked by the compositor; and, that our Author 
 wrote : 
 
184 K1XG JOIJX, 
 
 If what ini' rest you have, in right you hold, 
 Why then your fears, &c. 
 
 i. e. His interest in, or right to the crown. The interest 
 in the crown, is the legal claim, and indisputable right 
 to it. On this very principle, Pembroke makes his ob- 
 servation, If, says he, the interest by which you hold 
 the realm be legal, why should you give way to fears, 
 which only attend on those who act wrongfully? 
 
 In Act IV. sc.iii. Faulconbridge, reflecting on the death 
 of Arthur, says, — 
 
 "The life, the right, and truth of all this realm 
 Is fled to heaven ; and England now is left 
 To tug and scamble, and to part by the teeth 
 The unow'd interest of proud swelling state." 
 
 Here we find, according: to Mr. Malone's elucidation 
 of interest in the crown, the salt which preserves the 
 word, — "The interest, which is not at this moment 
 legally possessed by any one, however rightfully entitled 
 to it.— On the death of Arthur, the right to the English 
 crown devolved to his sister Elinor." 
 
 Again, Act V. sc. ii. Lewis says, — 
 
 " You taught me how to know the face of right, 
 Acquainted me with interest to this land." 
 
 If parallelisms ever established any corrections in these 
 plays, surely, never were any more apposite than the 
 above, particularly the latter. 
 
 ACT V. 
 
 Scene IV. — page 514. 
 
 Melun. Fly, noble English, you are bought and sold; 
 Unthread the rude eye of rebellion, 
 And welcome home again discarded faith. 
 
 Mr. Theobald proposes to read — untread. Before I 
 read his note, I intended to make this correction. But 
 
KING JOHN. 185 
 
 another corruption appears in the same verse, and unless 
 it had been corrected, his proposed emendation would 
 have rendered the passage still more obscure. How- 
 ever, this tailor-like metaphor is susceptible of being- 
 changed to a pure figure. I read, as I am confident our 
 Author wrote : 
 
 Fly, noble English, you are bought and sold, 
 
 Untread the rude cry of rebellion, 
 
 And welcome home again discarded faith. 
 
 Meaning: wherever your influence has raised the cry 
 of rebellion, go thither again: undo that which you 
 have done against your country ; follow the steps of those 
 who have rebelled against their sovereign; call back 
 the misguided multitude to their allegiance; and wel- 
 come home discarded faith. See Salisbury's reply: 
 
 "We will untread the steps of damned flight." 
 
 Scene Yll.—page 524. 
 
 Prince Henry. Death, having prey'd upon the outward parts. 
 Leaves them insensible ; and his siege is now 
 Against the mind. 
 
 The old copy reads — invisible. Sir T. Hanmer first 
 introduced the present reading. But, though the word 
 insensible maintains the situation formerly held by in- 
 visible, and attempted to be made invincible, the original 
 word, I think, must be restored to the text; but not 
 immediately in the same place where it was stationed 
 by the early Editors. We should correct, and point the 
 passage thus : 
 
 Death, having prey'd upon the outward parts, 
 Leaves them; and, invisible, his siege is now 
 Against the mind. 
 
 Thus, death having preyed upon the reduced body 
 of the King, quits it ; and now, invisible, has laid siege 
 to the mind. The operations of the mind are hid from 
 
186 KING JOHN. 
 
 human scrutiny; and their destruction only known, 
 when the operations of death are accomplished. 
 
 The transposition of one word restores the Author'^ 
 original text. 
 
 Scene VII. — page 534. 
 
 Prince Henry. I have a kind soul, that would give you thanks, 
 And knows not how to do it, hut with tears. 
 
 The Prince pays himself too high a compliment, in 
 saying — u I have a kind soul" he should have left his 
 perfections for others to develop ; however, it is not his 
 fault: our Author never intended him to be, at so early 
 a period, the trump of his own perfections. 
 
 The verse required a word, or syllable, to perfect the 
 measure, and Mr. Rowe added the pronoun you ; the 
 insufficiency of which, in point of sense, I hope to prove. 
 
 Salisbury has just made a tender of love to the Prince, 
 not only for himself, but also those nobles who had 
 returned to their allegiance ; to which tender, the Prince, 
 with tears of affection, thus replies : 
 
 I have a kindred soul, that would give thanks, 
 And knows not how to do it, but with tears. 
 
 Thus, the Prince displays his sensibility ; and, with- 
 out trumping out that he has a kind soul, tells them that 
 he has a soul congenial with theirs in affection. 
 
 Kind, being a word which terminated with a d, (like 
 kindred;) either the transcriber or compositor thought 
 the word perfected, and inadvertantly omitted the rest 
 of the syllable. 
 
IMtifl 'i&trtjarii n. 
 
 ACT I. 
 
 Scene II. — page 17. 
 
 Duchess. 'Why then, I will. Farewell, old Gaunt. 
 
 It was the case in Shakspeare's time, and ever will be, 
 even with the most experienced compositors, that when 
 the repetition of one or more words immediately occur, 
 an out is often the consequence. In the verse under con- 
 sideration, two words have been omitted. The Duchess 
 demands, — 
 
 Where then, alas ! may I complain myself? 
 To which Gaunt replies : 
 
 To heaven, the widow's champion and defence. 
 
 Therefore, finding- no likelihood of obtaining satisfaction 
 for the assassination of Gloster, the Duchess, with re- 
 ligious fervour, exclaims : 
 
 To heaven! Why then, I will. Farewell, old Gaunt. 
 
 Thus, both sense and measure are perfected. To restore 
 the latter, Mr. Ritson would read : 
 
 " Why then I will. Farewell old John of Gaunt." 
 
 And Sir T. Hanmer reads, — 
 
 " Why then I will. Farewell, old Gaunt, farewell.*' 
 
 It remains for the critic to decide. 
 
188 KING RICHARD II. 
 
 ACT II. 
 
 Scene I. — page 45. 
 
 Gaunt. This fortress, built by nature for herself, 
 Against infection, and the hand of war: 
 
 England, having been frequently visited by the plague 
 and other pestilential disorders, our Author never could 
 have conceived the gross absurdity, that Nature had 
 built it as a fortress against infection ! 
 
 Had Dr. Johnson, or Mr. Farmer, when seeking for 
 
 an appropriate word, made choice of insertion^ I am 
 
 inclined to think the text would have been corrected ; for, 
 
 unquestionably, Shakspeare's original read : 
 
 This fortress, built by nature for herself, 
 Against insertion, and the hand of war ; 
 
 England is compared to a fortress, and so strongly 
 built by Nature, that the hand of war cannot cut through 
 it; cannot divide it: — no insection can be made in it. But 
 such is not the case with the continent ; it is ever exposed 
 to the ruthless hand of war : each state is open to the 
 incursions of an enemy. 
 
 The compositor took up an /instead of an/— or read 
 the passage with the more familiar word. 
 
 Scene I. — page 57. 
 Northumberland. That which his ancestors acihev'd with blows : 
 This transposition of a letter shows that the most cor- 
 rect printers make blunders : for acihcv'd, read — achiev'd. 
 I allude to Johnson and Steevens' edition, 21 vols. 1813. 
 
 Scene III. — page 77. 
 
 York. Why have those banish'd and forbidden legs 
 
 Dar'd once to touch a dust of England's ground? 
 
 But then more why; Why have they dar'd to march 
 
 So many miles upon her peaceful bosom; 
 Frighting her pale-fac'd villages with war, &c. 
 
KING RICHARD II. 189 
 
 Though the correction proposed by Mr. M. Mason 
 softens this passage, if we can regulate it according to 
 the orignal, it will be more satisfactory : a slight trans- 
 position will, I think, have the desired effect. I read : 
 
 Why have those banish'd and forbidden legs 
 Dar'd once to touch a dust of England's ground? 
 Why? — but then more: — why have they dar'd to march 
 So many miles upon her peaceful bosom, &c. 
 
 The effect which this reading gives, every judge of 
 scenic representation will easily perceive. York is sup- 
 posed to conclude his interrogatory, by emphatically 
 repeating Why ? But, as the evils likely to arise from 
 Bolingbroke's invasion create pictures of calamity in 
 his mind, he prevents the immediate reply of Boling- 
 broke, by a secondary demand, which exposes a still 
 greater breach of faith than that of his returning, uni- 
 authorized, from banishment. 
 
 Scene III. — page 77. 
 
 York. And ostentation of despised arms? 
 
 The word despised, is used to denote the general 
 contempt in which the British held the French forces. 
 The Duke of Bretagne furnished Bolingbroke, with 
 three thousand French soldiers. 
 
 Scene III. — page 81. 
 
 York. Nor friends, nor foes, to me welcome you are: 
 
 This verse appears so hobbling, I cannot think the 
 words placed according to the original. I would read: 
 
 Nor ffiends, nor foes, to me you welcome are: 
 
 This transposition of one word is no injury to the 
 
 sense. 
 
90 KING KICIIARD II. 
 
 ACT III. 
 
 Scene II. — page 87. 
 
 K. Richard. As a long parted mother with her child 
 
 Plays fondly with her tears, and smiles in meeting; 
 
 Mr. Steevens observes, that weeping has been pro- 
 posed in place of the word meeting. Mr. Malone also, 
 thought this a plausible emendation, were it not, that if 
 weeping was substituted, the long parted mother does not 
 meet her child. 
 
 In my opinion, from the subsequent, part of Richard's 
 speech, weeping must have been the Author's word ; but, 
 false punctuation having rendered the passage obscure, 
 the players familiarized it to their own conception. I 
 read : 
 
 Dear earth, I do salute thee with my hand, 
 Though rebels wound thee with their horses' hoofs: 
 As a long parted mother, with her child, 
 Plays fondly with her tears, and smiles in weeping; 
 So weeping, smiling, greet I thee, my earth, 
 And do thee favour with my royal hands. 
 
 Sure, the words — with her child, by the assistance of 
 these two commas, demonstrate that the mother again 
 possesses her child ; and what more can be required ? 
 Had the passage read — As a long parted mother from her 
 child; then, indeed, the meeting became indispensable, to 
 produce the happy effect. 
 
 Scene IV.— page 113. 
 
 Queen. And I could weep, would weeping do me good, 
 And never borrow any tear of thee. 
 
 The old copy reads—" And I could sing." Mr. Pope, 
 it seems, changed the passion of the poor Queen's mind : 
 a transition, which no Commentator's pen has had equal 
 power to do throughout these plays. But he perceived 
 
KING RICHARD II. 191 
 
 not the philosophy, the resignation of the Queen ; nor 
 the trifling blunder that has perverted the Author's 
 meaning. — I read : 
 
 An I could sing, would weeping do me good, 
 And never borrow any tear of thee? 
 
 Meaning : If I could sing : Thus, she displays equal 
 affliction, though she suppresses her tears. The lady 
 has said, that she can sing, or she can weep, according 
 as either may contribute to ease the Queen's mind. To 
 this command of passion, the Queen replies : — If I 
 could sing, would weeping do me good, even though my 
 tears were so abundant that I had no necessity for your' s ? 
 therefore, the Queen, not knowing, at present, that the 
 fall tide of sorrow is ready to flow in upon her, calls 
 philosophy to her aid, — wisely judging, that weeping 
 could not u drive away the heavy thought of care." 
 
 Never can we imagine, that any species of careless- 
 ness, either in a transcriber or compositor, could make 
 so great a change, as to substitute the word weep for 
 sing. 
 
 Dr. Johnson, in his Dictionary, observes — An, is some- 
 times, in old authors, a contraction of — And if; or if: 
 In the following example, from one of our Author's 
 plays, it is used for if only. 
 
 He can't flatter, be! 
 
 An honest mind and plain; lie must speak truth, 
 An they will take it so; if not, he's plain.*' 
 
 The transcriber mistook the sound of the word, the d 
 being partly sounded by the person who read to him. 
 
 ACT V. 
 Scene V. — page 162. 
 
 K. lliruxRD. For now hath time made me his numb 'ting clock: 
 My thoughts are minutes; and, with sighs, the y jar 
 Their watches on to mine eyes, the outward watch, 
 
192 KING RICHARD II. 
 
 The first quarto reads : 
 
 " My thoughts are minutes ; and with sighs they jar, 
 Their watches on unto mine eyes the outward watch." 
 
 This seems to approach nearest to the Author's 
 original ; and which an i for an e will perfectly restore. 
 I read: 
 
 For now hath time made me his numh'ring clock: 
 My thoughts are minutes; and with sighs they jar; 
 Their watch is on unto mine eyes, the outward watch, 
 Whereto my finger, like a dial's point, 
 Is pointing still, in cleansing them from tears. 
 
 His thoughts are the minutes; with which minutes 
 his sighs jar : (here the comparison alludes to the jarring 
 noise occasioned by the movement of the pendulum :) 
 but still, the minutes watch his eyes, (the outward watch, 
 or dial;) for, his finger (the index on the dial) cor- 
 responds, in time, with each unhappy thought, and 
 which obliges him to apply it to his eyes, to wipe away 
 the tears each minute's thought occasions him to shed. 
 
 It will be perceived, that the transcriber wrote — 
 watches, for watch is : an error, originating merely from 
 mistake of sound. 
 
dFtrsSt \$att of Iting %fytnx$ iv. 
 
 ACT I. 
 
 Scene I. — page 179. 
 
 King Henry. No more the thirsty Erinnys of this soil 
 
 Shall daub her lips with her own children's blood. 
 
 The corrupt word in the old copies is — entrance. 
 The present reading was suggested by Mr. M. Mason : 
 but if we substitute Us for nee, (the terminating letters 
 in entrance,) the original reading is obtained: 
 
 ~So more the thirsty entrails of this soil 
 
 Shall daub her lips with her own children's blood. 
 
 Confining his metaphor, the King personifies England 
 as the common mother of his subjects, as from her 
 bowels they derive support: and, as her surface (the 
 face of the soil, and which he figuratively calls her lips,) 
 tastes the bounty of heaven before the bowels, or entrails, 
 of the earth receive it; that which the bowels refuse 
 to admit, must bedaub the lips, and there remain until 
 the hand of time cleanses them. 
 
 Though it requires no argument to establish entrails 
 as the legitimate word, an extract from Drayton's 
 Legend of Pierce Gaveston, 1594, may prove a direct 
 parallel to remove all doubts : 
 
 "As when within the soft and spongie soyle 
 The winds doth pierce the entrails of the earth, 
 Where hurley hurley with a restless coyle 
 Shake all the centre, wanting- issue forth." 
 
 O 
 
194 FIRST PART OF KING HENRY IV. 
 
 We have also a phrase something similar, in the Third 
 Part of King Henry VI. Act II. sc. i. p. 73. 
 
 " Thy brother's blood the thirsty earth hath drunk." 
 
 Scene I. — page 183. 
 
 K. Henry. Therefore, friends, 
 
 As far as to the sepulcher of Christ, 
 (Whose soldier now, under whose blessed cross 
 We are impressed and engag'd to fight,) 
 Forthwith a power of English shall we levy ; 
 
 Had a full point been placed after the word — Forthzcith^ 
 all obscurity would have been removed, and saved the 
 Commentators an infinity of labour. See what a clear 
 sense this simple correction gives the passage : 
 
 Therefore, friends, 
 
 As far as to the sepulcher of Christ, 
 (Whose soldier now, under whose blessed cross 
 We are impressed and engag'd to fight,) 
 Forthwith. — A power of English shall we levy, &c. 
 
 Thus, the King announces his intention of setting off 
 for the Holy Land immediately, (forthwith,) and, to 
 accompany him, he says — "A power of English shall 
 we levy; whose arms were moulded in their mother's 
 womb to chase these pagans," &c. The parenthetical 
 part of the speech being so very long, occasioned the 
 false punctuation. 
 
 Scene I. — page 186. 
 
 K. Henry. Ten thousand bold Scots, two-and-twenty knights, 
 BaWd in their own blood, did Sir Walter see 
 On Holmedon's plains : 
 
 Neither Balk'd, Bath'd, nor Bah'd, is our Author's 
 reading; nor has the passage any allusion to ridges, as 
 Mr. Warton supposes. We should read: 
 
FIRST PART OF KING HENRY IV. 195 
 
 Ten thousand bold Scots, two-and-twenty knights, 
 Baskd in their own blood. 
 
 This enormous number of the enemy lay basked, — 
 i. e. heated in their own blood; for, though deprived of 
 life, so great was the effusion of blood, that, what for- 
 merly gave them animation, still kept them warm. The 
 idea is taken from men basking in the sun. 
 
 The compositor mistook the f for an I; formerly, the 
 long f was commonly used in the middle of words. 
 
 Scene II. — page 191. 
 
 Falstaft. let not us, that are squires of the night's body, be 
 
 called thieves of the day's beauty. 
 
 They are called thieves of the day's beauty ', because 
 they turn day into night; that is, they sit up all night, 
 and sleep out the day. When a chamber is darkened 
 before dusk, and candles are introduced, it is a common 
 phrase, — We are robbing day-light; therefore, these 
 u Squires of the night's body," are called, " thieves of 
 the day's beauty.''' 
 
 Scene III. — page 219. 
 
 K. Henry. Shall we buy treason ? and indent with fears, 
 
 The transcriber's ear deceived him ; he has ffiven a 
 compound, instead of two distinct words. I am con- 
 vinced our Author wrote : 
 
 Shall we buy treason, and in debt with fears? 
 
 i. e. Shall we expend money to purchase that which has 
 already put the nation to considerable expense, and 
 occasioned debts which still remain unpaid? The King 
 alludes to the military establishment which he has been 
 obliged to support in order to quell rebellion { and should 
 he redeem Mortimer, it would be purchasing treason. 
 the fears of which had already involved him in debt. 
 
196 FIRST PART OF KING HENRY IV. 
 
 The plurality of the sequent verse alludes to the chiefs 
 of the rebel party; but the King particularizes Mortimer 
 on account of the interference of Hotspur. 
 
 Scene III. — page 222. 
 
 Hotspur. Never did bare and rotten policy 
 
 Colour her working with such deadly wounds ; 
 
 I believe our Author wrote : 
 
 Never did barren, rotten policy 
 
 Colour her working with such deadly wounds; 
 
 Meaning: If his actions can be called policy; that 
 policy was so barren of wisdom, so uninventive, and so 
 rotten in itself, that it could produce nothing advan- 
 tageous. Barren and rotten perfectly correspond. 
 
 The transcriber, who wrote as another person dictated, 
 mistook the sound, and gave the conjunction after bare, 
 making it bare and, instead of barren. 
 
 The word barren we find similarly employed in Act III. 
 sc. ii. of this play : 
 
 " Such barren pleasures, rude society, 
 As thou art match'd withal," &c. 
 
 ACT II. 
 
 Scene I. — page 246. 
 
 Gadshill. 1 am joined with no foot land-rakers, no long- 
 staff, six-penny strikers; none of these mad, mus- 
 tachio purple-hued malt worms: but with nobility 
 and tranquillity; burgomasters, and great oneyers; 
 
 Various are the conjectures which the oneyers have 
 occasioned ; but, however ingeniously opinion has been 
 defended, both the cant and meaning of Mr. Gadshill 
 still remain obscured. 
 
FIRST PART OF KING HBNRY IV. 1Q7 
 
 Six orders of robbers have been particularized by this 
 ingenious highwayman; three of the lower opposed to 
 three of the higher. Of the lower, my predecessors have 
 been as explicit as is necessary. — Of the higher orders, 
 nobility must take the lead ; and here Gadshill can have 
 but a limited allusion; namely, to the Prince and his 
 volatile companions, who, for " sport sake, are content 
 to do the profession some grace." Tranquillity merely 
 alludes to safety ; there is no danger of coming to the 
 gallows, for, u if matters should be looked into, for their 
 own credit sake, they must make all whole." 
 
 But, of all classes of robbers, the most desperate, 
 daring, and determined, are the oneyers! I beg Mr. 
 Gadshill's pardon, for calling this bold order out of its 
 name: — I mean, wan-dyers, — by modern appellation — 
 highwaymen. 
 
 Question. But why are highwaymen called wan-dyers? 
 
 Answer. Because, on pointing a sword or dagger at 
 the breast of any unfortunate person that a wan-dyer 
 means to rob, the party so disagreeably accosted, first 
 starts, a trembling succeeds, (if he be not a man of metal,) 
 and from his face the crimson blood retreats with such 
 expedition, that he immediately becomes as perfect a 
 wan-colour as the most professed dyer in Britain could 
 produce. — 'Tis next to magic! the most florid hue gives 
 way to the wan, at the words, stand and deliver! 
 
 In Act II. sc. iv. of this play, the Prince, who no doubt 
 knew some of the wan-dyers, and, also, how wan-dying 
 was performed, tells us of another species of dying: — 
 "They call," says he, " drinking deep, dying scarlet." 
 Thus, topers were termed scarlet-dyers, and highwaymen, 
 wan-dyers. 
 
 The transcriber wrote one, instead of wan, both having 
 the same sound ; and one-dyers being considered by the 
 sagacious Editor as incorrect, he made it oneyers ; for 
 an explication of which, I refer the reader to the learned 
 notes of my predecessors, on this passage. 
 
198 FIRST PART OF KING HENRY IV. 
 
 Scene I. — page 247. 
 Such as can hold in ; 
 
 This is a tissue of the same cant phraseology, and 
 means, such as retain their courage when opposed, 
 and shrink not back from danger. 
 
 Scene I. — page 248. 
 Such as will strike sooner than speak, &c. 
 The cant language of Shakspeare's time, being not 
 only obsolete, but unknown, conjecture only can be 
 advanced respecting this gradation : however, though it 
 has been relinquished by my predecessors, as impossible 
 to explain, it may be brought within the powers of com- 
 prehension. "Such as will strike sooner than speak;" 
 i. e. knock a man down at once, sooner than hold any 
 unnecessary altercation. 
 
 Scene I. — page 248. 
 And speak sooner than drink, 
 He would listen to argument and desist from his pur- 
 pose sooner than stab him. To stab a man is held in 
 abhorrence, even by highwaymen; besides, the blood 
 gushing out, sprinkles the clothes of the murderer^ 
 which, when observed by his companions, they would 
 say : What ! have you been drinking ? 
 
 Scene I. — page 248. 
 And drink sooner than pray : 
 
 But should the party attempt to seize him, sooner than 
 be made a prisoner, he would stab him; for, if taken, 
 it must lead him to the gallows; in which awful state, 
 the most thoughtless would offer up a prayer to heaven 
 for mercy. 
 
FIRST PART OF KING HENRY IV. 199 
 
 Scene I. — page 278. 
 
 Prince Henry. Didst thou never see Titan kiss a dish of butter? 
 pitiful hearted Titan, that melted at the sweet 
 tale of the son ! 
 
 This passage being corrupt, has been totally misunder- 
 stood, and the story of Phaeton introduced as an eluci- 
 dation ; but the idea of the passage having relation to 
 the Heathen Mythology is absurd ! The picture is drawn 
 from terrestrial nature; and was, I am confident, so per- 
 fectly familiar to our Author, that he scrupled not in 
 making it equally familiar to the Prince. 
 
 In former days, more than the present, fools were en- 
 couraged about taverns, for the purpose of amusing the 
 company; they were lusty and lazy, like our Author's 
 Caliban^ and willingly degraded nature by doing what- 
 ever wit and wickedness could devise. 
 
 We see the Prince associating with characters of a 
 very inferior order; and frequently in taverns: even 
 Hotspur was aware that he resorted ale-houses; for, 
 knowing that the Prince was partial to good ale, he says, 
 " I'd have him poison'd with a pot of ale." 
 
 Now, let us suppose the Prince and his merry com- 
 panions at the Sun Tavern; and at which tavern there 
 is retained an unfortunate idiot, named Titan, and who 
 is known in the neighbourhood as Titan of the Sun. This 
 tavern is celebrated for sweet ale. The Prince and his 
 companions drink freely; Titan makes sport for them, 
 as Francis frequently did, at Dame Quickley's : A dish 
 of butter is introduced for Titan to kiss; perhaps Poins, 
 to make the scene more ludicrous, pops poor Titan's head 
 into the dish of butter, who, crying at his greasy dis- 
 grace, is promised a pot of sweet ale to restore him to 
 good humour. He dries his eyes ; the ale is presented, 
 but, to tantalize him, withdrawn; he then melts again; 
 the tears run down his greasy cheeks; and, finally, a pot 
 of sweet ale of the Sun Tavern is given to Titan, which 
 
200 FIRST PART OF KING HENRY IV. 
 
 reconciles all matters. Now, let us read with the cor- 
 rected word: 
 
 Didst thou never see Titan kiss a dish of melted hutter J pitiful 
 hearted Titan, that melted at the sweet ale of the Sun. 
 
 To this figure the Prince compares FalstafF, — who ? 
 after gaining and losing a booty ; after a hard ride to 
 and from Rochester ; after fretting like a gummed velvet," 
 enters, in a violent heat, " larding the earth " as he moves 
 along, and — with "a plague of all cowards" vents his 
 spleen at the Prince. 
 
 The transcriber wrote— sweet tale: — the person who 
 recited to him, not pronouncing sweet ale sufficiently 
 distinct, carried the t in sweet to the word — ale. 
 
 Scene IV.— page 309. 
 
 Falstaff. banish not him thy Harry's company, banish 
 
 not him thy Harry's company, banish plump Jack, 
 and banish all the world. 
 
 The repetition — banish not him thy Harry* s company , 
 is, I am convinced, an error, and must be attributed 
 to the compositor, who, having composed the word — 
 banished, (designed to precede plump Jack,) again re- 
 peated — " Not him thy Harry's company." The word 
 banish is used seven times in a few lines ; and, in this 
 instance, its effect is materially injured. 
 
 Scene IV.— page 310. 
 
 Falstaff. Dost thou hear, Hal? never call a true piece of gold* 
 a counterfeit! thou art essentially mad, without 
 seeming so. 
 
 The old copies read— made; which Mr. Rowe most 
 injudiciously altered to mad. 
 
FIRST PART OF KING HENRY iV, gQj 
 
 Falstaff has been counterfeiting the Prince ; and now. 
 alarmed at hearing- that the sheriff, with the watch, is 
 come to search the house for the robbers, he remind? 
 the Prince, that he is no counterfeit, but the true prince : 
 essentially made, — /. e. legally and legitimately royal ; 
 and yet, without seeming so, from his condescension, and 
 not assuming that dignity attached to his high birth : 
 therefore, as a true piece of gold bears the stamp of the 
 King, so doth he, as heir apparent ; and, being essentially 
 made, must use his authority with the sheriff, and have 
 the watch dismissed. See the Prince's observation, 
 when he orders Falstaff and his companions to secrete 
 themselves : 
 
 " Now, my masters, for a true face and a good conscience." 
 
 The word made should be restored. 
 
 ACT III. 
 
 Scene I.— page 324. 
 
 Glendower. And gave the tongue a helpful ornament; 
 A virtue that was never seen in you. 
 
 This is a lash at Hotspur, who had a defect in his 
 speech. See Second Part of King Henry IV. Act II. 
 sc. iii. where Lady Percy says : 
 
 And speaking thick, which nature made his blemish, 
 Became the accent of the valiant. 
 
 Scene II. — page 342. 
 
 K. Henry. The skipping king, he ambled up and down 
 With shallow jesters, and rash bavin wits, 
 Soon kindled, and soon burn'd : carded his state ; 
 
 What with carping,carding, capering, and card-playing, 
 this passage is so abused, that I could almost carp at 
 
202 FIRST PART OF KING HENRY IV. 
 
 the Commentators, for throwing- away erudition on such 
 forced elucidation. Our Author wrote: 
 
 Soon kindled, and soon burn'd; candled his state; 
 
 Surrounded by dissolute companions, and sunk in 
 
 sensuality, the reign of Richard wasted like the burning 
 
 of a candle, nor cast one brilliant ray to immortalize 
 
 his name : — 
 
 ■ "no extraordinary gaze, 
 
 Such as is bent on sun-like majesty 
 When it shines seldom in admiring eyes^" 
 
 See a subsequent part of this speech. 
 
 By this correction, the chain of metaphor designed 
 by the Author is perfectly united. The skipping king 
 had nothing cool and determined in his composition : 
 dissipation soon kindled in him, and burned the powers of 
 reason : and, instead of displaying the sun-like majesty 
 of a king, he candled his state, by turning day into night, 
 and in mingling his royalty with dissolute companions. 
 
 The copy not being sufficiently clear, the compositor 
 suited a word as near the letters as his judgment could 
 discriminate. 
 
 Scene II. — page 343. 
 
 K. Henry. Mingled his royalty with capering fools. 
 
 Where the early copies differ, and modern critics 
 have remained undecided on any particular words in 
 these plays, we may be certain, the legitimate have not 
 been discovered. In the present passage, by changing* 
 a single letter, we gain the original. We should read: 
 
 Mingled his royalty with catering fools. 
 
 Meaning: those who, in the gratification of their 
 own passions, devoted their time to luxury; and who, 
 knowing Richard's propensities, were caterers to his 
 pleasures. 
 
FIRST PART OF KING HENRY IV. 203 
 
 The transcriber mistook the word from similarity of 
 sound. 
 
 Scene III. — page 367. 
 
 Falstaff. Rob me the exchequer the first thing thou doest, 
 and do it with unwashed hands too. 
 
 And do it with unwashed hands. The first act of a 
 pious character, on rising in the morning, is to pray ; and 
 this he does with unwashed hands. Falstaff would, 
 therefore, impress on the mind of the Prince, that 
 robbing the exchequer would be equally meritorious. 
 
 ACT IV. 
 
 Scene I. — page 372. 
 
 Hotspur. for therein should we read 
 
 The very bottom and the soul of hope; 
 The very list, the very utmost bound 
 Of all our fortunes. 
 
 An oversight, very common with compositors, has 
 occasioned the present corrupt reading : a p has been 
 inverted, — which, giving the appearance of a d y made 
 read, instead of reap: this error corrected, the text is 
 perfectly familiar : 
 
 Were it good, 
 
 To set the exact wealth of all our states 
 All at one cast ? to set so rich a main 
 On the nice hazard of one doubtful hour ? 
 It were not good : for therein should we reap 
 The very bottom and the soul of hope ; 
 The very list, the very utmost bound 
 Of all our fortunes. 
 
 To reap, is to cut. Had the forces of Northumber- 
 land joined the rest of the rebel party, and that one 
 battle gave a decisive victory to the royalists, then were 
 the rebels cut to the very bottom and the soul of hope : — 
 no retirement; no rendezvous ; no home were left them to 
 fly unto. 
 
204 FIRST PART OF KING HENRY IV. 
 
 Scene I. — page 374. 
 
 Worcester. For, well you know, we of the offering side 
 Must keep aloof from strict arbitriment; 
 
 The word which claims present notice is offering. — 
 Some Editors read, — offering; others, offending; and 
 various are the elucidations their equally corrupt read- 
 ings have forced. A slight correction gives the Author's 
 words ; who, unquestionably, wrote : 
 
 For, well you know, we of the oft-erring side 
 Must keep aloof from strict arbitriment; 
 And stop all sight-holes, every loop, from whence 
 The eye of reason may pry in upon us. 
 
 Worcester and Hotspur were two of the leading 
 characters that helped to dethrone Richard the Second, 
 and by whose influence the concurrence of the nation 
 was gained in behalf of Bolingbroke : thus^ they erred, 
 by imposing on the people a king, who had no legal 
 claim to the throne. Again disaffection appears; the 
 standard of rebellion is planted; and they are the 
 leaders of a powerful faction to dethrone Henry, and 
 place Mortimer on the throne : thus, we behold them 
 erring again. Aware that the nation must reprobate 
 such king-makers and king-breakers, they strive to give 
 a gloss to their proceedings, and are anxious to screen 
 from observation how closely self-interest influences their 
 actions: "for," says Worcester, "we of the oft-erring 
 side must stop all sight-holes /' for, whether the people 
 consider us to err from judgment, or from erroneous 
 principles, we must prevent the eye of reason from 
 penetrating into our real motives. 
 
 Offering and oft-erring are nearly the same in writing : 
 the t in oft was taken for an f by the compositor. Such 
 errors are common ; and would daily pass, but that, in 
 the present day, our correctors are cautious, for their 
 own credit ; and most Authors peruse each sheet of their 
 work before it goes to press. 
 
FIRST PART OF KING HENRY IV. 205 
 
 Scene I. — page 376. 
 
 Vernon. All furnish'd, all in arms, 
 
 All plum'd like estridges that wing the wind; 
 Bated like eagles having lately bath'd ; 
 
 My learned predecessors have frequently set forth the 
 caution before each other, that, except in certain cases, 
 too scrupulous a degree of delicacy cannot be observed 
 respecting alterations in the text : for my part, I think 
 it inadmissible in any case, where the text can be legi- 
 timately established : but, surely, it becomes an insult 
 to the memory of our great Bard, to call the blunders 
 of transcribers and compositors, our Author's text ! I 
 have been led to this observation from an alteration that 
 has been made by Dr. Johnson in the passage under 
 consideration ; and which, as Mr. Steevens observes, he 
 has adopted from the example set him by Mr. Malone. 
 How far Dr. Johnson was correct; and how far his con- 
 temporaries acted consistently by corresponding with his 
 opinion, remains for the judicious Clitic to determine : 
 I defend the words of the old copies, but not the punc- 
 tuation. The old copies read : 
 
 ■ All furnish'd, all in arms, 
 
 All plum'd like estridges that with the wind; 
 Bated like eagles having lately bath'd. 
 
 The observations of my predecessors on this passage, 
 occupy four pages ! — All deem the passage corrupt ; but 
 Mr. Malone goes farther, — he is certain a line has been 
 lost. 
 
 According to the present text, the comrades or fol- 
 lowers of the Prince, now a military band, are u all 
 plumed like estridges ;" consequently, if so plum'd, they 
 must be covered all over with feathers ; and their a glit- 
 tering coats y 1 as described by Vernon, must be completely 
 hid! how is this to be reconciled? for, literally, the 
 comparison gives them the full plumage of estridges, 
 
906 FIRST PART OF KING HENRY IV. 
 
 and reminds us of the ludicrous appearance of a number 
 of men tarred and feathered! If the text was deemed 
 obscure before, do we receive that light which Mr. 
 Steevens thinks Dr. Johnson's emendation gives it? Mr. 
 S. observes, a For the sake of affording the reader a text 
 easily intelligible, I have followed the example of Mr. 
 Malone, by adopting Dr. Johnson's emendation:" and 
 Mr. Malone, to return the compliment, says, "Mr. 
 Steevens's notes perfectly explain the passage as now 
 regulated." 
 
 Mr. Malone is certainly very correct in saying, " From 
 the context, it appears to me evident that two distinct 
 comparisons were here intended, that two objects were 
 mentioned, to each of which the Prince's troops were 
 compared ; and that our Author could never mean to 
 compare estridges to eagles, a construction which the 
 word with forces us to !" But, I must refer my readers 
 to the notes in Johnson and Steevens's edition of our 
 Author's plays, and endeavour to prove, that the fol- 
 lowers of the Prince were not plum 'd like estridges; and 
 also, that two distinct comparisons are as conspicuous 
 as the ingenuity of any writer could make them. I read, 
 as I am convinced our Author wrote : 
 
 All furnishd ! all in arms ! 
 
 All plum'd ! like estridges that with the wind 
 Bated : like eagles having lately bath'd ; 
 
 Here there is no deviation from the old copy, save in 
 the punctuation, which wants the necessary pauses. In 
 an edition of this play, printed in 1613, the passage reads : 
 
 All furnish'd? all in arms? 
 
 Thus, the compositor, through ignorance of the dif- 
 ference between the note of admiration and the note of 
 interrogation, substituted the latter; but which, from 
 being falsely introduced, the Editor of the first folio (if 
 he copied from this edition) rejected, and substituted 
 commas, as in the present text. 
 
FIRST PART OF KING HENRY IV. 207 
 
 Where then are the defects ? where the want of com- 
 parison, as said by Mr. Malone to have been lost, in the 
 loss of a line? If I have any comprehension of our 
 Author, I pronounce the passage, as restored, to produce 
 that happy effect so anxiously desired by my predecessors, 
 and which Dr. Johnson thus charmingly describes : " A 
 more lively representation of young men ardent for en- 
 terprize, perhaps, no writer has ever given." 
 
 Scene II. — page 384. 
 
 Falstaff. such as fear the report of a caliver, worse than a 
 
 struck/flif/, or a hurt wild-duck. 
 
 This passage exhibits an error solely attributable to 
 the compositor; who accidentally breaking the word, 
 strove to replace the types, without referring to his copy; 
 and thereby formed a very ingenious anagram, by making 
 a wolf— a. fowl! 
 
 My predecessors, though convinced that this passage 
 was corrupt, were cautious of introducing a substitute for 
 fowl, as neither the name of any bird or beast came 
 sufficiently near in sound to lay the error to false tran- 
 scription ; and as a duck, though a wild one, came under 
 the general denomination of fowl, they considered the 
 tautology too gross even for Shakspeare's most careless 
 moments. They were unquestionably right; for our 
 great Bard steered perfectly clear of tautology on the 
 occasion. I read : 
 
 such as fear the report of a caliver, worse than a struck 
 
 wolf, or a hurt wild-duck. 
 
 Thus, the imagery is perfectly varied; and each 
 object is, in its nature, wild. The one, on hearing the 
 report of a caliver, runs howling into the recesses of the 
 forest; the other, screens itself among the flags or 
 rushes of some lake. 
 
>08 FIRST PART OF KING HENRY IV. 
 
 ACT V. 
 
 Scene II. — page 409. 
 
 Tell me, tell me, 
 
 How show'dhis tasking! 
 
 The impatience of Hotspur proves that we should 
 read taking, — alluding to the Prince's supposed distress 
 of mind, on hearing that so strong a power was about to 
 oppose him. 
 
 In the Merry Wives of Windsor, Mrs. Page says, — 
 
 4i What a taking was he in, when your husband asked who was 
 in the basket!" 
 
 Scene II.— page 411. 
 
 Hotspur. never did I hear 
 
 Of any prince, so wild, at liberty: — 
 
 Three different quartos read — So wild a libertie. 
 According to the present reading, Hotspur would have 
 the Prince confined like a madman; and truly, because 
 he displays some of those wild sallies prevalent in youth ! 
 But examine the reading of the quartos, and it will 
 appear evident, that an n dropped out of the word 
 libertine; which, being overlooked by the compositor, 
 the entire impression was worked with this error. In 
 short, the punctuation of the passage, as in the quartos, 
 and the article, show that libertine was the original 
 reading. 
 
 Scene III. — page 418. 
 
 Falstaff. Well, if Percy be alive, I'll pierce him. If he do come 
 in my way, so : 
 
 Dr. Johnson's idea of this passage is partly correct ; 
 but to draw a cork out of a bottle with a cork-screw 
 requires the use of both hands ; and, surely, Falstaff 
 could not be so disregardful of personal safety, or so 
 
FIRST PART OF KING HENRY IV. 209 
 
 blind to duty, as to lay down his sword to draw a cork 
 in the heat of battle ! 
 
 That our Author designed the witty Knight to dis- 
 play some of his humour here, is manifest; but, for w an t 
 of stage direction, the humour has been lost, and the 
 passage wears the appearance of obscurity. I should 
 imagine it stood originally thus : 
 
 " Well, if Percy be alive, I'll pierce him if he do come in my way, 
 so ! {Here he uses the soldier's cork-screw ; runs the point of 
 his sword into the cork.) If I come in his, willingly, let him 
 make a carbonado of me. I like not such grinning honour 
 as Sir Walter hath. Give me life: which if I can save, so!" 
 (Here he drinks.) 
 
 Meaning : if he escapes the dangers of battle, so will 
 he cherish life by drinking. Thus, an applicable action 
 takes place each time that he uses the emphatic — so! 
 and a degree of humour is maintained, which cannot 
 fail of producing a ludicrous effect. That FalstafF plays 
 on the word pierce, is evident. In Act II. sc. ii. of 
 this play, he sports similar humour, when attacking the 
 travellers : — " You are grand jurors y are ye? — We'll 
 grand jure ye, i'faith." 
 
&mtto llatt of mttg %fytnxv iv. 
 
 ACT I. 
 
 Scene II. — page 35. 
 
 IIalstaff. The young Prince hath misled me: I am the fellow 
 with the great belly, and he my dog : 
 
 Falstaff wishes to impress on the mind of the Chief 
 Justice, that the Prince misleads him, i.e. corrupts his 
 morals; and that he wishes to avoid him, but in vain; 
 for, wherever he goes, the Prince dogs him ; and when- 
 ever he loses sight of him, by enquiring for the fellow 
 with the great belly ^ he is sure to find him out. Falstaff 
 seems to have been well known by his bulk. See First 
 Part of King Henry IV. where the Sheriff identifies 
 Falstaff: " One of them is well known^ my gracious lord ; 
 a gross fat man" 
 
 Scene II. — page 50. 
 
 Hostess. A hundred mark is a long loan for a poor lone woman 
 to bear : 
 
 The old copy reads — a long one; I am convinced our 
 Author wrote a long owe; which phraseology not only 
 corresponds with the character, but is still a common 
 expression among the ignorant. Falstaff owed the 
 Hostess a long score; it was not a direct loan. The 
 compositor mistook the w for an w, both being nearly 
 similar in writing. 
 
SECOND PART OF KING HENRY IV. 211 
 
 Scene II. — page 67. 
 
 Poitvs. Even like those that are kin to the King; for 
 
 they never prick their finger, hut they say, There is 
 some of the King's blood spilt: How comes that? says 
 he, that takes upon him not to conceive: the answer is 
 as ready as a borrower's cap, &c. 
 
 The turn which Dr. Warburton's correction has given 
 this passage, while it produces a meaning, creates an 
 additional error, and places the sense of the Author at a 
 greater distance from critical penetration. The old copy 
 reads , — 
 
 the answer is as ready as a borrowed cap. 
 
 The cant phrase of the day is ever called a borrowed 
 phrase, when used by any other than the person who gave 
 it birth. A familiar cant phrase, then, being as current 
 as the copper coin of the kingdom, what answer can be 
 more ready than a borrowed cant? I am therefore, con- 
 fident, our Author wrote : 
 
 the answer is as ready as a borrowed cant. 
 
 Had Dr. Warburton, instead of a borrower's, made it 
 a beggar's cap, he would have been nearer to probability : 
 a beggar's cap, is ever ready on soliciting alms. 
 
 ACT III. 
 
 Scene I. — page 120. 
 
 Warwick. Such things become the hatch and brood of time; 
 And, by the necessary form of this, 
 
 Warwick, though speaking in general terms, retains in 
 view the particular object of Henry's animadversion : 
 which object^ is Richard: and, as he says, " there is 
 a history in all men's lives, by the necessary form of 
 his," (Richard's.) he might form a just conception, that 
 
 P2 
 
212 SECOND PART OF KING HENRY IV. 
 
 Northumberland would, if it suited his interest, prove 
 as false to him, (Bolingbroke) as he formerly proved 
 to Richard. The error lies in the word this, it should 
 certainly read, — 
 
 Such things become the hatch and brood of time; 
 And, by the necessary form of his, 
 King Richard might create a perfect guess, 
 That great Northumberland, then false to him, 
 Would, of that seed, grow to a greater falseness: 
 
 Scene I. — page 140. 
 Falstaff. For you, Mouldy, stay at home still; you are past 
 
 service. 
 
 The old copies read — " For you, Mouldy, stay at home 
 till you are past service." And, after various attempts 
 to elucidate, and other attempts to correct this read- 
 ing, which is, unquestionably, from the original, Mr. 
 Tyrwhitt's emendation (the present reading) has been 
 accepted, to the material injury of that humour designed 
 by the Author, who makes Falstaff play on Mouldy's 
 name. 
 
 FalstafTs agent in knavery, having received a certain 
 sum from Mouldy, the witty Knight rejects him ; observ- 
 ing — " You, Mouldy, stay at home till you are past 
 service." Meaning: that, as he is already Mouldy, he 
 may stay at home until he becomes old and rotten.— 
 Falstaff draws his figure from a piece of mouldy cheese ; 
 which mould, or concretions on the cheese, is the first 
 state of rottenness. But, see FalstafTs wit, in address- 
 ing both Mouldy and Bull-calf: — Mouldy is to stay at 
 home till he is past service; and Bull-calf is to stay at 
 home to grow, till he comes into service : he is but a calf 
 at present, and must grow to be a bull. The word — till y 
 is applied on both occasions. 
 
 The original word should be restored. 
 
SECOND PART OF KING HENRY I\ r . 9\3 
 
 Scene I. — page 152. 
 
 Falstaff. I will make him a philosopher's two stones to me. 
 
 Of the many errors that have crept into these plays 
 through the carelessness of transcribers, this is obviously 
 one : for, whatever the arcanum may have been, that was 
 imposed on the credulity of the people as the philoso- 
 pher's stone, Falstaff seems to have had no faith in its 
 virtues. But, as the gilded pills were swallowed by many, 
 and the deception could not be hid from him, he wishes 
 to make sure work, and therefore says, — 
 
 I will make him a philosopher's true stone to me. 
 
 Meaning: that, however the world may be deceived 
 by the pretended philosopher's stone, and its supposed 
 virtues, Justice Shallow shall prove a philosopher's 
 true stone to him; for he will work money out of him. 
 
 As the extract from the letter, written by the Duke 
 of Buckingham to King James I. on the subject of the 
 philosopher's stone, and quoted by Mr. Steevens, gives 
 great weight to this correction, I call it to my aid: 
 
 " My sone is healthfull ; my diviU's luckie, myself is happie, 
 and needs no more than your blessing, which is my trew 
 Felosopher's stone." 
 
 The sound of the word true might easily be mistaken 
 for two; and, as the numeral was plural, the substantive 
 was made to correspond. 
 
 ACT IV. 
 
 Scene I. — page 157. 
 
 \Y F <sTmorf.i.and. Wherefore do you so ill translate yourself, 
 
 Out of the speech of peace, that bears such grace, 
 Into the harsh and boist'rous tongue of war ? 
 Turning your books to graves, your ink to blood, 
 Your pens to lances; and your tongue divine 
 To a loud trumpet, and a point of war? 
 
214 SECOND PART OF KING HENRY IV. 
 
 Though great exertions have been made to illustrate 
 this passage, it remains, in my opinion, as obscure as 
 ever : nor do I think our Author wrote either grates or 
 glaives ; but breves, — i.e. summonses. 
 
 His theological books he turned into summonses, calling 
 thereby the people to arms; his ink to blood, and his 
 pens to lances : thus, we have paper, ink and pens ; and 
 all perverted to the worst of purposes, — instructing the 
 people to take arms against their king. 
 
 In the First Part of King Henry IV. the Archbishop 
 says to one of his friends, — 
 
 " Hie, good sir Michael; bear this sealed brief 
 With winged haste to the lord mareshall; 
 This to my cousin Scroop," &c. 
 
 With this order, he delivers him a packet of letters, or 
 summonses, observing, — 
 
 " Make haste; I must go write again to other friends." 
 
 Scene I.— page 166. 
 
 Archbishop. Then take, my lord of Westmoreland, this schedule; 
 For this contains our general grievances :— 
 Each several article herein redress'd ; 
 All members of our cause, both here and hence, 
 That are insinew'd to this action, 
 Acquitted by a true substantial form ; 
 And present execution of our wills 
 To us, and to our purposes, consign' d} 
 
 The quarto has confined: But, the word being deemed 
 unintelligible, consigned, at the suggestion of Dr. 
 Johnson, and advocated by Mr. Malone, has been ad- 
 mitted into the text. It, however, appears to me, that 
 partly by false punctuation, and the omission of paren- 
 thesis, the passage has been rendered obscure. I think 
 confined the true word, and that it deserves the liberty 
 of making its re-appearance. I read : 
 
SECOND PART OF KING HENRY IV. 215 
 
 Each several article herein redress'd; 
 
 All members of our cause, both here and hence, 
 
 That are insinew'd to this action, 
 
 Acquitted; (by a true substantial form, 
 
 And present execution of our wills, 
 
 To us and to our purposes conjiri'd;) 
 
 We come within our awful banks again, 
 
 And knit our powers to the arms of peace. 
 
 Thus, the Archbishop having made the first proviso 
 that all shall be acquitted, he then, more emphatically 
 dictates to Westmoreland the principles upon which that 
 acquittal must be framed : it must be a true substantial 
 form, corresponding in every sense with their wills, as laid 
 down in the present schedule delivered to him, and must be 
 confin'd to those principles only ; free from restrictions or 
 limitations, and, in every sense, suited to their purposes, who 
 have framed, as Hastings says, propositions " Upon such 
 large terms, and so absolute," that their "peace shall 
 stand as firm as rocky mountains." 
 
 Mr. Steevens seems to have admitted consigned into 
 the text with some reluctance ; and observes, that he has 
 submitted the notes of the various Commentators to the 
 Reader's judgment. 
 
 Scene IV.— page 189. 
 
 K. Henry. Yet, notwithstanding, being incens'd, he's flint; 
 As humorous as winter, and as sudden 
 As flaws congealed in the spring of day. 
 
 Whatever humour this verse was designed to convey, 
 our Commentators have not been able to extract it; nor, 
 indeed, do I see how they possibly could, in its present 
 corrupt state. 
 
 The King, speaking of Prince Henry, says, that " being 
 incens'd, hetsjlint;" of course, obdurate. If, then, hard 
 as flint, he is also " tumorous as winter:" — i.e. Like a 
 heavy cloud, in winter, that, meeting opposition, bursts, 
 
2,16 SECOND PART OF KING HENRY IV. 
 
 and pours down its violence on all beneath. Thus, then, 
 we should read : 
 
 As tumorous as winter, and as sudden 
 As flaws congealed in the spring of day. 
 
 The Prince, being- a piece of a wag, either the tran- 
 scriber, or compositor, made him humorous /—a t, for an 
 /*, corrects the error. 
 
 ACT V. 
 
 Scene l.-^-page 221. 
 
 Chief Justice. And never shall you see, that I will beg 
 A ragged and forestalls remission. — 
 
 Dr. Warburton could not extract any meaning out of 
 ragged, nor Dr. Johnson, out o£ forestalled, either in its 
 primitive or figurative sense. 
 
 As for a ragged remission, (though at best it is but a 
 beggarly figure,) I understand it to consist of broken 
 sentences, long pauses, hems and haws, split words, and a 
 profusion of sirs, marked with resentment, and which 
 the needle and thread of patience would find difficult 
 to tack together. Forestalled is not so easily reconciled ■ 
 it is certainly strained ; but, notwithstanding, sussceptible 
 of meaning : The Chief Justice will not be beforehand to 
 solicit remission from the King ; for should he, a ragged 
 remission, he expects, must be the consequence. 
 
Wm% ffitnts v 
 
 ACT I. 
 
 Scene II.— page 300, 
 
 Exeter. It follows then, the cat must stay at home: 
 Yet that is but a curs' d necessity ; 
 Since we have locks to safeguard necessaries, 
 And pretty traps to catch the petty thieves, 
 
 I am convinced, the transcriber made a cursed blunder 
 here. It may be demanded, — for what purpose must 
 the cat stay at home? — Is it not to watch the mice — the 
 petti/ thieves? The text is shamefully corrupt. We 
 should read : 
 
 Yet that is but argus'd necessity, 
 
 Exeter, on reflection, considers, that there is no neces- 
 sity for the cat to stay at home, to be looking about with 
 Argus* eyes; for, says he, " We have locks to safeguard 
 necessaries, and pretty traps to catch the petty thieves ," 
 so let that be no impediment to your views. 
 
 There certainly is much similarity in sound between 
 argus^d and a cursed; and a person, unacquainted with 
 the fable of Argus, might be easily deceived. 
 
 The word argus'd, may be considered as from the mint 
 of our Author : — argus'd, (watch'd.) 
 
 Scene II. — page 306. 
 
 K-. Henry. * Either our history shall, with full mouth, 
 
 Speak freely of our acts; or else our grave, 
 
 Like Turkish mute, shall have a tongueless mouth, 
 
 Not worshipp'd with a waxen epitaph. 
 
218 KING HENRY V. 
 
 Henry knows the influence of popularity, and how 
 far sensibility would operate on the minds of his subjects, 
 provided he leaves a good and glorious name ; but, should 
 history have cause to record him as a weak Prince, 
 and one who studied not the happiness of his subjects, 
 then must his name be held in contempt, and his tomb 
 "not worshipped with a waxen epitaph." Meaning: ari 
 epitaph that would not cause tears to be shed by those 
 who read it. But, should his name be revered by pos- 
 terity, then, as wax melts, so would the hearts of those, 
 who visited his tomb, melt with sensibility, on reading 
 the records of his warlike deeds, and private and public 
 virtues. 
 
 Scene II.— page 310. 
 
 K. Henry. We never valu'd this poor seat of England; 
 And therefore, living hence, did give ourself 
 To barbarous license; As 'tis ever common, 
 That men are merriest when they are from home. 
 
 The anonymous remarker, who so confidently asserted, 
 that hence means here, should have given some authority 
 to gain proselytes to his opinion. But, begging pardon 
 of my predecessors, I wonder where their judgment lay, 
 when a passage, so very clear, could, for a moment, 
 have its meaning veiled from their accustomed penetra- 
 tion ! — Surely, on paying the slightest attention to the 
 passage, it will be perceived, that the King alludes not 
 to his British dominions: — No; he loves the country 
 that he governs too well, not to appreciate its value; 
 has subjects, who proudly boast their liberties; and who 
 would hav$ thought it strange indeed, were he to stoop 
 with such humility to the French ambassador, as to say, 
 We never valued this poor seat of England, and meant the 
 realm of England. But argument is unnecessary in a 
 plain case. 
 
KING HENRY V. 219 
 
 Henry has laid claim to France, as being- its lawful 
 sovereign. He who holds it in possession refuses to 
 restore it. — Therefore, to show the ambassador, that 
 England is the seat of power , and that all foreign states, 
 whether gained by conquest, or his by lineal descent, 
 are subordinate to Britain, Henry says, — that, in the 
 greatness of his home dominion, he never valued France ; 
 for he has ever considered France as a poor seat of Eng- 
 land, and, therefore, living hence, — i. e. so far removed 
 from France, he paid not that necessary attention to it 
 which he should have done; but, like men who are 
 merriest when they are from home, gave himself up to 
 licentious pleasures. 
 
 Henry's claim to France being- the subject of discussion 
 in council, he says — this poor seat; as though he had 
 said — France, that poor seat belonging to England. See 
 a subsequent part of this speech, where Henry says, — 
 
 -" I will keep my state; 
 
 Be like a king, and show my sail of greatness, 
 When I do rouse me in my throne of France:" 
 
 Scene II. — page 312. 
 
 K. Henry. 1 will keep my state; 
 
 Be like a king, and show my sail of greatness, 
 When I do rouse me in my throne of France: 
 
 I cannot perceive any figure sufficiently striking to 
 give effect to the Avord — sail. If Henry means his navy, 
 how can he show it, when seated on the throne of France ? 
 I am certain we should read : 
 
 1 will keep my state ; 
 
 Be like a king, and show my seal of greatness, 
 When I do rouse me in my throne of France: 
 
 Meaning: His royal signet, — the British seal; and 
 in which the French arms were quartered. 
 
220 KING HENRY V. 
 
 ACT II. 
 
 Scene I. — page 319. 
 
 Nym. Good morrow, lieutenant Bardolph. 
 
 Our Author is censured for giving Bardolph the title 
 of lieutenant. In my opinion, the Critic's penetration 
 was more defective than Shakspeare's memory ; for when 
 the King accepted the services of his old companions, 
 in rewarding them, he only kept his royal word. — See 
 Henry IV. Act V. sc. v. 
 
 "For competence of life, I will allow you ; 
 That lack of means enforce you not to evil : 
 And, as we hear you do reform yourselves, 
 We will, — according to your strength, and qualities, — 
 Give you advancement" 
 
 Corporal Bardolph, then, having promised strong 
 amendment, did, on Henry's declaration of war against 
 France, voluntarily offer his services, which being ac- 
 cepted, the King rewarded his loyalty with a lieutenancy. 
 This, however, our Author deemed an unnecessary in- 
 trusion; and suffered time to heal the wounds of dis- 
 pleasure. In like manner, he passes over the courtship 
 of ancient Pistol and Dame Quickley, and introduces 
 them at once as husband and wife. 
 
 Scene I. — page 319. 
 
 Nym. For my part, I care not: I say little; but when time shall 
 serve, there shall he smiles; 
 
 Our Author, unquestionably, wrote — similks. Nym 
 means, that his similies shall be so pointed as to insult 
 Pistol ; who, though he is his superior in rank, must fight 
 him, if he be not a coward. 
 
 The person who read the part sounded the word — 
 simmileS) which the transcriber took for smiles. 
 
KING HENRY V. 221 
 
 Scene I. — page 321. 
 
 X\m. I cannot tell; things must be as they may : men may sleep, 
 and they may have their throats about them at the 
 same time. 
 
 Certainly a man cannot sleep without having the use of 
 his throat ! Where, then, is the wonder ? I am certain 
 the passage is corrupt, and that our Author wrote : 
 
 men may sleep and have their thoughts about them at the 
 
 same time. 
 
 It is a common phrase, to say, of a thoughtful, artful 
 person, — He has his thoughts always about him : he thinks 
 in his sleep. 
 
 If any Critic can explain the passage in its present 
 state, I shall cheerfully erase my correction. 
 
 Scene I. — page 322. 
 Mrs. Quickley. 0, well-a-day, lady, if he be not drawn now! 
 
 The folio reads: — "if he be not hewn now." Let us 
 follow up sound and sense with the following: 
 0, well-a-day, lady, if here he not hewing now! 
 
 This is a phrase, not only apposite to situation, but to 
 character. Here^s pretty hacking and hewing, is a com- 
 mon saying, with females, on viewing a mob fighting with 
 offensive weapons. The transcriber evidently mistook 
 the sound of the words. 
 
 Scene I.— page 350. 
 
 Pistol. Look to my chatties, and my moveables: 
 
 Let senses rule; the word is, Pitch and pay. 
 
 Pistol seems to mean, that his wife should be governed 
 by good sense, and not be too talkative ; that on pre- 
 
222 KING HENRY V. 
 
 senting a pitcher of ale, she should demand payment, and 
 have no farther words with her customers. Pitch was 
 probably the contraction for pitcher. Even at the present 
 day, publicans will say, pot and pay ; handing the pot 
 with one hand, and extending- the other for payment. 
 
 Scene IV.—- page 356. 
 
 The Dauphin. ■ — 'tis best to weigh 
 
 The enemy more mighty than he seems, 
 So the proportions of defence are fill'd ; 
 Which, of a weak and niggardly projection, 
 Doth, like a miser, spoil his coat, with scanting 
 A little cloth. 
 
 We certainly should read — protection. The Dauphin 
 compares a country badly defended to a miser, who, 
 through penury, scants his tailor in cloth, to make him 
 a coat ; and which, when he puts on, he finds not large 
 enough to protect him from the inclemency of the wea- 
 ther. Thus, the coat to him is useless; and, so must 
 a small body of men prove; — they are but a poor 
 protection to that part of the country which they are 
 to defend, when opposed by a powerful army. 
 
 ACT III. 
 
 Scene II. — page 370. 
 Nym. Pray thee, corporal, stay ; 
 
 As I defended our Author in his making Bardolph a 
 lieutenant, I must equally defend him on this nominal 
 reduction. 
 
 Nym, in the agitation of his mind, forgets every thing 
 but self-preservation ; and having been long accustomed 
 to use the more familiar title of corporal, to Bardolph, 
 it is uppermost. This is what some critics would call, 
 the high colouring of nature. 
 
KING HENRY V. 223 
 
 ACT IV. 
 
 Page 420. 
 
 Chorus. The poor condemn'd English, 
 
 Like sacrifices, by their watchful fires 
 
 Sit patiently, and inly ruminate 
 
 The morning's danger ; and their gesture sad, 
 
 Investing lank-lean cheeks, and war-worn coats. 
 
 I see no more beauty in Dr. Warburton's proposed 
 emendation than in the present text, and of which Mr. 
 Steevens says, change is unnecessary. The passage is 
 certainly corrupt : our Author wrote : 
 
 ■ and their gestures sad, 
 
 Inverting lank-lean cheeks, and war-worn coats. 
 
 The cheeks of the poor English became, through 
 poverty, inverted: that full ruddy cheek, more peculiar 
 to the English than any other people, became lank-lean : 
 their jaw-bones were projected, and the flesh inverted; as 
 were also their war-worn coats ; which having become 
 thread-bare, they turned inside out, and thus inverted 
 them, that the unworn nap might the better protect them 
 from the inclemency of the season. 
 
 If their coats were lined with white serge, as is com- 
 mon with the military, this colour, and their lank-lean 
 cheeks, gave them perfectly the appearance of what we 
 conceive of ghosts. — See the subsequent part of this 
 speech : 
 
 Presenteth them unto the gazing moon 
 So many horrid ghosts. 
 
 The compositor mistook the r for an s : — the change 
 is trivial, but the sense of the passage considerable. 
 
 Scene I. — page 438. 
 
 K. Henry. * Steel my soldiers' hearts! 
 
 Possess them not with fear ; take from them now 
 The sense of reckoning, if the opposed number?; 
 Pluck their hearts from them ! 
 
224 KING HENRY V. 
 
 If the opposed numbers pluck their hearts from them, 
 of what consequence is it, whether Henry's forces retain 
 the sense of reckoning-, or be totally deprived of it ? — 
 Absurdity glows upon the whole face of the passage. 
 Mr. Theobald's correction ( lest the opposed numbers) 
 certainly produces a much better sense than the present 
 reading : the old copy conveys much the same meaning", 
 though given in other words : 
 
 4 ' Take from them now the sense of reckoning. 
 That the opposed multitudes which stand before them 
 May not appal their courage" 
 
 But the first folio comes nearest our Author's original ; 
 that is, a more trifling correction restores it to its pristine 
 state. The old copy has — " Of the opposed numbers ;" 
 and which the addition of af corrects. I read : 
 
 take from them now 
 
 The sense of reckoning; oft the opposed numbers 
 Pluck their hearts from them ! 
 
 Thus, we obtain a pure sense that defies controversy. 
 The poor soldiers, when viewing, from time to time^ 
 the phalanx of power ready to oppose them, were oft 
 dismayed : but, that such fears may now entirely subside ; 
 — now, when all Henry's views depend upon the ensuing 
 battle, not only his fame, but personal safety, — he sup- 
 plicates heaven to take from his men the sense of 
 reckoning ; for oft the opposed numbers have plucked 
 their hearts from them ; — that is, have taken from their 
 hearts that glowing ardour upon which his hopes de- 
 pended, and left them dispirited, and unfit for battle. 
 But, the sense of reckoning being taken from them, 
 they no longer view the foe as a power superior to 
 themselves; and, constitutional courage steeling their 
 hearts, then will they meet them, undauntedly, in battle. 
 
 The tj in o/Y, was lost in sound by the following* word 
 with the same letter. 
 
KING HENRY V. 225 
 
 Scene II. — page 444. 
 
 Dauphin. That their hot blood may spin in English eyes, 
 And dout them with superfluous courage : 
 
 We can scarcely imagine that our Author would give 
 a word (as English) to a foreigner, which, if it be the 
 case, is merely provincial: Avith much greater proba- 
 bility, we may suppose he gave the foreigner an un- 
 grammatical phrase; particularly as the verse would 
 not admit the aid of a helping verb : I therefore believe, 
 that both the true reading and explanation will be ob- 
 tained by omitting the d, in dout, and which was intro- 
 duced by the sound of e? ? in the preceding word. — I read : 
 
 That their hot blood may spin in English eyes, 
 And out them with superfluous courage ! 
 
 i. e. Put them out. — He boasts, that the French soldiers, 
 after losing as much blood as would blind the British 
 troops, would still possess sufficient bravery to oppose 
 fresh battalions. 
 
 Scexe III. — page 460. 
 
 K. Henry. Mark then a bounding valour in our English; 
 That, being dead, like to the bullet's grazing, 
 Break out into a second course of mischief, 
 Killing in relapse of mortality. 
 
 The word which should have been used, has but re- 
 cently, I believe, been introduced into our Dictionary ; 
 and being from the French, was unknown to the com- 
 positor. We should read : 
 
 Killing in relays of mortality. 
 
 The respective distances, whether towns, villages, or 
 on the plains, where the slain of the British army lay, 
 he compares to posts, where relays of horses are left- to 
 relieve others : and, thus, the slain lying unburied, would 
 create a pestilence in each place, and thereby destroy the 
 enemy. 
 
226 KING HENRY V, 
 
 Scene IV. — page 464. 
 Pistol. Quality, call you me? — Construe me, &e, 
 
 The old copy reads,— 
 
 Qualtitie calmie custure me. 
 which is designedly nonsense; for Pistol, being totally 
 ignorant of the French language, catches merely at sound, 
 in the muttering of which, he knows not whether the 
 Frenchman abuses him, or solicits mercy. He then, in his 
 fiery manner, demands of the Frenchman, who is totally 
 ignorant of the English language, Art thou a gentleman ? 
 What is thy name? thinking, that words so plain must be 
 understood, 
 
 The old reading should certainly be restored; and 
 which, though gibberish, has a much better effect than 
 the sense, forced out of what our Author, designedly, 
 made — nonsense. 
 
 In a subsequent speech, when the Frenchman says, 
 pardonnez moyl he sounds it partonnez moyl a manner 
 in which many polite Frenchmen sound it at present, 
 particularly in the northern parts of France : and by 
 this mode of pronunciation, Pistol understands him to 
 mean — a ton ofmoys. 
 
 Scene IV.— page 466. 
 
 Pistol. Moy shall not serve, I will have forty moys; 
 For I will fetch thy rim out at thy throat, 
 In drops of crimson blood. 
 
 This passage is, perhaps, the most difficult in our 
 Author's plays; for, even were the text correct, its 
 meaning is so hid, that our best Commentators might 
 have found it an arduous task to elucidate; as an in- 
 timacy with the guttural manner in which many of the 
 French sound r is absolutely necessary. And, indeed, 
 this passage is also of very great importance to establish, 
 
KING HENRY V. 227 
 
 in a certain degree, Shakspeare's erudition ; as it removes 
 every doubt respecting his knowledge of the French 
 language; for, assuredly, he must have been perfectly 
 conversant in it, when he displays a discrimination in 
 point of accent, which home education seldom attains. 
 
 To give an idea of this passage, I have but one mode, 
 and that is, by requesting the reader to call to remem- 
 brance the Newcastle bur: — it is a sound which issues 
 partly from the throat; what schoolmen call guttural; 
 as in the word boggle. 
 
 This peculiar sound many of the French catch in their 
 youth, and, if rooted, they invariably use it in all words 
 wherein an r occurs: at it our Author lashes, (it being 
 an impure sound,) in making the French soldier give a 
 full bur in the words — prennez misericorde, when im- 
 ploring mercy from Pistol. But, Pistol ignorant of his 
 meaning, anxious for the forty moys, and irritated at 
 his discordant sounds, threatens the soldier, thus: 
 
 I will have forty moys : 
 
 Or I will fetch thy rill out at thy throat, 
 In drops of crimson blood. 
 
 And, indeed, Pistol's idea of the sound is well con- 
 ceived, in comparing it to that of a stream, murmuring 
 as it runs over its pebbled bed : In like manner, then. 
 Pistol will make the stream of blood rill out at the 
 Frenchman's throat. 
 
 The //, in rill, as I should imagine, not being sufficiently 
 long, had the appearance of an w, rather elevated above 
 the ri, with which it was joined; thus, as the proofread 
 rin, (merely a sound,) the corrector thought it a literal 
 error, and made it rim. The word For — as in the text, 
 seems to have been changed from Or — to give aid to the 
 other correction. 
 
 Dr. Johnson observes, that he knows not what to do 
 with rim; that the word should be a monosyllable he is 
 certain ; and that Dr. Warburton's proposed correction, 
 ransome, is a word that could not have been corrupted, 
 
 Q2 
 
228 KING HENRY V. 
 
 Mr. M. Mason would read — ryno, but this, as Mr. 
 Steevens says, is a word much more modern than the 
 age of Shakspeare. But how could either a ransome, or 
 ryno, be fetched out at the soldier's throat, in drops of 
 crimson blood? The idea is absurd. 
 
 The passage thus corrected, will, I hope, be as well 
 understood, as I understand Pistol's meaning. 
 
 Scene V. — page 472. 
 
 Bourbon. Let us die instant! Once more back again. 
 
 Mr. Malone's proposed emendation is, in my opinion, 
 far superior to the present reading; however, I think it 
 as far from the original as Mr. Steevens's compound 
 word ; which, though it perfects the verse, affords a very 
 imperfect illustration. 
 
 In this scene, we find all the French characters in- 
 troducing French phrases in their speeches. The 
 Dauphin, in his, interlards them with English ; and, in 
 the present, for Bourbon to introduce a French word, 
 we cannot otherwise consider it than highly natural. 
 The Dauphin considers all as lost ; and, in the height 
 of his despair, exclaims — " let's stab ourselves." To 
 this Bourbon will not listen; but, stimulated by re- 
 venge, will sell his life as dear as possible ; thus, then, 
 he calls on the Dauphin to aid him in re-attacking the 
 enemy : — 
 
 Let us die in sang! Once more back again. 
 i. e. Let us die in blood; not fly like cowards ! once more 
 back again. 
 
 We have many derivations from sang, such as sanguine , 
 sanguinary, &c. 
 
 The word being unknown to the compositor, he made 
 the best he could of it. Omit the first t, and substitute 
 a g, for the terminating letter, and you have sang. 
 
KING HENRY V. 229 
 
 Scene VIII.— page 489. 
 
 Feuellen. 1 will give treason his payment into plows, 
 
 I believe we should read : 
 
 1 will give treason his payment in two plows, &c. 
 
 Meaning: I have received one blow from him, but I 
 will pay it with interest; he shall have two from me. 
 
 Since I wrote this note, I find that Mr. Heath pro- 
 posed the same reading. It is somewhat extraordinary, 
 that most injudicious alterations have been made in our 
 Author's text, and conspicuous restorations refused ! 
 
 ACT V. 
 
 Scene I. — page 518. 
 
 K.Henry. 1 love thee, Kate: by which honour I dare 
 
 not swear, thou lovest me ; yet my blood begins to 
 natter me, that thou dost, notwithstanding the poor 
 and untempering effect of my visage, 
 
 I believe our Author wrote — iintempting. Meaning : 
 that his visage is homely, and not adapted for conquest : 
 it would not tempt a lady to fall in love with; but, not- 
 withstanding, he says,— " I think you love me." 
 
dFtrgt pit* of itittfi fitting vi 
 
 ACT I. 
 
 Scene I. — ^.g-e 10. 
 Bedford. Than Julius Caesar, or bright- 
 
 Conjecture may supply many illustrious names to per- 
 fect this broken verse ; but it is a query, whether Shak- 
 speare ever designed a second comparison. 
 
 I am of opinion, that the person who recited to the 
 transcriber sounded the a in Ccesar^ as the open o; and, 
 with his affected manner, read Cces — or; and thus, the 
 or being emphatically pronounced, the transcriber wrote 
 Ccesar, or. Omit the superfluous or, and a clear sense 
 is obtained : 
 
 A far more glorious star thy soul will make, 
 Than Julius Caesar bright. 
 
 Thus, he says, the soul of Henry will make a far 
 more glorious star, than Julius Caesar, (called the 
 Julium Sidus,) which is a bright star. The break in 
 this verse is occasioned by the abrupt entrance of the 
 messenger. 
 
 Scene II. — page 24. 
 Pucelle. Out of a deal o/old iron I chose forth. 
 
 This is not the language of inspiration ; nor this the 
 language which makes the Dauphin exclaim : — " Thou 
 
FIRST PART OF KING HENRY VI. 9%\ 
 
 hast astonished me with thy high terms." — No! but 
 poor and mean; as though a brewer's porter said, — 
 This stro??g hoop, out of a deal of old iron I chose. But 
 the blunder belongs either to the transcriber or com- 
 positor : I could show sufficient cause to lay it to either, 
 but it were tedious, particularly as my correction must 
 prove incontrovertible. The Author wrote : 
 
 here is my keen-edg'd sword, 
 
 Deck'd with five flower-de-luces on each side; 
 
 The which at Touraine, in St. Katherine's church-yard, 
 
 Out of ordeaVd old iron t-ehose forth. 
 
 Her sword had stood the ordeal, or test of many 
 battles : it had belonged to some famous warrior, whose 
 remains lay in St. Katherine's church-yard; and with 
 whom his sword and armour had been interred. To 
 temper iron into steel, it must go through fire and 
 water ; and, as both sword and armour had passed the 
 ardour of heat and frigidity of water, so they became 
 ordeaVd. 
 
 The text, thus restored, may certainly be said to con- 
 tain " high terms." 
 
 Scene IV. — page 39. 
 Talbot. Rather than I would be so piVd esteem'd. 
 
 Our Commentators strained every nerve to make some- 
 thing of this passage ; but, indeed, in vain ; — for, torture 
 the words — so piVd, in their present situation, as you 
 will, they bid defiance to all sense. That the Com- 
 mentators knew Talbot's meaning-, is undeniable; for 
 the preceding part of the speech speaks, that he would 
 not submit to the indignity Avhich the French strove to 
 impose on him. 
 
 Were it possible to extract a meaning- out of the pre- 
 sent text, I -should be sorry to disturb it : but even my 
 predecessors acknowledge the impossibility, and propose 
 various readings, though all have been equally rejected. 
 
532 FIRST PART OF KING HENRY VI. 
 
 Mr. M. Mason would remedy the evil by reading vile, or 
 ill-esteemed. — Mr. Steevens would read — Philistin'd. — 
 Mr. Malone proposes — so pile-esteem' d, half Latin, half 
 English. So vile-esteemed is certainly the most natural 
 reading ; but as none of these will be admitted, and as 
 the text is evidently corrupt, I am strongly inclined to 
 think our Author wrote : 
 
 Rather than I would be sop-oWd esteem'd. 
 
 Meaning : rather than he should be esteemed a person, 
 who, for the sake of liberty, would let any proposition 
 made by the enemy glide down his throat. An oil-sop, 
 in Shakspeare'stime, was, I suppose, applied as familiarly 
 to a weak-hearted, credulous person, as milk-sop is, at 
 the present day, to a soft, effeminate man of shallow un- 
 derstanding. 
 
 I am supported in this supposition by the strongest 
 probability; but the Critic must decide. 
 
 So piVd, has closely the same sound as sop-oiVd: an o 
 is only required to correct the present corrupt reading. 
 
 Scene IV. — page 46. 
 Pucelle. Go, go, cheer up thy hunger starved men ; 
 The old copy has — hungry -starved. The alteration 
 is Mr. Howe's ; but I am inclined to think the passage 
 still corrupt. A person who is hungry, must certainly 
 starve, if he cannot obtain food : — why, then, should we 
 have such gross tautology compounded ? I believe our 
 Author wrote : 
 
 Go, go, cheer up thy hungry staid men; 
 
 Thus, she casts a reflection on the open, cheerful, and 
 perhaps dissipated, conduct of the British military, when 
 in the days of victory they gave full scope to their 
 pleasures; but who, now, had become staid, or sober, 
 from starvation, 
 
FIRST PART OF KING HENRY VI. 233 
 
 The person who read to the transcriber gave but a 
 slight look at the word staid; and, as it followed hungry, 
 read — starved. 
 
 ACT III. 
 
 Scene II. — page 98. 
 
 Talbot. That hardly we escap'd the pride of France. 
 
 I am of Mr. Theobald's opinion, that pride is " an 
 absurd and unmeaning expression :" nor do the examples 
 introduced by our Commentators bear sufficient force 
 to be called parallelisms. I am confident our Author 
 wrote : 
 
 That hardly we escap'd the bride of France. 
 
 Alluding to La Pucelle, who had been so recently 
 allied to the interest of France ; and farther, supposed 
 to be, at that period, the intended bride of the Dauphin. 
 
 ACT V. 
 
 Scene III. — page 157. 
 
 Suffolk. Ay; beauty's princely majesty is such, 
 
 Confounds the tongue and makes the senses rough. 
 
 It seems rather curious, that beauty's princely majesty 
 should make the senses of an accomplished statesman 
 and warrior rough! In my opinion, the word is too 
 rough to retain its place. 
 
 Whether the Author designed the verse to rhyme or 
 not, I cannot say ; but, from the letters of which rough 
 is composed, I believe the original read : 
 
 Ay ; beauty's princely majesty is such, 
 Confounds the tongue, and makes the senses touch. 
 
234 FIRST PART OF KING HENRY VI, 
 
 Meaning : The power of beauty is such, that it over- 
 comes the speech; and all the senses touch: — i.e. meet 
 together ; they concentrate in the eyes of the observer, 
 to gaze with admiration on the lovely object. 
 
 Scene III. — page 163. 
 
 Suffolk. Bethink thee on her virtues that surmounts 
 Mad, natural graces that extinguish art j 
 
 This is a strange phrase in praise of beauty! The 
 word mad, torture it as you will, cannot afford any mean- 
 ing to correspond with either the preceding or subse- 
 quent part of this speech : and, surely, a wild girl, or a 
 mad-cap, according to the forced elucidation of Mr. 
 Steevens, are not characteristics adapted to the cele- 
 brated Margaret, of whom Henry gives the following 
 glowing picture : 
 
 " Her sight did ravish ! but her grace in speech 
 Her words y-clad with wisdom's majesty, 
 Makes me from wondering, fall to weeping joys:" 
 
 See Second Part of King Henry VI. Act I. sc. i. 
 
 One error often creates many; and in the passage 
 under consideration, by a typographical error, or mis- 
 print, the punctuation has been obliged to be changed. 
 I read, as I am certain the Author wrote : 
 
 Bethink thee on her virtues that surmount 
 Man: natural graces that extinguish art; 
 
 Thus, Suffolk makes her virtues rise to the height 
 of female perfection ; and her graces and unaffected man- 
 ners above all the powers of art. 
 
 It requires but an n in place of the d to correct the 
 error. 
 
&uovto Part of mm f^nrg vl 
 
 ACT I. 
 
 Scene III.— page 203, 
 
 First Pet. My masters, let's stand close; my lord protector wilt 
 come this way by and by, and then we may deliver 
 our supplications in the quill. 
 
 The Commentators admit the phrase — in the quill, to 
 be inexplicable : some attempts, however, are made to 
 illustrate it, but they are so weak that common sense 
 must spurn them. In attempting then to produce a word 
 to form a context with the rest of the passage, and which 
 affords a natural and familiar meaning, I think I only do 
 my duty ; being convinced that, in the quill, or, in quill, 
 as Sir T. Hanmer has the passage, are equally corrupt, 
 and never came from our Shakspeare. I read : 
 
 My masters, let's stand close; my lord protector will come this 
 way by and by, and then we may deliver our supplications 
 in quiet. 
 
 Now, in defence of this reading, as the Author's, I 
 have to say, that if the e be elevated above the other 
 letters which help it to form a word, it appears an I; and 
 if the t be not perfected, by crossing it, then it remains 
 an /, — who then, in the hurry of writing, has not done 
 both? These plays, from their innumerable errors, 
 strongly testify that, to such carelessness, many such 
 errors must be attributed. 
 
 In respect to the sense which this correction produces, 
 it is perfectly familiar: When a number of persons await, 
 
236 SECOND PART OF KING HENRY VI. 
 
 in an anti-chamber, with petitions, in order to present 
 them to the great personage expected to pass, every one 
 is anxious to be first, particularly where there are many 
 on the same business : and here we may judge that the 
 petitioners were not a few. The first petitioner then ad- 
 dresses the others, and tells them to stand close, that is, 
 to range themselves, and thus, avoiding confusion, they 
 may deliver their respective petitions in quiet — in due 
 form, without impeding the passage of the Protector 
 and his attendants. 
 
 Scene III. — page 205. 
 
 Peter. That my master was ? No, forsooth: my master said, That 
 he was ; and that the king was an usurper. 
 
 This is palpable nonsense : The old copy reads, — 
 u that my mistress was ? " The present emendation was 
 supplied by Mr. Tyrwhitt, and sanctioned by Mr. M. 
 Mason. 
 
 Queen Margaret demands, "Did the Duke of York 
 say, he was rightful heir to the crown ?" To which 
 Peter is made to reply — That his master was ! So Peter's 
 master is heir to the crown! The old copy made his 
 mistress — and Mr. Tyrwhitt has made his ?nasier heir to 
 the crown. It may be said, that Peter afterwards con- 
 tradicts himself; but this will never answer to reconcile 
 the blunder of either a transcriber or compositor. I 
 read, as I am confident our Author wrote : 
 
 Q. Margaret. What say'st thou? Did the Duke of York say, 
 he was rightful heir to the crown? 
 
 Peter. That, my mistress, was : — No, forsooth : my mas- 
 
 ter said that he was, and that the King was 
 an usurper. 
 
 Peter, by the words — rhy mistress, addresses his mis- 
 tress, (the Queen :) but will not vouch for it, that the 
 Duke of York made use of the expression, because he 
 did not hear him ; but, that his master said, u that the 
 Duke of York was rightful heir to the crown." 
 
SECOND PART OF KING HENRY VI. 237 
 
 The whole tenor of the speech was misunderstood by 
 the transcriber, and equally so by the Commentators. 
 
 Scene III. — page 211. 
 
 Buckingham. her fume can need no spurs, 
 
 She'll gallop/asf enough to her destruction. 
 
 The folio reads — u farre enough,' 1 which Mr. Malone 
 says, was corrected by Mr. Pope. 
 
 But why should Mr. Pope (if he had not the authority 
 of some more authentic copy) alter the word ? Surely, 
 the word farre } or far — conveys as strong a sense as the 
 passage required. The Duchess of Gloster, hated by 
 Queen Margaret, has received from her a gross insult : 
 Buckingham is one of the party intent on the destruction 
 of the Duchess: perceiving, then, that her spirit threatens 
 revenge for the insult, he observes, — " She'll gallop far 
 enough to her destruction." Meaning: that she will 
 not stop, until she gets that length where destruction 
 awaits her. In my opinion, this sense is superior to what 
 we derive from the present text. 
 
 ACT II. 
 Scene III. — page 245. 
 
 Suffolk. Thus droops the lofty pine, and hangs his sprays; 
 And Eleanor's pride dies in her youngest days. 
 
 As this passage is acknowledged to possess no meaning, 
 
 I think it may be made to possess a very strong one, by 
 
 changing the pronoun. Let it be observed, that Suffolk 
 
 addresses himself to Margaret, and to his policy she 
 
 owes her present dignity. I would read : 
 
 Thus droops the lofty pine, and hangs his sprays; 
 Thus Eleanor's pride dies in your youngest days. 
 
 Meaning : in the youngest days of Queen Margaret's 
 
238 SECOND PART OF KING HENRY VI. 
 
 ACT IV. 
 
 Scene VII.— page 348. 
 
 Say. When have I aught exacted at your hands, 
 
 Kent to maintain, the king, the realm, and you ? 
 
 Most of the Commentators think, that Kent slipped 
 into the passage without permission ; and there it has 
 remained, though Mr. Steevens would remove it, and 
 place Bent in its respectable situation. However, I 
 think Kent may retain its place, provided we add a note 
 of interrogation, and read thus : 
 
 When have I aught exacted at your hands, 
 Kent? — To maintain the king, the realm, and you, 
 Large gifts have I hestow'd on learned clerks, 
 
 Words cannot possibly convey a clearer meaning. — 
 Thus, all tautology is removed : they are Kentish men 
 that he addresses ; and the pronoun becomes absolutely 
 necessary. Farther elucidation would be an insult to 
 common understanding. 
 
 Scene X. — page 367. 
 
 Iden. Sword, I will hallow thee for this thy deed, 
 
 And hang thee o'er my tomb, when I am dead: 
 
 The mode of expression observable in this passage, is 
 not, in my opinion, Shakspeare's. The imperative mood 
 he certainly adopted, but which being misunderstood 
 by either the transcriber or compositor, the more familiar 
 mode of addressing the sword was inserted. I read, 
 as I believe our Author wrote : 
 
 Sword, I will hallow thee for this thy deed! 
 And hang thou o'er my tomb when 1 am dead : 
 
 Thus, in addressing the sword, he says, — And hang 
 thou; i. e. do thou hang o'er my tomb, &c» The sword 
 is made the active agent of Iden's orders : it is to hang 
 itself o'er the tomb, and there to remain as a trophy. 
 
WW* $ai* & %ttm &ttwg vi 
 
 ACT I. 
 
 Scene I. — page 21. 
 
 K. Henry. Whose haughty spirit, winged with desire, 
 
 Will cost my crown, and like an empty eagle, &c. 
 
 This corrupt passage has occasioned much controversy. 
 Dr. Warburton reads — coast; and is supported in it by 
 most of the Commentators. I, however, am of opinion, 
 that neither cost nor coast came from the Author; and, 
 from the context, must believe the original read : 
 
 Whose haughty spirit, winged with desire, 
 Will court my crown, &c. 
 
 Already, the crown is promised to York: but not 
 until after the death of Henry can he enjoy it. Now 
 Henry imagines, that the impatience of York will not 
 await the event of his death ; but, like one anxious to 
 possess the wife of another, will, winged with desire, 
 court it during his life-time; and, influenced by passion, 
 like an empty eagle panting for food, will rapaciously 
 seize it the first opportunity. 
 
 Scene III.— page 32. 
 
 Rutland. So looks the pent-up lion o'er the wretch 
 That trembles under his devouring paws : 
 
 This is the first time that I have either heard or read 
 that a lion devours with his paws : he may tear and de- 
 stroy, but cannot be said to devour. I am certain the 
 
240 THIRD PART OF KING HENRY VI. 
 
 heedless transcriber wrote what was most familiar to 
 his own idea, and gave the incongruity we have in this 
 passage. I read, as I believe our Author wrote : 
 
 So looks the pent-up lion o'er the wretch 
 That trembles under his destroying paws : 
 
 The paws destroy, they tear the body to pieces, and 
 then the lion gluts upon his prey. 
 
 ACT V. 
 
 Scene V. — page 196. 
 
 Glosteu. Why should she live to fill the world with words? 
 
 " To Jill the world with words," is giving her great 
 scope of tongue, indeed ! We should read : 
 
 Why should she live to file the world with words 
 
 Alluding to the grating language of a violent woman. 
 To grate ) is to file ; a grater and a file are both instru- 
 ments to reduce a solid body by rubbing. This hyperbole 
 may be taken literally; but Gloster's meaning is, that 
 her cutting tongue annoys the world; and which he, no 
 doubt, experienced on many occasions. 
 
mmg lUtgatft in 
 
 ACT I. 
 
 Scene I. — page 277. 
 
 Gloster. And his noble queen 
 
 Well struck in years ; 
 
 Mr. Steevens remarks the oddness of the expression, 
 "Well struck in years ;" but makes no attempt to correct 
 it : the verse is also defective in measure. 
 
 It appears to me that the terminating syllable of the 
 original word, having had a sound not unlike in, (which 
 followed,) it was lost. I read : 
 
 And his noble queen 
 
 Well stricken in years ; 
 
 Thus, we gain a familiar phrase, and the measure of 
 
 the verse is perfected. The words stricken in and struck 
 
 in, display at once, in my opinion, the manner in which 
 
 the error took place. As for examples of the phrase, 
 
 many can be obtained, let one, from Genesis suffice : 
 
 " Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in years.''' 
 
 Here we have the phrase so perfect, that one would 
 imagine Gloster had taken it from Sacred Writ. 
 
 Scene I.—- page 277. 
 
 Gloster. He that doth naught with her, excepting one, 
 Were best to do it secretly, alone. 
 
 The direct demand of Brackenbury, — " What one, my 
 lord?" is a convincing proof that we should read: 
 
942 KING RICHARD III. 
 
 He that doth naught with her, excepting one, 
 Were best to do it secretly : — ay, one. 
 
 For though Gloster, in the antecedent verse, says, 
 li excepting one." Brackenbury, most probably, would 
 have disregarded it; but for the emphatical repetition. 
 
 Scene I. — page 278. 
 Gloster. We are the queen's objects, and must obey. 
 Gloster wishes to impress on the mind of Brackenbury, 
 that Clarence and himself are the marked objects of the 
 Queen's hatred ; and, therefore, that they must act with 
 great circumspection, and prove obedient to her dictates. 
 In this, the artful Gloster has one particular view, which 
 is, to make Clarence believe that he has already fallen 
 under the lash of the Queen's vindictive malice; and 
 that his being: sent to the Tower is the result of her 
 influence over the King. From these considerations, 
 and the very poor effect of the word abjects, I am strongly 
 of opinion, that an a was in the o compartment, (for 
 they are next each other,) and that, instead of objects, 
 by taking a wrong letter, the compositor made it objects ; 
 a word by no means corresponding with the haughty 
 and violent Gloster. 
 
 Scene III. — page 308. 
 
 Queen Margaret. Ah, gentle villain, do not turn away ! 
 
 Gloster, well acquainted with the grating language 
 that Margaret is capable of uttering, and knowing how 
 well he merits her cutting rebukes, is about to retire ; 
 which she perceiving, determines to impede his depar- 
 ture. It is not then the words — u Ah, gentle villain,^ 
 that she uses on the occasion, but — Ah, gently, villain ! 
 meaning, — Stop, villain! — not so fast> villain! The 
 
KING RICHARD III. 243 
 
 old mode of spelling' gently ', was gentlie : the i was lost, 
 and thus gentle. 
 
 Margaret has, in a preceding speech, thus termed 
 Gloster, — 
 
 " A murd'rous villain, and so still thou art." 
 
 Can we then suppose she would, even ironically, call 
 him a gentle villain ? 
 
 ACT III. 
 
 Scene I.— page 368. 
 
 Buckingham. You are too senseless-obstinate, my lord, 
 Too ceremonious, and traditional : 
 Weigh it hut with the grossness of this age, 
 
 Weigh it ! — Weigh what ? I cannot perceive for what 
 purpose the weights and scales are required. The 
 passage, to my understanding, appears incomprehensible ; 
 or, at best, whatever construction may be forced, it 
 makes the great Buckingham a very splenetic character. 
 
 There is a material difference between argument 
 
 tending to convince, and pointed insult. Can we suppose, 
 
 that a nobleman of the first rank would use the language 
 
 laid down in the present text, and to so high a dignitary 
 
 of the church as a Cardinal ; or, indeed, to one infinitely 
 
 his inferior? " You are too senseless-obstinate " means an 
 
 obstinate fool I and " Too ceremonious and traditional" is, 
 
 in my opinion, very few removes from — a superstitious 
 
 blockhead! I am convinced, Shakspeare never gave 
 
 such phrases to Buckingham. In short, the text is 
 
 grossly corrupt : no less than five errors appear in the 
 
 passage. I read : 
 
 You are to sense, less obstinate, my lord: 
 
 Too ceremonious and traditional 
 
 Weight, is but with the grossness of this age : 
 
 In these five corrections it will be perceived, that 
 there is but the addition of one letter : the t in the word 
 
 R 2 
 
244 KING RICHARD III. 
 
 weight, is taken from the it, and an s put in its place. 
 Though the text, thus corrected, elucidates itself, I 
 shall give it a familiar construction, merely to show that 
 the Duke argues with politeness and moderation. 
 
 Convinced that the Cardinal, however prejudiced, is 
 open to conviction, that which pure argument can de- 
 monstrate will be duly regarded by him, and all cere- 
 monial and traditional weight be left for the vulgar and 
 untutored minds of the age. 
 
 Scene I.— page 371. 
 
 Gloster- Thus, like the formal vice, iniquity, 
 I moralize two meanings in one word. 
 
 Dr. Warburton has taken no small pains to illustrate 
 this passage. That a character called the Vice was in- 
 troduced in the Old Moralities, he admits ; but the formal 
 vice, iniquity, he rejects as being corrupt, and the inter- 
 polation of some foolish players ; for, that the vice was 
 not & formal, but a merry, buffoon character, he therefore, 
 would read, — 
 
 Thus, like theformal-wise Antiquity. 
 
 The adjective formal, according to its general accep- 
 tation, is totally unconnected with vice. Mr. Upton 
 says, " Vice seems to be an abbreviation of Yice-devil, 
 Yice-roy, Yice-doge :" from which we must infer, that 
 the Old Vice was the Devil's deputy: yet, behold how 
 Commentators differ. Mr. Douce, (who has been inde- 
 fatigable in his researches,) in speaking of the Vice, says, 
 " He was a bitter enemy to the Devil, and a part of his 
 employment consisted in teazing and tormenting the poor 
 fiend on all occasions." If the Reader takes the trouble 
 to examine Johnson and Steevens' edition of Shakspeare, 
 1813, he will find nearly ten pages of small print intro- 
 duced to illustrate the formal vice ; a character, which 
 the indefatigable researches of the Commentators have 
 
KING RICHARD III. 245 
 
 never been able to ascertain; nor even, that a plurality 
 of Vices were ever characterized in scenic representation. 
 
 Indeed, had the text specified any other Vice than 
 the formal vice, all doubts would be removed from my 
 mind of the legitimacy of particularizing that Vice ; and 
 it would also have been an incontrovertible evidence, that 
 a plurality of Vices were attached to the Old Moralities, 
 But the word formal has not only the sound, but also the 
 letters, with the addition of an /, which form two words 
 that give energy to the passage, and correspond both with 
 the mind and body of the diabolical speaker. 
 
 But let me hasten to display the error, and thereby 
 confirm the literati, that a Vice, called the formal vice, 
 was never introduced in the Old Moralities ; nor, as I 
 may venture to say, ever met with in any author, save 
 in the corrupt passage wherein we now behold it. 
 
 More than once we hear Richard descanting on the 
 imperfect state of his body : he well knows his appear- 
 ance to be hideous, and he seems to glory that his mind 
 corresponds with it. Thus, alike vicious in mind and 
 body, he views the external ; and feeling the internal 
 workings of a guilty, hypocritical mind, he, in few. but 
 expressive words, paints himself a devil : 
 
 Thus, like the form, ally'ice; iniquity, 
 I moralize; — two meanings in one word. 
 
 Thus Gloster, though he moralizes on his own hypo- 
 crisy and falsehood, speaks so clearly the language of 
 truth, that elucidation is unnecessary. 
 
 The word formal, according to the old mode of spell- 
 ing, was formall : surely, then, any person can perceive 
 how the error originated : the compositor having omitted 
 to put a space between/orwz and all, joined the two words ; 
 by which the sequent word, vice, became a person, and 
 formal its adjective. 
 
 But what proves the error beyond controversy is, that 
 iniquity is made the formal vice : see the reading : — 
 
246 KING RICHARD III. 
 
 "Thus, like the formal vice, iniquity." so that Gloster 
 moralizes like iniquity; instead of which, it is his own 
 iniquity that he moralizes, and produces two meanings 
 from one word. 
 
 Scene I. — page Sib. 
 Gloster. Short summers lightly, have a forward spring. 
 
 Dr. Johnson interprets the word lightly, to mean— 
 commonly, in ordinary course. I profess, I cannot recon- 
 cile such a meaning. The text might require this forced 
 aid to make lightly of some use, but the proverb is per- 
 fectly understood without it. 
 
 That the word lightly, is corrupt, in the situation it 
 here maintains, I am convinced; therefore, I would read: 
 
 Short summers rightly ', have a forward spring. 
 
 Meaning: Short summers naturally, have a forward 
 spring : or, if the word lightly commenced the verse, it 
 affords an excellent sense. Gloster marks the Prince's 
 words; "Lightly," says he, as much as to say — Stop 
 there, or don't be too certain. — u Short summers have a 
 forward spring." 
 
 Thus, then, I would read, — 
 
 Lightly : — short summers have a forward spring. 
 
 He has already planned measures to prevent the Prince 
 from winning his ancient rights in France. 
 
 Scene IV. — page 393. 
 Ratcliff. Make haste, the hour of death is expiate. 
 We should read : 
 
 Make haste, the hour of death is :— expiate. 
 
 i. e. By death expiate your offences, which occasions 
 your premature death. 
 
KING RICHARD III. 24^ 
 
 ACT IV. 
 
 Scene IV. — page 458. 
 
 K. Rich. 'Faith, none, but Humphrey Hour, that call'd your grace 
 To breakfast once, forth of my company. 
 
 Mr. Steevens has been at considerable labour to illus- 
 trate this very obscure passage ; but, in my opinion, 
 neither the hunger of the Duchess, nor the followers of 
 Duke Humphrey, entered the imagination of our Author, 
 when adapting* this passage to the satirical turn of 
 Richard. 
 
 To a highly corrupt mind, Nature has given Richard 
 a deformed body ; the most conspicuous part of that 
 deformity, a hump-hack. Indeed, many are the epithets 
 used to denote this protuberant mark of Nature's dis- 
 pleasure: crook-backed Richard, is perfectly familiar: 
 hump-backed, equally so ; and, in the preceding speech, 
 the Duchess, speaking of him, says — "that foul bmich- 
 Zwc&'dtoad." 
 
 That Richard jests at his own deformity, we have 
 several instances; he seems perfectly satisfied that, in 
 having a mind to correspond with the external, com- 
 punction never starts at any act of violence which can 
 raise him to the pinnacle of greatness. But, however 
 satisfied he may seem with Nature, he is not equally so 
 with his mother, — who, from his birth, has frequently- 
 cast reflections on his unsightly person ; therefore, to 
 retort those reflections on her, in whose womb he was 
 moulded, he reflects upon his own deformity. 
 
 There is not a more familiar epithet used, either in 
 speaking of, or in despitefully addressing, a hump-back' 'd 
 person, than to call him — Humpy, Now, this is what 
 Richard aims at. The Duchess says, — 
 
 "What comfortable hour canst thou name, 
 That ever grac'd me in thy company ?" 
 
248 KING RICHARD III, 
 
 To which Richard replies : 
 
 'Faith, none, but Humpy's hour, — 
 
 Meaning : the hour of his birth, and which, naturally, 
 was a most comfortable hour to her, by being delivered 
 of her burden, which, she bore " in torment and in 
 agony" See the two preceding speeches of the Duchess, 
 and Richard's answer : 
 
 Duchess. — -" I have staid for thee, 
 
 God knows, in torment and in agony. 
 
 K. Richard. And came I not at last to comfort you? 
 
 Duchess. No, by the holy rood, thou know'st it well, 
 
 Thou cam'st on earth to make the earth my helL 
 A grievous burden was thy birth to me;" 
 
 Thus, must the hour of Richard's birth have proved a 
 comfortable hour to his mother; and, as that hour was 
 in the morning, his cries for nourishment awaking a 
 similar craving in herself, they breakfasted together ; and 
 thus, he calVd her grace to breakfast once. 
 
 The passage having been totally misunderstood, 
 Humpy'' s hour was made, (by either the transcriber or 
 compositor) Humphrey' 's hour. Indeed, from similarity 
 of sound, the former might have written the word as in 
 the present text. 
 
 Humpy was, no doubt, a nick-name given to Richard 
 by his relatives. 
 
 ACT V. 
 
 Scene III. — page 497. 
 
 Stanley. Of bloody strokes, and mortal-staring war. 
 
 However big war may look, or however fatally he 
 may stare on his victims, I cannot think, that mortal- 
 staring has a corresponding affinity with bloody strokes, 
 and believe we should read : 
 
 And put thy fortune to the arbitriment 
 Of bloody strokes, and mortal-staving war, 
 
KING RICHARD III. 249 
 
 To stave, is to fight with staves. In a subsequent 
 part of this scene Richard gives particular orders re- 
 specting his staves : 
 
 " Look that my staves be sound and not too heavy." 
 
 The r and v are almost similar in writing. 
 
 Scene III. — page 502. 
 Ghost of Clarence. I, that was wasli'd to death with fulsome wine, 
 
 The ghost of Clarence compares his death to that of 
 a person who, by an excess of intoxication, was suffocated. 
 But the word — washed, is not our Author's. We should 
 read : 
 
 I, that was wak'd to death with fulsome wine. 
 
 In a state of intoxication, he awakened in the world of 
 spirits. Wine, the ghost calls fulso me, from its surfeiting 
 effects when taken immoderately. 
 
 Scene III. — page 505. 
 Ghost of Buckingham. I died for hope, ere I could lend thee aid: 
 
 Buckingham's intention was to have regained that 
 place in Richard's confidence and estimation, which he 
 had formerly held. For this purpose, he raised con- 
 siderable forces, and was on his way to join him, when 
 most of his troops deserted him. In this helpless state 
 he was made prisoner, and, without being suffered to 
 plead his justification, was conveyed to the block. This 
 is the sense which the text should convey, but a word in 
 the verse is corrupt. We should read : 
 
 I died, sore hope, ere I could lend thee aid. 
 
 Thus, it js to the ghost of Buckingham an afflicting 
 remembrance. In life, he hoped to have displayed his 
 loyalty to Richard's cause ; and that sore hope proved 
 his destruction. 
 
250 KING RICHARD III. 
 
 Scene III. — page 513. 
 
 K. Richard. Then he disdains to shine; for, by the book, 
 He should have brav'd the east an hour ago : 
 
 Mr. Steevens's idea of comparing- the Jinery with 
 which a tailor invests his customers, to the brilliant rays 
 of the sun which embraces the earth, is, in my opinion, 
 extremely weak, and too forced to prove a satisfactory 
 elucidation. In fact, I think the Author's idea totally 
 obscured by the word — braved. 
 
 At that part of the passage where Richard says — by 
 the book, we would imagine he swore by the Holy Writ: 
 but this is not the case; he alludes to the calendar, 
 which he has been examining, to see at what hour the 
 sun should rise. The passage, I am confident, originally 
 read : 
 
 Then he disdains to shine; for, by the book, 
 He should have brac'd the east an hour ago : 
 
 His rays should have encircled the eastern hemisphere 
 an hour ago : the allusion is to a cincture worn round 
 the body. 
 
 It may be taken in another sense : The earth, relaxed 
 by the night's dew, the sun should have braced by its 
 cheerful rays. 
 
iitttg #wr2 vm. 
 
 ACT I. 
 
 Scene II. — page 26. 
 
 Buckingham. I am the shadow of poor Buckingham; 
 
 Whose figure even this instant cloud puts on, 
 By dark'ning my clear sun. 
 
 This passage is evidently corrupt ; but Dr. Johnson 
 has attached error to the wrong word ; he would read,— 
 puts out; and Mr. Steevens — pouts on. The horizon is 
 overspread with many clouds, and of various hues : a 
 dark cloud certainly obscures Buckingham from royal 
 favour, but this instant cloud seems to obscure all sense. 
 Surely, the original read : 
 
 I am the shadow of poor Buckingham, 
 Whose figure even this upstart cloud puts on, 
 
 Thus, the allusion is directly pointed at the Cardinal. 
 The confidence which the King formerly reposed in 
 Buckingham being now transferred to Wolsey, Buck- 
 ingham considers himself but the shadow of what he 
 was; and that the Cardinal, who, though but as a cloud 
 upstarted from the exhalations of a degenerate soil, is 
 become the substance. Thus, as a cloud obscures the 
 sun from the earth, so doth Wolsey obscure him from 
 the sunshine .of royal favour. 
 
 However confident that upstart is the original reading, 
 we gain additional proof from Buckingham's own words, 
 even in a preceding part of this scene, when, as if the 
 
252 KING HENRY VIII. 
 
 name of Wolsey were as poison to his lips, he avoids 
 
 mentioning it : 
 
 " but this top-proud fellow, 
 
 (Whom from the flow of gall I name not, but 
 From sincere motions)" 
 
 The words, upstart and instant, are not much unlike in 
 writing; particularly, if the down stroke of thep be not 
 sufficiently long, it has the appearance of an n; the 
 terminating syllable, tart and taut, have scarcely any 
 difference. 
 
 Scene II. — page 33. 
 
 Q. Katharine. —and it's come to pass, 
 
 That tractable obedience is a slave 
 To each incensed will. 
 
 Those who were formerly most submissive in their 
 duty, are now, by the instigations of the disaffected, be- 
 come violently riotous. 
 
 ACT II. 
 Scene III. — page 77. 
 Aw ne. Yet, if that quarrel, fortune, 
 
 Sir Thomas Hanmer reads — " That quarreller, for- 
 tune." This, certainly, has more meaning than the 
 present text, but I do not think either correct. I read: 
 
 Yet, if that queller, fortune, 
 
 t. e. That appeaser, that subduer, fortune. Thus, fortune 
 maintains two of her strongest attributes. As for the 
 word, it is familiar. See Second Part of Henry IV. 
 Act II. sc. i. where Hostess Quickley calls Falstaff, a 
 man-queller, and a woman- queller. And in Troilus 
 and Cressida — we have, — 
 
 "Come, come, thou hoy-queller, show thy face;" 
 
KING HENRY VIII. 253 
 
 The transcriber begun to write queller, but his thoughts 
 turned to the more familiar word — quarrel. 
 
 Scene III. — page 80. 
 
 Old Lady. You'd venture -an emb ailing: 
 
 I believe we should read — empaling. 
 The Old Lady's meaning, though highly indecorous, 
 is very obvious. See Mr. Ritson's note. 
 
 Scene III. — page 85. 
 Old Lady. How tastes it? is it bitter? forty -pence, no. 
 
 Neither forty-pence, nor two-pence, can give a rational 
 meaning to this passage. However jocular the Old Lady 
 may be, I think she should be better understood. The 
 word — bitter, alludes to taste ; must it not then be de- 
 signed for the sense of tasting ? I read : 
 
 How tastes it? is it not bitter for thy sense ? No : 
 
 This is a rational question, and well understood, as 
 being allusive to her good fortune. 
 
 For thy sense— Forty -pence, the sound is almost the 
 same. 
 
 Scene IV. — page 91. 
 
 Q. Katharine. What friend of mine 
 
 That had to him deriv'd your anger, did I 
 Continue in my liking ? Nay, gave notice. 
 
 The Queen, wishing, on this particular point, to attract 
 the attention of the King, calls him to a due observance 
 of her conduct on such occasions. The text is corrupt ; 
 we should read : 
 
254 KING HENRY VIII. 
 
 •What friend of mine 
 
 That had to him deriv'd your anger, did I 
 Continue in my liking ? Nay, give notice, 
 
 i. e. Nay, give attention. 
 
 Scene IV. — page 91. 
 
 Q,. Katharine. or my love and duty, 
 
 There is a gross error in this phrase ; but which can 
 be easily rectified by a slight transposition. Read : 
 
 If, in the course 
 
 And process of this time, you can report, 
 And prove it too, against mine honour aught, 
 My bond to wedlock, my love and duty, or, 
 Against your sacred person, &c. 
 
 Scene I. — page 95. 
 
 Q. Katharine. You have, by fortune, and his highness' favours, 
 Gone slightly o'er low steps ; and now are mounted 
 Where powers are your retainers: and your words, 
 Domestics to you, serve your will. 
 
 A single letter has rendered this passage corrupt, 
 and, consequently, inexplicable. We should read : 
 
 Where towers are your retainers : and your words, 
 Domestics to you, serve your will. 
 
 Thus, the invective is strongly aimed, and too plain 
 not to be well understood by the haughty Cardinal. 
 You have, (says the Queen,) through the blessings of 
 fortune and the favours of the King, been rapidly ad- 
 vanced from a low state to that of the greatest influence ; 
 nay, so highly are you mounted, that towers are at your 
 command; (alluding to his authority, that could send 
 any person to the Tower,) and your words, as servants, 
 immediately obey your orders : that is, judicial pro- 
 ceedings are never considered, but your words are, with 
 silent submission, instantly obeyed. 
 
KING HENRY VIII. 055 
 
 Scene II. — page 126. 
 
 Wolsey. 1 do profess, 
 
 That for your highness' good I ever labour'd 
 More than mine own; that am, have, and will be. 
 Though all the world should crack their duty to you, 
 
 This passage has received censure, and, indeed, most 
 justly: no attempt, however, has been made towards 
 its reformation, except by proposing' the expulsion of 
 the words — that am^ have, and will be: and yet, by 
 reading aim instead of am, and has for have, we obtain 
 the Cardinal's meaning : 
 
 I do profess, 
 
 That for your highness' good I ever labour'd 
 More than mine own : that aim, has, and will be, 
 Though all the world should crack their duty to you, 
 And throw it from their soul. 
 
 Meaning : that the great aim, or object of his labours, 
 has been for the good of his majesty ; and that it will 
 ever continue to be the same, though all the world should 
 rebel against him. 
 
 The dot over the i, in the word — aim, being omitted, 
 the compositor read am : this error induced the corrector 
 to change has to have; thinking, that the Cardinal 
 meant — I am, have been, and will be. 
 
 It, however, appears to me, that these errors induced 
 the corrector or editor to make a transposition of two 
 words ; by the restoring of which, to their proper place, 
 I am more perfectly convinced we recover the original 
 reading: 
 
 that aim has, and will be 
 
 To you, though all the world should crack their duty, 
 And throw it from their soul ; 
 
 By this arrangement, the measure of the verse will 
 be found perfect : according to the present text, it ex- 
 ceeds its limite. 
 
 When a word or two, at the commencement of a line, 
 break, the compositor frequently places them at the end, 
 depending on memory to restore them. 
 
256 KING HENRY VIII. 
 
 Scene II. — page 187. 
 
 Chancellor. But we all are men, 
 
 In our own natures frail ; and capable 
 
 Of our flesh, few are angels: out of which frailty, 
 
 And want of wisdom, you, &c. 
 
 Various emendations have been suggested to correct 
 this passage : that recommended by Mr. M. Mason is, 
 unquestionably, the best. The word capable, has cer- 
 tainly been either written or composed through mistake : 
 for capable, read culpable: for of, read oft; and a pure 
 sense is obtained: 
 
 But we all are men, 
 
 In our own natures frail ; and culpable 
 
 Oft our flesh: — few are angels: out of which frailty, 
 
 Man is frail in his nature, and often renders himself 
 culpable by his sensuality. 
 
 Scene III. — page 205. 
 
 Man. When suddenly a file of boys behind them, loose shot, 
 
 Mr. Malone refers his readers to Vol. IX. p. 139, n. 4, 
 for a proof, to justify the present text; and which he 
 explains to mean, — loose, or random shooters. But, in 
 my opinion, the boys, when they delivered such a shower 
 of pebbles, threw them not at random ; for, had they, the 
 pebbles must have assailed those who came to the broom- 
 staff with the Porter's man, as well as others of the mob 
 who strove to get entrance. I am, therefore, convinced 
 that the shower of pebbles were so well aimed, that the 
 man was obliged to retreat: in his own words — "Was 
 fain to draw his honour in." But loose shot is not the 
 phrase: — I am certain we should read, loose shod: al- 
 luding to the very low order of which the mob was com- 
 posed. He knew they were loose-shod, by the noise of 
 their wooden clogs. 
 
KING HENRY VIII. 257 
 
 Scene III. — page 205. 
 
 Porter. These are the youths that thunder at a play-house, 
 and fight for bitter apples; that no audience, but 
 the Tribulation of Tower-hill, or the limbs of 
 Lime-house, their dear brothers, &c. 
 
 That Dr. Johnson and Mr. Steevens are correct, in 
 explaining- the Tribulation of Tower-hill to mean a pu- 
 ritanical meeting-house, there is not a doubt on my 
 mind ; but Mr. Steevens's idea, that Shakspeare wrote, 
 the lambs of Lime-house, I must negative. 
 
 Limbs mean, members — that is, members either of 
 the body, of the community, or of the Christian church. 
 Consequently, the limbs , (as the Porter facetiously calls 
 them,) are the members of the Lime-house fraternity, 
 and dear brothers of the Tribulation of Tower-hill. 
 
 In a similar manner, the word limb is often familiarly 
 used, in speaking of gentlemen of the Law : — He is a 
 limb of the Law. 
 
WvoUu$ anli <£xt$&iba. 
 
 ACT I. 
 
 Scene I. — page 236. 
 
 Troilus. Handiest in thy discourse, 0, that her hand, 
 
 Of the phrase — Handiest in thy discourse, I can make 
 no hand ; and my predecessors, (save Mr. Malone, who, 
 by the bye, gives no illustration of it,) considered 
 perfect nonsense ; or at least, as Mr. Steevens observes, 
 it forms part of two lines, the worst to be found in a 
 degraded play. I think the passage can be amended, and 
 brought nearer our Author's hand, by reading: 
 
 Thou answer' st she is fair 
 
 Pour'st in the open ulcer of my heart 
 
 Her eyes, her hair, her cheek, her gait, her voice ! — 
 
 Hand less in thy discourse, — O, that hand, 
 
 Thus, Troilus tells him to be less communicative of 
 Cressida's perfections, and at the same moment, having 
 used the word hand r it calls another beauty to his re- 
 membrance, which makes him break out afresh in his 
 raptures of comparison. 
 
 Scene I. — page 237. 
 
 Troilus. To whose soft seizure 
 
 The cygnet's down is harsh, and spirit of sense 
 Hard as the palm of ploughman ! 
 
 I am not surprised that the spirit of this passage has 
 not been understood; for, in my opinion, there is a 
 
TROILUS AND CRESSIDA. 259 
 
 corrupt word in it, and the punctuation has materially 
 injured the sense. I believe the Author wrote: 
 To whose soft seizure, 
 
 The cygnet's down is harsh in spirit of sense; 
 Hard as the palm of ploughman ! 
 
 Thus, the cygnet's down is harsh to his feelings, in 
 comparison to the softness of Cressida's hand: Ay, 
 harsh (says the speaker) as the palm of ploughman! 
 
 Scene II . — page 24 1 . 
 
 Alexander. — Hector, whose patience 
 
 Is, as a virtue, fix'd, to-day was mov'd: 
 
 Patience being- a virtue, the fix'd virtue has nothing 
 to do with the passage : We should read, — 
 
 — Hector, whose patience 
 
 Is, as a vulture ', fix'd, to-day was mov'd: 
 
 Thus, the patience of Hector is compared to the 
 vulture, which never moves from the object of its insa- 
 tiate gluttony, until it has entirely devoured it. Pro- 
 metheus, according to Fabulous History, was chained to 
 Mount Caucasus, with a vulture preying constantly on 
 his liver. 
 
 Scene III. — page 260. 
 
 Nestor. With due observance of thy godlike seat, 
 Great Agamemnon, Nestor shall apply 
 Thy latest words. 
 
 The words of Agamemnon, and to which Nestor 
 alludes, are in Agamemnon's latest speech, and which 
 are highly prized by Nestor, as they reveal the cause of 
 the long-protracted war. The words are, — 
 
 "Why then, you princes, 
 
 Do you with cheeks abash'd behold our works; 
 
 And think them shames, which are, indeed, nought else 
 
 But the protractive trials of great Jove, 
 
 To find persistive constancy in men ? 
 
 The fineness of which metal is not found 
 
 In fortune's love." &c. 
 
 S 2 
 
260 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA. 
 
 As Nestor considers these words to issue from the 
 source of wisdom, he will treasure them in his mind, 
 and apply the information which they convey towards 
 the regulating- of his future actions. 
 
 Scene III. — page 263. 
 
 Ulysses. -■ And such again, 
 
 As venerable Nestor hatch' d in silver, 
 
 The compositor, from the word not being sufficiently 
 distinct in the copy, hatch' 'd and brought forth an egre- 
 gious blunder; and which blunder has brought forth 
 three pages of learned notes. It is unnecessary to adduce 
 argument to show the imbecility of the word hatched; the 
 passage, when corrected, will prove Shakspeare's un- 
 erring genius : 
 
 And such again, 
 
 As venerable Nestor harpd in silver, 
 Should with a bond, &c. 
 
 His eloquence, sweetly soft and harmoniously grand, 
 operated on the sense of his auditors, as music produced 
 by the fingers of experience from a harp strung with 
 silver strings. 
 
 In the subsequent speech, the musical voice of Nestor 
 is again complimented : 
 
 " We shall hear musick, wit, and oracle." 
 
 In defence of Dr. Johnson's opinion of this passage, 
 I reluctantly refer the Reader to Mr. Malone's note. 
 
 Scene III. — page 263. 
 
 Ulysses. Should with a bond of air (strong as the axletree 
 On which heaven rides,) knit all the Greekish ears 
 To his experiene'd tongue. 
 
 A bond of air! This I profess beyond my comprehen- 
 sion : and how air is to become a solid body, and form a 
 
TR01LUS AND CRESSIDA. 261 
 
 bond, strong as the axletree on which heaven rides, is, I 
 believe, beyond the powers of human wisdom. Our 
 Author is styled, and justly too, the Poet of Nature; 
 but, if this be natural, then has Nature, in this instance, 
 exposed a figure to her favourite, as heterogeneous to 
 physics as is the idea of — seeing* a sound! And yet, 
 Mr. Malone, in his note on this passage, observes, 
 "With respect to the breath, or speech of Nestor, here 
 called a bond of air, it is so truly Shaksperian, that I have 
 not the smallest doubt of the genuineness of the expres- 
 sion." Well, let us see if it be so truly Shaksperian. 
 
 All must admit that the axletree of a carriage is either 
 of forged or east steel. The French word for steel is acier; 
 in old French, acyre. Formely, the word air was spelt 
 ayre. Nov,, look to the similarity of the letters which 
 compose acyre and ayre : there is a c in one word which 
 is not required in the other. Suppose, then, the word 
 acyre to have been perfect in the manuscript, and with 
 which word the person who read to the transcriber was 
 unacquainted, — would he not, most probably, sound it 
 asayre? Consequently, the transcriber, equally ignorant 
 of the word which the passage required, wrote — a bond 
 of as ayre: and thus, the proof-sheet came to the cor- 
 rector, who expunged the superfluous as, and left the 
 bond of air, or ayre, for critical animadversion. 
 
 Now, let us read the passage corrected, and I am bold 
 enough to say, according to the Author's original text : 
 
 And thou most reverend for thy stretch'd-out life, — 
 I give to both your speeches,— which, were such, 
 As Agamemnon and the hand of Greece 
 Should hold up high in brass; and such again, 
 As venerable Nestor harp'd in silver, 
 Should, with a bond of acier (strong as the axletree 
 On which heaven rides,) knit all the Greekish ears 
 To his experienc d tongue. 
 
 If elucidation be necessary, it is merely to inform the 
 Reader, that acier is the French word for steel; and, 
 that the bond to knit all the Greekish ears should be as 
 strong as the axletree on which heaven moves. 
 
262 TfcoiLUS AND CRESS1DA. 
 
 Scene III.— page 277. 
 Agamemnon. What trumpet? look Menelaus. 
 
 Mr. Steevens is certainly right, that Menelaus should 
 be omitted, as prejudicial to the metre. In my opinion, 
 the transcriber wrote Menelaus in the wrong place ; and 
 afterwards opposed it to the words which announce from 
 whence the trumpet came. 
 
 Agam. What trumpet ? look. 
 Men. From Troy. 
 
 Thus the measure is preserved. 
 
 Scene III.— page 278. 
 
 ./Eneas. But when they would seem soldiers, they have galls, 
 
 Good arms, strong joints, true swords; and, Jove's accord, 
 Nothing so full of heart. 
 
 The Commentators admit, that the phrase — and, Jove's 
 accord, &c. is unintelligible. Mr. Steevens would read, 
 Jove's a god: Mr. Malone, Love's a lord: and Mr. M. 
 Mason, Jove's own bird. These seem all fancy figures, 
 catching at sound, but in sense quite deficient. I believe 
 our Author wrote : 
 
 -they have galls, 
 
 Good arms, strong joints, true swords; and Jove's a core. 
 Nothing so full of heart. 
 
 i. e. Jove has a core, but he is nothing so full of heart 
 as they are : meaning, his heart is not so full of courage. 
 However convinced I may be that this was the Author's 
 text, perhaps, the minute investigator of Shakspeare's 
 Works, will be more firmly of my opinion, from the 
 following passage, in Act V. sc. i. of this play: 
 
 Achieles. " How now, thou core of envy? 
 
 Thou crusty hatch of nature, what news?" 
 
TROILUS AND CRESSIDA. §63 
 
 ACT III. 
 
 Scene II. — page 354. 
 
 Pandarus. let all constant men be Troiluses, nil false 
 
 women Cressids. 
 
 If inconstancy be not as much intended for Troilus, 
 as falsity for Cressida, why should Pandarus require 
 Troilus to say, amen? The speaker has just said — If 
 Peer you prove false one to another: — Surely, this implies 
 the probability, that one may prove equally as inconstant 
 as the other. I am persuaded, the error is not our 
 Author's, and should, therefore, be corrected : 
 — let all inconstant men be Troiluses. 
 
 Scene III. — page 356. 
 
 Calchas. Appear it to your mind, 
 
 That, through the sight I bear in things, to Jove 
 I have abandon'd Troy. 
 
 Dr. Johnson observes, on this passage, that the word 
 is so printed, (Jove,) that u nothing but the sense can 
 determine, whether it be love or Jove." He thinks the 
 Editor read it love ; and Mr. Steevens seems confident, 
 that love is the true reading. In all the modern editions, 
 the passage reads : 
 
 That through the sight I bear in things to come, 
 
 Calchas, while at prayer in the Oratory, received 
 divine information, that Troy would be destroyed by the 
 Greeks, and that it was the order of the gods that he 
 should quit the Trojans, and become an ally to the 
 Greeks. This he accordingly did ; and, being well assured 
 of the fate that awaited Troy, he had no merit in 
 quitting his country, notwithstanding he left children, 
 friends, and fortune; for personal safety, though a 
 primary consideration with most men, was but secondary 
 
264 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA. 
 
 witli him, as the order he had received from Jove must 
 he obeyed. 
 
 The divine information, then, that he received, having 
 come from Jove, it is to Jove he alludes; but false 
 punctuation shows the passage in a false light. The 
 text says, — "to Jove I have abandoned Troy:" as 
 though he said — / have left the fate of Troy to Jove. 
 Any common soldier, who deserted and joined the 
 Greeks, could have made the same observation. We 
 frequently say — I leave you to your fate; but what that 
 fate may be, is unknown to the person who thus deserts, 
 perhaps, a friend. It will also be found, that Calchas 
 boasts no prescience: he received verbal orders from 
 the gods ; those orders he has obeyed ; and, though he 
 has but merely done his duty, yet, the sacrifices that he 
 made renders him an object of high consideration, and 
 duly entitled to a liberal compensation. We should read : 
 
 Appear it to your mind, 
 
 That, to the sight I bear in things through Jore, 
 I have abandon'd Troy. 
 
 Thus, by this transposition, his meaning is as clear as 
 words can convey them; and the passage qualified to 
 correspond with the quotation from Lydgate, as given 
 by Mr. Malone. 
 
 " He entred into the oratorye, — 
 And hesily gan to knele and praye, 
 And his things devoutly for to saye, 
 And to the god crye and call full stronge j 
 And for Apollo would not tho prolonge, 
 Sodaynly his answere gan attame, 
 And sayd Calchas twies by his name ; 
 Be right well 'ware thou ne tourne agayne 
 To Troy towne, for that were but in vayne, 
 For finally lerne this thynge of me, 
 In shorte tyme it shall destroyed be: 
 This is in sooth, whych may not be denied, 
 Wherefore I will that thou be alyed 
 With the Greekes, and with Achilles go 
 To them anone; my will is, it be so : — 
 For thou to them shall be necessary, 
 In counseling and in giving rede., 
 And be right helping to their good spedc,'' . 
 
TROILUS AXD CRESSIDA. 265 
 
 ACT IV. 
 
 Scene I. — page 382. 
 
 Paris. But we in silence hold this virtue well, — 
 We'll not commend what we intend to sell. 
 
 The present state of this passage admits of no defence : 
 in fact, explication is impossible. I believe our Author 
 wrote : 
 
 We'll but commend what we intend to sell. 
 
 As Paris does not intend to sell Helen, he will be 
 silent on her perfections. 
 
 The word not has been frequently intruded for bid 
 in these plays. 
 
 Scene II. — page 
 
 Troilus. — Sleep, kill those pretty eyes. 
 
 There is no great difficulty in accounting for the 
 present error. The letter-case, (called the upper case,) 
 in which the k has its compartment, is next to that of 
 theji: these sorts frequently visit each other. We 
 should read : 
 
 To bed, to bed: Sleep, still those pretty eyes, 
 The invocation is addressed to sleep, that sleep may 
 still 9 i. e. may compose her eyes, and thereby free them 
 from that glowing animation with which passion disturbs 
 them ; that every sense may be tranquillized, and that 
 she may be lulled to that soft repose which infants, 
 empty of all thoughts, enjoy. 
 
 Scene II. — page 388. 
 
 JSneas. Good, good, my lord; the secrets of nature 
 Have not more gifts in taciturnity. 
 
 This verse, through the carelessness of the com- 
 positor, has lost a word, which strips it of its greatest 
 beauty. Mr. Pope reads, — 
 
 the secrets of neighbour Pander. 
 
266 TR01LUS AND CRESSIDA. 
 
 And Mr. Malone would read, — 
 
 the secrelest of nature. 
 
 But, a most familiar phrase displays at once the 
 original reading. I read: 
 
 Good, good, ray lord ; the secret springs of nature 
 Have not more gifts in taciturnity. 
 
 The secret springs of nature, which sets her wonder- 
 working machine in motion, are not more gifted with 
 taciturnity ; for, they are so silent, that since the creation, 
 their secrets have never been revealed to man. 
 
 The word secret being composed, the compositor added 
 the s, thinking he had got spring, and thus made secrets 
 and omitted springs. 
 
 ACT V. 
 
 Scene IV. — page 458. 
 
 Thersites. The policy of those crafty swearing rascals, — 
 
 Mr. Theobald's observations to prove the word swear- 
 ing not authentic, in its present situation, are, in my 
 opinion, perfectly just; but I do not think sneering the 
 Author's word. I read: 
 
 The policy of those crafty swerving rascals, — 
 
 Nestor and Ulysses used to stir up the emulation Sr 
 Achilles, and consequently swerved from the principles 
 of honour. 
 
 Swerving and swearing are so alike in writing, that 
 a compositor, taking but a cursory view of his copy, might 
 easily mistake one word for the other. 
 
ffortolatm?* 
 
 ACT I. 
 
 Scene I. — page 12. 
 
 Memnius. 1 will tell you; 
 
 If you'll bestow a small (of what you have little,) 
 Patience, a while, you'll hear the belly's answer. 
 
 A small portion of a little, is well understood; but 
 
 to bestow a small of a little patience ', is rank nonsense. 
 
 Had it read — a small portion , we might think the passage 
 
 correct. I am certain the transcriber mistook the sound 
 
 of the words ; and that our Author wrote : 
 
 I will tell you 
 
 If you'll bestow us all (of what you have little,) 
 Patience; — a while you'll hear the belly's answer. 
 
 The citizens were possessed of so little patience, that 
 Meninius required it all. 
 
 Scene I. — page 23. 
 
 Brutus. The present wars devour him : he is grown 
 Too proud to be so valiant. 
 
 The idea which Dr. Warburton entertains of this 
 passage seems very erroneous : the punctuation, I 
 think, perfectly correct. The passage means:— His 
 pride has grown in proportion much greater than his 
 valour ; and, in the present wars, he figures to himself 
 such ideal greatness in his military capacity, that the 
 very source (war) from which he derives his present 
 greatness now devours him. 
 
268 C0R10LANUS. 
 
 Scene II. — page 27. 
 
 Second Senator. If they set down before us, for the remove 
 Bring up your army ; 
 
 We have got here the phrase of a cook, for that of a 
 Senator, giving instructions to the general of an army. 
 Dr. Johnson and Mr. M. Mason perceived an error in 
 the passage, but neither, according to my apprehension, 
 seem to have understood the Senator's meaning. 
 
 The object of Aufidius was, to have taken in many 
 towns, so as to have secured necessary supplies of pro- 
 vision for his troops, and to have impeded the marches 
 of the enemy towards Corioli; but in this he was 
 defeated by the unexpected promptitude of the Romans. 
 The orders, then, which he receives, is to leave Corioli 
 to the defence of its garrison; and, should the enemy 
 set down before Corioli, he is to concentrate all his forces, 
 and to remove to a greater distance, where the enemy 
 not seeing them, he shall be able to concert such mea- 
 sures as would effect their defeat. The text is evidently 
 corrupt : we should read : 
 
 Let us alone to guard Corioli : 
 
 If they set down before us, further remove; 
 
 Bring up your army: 
 
 The transcriber's ear deceived him: further remove 
 and for the remove, are nearly alike. 
 
 Scene III. — page 31. 
 
 What, are you sewing here ? a fine spot, in 
 
 good faith. 
 
 Valeria means amusement : We certainly should read: 
 
 a fine sport, in good faith. 
 
 The r dropped out in placing the pages for imposi- 
 tion, and, as the letters formed a perfect word, the cor- 
 rector overlooked the error. 
 
CORIOLANUS. 269 
 
 Scene VI. — page 47. 
 
 Marc i us. if any fear 
 
 Lesser his person than an ill report; 
 
 The old copy has — Lessen. Mr. Steevens's idea of 
 this passage is correctly just; but he should have cor- 
 rected thus : 
 
 if any fear 
 
 Less in his person than an ill report; 
 
 The manner in which the error originated is obvious : 
 the transcriber, from similarity of sound, made one 
 word, instead of two ; in which he changed the i into 
 an e. We have repeated instances of such blunders. 
 
 Scene VII. — page 48. 
 
 Marcius. - — ——Please you to march; 
 
 And four shall quickly draw out my command, 
 Which men are best inclin'd. 
 
 I refer my Readers to the Commentators' elucidations 
 of this passage, wherein they will find their defence of 
 the four who were to make choice of soldiers for the 
 enterprize : without farther preamble, I shall give the 
 Author's reading : 
 
 —Please you to march; 
 
 And foes shall quickly draw out my command, 
 Which men are best inclin'd, 
 
 Here we have a phrase worthy of this truly great 
 soldier, and so well understood by his men, that every 
 one who wished to face the foe would step forward : 
 Thus, the foes drew out the men who were best inclined to 
 oppose them, and the cowards, if any, remained. 
 
 The passage not being understood by the compositor, 
 his sagacity made otit the word four ; which the corrector 
 (it being a word) admitted. 
 
270 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 Scene VIII. — page 51. 
 
 Aufidius. Wert thou the Hector, 
 
 That was the whip of your bragg'd proginy, 
 
 Hector being a Trojan, was unconnected in any line 
 of consanguinity with Coriolanu.s. But the text is cor- 
 rupt. We should read : 
 
 Wilt thou hector? 
 
 That was the whip of your braggVd proginy, 
 
 Meaning: Wilt thou rant or domineer over us with 
 thy tongue ? That was the whip ofyovr bragged proginy : 
 they could scold and bully with it muc tt better than fight 
 with their swords. 
 
 The transcriber seems to have written hector as a 
 proper name; and the compositor thought it meant 
 Hector, the famous Trojan. 
 
 ACT II. 
 
 Scene I. — page 82. 
 
 Brutus. holding them, 
 
 In human action and capa< uty, 
 
 Of no more soul, nor fitness for the world, 
 
 Than camels in their war. 
 
 Camels, at all times, are merely b easts of burthen : In 
 their prime they are safe for riding, , but in their decline 
 not to be depended on. War, in its present state, is in- 
 defensible, nor can any sense be extracted out of it. 
 We should read, as our Author, I a tm convinced, wrote : 
 
 holding them, 
 
 In human action and capacity, 
 
 Of no more soul, nor fitness for th e world, 
 
 Than camels in their wane; 
 
 i.e. When they are old, and c» snsequently useless. 
 War was formerly spelt warre: the n was taken for rr, 
 by the compositor. 
 
CORIOLAN'US. 271 
 
 Scene I. — page 83. 
 
 ■This, as you say, suggested 
 
 At some time when his soaring insolence 
 Shall teach the people. 
 
 This is a strange error, and must be attributed to the 
 compositor. The original certainly read : 
 
 This, as you say, suggested 
 
 At some time when his soaring insolence 
 Shall stench the people. 
 
 Alluding to his pride : and, according to the old saying, 
 He stinks with pride. The s in the word ste?ich not being 
 sufficiently clear in the MS. the residue must have been 
 mistaken for teach: the n, if carelessly formed, is not 
 unlike an a : hence the error. Thus corrected, the text 
 is familiar : The people will turn up their noses at him. 
 
 Scene HI. — page 105. 
 
 Coriol-vxus. Why in this woolvish gown should I stand here, 
 To heg of Hob and Dick, that do appear, 
 
 I have not been able to learn whether the Romans 
 made gowns of wolf-skin. I believe, and think many 
 will coincide with me, that our Author wrote : 
 
 Why in this whorish gown should I stand here, 
 To beg of Hob and Dick, that do appear, 
 
 Alluding to the corrupt principles of many who had 
 worn the gown on similar occasions. The gown was as 
 well known to the rabble of Rome, as one worn by a 
 harlot who had not a second. In Act III. sc. i. Corio- 
 lanus says : 
 
 "- Well, I must do't : 
 
 Away my disposition, and possess me 
 Some harFofs spirit;" 
 
2^2 C0R10.LAXC5. 
 
 ACT III.. 
 Scene I. — page 134. 
 Meninius. One time will owe another. 
 
 By owe, I believe he means own. The allusion is, 
 that a time for retribution will arrive, when the people 
 must own their illiberal conduct. 
 
 In sc. ii. of this Act, owe is used for own in a similar 
 manner ; Volumnia says : 
 
 " Thy valiantness was mine; thou suck'st it from me; 
 But owe thy pride thyself." 
 
 Scene II. — page 148. 
 
 Volumnia. waving thy head, 
 
 Which often, thus, correcting thy stout heart, 
 
 This passage is very corrupt, and for which, I believe, 
 both the transcriber and compositor are to blame. I 
 read : 
 
 baring thy head. 
 
 Which softens : thus, correcting thy stout heart, 
 
 Volumnia has just told Coriolanus, that he must hold 
 his bonnet in his hand, and bend his knee to the people, 
 in order to disarm their prejudice and resentment: and, 
 as actions of humility often prove more efficacious than 
 oratory, he must bare his head, which, says Volumnia, 
 will soften them to mildness and moderation. Thus, his 
 bare head corrects his stout heart. 
 
 That baring his head is the true reading-, we have the 
 authority of Coriolahus's words, in a subsequent part of 
 this scene : 
 
 " Must I go show them my unbarVd sconce V 
 
 The turn of a b in writing, if brought too low, has 
 much the appearance of a w; and the r, in the middle 
 of a word, if not carefully formed, is not unlike a v : 
 
CORIOLANUS. 273 
 
 thus originated tlie word waving for baring. In the 
 word softens, the person who recited as the transcriber 
 wrote, did not lay sufficient emphasis on the s, either at 
 the beginning or termination of the word; and thus, often 
 for softens. 
 
 Scene III. — page 165, 
 
 Coriolanus. Despising, 
 
 For you, the city, thus I turn my hack; 
 
 A word is wanting, after Despising, to perfect the 
 measure : I think critical judgment will admit the pro- 
 bability, that the pronoun you was omitted by some 
 early Editor; and, most likely, in order to overcome 
 what he deemed tautology, he disregarded the sense. 
 I read: 
 
 Despising #< 
 
 For you, the city, thus I turn my back; 
 
 Thus Coriolanus despises the citizens, and, on their 
 account, despises the city. Mr. Steevens proposes to 
 read — Despising therefore. 
 
 ACT IV. 
 
 Scene I. — page 167. 
 
 Coriolanus. the beast 
 
 With many heads butts me away.— 
 
 Rome, on account of its seven hills, is supposed to be 
 the beast alluded to in the Apocalypse. This shows, 
 that, in Shakspeare's time, the same sense was entertained 
 of that part of the Revelations, which the enlightened 
 have at present. 
 
274 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 Scene I. — page 169. 
 
 Volumnia. — My/rsfson, 
 
 Mr. Heath proposes to read — My fierce son : — I cer- 
 tainly think his correction just. We know not that 
 Volumnia ever had a second son : besides, fierce corre- 
 sponds with wild, as in a subsequent part of the speech. 
 
 Scene I.— page 169. 
 
 Volumnia. More than a wild exposture to each chance, 
 
 As the word exposture has no meaning, why not read 
 
 exposure ? The compositor, most probably, took up the Ji 
 
 type, (the f and t formed one type,) thus arose the error. 
 
 Scene I. — page 175. 
 
 Volsce. You had more heard when I last saw you; but your 
 favour is well appeared by your tongue. 
 
 This is nonsense: we should read — appareVd. 
 
 The Roman, being a traitor to his country, and a spy 
 in the pay of the Volscians, was obliged, at times, to 
 assume different disguises. Now, when the Volscian last 
 saw the Roman, he wore a false beard, but, at present, 
 that disguise has been laid aside : the Volscian, there- 
 fore, on recognizing him, says, — 
 
 You had more beard when I last saw you j but your favour is 
 well appareVd by your tongue. 
 
 Meaning : If your chin be not well furnished, your 
 tongue is ; or, I know you by your voice. 
 
 Scene V. — page 188. 
 
 Aufidius. — Worthy Marcius, 
 
 Had we no quarrel else to Rome, but that 
 Thou art thence banish'd, we would muster all 
 From twelve to seventy; and, pouring war 
 Into the bowels of ungrateful Rome, 
 Like a bold flood o'er-beat, 
 
CORIOLANUS. 275 
 
 I should think it requires very little argument to con- 
 vince, that the Author wrote : 
 
 and pouring, war 
 
 Into the bowels of ungrateful Rome, 
 Like a bold flood o'er-bear't, 
 
 Like the impetuous force of a flood that overpowers 
 every thing that would obstruct it. 
 
 In the next scene of this Act, we have this figure 
 strengthened by the messenger, who says, — 
 
 Caius Marcius, 
 
 Associated with Aufidius, rages 
 Upon our territories ; and have already 
 O'er-borne their way, consum'd with fire, and took 
 What lay before thera." 
 
 Scene V. — page 208. 
 
 Aufidius. So our virtues 
 
 Lie in the interpretation of the time : 
 And power, unto itself most commendable, 
 Hath not a tomb so evident as a chair 
 To extol what it hath done. 
 
 I certainly think we should read : 
 
 And power, unto itself most condemnable, 
 Hath not a tomb so evident as a chair 
 To extol what it hath done. 
 
 That power which condemns itself more than it is 
 condemned by others, proves its modest worth ; nor can 
 any monument blazon its virtues equal to the seat 
 wherein it formerly administered justice. 
 
 Scene V. — page 209. 
 
 Aufidius. One fire drives out one fire; one nail, one nail; 
 
 Rights by rights fouler, strengths by strengths do fail. 
 
 The transcriber seems to have made a foul error here : 
 We should read : 
 
 Rights by rights founder, strengths by strengths do fail. 
 
 One right is good until a better is established, and 
 then, that which is feeble, founders : — i. e. sinks to the 
 bottom. 
 
 T2 
 
276 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 Scene V. — page 215. 
 
 Cominius. — What he would do, 
 
 He sent in writing after me ; what he would not, 
 Bound with an oath, to yield to his conditions: 
 
 Some of my predecessors would entirely change the 
 sense of this passage by their proposed emendations; 
 and Mr. Malone is of opinion, that two half lines 
 have been lost: however, with due deference to these 
 opinions, the changing of one letter removes all ob- 
 scurity, and restores the original reading : 
 What he would do, 
 
 He sent in writing after me ; what he would not, 
 Bound with an oath: so yield to his conditions: — 
 
 Cominius, being dismissed by Coriolanus, receives, 
 immediately after, written conditions, stating what he 
 (Coriolanus) would do; but, what he would not do, — that 
 is, what Rome solicited — he confirmed with an oath, not 
 to do. Convinced, then, that the inflexibility of Corio- 
 lanus cannot be overcome by any terms proposed by 
 the Romans, Cominius positively asserts, that farther 
 application is unnecessary, and therefore recommends 
 Rome to submit to the written conditions. 
 
 The same conditions, Coriolanus, for the love be 
 bears Meninius, offers again. See sc. iii. of this Act : 
 
 — " Their latest refuge 
 
 Was to send him : for whose old love, I have 
 (Though I show'd sourly to him,) once more ofFer'd 
 The first conditions," &c. 
 
 It appears to me that some early Editor, to avoid 
 tautology, changed the word ; for the repetition is found 
 at the commencement of the sequent verse : but this is 
 easily overcome, by the pause required after the colon ; 
 and it were better to have tautology than nonsense. 
 
^ttJtttg ©&sar* 
 
 ACT I. 
 
 - Scene II. — page 265. 
 
 Brutus. Set honour in one eye, and death i'the other, 
 And I will look on both indifferently : 
 For, let the gods so speed me, as I love 
 The name of honour more than I fear death. 
 
 However familiar Dr. Johnson has thought this pas- 
 sage, yet, in my opinion, the meaning of Brutus did not 
 meet his usual penetration. 
 
 In saying, — Set honour in one eye, and death Vthe 
 other, Brutus means, that honour (dignity) and death 
 are equally indifferent to him ; but when he says, — 
 
 For, let the gods so speed me, as I love 
 
 The name of honour more than I fear death — 
 
 he means honour, (virtue,) and that he prefers a vir- 
 tuous name more than he fears death. In other words, 
 that, to gain a virtuous and honourable name, he would 
 not think the purchase dear though it should cost him 
 his life. 
 
 Scene II.— page 267. 
 
 Cassius. — Ye gods, it doth amaze me, 
 
 A man of such a feeble temper should 
 So get the start of the majestic world, ' 
 And bear the palm alone. 
 
 I do not think this passage has any allusion to the 
 Olympic games, as so warmly supported by Dr. War- 
 burton, but simply to the conquests of Caesar. Cassius 
 
278 Julius c^sar. 
 
 is surprised that a man of Caesar's weak temperament, 
 (for he considers him weak both in mind and body,) 
 should have all the honours of victory, when other 
 Roman warriors were equally, if not more entitled to 
 them, for their military achievements. See the words 
 of Ventidius, in Antony and Cleopatra, Act III. sc. i. 
 
 " Cassar, and Antony, have ever won 
 More in their officer, than person." 
 
 Though he means Augustus Caesar, yet the allusion 
 holds good. 
 
 The epithet — majestic world, seems to mean, the dif- 
 ferent powers to whom Caesar dictates laws. 
 
 Scene III.— page 284. 
 
 Casca. Be factious for redress of all these griefs ^ 
 And I will set this foot of mine as far, 
 As who goes farthest. 
 
 The explanations given by Dr. Johnson and Mr, 
 Malone to this passage have equally a share in its true 
 meaning: activity is required, and so is a faction; but 
 to embody a party would, I imagine, be attended with 
 dangerous consequences. The meaning I extract from 
 the text is, — Be vigilant ; sound the minds of the people ; 
 speak our common griefs ; and, if you find partizans 
 equally anxious as we are to seek redress, I will be 
 as forward in the cause as the most violent. 
 
 ACT II. 
 
 Scene I. — page 310. 
 
 Portia. Dwell I but in the suburbs 
 
 Of your good pleasure ? if it be no more, 
 Portia is Brutus' harlot, not his wife. 
 
 Portia compares the heart of Brutus to an enclosed 
 city, wherein, if she dwells not, she considers herself 
 
JULIUS (LESAR. 279 
 
 ns merelj an object of dalliance for his amorous moments ; 
 and that, without his confidence, she is as far removed 
 from his heart as is the house of a courtezan from the 
 city. It would seem that, in some states, the courte- 
 zans' houses were only permitted in the suburbs. See 
 Measure for Measure, Act I. sc. iii. where the Bawd 
 speaks of the proclamation issued by Angelo : 
 
 Bawd. " But shall all our houses of resort in the subnrbs be pull'd 
 
 down? 
 Clown. To the ground, mistress." 
 
 Scene 11.— page 320. 
 
 Decius. This dream is all amiss interpreted; 
 It was a vision, fair and fortunate : 
 Your statue spouting blood in many pipes, 
 In which so many smiling Romans bath'd, 
 Signifies that from you great Rome shall suck 
 Reviving blood ; and that great men shall press 
 For tinctures, stains, relicks, and recognizance. 
 
 Decius, in his interpretation of this dream, makes it 
 bear a two-fold signification: that which he gives to 
 Caesar and Calphurnia, he dresses in Avords to work on 
 their credulity, though he knows the same words will 
 prove its verification. The first interpretation, as sup- 
 posed to be understood by Caesar, is this, — Your statue 
 spouting blood in many pipes, &c. denotes, that great 
 Rome shall flourish under your government : so renowned 
 will be your name, the greatest potentates shall press 
 for, or endeavour to possess, your writings, (tinctures and 
 stains of various colours were used in the ancient manu- 
 scripts,) and every article that can be preserved, as 
 having belonged to you, shall be considered as sainted 
 relics, and retained as monuments of your superior 
 knowledge and glory. Had Decius insinuated — tinctures 
 
280 JULIUS (LESAR. 
 
 and stains, (as observed by Mr. Malone,) to mean hand" 
 kerchiefs dipped in blood, as in the case of martyrs, it must 
 have awakened fears in the breast of Caesar, and induced 
 him to credit the explanation given by Calphurnia. 
 
 The true interpretation, according to the words of 
 Decius, means : That the statue of Ccesar spouting blood in 
 many pipes, are the wounds which Caesar's body shall re- 
 ceive: In which so many smiling Romans bath'd: the 
 exulting conspirators who intend to assassinate him. 
 See the words of Brutus when the murder is perpetrated i 
 
 " Stoop, Romans, stoop, 
 
 And let us bathe our hands in Caesar's blood 
 Up to the elbows." 
 
 From you Great Rome shall suck reviving blood: i. e» 
 By his fall, Rome shall revive and flourish : Great men 
 shall press for tinctures, &c. The conspirators who shall 
 press around him, and tinct their swords by plunging 
 them into his body : The stains^ — his blood with which 
 they will stain their hands: The r clicks, — his remains, 
 which shall be exposed in Rome as the triumph of the 
 conspirators : And cognizance, — the knowledge of the 
 fatal deed which future ages shall record to all the 
 world. 
 
 ACT III. 
 
 Scene I- — page 345. 
 
 Aktony. pardon me, thou piece of bleeding earth, 
 
 That I am meek and gentle with these butchers I 
 
 Thou art the ruins of the noblest man 
 
 That ever lived in the tide of times, 
 
 Woe to the hand that shed this costly blood ! 
 
 Over thy wounds now do I prophecy, — 
 
 Which, like dumb mouths, do ope their ruby lips, 
 
 To beg the voice and utterance of my tongue ;— 
 
 A curse shall light upon the limbs of men ! 
 
JULIUS CESAR, 281 
 
 On comparing the different opinions to which this 
 extraordinary malediction has given rise, I find such a 
 degree of uniformity in making it a general, nay, a per- 
 petual calamity, that, in a moral light, its presumption 
 renders the passage, either in the present state, or even 
 according to any proposed amendment, totally unfit in 
 representation. Bishop Warburton says, we should read, 
 the line of men: — surely, the line of men, means, succes- 
 sion of the human race; and would be too daring to come 
 from Antony ! By the fall of our first parents, the race 
 of man received an awful and irrevocable curse ; and for 
 man to prophesy an additional malediction for the assas- 
 sination of an individual, carries imagination beyond 
 every limit of poetical licence and stage propriety. Sir 
 Thomas Hanmer reads — hind of men. The complexions 
 and principles of men differ widely; but, as the Com- 
 mentator particularizes no class, the curse becomes 
 almost general. Dr. Johnson reads — the lives of men! 
 Here, again, all mankind are comprised in the curse : 
 but the Doctor makes a second attempt on this passage, 
 and not so unsuccessfully ; he proposes to read — lymms 9 
 (a word which he has not introduced into his Dictionary) 
 and, by lymms of men, he means — blood-hounds! Now, 
 though it is not Shakspeare's phraseology, yet, had he 
 pointed out the blood-hounds, the malediction had its 
 bounds; for, I am certain, the curse had very confined 
 limits, and that the passage originally read : 
 
 A curse shall light upon these imps of men ! 
 
 Thus, the curse is confined to the conspirators for 
 whom it was designed, and which, by a strange fatality, 
 was verified in the judgment which did light upon them 
 at Philippi, where Augustus Caesar and Antony defeated 
 the army of Brutus. But we have a convincing proof^ 
 in the two first lines of this speech, that Antony limited 
 the curse to the conspirators : he says, — 
 
282 JULIUS (LESAR. 
 
 Oh pardon me, thou piece of bleeding earth, 
 That I am meek and gentle with these butchers ! 
 
 And again : 
 
 Woe to the hand that shed tMs costly Mood! 
 
 Here the words — these butchers, perfectly correspond 
 with these imps ; and clearly demonstrate that the pro- 
 noun these should be used to limit the objects of Antony's 
 malediction. 
 
 The epithet imps, is frequently used by Shakspeare, 
 and the manner in which the error took place is obvious : 
 the transcriber omitted an e in the word these; the s 
 was mistaken for an / by the compositor, and which he 
 joined to the word imps, thereby making it limps ; the 
 wise corrector changed the p for a b, and thus, the Ii?nbs 
 of men were included in the curse. 
 
 Scene II.— page 360, 
 
 Antony. I am no orator, as Brutus is ; 
 
 But, as you know me all, a plain blunt man, 
 That love my friend ; and that they know full well 
 That gave me publick leave to speak of him. 
 For I have neither wit, nor words, nor worth, &c. 
 
 The questionable word in this speech is wit, (old copy 
 ZLiit.) Mr. Malone's arguments in favour of the word 
 writ, is, in my opinion, perfectly just, and to which I beg 
 leave to add the following remarks. 
 
 In this part of Antony's speech, he artfully intends to 
 contrast his own inferiority with the brilliant abilities of 
 Brutus; for, having seen how far artful eloquence had 
 operated on the minds of the populace, he considers that 
 a seeming depreciation of his own talents, and an acknow- 
 ledgment of the superior literary abilities of Brutus, will 
 operate best on the hearts of his auditors, and influence 
 them to believe that it is not oratory that has roused 
 their sensibility, but the wrongs they feel in the murder 
 
JULIUS CESAR. 283 
 
 of Caesar, and which calls forth their revenge. For this 
 object, he appears the plain unlettered man, and says, — 
 
 I am no orator, as Brutus is ; 
 
 But, as you know me all, a plain blunt man, &c. 
 
 After this mock modesty, and which he knows will 
 prove his best panegyric, he continues, — 
 
 For I have neither writ, nor words, nor worth, &c. 
 
 i. e. I have neither writ, to stir men's blood, nor have I 
 words, nor worth, <§pc. Now, by the word writ, Antony 
 means, not a written speech, as Mr. Steevens interprets 
 it, but that, as an unlettered man, he cannot boast those 
 mental endowments so conspicuous in Brutus, who was 
 celebrated both as an orator and a writer; as though 
 he said — / am no author, as Brutus is. 
 
 The word wit, as in the text, define it as you will, 
 cannot produce a reasonable effect : if considered accord- 
 ing to its old signification, it takes from Antony all com- 
 mon understanding; and I am certain its modern ac- 
 ceptation speaks not propriety on so solemn an occasion. 
 These considerations induce me to think the word writ 
 should be restored. 
 
 ACT V. 
 
 Scene I. — page 397. 
 Cassius. The posture of your blows are yet unknown ; 
 Mr. Steevens is perfectly correct in his observation.— 
 Such an error as the present may, with propriety, be 
 attributed to the compositor. We certainly should read : 
 
 The posture of your blows is yet unknown ! 
 
^tttons atifc (Kltop&tva. 
 
 ACT I. 
 
 Scene I. — page 9. 
 
 Antony. Let Rome in Tiber melt ! and the wide arch 
 Of the rang'd empire fall! 
 
 The wide arch, the triumvirate government, which 
 connects or unites the many states subject to Rome, 
 At this period, Caesar held Sicily and Africa; Mark 
 Antony, Gaul, and some of the eastern provinces ; and 
 Lepides, Spain; — all ranged under one form of govern- 
 ment. An arch is composed of three constituent parts ; 
 so was the triumvirate government; and which, for 
 aught that Antony cares, may disunite and fall, so that 
 he enjoys the love of Cleopatra. 
 
 Scene I. — page 10. 
 
 Antony. There's not a minute of our lives should stretch 
 
 Without some pleasure now ; What sport to-night? 
 
 We should certainly read : 
 
 There's not a minute of our lives should stretch 
 Without some pleasure new : 
 
 Or, by changing the punctuation, thus : 
 
 Without some pleasure : Now, what sport to-night? 
 
 Shakspeare, I am convinced, never gave the text as 
 at present exhibited. 
 
ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. 285 
 
 Scene II.— page 13. 
 
 Charmian. O, that I knew this hushand, which, as you 
 
 say, must change his horns with garlands ! 
 
 Few passages in these plays have occasioned more 
 labour to correct and illustrate than this. I refer my 
 readers to the notes in Johnson and Steevens' edition, 
 and merely give my opinion, that our Author wrote : 
 
 O, that I knew this hushand, which, as you say, must 
 
 chain his horns with garlands ! 
 
 To form a wreath, the flowers must be interwove; 
 and, when the wreath is attached to each horn, being 
 then suspended by the two extremes, it droops in the 
 centre, and forms a festoon, like a chain suspended from 
 the neck. I have seen a print or painting of a bull 
 thus decorated with a wreath, or chain of flowers, 
 suspended from horn to horn ; and which, if I mistake 
 not, was a conspicuous object in some grand pageant. 
 Thus, then, the flowers form a chain, and with which 
 Charmian expects to see her husband's brows adorned: 
 meaning thereby, that though her own conduct might 
 not be the purest, yet, that her husband's brows would be 
 decorated with the wreath of a victorious warrior. 
 
 The word chain was formerly spelt chaine, an i for a g 
 corrects the error. 
 
 The Critic, who thinks that a wreath cannot be termed 
 a chain, will find his doubts removed, by referring to the 
 book of Exodus, ch. xxviii. 
 
 Scene II.— page 31. 
 Antony. And get her love to part. 
 
 His arguments shall reconcile her love to the necessity 
 of his departure. The text is certainly correct : — the 
 word leave, as recommended by Mr. Malone, would dis- 
 play too much pusillanimity for the hero. 
 
28f) ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. 
 
 Scene III. — page 37. 
 
 Cleopatra. Can Fulvia die? 
 
 This is, in my opinion, a high compliment paid to 
 Antony. The artful Queen would impress on his mind, 
 that one who had a legal claim to his love should have 
 been more than mortal. 
 
 Scene III. — page 40. 
 
 Cleopatra. 0, my oblivion is a very Antony, &c. 
 
 What Cleopatra's anxiety would express, agitation 
 obliterates. Thus distracted, she compares her memory 
 to the unfaithfulness of Antony, who, when absent, 
 will, as she imagines, forget her, as he seems to have for- 
 gotten Fulvia : under this conviction, she considers her- 
 self as totally deserted by him. 
 
 Scene Y.—page 55. 
 
 Alexis. So he nodded, 
 
 And soberly did mount a termagant steed, 
 
 Old copy — arm-gaunt. However judicious the present 
 reading may have appeared to Mr. Steevens, there are 
 three reasons which induce me to think termagant not 
 the Author's word. First, it confounds the harmony 
 of the verse, and makes it exceed due measure : secondly, 
 termagant is only applied to a female; and though a 
 violent or fiery mare might be called a termagant, yet 
 the epithet would scarcely be used in speaking of the 
 charger, or war-horse of Antony, who, in Julius Caesar, 
 Act. V. sc. i. thus describes his steed : 
 
 " It is a creature that I teach to fight, 
 To wind, to stoop, to run directly on; 
 His corporal motion govcrn'd by my spirit." 
 
ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA, 287 
 
 And, thirdly, no transcriber could be so mistaken in 
 the familiar termination of gant, or words ending in ant, 
 as to insert a u to make it gaunt, unless the word had 
 absolutely that sound; for there is not only the u to 
 be inserted, but the a must also be transposed : we might 
 as well expect to meet elegaunt for elegant. Now, to 
 form the word termagant out of arm-gaunt is impossible : 
 it requires te at the commencement of the word : the a 
 must then be transposed, and the hyphen (which denotes 
 that the original was a compound word) must be ex- 
 punged, as also the u in gaunt. 
 
 With these considerations for my defence, I shall pro- 
 pose a word, which I believe to have been the original, 
 and which only requires a w for an m to make it perfect. 
 I read ; as I believe our Author wrote : 
 
 — — So he nodded, 
 
 And soberly did mount a war-gaunt steed, 
 
 A war-gaunt steed speaks, in every respect, a highly- 
 spirited steed ; one that had been hard fed (as sportsmen 
 call it) with well-dried oats ; free from that full barrel 
 peculiar to draft-horses, and such as are fed on grass, or 
 soft food : but Antony's steed was, as a thorough-bred 
 stallion, deep before, and gaunt, or drawn up in the 
 flank, which is considered not only a beauty, but denotes 
 action. A hunter or racer would look very curious, if 
 introduced upon the turf with a drooping belly, like 
 a brood-mare ; and, surely, a charger can neither lose its 
 vigour nor spirits, when hard feeding and good exercise 
 cause the desired effect — a handsome shape, good wind, 
 and activity. Besides, look to the word war-gaunt, how 
 corresponding it is to the warrior and his steed. 
 
 We have a number of compound words in these plays 
 commencing with war, such as war-proof, war-worn, 
 &c. See Henry V. p. 369, 420, also Act IV. Chorus. 
 
 The w is frequently a scarce sort with printers ; and 
 when the compositor has not any of them in his case, 
 he puts an m in place of it, the m being of the same body, 
 
288 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. 
 
 Now, not recollecting that he had done this, the proof 
 read — mar-gaunt, and the reader, judging that the m 
 was transposed, marked it to read arm-gaunt: — thus the 
 error seems to have originated. 
 
 ACT II. 
 
 Scexe I. — page 59. 
 
 Pompey. But all the charms of love, 
 
 Salt Cleopatra, soften thy wand lip ! 
 
 In the old edition — ci Soften thy wand lip." This, 
 undoubtedly, is the true reading : the substantive wand 
 is used as an adjective, and alludes to magic; the meaning 
 whereof requires no difficulty to solve. 
 
 Pompey, dreading the experience and powers of An- 
 tony, ardently wishes that he may remain at the court 
 of Cleopatra: To influence this, that Antony's reason 
 may be overcome by beauty, he invokes that the charms 
 of love may never decay in Cleopatra, but continue to 
 hold sway over Antony's heart : that her wand lip, i. e. 
 her magic lip, may, like the influence of a wand, subdue 
 his better reason ; and that, to her seductive words and 
 amorous kisses, witchcraft may join with beauty, and lust 
 with both to detain him. The word seems particularly 
 well applied; therefore, according to the old edition, 
 we should read: 
 
 Bat all the charms of love, 
 
 Salt Cleopatra, soften thy wand lip. 
 
 The passage being wholly misunderstood by my pre- 
 decessors, Dr. Johnson would read— -fond, or warm; ob- 
 serving, that if wand, be let to remain in the text, it is 
 either a corruption of wan, the adjective, or a contraction 
 of wanned: so that, according to this idea, the beautiful 
 Cleopatra is made to have a pale lip! Mr. Steevens 
 
ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. 289 
 
 would road — waned lip: i.e. decreased like the moon! 
 and Dr. Percy is also for the wan lip. It remains for 
 the Critic to decide. 
 
 Scene II. — page 64. 
 
 Enobarbus. By Jupiter, 
 
 Were I the wearer of Antonius' beard, 
 I would not shave to-day. 
 
 The witty Enobarbus knows his own meaning, whether 
 Lepides understands him or not. His allusion, however, 
 seems to have been veiled from my predecessors. 
 
 Lepides knows very well the violence of Antony's 
 temper, and dreading that the hauteur of Caesar will 
 inflame it, wishes Enobarbus to advise him to soft and 
 gentle speech; but Enobarbus, knowing that Antony's 
 political conduct is free from reproach, wishes him to 
 act with becoming dignity, and support his cause : for 
 which purpose, he would not have Antony curb the 
 passion he knows him to be in, but resist with boldness 
 the authoritative dictates of Caesar : and, therefore, 
 were he the barber who is accustomed, to shave Antony^ 
 he. would not venture to shave him that day; for An- 
 tony's looks and passion must so alarm him, that, trem- 
 bling with fear, he might give him a serious cut, which, 
 in Antony's present temper, would draw on him severe 
 chastisement. 
 
 Enobarbus plays on the word wearer: The barber 
 wears down the beard with his razor. 
 
 Scene II. — page 67. 
 
 Caesar. Your wife, and brother, 
 
 Made wars upon me; and their contestation 
 Was theme for you, you were the word of war. 
 
 The war made against Caesar, by Fulvia and Antony's 
 brother, could be no agreeable theme for him ; but 
 
 u 
 
290 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. 
 
 rather the contrary, for Antony, in the subsequent 
 speech, says, that wars made against Caesar, he consi- 
 ders as wars made against himself. Therefore, it is im- 
 possible to obtain the desired sense out of the passage 
 in its present state. I am certain the word theme has 
 been introduced by mistake of sound, and that our 
 Author wrote : 
 
 and their contestation 
 
 Was to? en for gour's, — you were the word of war. 
 Thus, the sense is most familiar. The public very 
 naturally imagined, that the wife and brother of Antony 
 would never have dared to wage war against Caesar, 
 unless they were stimulated to it by Antony ; therefore, 
 he was the word of war : i. e. it went more in his name : 
 it was considered as Antony's war against Caesar, more 
 than the war of those who brought their powers against 
 him. 
 
 Scene III. — page 70. 
 
 Antony. If you'll patch a quarrel, 
 
 As matter whole you have not to make it with, 
 It must not be with this. 
 
 The original copy reads — a As matter whole you have 
 to make it with:" and which I think perfectly correct. 
 
 Antony says, If you'll patch a quarrel, i. e. make it a 
 patch'd piece of business, when you have the matter, (the 
 means) in your power to make it whole with, it must not 
 be with this : meaning, it must not be with this that it 
 can be made whole. The matter that he has in his 
 power to make it whole with, is, to accept Antony's 
 asseveration, that he was in no measure privy to, or con- 
 cerned in the war. 
 
 According to the present text, Antony tells him, that 
 he, (Caesar) has not any matter in his power that can 
 ever repair the breach, or make whole again the con- 
 fidence and friendship which formerly subsisted between 
 
ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. 291 
 
 them ; therefore, Caesar may act as he pleases, they must 
 remain at enmity. 
 
 The negative adverb, introduced by Mr. Rowe, as an 
 emendation, should, in my opinion, be expunged. 
 
 Scene II. — page 74. 
 Enobarbus. Go to then; your considerate stone. 
 
 This line is deficient in metre, and consequently de- 
 fective in point of sense : for which we may blame the 
 transcriber; no doubt our Author wrote: 
 
 Go to then; you're considerate as stone. 
 
 Enobarbus means not himself, as my predecessors have 
 imagined; but, from the freedom which his age and situa- 
 tion give him with Antony, he retorts on him rebuke for 
 rebuke, by telling him, to recommence the dispute which 
 had partly subsided by his apology, and the intercession 
 of Mecaenas. Go to then, meaning — Ay, begin again; 
 or, get on as you like. The latter part of the verse, as 
 corrected, perfects the sense : you're considerate as stone, 
 meaning: you have no more consideration than a stone. 
 
 The comparative particle, by its terminating with s, 
 and the following word commencing with the same let- 
 ter, was lost to the transcriber. 
 
 Scene II. — page 81. 
 
 Enobarbus. Her gentlewomen, like the Nereides, 
 
 So many mermaids, tended her i'the eyes, 
 And made their bends adornings : 
 
 As nearly eight pages of small print have been em- 
 ployed to elucidate this passage; it were an unpardon- 
 able trespass on the reader to increase the notes, could 
 I not, with confidence, (though at the same time with the 
 utmost respect for those eminent characters, who have 
 
 V 2 
 
292 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. 
 
 attempted its illustration, declare their respective opi- 
 nions quite erroneous. 
 
 Cleopatra is supposed to be on the bosom of the deep ; 
 the sea nymphs, to testify their duty, (by attending her,) 
 are imagined to await on each side her commands. But, 
 to give these nymphs a place on board the barge where 
 they could display themselves to effect as mermaids, has 
 not been considered by my predecessors, and in this the 
 ingenuity of the Author is conspicuous. To bring the 
 reader, then, to a just conception of the passage, I must 
 describe the place whereon the gentlewomen, who 
 represented so many mermaids, were stationed. 
 
 All vessels, from a barge to a first rate man of war, 
 must have what is termed bends : the bends are the chief 
 support of a ship's sides, and form a kind of belt or zone 
 of heavy plank. In proportion to the size of the vessel, 
 the bends are elevated above the keel; but in such a 
 vessel as a barge, when she glides upon the deep, her 
 bends would not be, perhaps, more than a foot above 
 the water. Exclusive of the strength a vessel receives 
 by means of the bends, they are of great service to the 
 sailors, who frequently stand on them when regulating 
 the rigging, or when heaving the lead for soundings. 
 In pleasure barges, a sort of strong moulding, to give 
 more room, is often attached to the bends; and in the 
 royal yacht, at Deptford, upon the bends, is formed a 
 narrow gallery, which is adorned with several pieces of 
 statuary, carved in wood; perhaps, after the manner of 
 the ancients. 
 
 Having thus made the reader, in some measure, ac- 
 quainted with the bends, I shall now point out the eyes, 
 where the mermaids tended. Immediately over the bends, 
 perhaps not more than an inch, are what is termed the 
 chain-plates ,- these are pieces of plank, which have 
 more than double the projection of the bends ; they are 
 the support of the rigging, and are connected by ropes 
 which run through the eyes, or, as they are more com- 
 
ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. 293 
 
 nionly called, the dead eyes : they are round blocks of 
 wood, with three holes in each, and upon which the 
 bearing- of the ropes depend that help to support the 
 mast : In short, the rope ladders, and all the tackling", 
 have some connection with this part of the vessel. 
 
 The bends and eyes thus described, (though I must 
 acknowledge but rather imperfectly,) it now only re- 
 mains to say, that on the bends of Cleopatra's barge 
 stood her gentlewomen ; and, to give effect to the scene, 
 they were habited so as to appear as mermaids: To the 
 waist, as we must suppose, they were uncovered, their 
 hair gracefully playing on their bosoms, and a sort of 
 painted work, to imitate the lower parts of the mermaid, 
 enveloped the body of each lady, while, that part which 
 appeared as the tail, floated: Thus, as the barge sailed 
 along the river Cydnus, Cleopatra's gentlewomen, as 
 so many mermaids, tended her Vthe eyes, (for there they 
 held by the rigging, connected with the eyes,) and made 
 the bends (whereon they stood) adornings : i. e. they 
 adorned the bends, which, otherwise, would ha\e re- 
 mained devoid of ornaments. 
 
 However, there appears an error in the text, which, 
 I suppose, took place from the difficulty of this seemingly 
 abstruse passage. We should read: 
 
 And made the bends adornings. 
 
 To this, I have only to add, that, "At the helm a 
 seeming mermaid steers," and, according to Sir Thomas 
 North's translation of Plutarch, her gentlewomen, like 
 the nymphs Nereides, tended the tackles and ropes of the 
 barge. 
 
 Scene III. — page 93. 
 
 Soothsayek. 'Would I had never come from thence, nor you 
 Thither ! 
 
294 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. 
 
 The Soothsayer wishes that he had not quitted Egypt, 
 and includes in the same wish, that Antony had never 
 been there ; for, if Antony had never been in Egypt, 
 the Soothsayer had never quitted his country. 
 
 Scene III. — page 93. 
 
 Soothsayer. 1 see't in 
 
 My motion, have it not in my tongue; 
 
 By motion, the Soothsayer means his intellectual 
 powers; he perceives that the influence of divination is 
 abated in him. 
 
 Scene V .—page 100. 
 Cleopatra. Ram thou thy fruitful tidings in mine ears, 
 
 Though Ram, speaks great impatience, I believe we 
 should read Rain; the dot being omitted over the/, the 
 word Ram was conspicuous : besides, we cannot think 
 Shakspeare would ram so vulgar a phrase into the mouth 
 of Cleopatra. 
 
 Scene V. — page 107. 
 
 Cleopatra. 0, that his fault should make a knave of thee, 
 That art not! — What? thou'rt sure of ; t? 
 
 These distracted breaks totally pervert Cleopatra's 
 
 meaning. The old copy reads, — 
 
 " That art not what thou'rt sure of;" 
 
 This reading, I think, is perfectly correct. 
 
 The conduct of Antony has made a knave of the 
 messenger, because his intelligence has robbed Cleo- 
 patra of happiness : consequently he is not the messenger 
 of good news, and which he is sure of; therefore, as the 
 
ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. 295 
 
 merchandize he has brought from Rome is bad news, 
 tke same shall prove his ruin. The old reading should 
 be restored. 
 
 Scene VI. — page 111. 
 
 Pompev. with which I meant 
 
 To scourge the ingratitude that despiteful Rome 
 Cast on my noble father. 
 
 By the word meant, Pompey is made to speak like one 
 already conquered; and that, had he been victorious, 
 such was his determination, could he have effected ii. 
 This is certainly erroneous, for though he has received 
 overtures, he has not as yet acceded to them : he has the 
 means yet in his power, and until a treaty be concluded, 
 his intentions remain the same. I am certain we should 
 read : 
 
 with which I mean 
 
 To scourge the ingratitude that despiteful Rome 
 Cast on my noble father. 
 
 Thus, he displays a fixed determination, unless a treaty 
 correspondent with his wishes be ratified. 
 
 The t, in the word To, which follows, was joined in 
 sound to mean, and thus arose the error. 
 
 Scene VII. — page 120. 
 
 Antony. Thus, do they, sir: they take the flow o'the Nile 
 By certain scales i'the pyramid ; 
 
 Theophrastus mentions, that the Nile was formerly 
 marine: It is mentioned by Seneca, that in the tenth 
 and eleventh years of Cleopatra's reign, the waters of 
 the Nile ceased their accustomed overflow: from this 
 uncommon revolution was predicted the fall of two 
 powerful sovereigns, which was eventually fulfilled in 
 the overthrow of Antony and Cleopatra. 
 
296 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Scene VII. — page 126. 
 
 Enobarbus. Drink thou; increase the reels. 
 
 Menas has, in the preceding speech, wittily answered 
 Enobarbus, by saying, that the third part of the world was 
 drunk: To this, Enobarbus as wittily retorts, that since 
 there is exactly a third part of the world drank, he must 
 drink to become drunk also, that more than a third part 
 should be in the same stale. 
 
 To increase the reels, alludes to thereeling or staggering 
 of a drunken man. 
 
 In Romeo and Juliet, Friar Laurence, in comparing 
 flecked darkness to a drunkard, uses the same word : 
 
 "And flecked darkness like a drunkard reels 
 From forth day's path-way," &c. 
 
 I should have deemed an explication of this passage 
 unnecessary, but that Mr. Steevens imagines the original 
 to have received some injudicious alteration, and pro- 
 poses to read : 
 
 " Drink thou, and grease the wheels.'" 
 
 Scene VII. — page 128. 
 
 Come, thou monarch of the vine, 
 Plumpy Bacchus, with pink eynei 
 
 Dr. Johnson's explanation of pink eyne, (a small eye) 
 seems perfectly correct. Bacchus is represented as un- 
 commonly lusty; and surely, the fatter, or more bloated 
 the countenance, the smaller the eyes appear. The 
 sensation which makes a drunken person reel, proceeds 
 from the head; which, in some measure to avert, nature 
 inclines one to half-close the eyes. As for the example 
 given by Mr. Steevens of the Drunken Clown, in Marius 
 and Sylla, it cannot strengthen his argument, ih^t pink 
 
ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. 297 
 
 eyne means — red eyes; that is, eyes inflamed by drinking : 
 for, we can scarcely imagine that the Drunken Clown 
 resorted, to a looking-glass to take a peep at himself in that 
 state, though we may naturally conclude, that, from the 
 effects of liquor, he felt his eyes closing. 
 
 ACT III. 
 
 Scene III.— page 138. 
 
 Enobarbus. That year, indeed, he was troubled with a rheum; 
 What willingly he did confound, he wail'd: 
 Believe it, till I weep too. 
 
 There appears nothing in this passage to sanction Mr, 
 Steevens's opinion, that Antony's tears were tears of joy. 
 He certainly was well pleased at confounding the con- 
 spirators, by totally overthrowing their measures ; but 
 when he saw the noble Brutus, who had formerly been 
 his friend, bathed in blood, and nature extinct in him, a 
 remembrance of his virtues called up the finer feelings, 
 and he wept for a friend. 
 
 Enobarbus thinks that Agrippa may doubt the piety of 
 Antony's tears : to remove this doubt, he tells him to believe 
 it until he sees him weep, and which, as he conceives, 
 is incompatible with his nature; therefore, until that 
 takes place, he must credit the sincerity of Antony's tears. 
 Enobarbus thinks himself formed of such impenetrable 
 stuff, that tears might as readily be seen to drop from 
 the sun as from his eyes. 
 
 Scene IV. — page 146. 
 
 A \ tony. — The mean time, lady , 
 
 • I'll raise the preparation of a war 
 Shall stain your brother; 
 
 As I can only repeat the same reasons observed by 
 my predecessors, for thinking the word stain an error, I 
 
298 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. 
 
 refer the Reader to the notes in Johnson and Steevens's 
 edition. 
 
 Plutarch says, That Octavius, understanding the sud- 
 den and wonderful preparations of Antony, was astonished 
 at it, &c. Assuredly, our Author wrote : 
 
 I'll raise the preparation of a war 
 Shall stun your brother; 
 
 The word stun is very familiarly understood to mean, 
 astonish: Thus, Caesar cannot be disgraced, nor the feel- 
 ings of Octavia particularly wounded ; it also corresponds 
 with the extract from Plutarch ; and, in point of sound, 
 and characters in MS. the words stun and stain are 
 nearly similar. 
 
 Mr. Theobald reads — strain, which I think very 
 strained, indeed. Mr. Malone thinks a line has been 
 lost! 
 
 Scene VI. — page 155. 
 
 C^sar. Best of comfort; 
 
 And ever welcome to us. 
 
 The alteration made by Mr. Rowe — Be of comfort, 
 though rejected, afforded a more familiar conception of 
 the passage than the elucidations tortured out of the 
 present text : If we are to judge from the dissatisfaction 
 testified by Caesar, at the private manner in which Oc- 
 tavia travelled, and the wound he feels for having be- 
 stowed her on an unworthy object, her appearance, at 
 this juncture, could not prove, in any measure, a com- 
 fort to him: and yet, the explanation given by Mr. Ma- 
 lone is, — Thou best of comforters I and by Mr. Steevens— 
 May the best of comfort be yours ! The present text is, 
 however, that of the original copy. 
 
 For Best read Rest, and I am convinced you have the 
 Author's original word : 
 
 ■Rest of comfort; 
 
 And ever welcome to us. 
 
ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. 299 
 
 There are no two letters more like each other, either in 
 writing or print, than B and R. As for the meaning, 
 the phrase explains itself: in Caesar's subsequent speech, 
 he gives Octavia the same advice, but in other words — 
 " Be ever known to patience." In the present passage, 
 he merely means — be comforted, or, rest satisfied, u You 
 are ever welcome to us." 
 
 Scene VII. — page 158. 
 
 Cleopatra. Is't not ? Denounce against us, why should not we 
 Be there in person ? 
 
 Enobarbus, in council, gave it as his opinion, that 
 Cleopatra should not be present in the war; and for 
 which she now attacks him. In order, then, to give 
 full force to words which should display that self-im- 
 portance ever attached to royalty, we have only to mark 
 Cleopatra's astonishment at what she considers the 
 daring effrontery of Enobarbus, and which is effected 
 by a note of admiration. 
 
 Enobarbus has just said, — "Well, is it, is it?" To 
 which Cleopatra replies, — 
 
 Is't not? Denounce against us! Why should not we 
 Be there in person ? 
 
 Scene VIII. — page 166. 
 
 Yon ribald-rid nag of Egypt, &c. 
 
 Where generous encomium is conferred, it becomes 
 rather painful to disturb what criticism has applauded. 
 In the present instance, Mr. Steevens has certainly 
 helped the passage : for, I believe, ribaudred, as in the 
 old edition, has no claim to a place in any language : 
 and yet, ribald-rid cuts but an awkward figure ; for Scarus, 
 though he darts the lance at Cleopatra, hits Antony: 
 ribald being a substantive exclusively applicable to the 
 male sex. 
 
300 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. 
 
 To me it seems perfectly clear, that the compositor 
 could not decypher the word, but combined as many 
 letters as formed the corrupt word — ribaudred. 
 
 Cleopatra has appeared obstinate, to an excess, even in 
 the manner of conducting the war: At her instigation, 
 depending on her sixty sails, she influenced Antony to 
 meet Caesar by sea; a measure wholly disapproved of 
 by his officers. To this obstinacy Scarus alludes, and 
 the contemptuous appellation that he designs, is to 
 term her — That cross-grained (obstinate) nag of Egypt. 
 For this purpose, he introduces the French adjective — 
 rebours; but in the patois or low French — reboured: 
 Cest un cheval reboured (It is a cross-grained horse,) a 
 term given to a restive animal. But if we read — hag, 
 the passage would then mean, — that cross-grained hag of 
 Egypt. — And, indeed, it is highly probable, the tran- 
 scriber did not sufficiently elevate the downstroke of 
 the h, which appeared to the compositor to be an n. I 
 would, therefore, read : 
 
 -Yon reboured hag of Egypt, 
 
 Whom leprosy o'ertake! i'the midst of the fight, — 
 When 'vantage like a pair of twins appear'd, &c. 
 
 The example which Dr. Johnson gives in his Dic- 
 tionary, of the word cross-grained is of material conse- 
 quence to this passage : 
 
 " The spirit of contradiction in a cross-grained woman, is in- 
 curable.'' 
 
 Reboured, compared with ribaudred, will be found 
 to differ very little: the corrupt word has a d more: an 
 a instead of an o is an error easily accounted for, parti- 
 cularly when in a foreign word. Be it also observed, 
 that reboured, is sounded as a dissyllable, which leaves 
 the verse perfect, that is now beyond its limits. 
 
 Admitting ribald to mean a lewd fellow, to whom must 
 the term be applied? Surely Scarus would scarcely 
 wish Antony to be attacked by the leprosy ? And, a lewd 
 fellow cannot be applied to Cleopatra. 
 
ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. 301 
 
 Mr. Steevens interprets the present reading: — Yon 
 strumpet, who is common to every wanton fellow. I see 
 nothing like strumpet in the passage. 
 
 A few words more in defence of hag: A nag is a 
 young, or small horse. I believe the term is never given 
 to mares: a young mare is generally called a filly. — 
 Certainly, neither the age, sex, beauty, nor majestic 
 stature of Cleopatra can warrant the term — nag. 
 
 Mr. Tyrwhitt, when he proposed to read — hag, very 
 judiciously observed its correspondence with a subse- 
 quent speech of the same speaker : 
 
 »" She once being loof d, 
 
 The noble ruin of her magic, Antony 
 Claps on his sea-wing." 
 
 The h and n are next each other in the letter case : 
 nag for hag is merely a misprint. 
 
 Scene IX.— page 170. 
 Antony. Which has no need of you; be gone: 
 Mr. Steevens would perfect this verse by reading — 
 begone, I say. I am rather inclined to think the words 
 — he gone, should be repeated; which denotes his im- 
 patience to be left alone : be gone, in the second instance, 
 might have been omitted bv either the transcriber or 
 compositor. 
 
 Scene IX.— page 170. 
 
 Antony. ■ —take the hint 
 
 Which my despair proclaims ; let that be left 
 Which leaves itself: 
 
 Antony says, take the hint which my despair proclaims" 
 surely, this hint is for them to seize the treasure, which, 
 otherwise, he thinks will fall into the hands of Caesar. 
 We should read : 
 
302 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. 
 . take the hint 
 
 Which my despair proclaims ; lest that be left 
 Which leaves itself: 
 
 The gold could not remove itself. He, however, may 
 allude to himself; that they should leave that dignity 
 behind, which, by his flight from the enemy, he no longer 
 merits. If this be the true meaning, the text requires 
 no alteration. 
 
 Scene IX. — page 174. 
 
 Iris. Go to him, madam, speak to him; 
 He is unqualitied with very shame. 
 
 He has lost his customary dignity, he droops with 
 
 very shame. Antony, in his subsequent speech, seems to 
 
 explain the word : 
 
 " I have offended reputation; 
 A most unnoble swerving:." 
 
 Scene XI. — page 179. 
 
 Enobarbus. Think, and die. 
 
 Reflect on the misfortunes your obstinacy and ill- 
 advised plans have occasioned, and speedily terminate 
 your existence. 
 
 Scene XI. — page 181. 
 
 Enobarbus. at such a point, 
 
 When half to half the world oppos'd, he being 
 The mered question : 
 
 This is simply a typographical error: the Author 
 wrote meted) — L e. measured : 
 
 at such a point, 
 
 When half to half the world oppos'd, he being 
 The meted question : 
 
 Half the world was measured in Antonv. 
 
ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. 303 
 
 Scene XI. — page 182. 
 Antony. Let her know it, — 
 
 A word has evidently been lost: Mr. Steevens pro- 
 poses to read — Let her know it then. But as the 
 ambassador says not another word during the scene, 
 this reading would be highly absurd. In my opinion, 
 as Antony makes himself the organ of Caesars message 
 to Cleopatra, the Author wrote : 
 
 We'll let her know it. — 
 
 And this he does immediately. 
 
 Both the sense and measure speak the necessity of 
 this emendation, 
 
 Scene XI. — page 185. 
 
 Cleopatra. None hut friends; say boldly. 
 
 A word is evidently wanting to complete the measure. 
 
 Sir T. Hanmer reads — None here but friends : that is, in 
 
 this place: but I think, from the words just used by 
 
 Thyreus, we should read : 
 
 None hear hut friends: say boldly. 
 
 He may speak as boldly as he pleases, for none but 
 friends hear him. What makes this word more cor- 
 respondent is, that Thyreus has just said — " Hear it 
 apart." To which Cleopatra replies, — None hear but 
 friends. 
 
 Scene XI. — page 185. 
 
 Enobarbus. Whose he is, we are; and that's Caesar's. 
 
 I cannot see how either Cleopatra or Enobarbus can, 
 with any degree of propriety, make this assertion; 
 Antony is at present the professed enemy of Caesar, and 
 
304 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. 
 
 cause* this very ambassador to be whipped. How, then, 
 can we suppose that Enobarbus would say — Whose friend 
 Antony is, we are also, and that's Caesar 's ? The compo- 
 sitor certainly took the characters that form the word if, 
 for an apostrophe and an s. The text demands cor- 
 rection; and I am almost certain Shakspeare wrote: 
 Whose he is, we are; and that, //"Caesar's. 
 
 Thus, if Antony becomes the friend of Caesar, those 
 connected with Antony becomes Caesar's friends also. 
 
 The diction of this speech shows, in my opinion, that 
 Mr. Malone's conjecture is correct. This speech belongs 
 to Cleopatra. The royal style — we and us, Enobarbus 
 dared not assume in her presence. 
 
 Scene XI. — page 187. 
 
 Cleopatra. Most kind messenger, 
 
 Say to great Csesar this, In disputation 
 
 I believe the present reading correct. — Cleopatra 
 
 means, — Say to great Caesar, that his words, of which 
 
 you are the organ, are so strong and prevailing, that 
 
 neither my principles nor interest can dispute against 
 
 them ; and that, in submitting to them, I lay my crown 
 
 at his feet. What materially confirms this to be the 
 
 true reading is, that she concludes the speech with an 
 
 acknowledgment, that his words are indisputable : 
 
 In disputation 
 
 I kiss his conqu'ring hand: tell him, I am prompt 
 To lay my crown at his feet, and there to kneel : 
 Tell him, from his all-obeying breath I hear 
 The doom of Egypt. 
 
 Dr. Warburton explains the word disputation to mean 
 by proxy; but Mr. Steevens contends that we should 
 read — deputation, and which has occasioned some con- 
 troversy. 
 
ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. 395 
 
 ACT IV. 
 
 Scene II.— page 202. 
 Enobarbus. I'll strike; and cry, Take all. 
 
 These equivocal words of Enobarbus seem to have de- 
 ceived the Commentators as well as Antony : Enooarbus 
 had predetermined to quit Antony's service, and this is 
 the notice he gives of his intention, — I'll strike, and cry, 
 Take all. Meaning- : — I'll quit your service, and now tell 
 you, that all I have gained in it, I leave you : He accord- 
 ingly quits that night, or early the following morning, 
 and leaves his wealth behind. See sc. v. of this Act, 
 where Antony is informed of his desertion, and where 
 Eros says, — 
 
 " Sir, his chests and treasure 
 
 He has not with him." 
 
 Antony, as Dr. Johnson interprets the text, considers 
 Enobarbus to mean, " Let the survivor take all : No 
 composition : victory or death." The word strike is 
 peculiarly familiar, and invariably used by mechanics, 
 when they form a combination against their employers, 
 in order to obtain additional wages : they strike : that 
 is, they quit their employers, and if they do not obtain 
 the desired increase, they seek work elsewhere. Strike 
 is also a common phrase used by revolters, Come ; let 
 us strike at once, and join the enemy. 
 
 Scene V. — page 212. 
 
 Antony. 0, my fortunes have 
 
 Corrupted honest men : — Eros, despatch. 
 
 The desertion of Enobarbus gives a shock to Antony's 
 feelings, that he cannot immediately surmount. The 
 first folio reads — "Dispatch Enobarbus .•" From this, I 
 should imagine, our Author wrote : 
 
 x 
 
306 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. 
 
 O, my fortunes have 
 
 Corrupted honest men: — Despatch ! — Enobarbus ! 
 
 Action can give great effect to this passage. It marks 
 Antony's surprise, and speaks the estimation in which 
 he held the man who has deserted him in the day of dis- 
 tress ; as though he said, — Is it possible that Enobarbus 
 has deserted me ! 
 
 Scene VI. — page 216. 
 
 Enobarbus. This blows my heart: 
 
 All the early editions have, — 
 
 " This bows my heart:" 
 
 There is a corrupt passage in King Leah, — " A 
 sovereign shame so elbows him," which should read — A 
 sovereign shame soul bows him. The passage is in 
 Act IV. sc. iii. where Kent speaks of Lear's heart-felt 
 depression on hearing of Cordelia's pious duty. 
 
 If, then, we consider the character of Enobarbus, who 
 is represented as a stubborn, hardy warrior, but who is 
 now overcome by Antony's kindness, I think the word 
 bows, more expressive than the present text; and from 
 the comparative sense of injuries, Lear to Cordelia, and 
 Enobarbus to Antony, the word seems equally happy in 
 its application : for my part, I think it the Author's* 
 
 Scene VIII.— pag-c 220. 
 
 Antony. thou day of the world, 
 
 Chain mine arm'd neck; leap thou, attire and all, 
 Through proof of harness to my heart, and there 
 Ride on the pants triumphing. 
 
 The beauty of this passage is destroyed by the word 
 day: what figure have we in making a day chain his 
 neck, and leap through Antony's armour to his heart ? 
 
ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. 3Q7 
 
 The phrase is incongruous to an extreme, and obscures 
 one of the finest compliments, of the many, which Antony 
 pays to the charms of Cleopatra. In short, the word 
 is corrupt in its present place ; for, a day being a space 
 of time, cannot be personified in Cleopatra, so as to 
 produce any happy effect. I am convinced our Author 
 wrote : 
 
 thou ray of the "world. 
 
 Chain mine arm'd neck; leap thou, attire and all, 
 Through proof of harness to my heart, and there 
 Ride on the pants triumphing. 
 
 Thus, we gain a most lively figure : Antony calls her 
 the light of the zcorld, and in comparing Cleopatra to 
 the sun's rays that encircle the earth, he tells her to 
 encircle his neck, by embracing him ; and as the sun's rays 
 penetrate even solid bodies, so he tells her to dart through 
 his armour to his heart, and there to ride on the pants 
 triumphing. 
 
 Scene X.—page 224. 
 
 Axtony. They have put forth the haven : Further on, 
 
 This passage has received the words Further on y from 
 
 the early Editors ; I think it can be further aided, by 
 
 reading — 
 
 They have put forth the haven: Let's further* 
 Where their appointments we may best discover, 
 
 Mr. Malone would read— Lefs seek a spot. 
 
 Scene X. — page 227. 
 
 Antony. Triple-turn d whore ! 'tis thou 
 
 Hast sold me to this novice; 
 
 However plausible this term may appear, and however 
 appropriate to the incontinent Cleopatra, it has been 
 considered by Dr. Johnson as erroneous: to correct 
 
 X -2 
 
308 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. 
 
 which, he has proposed — triple-tongued. Double-tongued 
 is certainly in common use, and all know its meaning ; 
 but triple-tongued goes beyond the stretch of imagination ; 
 for as there is but good and evil for moral wisdom to 
 discriminate, so there can be only good and evil from 
 the same tongue. 
 
 But let us take into consideration the vicious career of 
 Cleopatra: her heart has never been awakened either 
 to a sense of shame or guilt : she was first the mistress 
 of Julius Caesar; after him, instead of shunning vice, 
 she became farther initiated in it, by her second master, 
 Cneius Pompey; and, if we may use the phrase, was 
 perfected under the tuition of her third master, Mark 
 Antony: — Thus, as Antony knows that her criminal 
 career has been under three masters, and although he 
 views in himself the last, yet he spares not the lash, 
 but acknowledges the share he has had in her vicious 
 education; and, as if he were speaking of a soldier that 
 had been trained to arms under three celebrated generals, 
 gives her the epithet : 
 
 Triple-train d whore ! 
 
 i. e. Having passed through two degrees of comparison 
 with her former masters, she became superlatively a 
 whore with him. 
 
 In opposition to the present text, I must add, that a 
 female who has deviated from the paths of virtue, and 
 obtained thereby an infamous title, must reform, and 
 relapse again and again, before she can be termed a 
 triple-turn' d whore; and I believe the licentious Cleo- 
 patra never testified, in any respect, either contrition or 
 reformation; consequently, she fell not even a second 
 time from virtue. 
 
ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. 309 
 
 Scene X.—page 228. 
 
 Antony. The hearts 
 
 That spanieVd me at heels, 
 
 All the early editions read — TlmtpannelVd me at heels. 
 The present very judicious reading was first introduced 
 by Sir T. Hanmer; and though I am strongly inclined 
 to think it not the Author's, yet it is entitled to the praise 
 bestowed on it by the Commentators. 
 
 When a person bows obsequiously for a favour, though 
 it is the act of the man, yet it is the motion of the body, 
 and it may be said, his heart bozcs. When a person 
 kneels, it becomes a supplication, in which the heart 
 humiliates itself, and the knees act correspondent with 
 its desires. The bending of the knee is supplicatory ; but 
 kneeling to the ground on one knee, is more so, and 
 due to monarchs on soliciting certain favours. Now, 
 the word, in my opinion, used by Antony, is pan-kneel 'd '; 
 The knee is merely a joint; the knee-pan, the convex 
 bone that protects the joint. Thus, the slight bending 
 of the knee is not the desired figure; it is the bending 
 the knee in its knee-pan to the ground, and following 
 on heel and toe, at Antony's heels, until the suit was 
 granted. 
 
 In respect to similarity of sound between pan-kneeVd 
 and panneWd, there is scarcely any difference; nay, the 
 transcriber probably wrote pan-neeVd, which not being 
 understood by the compositor, he made it pannelVd. So 
 that there would be only the ignorance of the transcriber 
 to call in question, who spelt kneel, (omitting the k) neel, 
 all the rest of the characters are the same. I am there- 
 fore, convinced, our Author wrote : 
 
 The hearts 
 
 That pan-kneefd me at heels, 
 As for the word spanieVd, however judicious, its sig- 
 nification is not sufficiently limited; for, not only courtiers 
 and officers, but soldiers, and all ranks of people, may be 
 
310 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. 
 
 said to spaniel a king, or any other great personage that 
 attracts curiosity. 
 
 We have a passage in King Lear not far removed 
 from this figure : 
 
 I could as well be brought 
 
 To knee his throne; and, squire-like, pension beg," 
 
 Scene XIII. —page 252. 
 
 Cleopatra. Here's sport indeed ! — How heavy weighs my lord ! 
 Our strength is all gone into heaviness, 
 That makes the weight : 
 
 To force an appropriate meaning from this passage, 
 in its present state, is beyond every effort of human 
 genius ; and the solemnity of the occasion on which the 
 word sport has been used, proves, that Shakspeare's 
 immortal genius has been sported with too long. Be it 
 observed, that Cleopatra is in the monument, attended 
 by Charmian and Iris ; and Antony, at the point of death, 
 is borne in by his guards. 
 
 The gross blunder that strips this passage of a beauty 
 replete with genius, must be attributed to the transcriber, 
 who, from the hissing sound of the s's 9 lost two letters, 
 and carried the terminating one to the sequent word. 
 Our great Bard wrote: 
 
 Here's his port, indeed ! — How heavy weighs my lord ! 
 
 The monument becomes the port ; there Antony (the 
 vessel) is tugged or drawn in by Cleopatra and her at- 
 tendants, (the mariners,) and there, the great vessel that 
 had borne many a tempestuous gale becomes a final 
 wreck. 
 
 Dr. Johnson observes on this passage,—" I suppose 
 the meaning of these strange words is, here's trifling, 
 you do not work in earnest" And Mr. Malone says, — 
 " Perhaps, she is thinking of fishing with a line, a diver- 
 sion of which we have been already told she was fond." 
 
ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. 31 1 
 
 ACT V. 
 
 Scene I. — page 257. 
 
 Cjesau. Being so frustrate, tell him, he mocks us by 
 The pauses that he makes. 
 
 This passage, which has occasioned my predecessors 
 some trouble, is susceptible of meaning-, though evi- 
 dently corrupt. I read: 
 
 Being so prostrate, tell him, he mocks us by 
 The pauses that he makes. 
 
 Meaning : Being so fallen, so perfectly subdued, he 
 that should submit at once, and look to us for mercy, 
 now, by the pauses which he makes, assumes the manners 
 of a conqueror, and makes us await his leisure. 
 
 The pro in the word prostrate, (in writing) bears 
 strong similarity to fru, the rest of the characters are the 
 same : this error must be attributed to the compositor. 
 
 Scene II. — page 271. 
 
 Cleopatra. Sir, I will eat no meat, I'll not drink, sir; 
 If idle talk will once be necessary, 
 I'll not sleep neither : 
 
 Having reviewed the respective opinions on this 
 passage, I find that most of my predecessors think a 
 line has been lost, through the carelessness of the com- 
 positor. I must, however, in this instance, advocate 
 the cause of the artist, by pronouncing the text correct. 
 
 Cleopatra being deprived by Proculeius of her dagger, 
 the instrument with which she intended to terminate 
 her existence, she points out other means of death, 
 which fortitude and determination have left in her 
 power. She will neither eat nor drink; and, for fear 
 that sleep should prolong her life, she will not suffer it, 
 in any manner, to overcome her: for this purpose, if idle 
 
312 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. 
 
 talk (insignificant conversation with others, or talking 
 to herself like one with a distempered mind,) will be for 
 once necessary ', i. e. useful for any purpose, she will, on 
 this occasion, make it an instrument to prevent sleep : 
 Thus, by self-deprivation of meat, drink, and sleep, she 
 will effect her purpose, in defiance of all Caesar's exer- 
 tions to the contrary. 
 
 Scene II. — page 273. 
 Cleopatra. My country's high pyr amides my gibbet, 
 
 A transposition has certainly been made in this passage : 
 the es in pyr amides belong to high, with which, and the 
 addition of a t, a pure sense is obtained : 
 rather make 
 
 My country's highest pyramid my gibbet, 
 And hang me up in chains ! 
 
 How could she be hanged on more than one gibbet ? 
 By this slight correction, all incongruity is removed. 
 
 Scene II.— page 274. 
 Cleopatra. The little 0, the earth. 
 
 The old copy reads — The little 6* the earth. 
 
 Cleopatra calls to her aid celestial bodies to form 
 comparisons for her fallen hero. What the beneficence 
 of heaven proves to the earth, she would make Antony 
 appear to have been to man. As the earth is illumi- 
 nated by the heavenly bodies, so did the genius of 
 Antony enlighten or illumine mankind. This being her 
 meaning, I am of opinion, the text, as in the old copy, 
 is correct; and this opinion is materially strengthened 
 by a passage in Julius Cjesar : 
 
 " Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world 
 Like a Colossus; and we petty men 
 Walk under his huge legs." 
 
ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. 313 
 
 Scene II. — page 275. 
 Cleopatra. His legs bestrid the ocean : 
 
 She alludes to his naval forces : though seas divided 
 his territories, yet he united them. Antony, in Act IV. 
 sc. xii. says, 
 
 And o'er green Neptune's hack 
 
 With ships made cities 
 
 Scene II. — page 275. 
 
 Cleopatra. his rear'd arm 
 
 Crested the world. 
 
 The Commentators, under the conviction that this 
 passage is correct, suppose Antony's reared arm to be in 
 allusion to the manner in which our kings have been 
 accustomed to confer the honour of knighthood. But, 
 I am rather inclined to think the passage corrupt : for 
 how his arm was to crest the world, is such an hyper- 
 bole, that it goes beyond figure. 
 
 It is true, that the entire of this speech displays 
 figures the most exaggerated that human imagination 
 can conceive; but to each, excepting this, there is some 
 corresponding similarity with nature. But, here, the 
 hyperbole is lost, for the world could bear no crest ; nor 
 are we to suppose that the honour of knighthood was 
 conferred on all mankind. As I have already observed, 
 then, that the passage is corrupt, reflection confirms the 
 opinion. I believe our Author wrote : 
 
 — — His rear'd arm defied the world. 
 
 Thus, following up the powers of strength propor- 
 tioned to the Colossus, whose legs bestrid the ocean, when 
 his rear'd arm sunk with force, he would split the world : 
 but, the true sense is, that his reared arm denoted war 
 against all opposers to his power; and that by it he ob- 
 tained such universal sway, that he cleft , i.e. he divided 
 
314 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. 
 
 the world between himself and Caesar. Lepides had 
 little more than nominal power. 
 
 Scene II. — page 275. 
 
 Cleopatra. -his voice was propertied 
 
 As all the tuned spheres, and that to friends ; 
 
 What is there extraordinary in this, that Cleopatra 
 should mark a perfection in Antony, that every person, 
 even tyrants, possess ? His voice was harmoniously 
 sweet, and that, when he spoke to his friends ! — Surely, 
 the most discordant voice would strive to modulate its 
 tones on such occasions. For my part, I am so well ac- 
 quainted with the errors that compositors make through 
 forgetfulness, particularly by omitting words, or sub- 
 stituting one word for another, in any sentence committed 
 to memory, that I am certain our Author wrote : 
 
 his voice was propertied 
 
 As all the tuned spheres, and that to foes; 
 
 Thus, even when speaking to foes, the same har- 
 monious accents issued from his tongue; but, when he 
 meant to make them feel his power, then Ms voice was a 
 rattling thunder. 
 
 Mr. Steevens observes, — The modern editors read, 
 with no less obscurity,— when that to friends. In the 
 subsequent part of this speech, an error got footing in 
 the old copy through similar carelessness : the com- 
 positor, thinking of Antony, made the passage read — 
 " An Antony 'twas" instead of — An Autumn 'twas: In 
 like manner, he was thinking, that a soft voice should 
 be only used to friends, and never thought of displaying 
 either Antony's policy or greatness of soul, by making 
 him address his foes with mildness. 
 
mtttg Utar, 
 
 ACT I. 
 
 Scene I. — page 310. 
 
 Regan. I am made of that self metal as my sister, 
 And prize me at her worth. 
 
 However highly you estimate my sister's love, mine 
 being equal, merits an equal mark of your affection. Or, 
 The same value that you place on my sister's affections, 
 I merit, for I am in every respect her counterpart. 
 
 Scene I. — page 312. 
 
 Cordelia. 1 am sure, my love's 
 
 More richer than my tongue. 
 
 Cordelia knows the insincerity of her sisters' profes- 
 sions : — the love she feels glows in her heart, — therefore, 
 richer : i. e. purer than mere expressions. 
 
 Scene l.—page 323, 
 Burgundy. Election makes not up on such conditions. 
 
 Mr. Malone asserts, that the present text is correct ; 
 and says, Election makes not up, means — " Election comes 
 not to a decision:" and, as a more modern sense— 
 " I have made up my mind on that subject."— For my 
 
316 KING LEAR. 
 
 part, I cannot reconcile my mind to either the one 
 sense or the other, and do not hesitate to pronounce 
 the passage corrupt. 
 
 I have often had occasion to say,— the transcriber 
 mistook the sound of the word ; and I am sorry to 
 resume the same phrase in the first scene of this play ; 
 but, surely, the very characters with which the corrupt 
 words correspond, (one letter excepted,) prove that our 
 Author wrote : 
 
 Pardon me, royal sir 
 
 Election mates not upon such conditions. 
 
 Here we have three errors in two words, and one 
 letter corrects the passage ! 
 
 The Duke means : Though Cordelia is the object of 
 my choice, or, the election of my heart, yet, I cannot 
 wed her upon such conditions. When the Duke of Bur- 
 gundy became a suitor for Cordelia, Lear stipulated 
 her marriage portion ; and although he has resigned 
 two-thirds of his dominions to his other daughters, 
 yet Burgundy is satisfied to take Cordelia with the com- 
 paratively small portion originally promised. — See a 
 subsequent passage in this scene, where the Duke wishes 
 to hold good his engagement : 
 
 Royal Lear, 
 
 Give but that portion which yourself propos'd, 
 And here I take Cordelia by the hand, 
 Duchess of Burgundy." 
 
 Thus, the Duke cannot be confounded with a trades- 
 man who contracts for a piece of work : — it is Lear who 
 violates his engagements ; and the contracts of princes 
 should be held inviolate. 
 
 Scene I. — page 324. 
 
 France. Sure, her offence 
 
 Must be of such unnatural degree, 
 
 That monsters it, or your for e-vouch 'd affection 
 
 Fall into laist : 
 
KING i.EAR. 317 
 
 That monsters what ? This passage seems to have been 
 passed by all the Commentators, except Mr. Malone, 
 who says, it was the phraseology of Shakspeare's time ; 
 and Mr. Sieevens, who observes, that monsters is a very 
 uncommon verb. Indeed, so uncommon, in my opinion, 
 that, in the present instance, I am certain our Author 
 did not call it to his aid. In short, I believe there are 
 several monstrous errors in the passage. I read : 
 Sure her offence 
 
 Must be of such unnatural degree, 
 
 That man starts at, or you, for vouch' d affection, 
 
 Fall into taint : 
 
 Here is a natural and familiar construction, that sends 
 the monster from human society. These errors proceed, as 
 usual, from the transcriber : — monsters it — man starts at, 
 are words very different in sense, but singularly near in 
 sound, and vary very little in their characters. Your 
 fore-vouched, and you, for vouched, are as near as possible, 
 
 Scene I.— page 329. 
 
 Regan. And well are worth the want that you have wanted. 
 
 Where the folio and quartos disagree, there is gene- 
 rally an undiscovered error ; and the designed mono- 
 tony of this line proves, that the Poet did not intend 
 either of the repetitions which they exhibit. Compo- 
 sitors, indeed, where a number of words begin with the 
 same letter, are very apt to repeat the preceding ; and 
 thus the quartos got — worth the worth; which, I suppose, 
 the Editor of the folio disapproved, and changed to 
 worth the want. In my opinion, our Author wrote : 
 And well are worth the wit that you have wanted. 
 
 Meaning : you are worth nothing; have nothing ; and 
 all for want of wit: i. e. common sense. 
 
318 KING LEAR. 
 
 Scene I. — page 330. 
 
 Cordelia. Time shall unfold what plaited cunning hides ; 
 Who cover faults, at last shame them derides. 
 
 In the first line of this couplet, our Author had in 
 view that external part of dress, called a ruff, and 
 which, in his time, was worn both by males and females. 
 Those ruffs were neatly plaited ; and when torn or de- 
 cayed, it required the art of the laundress, by stiffening 
 and plaiting, to conceal such defects ; but, as this inge- 
 nuity could not resist the weather, the poverty of the 
 wearer appeared manifest as the ruff became limber. 
 In like manner, the hypocrisy and cunning of Goneril 
 and Regan, will, to their confusion and disgrace, in the 
 course of time, be exposed to public view. 
 
 In respect to the second line, it does not afford so 
 clear a sense as that which we obtain from the first folio, 
 which reads : 
 
 " Who covers faults at last with shame derides." 
 
 Had Goneril and Regan been virtuously inclined, 
 when Lear became exasperated at the ingenuous con- 
 duct of his once-loved Cordelia, they would have soft- 
 ened matters so as to convince him of his error ; but, 
 corrupt in their nature, no such generous sentiment 
 entered their hardened bosoms ; but prompted by the 
 Devil, who covers the iniquitous proceedings of his vo- 
 taries, until perfectly assured of his prey, the hypocrisy 
 and selfishness of Goneril and Regan triumphed over 
 the candour and disinterestedness of Cordelia. But, as 
 the Devil, in the course of time, deserts his most de- 
 voted friends, Cordelia tells her sisters — That He " who 
 covers faults at present, at last with shame derides :" that 
 is, withdraws that veil which screened detection, and 9 
 laughing at his servants in the hour of danger, suffers 
 them to become objects of public contempt. 
 
KING LEAR. 319 
 
 Scene I. — page 375. 
 
 Lear. The untented woundings of a father's curse 
 Pierce every sense about thee. 
 
 The only sense which the present reading affords, 
 Mr. Steevens has furnished; but, as Commentators, like 
 doctors, differ in opinion, mine is, that the woundings 
 are so corrupt, they require fresh dressing : — Assuredly, 
 our Author wrote : 
 
 The indented woundings of a father's curse, 
 
 What part is wounded?- — the heart! Can a tent be 
 applied to an internal wound ? — No ! What occasions 
 the indented woundings ? a heavy pressure of affliction: 
 Then, as Goneril is the immediate cause of Lear's an- 
 guish, so proceeds his curse from the affected part. — 
 See Act II. sc. iv. where Lear makes known his distress 
 to Regan : 
 
 0, Regan, she hath tied 
 
 Sharp-tooth'd unkindness, like a vulture, here." 
 
 [Points to his heart. 
 
 The transcriber's ear deceived him : — untented and 
 indented are nearly alike both in sound and characters. 
 
 ACT II 
 
 Scene II.— page 393. 
 
 Kent. Good dawning to thee, friend: Art of the house? 
 
 At the conclusion of this scene, Kent says, — 
 
 " Fortune, good night; smile once more; turn thy wheel !" 
 
 How then can this be the dawning of day? Why 
 Mr. Malone should be so strenuous to change night to 
 morning seems very strange ; especially as, by so doing, 
 incongruity is forced into several scenes of this Act. 
 As for the present passage, I am convinced it is corrupt ; 
 
320 KING LEAR, 
 
 and of this the early Editors were certain, though they 
 knew not what word to substitute, in order to make 
 the time correspond. The present reading, I am inclined 
 to think, is that which was obtained from the first edi- 
 tion of the play; but the quartos read — u Good even." 
 Thus, from not being able to surmount the difficulty, 
 some have good dawning, — others, good even. 
 
 When Lear delivered the letters to Kent, he observed, 
 — " If your diligence be not speedy, I shall be there 
 before you." To which Kent replied — That he would 
 not sleep until he delivered the letters : this was after Lear 
 returned from hunting. Accordingly, Kent used the 
 utmost expedition; but, arrived at Regan's, he found 
 that she had set off for Gloster's castle : thither he 
 followed; and, having delivered his letters, indulges 
 in reflection in the court before Gloster's castle. Here 
 he is accosted by Goneril's steward, who, being un- 
 acquainted with the house, wishes Kent that which he 
 wants for himself and his horses — a shelter from the 
 night. Farther preamble is unnecessary, only to ob- 
 serve, that had it not been dark, the Steward must have 
 known Kent, who had so recently tripped up his heels. 
 I am convinced that the terminating d in good was car- 
 ried in sound to the next word, and thus the error. I 
 read, as I am convinced our Author wrote : 
 
 Good awning to thee, friend : Art of the house ? 
 
 An awning is a cover spread over a ship to keep off 
 the heat or wet ; but it is not confined to this alone ; 
 for we find, in Robinson Crusoe, according to his own 
 words, — " Of these boards I made an awning over me." 
 This, then, is what the Steward requires, he wants a 
 shelter; and, to make his immediate want known to 
 Kent, he wishes him that which, he thinks, from the 
 advanced hour of the night, he should be enjoying ; — 
 and, as he supposes that Kent belongs to the house, the 
 hint, he imagines, will have the desired effect. 
 
KING TEAR. 321 
 
 Scene II. — page 394. 
 
 Kent. If I had thee in Lipsbury pinfold, I would make thee care 
 for me. 
 
 If he had him in a pinfold, from whence he could not 
 run away, he would give him a sound drubbing. If 
 lipsbury was not a phrase well known in our Author's 
 time, to imply gagging, it has been coined for the purpose ; 
 as it is evident Kent means, — Where the movement of 
 thy lips should be of no avail. 
 
 Scene II. — page 395. 
 
 Kent. Three-suited knave. 
 
 I am certain our Author wrote — tree-suited. A tree' 
 suited knave, means, one fitted for the gallows. 
 
 Scene II. — page 395. 
 
 Kent. Glass-gazing, superserviceable, finincal rogue: 
 
 The figure which exhibits subject for this epithet is 
 that of a valet-de-chambre, who, during the time his 
 master is employed at his toilet, stands behind his chair, 
 and never stirs but to obey orders ; and, the glass being 
 before him, he cannot avoid gazing at his own image. 
 
 Scene II. — page 396. 
 
 Kent. Barber-monger. 
 
 The degrading epithets, of which Kent has been so 
 lavish, are not altogether applicable to the Steward; 
 but his being a servant is enough, and Kent lays them 
 on without mercy : for instance — a jilthy worsted-stocking 
 knave, only suits a livery servant; coloured worsted 
 
 r 
 
Z%2 KIXG LEAR. 
 
 stockings being part of a servant's livery. Glass-gazin^ 
 knave, means a valet-de-chambre ; and barber-monger, 
 is but another appellation for valet, or glass-gazing 
 knave; it being the business of such a servant to shave 
 and dress his master's hair : from this, I should imagine, 
 the epithet barber-monger, i. e. an inferior kind of bar- 
 ber; one not regularly initiated in the art. 
 
 Scene II. — page 408. 
 Kent. — Give you good morrow ! 
 
 It has been a strongly controverted point, whether 
 this scene should be understood to take place at night 
 or morning ; but the scale seems to be at a poise, and 
 nothing decisive can be obtained from either argument. 
 This, however, strongly demands regulation ; for though, 
 to render this play more interesting to modern taste, 
 some scenes have been ejected, extraneous matter omit- 
 ted, and the solemn dirge changed to the trump of 
 victory : yet, as this scene maintains a leading rank, the 
 time it should denote becomes an object of very material 
 consideration. 
 
 On this also depends the correction of some passages, 
 which, in their present state, are as obscure as night. 
 The words, Give you good morrow, Mr. Malone strongly 
 urges in defence of morning; and, that Kent awaits the 
 rising of the sun to have sufficient light to read Cordelia's 
 letter. See Kent's subsequent speech : 
 
 " Approach, thou beacon to this under globe, 
 That by thy comfortable beams I may 
 Peruse this letter!" 
 
 In Act I. sc.iv. Goneril sends her Steward with a let- 
 ter to Regan ; Lear also dispatches Kent with letters to 
 Gloster ; the Steward and Kent arrive together at Glos- 
 ter's castle ; they quarrel, and Kent, in the currency of 
 invective, says, — "for, though it be night, the moon 
 
KING LEAR. 323 
 
 shines:" immediately after lie is put in the stocks; — 
 
 therefore, it cannot be morning. In Act II. sc. i. where 
 
 Edmund's artifice occasions Edgar's flight, Gloster and 
 
 his servants enter with torches : 
 
 Gloster. " Now, Edmund, where's the villain?" 
 Edmund. " Here stood he in the dark" &c. 
 
 And Curan, not ten minutes before, said to Edmund, 
 
 " the Duke of Cornwall and Regan his Duchess will be 
 
 here with him to-night." Immediately after, Cornwall 
 
 and Regan enter, and Cornwall says, — 
 
 " Here now, my nohle friend ? since I came hither 
 (Which I call hut now,)" 
 
 Of course, night. 
 
 In the same scene, Regan says, — 
 
 " I have this present evening from my sister 
 Been well inform 1 d of them/' 
 
 Again, — Alluding to her visit, Regan says,— 
 " Thus out of season; threading dark-ey'd night.''' 
 
 In the evening she received the letter; so that her 
 palace could not have been far from Gloster's; other- 
 wise, instead of demanding Gloster's needful counsel, she 
 would have sought repose : but the night was still young. 
 The scene changes, (the present scene,) but darkness 
 still prevails : The Steward, who had accompanied Re- 
 gan, enters, — he encounters Kent, and so dark is the flight, 
 that he cannot recognize the man who tripped up his 
 heels the afternoon of the same day: Kent and he quar- 
 rel, and, in about twenty minutes after, Kent is placed in 
 the stocks. Lear arrives; he demands the cause of Kent's 
 punishment.; Kent details circumstances : The exas- 
 perated King goes to see Cornwall and Regan; he 
 shortly returns, accompanied by Gloster, and repeats the 
 answer he received : 
 
 Lear. " Deny to speak with me ? They are sick? 
 They have travelld hard to-night?'' 
 
 Had the time been even turned of midnight, our Author 
 would have noticed it, for he has proved himself parti- 
 
 Y2- 
 
3 c 2i KING LEAR. 
 
 cularly careful in distinguishing night from morning : In 
 Richard III. after Richard starts out of his dream, he 
 says, It is now dead midnight ; and, shortly after, Ratcliff 
 enters, and observes, — 
 
 The early village cock 
 
 Hath twice done salutation to the morn." 
 
 See, how nice is our Author's distinction of time! 
 and, surely, had it been after midnight when Lear sent 
 to Regan, her answer would have been, that she had 
 travelled hard last night. 
 
 But so far is it from being morning, that during the 
 period allotted for this scene, the same obscurity which 
 prevents Kent from reading Cordelia's letter still re- 
 mains; and expressly so, to prepare us for that violent 
 tempest under which the barbarous Regan suffers her 
 father to be exposed; for though, when Cornwall and 
 Regan enter, Lear says, Good morrow to you both, this 
 he says in derision, for their not coming to pay him that 
 early respect which his liberality merited. 
 
 I think it will be admitted, that no Dramatic Writer 
 
 ever prolonged a scene to impress the idea, that there is 
 
 a lapse of thirty-four hours while the characters remain 
 
 on the stage; which must be the case, in the fourth 
 
 scene of this Act, if Mr. Malone's theorem be conclusive ; 
 
 which is, that Kent is impatient for the rising of the sun, 
 
 that he may read Cordelia's letter: Now, be it observed, 
 
 that when Lear enters with Gloster, he says, They have 
 
 travelled hard to-night ; and when Lear departs from 
 
 Gloster's castle, Gloster says to the unnatural daughters, 
 
 "Alack, the night comes on, and the hleak winds 
 Do sorely ruffle." 
 
 Now, if this be not the same night that Kent was put 
 in the stocks, — the same night that Lear, Regan, and all 
 the parties arrive at Gloster's castle, — and the same on 
 which Lear encounters the storm, more than the number 
 of hours I have mentioned must have elapsed to bring- 
 on another night ; and, during which time, the leading 
 
KING LEAR. 325 
 
 characters of the Drama are present. But Gloster, in the 
 above observation, merely means, that the gloomy part of 
 the night advances : we may suppose about ten o'clock. 
 To be brief, let any reader examine the play minutely, 
 and he will find that, from Act II. sc. ii. when Kent was 
 put in the stocks, (and at which time the impending storm 
 had obscured the moon,) until the end of the third Act, 
 it is a continuation of the same night, and the atmosphere 
 still remains obscured ; for, when Gloster visits Lear at 
 the hovel, he enters with a torch. 
 
 Though I have dwelt so particularly on this point, I 
 believe the intelligent investigator of Shakspeare's Plays 
 will concur in opinion with me, that the observation made 
 by Kent, a few minutes before he was put in the stocks, 
 is sufficient to establish the time ; his words are addressed 
 to the Steward : " Draw, you rogue ; for though it be night , 
 the moon shines:" And again, when in the stocks, and 
 alone, he says, "Fortune, good night." 
 
 My reason for inserting this note as elucidatory of the 
 words, Give you good morrow, is, because I am certain a 
 word has been lost in that hemistic, and that we should 
 read: 
 
 A good man's fortune may grow out at heels, 
 * , To give you good morrow. 
 
 Meaning: That he may have the good fortune to get 
 his heels out of the stocks by morning, and be at liberty 
 to give him good morrow. 
 
 This is the only passage which Mr. Malone quotes as 
 his authority for thinking the time — morning. 
 
 However, Mr. Malone is not the only Commentator 
 who entertains this opinion; Mr. M. Mason, also, con- 
 ceives it to be morning; and his authority is founded on 
 the Steward's introductory words in this scene — "Good 
 dawning to thee, friend:" but, by referring to my cor- 
 rection of the corrupt word dawning, Mr. M. Mason's 
 argument loses all force. 
 
326 KING LEAR. 
 
 Scene II. — page 408. 
 
 Kent. Good king that must approve the common saw I 
 Thou out of heaven's benediction com'st 
 To the warm sun ! 
 
 Approach, thou beacon to this under globe, 
 That by thy comfortable beams I may 
 Peruse this letter! 
 
 The first line of this speech is addressed as though 
 the King were present ; the two subsequent express the 
 saw, or proverb to which Kent alludes ; and here he 
 makes a long pause, during which he searches his pocket 
 for Cordelia's letter. But dark is the night, the moon 
 is obscured; and though he knows the letter is from 
 Cordelia, yet his anxiety to read it cannot be gratified. 
 He invokes the moon : 
 
 Approach, thou beacon to this under globe, 
 That by thy comfortable beams I may 
 Peruse this letter! 
 
 The moon, as a beacon, is a most desirable one, both 
 for navigators and travellers ; and, assuredly, her beams 
 are highly comfortable. A dark and dreary night is 
 called a comfortless night; and why? because the com- 
 fortable beams of the moon do not appear to gladden the 
 world. 
 
 But the impending storm still screens her from him, 
 and he is obliged to guess at the contents of the letter : 
 this will be more strongly confirmed in the subsequent 
 note. 
 
 Scene II.— page 409. 
 
 Kent. —Nothing almost sees miracles, 
 
 But misery ; — 
 
 I never heard, till now, that misery could so peculiarly 
 see miracles; had it been Faith, which has wrought 
 miracles, credit might be given to the assertion. But 
 to zsrfiat miracles does Kent allude ? Surely his being in 
 
KING LEAR. 327 
 
 the stocks is not a miracle ! disgrace it may be called ; 
 and, as an uncommon punishment for a British Peer, 
 astonishment may be added. 
 
 A pure and a corrupt reading remained for the choice 
 of our Commentators. The present text is from the 
 folio; which, as a combination of words, may be under- 
 stood; but certainly they bear no relation with Kent's 
 misfortunes ; at least, to me, in their present state, they 
 are incomprehensible. The quartos read : 
 
 Nothing almost sees my wrack, 
 
 But misery;' 
 
 This is much better understood. The reflection is 
 occasioned by the vexation he feels in not being able to 
 read Cordelia's letter; for, otherwise, the darker the 
 night the better, that his disgrace might be screened from 
 observation. 
 
 But Kent is anxious to read that which he concludes 
 must give him consolation ; and, therefore, he invokes 
 the moon to aid him by her comfortable beams, that he 
 may gratify his curiosity; but even that luminary will 
 not vouchsafe to behold his wrack, i. e. his downfal and 
 disgrace; nothing will look upon him but misery. 
 
 In Sidney's Arcadia, from which the episode of Gloster 
 and his sons is taken, the King of Paphlagonia makes an 
 observation to Leonatus, from which our Author seems 
 to have taken a hint. The blind King says, — 
 
 " Nothing doth become me but miserie!" 
 
 Scene II. — page 410. 
 
 Kent. and shall find time 
 
 From this enormous state, — seeking to give 
 Losses their remedies: — 
 
 Doctor Johnson explains the word enormous, to mean 
 unwonted, — Out of rule, — Out of the ordinary course of 
 
328 KING LEAR. 
 
 things. I hope to prove that, in the present instance, it 
 means — great. 
 
 Mr. Malone thinks two half-lines have been lost be- 
 tween the words state and seeking. Indeed, in the present 
 state of the passage, I am not surprised that Mr. Malone 
 formed such an opinion. Mr. Steevens, and other Com- 
 mentators, consider this passage as detached, or divided 
 parts of Cordelia's letter : hut how can Kent read the 
 letter in the dark? See the two preceding notes. In 
 short, the passage is corrupt, and so devoid of sense, that 
 with many of a similar nature, not yet corrected, they 
 have helped to wither a leaf of the laurel which Fame 
 placed on the brow of our immortal Bard, who, unques- 
 tionably, wrote : 
 
 — 1 know, 'tis from Cordelia ; 
 
 Who hath most fortunately been inform'd 
 Of my obscured course; and shall find time, 
 From this enormous state's sinking., to give 
 Losses their remedies: — 
 
 Thus, all obscurity is removed : the transcriber, who 
 wrote as another person read to him, lost the s in the 
 word — states, by the hissing sound of the s's in state's 
 sinking; and, adding to the blunder, his unchaste ear 
 caught seeking, instead of sinking. The sense of the 
 passage is obvious. 
 
 Cordelia's spies in England had apprized her of the 
 growing rupture between the Dukes of Albany and 
 Cornwall. See Act III. sc. i. where, a short time after 
 Kent was liberated from the stocks, having read Cor- 
 delia's letter, he meets one of Lear's gentlemen, and 
 charges him with a commission to Cordelia, observing : 
 
 " There is a division, 
 
 Although as yet the face of it be cover' d 
 With mutual cunning, 'twixt Albany and Cornwall ; 
 Who have (as who have not, that their great stars 
 Thron'd and set high ?) servants, who seem no less ; 
 Which are to France the spies and speculations 
 Intelligent of our state;'''' 
 
 This accounts for the manner in which Cordelia 
 obtained the intelligence of the state's sinking, and also 
 
KING Lft&A. 329 
 
 gives us the purport of her letter to Kent; who. no 
 doubt, was already Avell aware of the disunion between 
 the two Dukes, and of which he expects Cordelia will 
 avail herself, and send over forces to give losses their 
 remedies; that is, — to restore the injured King and 
 himself to their former rank and possessions. 
 
 Respecting the word enormous, — Britain, under the 
 prudent government of Lear, was a great state ; under 
 the dominion of Albany and Cornwall, a — sinking stale. 
 
 Scene IV. — page 429. 
 
 Regan. I have hope, 
 
 You less know how to value her desert, 
 Than she to scant her duty. 
 
 Regan means : You are more deficient in the know- 
 ledge of her merits, than she is deficient in duty. 
 
 Scene IV. — page 440. 
 
 Lear. You heavens, give me that patience, patience I need ! 
 
 The distracted state of Lear's mind prevents him from 
 expressing himself as he intended : he would have said, 
 You heavens, give me that which my calamities require — 
 patience! but his impetuosity stops the words; and waving 
 that solemnity of address with which he commenced, in 
 a hurried voice, he testifies what he needs. The passage 
 should read : 
 
 You heavens, give me that, — patience, patience I need ! 
 
 Recovering himself, he then resumes that solemn 
 manner which a serious address requires; but, again 
 overcome by grief, indignation, and passion, what he 
 would express he cannot : 
 
330 KING LEAK. 
 
 " No, you unnatural hags, 
 
 I will have such revenges on you both, 
 
 That all the world shall — I will do such things, — 
 
 What they are, yet I know not;" 
 
 According to my idea of the passage, the repetition 
 of the word patience is unavoidable : the entire force of 
 the verse depends on it. 
 
 ACT III. 
 
 Scene I. — page 445. 
 
 Gestlemak. Strives in his little world of man to out-scorn 
 The to-and-fro-conflicting wind and rain. 
 
 Mr. Steevens is of opinion, that we should read, 
 out-storm; but I believe the present text correct. — 
 The conflicting elements scorn the benighted traveller; 
 they disregard both his plaints and misery ! but Lear 
 out-scorns all their vengeance; and, exposing his un- 
 protected head to their impetuosity, bids defiance to 
 their destructive powers. — See the commencement of 
 this speech, where, in answer to Kent's demand, the 
 Gentleman says, that Lear is, — 
 
 " Contending with the fretful element, 
 Bids the wind blow the earth into the sea, 
 Or swell the curled waters 'bove the main," &c. 
 
 Scene IV. — page A59. 
 
 Lear. Thou think'st 'tis much, that this contentious storm 
 Invades us to the skin : 
 
 The quarto reads — crulentious, a word unknown ; and 
 evidently a corruption from mistake of sound. The 
 present text is from the folio. 
 
 Though the word contentious is not devoid of meaning, 
 yet, it may be demanded, — what doth the storm contend 
 with? Whatever direction a storm takes, both hail, rain. 
 
KING LEAR. S3 1 
 
 and show, must submit to it, and pursue the same course. 
 The poor old King, in his present distracted state, might 
 strive to " out-scorn the conflicting wind and rain" but 
 to contend against the combined elements, he might as 
 well strive to repel the waves of the sea. 
 
 Convinced, by repeated proofs, that most of the 
 corrupt passages in these plays owe their origin to the 
 transcribers ; who, from ignorance and inattention, re- 
 garded sound more than sense; I have examined the 
 jumble of letters which form crulentious, and think that, 
 in two words, which give almost precisely the same sound 
 as crulentious, we obtain the original. I read : 
 
 Thou think' st 'tis much, that this cruel y lentous storm 
 Invades us to the skin: — 
 
 As for the word cruel before storm, few adjectives can 
 be found more applicable : a cruel storm, the same as a 
 pitiless storm, is a phrase, I believe, made use of more 
 than once by our Author ; and is as familiar at the 
 present day, as to say, it is a cruel night, which is common, 
 when the wind and rain compel us to seek shelter from 
 their fury. The word lentous is equally well applied in 
 the present passage ; for, by Lear's saying — The storm 
 invades us to the skin, he tell us, he feels that viscosity, 
 which wind and rain produce, by the adhesion of his 
 apparel to his skin. 
 
 The modern Editors, satisfied with the word conten- 
 tious, have passed this corrupt passage over in silence. 
 If critical judgment should admit, (as well as I am 
 convinced,) that cruel lentous is the original reading, 
 Shakspeare will be, in part, indebted to Mr. Seymour's 
 observation : In his notes on Shakspeare, he says, — The 
 old copy reads, crulentious : some corruption, from which 
 it is now impossible to recover the Author's word. 
 
 In Dr. Johnson's Dictionary, this passage is given as 
 an example for the word contentious : but the text varies* 
 it reads : 
 
 *• Thou thinkest much that this contentious storm*" 
 
332 KING LEAR. 
 
 Thus, we have thinkest for think 1 st; it will also be 
 perceived that the word % Us is omitted. 
 
 The proposed correction gives the verse a syllable 
 more than we have in the present text ; but, by omitting 
 'tis, which seems to have been capriciously introduced, 
 we retain the due measure. 
 
 Thou think'st much that this cruel lentous storm 
 Invades us to the skin. 
 
 ACT IV. 
 
 Scene I. — page 509. 
 
 Gi-osier. Let the superfluous, and lust-dieted man, 
 
 That slaves your ordinance, that will not see 
 Because he doth not feel, feel your power quickly; 
 So distribution should undo excess, 
 And each man have enough. — 
 
 I can neither reconcile the word slaves, nor the forced 
 elucidations it has caused. I believe our Author wrote : 
 
 That staves your ordinance, 
 
 This gives a clear meaning: — Let him who lives for 
 his own sensuality, and who staves, i. e. breaks your 
 ordinance, feel your power quickly. 
 
 The transcriber forgot to cross the t, and the com- 
 positor took it for an /: thus the word slaves! 
 
 * Scene II. — page 516. 
 
 Goneril. Fools do those villains pity, who are punish'd 
 Ere they have done their mischief. 
 
 Though Goneril displays a character which disgraces 
 human nature, yet, I believe, Lear is not one of the 
 objects on whom she bestows the epithet — villain. I 
 rather imagine, she means the unhappy Gloster, and 
 Regan's servant, who fell in the cause of humanity. 
 
KING LEAR. 333 
 
 Goneril was the first who proposed to deprive Gloster 
 
 of sight : and it is highly natural that her fears would 
 
 be awakened at every spark of pity which the people 
 
 displayed for the outrage committed on him. See 
 
 Act IV. sc. v. where Regan, alluding to Gloster's misery. 
 
 says, — 
 
 " where he arrives, he moves 
 
 All hearts against us •." , 
 
 Scene II. — page 517. 
 
 Albany. Thou chang'd and self -cover d thing, for shame, 
 Be-monster not thy feature. 
 
 I think self-converted affords a better meaning than 
 the text. By self-converted, I understand, — one who, 
 without the instigation of others, becomes a convert to 
 either good or evil. Regan is as deep in iniquity as 
 Goneril ; but is instigated or countenanced in wicked- 
 ness by her husband; which, being well known to 
 Albany, he thus exculpates himself from having any 
 concern in their diabolical proceedings; thereby telling 
 her, that all her evil actions spring from her own heart, 
 and make her a convert to the nefarious operations of 
 Satan. 
 
 Scene III. — page 521. 
 
 Gentleman. -You have seen 
 
 Sun-shine and rain at once: her smiles and tears 
 Were like a better day. 
 
 The quartos read — a better way ; which I believe 
 correct : the error appears to me to be in the word — 
 like, which should read — linked. With this correction, 
 we have a sublime idea. 
 
 On a summer's day, when the sun sends forth its rays, 
 a shower passing through them, falls upon the earth : 
 
334 KING LEAR. 
 
 thus the rain and sun-shine are totally separated. But, 
 in the present picture ; the tears which started from the 
 eyes of Cordelia, as they chased each other, they fell not 
 to the ground, her smiles caught them ; they link'd each 
 with the other, like unto a chain of pearls ; and, falling 
 on her bosom, adorned humanity: thus, — 
 
 her smiles and tears 
 
 Were linked a better way: 
 i.e. Her tears were too precious to fall to the ground. 
 
 Scene III.— page 524. 
 Gentleman. As pearls from diamonds dropped. 
 Before I read Mr. Steevens's proposed emendation, the 
 same correction occurred to me. I believe our Author 
 wrote : 
 
 As pearls from diamonds dropping. 
 
 Scene IV. — page 526. 
 Kent. A sovereign shame so elbows him : 
 
 How could my predecessors reconcile this reading? — * 
 so elbows him ! This, contrasted with our Author's text, 
 affords, I think, as ludicrous a corruption as can be met 
 with in these plays ; but see what the change of a single 
 letter effects ; and what sublimity is obtained in place of 
 nonsense. Our Author wrote : 
 
 A sovereign shame soul bows him : his own unkindness 
 That stripp'd her from his benediction, turn'd her 
 To foreign casualties, gave her dear rights 
 To his dog-hearted daughters, — these things sting 
 His mind so venemously, that burning shame 
 Detains him from Cordelia. 
 
 A sovereign shame so oppresses the soul of Lear-for 
 his unnatural treatment of the virtuous Cordelia, that he 
 cannot command sufficient resolution to behold her. 
 
KING TEAR. 335 
 
 Any reader who thinks this phrase requires an example 
 will find one almost verbatim in Psalm lvii. 
 
 This error owes its origin to the person who read to 
 the transcriber; he sounded the word soul (so-el), which 
 coming before botes, the transcriber gave the present cor- 
 rupt reading. 
 
 The phrase soul-bows is farther strengthened by a 
 passage in the Winter's Tale, Act V. sc. i, where 
 Leontes says, — 
 
 ''therefore, no wife : one worse, 
 
 And better us'd, would make her sainted spirit 
 Again possess her corps; and, on this stage, 
 OVhere we offended,) now appear, soul-vex' d," 1 
 
 In this quotation I have given the passage as restored. 
 See my notes, page 146. 
 
 Scene VI. — page 537. 
 Edgar. Gone, sir? farewell. 
 
 After the preceding speech, the stage direction says, 
 ( He leaps and falls along.) In my opinion, Gloster 
 should not attempt his leap until Edgar bids him farewell. 
 Be it also remembered, that the smallest turn to either 
 right or left, will change the direction which a blind 
 person intends taking; Edgar, therefore, tells Gloster, 
 that he is fronting the precipice; and that he should not 
 vary to either right or left. We certainly should read : 
 Go on, sir; farewell, — 
 
 After this, (the stage direction,) Gloster leaps and falls 
 along. The quartos and folio read : Gone, sir? farewell. 
 The second folio, and modern Editors : Good, sir, S?c. 
 Where the early editions vary, and that our modern 
 Editors remain in doubt, we may be assured that the 
 true reading has not been discovered. The transcriber 
 mistook the sound ; and wrote Gone, Sir, instead of, Go 
 on, Sir : 
 
336 KING LEAR. 
 
 Scene II.— page 538. 
 
 Edgar. Ten masts at each make not the altitude, 
 Which thou hast perpendicularly fell ; 
 
 There is nothing more common with compositors, 
 than to omit the first word, where two, immediately 
 connected, begin with the same letter : Such, I believe, 
 has been the case in the present passage. — I am strongly 
 of opinion that our Author wrote : 
 
 Ten masts at end each make not the altitude, 
 Which thou hast perpendicularly fell ; 
 
 Thus, imagination forms the picture at once : one mast 
 after another, to that altitude which ten masts produce. 
 
 Scene VII. — page 566. 
 
 Physician. the great rage, 
 
 You see, is cur'd in him: [and yet it is danger 
 To make him even o'er the time he has lost.] 
 
 There is neither sense nor harmony in this line. — I am 
 certain our Author wrote : 
 
 the great rage, 
 
 You see, is cur'd in him: [and yet it is danger 
 To wake him even, o'er the time he has lost.] 
 
 Meaning — That it would be attended with danger, even 
 to awaken his remembrance to past scenes. 
 As though we read : 
 
 [and yet it is danger, 
 
 Even to wake him o'er the time he has lost.] 
 
 The m and w in manuscript are frequently mistaken 
 the one for the other; by the context only, can the 
 compositor, at times, form the true word. — But an m 
 being in the w compartment, which is often the case, 
 may have occasioned the present error. 
 
KING LEAR. 337 
 
 ACT V. 
 
 Scene I. — page 571. 
 
 Goneril. For these domestic and particular broils 
 Are not the question here. 
 
 Surely a reading- infinitely preferable to the present 
 can be obtained, by combining that of the quarto and 
 folio. 
 
 From the quarto : — 
 
 For these domestic door particulars, 
 From the folio : — 
 
 Are not the question here. 
 
 According to the present text, we must imagine an 
 internal commotion in the kingdom, exclusive of the 
 invasion. 
 
 Domestic wars are, more particularly, of two deno- 
 minations ; as contention for the crown, between the 
 houses of York and Lancaster ; and rebellion, as in the 
 time of Charles I. to overturn the monarchy. But, 
 whatever were the private views of the houses of Albany 
 and Cornwall, — Goneril wishes to have all domestic door 
 particulars (their family quarrels,) suppressed, that, by 
 uniting their forces, they may repel the invaders. 
 
 Scene III. — page 580. 
 
 Edmund. to be tender-minded 
 
 Does not become as word: — 
 
 For — a sword: — 
 
 Such is the reading of the last edition of Johnson 
 and Steevens. If, in the present state of printing, such 
 errors creep in, what must have been the case, in 
 Shakspeare's time, when the art was in a state of 
 infancy! 
 
KING LEAR. 
 
 Scene III. — page 593. 
 
 Edgar. — This would have seem'd a period 
 
 To such as love not sorrow ; but another, 
 
 To amplify Joo-much, would make much more, 
 
 And top extremity. 
 
 Where Mr. Steevens says there is corruption, his 
 opinion is seldom erroneous : two words are corrupt : 
 we should read, as, I am bold enough to say, our 
 Author wrote : 
 
 ■This would have seem'd a pyramid 
 
 To such as love not sorrow; but another, 
 
 To amplify truth much, would make much more, 
 
 And top extremity. 
 
 Meaning : This tender scene would have seemed as a 
 pyramid of affliction to those whose sensibility could 
 look on sorrow without being affected; but I, as a 
 pristine cause, and an immediate sharer of that sorrow, 
 cannot, as another, to amplify the truth, do justice to 
 the afflicting scene : one less interested would make 
 much more of it, and, in the relation, top extremity : i. e. 
 would swell it to the utmost height of possible con- 
 ception : or, all that was ever conceived of woe before, it 
 would surpass. 
 
 Thus, we are left to conceive what this tender and 
 afflicting scene must have been ; when his relation, in 
 comparison to that of a spectator, who would amplify 
 the truth, is, but as a pyramid to the top of extremity. 
 
 These two errors evidently originate with the tran- 
 scriber, who, for pyramid, caught — period; and, for 
 truth much, — foo-much : similarity of sound is obvious. 
 
 Scene III.— page 600. 
 
 Albany. ■ Fall, and cea§e! 
 
 Mr. Malone doubts whether this speech be addressed 
 to Lear: Mr. Steevens seems confident that it is. 
 
KING LEAR. 539 
 
 When Mr. M. Mason furnished his highly-interesting- 
 note on the two preceding speeches, it is to be regretted 
 that he left the subject unfinished; for, in my opinion, 
 Albany continues the awful picture ; and his words have 
 no other relation but to the final dissolution of the 
 world : 
 
 Kent. Is this the promts' d end? 
 
 Edgar. Or image of that horror ? 
 Albany. Fall, and cease! 
 
 Thus, it is obvious, that the highly-afflicting scene be- 
 fore them strikes each with almost the same degree of 
 horror. Kent, oppressed with age, as well as affliction, 
 views the events that have recently occurred, and the 
 tragic scene before him, as the promised end. Edgar, 
 in the bloom of youth and manly spirit, considers it as 
 the image of that horror: i. e. of the calamitous scene 
 which must precede general dissolution ; and Albany 
 marks his astonishment, by reflecting, as it were, on 
 universal annihilation : — the fall of man, and cessation 
 of the world. His words lead, in a great measure, to 
 illustrate what Kent and Edgar have just said. 
 
 Scene III. — page 603. 
 
 Kent. If fortune brag of two she lov'd and hated, 
 One of them we behold. 
 
 My predecessors seem to have misunderstood this pas- 
 sage. Kent means : Should fortune brag that she loved 
 and hated two persons, one of them he beholds : but he 
 thinks that she never loved and hated two persons, for, 
 that Lear is the only instance ever known of such won* 
 derful caprice. 
 
 z - 
 
i&mtfet 
 
 ACT I. 
 
 Scene I. — page 17. 
 
 Horatio. A little ere the mightiest Julius fell, 
 
 The graves stood tenantless, and the sheeted dead 
 Did squeak and gibber in the Roman streets. 
 
 As, stars with trains of fire and dews of blood, 
 
 I cannot correspond in opinion with the Commentators 
 that our Author did not intend a union of this verse with 
 the preceding; and, moreover, think the impediment 
 easily removed that has occasioned this degrading 
 breach. 
 
 It is well authenticated, that a comet of great magni- 
 tude appeared about the time of Julius Caesar's death. 
 In our Author's Play of Julius Cesar, various prodi- 
 gies are glanced at to prepare the mind for the tragic 
 scene that takes place in the Capitol: see Act II. sc. ii. 
 where Caesar says, — 
 
 " There is one within, 
 
 Besides the things that we have heard and teen, 
 
 Recounts most horrid sights seen by the watch. 
 
 A lioness hath whelped in the streets ; 
 
 And graves have yawn'd and yielded up their dead : 
 
 Fierce fiery warriors fight upon the clouds, 
 
 In ranks, and squadrons, and right form of war, 
 
 Which drizzled blood upon the Capitol: 
 
 The noise of battle hurtled in the air, 
 
 Horses do neigh, and dying men did groan; 
 
 And ghosts did shriek, and squeal about the streets. ,, 
 
 A comet is a blazing star, and distinguished from other 
 stars by a long train, or tail of light, always opposite 
 
HAMLET. 341 
 
 to the sun. " When the light is westward of the sun," 
 according to Dr. Johnson, " the comet is said to be 
 tailed, because the train follows it." The stars, then, 
 with trains of fire, to which Horatio alludes, are no other 
 than comets; and such prodigies must have been fami- 
 liar to Shakspeare, for, in the year 1572, 1596, 1600, 
 1602, 1604, and 1612, stars of this description appeared. 
 But had the text been correct, this, which can afford 
 but little information to the intelligent, were unneces- 
 sary, as the plurality of stars, which the present text 
 exhibits, is like the heat of the sun on burning embers, 
 one fire puts out another ; so doth these stars, they ex- 
 tinguish each other, and leave a passage obscure, which 
 required but one star perfectly to illumine. 
 
 Instead, then, of — As stars, I am bold enough to say, 
 our Author wrote, A star. 
 
 The transcriber, in the first instance, mistook the 
 sound, by the s in star, which he gave to the article 
 preceding the substantive ; for if the article be not 
 sounded emphatically, before st, it will be found to 
 sound — As star: and, as the singular substantive was 
 nonsense without the article, he made it plural. Now, 
 expunge the two s's, which have been erroneously in- 
 serted, and judge whether Mr. Steevens be not mis- 
 taken in saying, that an intermediate verse has been lost. 
 I read, as I am convinced our Author wrote : 
 
 A little ere the mightiest Julius fell, 
 The graves stood tenantless, and the sheeted dead 
 Did squeak and gibber in the Roman streets. 
 A star with trains of fire and dews of blood ; 
 Disasters in the sun; and the moist star, 
 Upon whose influence Neptune's empire stands, 
 Was sick almost to dooms-day with eclipse. 
 
 Besides, see the distinction which our Author makes 
 between the blazing star and the moist star; and also the 
 appendage connected with the one, and the influence at- 
 tached to the other : A sta r with trains of fire, and the 
 moist star, upon whose influence Neptune's empire stands. 
 
342 HAMLET. 
 
 In short, the prodigies that took place on the earth 
 being described, these phenomena discovered in the 
 firmament come in appropriate succession : that this, 
 though called a star, was a comet, we have even the 
 words of Calphurnia : 
 
 " When beggars die, there are no comets seen; 
 The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes." 
 
 Scene I. — page 21, 
 
 Horatio. Stop it, Marcellus. — 
 Do, if it will not stand. 
 
 Mr. Steevens observes, — u I am unwilling to suppose 
 that Shakspeare could appropriate these absurd effu- 
 sions to Horatio, who is a scholar, and has sufficiently 
 proved his good understanding, by the propriety of his 
 address to the phantom." These effusions Mr. Steevens 
 would have transferred to Bernardo. 
 
 In many parts of these plays there are what would 
 be deemed incongruities, but that our Commentators 
 have most judiciously explained, and pointed them out, 
 to be, in our Author, Strokes of Nature. In the present 
 instance — Stop it Marcellus, and afterwards the he- 
 mistic, Do, if it will not stand, I consider entitled to 
 the same marks of distinction : for, we are not to suppose, 
 that Horatio, though he has addressed the Ghost with 
 great propriety, is not alarmed : Behold his agitation 
 when, on hearing the cock crow, the Ghost retires. 
 Here he loses all that energetic language with which 
 reason and reflection aided him, and he exclaims, Stay, 
 and speak : but, however bold this may be, it proceeds 
 from agitation ; and, anxious to obtain an answer, he 
 cries to his companion, Stop it, Marcellus: here he 
 partly forgets it is a phantom : he sees the form move ; 
 and, with the undaunted courage of a soldier, Marcellus 
 demands, — Shall I strike at it with my partizan ? To this 
 agitated Nature replies, — Do, if it will not stand. But 
 
HAMLET. 343 
 
 vain their words, — vain their courage: In the moment 
 'tis before Bernardo, the next before Horatio: — At 
 length Marcellus exclaims, ' Tis gone ! and then returning 
 wisdom points out to both the absurdity of that courage, 
 which, in a moment of forgetfulness, they imagined could 
 obstruct the passage of a phantom, on which their vain 
 blows would prove ynalicious mockery :— See hov? fear 
 operated on Marcellus and Bernardo, in Horatio's 
 account of the phantom to Hamlet : 
 
 " thrice he walk'd, 
 
 By their oppressed and fear-surprized eyes, 
 Within his truncheon's length; whilst they, distilVd 
 ^Almost to jelly with the act of fear, 
 Stand dumb, and speak not to him."' 
 
 In my opinion, Nature could not dictate to man lan- 
 guage more like her own. 
 
 Scene II.— page 31. 
 Hamlet. A little more than kin, and less than kind. 
 Surely, Dr. Johnson's explanation of this passage 
 must be correct. The word kind (German for child) is 
 more appropriate than any sense we can obtain from 
 the English word kind. If I mistake not, in Scotland, 
 the same word is in use, and has a similar meaning. 
 It should also be observed, that the King hears not 
 this observation of Hamlet, but is supposed to continue 
 his speech — u How is it that the clouds, still hang on 
 you?" Here Hamlet answers him, and plays on the 
 word sun, — " Not so, my lord, I am too much i'the sun." 
 When the King calls him son, in his former speech, 
 Hamlet answers, aside, I am less than kind fson). But 
 now he lets him take what meaning he pleases out of 
 his words : his. own being, I am too much of the son, in 
 paying respect to a mother who disgraces Nature by 
 sharing an incestuous bed. 
 
344 HAMLET. 
 
 Scene II. — page 37. 
 
 King. This gentle and unforc'd accord of Hamlet 
 Sits smiling to my heart: 
 
 Sits smiling, to give cheerfulness to his heart; and, 
 by its lively image, to prevent the obtrusion of gloomy 
 reflection. 
 
 Scene II. — page 42. 
 Hamlet. I am very glad to see you : good even, sir. 
 
 This passage has been totally misunderstood : and that 
 it should, I am not at all surprised ; for the punctuation 
 would deceive the most minute critic. The word even, 
 according to the acceptation it must receive in its present 
 position, means, to make one parti/ out of debt with another , 
 either in point of pecuniar?/ obligation or compliment: In 
 the latter sense, Hamlet's familiar politeness induces him 
 to use it : but false punctuation has perverted the sense of 
 the passage, and made my predecessors, under the per- 
 suasion that it alluded to the time of the day, attempt its 
 illustration. I read : 
 
 Marcellus. My good lord. 
 
 Hamlet. I am very glad to see you good: — even, sir. 
 
 Hamlet plays doubly on the word good; he is under- 
 stood to mean — well in health, and pure in ?norals : and, 
 at the same time, he tells Marcellus, that he is even with 
 him in courtesy of expression. 
 
 Sir Thomas Hanmer was so well convinced that the 
 present reading was corrupt, he altered the text from 
 "good even" to "good morning:" a change, which, if 
 Hamlet's salutation was intended to distinguish the time 
 of the day, would be perfectly just; for, on the deter- 
 mination of Marcellus to advise Hamlet of the strange 
 figure they had seen, he observes: 
 And I this morning know 
 
 Where we shall find him most convenient." 
 
HAML..T. 345 
 
 Accordingly, Marcellus and his two companions pay 
 Hamlet a morning visit. 
 
 But, what transcriber or compositor could make so 
 extraordinary a blunder? Is there either affinity of 
 sound or resemblance of characters in even and morning? 
 Had the corrupt reading been — good evening, a careless 
 writer or compositor might, unguardedly, insert the one 
 for the other; but the contraction displays that this 
 could not have been the case; and that even was the 
 Author's word. 
 
 The familiar salutation — good evening, is generally 
 Used when company separate towards night : but surely, 
 when one or more gentlemen come to visit another, were 
 the person so visited to say, on their entrance, — I am 
 glad to see you : good evening : must it not be tantamount 
 to telling his visitors he cannot remain longer in their 
 company? or, in fact, — go about your business, I cannot 
 attend to you ? 
 
 But mark Horatio's guarded mode of expression, 
 and which results from his observing how Hamlet has 
 just played on the word good: he avoids saying " my 
 good lord /' and, in reply to Hamlet's question, says, — 
 
 "A truant disposition, good my lord. 1 " 
 
 He understands Hamlet's meaning; and knows, that 
 restraint and ceremonial distinction are unpleasant to 
 him : of this he has also had a lesson. See the an- 
 terior part of this scene : 
 
 Horatio. " The same, my lord, and your poor servant ever." 
 Hamlet. " Sir, my good friend; I'll change that name with 
 you."' 
 
 Thus, Hamlet's humility and courtesy would even 
 change prince for servant with his friend. 
 
 In respect to time, alluding to good even, Dr. John- 
 son observes, "Between the first and eighth scene of this 
 Act it is apparent, that a natural day must pass:" — this 
 is but the second scene. 
 
346 HAMLET. 
 
 Scene IV. — page 65. 
 Hamlet. This heavy-headed revel, east and west. 
 
 If heavy-headed revel , east and west, means from one 
 end of the world to the other, why should the words — other 
 nations be introduced ? Do not the words — " through' 
 out the world" include all nations? In my opinion, 
 Hamlet simply means the disgraceful appearance of a 
 drunkard, who, when top-heavy, staggers from side to 
 side; and which state he humorously terms, east and 
 west. It is but another figure for that inebriety which 
 Enobarbus, in Antony and Cleopatra, calls the 
 reels. 
 
 Scene IV. — page 68. 
 
 Hamlet. — The dram of base 
 
 Doth all the noble substance often doul v 
 To his own scandal. 
 
 The quarto, where, it seems, this passage is only 
 
 found, reads 
 
 •'The dram of eale 
 
 Doth all the substance of a doubt" 
 
 In an antecedent part of this speech, Hamlet observes, 
 that " Some habit too much o'er-leavens the form ofplau- 
 she manners :" meaning, that a small portion of leaven 
 (vice) corrupts the whole man. The figure exhibited 
 in this passage bears much the same meaning; but, in- 
 stead of fermenting the noble substance by leaven, it is fo- 
 mented by yeast, which is produced by the intestine mo- 
 tion of ale, and which, when kneaded withjlour, changes 
 the entire mass. I should think, then, that we have 
 no necessity for so extraordinary a substitute as base 
 for eale. I read : 
 
 The dram of ale 
 
 Doth all the noble substance over dough 
 To his own scandal. 
 
HAMLi.T. 347 
 
 The noble substance, (man,) the Poet compares to 
 kneaded flour, or unleavened paste ; but, when the dram 
 of yeast (ale) is added to it, the entire mass becomes fer- 
 mented. So with man, one particle of vice leaves him 
 no longer in a state of purity; for, though he may 
 possess many virtuous qualities, that vicious particle 
 corrupts or destroys the good effects they might other- 
 wise have produced. 
 
 The word eale, as in the quarto, is according to the 
 orthography of Shakspeare's time : Of a doubt To, for 
 over dough To, is evidently the error of the transcriber, 
 who mistook the words, from their similarity of sound. 
 
 In Cymbeline, Act III. sc. iv. we meet a passage 
 something expressive of the same meaning: — - 
 
 So then, Posthumus, 
 
 Will lay the leaven on all proper men;"" 
 
 Which Mr. Upton interprets : — " Will infest and 
 corrupt their good name, (like sour dough that lea- 
 veneth the whole mass,) and will render them sus- 
 pected." 
 
 That the present text is corrupt and unmeaning, must 
 be obvious to every reflecting mind : I have endeavoured 
 to give it some sense, but cannot speak with that perfect 
 confidence which I do on most of my restorations : I at 
 first thought we should read : 
 
 Doth all the noble substance oft a-dough, 
 
 which phrase, though now obsolete, might have been 
 used in Shakspeare's time. That the word dough formed 
 part of the passage, I am convinced, but I cannot work 
 it up perfectly to my wishes. Mr. Dryden, speaking of 
 the composition of man, says, — 
 
 " When the gods moulded up the paste of man, 
 Some of their dough was left upon their hands, 
 For want of souls, and so they made Egyptians," 
 
348 HAMLET. 
 
 Scene Y.—page 78. 
 
 Ghost. Doom'd for a certain term to walk the night; 
 And, for the day, confin'd to fast in fires, 
 
 The observations of the Commentators on this pas- 
 sage, particularly Mr. Mason's, are merely imaginary, 
 and so far removed from probability, that any appear- 
 ance upon which ideal truth may be founded, becomes 
 necessary to retrieve the text. If, according to Mr. 
 Mason's interpretation, that the spirit is doomed (feeling 
 an appetite for eating) to fast in fires till its crimes are 
 burnt and purged away, does not the text then imply, 
 that the spirit will still be doomed to the torments of 
 the fires, and its only mitigation, after a certain time of 
 continued punishment, is, that it will receive food to 
 appease its appetite? No other literal construction can 
 be put upon the passage. 
 
 Whatever idea we may entertain of the joys of 
 Heaven, unremitting punishments await the wicked in 
 hell; if but for a given period, to cleanse us from unre- 
 pented sins, still there remains a prospect of happiness. 
 But, though the Poet has brought a shade from thence 
 to walk the night, must we not conclude its soul remains 
 in torments ? Can we suppose that in hell there is either 
 meat to appease hunger or drink to assuage thirst, that 
 the Ghost should make the want of these necessaries for 
 the support of life a matter of astonishment ? Besides, if 
 it did, then must the Ghost deviate from the orders it had 
 received : — 6i I am forbid to tell the secrets of my prison- 
 house." In short, the Author never formed such absurd 
 notions of the infernal regions. 
 
 Hell is a place assigned by the Almighty for the 
 Devil and those rebellious spirits who forfeited Heaven 
 for their apostacy : before the world was, Hell was, 
 and its fires unconsumable and unquenchable. They 
 require not to he fed by any combustible, and upon this 
 alone our Author founds his reading : 
 
HAMLET. 349 
 
 Doom'd for a certain term to walk the night; 
 And for the day, confin'd to fasting fires, 
 
 Fires, as I have already observed, that are unconsuma- 
 ble, and which require not to be fed by any combustible 
 matter. 
 
 The person who read to the transcriber not having 
 laid any emphasis on the g, in fasting, its value wa» lost : 
 and thus, fast in, for fasting. 
 
 Scene V. — page 86. 
 Ghost. 0, horrible! 0, horrible! most horrible! 
 
 The lady who suggested to Dr. Johnson that this line 
 belongs to Hamlet was unquestionably right. The 
 exclamation is natural, and must have been waited for 
 by the Ghost. Even the subsequent verse shows that 
 the Ghost approves the horror, and, at the same time, 
 the sympathy displayed by Hamlet at the unprepared 
 state in which his father was sent to answer for his 
 crimes. Nor does the impression become in any measure 
 defaced, while awaiting a suitable opportunity to revenge 
 his father's cause. See Act IV. sc. iii. where the King 
 is at his prayers. The same horror strikes Hamlet's 
 imagination, and he deems revenge incomplete, unless 
 he can send him to the other world, unprepared, " With 
 all his imperfections on his head" 
 
 Scene V. — page 89. 
 
 Hamlet. Now to my word; 
 
 It is, Adieu, adieu ! remember me, 
 
 Mr. Steevens says, Hamlet means, the military watch- 
 word. 
 
 Can we for a moment imagine, that the military watch- 
 word for the night and the parting words of the Ghost 
 
350 HAMLET. 
 
 are the same ? — Absurd! Besides, Hamlet has only the 
 same ground to go over that he came, and his friends are 
 awaiting his return with anxiety : nay, so y close are they, 
 that Horatio is heard, immediately after Hamlet has 
 written down the parting words of the Ghost, to call 
 out — My lord! my lord! and he and Marcellus enter. 
 
 Mr. Steevens is certainly in error : for Hamlet had 
 no occasion for a watch-word. Now to my word, means, 
 that he will fulfil the promise he made to the Ghost, 
 whose parting words were — Adieu, adieu ! remember me. 
 There, however, appears an error in the text: I am 
 certain our Author wrote : 
 
 Now to my word ; 
 
 Its, — Adieu, adieu! remember me. 
 
 Its words, the words of the Ghost. See the preceding 
 part of this speech: — " Remember theef and the con- 
 clusion — " / have sworn V." He has sworn to remember 
 the words of the Ghost. See his oath previous to his 
 seeking for his tables. 
 
 Both pronouns should be emphatically sounded. — 
 " Now to my word," (to keep his word) " Its, — Adieu, 
 adieu! remember me," (the Ghost's words.) 
 
 ACT II. 
 
 Scene I. — page 99. 
 
 Polonius. Marry, sir, here's my drift; 
 
 And, I believe, it is a fetch of warrant: 
 You laying these slight sullies on my son, 
 As 'twere a thing a fittle soil'd i' the working, 
 Mark you, 
 
 Your party in converse, him you would sound, 
 Having ever seen, in the prenominate crimes, 
 
 Part of this speech seems very corrupt ; both words 
 and punctuation conspire to make it nonsense. I shall 
 not analyze it, but hasten to give it that reading which 
 I am certain came from the Author : 
 
HAMLLT. 351 
 
 Marry, sir, here's my drift; 
 
 And, 1 believe, it is a fetch of warrant, 
 
 You laying these slight sullies on my son, 
 
 As 'twere a thing a little soil'd i' the working: 
 
 Mark you your party in converse; him you would sound, 
 
 Hearing ever: seem in the prenominate crimes, 
 
 The youth you breathe of, guilty. 
 
 Thus, the construction of the speech is perfectly clear : 
 The words — Mark you, which should commence the 
 verse, have been erroneously taken to mean, — Pay at- 
 tention to what I say: whereas, they refer to the party 
 with whom Reynaldo is to hold converse respecting 
 Laertes ; and the person most inclined to give him in- 
 formation, he must pay particular attention to : hearing 
 ever, (not interrupting him) and seeming, both by looks 
 and actions, and words when he can introduce them 
 with propriety, to be one already initiated in those vices 
 which may be attached to Laertes : by this policy, says 
 Polonius, your party will be unguarded, and you will 
 gain true information. 
 
 Having ever for hearing ever, and seen for seem, pro- 
 ceed from false transcription. 
 
 Scene II. — page 129. 
 
 Hamlet. The clown shall make those laugh, whose lungs are 
 tickled o' the sere. 
 
 For oUhe sere, we should read — a'the sere \ that is, at 
 the fall of the leaf. This is considered the most critical 
 period for those who are asthmatical: but, even now, 
 the clown shall make those laugh to that degree, that 
 they shall cough as though it were at the fall of the leaf. 
 
 Scene II. — page 146. 
 
 Hamlet. but it was (as I received it, and others, who*? 
 
 judgments, in such matters, cried in the top cf 
 mine) an excellent play. 
 
 This simple passage can easily be explained : Hamlet, 
 not only from his superior rank, but great natural abili- 
 
352 HAMLET. 
 
 ties, was looked up to by others for his judgment upon 
 the piece ; and as, according to his taste, he pronounced 
 it an excellent play, they also deemed it excellent. 
 
 ACT III. 
 
 Scene I. — page 169. 
 Hamlet. For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, 
 Hamlet speaks generally, not particularly, and alludes 
 to the calamities often attendant on longevity : The op- 
 pressors wrongs the proud man's contumely ', the pangs of 
 despised love, &c. &c. are the various whips and scorns 
 that patient merit bears in its progress through life; 
 and which, were it not for the dread of something after 
 death, no person sensible of such calamities would suffer. 
 The text is certainly correct. 
 
 Scene II. — page 218. 
 Hamlet. To withdraw with you. 
 Before I paid attention to Mr. Mason's note, I was 
 of opinion that these words should be addressed to the 
 Players, first correcting the passage thus — So: withdraw 
 with you. On receiving any article from an inferior, as 
 Hamlet does the recorder from the Player, the word so im- 
 plies very well, or that's well. But it should be observed 
 that there is no stage direction for the exit of the Players; 
 and Hamlet would scarcely suffer them to remain in his 
 presence during the remainder of the scene : Farther, 
 is it not evident that the Players are introduced merely 
 to give Hamlet an opportunity of taking one of the re- 
 corders. The passage should be regulated thus : 
 
 O, the recorders : — let me see one. (He takes a recorder.) So : — 
 withdraw with you. — (to the Players, who exit.) 
 
 It is a playful or vulgar saying, Set off with you; so, 
 withdraw with you, has the same meaning. 
 
HAMLET. 353 
 
 Scene II. — page 218. 
 
 Hamlet. Why do you go about to recover the wind of me, as 
 if you would drive me into a toil ? 
 
 Mr. Malone seems to have mistaken the sense of this 
 passage ; the import of which I understand to mean, — 
 Why do you go about, in such an underhand manner, to 
 sift my thoughts, or lay stratagems to drive me into. a 
 toil ? The idea is taken from a trap to catch wild beasts. 
 
 Scene III. — page 227. 
 
 King. Pray can I not, 
 
 Though inclination be as sharp as will; 
 
 The compositor, in my opinion, mistook a note of 
 admiration for a t. I believe our Author wrote : 
 
 Pray, can I? — JVo! 
 
 Though inclination be as sharp as 'twill; 
 
 The reading — 'twill for will, as recommended by Dr. 
 Johnson, should certainly be adopted; for inclination 
 and will are nearly synonymous terms. 
 
 Scene IV. — page 235. 
 
 Hamlet. As kill a king! 
 
 Had the Queen been, in any manner, accessary to the 
 King's death, the Ghost would scarcely express that 
 tenderness for her safety which a subsequent part of 
 this scene exhibits : 
 
 " But, look! amazement on thy mother sits: 
 O, step between her and her righting soul; 
 Conceit in weakest bodies strongest works ; 
 Speak to her, Hamlet." 
 
 Had Shakspeare intended to attach greater culpa- 
 bility to the Queen than her incestuous marriage, this 
 anxiety for her peace would not haye been introduced ; 
 but, as the art of the usurper overcame female imbecility. 
 
 2 A 
 
S54 HAMLET. 
 
 her crime is considered rather venial, and the Ghost's 
 resentment for her misconduct becomes disarmed. 
 
 There is also another passage in this scene which 
 helps to confirm the Queen's innocence. The stings of 
 conscience have seldom an intermission when they arise 
 from murder ; but the passion of love, in a female breast, 
 rarely admits scruples, whether the connection be of an 
 incestuous nature or an act of adultery, so long as the 
 object with whom she maintains a criminal intercourse 
 pays that attention which first actuated her to violate 
 propriety. Now, this being the case with the Queen, 
 who, in the gratification of sensuality, has never looked 
 into her soul to seek the blush of shame, her conscience 
 remains without a sting: nor does she consider herself 
 guilty, until roused by the hideous picture drawn by 
 Hamlet of her incestuous intercourse; and then only 
 does she feel the enormity of that offence, which in- 
 duces her thus to testify her contrition, — 
 
 "O Hamlet, speak no more: 
 Thou turn'st mine eyes into my very soul ; 
 And there I see such black and grained spots, 
 As will not leave their tinct." 
 
 See also Hamlet's speech after this, and the Queen's 
 reply. But, indeed, the dumb show*, which precedes 
 the interlude, is sufficient in itself to denote both the 
 Author's intention and Hamlet's conviction of the 
 Queen's innocence. 
 
 It is, however, evident that the Queen had a criminal 
 intercourse with the usurper before he murdered his 
 brother. See Act I. sc. v. where the Ghost says, — "Ay, 
 that incestuous — that adulterate beast:" and this know- 
 ledge it is that fires the indignation of Hamlet and 
 actuates him to use the cutting words — As kill a king! 
 for, he considers that his mother, by her illicit con- 
 nection, was the primary cause of his father's death, 
 and that ambition to ascend the throne was an after con- 
 sideration of the usurper. 
 
HAMLET. 355 
 
 Scene IV. — page 246. 
 
 Hamlet. Nay, but to live 
 
 In the rank sweat of an enseamed bed; 
 
 Great exertions have been used to establish the present 
 reading; hog's lard and the inside fat of a goose have 
 been presented to strengthen the figure. It is with 
 great reluctance I introduce a word that may offend 
 chastity ; but the speech throughout necessarily awaken- 
 ing the grossest ideas, the eye of delicacy can scarcely 
 be more shocked by reading, as I am certain the Author 
 wrote : 
 
 Nay, but to live 
 
 In the rank sweat of an ensemerid bed ; 
 
 Meaning : A bed stained with lust, and where, stezv'd 
 in corruption, as Hamlet says, she makes love over the 
 nasty sty. 
 
 Scene IV. — page 252. 
 
 Hamlet. That monster, custom, who all sense doth eat 
 Of habit's devil, is angel yet in this. 
 
 To the carelessness of the transcriber must be attri- 
 buted two errors conspicuous in this passage; for ape he 
 wrote eat, and for oft — of I correct thus : 
 
 That monster, custom, who all sense doth ape, 
 Oft habits devil, is angel yet in this. 
 
 Meaning: However passion might influence you to 
 sinful acts, let it not overcome you in this : Go not unto 
 my uncle's bed: assume the appearance of virtue, if you 
 have it not; for even that monster, custom, whose per- 
 nicious habits all mankind ape, or imitate, and who often 
 habits vice in the semblance of virtue, is angel yet in 
 this : that is, however diabolical those practices may be 
 which are sanctioned by custom, yet custom never sanc- 
 tioned incestuous marriages. 
 
 »A 2 
 
Sh6 HAMLET. 
 
 Or, perhaps, better to read : 
 
 That monster, custom, who all sense doth ape 
 Of devils' habits, is angel yet in this. 
 
 It, however, must be acknowledged that by the word 
 
 ajje, which I am convinced was the Author's, and evil, 
 
 as recommended by Dr. Thirlby, a very familiar sense 
 
 is obtained: 
 
 That monster, custom, who all sense doth ape, 
 Of habits evil, is angel yet in this. 
 
 That monster, custom, whose evil habits all mankind 
 doth ape, is angel yet in this. 
 
 I prefer this reading; but Dr. Johnson seems con- 
 firmed in opinion that an opposition was meant between 
 angel and devil, and, indeed, I think him correct; for, 
 immediately after, showing how far vice is screened 
 under the mask of virtue, Hamlet observes, — 
 
 " That to the use of actions fair and good 
 He likewise gives a frock or livery, 
 That aptly is put on. v 
 
 ACT IV. 
 
 Scene II. — page 265. 
 
 Hamlet. The body is with the king, but the king is not with 
 the body. 
 
 Hamlet plays on the word body; he means not the 
 body of Polonius, but the collective body, the people: he 
 therefore says, the body is with the king, because the 
 king is the head of the people ; but the king is not with 
 the body, because, being a usurper, he is afraid to trust 
 himself among the people ; therefore, he is merely a thing, 
 for he reigns not in the hearts of his subjects. 
 
 Scene IV. — page 272. 
 Fortinbras. We shall express our duty in his eye. 
 r. e. In his presence. I should not have deemed an ex- 
 planation of this passage necessary, but that the example 
 
HAMLET. 357 
 
 from Antony and Cleopatra, as introduced by Mr. 
 Steevens, is inadmissible here: " tended her Vthe eyes" 
 alludes to the eyes connected with the rigging of a ship. 
 See mv notes on Antony and Cleopatra. 
 
 Scene IV.— page 273. 
 Captain. To pay five ducats, five, I would not farm it ; 
 I cannot see why jive should be repeated. In my 
 opinion, the Captain, to show his utter contempt of the 
 disputed patch of ground, says, — 
 
 To pay five ducats; fly! I would not farm it; 
 Meaning : that though it were given him, conditionally, 
 that he should cultivate it, he would not accept it. 
 
 Scene VII.—; page 309. 
 Kisg. But that I know, love is begun by time. 
 
 Mr. M. Mason gives the sense intended by the Author, 
 but is not equally fortunate in the word he substitutes to 
 obtain it. 
 
 That the text, with the word begun, is nonsense, all 
 must admit: I read: 
 
 But that I know, love is benumb' d by time. 
 
 In the sound o£ benumb'd and begun, there is so far a 
 similarity, that a transcriber, not cautiously attentive, 
 might make such a mistake. This word gives a pure sense ; 
 the passage corrected means, — However fervent love 
 may be, it abates by degrees, and, in the course of time, 
 becomes, as it were, torpid: but, as some spark of love 
 still remains, that spark time again qualifies, and the 
 Jlame becomes as strong as ever. 
 
 The idea is taken from the torpid state in which some 
 animals remain ; but which, in due season, revive, and 
 again enjoy the same strength and perfection. 
 
358 HAMLET. 
 
 ACT V. 
 
 Scene I. — page 336. 
 
 Priest. We should profane the service of the dead 
 To sing a requiem, 
 
 The folio reads: — "To sing' sage requiem." 
 We may be perfectly convinced that a requiem is not 
 the original reading; the difference between the article 
 a and the word sage being too great for any blunderer, 
 either transcriber or compositor, to make. 
 
 The /and g, in the letter case, are next each other, 
 and frequently the one is found in the other's compart- 
 ment. In my opinion, a g was in the f box, by which, in 
 composing the word safe , the wrong letter made it sage. 
 We should read : 
 
 To sing safe requiem, &c. 
 
 Meaning : that safe and immediate flight to the regions 
 of bliss, which they sing for those who depart this life in 
 perfect peace with the world, and in the joyful hope of 
 salvation. The Author evidently aims at the illiberal 
 principles of the Priest, who, if it were in his power, 
 by merely chaunting what he terms safe requiem, would 
 not do it, even to save that soul from suffering the tor- 
 ments of purgatory. 
 
 Scene I. — page 338. 
 Hamlet, Wouft drink up Esil? eat a crocodile? 
 
 However ingenious Mr. Malone's strictures on this 
 passage, I am convinced that Hamlet means impossibili- 
 ties, and that the inference he designs is, that he would 
 die for Ophelia. 
 
 When we take into consideration the shock which 
 Hamlet receives on beholding the mutilated obsequies 
 of her he loved, and sees her remains consigned to the 
 
HAMLET, 359 
 
 silent tomb, no act, however wild, or expression, how- 
 ever wanton, should be analyzed to extract reason : as 
 unreasonable, then, is it for us to suppose, that millions 
 of acres could be heaped on him and Laertes, as that he 
 could drink up a river or eat a crocodile ! That Hamlet 
 challenges Laertes to acts of impossibility, his own words 
 evunce, — if " thou prate of mountains, let them throw mil- 
 lions of acres on us:" and afterwards, — u naj/, an thou'lt 
 mouthy T 11 rant as well as thou." From this, nothing but 
 mad, ranting declamation is expected; nor can we sup- 
 pose that a far-fetched word would be rooted from his 
 imagination to imply vinegar, and of which a small quan- 
 tity must sicken him; or, that a piece of a crocodile 
 would be so disgusting as to render the eating of it im- 
 possible. Convinced, then, that Hamlet, to meet the 
 rant of Laertes, means impossibilities, I have attempted 
 to defend the opinion of Mr. Steevens, but with the 
 reading (Esil) which he retains, I cannot concur. 
 
 Sir T. Hanmer reads- — Nile. I certainly think I 
 should have proposed the same word, and upon these 
 grounds: Nile was formerly spelt Nisle, which the 
 person who read to the transcriber sounded Nis-le, — 
 or, if the dot was not over the ?, taking it for an 
 e y — Neesle ; and the emphasis being stronger on the e 
 than the w, the transcriber wrote Esil y or Esile, both 
 having the same sound: Or, if a capital E fell into the 
 N box, which is nearly under it, the compositor thus 
 made Eisle, which being deemed erroneous, as I should 
 imagine we have no such word, the corrector transposed 
 the s, and made it Esile, as in the folio. Let it also be 
 considered that the crocodile is peculiar to the river Nile, 
 which proves that the Poet's fancy was confined to 
 one source for both figures : for why should he trans- 
 port imagination to a distant region for drink, when he 
 had it at the same place that produced his dish offish ? 
 Again, that chiming sound for which our Author displays 
 a strong partiality, is strikingly conspicuous in the words 
 
360 HAMLET. 
 
 Nile and crocodile. I am, therefore, confident Shak- 
 speare wrote : 
 
 Woult drink up Nile? eat a crocodile? 
 
 Scene II. — page 350. 
 
 Hamlet. As peace should still her wheaten garland wear, 
 And stand a comma 'tween their amities ; 
 
 Though this passage, by the ingenuity of Dr. Johnson, 
 
 is considered correct, yet a note of admiration, if a point 
 
 was to determine the matter, would have been more 
 
 apposite; for never was comma so misplaced as in the 
 
 present instance. I hesitate not to say, that our Author 
 
 wrote : 
 
 As love between them like the palm might flourish; 
 As peace should still her wheaten garland wear, 
 And stand a column 'tween their amities ; 
 
 What figure can be more expressive of a good un- 
 derstanding between two monarchs? Peace, with her 
 wheaten garland, denoting plenty, was to be the grand 
 column to perpetuate that friendship they had sworn to 
 maintain. 
 
 The top of the /, in the word column, not being suf- 
 ficiently clear, and being immediately followed by um, 
 made lum appear as mm, and the terminating n, which, 
 in the writings of former times, nearly resembled an a, 
 was taken by the compositor for that character. 
 
 Scene II. — page 353. 
 
 Hamlet. For by the image of my cause, 1 see 
 
 The portraiture of his: Fll count his favours: 
 
 That this passage, in its present state, is corrupt, I 
 have not the smallest doubt : and that the elucidations 
 are forced, and the word court for count absurd, I 
 shall strive to prove. 
 
 The origin of Hamlet's grief was the loss of his 
 father: that of Laertes arose from a similar cause. — 
 
HAMLET. 361 
 
 Hamlet wishes to revenge his father's death : Laertes 
 enters into a diabolical plot to effect a similar revenge. 
 Thus, as Hamlet cannot forgive him who killed his 
 father, he, in the image of his own cause, sees the por- 
 traiture of the other's; and concludes, that he cannot 
 expect forgiveness from Laertes, How, then, can we, 
 for a moment, suppose that Hamlet would count upon 
 favours from Laertes? or, as Mr. Malone very justly 
 observes, — K What favours has Hamlet received from 
 Laertes, that he was to make account of? And can 
 it be imagined that the dignified Hamlet would stoop 
 to court the favours of a man whose father he has so 
 recently slain ? Impossible ! ' ' — 
 
 I am convinced that, by expunging a colon and an 
 apostrophe, we obtain the original. I read: 
 
 For by the image of ray cause, I see 
 
 The portraiture of his: I'll count his fervour: 
 
 Hamlet denotes sorrow for having suffered his passion 
 to get the better of him when he met Laertes at the 
 interment of Ophelia. In testifying his love, Hamlet 
 gave the first cause of offence; but Laertes, in the 
 fervour of his passion, gave the first insult. Hamlet, 
 therefore, on reflection, perceiving that Laertes had a 
 justifiable reason for displaying his resentment, is willing 
 to attribute it to heat of passion, notwithstanding that 
 Laertes, in the bravery of his grief insulted him, who. 
 as a prince, was his superior. 
 
 The word favour for fervour might be easily mistaken 
 in sound by the transcriber, or by similarity of charac- 
 ters by the compositor. This latter, I think the original 
 reading. 
 
 - Scene II. — page 357. 
 
 Horatio. Is"t not possible to understand in another tongue? 
 you will dot, sir, realty. 
 
362 HAMLET. 
 
 The punctuation recommended by Mr. Steevens should 
 be adopted : sense cannot be extracted out of the passage 
 in its present state. The word really is erroneous. We 
 should read: 
 
 Is"t not possible to understand ? In another tongue you will do 
 it, sir, readily. 
 
 The speech is evidently addressed to Osric, who, 
 foiled by Hamlet in affected phraseology, is recommended 
 by Horatio to translate the words into another tongue, 
 by which he ironically tells Osric, that he will readily 
 understand Hamlet's meaning. 
 
 Scene II.— page 361. 
 
 Osric. The king, sir, hath laid, that in a dozen passes between 
 yourself and him, he shall not exceed you three hits; 
 he hath laid on twelve for nine. 
 
 There is but one mode of explaining this enigmatical 
 wager, and which our Author, in one of his waggish 
 moments, seems to have designed as a puzzle, by making 
 Osric change his affected phraseology for that of the 
 Clown, who, in the first scene of this Act, in answer to 
 Hamlet's question, says, — u he will last you some eight 
 year, or nine year: a tanner will last you nine year." 
 To perfectly understand my meaning, expunge the pro- 
 noun you , in which the quibble lies, and the sense is 
 obvious: — The King, sir, hath lay^d, that in a dozen 
 passes between yourself and him, he shall not exceed three 
 hits. 
 
 Now the wager is this: — There are to be a dozen 
 passes: the King lays, that Laertes shall not, in the 
 dozen, exceed three hits: the other nine, Hamlet's skill 
 shall either parry, or he shall hit Laertes : thus, the odds 
 is materially against the King; for if Laertes gains four 
 hits, the King loses, though Hamlet proves the better 
 swordsman. He hath laid on twelve for nine, is but a 
 
HAMLET. 363 
 
 repetition of the principle on which the wager is founded, 
 and was, I suppose, a phrase sufficiently familiar, in 
 Shakspeare's time, to all fencers : its simple meaning is — 
 that, on twelve passes, Laertes shall miss nine: thus, 
 should he gain but three hits, the King must win the 
 wager. 
 
 Scene II. — page 378. 
 
 Hamlet. Which have solicited — 
 
 This hemistic, hitherto so corrupt as to preclude the 
 possibility of guessing Hamlet's meaning, proves what 
 slight dependence should be placed on words not suscep- 
 tible of other than forced elucidation. In the present 
 instance, Dr. Warburton defines solicited, to mean — 
 brought on the event! and Mr. Malone explains it — which 
 have incited me to! Thus, because solicited is an English 
 word, it must be the Author's, and a forced or tortured 
 explication given of it, to gain a desired construction of 
 the passage. 
 
 Hamlet wishes Fortinbras to be made acquainted 
 with all the events that have led to this fatal catastrophe, 
 and with which Horatio only is acquainted. Self-justi- 
 fication he anxiously wishes, but death makes such rapid 
 approaches, he finds this impossible. On Horatio, then, 
 he depends : to his friendship he commits his innocence, 
 and which he expects will be proved by an exposition 
 of the treachery so successfully practised against him, 
 and which cuts him off in his early prime of life : thus, 
 anxious to leave an unblemished reputation, and to live 
 in the memory of Fortinbras, he says, — 
 he has ray dying voice; 
 
 So tell him, with the occurrents, more or less, 
 Which have so limited. 
 
 He would have said, my earthly career, or, the number 
 
 of my years ; but unable, he concludes, The rest is silence. 
 
364 HAMLET. 
 
 The ingenuity of the Poet could not produce any two 
 words more expressive of meaning, so as to convey an 
 idea of what his arrested breath would have uttered. 
 
 The words so limited and solicited can be said but to 
 vary in one letter, a c for an m: and which error, no 
 doubt, arose from a c being in the m compartment ; for 
 that of the m is immediately under the c : thus, the word 
 appearing in the proof so licited, the corrector conceived 
 it to be a broken word, and marked the so and licited to 
 be joined. 
 
 Scene II. — page 382. 
 Fortinbras. This quarry cries on havock! 
 
 Fortinbras, ignorant of the true cause that exposes 
 to his view the tragic scene, thinks treason has been 
 practised, and that it is his duty to punish the traitors. 
 In my opinion, we should read : 
 
 This quarry cries, — On havock I 
 i. e. This princely blood cries out for vengeance : as the 
 havock is begun, so must it be continued against the 
 traitors. 
 
 In Julius Cesar, Act III. sc. i. we meet the same 
 
 phrase, and similarly applied : 
 
 " And Caesar's spirit, ranging for revenge, 
 With Ate by his side, come hot from hell, 
 Shall in these confines, with a monarch's voice, 
 Crv havock /" 
 
©gmMtttt* 
 
 ACT I. 
 
 Scene I. — page 403. 
 
 Gentleman. You do not meet a man, Imt frowns: our bloods 
 No more obey the heavens, than our courtiers; 
 Still seem, as does the kings. 
 
 This passage may, indeed, be considered difficult ; and 
 the Critic who can extract a meaning from it, in its pre- 
 sent state, may boast peculiar penetration. Several 
 attempts have been made to purge it of its corruption, 
 but I believe blood must be taken away at last. Dr. 
 Warburton reads brows. — Before I saw this emenda- 
 tion, I was decidedly of opinion that such was the origi- 
 nal reading: nay, the word frowns, which precedes it, 
 puts it beyond dispute. But this is not the only corrupt 
 word in the passage : the punctuation is also erroneous. 
 I read; 
 
 You do not meet a man but frowns: our brows 
 No more obey the heavens: then our courtiers' 
 Still seem as does the king's. 
 
 To use Dr. Warburton's words, — " It is the outward 
 not the inward change that is here talked of, as appears 
 from the word seem." There is a double ellipsis in the 
 passage: See how familiar the present emendation 
 makes it : 
 
 our brows 
 
 No more obey the heavens : — then our courtiers' (brows) 
 Still seem as does the king's (brows.) 
 
366 ' HAMLET. 
 
 The first Gentleman says, — " You cannot meet a man 
 but frowns:" in frowning-, we contract and distort the 
 brows: and, by so doing, we disobey the ordinance of 
 heaven: and why the Gentleman makes the assertion 
 Uiat " our brows no more obey the heavens," he has 
 from Sacred Writ ; for Solomon's wisdom being of di- 
 vine inspiration, his Proverbs become tantamount to a 
 heavenly command : and, no doubt, Shakspeare had the 
 Proverb in view, which says, — 
 
 " Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight 
 before:" 
 
 Those who frown cannot do this; therefore, their 
 brows obey not the heavens. 
 
 The King, as we subsequently learn, on finding that 
 Imogen is married to Posthumus, is irritated to the 
 highest degree: a constant frown displays his anger; 
 and his courtiers, in order to testify their approbation of 
 the severe sentence of banishment, as passed on Post- 
 humus, assume the same looks of severity: they frown, 
 to make their brows correspond with the dark looks of 
 the King; though the entire of them would rather 
 denote satisfaction. See a subsequent speech from the 
 same Gentleman : 
 
 But not a courtier 
 
 Although they wear their faces to the bent 
 Of the king's looks, hath a heart that is not 
 Glad at the thing they scowl at." 
 
 They are glad that Imogen, by marrying Posthumus, 
 has escaped the proposed union with Cloten. 
 
 The comparative particle than seems to have been 
 introduced in order to remove part of the obscurity : 
 bat, by placing a colon after the word heavens, the period 
 is complete : and, by substituting then for than, and ex- 
 punging the points, the subsequent part becomes also a 
 period. — Courtiers and King's find their relative in the 
 word brows. 
 
HAMLET. 367 
 
 Scene II. — page 415. 
 
 Cymbeline. disloyal thing, 
 
 That should'st repair my youth; thou heapest 
 A years age on me ! 
 
 Cymbeline seems so very limited, that his grief pro- 
 mises to be speedily overcome : but I am of opinion 
 with Sir T. Hanmer, that the influence of grief was 
 designed by our Author to heap many a year's age on 
 him. The correction is easily made. I read : 
 
 thou heapest, — 
 
 Ay, — years' 1 age on me ! 
 The y in Ay was lost in sound by the next word 
 
 beginning with the same letter. 
 
 Scene V. — page 428. 
 
 Iachimo. for taking a beggar without more quality. 
 
 The folio reads : 
 
 " without less quality." 
 
 The grammatical inaccuracies, so conspicuous in many 
 of these plays, are, in my opinion, in most instances, 
 falsely attributed to Shakspeare. A writer of his dis- 
 tinguished merit could not fail of knowing the difference 
 between more and less, and their respective applications : 
 it might as well be said of him, that, in the application of 
 black and white, he would have been equally entangled. 
 On the present passage, several examples are given 
 by Mr. Malone to prove his deficiency in grammati- 
 cal knowledge: But while Mr. Malone condemns, he 
 considers not how far the writings of the Poet have 
 suffered by ignorant transcribers and compositors : and, 
 as Mr. Steevens most judiciously observes, that, " On 
 this occasion, and several others, we can only tell what 
 Heminge and Condell printed, instead of knowing, with 
 
368 HAMLET. 
 
 any degree of certainty, what Shakspeare wrote," so 
 may we very naturally suppose, that passages not fami- 
 liar to their comprehension became perverted through 
 their want of penetration. 
 
 On the three examples given by Mr. Malone to justify 
 his opinion, he seems to have reckoned without his host : 
 That from the The Winter's Tale is corrupt. It 
 reads : 
 
 I ne'er heard yet 
 
 That any of these bolder vices wanted 
 Less impudence, to gainsay what they did, 
 Than to perform it first. 1 ' 
 
 Now I am bold enough to say, our Author wrote 
 
 I ne'er heard yet 
 
 That any of these bolder vices scanted 
 Less impudence," &c. 
 
 Meaning: I never heard yet that any of these bolder 
 vices was less deficient in impudence to contradict what 
 it did, than it was in the performance of any act, how- 
 ever nefarious. 
 
 On examination, it will be found, that in the MS. 
 the sc before a has much the appearance of a w : hence 
 the error. 
 
 It is also somewhat curious, that, in the passage from 
 King Lear, given on the same occasion by Mr. Malone, 
 we find the radix of the same word : 
 
 " I have hope 
 
 You less know how to value her deserts 
 Than she to scant her duty." 
 
 The sense of which is sufficiently clear : — I believe 
 you are more deficient in the knowledge of her worth 
 than she is deficient in her duty. 
 
 Thus, if fair play be given our Author, I am con- 
 vinced neither his judgment nor grammatical knowledge 
 would be so frequently the theme of animadversion. As 
 for the present passage, and which has introduced this 
 defence of our Author, it is also shamefully corrupt, 
 
CYMBELINE. 369 
 
 and that from the transcriber mistaking the sound of the 
 word. Our Author, unquestionably, wrote: 
 
 Ay, and the approbation of those, that weep this lamentable 
 divorce, under her colours, are wonderfully to extend him; be 
 it but to fortify her judgment, which else an easy battery might 
 lay flat, for taking a beggar with doughtiless quality. 
 
 Be it remembered, that the old copy reads " without 
 less:" here it is evident the transcriber lost the sound of 
 the d, in doughtiless : in the word doughty, the gh is never 
 sounded. Thus, the sense is clear. 
 
 Doughty, formerly spelt doughtie, means, — illustrious : 
 consequently, a beggar with a doughtiless quality, must 
 mean, one as deficient in noble lineage as he is in fortune. 
 
 Scene V. — page 431. 
 Posthumus. though I profess myself her adorer, not her friend. 
 
 Mr. Steevens is partly correct in his definition of the 
 word friend: bonne amie certainly means, a paramour: 
 though, at the same time, the phrase is commonly used 
 in France as a term of endearment, by husband and wife : 
 amie (friend) also means lover. 
 
 Posthumus considers the title of lover too cold a 
 phrase, and therefore professes himself her adorer. 
 
 Scene V. — page 432. 
 
 Iachimo. If she went before others I have seen, as that diamond 
 of yours out-lustres many I have beheld, I could 
 not but believe she excelled many : but I have not 
 seen the most precious diamond that is, nor you the 
 lady. 
 
 The old copy reads : 
 
 " I could not believe she excelled many :" 
 
 Various emendations have been proposed to render 
 the argument of Iachimo more conclusive. The pre- 
 sent reading is taken from Mr. Malone's edition, who 
 
370 CYMBELINE. 
 
 has given a note of nearly three pages to justify the cor- 
 rection. Had the careless compositor followed his copy, 
 it would have saved the learned Editor much labour. 
 Our Author wrote : 
 
 If she went before others I have seen, as that diamond of yours 
 out-lustres many I have beheld, I could not belie she excelled 
 many: 
 
 Meaning: If she excelled beauties that I have seen, as 
 much as your diamond out-lustres many that have at- 
 tracted my admiration, it would be slander in me to say 
 that she did not excel many. 
 
 The compositor forgot his word, when Jje composed 
 belie, and added xe to it — thus, believe. 
 
 Scene V. — page 435. 
 
 Iachimo. You are a friend, and therein the wiser. 
 
 Neither Dr. Warburton's correction nor Dr. John- 
 son's explanation have correspondent force to illustrate 
 this corrupt passage. Dr. Warburton reads, — You are 
 afraid: but Posthumus is not afraid, for he has just 
 offered to stake ten thousand ducats on Imogen's chas- 
 tity. We should read : 
 
 You are affianced, and therein the wiser. 
 
 Iachimo is aware that the lady to whom Posthumus 
 alludes is his wife ; and as he has said, that the ring is a 
 part of his finger, so his wife being apart of himself, 
 the artful Italian tells him, that he is affianced, and 
 therein the wiser, to retain both his wife and his ring. 
 
 The word affianced, was not sufficiently legible in the 
 manuscript, and being a word not in common use, the 
 compositor made out, a friend. 
 
 Had any doubts remained on my mind respecting the 
 legitimacy of affianced, the Italian, in the seventh scene 
 of this Act, would have removed them: — It is where 
 he solicits pardon of Imogen :— 
 
CYMBELiNE. 371 
 
 Give me your pardon. 
 
 I have spoke this, to know if your affiance 
 Were deeply rooted." 
 
 Scene VII.— page 444. 
 
 Imogen. Blessed be those, 
 
 How mean soe'er, that have their honest wills, 
 Which seasons comfort. 
 
 Epicurean nicety cannot but relish the high seasoning 
 given to this passage by the Commentators ; but neither 
 the reasons of the one nor the seasons of the other an- 
 swer the humbler appetites. Our Author's words are 
 shamefully perverted in this play : — I read, — 
 
 Blessed be those, 
 
 How mean soe'er, that have their honest wills, 
 Which seize on comfort. 
 
 i. e. Blessed are those who, in a humble sphere of life, 
 meet no opposing power to frustrate their honest incli- 
 nations; but, being out of the reach of tyranny, seize on 
 comfort: i. e. gratify their wishes, when reason, inclina- 
 tion, and circumstances invite them. 
 
 Seasons, and seize on, with the exception of the ter- 
 minating s, are the same in sound, unless the latter be 
 emphatically pronounced. 
 
 Scene VII. — page 448. 
 
 Iachimo. And the twinn'd stones 
 
 Upon the number d beach ? 
 
 Many emendations have been proposed to obtain some 
 
 sense out of this strange passage ; all of which have been 
 
 rejected. I offer mine, under a persuasion that the 
 
 Author's reading will be restored : 
 
 And the twinrfd stones 
 
 Upon the member d beach ? 
 
 2 B3 
 
372 CYMBELINE. 
 
 The beach, being- washed by the tide, becomes the 
 member of procreation : hence, the member ] d beach that 
 produces the iwinri'd stones. On the production and 
 ever-increasing growth of stones let the learned philo- 
 sopher display his genius. 
 
 The words, numbei'dsmd member 'd, in MS. can scarcely 
 be distinguished one from the other : and if the e be not 
 minutely formed, they are so exactly alike, that by con- 
 text only can the distinction be ascertained. 
 
 Scene VII. — page 451. 
 
 Iachimo. ■ 'Beseech you, sir, desire 
 
 My man's abode where I did leave him : he 
 Is strange and peevish. 
 
 This is a hint for Pisanio to quit the chamber. As 
 for the servant of Iachimo, as he never appears, we 
 know nothing of his disposition. But where did 
 Iachimo leave him ? Probably, in the portico of the 
 palace, surrounded by a set of inquisitive servants ; and 
 he, not being acquainted with the language of the 
 country, his master concludes that his peevish disposition 
 will display itself. In so disagreeable a predicament, is it 
 not natural that Iachimo would order his servant to be 
 placed in a more retired situation, where, free from im- 
 pertinent curiosity, he might be at his ease? A slight 
 change in the punctuation yields the desired effect : 
 
 'Beseech you, sir, desire 
 
 My man's abode : — Where I did leave him, he 
 Is strange and peevish. 
 
 In a subsequent part of this scene, Iachimo again 
 uses the word strange, and, in its application, it can bear 
 no other construction than stranger: he says, — 
 
 " And I am something curious, being strange, 
 To have them in safe stowage," &c. 
 
CYMBEMNE. 373 
 
 ACT II. 
 
 Scene V. — page 497. 
 
 Me of ray lawful pleasure she restrain'd, 
 And pray'd me, oft, forbearance: did it with 
 A pudency so rosy, the sweet view on't 
 Might well have warm'd old Saturn ; 
 
 Our Author wrote: 
 
 And pray'd my oft forbearance; difd it with 
 A pudency so rosy, &c. 
 
 Thus restored, the glowing- picture of modesty requires 
 no illustration. The transcriber's unchaste ear mistook 
 the words: me and my, did and dj/'d, are nearly the 
 same, both in sound and characters. 
 
 ACT III. 
 
 Scene II. — page 510. 
 
 Imogen. Justice, and your father's wrath, should he take me in 
 his dominion, could not be so cruel to me, as you, 
 the dearest of creatures, would not even renew 
 me with your eyes. 
 
 To give some sense to this passage, Mr. Malone has 
 added the word not. However, I think the original 
 obtainable with less violence. I read : 
 
 as you, the dearest of creatures, would ever renew 
 
 me with your eyes. 
 
 Meaning: That however cruel the King might act 
 towards him, yet the sight of her would ever renovate 
 him. 
 
 Imogen seems to have suppressed a former part of 
 the letter. The explication given by Mr. Malone 
 seems extremely forced, even though his correction 
 were admitted. 
 
374 CYMBEL1NE. 
 
 Scene III. — page 516. 
 
 Belarius. 0, this life 
 
 Is nobler, than attending for a cheek ; 
 
 The entire of this speech is a lash at the court and 
 courtiers. The meaning to be extracted from this passage 
 is, that the life they lead is nobler than that of a 
 courtier, who, to gain the King's favour, attends his 
 steps, and watches his countenance to obtain a gracious 
 smile, or a turn of the cheek towards him. Our Author 
 undoubtedly wrote : 
 
 O, this life 
 
 Is nobler than attending for a cheek ; 
 
 Scene III. — page 516. 
 Belarius. Richer, than doing nothing for a babe; 
 
 This corrupt passage Dr. Warburton has corrected, 
 by reading bauble ; and which he explains, — Vain titles of 
 honour, gained by an idle attendance at court. But, 
 surely, a title of honour cannot be considered a bauble ? 
 " A babe" says Mr. Malone, " and baby are synonymous : 
 and a baby being a puppet, or play-thing, for children, 
 the present reading must mean apuppet." But, admitting 
 this, I cannot see what affinity a puppet has with the 
 passage. 
 
 A court sycophant is considered by Belarius as a 
 useless character, and one who does nothing for that 
 prolongation of life bestowed on him by Providence. 
 Now, the mark of maturity in man, is his beard, and 
 that of longevity is also in his beard, by its becoming 
 grey. I am, therefore, inclined to think that we should 
 read : 
 
 Richer, than doing nothing for a barb; 
 
 Barb, if I mistake not, was formerly spelt barbe. This 
 corresponds with the antecedent verse, as corrected; and 
 
CYMBELINE. 375 
 
 its object seems designedly to impress on the minds of 
 Guiderius and Arviragus the necessity of that adoration 
 which they owe Omnipotence, who has protected them 
 from their birth to the state of manhood to which they 
 have arrived. Our Author uses the word elsewhere. 
 
 Scene IV.— page 526. 
 
 Imogen. Some jay of Italy, 
 
 Whose mother was her painting, hath betray'd him : 
 
 I have read the elucidations on this passage with more 
 surprise than pleasure ; and they prove, as in many other 
 instances, how far judgment may be led astray, by forcing 
 a meaning contrary to common sense. The passage is 
 shamefully corrupt; and I am convinced that, by the 
 following corrections, the Author's original is restored : 
 
 Some jay of Italy, 
 
 Who smoother was; her painting hath betray'd him: 
 
 Some artful Italian lady, wanton in her principles, 
 and who possessed a more flattering tongue, has, by the 
 blandishments of praise, and painting of her passion, 
 betrayed him to her embraces. 
 
 The transcriber mistook the sound of the words— 
 Who smoother was, and Whose mother was, being closely 
 alike. With the exception of an o for an e, the letters 
 are the same. 
 
 Painting may also be taken in its literal sense : height- 
 ening her charms by artificial colouring. 
 
 Scexe IV. — page 532. 
 
 No court, no father; nor no more ado 
 With that harsh, noble, simple, nothing; 
 That Cloten, &c. 
 
376 . CYMBELINE. 
 
 Harsh must mean austere, or rough. Why then give 
 a contrary quality immediately after ? Noble is illus- 
 trious, or all that is brave and generous; for we cannot, 
 in the present state of the passage, receive the word 
 noble to mean a nobleman, as harsh, noble, simple, nothing, 
 are used as adjectives. A word is wanting to perfect 
 the measure, and which, from misconception of the 
 passage, has been omitted. I am convinced our Author 
 wrote .* 
 
 No court, no father; nor no more ado 
 With that harsh noble, that simple nothing: 
 That Cloten, whose lore-suit hath been to me 
 As fearful as a siege. 
 
 Mr. Malone observes — " Some epithet has been 
 omitted ; for which, having but one copy, it is now vain 
 to seek." I flatter myself the difficulty is overcome. 
 
 Scene V. — page 536. 
 
 Imogen. Thou art all the comfort 
 
 The gods will diet me with. 
 
 Pisanio has just informed Imogen that he is rich, and 
 that he will not fail to supply her wants : how, then, 
 can the word diet, according to Mr. Steevens's interpre- 
 tation, allude to a spare regimen t The passage is not 
 only corrupt, but the verse goes on crutches. I am 
 certain the transcriber mistook the word, and that our 
 Author wrote : 
 
 Thou art all the comfort 
 
 The gods will dight me with. Pry'thee, away : 
 
 Dight, to furnish, deck, adorn, dress, &c. No two 
 words sound more alike than diet and dight. This word 
 is doubly applicable ; for, though Imogen expresses her 
 thanks for the aid with which the gods furnish her, yet 
 is Pisanio made the instrument of that aid; and who, 
 
CYMBELIXE. 
 
 perceiving how necessary it is for her to lay aside the 
 female dress, and assume the appearance of a man, has 
 furnished her with the requisite habiliments. 
 
 Scene V. — page 539. 
 
 Queex. Son, I say, follow the king. ' 
 
 The defect in the metre may be overcome by reading': 
 My son, I say, follow the king. 
 
 For this reading we have the Queen's own words in 
 her subsequent speech, — "How now, my son? 1 ' 
 
 Scene VI. — page 551. 
 
 Imogen. — Would it had been so, that they 
 
 Had been my father's sons ! then had my prize 
 Been less; and so more equal ballasting 
 To thee, Posthumus, 
 
 Though the meaning is understood, I believe the text 
 corrupt. Imogen, as heiress of the King, is a weight in 
 the national scales that much more than equipoises any 
 subject ; but had the King not lost his sons, then must her 
 weight, comparatively, have been of little importance; 
 and Posthumus would have approached nearer to a 
 counterpoise. Is it not evident, then, that Shakspeare 
 wrote : 
 
 then had my poize 
 
 Been less ; and so more equal ballasting 
 To thee, Posthumus. 
 
 Thus, all obscurity is removed by substituting an o 
 for an r. 
 
378 CYMBELINE. 
 
 ACT IV. 
 
 Scene II. — page 565. 
 
 Belarius. he had not apprehension 
 
 Of roaring terrors; 
 
 This seems a strange phrase : for roaring, I believe 
 we should read : robing terrors : Meaning : That he had 
 no apprehension of viewing terrors in their proper dress ; 
 or of judging consequences from appearances. 
 
 The tenor of this speech seems to prepare us for the 
 fatal effects of ill-timed passion. Cloten, in attacking 
 Guiderius, was blind to the consequences likely to result 
 from his intemperate rashness. See the subsequent note. 
 
 Scene II. — page 565. 
 
 Belarius. for the effect of judgment 
 
 Is oft the cause of fear: 
 
 There has been a vast deal of sound judgment used to 
 
 substantiate correction, and explain this passage; the 
 
 result of which is, that, for defect of judgment, as in the 
 
 old copy, — effect of judgment, has been substituted. In 
 
 my opinion, a more trivial alteration gives the original 
 
 reading : 
 
 Being scarce made up, 
 1 mean, to man, he had not apprehension 
 Of robing terrors; for defect of judgment 
 Is oftha cause of fear: 
 
 Which means: That defect of judgment arises from 
 the same cause as fear : i. e. from a weak understanding. 
 Thus, from defect of judgment, Cloten could not discern 
 where danger lay ; for, when actuated by the violence 
 of his passions, he laboured under no apprehension of 
 terror, though the same fears awakened his cowardice ; 
 and, where courage would have been a virtue, he had 
 none to display. 
 
 The t, in the next word, was mistaken in sound by 
 the transcriber. 
 
CYMBELINE. 379 
 
 ACT V. 
 
 Scene I. — page 598. 
 
 Postiiumis. You some permit 
 
 To second ills with ills, each elder worse; 
 And make them dread it to the doer's thrift. 
 
 I am of opinion, that the person who read to the tran- 
 scriber gave an unlucky yawn over this passage; and, if 
 the Reader has a mind to try the experiment by yawning 
 at the words ill the, he will find they will closely produce 
 either, or elder, as in the text. The context shows that 
 our Author must have written : 
 
 To second ills with ills, each ill the worse ; 
 And make them dread it to the doer's thrift. 
 
 Thus, dread it, as in the next verse, finds a relative in 
 ill. The meaning is obvious : Each crime is more atro- 
 cious than the former; at length, one of a most heinous 
 nature awakens the mind to self-conviction, and the 
 penitent supplicates heaven's mercy for that, and all 
 former offences : thus, the last offence turns to the doer's 
 thrift; he lives in the blessed hope that, by repentance, 
 he will obtain salvation. 
 
 Mr. M. Mason understood this passage in the same 
 sense, though the correction escaped his customary 
 penetration. 
 
 Scene IV". — page 610. 
 
 Posthumus. to satisfy, 
 
 If of my freedom 'tis the main part, take 
 No stricter render of me, than my all. 
 
 Mr* Malone suspects that a line has been lost; I am 
 of a different opinion. However, though the passage is 
 very corrupt, he has nearly given the Author's meaning. 
 I read: 
 
>80 CYMBEL1NE. 
 
 to satisfy 
 
 I forfeit freedom; 'tis the main part, take 
 No stricter render of me, than my all. 
 
 Posthumus considering himself as the destroyer of 
 Imogen, and, labouring under the pangs of a guilty con- 
 science, thinks the sacrifice of his own life the only 
 atonement that can appease the offended laws of heaven. 
 He opposes himself to the enemy ; he courts danger, and 
 seeks death; but refrains from self-immolation. Defeated 
 in his purpose, he has surrendered himself as a Roman, 
 thinking that Cymbeline will decree that punishment on 
 him which in vain he sought in battle. All that his 
 principles permit him to do, he has done: u to satisfy" 
 says he, u I forfeit freedom, 'tis the main part," i. e. It is 
 the first step towards death, " demand not of me a stricter 
 render," meaning his life; for, as life was given him 
 by Omnipotence, that sacred Power only has a right to 
 take it, or to make another the instrument of taking it: 
 his morals teaching him, that were he to commit suicide, 
 punishment would be awarded him for that offence, not- 
 withstanding he sacrificed himself to atone for a former 
 transgression. 
 
 The copy was not sufficiently legible : If of compose 
 part of the characters necessary for I forfeit, and of which 
 the compositor made the best he could : my was inserted 
 to make out soine sense, though nonsense proved the 
 result of deliberation. 
 
 Scene IV. — page 612. 
 {Solemn Musiclc.) 
 
 The verses introduced in this piece of pageantry are 
 so very ridiculous, that all readers must concur in opinion 
 with Mr. Pope and other Commentators, that they are 
 the production of some playwright: but, though we spurn 
 them, we cannot disregard the vision, which, from con- 
 
CYMBELINE. S81 
 
 necting circumstances, must have been introduced by 
 Shakspeare; as also the descent of Jupiter, and part of 
 the verses addressed to the shades of Posthumus' kin- 
 dred ; for otherwise, no time is allowed for Posthumus 
 to repose, nor means given to introduce the tablet, which 
 is designed to inspire him with hope, and which, at his 
 request, the Roman Soothsayer interprets. 
 
 The entire of the stage direction (with the exception 
 of the musical apparitions) I believe genuine. Solemn 
 music may be heard ; then the Ghosts enter, and form a 
 a circle round Posthumus, whose fate they lament: — 
 Jupiter descends. _ 
 
 The stage direction, after Jupiter descends, seems an 
 interpolation to give countenance to the four first lines 
 of Jupiter's speech, and which appear also an interpo- 
 lation: Jupiter should commence at — 
 
 Poor shadows of Elysium, hence and rest 
 Upon your never-withering banks of flowers : 
 
 and so on to the end : Then the Ghosts place the tablet, 
 as directed by Jupiter, and vanish. 
 
 What strengthens my opinion that this part must have 
 been Shakspeare's is, that the speech of Posthumus. 
 when he produces the tablet, could not otherwise be 
 introduced. See the fifth scene of this Act, when the 
 Soothsayer interprets the writing. 
 
 Scene IV. — page 615. 
 
 JrpiTEK. Whom best I love, I cross; to make my gift, 
 The more delay'd, delighted. 
 
 The word delay'd seems transposed. Should we not 
 
 read : 
 
 Whom best I love, I cross ; to make my gift 
 Delay'd, the more delighted. 
 
 Meaning: the more delighted in. 
 
382 CYMBELINE. 
 
 Scene V. — page 643. 
 Cymbeline. And your three motives to the battle, 
 Mr. M. Mason's elucidation seems rather forced ; and 
 the extract from Romeo and Juliet void of that affinity 
 which should impress confidence. Three motives, cer- 
 tainly mean three distinct motives, as truly as " both 
 our remedies" means the remedy of us both. But it 
 appears to me, that the transcriber was the more readily 
 deceived in the sound of the true word, because three 
 persons were concerned in the question. I am convinced 
 our Author wrote : 
 
 And your free motives to the battle, 
 
 L e. Your motives for volunteering in my cause, or for 
 coming, unsolicited, to fight against the enemy. In 
 answering this question, Belarius will have an oppor- 
 tunity of displaying the heroic principles of Guiderius 
 and Arviragus. 
 
 Scene V. — page 647. 
 Cymbeline. My peace we will begin: 
 
 Dr. Johnson would read — By peace, &c. but which 
 would change the designed construction of the passage. 
 Cymbeline means ? that, though the victor, he will make 
 his peace with Caesar, by paying the customary tribute: 
 and this lie does in order to establish a perfect peace ; for, 
 should he continue to resist the demands made on him 
 by the Roman empire, though now the conqueror, yet 
 he might expect that Caesar would not be satisfied until 
 he retrieved his military fame. Besides, it was not in 
 the power of Cymbeline to say — By peace , when Lucius 
 was not authorized to sign a treaty on other terms than 
 by Cymbeline's submission. 
 
srtwou of mim*. 
 
 ACT I. 
 
 Scexe I. — page 7. 
 
 Merchant. lie passes, 
 
 I am strongly inclined to think our Author wrote : — 
 He surpasses! Thus corrected, the sense and metre 
 are both perfect. 
 
 Scene I. — page 10. 
 
 Poet. Admirable: How this grace 
 
 Speaks his own standing! 
 
 Mr. Steevens says, the passage u speaks its own mean- 
 ing; " but Dr. Johnson differs widely from this opinion : 
 he reads — 
 
 How this standing 
 
 Speaks his own graces. 
 
 And indulges conjecture farther, by reading: 
 
 How this grace 
 
 Speaks understanding ! 
 
 I, however, am convinced that the passage speaks 
 not the Author's meaning, nor is it adapted to common 
 understanding. I read : 
 
 How this grace 
 
 Speaks ! 'tis one standing ! What a mental power 
 This eye shoots forth ! 
 
 Thus, Nature is so perfectly copied, that the Poet, 
 rapt in astonishment, views the painting as a human 
 
384 TIMON OF ATHENS. 
 
 being standing in a most graceful attitude; while the 
 eye speaks the operations of the mind. 
 
 It is evident, from the want of the note of admira- 
 tion after the word speaks, that the transcriber mistook 
 the sound of the two following words, and for, His one 
 wrote his own. 
 
 Scene I. — page 14. 
 
 Poet. yea, from the glass-fac'd flatterer 
 
 A smooth, polished hypocrite : the same as we now 
 say — A smooth-faced villain. 
 
 Scene I. — page 27. 
 Apemantus. That I had no angry wit to be a lord. 
 
 Mr. Steevens observes, this passage is irremediably 
 corrupted: and Dr. Johnson, that he has tried to correct 
 it, but can do nothing. Indeed, from the absurdity of 
 the text, these opinions might be hazarded with great 
 propriety: however, I flatter myself that this supposed 
 impossibility will be overcome, and that by merely 
 adding three letters, which will produce not only the 
 Author's word, but also the meaning which the cynic 
 wishes to convey. I am certain Shakspeare wrote : 
 That I had known angry wit to be a lord. 
 
 The wn in the word known, preceding an in that of 
 angry, was lost in the nasal sound ; know, being sounded 
 as no: thus the transcriber caught the sound — know 
 nangry, and wrote no angry. The sense is obvious: 
 Apemantus, not satisfied with hating all mankind, wishes 
 for cause to hate himself also; and, as he cannot picture 
 to himself any character that would render him so per- 
 fectly contemptible in his own opinion as that of being a 
 lord, he says, — Heavens, that I were a lord! 
 
TIMON OF ATHENS. 385 
 
 Timox. What would'st do then, Apemantus? 
 
 Apem. Even as Apemantus does now, hate a lord with my 
 
 heart. 
 
 Timon. What, thyself ? 
 
 Apem. Ay. 
 
 Timon. Wherefore! 
 
 Apem, That I had known angry wit to be a lord. 
 
 Meaning- : That he had known himself to be a lord. 
 
 ACT II. 
 
 Scene I. — page 54. 
 
 Senator. If I would sell my horse, and buy twenty moFe 
 Better than he, why, give my horse to Timon, 
 Ask nothing, give it him ; it foals me, straight, 
 And able horses. 
 
 The word straight, in its present place, means — imme- 
 diately. The players not understanding it in this sense, 
 changed the subsequent word. I am certain we should 
 read: 
 
 • it foals me straight, 
 
 Ay, able horses. 
 
 Though his horse may be an indifferent one, yet, if he 
 giyes it to Timon and makes no demand for it, the present 
 he immediately receives in return, is equal to twenty, — 
 "ay, able horses." 
 
 Scene II. — page 70. 
 
 Flavius. I have retifd me to a wasteful cock, 
 And set mine eyes at flow. 
 
 This passage, I am convinced, is corrupt ; the explica- 
 tions given of it are frigid : and even the idea of keeping 
 Timon's prodigality in remembrance, though pretty, is 
 profuse, it being but too strongly impressed already. 
 
 Until recently, the st, in printing, formed one type, 
 thus— Jl: its compartment lay next that of the k; and 
 
 2 c 
 
386 TIMON OF ATHENS. 
 
 these letters, from various causes, frequently found a 
 way into each other's box. What should read wakeful, 
 has been, by this means, made wasteful; and thereby 
 perverted the Author's intention. I am confident the 
 original read : 
 
 when every room 
 
 Hath blaz'd with lights, and bray'd with minstrelsy, 
 I have retir'd me to a wakeful cock, 
 And set mine eyes at flow. 
 
 Wakeful, — vigilant. He means: — When our house 
 has been filled with riotous company, and every room 
 brayed with minstrelsy, I have retired me to our outer 
 court, and, letting my sorrows flow, have listened to the 
 shrill clarion of the wakeful cock, which announced to 
 the industrious that it was time to quit the couch of 
 repose and commence their labours. 
 
 This affords a striking contrast. — At the hour when 
 Timon's servants should be rising to industry, they had 
 not yet retired to repose : — riot and confusion prevailed 
 in every apartment of the house, and one continued 
 scene of dissipation deprived them of that salutary ease 
 which the temperate and industrious ever enjoy. 
 
 The honest steward, fatigued with minstrelsy, retired ; 
 and, while the wakeful cock testified its joy at the early 
 morn, broke out in lamentations at his master's unceas- 
 ing prodigality. 
 
 ACT III. 
 
 Scene I. — page 80. 
 
 Flaminius. This slave 
 
 Unto his honour, has my lord's meat in him: 
 
 Flaminius, incensed at the ingratitude of Lucullus, 
 invokes the gods to strip him of that wealth, or rather 
 honour, which wealth has gained him. The word Unto 
 is corrupt. We should read : 
 
TIMON OF ATHENS. 387 
 
 you gods % 
 
 I feel my master's passion ! This slave, 
 Undo his honour, has my lord's meat in him: 
 
 As though Flaminius said — This slave, O, undo his 
 honour! he has my lord's meat in him. The maledic- 
 tions in this speech, are abruptly broken off by observa- 
 tions on the perfidy of Lucullus, and again and again 
 renewed as passion operates. 
 
 In scene ii. of this Act, when Servilius applies to 
 Lucullus on the part of his master, Lucullus, in his 
 apology, says, — 
 
 " Undo a £reat deal of honour." 
 
 Scene II. — page 85. 
 
 Lucius. how unluckily it happen'd, that I should 
 
 purchase the day before for a little part, and 
 undo a great deal of honour ? — 
 
 This very difficult — indeed, incomprehensible passage, 
 owes its present corrupt state to the transposition of a 
 word. We should read : 
 
 how unluckily it happen'd, that I should purchase the 
 
 day before, and for a little part, undo a great deal of honour ? 
 
 Thus, the value of the antithesis is made evident. — 
 The little part or portion of honour that he derived from 
 the purchase has undone a great deal of honour, by 
 preventing him from proving his honourable principles 
 to Timon. 
 
 Scene II.— page 89. 
 
 First Stranger. I would have put my wealth into donation, 
 
 And the best half should have return'd to him, 
 
 I think Mr. Steevens's first interpretation the true 
 one. The passage, however, is corrupt. I read, as I 
 am certain the Author wrote : 
 
 I would have but my wealth in donation, 
 And the best half should have return'd to him, 
 
 2 C 2 ' 
 
388 TIMON OF ATHENS. 
 
 Meaning : That had Timon applied to him for succour, 
 he would have considered his wealth as originally the 
 gift of Timon ; and therefore holding it but in donation, 
 the best half should have been returned to him. 
 
 Scene III. — page 91. 
 
 Sempronius. — —His friends, like physicians, 
 
 Thrive ', give him over; 
 
 In the antecedent speech of Sempronius, he observes 
 that Timon should have applied for aid to Lucius, or 
 Lucullus, or even to Ventidius, which three persons 
 owe their estates to the liberality of Timon. On finding, 
 by the Servant's answer, that solicitations had been made 
 to these persons, but without effect, he considers Timon's 
 case most desperate, and that these three false friends, 
 having severally, like three physicians, given him over, 
 the present application is made to him, as it were, to 
 effect the cure of his complaint. I am strongly of opi- 
 nion that our Author wrote : 
 
 His friends, like physicians, 
 
 Thrice give him over : 
 
 I find Dr. Johnson proposed the same emendation; 
 and, indeed, am rather surprised the Editors did not 
 accept it. The c and v in MS. if not duly formed, have 
 a strong resemblance to each other. 
 
 Scene IV. — page 99. 
 
 1 Varro's Servant. Your master's confidence was above mine; 
 Else, surely, his had equall'd. 
 
 We are to suppose that Varro's Servant, doubtful of 
 the amount he has to demand from Timon, resorts to 
 the account ; and finding it to correspond with what he 
 imagined, says,- — 
 
 " Yes, mine's three thousand crowns: what's yours?" 
 
TIMON OF ATHENS. 389 
 
 To this, the other replies, — " Five thousand" This 
 amount far exceeding' that which Timon owes Varro, 
 the Servant of Varro concludes that Lucius had a greater 
 degree of confidence in Timon than his master, — " Else," 
 as he says, " surely, this account had equalled yours" At 
 the same time he holds the account in his hand: A t 
 certainly dropped out of the page in its metal state. 
 We should read : 
 
 Else, surely this had equall'd. 
 
 Thus, the sense is perfectly clear. This passage 
 requires stage direction. 
 
 Scene V. — page 107. 
 
 Algibiades. And with such sober and unnoted passion 
 He did behave his anger, 
 
 I think the conjunction has been introduced from mis- 
 take of sound, and that the Author wrote : 
 
 And with such sober undenoted passion 
 
 Meaning : However aggravating the circumstance, he 
 conducted himself with such moderation, as not to denote 
 the smallest degree of passion. 
 
 The word behave, in the sequent verse, is still more 
 corrupt. The old copy reads — He did behoove, &c. The 
 present reading was introduced by Mr. Rowe. I am 
 confident we should read : 
 
 And with such sober undenoted passion 
 He did behood his anger, ere 'twas spent, 
 As if he had but prov'd an argument. 
 
 Thus, his words and actions were so well regulated, 
 that however aggravating the charges laid against him, 
 yet, he covered, or concealed all anger. 
 
390 TIMON OF ATHENS. 
 
 Scene VI.— page 114. 
 
 Alcibiades. I'll cheer up 
 
 My discontented troops, and lay for hearts. 
 'Tis honour with most lands to be at odds; 
 
 I shall be silent on the forced elucidations given of 
 this passage, being convinced that, in its present corrupt 
 state, my predecessors made the most they could of it. 
 I do not hesitate to say our Author wrote : 
 I'll cheer up 
 
 My discontented troops, and say, — Forth hearts ! 
 "'TIS honour, with most bands, to beat at odds-, 
 Soldiers should brook as little wrongs as gods. 
 
 Alcibiades means not to cheer up his troops to war 
 
 against any other land or state ; but merely to oppose 
 
 the power of the Senate of Athens, whose ill-treatment of 
 
 the military has occasioned discontent ; and which, he 
 
 conceives, must influence their ready compliance with 
 
 his wishes. Thus, screening from the soldiers his private 
 
 quarrel with the Senators, and pretending that his aim 
 
 is to obtain redress of the grievances under which they 
 
 labour, he says, — thus will I stimulate my discontented 
 
 troops : 
 
 Forth hearts ! 
 
 '77s honour for most bands to beat at odds; 
 Soldiers should brook as little wrongs as gods. 
 
 As though he said — Forward, my lads! Those 
 grievances which have caused your discontent, shall be 
 redressed: soldiers are not tamely to submit to oppression: 
 and, though the influence of the Senate may levy a 
 stronger power to oppose you, yet remember, — 'Tis 
 honour with most bands to beat at odds, i. e. for an in- 
 ferior to beat a superior power. 
 
 In respect to the word bands for lands. A weaker 
 band, i. e. an inferior band in point of number, that 
 overcomes a stronger, gains the greater degree of honour. 
 In this restoration I am highly justified, even by the 
 very words of Alcibiades, who, when he accosts Timon 
 
TIMON OF ATHENS. 391 
 
 in the woods, thinking that gold would be the means of 
 restoring him to society, says, — 
 
 " I have but little gold of late, brave Timon, 
 The want whereof doth daily make revolt 
 In my penurious band:" 
 
 See Act IV. sc. iii. 
 
 To be at odds, means quarrelling; and, surely, it 
 cannot be deemed an honour for any land or people 
 to be quarrelling with their neighbours. 
 
 If a corrupt word remains in the passage, after these 
 four restorations, it is in the word most; for, in my 
 opinion, honour is attached to any inferior band that 
 beats a greater. 
 
 Common discrimination will perceive that both the 
 transcriber and compositor are accountable for the gross 
 errors so conspicuous in this passage. The word lay, for 
 say, is the compositor's: — for hearts, instead of forth 
 hearts, the transcriber's, who lost the th in forth, by the 
 strong aspiration in the word hearts: to be at odds, for 
 to beat at odds, is easily accounted for ; the compositor, 
 having composed the first at, omitted the repetition; — 
 this latter error is so common, that argument is unneces- 
 sary to strengthen my observation. 
 
 Scene VI. — page 116. 
 
 First Lord. Upon that were my thoughts tiring, 
 Dr. Johnson's idea of a hawk tiring, when she amuses 
 herself with pecking a pheasant's wing, is rather a 
 ludicrous conceit : but, in my opinion, neither hawk nor 
 pheasant entered our Author's imagination when he 
 wrote the passage. In short, an s was lost by the pre- 
 ceding word terminating with the same letter. We 
 should read : 
 
 Upon that were my thoughts stirring. 
 This phrase being familiar, elucidation is unnecessary. 
 
392 TIMON OF ATHENS. 
 
 ACT IV. 
 
 Scene II.— page 127. 
 
 Flavius. Undone by goodness! Strange, unusual blood, 
 
 When man's worst sin is, he does too much good ! 
 
 Dr. Johnson says, he knows not what to propose to 
 redeem this corrupt passage ; particularly as the word 
 blood stands fortified by the rhyme. However, a very 
 simple correction gives the original. I read: 
 
 Undone by goodness! strange, unusual! — 'sblood! 
 When man's worst sin is, he does too much good ! 
 
 The honest Flavius thinks it strange that his master 
 should be undone by goodness ; and his passion rising in 
 proportion as he reflects on man's ingratitude, he uses 
 the exclamation — 'sblood! Thus, we obtain a perfect 
 sense, and the rhyme is preserved. 
 
 Scene III. — page 130. 
 
 Timon. It is the pasture lards the brother's sides, 
 The want that makes him lean. 
 
 As I cannot otherwise than correspond in opinion 
 with Dr. Johnson, that our Author holds in view the 
 case of the rich and poor brothers, with greater con- 
 fidence I offer my emendation of this very corrupt, and, 
 consequently, obscure passage. 
 
 Timon, disgusted with his own species, considers that 
 neither sympathy for the sufferings of our fellow-crea- 
 tures, nor even sentiments of fraternal love exist in 
 man : To illustrate this theorem, which casts so dark a 
 shade on humanity, he introduces a case,which, in point of 
 connexion, is the most immediate in nature — that of two 
 brothers twinned in the same womb. " Touch them," says 
 he, " with several fortunes," let the one be exalted to 
 wealth and dignity, and the other be deprest by poverty ', 
 
TIMON 0* ATHENS. 393 
 
 even though the fortunate brother, whose procreation, 
 residence, and birth, scarce is dividant with him, who rots 
 in obscurity, yet will he steel his heart against the calls 
 of Nature, and suffer him to languish a prey to misery 
 and wretchedness : Thus, the influence of wealth gives 
 such self-sufficiency to man, that, if a brother's wants 
 claim a brother's assistance, he who is impoverished is 
 spurned with contempt, and the sacred link of obliga- 
 tion is dissolved. 
 
 Considering this principle as unchangeably inherent 
 in man, Timon takes another view of worldly depravity: 
 He beholds the beggar elevated to a high pitch of great- 
 ness, and the rich man, who had been a senator, sunk to 
 a low abyss of misery. Now, in this change of fortune, 
 such is the world, in Timon's eye, that he beholds him 
 who had been great held in the utmost contempt; even 
 in that contempt attached to mendicity, as though he had 
 ever been a beggar: whilst the beggar, elevated by 
 wealth, regards himself, and is regarded by others, as 
 though he derived his dignity from a noble ancestry, 
 and had lived in splendor all his life : here then is the 
 object on which Timon has fixed his attention. Nature 
 is to man, in a certain degree, equally bountiful, but in 
 the present example of the twinned brothers, she has 
 made them scarce dividant, that is, they are so strongly 
 assimilated, that they should be inseparable ; yet, how- 
 ever, being touched with several fortunes, the influence 
 of Nature is lost, and the pampered man will not deign 
 to know him whom poverty has made his prey. 
 
 When so extraordinary a change of fortune takes 
 place, as in the case to which Timon alludes, it is nothing 
 novel to behold the proverb illustrated,— Every one 
 basteth the fat hog, while the lean one burneth: and such 
 a proverb Timon assuredly holds in view. With the 
 addition of one letter, and by changing another, we 
 gain a similar figure, and retain most closely the sound 
 of pastour, as in the original edition. I read : — • 
 
394 TIMON OF ATHENS. 
 
 Raise me this beegar, and denude that lordj 
 The senator shall bear contempt hereditary, 
 The beggar native honour : 
 It is the paste o'erlards the brother'* sides, 
 The want that makes him lean. 
 
 Thus all the words correspond : The paste o'erlards 
 that which is already lard, the brother's sides. 
 
 Wealth is the primary cause that leads the poor 
 brother to honour; and according as wealth increases, 
 so doth honours; until, heaped on him to excess, he 
 becomes like the fat hog that every one basteth. 
 
 Honour may be considered the noun to which It refers: 
 and, as the want of honour is consequently the want of 
 wealth, poverty remains lean within, nor can it obtain that 
 which could o'erlard it without. 
 
 If a fat hog be enveloped in a paste composed of flour 
 and lard, it is unnecessarily over larded: and so with 
 man, when wealth and honour become unnecessarily 
 abundant. 
 
 Scene III.— page 134. 
 
 Timon. ■ Roots, you clear heavens! 
 
 For clear heavens! I believe we should read — dear 
 heavens ! The d in MS. if not well formed, has much 
 the appearance of cl. The word dear removes all 
 obscurity. In a subsequent part of this scene, when 
 supplicating for a root, Timon again says, — 
 — 0, a root, — Dear thanks ! 
 
 Scene III. — page 135. 
 
 Timon. this is it, 
 
 Before I read Mr. Steevens's note on this passage, 
 I was of opinion that the verse should be perfected by 
 the repetition of the pronoun this, which the compositor 
 omitted. 
 
TIMON OB ATHENS. 395 
 
 Scene III. — page 149. 
 Timon. And be no turncoats. 
 
 Timon has desired the prostitutes to persevere in vice, 
 and, that whoever seeks to convert them, they should allure 
 and burn up: Consequently, he directs that no water 
 shall be allowed to quench the flame, but, that their close 
 Jires shall predominate, and utterly consume those whom 
 they allure. Assuredly, then, our Author wrote: 
 
 And be no turncocks. 
 
 Meaning: that they shall not open the water-pipes. 
 The word, in its present place, being ambiguous, and 
 rather indecorous, I submit it to the reader's penetra- 
 tion, for it is difficult to be explicit, and at the same 
 time perfectly chaste. 
 
 Scene III. — page 149. 
 
 Timon. ■ Yet may your pains, six months, 
 
 Be quite contrary. 
 
 The word contrary, is certainly correct ; and all ob- 
 scurity removed by the amendment in the preceding part 
 of the speech, that is, by reading turncocks, instead of 
 turncoats. But another error appears; for pains, six- 
 months, we should read : 
 
 ■ Yet may your pain-sick months, 
 
 Be quite contrary. 
 
 Alluding to the necessary period, when fallen virtue, 
 if distempered, should be in "the tub-fast and the diet:" 
 when the influence of mercury would salivate. Timon 
 has just ordered them not to be turncocks; that is, not 
 to turn any water-cock to supply those with water whom 
 he wishes to be burned up; but to themselves, during 
 their pain-sick months, he wishes the contrary ; k e. that 
 water may flow from their mouths, as from a fountain. 
 
396 TIMON OF ATHENS. 
 
 Moreover, as in most baths there is a pipe to convey 
 hot water, that the temperature of heat may be main- 
 tained, so must that pipe have a cock affixed to it. Ac- 
 cordingly, then, as the water cools, it frequently becomes 
 the business of the person in the bath to turn the cock ; 
 thus, by being their own turncocks, they would be con- 
 trary to what he wishes them to be to others. 
 
 It is very obvious that the transcriber mistook the 
 sound of the words, and, for pain-sick, wrote pains, six. 
 Timon would scarcely allot a limited period : for, if two 
 months in the tub, the unfortunate victim might be in 
 it again a month after, and so on, from one period to 
 another. 
 
 ACT IV. 
 
 Scene III.— page 173. 
 
 Timon. Your greatest want is, you want much of meat. 
 
 This passage is certainly corrupt : that expression cor- 
 respondent with the great ideas of Shakspeare is not dis- 
 played. The great want that Timon means, I am certain, 
 is humanity; and it appears to me that the word used by 
 the Author had a more forcible meaning than meat, and 
 also a double signification. I therefore coincide with 
 Sir T. Hanmer's opinion, and read : 
 
 Your greatest want is, you want much of men. 
 
 Meaning : that though they were men in semblance, 
 they were beasts in principle, being destitute of humanity. 
 Again, as thieves, they wanted much of men, that is, all 
 they could obtain by plunder. 
 
 The playing on the word men is truly Shakspeare's 
 style. Timon returns almost the words of the thief, who 
 has just said, u men that want much :" to this he replies, 
 "you want much of men:" and in the subsequent speech 
 he says, " you must eat men" 
 
TIMON OF ATHENS. 397 
 
 Scene III.-— -page 182. 
 
 Timon. It almost turns 
 
 My dangerous nature wild. 
 
 The word wild, which has afforded some controversy, 
 I think perfectly correct : the passage, however, is evi- 
 dently corrupt; for, as Dr. Warburton justly observes, 
 " by dangerous nature, is meant wildness" 
 
 There is nothing dangerous in Timon's manners : grief 
 at the ingratitude of mankind has brought him to his 
 present unhappy state : neither is there any thing wild 
 in his actions, save that, to shun the city wherein his false 
 friends reside, he sequesters himself in the woods ; and 
 rather than be obliged to man for food, he seeks that 
 which Nature spontaneously yields him. I am, therefore, 
 certain the word has been mistaken, and that we should 
 read: 
 
 - It almost turns 
 
 My dolorous nature wild. 
 
 Meaning : That it almost turns his melancholy nature 
 to madness. Inattention on the part of either tran- 
 scriber or compositor might have occasioned the error. 
 Shakspeare uses the word elsewhere : 
 
 " You take me in too dolorous a sense: 
 I spake t'you for your comfort." 
 
 ACT V. 
 
 Scene I. — page 188. 
 
 Painter. When the day serves, before dark-corner" d night. 
 
 Various corrections have been proposed by my prede- 
 cessors to free this passage from obscurity, but all appear 
 too dark to admit a brilliant metaphor. I believe the 
 Poet wrote : 
 
 When the day serves, before dark-horned night; 
 
398 TIMON OF ATHENS. 
 
 Which alludes to the horns or crescent of the moon. 
 
 The word horn, preceded by ck, has the sound of corn, 
 unless the h be strongly aspirated : thus the transcriber's 
 ear deceived him. 
 
 Scene I.— page 192. 
 Timon. You that way, and you this, but two in company: — 
 Though the meaning of this passage cannot be mis- 
 taken, yet the text is corrupt. We should read : 
 You that way, and you this, both two in company : — 
 
 Thus restored, Timon's former observation elucidates 
 the passage: 
 
 " There's ne'er a one of you hut trusts a knave, 
 That mightily deceives you." 
 
 Both two in company : an apparently honest man and 
 a rogue. 
 
 Scene I. — page 193. 
 Timon. You have done work for me, there's payment: 
 
 For the insertion of the word done, Mr. Malone says 
 he is answerable. Mr. Steevens would read, — " You've 
 worked for me, there is your payment : Hence ! Now, in 
 my opinion, neither of the learned Commentators under- 
 stood Timon's meaning ; for, had they, the text would 
 have been suffered to remain as they found it. 
 
 That the Poet and Painter did work for Timon, we are 
 well aware; and, that they received payment, Timon's 
 liberality is a convincing proof; therefore, he has no 
 necessity to pay them a second time. But let it be re- 
 membered, that Timon had overheard the conversation 
 of these sycophants, and particularly noticed the Poet's 
 words, who said, — / am thinking what I shall say I have 
 provided for him: meaning, what work; and this is the 
 
TIMON OF ATHENS. 399 
 
 supposed work to which Timon alludes, and for which 
 he pays him as his knavery merits. But Timon plays 
 also on the words — "you have work for me:" for in 
 beating the Painter and the Poet, he finds work, and 
 this they occasion. The old reading is perfectly correct: 
 You have work for me, there's your payment: Hence : 
 
 Thus, they occasion the work which he executes, and 
 the work itself becomes the payment. 
 Mr. Steevens would read : 
 
 You've work'd for me, there is your payment: Hence. 
 
 Scene II.— -page 196. 
 Second Senator. Which now the public body. 
 
 Mr.Malone demands, u by what oversight could Which 
 be printed, instead of And?" I answer : That composi- 
 tors, through inattention, frequently substitute one word 
 for another. In the present instance, the compositor, 
 having charged his memory with the entire verse, and 
 the latter which being uppermost in his thoughts, in- 
 considerately placed that word at the commencement of 
 the line. 
 
 There is no justifiable reason for leaving so gross an 
 error in our Author's works. 
 
 Scene II.— page 198. 
 
 First Senator. thou shalt be met with thauks, 
 
 Allow 1 d with absolute power, and thy good name 
 Live with authority : 
 
 However licensed, privileged, or uncontrolled the power 
 may be, as intended by the Senator, yet, according to 
 Dr. Johnson's. meaning of the word Allowed, even how- 
 ever uncontrolled, it becomes weak in comparison with 
 the original. I am certain our Author wrote : — 
 
400 TIMON OF ATHENS. 
 
 thou shalt be met with thanks, 
 
 Hallow d with absolute power, and thy good name 
 Live with authority : 
 
 Meaning : That the power which the Senators design 
 to invest him with shall be held most sacred: it shall 
 be as unchangeably his, as though he were consecrated 
 Governor of Athens at the altar : thus, his good name 
 shall live with authority. 
 
 The person who read to the transcriber did not suf- 
 ficiently aspirate the H: thus the error. 
 
 Scene II. — page 199. 
 
 Timon. So I leave you 
 
 To the protection of the prosperous gods, 
 As thieves to keepers. 
 
 The word prosperous, however defended by Mr. Stee- 
 vens, is certainly an error. Were Timon to testify his 
 affection for the Senators, he could not wish them bet- 
 ter, than to leave them, as Mr. Malone says, to the gods, 
 who are the authors of the prosperity of mankind: and, even 
 though they were taken as much care of as keepers of 
 prisons take of thieves, still is the wish pure and good. 
 
 But Timon has no such good wishes for the Senators : 
 he has just told the Delegates he would send them back 
 the plague: nor does he care even for the people; no, 
 not for The reverend' 'st throat in Athens. However, he 
 certainly leaves them to the protection of some power, 
 but not to a heavenly one. I read, as I am certain the 
 Author wrote : 
 
 So I leave you 
 
 To the protection of the phosphorus gods, 
 As thieves to keepers. 
 
 He leaves them to the protection of the gods of fire — 
 the infernal gods, who, no doubt, would be as careful of 
 them as the keepers of prisons would be of thieves. 
 
TIMON OF ATHENS. 401 
 
 Scene III.— page 203. 
 
 Messenger. I met a courier, one mine ancient friend; — 
 
 Whom, though in general part we were oppos'd, 
 Yet our old love made a particular force, 
 And made us speak like friends: — 
 
 The obscurity of this passage arises from the repe- 
 tition of the word made. This error is certainly the 
 compositor's, and arose from his having so recently com- 
 posed a similar word in sound and characters, which 
 also afforded a good sense to him; who, in the progress 
 of his work, perceived not the tautology. We should 
 read : 
 
 Yet our old love made a particular force, 
 And bade us speak like friends : — 
 
 Love, like an umpire, reconciled their difference, and 
 bade them speak like friends. 
 
©t&rtfo* 
 
 ACT I, 
 
 Scene I. — page 
 Iago. A fellow almost damn'd in a fair wife; 
 
 Cassio is a bachelor, therefore the word — almost, 
 means,— -that he is on the point of being married to a 
 woman who will prove a curse to him ; even so near, 
 as though the bans were already proclaimed. 
 
 But, why should he be almost damn'd by marrying 
 a fair woman ? Beauty, in the softer sex, detracts not 
 from virtue. We certainly should read: 
 
 A fellow almost damn'd in a frail wife; 
 
 which at once announces the licentious character of 
 Bianca, and that odium designed by the speaker is thus 
 cast on the spirit of Cassio. I make no doubt the com- 
 positor mistook the word, and am inclined to think that, 
 for damn'd, we should read banned: meaning, that they 
 were as near being married as though the bans were 
 published : besides, he might also play on this word; for, 
 banned means cursed; then the word fair would stand 
 good, for the beauty of his wife would prove a curse to 
 him. 
 
 Scene II. — page 242. 
 
 Iago. Though in the trade of war I have slain men, 
 Yet do I hold it very stuff o'the conscience, 
 To do no contriv'd murder; I lack iniquity 
 Sometimes, to do me service: 
 
OTHELLO. 403 
 
 Do not the words — I lack iniquity, Sec. tend to prove, 
 that Iago is tenacious of committing murder — Though, 
 in the trade of war, to slay his fellow-creatures, he deems 
 it meritorious ? The transcriber unquestionably mistook 
 the sound of the word. We should read: 
 
 Yd; do I hold it very tough o'the conscience, 
 To do no contriv'd murder : 
 
 Thus, he would impress on the mind of the Moor, 
 that even personal advantages should not actuate him 
 to break the sacred commandment. To commit murder, 
 would go as hard against his conscience, or meet with 
 as strong opposition, as a knife against a tough piece of 
 timber. But the present text displays an axiom quite 
 the reverse, and which could not fail of impressing on 
 the mind of Othello the depravity of Iago; for, if not 
 praiseworthy, he makes murder justifiable in cases of 
 revenge : Stuff oHhe conscience being, in other words, 
 the nonsense of weak or pusillanimous minds. 
 
 Iago is aware of the pure principles of the Moor, and 
 to persuade the latter that he (Iago) possesses those 
 fine feelings attached to a scrupulous character, he tells 
 him, that he would have yerk?d Roderigo under the ribs, 
 had it not been that his conscience would not submit to 
 so base an act. 
 
 This is one of the innumerable errors for which the 
 transcriber is accountable. 
 
 Scene II. — page 245. 
 
 Othello. And my demerits 
 
 May speak, unbonneted, 
 
 The Commentators have certainly misunderstood 
 Othello's meaning — the gentleman who gives the initials 
 A. C, excepted, who seems to have had a better concep- 
 
 2 D 2 
 
404 OTHELLO. 
 
 tion of the passage. That mark of superiority which 
 the wearing of a hat or bonnet gives in the presence of 
 distinguished personages, is not what Othello means; 
 but that his former rank in life and his merits were of 
 so honourable a nature, that he has no necessity to cover 
 them by any specious falsehoods ; they may speak unbon- 
 netedy i. e. uncovered: they answer for themselves. A 
 person conscious of having acted a just and honourable 
 part, says, and with propriety, — My actions speak for 
 themselves: such is Othello's meaning. 
 
 Scene II. — page 252. 
 
 Brabantio. Abus'd her delicate youth with drugs or minerals, 
 That waken motion : — 
 
 The power of such drugs are supposed to awaken desire, 
 and to inflame the blood to lustful passion : therefore, 
 that pudicity which Brabantio imagines to have lulled 
 desire, Othello has awakened by the influence of those 
 incentives. 
 
 Scene III. — page 270. 
 
 Othello. It was my hint to speak. 
 
 The old quarto has — hent, which, in my opinion, should 
 read — bent. This word removes all obscurity. It was 
 the bent of his inclination to render himself agreeable to 
 Desdemona; and the more extraordinary the events of 
 his pilgrimage, the stronger became her curiosity to hear 
 a regular narrative of his adventures. 
 
 The h and b in MS. have a strong similarity. 
 
 Scene III. — page 276. 
 
 Brabantio. 1 never yet did hear, 
 
 That the bruis'd heart was pierced through the ear. 
 
OTHELLO. 405 
 
 To pierce through the ear must inflict pain. This is 
 totally contrary to Brabantio's meaning. The text is 
 certainly corrupt. We should read : 
 
 That the bruis'd heart was pieced through the ear. 
 
 i.e. made whole again: Where there is a bruise there 
 must be a break ; and, as Brabantio says, words art words, 
 consequently, they cannot, in such an instance, have a 
 healing quality. 
 
 All must allow, taking the passage figuratively, that 
 severe words, piercing through the ear, must affect the 
 heart; thus, the bruised heart: therefore, the text is in 
 direct opposition to this figure. But what the Poet 
 meant, and which he unquestionably gave, was, that 
 actions, not words, can piece the heart that has been 
 bruised by ill usage. 
 
 From the cursory view the compositor took of his copy, 
 he mistook the word, and added an r, which ma.de pierced. 
 
 ACT II. 
 
 Scene I. — page 
 
 Montano. What ribs of oak when mountains melt on them, 
 Can hold the mortise ? 
 
 I cannot reconcile the figure which this passage 
 conveys. 
 
 The idea of a land mountain melting on a ship in the 
 midst of the ocean is ridiculous : Mr. Steevens, in this 
 instance, seems to have got out of his depth. And how 
 a substance, already in a liquid state, can be said to melt, 
 I am yet to learn: — water can only form into a solid body 
 by petrifaction or frost : and though a mountain of ice 
 were attached .to each side of a ship, so that she lay on 
 her keel, her ribs could receive no injury. In short, the 
 passage is corrupt. I am certain our Author wrote : 
 
406 OTHELLO. 
 
 What ribs of oak when mountains meet on them, 
 Can hold the mortise ? 
 
 Thus, we gain a natural and familiar figure. The waves 
 swelling mountains high, rush with impetuous force, and, 
 in their violent pressure, meeting her on each side, asto- 
 nishment is raised how she can resist the collision. 
 
 A vessel while cutting through a liquid mountain must 
 have a mountain on each side of her; and this figure we 
 find in Troilus and Cressida, Act I. sc. iii. 
 
 "and, anon, behold 
 
 The strong-ribb'd bark through liquid mountains cut, 
 Bounding between the two moist elements," 
 
 This is precisely the figure that awakens the amaze- 
 ment of Montano. 
 
 The transcriber elevated the second e above the first, 
 in the word meet, which the compositor took for an I: 
 such errors in MS. frequently appear. 
 
 Scene I. — page 308. 
 
 Cassio. And in the essential vesture of creation, 
 Does bear all excellency. — 
 
 The folio reads, Do's tyre the ingeniuer. This evi- 
 dently corrupt hemistic has been deemed by Dr. Johnson, 
 Mr. Steevens, and other Commentators, to contain some 
 hidden beauty, and which, if retrieved, would be infinitely 
 preferable to the present unpoetical reading. I have at- 
 tempted its recovery, and am persuaded that I have 
 succeeded ; but so contrary is the sense obtained by my 
 restoration, that it gives quite a different turn to the 
 passage. 
 
 Let us now compare the characters which compose 
 the words, and see how far sound has overcome sense : 
 
 The folio reads : 
 
 "Do's tyre the ingeniuer." 
 I read : 
 
 Does tire the Indian ever. 
 
OTHELLO, 407 
 
 Thus corrected, the passage produces the following 
 meaning: He hath obtained a wife that paragons de- 
 scription; one whose perfections exceed the blazoning 
 pen of panegyrists; and who, instead of courting the 
 lascivious couch of pleasure, or the false attractions of 
 pomp, aims only to stimulate the Indian (the Moor) to 
 those humane and beneficent acts for which Heaven 
 originally designed mankind. Such noble, humane, and 
 generous deeds are what Cassio figuratively calls, — the 
 essential vesture of creation; and in which Desdemona 
 attires, or decorates the Indian ever. 
 
 Indian and Moor are considered synonymous. 
 
 The word tire was, I believe, formerly spelt tyre; 
 however, if not, we know that the y for an i came from 
 the transcriber; tire means — dress, particularly a head- 
 dress, such as a grand turban. The word is used by our 
 Author elsewhere : in one of his plays we have, — 
 
 " If I had such a tire, this face of mine 
 Were full as lovely as is this of hers," 
 
 Numbers sound the word Indian — ingen; and for the 
 termination, ever, we have iuer: Here, owing to false 
 orthography, ingen (for Indian) was nearly, or perhaps 
 closely joined to ever, and an i was substituted for the e, 
 thinking the word ingeniuer; which might, as Mr. Henly 
 observes, have been the old mode of spelling ingeneer ; 
 but take the dot from the i, and you have ever; for the 
 u, in Shakspeare's time, maintained the rank which the r 
 does at present. Thus, I hope, the passage corresponds 
 with the wish so particularly expressed by Mr. Steevens 
 in the following words : — 
 
 " The reading of the quarto is so flat and unpoetical, 
 when compared with that sense which seems meant to 
 have been given in the folio, that I heartily wish some 
 emendation could be hit on, which might entitle it to a 
 place in the text." 
 
 On a passage of this consequence I cannot be too par- 
 ticular; probably Shakspeare gave tire, thus — 'tire; by 
 
408 OTHELLO. 
 
 which the word alluded to dress in general, and this 
 
 perfectly corresponds with essential vesture. However, 
 
 we have a passage in Pericles, Prince of Tyre, 
 
 where the word is used : 
 
 " But I much marvel that your lordship having 
 Rich tire about you," &c. 
 
 I trust that the passage, as restored, is susceptible of 
 a rich meaning. 
 
 Scene I.— page 311. 
 
 Cassio. Traitors ensteep'd to clog the guiltless keel, 
 
 Mr. Steevens invites every reader to make what he 
 Can of enscerped, as in the first copy. I read : 
 
 Traitors enscarped to clog the guiltless keel, 
 
 A scarp, in fortification, is the slope on that side of a 
 ditch which is next to a fortified place. All sand-banks, 
 by the motion of the tide, are so formed. If, then, a 
 vessel in full sail comes in contact with one of those 
 enscarped traitors / its guiltless keel enters therein, and 
 the vessel, not having sufficient depth of water to ride 
 ov«er it, must become a wreck. 
 
 This word perfectly corresponds with guttered rocks, 
 and congregated sands, which are, in fact, the enscarped 
 traitors that clog the guiltless keel ; but which, as having 
 a sense of beauty, suffered the divine Desdemona to pass 
 with safety. 
 
 Scene III.— page 333. 
 Iago. Three lads of Cyprus, — 
 
 The folio has — Three else of Cyprus. From either 
 of these readings we may derive a meaning, but both 
 are insufficient in point of spirit. I am of opinion we 
 should read — Three elks of Cyprus. 
 
 Alluding to the wild principles of wanton youth. 
 
OTHELLO. 409 
 
 Scene III. — page 341. 
 
 Othello. He that stirs next to carve for his own rage, 
 Holds his soul light: 
 
 Before I perceived that the quarto of 1622 read — 
 forth, I was about to propose that word, which I am 
 certain is most correct : 
 
 He that stirs next to carve forth his own rage, 
 Holds his soul light: 
 
 Meaning : That he who dares intemperably step forth 
 to cut or wound his companions, holds his soul light. 
 
 Scene HI.— page 344. 
 
 Othello. And passion, having my hest judgment collled, 
 
 According to the present text, Othello is made to cast 
 a reflection, not only on his own colour, but also on the 
 principles of his heart. In short, he is made to say, that 
 his judgment is as dark as his skin. I read: 
 
 And passion, having my hest judgment coiVd, 
 
 Othello has come to learn the cause of the tumult; 
 and, on witnessing his own officers engaged in it, passion 
 raises a tumult in his soul that overcomes reason. CoiVd 
 means disturbed, or flurried, which gives full force to the 
 entire passage. This word also bounds the measure of 
 the verse. 
 
 The quarto edition reads — cooVd: the difference is 
 only in one letter; and that evidently introduced by an 
 o being in the i compartment of the letter-case, these 
 two characters being immediately next each other. In 
 respect to the word colli/, Mr. Steevens had no necessity 
 to doubt its modern use. The black crustation formed 
 by smoke on culinary utensils has no other term: the 
 colly of the pot is familiar to both cook and scullion. 
 
410 OTHELLO. 
 
 ACT III 
 
 Scene III. — page Sib. 
 
 Iago. Which doth mock 
 
 The meat it feeds on ; 
 
 Few passages have occasioned more controversy than 
 this; and I believe, after all, that our Commentators 
 have argued without effect. The original reads mocks ; 
 but by what means are we to learn that any monster 
 mocks the meat it feeds on ? 
 
 Sir T. Hanmer proposes makes, which has been ably 
 defended. But how is a monster to make its meat? Can 
 it produce meat from its own substance ? 
 
 Mr. Steevens very judiciously observes, that the green- 
 ey^d monster seems to have reference to an object as familiar 
 to Shakspeare's readers, as to himself, and this I believe. 
 
 Our Author frequently makes the most insignificant 
 animals become great in metaphor, and figures of conse- 
 quence in similitude. Now, in the present instance, it may 
 seem strange to my Readers, that a small domestic animal 
 may have been the mighty green-ey'd monster to which 
 our ingenious Bard alludes — I mean the mouse: indeed 
 familiarly, it is often called a little monster : but its eyes 
 are not to say green; however, a white mouse, in Shak- 
 speare's time, would have been a very great curiosity; 
 and if one had been produced with green eyes, it would 
 have equally attracted the notice of the naturalist. 
 
 Now, the mouse has a peculiar propensity, — at least, 
 I never heard of any other animal, 
 
 Which doth muck 
 
 The meat it feeds on: 
 
 The mouse, after it has glutted on a piece of nice meat, 
 leaves as much of its excrement on the residue as it pos- 
 sibly can; and thus it treats that with indecency and 
 contempt, which it doated on until its hunger was per- 
 fectly appeased. And so with jealousy, whether real 
 
OTHELLO. 411 
 
 or imaginary; for when the sensual appetite is satisfied, 
 then is the mind crowded with every aggravating cir- 
 cumstance that can strengthen this violent passion, and 
 the object that yielded delight is reproached and spurned 
 with indignation. 
 
 Iago himself was a jealous fool, and spoke from 
 experience. 
 
 The word muck is used by Cominius, in his eulogy of 
 Coriolanus : 
 
 " Our spoils he kick'd at ; 
 
 And look'd upon things precious, as they were 
 The common muck o' the world : 
 
 See Coriolanus, Act. II. sc. ii. 
 
 I do not offer this as a restorati&n, but as a hint for 
 the critic and naturalist. 
 
 Scene III.— page 382. 
 
 Othello. Where virtue is, these are more virtuous: 
 
 The word these seems corrupt, but more, which has 
 been particularized by the Commentators, I think correct. 
 I read : 
 
 Where virtue is, there are more virtuous : 
 
 Othello observes, — 
 
 'Tis not to make me jealous, 
 
 To say — my wife is fair, feeds well, loves company, 
 Is free of speech, sings, plays, and dances well." 
 
 Such accomplishments and inclinations are not virtues; 
 yet, according to the present text, they have no other 
 signification. Othello means, that vice is not general : 
 many dissolute and libidinous characters inhabit the 
 same city where virtue is conspicuous. — To say, in- 
 deed, that my wife is unchaste , because she is fair, feeds 
 well, loves company, &c. were casting an illiberal re- 
 flection on all her sex; for there are numbers who have 
 the same perfections and the same passions, and yet 
 retain unsullied reputation : therefore, where virtue is, 
 
412 OTHELLO. 
 
 there are more virtuous; and, why should not my wife be 
 considered of that number ? 
 
 Thus, the change of one letter, an r for an s, gives a 
 correct reading and a familiar meaning. 
 
 Scene IV. — page 424. 
 
 Cassio. So shall I clothe me in a forc'd content, 
 And shut myself up in some other course, 
 
 So perverted a reading as the present passage dis* 
 plays can scarcely be met with in these Dramas; a con- 
 vincing proof that most of the faults must be attributed 
 to the transcribers, who, disregarding the value of the 
 text, gave sound, no matter how far remote the sense. 
 There are three gross errors in one verse : I am almost 
 certain our Author wrote : 
 
 So shall I clothe me in a forc'd content, 
 And suit myself up in some order coarse, 
 To fortune's alms. 
 
 The quarto reads — shoot; altered to shut. Shoot and 
 suit are sounded alike by many, particularly in Ireland : 
 Other and order are not far removed in sound; and 
 course and coarse have scarcely any difference; indeed 
 many well-educated persons say course, for coarse. The 
 sense of the passage is obviously this : The worthy 
 Cassio feels so forcibly the resentment of Othello, that, 
 if he cannot regain his confidence and the rank he held, 
 fame, which is the soldier's glory, he will no longer 
 seek; but, disgusted with society, will assume a forced 
 content; clothe himself in the coarse habiliments of some 
 religious order; and, leading a recluse life, submit to 
 live on Fortune's alms. 
 
 Thus, clothe, suit, and the coarse habiliments of a reli- 
 gious order, all correspond. 
 
 This passage has occasioned a variety of opinions. 
 
OTHELLO. 413 
 
 Scene IV.— page 426. 
 
 Desdemon a. For let our finger ache, and it indues 
 
 Our other healthful members ev'n to that sense 
 Of pain : 
 
 Probably our Author wrote — inducts, i. e. conveys: 
 The pain of one part carries anguish to another. The 
 e and c in MS. are seldom so clearly written as to be 
 distinguished one from the other ; by the sense of the 
 word we are mostly guided. The sound of t, in inducts, 
 is almost lost, so that the transcriber might have written 
 indues, which the compositor took for indues. In this 
 there is a much greater probability than that the tran- 
 scriber should mistake indues for subdues; and the sense 
 which this correction gives must be far preferable to 
 the Commentator's forced elucidation, that a pain in one 
 part of the frame was to tincture, or to embrue the same 
 sensation in another. 
 
 ACT IV. 
 
 Scene I. — page 442. 
 
 Othello. Have you scored me ? 
 
 This figure is by no means elegant ; nor does the word 
 stored, as in the old quarto, give that force which an 
 expressive hemistic is designed to convey. I certainly 
 think our Author wrote : 
 
 Have you cored me ? 
 
 Meaning : Have you cut the core of my heart ? 
 It is a common phrase to say — core the apples; and, 
 have you cored the apples ? 
 
414 OTHELLO, 
 
 Scene I. — page 447. 
 Othello. With all my heart, sir. 
 
 This is elliptically expressed ; Othello is supposed to 
 repeat the words — Save you, as used by Lodovieo. 
 
 Scene II. — page 456. 
 
 Othello. — — but (alas !) to make me 
 
 A fix'd figure, for the time of scorn 
 To point his slow unmoving finger at, — 
 
 I must concur in opinion with Mr. M. Mason, that 
 this passage is erroneous: and, however confident Mr. 
 Henly may have been of the Author's meaning, he has, 
 I think, stretched a little, in saying, that — the text in its 
 present state is perfectly intelligible. I believe we gain 
 the Author's words by reading: 
 
 but (alas !) to make me 
 
 A nVd figure, for the type of scorn 
 To point his low unmoving finger at,— 
 
 Thus, the passage displays two figures: Othello is 
 made the mark of scorn, and at whom every person (as 
 he supposes) will point their low unmoving Jin ger. 
 
 The second figure is that of the printing type, called an 
 Index; which points the fore-finger to some particular 
 passage in a book: this Othello considers as the type 
 of scorn, and that, in the records of his government, it 
 would point, thus (£f% at the page of his disgrace. 
 
 To point contemptuously at any object, we rather de- 
 press than elevate the finger; and though the Index 5 
 in modern type, has the finger nearly parallel, yet, 
 formerly, it was more depressed than raised. 
 
OTHELLO. 415 
 
 Scene II. — page 466. 
 
 Desdemona. Either in discourse of thought, or actual deed; 
 
 Discourse of thought is an unprecedented phrase. — 
 The emendation recommended by Mr. Pope is so far 
 judicious, that a pure sense is obtained; but when we 
 reflect that both transcriber, compositor, and corrector, 
 must have known that particular part of the catechism 
 which points out the three ways of committing sin, i. e. 
 in thought, word, and deed, we can scarcely imagine the 
 passage would hare been suffered to pass without cor- 
 rection. — I am, therefore, strongly inclined to think that, 
 in this instance, we receive another example of the 
 transcriber's having mistaken the sound of the words, 
 and that our Author wrote : 
 
 Either in discursive thought, or actual deed ; 
 
 Thus we obtain a meaning worthy of the great Bard ; 
 and so clear, that to introduce an elucidation were an 
 insult to human understanding. 
 
 The words have a strong similarity in sound : — discur' 
 she, and discourse of, might deceive even a chaste ear. 
 
 Scene III.—- page 472. 
 
 Dbsdemona. My mother had a maid call'd — Barbara ; 
 
 She was in love ; and he, she lov'd, prov'd mad, 
 And did forsake her; 
 
 Dr. Johnson thinks that by the word mad, is meant 
 mid, frantic, uncertain: and Mr. Ritson, that it ought to 
 mean inconstant. However, I scarcely think, though the 
 allusion is to inconstancy, that it can possibly be forced 
 out of the present text. 
 
 The d compartment, in the letter case, is exactly over 
 that of the n, and frequently the <Ts fall into the n box : 
 In my opinion our Author wrote: 
 
416 OTHELLO. 
 
 She was in love; and he, she lov'd, prov'd man, 
 And did forsake her. 
 
 He was, like the rest of his sex, inconstant: he was 
 faithless, and deserted her: — thus, the figure aims at 
 the misery which Desdemona feels in the changed 
 affections of Othello. In a subsequent part of this Act, 
 she exclaims : — 
 
 — " O, these men, these men !" 
 
 Which exclamation is fully expressive of that opinion 
 of men which she had been early taught, in order to guard 
 her against the snares they often lay to entrap innocence. 
 
 That our Author conceived inconstancy characteristic 
 in man, we have his own words : 
 
 " I have suffered more for their sakes, more than the villainous 
 inconstancy of man is able to bear/' 
 
 As much as to say, they are all alike, inconstant. 
 
Borneo ants Uttlfet 
 
 ACT I. 
 
 . Scene I. — page 28. 
 Capulet. Earth-treading stars, that make dark heaven light: 
 
 With Dr. Warburton I must coincide, that this pas- 
 sage, in its present state, is nonsense ; but with the altera- 
 tion which he proposes, and which is far from being' in- 
 genious, I cannot concur, as it changes both the Author's 
 meaning, and removes the designed antithesis. 
 
 Dr. Johnson observes, it is common to say, that beau- 
 ties eclipse the sun: true; and, with the same propriety, 
 we may say, that beauties eclipse the stars: such, I am 
 convinced, was the Author's meaning; but I defy the 
 present text to produce that effect. 
 
 In this passage, one error has necessarily occasioned 
 a second; the first has entirely escaped the notice of 
 my predecessors; I mean the word make, which should 
 read mask: — thus: 
 
 Earth-treading stars, that mask dark heaven's light: 
 
 Were it not for the influence of the moon and stars, 
 the firmament must be obscured at night from human 
 vision; therefore, the Poet calls the firmament — dark 
 heaven. Now, as a greater luminary must mask, or screen 
 an inferior, so Capulet says, the earth-treading stars (the 
 beauties at his feast) shall display so great a blaze, that 
 they shall mask, or eclipse the stars of heaven. 
 
418 ROMEO AND JULIET. 
 
 The transcriber mistook the sound of the word, and, 
 for mask, wrote make; which word obliged the corrector 
 to expunge the apostrophe and s, in the word — heaven's. 
 
 Mr. M. Mason gives nearly the same elucidation which 
 the text, as now restored, exhibits : he reads : 
 
 " Earth-treading stars that make dark, heaven's light." 
 But however great an earthly luminary may be, it 
 cannot make dark the light of heaven, though it must 
 mask, in a confined space, such part of the firmament as 
 it opposes. 
 
 Scene I. — page SO. 
 
 Capulet. Such, amongst view of many, mine, being one, 
 
 May stand in number, though in reckoning none. 
 
 Doctor Johnson observes, the old folio gives no help : 
 the passage is there, — " Which one more view" 
 
 Various efforts have been made to obtain the original 
 text, but in vain; and, with the reading of the quarto 
 of 1597, all modern Editors have been compelled to be 
 satisfied. 
 
 But, unfortunately, correct words attracted the atten- 
 tion of my predecessors; who, judging them corrupt, 
 laboured to substitute others in their place, whilst that 
 wherein the error lay, remained unnoticed. I take my 
 reading from the old folio, which evidently is the Au- 
 thor's, though it retains the error; and which crept iir 
 by the transcriber's mistaking the sound of a single 
 word. I read : 
 
 Which one, o'er view of many, mine being one, 
 May stand in number, though in reckoning none. 
 
 Thus, the reader will perceive that, by the omission 
 of one letter, an excellent meaning is obtained. The 
 transcriber wrote more, instead of o'er. The punctua- 
 tion necessarily required correction, and to which I have 
 attended. 
 
ROMEO AND JULIET. 419 
 
 Old Capulet is well aware that, among the beauties 
 invited to his feast, none of them can equal Juliet; but, 
 not wishing- to appear partial, he leaves Paris to his 
 own election : he, however, expects that the charms of 
 Juliet will prove most attractive; and thus, parental 
 tenderness will have a double triumph. — Come, says 
 Capulet, go with me — 
 
 hear all, all see, 
 
 And like her most, whose merit most shall he: 
 
 Thus, he tells him to make his election of one; which 
 one, o'er view of many beauties, Juliet may stand in 
 number. 
 
 Scene V. — page 71. 
 Juliet. You kiss by the book. 
 
 This passage is wholly misunderstood. The allusion 
 is to the kissing of the Sacred Writ, to confirm an oath. 
 If the party commits the sin of perjury, a second kiss 
 cannot absolve him from the sin : therefore, if truth be 
 in the one kiss, which Romeo hath taken, Juliet is satis- 
 fied. — You swear to me, says she, by that kiss, and if it 
 was a sinful kiss, you are perjured, and a second will 
 only heighten the offence ; but, if there be truth in it, 
 let it remain as a testimony of your virtuous principles. 
 
 ACT II. 
 
 Scene II. — pageM. 
 
 Juliet. Thou art thyself though, not a Montague. 
 
 After what has been advanced on the punctuation of 
 this passage, and the various examples given to sanction 
 
420 ROMEO AND JULIET. 
 
 the word though, — farther animadversion may be con- 
 sidered intrusive: but, notwithstanding that ingenuity 
 has given a plausible explication, I believe the passage 
 corrupt, and consequently misunderstood. In Act I. sc. v. 
 we see the character which Capulet gives of Romeo : 
 
 " He bears him like a portly gentleman; 
 And, to say truth, Verona brags of him, 
 To be a virtuous and well-govern' d youth :" 
 
 From this character we must conclude, that not only 
 the people of Verona, but the Capulets also, consider 
 Romeo in the most favourable light, and, that he neither 
 possesses the principles nor prejudices of his family: 
 therefore, as he does not interfere in the disputes of the 
 Montagues against the Capulets, he was — 
 ■ thought not to be a Montague. 
 
 Thus, we obtain the true reading by the addition of 
 a single letter, and the punctuation remains the same as 
 in the old copies. 
 
 Scene II. — page 94. 
 Romeo. My sweet! 
 
 These two words have occasioned much controversy: 
 Mr. Malone defends the original copy of 1597, which 
 reads, — Madam : an appellation as ill suited, as though 
 Romeo said, What do you want? — The two subsequent 
 copies, and the folio, read, — My niece, which, though 
 equally absurd, proves that the original word had some- 
 thing of that sound ; but, as Mr. Malone observes, — 
 What word that was, it is difficult to say. Now that 
 word, I am confident, was — Novice. 
 
 Juliet has promised Romeo to make that irrevocable 
 vow, which seals her obligation to him for life; and, in 
 her present state, he considers her as one in her novi- 
 tiate, and who only awaits a suitable opportunity to en- 
 ter into that sacred engagement, which binds her to a 
 
ROMEO AND JULIET. 421 
 
 religious life; therefore, as the vows of Juliet are to be 
 made to Romeo, he calls her, familiarly — My novice ! 
 
 The phrase, in all probability, was misunderstood: or 
 the word might not have been sufficiently clear in the 
 MS. and novice, the compositor changed to niece: an 
 error, indeed, which, from the hidden meaning of the 
 word, admits an excuse. 
 
 The Editor of the second folio changed my niece to 
 my sweet, and which has been adopted by most of the 
 modern Editors. 
 
 Scene IV. — page 104. 
 
 Mercutio. 0, he is the courageous captain of compliments. 
 
 Dr. Johnson, by his interpretation, makes Tybalt a 
 complete master of all the laws of ceremony ; whereas 
 the passage alludes only to the prescriptive formalities 
 
 used in fencing. 
 
 ACT III 
 
 Scene II. — page 144. 
 
 Juliet. Spread thy close curtain, love-performing night! 
 That run-aways eyes may wink ; 
 
 On the compound word- — run-aways, an infinity of 
 learned comment has been expended, but all in vain : 
 yet, according to the orthography of Shakspeare's time, 
 the transposition of a single letter gives the original 
 word ; and produces so clear a meaning, that neither the 
 Greek of Judge Blackstone, nor the laboured elucida- 
 tions of the other Commentators are necessary. Our 
 great Poet wrote : 
 
 Spread thy close curtain, love-performing night ! 
 That unawares, eyes may wink; and Romeo 
 Leap to these arms untalk'd of, and unseen! 
 
422 ROMEO AND JULIET. 
 
 Juliet invokes night to mantle the world in darkness, 
 that, by a heavy atmosphere, sleep may steal unawares 
 upon the eye-lids of those who would obstruct her 
 pleasures; and that then Romeo may leap to her arms, 
 untalked qf } and unseen. 
 
 What can possibly be more simple? Now see how 
 the error originated. The old mode of spelling un- 
 awares, was unawayrs: — the word had, what printers 
 term, a literal error; that is, such as on o for an r; in 
 the correcting of which, having taken out the o, the 
 compositor placed the r at the beginning of the word, 
 and thus turned unawayrs to runaways. 
 
 In the second quarto, a passage in Othello reads — 
 w unravished tale deliver:" which error arose from the 
 same cause as run-away s ; the v was misplaced by the 
 compositor. — The passage has been corrected: for un- 
 ravished, we read unvarnished. 
 
 Scene II. — page 154. 
 
 Juliet. That — banished, that one word — banished, 
 Hath slain ten thousand Tybalts. 
 
 Meaning : That the banishment of Romeo is as great 
 an affliction to her as though ten thousand Tybalts were 
 slain : for, nothing but the death of ten thousand 
 Tybalts could merit such a punishment ; consequently, 
 her love for Romeo was ten thousand times greater than 
 she felt for Tvbalt. 
 
 ACT IV. 
 
 Scene I. — page 189. 
 Paris. And I am nothing; slow to slack his haste* 
 
 ■& 
 
 Since the original MS. was first handed to the players, 
 this passage has been totally misunderstood. 
 
ROMEO ANiJ JULIET. 423 
 
 The first edition reads: 
 
 k ' And I am nothing slack to slow his haste," 
 
 The transcriber wrote to, instead of too. The passage 
 corrected yields a perfect sense: 
 
 My father Capulet will have it so ; 
 
 And I am nothing slack, — too slow's his haste. 
 
 Meaning: However anxious Capulet may be to have 
 our marriage celebrated, my anxiety keeps pace with 
 his; nay, I would be before him in that; for all the 
 haste he can possibly make is too slow for my passion. 
 See Act III. sc. iv. where, alluding to the day fixed on 
 for their marriage, Paris testifies the same impatience : 
 " My lord, I would that Thursday were to-morrow.''' 
 
 Scene I.— page 191. 
 Juliet. That is no slander, sir, that is a truth; 
 
 The quarto, 1597, reads — "That is no wrong" But 
 the measure is defective. 
 
 Mr. Steevens defends the present reading, grounding 
 his defence on the reply of Paris : 
 
 Thy face is mine and thou hast slander' d it. 
 
 But have we not a stronger confirmation in Juliet's 
 reply, that the word — wrong, is the right reading; for 
 she dwells upon that word, as used by Paris : 
 
 Thou wrongest it, more than tears, with that report. 
 But a word has been lost, — Juliet's reply should read : 
 That is no wrong, sir, that that is a truth. 
 
 The compositor having composed the word — that, 
 omitted the repetition; and the verse being defective, 
 the Editor of. the folio perfected the measure, by chang- 
 ing the word — wrong, to slander; and which all succes- 
 sive Editors have adopted. 
 
424 ROMEO AND JULIET. 
 
 Scene II. — page 199. 
 Capulet. Sirrah, go hire me twenty cunning cooks. 
 
 It is curious that Capulet should desire twenty cooks, 
 and, as Mr. Ritson observes, for so small a party as half- 
 a-dozen guests! 
 
 I am inclined to think the transcriber made a blunder, 
 and that Capulet should say, — 
 
 Sirrah, go hire me dainty, cunning cooks. 
 
 Here we have nearly all the characters, and closely 
 the same sound. 
 
 This also corresponds with the servant's reply: — You 
 shall have none ill, sir; for I'll try if they can lick their 
 fingers. 
 
 Why should the servant make the remark respecting 
 their qualifications, if his master had not particularly 
 expressed himself relative to their abilities? 
 
 Scene II. — page 210. 
 Nurse. Go, go, you cot-quean, go, 
 
 This speech certainly belongs to Lady Capulet : Can 
 we imagine that a nurse would take so great a liberty 
 with her master, as to call him a. cot-quean, and order him 
 to bed ? Besides, what business has the Nurse to make 
 a reply to a speech addressed to her mistress ? Capulet 
 says,— 
 
 " Look to the bak'd meats, good Angelica:" 
 
 And the Nurse is made to intrude her impertinence! — 
 
 Go, go, you cot-quean, go, 
 
 Get you to bed; 'faith you'll be sick to-morrow 
 For this night's watching. 
 
 Lady Capulet afterwards calls her husband a mouse- 
 hunt; another appellation, which, like cot-quean, none 
 but a wife would dare to use. 
 
ROMEO A1SD JULIET. 425 
 
 ACT V. 
 
 Scene I. — page 225. 
 
 Rojieo. If I may trust the flattering eye of sleep, 
 
 This passage, like one which I have corrected in the 
 preceding Act, owes its obscurity to the want of a single 
 letter ; and, like that passage, has been misunderstood by 
 the Commentators: With the addition of an^ we gain 
 the Author's reading : — 
 
 If I may trust the flattering eye off sleep, 
 
 My dreams presage some joyful news at hand: 
 
 Romeo has had a dream : now that he is awake, that 
 dream occupies his thoughts; and, from the images 
 which his remembrance has retained of it, off sleep, i. e. 
 now that he is free from sleep, he presages some joyful 
 news to be at hand. 
 
 Scene I. — page 226. 
 Romeo. My bosom's lord, sits lightly in his throne; 
 
 His bosom is the mansion; his heart the throne; his 
 sensibility his bosom' 's lord, and which, as joy or grief 
 prevails, sits heavy or lightly in his throne . i. e. accord- 
 ing to the sensations he internally feels. 
 
 Scene I. — page 232. 
 
 Romeo. Need and oppression starveth in thy eyes; 
 
 Neither starveth nor stareth is the Author's word; he 
 unquestionably wrote : 
 
 Need and oppression stayeth in thy eyes; 
 
 His eyes are the residence of need and oppression; 
 there they stay; for, as they cannot find any other object 
 
426 ROMEO AND JULIET. 
 
 equal to him in misery, they cannot quit him. In like 
 manner, famine is in his cheeks and misery upon his 
 back, each object of wretchedness finds its place. 
 
 Scene II.— page 236. 
 
 Friar Laurence. Unhappy fortune ! by my brotherhood, 
 
 The letter was not nice, but full of charge 
 Of dear import. 
 
 My predecessors have dismissed this passage without 
 leaving satisfactory proofs to establish the genuineness of 
 the word nice; several quotations from other writers are 
 left to help critical decision ; but, in my opinion, they 
 prove not sufficiently apposite in any point to render 
 them efficient. I believe the word nice corrupt, and am 
 inclined to think, that our Author used a colder word, 
 but one which gave a greater warmth to the passage. 
 I read : 
 
 Unhappy fortune ! by my brotherhood, 
 The letter was not ice, but full of charge 
 Of dear import. 
 
 Meaning: That the letter was not of a cold nature, 
 or its delivery so immaterial, that whether it thawed or 
 not, the parties could feel no immediate inconvenience. 
 
 Scene III. — page 256. 
 
 Capulet. The dagger hath mista'en,— for, lo ! his house 
 Is empty on the back of Montague, — 
 And is mis-sheathed in my daughter's bosom. 
 
 The dagger's house is empty on the back of Montague, 
 and is, at the same time, mis-sheathed in Juliet's bosom! 
 And what is the house ? Why, the sheath. What then 
 has the sheath to do, that it should mis-sheath itself? 
 Or, what is the sheath, when mis-sheathed? This is one 
 
ROMEO AND JULIET. 427 
 
 of the rankest pieces of nonsense that our Commentators 
 have left for penetration to explore. It appears to me, 
 that Shakspeare knew more of the French langvage 
 than those who doubted his acquirements. 
 
 Capulet says, The dagger hath mistaken; i.e. it has 
 mistaken its own house, and taken up its residence where 
 it had no right to enter. But does the text say where 
 the dasher hath lodged itself? Xo : not a word about 
 the dagger's lodging, but that its house is empty, and 
 on the back of Montague. Where, then, did the Poet 
 lodge the dagger after it quitted its own house r Alas, 
 half-Kay in the innocent bosom of the lovely Juliet. 
 This is the melancholy residence it now occupies, and 
 which our Author fully expressed: but which ignorance 
 has perverted. I read : 
 
 This dagger hath mistaken. — for. lo ! his house 
 Is empty on the back of Montague, — 
 And it mi-she ath'd in my daughter"* bosom. 
 
 Shakspeare compounded the French particle — mi. 
 (half) with the English word sheatldd. thereby producing 
 half-sheathed: but which clear picture of the tragic scene 
 was lost, by the hissing sound of the s, when preceded by 
 the vowel i: — thus, mis-sheathed for mi-sheathed. In- 
 deed, a slight pause should be observed after /. in the 
 word mi-sheathed, otherwise the s becomes the inse- 
 parable companion of mi. Our Author certainly might 
 have used the word half but the phrase was too common 
 for his lofty imagination. 
 
 The particle mi* is commonly used to express half as 
 in the word mi-Mai. (the middle of May,) and mi-chemin. 
 (half-way.) The quarto, 1597, reads — "And it mis- 
 sheathed," which was altered to is mis-sheathed by the 
 early Editors, thinking thereby to obtain some sense, 
 but they only made the passage greater nonsense. 
 
 The words— -for, lo! his house is empty on the back of 
 Montague, must be considered parenthetical. 
 
©otttt&s of terrors 
 
 ACT I. 
 
 Scene I. — page 351. 
 iEc.EON. And he (great care of goods at random left) 
 
 iEgeon had consigned at various times sundry articles 
 of commerce to his factor at Epidamnum ; the death of 
 this factor obliged him to take a voyage to look after his 
 goods ; for, as we must suppose the factor omitted making 
 a regular return of the precise articles sold, the residue 
 on hand must have been in a state of confusion; so 
 that iEgeon considered his personal attendance abso- 
 lutely necessary in order to point out his own property. 
 
 Mr. Malone perceived the text to be erroneous, and 
 proposed to read : 
 
 And the great care of goods, &c. which certainly gives 
 a much clearer sense than we can possibly obtain from 
 the corrupt state of the passage, as exhibited in the old 
 copy : but still he was astray : I flatter myself, common 
 sense will admit that the Author wrote : 
 
 our wealth increas'd, 
 
 By prosperous voyages I often made 
 
 To Epidamnum : till my factor's death, 
 
 And heed great caves of goods, at random left, 
 
 Drew me from the kind embracements of my spouse : 
 
 Heed, to regard, or look after. Thus, his factor's 
 death, and to regard the goods in the stores, that were 
 left in a random state, obliged him to make another 
 voyage to Epidamnum. 
 
COMEDY OF ERRORS. 429 
 
 The person who read to the transcriber did not lay 
 sufficient emphasis on the word heed, by which the tran- 
 scriber caught only the he, which was considered as the 
 pronoun bearing- reference to the factor. 
 
 The caves, or vaults foy storing goods, points out 
 where they lay at random : cares for caves, must have 
 been, at first, a misprint : it read cares, which the cor- 
 rector of the proof altered to care: the r and v, in MS. 
 are closely alike. 
 
 The passage, in its present state, is rank nonsense. 
 The factor is dead, and he, great care of goods at random 
 left: Had great care been taken of the goods, they could 
 not have been left at random. 
 
 These corrections, and the necessary change of punc- 
 tuation, remove all obscurity. 
 
 Scene I. — page 355. 
 
 Duke. Therefore, merchant, 111 limit thee this day, 
 To seek thy help by beneficial help: 
 
 I believe our Auther wrote: 
 
 To seek thy help, thy beneficial help: 
 
 Thus, the jingle is entirely removed by force of ex- 
 pression. 
 
 ACT II. 
 
 Scene I. — page 365. 
 
 Adriana. How if your husband start some other where f 
 
 The Commentators seem to have fixed their attention 
 on the wrong word : the passage is evidently corrupt. I 
 read, as I believe the Author wrote : 
 
 How if your husband's heart's some otherwhere ? 
 
430 COMEDY OF ERRORS. 
 
 This is a natural question, and so familiar where jea- 
 lousy operates, that I think it incontrovertible. Other 
 where, should read otherwhere. A subsequent passage 
 justifies both corrections : 
 
 " I know his eye doth homage otherwhere ,•" 
 
 When a wife says, that her husband's eye doth homage 
 otherwhere, she must be understood to mean, that his 
 heart is elsewhere engaged. 
 
 Scene II. — page 366. 
 
 Adriana. This foo\-begg'd patience in thee will be left. 
 Dr. Johnson's elucidation of this passage is by no 
 means satisfactory, though, perhaps, the best it will 
 admit. I believe we should read : 
 
 This fool-egg' d patience in thee will be left. 
 
 This phrase comes natural enough from one sister to 
 another: especially from one who appears both jealous 
 of her husband's love and of her sister's equanimity of 
 temper. By fool-egg 'd patience, she means, patience 
 derived from Nature; and which, though inherent in 
 her, yet should she marry, and be neglected by her hus- 
 band, even that patience must give way to indignation, 
 and cause resentment. 
 
 Scene III.— page 383. 
 
 Dromio S. This is the fairy land; — O, spite of spites! — 
 We talk with goblins, owls, and elvish sprites; 
 
 The second folio reads — elves, which, as Mr. Steevens 
 observes, was certainly meant for elvish. Mr. Rowe 
 first introduced the present reading: and, in my opinion, 
 the correction is injudicious. 
 
COMEDY OF ERRORS. 431 
 
 From whatever copy the second folio obtained the 
 word, it seems to have been of good authority: the 
 punctuation only required correction. I read : 
 
 This is the fairy land; — 0, spite of spites! — 
 
 We talk with goblins, owls, and elves ; — Sprites, 
 
 If we obey them not, this will ensue, 
 
 They'll suck our breath, or pinch us black and blue. 
 
 ACT III. 
 
 Scexe I. — page 390. 
 
 Antiphoi/us E. Do you hear, you minion ? You'll let us in, I hope? 
 
 On the present passage, I deem it necessary to insert 
 Mr. Malone's concise note : — " A line, either preceding 
 or following this, has been lost. Ivlr. Theobald and the 
 subsequent Editors read — / froze ; but that word and 
 hope were not likely to be confounded either by the eye 
 or the ear." I am certain that all the lines are here, 
 though a corrupt word spoils the wit of the passage. 
 Our Author wrote : 
 
 Akt. E. Do you her, you minion? You'll let us in, I know ? 
 
 Lt;ce. I thought to have ask'd you. 
 
 Dro. S. And you said, No. 
 
 Dro. E. So, come, help; well struck ; there was blow for blow. 
 
 Dromio of Syracuse plays on the word — know, which 
 has the same sound as the negative No. The positive 
 i" know, from Antipholus of Ephesus, affords Luce the 
 opportunity of giving- her taunting reply— ■" i" thought 
 to have asked you ," and enables Dromio of Syracuse to 
 play off his witticism — 6i And you said, No" 
 
 The phrase being familiar, the word hope was in- 
 serted, through carelessness, by the transcriber. 
 
 Thus, the metre is not only perfect, but the witticism 
 well understood. 
 
432 COMEDY OF ERRORS. 
 
 Scene I.— page 393. 
 Balthazar. Once this, 
 
 A trifling correction gives due weight to this very 
 corrupt phrase. Our Author unquestionably wrote : 
 Ounce this,— your long- experience of her wisdom, &c. 
 
 Meaning: Weigh this, or these circumstances. He 
 then enumerates divers reasons to justify the honour of 
 Adriana, each bearing strong influence in the scales of 
 prudence. 
 
 Scene II. — page 400. 
 
 Antipholus S. And as a bed I'll take thee, and there lie. 
 Without reflecting on the penetration of Mr. Edwards, 
 I cannot but testify some astonishment how he could 
 change the position of the person, by placing Antipholus 
 on the bosom of Lucinda, when the text speaks the 
 contrary. The old copy is certainly correct : 
 I as a bud will take thee, and there lie. 
 
 The plain meaning of which is, — That he would take 
 her to his bosom as he would a budding Jtower, and 
 there she should lie. The word bud denotes the youth 
 of Lucinda, whose charms are yet to expand. 
 
 The present text conveys not a very chaste idea for 
 the hearing of a young lady :— In fact, it is an outrage 
 to delicacy. 
 
 Scene II. — page 401. 
 
 Antipholus S. for 1 aim thee: 
 
 Thee will I love, and with thee lead my life ; 
 Thou hast no husband yet, nor I no wife: 
 
 From the French, aimer — to love. The subsequent 
 verse plainly demonstrates that the word aim is not used 
 
COMEDY OF ERRORS. 433 
 
 in the same sense as in the preceding speech of Anti- 
 pholus : — In that he calls Luciana his u sweet hopes aim :" 
 meaning: that she is the only object to which his hopes 
 aspire. In the present, he says, — 
 
 Call thyself sister, sweet, for I aim [I love] thee: 
 Thee will I love, and with thee lead my life ; 
 
 The old copy reads — " for I am thee," corrected by 
 Mr. Steevens ; but he gives the word aim its English 
 signification. 
 
 Scene II. — page 404. 
 
 Dromio S. In her forehead; armed and reverted, making war 
 against her hair. 
 
 What labour in vain to make out this part of the map ! 
 Literally speaking, the part is very corrupt. Our Author 
 wrote : 
 
 In her sore head; armed and reverted, making war against 
 her hair. 
 
 Meaning: That her head was covered with incrusted 
 eruptions, which, opposing the hair, prevented it from 
 lying in that order which Nature designed. 
 
 The forehead being free from hair, the eruptions could 
 make no war there ; and if she kept her hair back by 
 means of a fillet, the eruptions, if she had any on her 
 forehead, had none to oppose. An f was mistaken for 
 an f 9 thus the error. 
 
 ACT IV. 
 
 Scene II. — page 421. 
 
 Aim ian a. Was he arrested on a band? 
 Band, is certainly the true reading : Adriana means 
 an obligation, band having the same signification as 
 
 2 F 
 
434 COMEDY OF ERRORS. 
 
 bond: but Dromio takes it to mean a band for the neck, 
 and says, his master is arrested on a stronger thing — 
 a chain : — he plays farther on the word, when he meets 
 his real master, and offers the money : 
 
 " Ay, sir, the Serjeant of the band; he that brings any man to 
 answer it, that breaks his band;'" 
 
 The modern Editors read, — bond. 
 
 Scene III. — page 427. 
 
 Dromio S. Master, if you do expect spoon-meat, or bespeak a 
 long spoon. 
 
 If he should not go with the Courtezan, why bespeak 
 a long spoon ? We certainly should read and point with 
 Mr. Ritson : 
 
 Master, if you do, expect spoon-meat, and bespeak a long spoon. 
 
 Dromio considers that the Courtezan has the French 
 disease, and is obliged to eat spoon-meat; therefore, 
 he considers a long spoon necessary, that the heat of her 
 breath may not inflame him. In his next speech he 
 
 says,— 
 
 " Marry, he must have a long spoon that eats with the devil." 
 
 To avoid catching fire: and with the Courtezan for the 
 same reason. The passage is nonsense in its present 
 state. 
 
 ACT V. 
 
 Scene I. — page 448. 
 Servant. To scorch your face. 
 
 I think the word scotch, as proposed by Dr. War- 
 burton, the true reading. To scotch, is to cut or wound 
 
COMEDY OF ERRORS. 435 
 
 slightly. In the last scene of the fourth Act, where the 
 fury of Antipholus is at its height, he says, — 
 
 " But with these nails, I'll pluck out these false eyes." 
 
 And with the same weapons he means to scotch her. 
 Scratch would be an unmanly phrase ; and scorch, as 
 interpreted by Mr. Steevens, loses all force; for, as 
 Adriana has no beard, Antipholus could not punish her 
 as he did the Conjuror, by singing his beard with brands 
 of fire. 
 
 Scene I. — page 457. 
 
 Duke. Why, here begins his morning story right: 
 These two Antipholus's, these two so like, 
 And these two Dromio's, one in semblance, — ■ 
 Besides her urging of her wreck at sea,— 
 
 Mr. Malone's judgment is seldom astray in pointing 
 out errors, but he frequently considers obscurity to arise 
 from the loss of lines or words. The present passage 
 has lost neither ; its obscurity proceeds from the tran- 
 scriber's having given a word bearing the same sound, 
 for another of a totally different meaning. I read : 
 
 Why here begins his morning story right: 
 These two Antipholus's, these two so like, 
 And these two Dromio's, one in semblance, — 
 Besides her urging of her wreck, — all say, 
 These are the parents of these children. 
 
 The Duke combines the various circumstances with 
 the information he had received of the wreck, which 
 tally so well, that all say, these are the children of the 
 Abbess. 
 
 This mistake of sound lays strong claim to apology ; 
 for, after the word wreck, — all say, might easily be taken 
 for— at sea. 
 
 2 F 2 
 
436 COMEDY OF ERRORS. 
 
 Scene I. — page 460. 
 
 Abbess. Go to a gossip's feast, and go with me; 
 After so long grief, such nativity ! 
 
 Shakspeare certainly could not so falsely repeat the 
 word go. I am inclined to think he wrote : 
 
 Go to a gossip's feast, and gout with me; 
 
 i. e. Taste with me, after so long grief, this new birth of 
 happiness. 
 
 The acceptation of the word gout, in the English 
 language, is rather limited; but, in the French, it has 
 
Witu$ &tti>riwttttjau 
 
 ACT II. 
 
 Scene I.— page 34. 
 
 Aaron. To wait, said I ? to wanton with this queen, 
 This goddess, this Semiramis ; — this queen, 
 
 While any part of this play is attributed to Shak- 
 speare, we should, at least, endeavour to correct mis- 
 prints. 
 
 Tamora has already played the strumpet with the 
 Moor ; and he, being well acquainted with her lascivious 
 principles, knows that she will still continue to play the 
 same game. The Author unquestionably wrote: 
 
 To wait, said I ? to wanton with this queen, 
 This goddess, this Semiramis; — this quean, 
 This syren, that will charm Rome's saturnine, 
 
 A quean is a wanton strumpet, and perfectly corre- 
 sponds with the other titles bestowed on the queen. 
 
 The edition of 1600 reads — this nymph, which we 
 must naturally conclude was inserted to avoid the repe- 
 tition of queen. Nymph is an appellation given only to 
 innocence and virtue ; and we are not to expect irony 
 from the Moor. But the manner in which the error 
 took place is obvious. 
 
 Our Author uses the word elsewhere : 
 
 " As fit as the nail to his hole, or as a scolding quean to a 
 wrangling knave." 
 
438 TITUS ANDRONICUS. 
 
 ACT III 
 
 Scene I. — page 64. 
 
 Titus. For these, these, tribunes, in the dust I write 
 My heart's deep languor. 
 
 I am inclined to think the Author wrote — for these 
 two, tribunes, &c. and that the word two was omitted 
 by the players, as an audience might imagine that the 
 number alluded to the tribunes. 
 
 The afflicted Titus says, that for two-and-twentj/ sons 
 he never wept; but for these two he must weep inces- 
 santly, because unlawfully condemned. 
 
 Scene I. — page 67. 
 Titus. Give me a sword, I'll chop off my hands, too; 
 
 It must be admitted, as Mr. Steevens observes, that 
 had Titus chopped off one of his hands, he could not 
 chop off the other: but this, which seems so very incon- 
 gruous, must be admitted to be perfectly natural : for, in 
 the extreme of agony, Titus is divested of reflection : 
 he thinks, at the moment, that, had he a sword, his 
 resolution is sufficiently great to cut off both his hands : 
 However, immediately after, he perceives the impracti- 
 cability of fulfilling his wild resolution, and all the service 
 he requires of his hands — 
 
 " Is, that the one will help to cut the other." 
 
 This seeming incongruity is considered by my pre- 
 decessors as a blunder for which the Author is account- 
 able. Let Nature speak to the Critic, and I think he 
 will find it a beauty. 
 
TITUS ANDRONICUS. 439 
 
 Scene I. — page 76. 
 
 Titus. Lavinia, thou shalt be employed in these things ; 
 
 The quarto, 1611, reads: 
 
 "And Lavinia thou shalt be employed in these arms."' 
 
 The alteration seems to have been made from a con- 
 viction, that things was a safe word, — arms being wholly 
 misunderstood. But, perhaps, neither the player nor 
 printer knew the figure which the Author designed ; nor 
 could they, indeed, from the present punctuation. We 
 should read : 
 
 Lavinia, thou shalt be employed: In these arms 
 
 Bear thou my hand: — Sweet wench; between thy teeth. 
 
 I think it will be found, that in this picture the genius 
 of our immortal Bard is highly conspicuous. 
 
 Titus places the hand which had been severed from 
 his own arm upon the stumps of Lavinia. Here the 
 picture must be observed: her elbows rest below her 
 bosom, and the stumps present in front, upon which 
 Titus has placed his dismembered hand : but poor La- 
 vinia, for want of her hands, cannot support it. Titus, 
 perceiving this, and seeing, by that inward sorrow 
 which her looks denote, that she cannot prevent the hand 
 from falling from her mutilated arms, exclaims — Sweet 
 wench! As though he said — Alas! you cannot — Well, 
 place it between thy teeth. By this means, she holds the 
 hand between her teeth, and lets it rest upon the stumps 
 of her arms. 
 
 Thus, while she displays the barbarity practised on 
 herself, she exhibits the hand of her unhappy father. — 
 It is a melancholy picture of human woe, and must 
 awaken the most insensible hearts to pity ; and stimulate 
 her countrymen to avenge the injuries of her family. 
 
 This restoration, I think, can safely stand the test of 
 criticism. 
 
440 TITUS ANDRONICUS. 
 
 ACT IV. 
 
 Scene II. — page 89. 
 Marcus. Revenge the heavens for old Andronicus. 
 
 This passage is by no means clearly understood; and 
 though of little importance, has occasioned various 
 opinions : 
 
 Dr Warburton reads, — 
 
 " Revenge thee heavens." 
 Dr. Johnson, — 
 
 " Revenge ye heavens ! " 
 Mr. Tyrwhitt,— 
 
 " Revenge then heavens." 
 
 Mr. Steevens supports the present reading. 
 And I am of opinion that the obscurity arises from 
 the want of a note of admiration. I read : 
 
 But yet so just, that he will not revenge: — 
 Revenge ! — the heavens 1 for old Andronicus ! 
 
 The ellipsis is evident : The heavens' revenge for old 
 Andronicus ! 
 
 ACT V. 
 
 Scene I. — page 117. 
 Aaron. Make poor men's cattle break their necks; 
 
 Two words are wanting, not only to perfect the 
 measure, but also to give meaning to the verse; for 
 the infamous Moor says not by what means he made the 
 cattle break their necks * I am certain we should read : 
 
 Make poor men's cattle stray, aud break their necks j 
 
 Thus, we have a figure of his wanton villainy : he 
 drove the cattle from their pasture to some height, from 
 
TITUS ANDRONICUS. 441 
 
 whence he precipitated them down rocks, or into some 
 dreadful abyss. 
 
 Scene II.— page 120. 
 
 Tamo r a. Titus, I am come to talk with thee. 
 
 Mr. Steevens would perfect this verse by reading, — 
 
 " Titus, I am come to talk with thee awhile." 
 
 We obtain a more spirited reading-, and probably the 
 original, thus : 
 
 Titus, I am Revenge, come to talk with thee. 
 In her preceding speech, Tamora says, — 
 
 " I will encounter with Andronicus; 
 And say, I am Revenge,'''' &c. 
 
 And in a subsequent speech, — 
 
 " I am Revenge; sent from the infernal kingdom." 
 
iperirlt& ^viutt of ®$vt. 
 
 ACT I. 
 
 Scene I. — page 161. 
 
 Antiochus. At whose conception, (till Lucina reign'd,) 
 
 My predecessors evidently placed their attention on a 
 word sufficiently correct, and overlooked the corrupt 
 part of the passage. Similarity of sound led the tran- 
 scriber astray : for, unquestionably, the Author wrote : 
 
 Bring in our daughter, clothed like a bride, 
 For the emhracements even of Jove himself: 
 Art chose conception till Lucina reign'd ; 
 Nature this dowry gave to glad her presence : 
 
 The meaning is obvious : Art chose, i. e. formed models 
 of beauty from conception, (imagination) which were 
 supposed to combine a higher degree of perfection than 
 Nature had displayed in any individual: But, when 
 Lucina came to preside at the birth of the Princess, 
 Nature, to do her honour, gave this dowry, i. e. This 
 unequalled beauty, and which exceeded all that the 
 bright conception of Art could produce. Thus, the 
 weakness of Art is opposed to the perfection of Nature. 
 
 In Antony and Cleopatra, we have a passage 
 where imaginary beauty is opposed to Nature : 
 
 Nature wants stuff 
 
 To vie strange forms with fancy; yet, to imagine 
 An Antony, were Nature's piece 'gainst fancy," &c. 
 
PERICLES. 443 
 
 Scene I. — page 164. 
 
 Pericles. See where she comes, apparell'd like the spring, 
 Graces her subjects, and her thoughts the king 
 Of every virtue, &c. 
 
 Here we behold a ludicrous blunder! Mr. Steevens 
 has used great labour to extract some sense oat of this 
 passage, but in vain ; and, indeed, with much candour, 
 he observes, " But having already stated my belief that 
 this passage is incurably depraved, I must now add, that 
 my present attempts to restore it are, even in my own 
 judgment, as decidedly abortive." The correction is, 
 however, very simple; but the king was a stumbling- 
 block that could not be removed. I read, as I am con- 
 vinced the Author wrote : 
 
 See where she comes, apparell'd like the spring, 
 Graces her subjects, and her thoughts, thinking 
 Of every virtue gives renown to men ! 
 
 As she enters, reflection seems painted on her brow : 
 Her thoughts, the active agents of a pure heart, are 
 employed in thinking on every virtue; and, as she is 
 supposed to practise what purity of principle dictates, 
 Pericles considers her as superior to mortal perfection, 
 and by which she gives renown to human nature. 
 
 This error may have originated from mistake of sound, 
 the king, and thinking, have close similarity : or, if a blot 
 was on the n, in think, or that the n did not clearly appear 
 in the copy to the compositor's eye, he, very naturally, 
 would compose — the king: for, with the exception of the 
 dot over the i, which is frequently omitted, all the letters 
 are the same. 
 
 Scene I. — page 165. 
 
 Pericles. Her face, the book of praises, where is read 
 Nothing but curious pleasures. 
 
 This passage appears corrupt; I read, as I am certain 
 our Author wrote : 
 
444 PERICLES. 
 
 Her face the book of phrases, "where is read, 
 Nothing but curious pleasures. 
 
 Pericles, in his admiration of the Princess, conceives 
 that every lineament of her countenance displays know- 
 ledge : collectively, as a volume replete with interesting 
 information. 
 
 This error proceeds from mistake of sound : the per- 
 son who recited placed no value on the h, — hence praises 
 for phrases. 
 
 Scene I. — page 167. 
 Antiochus. all thy whole heap must die. 
 
 The old copies read — "all the whole heap." Mr. 
 Malone made, what he terms — this correction. 
 
 That the text is understood, I admit : but I deny its 
 correctness, and am bold enough to say that the Au- 
 thor wrote head, not heap. The error is solely attri- 
 butable to the compositor, who turned the type the 
 wrong way, which gave the d the appearance of a p. 
 The word that Mr. Malone changed should be re- 
 stored; the text, corrected, speaks for itself: 
 because thyne eye 
 
 Presumes to reach, all the whole head must die. 
 
 Meaning: Because his eye, by viewing her charms, 
 gave the offence, all the whole head must suffer. The 
 King was not satisfied that the offending part, (the eye) 
 alone should suffice as a penalty, he must have the 
 whole head. See the subsequent part of this speech, 
 where Antiochus announces the penalty to which all 
 princes must submit, who cannot expound the riddle. 
 But more appositely, when Pericles declines its ex- 
 position : 
 
 " All love the womb that their first being bred, 
 Then give my tongue like leave to love my head.'''' 
 
 And again, the reply of Antiochus: 
 
 " Heaven, that I had thy head!'" 
 
PERICLES. 445 
 
 Scene II. — page 181. 
 Pericles. Why this charge of thoughts? 
 
 Change of thoughts, seems to have been the old read- 
 ing ; particularly in the folio of 1664. 
 
 Mr. Steevens demands, — "In what respect are the 
 thoughts of Pericles changed?" I answer: From a cer- 
 tainty that his military power was not sufficiently great to 
 oppose that of Antiochus, which was infinitely superior. 
 This reflection changes his thoughts from confidence to 
 melancholy apprehensions of danger; and which, from 
 the tyranny of Antiochus, who is ready to wage war 
 against his dominions, he may expect. See the whole 
 tenor of this speech, which displays a mind oppressed 
 with gloomy apprehensions, and which have changed 
 his thoughts from pleasures to dull-ey'd melancholy. 
 
 But the passage, exclusive of the word — change, is 
 grossly corrupt. The old copy has — Why should. The 
 word — should, though it goes a step beyond the mea- 
 sure, most assuredly strengthens the sense. But what 
 meaning can we possibly extract from the text, in its 
 present state ? particularly with this most discordant, 
 nay, disgraceful phrase — " By me so used a guest is." — 
 See the passage verbatim : 
 
 The sad companion, dull-ey'd melancholy, 
 By me so us'd a guest is, not an hour, 
 In the day's glorious walk, &c. 
 
 In short, according to the present reading, seven 
 errors are conspicuously glaring ; whereas, the old copy 
 has only four: Undoubtedly, both sense and harmony 
 must tell us that the Author wrote : 
 
 Let none disturh us : Why should this change of thoughts, 
 This sad companion, dull-ey'd melancholy, 
 Be by me so us'd a guest? Not an hour 
 In the days glorious walk, &c. 
 
 Thus all obscurity is removed. The change of 
 punctuation and omission of the word — is, make three 
 
446 PERICLES. 
 
 alterations. The, before sad, sounds nearly the same 
 as — This sad. Be preceding by, must be attributed to 
 the compositor, who taking up a B, added y, and forgot 
 the leading word; which omission leaving both sense 
 and metre defective, the Editor inserted is : hence the 
 present pile of confusion, and much to the disgrace of 
 our Author's text. 
 
 I submit my regulation of the passage to critical judg- 
 ment, and flatter myself the sense is so clear, that eluci- 
 dation becomes unnecessary. 
 
 Scene II. — page 183. 
 
 Pericles. Which care of them, not pity of myself, 
 
 (Who am no more but as the tops of trees, 
 Which fence the roots they grew by, and defend them,) 
 Makes both my body pine, and soul to languish, 
 And punish that before, that he would punish. 
 
 The old copy has — "Who once no more:" — Mr. 
 Malone would read — Who wants no more." This cor- 
 rection also occurred to me ; but I am confident there 
 is another error in the passage. Pericles wants no pro- 
 tection for himself: it is not self-consideration that — 
 u makes his body pine and soul to languish .•" but, it is the 
 dread that dwells upon his mind that his innocent sub- 
 jects may be punished for what was deemed an offence 
 in himself. I am confident the original read — moat, 
 which the transcriber spelt — mote, and the compositor 
 took it for — more. Thus corrected, the meaning is per- 
 fectly clear : 
 
 Which care of them, not pity of myself, 
 (Who wants no moat, but as the tops of trees, 
 Which fence the roots they grew by, and defend them,) 
 Makes both my body pine, and soul to languish, 
 
 Pericles wants no moat for self-preservation, he is only 
 anxious for the safety of his subjects ; and he is convinced 
 that they will do their duty, They have grown to great- 
 ness under his government: he is the roof, his people 
 
PER T CLES. 447 
 
 the branches ; and, as the tops of trees prove a fence to 
 the roots they grow by, and defend them, so would his 
 people prove a defence to him. But, though confident 
 of this, Pericles wishes not to have warfare introduced 
 into his dominions; and knowing that the enmity of 
 Antiochus is levelled solely at himself, he, to save his 
 subjects from the calamities of war, thinks his absence 
 the most effectual method to prevent it. 
 
 Scene II. — page 187. 
 Pericles. Bring arms to princes, and to subjects joys. 
 
 What Princes would he bring arms to ? The present 
 text is as corrupt as that of the old copy. A single letter 
 added to the original, gives the Author's text. 
 
 The old copy reads : 
 
 " Are arms to princes, and bring joys to subjects," 
 
 I read : 
 
 From whence an issue I might propagate, 
 Dare arms to princes, and bring joys to subjects. 
 
 Thus Pericles is understood: He considered that, by 
 his union, he should have gained such powerful influence, 
 that instead of being kept in awe by other states, he might 
 hold them at defiance, or even dare them to battle ; there- 
 fore, he would bring joys to his subjects : for strong in 
 himself, and aided by so powerful an ally, no other Prince 
 would dare to offer hostilities. 
 
 Scene II. — page 189. 
 
 Pericles. And finding little comfort to relieve them,. 
 I thought it princely charity to grieve them. 
 
 Mr. Malone says — " To grieve them, is to lament 
 their fate." 
 
448 PERICLES. 
 
 Must not a beloved prince, who reigns in the hearts of 
 his subjects, and who, for their preservation, expatriates 
 himself, be an object of their highest consideration ? And 
 must not his absence be a constant source of grief to 
 them?— Thus, Pericles, knowing that his presence cannot 
 possibly relieve his subjects, thinks it more princely to 
 grieve them by his absence. 
 
 Scene III. — page 190. 
 
 Pericles. Thou show'dst a subject's shine, I a true prince. 
 
 The present error, though simple, quite perverts the 
 sense designed by the Author. The meaning to be 
 extracted from the text is this — Do you show yourself 
 to be a good subject, and I shall shine as a true prince. 
 We should read : 
 
 But in our orbs we'll live so round and safe, 
 That time of both this truth shall ne'er convince, 
 Thou show'dst a subject, shine I a true prince. 
 
 i. e. Then shine I a true prince. 
 
 The Poet compares the Prince to the sun, who lends 
 his light to his minister during his absence. Thus, both 
 are considered as orbs. In the borrowed light which the 
 minister receives from the sun, he is to show himself a 
 good subject; and when Pericles returns to his domi- 
 nions, the minister having proved faithful to his trust, 
 then will he shine amongst his subjects as a true Prince. 
 
 The transcriber's ear deceived him, by the hissing 
 sound of the s before /*, in shine, and which, after t, 
 in the word subject, will be found, if not very distinctly 
 pronounced, like subject's shine. 
 
PFHICLES. 449 
 
 Scene IV. — page 196. 
 
 Cleon. For riches, strew' d herself even in the streets; 
 
 This passage is evidently corrupt. To strew, is to 
 spread by scattering : How then can Riches, which is 
 made a person, strew herself in the streets? The cor- 
 rection is simple. Our Author unquestionably wrote : 
 
 For riches, strewed her pelf even in the streets; 
 
 Pelf is money; the word is used by Cleon to denote 
 of what little consideration wealth is when it cannot pro- 
 cure those necessaries of life which both himself and 
 his people require. Thus, Riches strewed her pelf 
 abroad, like Prodigality that throws away money. 
 
 Gower, as Chorus, uses the word pelf. See his ad- 
 dress to the second Act : 
 
 " All perishen of man, of pelf 
 Ne aught escapen but himself." 
 
 Scene IV. — page 200. 
 
 Cleon, And make a conquest of unhappy me, 
 
 If this be the true reading-, our Author has made 
 Cleon a most selfish fellow; for he seems to have no 
 consideration either for his own family or the subjects 
 of Tharsus : I think the text corrupt, and that we should 
 read: 
 
 some neighbouring nation, 
 
 Taking- advantage of our misery, 
 Hath stufPd these hollow vessels with their power, 
 To beat us down, the which are down already ; 
 And make a conquest; — 0, unhappy me! 
 Whereas no glory's got to overcome. 
 
 Thus, by changing the punctuation, instead of the selfish 
 consideration of the Governor, as in the present text, he 
 laments the situation of an impoverished people, who, 
 
 2 G 
 
450 PERICLES. 
 
 unable to defend themselves, must become an easy con- 
 quest ; and that the conquerors cannot lay claim to any 
 glory for overcoming those already overcome by poverty. 
 
 Scene IV;— page 200. 
 Cleon. Thou speak'st like hint's untutor'd to repeat. 
 The quarto of 1609 reads— " like himnes" and from 
 which the present reading has been formed. But, not- 
 withstanding the supposition of Mr. Malone, and the 
 improvement by Mr. Steevens, both supposition and im- 
 provement are far removed from the original, which, I 
 think, requires no great argument to convince, read : 
 Thou speak'st like chimes untutor'd to repeat : 
 
 The word chimes was formerly spelt chimnes : — The c 
 dropped out of the page after being composed, and 
 went to press with the blunder. 
 
 Cleon means: That the person who addresses him 
 speaks that which he knows not, and testifies his joy 
 like chimes , that are insensible of the sounds they pro- 
 duce; and which, though untutored, they repeat at cer- 
 tain periods. 
 
 ACT II. 
 
 Scene I. — page 212. 
 
 1 Fisherman. Honest! good fellow, what's that? if it he a day 
 fits you, scratch it out of the calendar, and no 
 body will look after it. 
 
 I cannot perceive any deficiency to authorize the sup- 
 position that a line has been lost. The term — honest 
 Jisherman, as used by Pericles, only astonishes the present 
 speaker, for he thinks there is no honesty in the world; 
 
PLRICLES. 451 
 
 and if honest be a day that fits Pericles, he may scratch 
 it out of the calendar, for no person will look after it, 
 as he considers that every day produces roguery. 
 
 Scene I. — page 217. 
 
 2 Fisherman. O, sir, things must be as they may; and what a 
 man cannot get, he may lawfully deal for — his 
 wife's soul. 
 
 This extraordinary passage having held at defiance 
 the genius of all my predecessors, and who have been 
 compelled to leave it as they found it, I would have dis- 
 missed without comment, but that, in its present state, 
 sense cannot be extracted from it. Having, therefore, 
 reconsidered the passage, I am inclined to think some 
 Critics will join in my opinion that our Author wrote: 
 
 and what a man cannot get, he may lawfully deal for — 
 
 as wives are sold. 
 
 Thus it will be perceived that the word sold perfectly 
 corresponds with deal for. What he cannot get without 
 purchasing, he may lawfully deal for ; and therefore, if 
 a man cannot get a wife without making her a commercial 
 transaction, he may lawfully deal for one, as wives are sold. 
 
 Scene II. — page 227. 
 
 Simon ides. The outward habit by the inward man. 
 
 If this mode of inversion was so common formerly ', per- 
 haps it had firmer ground on which it could establish 
 sense than we see exhibited in the present text. In 
 my opinion, the word by is corrupt. I read: 
 
 Opinion's but a fool, that makes us scan 
 The outward habit: try the inward man. 
 
 Which means : That we are too apt to establish our 
 opinions of mankind by external appearances, and not 
 by trying the inward man, i. e. his principles. 
 
 2 G2 
 
452 PERICLES. 
 
 Scene III.— page 230. 
 
 Pericles. By Jove, I wonder, that is Icing of thoughts, 
 These cates resist me, she not thought upon. 
 
 There are more errors in this passage than seem to 
 have met the penetration of my predecessors. Why 
 should Pericles attach an attribute to Jove, after 
 swearing by him ? and yet here we have him made the 
 king of thoughts! The passage is sadly corrupt. The 
 transcriber mistook the sound, and wrote — that is, instead 
 of — at this; which, as I suppose, appearing in the proof, 
 that is kind of thoughts, — the corrector, from Jove being 
 the chief of the heathen deities, altered kind to king. 
 Surely the sequent verse and context must tell us that 
 we should read : 
 
 By Jove, I wonder at this kind of thought ! 
 These cates resist me, she not thought upon. 
 
 Love unexpectedly springing in the bosom of Pericles, 
 creates his astonishment ; even the cates that he attempts 
 to eat go against his stomach; and Thaisa, on whom 
 he had never thought before, becomes the sole object of 
 his thoughts. 
 
 Cupid made good his aim, Pericles and Thaisa were 
 wounded at the same moment. Her stomach, if we may 
 judge by her words, was as fastidious as that of Pericles ; 
 for no dish at table was sufficiently delicate; she — 
 " Wishing him her meat" meaning Pericles, whom she 
 wished to be her mate, (husband.) The Author evi- 
 dently plays on the word. 
 
 According to Gower, "Appollonus" (our Pericles,) 
 " sat ever in thought." 
 
 Mr. Steevens is of opinion that this passage should be 
 given to Simonides : but if Simonides was as anxious for 
 Pericles to become his son-in-law, as Mr. Steevens would 
 make us believe, why should he strive to make Pericles 
 appear of little consequence in the eyes of Thaisa ? See 
 the subsequent speech of Simonides, — 
 
PERICLES. 453 
 
 He's but- 
 
 A country gentleman ; 
 
 He has done no more than other knights have done ; 
 
 Broken a staff, or so; so let him pass." 
 
 This is a sufficient proof that the speech in question 
 belongs to Pericles : and that the old gentleman T s ap- 
 petite was by no means impaired on the occasion. I 
 refer the reader to Johnson and Steevens's edition for 
 the various opinions on this passage. Though I have 
 attributed the present corrupt reading to the transcriber, 
 it is more likely that it originated in the printing-office : 
 The compositor, perhaps, had composed the words — at 
 this, but breaking the line, or part of it, placed the is 
 after //?, instead of the at. Such blunders frequently 
 occur. 
 
 Scene III. — page 235, 
 
 Simonides. and princes, not doing so, 
 
 Are like to gnats, which make a sound, but kilVd 
 Are wonder'd at. 
 
 That a dead gnat should be a mark of wonder, is 
 most wonderful indeed ! But the sense of the passage is 
 shamefully perverted by the carelessness of the tran- 
 scriber. Assuredly our Author wrote: 
 
 ■and princes, not doing so, 
 
 Are like to gnats, which make a sound ; but skilVcb 
 Are wonder'd at. 
 
 Meaning: That the actions of princes should cor- 
 respond with their dignified situation : — their wisdom 
 should be great, and their sentiments liberal. Princes 
 who do not possess these qualifications, are like to gnats 
 which make a sound; but princes who are skilVdm the 
 art of government, become objects of admiration, and 
 are wondered at. 
 
 Mr» Steevens would read: 
 
 " And princes, not doing so, are like the gnat, 
 Which makes a sound, but kill'd is wonder'd at.'.* 
 
454 PERICLES. 
 
 Scene IV. — page 242. 
 
 Helicanus. Try honour's cause; 
 
 The word Try is evidently corrupt. It appears a 
 misprint. I read : 
 
 Cry, honour s cause! 
 
 The nobles, thinking- that Pericles would not return, 
 testify their choice ofHelicanus, and hail him with royal 
 distinction — "Live, noble HelicanusV But Helicanus, 
 true to his sovereign, and disdaining all ambitious views, 
 reprimands their impatience, by telling them, that, 
 instead of hailing him in so distinguished a manner, they 
 should rather " Cry, — honour's cause!" i.e. That the 
 principles of honour should be expressed, and not those 
 of disloyalty. 
 
 Scene IV. — page 242. 
 
 Helicanus. Take I your wish, I leap into the seas, 
 
 Where's hourly trouble, for a minute' 's ease. 
 
 This corrupt passage is easily rectified. There was 
 but right and wrong : the latter obtained the preference. 
 Our Author wrote : 
 
 Take I your wish, I leap into the sea, 
 Where's hourly trouble : for a minute cease. 
 
 As though he said — Hear me; — for a minute cease 
 your importunity. He then entreats them to forbear, 
 for twelve months longer, their election of a king; and, 
 if Pericles does not return in that time, then will his 
 aged patience bear the yoke of royal dignity. 
 
 Though Helicanus may compare the throne to a 
 troubled sea, yet I am strongly inclined to think we 
 should read — "I leap into the seat:" — meaning, that 
 seat so long vacated by Pericles. As for the words — 
 a minute's ease and a minute cease, perhaps no two 
 phrases could be more easily mistaken the one for the 
 other; though, in sense, they are totally different. 
 
PELICLES. 455 
 
 Scene V. — page 248. 
 
 SlMONIDES. A*0 ! — 
 
 Here comes my daughter, she can witness it. 
 Errors of the present description frequently occur : — 
 they are termed, in a printing-office, literal errors. Had 
 an il/preceded the o, the error would have been noticed 
 by the corrector; but as the N helped to make a perfect 
 word, it escaped observation. We should read : 
 
 So.'— 
 
 Here comes my daughter, she can witness it. 
 
 Simonides, surprised at the undaunted courage and 
 honourable demeanour of Pericles, marks his astonish- 
 ment, by emphatically using the word, So! — which may 
 justly be interpreted to mean — really] or, Is that the 
 
 case f 
 
 ACT III, 
 
 Scene I. — page 262. 
 
 Pericles. Yet, for the love 
 
 Of this poor infant, this fresh-new sea-farer, 
 
 The allusion is to the sea-fowl called the mezc, which 
 
 mezcls like an infant ; the word fresh, denotes the recent 
 
 birth of the Princess : but the unprecedented compound 
 
 —fresh-nezc, should, I think, give way to the Author's 
 
 word ; who, if I am not much mistaken, wrote : 
 
 Yet, for the love 
 
 Of this poor infant, this fresh-mew sea-farer, 
 
 When the mezcs hover about a ship at sea, or perch 
 
 upon the masts, seamen think they portend danger. 
 
 Dryden gives a lively image of this : 
 
 " The vessel sticks, and shews her open'd side, 
 And ou her shatter'd mast the mews in triumph ride.*' 
 
 The m and n compartments, in the letter-case, are 
 next each other, and frequently mix: the compositor 
 took up an n instead of an w?, which making a perfect 
 word with the ew, escaped the corrector's notice. 
 
456 PERICLES. 
 
 Scene I. — page 264. 
 
 First Sailor. Pardon us, sir; with us at sea it still hath been ob- 
 served ; and we are strong in earnest. Therefore, 
 briefly yield her ; for she must overboard straight. 
 
 The old copy reads — " Strong in eastern" From 
 these letters Mr. M. Mason formed the present reading-; 
 but, however ingenious, the Author's original words 
 must have the preference. 
 
 The sailor, supposing the Queen to be dead, thinks 
 that while she is kept on board the storm will continue ; 
 and, in defending this opinion, (which Pericles calls 
 superstition,) he says, that, at sea, it is a general ob- 
 servation. But finding Pericles not inclined to credit 
 his assertion, he starts another cause, which he thinks 
 must have the desired effect, and prove that it is positively 
 necessary for the preservation of the living, that the 
 dead Queen should be thrown overboard ; he strengthens 
 his argument by observing : — 
 
 and we are strong in astern. 
 
 This is a sea phrase, and by which the mariner means, 
 That the wind and waves beat strongly against the stern 
 of the vessel, as though the elements demanded that part 
 of her to be cleared of the body. To this observation 
 Pericles submits, and tells the mariner, he may act as he 
 thinks meet. In the stern of a ship is always the state 
 cabin. 
 
 Observe, the old copy reads — eastern. Few words 
 come nearer in sound, though, in point of meaning, they 
 are as distant as the east is from the west. 
 
 Though the above illustration is perfectly familiar 
 and highly correspondent with the phrase, yet the sailor, 
 in all probability, intended the word strong to bear this 
 allusion, — That the Queen's body had become strong, 
 (offensive) which argument Pericles could not resist. 
 
PERICLES. 457 
 
 Scene I. — page 265. 
 
 Perici.es. And aye-remaining lamps, 
 
 The old copies read — " air remaining lamps" which 
 reading is parallel in absurdity with the present emenda- 
 tion. However, to the old copy I am indebted for ob- 
 taining, as I hope, the original compound word. 
 
 Pericles, reluctantly submitting to the necessity of 
 throwing the Queen's body overboard, laments that 
 due honours could not be paid her : — No monument to 
 perpetuate her memory, nor area-manesing lamps to sur- 
 round that monument. This adds to his afflictions, and 
 causes him thus to lament : 
 
 Where, for a monument upon thy hones, 
 
 And area-manesing lamps, the helching whale, &c. 
 
 The area is the open space round the sepulchre, in 
 which he would have had the Queen's body interred; 
 could he have had it conveyed to Tyre: and where, 
 according to the honours paid to royal remains, area- 
 manesing lamps would have been kept burning : maneing, 
 or mane sing, if I prove correct, our Author obtained 
 from manes. Let the Critic decide. 
 
 The sound has been given to the word, but the tran- 
 scriber had no idea of the sense; — perhaps knew not 
 how to spell area, and therefore, made it air-re, — which, 
 coming before maneing, produced air-remaining. 
 
 Scene II. — page 270. 
 
 First Gentleman. Rich tire ahout you, 
 
 I believe that for tire, we should read Tyre; alluding 
 to the rich habiliments worn at Tyre, and which 
 luxuries had found their way into Ephesus. Tyrian 
 robes, and stately canopies ornamented with Tyrian 
 silks, were formerly of admirable workmanship : the 
 
458 PERICLES. 
 
 Tyrian purple no country could ever equal. " Rich 
 Tyre" we may, therefore, consider equally applicable 
 to Tyrian silks, as rich Damask in allusion to the silks 
 of Damascus. The title of this play might have induced 
 the Author to sport a little with the word. 
 
 Scene II. — page 272. 
 Cerimon. Or tie my treasure up in silken bags, 
 
 The old copy reads — a Or tie my pleasure up in silken 
 bags," which Mr. Steevens changed to the present text, 
 observing, and, perhaps, with too much confidence, — 
 " Let the Critic who can explain this reading of the 
 quarto displace my emendation." 
 
 That the word treasure produces a meaning, and per- 
 haps one that might prove most familiar to an unlettered 
 mind, I admit; but, nevertheless, with all due deference 
 to the learned Commentator, there is a beauty in the 
 word pleasure, to which, I think, critical judgment will 
 give the preference. 
 
 Before I proceed in defence of the word pleasure, I 
 cannot but observe, that a leading principle with many 
 of Shakspeare's Commentators has been, not to alter the 
 text where any sense could be obtained; hence, the 
 almost innumerable parallelisms; consequently, Mr. 
 Steevens found no sense in the reading of the old copy. 
 
 Cerimon is a nobleman whose sole delight is in the 
 active practice of humanity. To a mind stored with 
 natural philosophy, he has added that of experimental; 
 embracing in that the noble science of medicine;— in 
 fact, he is an able physician. In wealth, he has no 
 pleasure, save in relieving the wants of others : and in 
 studying to obtain that knowledge which enables him 
 to heal the wounded, and restore the diseased to health, 
 all his pleasures lie. In it he finds " a course of true 
 
PERICLES. 459 
 
 delight ;" while the "tottering honours" which wealth 
 procures, are to him as rich cordials which satiate, and 
 prove but a temporary gratification of sensuality. He 
 is not like the penurious man whose pleasure springs 
 from avarice; nor does he, like the miser, " tie up his 
 pleasures in a silken bag!" — No; his pleasures are not 
 of so perishable a nature, nor can he be plundered of 
 them; they consist in " Virtue and cunning" — endow- 
 ments to him " greater than nobleness and riches." 
 
 It may not be amiss here to demand, — In what consists 
 the pleasure of a miser ? — Where is the unlettered man 
 that would not give a direct answer to so plain a ques- 
 tion ? — Must he not say, in his riches ? One to whom this 
 figure was more familiar might say, — in his money-bags : 
 — Are not then his "pleasures tied up in bags?" — No 
 matter whether they be made of silk or canvass. 
 
 Here, then, is the nice distinction of the great Poet, — 
 The pleasures of a miser lie in his money-bags ; no per- 
 son shares those pleasures with him. But the pleasures 
 of Cerimon (knowledge resulting from study) he is able 
 to diffuse, by healing the wounded, giving health to the 
 diseased, and by administering the balm of consolation 
 to the afflicted. 
 
 To tie up treasure, is to hoard it. How, then, can 
 the hoarding of riches please either the fool or death? — 
 The fool would scatter treasure : — a fool knows not how 
 to appreciate its value : how to make it a blessing 
 belongs only to the wise. Dissipation and luxury mostly 
 attend the wealthy, and often abridge life. Must not, 
 then, the prodigal's conduct (for few prodigals can boast 
 much wisdom) be more pleasing to death than that of 
 the miser? — The one shortens his days by intemperance; 
 the other, by regularity, generally arrives to an ad- 
 vanced age. 
 
 Had Cerimon alluded to riches, his virtue must be 
 doubted. Would not the egotist — the ostentatious 
 egotist, appear? Would not the Pharisee be conspicuous, 
 
460 PERICLES. 
 
 who proudly boasted that he gave to the poor? But, in 
 this point, the Poet is cautiously delicate, for Cerimon 
 is only permitted to speak of those pleasures he derives 
 from wisdom, and the happiness he enjoys in making 
 that wisdom conducive to the benefit of others; it is 
 left for the gentlemen who have introduced themselves 
 to his notice to speak of his character for liberality and 
 benevolence; and this one of them attempts with 
 cautious delicacy: — 
 
 ; but even 
 
 Your purse still open, hath built lord Cerimon 
 Such strong renown," &c. 
 
 Now, had Cerimon alluded to his treasures, — that is y 
 wealth, why should the gentleman make this pointed 
 observation ? " but even your purse still open," &c. 
 
 I have examined this passage with great caution, 
 before I would attempt to controvert the opinion of an 
 able and learned Commentator; and though one simple 
 observation might have refuted Mr. Steevens's emenda- 
 tion, yet, anxious to defend the Author, my conception 
 of the passage has made me extend the note beyond my 
 wishes. 
 
 The observation alluded to is, that neither transcriber 
 nor compositor could have erred ; for the word treasure 
 (to the comprehension of either) were better adapted 
 for silken bags than pleasure, had the latter not been 
 distinctly pronounced and clearly written. 
 
 Scene III. — page 286. 
 
 Thaisa. Even on my yearning time ; 
 
 There is no authority for this reading : it has been 
 introduced by Mr. Steevens. The quarto 1619, and the 
 folio 1664, both read: " Even on my eaning time." 
 
PERICLES. 461 
 
 Various suggestions have been proposed to afford some 
 appropriate word in place of caning: Mr. Rowe would 
 read — yeaning. [This must be an error in Johnson 
 and Steevens's edition. I suppose the Editor meant — 
 yeaning, the term being, as Mr. Steevens justly observes, 
 only applicable to sheep when they produce their young J] 
 We have also — learning time, — yielding time; and the 
 present — yearning time; but, surely, no time, past or 
 present, knew such a phrase to be used by a female at 
 the moment of, or relative to, her accouchement! — 
 Absurdity is painted on the face of each, nor can a 
 lineament appear suitable to the marked feature which 
 Thaisa's meaning requires. I am confident our Author 
 wrote : 
 
 That I was shipp'd at sea, I well remember, 
 
 Even on my ailing time ; 
 
 Meaning : The natural time, when, from her state 
 of pregnancy, she might expect to be indisposed; or 
 about that period when her accouchement must take 
 place. 
 
 The transcriber, I would suppose, mis-spelled the 
 word, and wrote — eating : and the / not being sufficiently 
 legible, the compositor made — eaning. But, surely, it 
 requires no argument to establish this correction; for 
 modern delicacy can scarcely produce a word which con- 
 veys more forcibly a female's meaning at that alarming 
 period. 
 
 ACT IV 
 
 Page 294. 
 
 Gower. — The unborn event 
 
 I do commend to your content. 
 
 The unborn event is perfectly correct. Gower means, 
 the intended murder of Marina, and which being only 
 in embryo, he desires the audience to be under no ap- 
 prehension for the safety of Marina, 
 
462 PERICLES. 
 
 Scene I. — page 295. 
 
 Dioxyza. Let not conscience, 
 
 Which is but cold, &c. 
 
 This expresses, positively, that conscience is but of a 
 cold nature. If then so cold, why should Dionyza be 
 alarmed, or consider that an assassin's conscience was 
 likely to inflame love in his bosom ? In morals, we are 
 taught to form on opinion of man by his conscience : the 
 more glowing the conscience, the more susceptible we 
 are of self-impropriety, and, consequently, the more 
 cautious in acting according to moral principles. But a 
 cold conscience maintains the reverse ; it neither admits 
 sentiments of pity nor compunction for crime : virtue 
 cannot enter the steeled bosom, nor humanity fan a flame 
 where no spark remains. Surely, then, the present text 
 displays a position contrary to the object which Dionyza 
 requires; for, certainly, her aim is to impress on the 
 assassin's mind, that a cold conscience is best for the 
 horrid deed in which she is about to employ him. We 
 should read: 
 
 Let not conscience, 
 
 Which is best cold, &c. 
 
 Thus we gain the distinction : Dionyza, however ma- 
 lignant in disposition, seems alarmed by a certain warmth 
 of conscience, but, determined on the destruction of 
 Marina, she recommends a cold conscience to the assassin, 
 that he may not be, in any measure, awakened to a sense 
 of guilt. 
 
 The letters which form the word best, (in writing) if 
 not very plain, have so strongly the appearance of but, 
 that by context only can the compositor be guided. 
 
 Scene I. — page 295. 
 
 Dionyza. inflame love in thy bosom, 
 
 This passage is altogether different from the first 
 quarto, which reads, — "in Jlaming thy love bosome." 
 
PERICLES. 463 
 
 The meaning which the present reading conveys, is, 
 that the assassin must guard against the beauty of Ma- 
 rina, nor suffer love to inflame his bosom : yet, immedi- 
 ately after. Ave have, that he is not to let love inflame too 
 nicely \ Surely this is in direct opposition to the strong 
 injunction of the preceding instructions. 
 
 The error, in my opinion, lies in the word /ore, which 
 should read, live. If the dot was omitted over the /. one 
 word might have been mistaken for the other. With 
 this correction, I think a good sense may be obtained: 
 
 Let not conscience. 
 
 Which is best cold, inflaming thy live bosom, 
 Inflame too nicely. 
 
 Thus, Dionyza is under no apprehension that love 
 will inflame the assassin's bosom : What she dreads is, 
 that conscience may awaken pity, and influence him to 
 spare Marina. Therefore, that no compunction should 
 arise, his cold conscience is to blow up the flame of 
 villainy, until it becomes ardent in her cause; that 
 every sentiment of pity may be repelled, and that he 
 may prove a soldier in the sanguinary deed he has pro- 
 mised to execute. 
 
 Scene III.— page 313. 
 
 Marina. or that these pirates. 
 
 (JVot enough barbarous, had not overboard 
 
 Thrown me. eve. 
 
 I think it requires no argument to convince that the 
 glaring tautology in this passage cannot be attributed to 
 our Author. In fact, the meaning was veiled from the 
 penetration of the early editors, and who, most probablv, 
 changed the word. I am confident the original read : 
 or that these pirate* 
 
 fiYou enough barbarous. | had not overboard 
 Thrown me. 6:c. 
 
 When the pirates rescued Marina from the hands of 
 the assassin, she did not consider them, in any respect, 
 
464 PERICLES. 
 
 barbarous : but Now, they prove themselves enough bar- 
 barous; because that, callous to humanity, they sell her 
 to a bawd, who will not respect her chastity : a calamity, 
 in her opinion, of far greater magnitude than to have 
 been thrown overboard. 
 
 Thus the repetition of the word not is done away, 
 and a clear sense obtained. 
 
 
 Scene III. — page 313. 
 
 Marina. Thrown me, to seek my mother ! 
 Though the preceding restoration give& Marina's 
 meaning, yet I am certain we have not gained the Au- 
 thor's text. The old copy reads : 
 
 " Thrown me for to seek my mother." 
 I read, as I believe the Author wrote : 
 
 Thrown me forth, to seek my mother. 
 
 If a parallelism be necessary, in the Sacred Writ will 
 
 be found one, or more, perfectly apposite. See Jonah, 
 
 ch. i. v. 12.— 
 
 " And he said unto them, Take me up and cast me forth into 
 the sea." 
 
 Again ch. i. v. 15. — 
 
 " So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea." 
 
 It will be found, that, in the words— -forth to, if the h 
 preceding t be not strongly aspirated, the t in forth is 
 carried to the o in to, and consequently the h and t are 
 lost : thus the transcriber's ear deceived him. 
 
 Scene IV.— page 331. 
 
 Go wer. See how belief may suffer by foul show ! 
 
 This borrow 1 d passion stands for true old woe; 
 
 By true old woe, according to Mr. Steevens, Gower 
 means, the woe of the ancients, and in which dissimula- 
 
PERICLES. 465 
 
 tion had no part. The elucidation is ingenious so far, 
 because it forces a sense out of words that to many 
 must prove incomprehensible. However, I believe the 
 text corrupt, and that modern hypocrisy was intended 
 by the Author to have a deeper concern in it than an- 
 cient sincerity. I read: 
 
 See how belief may suffer by foul show ! 
 
 This borrow" d passion stands for rue-told woe ; 
 
 The allusion is not only to the appearance of genuine 
 sorrow, as denoted by the characters of the Drama, but 
 also ip the foul show of affliction assumed by Cleon and 
 Dionyza to impose on Pericles : they are supposed to 
 assume a rueful countenance, while relating circum- 
 stances of a woeful nature. 
 
 The t was transposed by the compositor. 
 
 Scene VI. — page 331 '. 
 
 Lysimachus. That dignifies the renown of a bawd, no less than it 
 gives a good report to a number to be chaste. 
 
 This passage contains a curious blunder, and which 
 must be attributed to the compositor. 
 
 Most readers know, that the appellation of Mother 
 Abbess, is frequently given to a bawd; and a brothel, if 
 I mistake not, has been often called — a nunnery : with- 
 out doubt, then, the unfortunate females who reside in 
 it become nuns. Lysimachus, animadverting on the 
 pretended modesty of the bawd, perceives Marina ap- 
 proaching; and judging, notwithstanding her truly 
 modest appearance, that she has as little claim to chastity 
 as the bawd to modesty, draws a parallel between the 
 two characters : 
 
 That dignifies the renown of a bawd, no less than it gives a good 
 report to a nun here, to be chaste. 
 
 But, even if Lysimachus had not the modest ap- 
 pearance of Marina in view, a perfect sense is obtained 
 
 2 H 
 
466 PERICLES. 
 
 by this correction, or rather restoration of the Author's 
 words: for who would attribute chastity to a nun, 
 though veiled and beaded, that was seen in a brothel? 
 
 It is almost unnecessary to observe, that the licentious- 
 ness of the stage, even in Shakspeare's time, scarcely 
 admitted those appellations familiarly used to dissolute 
 females, though that of bawd met no opposition : for 
 this reason, the term used by Lysimachus conveys the 
 character without wounding the ears of delicacy. See 
 a subsequent part of this scene, where the same caution 
 is observed: 
 
 Lysimachus. " Now pretty one, how long have you 
 
 heen at this trade?" 
 Marina. " What trade, sir?" 
 
 Lysimachus. " What I cannot name but I shall offend." 
 
 The manner in which the error took place is obvious : 
 the compositor read — number for nun here: characters, 
 in fact, that resemble each other not less in writing 
 than the words do in sound. 
 
 The passage, thus corrected, bears also the explica- 
 tion given by Mr. Steev ens; and is a strong satire on 
 the intrigues carried on in convents. 
 
 ACT V. 
 
 Scene I. — page 354. 
 
 Helicanus. Till the disaster, that, one mortal night, 
 Drove him to this. 
 
 Though this passage contains as gross an error as any 
 in Shakspeare's Plays, yet it has passed all comment, 
 save the alteration of one word. All the old copies 
 read— "One mortal wight" which was changed to— 
 " One mortal night" if I mistake not, by Mr. Malone. 
 
 Can we, for a moment, doubt the following to have 
 been the Author's text : 
 
PERICLES. 467 
 
 Till the disaster that on mortals wait 
 Drove him to this. 
 
 That disaster, the death of his daughter. He had 
 mourned for the the supposed death of his wife ; but 
 never did despair overcome his reason, until shown the 
 tomb of Marina by Cleon. 
 
 It appears to me that the transcriber spelt the word 
 wait — (weight) ; which the corrector, (and a strange 
 wight he must have been) changed to wight: and Mr. 
 Malone, to night. But what has night to do with the 
 passage ? Had it been night when Pericles visited the 
 tomb, there would have been a stage direction to this 
 effect : (Enter Pericles and Attendants with torches.) 
 
 Scene I. — page 356. 
 
 Lysimachus. She, all as happy as of all the fairest, 
 
 Is, with her fellow-maidens, now within 
 The leafy shelter that abuts against 
 The island's side. 
 
 The old copy reads : 
 
 " She 'is as happy, as the fairest of all, 
 And, with her fellow-maids, is now upon 
 ' , The leafy shelter," &c. 
 
 This extraordinary change and transposition of words 
 I am inclined to think injudicious: If I could reconcile 
 the word happy. I am confident of restoring the remain- 
 der of the passage to the original reading. I am, how- 
 ever, inclined to think that for happy we should read 
 hardy ; which corresponds with the bold exercise and the 
 undaunted courage of Marina, who is, from the descrip- 
 tion given by Lysimachus, standing upon a branch of one 
 of the trees, that abuts against the island's side; and which, 
 to her was a. leafy shelter; for the surrounding and summit 
 branches protected her from the rays of the sun. The 
 alteration, therefore, of within, for upon, appears highly 
 improper; particularly as "within the leafy shelter," 
 
468 PERICLES. 
 
 must be considered zoithin the grove or wood; and if 
 there, how could she behold the u triumph," which had 
 attracted her and her companions to the island's side? 
 
 But the word that we require must maintain its in- 
 fluence, so as to admit a comparison between it and Marina 
 for fairness. In the old copy, he calls her "the fairest 
 of ally This takes in the entire creation; or rather, 
 that she is "as happy as the fairest of all." This is so 
 indefinite, that she might be quite ordinary, yet so re- 
 conciled to her ugliness, as to be as happy as the fairest 
 of all. To be brief, I am certain that our Author com- 
 pared her, for fairness, to an opal; which the compositor 
 not understanding, made — of all. Opal, I believe, was 
 formerly spelt opall, and which, in MS. unless the p be 
 particularly well formed, cannot be distinguished from 
 — of all. The fairer the opal, the more hardy it is, and 
 consequently of greater value. Hardy might have lost 
 its place in the text, thus : the compositor turned the d 
 the wrong way, in the word hardy, which made harpy ; 
 and the corrector, certain that harpy was wrong, marked 
 a p in place of the r, and thus happy for hardy. See the 
 text corrected : 
 
 She is as hardy as the fairest opal, 
 And, with her fellow-maids, is now upon 
 The leafy shelter that abuts against 
 The island's side ; 
 
 Thus there are but three letters changed from the 
 reading of the old copy, and, I presume, both measure 
 and sense obtained; whereas, the present text displays, 
 in the first verse, three transpositions ; and the introduc- 
 tion of the word all, for is. In the second verse, we find 
 Is with for And with :— fellow-maidens, for fellow-maids ; 
 and within, instead of upon. 
 
 The opal is a rich gem ; its colour resembles the fairest 
 mother of pearl : the fairer the opal, the harder, and of 
 greater value. Thus we must infer, that Marina is not 
 only hardy as the opal, but as fair; and, to prove her 
 
PERICLES. 469 
 
 hardiness, she is sporting with her fellow-maids upon the 
 leafy shelter: in short, climbing- trees and using such 
 exercise as none but an intrepid mind and hardy consti- 
 tution would dare attempt. 
 
 Our Author uses opal elsewhere : 
 
 " Thy mind is a very opal.'' 1 ' 
 Meaning : That it is pure and fair. 
 
 Scene I. — page 368. 
 
 Pericles. and are no fairy ? 
 
 No motion ? — Well ; speak on. 
 
 In the old copy this passage is thus : 
 
 " But are you flesh and blood ? 
 Have you a working pulse, and are no fairy ? 
 Motion well, speak on." 
 
 Surely, this reading must be correct. Pericles, con- 
 vinced that his daughter is dead, doubts the mortality 
 of Marina : therefore, after interrogating her, and to be 
 convinced that she is really of corporeal substance, he 
 tells her to u Motion well" i.e. to use those motions 
 natural to a human being, in giving a lively representa- 
 tion of circumstances. 
 
 Scene I. — page 369. 
 
 Marina. You'll scarce believe me; 'twere best I did give o'er. 
 
 All the old copies read, — "You scorn to believe me." 
 It is true, Pericles has not treated Marina with scorn ; 
 but she thinks her narrative has so much the appearance 
 of improbability, that he does not credit what she ad- 
 vances. That the passage, as in the old copies, must be 
 incorrect, there is no doubt ; for we can scarcely think 
 our Author's judgment would have been so far astray, 
 where he had many words that would afford a pure 
 
470 PERICLES. 
 
 sense, and confine the verse to its limited measure. I 
 believe he wrote : 
 
 You scorn belief; 'twere best I did give o'er. 
 
 And certainly Marina has every reason to think that 
 he discredits her narrative; for, when she tells her 
 name, Pericles says, — " O, I am mock'd:" And when 
 she observes that her mother died in giving her birth, 
 the phrase he uses is enough to make her believe that 
 he scorns belief : — " O, stop there a little!" as though 
 he said, — Stop ; — Now you go beyond every limit of 
 probability. 
 
 Scene Y.—page 372. 
 
 Pericles. but tell me now 
 
 (As in the rest thou hast been god-like perfect,) 
 
 My drown'd queen's name, thou art the heir of kingdoms, 
 
 Though the present reading conveys a meaning, yet 
 
 a word seems to have been lost. I have no doubt but 
 
 the original read : 
 
 but tell me now 
 
 (As in the rest thou hast been god-like perfect,) 
 
 My drown 1 d queen's name, then thouWt the heir of kingdoms. 
 
 This is the last proof he requires, which, if answered, 
 then he declares her — the heir of kingdoms. Without 
 this proof, Pericles would not be perfectly satisfied that 
 Marina was his daughter. See the subsequent speech 
 of Pericles, when every doubt is removed : 
 
 " Now, blessing on thee, rise; thou art my child." 
 
 It is then onlv that he is convinced. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
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