Note return to page 1 1Life of Henry V.] This play was writ (as appears from a passage in the chorus to the fifth act) at the time of the earl of Essex's commanding the forces in Ireland in the reign of queen Elizabeth, and not 'till after Henry the VIth had been played, as may be seen by the conclusion of this play. Pope. Life of Henry V.] The transactions comprised in this historical play commence about the latter end of the first, and terminate in the eighth year of this king's reign: when he married Katharine princess of France, and closed up the differences betwixt England and that crown. Theobald. This play in the quarto edition, 1608, is styled the Chronicle History of Henry, &c. which seems to have been the title anciently appropriated to all Shakespeare's historical dramas. So, in The Antipodes, a comedy by R. Brome, 1638: “These lads can act the emperor's lives all over, “And Shakespeare's Chronicled Histories to boot.” The players likewise in the folio edition, 1623, rank these pieces under the title of Histories. It is evident, that a play on this subject had been performed before the year 1595. Nash, in Pierce Penniless his Supplication to the Devil, dated 1595, says: “&lblank; what a glorious thing it is to have Henry the Fift represented on the stage leading the French king prisoner, and forcing both him and the dolphin to sweare fealtie.” Steevens.

Note return to page 2 1O for a muse of fire, &c.] This goes upon the notion of the Peripatetic system, which imagines several heavens one above another; the last and highest of which was one of fire. Warburton. It alludes likewise to the aspiring nature of fire, which, by its levity, at the separation of the chaos, took the highest seat of all the elements. Johnson.

Note return to page 3 2&lblank; princes to act, And monarchs to behold &lblank;] Shakespeare does not seem to set distance enough between the performers and spectators. Johnson.

Note return to page 4 3Leasht in like hounds, should famine, sword, and fire, Crouch for employment. &lblank;] In K. Henry VI. “Lean famine, quartering steel, and climbing fire,” are called the three attendants on the English general, lord Talbot; and, as I suppose, are the dogs of war mentioned in Julius Cæsar. This image of the warlike Henry very much resembles Montfaucon's description of the Mars discovered at Bresse, who leads a lyon and a lyoness in couples, and crouching as for employment. Tollet. Warner, in his Albion's England, 1602, speaking of King Henry V. says: “He led good fortune in a line, and did but war and win.” Holinshed, (p. 567.) when the people of Roan petitioned king Henry V. has put this sentiment into his mouth: “He declared that the goddesse of battell, called Bellona, had three handmaidens, ever of necessitie attending upon her, as blood, fire, and famine.” Steevens.

Note return to page 5 4Within this wooden O, &lblank;] Nothing shews more evidently the power of custom over language, than that the frequent use of calling a circle an O could so much hide the meanness of the metaphor from Shakespeare, that he has used it many times where he makes his most eager attempts at dignity of stile. Johnson.

Note return to page 6 5The very casques] The helmets. Johnson.

Note return to page 7 6Imaginary forces &lblank;] Imaginary for imaginative, or your powers of fancy. Active and passive words are by this author frequently confounded. Johnson.

Note return to page 8 7Whose high-upreared, and abutting fronts The perilous narrow ocean parts asunder.] Without doubt the author wrote: Whose high-upreared and abutting fronts, Perilous, the narrow ocean parts asunder.] For his purpose is to shew, that the highest danger arises from the shock of their meeting, and that it is but a little thing which keeps them asunder. This sense my emendation gives us, as the common reading gives us a contrary; for those whom a perilous ocean parts asunder, are in no danger of meeting. Warburton. Perilous narrow, in burlesque and common language meant no more than very narrow. In old books this mode of expression occurs perpetually. A perilous broad brim to a hat, a perilous long sword, &c. So, in Beaumont and Fletcher's Humourous Lieutenant: “She is perilous crafty.” Thus, villainous is only used to exaggerate, in the Tempest: “&lblank; be turn'd to barnacles or apes “With foreheads villanous low.” Again, in John Florio's Preface to his Translation of Montaigne: “&lblank; in this perilous crook'd passage &lblank;” Steevens.

Note return to page 9 8And make imaginary puissance:] This shews that Shakespeare was fully sensible of the absurdity of shewing battles on the theatre, which indeed is never done but tragedy becomes farce. Nothing can be represented to the eye but by something like it, and within a wooden O nothing very like a battle can be exhibited. Johnson. Other authors of that age seem to have been sensible of the same absurdities. In Heywood's Fair Maid of the West, 1631; a Chorus enters and says: “Our stage so lamely can express a sea, “That we are forc'd by Chorus to discourse “What should have been in action, &c.” Steevens.

Note return to page 10 9For 'tis your thoughts that now must deck our kings; Carry them here and there; &lblank;] We may read king for kings. The prologue relates only to this single play. The mistake was made by referring them to kings which belongs to thoughts. The sense is, your thoughts must give the king his proper greatness; carry therefore your thoughts here and there, jumping over time, and crowding years into an hour. Johnson. I am not sure that Dr. Johnson's observation is just. In this play, the king of France as well as England, makes his appearance; and the sense may be this;—it must be to your imaginations that our kings are indebted for their royalty. Let the fancy of the spectator furnish out those appendages to greatness which the poverty of our stage is unable to supply. The poet is still apologizing for the defects of theatrical representation. Steevens.

Note return to page 11 2Archbishop of Canterbury.] This first scene was added since the edition of 1608, which is much short of the present editions, wherein the speeches are generally enlarged and raised: several whole scenes besides, and all the choruses also, were since added by Shakespeare. Pope. On this subject a play was written about the time of Shakespeare; but whether before or after his Henry V. made its appearance, has not yet been absolutely determined. (It is thus entered in the books of the Stationers' company. “Tho. Strode] May 2, 1594. A booke entituled the famous Victories of Henry the Fift, containing the honorable Battell of Agincourt.” There are two more entries of a play of Henry V. viz. between 1596 and 1615, and one August 14th, 1600.) I have two copies of it in my possession: one without date (which seems much the elder of the two) and another (apparently printed from it) dated 1617, though printed by Bernard Alsop (who was printer of the other edition) and sold by the same person and at the same place. Alsop appears to have been a printer before the year 1600, and was afterwards one of the twenty appointed by decree of the starchamber to print for this kingdom. I believe, however, this piece to have been prior to that of Shakespeare for several reasons. First, because it is highly probable that it is the very “displeasing play” alluded to in the epilogue to the second part of King Henry IV.—for Oldcastle died a martyr. Oldcastle is the Falstaff of the piece, which is despicable, and full of ribaldry and impiety from the first scene to the last.—Secondly, because Shakespeare seems to have taken not a few hints from it; for it comprehends in some measure the story of the two parts of Henry IV. as well as of Henry V. and no ignorance I think could debase the gold of Shakespeare into such dross; though no chemistry but that of Shakespeare could exalt such base metal into gold.— When the prince of Wales in Henry IV. calls Falstaff my old lad of the Castle, it is probably but a sneering allusion to the deserved fate which this performance met with; for there is no proof that our poet was ever obliged to change the name of Oldcastle into that of Falstaff, though there is an absolute certainty that this piece must have been condemned by any audience before whom it was ever represented. Lastly, because it appears (as Dr. Farmer has observed) from the Jests of the famous comedian Tarlton, 4to. 1611, that he had been particularly celebrated in the part of the Clown † [Footnote: 1Kb]

Note return to page 12 †Mr. Oldys, in a manuscript note in his copy of Langbaine, says, that Tarlton appear'd in the character of the Judge who receives the box on the ear. This Judge is likewise a character in the old play. I may add, on the authority of the books at Stationer's-Hall, that Tarlton published what he called his Farewell, a ballad, in Sept. 1588. In Oct. 1589, was enter'd, “Tarlton's Repentance, and his Farewell to his Friends in his Sickness a little before his Death;” in 1590, “Tarlton's Newes out of Purgatorie:” and in the same year, “A pleasaunt Ditty Dialogue-wise, between Tarlton's Ghost and Robyn Good-fellowe.” Steevens.

Note return to page 13 3The scambling and unquiet time.] In the old houshold book of the 5th earl of Northumberland, there is a particular section appointing the order of service for the scambling days in lent, that is, days on which no regular meals were provided, but every one scambled, i. e. scrambled and shifted for himself as well as he could. —So, in the old noted book intitled, “Leicester's Commonwealth,” one of the marginal heads is, “Scambling between Leicester and Huntington at the upshot.” Where in the text, the author says, “Hastings, for ought I see, when he cometh to the scambling, is like to have no better luck by the bear [Leicester] then his ancestors had by the boare [K. Rich. III.]” edit. 1641, 12mo. p. 87. So again, Shakespeare himself makes king Hen. V. say to the princess Katharine, “I get thee with scambling, and thou must therefore prove a good soldier-breeder.” Act V. Percy. Shakespeare uses the same word in Much Ado about Nothing: “Scambling, out-facing, fashion-mong'ring boys.” Again, in Ram-Alley, or Merry Tricks, 1611: “&lblank; the widow and myself “Will scamble out the shaking of the sheets, “Without your music.” Again, in the Merry Devil of Edmonton, 1626: “Leave us to scamble for her getting out.” Steevens.

Note return to page 14 4Consideration, like an angel, &c.] As paradise, when sin and Adam were driven out by the angel, became the habitation of celestial spirits, so the king's heart, since consideration has driven out his follies, is now the receptacle of wisdom and of virtue. Johnson.

Note return to page 15 5Never came reformation in a flood,] Alluding to the method by which Hercules cleansed the famous stables when he turned a a river through them. Hercules still is in our author's head when he mentions the Hydra. Johnson.

Note return to page 16 6Hear him but reason in divinity, &c.] This speech seems to have been copied from king James's prelates, speaking of their Solomon: when archbishop Whitgift, who, as an eminent writer says, died soon afterwards, and probably doated then, at the Hampton-Court conference, declared himself verily persuaded, that his sacred majesty spoke by the spirit of God. And, in effect, this scene was added after king James's accession to the crown: so that we have no way of avoiding its being esteemed a compliment to him, but by supposing it was a satire on his bishops. Warburton. Why these lines should be divided from the rest of the speech and applied to king James, I am not able to conceive; nor why an opportunity should be so eagerly snatched to treat with contempt that part of his character which was least contemptible. King James's theological knowledge was not inconsiderable. To preside at disputations is not very suitable to a king, but to understand the questions is surely laudable. The poet, if he had James in his thoughts, was no skilful encomiast; for the mention of Harry's skill in war, forced upon the remembrance of his audience the great deficiency of their present king; who yet with all his faults, and many faults he had, was such, that sir Robert Cotton says, he would be content that England should never have a better, provided that it should never have a worse. Johnson. Those who are solicitous that justice should be done to the theological knowledge of our British Solomon, may very easily furnish themselves with specimens of it from a book entitled, Rex Platonicus, sive de potentissimi Principis Jacobi Britanniarum Regis ad illustrissimam Academiam Oxoniensem adventu, Aug. 27, Anno 1605. In this performance we may still hear him reasoning in Divinity, Physic, Jurisprudence, and Philosophy. On the second of these subjects he has not failed to express his well-known enmity to tobacco, and throws out many a royal witticism on the “Medici Nicotianistæ,” and “Tobacconistæ” of the age; insomuch that Isaac Wake, the chronicler of his triumphs at Oxford, declares, that “nemo nisi iniquissimus rerum æstimator, bonique publici pessimè invidus, Jacobo nostro recusabit immortalem gloriæ aram figere, qui ipse adeo mirabilem in Theologiæ, Jurisprudentiæ et Medicinæ arcanis peritiam eamque planè divinitus assecutus est, ut &c.” Steevens.

Note return to page 17 7The air, &c.] This line is exquisitely beautiful. Johnson. The same thought occurs in As You Like It. Act II. sc. 7: “&lblank; I must have liberty “Withal, as large a charter as the wind, “To blow on whom I please.” Malone.

Note return to page 18 8So that the art, and practic part of life,] All the editions, if I am not deceived, are guilty of a slight corruption in this passage. The archbishop has been shewing what a master the king was in the theory of divinity, war, and policy: so that it must be expected (as, I conceive he would infer) that the king should now wed that theory to action, and the putting the several parts of his knowledge into practice. If this be our author's meaning, I think, we can hardly doubt but he wrote: So that the act, and practic, &c. Thus we have a consonance in the terms and sense. For theory is the art and study of the rules of any science; and action, the exemplification of those rules by proof and experiment. Theobald. This emendation is received by Dr. Warburton, but it appears to me founded upon a misrepresentation. The true meaning seems to be this. He discourses with so much skill on all subjects, that the art and practice of life must be the mistress or teacher of his theorique; that is, that his theory must have been taught by art and practice; which, says he, is strange, since he could see little of the true art or practice among his loose companions, nor ever retired to digest his practice into theory: art is used by the author for practice, as distinguished from science or theory. Johnson.

Note return to page 19 9&lblank; to this theorique:] Theoric is what terminates in speculation. So, in The Valiant Welchman, 1615: “&lblank; son Caradoc, “'Tis yet unfit that on this sudden warning “You leave your fair wife, to the theorique “Of matrimonial pleasure and delight.” Bookish theorique is mentioned in Othello. Steevens.

Note return to page 20 1The strawberry &c.] i. e. the wild fruit so called, that grows in the woods. Steevens.

Note return to page 21 2&lblank; crescive in his faculty.] Increasing in its proper power. Johnson. Grew like the summer grass, fastest by night, Unseen, yet crescive in his faculty.] Crescit occulto velut arbor ævo Fama Marcelli. Crescive is a word used by Drant in his translation of Horace's Art of Poetry, 1567: “As lusty youths of crescive age doe flourishe freshe and grow.” Steevens.

Note return to page 22 3The severals, and unhidden passages,] This line I suspect of corruption, though it may be fairly enough explained: the passages of his titles are the lines of succession by which his claims descend. Unhidden is open, clear. Johnson.

Note return to page 23 4Good Uncle.] John Holland, duke of Exeter, was married to to Elizabeth the king's aunt. Steevens.

Note return to page 24 5Shall we call in, &c,] Here began the old play. Pope.

Note return to page 25 6Not yet, my consin; &c.] The 4to. 1600 and 1608, read Not yet, my cousin, till we be resolv'd Of some serious matters touching us and France. Steevens.

Note return to page 26 7&lblank; task &lblank;] Keep busied with scruples and laborious disquisitions. Johnson.

Note return to page 27 8Or nicely charge your understanding soul] Take heed lest by nice and subtle sophistry you burthen your knowing soul, or knowingly burthen your soul, with the guilt of advancing a false title, or of maintaining, by specious fallacies, a claim which, if shewn in its native and true colours, would appear to be false. Johnson.

Note return to page 28 9&lblank; miscreate, &lblank;] Ill-begotten, illegitimate, spurious. Johnson.

Note return to page 29 1&lblank; in approbation] i. e. in proving and supporting that title which shall be now set up. So, in Brathwaite's Survey of Histories, 1614. “Composing what he wrote, not by report of others, but by the approbation of his own eyes.” Again, in the Winter's Tale: “That lack'd sight only;—nought for approbation “But only seeing.” Malone.

Note return to page 30 2&lblank; take heed how you impawn our person,] The whole drift of the king is to impress upon the archbishop a due sense of the caution with which he is to speak. He tells him that the crime of unjust war, if the war be unjust, shall rest upon him. Therefore take heed how you impawn your person. So, I think it should be read. Take heed how you pledge yourself, your honour, your happiness, in support of bad advice. Dr. Warburton explains impawn by engage, and so escapes the difficulty. Johnson.

Note return to page 31 3&lblank; brief mortality.] “Nulla brevem dominum sequetur. Hor. Steevens.

Note return to page 32 4Under this conjuration,] The 4tos 1600 and 1608, read: After this conjuration. Steevens.

Note return to page 33 5&lblank; There is no bar &c.] This whole speech is copied (in a manner verbatim) from Hall's Chronicle Henry V. year the second, folio 4. xx. xxx. xl, &c. In the first edition it is very imperfect, and the whole history and names of the princes are confounded; but this was afterwards set right, and corrected from his original, Hall's Chronicle. Pope.

Note return to page 34 6This speech (together with the Latin passage in it) may as well be said to be taken from Holinshed as from Hall. Steevens.

Note return to page 35 7To fine his title &c.] This is the reading of the quarto of 1608, that of the folio is, To find his title. I would read: To line his title with some shew of truth. To line may signify at once to decorate and to strengthen. In Macbeth: “He did line the rebels with hidden help and vantage.” Dr. Warburton says, that to fine his title, is to refine or improve it. The reader is to judge. I now believe that find is right; the jury finds for the plaintiff, or finds for the defendant: to find his title is, to determine in favour of his title with some shew of truth. Johnson. Both the quartos, 1600 and 1608, read—To fine his title, i. e. to make it shewy or specious by some appearance of justice. Steevens.

Note return to page 36 8&lblank; imbare their crooked titles,] Mr. Pope reads: Than openly imbrace] But where is the antithesis betwixt hide in the preceding line, and imbrace in this? The two old folios read, Than amply to imbarre.—We certainly must read, as Mr. Warburton advised me, Than amply to imbare—lay open, display to view. I am surpriz'd Mr. Pope did not start this conjecture, as Mr. Rowe had led the way to it in his edition; who reads: Than amply to make bare their crooked titles. Theobald. Mr. Theobald might have found in the quarto of 1608, this reading: Than amply to embrace their crooked causes; out of which line Mr. Pope formed his reading, erroneous indeed, but not merely capricious. Johnson. The 4to 1600, reads—imbace. I know of no such word as imbare. To unbar is to open, which I suppose to be the word set down by the poet, and was probably opposed to bar. So, in the first scene of Timon, the poet says, “I'll unbolt to you.” To embar, however, seems, from the following passage in the first book of Stanyhurst's translation of Virgil, 1582, to signify to break or cut off abruptly: “Heere Venus embarring his tale, &c.” Yet, as to bar, in Much Ado about Nothing, is to strengthen,— “&lblank; that is stronger made “Which was before barr'd up with ribs of iron.—” So, amply to unbar may mean to weaken by an open display of invalidity. Steevens. [Notes from the 1780 Supplement]9Q0763

Note return to page 37 9&lblank; cold for action!] The next speeches of Ely, Exeter, Westmoreland, and Canterbury, were added after the quartos 1600 and 1608. Steevens.

Note return to page 38 1They know your grace hath cause, and means, and might, So hath your highness; &lblank;] We should read: &lblank; your race had cause &lblank; which is carrying on the sense of the concluding words of Exeter: As did the former lions of your blood; meaning Edward III. and the black prince. Warburton. I do not see but the present reading may stand as I have pointed it. Johnson.

Note return to page 39 2These two lines Dr. Warburton gives to Westmoreland, but with so little reason that I have continued them to Canterbury. The credit of old copies, though not great, is yet more than nothing. Johnson.

Note return to page 40 3They of those marches,] The marches are the borders, the limits, the confines. Hence the Lords Marchers, i. e. the lords presidents of the marches, &c. So, in the first canto of Drayton's Barons' Wars: “When now the marchers well upon their way, &c.” Steevens.

Note return to page 41 4&lblank; giddy neighbour &lblank;] That is, inconstant, changeable. Johnson.

Note return to page 42 5Never went with his forces into France,] Shakespeare wrote the line thus: Ne'er went with his full forces into France. The following expressions of unfurnish'd kingdom, gleaned land, and empty of defence, shew this. Warburton. There is no need of alteration. Johnson. The 4tos 1600 and 1608 read: &lblank; never my great grandfather Unmask'd his power for France &lblank; What an opinion the Scots entertained of the defenceless state of England, may be known by the following passage from The Battle of Floddon, an ancient historical poem: “For England's king you understand   “To France is past with all his peers: “There is none at home left in the land,   “But joult-head monks, and bursten freers. “Of ragged rusties, without rules,   “Of priests prating for pudding shives; “Of milners madder than their mules,   “Or wanton clerks, waking their wives.” Steevens.

Note return to page 43 6&lblank; at the ill neighbourhood.] The 4tos 1600 and 1608 read: &lblank; at the bruit thereof. Steevens.

Note return to page 44 7And make his chronicle as rich with praise,] He is speaking of king Edward's prisoners; so that it appears Shakespeare wrote: &lblank; as rich with prize, i. e. captures, booty. Without this there is neither beauty nor likeness in the similitude. Warburton. The change of praise to prize, I believe no body will approve; the similitude between the chronicle and the sea consists only in this, that they are both full, and filled with something valuable. Besides, Dr. Warburton presupposes a reading which exists in no ancient copy, for his chronicle as the later editions give it, the quarto has your, the folio their chronicle. Your and their written by contraction yr are just alike, and her in the old hands is not much unlike yr. I believe we should read her chronicle. Johnson.

Note return to page 45 8&lblank; and sumless treasuries.] The quartos 1600 and 1608 read: &lblank; and shipless treasury. Steevens.

Note return to page 46 9Ely. But there's a saying, &c.] This speech, which is dissuasive of war with France, is absurdly given to one of the churchmen in confederacy to push the king upon it, as appears by the first scene of this act. Besides, the poet had here an eye to Hall, who gives this observation to the duke of Exeter. But the editors have made Ely and Exeter change sides, and speak one another's speeches; for this, which is given to Ely, is Exeter's; and the following given to Exeter is Ely's. Warburton.

Note return to page 47 1If that you will France win, &c.] Hall's Chronicle. Hen. V. year 2. fol. 7. p. 2. x. Pope. It is likewise found in Holinshed, and in the old anonymous play of K. Henry V. Steevens.

Note return to page 48 2To tear and havock more than she can eat.] It is not much the quality of the mouse to tear the food it comes at, but to run over and defile it. The old quarto reads, spoile; and the two first folios, tame: from which last corrupted word, I think, I have retrieved the poet's genuine reading, taint. Theobald.

Note return to page 49 3Yet that is but a curs'd necessity;] So the old quarto. The folios read crush'd: neither of the words convey any tolerable idea; but give us a counter-reasoning, and not at all pertinent. We should read, 'scus'd necessity. It is Ely's business to shew there is no real necessity for staying at home: he must therefore mean, that though there be a seeming necessity, yet it is one that may be well excus'd and got over. Warburton. Neither the old readings nor the emendation seem very satisfactory. A cursed necessity has no sense; a 'scus'd necessity is so harsh that one would not admit it, if any thing else can be found, A crush'd necessity may mean, a necessity which is subdued and over-powered by contrary reasons. We might read a crude necessity, a necessity not complete, or not well considered and digested, but it is too harsh. Sir. T. Hanmer reads: Yet that is not o'course a necessity. Johnson. A curs'd necessity means, I believe, only an unfortunate necessity. Curs'd, in colloquial phrase, signifies any thing unfortunate. So we say, such a one leads a cursed life; another has got into a cursed scrape. It may mean, a necessity to be execrated. This vulgarism is often used by sir Arthur Gorges in his translation of Lucan, 1614. So, B. vii. p. 293: “His cursed fortune he condemned.” Again, p. 297: “&lblank; on the cruel destinies “The people pour out cursed cries.” Again, in Chapman's translation of the 5th Odyssey: “&lblank; while thus discourse he held, “A curs'd surge 'gainst a cutting rock impell'd “His naked body.” Steevens.

Note return to page 50 4And pretty traps &lblank;] Thus the old copy; but I believe we should read petty. Steevens.

Note return to page 51 5For government, though high, and low, and lower,] The foundation and expression of this thought seems to be borrowed from Cicero de Republica, lib. 2. Sic ex summis, & mediis, & infimis interjectis ordinibus, ut sonis, moderatam ratione civitatem, Consensu dissimiliorum concinere; & quæ harmonia à musicis dicitur in cantu, eam esse in civitate concordiam. Theobald.

Note return to page 52 6&lblank; in one consent,] Consent is unison. Steevens.

Note return to page 53 7Setting endeavour in continual motion; To which is fixed, as an aim or butt, Obedience: &lblank;] Neither the sense nor the construction of this passage is very obvious. The construction is, endeavour—as an aim or butt to which endeavour, obedience is fixed. The sense is, that all endeavour is to terminate in obedience, to be subordinate to the publick good and general design of government. Johnson.

Note return to page 54 8Others, like merchants, venture trade abroad;] What is the venturing trade? I am persuaded we should read and point it thus: Others, like merchant venturers, trade abroad. Warburton. If the whole difficulty of this passage consists in the obscurity of the phrase to venture trade it may be easily cleared. To venture trade is a phrase of the same import and structure as to hazard battle. Nothing could have raised an objection but the desire of being busy. Johnson.

Note return to page 55 9The civil citizens kneading up the honey;] This may possibly be right: but I rather think that Shakespeare wrote &lblank; heading up the honey; alluding to the putting up merchandise in casks. And this is in fact the case. The honey being headed up in separate and distinct cells by a thin membrane of wax drawn over the mouth of each of them, to hinder the liquid matter from running out. Warburton. To head the honey can hardly be right; for though we head the cask, no man talks of heading the commodities. To knead gives an easy sense, though not physically true. The bees do in fact knead the wax more than the honey, but that Shakespeare perhaps did not know. Johnson. The old quartos read &lblank; lading up the honey. Steevens.

Note return to page 56 1So may a thousand actions, once afoot,] The speaker is endeavouring to shew that the state is able to execute many projected actions at once, and conduct them all to their completion, without impeding or jostling one another in their course. Shakespeare, therefore, must have wrote, actions 't once a foot, i. e. at once; or, on foot together. Warburton. Sir T. Hanmer is more kind to this emendation by reading act at once. The change is not necessary, the old text may stand. Johnson.

Note return to page 57 2Without defeat. &lblank;] The quartos 1600 and 1608 read, Without defect. Steevens.

Note return to page 58 3empery,] This word which signifies dominion, is now obsolete, though formerly in general use. So, in Claudius Tiberius Nero, 1607: “Within the circuit of our empery.” Steevens.

Note return to page 59 4&lblank; with a waxen epitaph.] The quarto 1608 reads, with a paper epitaph. Either a waxen or a paper epitaph, is an epitaph easily obliterated or destroyed; one which can confer no lasting honour on the dead. Shakespeare employs the former epithet in a similar sense in K. Richard II: “That it may enter Mowbray's waxen coat.” Again, in G. Whetstone's Garden of Unthriftines, 1576: “In waxe, say I, men easily grave their will;   “In marble stone the worke with paine is wonne: “But perfect once, the print remaineth still,   “When waxen seales by every browse are donne.” Steevens. The second reading is more unintelligible, to me at least, than the other: a grave not dignified with the slightest memorial. Johnson.

Note return to page 60 5&lblank; a nimble galliard won:] A galliard was an ancient dance, now obsolete. So, in All for Money, 1574: “Where shall we get a pipe to play the devil a galliard?” Steevens.

Note return to page 61 6Tennis-balls, my liege.] In the old play of Henry V. already mentioned, this present consists of a gilded tun of tennis-balls and a carpet. Steevens.

Note return to page 62 7We are glad the dauphin is so pleasant with us;] Thus stands the answer of K. Henry in the same old play: “My lord, prince Dolphin is very pleasant with me. “But tell him, that instead of balls of leather, “We will toss him balls of brass and of iron: “Yea, such balls as never were toss'd in France. “The proudest tennis-court in France shall rue it.” And the following passage is in Michael Drayton's Battle of Agincourt: “I'll send him balls and rackets if I live, “That they such racket shall in Paris see, “When over line with bandies I shall drive; “As that, before the set be fully done, “France may perhaps into the hazard run.” Steevens.

Note return to page 63 8Chace is a term at tennis. Johnson. So is the hazard; a place in the tennis-court into which the ball is sometimes struck. Steevens.

Note return to page 64 9And therefore, living hence, &lblank;] This expression has strength and energy: he never valued England; and therefore lived hence; i. e. as if absent from it. But the Oxford editor alters hence to here. Warburton. Living hence means, I believe, withdrawing from the court, the place in which he is now speaking. Steevens.

Note return to page 65 1For that I have laid by &lblank;] To qualify myself for this undertaking, I have descended from my station, and studied the arts of life in a lower character. Johnson. The quartos 1600 and 1608 read &lblank; for this. Steevens.

Note return to page 66 2&lblank; his balls to gun-stones; &lblank;] When ordinance was first used, they discharged balls, not of iron, but of stone. Johnson. So Holinshed, p. 947. “About seaven of the clocke marched forward the light peeces of ordinance, with stone and powder.” Steevens.

Note return to page 67 3In this place, in all the editions hitherto, is inserted the chorus which I have postponed. That chorus manifestly is intended to advertise the spectators of the change of the scene to Southampton, and therefore ought to be placed just before that change, and not here, where the scene is still continued in London. Pope. Now all the youth of England &lblank;] I have replaced this chorus here, by the authority of the old folios; and ended the first act, as the poet certainly intended. Mr. Pope removed it, because, says he, “This chorus manifestly is intended to advertise the spectators of the change of the scene to Southampton; and therefore ought to be placed just before that change, and not here.” It is true, the spectators are to be informed, that, when they next see the king, they are to suppose him at Southampton. But this does not imply any necessity of this chorus being contiguous to that change. On the contrary, the very concluding lines vouch absolutely against it: But till the king come forth, and not till then, Unto Southampton do we shift our scene. For how absurd is such a notice, if the scene is to change, so soon as ever the chorus quits the stage? Besides, unless this chorus be prefixed to the scene betwixt Nym, Bardolph, &c. we shall draw the poet into another absurdity. Pistol, Nym, and Bardolph are in this scene talking of going to the wars of France: but the king had but just, at his quitting the stage, declared his resolution of commencing this war: and without the interval of an act, betwixt the scene and the comic characters entering, how could they with any probability be informed of this intended expedition? Theobald. I think Mr. Pope mistaken in transposing this chorus, and Mr. Theobald in concluding the act with it. The chorus evidently introduces that which follows, not comments on that which precedes, and therefore rather begins than ends the act, and so I have printed it. Dr. Warburton follows Mr. Pope. Johnson.

Note return to page 68 4For now sits Expectation in the air, And hides a sword, from hilts unto the point, With crowns imperial, &c.] The imagery is wonderfully fine, and the thought exquisite. Expectation sitting in the air, designs the height of their ambition; and the sword hid from the hilt to the point with crowns and coronets, that all sentiments of danger were lost in the thoughts of glory. Warburton. The idea is taken from the ancient representations of trophies in tapestry or painting. Among these it is very common to see swords encircled with naval or mural crowns. Expectation is likewise personified by Milton, Par. Lost, b. vi. “&lblank; while Expectation stood “In horror.” &lblank; Steevens. In the horse armoury in the Tower of London, Edward III. is represented with two crowns on his sword, alluding to the two kingdoms, France and England, of both which he was crowned heir. Perhaps the poet took the thought from this representation. Tollet.

Note return to page 69 4&lblank; the gilt of France] Gilt, which in our author, generally signifies a display of gold (as in this play: “Our gayness and our gilt are all besmirch'd.”) in the present instance means golden money. So, in An Alarum for London, 1602: “To spend the victuals of our citizens, “Which we can scarcely compass now for gilt.” Steevens.

Note return to page 70 5And by their hands this grace of kings must die, (If hell and treason hold their promises,) Ere he take ship of France, and in Southampton. Linger your patience on; and well digest The abuse of distance, while we force a play. The sum is paid; the traitors are agreed; The king is set from London; and the scene Is now transported, gentles, to Southampton: There is the play-house now, &lblank;] I suppose every one that reads these lines looks about for a meaning which he cannot find. There is no connection of sense nor regularity of transition from one thought to the other. It may be suspected that some lines are lost, and in that case the sense is irretrievable. I rather think the meaning is obscured by an accidental transposition, which I would reform thus: And by their hands this grace of kings must die, If hell and treason hold their promises. The sum is paid, the traitors are agreed, The king is set from London, and the scene Is now transported, gentles, to Southampton, Ere he take ship for France. And in Southampton, Linger your patience on, and well digest The abuse of distance, while we force a play. There is the play-house now &lblank; This alteration restores sense, and probably the true sense. The lines might be otherwise ranged, but this order pleases me best. Johnson.

Note return to page 71 6&lblank; this grace of kings &lblank;] i. e. he who does greatest honour to the title. By the same kind of phraseology the usurper in Hamlet is called the Vice of kings, i. e. the opprobrium of them. Warburton. Shakespeare might have found this phrase in Chapman's translation of the first book of Homer, 1598: “&lblank; with her the grace of kings, “Wise Ithacus ascended &lblank;” Again, in the 24th book: “Idæus, guider of the mules, discern'd this grace of men.” Steevens.

Note return to page 72 7&lblank; well digest] The folio in which only these choruses are found; reads, and perhaps rightly, &lblank; we'll digest. Steevens.

Note return to page 73 8&lblank; while we &lblank;] These two words have been added by the modern editors, and (as it should seem) very properly. To force a play, is to produce a play by compelling many circumstances into a narrow compass. Steevens.

Note return to page 74 9&lblank; charming the narrow seas] From the prologue to Every Man in his Humour, it appears, that Hen. V. though not printed till 1600, was performed before the year 1598.—Though Jonson was indebted, as we are told, to the kindness of Shakespeare for the introduction of this his first piece on the stage, and though Shakespeare himself played a part in it, he has in this, as in many other places, endeavoured to ridicule and depreciate him. “He rather prays you will be pleased to see, “One such to-day as other plays should be; “Where neither chorus wafts you o'er theseas, &c.” Malone.

Note return to page 75 1We'll not offend one stomach &lblank;] That is, you shall pass the sea without the qualms of sea-sickness. Johnson.

Note return to page 76 2But, 'till the king come forth, &lblank;] Here seems to be something omitted. Sir T. Hanmer reads: But when the king comes forth, &lblank; which, as the passage now stands, is necessary. These lines, obscure as they are, refute Mr. Pope's conjectures on the true place of the chorus; for they shew that something is to intervene before the scene changes to Southampton. Johnson. The Canons of Criticism read: “&lblank; and but till then.” And the Revisal approves the correction. Steevens.

Note return to page 77 3Bard. Well met, corporal.] I have chose to begin the second act here, because each act may close regularly with a chorus. Not that I am persuaded this was the poet's intention, to mark the intervals of his acts, as the chorus did on the old Grecian stage. He had no occasion of this sort: since, in his time, the pauses of action were filled up, as now, with a lesson of music: but the reasons for this distribution are explained before. Theobald. I have already shewn why in this edition the act begins with the chorus. Johnson.

Note return to page 78 4&lblank; lieutenant Bardolph.] At this scene begins the connection of this play with the latter part of King Henry IV. The characters would be indistinct, and the incidents unintelligible, without the knowledge of what passed in the two foregoing plays. Johnson.

Note return to page 79 5&lblank; there shall be smiles; &lblank;] I suspect smiles to be a marginal direction crept into the text. It is natural for a man, when he threatens, to break off abruptly, and conclude, But that shall be as it may. But this fantastical fellow is made to smile disdainfully while he threatens; which circumstance was marked for the player's direction in the margin. Warburton. I do not remember to have met with these marginal directions for expression of countenance, in any of the old copies: neither do I see occasion for Dr. Warburton's emendation, as it is vain to seek the precise meaning of every whimsical expression employed by this eccentric character. Nym, however, having expressed his indifference about the continuance of Pistol's friendship, might have added, when time serves there shall be smiles, i. e. he should be merry, even though he was to lose it; or, that his face would be ready with a smile as often as occasion should call one out into service, though Pistol, who had excited so many, was no longer near him. Steevens.

Note return to page 80 6&lblank; the humour of it.] The folio reads, &lblank; and there's an end. Steevens.

Note return to page 81 7&lblank; and we'll all be sworn brothers to France. &lblank;] We should read, we'll all go sworn brothers to France, or, we'll all be sworn brothers in France. Johnson.

Note return to page 82 8&lblank; patience be a tir'd mare, &lblank;] The folio reads by corruption, tired name! from which sir T. Hanmer, sagaciously enough, derived tired dame. Mr. Theobald retrieved from the quarto tired mare, the true reading. Johnson.

Note return to page 83 9Base tyke, &lblank;] Tike is a small kind of dog. Steevens.

Note return to page 84 1O well-a-day, lady, if he be not hewn now!] I cannot understand the drift of this expression. If he be not hewn, must signify, if he be not cut down; and in that case, the very thing is supposed which Quickly was apprehensive of. But I rather think her fright arises upon seeing the swords drawn: and I have ventured to make a slight alteration accordingly. If he be not drawn, for, if he has not his sword drawn, is an expression familiar to our poet. Theobald. I have not disturbed Mr. Theobald's emendation; but yet I think we might read—if he be not hewing. To hack and hew is a common vulgar expression. So, in If you know not me you know Nobody, by Heywood, 1633.—“Bones o'me, he would hew it.” Again, in K. Edward III. 1599: “The sin is more to hack and hew poor men.” Again, in the metrical romance of Guy Earl of Warwick, bl. l. no date: “The noble knights with spear and shield, “Lay all hewen in the field.” The same expression occurs many times in the same book. After all (as the late Mr. Guthrie observed) to be hewn might mean, to be drunk. There is yet a low phrase in use on the same occasion, which is not much unlike it; viz. “he is cut.” “Such a one was cut a little last night.” So, in the Witty Fair One, by Shirley, 1633: “Then, sir, there is the cut of your leg. &lblank; “&lblank; that's when a man is drunk, is it not? “—Do not stagger in your judgment, for this cut is the grace of your body.” Again, in the London Chaunticleres, 1659: “&lblank; when the cups of canary have made our heads frisk; oh how we shall foot it when we can scarce stand, and caper when we are cut in the leg!” Again, in Deckar's Guls Hornbook, 1609: “&lblank; to accept the courtesy of the cellar when it is offered you by the drawers (and you must know that kindness never creepes upon them but when they see you almost cleft to the shoulders) &c.” Steevens.

Note return to page 85 2Good lieutenant, &lblank;] We should read, Good ancient, for it is Pistol to whom he addresses himself. Steevens.

Note return to page 86 3&lblank; Island dog; &lblank;] I believe we should read Iceland dog. He seems to allude to an account credited in Elizabeth's time, that in the north there was a nation with human bodies and dogs heads. Johnson. The quartos confirm Dr. Johnson's conjecture. Steevens. Iceland dog is probably the true reading; yet we often meet with island. Drayton in his Moon-calfe mentions water-dogs, and islands. And John Taylor dedicates his Sculler, “To the whole kennel of Antichrist's hounds, priests, friars, monks, and jesuites, mastiffs, mongrels, islands, blood-hounds, bobtaile-tikes. Farmer. So, in Ram-Alley, or Merry-Tricks, 1611: “&lblank; you shall have jewels, “A baboon, a parrot, and an Izeland dog.” Perhaps this kind of dog was then in vogue for the ladies to carry about with them. So, in Two Wise Men, and all the rest Fools: “Enter Levitia, cum Pedisequa, her periwig of dog's hair white, &c.” “The head is a dog, 'tis a mermaid, half dog, half woman.” “—No, 'tis but the hair of a dog in fashion, pulled from these Iceland dogs.” Again: “&lblank; for torturing of these Iceland imps, with eradicating their fleeces, thereby to enjoy the roots.” Again, in the Preface to Swetnam's Arraignment of Women, 1617: “—But if I had brought little dogs from Iceland, or fine glasses from Venice, &c.” It appears from a proclamation in Rymer's Fædera, that in the reign of Hen. V. the English had a fishery on the coasts of Norway and Iceland; and Holinshed, in his Description of Britain, p. 231, says, “we have sholts or curs dailie brought out of Iseland. Steevens. A prick-ear'd cur is likewise in the list of dogs enumerated in the Booke of Huntyng, &c. bl. no date: “&lblank; trindle-tails and prick-ear'd curs.” Steevens.

Note return to page 87 4Will you shog off? &lblank;] This cant word is used in Beaumont and Fletcher's Coxcomb: “Come, pr'ythee, let us shog off.” Again, in Pasquill and Katharine, 1601: “&lblank; thus it shogges,” i. e. thus it goes. Steevens.

Note return to page 88 5&lblank; thy nasty mouth!] The quartos read: &lblank; messful mouth. Steevens.

Note return to page 89 6For I can take; &lblank;] I know not well what he can take. The quarto reads talk. In our author to take, is sometimes to blast, which sense may serve in this place. Johnson.

Note return to page 90 7I am not Barbason; you cannot conjure me.] Barbason is the name of a dæmon mentioned in the Merry Wives of Windsor. Steevens.

Note return to page 91 8&lblank; doting death is near; &lblank;] The quarto has groaning death. Johnson.

Note return to page 92 9&lblank; the lazar kite of Cressid's kind.] The same expression occurs in Green's Card of Fancy, 1608: “What courtesy is to be found in such kites of Cressid's kind?” Again, in Gascoigne's Dan Bartholomew of Bathe, 1587: “Nor seldom seene in kites of Cressides kinde.” Shakespeare might design a ridicule on the last of these passages.” Steevens.

Note return to page 93 1&lblank; there's enough: go to. The first folio reads, &lblank; there's enough to go to. Steevens.

Note return to page 94 2Base is the slave that pays.] Perhaps this expression was proverbial. I meet with it in The fair Maid of the West, by Heywood, 1631: “My motto shall be, Base is the man that pays.” Steevens.

Note return to page 95 3that was his bedfellow,] So, Holinshed. “The said Lord Scroop was in such favour with the king, that he admitted him sometime to be his bedfellow.” The familiar appellation of bedfellow, which appears strange to us, was common among the ancient nobility. There is a letter from the sixth earl of Northumberland (still preserved in the collection of the present duke) addressed “To his beloved cousyn Thomas Arundel, &c.” which begins, “Bedfellow, after my most harté recommendacion:” So, in a comedy called A Knack to know a Knave, 1594: “Yet, for thou wast once bedfellow to a king, “And that I lov'd thee as my second self, &c.” Again, in Look about You, 1600: “&lblank; if I not err “Thou art the prince's ward. &lblank; “—I am his ward, his chamberlain and bedfellow.” Again, in Cynthia's Revenge, 1613: “Her I'll bestow, and without prejudice, “On thee alone, my noble bedfellow.” Steevens.

Note return to page 96 4&lblank; cloy'd and grac'd &lblank;] Thus the quarto; the folio reads— dull'd and cloy'd. Perhaps dull'd is a mistake for dol'd. Steevens.

Note return to page 97 5&lblank; to death and treachery!] Here the quartos insert a line omitted in all the following editions. Exet. O! the lord of Masham! Johnson.

Note return to page 98 6For which we have in head assembled them?] This is not an English phraseology. I am persuaded Shakespeare wrote: For which we have in aid assembled them? alluding to the tenures of those times. Warburton. It is strange that the commentator should forget a word so eminently observable in this writer, as head, for an army formed. Johnson.

Note return to page 99 7&lblank; hearts create &lblank;] Hearts compounded or made up of duty and zeal. Johnson.

Note return to page 100 8&lblank; more advice, &lblank;] On his return to more coolness of mind. Johnson.

Note return to page 101 9&lblank; proceeding on distemper &lblank;] i. e. sudden passions. Warburton. Perturbation of mind. Temper is equality or calmness of mind, from an equipoise or due mixture of passions. Distemper of mind is the predominance of a passion, as distemper of body is the predominance of a humour. Johnson. It has been just said by the king that it was excess of wine that set him on, and distemper may therefore mean intoxication. Distemper'd in liquor, is still a common expression. Chapman in his epicedium on the Death of Prince Henry, 1612, has personified this distemper: “Frantick distemper, and hare-ey'd unrest.” And Brabantio says, that Roderigo is: “Full of supper and distemp'ring draughts.” Again, Holinshed, Vol. III. p. 626, “&lblank; gave him wine and strong drink in such excessive sort, that he was therewith distempered, and reel'd as he went.” Steevens.

Note return to page 102 1&lblank; how shall we stretch our eye, &lblank;] If we may not wink at small faults, how wide must we open our eyes at great. Johnson.

Note return to page 103 2&lblank; quick &lblank;] That is, living. Johnson.

Note return to page 104 3&lblank; though the truth stand off as gross As black and white, &lblank;] Though the truth be as apparent and visible as black and white contiguous to each other. To stand off is être relevè, to be prominent to the eye, as the strong parts of a picture. Johnson.

Note return to page 105 4Treason and murder, &lblank;] What follows to the end of this speech is additional since the first edition. Pope.

Note return to page 106 5Working so grossly &lblank;] Grossly for commonly, which the Oxford editor not understanding, alters it to closely. Warburton. Grosly is neither closely nor commonly, but palpably; with a plain and visible connexion of cause and effect. Johnson.

Note return to page 107 6&lblank; he that temper'd thee, &lblank;] Though temper'd may stand for formed or moulded, yet I fancy tempted was the author's word, for it answers better to suggest in the opposition. Johnson. Temper'd, I believe, is the true reading. Falstaff says of Shallow, that he has him “tempering between his thumb and finger.” Steevens.

Note return to page 108 7&lblank; vasty Tartar] i. e. Tartarus, the fabled place of future punishment. So, in Heywood's Brazen Age, 1613: “With Aconitum that in Tartar springs.” Steevens.

Note return to page 109 8Oh, how hast thou with jealousy infected The sweetness of affiance!] Shakespeare urges this aggravation of the guilt of treachery with great judgment. One of the worst consequences of breach of trust is the diminution of that confidence which makes the happiness of life, and the dissemination of suspicion, which is the poison of society. Johnson.

Note return to page 110 9Garnish'd and deck'd in modest complement; &lblank;] Modest complement, that is, fulness. Warburton. This note will not much help the reader, unless he knows to what fulness is to be applied. I take the meaning to be this. The king, having mentioned Scroop's temperance in diet, passes on to his decency in dress, and says, that he was decked in modest complement; that is, he was decorated with ornaments, but such as might be worn without vain ostentation. Complement means something more than is necessary; so complement in language is what we say ad conciliandam gratiam, more than is strictly or literally meant. Johnson. Complement has in this instance the same sense as in Love's Labour's Lost, Act I. Complements, in the age of Shakespeare, meant the same as accomplishments in the present one. Steevens.

Note return to page 111 1Not working with the eye without the ear, &lblank;] He is here giving the character of a complete gentleman, and says, he did not trust the eye without the confirmation of his ear. But when men have eye-sight proof, they think they have sufficient evidence, and do not stay for the confirmation of an hear-say. Prudent men, on the contrary, won't trust the credit of the ear, till it be confirmed by the demonstration of the eye. And this is that conduct for which the king would here commend him. So that we must read: Not working with the ear, but with the eye. Warburton. The author's meaning I should have thought not so difficult to find, as that an emendation should have been proposed. The king means to say of Scroop, that he was a cautious man, who knew that fronti nulla fides, that a specious appearance was deceitful, and therefore did not work with the eye without the ear, did not trust the air or look of any man till he had tried him by enquiry and conversation. Surely this is the character of a prudent man. Johnson.

Note return to page 112 2&lblank; and so finely boulted, didst thou seem:] i. e. refined or purged from all faults. Pope. Boulted is the same with sifted, and has consequently the meaning of refined. Johnson.

Note return to page 113 3To make the full-fraught man, &lblank;] We should read: To mark the full-fraught man, i. e. marked by the blot he speaks of in the preceding line. Warburton.

Note return to page 114 4For me, the gold of France did not seduce;] Holinshed, p. 549, observes from Hall, that “diverse write that Richard earle of Cambridge did not conspire with the lord Scroope and Thomas Graie for the murthering of king Henrie to please the French king withall, but onlie to the intent to exalt to the crowne his brother-in-law Edmunde E. of March as heire to Lionell duke of Clarence: after the death of which earle of March, for diverse secret impediments not able to have issue, the E. of Cambridge was sure that the crowne should come to him by his wife, and to his children of her begotten. And therefore (as was thought) he rather confessed himselfe for neede of monie to be corrupted by the French king, than he would declare his inward mind, &c. which if it were espied, he saw plainlie that the earle of March should have tasted of the same cuppe that he had drunken, and what should have come to his owne children, he much doubted, &c.” Steevens.

Note return to page 115 5My fault, &lblank;] One of the conspirators against queen Elizabeth, I think Parry, concludes his letter to her with these words, a culpâ, but not a pœnâ, absolve me, most dear lady. This letter was much read at that time, and the author doubtless copied it. This whole scene was much enlarged and improved after the first edition; the particular insertions it would be tedious to mention, and tedious without much use. Johnson.

Note return to page 116 6&lblank; Get you therefore hence,] So, in Holinshed; “&lblank; Get ye hence therefore, ye poor miserable wretches, to the receiving of your just reward: wherein God's majesty give you grace, &c.” Steevens.

Note return to page 117 7No king of England, if not king of France.] So in the old play before that of Shakespeare: “If not king of France, then of nothing must I be king.” Steevens.

Note return to page 118 8&lblank; finer end,] for final. Johnson.

Note return to page 119 9&lblank; an it had been any chrisom'd child: &lblank;] 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. I have somewhere (but cannot recollect where) met with this further account of it; that the chrysom was allowed to be carried out of the church, to enwrap such children as 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. The child itself was sometimes called a chrysom, as appears from the following passage in The Fancies, 1638: “&lblank; the boy surely I ever said was a very chrisome in the thing you wot.” Again, in The Wits, by Sir W. Davenant, 1637: “&lblank; and would'st not join thy halfpenny “To send for milk for the poor chrysome.” Again, in sir W. Davenant's Just Italian, 1630: “&lblank; and they do awe “The chrysome babe.” Again, in his Albovine, 1629: “Sir, I would fain depart in quiet like other young chrysomes.” Again, in Your Five Gallants, by Middleton: “&lblank; a fine old man to his father, it would kill his heart i'faith: he'd away like a chrysom.” Steevens. In the Liturgie, 2 E. 6. Form of private Baptism, is this direction. “Then the minister shall put the white vesture, commonly called the chrisome, upon the child,” &c. The Glossary of Du Cange, vide Chrismale, explains this ceremony thus: “Quippe olim ut et hodie, baptizatorum, statim atque chrismate in fronte ungebantur, ne chrisma deflueret, capita panno candido obvolvebantur, qui octava demum die ab iis auferebatur.” During the time therefore of their wearing this vesture, the children were, I suppose, called chrisomes. One is registered under this description in the register of Thatcham, Berks, 1605. [Hearne's Append. to the History of Glastonbury, p. 275.] “A younge crisome being a man child, beinge found drowned,” &c. Tyrwhitt. [Notes from the 1780 Supplement]9Q0773

Note return to page 120 1&lblank; turning o'the tide &lblank;] It has been a very old opinion, which Mead, de imperio solis, quotes, as if he believed it, that nobody dies but in the time of ebb: half the deaths in London confute the notion; but we find that it was common among the women of the poet's time. Johnson.

Note return to page 121 2&lblank; fumble with the sheets, &lblank;] This passage is burlesqued by Beaumont and Fletcher, in The Captain: “1. How does my master? “2. Faith, he lies drawing on apace. “1. That's an ill sign. “2. And fumbles with the pots too. “1. Then there's no way but one with him.” In the spurious play of King John, 1611, when Faulconbridge sees that prince at the point of death, he says: “O piercing sight! he fumbleth in the mouth, “His speech doth fail.” &lblank; and Pliny in his chapter on The Signes of Death, makes mention of “a fumbling and pleiting of the bed-cloths.” See P. Holland's Translation, chap. li. Steevens. The same indication of approaching death is enumerated by Celsus, Lommius, Hippocrates, and Galen. The testimony of the latter is sufficient to shew that such a symptom is by no means imaginary. “Manus ante faciem attollere, muscas quasi venari inani operâ, floccos carpere de vestibus, vel pariete. Et in seipso hoc expertus fuit Galenus. Quum enim, &c.” Van Swieten Comm. t. ii. sect. 708. Collins.

Note return to page 122 3I knew there was but one way;] I believe this phrase is proverbial. I meet with it again in, If you know not me, you know Nobody, 1613: “I heard the doctors whisper it in secret “There is no way but one.” Steevens.

Note return to page 123 4&lblank; for his nose was as sharp as a pen, and a table of green fields.] These words, and a table of green-fields, are not to be found in the old editions of 1600 and 1608. This nonsense got into all the following editions by a pleasant mistake of the stage editors, who printed from the common piece-meal written parts in the play-house. A table was here directed to be brought in (it being a scene in a tavern where they drink at parting) and this direction crept into the text from the margin. Greenfield was the name of the property-man in that time, who furnished implements, &c. for the actors, A table of Greenfield's. Pope. So reasonable an account of this blunder Mr. Theobald would not acquiesce in. He thought a table of Greenfield's part of the text, only corrupted, and that it should be read, he babbled of green fields, because men do so in the ravings of a calenture. But he did not consider how ill this agrees with the nature of the knight's illness, who was now in no babbling humour; and so far from wanting cooling in green fields, that his feet were cold, and he just expiring. Warburton. Upon this passage Mr. Theobald has a note that fills a page, which I omit in pity to my readers, since he only endeavours to prove, what I think every reader perceives to be true, that at this time no table could be wanted. Mr. Pope, in an appendix to his own edition in 12mo, seems to admit Theobald's emendation, which we would have allowed to be uncommonly happy, had we not been prejudiced against it by Mr. Pope's first note, with which, as it excites merriment, we are loath to part. Johnson. Had the former editors been apprized, 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 to the backs or covers. Mother Quickly compares Falstaff's nose (which in dying persons grows 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 turned into green fields, and our editors have turned the prettiest blunder in Shakespeare quite out of doors. Smith. Green fells and green fields might anciently have had the same meaning. So, in the countess of Pembroke's Tragedie of Antonie, 1595, 12mo: “As juice of Tyrian shell, “When clarified well, “To wolle of finest fields “A purple glosse it yields.” Steevens.

Note return to page 124 5&lblank; now I, to comfort him, bade him 'a should not think of God;] Perhaps Shakespeare was indebted to the following story in Wits, Fits, and Fancies, &c. 1595, for this very characteristic exhortation: “A gentlewoman fearing to be drowned, said, now Jesu receive our soules! Soft, mistress, answered the waterman, I trow we are not come to that passe yet.” Malone.

Note return to page 125 6&lblank; cold as any stone.] Such is the end of Falstaff, from whom Shakespeare had promised us in his epilogue to Henry IV, that we should receive more entertainment. It happened to Shakespeare as to other writers, to have his imagination crowded with a tumultuary confusion of images, which, while they were yet unsorted and unexamined, seemed sufficient to furnish a long train of incidents, and a new variety of merriment; but which, when he was to produce them to view, shrunk suddenly from him, or could not be accommodated to his general design. That he once designed to have brought Falstaff on the scene again, we know from himself; but whether he could contrive no train of adventures suitable to his character, or could match him with no companions likely to quicken his humour, or could open no new vein of pleasantry, and was afraid to continue the same strain lest it should not find the same reception, he has here for ever discarded him, and made haste to dispatch him, perhaps for the same reason for which Addison killed Sir Roger, that no other hand might attempt to exhibit him. Let meaner authors learn from this example, that it is dangerous to fell the bear which is yet not hunted; to promise to the public what they have not written. This disappointment probably inclined queen Elizabeth to command the poet to produce him once again, and to shew him in love or courtship. This was indeed a new source of humour, and produced a new play from the former characters. Johnson.

Note return to page 126 7Let senses rule; &lblank;] I think this is wrong, but how to reform it I do not well see. Perhaps we may read: Let sense us rule. Pistol is taking leave of his wife, and giving her advice as he kisses her; he sees her rather weeping than attending, and supposing that in her heart she is still longing to go with him part of the way, he cries, Let sense us rule, that is, let us not give way to foolish fondness, but be ruled by our better understanding. He then continues his directions for her conduct in his absence. Johnson. Let senses rule.] This evidently means, let prudence govern you: conduct yourself sensibly; and it agrees with what precedes and what follows. Steevens.

Note return to page 127 8&lblank; Pitch and pay;] The caution was a very proper one to Mrs. Quickly, who had suffered before, by letting Falstaff run in her debt. The same expression occurs in Blurt Master Constable, 1602: “I will commit you, signior, to my house; but will you pitch and pay, or will your worship run &lblank;” So, again, in Herod and Antipater, 1622: “&lblank; he that will purchase this, “Must pitch and pay.” &lblank; Again, in The Mastive, an ancient collection of epigrams: “&lblank; Susan when she first bore sway, “Had for one night a French crown, pitch and pay,” Steevens. Old Tuffer, in his description of Norwich, tells us it is “A city trim &lblank; “Where strangers well, may seeme to dwell, “That pitch and paie, or keepe their daye.” John Florio says, “Pitch and paie, and goe your waie.” One of the old laws of Blackwell-hall, was, that, “a penny be paid by the owner of every bale of cloth for pitching.” Farmer.

Note return to page 128 9Therefore, caveto be thy counsellor. The old quartos read: Therefore Cophetua be thy councellor. Steevens.

Note return to page 129 1&lblank; clear thy crystals. &lblank;] Dry thine eyes: but I think it may better mean in this place, wash thy glasses. Johnson. The first explanation is certainly the true one. So, in The Gentleman Usher, by Chapman, 1602: “&lblank; an old wife's eye “Is a blue chrystal full of sorcery.” Again, in A Match at Midnight, 1633: “&lblank; ten thousand Cupids “Methought sat playing on that pair of chrystals.” Again, in The Double Marriage, by B. and Fletcher: “&lblank; sleep, you sweet glasses, “An everlasting slumber close those chrystals.” Again, in Coriolanus, act III. sc. 2: “&lblank; the glasses of my sight.” The old quartos 1600 and 1608, read: Clear up thy christals. Steevens.

Note return to page 130 2&lblank; keep close, &lblank;] The quartos 1600 and 1608 read: &lblank; keep fast thy buggle boe, which certainly is not nonsense, as the same expression is used by Shirley in his Gentleman of Venice: “&lblank; the courtisans of Venice, “Shall keep their bugle bowes for thee, dear uncle.” Perhaps, indeed, it is a Scotch term; for in Ane verie excellent and delectabill Treatise intitulit Philotus, &c. printed at Edinburgh, 1603, I find it again: “What reck to tak the bogill-bo, “My bonie burd, for anes.” The reader may suppose buggle boe to be just what he pleases. Steevens. [Notes from the 1780 Supplement]9Q0774

Note return to page 131 3And more than carefully it us concerns,] This was a business indeed, that required more than care to discharge it. I am persuaded Shakespeare wrote: &lblank; more than carelesly &lblank; The king is supposed to hint here at the Dauphin's wanton affront in sending over tennis-balls to Henry; which arising from over-great confidence of their own power, or contempt of their enemies, would naturally breed carelessness. Warburton. I do not see any defect in the present reading: more than carefully is with more than common care; a phrase of the same kind with better than well. Johnson.

Note return to page 132 4Were busied &lblank;] The 4to 1608 reads, &lblank; were troubled &lblank; Steevens.

Note return to page 133 5&lblank; so idly king'd,] Shakespeare is not singular in his use of this verb to king. I find it in Warner's Albion's England, B. VIII. chap. xlii: “&lblank; and king'd his sister's son.” Steevens.

Note return to page 134 6You are too much mistaken in this king:] This part is much enlarged since the first writing. Pope.

Note return to page 135 7How modest in exception, &lblank;] How diffident and decent in making objections. Johnson.

Note return to page 136 8Were but the out-side of the Roman Brutus,] Shakespeare not having given us, in the First or Second Part of Henry IV. or in any other place but this, the remotest hint of the circumstance here alluded to, the comparison must needs be a little obscure to those who do not know or reflect that some historians have told us, that Henry IV. had entertained a deep jealousy of his son's aspiring superior genius. Therefore to prevent all umbrage, the prince withdrew from public affairs, and amused himself in consorting with a dissolute crew of robbers. It seems to me, that Shakespeare was ignorant of this circumstance when he wrote the two parts of Henry IV. for it might have been so managed as to have given new beauties to the character of Hal, and great improvements to the plot. And with regard to these matters, Shakespeare generally tells us all he knew, and as soon as he knew it. Warburton.

Note return to page 137 9That haunted us &lblank;] We should assuredly read hunted: the integrity of the metaphor requires it. So, soon after, the king again says: You see this chase is hotly followed. Warburton. The emendation weakens the passage. To haunt is a word of the utmost horror, which shews that they dreaded the English as goblins and spirits. Johnson.

Note return to page 138 1While that his mountain sire, on mountain standing,] We should read, mounting, ambitious, aspiring. Warburton. Thus, in Love's Labour's Lost, act IV: “Whoe'er he was, he shew'd a mounting mind.” Dr. Warburton's emendation may be right, and yet I believe the poet meant to give an idea of more than human proportion in the figure of the king: “Quantus Athos, aut quantus Eryx, &c.” Virg. “Like Teneriffe or Atlas unremov'd.” Milton. Drayton, in the 18th song of his Polyolbion, has a similar thought: “Then he, above them all, himself that sought to raise, “Upon some mountain top, like a pyramides.” Again, in Spenser's Faerie Queen, B. I. c. xi: “Where stretch'd he lay upon the sunny side “Of a great hill, himself like a great hill.” &lblank; agmen agens, magnique ipse agminis instar. Mr. Tollet thinks this passage may be explained by another in act I. sc. i [Correction: 1Kb]

Note return to page 139 for, sc. i. read, sc. ii.

Note return to page 140 2Up in the air, crown'd with the golden sun, &lblank;] Dr. Warburton calls this “the nonsensical line of some player.” The idea, however, might have been taken from Chaucer's Legende of good Women: “Her gilt here was ycrownid with a son.” Steevens.

Note return to page 141 3&lblank; fate of him.] His fate is what is allotted him by destiny, or what he is fated to perform. Johnson. So Virgil, speaking of the future deeds of the descendants of Æneas: “Attollens humeris famamque et fata nepotum.” Steevens.

Note return to page 142 4&lblank; spend their mouths, &lblank;] That is, bark; the sportsman's term. Johnson.

Note return to page 143 5&lblank; memorable line,] This genealogy; this deduction of his lineage. Johnson.

Note return to page 144 6The dead mens' blood, &lblank;] The disposition of the images were more regular if we were to read thus: &lblank; upon your head Turning the dead mens' blood, the widows' tears, The orphans' cries, the pining maidens' groans, Johnson. The quartos 1600 and 1608, exhibit the passage thus: And on your heads turns he the widows' tears, The orphans' cries, the dead mens' bones, The pining maidens' groans, For husbands, fathers, and distressed lovers, Which, &c. These quartos of 1600 and 1608, agree in all but the merest trifles; and therefore for the future I shall content myself in general to quote the former of them, which is the more correct of the two. Steevens.

Note return to page 145 4Shall hide your trespass, &lblank;] Mr. Pope rightly corrected it, Shall chide &lblank; Warburton. I doubt whether it be rightly corrected. The meaning is, that the authors of this insult shall fly to caves for refuge. Johnson. Mr. Pope restored chide from the quarto. I have therefore inserted it in the text. To chide is to resound, to echo. So, in The Midsummer Night's Dream: “&lblank; never did I hear “Such gallant chiding.” So, in Henry VIII: “As doth a rock against the chiding flood.” Steevens. [Notes from the 1780 Supplement]9Q0778

Note return to page 146 5&lblank; he masters now;] Thus the folio. The quartos 1600 and 1608, read musters. Steevens.

Note return to page 147 6The well-appointed king at Dover pier Embark his royalty; &lblank;] Thus all the editions downwards, implicitly, after the first folio. But could the poet possibly be so discordant from himself (and the Chronicles, which he copied) to make the king here embark at Dover; when he has before told us so precisely, and that so often over, that he embarked at Southampton? I dare acquit the poet from so flagrant a variation. The indolence of a transcriber, or a compositor at press, must give rise to such an error. They, seeing pier at the end of the verse, unluckily thought of Dover pier, as the best known to them; and so unawares corrupted the text. Theobald. Hampton pier] It is obvious, that this, and not Dover pier according to the folios, was the true reading. Among the records of the town of Southampton, they have a minute and authentic account (drawn up at that time) of the encampment of Henry the fifth near the town, before this embarkment for France. It is remarkable, that the place where the army was encamped, then a low level plain or a down, is now entirely covered with sea, and called Westport. Warton.

Note return to page 148 7&lblank; rivage, &lblank;] The bank or shore. Johnson. Rivage: French. So, in Spenser's Fairy Queen, B. IV. c. i. “Pactolus with his waters shere “Throws forth upon the rivage round about him nere.” Again, in Gower, De Confessione Amantis, lib. viii. fol. 186: “Upon the stronde at rivage.” Steevens.

Note return to page 149 8&lblank; to sternage of this navy;] The stern being the hinder part of the ship, the meaning is, let your minds follow close after the navy. Steevens.

Note return to page 150 9&lblank; linstock &lblank;] The staff to which the match is fixed when ordnance is fired. Johnson. So, in Middleton's comedy of Blurt Master Constable, 1602: —“O Cupid, grant that my blushing prove not a linstocke, and give fire too suddenly, &c.” Again, in the Jew of Malta, by Marlow, 1633: “Till you shall hear a culverin discharg'd “By him that bears the linstock kindled thus.” Steevens.

Note return to page 151 1Or close the wall &lblank;] Here is apparently a chasm. One line at least is lost, which contained the other part of a disjunctive proposition. The king's speech is, dear friends, either win the town, or close up the wall with dead. The old quarto gives no help. Johnson. This speech was added after the quartos 1600 and 1608. Steevens.

Note return to page 152 2&lblank; when the blast of war blows in our ears, Then imitate the action of the tyger;] Sir Tho. Hanmer has observed on the following passage in Troilus and Cressida, that in storms and high winds the tyger roars and rages most furiously. “&lblank; even so “Doth valour's shew and valour's worth divide “In storms of fortune: for, in her ray and brightness, “The herd hath more annoyance by the brize “Than by the tyger: but when splitting winds “Make flexible the knees of knotted oaks, “And flies flee under shade; why then the thing of courage, “As rouz'd with rage, with rage doth sympathize, &c.” Steevens.

Note return to page 153 3&lblank; portage of the head, &lblank;] Portage, open space, from port, a gate. Let the eye appear in the head as cannon through the battlements, or embrasures, of a fortification. Johnson.

Note return to page 154 4&lblank; his confounded base, &lblank;] His worn or wasted base. Johnson.

Note return to page 155 5&lblank; bend up every spirit &lblank;] A metaphor from the bow. Johnson.

Note return to page 156 6Whose blood is fet from fathers of war-proof!] Thus the folio 1623, and rightly. So Spenser's Faery Queen, B. III: “Whom strange adventure did from Britain fet.” Again, in the Prologue to Ben Jonson's Silent Woman: “Though there be none far-fet, there will dear bought.” Again, in Lord Surrey's Translation of the second book of Virgil's Æneid: “And with that winde had fet the land of Grece.” The sacred writings afford many instances to the same purpose. Mr. Pope first made the change, which I, among others, had inadvertently followed. Steevens.

Note return to page 157 7&lblank; argument.] Is matter, or subject. Johnson.

Note return to page 158 8&lblank; corporal, &lblank;] We should read lieutenant. It is Bardolph to whom he speaks. Steevens.

Note return to page 159 9&lblank; a case of lives: &lblank;] A set of lives, of which, when one is worn out, another may serve. Johnson.

Note return to page 160 1If wishes &c.] This passage I have replaced from the first folio, which is the only authentic copy of this play. These lines, which perhaps are part of a song, Mr. Pope did not like, and therefore changed them in conformity to the imperfect play in quarto, and was followed by the succeeding editors. For prevail I should read avail. Johnson.

Note return to page 161 2As duly, &c.] This speech I have restored from the folio. Steevens.

Note return to page 162 3&lblank; up to the preaches, &c.] Thus the 4to, with only the difference of breaches instead of preaches. Modern editors have been very liberal of their Welch dialect. The folio reads, Up to the breach you dogges, avaunt you cullions. Steevens.

Note return to page 163 4&lblank; to men of mould! &lblank;] To men of earth, to poor mortal men. Johnson.

Note return to page 164 5&lblank; best men; &lblank;] That is, bravest; so in the next lines, good deeds are brave actions. Johnson.

Note return to page 165 6&lblank; the men would carry coals. &lblank;] It appears that in Shakespeare's age, to carry coals was, I know not why, to endure affronts. So, in Romeo and Juliet, one servingman asks another whether he will carry coals. Johnson. Cant phrases are the ephemerons of literature. In the quartos 1600 and 1608, the passage stands thus: I knew by that they meant to carry coales. Steevens.

Note return to page 166 7&lblank; is digt himself four yards under the countermines: &lblank;] Fluellen means, that the enemy had digged himself countermines four yards under the mines. Johnson.

Note return to page 167 8&lblank; will plow up all, &lblank;] That is, he will blow up all. Johnson.

Note return to page 168 9&lblank; I sall quit you &lblank;] That is, I shall, with your permission, requite you, that is, answer you, or interpose with my arguments, as I shall find opportunity. Johnson.

Note return to page 169 1&lblank; there's an end.] It were to be wished that the poor merriment of this dialogue had not been purchased with so much profaneness. Johnson.

Note return to page 170 2The gates of mercy shall be all shut up;] Mr. Gray has borrowed this thought in his Elegy: “And shut the gates of mercy on mankind.” Steevens.

Note return to page 171 3&lblank; fell feats, Enlink'd to waste and desolation?] All the savage practices naturally concomitant to the sack of cities. Johnson.

Note return to page 172 4Whiles yet the cool and temp'rate wind of grace O'er-blows the filthy and contagious clouds] This is a very harsh metaphor. To over-blow is to drive away, or to keep off. Johnson.

Note return to page 173 5Defile the locks &c.] The folio reads: Desire the locks, &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 174 6&lblank; we are addrest.] i. e. prepared. So, in Heywood's Rape of Lucrece, 1630: “&lblank; our shield “We must address next, for tomorrow's field.” Again, in the Brazen Age, 1613: “&lblank; clamours from afar, “Tell us these champions are addrest for war.” Again: “—See I am addrest “With this, to thunder on thy captive crest.” Steevens.

Note return to page 175 7Scene IV.] I have left this ridiculous scene as I found it: and am sorry to have no colour left, from any of the editions, to imagine it interpolated. Warburton. Sir T. Hanmer has rejected it. The scene is indeed mean enough, when it is read; but the grimaces of two French women, and the odd accent with which they uttered the English, made it divert upon the stage. It may be observ'd, that there is in it not only the French language, but the French spirit. Alice compliments the princess upon her knowledge of four words, and tells her that she pronounces like the English themselves. The princess suspects no deficiency in her instructress, nor the instructress in herself. Throughout the whole scene there may be found French servility, and French vanity. I cannot forbear to transcribe the first sentence of this dialogue from the edition of 1608, that the reader who has not looked into the old copies may judge of the strange negligence with which they are printed. “Kate. Alice venecia, vous aves cates en, vou parte fort bon Angloys englatara, coman sae palla vou la main en francoy.” Johnson. We may observe in general, that the early editions have not half the quantity; and every sentence, or rather every word, most ridiculously blundered. These, for several reasons, could not possibly be published by the author; and it is extremely probable, that the French ribaldry was at first inserted by a different hand, as the many additions most certainly were after he had left the stage.—Indeed, every friend to his memory will not easily believe, that he was acquainted with the scene between Katharine and the old Gentlewoman: or surely he would not have admitted such obscenity and nonsense. Farmer. It is very certain, that authors in the time of Shakespeare, did not correct the press for themselves. I hardly ever saw in one of the old plays a sentence of either Latin, Italian, or French, without the most ridiculous blunders. In the Hist. of Clyomon, Knight of the Golden Shield, 1599, a tragedy which I have often quoted, a warrior asks a lady disguised like a page, what her name is. She answers, “Cur Daceer,” i. e. Cœur d'Acier, Heart of Steel. Steevens.

Note return to page 176 8Kath. Alice, tu as esté &lblank;] I have regulated several speeches in this French scene; some whereof were given to Alice, and yet evidently belonged to Katharine: and so, vice versa. It is not material to distinguish the particular transpositions I have made. Mr. Gildon has left no bad remark, I think, with regard to our poet's conduct in the character of this princess: “For why he should not allow her,” says he, “to speak in English as well as all the other French, I can't imagine: since it adds no beauty, but gives a patch'd and pye-bald dialogue of no beauty or force.” Theobald. In the collection of Chester Whitsun Mysteries, among the Harleian MSS. No. 1013, I find French speeches introduced. In the Vintner's Play, p. 65, the three kings who come to worship our infant Saviour, address themselves to Herod in that language, and Herod very politely answers them in the same. At first, I supposed the author to have appropriated a foreign tongue to them, because they were strangers; but in the Skynner's Play, p. 144. I found Pilate talking French, when no such reason could be offered to justify a change of language. These mysteries are said to have been written in 1328. It is hardly necessary to mention that in this MS. the French is as much corrupted as in the passage quoted by Dr. Johnson from the 4to edition of King Henry V. Steevens.

Note return to page 177 8&lblank; De hand, de fingre, de nayle, de arme.] The first folio has this passage thus—d'hand, de fingre, de mailes—without de arm.— And so it should be printed. Tyrwhitt.

Note return to page 178 9&lblank; de fingre, &lblank;] It is apparent by the correction of Alice, that the princess forgot the nails, and therefore it should be left out in her part. Johnson.

Note return to page 179 1&lblank; our father's luxury,] In this place, as in others, luxury means lust. Johnson.

Note return to page 180 2&lblank; savage &lblank;] Is here used in the French original sense, for silvan, uncultivated, the same with wild. Johnson.

Note return to page 181 4In that nook shotten isle of Albion.] Shotten signifies any thing projected: so nook-shotten isle, is an isle that shoots out into capes, promontories, and necks of land, the very figure of Great Britain. Warburton.

Note return to page 182 5&lblank; Can sodden water, A drench for sur-reyn'd jades, &lblank;] The exact meaning of sur-reyn'd I do not know. It is common to give horses over-ridden or feverish, ground malt and hot water mixed, which is called a mash. To this he alludes. Johnson. The word sur-rein'd occurs more than once in the old plays. So, in Jack Drum's Entertainment, 1601: “Writes he not a good cordial sappy stile? &lblank; “A sur-rein'd jaded wit, but he rubs on.” I should be observ'd that the quartos 1600 and 1608 read: &lblank; A drench for swolne jades. Steevens.

Note return to page 183 6&lblank; lavoltas high, &lblank;] Hanmer observes that in this dance there was much turning and much capering. Shakespeare mentions it more than once, but never so particularly as the author of Muleasses the Turk, a tragedy 1610: “Be pleas'd, ye powers of night, and 'bout me skip “Your antick measures; like to coal-black moors “Dancing their high lavoltoes to the sun, “Circle me round: and in the midst I'll stand, “And crack my sides with laughter at your sports.” Again, in Chapman's May-day, 1606: “&lblank; let the Bourdeaux grape “Skip like la volta's in their swelling veins.” Again: “Where love doth dance la volta's &lblank;” Steevens.

Note return to page 184 7Charles Delabreth, &lblank;] Milton somewhere bids the English take notice how their names are mispelt by foreigners, and seems to think that we may lawfully treat foreign names in return with the same neglect. This privilege seems to the exercised in this catalogue of French names, which, since the sense of the author is not affected, I have left as I found it. Johnson. I have changed the spelling; for I know not why we should leave blunders or antiquated orthography in the proper names, when we have been so careful to remove them both from all other parts of the text. Instead of Charles De-la-bret, we should read Charles D'Albret, but the metre will not allow of it. Steevens.

Note return to page 185 8With pennons &lblank;] Pennons armorial were small flags, on which the arms, device and motto of a knight were painted. Pennon is the same as pendant. So, in The Stately Moral of the Three Lords of London, 1590: “In glittring gold and particolour'd plumes, “With curious pendants on their launces fix'd, &c.” Again, in Gower, De Confessione Amantis, lib. vi. fol. 136. b. “Of his contrei the signe was “Thre fishes, whiche he shulde beare “Upon the pinon of a speare.” Again, in Chaucer's Knyghtes Tale, v. 980. late edit: “And by his banner borne is his penon “Of gold ful riche, in which there was ybete “The Minotaure which that he slew in Crete.” In MS. Harl. No. 2413. is the following note: Penon. “A peñon must bee tow yardes and a half longe, made round att the end, and conteyneth the armes of the owner, and servith for the conduct of fiftie men.” “Everye knight may have his pennon if hee bee cheese captaine, and in it sett his armes: and if hee bee made bannerett, the kinge or the lieftenant shall make a slitt in the end of the pennon, and the heralds shall raise it out. Pencelles. “Pencells of flagges for horsemen must bee a yarde and a halfe longe, with the crosses of St. George, &c.” Steevens.

Note return to page 186 9&lblank; melted snow &lblank;] The poet has here defeated himself by passing too soon from one image to another. To bid the French rush upon the English as the torrents formed from melted snow stream from the Alps, was at once vehement and proper, but its force is destroyed by the grossness of the thought in the next line. Johnson.

Note return to page 187 1The Alps doth spit and void his rheum upon:] “Jupiter hybernas canâ nive conspuit. Alpes.” Fur. Bibac. ap Hor. Steevens.

Note return to page 188 1Of buxom valour,] i. e. valour under good command, obedient to its superiours. So, in Spenser's Faery Queen: “Love tyrannizeth in the bitter smarts “Of them that to him are buxom and prone.” Steevens.

Note return to page 189 2Fortune is painted plind, with a muffler before her eyes, to signify to you that fortune is plind: &lblank;] Here the fool of a player was for making a joke, as Hamlet says, not set down for him, and shewing a most pitiful ambition to be witty. For Fluellen, though he speaks with his country accent, yet is all the way represented as a man of good plain sense. Therefore, as it appears he knew the meaning of the term plind, by his use of it, he could never have said that Fortune was painted plind, to signify she was plind. He might as well have said afterwards, that she was painted inconstant, to signify she was inconstant. But there he speaks sense, and so, unquestionably, he did here. We should therefore strike out the first plind, and read: Fortune is painted with a muffler, &c. Warburton. The old reading is the true one. Fortune, the Goddess, is represented blind, to shew that fortune, or the chance of life, is without discernment. Steevens. This picture of Fortune is taken from the old history of Fortunatus; where she is described to be a fair woman, muffled over the eyes. Farmer. A muffler appears to have been part of a lady's dress. So, in Mons. Thomas, 1639: “On with my muffler.”

Note return to page 190 3The old editions, For he hath stol'n a pax, &lblank;] “And this is conformable to history,” says Mr. Pope. “a soldier (as Hall tell us) being hang'd; at this time for such a fact.”—Both Hall and Holinshed agree as to the point of the theft; but as to the thing stolen, there is not that conformity betwixt them and Mr. Pope. It was an ancient custom, at the celebration of mass, that when the priest pronounced these words, Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum! both clergy and people kiss'd one another. And this was called Osculum Pacis, the Kiss of Peace. But that custom being abrogated, a certain image is now presented to be kissed, which is called a Pax. But it was not this image which Bardolph stole; it was a pix, or little chest (from the Latin word, pixis, a box); in which the consecrated host was used to be kept. “A foolish soldier,” says Hall expressly, and Holinshed after him, “stole a pix out of a church.” Theobald. What Theobald says is true, but might have been told in fewer words: I have examined the passage in Hall. Yet Dr. Warburton rejected that emendation, and continued Pope's note without animadversion. It is pax in the folio 1623, but altered to pix by Theobald and sir T. Hanmer. They signified the same thing. See Pax at Mass, Mishew's Guide into the Tongues. Pix or pax was a little box in which were kept the consecrated waters. Johnson. So, in May Day, a comedy, by Chapman, 1611; “—Kiss the pax, and be quiet, like your other neighbours.” So, in The Downfall of Robert Earl of Huntington, 1601: “Then with this hallow'd crucifix, “This holy water, and this pix.” That a pix and a pax were different things, may be seen from the following passage in the History of our Blessed Lady of Loretto, 12mo. 1608, p. 505: “&lblank; a cup, and a sprinkle for holy water, a pix and a pax, all of excellent chrystal, gold and amber.” Again, in Stowe's Chronicle, p. 677: “&lblank; palmes, chalices, crosses, vestments, pixes, paxes, and such like.” Steevens.

Note return to page 191 4Why then rejoice therefore.] This passage, with several others, in the character of Pistol, is ridiculed by Ben Jonson, in The Poetaster, as follows: “Why then lament therefore; damn'd be thy guts “Unto king Pluto's hell, and princely Erebus; “For sparrows must have food.” Steevens.

Note return to page 192 5&lblank; Figo for thy friendship!] This expression occurs likewise in Ram-Alley, or Merry Tricks, 1610: “&lblank; water at the dock, “A fico for her dock.” Again: “A fico for the sun and moon. Steevens.

Note return to page 193 6The fig of Spain!] This is no allusion to the fico already explained in The Merry Wives of Windsor; but to the custom of giving poison'd figs to those who were the objects either of Spanish or Italian revenge. The quartos 1600 and 1608 read: “The fig of Spain within thy jaw:” and afterwards: “The fig within thy bowels and thy dirty maw.” So, in The Fleire, 1610, a comedy: “Fel. Give them a fig. “Flo. Make them drink their last. “Fel. Poison them.” Again, in The Brothers, by Shirley, 1652: “I must poison him; one fig sends him to Erebus.” Again, in Ben Jonson's Every Man in his Humour: “The lye to a man of my coat, is as ominous a fruit as the fico.” Again, in one of Gascoigne's Poems: “It may fall out that thou shalt be entic'd “To sup sometimes with a magnifico, “And have a fico foisted in thy dish,” &c. Again, in Decker's Match me in London, 1631: “Cor. Now do I look for a fig. “Gaz. Chew none, fear nothing: and the scene of this play lies at Seville. Again, in The Noble Soldier, 1634: “—Is it (poison) speeding? &lblank; “As all our Spanish figs are.” Again, in Vittoria Corombona, 1612: “I look now for a Spanish fig, or an Italian sallad daily.” Steevens.

Note return to page 194 7Flu. Very good.] Instead of these two words, the quartos read:— “Captain Gower, cannot you hear it lighten and thunder?” Steevens.

Note return to page 195 8&lblank; a sconce, &lblank;] Appears to have been some hasty, rude, inconsiderable kind of fortification. Sir Thomas Smythe, in one of his Discourses on the Art Military, 1589, mentions them in the following manner: “&lblank; and that certen sconces by them devised, without anie bulwarks, flanckers, travasses, mounts, platformes, wet or drie ditches, in forme, with counterscarps, or any other good forme of fortification, but only raised and formed with earth, turfe, trench, and certen poynts, angles, and indents, should be able to hold out the enemie, &c. Steevens. [Notes from the 1780 Supplement]9Q0790

Note return to page 196 9&lblank; a horrid suit of the camp,] Thus the folio. The 4tos 1600, &c. read—a horrid shout of the camp. Steevens. [Notes from the 1780 Supplement]9Q0791

Note return to page 197 1&lblank; such slanders of the age,] This was a character very troublesome to wise men in our author's time. “It is the practice with him,” says Ascham, “to be warlike, though he never looked enemy in the face, yet some warlike sign must be used, as a slovenly buskin, or an over-staring frownced head, as though out of every hair's top should suddenly start a good big oath.” Johnson.

Note return to page 198 2I must speak with him from the pridge.] “Speak with him from the bridge, Mr. Pope tells us, is added to the latter editions; but that it is plain from the sequel, that the scene here continues, and the affair of the bridge is over.” This is a most inaccurate criticism. Though the affair of the bridge be over, is that a reason, that the king must receive no intelligence from thence? Fluellen, who comes from the bridge, wants to acquaint the king with the transactions that had happened there. This he calls speaking to the king from the bridge. Theobald. With this Dr. Warburton concurs. Johnson.

Note return to page 199 3&lblank; and whelks, and knobs,] So, in Chaucer's character of a Sompnour, from which, perhaps, Shakespeare took some hints for his description of Bardolph's face: “A Sompnour was ther with us in that place “That hadde a fire-red cherubinnes face, &c. “&lblank; &lblank; &lblank; &lblank; “Ther n'as quicksilver, litarge, ne brimston, “Boras, ceruse, ne oile of tartre non, “Ne oinement that wolde clense or bite, “That might him helpen of his whelkes white, “Ne of the knobbes sitting on his chekes.” See the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales, late edit. v. 628, &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 200 4&lblank; his fire's out.] This is the last time that any sport can be made with the red face of Bardolph, which, to confess the truth, seems to have taken more hold on Shakespeare's imagination than on any other. The conception is very cold to the solitary reader, though it may be somewhat invigorated by the exhibition on the stage. This poet is always more careful about the present than the future, about his audience than his readers. Johnson.

Note return to page 201 5Enter Montjoy.] Mont-joie is the title of the first king at arms in France, as Garter is in our own country. Steevens.

Note return to page 202 6&lblank; by my habit.] That is, by his herald's coat. The person of a herald being inviolable, was distinguished in those times of formality by a peculiar dress, which is likewise yet worn on particular occasions. Johnson.

Note return to page 203 7&lblank; upon our cue, &lblank;] In our turn. This phrase the author learned among players, and has imparted it to kings. Johnson.

Note return to page 204 8&lblank; so much my office.] This speech, as well as another preceding it, was first compress'd into verse by Mr. Pope. Where he wanted a syllable, he supplied it, and where there were too many for his purpose, he made suitable omissions. Shakespeare (if we may believe some of the old copies) meant both speeches for prose, and as such I have printed them. Steevens.

Note return to page 205 *Without impeachment.] i. e. hindrance. Empechement, French. Steevens.

Note return to page 206 9&lblank; God before, &lblank;] This was an expression in that age for God being my guide, or when used to another, God be thy guide. So, in an old dialogue between a herdsman and a maiden going on pilgrimage to Walsingham, the herdsman takes his leave in these words: “Now, go thy ways, and God before.” To prevent was used in the same sense. Johnson.

Note return to page 207 1There's for thy labour, Montjoy.] It appears from many ancient books that it was always customary to reward a herald, whether he brought defiance or congratulation. So, in the ancient metrical history of the Battle of Floddon: “Then gave he to the herald's hand,   “Besides, with it, a rich reward; “Who hasten'd to his native land   “To see how with his king it far'd.” Steevens.

Note return to page 208 3Scene VII.] This scene is shorter, and I think better, in the first editions of 1600 and 1608. But as the enlargements appear to be the author's own, I would not omit them. Pope.

Note return to page 209 4He bounds from the earth, as if his entrails were hairs; &lblank;] Alluding to the bounding of tennis-balls, which were stuffed with hair, as appears from Much Ado about Nothing, “And the old ornament of his cheek hath already stuff'd tennis-balls.” Warburton.

Note return to page 210 5&lblank; he is pure air and fire; and the dull elements of earth and water never appear in him,] Thus Cleopatra speaking of herself “I am air and fire; my other elements “I give to baser life.” Steevens.

Note return to page 211 6&lblank; and all other jades you may call beasts,] It is plain that jades and beasts should change places, it being the first word and not the last, which is the term of reproach; as afterwards it is said: I had as lieve have my mistress a jade. Warburton. There is no occasion for this change. In the Second Part of King Henry IV. scene i: “&lblank; he gave his able horse the head, “And, bending forward, struck his armed heels “Against the panting sides of the poor jade.” Jade is sometimes used for a post-horse. Beast is always employed as a contemptuous distinction. So, in Macbeth: “&lblank; what beast was't then “That made you break this enterprize to me? Again, in Timon: “&lblank; what a wicked beast was I to disfurnish myself against so good a time?” Steevens.

Note return to page 212 7&lblank; Wonder of nature &lblank;] Here, I suppose, some foolish poem of our author's time is ridiculed; which indeed partly appears from the answer. Warburton. In the first Part of K. Henry VI. act V. sc. iv. Shakespeare himself uses the phrase which he here seems to ridicule: “Be not offended, nature's miracle!” Malone. The phrase is only reprehensible through its misapplication. It is surely proper when applied to a woman, but ridiculous indeed when addressed to a horse. Steevens.

Note return to page 213 8&lblank; like a kerne of Ireland, your French hose off, and in your strait strossers.] Thus all the editions have mistaken this word, which should be trossers; and signifies a pair of breeches. Theobald. This word very frequently occurs in the old dramatic writers. A man in The Coxcomb, of Beaumont and Fletcher, speaking to an Irish servant, says, “I'll have thee flead, and trossers made of thy skin, to tumble in.” Trossers appear to have been tight breeches.—The kerns of Ireland anciently rode without breeches, and therefore strait trossers, I believe, means only in their naked skin, which sits close to them. The word is still preserved, but now written trowsers. Steevens. “Trowses,” says the explanatory Index to Cox's History of Ireland, “are breeches and stockings made to sit as close to the body as can be.” Several of the morris-dancers represented upon the print of my window, have such hose or strait trousers; but the poet seems by the waggish context to have a further meaning. Tollet. The following passage in Heywood's Challenge for Beauty, 1636, proves, that the ancient Irish trousers were somewhat more than mere buff. “Manhurst. No, for my money give me your substantial English hose, round, and somewhat full afore. “Maid. Now they are, methinks, a little too great. “Manh. The more the discretion of the landlord that builds them—he makes room enough for his tenant to stand upright in them—he may walk in and out at ease without stooping: but of all the rest I am clean out of love with your Irish trowses; they are for all the world like a jealous wife, always close at a man's tayle.” The speaker is here circumstantially describing the fashions of different countries. So, again, in Bulwer's Pedigree of the English Gallant, 1653: “Bombasted and paned hose were, since I can remember, in fashion; but now our hose are made so close to our breeches, that, like Irish trowses, they too manifestly discover the dimension of every part.” In Sir John Oldcastle, the word is spelt strouces. Collins.

Note return to page 214 9Who will go to hazard with me for twenty English prisoners?] So, in the old anonymous Henry V: “Come and you see what me tro at the king's drummer and fife.” “Faith me will tro at the earl of Northumberland and, now I will tro at the king himself, &c.” This incident, however, might have been furnished by the chronicle. Steevens.

Note return to page 215 1&lblank; his lacquey: &lblank;] He has beaten nobody yet but his footboy. Johnson.

Note return to page 216 2&lblank; 'tis a hooded valour, and when it appears, it will bate.] This is said with allusion to falcons which are kept hooded when they are not to fly at game, and as soon as the hood is off, bait or flap the wing. The meaning is, the Dauphin's valour has never been let loose upon an enemy, yet, when he makes his first essay, we shall see how he will flutter. Johnson.

Note return to page 217 3I will cap that proverb &lblank;] Alluding to the practice of capping verses. Johnson.

Note return to page 218 4&lblank; with, &lblank; A pox of the devil!] The quartos 1600, and 1608 read, &lblank; with, A jogge of the devil. Steevens.

Note return to page 219 5'Would it were day! &lblank;] Instead of this and the succeeding speeches, the 4tos 1600 and 1608 conclude this scene, with a couplet: &lblank; Come, come away, The sun is high, and we wear out the day. Steevens.

Note return to page 220 *Peevish, in ancient language, signified—foolish, silly. Many examples of this are given in a note on Cymbeline, Act I. sc. 7: “&lblank; He's strange and peevish.” Steevens.

Note return to page 221 6&lblank; give them great meals of beef,] So, in K. Edw. III. 1599: “&lblank; but scant them of their chines of beef, “And take away their downy featherbeds, &c.” Steevens.

Note return to page 222 7Fills the wide vessel of the universe.] Universe for horizon: for we are not to think Shakespeare so ignorant as to imagine it was night over the whole globe at once. He intimates he knew otherwise, by that fine line in the Midsummer Night's Dream: &lblank; following darkness like a dream. Besides, the image he employs shews he meant but half the globe; the horizon round, which has the shape of a vessel or goblet. Warburton. There is a better proof that Shakespeare knew the order of night and day, in Macbeth: “Now o'er one half the world “Nature seems dead.” But there was no great need of any justification. The universe, in its original sense, no more means this globe singly than the circuit of the horizon; but, however large in its philosophical sense, it may be poetically used for as much of the world as falls under observation. Let me remark further, that ignorance cannot be certainly inferred from inaccuracy. Knowledge is not always present. Johnson.

Note return to page 223 8&lblank; the other's umber'd face:] Umber'd or umbred is a term in blazonry, and signifies shadowed. Warburton. &lblank; the other's umber'd face:] Of this epithet used by Shakespeare in his description of fires reflected by night, Mr. Pope knew the value, and has transplanted it into the Iliad on a like occasion: “Whose umber'd arms by turns thick flashes send.” Umber is a brown colour. So, in As You Like It: “And with a kind of umber smirch my face.” The distant visages of the soldiers would certainly appear of this hue when beheld through the light of midnight fires. Blazonry, I believe, does not acknowledge the word umber'd. Adumbration, indeed, says Guillim, is a shadowing, &c. and I meet with the same word in Warner's Albion's England, 1602. B. X. chap. lvi: “Sweet adumbrations of her zeale, &c.” Steevens. Another interpretation occurs, expressive of the preparation of both armies for an engagement. In Hamlet, act III. Mr. Steevens gives the following quotation from Stowe's Chronicle, “He brast up his umber three times.” Where umber means the vizor of the helmet, as umbriere doth in Spenser, from the French ombre, ombriere, or ombraire, a shadow, an umbrella, or any thing that hides or covers the face. Hence umber'd face may denote a face armed with a helmet, as in K. Henry IV: “I saw young Harry with his bever on.” and in the present play: “Big Mars seems bankrupt in their beggar'd host, “And faintly through a rusty beaver peeps.” Beaver here means exactly the same with umber in Stowe. Tollet.

Note return to page 224 9&lblank; and from the tents,] See the preparation for the battle between Palamon and Arcite in Chaucer: “And on the morwe, when the day 'gan spring, “Of horse and harneis noise and clattering, “There was in the hosteliries all about: “The foamy stedes on the golden bridel “Gnawing, and fast the armureres also “With file and hammer priking to and fro,” &c. Warton.

Note return to page 225 1The country cocks do crow, the clocks do toll; And (the third hour of drowsy morning nam'd) Proud of their numbers, and secure in soul, The confident, and over-lusty French Do the low-rated English play at dice; &lblank;] I believe every reader of taste must be hurt by that heavy parenthesis in the second line. How much better might we read thus? The country cocks do crow, the clock do toll, And the third hour of drowsy morning name. Then begin another sentence. Tyrwhitt. I have admitted this very necessary and elegant emendation. Steevens.

Note return to page 226 2Do the low-rated English play at dice;] i. e. do play them away at dice. Warburton.

Note return to page 227 3Investing lank-lean cheeks, &lblank;] A gesture investing cheeks and coats is nonsense. We should read: Invest in lank-lean cheeks &lblank; which is sense, i. e. their sad gesture was cloath'd, or set off, in lean cheeks and worn coats. The image is strong and picturesque. Warburton. Yet perhaps even this change is unnecessary. The harshness of the metaphor is what offends, which means only, that their looks are invested in mournful gestures. Such another harsh metaphor occurs in Much Ado about Nothing: “For my part, I am so attir'd in wonder, “I know not what to say.” Steevens. Gesture only relates to their cheeks, after which word there should be a comma, as in the first folio. In the second song of Sidney's Astrophel and Stella: “Anger invests the face with a lovely grace.” Tollet. The present time runs throughout the whole of the description, except in this instance, where the change seems very improper. I believe we should read, presenteth. Steevens. Investing, perhaps we should read, in fasting, &c. Anon.

Note return to page 228 4&lblank; fear, that mean and gentle all, Behold (as may, &c.] As this stood, it was a most perplex'd and nonsensical passage: and could not be intelligible, but as I have corrected it. The poet, then addressing himself to every degree of his audience, tells them, he'll shew (as well as his unworthy pen and powers can describe it) a little touch or sketch of this hero in the night. Theobald.

Note return to page 229 5Minding true things &lblank;] To mind is the same as to call to remembrance. Johnson.

Note return to page 230 6&lblank; old Sir Thomas Erpingham:] Sir Thomas Erpingham came over with Bolingbroke from Bretagne, and was one of the commissioners to receive king Richard's abdication. Edward's MS. Sir Thomas Erpingham was in Henry V.'s time warden of Dover castle. His arms are still visible on one side of the Roman pharos. Steevens.

Note return to page 231 7Which casted slough &lblank;] Slough is the skin which the serpent annually throws off, and by the change of which he is supposed to regain new vigour and fresh youth. Legerity is lightness, nimbleness. Johnson. So, in Stanyhurst's translation of Virgil, B. IV. 1582: “His slough uncasing himself now youthfully bleacheth.” Legerity is a word used by Ben Jonson in Every Man out of his Humour. Steevens.

Note return to page 232 8&lblank; an imp of fame;] An imp is a shoot in its primitive sense, but means a son in Shakespeare. In Holinshed, p. 951, the last words of lord Cromwell are preserved, who says, “&lblank; and after him that his sonne prince Edward, that goodlie impe, may long reigne over you.” Steevens.

Note return to page 233 9It sorts] i. e. it agrees. So, in Chapman's version of the 17th book of the Odyssey: “His faire long lance well sorting with his hand.” Steevens.

Note return to page 234 1&lblank; conditions:] Are qualities. The meaning is, that objects are represented by his senses to him, as to other men by theirs. What is danger to another is danger likewise to him, and when he feels fear it is like the fear of meaner mortals. Johnson.

Note return to page 235 2&lblank; their children rawly left.] That is, without preparation, hastily, suddenly. What is not matured is raw. So, in Macbeth: “Why in this rawness left he wife and children.” Johnson.

Note return to page 236 3&lblank; native punishment,] That is, punishment in their native country. Revisal. i. e. such as they are born to if they offend. Steevens.

Note return to page 237 4Every subject's duty &lblank;] This is a very just distinction, and the whole argument is well followed, and properly concluded. Johnson.

Note return to page 238 5&lblank; that's a perilous shot out of an elder-gun, &lblank;] In the old play the thought is more opened. It is a great displeasure that an elder gun can do against a cannon. Johnson.

Note return to page 239 6&lblank; twenty French crowns &lblank;] This conceit, rather too low for a king, has been already explained, as alluding to the venereal disease. Johnson. There is surely no necessity for supposing any allusion in this passage to the venereal disease. The conceit here seems to turn merely upon the equivocal sense of crown, which signifies either a coin, or a head. Tyrwhitt.

Note return to page 240 7Upon the king! &c.] This beautiful speech was added after the first edition. Pope. There is something very striking and solemn in this soliloquy, into which the king breaks immediately as soon as he is left alone. Something like this, on less occasions, every breast has felt. Reflection and seriousness rush upon the mind upon the separation of a gay company, and especially after forced and unwilling merriment. Johnson.

Note return to page 241 8What are thy rents? What are thy comings in? O ceremony, shew me but thy worth: What! is thy soul of adoration?] Thus is the last line given us, and the nonsense of it made worse by the ridiculous pointing. We should read, What is thy toll, O adoration! Let us examine how the context stands with my emendation. What are thy rents? What are thy comings-in? What is thy worth? What is thy toll?—(i. e. the duties and imposts, thou receivest:) all is here consonant, and agreeable to a sensible exclamation. So King John:—“No Italian priest shall tithe or toll in our dominions.” But the Oxford editor, now he finds the way open for alteration, reads, What is thy shew of adoration? By which happy emendation, what is about to be enquired into, is first taken for granted; namely, that ceremony is but a shew. And to make room for this word here, which is found in the immediate preceding line, he degrades it there, but puts as good a word indeed in its stead, that is to say, tell. Warburton. This emendation is not ill conceived, yet I believe it is erroneous. The first copy reads, What? is the soul of adoration. This is incorrect, but I think we may discover the true reading easily enough to be, What is thy soul, O adoration? That is, O reverence paid to kings, what art thou within? What are thy real qualities? What is thy intrinsic value? Johnson. The quarto has not this speech. The folio reads—What? is thy soul of odoration? Steevens. I do not see any necessity for departing from the old reading: What is the soul of adoration? The same expression is found in many of Shakespeare's plays. So, in Troilus and Cressida: “&lblank; my very soul of counsel.” Again, in K. Henry IV. Part I: “The very bottom and the soul of hope.” Again, in the Midsummer Night's Dream: “&lblank; the soul of love.” Malone.

Note return to page 242 9&lblank; farsed title running &c.] Farsed is stuffed. The tumid puffy titles with which a king's name is always introduced. This I think is the sense. Johnson. So, in All for Money, by T. Lupton, 1574: “&lblank; belly-gods so swarm, “Farced, and flowing with all kind of gall.” Again: “And like a greedy cormorant with belly full farced.” Again, in Jacob and Esau, 1568: “To make both broth and farcing, and that full deinty.” Again, in Stanyhurst's version of the first book of Virgil: “Or cels are farcing with dulce and delicat hoonny.” Again, in Every Man out of his Humour: “&lblank; farce thy lean ribs with it too.” Steevens.

Note return to page 243 1Can sleep so soundly, &c.] These lines are exquisitely pleasing. To sweat in the eye of Phœbus, and to sleep in Elysium, are expressions very poetical. Johnson.

Note return to page 244 2In former editions: &lblank; take from them now The sense of reck'ning of th' opposed numbers: Pluck their hearts from them! &lblank;] Thus the first folio. The poet might intend, “Take from them the sense of reckoning those opposed numbers; which might pluck their courage from them.” But the relative not being express'd, the sense is very obscure. Theobald. The change is admitted by Dr. Warburton, and rightly. Sir T. Hanmer reads: &lblank; the opposed numbers Which stand before them. This reading he borrowed from the old quarto, which gives the passage thus: Take from them now the sense of reckoning, That the opposed multitudes that stand before them May not appall their courage. Johnson. Theobald's alteration certainly makes a very good sense; but, I think, we might read, with less deviation from the present text: &lblank; if th' opposed numbers Pluck their hearts from them. In conjectural criticism, as in mechanics, the perfection of the art, I apprehend, consists in producing a given effect with the least possible force. Trywhitt.

Note return to page 245 3Since that my penitence comes after all, Imploring pardon.] We must observe, that Henry IV. had committed an injustice, of which he, and his son reap'd the fruits. But reason tells us, justice demands that they who share the profits of iniquity, shall share also in the punishment. Scripture again tells us, that when men have sinned, the grace of God gives frequent invitations to repentance: which, in the language of divines, are stiled calls. These, if neglected, or carelessly dallied with, are, at length, irrecoverably withdrawn, and then repentance comes too late. All this shews that the unintelligible reading of the text should be corrected thus: &lblank; comes after call. Warburton. I wish the commentator had explained his meaning a little better; for his comment is to me less intelligible than the text. I know not what he thinks of the king's penitence, whether coming in consequence of call, it is sufficient; or whether coming when calls have ceased, it is ineffectual. The first sense will suit but ill with the position, that all which he can do is nothing worth; and the latter as ill with the intention of Shakespeare, who certainly does not mean to represent the king as abandoned and reprobate. The old reading is in my opinion easy and right. I do all this, says the king, though all that I can do is nothing worth, is so far from an adequate expiation of the crime, that penitence comes after all, imploring pardon both for the crime and the expiation. Johnson.

Note return to page 246 4Via!—les eaux & la terre.—] The Revisal reads: Dau. Voyez—les eaux & la terre. &lblank; Orl. Bien—puis l'air & le feu? &lblank; Dau. Le ciel—cousin Orleans. &lblank; 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 & la terre. Orl. L'air & le feu—Rien puis? Dau. Le ciel. Via is an old hortatory exclamation, as allons! Johnson. Dr. Johnson is right. So, in K. Edward III. 1599: “Then Via! for the spacious bounds of France!” Again, in the Fawne, by John Marston, 1606: “Come Via! to this feastful entertainment!” Again, in Marston's What you Will, 1607: “Tut, Via! let all run glib and square!” Steevens.

Note return to page 247 5And daunt them] The first folio reads doubt, which, perhaps, may have been used for to make to doubt; to terrifie. Tyrwhitt.

Note return to page 248 6The tucket-sonuance, &c.] He uses terms of the field as if they were going out only to the chase for sport. To dare the field is a phrase in falconry. Birds are dared when by the falcon in the air they are terrified from rising, so that they will be sometimes taken by the hand. Such an easy capture the lords expected to make of the English. Johnson. The tucket-sonuance was, I believe, the name of an introductory flourish on the trumpet, as toccata in Italian is the prelude of a sonata on the harpsichord, and toccar la tromba, is to blow the trumpet. In the Spanish tragedy, (no date) “a tucket afar off.” Again, in the Devil's Lawcase, 1623: “2 tuckets by several trumpets.” Sonance is a word use by Heywood, in his Rape of Lucrece, 1630: “Or, if he chance to endure our tongues so much “As but to hear their sonance. Steevens.

Note return to page 249 7Their horsemen sit like fixed candlesticks, With torch-staves in their hand; &lblank;] Grandpré alludes to the form of the ancient candlesticks, which frequently represented human figures holding the sockets for the lights in their extended hands. A similar image occurs in Vittoria Corombona, 1612: “&lblank; he shew'd like a pewter candlestick, fashioned like a man in armour, holding a tilting staff in his hand little bigger than a candle.” Steevens.

Note return to page 250 8&lblank; gimmal bit &lblank;] Gimmal is in the western counties, a ring; a gimmal bit is therefore a bit of which the parts play'd one within another. Johnson. I meet with the word, though differently spelt, in the old play of The Raigne of King Edward the Third, 1596: “Nor lay aside their jacks of gymold mail.” Gymold or gimmal'd mail means armour composed of links like those of a chain, which by its flexibility fitted itself to the shape of the body more exactly than defensive covering of any other contrivance. There was a suit of it to be seen in the Tower. Spenser, in his Faerie Queen, B. I. cap. v. calls it woven mail: “In woven mail all armed warily.” In Lingua, &c. 1607, is mentioned: “&lblank; a gimmal ring with one link hanging.” Steevens.

Note return to page 251 9&lblank; their executors, the knavish crows, &lblank;] The crows who are to have the disposal of what they shall leave, their hides and their flesh. Johnson.

Note return to page 252 1I stay but for my guard; &lblank;] It seems, by what follows, that guard in this place means rather something of ornament or of distinction than a body of attendants. Johnson. The following quotation from Holinshed, p. 554, will best elucidate this passage.—“The duke of Brabant, when his standard was not come, caused a banner to be taken from a trumpet and fastened upon a spear, the which he commanded to be borne before him instead of a standard.” In the second part of Heywood's Iron Age, 1632, Menelaus after having enumerated to Pyrrhus the treasures of his father Achilles, as his myrmidons, &c. adds: “His sword, spurs, armour, guard, pavilion.” From this passage it should appear that the guard was part of the defensive armour; perhaps what we call at present the gorget. Again, in Holinshed, p 820: “The one bare his helmet, the second his granguard, &c.” Steevens.

Note return to page 253 2In the old edition: Bed. Farewell, good Salisbury, and good luck go with thee; And yet I do thee wrong to mind thee of it, For thou art fram'd of the firm truth of valour. Exe. Farewell, kind lord: fight valiantly to-day. What! does he do Salisbury wrong to wish him good luck? The ingenious Dr. Thirlby prescribed to me the transposition of the verses, which I have made in the text: and the old quartos plainly lead to such a regulation. Theobald. I believe Mr. Theobald's transposition to be perfectly right, for it was already made in the quartos 1600 and 1608, as follows: Farewell kind lord; fight valiantly to-day, And yet in truth I do thee wrong, For thou art made on the true sparkes of honour. Steevens.

Note return to page 254 3My cousin Westmoreland?—] In the quartos 1600 and 1608, this speech is addressed to Warwick. Steevens.

Note return to page 255 4By Jove, &lblank;] The king prays like a christian, and swears like a heathen. Johnson.

Note return to page 256 5&lblank; of Crispian: &lblank;] The battle of Agincourt was fought upon the 25th of October, St. Crispin's day; the legend upon which this is founded, follows. “Crispinus and Crispianus were brethren, born at Rome; from whence they travelled to Soissons in France, about the year 303, to propagate the christian religion; but because they would not be chargeable to others for their maintenance, they exercised the trade of shoemakers; but the governor of the town discovering them to be christians, ordered them to be beheaded about the year 303. From which time, the shoemakers made choice of them for their tutelar saints.” Wheatley's Rational Illustration, folio edit. p. 76. See Hall's Chronicle, folio 47. Gray.

Note return to page 257 6&lblank; with advantages &lblank;] Old men, notwithstanding the natural forgetfulness of age, shall remember their feats of this day, and remember to tell them with advantage. Age is commonly boastful, and inclined to magnify past acts and past times. Johnson.

Note return to page 258 7From this day to the ending &lblank;] It may be observed that we are apt to promise to ourselves a more lasting memory than the changing state of human things admits. This prediction is not verified; the feast of Crispin passes by without any mention of Agincourt. Late events obliterate the former: the civil wars have left in this nation scarcely any tradition of more ancient history. Johnson.

Note return to page 259 8&lblank; gentle his condition.] This day shall advance him to the rank of a gentleman. Johnson. King Henry V. inhibited any person but such as had a right by inheritance, or grant, to assume coats of arms, except those who fought with him at the battle of Agincourt; and, I think, these last were allowed the chief seats of honour at all feasts and public meetings. Tollet.

Note return to page 260 9&lblank; upon St. Crispin's day.] This speech, like many others of the declamatory kind, is too long. Had it been contracted to about half the number of lines, it might have gained force, and lost none of the sentiments. Johnson.

Note return to page 261 1&lblank; bravely &lblank;] Is splendidly, ostentatiously. Johnson.

Note return to page 262 2&lblank; expedience] i. e. expedition. Steevens.

Note return to page 263 3&lblank; thou hast unwish'd five thousand men, &lblank;] By wishing only thyself and me, thou hast wished five thousand men away. Shakespeare never thinks on such trifles as numbers. In the last scene the French are said to be full threescore thousand, which Exeter declares to be five to one; but, by the king's account they are twelve to one. Johnson. Holinshed makes the English army consist of 15,000, and the French of 60,000 horse, besides foot, &c. in all 100,000; while Walsingham and Harding represent the English as but 9000; and other authors say that the number of French amounted to 150,000. Steevens.

Note return to page 264 4A many &lblank;] Thus the folio; the quarto—and many &lblank; Steevens.

Note return to page 265 5Mark then abounding valour in our English;] Thus the old folios. The quartos, more erroneously still: Mark then aboundant &lblank; Mr. Pope degraded the passage in both his editions, because, I presume, he did not understand it. I have reformed the text, and the allusion is exceedingly beautiful; comparing the revival of the English valour to the rebounding of a cannon-ball. Theobald.

Note return to page 266 6Killing in relapse of mortality.] What it is to kill in relapse of mortality, I do not know. I suspect that it should be read: Killing in reliques of mortality. That is, continuing to kill when they are the reliques that death has left behind it. That the allusion is, as Mr. Theobald thinks, exceedingly beautiful, I am afraid few readers will discover. The valour of a putrid body, that destroys by the stench, is one of the thoughts that do no great honour to the poet. Perhaps from this putrid valour Dryden might borrow the posthumous empire of Don Sebastian, who was to reign wheresoever his atoms should be scattered. Johnson. By this phrase, however uncouth, Shakespeare seems to mean the same as in the preceding line. Mortality is death. So, in K. Henry VI. Part I: “&lblank; I beg mortality “Rather than life &lblank; Relapse may be used for rebound. Shakespeare has given mind of honour, for honourable mind; and by the same rule might write relapse of mortality for fatal or mortal rebound; or by relapse of mortality, he may mean—after they had relapsed into inanimation. Steevens. This putrid valour is common to the descriptions of other poets as well as Shakespeare and Dryden, and is predicated to be no less victorious by Lucan, lib. vii. v. 821. “Quid fugis hanc cladem, quid olentes deseris agros? “Has trahe Cæsar, aquas; hoc, si potes, utere cœlo. “Sed tibi tabentes populi Pharsalica rura “Eripiunt, camposque tenent victore fugato.” Corneille has imitated this passage in the first speech in his Pompée: “&lblank; de chars, “Sur ses champs empestés confusément épars, “Ces montagnes de morts privés d'honneurs suprêmes, “Que la nature force à se venger eux-mêmes, “Et de leurs troncs pourris exhale dans les vents “De quoi faire la guerre au reste des vivans.” Voltaire, in his letter to the academy of Belles Lettres at Paris, opposes the preceding part of this speech to a quotation from Shakespeare. The Frenchman, however, very prudently stopped before he came to the lines which are here quoted. Steevens.

Note return to page 267 7&lblank; warriors for the working day:] We are soldiers but coarsely dressed; we have not on our holiday apparel. Johnson.

Note return to page 268 8&lblank; our gilt &lblank;] i. e. Golden show, superficial gilding. Obsolete. So, in Timon: “When thou wast in thy gilt and thy perfume, &c.” Again, in another of our author's plays: “The double gilt of this opportunity you let time wash off.” Again, in Arden of Feversham, 1592: “And now the rain hath beaten off thy gilt.” Steevens.

Note return to page 269 9Quality, calmly, custure me, art thou a gentleman?] We should read this nonsense thus: Quality, cality—construe me, art thou a gentleman? i. e. tell me, let me understand whether thou be'st a gentleman. Warburton. Mr. Edwards, in his MS. notes, proposes to read: Quality, call you me? construe me, &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 270 1&lblank; discuss.] This affected word is used by Lylly in his Woman in the Moon, 1597: “But first I must discuss this heavenly cloud.” Steevens.

Note return to page 271 2&lblank; signieur Dew should be a gentleman:] I cannot help thinking, that Shakespeare intended here a stroke at a passage in a famous old book, call'd, The Gentleman's Academie in Hawking, Hunting, and Armorie, written originally by Juliana Barnes, and re-published by Gervase Markham, 1595. The first chapter of the Booke of Armorie, is, “the difference 'twixt Churles and Gentlemen;” and it ends thus: “From the of-spring of gentlemanly Japhet came Abraham, Moyses, Aaron, and the Prophets; and also the king of the right line of Mary, of whom that only absolute gentleman, Jesus, was borne:—gentleman, by his mother Mary, princesse of coat armor.” Farmer.

Note return to page 272 3&lblank; thou diest on point of fox,] Point of fox is an expression which, if the editors understood it, they should have explained. I suppose we may better read: &lblank; on point of faulchion, &c. Johnson. 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 Philaster. The same expression occurs in The two angry Women of Abington, 1599: “I had a sword, ay the flower of Smithfield for a sword; a right fox i'faith.” Again, in The Devil's Charter, 1607: “And by this awful cross upon my blade, “And by this fox which stinks of Pagan blood,” Again, in The Wedding, by Shirley, 1626: “My fox shall scratch your guts out.” Again, not less than three times in The History of the Life and Death of Captain Thomas Stukely, 1605: “&lblank; old hack'd swords, as foxes, bilbo's, and horn-buckles.” Again: “&lblank; This is as right a fox as e'er you saw.” Again: “&lblank; for foxes, bilbo's, and Toledo blades.” Again, in Beaumont and Fletcher's King and no King: “I wear as sharp steel, and my fox bites as deep.” Steevens.

Note return to page 273 4For I will fetch thy rym &lblank;] We should read: Or, I will fetch thy ransom out of thy throat. Warburton. I know not what to do with rym. The measure gives reason to suppose that it stands for some monosyllable; and besides, ransome is a word not likely to have been corrupted. Johnson. This line is wanting in the quartos 1600 and 1608. The folio reads: thy rymme. It appears, however, from sir Arthur Gorges's Translation of Lucan, 1614, that some part of the intestines was anciently called the rimme, Lucan. B. i: “The slender rimme too weake to part “The boyling liver from the heart &lblank;” &lblank; parvusque secat vitalia limes. L. 623. “Parvus limes (says one of the scholiasts) præcordia indicat; membrana illa quæ cor et pulmones a jecore et liene dirintit.” I believe it is now called the diaphragm in human creatures, and the skirt or midriff in beasts; but still in some places, the rim. Phil. Holland, in his translation of Pliny's Nat. Hist. several times mentions the rim of the paunch. See B. XXVIII. ch. ix. p. 321, &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 274 5Brass, 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 own judgment, into an error. Almost every 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 would appear to a reader, but could scarce be discovered in the performance of the play. Sir W. Rawlinson. 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. Johnson. Dr. Johnson makes a doubt, whether the pronunciation of the French language may not be changed since Shakespeare's time; “if not,” says he, “it may be suspected that some other man wrote the French scenes:” but this does not appear to be the case, at least in this termination, from the rules of the grammarians, or the practice of the poets. I am certain of the former from the French Alphabeth of De la Mothe, and the Orthoepia Gallica of John Eliot; and of the latter from the rhymes of Marot, Ronsard, and Du Bartas.—Connections of this kind were very common. Shakespeare himself assisted Ben Jonson in his Sejanus, as it was originally written; and Fletcher in his Two Noble Kinsmen. Farmer.

Note return to page 275 6&lblank; a ton of moys?] Moys is a piece of money; whence moi d'or, or moi of gold. Johnson.

Note return to page 276 7&lblank; and firk him,] The word firk is so variously used by the old writers, that it is almost impossible to ascertain its precise meaning. On this occasion it may mean to chastise. So, in Ram-Alley, or Merry-Tricks, 1611: “&lblank; nay, I will firk “My silly novice, as he was never firk'd “Since midwives bound his noddle.” In Beaumont and Fletcher's Rule a Wife, &c. it means to collect by low and dishonest industry: “&lblank; these five years she has firk'd “A pretty living.” Again, in Ram-Alley, &c. it seems to be employed in the sense of—quibble: “Sir, leave this firk of law, or by this light, &c.” In the Alchemist, it is obscenely used. Steevens.

Note return to page 277 8&lblank; this roaring devil in the old play; &lblank;] In modern puppet-shows, which seem to be copied from the old farces, punch sometimes fights the devil, and always overcomes him. I suppose the vice of the old farce, to whom punch succeeds, used to fight the devil with a wooden dagger. Johnson. &lblank; like this roaring devil in the old play;] This is perhaps a sneer at the old play of Henry the Fifth, which I have mentioned before. There is in it a character called Derick, who behaves to a Frenchman taken in battle just as Pistol does in the scene before us. The first time Derick makes his appearance, he enters roaring, (one of the editions reads rouing) and, throughout the piece, utters an oath with almost every line he speaks. The devil, however, in the old mysteries, is as turbulent and vainglorious as Pistol. So, in one of the Coventry Whitsun Plays, preserved in the British Museum. Vespasian. D. VIII. p. 136: “I am your lord Lucifer that out of helle cam, “Prince of this world, and gret duke of helle; “Wherfore my name is clepyd ser Satan, “Whech aperyth among you a mater to spelle.” And perhaps the character was always performed in the most clamorous manner. Steevens.

Note return to page 278 9O perdurable shame!—] Perdurable is lasting, long to continue. So, in Daniel's Civil Wars, &c: “Triumphant arcs of perdurable might.” Steevens.

Note return to page 279 1Let us die, instant:—Once more back again;] This verse, which is quite left out in Mr. Pope's editions, stands imperfect in the first folio. By the addition of a syllable, I think, I have retrieved the poet's sense. It is thus in the old copy; Let us die in once more back again. Theobald.

Note return to page 280 2Like a base pander, &lblank;] The quartos read: Like a base leno, &lblank; Steevens.

Note return to page 281 3Unto these English, or else die with fame.] This line I have restored from the quartos 1600 and 1608. The Constable of France is throughout the play represented as a brave and generous enemy, and therefore we should not deprive him of a resolution which agrees so well with his character. Steevens.

Note return to page 282 4But all my mother came into mine eyes, And gave me up to tears.] This thought is apparently copied by Milton, Par. Lost, b. xi: “&lblank; compassion quell'd “His best of man, and gave him up to tears.” Steevens.

Note return to page 283 5For, hearing this, I must perforce compound With mixtful eyes, &lblank;] The poet must have wrote, mistful: i. e. just ready to over-run with tears. The word he took from his observation of nature: for just before the bursting out of tears the eyes grow dim as if in a mist. Warburton.

Note return to page 284 6Give the word through.] Here the quartos 1600 and 1608 add: Pist. Couper gorge. Steevens.

Note return to page 285 7Scene VII.] Here, in the other editions, they begin the fourth act, very absurdly, since both the place and time evidently continue, and the words of Fluellen immediately follow those of the king just before. Pope.

Note return to page 286 8Kill the poyes and the luggage! 'tis expressly against the law of arms: &lblank;] In the old folios, the 4th act is made to begin here. But as the matter of the Chorus, which is to come betwixt the 4th and 5th acts, will by no means sort with the scenery that here follows, I have chose to fall in with the other regulation. Mr. Pope gives a reason why this scene should be connective to the preceding scene; but his reason, according to custom, is a mistaken one. “The words of Fluellen,” says he, “immediately follow those of the king just before.” The king's last words, at his going off, were: Then ev'ry soldier kill his prisoners: Give the word through. Now Mr. Pope must very accurately suppose, that Fluellen overhears this; and that by replying, Kill the poyes and the luggage! 'tis expressly against the law of arms;—he is condemning the king's order, as against martial discipline. But this is a most absurd supposition. Fluellen neither overhears, nor replies to, what the king had said; nor has kill the poyes and the luggage, any reference to the soldiers killing their prisoners. Nay, on the contrary (as there is no interval of an act here) there must be some little pause betwixt the king's going off, and Fluellen's entering: (and therefore I have said, Alarms continued;) for we find by Gower's first speech, that the soldiers had already cut their prisoners throats, which required some time to do. The matter is this. The baggage, during the battle (as king Henry had no men to spare) was guarded only by boys and lacqueys; which some French run-aways getting notice of, they came down upon the English camp-boys, whom they kill'd, and plundered, and burn'd the baggage: in resentment of which villainy it was, that the king, contrary to his wonted lenity, order'd all prisoners' throats to be cut. And to this villainy of the French run-aways Fluellen is alluding, when he says, Kill the poyes and the luggage! The fact is set out (as Mr. Pope might have observed) both by Hall and Holinshed. Theobald. Unhappily the king gives one reason for his order to kill the prisoners, and Gower another. The king killed his prisoners because he expected another battle, and he had not men sufficient to guard one army and fight another. Gower declares that the gallant king has worthily ordered the prisoners to be destroyed, because the luggage was plundered, and the boys were slain. Johnson.

Note return to page 287 9As Alexander &c.] I should suspect that Shakespeare, who was well read in Sir Thomas North's translation of Plutarch, meant these speeches of Fluellen as a ridicule on the parallels of the Greek author, in which, circumstances common to all men are assembled in opposition, and one great action is forced into comparison with another, though as totally different in themselves, as was the behaviour of Harry Monmouth, from that of Alexander the Great. Steevens.

Note return to page 288 1&lblank; the fat knight &lblank;] This is the last time that Falstaff can make sport. The poet was loath to part with him, and has continued his memory as long as he could. Johnson.

Note return to page 289 2And make them skir away, &lblank;] I meet with this word in Ben Jonson's News from the Moon, a Masque: “&lblank; blow him afore him as far as he can see him; or skir over him with his bat's wings, &c.” The word has already occurr'd in Macbeth. Steevens.

Note return to page 290 3Besides, we'll cut the throats &c.] The king is in a very bloody disposition. He has already cut the throats of his prisoners, and threatens now to cut them again. No haste of composition could produce such negligence; neither was this play, which is the second draught of the same design, written in haste. There must be some dislocation of the scenes. If we place these lines at the beginning of the twelfth scene, the absurdity will be removed, and the action will proceed in a regular series. This transposition might easily happen in copies written for the players. Yet it must not be concealed, that in the imperfect play of 1608 the order of the scenes is the same as here. Johnson. The difference of the two copies may be thus accounted for. The elder was, perhaps, taken down, during the representation, by the contrivance of some bookseller who was in haste to publish it; or it might, with equal probability, have been collected from the repetitions of actors invited to a tavern for that purpose. The manner in which many of the scenes are printed, adds strength to the supposition; for in these, a single line is generally divided into two, that the quantity of the play might be seemingly encreased.—The second and more ample edition may be that which regularly belonged to the playhouse; and yet with equal confidence we may pronounce, that every dramatic composition would materially suffer, if only transmitted to the publick through the medium of ignorance, presumption, and caprice, those common attendants on a theatre. Steevens. [Notes from the 1780 Supplement]9Q0799

Note return to page 291 4Yerk out their armed heels] So, in The Weakest goes to the Wall, 1618: “Their neighing gennets, armed to the field, “Do yerk and fling, and beat the sullen ground.” Steevens.

Note return to page 292 5&lblank; great sort, &lblank;] High rank. So, in the ballad of Jane Shore: “Lords and ladies of great sort.” Johnson. The quartos 1600 and 1608 read: &lblank; his enemy may be a gentleman of worth. Steevens.

Note return to page 293 6&lblank; quite from the answer of his degree.] A man of such station as is not bound to hazard his person to answer to a challenge from one of the soldier's low degree. Johnson.

Note return to page 294 7&lblank; into plows, &lblank;] The Revisal reads, very plausibly: “in two plows.” Johnson. The quarto reads, I will give treason his due presently. We might therefore read—in due plows, i. e. in the beating that is so well his due. Steevens.

Note return to page 295 8Give me thy glove &lblank; Look, here is the fellow of it.] It must be, give me my glove; for of the soldier's glove the king had not the fellow. Johnson. [Notes from the 1780 Supplement]9Q0800

Note return to page 296 9Charles duke of Orleans, &c.] This list is copied from Hall. Pope.

Note return to page 297 1&lblank; sixteen hundred mercenaries:] Mercenaries are in this place common soldiers, or hired soldiers. The gentlemen served at their own charge in consequence of their tenures. Johnson.

Note return to page 298 2Charles De-la-bret,] De-la-bret, as is already observed, should be Charles D'Albret, would the measure permit of such a change. Holinshed sometimes apologizes for the omission of foreign names, on account of his inability to spell them, but always calls this nobleman “the lord de la Breth, constable of France.” See p. 549, and p. 555, &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 299 3Edward the duke of York, &lblank;] This speech, which in the 4tos is given to Exeter, appears in the folio as part of the king's Steevens.

Note return to page 300 4Do we all holy rites;] The king (say the Chronicles) caused the Psalm, In exitu Israel de Ægypto (in which, according to the vulgate, is included the Psalm, Non nobis, Domine, &c.) to be sung after the victory. Pope.

Note return to page 301 5&lblank; a mighty whiffler &lblank;] An officer who walks first in processions, or before persons in high stations, on occasions of ceremony. The name is still retained in London, and there is an officer so called that walks before their companies at times of public solemnity. It seems a corruption from the French word huissier. Hanmer. &lblank; a mighty whiffler &lblank;] See Mr. Warton's note to the tragedy of Othello, Act III. sc. ii. In the play of Clyomon, Knight of the Golden Shield, &c. 1599, a whiffler makes his appearance at a tournament, clearing the way before the king. In Westward Hoe, by Decker and Webster, 1612, the term is often mentioned. Again, in Monsieur D'Olive, 1606: “I can go into no corner, but I meet with some of my whifflers in their accoutrements; you may hear them half a mile ere they come at you.” “&lblank; I am afraid of nothing but that I shall be balladed, I and all my whifflers.” Again, in Westward Hoe, 1607: “The torch-men and whifflers had an item to receive him.” Again, in &grT;&grE;&grX;&grN;&grO;&grG;&grA;&grM;&grI;&grA;, 1618: “Tobacco is a whiffler “And cries huff snuff with furie:   “His pipe's his club and linke, &c.” Again, in The Isle of Gulls, 1633: “And Manasses shall go before like a whiffler, and make way with his horns.” Steevens.

Note return to page 302 6Giving full trophy, &lblank;] Transferring all the honours of conquest, all trophies, tokens, and shews, from himself to God. Johnson.

Note return to page 303 7Like to the senators of antique Rome,] This is a very extraordinary compliment to the city. But he ever declines all general satire on them; and in the epilogue to Henry VIII. he hints with disapprobation on his contemporary poets, who were accustomed to abuse them. Indeed his satire is very rarely partial and licentious. Warburton.

Note return to page 304 8&lblank; likelihood,] Likelihood for similitude. Warburton. The later editors, in hope of mending the measure of this line, have injured the sense. The folio reads as I have printed; but all the books, since revisal became fashionable, and editors have been more diligent to display themselves than to illustrate their author, have given the line thus: As by a low, but loving likelihood. Thus they have destroyed the praise which the poet designed for Essex; for who would think himself honoured by the epithet low? The poet, desirous to celebrate that great man, whose popularity was then his boast, and afterwards his destruction, compares him to king Harry; but being afraid to offend the rival courtiers, or perhaps the queen herself, he confesses that he is lower than a king, but would never have represented him absolutely as low. Johnson.

Note return to page 305 9Were now the general &c.] The earl of Essex in the reign of queen Elizabeth. Pope.

Note return to page 306 1Bringing rebellion broached &lblank;] Spitted, transfixed. Johnson.

Note return to page 307 2Enter Fluellen, and Gower.] This scene ought, in my opinion, to conclude the fourth act, and be placed before the last chorus. There is no English camp in this act; the quarrel apparently happened before the return of the army to England, and not after so long an interval as the chorus has supplied. Johnson. Fluellen presently says that he wore his leek in consequence of an affront he had received but the day before from Pistol. Their present quarrel has therefore no reference to that begun in the sixth scene of the third act. Steevens.

Note return to page 308 3To have me fold up &c.] Dost thou desire to have me put thee to death. Johnson.

Note return to page 309 4&lblank; squire of low degree.] That is, I will bring thee to the ground. Johnson. The Squire of Low Degree is the title of an old romance, enumerated among other books in a letter concerning Queen Elizabeth's Entertainment at Kenelworth. Steevens. &lblank; a squire of low degree. This alludes to an old metrical romance, which was very popular among our countrymen in ancient times, intitled, The Squire of low Degree. It was burlesqued by Chaucer in his rhime of Sir Thopas, and begins thus: “It was a squyre of lowe degre “That loved the king's daughter of Hungre.” See Reliques of English Poetry, Vol. III. p. 30. 2d edit. Percy.

Note return to page 310 5&lblank; astonish'd him.] That is, you have stunned him with the blow. Johnson.

Note return to page 311 6I eat, and eat, I swear &lblank;] Thus the first folio, for which the later editors have put, I eat and swear. We should read, I suppose, in the frigid tumour of Pistol's dialect: I eat and eke I swear. Johnson.

Note return to page 312 7&lblank; gleeking] i. e. scoffing, sneering. Gleek was a game at cards. So, in Greene's Tu Quoque, 1599: “Why gleek, that's your only game. &lblank; “Gleek let it be; for I am persuaded I shall gleek some of you.” Again, in Tom Tyler and his Wife, 1598: “I suddenly gleek, or men be aware.” Steevens.

Note return to page 313 8Doth fortune play the huswife &lblank;] That is, the jilt. Huswife is here in an ill sense. Johnson.

Note return to page 314 9News have I, that my Dol is dead &lblank;] We must read, my Nell is dead. Dol Tearsheet was so little the favourite of Pistol that he offered her in contempt to Nym. Nor would her death have cut off his rendezvous; that is, deprived him of a home. Perhaps the poet forgot his plan. Johnson. In the quartos of 1600 and 1608, these lines are read thus: “Doth fortune play the huswye with me now? “Is honour cudgel'd from my warlike lines? “Well, France farewell. News have I certainly, “That Doll is sick on mallydie of France. “The warres affordeth nought, home will I trug, “Bawd will I turne, and use the slyte of hand. “To England will I steal, and there I'll steal; “And patches will I get unto these skarres, “And swear I gat them in the Gallia warres.” Johnson.

Note return to page 315 1The comic scenes of The History of Henry the Fourth and Fifth are now at an end, and all the comic personages are now dismissed. Falstaff and Mrs. Quickly are dead; Nym and Bardolph are hanged; Gads-hill was lost immediately after the robbery; Poins and Peto have vanished since, one knows not how; and Pistol is now beaten into obscurity. I believe every reader regrets their departure. Johnson.

Note return to page 316 2Peace to this meeting, wherefore we are met!] Peace, for which we are here met, be to this meeting. Here, after the chorus, the fifth act seems naturally to begin. Johnson.

Note return to page 317 3Unto this bar &lblank;] To this barrier; to this place of congress. Johnson.

Note return to page 318 4Her vine, &lblank; Unpruned dies: &lblank;] We must read, lyes; for neglect of pruning does not kill the vine, but causes it to ramify immoderately, and grow wild; by which the requisite nourishment is withdrawn from its fruit. Warburton. This emendation is physically right, but poetically the vine may be well enough said to die which ceases to bear fruit. Johnson.

Note return to page 319 5Like prisoners] This image of prisoners is oddly introduced. A hedge even pleach'd is more properly imprisoned than when it luxuriates in unpruned exuberance. Johnson.

Note return to page 320 6&lblank; deracinate &lblank;] To deracinate is to force up by the roots. So, in Troilus and Cressida: “&lblank; rend and deracinate “The unity, &c.” Steevens.

Note return to page 321 7Defective in their natures, &lblank;] Nature had been changed by some of the editors into nurture; but, as Mr. Upton observes, unnecessarily. Sua deficiuntur natura. They were not defective in their crescive nature, for they grew to wildness; but they were defective in their proper and favourable nature, which was to bring forth food for man. Steevens.

Note return to page 322 8&lblank; diffus'd attire,] Diffus'd, for extravagant. The military habit of those times was extremely so. Act III. Gower says, And what a beard of the general's cut, and a horrid suit of the camp, will do amongst, &c. is wonderful to be thought on. Warburton. Diffus'd is so much used by our author for wild, irregular, and strange, that in The Merry Wives of Windsor he applies it to a song supposed to be sung by fairies. Johnson.

Note return to page 323 9&lblank; former favour,] Former appearance. Johnson.

Note return to page 324 1&lblank; We will suddenly Pass our accept, and peremptory answer.] As the French king desires more time to consider deliberately of the articles, 'tis odd and absurd for him to say absolutely, that he would accept them all. He certainly must mean, that he would at once wave and decline what he dislik'd, and consign to such as he approv'd of. Our author uses pass in this manner in other places; as in King John: “But if you fondly pass our proffer'd love.” Warburton. Pass our accept, and peremptory answer: i. e. we will pass our acceptance of what we approve, and we will pass a peremptory answer to the rest. Politeness might forbid his saying, we will pass a denial, but his own dignity required more time for deliberation. Besides, if we read pass or accept, is not peremptory answer superfluous, and plainly implied in the former words? Tollet.

Note return to page 325 2Fair Katharine, and most fair!] Shakespeare might have taken the hint for this scene from the anonymous play of Henry V. so often quoted, where the king begins with greater bluntness, and with an exordium most truly English: “How now, fair lady Katharine of France! “What news?” Steevens.

Note return to page 326 3&lblank; such a plain king, &lblank;] I know not why Shakespeare now gives the king nearly such a character as he made him formerly ridicule in Percy. This military grossness and unskilfulness in all the softer arts does not suit very well with the gaieties of his youth, with the general knowledge ascribed to him at his accession, or with the contemptuous message sent him by the dauphin, who represents him as fitter for the ball-room than the field, and tells him that he is not to revel into dutchies, or win provinces with a nimble galliard. The truth is, that the poet's matter failed him in the fifth act, and he was glad to fill it up with whatever he could get; and not even Shakespeare can write well without a proper subject. It is a vain endeavour for the most skilful hand to cultivate barrenness, or to paint upon vacuity. Johnson.

Note return to page 327 4&lblank; take a fellow of plain and uncoined constancy; &lblank;] i. e. A constancy in the ingot, that hath suffered no alloy, as all coined metal has. Warburton. I believe this explanation is more ingenious than true; to coin is to stamp and to counterfeit. He uses it in both senses; uncoined constancy signifies real and true constancy, unrefined and unadorned. Johnson.

Note return to page 328 5Is it possible dat I should love de enemy of France?] So, in the anonymous play of the Famous Victory of Henry the Fifth: “Kate. How should I love thee, which is my father's enemie? Steevens.

Note return to page 329 6&lblank; like a married wife about her husband's neck, &lblank;] Every wife is a married wife. I suppose we should read new-married; an epithet more expressive of fondness. Johnson. The folio reads a new-married wife, and the quartos 1600 and 1608—like a bride on her new-married husband. Steevens.

Note return to page 330 7&lblank; with scambling,] i. e. scrambling. So, Marlow, in his Jew of Malta, 1633: “We have scambled up “More wealth by far, &c.” See Dr. Percy's note in the first scene of this play. Again, in Sapho and Phao, 1591:—“I am driven to a muse, how this lent I shall scamble in the court.” Steevens.

Note return to page 331 8&lblank; go to Constantinople &lblank;] Shakespeare has here committed an anachronism. The Turks were not possessed of Constantinople before the year 1453, when Henry V. had been dead thirty-one years. Theobald.

Note return to page 332 9poor and untempering effect &lblank;] Certainly untempting. Warburton. Untempering I believe to have been the poet's word. The sense is, I understand that you love me, notwithstanding my face has no power to temper, i. e. soften you to my purpose: “&lblank; nature made you “To temper man &lblank;” Otway. So, again in Titus Andronicus, which may, at least, be quoted as the work of an author contemporary with Shakespeare: “And temper him with all the art I have.” Steevens.

Note return to page 333 1Your lips should sooner persuade Harry of England, than a general petition of monarchs.] So, in the old anonymous Henry V: “&lblank; Tell thy father from me, that none in the world should sooner have persuaded me, &c.” Steevens.

Note return to page 334 2&lblank; my condition is not smooth:] Condition is temper. So, in K. Henry IV. Part I. sc. iii: “&lblank; my condition, “Which has been smooth as oil, &c.” Steevens.

Note return to page 335 3Pardon the frankness of my mirth, &lblank;] We have here but a mean dialogue for princes; the merriment is very gross, and the sentiments are very worthless. Johnson.

Note return to page 336 4This moral &lblank;] That is, the application of this fable, the moral being the application of a fable, our author calls any application a moral. Johnson.

Note return to page 337 5nostre tres cher filz and thus in Latin; præclarissimus filius &lblank;] What, is tres cher, in French, Præclarissimus in Latin? We should read, precarissimus. Warburton. “This is exceeding true,” says Dr. Farmer, “but how came the blunder? It is a typographical one in Holinshed, which Shakespeare copied; but must indisputably have been corrected, had he been acquainted with the languages.” Steevens.

Note return to page 338 6Thrust in between the passion of these kingdoms,] The old folios have it, the pation; which makes me believe, the author's word was paction; a word, more proper on the occasion of a peace struck up. A passion of two kingdoms for one another is an odd expression. An amity and political harmony may be fixed betwixt two countries, and yet either people be far from having a passion for the other. Theobald.

Note return to page 339 7Prepare we &c.] The quarto's 1600 and 1608 conclude with the following speech: Hen. Why then fair Katharine, Come, give me thy hand: Our marriage will we present solemnize, And end our hatred by a bond of love. Then will I swear to Kate, and Kate to me, And may our vows once made, unbroken be. Steevens.

Note return to page 340 8Our bending author &lblank;] We should read: Our blending author &lblank; So he says of him just afterwards, mangling by starts. Warburton. Why should we read blending? By bending, our author meant unequal to the weight of his subject, and bending beneath it; or he may mean, as in Hamlet: “Here stooping to your clemency.” Steevens.

Note return to page 341 9Mangling by starts &lblank;] By touching only on select parts. Johnson.

Note return to page 342 1This play has many scenes of high dignity, and many of easy merriment. The character of the king is well supported, except in his courtship, where he has neither the vivacity of Hal, nor the grandeur of Henry. The humour of Pistol is very happily continued: his character has perhaps been the model of all the bullies that have yet appeared on the English stage. The lines given to the Chorus have many admirers; but the truth is, that in them a little may be praised, and much must be forgiven; nor can it be easily discovered why the intelligence given by the Chorus is more necessary in this play than in many others where it is omitted. The great defect of this play is the emptiness and narrowness of the last act, which a very little diligence might have easily avoided. Johnson.

Note return to page 343 1First Part of King Henry VI.] The historical transactions contained in this play, take in the compass of above thirty years. I must observe, however, that our author, in the three parts of Henry VI. has not been very precise to the date and disposition of his facts; but shuffled them, backwards and forwards, out of time. For instance; the lord Talbot is kill'd at the end of the fourth act of this play, who in reality did not fall till the 13th of July 1453: and The Second Part of Henry VI. opens with the marriage of the king, which was solemniz'd eight years before Talbot's death, in the year 1445. Again, in the second part, dame Eleanor Cobham is introduced to insult queen Margaret; though her penance and banishment for sorcery happened three years before that princess came over to England. I could point out many other transgressions against history, as far as the order of time is concerned. Indeed, though there are several master-strokes in these three plays, which incontestably betray the workmanship of Shakespeare; yet I am almost doubtful, whether they were entirely of his writing. And unless they were wrote by him very early, I should rather imagine them to have been brought to him as a director of the stage; and so have received some finishing beauties at his hand. An accurate observer will easily see, the diction of them is more obsolete, and the numbers more mean and prosaical, than in the generality of his genuine compositions. Theobald.

Note return to page 344 2Brandish your crystal tresses &lblank;] We have heard of crystal heaven, but never of crystal comets before. We should read, cristed or crested, i. e. tresses standing an end, or mounted like a crest. Warburton. I believe crystal is right. Johnson. Crystal is an epithet repeatedly bestowed on comets by our ancient writers. So, in a Sonnet by Lord Sterline, 1604: “When as those chrystal comets whiles appear.” Spenser, in his Faery Queen, Book I. c. x. applies it to a lady's face: “Like sunny beams threw from her chrystal face.” “There is also a white comet with silver haires,” says Pliny, as translated by P. Holland, 1601. Steevens.

Note return to page 345 3That have consented &lblank;] If this expression means no more than that the stars gave a bare consent, or agreed to let king Henry die, it does no great honour to its author. I believe to consent, in this instance, means to act in concert. Concentus, Lat. Thus Erato the muse applauding the song of Apollo, in Lylly's Midas, 1592, cries out: “O sweet consent!” i. e. sweet union of sounds. Again, in Spenser's Faery Queen, B. IV. c. ii: “Such musick his wise words with time consented.” Again, in his translation of Virgil's Culex: “Chaunted their sundry notes with sweet concent.” and in many other places. Consented, or as it should be spelt, concented, means, have thrown themselves into a malignant configuration, to promote the death of Henry. Spenser, in more than one instance, spells this word as it appears in the text of Shakespeare; as does Ben Jonson, in his Epithalamion on Mr. Weston. The following lines: “&lblank; shall we curse the planets of mishap, “That plotted thus, &c.” seem to countenance my explanation; and Falstaff says of Shallow's servants, that—“they flock together in consent, like so many wild geese.” Steevens.

Note return to page 346 4&lblank; the subtle-witted French &c.] There was a notion prevalent a long time, that life might be taken away by metrical charms. As superstition grew weaker, these charms were imagined only to have power on irrational animals. In our author's time it was supposed that the Irish could kill rats by a song. Johnson. So, in Reginald Scot's Discoverie of Witchcraft, 1584: “The Irishmen addict themselves, &c. yea they will not sticke to affirme that they can rime either man or beast to death.” Steevens.

Note return to page 347 5Our isle be made a marish of salt tears,] Thus it is in both impressions by Mr. Pope: upon what authority, I cannot say. All the old copies read, a nourish: and considering it is said in the line immediately preceding, that babes shall suck at their mothers moist eyes, it seems very probable that our author wrote, a nourice; i. e. that the whole isle should be one common nurse, or nourisher, of tears: and those be the nourishment of its miserable issue. Theobald. Was there ever such nonsense! But he did not know that marish is an old word for marsh or fen; and therefore very judiciously thus corrected by Mr. Pope. Warburton. I have been informed, that what we call at present a stew, in which fish are preserved alive, was anciently called a nourish. Nourice, however, Fr. a nurse, was anciently spelt many different ways, among which nourish was one: “Of that chylde she was blyth, “After noryshes she sent belive.” Syr Eglamour of Artois, bl. l. no date. A nourish therefore in this passage of our author signifies a nurse, as it apparently does in the 12th chapter of the first book of the Tragedies of John Bochas, by Lydgate: “Athenes whan it was in his floures “Was called nourish of philosophers wise.” “&lblank; Jubæ tellus generat, leonum “Arida nutrix.” Steevens. [Notes from the 1780 Supplement]9Q0801

Note return to page 348 6Than Julius Cæsar, or bright &lblank;] I can't guess the occasion of the hemistic and imperfect sense in this place; 'tis not impossible it might have been filled up with—Francis Drake, —though that were a terrible anachronism (as bad as Hector's quoting Aristotle in Troilus and Cressida); yet perhaps at the time that brave Englishman was in his glory, to an English-hearted audience, and pronounced by some favourite actor, the thing might be popular, though not judicious; and therefore by some critic in favour of the author afterwards struck out. But this is a mere slight conjecture. Pope. To confute the slight conjecture of Pope, a whole page of vehement opposition is annexed to this passage by Theobald. Sir T. Hanmer has stopped at Cæsar—perhaps more judiciously. It might however have been written,—or bright Berenice. Johnson.

Note return to page 349 7Guienne, Champaigne, Rheims, Orleans,] This verse might be completed by the insertion of Roan among the places lost, as Gloster in his next speech infers that it had been mentioned with the rest. Steevens.

Note return to page 350 8To weep their intermissive miseries.] i. e. their miseries, which have had only a short intermission from Henry the Fifth's death to my coming amongst them. Warburton.

Note return to page 351 9Having full scarce &c.] The modern editors read,—scarce full, but, I think unnecessarily. So, in the Tempest: “&lblank; Prospero, master of a full poor cell.” Steevens.

Note return to page 352 1If Sir John Fastolfe &lblank;] Mr. Pope has taken notice, “That Falstaff is here introduced again, who was dead in Henry V. The occasion whereof is that this play was written before Henry IV. or Henry V.” But Sir John Fastolfe (for so he is called) was a lieutenant general, deputy regent to the duke of Bedford in Normandy, and a knight of the garter; and not the comic character afterwards introduced by our author. Theobald. Mr. Theobald might have seen his notion contradicted in the very line he quotes from. Fastolfe, whether truely or not, is said by Hall and Holinshed to have been degraded for cowardice. Dr. Heylin in his St. George for England, tells us, that “he was afterwards, upon good reason by him alledged in his defence, restored to his honour.”—“This Sir John Falstoff,” continues he, “was without doubt, a valiant and wise captain, notwithstanding the stage hath made merry with him.” Farmer. In the 18th song of Drayton's Polyolbion is the following character of this Sir John Fastolph: “Strong Fastolph with this man compare we justly may; “By Salsbury who oft being seriously imploy'd “In many a brave attempt the general foe annoy'd; “With excellent successe in Main and Anjou fought, “And many a bulwarke there into our keeping brought; “And chosen to go forth with Vadamont in warre, “Most resolutely tooke proud Renate duke of Barre.” Steevens.

Note return to page 353 2He being in the vaward (plac'd behind,] Some of the editors seem to have considered this as a contradiction in terms, and have proposed to read—the rereward,—but without necessity. Some part of the van must have been behind the foremost line of it. We often say the back front of a house. Steevens.

Note return to page 354 3Mars his true moving, &c.] So, Nash in one of his prefaces before Gabriel Harvey's Hunt is up, 1596.—“You are as ignorant in the true movings of my muse, as the astronomers are in the true movings of Mars, which to this day they could never attain to.” Steevens.

Note return to page 355 4&lblank; As their hungry prey.] I believe it should be read: As their hungred prey. Johnson.

Note return to page 356 5England all Olivers and Rowlands bred,] These were two of the most famous in the list of Charlemagne's twelve peers; and their exploits are render'd so ridiculously and equally extravagant by the old romancers, that from thence arose that saying amongst our plain and sensible ancestors, of giving one a Rowland for his Oliver, to signify the matching one incredible lye with another. Warburton. Rather, to oppose one hero to another, i. e. to give a person as good a one as he brings. Steevens.

Note return to page 357 6&lblank; gimmals &lblank;] A gimmal is a piece of jointed work, where one piece moves within another, whence it is taken at large for an engine. It is now by the vulgar called a gimcrack. Johnson. In the inventory of the jewels, &c. belonging to Salisbury cathedral taken in 1536, 28th of Henry VIII. is—“A faire chest with gimmals and key.” Again, “Three other chests with gimmals of silver and gilt.” Again, in the ancient enterlude of the Repentance of Mary Magdalene, 1567: “Your nether garments must go by gymmes and joints.” Again, in B. and Fletcher's Beggar's Bush: “Sure I should know that gymmal. “'Tis certain he: I had forgot my ring too.” Again, in the Vow-breaker, or the Faire Maide of Clifton, 1636: “My actes are like the motionall gymmals “Fixt in a watch.” Steevens.

Note return to page 358 7&lblank; your chear appall'd; &lblank;] Chear is countenance, appearance. Steevens.

Note return to page 359 8&lblank; nine sibyls of old Rome;] There were no nine sibyls of Rome; but he confounds things, and mistakes this for the nine books of Sibylline oracles, brought to one of the Tarquins. Warburton.

Note return to page 360 9Believe my words,] It should be read: &lblank; believe her words. Johnson.

Note return to page 361 1Deck'd with fine flower-de-luces &c.] We should read, according to Holinshed, five flower-de-luces. “&lblank; in a secret place there among old iron, appointed she hir sword to be sought out and brought her, that with five floure delices was graven on both sides, &c.” Steevens.

Note return to page 362 2Impatiently I burn with thy desire;] The amorous constitution of the Dauphin has been mentioned in the preceding play: “Doing is activity and he will still be doing.” Collins.”

Note return to page 363 3Expect saint Martin's summer,] That is, expect prosperity after misfortune, like fair weather at Martlemas, after winter has begun. Johnson.

Note return to page 364 4&lblank; like that proud insulting ship, Which Cæsar and his fortune bore at once.] This alludes to a passage in Plutarch's Life of Julius Cæsar, thus translated by sir T. North. “Cæsar hearing that, straight discovered himselfe unto the maister of the pynnase, who at the first was amazed when he saw him, but Cæsar, &c. said unto him, Good fellow, be of good cheere, &c. and fear not, for thou hast Cæsar and his fortune with thee.” Steevens.

Note return to page 365 5Dauph. Was Mahomet inspired with a dove?] Mahomet had a dove, “which he used to feed with wheat out of his ear; which dove when it was hungry, lighted on Mahomet's shoulder, and thrust its bill in to find it's breakfast; Mahomet persuading the rude and simple Arabians, that it was the Holy Ghost that gave him advice.” See Sir Walter Raleigh's History of the World, Book I. Part I. ch. vi. Life of Mahomet, by Dr. Prideaux. Gray.

Note return to page 366 6Nor yet saint Philip's daughters, &lblank;] Meaning the four daughters of Philip mentioned in the Acts. Hanmer.

Note return to page 367 7&lblank; there is conveyance.—] Conveyance means theft. Hanmer.

Note return to page 368 8Break up the gates,] I suppose to break up the gate is to force up the portcullis, or by the application of petards to blow up the gates themselves. Steevens.

Note return to page 369 9&lblank; tawny coats.] It appears from the following passage in a comedy called, A Maidenhead well Lost, 1634, that a tawny coat was the dress of a sumpner, i. e. an apparitor, an officer whose business it was to summon offenders to an ecclesiastical court: “Tho I was never a tawny-coat, I have play'd the summoner's part.” These are the proper attendants therefore on the bishop of Winchester. So, in Stowe's Chronicle, p. 822: “&lblank; and by the way the bishop of London met him, attended on by a goodly company of gentlemen in tawny-coats, &c.” Steevens.

Note return to page 370 1How now, ambitious umpire, what means this?] This reading has obtained in all the editions since the second folio. The first folio has it umpheir. In both the word is distinguished in italicks. But why, umpire? Or of what? The traces of the letters, and the words being printed in italicks, convince me, that the duke's christian name lurk'd under this corruption. Theobald. [Notes from the 1780 Supplement]9Q0802

Note return to page 371 2Piel'd priest, &lblank;] Alluding to his shaven crown. Pope. In Skinner (to whose dictionary I was directed by Mr. Edwards) I find that it means more: Pill'd or peel'd garlick, cui pellis, vel pili omnes ex morbo aliquo, præsertim e lue venerea, defluxerunt. In Ben Jonson's Bartholomew Fair the following instance occurs: “I'll see them p&wblank;'d first, and pil'd and double pil'd.” Steevens. In Weever's Funeral Monuments, p. 154. Robert Baldocke, bishop of London, is called a peeled priest, pilide clerk, seemingly in allusion to his shaven crown alone. So, bald-head was a term of scorn and mockery. Tollet.

Note return to page 372 3Thou, that giv'st whores indulgences to sin:—] The public stews were formerly under the district of the bishop of Winchester. Pope. There is now extant an old manuscript (formerly the office-book of the court leet held under the jurisdiction of the bishop of Winchester in Southwark) in which are mentioned the several fees arising from the brothel-houses allowed to be kept in the bishop's manor, with the customs and regulations of them. One of the articles is, “De his, qui custodiunt mulieres habentes nefandam infirmitatem.” “Item, That no stewholder keep any woman within his house, that hath any sickness of brenning, but that she be put out upon pain of making a fyne unto the lord of C shillings.” Upton.

Note return to page 373 4I'll canvass thee in thy 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. So, sir W. Davenant, in the Cruel Brother, 1630: “I'll sift and winnow him in an old hat.” To canvas was anciently used for to sift. So, in Hans Beer-pot's Invisible Comedy, 1618: “&lblank; We'll canvas him. &lblank; “&lblank; I am too big &lblank; Steevens.

Note return to page 374 5This be Damascus, be thou cursed Cain,] N. B. About four miles from Damascus is a high hill, reported to be the same on which Cain slew his brother Abel. Maundrel's Travels, p. 131. Pope.

Note return to page 375 6Winchester goose! &lblank;] A strumpet, or the consequences of her love, was a Winchester goose. Johnson.

Note return to page 376 7&lblank; that nobles should such stomachs bear! I myself fight not once in forty year.] The Mayor of London was not brought in to be laugh'd at, as is plain by his manner of interfering in the quarrel, where he all along preserves a sufficient dignity. In the line preceding these, he directs his officer, to whom without doubt these two lines should be given. They suit his character, and are very expressive of the pacific temper of the city guards. Warburton. I see no reason for this change. The Mayor speaks first as a magistrate, and afterwards as a citizen. Johnson.

Note return to page 377 8The prince's 'spials] Espials are spies. So, in Chaucer's Freres Tale: “For subtilly he had his espiaille.” Steevens.

Note return to page 378 9&lblank; the English &lblank; Went, through a secret grate of iron bars In yonder tower, to over-peer the city;] That is, the English went, not through a secret grate, but went to over-peer 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. Johnson. I believe, instead of went, we should read wont, the third person plural of the old verb wont. “The English &lblank; wont, that is, are accustomed—to overpeer the city.” The word is used very frequently by Spenser, and several times by Milton. Tyrwhitt.

Note return to page 379 1&lblank; Talbot,] Though the three parts of K. Henry VI. are deservedly numbered among the feeblest performances of Shakespeare, this first of them appears to have been received with the greatest applause. So, in Pierce Penniless's Supplication to the Devil, by Nash, 1595. “How would it have joyed brave Talbot (the terror of the French) to thinke that after he had line two hundred yeares in his tombe, he should triumph againe on the stage, and have his bones new embalmed with the teares of ten thousand spectators at least (at several times) who in the tragedian that represents his person, imagine they behold him fresh bleeding.” Steevens.

Note return to page 380 2&lblank; so pill'd esteem'd.] Thus the old copy. The modern editors read, but without authority—“so vile, esteem'd.” So pill'd, means so pillag'd, so stripp'd of honours. Steevens.

Note return to page 381 3One eye thou hast &c.] A similar thought occurs in King Lear: “&lblank; my lord, you have one eye left, “To see some mischief on him.” Steevens.

Note return to page 382 4Pucelle or Pussel, &lblank;] I know not what pussel is: perhaps it should be pucelle or puzzle. Something with a meaning it should be, but a very poor meaning will serve. Johnson. It should be remembered, that in Shakespeare's time the word dauphin was always written dolphin. Steevens. [Notes from the 1780 Supplement]9Q0803 Pussel means a dirty wench or a drab, from puzza, i. e. malus fætor, says Minshew. In a translation from Stephens's Apology for Herodotus, in 1607, p. 98, we read,—“Some filthy queans, especially our puzzles of Paris, use this other theft.” Tollet. So, Stubbs, in his Anatomie of Abuses, 1595.—“No nor yet any droye nor puzzel in the country but will carry a nosegay in her hand.” Again, in Ben Jonson's Commendatory Verses, prefix'd to the works of Beaumont and Fletcher: “Lady or Pusill that wears mask or fan.” As for the conceit, miserable as it is, it may be countenanced by that of James I. who looking at the statue of Sir Tho. Bodley in the library at Oxford, “&lblank; Pii Thomæ Godly nomine insignivit, eoque potius nomine quam Bodly, deinceps merito nominandum esse censuit.” See Rex Platonicus &c. edit. quint. Oxon. 1635, p. 187. Steevens.

Note return to page 383 5Blood will I draw on thee, &lblank;] The superstition of those times taught that he that could draw the witch's blood, was free from her power. Johnson.

Note return to page 384 6&lblank; like Adonis' gardens,] It may not be impertinent to take notice of a dispute between four critics, of very different orders, upon this very important point of the gardens of Adonis. Milton had said: “Spot more delicious than those gardens feign'd, “Or of reviv'd Adonis, or &lblank;” which Dr. Bentley pronounces spurious; for that the &grK;&grhc;&grp;&gro;&gri; &grA;&grd;&grw;&grn;&gri;&grd;&gro;&grst;, the gardens of Adonis, so frequently mentioned by Greek writers, Plato, Plutarch, &c. were nothing but portable earthen pots, with some lettice or fennel growing in them. On his yearly festival every woman carried one of them for Adonis's worship; because Venus had once laid him in a lettice bed. The next day they were thrown away, &c. To this Dr. Pearce replies, That this account of the gardens of Adonis is right, and yet Milton may be defended for what he says of them: for why (says he) did the Grecians on Adonis' festival carry these small gardens about in honour of him? It was, because they had a tradition, that, when he was alive, he delighted in gardens, and had a magnificent one: for proof of this we have Pliny's words, xix. 4. “Antiquitas nihil priùs mirata est quàm Hesperidum hortos, ac regum Adonidis & Alcinoi.” One would now think the question well decided: but Mr. Theobald comes, and will needs be Dr. Bentley's second. A learned and reverend gentleman (says he) having attempted to impeach Dr. Bentley of error, for maintaining that there never was existent any magnificent or spacious gardens of Adonis, an opinion in which it has been my fortune to second the doctor, I thought myself concerned in some part, to weigh those authorities alledged by the objector, &c. The reader sees that Mr. Theobald mistakes the very question in dispute between these two truly learned men, which was not whether Adonis' gardens were ever existent, but whether there was a tradition of any celebrated gardens cultivated by Adonis. For this would sufficiently justify Milton's mention of them, together with the gardens of Alcinous, confessed by the poet himself to be fabulous. But hear their own words. There was no such garden (says Dr. Bentley) ever existent, or even feign'd. He adds the latter part, as knowing that that would justify the poet; and it is on that assertion only that his adversary Dr. Pearce joins issue with him. Why (says he) did they carry the small earthen gardens? It was because they had a tradition, that when alive he delighted in gardens. Mr. Theobald, therefore, mistaking the question, it is no wonder that all he says, in his long note at the end of the fourth volume, is nothing to the purpose; it being to shew that Dr. Pearce's quotations from Pliny and others, do not prove the real existence of the gardens. After these, comes the Oxford editor; and he pronounces in favour of Dr. Bentley against Dr. Pearce, in these words, The gardens of Adonis were never represented under any local description. But whether this was said at hazard, or to contradict Dr. Pearce, or to rectify Mr. Theobald's mistake of the question, it is so obscurely expressed, that one can hardly determine. Warburton.

Note return to page 385 7Than Rhodope's, &lblank;] Rhodope was a famous strumpet, who acquired great riches by her trade. The least but most finished of the Egyptian pyramids (says Pliny in the 36th book of his Natural History) was built by her. She is said afterwards to have married Psammetichus, king of Egypt. Dr. Johnson thinks that the Dauphin means to call Joan of Arc a strumpet, all the while he is making this loud praise of her. Rhodope is mentioned in the play of The Costly Whore, 1633: “&lblank; a base Rhodope, “Whose body is as common as the sea “In the receipt of every lustful spring.” I would read: Than Rhodope's of Memphis, ever was. Steevens.

Note return to page 386 8&lblank; coffer of Darius] When Alexander the Great took the city of Gaza, the metropolis of Syria, amidst the other spoils and wealth of Darius treasured up there, he found an exceeding rich and beautiful little chest or casket, and asked those about him what they thought fittest to be laid up in it. When they had severally delivered their opinions, he told them, he esteemed nothing so worthy to be preserved in it as Homer's Iliad. Vide Plutarchum in Vitâ Alexandri Magni. Theobald.

Note return to page 387 9&lblank; unready so?] Unready was the current word in those times for undress'd. Johnson. So, in Heywood's Rape of Lucrece, 1638: “Enter Sixtus, and Lucrece unready.” Again, in The two Maids of More-clacke, 1609: “Enter James unready in his night-cap, garterless,” &c. Again, in Decker's Match me in London, 1631: “Enter Prince John all unready, and Pacheco his page.” Again, in A Match at Midnight, 1633, is this stage direction. “He makes himself unready.” “Why what do you mean? you will not be so uncivil as to unbrace you here?” Again, in Monsieur D'Olive, 1606: “You are not going to bed, I see you are not yet unready.” Again, in Heywood's Golden Age, 1611. “Here Jupiter puts out the lights, and makes himself unready.” Steevens.

Note return to page 388 1“Enter a soldier crying “a Talbot! a Talbot!] And afterwards: The cry of Talbot serves me for a sword. Here a popular tradition, exclusive of any chronicle-evidence, was in Shakespeare's mind. Edward Kerke, the old commentator on Spenser's Pastorals, first published in 1579, observes in his notes on June, that lord Talbot's “noblenesse bred such a terrour in the hearts of the French, that oftimes greate armies were defaited and put to flight, at the only hearing of his name: insomuch that the French women, to affray their children, would tell them, that the Talbot cometh.” See also the end of Sc. iii. Act II. Warton. The same is said in Drayton's Miseries of Queen Margaret, of Lord Warwick: “And still so fearful was great Warwick's name “That being once cry'd on, put them oft to flight, “On the king's army till at length they light.” Steevens.

Note return to page 389 2&lblank; his trull;] I believe trull did not anciently bear so harsh an interpretation as at present. In the old black letter interlude of the Disobedient Child (no date) by Tho. Ingeland, is the following stanza of a song sung by a young man in the presence of the lady to whom he was instantly to be married.   “This mynion here, this myncing trull,     “Doth please me more a thousande folde,   “Than all the earthe that is so full     “Of precious stones, silver and golde,” &c. “How lyke ye this songe my owne swete Rose? “Is it well made for our purpose? Young Woman. “I never hard in all my lyfe a better, “More pleasaunte, more meete for the matter.” Steevens.

Note return to page 390 3&lblank; captivate.] So, in Soliman and Perseda: “If not destroy'd and bound, and captivate, “If captivate, then forc'd from holy faith.” Steevens

Note return to page 391 4&lblank; so fond,] i. e. so foolish. So, in K. Hen. IV. Part II: “Fondly brought here, and foolishly sent hence.” Steevens.

Note return to page 392 5This is a riddling merchant &c.] So, in Romeo and Juliet: “What saucy merchant was this.” See a note on this passage, act II. sc. iv. Steevens.

Note return to page 393 6All the editions read: Or, else, was wrangling Somerset i' th' error?] There is apparently a want of opposition between the two questions. I once read, Or else was wrangling Somerset i'th' right? Johnson. Sir T. Hanmer would read: And was not &lblank; Steevens.

Note return to page 394 7From off this briar pluck a white rose with me.] This is given as the original of the two badges of the houses of York and Lancaster, whether truly or not, is no great matter. But the proverbial expression of saying a thing under the rose, I am persuaded, came from thence. When the nation had ranged itself into two great factions, under the white and red rose, and were perpetually plotting and counterplotting against one another, then, when a matter of faction was communicated by either party to his friend in the same quarrel, it was natural for him to add, that he said it under the rose; meaning that, as it concerned the faction, it was religiously to be kept secret. Warburton. This is ingenious! What pity, that it is not learned too?— The rose (as the fables say) was the symbol of silence, and consecrated by Cupid to Harpocrates, to conceal the lewd pranks of his mother. So common a book as Lloyd's Dictionary might have instructed Dr. Warburton in this. “Huic Harpocrati Cupido Veneris filius parentis suæ rosam dedit in munus, ut scilicet si quid licentius dictum, vel actum sit in convivio, sciant tacenda esse omnia. Atque idcirco veteres ad finem convivii sub rosa, Anglicè under the rose, transacta esse omnia ante digressum contestabantur; cujus formæ vis eadem esset, atque ista, &grM;&gri;&grs;&grwc; &grm;&grn;&graa;&grm;&gro;&grn;&gra; &grs;&gru;&grm;&grp;&groa;&grt;&gra;&grn;. Probant hanc rem versus qui reperiuntur in marmore: “Est rosa flos Veneris, cujus quo furta laterent   “Harpocrati matris dona dicavit amor. “Inde rosam mensis hospes suspendit amicis,   “Convivæ ut sub eâ dicta tacenda sciant.” Ubton.

Note return to page 395 8I love no colours; &lblank;] Colours is here used ambiguously for tints and deceits. Johnson.

Note return to page 396 9&lblank; well objected;] Properly thrown in our way, justly proposed. Johnson. So, in Chapman's Version of the 21st Book of Homer's Odyssey: “Excites Penelope t' object the prize “(The bow and bright steeles) to the woer's strength.” Steevens.

Note return to page 397 1I scorn thee and thy fashion, &lblank;] So, the old copies read, and rightly. Mr. Theobald altered it to faction, not considering that by fashion is meant the badge of the red rose, which Somerset said he and his friends should be distinguish'd by. But Mr. Theobald asks, If faction was not the true reading, why should Suffolk immediately reply, Turn not thy scorns this way, Plantagenet? Why? because Plantagenet had called Somerset, with whom Suffolk sided, peevish boy. Warburton. Mr. Pope had altered fashion to passion. Johnson.

Note return to page 398 2Spring crestless yeomen &lblank;] i. e. those who have no right to arms. Warburton.

Note return to page 399 3He bears him on the place's privilege,] The Temple, being a religious house, was an asylum, a place of exemption, from violence, revenge, and bloodshed. Johnson.

Note return to page 400 4Corrupted, and exempt &lblank;] Exempt, for excluded. Warburton.

Note return to page 401 5To scourge you for this apprehension: &lblank;] Though this word possesses all the copies, I am persuaded it did not come from the author. I have ventur'd to read, reprehension: and Plantagenet means, that Somerset had reprehended or reproach'd him with his father, the earl of Cambridge's treason. Theobald.

Note return to page 402 6&lblank; for this apprehension:] Apprehension, i. e. opinion. Warburton.

Note return to page 403 7&lblank; this pale and angry rose, As cognizance of my blood-drinking hate,] So, in Romeo and Juliet: “Either my eye-sight fails, or thou look'st pale. &lblank; “And, trust me, love, in mine eye so do you: “Dry sorrow drinks our blood.” Steevens. A badge is called a cognisance à cognoscendo, because by it such persons as do wear it upon their sleeves, their shoulders, or in their hats, are manifestly known whose servants they are. In heraldry the cognisance is seated upon the most eminent part of the helmet; and by a designed blunder in Ben Jonson's works, 1756, Vol. I. p. 160, and Vol. VII. p. 356, it is called a cullisen, which Mr. Whalley's Dictionaries, or the heralds he consulted, could not explain. Tollet.

Note return to page 404 8Enter Mortimer, &lblank;] Mr. Edwards, in his MS. notes, observes, that Shakespeare has varied from the truth of history, to introduce this scene between Mortimer and Richard Plantagenet. Edmund Mortimer served under Henry V. in 1422, and died unconfined in Ireland in 1424. Holinshed says, that Mortimer was one of the mourners at the funeral of Henry V. His uncle, sir John Mortimer, was indeed prisoner in the tower, and was executed not long before the earl of March's death, being charged with an attempt to make his escape in order to stir up an insurrection in Wales. Steevens.

Note return to page 405 9Let dying Mortimer here rest himself,—] I know not whether Milton did not take from this hint the lines with which he opens his tragedy. Johnson. Rather from the beginning of the last scene of the third act of the Phœnissæ of Euripides: Tiresias. &GRHr;&grg;&gro;&gruc; &grp;&graa;&grr;&gro;&gri;&grq;&gre;, &grq;&grua;&grg;&gra;&grt;&gre;&grr;, &grwr;&grst; &grt;&gru;&grf;&grl;&grwc; &grp;&gro;&grd;&grig; &GROs;&grf;&grq;&gra;&grl;&grm;&grog;&grst; &gre;&grisc; &grs;&grug;, &grn;&gra;&gru;&grb;&gra;&grt;&gra;&gri;&grs;&gri;&grn; &grasa;&grs;&grt;&grr;&gro;&grn; &grwrg;&grst;, &grD;&gre;&gru;&grr;&grap; &gre;&gris;&grst; &grt;&grog; &grl;&gre;&gru;&grr;&grog;&grn; &grp;&grea;&grd;&gro;&grn; &grisa;&grx;&grn;&gro;&grst; &grt;&gri;&grq;&gre;&gric;&grs;&grap; &gres;&grm;&groa;&grn;, &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 406 1&lblank; pursuivants of death,] Pursuivants. The heralds that, forerunning death, proclaim its approach. Johnson.

Note return to page 407 2&lblank; Edmund Mortimer.] This Edmund Mortimer, when king Richard II. set out upon his fatal Irish expedition, was declared by that prince heir apparent to the crown; for which reason king Henry IV. and V. took care to keep him in prison during their whole reigns. Theobald.

Note return to page 408 3&lblank; as drawing to their exigent:] Exigent, end. Johnson. So, in Doctor Dodypoll, a comedy, 1600: “Hath driven her to some desperate exigent.” Steevens.

Note return to page 409 4And pithless arms, &lblank;] Pith was used for marrow, and, figuratively, for strength. Johnson.

Note return to page 410 5Just death, kind umpire of mens' miseries,] That is, he that terminates or concludes misery. The expression is harsh and forced. Johnson.

Note return to page 411 6&lblank; I'll tell thee my disease.] Disease seems to be here uneasiness or discontent. Johnson. It is so used by other ancient writers, and by Shakespeare elsewhere. Thus likewise in Spenser's Faery Queen, Book III. c. 5: “But labour'd long in that deep ford with vain disease.” That to disease is to disturb, may be known from the following passages in Chapman's version of the Iliad and Odyssey: “But brother, hye thee to the ships, and Idomen disease.” i. e. wake him. Book VI. edit. 1598. Again, Odyss. B. VI: “&lblank; with which he declin'd “The eyes of any waker when he pleas'd, “And any sleeper, when he wish'd, diseased.” Again, in the ancient metrical history of the Battle of Floddon: “He thought the Scots might him disease “With constituted captains meet.” Steevens.

Note return to page 412 *his nephew Richard;] Thus the old copy. Modern editors read—his cousin—but without necessity. Nephew has sometimes the power of the Latin nepos, and is used with great laxity among our ancient English writers. Thus in Othello, Iago tells Brabantio —he shall “have his nephews (i. e. the children of his own daughter) neigh to him.” Steevens.

Note return to page 413 7&lblank; in this haughty great attempt] Haughty is high. Johnson.

Note return to page 414 8Thou art my heir; the rest I wish thee gather:] The sense is, I acknowledge thee to be my heir; the consequences which may be collected from thence, I recommend it to thee to draw. Revisal.

Note return to page 415 9&lblank; and fair be all thy hopes,] Mortimer knew Plantagenet's hopes were fair, but that the establishment of the Lancastrian line disappointed them: sure, he would wish, that his nephew's fair hopes might have a fair issue. I am persuaded the poet wrote; &lblank; and fair befal thy hopes! Theobald. This emendation is received by sir Thomas Hanmer and Dr. Warburton. I do not see how the readings differ in sense. Fair is lucky, or prosperous. So we say, a fair wind, and fair fortune. Johnson.

Note return to page 416 1Here dies the dusky torch &lblank;] The image is of a torch just extinguished, and yet smoaking. But we should read lies instead of dies. For when a dead man is represented by an extinguished torch, we must say the torch lies: when an extinguished torch is compared to a dead man, we must say the torch dies. The reason is plain, because integrity of metaphor requires that the terms proper to the thing illustrating, not the thing illustrated, be employed. Warburton.

Note return to page 417 2Choak'd with ambition of the meaner sort:—] We are to understand the speaker as reflecting on the ill fortune of Mortimer, in being always made a tool of by the Percies of the North in their rebellious intrigues; rather than in asserting his claim to the crown, in support of his own princely ambition. Warburton.

Note return to page 418 3In the former editions: Or make my will th' advantage of my good. So all the printed copies; but with very little regard to the poet's meaning. I read: Or make my ill th' advantage of my good. Thus we recover the antithesis of the expression. Theobald.

Note return to page 419 4&lblank; Roam thither then.] Roam to Rome. To roam is supposed to be derived from the cant of vagabonds, who often pretended a pilgrimage to Rome. Johnson. The jingle between roam and Rome is common to other writers. So, in Nash's Lenten Stuff, &c. 1599: “&lblank; three hundred thousand people roamed to Rome for purgatorie pills, &c.” Steevens.

Note return to page 420 5Som. My lord, it were your duty to forbear.] This line, in the old copy, is joined to the former hemistich spoken by Warwick. The modern editors have very properly given it to Somerset, for whom it seems to have been meant. Ay, see, the bishop be not over-borne, was as erroneously given in the next speech to Somerset instead of Warwick, to whom it has been since restored. Steevens.

Note return to page 421 6&lblank; unaccustom'd fight aside.] Unaccustom'd is unseemly, indecent. Johnson.

Note return to page 422 7&lblank; an inkhorn mate,] A bookman. Johnson.

Note return to page 423 8&lblank; hath a kindly gird.—] i. e. Feels an emotion of kind remorse. Johnson. A kindly gird is a gentle or friendly reproof. Falstaff observes, that—“men of all sorts take a pride to gird at him:” and in the Taming of a Shrew, Baptista says: “&lblank; Tranio hits you now:” to which Lucentio answers: “I thank thee for that gird, good Tranio.” Steevens.

Note return to page 424 9&lblank; reguerdon &lblank;] Recompence, return. Johnson.

Note return to page 425 1So will this base and envious discord breed.] That is, so will the malignity of this discord propagate itself, and advance. Johnson.

Note return to page 426 2Our sacks shall be the means to sack the city,] Falstaff has the same quibble, shewing his bottle of sack: “Here's that will sack a city.” Steevens.

Note return to page 427 3&lblank; Here enter'd Pucelle, and her practisants.] Practice, in the language of that time, was treachery, and perhaps in the softer sense stratagem. Practisants are therefore confederates in stratagems. Johnson.

Note return to page 428 4No way to that, &lblank;] That is, no way equal to that, no way so fit as that. Johnson.

Note return to page 429 5That hardly we escap'd the pride of France.] Pride signifies the haughty power. The same speaker says afterwards, act IV. scene VI: And from the pride of Gallia rescu'd thee. One would think this plain enough. But what won't a puzzling critic obscure! Mr. Theobald says, Pride of France is an absurd and unmeaning expression, and therefore alters it to prize of France; and in this is followed by the Oxford editor. Warburton.

Note return to page 430 6&lblank; Alençon, on the walls.—] Alençon sir T. Hanmer has replace here, instead of Reignier, because Alençon, not Reignier, appears in the ensuing scene. Johnson.

Note return to page 431 7&lblank; once I read, That stout Pendragon, in his litter, &c.] This hero was Uther Pendragon, brother to Aurelius, and father to king Arthur. Shakespeare, has imputed to Pendragon an exploit of Aurelius, who, says Holinshed, “even sicke of a flixe as he was, caused himselfe to be carried forth in a litter: with whose presence his people were so incouraged, that encountering with the Saxons they wan the victorie.” Hist. of Scotland, p. 99. Harding, however, in his Chronicle, (as I learn from Dr. Gray) gives the following account of Uther Pendragon:   “For which the king ordain'd a horse-litter “To bear him so then unto Verolame, “Where Ocea lay, and Oysa also in fear, “That saint Albone's now hight of noble fame, “Bet downe the walles; but to him forth they came, “Where in battayle Ocea and Oysa were slayn. “The fielde he had, and thereof was full fayne.” Steevens.

Note return to page 432 8But be extirped from our provinces.] To extirp is to root out. So, in Lord Sterline's Darius, 1603: “The world shall gather to extirp our name.” Steevens.

Note return to page 433 9&lblank; expuls'd from France,] i. e. expelled. So, in Ben Jonson's Sejanus: “The expulsed Apicata finds them there.” Again, in Drayton's Muses Elizium: “And if you expulse them there, “They'll hang upon your braided hair.” Steevens.

Note return to page 434 1As looks the mother on her lowly babe,] It is plain Shakespeare wrote,—lovely babe, it answering to fertile France above, which this domestic image is brought to illustrate. Warburton. The alteration is easy and probable, but perhaps the poet by lowly babe meant the babe lying low in death. Lowly answers as well to towns defaced and wasting ruin, as lovely to fertile. Johnson.

Note return to page 435 2&lblank; these haughty words of hers Have batter'd me like roaring cannon-shot,] How these lines came hither I know not; there was nothing in the speech of Joan haughty or violent, it was all soft entreaty and mild expostulation. Johnson.

Note return to page 436 3Done like a Frenchman; turn, and turn again!] This seems to be an offering of the poet to his royal mistress's resentment, for Henry the Fourth's last great turn in religion, in the year 1593. Warburton. The inconstancy of the French was always the subject of satire. I have read a dissertation written to prove that the index of the wind upon our steeples was made in form of a cock, to ridicule the French for their frequent changes. Johnson.

Note return to page 437 4Or been reguerdon'd] i. e. rewarded. The word was obsolete even in the time of Shakespeare. Chaucer uses it in the Boke of Boethius. Steevens.

Note return to page 438 5&lblank; these colours that I wear] This was the badge of a rose, and not an officer's scarf. So, in Love's Labour's Lost: “And wear his colours like a tumbler's hoop.” Act III. Scene the last. Tollet.

Note return to page 439 6That, who so draws a sword, 'tis present death;] Shakespeare wrote: &lblank; draws a sword i'th' presence 't's death; i. e. in the court, or in the presence chamber. Warburton. This reading cannot be right, because, as Mr. Edwards observed, it cannot be pronounced. It is, however, a good comment, as it shews the author's meaning. Johnson. I believe the line should be written as it is in the folio:— That, who so draws a sword &lblank; i. e. (as Dr. Warburton has observed) with a menace in the court, or in the presence-chamber. Steevens. Johnson, in his collection of Ecclesiastical Laws, has preserved the following, which was made by Ina, king of the West Saxons 693. “If any one fight in the king's house, let him forfeit all his estate, and let the king deem whether he shall live or not.” I am told that there are many other ancient canons to the same purpose. Grey. Steevens.

Note return to page 440 7&lblank; such as shall pretend] To pretend is to design, to intend. Johnson.

Note return to page 441 8&lblank; at the battle of Poictiers.] The battle of Poictiers was fought in the year 1357, the 31st of king Edward III. and the scene now lies in the 7th year of the reign of king Henry VI. viz. 1428. This blunder may be justly imputed to the players or transcribers; nor can we very well justify ourselves for permitting it to continue so long, as it was too glaring to have escaped an attentive reader. The action of which Shakespeare is now speaking, happened (according to Holinshed) “neere unto a village in Beausse called Pataie,” which we should read, instead of Poictiers. “From this battell departed without anie stroke striken, Sir John Fastolfe, the same yeere by his valiantnesse elected into the order of the garter. But for doubt of misdealing at this brunt, the duke of Bedford tooke from him the image of St. George and his garter, &c.” Holinshed, Vol. II. p. 601. Steevens.

Note return to page 442 9&lblank; haughty courage,] Haughty is here in its original sense for high. Johnson.

Note return to page 443 1Pretend some alteration in good will?] Thus the old copy. To pretend seems to be here used in its Latin sense, i. e. to hold out, to stretch forward. Modern editors read portend. Steevens.

Note return to page 444 2&lblank; did repugn the truth,] To repugn is to resist. The word is used by Chaucer. Steevens.

Note return to page 445 3In the former editions, And if I wish he did &lblank;] By the pointing reform'd, and a single letter expung'd, I have restor'd the text to its purity. And, if I wis, he did—Warwick had said, the king meant no harm in wearing Somerset's rose: York testily replies, “Nay, if I know any thing, he did think harm.” Theobald. This is followed by the succeeding editors, and is indeed plausible enough; but perhaps this speech may become sufficiently intelligible without any change, only supposing it broken. And if—I wish—he did. or, perhaps: And if he did, I wish &lblank; Johnson. I read, I wist. The pret. of the old obsolete verb I wis, which is used by Shakespeare in The Merchant of Venice: “There be fools alive, I wis, “Silver'd o'er, and so was this.” Steevens.

Note return to page 446 4&lblank; their love.] The old editions read:—the offer of their love. Sir T. Hanmer altered it to our. Johnson.

Note return to page 447 5To rive their dangerous artillery] I do not understand the phrase to rive artillery, perhaps it might be to drive; we say to drive a blow, and to drive at a man, when we mean to express furious assault. Johnson. To rive seems to be used with some deviation from its common meaning in Antony and Cleopatra, act iv. sc. ii: “The soul and body rive not more at parting.” Steevens. Rive their artillery seems to mean charge their artillery so much as to endanger their bursting. So, in Troilus and Cressida, Ajax bids the trumpeter blow so loud, as to crack his lungs and split his brazen pipe. Tollet.

Note return to page 448 6&lblank; due thee withal;] To due is to endue, to deck, to grace. Johnson. The old copy reads,—dew thee withal; and perhaps rightly. The dew of praise is an expression I have met with in other poets: Shakespeare uses the same verb in Macbeth: “To dew the sovereign flow'r, and drown the weeds.” Again, in the second part of King Henry VI: “&lblank; give me thy hand, “That I may dew it with my mournful tears.” Steevens. [Notes from the 1780 Supplement]9Q0807

Note return to page 449 7—He fables not, &lblank;] This expression Milton has borrowed in his Masque at Ludlow Castle: “She fables not, I feel that I do fear.” It occurs again in the Pinner of Wakefield, 1599: “&lblank; good father fable not with him.” Steevens.

Note return to page 450 8&lblank; be then in blood;] Be in high spirits, be of true mettle. Johnson.

Note return to page 451 9Not rascal-like, &lblank;] A rascal deer is the term of chase for lean poor deer. Johnson.

Note return to page 452 1&lblank; with heads of steel,] Continuing the image of the deer, he supposes the lances to be their horns. Johnson.

Note return to page 453 2&lblank; dear deer of us,] The same quibble occurs in King Henry IV. Part I: “Death hath not struck so fat a deer to-day, “Though many a dearer, &c.” Steevens.

Note return to page 454 3And am I lowted &lblank;] To lowt may signify to depress, to lower, to dishonour; but I do not remember it so used. We may read, And I am flouted. I am mocked, and treated with contempt. Johnson. To lout, in Chaucer, signifies to submit. To submit is to let down. So, Dryden: “Sometimes the hill submits itself a while “In small descents, &c.” Steevens.

Note return to page 455 4&lblank; the vulture &lblank;] Alluding to the tale of Prometheus. Johnson.

Note return to page 456 5&lblank; ring'd about &lblank;] Environed, encircled. Johnson.

Note return to page 457 6&lblank; in advantage ling'ring, &lblank;] Protracting his resistance by the advantage of a strong post. Johnson.

Note return to page 458 7&lblank; worthless emulation.] In this line emulation signifies merely rivalry, not struggle for superior excellence. Johnson.

Note return to page 459 8&lblank; a feast of death,] To a field where death will be feasted with slaughter. Johnson.

Note return to page 460 9noble Talbot stood.] For what reason this scene is written in rhyme I cannot guess. If Shakespeare had not in other plays mingled his rhymes and blank verses in the same manner, I should have suspected that this dialogue had been a part of some other poem which was never finished, and that being loath to throw his labour away, he inserted it here. Johnson.

Note return to page 461 1&lblank; your regard &lblank;] Your care of your own safety. Johnson.

Note return to page 462 2On that advantage, bought with such a shame, To save a paltry life, and slay bright fame!] This passage seems to lie obscure and disjointed. Neither the grammar is to be justified; nor is the sentiment better. I have ventur'd at a slight alteration, which departs so little from the reading which has obtain'd, but so much raises the sense, as well as takes away the obscurity, that I am willing to think it restores the author's meaning: Out on that vantage. Theobald. Sir T. Hanmer reads, O what advantage, which I have followed, though Mr. Theobald's conjecture may be well enough admitted. Johnson.

Note return to page 463 3And like me to the peasant boys of France;] To like one to the peasants is, to compare, to level by comparison; the line is therefore intelligible enough by itself, but in this sense it wants connection. Sir T. Hanmer reads, And leave me, which makes a clear sense and just consequence. But as change is not to be allowed without necessity, I have suffered like to stand, because I suppose the author meant the same as make like, or reduce to a level with. Johnson.

Note return to page 464 4Triumphant death, smear'd with captivity!] That is, death stained and dishonoured with captivity. Johnson.

Note return to page 465 5Tend'ring my ruin, &lblank;] Watching me with tenderness in my fall. Johnson. I would rather read,—Tending my ruin, &c. Tyrwhitt. I adhere to the old reading. So, in Hamlet, Polonius says to Ophelia: “&lblank; Tender yourself more dearly.” Steevens. [Notes from the 1780 Supplement]9Q0809

Note return to page 466 6Thou antic death, &lblank;] The fool, or antic of the play, made sport by mocking the graver personages. Johnson.

Note return to page 467 7&lblank; winged through the lither sky,] Lither is flexible or yielding. In much the same sense Milton says: “&lblank; He with broad sails “Winnow'd the buxom air.” That is, the obsequious air. Johnson. Lither is the comparative of the adjective lithe. So, in Lylly's Endymion, 1591: “&lblank; to breed numbness or litherness.” Litherness is limberness or yielding weakness. Again, in Look about You, 1600: “I'll bring his lither legs in better frame.” Milton might have borrow'd the expression from Spenser, or Gower, who uses it in the Prologue to his Confessio Amantis: “That unto him whiche the head is, “The membres buxom shall bowe.” In the old service of matrimony, the wise was enjoined to be buxom both at bed and board. Buxom therefore anciently signified obedient or yielding. Stubbs, in his Anatomie of Abuses, 1595, uses the word in the same sense: “&lblank; are so buxome to their shameless desires, &c.” Steevens.

Note return to page 468 8&lblank; whelp of Talbot's, raging brood,] Thus the modern editions. I have restored the old reading. Raging-wood signifies raging mad. So, Heywood in his Dialogues containing a number of effectual proverbes, 1562: “&lblank; and God wot “He is wood at a word, little pott soone hot.” And again: “&lblank; as good “As she gave him. She was, as they say, horn-wood.” Again, in The longer thou livest the more Fool thou art, 1570: “He will fight as he were wood.” Again, in the Mystery of Candlemas-Day, 1512: “Like as a wodman he gan to fray.” Steevens.

Note return to page 469 9&lblank; in Frenchmen's blood!] The return of rhyme where young Talbot is again mentioned, and in no other place, strengthens the suspicion that these verses were originally part of some other work, and were copied here only to save the trouble of composing new. Johnson.

Note return to page 470 1&lblank; of a giglot wench.] Giglot is a wanton, or a strumpet. Johnson. The word is used by Gascoigne and other authors, though now quite obsolete. So, in the play of Orlando Furioso, 1599: “Whose choice is like that Greekish giglot's love, “That left her lord, prince Menelaus.” Steevens.

Note return to page 471 2&lblank; in the bowels of the French,] So, in the first part of Jeronimo, 1605: “Meet, Don Andrea! yes, in the battle's bowels.” Steevens.

Note return to page 472 3Conduct me to the Dauphin's tent, to know Who hath obtain'd &lblank;] Lucy's message implied that he knew who had obtained the victory: therefore sir T. Hanmer reads: Herald, conduct me to the Dauphin's tent. Johnson.

Note return to page 473 4The Turk, &c.] Alluding probably to the ostentatious letter of Sultan Solyman the Magnificent, to the emperor Ferdinand, 1562; in which all the Grand Signior's titles are enumerated. See Knolles's Hist. of the Turks, 5th edit. p. 789. Gray.

Note return to page 474 5&lblank; immanity] i. e. barbarity, savageness. Steevens.

Note return to page 475 6What! is my lord of Winchester install'd, And call'd unto a cardinal's degree!] This (as Mr. Edwards has observed in his MS. notes) argues a great forgetfulness in the poet. In the first act Gloster says: I'll canvass thee in thy broad cardinal's hat; and it is strange that the duke of Exeter should not know of his advancement. Steevens.

Note return to page 476 7That, nor in birth, &lblank;] I would read for birth. That is, thou shalt not rule me though thy birth is legitimate and thy authority supreme. Johnson. The old copy reads, neither. Steevens.

Note return to page 477 9&lblank; ye charming spells, and periapts;] Charms sow'd up. Ezek. xiii. 18. Woe to them that sow pillows to all arm-holes, to hunt souls. Pope. Periapts were worn about the neck as preservatives from disease or danger. Of these, the first chapter of St. John's Gospel was deemed the most efficacious. Whoever is desirous to know more about them, may consult Reginald Scott's Discovery of Witchcraft, 1584, p. 230, &c. Steevens. The following story which is related in Wits, Fits, and Fancies, 1595, proves what Mr. Steevens has asserted. “A cardinal seeing a priest carrying a cudgel under his gown, reprimanded him. His excuse was, that he only carried it to defend himself against the dogs of the town. Wherefore, I pray you, replied the cardinal, serves St. John's Gospel? Alas, my lord, said the priest, these curs understand no Latin.” Malone.

Note return to page 478 1&lblank; monarch of the north,] The north was always supposed to be the particular habitation of bad spirits. Milton therefore assembles the rebel angels in the north. Johnson. The boast of Lucifer in the xivth chapter of Isaiah is said to be, that he will sit upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north. Steevens.

Note return to page 479 2Out of the powerful regions under earth,] I believe Shakespeare wrote legions. Warburton.

Note return to page 480 3&lblank; fell banning hag!] To ban is to curse. So, in the Jew of Malta, 1633: “I ban their souls to everlasting pains.” Steevens.

Note return to page 481 4As plays the sun upon the glassy streams, &c.] This comparison, made between things which seem sufficiently unlike, is intended to express the softness and delicacy of lady Margaret's beauty, which delighted, but did not dazzle: which was bright, but gave no pain by its lustre. Johnson.

Note return to page 482 5&lblank; disable not thyself;] Do not represent thyself so weak. To disable the judgment of another was, in that age, the same as to destroy its credit or authority. Johnson. So, in As You Like It, act V:—“If again, it was not well cut, he disabled my judgment.” Steevens.

Note return to page 483 6&lblank; a cooling card.] So, in Marius and Sylla, 1594: “I'll have a present cooling card for you.” Steevens.

Note return to page 484 7&lblank; a wooden thing.] Is an aukward business, an undertaking not likely to succeed. So, in Lylly's Galathea, 1592: “Would I were out of these woods, for I shall have but wooden luck.” Again, in his Maid's Metamorphosis, 1600: “My master takes but wooden pains.” Again, in the Knave of Spades, &c. no date. “To make an end of that same wooden phrase.” Steevens.

Note return to page 485 8To send such peevish tokens &lblank;] Peevish, for childish. Warburton. See a note on Cymbeline, act I. sc. vii: “He's strange and peevish.” Steevens.

Note return to page 486 9Mad, natural graces &lblank;] So the old copy. The modern editors have been content to read her natural graces. By the word mad, however, I believe the poet only meant wild or uncultivated. In the former of these significations he appears to have used it in Othello—he she lov'd prov'd mad. Which Dr. Johnson has properly interpreted. We call a wild girl, to this day, a mad-cap. Mad, in some of the ancient books of gardening, is used as an epithet to plants which grow rampant and wild. Steevens.

Note return to page 487 1&lblank; timeless] is untimely. So, in Drayton's Legend of Robert Duke of Normandy: “Thy strength was buried in his timeless death.” Steevens.

Note return to page 488 2Decrepit miser!] Miser has no relation to avarice in this passage, but simply means a miserable creature. So, in the Interlude of Jacob and Esau, 1568: “But as for these misers within my father's tent.” Again, in Lord Sterline's tragedy of Crœsus, 1604: “Or thinkst thou me of judgment too remiss,   “A miser that in miserie remains, “The bastard child of fortune, barr'd from bliss,   “Whom heaven doth hate, and all the world disdains?” Again, in Holinshed, p. 760, where he is speaking of the death of Richard III: “And so this miser, at the same verie point, had like chance and fortune, &c.” Again, p. 951, among the last words of lord Cromwell: “&lblank; for if I should so doo, I were a very wretch and a miser.” Again, ibid: “&lblank; and so patiently suffered the stroke of the ax, by a ragged and butcherlie miser, which ill-favouredlie performed the office.” Steevens.

Note return to page 489 3&lblank; that thou wilt be so obstacle!] A vulgar corruption of obstinate, which I think has oddly lasted since our author's time till now. Johnson. The same corruption may be met with in other writers. Thus, in Chapman's May-day, 1611: “An obstacle young thing it is.” Again, in The Tragedy of Hoffman, 1631: “Be not obstacle, old duke.” Again, in Gower de Confessione Amantis, B. II: “He thanked God of his miracle, “To whose might may be none obstacle.” Steevens.

Note return to page 490 4&lblank; my noble birth, &lblank; 'Tis true, I gave a noble &lblank;] This passage seems to corroborate an explanation, somewhat far-fetched, which I have given in Henry IV. of the nobleman and Royal man. Johnson.

Note return to page 491 5No, misconceived! &lblank;] i. e. No, ye misconceivers, ye who mistake me and my qualities. Steevens.

Note return to page 492 6&lblank; Alençon! that notorious Machiavel!] Machiavel being mentioned somewhat before his time, this line is by some of the editors given to the players, and ejected from the text. Johnson. The character of Machiavel seems to have made so very deep an impression on the dramatic writers of this age, that he is many times as prematurely spoken of. So, in the Valiant Welchman, 1615, one of the characters bids Caradoc, i. e. Caractacus, “&lblank; read Machiavel: “Princes that would aspire, must mock at hell.” Again: “&lblank; my brain “Italianates my barren faculties “To Machiavelian blackness &lblank;” Steevens.

Note return to page 493 7&lblank; darkness and the gloomy shade of death—] The expression is scriptural: “Whereby the day-spring from on high hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness and the shadow of death.” Malone.

Note return to page 494 8&lblank; till mischief and despair Drive you to break your necks, &lblank;] Perhaps Shakespeare intended to remark in this execration, the frequency of suicide among the English, which has been commonly imputed to the gloominess of their air. Johnson.

Note return to page 495 9Betwixt our nation and th' aspiring French;] But would an ambassador, who came to persuade peace with France, use it as an argument, that France was aspiring? Shakespeare without doubt wrote: &lblank; th' respiring French; i. e. who had but just got into breath again, after having been almost hunted down by the English. Warburton. The ambassador yet uses no argument, but if he did, respiring would not much help the cause. Shakespeare wrote what might be pronounced, and therefore did not write th' respiring. Johnson.

Note return to page 496 1&lblank; poison'd voice,] Poison'd voice agrees well enough with baneful enemies, or with baleful, if it can be used in the same sense. The modern editors read, prison'd voice. Johnson.

Note return to page 497 2&lblank; baleful enemies.] Baleful is sorrowful; I therefore rather imagine that we should read baneful, hurtful, or mischievous. Johnson. Baleful had anciently the same meaning as baneful. It is an epithet very frequently bestow'd on poisonous plants and reptiles. So, in Romeo and Juliet: “With baleful weeds, and precious-juiced flowers.” Steevens.

Note return to page 498 3&lblank; with a coronet;] Coronet is here used for a crown. Johnson.

Note return to page 499 4&lblank; upon comparison?] Do you stand to compare your present state, a state which you have neither right or power to maintain, with the terms which we offer? Johnson.

Note return to page 500 5&lblank; accept the title thou usurp'st, Of benefit &lblank;] Benefit is here a term of law. Be content to live as the beneficiary of our king. Johnson.

Note return to page 501 6So am I driven, &lblank;] This simile is somewhat obscure; he seems to mean, that as a ship is driven against the tide by the wind, so he is driven by love against the current of his interest. Johnson.

Note return to page 502 7&lblank; at a triumph &lblank;] That is, at the sports by which a triumph is celebrated. Johnson.

Note return to page 503 8&lblank; by attorneyship, &lblank;] By the intervention of another man's choice; or the discretional agency of another. Johnson.

Note return to page 504 9If you do censure me &c.] To censure is here simply to judge. If in judging me you consider the past frailties of your own youth. Johnson.

Note return to page 505 1&lblank; ruminate my grief.] Grief in the first line is taken generally for pain or uneasiness; in the second specially for sorrow.

Note return to page 506 Of this play there is no copy earlier than that of the folio in 1623, though the two succeeding parts are extant in two editions in quarto. That the second and third parts were published without the first, may be admitted as no weak proof that the copies were surreptitiously obtained, and that the printers of that time gave the publick those plays not such as the author designed, but such as they could get them. That this play was written before the two others is indubitably collected from the series of events; that it was written and played before Henry the Fifth is apparent, because in the epilogue there is mention made of this play, and not of the other parts: Henry the sixth in swaddling bands crown'd king, Whose state so many had the managing That they lost France, and made his England bleed Which oft our stage hath shewn. France is lost in this play. The two following contain, as the old title imports, the contention of the houses of York and Lancaster. The second and third parts of Henry VI. were printed in 1600. When Henry V. was written, we know not, but it was printed likewise in 1600, and therefore before the publication of the first part: the first part of Henry VI. had been often shewn on the stage, and would certainly have appeared in its place had the author been the publisher. Johnson.

Note return to page 507 1Second Part &c.] This and the third part were first written under the title of The Contention of York and Lancaster, printed in 1600, but since vastly improved by the author. Pope. Second Part of King Henry VI.] This and The Third Part of King Henry VI. contain that troublesome period of this prince's reign which took in the whole contention betwixt the houses of York and Lancaster: and under that title were these two plays first acted and published. The present scene opens with king Henry's marriage, which was in the twenty-third year of his reign; and closes with the first battle fought at St. Albans, and won by the York faction, in the thirty-third year of his reign: so that it comprizes the history and transactions of ten years. Theobald. It appears from the books of the Stationers' Company that this play, &c. was entered by Tho. Millington, March 12, 1593. It was altered by Crowne, and acted in the year 1681. Steevens.

Note return to page 508 2As by your high, &c.] Vide Hall's Chronicle, fol. 66. year 23. init. Pope. It is apparent that this play begins where the former ends, and continues the series of transactions of which it presupposes the first part already known. This is a sufficient proof that the second and third parts were not written without dependance on the first, though they were printed as containing a complete period of history. Johnson.

Note return to page 509 3As procurator to your excellence, &c.] So, in Holinshed, p. 625: “The marquesse of Suffolk as procurator to king Henrie, espoused the said ladie in the church of saint Martins. At the which marriage were present the father and mother of the bride; the French king himself that was uncle to the husband, and the French queen also that was aunt to the wife. There were also the dukes of Orleance, of Calabre, of Alanson, and of Britaine, seaven earles, twelve barons, twenty bishops, &c.” Steevens.

Note return to page 510 4The mutual conference &lblank;] I am the bolder to address you, having already familiarized you to my imagination. Johnson.

Note return to page 511 5&lblank; mine alder-liefest sovereign,] Alder-lievest is an old English word given to him to whom the speaker is supremely attached: lievest being the superlative of the comparative levar, rather, from lief. So, Hall in his Chronicle, Henry VI. folio 12. “Ryght hyghe and mighty prince, and my ryght noble, and, after one, levest lord.” Warburton. Alder-liefest &lblank;] Is a corruption of the German word alder-liebste, beloved above all things. The word is used by Chaucer; and is put by Marston into the mouth of his Dutch courtesan: “O mine alder-liefest love.” Again: “&lblank; pretty sweetheart of mine alder-liefest affection.” Again, in Gascoigne: “&lblank; and to mine alder-lievest lord I must indite.” Steevens.

Note return to page 512 6We thank you for all this great favour done,] Undoubtedly we should read, from a regard both to the sense and the metre: We thank you all for this great favour done. Revisal. The first folio confirms the propriety of this conjecture. Steevens.

Note return to page 513 7This peroration with such circumstance?] This speech crowded with so many instances of aggravation. Johnson.

Note return to page 514 8And are the cities, &c.] The indignation of Warwick is natural, and I wish it had been better expressed; there is a kind of jingle intended in wounds and words. Johnson.

Note return to page 515 9Bickerings.] To bicker is to skirmish. In the ancient metrical romance of Guy E. of Warwick, bl. l. no date, the heroes consult whether they should bicker on the walls, or descend to battle on the plain. Again, in the genuine ballad of Chevy Chace: “Bomen bickarte upon the bent “With their browd aras cleare.” Again, in Drayton's Polyolbion, Song IX: “From bickering with his folk to keep us Britains back.” Again, in the Spanish Masquerado, by Greene, 1589: “&lblank; sundry times bickered with our men, and gave them the foyle.” Again, in Holinshed, p. 537: “At another bickering also it chanced that the Englishmen had the upper hand.” Again, p. 572: “At first there was a sharpe bickering betwixt them, but in the end victorie remained with the Englishmen.” Levi pugna congredior is the expression by which Barrett in his Alvearie, or Quadruple Dict. 1580, explains the verb to bicker. Steevens.

Note return to page 516 1And all the wealthy kingdoms of the west,] Certainly Shakespeare wrote east. Warburton. There are wealthy kingdoms in the west as well as in the east, and the western kingdoms were more likely to be in the thought of the speaker. Johnson.

Note return to page 517 2&lblank; the profit of the land.] I think we might read, more clearly &lblank; to profit of the land, &lblank; i. e. to profit themselves by it, unless 'tend be written for attend. Steevens.

Note return to page 518 3&lblank; on a tickle point, &lblank;] Tickle is very frequently used for ticklish by poets contemporary with Shakespeare. So, Heywood in his Epigrams on Proverbs, 1562: “Time is tickell, we may matche time in this, “For we be even as tickell as time is.” Again, in the Spanish Tragedy, 1605: “Now stands our fortune on a tickle point.” Again, in Soliman and Perseda, 1599: “The rest by turning of my tickle wheel.” Steevens.

Note return to page 519 4&lblank; the prince's heart of Calydon.] Meleager. Steevens.

Note return to page 520 5Whereas the king and queen do mean to hawk.] Whereas is the same as where; and seems to be brought into use only on account of its being a dissyllable. So, in Marius and Sylla, 1594: “But see whereas Lucretius is return'd. “Welcome, brave Roman!” The word is several times used in this piece, as well as in some others; and always with the same sense. Again, in the 51st sonnet of Lord Sterline, 1604: “I dream'd the nymph, that o'er my fancy reigns, “Came to a part whereas I paus'd alone:” Again, in the Tryal of Treasure, 1567: “Whereas she is resident, I must needes be.” Again, in Daniel's Tragedy of Cleopatra, 1599: “That I should pass whereas Octavia stands “To view my misery, &c.” Steevens.

Note return to page 521 6Elean. It is enough; &c.] This speech stands thus in the old quarto: “Elean. Thanks, good sir John, “Some two days hence I guess will fit our time; “Then see that they be here. “For now the king is riding to St. Albans, “And all the dukes and earls along with him. “When they be gone, then safely may they come, “And on the backside of mine orchard here “There cast their spells in silence of the night, “And so resolve us of the thing we wish: &lblank; “Till when, drink that for my sake, and farewell.” Steevens.

Note return to page 522 7&lblank; A crafty knave does need no broker;] This is a proverbial sentence. See Ray's Collection. Steevens.

Note return to page 523 8Sort how it will, &lblank;] Let the issue be what it will. Johnson.

Note return to page 524 9&lblank; in the quill.] In quill is sir Thomas Hanmer's reading; the rest have in the quill. Johnson. Perhaps our supplications in the quill, or in quill, means no more than our written or penn'd supplications. We still say, a drawing in chalk, for a drawing executed by the use of chalk. Steevens. In the quill.] This may mean, with great exactness and observance of form, or with the utmost punctilio of ceremony. The phrase seems to be taken from part of the dress of our ancestors, whose ruffs were quilled. While these were worn, it might be the vogue to say, such a thing is in the quill, i. e. in the reigning mode of taste. Tollet. To this observation I may add, that after printing began, the similar phrase of a thing being in print, was used to express the same circumstance of exactness. “All this,” (declares one of the quibbling servants in the Two Gentlemen of Verona) “I say in print, for in print I found it.” Steevens. Deliver our supplications in quill.] This may be supposed to have been a phrase formerly in use, and the same with the French en quille, which is said of a man, when he stands upright upon his feet without stirring from the place. The proper sense of quille in French is a nine-pin, and in some parts of England, nine-pins are still called cayls, which word is used in the statute 33 Hen. VIII. c. ix. Quelle in the old British language also signifies any piece of wood set upright. Hawkins.

Note return to page 525 1&lblank; lim'd a bush for her;] So, in Arden of Feversham, 1592: “Lime your twigs to catch this weary bird.” Again, in the Tragedy of Mariam, 1613: “A crimson bush that ever limes the soul.” Steevens.

Note return to page 526 2&lblank; this late complaint] That is, The complaint of Peter the armourer's man against his master, for saying that York was the rightful king. Johnson.

Note return to page 527 3&lblank; be deny'd &lblank;] The folio reads denay'd. I have noted the variation only to observe, that the one word is frequently used for the other among the old writers. Steevens.

Note return to page 528 4&lblank; his censure:] Through all these plays censure is used in an indifferent sense, simply for judgment or opinion. Johnson.

Note return to page 529 5I'll set my ten commandments in your face.] So, in Westward Hoe, 1607: “—your harpy has set his ten commandments on my back.” Again, in Selimus Emperor of the Turks, 1638: “I would set a tap abroach, and not live in fear of my wife's ten commandments.” Again, in The Play of the Four P's, 1569: “Now ten times I beseeche him that hie sits, “Thy wives x com. may serche thy five wits.” Steevens.

Note return to page 530 6Exit Eleanor.] The quarto adds, after the exit of Eleanor, the following: “King. Believe me, love, that thou wert much to blame. “I would not for a thousand pounds in gold, “My noble uncle had been here in place. &lblank; “See, where he comes! I am glad he met her not.” Steevens.

Note return to page 531 7By these ten bones, &c.] We have just heard a dutchess threaten to set her ten commandments in the face of a queen. The jests in this play turn rather too much on the enumeration of fingers. This adjuration is, however, very ancient. So, in the mystery of Candlemas-Day, 1512: “But by their bonys ten, thei be to you untrue.” It occurs likewise more than once in the morality of Hycke Scorner. Again, in Monsieur Thomas, 1637: “By these ten bones, sir, by these eyes and tears.” Again, in The longer thou livest the more Fool thou art, 1570: “By these tenne bones I will, I have sworne.” Steevens.

Note return to page 532 8K. Henry. Then be it so, &c.] These two lines I have inserted from the old quarto; and, as I think, very necessarily. For, without them, the king has not declared his assent to Gloster's opinion: and the duke of Somerset is made to thank him for the regency before the king has deputed him to it. Theobald. After the lines inserted by Theobald, the king continues his speech thus: &lblank; over the French; And to defend our right 'gainst foreign foes, And so do good unto the realm of France. Make haste, my lord; 'tis time that you were gone: The time of truce, I think, is full expir'd. Som. I humbly thank your royal majesty, And take my leave, to post with speed to France. [Exit Somerset. King. Come, uncle Gloster; now let's have our horse, For we will to St. Albans presently. Madam, your hawk they say, is swift of flight, And we will try how she will fly to-day. [Exeunt omnes. Steevens.

Note return to page 533 9&lblank; a man &lblank;] The old copy reads of my man. Steevens. [Notes from the 1780 Supplement]9Q0815

Note return to page 534 1Enter, &c.] The quarto reads: Enter Eleanor, Sir John Hum, Roger Bolingbrook a conjurer, and Margery Jourdain a witch. Eleanor. Here, sir John, take this scroll of paper here, Wherein is writ the questions you shall ask: And I will stand upon this tower here, And hear the spirit what it says to you; And to my questions write the answers down. [She goes up to the tower. Steevens.

Note return to page 535 2Deep night, dark night, the silent of the night,] The silent of the night is a classical expression: and means an interlunar night. —Amica silentia lunæ. So Pliny, Inter omnes verò convenit, utilissimè in coitu ejus sterni, quem diem alii interlunii, alii silentis lunæ appellant. lib. xvi. cap. 39. In imitation of this language, Milton says: “The sun to me is dark “And silent as the moon, “When she deserts the night, “Hid in her vacant interlunar cave.” Warburton. I believe this display of learning might have been spared. Silent, though an adjective, is used by Shakespeare as a substantive. So, in The Tempest, the vast of night is used for the greatest part of it. The old quarto reads, the silence of the night. The variation between the copies is worth notice. Bolingbrook makes a circle. Bol. Dark night, dread night, the silence of the night, Wherein the furies mask in hellish troops, Send up, I charge you, from Cocytus' lake The spirit Ascalon to come to me; To pierce the bowels of this central earth, And hither come in twinkling of an eye! Ascalon, ascend! ascend!” In a speech already quoted from the quarto, Eleanor says, they have &lblank; cast their spells in silence of the night. And in the ancient Interlude of Nature, bl. l. no date, is the same expression: “Who taught the nyghtyngall to recorde besyly “Her strange entunes in sylence of the nyght?” Again, in the Faithful Shepherdess of B. and Fletcher: “Through still silence of the night, “Guided by the glow-worm's light.” Steevens.

Note return to page 536 3&lblank; ban-dogs howl,] The etymology of the word ban-dogs is unsettled. They seem, however, to have been designed by poets to signify some terrific beings whose office it was to make night hideous, like those mentioned in the first book and eighth satire of Horace: “&lblank; serpentes, atque videres “Infernas errare canes.” Steevens.

Note return to page 537 4&lblank; that I had said and done!] It was anciently believed that spirits who were raised by incantations, remain'd above ground, and answer'd questions with reluctance. See both Lucan and Statius. Steevens.

Note return to page 538 5Than where castles mounted stand.] I remember to have read this prophecy in some of our old chronicles, where, I think, it ran thus: “Safer shall he be on sand, “Than where castles mounted stand:” at present I do not recollect where. Steevens.

Note return to page 539 6False fiend, avoid!] Instead of this short speech at the dismission of the spirit, the old quarto gives us the following: “Then down, I say, unto the damned pool “Where Pluto in his fiery waggon sits, “Riding, amidst the sing'd and parched smoaks, “The road of Dytas, by the river Styx; “There howle and burn for ever in those flames: &lblank; “'Zounds! we are betray'd!” Dytas is written by mistake for Ditis, the genitive case of Dis, which is used instead of the nominative by more than one ancient author. So, in Tho. Drant's Translation of the fifth Satire of Horace, 1567: “And by that meanes made manye soules lord Ditis hall to seeke.” Steevens.

Note return to page 540 7Lord Buckingham, methinks &c.] This repetition of the prophecies, which is altogether unnecessary, after what the spectators had heard in the scene immediately preceding, is not to be found in the first edition of this play. Pope.

Note return to page 541 8These oracles are hardly attain'd, And hardly understood.] Not only the lameness of the versification, but the imperfection of the sense too, made me suspect this passage to be corrupt. York, seizing the parties and their papers, says, he'll see the devil's writ; and finding the wizard's answers intricate and ambiguous, he makes this general comment upon such sort of intelligence, as I have restored the text: These oracles are hardily attain'd, And hardly understood. i. e. A great risque and hazard is run to obtain them; and yet, after these hardy steps taken, the informations are so perplexed that they are hardly to be understood. Theobald.

Note return to page 542 9&lblank; for flying at the brook,] The falconer's term for hawking at water-fowl. Johnson.

Note return to page 543 1&lblank; the wind was very high; And, ten to one, old Joan had not gone out.] I am told by a gentleman better acquainted with falconry than myself, that the meaning, however expressed, is, that the wind being high, it was ten to one that the old hawk had flown quite away; a trick which hawks often play their masters in windy weather. Johnson. &lblank; old Joan had not gone out, i. e. the wind was so high it was ten to one that old Joan would not have taken her flight at the game. Percy. The ancient books of hawking do not enable me to decide on the merits of such discordant explanations. It may yet be remarked, that the terms belonging to this once popular amusement, were in general settled with the utmost precision; and I may at least venture to declare, that a mistress might have been kept at a cheaper rate than a falcon. To compound a medicine to cure one of these birds of worms, it was necessary to destroy no fewer animals than a lamb, a culver, a pigeon, a buck, and a cat. I have this intelligence from the Booke of Haukinge, &c. bl. l. no date. This work (as I learn from sir John Hawkins's very elegant edition of Walton's Complete Angler) was written by dame Julyana Bernes, prioress of the nunnery of Sopwell, near St. Albans, (where Shakespeare has fixed the present scene) and was first prynted at Westmestre by Wynkyn de Worde, 1496. Steevens.

Note return to page 544 2&lblank; are fain of climbing high.] Fain, in this place, signifies fond. The word (as I am informed) is still used in Scotland. So, in Heywood's Epigrams on Proverbs, 1562: “Fayre words make fooles faine.” Again, in Whetstone's Promos and Cassandra, 1578: “Her brother's life will make her glad and fain.” Steevens.

Note return to page 545 3&lblank; to be aloft,] Perhaps alluding to the adage: “High flying hawks are fit for princes.” See Ray's Collection. Steevens.

Note return to page 546 4Beat &c.] To bait or beat (bathe) is a term in falconry. Johnson. To bathe and to beat, or bate, are distinct terms in this diversion. To bathe a hawk was to wash his plumage. To beat, or bate, was to flutter with his wings. To beat on a crown is equivalent to an expression which is still used—to hammer, i. e. to work in the mind. Shakespeare employs it in another play: “Wilt thou still be hammering treachery?” So, in Lylly's Maid's Metamorphosis, 1600: “With him whose restless thoughts do beat on thee.” Again, in Doctor Dodypoll, 1600: “Since my mind beats on it mightily.” Again, in Herod and Antipater, 1622: “I feel within my cogitations beating.” Later editors concur in reading, Bent on a crown. I follow the old copy. Steevens.

Note return to page 547 5With such holiness can you do it?] Do what? The verse wants a foot; we should read: With such holiness can you not do it? Spoken ironically. By holiness he means hypocrisy: and says, have you not hypocrisy enough to hide your malice? Warburton. The verse is lame enough after the emendation, nor does the negative particle improve the sense. When words are omitted it is not often easy to say what they were if there is a perfect sense without them. I read, but somewhat at random: A churchman, with such holiness can you do it? The transcriber saw churchman just above, and therefore omitted it in the second line. Johnson.

Note return to page 548 6&lblank; Come with thy two-hand sword. Glo. True, uncle, are ye advis'd—the east-side of the grove. Cardinal, I am with you.] Thus is the whole speech placed to Gloster, in all the editions: but, surely, with great inadvertence. It is the cardinal who first appoints the east-side of the grove: and how finely does it express rancour and impetuosity for fear Gloster should mistake, to repeat the appointment, and ask his antagonist if he takes him right! Theobald. The two-hand sword is mentioned by Holinshed, p. 833: “—And he that touched the tawnie shield should cast a spear on foot with a target on his arme, and after to fight with a two-hand sword.” Steevens.

Note return to page 549 7&lblank; my fence shall fail.] Fence is the art of defence. So, in Much Ado about Nothing: “Despight his nice fence, and his active practice.” Steevens.

Note return to page 550 8&lblank; who said,—Saunder, &c.] The former copies: &lblank; who said, Simon, come; Come offer at my shrine, and I will help thee. Why, Simon? The chronicles that take notice of Gloster's detecting this pretended miracle, tell us, that the impostor, who asserted himself to be cured of blindness, was called Saunder Simpcox—Simon was therefore a corruption. Theobald.

Note return to page 551 9&lblank; lewdly bent,] Lewdly, in this place, and in some others, does not signify wantonly, but wickedly. Steevens.

Note return to page 552 1Your lady is forth-coming &lblank;] That is, Your lady is in custody. Johnson.

Note return to page 553 2And poise the cause in justice' equal scales, Whose beam stands sure, whose rightful cause prevails.] The sense will, I think, be mended if we read in the optative mood: &lblank; justice' equal scale, Whose beam stand sure, whose rightful cause prevail! Johnson.

Note return to page 554 3In craving your opinion of my title, Which is infallible, to England's crown.] I know not well whether he means the opinion or the title is infallible. Johnson.

Note return to page 555 4Sorrow would solace, and my age would ease.] That is, Sorrow would have; sorrow requires solace, and age requires ease. Johnson.

Note return to page 556 5God and king Henry govern England's realm:] The word realm at the end of two lines together is displeasing; and when it is considered that much of this scene is written in rhyme, it will not appear improbable that the author wrote, govern England's helm. Johnson. So, in a preceding scene of this play: And you yourself shall steer the happy helm. Steevens.

Note return to page 557 6This staff of honour raught: &lblank;] Raught is the ancient preterite of the verb reach, and is frequently used by Spenser, as in the following instance, b. iii. c. ix. s. 20: “Her golden lockes that were in tramels gay “Upbounden, did themselves adowne display, “And raught unto her heeles.” &lblank; Steevens.

Note return to page 558 7Lords, let him go.] i. e. Let him pass out of your thoughts. Duke Humphrey had already left the stage. Steevens.

Note return to page 559 8&lblank; worse bested,] In a worse plight. Johnson.

Note return to page 560 9&lblank; with a sand-bag fastened to it;] As, according to the old laws of duels, knights were to fight with the lance and sword; so those of inferior rank fought with an ebon staff or battoon, to the farther end of which was fixed a bag cramm'd hard with sand. To this custom Hudibras has alluded in these humourous lines: “Engag'd with money-bags, as bold “As men with sand-bags did of old.” Warburton. Mr. Sympson, in his notes on Ben Jonson, observes, that a passage in St. Chrysostom very clearly proves the great antiquity of this practice. Steevens.

Note return to page 561 1&lblank; a cup of charneco.] On which the Oxford Editor thus criticizes in his index: “This seems to have been a cant word for some strong liquor, which was apt to bring drunken fellows to the stocks, since in Spanish charniegos is a term used for the stocks.” It was no cant word, but a common name for a sort of sweet wine, as appears from a passage in a pamphlet intitled, The Discovery of a London Monster, called the Black Dog of Newgate, printed 1612: “Some drinking the neat wine of Orleance, some the Gascony, some the Bourdeaux. There wanted neither sherry, sack, nor charneco, maligo, nor amber-colour'd candy, nor liquorish ipocras, brown beloved bastard, fat aligant, or any quick-spirited liquor.”—And as charneca is, in Spanish, the name of a kind of turpentine-tree, I imagine the growth of it was in some district abounding with that tree; or that it had its name from a certain flavour resembling it. Warburton. The vulgar name for this liquor was charingo. I meet with it in an old catch set to music by Lawes. Hawkins. In a pamphlet entitled, Wit's Miserie, or the World's Madness, printed in 1596, it is said, that “the only medicine for the fleghm is three cups of charneco fasting.” In A Collection of Epigrams and Satires, without date, but of the same age, this liquor is mentioned again: “&lblank; happy is the man doth rightly know “The virtue of three cups of charneco.” Again, in Beaumont and Fletcher's Wit without Money: “Where no old charneco is, nor no anchovies.” Again, in Deckar's Honest Whore, 1630, 2d Part: “Imprimis, a pottle of Greek wine, a pottle of Peter-sameene, a pottle of charneco, and a pottle of Ziattica.” Again, in the Fair Maid of the West, 1615: “Aragoosa, or Peter-see-me, canary, or charneco.” Steevens. &lblank; a cup of charnico.] Mention is made of this liquor in an ancient collection of Epigrams, now in my possession: “When Seigneur Sack-and-Sugar drink-drown'd reels, “He vows to hew the spurs from fellow's heels; “When calling for a quart of charnico, “Into a loving league they present grow: &c.” Percy.

Note return to page 562 1&lblank; as Bevis of Southampton fell upon Ascapart.] I have added this from the old quarto. Warburton. Ascapart—the giant of the story—a name familiar to our ancestors, is mentioned by Dr. Donne: “Those Ascaparts, men big enough to throw “Charing-cross for a bar, &c.” Johnson. The figures of these combatants are still preserved on the gates of Southampton. Steevens.

Note return to page 563 2this knave's tongue begins to double.] So, in Holinshed, whose narrative Shakespeare has deserted, by making the armourer confess treason. “—When he should have come to the field fresh and fasting, his neighbours came to him, and gave him wine and strong drink in such excessive sort, that he was therewith distempered, and reeled as he went; and so was slain without guilt: as for the false servant he lived not long,” &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 564 3For, by his death, we do perceive his guilt.] According to the ancient usage of the duel, the vanquished person not only lost his life but his reputation, and his death was always regarded as a certain evidence of his guilt. We have a remarkable instance of this in an account of the Duellum inter Dominum Johannem Hannesly, Militem, & Robertum Katlenton, Armigerum, in quo Robertus fuit occisus. From whence, says the historian, “magna fuit evidentia quod militis causa erat vera, ex quo mors alterius sequebatur.” A. Murimuth, ad ann. 1380, p. 149. Bowle.

Note return to page 565 4&lblank; as seasons fleet.] To fleet is to change. So, in Antony and Cleopatra: “&lblank; now the fleeting moon “No planet is of mine.” Steevens.

Note return to page 566 5Uneath &lblank;] i. e. Scarcely. Pope. So, in the metrical romance of Guy Earl of Warwick, bl. l. no date: “Uneathes we came from him certain, “That he ne had us all slain.” Eath is the ancient word for ease or easy. So, in Spenser's Faery Queen, B. IV. c. 6: “More eath was new impression to receive.” Uneath is commonly used by the same author for not easily. Steevens.

Note return to page 567 6Mail'd up in shame, &lblank;] Wrapped up; bundled up in disgrace; alluding to the sheet of penance. Johnson.

Note return to page 568 7&lblank; any scathe,] Scathe is harm, or mischief. Chaucer, Spenser, and all our ancient writers, are frequent in their use of this word. Steevens.

Note return to page 569 8Thy greatest help is quiet, &lblank;] The poet has not endeavoured to raise much compassion for the dutchess, who indeed suffers but what she had deserved. Johnson.

Note return to page 570 9&lblank; the world may laugh &lblank;] That is, The world may look again favourably upon me. Johnson.

Note return to page 571 1&lblank; I long to see my prison.] This impatience of a high spirit is very natural. It is not so dreadful to be imprisoned, as it is desireable in a state of disgrace to be sheltered from the scorn of gazers. Johnson.

Note return to page 572 2Me seemeth &lblank;] That is, it seemeth to me, a word more grammatical than methinks, which has, I know not how, intruded into its place. Johnson.

Note return to page 573 3&lblank; your grace's tale.] Suffolk uses highness and grace promiscuously to the queen. Majesty was not the settled title till the time of king James the First. Johnson.

Note return to page 574 4Yet by reputing of his high descent,] Thus the old copy. The modern editors read—repeating. Reputing of his high descent, is valuing himself upon it. The same word occurs in the 5th act: And in my conscience do repute his grace, &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 575 5Cold news for me; &c.] These two lines York had spoken before in the first act of this play. He is now meditating on his disappointment, and comparing his former hopes with his present loss. Steevens.

Note return to page 576 6&lblank; this gear &lblank;] Gear was a general word for things or matters. Johnson. So, in the story of King Darius, an interlude, 1565: “Wyll not yet this gere be amended, “Nor your sinful acts corrected?” Steevens.

Note return to page 577 7&lblank; these faults are easy, &lblank;] Easy is slight, inconsiderable, as in other passages of this author. Johnson.

Note return to page 578 8&lblank; all suspicion;] The folio reads—all suspence. Perhaps the author wrote—suspect. So, in a following scene: “If my suspect be false, forgive me, God!” Steevens.

Note return to page 579 9&lblank; liefest &lblank;] Is dearest. Johnson. So, in Spencer's Faery Queen, B. II. c. i: “—Madam, my lief, “For God's dear love, &c.” Again, c. ii: “—Fly, oh my liefest lord.” Steevens.

Note return to page 580 1And as the butcher takes away the calf, And binds the wretch, and beats it when it strays,] But how can it stray when it is bound? The poet certainly intended when it strives; i.e. when it struggles to get loose. And so he elsewhere employs this word. Thirlby. This emendation is admitted by the succeeding editors; and I had once put it in the text. I am, however, inclined to believe that in this passage, as in many, there is a confusion of ideas, and that the poet had at once before him a butcher carrying a calf bound, and a butcher driving a calf to the slaughter, and beating him when he did not keep the path. Part of the line was suggested by one image, and part by another, so that strive is the best word, but stray is the right. Johnson. There needs no alteration. It is common for butchers to tie a rope or halter about the neck of a calf when they take it away from the breeder's farm, and to beat it gently if it attempts to stray from the direct road. The duke of Gloster is borne away like the calf, that is, he is taken away upon his feet; but he is not carried away as a burthen on horseback, or upon men's shoulders, or in their hands. Tollet.

Note return to page 581 2Free lords, &c.] By this she means (as may be seen by the sequel) you, who are not bound up to such precise regards of religion as is the king; but are men of the world, and know how to live. Warburton.

Note return to page 582 3'Tis York that hath more reason for his death.] Why York had more reason than the rest for desiring Humphrey's death, is not very clear; he had only decided the deliberation about the regency of France in favour of Somerset. Johnson. York had more reason, because duke Humphrey stood between him and the crown, which he had proposed to himself as the termination of his ambitious views. So act III. sc. v: For Humphrey being dead, as he shall be, And Henry put apart, the next for me. Steevens.

Note return to page 583 4No; let him die, in that he is a fox, By nature prov'd an enemy to the flock, Before his chaps be stain'd with crimson blood; As Humphrey prov'd by reasons to my liege.] The meaning of the speaker is not hard to be discovered, but his expression is very much perplexed. He means that the fox may be lawfully killed, as being known to be by nature an enemy to sheep, even before he has actually killed them; so Humphrey may be properly destroyed, as being proved by arguments to be the king's enemy, before he has committed any actual crime. Some may be tempted to read treasons for reasons, but the drift of the argument is to shew that there may be reason to kill him before any treason has broken out. Johnson.

Note return to page 584 5&lblank; for that is good deceit Which mates him first, that first intends deceit.] Mates him means—that first puts an end to his moving. To mate is a term in chess, used when the king is stopped from moving, and an end put to the game. Percy.

Note return to page 585 6&lblank; I will be his priest.] I will be the attendant on his last scene, I will be the last man whom he will see. Johnson.

Note return to page 586 7&lblank; and censure well the deed,] That is, approve the deed, judge the deed good. Johnson.

Note return to page 587 8It skills not &lblank;] It is of no importance. Johnson. So, in Sir T. More's Utopia, translated by R. Robinson, 1624: “I will describe to you one or other of them, for it skilleth not greatly which.” Malone.

Note return to page 588 9&lblank; mad-bred flaw.] Flaw is a sudden violent gust of wind. Johnson.

Note return to page 589 1&lblank; a wild Morisco,] A Moor in a military dance, now called Morris, that is, a Moorish dance. Johnson. In Albion's Triumph, a masque, 1631, the seventh entry consists of mimicks or Moriscos. Again, in Marston's What you will, 1607: “Your wit skips a Morisco.” The Morris-dance was the Tripudium Mauritanicum, a kind of hornpipe. Junius describes it thus: “&lblank; faciem plerunque inficiunt fuligine, et peregrinum vestium cultum assumunt, qui ludicris talibus indulgent, ut Mauri esse videantur, aut e longius remotâ patriâ credantur advolasse, atque insolens recreationis genus advexisse.” In the churchwardens' accompts of the parish of St. Helen's in Abington, Berkshire, from the first year of the reign of Philip and Mary, to the thirty-fourth of queen Elizabeth, the Morrice bells are mentioned. Anno 1560, the third of Elizabeth,— “For two dossin of Morres bells.” As these appear to have been purchased by the community, we may suppose this diversion was constantly practised at their public festivals. See the plate of Morris-dancers at the end of the first part of K. Henry IV. with Mr. Tollet's remarks annexed to it. Steevens.

Note return to page 590 2Scene II.] This scene, and the directions concerning it, stand thus in the quarto edition: Then the curtaines being drawne, Duke Humphrey is discovered in his bed, and two men lying on his brest, and smothering him in his bed. And then enter the Duke of Suffolk to them. Suff. How now, sirs! what have you dispatch'd him? One. Aye, my lord; he's dead, I warrant you. Suff. Then see the cloaths laid smooth about him still, That when the king comes, he may perceive No other, but that he dide of his own accord. 2. All things is handsome, now my lord. Suff. Then draw the curtains again, and get you gone, And you shall have your firm reward anon. [Exit murtherers. Steevens.

Note return to page 591 2I thank thee: &c.] In former editions: I thank thee, Nell, these words content me much. This is king Henry's reply to his wife Margaret. There can be no reason why he should forget his own wife's name, and call her Nell instead of Margaret. As the change of a single letter sets all right, I am willing to suppose it came from his pen thus: I thank thee. Well, these words content me much. Theobald.

Note return to page 592 3&lblank; right now&lblank;] Just now, even now. Johnson.

Note return to page 593 4Be woe for me, &lblank;] That is, Let not woe be to thee for Gloster, but for me. Johnson.

Note return to page 594 5What, art thou, like the adder, waxen deaf?] This allusion which has been borrowed by many writers from the Proverbs of Solomon, and Psalm lviii. may receive an odd illustration from the following passage in Gower de Confessione Amantis, B. I. fol. x. “A serpent, which that aspidis “Is cleped, of his kinde hath this, “That he the stone noblest of all “The whiche that men carbuncle call, “Bereth in his heed above on hight; “For whiche whan that a man by slight “(The stone to wynne, and him to dante) “With his carecte him wolde enchante, “Anone as he perceiveth that, “He leyth downe his one eare all plat “Unto the grounde, and halt it fast: “And eke that other eare als faste “He stoppeth with his taille so sore “That he the wordes, lasse nor more, “Of his enchantement ne hereth: “And in this wise himselfe he skiereth, “So that he hath the wordes wayved, “And thus his eare is nought deceived.” Shakespeare has the same allusion in Troilus and Cressida: “Have ears more deaf than adders, to the voice of any true decision.” Steevens.

Note return to page 595 6&lblank; aukward wind &lblank;] Thus the old copy. The modern editors read adverse winds. Steevens.

Note return to page 596 7The splitting rocks &c.] The sense seems to be this.—The rocks hid themselves in the sands, which sunk to receive them into their bosom. Steevens.

Note return to page 597 8Might in thy palace perish Margaret.] The verb perish is here used actively. So, in the Maid's Tragedy, by Beaumont and Fletcher: “&lblank; let not my sins “Perish your noble youth.” Steevens.

Note return to page 598 9To sit and watch me, as Ascanius did, When he to madding Dido would unfold His father's acts, commenc'd in burning Troy?] The poet here is unquestionably alluding to Virgil (Æneid I.) but he strangely blends fact with fiction. In the first place, it was Cupid in the semblance of Ascanius, who sat in Dido's lap, and was fondled by her. But then it was not Cupid who related to her the process of Troy's destruction, but it was Æneas himself who related this history. Again, how did the supposed Ascanius sit and watch her? Cupid was ordered, while Dido mistakenly caressed him, to bewitch and infect her with love. To this circumstance the poet certainly alludes; and, unless he had wrote, as I have restored to the text: To sit and witch me, &lblank; why should the queen immediately draw this inference: Am I not witch'd like her? Theobald.

Note return to page 599 1&lblank; not Henry:] The poet commonly uses Henry as a word of three syllables. Johnson.

Note return to page 600 2For seeing him, I see my life in death.] Though, by a violent operation, some sense may be extracted from this reading, yet I think it will be better to change it thus: For seeing him, I see my death in life. That is, Seeing him I live to see my own destruction. Thus it will aptly correspond with the first line: Come hither, gracious sovereign, view this body. K. Henry. That is to see how deep my grave is made. Johnson. &lblank; I see my life in death.] Surely the poet's meaning is obvious as the words now stand.—I see my life destroyed or endangered by his death. Percy.

Note return to page 601 3Oft have I seen a timely-parted ghost, Of ashy semblance, meager, pale, and bloodless,] All that is true of the body of a dead man, is here said by Warwick of the soul. I would read: Oft have I seen a timely-parted corse. But of two common words how or why was one changed for the other? I believe the transcriber thought that the epithet timely-parted could not be used of the body, but that, as in Hamlet there is mention of peace-parted souls, so here timely-parted must have the same substantive. He removed one imaginary difficulty, and made many real. If the soul is parted from the body, the body is likewise parted from the soul. I cannot but stop a moment to observe that this horrible description is scarcely the work of any pen but Shakespeare's. Johnson. This is not the first time that Shakespeare has confounded the terms that signify body and soul, together. So, in the Midsummer Night's Dream: “&lblank; damned spirits all “That in cross-ways and floods have burial.” It is surely the body and not the soul that is committed to the earth, or whelm'd in the water. The word ghost, however, is licentiously used by our ancient writers. In Spenser's Faery Queen, B. II. c. viii. Sir Guyon is in a swoon, and two knights are about to strip him, when the Palmer says: “&lblank; no knight so rude I weene “As to doen outrage to a sleeping ghost.” Again, in the short copy of verses printed at the conclusion of the three first books of Spenser's Faerie Queen, 1596: “And grones of buried ghostes the heavens did perse.” Again, in our author's K. Richard II: “The ghosts they have depos'd.” Again, in Sir A. Gorges's translation of Lucan, B. IX: “&lblank; a peasant of that coast “Bids him not tread on Hector's ghost.” Steevens.

Note return to page 602 4The mortal worm &lblank;] Serpents in general, were anciently called worms. So, in the Devil's Charter, 1607, Pope Alexander says when he takes off the aspicks from the young princes: “How now, proud worms? how tastes yon princes' blood?” Steevens.

Note return to page 603 5&lblank; a sort &lblank;] Is a company. Johnson. So, in the Midsummer Night's Dream: “—russet-pated choughs, many in sort.” Steevens.

Note return to page 604 6Would curses kill, as doth the mandrake's groan,] The fabulous accounts of the plant called a mandrake give it an inferior degree of animal life, and relate, that when it is torn from the ground it groans, and that this groan being certainly fatal to him that is offering such unwelcome violence, the practice of those who gather mandrakes is to tie one end of a string to the plant, and the other to a dog, upon whom the fatal groan discharges its malignity. Johnson. The same allusion occurs in Aristippus, or the Jovial Philosopher, by Randolph: “This is the mandrake's voice that undoes me.” Steevens.

Note return to page 605 7&lblank; a cypress tree!] Cypress was employed in the funeral rites of the Romans, and hence is always mentioned as an ill-boding plant. Steevens.

Note return to page 606 8&lblank; murdering basilisks! &lblank; Lizard's stings!] It has been said of the basilisk that it had the power of destroying by a single glance of its eye. A lizard has no sting, but is quite inoffensive. Steevens.

Note return to page 607 9You bade me ban, and will you bid me leave?] This inconsistency is very common in real life. Those who are vexed to impatience are angry to see others less disturbed than themselves; but when others begin to rave, they immediately see in them what they could not find in themselves, the deformity and folly of useless rage. Johnson.

Note return to page 608 1That thou might'st think upon these by the seal, Through whom a thousand sighs &c.] That by the impression of my kiss for ever remaining on thy hand thou mightest think on those lips through which a thousand sighs will be breathed for thee. Johnson.

Note return to page 609 2Ay me! what is this world? what news are these?] Instead of this line, the quarto reads: Oh! what is worldly pomp? all men must die, And woe am I for Beaufort's heavy end. Steevens.

Note return to page 610 3&lblank; at an hour's poor loss,] She means, I believe, at a loss which any hour spent in contrivance and deliberation will enable her to supply. Or perhaps she may call the sickness of the cardinal the loss of an hour, as it may put some stop to her schemes. Johnson. I believe the poet's meaning is, Wherefore do I grieve that Beaufort has died an hour before his time, who, being an old man, could not have had a long time to live? Steevens.

Note return to page 611 4&lblank; turn thy flying soul,] Perhaps Mr. Pope was indebted to this passage in his Eloisa to Abelard, where he makes that votarist of exquisite sensibility say: “See my lips tremble, and my eye-balls roll, “Suck my last breath, and catch my flying soul.” Steevens.

Note return to page 612 5I'll have an Iris &lblank;] Iris was the messenger of Juno. Johnson. So, in All's Well that Ends Well: “&lblank; this distemper'd messenger of wet, “The many-colour'd Iris &lblank;” Steevens.

Note return to page 613 6Enter king Henry, &c.] The quarto offers the following stage directions. Enter King and Salisbury, and then the curtaines be drawne, and the cardinal is discovered in his bed, raving and staring as if he were mad. Steevens.

Note return to page 614 7Hold up thy hand,] Thus in the spurious play of K. John, 1611, Pandulph sees the king dying, and says: “Then, good my lord, if you forgive them all, “Lift up your hand, in token you forgive.” Again: “Lift up thy hand, that we may witness here, “Thou diest the servant of our Saviour Christ: &lblank; “Now joy betide thy soul!” This K. John was first published in 1591. Steevens.

Note return to page 615 8Forbear to judge, &c.] “Peccantes culpare cave, nam labimur omnes, “Aut sumus, aut fuimus, vel possumus esse quod hic est.” Johnson.

Note return to page 616 9Exeunt.] This is one of the scenes which have been applauded by the critics, and which will continue to be admired when prejudice shall cease, and bigotry give way to impartial examination. These are beauties that rise out of nature and of truth; the superficial reader cannot miss them, the profound can image nothing beyond them. Johnson.

Note return to page 617 1Fight at sea.] Perhaps Ben Jonson was thinking of this play, when he put the following declaration into the mouth of Morose in the Silent Woman. “Nay, I would sit out a play that were nothing but fights at sea, drum, trumpet, and target.” Steevens.

Note return to page 618 2The gaudy, blabbing, &lblank; day,] The epithet blabbing applied to the day by a man about to commit murder, is exquisitely beautiful. Guilt is afraid of light, considers darkness as a natural shelter, and makes night the confidante of those actions which cannot be trusted to the tell-tale day. Johnson.

Note return to page 619 3&lblank; remorseful day.] Remorseful is pitiful. So, in the Two Gentlemen of Verona: “&lblank; a gentleman, “Valiant, wise, remorseful, well accomplish'd.” The same idea occurs in Macbeth: “Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day.” Steevens.

Note return to page 620 4&lblank; the jades That drag the tragic melancholy night, Who with their drowsy, slow, and flagging wings Clip dead mens' graves, &lblank;] The wings of the jades that drag night appears an unnatural image, till it is remembered that the chariot of the night is supposed, by Shakespeare, to be drawn by dragons. Johnson.

Note return to page 621 5Nor can those lives &lblank;] The old copy reads the lives of those. Steevens.

Note return to page 622 6Look on my George, &lblank;] In the first edition it is my ring. Warburton.

Note return to page 623 7&lblank; by Water &lblank;] So, in queen Margaret's letter to this duke of Suffolk, by Michael Drayton: “I pray thee, Poole, have care how thou dost pass, “Never the sea yet half so dangerous was, “And one foretold, by water thou should'st die, &c.” A note on these lines says, “The witch of Eye received answer from her spirit, that the duke of Suffolk should take heed of water.” See the fourth scene of the first act of this play. Steevens.

Note return to page 624 8Jove sometime went disguis'd, &c.] This verse is omitted in all but the first old edition, without which what follows is not sense. The next line also: Obscure and lowly swain, king Henry's blood, was falsly put in the Captain's mouth. Pope.

Note return to page 625 9&lblank; lowly swain, &lblank;] The quarto reads lowly swain. Steevens.

Note return to page 626 1&lblank; abortive pride:] Pride that has had birth too soon, pride issuing before its time. Johnson.

Note return to page 627 2Thou dar'st not &c.] In the quarto edition the passage stands thus: Suf. Thou dar'st not for thy own. Cap. Yes, Pole. Suf. Pole? Cap. Ay, Pole, puddle, kennel, sink, and dirt, I'll stop that yawning mouth of thine. I think the two intermediate speeches should be inserted in the text, to introduce the captain's repetition of Poole, &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 628 3Poole? Sir Poole? lord?] The dissonance of this broken line makes it almost certain that we should read with a kind of ludicrous climax: Poole? Sir Poole? lord Poole? He then plays upon the name Poole, kennel, puddle. Johnson.

Note return to page 629 4&lblank; to affy &lblank;] To affy is to betroth in marriage. So, in Drayton's Legend of Pierce Gaveston: “In bands of wedlock did to me affy “A lady, &c.” Again, in the 17th Song of the Polyolbion: “&lblank; the Almaine emperor's bride “Which after to the earl of Anjou was affy'd.” Steevens.

Note return to page 630 5Being captain of a pinnace,] A pinnace did not anciently signify, as at present, a man of war's boat, but a ship of small burthen. So, in Winwood's Memorials, Vol. III. p. 118: “The king (James I.) naming the great ship, Trade's Increase; and the prince, a pinnace of 250 tons (built to wait upon her) Peppercorn.” Steevens.

Note return to page 631 6Than Bargulus the strong Illyrian pirate.] Mr. Theobald says, “This wight I have not been able to trace, or discover from what legend our author derived his acquaintance with him.” And yet he is to be met with in Tully's Offices; and the legend is the famous Theopompus's History. “Bargulus Illyrius latro, de quo est apud Theopompum, magnas opes habuit,” lib. ii. cap. II. Warburton. Dr. Farmer observes that Shakespeare might have met with this pirate in two translations. Robert Whytinton, 1533, calls him “Bargulus, a pirate upon the see of Illiry;” and Nicholas Grimald, about twenty-three years afterwards, “Bargulus, the Illyrian robber.” Bargulus does not make his appearance in the quarto; but we meet with another hero in his room. The Captain, says Suffolk, Threatens more plagues than mighty Abradas, The great Macedonian pirate. I know nothing more of this Abradas, than that he is mentioned by Greene in his Penelope's Web, 1601: “Abradas the great Macedonian pirat thought every one had a letter of mart that bare sayles in the ocean.” Steevens. In Cotgrave's Dictionary, Abbras is the name of a terrible gyant in the old Romants: whence, Ce fier Abbras; this kilcow, skarecrow, bugbear, swash-buckler, horrible hackster. Tollet.

Note return to page 632 7Gelidus timor occupat artus:]Ovid. de Tristibus, 313. Steevens.

Note return to page 633 8Come soldiers, shew what cruelty ye can.] Surely this line belongs to the next speech. No cruelty was meditated beyond decollation; and without such an introduction, there is an obscure abruptness in the beginning of Suffolk's reply to the captain. Steevens.

Note return to page 634 9&lblank; bezonians.] See a note on the 2d part of Henry IV, act V. sc. iii: Bisognoso, is a mean low man. So, in Sir Giles Goosecap, 1606: “&lblank; if he come to me like your Besognio or your boor.” Again, in Markham's English Husbandman, p. 4: “The ordinary tillers of the earth, such as we call husbandmen; in France pesants, in Spaine besonyans, and generally the clouthshoe.” Steevens.

Note return to page 635 1A Roman sworder, &c.] i. e. Herennius a centurion, and Popilius Laenas, tribune of the soldiers. Steevens.

Note return to page 636 2&lblank; Brutus' bastard hand] Brutus was the son of Servilia, a Roman lady, who had been concubine to Julius Cæsar. Steevens.

Note return to page 637 3Pompey the great; &c.] The poet seems to have confounded the story of Pompey with some other. Johnson. This circumstance might be advanced as a slight proof, in aid of many stronger, that our poet was no classical scholar. Such a one could not easily have forgotten the manner in which the life of Pompey was concluded. Spenser likewise abounds with deviations from established history and fable. Steevens.

Note return to page 638 4There let his head, &c.] Instead of this speech the quarto gives us the following: Cap. Off with his head, and send it to the queen, And ransomless this prisoner shall go free, To see it safe delivered unto her. Steevens.

Note return to page 639 5&lblank; get thee a sword,] The 4to reads—put a long staff in thy pike, &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 640 6&lblank; a cade of herrings] That is, A barrel of herrings. I suppose the word keg, which is now used, is cade corrupted. Johnson. Nash speaks of having weighed one of Gabriel Harvey's books against a cade of herrings, and says; “That the rebel Jacke Cade was the first that devised to put redde herrings in cades, and from him they have their name.” Praise of the Red Herring, 1599. Steevens.

Note return to page 641 7&lblank; our enemies shall fall before us, &lblank;] He alludes to his name Cade, from cado, Lat. to fall. He has too much learning for his character. Johnson. We John Cade, &c.] This passage, I think, should be regulated thus. Cade. We John Cade, so term'd of our supposed father, for our enemies shall fall before us;— Dick. Or rather of stealing a cade of herrings. Cade. Inspired with the spirit &c. Tyrwhitt.

Note return to page 642 8&lblank; furr'd pack, &lblank;] A wallet or knapsack of skin with the hair outward. Johnson.

Note return to page 643 9&lblank; the three-hoop'd pot shall have ten hoops;] In the Guls Horn-Booke, a satirical pamphlet by Deckar, 1609, hoops are mentioned among other drinking measures: “—his hoopes, cans, half-cans, &c.” And, in Nash's Pierce Pennilesse his Supplication to the Devil, 1595: “I believe hoopes in quart pots were invented to that end, that every man should take his hoope, and no more.” Steevens.

Note return to page 644 1there shall be no money; &lblank;] To mend the world by banishing money is an old contrivance of those who did not consider that the quarrels and mischiefs which arise from money, as the sign or ticket of riches, must, if money were to cease, arise immediately from riches themselves, and could never be at an end till every man was contented with his own share of the goods of life. Johnson.

Note return to page 645 2They use to write it on the top of letters;] i. e. Of letters missive, and such like public acts. See Mabillon's Diplomata. Warburton. In the old anonymous play, called The famous Victories of Henry V. containing the honourable Battell of Agin-court, I find the same circumstance. The archbishop of Burges (i. e. Bruges) is the speaker, and addresses himself to king Henry: “I beseech your grace to deliver me your safe “Conduct, under your broad seal Emanuel.” The king in answer says: “&lblank; deliver him safe conduct “Under our broad seal Emanuel.” Steevens.

Note return to page 646 3&lblank; pass not;] I pay them no regard. Johnson. So, in Drayton's Quest of Cynthia: “Transform me to what shape you can, “I pass not what it be.” Steevens.

Note return to page 647 4&lblank; Lent shall be as long as it is, &lblank;] Methinks it might be read more humorously, Lent shall be as long again as it is. Johnson. The old quarto reads as long again as it is. Steevens.

Note return to page 648 5This monument of the victory will I bear; &lblank;] Here Cade must be supposed to take off Stafford's armour. So, Holinshed: “Jack Cade, upon victory against the Staffords, apparelled himself in sir Humphrey's brigandine, set full of gilt nails, and so in some glory returned again toward London.” Steevens.

Note return to page 649 6If we mean to thrive and do good, &c.] I think it should be read thus, If we mean to thrive, do good; break open the gaols, &c. Johnson.

Note return to page 650 7Rul'd like a wandering planet &lblank;] Predominated irresistibly over my passions, as the planets over the lives of those that are born under their influence. Johnson.

Note return to page 651 8&lblank; retire to Killingworth,] Thus all the modern editors, but we should read to Kenelworth; or perhaps Killingworth might be the old pronunciation. Steevens. [Notes from the 1780 Supplement]9Q0824 In the letter concerning Q. Elizabeth's entertainment at this place, we find, “the castle hath name of Kyllelingwoorth; but of truth, groounded upon faythfull story, Kenelwoorth.” Farmer.

Note return to page 652 9Knock him down there.] So, Holinshed, p. 634: “He also put to execution, &c. and other being his old acquaintance, lest they should bewraie his base lineage, disparaging him for his usurped name of Mortimer.” Steevens.

Note return to page 653 1Matthew Gough] “A man of great wit and much experience in feats of chivalrie, the which in continuall warres had spent his time in service of the king and his father.” Holinshed, p. 635. Steevens.

Note return to page 654 2That the laws of England may come out of your mouth.] This alludes to what Holinshed has related of Wat Tyler, p. 432. “It was reported indeed, that he should saie with great pride, putting his hands to his lipps, that within four daies all the lawes of England should come foorth of his mouth.” Tyrwhitt.

Note return to page 655 3&lblank; thou say, thou serge, &lblank;] Say was the old word for silk; on this depends the series of degradation, from say to serge, from serge to buckram. Johnson. So, in Spenser's Faerie Queen, B. I. c. iv: “All in a kirtle of discolour'd say “He clothed was.” Again, in his Perigot and Cuddy's Roundelay: “And in a kirtle of green say.” It appears, however, from the following passage in the Faery Queen, B. III. c. ii. that say was not silk: “His garment neither was of silk nor say.” Steevens.

Note return to page 656 4&lblank; printing to be us'd; &lblank;] Shakespeare is a little too early with this accusation. Johnson. Shakespeare might have been led into this mistake by Daniel, in the sixth book of his Civil Wars, who introduces printing and artillery as contemporary inventions: “Let there be found two fatal instruments, “The one to publish, th' other to defend “Impious contention, and proud discontents; “Make that instamped characters may send “Abroad to thousands thousand men's intent; “And, in a moment, may dispatch much more “Than could a world of pens perform before.” Shakespeare's absurdities may always be countenanced by those of writers nearly his contemporaries. In the tragedy of Herod and Antipater, by Gervase Markham and William Sampson, who were both scholars, is the following passage: “Though cannons roar yet you must not be deaf.” Spenser mentions cloth made at Lincoln during the ideal reign of K. Arthur, and has adorn'd a castle at the same period “with cloth of Arras and of Toure.” Chaucer introduces guns in the time of Antony and Cleopatra, and (as Mr. Warton has observed) Salvator Rosa places a cannon at the entrance of the tent of Holofernes. Steevens. [Notes from the 1780 Supplement]9Q0826

Note return to page 657 5&lblank; because they could not read thou hast hang'd them; &lblank;] That is, They were hanged because they could not claim the benefit of clergy. Johnson.

Note return to page 658 6&lblank; Thou dost ride on a footcloth, &lblank;] A footcloth was a horse with housings which reached as low as his feet. So, in the tragedy of Muleasses the Turk, 1610: “I have seen, since my coming to Florence, the son of a pedlar mounted on a footcloth.” Steevens.

Note return to page 659 7&lblank; to let thy horse wear a cloak, &lblank;] This is a reproach truly characteristical. Nothing gives so much offence to the lower ranks of mankind as the sight of superfluities merely ostentatious. Johnson.

Note return to page 660 8&lblank; bona terra, mala gens.] After this line the quarto proceed thus: Cade. “Bonum terrum, what's that? Dick. “He speaks French. Will. “No, 'tis Dutch. Nick. “No, 'tis Outalian: I know it well enough.” Holinshed has likewise stigmatized the Kentish men, p. 677. “The Kentish-men, in this season (whose minds be ever moveable at the change of princes) came, &c.” Steevens.

Note return to page 661 9Is term'd the civil'st place of all this isle:] So, in Cæsar's Comment. B. V. “Ex his omnibus sunt humanissimi qui Cantium incolunt.” The passage is thus translated by Arthur Golding, 1590. “Of all the inhabitantes of this isle, the civilest are the Kentishfoke.” Steevens.

Note return to page 662 1When have I aught exacted at your hands? Kent to maintain, the king, the realm, and you, Large gifts have I bestow'd on learned clerks, Because my book preferr'd me to the king.] This passage I know not well how to explain. It is pointed so as to make Say declare that he preferred clerks to maintain Kent and the king. This is not very clear; and besides he gives in the following line another reason of his bounty, that learning raised him, and therefore he supported learning. I am inclined to think Kent slipped into this passage by chance, and would read: When have I aught exacted at your hand, But to maintain the king, the realm, and you? Johnson. I concur with Dr. Johnson in believing the word Kent to have been shuffled into the text by accident. Lord Say, as the passage stands at present, not only declares he had preferred men of learning to maintain Kent, the king, the realm, but adds tautologically you; for it should be remembered that they are Kentish men to whom he is now speaking. I would read, Bent to maintain, &c. i. e. strenuously resolved to the utmost, to &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 663 2Why dost thou quiver, man? &c.] Otway has borrowed this thought in Venice Preserved: “Spinosa. You are trembling, sir. “Renault. 'Tis a cold night indeed, and I am aged, “Full of decay and natural infirmities.” Steevens.

Note return to page 664 3&lblank; he shall die, an it be but for pleading so well for his life.] This sentiment is not merely designed as an expression of ferocious triumph, but to mark the eternal enmity which the vulgar bear to those of more liberal education and superior rank. The vulgar are always ready to depreciate the talents which they behold with envy, and insult the eminence which they despair to reach. Steevens.

Note return to page 665 4&lblank; a familiar under his tongue;] A familiar is a dæmon who was supposed to attend at call. So, in Love's Labour's Lost: “Love is a familiar; there is no angel but love:” Steevens.

Note return to page 666 *&lblank; shall pay to me her maidenhead, &c.] Alluding to an ancient usage on which B. and Fletcher have founded their play called the Custom of the Country. See Mr. Seyward's note at the beginning of it. See also Cowell's Law Dict. in voce Marchet, &c. &c. &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 667 5&lblank; Take up commodities upon our bills?] Perhaps this is an equivoque alluding to the brown bills, or halberds, with which the commons were anciently armed. Percy.

Note return to page 668 6Let them kiss one another;] This is from the Mirrour for Magistrates in the legend of Jack Cade: “With these two heads I made a pretty play, “For pight on poales I bore them through the strete, “And for my sport made each kisse other swete.” Farmer. It is likewise found in Holinshed, p. 634: “and as it were in a spite caused them in every street to kisse together.” Steevens.

Note return to page 669 7Henry hath money, &lblank;] Dr. Warburton reads, Henry hath mercy, but he does not seem to have attended to the speaker's drift, which is to lure them from their present design by the hope of French plunder. He bids them spare England, and go to France, and encourages them by telling them that all is ready for their expedition; that they have strength, and the king has money. Johnson.

Note return to page 670 8Of Gallowglasses and stout Kernes,] These were two orders of foot soldiers among the Irish. See Dr. Warburton's note on the second scene of the first act of Macbeth. Steevens.

Note return to page 671 9Is straitway claim'd and boarded with a pirate:] So the editions read; and one would think it plain enough; alluding to York's claim to the crown. Cade's head-long tumult was well compared to a tempest, as York's premeditated rebellion to a piracy. But see what it is to be critical; Mr. Theobald says, claim'd should be calm'd, because a calm frequently succeeds a tempest. It may be so; but not here, if the king's word may be taken; who expressly says, that no sooner was Cade driven back, but York appeared in arms: But now is Cade driv'n back, his men dispers'd; And now is York in arms to second him. Warburton. Dr. Warburton begins his note by roundly asserting that the editions read claim'd. The passage, indeed, is not found in the quarto; but the folio, 1623, which is the only copy of authority, reads calme. Theobald says, that the third folio had anticipated his correction. I believe calm'd is right. The commotion raised by Cade was over, and the mind of the king was subsiding into a calm, when York appeared in arms, to raise fresh disturbances, and deprive it of its momentary peace. Steevens. [Notes from the 1780 Supplement]9Q0830

Note return to page 672 1A garden in Kent.] Holinshed, p. 635, says: “—a gentleman of Kent, named Alexander Eden, awaited so his time, that he tooke the said Cade in a garden in Sussex, so that there he was slaine at Hothfield, &c.” Instead of the soliloquy with which the present scene begins, the quarto has only this stage direction. Enter Jack Cade at one doore, and at the other M. Alexander Eyden and his men, and Jack Cade lies down picking of hearbes, and eating them. Steevens.

Note return to page 673 2&lblank; but for a sallet, my brain-pan &c.] A sallet by corruption from cælata, a helmet (says Skinner) quia galeæ cælatæ fuerunt. Pope. So, in sir Thomas North's translation of Plutarch, “—One of the company seeing Brutus athirst also, he ran to the river for water, and brought it in his sallet.” Again, Ibid: “Some were driven to fill their salletts and murrians with water.” Again, in The longer thou livest the more Fool thou art, 1570: “This will beare away a good rappe, “As good as a sallet to me verilie.” Steevens.

Note return to page 674 3As for more words, whose greatness answers words, Let this my sword report what speech forbears.] Sir Thomas Hanmer, and, after him, Dr. Warburton, read: As for more words, let this my sword report (Whose greatness answers words) what speech forbears. It seems to be a poor praise of a sword, that its greatness answers words, whatever be the meaning of the expression. The old reading, though somewhat obscure, seems to me more capable of explanation. For more words, whose pomp and tumour may answer words, and only words, I shall forbear them, and refer the rest to my sword. Johnson.

Note return to page 675 4&lblank; when I am dead:] How Iden was to hang a sword over his own tomb, after he was dead, it is not easy to explain. The sentiment is more correctly expressed in the quarto: Oh sword, I'll honour thee for this, and in my chamber Shalt thou hang, as a monument to after age, For this great service thou hast done to me. Steevens.

Note return to page 676 5How much thou wrong'st me, &lblank;] That is, in supposing that I am proud of my victory. Johnson.

Note return to page 677 6So wish I, I might thrust thy soul to hell.] Not to dwell upon the wickedness of this horrid wish, with which Iden debases his character, the whole speech is wild and confused. To draw a man by the heels, headlong, is somewhat difficult; nor can I discover how the dunghill would be his grave, if his trunk were left to be fed upon by crows. These I conceive not to be the faults of corruption but negligence, and therefore do not attempt correction. Johnson. The quarto is more favourable both to Iden's morality and language. It omits this savage wish, and makes him only add, after the lines I have just quoted: I'll drag him hence, and with my sword Cut off his head, and bear it to the king. The player editors seem to have preferred want of humanity and common sense, to fewness of lines, and defect of versification. Steevens.

Note return to page 678 7Ah, sancta majestas!] Thus the old copy; instead of which the modern editors read, Ah, majesty! Steevens.

Note return to page 679 8&lblank; balance it.] That is, Balance my hand. Johnson.

Note return to page 680 9A scepter shall it have, have I a soul;] I read: A scepter shall it have, have I a sword. York observes that his hand must be employed with a sword or scepter; he then naturally observes, that he has a sword, and resolves that if he has a sword he will have a scepter. Johnson. I rather think York means to say—If I have a soul, my hand shall not be without a scepter. Steevens.

Note return to page 681 1May Iden &c.] Iden has said before: Lord! who would live turmoiled in a court, And may enjoy, &c. Shakespeare makes Iden rail at those enjoyments which he supposes to be out of his reach; but no sooner are they offered to him but he readily accepts them. Anonymous.

Note return to page 682 2Wouldst have me kneel? first let me ask of these, If they can brook I bow a knee to man. Sirrah, call in my sons to be my bail.] As these lines have hitherto stood, I think the sense perplexed and obscure. I have ventured to transpose them. Warburton. I believe these lines should be replaced in the order in which they stood till Dr. Warburton transposed them. By these York means his knees. He speaks, as Mr. Upton would have said, &grd;&gre;&gri;&grk;&grt;&gri;&grk;&grw;&grst;: laying his hand upon, or at least pointing to, his knees. Tyrwhitt. The speech originally stood thus: Would'st have me kneel? First let me ask of these, If they can brook I bow a knee to man. Sirrah, call in my sons to be my bail: &lblank; I know, ere they will have me go to ward. They'll pawn their swords of my enfranchisement. Steevens.

Note return to page 683 3Shall be their father's bail; and bane to those] Considering how our author loves to play on words similar in their sound, but opposite in their signification, I make no doubt but the author wrote bail and bale. Bale (from whence our common adjective, baleful) signifies detriment, ruin, misfortune, &c. Theobald. Bale signifies sorrow. Either word may serve. Johnson.

Note return to page 684 4&lblank; a bedlam and ambitious humour] The word bedlam was not used in the reign of king Henry the Sixth, nor was Bethlehem Hospital (vulgarly called Bedlam) converted into a house or hospital for lunatics till the reign of king Henry the Eighth, who gave it to the city of London for that purpose. Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 685 5Call hither to the stake my two brave bears, &lblank; Bid Salisbury and Warwick come &lblank;] The Nevils, earls of Warwick, had a bear and ragged staff for their cognizance; but the Talbots, who were formerly earls of Shrewsbury, had a lion; and the present earl of Talbot, a descendant of that family, has the same. Sir J. Hawkins.

Note return to page 686 6&lblank; fell lurking curs:] Mr. Roderick would read “fell barking;” the author of the Revisal “fell lurching;” but, perhaps, by fell lurking is meant, curs who are at once a compound of cruelty and treachery. Steevens.

Note return to page 687 7Oft have I seen &c.] Bear-baiting was anciently a royal sport. See Stow's Account of Queen Elizabeth's Amusements of this kind; and Langham's Letter concerning that Queen's Entertainment at Kenelworth Castle. Percy.

Note return to page 688 8&lblank; burgonet,] Is a helmet. Johnson. So, in the Martyr'd Soldier, 1638: “&lblank; now tye “Strong charms upon my full-plum'd burgonet.” Steevens.

Note return to page 689 9&lblank; my father's badge,] The quarto reads—age. Steevens.

Note return to page 690 1Foul stigmatic,] A stigmatic is one on whom nature has set a mark of deformity, a stigma. Steevens.

Note return to page 691 2A dreadful lay!] A dreadful wager; a tremendous stake. Johnson.

Note return to page 692 3La fin couronne les œuvres.] The players read: La fin corrone les eumenes. Steevens.

Note return to page 693 4York kills Clifford.] Our author has here departed from the truth of history, a practice not uncommon to him when he does his utmost to make his characters considerable. This circumstance however serves to prepare the reader or spectator for the vengeance afterwards taken by Clifford's son on York and Rutland. It is remarkable, that at the beginning of the third part of this historical play, the poet has forgot this occurrence, and there represents Clifford's death as it really happened: Lord Clifford and lord Stafford all abreast Charg'd our main battle's front; and breaking in, Were by the swords of common soldiers slain. Percy.

Note return to page 694 5And the premised flames &lblank;] Premised, for sent before their time. The sense is, let the flames reserved for the last day be sent now. Warburton.

Note return to page 695 6To cease!] is to stop, a verb active. So, in Timon: “&lblank; be not ceas'd “With slight denial &lblank; Steevens.

Note return to page 696 7&lblank; to atchieve] Is, to obtain. Johnson.

Note return to page 697 8&lblank; to my flaming wrath be oil and flax.] So, in Hamlet: To flaming youth let virtue be as wax, And melt in her own fire. Steevens.

Note return to page 698 9The quarto copy has these lines: Even so will I.—But stay, here's one of them, To whom my soul hath sworn immortal hate. Enter Richard, and then Clifford lays down his father, fights him, and Richard flies away again. Out, crook-back'd villain, get thee from my sight! But I will after thee, and once again (When I have borne my father to his tent) I'll try my fortune better with thee yet. [Exit young Clifford with his father. Steevens.

Note return to page 699 1So, lie thou there; &lblank; For, underneath an ale-house' paltry sign, The Castle in saint Albans, Somerset Hath made the wizard famous &lblank;] The particle for in the second line seems to be used without any very apparent inference. We might read: Fall'n underneath an ale-house' paltry sign, &c. Yet the alteration is not necessary; for the old reading is sense though obscure. Johnson. Thus the passage stands in the quarto: Rich. So lie thou there, and tumble in thy blood! What's here? the sign of the Castle? Then the prophecy is come to pass; For Somerset was forewarned of castles, The which he always did observe; and now, Behold, under a paltry ale-house sign, The Castle in saint Albans, Somerset Hath made the wizard famous by his death. Steevens.

Note return to page 700 2&lblank; famous in his death. &lblank;] The death of Somerset here accomplishes that equivocal prediction given by Jourdain, the witch, concerning this duke; which we met with at the close of the first act of this play: Let him shun castles; Safer shall he be upon the sandy plains, Than where castles, mounted, stand. i. e. the representation of a castle, mounted for a sign. Theobald.

Note return to page 701 3&lblank; all our present parts.] Should we not read?—party. Tyrwhitt.

Note return to page 702 4&lblank; brush of time;] Read bruise of time. Warburton. The brush of time, is the gradual detrition of time. The old reading I suppose to be the true one. So, in Timon: “&lblank; one winter's brush.” Steevens.

Note return to page 703 5&lblank; gallant in the brow of youth,] The brow of youth is an expression not very easily explained. I read the blow of youth; the blossom, the spring. Johnson. The brow of youth, is the height of youth, as the brow of a hill is its summit. So, in Othello: “&lblank; the head and front of my offending.” Again, in K. John: “Why here walk I in the black brow of night.” Steevens.

Note return to page 704 6Three times bestrid him; &lblank;] That is, Three times I saw him fallen, and, striding over him, defended him till he recovered. Johnson.

Note return to page 705 1Third Part &lblank;] First printed under the title of The true Tragedy of Richard Duke of York, and the good King Henry the Sixth; or, The Second Part of the Contention between York and Lancaster, 1600. Pope. Third Part of King Henry VI.] The action of this play (which was at first printed under this title, The true Tragedy of Richard Duke of York, and the good King Henry the Sixth; or, The Second Part of the Contention of York and Lancaster) opens just after the first battle at Saint Albans, wherein the York faction carried the day; and closes with the murder of king Henry VI. and the birth of prince Edward, afterwards king Edward V. So that this history takes in the space of full sixteen years. Theobald. The present historical drama was altered by Crowne, and brought on the stage in the year 1680, under the title of The Miseries of Civil War. Surely the works of Shakespeare could have been little read at that period; for Crowne in his prologue, declares the play to be entirely his own composition: “For by his feeble skill 'tis built alone, “The divine Shakespeare did not lay one stone.” whereas the very first scene is that of Jack Cade copied almost verbatim from the second part of K. Hen. VI. and several others from this third part, with as little variation. Steevens.

Note return to page 706 2I wonder how the king &lblank;] This play is only divided from the former for the convenience of exhibition; for the series of action is continued without interruption, nor are any two scenes of any play more closely connected than the first scene of this play with the last of the former. Johnson.

Note return to page 707 3&lblank; if Warwick shake his bells.] The allusion is to falconry. The hawks had sometimes little bells hung upon them, perhaps to dare the birds; that is, to fright them from rising. Johnson.

Note return to page 708 4&lblank; as the kingdom is.] Thus the quarto 1600, and that without date. The folio erroneously reads: &lblank; as the earldom was. Steevens.

Note return to page 709 5I am the son of Henry the Fifth,] The military reputation of Henry the Fifth is the sole support of his son. The name of Henry the Fifth dispersed the followers of Cade. Johnson.

Note return to page 710 6Think you, 'twere prejudicial to the crown?] The phrase prejudicial to the crown, if it be right, must mean, detrimental to the general rights of hereditary royalty; but I rather think that the transcriber's eye caught crown from the line below, and that we should read prejudicial to his son, to his next heir. Johnson. Dr. Percy observes on Dr. Johnson's note, that son could not have been the right word, as Richard the IId. had no issue; and our author would hardly have used it simply for heir general. Prejudicial to the crown, is right,—i. e. to the prerogative of the crown. Steevens.

Note return to page 711 7They seek revenge, &lblank;] They go away, not because they doubt the justice of this determination, but because they have been conquered, and seek to be revenged. They are not influenced by principle, but passion. Johnson.

Note return to page 712 8What is it, but to make thy sepulchre,] The queen's reproach is founded on a position long received among politicians, that the loss of a king's power is soon followed by loss of life. Johnson.

Note return to page 713 9Whose haughty spirit, winged with desire, Will cost my crown, and, like an empty eagle, Tire on the flesh &lblank;] Read coast, i. e. hover over it. Warburton. The word which Dr. Warburton would introduce, appears to violate the metaphor, nor is to coast used as a term of falconry in any of the books professedly written on that subject. To coast is a sea-faring expression, and means to keep along shore. We may, however, maintain the integrity of the figure, by inserting the word cote, which is used in Hamlet, and in a sense convenient enough on this occasion: “We coted them on the way.” To cote is to come up with, to overtake. So, in The Return from Parnassus, a comedy, 1606: “&lblank; marry, we presently coted and outstript them.” Yet I am not certain, that to coast is a sea-faring expression only. It is used in the following instance to denote speed: “And all in haste she coasteth to the cry.” Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis. Again, in the Loyal Subject, by B. and Fletcher: “Take you those horse, and coast them.” Again, in The Maid of the Mill, by the same authors, two gentlemen are entering, and a lady asks: “&lblank; who are those that coast us?” Mr. Tollet observes, that Dr. Warburton's interpretation may be right, as Holinshed often uses the verb to coast, i. e. to hover, or range about any thing. See Vol. III. p. 352: “William Douglas still coasted the Englishmen, doing them what damage he might.” So, again, p. 387, and 404, and in other writers. Steevens. To tire is to fasten, to fix the talons, from the French tirer. Johnson. To tire is to peck. So, in Decker's Match me in London, 1631: “&lblank; the vulture tires “Upon the eagle's heart.” Steevens.

Note return to page 714 1&lblank; those three lords &lblank;] That is, of Northumberland, Westmorland, and Clifford, who had left him in disgust. Johnson.

Note return to page 715 2&lblank; sons and brother &lblank;] I believe we should read cousin instead of brother, unless brother be used by Shakespeare as a term expressive of endearment, or because they embarked, like brothers, in one cause. Montague was only cousin to York, and in the quarto he is so called. Shakespeare uses the expression, brother of the war, in King Lear. Steevens. It should be sons and brothers; my sons, and brothers to each other. Johnson. &lblank; sons and brother. This is right. In the two succeeding pages York calls Montague brother. This may be in respect to their being brothers of the war, as Mr. Steevens observes, or of the same council as in K. Henry VIII. who says to Cranmer, “You are a brother of us.” Mountague was brother to Warwick; Warwick's daughter was married to a son of York: therefore York and Montague were brothers. But as this alliance did not take place during the life of York, I embrace Mr. Steevens's interpretation rather than suppose that Shakespeare made a mistake about the time of the marriage. Tollet.

Note return to page 716 3No quarrel, but a slight contention.] Thus the players, first, in their edition; who did not understand, I presume, the force of the epithet in the old quarto, which I have restored—sweet contention, i. e. the argument of their dispute was upon a grateful topic; the question of their father's immediate right to the crown. Theobald.

Note return to page 717 4An oath is of no moment, &lblank;] The obligation of an oath is here eluded by very despicable sophistry. A lawful magistrate alone has the power to exact an oath, but the oath derives no part of its force from the magistrate. The plea against the obligation of an oath obliging to maintain an usurper, taken from the unlawfulness of the oath itself in the foregoing play, was rational and just. Johnson.

Note return to page 718 5In former editions: Witty, courteous, liberal, full of spirit.] What a blessed harmonious line have the editors given us! and what a promising epithet, in York's behalf, from the Kentishmen being so witty! I cannot be so partial, however, to my own county, as to let this compliment pass. I make no doubt to read: &lblank; for they are soldiers, Wealthy and courteous, liberal, full of spirit. Now these five characteristics answer to lord Say's description of them in the preceding play: “Kent, in the commentaries Cæsar writ, “Is term'd the civil'st place in all this isle; “The people liberal, valiant, active, wealthy.” Theobald. This is a conjecture of very little import. Johnson. I see no reason for adopting Theobald's emendation. Witty, anciently signified, of sound judgment. The poet calls Buckingham, “the deep-revolving, witty Buckingham.” Steevens.

Note return to page 719 6Enter a Messenger.] Thus the quartos; the folio reads, Enter Gabriel. Steevens.

Note return to page 720 7The queen, with all &c.] I know not whether the author intended any moral instruction, but he that reads this has a striking admonition against that precipitancy by which men often use unlawful to do that which a little delay would put honestly in their power. Had York staid but a few moments, he had saved his cause from the stain of perjury. Johnson.

Note return to page 721 8So looks the pent-up lion &lblank;] That is, The lion that hath been long confined without food, and is let out to devour a man condemned. Johnson.

Note return to page 722 9This line is in Ovid's Epistle from Phillis to Demophoon. I have met with the same quotation in more than one of the old plays. Steevens.

Note return to page 723 1My uncles both are slain in rescuing me;] These were two bastard uncles by the mother's side, sir John and sir Hugh Mortimer. See Grafton's Chronicle. Percy.

Note return to page 724 2We bodg'd again; &lblank;] Of this word the meaning is plain, but I never saw it in any other place. I suppose it is only the word budged, perhaps misprinted. Johnson. [Notes from the 1780 Supplement]9Q0839 I find bodgery used by Nashe in his Apologie of Pierce Penniless, 1593, for botchery. “Do you know your own misbegotten bodgery?” To bodge might therefore mean (as to botch does now) to do a thing imperfectly and aukwardly; and thence to fail or miscarry in an attempt. Malone.

Note return to page 725 3&lblank; noon-tide prick.] Or, noon-tide point on the dial. Johnson.

Note return to page 726 4It is war's prize &lblank;] Read praise. Warburton. I think the old reading right, which means, that all 'vantages are in war lawful prize; that is, may be lawfully taken and used. Johnson.

Note return to page 727 5That raught &lblank;] i. e. That reach'd. The ancient preterite and participle passive of reach. So, Shakespeare in another place: “The hand of death has raught him.” So, in Tancred and Guismund, 1592: “&lblank; she raught the cane, “And with her own sweet hand did give it me.” Again, ibid: “Therewith she raught from her alluring locks “This golden tress.” Steevens.

Note return to page 728 6&lblank; this napkin &lblank;] A napkin is a handkerchief. Johnson.

Note return to page 729 7Putting a paper crown on his head.] Shakespeare has on this occasion deviated from history. The paper crown was not placed on the duke of York's head 'till after it had been cut off. Rutland likewise was not killed by Clifford 'till after his father's death. Steevens.

Note return to page 730 8Upon their woes &lblank;] So, the folio. The quarto reads Upon his woes. Steevens.

Note return to page 731 9'Tis government that makes them seem divine;] Government, in the language of that time, signified evenness of temper, and decency of manners. Johnson.

Note return to page 732 1&lblank; thy wish:] So, the folio. The quarto reads thy will. Steevens.

Note return to page 733 2For raging wind blows up incessant showers,] Thus the folio. The quartos read: For raging winds blow up a storm of tears. Steevens.

Note return to page 734 3And every drop cries vengeance for his death,] So, the folio. The quarto thus: And every drop begs vengeance as it falls, On thee, &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 735 4&lblank; would not have stain'd the roses just with blood:] So, the second folio nonsensically reads the passage; but the old quarto, and first folio editions, of better authority, have it thus: That face of his the hungry cannibals Would not have touch'd, would not have stain'd with blood. And this is sense. Could any one now have believed that an editor of common understanding should reject this, and fasten upon the nonsense of a later edition, only because it afforded matter of conjecture? and yet Mr. Theobald will needs correct, roses just with blood, to roses juic'd with blood, that is, change one blundering editor's nonsense for another's. But if there ever was any meaning in the line, it was thus expressed: Would not have stain'd the roses just in bud. And this the Oxford editor hath espoused. Warburton. &lblank; the roses just with blood.] The words [the roses just] are only found in the second folio. But as without correction they do not make good sense, there is very little reason to suspect their being interpolated, and therefore it is most probable they were preserved among the players by memory. The correction is this: That face of his, the hungry cannibals Would not have touch'd: Would not have stain'd the roses just i' th' bloom. The words [the roses just] were, I suppose, left out by the first editors in order to get rid of the superfluous hemistich. Musgrave.

Note return to page 736 5&lblank; of Hyrcania.] So, the folio. The quartos read of Arcadia. Steevens.

Note return to page 737 6I should not for my life but weep with him, To see how-inly sorrow gripes his soul.] So, the folio. The quartos as follows: I could not choose but weep with him, to see How inward anger gripes his heart. Steevens.

Note return to page 738 7And here's to right our gentle-hearted king.] Thus the folio. The quarto thus: And there's to right our gentle-harted kind. Of these kind of variations there are many, but it is useless labour to enumerate them all. Steevens.

Note return to page 739 8How fares our brother? &lblank;] This scene, in the old quartos, begins thus: “After this dangerous fight and hapless war, “How doth my noble brother Richard fare?” Had the author taken the trouble to revise his play, he hardly would have begun the first act and the second with almost the same exclamation, express'd in almost the same words. Warwick opens the scene with &lblank; I wonder, how the king escap'd our hands. Steevens.

Note return to page 740 9Methinks, 'tis prize enough to be his son.] The old quarto reads pride, which is right, for ambition, i. e. We need not aim at any higher glory than this. Warburton. I believe prize is the right word. Richard's sense is, though we have missed the prize for which we fought, we have yet an honour left that may content us. Johnson.

Note return to page 741 1And takes her farewel of the glorious sun!] Aurora takes for a time her farewel of the sun, when she dismisses him to his diurnal course. Johnson.

Note return to page 742 2&lblank; the racking clouds,] So, in The Raigne of King Edward III. 1596: “&lblank; like inconstant clouds “That, rack'd upon the carriage of the winds, “Encrease and die.” Steevens.

Note return to page 743 3&lblank; blazing by our meeds,] Illustrious and shining by the armorial ensigns granted us as meeds of our great exploits. Meed likewise is merit. It might be plausibly read: &lblank; blazing by our deeds. Johnson.

Note return to page 744 4Oh, speak no more!] The generous tenderness of Edward, and savage fortitude of Richard, are well distinguished by their different reception of their father's death. Johnson.

Note return to page 745 5&lblank; for I have heard too much.] So, the folio. The quartos thus: &lblank; for I can hear no more. Rich. Tell on thy tale, &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 746 6His dukedom and his chair with me is left.] So, the folio. The quartos thus: His chair, and dukedom, that remains for me. Steevens.

Note return to page 747 7Shew thy descent by gazing 'gainst the sun.] So, in Spenser's Hymn of Heavenly Beauty: “&lblank; like the native brood of eagle's kind, “On that bright sun of glory fix thine eyes.” Again, in Solyman and Perseda, 1599: “As air-bred eagles, if they once perceive “That any of their brood but close their sight, “When they should gaze against the glorious sun, “They straitway seize upon him with their talons, “That on the earth it may untimely die, “For looking but askew at heaven's bright eye.” Steevens.

Note return to page 748 8Is 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 dien.” Gray. Spenser mentions a plague “which many did to dye.” Johnson. So, in the Battle of Alcazar, 1594: “We understand that he was done to death.” Again, ibid: “&lblank; done to death with many a mortal wound.” Again, in Orlando Furioso, 1599: “I am the man that did the slave to death.” Steevens.

Note return to page 749 9And very well &c.] This line I have restored from the old quartos. Steevens.

Note return to page 750 1&lblank; like the night-owl's lazy flight,] This image is not very congruous to the subject, nor was it necessary to the comparison, which is happily enough completed by the thresher. Johnson.

Note return to page 751 2&lblank; haught Northumberland,] So, Grafton in his Chronicle says, p. 417: “&lblank; the lord Henry Percy, whom the Scottes for his haut and valiant courage called sir Henry Hotspurre.” Percy. The word is common to many writers. So, in Marlow's K. Edward II. 1622: “This haught resolve becomes your majesty.” Again, in Kyd's Cornelia, 1595: “Pompey, that second Mars, whose haught renown, &c.” Again, in Lylly's Woman in the Moon, 1597: “Thy mind as haught as Jupiter's high thoughts.” Steevens.

Note return to page 752 3&lblank; the easy-melting king, like wax.] So, again in this play, of the Lady Gray: “As red as fire; nay, then her wax must melt.” Johnson.

Note return to page 753 4Why then it sorts; &lblank;] Why then things are as they should be. Johnson. So, in Greene's Card of Fancy, 1608: “&lblank; thy love shall sort to such happy success as thou thyself dost seek for.” Steevens.

Note return to page 754 5&lblank; in safeguard &lblank;] Thus the folio. The quartos read in rescue. Steevens.

Note return to page 755 6&lblank; unloving father.] The quartos read unnatural father. Steevens.

Note return to page 756 7Whose father, &c.] Alluding to a common proverb: Happy the child whose father went to the devil. Johnson.

Note return to page 757 8Than in possession any jot of pleasure. &lblank;] Thus the folio. The quartos thus: Than may the present profit countervaile. Steevens.

Note return to page 758 9&lblank; thirty thousand &lblank;] The quarto reads fifty thousand. Steevens.

Note return to page 759 1Darraign &lblank;] That is, Range your host, put your host in order. Johnson. Chaucer, Skelton, and Spenser, use this word. So, in Guy Earl of Warwick, a Tragical History, 1661: “Darraign our battles, and begin the fight.” The quartos read—Prepare your battles, &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 760 2I would your highness would depart the field; The queen &c.] This superstitious belief relative to the fortunes of our unhappy prince, is yet more circumstantially introduced by Drayton in The Miseries of Queen Margaret: “Some think that Warwick had not lost the day, “But that the king into the field he brought; “For with the worse that side went still away “Which had king Henry with them when they fought; “Upon his birth so sad a curse they lay, “As that he never prospered in aught.   “The queen wan two, among the loss of many,   “Her husband absent; present, never any.” Steevens.

Note return to page 761 3Since when, &c.] The quartos give the remainder of this speech to Clarence, and read: To blot our brother out, &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 762 4Your legs did better service than your hands.] An allusion to the proverb, “One pair of heels is worth two pair of hands.” Steevens.

Note return to page 763 5&lblank; I am resolv'd,] It is my firm persuasion; I am no longer in doubt. Johnson.

Note return to page 764 6&lblank; mis-shapen stigmatic,] “A stigmatic,” says J. Bullokar in his English Expositor, 1616: “is a notorious lewd fellow, which hath been burnt with a hot iron, or beareth other marks about him as a token of his punishment.” The word is likewise used in The Second Part of the Downfall of Robert Earl of Huntington, 1601: “&lblank; that prodigious, bloody stigmatic.” Again, in Drayton's Epistle from Q. Margaret to W. de la Poole: “That foul, ill-favour'd, crook-back'd stigmatic.” Again, in Two Tragedies in One, 1601: “A one-ey'd Cyclop, a stigmatic brat.” Again, in Drayton's epistle from K. John to Matilda: “These for the crook'd, the halt, the stigmatic.” Steevens.

Note return to page 765 7&lblank; lizards' dreadful stings.] Thus the folio. The quartos have this variation: &lblank; or lizards' fainting looks. This is the second time that Shakespeare has armed the lizard (which in reality has no such defence) with a sting; but great powers seem to have been imputed to its looks. So, in Noah's Flood, by Drayton: “The lizard shuts up his sharp-sighted eyes, “Amongst the serpents, and there sadly lies.” Steevens.

Note return to page 766 8 &lblank; gilt,] Gilt is a superficial covering of gold. Steevens.

Note return to page 767 9To let thy tongue detect &lblank;] To shew thy meanness of birth by the indecency of language with which thou railest at my deformity. Johnson. To let thy tongue detect thy base-born heart?] So the folio. The quartos: To parley thus with England's lawful heirs. Steevens.

Note return to page 768 1A wisp of straw &lblank;] I suppose for an instrument of correction that might disgrace but not hurt her. Johnson. I believe that a wisp signified some instrument of correction used in the time of Shakespeare. The following instance seems to favour the supposition. See A Woman never Vexed, a comedy, by Rowley, 1632:   “Nay, worse;—I'll stain thy ruff; nay, worse than that,   “I'll do thus &lblank; [Holds up a wisp.” “&lblank; dost wisp me, thou tatterdemallion?” Again, in Marston's Dutch Courtezan, 1604: “Thou little more than a dwarf, and something less than a woman! “Cris. A wispe! a wispe! a wispe!” Barrett in his Alvearie, or Quadruple Dictionary, 1580, interprets the word wispe by peniculus or &grs;&grp;&gro;&grn;&grg;&gro;&grst;, which signify any thing to wipe or cleanse with; a cook's linen apron, &c. Pewter is still scoured by a wispe of straw, or hay. Perhaps, Edward means one of these wisps, as the denotement of a menial servant. Barrett adds, that, like a wase, it signifies “a wreath to be laied under the vessel that is borne upon the head, as women use.” If this be its true sense, the prince may think that such a wisp would better become the head of Margaret, than a crown. It appears, however, from the following passage in Thomas Drant's translation of the seventh satire of Horace, 1567, that a wispe was the punishment of a scold: “So perfyte and exacte a scoulde that women mighte geve place “Whose tatling tongues had won a wispe, &c.” Steevens. [Notes from the 1780 Supplement]9Q0844

Note return to page 769 2To make this shameless callat know herself. &lblank;] 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 head-dress 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 Remedy of Love, ver. 307. 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.” Ben Jonson's Volpone, act IV. sc. iii. Gray.

Note return to page 770 3&lblank; hath broach'd this tumult, &lblank;] The quarto reads, “hath mov'd this,” &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 771 4&lblank; we saw our sun-shine made thy spring, And that thy summer bred us no encrease,] When we saw that by favouring thee we made thee grow in fortune, but that we received no advantage from thy fortune flourishing by our favour, we then resolved to destroy thee, and determine to try some other means, though our first efforts have failed. Johnson. The quartos read: But when we saw our summer brought thee gain, And that the harvest brought us no increase. Steevens.

Note return to page 772 5Forspent with toil, &lblank;] Thus the folio. The quartos read “Sore spent,” &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 773 6Smile, gentle heaven! &c.] Thus the folio. Instead of these lines, the quartos give the following: Smile, gentle heavens, or strike, ungentle death, That we may die unless we gain the day! What fatal star malignant frowns from heaven Upon the harmless line of York's true house? Steevens.

Note return to page 774 7Our hap is loss, &c] Thus the folio. The quartos thus: Come, brother, come, let's to the field again, For yet there's hope enough to win the day: Then let us back to cheer our fainting troops, Lest they retire now we have left the field. War. How now, my lords? what hap? what hope of good?” Steevens.

Note return to page 775 8Thy brother's blood the thirsty earth hath drunk,] This passage, from the variation of the copies, gave me no little perplexity. The old quarto applies this description to the death of Salisbury, Warwick's father. But this was a notorious deviation from the truth of history. For the earl of Salisbury in the battle at Wakefield, wherein Richard duke of York lost his life, was taken prisoner, beheaded at Pomfret, and his head, together with the duke of York's, fixed over York gates. Then the only brother of Warwick, introduced in this play, is the marquess of Montacute (or Montague, as he is called by our author): but he does not die till ten years after, in the battle at Barnet; where Warwick likewise was killed. The truth is, the brother here mentioned is no person in the drama, and his death is only an incidental piece of history. Consulting the chronicles, upon this action at Ferrybridge, I find him to have been a natural son of Salisbury (in that respect a brother to Warwick) and esteemed a valiant young gentleman. Theobald. Thy brother's blood, &c.] Instead of this speech, which is printed, like almost all the rest of the play, from the folio, the quartos give the following: Thy noble father in the thickest throngs Cry'd still for Warwick, his thrice valiant son; Until with thousand swords he was beset, And many wounds made in his aged breast. And, as he tottering sat upon his steed, He waft his hand to me, and cried aloud, Richard, commend me to my valiant son: And still he cried, Warwick, revenge my death! And with these words he tumbled off his horse; And so the noble Salisbury gave up the ghost. Steevens.

Note return to page 776 9I'll kill my horse, &c.] So, in the Miseries of Queen Margaret by Drayton: “Resolv'd to win, or bid the world adieu: “Which spoke, the earl his sprightly courser slew.” Again, in Daniel's Civil Wars, B. VIII. St. xiii. Steevens.

Note return to page 777 1And in this vow do chain my soul to thine.—] Thus the folio. The quarto as follows: “And in that vow now join my soul to thee. Steevens.

Note return to page 778 2Fore-slow no longer, &lblank;] To fore-slow is to be dilatory, to loiter. So, in the Battle of Alcazar, 1594: “Why, king Sebastian, wilt thou now foreslow?” Again, in Marlow's Edward II. 1612: “Foreslow no time; sweet Lancaster, let's march.” Again, in Promos and Cassandra, 1578: “Good knight, for time do not my suit foreslow.” Again, in Drayton's Miseries of Queen Margaret: “No time therein she meaneth to foreslow.” Again, in The weakest goes to the Wall, 1618: “And you foreslow the present time's occasion.” Again in Turbervile's Book on Hawking, 1575: “Water doth foreslow her mewing.” I have been the more liberal of instances, because I suppose fore-slow is one of the words in this play which Mr. Theobald has distinguished as obsolete in the time of Shakespeare. Steevens.

Note return to page 779 3Now, Clifford, I have singled thee alone: &c.] Thus the folio. The quartos thus: Now, Clifford, for York and young Rutland's death, This thirsty sword, that longs to drink thy blood, Shall lop thy limbs, and slice thy cursed heart, For to revenge the murders thou hast made. Steevens.

Note return to page 780 4This battle fares like to the morning's war, &c.] Instead of this interesting speech, the quartos exhibit only the following: Oh gracious God of heaven, look down on us, And set some ends to these incessant griefs! How like a mastless ship upon the seas, This woeful battle doth continue still, Now leaning this way, now to that side driven, And none doth know to whom the day will fall. Oh, would my death might stay these civil* [Footnote: 1Kb]

Note return to page 781 *The quarto 1600 reads—cruel jars.

Note return to page 782 5&lblank; methinks it were a happy life,] This speech is mournful and soft, exquisitely suited to the character of the king, and makes a pleasing interchange, by affording, amidst the tumult and horror of the battle, an unexpected glimpse of rural innocence and pastoral tranquillity. Johnson.

Note return to page 783 6So many months &lblank;] The old copy reads so many years; and in the next line, weeks was supplied by Mr. Rowe. Steevens.

Note return to page 784 7These two horrible incidents are selected to shew the innumerable calamities of civil war. Johnson. In the battle of Constantine and Maxentius, by Raphael, the second of these incidents is introduced on a similar occasion. Steevens.

Note return to page 785 8And let our hearts and eyes, like civil war, Be blind with tears, and break o'ercharg'd with grief. The meaning is here inaccurately expressed. The king intends to say that the state of their hearts and eyes shall be like that of the kingdom in a civil war, all shall be destroyed by power formed within themselves. Johnson.

Note return to page 786 9&lblank; what showers arise, Blown with the windy tempest of my heart] This image had occurred in the preceding act: For raging wind blows up incessant show'rs. Steevens.

Note return to page 787 1What stratagems, &lblank;] Stratagem seems to stand here only for an event of war, or may intend snares and surprizes. Johnson.

Note return to page 788 2O boy! thy father gave thee life too soon,] Because had he been born later he would not now have been of years to engage in this quarrel. Johnson. And hath berest thee of thy life too late!] i. e. He should have done it by not bringing thee into being, to make both father and son thus miserable. This is the sense, such as it is, of the two lines; however, an indifferent sense was better than none, as it is brought to by the Oxford editor, by reading the lines thus: O boy! thy father gave thee life too late, And hath bereft thee of thy life too soon. Warburton. I rather think the meaning of the line, And hath bereft thee of thy life too soon, to be this: Thy father exposed thee to danger by giving thee life too soon, and hath bereft thee of life by living himself too long. Johnson. The Oxford editor might have justified the change he made, from the authority of the quarto, according to which I would read; explaining the first line thus. Thy father begot thee at too late a period of his life, and therefore thou wert not old and strong enough to cope with him. The next line can want no explanation. Mr. Tollet thinks, that by too late, is meant too lately, as in K. Rich. III. act III: “Too late he died that might have kept that title.” Steevens.

Note return to page 789 3Wither one rose, and let the other flourish! &c.] Thus the folio. The quartos thus: “For if you strive, a thousand lives must perish.” Steevens.

Note return to page 790 4How will the country, &c.] So, the folio. The quartos thus: How will the country now misdeem their king! Oh, would my death their minds could satisfy! To mis-think is to think ill, unfavourably. So, in the Northern Lass, 1613: “&lblank; and heaven pardon me what I mis-thought every hour of the night!” Steevens.

Note return to page 791 5And so obsequious will thy father be,] Obsequious is here careful of obsequies, or of funeral rites. Johnson. In the same sense it is used in Hamlet: “&lblank; to do obsequious sorrow.” Steevens.

Note return to page 792 6Sad for the loss of thee,] The old copy reads—men for the loss, &c. Mr. Rowe made the alteration, but I think we might read man. Steevens.

Note return to page 793 7As Priam was for all &lblank;] I having but one son, will grieve as much for that one, as Priam, who had many, could grieve for many. Johnson.

Note return to page 794 8Enter Clifford, wounded.] The quarto adds, with an arrow in his neck. In ridicule of this B. and Fletcher have introduced Ralph, the grocer's prentice, in the Knight of the Burning Pestle, with a forked arrow through his head. It appears, however, from Holinshed, p. 664, that this circumstance has some relation to the truth: “The lord Clifford, either for heat or paine, putting off his gorget suddenlie, with an arrow (as some saie) without a head, was striken into the throte, and immediately rendered his spirit.” Steevens.

Note return to page 795 9&lblank; thy tough commixture &lblank;] Perhaps better, the tough commixture. Johnson. The quartos read “that tough commixture melts.” Steevens.

Note return to page 796 1No way to fly, nor strength to hold our flight.] This line is clear and proper as it is now read; yet perhaps an opposition of images was meant, and Clifford said: No way to fly, nor strength to hold out fight. Johnson. The quartos read “no strength to hold out flight.” i.e. No way to fly, nor with strength sufficient left to sustain myself in flight, if there were. Steevens.

Note return to page 797 2I stabb'd your fathers' bosoms; split my breast.] So the folio. The quartos read: “I stabb'd your father's, now come split my breast.” Steevens.

Note return to page 798 3Now breathe we, lords; &c.] Instead of this speech, the quartos have the following: Thus far our fortunes keep an upward course, And we are grac'd with wreaths of victory. Some troops pursue the bloody-minded queen, That now towards Berwick doth post amain: &lblank; But think you that Clifford is fled away with them? Steevens.

Note return to page 799 4Edw. Whose soul &c.] I have distinguished these speeches according to the authority of the quarto. The folio gave all to Richard, except the last line and half. Steevens.

Note return to page 800 5&lblank; like life and death's departing.] Sir Thomas Hanmer reads, like life in death departing; which Dr. Warburton has received. Johnson. The quartos read, like life and death's departure. Steevens. There is no occasion for correction. “'Till death us depart” was the expression in the old Marriage Service. Farmer.

Note return to page 801 6&lblank; eager words.] Sour words; words of asperity. Johnson. So, in Hamlet: “It is a nipping and an eager air.” Steevens.

Note return to page 802 7And then to Britany I'll cross the sea,] Thus the folio. The quartos thus: And afterwards I'll cross the seas to France. Steevens.

Note return to page 803 8&lblank; too ominous] Alluding, perhaps, to the deaths of Thomas of Woodstock, and Humphrey, dukes of Gloster. Steevens.

Note return to page 804 9Enter Sinklo] Dr. Gray observes from Hall and Holinshed, that the name of the person who took K. Henry, was Cantlowe. See Mr. Tyrwhitt's note on the first scene in the Taming of a Shrew. Steevens.

Note return to page 805 1&lblank; this laund &lblank;] Laund means the same as lawn; a plain extended between woods. So, in the play of Orlando Furioso, 1594: “And that they trace the shady lawnds, &c.” Again: “Tread she these lawnds, kind Flora boasts her pride.” Steevens.

Note return to page 806 2&lblank; the noise of thy cross-bow] The poet appears not to have forgot the secrets of his former profession. So, in the Merry Devil of Edmonton, 1626: “&lblank; Did I not hear a bow go off, and the buck bray?” Steevens.

Note return to page 807 3&lblank; let's stay 'till he be past.] So the folio. The quartos read: &lblank; let's listen him a while. Steevens.

Note return to page 808 4To greet mine own land with my wishful sight.] So, the folio. The quartos perhaps better thus: And thus disguis'd to greet my native land. Steevens.

Note return to page 809 5Thy balm wash'd off, &lblank;] This is an image very frequent in the works of Shakespeare. So, again, in this scene: I was anointed king. It is common in these plays to find the same images, whether jocular or serious, frequently recurring. Johnson.

Note return to page 810 6This is the quondam king; &c.] Thus the folio. The quartos thus: Ay, marry, sir, here's a deer, his skin is a Keeper's fee. Sirrah stand close, for as I think, This is the king, king Edward hath depos'd. Steevens.

Note return to page 811 *&lblank; these four adversities;] The old copy reads—the sowre adversaries. Steevens.

Note return to page 812 7And Nero will &lblank;] Perhaps we might better read, A Nero will &lblank;. Steevens.

Note return to page 813 8Inferreth arguments of mighty strength;] In the former act was the same line: Inferring arguments of mighty force. Johnson.

Note return to page 814 9O Margaret, &c.] The piety of Henry scarce interests us more for his misfortunes, than this his constant solicitude for the welfare of his deceitful queen. Steevens.

Note return to page 815 1&lblank; less than I was born to:] Thus the folio. The quartos thus: &lblank; for less I should not be. Steevens.

Note return to page 816 2&lblank; for less I should not be;] Such is the reading of the folio. The quartos thus, &lblank; and more I cannot be. Steevens.

Note return to page 817 3&lblank; and that's enough.] So, the folio. The quartos thus: &lblank; though not in shew. Steevens.

Note return to page 818 4And we his subjects, &c.] So, the folio. The quartos thus: And therefore we charge you in God's name, and the king's, To go along with us unto the officers. Steevens.

Note return to page 819 5In God's name, lead; &c.] So, the folio. Instead of this speech, the quartos have the following: God's name be fulfill'd, your king's name be Obey'd; and be you kings; command, and I'll obey. Steevens.

Note return to page 820 6&lblank; Sir John Grey, &lblank;] Vid. Hall, 3d Year of Edw. IV. folio 5. It was hitherto falsly printed Richard. Pope.

Note return to page 821 7Glo. Yea, is it so? &c.] So the folio. The quartos read with the following variations: Glo. I, Is the wind in that door? Clar. I see the lady, &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 822 8Widow, we will consider &lblank;] This is a very lively and spritely dialogue; the reciprocation is quicker than is common in Shakespeare. Johnson.

Note return to page 823 9Her looks do argue her replete with modesty:] So, the folio. The quartos read: Her looks are all replete with majesty. Steevens.

Note return to page 824 1And yet too good to be your concubine.] So, in Warner's Albion's England, 1602, B. VII. chap. xxxiv: “His plea was love, my suit was land: I plie him, he plies me: “Too bace to be his queene, too good his concubine to be.” Shakespeare, however, adopted the words from Stowe's Chronicle. Steevens.

Note return to page 825 2Thou art a widow, &c.] This is part of the king's reply to his mother in Stowe's Chronicle: “That she is a widow, and hath already children; by God's blessed lady I am a batchelor, and have some too, and so each of us hath a proofe that neither of us is like to be barrain; &c.” Steevens.

Note return to page 826 3I'll make my heaven &c.] Thus the folio. The quartos alter and transpose the two lines, as follows: I will go clad my body with gay ornaments, And lull myself within a lady's lap. Steevens.

Note return to page 827 4&lblank; like a wither'd shrub;] So the folio. The quartos &lblank; like a wither'd shrimp. Steevens.

Note return to page 828 5&lblank; unlick'd bear-whelp,] It was an opinion which, in spite of its absurdity, prevailed long, that the bear brings forth only shapeless lumps of animated flesh, which she licks into the form of bears. It is now well known that the whelps of the bear are produced in the same state with those of other creatures Johnson.

Note return to page 829 6&lblank; to o'erbear such As are of better person than myself,] Richard speaks here the language of nature. Whoever is stigmatized with deformity has a constant source of envy in his mind, and would counter-balance by some other superiority these advantages which he feels himself to want. Bacon remarks that the deformed are commonly daring; and it is almost proverbially observed that they are ill-natured. The truth is, that the deformed, like all other men, are displeased with inferiority, and endeavour to gain ground by good or bad means, as they are virtuous or corrupt. Johnson.

Note return to page 830 7[Table: 1Kb] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Until my mis-shap'd trunk that bears this head, Be round impaled &c.] A transposition seems to be necessary: [Table: 1Kb] 1 2 8 5 7 3 4 6 “Until my head, that this mis-shap'd trunk bears.” Otherwise the trunk that bears the head is to be encircled with the crown, and not the head itself. Steevens.

Note return to page 831 8&lblank; impaled &lblank;] i. e. encircled. So, in Heywood's Rape of Lucrece, 1630: “Tear off the crown that yet empales his temples.” Steevens.

Note return to page 832 9And set the murderous Machiavel to school.] As this is an anachronism, and the old quarto reads: And set the aspiring Cataline to school. I don't know why it should not be preferred. Warburton. This is not the first proof I have met with, that Shakespeare in his attempts to familiarize his ideas, has diminished their propriety. Steevens.

Note return to page 833 1Fair queen of England, &c.] Thus the folio. The quartos give the following: Welcome, queen Margaret, to the court of France, It fits not Lewis to sit while thou dost stand. Sit by my side; and here I vow to thee, Thou shalt have aid to re-possess thy right, And beat proud Edward from his usurped seat, And place king Henry in his former rule. Steevens.

Note return to page 834 2No, mighty king of France; &c.] Instead of this speech the quartos only supply the following: Queen. I humbly thank your royal majesty, And pray the God of heaven to bless thy state, Great king of France, that thus regard'st our wrongs. Steevens.

Note return to page 835 3O, but impatience waiteth on true sorrow: And see, where comes the breeder of my sorrow.] How does impatience more particularly wait on true sorrow? On the contrary, such sorrow as the queen's, which came gradually on through a long course of misfortunes, is generally less impatient than that of those who have fallen into sudden miseries. The true reading seems to be: O, but impatience waiting, rues to-morrow: And see, where comes the breeder of my sorrow. i. e. When impatience waits and solicits for redress, there is nothing she so much dreads as being put off till to-morrow (a proverbial expression for procrastination). This was a very proper reply to what the king said last, and in a sentiment worthy of the poet. A rhime too is added, as was customary with him at the closing a scene. Warburton. It is strange that, when the sense is so clear, any commentator should thus laboriously obscure it, to introduce a new reading; and yet stranger that he should shew such confidence in his emendation as to insert it in the text. Johnson.

Note return to page 836 4&lblank; Henry's hope is done.] So, the folio. The quartos read: &lblank; all our hope is done. Steevens.

Note return to page 837 5Hath plac'd thy beauty's image, and thy virtue.] So, the folio. The quartos thus: Hath plac'd thy glorious image, and thy vertues. Steevens.

Note return to page 838 6&lblank; to the wisest;] So, the folio. The quartos, &lblank; to the world. Steevens.

Note return to page 839 7&lblank; thirty-and-six years,] So, the folio. The quartos, thirty and eight years. Steevens.

Note return to page 840 8When nature brought him to the door of death?] Thus the folio. The quartos: When age did call him to the door of death. Steevens. This passage unavoidably brings before the mind that admirable image of old age in Sackville's Induction: “His withered fist still knocking at deathe's dore, &c.” Farmer.

Note return to page 841 9&lblank; that were not lawful chosen.] Thus the folio. The quartos as follows: &lblank; that is not lawful heir. Steevens.

Note return to page 842 1That this his love was an external plant;] The old quarto reads rightly eternal; alluding to the plants of Paradise. Warburton.

Note return to page 843 2Exempt from envy, but not from disdain,] Envy is always supposed to have some fascinating or blasting power; and to be out of the reach of envy is therefore a privilege belonging only to great excellence. I know not well why envy is mentioned here, or whose envy can be meant; but the meaning is, that his love is superior to envy, and can feel no blast from the lady's disdain. Or, that if Bona refuse to quit or requite his pain, his love may turn to disdain, though the consciousness of his own merit will exempt him from the pangs of envy. Johnson. I believe envy is in this place, as in many others, put for malice or hatred. His situation places him above these, though it cannot secure him from female disdain. Steevens.

Note return to page 844 3You have a father able &lblank;] This seems ironical. The poverty of Margaret's father is a very frequent topic of reproach. Johnson.

Note return to page 845 4Thy sly conveyance, &lblank;] Conveyance is juggling, and thence is taken for artifice and fraud. Johnson.

Note return to page 846 5Did I let pass the abuse done to my niece?] Thus Holinshed, p. 668: “King Edward did attempt a thing once in the earles house which was much against the earles honestie (whether he would have defloured his daughter or his niece, the certaintie was not for both their honours revealed) for surely such a thing was attempted by king Edward.” Steevens.

Note return to page 847 6Did I put Henry from his native right, &c.] Thus the folio. The quartos read: And thrust king Henry from his native home? And (most ungrateful) doth he use me thus? Steevens.

Note return to page 848 7&lblank; go fear thy king &lblank;] That is, fright thy king. Johnson.

Note return to page 849 8&lblank; to put armour on.] It was once no unusual thing for queens themselves to appear in armour at the head of their forces. The suit which Elizabeth wore when she rode through the lines at Tilbury to encourage the troops, on the approach of the armada, may be still seen in the tower. Steevens.

Note return to page 850 *&lblank; thy reward;] Here we are to suppose that, according to ancient custom, Warwick makes a present to the herald or messenger, whom the original copies call—a Post. Steevens.

Note return to page 851 9&lblank; and bid false Edward battle:] This phrase is common to many of our ancient writers. So, in the Misfortunes of King Arthur, a dramatic performance, 1587: “&lblank; my flesh abhorrs “To bid the battle to my proper blood.” Steevens.

Note return to page 852 1In former copies: I'll join my eldest daughter and my joy, To him forthwith, &lblank;] Surely this is a mistake of the copyists. Hall, in the ninth year of K. Edward IV. says, “Edward prince of Wales wedded Anne second daughter to the earl of Warwick.” And the duke of Clarence was in love with the elder, the lady Isabel; and in reality was married to her five years before prince Edward took the lady Anne to wife. And in King Richard the Third, Gloucester, who married this lady Anne when a widow, says: “For then I'll marry Warwick's youngest daughter. “What though I kill'd her husband and her father?” i. e. Prince Edward, and king Henry VI. her father-in-law. See likewise Holinshed in his Chronicle, p. 671 and 674. Theobald.

Note return to page 853 2Yes, I agree, &c.] Instead of this speech, the quarto has only the following: With all my heart; I like this match full well. Love her, son Edward; she is fair and young; And give thy hand to Warwick, for his love.” Steevens.

Note return to page 854 3This stage direction is sufficient proof that the play, as exhibited in the folio, was printed from a stage copy. I suppose these eight important personages were attendants. Steevens.

Note return to page 855 4&lblank; are you offended too?] So, the folio. The quartos &lblank; are you against us too? Steevens.

Note return to page 856 5Cla. Then this is my opinion,—&c.] Instead of this and the following speech, the quartos read thus: Cla. My lord, then this is my opinion; That Warwick, being dishonour'd in his embassage, Doth seek revenge, to quit his injuries. Glo. And Lewis in regard of his sister's wrongs, Doth join with Warwick to supplant your state. Steevens.

Note return to page 857 6&lblank; with the seas,] This has been the advice of every man who in any age understood and favoured the interest of England. Johnson.

Note return to page 858 7And yet, methinks, &c.] The quartos vary from the folio, as follows: Cla. Ay, and for such a thing too, the lord Scales Did well deserve at your hands, to have the Daughter of the lord Bonfield; and left your Brothers to go seek elsewhere; but in your madness You bury brotherhood. Steevens.

Note return to page 859 8&lblank; you would not have bestow'd the heir] It must be remembered, that till the Restoration, the heiresses of great estates were in the wardship of the king, who in their minority gave them up to plunder, and afterwards matched them to his favourites. I know not when liberty gained more than by the abolition of the court of wards. Johnson.

Note return to page 860 9&lblank; to my marriage?] The quartos read: &lblank; to these wrongs. Steevens.

Note return to page 861 1Belike the elder; Clarence will have the younger.] I have ventured to make elder and younger change places in this line against the authority of all the printed copies. The reason of it will be obvious. Theobald.

Note return to page 862 2You, that love me and Warwick, follow me.] That Clarence should make this speech in the king's hearing is very improbable, yet I do not see how it can be palliated. The king never goes out, nor can Clarence be talking to a company apart, for he answers immediately to that which the Post says to the king. Johnson. You, that love me and Warwick, follow me.] When the earl of Essex attempted to raise a rebellion in the city, with a design, as was supposed, to storm the queen's palace, he ran about the streets with his sword drawn, crying out, “They that love me, follow me.” Steevens.

Note return to page 863 3Pembroke, and Stafford, &c.] The quartos give the passage thus: Pembroke go raise an army presently; Pitch up my tent; for in the field this night I mean to rest; and, on the morrow morn, I'll march to meet proud Warwick, ere he land Those straggling troops which he hath got in France, &c.” Steevens.

Note return to page 864 4Ay, in despight of all that shall withstand you.] The quartos continue the speech thus: Ay, my lord, in despight of all that shall withstand you; For why hath nature made me halt downright, But that I should be valiant, and stand to it; For if I would, I cannot run away. Steevens.

Note return to page 865 5&lblank; night's overture,] The author must, I think, have written night's coverture. For though overture, which signifies first an opening, then an offer, may likewise mean an opportunity, yet in an overture seems to be an improper phrase. Johnson. Coverture is the reading of the old quartos as well as the folio; and these are the only authentick copies of the three parts of this play. Steevens.

Note return to page 866 6His soldiers lurking in the town about,] Dr. Thirlby advised the reading towns here; the guard in the scene immediately following says: &lblank; but why commands the king, That his chief followers lodge in towns about him. Theobald.

Note return to page 867 7&lblank; very easy:] Here the quartos conclude this speech, adding only the following lines: Then cry king Henry with resolved minds, And break we presently into his tent. Steevens.

Note return to page 868 8So we, well cover'd with the night's black mantle,] This line may confirm the reading of coverture. Johnson.

Note return to page 869 9And come now to create you duke of York.] Might we read with a slight alteration? And come to new create you duke of York. Johnson.

Note return to page 870 1What now remains, &c.] Instead of this and the following speech, the quartos have: Clar. What follows now? all hitherto goes well, But we must dispatch some letters into France, To tell the queen of our happy fortune; And bid her come with speed to join with us. War. Ay, that's the first thing that we have to do, And free king Henry form imprisonment, And see him seated on the regal throne. Come, let's away; and, having past these cares, I'll post to York, and see how Edward fares. Steevens.

Note return to page 871 2Enter Rivers, &c.] Throughout this scene the quartos vary in almost every speech from the folio. The variations however are hardly such as to deserve notice. Steevens.

Note return to page 872 3&lblank; few men rightly temper with the stars;] I suppose the meaning is, that few men conform their temper to their destiny, which king Henry did, when finding himself unfortunate he gave the management of public affairs to more prosperous hands. Johnson.

Note return to page 873 4This pretty lad &lblank;] He was afterwards Henry VII, a man who put an end to the civil war of the two houses, but not otherwise remarkable for virtue. Shakespeare knew his trade. Henry VII. was grandfather to queen Elizabeth, and the king from whom James inherited. Johnson. Shakespeare only copied this particular, together with many others, from Holinshed: “&lblank; whom when the king had a good while beheld, he said to such princes as were with him: Lo, suerlie this is he, to whom both we and our adversaries leaving the possession of all things, shall hereafter give roome and place.” p. 678. This pretty lad will prove our country's bliss.] Thus the folio. The quartos thus: “Thou, pretty boy, shalt prove this country's bliss.” Steevens.

Note return to page 874 5Now, brother Richard, &c.] Instead of this and the three following speeches, the quartos read only: Enter Edward and Richard, with a troop of Hollanders. Edw. Thus far from Belgia have we past the seas, And march'd from Raunspur-haven unto York: But soft! the gates are shut; I like not this. Rich. Sound up the drum, and call them to the walls. Steevens.

Note return to page 875 6The good old man would fain that all were well,] The mayor is willing we should enter, so he may not be blamed. Johnson.

Note return to page 876 7The bruit] i. e. noise. So, in Preston's Cambises: “&lblank; whose manly acts do fly “By bruit of fame.” &lblank; Steevens.

Note return to page 877 8Thanks, brave Montgomery; &c.] Instead of this speech, the quartos have only the following: Edw. We thank you all: lord mayor, lead on the way. For this night we will harbour here in York; And then as early as the morning sun Lifts up his beams above this horizon, We'll march to London to meet with Warwick, And pull false Henry from the regal throne. Steevens.

Note return to page 878 9Let's levy men, and beat him back again.] This line expresses a spirit of war so unsuitable to the character of Henry, that I would give the first cold speech to the king, and the brisk answer to Warwick. This line is not in the old quarto; and when Henry said nothing, the first speech might be as properly given to Warwick as to any other. Johnson. Every judicious reader must concur in this opinion. Steevens.

Note return to page 879 1&lblank; my meed hath got me fame:] Meed signifies reward. We should read, my deed, i. e. my manners, conduct in the administration. Warburton. 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 Way backward and forward. Sir John Hawkins.

Note return to page 880 2Shout within. A Lancaster!] Surely the shouts that ushered king Edward should be, A York! A York! I suppose the author did not write the marginal directions, and the players confounded the characters. Johnson.

Note return to page 881 3&lblank; at Dunsmore, &lblank;] The quartos read &lblank; at Daintry. Steevens.

Note return to page 882 4&lblank; at Daintry, &lblank;] The quartos read &lblank; at Dunsmore. Steevens.

Note return to page 883 5The king was slily finger'd from the deck!] &lblank; slily finger'd &lblank;] The quartos read—finely finger'd. Finely is subtily. So, in Holinshed's reign of K. Henry VI. p. 640. “In his way he tooke by fine force, a tower, &c.” Again, p. 649, “ &lblank; and by fine force either to win their purpose, or end their lives in the same.” A pack of cards was anciently term'd a deck of caras, or a pair of cards. It is still, as I am informed, so called in Ireland. Thus, in K. Edward I. 1599: “&lblank; as it were, turned us, with duces and trays, out of the deck.” Again, in the Two Maids of Moreclacke, 1609: “I'll deal the cards and cut you from the deck.” Again, in Selimus Emperor of the Turks, 1638: “Well, if I chance but once to get the deck, “To deal about and shuffle as I would.” Steevens.

Note return to page 884 7The gates are open, let us enter too.] Thus the folio. The quartos read: The gates are open, see they enter in, Let's follow them, and bid them battle in the streets. Edw. No: so some other might set upon our backs, We'll stay till all be enter'd, and then follow them. Steevens.

Note return to page 885 8&lblank; to bid his brother battle;] Here the quartos conclude this speech, and add the following: Clar. Clarence, for Lancaster! Edw. Et tu Brute! wilt thou stab Cæsar too? A parly, sirra, to George of Clarence. Steevens.

Note return to page 886 9A parley is sounded; &c.] This note of direction I restored from the old quarto. And, without it, it is impossible that any reader can guess at the meaning of this line of Clarence: Look, here, I throw my infamy at thee. Theobald.

Note return to page 887 1&lblank; to lime the stones &lblank;] That is, To cement the stones. Lime makes mortar. Johnson.

Note return to page 888 2&lblank; blunt, &lblank;] Stupid, insensible of paternal fondness. Johnson.

Note return to page 889 3&lblank; passing &lblank;] Eminent, egregious; traiterous beyond the common track of treason. Johnson.

Note return to page 890 4For Warwick was a bug that fear'd us all.—] Bug is a bugbear, a terrific being. Johnson. So, in Cymbeline: “&lblank; are become “The mortal bugs o' the field.” Again, in Stephen Gosson's School of Abuse, 1579: “These bugges are fitter to feare babes than to move men.” Again, in Spenser's Fairy Queen, B. II. c. xii: “Be but as bugs to fearen babes withal.” Steevens.

Note return to page 891 5Thus yields the cedar to the axe's edge, Whose arms gave shelter to the princely eagle, Under whose shade the ramping lion slept; &c.] It has been observed to me that the 31st chapter of the prophet Ezechiel suggested these images to Shakespeare. “All the fowls of heaven made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young.” Steevens.

Note return to page 892 6 Cedes coemptis saltibus, et domo, villâque. Hor. This mention of his parks and manors diminishes the pathetic effect of the foregoing lines. Johnson.

Note return to page 893 7Ah, Warwick, Warwick! &c.] These two speeches stand thus in the quartos: Oxf. Ah, Warwick, Warwick! chear up thyself, and live; For yet there's hope enough to win the day. Our warlike queen with troops is come from France, And at Southampton landed hath her train; And, might'st thou live, then would we never fly. War. Why, then I would not fly, nor have I now; But Hercules himself must yield to odds: For many wounds receiv'd, and many more repaid, Hath robb'd my strong-knit sinews of their strength, And spite of spites needs must I yield to death. Steevens.

Note return to page 894 8Which sounded like a cannon in a vault,] The old quarto reads clamour, which is undoubtedly right, i. e. a clamour of tongues, which, as he says, could not be distinguished. This was a pertinent similitude: the other absurd, and neither agrees with what is predicated of it, nor with what it is intended to illustrate. Warburton.

Note return to page 895 9Away, away, &c.] Instead of this line, the quartos have the following: Come, noble Somerset, let's take our horse, And cause retreat be sounded through the camp; That all our friends remaining yet alive May be forewarn'd, and save themselves by flight. That done, with them we'll post unto the queen, And once more try our fortune in the field. Steevens.

Note return to page 896 1Thus far our fortune keeps an upward course, And we are grac'd with wreaths of victory.] Thus the folio. The quartos thus: Thus still our fortune gives us victory; And girt our temples with triumphant joys. The big-bon'd traitor Warwick hath breath'd his last. Steevens.

Note return to page 897 2&lblank; have arriv'd our coast,] Milton uses the same structure, B. II. Par. Lost: “&lblank; ere he arrive “The happy isle.” Steevens.

Note return to page 898 3Strike up the drum; cry—Courage! and away.] Thus the folio. The quartos have the following couplet: Come, let's go; for if we slack this bright summer's day, Sharp winter's showers will mar our hope for hay. Steevens.

Note return to page 899 4Methinks, a woman &c.] The preceding speech is very imperfect in the quartos and therefore not worth insertion. In this of the prince there is however much and important variation: Prince. And if there be (as God forbid there should) 'Mongst us a timorous or fearful man, Let him depart before the battles join; Lest he in time of need entice another, And so withdraw the soldiers' hearts from us. I will not stand aloof, and bid you fight, But with my sword press in the thickest throngs, And single Edward from his strongest guard, And hand to hand enforce him for to yield, Or leave my body, as witness to my thoughts. Steevens.

Note return to page 900 5K. Edw. Brave followers, &c.] This scene is ill-contrived, in which the king and queen appear at once on the stage at the head of opposite armies. It had been easy to make one retire before the other entered. Johnson.

Note return to page 901 6My tears gainsay;] To gainsay is to unsay, to deny, to contradict. So, in a Knack to know a Knave, 1594: “&lblank; seeing my father grants “I will not gainsay.” Steevens.

Note return to page 902 7Let Æsop &c.] The prince calls Richard, for his crookedness, Æsop; and the poet, following nature, makes Richard highly incensed at the reproach. Johnson.

Note return to page 903 8&lblank; charm your tongue] The quarto reads, &lblank; tame your tongue. The former is best. So, in sir A. Gorges' Translation of Lucan, 1614: “In hope that thy victorious arme “Their dunghill crowing so will charme.” Steevens.

Note return to page 904 9&lblank; thou likeness of this railer here.] Thou that resemblest thy railing mother. Johnson. The old copies describe Edward as striking the first blow, and Gloster the next; and I believe rightly, for history informs us that Edward smote the prince with his gauntlet, on which the rest dispatch'd him. The words sprawl'st thou? seem evidently to belong to Richard; and I have therefore continued them to him on the authority of ancient editions, in preference to the allotment of modern innovation. Steevens.

Note return to page 905 1The Tower man, the Tower!] The quarto adds &lblank; I'll root them out; but, perhaps, injudiciously. Steevens.

Note return to page 906 2&lblank; you have rid this sweet young prince.] The condition of this warlike queen would move compassion, could it be forgotten that she gave York, to wipe his eyes in his captivity, a handkerchief stained with his young child's blood. Johnson.

Note return to page 907 3'Twas sin &lblank;] She alludes to the desertion of Clarence. Johnson.

Note return to page 908 4&lblank; where is that devil's butcher, Richard? &lblank;] Thus all the editions. But devil's butcher, in other terms, I think, is kill-devil; rare news for the free-thinkers, if there were any grounds for depending on it. But the poet certainly wrote devil-butcher; and the first part of the compound is to be taken adjectively, meaning, execrable, infernal, devilish. Theobald. Devil's butcher is a butcher set on by the devil. Either reading may serve without so long a note. Johnson.

Note return to page 909 5What scene of death hath Roscius now to act?] Roscius was certainly put for Richard by some simple conceited player, who had heard of Roscius and of Rome; but did not know that he was an actor in comedy, not in tragedy. Warburton. Shakespeare had occasion to compare Richard to some player about to represent a scene of murder, and took the first or only name of antiquity that occurred to him, without being very scrupulous about its propriety. I know not, however, that it is proved, on classical authority, that Roscius was no actor in tragedy. Nash, in Pierce Penniless's, Supplication to the Devil, 1595, says, “Not Roscius nor Æsope, those admired tragedians, that have lived ever since before Christ was borne, could ever performe more in action than famous Ned Allen.” Again, in Acolastus his Afterwitte, 1600: “Through thee each murthering Roscius is appointed “To act strange scenes of death on God's anointed.” Again, in Certaine Satyres, 1598: “Was penn'd by Roscio the tragedian.” Steevens.

Note return to page 910 6&lblank; misdoubteth every bush:] To misdoubt is to suspect danger, to fear. So, in Humour out of Breath, a comedy by John Day, 1608: “Hip. Doubt and misdoubt! what difference is there here? “Oct. Yes much; when men misdoubt 'tis said they fear.” Steevens.

Note return to page 911 7&lblank; peevish fool &lblank;] As peevishness is the quality of children, peevish seems to signify childish, and by consequence silly. Peevish is explained by childish, in a former note of Dr. Warburton. Johnson. Shakespeare employs the word peevish in the same sense in Cymbeline, where the reader will find many instances of this use of it. Steevens.

Note return to page 912 8Which now mistrust no parcel of my fear;] Who suspect no part of what my fears presage. Johnson.

Note return to page 913 9The raven rook'd her &lblank;] What is rook'd her? Read, croak'd hoarse. Warburton. The true reading seems to be at no great distance: &lblank; the tempest shook down trees, The raven rock'd her on the chimney's top,] On the top of the chimney shaken by the tempest. Johnson. To rook, or rather to ruck, is a north-country word, signifying to squat down, or lodge on any thing. So, in Chaucer's Knightes Tale, late edit. v. 1310: “What is mankind more unto you yhold, “Than is the shepe, that rouketh in the fold?” Again, in the Nonnes Preestes Tale, ibid. v. 15232: “O false morderour, rucking in thy den.” Again, in Gower De Confessione Amantis, Lib. IV. fol. 72: “But now thei rucken in her nest, “And resten as hem liketh beste.” Again, in the Preface to Stanyhurst's Translation of Virgil, 1582: “I cannot devine upon such bookes that happlye rouke in studentes mewes, &c.” Again, in the Translation of the IVth Book: “Also on the turrets the skrich howle, &c. “&lblank; doth ruck, &c.” Again, in Warner's Albion's England, 1602, B. VII. ch. 37: “Have lazy wings, be ever lean, in sullen corners ruck.” Steevens.

Note return to page 914 1And, if the rest be true which I have heard, Thou cam'st &lblank;] Had our editors had but a grain of sagacity, or due diligence, there could have been no room for this absurd break, since they might have ventured to fill it up with certainty too. The old quarto would have led them part of the way: Thou cam'st into the world &lblank; And that the verse is to be completed in the manner I have given it, is incontestible; for unless we suppose king Henry actually reproaches him with this his preposterous birth, how can Richard in his very next soliloquy say? Indeed, 'tis true that Henry told me of, For I have often heard my mother say, I came into the world with my legs forward. I can easily see, that this blank was caused by the nicety of the players, to suppress an indecent idea. But, with submission, this was making but half a cure, unless they had expunged the repetition of it out of Richard's speech too. Theobald.

Note return to page 915 2Let hell &c.] This line Dryden seems to have thought on in his Oedipus: “It was thy crooked mind hunch'd out thy back, “And wander'd in thy limbs.” Steevens.

Note return to page 916 3But I will sort a pitchy day for thee:] But I will chuse out an hour whose gloom shall be as fatal to you. To sort is to select. So, in The Spanish Tragedy, 1605: “&lblank; for they had sorted leisure.” Again, in the Melancholy Lover [Correction: 1Kb]

Note return to page 917 For, Melancholy Lover, read, Lover's Melancholy.

Note return to page 918 4For I will buz about such prophecies, That Edward shall be fearful of his life;] The quartos add a line between these: &lblank; such prophecies, Under pretence of outward seeming ill, That &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 919 5Work thou the way, and that shalt execute.] I believe we should read: &lblank; and this shall execute. Richard laying his hand on his forehead says: Work thou the way &lblank; then bringing down his hand, and beholding it, &lblank; and this shall execute. Though that may stand, the arm being included in the shoulder. Johnson. The quartos read: Work thou the way, and thou shalt execute. I suppose he speaks this line, first touching his head, and then looking on his hand. Steevens.

Note return to page 920 6Thanks, noble Clarence; worthy brother, thanks.] This line has been given to king Edward; but I have, with the old quarto, restored it to the queen. Theobald.

Note return to page 921 The three parts of Henry VI. are suspected, by Mr. Theobald, of being supposititious, and are declared, by Dr. Warburton, to be certainly not Shakespeare's. Mr. Theobald's suspicion arises from some obsolete words; but the phraseology is like the rest of our author's stile, and single words, of which however I do not observe more than two, can conclude little. Dr. Warburton gives no reason, but I suppose him to judge upon deeper principles and more comprehensive views, and to draw his opinion from the general effect and spirit of the composition, which he thinks inferior to the other historical plays. From mere inferiority nothing can be inferred; in the productions of wit there will be inequality. Sometimes judgment will err, and sometimes the matter itself will defeat the artist. Of every author's works one will be the best, and one will be the worst. The colours are not equally pleasing, nor the attitudes equally graceful, in all the pictures of Titian or Reynolds. Dissimilitude of stile and heterogeneousness of sentiment, may sufficiently show that a work does not really belong to the reputed author. But in these plays no such marks of spuriousness are found. The diction, the versification, and the figures, are Shakespeare's. These plays, considered, without regard to characters and incidents, merely as narratives in verse, are more happily conceived and more accurately finished than those of king John, Richard II. or the tragic scenes of Henry IV. and V. If we take these plays from Shakespeare, to whom shall they be given? What author of that age had the same easiness of expression and fluency of numbers? Having considered the evidence given by the plays themselves, and found it in their favour, let us now enquire what corroboration can be gained from other testimony. They are ascribed to Shakespeare by the first editors, whose attestation may be received in questions of fact, however unskilfully they superintended their edition. They seem to be declared genuine by the voice of Shakespeare himself, who refers to the second play in his epilogue to Henry V. and apparently connects the first act of Richard III. with the last of the third part of Henry VI. If it be objected that the plays were popular, and that therefore he alluded to them as well known; it may be answered, with equal probability, that the natural passions of a poet would have disposed him to separate his own works from those of an inferior hand. And, indeed, if an author's own testimony is to be overthrown by speculative criticism, no man can be any longer secure of literary reputation. Of these three plays I think the second the best. The truth is, that they have not sufficient variety of action, for the incidents are too often of the same kind; yet many of the characters are well discriminated. King Henry, and his queen, king Edward, the duke of Gloucester, and the earl of Warwick, are very strongly and distinctly painted. The old copies of the two latter parts of Henry VI. and of Henry V. are so apparently imperfect and mutilated, that there is no reason for supposing them the first draughts of Shakespeare. I am inclined to believe them copies taken by some auditor who wrote down, during the representation, what the time would permit, then perhaps filled up some of his omissions at a second or third hearing, and when he had by this method formed something like a play, sent it to the printer. Johnson. So, Heywood, in the Preface to his Rape of Lucrece, (fourth impression) 1630: “&lblank; for though some have used a double sale of their labours, first to the stage and after to the press, for my own part 1 here proclaim myself faithful to the first, and never guilty of the last: yet since some of my plays have (unknown to me, and without any of my direction) accidentally come into the printer's hands, and therefore so corrupt and mangled (copied only by the ear), that I have been as unable to know them as ashamed to challenge them. This therefore I was the willinger, &c.” Collins. Dr. Johnson's conjecture is likewise confirmed by a Prologue of Ths Heywood's to a play of his intitled, If you know not me you know Nobody, 1623:   “—'Twas ill nurst, “And yet received as well perform'd at first, “Grac'd and frequented, for the cradle age “Did throng the seats, the boxes and the stage “So much, that some by stenography drew “The plot, put it in print; scarce one word true: “And in that lameness it has limp'd so long, “The author now, to vindicate that wrong, “Hath took the pains upright upon its feet “To teach it walk—so please you sit and see it.” Malone. There is another circumstance which may serve to strengthen this supposition, viz. that most of the fragments of Latin verses, omitted in the quartos, are to be found in the folio; and when any of them are inserted in the former, they are shamefully corrupted and mis-spelt. The auditor, who understood English, might be unskill'd in any other language. Steevens. I have already given some reasons, why I cannot believe, that these plays were originally written by Shakespeare. The question, who did write them? is at best, but an argument ad ignorantiam. We must remember, that very many old plays are anonymous; and that play-writing was scarcely yet thought reputable: nay, some authors express for it great horrors of repentance. —I will attempt, however, at some future time, to answer this question: the disquisition of it would be too long for this place. One may at least argue, that the plays were not written by Shakespeare, from Shakespeare himself. The Chorus at the end of Henry V. addresses the audience “&lblank; For their sake, “In your fair minds let this acceptance take.” But it could be neither agreeable to the poet's judgment or his modesty, to recommend his new play from the merit and success of Henry VI.!—His claim to indulgence is, that, though bending and unequal to the task, he has ventured to pursue the story: and this sufficiently accounts for the connection of the whole, and allusions of particular passages. Farmer. It is seldom that Dr. Farmer's arguments fail to enforce conviction; but here, perhaps, they may want somewhat of their usual weight. I think that Shakespeare's bare mention of these pieces, is a sufficient proof they were his. That they were so, could be his only motive for inferring benefit to himself from the spectator's recollection of their past success. For the sake of three historical dramas of mine which have already afforded you entertainment, let me (says he) intreat your indulgence to a fourth. Surely this was a stronger plea in his behalf than any arising from the kind reception which another might have already met with in the same way of writing. Shakespeare's claim to favour is founded on his having previously given pleasure in the course of three of those histories; because he is a bending, supplicatory author, and not a literary bully like Ben Jonson; and because he has ventured to exhibit a series of annals in a suite of plays, an attempt which 'till then had not received the sanction of the stage. I hope Dr. Farmer did not wish to exclude the three dramas before us, together with the Taming of a Shrew, from the number of those produced by our author, on account of the Latin quotations to be found in them. His proofs of Shakespeare's want of learning are too strong to stand in need of such a support; and yet Venus and Adonis, “the first heire of his invention,” is usher'd into the world with a Latin motto:   Vilia miretur vulgus; mihi flavus Apollo Pocula Castalia plena ministrat aqua. Steevens. Though the objections, which have been raised to the genuineness of the three plays of Henry the sixth, have been fully considered and answered by Dr. Johnson, it may not be amiss to add here, from a contemporary writer, a passage, which not only points at Shakespeare as the author of them, but also shews, that, however meanly we may now think of them in comparison with his later productions, they had, at the time of their appearance, a sufficient degree of excellence to alarm the jealousy of the older playwrights. The passage, to which I refer, is in a pamphlet, entitled, Greene's Groatsworth of Witte, supposed to have been written by that voluminous author, Robert Greene, M. A. and said, in the title-page to be published at his dying request; probably, about 1592. The conclusion of this piece is an address to his brother-poets, to dissuade them from writing any more for the stage, on account of the ill treatment which they were used to receive from the players. It begins thus: To those gentlemen, his quondam acquaintance, that spend their wits in making playes, R. G. wisheth a better exercise, &c. After having addrest himself particularly to Christopher Marlowe and Thomas Lodge, (as I guess from circumstances, for their names are not mentioned;) he goes on to a third (perhaps George Peele); and having warned him against depending on so meane a stay as the players, he adds: Yes, trust them not: for there is an upstart crow beautified with our feathers, that with his tygres head wrapt in a players hyde, supposes hee is as well able to bombaste out a blanke verse as the best of you; and being an absolute Johannes fac totum is in his own conceit, the onely Shake-scene in a countrey. There can be no doubt, I think, that Shake-scene alludes to Shakespeare; or that his tygres head wrapt in a players hyde is a parodie upon the following line of York's speech to Margaret, Third Part of Henry the Sixth, act I. sc. iv: “Oh tygres heart, wrapt in a woman's hide.” Tyrwhitt.

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