Note return to page 1 Plot from a Novel of Bandello. Pope. This novel is translated in Painter's Palace of Pleasure. Editions of this Play. 1. 1597. John Danter. 2. 1599. Tho. Crede for Cuthbert Burby. 3. 1637. R. Young for John Smethwick. 4. No date. John Smethwick. I have only the folio.

Note return to page 2 1we'll not carry coals.] A phrase then in use, to signify the bearing injuries. Warburton. This is positively told us; but if another critic shall as positively deny it, where is the proof? I do not certainly know the meaning of the phrase, but it seems rather to be to smother anger, and to be used of a man who burns inwardly with resentment, to which he gives no vent.6Q0242

Note return to page 3 2cruel with the maids,] The first folio reads civil with the maids.

Note return to page 4 3Enter Benvolio.] Much of this scene is added, since the first edition; but probably by Shakespear, since we find it in that of the year 1599. Pope.

Note return to page 5 4give me my long sword.] The long sword was the sword used in war, which was sometimes wielded with both hands.

Note return to page 6 5That most are busied, &c.] Edition 1597. Instead of which it is in the other editions thus. &lblank; by my own. Which then most sought, where most might not be found, Being one too many by my weary self, Pursued my humour, &c. Pope.

Note return to page 7 6And gladly shun'd, &c.] The ten lines following, not in edition 1597, but in the next of 1599. Pope.

Note return to page 8 7Ben. Have you importun'd, &c.] These two speeches also omitted in edition 1597, but inserted in 1599. Pope.

Note return to page 9 8Or dedicate his Beauty to the Same.] When we come to consider, that there is some power else besides balmy air, that brings forth, and makes the tender buds spread themselves, I do not think it improbable that the Poet wrote; Or dedicate his beauty to the Sun Sun. Or, according to the more obsolete spelling, Sunne; which brings it nearer to the traces of the corrupted text. Theob. I cannot but suspect that some lines are lost, which connected this simile more closely with the foregoing speech; these lines, if such there were, lamented the danger that Romeo will die of his melancholy, before his virtues or abilities are known to the world.

Note return to page 10 9&lblank; to his will!] Sir T. Hanmer, and after him Dr. Warburton, read, to his ill. The present reading has some obscurity; the meaning may be, that love finds out means to pursue his desire. That the blind should find paths to ill is no great wonder.

Note return to page 11 1Why then, O brawling love, &c.] Of these lines neither the sense nor occasion is very evident. He is not yet in love with an enemy, and to love one and hate another is no such uncommon state, as can deserve all this toil of antithesis.

Note return to page 12 2Why, such is love's transgression. &lblank;] Such is the consequence of unskilful and mistaken kindness. This line is probably mutilated, for being intended to rhyme to the line foregoing, it must have originally been complete in its measure.

Note return to page 13 3Being furg'd, a fire sparkling in overs' eyes;] The authour may mean being purged of smoke, but it is perhaps a meaning never given to the word in any other place. I would rather read, Being urged, a fire sparkling. Being excited and inforced. To urge the fire is the technical term.

Note return to page 14 4Being vex'd, &c.] As this line stands single, it is likely that the foregoing or following line that rhym'd to it, is lost.

Note return to page 15 5Tell me in sadness,] That is, tell me gravely, tell me in seriousness.

Note return to page 16 6in strong proof &lblank;] In chastity of proof, as we say in armour of proof.

Note return to page 17 7with Beauty dies her Store] Mr. Theobald reads, With her dies beauties store. and is followed by the two succeeding editors. I have replaced the old reading; because I think it at least as plausible as the correction. She is rich, says he, in beauty, and only poor in being subject to the lot of humanity, that her store, or riches, can be destroyed by death, who shall, by the same blow, put an end to beauty.

Note return to page 18 8Rom. She hath, and in that Sparing, &c.] None of the following speeches of this scene in the first edition of 1597. Pope.

Note return to page 19 9too wisely fair,] Hanmer. For, wisely too fair.

Note return to page 20 1She is the hopeful lady of my earth:] This line not in the first edition. Pope. The lady of his earth is an expression not very intelligible, unless he means that she is heir to his estate, and I suppose no man ever called his lands his earth. I will venture to propose a bold change, She is the hope and stay of my full years.

Note return to page 21 2Earth-treading stars that make dark heaven's light.] This nonsense should be reformed thus, Earth-treading stars that make dark even light. i. e. When the evening is dark and without stars, these earthly stars supply their place, and light it up. So again in this play, Her beauty hangs upon the cheek of night, Like a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear. Warburton. But why nonsense? Is any thing more commonly said, than that beauties eclipse the sun? Has not Pope the thought and the word? Sol through white curtains shot a tim'rous ray, And ope'd those eyes that must eclipse the day. Both the old and the new reading are philosophical nonsense, but they are both, and both equally poetical sense.

Note return to page 22 3&lblank; do lusty young men feel,] To say, and to say in pompous words, that a young man shall feel as much in an assembly of beauties, as young men feel in the month of April, is surely to waste sound upon a very poor sentiment. I read, Such comfort as do lusty yeomen feel. You shall feel from the sight and conversation of these ladies, such hopes of happiness and such pleasure, as the farmer receives from the spring, when the plenty of the year begins, and the prospect of the harvest fills him with delight.

Note return to page 23 4Which on more view of many, mine, being one, May stand in number, tho' in reck'ning none.] The first of these lines I do not understand. The old folio gives no help; the passage is there, Which one more view. I can offer nothing better than this: Within your view of many, mine being one, May stand in number, &c.

Note return to page 24 5A fair assembly; whither should they come? Serv. Up.— Rom. Whither? to supper? Serv. To our house.] Romeo had read over the list of invited guests; but how should he know they were invited to supper? This comes much more aptly from the Servant's answer, than Romeo's question; and must undoubtedly be placed to him. Warburton. When a man reads a list of guests, he knows that they are invited to something, and, without any extraordinary good fortune, may guess, to a supper.

Note return to page 25 6&lblank; let there be weigh'd Your lady's love against some other maid,] But the comparison was not betwixt the love that Romeo's mistress paid him, and the person of any other young woman; but betwixt Romeo's mistress herself, and some other that should be match'd against her. The poet therefore must certainly have wrote; Your lady-love against some other maid. Warburton.

Note return to page 26 7&lblank; to my teen] To my sorrow.

Note return to page 27 8Nurse. Yes, Madam; yet I cannot chuse, &c.] This speech and tautology is not in the first edition. Pope.

Note return to page 28 9It is an hour.] The modern editors all give it is an honour. I have restored the genuine word, which is more seemly from a girl to her mother. Your, fire, and such words as are vulgarly uttered in two syllables, are used as dissyllables by Shakespeare.

Note return to page 29 1La. Cap. What say you, &c.] This ridiculous speech is entirely added since the first edition. Pope.

Note return to page 30 2That in gold clasps in the golden Story.] The golden story is perhaps the golden legend, a book in the darker ages of popery much read, and doubtless often exquisitely embellished, but of which Canus, one of the popish doctors, proclaims the author to have been hono ferrei oris, plumbei cordis.

Note return to page 31 3The date is out of such prolixity.] i. e. Masks are now out of fashion. That Shakespear was an enemy to these fooleries, appears from his writing none: and that his plays discredited such entertainments is more than probable. But in James's time, that reign of false taste as well as false politics, they came again in fashion: and a deluge of this affected nonsense overflowed the court and country. Warb.

Note return to page 32 4&lblank; like a crow-keeper:] The word crow-keeper is explained in Lear.

Note return to page 33 5Nor a without-book prologue, &c.] The two following lines are inserted from the first edition. Pope.

Note return to page 34 6Mer. You are a Lover; &c.] The twelve following lines are not to be found in the first edition. Pope.

Note return to page 35 7Tut! dun's the mouse, the constable's own word;] This poor obscure stuff should have an explanation in mere charity. It is an answer to these two lines of Romeo, For I am proverb'd with a grandsire's phrase, and The game was ne'er so fair, and I am done. Mercutio, in his reply, answers the last line first. The thought of which, and of the preceding, is taken from gaming, I'll be a candle-holder (says Romeo) and look on. It is true, if I could play myself, I could never expect a fairer chance than in the company we are going to: but, alas! I am done. I have nothing to play with; I have lost my heart already. Mercutio catches at the word done, and quibbles with it, as if Romeo had said, The ladies indeed are fair, but I am dun, i. e. of a dark complexion. And so replies, Tut! dun's the mouse; a proverbial expression of the same import with the French, La nuit tous les chats sont gris. As much as to say, You need not fear, night will make all your complexions alike. And because Romeo had introduced his observation with, I am proverb'd with a grandsire's phrase, Mercutio adds to his reply, the constable's own word. As much as to say, if you are for old proverbs, I'll fit you with one; 'tis the constable's own word: whose custom was, when he summoned his watch, and assigned them their several stations, to give them what the soldiers call, the word. But this night guard being distinguished for their pacific character, the constable, as an emblem of their harmless disposition, chose that domestic animal for his word: which, in time, might become proverbial. Warb.

Note return to page 36 8Or, save your reverence, Love,] The word or obscures the sentence; we should read O! for or Love. Mercutio having called the affection with which Romeo was entangled by so disrespectful a word as mire, cries out, O! save your reverence, Love.

Note return to page 37 9O, then I see, Queen Mab hath been with you. She is the fairies' midwife.] Thus begins that admirable speech upon the effects of the imagination in dreams. But, Queen Mab the fairies' midwife? What is she then Queen of? Why, the fairies. What! and their midwife too? But this is not the greatest of the absurdities. Let us see upon what occasion she is introduced, and under what quality. It is as a Being that has great power over human imaginations. But then the title given her, must have reference to the employment she is put upon: First then, she is called Queen: which is very pertinent; for that designs her power: Then she is called the fairies' midwife; but what has that to do with the point in hand? If we would think that Shakespear wrote sense, we must say, he wrote—the fancy's midwife: and this is a proper title, as it introduces all that is said afterwards of her vagaries. Besides, it exactly quadrates with these lines: &lblank; I talk of dreams; Which are the children of an idle brain, Begot of nothing but vain fantasie. These dreams are begot upon fantasie, and Mab is the midwife to bring them forth. And fancy's midwife is a phrase altogether in the manner of our author. Warburton.

Note return to page 38 1Sometimes she gallops o'er a lawyer's nose, And then dreams he of smelling out a suit;] The old editions have it, courtier's nose; and this undoubtedly is the true reading: and for these reasons. First, In the present reading there is a vicious repetition in this fine speech; the same thought having been given in the foregoing line, O'er lawyers' fingers, who strait dream on fees: Nor can it be objected that there will be the same fault if we read courtier's, it having been said before. On courtiers' knees, that dream on curtsies strait: because they are shewn in two places under different views: in the first, their foppery; in the second, their rapacity is ridiculed. Secondly, In our author's time, a court-solicitation was called, simply, a suit: and a process, a suit at law, to distinguish it from the other. The King (says an anonymous cotemporary writer of the life of Sir William Cecil) called him [Sir William Cecil] and after long talk with him, being much delighted with his answers, willed his Father to find [i. e. to smell out] a suit for him. Whereupon he became suiter for the reversion of the Custos brevium office in the Common Pleas. Which the King willingly granted, it being the first suit he had in his life. Indeed our Poet has very rarely turned his satire against lawyers and law proceedings; the common topic of later writers. For, to observe it to the honour of the English judicatures, they preserved the purity and simplicity of their first institution, long after Chicane had over-run all the other laws of Europe. Philip de Commines gives us a very frank description of the horrid abuses that had infected the courts of justice in France, so early as the time of Lewis XI. Aussi destroit fort qu'en ce Royaume on usast d' une coustume; d'un poix, d'une mesure: et que toutes ces coustumes fussent mises en françoys, en un beau Livre, pour eviter la cautelle & la pillerie des advocats: qui est si grande en ce Royaume, que nulle autre n'est semblable, & les nobles d'iceluy la doivent bien cougnoistre. At this time the administration of the law in England was conducted with great purity and integrity. The reason of this difference I take to be, that, 'till of late, there were few glossers or commentators on our laws, and those very able, honest, and concise. While it was the fortune of the other municipal laws of Europe, where the Roman civil law had a supplemental authority, to be, in imitation of that law, overloaded with glosses and commentators. And what corruption this practice occasioned in the administration of the Roman law itself, and to what a miserable condition it reduced public justice, we may see in a long and fine digression of the historian Ammianus Marcellinus; who has painted, in very lively colours, the different kinds of vermine, which infected their tribunals and courts of law: whereby the state of public justice became in a short time so desperately corrupt, that Justinian was obliged to new-model and digest the enormous body of their laws. Warburton.

Note return to page 39 2Spanish blades,] A sword is called a Toledo, from the excellence of the Toletan steel. So Grotius, Ensis Toletanus Unda Tagi non est ano celebranda metallo, Utilis in cives est ibi lamna suos.

Note return to page 40 3And cakes the elf-locks, &c.] This was a common superstition; and seems to have had its rise from the horrid disease called the Plica Polonica. Warb.

Note return to page 41 4Direct my suit!] Guide the sequel of the adventure.

Note return to page 42 5You're welcome, Gentlemen.] These two lines, omitted by the modern editors, I have replaced from the folio.

Note return to page 43 6good cousin Capulet.] This cousin Capulet is unkle in the paper of invitation, but as Capulet is described as old, cousin is probably the right word in both places. I know not how Capulet and his lady might agree, their ages were very disproportionate; he has been past masking for thirty years, and her age, as she tells Juliet, is but eight and twenty.

Note return to page 44 7If I profane with my unworthy hand This holy shrine, the gentle Sin is this, My lips, two blushing pilgrims, &c.] All profanations are suppos'd to be expiated either by some meritorious action, or by some penance undergone and punishment submitted to. So, Romeo would here say, If I have been profane in the rude touch of my hand, my lips stand ready, as two blushing pilgrims, to take off that offence, to atone for it by a sweet penance. Our poet therefore must have wrote, &lblank; the gentle Fine is this. Warb.

Note return to page 45 8Chorus] This chorus added since the first edition. Pope. Chorus. The use of this chorus is not easily discovered, it conduces nothing to the progress of the play, but relates what is already known, or what the next scenes will shew; and relates it without adding the improvement of any moral sentiment.

Note return to page 46 9When King Cophetua, &c.] Alluding to an old ballad. Pope.

Note return to page 47 1He jests at scars,] That is, Mercutio jests, whom he overheard.

Note return to page 48 2Be not her maid,] Be not a votary to the moon, to Diana.

Note return to page 49 3It is my lady; &lblank;] This line and half I have replaced.

Note return to page 50 4O, speak again, bright Angel! for thou art As glorious to this night,] Tho' all the printed copies concur in this reading, yet the latter part of the Simile seems to require, As glorious to this Sight; and therefore I have ventured to alter the text so. Theobald.

Note return to page 51 5&lblank; the lazy-pacing clouds,] Thus corrected from the first edition, in the other lazy-puffing. Pope.

Note return to page 52 6Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.] i. e. you would be just what you are, altho' you were not of the house of Montague. Warburton. I think the true reading is, Thou art thyself, then not a Montague. Thou art a being of peculiar excellence, and hast none of the malignity of the family, from which thou hast thy name. Hanmer reads, Thou'rt not thyself so, though a Montague.

Note return to page 53 7&lblank; coying to be strange.] For coying, the modern editions have cunning.

Note return to page 54 8The grey-ey'd morn, &c.] These four first lines are here replaced, conformable to the first edition, where such a description is much more proper than in the mouth of Romeo just before, when he was full of nothing but the thoughts of his mistress. Pope. In the folio these lines are printed twice over, and given once to Romeo, and once to the Frier.

Note return to page 55 9&lblank; powerful grace,] Efficacious virtue.

Note return to page 56 1Poison hath residence, and medicine power:] I believe Shakespear wrote, more accurately, thus, Poison hath residence, and medic'nal power: i. e. both the poison and the antidote are lodged within the rind of this flower. Warburton. There is no need of alteration.

Note return to page 57 2Two such opposed foes &lblank;] This is a modern Sophistication. The old books have it opposed— kings. So that it appears, Shakespear wrote, Two such opposed kin. Why he calls them Kin was, because they were qualities residing in one and the same substance. And as the enmity of opposed Kin generally rises higher than that between strangers, this circumstance adds a beauty to the expression. Warb. Foes is certainly wrong, and kin is not right. Two kings are two opposite powers, two contending potentates, in both the natural and moral world. The word encamp is proper to commanders.

Note return to page 58 3More than prince of cats? &lblank;] Tybalt, the name given to the Cat, in the story-book of Reynold the Fox. Warburton.

Note return to page 59 4&lblank; courageous captain of compliments;] A complete master of all the laws of ceremony, the principal man in the doctrine of punct lio. A man of compliments, whom right and wrong Have chose as umpire; Says our authour of Don Armado, the Spaniard, in Love's labour lost.

Note return to page 60 5A gentleman of the very first house, of the first and second cause;] i. e. one who pretends to be at the head of his family, and quarrels by the book. See Note on As you like it, Act V. Scene 6. Warburton.

Note return to page 61 6The, hay!] All the terms of the modern fencing-school were originally Italian; the rapier, or small thrusting sword, being first used in Italy. The hay is the word hai, you have it, used when a thrust reaches the antagonist, from which our fencers, on the same occasion, without knowing, I suppose, any reason for it, cry out, ha!

Note return to page 62 7Why, is not this a lamentable thing, grandsire!] Humourously apostrophising his ancestors, whose sober times were unacquainted with the fopperies here complained of. Warburton.

Note return to page 63 8These pardonnez-mois,] Pardonnez-moi became the language of doubt or hesitation among men of the sword, when the point of honour was grown so delicate, that no other mode of contradiction would be endured.

Note return to page 64 9O, their bones! their bones!] Mercutio is here ridiculing those frenchified fantastical coxcomb; whom he calls pardonnez-moy's: and therefore, I suspect here he meant to write French too. O, their bon's! their bon's! i. e. How ridiculous they make themselves in crying out good, and being in extasies with every trifle; as he has just described them before. &lblank; a very good blade! &c. Theob.

Note return to page 65 1then is my pump well flowered.] Here is a vein of wit too thin to be easily found. The fundamental idea is, that Romeo wore pinked pumps, that is, pumps punched with holes in figures.

Note return to page 66 2a wit of cheverel,] Cheverel is soft leather for gloves.

Note return to page 67 3No hare, Sir,] Mercutio having roared out, so ho! the cry of the sportsmen when they start a hare; Romeo asks what he has found. And Mercutio answers, No hare, &c. The rest is a series of quibbles unworthy of explanation, which he who does not understand, needs not lament his ignorance.

Note return to page 68 4None of his skains-mates.] The word skains-mate, I do not understand, but suppose that skains was some low play, and skains-mate, a companion at such play.

Note return to page 69 5&lblank; like a tackled stair,] Like stairs of rope in the tackle of a ship.

Note return to page 70 6Rom. Ay, nurse, what of that? both with an R. Nurse. Ah, mocker! that's the dog's name. R is for the no, I know it begins with no other letter;] I believe, I have rectified this odd stuff; but it is a little mortifying, that the sense, when found, should not be worth the pains of retrieving it. &lblank; spissis indigna Theatris Scripta pudet recitare, & nugis addere pondus. The Nurse is represented as a prating silly creature; she says, she will tell Romeo a good joke about his mistress, and asks him, whether Rosemary and Romeo do not begin both with a letter: He says, yes, an R. She, who, we must suppose, could not read, thought he had mock'd her, and says, No, sure, I know better: our dog's name is R. yours begins with another letter. This is natural enough, and in character. R put her in mind of that sound which is made by dogs when they snarl: and therefore, I presume, she says, that is the dog's name. R. in the schools, being called the Dog's Letter. Ben Johnson in his English grammar says, R. is the Dog's letter, and birreth in the sound. Irritata canis quod R. R. quam plurima dicat. Lucil. Warburton. This passage is thus in the old folio, A mocker, that's the dog's name. R is for the no, I know it begins with some other letter. In this copy the error is but small. I read, Ah, mocker, that's the dog's name. R is for the nonce, I knew it begins with another letter. For the nonce, is for some design, for a sly trick.

Note return to page 71 7Too swift arrives] He that travels too fast is as long before he comes to the end of his journey, as he that travels slow. Precipitation produces mishap.

Note return to page 72 8The day is hot,] It is observed that in Italy almost all assassinations are committed during the heat of summer.

Note return to page 73 9Will you pluck your sword out of his Pilcher by the ears?] We should read Pilche, which signifies a cloke or coat of skins, meaning the scabbard. Warburton.

Note return to page 74 1This day's black fate on more days does depend;] This day's unhappy destiny hangs over the days yet to come. There will yet be more mischief.

Note return to page 75 2Oh! I am fortune's fool.] I am always running in the way of evil fortune, like the fool in a play. Thou art death's fool: in Measure for Measure. See Dr. Warburton's Note.

Note return to page 76 3as thou art true,] As thou art just and upright.

Note return to page 77 4How nice the quarrel &lblank;] How slight, how unimportant, how petty. So in the last Act, The letter was not nice, but full of charge Of dear import.

Note return to page 78 5Affection makes him false.] The charge of falshood on Bentivolio, though produced at hazard, is very just. The authour, who seems to intend the character of Bentivolio as good, meant perhaps to shew, how the best minds, in a state of faction and discord, are detorted to criminal partiality.

Note return to page 79 6I have an interest in your hearts' proceeding,] Sir Th. Hanmer saw that this line gave no sense, and therefore put, by a very easy change, I have an interest in your heat's proceeding. Which is undoubtedly better than the old reading which Dr. Warburton has followed; but the sense yet seems to be weak, and perhaps a more licentious correction is necessary. I read therefore, I had no interest in your heat's preceding. This, says the Prince, is no quarrel of mine, I had no interest in your former discord; I suffer merely by your private animosity.

Note return to page 80 7Spread thy close curtain, love-performing Night, That runaways eyes may wink;] What runaways are these, whose eyes Juliet is wishing to have stopt? Macbeth, we may remember, makes an invocation to Night much in the same strain, &lblank; Come, seeling Night, Scarf up the tender eye of pituful day, &c. So Juliet would have Night's darkness obscure the great eye of the day, the Sun; whom considering in a poetical light as Phœbus, drawn in his carr with fiery-footed steeds, and posting thro' the heavens, she very properly calls him, with regard to the swiftness of his course, the Runaway. In the like manner our Poet speaks of the Night in the Merchant of Venice; For the close Night doth play the Runaway. Warb. I am not satisfied with this emendation, yet have nothing better to propose.6Q0249

Note return to page 81 8Come, civil night,] Civil is grave, decently solemn.

Note return to page 82 9&lblank; unmann'd blood &lblank;] Blood yet unacquainted with man.

Note return to page 83 1The gairish sun.] Milton had this speech in his thoughts when he wrote II Penseroso. Civil night, Thou sober-suited matron. Shakespeare. Till civil-suited morn oppear. Milton. Pay no worship to the gairish sun. Shakespeare. Hide me from Day's gairish eye. Milton.

Note return to page 84 2And that bare vowel, ay, shall poison more Than the death-darting eye of cockatrice.] I question much whether the grammarians will take this new vowel on trust from Mr. Pope, without suspecting it rather for a diphthong. In short, we must restore the spelling of the old books, or we lose the Poet's conceit. At his time of day, the affirmative adverb ay was generally written, I: and by this means it both becomes a vowel, and answers in sound to eye, upon which the conceit turns in the second line. Theob. &lblank; death-darting eye of cockatrice.] The strange lines that follow here in the common books are not in the old edition. Pope. The strange lines are these: I am not I, if there be such an I, Or these eyes shot, that makes thee answer I; If he be slain, say I; or if not, No; Brief sound determine of my weal or woe. These lines hardly deserve emendation, yet it may be proper to observe, that their meanness has not placed them below the malice of fortune, the two first of them being evidently transposed: we should read, &lblank; That one vowel I shall poison more, Than the death-darting eye of cockatrice, Or those eyes shot that make thee answer, I. I am not I, &c.

Note return to page 85 3In old editions, Ravenous Dove, feather'd Raven, &c.] The four following lines not in the first edition, as well as some others which I have omitted. Pope. Ravenous Dove, feather'd Raven, Wolvish ravening Lamb!] This passage Mr. Pope has thrown out of the text, because these two noble hemistichs are inharmonious: But is there no such thing as a crutch for a labouring, halting verse? I'll venture to restore to the Poet a line that is in his own mode of thinking, and truly worthy of him. Ravenous was blunderingly coin'd out of raven and ravening; and, if we only throw it out, we gain at once an harmonious verse, and a proper contrast of epithets and images. Dove-feather'd Raven! wolvish-rav'ning Lamb! Theobald.

Note return to page 86 4Hath slain ten thousand Tybalts.] Hath put Tybalt out of my mind as if out of being.

Note return to page 87 5Which modern lamentation, &c.] This line is left out of the later editions, I suppose because the editors did not remember that Shakespeare uses modern for common, or slight: I believe it was in his time confounded in colloquial language with moderate.

Note return to page 88 6&lblank; More validity, More honourable state, more courtship lives In carrion flies, than Romeo. &lblank;] Validity seems here to mean, worth, or dignity; and courtship the state of a courtier permitted to approach the highest presence.

Note return to page 89 7So Hanmer. The other editions read, Why should you fall into so deep an oh?

Note return to page 90 8&lblank; cancel'd love?] The folio reads conceal'd love.

Note return to page 91 9Unseemly Woman, &c.] This strange nonsense Mr. Pope threw out of his edition for desperate. But it is easily restored as Shakespear wrote it into good pertinent sense. Unseemly Woman in a seeming Man! An ill-beseeming Beast in seeming groth! i. e. you have the ill beseeming passions of a brute beast in the well-seeming shape of a rational creature. For having in the first line said, he was a woman in the shape of a man, he aggravates the thought in the second, and says, he was even a brute in the shape of a rational creature. Seeming is used in both places, for seemly. Warburton. The old reading is probable, Thou art a beast of ill qualities, under the appearance both of a woman and a man.

Note return to page 92 1Why rail'st thou, &c.] These were again thrown out by Mr. Pope, and for the same reason: But they are easily set right. We should read, Since Birth, and Heav'n, and Earth, all three so meet, In thee atone; which then at once would lose. i. e. Why rail you at your Birth, and at Heaven, and Earth, which are all so meet, or auspicious to you: And all three your friends, [all three in thee atone] and yet you would lose them all by one rash stroke. Why he said,— Birth, Heaven, and Earth, all three atone—was because Romeo was of noble birth, of virtuous dispositions, and heir to a large patrimony. But by suicide he would disgrace the first, offend the second, and forego the enjoyment of the third. Atone is frequently used by Shakespeare in the sense of, to agree, be friendly together, &c. So in, As you like it, Then is there mirth in Heav'n When earthly things made even Atone together. Warb. The alteration makes no improvement. The meaning is the same in the common reading better expressed.

Note return to page 93 2And thou dismember'd with thine own defence.] And thou torn to pieces with thy own weapons.

Note return to page 94 3Go hence. Good night, &c.] These three lines are omitted in all the modern editions.

Note return to page 95 4&lblank; here stands all your state;] The whole of your fortune depends on this.

Note return to page 96 5Scene VI.] Some few necessary verses are omitted in this scene according to the oldest editions. Pope.

Note return to page 97 6Sir Paris, I will make a desperate tender Of my child's love &lblank;] This was but an indifferent compliment both to Sir Paris and his Daughter: As if there were small hopes of her ever proving good for any thing. For he could not call the tender, desperate on the little prospect there was of his performing his engagement, because he is sure, he says, that his daughter will be ruled in all respects by him. We should read, Sir Paris, I will make a separate tender. i. e. I will venture separately on my own head, to make you a tender of my daughter's love without consulting her. For Sir Paris was impatient, and the mother had said, Things have fall'n out, Sir, so unluckily, That we have had no time to move our daughter. Warburton. Desperate means only bold, advent'rous, as if he had said in the vulgar phrase, I will speak a bold word, and venture to promise you my daughter.

Note return to page 98 7&lblank; the pale reflex &lblank;] The appearance of a cloud opposed to the moon.

Note return to page 99 8I have more care to stay, than will to go.] Would it be better thus, I have more will to stay, than care to go?

Note return to page 100 9O, now I would they had chang'd voices too!] The toad having very fine eyes, and the lark very ugly ones, was the occasion of a common saying amongst the people, that the toad and lark had changed eyes. To this the speaker alludes. But sure she need not have wished that they had changed voices too. The lark appear'd to her untunable enough in all conscience: As appears by what she said just before, It is the lark that sings so out of tune, Straining harsh discords and unpleasing sharps. This directs us to the right reading. For how natural was it for her after this to add, Some say the lark and loathed toad change eyes. O, now I wot they have chang'd voices too. i. e. the lark sings so harshly that I now perceive the toad and she have changed voices as well as eyes. Warb. This tradition of the toad and lark I have heard expressed in a rustick rhyme, &lblank; To heav'n I'd fly, But the Toad beguil'd me of my eye.

Note return to page 101 1Since arm from arm, &c.] These two lines are omitted in the modern editions, and do not deserve to be replaced, but as they may shew the danger of critical temerity. Dr. Warburton's change of I would to I wot was specious enough, yet it is evidently erroneous. The sense is this, The lark, they say, has lost her eyes to the toad, and now I would the toad had her voice too, since she uses it to the disturbance of lovers.

Note return to page 102 2&lblank; procures her hither?] Procures for brings. Warb.

Note return to page 103 3I, Madam, from &lblank;] Juliet's equivocations are rather too artful for a mind disturbed by the loss of a new lover.6Q0250

Note return to page 104 4&lblank; unaccustom'd Dram,] In vulgar language, Shall give him a Dram which he is not used to. Though I have, if I mistake not, observed, that in old books unaccustomed signifies wonderful, powerful, efficacious.

Note return to page 105 5&lblank; in happy time,] A la bonne heure. This phrase was interjected, when the hearer was not quite so well pleased as the speaker.

Note return to page 106 6&lblank; so keen,] Hanmer. In the other editions, so green.

Note return to page 107 7As living here,] Sir T. Hanmer reads, as living hence; that is, at a distance, in banishment, but here may signify, in this world.

Note return to page 108 8And I am, &c.] His haste shall not be abated by my slowness. It might be read, And I am nothing slow to back his haste. That is, I am diligent to abet and enforce his haste.

Note return to page 109 9&lblank; my lady and my wife!] As these four first lines seem intended to rhyme, perhaps the authour wrote thus, &lblank; my lady and my life!

Note return to page 110 1Shall play the umpire;] That is, this knife shall decide the struggle between me and my distresses.

Note return to page 111 2&lblank; commission of thy years and art] Commission is for authority or power.

Note return to page 112 3Or chain me, &c.] Or walk in thievish ways, or bid me lurk Where serpents are, chain me with roaring bears, Or hide me nightly, &c. It is thus the editions vary. Pope. My edition has the words which Mr. Pope has omitted; but the old copy seems in this place preferable, only perhaps we might better read, Where savage bears and roaring lions roam.

Note return to page 113 4&lblank; and he and I Will watch thy waking.] These words are not in the folio.

Note return to page 114 5If no unconstant toy, &lblank;] If no fickle freak, no light caprice, no change of fancy, hinder the performance.

Note return to page 115 6We shall be short &lblank;] That is, We shall be defective.

Note return to page 116 7For I have need, &c] Juliet plays most of her pranks under the appearance of religion: perhaps Shakespeare meant to punish her hypocrisy.

Note return to page 117 8&lblank; is it not like, that I] This speech is confused and inconsequential, according to the disorder of Juliet's mind.

Note return to page 118 9The curfeu bell &lblank;] I know not that the morning bell is called the curfeu in any other place.

Note return to page 119 1O woe! oh woful, &c.] This speech of exclamations is not in the edition above cited. Several other parts, unnecessary or tautology, are not to be found in the said edition; which occasions the variation in this from the common books. Pope.

Note return to page 120 2In former editions, Peace, ho, for shame, confusions: Care lives not In these confusions:] This speech, though it contains good Christian doctrine, though it is perfectly in character for the Friar, Mr. Pope has curtail'd to little or nothing, because it has not the sanction of the first old copy. But there was another reason: Certain corruptions started, which should have required the indulging his private sense to make them intelligible, and this was an unreasonable labour. As I have reformed the passage above quoted, I dare warrant, I have restored our Poet's text; and a fine sensible reproof it contains against immoderate grief. Theob.

Note return to page 121 3For tho' some Nature bids us all lament,] Some Nature? Sure, it is the general rule of Nature, or she could not bid us all lament. I have ventured to substitute an epithet, which, I suspect, was lost in the idle, corrupted word, some: and which admirably quadrates with the verse succeeding this. Theob.

Note return to page 122 4O, play me some merry dump, to comfort me!] This is not in the folio, but the answer plainly requires it.

Note return to page 123 5The acts are here properly enough divided, nor did any better distribution than the editors have already made, occur to me in the perusal of this play; yet it may not be improper to remark, that in the first folio, and I suppose the foregoing editions are in the same state, there is no division of the acts, and therefore some future editor may try, whether any improvement can be made, by reducing them to a length more equal, or interrupting the action at more proper intervals.

Note return to page 124 6If I may trust the flattering Truth of sleep] This man was of an odd composition to be able to make it a question, whether he should believe what he confessed to be true. Tho' if he thought Truth capable of Flattery, he might indeed suppose her to be turn'd apostate. But none of this nonsense came from Shakespear. He wrote, If I may trust the flattering Ruth of sleep, i. e. Pity. The compassionate advertisement of sleep. This was a reasonable question; and the epithet given to Ruth suits its nature. But, above all, the character which the poet always gives us of Sleep is here well described in this reading; that it is pitiful, compassionte, the Balm of hurt minds, great Nature's second course, Chief nourisher of life's feast. &lblank; But because I had corrected it, &lblank; the flattering Ruth of sleep, the Oxford Editor would be even with me, and reads it, &lblank; the flattery of sleep; And he has done it. For tho' a reasonable man might make it a question, whether he should believe a compassionate advertisement, yet who would hesitate whether he should believe a flatterer. Warburton. This seems to be a favourite correction, but it is not necessary. The sense is, If I may only trust the honesty of sleep, which I know however not to be so nice as not often to practise flattery.

Note return to page 125 9My bosom's Lord &lblank;] These three lines are very gay and pleasing. But why does Shakespeare give Romeo this involuntary cheerfulness just before the extremity of unhappiness? Perhaps to shew the vanity of trusting to those uncertain and casual exaltations or depressions, which many consider as certain foretokens of good and evil.

Note return to page 126 1A beggarly account of empty boxes;] Though the boxes were empty, yet their titles, or the accounts of their contents, if like those in the shops of other apothecaries, we may be sure, were magnificent enough. I suspect therefore that Shakespear wrote, A braggartly account of empty boxes; Which is somewhat confirmed by the reading of the old Quarto of 1597: &lblank; whose needy shop is stufft With beggarly accounts of empty boxes; Not but account may signify number as well as contents; if the first, the common reading is right. Warburton. Beggarly is probably right; if the boxes were empty, the account was more beggarly, as it was more pompous.

Note return to page 127 2Fair Juliet, that with angels, &c.] These four lines from the old edition. Pope. Mr. Pope has followed the best copy. The folio has these lines; Sweet flow'r, with flow'rs thy bridal bed I strew:   O woe! thy canopy is dust and stones, Which with sweet water nightly I will dew,   Or wanting that, with tears distill'd by moans. The obsequies which I for thee will keep, Nightly shall be to strew thy grave, and weep.

Note return to page 128 3&lblank; dear employment.] That is, action of importance. Gems were supposed to have great powers and virtues.

Note return to page 129 4&lblank; Presence &lblank;] A presence is a publick room.

Note return to page 130 5&lblank; O, how may I Call this a lightning!] I think we should read, &lblank; O, now may I Call this a lightning! &lblank;

Note return to page 131 6And never from this Palace of dim night Depart again. (Come lie thou in my Arms; Here's to thy Health. O true Apothecary! Thy drugs are quick).] Mr. Pope's, and some other of the worser editions acknowledge absurdly the lines which I have put into parenthesis here; and which I have expung'd from the text, for this reason: Romeo is made to confess the effect of the poison before ever he has tasted it. I suppose, it hardly was so savoury that the patient should chuse to make two draughts of it. And, eight lines after these, we find him taking the poison in his hands, and making an apostrophe to it; inviting it to perform its office at once; and then, and not 'till then, does he clap it to his lips, or can with any probability speak of its instant force and effects. Besides, Shakespeare would hardly have made Romeo drink to the health of his dead Mistress. Though the first quarto in 1599, and the two old folios acknowledge this absurd stuff, I find it left out in several later quarto impressions. I ought to take notice, that tho' Mr. Pope has thought fit to stick to the old copies in this addition, yet he is no fair transcriber; for he has sunk upon us an hemistich of most profound absurdity, which possesses all those copies. &lblank; Come, lie thou in my Arms; Here's to thy Health, where-e'er thou tumblest in. O true Apothecary! &c. Theobald. I have no edition but the folio, which has all the passage here mentioned. I have followed Mr. Theobald.6Q0251

Note return to page 132 7Raise up the Montagues. Some others; search &lblank;] Here seems to be a rhyme intended, which may be easily restored; Raise up the Montagues. Some others, go. We see the ground whereon these woes do lie, But the true ground of all this piteous woe We cannot without circumstance descry.

Note return to page 133 8What fear is this, which startles in your ears?] Read, What fear is this, which startles in our ears?

Note return to page 134 9&lblank; lo! the sheath Lies empty &lblank;] The folio, &lblank; For, lo! his house Is empty on the back, &c.

Note return to page 135 1Friar.] It is much to be lamented that the Poet did not conclude the dialogue with the action, and avoid a narrative of events which the audience already knew.

Note return to page 136 This play is one of the most pleasing of our Author's performances. The scenes are busy and various, the incidents numerous and important, the catastrophe irresistibly affecting, and the process of the action carried on with such probability, at least with such congruity to popular opinions, as tragedy requires. Here is one of the few attempts of Shakespeare to exhibit the conversation of gentlemen, to represent the airy sprightliness of juvenile elegance. Mr. Dryden mentions a tradition, which might easily reach his time, of a declaration made by Shakespeare, that he was obliged to kill Mercutio in the third act, lest he should have been killed by him. Yet he thinks him no such formidable person, but that he might have lived through the play, and died in his bed, without danger to a poet. Dryden well knew, had he been in quest of truth, that, in a pointed sentence, more regard is commonly had to the words than the thought, and that it is very seldom to be rigorously understood. Mercutio's wit, gaiety and courage, will always procure him friends that wish him a longer life; but his death is not precipitated, he has lived out the time allotted him in the construction of the play; nor do I doubt the ability of Shakespeare to have continued his existence, though some of his sallies are perhaps out of the reach of Dryden; whose genius was not very fertile of merriment, nor ductile to humour, but acute, argumentative, comprehensive, and sublime. The Nurse is one of the characters in which the Authour delighted: he has, with great subtilty of distinction, drawn her at once loquacious and secret, obsequious and insolent, trusty and dishonest. His comick scenes are happily wrought, but his pathetick strains are always polluted with some unexpected depravations. His persons, however distressed, have a conceit left them in their misery, a miserable conceit.

Note return to page 137 The Story is taken from the Danish History of Saxo Grammaticus.

Note return to page 138 Of this Play the Editions are, [Table: 1Kb] 1. Quarto, 1605. J. R. for N. L. 2. 1611. W. S. for John Smethwicke. 3. 1637. R. Young, for John Smethwicke. 4. No date. W. S. for John Smethwicke. *&stellam;*I have only the third Quarto and Folio.

Note return to page 139 *This Play is printed both in the folio of 1623, and in the quarto of 1637, more correctly, than almost any other of the works of Shakespeare.

Note return to page 140 1The rivals of my Watch, &lblank;] Rivals, for partners. Warb. By Rivals of the Watch are meant those who were to watch on the next adjoining ground. Rivals, in the original sense of the word, were proprietors of neighbouring lands, parted only by a brook, which belonged equally to both. Hanmer.

Note return to page 141 2Hor. A piece of him.] But why a piece? He says this as he gives his hand. Which direction should be marked. Warb.

Note return to page 142 3&lblank; approve our eyes,] Add a new testimony to that of our eyes.

Note return to page 143 4What we two nights have seen.] This line is by Hanmer given to Marcellus, but without necessity.

Note return to page 144 5He smote the sleaded Polack on the ice.] Pole-ax in the common editions. He speaks of a Prince of Poland whom he slew in battle. He uses the word Polack again, Act 2. Scene 4. Pope. Polack was, in that age, the term for an inhabitant of Poland: Polaque, French. As in a translation of Passeratius's epitaph on Henry III. of France, published by Camden: Whether thy chance or choice thee hither brings, Stay, passenger, and wail the best of kings. This little stone a great king's heart doth hold, Who rul'd the fickle French and Polacks bold: So frail are even the highest earthly things. Go, passenger, and wail the hap of kings.

Note return to page 145 6&lblank; and just at this dead hour,] The old quarto reads jumpe: but the following editions discarded it for a more fashionable word. Warb. The old reading is, jump at this same hour; same is a kind of correlative to jump; just is in the oldest folio. The correction was probably made by the authour.

Note return to page 146 7&lblank; who by seal'd compact, Well ratified by law and heraldry,] The subject spoken of is a duel between two monarchs, who fought for a wager, and entered into articles for the just performance of the terms agreed upon. Two sorts of law then were necessary to regulate the decision of the affair: the Civil Law, and the Law of Arms; as, had there been a wager without a duel, it had been the civil law only; or a duel without a wager, the law of arms only. Let us see now how our author is made to express this sense. &lblank; a seal'd compact, Well ratified by law and heraldry. Now law, as distinguished from heraldry, signifying the civil law; and this seal'd compact being a civil-law act, it is as much as to say, An act of law well ratified by law, which is absurd. For the nature of ratification requires that which ratifies, and that which is ratified, should not be one and the same, but different. For these reasons I conclude Shakespeare wrote, &lblank; who by seal'd compact Well ratified by law of heraldry. i. e. the execution of the civil compact was ratified by the law of arms; which, in our author's time, was called the law of heraldry. So the best and exactest speaker of that age: In the third kind, [i. e. of the Jus gentium] the law of heraldry in war is positive, &c. Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity. Warb.

Note return to page 147 8&lblank; as by that cov'nant, And carriage of the articles design'd,] The old quarto reads, &lblank; as by the same comart; and this is right. Comart signifies a bargain, and Carriage of the articles, the covenants entered into to confirm that bargain. Hence we see the common reading makes a tautology. Warb.

Note return to page 148 9And carriage of the articles design'd,] Carriage, is import: designed, is formed, draws up between them.

Note return to page 149 1Of unimproved mettle &lblank;] Unimproved, for unrefined. War. Full of unimproved mettle, is full of spirit not regulated or guided by knowledge or experience.

Note return to page 150 2That hath a stomach in't: &lblank;] Stomach, in the time of our authour, was used for constancy, resolution.

Note return to page 151 3And terms compulsative, &lblank;] The old quarto, better, compulsatory. Warburton.

Note return to page 152 *These, and all other lines printed in the Italick letter, throughout this play, are omitted in the folio edition of 1623. The omissions leave the play sometimes better and sometimes worse, and seem made only for the sake of abbreviation.

Note return to page 153 4&lblank; palmy State of Rome,] Palmy, for victorious; in the other editions, flourishing. Pope.

Note return to page 154 5Disasters veil'd the Sun; &lblank;] Disasters is here finely used in its original signification of evil conjunction of stars. Warb.

Note return to page 155 6&lblank; precurse of fierce events,] Fierce, for terrible. Warb.

Note return to page 156 7And prologue to the omen coming on.] But prologue and omen are merely synonomous here. The Poet means, that these strange Phænomena are prologues and forerunners of the events presag'd: And such sense the slight alteration, which I have ventured to make, by changing omen to omen'd, very aptly gives. Theobald. Omen, for fate. Warb. Hanmer follows Theobald.

Note return to page 157 8If thou hast any sound,] The speech of Horatio to the spectre is very elegant and noble, and congruous to the common traditions of the causes of apparitions.

Note return to page 158 9According to the pneumatology of that time, every element was inhabited by its peculiar order of spirits, who had dispositions different, according to their various places of abode. The meaning therefore is, that all spirits extravagant, wandering out of their element, whether aerial spirits visiting earth, or earthly spirits ranging the air, return to their station, to their proper limits in which they are confined. We might read, &lblank; And at his warning Th' extravagant and erring Spirit hies To his Confine, whether in sea or air, Or earth, or fire. And of, &c. But this change, tho' it would smooth the construction, is not necessary, and being unnecessary, should not be made against authority.

Note return to page 159 1Th' extravagant &lblank;] i. e. got out of its bounds. Warb.

Note return to page 160 2Dares stir abroad. Quarto.

Note return to page 161 3No fairy takes, &lblank;] No fairy strikes, with lameness or diseases. This sense of take is frequent in this authour.

Note return to page 162 4&lblank; high eastern hill &lblank;] The old quarto has it better eastward. Warburton.

Note return to page 163 5Colleagued with this dream of his advantage,] The meaning is, He goes to war so indiscreetly, and unprepared, that he has no allies to support him but a Dream, with which he is colleagued or confederated. Warburton.

Note return to page 164 6The head is not more native to the heart, The hand more instrumental to the mouth, Than is the Throne of Denmark to thy father.] This is a flagrant instance of the first Editor's stupidity, in preferring sound to sense. But head, heart and hand, he thought must needs go together where an honest man was the subject of the encomium: tho' what he could mean by the head's being native to the heart, I cannot conceive. The mouth indeed of an honest man might, perhaps, in some sense, be said to be native, that is, allied to the heart. But the speaker is here talking not of a moral, but a physical alliance. And the force of what is said is supported only by that distinction. I suppose, then, that Shakespear wrote, The blood is not more native to the heart, &lblank; Than to the Throne of Denmark is thy father. This makes the sentiment just and pertinent. As the blood is formed and sustained by the labour of the heart, the mouth supplied by the office of the hand, so is the throne of Denmark by your father, &c. The expression too of the blood's being native to the heart, is extremely fine. For the heart is the laboratory where that vital liquor is digested, distributed, and (when weakened and debilitated) again restored to the vigour necessary for the discharge of its functions. Warburton. Part of this emendation I have received, but cannot discern why the head is not as much native to the heart, as the blood, that is, natural and congenial to it, born with it, and co-operating with it. The relation is likewise by this reading better preserved, the Counsellor being to the King as the head to the heart.

Note return to page 165 7Take thy fair hour, Laertes, time be thine, And thy fair graces; spend it at thy will.] This is the pointing in both Mr. Pope's editions; but the Poet's meaning is lost by it, and the close of the sentence miserably flatten'd. The pointing, I have restored, is that of the best copies; and the sense, this: “You have my leave to go, Laertes; make the fairest use you please of your time, and spend it at your will with the fairest graces you are master of.” Theobald. I rather think this line is in want of emendation. I read, &lblank; Time is thine, And my best graces; spend it at thy will.

Note return to page 166 8Ham. A little more than kin, and less than kind.] The King had called him, cousin Hamlet, therefore Hamlet replies, A little more than kin, &lblank; i. e. A little more than cousin; because, by marrying his mother, he was become the King's son-in-law: So far is easy. But what means the latter part, &lblank; and less than kind? The King, in the present reading, gives no occasion for this reflection, which is sufficient to shew it to be faulty, and that we should read and point the first line thus, But now, my cousin Hamlet. &lblank;   Kind my son &lblank; i. e. But now let us turn to you, cousin Hamlet. Kind my son, (or, as we now say, Good my son) lay aside this clouded look. For thus he was going to expostulate gently with him for his melancholy, when Hamlet cut him short by reflecting on the titles he gave him; A little more than kin, and less than kind. which we now see is a pertinent reply. Warburton. A little more than kin, and less than kind.] It is not unreasonable to suppose that this was a proverbial expression, known in former times for a relation so confused and blended, that it was hard to define it. Hanmer. Kind is the Teutonick word for Child. Hamlet therefore answers with propriety, to the titles of cousin and son, which the King had given him, that he was somewhat more than cousin, and less than son.

Note return to page 167 9&lblank; too much i' th' Sun.] He perhaps alludes to the proverb, Out of heaven's blessing into the warm sun.

Note return to page 168 1&lblank; your father lost a father; That father, his; and the surviver bound.] Thus Mr. Pope judiciously corrected the faulty copies. On which the editor Mr. Theobald thus discants; This supposed refinement is from Mr. Pope, but all the editions else, that I have met with, old and modern, read, That father lost, lost his; &lblank; The reduplication of which word her gives an energy and an elegance which is much easier to be conceived than explained in terms. I believe so: For when explained in terms it comes to this; That father after he had lost himself, lost his, father. But the reading is ex side Codicis, and that is enough. Warburton. I do not admire the repetition of the word, but it has so much of our authour's manner, that I find no temptation to recede from the old copies.6Q0252

Note return to page 169 2&lblank; obsequious sorrow.] Obsequious is here from obsequies, or funeral ceremonies.

Note return to page 170 3In obstinate condolement, &lblank;] Condolement, for sorrow; because sorrow is used to be condoled. Warburton.

Note return to page 171 4&lblank; a will most incorrect &lblank;] Incorrect, for untutor'd. Warburton.

Note return to page 172 5To Reason most absurd; &lblank;] Reason, for experience. Warb. Reason is here used in its common sense, for the faculty by which we form conclusions from arguments.

Note return to page 173 6And with no less nobility of love,] Nobility, for Magnitude. Warburton. Nobility is rather generosity.

Note return to page 174 7Do I impart tow'rd you. &lblank;] Impart, for profess. Warb. I believe impart is, impart myself, communicate whatever I can bestow.

Note return to page 175 8No jocund health,] The King's intemperance is very strongly impressed; every thing that happens to him gives him occasion to drink.

Note return to page 176 9Or that the Everlasting had not fix'd His cannon 'gainst self-slaughter!] The generality of the editions read thus, as if the Poet's thought were, Or that the Almighty had not planted his artillery, or arms of vengeance, against self-murder. But the word, which I restored, (and which was espous'd by the accurate Mr. Hughes, who gave an edition of this Play;) is the true reading. i. e. That he had not restrain'd suicide by his express law, and peremptory prohibition. Theobald.

Note return to page 177 1So excellent a King, that was, to this, Hyperion to a Satyr: &lblank;] This similitude at first sight seems to be a little far-fetch'd; but it has an exquisite beauty. By the Satyr is meant Pan, as by Hyperion, Apollo. Pan and Apollo were brothers, and the allusion is to the contention between those two Gods for the preference in musick. Warburton.

Note return to page 178 2In former editions, That he permitted not the winds of heav'n] This is a sophistical reading, copied from the players in some of the modern editions, for want of understanding the Poet, whose text is corrupt in the old impressions: All of which that I have had the fortune to see, concur in reading; &lblank; So loving to my mother, That he might not beteene the winds of heav'n Visit her face too roughly. Beteene is a corruption without doubt, but not so inveterate a one, but that, by the change of a single letter, and the separation of two words mistakenly jumbled together, I am verily persuaded, I have retrieved the Poet's reading.—That he might not let e'en the winds of heav'n, &c. Theobald.

Note return to page 179 3&lblank; a beast, that wants discourse of reason,] This is finely expressed, and with a philosophical exactness. Beasts want not reason, but the discourse of reason: i. e. the regular inferring one thing from another by the assistance of universals. Warburton. Discourse of reason, as the logicians name the third operation of the mind, is indeed a philosophical term, but it is fine no otherwise than as it is proper; it cost the authour nothing, being the common language of his time. Of finding such beauties in any poet there is no end.

Note return to page 180 4&lblank; what make you &lblank;] A familiar phrase for what are you doing.

Note return to page 181 5&lblank; good even, Sir] So the copies. Sir Th. Hanmer and Dr. Warburton put it, good morning. The alteration is of no importance, but all licence is dangerous. There is no need of any change. Between the first and eighth scene of this act it is apparent that a natural day must pass, and how much of it is already over, there is nothing that can determine. The King has held a council. It may now as well be evening as morning.

Note return to page 182 6Dearest, for direst, most dreadful, most dangerous.

Note return to page 183 7Season your admiration &lblank;] That is, temper it.

Note return to page 184 8&lblank; with the act of fear,] Shakespear could never write so improperly as to call the passion of fear, the act of fear. Without doubt the true reading is, &lblank; with th' effect of fear. Warburton. Here is an affectation of subtilty without accuracy. Fear is every day considered as an agent. Fear laid hold on him; fear drove him away. If it were proper to be rigorous in examining trifles, it might be replied, that Shakespeare would write more erroneously, if he wrote by the direction of this critick; they were not distilled, whatever the word may mean, by the effect of fear; for that distillation was itself the effect; fear was the cause, the active cause, that distilled them by that force of operation which we strictly call act in voluntary, and power in involuntary agents, but popularly call act in both. But of this too much.

Note return to page 185 9Let it be treble in your silence still:] If treble be right, in propriety it should be read, Let it be treble in your silence now, But the old quarto reads, Let it be tenable in your silence still And this is right. Warb.

Note return to page 186 1The perfume, and suppliance of a minute:] Thus the quarto: the folio has it, &lblank; Sweet, not lasting, The suppliance of a minute. It is plain that perfume is necessary to exemplify the idea of sweet, not lasting. With the word suppliance I am not satisfied, and yet dare hardly offer what I imagine to be right. I suspect that suffiance, or some such word, formed from the Italian, was then used for the act of fumigating with sweet scents.

Note return to page 187 2And now no soil, nor cautel, &lblank;] From cautela, which signifies only a prudent foresight or caution; but, passing thro' French hands, it lost its innocence, and now signifies fraud, deceit. And so he uses the adjective in Julius Cæsar, Swear priests and cowards and men cautelous But I believe Shakespear wrote, And now no soil of cautel &lblank; which the following words confirm, &lblank; doth besmerch The virtue of his will: &lblank; For by virtue is meant the simplicity of his will, not virtuous will: and both this and besmerch refer only to soil, and to the soil of craft and insincerity. Warb. Virtue seems here to comprise both excellence and power, and may be explained the pure effect.

Note return to page 188 3The sanctity and health of the whole State:] What has the sanctity of the state to do with the prince's disproportioned marriage? We should read with the old quarto safety. Warburton. Hanmer reads very rightly, sanity. Sanctity is elsewhere printed for sanity, in the old edition of this play.

Note return to page 189 4&lblank; keep within the rear, &c.] That is, do not advance so far as your affection would lead you.

Note return to page 190 5Whilst, like a puft and careless libertine.] This reading gives us a sense to this effect, Do not you be like an ungracious preacher, who is like a careless libertine. And there we find, that he who is so like a careless libertine, is the careless libertine himself. This could not come from Shakespear. The old quarto reads, Whiles a puft and reckless libertine, which directs us to the right reading, Whilest he, a puft and reckless libertine. The first impression of these plays being taken from the play house copies, and those, for the better direction of the actors, being written as they were pronounced, these circumstances have occasioned innumerable errors. So a for he every where. &lblank; 'a was a goodly King, 'A was a man take him for all in all. &lblank; I warn't it will, for I warrant. This should be well attended to in correcting Shakespear Warb. The emendation is not amiss, but the reason for it is very inconclusive; we use the same mode of speaking on many occasions. When I say of one, he squanders like a spendthrift, of another, he robbed me like a thief, the phrase produces no ambiguity; it is understood that the one is a spendthrift, and the other a thief.

Note return to page 191 6&lblank; recks not his own read.] That is, heeds not his own lessons. Pope.

Note return to page 192 7But do not dull thy palm with entertainment Of each new-hatch'd, unfledg'd comrade.] The literal sense is, Do not make thy palm callous by shaking every man by the hand. The figurative meaning may be, Do not by promiscuous conversation make thy mind insensible to the difference of characters.

Note return to page 193 8And it must follow, as the night the Day,] The sense here requires, that the similitude should give an image not of two effects of different natures, that follow one another alternately, but of a cause and effect, where the effect follows the cause by a physical necessity. For the assertion is. Be true to thyself, and then thou must necessarily be true to others. Truth to himself then was the cause, truth to others, the effect. To illustrate this necessity, the speaker employs a similitude: But no similitude can illustrate it but what presents an image of a cause and effect; and such a cause as that, where the effect follows by a physical, not a moral necessity: for if only, by a moral necessity, the thing illustrating would not be more certain than the thing illustrated; which would be a great absurdity. This being premised, let us see what the text says, And it must follow as the night the Day. In this we are so far from being presented with an effect following a cause by a physical necessity, that there is no cause at all: but only two different effects, proceeding from two different causes, and succeeding one another alternately. Shakespear, therefore, without question wrote, And it must follow as the light the Day. As much as to say, Truth to thy self, and truth to others, are inseparable, the latter depending necessarily on the former, as light depends upon the day! where it is to be observed, that day is used figuratively for the Sun. The ignorance of which, I suppose, contributed to mislead the editors. Warburton.

Note return to page 194 9&lblank; my Blessing season this in thee!] Season, for infuse. Warburton. It is more than to infuse, it is to infix it in such a manner as that it never may wear out.

Note return to page 195 1The time invites you;] This reading is as old as the first folio; however I suspect it to have been substituted by the players, who did not understand the term which possesses the elder quarto's: The time invests you; i. e. besieges, presses upon you on every side. To invest a town, is the military phrase from which our author borrowed his metaphor. Theobald.

Note return to page 196 2&lblank; yourself shall keep the key of it.] That is, By thinking on you, I shall think on your lessons.

Note return to page 197 3Unsifted in such perilous circumstance.] Unsifted, for untried. Untried signifies either not tempted, or not refined; unsifted, signifies the latter only, though the sense requires the former. Warburton.

Note return to page 198 4&lblank; Tender yourself more dearly; Or (not to crack the wind of the poor phrase) Wronging it thus, you'll tender me a fool] The parenthesis is clos'd at the wrong place; and we must have likewise a slight correction in the last verse. Polonius is racking and playing on the word tender, 'till he thinks proper to correct himself for the licence; and then he would say —not farther to crack the wind of the phrase, by twisting and contorting it, as I have done. Warburton. I believe the word wronging has reference, not to the phrase, but to Ophelia; if you go on wronging it thus, that is, if you continue to go on thus wrong. This is a mode of speaking perhaps not very grammatical, but very common, nor have the best writers refused it. To sinner it or saint it, is in Pope. And Rowe, &lblank; Thus to coy it, To one who knows you too. The folio has it, &lblank; roaming it thus, &lblank; That is, letting yourself loose to such improper liberty. But wronging seems to be more proper.

Note return to page 199 5&lblank; fashion you may call't: &lblank;] She uses fashion for manner, and he for a transient practice.

Note return to page 200 6Set your intreatments &lblank;] Intreatments here means company, conversation, from the French entrétien.

Note return to page 201 7&lblank; larger tether &lblank;] A string to tye horses. Pope.

Note return to page 202 8Breathing like sanctified and pious Bonds,] On which the editor Mr. Theobald remarks, Tho' all the editions have swallowed this reading implicitly, it is certainly corrupt; and I have been surprised how men of genius and learning could let it pass without some suspicion. What ideas can we frame to ourselves of a breathing bond, or of its being sanctified and pious, &c. But he was too hasty in framing ideas before he understood those already framed by the poet, and expressed in very plain words. Do not believe (says Polonius to his Daughter) Hamlet's amorous vows made to you; which pretend religion in them, (the better to beguile,) like those sanctified and pious vows [or bonds] made to heaven. And why should not this pass without suspicion? Warburton. Theobald for bonds substitutes bawds.

Note return to page 203 9I would not, in plain terms, from this time forth, Have you so slander any moment's leisure,] The humour of this is fine. The speaker's character is all affectation. At last he says he will speak plain, and yet cannot for his life; his plain speech of slandering a moment's leisure being of the like fustian stuff with the rest. Warburton. Here is another fine passage, of which I take the beauty to be only imaginary. Polonius says, in plain terms, that is, not in language less elevated or embellished than before, but in terms that cannot be misunderstood: I would not have you so disgrace your most idle moments, as not to find better employment for them than Lord Hamlet's conversation.

Note return to page 204 1&lblank; the swagg'ring up-spring &lblank;] The blustering upstart.

Note return to page 205 2This heavy-headed revel east and west,] i. e. This reveling that observes no hours, but continues from morning to night, &c. Warb. I should not have suspected this passage of ambiguity or obscurity, had I not found my opinion of it differing from that of the learned critick. I construe it thus, This heavy-headed revel makes us traduced east and west, and taxed of other nations.

Note return to page 206 3The pith and marrow of our attribute.] The best and most valuable part of the praise that would be otherwise attributed to us.

Note return to page 207 4&lblank; complexion,] i. e. humour; as sanguine, melancholy, phlegmatic, &c. Warb.

Note return to page 208 5&lblank; fortune's scar,] In the old quarto of 1637, it is &lblank; fortune's star: But I think scar is proper.

Note return to page 209 6As infinite as man may undergo,] As large as can be accumulated upon man.

Note return to page 210 7&lblank; The dram of Ease Doth all the noble substance of a Doubt To his own scandal.] I do not remember a passage throughout all our poet's works, more intricate and deprav'd in the text, of less meaning to outward appearance, or more likely to baffle the attempts of criticism in its aid. It is certain, there is neither sense nor grammar as it now stands: yet with a slight alteration, I'll endeavour to cure those defects, and give a sentiment too, that shall make the poet's thought close nobly. The dram of Base (as I have corrected the text) means the least alloy of baseness or vice. It is very frequent with our poet to use the adjective of quality instead of the substantive signifying the thing Besides, I have observed, that elsewhere, speaking of worth, he delights to consider it as a quality that adds weight to a person, and connects the word with that idea. Theobald.

Note return to page 211 8&lblank; questionable shape,] By questionable is meant provoking question. Hanmer. So in Macbeth, Live you, or are you aught That man may question.

Note return to page 212 9&lblank; tell, Why thy canoniz'd bones, hearsed in death, Have burst their cearments?] Hamlet here speaks with wonder, that he who was dead should rise again and walk. But this, according to the vulgar superstition here followed, was no wonder. Their only wonder was, that one, who had the rites of sepulture performed to him, should walk; the want of which was supposed to be the reason of walking ghosts. Hamlet's wonder then should have been placed here: And so Shakespear placed it, as we shall see presently. For hearsed is used figuratively to signify reposited, therefore the place where should be designed: but death being no place, but a privation only, hearsed in death is nonsense. We should read, &lblank; tell, Why thy canoniz'd bones hearsed in earth Have burst their cearments. It appears, for the two reasons given above, that earth is the true reading. It will further appear for these two other reasons. First, From the words, canoniz'd bones; by which is not meant (as one would imagine) a compliment, for, made holy or sainted; but for bones to which the rites of sepulture have been performed; or which were buried according to the canon. For we are told he was murder'd with all his sins fresh upon him, and therefore in no way to be sainted. But if this licentious use of the word canonized be allowed, then earth must be the true reading, for inhuming bodies was one of the essential parts of sepulchral rites. Secondly, From the words, have burst their cearments, which imply the preceding mention of inhuming, but no mention is made of it in the common reading. This enabled the Oxford Editor to improve upon the emendation; so, he reads, Why thy bones hears'd in canonized earth, I suppose for the sake of harmony, not of sense. For tho' the rites of sepulture performed canonizes the body buried; yet it does not canonize the earth in which it is laid, unless every funeral service be a new consecration. Warburton. It were too long to examine this note period by period, tho' almost every period seems to me to contain something reprehensible. The critick, in his zeal for change, writes with so little consideration, as to say, that Hamlet cannot call his father canonized, because we are told he was murdered with all his sins fresh upon him. He was not then told it, and had so little the power of knowing it, that he was to be told it by an apparition. The long succession of reasons upon reasons prove nothing, but what every reader discovers, that the King had been buried, which is implied by so many adjuncts of burial, that the direct mention of earth is not necessary. Hamlet, amazed at an apparition, which, though in all ages credited, has in all ages been considered as the most wonderful and most dreadful operation of supernatural agency, enquires of the spectre, in the most emphatick terms, why he breaks the order of nature, by returning from the dead; this he asks in a very confused circumlocution, confounding in his fright the soul and body. Why, says he, have thy bones, which with due ceremonies have been intombed in death, in the common state of departed mortals, burst the folds in which they were embalmed? Why has the tomb in which we saw thee quietly laid, opened his mouth, that mouth which, by its weight and stability, seemed closed for ever? The whole sentence is this: Why dost thou appear, whom we know to be dead? Had the change of the word removed any obscurity, or added any beauty, it might have been worth a struggle, but either reading leaves the sense the same. If there be any asperity in this controversial note, it must be imputed to the contagion of peevishness, or some resentment of the incivility shown to the Oxford Editor, who is represented as supposing the ground canonised by a funeral, when he only meant to say, That the body was deposited in holy ground, in ground consecrated according to the canon.

Note return to page 213 1&lblank; us fools of nature] The expression is fine, as intimating we were only kept (as formerly, fools in a great family) to make sport for nature, who lay hid only to mock and laugh at us, for our vain searches into her mysteries. Warburton.

Note return to page 214 2&lblank; to shake our disposition.] Disposition, for frame. Warburton.

Note return to page 215 3&lblank; deprive your sov'reignty of reason,] i. e. deprive your sov'reignty of its reason. Nonsense. Sov'reignty of reason is the same as sovereign or supreme reason: Reason which governs man. And thus it was used by the best writers of those times. Sidney says, It is time for us both to let reason enjoy its due soveraigntie. Arcad. And King Charles, At once to betray the soveraignty of reason in my soul. &grE;&gris;&grk;&grwg;&grn; &grb;&gra;&grs;&gri;&grl;&gri;&grk;&grhg;. It is evident that Shakespear wrote, &lblank; deprave your sov'reignty of reason. i. e. disorder your understanding and draw you into madness. So afterwards. Now see that noble and most sovereign reason like sweet bells jangled out of tune. Warburton. I believe deprive in this place signifies simply to take away.

Note return to page 216 4The very place] The four following lines added from the first edition. Pope.

Note return to page 217 5&lblank; puts toys of desperation,] Toys, for whims. Warb.

Note return to page 218 6&lblank; confin'd to fast in fires;] We should read, &lblank; too fast in fires. i. e. very closely confined. The particle too is used frequently for the superlative most, or very. Warburton. I am rather inclined to read, confin'd to lasting fires, to fires unremitted and unconsumed. The change is slight.6Q0255

Note return to page 219 7As meditation or the thoughts of love,] This similitude is extremely beautiful. The word, meditation, is consecrated, by the mystics, to signify that stretch and flight of mind which aspires to the enjoyment of the supreme good. So that Hamlet, considering with what to compare the swiftness of his revenge, chooses two of the most rapid things in nature, the ardency of divine and human passion, in an enthusiast and a lover. Warb. The comment on the word meditation is so ingenious, that I hope it is just.

Note return to page 220 8And duller shouldst thou be than the fat weed That roots itself in ease on Lethe's wharf, &c.] Shakespear, apparently through ignorance, makes Roman Catholicks of these pagan Danes; and here gives a description of purgatory: But yet mixes it with the pagan fable of Lethe's wharf. Whether he did it to insinuate, to the zealous Protestants of his time, that the pagan and popish purgatory stood both upon the same footing of credibility; or whether it was by the same kind of licentious inadvertence that Michael Angelo brought Charon's bark into his picture of the last judgment, is not easy to decide. Warburton.

Note return to page 221 9&lblank; at once dispatcht;] Dispatcht, for bereft. Warb.

Note return to page 222 1Unhousel'd,] Without the sacrament being taken. Pope.

Note return to page 223 2Unanointed,] Without extreme unction. Pope.

Note return to page 224 3Unanel'd:] No knell rung. Pope. In other editions, Unhouzzled, unanointed, unaneal'd; The Ghost, having recounted the process of his murder, proceeds to exaggerate the inhumanity and unnaturalness of the fact, from the circumstances in which he was surprised. But these, I find, have been stumbling blocks to our editors; and therefore I must amend and explain these three compound adjectives in their order. Instead of unhouzzel'd, we must restore, unhousel'd, i. e. without the sacrament taken; from the old Saxon word for the sacrament, housel. In the next place, unanointed is a sophistication of the text: the old copies concur in reading, disappointed. I correct, Unhousel'd, unappointed, &lblank; i. e. no confession of sins made, no reconciliation to heaven, no appointment of penance by the church. Unaneal'd I agree to be the poet's genuine word; but I must take the liberty to dispute Mr. Pope's explication of it, viz. No knell rung. The adjective formed from knell, must have been unknell'd, or unknoll'd. There is no rule in orthography for sinking the k in the deflection of any verb or compound formed from knell, and melting it into a vowel. What sense does unaneal'd then bear? Skinner, in his Lexicon of old and obsolete English terms, tells us, that aneal'd is unctus; from the Teutonick preposition an, and Ole, i. e. Oil: so that unaneal'd must consequently signify, unanointed, not having the extream unction. The poet's reading and explication being ascertained, he very finely makes his ghost complain of these four dreadful hardships; that he had been dispatch'd out of life without receiving the hoste, or sacrament; without being reconcil'd to heaven and absolv'd; without the benefit of extream unction; or without so much as a confession made of his sins. The having no knell rung, I think, is not a point of equal consequence to any of these; especially, if we consider, that the Romish church admits the efficacy of praying for the dead. Theobald. This is a very difficult line. I think Theobald's objection to the sense of unaneal'd, for notified by the bell, must be owned to be very strong. I have not yet by my enquiry satisfied myself. Hanmer's explication of unanneal'd by unprepared, because to anneal metals, is to prepare them in manufacture, is too general and vague; there is no resemblance between any funeral ceremony and the practice of annealing metals. Disappointed is the same as unappointed, and may be properly explained unprepared; a man well furnished with things necessary for any enterprise, was said to be well appointed.

Note return to page 225 4&lblank; uneffectual fire.] i. e. shining without heat. Warb.

Note return to page 226 5&lblank; Come, bird, come.] This is the call which falconers use to their hawk in the air when they would have him come down to them. Oxford Editor.

Note return to page 227 6By St. Patrick, &lblank;] How the poet comes to make Hamlet swear by St. Patrick, I know not. However at this time all the whole northern world had their learning from Ireland; to which place it had retired, and there flourished under the auspices of this Saint. But it was, I suppose, only said at random; for he makes Hamlet a student of Wittenberg. Warb.

Note return to page 228 7Swear by my sword.] Here the poet has preserved the manners of the ancient Danes, with whom it was religion to swear upon their swords. See Bartholine, De causis contemp. mort. apud Dan. Warb. I was once inclinable to this opinion, which is likewise well defended by Mr. Upton, but Mr. Garrick produced me a passage, I think, in Brantôme, from which it appeared, that it was common to swear upon the sword, that is, upon the cross which the old swords always had upon the hilt.

Note return to page 229 8And therefore as a stranger give it welcome.] i. e. receive it to yourself; take it under your own roof; as much as to say. Keep it secret. Alluding to the laws of hospitality. Warburton.

Note return to page 230 9&lblank; drinking, [fencing,] swearing,] Fencing, an interpolation. Warburton. I suppose, by fencing is meant a too diligent frequentation of the fencing-school, a resort of violent and lawless young men.

Note return to page 231 1&lblank; an utter &lblank;] In former editions, another. The emendation is Theobald's.

Note return to page 232 2A savageness &lblank;] Savageness, for wildness. Warb.

Note return to page 233 3Of general assault.] i. e. such as youth in general is liable to. Warburton.

Note return to page 234 4Good sir, or so, or friend, &c.] We should read, &lblank; or sire, i. e. father. Warburton. I know not that sire was ever a general word of compliment as distinct from sir; nor do I conceive why any alteration should be made. It is a common mode of colloquial language to use, or so, as a slight intimation of more of the same, or a like kind, that might be mentioned. We might read, Good Sir, Forsooth, or Friend, or Gentleman. Forsooth, a term of which I do not well know the original meaning, was used to men as well as to women.

Note return to page 235 5&lblank; in yourself.] Hanmer reads, e'en yourself, and is followed by Dr. Warburton; but perhaps in yourself means, in your own person, not by spies.

Note return to page 236 6&lblank; his stockings foul'd, Ungarter'd, and down-gyved to his ancle.] I have restored the reading of the elder quarto's &lblank; his stockings loose. &lblank; The change, I suspect, was first from the players, who saw a contradiction in his stockings being loose, and yet 'shackled down at ancle. But they, in their ignorance, blunder'd away our author's word, because they did not understand it; Ungarter'd, and down-gyred, i. e. turn'd down. So, the oldest copies; and, so his stockings were properly loose, as they were ungarter'd and rowl'd down to the ancle. Theobald.

Note return to page 237 7I had not quoted him. &lblank;] The old quarto reads coted. It appears Shakespear wrote noted. Quoted is nonsense. Warb. To quote is, I believe, to reckon, to take an account of, to take the quotient or result of a computation.

Note return to page 238 8&lblank; it is as proper to our age To cast beyond ourselves in our opinions, As it is common for the younger sort To lack discretion. &lblank;] This is not the remark of a weak man. The vice of age is too much suspicion. Men long accustomed to the wiles of life cast commonly beyond themselves, let their cunning go further than reason can attend it. This is always the fault of a little mind, made artful by long commerce with the world.

Note return to page 239 9This must be known; which, being kept close, might move More grief to hide, than hate to utter, love.] i. e. This must be made known to the King, for (being kept secret) the hiding Hamlet's love might occasion more mischief to us from him and the Queen, than the uttering or revealing of it will occasion hate and resentment from Hamlet. The poet's ill and obscure expression seems to have been caused by his affectation of concluding the scene with a couplet. Warb. Hanmer reads, More grief to hide hate, than to utter love.

Note return to page 240 1To shew us so much gentry &lblank;] Gentry, for complaisance. Warb.

Note return to page 241 2For the supply, &c.] That the hope which your arrival has raised may be completed by the desired effect.

Note return to page 242 3&lblank; in the full bent,] Bent, for endeavour, application. Warburton.

Note return to page 243 4&lblank; the trail of policy &lblank;] The trail is the course of an animal pursued by the scent.

Note return to page 244 5&lblank; the fruit &lblank;] The dessert after the meat.

Note return to page 245 6Gives him three thousand crowns in annual fee;] This reading first obtain'd in the edition put out by the players. But all the old quarto's (from 1605, downwards) read, as I have reform'd the text. Theob.

Note return to page 246 7&lblank; at night we'll feast &lblank;] The King's intemperance is never suffered to be forgotten.

Note return to page 247 8My Liege, and Madam, to expostulate] The strokes of humour in this speech are admirable. Polonius's character is that of a weak, pedant, minister of state. His declamation is a fine satire on the impertinent oratory then in vogue, which placed reason in the formality of method, and wit in the gingle and play of words. With what art is he made to pride himself in his wit: That he is mad, 'tis true; 'tis true, 'tis pity; And pity 'tis, 'tis true; A foolish figure; But farewel it &lblank; And how exquisitely does the poet ridicule the reasoning in fashion, where he makes Polonius remark on Hamlet's madness; Though this be madness, yet there's method in't: As if method, which the wits of that age thought the most essential quality of a good discourse, would make amends for the madness. It was madness indeed, yet Polonius could comfort himself with this reflexion, that at least it was method. It is certain Shakespear excels in nothing more than in the preservation of his characters; To this life and variety of character (says our great poet in his admirable preface to Shakespear) we must add the wonderful preservation of it. We have said what is the character of Polonius; and it is allowed on all hands to be drawn with wonderful life and spirit, yet the unity of it has been thought by some to be grosly violated in the excellent precepts and instructions which Shakespear makes his statesman give to his son and servant in the middle of the first, and beginning of the second act. But I will venture to say, these criticks have not entered into the poet's art and address in this particular. He had a mind to ornament his scenes with those fine lessons of social life; but his Polonius was too weak to be the author of them, tho' he was pedant enough to have met with them in his reading, and fop enough to get them by heart, and retail them for his own. And this the poet has finely shewn us was the case, where, in the middle of Polonius's instructions to his servant, he makes him, tho' without having received any interruption, forget his lesson, and say, And then, Sir, does he this; He does &lblank; what was I about to say? I was about to say something?—where did I leave? &lblank; The servant replies, At, closes in the consequence. This sets Polonius right, and he goes on, At, closes in the consequence. &lblank; Ay marry, He closes thus; &lblank; I know the gentleman, &c. which shews they were words got by heart which he was repeating. Otherwise closes in the consequence, which conveys no particular idea of the subject he was upon, could never have made him recollect where he broke off. This is an extraordinary instance of the poet's art, and attention to the preservation of Character. Warb. This account of the character of Polonius, though it sufficiently reconciles the seeming inconsistency of so much wisdom with so much folly, does not perhaps correspond exactly to the ideas of our authour. The commentator makes the character of Polonius, a character only of manners, discriminated by properties superficial, accidental, and acquired. The poet intended a nobler delineation of a mixed character of manners and of nature. Polonius is a man bred in courts, exercised in business, stored with observation, confident of his knowledge, proud of his eloquence, and declining into dotage. His mode of oratory is truly represented as designed to ridicule the practice of those times, of prefaces that made no introduction, and of method that embarrassed rather than explained. This part of his character is accidental, the rest is natural. Such a man is positive and confident, because he knows that his mind was once strong, and knows not that it is become weak. Such a man excels in general principles, but fails in the particular application. He is knowing in retrospect, and ignorant in foresight. While he depends upon his memory, and can draw from his repositories of knowledge, he utters weighty sentences, and gives useful counsel; but as the mind in its enfeebled state cannot be kept long busy and intent, the old man is subject to sudden dereliction of his faculties, he loses the order of his ideas, and entangles himself in his own thoughts, till he recovers the leading principle, and falls again into his former train. This idea of dotage encroaching upon wisdom, will solve all the phænomena of the character of Polonius.

Note return to page 248 9&lblank; to expostulate] To expostulate, for to enquire or discuss. Warb.

Note return to page 249 1To the celestial, and my soul's idol, the most beautified Ophelia.] I have ventur'd at an emendation here, against the authority of all the copies; but, I hope, upon examination it will appear probable and reasonable. The word beautified may carry two distinct ideas, either as applied to a woman made up of artificial beauties, or to one rich in native charms. As Shakespeare has therefore chose to use it in the latter acceptation, to express natural comeliness; I cannot imagine, that here, he would make Polonius except to the phrase, and call it a vile one. But a stronger objection still, in my mind, lies against it. As celestial and soul's idol are the introductory characteristics of Ophelia, what a dreadful anticlimax is it to descend to such an epithet as beautified? On the other hand, beatified, as I have conjectur'd, raises the image: but Polonius might very well, as a Roman Catholick, call it a vile phrase, i. e. savouring of profanation; since the epithet is peculiarly made an adjunct to the Virgin Mary's honour, and therefore ought not to be employed in the praise of a meer mortal. Theobald. Both Sir T. Hanmer and Dr. Warburton have followed Theobald, but I am in doubt whether beautified, though, as Polonius calls it, a vile phrase, be not the proper word. Beautified seems to be a vile phrase, for the ambiguity of its meaning.

Note return to page 250 2More above, &lblank; is, moreover, besides.

Note return to page 251 3If I had play'd the desk or table-book, Or giv'n my heart a working mute and damb, Or look'd upon this love with idle sight; What might you think? &lblank;] i. e. If either I had conveyed intelligence between them, and been the confident of their amours, [play'd the desk or table-book,] or had connived at it, only observed them in secret without acquainting my daughter with my discovery, [given my heart a mute and dumb working,] or lastly, had been negligent in observing the intrigue, and over-looked it, [look'd upon this love with idle sight;] what would you have thought of me? Warb.

Note return to page 252 4Which done, she took the fruits of my advice; And he repulsed, &lblank;] The fruits of advice are the effects of advice. But how could she be said to take them? the reading is corrupt. Shakespear wrote, Which done, see too the fruits of my advice; For, be repulsed, &lblank; Warburton. She took the fruits of advice when she obeyed advice, the advice was then made fruitful.

Note return to page 253 5&lblank; a short tale to make, Fell to a sadness, then into a fast, &c.] The ridicule of this character is here admirably sustained. He would not only be thought to have discovered this intrigue by his own sagacity, but to have remarked all the stages of Hamlet's disorder, from his sadness to his raving, as regularly as his physician could have done; when all the while the madness was only feigned. The humour of this is exquisite from a man who tells us, with a confidence peculiar to small politicians, that he could find Where truth was hid, though it were hid indeed Within the centre. Warb.

Note return to page 254 [6] For if the Sun breed maggots in a dead dog, Being a good kissing carrion &lblank; Have you a daughter?] The editors seeing Hamlet counterfeit madness, thought they might safely put any nonsense into his mouth. But this strange passage when set right, will be seen to contain as great and sublime a reflexion as any the poet puts into his Hero's mouth throughout the whole play. We shall first give the true reading, which is this, For if the Sun breed maggots in a dead dog, Being a God, kissing carrion &lblank; As to the sense we may observe, that the illative particle [for] shews the speaker to be reasoning from something he had said before: What that was we learn in these words, to be honest, as this world goes, is to be one picked out of ten thousand. Having said this, the chain of ideas led him to reflect upon the argument which libertines bring against Providence from the circumstance of abounding Evil. In the next speech therefore he endeavours to answer that objection, and vindicate Providence, even on a supposition of the fact, that almost all men were wicked. His argument in the two lines in question is to this purpose, But why need we wonder at this abounding of evil? for if the Sun breed maggots in dead dog, which tho' a God, yet shedding its heat and influence upon carrion &lblank; Here he stops short, lest talking too consequentially the hearer should suspect his madness to be feigned; and so turns him off from the subject, by enquiring of his daughter. But the inference which he intended to make, was a very noble one, and to this purpose. If this (says he) be the case, that the effect follows the thing operated upon [carrion] and not the thing operating [a God;] why need we wonder, that the supreme cause of all things diffusing its blessings on mankind, who is, as it were, a dead carrion, dead in original sin, man, instead of a proper return of duty, should breed only corruption and vices? This is the argument at length; and is as noble a one in behalf of providence as could come from the schools of divinity. But this wonderful man had an art not only of acquainting the audience with what his actors, say, but with wha they think. The sentiment too is altogether in character, for Hamlet is perpetually moralizing, and his circumstances make this reflexion very natural. The same thought, something diversified, as on a different occasion, he uses again in Measure for Measure, which will serve to confirm these observations: The tempter or the tempted, who sins most? Not she; nor doth she tempt; but it is I That lying by the violet in the sun Do as the carrion does, not as the flower, Corrupt by virtuous season. &lblank; And the same kind of expression in Cymbeline, Common-kissing Titan. Warb. This is a noble emendation, which almost sets the critick on a level with the authour.

Note return to page 255 7Slanders, Sir: for the satyrical slave says here, that old men, &c.] By the satyrical slave he means Juvenal in his tenth satire: Da spatium vitæ, multos da Jupiter annos: Hoc recto vulut, solum hoc & pallidus optas. Sed quàm continuis & quantis longa senectus Plena malis! deformem, & tetrum ante omnia vultum, Dissimilemque sui, &c. Nothing could be finer imagined for Hamlet, in his circumstances, than the bringing him in reading a description of the evils of long life. Warburton.

Note return to page 256 8The shadow of a dream.] Shakespeare has accidentally inverted an expression of Pindar, that the state of humanity is &grs;&grk;&gri;&grag;&grst; &grosa;&grn;&gra;&grr;, the dream of a shadow.

Note return to page 257 9Then are our beggars, bodies;] Shakespeare seems here to design a ridicule of these declamations against wealth and greatness, that seem to make happiness consist in poverty.

Note return to page 258 *I have of late, &c] This is an admirable description of a rooted melancholy sprung from thickness of blood; and artfully imagined to hide the true cause of his disorder from the penetration of these two friends, who were set over him as spies. Warburton.

Note return to page 259 2shall end his part in peace;] After these words the folio adds, the clown shall make those laugh whose lungs are tickled o' th' sere. Warburton. This passage I have omitted, for the same reason, I suppose, as the other editors. I do not understand it.

Note return to page 260 3the lady shall, &c.] The lady shall have no obstruction, unless from the lameness of the verse.

Note return to page 261 4I think, their inhibition] I fancy this is transposed: Hamlet enquires not about an inhibition, but an innovation; the answer therefore probably was, I think, their innovation, that is, their new practice of strolling, comes by the means of the late inhibition.6Q0258

Note return to page 262 *The lines marked with commas are in the folio of 1623, but not in the quarto of 1637, nor, I suppose, in any of the quartos.

Note return to page 263 5little Yases, that cry out on the top of question;] The poet here steps out of his subject to give a lash at home, and sneer at the prevailing fashion of following plays perform'd by the Children of the Chapel, and abandoning the establish'd theatres. But why are they call'd little Yases? As he first calls 'em an Aiery of Children, (now, an Aiery or Eyery is a hawk's or eagle's nest;) there is not the least question but we ought to restore —little Eyases; i. e. Young nestlings, creatures just out of the egg. Theobald. An Aiery of children,] Relating to the play-houses then contending, the Bankside, the Fortune, &c. play'd by the children of his Majesty's chapel. Pope.

Note return to page 264 6cry out on the top of question;] The meaning seems to be, they ask a common question in the highest notes of the voice.

Note return to page 265 7Escoted] Paid.

Note return to page 266 8will they pursue the Quality, no longer than they can sing?] Will they follow the profession of players, no longer than they keep the voices of boys? So afterwards he says to the player, Come, give us a taste of your quality; Come, a passionate speech.

Note return to page 267 9Hercules and his load too.] i. e. They not only carry away the world, but the world bearer too: Alluding to the story of Hercules's relieving Atlas. This is humourous. Warb.

Note return to page 268 1It is not strange; for mine unkle] I do not wonder that the new players have so suddenly risen to reputation, my unkle supplies another example of the facility with which honour is conferred upon new claimants.

Note return to page 269 2Hanmer reads, Let me compliment with you.

Note return to page 270 3I know a hawk from a hand-saw.] This was a common proverbial speech. The Oxford Editor alters it to, I know a hawk from a hernshaw. As if the other had been a corruption of the players; whereas the poet found the proverb thus corrupted in the mouths of the people. So that this critick's alteration only serves to shew us the original of the expression. Warb.

Note return to page 271 4Buzze, buzze.] Meer idle talk, the buzze of the vulgar.

Note return to page 272 5Then came, &c.] This seems to be a line of a ballad.

Note return to page 273 6For the law of writ, and the Liberty, these are the only men.] All the modern editions have, the law of wit, and the liberty; but both my old copies have, the law of writ, I believe rightly. Writ, for writing, composition. Wit was not, in our authour's time, taken either for imagination, or acuteness, or both together, but for understanding, for the faculty by which we apprehend and judge. Those who wrote of the human mind distinguished its primary powers into wit and will. Ascham distinguishes boys of tardy and of active faculties into quick wits and slow wits.

Note return to page 274 7the first row of the rubrick.]6Q02596Q0260 It is pons chansons in the first folio edition. The old ballads sung on bridges, and from thence called Pons chansons. Hamlet is here repeating ends of old songs. Pope. It is pons chansons in the quarto too. I know not whence the rubrick has been brought, yet it has not the appearance of an arbitrary addition. The titles of old ballads were never printed red; but perhaps rubrick may stand for marginal explanation.

Note return to page 275 8my abridgments] He calls the players afterwards, the brief chronicles of the time; but I think he now means only those who will shorten my talk.

Note return to page 276 9be not crack'd within the ring.] That is, crack'd too much for use. This is said to a young player, who acted the parts of women.

Note return to page 277 1like friendly faulconers,] Hanmer, who has much illustrated the allusions to falconry, reads, like French falconers, but gives no reason for the correction.

Note return to page 278 2Caviare to the general;] Caviare was a kind of foreign pickle, to which the vulgar palates were, I suppose, not yet reconciled.

Note return to page 279 3cried in the top of mine,] i. e. whose judgment I had the highest opinion of. Warb. I think it means only that were higher than mine.

Note return to page 280 4set down with as much modesty] Modesty, for simplicity. Warburton.

Note return to page 281 5that might indite the author] Indite, for convict. Warb.

Note return to page 282 6but call'd it an honest method.] Hamlet is telling how much his judgment differed from that of others. One said, there was no salt in the lines, &c. but call'd it an honest method. The authour probably gave it, But I called it an honest method, &c. an honest method.] Honest, for chaste. Warburton.

Note return to page 283 7&lblank; the mobled Queen, &lblank;] Mobled or mabled, signifies veiled. So Sandys, speaking of the Turkish women, says, their heads and faces are mabled in fine linen, that no more is to be seen of them than their eyes. Travels. Warburton. Mobled signifies, buddled, grossly covered.

Note return to page 284 8all his visage warm'd:] This might do, did not the old Quarto lead us to a more exact and pertinent reading, which is, &lblank; visage wan'd: i. e. turn'd pale, or wan. For so the visage appears when the mind is thus affectioned, and not warm'd or flushed. Warb.

Note return to page 285 9&lblank; the cue for passion,] The hint, the direction.

Note return to page 286 1&lblank; the general ear &lblank;] The ears of all mankind. So before, Caviare to the general, that is, to the multitude.

Note return to page 287 2&lblank; unpregnant of my cause,] Unpregnant, for having no due sense of. Warb. Rather, not quickened with a new desire of vengeance; not teeming with revenge.

Note return to page 288 3A damn'd defeat was made;] Defeat, for destruction. Warb. Rather, dispossession.

Note return to page 289 4&lblank; kindless &lblank;] Unnatural.

Note return to page 290 5About, my brain!] Wits, to your work. Brain, go about the present business.

Note return to page 291 6&lblank; tent him &lblank;] Search his wounds.

Note return to page 292 7&lblank; if he but blench,] If he shrink.

Note return to page 293 8More relative than this:] Relative, for convictive. Warb. Convictive is only the consequential sense. Relative is, nearly related, closely connected.

Note return to page 294 9Niggard of question, but of our demands Most free in his reply.] This is given as the description of the conversation of a man whom the speaker found not forward to be sounded; and who kept aloof when they would bring him to confession: But such a description can never pass but at cross-purposes. Shakespear certainly wrote it just the other way, Most free of question, but of our demands Niggard in his reply. That this is the true reading we need but turn back to the preceding scene, for Hamlet's conduct, to be satisfied. Warb.

Note return to page 295 *O'er-raught on the way;] Over raught is, over-reached, that is, over-took.

Note return to page 296 1Affront Ophelia.] To affront is only to meet directly.

Note return to page 297 2'Tis too much prov'd, &lblank;] It is found by too frequent experience.

Note return to page 298 3&lblank; more ugly to the thing that helps it,] That is, compared with the thing that helps it.

Note return to page 299 4To be, or not to be? &lblank;] Of this celebrated soliloquy, which bursting from a man distracted with contrariety of desires, and overwhelmed with the magnitude of his own purposes, is connected rather in the speaker's mind, than on his tongue, I shall endeavour to discover the train, and to shew how one sentiment produces another. Hamlet, knowing himself injured in the most enormous and atrocious degree, and seeing no means of redress, but such as must expose him to the extremity of hazard, meditates on his situation in this manner: Before I can form any rational scheme of action under this pressure of distress, it is necessary to decide, whether, after our present state, we are to be or not to be. That is the question, which, as it shall be answered, will determine, whether 'tis nobler, and more suitable to the dignity of reason, to suffer the outrages of fortune patiently, or to take arms against them, and by opposing end them, though perhaps with the loss of life. If to die, were to sleep, no more, and by a sleep to end the miseries of our nature, such a sleep were devoutly to be wished; but if to sleep in death, be to dream, to retain our powers of sensibility, we must pause to consider, in that sleep of death what dreams may come. This consideration makes calamity so long endured; for who would bear the vexations of life, which might be ended by a bare bodkin, but that he is afraid of something in unknown futurity? This fear it is that gives efficacy to conscience, which, by turning the mind upon this regard, chills the ardour of resolution, checks the vigour of enterprise, and makes the current of desire stagnate in inactivity. We may suppose that he would have applied these general observations to his own case, but that he discovered Ophelia.

Note return to page 300 5Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,] Without question Shakespear wrote, &lblank; against assail of troubles. i. e. assault. Warb. Mr. Pope proposed siege. I know not why there should be so much solicitude about this metaphor. Shakespeare breaks his metaphors often, and in this desultory speech there was less need of preserving them.

Note return to page 301 6&lblank; mortal coil,] i. e. turmoil, bustle. Warb.

Note return to page 302 7&lblank; the whips and scorns of time6Q0263,] The evils here complained of are not the product of time or duration simply, but of a corrupted age or manners. We may be sure, then, that Shakespear wrote, &lblank; the whips and scorns of th' time. And the description of the evils of a corrupt age, which follows, confirms this emendation. Warburton. I doubt whether the corruption of this passage is not more than the editor has suspected. Whips and scorns have no great connexion with one another, or with time; whips and scorns are evils of very different magnitude, and though at all times scorn may be endured, yet the times that put men ordinarily in danger of whips, are very rare. Falstaff has said, that the courtiers would whip him with their quick wits; but I know not that whip can be used for a scoff or insult, unless its meaning be fixed by the whole expression. I am afraid lest I should venture too far in correcting this passage. If whips be retained, we may read, For who would bear the whips and scorns of tyrants. But I think that quip, a sneer, a sarcasm, a contemptuous jest, is the proper word, as suiting very exactly with scorn. What then must be done with time, it suits no better with the new reading than with the old, and tyrant is an image too bulky and serious. I read, but not confidently, For who would bear the quips and scorns of title. It may be remarked, that Hamlet, in his enumeration of miseries, forgets, whether properly or not, that he is a prince, and mentions many evils to which inferior stations only are exposed.

Note return to page 303 8To groan and sweat &lblank;] All the old copies have, to grunt and sweat. It is undoubtedly the true reading, but can scarcely be born by modern ears.

Note return to page 304 9&lblank; Nymph, in thy orisons, &c.] This is a touch of nature. Hamlet, at the sight of Ophelia, does not immediately recollect, that he is to personate madness, but makes her an address grave and solemn, such as the foregoing meditation exited in his thoughts.

Note return to page 305 1That if you be honest and fair, you should admit no discourse to your beauty.] This is the reading of all the modern editions, and is copied from the quarto. The folio reads, your honesty should admit no discourse to your beauty. The true reading seems to be this, If you be honest and fair, you should admit your honesty to no discourse with your beauty. This is the sense evidently required by the process of the conversation.

Note return to page 306 2at my beck,] That is, always ready to come about me. With more offences at my beck, than I have thoughts to put them in, imagination to give them shape, or time to act them in.] What is the meaning of thoughts to put them in? A word is dropt out. We should read, &lblank; thoughts to put them in name. This was the progress. The offences are first conceived and named, then projected to be put in act, then executed. Warb. To put a thing into thought, is to think on it.

Note return to page 307 3I have heard of your painting too, well enough, &c.] This is according to the quarto; the folio, for painting, has prattlings, and for face, has pace, which agrees with what follows, you jig, you amble. Probably the authour wrote both. I think the common reading best.

Note return to page 308 4make your wantonness your ignorance.] You mistake by wanton affectation, and pretend to mistake by ignorance.

Note return to page 309 5&lblank; the mould of form,] The model by whom all endeavoured to form themselves.

Note return to page 310 6the groundlings:] The meaner people then seem to have sat below, as they now sit in the upper gallery, who not well understanding poetical language, were sometimes gratified by a mimical and mute representation of the drama, previous to the dialogue.

Note return to page 311 7inexplicable dumb shews,] I believe the meaning is, shews, without words to explain them.

Note return to page 312 8Termagant;] Termagant was a Saracen Deity, very clamorous and violent in the old moralities. Mr. Percy.

Note return to page 313 9age and body of the time,] The age of the time can hardly pass. May we not read, the face and body, or did the authour write, the page? The page suits well with form and pressure, but ill with body.

Note return to page 314 1pressure,] Resemblance as in a print.

Note return to page 315 2not to speak it profanely,] Profanely seems to relate, not to the praise which he has mentioned, but to the censure which he is about to utter. Any gross or indelicate language was called profane.

Note return to page 316 3&lblank; the pregnant hinges of the knee,] I believe the sense of pregnant in this place is, quick, ready, prompt.

Note return to page 317 4&lblank; my dear soul &lblank;] Perhaps, my clear soul.

Note return to page 318 5Whose blood and judgment &lblank;] According to the doctrine of the four humours, desire and confidence were seated in the blood, and judgment in the phlegm, and the due mixture of the humours made a perfect character.

Note return to page 319 6&lblank; Vulcan's Stithy. &lblank;] Stithy is a smith's anvil.

Note return to page 320 7nor mine now. &lblank;] A man's words, says the proverb, are his own no longer than he keep them unspoken.

Note return to page 321 8they stay upon your patience.] May it not be read more intelligibly, They stay upon your pleasure. In Macbeth it is, Noble Macbeth, we stay upon your leisure.

Note return to page 322 9Do you think, I meant country matters?] I think we must read, Do you think, I meant country manners? Do you imagine that I meant to sit in your lap, with such rough gallantry as clowns use to their lasses?

Note return to page 323 1nay, then let the Devil wear black, for I'll have a suit of sables.] The conceit of these words is not taken. They are an ironical apology for his mother's chearful looks: Two months was long enough in conscience to make any dead husband forgotten. But the editors, in their nonsensical blunder, have made Hamlet say just the contrary. That the Devil and he would both go into mourning, tho' his mother did not. The true reading is this, Nay, then let the Devil wear black, 'fore I'll have a suit of sable. 'Fore, i. e. before. As much as to say, Let the Devil wear black for me, I'll have none. The Oxford Editor despises an emendation so easy, and reads it thus, Nay, then let the Devil wear black, for I'll have a suit of ermine. And you could expect no less, when such a critic had the dressing of him. But the blunder was a pleasant one. The senseless editors had wrote sables, the fur so called, for sable, black. And the critick only changed this fur for that; by a like figure, the common people say, You rejoice the cockles of my heart, for the muscles of my heart; an unlucky mistake of one shellfish for another. Warb. I know not why our editors should, with such implacable anger, persecute our predecessors. &grO;&grir; &grn;&gre;&grk;&grr;&grog;&gri; &grm;&grhg; &grd;&graa;&grk;&grn;&gro;&gru;&grs;&gri;&grn;, the dead it is true can make no resistance, they may be attacked with great security; but since they can neither feel nor mend, the safety of mauling them seems greater than the pleasure; nor perhaps would it much misbeseem us to remember, amidst our triumphs over the nonsensical and the senseless, that we likewise are men; that debemur morti, and as Swift observed to Burnet, shall soon be among the dead ourselves. I cannot find how the common reading is nonsense, nor why Hamlet, when he laid aside his dress of mourning, in a country where it was bitter cold, and the air was nipping and eager, should not have a suit of sables. I suppose it is well enough known, that the fur of sables is not black.

Note return to page 324 2suffer not thinking on, with the hobby-horse;] Amongst the country may-games, there was an hobby-horse, which, when the puritanical humour of those times opposed and discredited these games, was brought by the poets and balladmakers as an instance of the ridiculous zeal of the sectaries: from these ballads Hamlet quotes a line or two. Warburton. This may be true, but seems to be said at hazard.

Note return to page 325 3Enter a King and Queen very lovingly.] Thus have the blundering and inadvertent editors all along given us this stage-direction, tho' we are expresly told by Hamlet anon, that the story of this introduced interlude is the murder of Gonzago Duke of Vienna. The source of this mistake is easily to be accounted for, from the stage's dressing the characters. Regal coronets being at first order'd by the poet for the Duke and Dutchess, the succeeding players, who did not strictly observe the quality of the persons or circumstances of the story, mistook 'em for a King and Queen; and so the error was deduced down from thence to the present times. Theobald. I have left this as I found it, because the question is of no importance. But both my copies have, Enter a King and Queen very lovingly, without any mention of regal coronets.6Q0264

Note return to page 326 4Marry, this is miching malicho; it means mischief.] The Oxford Editor, imagining that the speaker had here englished his own cant phrase of miching malicho, tells us (by his glossary) that it signifies mischief lying hid, and that Malicho is the Spanish Malheco; whereas it signifies, Lying in wait for the poisoner. Which, the speaker tells us, was the very purpose of this representation. It should therefore be read malhechor Spanish, the poisoner. So Mich signified, originally, to keep hid and out of sight; and, as such men generally did it for the purposes of lying in wait, it then signified to rob. And in this sense Shakespear uses the noun, a micher, when speaking of Prince Henry amongst a gang of robbers. Shall the blessed Sun of Heaven prove a micher? Shall the Son of England prove a thief? And in this sense it is used by Chaucer, in his translation of Le Roman de la rose, where he turns the word lierre, (which is larron, voleur,) by micher. Warb. I think Hanmer's exposition most likely to be right. Dr. Warburton, to justify his interpretation, must write, miching for malechor, and even then it will be harsh.

Note return to page 327 5&lblank; sheen] Splendour, lustre.

Note return to page 328 6&lblank; ev'n as they love.] Here seems to be a line lost, which should have rhymed to love.

Note return to page 329 7And as my love is fix'd, my fear is so.] Mr. Pope says, I read siz'd; and, indeed, I do so: because, I observe, the quarto of 1605 reads, ciz'd; that of 1611 cizst; the folio in 1632, siz; and that in 1623, siz'd: and because, besides, the whole tenour of the context demands this reading: For the lady evidently is talking here of the quantity and proportion of her love and fear; not of their continuance, duration, or stability. Cleopatra expresses herself much in the same manner, with regard to her grief for the loss of Antony. &lblank; our Size of Sorrow, Proportion'd to our Cause, must be as great As that which makes it. Theobald.

Note return to page 330 8The instances.] The motives.

Note return to page 331 9&lblank; what to ourselves is debt:] The performance of a resolution in which only the reseiver is interested, is a debt only to himself, which he may therefore remit at pleasure.

Note return to page 332 1The violence of either grief or joy, Their own enactures with themselves destroy.] What grief or joy enact or determine in their violence, is revoked in their abatement. Enactures is the word in the quarto; all the modern editions have enactors.

Note return to page 333 2An Anchor's cheer in prison be my scope!] May my whole liberty and enjoyment be to live on hermit's fare in a prison. Anchor is for anchorete.

Note return to page 334 3Baptista is, I think, in Italian, the name always of a man.

Note return to page 335 4So you mistake your husbands.] Read, So you must take your husbands; that is, for better for worse.

Note return to page 336 5with two provincial roses on my rayed shoes,] When shoestrings were worn, they were covered, where they met in the middle, by a ribband, gathered into the form of a rose. So in an old song, Gil-de-Roy was a bonny boy, Had roses tull his shoon. Rayed shoes, are shoes braided in lines.

Note return to page 337 6a cry of Players,] Allusion to a pack of hounds. Warb.

Note return to page 338 7A very, very Peacock.] This alludes to a fable of the birds choosing a King, instead of the eagle a peacock. Pope. The old copies have it Paicock, Paicocke, and Pajocke. I substitute Paddock as nearest to the traces of the corrupted reading. I have, as Mr. Pope says, been willing to substitute any thing in the place of his Peacock. He thinks a fable alluded to, of the birds chusing a King; instead of the eagle, a peacock. I suppose, he must mean the fable of Barlandus, in which it is said, the birds being weary of their state of anarchy, mov'd for the setting up of a King: and the Peacock was elected on account of his gay feathers. But, with submission, in this passage of our Shakespeare, there is not the least mention made of the eagle in antithesis to the peacock; and it must be by a very uncommon figure, that Jove himself stands in the place of his bird. I think, Hamlet is setting his father's and uncle's characters in contrast to each other: and means to say, that by his father's death the state was stripp'd of a godlike monarch, and that now in his stead reign'd the most despicable poisonous animal that could be: a meer paddock, or toad. PAD, bufo, rubeta major; a toad. This word, I take to be of Hamlet's own substituting. The verses, repeated, seem to be from some old ballad; in which, rhyme being necessary, I doubt not but the last verse ran thus; A very, very, &lblank; Ass. Theobald.

Note return to page 339 8Why, then, belike,] Hamlet was going on to draw the consequence when the courtiers entered.

Note return to page 340 9With drink, Sir?] Hamlet takes particular care that his unkle's love of drink shall not be forgotten.

Note return to page 341 1further trade] Further business; further dealing

Note return to page 342 2by these pickers, &c.] By these hands.

Note return to page 343 3Oh my lord, if my duty be too bold, my love is too unmannerly.] i. e. if my duty to the King makes me press you a little, my love to you makes me still more importunate. If that makes me bold, this makes me even unmannerly. Warburton.

Note return to page 344 4ventages] The holes of a flute.

Note return to page 345 5They fool me to the top of my bent] They compel me to play the fool, till I can endure to do it no longer.

Note return to page 346 6And do such bitter business as the day Would quake to look on. &lblank;] The expression is almost burlesque. The old quarto reads, And do such business as the bitter day Would quake to look on. &lblank; This is a little corrupt indeed, but much nearer Shakespear's words, who wrote, &lblank; better day, which gives the sentiment great force and dignity. At this very time, (says he) hell breathes out contagion to the world, whereby night becomes polluted and execrable; the horror therefore of this season fits me for a deed, which the pure and sacred day would quake to look on. This is said with great classical propriety. According to ancient superstition, night was prophane and execrable; and day, pure and holy. Warburton.

Note return to page 347 7To give them seals &lblank;] i. e. put them in execution. Warb.

Note return to page 348 8Out of his Lunacies.] The old quarto's read, Out of his Brows. This was from the ignorance of the first editors; as is this unnecessary Alexandrine, which we owe to the players. The poet, I am persuaded, wrote, &lblank; as doth hourly grow Out of his Lunes. i. e. his madness, frenzy. Theob. I take Brows to be, properly read, Frows, which, I think, is a provincial word, for perverse humours; which being, I suppose, not understood, was changed to Lunacies. But of this I am not confident.

Note return to page 349 9That spirit, on whose weal &lblank;] So the quarto. The folio gives, On whose spirit.

Note return to page 350 1Of vantage.] By some opportunity of secret observation.

Note return to page 351 2Though inclination be as sharp as will;] This is rank nonsense. We should read, Tho' inclination be as sharp as th' ill; i. e. tho' my inclination makes me as restless and uneasy as my crime does. The line immediately following shews this to be the true reading, My stronger guilt defeats my strong intent. Warb. I have followed the easier emendation of Theobald, received by Hanmer.

Note return to page 352 3May one be pardon'd, and retain th' offence?] This is a strange question; and much the same as to ask whether his offence could be remitted while it was retain'd. Shakespear here repeated a word with propriety and elegance which he employed two lines above, May one be pardon'd, and retain th' effects? i. e. of his murder, and this was a reasonable question. He uses the word offence, properly, in the next line but one, and from thence, I suppose, came the blunder. Warburton. I see no difficulty in the present reading. He that does not amend what can be amended, retains his offence. The King kept the crown from the right heir.

Note return to page 353 4Yet what can it, when one cannot repent?] This nonsense even exceeds the last. Shakespear wrote, Yet what can it, when one can but repent? i. e. what can repentance do without restitution? a natural and reasonable thought; and which the transcribers might have seen was the result of his preceding reflexions. &lblank; Forgive me my foul murther! That cannot be, since I am still possest Of those effects, for which I did the murther, My Crown, my own Ambition, and my Queen. May one be pardon'd, and retain th' effects? Besides, the poet could never have made his speaker say, he could not repent, when this whole speech is one thorough act of the discipline of contrition. And what was wanting was the matter of restitution: this, the speaker could not resolve upon; which makes him break out, Oh limed soul, that, struggling to get free, Art more engaged! &lblank; For it is natural, while the restitution of what one highly values is projected, that the fondness for it should strike the imagination with double force. Because the man, in that situation, figures to himself his condition when deprived of those advantages, which having an unpleasing view, he holds what he is possessed of more closely than ever. Hence, the last quoted exclamation receives all its force and beauty, which on any other interpretation is mean and senseless. But the Oxford Editor, without troubling himself with any thing of this, reads, Try what repentance can. What can it not? Yet what can aught, when one cannot repent? Which comes to the same nonsense of the common reading, only a little more round about. For when I am bid to try one thing, and I am told that nothing will do; is not that one thing included in the negative? But, if so, it comes at last to this, that even repentance will not do when one cannot repent. Warburton. The sense of the received reading is, I think, so plain, that I am afraid lest it should be obscured by any attempt at illustration. What can repentance do for a man that cannot be penitent, for a man who has only part of penitence, distress of conscience, without the other part, resolution of amendment.

Note return to page 354 5I, his sole son, do this same villain send] The folio reads foule son. This will lead us to the true reading, which is, fal'n son, i. e. disinherited. This was an aggravation of the injury; that he had not only murder'd the father, but ruin'd the son. Warburton. The folio gives a reading apparently corrupted from the quarto. The meaning is plain. I, his only son, who am bound to punish his murderer.

Note return to page 355 6In the common editions, Up, sword, and know thou a more horrid time.] This is a sophisticated reading, warranted by none of the copies of any authority. Mr. Pope says, I read conjecturally; &lblank; a more horrid Bent. I do so; and why? the two oldest quarto's, as well as the two elder folio's, read; &lblank; a more horrid Hent. But as there is no such English substantive, it seems very natural to conclude, that with the change of a single letter, our author's genuine word was, Bent; i. e. drift, scope, inclination, purpose, &c. Theobald. This reading is followed by Sir T. Hanmer and Dr. Warburton; but Hent is probably the right word. To hent is used by Shakespeare for, to seize, to catch, to lay hold on. Hent is therefore, hold, or seizure. Lay hold on him, sword, at a more horrid time.

Note return to page 356 7As hell, whereto it goes. &lblank;] This speech, in which Hamlet, represented as a virtuous character, is not content with taking blood for blood, but contrives damnation for the man that he would punish, is too horrible to be read or to be uttered.

Note return to page 357 8&lblank; I'll silence me e'en here; Pray you, be round with him.] Sir T. Hanmer, who is followed by Dr. Warburton, reads, &lblank; I'll sconce me here. Retire to a place of security. They forget that the contrivance of Polonius to overhear the conference, was no more told to the Queen than to Hamlet.—I'll silence me ev'n here, is, I'll use no more words.

Note return to page 358 9&lblank; takes off the rose] Alluding to the custom of wearing roses on the side of the face. See a note on a passage in King John. Warburton.

Note return to page 359 1&lblank; from the body of Contraction &lblank;] Contraction, for marriage-contract. Warb.

Note return to page 360 2&lblank; Heav'n's face doth glow; Yea this solidity and compound mass, With tristful visage, as against the doom, Is thought-sick at the act.] If any sense can be found here, it is this. The Sun glows [and does it not always] and the very solid mass of earth has a tristful visage, and is thought-sick. All this is sad stuff. The old quarto reads much nearer to the poet's sense, Heav'n's face does glow; &lblank; O'er this solidity and compound mass, With heated visage, as against the doom Is thought sick at the act. From whence it appears, that Shakespear wrote, Heav'n's face doth glow O'er this solidity and compound mass With tristful visage; and, as 'gainst the doom, Is thought-sick at the act. This makes a fine sense, and to this effect, The sun looks upon our globe, the scene of this murder, with an angry and mournful countenance, half hid in eclipse, as at the day of doom. Warb. The word heated, though it agrees well enough with glow, is, I think, not so striking as tristful, which was, I suppose, chosen at the revisal. I believe the whole passage now stands as the authour gave it. Dr. Warburton's reading restores two improprieties, which Shakespeare, by his alteration, had removed. In the first, and in the new reading: Heav'n's face glows with tristful visage, and, Heav'n's face is thought-sick. To the common reading there is no just objection.

Note return to page 361 3Queen. Ay me! what act, That roars so loud, and thunders in the index?] This is a strange answer. But the old quarto brings us nearer to the poet's sense, by dividing the lines thus; Queen. Ah me, what act? Ham. That roars so loud, and thunders in the Index. Here we find the Queen's answer very natural. He had said the Sun was thought-sick at the act. She says, Ah me! what act? He replies, (as we should read it) That roars so loud, it thunders to the Indies. He had before said Heav'n was shocked at it; he now tells her, it resounded all the world over. This gives us a very good sense where all sense was wanting. Warburton. The meaning is, What is this act, of which the discovery, or mention, cannot be made, but with this violence of clamour?

Note return to page 362 4In former editions, &lblank; Sense, sure, you have, Else could you not have motion: &lblank;] But from what philosophy our editors learnt this, I cannot tell. Since motion depends so little upon sense, that the greatest part of motion in the universe, is amongst bodies devoid of sense. We should read, Else could you not have notion, i. e. intellect, reason, &c. This alludes to the famous peripatetic principle of Nil sit in intellectu, quod non fuerit in sensu. And how fond our author was of applying, and alluding to, the principles of this philosophy, we have given several instances. The principle in particular has been since taken for the foundation of one of the noblest works that these latter ages have produced. Warburton.6Q0266

Note return to page 363 5&lblank; rebellious hell, If thou canst mutiny in a matron's bones, &c.] Alluding to what he had told her before that her enormous conduct shewed a kind of possession. &lblank; What Devil was't, That thus hath, &c. &lblank; And again afterwards, For use can almost change the stamp of Nature, And master ev'n the Devil, or throw him out With wondrous potency &lblank; But the Oxford Editor, not apprehending the meaning, alters it to &lblank; rebellious heat, If thou canst, &c. And so makes nonsense of it. For must not rebellious lust mutiny wherever it is quartered? That it should get there might seem strange, but that it should do its kind when it was there seems to be natural enough. Warburton. I think the present reading right, but cannot admit that Hanmer's emendation produces nonsense. May not what is said of heat, be said of hell, that it will mutiny wherever it is quartered?

Note return to page 364 6&lblank; Reason panders Will.] So the folio, I think rightly; but the reading of the quarto is defensible; &lblank; Reason pardons Will.

Note return to page 365 7&lblank; grained &lblank;] Died in grain.

Note return to page 366 8&lblank; incestuous bed,] The folio has enseamed, that is, greasy bed.

Note return to page 367 9&lblank; Vice of Kings;] A low mimick of Kings. The Vice is the fool of a farce; from whom the modern Punch is descended.

Note return to page 368 1That from a shelf, &c.] This is said not unmeaningly, but to shew, that the usurper came not to the crown by any glorious villany that carried danger with it, but by the low cowardly theft of a common pilferer. Warb.

Note return to page 369 2A King of shreds and patches.] This is said, pursuing the idea of the Vice of Kings. The Vice was dressed as a fool, in a coat of party-coloured patches.

Note return to page 370 3&lblank; laps'd in time and passion, &lblank;] That, having suffered time to slip, and passion to cool, lets go, &c

Note return to page 371 4&lblank; like life in excrements,] The hairs are excrementitious, that is, without life or sensation: yet those very hairs, as if they had life, start up, &c. Pope.

Note return to page 372 5&lblank; do not spread the compost, &c.] Do not, by any new indulgence, heighten your former offences.

Note return to page 373 6&lblank; curb &lblank;] That is, bend and truckle.

Note return to page 374 7That monster custom, who all sense doth eat Of Habit's Devil, is angel yet in this:] This passage is left out in the two elder folio's: It is certainly corrupt, and the players did the discreet part to stifle what they did not understand. Habit's Devil certainly arose from some conceited tamperer with the text, who thought it was necessary, in contrast to Angel. The emendation of the text I owe to the sagacity of Dr. Thirlby. That monster custom, who all sense doth eat Of habits evil, is angel, &c. Theobald. I think Thirlby's conjecture wrong, though the succeeding editors have followed it; Angel and Devil are evidently opposed.

Note return to page 375 8To punish this with me, &c.] This is Hanmer's reading; the other editions have it, To punish me with this, and this with me.

Note return to page 376 9Let the fond King &lblank;] The old quarto reads, Let the bloat King &lblank; i. e. bloated, which is better, as more expressive of the speaker's contempt. Warburton.

Note return to page 377 1There's Letters seal'd, &c.] The ten following verses are added out of the old edition. Pope.

Note return to page 378 2&lblank; adders fang'd;] That is, Adders with their fangs, or poisonous teeth, undrawn. It has been the practice of mountebanks to boast the efficacy of their antidotes by playing with vipers, but they first disabled their fangs.

Note return to page 379 *This play is printed in the old editions without any separation of the Acts. The division is modern and arbitrary; and is here not very happy, for the pause is made at a time when there is more continuity of action than in almost any other of the Scenes.

Note return to page 380 3&lblank; out of haunt,] I would rather read, out of harm.

Note return to page 381 4&lblank; like some ore] Shakespeare seems to think ore to be Or, that is, gold. Base metals have ore no less than precious.

Note return to page 382 5Whose whisper o'er the world's diameter, As level as the cannon to his blank, Transports its poison'd shot, may miss our name, And hit the woundless air.—O, come away!] Mr. Pope takes notice, that I replace some verses that were imperfect, (and, tho' of a modern date, seem to be genuine;) by inserting two words. But to see, what an accurate and faithful collator he is; I produced these verses in my Shakespeare restored, from a quarto edition of Hamlet, printed in 1637, and happened to say, that they had not the authority of any earlier date in print, that I knew of, than that quarto. Upon the strength of this Mr. Pope comes and calls the lines modern, tho' they are in the quartos of 1605 and 1611, which I had not then seen, but both of which Mr. Pope pretends to have collated. The verses carry the very stamp of Shakespeare upon them. The coin, indeed, has been clipt from our first receiving it; but it is not so diminished, but that with a small assistance we may hope to make it pass current. I am far from affirming, that, by inserting the words, For, haply, Slander, I have given the poet's very words; but the supplement is such as the sentiment naturally seems to demand. The poet has the same thought, concerning the diffusive pow'rs of slander, in another of his plays. No, 'tis slander; Whose edge is sharper than the sword, whose tongue Out-venoms all the worms of Nile, whose breath Rides on the posting winds, and doth bely All corners of the world. Cymbeline. Theobald.

Note return to page 383 6like an apple,] The quarto has apple, which is generally followed. The folio has ape, which Hanmer has received, and illustrated with the following note. “It is the way of monkeys in eating, to throw that part of their food, which they take up first, into a pouch they are provided with on the side of their jaw, and then they keep it, till they have done with the rest.”6Q0267

Note return to page 384 7The body is with the King,] This answer I do not comprehend. Perhaps it should be, The body is not with the King, for the King is not with the body.

Note return to page 385 8Of nothing.] Should it not be read, Or nothing? When the courtiers remark, that Hamlet has contemptuously called the King a thing, Hamlet defends himself by observing, that the King must be a thing, or nothing.

Note return to page 386 9Hide fox,] There is a play among children called, Hide fox, and all after. Hanmer.

Note return to page 387 1&lblank; the wind at help,] I suppose it should be read, The bark is ready, and the wind at helm.

Note return to page 388 2&lblank; set by Our sovereign process,] So Hanmer. The others have only set.

Note return to page 389 3Howe'er my haps, my joys will ne'er begin.] This being the termination of a scene, should, according to our authour's custom, be rhymed. Perhaps he wrote, Howe'er my hopes, my joys are not begun.

Note return to page 390 4&lblank; chief good and market &lblank;] If his highest good, and that for which he sells his time, be to sleep and feed.

Note return to page 391 5&lblank; large discourse,] Such latitude of comprehension, such power of reviewing the past, and anticipating the future.

Note return to page 392 6&lblank; Rightly to be great, Is not to stir without, &c.] This passage I have printed according to the copy. Mr. Theobald had regulated it thus, &lblank; 'Tis not to be great, Never to stir without great argument; But greatly, &c. The sentiment of Shakespeare is partly just, and partly romantick. &lblank; Rightly to be great, Is not to stir without great argument, is exactly philosophical. But greatly to find quarrel in a straw, When Honour is at stake, is the idea of a modern hero. But then, says he, honour is an argument, or subject of debate, sufficiently great, and when honour is at stake, we must find cause of quarrel in a straw.

Note return to page 393 7Excitements of my reason and my blood,] Provocations which excite both my reason and my passions to vengeance.

Note return to page 394 8Tho' nothing sure, yet much unhappily.] i. e. tho' her meaning cannot be certainly collected, yet there is enough to put a mischievous interpretation to it. Warburton.

Note return to page 395 9'Twere good she were spoken with, &lblank;] These lines are given to the Queen in the folio, and to Horatio in the quarto. I have followed Hanmer's regulation.

Note return to page 396 1By his cockle hat and staff, and by his sandal shoon.] This is the description of a pilgrim. While this kind of devotion was in favour, love-intrigues were carried on under that mask. Hence the old ballads and novels made pilgrimages the subjects of their plots. The cockle-shell hat was one of the essential badges of this vocation: for the chief places of devotion being beyond sea, or on the coasts, the pilgrims were accustomed to put cockle-shells upon their hats, to denote the intention or performance of their devotion. Warburton.

Note return to page 397 2the owl was a baker's daughter.] This was a metamorphosis of the common people, arising from the mealy appearance of the owl's feathers, and her guarding the bread from mice. Warb.

Note return to page 398 3And dupt the chamber door;] To dup, is to do up; to lift the latch. It were easy to write, And op'd &lblank;

Note return to page 399 4By Gis, &lblank;] I rather imagine it should be read, By Cis, &lblank; That is, By St. Cecily.

Note return to page 400 5&lblank; but greenly,] But unskilfully; with greenness, that is, without maturity of judgement.

Note return to page 401 6In hugger mugger to inter him; &lblank;] All the modern editions that I have consulted give it, In private to inter him; &lblank; That the words now replaced are better, I do not undertake to prove; it is sufficient that they are Shakespeare's: If phraseology is to be changed as words grow uncouth by disuse, or gross by vulgarity, the history of every language will be lost; we shall no longer have the words of any authour; and, as these alterations will be often unskilfully made, we shall in time have very little of his meaning.

Note return to page 402 7Feeds on his wonder, &lblank;] The folio reads, Keeps on his wonder, &lblank; The quarto, Feeds on this wonder. &lblank; Thus the true reading is picked out from between them. Hanmer reads unnecessarily, Feeds on his anger. &lblank;

Note return to page 403 8Wherein necessity, &c.] Hanmer reads, Whence animosity, of matter beggar'd. He seems not to have understood the connection. Wherein, that is, in which pestilent speeches, necessity, or, the obligation of an accuser to support his charge, will nothing stick, &c.

Note return to page 404 9Like to a murdering piece, &lblank;] Such a piece as assassins use, with many barrels. It is necessary to apprehend this, to see the justness of the similitude. Warb.

Note return to page 405 1The ocean, over-peering of his list,] The lists are the barriers which the spectators of a tournament must not pass.

Note return to page 406 2The ratifiers and props of every word;] The whole tenour of the context is sufficient to shew, that this is a mistaken reading. What can antiquity and custom, being the props of words, have to do with the business in hand? Or what idea is conveyed by it? Certainly the poet wrote; The ratifiers and props of ev'ry ward; The messenger is complaining that the riotous head had overborne the King's officers, and then subjoins, that antiquity and custom were forgot, which were the ratifiers and props of every ward, i. e. of every one of those securities that nature and law place about the person of a King. All this is rational and consequential. Warb. With this emendation, which was in Theobald's edition, Hanmer was not satisfied. It is indeed harsh. Hanmer transposes the lines, and reads, They cry, Chuse we Laertes for our King; The ratifiers and props of ev'ry word, Caps, hands, and tongues, applaud it to the clouds. I think the fault may be mended at less expence, by reading, Antiquity forgot, custom not known, The ratifiers and props of ev'ry weal. That is, of every government.6Q0269

Note return to page 407 3Oh, this is counter, you false Danish dogs.] Hounds run counter when they trace the trail backwards.

Note return to page 408 4&lblank; to your judgment 'pear,] So the quarto; the folio, and all the later editions, read, &lblank; to your judgement pierce, less intelligibly.

Note return to page 409 5Nature is fine in love; and where 'tis fine, It sends some precious instance of itself After the thing it loves.] This is unquestionably corrupt. I suppose Shakespear wrote, Nature is fal'n in love, and where 'tis fal'n. The cause of Ophelia's madness was grief, occasioned by the violence of her natural affection for her murder'd father; her brother, therefore, with great force of expression, says, Nature is fal'n in love, &lblank; To distinguish the passion of natural affection from the passion of love between the two sexes, i. e. Nature, or natural affection is fal'n in love. And as a person in love is accustomed to send the most precious of his jewels to the person beloved (for the love-tokens which young wenches in love send to their sweethearts, is here alluded to) so when Nature (says Laertes) falls in love, she likewise sends her love-token to the object beloved. But her most precious jewel is reason; she therefore sends that: And this he gives as the cause of Ophelia's madness, which he is here endeavouring to account for. This quaint sentiment of Nature's falling in love, is exactly in Shakespear's manner, and is a thought he appears fond of. So in Romeo and Juliet, Affliction is represented as in love; Affliction is enamour'd of thy parts, And thou art wedded to calamity. Nay Death, a very unlikely subject one would think, is put into a love fit; &lblank; I will believe That unsubstantial death is amorous, &c. Warb. These lines are not in the quarto, and might have been omitted in the folio without great loss, for they are obscure and affected; but, I think, they require no emendation. Love, says Laertes, is the passion by which nature is most exalted and refined, and as substances refined and subtilised, easily obey any impulse, or follow any attraction, some part of nature, so purified and refined, flies off after the attracting object, after the thing it loves. As into air the purer spirits flow, And separate from their kindred dregs below, So flew her soul. &lblank;

Note return to page 410 6O how the wheel becomes it!] We should read weal. She is now rambling on the ballad of the steward and his lord's daughter. And in these words speaks of the state he assumed. Warburton. I do not see why weal is better than wheel. The story alluded to I do not know; but perhaps the lady stolen by the steward was reduced to spin.6Q0270

Note return to page 411 7There's rosemary, that's for remembrance; and there's pansies, that's for thoughts.] There is probably some mythology in the choice of these herbs, but I cannot explain it. Pansies is for thoughts, because of its name, Pensées; but why rosemary indicates remembrance, except that it is an ever-green, and carried at funerals, I have not discovered.

Note return to page 412 8There's rue for you, and here's some for me. We may call it herb of grace o' Sundays:] Herb of grace is the name the country people give to Rue. And the reason is, because that herb was a principal ingredient in the potion which the Romish priests used to force the possessed to swallow down when they exorcised them. Now these exorcisms being performed generally on a Sunday, in the church before the whole congregation, is the reason why she says, we call it herb of grace o' Sundays. Sandys tells us that at Grand Cairo there is a species of rue much in request, with which the inhabitants perfume themselves, not only as a preservative against infection, but as very powerful against evil spirits. And the cabalistic Gaffarel pretends to have discovered the reason of its virtue, La semence de Ruë est faicte comme une Croix, & c'est paraventure la cause qu' elle a tant de vertu contre les possedez, & que l' Eglise s' en sert en les exorcisant. It was on the same principle that the Greeks called sulphur, &grQ;&gre;&gric;&gro;&grn;, because of its use in their superstitious purgations by fire. Which too the Romish priests employ to fumigate in their exorcisms; and on that account hallow or consecrate it. Warb.

Note return to page 413 9No trophy, sword, nor hatchment &lblank;] It was the custom, in the times of our authour, to hang a sword over the grave of a Knight.6Q0271

Note return to page 414 1And where th' offence is, let the great ax fall.] We should read, &lblank; let the great tax fall. i. e. penalty, punishment. Warburton. Fall corresponds better to ax.

Note return to page 415 2for the bore of the matter.] The bore is the caliber of a gun, or the capacity of the barrel. The matter, says Hamlet, would carry heavier words.

Note return to page 416 3&lblank; the general gender &lblank;] The common race of the people.

Note return to page 417 4Would, like the spring &lblank;] This simile is neither very seasonable in the deep interest of this conversation, nor very accurately applied. If the spring had changed base metals to gold, the thought had been more proper.

Note return to page 418 5&lblank; if praises may go back again.] If I may praise what has been, but is now to be found no more.

Note return to page 419 6As liking not his voyage, &lblank;] The folio, As choking at his voyage. &lblank;

Note return to page 420 7Of the unworthiest siege.] Of the lowest rank. Siege, for seat, place.

Note return to page 421 8Importing health and graveness. &lblank;] But a warm-furr'd gown rather implies sickness than health. Shakespear wrote, Importing wealth and graveness. &lblank;] i. e. that the wearers are rich burghers and magistrates. Warburton. Importing here may be, not inferring by logical consequence, but producing by physical effect. A young man regards show in his dress, an old man, health.

Note return to page 422 9&lblank; in forgery of shapes and tricks] I could not contrive so many proofs of dexterity as he could perform.

Note return to page 423 1&lblank; in your defence;] That is, in the science of defence.

Note return to page 424 2&lblank; The Scrimers &lblank;] The fencers.

Note return to page 425 3&lblank; in passages of proof,] In transactions of daily experience.

Note return to page 426 4For goodness, growing to a pleurisy,] I would believe, for the honour of Shakespear, that he wrote plethory. But I observe the dramatic writers of that time frequently call a fulness of blood a pleurisy, as if it came, not from &grp;&grl;&gre;&gru;&grr;&grag;, but from plus, pluris. Warburton.

Note return to page 427 5And then this should is like a spend-thrift's sigh That hurts by easing; &lblank;] This nonsense should be read thus, And then this should is like a spendthrift's sign That hurts by easing; &lblank; i. e. tho' a spendthrift's entering into bonds or mortgages gives him a present relief from his straits, yet it ends in much greater distresses. The application is, If you neglect a fair opportunity now, when it may be done with ease and safety, time may throw so many difficulties in your way, that, in order to surmount them, you must put your whole fortune into hazard. Warb. This conjecture is so ingenious, that it can hardly be opposed, but with the same reluctance as the bow is drawn against a hero, whose virtues the archer holds in veneration. Here may be applied what Voltaire writes to the Empress: Le genereux François &lblank; Te combat & t' admire. Yet this emendation, however specious, is mistaken. The original reading is, not a spendthrift's sigh, but a spendthrift sigh; a sigh that makes an unnecessary waste of the vital flame. It is a notion very prevalent, that sighs impair the strength, and wear out the animal powers.

Note return to page 428 6&lblank; He being remiss,] He being not vigilant or cautious.

Note return to page 429 7A sword unbated, &lblank;] i. e. not blunted as foils are. Or as one edition has it embaited or envenomed. Pope.

Note return to page 430 8&lblank; a pass of practice] Practice is often by Shakespeare, and other old writers, taken for an insidious stratagem, or privy treason, a sense not incongruous to this passage, where yet I rather believe, that nothing more is meant than a thrust for exercise.

Note return to page 431 9May fit us to our shape.] May enable us to assume proper characters, and to act our part.

Note return to page 432 1&lblank; blast in proof.] This, I believe, is a metaphor taken from a mine, which, in the proof or execution, sometimes breaks out with an ineffectual blast.

Note return to page 433 2Which time she chaunted snatches of old tunes,] Fletcher, in his Scornful Lady, very invidiously ridicules this incident I will run mad first, and if that get not pity, I'll drown myself to a most dismal ditty. Warb.

Note return to page 434 3make her Grave straight.] Make her grave from east to west in a direct line parallel to the church; not from north to south, athwart the regular line. This, I think, is meant.6Q0272

Note return to page 435 4an act hath three branches; it is to act, to do, and to perform;] Ridicule on scholastic divisions without distinction; and of distinctions without difference. Warburton.

Note return to page 436 5their even christian.] So all the old books, and rightly. An old English expression for fellow-christians. Dr. Thirlby.

Note return to page 437 6Ay, tell me that, and unyoke.] i. e. when you have done that, I'll trouble you no more with these riddles. The phrase taken from husbandry. Warb.

Note return to page 438 7In youth, when I did love, &c.] The three stanza's, sung here by the grave-digger, are extracted, with a slight variation, from a little poem, called, The Aged Lover renounceth Love: written by Henry Howard Earl of Surrey, who flourished in the reign of King Henry VIII. and who was beheaded in 1547, on a strained accusation of treason. Theobald. The song was written by Lord Vaux. Mr. Percy.

Note return to page 439 8&lblank; nothing so meet.] Hanmer. The other editions have, &lblank; nothing meet.

Note return to page 440 9But age, with his stealing steps, Hath claw'd me in his clutch: And hath shipped me into the land, As if I had never been such.] This stanza is evidently corrupted; for it wants what is found in the other two, an alternate rhyme. We may read thus, till something better shall occur: But age, with his stealing sand,   Hath claw'd me in his clutch: And hath shifted me into his land,   As though I had never been such.6Q0274

Note return to page 441 1a politician,—one that would circumvent God,] This character is finely touched. Our great historian has well explained it in an example, where speaking of the death of Cardinal Mazarine, at the time of the Restoration, he says, The Cardinal was probably struck with the wonder, if not the agony of that undream'd-of prosperity of our King's affairs; as if he had taken it ill, and laid it to heart that God Almighty would bring such a work to pass in Europe without his concurrence, and even against all his machinations. Hist. of the Rebellion, Book 16. Warburton.

Note return to page 442 2which this ass o'er-offices;] The meaning is this. People in office, at that time, were so overbearing, that Shakespear speaking of insolence at the height, calls it Insolence in office. And Donne says, Who is he Who officers' rage and suitors' misery Can write in jest &lblank; Sat. Alluding to this character of ministers and politicians, the speaker observes, that this insolent officer is now o'er-officer'd by the Sexton, who, knocking his scull about with his spade, appears to be as insolent in his office as they were in theirs. This is said with much humour. Warb. In the quarto, for over-offices is, over-reaches, which agrees better with the sentence: It is a strong exaggeration to remark, that an Ass can over-reach him who would once have tried to circumvent.—I believe both the words were Shakespeare's. An authour in revising his work, when his original ideas have faded from his mind, and new observations have produced new sentiments, easily introduces images which have been more newly impressed upon him, without observing their want of congruity to the general texture of his original design.

Note return to page 443 3and now my lady Worm's;] The scull that was my lord such a one's, is now my lady Worm's.

Note return to page 444 4play at loggats] A play, in which pins are set up to be beaten down with a bowl.

Note return to page 445 5by the card,] The card is the paper on which the different points of the compass were described. To do any thing by the card, is, to do it with nice observation.

Note return to page 446 6the age is grown so picked,] So smart, so sharp; says Hanmer, very properly; but there was, I think, about that time, a picked shoe, that is, a shoe, with a long pointed toe, in fashion, to which the allusion seems likewise to be made. Every man now is smart; and every man now is a man of fashion.

Note return to page 447 7&lblank; winter's flaw] Winter's blast.

Note return to page 448 8&lblank; maimed rites? &lblank;] Imperfect obsequies.

Note return to page 449 9&lblank; some estate.] Some person of high rank.

Note return to page 450 1&lblank; allow'd her virgin rites,] The old quarto reads virgin crants, evidently corrupted from chants, which is the true word. A specific rather than a generic term being here required, to answer to maiden-strewments. Warb. I have been informed by an anonymous correspondent, that crants is the German word for garlands, and I suppose it was retained by us from the Saxons. To carry garlands before the bier of a maiden, and to hang them over her grave, is still the practice in rural parishes. Crants therefore was the original word, which the authour, discovering it to be provincial, and perhaps not understood, changed to a term more intelligible, but less proper. Maiden rites give no certain or definite image. He might have put maiden wreaths, or maiden garlands, but he perhaps bestowed no thought upon it, and neither genius nor practice will always supply a hasty writer with the most proper diction.

Note return to page 451 2Of bell and burial.] Burial, here, signifies interment in consecrated ground. Warb.

Note return to page 452 3Would drink up Esill, eat a crocodile?] This word has thro' all the editions been distinguished by Italick characters, as if it were the proper name of some river; and so, I dare say, all the editors have from time to time understood it to be. But then this must be some river in Denmark; and there is none there so called; nor is there any near it in name, that I know of, but Yssel, from which the province of Overyssel derives its title in the German Flanders. Besides, Hamlet is not proposing any impossibilities to Laertes, as the drinking up a river would be: but he rather seems to mean, Wilt thou resolve to do things the most shocking and distasteful to human nature? and, behold, I am as resolute. I am persuaded, the poet wrote; Wilt drink up Eisel, eat a crocodile? i. e. Wilt thou swallow down large draughts of vinegar? The proposition, indeed, is not very grand: but the doing it might be as distasteful and unsavoury, as eating the flesh of a crocodile. And now there is neither an impossibility, nor an Anticlimax: and the lowness of the idea is in some measure remov'd by the uncommon term. Theobald. Hanmer has, Wilt drink up Nile, or eat a crocodile?

Note return to page 453 4When that her golden couplets &lblank;] We should read, E'er that—for it is the patience of birds, during the time of incubation, that is here spoken of. The Pigeon generally sits upon two eggs; and her young, when first disclosed, are covered with a yellow down. Warburton. Perhaps it should be, Ere yet &lblank; Yet and yt are easily confounded.

Note return to page 454 5&lblank; mutines in the Bilboes.] Mutines, the French word for seditious or disobedient fellows in the army or fleet. Bilboes, the ship's prison.

Note return to page 455 6&lblank; Rashness (And prais'd be rashness for it) lets us know; Our indiscretion sometimes serves us well, When, &c.] The sense in this reading is, Our rashness lets us know that our indiscretion serves us well, when, &c. But this could never be Shakespear's sense. We should read and point thus, &lblank; Rashness, (And prais'd be rashness for it) lets us know; Or indiscretion sometimes serves us well, When, &c] i. e. Rashness acquaints us with what we cannot penetrate to by plots. Warb. Both my copies read, &lblank; Rashly, And prais'd be rashness for it, let us know. Hamlet, delivering an account of his escape, begins with saying, That he rashly &lblank; and then is carried into a reflection upon the weakness of human wisdom. I rashly &lblank; praised be rashness for it—Let us not think these events casual, but let us know, that is, take notice and remember, that we sometimes succeed by indiscretion, when we fail by deep plots, and infer the perpetual superintendence and agency of the Divinity. The observation is just, and will be allowed by every human being who shall reflect on the course of his own life.

Note return to page 456 7With, ho! such buggs and goblins in my life;] With such causes of terrour, arising from my character and designs.

Note return to page 457 8&lblank; no leisure bated,] Bated, for allowed. To abate signifies to deduct; this deduction, when applied to the person in whose favour it is made, is called an allowance. Hence he takes the liberty of using bated for allowed. Warburton.

Note return to page 458 9Being thus benetted round with Villains, (Ere I could make a prologue to my Brains, They had begun the Play: &lblank;] The second line is nonsense. The whole should be read thus, Being thus benetted round with Villains, Ere I could mark the prologue to my Bane, They had begun the Play. i. e. they begun to act, to my destruction, before I knew there was a Play towards. Ere I could mark the Prologue. For it appears by what he says of his foreboding, that it was that only, and not any apparent mark of villany, which set him upon fingering their packet. Ere I could make the Prologue, is absurd: Both, as he had no thoughts of playing them a trick till they had played him one; and because his counterplot could not be called a prologue to their Plot. Warb. In my opinion no alteration is necessary. Hamlet is telling how luckily every thing fell out; he groped out their commission in the dark without waking them; he found himself doomed to immediate destruction. Something was to be done for his preservation. An expedient occurred, not produced by the comparison of one method with another, or by a regular deduction of consequences, but before he could make a prologue to his Brains, they had begun the play. Before he could summon his faculties, and propose to himself what should be done, a complete scheme of action presented itself to him. His mind operated before he had excited it. This appears to me to be the meaning.

Note return to page 459 1As Peace should still her wheaten garland wear, And stand a Comma 'tween their amities;] Peace is here properly and finely personalized as the Goddess of good league and friendship; and very classically dress'd out. Ovid says, Pax Cererem nutrit, Pacis alumna Ceres. And Tibullus, At nobis, Pax alma! veni, spicamque teneto. But the placing her as a Comma, or stop, between the amities of two kingdoms, makes her rather stand like a cypher. The poet without doubt wrote, And stand a Commere 'tween our amities. The term is taken from a trafficker in love, who brings people together, a procuress. And this Idea is well appropriated to the satirical turn which the speaker gives to this wicked adjuration of the King, who would lay the foundation of the peace of the two kingdoms in the blood of the heir of one of them. Periers in his Novels, uses the word Commere to signify a she-friend. A tous ses gens, chacun une Commere. And Ben Johnson, in his Devil's an Ass, englishes the word by a middling Gossip. Or what do you say to a middling Gossip To bring you together. Warb. Hanmer reads, And stand a cement &lblank; I am again inclined to vindicate the old reading. That the word Commere is French, will not be denied; but when or where was it English? The expression of our authour is, like many of his phrases, sufficiently constrained and affected, but it is not incapable of explanation. The Comma is the note of connection and continuity of sentences; the Period is the note of abruption and disjunction. Shakespeare had it perhaps in his mind to write, That unless England complied with the mandate, war should put a period to their amity; he altered his mode of diction, and thought that, in an opposite sense, he might put, That Peace should stand a Comma between their amities. This is not an easy style; but is it not the style of Shakespeare?

Note return to page 460 2&lblank; As's of great charge;] Asses heavily loaded.

Note return to page 461 3The changeling never known;] A changeling is a child which the fairies are supposed to leave in the room of that which they steal.

Note return to page 462 4Doth by their own insinuation grow:] Insinuation, for corruptly obtruding themselves into his service. Warb.

Note return to page 463 5To quit him &lblank;] To requite him; to pay him his due.

Note return to page 464 6&lblank; Dost know this waterfly?] A waterfly skips up and down upon the surface of the water, without any apparent purpose or reason, and is thence the proper emblem of a busy trifler.

Note return to page 465 7It is a chough;] A kind of jackdaw.

Note return to page 466 8full of most excellent Differences,] Full of distinguishing excellencies.

Note return to page 467 9the card or kalendar of gentry;] The general preceptor of elegance; the card by which a gentleman is to direct his course; the calendar by which he is to chuse his time, that what he does may be both excellent and seasonable.

Note return to page 468 1for you shall find in him the continent of what part a gentleman would see.] You shall find him containing and comprising every quality which a gentleman would desire to contemplate for imitation. I know not but it should be read, You shall find him the continent.

Note return to page 469 2Sir, his definement, &c.] This is designed as a specimen, and ridicule of the court-jargon, amongst the precieux of that time. The sense in English is, Sir, he suffers nothing in your account of him, though to enumerate his good qualities particularly would be endless; yet when we had done our best it would still come short of him. However, in strictness of truth, he is a great genius, and of a character so rarely to be met with, that to find any thing like him we must look into his mirrour, and his imitators will appear no more than his shadows. Warb.

Note return to page 470 3and yet but raw neither] We should read slow. Warb. I believe raw to be the right word; it is a word of great latitude; raw signifies unripe, immature, thence unformed, imperfect, unskilful. The best account of him would be imperfect, in respect of his quick sail. The phrase quick sail was, I suppose, a proverbial term for activity of mind.

Note return to page 471 4a Soul of great article;] This is obscure. I once thought it might have been, a Soul of great altitude; but, I suppose, a Soul of great article, means a Soul of large comprehension, of many contents; the particulars of an inventory are called articles.

Note return to page 472 5of such dearth] Dearth is dearness, value, price. And his internal qualities of such value and rarity.

Note return to page 473 6Is't not possible to understand in another tongue? you will do't, Sir, really.] Of this interrogatory remark the sense is very obscure. The question may mean, Might not all this be understood in plainer language. But then, you will do it, Sir, really, seems to have no use, for who could doubt but plain language would be intelligible? I would therefore read, Is't possible not to be understood in a mother tongue. You will do it, Sir, really.

Note return to page 474 7if you did, it would not much approve me] If you knew I was not ignorant, your esteem would not much advance my reputation. To approve, is to recommend to approbation.

Note return to page 475 8I dare not confess that, lest I should compare with him, &c.] I dare not pretend to know him, lest I should pretend to an equality: no man can completely know another, but by knowing himself, which is the utmost extent of human wisdom.

Note return to page 476 9in his Meed,] In his excellence.

Note return to page 477 1impon'd,] Perhaps it should be, deponed. So Hudibras, I would upon this cause depone, As much as any I have known. But perhaps imponed is pledged, impawned, so spelt to ridicule the affectation of uttering English words with French pronunciation.

Note return to page 478 2more germane] More a-kin.

Note return to page 479 3The King, Sir, hath laid,] This wager I do not understand. In a dozen passes one must exceed the other more or less than three hits. Nor can I comprehend, how, in a dozen, there can be twelve to nine. The passage is of no importance; it is sufficient that there was a wager. The quarto has the passage as it stands. The folio, He hath one twelve for mine.

Note return to page 480 4This lapwing runs away with the shell on his head.] I see no particular propriety in the image of the lapwing. Osric did not run till he had done his business. We may read, This lapwing ran away—That is, this fellow was full of unimportant bustle from his birth.

Note return to page 481 5He did so, Sir, with his dug, &c.] What, run away with it? The Folio reads, He did comply with his dug. So that the true reading appears to be, He did compliment with his dug, i. e. stand upon ceremony with it, to shew he was born a courtier. This is extremely humourous. Warb. Hanmer has the same emendation.

Note return to page 482 6a kind of yesty collection, which carries them through and through the most fond and winnowed opinions; and do but blow them to their tryals, the bubbles are out.] The metaphor is strangely mangled by the intrusion of the word fond, which undoubtedly should be read fann'd; the allusion being to corn separated by the Fan from chaff and dust. But the Editors seeing, from the character of this yesty collection, that the opinions, through which they were so currently carried, were false opinions; and fann'd and winnow'd opinions, in the most obvious sense signifying tried and purified opinions, they thought fanned must needs be wrong, and therefore made it fond, which word signified in our author's time, foolish, weak or childish. They did not consider that fanned and winnowed opinions had also a different signification: For it may mean the opinions of great men and courtiers, men separated by their quality from the vulgar, as corn is separated from the chaff. This yesty collection, says Hamlet, insinuates itself into people of the highest Quality, as yest into the finest flower. The courtiers admire him, but when he comes to the trial, &c. Warb. This is a very happy emendation, but I know not why the critick should suppose that fond was printed for fann'd in consequence of any reason or reflection. Such errors, to which there is no temptation but idleness, and of which there was no cause but ignorance, are in every page of the old Editions. This passage in the quarto stands thus. They have got out of the habit of encounter, a kind of misty collection, which carries them through and through the most prosane and trennowned opinions. If this printer preserved any traces of the original, our authour wrote, the most sane and renowned opinions, which is better than fanned and winnowed. The meaning is, these men have got the cant of the day, a superficial readiness of slight and cursory conversation, a kind of frothy collection of fashionable prattle, which yet carried them through the most select and approved judgement. This airy facility of talk sometimes imposes upon wise men. Who has not seen this observation verified?

Note return to page 483 7do but blow them, &c] These men of show, without solidity, are like bubbles raised from soap and water, which dance, and glitter, and please the eye, but if you extend them, by blowing hard, separate into a mist; so if you oblige these specious talkers to extend their compass of conversation, they at once discover the tenuity of their intellects.

Note return to page 484 8gentle entertainment] Mild and temperate conversation.

Note return to page 485 9Since no man has ought of what he leaves, what is't to leave betimes?] This the editors called reasoning. I should have thought the premises concluded just otherwise: For since death strips a man of every thing, it is but fit he should shun and avoid the despoiler. The old Quarto reads, Since no man, of ought he leaves, knows, what is't to leave betimes. Let be. This is the true reading. Here the premises conclude right, and the argument drawn out at length is to this effect. It is true, that, by death, we lose all the goods of life; yet seeing this loss is no otherwise an evil than as we are sensible of it; and since death removes all sense of it, what matters it how soon we lose them: Therefore come what will I am prepared. But the ill pointing in the old book hindered the editors from seeing Shakespear's sense, and encouraged them to venture at one of their own, though, as usual, they are come very lamely off. Warburton. The reading of the quarto was right, but in some other copy the harshness of the transposition was softened, and the passage stood thus, Since no man knows aught of what he leaves. For knows was printed in the later copies has, by a slight blunder in such typographers. I do not think Dr. Warburton's interpretation of the passage the best that it will admit. The meaning may be this, Since no man knows aught of the state of life which he leaves, since he cannot judge what other years may produce, why should he be afraid of leaving life betimes? Why should he dread an early death, of which he cannot tell whether it is an exclusion of happiness, or an interception of calamity. I despise the superstition of augury and omens, which has no ground in reason or piety; my comfort is, that I cannot fall but by the direction of providence. Hanmer has, Since no man owes aught, a conjecture not very reprehensible. Since no man can call any possession certain, what is it to leave?

Note return to page 486 1Give me your pardon, Sir. &lblank;] I wish Hamlet had made some other defence; it is unsuitable to the character of a good or a brave man, to shelter himself in falsehood.

Note return to page 487 2Your Grace hath laid upon the weaker side.] Thus Hanmer. All the others read, Your Grace hath laid the odds o' th' weaker side. When the odds were on the side of Laertes, who was to hit Hamlet twelve times to nine, it was perhaps the authour's slip.

Note return to page 488 3In some editions, And in the cup an Onyx shall he throw,] This is a various reading in several of the old copies; but Union seems to me to be the true word. If I am not mistaken, neither the Onyx, nor Sardonyx, are jewels which ever found place in an imperial crown. An Union is the finest sort of Pearl, and has its place in all crowns and coronets. Besides, let us consider what the King says on Hamlet's giving Laertes the first hit. Stay, give me Drink: Hamlet, this Pearl is thine: Here's to thy health. Therefore, if an Union be a Pearl, and an Onyx a Gemm, or Stone quite differing in its nature from Pearls; the King saying, that Hamlet has earn'd the Pearl, I think, amounts to a demonstration that it was an Union-Pearl, which he meant to throw into the cup. Theobald.

Note return to page 489 4&lblank; you make a Wanton of me.] A Wanton was, a man feeble and effeminate. In Cymbeline, Imogen says, I am not so citizen a wanton, To die, ere I be sick.

Note return to page 490 5That are but mutes or audience to this act,] That are either mere auditors of this catastrophe, or at most only mute performers, that fill the stage without any part in the action.

Note return to page 491 6Which have sollicited &lblank;.] Sollicited, for brought on the event. Warburton.

Note return to page 492 7This quarry cries on havock.] Hanmer reads, &lblank; cries out, havock. To cry on, was to exclaim against. I suppose, when unfair sportsmen destroyed more quarry or game than was reasonable, the censure was, to cry, Havock.

Note return to page 493 8And from his mouth whose voice will draw no more.] This is the reading of the old Quarto's, but certainly a mistaken one. We say, a man will no more draw breath; but that a man's voice will draw no more, is, I believe, an expression without any authority. I chuse to espouse the reading of the elder folio, And from his mouth, whose voice will draw on more. And this is the poet's meaning. Hamlet, just before his death, had said; But I do prophesy, th' election lights On Fortinbras: He has my dying voice; So tell him, &c. Accordingly, Horatio here delivers that message; and very justly infers, that Hamlet's voice will be seconded by others, and procure them in favour of Fortinbras's succession. Theob.

Note return to page 494 If the dramas of Shakespeare were to be characterised, each by the particular excellence which distinguishes it from the rest, we must allow to the tragedy of Hamlet the praise of variety. The incidents are so numerous, that the argument of the play would make a long tale. The scenes are interchangeably diversified with merriment and solemnity; with merriment that includes judicious and instructive observations, and solemnity, not strained by poetical violence above the natural sentiments of man. New characters appear from time to time in continual succession, exhibiting various forms of life and particular modes of conversation. The pretended madness of Hamlet causes much mirth, the mournful distraction of Ophelia fills the heart with tenderness, and every personage produces the effect intended, from the apparition that in the first act chills the blood with horror, to the fop in the last, that exposes affectation to just contempt. The conduct is perhaps not wholly secure against objections. The action is indeed for the most part in continual progression, but there are some scenes which neither forward nor retard it. Of the feigned madness of Hamlet there appears no adequate cause, for he does nothing which he might not have done with the reputation of sanity. He plays the madman most, when he treats Ophelia with so much rudeness, which seems to be useless and wanton cruelty. Hamlet is, through the whole play, rather an instrument than an agent. After he has, by the stratagem of the play, convicted the King, he makes no attempt to punish him, and his death is at last effected by an incident which Hamlet has no part in producing. The catastrophe is not very happily produced; the exchange of weapons is rather an expedient of necessity, than a stroke of art. A scheme might easily have been formed, to kill Hamlet with the dagger, and Laertes with the bowl. The poet is accused of having shewn little regard to poetical justice, and may be charged with equal neglect of poetical probability. The apparition left the regions of the dead to little purpose; the revenge which he demands is not obtained but by the death of him that was required to take it; and the gratification which would arise from the destruction of an usurper and a murderer, is abated by the untimely death of Ophelia, the young, the beautiful, the harmless, and the pious.

Note return to page 495 11008001 ACT II. Scene VII. Page 199. The rugged Pyrrhus, he, &c.] The two greatest poets of this and the last age, Mr. Dryden, in the preface to Troilus and Cressida, and Mr. Pope, in his note on this place, have concurred in thinking that Shakespear produced this long passage with design to ridicule and expose the bombast of the play from whence it was taken; and that Hamlet's commendation of it is purely ironical. This is become the general opinion. I think just otherwise; and that it was given with commendation to upbraid the false taste of the audience of that time, which would not suffer them to do justice to the simplicity and sublime of this production. And I reason, First, From the Character Hamlet gives of the Play, from whence the passage is taken. Secondly, From the passage itself. And Thirdly, From the effect it had on the audience. Let us consider the character Hamlet gives of it, The Play, I remember, pleas'd not the million, 'twas Caviar to the general; but it was (as I received it, and others, whose judgment in such matters cried in the top of mine) an excellent Play well digested in the scenes, set down with as much modesty as cunning. I remember, one said, there was no salt in the lines to make the matter savoury; nor no matter in the phrase that might indite the author of affection; but called it an honest method. They who suppose the passage given to be ridiculed, must needs suppose this character to be purely ironical. But if so, it is the strangest irony that ever was written. It pleased not the multitude. This we must conclude to be true, however ironical the rest be. Now the reason given of the designed ridicule is the supposed bombast. But those were the very plays, which at that time we know took with the multitude. And Fletcher wrote a kind of Rehearsal purposely to expose them. But say it is bombast, and that, therefore, it took not with the multitude. Hamlet presently tells us what it was that displeased them. There was no salt in the lines to make the matter savoury; nor no matter in the phrase that might indite the author of affection; but called it an honest method. Now whether a person speaks ironically or no, when he quotes others, yet common sense requires he should quote what they say. Now it could not be, if this play displeased because of the bombast, that those whom it displeased should give this reason for their dislike. The same inconsistencies and absurdities abound in every other part of Hamlet's speech supposing it to be ironical: but take him as speaking his sentiments, the whole is of a piece; and to this purpose, The Play, I remember, pleased not the multitude, and the reason was, its being wrote on the rules of the ancient Drama; to which they were entire strangers. But, in my opinion, and in the opinion of those for whose judgment I have the highest esteem, it was an excellent Play, well digested in the scenes, i. e. where the three unities were well preserved. Set down with as much modesty as cunning, i. e. where not only the art of composition, but the simplicity of nature, was carefully attended to. The characters were a faithful picture of life and manners, in which nothing was overcharged into Farce. But these qualities, which gained my esteem, lost the public's. For I remember one said, There was no salt in the lines to make the matter savoury, i. e. there was not, according to the mode of that time, a fool or clown to joke, quibble, and talk freely. Nor no matter in the phrase that might indite the author of affection, i. e. nor none of those passionate, pathetic love scenes, so essential to modern tragedy. But he called it an honest method, i. e. he owned, however tastless this method of writing, on the ancient plan, was to our times, yet it was chaste and pure; the distinguishing character of the Greek Drama. I need only make one observation on all this; that, thus interpreted, it is the justest picture of a good tragedy, wrote on the ancient rules. And that I have rightly interpreted it appears farther from what we find added in the old Quarto, An honest method, as wholesome as sweet, and by very much more handsome than fine, i. e. it had a natural beauty, but none of the fucus of false art. 2. A second proof that this speech was given to be admired, is from the intrinsic merit of the speech itself: which contains the description of a circumstance very happily imagined, namely Ilium and Priam's falling together, with the effect it had on the destroyer. &lblank; The hellish Pyrrhus, &c. To, Repugnant to command. Th' unnerved father falls, &c. To, &lblank; So after Pyrrhus' pause. Now this circumstance, illustrated with the fine similitude of the storm, is so highly worked up as to have well deserved a place in Virgil's second Book of the Æneid, even tho' the work had been carried on to that perfection which the Roman Poet had conceived. 3. The third proof is, from the effects which followed on the recital. Hamlet, his best character, approves it; the Player is deeply affected in repeating it; and only the foolish Polonius tired with it. We have said enough before of Hamlet's sentiments. As for the player, he changes colour, and the tears start from his eyes. But our author was too good a judge of nature to make bombast and unnatural sentiment produce such an effect. Nature and Horace both instructed him, Si vis me flere, dolendum est Primùm ipsi tibi, tunc tua me infortunia lædent, Telephe, vel Peleu. Male si mandata loqueris, Aut dormitabo aut ridebo. And it may be worth observing, that Horace gives this precept particularly to shew, that bombast and unnatural sentiments are incapable of moving the tender passions, which he is directing the poet how to raise. For, in the lines just before, he gives this rule, Telephus & Peleus, cùm pauper & exul uterque, Projicit Ampullas, & sesquipedalia verba. Not that I would deny, that very bad lines in very bad tragedies have had this effect. But then it always proceeds from one or other of these causes. 1. Either when the subject is domestic, and the scene lies at home: The spectators, in this case, become interested in the fortunes of the distressed; and their thoughts are so much taken up with the subject, that they are not at liberty to attend to the poet; who, otherwise, by his faulty sentiments and diction, would have stifled the emotions springing up from a sense of the distress. But this is nothing to the case in hand. For, as Hamlet says, What's Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba? 2. When bad lines raise this affection, they are bad in the other extreme; low, abject, and groveling, instead of being highly figurative and swelling; yet when attended with a natural simplicity, they have force enough to strike illiterate and simple minds. The Tragedies of Banks will justify both these observations. But if any one will still say, that Shakespear intended to represent a player unnaturally and fantastically affected, we must appeal to Hamlet, that is, to Shakespear himself, in this matter? who on the reflection he makes upon the Player's emotion, in order to excite his own revenge, gives not the least hint that the player was unnaturally or injudiciously moved. On the contrary, his fine description of the Actor's emotion shews, he thought just otherwise. &lblank; this Player here, But in a fiction, in a dream of passion, Could force his soul so to his own conceit, That from her working all his visage wan'd: Tears in his eyes, distraction in his aspect, A broken voice, &c. And indeed had Hamlet esteemed this emotion any thing unnatural, it had been a very improper circumstance to spur him to his purpose. As Shakespear has here shewn the effects which a fine description of Nature, heightened with all the ornaments of art, had upon an intelligent Player, whose business habituates him to enter intimately and deeply into the characters of men and manners, and to give nature its free workings on all occasions; so he has artfully shewn what effects the very same scene would have upon a quite different man, Polonius; by nature, very weak and very artificial [two qualities, tho' commonly enough joined in life, yet generally so much disguised as not to be seen by common eyes to be together; and which an ordinary Poet durst not have brought so near one another] by discipline, practised in a species of wit and eloquence, which was stiff, forced, and pedantic; and by trade a Politician, and therefore, of consequence, without any of the affecting notices of humanity. Such is the man whom Shakespear has judiciously chosen to represent the false taste of that audience which had condemned the play here reciting. When the actor comes to the finest and most pathetic part of the speech, Polonius cries out, this is too long; on which Hamlet, in contempt of his ill judgment, replies, It shall to the barber's with thy beard. [intimating that, by this judgment, it appeared that all his wisdom lay in his length of beard,] Pry'thee, say on. He's for a jig or a tale of bawdry. [the common entertainment of that time, as well as this, of the people] or he sleeps, say on. And yet this man of modern taste, who stood all this time perfectly unmoved with the forcible imagery of the relator, no sooner hears, amongst many good things, one quaint and fantastical word, put in, I suppose, purposely for this end, than he professes his approbation of the propriety and dignity of it. That's good. Mobled Queen is good. On the whole then, I think, it plainly appears, that the long quotation is not given to be ridiculed and laughed at, but to be admired. The character given of the Play, by Hamlet, cannot be ironical. The passage itself is extremely beautiful. It has the effect that all pathetic relations, naturally written, should have; and it is condemned, or regarded with indifference, by one of a wrong, unnatural taste. From hence (to observe it by the way) the Actors, in their representation of this play, may learn how this speech ought to be spoken, and what appearance Hamlet ought to assume during the recital. That which supports the common opinion, concerning this passage, is the turgid expression in some parts of it; which, they think, could never be given by the poet to be commended. We shall therefore, in the next place, examine the lines most obnoxious to censure, and see how much, allowing the charge, this will make for the induction of their conclusion. Pyrrhus at Priam drives, in rage strikes wide, But with the whif and wind of his fell sword Th' unnerved Father falls. And again, Out, out, thou strumpet Fortune! All you Gods, In general Synod, take away her power: Break all the spokes and fellies from her wheel, And bowl the round nave down the hill of Heaven, As low as to the Fiends. Now whether these be bombast or not, is not the question; but whether Shakespear esteemed them so. That he did not so esteem them appears from his having used the very same thoughts in the same expression, in his best plays, and given them to his principal characters, where he aims at the sublime. As in the following passages. Troilus, in Troilus and Cressida, far outstrains the execution of Pyrrhus's sword, in the character he gives of Hector's, When many times the cative Grecians fall Ev'n in the fan and wind of your fair sword, You bid them rise and live. Cleopatra, in Antony and Cleopatra, rails at Fortune in the same manner. No, let me speak, and let me rail so high, That the false huswife Fortune break her wheel, Provok'd at my offence. But another use may be made of these quotations; a discovery of the Author of this recited Play: which, letting us into a circumstance of our Author's life (as a writer) hitherto unknown, was the reason I have been so large upon this Question. I think then it appears from what has been said, that the Play in dispute was Shakespear's own: and that this was the occasion of writing it. He was desirous, as soon as he had found his strength, of restoring the chastness and regularity of the ancient Stage; and therefore composed this Tragedy on the model of the Greek Drama, as may be seen by throwing so much action into relation. But his attempt proved fruitless; and the raw, unnatural taste, then prevalent, forced him back again into his old Gothic manner. For which he took this revenge upon his Audience. Warb.

Note return to page 496 Of this Play the Editions are, [Table: 1Kb] 1. Quarto, &lblank; Preface by Thomas Walkely. 2. 1622. N. O. for Thomas Walkely. 3. 1630. A. M. for Richard Hawkins. 4. 1650. for William Lenk. 5. Folio, 1623.

Note return to page 497 *&stellam;*I have the folio, and the third quarto collated with the second, and the fourth.

Note return to page 498 1Othello, the Moor of Venice.] The story is taken from Cynthio's Novels. Pope.

Note return to page 499 2&lblank; a Florentine] It appears from many passages of this play, (rightly understood) that Cassio was a Florentine, and Iago a Venetian. Hanmer.6Q0275

Note return to page 500 3&lblank; in a fair wife;] In the former editions this hath been printed, a fair wife; but surely it must from the beginning have been a mistake, because it appears from a following part of the play, that Cassio was an unmarried man: On the other hand, his beauty is often hinted at, which it is natural enough for rough soldiers to treat with scorn and ridicule. I read therefore, A fellow almost damn'd in a fair phyz. Hanmer. &lblank; a Florentine, A fellow almost damn'd in a fair wife;] But it was Iago, and not Cassio, who was the Florentine, as appears from Act 3. Scene 1. The passage therefore should be read thus, &lblank; (a Florentine's A fellow almost damn'd in a fair wife; &lblank;) These are the words of Othello, (which Iago in this relation repeats,) and signify, that a Florentine was an unfit person for command, as being always a slave to a fair wife; which was the case of Iago. The Oxford Editor, supposing this was said by Iago of Cassio, will have Cassio to be the Florentine; which, he says, is plain from many passages in the Play, rightly understood. But because Cassio was no married man, (tho' I wonder it did not appear he was, from some passages rightly understood) he alters the line thus, A fellow almost damn'd in a fair Phyz. A White-friers' phrase. Warb. This is one of the passages which must for the present be resigned to corruption and obscurity. I have nothing that I can, with any approach to confidence, propose. I cannot think it very plain from Act III. Scene I. that Cassio was or was not a Florentine.

Note return to page 501 4Wherein the tongued Consuls. &lblank;] So the generality of the impressions read; but the oldest quarto has it toged; the Senators, that assisted the Duke in Council, in their proper Gowns. —But let me explain, why I have ventured to substitute Counsellors in the room of Consuls: The Venetian nobility constitute the great Council of the Senate, and are a part of the administration; and summon'd to assist and counsel the Doge, who is Prince of the Senate. So that they may very properly be called Counsellors. Tho' the Government of Venice was democratick at first, under Consuls and Tribunes; that form of power has been totally abrogated, since Doges have been elected. Theobald. Wherein the toged Consuls &lblank;] Consuls, for couns'lors. Warb.

Note return to page 502 5&lblank; must be led and calm'd] So the old Quarto. The first Folio reads belee'd: but that spoils the measure. I read let, hindered. Warburton. Belee'd suits to calmed, and the measure is not less perfect than in many other places.

Note return to page 503 6&lblank; by letter &lblank;] By recommendation from powerful friends.

Note return to page 504 7And not by old gradation, &lblank;] What is old gradation? He immediately explains gradation very properly. But the idea of old does not come into it, &lblank; where each second Stood heir to th' first. &lblank; I read therefore, Not (as of old) gradation &lblank; i. e. it does not go by gradation, as it did of old. Warb. Old gradation, is gradation established by ancient practice. Where is the difficulty?

Note return to page 505 8If I in any just term am affin'd] Affined is the reading of the third quarto and the first folio. The second quarto and all the modern editions have assign'd. The meaning is, Do I stand within any such terms of propinquity or relation to the Moor, as that it is my duty to love him?

Note return to page 506 9&lblank; honest knaves. &lblank;] Knave is here for servant, but with a mixture of sly contempt.

Note return to page 507 1In compliment extern, &lblank;] In that which I do only for an outward shew of civility.

Note return to page 508 2As when, by night and negligence, the fire Is spied in populous cities.] This is not sense, take it which way you will. If night and negligence relate to spied, it is absurd to say the fire was spied by negligence. If night and negligence refer only to the time and occasion, it should then be by night, and thro' negligence. Otherwise the particle by would be made to signify time applied to one word, and cause applied to the other. We should read therefore, Is spred, by which all these faults are avoided. But what is of most weight, the similitude, thus emended, agrees best with the fact it is applied to. Had this notice been given to Brabantio before his daughter ran away and married, it might then indeed have been well enough compared to the alarm given of a fire just spied, assoon as it was begun. But being given after the parties were bedded, it was more fitly compared to a fire spred by night and negligence, so as not to be extinguished. Warburton. The particle is used equivocally; the same liberty is taken by writers more correct. The wonderful creature! a woman of reason! Never grave out of pride, never gay out of season.

Note return to page 509 †What profane wretch art thou?] That is, what wretch of gross and licentious language? In that sense Shakespeare often uses the word profane.

Note return to page 510 *The lines printed in Italicks are not in the first edition, but in the folio of 1623.

Note return to page 511 3&lblank; this odd even &lblank;] The even of night is midnight, the time when night is divided into even parts.

Note return to page 512 4&lblank; some check,] Some rebuke.

Note return to page 513 5&lblank; cast him. &lblank;] That is, dismiss him; reject him. We still say, a cast coat, and a cast serving man.

Note return to page 514 6And what's to come of my despised time,] Why despised time? We should read, &lblank; despited time, i. e. vexatious. Warb. Despised time is easily explained; it is time of no value; time in which There's nothing serious in mortality, The wine of life is drawn, and the meer dregs Are left, this vault to brag of. Macbeth.

Note return to page 515 7By which the property of youth and maidhood May be abus'd?] By which the faculties of a young virgin may be infatuated, and made subject to illusions and to false imagination. Wicked dreams abuse The curtain'd sleep. Macbeth.

Note return to page 516 8&lblank; stuff o' th' conscience] This expression to common readers appears harsh. Stuff of the conscience is, substance, or essence, of the conscience. Stuff is a word of great force in the Teutonick languages. The elements are called in Dutch, hoefd stoffen, or head stuffs.

Note return to page 517 9As double as the Duke's: &lblank;] Rymer seems to have had his eye on his passage, amongst others, where he talks so much of the impropriety and barbarity in the style of this play. But it is an elegant Grecism. As double, signifies as large, as extensive; for thus the Greeks use &grd;&gri;&grp;&grl;&gro;&gruc;&grst;. Diosc. l. 2. c. 213. And in the same manner and construction, the Latins sometimes used duplex. And the old French writers say, La plus double. Dr. Bentley has been as severe on Milton for as elegant a Grecism, Yet virgin of Proserpina from Jove. lib. 9. ver. 396. 'Tis an imitation of the &grP;&gra;&grr;&grq;&grea;&grn;&gro;&grn; &gres;&grk; &grq;&gra;&grl;&graa;&grm;&gro;&gru; of Theocritus for an unmarried virgin. Warb. This note has been much censured by Mr. Upton, who denies, that the quotation is in Dioscorides, and disputes, not without reason, the interpretation of Theocritus. All this learning, if it had even been what it endeavours to be thought, is, in this place, superfluous. There is no ground of supposing, that our author copied or knew the Greek phrase; nor does it follow, that, because a word has two senses in one language, the word which in another answers to one sense, should answer to both. Manus, in Latin, signifies both a hand and troop of soldiers, but we cannot say, that the captain marched at the head of his hand; or, that he laid his troop upon his sword. It is not always in books that the meaning is to be sought of this writer, who was much more acquainted with naked reason and with living manners. Double has here its natural sense. The president of every deliberative assembly has a double voice. In our courts, the chief justice and one of the inferiour judges prevail over the other two, because the chief justice has a double voice. Brabantio had, in his effect, tho' not by law yet by weight and influence, a voice not actual and formal, but potential and operative, as double, that is, a voice that when a question was suspended, would turn the balance as effectually as the Duke's. Potential is used in the sense of science; a caustick is called potential fire.

Note return to page 518 1&lblank; men of royal siege; &lblank;] Men who have sat upon royal thrones. The quarto has, &lblank; men of royal height.

Note return to page 519 2&lblank; speak, unbonnetted, &lblank;] Thus all the copies read. It should be unbonnetting, i. e. without putting off the bonnet. Pope. &lblank; and my demerits May speak unbonnetted to as proud a Fortune As this that I have reach'd &lblank;] Thus all the copies read this passage. But, to speak unbonnetted, is to speak with the cap off, which is directly opposite to the poet's meaning. Othello means to say, that his birth and services set him upon such a rank, that he may speak to a senator of Venice with his hat on; i. e. without shewing any marks of deference, or inequality. I, therefore, am inclined to think, Shakespeare wrote; May speak, and bonnetted, &c. Theobald. I do not see the propriety of Mr. Pope's emendation, though adopted by Dr. Warburton. Unbonnetting may as well be, not putting on, as not putting off, the bonnet. Hanmer reads e'en bonnetted.

Note return to page 520 3&lblank; unhoused &lblank;] Free from domestick cares. A thought natural to an adventurer.

Note return to page 521 4For the sea's worth.] I would not marry her, though she were as rich as the Adriatick, which the Doge annually marries.

Note return to page 522 5By Janus, I think, no.] There is great propriety in making the double Iago swear by Janus, who has two faces. The address of it likewise is as remarkable, for as the people coming up appeared at different distances to have different shapes, he might swear by Janus, without suspicion of any other emblematic meaning. Warburton.

Note return to page 523 6And many of the Consuls rais'd and met, Are at the Duke's already &lblank;] Thus all the editions concur in reading; but there is no such character as a Consul appears in any part of the play. I change it to Counsellors; i. e. the Grandees that constitute the great Council at Venice. Theob. Hanmer reads, Council.

Note return to page 524 7The Senate hath sent out &lblank;] The early quarto's, and all the modern editors, have, The Senate sent above three several quests. The folio, The Senate hath sent about, &c. that is, about the city.

Note return to page 525 8&lblank; a land-carrack;] A carrack is a ship of great bulk, and commonly of great value; perhaps what we now call, a galleon.

Note return to page 526 9&lblank; be advis'd;] That is, be cool; be cautious; be discreet.

Note return to page 527 1The wealthy curled darlings of our nation.] I read culled, i. e. select, chosen. Shakespear uses this word very frequently, These cull'd and choice drawn Cavaliers from France. Henry V. Curled was an improper mark of difference between a Venetian and Moor, which latter people are remarkably curl'd by nature. Warburton. Curled is elegantly and ostentatiously dressed. He had not the hair particularly in his thought.

Note return to page 528 2Judge me the world, &c.] The five following lines are not in the first edition. Pope.

Note return to page 529 3Abus'd her delicate youth with drugs, or minerals, That weaken Motion.] Brabantio is here accusing Othello of having us'd some foul play, and intoxicated Desdemona by drugs and potions to win her over to his love. But why, drugs to weaken motion? How then could she have run away with him voluntarily from her father's house? Had she been averse to chusing Othello, tho' he had given her medicines that took away the use of her limbs, might she not still have retain'd her senses, and oppos'd the marriage? Her father, 'tis evident, from several of his speeches, is positive, that she must have been abused in her rational faculties; or she could not have made so preposterous a choice, as to wed with a Moor, a Black, and refuse the finest young gentlemen in Venice. What then have we to do with her motion being weaken'd? If I understand any thing of the poet's meaning here, I cannot but think, he must have wrote; Abus'd her delicate youth with drugs, or minerals, That weaken Notion. i. e. her apprehension, right conception and idea of things, understanding, judgment, &c. Theob. Hanmer reads with equal probability, That waken motion. &lblank;

Note return to page 530 4Bond-slaves, and Pagans &lblank;] Mr. Theobald alters Pagans to Pageants for this reason, That Pagans are as strict and moral all the world over, as the most regular Christians in the preservation of private property. But what then? The speaker had not this high opinion of pagan morality, as is plain from hence, that this important discovery, so much to the honour of paganism, was first made by our editor. Warburton.

Note return to page 531 5There is no composition &lblank;] Composition, for consistency, concordancy. Warburton.

Note return to page 532 6As in these cases, where they aim reports,] These Venetians seem to have had a very odd sort of persons in employment, who did all by hazard, as to what, and how, they should report; for this is the sense of man's aiming reports. The true reading, without question, is, &lblank; where the aim reports. i. e. where there is no better ground for information than conjecture: Which not only improves the sense, but, by changing the verb into a noun, and the noun into a verb, mends the expression. Warburton. The folio has, &lblank; the aim reports. But, they aim reports, has a sense sufficiently easy and commodious. Where men report not by certain knowledge, but by aim and conjecture.

Note return to page 533 7By no assay of reason.] Bring it to the test, examine it by reason as we examine metals by the assay, it will be found counterfeit by all trials.

Note return to page 534 8&lblank; facile question &lblank;] Question is for the act of seeking. With more easy endeavour.

Note return to page 535 9For that it stands not, &c.] The seven following lines are added since the first edition. Pope.

Note return to page 536 1&lblank; warlike brace,] State of defence. To arm was called to brace on the armour.

Note return to page 537 2And prays you to believe him.] The late learned and ingenious Mr. Thomas Clark of Lincoln's Inn, read the passage thus, And prays you to relieve him. But the present reading may stand. He intreats you not to doubt the truth of this intelligence.

Note return to page 538 3&lblank; general care] The word care, which encumbers the verse, was probably added by the players. Shakespeare uses the general as a substantive, though, I think, not in this sense.

Note return to page 539 4By spells and medicines, bought of mountebanks;] Rymer has riduculed this circumstance as unbecoming (both for its weakness and superstition) the gravity of the accuser, and the dignity of the Tribunal: But his criticism only exposes his own ignorance. The circumstance was not only exactly in character, but urged with the greatest address, as the thing chiefly to be insisted on. For, by the Venetian law, the giving Love-potions was very criminal, as Shakespear without question well understood. Thus the Law, De i maleficii & herbarie, cap. 17. of the Code intitled, Della promission del maleficio. Statuimo etiamdio, che-se alcun homo, o femina harra fatto maleficii, iquali se dimandano vulgarmente amatorie, o veramente alcuni altri maleficii, che alcun homo o femina se havesson in odio, sia frusta & bollado, & che hara consegliado patisca simile pena. And therefore in the preceding Scene, Brabantio calls them, &lblank; Arts inhibited, and out of warrant. Warb.

Note return to page 540 5Stood in your action.] Were the man exposed to your charge or accusation.

Note return to page 541 6The very head and front of my offending] The main, the whole, unextenuated.

Note return to page 542 7And little bless'd with the soft phrase of peace;] This apology, if addressed to his mistress, had been well expressed. But what he wanted, in speaking before a Venetian Senate, was not the soft blandishments of speech, but the art and method of masculine eloquence. The old Quarto reads it, therefore, as I am persuaded Shakespear wrote, &lblank; the set phrase of peace; Warburton. Soft is the reading of the folio.

Note return to page 543 8Their dearest action &lblank;] That is dear, for which much is paid, whether money or labour; dear action, is action performed at great expence, either of ease or safety.

Note return to page 544 9&lblank; Perfection so could err Against all rules of nature;] Perfection erring, seems a contradiction in terminis, as the schoolmen call it. Besides, Brabantio does not blazon his daughter out for a thing of absolute perfection; he only says, she was indued with such an extreme innate modesty, that for her to fall in love so preposterously, no sound judgment could allow, but it must be by magical practice upon her. I have ventur'd to imagine that our author wrote; That will confess, Affection so could err, &c. This is entirely consonant to what Brabantio would say of her; and one of the senators, immediately after, in his examination of the Moor, thus addresses himself to him; &lblank; But, Othello, speak; Did you by indirect and forced courses Subdue and poison this young maid's affections, &c. Theobald. The objection is childish; perfection is used here, as almost every where else, for a high degree of excellence.

Note return to page 545 1&lblank; overt test,] Open proofs, external evidence.

Note return to page 546 2&lblank; thin habits &lblank; Of modern seeming &lblank;] Weak shew of slight appearance.

Note return to page 547 3And portance, &c.] I have restored, And with it, all my travel's history: from the old edition. It is in the rest, And portance in my travel's history. Rymer, in his criticism on this play, has changed it to portents, instead of portance. Pope. Mr. Pope has restored a line, to which there is little objection, but which has no force. I believe portance was the authour's word in some revised copy. I read thus, Of being &lblank; sold To slavery, of my redemption thence, And portance in't; my travel's history. My redemption from slavery, and behaviour in it.

Note return to page 548 4Wherein of antres vast, &c.] Discourses of this nature made the subject of the politest conversations, when voyages into, and discoveries of, the new world were all in vogue. So when the Bastard Faulconbridge, in King John, describes the behaviour of upstart greatness, he makes one of the essential circumstances of it to be this kind of table-talk. The fashion then running altogether in this way, it is no wonder a young lady of quality should be struck with the history of an adventurer. So that Rymer, who professedly ridicules this whole circumstance, and the noble author of the Characteristics, who more obliquely snears it, only expose their own ignorance. Warburton. Whoever ridicules this account of the progress of love, shews his ignorance, not only of history, but of nature and manners. It is no wonder that, in any age, or in any nation, a lady, recluse, timorous, and delicate, should desire to hear of events and scenes which she could never see, and should admire the man who had endured dangers, and performed actions, which, however great, were yet magnified by her timidity. Wherein of antres vast, and desarts idle, &c.] Thus it is in all the old editions: But Mr. Pope has thought fit to change the epithet. Desarts idle; in the former editions; (says he) doubtless, a corruption from wilde.— But he must pardon me, if I do not concur in thinking this so doubtless. I don't know whether Mr. Pope has observ'd it, but I know that Shakespeare, especially in descriptions, is fond of using the more uncommon word, in a poetick latitude. And idle, in several other passages, he employs in these acceptations, wild, useless, uncultivated, &c. Theob. Every mind is liable to absence and inadvertency, else Pope could never have rejected a word so poetically beautiful.

Note return to page 549 5&lblank; antres &lblank;] French, Grottoes. Pope. Rather caves and dens.

Note return to page 550 6It was my hint to speak; &lblank;] This implies it as done by a trap laid for her: But the old Quarto reads hent, i. e. use, custom. Warburton. Hent is not use in Shakespeare, nor, I believe, in any other authour; hint, or cue, is commonly used for occasion of speech, which is explained by, such was the process, that is, the course of the tale required it. If hent be restored, it may be explained by handle. I had a handle, or opportunity, to speak of Cannibals.

Note return to page 551 7&lblank; men whose heads Do grow beneath their shoulders. &lblank;] Of these men there is an account in the interpolated travels of Mandevile, a book of that time.

Note return to page 552 8&lblank; a world of sighs:] It was kisses in the later editions: But this is evidently the true reading. The lady had been forward indeed to give him a world of kisses upon the bare recital of his story; nor does it agree with the following lines. Pope.

Note return to page 553 9Let me speak like your self;] It should be, like our self. i. e. Let me meditate between you as becomes a prince and common father of his people: For the prince's opinion, here delivered, was quite contrary to Brabantio's sentiment. Warburton. Hanmer reads, Let me now speak more like your self. Dr. Warburton's emendation is specious; but I do not see how Hanmer's makes any alteration. The Duke seems to mean, when he says he will speak like Brabantio, that he will speak sententiously.6Q0277

Note return to page 554 *The passages marked thus (“) are wanting in the folio, but found in the quarto.

Note return to page 555 1But the free comfort which from thence he hears;] But the moral precepts of consolation, which are liberally bestowed on occasion of the sentence.

Note return to page 556 2But words are words; I never yet did hear, That the bruis'd heart was pierced through the ear.] The Duke had by sage sentences been exhorting Brabantio to patience, and to forget the grief of his daughter's stol'n marriage, to which Brabantio is made very pertinently to reply to this effect: My lord, I apprehend very well the wisdom of your advice; but tho' you would comfort me, words are but words; and the heart, already bruis'd, was never pierc'd, or wounded, through the ear. It is obvious that the next must be restor'd thus, That the bruis'd heart was pieced through the ear. i. e. That the wounds of sorrow were ever cur'd, or a man made heart-whole meerly by words of consolation. Warb.6Q0278

Note return to page 557 3&lblank; thrice-driven bed of down.] A driven bed, is a bed for which the feathers are selected, by driving with a fan, which separates the light from the heavy.

Note return to page 558 4I crave fit disposition for my wife, Due reference of place, and exhibition, &c.] I desire, that a proper disposition be made for my wife, that she may have precedency, and revenue, accommodation, and company, suitable to her rank. For reference of place, the old quartos have reverence, which Hanmer has received. I should read, Due preference of place.—

Note return to page 559 5&lblank; a charter in your voice] Let your favour privilege me.

Note return to page 560 6My down-right violence and storm of fortunes] But what violence was it that drove her to run away with the Moor? We should read, My down-right violence to forms, my fortunes. Warb. There is no need of this emendation. Violence is not violence suffered, but violence acted. Breach of common rules and obligations. The old quarto has, scorn of fortune, which is perhaps the true reading.

Note return to page 561 7I saw Othello's visage in his mind,] It must raise no wonder, that I loved a man of an appearance so little engaging; I saw his face only in his mind; the greatness of his character reconciled me to his form.

Note return to page 562 8Nor to comply with heat the young affects, In my defunct and proper satisfaction;] As this has been hitherto printed and stopp'd, it seems to me a period of as stubborn nonsense, as the editors have obtruded upon poor Shakespeare throughout his works. What a preposterous creature is this Othello made, to fall in love with, and marry, a fine young lady, when appetite and heat, and proper satisfaction are dead and defunct in him! (For, defunct signifies nothing else, that I know of, either primitively or metaphorically:) But if we may take Othello's own word in the affair, he was not reduc'd to this fatal state. &lblank; or, for I am declin'd Into the vale of years; yet That's not much. Again, Why should our poet say, (for so he says, as the passage has been pointed;) that the young affect heat? Youth, certainly, has it, and has no occasion or pretence of affecting it. And, again, after defunct, would he add so absurd a collateral epithet as proper? But, affects was not designed there as a verb, and defunct was not designed here at all. I have, by reading distinct, for defunct, rescued the poet's text from absurdity; and this I take to be the tenour of what he would say; “I do not beg her company with me, merely to please myself; nor to indulge the heat and affects (i. e. affections) of a new-married man, in my own distinct and proper satisfaction; but to comply with her in her request, and desire, of accompanying me.” Affects for affections, our author in several other passages uses. Theob. Nor to comply with heat, the young affects In my defunct and proper satisfaction;] i. e. With that heat and new affections which the indulgence of my appetite has raised and created. This is the meaning of defunct, which has made all the difficulty of the passage. Warburton. I do not think that Mr. Theobald's emendation clears the text from embarrassment, though it is with a little imaginary improvement received by Hanmer, who reads thus, Nor to comply with heat, affects the young In my distinct and proper satisfaction. Dr. Warburton's explanation is not more satisfactory: what made the difficulty, will continue to make it. I read, &lblank; I beg it not, To please the palate of my appetite, Nor to comply with heat, (the young affects In me defunct) and proper satisfaction; But to be free and bounteous to her mind. Affects stands here, not for love, but for quality, for that by which any thing is affected. I ask it not, says he, to please appetite, or satisfy loose desires, the passions of youth which I have now outlived, or for any partieular gratification of myself, but merely that I may indulge the wishes of my wife.

Note return to page 563 9If virtue no delighted beauty lack,] This is a senseless epithet. We should read belighted beauty. i. e. white and fair. Warburton. Hanmer reads, more plausibly, delighting. I do not know that belighted has any authority. I should rather read, If virtue no delight or beauty lack. Delight, for delectation, or power of pleasing, as it is frequently used.

Note return to page 564 1&lblank; best advantage.] Fairest opportunity.

Note return to page 565 2a Guinea-hen,] A showy bird with fine feathers.

Note return to page 566 3defeat thy favour with an usurped beard;] This is not English. We should read disseat thy favour. i. e. turn it out of its seat, change it for another. The word usurped directs us to this reading. Warb. It is more English, to defeat, than disseat. To defeat, is to undo, to change.

Note return to page 567 4It was a violent commencement in her, and thou shalt see an answerable sequestration,] There seems to be an opposition of terms here intended, which has been lost in transcription. We may read, It was a violent conjunction, and thou shalt see an answerable sequestration; or, what seems to me preferable, It was a violent commencement, and thou shalt see an answerable sequel.

Note return to page 568 5As luscious as locusts,] Whether you understand by this the insect or the fruit, it cannot be given as an instance of a delicious morsel, notwithstanding the exaggerations of lying travellers. The true reading is lohocks, a very pleasant confection introduced into medicine by the Arabian physicians: and so very fitly opposed both to the bitterness and use of Coloquintida. Warb.

Note return to page 569 6betwixt an erring Barbarian] We should read errant, that is a vagabond, one who has no house nor country. Warb. Hanmer reads, arrant. Erring is as well as either.

Note return to page 570 7And quench the guards of th' ever-fixed pole.] Alluding to the star Arctophylax.

Note return to page 571 8His bark is stoutly timber'd &lblank; Therefore my hopes, not surfeited to death, Stand in bold cure.] I do not understand these lines. I know not, how hope can be surfeited to death, that is, can be encreased, till it is destroyed; nor what it is, to stand in bold cure; or why hope should be considered as a disease. In the copies there is no variation. Shall we read, Therefore my fears, not surfeited to death, Stand in bold cure? This is better, but it is not well. Shall we strike a bolder stroke, and read thus? Therefore my hopes, not forfeited to death, Stand bold, not sure.

Note return to page 572 9Of very expert and approv'd allowance;] I read, Very expert, and of approv'd allowance.

Note return to page 573 1And in th' essential vesture of creation Does bear all excellency—] It is plain that something very hyperbolical was here intended. But what is there as it stands? Why this, that in the essence of creation he bore all excellency. The expression is intolerable, and could never come from one who so well understood the force of words as our Poet. The essential vesture is the same as essential form. So that the expression is nonsense. For the vesture of creation signifies the forms in which created beings are cast. And essence relates not to the form, but to the matter. Shakespear certainly wrote, And in terrestrial vesture of creation. And in this lay the wonder, That all created excellence should be contained within an earthly mortal form. Warb. I do not think the present reading inexplicable. The authour seems to use essential, for existent, real. She excels the praises of invention, says he, and in real qualities, with which creation has invested her, bears all excellency.

Note return to page 574 2Does bear all excellency—] Such is the reading of the quartos, for which the folio has this, And in th' essential vesture of creation Do's tyre the ingeniuer. Which I explain thus, Does tire th' ingenious verse. This is the best reading, and that which the authour substituted in his revisal.

Note return to page 575 3When you have a mind to do injuries, you put on an air of sanctity.

Note return to page 576 4&lblank; critical.] That is, censorious.

Note return to page 577 5She never yet was foolish, &c.] We may read, She ne'er was yet so foolish that was fair, But ev'n her folly help'd her to an heir. Yet I believe the common reading to be right: The law makes the power of cohabitation a proof that a man is not a natural; therefore, since the foolishest woman, if pretty, may have a child, no pretty woman is ever foolish.

Note return to page 578 6One, that in the authority of her merit, did justly put on the vouch of very malice itself?] Tho' all the printed copies agree in this reading, I cannot help suspecting it. If the text should be genuine, I confess, it is above my understanding. In what sense can merit be said to put on the vouch of malice? I should rather think, merit was so safe in itself, as to repel and put off all that malice and envy could advance and affirm to its prejudice. I have ventur'd to reform the text to this construction, by writing put down, a very slight change that makes it intelligible. Theob. One, that in the authority of her merit, did justly put on the vouch of very malice itself?] The editor, Mr. Theobald, not understanding the phrase, To put on the vouch of malice, has alter'd it to put down, and wrote a deal of unintelligible stuff to justify his blunder. To put on the vouch of any one, signifies, to call upon any one to vouch for another. So that the sense of the place is this, One that was so conscious of her own merit, and of the authority her character had with every one, that she durst venture to call upon malice itself to vouch for her. This was some commendation. And the character only of the clearest virtue; which could force malice, even against its nature, to do justice. Warb. To put on the vouch of malice, is to assume a character vouched by the testimony of malice itself.

Note return to page 579 7To suckle fools, and chronicle small beer.] In this line there seems to be more humour designed, than I can easily discover or explain. Why should she suckle fools? Perhaps, that these to whom nature had denied wit, might derive it from a lady to whom it was given in so much superfluity. She would be a wight to chronicle small beer, in allusion, I suppose, to the Roman practice, of marking the jars with the name of the Consul. The appearance of such a woman would make an æra; but as the merit of the best woman is but small, that æra might be properly applied to the distinction of the different ages of small beer.6Q0280

Note return to page 580 8profane] Gross of language, of expression broad and brutal. So Brabantio, in the first act, calls Iago, profane wretch.

Note return to page 581 9liberal counsellor?] Liberal, for licentious. Warb. How say you, Cassio? Is he not a most profane and liberal counsellor?] But in what respect was Iago a counsellor? He caps sentences, indeed; but they are not by way of advice, but description: what he says, is, Reflexions on character and conduct in life. For this reason, I am very apt to think, our author wrote censurer. Theob. Counsellor seems to mean, not so much a man that gives counsel, as one that discourses fearlesly and volubly. A talker.

Note return to page 582 1I will gyve thee] i. e. catch, shackle. Pope.

Note return to page 583 2well kiss'd, and excellent courtesy &lblank;] This I think should be printed, well kissed! an excellent courtesy! Spoken when Cassio kisses his hand, and Desdemona courtesies.

Note return to page 584 3I prattle out of fashion, &lblank;] Out of method, without any settled order of discourse.

Note return to page 585 4&lblank; the master &lblank;] The pilot of the ship.

Note return to page 586 5Lay thy finger thus;] On thy mouth, to stop it while thou art listening to a wiser man.

Note return to page 587 6When the blood is made dull with the act of sport, there should be a game to inflame it, and to give satiety a fresh appetite; loveliness in favour, sympathy in years, manners, and beauties.] This, 'tis true, is the reading of the generality of the copies: but, methinks, 'tis a very peculiar experiment, when the blood and spirits are dull'd and exhausted with sport, to raise and recruit them by sport: for sport and game are but two words for the same thing. I have retriev'd the pointing and reading of the elder quarto, which certainly gives us the poet's sense; that when the blood is dull'd with the exercise of pleasure, there should be proper incentives on each side to raise it again, as the charms of beauty, equality of years, and agreement of manners and disposition: which are wanting in Othello to rekindle Desdemona's passion. Theob.

Note return to page 588 7green minds] Minds unripe, minds not yet fully formed.

Note return to page 589 8condition.] Qualities, disposition of mind.

Note return to page 590 9tainting] Throwing a slur upon his discipline.6Q0281

Note return to page 591 1sudden in choler:] Sudden, is precipitately viloent.

Note return to page 592 2whose qualification shall come, &c.] Whose resentment shall not be so qualified or tempered, as to be well tasted, as not to retain some bitterness. The phrase is harsh, at least to our ears.

Note return to page 593 3&lblank; like a poisonous mineral, &lblank;] This is philosophical. Mineral poisons kill by corrosion.

Note return to page 594 4&lblank; Which thing to do, If this poor Trash of Venice, whom I trace For his quick hunting, stand the putting on.] A trifling, insignificant fellow may, in some respects, very well be call'd trash; but the metaphor is not preserved. For what agreement is there betwixt trash, and quick-hunting, and standing the putting on? The allusion to the chase, Shakespear seems to be fond of applying to Rodorigo, who says of himself towards the conclusion of this Act; I follow her in the chase, not like a hound that hunts, but one that fills up the cry. I suppose therefore that the poet wrote, If this poor brach of Venice,— which is a low species of hounds of the chace, and a term generally us'd in contempt: and this compleats and perfects the metaphorical allusion, and makes it much more satirical. Vlitius, in his notes on Gratius, says, Racha Saxonibus canem significabat, unde Scoti hodie Rache pro cane femina babent, quod Anglis est Brache. Nos verò (he speaks of the Hollanders) Brach non quem vis canem sed sagacem vocamus. So the French, Braque, espece de chien de chasse. Menage Etimol. Warb.

Note return to page 595 5&lblank; whom I do trace For his quick hunting, &lblank;] Just the contrary. He did not trace him, he put him on, as he says immediately after. The old Quarto leads to the true reading. &lblank; whom I do crush For his quick hunting, &lblank; Plainly corrupted from cherish. Warburton. &lblank; whom I do trace] It is a term of hunting or field-sport; to trace sometimes signifies to follow, as Hen. VIII. Act iii. scene 2. Now all joy trace the conjunction; and a dog or a man traces a hare; but to trace a dog, in those sports, is to put a trace, or pair of couples, upon him, and such a dog is said to be traced. The sense, then, of &lblank; whom I do trace For his quick hunting &lblank; is this, Whom I do associate to me for the purpose of ruining Cassio the sooner. T. Row.6Q0282

Note return to page 596 6I'll have our Michael Cassio on the hip.] A phrase from the art of wrestling.

Note return to page 597 7Knavery's plain face is never seen &lblank;] An honest man acts upon a plan, and forecasts his designs; but a knave depends upon temporary and local opportunities, and never knows his own purpose, but at the time of execution.

Note return to page 598 8Our General cost us] That is, appointed us to our stations. To cast the play, is, in the stile of the theatres, to assign to every actor his proper part.

Note return to page 599 9an alarum] The voice may sound an alarm more properly than the eye can sound a parley.

Note return to page 600 1craftily qualified;] Slily mixed with water.

Note return to page 601 2The very elements &lblank;] As quarrelsome as the discordia semina rerum; as quick in opposition as fire and water.

Note return to page 602 3If consequence do but approve my Dream.] All the printed copies concur in this reading, but, I think, it does not come up to the poet's intention; I rather imagine that he wrote, If consequence do but approve my Deem, i. e. my opinion, the judgment I have form'd of what must happen. So, in Troilus and Cressida; Cres. I true? how now? what wicked Deem is this? Theobald. This reading is followed by the succeeding editions. I rather read, If consequence do but approve my scheme. But why should dream be rejected? Every scheme subsisting only in the imagination may be termed a dream.

Note return to page 603 4King Stephen, &c.] These stanzas are taken from an old song, which the reader will find recovered and preserved in a curious work lately printed, intituled, Relics of Ancient Poetry, consisting of old heroic Ballads, Songs, &c. 3 vols. 12mo.

Note return to page 604 5&lblank; lown.] Sorry fellow, paltry wretch.

Note return to page 605 6He'll watch the horologue a double set.] If he have no drink, he'll keep awake while the clock strikes two rounds, or four and twenty hours.6Q0283

Note return to page 606 7&lblank; ingraft infirmity:] An infirmity rooted, settled in his constitution.

Note return to page 607 8So Hanmer. The rest, &lblank; all place of sense and duty.

Note return to page 608 9&lblank; it frights the isle From her propriety. &lblank;] From her regular and proper state.

Note return to page 609 1In quarter, &lblank;] In their quarters; at their lodging.

Note return to page 610 2That you unlace] Slacken, or loosen. Put in danger of dropping; or perhaps strip of its ornaments.

Note return to page 611 3&lblank; spend your rich opinion, &lblank;] Throw away and squander a reputation so valuable as yours.

Note return to page 612 4&lblank; self-charity &lblank;] Care of one's self.

Note return to page 613 5&lblank; he, that is approv'd in this offence,] He that is convicted by proof, of having been engaged in this offence.

Note return to page 614 6cast in his mood,] Ejected in his anger.

Note return to page 615 7And speak Parrot,] A phrase signifying to act foolishly and childishly. So Skelton, These maidens full mekely with many a divers flour, Freshly they dress and make sweete my houre, With spake parrot I pray you full courteously thei saye. Warburton.

Note return to page 616 8For that he hath devoted, and given up himself to the contemplation, mark, and devotement of her parts and graces.] I remember, it is said of Antony, in the beginning of his tragedy, that he, who used to fix his eyes altogether on the dreadful ranges of war, &lblank; now bends, now turns, The office and devotion of their view Upon a strumpet's front. This is finely express'd; but I cannot persuade myself that our poet would ever have said, any one devoted himself to the devotement of any thing. All the copies agree; but the mistake certainly arose from a single letter being turn'd upside down at press. Theobald.

Note return to page 617 9&lblank; this advice is free &lblank;] This counsel has an appearance of honest openness, of frank good-will.

Note return to page 618 1&lblank; free elements &lblank;] Liberal, bountiful, as the elements, out of which all things are produced.

Note return to page 619 2&lblank; to this parallel course,] Parallel, for even; because parallel lines run even and equidistant. Warburton. Parallel course; i. e. a course level, and even with his design.

Note return to page 620 3I'll pour this pestilence &lblank;] Pestilence, for poison. Warb.

Note return to page 621 4That she repeals him &lblank;] That is, recalis him.

Note return to page 622 5That shall enmesh them all.] A metaphor from taking birds in meshes. Pope.

Note return to page 623 6Tho' other things grow fair against the Sun, Yet fruits, that blossom first, will first be ripe.] Of many different things, all planned with the same art, and promoted with the fame diligence, some must succeed sooner than others, by the order of nature. Every thing cannot be done at once; we must proceed by the necessary gradation. We are not to despair of slow events any more than of tardy fruits, while the causes are in regular progress, and the fruits grow fair against the Sun. Hanmer has not, I think, rightly conceived the sentiment, for he reads, Those fruits which blossom first, are not first ripe. I have therefore drawn it out at length, for there are few to whom that will be easy which was difficult to Hanmer.

Note return to page 624 7Why, masters, have your instruments been in Naples, that they speak i' th' nose thus?] The venereal disease first appeared at the siege of Naples.

Note return to page 625 8for I'll away.] Hanmer reads, and hie away.

Note return to page 626 9That policy may either last so long,] He may either of himself think it politick to keep me out of office so long, or he may be satisfied with such slight reasons, or so many accidents may make him think my re-admission at that time improper, that I may be quite forgotten.

Note return to page 627 1I'll watch him tame, &lblank;] It is said, that the ferocity of beasts, insuperable and irreclaimable by any other means, is subdued by keeping them from sleep.

Note return to page 628 2His present reconciliation take.] Cassio was to be reconciled to his General, not his General to him, therefore take cannot be right. We should read make. Warb. To take his reconciliation, may be to accept the submission which he makes in order to be reconciled.

Note return to page 629 3&lblank; and not in cunning,] Cunning, for design, or purpose, simply. Warb.

Note return to page 630 4&lblank; the wars must make examples Out of their best, &lblank;] The severity of military discipline must not spare the best men of the army, when their punishment may afford a wholesome example.

Note return to page 631 5Excellent Wretch! Perdition catch my soul, But I do love thee; &c.] Tho' all the printed copies concur in this reading, I think, it is very reasonably to be suspected. Othello is exclaiming here with admiration and rapturous fondness: but Wretch can scarce be admitted to be used, unless in compassion or contempt. I make no question, but the poet wrote; Excellent Wench!—Perdition catch my soul, &c. It is to be observ'd, that, in Shakespeare's time, Wench, Lass, and Girl, were not used in that low and vulgar acceptation as they are at this time of day; but very frequently with dignity. Theobald. The meaning of the word wretch, is not generally understood. It is now, in some parts of England, a term of the softest and fondest tenderness. It expresses the utmost degree of amiableness, joined with an idea, which perhaps all tenderness includes, of feebleness, softness, and want of protection. Othello, considering Desdemona as excelling in beauty and virtue, soft and timorous by her sex, and by her situation absolutely in his power, calls her, Excellent Wretch. It may be expressed, Dear, harmless, helpless Excellence.

Note return to page 632 6&lblank; when I love thee not, Chaos is come again] When my love is for a moment suspended by suspicion, I have nothing in my mind but discord, tumult, perturbation, and confusion.

Note return to page 633 7They're cold dilations working from the heart, That passion cannot rule.] i. e. these stops and breaks are cold dilations, or cold keeping back a secret, which men of phlegmatic constitutions, whose hearts are not sway'd or govern'd by their passions, we find, can do: while more sanguine tempers reveal themselves at once, and without reserve. But the Oxford Editor for cold dilations, reads distillations. Warb. I know not why the modern editors are satisfied with this reading, which no explanation can clear. They might easily have found, that it is introduced without authority. The old copies uniformly give, close dilations, except that the earlier quarto has close denotements; which was the authour's first expression, afterwards changed by him, not to cold dilations, for cold is read in no ancient copy; nor, I believe, to close dilations, but to close delations; to occult and secret accusations, working involuntarily from the heart, which tho' resolved to conceal the fault, cannot rule its passion of resentment.

Note return to page 634 8Or, those that be not, 'would they might seem none!] There is no sense in this reading. I suppose Shakespear wrote, &lblank; 'would they might seem knaves. Warb. I believe the meaning is, would they might no longer seem, or bear the shape of men.

Note return to page 635 9Keep leets and law-days, &lblank;] i. e. govern. A metaphor, wretchedly forced and quaint. Warb. Rather visit than govern, but visit with authoritative intrusion.

Note return to page 636 1Though I, perchance, am vicious in my guess,] Not to mention that, in this reading, the sentence is abrupt and broken, it is likewise highly absurd. I beseech you give yourself no uneasiness from my unsure observance, though I am vicious in my guess. For his being an ill guesser was a reason why Othello should not be uneasy: in propriety, therefore, it should either have been, though I am not vicious, or because I am vicious. It appears then we should read, I do beseech you, Think I, perchance, am vicious in my guess. Which makes the sense pertinent and perfect. Warburton.

Note return to page 637 2&lblank; imperfectly conceits,] In the old quarto it is, &lblank; improbably conceits, Which I think preferable.

Note return to page 638 3&lblank; which doth mock The meat it feeds on. &lblank;] i. e. loaths that which nourishes and sustains it. This being a miserable state, Iago bids him beware of it. The Oxford Editor reads, &lblank; which doth make The meat it feeds on &lblank; implying that its suspicions are unreal and groundless, which is the very contrary to what he would here make his General think, as appears from what follows, That cuckold lives in bliss, &c. In a word, the villain is for fixing him jealous: and therefore bids him beware of jealousy, not that it was an unreasonable but a miserable state, and this plunges him into it, as we see by his reply, which is only Oh misery! Warb. I have received the emendation; because to mock, does not signify to loath; and because, when Iago bids Othello beware of jealousy, the green-eyed monster, it is natural to tell why he should beware, and for caution he gives him two reasons, that jealousy often creates its own cause, and that, when the causes are real, jealousy is misery.

Note return to page 639 4But riches fineless &lblank;] Unbounded, endless, unnumbered treasures.

Note return to page 640 5&lblank; as poor as winter,] Finely expressed: Winter producing no fruits. Warb.

Note return to page 641 6To such exsuffolate and blown surmises,] This odd and far-fetched word was made yet more uncouth in all the editions before Hanmer's, by being printed, exsufflicate. The allusion is to a bubble. Do not think, says the Moor, that I shall change the noble designs that now employ my thoughts, to suspicions which, like bubbles blown into a wide extent, have only an empty shew without solidity, or that in consequence of such empty fears, I will close with thy inference against the virtue of my wife.

Note return to page 642 7Where virtue is, these are most virtuous.] But how can a virtuous conduct make the indifferent actions of such a character, virtuous, or most virtuous? The old Quarto reads, a little nearer the truth, Where virtue is, these are more virtuous. But Shakespear wrote, Where virtue is, these make more virtuous. i. e. where virtue is, the civil accomplishments of polite life make that virtue more illustrious, as coming off victorious from all the temptations which such accomplishments throw in the way. Warburton. The old reading will, I think, approve itself to every understanding that has not an interest in changing it. An action in itself indifferent, grows virtuous by its end and application.

Note return to page 643 8Out of self-bounty be abus'd;] Self-bounty, for inherent generosity. Warb.

Note return to page 644 9&lblank; our country-disposition &lblank; In Venice &lblank;] Here Iago seems to be a Venetian.

Note return to page 645 1And when she seem'd] This and the following argument of Iago ought to be deeply impressed on every reader. Deceit and falsehood, whatever conveniences they may for a time promise or produce, are, in the sum of life, obstacles to happiness. Those who profit by the cheat, distrust the deceiver, and the act by which kindness was sought, puts an end to confidence. The same objection may be made with a lower degree of strength against the imprudent generosity of disproportionate marriages. When the first heat of passion is over, it is easily succeeded by suspicion, that the same violence of inclination which caused one irregularity, may stimulate to another; and those who have shewn, that their passions are too powerful for their prudence, will, with very slight appearances against them, be censured, as not very likely to restrain them by their virtue.

Note return to page 646 2To seal her father's eyes up, close as oak—] There is little relation between eyes and oak. I would read, She seal'd her father's eyes up close as owls. As blind as an owl, is a proverb.6Q0284

Note return to page 647 3To grosser issues, &lblank;] Issues, for conclusions. Warb.

Note return to page 648 4My speech would fall into such vile success,] Success, for succession, i. e. conclusion; not prosperous issue. Warburton. I rather think there is a depravation, and would read, My speech would fall into such vile excess. If success be the right word, it seems to mean consequence or event, as successo is used in Italian.

Note return to page 649 5&lblank; will most rank,] Will is for wilfulness. It is so used by Ascham. A rank will, is self-will overgrown and exuberant.

Note return to page 650 6You shall by that perceive him, and his means;] You shall discover, whether he thinks his best means, his most powerful interest, is by the solicitation of your lady.

Note return to page 651 7&lblank; strain his entertainment] Press hard his re-admission to his pay and office. Entertainment was the military term for admission of soldiers.

Note return to page 652 8Fear not my government.] Do not distrust my ability to contain my passion.

Note return to page 653 9&lblank; with a learned spirit,] Learned, for experienced. Warburton. The construction is, He knows with a learned spirit all qualities of human dealings.

Note return to page 654 1&lblank; If I prove her haggard,] A haggard hawk, is a wild hawk, a hawk unreclaimed, or irreclaimable.

Note return to page 655 2Tho' that her jesses were my dear heart-strings,] Jesses are short straps of leather tied about the foot of a hawk, by which she is held on the fist. Hanmer.

Note return to page 656 3I'd whistle her off, and let her down the wind To prey at fortune. &lblank;] The falconers always let fly the hawk against the wind; if she flies with the wind behind her, she seldom returns. If therefore a hawk was for any reason to be dismissed, she was let down the wind, and from that time shifted for herself, and prey'd at fortune. This was told me by the late Mr. Clark.

Note return to page 657 4&lblank; forked plague &lblank;] In allusion to a barbed or forked arrow, which, once infixed, cannot be extracted. Or rather, the forked plague is the cuckold's horns. Mr. Percy.

Note return to page 658 5&lblank; to th' advantage, &c. &lblank;] I being opportunely here, took it up.

Note return to page 659 6Be not you known on't:] Should it not rather be read, Be not you known in't? The folio reads, Be not unknown on't. The sense is plain, but of the expression I cannot produce any example.

Note return to page 660 7Shall ever medicine thee to that sweet Sleep, Which thou hadst yesterday.] The old quarto reads, Which thou owedst yesterday. And this is right, and of much greater force than the common reading; not to sleep, being finely called defrauding the day of a debt of nature. Warb. To owe is, in our authour, oftener to possess, than to be indebted, and such was its meaning here; but as that sense was growing less usual, it was changed unnecessarily by the editors to hadst; to the same meaning, more intelligibly expressed.

Note return to page 661 8Farewel the neighing steed, and the shrill tramp, The spirit-stirring drum, th' ear-piercing fife,] The attributes to the trumpet and fife, in the present reading, seem to be too much alike for the richness and variety of Shakespear's ideas. Besides, as the steed and trumpet in the one line were designed to be characterized by their sounds; so the drum and fife, by their effects on the hearers; as appears in part from the epithet given to the drum of spirit stirring: I would read then, The spirit-stirring drum, th' fear-'spersing fife, i. e. the fear-dispersing. Warb. Ear-piercing is an epithet so eminently adapted to the fife, and so distinct from the shrilness of the trumpet, that it certainly ought not to be changed. Dr. Warburton has been censured for this proposed emendation with more noise than honesty, for he did not himself put it in the text.6Q0285

Note return to page 662 9&lblank; abandon all remorse;] Remorse, for repentance. Warb. I rather think it is, Let go all scruples, throw aside all restraints.

Note return to page 663 1By the world, &c.] This speech not in the first edition. Pope.

Note return to page 664 2Were they as prime as goats,] Prime, is prompt, from the Celtic or British prim. Hanmer.

Note return to page 665 3Give me a living reason &lblank;] Living, for speaking, manifest. Warburton.

Note return to page 666 4&lblank; a foregone conclusion;] Conclusion, for fact. Warb.

Note return to page 667 5Othel. 'Tis a shrewd doubt, &c.] The old Quarto gives this line with the two following to Iago; and rightly. Warb. I think it more naturally spoken by Othello, who, by dwelling so long upon the proof, encouraged Iago to enforce it.

Note return to page 668 6&lblank; yet we see nothing done;] This is an oblique and secret mock at Othello's saying, Give me the ocular proof. Warburton.

Note return to page 669 7Now do I see 'tis true.—] The old Quarto reads, Now do I see 'tis time. &lblank; And this is Shakespear's, and has in it much more force and solemnity, and preparation for what follows; as alluding to what he had said before, &lblank; No, Iago! I'll see before I doubt, when I doubt, prove; And, on the proof, there is no more but this, Away at once with love or jealousy. This time was now come. Warburton.

Note return to page 670 8&lblank; hollow hell!] This is a poor unmeaning epithet. The old quarto reads, Arise black vengeance from thy hollow cell! Which the editors not knowing what to make of, alter'd it as above. It should be read thus, Arise black vengeance from th' unhallow'd cell! Meaning the infernal regions. Warburton.

Note return to page 671 9&lblank; hearted throne] Hearted throne is strange nonsense. The old Quarto reads, &lblank; and harted throne: Which the editors took for a word mis-spelt, whereas it was a word miscalled. We should read, Yield up, oh love, thy crown and parted throne, i. e. thy throne which was parted between me and Desdemona: This presents us with a fine image. The union of Othello and Desdemona was so perfect, that love divided his throne between them: which he is now bid to resume, and give to hatred. Warburton. Hearted throne, is the heart on which thou wast enthroned. Parted throne has no meaning.

Note return to page 672 1&lblank; swell, bosom, &c.] i. e. swell, because the fraught is of poison. Warburton.

Note return to page 673 2&lblank; Like to the Pontick Sea, &c.] This simile is omitted in the first edition; I think it should be so, as an unnatural excursion in this place. Pope.

Note return to page 674 3&lblank; Let him command, And to obey, shall be in me Remorse, What bloody business ever.] Thus all the old copies, to the manifest depravation of the poet's sense. Mr. Pope has attempted an emendation, but with his old luck and dexterity, Not to obey, shall be in me Remorse, &c. I read, with the change only of a single letter; Nor, to obey, shall be in me Remorse, &c. i. e. Let your commands be ever so bloody, Remorse and Compassion shall not restrain me from obeying them. Theobald. &lblank; Let him command, And to obey, shall be in me Remorse, What bloody business ever.] Thus the old copies read, but evidently wrong. Some editions read, Not to obey; on which the editor Mr. Theobald takes occasion to alter it to, Nor to obey; and thought he had much mended matters. But he mistook the sound end of the line for the corrupt; and so by his emendation, the deep-designing Iago is foolishly made to throw off his mask, when he had most occasion for it; and without any provocation, stand before his Captain a villain confessed; at a time, when, for the carrying on his plot, he should make the least show of it. For thus Mr. Theobald forces him to say, I shall have no remorse to obey your commands, how bloody soever the business be. But this is not Shakespear's way of preserving the unity of character. Iago, till now, pretended to be one, who, tho' in the trade of war he had slain men, yet held it the very stuff of th' conscience to do no contriv'd murder; when, of a sudden, without cause or occasion, he owns himself a ruffian without remorse. Shakespear wrote and pointed the passage thus, &lblank; Let him command, And to obey shall be in me. Remord What bloody business ever. i. e. however the business he sets me upon may shock my honour and humanity, yet, I promise to go through with it, and obey without reserve. Here Iago speaks in character, while the sense and grammar are made better by it. So Skelton, And if so him fortune to write and plaine, As sometimes he must vices remorde. And again, Squire, Knight, and Lord, Thus the Churche remorde. Warburton. Of these two emendations, I believe, Theobald's will have the greater number of suffrages; it has at least mine. The objection against the propriety of the declaration in Iago is a cavil; he does not say that he has no principle of remorse, but that it shall not operate against Othello's commands. To obey shall be in me, for, I will obey you, is a mode of expression not worth the pains here taken to introduce it; and the word remorde has not in the quotation the meaning of withhold, or make reluctant, but of reprove, or censure; nor do I know that it is used by any of the contemporaries of Shakespeare. I will offer an interpretation, which, if it be received, will make alteration unnecessary, but it is very harsh and violent. Iago devotes himself to wrong'd Othello, and says, Let him command whatever bloody business, and in me it shall be an act, not of cruelty, but of tenderness, to obey him; not of malice to others, but of tenderness for him. If this sense be thought too violent, I see nothing better than to follow Pope's reading, as it is improved by Theobald.

Note return to page 675 4Clown. I will catechize the world for him; that is, make questions, and by them answer.] This Clown is a Fool to some purpose. He was to go seek for one; he says, he will ask for him, and by his own questions make answer. Without doubt, we should read; and bid them answer: i. e. the world; those, whom he questions. Warb.

Note return to page 676 5&lblank; Cruzadoes. &lblank;] A Portugueze coin, in value three shillings Sterling. Dr. Grey.— So called from the Cross stamped upon it.

Note return to page 677 6&lblank; The hearts, of old, gave hands; But our new heraldry is hands, not hearts.] It is evident that the first line should be read thus, The hands of old gave hearts: Otherwise it would be no reply to the preceding words, For 'twas that hand, that gave away my heart: Not so, says her husband: The hands of old indeed gave hearts: But the custom now is to give hands without hearts. The expression of new heraldry was a satirical allusion to the times. Soon after James the First came to the Crown, he created the new dignity of Baronets for mony. Amongst their other prerogatives of honour, they had an addition to their paternal arms, of a hand gules in an Escutcheon argent. And we are not to doubt but that this was the new heraldry alluded to by our author: By which he insinuates, that some then created had hands indeed, but not hearts; that is, mony to pay for the creation, but no virtue to purchase the honour. But the finest part of the poet's address in this allusion, is the compliment he pays to his old mistress Elizabeth. For James's pretence for raising mony by this creation, was the reduction of Ulster, and other parts of Ireland; the memory of which he would perpetuate by that addition to their arms, it being the arms of Ulster. Now the method used by Elizabeth in the reduction of that kingdom was so different from this, the dignities she conferred being on those who employed their steel and not their gold in this service, that nothing could add more to her glory, than the being compar'd to her successor in this point of view: Nor was it uncommon for the dramatic poets of that time to satirize the ignominy of James's reign. So Fletcher, in The Fair Maid of the Inn. One says, I will send thee to Amboyna i' th' East Indies for pepper. The other replies, To Amboyna? so I might be pepper'd. Again, in the same play, a Sailor says, Despise not this pitch'd Canvas, the time was we have known them lined with Spanish Ducats. Warb. The historical observation is very judicious and acute, but of the emendation there is no need. She says, that her hand gave away her heart. He goes on with his suspicion, and the hand which he had before called frank, he now terms liberal; then proceeds to remark, that the hand was formerly given by the heart; but now it neither gives it, nor is given by it.

Note return to page 678 7&lblank; salt and sorry Rheum &lblank;] The old quarto has, &lblank; salt and sullen Rheum &lblank; That is, a Rheum obstinately troublesome. I think this better.

Note return to page 679 8&lblank; numbred &lblank; The Sun to course &lblank;] i. e. number'd the Sun's courses: Badly expressed. Warb. The expression is not very infrequent; we say, I counted the clock to strike four; so she numbred the sun to course, to run, two hundred compasses, two hundred annual circuits.

Note return to page 680 9&lblank; rash?] Is vehement, violent.

Note return to page 681 1'Tis not a year, or two, shews us a man:] From this line it may be conjectured, that the authour intended the action of this play to be considered as longer than is marked by any note of time. Since their arrival at Cyprus, to which they were hurried on their wedding-night, the fable seems to have been in one continual progress, nor can I see any vacuity into which a year or two, or even a month or two, could be put. On the night of Othello's arrival, a feast was proclaimed; at that feast Cassio was degraded, and immediately applies to Desdemona to get him restored. Iago indeed advises Othello to hold him off a while, but there is no reason to think, that he has been held off long. A little longer interval would increase the probability of the story, though it might violate the rules of the drama.

Note return to page 682 2&lblank; the office of my heart,] The elder quarto reads, &lblank; the duty of my heart. The authour used the more proper word, and then changed it, I suppose, for fashionable diction; but, as fashion is a very weak protectress, the old word is now ready to resume its place.

Note return to page 683 3But to know so, must be my benefit.] Si nequeo placidas affari Cæsaris aures, Saltem aliquis veniat, qui mihi dicat, abi.

Note return to page 684 4And shoot myself up &lblank;] This is the reading of one of the early quartos. The folio, and all the modern editions, have, And shut myself up &lblank;

Note return to page 685 5&lblank; in favour, &lblank;] In look, in countenance.

Note return to page 686 6&lblank; within the blank of his displeasure,] Within the shot of his anger.

Note return to page 687 7&lblank; some unhatch'd practice,] Some treason that has not taken effect.

Note return to page 688 8For let our finger ake, and it endues Our other healthful members with a sense Of pain. &lblank;] Endue with a sense of pain, is an expression, which, though it might be endured, if it were genuine, cannot deserve to be introduced by artifice. The copies, both quarto and folio, read, Endue our other healthful members even to a sense of pain. I believe it should be rather, Subdue our other healthful members to a sense of pain.

Note return to page 689 9&lblank; unhandsome warrior as I am,] How this came to be so blundered, I cannot conceive. It is plain Shakespear wrote, &lblank; unhandsome wrangler as I am. So Antony and Cleopatra, &lblank; fie wrangling Queen. Warburton. Unhandsome warrior, is evidently unfair assailant.

Note return to page 690 1&lblank; more convenient time] The folio has, &lblank; more continuate time, time less interrupted, time which I can call more my own. It gives a more distinct image than convenient.

Note return to page 691 2Take me this work out.] The meaning is not, Pick out the work and leave the ground plain; but, Copy this work in another handkerchief.

Note return to page 692 3&lblank; I must be circumstanc'd.] i. e. your civility is now grown conditional. Warburton.

Note return to page 693 4Naked in bed, Iago, and not mean harm? It is hypocrisy against the Devil:] This observation seems strangely abrupt and unoccasioned. We must suppose that Iago had, before they appear in this scene, been applying cases of false comfort to Othello; as that tho' the parties had been even found in bed together, there might be no harm done; it might be only for the trial of their virtue; as was reported of the Romish Saint, Robert D'Arbrissel and his nuns. To this we must suppose Othello here replies; and like a good Protestant. For so the sentiment does but suit the character of the speaker, Shakespear little heeds how those sentiments are circumstanced. Warb. Hypocrisy against the Devil, means Hypocrisy to cheat the Devil. As common hypocrites cheat men, by seeming good, and yet living wickedly, these men would cheat the Devil, by giving him flattering hopes, and at last avoiding the crime which he thinks them ready to commit.

Note return to page 694 5The Devil their virtue tempts, and they tempt heav'n.] It is plain, from the whole tenour of the words, that the speaker would distinguish this strange fantastical presumption from other lesser kinds of indiscretion, where prudence is off its guard. But this reading does not distinguish it from any other, it being true of all who run into temptation, that the Devil their virtue tempts, and they tempt heav'n. The true reading, therefore, without question, is this, The Devil their virtue tempts not; they tempt heav'n. i. e. they do not give the Devil the trouble of throwing temptations in their way: they seek them out themselves, and so tempt heav'n by their presumption. This is a just character of the extravagance here condemned, and distinguishes it from other inferior indiscretions. War.

Note return to page 695 6She is protectress of her honour too;] This is plainly intended an answer to Iago's principle, That what a man is propertied in he may give to whom he pleases, by shewing the falshood of it, in the instance of a woman's honour, which he says she is protectress of. But this is strange logic that infers from the acknowledged right of my alienating my property, that I may alienate my trust, for that protectress only signifies. Had Iago catched him arguing thus, we may be sure he would have exposed his sophistry. On the contrary he replies, on a supposition that Othello argued right from his principles, and endeavour'd to instance in a property that could not be alienated; which reduces him to this cavil, that the property instanced in was of so fantastic a nature, that one might and might not have it at the same time, Her honour is an essence that's not seen, They have it very oft that have it not. From all this I conclude, that Shakespear wrote, She is propertied of her honour too: May she give that? And then Othello's answer will be logical, and Iago's reply pertinent. Shakespear uses the same word again in Timon, &lblank; subdues and Properties to his love. Warb. Shakespeare confounds words more different than proprietor and protector, therefore this emendation is not necessary, and if not necessary, should not be received, for it is very unharmonious.

Note return to page 696 7Boding to all—] Thus all the old copies. The moderns, less grammatically, Boding to ill &lblank;

Note return to page 697 8Convinc'd or supplied them,] I cannot understand the vulgar reading. I read, convinc'd or suppled. My emendation makes the sense of the passage easy and intelligible: that there are some such long tongu'd knaves in the world, who, if they thro' the force of importunity extort a favour from their mistress, or if thro' her own fondness they make her pliant to their desires, cannot help boasting of their success. To convince, here, is not, as in the common acceptation, to make sensible of the truth of any thing by reasons and arguments; but to overcome, get the better of, &c. Theobald. Convinc'd] Convinc'd, for conquer'd, subdued. Warb.

Note return to page 698 9&lblank; to confess, &c.] The words between the hooks seem to be the player's trash. Warb. I have as little value for these words as any other commentator; but whether they are the authour's or player's I cannot determine.

Note return to page 699 *Shadowing passion] The modern editions have left out passion.

Note return to page 700 1without some instruction.] The starts and broken reflexions in this speech have something very terrible, and shew the mind of the speaker to be in inexpressible agonies. But the words we are upon, when set right, have a sublime in them that can never be enough admired. The ridiculous blunder of writing instruction for induction (for so it should be read) has indeed sunk it into arrant nonsense. Othello is just going to fall into a swoon; and, as is common for people in that circumstance, feels an unusual mist and darkness, accompanied with horror, coming upon him. This, with vast sublimity of thought, is compared to the season of the Sun's eclipse, at which time the earth becomes shadowed by the induction or bringing over of the Moon between it and the Sun. This being the allusion the reasoning stands thus, My nature could never be thus overshadowed, and falling, as it were, into dissolution for no cause. There must be an induction of something: there must be a real cause. My jealousy cannot be merely imaginary. Ideas, words only, could not shake me thus, and raise all this disorder. My jealousy therefore must be grounded on matter of fact. Shakespear uses this word in the same sense, Richard III. A dire induction am I witness to. Marston seems to have read it thus in some copy, and to allude to it in these words of his Fame, Plots ha' you laid? inductions dangerous! Warburton. This is a noble conjecture, and whether right or wrong does honour to its authour. Yet I am in doubt whether there is any necessity of emendation. There has always prevailed in the world an opinion, that when any great calamity happens at a distance, notice is given of it to the sufferer by some dejection or perturbation of mind, of which he discovers no external cause. This is ascribed to that general communication of one part of the universe with another, which is called sympathy and antipathy; or to the secret monition, instruction, and influence of a superior Being, which superintends the order of Nature and of life. Othello says, Nature could not invest herself in such shadowing passion, without instruction. It is not words that shakes me thus. This passion which spreads its clouds over me is the effect of some agency more than the operation of words; it is one of those notices which men have of unseen calamities.6Q0286

Note return to page 701 2&lblank; in those unproper beds.] Unproper, for common. Warb.

Note return to page 702 3&lblank; list.] For attention; act of listening.

Note return to page 703 4&lblank; encave yourself,] Hide yourself in a private place.

Note return to page 704 5Or I shall say, you are all in all in spleen,] I read, Or shall I say, you're all in all a spleen. I think our authour uses this expression elsewhere.

Note return to page 705 6And his unbookish jealousy.] Unbookish, for ignorant. Warb.

Note return to page 706 7Do you triumph, roman? do you triumph?] Never was a more ridiculous blunder than the word Roman. Shakespear wrote, Do you triumph, rogue? &lblank; Which being obscurely written the editors mistook for Rome, and so made Roman of it. War. Of this I am in doubt. Othello calls him Roman ironically. Triumph, which was a Roman ceremony, brought Roman into his thoughts. What, says he, you are now triumphing as great as a Roman.

Note return to page 707 8A customer.] A common woman, one that invites custom.

Note return to page 708 9Have you scor'd me?] Have you made my reckoning, have you settled the term of my life? The old quarto reads, stored me. Have you disposed of me? have you laid me up?

Note return to page 709 1Fitchew!] A polecat. Pope. Shakespeare has in another place mentioned the lust of this animal. He tells Iago, that she is as lewd as the polecat, but of better scent, the polecat being a very stinking animal.

Note return to page 710 2atone them &lblank;] Make them one; reconcile them.

Note return to page 711 3If that the earth could teem, &c.] If womens tears could impregnate the earth. By the doctrine of equivocal generation, new animals were supposed producible by new combinations of matter. See Bacon.

Note return to page 712 4&lblank; whose solid virtue The shot of accident nor dart of chance Could neither graze nor pierce.] But 'tis no commendation to the most solid virtue to be free from the attacks of fortune: but that it is so impenetrable as to suffer no impression. Now to graze signifies, only to touch the superficies of any thing. That is the attack of fortune: And by that virtue is try'd, but not discredited. We ought certainly therefore to read, Can neither raze nor pierce. i. e. neither lightly touch upon, nor pierce into. The ignorant transcribers being acquainted with the Phrase of a bullet grazing, and shot being mentioned in the line before, they corrupted the true word. Besides, we do not say, graze a thing; but graze on it. Warb. I have ventured to attack another part of this sentence, which my ingenious friend slip'd over. I cannot see, for my heart, the difference betwixt the shot of accident and dart of chance. The words, and things, they imply, are purely synonimous; but that the Poet intended two different things, seems plain from the discretive adverb. Chance may afflict a man in some circumstances; but other distresses are to be accounted for from a different cause. I am persuaded, our author wrote; The shot of accident, nor dart of change, &c. And, in a number of other places, our Poet industriously puts these two words in opposition to each other. Theob. To graze is not merely to touch superficially, but to strike not directly, not so as to bury the body of the thing striking in the matter struck. Theobald trifles as is usual. Accident and Chance may admit a subtle distinction; Accident may be considered as the act, and Chance as the power or agency of Fortune; as, It was by chance that this accident befel me. At least, if we suppose all corrupt that is inaccurate, there will be no end of emendation.

Note return to page 713 5But not your words.] This line is added out of the first edition. Pope.

Note return to page 714 6&lblank; garner'd up my heart,] That is, treasured up; the garner and the fountain are improperly conjoined.

Note return to page 715 7—Turn thy complexion there, &c.] At such an object do thou, Patience, thyself change colour; at this do thou, even thou, rosy cherub as thou art, look grim as hell. The old editions and the new have it, I here look grim as hell. I was written for ay, and not since corrected.

Note return to page 716 8The small'st opinion on my least misuse?] The old quarto reads, The small'st opinion on my great'st abuse. Which I think is better.

Note return to page 717 9&lblank; notorious &lblank;] For gross, not in its proper meaning for known.

Note return to page 718 1Speak within door.] Do not clamour so as to be heard beyond the house.

Note return to page 719 2&lblank; the seamy side without;] That is, inside out.

Note return to page 720 3&lblank; and he, she lov'd, prov'd mad, And did forsake her: &lblank;] We should read, &lblank; and he, she lov'd, forsook her, And she prov'd mad: &lblank; Warburton. I believe that mad only signifies, wild, frantick, uncertain.

Note return to page 721 4&lblank; I've much ado, But to go hang my head &lblank;] I have much ado to do any thing but hang my head. We might read, Not to go hang my head. This is perhaps the only insertion made in the latter editions which has improved the play. The rest seem to have been added for the sake of amplification or of ornament. When the imagination had subsided, and the mind was no longer agitated by the horror of the action, it became at leisure to look round for specious additions. This addition is natural. Desdemona can at first hardly forbear to sing the song; she endeavours to change her train of thoughts, but her imagination at last prevails, and she sings it.

Note return to page 722 5This song, in two parts, is printed in a late collection of old ballads; the lines preserved here differ somewhat from the copy discovered by the ingenious collector.

Note return to page 723 6I call'd my love false love; &lblank;] This couplet is not in the ballad, which is the complaint, not of a woman forsaken, but of a man rejected. These lines were probably added when it was accommodated to a woman.

Note return to page 724 7&lblank; our former Having &lblank;] Our former allowance of expence.

Note return to page 725 8&lblank; heav'n me such uses send,] Such is the reading of the folio, and of the subsequent editions; but the old quarto has, &lblank; such usage send, &lblank; Usage is an old word for custom, and, I think, better than uses:

Note return to page 726 9In some editions, I've rubb'd this young Gnat almost to the sense, And he grows angry.] The rubbing a Gnat to sense, is, I believe, an experiment that never even was communicated to the Royal Society. The least frication, on the contrary, would not only rub him out of all sense, but out of life into the bargain. The old quartos have it. Quat: a word, which, I confess, I am absolutely a stranger to. I have ventur'd to conjecture, I've rubb'd this young Knot, &c. The Knat, or Knot, is a small bird, plentiful with us, in Lincolnshire and Lancashire; which took its name, as Cambden says, from its being a delicious morsel with King Canute, who was likewise called Knout. This bird, being once taken, as Gesner tells us, is above all others tame and tractable. In this respect it sorts with Roderigo's character, an easy, manageable, Cully. Theob. This is a passage much controverted among the editors. Sir T. Hanmer reads Quab, a Gudgeon; not that a Gudgeon can be rubbed to much sense, but that a man grossly deceived is often called a Gudgeon. Mr. Upton reads Quail, which he proves, by much learning, to be a very choleric bird. Dr. Warburton retains Gnat, which is found in the early quarto. I have followed the text of the folio, and third and fourth quarto's. A Quat in the midland counties is a pimple, which by rubbing is made to smart, or is rubbed to sense. Roderigo is called a Quat by the same mode of speech, as a low fellow is now termed in low language a Scab. To rub to the sense, is to rub to the quick.

Note return to page 727 1&lblank; No passage? &lblank;] No passengers? No body going by?

Note return to page 728 2&lblank; a heavy night;] A thick cloudy night, in which an ambush may be commodiously laid.

Note return to page 729 3It is the cause, it is the cause, my soul; Let me not name it &lblank;] The abruptness of this soliloquy makes it obscure. The meaning I think is this. I am here, says Othello in his mind, overwhelmed with horror. What is the reason of this perturbation? Is it want of resolution to do justice? Is it the dread of shedding blood? No; it is not the action that shocks me, but it is the cause, it is the cause, my soul; let me not name it to you, ye chaste stars! it is the cause.

Note return to page 730 4Put out the light, and then put out the light.] This, I conceive, to have been the poet's meaning. Othello, struck in part with remorse at the murder he's going to do, thinks it best to do it in the dark; this compunction of nature, in the hurry and perturbation of thought, and those remains of tenderness still combating in his bosom, strikes him into an instant reflexion, that if he puts out the light he can rekindle it; but if he once puts out the light of her life, that will be extinguish'd for ever. While he is busied in this contemplation, he throws his eyes towards her; and then, sooth'd with her beauteous appearance, sets down the light, to go and kiss her. Upon this, Desdemona wakes; and they continue in discourse together till he stifles her. Theob. Put out the light, and then— Put out the light?—] So it should be printed. The meaning is, I will put out the light, and then proceed to the execution of my purpose. But the expression of putting out the light, bringing to mind the effects of the extinction of the light of life, he breaks short, and questions himself about the effects of this metaphorical extinction, introduced by a repetition of his first words, as much as to say, But hold, let me first weigh the reflexions which this expression so naturally excites. Warb.

Note return to page 731 5&lblank; This Sorrow's heavenly;] This tenderness, with which I lament the punishment which justice compels me to inflict, is a holy passion. I wish these two lines could be honestly ejected. It is the fate of Shakespeare to counteract his own pathos.

Note return to page 732 6A murder, which I thought a sacrifice.] This line is difficult. Thou hast hardened my heart, and makest me kill thee with the rage of a murderer, when I thought to have sacrificed thee to justice with the calmness of a priest striking a victim. It must not be omitted, that one of the elder quarto's reads, thou dost stone thy heart; which I suspect to be genuine. The meaning then will be, thou forcest me to dismiss thee from the world in the state of the murdered without preparation for death, when I intended that thy punishment should have been a sacrifice attoning for thy crime. I am glad that I have ended my revisal of this dreadful scene. It is not to be endured.

Note return to page 733 7&lblank; false as water.] As water that will support no weight, nor keep any impression.

Note return to page 734 8&lblank; villainy has made mocks with love.] Villainy has taken advantage to play upon the weakness of a violent passion.

Note return to page 735 9Thou hast not half that power to do me harm, As I have to be hurt: &lblank;] Power for will: For will signifying both ability and inclination, and power signifying ability, he uses power for inclination. But the Oxford Editor, not understanding his author's phraseology any better when he had ended than when he had begun with him, alters, As I have to be hurt, to, As I have to bear hurt: which yet does not mend the matter, had the poet here used power in the sense of ability. Warb. The Oxford editor saw well the meaning of his authour, but weakened his expression. She means to say, I have in this cause power to endure more than thou hast power to inflict.

Note return to page 736 1&lblank; Charm your tongue.] I know not whether I have read, or whether my own thoughts have suggested, an alteration of this passage. It seems to me not improbable, that Shakespeare wrote clam your tongue; to clam a bell is to cover the clapper with felt, which drowns the blow, and hinders the sound.

Note return to page 737 2A thousand times committed. &lblank;] This is another passage which seems to suppose a longer space comprised in the action of this play than the scenes include.

Note return to page 738 3Are there no stones in heav'n, But what serve for the thunder? &lblank;] What occasion for other, when those would serve his purpose? For he wanted a thunderbolt for Iago. Without question, Shakespear wrote, and pointed the line thus, Are there no stones in heav'n? For what then serves the thunder? &lblank; i. e. are there no bolts in heaven for this villain? for what purpose then serves the thunder, that instrument of his vengeance? Warburton.

Note return to page 739 4&lblank; the ice-brook's temper;] In the first edition it is, Isebroke's temper. Thence corrupted, to Ice-brook's.—Ebro's temper; the waters of that river of Spain, are particularly famous for tempering of steel. The finest arms in the world are the Catalonian fusees. Pope. I believe the old reading changed to ice-brook is right Steel is hardened by being put red hot into very cold water.

Note return to page 740 5&lblank; tow'rds his feet; &lblank;] To see if, according to the common opinion, his feet be cloven.

Note return to page 741 6&lblank; in the practice &lblank;] In the snare, by the stratagem.

Note return to page 742 7&lblank; in the interim] The first copies have, in the nick. It was, I suppose, thought upon revisal, that nick was too familiar.

Note return to page 743 8Speak of me as I am; &lblank;] The early copies read, Speak of them as they are. The present reading has more force.

Note return to page 744 9&lblank; of one, whose hand, Like the base Indian, threw a pearl away Richer than all his tribe;] I have restored Judian, from the elder Quarto, as the genuine and more eligible reading. Mr. Pope thinks, this was occasioned probably by the word tribe just after: I have many reasons to oppose this opinion. In the first place, the most ignorant Indian, I believe, is so far the reverse of the dunghill-cock in the fable, as to know the estimation of a pearl, beyond that of a barley-corn. So that, in that respect, the thought itself would not be just. Then, if our author had design'd to reflect on the ignorance of the Indian without any farther reproach, he would have call'd him rude, and not base. Again, I am persuaded, as my friend Mr. Warburton long ago observ'd, the phrase is not here literal, but metaphorical: and, by his pearl, our author very properly means a fine woman. But Mr. Pope objects farther to reading Judian, because, to make sense of this, we must pre-suppose some particular story of a Jew alluded to; which is much less obvious: But has Shakespeare never done this, but in this single instance? I am satisfied, in his Judian, he is alluding to Herod; who, in a fit of blind jealousy, threw away such a jewel of a wife as Mariamne was to him. What can be more parallel in circumstance, than the conduct of Herod and Othello? Nor was the story so little obvious, as Mr. Pope seems to imagine: for, in the year 1613, the Lady Elizabeth Carew published a Tragedy, call'd Mariam, the fair Queen of Jewry. I shall only add, that our author might write Judian, or Judean (if that should be alledg'd as any objection) instead of Judæan, with the same licence and change of accent, as, in his Anthony and Cleopatra, he shortens the second syllable of Euphrates in pronunciation: which was a liberty likewise taken by Spencer, of whom our author was a studious imitator. Theobald. Like the base Indian, threw a pearl away] The elder quarto reads Judian, and this is certainly right. And by the Judian is meant Herod, whose usage to Mariamne is so apposite to the speaker's case, that a more proper instance could not be thought of. Besides, he was the subject of tragedy at that time, as appears from the words in Hamlet, where an ill player is described, &lblank; to out-herod Herod. The metaphorical term of a pearl for a fine woman, is so common as scarce to need examples. In Troilus and Cressida, a lover says of his mistress, There she lies a pearl. &lblank; And again, Why she is a pearl whose price, &c. Warburton.6Q0288

Note return to page 745 1&lblank; To you, lord Governor, Remains the censure of this hellish villain:] Rymer, who had neither vigour of imagination to make a poet, nor strength of judgment to make a critic, as appears from his Edgar and his Remarks on Shakespeare, had yet just enough to play the buffoon and caviller. His criticisms on the Poets of the last age, with only a mixture of trite remarks, transcribed from the French commentators on Aristotle, are one continued heap of ignorance and insolence. Almost the only remark on Shakespeare, which, I think, deserves an answer, is upon Iago's character, which he thus censures. To entertain the audience (says he) with something new and surprising, against common sense and nature, he would pass upon us a close, dissembling, false, ungrateful rascal, instead of an open-hearted, frank, plain-dealing soldier, a character constantly worn by them for some thousands of years in the world. This hath the appearance of sense, being founded on that rule of Nature and Aristotle, that each character should have manners convenient to the age, sex, and condition. Ætatis cujusque notandi sunt tibi mores, &c. says Horace. But how has our critic applied it? According to this rule it is confessed, that a soldier should be brave, generous, and a man of honour. This is to be his dramatic character. But either one or more of any order may be brought in. If only one, then the character of the order takes its denomination from the manners of that one. Had therefore the only soldier in this play been Iago, the rule had been transgressed, and Rymer's censure well founded. For then this eternal villain must have given the character of the soldiery; which had been unjust and unnatural. But if a number of the same order be represented, then the character of the order is taken from the manners of the majority; and this, according to nature and common sense. Now in this play there are many of the order of the soldiery, and all, excepting Iago, represented as open, generous, and brave. From these, the soldier's character is to be taken; and not from Iago, who is brought as an exception to it, unless it be unnatural to suppose there could be an exception: or that a villain ever insinuated himself into that corps. And thus Shakespeare stands clear of this impertinent criticism. Warb.

Note return to page 746 *The beauties of this play impress themselves so strongly upon the attention of the reader, that they can draw no aid from critical illustration. The fiery openness of Othello, magnanimous, artless, and credulous, boundless in his confidence, ardent in his affection, inflexible in his resolution, and obdurate in his revenge; the cool malignity of Iago, silent in his resentment, subtle in his designs, and studious at once of his interest and his vengeance; the soft simplicity of Desdemona, confident of merit, and conscious of innocence, her artless perseverance in her suit, and her slowness to suspect that she can be suspected, are such proofs of Shakespeare's skill in human nature, as, I suppose, it is vain to seek in any modern writer. The gradual progress which Iago makes in the Moor's conviction, and the circumstances which he employs to inflame him, are so artfully natural, that, though it will perhaps not be said of him as he says of himself, that he is a man not easily jealous, yet we cannot but pity him when at last we find him perplexed in the extreme. There is always danger lest wickedness conjoined with abilities should steal upon esteem, though it misses of approbation; but the character of Iago is so conducted, that he is from the first scene to the last hated and despised. Even the inferiour characters of this play would be very conspicuous in any other piece, not only for their justness but their strength. Cassio is brave, benevolent, and honest, ruined only by his want of stubbornness to resist an insidious invitation. Rodorigo's suspicious credulity, and impatient submission to the cheats which he sees practised upon him, and which by persuasion he suffers to be repeated, exhibit a strong picture of a weak mind betrayed by unlawful desires, to a false friend; and the virtue of Æmilia is such as we often find, worn loosely, but not cast off, easy to commit small crimes, but quickened and alarmed at atrocious villanies. The Scenes from the beginning to the end are busy, varied by happy interchanges, and regularly promoting the progression of the story; and the narrative in the end, though it tells but what is known already, yet is necessary to produce the death of Othello. Had the scene opened in Cyprus, and the preceding incidents been occasionally related, there had been little wanting to a drama of the most exact and scrupulous regularity.

Note return to page 747 11008002P. 3. I remember to have been told by my friend Mr. William Collins, that great part of this Play was founded on an Italian chemical Romance, called Orelia and Isabella; in which there was a spirit like Ariel. The chemistry of the dark ages was full of these spiritual agents. Mr. Warton.

Note return to page 748 11008003P. 10. &lblank; Key.] This doubtless is meant of a key for tuning the harpsichord, spinette or virginal; we call it now a tuning hammer, as it is used as well to strike down the iron pins whereon the strings are wound, as to turn them. As a key it acts like that of a watch. Mr. Hawkins.

Note return to page 749 11008004P. 22. Mir. Abhorred slave &lblank;] The modern editions, take this speech from Miranda, and give it to Prospero; tho' there is nothing in it but what she may speak with great propriety: especially as it accounts for her being enough in the way and power of Caliban to enable him to make the attempt complained of. Mr. Dryden, in the alteration made by him and Sir William Davenant, in this play, led the way to this change: which Mr. Theobald calls judicious, vol. i. p. 18. n. 10. and adds, “it would be very indecent for Miranda to reply to what was last spoke:” but it is probable the Poet thought otherwise, and that it was not only decent, but necessary, for her to clear her character, by shewing how the monster acquired an opportunity of making the attack. The Poet himself shews he intended Miranda should be his tutoress, in the latter end of the second scene of the second act, when he makes Caliban say “I've seen thee in her, my Mistress shewed me thee and thy dog and thy brush,” to Stephano, who has just assured the monster, he was the man in the moon when &lblank; Time was. Mr. Holt.

Note return to page 750 11008005P. 45. For spatter read utter. Revisal.

Note return to page 751 11008006P. 48. Young scamels from the rocks. &lblank;] Theobald substitutes shamois, for scamels; which last word, he says, has possessed all the editions. I am inclined to retain scamels: For in an old Will, dated 1593, I find the bequest of “a bed of scammel-colour,” i. e. of the colour of an animal so called, whose skin was then in use for dress or furniture. This, at least, shews the existence of the word at that time, and in Shakespeare's sense. Mr. Warton.

Note return to page 752 11008007P. 74. Weak masters though ye be.] The Revisal reads, weak ministers, probably, but without necessity. The meaning may be, Though you are but inferiour masters of these supernatural powers, though you possess them but in a low degree.

Note return to page 753 11008008P. 86. It is observed of the Tempest that its plan is regular; this the Revisal thinks, what I think too, an accidental effect of the story, not intended or regarded by the authour.

Note return to page 754 11008009P. 94. Beteem &lblank;] Or pour down upon them. Pope.

Note return to page 755 11008010P. 104. For through bush, &c. read in all the places thorough.

Note return to page 756 11008011P. 106. &lblank; that shrewd, and knavish sprite, Call'd Robin-goodfellow: are you not he, That fright the maidens of the villageree, Skim milk, and sometimes labour in the quern, And bootless make the breathless huse-wife chern: And sometime make the drink to bear no harm, Mislead night-wand'rers, laughing at their harm?] This account of Robin-goodfellow corresponds, in every article, with that given of him in Harsenet's Declaration, ch. 20. p. 135. “And if that the bowle of curdes and creame were not duly sett out for Robin-goodfellow, the frier, and sisse the dairy maid—why then either the pottage was burnt to next day in the pot, or the cheeses would not curdle, or the butter would not come, or the ale in the fat never would have got head. But if a pater-noster, or an housle-egge were beturned, or a patch of tythe unpaid—then beware of bull beggars, spirits, &c.” He is mentioned by Cartwright, as a spirit particularly fond of disconcerting and disturbing domestick peace and oeconomy. “Saint Francis and Saint Benedight, “Blesse this house from wicked wight; “From the night-mare, and the goblin “That is hight good-fellow Robin. “Keep it, &c.” Cartwright's Ordinary, Act iii. sc. i. v. 8. Mr. Warton.

Note return to page 757 11008012P. 118. It is not night, &c.] Tu nocte vel atrâ Lumen, et in solis tu mihi turba locis.

Note return to page 758 11008013P. 120. Queen. Come now, a roundel, and a fairy song.] From round comes roundel, and from roundel, roundelet. The first, the form of the figure, the second, the dance in the figure, the last, the song or tune to the dance. Anon. “And song in all the roundell lustily.” Chaucer's Knight's Tale, 1531. Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 759 11008014P. 126. Snowt. By'rlaken a parlous fear.] By our lady-kin, or little lady, as ifakins is a corruption of by my faith. These kind of oaths are laughed at, in the first part of Henry the Fourth, act iii. sc. iii. When Hotspur tells lady Percy, upon her saying in good sooth, “You swear like a comfit maker's wife, and give such sarcenet surety for your oaths, as if you never walked farther than Finsbury.” Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 760 11008015P. 132. There are but three fairies that salute Bottom, nor does he address himself to more, though four had entered before whom the queen had called by name, and commanded to do their courtesies. In short, I cannot tell what is become of monsieur Moth, unless he be prudently walk'd off, for fear of Cavalero Cobweb: for we hear no more of him either here, or in the next act, where the queen, Bottom and fairies are introduced again. Anon. Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 761 11008016P. 134. And at our stamp &lblank;] I apprehend the stamp of a fairy's foot might operate to the full as strongly on this occasion, as the stump of a tree. Mr. Steevens.

Note return to page 762 11008017P. 147. In the note, for abuy read aby.

Note return to page 763 11008018P. 150. Bottom. Nothing, good monsieur, but to help Cavalero Cobweb to scratch] Without doubt it should be Cavalero Peaseblossom: as for Cavalero, Cobweb, he had just been dispatched upon a perilous adventure. Anon. Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 764 11008019P. 161. Thes. &lblank; Call Philostrate.] Call Egæus, edit. 1632, and Egæus answers to his name there, and every where else in that old edition. Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 765 11008020P. 162. The thrice three muses mourning for the death Of learning, late deceas'd in beggary.] I do not know whether it has been before observed, that Shakespeare here, perhaps, alluded to Spenser's poem, entitled, The Tears of the Muses, on the neglect and contempt of learning. This piece first appeared in quarto, with others, 1591. The oldest edition of this play, now known, is dated 1600. If Spenser's poem be here intended, may we not presume that there is some earlier edition of this play? But, however, if the allusion be allowed, at least it serves to bring the play below 1591. Mr. Warton.

Note return to page 766 11008021P. 176. Of this play, wild and fantastical as it is, all the parts in their various modes are well written, and give the kind of pleasure which the authour designed. Fairies in his time were much in fashion; common tradition had made them familiar, and Spenser's poem had made them great.

Note return to page 767 11008022P. 189. Lucetta. Indeed I bid the base for Protheus &lblank;] Bidding the base was a country diversion, not unlike what is called barly break in the North, where some pursue others in order to take them prisoners. “Ne was Satyrane her far behind “But with like fierceness did ensue the chace: “Whom when the giant saw, he soon resign'd “His former suit, and from them fled apace; “They after both, and boldly bad him base. &lblank; Fairy Queen, book iii. canto ii. v. Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 768 11008023P. 190. Julia. I see you have a month's mind to them.] A month's mind was an anniversary in times of popery; or, as Mr. Ray calls it, a less solemnity directed by the will of the deceased. There was also a year's mind, and a week's mind. See proverbial phrases. This appears from the interrogatories and observations against the clergy, in the year 1552. Inter. VII. “Whether there are any month's minds, and anniversaries?” Strype's Memorials of the Reformation, vol. ii. p. 354. “Was the month's mind of Sir William Laxton, who died the last month (July 1556) his herse burning with wax, and the morrow mass celebrated, and a sermon preached, &c.” Strype's Memorial, vol. iii. p. 305. Dr. Gray. A month's mind in the ritual sense signifies not desire or inclination, but remembrance, yet I suppose this is the true original of the expression.

Note return to page 769 11008024P. 197. Oh! excellent motion, &c.] I think this passage requires a note, as every reader does not know, that motion, in the language of Shakespeare's days, signifies puppet. In Ben Johnson's Bartholomew Fair, it is frequently used in that sense, or rather, perhaps, to signify a puppet shew; the master whereof may properly be said to be an interpreter, as being the explainer of the inarticulate language of the actors: the speech of the servant is an allusion to that practice, and he means to say, that Silvia is a puppet, and that Valentine is to interpret to, or rather, for her. Mr. Hawkins.

Note return to page 770 11008025P. 198. Here Silvia calls her lover servant.—And again, below, she calls him gentle servant; this was the language of ladies to their lovers, at the time when Shakespeare wrote, and as the word is no longer used in that sense, would it not be proper to fix it by a note on this passage? Mr. Hawkins.

Note return to page 771 11008026P. 227. &lblank; St. Nicholas be thy speed.] That this Saint presided over young scholars, may be gathered from Knight's life of Dean Colet, p. 362. For by the statutes of Paul's school, there inserted, the children are required to attend divine service, at the cathedral, on his anniversary. The reason I take to be, that the legend of this saint makes him to have been a bishop, while he was a boy. At Salisbury cathedral is a monument of a boy bishop, and it is said, that a custom formerly prevailed there, of chusing, from among the choristers, a bishop, who actually performed the pastoral functions, and disposed of such prebends as became vacant during his episcopacy, which lasted but a few days: it is thought the monument above-mentioned was for some boy that died in office.—See the post-humous works of Mr. John Gregory, 4to. Oxon. Mr. Hawkins.

Note return to page 772 11008027P. 234. &lblank; awful men.] This, I think, should be lawful, in opposition to lawless men. In judicial proceedings the word has this sense. Mr. Hawkins.

Note return to page 773 11008028P. 276. For zenith, in the note, read youth.

Note return to page 774 11008029P. 281. Lucio. &lblank; 'tis my familiar sin, With maids 'to seem the lapwing, and to jest. Tongue far from heart &lblank;] The modern editors have not taken in the whole similitude here: they have taken notice of the lightness of a spark's behaviour to his mistress, and compared it to the lapwing's hovering and fluttering flying. But the chief, of which no notice is taken, is, &lblank; and to jest. (See Ray's Proverbs.) “The lapwing cries, Tongue far from heart,” most, farthest from the nest, i. e. She is, as Shakespeare has it here, Tongue far from heart. “The farther she is from her nest, where her heart is with her young ones, she is the louder, or, perhaps, all tongue.” Mr. Smith. Shakespeare has an expression of the like kind, Comedy of Errors, act iv, sc. iii, p. 246. Adr. Far from her nest, the lapwing cries away, My heart prays for him, tho' my tongue do curse. We meet with the same thought in John Lilly's comedy, intitled, Campaspe, (first published in 1591, act ii, sc. ii.) from whence Shakespeare might borrow it. Alexander to Hephestion. Alex. “Not with Timoleon you mean, wherein you resemble the lapwing, who crieth most where her nest is not, and so to lead me from espying your love for Campaspe, you cry Timoclea.” Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 775 11008030P. 318. &lblank; And follies doth emmew As faulcon doth the fowl.] Qu. faulconer. Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 776 11008031P. 328. Lucio. &lblank; ha? what say'st thou trot?] It should be read, I think, what say'st thou to't? the word trot being seldom (if ever) used to a man. Old trot-or trat, signifies a decrepit old woman, or an old drab. In which sense it is used by Gawin Douglas, Virgil's Ænead, book iv. “Out on the old trat, agit wyffe, or dame.” Dr. Gray. Trot, or as it is now often pronounced honest trout, is a familiar address to a man among the provincial vulgar.

Note return to page 777 11008032P. 331. Clackdish.] The beggars, two or three centuries ago, used to proclaim their want by a wooden dish, with a moveable cover, which they clacked, to shew that their vessel was empty. This appears in a passage quoted on another occasion by Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 778 11008033P. 336. The Revisal reads thus, How may such likeness trade in crimes, Making practice on the times, To draw with idle spider's strings Most pond'rous and substantial things; meaning by ponderous and substantial things, pleasure and wealth.

Note return to page 779 11008034P. 342. Clown. Sir, it is a mistery, &c.] If Mr. Warburton had attended to the argument by which Bawd proves his own profession to be a mistery, he would not have been driven to take refuge in the groundless supposition, “that part of the dialogue had been lost or dropped.” The argument of the Hangman is exactly similar to that of the Bawd. As the latter puts in his claim to the whores, as members of his occupation, and, in virtue of their painting, would enroll his own fraternity in the mistery of painters; so the former equally lays claim to the thieves, as members of his occupation, and, in their right, endeavours to rank his brethren, the hangmen, under the mistery of fitters of apparel, or taylors. The reading of the old editions is therefore undoubtedly right; except that the last speech, which makes part of the Hangman's argument, is by mistake, as the reader's own sagacity will readily perceive, given to the Clown or Bawd. I suppose, therefore, the poet gave us the whole thus: “Whor. Sir, it is a mistery. “Clown. Proof &lblank; “Whor. Every true man's apparel fits your thief: If it be too little for your thief, your true man thinks it big enough. If it be too big for your thief, your thief thinks it little enough, so every true man's apparel fits your thief.” I must do Mr. Warburton the justice to acknowledge, that he hath rightly apprehended, and explained the force of the Hangman's argument. Revisal.

Note return to page 780 11008035P. 345. &lblank; that spirit's possest with haste; That wounds the unsisting portal with these strokes.] Such is the reading of the original copy, from which later editors have coined unresisting, and unresting. I believe that the true word is unlistening, the deaf portal.

Note return to page 781 11008036P. 349. Tie the beard.] The Revisal recommends Mr. Simpson's emendation, die the beard; the present reading may well stand.

Note return to page 782 11008037P. 369. Informal women.] I think, upon further enquiry, that informal signifies incompetent, not qualified to give testimony. Of this use I think there are precedents to be found, though I cannot now recover them.

Note return to page 783 11008038P. 393. &lblank; there is the Count Palatine.] I make no doubt but the Count Palatine was some character notorious in Shakespeare's time. When Sir Epicure Mammon, in the Alchemist, is promising Face what great things he will do for him, he says, he shall be a Count, and adds slily, ay, a Count Palatine. The editor of Jonson has taken no notice at all of the passage, nor observes that the latter part of the line should be spoken aside, which the character of Sir Epicure would have justified him in doing. Mr. Steevens.

Note return to page 784 11008039P. 406. &lblank; Try conclusions.] Two of the quarto's read confusions, which is certainly right, because the first thing Launce does, is to confuse his father by the directions he gives him. Mr. Steevens.

Note return to page 785 11008040P. 408. &lblank; Your child that shall be.] Launce, by your child that shall be, means, that his duty to his father shall, for the future, shew him to be his child. It was rather become necessary for him to say something of that sort, after all the tricks he had been playing him. Mr. Steevens.

Note return to page 786 11008041P. 416. Laun. Then it was not for nothing that my nose fell a bleeding on Black Monday last.] Black Monday “is a moveable day, it is Easter-Monday, and was so called on this occasion. In the 34th of Edward III. (1360) the 14th of April, and the morrow after Easterday, king Edward, with his host, lay before the city of Paris; which day was full dark of mist and hail, and so bitter cold, that many men died on their horses backs with the cold. Wherefore, unto this day, it hath been called the Blacke-Monday.” Stowe, p. 264–6. Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 787 11008042P. 424. &lblank; Your mind of love.] This imaginary corruption is removed by only putting a comma after mind. Mr. Langton.

Note return to page 788 11008043P. 446. Whose souls do bear an equal yoke of love.] “An egal yoke of love.” Fol. 1632. Egal, I believe, in Shakespeare's time, was commonly used for equal. So it was in Chaucer's. “Aye to compare unto thyne excellence, “I will presume hym so to dignifie, “Yet be not egall.” Prologue to the Remedy of Love. So in Gorbodac. “Sith all as one do bear you egall faith.” Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 789 11008044P. 454. Read thus; &lblank; cannot contain their urine. For affections, Masters of passion, sway it to the mood Of what it likes or loaths. As for affection, those that know to operate upon the passions of men, rule it by making it operate in obedience to the notes which please or disgust it.

Note return to page 790 11008045P. 454. Woolen bagpipe.] This passage is clear from all difficulty, if we read swoln bagpipe; which, that we should, I have not the least doubt. Mr. Hawkins.

Note return to page 791 11008046P. 488. The Merchant of Venice.] The antient ballad, on which the greater part of this play is probably founded, has been mentioned in Observations on the Fairy Queen, l. 129. Shakespeare's track of reading may be traced in the common books and popular stories of the times, from which he manifestly derived most of his plots. Historical songs, then very fashionable, often suggested and recommended a subject. Many of his incidental allusions also relate to pieces of this kind; which are now grown valuable on this account only, and would otherwise have been deservedly forgotten. A ballad is still remaining on the subject of Romeo and Juliet, which, by the date appears to be much older than Shakespeare's time. It is remarkable, that all the particulars in which that play differs from the story in Bandello, are found in this ballad. But it may be said, that he copied this story as it stands in Paynter's Pallace of Pleasure, 1567, where there is the same variation of circumstances. This, however, shews us that Shakespeare did not first alter the original story for the worse, and is at least a presumptive proof that he never saw the Italian. Shakespeare alludes to the tale of king Cophetua and the beggar, more than once. This was a ballad; the oldest copy of which, that I have seen, is in “A crown garland of golden roses gathered out of England's royall garden, 1612.” The collector of this miscellany was Richard Johnson, who compiled, from various romances, the seven champions. This story of Cophetua was in high vogue, as appears from our author's manner of introducing it in Love's Labour lost, Act iv. sc. i. As likewise from John Marston's Satires, called the Scourge of Villanie, printed 1598, viz. Go buy some ballad of the fairy king, And of the beggar wench some rogie thing. Sign. B. 2. The first stanza of the ballad begins thus, I read, that once in Africa   A prince that there did raine, Who had to name Cophetua,   As poets they do faine, &c. The prince, or king, falls in love with a female beggar, whom he sees accidentally from the windows of his palace, and afterwards marries her. [Sign. D. 4.] The song, cited at length by the learned Dr. Gray, on this subject, is evidently spurious, and much more modern than Shakespeare's time. The name Cophetua is not once mentioned in it. Notes on Shak. vol. ii. p. 267. However, I suspect, there is some more genuine copy than that of 1612, which I before mentioned. But this point may be, perhaps, adjusted by an ingenious enquirer into our old English literature, who is now publishing a curious collection of antient ballads, which will illustrate many passages in Shakespeare. I doubt not but he received the hint of writing on king Lear from a Ballad of that subject. But in most of his historical plays he copies from Hall, Hollingshead, and Stowe, the reigning historians of that age. And although these chronicles were then universally known and read, he did not scruple to transcribe their materials with the most circumstantial minuteness. For this, he could not escape an oblique stroke of satire from his envious friend, Ben Johnson, in the comedy called, The Devil's an Ass, Act ii. sc. iv. “Fitz-dot. Thomas of Woodstock, I'm sure, was duke: and he was made away at Calice, as duke Humfrey was at Bury. And Richard the Third, you know what end he came to. “Meer-er. By my faith, you're cunning in the Chronicle. “Fitz-dot. No, I confess, I ha't from the play-books, and think they're more authentick.” In Antony Wood's collection of ballads, in the Ashmolean Museum, I find one with the following title. “The lamentable and tragical historie of Titus Andronicus, with the fall of his five and twentie sons in the wars with the Goths, with the murder of his daughter Lavinia, by the empresses two sons, through the means of a bloody Moor taken by the sword of Titus in the war: his revenge upon their cruell and inhumane acte.” “You noble minds, and famous martiall wights.” The use which Shakespeare might make of this piece is obvious. Mr. Warton.

Note return to page 792 11008047P. 62. Unquestionable spirit.] May it not mean unwilling to be conversed with? Mr. Chamier.

Note return to page 793 11008048P. 72. In the note, for arrow's mark, read hollow mark.

Note return to page 794 11008049P. 92. The Revisal justly observes, that the affair of poisoning Overbury did not break out till 1615, long after Shakespeare had left the stage.

Note return to page 795 11008050P. 93. And you fair sister.] Oliver speaks to her in the character she has assumed, of a woman courted by Orlando his brother. Mr. Chamier.

Note return to page 796 11008051P. 97. The same transposition of these stanzas is made by Dr. Thirlby, in a copy containing some notes on the margin, which I have perused by the favour of the Honourable Sir Edward Walpole.

Note return to page 797 11008052P. 114. Read, Too much to know, is to know nought, but fame; And every Godfather can give a name. That is, too much knowledge gives only fame, a name which every Godfather can give likewise.

Note return to page 798 11008053P. 125. Moth. &lblank; And how easy is it to put years to the word three, and study three years in two words, the dancing horse will tell you.] Bank's horse, which plaid many remarkable pranks. Sir Walter Raleigh, (History of the World, first part, p. 178.) says “If Banks had lived in older times, he would have shamed all the inchanters in the world: for whosoever was most famous among them, could never master, or instruct any beast as he did his horse.” And Sir Kenelm Digby (a Treatise of Bodies, chap. 38. p. 393.) observes, “That this horse would restore a glove to the due owner, after the master had whispered the man's name in his ear; would tell the just number of pence in any piece of silver coin, newly shewed him by his master; and even obey presently his command, in discharging himself of his excrements, whensoever he had bade him.” Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 799 11008054P. 130. In the note, for chapman he, read chapman here.

Note return to page 800 11008055P. 140. Moth. Master will you win your love with a French brawl?] Master, not in folio 1632. A brawl, a kind of dance. Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 801 11008056P. 151. For the King and Beggar see Mr. Percy's collection of ballads.

Note return to page 802 11008057P. 157. And such barren plants are set before us, &c.] The length of these lines was no novelty on the English stage. The moralities afford scenes of the like measure.

Note return to page 803 11008058P. 176. Teaches such beauty.] The sense is plain without correction. A lady's eye give a fuller notion of beauty than any authour.

Note return to page 804 11008059P. 197. Ros. Well, better wits have worn plain statute caps.] Woollen caps were enjoined by act of parliament, in the year 1571, 13th Queen Elizabeth. “Besides the bills passed into acts this parliament, there was one which I judge not amiss to be taken notice of &lblank; it concerned the Queen's care for employment for her poor sort of subjects. It was for continuance of making and wearing woollen caps, in behalf of the trade of cappers; providing, that all above the age of six years, (except the nobility and some others) should on Sabbath days, and holy days, wear caps of wool, knit, thicked, and drest in England, upon penalty of ten groats.” Dr. Gray. I think my own interpretation of this passage right.

Note return to page 805 11008060P. 200. “This is the flower that smiles on every one, “To shew his teeth as white as whales bone.”] As white as whales bone, is a proverbial comparison in the old poets. In the Fairy Queen, b. iii. c. i. st. 15. “Whose face did seem as clear as crystal stone, “And eke, through feare, as white as whales bone.” And in Tuberville's Poems, printed in the year 1570, is an ode intitled, “In Praise of Ladie P.” “Her mouth so small, her teeth so white,   “As any whale his bone; “Her lips without so lively red,   “That passe the corall stone.” And in L. Surrey, fol. 14. edit, 1567. “I might perceive a wolf, as white as whales bone. “A fairer beast of fresher hue, beheld I never none.” Again, in the old romance of Syr Degore. “The Kyng had no chyldren, but one, “A daughter, as white as whales bone. Skelton joins the whales bone with the brightest precious stones, in describing the position of Pallas. “A hundred steppes mounting to the halle, “One of jasper, another of whales bone; “Of diamantes pointed by the rokky walle.” Crownie of Lawrell, p. 24. edit. 1736. Mr. Warton.

Note return to page 806 11008061P. 206. Knew my Lady's foot by th' Squier.] Esquierre, French, a rule or square. Revisal.

Note return to page 807 11008062P. 215. Boyet. True, and it was enjoyn'd him in Rome for want of linnen, &c.] This is a plain reference to the following story in Stow's Annals, p. 98. (in the time of Edward the Confessor.) “Next after this (king Edward's first cure of the king's evil) mine authors affirm, that a certain man, named Vifunius Spileorne, the son of Ulmore of Nutgarshall, who, when he hewed timber in the wood of Brutheullena, laying him down to sleep after his sore labour, the blood and humours of his head so congealed about his eyes, that he was thereof blind, for the space of nineteen years; but then (as he had been moved in his sleep) he went woolward and bare footed to many churches, in every of them to pray to God for help in his blindness.” Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 808 11008063P. 217. We to ourselves prove false.] The present reading may stand as well as that which I have substituted.

Note return to page 809 11008064P. 223. Keel the pot.] This word is yet in use in Ireland, and signifies to scum the pot. Mr. Goldsmith.

Note return to page 810 11008065P. 235. &lblank; that may blow No sneaping winds.] The same as may there blow. A gallicism.

Note return to page 811 11008066P. 242. Leo. &lblank; Mine honest friend, Will you take eggs for money?] The meaning of which is, Will you put up affronts? The French have a proverbial saying, Aqui vendez vous coquilles? i. e. whom do you design to affront? Mamilius's answer plainly proves it. Mam. No my Lord, I'll fight. Mr. Smith.

Note return to page 812 11008067P. 251. The vice is an instrument well known; its operation is to hold things together. The Revisal reads, to 'ntice you to't. I think not rightly.

Note return to page 813 11008068P. 259. I would land-dam him.] Sir T. H. interprets, stop his urine. Was Antigonus then his physician, or a wizard, to have, what he says he would do, in his power? Antigonus was a Sicilian lord, who might land-dam him in one sense, that is confine him. If it had been spelt damn, I should have thought he might have meant, he would procure sentence to be passed on him here on earth; or to interdict him the use of earth, one of the elements, which interdiction was always included in a formal curse. Mr. Steevens.

Note return to page 814 11008069P. 260. In the margin, for sinking read striking.

Note return to page 815 11008070P. 260. And I had rather glib myself, than they Should not produce fair issue.] For glib, I think we should read lib, which in the Northern language, is the same with geld. In the Court Beggar, by Mr. Richard Brome, act iv. the word lib is used in this sense. “He can sing a charm (he says) shall make you feel no pain in your libbing, nor after it: no tooth-drawer, nor corn-cutter did ever work with so little feeling to a patient.” Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 816 11008071P. 276. &lblank; since he came, With what encounter so uncurrent I Have strain'd to appear thus;] I am always willing to support an old reading, if any reason can be found for doing so. The sense seems to be this: With what encounter so uncurrent have I caught a wrench in my character to appear thus to you. &lblank; a noble nature May catch a wrench. &lblank; Mr. Steevens.

Note return to page 817 11008072P. 289. For her periods, read his periods.

Note return to page 818 11008073P. 293. My traffick is sheets, when the kite builds look to lesser linen.] The meaning, I believe, is, I leave small linen for the kite to line her nest with.

Note return to page 819 11008074P. 300. Grace and remembrance.] Rue was called herb of grace. Rosemary was the emblem of remembrance; I know not why, unless because it was carried at funerals.

Note return to page 820 11008075P. 302. &lblank; violets dim But sweeter than the lids of Juno's eyes.] Sweeter than an eye-lid is an odd image. Johnson. Was it not the fashion formerly to kiss the eyes, as a mark of extraordinary tenderness? I think I have somewhere met with an account of the first reception one of our kings gave to his queen, where he is said to have kissed her fair eyes. Mr. Steevens.

Note return to page 821 11008076P. 306. Clo. &lblank; Clamour your tongues, And not a word more.] The word clamour, when applied to bells, does not signify in Shakespeare a ceasing, but a continued ringing. Thus used in his play, intitled, Much ado about Nothing, act v. sc. vii. vol. ii. p. 86. Benedick. &lblank; “If a man “Do not erect in this age his own tomb e'er he dies, “He shall not live no longer in monument than the “Bells ring, and the widow weeps. Beatrice. “And how long is that think you? Benedick. “Question; Why an hour in clamour, “And a quarter in rheum.” But I should rather imagine, he wrote charm your tongues, as Sir Thomas Hanmer has altered it, as he uses the expression, third part of King Henry the Sixth, act v. sc. vi. K. Ed. “Peace, wilful boy, or “I will charm your tongue.” And in Othello, Moor of Venice, act. v. sc. viii. p. 397. Iago. “Mistress, go to, charm your tongue. Emilia. “I will not charm my tongue, I am bound to speak; “My mistress lies here murdered in her bed.” We meet with the like expression, and in the same sense, in Ben. Johnson, Cynthia's Revels, act i. sc. i. Mercurio. “How now my dancing braggart, in decimo sexto; charm your skipping tongue, or I'll &lblank; Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 822 11008077P. 307. You promised me a tawdry lace and a pair of sweet gloves.] Tawdry lace is thus described in Skinner, by his friend Dr. Henshawe. “Tawdrie lace, astrigmenta, timbriæ, seu fasciolæ, emtæ Nundinis Sæ. Etheldredæ celebratis: Ut recte monet Doc. Thomas Hen. shawe.” Etymol. in voce. We find it in Spenser's Pastorals, Aprill.   And gird in your waste, For more finenesse, with a tawdrie lace. As to the other present, promised by Camillo to Mopsa, of sweet, or perfumed gloves, they are frequently mentioned by Shakespeare, and were very fashionable in the age of Elizabeth, and long afterwards. Thus Autolicus, in the song just preceding this passage, offers to sale, Gloves as sweet as damask roses. Stowe's Continuator, Edmund Howes, informs us, that the English could not “make any costly wash or perfume, until about the fourteenth or fifteenth of the queene [Elizabeth], the right honourable Edward Vere earle of Oxford came from Italy, and brought him with gloves, sweet bagges, a perfumed leather jerkin, and other pleasant thinges: and that yeare the queene had a payre of perfumed gloves trimmed onlie with foure tuftes, or roses, of cullered silke. The queene tooke such pleasure in those gloves, that shee was pictured with those gloves upon her hands: and for many yeers after it was called the erle of Oxfordes perfume.” Stowe's Annals by Howes, edit. 1614. p. 868. col. 2. In the annual accounts of a college in Oxford, anno 1630, is this article, solut. pro fumigandis chirotheis. Mr. Warton.

Note return to page 823 11008078P. 312. Dispute his own estate.] Does not this allude to the next heir sueing for the estate in cases of imbecillity, lunacy, &c. Mr Chamier.

Note return to page 824 11008079P. 320. Autolicus. &lblank; I have Sold all my trumpery, not a counterfeit stone, Not a ribbon, glass, pomander.] A pomander was a little ball made of perfumes, and worn in the pocket, or about the neck, to prevent infection in times of plague. In a tract, intitled, Certain necessary directions, as well for curing the plague, as for preventing infection, printed 1636, there are directions for making two sorts of pomanders, one for the rich and another for the poor. Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 825 11008080P. 323. Pedler's excrement, is pedler's beard.

Note return to page 826 11008081P. 324. Therefore they do not give us the lye.] The meaning is, they are paid for lying, therefore they do not give us the lye; they sell it us.

Note return to page 827 11008082P. 330. Where we offend her new.] The Revisal reads, Were we offenders new. Very reasonably.

Note return to page 828 11008083P. 380.] By my troth the fool has an excellent breast.] That is, he has an excellent voice. It was proposed to Theobald to read breath for breast. Theobald's reasons for retaining breast, may be corroborated from the following passage in the statutes given to Stoke College by archbishop Parker 1535: “Of which said queristers, after their breasts are changed, we will, the most apt be helpen with exhibition of forty shillings, &c.” Strype's life of Parker, p. 9. That is, the boys when their voices were changed; or broke, and consequently rendered unserviceable to the choir, were to be removed to the university. Mr. Warton.

Note return to page 829 11008084P. 384. The steward might in these days wear a chain as a badge of office, or mark of dignity; and the method of cleaning a chain, or any gilt plate, is by rubbing it with crums. Mr. Steevens.

Note return to page 830 11008085P. 390. For imphatical, read emphatical.

Note return to page 831 11008086P. 392. The lady of the strachy married the yeoman of the wardrobe.] Stracchio (see Torriano's and Altieri's Italian Dictionaries, under the letters T I K A,) signifies rags, clouts and tatters. And Torriano, in the grammar at the end of his dictionary, says, that straccio was pronounced stratchy. So that it is probable, that Shakespeare's meaning was this, that the chief lady of the queen's wardrobe had married a yeoman of the king's, who was vastly inferior to her. Mr. Smith.

Note return to page 832 11008087P. 393. &lblank; how now my nettle of India?] The poet must here mean a plant called the urtica marina, abounding in the Indian seas. “Quæ tacta totius corporis pruritum quendam excitat, unde nomen urticæ est sortita. Wolfgan. Hist. Animal. “Urticæ marinæ omnes pruritum quendam movent, & acrimonia suâ venerem extinctam & sopitam excitant. Johnston's Hist. Nat. de Exang. Aquat. p. 56. Mr. Steevens.

Note return to page 833 11008088P. 399. Tray-trip.] I am almost certain that tray-trip was a game then in fashion, as I have somewhere read among the commendations of a young nobleman, that he was good at the game of try-trip, or tray-trip. I am not sufficiently acquainted with the characters of the two persons, to be able to say, supposing the game to be called try-trip, which may be the same as wrestling, whether either of them had courage enough to have given such a challenge. Mr. Steevens.

Note return to page 834 11008089P. 429. Clown. Nay I am for all masters.] i. e. a cloak for all kinds of knavery; taken from the Italian proverb, Tu bai mantillo da ogni acqua. Mr. Smith.

Note return to page 835 11008090P. 431. Are you not mad, &c.] The reading may stand, and the sense continue such as I have given in the note.

Note return to page 836 11008091P. 441. Sir To. Then he's a rogue, and a past measure painim.] Then he's a rogue, after a passy-measure pavin, folio 1632, and probably right, being an allusion to the quick measure of the pavin, a dance in Shakespeare's time. Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 837 11008092P. 452. Evans. The dozen white lowses do become an old coat well, &c. Shallow. The luce is the fresh fish, the salt fish is an old coat.] Shakespeare by hinting that the arms of the Shallows and the Lucys were the same, shews he could not forget his old friend Sir Thomas Lucy, pointing at him under the character of Justice Shallow. But to put the matter out of all doubt, Shakespeare has here given us a distinguishing mark, whereby it appears, that Sir Thomas was the very person represented by Shallow. To set blundering parson Evans right, Shallow tells him, The luce is not the lowse, but the fresh fish, or pike, the salt fish (indeed) is an old coat. The plain English of which is, if I am not greatly mistaken, The family of the Charlcott's had for their arms a salt fish originally; but when William, son of Walter de Charlcott, assumed the name of Lucy, in the time of Henry the third, he took the arms of the Lucys. This is not at all improbable, for we find, when Maud Lucy bequeathed her estate to the Piercies, it was upon condition, they joined her arms with their own. “And, says Dugdale, 'tis likely William de Charlcott took the name of Lucy to oblige his mother,” and I say farther, it is as likely he took the arms of the Lucys at the same time. The luce is the fresh fish (our modern coat of arms); the salt fish (our ancient coat) an old coat. Mr. Smith. The luce a pike, or jack. “Many a fair partriche had he in mewe, “And many a breme, and many a luce in stewe. Chaucer's Prologues of the Canterbury Tales, 351, 52.

Note return to page 838 11008093P. 453. Shallow. The council shall hear it; it is a riot.] He alludes to a statute made in the reign of king Henry the fourth (13th, chap. vii.) by which it is enacted, “That the justices, three, or two of them, and the sheriff, shall certifie before the king, and his counselle, all the deeds and circumstances thereof, (namely, of the riot) which certification should be of the like force as the presentment of twelve: upon which certificate, the trespassers and offenders, shall be put to answer, and they, which be found guilty, shall be punished according to the discretion of the king and counselle.” Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 839 11008094P. 454. Slender. How does your fallow greybound? I heard say he was outrun on Cotsale.] Cotswold, a village in Worcestershire, or Warwickshire, was famous for rural exercises and sports of all sorts. Falstaff, or Shallow, in another place, talks of a stout fellow, “Cotswold man, i. e. one who was a native of this very place, so famous for tryals of strength, activity, &c. and consequently, a robust athletic person.” I have seen a poem, or rather a collection of poems, which, I think, is called, The Cotswold muse, containing a description of these games.

Note return to page 840 11008095Ibid. Pistol. How now Mephistophilus?] This is the name of a spirit, or familiar, in the old story book of Sir John Faustus, or John Faust. Mr. Warton.

Note return to page 841 11008096P. 463. Let me see thee froth and live.] This passage has passed through all the editions without suspicion of being corrupted; but the reading of the old quartos of 1602, and 1619, Let me see the froth and lyme, I take to be the true one. The host calls for an immediate specimen of Bardolph's abilities, as a tapster; and frothing beer and liming sack were tricks in practice in Shakespeare's time; the one was done by putting soap into the bottom of the tankard, when they drew the beer; the other, by mixing lime with the sack (i. e. sherry) to make it sparkle in the glass. Froth and live is sense; but a little forced; and to make it so, we must suppose the host could guess, by his skill in doing the former, how he would succeed in the world. Falstaff himself complains of limed sack. Mr. Steevens.

Note return to page 842 11008097P. 464. The anchor is deep.] Nym, in this place, does not mean that Mrs. Ford resembles a ship's anchor, but a cask called an anchor, which smugglers make use of to this day, for the convenience of carrying their brandy on horses; and says, the anchor is deep, in answer to Falstaff's expression, that he spies entertainment in her; for what greater entertainment could Nym have an idea of, than was to be found in a deep anchor, provided the liquor it contained was to his taste. The word is generally spelt anchor. Chambers says it is a measure chiefly used at Amsterdam, and spells it from the Dutch word anker. The remarks the two characters make on Falstaff's report, are the most proper that could be put into their mouths. Pistol, who affects to borrow phrases from literature, says, he hath studied her well, and translated her out of honesty into English. Nym, whose turn it is to speak next, and who loved hard drinking better than any thing else, borrows an allusion from it, and says, the anchor is deep. Mr. Steevens. I do not think this right.

Note return to page 843 11008098P. 467. &lblank; Revolt of mien.] This quaint expression, in the mouth of Nym, seems to imply no more than one of the effects he has just ascribed to jealousy. He says, he will possess him with yellowness, and surely revolt of mien, or change of countenance, is one of the first symptoms of being affected by that passion. Mr. Steevens.

Note return to page 844 11008099P. 468. Simple. He hath but a little wee face.] Wee, in the Northern dialect, signifies very little. “The quene astonyst ane little we “At the first sicht, behalding his bewte. Gawin Douglass's Virgil, p. 32. edit. 1710. Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 845 11008100P. 468. And vetch me in my closet un boitier verd.] Boitier, in French, signifies a case of surgeon's instruments. Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 846 11008101P. 484. Falstaff. (To Nym and Pistol.) Go, go, a short knife and a thong to your manor of Picthatch.] Part of the employment given by Drayton, in the Mooncalf, to the Baboon, seems the same with this recommended by Falstaff. He like a gipsy oftentimes would go, All kinds of gibberish he had learnt to know, And with a stick, a short string, and a noose, Would shew the people tricks at fast and loose. Theobald has throng instead of thong. The latter seems right. Mr. Langton.

Note return to page 847 11008102P. 504. We have linger'd, &c.] The expression of having linger'd, in this place, seems to mean no more than that Slender has been backward in his own addresses, as indeed he may be allowed to have been, as he never ventured further in his first interview, than to recommend himself obliquely to his mistress; and he had declared before, that if he married her, it would be at the request of Shallow, not promising himself any great degree of happiness, from the part his own love would have in the affair. Shallow says, We have, speaking in his own person, as well as for his friend. Mr. Steevens.

Note return to page 848 11008103P. 526. In the note for lanes read lunes.

Note return to page 849 11008104P. 547. Falstaff. Divide me like a bribe-buck, each a haunch, I will keep my sides for myself, my shoulders for the fellow of this walk.] To the keeper the shoulders and humbles belonging as a perquisite. Dr. Gray. Mr. Reynolds is of opinion that by the fellow of this walk is meant Herne the hunter.

Note return to page 850 11008105P. 554. In the note, for intelligible, read unintelligible.

Note return to page 851 11008106P. 5. Brach. Merriman, the poor cur is embost, And couple Clouder with the deep mouth'd brach.] Here, says Pope, brach signifies a degenerate hound: But Edwards explains it a hound in general. That the latter of these criticks is right, will appear from the use of the word brach in Sir J. Mores's Comfort against Tribulation, book iii. ch. 24. “Here it must be known of some men that can skill of hunting, whether that we mistake not our terms, for then are we utterly ashamed, as ye wott well.—And I am so cunning, that I cannot tell, whether among them a bitche be a bitche or no; but as I remember she is no bitche but a brache.” The meaning of the latter part of the paragraph seems to be, “I am so little skilled in hunting, that I can hardly tell whether a bitch be a bitch or not: my judgement goes no further than just to direct me to call either dog or bitch by their general name &lblank; Hound.” I am aware that Spelman acquaints his reader, that brache was used in his days for a lurcher, and that Shakespeare himself has made it a dog of a particular species. Mastiff greyhound, mungrill grim, Hound or spaniel, brache or hym. K. Lear, act iii. sc. v. But it is manifest from the passage of More just cited, that it was sometimes applied in a general sense, and may therefore be so understood in the passage before us; and it may be added, that brache appears to be used in the same sense, by Beaumont and Fletcher. “A. Is that your Brother? E. Yes: have you lost your memory? A. As I live he is a pretty fellow: Y. O this is a sweet brache!” Scornful Lady, act i. sc. i. Instead of brache, Hanmer reads, leech Merriman. Mr. Warton.

Note return to page 852 11008107P. 15. Padua is a city of Lombardy, therefore Mr. Theobald's emendation is wrong. Revisal. The old reading may stand.

Note return to page 853 11008108P. 30. Have I not in a pitched battle heard Loud, larums, neighing steeds, and trumpets clang?] Probably the word clang is here used adjectively, as in the Paradise Lost, b. xi. v. 829, and not as a verb. &lblank; An island salt and bare, The haunt of seals, and ores, and sea-mews, clang. Mr. Warton.

Note return to page 854 11008109P. 45. My land amounts but to so much in all.] The old reading was right, his land amounted but to so much, but he supplied the deficiency with an Argosie, or ship of great value. Revisal.

Note return to page 855 11008110P. 52. Past cure of the fives.] So called in the Western part of England. Vives elsewhere, and avives by the French. A distemper in horses, little differing from the strangles.

Note return to page 856 11008111Id. ib. Infected with the fashions.] So called in the West of England, but by the best writers on farriery, farcins, or farcy. Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 857 11008112P. 61. Be the Jacks fair within, the Jills fair without.] Dr. Warburton seems to have made one blunder here, while he is censuring Sir T. H. for another. Warburton explains it thus, Are the drinking vessels clean, and the maids drest? Hanmer alters the text thus, Are the Jacks fair without, the Jills fair within? This seems to mean, Are the men, who are waiting without the house, for my master, dress'd, and the maids, who are waiting within, dress'd too? The joke here intended is only a play upon the words of Jack and Jill, which signify two drinking measures, as well as men and maids; the distinction made in the question concerning them was owing to this; the jacks, being made of leather, could not be made to appear beautiful on the outside, but were very apt to contract foulness within; whereas the jills, being of pewter, were to be kept bright on the outside, and, as they were of metal, were not liable to dirt on the inside, like the leather. Mr. Steevens.

Note return to page 858 11008113P. 64. In the note, dele good.

Note return to page 859 11008114P. 99. For nevel narrative, read real narrative.

Note return to page 860 11008115P. 116. I see the jewel best enamel'd, &c.] The Revisal reads thus, &lblank; Yet the gold 'bides still That others touch, though often touching will Wear gold, and so a man that hath a name, By falsehood and corruption doth it shame.

Note return to page 861 11008116P. 121. I live distain'd, &c.] The Revisal reads, I live distained, then dishonour'd. I am in doubt.

Note return to page 862 11008117P. 130. In the note, for casting, read lasting.

Note return to page 863 11008118P. 142. S. Dormio. A back friend, a shoulder clapper, one that commands the passage of allies, creeks, and narrow lands.] It should be written, I think, narrow lanes, as he has the same expression, Richard II. Act 5. Sc. vi. p. 82. “Enquire at London, 'mong the taverns there, “For there, they say, he daily doth frequent “With unrestrained, loose companions, “Even such, they say, as stand in narrow lanes.” Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 864 11008119P. 142. Draws dry-foot well.] Ben. Johnson has the like expression, Every Man in his Humour, act ii. sc. iv. “Well, the truth is, my old master intends to follow my young dry-foot over Moor-fields to London this morning; now I knowing of this hunting match, &c.” To draw dry-foot, is when the dog pursues the game by the scent of their foot; for which the blood-hound is famed. Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 865 11008120P. 175. &lblank; challeng'd Cupid at the bird bolt.] To challenge at the bird bolt, does not seem to mean the same as to challenge at children's archery with small arrows, such as are discharged at birds, but means, as Benedict had dared Cupid to the use of his own arrows, which we suppose to be the most pointed and mischievous of any in the world, the fool, to laugh at him, accepts the challenge for Cupid, but proposes the use of bird bolts in their room, which are short thick arrows of about a foot long, and have no points, but spread near the end, so as to leave a flat surface of about the size of a shilling, and are to this day in use to kill rooks with, and are shot from a cross bow. Tho' lady Olivia opposes a bird bolt to a cannon, she does not surely mean to compare the lightest with the heaviest of weapons, because a bird bolt is not light enough to allow of the comparison. There are signs in London where the shape of the bolt is preserved. Mr. Steevens.

Note return to page 866 11008121P. 190. In the note, for trifling, read trying.

Note return to page 867 11008122P. 192. Speak low if you speak love.] This speech, which is given to Pedro, should be given to Margaret. Revisal.

Note return to page 868 11008123P. 206. Pedro. See you where Benedick hath hid himself? Claudio. Very well my Lord, the musick ended, we'll sit the kidfox with a penniworth.] i. e. we will be even with the fox, now discovered. So the word kid, or kidde, signifies in Chaucer, “The sothfastness that now is hid, “Without coverture shall be kid. “When I undoen have this dreming.” Romaunt of the Rose, 2171, &c. “Perceiv'd or shew'd. “He kidde anon his bone was not broken.” Troilus and Cresseide, lib. i. 208. “With that anon sterte out daungere, “Out of the place where he was hidde, “His malice in his cheere was kidde.” Romaunt of the Rose, 2130. Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 869 11008124P. 267. Those that slew thy virgin knight.] In the old books of chivalry a virgin knight signifies one who had yet atchieved no adventure. Hero had certainly atchieved no matrimonial one. Mr. Steevens.

Note return to page 870 11008125P. 783. &lblank; some stain of soldier.] Stain, for colour. Parolles was in red, as appears from his being afterwards called, red-tailed humble bee. Warburton. It does not appear from either of these expressions, that Parolles was entirely drest in red. Shakespeare writes only some stain of soldier, meaning he had only red breeches on, which is sufficiently evident, from calling him afterwards red-tailed humble bee. Mr. Steevens.

Note return to page 871 11008126P. 297. For surplus, read surplice.

Note return to page 872 11008127P. 309. &lblank; I have seen a medicine That's able to breath life into a stone, Quicken a rock, and make you dance canary.] Mr. Richard Brome, in his comedy, intitled, The City Wit, or The Woman wears the Breeches, act iv. sc. i. mentions this among other dances. “As for corantoes, levoltos, jigs, measures, pavins, brawls, galliards, or canaries; I speak it not swellingly, but I subscribe to no man.” Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 873 11008128P. 329. Parolles. He wears his honour in a box, unseen, That hugs his kicksy-wicksy here at home.] Sir Thomas Hanmer, in his Glossary, observes, that kicksy-wicksy is a made word, in ridicule and disdain of a wife. Taylor, the water poet, has a poem in disdain of his debtors, intitled, A kicksy winsy, or A Lerry come Twang. Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 874 11008129P. 341. For piercing, read piecing air.

Note return to page 875 11008130P. 361. If I should swear by Jove's great attributes.] In the print of the old folio, it is doubtful whether it is Jove's or Love's, the characters being not distinguishable. If it is read Love's, perhaps it may be something less difficult. I am still at a loss.

Note return to page 876 11008131P. 372. Pox on him he is a cat still.] Mr. Johnson has explained this passage thus, Throw him how you will, he lights upon his legs. Bertram means no such thing. In a speech or two before, he declares his aversion to a cat, and now only continues of the same opinion, and says, he hates Parolles as much as a cat. The other meaning will not do, as Parolles could not be meant by the cat which lights always on its legs, for he is now in a fair way to be totally disconcerted. Mr. Steevens. I am still of my former opinion.

Note return to page 877 11008132P. 379. In the note, for haggish, read waggish.

Note return to page 878 11008133P. 383. The first speech in this page does not belong to Lafeu but the Clown. Lafeu enters presently after. Mr. Steevens.

Note return to page 879 11008134P. 411. For have his hate, read, have is hate.

Note return to page 880 11008135P. 423. In the note, for plague her sin, read plague her son. And afterwards, for punish her sin, read punish her son.

Note return to page 881 11008136P. 443. And hang a calves-skin on those recreant limbs.] A calf's skin in those days was the dress of a fool. Mr. Hawkins.

Note return to page 882 11008137P. 455. Dr. Warburton says, we should read (i. e. alter this passage) thus: Sound one unto the drowsy race of night. I should suppose sound on (which is the reading of the folio) to be right. The meaning seems to be this; if the midnight bell, by repeated strokes, was to hasten away the race of beings that are busy at that hour, or quicken night itself in its progress, the morning bell (that is the bell that strikes one) could never properly be made the agent, for the bell has ceased to be in the service of night when it proclaims the arrival of day. Sound on has a peculiar propriety, because by the repetition of the strokes at twelve it gives a much more forcible warning than when it only strikes one. Mr. Steevens.

Note return to page 883 11008138P. 458. The Revisal thinks it evident that for modern invocation should be read mothers invocation. I think modern is used as it is here in other passages of Shakespeare.

Note return to page 884 11008139P. 467. Arthur. No, in good sooth, the fire is dead with grief, There is no malice in this burning coal, The breath of heav'n hath blown its spirit out, And strew'd repentant ashes on its head.] Hubert had threatned Arthur, in the same scene, to put out his eyes by fire; Arthur intreats him rather to cut out his tongue, and tells him, the instrument, with which he intended to do it, was grown cold, and would not harm him: Hubert answers, I can beat it, boy. To which Arthur replies, in the words under consideration; so that one line, I think, should be read thus: “There is no malice burning in this coal.” No malice in a burning coal is certainly absurd. Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 885 11008140P. 476. Hubert. My lord, they say five moons were seen to night, Four fix'd, and the other did whirl about The other four, in wond'rous motion.] This incident is mentioned by few of our English historians: I have met with it no where, but in Matthew of Westminster, and Polydore Virgil, with a small alteration. These kind of appearances were more common about that time than either before or since. Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 886 11008141P. 477. For reresibus in the notes read recessibus.

Note return to page 887 11008142P. 90. In the note, for look, read loose.

Note return to page 888 11008143P. 100. In the note, after jar dele comma.

Note return to page 889 11008144P. 113. &lblank; Three and twenty knights, Balk'd in their own blood.] Of the word balk'd I know not any sense applicable here. The Revisal reads bath'd, and I have nothing better to offer.

Note return to page 890 11008145P. 140. Gads, Sirrah, if they meet not with St. Nicholas's clerks, I'll give thee this neck.] Highwaymen or robbers were so call'd, or St. Nicholas's knights. “A mandrake grown under some heavy tree, “There, where St. Nicholas's knights not long before “Had dropt their fat axungia to the lee.” Glarcanus Vadianus's Panegyric upon T. Coryat. Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 891 11008146P. 149. And thus hath so bestir'd thee in thy sleep.] To bestir, is to stir, to put into commotion. —No emendation is necessary.

Note return to page 892 11008147P. 180. 'Tis a woman's fault.] I believe the woman's fault, of which Hotspur confesses himself guilty, is not to be still.

Note return to page 893 11008148P. 190. Falstaff says,—Shall I not take mine ease in mine Inne, but I shall have my pocket picked.] There is a peculiar force in these words. To take mine ease in mine Inne, was an ancient proverb, not very different in its application from that maxim, every man's house is his castle: for Inne originally signified a house, or habitation. [Sax. Inne, domus, domicilium.] When the word Inne began to change its meaning, and to be used to signify a house of entertainment, the proverb still continuing in force was applied in the latter sense, as it is here used by Shakespeare; —or perhaps Falstaff here humourously puns upon the word Inne, in order to represent the wrong done him the more strongly. In John Heywood's Works, imprinted at London, 1598, 4to. black letter, is a “dialogue, wherein are pleasantly contrived the number of all the effectual proverbs in our English tongue, &c. Together with 300 epigrams on 300 proverbs.” —In chap. vi. is the following. “Resty welth willeth me the widow to winne, “To let the world wagge, and take mine ease in mine Inne.” And among the epigrams is, [26. Of ease in an Inne.] “Thou takest thine ease in thine Inne so nye thee, “That no man in his Inne can take ease by thee,” Otherwise, “Thou takest thine ease in thine Inne, but I see, “Thine Inne taketh neither ease nor profit by thee. Now in the first of these distichs, the word Inne is used in its ancient meaning, being spoken by a person, who is about to marry a widow for the sake of a home, &c. In the two last places, Inne seems to be used in the sense it bears at present. Mr. Percy.

Note return to page 894 11008149P. 191. Falstaff says to Dame Quickly. &lblank; And for woman-hood, Maid-Marian may be the deputies wife of the ward to thee. &lblank;] In the ancient songs of Robin Hood, frequent mention is made of Maid Marian, who appears to have been his Concubine.—I could quote many passages in my old M S. to this purpose, but shall produce only one. “In old times past, when merry men “Did merry matters make, “No man did greater matters then, “Than Launcelot du Lake: “Good Robin Hood was living then, “Which now is quite forgot; “And soe was fayre Mayd-Maryan, “A pretty wench God wott, &c.” Mr. Percy.

Note return to page 895 11008150P. 191. No more truth in thee than in a drawn fox.] That is, a fox drawn over the ground, to leave a scent, and keep the hounds in exercise, while they are not employed in a better chase. It is said to have no truth in it, because it deceives the hounds, who run with the same eagerness as if they were in pursuit of a real fox. Revisal.

Note return to page 896 11008151P. 199. Vernon. All furnish'd, all in arms, All plumed like ostriches. &lblank;] i. e. All dressed like the prince himself. The ostrich feather being the cognizance of the Prince of Wales. Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 897 11008152P. 201. Gurnet, as I am informed, is a fish, not large but considerably larger than an anchovy, and we may suppose was commonly eaten when sous'd or pickled, in the author's time.

Note return to page 898 11008XXXP. 232. “Enter Rumour painted full of tongues.”] This he probably drew from Hollingshead's Description of a Pageant, exhibited in the court of Henry VIII. with uncommon cost and magnificence. “Then entered a person called Report, apparelled in crimson satin, full of Toongs or Chronicles.” vol. iii. p. 805. This however, might be the common way of representing this personage in his masques, which were frequent in his own times. Mr. Warton.

Note return to page 899 11008153P. 300. Shall. I remember at Mile-end Green, when I lay at Clement's Inn, I was Sir Dagonet in Arthur's Shew.] Arthur's Shew seems to have been a theatrical representation made out of the old romance of Morte Arthur, the most popular one of our author's age. Sir Dagonet is King Arthur's 'squire. Theobald remarks on this passage, “The only intelligence I have glean'd of this worthy knight (Sir Dagonet) is from Beaumont and Fletcher, in their Knight of the Burning Pestle.” The commentators on Beaumont and Fletcher's Knight of the Burning Pestle, have not observed, that the design and humour of that play is founded upon a comedy called, “The four Prentices of London, with the conquest of Jerusalem; as it hath been diverse times acted at the Red Bull, by the queen's majestie's servants. Written by Thomas Heywood, 1612.” For as, in Beaumont and Fletcher's play, a grocer in the Strand turns knight-errant, making his apprentice his squire, &c. so in Heywood's play, four apprentices accoutre themselves as knights, and go to Jerusalem in quest of adventures. One of them, the most important character, is a goldsmith, another a grocer, another a mercer, and a fourth an haberdasher. But Beaumont and Fletcher's play, though founded upon, contains many satirical strokes against Heywood's comedy; the force of which is entirely lost to those who have not seen that comedy. Thus in Beaumont and Fletcher's prologue, or first scene, it is proposed to call the play, “The Grocer's honour.” In the same scene, a citizen is introduced, declaring, that, in the play he “will have a grocer, and he shall do admirable things.”—Again, sc. i. act i. Rase says, “Amongst all the worthy books of atchievements, I do not call to mind, that I yet read of a grocer-errant: I will be the said knight. Have you heard of any that hath wandered unfurnished of his 'squire and dwarf? My elder brother Tim shall be my trusty 'squire, and George my dwarf.”—In the following passage, the allusion to Heywood's comedy is demonstrably manifest, sc. i. act 4. “Boy. It will shew ill-favouredly to have a grocer's prentice court a king's daughter. Cit. Will it so, sir? you are well read in histories; I pray you, who was Sir Dagonet? Was he not prentice to a grocer in London? Read the play of the four prentices, where they toss their pikes so.”—In Heywood's comedy, Eustace, the grocer's prentice, is introduced courting the daughter of the King of France: and, in the frontispiece, the four prentices are represented in armour, tilting with javelins. Immediately before the last quoted speeches, we have the following instances of allusion. “Cit. Let the Sophy of Persia come, and christen him a child. Boy. Believe me, sir, that will not do so well; 'tis stale: it has been before at the Red Bull.” A circumstance in Heywood's comedy; which, as has been already specified, was acted at the Red Bull. Beaumont and Fletcher's play is pure burlesque. Heywood's is a mixture of the droll and serious, and was evidently intended to ridicule the reigning fashion of reading romances. Mr. Warton.

Note return to page 900 11008154P. 304. Led on by bloody youth &lblank;] Bloody youth, with which I puzzled myself in the note, is only sanguine youth, or youth full of blood, and of those passions which blood is supposed to produce and incite or nourish.

Note return to page 901 11008155P. 332. &lblank; And from the tents, The armourers accomplishing the knights, With busy hammers closing rivers up.] See the preparation for the battle between Palamon and Arcite in Chaucer. “And on the morrow when day gan spring “Of horse and harneis, noise and clattering, “There was in the hosteliries all about, “The foaming stedys on the goldin bridyl “Gnawing, and fast the armourers also “With file and hammer riding to and fro, &c. Mr. Warton.

Note return to page 902 11008156P. 347. In the note, I had confounded the character of Silence with that of Slender, and drawn an inference from a false supposition. Dele the whole note.

Note return to page 903 11008157P. 383. But till the king come forth, and not till then,] The canons of criticism read, &lblank; And but till then; And the Revisal approves the correction.

Note return to page 904 11008158P. 396. &lblank; chrisom child] The old quarto has it crisomb'd child. The chrysom was no more than the white cloth put on the new baptised child. See Johnson's Canons of Eccles. Law, 1720. And not a cloth anointed with holy unguent, as described under that article in Johnson's Dictionary, that of the chrism being a separate operation, and was itself no more than a composition of oil and balsam blessed by the bishop. I have somewhere (but cannot recollect where) met with this farther account of it; that the chrysom was allow'd to be carried out of the church, to enwrap those children which were in too weak a condition to be borne thither, the chrysom being supposed to make every place holy. This custom would rather strengthen the allusion to the weak condition of Falstaff. Mr. Steevens.

Note return to page 905 11008159P. 396. Quickly. For his nose was as sharp as a pen on a table of green fields.] Here our editors, not knowing what to make of a table of green fields, Mr. Pope and Mr. Warburton have cast it out of the text; others have turned it into, “and have babbled of green fields.” But had they been appriz'd that table in our author, signifies a pocket-book, I believe they would have retained it, with the following alteration. “For his nose was as sharp as a pen upon a table of green fells.” On table-books, silver or steel-pens, very sharp-pointed, were formerly, and are still fixed either to the backs or covers. Mother Quickly compares Falstaff's nose, (which in dying persons grow thin and sharp) to one of those pens, very properly, and she meant probably to have said, on a table-book with a shagreen-cover, or shagreen-table, but, in her usual blundering way, she calls it a table of green fells, or a table covered with green-skin, which the blundering transcriber turn'd into green-fields; and our editors have turned the prettiest blunder in Shakespeare, quite out of doors. Mr. Smith.

Note return to page 906 11008160P. 393. Pitch and pay &lblank;] Seems to be an expression taken from the language used to porters, who are ordered to throw down their burdens before they are paid for carrying them. This, I believe, is the first instance of worldly prudence, to be found in the character of Pistol. The caution he leaves behind him, was a very proper one to Mrs. Quickly, who had suffered before, by letting Falstaff run in her debt. Trust none, immediately follows it, which sufficiently explains the expression, which is, to this day a proverbial one. The same kind of cautions, in verse, are stuck up in little ale-houses in the country. Mr. Steevens.

Note return to page 907 11008161P. 398. Clear thy crystals &lblank;] May, I think, better mean, in this place, wash thy glasses.

Note return to page 908 11008162P. 420. Pist. Fortune is Bardolph's foe, and frowns on him, For he hath stolen a pax, and hang'd must be.] 'Tis pax in folios 1623 and 1632; but altered to pix by Mr. Theobald and Sir Thomas Hanmer. But they signified the same thing. See Pax at Mass, Minshew's Guide into the Tongues. Pix, or pax, was a little box, in which were kept the consecrated wafers.

Note return to page 909 11008163P. 426. For ches les narines, read, avec les narines.

Note return to page 910 11008164P. 428. For chein, read chien.

Note return to page 911 11008165P. 442. In the note, for pasty, read puffy.

Note return to page 912 11008166P. 445. The Revisal reads, Dau. Voyez—les eaux et la terre. Orleans. Bien—puis l'air et le feu. Dau. Le ciel—cousin Orleans. This is well conjectured, nor does the passage deserve that more should be done, yet I know not whether it might not stand thus. Dau. Voyez les eaux et la terre. Orleans. L'air et le seu—Bien puis? Dau. Le ciel.

Note return to page 913 11008167P. 453. Thou diest on point of fox.] Fox is no more than an old cant word for a sword. “I made my father's old fox fly about his ears.” Beaumont and Fletcher's Philoster.” Mr. Steevens.

Note return to page 914 11008168P. 454. For I will fetch thy rym out of thy throat In drops of crimson blood &lblank;] Rym, I am told, is a part in the throat. Was a monosyllable wanted in the room of it, I would offer rheum, and then the expression, in Pistol diction, would mean no more than, I will make thee spit blood. Mr. Steevens.

Note return to page 915 11008169P. 454. French Soldier. Est il impossible d' eschapper la force de ton bras. Pistol. Brass, cur?] Either Shakespeare had very little knowledge in the French language, or his over-fondness for punning led him in this place, contrary to his judgment, into an error. Almost any one knows that the French word bras is pronounced brau; and what resemblance of sound does this bear to brass, that Pistol should reply, Brass, cur? The joke may appear to a reader, but would scarce be discovered in the performance of the play. Mr. Hawkins. If the pronunciation of the French language be not changed since Shakespeare's time, which is not unlikely, it may be suspected some other man wrote the French scenes.

Note return to page 916 11008170P. 465. &lblank; his payment into plows.] The Revisal reads, very reasonably, in two plows.

Note return to page 917 11008171P. 476. Like prisoners wildly overgrown with hair.] The incongruity of the comparison I continue to censure, but the expression, wildly overgrown with hair, is justifiable; the hair may be wild, though the prisoner be confined.

Note return to page 918 11008172P. 505. I'll canvass thee in the broad cardinal's hat.] This means, I believe, I'll tumble thee into thy great hat, and shake thee as bran and meal are shaken in a sieve.

Note return to page 919 11008173P. 508. &lblank; The English Went through a secret grate of iron bars, In yonder tower, to overpeer the city.] That is, the English went, not through a secret grate, but went to overpeer the city through a secret grate which is in yonder tower. I did not know till of late that this passage had been thought difficult.

Note return to page 920 11008174P. 4. With you mine alderliefest sovereign.] Alderliefest, most dear. Aldirlevist in Chaucer. “Mine aldirlevist lorde, and brothir dere.” Troilus and Cresseide, lib. iii. 240. Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 921 11008175P. 39. A cup of charneco.] The vulgar name for this liquor was charingo. I meet with it in an old catch set to music by Lawes. Mr. Hawkins.

Note return to page 922 11008176P. 39. Darraign your battle &lblank;] “But stint I woll of Theseus alite, “And speke of Palamon, and of Arcite, “The day approacheth of ther returning, “That everich should a hundred knights bring, “The battaile to darrein, as I you told.” Chaucer. Skelton uses the word in the same sense. Speaking of the duke of Albany, Works, p. 83. “Thou durst not felde derayne, “Nor a battayle mayntaine, “With our stronge Captayne. “For you ran home agayne.” Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 923 11008177P. 107. Ay, Clifford, bedlam, and ambitious humour, Makes him oppose himself against the king.] The word bedlam not used in the reign of king Henry VI, nor was Bethlehem hospital (vulgarly called Bedlam) converted into a house, or hospital, for lunatic's, till the reign of king Henry VIII. who gave it to the city of London for that purpose. Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 924 11008178P. 107. &lblank; Bears.] The Nevils, earls of Warwick, had a bear and ragged staff for their cognisance; but the Talbots, who were formerly earls of Salisbury, had a lion, and the present earl of Talbot, a descendant of that family, has the same. Collins's Peerage. Mr. Hawkins.

Note return to page 925 11008179P. 128. In the note, for tier, read tirer.

Note return to page 926 11008180P. 143. Is by the stern lord Clifford done to death.] Done to death, for killed, was a common expression long before Shakespeare's time. Thus Chaucer “And seide, that if ye done us both to dier.” Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 927 11008181P. 151. To make this shameless callat know herself.] Shakespeare uses the word callat likewise in the Winter's Tale, act ii. sc. iii. Leonatus of Paulina. “A callat &lblank; “Of boundless tongue, who late hath beat “Her husband, and now beats me.” Callat, a lewd woman, a drab, perhaps so called from the French calote, which was a sort of headdress, worn by country girls. See Glossary to Urry's Chaucer. “A cold old knave cuckolde himself winyng, “And of calot of lewd demenyng.” Chaucer's Prologue to the Remedy of Love, 308. So Skelton, in his Elinour Rumming, works, p. 133. “Then Elinour said, ye callettes, “I shall break your palettes.” And again, p. 136. “She was a cumlye callet.” Gammar. “Vengeance on those callets, whose conscience is so large.” Gammar Gurton's Needle, act iii, sc. iii. Old Plays, published 1744, vol. i. p. 154. “A cart for a callet.” Id. ib. “Why the callet you told me of here, “I have tane disguis'd.” Pen Johnson's Volpone, act iv, sc. iii. Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 928 11008182P. 204. &lblank; Meed.] This word signifies merit, both as a verb and a substantive; that it is used as a verb, is clear from the following foolish couplet, which I remember to have read. Deem if I meed Dear madam Read. A specimen of verses that read the same backward and forward. Mr. Hawkins.

Note return to page 929 11008183P. 253. Queen Margaret to the marquis of Dorset. Q. Marg. Peace, master marquis, you are malapert; Your fire-new stamp of honour is scarce current.] Shakespeare may either allude to the late creation of the marquis of Dorset, or to the institution of the title of marquis here in England, as a special dignity; which was no older than Richard II. Robert Vere, earl of Oxford, was the first, who, as a distinct dignity, received the title of marquis, 1st December, anno nono Ricardi Secundi. See Ashmole's History of the Order of the Garter, p. 456.

Note return to page 930 11008184P. 320. Because that like a jack thou keep'st the stroke between thy begging and my meditation.] An image like those at St. Dunstan's church in Fleet-street, and at the market-houses of several towns in this kingdom, was usually called a jack of the clockhouse. See Cowleys Discourse on the Government of Oliver Cromwel. Richard resembles Buckingham to one of these automatons, and bids him not suspend the stroke on the clock bed, but strike, that the hour may be past, and himself be at liberty to pursue his meditations. Mr. Hawkins.

Note return to page 931 11008185P. 324. Puefellow is a word yet in use. Mr. Hawkins.

Note return to page 932 11008186P. 331. &lblank; demise.] I think it should be devise; but not in the sense you suppose. Devise, as a mode of conveyance, is appropriated to wills, but take it as a synonime, to imagine, contrive, or invent, and it suggests a new idea, and such a one as the text seems to warrant. Mr. Hawkins.

Note return to page 933 11008187P. 335. Whom now two tender bedfellows.] Read rather, too tender. Revisal.

Note return to page 934 11008188P. 356. Sound drums and trumpets, boldly, chearfully, God, and St. George, &c.] St. George was the common cry of the English soldiers, when they charged the enemy. The author of the old Arte of Warre, cited above, printed in the latter end of queen Elizabeth's reign, formally enjoins the use of this cry among his military laws. “84. Item, that all souldiers entring into battaile, assault, skirmish, or other faction of armes, shall have for their common cry and word, St. George, St. George, forward, or upon them, St. George, whereby the souldier is much comforted, and the enemy dismaid by calling to minde the antient valour of England, which with that name has so often been victorious: and therefore, he that upon any sinister zeale, shall maliciously omit so fortunate a name, shall be severely punished for his obstinate erroneous heart, and perverse mind.” p. 47. Mr. Warton.

Note return to page 935 11008189P. 357. This and St. George to boot, is to help;] As I conceive not over and above. Mr. Hawkins.

Note return to page 936 11008190P. 368. The life and death of king Richard the Third.] The oldest known edition of this tragedy is printed for Andrew Wise, 1597: but Harrington, in his Apologie of Poetrie, written 1590, and prefixed to the translation of Ariosto, says, that a tragedy of Richard the Third had been acted at Cambridge. His words are, “For tragedies, to omit other famous tragedies, that which was played at St. John's in Cambridge, of Richard the Third, wou'd move, I think, Phalaris the tyrant, and terrifie all tyrannous minded men, &c.” He most probably means Shakespeare's; and if so, we may argue, that there is some more antient edition of this play than what I have mentioned; at least this shews us how early Shakespeare's play appeared: or if some other Richard the Third is here alluded to by Harrington, that a play on this subject preceded our author's. Mr. Warton.

Note return to page 937 11008191P. 386. I am the shadow, &c. ] There may another explanation be given somewhat harsh, but the best that occurs to me. I am the shadow of poor Buckingham, whose figure even this instant it puts on, whose port and dignity is assumed by this cardinal that overclouds and oppresses me, and who gains my place, by darkening my clear sun.

Note return to page 938 11008192P. 421. Sennet was an instrument of musick, as appears from other places of this authour, but of what kind I know not.

Note return to page 939 11008193P. 18. For the plague of custom, we may read by a very easy change, the place of custom. The place which custom, and only custom, not nature, has allotted me. J. Simpson, Esq;

Note return to page 940 11008194P. 18. Thou, nature, art my goddess;] Dr. Warburton (for the sake of introducing an ostentatious note) says, that Shakespeare has made his bastard an Atheist; when it is very plain that Edmund only speaks of nature in opposition to custom, and not (as he supposes) to the existence of a God. Mr. Steevens.

Note return to page 941 11008195P. 41. Like an engine wrench'd my frame of nature.] Mr. Edwards conjectures that an engine is the rack. He is right. To engine is, in Chaucer, to strain upon the rack.

Note return to page 942 11008196P. 42. Of fifty to disquantity your train.] Mr. Pope proposes a little in the room of fifty, and gives as his reason for the change, that the number (as the editions stood) was no where specified by Goneril. If Mr. Pope had examined the copies as accurately as he pretended to have done, he would have found in the first folio that Lear; after these words, To have a thankless child—go, go, my people; has an exit marked for him, and goes out while Albany and Goneril have a short conference of two speeches, and then returns in a still greater passion, having been informed (as it should seem) of the express number without. What! fifty of my followers at a clap? This renders all change needless, and away, away, being restored, prevents the repetition of go, go, my people: which, as the text now stands, concludes both that and the foregoing speech. Goneril with great art avoids to mention the limited number, and leaves him to be informed of it by accident, which she knew would be the case as soon as he left her presence. Mr. Steevens.

Note return to page 943 11008197P. 62. He wears cruel garters.] I believe a quibble was here intended. Crewel signifies worsied, of which stockings, garters, night caps &c. are made, and is used in that sense in Beaumont and Fletcher's Scornful Lady, act ii. “For who that had but half his wits about him, “Would commit the counsel of a serious sin “To such a crewel night-cap.” Mr. Steevens.

Note return to page 944 11008198P. 92. Mice and rats and such small deare Have been my food for seven long year &lblank;] Warburton, instead of deare, proposes geare; but I have discovered that these two lines are taken from an old black letter'd romance of St. Beyvys of Hampton, 4 to. printed for William Copland, in which occurs this passage, stated within ratts, &c. Mr. Percy.

Note return to page 945 11008199P. 102. By the kind Gods. &lblank;] Dr. Warburton is of opinion that Shakespeare, by the kind Gods, means the dii hospitales. I agree with him, that the Poet “never makes his people swear at random,” nor has he done so here; though I cannot believe he received any assistance from mythology, to furnish out a proper oath for Gloster. People always address the Gods as they would have them shew themselves at that time in their favour; and he accordingly calls those kind Gods, whom he would wish to find so in this instance. Our own liturgy will sufficiently evince the truth of this supposition. Mr. Steevens.

Note return to page 946 11008200P. 110. As flies to wanton boys, are we to th' Gods; They kill us for their sport. &lblank;] It may not be unentertaining to the reader to have an opportunity of seeing how differently this idea has been expressed by three great poets of different ages. Dii nos quasi pilas homines habent. Plaut. Captiv. Prol. L. 22. Ludit in humanis divina potentia rebus. Ovid. Lib. 4. de Ponto Eleg. 3. Mr. Steevens.

Note return to page 947 11008201P. 122. Therefore I do advise you take this note My lord is dead; Edmund and I have talk'd, And more convenient is he for my hand, Than for your lady's; you may gather more. If you do find him, pray you give him this; And when your mistress hears thus much from you, I pray desire her call her wisdom to her.] This passage, by a word's being left out, and a word misplaced, and a full stop put where there should be but a comma, has led all our editors into a very great mistake; as will, I hope, appear, when we proceed a little further in the same play. The emendation is as follows: “Therefore I do advise you, [Subnote: 2The like expression, Twelfth Night, act iii. sc. iv. vol. iii. p. 168. Sir Tody. “Challenge me the Duke's youth, to fight with him; hurt him in eleven places; my niece shall take note of it.] take note of this, “My lord is dead, &c. “If you so find him, pray you give him this.” i. e. this answer by word of mouth. The editors, not so regardful of consistency as they ought to have been, ran away with the thought, that Regan delivered a letter to the steward; whereas she only desired him to give, or deliver so much by word of mouth. And by this means another blunder, as egregious as the former, and arising out of it, presents itself to view in the same act, sc. ix. p. 121. “And give the letters, which thou find'st about me, “To Edmund earl of Glo'ster, &c. Edg. “Let's see these pockets, the letters that he speaks of, “May be my friends” &lblank; Reads the letter. Observe, that here is but one letter produced and read, which is Goneril's. Had there been one of Regan's too, the audience no doubt should have heard it as well as Goneril's. But it is plain, from what is amended and explained above, that the steward had no letter from Regan, but only a message to be delivered by word of mouth to Edmund earl of Glo'ster. So that it is not to be doubted, but the last passage should be read thus. “And give the letter, which thou find'st about me, “To Edmund earl of Glo'ster.- Edg. “Let's see these pockets; the letter that he speaks of, “May be my friends.” &lblank; Thus the whole is connected clear, and consistent. Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 948 11008202P. 125. Edg. Had'st thou been ought but goss'mer feathers, air, Thou'dst shiver'd like an egg, &c.] Gossomore, the white and cob-web-like exhalations that fly about in hot sunny weather. Skinner says, in a book called the French Gardiner, it signifies the down of the sow-thistle, which is driven to and fro by the wind. “As sure some wonder on the cause of thunder, “On ebb and flood, on gossomer and mist, “And on all things, till that the cause is wist.” Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 949 11008203P. 128. &lblank; nor the stall'd horse Goes to't with a more riotous appetite.] Soyl'd horse in all the other editions I believe, and it is a term now used for a horse that has been fed long with hay and corn in the stable, and in spring has fresh grass carried to him thither, upon which he feeds greedily. Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 950 11008204P. 136. &lblank; Restoration hang Thy medicine on my lips. &lblank;] Dr. Warburton says that Cordelia invokes the goddess of health, Hygicia, under the name of Restoration; but I believe the reader will join with me in thinking, that if Shakespeare meant any goddess in this place, it was one of his own making; for we may suppose the Pantheons of that age (from whence most probably he furnished himself with his knowledge in mythology) were not so particular as to take notice of the secondary deities; and the Poet, had he been acquainted with her name, would certainly have called her by it. Restoration means no more than recovery personified. Mr. Steevens.

Note return to page 951 11008205P. 140. Do you not love my sister? Edm. In honour'd love.] After this line, the quarto of 1608 continues the dialogue thus; and I see no reason why it should be omitted. Reg. But have you never found my brother's way To the sore-fended place? Bast. That thought abuses you. Reg. I am doubtful that you have been conjunct And bosom'd with her, as far as we call hers. Bast. No, by mine honour, madam. The first and last of these speeches are inserted in Sir T. Hanmer's, and I believe in Theobald's and Dr. Warburton's editions; but the two intermediate ones are omitted in all; by which means the bastard is made to deny that flatly at first, which the poet only meant to make him evade, or return slight answers to, till he is urged so far as to be obliged to shelter himself under an immediate falshood. Mr. Steevens.

Note return to page 952 11008206P. 145. The goujeres shall consume them flesh and fell.] Both flesh and skin. So Skelton's works, p. 257. “Nakyd asyde “Neither flesh nor fell.” Chaucer useth fell and bones, for skin and bones. “And said that he and all his kinne at once, “Were worthy to be brent with fell and bone.” Troilus and Cresseide, l. 91. Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 953 11008207P. 170. In the note, for or art, read of art.

Note return to page 954 11008208P. 175. In the note, for well be him, read well be he.

Note return to page 955 11008209P. 320. &lblank; the enemies castle.] The Revisal affirms, and, I think, proves, that cask is right.

Note return to page 956 11008210P. 347. Get me a ladder.] Mr. Theobald has very officiously transplanted this half line into the mouth of Lucius, and desires to know why the Moor, who wanted to have his child saved, should ask for a ladder. Aaron very properly answers, get me a ladder, that is, hang me, but spare my child. Could any circumstance shew a greater desire of saving his child than the offer of himself in its room? Aaron knows he must die, and being quite careless about it, would only hasten that which he sees is unavoidable at last, to make it the means of saving his own offspring. Mr. Steevens.

Note return to page 957 11008211P. 340. Marc. My lord, I am a mile beyond the moon.] My lord, I ayme a mile beyond the moon. Folios 1623, and 1632. Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 958 11008212P. 405. &lblank; thou sound and firm-set earth.] A corrupt reading will sometimes direct us to find out the true one. The first folio has it, &lblank; thou sowre and firm-set earth. This brings us very near the right word, which was evidently meant to be, &lblank; thou sure and firm-set earth. Mr. Steevens. Certainly right.

Note return to page 959 11008213P. 408. Macbeth. Sleep that knits up the ravell'd sleeve of care.] To confirm the ingenious conjecture that sleeve means sleaved, silk ravelled, it is observable, that a poet of Shakespeare's age, Drayton, has alluded to it likewise, in his quest of Cynthia. “At length I on a fountain light, “Whose brim with pinks was platted, “The banks with daffadillies dight, “With grass, like sleave, was matted.” Mr. Langton.

Note return to page 960 11008214P. 419. &lblank; This murd'rous shaft that's shot Hath not yet lighted &lblank;] The shaft has not yet lighted, and though it has done mischief in its fight, we have reason to apprehend still more before it has spent its force and falls to the ground. The end for which the murder was committed, is not yet attained. The death of the king only could neither insure the crown to Macbeth, nor accomplish any other purpose, while his sons were yet living, who had therefore just reason to apprehend they should be removed by the same means. The design to fix the murder on some innocent person had taken effect, for it was already adjudged to have been done by the grooms, who appeared intoxicated, even after it was discovered, and during that state were supposed, at first, to have been guilty of it; though the flight of Malcolm, and his brother, afforded Macbeth afterwards a fairer pretext for laying it to their charge. Mr. Steevens.

Note return to page 961 11008215P. 440. For indicet, read indiget.

Note return to page 962 11008216P. 468. &lblank; hell is murky.] Lady Macbeth is acting over, in a dream, the business of the murder, and encouraging her husband, as when awake. She, therefore, would never have said any thing of the terrors of hell to one whose conscience she saw was too much alarmed already for her purpose. She certainly imagines herself here talking to Macbeth, who (she supposes) has just said, hell is murky, (i. e. hell is a dismal place to go to, in consequence of such a deed,) and repeats his words in contempt of his cowardice. Hell is murky!—Fie, fie, my lord, &c. This explanation, I think, gives a spirit to the passage, which, for want of being understood, has always appeared languid on the stage. Mr. Steevens.

Note return to page 963 11008217P. 472. To confirm the justness of May of life for way in Macbeth. Mr. Colman's quotation from Much ado about Nothing, “May of youth and bloom of lustyhood.” And another passage, Henry V. p. 292. “My puissant liege is in the very May-morn of his youth.” Mr. Langton.

Note return to page 964 11008218P. 478. I pull in resolution.] Mr. Johnson in the room of this would read, I pall in resolution; but there is no need of change; for Shakespeare, who made Trincalo in the Tempest say, I will let loose my opinion, might have written, I pull in my resolution. He had permitted his courage (like a horse) to carry him to the brink of a precipice, where seeing his danger, he resolves to pull in that, to which he had given the rein before. Mr. Steevens.

Note return to page 965 11008219P. 519. I'll potch at him some way.] The Revisal reads poach, but potch, to which the objection is made, as no English word is used in the midland counties for a rough violent push.

Note return to page 966 11008220P. 553. &lblank; when the greatest taste Most palates theirs &lblank;] There seems to me no need of emendation. The meaning is, that senators and plebeians are equal, when the highest taste is best pleased with that which pleases the lowest. Mr. Steevens.

Note return to page 967 11008221P. 555. Read, What may be sworn by, both divine and human, Seal, what I end withal. Revisal. I think rightly.

Note return to page 968 11008222P. 562. Clean kam.] The Welch word for crooked is kam.

Note return to page 969 11008223P. 578. My first son.] The Revisal reads, my fierce son; but surely first may stand, for first in excellence. Prima virorum.

Note return to page 970 11008224P. 601. As is the osprey to the fish.] We find in Mich. Drayton's Poly-Olbion, Song 25, a full account of the osprey, which shews the justness, and the beauty of the simile, and confirms Theobald's correction to be right. “The ospray oft here seen, though seldom here it breeds, “Which over them the fish no sooner do espy, “But, betwixt him and them, by an antipathy, “Turning their bellies up, as though their death they saw, “They at his pleasure lie to stuff his gluttonous maw.” Mr. Langton.

Note return to page 971 11008225P. 27. Brutus. The genius and the mortal instruments, Are then in council, and the state of man, Like to a little kingdom, suffers then The nature of an insurrection.] Instead of instruments, it should I think, be instrument, and explained thus; The genius, i. e. the soul, or spirit, which should govern; and the mortal instrument, i. e. the man, with all his bodily, that is, earthly passions, such as, envy, pride, malice, and ambition, are then in council, i. e. debating upon the horrid action that is to be done, the soul and rational powers dissuading, and the mortal instrument, man, with his bodily passions, prompting and pushing on to the horrid deed, whereby the state of man, like to a little kingdom, suffers then the nature of an insurrection, the inferior powers rising and rebelling against the superior. See this exemplified in Macbeth's soliloquy, and also by what King John says, act iv. p. 453. “Nay in the body of this fleshly land, “This kingdom, this confine of blood and breath, “Hostility and civil tumult reigns, “Between my conscience, and my cousin's death.” Mr. Smith.

Note return to page 972 11008226P. 122. Ant. Now by my sword.] An expression used by Shakespeare, Winter Night's Tale, act ii. sc. last. Leontes to Antigonus. Leo. &lblank; “Swear by thy sword, “Thou wilt perform my bidding.” See act iii. sc. ii. And in allusion to the Danish customs, Hamlet, act i. sc. ix. See Titus Andronicus, act. iv. sc i. Spencer observes (in his View of the State of Ireland, Works, 12mo. 1564.) from Lucian's Dialogue, intitled Toxaris, “That the common oath of the Scythians was by the sword, and by the wind; and that the Irish used commonly to swear by their swords: and that they do at this day, when they go out to battle, say certain prayers, and charms to their swords, making a cross therewith on the earth, and thrusting the points of their blades into the ground, thinking thereby to have better success in the fight.” To this custom Spencer alludes in other places. “So suff'ring him to rise, he made him swear, “By his own sword, and the cross thereon, “To take Briana for his loving Fere.” Fairy Queen, book 6. canto 1–53. Dr. Gray. This note, which is referred to this place by its authour, may deserve more consideration to the reader of Hamlet, where the friends of Hamlet are required to swear upon his sword.

Note return to page 973 11008227P. 155. Cleo. Go to the fellow, good Alexas; bid them to report the feature of Octavia, her years, her inclination; let them not leave out the colour of her hair.] This is a manifest allusion to the question put by Queen Elizabeth to Sir James Melvil, concerning his mistress, the Queen of Scots. “She desired to know of me what colour of hair was reputed best? And whether my Queen's hair or her's was best? And which of them two was fairest? I answered, The fairness of them was not their worst faults. Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 974 11008228P. 172. Char. Three in Egypt Cannot make better note.] Alluding to the old catches, which were in three parts. Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 975 11008229P. 197. Ant. &lblank; When I cry'd, Hoa! Cry'd hoa! like boys unto a muss, kings would Start forth, and cry, your will.] Muss, a scramble. So used by Ben Johnson. See the Magnetic Lady, act iv. sc. iii. p. 44. Bias. “I keep her portion safe, that is not scatter'd, “The moneys rattle not; nor are they thrown “To make a muss, yet 'mong the game some suitors.” Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 976 11008230P. 260. In the note, for Don Belliarus, read Don Bellianis.

Note return to page 977 11008231P. 286. What both you spur and stop.] I think Imogen means to enquire what is that news, that intelligence, or information, you profess to bring, and yet withhold: at least, I think, your explanation a mistaken one, for Imogen's request supposes Iachimo an agent, not a patient. Mr. Hawkins.

Note return to page 978 11008232P. 347. Untwine his perishing root, &c.] The attribute of the elder in this place is perishing, that of the vine encreasing. Let therefore the stinking elder grief entwine his root with that of the vine [patience,] and in the end patience must out-grow grief. This I take to be the sense, and that therefore we should read entwine. Mr. Hawkins.

Note return to page 979 11008233P. 354. &lblank; thy sluggish carrack.] Mr. Simpson, reads, thy sluggish crare. A crare was a small trading vessel, called in the Latin of the middle ages, crayera. Revisal. This I think is right.

Note return to page 980 11008234P. 355. The robin-red-breast called ruddock, by Chaucer and Spenser. “The false lapwinge, all full of trecherie, “The starling that the counsails can bewrie, “The tame ruddock, and the coward kite.” &lblank; Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 981 11008235P. 382. Or to take upon yourself,] Read, Or take upon yourself. Revisal.

Note return to page 982 11008236P. 444. Thou stool for a witch.] In one way of trying a witch, they used to place her upon a chair or stool, with her legs tied across, that all the weight of her body might rest upon her seat; and by that means, after some time, the circulation of the blood, in some hours, would be much stopt, and her sitting would be as painful as the wooden horse.

Note return to page 983 11008237P. 1. Gregory. On my word, I will not carry coals.] An expression then in use, to signify the patient bearing of injuries. Shakespeare uses it in this sense, Life of King Henry V. act iii. sc. iii. p. 360. Boy. “Nym and Bardolph are sworn brothers in filching, and in Calais they stole a fire-shovel; I know by that piece of service the men would carry coals.” So it is used by Skelton, in his poem, intitled, Why come ye not to Court? Works, p. 142. “Will you bear no coles?” And by Ben Johnson, Every Man out of his Humour, act v. sc. i. Puntarvolo to the groom. “See here comes one that will carry coals; “Ergo, will hold my dog.” And again, act v. sc. iii. “Take heed, Sir Puntarvolo, what you do; “He'll bear no coals, I can tell you, (o' my word.”) Dr. Gray. I therefore retract my note on this passage.

Note return to page 984 11008238P. 7. Sam. I will bite my thumb at them, which is a disgrace to them, if they bear it.] So it signifies in Randolph's Muses Looking-Glass, act iii. sc. iii. p. 45. Orgylus. “To bite his thumb at me. Argus. “Why should not a man bite his own thumb? Org. “At me? were I scorn'd, to see men bite their thumbs; “Rapiers and daggers, he's the son of a whore.” Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 985 11008239P. 17. Ben. Take thou some new infection to thy eye, And the rank poison of the old will die. Romeo. Your plantain leaf is excellent for that.] Tackius tells us, that a toad, before she engages with a spider, will fortify herself with some of the plant; and that if she comes off wounded, she cures herself afterwards with it. Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 986 11008240P. 25. Merc. If thou art Dun, we'll draw thee from the mire.] A proverbial saying used by Mr. Thomas Heywood, in his play, intitled, The Dutchess of Suffolk, act iii. “A rope for Bishop Bonner, Clunce run, “Call help, a rope, or we are all undone. “Draw Dun out of the ditch.” Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 987 11008241P. 37. Merc. &lblank; Young Abraham Cupid, he that shot so true, When King Cophetua lov'd the beggar-maid.] I rather think that Shakespeare wrote, “Young Adam Cupid.” &lblank; Alluding to the famous archer Adam Bell. Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 988 11008242P. 37. &lblank; (Venus) purblind son and heir, Young Adam Cupid, he that shot so true When King Cophetua lov'd the the beggar-maid.] As the commentators are agreed that Cupid is here called Adam, in allusion to the famous archer Adam Bell, the hero of many an ancient ballad:—So I believe, I can refer you to the ballad of King Cophetua, &c. In the first of the 3 vols. 12mo. p. 141. is an old song of a king's falling in love with a beggar-maid, which I take to be the very ballad in question, altho' the name of the king is no longer found in it, which will be no objection, to any one who has compared old copies of ballads with those now extant. The third stanza begins thus: “The blinded boy that shoots so trim, “Did to his closet windowsteal, “And drew a dart and shot at him, “And made him soon his power feel,” &c. I should rather read as in Shakespeare, The purblind boy. If this is the song alluded to by Shakespeare, these should seem to be the very lines he had in his eye; and therefore I should suppose the lines in Romeo and Juliet, &c. were originally. “&lblank; Her purblind son and heir, “Young Adam Cupid, he that shot so trim, “When, &c.” &lblank; This word trim, the first editors, consulting the general sense of the passage, and not perceiving the allusion, would naturally alter to true: yet the former seems the more humourous expression, and, on account of its quaintness, more likely to have been used by the droll Mercutio. Mr. Percy.

Note return to page 989 11008243P. 50. 1 Serv. Save me a piece of march-pane.] A confection made of Pistacho nuts, almonds, sugar, &c. and in high esteem in Shakespeare's time; as appears from the account of Queen Elizabeth's Entertainment in Cambridge. 'Tis said that the University presented Sir William Cecyl, their Chancellor, with two pair of gloves, a march-pane, and two sugar loaves. Peck's Desiderata Curiosa, vol. 2. p. 29. Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 990 11008244P. 68. Spread thy close curtain love-performing night, That Run-aways eyes may wink.] I am no better satisfied with Dr. Warburton's emendation than the present editor, but tho' I have none I have a good opinion of, to propose in its room, will yet offer at an explanation. Juliet wishes the night may be so dark, that none of those who are obliged to run away in it, on some account or other, may meet with Romeo, and know his person, but that he may Leap to her arms untalk'd of and unseen. The run-away in this place cannot be the sun, who must have been effectually gone before night could spread its curtain, and such a wish must have taken place before the eyes of these run-aways could be supposed to wink. The Revisal reads, That Rumour's eyes may wink, and he might have supported his conjecture from the figure of Fame, i. e. Rumour, as described by Virgil. Tot vigiles oculi subter, &c. And yet this is but a conjecture, though a very ingenious one. Mr. Steevens.

Note return to page 991 11008245P. 86. For I madam, read ay madam.

Note return to page 992 11008246P. 117. N. 6. I am sorry to say that the foregoing note is an instance of disingenuity, as well as inattention, in Mr. Theobald, who, relying on the scarcity of the old quartos, very frequently makes them answerable for any thing he thinks proper to assert. The quarto in 1599, was not the first, it was preceded by one in 1597, and though Mr. T. declares, he found the passage left out in several of the later quarto impressions, yet in the list of those he pretends to have collated for the use of his edition, he mentions but one of a later date, and had never seen either that published in 1609, or another without any date at all; for in the former of these the passage in question is preserved, (the latter I have no copy of) and he has placed that in 1637, on the single faith of which he rejected it, among those only of middling authority: so that what he so roundly asserts of several, can with justice be said of but one, for there are in reality no later quarto editions of this play than I have here enumerated, and two of those (by his own confession) he had never met with. The hemistich, which Mr. T. pronounces to be of most profound absurdity, deserves a much better character; but being misplaced, could not be connected with the part of the speech where he found it, but, being introduced a few lines lower, seems to make very good sense. “Come bitter conduct! come unsav'ry guide! “Thou desperate pilot, now at once run on “The dashing rocks my seasick, weary bark. “Here's to thy health where'er thou tumblest in. “Here's to my love! oh true apothecary! “Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die.” To tumble into port in a storm, I believe to be a sea-phrase, as is a tumbling sea, and agrees with the allusion to the pilot or the tempest beaten bark. Here's success, says he (continuing the allusion) to the vessel wherever it tumbles in, or perhaps, to the pilot who is to conduct, or tumble it in; meaning, I wish it may succeed in ridding me of life, whatever may betide me after it, or wherever it may carry me. He then drinks to the memory of Juliet's love, adding (as he feels the poison work) a short apostrophe to the apothecary, the effect of whose drugs he can doubt no longer, and turning his thoughts back again to the object most beloved, he dies (like Othello) on a kiss. The other hemistich (not disposed of) may yet be brought in; how naturally, must be left to the reader to determine. The quarto of 1609, exhibits the passage thus: &lblank; “Ah, dear Juliet! “Why art thou yet so fair? I will believe; “Shall I believe? that unsubstantial death is amorous, “And that the lean, &c.” If such an idea could have any foundation in nature, or be allowed in poetry, and Romeo in consequence of having raised it to his imagination, was jealous of death, it would follow, that in the first frenzy of it he might address himself to his mistress, and take her in his arms for the greater security. That being granted, with a slight transposition (one verse already exceeding the measure by two feet) the passage might be read thus: &lblank; “Ah! dear Juliet, “Why art thou yet so fair? shall I believe? “I will believe (come lie thou in my arms) “That unsubstantial death is amorous, “And that the lean, &c.” The whole passage may perhaps be such as hardly to be worth this toil of transposition, but one critick has just as good a right to offer at the introduction of what he thinks he understands, as another has to omit it because he can make no use of it at all. The whole of the conjecture on both passages is offered with no degree of confidence, and from no other motive than a desire of preserving every line of Shakespeare, when any reason, tolerably plausible, can be given in its favour. Mr. Theobald has not dealt very fairly in his account of this speech, as the absurdity is apparently owing to the repetition of some of the lines by a blunder of the printer, who had thereby made Romeo confess the effects of the poison before he had tasted it. This play was considerably altered and enlarged by the author, after the first copies had been printed, and great as is the improvement made by the additions, the alterations here and there may be for the worse. To enumerate these is now too late, as they are many in number, and happen in almost every speech. Mr. Steevens. As I could not procure a sight of any of the quartos, 'till I had printed off the whole play, I must refer the curious reader to the old editions themselves, which will very soon be made publick.

Note return to page 993 11008247P. 142. For your father lost, lost, his, read your father lost, lost his.

Note return to page 994 11008248P. 147. Hor. I saw him once, he was A goodly king. Ham. He was a man, take him for all in all, Eye shall not look upon his like again. &lblank;] This seems to me more the true of spirit of Shakespeare than I. Mr. Holt. The emendation of Sir T. Samwel.

Note return to page 995 11008249P. 160. Doth all the noble substance of worth out;] The Revisal reads, Doth all the noble substance oft eat out; Or, Doth all the noble substance soil with doubt. The authour would have despised them both, had they been another's. Mr. Holt reads, Doth all the noble substance oft adopt. I think Theobald's reading may stand.

Note return to page 996 11008250P. 164. Doom'd for a certain time to walk the night, And for the day confin'd to fast in fires.] Chaucer has a similar passage, with regard to the punishments of Hell. Parson's Tale, p. 193. Mr. Urry's edition. “And moreover, the misese (uneasiness) of hell, “Shall be in defaute of mete and drink.” Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 997 11008251P. 166. The word here used was more probably designed by a Metathesis, either of a poet, or transcriber, for henebon, that is henbane; of which the most common kind (hyoscyamus niger) is certainly narcotic, and perhaps, if taken in a considerable quantity, might prove poisonous. Galen calls it cold in the third degree; by which in this, as well as opium, he seems not to mean an actual coldness, but the power, it has of benumbing the faculties. Dioscorides ascribes to it the property of producing madness, (&grn;&gro;&grs;&grk;&grua;&grk;&grm;&gro;&grst; &grm;&gra;&grn;&gri;&grwc;&grd;&grh;&grs;+) These qualities have been confirmed by several cases related in modern observations. In Wepfer we have a good account of the various effects of this root upon most of the members of a Convent in Germany, who eat of it for supper by mistake, mixed with succory; —heat in the throat, giddiness, dimness of sight, and delirium. Cicut. Aquatic. c. 18. Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 998 11008252P. 168. Oh horrible, oh horrible, most horrible.] It was very ingeniously hinted to me by a learned lady, that this line seems to belong to Hamlet, in whose mouth it is a proper and natural exclamation, and who, according to the practice of stage, may be supposed to interrupt so long a speech.

Note return to page 999 11008253P. 194. Hamlet. How chances it they travel? their residence both in reputation and profit was better both ways. Rosin. I think their inhibition comes by means of the late innovation.] This is a proof this play was not wrote till after the 39 Eliz. 1597, (Shakespeare then 33,) when the first statute against vagabonds was made, including players; and perhaps, not till after the 1st James 1602. Mr. Holt.

Note return to page 1000 11008254P. 198. The first row of the Rubrick will shew you more.] The words of the Rubrick were first inserted by Mr. Rowe, in his edition in 1709, in the room of Pons Chanson, (which is the reading of the first folio) and have been transplanted thence by succeeding editors. The old quarto in 1611, reads pious chanson, which (I think) gives the sense wanted. The pious chansons were a kind of Christmas Carol, containing some Scripture History, thrown into loose rhimes, and sung about the streets by the common people, when they went at that season to beg alms. Hamlet is here repeating some scraps from songs of this kind, and when Polonius enquires what followed them, he refers him to the first row (i. e. division) of one of these, to obtain the information he wanted. Mr. Steevens.

Note return to page 1001 11008255P. 198. &lblank; The first Row of the Rubrick will shew you more.] First row of the pons Chanson, in the first two folio editions of 1623, and 1632. The first row of pont chansons. Sir Thomas Hanmer. Old ballads sung upon bridges. I cannot guess at Mr. Pope's reason for the alteration. But Mr. Warburton subjoins, “That the rubrick is equivalent, the titles of old ballads being written in red letters.” But he does not mention one single ballad in proof. There are five large folio volumes of ballads in Mr. Pepy's library, in Magdalen College, Cambridge, some as ancient as Henry VII. reign, and not one red letter upon any one of the titles, as I am informed. Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 1002 11008256P. 198. Caviare is the spawn of sturgeon pickled; it is imported hither from Russia. Mr. Hawkins.

Note return to page 1003 11008257P. 220. Enter a Duke & Dutchess, with regal coronets.] Regal coronets are improper for any personage below the dignity of a king; regal, as a substantive, is the name of a musical instrument, now out of use. But there is an officer of the houshold called, Tuner of the regals. The cornet is well known to be a musical instrument, and proper for processions. Might we not then read? Enter a Duke and Dutchess, with royals, cornets, &c.

Note return to page 1004 11008258P. 230. Ham. Methinks it is like an ouzle. Pol. It is black like an ouzle.] The first folio reads, &lblank; it is like a weazell, It is back'd like a weazell. And this I apprehend to be the true reading. Polonius has already agreed to the similitude the cloud bears to a camel, and confesses, readily enough, that it is very like a whale; but on Hamlet's pushing the matter still further, though his complaisance holds out, it will not extend to a general resemblance any longer; he therefore admits the propriety of the last comparison but in part, and only says, It is back'd like a weasel. The weasel is remarkable for the length of its back; but the editors were misled by the quartos, which concur in reading, black like a weasel, for this they said was impossible to be right, the animal being of another colour. The variation in these old copies was no more than a blunder of the printers, for it is as likely that the cloud should resemble a weasel in shape, as an ouzle, i. e. blackbird, (which they substituted for it) in colour. Mr. Steevens.

Note return to page 1005 11008259P. 241. &lblank; Sense sure you have, Else you could not have notion.] For notion, which the note of Dr. Warburton had persuaded me to admit into the text, I would now replace the old reading motion; for though the emendation be elegant, it is not necessary.

Note return to page 1006 11008260P. 250. Ape is certainly the right reading. The ape hath large bags, by the side of his jaws, called his alforches, from alforja, the word used in Spain for a wallet, in which, whenever he meets with any food, he constantly deposits part of it to be chewed and swallowed at pleasure, after his meal is ended. Revisal.

Note return to page 1007 11008261P. 258. Oph. How should I, &c. &lblank;] There is no part of this play, in its representation on the stage, is more pathetic than this scene, which, I suppose, proceeds from the utter insensibility she has to her own misfortune. A great sensibility, or none at all, seem to produce the same effect; in the latter, the audience supply what she wants, and in the former, they sympathise. Mr. Reynolds.

Note return to page 1008 11008262P. 262. The ratifiers and props of every word.] By word is here meant a declaration, or proposal; it is determined to this sense, by the reference it hath to what had just preceded, The rabble call him lord. This acclamation, which is the word here spoken of, was made without regard to antiquity, or received custom, whose concurrence, however, is necessarily required to confer validity and stability in every proposal of this kind. Revisal. This interpretation leaves the expression still harsh, but nothing so good has yet been offered.

Note return to page 1009 11008263P. 266. Oph. You must sing, down-a-down, and you call him a-down-a. O how the wheel becomes it!] The wheel means no more than the burthen of the song, which she has just repeated, and as such was formerly used. I met with the following observation in an old quarto black letter book, published before the time of Shakespeare. “The song was accounted an excellent one, thogh it was not moche graced by the wheele, which in no wise accorded with the subject matter thereof.” I quote this from memory, and from a book, of which I cannot recollect the exact title or date, but the passage was in a preface to some songs, or sonnets; and I well remember to have met with the word in the same sense in several other old books, and am very sorry I cannot give, at present, a more satisfactory quotation to prove what I am confident is the true meaning of the expression. Mr. Steevens.

Note return to page 1010 11008264P. 268. No trophy, sword, nor hatchment, &c.] The note on this passage seems to imply a disuse of this practice; whereas it is uniformly kept up at this day; not only the sword, but the helmet, gauntlet, spurs and taburd, i. e. a coat, whereon the armorial ensigns were anciently depicted (from which the term coat armour) are hung over the grave of every knight. Mr. Hawkins.

Note return to page 1011 11008265P. 278. Hamlet. Make her grave straight.] Some, for whose opinions I have great regard, think that straight is only immediately. My interpretation I have given with no great confidence, but the longer I consider it, the more I think it right.

Note return to page 1012 11008266P. 279. Crowner's quest law.] I strongly suspect that this is a ridicule on the case of dame Hales, reported by Plowden, in his commentaries, as determined in 3. Eliz. It seems her husband, Sir James Hales, had drowned himself in a river, and the question was, whether by this act a forfeiture of a lease from the dean and chapter of Canterbury, which he was possessed of, did not accrue to the crown; an inquisition was sound before the coroner, which found him felo de se. The legal and logical subtleties, arising in the course of the argument of this case, gave a very fair opportunity for a sneer at Crowner's quest Law. The expression, a little before that, an act hath three branches, &c. is so pointed an allusion to the case I mention, that I cannot doubt but that Shakespeare was acquainted with, and meant to laugh at it. Mr. Hawkins.

Note return to page 1013 11008267P. 281. In this note, for into his land, read band. Conjecture is unnecessary; for Mr. Percy has published the original song in his collection of old ballads.

Note return to page 1014 11008268P. 308. For who could bear the whips and scorns of time. Qu. Quips?] Which signifies gybes, jeers, flouts, or taunts. See Minshew's Guide into the Tongues, col. 597. So used by Ben. Johnson, Cynthia's Revels, act ii. sc. iv. Phil. “Faith how like you my quippe to Hedon about the garter; was't not wittie?” Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 1015 11008269P. 320. Whether Iago singly was a Florentine, or both he and Cassio were so, does not appear to me of much consequence. That the latter was actually married, is not sufficiently implied in a fellow almost damn'd in a fair wife, since it may mean, according to Iago's licentious manner of expressing himself, no more than a man very near being married. Had Shakespeare, consistently with Iago's character, meant to make him say, Cassio was damn'd in being married to a handsome woman, he would have made him say it outright, and not have interposed the palliative almost. The succeeding parts of his conversation sufficiently evince that the Poet thought no mode of conception or expression too shocking for Iago. Mr. Steevens.

Note return to page 1016 11008270P. 324. Iago. Your daughter and the Moor are making the beast with two backs.] In a “Dictionaire des Proverbes François, Par G. D. B. Brusselles, 1710, 12mo,” under the word dos I find the following article: “Faire la bete a deux dos,” pour dire faire l' amour. Mr. Percy.

Note return to page 1017 11008271P. 345. Let me speak like yourself.] i. e. let me speak as yourself would speak, were you not too much heated with passion. Mr. Reynolds.

Note return to page 1018 11008272P. 346. That the bruised heart was pierced through the ear.] Shakespeare was continually changing his first expression for another, either stronger or more uncommon, so that very often the reader, who has not the same continuity or succession of ideas, is at a loss for its meaning. Many of Shakespeare's uncouth strained epithets may be explained, by going back to the obvious and simple expression which is most likely to occur to the mind in that state. I can imagine the first mode of expression that occurred to Shakespeare was this: The troubled heart was never cured by words: To give it poetical force, he altered the phrase; The wounded heart was never reached through the ear: Wounded heart he changed to broken, and that to bruised, as a more uncommon expression. Reach, he altered to touched, and the transition is then easy to pierced, i. e. thoroughly touched. When the sentiment is brought to this state, the commentator, without this unraveling clue, expounds piercing the heart, in its common acceptation, wounding the heart, which making in this place nonsense, is corrected to pieced the heart, which is very stiff, and as Polonius says, is a vile phrase. Mr. Reynolds.

Note return to page 1019 11008273P. 355. A Veronese, Michael Cassio.] The Revisal supposes, I believe rightly, that Michael Cassio is a Veronese. It should just be observed, that the Italian pronunciation of the word must be retained, otherwise the measure will be defective. Mr. Steevens.

Note return to page 1020 11008274P. 362. To suckle fools, and chronicle small beer.] I see no more humour in this line than is obvious to the most careless reader. After enumerating the perfections of a woman, he adds, that if ever there was one such as he had been describing, she was, at the best, of no other use than to suckle children and keep the accounts of a household. The expressions of to suckle fools and chronicle small beer, are only two instances of the want of natural affection, and the predominance of a critical censoriousness in Iago, which he allows himself to have, where he says, oh, I am nothing if not critical! Shakespeare never thought of any thing like the “O nate mecum consule Manlio.” Mr. Steevens. This is certainly right.

Note return to page 1021 11008275P. 366. Or tainting his discipline &lblank;] If the sense in this place was not sufficiently clear, I should have thought taunting his discipline might have been the word, since it was more likely for Roderigo, from his general foolish character, to be able to throw out something in contempt of what he did not understand, than to say any thing which might really sully it, which tainting seems to imply. Mr. Steevens.

Note return to page 1022 11008276P. 368. If this poor brach of Venice, whom I trace. For his quick hunting, stand the putting on.] The old reading was trash, which Dr. Warburton judiciously turned into brach. But it seems to me, that trash belongs to another part of the line, and that we ought to read trash for trace. To trash a hound, is a term of hunting still used in the North, and perhaps elsewhere; i. e. to correct, to rate. The sense is, “If this hound Roderigo, whom I rate for quick hunting, for overrunning the scent, will but stand the putting on, will but have patience to be properly and fairly put upon the scent, &c.” The context and sense is nothing if we read trace. This very hunting-term, to trash, is metaphorically used by Shakespeare in the Tempest, act i. sc. ii. “Pro. Being once perfected how to grant suits, “How to deny them; whom t' advance, and whom “To trash for overtopping.” &lblank; To trash for overtopping; i. e. “what suitors to check for their too great forwardness.” To overtop, is when a hound gives his tongue, above the rest, too loudly or too readily; for which he ought to be trash'd or rated. Topper, in the good sense of the word, is a common name for a hound, in many parts of England. Shakespeare is fond of allusions to hunting, and appears to be well acquainted with its language. Mr. Warton.

Note return to page 1023 11008277P. 374. Iago. He'll watch the horologue a double set, If drink rock not his cradle. &lblank;] Chaucer uses the word horologe in more places than one. “Well skirer was his crowing in his loge, (lodge) “Than is a clocke, or abbey horologe.”

Note return to page 1024 11008278P. 397. To seal her father's eyes up close as oak.] The oak is (I believe) the most close-grained wood of the growth of England. Close as oak, means close as the grain of the oak. Mr. Steevens. I am still of my former opinion.

Note return to page 1025 11008279P. 404. The spirit-stirring drum, th' ear-piercing fife.] In mentioning the fife joined with the drum, Shakespeare, as usual, paints from the life: those instruments accompanying each other, being used, in his age, by the English soldiery. The fife, however, as a martial instrument, was afterwards entirely discontinued among our troops for many years, but at length revived in the war before the last. It is commonly supposed, that our soldiers borrowed it from the Highlanders in the last rebellion: but I do not know that the fife is peculiar to the Scotch, or even used at all by them. It was first used, within the memory of man, among our troops, by the British guards, by order of the duke of Cumberland, when they were encamped at Maestricht, in the year 1747, and thence soon adopted into other English regiments of infantry. They took it from the allies with whom they served. This instrument, accompanying the drum, is of considerable antiquity in the European armies, particularly the German. In a curious picture in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford, painted 1525, representing the siege of Pavia by the French king, where the emperor was taken prisoner, we see fifes and drums. In an old English treatise written by William Garrard before 1587, and published by one captain Hichcock in 1591, entitled the Arte of Warre, there are several woodcutts of military evolutions, in which these instruments are both introduced. In Rymer's Fœdera, in a diary of king Henry's siege of Bulloigne, 1544. mention is made of the “drommes and viffleurs,” marching at the head of the king's army. Tom. xv. p. 53. The drum and fife were also much used at antient festivals, shows, and processions. Gerard Leigh, in his Accidence of Armory, printed in 1576, describing a christmas magnificently celebrated at the inner temple, says, “we entered the prince his hall, where anon we heard the noyse of drum and fife,” p. 119. At a stately masque on Shrove-sunday 1509, in which Henry VIII. was an actor, Hollinshed mentions the entry of “a drum and fife apprelled in white damaske and grene bonnettes.” Chron. iii. 805. col. 2. There are many more instances in Hollinshed, and Stowe's Survey of London. From the old French word viffleur, above cited, came the English word whiffler, which anciently was used in its proper literal sense. Strype, speaking of a grand filting before the court, in queen Mary's reign, 1554, says, from an old journal, that king Philip and the challengers, entered the lists, preceded by “their whifflers, their footmen, and their armourers.” Eccles. Memor. iii. p. 211. This explains the use of the word in Shakespeare, where it is also literally applied. Henry V. act iv. sc. ult. &lblank; “Behold, the English beach “Pales in the flood with men, with wives and boys, “Whose shouts and claps out-voice the deep-mouth'd sea, “Which, like a mighty whiffler 'fore the king, “Seems to prepare his way.” &lblank; By degrees, the word whiffler hence acquired the metaphorical meaning which it at present obtains in common speech, and became an appellation of contempt? Whiffler, a light trivial character, a fellow hired to pipe at shows and processions. Mr. Warton.

Note return to page 1026 11008280P. 424. Nature could not invest herself in such shadowing passions without some instruction.] However ingenious Dr. Warburton's note may be, it is certainly too forced and farfetch'd. Othello alludes only to Cassio's dream, which had been invented and told him by Iago, when many confused and very interesting ideas pour in upon the mind all at once, and with such rapidity, that it has not time to shape or digest them, if the mind does not relieve itself by tears, which we know it often does, whether for joy or grief, it produces stupefaction and fainting. Othello, in broken sentences and single words, all of which have a reference to the cause of his jealousy, shews, that all the proofs are present at once to his mind, which so overpowers it, that he falls in a trance, the natural consequence. Mr. Reynolds.

Note return to page 1027 11008281P. 461. Line 2. Gone to burning hell. &lblank;] Against the authority of all the editions, I think, we might venture to read, burn in hell. &lblank; Revisal.

Note return to page 1028 11008282P. 469. Like the base Judean threw a pearl away, Richer than all his tribe.] I cannot join with the learned criticks in supposing this passage to refer either to the ignorance of the natives of India, in respect of pearls or the well known story of Herod and Mariamne. Othello, in detestation of what he had done, seems to compare himself to another who had thrown away a thing of value, with some circumstances of the meanest villainy, which the epithet base seems to imply in its general sense, though it is sometimes used only for low or mean. The Indian could not properly be termed base in the former and most common sense, whose fault was ignorance, which brings its own excuse with it, and the crime of Herod surely deserves a more aggravated distinction. For though in every crime, great as well as small, there is a degree of baseness, yet the furiis agitatus amor, such as contributed to that of Herod, seems to ask a stronger word to characterize it, as there was spirit at least in what he did, though the spirit of a fiend, and the epithet base would better suit with petty larceny than royal guilt. Besides, the simile appears to me too apposite almost to be used on the occasion, and is little more than bringing the fact into comparison with itself. Each through jealousy had destroyed an innocent wife, circumstances so parallel, as hardly to admit of that variety which we generally find in one allusion, which is meant to illustrate another, and at the same time to appear as no superfluous ornament. Neither do I believe the poet intended to make it coincide with all the circumstances of Othello's situation, but merely with the single act of having basely (as he himself terms it) destroyed that, on which he ought to have set a greater value. As the pearl may bear a literal as well as a metaphorical sense, I would rather chuse to take it in the literal one, and receive Mr. Pope's rejected explanation, presupposing some story of a Jew alluded to, which might be well understood at that time, though now totally forgotten. Shakespeare's seeming aversion to the Jews in general, and his constant desire to expose their avarice and baseness as often as he had an opportunity, may serve to strengthen this supposition; and as that nation in his time, and since, has not been famous for crimes daring and conspicuous, but has rather contented itself to thrive by the meaner and more successful arts of baseness, there seems to be a particular propriety in the epithet. When Falstaff is justifying himself in Henry IV. he adds, If what I have said be not true, I am a Jew, an Ebrew Jew, (i. e. one of the most suspected characters of the time) and the vigilance for gain which is described in Shylock, may afford us reason to suppose the poet was alluding to a story of some Jew, who rather than not have his own price for a pearl of value, basely threw that away which was so excellent in its kind, that its fellow could hardly ever be expected to be found again. Richer than all his tribe, seems to point out the Jew again in a mercantile light, and may mean that the pearl was richer than all the gems to be found among a set of men generally trading in them. Neither do I recollect that Othello mentions many things, but what he might fairly have been allowed to have had knowledge of in the course of his peregrinations. Of this kind, are the similies to to the Euxine sea flowing into the Propontick, and the Arabian trees dropping their gums. The rest of his speeches are more free from mythological and historical allusions, than almost any to be found in Shakespeare, for he is never quite clear from them, though in the design of this character, he seems to have meant it for one who had spent a greater part of his life in the field, than in the cultivation of any other knowledge than what would be of use to him in his military capacity. It should be observed that most of the flourishes merely ornamental were added after the first edition, and this is not the only proof to be met with, that the poet in his alterations, sometimes forgot his original plan. The metaphorical term of a pearl for a fine woman, may for ought I know be very common; but in the instances Dr. Warburton has brought to prove it so, there is a circumstance that immediately shews a woman to have been meant. “There she lies a pearl: “Why she is a pearl of price.” In Othello's speech we find no such leading expression, and are therefore at liberty, I think, to take the passage in its literal meaning. To this note, should be subjoined (as an apology for many others which may not be thought to bring conviction with them) that the true sense of a passage has frequently remained undetermined, till repeated experiments have been tried on it, when one commentator, making a proper use of the errors of another, has at last explained it to universal satisfaction. When mistakes have such effects, who would regret having been mistaken, or be sorry to be the means of directing others, by that affinity which a wrong reading or interpretation sometimes has to the right, though he has not been so lucky to produce at once authorities which could not be questioned, or decisions to which nothing could be added? Mr. Steevens.

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