Note return to page 1 [1] (1) To scale't a little more.] Thus all the Editions, but without any Manner of Sense, that I can find out. The Poet must have wrote, as I have corrected the Text: and then the Meaning will be plainly this, “Perhaps, you may have heard my Tale already, but for all That, I'll venture to make it more stale and familiar to You, by telling it over again.” And nothing is more common than the Verb in this Sense, with our three Capital Dramatic Poets. To begin, with our own Author. Anth. and Cleop. Age cannot wither her, nor Custom stale Her infinite Variety. Jul. Cæs. Were I a common Laugher, or did use To stale with ordinary Oaths my Love &c. And, again, &lblank; and Imitations, Which out of Use, and staled by other Men, Begin his Fashion. So B. Jonson, in his Every Man in his Humour. &lblank; and not content To stale himself in all Societies, He makes my House here common as a Mart. Cynthia's Revels. I'll go tell all the Argument of his Play aforehand, and so stale his Invention to the Auditory, before it came forth. And so Beaumont and Fletcher, in their Beggar's Bush. But I should lose my self to speak him further, And stale, in my Relation, the much Good You may be witness of. Queen of Corinth. &lblank; I'll not stale 'em, By giving up their Characters; but leave You To make your own Discov'ries. Wit at several Weapons. You shall not be seen yet, we'll stale your Friend first, So please but him to stand for th' Anti mask.

Note return to page 2 [2] (2) Sir, I shall tell you with a kind of Smile, Which ne'er came from the Lungs,] Thus all the Editors, most stupidly, hitherto; as if Menenius were to smile in telling his Story, tho' the Lines, which immediately follow, make it evident that the Belly was meant to smile.

Note return to page 3 [3] (3) The one Side must have Bail.] It must be the vanquisht Side, sure, that could want it; and who were likely to be their Bail? But it is endless to question with Negligence and Stupidity. The Poet, undoubtedly wrote, as I have restor'd; The one Side must have Bale. i. e. Sorrow, Misfortune, must have the worst of it, be discomsited. I have restor'd this Word in some other Passages of our Author; and we meet with it in a Play, attributed to him, call'd Locrine: —Yea, with these Eyes thou hast seen her, and therefore pull them out, for they will work thy Bale. Mr. Rowe, indeed, in his Editions of our Poet, has erroneously printed Bail too in this Passage; but in the old Quarto which I have of Locrine, printed in 1595, we find the Word spelt as it ought. And it was a Term familiar both with Authors prior in Time, and Contemporaries with Shakespeare. &lblank; and eke her Fingirs long and smale She wrong full oft, and bade God on her rue, And with the Death to doe bote on her Bale: &c. Chaucer's Troil. and Creseide. Book IV. verse 738. And the black Holme, that loves the wat'ry Vale, And the sweet Cypress, sign of deadly Bale. Spenser's Translation of Virgil's Gnat. And again, Said He, what have I Wretch deserv'd, that thus into this bitter Bale I am out-cast. Idem ibid. Thus greatest Bliss is prone to greatest Bale. First Chorus of Hercules Oetæus from Seneca; printed in 1581. And least my Foe, false Promos here,   Do interrupt my Tale; Grant, gracious King, that, uncontroul'd,   I may report my Bale. Promos and Cassandra, (a Play,) printed in 1573.

Note return to page 4 [4] (4) The present Wars devour him; he is grown Too proud to be so valiant.] This is very obscurely express'd; but the Poet's Meaning must certainly be This. Marcius is so conscious of, and so elate upon, the Notion of his own Valour, that he is eaten up with Pride; devour'd with the Apprehensions of That Glory which he promises himself from the ensueing War. A Sentiment, like This, occurs again in Troilus and Cressida. He, that is proud, eats up himself. Pride is his own Glass, his own Trumpet, his own Chronicle; and whatever praises itself but in the Deed, devours the Deed in the Praise.

Note return to page 5 [5] (5) All the Contagion of the South light on You, You Shames of Rome; you Herds; of Boils and Plagues Plaister you o'er, &c.] Thus miserably did the old Editors give us this Passage mangled, by bad Pointing; and Mr. Pope would not indulge his private Sense, by any Alteration to make it intelligible. The meanest Judges of English must be aware, that no Member of any Sentence can begin with a Genitive Case, and a preceding Nominative be wanting to govern That and the Verb. Where, therefore, is the Nominative to, —of Boils and Plagues plaister you o'er? Or what Sense or Syntax is there in the Passage, as it here stands? I reform'd the Pointing in the Appendix to my Shakespeare Restor'd, and Mr. Pope has vouchsafed to embrace my Correction in his last Edition.

Note return to page 6 [6] (6) Who sensibly outdares his senseless Sword, And when it bows, stands up.] The fine and easy Emendation of this Passage, which I have inserted in the Text, is owing to the ingenious Dr. Thirlby.

Note return to page 7 [7] (7) Thou wast a Soldier Even to Calvus' Wish;] T. Lartius is here summing up his Friend's Character, as a Warrior that was terrible in his Strokes, in the Tone of his Voice, and the Grimness of his Countenance. But who was this Calvus, that wish'd these three Characteristicks in a Soldier? I'm afraid, Greek and Roman History will be at a Loss to account for such a Man and such Circumstances join'd to signalize him. I formerly amended the Passage, and prov'd that the Poet must have wrote, Even to Cato's Wish; &lblank; The Error probably arose from the Similitude in the Manuscript of to to lv: and so this unknown Wight Calvus sprung up. I come now to the Authorities for my Emendation. Plutarch, in the Life of Coriolanus, speaking of this Hero, says; He was a Man (that which Cato requir'd in a Warrior) not only dreadful to meet with in the Field, by reason of his Hand and Stroke; but insupportable to an Enemy, for the very Tone and Accent of his Voice; and the sole Terror of his Aspect.—This again is confirm'd by the Historian, in the Life of Marcus Cato the Censor. In Engagements (says He;) he would use to strike lustily, with a fierce Countenance stare upon his Enemies, and with a harsh threatning Voice accost them. Nor was he out in his Opinion, whilst he taught, that such rugged kind of Behaviour sometimes does strike the Enemy more than the Sword it self. Mr. Pope owns, I have clearly prov'd this Point: but he seems inclin'd to think, the Blunder should rather have continued, than I should have discover'd the Author guilty of such a terrible Anachronism. But is Mr. Pope conscious of no other Anachronism committed by our Poet in this Play? Menenius in one Passage talks of Alexander the Great; tho' that Prince was not born till 130 Years after Coriolanus's Death; nay, and in another He mentions Galen, whose Birth was above 420 Years later than That of Alexander. And there are certain other Anachronisms, that lie blended together, which I shall have Occasion to inform Mr. Pope of, before I have done with the 2d Act of this Tragedy.

Note return to page 8 [8] (8) The Shepherd knows not Thunder from a Tabor, More than I know the Sound of Marcius' Tongue From ev'ry meaner Man.] This has the Air of an Imitation, whether Shakespeare really borrow'd it, or no, from the Original: I mean, what Ulysses says in the Greek Poet of being able to distinguish Minerva's Voice, tho' he did not see her. &GRWr;&grst; &gres;&gru;&grm;&gra;&grq;&grea;&grst; &grS;&gro;&gru;, &grk;&grasg;&grn; &grasa;&grp;&gro;&grp;&grt;&gro;&grst; &grhsci;&grst;, &grora;&grm;&grw;&grst; &grf;&grwa;&grn;&grh;&grm;&grap; &gras;&grk;&gro;&grua;&grw;, &grk;&gra;&grig; &grc;&gru;&grn;&gra;&grr;&grp;&graa;&grz;&grw; &grf;&grr;&gre;&grn;&grig; &grX;&gra;&grl;&grk;&gro;&grs;&grt;&groa;&grm;&gro;&gru; &grk;&grwa;&grd;&grw;&grn;&gro;&grst; &grwr;&grst; &grT;&gru;&grr;&grs;&grh;&grn;&gri;&grk;&grhc;&grst;. Sophoc. in Ajace.

Note return to page 9 [9] (9) Oh! let me clip ye In Arms as sound, as when I woo'd in heart;] Dr. Thirlby advised the different Regulation in the Pointing of this Passage; which I have embraced, as I think it much improves the Sense and Spirit, and conveys too the Poet's Thought, that Marcius was as sound in Limb, as when he went a Wooing; and as merry in Heart, as when going to Bed to his Bride.

Note return to page 10 [10] (10) May these same Instruments, which you profane, Never sound more: when Drums and Trumpets shall I'th' field prove Flatterers, let Courts and Cities Be made all of false-faced soothing. When Steel grows soft, as the Parasite's Silk, Let him be made an Overture for th' Wars: No more I say; for that I have not wash'd My Nose that bled, or foil'd some debile Wretch, Which without Note here's Many else have done, You shout me forth in Acclamations hyperbolical, &c.] Many of the Verses in this truly fine Passage are dismounted, unnumerous, and imperfect: and the Last is no less than two foot and a half too long. For this Reason I have ventur'd to transpose them to their Measure; And the Sense, 'tis plain, has been no less maim'd than the Numbers. To remedy This Part, I have had the Assistance of my ingenious Friend Mr. Warburton; and with the Benefit of his happy Conjectures, which I have inserted in the Text, the Whole, I hope, is restor'd to that Purity, which was quite lost in the Corruptions. I shall now subjoin his Comment, in Proof of the Emendations. “The Meaning, that Sense requires in the Antithesis evidently design'd here, is This. If One change its usual Nature to a Thing most opposite, then let the Other do so too. But Courts and Cities, being made all of smooth-fac'd Soothing, remain in their proper Nature. In the second Part of the Sentence, the Antithesis between Steel and the Parasite's Silk does not indeed labour with this Absurdity: but it labours with another equally bad, and That is, Nonsense in the Expression. The Poet's whole Thought seems to be This. If Drums and Trumpets change their Nature preposterously, let Camps do so too: And in the latter part of the Sentence, the Emendation seems to give a particular Beauty to the Expression. He had said before, If Drums and Trumpets prove Flatterers; now here, alluding to the same Thought, he says, Then let Hymns, soft Musick destin'd to the praises of Gods and Heroes, be an Overture for the Wars: Where the Overture is used with great technical Propriety. —I should observe one Thing, that the Members of these two Antitheses are confounded One with Another, which is a Practice common with the best Authors: and it is a Figure the Rhetoricians have found a Name for.

Note return to page 11 [11] (11) What harm can your besom Conspectuities glean out of this Character, &c.] If the Editors have form'd any Construction to themselves, of this Epithet besom, that can be à propos to the Sense of the Context;—Davus sum, non Oedipus: it is too hard a Riddle for Me to expound. Menenius, 'tis plain, is abusing the Tribunes, and bantering them Ironically. By Conspectuities he must mean, their Sagacity, Clearsightedness; and that they may not think he's Complimenting them, he tacks an Epithet to it, which quite undoes that Character; i. e. bisson, blind, bleer ey'd: Skinner, in his Etymologicon, explains this Word, Cæcus; vox agro Lincoln. usitatissima. Ray concurs, in his North and South Country Words. And our Author gives us this Term again in his Hamlet, where the Sense exactly corresponds with this Interpretation. Run barefoot up and down, threatning the Flames, With bisson Rheum. i. e. blinding. It is spoken of Hecuba, whose Eyes o'erflow and are blinded, both with Tears, and the Rheums of Age.

Note return to page 12 [12] (12) &lblank; who, in a cheap Estimation, is worth all your Predecessors since Deucalion, tho' peradventure, some of the best of them were hereditary Hangmen.] I won't pretend to affirm, this is an Imitation of the Close of Juvenal's 8th Satire; though it has very much the same Cast, only exceeds it, I think, in Humour, and Poignancy of Satire. Et tamen ut longè repetas, longéq; revolvas Nomen, ab infami Gentem deducis Asylo: Majorum primus quisquis fuit ille tuorum, Aut Pastor fuit, aut illud quod dicere nolo.

Note return to page 13 [13] (13) He receiv'd, in the Repulse of Tarquin, Seven Hurts i'th' body. Men. One i'th' Neck, and two i'th' Thigh: there's Nine, that I know.] Seven,—one,—and two, and these make but nine? Surely, we may with Safety assist Menenius in his Arithmetick. This is a stupid Blunder; but wherever we can account by a probable Reason for the Cause of it, That directs the Emendation. Here it was easy for a negligent Transcriber to omit the second One as a needless Repetition of the first, and to make a Numeral word of too. Mr. Warburton.

Note return to page 14 [14] (14) From whom I have receiv'd not only Greetings, But, with them, Change of Honours.] Change of Honours is a very poor Expression, and communicates but a very poor Idea. I have ventur'd to substitute, Charge; i. e. a fresh Charge or Commission. These Words are frequently mistaken for each other. So, afterwards, in this Play; To tear with Thunder the wide Cheeks o'th' Air, And yet to change thy Sulphur with a Bolt, That should but rive an Oak. For here we must likewise correct, Charge; And so in Anth. and Cleopat. Oh, that I knew this Husband, which, you say, must change his Horns with Garlands! Here likewise we must read, Charge, i. e. put Garlands upon his Horns. In the Maid's Tragedy, (by Beaumont and Fletcher) Charge is vice versâ printed in all the Editions instead of Change. For we were wont to charge our Souls in Talk. This, 'tis evident, is Nonsense; but Friends, by the Communication of their Thoughts to each other, are finely said to exchange Souls in Talk.

Note return to page 15 [15] (15) &lblank; This, as you say, suggested At some time, when his soaring Insolence Shall teach the People, which, (time shall not want, If he be put upon't, and That's as easie, As to set Dogs on Sheep) will be the fire To kindle their dry Stubble; and their blaze Shall darken him for ever.] As Nominatives are sometimes wanting to the Verb, so, on the other hand, as This Passage has been all along pointed, we have a Redundance: for two relative Pronouns, this and which, stand as Nominatives to will be.—There is, besides, one Word still in this Sentence, which, notwithstanding the Concurrence of the printed Copies, I suspect to have admitted a small Corruption. Why should it be imputed as a Crime to Coriolanus, that he was prompt to teach the People? Or how was it any soaring Insolence in a Patrician to attempt this? The Poet must certainly have wrote. &lblank; When his soaring Insolence Shall reach the People; i. e. When it shall extend to impeach the Conduct, or touch the Character of the People. A like Mistake, upon this Word, has possess'd the Maid's Tragedy in all the Copies. If thy hot Soul had Substance with thy Blood, I would kill That too; which, being past my Steel, My Tongue shall teach. For here too we must correct, reach. I regulated and amended this Passage in the Appendix to my Shakespeare Restor'd; and Mr. Pope has reform'd it, with Me, in his last Edition.

Note return to page 16 [16] (16) &lblank; and have Hearts Inclinable to honour and advance The Theam of our Assembly.] Without Doubt it would have been more proper for the Tribune, who is here addressing himself to the Senate, to have said; The Theme of your Assembly. But Shakespeare, contrary to the Truth of History, makes the Tribunes sit in the Senate, as Part of that Body. For 'till the Lex Attinia (which Attinius is suppos'd by Sigonius, De Vetere Italiæ Jure, to have been contemporary with Quintus Metellus Macedonicus;) the Tribunes had not the Priviledge of entring the Senate, but had Seats placed for them, near the Door, on the Outside of the House. Mr. Warburton.

Note return to page 17 [17] (17) And in the Brunt of sev'nteen Battles since.] I cannot help making a Remark upon this Circumstance of our Author's Conduct, whether casual or designedly. It is said, and the Fact is true, that he has follow'd Plutarch very closely in this Story; but he deviates from him in one Point, by which he seems to decline a strange Absurdity in the Calculation of Time. Shakespeare tells us, that, at sixteen Years old, Coriolanus began his Soldiership, when Tarquin made Head to regain his Kingdom; and that in seventeen Battles he distinguish'd himself with exemplary Bravery and Success. Plutarch likewise says, that our Hero set out in Arms a Youth, that his first Expedition was when Tarquin made this Push, and that he signaliz'd himself in War for seventeen Years successively. Now it happens a little unluckily for Plutarch's Account that this Attempt of Tarquin was made Anno U. C. 258, and Coriolanus was banish'd, nay and kill'd within the Period of eight Years after his first Campaign, Anno U. C. 266.—There is something again lies cross on the other Side, that if Coriolanus was so young when he commenced Soldier, and if the Interval was so short betwixt That and his Banishment, he was too young to have been admitted a Candidate for the Consulship. The Compliment of that Office so early to any Man was a Prostitution of Dignity, that, I think, was never made 'till the Times of the Emperours, when Servitude had debased the very Spirits of the Romans. 'Tis certain, there is some Mistake in the Computation of this Great Man's Years. I should conjecture (were there any Proofs to second it) that he started into Notice as a Soldier, when Tarquin was expell'd Rome, Anno U. C. 245; and allowing him only to be eighteen Years of Age then, at the time of his own Banishment (U. C. 264) we shall find him 37 Years old; a Period of Life, at which the City could scarcely have refus'd One of his extraordinary Merit the Consulship.—But This is no more than an Attempt to reconcile Improbabilities by Guess.

Note return to page 18 [18] (18) Sic. To Coriolanus come all Joy and Honour!] How Mr. Pope came to put this kindly Wish in the Mouth of the Tribune, I can't say. We will suppose it to be Chance-medley. I have restor'd it to the Body of the Senate, with all the preceding Editions.

Note return to page 19 [19] (19) Come, we'll inform them Of our Proceedings here on th' Market place, I know they do attend us.] But the Tribunes were not now on the Market place, but in the Capitol. The Pointing only wants to be rectified, and we shall know what this Magistrate would say; viz. Come, I know, the People attend us in the Forum; we'll go and inform them what Proceedings have been here in the Senate.

Note return to page 20 [20] (20) Oons! if he do require our Voices, we ought not to deny him.] What more Anachronisms, and more than ever the Poet either design'd or slipt into! But this, like the boil'd Pig and Colliflower in the Farce, is of 'Squire Somebody's own bespeaking; and 'twill be but kind to let him have the Dish to himself. Mr. Pope, I presume, hardly thinks that Blood and Wounds ever came into an Oath, 'till after the Crucifixion of our Saviour. But, to set that Question apart, our Citizens here are no such blustering Blades. They say honestly, in all the other Editions, no more than This:—Once, if he do require our Voices, &c. i. e. In a word, once for all, I've said it once and I'll stand to it. So in Much Ado about Nothing. 'Tis once, thou lov'st: So in Anthonio and Cleopatra. Men. Wilt thou be Lord of all the World? Pomp. What say'st Thou? Men. Wilt thou be Lord of all the World? that's twice. And in a number more of Instances.

Note return to page 21 [21] (21) I would they would forget me, like the Virtues Which our Divines lose by them.] i. e. I wish they would forget me, as they do those virtuous Precepts, which the Divines preach up to them; and lose by them, as it were, by their neglecting the Practice.

Note return to page 22 [22] (22) Of the same house Publius &lblank;] I have taken notice, in the Course of these Notes, of many Anachronisms knowingly committed by our Author: I cannot help observing, that He is guilty of more than One here, thro' an Inadvertence, and Desire of copying Plutarch at all Hazards. This Passage, as Mr. Pope rightly informs us, is directly translated from that Greek Biographer: but I'll tell Mr. Pope a piece of History, which, I dare say, he was no more aware of than our Author was. Plutarch, in the Entrance of Coriolanus's Life, tracing the Origin of the Marcian Family, blends his Account not only with the Ancestors, but the Descendants of that Great Man: and Shakespeare in his haste, (or perhaps, his Inacquaintance with this particular Point;) not attending to Plutarch's Drift; but taking all the Persons named to be Coriolanus's Ancestors; has strangely tripp'd in Time, and made his Tribune talk of Persons and Things not then in Being. For Instance, he is made to talk of Censors: Now Coriolanus was kill'd in the Year, after Rome built, 266: But no Censors were ever created at Rome 'till 46 Years after that Period, in the Year 312. Again; here is Mention not only of a Censor, but of Censorinus. Now Caius Marcius Rutilus, when he came a second time to that Office, on Account of the known Law propounded by him, was dignified with that additional Name, in the Year 487. But This was not till 220 Years after Coriolanus's Death. And then, again, here is mention of the Marcian Waters being brought into Rome. But we have the positive Testimony of Julius Frontinus, that they had no Aquæducts at Rome till the Year 441; and that the Marcian Water was not introduced till the Year 613: So that the Tribunes are made to talk of a Fact 347 Years later in Time than the Period of Coriolanus. I would not be supposed to found any Merit on this Discovery; much less, to be desirous of convicting my Author of such Mistakes; but I thought it proper to decline a Charge of Ignorance, that might have been laid at my Door, had I pass'd this Affair over in Silence. Mr. Pope, 'tis plain, tho' he took the Pains to add the Conjectural Line about Censorinus, was not aware of this Confusion in Point of Chronology, or of our Author's innocent Trespass. Non omnia possumus omnes.

Note return to page 23 [23] (23) The People are abus'd, set on;] This is pointed, as if the Sense were, the People are set on by the Tribunes: but I don't take That to be the Poet's Meaning. Cominius makes a single Reflection, and then bids the Train set forward, as again afterwards; Well, On to th' Market place. And so in Julius Cæsar; Set on, and leave no Ceremony out.

Note return to page 24 [24] (24) &lblank; To eject him hence Were but one danger, and to keep him here Our certain Death;] This Reading, which has obtain'd in the printed Copies, destroys that Climax which evidently seems design'd here, and flattens the Sentiment. In my Opinion, the Tribune would say, “To banish him, will be hazardous to Us; to let him remain at home, our certain Destruction.

Note return to page 25 [25] (25) &lblank; Lesser had been The Things that thwart your Dispositions,] The old Copies exhibit it, The Things of your Dispositions A few Letters replac'd, that by some Carelesness drop'd out, restore Us the Poet's genuine Reading; The Thwartings of your Dispositions.

Note return to page 26 [26] (26) Before he thus should stoop to'th' Heart, &lblank;] But how did Coriolanus stoop to his Heart? he rather, as we vulgarly express it, made his proud Heart stoop to the Necessity of the Times. I am persuaded, my Emendation gives the true Reading. So, before, in this Play; Are these your Herd? So, in Julius Cæsar; When he perceiv'd, the common Herd was glad be refus'd the Crown, &c. And in many other Passages.

Note return to page 27 [27] (27) &lblank; I'm in this Your Wife, your Son: the Senators the Nobles, And You &c.] The Pointing of the printed Copies makes stark Nonsense of this Passage. Volumnia is persuading Coriolanus that he ought to flatter the People, as the general Fortune was at Stake; and says, that, in this Advice, She speaks as his Wife, as his Son; as the Senate, and Body of the Patricians; who were in some Measure link'd to his Conduct. Mr. Warburton.

Note return to page 28 [28] (28) &lblank; waving thy Head, Which often, thus, correcting thy stout Heart.] But do any of the Ancient, or Modern Masters of Elocution prescribe the waving the Head, when they treat of Action? Or how does the waving the Head correct the Stoutness of the Heart, or evidence Humility? Or lastly, where is the Sense or Grammar of these Words, Which often thus &c. These Questions are sufficient to shew the absurd Corruption of these Lines. I would read therefore; &lblank; waving thy Hand, Which soften thus, correcting thy stout Heart; This is a very proper Precept of Action suiting the Occasion; Wave thy Hand, says She, and soften the Action of it thus,—then strike upon thy Breast, and by that Action shew the People thou hast corrected thy stout Heart. All here is fine and proper. Mr. Warburton.

Note return to page 29 [29] (29) Yet were there but this single Plot, to lose This Mould of Marcius,] The Pointing of all the Impressions shews, the Editors did not understand this Passage. What Plot is this, they are dreaming of, to lose the Mould of Marcius?—But Plot and Mould are but one and the same Thing; and mean no more than the Flesh and Substance of Marcius's Body. “Were there no other Consequences annex'd, says He, than the Destruction of my Body, they should grind it to Powder; &c.

Note return to page 30 [30] (30) &lblank; plant Love among You Through our large Temples with the Shews of Peace, And not our Streets with War.] Though this be the Reading of all the Copies, it is flat Nonsense. There is no Verb either exprest, or understood, that can govern the latter Part of the Sentence. I have no Doubt of my Emendation restoring the Text rightly, because Mr. Warburton started the same Conjecture, unknowing that I had meddled with the Passage.

Note return to page 31 [31] (31) &lblank; do not take His rougher Actions for malicious Sounds:] I have no manner of Apprehension how a Man's Actions can be mistaken for Words. It would be very absurd, as well as extraordinary, were I to do a saucy Thing in Company, for the Person offended to tell me, Sir, you give me very impudent Language. This would be, certainly, taking Actions for Sounds:—We may remember, a Roughness of Accent was one of Coriolanus's distinguishing Characteristicks. I corrected this Passage in the Appendix to my Shakespeare Restor'd, and Mr. Pope has embraced it in his last Edition.

Note return to page 32 [32] (32) I have been Consul, and can shew from Rome Her Enemies Marks upon me?] How, from Rome? Did he receive hostile Marks from his own Country? No such Thing: He receiv'd them in the Service of Rome. So, twice in the Beginning of next Act, it is said of Coriolanus; &lblank; Had'st Thou Foxship To banish him, that struck more Blows for Rome, Than Thou hast spoken Words? And again; Good Man! the Wounds that he does bear for Rome!

Note return to page 33 [33] (33) We hear not of him, neither need we fear him, His Remedies are tame: the present Peace And Quietness o'th' People, which before Were in wild hurry.] As this Passage has been hitherto pointed, it labours under two Absurdities; first, that the Peace abroad, and the Quietness of the Populace at home, are call'd Marcius's Remedies; whereas, in Truth, these were the Impediments of his Revenge: In the next place, the latter Branch of the Sentence is imperfect and ungrammatical. My Regulation prevents both these Inconveniencies.

Note return to page 34 [34] (34) He and Aufidius can no more be one Than violentest Contrariety] This is only Mr. Pope's Sophistication. I have restor'd the Reading of the genuine Copies;—can no more atone, i. e. be reconcil'd, agree; for in this Sense the Word is as frequently used, as in the active one, to pacify, to reconcile. So in As you like it; Then is there Mirth in Heav'n, When earthly Things, made ev'n, Atone together. And in many other Passages of our Author.

Note return to page 35 [35] (35) &lblank; I think, he'll be to Rome As is the Aspray to the Fish, who takes it By Sov'reignty of Nature.] Though one's Search might have been very vain to find any such Word as Aspray, yet I easily imagin'd, something must be couch'd, under the Corruption, in its Nature destructive to Fish, and that made a Prey of Them. And this suspicion led me to the Discovery. The Osprey is a Species of the Eagle, of a strong Make, that haunts the Sea and Lakes for its Food, and altogether preys on Fish. It is called the &grar;&grl;&gri;&gra;&gria;&gre;&grt;&gro;&grst;, or Aquila Marina, as also Avis ossifraga: thence contracted first, perhaps, into Osphrey, and then, with Regard to the Ease of Pronunciation, Osprey. Pliny gives us this Description of its acute Sight, and Eagerness after its Prey. Haliæetus, clarissimâ ocularum acie, librans ex altô sese, viso in Mari pisce, præceps in mare ruens, et discussis pectore aquis, rapiens. It may not be disagreeable to go a little farther to explain the Propriety of the Poet's Allusion. Why will Coriolanus be to Rome, as the Osprey to the Fish, &lblank; he'll take it By Sov'reignty of Nature? Shakespeare, 'tis well known, has a Peculiarity in Thinking; and wherever he is acquainted with Nature, is sure to allude to her most uncommon Effects and Operations. I am very apt to imagine, therefore, that the Poet meant, Coriolanus would take Rome by the very Opinion and Terror of his Name, as Fish are taken by the Osprey, thro' an instinctive Fear they have of him. “The Fishermen, (says our old Naturalist William Turner,) are used to anoint their Baits with Osprey's Fat, thinking thereby to make them the more efficacious: because, when That Bird is hovering in the Air, all the Fish, that are beneath him, (the Nature of the Eagle, as it is believ'd, compelling them to it;) turn up their Bellies, and as it were, give him his Choice which he will take of them”. Gesner goes a little farther in support of this odd Instinct, telling us, “that while this Bird flutters in the Air, and sometimes, as it were, seems suspended there, he drops a certain Quantity of his Fat, by the Influence whereof the Fish are so affrighted and confounded, that they immediately turn themselves Belly upwards; upon which he sowses down perpendicularly like a Stone, and seizes them in his Talons”.—To This, I dare say, Shakespeare alludes in this Expression of the Sov'reignty of Nature. This very Thought is again touch'd by Beaumont and Fletcher, in their Two Noble Kinsmen; a Play in which there is a Tradition of our Author having been jointly concern'd. &lblank; But, oh, Jove! your Actions, Soon as they move, as Asprays do the Fish, Subdue before they touch. For here again we must read, Ospreys.

Note return to page 36 [36] (36) And Pow'r, unto it self most commendable, Hath not a Tomb so evident, as a Chair T'extol what it hath done.] This is a very common Sentiment, but most obscurely express'd. This is the Sense. That Virtue, which delights to commend it self, will find the certainest Tomb in That Chair, in which it holds forth on its own Commendations. i. e. Nothing so readily throws our own Virtue into Oblivion, as the Practice of commending one's self. That Power, which is most jealous of Competitors, [unto it self most commendable,] hath no certainer Grave than That Chair in which it extols its own Worth. Mr. Warburton.

Note return to page 37 [37] (37) The Veins unfill'd, our Blood is cold, &c.] Lord Bacon somewhere in his Essays makes this very Remark concerning the Seasons of Sollicitation.

Note return to page 38 [38] (38) &lblank; That we have been familiar, Ingrate Forgetfulness shall poyson, rather Than pity: Note how much &lblank;] We cannot desire a more signal Instance of the indolent Stupidity of our Editors. Forgetfulness might poyson, in not remembring a Conversation of Friendship, but how could it, in such an Action, be said to pity too? The Pointing is absurd; and the Sentiment consequently sunk into Nonsense. As I have regulated the Stops, both Dr. Thirlby and Mr. Warburton saw with me, they ought to be regulated. I have still ventur'd beyond my ingenious Friends, in changing Poyson into Prison: which adds an Antithesis, by which the Sense seems clearer and more natural: viz. That Forgetfulness shall rather keep it a secret, that we have been familiar; than Pity shall disclose how much we have been so.

Note return to page 39 [39] (39) &lblank; You Gods, I pray, And the most noble Mother of the World Leave unsaluted,] An old Corruption must have possess'd this Passage, for two Reasons. In the first Place, whoever consults this Speech, will find, that He is talking fondly to his Wife, and not praying to the Gods at all. Secondly, if He were employ'd in his Devotions, no Apology would be wanting for leaving his Mother unsaluted. The Poet's Intention was certainly This. Coriolanus, having been lavish in his Tendernesses and Raptures to his Wife, bethinks himself on the sudden, that his Fondness to her had made him guilty of ill Manners in the Neglect of his Mother; and, therefore correcting himself upon Reflexion, cries; &lblank; You Gods! I prate; Prate, 'tis true, is a Term now ill-sounding to us, because it is taken only, as the Grammarians call it, in malam partem. Our Language was not so refin'd, tho' more masculine, in Shakespeare's days; and therefore (notwithstanding the present suppos'd &grk;&gra;&grk;&gro;&grf;&grw;&grn;&gria;&gra;,) when he is most serious, he frequently makes use of the Word. A little after, in this very Scene, Volumnia says; &lblank; yet here he lets me prate, Like One i'th' Stocks. K. John. If I talk to him, with his innocent Prate He will awake my Mercy. Hamlet. And if thou prate of Mountains, let them throw Millions of Acres on Us. Nor is it infrequent with him to employ the Diminutive of this Term. &lblank; But I prattle Something too wildly, and my Father's Precepts I do forget. Tempest. Silence that Fellow;—I would, he had some Cause to prattle for himself. Meas. for Meas. &lblank; O my Sweet, I prattle out of Fashion, and I doat In mine own Comfort. Othello. I amended the Passage in Question, in the Appendix to my Shakespeare restor'd; and Mr. Pope has thought fit to correct it from thence, in his last Edition.

Note return to page 40 [40] (40) And yet to change thy Sulphur with a Bolt, That should but rive an Oak.] All the printed Copies concur in this Reading, but I have certainly restor'd the true Word. Vid. the 14th Note on this Play.

Note return to page 41 [41] (41) This Fellow had a Volscian to his Mother; His Wife is in Corioli; and his Child Like him by Chance; &lblank;] But tho' his Wife was in Corioli, might not his Child, nevertheless, be like him? The minute Alteration I have made, I am perswaded, restores the true Reading. Volumnia would hint, that Coriolanus by his stern Behaviour had lost all Family-Regards, and did not remember that he had any Child. I am not his Mother, (says she) his Wife is in Corioli, and this Child, whom We bring with us, (young Marcius) is not his Child, but only bears his Resemblance by Chance.

Note return to page 42 [42] (42) Help, three o'th' chiefest Soldiers; I'll be One.] Not One of the three, but One to assist them: he would make the fourth Man. So, in the Conclusion of Hamlet; &lblank; Let four Captains Bear Hamlet like a Soldier to the Stage:

Note return to page 43 [1] (1) Murellus.] I have, upon the Authority of Plutarch, &c. given to this Tribune, his right Name, Marullus.

Note return to page 44 [2] (2) Mar. What mean'st thou by that?] As the Cobler, in the preceding Speech, replies to Flavius, not to Marullus; 'tis plain, I think, this Speech must be given to Flavius.

Note return to page 45 [3] (3) And I will look on both indifferently;] What a Contradiction to this, are the Lines immediately succeeding? If He lov'd Honour, more than he fear'd Death, how could they be both indifferent to him? Honour thus is but in equal Balance to Death, which is not speaking at all like Brutus: for, in a Soldier of any ordinary Pretension, it should always preponderate. We must certainly read, And I will look on Death indifferently. What occasion'd the Corruption, I presume, was, the Transcribers imagining, the Adverb indifferently must be applied to Two things oppos'd. But the Use of the Word does not demand it; nor does Shakespeare always apply it so. In the present Passage it signifies, neglectingly; without Fear, or Concern: And so Casca afterwards, again in this Act, employs it. And Dangers are to me indifferent. i. e. I weigh them not; am not deterr'd on the Score of Danger. Mr. Warburton.

Note return to page 46 [4] (4) For once upon a raw and gusty day,] This may, perhaps, appear a very odd Amusement for Two of the greatest Men in Rome. But it appears, this was an usual Exercise for the Nobility, that delighted in the hardy Use of Arms, and were not enervated, from this Passage of Horace. l. I. Ode 8. Cur timet flavum Tiberim tangere? Upon which Hermannus Figulus makes this Comment; Natare. Nam Romæ primæ Adolescentiæ juvenes, præter cæteras gymnasticas disciplinas, etiam natare discebant, ut ad belli munera firmiores aptionesq; essent. And he puts us in mind from Suetonius, how expert a Swimmer Jul. Cæsar was. Mr. Warburton.

Note return to page 47 [5] (5) &lblank; he hears no Musick:] This is not a trivial Observation, nor does our Poet mean barely by it, that Cassius was not a merry, sprightly man: but that he had not a due Temperament of Harmony in his Composition: and that therefore Natures, so uncorrected, are dangerous. He has finely dilated on this Sentiment in his Merchant of Venice. Act. 5. The Man, that hath no Musick in himself, And is not mov'd with Concord of sweet Sounds, Is fit for Treasons, Stratagems, and Spoils; The Motions of his Spirit are dull as Night, And his Affections dark as Erebus; Let no such Man be trusted. &lblank;

Note return to page 48 [6] (6) Have thews and Limbs. &lblank;] Mr. Pope has subjoin'd, to both his Editions, an Explanation of Thews, as if it signified, manners or capacities. 'Tis certain, it sometimes has these Significations; but he's mistaken strangely to imagine it has any such Sense here: Nor, indeed, do I ever remember its being used by our Author in those Acceptations. With him, I think, it always signifies, Muscles, Sinews, bodily Strength. So, in the 2d Part of Henry IV, Care I for the Limb, the Thewes, the Stature, Bulk, and big semblance of a Man? And in Hamlet; For Nature crescent does not grow alone In Thewes and Bulk.

Note return to page 49 [7] (7) &lblank; Hold, my Hand] This Comma must certainly be remov'd. Casca bids Cassius take his Hand, as it were to bind their League and Amity. So afterwards, in this Play; Give me thy Hand, Messala.

Note return to page 50 [8] (8) Is not to morrow, Boy, the first of March?] I dare pronounce a palpable Blunder here, which None of the Editors have ever been aware of. Brutus enquires whether the first of March he come, and the Boy brings him word 'tis wasted 15 Days. Allowing Brutus to be a most contemplative Man, and his Thoughts taken up with high Matters, yet I can never agree, that he so little knew how Time went, as to be mistaken a whole Fortnight in the Reckoning. I make no Scruple to assert, the Poet wrote Ides. But how could Ides, may it not be objected, be corrupted into first? What Similitude in the Traces of the Letters? This Difficulty may very easily be solv'd, by only supposing that the Word Ides in the Manuscript Copy happen'd to be wrote contractedly thus, js: The Players knew the Word well enough in the Contraction; but when the MSS came to the Press, the Compositors were not so well informed in it: They knew, that jit frequently stood for first; and blunderingly thought that js: was meant to do so too: and thence was deriv'd the Corruption of the Text. But that the Poet wrote Ides, we have This in Confirmation. Brutus makes the Enquiry on the Dawn of the very Day, in which Cæsar was kill'd in the Capitol. Now 'tis very well known, that this was on the 15th Day, which is the Ides, of March. I ought to acknowledge, that my Friend Mr. Warburton likewise started this very Emendation, and communicated it to Me by Letter.

Note return to page 51 [9] (9) Sir, March is wasted fifteen days.] The Editors are slightly mistaken: It was wasted but 14 Days; this was the Dawn of the 15th, when the Boy makes his Report.

Note return to page 52 [10] (10) Since Cassius first did whet me against Cæsar, I have not slept.] This is not to be taken literally: but only that it had, at Fits, broke his Rest. Some Readers might, perhaps, imagine, that, (because Brutus, in his last Scene with Cassius, said, that he would on the Morrow stay at home for Cassius; and because Cassius here comes home to him) this was the Day immediately succeeding That, on which Cassius open'd the Secret of the Conspiracy to him. But, however any Circumstances in any preceding Lines may countenance such an Opinion, it would be a great Diminution to the sedate Character of Brutus, to be let into a Plot of such serious Moment one day, and to be ready to put it in Execution on the Next. The Poet intended no such rash Conduct. We are to observe, from the first Act, that Cassius open'd the Plot to him on the Feast of the Lupercalia, which Solemnity was held in February: and Cæsar was not assassin'd, as has been observ'd, till the Middle of March. Some of the Criticks, with what Certainty I dare not pretend to say, fix down this Feast to the XVth before the Calends of March; (i. e. the 15th of Febr.) if so, the Interval betwixt that, and the Time when Cæsar was murther'd, is 29 Days.

Note return to page 53 [11] (11) Here lies the East:] Mr. Rymer, in his Examination of the Tragedies of the last Age, p. 153, has left an invidious and paltry Remark on this Passage. “Here the Roman Senators, (says He) the Midnight before Cæsar's Death, (met in the Garden of Brutus to settle the Matter of their Conspiracy,) are gazing up to the Stars, and have no more in their Heads than to wrangle about which is the East and West. This is directly, as Bays tells us, to shew the World a Pattern here, how Men should talk of Business. But it would be a wrong to the Poet, not to inform the Reader that on the Stage the Spectators see Brutus and Cassius all this while at whisper together”.—I cannot help having the utmost Contempt for this poor ill-judg'd Sneer. It shews the Height of good Manners and Politeness in the Conspirators, while Brutus and Cassius whisper, to start any occasional Topick, and talk extempore; either than seem to listen to, or be desirous of overhearing, what Cassius draws Brutus aside for. And, if I am not mistaken, there is a Piece of Art shewn in this whisper, which our Caviller either did not, or would not, see into. The Audience are already apprized of the Subject on which the Faction meet: and therefore this whisper is an Artifice, to prevent the Preliminaries, of what they knew beforehand, being formally repeated.

Note return to page 54 [12] (12) So let high-sighted Tyranny &lblank;] Tho' I have not disturb'd this Epithet in the Text, yet, I suspect, our Poet either wrote, as Mr. Warburton hinted to me, high-sieged; or else, high-seated. So Cassius, in the former Act, says; And, after this, let Cæsar seat him sure; So in Macbeth, &lblank; and our high-plac'd Mackbeth Shall live the lease of Nature; And again, Great Tyranny, lay thou thy Basis sure, and in many other Passages.

Note return to page 55 [13] (13) I charge you.] Thus Mr. Pope has corrected, in both his Editions; but I have restor'd the Reading of the Old Books, I charm you, i. e. I conjure you by the Magick of &c.

Note return to page 56 [14] (14) &lblank; comfort your Bed And talk to you? &lblank;] This is but an odd Phrase, and gives as odd an Idea. The Word, I have substituted, seems much more proper; and is one of our Poet's own Usage; which makes me suspect, he employ'd it here. So in his Comedy of Errors; And, afterwards, consort you till Bed-time. And so in his Poem, call'd Venus and Adonis; Who bids them still consort with ugly Night; And so afterwards, again, in the fifth Act of this Play. Two mighty Eagles fell; and there they perch'd; Gorging and feeding from our Soldiers hands, Who to Philippi here consorted us. And, in Midsummer Night's Dream; And must for aye consort with black-brow'd Night.

Note return to page 57 [15] (15) We heard two Lions &lblank;] The first Folio—We heare—The Copies have been all corrupt, and the Passage, of course, unintelligible. But the slight Alteration, I have made, restores Sense to the whole, and the Sentiment will neither be unworthy of Shakespeare, nor the Boast too extravagant for Cæsar in a Vein of Vanity to utter: that He and Danger were Twin whelps of a Lyon, and He the Elder, and more terrible of the Two. A similar Thought again occurs in Antony and Cleopatra, about Victory for a while standing suspended betwixt two Armies. When Vantage like a Pair of Twins appear'd, Both as the same, or rather ours the Elder. I made this Emendation formerly in my Shakespeare Restor'd; and the ingenious Dr. Thirlby, without having seen it, struck out the same Conjecture.

Note return to page 58 [16] (16) Enter Artemidorus,] In the Dramatis Personæ, thro' all the Editions, Artemidorus is call'd a Soothsayer. But, 'tis certain, the Poet design'd two distinct Characters. Artemidorus was neither Augur, nor Soothsayer. 'Tis true, there was an Artemidorus, whose Critic on Dreams we still have: but He did not live 'till the Time of Antoninus. He likewise wrote, according to Suidas, of Augury and Palmistry. But this Artemidorus, who had been Cæsar's Host at Cnidos, as we learn from Plutarch, Appian, &c. did not pretend to know any thing of the Conspiracy against Cæsar by Prescience, or Prognostication. He was a Sophist, who taught that Science in Greek at Rome; by which Means being intimate with Brutus, and those about him, he got into their Secret; and, out of his old Affection for Cæsar, was desirous of acquainting him with his Danger.

Note return to page 59 [17] (17) Know, Cæsar doth not wrong,] Ben. Jonson in the Induction to his Staple of News has a Sneer upon this Passage:—“Cry you Mercy, You never did wrong but with just Cause.”—The Words are constantly printed in a different Character, and, that they are levell'd at Shakespeare, is fully clear'd up by another Passage in Ben's Discoveries, where he thus speaks of our Author: “Many times he fell into those Things could not escape Laughter; as when he said in the Person of Cæsar, one speaking to him,—Cæsar, thou dost me wrong; he reply'd, Cæsar did never wrong, but with just Cause.”—I can't pretend to guess, for what Reason Ben has left this Sarcasm upon our Author; when there is no Room for it from any of the printed Copies: nor should I have thought it worth while to revive the Memory of such a Remark, had not Mr. Pope purposely deviated into a Criticism upon the Affair. There is a Sort of Fatality attends some People, when they aim at being hypercritical. “He thinks, Ben Jonson's Remark was made upon no better Credit, than some Blunder of an Actor in speaking the Verse now under Debate: And, perhaps, (says He,) this Play was never printed in B. Jonson's Time; and so he had nothing to judge by, but as the Actor was pleas'd to speak it.”—I don't know how this Gentleman's Head was employ'd, when he made this profound Observation: for He could not but know, that B. Jonson liv'd to the Year 1637, fourteen Years before which the Players had put out their Edition of all Shakespeare's genuine Plays in Folio. The surly Laureat therefore cannot stand excus'd, from any Blunder of an Actor, for wounding the Memory of a Poet; when the Absurdity, reflected on, is not to be found in his Works.

Note return to page 60 [18] (18) Stoop, Romans, stoop;] Mr. Pope, in both his Editions, has, from these Words, arbitrarily taken away the Remainder of this Speech from Brutus, and placed it to Casca: because, he thinks, nothing is more inconsistent with Brutus's mild and philosophical Character. And as he often finds Speeches in the later Editions, he says, put into wrong Mouths; he thinks, this Liberty is not unreasonable. 'Tis true, a diligent Editor may find many such Errors committed even in the first printed Copies; but it has not often been Mr. Pope's good Fortune to hit upon them. I dare warrant, the Printers made no Blunder in this Instance; and therefore I have made bold to restore the Speech to its right Owner. Brutus esteem'd the Death of Cæsar a Sacrifice to Liberty: and, as such, gloried in his heading the Enterprize. Besides, our Poet is strictly copying a Fact in History. Plutarch, in the Life of Cæsar, says, “Brutus and his Followers, being yet hot with the Murther, march'd in a Body from the Senate-house to the Capitol, with their drawn Swords, with an Air of Confidence and Assurance.” And, in the Life of Brutus,—“Brutus and his Party betook themselves to the Capitol, and in their way shewing their Hands all bloody, and their naked Swords, proclaim'd Liberty to the People.”

Note return to page 61 [19] (19) Shrunk to this little measure?] Perhaps, our Poet might have Juvenal in his View, here; &lblank; Mors sola fatetur, Quantula sint hominum Corpuscula. &lblank;

Note return to page 62 [20] (20) And crimson'd in thy Death.] All the old Copies, that I have seen, read, Lethe. The Dictionaries, indeed, acknowledge no such Word: and as the L might have mistakingly been form'd from an obscure D, not taking the Ink equally in all Parts, I have suffer'd the more known Word to stand in the Text; tho', indeed, I am not without Suspicion of our Poet's having either coin'd the other Term, or copied it from some obsolete Author, who had adopted it from the Lethum of the Latines; which, 'tis well known, was used for Death, as well as Destruction, Ruine, Havock, &c.

Note return to page 63 [21] (21) Seeing those Beds of Sorrow &lblank;] Thus Mr. Pope's two Editions, for what Reason I know not: but I have restor'd from all the other Copies, Beads; which was certainly the Poet's Word. Thus Lady Constance in King John; I; with these crystal Beads Heav'n shall be brib'd To do him Justice, and Revenge on You. And so Lady Percy in the I. Henry IV. Thy Spirit within thee hath been so at War, And thus hath so bestir'd thee in thy Sleep, That Beads of Sweat have stood upon thy Brow.

Note return to page 64 [22] (22) That day he overcame the Nervii.] This Circumstance about Cæsar's Mantle, (which I presume to be purely the Poet's Invention) abstracted from the Chronology, is very pretty. Perhaps, it has not so much Propriety, as Beauty, if we consider one thing. The Nervii were conquer'd in the 2d Year of his Gaulish Expedition, 17 Years before his Assassination, and 'tis hardly to be thought, that Cæsar preserv'd one Robe of State for so long a Period. Another Circumstance, pretty like This, we meet with in Hamlet; The Ghost of the Old King appearing, Horatio, in describing the Garb and Figure he had assum'd, says; Such was the very Armour he had on, When he th' ambitious Norway combated. Now Horatio, being a School-fellow of young Hamlet, could hardly know in what Armour the Old King kill'd Fortinbras of Norway; which happen'd on the very day, whereon young Hamlet was born. Besides, in strictness, why should the Ghost of the Old King walk in Armour, who was murther'd in Time of Peace, sleeping in his Garden? But these Circumstances and Strokes of Fancy dress up an amusing Picture, for which the Poet, perhaps, is neither accountable to Propriety, nor Probability.

Note return to page 65 [23] (23) On this side Tiber;] The Scene is here in the Forum near the Capitol, and in the most frequented Part of the City; but Cæsar's Gardens were very remote from that Quarter. Trans Tiberim longè cubat is prope Cæsaris hortos. says Horace: And both the Naumachia and Gardens of Cæsar were separated from the main City by the River; and lay out wide, on a Line with Mount Janiculum; where Statius, the Poet, was buried. Our Author therefore certainly wrote: On that side Tiber; &lblank; And Plutarch, whom Shakespeare very diligently studied, in the Life of Marcus Brutus, speaking of Cæsar's Will, expresly says, That he left to the Publick his Gardens and Walks beyond the Tiber; where, in that Author's Time, the Temple of Fortune stood.

Note return to page 66 [24] (24) SCENE, a small Island.] Mr. Rowe, and Mr. Pope after him, have mark'd the Scene here to be at Rome. The Old Copies say Nothing of the place. Shakespeare, I dare say, knew from Plutarch, that these Triumvirs met, upon the Proscription, in a little Island: which Appian, who is more particular, says, lay near Mutina upon the River Lavinius.

Note return to page 67 [25] (25) Upon Condition, Publius shall not live.] I don't know whom our Author means by this Publius. I know, that one Publius Silicius, as he is call'd by Plutarch, (and Sicilius, Coronas, by Dion Cassius;) fell under this Proscription: but the 3 Persons, about whom the Triumvirs had so particular a Squabble, were Cicero, whose Life Antony insisted on; Paulus, who was condemn'd by his own Brother Lepidus, according to some Accounts; and Lucius Cæsar, Antony's Uncle by the Mother's side, whose Blood Octavius demanded.

Note return to page 68 [26] (26) A barren-spirited Fellow, one that feeds On Objects, Arts, and Imitations, &c.] 'Tis hard to conceive, why He should be call'd a barren-spirited Fellow, that could feed either on Objects, or Arts: that is, as I presume, form his Ideas and Judgment upon them: stale and obsolete Imitation, indeed, fixes such a Character. I am perswaded, to make the Poet consonant to himself, we must read, as I have restored the Text. On abject Orts. &lblank; i. e. on the Scraps and Fragments of Things rejected, and despised by others. The Word Orts (which, as Skinner tells us, is of Teutonic Derivation, and signifies Fragmenta, Mensæ Reliquiæ) is not so much antiquated, tho' corrupted in the Pronunciation, but that Children are warn'd to this Day of leaving Orts on their Plate. Our Author has used the Word in several other Passages. As in Timon of Athens, the Thief says; It is some poor Fragment, some slender Ort of his Remainder; And, in Troilus: The Fractions of her Faith, Orts of her Love, The Fragments, Scraps, &c. And likewise in his Poem, call'd Tarquin and Lucrece, Stanz. 141. Let him have Time a Beggar's Orts to crave.

Note return to page 69 [27] (27) Cas. That you have wrong'd me, &c] This famous Quarrelling-Scene, which has given Rise to so many Imitations, (particularly, in the Maid's Tragedy; Mr. Dryden's Alteration of Troilus and Cressida; and in his Don Sebastian;) and which was receiv'd with so much Applause, that it is spoken of in one of the Preliminary Copies of Verses to the first Folio Impression of Shakespeare's Works, Or till I hear a Scene more nobly take, Than what thy half-sword parlying Romans spake. Yet this Scene seems to me to have been sneer'd at by the Swordsmen in Beaumont and Fletcher's King and no King: As of late Years it has met with a glancing Attack, by way of Banter, in a Scene betwixt Peachum and Lockit in the Beggar's Opera.—On the other hand, our Dryden had so just an Opinion of this fine Scene, that he has made no Scruple to prefer it to the Quarrel of Agamemnon and Menelaus, in the Iphigenia in Aulis of Euripides. “The particular Ground-work, says He, which Shakespeare has taken, is incomparably the best: because he has not only chosen two of the greatest Heroes of the Age, but has likewise interested the Liberty of Rome and their own Honours, who were the Redeemers of it, in the Debate.” Preface to Troilus and Cressida.

Note return to page 70 [28] (28) By any Indirectness] This is a Change of Mr. Pope's in both his Editions: for what Reason, I don't know. The Old Copies read, Indirection. It is a Word elsewhere used by our Poet; and Mr. Pope has pass'd it quietly, in Polonius of Hamlet.

Note return to page 71 [29] (29) And thus do We of Wisdom and of Reach With Windlaces, and with Assays of Byass By Indirections find Directions out. I do not, till you practise them on me.] But, surely, this was a very poor Excuse for the Philosophick Brutus to make. He is accus'd for making his Friends Faults greater than they were; he replies, I do not; till they were injurious to my self. Why, a Friend could have no Motive of Interest, or Passion, to aggravate a Friend's Faults, till they were directed against himself: And that was the Point, he was to justify himself upon, why he aggravated such Faults: which surely, is an unjust Practice. I read therefore; Bru. I do not: still you practise them on me. i. e. “I deny the Charge; and must tell you further, that this Charge is an Addition to your Faults.” This, if I mistake not, gives Sense and Propriety. Mr. Warburton.

Note return to page 72 [30] (30) Thou! awake.] The Accent is so unmusical and harsh, 'tis impossible, the Poet could begin his Verse thus. Brutus, certainly, was intended to speak to Both his other Men; who Both awake, and answer, at an instant. Mr. Warburton.

Note return to page 73 [31] (31) Three and thirty wounds.] Thus all the Editions implicitly; but I have ventur'd to reduce this Number to three and twenty from the joint Authorities of Appian, Plutarch, and Suetonius; and I am perswaded, the Error was not from the Poet, but his Transcribers. The same Mistake has happen'd in the Noble Gentleman, by Beaumont and Fletcher. So Cæsar fell, when in the Capitol They gave his Body two and thirty Wounds. For here we must likewise correct, three and twenty. Perhaps, the Number might be wrote in Figures; and those accidentally transpos'd.

Note return to page 74 [32] (32) Bru. Ev'n by the Rule] This Speech from Plutarch our Shakespeare has extremely soften'd in all the offensive parts of it; as any one may see, who consults the Original: And, with no less Caution, has omitted his famous Exclamation against Virtue. O Virtue! I have worship'd Thee as a real Good; but find thee only an unsubstantial Name. His great Judgment in this is very, remarkable, on two Accounts. First; in his Caution, not to give Offence to a moral Audience; and Secondly, as he has hereby avoided a Fault, in drawing his Hero's Character. For to have had Brutus gone off the Stage in the manner Plutarch represents it, would have suppress'd all that Pity (especially in a Christian Audience;) which it was the Poet's Business to raise. So that, as Shakespeare has manag'd this Character, he is as perfect a one for the Stage as Oedipus; which the Criticks so much admire. Mr. Warburton.

Note return to page 75 [33] (33) &lblank; Friends, I owe more Tears To this dead Man.] This Passage (but why, I know not) seems twice to have been sneer'd in Beaumont and Fletcher's Knight of the burning Pestle. Lucé crying over Jasper, her Sweetheart, suppos'd dead, says; Good Friends, depart a little, whilst I take My Leave of this dead Man, that once I lov'd. And Master Humphry, before, says to Lucé. I care not at what Price; for, on my Word, it Shall be repaid again, although it cost me More than I'll speak of now. &lblank;

Note return to page 76 [34] (34) &lblank; and to Tharsus send his Body,] Thus all the Editions hitherto, very ignorantly. But the whole Tenor of History warrants us to write, as I have restored the Text, Thassos.—Tharsos was a Town of Cilicia, in Asia Minor: and is it probable, Brutus could think of sending Cassius's Body thither out of Thrace, where they were now incamp'd? Thassos, on the contrary, was a little Isle lying close upon Thrace, and at but a small Distance from Philippi, to which the Body might very commodiously be transported. Vid. Plutarch, Appian, Dion Cassius, &c.

Note return to page 77 [35] (35) Farewel to thee, to Strato, Countrymen;] Thus has this Passage all along been absurdly pointed, to the Praise of our intelligent Editors. I had corrected it long ago; but am, notwithstanding, to make my Acknowledgments to an anonymous Gentleman, who, unknowingly concurr'd with me; and advis'd the Correction of the Pointing, as it is now reformed, by Letter.

Note return to page 78 [1] (1) Take but good Note, and you shall see in him The triple Pillar of the World transform'd Into a Strumpet's Fool.] I have not disturb'd the Text, because of the Concurrence of the Copies; because it is Sense, as the Passage may be commented; and because our Author is so licentious in his Metaphors. I must not, however, stifle my ingenious Friend Mr. Warburton's Note and Emendation on it. “A Pillar turn'd into a Fool? This is as odd a Transformation as any in all Ovid. But I am much inclin'd to think that Shakespeare wrote, The triple Pillar of the World transform'd Into a Strumpet's Stool. “Alluding to the common Custom of Strumpets sitting on the Laps of their Lovers. By this Correction the Metaphor is admirably well preserv'd, (for both Stool and Pillar are Things for Support,) and the Contrast in this Image is beautiful. The Supporter of the World turn'd to the Supporter of a Strumpet. And if we may suppose, Shakespeare had Regard, in the Use of this Word, to the Etymology, it will add a Quaintness to the Thought not unlike his Way, nor that of the Time he liv'd in; for Stool is deriv'd from &grS;&grt;&grua;&grl;&gro;&grst;, Columna; the Base or Pedestal of a Pillar having always been used for a Seat, where it was broad enough for that Purpose.

Note return to page 79 [2] (2) There's Beggary in the love, that can reckon'd.] So Juliet says, much to the same Effect, to Romeo. They are but Beggars, that can count their Worth. I will not venture to affirm these an Imitation from the Classics; but I'll quote Two Hemistichs that might very probably have given Rise to our Author's Reflexion on this Topick. Pauperis est numerare pecus &lblank; Ovid. &lblank; Populus numerabilis utpote parvus. Horat.

Note return to page 80 [3] (3) Oh, that I knew this Husband, which, you say, must change his Horns with Garlands.] Changing Horns with Garlands, is surely, a senseless unintelligible Phrase. We must restore, in Opposition to all the printed Copies, &lblank; which you say, must charge his Horns with Garlands. i. e. must be an honourable Cuckold, must have his Horns hung with Garlands. Charge and change frequently usurp each others Place in our Author's old Editions. I ought to take Notice, that Mr. Warburton likewise started this Emendation.

Note return to page 81 [4] (4) Then, belike, my Children shall have no Names.] i. e. They shall be illegitimate. This will be very clearly explain'd by quoting a Passage from The Two Gentlemen of Verona. Speed. Item, she hath many nameless Virtues. Launce. That's as much as to say, bastard Virtues; that, indeed, know not their Fathers, and therefore have no Names.

Note return to page 82 [5] (5) If every of your Wishes had a Womb, And foretold ev'ry Wish, a Million.] What foretold? If the Wishes foretold themselves? This can never be genuine, however it has pass'd hitherto upon the Editors. It makes the Word Womb absolutely superfluous, if only the telling her Wishes beforehand would help her to the Children. The Poet certainly wrote, If ev'ry of your Wishes had a Womb, And fertil ev'ry Wish, &lblank;

Note return to page 83 [6] (6) Char. Our worser Thoughts Heav'ns' mend. Alex. Come, his Fortune, his Fortune. O, let him marry a Woman, &c.] Whose Fortune does Alexas call out to have told? But, in short, This I dare pronounce to be so palpable and signal a Transposition, that I cannot but wonder it should have slipt the Observation of all the Editors: especially, of the sagacious Mr. Pope, who has made this Declaration, That if, throughout the Plays, had all the Speeches been printed without the very Names of the Persons, He believes, one might have applyed them with Certainty to every Speaker. But in how many Instances has Mr. Pope's Want of Judgment falsified this Opinion? The Fact is evidently this. Alexas brings a Fortune-teller to Iras and Charmian, and says Himself, We'll know all our Fortunes. Well; the Soothsayer begins with the Women; and some Joaks pass upon the Subject of Husbands and Chastity: After which, the Women, hoping for the Satisfaction of having something to laugh at in Alexas's Fortune, call to him to hold out his Hand, and wish heartily he may have the Prognostication of Cuckoldom upon him. The whole Speech, therefore, must be plac'd to Charmian, thus: Char. Our worser Thoughts Heav'n mend! Alexas,—come, his Fortune; his Fortune: &c. There needs no stronger Proof of This being a true Correction, than the Observation which Alexas immediately subjoins on their Wishes and Zeal to hear him abused. Alex. Lo, now! if it lay in their Hands to make me a Cuckold, they would make temselfes Whores but they'd do it. I propos'd this Transposition in the Appendix to my Shakespeare Restord, and Mr. Pope, notwithstanding his first infallible Opinion, has acceded to it in his last Edition of our Poet.

Note return to page 84 [7] (7) What our Contempts do often hurl from us, We wish it ours again;] If This be not Imitation, it is certainly such a Resemblance of Horace, as would be determin'd Imitation from a Pen of known and acknowledg'd Learning.   Virtutem incolumem odimus, Sublatam ex oculis quærimus invidi. Lib. III. Ode 24.

Note return to page 85 [8] (8) Which, like the Courser's hair, &c.] This alludes to an old Opinion, which obtain'd among the Vulgar, but which was too absurd to have the Sanction either of Philosophers or Natural Historians, that the Hair of a Horse in corrupted Water would take Life, and become an Animal. Perhaps, I may have met with our Author's Oracle for this absurd Opinion. Holingshead, in his Description of England, Vol. I. p. 224, has this Remark. “I might finally tell you how that in fenny Rivers Sides if you cut a Turf, and lay it with the Grass downwards upon the Earth, in such sort as the Water may touch it as it passeth by, you shall have a Brood of Eels; it would seem a Wonder, and yet it is believ'd with no less Assurance of some, than That an Horse-hair, laid in a Pail full of the like Water, will in a short time stir and become a living Creature. But sith the Certainty of these Things is rather prov'd by Few, than the Certainty of them known to many, I let it pass at this Time.”—Shakespeare, as a Poet, had nothing to do with the Truth of the Experiment, so he could furnish out a fine Simily from the receiv'd Tradition.

Note return to page 86 [9] (9) &lblank; My more particular, And that which most with you should save my Going, Is Fulvia's Death.] Thus all the more modern Editions: the 1st and 2d Folio's read, safe: All corruptedly Antony is giving several reasons to Cleopatra, which make his Departure from Ægypt absolutely necessary; most of them, reasons of State; but the Death of Fulvia, his Wife, was a particular and private Call, which demanded his Presence in Italy. But the printed Copies would rather make us believe, that Fulvia's Death should prevent, or save him the Trouble of Going. The Text, in this respect, I dare engage, runs counter to its Master's Meaning. Cleopatra is jealous of Antony's Absence; and suspicious that he is seeking Colours for his Going. Antony replies to her Doubts, with the Reasons that obliged him to be absent for a Time; and tells her, that, as his Wife Fulvia is dead, and so she has no Rival to be jealous of, that Circumstance should be his best Plea and Excuse, and have the greatest Weight with her for his Going. Who does not see now, that it ought to be read as I have reform'd the Text? &lblank; My more particular, And That which most with you should salve my Going, Is Fulvia's Death. So, before in Coriolanus. Come, go with us; speak fair; you may salve so Now what is dang'rous present, but the Loss Of what is past.

Note return to page 87 [10] (10) Where be the sacred Vials thou should'st fill With sorrowful Water?] This is one pregnant Instance of Shakespeare's Acquaintance with Antiquity. He plainly hints here at the Lacrymatories in use amongst the Greeks and Romans. And there is another Instance afterwards, no less pregnant in this very Play; I'll humbly signify what in his Name, That magical Word of War, we have effected. Nothing can give one a truer Idea of what the Romans meant by their Auspicium Ducis, than this magical Word of War: for they did indeed believe there was a kind of Magick in it, as we may see by all their Historians. Mr. Warburton. To these Lacrymatories above mention'd, I observe, Beaumont and Fletcher have likewise alluded in a Dirge in their Two Noble Kinsmen. Our Dole more deadly looks than dying, Balms, and Gums, and heavy Cheers, Sacred Vials fill'd with Tears, And Clamours thro' the wild Air flying. These Ampullæ Lacrymales are mention'd by Licetus in his Book De Lucernis Antiquorum reconditis; and I have seen of Them myself among the Curiosities of my late learned and honour'd Friend, Dr. Woodward.

Note return to page 88 [11] (11) It hath been taught us from the primal State, That He, which is, was wish'd until he were: And the ebbed Man, ne'er lov'd till ne'er worth Love, Comes fear'd, by being lack'd.] Let us examine the Sense of this in plain Prose. “The earliest Histories inform us, that the Man in supreme Command was always wish'd to gain that Command, till he had obtain'd it. And he, whom the multitude has contentedly seen in a low Condition, when he begins to be wanted by them, becomes to be fear'd by them.” But do the Multitude fear a Man, because they want him? Certainly, we must read; Comes dear'd, by being lack'd. i.e. endear d, a Favourite to them. Besides, the Context requires this Reading; for it was not Fear, but Love, that made the People flock to Young Pompey, and that occasion'd this Reflexion. Mr. Warburton.

Note return to page 89 [12] (12) Goes to, and back, lashing the varying Tide, To rot itself with Motion.] How can a Flag, or Rush, floating upon a Stream, and that has no Motion but what the Fluctuation of the Water gives it, be said to lash the Tide? This is making a Scourge of a weak ineffective Thing, and giving it an active Violence in its own power. All the old Editions read lacking. 'Tis true, there is no Sense in that Reading; but the Addition of a single Letter will not only give us good Sense, but the genuine Word of our Author into the Bargain. &lblank; Lackying the varying Tide, i. e. floating backwards and forwards with the Variation of the Tide, like a Page, or Lacquey, at his Master's Heels.

Note return to page 90 [13] (13) &lblank; At whose Foot, To mend the petty Present, I will piece Her opulent Throne with Kingdoms.] At whose Foot has relation neither to Cleopatra, nor her Throne: but means, that in sequel of the Present sent, he would second it with a richer. We have a similar Expression in the next Act. &lblank; I must thank him only, Least my Remembrance suffer ill Report; At heel of That defy him.

Note return to page 91 [14] (14) Who neigh'd so high, that what I would have spoke Was beastly dumb by him.] Alexas means, the Horse made such a neighing, that if he had spoke, he cou'd not have been heard. I suspect, the Poet wrote; Was beastly dumb'd by him. i. e. put to Silence. It is very usual, as I have observ'd, with Shakespeare, to coin Verbs out of Adjectives. So in Pericles, a Play attributed to our Author, Deep Clerks she dumbs. In like manner, in K. Richard II. My Death's sad Tale may yet undeaf his Ear.

Note return to page 92 [15] (15) &lblank; My sallad Days! When I was green in Judgment, cold in blood!] Cleopatra may speak very naturally here with Contempt of her Judgment at that Period, but how truly with Regard to the Coldness of her Blood, may admit some Question. Cæsar went into Ægypt in pursuit of Pompey, and had his Affair with Cleopatra in the Year U. C. 705. Antony and Cleopatra kill themselves in the Year 723, and she was then enter'd into her 39th Year: so that deducting 18 Years from her Demise to the Time of her Amour with Cæsar, we shall find her then full 20 Years old. If an Ægyptian could at those Years have reason to complain of Coldness of Blood, she must have a very particular Constitution. I must observe, however, in behalf of our Poet, that he has the Authority of Plutarch to bear him out, who speaking, in the Life of Mark Antony, of her Amour with Cæsar and young Pompey, uses this Expression; &GREs;&grk;&gre;&gric;&grn;&gro;&gri; &grm;&greg;&grn; &grg;&grag;&grr; &gras;&gru;&grt;&grhg;&grn; &gresa;&grt;&gri; &grK;&GROa;&grR;&grH;&grN; &grk;&gra;&grig; &grp;&grr;&gra;&grg;&grm;&graa;&grt;&grw;&grn; &grasa;&grp;&gre;&gri;&grr;&gro;&grn; &gresa;&grg;&grn;&grw;&grs;&gra;&grn;. I know very well the Latitude, and various significations, in which the Greeks us'd the Word &grk;&groa;&grr;&grh;: and therefore because our Author possibly might not have dealt with Plutarch in the Original, I'll subjoin the Version of this Passage from the old English Edition publish'd in Shakespeare's Time. For Cæsar and Pompey knew her when she was but a Young Thing, and knew not then what the World meant: but now she went to Antonius at the Age when a Woman's Beauty is at the Prime, and she also of best Judgment.

Note return to page 93 [16] (16) &lblank; We, ign'rant of our selves, Beg often our own Harms, which the wise Pow'rs Deny us for our Good.] If this be not an Imitation of the following incomparable Lines of Juvenal, they breathe so much of the same Spirit and Energy, as if the Soul of the Roman Satyrist had been transfus'd into our Poet. &lblank; Quid enìm Ratione timemus, Aut cupimus? Quid tàm dextro pede concipis, ut te Conatus non pœniteat, votique peracti? Evertêre domus totas optantibus ipsis Dii faciles &lblank; Nàm pro jucundis aptissima quæque dabunt Di. Carior est illis homo, quàm sibi. Nos animorum Impulsu, & cæcâ magnâque Cupidine ducti, &c. Sat. X.

Note return to page 94 [17] (17) My Powers are crescent, and my auguring Hope Says it will come to th' full] Thus the Editors implicitly one after another, with very peculiar Indolence. If one might ask them a Question in Grammar, what does the Relative it belong to? It cannot in Sense relate to Hope, nor in Concord to Powers. It is evident beyond a Doubt, that the Poet's Allusion is to the Moon: and that Pompey would say, He is yet but a half-Moon, or Crescent; but his Hopes tell him, that Crescent will come to a full Orb. To this Effect, therefore, I have ventur'd to reform the Text. The Poet uses the Word again in Midsummer Night's Dream. Moon. This Lanthorn doth the horned Moon present. Dem. He should have worn the horns on his head. Thes. He is no Crescent, and his horns are invisible within the Circumference.

Note return to page 95 [18] (18) &lblank; But let us rear The higher our Opinion, that our stirring Can from the Lap of Ægypt's Widow pluck The near lust-wearied Antony.] Sextus Pompeius, upon hearing that Antony is every hour expected in Rome, does not much relish the News. He is twice the Soldier, (says He,) that Octavius and Lepidus are; and I did not think, the petty War, which I am raising, would rouze him from his Amours in Ægypt.—But why should Pompey hold a higher Opinion of his own Expedition, because it awak'd Antony to Arms, who was near weary, almost surfeited, of lascivious Pleasures? Indolent and stupid Editors, that can dispense with Words without ever weighing the Reason of them! How easie is the Change to the true Reading! The ne'er lust wearied Antony. If Antony, tho' never tired of Luxury, yet mov'd from that Charm, upon Pompey's Stirring, it was a Reason for Pompey to pride himself upon being of such Consequence. I made this Emendation in the Appendix to my Shakespeare restor'd, and Mr. Pope has thought fit to correct his last Edition accordingly.

Note return to page 96 [19] (19) &lblank; Your Wife and Brother Made Wars upon me, and their Contestation Was theam for you, you were the Word of War.] The only Meaning of This can be, that the War, which Antony's Wife and Brother made upon Cæsar, was Theam for Antony too to make War; or was the Occasion why he did make War. But This is directly contrary to the Context, which shews, Antony did neither encourage them to it, nor second them in it. We cannot doubt then, but the Poet wrote; &lblank; and their Contestation Was theam'd for You; i. e. The Pretence of their War was on your Account, they took up Arms in your Name, and You were made the Theam and Subject of their Insurrection. Mr. Warburton.

Note return to page 97 [20] (20) Thou art a Soldier, only speak no more.] I think, the Transposition of the Comma here is absolutely necessary, because the Remove will give a Sense which the Context seems to require. The Argument betwixt Antony and Cæsar turns upon high Matters of State; and Enobarbus busily interposing with his blunt Reflections, Antony checks him, and would say, Don't you pretend to mix your Counsel in these Affairs, that are only a Soldier, and Action all your Talent.

Note return to page 98 [21] (21) If Cleopatra heard You, your proof were Well deserved of Rashness.] But was Agrippa's barely saying, that Antony was a Widower, any Proof that he was so? Besides, will Well deserved of Rashness run as the initial Part of a Verse, in Mr. Pope's Ear? If so, Emphasis and Cadence are tuned peculiarly, to his Service. I make no Scruple to restore, If Cleopatra heard You, your Approof Were well deserv'd of Rashness. I have in a former Note justified our Author's Usage of this Word, Approof, i. e. Allowance, admitting. And so the French use their approuver; i. e. grier, trouver bon.

Note return to page 99 [22] (22) O'erpicturing that Venus, where we see The Fancy outwork Nature.] The Poet seems here to be alluding to that fine Picture of Venus done by Apelles; the Beauty and Limbs of which, 'tis said, he copied from Campaspe, his beloved Mistress, whom he received at the hands of Alexander the Great. This celebrated Piece of his was call'd &grasa;&grf;&grr;&gro;&grd;&gria;&grt;&grh; &gras;&grn;&gra;&grd;&gru;&gro;&grm;&grea;&grn;&grh;. Venus rising out of the Sea: to which Ovid has paid so fine a Compliment in his third Book on The Art of Love. Si Venerem Cous nunquàm posuisset Apelles,   Mersa sub æquoreis Illa lateret aquis. Our Poet, speaking of a Sculpture of Diana and her Nymphs bathing, expresses himself with the same kind of Hyperbole as he does here concerning the Picture of Venus: &lblank; never saw I Figures So likely to report themselves; the Cutter Was as another Nature dumb, outwent her, Motion and Breath left out. Cymbeline.

Note return to page 100 [23] (23) If Beauty, Wisdom, Modesty, can settle The Heart of Antony, Octavia is A blessed Lottery to him.] Methinks, it is a very indifferent Compliment in Mecænas to call Octavia a Lottery, as if She might turn up blank, as well as prove a Prize to Antony. Mr. Warburton ingeniously conjectur'd, that the Poet wrote as I have reform'd the Text: there being as much Difference between Lottery and Allottery, as between a present Designation and a future Chance. Our Poet has used the Word, again, in his As You like it. &lblank; therefore allow me such Exercises as may become a Gentleman, or give me the poor Allottery my Father left me by Testament: with That I will go buy my Fortunes.

Note return to page 101 [24] (24) I see it in my Motion, have it not in my Tongue] What Motion? I can trace no Sense in this Word here, unless the Author were alluding to that Agitation of the Divinity, which Diviners pretend to when the Fit of Foretelling is upon them; but then, I think verily, he would have wrote, Emotion. I am persuaded, Shakespeare meant that the Soothsayer should say, he saw a Reason in his Thought or Opinion, tho' he gave that Thought or Opinion no Utterance. So Hamlet says to Horatio and the Watch, when he enjoyns them to Secrecy about his Father's Apparition; Give it an Understanding, but no Tongue. And Notion is a Word which our Author frequently chuses, to express the mental Faculties. Does Lear walk thus? speak thus? where are his Eyes? Either his Notion weakens, his Discernings Are lethargied, &c. K. Lear. &lblank; Your Judgments, my grave Lords, Must give this Curr the Lye; and his own Notion, Who wears my Stripes impress'd upon him, &c. Coriolanus. &lblank; And all Things else, that might To half a Soul, and to a Notion craz'd, Say, Thus did Banquo. Macbeth. Abus'd her delicate Youth with Drugs, or Minerals, That weaken Notion. Othello.

Note return to page 102 [25] (25) Thy Dæmon] Shakespeare calls That Dæmon in one Line, which he calls Angel in another: and This, I conceive, not accidentally, but knowingly. It is to be observ'd, that the antient Greek Authors always used the Word Dæmon in the Sense of God, Demi-god, or celestial Being; and that it had not the Signification of Devil, malignant or infernal Being, 'till after the Time of Christianity. Since that Period, it has been used for Both; but by the Christian Writers most commonly in the latter Sense. This is the Reason, why Apuleius intitled one of his Tracts De Deô Socratis, and not, as it should have been more classically, De Dæmoniô Socratis; when the Question in the Book was whether a Dæmon, i. e. an inferior or Demi-god did not attend that Philosopher; which he determines in the Affirmative. For had he done That, the Word Dæmon being become, since the preaching of the Gospel, so odious, Socrates would have been esteem'd a Dæmoniac, or One possess'd with an Evil Spirit. Mr. Warburton.

Note return to page 103 [26] (26) &lblank; whilst I wore his Sword Philippan.] We are not to suppose, nor is there any Warrant from History, that Antony had any particular Sword so call'd. The dignifying Weapons, in this Sort, is a Custom of much more recent Date. This therefore seems a Compliment à posteriori. We find Antony afterwards, in this Play, boasting of his own Prowess at Philippi. Ant. Yes, my Lord, yes; he at Philippi kept His Sword e'en like a Dancer, while I strook The lean and wrinkled Cassius; &c. That was the greatest Action of Antony's Life; and therefore This seems a fine Piece of Flattery, intimating, that his Sword ought to be denominated from that illustrious Battle, in the same manner as modern Heroes in Romance are made to give their Swords pompous Names.

Note return to page 104 [27] (27) Free, Madam! no; I have made no such Sport.] I don't know how to account for this odd Piece of Negligence in Mr. Pope. 'Tis true, this is the Reading in Mr. Rowe's Edition: and there are many Instances to suspect, that he implicitly follow'd the Steps of that Editor, without collating the Copies of better Authority. The elder Folio's both read plainly, as I have reform'd the Text.

Note return to page 105 [28] (28) &lblank; but that they would Have but one Man a Man?] What! were the Conspirators presum'd to have kill'd Cæsar, because they would have but one Man a Man? What Mock-reasoning is this? If they would have but one Man a Man (i. e. a Man &grk;&gra;&grt;&grap; &gre;&grc;&gro;&grq;&grhg;&grn;, eminent above, and overtopping all others;) it was the Height of Cæsar's Ambition to be such a One, and therefore They should rather have let him live. We find Cassius complaining to Brutus of this aspiring Spirit, these Aims at Supremacy, in Cæsar. When could they say till now, that talk'd of Rome, That her wide Walls encompass'd but one Man? Sure. I think, I pointed out before to Mr. Pope, in my Shakespeare Restor'd, the true Reading of this Passage, from the two elder Folio's, would he but have embraced it. &lblank; but that they would Have One Man but a Man? i. e. They would have no One aim at arbitrary Power, and a Degree of Preheminence above the rest. What did they kill Cæsar for, but to prevent his aspiring above his Fellow Countrymen?

Note return to page 106 [29] (29) The Holding ev'ry Man shall beat as loud, As his strong Sides can volly.] A Boy is design'd here to sing a Song, and all the Company are to join in the Burthen, which the Poet styles, the Holding. But how were they to beat this with their Sides? If they were, at a certain Part of the Tune, either to have clap'd their Hands, or stamp'd with their Feet, I should have understood this as Beating. I am persuaded, the Poet wrote: The Holding ev'ry Man shall bear, as loud As his strong Sides can volly. The Breast and Sides are immediately concern'd in straining to sing as loud and forcibly as a Man can. So, at the Huntsman's Song, in As You like it, we find inserted by way of marginal Direction, The rest shall bear this Burthen.

Note return to page 107 [30] (30) O Antony, you hate my Father's house; But, what! we're Friends.] This is a Reading of Mr. Pope's, as I conceive, ex plenitudine suæ potestatis; for None of the Copies, that I have seen, lend it any Sanction. He imagines, it must be hate, I presume, because That is a Contrast to Friends in the ensueing Verse. But I'll be bold to say, This is perverting our Author's Meaning. Pompey regretted at Antony's living in his Father's House: and retorts upon him for it, in a foregoing Scene. Pomp. &lblank; at Land, indeed, Thou do'st o'ercount me of my Father's House: But since the Cuckow builds not for himself, Remain in't as Thou may'st. Our Poet is alluding to a Witticism of young Pompey's, which has deserv'd the Notice of many of the Classics. Some Readers may not be displeas'd to have the Fact set in a full Light. We are to remember, there was a Street in old Rome call'd Carinæ; (or Galley-street, as we might term it;) it is mention'd by Virgil in his 8th Æneid. &lblank; passimque armenta videbant Romanoque Foro, & lautis mugire Carinis. v. 360 And it is likewise mention'd by Horace in his Epistles; &lblank; atque Foro nimiùm distare Carinas Jam grandis natu queritur. Lib. I. Ep. 7. It lay in a Quarter of Rome, betwixt Mount Esquilin and Porta Capena. For by a Passage in Titus Livius (as Mons. Dacier has observ'd;) it is manifest, if you enter'd the City at Porta Capena, you must go thro' Carinæ before you could came to the Esquiline Quarter.—Fulvius Flaccus Portâ Capenâ cum Exercitu Romam ingressus, mediâ urbe per Carinas Esquilias contendit. The Houses there, as Servius tells us, were built in Resemblance of Gallies. So much as to the Situation, and Reason of the Name. We are now to remember, that Pompey the Great had a fine House in this Street; which, after his Death, Antony got Possession of, and pretended he would purchase, tho' he never paid for it. This was a double Heart-burning to young Pompey. When therefore (upon an Interview had for Accommodation of Differences,) Pompey was to treat Octavius Cæsar and Antony, he appointed the Entertainment on Board his Vessels, and said sarcastically, These are now my Gallies; meaning he had lost his House in Galley-street. Velleius Paterculus has recorded this Story, and explain'd the Satire.—In Carinis suis se cœnam dare. Referens hoc Dictum ad loci nomen in quo paterna Domus ab Antonio possidebatur. But it is still more plainly told in a Supplement to Aurelius Victor.—Pace factâ epulatus in Navi cum Antonio & Cæsare, non invenusté ait, Hæ sunt meæ Carinæ: quià Romæ in Carinis domum ejus Antonius tenebat. Plutarch has taken Notice of the Satire, but did not know how to transfuse the Equivocal Joak, lying in the Word Carinæ. But Dion Cassius, in the 48th Book of his Roman History, has been express in the Story, and ventur'd to explain the Ambiguity in which the Satire consisted. To this noted Witticism, I insist, our Author is alluding; and it is very artful, as well as natural, in the Poet to make young Pompey say, considering he had this particular Injury so much at Heart, O Antony, you have my Father's House. &lblank;

Note return to page 108 [31] (31) &lblank; A lower Place, note well, May make too great an Act.] Plutarch particularly takes notice, that Ventidius was careful to act only on Lieutenantry; and cautious of aiming at any Glory in his own Name and Person. But the Sentiments, he throws in here, seem directly copied from Quintus Curtius, in Antipater's Behaviour with Regard to Alexander. &lblank; Et quanquam Fortuna rerum placebat, invidiam tamen, quià majores res erant, quàm quas Præfecti modus caperet, metuebat. Quippe Alexander hostes vinci voluerat; Antipatrum vicisse ne tacitus quidem indignabatur; suæ demptum gloriæ existimans, quicquid cessisset alienæ. Itaque Antipater, qui probé nosset Spiritum ejus, non est ausus ipse agere arbitria victoriæ. Lib. VI. cap. 1.

Note return to page 109 [32] (32) Thou hast, Ventidius, That, without the which A Soldier and his Sword grants scarce Distinction.] This is obscurely expressed, but the Meaning must be this. “Thou hast That, Ventidius, which, if Thou hadst not, there is scarce any Distinction betwixt a Soldier and his Sword: they are equally cutting and senseless. But what Thing is That here meant? Why, Wisdom, or a Knowledge of the World. Ventidius had told him the Reason, why he did not pursue his Advantages, upon which his Friend pays him this Compliment: 'Tis Wisdom makes the Man; without That, the Soldier and his Sword are equally two senseless Pieces of Matter. Mr. Warburton.

Note return to page 110 [33] (33) Let not the Piece of Virtue, which is set Betwixt us, as the Cement of our Love, To keep it builded, be the Ram to batter The Fortune of it:&lblank;] There is no Consonance of Metaphor preserv'd in the Close of this Sentence; Love is here presented under the Image of a Fabrick; and Cement, builded, and the Ram to batter, have all an Agreement with this Image: but what Analogy is there to This, in the Word Fortune? Or what Idea can the Fortune of a Building furnish? I corrected some Years ago, in Print, by Conjecture, Fortress: and to my Satisfaction, so soon as I was Master of the first Folio Edition, upon consulting it, I found, I had struck out the true Reading.

Note return to page 111 [34] (34) Believe't, till I weep too.] I have ventur'd to alter the Tense of the Verb here, against the Authority of all the Copies. There was no Sense in it, I think, as it stood before. Enobarbus would say, “Indeed, Antony seem'd very free of his Tears that Year; and believe me, bewail'd all the Mischiefs he did, till I my self wept too”. This appears to me very sarcastical. Antony's Tears, he would infer, were dissembled: but Enobarbus wept in real Compassion of the Havock and Slaughters committed on his Countrymen.

Note return to page 112 [35] (35) When the best Hint was giv'n him, he o'erlook'd, Or did it from his Teeth.] The first Folio reads, not look'd. Dr. Thirlby advis'd the Emendation which I have inserted in the Text.

Note return to page 113 [36] (36) &lblank; The mean time, Lady, I'll raise the Preparation of a War, Shall stain your Brother;] Thus the printed Copies unanimously. But, sure, Antony, whose Business here is to mollify Octavia, does it with a very ill Grace: and 'tis a very odd way of satisfying her, to tell her, the War, he raises, shall stain, i. e. cast an Odium upon her Brother. I have no Doubt, but we must read, with the Addition only of a single Letter, Shall strain your Brother. &lblank; i. e. Shall lay him under Constraints; shall put him to such Shifts, that he shall neither be able to make a Progress against, or to prejudice, Me. And this Emendation is precisely consonant to what Plutarch says; that Octavius, understanding the sudden and wonderfull Preparations of Antony, was not a little astonish'd at it; for he himself was in many Wants; and the People were sorely oppress'd with the great and grievous Exactions of Money. For every Person of Condition was oblig'd to furnish the fourth part of his Goods and Revenues; and the very Libertines (i. e. those, whose Fathers had once been Bondmen, and were enfranchised) were taxed an eighth part of all their Goods to be raised at one Payment.

Note return to page 114 [37] (37) &lblank; but you are come A Market-maid to Rome; and have prevented The Ostentation of our Love, which left unshewn,] This dragging, inharmonious Alexandrine, I am perswaded, is the Manufacture of our Player-Editors. They lov'd a sounding Word; and seeing One that did not so fully answer that End, and one that they, perhaps, were not immediately acquainted with, they doubtless, took it for an Abbreviation. I dare say, the Poet wrote; The Ostent of our Love, which, left unshewn, i. e. the shewing, Token, Demonstration of our Love: and he uses it Both in these Acceptations, and likewise to signify Ostentation. The Alexandrine therefore is wholly unnecessary. Merchant of Venice: Use all th' Observance of Civility, Like one well studied in a sad Ostent To please his Grandam. And again; Be merry, and employ your chiefest Thoughts To Courtship, and such fair Ostents of Love, As shall conveniently become you there. And in K. Henry V. Giving full Trophy, Signal, and Ostent, Quite from himself to God.

Note return to page 115 [38] (38) &lblank; Which soon he granted, Being an Abstract 'tween his Lust and him.] Antony very soon comply'd to let Octavia go, at her Request, says Cæsar; and why? Because she was an abstract between his inordinate Passion and him. If Mr. Pope, or any other of the Editors understand this, I'll willingly submit to be taught the Meaning: but till then, I must believe, the Poet wrote; Being an Obstruct 'tween his Lust and him. i. e. His Wife being an Obstruction, a Bar, to the Prosecution of his wanton Pleasures with Cleopatra. And I am the rather convinc'd that this is the true Reading, because Mr. Warburton started the Emendation too, unknowing that I had meddled with the Passage. And the judicious Readers of Shakespeare must have observ'd, that he is fond of coining Substantives out of Verbs without giving them the Deflections of Nouns: So He uses Affects for Affections, Impresse for Impression, Impose for Imposition, Sollicits for Sollicitations, Compare for Comparison, Protest for Protestation, Depart for Departure, Effuse for Effusion, Prepare for Preparation, Accuse for Accusation, &c. &c.

Note return to page 116 [39] (39) &lblank; and the high Gods, To do you justice, make his Ministers Of Us, and those that love you.] Why must Shakespeare be guilty of such an obvious false Concord? the high Gods make his Ministers? He has not writ thus in a Parallel Passage; and therefore the Absurdity ought to be laid to the Editors. Macbeth Is ripe for shaking, and the Pow'rs above Put on their Instruments. Macbeth.

Note return to page 117 [40] (40) Mine Honesty and I begin to square; The Loyalty, well held to Fools, does make Our Faith meer Folly: &c.] If I see any thing of the Poet's Sentiment in this Passage, Both the Text and Pointing are slightly deprav'd; and, I think, I have reform'd Both justly. After Enobarbus has said, that his Honesty and he begin to quarrel, (i. e. that his Reason shews him to be mistaken in his firm Adherence to Antony;) he immediately falls into this generous Reflexion: “Tho' Loyalty, stubbornly preserv'd to a Master in his declin'd Fortunes, seems Folly in the Eyes of Fools; (i. e, Men, who have not Honour enough to think more wisely;) yet he, who can be so obstinately loyal, will make as great a Figure on Record, as the Conqueror.

Note return to page 118 [41] (41) Most kind Messenger; Say to great Cæsar this in Disputation, I kiss his conqu'ring hand:] Again, the Pointing and Text must be corrected. If the Sagacious Editors can reasonably expound Disputation, here, I allow them to see farther into a Millstone than I pretend to do. The Poet certainly wrote, (as Mr. Warburton likewise saw, we must restore;) Most kind Messenger, Say to great Cæsar this; in Deputation I kiss his conqu'ring hand: i. e. by Proxy; I depute you to pay him that Duty in my Name. Our Author has employ'd this Word in sev'ral other Passages. Lent him our Terror, drest him with our Love, And giv'n his Deputation all the Organs Of our own Pow'r. Meas. for Meas. And that his Friends by Deputation Could not so soon be drawn. 1 Henry IV. Of all the Fav'rites, that the absent King In Deputation left behind him here. Ibid. &lblank; Sometimes, great Agamemnon, Thy topless Deputation he puts on. Troilus, &c. &c.

Note return to page 119 [42] (42) By the discattering of this pelletted Storm,] This Reading we owe first, I presume, to Mr. Rowe: and Mr. Pope has very faithfully fall'n into it. The old Folio's read, discandering: from which Corruption both Dr. Thirlby and I saw, we must retrieve the Word with which I have reform'd the Text. Cleopatra's Wish is this; that the Gods would ingender Hail and poyson it; and that as it fell upon her and her Subjects, and melted, their Lives might determine, as That dissolv'd and discandied: the congealing of the Water into Hail he metaphorically calls candying: and it is an Image he is fond of, in several other Passages. So, in the next Act of this very Play; &lblank; The Hearts, &lblank; to whom I gave Their Wishes, do discandy, melt their Sweets On blossoming Cæsar. Ten Consciences, that stand 'twixt me and Milan, Candied be They, and melt ere they molest. Tempest. &lblank; will the cold Brook, Candied with Ice, cawdle thy Morning Taste To cure thy o'er night's Surfeit? Timon of Athens. No, let the candied Tongue lick absurd Pomp; Hamlet. Why, what a deal of candied Courtesie This fawning Greyhound then did proffer me! I Henry IV.

Note return to page 120 [43] (43) &lblank; Let our best Heads know, That to morrow the last of Battles We mean to fight.] I might very reasonably return Mr. Pope one of his own Civilities here, and say, the intermediate Line is in his Ear a Verse. But I have a better Opinion of his Ear than I have of his Industry, one of the Qualifications necessary to a good Editor. A small Observation of the Measure, mix'd with a little Diligence in collating, might have taught him to regulate the Lines, and to have avoided this hobbling, inharmonious, Monster of a Verse.

Note return to page 121 [44] (44) 1 Sold. Musick i'th' Air. &lblank; 3 Sold. Under the Earth. &lblank; It sings well, does it not?] Sings well? Tho' this may possibly be a technical Term, sometimes apply'd to instrumental Musick; yet we owe it here, as we do so many other Absurdities, to the Indolence or Ignorance of our modern Editors. The old Impressions concur in reading, as I have restor'd the Text; It signes well, does it not? i. e. Is it a good Omen? Does it portend well to our General?

Note return to page 122 [45] (45) Eros. The Gods make This a happy Day to Antony!] 'Tis evident, as Dr. Thirlby likewise conjectur'd, by what Antony immediately replies, that this Line should not be placed to Eros, but to the Soldier, who, before the Battle of Actium, advis'd Antony to try his Fate at Land. Sold. Oh, noble Emperor, do not fight by Sea; Trust not to rotten Planks; Do you misdoubt This Sword, and these my Wounds?

Note return to page 123 [46] (46) &lblank; the three-nook'd World Shall bear the Olive freely.] The Poet makes Cæsar speak according to the Geography of those Days; Europe, Asia, and Africk making but three Angles of the Globe: and the American Parts not being then discover'd.

Note return to page 124 [47] (47) &lblank; run One before, And let the Queen know of our Guests.] What Guests was the Queen to know of? Antony was to fight again on the morrow; and he had not yet said a Word of marching to Alexandria, and treating his Officers in the Palace. We must restore, as Mr. Warburton likewise prescribes; And let the Queen know of our Gests. i. e. res geste; our Feats, our glorious Actions. It is a Term, that frequently occurs in Chaucer; and, after him, in Spencer; nor did it cease to be current for some time after our Author's Days.

Note return to page 125 [48] (48) Commend unto his Lips thy savouring Hand.] Antony is here recommending One of his Captains, who had fought valiantly, to Cleopatra; and desires, he may have the Grace of kissing her Hand. But why, savouring Hand? He did not want his Captain to grow in Love with his Mistress, on Account of the Flavour and Lusciousness of her Hand; but only to have a Reward of Honour from the Queen for his good Service. I therefore believe, the Poet wrote; Commend unto his Lips thy favouring Hand. Tho' none of the printed Copies countenance this Reading, yet nothing is more common at Press than for an s to usurp the place of an f, and so vice versâ.

Note return to page 126 [49] (49) Oh, Sun, thy Uprise shall I see no more:] Ajax in Sophocles, when he is on the point of killing himself, addresses to the Sun in a manner not much unlike This. &grS;&greg; &grd;&grap; &grwsg; &grf;&gra;&gre;&grn;&grn;&grhc;&grst; &grhr;&grm;&grea;&grr;&gra;&grst; &grt;&grog; &grn;&gruc;&grn; &grs;&grea;&grl;&gra;&grst;, &grK;&gra;&grig; &grt;&grog;&grn; &grd;&gri;&grf;&grr;&gre;&gru;&grt;&grhg;&grn; &grhra;&grl;&gri;&gro;&grn; &grp;&grr;&gro;&grs;&gre;&grn;&grn;&grea;&grp;&grw;, &grP;&gra;&grn;&grua;&grs;&grt;&gra;&grt;&gro;&grn; &grd;&grhg;, &grk;&gro;&grusa;&grp;&gro;&grt;&grap; &gra;&grusc;&grq;&gri;&grst; &grura;&grs;&grt;&gre;&grr;&gro;&grn;.

Note return to page 127 [50] (50) &lblank; The Hearts, That pannell'd me at Heels, &c.] Pannelling at Heels must mean here, following: but where was the Word ever found in such a Sense? Pannell signifies but three Things, that I know, in the English Tongue, none of which will suit with the Allusion here requisite; viz. That Roll, or Schedule of Parchment on which the Names of a Jury are enter'd, which therefore is call'd empanelling; a Pane, or Slip of Wainscott; and a Packsaddle for Beasts of Burthen. The Text is corrupt, and Shakespeare must certainly. have wrote; That pantler'd me at Heels; i. e. run after Me like Footmen, or Pantlers; which Word originally signified, the Servants who have the Care of the Bread; but is used by our Poet for a menial Servant in general, as well as in its native Acceptation. &lblank; a base Slave; A Hilding for a Liv'ry, a Squire's Cloth: A Pantler. Cymbeline. &lblank; when my old Wife liv'd, upon This Day She was both Pantler, Butler, Cook, Both Dame and Servant. Winter's Tale. He would have made a good Pantler, he would have chip'd Bread well. 2 Henry IV. Mr. Warburton. To strengthen my Friend's ingenious Emendation, I'll throw in a Passage, or two, where our Poet has express'd himself in a similar Manner. Gave him their Heirs; as Pages following him Ev'n at the Heels, in golden Multitudes. 1 Henry IV. And there is another Passage, in which, as here, he has turn'd the Substantive into a Verb. &lblank; will these moist Trees, That have out-liv'd the Eagle, page thy Heels, And skip when thou point'st out? Timon of Athens.

Note return to page 128 [51] (51) &lblank; Most monster-like be shewn For poor'st Diminutives, for Dolts:] Both Dr. Thirlby and Mr. Warburton have suspected, that Shakespeare wrote—for Doits: i. e. for that small Piece of Money, so call'd. I should not be stagger'd at the Transgression against Chronology in this Point, the Coin being of much more recent Date than the Time of the Romans; because I find him in another Play make a Roman of an earlier Period mention it: See here these Movers! that do prize their Honours At a crack'd Drachm; Cushions, leaden Spoons, Irons of a Doit, &lblank; But I have not disturb'd the Text for another Reason; because, perhaps, the Poet's Meaning may be, that Cleopatra should become a Show, a Spectacle to the Scum and Rabble of Rome; to Blockheads, and People of the lowest Rank. Cleopatra speaks twice afterwards to the same Effect, in this Play. &lblank; Shall they hoist me up, And shew me to the shouting Varlotry Of censuring Rome? And, again; Thou, an Ægyptian Puppet, shalt be shewn In Rome as well as I: mechanick Slaves With greasy Aprons, Rules, and Hammers shall Uplift us to the View. So, in Macbeth; &lblank; Then yield thee, Coward; And live to be the Shew and Gaze o'th' Time: We'll have thee, as our rarer Monsters are, Painted upon a Pole, &c. And, besides, our Author uses both the Words Dolts and Diminutives in other Places, speaking in Contempt of the Rabble. Cres. Here come more. Pand. Asses, fools, dolts, chaff and bran, chaff and bran; porridge after meat. Troilus and Cressida. Ah! how the poor World is pester'd with such Water-flies, diminutives of Nature. Ibid.

Note return to page 129 [52] (52) &lblank; teach me, Alcides, thou mine Ancestor, thy Rage; Let me lodge Lichas on the horns o'th' Moon, And with those hands that grasp'd the heaviest Club, Subdue my worthiest Self.] I have long suspected this Passage of being faulty: for, suppose, Hercules could make Antony as mad as himself, could he make him lodge Lichas too on the Moon? Nay, and could he make him subdue himself too, with Hercules's Hands? Then, why should Antony give himself that complimental Title of his worthiest Self? If the Text be indeed genuine, as it now stands, it wants to be help'd out with a Comment; and Anthony would say, “Teach me thy Rage, O Hercules, that I may take the same Vengeance on Cleopatra for injuring me, as Thou did'st on Lichas; and then that I may imitate Thee too in destroying Myself with my own Hands.”—But the Words do not of themselves import This: and my worthiest Self I cannot but think liable to Exception. Tho' I have not disturb'd the Text, I should chuse to read: &lblank; teach me, Alcides, Thou mine Ancestor, thy Rage; Help'd thee lodge Lichas on the horns o'th' Moon, And with those hands, that grasp'd the heaviest Club, Subdue thy worthiest Self. i. e. “Inspire me with that Rage, which assisted Thee both to destroy Lichas, and to subdue thy most worthy Self with thy own Hands.” This Sense the Words carry naturally; and the complimental Epithet is with great Justness and Propriety apply'd to Hercules, whom Antony was fond to esteem his Ancestor.

Note return to page 130 [53] (53) Seal then, and all is done.] Antony had offended Cleopatra with his Suspicions; he is here about doing something to deserve her Pardon: and he thinks, stabbing himself will seal That Pardon.

Note return to page 131 [54] (54) Dido and her Æneas shall want Troops, And all the Haunt be ours. &lblank;] Tho' I have not alter'd the Text, I must subjoin Mr. Warburton's ingenious Conjecture and Comment on this Passage. “Virgil was the Inventor of the Amours of Dido and Æneas; (who, by the Bye, wrote this Tale after Antony's Death;) but the same Virgil tells us, her Fondness did not reach to the other World. She there despis'd Æneas, and return'd to her old Affection for Sichæus. Tandem corripuit sese, atque inimica refugit, In Nemus umbriferum: Conjunx ubi pristinus illi Respondet curis, æquatque Sichæus amorem. Æneid. VI. I say therefore, Shakespeare wrote; Dido and her Sichæus &lblank; And the Allusion of Antony to Sichæus is perfectly just and fine: Sichæus was murther'd by his Brother Pygmalion for his Wealth, on which, his Wife Dido fled. So Antony was fought and defeated at Actium by his Brother Octavius for his Share of the Mastership of the World: whereon, Cleopatra fled from the Victor's Rage into Ægypt.” However, on the other hand, perhaps, Shakespeare might have no Intention of copying Virgil, in making Dido return to her Affection for her Husband: Perhaps, he might chuse to make Antony mention Æneas, as an Ancestor: and I observe besides, that Beaumont and Fletcher, (in their Two Noble Kinsmen; a Play, in which, it is said, our Author had a Share:) suppose Dido to have retain'd her Passion for Æneas after Death. For in the next World will Dido see Palamon, and then will She be out of Love with Æneas.

Note return to page 132 [55] (55) I here importune Death a while, until Of many thousand Kisses the poor last I lay upon thy Lips. Cleo. I dare not, dear, Dear my Lord, pardon; I dare not, least I be taken.] What curious hobbling Versification do we encounter here in the last Line but one? Besides, how inconsistently is the Lady made to reply? Antony says, he only holds Life, 'till he can give her one last Kiss: and She cries, She dares not: What dares She not do? Kiss Antony? But how should She? She was above lock'd in her Monument; and He below, on the Outside of it. With a very slight Addition, I think, I can cure the whole; and have a Sort of Warrant from Plutarch for it into the Bargain. I here importune Death awhile, until Of many thousand Kisses the poor last I lay upon thy Lips.—Come down. Cleo. I dare not, (Dear, dear my Lord, your Pardon, that I dare not,) Least I be taken. Now Plutarch says, that “Antony was carried in his Men's Arms into the Entry of the Monument: Notwithstanding, Cleopatra would not open the Gates, but came to the high Windows, and cast out certain Chains and Ropes, &c.”—So that Antony might very reasonably desire her to come down; and She as reasonably excuse herself, for fear of being insnared by Cæsar.

Note return to page 133 [56] (56) Enter Cæsar, Agrippa, Dolabella, and Menas.] But Menas and Menecrates, we may remember, were the two famous Pirates link'd with Sextus Pompeius, and who assisted him to infest the Italian Coast. We no where learn, expresly in the Play, that Menas ever attach'd himself to Octavius's Party. Notwithstanding the old Folio's concur in marking the Entrance thus, yet in the two places in the Scene, where this Character is made to speak, they have mark'd in the Margin Mec. so that, as Dr. Thirlby sagaciously conjectur'd, we must cashier Menas, and substitute Mecænas in his Room. Menas, indeed, deserted to Cæsar no less than twice, and was preferr'd by him. And Horace has left one Ode, a virulent Invective on Menas for his Shifting and Treachery.

Note return to page 134 [57] (57) Dol. Cæsar, I shall.] I make no Doubt, but it should be mark'd here, that Dolabella goes out. 'Tis reasonable to imagine, he should presently depart, upon Cæsar's Command; so that the Speeches, placed to him in the sequel of this Scene, must be transferr'd to Agrippa, or he is introduced as a Mute. Besides, that Dolabella should be gone out, appears from This, that when Cæsar asks for him, he recollects that he had sent him on Business.

Note return to page 135 [58] (58) Look you, sad Friends.] I observ'd in the Appendix to my Shakespeare restor'd, that it was requisite to transpose this Comma. Octavius's Friends probably would avoid shewing any Concern on the News of Antony's Death, lest it should give Displeasure to Cæsar: which Cæsar observing, it shews a noble Humanity in him to bid them share in such a Sorrow, and to tell them it is a Calamity, that ought to draw Tears even from the Eyes of Princes. Young Prince Henry, upon his Father's Death, speaks just in the same manner to his Brothers; and tho' he would not have them mix Fear with their Affliction, he encourages them in their Sorrow. Yet be sad, good Brothers; For, to speak Truth, it very well becomes you. 2 Henry IV.

Note return to page 136 [59] (59) Which sleeps, and never palates more the Dung, The Beggar's Nurse, and Cæsar's.] Our Poet has made Antony say, at the Beginning of this Tragedy, that &lblank; the dungy Earth alike Feeds Beast, as Man: but how are we to understand here, palating the Dung? The Text is certainly corrupt, and must be slightly help'd; and tho' then we can't make it strictly grammatical, we shall come at the Poet's detach'd and separate Allusions. I read, Which sleeps and never palates more the Dug: I'll explain the whole of Cleopatra's Reflections, as they lie, by a short Paraphrase. “'Tis Great in us to do that Action, (i. e. give our selves Death,) which puts an End to all other Actions; and which prevents and disappoints Accidents and Change of Fortune. While in Life, like slumbering Children, we palate and tamper for the Dug; but in the sleep of Death, we hone no more after transitory Enjoyments. Death rocks us all into a fast and unbroken sleep; and is equally a Nurse to the Beggar, in this respect, as it is to Cæsar”. The Close of this Reflection is just what Horace has express'd by a different Image. Pallida Mors æquo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas, Regumque turres. Lib. I. Ode. 4. Mr. Warburton.

Note return to page 137 [60] (60) Char. You see, how easily she may be surpriz'd,] Here Charmian, who is so faithful as to die with her Mistress, by the stupidity of the Editors is made to countenance and give Directions for her being surpriz'd by Cæsar's Messengers. But this Blunder is for want of knowing, or observing, the historical Fact. When Cæsar sent Proculeius to the Queen, he sent Gallus after him with new Instructions: and while one amused Cleopatra with Propositions from Cæsar, thro' Crannies of the Monument; the other scaled it by a Ladder, enter'd at a Window backward, and made Cleopatra, and those with her, Prisoners. I have reform'd the Passage therefore, (as, I am perswaded, the Author design'd it;) from the Authority of Plutarch.

Note return to page 138 [61] (61) A Sun and Moon which kept their Course, and lighted The little o'th' Earth. Dol. &lblank; Most sov'reign Creature!] What a blessed limping Verse these two Hemistichs give us! Had none of the Editors an Ear to find the Hitch in its Pace? 'Tis true, there is but a Syllable wanting, and that, I believe verily, was but of a single Letter; which the first Editors not understanding, learnedly threw it out as a Redundance. I restore, The little O o'th' Earth. i. e. the little Orb or Circle. And, 'tis plain, our Poet in other Passages chuses to express himself thus, Ros. O, that your Face were not so full of O'es. Love's Lab. lost. i. e. of round Dimples, Pitts with the small Pox. &lblank; Can this Cockpit hold The vasty Field of France? or can we cram, Within this wooden O, the very Casques, That did affright the Air, at Agincourt? Prol. to Henry V. Fair Helena, who more engilds the Night Than all yon fiery O's and Eyes of Light. Midsummer Night's Dream. i. e. the Circles, Orbs. of the Stars.

Note return to page 139 [62] (62) &lblank; For his Bounty, There was no Winter in't: an Antony it was, That grew the more by reaping.] There was certainly a Contrast, both in the Thought and Terms, design'd here, which is lost in an accidental Corruption. How could an Antony grow the more by reaping? I'll venture, by a very easy Change; to restore an exquisite fine Allusion: and which carries its Reason with it too, why there was no Winter (i. e. no Want, Bareness,) in his Bounty. &lblank; For his Bounty, There was no Winter in't: an Autumn 'twas, That grew the more by reaping. I ought to take Notice, that the ingenious Dr. Thirlby likewise started this very Emendation, and had mark'd it in the Margin of his Book. The Reason of the Depravation might easily arise from the great Similitude of the two. Words in the old way of spelling, Antonie and Automne. Our Author has employ'd this Thought again in a Poem, call'd, True Admiration. Speak of the Spring and Foyzen of the Year,   The One doth shadow of your Beauty shew; The other as your Bounty doth appear;   And you in ev'ry blessed shape we know. For 'tis plain, that Foyzen means Autumn here, which pours out its Profusion of Fruits bountifully; in Opposition to Spring, which only shews the youthful Beauty, and Promise of that future Bounty.

Note return to page 140 [63] (63) &lblank; Nature wants stuff To vye strange Forms with Fancy; yet t'imagine An Antony were Nature's piece, 'gainst Fancy, Condemning Shadows quite.] This is a fine Sentiment, but unintelligible in the present false Reading and Pointing: and, even when set right in these Particulars, is still obscure enough. I'll first reform the Text, and then subjoin the Interpretation. &lblank; Yet t'imagine An Antony, were Nature's Prize 'gainst Fancy. Condemning Shadows quite. The Sense is This. “Nature in general has not Materials sufficient to furnish out real Forms, for ev'ry Model that the boundless Power of the Imagination can sketch out. [This is the Meaning of the Words, Nature wants Matter to vye strange Forms with Fancy.] But yet, tho' in general This be true, that Nature is more poor, narrow, and confin'd, than Fancy; yet it must be own'd, that when Nature presents an Antony to us, she then gets the better of Fancy, and make, even the Imagination appear poor and narrow; or, in our Author's Words, condemns shadows quite.” The Word Prize, which I have restored, is the prettiest Word in the World in this place; as, figuring a Contention between Nature and Imagination about the larger Extent of their Powers; and Nature gaining the Prize by producing Antony. And sure, Nothing could be said more advantagious for Antony, than this; that Imagination came short of his Perfections. Mr. Warburton.

Note return to page 141 [64] (64) You shall advise me of all, Cleopatra.] This I presume to be a Reading solely of Mr. Pope's. But what an harmonious Verse has he giv'n us, in Point of Emphasis? And how has he disgraced the Poet and his Emperor, in point of Sentiment? What a sneaking Figure does Cæsar make, in saying, “You shall confess your whole substance; you shan't secrete one penny”; before he knows what the Paper is, that Cleopatra puts into his hand? But I have restor'd the Reading of the old Books, which carries a Dignity suitable to the Subject. Cæsar takes pains to comfort her; and tells her, that she herself shall direct him in ev'ry Thing for her own Relief and Satisfaction. He repeats the same Consolation to her in other Terms, when he leaves her: &lblank; Therefore, be cheer'd; Make not your Thoughts your Prisons: no, dear Queen; For we intend so to dispose you as Yourself shall give us Counsel.

Note return to page 142 [65] (65) &lblank; 'Tis exactly valued, Not petty Things admitted.] Sagacious Editors! Cleopatra gives in a List of her Wealth, says, 'tis exactly valued, but that petty Things are not admitted in this List: and then she appeals to her Treasurer, to vouch, that she has reserv'd Nothing to her self. Nay, and when he betrays her in this Point, she is reduced to the shift of exclaiming against the Ingratitude of Servants to a Prince in his Decline, and of making Apologies for having secreted certain Trifles. What Consistency is there in such a Conduct? And who does not see, that we ought to read? &lblank; 'Tis exactly valued; Not petty Things omitted. For this Declaration lays open her Falshood; and makes her angry, when her Treasurer detects her in a direct Lye.

Note return to page 143 [66] (66) Doing the Honour of thy Lordliness To one so meek.] These Editors, like Sir Martin Marr-all, are perpetually plunging into fresh Absurdities. Surely, Cleopatra must be bantering Cæsar, to call herself meek, when he had the Moment before seen her fly at her Treasurer, and wishing to tear out his Eyes. I correct, To One so weak: i. e. so shrunk in Fortune and Power: vanquish'd, and spoil'd of her Kingdom. Besides, she might allude to her bodily Decay. For Plutarch tells us, that she receiv'd Cæsar, as she was lying on a poor pallat-bed; that she threw herself at his Feet, in her Shift; that her Hair was torn off, and her Face mangled; that her Voice was low and trembling, and her Eyes sunk into her Head with continual Weeping: so that she was in a pitiful State. And notwithstanding all these concurring Symptoms of Weakness and Decay, there is no Inconsistency in her flying at her Treasurer: for, on any sudden Provocation, the Agonies of Resentment will exert against the lowest Infirmity, and put Nature on the Strain.

Note return to page 144 [67] (67) Or I shall shew the Cinders of my Spirits Thro' th' Ashes of my Chance.] If the Text be genuine, this must be the Allusion; she considers herself, in her Downfall, as a Fabrick destroy'd by Fire: and then would intimate, that the same Fire has reduc'd her Spirits too to Cinders; i. e. consum'd the Strength and Dignity of her Soul and Mind. Mr. Warburton thinks, the Poet wrote; Thro' th' Ashes of my Cheeks. And, indeed, our Poet has an Image in Othello, that seems to countenance this Correction. I should make very Forges of my Cheeks. That would to Cinders burn up Modesty, Did I but speak thy Deeds.

Note return to page 145 [68] (68) &lblank; Hie thee again. I've spoke already, and it is provided; Go put it to the haste.] Freinshemius has observ'd, upon a Passage of Quintus Curtius, that your best Writers very often leave some things to be understood from the Consequence and Implication of Words, which the Words themselves do not express. Itá sæpissimè optimi quique Scriptores volunt quædam intelligi ex consequentiá Verborum, quæ ipsi non apertè dixerunt. Our Author observes this Conduct here. Cleopatra must be suppos'd to mean, she has spoke for the Asp. and it is provided, tho' she says not a Word of it in direct Terms.

Note return to page 146 [69] (69) &lblank; Why, that's the way To fool their preparation, and to conquer Their most absurd Intents.] As plausible as this Epithet may at first Glance appear, I have great Suspicions of it. Why should Cleopatra call Cæsar's Designs absurd? She could not think his Intent of carrying her in Triumph, such; with regard to his own Glory: and her finding an Expedient to disappoint him, could not bring it under that predicament. I much rather think, the Poet wrote; &lblank; and to conquer Their most assur'd Intents. i. e. the Purposes, which they are most determin'd to put in practice; make Themselves most sure of accomplishing. So, in Lear: &lblank; All, that offer to defend him, Stand in assured Loss. So, before in this Play, by an equivalent Epithet; That Nature must compell us to lament Our most persisted Deeds.

Note return to page 147 [70] (70) But he that will believe All that they say, shall never be sav'd by half that they do.] Shakespeare's Clowns are always Jokers, and deal in sly Satire. 'Tis plain, this must be read the contrary way, and all and half change places with one another. Mr. Warburton.

Note return to page 148 [71] (71) &lblank; I hear him mock The Luck of Cæsar, which the Gods give Men T'excuse their after-Wrath.] This, possibly, might have been shadow'd out from Claudian. &lblank; Jám non ad culmina rerum, Injustos crevisse queror: tolluntur in altum, Ut lapsu graviore ruant. In Rufinum. lib. I. Mr. Warburton.

Note return to page 149 [72] (72) O Antony! nay I will take thee too.] As there has been hitherto no Break in this Verse, nor any marginal Direction, Thee necessarily must seem to refer to Antony. But 'tis certain, Cleopatra is here design'd to apply One Aspick to her Arm, as she had before clap'd One to her Breast. And the last Speech of Dolabella in the Play is a Confirmation of This. Here, on her Breast, There is a Vent of Blood, and something blown; The like is on her Arm. Dion Cassius, in the 51st Book of his Roman History is express as to small Punctures of the Asp being discover'd only on her Arm. &grK;&gre;&grn;&grt;&grha;&grm;&gra;&grt;&gra; &grg;&grag;&grr; &grl;&gre;&grp;&grt;&grag; &grp;&gre;&grr;&grig; &grt;&grog;&grn; &grb;&grr;&gra;&grx;&gria;&gro;&grn;&gra; &gras;&gru;&grt;&grhc;&grst; &grM;&GROa;&grN;&grA; &gre;&grur;&grr;&grea;&grq;&grh;. And Plutarch says, towards the Conclusion of M. Antony's Life, that she had two Marks imprinted by the Sting of the Asp: and that Cæsar carried a Statue of her in Triumph, with an Asp fix'd to her Arm. However, the Application of the Aspick to her Breast is not the Invention of our Poet. Virgil, who says nothing of the Locality of her Wounds, plainly intimates that she applied two of these venomous Creatures. Necdum etiam geminos à tergo respicit Angues. Æneid. VIII. Strabo, Velleius Paterculus, Eutropius, and Lucius Florus leave this Matter as much at large. But I remember to have seen Pictures of a Cleopatra (of what Age, I can't say;) with the Aspick on her Bosom, and her Breast bloody. Besides, Leonardo Angustini, among his antique Gemms, exhibits one of Cleopatra upon an Agot, with an Aspick biting her right Breast. And Strada, the Mantuan Antiquary, who gives us a Medal of this Princess, says, that she dy'd by Serpents apply'd to her Breasts. And Domitius Calderinus, upon the 59th Epigram of the IVth Book of Martial, says precisely, that she procur'd her own Death by applying Alps to her Breast and Arm. Nàm Cleopatra admotâ Aspide & Mamillæ & Brachio sibi Mortem conscivit. Had Shakespeare invented the Circumstance, Poetic Licence, and the Delicacy of his Imagery, had been a sufficient Plea: but we find him true to Authority, as well as to himself, in turning an occasional Hint into an unexpected Beauty. Do'st thou not see my Baby at my Breast, That sucks the Nurse asleep? For this has a double Elegance; not only as it presents us with an amiable Picture, but as it expresses too the benumning Effects of the Asp stealing fast upon her.

Note return to page 150 [73] (73) &lblank; But she looks like Sleep.] The Poet has made Cleopatra herself, above, speaking of the Operation of the Aspick, give us this fine Image; Do'st Thou not see my Baby at my Breast, That sucks the Nurse asleep? And in this Description he is precisely just to History. Lucius Florus, lib. iv. c. II. (and Jornandes literally from him) speaks of her Dissolution, as of a Falling into a Slumber. Admotisq; ad Venas serpentibus, sic morte, quasi somno, soluta est. And Solinus, describing the different sorts of Aspicks, says, Two particularly were employ'd to give Death; that call'd Dipsas, which kill'd by excessive Thirst; and the Hypnale, which destroys by Sleep, of which Cleopatra is a Testimony. And to this easy Method of her dying, Propertius has likewise alluded; Brachia spectavi sacris admorsa Colubris;   Et trahere occultum Membra soporis iter. Lib. iii. Eleg. 10. Lucan, in the IXth Book of his Pharsalia, where he expatiates on the Multitude and Diversity of African serpents, remembers, among the rest, the stupifying Quality of the Aspick; Aspida somniferum tumidâ cervice levavit. and describes one bit by it, who confess'd no Pain, but dy'd instantly, as of a Lethargy. &lblank; nulloque dolore Testatus morsus, subitam caligine mortem Accipis, & Stygias somno descendis ad Umbras. Ovid likewise mentions this hypnotick Quality of the Aspic, and calls it the foreign Serpent. Plenaque somniferis Serpens peregrina Venenis.

Note return to page 151 [1] (1) CYMBELINE.] That Part of the Fable, on which the Distress of this Play is built, (viz. Posthumus's Jealousy of his Wife, from his own Indiscretion;) is borrow'd, as Mr. Gildon and others have observ'd, from Boccace, Day 2d, Novel 9th. And the Italian Novelist seems to me to have founded his Tale on Collatinus's extravagant Praises of his Wife to young Tarquin and others: to which idle Conduct the Rape of Lucrece was solely owing. Mr. Pope has remark'd, that little, besides the Names, is historical in this Play. On the contrary, it appears to me, that the Author has taken pains to insert Points of History, both British and Roman, in the Detail of his Scenary. Indeed, he sometimes puts a Change upon Facts, as well as subverts the Chronology of Actions; of which I shall take particular Notice in the proper Place. So, with like Licence, amongst Names truly British and Roman, he jumbles such as these, Iachimo, Syenne, Richard du Champ, Fidele, Philario, and Pisanio; all of a more modern Origin and Deflection.

Note return to page 152 [2] (2) 2 Gent. You speak him fair. 1 Gent. I do extend him, Sir, within himself.] I don't know what Consonance our modern Editors could find betwixt speaking fair and extending: No more, I believe, than they have Authority for the Reading. I have restor'd with the old Books; You speak him far.. i. e. You speak widely, with Latitude, in his Praises: and then the other answers with great Propriety: “Sir, as widely as I speak of him, “I extend him within the Lifts and Compass of his own Merit.

Note return to page 153 [3] (3) Who did join his Honour Against the Romans, with Cassibelan;] Lud, (from whom, as some suppose, Ludgate deriv'd its Name) began to reign over the Southern Parts of our Isle about 70 Years before the Christian Æra. He reign'd but Eleven Years; and, upon his Demise, (or, rather, his Murder; for the Historians are express, and concur in this Point:) Cassibelan, his Brother, usurp'd the Government from Lud's two Sons then in their Minority. About the 9th Year of Cassibelan's Reign, Julius Cæsar made his first Descent upon Britaine, and met with Repulse. The next Season, he again invaded us; and then, after several Skirmishes and some pitch'd Battles wag'd with the Romans, the Britons being worsted, and revolting by Degrees from Cassibelan, he was oblig'd to sue to Cæsar for Terms, and to yield to the Payment of an annual Tribute to the Romans as Conquerors. Polyanus (in his Stratagemata) tells us that the Britons fled, thro' the Terror they conceiv'd at sight of Cæsar's Elephants. Cæsar, in his Commentaries, mentions not one Word of Elephants employ'd in this Service: it must be look'd upon therefore as an idle Fable and of no Credit.

Note return to page 154 [4] (4) TENANTIUS.] Tenantius (or Theomantius) who was the younger Son of Lud, and who had aided Julius Cæsar against Cassibelan, upon his Uncle's Death, about 45 Years before Christ, recover'd the Dominions that had been usurp'd from his Brother and him by Cassibelan. He reign'd 22 Years; and in his 10th Year happen'd the Assassination of Julius Cæsar. Our Author hints here at this Prince having War with the Romans: and the Question of his refusing the Tribute, agreed to by his Uncle, will be canvass'd in a subsequent Note.

Note return to page 155 [5] (5) &lblank; O disloyal Thing, That should'st repair my Youth, thou heap'st A Year's Age on me.] The King lov'd his Daughter, and was much vex'd and disappointed at her having married against his Consent. But, surely, his Sorrow was not very extreme, if the Effects of it only added one Year to his Age. Others have complain'd, of bringing their grey Hairs with Sorrow to the Grave. Our Cymbeline seems a more temperate Mourner. But we must correct, as my ingenious Friend Mr. Warburton acutely observ'd to me, A yare Age on me. i. e. a sudden, precipitate, Old Age. For the Word signifies not only nimble, dextrous, as it is many times employ'd in our Author; but likewise, as Skinner expounds it, fervidus, promptus, præceps, impatiens. The Mistake might arise, in the first Editors, from the bad Orthography of those Days, they writing Yeare for Yare. And so, in some Editions of Chaucer, in his Legend of Philomela, we find it spelt. This Tereüs let him make his Shippés yeare, And into Greece himself is for the yfare. Shippes yeare, i. e. yare, nimble, light Vessels, fit for Sailing.

Note return to page 156 [6] (6) &lblank; for so long As he could make me with his Eye or Ear Distinguish him from others,] But how could Posthumus make him self distinguish'd by his Ear to Pisanio? By his Tongue he might, to the other's Ear: and this was certainly Shakespeare's Intention. We must therefore read, as Mr. Warburton hinted to me; As he could make me with this Eye, or Ear, Distinguish him from others. The Expression is &grd;&gre;&gri;&grk;&grt;&gri;&grk;&grwc;&grst;, as the Greeks terme it: The Party speaking points to the Part spoken of. So Polonius in Hamlet; Take This from This, if This be otherwise. i. e. take my Head from my Neck; Both which Polonius points to, whilst he speaks: So, Hector to Æneas, in Virgil. &lblank; Si Pergama dextrâ Defendi possent, etiàm hâc defensa fuissent. Æneid. II. And, so, in Terence; Sos. Satin' hoc certum est? Ge. Certum; hisce oculis egomet vidi, Sostrata. Adelph. A. 3. S. 2. And a Multitude of Instances might be quoted to prove this Usage.

Note return to page 157 [7] (7) Post. &lblank; my Ring I hold dear as my Finger, 'tis part of it. Iach.] You are a Friend, and therein the wiser.] I am sure, Iachimo talks like none of the wisest, in this kind of Reasoning. But what Ideas, in the Name of Nonsense, could the Editors entertain of Posthumus being a Friend, because he would not venture to wager his Ring? I correct, with Certainty; You are afraid, and therein the wiser. What Iachimo says, in the Close of his Speech, determines This to have been our Poet's Reading. But, I see, you have some Religion in you, that you fear.

Note return to page 158 [8] (8) Think what a Chance thou chancest on, &lblank;] I hardly think, our Author would have express'd himself thus baldly, on no Necessity. Both the old Folio's read, Think what a Chance thou changest on, But I suspect, there is still a slight Error made by the first Transcriber. I imagine, the Poet wrote; Think what a Change thou chancest on, i. e. if you will fall into my Measures, do but think how you will chance to change your Fortunes for the better, in the Consequences that will attend your Compliance.

Note return to page 159 [9] (9) &lblank; but most miserable Is the Desire, that's glorious.] Tho' This connects perfectly well both with what goes before, and what follows, yet it is obscure enough to deserve a short Comment. “Her Husband, she says, proves her supream Grief. She had been happy, had She been stoln as her Brothers were: but now She is most miserable, as all those are, who have a Sense of Worth and Honour superiour to the Vulgar: For This occasions them infinite Vexations, with the worthless and envious Part of Mankind. Had She not had so refin'd a Taste, as to be only contented with the superiour Merits of a Posthumus; but could have taken up with a Cloten; She might have escap'd all these Vexations. This Elegance of Taste, that always discovers an Excellence, and chuses it, She calls with the utmost Stretch of the Sublime,—the Desire that's glorious. Mr. Warburton.

Note return to page 160 [10] (10) &lblank; and the twinn'd Stones Upon the number'd Beach.] I have no Idea, in what Sense the Beach, or Shore, should be call'd number'd. I have ventur'd, against all the Copies, to substitute. Upon th'unnumber'd Beach. i. e. the infinite, extensive Beach, if we are to understand the Epithet as coupled to That Word. But I rather think, the Poet intended an Hypallage, like That in the Beginning of Ovid's Metamorphoses: (In nova fert Animus mutatas dicere formas Corpora,) And then we are to understand the Passage thus; and the infinite Number of twinn'd Stones upon the Beach. The Poet has given them the same Epithet before, in his Lear. &lblank; The murm'ring Surge, That on th' unnumber'd idle Pebbles chafes, Cannot be heard so far.

Note return to page 161 [11] (11) Should make Desire vomit ev'n Emptiness.] None of the old Books acknowledge this Monosyllable, ev'n; and therefore I have cashier'd it. Mr. Pope inserted it; and thought, no doubt, he was doing eminent Service to the Verse. He did not know, or observe, that the Poet intended here to make Desire a trisyllable; as he perpetually almost extends fire and hour, in Scansion, to two Syllables.

Note return to page 162 [12] (12) More hatefull than the foul Expulsion is Of thy dear Husband, than that horrid Act Of the divorce &lblank; he'll make the Heav'ns hold firm The Walls of thy dear honour, &c] What perpetual Proofs occur of these Editors' stupid Indolence! They cannot afford even to add, or transpose, a Stop, tho' the Sense be never so much concern'd in it. How would Cloten's Sollicitations, if I might ask these wise Gentlemen, make the Heavens keep firm Imogen's Honour? Would the Speaker imply, that this Wooer was so hateful, worthless; a Creature, the Heavens would purposely keep her honest in Contempt of him? The Author meant no such absurd Stuff. I dare be positive, I have reform'd his Pointing, and by That retriev'd his true Sense. “This Wooer, says the Speaker, is more hateful to her than the Banishment of her Lord; or the horrid Attempt of making that Banishment perpetual, by his marrying her in her Lord's Absence.” Having made this Reflexion, he subjoins a virtuous Wish, that Heaven may preserve her Honour unblemish'd, and her to enjoy her Husband back, and her Rights in the Kingdom.

Note return to page 163 [13] (13) Swift, swift, you Dragons of the Night! that Dawning May ope the Raven's Eye.] Mr. Pope has profess'd, that, in his Editions, “the Various Readings are fairly put in the Margin, so that Every One may compare them; and those he has prefer'd into the Text are constantly ex fide Codicum, upon Authority.” I must own, I can't help suspecting a little the Veracity of this Assertion; and I challenge him to produce any authentick Copy of Cymbeline, that gives Us this Reading; &lblank; that Dawning May ope the Raven's Eye. From the first Folio's down to Mr. Rowe's Impression, we find it constantly; &lblank; that Dawning May bear the Raven's Eye. If I agreed with Mr. Pope in the Meaning of this Expression, I could help him to an Emendation, with a very minute Change of the Letters: &lblank; that Dawning May bare the Raven's Eye. i. e. make bare, naked: And this would be a much more poetical Word than ope. Besides, most Birds, as well as many Quadrupeds, have a Membrane for Nictation, call'd &grp;&gre;&grr;&gri;&gro;&grf;&grq;&graa;&grl;&grm;&gri;&gro;&grn;, which they can at Pleasure draw over their Eyes, to defend them from too strong a Light: and when this Membrane is withdrawn, the Eye may very properly be said to be bared.—But, notwithstanding all this, the old Books give us the genuine Reading; which, I'll be bold to say, Mr. Pope has rejected, because he did not understand. Why should the Dawn be said peculiarly to open the Raven's Eye? The Lark has always been counted the earliest Stirrer amongst the feather'd Kind. For the Dawn to bear the Raven's Eye, is, as Mr. Warburton ingeniously observ'd to me, a very grand and poetical Expression. It is a Metaphor borrow'd from Heraldry; as, again, in Much Ado about Nothing. So that if he have Wit enough to keep himself warm, let him bear it for a difference between himself and his Horse. That the Dawn should bear the Raven's Eye, means, that It should rise, and shew That Colour. Now the Raven's Eye is remarkably grey: and grey ey'd, 'tis known, is the Epithet universally join'd to the Morning. Nor has our Shakespeare forgot to allude to the Morning being grey in other Passages. &lblank; and, look, the gentle Day, Before the Wheels of Phœbus, round about Dapples the drowsie East with Spots of grey. Much Ado &c. The Hunt is up; the Morn is bright and grey. Tit. Andron. O, pardon, Sir, it doth; and yon grey Lines, That fret the Clouds, are Messengers of Day. Jul. Cæs. And see, the Morn, in russet Mantle clad, Hamlet. For russet is dark-brown, grey. The grey-ey'd Morn smiles on the frowning Night, Check'ring the Eastern Clouds with Streaks of Light. &c &c. &c. Rom. and Jul.

Note return to page 164 [14] (14) To leave you in your Madness, 'twere my Sin; I will not. Imo. Fools are not Madfolks. Clot. Do you call me fool? Imo. As I am mad, I do.] But does she really call him Fool? The soundest Logician would be puzzled to find it out, as the Text stands. The reasoning is perplex'd in a slight Corruption; and we must restore, as Mr. Warburton likewise saw, Fools cure not Madfolks. You are mad, says He, and it would be a Crime in me to leave you to yourself.—Nay, says she, why should you stay? A Fool never cur'd Madness.—Do you call me Fool? replies he, &c. All this is easy and natural. And that cure was certainly the Poet's Word, I think is very evident from what Imogen immediately subjoins. If you'll be patient, I'll no more be mad, That cures us both. i. e. If you'll cease to torture me with your foolish Sollicitations, I'll cease to shew towards you any Thing like Madness: so a double Cure will be effected, of your Folly, and my suppos'd Frenzy.

Note return to page 165 [15] (15) You put me to forget a Lady's Manners By being so verbal.] This Reflexion of Imogen upon her own Sex, that it ill becomes a Lady to be loquacious, might very well be borrow'd from what Ajax says to Tecmessa, in Sophocles; &grG;&grua;&grn;&gra;&gri;, &grg;&gru;&grn;&gra;&gri;&grc;&grig; &grk;&groa;&grs;&grm;&gro;&grn; &grhr; &grs;&gri;&grg;&grhg; &grf;&grea;&grr;&gre;&gri;. Ajac. Flagell. v. 295. Woman, to Women Silence adds a Grace.

Note return to page 166 [16] (16) And tho' it be allow'd in meaner Parties, (Yet who than He more mean?) to knit their Souls (On whom there is no more Dependency But Brats and Beggary;) in self figur'd Knot;] Tho' I have not disturb'd the Text, Mr. Warburton and I have both concurr'd in suspecting that the Poet wrote &lblank; in self finger'd Knot: i. e. a Match made up without more Ceremony, than barely the Parties striking Hands. It is our Author's Mode of Expression. So in Troil. and Cressida. The Bonds of Heav'n are slip'd, dissolv'd, and loos'd, And with another Knot five-finger-tied, &c. And so, in the Merry Wives of Windsor; No, he shall not knit a knot in his Fortunes with the Finger of my substance.

Note return to page 167 [17] (17) &lblank; And, I think, He'll grant the Tribute, send th' Arrearages, Or look upon our Romans, whose Remembrance Is yet fresh in their Grief.] What a strange loose Inference do the Editors here make Philario guilty of, that Cymbeline would do One Thing, or t'other; either submit to pay Tribute, or dispute the Demand at Sword's Point? Who doubts it? But this was none of the Speaker's Meaning: he would give it as his Thought, that the Britains would pay, e'er they would contest the Matter: and so I have reform'd the Text. I have shewn in my 21st Note on Titus Andronicus, from Chaucer, and the Old Glossaries, that Or was formerly us'd fot e'er, before: but this Usage, as I there observ'd, was become too obsolete for Shakespeare's Days.

Note return to page 168 [18] (18) &lblank; And you shall hear The Legion now in Gallia sooner landed In our not fearing Britaine, &c.] Posthumus is saying, that the Britons are much strengthen'd since the Time of Julius Cæsar's Attack upon them: Would then the Romans think now of invading them with a single Legion? The Poet certainly wrote; The Legions now in Gallia, &c. So, in four several Passages afterwards: The Pow'rs, that he already hath in Gallia, Will soon be drawn, &c. To them, the Legions garrison'd in Gallia, After your Will, have cross'd the Sea; And that the Legions now in Gallia are Full-weak to undertake our War against The fall'n-off Britains; that we do incite The Gentry to this Business. So please your Majesty, The Roman Legions, all from Gallia drawn, Are landed on your Coast, with large Supply Of Roman Gentlemen.

Note return to page 169 [19] (19) &lblank; If not, the foul Opinion You had of her poor Honour, &c.] Thus, Mr. Rowe; and thus, Mr. Pope as judiciously; as servilely; after him: And yet he pretends to have collated the old Copies. But the two Elder Folio's read, as I have restor'd, You had of her pure Honour.

Note return to page 170 [20] (20) This is a Thing, Which you might from relation likewise read, Being, as it is, much spoke of.] To read from Relation, i. e. from Men's Reports vivâ voce, is a Figure, I am sure, never us'd by Shakespeare; whatever, reading in any One's Eyes, might have been: But this again is the Manufacture of our modern Editors. The old Editions read, as I have reform'd the Text.

Note return to page 171 [21] (21) &lblank; This is her Honour: Let it be granted you have seen all this, &c.] Iachimo impudently pretends to have carried his Point; and, in Confirmation, is very minute in describing to the Husband all the Furniture and Adornments of his Wife's Bedchamber. But how is fine Furniture any ways a Princess's Honour? It is an Apparatus suitable to her Dignity, but certainly makes no part of her Character. It might have been call'd her Father's Honour, that her Allotments were proportion'd to her Rank and Quality. I am persuaded, the Poet intended Posthumus should say; “This particular Description, which you make, can't convince me that I have lost my Wager: Your Memory is good; and some of these Things you may have learned from a Third Hand, or seen yourself; yet I expect Proofs more direct and authentick”. I think, there is little Question but we ought to restore the place thus: &lblank; What's This t'her Honour? I propos'd this Emendation in the Appendix to my Shakespeare restor'd, and Mr. Pope has thought fit to embrace it in his last Edition.

Note return to page 172 [22] (22) Like a full-acorn'd Boar, a churning on,] This is Mr. Pope's Reading, without any Authority. A Jermen one, in the first Editions; (says He,) since alter'd to a German one.— And why not, pray? Is not Westphalia a Part of Germany? And where are Boars more delicately fed, or more likely to be rank and hot after the Female, than German ones?

Note return to page 173 [23] (23) &lblank; Cassibelan, thine Uncle, &lblank; &lblank; for Him, And his Succession, granted Rome a Tribute Yearly three thousand Pounds; which by Thee lately Is left untender'd] The Poet must mean, thy great Uncle, or Uncle once remov'd: For Cymbeline was the Son of Tenantius, who was the Son of Lud: and Lud and Cassibelan were Brothers. But, I have hinted in the first Note to this Play, that our Author frequently has made bold with his History. The Passage before us furnishes more than one Instance. It was in the 20th Year of Tenantius's Reign, that Augustus Cæsar had a Design, for the Second Time, of invading us; and Ambassadors came to him at Ariminum from Britaine to sollicit a Peace. So that it was Tenantius more probably, who had withheld the Payment of the Tribute granted by Cassibelan. Cymbeline, on the other hand, 'tis said, was sent over in his Youth to Rome, received his Education there, was caress'd by Augustus, and call'd the Friend of the Roman People. Besides, that Cymbeline acquiesc'd to this Tribute, (as we have no Vouchers to the contrary in History;) may be gather'd from the old Coin with his Head on one side, and Cunobelin inscrib'd round it; and Taschia, on the Reverse, i. e. an Impost, or Tribute. For Tascu in the old British means, to lay any Burthen. So Teska among the Sarmatians and old Celts signified an Imposition or Grievance; and from the old Tascia we derive our Words used at this day, Tax and Task.— But I shall have occasion in the sequel of this Scene to inquire into the precise Time, when our Poet supposes this War on Britaine: and from thence we shall easily glean his Trespass on Chronology.

Note return to page 174 [24] (24) &lblank; Britaine is A World by't self.] In like manner, almost, has Virgil spoken of our Britaine; Et penitus toto divisos orbe Britannos. And Lucius Florus, I observe, where he is mentioning what Conquests are reserv'd for Julius Cæsar, seems purposely to have copied this Description of the above quoted Poet; Et quamvis toto orbe divisa, quî vinceret, habuit Britannia: Lib. 3, cap. 10. Claudian likewise speaks of us as divided from the Roman World; &lblank; Germanaque Tethys Paruit & nostro diducta Britannia mundo. In Paneg. Theod. And Horace calls us a People situated in the Extremity of the Creation: Serves iturum Cæsarem in ultimos Orbis Britannos. Lib. I. Ode 35. And Servius, upon the Passage in Virgil, has remark'd, that Britaine was call'd by the Poets alter Orbis terrarum. But our Poet, perhaps, might have none of these Classical Passages in View, but be alluding to what is recorded of Cassibelan in the Chronicles. When Comius of Arras came to him with a Message from Julius Cæsar, in which Homage, and Subjection, and a Tribute, were demanded, Cassibelan reply'd; “That the Ambition of the Romans was insatiable, who would not suffer Britaine, a new World, placed by Nature in the Ocean, and beyond the Bounds of their Empire, to lie unmolested.

Note return to page 175 [25] (25) The fam'd Cassibelan, who was once at point (Oh, giglet Fortune!) to master Cæsar's Sword,] The Poet is here alluding to a private Matter of Fact, tho' he takes the Liberty to put a Change on the Parties concern'd in it. The British History (as Holingshead let us know,) has recorded, that Nenius, the Brother of Cassibelan, in one Engagement fought hand to hand against Cæsar; who driving a furious Blow at him, fix'd the Blade of his Sword in Nenius's Shield: by which, Cæsar was in very eminent Danger: but he happily disengag'd his Weapon, and acquitted himself so manfully, that Nenius dy'd within 15 days of the Wounds receiv'd in that Encounter.

Note return to page 176 [26] (26) Our Ancestor was that Mulmutius, who Ordain'd our Laws, &c.] Mulmutius Dunwallo, (or Dunvallo Molmutius, as he is otherwise call'd) obtain'd the Dominion of Britaine about 436 Years before the Birth of Christ, and 414 before the Beginning of Cymbeline's Reign. He is said to have held his Government 40 Years: and built the Temple of Peace, where he was afterwards buried, in London, (then Troynovant) so often quoted by British Chronologers. He compiled a Set of wholesome Laws, that took their general Name from him; which were said to have been turn'd out of the British Speech into Latine by Gildas; (who was born, A. D. 493) and, long after, out of Latine into the Saxon Idiom by King Alfred. He made himself of such Reverence and Authority, that, by the Consent of the Grandees of the Land, he obtain'd a Crown of Gold; and caus'd himself with great Solemnity to be crown'd, according to the Custom of the Pagan Laws then in use. And because he was the First, who wore a regal Crown here, he is by some Writers nam'd the First King of Britaine: All before him being styled only Rulers, Dukes, or Governors, saith Holingshead.

Note return to page 177 [27] (27) &lblank; Of him I gather'd Honour; Which he to seek of me again perforce, Behoves me keep at Variance.] This is Sense, but it is one of those Sophistications of the Text, which Mr. Pope, notwithstanding his Assertions to the contrary, has obtruded upon us, without any Countenance or Authority from the old Books. And why, forsooth, but because he did not understand the genuine Reading? All the Copies, that I have seen, read; Behoves me keep at Utt'rance. i. e. at all Hazards, at the utmost Extremity of Peril. Utterance, Extremity; says the old Glossary to Chaucer: So, in a Poem prefix'd to that Poet's Works, and address'd to the King and Knights of the Garter; Ye Lordis eke, shining in noble Fame, To which appropred is the Maintenaunce Of Christ is Cause, in honour of his Name, Shove on, and put his Foes to Utteraunce. i. e. Extremity, utter Destruction. So in the Three Sieges of Troy, printed by Winken de Werde; His Dolour and Pain grew and enlarged to the Utterance. So Sir Robert Dimock, the Champion at K. Richard the 3d's Coronation, made Proclamation, as Holingshead tells us; Whoever shall say, that King Richard is not lawful King, I will fight with him at the Utterance. i. e. to the Hazard of Death. So, likewise, elsewhere in our own Author; &lblank; But he has a Merit To choak it in the Utterance. Coriol. i. e. in the extreamest Point. Rather than so, come Fate into the List, And challenge me to th' Utt'rance. Mach. i. e. to the utmost Peril, Death it self. And our Author frequently gives us the same Image, with a Variation in the Expression. &lblank; There I throw my Gage, To prove it on Thee to th' extreamest Point Of mortal Breathing. Richard 2d. For I will throw my Glove to Death himself: Troil. and Cress. &lblank; will you, the Knights Shall to the Edge of all Extremity Pursue each other, &c. Ibid. So be it, either to the uttermost, Or else a Breath. Ibid.

Note return to page 178 [28] (28) &lblank; I am perfect, That the Pannonians and Dalmatians, for Their Liberties, are now in Arms.] This Circumstance is again repeated afterwards by a Roman Senator in this Act. This is the Tenour of the Emp'rour's Writ; That since the Common Men are now in Action 'Gainst the Pannonians and Dalmatians, &c. From this Particularity we may precisely fix the suppos'd Date of this War on Britaine, for the Recovery of Tribute in Arrear to Rome: and, at one View, see, how our Author has jumbled Facts against the known Tenour of Chronology. In the 10th Year after the Assassination of Julius Cæsar, (Anno U. C. 719) Augustus had a design of making a Descent on Britaine: but was diverted from it by an Insurrection of the Pannonians and Dalmatians, in order to shake off their Subjection to Rome. Now this Period of Time was coincident with the 13th Year of Tenantius's Reign, who was the Father of Cymbeline: and Tenantius reign'd 9 Years after this. Again, we find, from the very opening of our Play, that Cymbeline had been at least 23 Years on the Throne: for it was twenty Years since his two Sons were stoln, and the eldest of them then was at least 3 Years Old. Now the 23d of Cymbeline falls in with the 42d of Augustus, the very Year in which Christ was born. So that our Author has confusedly blended Facts at 32 Years distance from each Other. Whether he was aware of, or neglected, this Discordance in Time, it has contributed to another Absurdity. It is said more than once in our Play, That the Remembrance of the Romans is yet fresh in the Britains' Grief: i. e. that they still felt the smart of their Overthrow. Now Julius Cæsar subdued Britaine, 11 Years before his Assassination, in the Year of Rome 698. This War on Cymbeline cannot be before the 42d Year of Augustus: (U. C. 751) so that here is an Interval of 53 Years, a Time sufficient to erase the Memory of the most dreadful Enemy; especially in a People, who are boasting of the strength they have acquir'd since their Defeat.

Note return to page 179 [29] (29) Some Griefs are medicinable, that is one of them, For it doth physick Love of his Content, All but in That.] Thus Mr. Pope has wisely pointed this Passage in his 4to Edition of our Poet: by which it is demonstrable, he did not understand it. If Grief physicks Love of his Content, then it purges his Content away, which is by no means our Author's meaning. All the Editions have confounded the Sense by a bad Pointing: I have reform'd the whole Context; and will subjoin a short Paraphrase by way of Explanation. “Imogen, before she opens the Letter, prays, that the Contents of it may shew that her Lord still loves her; that he is in Health; and that he tastes Content. Yet (says she, as it were correcting herself;) let him not taste a full and absolute Content; let it give him some Grief that Fate has divided him and me; for that's a Grief, which will be medicinable, will exercise and support his Love: but in ev'ry other Circumstance let him enjoy Content at Heart.”—I gave this Explanation, and reform'd the Pointing, in the Appendix to my Shakespeare restor'd; and Mr. Pope has vouchsaf'd to embrace my Correction in his last Edition.

Note return to page 180 [30] (30) I see before me, Man, nor here, nor here, Nor what ensues; but have a Fog in them, That I cannot look thrô.] Where is the Substantive, to which this Relative plural, them, can possibly have any Reference? There is None; and the Sense, as well as Grammar, is defective. I have ventur'd to restore, against the Authority of the printed Copies, &lblank; but have a Fog in Ken, That I cannot look thro. Imogen would say, “Don't talk of considering, Man; I neither see present Events, nor Consequences; but am in a Mist of Fortune, and resolv'd to proceed on the Project determin'd. In Ken, means, in prospect, within Sight, before my Eyes. So, afterwards, in this Play: &lblank; Milford, When from the Mountain-top Pisanio shew'd thee. Thou wast within a Ken. So, in 2d Henry IV. For, lo! within a Ken our Army lies. And in many other Passages.

Note return to page 181 [31] (31) &lblank; tho' trained up thus meanly Here in the Cave, wherein their Thoughts do hit The Roof of Palaces. &lblank;] Thus Mr. Pope; but the Sentence breaks off imperfectly. The old Editions read, I th' Cave, whereon the Bow their Thoughts do hit, &c. Mr. Rowe saw, this likewise was faulty; and therefore amended it thus: I th' Cave, where, on the Bow, their Thoughts do hit, &c. I think, it should be, only with the Alteration of one Letter, and the Addition of another; I' th' Cave, there, on the Brow, &lblank; And so the Grammar and Syntax of the Sentence is compleat. We call the Arching of a Cavern, or Overhanging of a Hill, metaphorically, the Brow; and in like manner the Greeks and Latines used &gros;&grf;&grr;&gru;&grst;, and Supercilium.

Note return to page 182 [32] (32) This Polydore,] Tho' the Name be several times writ thus in the Old Books, I am persuaded it is not as the Author intended. It is a Compound purely Greek, without the Turn or Foundation of a British Name. The first Time this Name is mention'd in both the old Folio's, it is written Paladour, as I have reform'd the Text; because this, as well as Cadwal, is of the British Cast. What Pala in the first Name, or Wal in the other, may signify, I am not deep enough in Cambrian to know; but dour, or dhür, means, profluens aquæ; as Câd, does, Caput.

Note return to page 183 [33] (33) &lblank; Some Jay of Italy (Whose Mother was her Painting,) hath betray'd him.] This Passage has strongly lain under my Suspicion, tho' I have not ventur'd to give it an Emendation. If the Text be genuine as it stands, it seems to me to have this Sense, whose Mother was a Bird of the same Feather; i. e. such another gay Strumpet: which is severe enough. I have imagin'd, the Poet might have wrote; (Whose Mother was her planting) i. e. was Bawd to her, and planted her on Posthumus: which is still more sarcastical. Again, Mr. Rowe gives us a Reading, which I should very eagerly espouse, were I sure the Word were standard, and that it were not coin'd by the casual Inversion of an M into a W: (Whose Wother was her Painting) i. e. whose chief Beauty was her artificial Face, her false Complexion. For Mr. Gildon, in his short Glossary prefix'd to Shakespeare's Poems, comes and boldly tells us, Wother signifies Merit, Beauty, &c. But I shrewdly suspect, he struck out these Interpretations to sort with the Sense of the Reading he found in Mr. Rowe; and trusted implicitly to his Theme being genuine. But I have search'd in vain, and can find no such word as Wother. Spelman in his Glossary has woð (i. e. Woth) which he expounds, Eloquentia, facundia, eloquence. But this, I am afraid, in no kind will serve our Turn.

Note return to page 184 [34] (34) &lblank; Now, if you could wear a Mind Dark as your Fortune is,] But the Disguise of her Person is the only Thing which Pisanio is here advising; not that She should stifle any Qualifications or Beauties of her Mind. I therefore think, we may safely read; &lblank; Now, if you could wear a Mien Dark as your Fortune is, Or, according to the French Orthography, from whence, I presume, arose the Corruption; Now, if you could wear a Mine. Mr. Warburton. I have shewn in a Note, upon one of the former Plays, that Mien signifies, not only Mine du Visage, oris Facies, the Air and Turn of the Face; but also, habitus, gestus Corporis, the Form and Gesture of the whole Person.

Note return to page 185 [35] (35) &lblank; nay, you must Forget that rarest Treasure of your Cheek; Exposing it, (but oh the harder Heart, Alack, no Remedy)] Now, who does This harder Heart relate to? Posthumus is not here talk'd of: besides, he knew Nothing of her being thus expos'd to the Inclemencies of Weather: He had enjoyn'd a Course, which would have secur'd her from these incidental Hardships. I think, common Sense obliges us to read: But, oh, the harder Hap! i. e. the more cruel your Fortune, that you must be oblig'd to such Shifts. Mr. Warburton.

Note return to page 186 [36] (36) &lblank; tell him, Wherein you're happy, which will make him know, If that his Head have ear in Musick, doubtless With joy he will embrace you;] Thus, all the Editions: But, surely, the Passage is faulty both in the Text and Pointing. Which will make him know, what? What Connection has This with the Rest of the Sentence? Shakespeare can't be suspected, certainly, of so bald a Meaning as this; If you'll tell him wherein you are happy, That will make him know wherein you're happy: and yet This is the only Meaning, I think, the Words can carry, as they now stand. I take the Poet's Sense to be This. Pisanio tells Imogen, if She would disguise herself in the Habit of a Youth, present herself before Lucius the Roman General, offer her Service, and tell him wherein She was happy, i. e. what an excellent Talent She had in Singing; this would make him happy, if he had an Ear for Musick, and he would gladly receive her. For, afterwards, Belarius and Arviragus, talking of Imogen, give this Description of her, whom they take for a Boy: Bel. This Youth, howe'er distrest, seems to have had Good Ancestors. Arv. How Angel-like he sings! I reform'd the Text in the Appendix to my Shakespeare Restor'd, and Mr. Pope has thought fit to embrace my Correction in his last Edition.

Note return to page 187 [37] (37) Imo. &lblank; Mongst Friends? If Brothers, would it had been so, that they Had been my Father's Sons.] I cannot think this the Poet's Pointing, and therefore have ventur'd to reform it. Arviragus had said, he would love Imogen as a Brother, gives her a Welcome as such, and tells her, She is fall'n among Friends.—Among Friends, indeed, replies She very naturally, if I am to stand in the Rank of a Brother. Then striking into a private Reflexion on having lost her own Brothers, She wishes, these Two kind Youths were but her Father's Sons. This Sense is plainly confirm'd by What she says in the last Scene of the Play, where they are discover'd to be really her Brothers. &lblank; You call'd me Brother, When I was but your Sister; I, you Brothers; When ye were so, indeed.

Note return to page 188 [38] (38) &lblank; laying by That Nothing-Gift of differing Multitudes, Could not out-peer these Twain.] The only Idea, that differing can here convey, is, variable, changing Multitudes; as in the Prologue to 2 Henry IV. The still-discordant, wav'ring Multitude. But then what is the Nothing-Gift which they are suppos'd to bestow? The Poet must mean, that Court, that obsequious Adoration, which the shifting Vulgar pay to the Great, is a Tribute of no Price or Value. So in K. Henry V. O Ceremony, shew me but thy Worth; Art Thou Aught else, but Place, Degree, and Forme? I am persuaded therefore, our Poet coin'd this Participle from the French Verb, and wrote That Nothing-Gift of defering Multitudes, i. e. obsequious, paying Deference.—Deferer, Ceder par Respect à quelcun, obeir, condescendre &c. Richelet.

Note return to page 189 [39] (39) &lblank; And to You, the Tribunes For this immediate Levy, he commands His absolute Commission.] Commands his Commission is such a Phrase as Shakespeare would hardly have us'd. I have, by Mr. Warburton's Advice, ventur'd to substitute; &lblank; he commends His absolute Commission. i. e. he recommends the Care of making this Levy to you; and gives you an absolute Commission for so doing.

Note return to page 190 [40] (40) Tri. We will discharge our Duty.] Here the Third Act ends in the old Copies; and Mr. Rowe has follow'd that Division. Mr. Pope has not only thought fit to degrade the preceding short Scene; but also to transpose hither a Scene (lying in Cymbeline's Palace) towards the Conclusion of the Fourth Act; and with that finishes the Third. This is done, without any Authority from the Copies; tacitly, and without any Reason assign'd for it: and, indeed, without any Thing in the Disposition of the Scenary requiring it. If the bringing the Acts to a more regular Equality was the Ground of this Change, That's a Point we are not to tie our Poet up to. As the Liberty taken, therefore, is both needless, and arbitrary, I have chose to follow the Order of more authentick Copies. Had Mr. Pope spar'd us a critical Note, to justify his Conduct in this Transposition; I might, perhaps, have submitted to the Sagacity and Weight of it.

Note return to page 191 [41] (41) &lblank; I do note, That Grief and Patience, rooted in him both, Mingle their Pow'rs together.] Thus Mr. Pope in his Quarto Edition, contrary to the Authority of all the Copies. And for what Reason? He did not know there was any such word in English, as Spurs, in the Signification here requir'd. But Spurs, among other Acceptations, means, these hair-like Fibres or Strings, which shoot out from the Roots of Plants and Trees, and give them a Fixure and Firmness in the Earth. Our Author has used the Word again in this Sense, in his Tempest. &lblank; The strong-bas'd Promontory Have I made shake, and by the Spurs pluck'd up The Pine and Cedar. I restor'd the Reading of the old Copies in the Appendix to my Shakespeare Restor'd; and Mr. Pope has suffer'd himself to be inform'd, in his last Edition.

Note return to page 192 [42] (42) &lblank; Being scarce made up, I mean, to Man, he had not Apprehension Of roaring Terrors; for defect of Judgment Is oft the Cause of Fear.] If I understand this Passage, it is mock-reasoning as it stands, and the Text must have been slightly corrupted. Belarius is giving a Description of what Cloten formerly was; and in Answer to what Arviragus says of his being so fell. “Ay, says Belarius, he was so fell, and being scarce then at Man's Estate, he had no Apprehension of roaring Terrors, i. e. of any thing that could check him with Fears.” But then, how does the Inference come in, built upon this? For Defect of Judgment is oft the Cause of Fear. I think, the Poet meant to have said the meer contrary. Cloten was defective in Judgment, and therefore did not fear. Apprehensions of Fear grow from a Judgment in weighing Dangers. And a very easy Change, from the Traces of the Letters, gives us this Sense, and reconciles the Reasoning of the whole Passage. &lblank; For th' Effect of Judgment Is oft the Cause of Fear.

Note return to page 193 [43] (43) &lblank; Tho' his Honour Was nothing but Mutation, &c] What has his Honour to do here, in his being changeable in this Sort? in his acting as a Madman, or not? I have ventur'd to substitute Humour, against the Authority of the printed Copies; and the Meaning seems plainly This. “Tho' he was always fickle to the last degree, and govern'd by Humour, not sound Sense; yet not Madness itself could make him so hardy to attempt an Enterprize of this Nature alone, and unseconded.” The like Mistake, of Honour for Humour, had taken place in a Passage of The Merry Wives of Windsor, which I corrected from the Sanction of the old Quarto Impressions.

Note return to page 194 [44] (44) Oh, Melancholy! Who ever yet could sound thy Bottom? find The Ooze, to shew what Coast thy sluggish Care Might eas'liest harbour in?] But as plausible as This at first Sight may seem, all Those, who know any Thing of good Writing, will agree That our Author must have wrote; &lblank; to shew what Coast thy sluggish Carrack Might eas'liest harbour in? Carrack is a slow, heavy-built, Vessel of Burthen. This restores the Uniformity of the Metaphor, compleats the Sense, and is a Word of great Propriety and Beauty to design a melancholic Person. Mr. Warburton. The Word is us'd again by our Author in his Othello; Faith, he to night hath boarded a land Carrack; If it prove lawful Prize, he's made for ever. And We meet with it likewise in Beaumont and Fletcher; But here's the Wonder, tho' their Weight would sink A Spanish Carrack, without other Ballast, &c. Elder Brother. Carraca, Navis oneraria ingens. Skinner. Carraque, Navis amplissima. Richelet.

Note return to page 195 [45] (45) &lblank; The Radock would, With charitable Bill, bring thee all this; Yea, and furr'd Moss besides. When Flow'rs are none To winter-ground thy Course &lblank;] Here, again, the Metaphor is strangely mangled. What Sense is there in winter-grounding a Coarse with Moss? A Coarse might indeed be said to be winter-grounded in good thick Clay. But the Epithet furr'd to Moss directs us plainly to another Reading. To Winter-gown thy Coarse. i. e. Thy Summer Habit shall be a light Gown of Flowers, thy Winter Habit a good warm furr'd Gown of Moss. Mr. Warburton.

Note return to page 196 [46] (46) &lblank; But if there be Yet left in Heav'n as small a Drop of Pity As a Wren's Eye, oh, Gods! a Part of it!] So again, in Othello; I should have found in some Place of my Soul A Drop of Patience. Tho' this Expression is very pathetic and fine in both these Places of our Author, it brings to my Mind a very humourous Passage in the Acharnenses of Aristophanes. An Athenian Rustick, in Time of War, is robb'd of a Yoak of Oxen by the Bœotians; he has almost cry'd his Eyes out, he says, for the Loss of his Cattle; and he comes to beg for a Drop of Peace in a Quill, to anoint his Eyes with. &grS;&grug; &grd;&grap; &gras;&grl;&grl;&grag; &grm;&gro;&gri; &grs;&grt;&gra;&grl;&gra;&grg;&grm;&grog;&grn; &gre;&gris;&grr;&grha;&grn;&grh;&grst; &grera;&grn;&gra; &grE;&gris;&grst; &grt;&grog;&grn; &grk;&gra;&grl;&gra;&grm;&gria;&grs;&grk;&gro;&grn; &gres;&grn;&grs;&grt;&graa;&grl;&gra;&grc;&gro;&grn; &grt;&gro;&gru;&grt;&gro;&grn;&gria;. Tho' I have translated &grk;&gra;&grl;&gra;&grm;&gria;&grs;&grk;&gro;&grn; (which is a Diminutive from &grk;&graa;&grl;&gra;&grm;&gro;&grst;) a Quill: I know, it signifies, among the Surgeons, a Probe; an Instrument to convey Balsam into Wounds; Specillum. I am surpriz'd that neither Hesychius nor Suidas acknowledge the Word, which has so good an Authority as Aristophanes.—But Julius Pollux quotes it; and brings the Passage from our Comic Poet in Confirmation.

Note return to page 197 [47] (47) &lblank; who was He, That, otherwise than noble Nature did, Hath alter'd that good Picture?] This is far from being strictly grammatical. For the Construction of these Words is this; who has alter'd that good Picture, otherwise than Nature alter'd it? But That is not the Poet's Meaning. He design'd to say, if the Text be genuine; who hath alter'd that good Picture from what noble Nature at first made it? By the Change of a single Letter, we come at another Sentiment, which, I think, much ennobles the Passage; and, which, I have suspected, was our Author's Reading. &lblank; who was He, That, otherwise than noble Nature bid, Hath alter'd that good Picture? i. e. The Laws of Nature being against Murther. But I submit the Conjecture to Judgment.

Note return to page 198 [48] (48) &lblank; you some permit To second Ills with Ills, each worse than other, And make them dread it, to the Doer's thrift.] The Divinity-Schools have not furnish'd juster Observations on the Conduct of Providence, than Posthumus gives us here in his private Reflections. You Gods, says He, act in a different manner with your different Creatures; You snatch some hence for little Faults; that's Love; To have them fall no more. This seems a fine short Comment on what St. Paul says to the Hebrews, &GROrg;&grn; &gras;&grg;&gra;&grp;&grac; &grK;&grua;&grr;&gri;&gro;&grst;, &grp;&gra;&gri;&grd;&gre;&gru;&gre;&gri;. The Lord chasteneth whom he loveth. The Philosopher Seneca is more ample upon the same Subject; Hos Deus, quos probat, quos amat, indurat, recognoscit, exercet.—Others, says our Poet, you permit to live on, to multiply and increase in Crimes, And make them dread it, to the Doer's Thrift. Here's a Relative without an antecedent Substantive; and a Genitive Case Singular, when all the other Members of the Sentence run in the plural. Both which are a Breach of Grammar. We must certainly read, And make them dreaded, to the Doers' Thrift. i. e. others you permit to aggravate one Crime with more: which Enormities not only make them revered and dreaded, but turn in other kinds to their Advantage. Dignity, Respect, and Profit, accrue to them from Crimes committed with Impunity. &lblank; multi Committunt eadem diverso crimina fato: Ille Crucem precium sceleris tulit, hic diadema. Juven. Sat. 13. Criminibus debent hortos, prætoria, mensas, Argentum vetus, & stantem extrà pocula caprum. Idem. Sat. 1.

Note return to page 199 [49] (49) Our Britaines Hearts die flying, not our Men;] Thus all the Editions, and thus Mr. Pope in his Quarto Edition, most implicitly obsequious to Nonsense. I corrected the Passage in the Appendix to my Shakespeare Restor'd, as I have now reform'd it in the Text, (and as Dr. Thirlby likewise saw, it should be;) and Mr. Pope has follow'd my Correction in his last Edition of our Author.

Note return to page 200 [50] (50) &lblank; and will give you That Like Beasts, which you shun beastly and may save But to look back in Front:] Looking back in Front is a Phrase, which Mr. Pope, if he pleases, may reserve for his own Collection of Elegancies: but I can't admit it to be palm'd upon our Editor. We must read with the old Copies, But to look back in Frown. i. e. If you will but turn upon the Enemy, and shew them you can look angry. So, in the Tempest. &lblank; They being penitent, The sole Drift of my purpose doth extend Not a Frown further. And so, in Antony and Cleopatra; Good Brother, Let me request you off: our graver Business Frowns at this Levity.

Note return to page 201 [51] (51) Nay, do not wonder at it; you are made Rather to wonder at the Things you hear, Than to work any.] Sure, this is mock-reasoning with a Vengeance. What! Because he was made fitter to wonder at great Actions, than to perform any, is he therefore forbid to wonder? I corrected the Passage in the Appendix to my Shakespeare Restor'd; and Mr. Pope has follow'd my Correction in his last Edition.

Note return to page 202 [52] (52) &lblank; Well, I will find him: For being now a Favourer to the Britaine, No more a Britaine, I've resum'd again The Part I came in.] This is a very obscure Passage; and, without the Helps it would receive from the Representation, wants a little clearing up. Posthumus comes over with the Roman Bands; but, resolv'd not to fight against his Country, he puts the Habit of a British Peasant over his Italian Dress, and does Feats of Desperation against the Romans, in hopes of meeting his Death from their Swords. The Fortune of the Day is turn'd, and the Britons gain the Field. Upon this, Posthumus shifts back into his Italian Garb; says, he will find Death; for tho' he's now a Favourer to the Britons in Heart, he'll not confess himself of that Country, but yield himself a Prisoner to the meanest of the Victor-party, and so fall a Sacrifice to their Resentment. For the Captives, we find, in the Sequel of the Play, were by the Customs of the Britons to be Victims to the Manes of those slain on the Victors Party. That Posthumus does again shift his Habit, is evident from this Circumstance. The Britons surprize him, and asking who he is, he replies; &lblank; A Roman; Who had not now been drooping here, if Seconds Had answer'd him. Of the old Britons sacrificing Captives to Andate, their Goddess of Victory, many Authors have spoken; and of their Custom of burning Numbers in their great Wicker Image, Holingshead makes mention: but Sammes, in his Britannia, is particularly copious upon it.

Note return to page 203 [53] (53) &lblank; To satisfy If of my Freedom 'tis the main part, take No stricter Render of me, than my all.] Nonsense has one happy Property, in That one needs not many Words to be made sensible of it; but 'tis, in this respect, like Light, perceiv'd as soon as shewn. Such is the glaring Nonsense of these Lines. What we can discover from them is this, that the Speaker in a Fit of Penitency towards Heaven, compares his Circumstances with a Debtor's who is willing to surrender up all to appease his Creditor. This being the Sense in general, I may venture to say, the true Reading must have been thus. &lblank; To satisfy, I d'off my Freedom; 'tis the main part; take No stricter Render of me than my all. The Verb doff is too frequently used by our Author to need any Quotations in Proof; and surely, here with peculiar Elegance. i. e. “To give all the Satisfaction I am able to your offended Godheads, I voluntarily divest myself of my Freedom: 'Tis the only Thing I have worth offering by way of Atonement, take no stricter Render of me than my All. Mr. Warburton

Note return to page 204 [54] (54) I speak against my present Profit, &c.] All this intermediate Scene, from the Instant that Posthumus falls asleep to the Exit of the Goaler here, I could be as well content, as Mr. Pope is, should be left out. But as 'tis found in the earliest Folio Edition, tho' it should have been an Interpolation, and not of Shakespeare's Writing, I did not think, I had any Authority to discard it. I own, to Me, what Jupiter says to the Phantoms seems to carry the Stamp of our Author: if the other Parts of the Masque appear inferior, I heartily wish, this were the only place where we have Reason to complain of Inequalities, either in Style, or the Matter.

Note return to page 205 [55] (55) &lblank; I never saw Such noble Fury in so poor a Thing; Such precious Deeds in one that promis'd Nought But Begg'ry and poor Looks.] But, pray, how can it be said that one whose poor Looks promise Beggary, should promise poor Looks too? No; it was not the poor Look that was promised: That was visible. We must read with Certainty; But Begg'ry and poor Luck. This sets the Matter entirely right, and makes Belarius speak Sense and to the purpose. For there was the extraordinary Thing; he promis'd Nothing but poor Luck, and yet perform'd such Wonders. Mr. Warburton.

Note return to page 206 [56] (56) &lblank; One sand another Not more resembles that sweet rosie Youth, Who dy'd and was Fidele.] A slight Corruption has made stark Nonsense of this Passage. One Grain of Sand certainly might resemble another; but it could never resemble a human Form. I believe, I have restor'd the Poet's Meaning; The Verse is none of the smoothest; but, resembles, must be pronounc'd as a dissyllable.

Note return to page 207 [57] (57) Hearing us praise our Loves of Italy For Beauty, that made barren the swell'd Boast Of him that best could speak; for Feature, laming The shrine of Venus, or strait-pight Minerva, Postures, beyond brief Nature; &lblank;] As plausible as this Reading may appear at first View, I dare say, it is slightly corrupted. What! did they praise their Mistresses for Beauty, and for Feature too? The Symmetry of Features is always one main part of Beauty. Then why should Features be said to lame a Statue, or the Postures of a well-built Goddess? We must certainly restore &lblank; for Stature laming The Shrine of Venus, &c. This agrees perfectly well with, laming, strait-pight, and Postures: and so the Lady is prais'd for her Beauty, her Shape, and her Temper of of Mind.

Note return to page 208 [58] (58) Why fled you from the Court, and whether these?] By a strange Negligence, in all the Editions, this Passage is stark Nonsense. One Part of the Mistake made is in the Word, whether; and another, is, in the false Pointing. It must be rectified thus; Why fled you from the Court? and whither? These, &c. The King is asking his Daughter, how She has liv'd since her Elopement from the Court; when She enter'd herself in Lucius's Service; how she met with her Brothers, or parted from them; why She fled from the Court, and to what Place: And having enumerated so many Particulars, he stops short, and cires, “All these Circumstances, and the Motives of Belarius, Guiderius, and Arviragus to the Battle, together with a Number more of Occurrences by the Bye, I want to be resolv'd in.”

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