Note return to page 1 *&lblank; Pentapolis.] This is an imaginary city, and its name might have been borrowed from some romance. We meet indeed in history with Pentapolitana regio, a country in Africa, consisting of five cities; and from thence perhaps some novelist furnished the sounding title of Pentapolis, which occurs likewise in the 37th chapter of Kyng Appolyn of Tyre, 1510, as well as in Gower. That the reader may know through how many regions the scene of this drama is dispersed, it is necessary to observe that Antioch was the metropolis of Syria; Tyre a city of Phœnicia in Asia; Tarsus the metropolis of Cilicia, a country of Asia Minor; Mitylene the capital of Lesbos, an island in the Ægean Sea; and Ephesus, the capital of Ionia, a country of the Lesser Asia. Steevens.

Note return to page 2 1The story on which this play is formed, is of great antiquity. It is found in a book, once very popular, entitled Gesta Romanorum, which is supposed by the learned editor of the Canterbury Tales of Chaucer, 1775, to have been written five hundred years ago. The earliest impression of that work (which I have seen) was printed in 1488; in that edition the history of Apollonius King of Tyre makes the 153d chapter. It is likewise related by Gower in his Confessio Amantis, lib. viii. p. 175–185, edit. 1554. The rev. Dr. Farmer has in his possession a fragment of a Ms. poem on the same subject, which appears, from the hand writing and the metre, to be more ancient than Gower. The reader will find an extract from it at the end of the play. There is also an ancient romance on this subject, called King Appolyn of Thyre, translated from the French by Robert Copland, and printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 1510. The author of Pericles having introduced Gower in his piece, it is reasonable to suppose that he chiefly followed the work of that poet. It is observable, that the hero of this tale is, in Gower's poem, as in the present play, called prince of Tyre; in the Gesta Romanorum, and Copland's prose romance, he is entitled king. Most of the incidents of the play are found in the Conf. Amant. and a few of Gower's expressions are occasionally borrowed. However, I think it is not unlikely, that there may have been (though I have not met with it) an early prose translation of this popular story, from the Gest. Roman. in which the name of Apollonius was changed to Pericles; to which, likewise, the author of this drama may have been indebted. Pericles was entered on the Stationers' books, May 2, 1608, by Edward Blount, one of the printers of the first folio edition of Shakspeare's plays; but it did not appear in print till the following year, and then it was published not by Blount, but by Henry Gosson; who had probably anticipated the other, by getting a hasty transcript from a playhouse copy. There is, I believe, no play of our author's, perhaps I might say, in the English language, so incorrect as this. The most corrupt of Shakspeare's other dramas, compared with Pericles, is purity itself. The metre is seldom attended to; verse is frequently printed as prose, and the grossest errors abound in almost every page. I mention these circumstances, only as an apology to the reader for having taken somewhat more licence with this drama than would have been justifiable, if the copies of it now extant had been less disfigured by the negligence and ignorance of the printer or transcriber. The numerous corruptions that are found in the original edition in 1609, which have been carefully preserved and augmented in all the subsequent impressions, probably arose from its having been frequently exhibited on the stage. In the four quarto editions it is called the much admired play of Pericles Prince of Tyre; and it is mentioned by many ancient writers as a very popular performance; particularly, by the author of a metrical pamphlet, entitled Pymlico or Run away Redcap; in which the following lines are found: “Amaz'd I stood, to see a crowd Of civil throats stretch'd out so loud: As at a new play, all the rooms Did swarm with gentles mix'd with grooms; So that I truly thought all these Came to see Shore or Pericles.” From this pamphlet, which was published in 1596, it appears that Pericles had been acted before that year. The prologue to an old comedy called The Hog has lost his Pearl, 1611, likewise exhibits a proof of its uncommon success. The poet speaking of his piece, says &lblank; “if it prove so happy as to please, We'll say 'tis fortunate like Pericles.” By fortunate, I understand highly successful. The writer can hardly be supposed to have meant that Pericles was popular rather from accident than merit; for that would have been but a poor eulogium on his own performance. An obscure poet, however, in 1652, insinuates that this drama was ill-received, or at least that it added nothing to the reputation of its author: “But Shakspeare, the plebeian driller, was Founder'd in his Pericles, and must not pass.” Verses by J. Tateham, prefixed to Richard Brome's Jovial Crew, or the Merry Beggars, 4to. 1652. The passages above quoted shew that little credit is to be given to the assertion contained in these lines; yet they furnish us with an additional proof that Pericles, at no very distant period after Shakspeare's death, was considered as unquestionably his performance. See the notes at the end of the play. Malone. The History of Apollonius King of Tyre was supposed by Mark Welser, when he printed it in 1595, to have been translated from the Greek a thousand years before. [Fabr. Bib. Gr. v. 6. p. 821.] It certainly bears strong marks of a Greek original, though it is not (that I know) now extant in that language. The rythmical poem, under the same title, in modern Greek, was re-translated (if I may so speak) from the Latin—&gra;&grp;&gro; &grL;&gra;&grt;&gri;&grn;&gri;&grk;&grh;&grst; &gre;&gri;&grst; &grR;&grw;&grm;&gra;&grid;&grk;&grh;&grn; &grg;&grl;&grw;&grs;&grs;&gra;&grn;. Du Fresne, Index Author. ad Gloss. Græc. When Welser printed it, he probably did not know that it had been published already (perhaps more than once) among the Gesta Romanorum. In an edition, which I have, printed at Rouen in 1521, it makes the 154th chapter. Towards the latter end of the XIIth century, Godfrey of Viterbo, in his Pantheon or Universal Chronicle, inserted this romance as part of the history of the third Antiochus, about 200 years before Christ. It begins thus [Ms. Reg. 14. C. xi.]: Filia Seleuci regis stat clara decore Matreque defunctâ pater arsit in ejus amore.   Res habet effectum, pressa puella dolet. The rest is in the same metre, with one pentameter only to two hexameters. Gower, by his own acknowlegement, took his story from the Pantheon; as the author (whoever he was) of Pericles, Prince of Tyre, professes to have followed Gower. Tyrwhitt.

Note return to page 3 2&lblank; that old was sung,] I do not know that old is by any author used adverbially.—We might read, To sing a song of old was sung, &lblank; i. e. that of old, &c. But the poet is so licentious in the language which he has attributed to Gower in this piece, that I have made no change. Malone.

Note return to page 4 3It hath been sung at festivals, On Ember, eves, and holidays;] For the sake of rhime, I suppose we should read, &lblank; and holy ales; i. e. church-ales. Farmer. This emendation appears so probable, that I have inserted it in the text. Gower's speeches were certainly intended to rhime throughout. Malone.

Note return to page 5 *in their lives,] Thus all the copies. The emendation now made was suggested by the rev. Dr. Farmer. Malone.

Note return to page 6 4The purchase is &lblank;] Thus all the copies. I suppose we ought to read—purpose. Steevens. The purpose is to make men glorious, Et bonum quo antiquius eo melius.] There is an irregularity of metre in this couplet. The same variation is observable in the lyrical parts of Macbeth, and the Midsummer Night's Dream: “I am for the air; this night I'll spend “Unto a dismal and a fatal end.” Macbeth. So in the Midsummer Night's Dream: “Pretty soul, she durst not lie “Near to this lack-love, this kill-courtesy.” Malone.

Note return to page 7 5(I tell you what mine authors say:] This is added in imitation of Gower's manner, and that of Chaucer, Lydgate, &c. who often thus refer to the original of their tales.—These choruses resemble Gower in few other particulars. Steevens.

Note return to page 8 6&lblank; unto him took a peer,] Thus the quarto of 1609, and all the subsequent copies. I have no doubt that the author wrote pheere, a word frequently used by our ancient poets, signifying a mate, or companion. Throughout this piece, the poet, though he has not closely copied the language of Gower's poem, has endeavoured to give his speeches somewhat of an antique air. Malone.

Note return to page 9 7&lblank; full of face,] i. e. completely, exuberantly beautiful. A full fortune, in Othello, means a complete, a large one. Again, in the Two Noble Kinsmen, 1634: “&lblank; But have you “A full promise of her?” Again, in Antony and Cleopatra: “One that but performs “The bidding of the fullest man, and worthiest “To have command obey'd.” Steevens.

Note return to page 10 8By custom what they did begin,] All the copies read unintelligibly, But custom, &c.— Malone.

Note return to page 11 9&lblank; account no sin.] Account for accounted. So in K. John. Waft for Wafted: “Than now the English bottoms have waft o'er. Steevens. Again, in Gascoine's Complaint of Philomene, 1575: “And by the lawde of his pretence “His lewdness was acquit.” Again, in Macbeth: &lblank; “And this report “Hath so exasperate the king.”— Malone.

Note return to page 12 1To keep her still, and men in awe,] The meaning, I think, is, not—to keep her and men in awe—but, to keep her still to himself— and to deter others from demanding her in marriage. Malone.

Note return to page 13 2As yon grim looks do testify.] Gower must be supposed here to point to the heads of these unfortunate wights, which, he tells us, in his poem, were fixed on the gate of the palace at Antioch: “The fader whan he understood “That thei his doughter thus besought, “With all his wit he cast and sought “Howe that he mighte fynde a lette, “And such a statute then he sette, “And in this wise his lawe taxeth, “That what man his doughter axeth, “But if he couth his question “Assoyle upon suggestion, “Of certeyn thinges that befell, “The which he wolde unto him tell, “He shulde in certeyn lese his hede. “And thus there were many dede, “Her heades stondinge on the gate, “Till at last, long and late, “For lack of answere in this wise “The remnante, that wexen wyse, “Eschewden to make assaie.” Malone.

Note return to page 14 3&lblank; my cause who best can justify.] The two folios, and the modern editions read—“who best can testify.”—The reading of the text is that of the earliest quarto. Malone. &lblank; who best can justify.] i. e. which (the judgment of your eye) best can justify, i. e. prove its resemblance to the ordinary course of nature. So afterwards: When thou shalt kneel, and justify in knowledge— Steevens.

Note return to page 15 4Young prince of Tyre,] It does not appear in the present drama that the father of Pericles is living. By prince, therefore, throughout this play, we are to understand prince regnant. See act ii. sc. iv. and the epitaph in act iii. sc. iii. In the Gesta Romanorum, Apollonius is king of Tyre; and Appolyn, in Copland's translation from the French, has the same title. Our author, in calling Pericles a prince, seems to have followed Gower. Malone.

Note return to page 16 5Bring in our daughter clothed like a bride,] All the copies read, Musick, bring in our daughter clothed like a bride. The metre proves decisively that the word musick was a marginal direction, inserted in the text by the mistake of the transcriber or printer. Malone.

Note return to page 17 6For the embracements, even of Jove himself; At whose conception, till Lucina reign'd, Nature this dowry gave to glad her presence, &c.] Perhaps the two last lines should be transposed; whose conception, otherwise, will be the conception of the antecedent, Jove, and the dowry will have been bestowed to glad the antecedent Lucina. The sense of the speech, however managed, will not be very clear without a slight alteration, her instead of whose. “Bring in our daughter, clothed like a bride “For the embracements even of Jove himself. “Nature this dowry gave to glad her presence— “At her conception, till Lucina reign'd, “The senate-house of planets all did sit “To knit in her their best perfections.” Bring forth, (says Antiochus) our daughter, &c. Nature bestowed this advantage to make her presence welcome.—From her conception, to the instant of her birth, the senate-house of planets were sitting in consultation how best she might be adorned. The thought is expressed as follows in Kyng Appolyn of Thyre, 1510. “&lblank; For nature had put nothynge in oblyvyon at the fourminge of her, but as a chef operacyon had set her in the syght of the worlde.” In the succeeding speech of Pericles, perhaps another transposition is necessary. We might therefore read: See where she comes, apparel'd like the king, Graces her subjects, and her thoughts the spring Of every virtue, &c. Antiochus had commanded that his daughter should be cloathed in a manner suitable to the bride of Jove; and thus drest in royal robes, she may be said to be apparelled like the king. Steevens. In the speech now before us, the words whose and her may refer to the daughter of Antiochus, without greater licence than is taken by Shakspeare in many of his plays. Malone.

Note return to page 18 7The senate-house of planets all did sit To knit in her their best perfections.] We have here a sentiment expressed with less affectation in Julius Cæsar: “&lblank; the elements “So mix'd in him, that nature might stand up “And say to all the world, This was a man.” Steevens.

Note return to page 19 8Her face the book of praises, where is read Nothing but curious pleasures, &lblank;] In what sense a lady's face can be styled a book of praises (unless by a very forced construction it be understood to mean an aggregate of what is praise-worthy) I profess my inability to understand. I suspect indeed, from what follows, that our author (with sufficient pedantry) wrote, “Her face a book of phrases &lblank;” comparing the lady to such books as Udall's Flowers of Speaking; England's Parnassus, or the choicest Flowers of our modern Poets; Belvidere, or the Garden of the Muses, &c. works which consist only of selected phrases, and beautiful passages, from writers of the age of Shakspeare. Steevens. Her face, the book of praises, where is read Nothing but curious pleasures,] I am satisfied with Mr. Steevens's first interpretation of this passage. The same thought occurs in Romeo and Juliet: “Read o'er the volume of young Paris face, “And find delight writ there with beauty's pen.” Malone.9Q1298

Note return to page 20 9Sorrow were ever ras'd, &lblank;] The second quarto, and all the subsequent copies, read rackt. The first quarto racte—which is only the old spelling for ras'd. The metaphor in the preceding line—“Her face the book of praises”—shews clearly that this was the author's word. Malone.

Note return to page 21 1That have inflam'd desire in my breast,] It should be remembered that desire was sometimes pronounced as a trisyllable.—The later editors, not attending to this, read—“within my breast.” Malone.

Note return to page 22 2To compass such a boundless happiness.] All the old copies have bondless. The reading of the text was furnished by Mr. Rowe. Malone.

Note return to page 23 3Before thee stands this fair Hesperides,] In the enumeration of the persons, prefixed to this drama, which was first made by the editor of Shakspeare's plays in 1664, and copied without alteration by Mr. Rowe, the daughter of Antiochus is, by a ridiculous mistake, called Hesperides, an error to which this line seems to have given rise.—Shakspeare was not quite accurate in his idea of the Hesperides, but he certainly never intended to give this appellation to the princess of Antioch; for it appears from Love's Labour Lost, act iv. scene the last, that he thought Hesperides was the name of the garden in which the golden apples were kept; in which sense the word is clearly used in the passage now before us: “For valour is not love a Hercules, “Still climbing trees in the Hesperides?” In the first quarto edition of this play, this lady is only called Antiochus' daughter. If Shakspeare had wished to have introduced a female name derived from the Hesperides, he has elsewhere shewn that he knew how such a name ought to be formed; for in As You Like It, mention is made of “Hesperia, the princess gentlewoman.” Malone.

Note return to page 24 4Her countless glory, &lblank;] The countless glory of a face, seems a harsh expression—but the poet, probably, was thinking of the stars, the countless eyes of heaven, as he calls them in page 15. Malone.

Note return to page 25 5&lblank; all thy whole heap must die.] i. e. thy whole mass must be destroyed. There seems to have been an opposition intended. Thy whole heap, thy body, must suffer for the offence of a part, thine eye. The word bulk, like heap in the present passage, is apparently used for body, in Heywood's Rape of Lucrece, 1615: “Had I thy heart to tread upon the bulk “Of my dead father?” And again, in The Love of King David and fair Bethsabe, 1599: “And in this ditch amidst this darksome word “Bury his bulk beneath a heap of stones.” Again, in K. Richard III. “But smother'd it within my fleeting bulk.” Malone.

Note return to page 26 6Yon sometime famous princes, &lblank;] See before, p. 8, note 2. Malone.

Note return to page 27 7From going on death's net, &lblank;] The old copies read, I think corruptly, for going, &c. Malone.9Q1299

Note return to page 28 8&lblank; like to them, to what I must:] That is,—to prepare this body for that state to which I must come. Malone.

Note return to page 29 9&lblank; to trust it error.] The modern editions read, unintelligibly, &lblank; to trust in error— Malone.

Note return to page 30 1Who know the world, see heaven, but feeling woe,] I strongly suspect this line to be corrupt. Perhaps the author wrote— Who know the world's a heaven, but feeling woe, &c. i. e. who captivated by the pleasures of the world, looked no farther, making this earth, their heaven;—but at length feeling, &c. So in the Comedy of Errors: “My food, my fortune, and my sweet hope's aim, “My sole earth's heaven”— The meaning, however, may be—I will act as sick men do; who having had experience of the pleasures of the world, and only a visionary and distant prospect of heaven, have neglected the latter for the former; but at length feeling themselves decaying, grasp no longer at temporal pleasures, but prepare calmly for futurity.—As this meaning may with some difficulty be extracted from the text, as it is exhibited in all the ancient copies, I have made no change. Malone.

Note return to page 31 2&lblank; Read the conclusion then;] This and the two following lines are given in the first quarto to Pericles;—and the word Antiochus, which is now placed in the margin, makes part of his speech.—There can be no doubt that they belong to Antiochus. Malone.

Note return to page 32 3Daugh. Of all said yet, may'st thou prove prosperous! Of all said yet, I wish thee happiness!] As this lady utters so little, it is natural to wish that little were more easy to be understood. Perhaps we ought to read in both lines—For all said yet— On account of all thou hast hitherto said (says she) I wish thee prosperity and happiness. Her conscience must suppress a farther wish in his behalf; for it should be remembered that Pericles could succeed only by his just interpretation of a riddle which tended to reveal her incestuous commerce with her father.—Her wish indeed, with poetical justice, is accomplished. He is prosperous in atchieving a more worthy bride, and is dismissed to happiness at the conclusion of the play. Steevens.

Note return to page 33 for The Riddle r. reads the Riddle.

Note return to page 34 4The riddle is thus described in Gower: Questio regis Antiochi. —Scelere vehor, maternâ carne vescor, quero patrem meum, matris meæ virum, uxoris meæ filium. “With felonie I am upbore “I ete, and have it not forlore, “My moders fleshe whose husbonde “My fader for to seche I fonde, “Which is the sonne eke of my wife, “Hereof I am inquisitife. “And who that can my tale save “All quite he shall my doughter have. “Of his answere and if he faile, “He shall be dead withouten faile.” Malone.

Note return to page 35 5As you will live, resolve it you.] This duplication is common in our ancient writers. So, in K. Henry IV: “I'll drink no more, for no man's pleasure, I.” Malone.

Note return to page 36 6That give heav'n countless eyes to view men's acts,] So in Midsummer Night's Dream: “&lblank; who more engilds the night “Than all yon fiery o's and eyes of light.” Again, in Romeo and Juliet: “Spread thy close curtains, love-performing night, “That runaway's eyes may wink.” Malone. &lblank; countless eyes &lblank; Why cloud they not &lblank;] So in Macbeth: “&lblank; stars, hide your fires, “Let not light see, &c.” Steevens.

Note return to page 37 7Why cloud they not their sights perpetually,] The folios and Rowe read, unintelligibly, “Why could they not their sights perpetually,” The reading of the text is found in the quarto, 1609. Malone.

Note return to page 38 8For he's no man on whom perfections wait,] Means no more than—he's no honest man, that knowing, &c. Malone.

Note return to page 39 9&lblank; to make man &lblank;] i. e. to produce for man, &c. Malone.

Note return to page 40 1Prince Pericles, touch not upon thy life,] This is a stroke of nature. The incestuous king cannot bear to see a rival touch the hand of the woman he loves. His jealousy resembles that of Antony: “&lblank; to let him be familiar with “My play-fellow your hand; this kingly seal, “And plighter of high hearts.” Steevens.

Note return to page 41 2For vice repeated, is like the wand'ring wind, Blows dust in others' eyes, to spread itself, &c.] That is;—which blows dust, &c. The man who knows of the ill practices of princes, is unwise if he reveals what he knows; for the publisher of vicious actions resembles the wind, which, while it passes along, blows dust into men's eyes.—When the blast is over, the eye that has been affected by the dust, suffers no farther pain, but can see as clearly as before; so by the relation of criminal acts, the eyes of mankind, (though they are affected and turn away with horror) are opened, and see clearly what before was not even suspected: But by exposing the crimes of others, the relater suffers himself; as the breeze passes away, so the breath of the informer is gone; he dies for his temerity. Yet, to stop the course or ventilation of the air, would hurt the eyes; and to prevent informers from divulging the crimes of men would be prejudicial to mankind. Such, I think, is the meaning of this obscure passage. Malone.

Note return to page 42 4Copp'd hills &lblank;] i. e. rising to a top or head. Copped Hall, in Essex, was so named from the lofty pavilion on the roof of the old house, which has been since pulled down. The upper tire of masonry that covers a wall is still called the copping or coping. High-crowned hats were anciently called copatain hats. Steevens.

Note return to page 43 5&lblank; the earth is throng'd By man's oppression; &lblank;] Perhaps we should read—wrong'd. Steevens.

Note return to page 44 6&lblank; and the poor worm doth die for't.] I suppose he means to call the mole, (which suffers in its attempts to complain of man's injustice) a poor worm, as a term of commiseration. Thus in the Tempest, Prospero speaking to Miranda, says, “Poor worm! thou art infected.” The mole remains secure till he has thrown up those hillocks, which, by pointing out the course he is pursuing, enable the vermin-hunter to catch him. Steevens.

Note return to page 45 7&lblank; that their first being bred,] The folios and Mr. Rowe read, “All love the womb that their being bred.” The earliest quarto supplied the present reading. Malone.

Note return to page 46 8Heav'n that I had thy head! &lblank;] The speaker may either mean to say—O that I had thy ingenuity!—or—O that I had thy head, sever'd from thy body!—The latter, I believe is the meaning. Malone.

Note return to page 47 9But I will gloze with him.] So Gower: “The kinge was wondre sorie tho “And thought, if that he said it oute, “Then were he shamed all aboute: “With slie wordes and with felle “He sayth: My sonne I shall thee telle, “Though that thou be of littel witte, &c. Malone.

Note return to page 48 1Your exposition misinterpreting,] Your exposition of the riddle being a mistaken one; not interpreting it rightly. Malone.

Note return to page 49 2&lblank; to cancel of your days;] The first and second quarto read—“to counsel of your days”—The folio 1664—“to cancel off your days.”—Perhaps the earliest reading may be right—We might proceed to deliberate how long you should be permitted to live. It is unnecessary to read—“cancel off,” for cancel may be understood substantively. We might proceed to the cancellation or destruction of your life.—The author uses the participle cancel'd in the sense required here, in his Rape of Lucrece, 1594: “An expir'd date, cancel'd ere well begun.” Malone.9Q1302 To omit the article was formerly a practice not uncommon. So in Titus Andronicus: “Ascend fair queen, Pantheon,” i. e. the Pantheon. Steevens.

Note return to page 50 3Forty days longer we do respite you,] In the Gesta Romanorum, Confessio Amantis, and the History of Kyng Appolyn, thirty days only are allowed for the solution of this question. It is difficult to account for this minute variation, but by supposing that our author copied some translation of the Gesta Romanorum hitherto undiscovered. Malone.

Note return to page 51 4&lblank; for wisdom, sees those men Blush not in actions blacker than the night, Will shew no course to keep them from the light.] Thus all the old copies—but shew is evidently a corruption. The word that I have ventured to insert in the text, in its place, was suggested by these lines in a subsequent scene, which appear to me strongly to support this emendation: “And what may make him blush in being known, He'll stop the course by which it might be known.” We might read 'schew for eschew, if there were any instance of such an abbreviation being used. The expression is here, as in many places in this play, elliptical: for wisdom sees that those who do not blush to commit actions blacker than the night, will not shun any course, in order to preserve them from being made publick. Malone.

Note return to page 52 5&lblank; to keep you clear,] To prevent any suspicion from falling on you. So in Macbeth: “&lblank; always thought that I “Require a clearness.” Again, in Marlowe's Lust's Dominion, 1657: “&lblank; I know myself am clear “As is the new-born infant.” Malone.

Note return to page 53 6&lblank; and our mind Partakes her private actions &lblank;] Our author elsewhere uses the word partake in an active sense, for participate. “Your exultation partake to every one.” Malone.

Note return to page 54 7My heart can lend no succour to my head.] So the king in Hamlet: &lblank; Do it England, “For like the hectick in my blood he rages, “And thou must cure me; till I know 'tis done, “How ere my haps, my joys were ne'er begun.” Malone.

Note return to page 55 for Exit r. Exeunt.

Note return to page 56 8&lblank; why should this change of thoughts?] In what respect are the thoughts of Pericles changed? I would read—“charge of thoughts,” i. e. weight of them, burthen, pressure of thought. So afterwards in this play: “Patience, good sir, even for this charge.” The first copy reads ch&abar;age. Steevens.

Note return to page 57 9The sad companion, dull-ey'd melancholy,] So, in the Comedy of Errors: “Sweet recreation barr'd, what doth ensue “But moody and dull Melancholy, “Kinsman to grim and comfortless despair.” Malone. &lblank; dull-eyed melancholy,] The same compound epithet occurs in the Merchant of Venice: “I'll not be made a soft and dull-ey'd fool.” Steevens.

Note return to page 58 1&lblank; but fear what might be done,] But fear of what might happen. Malone.

Note return to page 59 2&lblank; and cares it be not done.] And makes provision that it may not be done. Malone.

Note return to page 60 3&lblank; to say I honour him,] Him was supplied by Mr. Rowe for the sake of the metre. Malone.

Note return to page 61 4And with the stint of war will look so huge,] Should not this be And with th' ostent of war, &c.? Tyrwhitt. I once thought the author wrote, And with the dint of war &lblank; i. e. by the force of war.—So in Julius Cæsar: “Now I perceive you feel the dint of pity.” But Mr. Tyrwhitt's emendation is much neater, and preserves at the same time, the congruity of the metaphor. The word is used by Shakspeare in the Merchant of Venice: “Like one well studied in a sad ostent “To please his grandam”— Again, in King Richard II: “With ostentation of despised arms”— Stint, which is the reading of all the copies, has here no meaning. Malone.

Note return to page 62 5Which care of them, not pity of myself, (Who once no more but as the tops of trees, Which fence the roots they grow by, and defend them) Makes, &c.] This passage is obscure; but with some slight alteration a meaning may be extracted from it. The sense unites without assistance from the lines printed in Italicks, so that they seem quite parenthetical, and may be regarded only as illustrative of a prince's condition. He means to compare the head of a kingdom to the summit of a tree. As it is the office of the latter to screen each plant that grows beneath it from the injuries of weather, so it is the duty of the former to protect those who shelter themselves under his government. Instead of who once, I would therefore read whose use, or whose office. Steevens. I read—who owe no more; i. e. who have no other duty or obligation. To owe, in our ancient writers, does not always signify to possess, though it be sometimes used in that sense. Malone.9Q1304

Note return to page 63 6To which that spark gives heat and stronger glowing;] Thus the earliest quarto. The folios and Rowe read, To which that spark gives heart.— Malone. The thing the which is flatter'd, but a spark To which that spark gives heat, &c.] I should imagine that the printer by accident has repeated the word spark instead of wind, which the sense should seem to require. Steevens.

Note return to page 64 7When signior Sooth &lblank;] A near kinsman of this gentleman is mentioned in the Winter's Tale: —“and his pond fish'd by his next neighbour, by sir Smyle, his neighbour”— Malone.

Note return to page 65 8How dare the plants look up to heaven from whence They have their nourishment?] Thus the 4to, 1609. Mr. Rowe, &c. read, How dare the planets look up unto heaven From whence they have their nourishment? It would puzzle a philosopher to ascertain the quality of planetary nourishment, or to discover how planets, which are already in heaven, can be said to look up to it. Steevens.

Note return to page 66 9That kings should let their ears hear their faults hid.] Heaven forbid that kings should stop their ears, and so prevent them from hearing their secret faults!—To let is here, to hinder. So in Hamlet: “By heaven I'll make a ghost of him that lets me.” Again, in Tancred and Gismund, 1592: “Nor base suspect of aught to let his suit.” Malone.

Note return to page 67 1Whereas, thou know'st, &lblank;] Whereas has here the same meaning as where. It is frequently thus used by our ancient writers. So Gower: “This lorde whiche hath his love wonne, “Is go to bed with his wife, “Whereas thei lede a lustie life; “And that was after somdele sene, &c.” Again, in King Henry VI. Part II. last edition, Vol. VI. p. 304: “Whereas the king and queen do mean to hawk.” See the note there. Malone.

Note return to page 68 2From whence an issue &lblank;] From whence I might propagate an issue, that are arms, &c. Malone. From whence an issue I might propagate, Are arms to princes, and bring joys to subjects.] I do not understand this passage. A line seems wanting to complete the sense. It might be supplied thus: &lblank; a glorious beauty, (From whence an issue I might propagate; For royal progeny are general blessings, Are arms to princes, and bring joys to subjects.) Her face, &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 69 3Seem'd not to strike, but smooth: &lblank;] To smooth here signifies to flatter. So in King Lear, (first folio) “Such smiling rogues as these &lblank; “&lblank; smooth every passion “That in the nature of their lords rebels.” Malone.

Note return to page 70 4And should he think, as no doubt he doth] Thus the folios and the modern editors. The first quarto reads, And should he doo't, as no doubt he doth &lblank; from which the reading of the text has been formed. The repetition is much in our author's manner, and the following words &lblank; “To lop that doubt”— render this emendation almost certain. Malone. And should he doo't, as no doubt he doth—] Here is an apparent corruption. I should not hesitate to read— doubt on't—or,—doubt it. To doubt is to remain in suspence or uncertainty,—Should he be in doubt that I shall keep this secret, (as there is no doubt but he is) why to “lop that doubt,” i. e. to get rid of that painful uncertainty, he will strive to make me appear the aggressor, by attacking me first as the author of some supposed injury to himself. Steevens.

Note return to page 71 5&lblank; who spares not innocence:] Thus the eldest quarto. All the other copies read corruptly &lblank; who fears not innocence. Malone.

Note return to page 72 6I thought it princely charity to grieve them.] That is, to lament their fate. The eldest quarto reads to grieve for them—But a rhime seems to have been intended. The reading that I have chosen is that of the third quarto. Malone.

Note return to page 73 7&lblank; whose wisdom's strength can bear it.] Pericles's transferring his authority to Helicanus during his absence, naturally brings Measure for Measure to our mind: “&lblank; your own science “Exceeds in that the lists of all advice “My strength can give you.—Then no more remains “But that your sufficiency as your worth is able, “And let them work.—The nature of our people “Our city's institutions, and the terms “For common justice, you are as pregnant in “As art and practice hath enriched any.” Malone.

Note return to page 74 8But in our orbs we'll live so round and safe,] The first quarto reads—will live.—That of 1619—we live.—The first may have been right. I suspect, the preceding line has been lost. Malone. But in our orbs, &c.] &lblank; in seipso totus teres atque rotundus. Horace. Steevens.

Note return to page 75 9&lblank; this truth shall ne'er convince,] Overcome. Convaincre. Fr. So in Macbeth: “&lblank; This malady convinces “The great assay of art.” Again, in Gascoigne's Complaint of Philomene, 1575; “His fancy's fume all reason did convince.” Malone.

Note return to page 76 1Thou shewd'st a subject's shine, I a true prince.] Shine is by our ancient writers frequently used as a substantive.—So in Chloris, or the Complaint of the passionate despised Shepheard, by W. Smith, 1596: “Thou glorious sunne from whence my lesser light “The substance of his chrystal shine doth borrow.” Again, in our author's Venus and Adonis, 1593: “Cynthia for shame obscures her silver shine. This sentiment is not much unlike that of Falstaff.—“I shall think the better of myself and thee, during my life; I for a valiant lion, and thou for a true prince.” Malone.

Note return to page 77 2&lblank; although I would;] So Autolycus, in the Winter's Tale: “If I had a mind to be honest, I see Fortune would not suffer me; she drops bounties into my mouth. Malone.

Note return to page 78 3&lblank; the king's seas must please:] These words afford no very obvious meaning. Perhaps Thaliard would say—Since the prince is escaped, the seas must do Antiochus's pleasure. The king must look for his gratification from the seas which make a part of his dominions.—But even this is harsh. We may transpose, however, and read— &lblank; well, I perceive I shall not be hang'd now although I would. Since he's gone, the king's seas must plead for me; He scap'd the land to perish on the sea. But I'll present me.—Peace to the lords of Tyre. The sense is—All the king seeks is the destruction of Pericles. If he dies by shipwreck, my master will lay no blame on the tardiness which permitted his enemy to escape on shore. The ocean which accomplished the purpose of Antiochus, will plead in my defence; having rendered my interposition in the business quite unnecessary. The frequent occurrence of rhimes in this play will apologize for my attempt to introduce them here, where the sense of the speech is concluded; and the frequent corruptions throughout the whole should seem to offer a fair excuse for the prolixity and uncertainty of many of our attempts at emendation. Steevens.9Q1307

Note return to page 79 4We have no reason to desire it,] Thus all the old copies. Perhaps a word is wanting.—We might read, We have no reason to desire it told &lblank; Your message being addressed to our master, and not to us, there is no reason why we should desire you to divulge it. If, however, desire be considered as a trisyllable, the metre, though, perhaps, not the sense, will be supplied. Malone.

Note return to page 80 5Here they're but felt and seen with mischief's eyes,] Thus all the copies.—The words and seen, and that which I have inserted in the text, are so near in sound, that they might easily have been confounded by a hasty pronunciation, or an inattentive transcriber. By mischief's eyes I understand “the eyes of those who would feel a malignant pleasure in our misfortunes, and add to them by their triumph over us.”—The eye has been long described by poets as either propitious, or malignant and unlucky. —Thus in a subsequent scene in this play: “Now the gods throw their best eyes upon it!” Malone. Here they're but felt, and seen with mischief's eyes, But like to groves, being top'd, they higher rise.] Mr. Malone, with sufficient probability, reads, &lblank; unseen with mischief's eyes, i. e. the eyes of malignity, which render sorrow or disgrace more bitter. I think the same kind of reasoning is discoverable in one of the songs in As You Like it: “Blow, blow, thou winter wind, “Thou art not so unkind   “As man's ingratitude; “Thy tooth is not so keen, “Because thou art not seen,   “Although thy breath be rude. The lines printed in Italicks are thus elegantly and forcibly explained by Dr. Johnson. Thou winter wind, says the Duke, thy rudeness gives the less pain, as thou art not seen; thou art an enemy that dost not brave us with thy presence, and whose unkindness is therefore not aggravated by insult. But like to groves, being topp'd, they higher rise. This line is introduced to illustrate the former, in which our author has observed that solitude affords us the just measure of our misfortunes, without aggravation. But these misfortunes (he adds) if topp'd, (i. e. attempted to be reduced) increase, like trees which shoot the higher in consequence of having felt the pruning-knife. Steevens.

Note return to page 81 6&lblank; till tongues Fetch breath &lblank;] Thus the old copy, but I think corruptedly, and would read —lungs—the organs of respiration. Steevens.

Note return to page 82 7They may awake their helpers to comfort them.] Thus the old copies. I read, They may awake their helps to comfort them. Helps for helpers. So before: &lblank; “be my helps “To compass such a boundless happiness!” Malone.

Note return to page 83 8For riches strew'd herself even in the streets;] I suppose we should read themselves. Steevens.9Q1309

Note return to page 84 9&lblank; bore heads so high they kiss'd the clouds,] So in Hamlet: “&lblank; like the herald Mercury “New-lighted on a heaven-kissing hill.” Again, in the Rape of Lucrece, 1594: “Threatning cloud-kissing Ilion with annoy.” Malone.

Note return to page 85 1&lblank; so jetted and adorn'd,] To jet is to strut, to walk proudly. So in Twelfth Night: “Contemplation makes a rare turkey-cock of him: how he jets under his advanced plumes!” Steevens.

Note return to page 86 2Like one another's glass to trim them by;] The same idea is found in Hamlet: Ophelia, speaking of the prince, says, he was “The glass of fashion, and the mould of form, “The observ'd of all observers.” Again, in Cymbeline: “A sample to the youngest; to the more mature “A glass that feated them.” Again, in the Second Part of King Henry IV: “He was the mark and glass, copy and book, “That fashion'd others,” Again, ibid: “&lblank; He was indeed the glass, “Wherein the noble youth did dress themselves.” Malone.

Note return to page 87 3Those pallats, who, not yet too savers younger,] Such is the reading of all the copies. The passage is so corrupt that it is difficult even to form a probable conjecture about it.—The words which I have inserted in the text, afford sense, and are not very remote from the traces of the original letters;—and savour and hunger might easily have been transposed.—We meet in a subsequent scene: “All viands that I eat do seem unsavoury.” I do not, however, propose this emendation with the smallest confidence; but it may remain till some less exceptionable conjecture shall be offered. Malone. &lblank; who not yet too savers younger,] Here is a gross corruption. I would boldly read, &lblank; who not yet being slaves to hunger. Steevens.

Note return to page 88 4&lblank; to nouzle up their babes,] read—nursle. A fondling is still called a nursling. To nouzle, or as it is now written nuzzle, is to go with the nose down like a hog. So Pope: “The blessed benefit, not there confin'd, “Drops to a third who nuzzles close behind.” Steevens. In an ancient poem entitled The strange Birth, honourable Coronation, and most unhappie Death of famous Arthur, King of Brytaine, 1601, I find the word nuzzle used nearly in the same manner as in the text: “The first faire sportive night that you shall have, “Lying safely nuzled by faire Igrene's side.”— Again, more appositely, ibid: “Being nuzzled in effeminate delights”— I have therefore retained the reading of the old copy. Malone.

Note return to page 89 5O let those cities that of Plenty's cup] A kindred thought is found in King Lear: &lblank; “Take physick pomp! “Expose thyself to feel what wretches feel, “That thou may'st shake the superflux to them, “And shew the heavens more just.” Malone.

Note return to page 90 6One sorrow never comes but bring an heir, That may succeed as his inheritor;] So in Hamlet: &lblank; “sorrows never come as single spies, “But in battalions.” Steevens. Again, ibid: “One woe doth tread upon another's heels, “So fast they follow.” Malone.

Note return to page 91 7That stuff'd the hollow vessels with their power,] The context clearly shews that we ought to read hath instead of that.—By power is meant forces. The word is frequently used in that sense by our ancient writers. So in King Lear: “&lblank; from France there comes a power “Into this scatter'd kingdom.” Malone. I would read, Hath stuff'd these hollow vessels, &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 92 8Whereas no glory's &lblank;] Whereas, it has been already observed, was anciently used for where. Malone.

Note return to page 93 9That's the least fear; for, by the semblance Of their white flags display'd &lblank;] It should be remembered that semblance was pronounced as a trisyllable— sembelance. So our author in the Comedy of Errors: “And these two Dromios one in semblance.” So in the Two Gentlemen of Verona, resembleth is a quadrasyllable: “O how this spring of love resembleth”— The word white, though necessary to the sense, was omitted in the folios, and by Mr. Rowe. It is found in the earliest quarto. Malone.

Note return to page 94 1Thou speak'st like himnes untutor'd to repeat,] We should read— him who is, and regulate the metre as follows: &lblank; thou speak'st Like him who is untutor'd to repeat, &c. The sense is—Deluded by the pacifick appearance of this navy, you talk like one who has never learned the common adage “that the fairest outsides are most to be suspected.” Steevens. Thou speak'st like himnes untutor'd to repeat,] This is the reading of all the copies, which, those that understand it, may retain. I suppose the author wrote—him is—an expression which, however elliptical, is not more so than many others in this play. Malone.

Note return to page 95 2What need we fear?] The earliest copy reads What need we leave our grounds the lowest? The reading which is inserted in the text, is that of the second quarto. Malone.

Note return to page 96 3&lblank; if he on peace consist;] If he stands on peace.—A Latin sense. Malone.

Note return to page 97 4But to relieve them &lblank;] Thus the earliest quarto.—All the subsequent copies read release. Malone.

Note return to page 98 dele the comma after ships.

Note return to page 99 5And these our ships you happily may think Are like the Trojan horse, was stuff'd within With bloody veines expecting overthrow,] I would read: Are, like the Trojan horse, war-stuff'd within, With bloody views, expecting overthrow, &c. So in a former scene: “Hath stuff'd these hollow vessels with their power.” Steevens. Every reader will, I think, approve of this very happy emendation. Malone.

Note return to page 100 6Or pay you with unthankfulness in thought,] I suspect the author wrote: Or pay you with unthankfulness in aught, Be it our wives, &c. If we are unthankful to you in any one instance, or refuse, should there be occasion, to sacrifice any thing for your service, whether our wives, our children, or ourselves, may the curse of heaven, and of mankind, &c.—Aught was anciently written ought. Our wives, &c. may however refer to any in the former line; I have therefore made no change. Malone.

Note return to page 101 7I'll shew you those, &c.] I will now exhibit to you persons, who, after suffering small and temporary evils, will at length be blessed with happiness.—I suspect our author had here in view the title of the chapter in Gesta Romanorum, in which the story of Apollonius is told; though I will not say in what language he read it. It is this: “De tribulatione temporali quæ in gaudium sempiternum postremo commutabitur.” Malone.

Note return to page 102 8The good, in conversation (To whom I give my benizon) Is still at Tharsus, where, &c.] This passage is confusedly expressed. Gower means to say— The good prince (on whom I bestow my best wishes) is still engaged in conversation at Tharsus, where every man, &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 103 9Thinks all is writ be spoken can:] pays as much respect to whatever Pericles says, as if it were holy writ. “All he says is not gospel,” is still common language. Malone. Writ may certainly mean scripture; the holy writings, by way of eminence, being so denominated. We might however read— wit, i. e. wisdom. So Gower, in this story of Prince Appolyn, “Though that thou be of littel witte.” Steevens.

Note return to page 104 1Build his statue to make him glorious:] This circumstance, as well as the foregoing, is found in the Conf. Amant. “Appolinus whan that he herde “The mischefe howe the citee ferde, “All freliche of his owne gifte “His wheate among hem for to shifte, “The whiche by ship he had brought, “He yave, and toke of hem right nought. “But sithen fyrst this worlde began “Was never yet to suche a man “More joye made than thei hym made, “For thei were all of hym so glade, “That thei for ever in remembrance “Made a figure in resemblance “Of hym, and in a common place “Thei set it up; so that his face “Might every man beholde, “So as the citee was beholde; “It was of laton over-gylte “Thus hath he nought his yefte spilte.” All the copies read—Build his statue, &c. Malone. Build his statue to make him glorious:] Read gild. So in Gower: “It was of laton over-gylte.” Again, in Kyng Appolyn of Thyre, 1510, “&lblank; in remembraunce they made an ymage or statue of clene gold, &c.” The same blunder has been repeated by the printer in a subsequent scene— This jewel holds his building on my arm &lblank; where I have corrected it again—gilding. Steevens.

Note return to page 105 2Good Helicane that staid at home, Not to eat honey like a drone, From others' labours; for though he strive To killen bad, keep good alive: And to fulfil his prince' desire, Sav'd one of all that haps in Tyre:] I would read and point the passage thus: Good Hellicane, hath stay'd at home, Not to eat honey like a drone, From others' labours; for though he strive To killen bad, keeps good alive, And to fulfill his prince' desire, Sends word of all that haps in Tyre, &c. He who can draw sense from the old reading, has a right to reject this emendation. Steevens.

Note return to page 106 3&lblank; for though he strive] I am not satisfied with this expression. We might read (with no greater degree of obscurity than occurs in other parts of these choruses) &lblank; forethought he strive &lblank; i. e. he contrives antecedently. He remains not in Tyre as an idle character. His anticipating wisdom provides how to root out vice and cherish virtue. The word which I would introduce, for want of one more apposite, occurs in King John: “Thou virtuous dauphin, alter not the doom “Forethought by heaven. Steevens.”

Note return to page 107 4And had intent to murder him;] The first quarto reads, And hid in Tent to murder him. This is only mentioned, to shew how inaccurately this play was originally printed, and to justify the liberty that has been taken in correcting the preceding passage. The reading of the text is that of the quarto, 1619. Malone.

Note return to page 108 5He doing so. &lblank;] I would read—He knowing so—i. e. he being thus informed. Steevens.

Note return to page 109 6Yet cease your ire, ye angry stars of heaven! Wind, rain, and thunder, remember earthly man Is but a substance, &c.] I would read: &lblank; ye angry stores of heaven, Wind, rain, and thunder! remember, &c. So Milton, Paradise Lost, b. ii. l. 175. “&lblank; what if all “Her stores were open'd, and this firmament “Of hell should spout her cataracts of fire &lblank;” Again, b. vi. l. 764. “His quiver with three-bolted thunder stor'd.” So Addison in his Cato: “Some hidden thunder in the stores of heaven.” In strictness, the old reading wants somewhat of propriety, because there are no stars beside those of heaven. We say properly —the sands of the sea, and the fishes of the sea, because there are likewise sands of the earth, and fishes that live in fresh water; but stars are to be found only in those regions of which wind, rain, and thunder are the acknowledged stores. So in King Lear: “All the ston'd vengeances of heaven fall “On her ingrateful top! &c.”— Steevens.

Note return to page 110 7&lblank; and left my breath, Nothing to think on but ensuing death,] The interposition of rhime in the middle of this speech, and the aukwardness of imputing thought to breath, incline me to believe here is some corruption. Perhaps the author wrote &lblank; left my breast Nothing to think on, &c. &lblank; To revolve any thing in the breast or bosom is a phrase sufficiently authorised. So Milton, Par, Lost, b. ix. v. 288. “Thoughts, which how found they harbour in thy breast?” Steevens. &lblank; and left my breath,] Thus all the copies. I read &lblank; and left me breath &lblank; that is, left me life—only to aggravate my misfortunes, by enabling me to think on the death that awaits me. This slight change, in some measure, removes the absurdity that Mr Steevens has justly remarked in the passage as it stands in the old copy. The rhime, I believe, was intended; for in many of Shakspeare's plays he seems to have thought rhime an ornament, whenever it could be commodiously introduced. Malone.

Note return to page 111 8This scene seems to have been formed on the following lines in the Conf. Amant. “Thus was the yonge lorde all alone, “All naked in a poure plite. &lblank; “&lblank; There came a fisher in the weye “And sigh a man there naked stonde, “And whan that he hath understonde “The cause, he hath of hym great routh; “And onely of his poure trouth “Of such clothes as he hadde “With great pitee this lorde he cladde. “And he hym thonketh as he sholde, “And sayth hym that it shall be yolde “If ever he gete his state ageyne, “And praith that he wolde hym seyne, “If nigh were any towne for hym.   “He sayd ye, Pentapolim, “Where both kynge and quene dwellen, “Whan he this tale herde tellen “He gladdeth hym, and gan beseche, “That he the wey hym wolde teche.”— Shakspeare, delighting to describe the manners of such people, has introduced three fishermen instead of one, and extended the dialogue to a considerable length. Malone.

Note return to page 112 9What ho! Pilche!] All the old copies read, What to pelch? Might we not read,—What, pilche!—Pilche is a leathern coat. Tyrwhitt. Mr. Tyrwhitt's emendation appears to me very probable.— The first fisherman appears to be the master, and speaks with authority, and some degree of contempt, to the third fisherman, who is a servant.—His next speech, What, Patch-breech, I say! is in the same style.—The second fisherman seems to be a servant likewise; and after the master has called—What, ho, Pilche!—explains what it is he wants—Ha—come and bring away the nets. Malone.

Note return to page 113 1&lblank; with a wannion.] A phrase of which the meaning is obvious, though I cannot explain the word at the end of it. It is common in many of our old plays. Steevens.

Note return to page 114 2Alas poor souls! it griev'd my heart &lblank;] So in the Winter's Tale: “O the most piteous cry of the poor souls! Sometimes to see 'em, and not to see 'em;—now the ship boring the moon with her main-mast, and anon swallowed with yest and froth, as you'd thrust a cork into a hogshead. And then for the land-service— To see how the bear tore out his shoulder-bone; how he cry'd to me for help, &c.” Malone.

Note return to page 115 3&lblank; when I saw, the porpus how he bounc'd and tumbled?] The rising of porpuses near a vessel at sea, has long been considered by the superstition of sailors, as the fore-runner of a storm. So, in the Dutchess of Malfy, by Webster, 1623: “He lifts up his nose like a foul porpus before a storm.” Malone.

Note return to page 116 4&lblank; as to a whale—a plays and tumbles, driving the poor fry before him, &lblank;] So in Coriolanus: “&lblank; Like scaled sculls “Before the belching whale.” Steevens.

Note return to page 117 5&lblank; the fenny subject of the sea) Read—finny. This thought is not much unlike another in As You Like It: “&lblank; this our life, exempt from publick haunt, “Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, “Sermons in stones, and good in every thing.” Steevens.

Note return to page 118 6Honest, good fellow, what's that, if it be a day fits you, search out of the kalendar, and no body look after it?] The preceding speech of Pericles affords no apt introduction to the reply of the fisherman. Either somewhat is omitted that cannot now be supplied, or the whole passage is obscured by more than common depravation. It should seem that the prince had made some remark on the badness of the day. Perhaps the dialogue originally ran thus: Per. Peace be at your labour, honest fishermen; The day is rough and thwarts your occupation. 2. Honest! good fellow, what's that? If it be not a day fits you, scratch it out of the kalendar, and nobody will look after it. The following speech of Pericles is equally abrupt and inconsequent: May see the sea hath cast upon your coast. The folio reads, Y'may see the sea hath cast me upon your coast. I would rather suppose the poet wrote, Nay, see the sea hath cast upon your coast &lblank; Here the fisherman interposes. The prince then goes on A man, &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 119 7&lblank; to cast thee in our way!] He is playing on the word cast; which anciently was used both in the sense of to throw, and to vomit. So in Macbeth, vol. iv. p. 509, “Yet I made a shift to cast him.” It is used in the latter sense above—till he cast bells, &c. up again. Malone.

Note return to page 120 8A man throng'd up with cold; &lblank;] I suspect that this, which is the reading of all the copies, is corrupt. We might read, A man shrunk up with cold; (It might have been anciently written shronk.) So in Cymbeline: “The shrinking slaves of winter &lblank;” Malone. Throng'd up with cold may mean only molested by it, as by the pressure of a crowd. With this situation Apemantus threatens Timon: “&lblank; I'll say thou hast gold: “Thou wilt be throng'd too, shortly. Throng'd might also be used by Pericles to signify shrunk into a heap, so as to have one part crowded into another. Steevens.

Note return to page 121 9I have a gown here, &c.] In the prose history of Kynge Appolyn of Thyre, already quoted, the fisherman gives him “one halfe of his blacke mantelle for to cover his body with.” Steevens.

Note return to page 122 1&lblank; flesh for all day, fish for fasting days, and more, or puddings, &c.] The poet without doubt wrote, “flesh for holydays.” Malone. For “&lblank; and more, or puddings and flapjacks,”—read—“and moreo'er puddings and flapjacks.” Farmer.

Note return to page 123 2&lblank; flapjacks;] In some counties a flapjack signifies an applepuff: but anciently it seems to have meant a pancake. Steevens.

Note return to page 124 3&lblank; and what a man cannot get, &lblank;] This passage, in its present state, is to me unintelligible. We might read,—“O sir, things must be as they may; and what a man cannot get, he may not lawfully deal for;—his wife's soul.” Be content; things must be as Providence has appointed;—and what his situation in life does not entitle him to aspire to, he ought not to attempt;—the affections of a woman in a higher sphere than his own. Soul is in other places used by our author for love.—Thus in Measure for Measure: “&lblank; we have with special soul “Elected him, our absence to supply.” Malone. Things must be (says the speaker) as they are appointed to be; and what a man is not sure to compass, he has yet a just right to attempt. —Thus far the passage is clear.—The fisherman may then be supposed to begin a new sentence—His wife's soul—but here he is interrupted by his comrades. He might otherwise have proceeded to say—The good will of a wife indeed is one of the things which is difficult of attainment. A husband is in the right to strive for it, but after all his pains may fail to secure it.—I wish his brother fishermen had called off his attention before he had had time to utter his last three words. Steevens. The fisherman means, I think, to say, “What a man cannot get, there is no law against giving, to save his wife's soul from purgatory.” Farmer.

Note return to page 125 4&lblank; bots on't, &lblank;] The bots are the worms that breed in horses. This comick execration was formerly used in the room of one less decent. It occurs in King Henry IV. and in many other old plays. Malone.9Q1314

Note return to page 126 5And, though it was mine own, &lblank;] i. e. And I thank you, though it was my own. Malone.

Note return to page 127 6&lblank; this brace,] The brace is the armour for the arm. So in Troilus and Cressida: “I'll hide my silver beard in a gold beaver, “And in my vant-brace put this wither'd brawn.” Avant bras. Fr. Steevens.

Note return to page 128 7The which the gods protect thee from! &lblank;] All the old copies read, unintelligibly, The which the gods protect thee, fame may defend thee. Malone.

Note return to page 129 for di'e take it r. do ye take it.

Note return to page 130 8Why di'e take it, &lblank;] i. e. why do you take it. That is, in plainer terms,—why, take it. Steevens.

Note return to page 131 9By your furtherance I am cloath'd in steel;] This line is so weak I should wish to read, Now by your furtherance I am cloath'd in steel. Steevens.

Note return to page 132 1And spite of all the rapture of the sea,] That is,—notwithstanding that the sea hath ravish'd so much from me. So afterwards: “Who, looking for adventures in the world, “Was by the rough seas reft of ships and men.” Again, in the Life and Death of Lord Cromwell, 1613: “Till envious fortune and the ravenous sea “Did rob, disrobe, and spoil us of our own.” For this emendation, the reader is indebted to Dr. Sewell, in whose edition of Pericles it is found. Rowe and all the ancient copies read rupture. Malone. I am not sure but that the old reading is the true one. We still talk of the breaking of the sea, and the breakers. What is the rupture of the sea, but another word for the breaking of it? Rupture means any solution of continuity. Steevens.

Note return to page 133 2This jewel holds his building on my arm;] I strongly suspect this line to be corrupt—We might read: This jewel holds his biding on my arm. Malone. This jewel holds his building on my arm;] Perhaps gilding; (which was formerly written guilding.) He is speaking of some jewel of value, which in the shipwreck had adhered to his arm. Any ornament of enchased gold was anciently styled a jewel. So in Markham's Arcadia, 1607:—“She gave him a very fine jewel, wherein was set a most rich diamond.” Pericles means to sell his bracelet, that with the price it brings he may purchase a horse; and rejoices on finding that the brightness of the toy is undiminished. Steevens.

Note return to page 134 3&lblank; a pair of bases.] i. e. armour for the legs. Bas. Fr. So in Hudibras: “Nor shall it e'er be said that wight, “With gauntlet blue and bases white, “And round blunt truncheon, &c.” Steevens.

Note return to page 135 4Are the knights ready to begin the triumph?] In Gower's poem, and Kynge Appolyn of Thyre, 1510, certain gymnastick exercises only are performed before the Pentapolitan monarch, antecedent to the marriage of Appollinus, the Pericles of this play. The present tournament, however, as well as the dance in the next scene, seems to have been suggested by a passage of the former writer, who, describing the manner in which the wedding of Appollinus was celebrated, says, “The knightes that be yonge and proude “Thei juste first, and after daunce.” Malone.

Note return to page 136 5'Tis now your honour, daughter, to entertain The labour of each knight, in his device.] I suppose we should read—to explain; which accordingly she does. The sense would be clearer were we to substitute, both in this and the following instance, office. Honour, however, may mean her situation as queen of the feast, as she is afterwards denominated. The idea of this scene appears to have been caught from the Iliad, book iii. where Helen describes the Grecian leaders to her father-in-law Priam. Steevens.

Note return to page 137 6The word, Lux tua vita mihi.] What we now call the motto, was anciently, sometimes, termed the word. Le mot. Fr. These Latin mottos may perhaps be urged as a proof of the learning of Shakspeare, or as an argument to shew that he was not the author of this play; but tournaments were so fashionable and frequent an entertainment in the time of queen Elizabeth, that he might very easily have been furnished with these shreds of literature. Malone.

Note return to page 138 for dulcura r. dulçura.

Note return to page 139 7&lblank; Piu per dulcura que per fuerça.] That is; more by sweetness than by force.—The author should have written Mas per dulçura, &c. Più in Italian signifies more; but, I believe, there is no such Spanish word. Malone.

Note return to page 140 8Me Pompey provexit apex.] Thus all the old copies. Whether we should amend these words as follows—me pompæ provexit apex,—or correct them thus—me Pompei provexit apex, I confess my ignorance. A wreath of chivalry, in its common sense, might be the desert of many knights on many various occasions; so that its particular claim to honour on the present one is not very clearly ascertained.—If the wreath declares of itself that it was once the ornament of Pompey's helm, perhaps here may be some allusion to those particular marks of distinction which he wore after his bloodless victory over the Cilician pirates: “Et victis cedat piratica laurea Gallis.” Steevens.

Note return to page 141 9What is the fourth?] i. e. What is the fourth device. Malone.

Note return to page 142 1&lblank; the whipstock &lblank;] i. e. the carter's whip. See note on Twelfth Night, last edit. vol. iv. p. 190. Steevens.

Note return to page 143 2The outward habit by the inward man.] If the poet had not been fettered by the rhime and metre, he would have said “—that makes us scan the inward man by the outward habit.” Malone. Why should we not read— The inward habit by the outward man. The words were accidentally misplaced. In the prose romance already quoted, the king says: “the habyte maketh not the relygious man.” Steevens.9Q1316

Note return to page 144 3To place upon the volume of your deeds,] This is the reading of the folio, 1685.—The quartos, and the folio 1664, read, I place. Malone.

Note return to page 145 4&lblank; for mirth becomes a feast:] Thus the earliest copy. The second quarto and all the subsequent editions read, &lblank; for mirth comes at a feast. Malone.

Note return to page 146 *In framing an artist, &lblank;] We might better read: In framing artists &lblank; Malone.

Note return to page 147 5&lblank; Come, queen o' the feast, For, daughter, so you are,] So in the Winter's Tale: “&lblank; present yourself “That which you are, mistress o' the feast.” Steevens.

Note return to page 148 6That neither in our hearts, nor outward eyes, Envy the great, nor do the low despise.] This is the reading of the quarto 1619. The first quarto reads, “Have neither in our hearts, nor outward eyes, “Envies the great, nor shall the low despise.” Malone.

Note return to page 149 7By Jove, I wonder, that is king of thoughts, These cates resist me, she not thought upon.] All the copies read—“he not thought upon”—and these lines are given to Simonides. In the old plays it is observable that declarations of affection, whether disguised or open, are generally made by both the parties; if the lady utters a tender sentiment, a corresponding sentiment is usually given to her lover.—Hence I conclude that the author wrote, “&lblank; she not thought upon;” and that these lines belong to Pericles. If he be right, I would read, &lblank; “he now thought upon.” The prince recollecting his present state, and comparing it with that of Simonides, wonders that he can eat. In Gower, where this entertainment is particularly described, it is said of Appolinus, the Pericles of the present play, that “He sette and cast about his eie “And sawe the lordes in estate, “And with hym selfe were in debate “Thynkende what he had lore, “And such a sorowe he toke therefore, “That he sat ever stille and thought, “As he which of no meate rought.” So in Kynge Appolyn of Thyre, 1510: “—at the last he sate him down at the table, and without etynge, he behelde the noble company of lordes and grete estates.—Thus as he looked all about, a grete lorde that served at the kynge's table sayde unto the kynge, Certes syr, this man wolde gladly your honour, for he dooth not ete, but beholdeth hertely your noble magnyfycence, and is in poynt to weep.” The words resist me, however, do not well correspond with this idea.—Perhaps they are corrupt. Malone. These cates resist me, &lblank;] i. e. go against my stomach. Steevens.

Note return to page 150 8Wishing him my meat; &lblank;] I am afraid that a jingle is here intended between meat and mate. The two words were, I believe, in our author's time, generally, and are at this day in Warwickshire, pronounced alike. The address to Juno countenances this supposition. Malone. Wishing him my meat; &lblank;] Surely the plain meaning is, that she had rather have a husband than a dinner; that she wishes Pericles were in the place of the provisions before her; regarding him (to borrow a phrase from Romeo) as the dearest morsel of the earth. So in the Two Noble Kinsmen:   “If thou couch “But one night with her &lblank; “Thou shalt remember nothing more, than what “That banquet bids thee to. Steevens.

Note return to page 151 9Where now his son's like a glow-worm in the night,] The old copies read,—Where now his son, &c.—But this is scarcely intelligible. The slight change that has been made, affords an easy sense. Where is, I suppose, here, as in many other places, used for whereas. The peculiar property of the glow-worm, on which the poet has here employed a line, he has in Hamlet happily described by a single word: “The glow-worm shews the matin to be near, “And 'gins to pale his uneffectual fire.” Malone.

Note return to page 152 1For he's their parent, and he is their grave,] So in Romeo and Juliet: “The earth that's nature's mother, is her tomb; “What is her burying grave, that is her womb.” Milton has the same thought: “The womb of nature, and perhaps her grave.” Malone.

Note return to page 153 2&lblank; that's stor'd unto the brim,] The old copies read stirr'd. I do not see any connection between stirring a cup and its brim. Perhaps the poet wrote stuff'd. The first quarto exhibits the word thus—stur'd; so that the change is very small. Stuff'd unto the brim is sufficiently harsh, but stuff'd is a word which our author frequently uses. Mr. Steevens proposes stor'd, which, being nearer to the original reading, I have received. Malone. &lblank; that's stirr'd unto the brim,] If this be the true reading, it must mean, that dances to the brim. But I rather think we should read—stor'd, i. e. replenished. So before in this play: “Their tables were stor'd full.” Again: “Were not this glorious casket stor'd with ill.” Again: “&lblank; these our ships “Are stor'd with corn &lblank;” Steevens.

Note return to page 154 *Are wonder'd at.] Ought we not rather to read: No more are wonder'd at. We wonder for a moment that so small an insect as a gnat should make so great a sound. When its noise ceases, we no longer think of it. So, princes for a while may dazzle us by their splendour; but when dead, if they have not been benefactors to mankind, they are no longer objects of admiration. Malone.

Note return to page 155 3Therefore to make his entrance now more sweet,] Now was added for the sake of the metre by the editor of the folio in 1664—perhaps unnecessarily.—The first quarto reads—entraunce. The quarto 1619: “Therefore to make his enterance more sweet”— as the word was sometimes pronounced.— Malone.

Note return to page 156 4Of whence he is, his name and parentage.] So in the Conf. Amant. “His doughter &lblank; “He bad to go on his message, “And fonde for to make him glade; “And she did as hir fader bade. “And goth to him the softe paas, “And asketh whens and what he was, “And praithe he shulde his thought leve.” Malone.

Note return to page 157 5Even in your armours, as you are addrest,] As you are accoutered —prepared for combat. So in K. Henry V. “To morrow for our march we are addrest.” Malone.

Note return to page 158 6I will not have excuse, with saying, this Loud musick is too harsh &lblank;] i. e. the loud noise made by the clashing of their armour. “This loud musick” is the reading of the first quarto. The second quarto, and all the subsequent copies, read that, which renders the passage unintelligible. The dance here introduced is thus described in an ancient Dialogue against the Abuse of Dancing, bl. let. no date: “There is a daunce called Choria “Which joy doth testify; “Another called Pyrricke [Correction: 1Kb]

Note return to page 159 for Pyrricke r. Pyrrichia.

Note return to page 160 7&lblank; to be next our own.] So Gower: “The kynge his chamberleyn let calle “And bad that he by all weye “A chamber for this man purvei “Whiche nigh his own chambre bee.” Malone.

Note return to page 161 8&lblank; a fire from heaven came and shrivel'd up Those bodies, &lblank;] This circumstance is mentioned by Gower:   “&lblank; they hym tolde “That for vengeance as God it wolde, “Antiochus as men maie witte “With thonder and lightnyng is forsmitte. “His doughter hath the same chance, “So ben thei both in o balance.” Malone.

Note return to page 162 9That all those eyes ador'd them, ere their fall, Scorn now, &c.] The expression is elliptical: That all those eyes which adored them, &c. Malone.

Note return to page 163 1&lblank; by sin had his reward.] Thus the folios and the modern editions. The present reading was furnished by the earliest quarto. Malone.

Note return to page 164 2And be resolv'd he lives to govern us,] Resolv'd is satisfied, freed from doubt. So in a subsequent scene: “Resolve your angry father, if my tongue, &c.” Malone.

Note return to page 165 3Whose death's indeed the strongest in our censure;] i. e. the most probable in our opinion. Censure is thus used in King Richard III: “To give your censure in this weighty business.” Steevens.

Note return to page 166 4And knowing this kingdom is without a head,] They did not know that the kingdom had absolutely lost its governor; for in the very preceding line this lord observes that it was only more probable that he was dead, than living.—I therefore read, with a very slight change—if without a head.—In the next line but one, by supplying the word will, which I suppose was omitted by the carelessness of the compositor, the sense and metre are both restored. The passage as it stands in the old copies, is not, by any mode of construction, reducible to grammar. Malone.

Note return to page 167 5(Like goodly buildings left without a roof) The same thought occurs in K. Henry IV. Part II: “&lblank; leaves his part-created cost “A naked subject to the weeping clouds, “And waste for churlish winter's tyranny.” Steevens.

Note return to page 168 6We with our travels will endeavour.] Endeavour what? I suppose, to find out Pericles. We should therefore add the syllable which seems wanting both to metre and sense: We with our travels will endeavour it. Steevens. The author might have intended an abrupt sentence. Malone.

Note return to page 169 7In the Hystorie of Kyng Appolyn of Thyre, “two kynges sones” pay their court to the daughter of Archystrates, (the Simonides of the present play). He sends two rolls of paper to her, containing their names, &c. and desires her to choose which she will marry. She writes him a letter (in answer), of which Appolyn is the bearer, —that she will have the man “whiche hath passed the daungerous undes and perylles of the sea—all other to refuse.” The same circumstance is mentioned by Gower, who has introduced three suitors instead of two, in which our author has followed him. Malone.

Note return to page 170 1This by the eye of Cynthia hath she vow'd,] It were to be wished that Simonides (who is represented as a blameless character) had hit on some less shameful expedient for the dismission of these wooers. Here he tells them as a solemn truth, what he knows to be a fiction of his own. Steevens.

Note return to page 171 2&lblank; Sir, I am beholden to you, For your sweet musick, this last night:—] Here also our author has followed Gower: “She, to doone hir faders hest, “Hir harpe fet, and in the feste “Upon a chaire, whiche thei fette, “Hir selfe next to this man she sette. “With harpe both and eke with mouth “To him she did all that she couth, “To make him chere; and ever he sigheth, “And she him asketh howe him liketh.   “Madame, certes well he saied, “But if ye the measure plaied “Whiche, if you list, I shall you lere, “It were a glad thing for to here. “A leve, sir, tho quod she, “Nowe take the harpe, and lete me see “Of what measure that ye mene.—   “He taketh the harpe, and in his wise “He tempreth, and of such assize “Synginge he harpeth forth withall, “That as a voice celestial “Hem thought it sowned in her ere, “As though that it an angell were.” Malone.

Note return to page 172 3That never relish'd of a base descent.] So in Hamlet: “That has no relish of salvation in it.” Again, in Macbeth: “So well thy words become thee as thy wounds; “They smack of honour both.” Malone.

Note return to page 173 4No, here comes my daughter, she can witness it.] Thus all the copies. Simonides, I think, means to say—Not a rebel to our state!—Here comes my daughter: she can prove, thou art one. Perhaps, however, the author wrote—Now, Here comes, &c.— In Othello we meet nearly the same words: “Here comes the lady, let her witness it.” Malone.

Note return to page 174 5Even as my life, my blood that fosters it.] Even as my life loves my blood that supports it.—The quarto 1619, and the subsequent copies, read Even as my life or blood that fosters it. Malone.

Note return to page 175 6Now sleep yslaked hath the rout; No din but snores about the house,] As Gower's speeches are all in rhime, it is clear that the old copy is here corrupt. It first occurred to me that the author might have written, Now sleep yslaked hath the rouse &lblank; i. e. the carousal. But the mere transposition of the latter part of the second line, renders any farther change unnecessary. Rout is likewise used by Gower for a company in the tale of Appolinus, the Pericles of the present play: “Upon a tyme with a route “This lord to play goeth hym out.” Again: “It fell a daie thei riden oute, “The kinge and queene and all the route.”— Malone.

Note return to page 176 7Made louder by the o'er-fed breast,] The quarto 1619, the folios, and Mr. Rowe, all read, o'er fee beast. The true reading has been recovered from the first quarto. Malone. No din but snores the house about, Made louder by the o'er-fed breast,] So Virgil, speaking of Rhamnes who was killed in the midnight expedition of Nisus and Euryalus: “Rhamneten aggreditur, qui forte tapetibus altis “Extructus, toto prostabat pectore somnum.” Steevens.

Note return to page 177 8&lblank; from the mouse's hole;] may perhaps mean—at some little distance from the mouse's hole. I believe, however, we ought to read,—'fore the mouse's hole. Malone.

Note return to page 178 9And crickets sing at the oven's mouth, Are the blither for their drouth:] I suppose we should read—as the blither—i. e. as if they were, &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 179 1With your fine fancies quaintly eche;] i. e. eke out. So in the Chorus to King Henry V. (first folio):   “&lblank; still be kind, “And eche out our performance with your mind.” Again, in the Merchant of Venice, quarto, 1600 (Heyes's edition):   “&lblank; 'tis to peeze the time, “To ech it and to draw it out in length.” Malone.

Note return to page 180 2&lblank; the Lords kneel to the former.&lblank;] The lords kneel to Pericles, because they are now, for the first time, informed by this letter, that he is king of Tyre—“No man,” says Gower in his Conf. Amant. “&lblank; knew the soth cas, “But he hym selfe; what man he was.” By the death of Antiochus and his daughter, Pericles has also succeeded to the throne of Antioch, in consequence of having rightly interpreted the riddle proposed to him. Malone.

Note return to page 181 3By many a derne and painful perch,] Derne is, I believe, secret. The word is used by Spenser, B. ii. c. 1. st. 35.—B. iii. c. i. st. 14.—According to Mr. Upton, it means earnest—eager.— The construction is somewhat involved. The careful search of Pericles is made by many a derne and painful perch,—by the four opposing coignes, which join the world together;—with all due diligence, &c. Malone. &lblank; dearn and painful perch,] Dearn signifies lonely, solitary. See note on King Lear, last edit. vol. ix. p. 491. A perch is a measure of five yards and a half. Steevens.

Note return to page 182 4By the four opposing coignes,] By the four opposite corner-stones that unite and bind together the great fabrick of the world. The word is again used by Shakspeare in Macbeth:   “&lblank; No jutty frieze, “Buttress, or coigne of vantage, but this bird “Hath made his pendant bed and procreant cradle.” In the passage before us, the author seems to have considered the world as a stupendous edifice, artificially constructed.—To seek a man in every corner of the globe, is still common language. All the ancient copies read, By the four opposing crignes &lblank; but there is no such English word. For the ingenious emendation inserted in the text, which is produced by the change of a single letter, the reader is indebted to Mr. Tyrwhitt. Malone.

Note return to page 183 5Fame answering the most strange enquire,] Why strange? It was surely not strange, that Pericles' subjects should be solicitous to know what was become of him. Perhaps we should read—the most strong enquire;—this earnest, anxious enquiry. Malone.

Note return to page 184 6Iranished the regions round,] Thus the oldest quarto.— Read, yravished, in imitation of antiquated style. Steevens. From the false print of the first edition, the subsequent editors formed a still more absurd reading: Irony shed the regions round &lblank; Mr. Steevens's ingenious emendation, to which I have payed due attention by inserting it in the text, is strongly confirmed by the following passage in Gower de Confessione Amantis: “This tale after the kynge it had “Pentapolin all oversprad, “There was no joye for to seche, “For every man it had in speche, “And saiden all of one accorde; “A worthy kynge shall ben our lorde. “That thought us first an heavines “Is shape us nowe to great gladnes. “Thus goth the tydinge over all.” Malone.

Note return to page 185 7&lblank; half the flood Hath their keel cut; &lblank;] They have made half their voyage with a favourable wind. So Gower: “When thei were in the sea amid, “Out of the north thei see a cloude; “The storme arose, the wyndes loude “Thei blewen many a dredeful blaste, “The welken was all over-caste.” Malone.

Note return to page 186 8&lblank; half the flood Hath their keel cut; but fortune mov'd,] Moved could never be designed as a rhime to flood. I suppose we should read, &lblank; but fortune's mood &lblank; i. e. disposition. So in Othello:   “&lblank; whose eyes “Albeit unused to the melting mood &lblank;” Again, in All's Well that Ends Well: “&lblank; muddied in fortune's mood &lblank; Steevens.

Note return to page 187 9&lblank; in this fell storm,] This is the reading of the earliest quarto. The folios and the modern editions have self storm. Malone.

Note return to page 188 1I nill relate;] The further consequences of this storm I shall not describe. Malone.

Note return to page 189 2Which might not what by me is told.] i. e. which might not conveniently convey what by me is told, &c. What ensues may conveniently be exhibited in action; but action could not well have displayed all the events that I have now related. Malone.

Note return to page 190 3In your imagination hold This stage, the ship, upon whose deck The sea-tost Pericles appears to speak.] It is clear from these lines, that when the play was originally performed, no attempt was made to exhibit either a sea or a ship.—The ensuing scene and some others must have suffered considerably in the representation, from the poverty of the stage-apparatus in the time of our author. Malone.

Note return to page 191 4Thou God of this great vast, rebuke these surges,] The expression is borrowed from the sacred writings: “The waters stood above the mountains;—at thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away.”—It should be remembered, that Pericles is here supposed to speak from the deck of his ship. Lychorida on whom he calls, in order to learn some intelligence of his queen, is supposed to be beneath, in the cabin. This speech is exhibited in so strange a form in the original, and all the subsequent editions, that I shall lay it before the reader, that he may be enabled to judge in what a corrupted state this play has hitherto appeared, and be induced to treat the editor's imperfect attempts to restore it to integrity, with the more indulgence. “The God of this great vast, rebuke these surges, “Which wash both heaven and hell; and thou that hast “Upon the windes commaund, bind them in brasse; “Having call'd them from the deepe, ô still “Thy deafning dreadful thunders, gently quench “Thy nimble sulphirous flashes, ô How Lychorida! “How does my queene? then storm venomously, “Wilt thou speat all thyself? the sea-man's whistle “Is as a whisper in the ears of death, “Unheard Lychorida? Lucina oh! “Divinest patrioness and my wife gentle “To those that cry by night, convey thy deitie “Aboard our dauncing boat, make swift the pangues “Of my queenes travayles? now Lychorida.” Malone.

Note return to page 192 for deafning r. deaf'ning.

Note return to page 193 5&lblank; Thou storm, venomously Wilt thou spit all thyself? &lblank;] All the copies read—then storm, &c. which cannot be right, because it renders the passage nonsense. The slight change that I have made, affords an easy sense. Malone. I would read, &lblank; Thou storm'st venomously; Wilt thou spit all thyself? &lblank;] Venomously is maliciously. Shakspeare has somewhat of the same expression in one of his historical plays: “The watry kingdom, whose ambitious head “Spits in the face of heaven &lblank;” Chapman likewise, in his version of the Iliad, says of the sea that she “&lblank; spits every way her foam.” Steevens.

Note return to page 194 6Is as a whisper in the ear of death,] In another place the poet supposes death to be awakened by the turbulence of the storm: “&lblank; And in the visitation of the winds “Who take the ruffian billows by the top, “Curling their monstrous heads, and hanging them “With deafning clamours in the slippery clouds, “That with the hurly, death itself awakes &lblank; King Henry IV. Part II. Malone.

Note return to page 195 7Divinest patroness, and my wife, &c.] Thus all the copies both ancient and modern; but the sense requires that we should read—midwife. Steevens. This happy emendation is so clearly right, that it requires neither support nor illustration. If it wanted the latter, Horace would furnish it: “Montium custos nemorumque virgo, “Quæ laborantes utero puellas “Ter vocata audis, adimisque leto, “Diva triformis.” Again, in the Andria of Terence: “Juno Lucina, fer opem; serva me, obsecro!” Malone.

Note return to page 196 8Who, if it had conceit, &lblank;] If it had thought. So in K. Henry VIII, “There's some conceit or other likes him well, “When that he bids good morrow with such spirit.” Malone.

Note return to page 197 9Patience, good sir, do not assist the storm,] Our author uses the same expression, on the same occasion, in the Tempest: “You mar our labour;—keep your cabins; you do assist the storm.” Malone.

Note return to page 198 1Use honour with you,] The meaning is sufficiently clear.— In this particular you might learn from us a more honourable conduct. —But the expression is so harsh, that I suspect the passage to be corrupt. Malone. &lblank; and therein may Use honour with you.] To use, in ancient language, signifies to put out to usance or usury. The sense of this passage may therefore be—our honour will fetch as much as yours, if placed out on terms of advantage. If valued, our honour is worth as much as yours. Steevens.

Note return to page 199 2Quiet and gentle thy conditions!] Conditions anciently meant qualities; dispositions of mind. So in Othello: “And then of so gentle a condition!” He is speaking of Desdemona. Again, in King Henry V. “Our tongue is rough, coz, and my condition is not smooth.” “The late earl of Essex (says sir Walter Raleigh) told queen Elizabeth that her conditions were as crooked as her carcase—but it cost him his head.” Malone.

Note return to page 200 3&lblank; as chiding a nativity,] i. e. as noisy a one. So in the Midsummer Night's Dream, Hippolita, speaking of the clamour of the hounds: “&lblank; never did I hear “Such gallant chiding.” See note on that passage, vol. iii. last edit. p. 96. Steevens.

Note return to page 201 4To herald thee from the womb:] All the copies read, To harold thee from the womb: For the emendation now made, the reader is indebted to Mr. Steevens. So in Macbeth: “&lblank; only to herald thee into his presence, “Not to pay thee.” This word is in many ancient books written harauld. So in our author's Venus and Adonis, 1600: “The owl, night's harauld, shrieks; 'tis very late.” Again, in the Mirrour for Magistrates, 1610: “Truth is no harauld nor no sophist sure.” See also Cowel's Interpreter, v. Herald, Heralt, or Harold— which puts Mr. Steevens's emendation beyond a doubt. Malone.

Note return to page 202 5&lblank; thy loss is more than can Thy portage quit, &lblank;] i. e. thou hast already lost more (by the death of thy mother) than thy safe arrival at the port of life can counterbalance, with all to boot that we can give thee. Portage is used for gate or entrance in one of Shakspeare's historical plays. Steevens.

Note return to page 203 6&lblank; I do not fear the flaw;] The blast.—The word occurs in Hamlet: “O that the earth which kept the world in awe, “Should patch a wall to expell the winter's flaw!” Again, in K. Henry VI. Part II. “&lblank; the fury of this mad-bred flaw.” Malone.

Note return to page 204 7It hath done to me the worst. &lblank;] So in the Conf. Amant. “&lblank; a wife! “My joye, my lust, and my desyre, “My welth, and my recoverire! “Why shall I live and thou shalt die? “Ha, thou fortune, I thee defie, “Now hast thou do to me thy werst; “A herte! why ne wilt thou berst?” Malone.

Note return to page 205 8&lblank; this fresh-new sea-farer,] We meet a similar compound-epithet in K. Richard III. “Your fire-new stamp of honour is scarce current.” Malone.

Note return to page 206 9Slack the bolins there; &lblank;] Bowlines are ropes by which the sails of a ship are governed when the wind is unfavourable. They are slackened when it is high. This term occurs again in the Two Noble Kinsmen: “&lblank; the wind is fair, “Top the bowling.” Steevens.

Note return to page 207 11. Sai. &lblank; Blow and split thyself. 2 Sai. But sea-room, &c.] So in the Tempest: “Blow till thou burst thy wind, if room enough.” Malone.

Note return to page 208 2&lblank; and the brine and cloudy billow kiss the moon, I care not.] So in the Winter's Tale: “Now the ship boring the moon with her main-mast.”—And is used here, as in many other places, for if, or though. Malone.

Note return to page 209 3&lblank; and we are strong in eastern; &lblank;] There is a strong easterly wind. Such, I believe, is the meaning. Malone. &lblank; with us at sea it hath been still observed, and we are strong in easterne;] The word easterne is surely a corruption. The sailor is labouring to justify his superstitious notion, and having told Pericles that it was founded on repeated observation, might add, —and we are strong in credence. i. e. our faith or belief in this matter is strong. So our author in Troilus and Cressida: “Sith yet there is a credence in my heart”—. Again, in another of his plays: “&lblank; love and wisdom “Approv'd so to your majesty, may plead “For ample credence.” In King Richard II. we meet with a parallel phrase: “Strong as a tower in hope.” The number of letters in each word exactly corresponds; and the gross errors which have been already detected in this play, are sufficient to authorize the most daring attempts at emendation. Steevens.

Note return to page 210 4&lblank; for she must over-board straight.] These words are in the old copy, by an evident mistake, given to Pericles. Malone.

Note return to page 211 5To give thee hallow'd to thy grave, &lblank;] The old shepherd in the Winter's Tale expresses the same apprehension concerning the want of sepulchral rites, and that he shall be buried “&lblank; where no priest shovels in dust.” Malone.

Note return to page 212 6Must cast thee scarcely coffin'd in oare;] The defect both of metre and sense shews that this line is corrupt. Malone. I believe we should read, with that violence which a copy so much corrupted will sometimes force upon us, Must cast thee, scarcely coffin'd, in the ooze, Where, &c. Shakspeare, in the Tempest, has the same word on the same occasion: “My son i' the ooze is bedded.” Steevens.9Q1321

Note return to page 213 7The air-remaining lamps, &lblank;] Thus all the copies. Air-remaining, if it be right, must mean air-hung, suspended for ever in the air. So (as Mr. Steevens observes to me) in Shakspeare's 21st Sonnet: “&lblank; those gold candles fix'd in heaven's air. In K. Richard II. right-drawn sword, is used for a sword drawn in a just cause;—and in Macbeth we meet with air-drawn dagger. Perhaps, however, the author wrote aye-remaining. Thus in Othello: “Witness the ever-burning lights above”—. Malone. The propriety of the emendation suggested by Mr. Malone, will be increased if we recur to our author's leading thought, which is founded on the customs observed in the pomp of ancient sepulture. Within old monuments and receptacles for the dead, perpetual (i. e. aye-remaining) lamps were supposed to be lighted up. Thus Pope in his Eloisa: “Ah hopeless, lasting flames, like those that burn “To light the dead, and warm th' unfruitful urn!” I would, however, read, And aye-remaining lamps, &c. Instead of a monument erected above thy bones, and perpetual lamps to burn near them, the spouting whale shall oppress thee with his weight, and the mass of waters shall roll with low heavy murmur over thy head. Steevens.

Note return to page 214 8&lblank; ink and paper,] This is the reading of the second quarto. The first has taper. Malone.

Note return to page 215 9Bring me the sattin coffin:] It seems somewhat extraordinary that Pericles should have carried a coffin to sea with him. We ought, I think, to read coffer. Malone. Sattin coffer is most probably the true reading. In a subsequent scene, this coffin is so called: Madam this letter and some certain jewels Lay with you in your coffer. Our ancient coffers were often adorned on the inside with such costly materials. A relation of mine has a trunk which formerly belonged to Katharine Howard when queen, and it is lined throughout with rose-coloured sattin, most elaborately quilted. Steevens.

Note return to page 216 1Alter thy course for Tyre:] Change thy course, which is now for Tyre, and go to Tharsus. Malone.

Note return to page 217 2I have been in many; but such a night as this, Till now, I ne'er endur'd.] So in Macbeth: “Threescore and ten I can remember well, “Within the volume of which time I have seen “Hours dreadful and things strange; but this sore night “Hath trifled former knowings.” Again, in K. Lear:   “Since I was man, “Such sheets of fire, such bursts of horrid thunder, “Such groans of roaring wind and rain, I never “Remember to have heard.” Malone.

Note return to page 218 3Give this to the 'pothecary,] The recipe that Cerimon sends to the apothecary, we must suppose, is intended either for the poor men already mentioned, or for some of his other patients.—The preceding words shew that it cannot be designed for the master of the servant introduced here. Malone.

Note return to page 219 4Shook as the earth did quake:] So in Macbeth: “&lblank; the obscure bird “Clamour'd the live-long night: some say the earth “Was feverous and did shake.” Malone.

Note return to page 220 5The very principals did seem to rend, And all to topple; &lblank;] The principals are the strongest rafters in the roof of a building.—The first quarto, which is followed by all the other copies, reads, I think corruptly—principles. If the speaker had been apprehensive of a general dissolution of nature (which we must understand if we read principles), he did not need to leave his house: he would have been in as much danger withou, as within. All to is an augmentative often used by our ancient writers. It occurs frequently in the Confessio Amantis.—The word topple, which means tumble, is again used by Shakspeare in Macbeth, and applied to buildings: “Tho' castles topple on their warders' heads.” Again, in King Henry IV. Part I: “Shakes the old beldame earth, and topples down “Steeples and moss-grown towers.” Malone.

Note return to page 221 6Rich tire about you, &c.] Thus the quarto 1609; but the sense of the passage is not sufficiently clear. The gentlemen rose early, because they were but in lodgings which stood exposed near the sea. They wonder, however, to find lord Cerimon stirring, because he had rich tire about him; meaning perhaps a bed more richly and comfortably furnished, where he could have slept warm and secure in defiance of the tempest. The reasoning of these gentlemen should rather have led them to say such towers about you; i. e. a house or castle that could safely resist the assaults of weather. They left their mansion because they were no longer secure if they remained in it, and naturally wonder why he should have quitted his, who had no such apparent reason for deserting it and rising early. Steevens.

Note return to page 222 7Virtue and cunning &lblank;] Cunning means here knowledge. Malone.

Note return to page 223 8&lblank; the blest infusions That dwell in vegetives, in metals, stones;] So in Romeo and Juliet: “O, mickle is the powerful grace that lies “In plants, herbs, stones, and their true qualities.” Steevens.

Note return to page 224 9To please the fool and death.] The Fool and Death were principal personages in the old moralities. They are mentioned by our author in Measure for Measure: “&lblank; merely thou art death's fool, “For him thou labour'st by thy flight to shun, “And yet run'st toward him still.” Malone.

Note return to page 225 1How close 'tis caulk'd and bottom'd.] This, which is the reading of all the copies, is evidently a corruption. We had before— “Sir, we have a chest beneath the hatches, caulk'd and bittumed ready.” Malone.

Note return to page 226 2&lblank; Apollo, perfect me In the characters!] Cerimon, having made physick his peculiar study, would naturally, in any emergency, invoke Apollo. On the present occasion, however, he addresses him as the patron of learning. Malone.

Note return to page 227 3&lblank; mundane cost:] i. e. worldly. Malone.

Note return to page 228 4Who finds her, give her burying, She was the daughter of a king:] The author had, perhaps, the sacred writings in his thoughts: “Go see now this cursed woman and bury her; for she is a king's daughter.” 2 Kings, ix. 36 Malone.

Note return to page 229 5&lblank; thou hast a heart That even cracks for woe.] So in Hamlet: “Now cracks a noble heart.” Even is the reading of the second quarto. The first has ever. Malone.

Note return to page 230 *—They were too rough] I suspect the author wrote—They were too rash— Malone.

Note return to page 231 6&lblank; nine hours lien dead,] So in the lxviiith Psalm: “&lblank; though ye have lien among the pots”— Steevens.

Note return to page 232 7The rough and woeful musick that we have Cause it to sound, 'beseech you.] Paulina in like manner in the Winter's Tale, when she pretends to bring Hermione to life, orders musick to be played, to awake her from her trance. Malone.

Note return to page 233 8The vial once more;—how thou stir'st, thou block?— The musick there &lblank;] The first quarto reads,—the viol once more. The second and the subsequent editions—the vial. If the first be right, Cerimon must be supposed to repeat his orders that they should again sound their rough and woeful musick, So in Twelfth Night: “That strain again!”— The word viol has occurred before in this play in the sense of violin. I think, however, the reading of the second quarto is right. Cerimon, in order to revive the queen, first commands loud musick to be played, and then a second time administers some cordial to her, which we may suppose had been administered to her when his servants entered with the napkins, &c. See Conf. Amant. 180: “&lblank; this worthie kinges wife “Honestlie thei token oute, “And maden fyres all aboute; “Thei leied hir on a couche softe, “And with a shete warmed ofte “Hir colde breste began to heate, “Hir herte also to slacke and beate. “This maister hath hir every joynte “With certein oyle and balsam anoynte, “And put a licour in hir mouthe “Whiche is to few clerkes couthe.” Little weight is to be laid on the spelling of the first quarto.— In the quarto edition of K. Richard II. 1615, viol is printed for vial: “Edward's seven sons, whereof thyself art one, “Were seven viols of his sacred blood.” Again, in the folio, 1623, ibid: “One viol full of Edward's sacred blood.” Again, in The tragical History of Romeus and Juliet, 1562: “She poured forth into the vyoll of the fryer “Water &lblank;” Malone.

Note return to page 234 9Nature awakes a warmth breath out of her;] Thus the quarto, 1609. Read:—Nature awakes; A warmth breathes out of her. Steevens. The second quarto and the modern editions read, unintelligibly, Nature awakes a warm breath out of her. Malone.

Note return to page 235 1&lblank; cases to those heavenly jewels] The same expression occurs in the Winter's Tale: “&lblank; they seem'd almost, with staring on one another, to tear the cases of their eyes.” Malone.

Note return to page 236 2Begin to part their fringes of bright gold;] So in the Tempest: “The fringed curtains of thine eye advance, “And say what thou see'st yond?” Malone.

Note return to page 237 3What world is this?] So in the Conf. Amant.: “And first hir eien up she caste, “And whan she more of strength caught, “Hir armes both forth she straughte, “Helde up hir honde and pitouslie “She spake, and said, where am I? “Where is my lorde? What worlde is this? “As she that wote not howe it is.” Malone.

Note return to page 238 4&lblank; though they haunt you mortally,] Thus the first quarto.— The folios and the modern editions read hate. Malone. Your shakes of fortune, though they haunt you mortally, Yet glance full wond'ringly on us.] I think we should read: Your shafts of fortune, though they hurt (or hunt or hit) you mortally, Yet glance full wandringly, &c. Thus Tully in one of his Familiar Epistles—“omnibus telis fortunæ proposita sit vita nostra.” Again, Shakspeare in his Othello: “&lblank; The shot of accident or dart of chance &lblank;” Again, in Hamlet: “The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.” Again, in the Merry Wives of Windsor: “I am glad, though you have ta'en a special stand to strike at me, that your arrow hath glanced.” The sense of the passage should seem to be as follows.—All the malice of fortune is not confined to yourself. Though her arrows strike deeply at you, yet wandering from their mark, they sometimes glance on us; as at present, when the uncertain state of Tyre deprives us of your company at Tharsus. Steevens.

Note return to page 239 5Fear not my lord, but think Your grace, &lblank;] Such is the reading of the ancient copies. I believe, Shakspeare wrote, Fear not, my lord, but that Your grace, &c. However, as the passage is intelligible, I have made no change. Malone.

Note return to page 240 6&lblank; if neglection Should therein make me vile, &lblank;] The modern editions have neglect. But the reading of the old copy is right. The word is again used by Shakspeare in Troilus and Cressida: “And this neglection of degree it is “That by a pace goes backward.” Malone.

Note return to page 241 7&lblank; my nature need a spur,] So in Macbeth:   “&lblank; I have no spur “To prick the sides of my intent”— Steevens.

Note return to page 242 8Your honour and your goodness teach me to it,] Perhaps our author wrote—witch me to't. So in K. Hen. VI. Part II: “To sit and witch me as Ascanius did.” Again, in another play: “I'll witch sweet ladies with my words and look.” Again more appositely in Spenser's Faerie Queen: “&lblank; pleasing charms “With which weak men thou witchest to attend.” Steevens.

Note return to page 243 9Though I shew will in it:] The meaning may he—Though I appear wilfull and perverse by such conduct.—We might read— Though I shew ill in't. Malone. Unsister'd shall this babe of mine remain, Though I shew will in't: &lblank;] i. e. till she be married, I swear by Diana, (though I may shew [will, i. e.] obstinacy in keeping such an oath) this heir of mine shall have none who can call her sister; i. e. I will not marry and so have a chance of other children before she is disposed of.—Obstinacy was anciently called wilfullness. Steevens.

Note return to page 244 1&lblank; mask'd Neptune, &lblank;] i. e. insidious waves that wear a treacherous smile: “Subdola fallacis ridet clementia ponti. Lucretius. Steevens.

Note return to page 245 2I well remember, ev'n on my learning time;] Read—yearning time. So in K. Hen. V:   “&lblank; for Falstaff he is dead, “And we must yearn therefore.” Rowe would read—eaning, a term applicable only to sheep when they produce their young. Steevens. The quarto 1619, and the folio 1664, which was printed from it, both read eaning. The first quarto reads learning. The editor of the second quarto seems to have corrected many of the faults in the old copy, without any consideration of the original corrupted reading. Malone.

Note return to page 246 3Where you may 'bide until your date expire:] Until you die.— So in Romeo and Juliet: “The date is out of such prolixity.” Malone.9Q1324

Note return to page 247 4Enter Gower.] This chorus, and the two following scenes, have hitherto been printed as part of the third act. In the original edition of this play, the whole appears in an unbroken series. The editor of the folio in 1664, first made the division of acts and scenes (which has been since followed), without much propriety. The poet seems to have intended that each act should begin with a chorus. On this principle the present division is made. Gower, however, interposing eight times, a chorus is necessarily introduced in the middle of this and the ensuing act. Malone.

Note return to page 248 5His woeful queen we leave at Ephesus, Unto Diana there a votaress.] Ephesus is a rhime so ill corresponding with votaress, that I suspect our author wrote Ephese or Ephess; as he often contracts his proper names to suit his metre. Thus Pont for Pontus, Mede for Media, Comagene for Comagena, Sicils for Sicilies, &c, Gower, in the story on which this play is founded, has Dionyze for Dionyza, and Tharse for Tharsus. Steevens.

Note return to page 249 6Whom our fast-growing scene must find] The same expression occurs in the chorus to the Winter's Tale:   “&lblank; your patience this allowing, “I turn my glass, and give my scene such growing, “As you had slept between.” Malone.

Note return to page 250 7In musick, letters; &lblank;] The old copy reads, I think corruptly —In musicks letters.—The corresponding passage in Gower's Conf. Amant. confirms the emendation now made; “My doughter Thaise by your leve “I thynke shall with you be leve “As for a tyme: and thus I praie, “That she be kepte by all waie, “And whan she hath of age more “That she be set to bokes lore, &c.” Again, “&lblank; she dwelleth “In Tharse, as the cronike telleth; “She was well kept, she was well loked, “She was well taught, she was well boked, “So well she sped hir in hir youth, “That she of every wysedome couth &lblank;” The remaining thoughts of this chorus are taken, for the most part, from the Confessio Amantis. Malone.

Note return to page 251 8Which makes high both the art and place Of general wonder: &lblank;] Thus all the copies. I would read, Which makes her both the heart and place Of general wonder.— Such an education has render'd her the center and situation of general wonder. We still use the heart of oak for the central part of it, and the heart of the land in much such another sense. Shakspeare in a former play says that one of his ladies is—“the spire and top of praise.” Steevens. So in Twelfth Night: “I will on with my speech in your praise, and then shew you the heart of my message. Malone.9Q1325

Note return to page 252 9&lblank; oft the wreck Of earned praise, &lblank;] Praise that has been well deserved. —The same expression is found in the following lines, which our author has imitated in his Romeo and Juliet: “How durst thou once attempt to touch the honor of his name? “Whose deadly foes do yeld him dew and earned praise.” Tragicall Hystorie of Romeus and Juliet, 1562: So in the Midsummer Night's Dream: “If we have unearned luck”— Malone.

Note return to page 253 1And in this kind our Cleon hath One daughter and a full grown wench,] Here also the want of rhime shews evidently that the old copy is corrupt. For the present regulation the reader is indebted to Mr. Steevens. Malone.

Note return to page 254 2Even ripe for marriage fight: &lblank;] The first quarto reads, Even right for marriage sight: The quarto 1619, and all the subsequent editions, have Even ripe for marriage sight &lblank; Sight was clearly misprinted for fight. We had before in this play Cupid's wars. Malone. &lblank; for marriage sight: &lblank;] Read—fight; i. e. the combats of Venus; or night, which needs no explanation. Steevens.9Q1326

Note return to page 255 3Be't when they weav'd the sleded silk,] Thus all the copies. But the context shews that she was the author's word. To have praised even the hands of Philoten would have been inconsistent with the general scheme of the present chorus. Sleded is, I believe, ravel'd; the same as sleved. The word is again used by Shakspeare in his Lover's Complaint, 1609: “&lblank; Found yet mo letters sadly pen'd in blood, “With sleided silke feate and affectedly “Enswath'd, and seal'd to curious secrecy.” In Troilus and Cressida we meet—“thou idle immaterial skein of sleive silk.” Malone.9Q1327

Note return to page 256 4Or when she would with sharp neeld wound] All the copies read,—with sharp needle wound;—but the metre shews that we ought to read neeld. In a subsequent passage, in the first quarto, the word is abbreviated: “&lblank; and with her neele composes &lblank;” So in Stanyhurst's Virgil, 1582: “&lblank; on neeld-wrought carpets.” Again, in our author's Midsummer Night's Dream: “Have with our neelds created both one flower.” Malone.

Note return to page 257 for mone r. moan.

Note return to page 258 5&lblank; or when to the lute She sung, and made the night-bed mute, That still records within one, &lblank;] Thus the quarto 1619, the two folios, and all the modern editions. The first quarto is not quite so corrupt—it reads:   &lblank; the night-bed mute That still records with mone. There can, I think, be no doubt, that the author wrote— night-bird. Shakspeare has frequent allusions, in his other works, to the nightingale: so in one of his sonnets, printed in England's Helicon, 1600: “Every thing did banish mone “Save the nightingale alone. “She poor bird as all forlorn, &c.” Again, in his Rape of Lucrece, 1594: “And for, poor bird, thou sing'st not in the day “As shaming anie eye should thee behold”— So Milton, Par. Lost, B. iii:   “&lblank; as the wakeful bird “Sings darkling, and in shadiest covert hid, “Tunes her nocturnal note.” Again, B. iv:   “These to their nests “Were slunk; all but the wakeful nightingale, “She all night long her amorous descant sung.” To record anciently signified to sing. So in sir Philip Sydney's Ourania, by N. B. 1606: “Recording songs unto the Deitie &lblank;” Again, in the Pilgrim, by B. and Fletcher: “O sweet, sweet, how the birds record too!” Malone.

Note return to page 259 6&lblank; with rich and constant pen Vail to her mistress Dian, &lblank;] To vail is to bow, to do homage. The author seems to mean—When she would compose supplicatory hymns to Diana, or verses expressive of her gratitude to Dionysia. We might indeed read—Hail to her mistress Dian—i. e. salute her in verse. Steevens. I strongly suspect that vail is a mis-print.—We might read: Wail to her mistress Dian. i. e. compose elegies on the death of her mother, of which she had been apprized by her nurse, Lychorida. Malone.

Note return to page 260 7&lblank; with absolute Marina, &lblank;] i. e. accomplished. So in Antony and Cleopatra:   “&lblank; at sea “He is an absolute master.” Steevens. Again, in the Two Noble Kinsmen, by Shakspeare and Fletcher: “They are fam'd to be a pair of absolute men.” Again, in Green's Tu Quoque, 1599: “&lblank; from an absolute and most complete gentleman, to a most absurd, ridiculous, and fond lover.” Malone.

Note return to page 261 8Vie feathers white. &lblank;] See note on the Taming of a Shrew, last edit. vol. iii. p. 461. Steevens.

Note return to page 262 9&lblank; with envy rare,] Envy is frequently used by our ancient writers, in the sense of malice. It is, however, I believe, here used in its common acceptation. Malone.

Note return to page 263 1Prest for this blow.] Prest is ready; pret. Fr. So in the Tragicall Hystorie of Romeus and Juliet, 1562: “I will, God lendyng lyfe, on Wensday next be prest “To wayte on him and you &lblank;” See note on the Merchant of Venice, last edit. vol. iii. p. 139. Malone.

Note return to page 264 2Only I carried winged time] So in the chorus to the Winter's Tale: “I &lblank; “Now take upon me, in the name of time, “To use my wings.” Again in K. Henry V: “Thus with imagin'd wing our swift scene flies, “In motion of no less celerity “Than that of thought.” Malone.

Note return to page 265 3Thy oath remember; thou hast sworn to do it:] Here, I think, may be traced the rudiments of the scene in which lady Macbeth instigates her husband to murder Duncan: “I have given suck, and know “How tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me; “I would, while it was smiling in my face, “Have pluck'd my nipple from his boneless gums, “And dash'd the brains out, had I but so sworn “As you have done to this.” Malone.

Note return to page 266 4&lblank; inflame love in thy bosom,] The first quarto reads,—“Let not conscience which is but cold, in flaming thy love bosome, enflame too nicelie, nor let pitie, &c.” The subsequent impressions afford no assistance. Some words seem to have been lost. The sentiment originally expressed, probably was this.—Let not conscience, which is but a cold monitor, deter you from executing what you have promised; nor let the beauty of Marina enkindle the flame of love in your bosom;—nor be softened by pity, which even I, a woman, have cast off.—I am by no means satisfied with the regulation that I have made, but it affords a glimmering of sense.—Nearly the same expression occurred before: &lblank; That have enflam'd desire in my breast &lblank; I suspect, the words enflame too nicely were written in the margin, the author not having determined which of the two expressions to adopt; and that by mistake they were transcribed as part of the text. Malone. We might read, &lblank; inflame thy loving bosom: With Mr. Malone's alteration however, the words will bear the following sense: Let not conscience, which in itself is of a cold nature, have power to raise the flame of love in you, raise it even to folly.—Nicely, in ancient language, signifies foolishly. Niais. Fr. Steevens.

Note return to page 267 for enflame r. inflame.

Note return to page 268 5&lblank; but yet she is a goodly creature. Dion. The fitter then the gods above should have her.] So in K. Rich. III. “O, he was gentle, mild, and virtuous.— “The fitter for the King of Heaven.” Steevens.

Note return to page 269 6Here she comes weeping for her only mistress. Death—thou art resolv'd? Leon. I am resolv'd.] This passage, as at present regulated, bears a strong resemblance to one in K. John: K. John. “Dost thou understand me? “Thou art his keeper. Hub. “And I'll keep him so “That he shall not offend your majesty. K. John. “Death. Hub. “My lord? K. John. “A grave. Hub. “He shall not live.” The similitude may however be only imaginary, for perhaps the poet wrote: Here she comes weeping for her only mistress' Death &lblank; i. e. for the death of her only mistress. Malone.9Q1328

Note return to page 270 7No, no, I will rob Tellus of her weed,— To strew thy grave with flowers:] The quartos read, No—I will rob Tellus of her weed to strowe thy greene with flowers. The folio, 1664, reads—to strow thy grave, &c. Mr. Rowe, for the sake of metre, introduced the word gay: No, I will rob gay Tellus of her weed.— We might read, Now, I will disrobe Tellus of her weed, To strew thy grave with flowers. Weed, in old language, meant garment. Malone. No, no, I will rob Tellus of her weed, &c.] Before we determine which is the proper reading, let us reflect a moment on the business in which Marina is employed. She is about to strew the grave of her nurse Lychorida with flowers, and therefore makes her entry with propriety, saying, No, no, I will rob Tellus, &c. i. e. No, no, it shall never be said that I left the tomb of one to whom I owe so much, without some ornament. Rather than it shall remain undecorated, I will strip the earth of its robe, &c. The prose romance, already quoted, says “that always as she came homeward, she went and washed the tombe of her nouryce, and kept it contynually fayre and clene.” Steevens.

Note return to page 271 8Shall as a chaplet hang upon thy grave, While summer days do last.] So in Cymbeline: “With fairest flowers, “Whilst summer lasts, and I live here, Fidele, “I'll sweeten thy sad grave. Thou shalt not lack “The flower that's like thy face, pale primrose, nor “The azur'd hare-bell, like thy veins, no nor “The leaf of eglantine, whom not to slander “Out-sweeten'd not thy breath.” All the copies read—Shall as a carpet &c. Mr. Steevens proposes to me to read chaplet, which appears so probable an emendation, that I have inserted it in the text. Malone.

Note return to page 272 *&lblank; like a lasting storm,] I suspect our author wrote—blasting. The violence, and not the duration, of the storm, seems to have been in Marina's contemplation. Malone.

Note return to page 273 9Whirring me from my friends.] Thus the earliest copy; I think, rightly. The second quarto, and all the subsequent impressions, read—Hurrying me from my friends. Whirring or whirrying, had formerly the same meaning. A bird that flies with a quick motion, accompanied with noise, is still said to whirr away. Thus Pope: “Now from the brake the whirring pheasant springs.” The verb to whirry is used in the ancient ballad entitled Robin Goodfellow. Reliques of Ancient Eng. Poet. vol. ii. p. 203. “More swift than wind away I go, “O'er hedge and lands, “Thro' pools and ponds, “I whirry, laughing ho ho ho.” Malone. The two last lines uttered by Marina, very strongly resemble a passage in Homer's Iliad, b. 19 l. 377: &grt;&gro;&grug;&grs;&grd;&grap; &gro;&grus;&grk; &gres;&grq;&grea;&grl;&gro;&grn;&grt;&gra;&grst; &grasa;&gre;&grl;&grl;&gra;&gri; &grP;&groa;&grn;&grt;&gro;&grn; &gres;&grp;&grap; &gris;&grx;&grq;&gru;&groa;&gre;&grn;&grt;&gra; &grF;&grI;&grL;&grW;&grN; &grA;&grP;&grA;&grN;&grE;&grU;&grQ;&grE; &grF;&grE;&grR;&grO;&grU;&grS;&grI;&grN;. Steevens.

Note return to page 274 1How now, Marina! why do you keep alone?] Thus the earliest copy. So in Macbeth: “How now, my lord! why do you keep alone?” The second quarto reads &lblank; why do you weep alone? Malone.

Note return to page 275 2How chance my daughter is not with you? &lblank;] So in K. Henry IV. P. II: “How chance thou art not with the prince, thy brother?” Malone.

Note return to page 276 3Consume your blood with sorrowing;] So in K. Hen. VI P. II.: “&lblank; blood-consuming sighs.” See also vol. x. p. 367. Malone.

Note return to page 277 *Give me your flowers, ere the sea Mar it] Thus all the copies. If it be right, something must have been omitted. The words now inserted supply both the sense and metre. Malone.

Note return to page 278 4With more than foreign heart.] With the same warmth of affection as if I was his country-woman. Malone.

Note return to page 279 5Our paragon to all reports,] Our fair charge, whose beauty was once equal to all that fame said of it. So in Othello: “&lblank; He hath atchiev'd a maid, “That paragons description and wild fame.” Malone.

Note return to page 280 6&lblank; reserve That excellent complexion,] To reserve is here to guard; to preserve carefully. So in K. Lear, quarto, 1608: “Reserve thy state, with better judgment check “This hideous rashness.” Again, in his 32d Sonnet: “Reserve them, for my love, not for their rhimes.” Again, in his 85th Sonnet: “While comments of your praise, richly compil'd, “Reserve their character with golden quill &lblank;” Malone.

Note return to page 281 7Well, I will go; But yet I have no desire to it.] So in the Merchant of Venice: “I have no mind of feasting forth to-night, “But I will go.” Steevens.

Note return to page 282 8That almost burst the deck.] Burst is frequently used by our author in an active sense. So in K. Henry IV. Part II: “And then he burst his head for crouding among the marshal's men.” Malone.

Note return to page 283 9And from the ladder-tackle washes off A canvas-climber: &lblank;] A ship-boy.—So in King Henry V: “&lblank; and in them behold “Upon the hempen-tackle ship-boys climbing.” I suspect that a line, preceding these two, has been lost. Malone.

Note return to page 284 1From stern to stern:] Thus all the copies. But we clearly ought to read—From stem to stern. So Dryden: “Orontes' barque, even in the hero's view, “From stem to stern by waves was overborne.” A hasty transcriber, or negligent compositor, might easily have mistaken the letters rn, and put an m in their place. Malone.

Note return to page 285 2&lblank; and trebles their confusion.] So in K. Henry V: “Hear the shrill whistle, which doth order give “To sounds confus'd.” Malone.

Note return to page 286 3Leon. Come, say your prayers. Mar. What mean you? Leon. If you require a little space for prayer, I grant it; pray; but be not tedious, &c. Mar. Why, will you kill me?] So in Othello: Oth. “Have you pray'd to-night, Desdemona?— “If you bethink yourself of any crime “Unreconcil'd as yet to heaven and grace, “Solicit for it straight. Des. “Alas, my lord what do you mean by that? Oth. “Well, do it, and be brief— Des. “Talk you of killing, &c.” Steevens. This circumstance is likewise found in the Gesta Romanorum. “Peto domine, says Tharsia, (the Marina of this play) ut si nulla spes est mihi, permittas me deum testare. Villicus ait, “testate; et Deus ipse scit quod coactus te interficio.” Illa vero cum esset postea in oratione, venerunt pyratæ, &c.” Malone.

Note return to page 287 4I trod upon a worm against my will, But I wept for it.] Fenton has transplanted this image into his Mariamne: “&lblank; when I was a child “I kill'd a linnet, but indeed I wept; “Heaven visits not for that.” Steevens.

Note return to page 288 5These roguing thieves serve the great pirate Valdes;] The Spanish armada, I believe, furnished our author with this name. Don Pedro de Valdes was an admiral in that fleet, and had the command of the great galleon of Andalusia. His ship being disabled, he was taken by sir Francis Drake, on the twenty-second of July, 1588, and sent to Dartmouth. This play therefore, we may conclude, was not written till after that period.—The making one of this Spaniard's ancestors a pirate, was probably relished by the audience in those days. Malone.

Note return to page 289 6Therefore let's have fresh ones whate'er we pay for them. If there be not a conscience to be us'd in every trade, we shall never prosper.] The sentiments incident to vicious professions suffer little change within a century and a half.—This speech is much the same as that of Mrs. Cole in the Minor: “Tip him an old trader! Mercy on us, where do you expect to go when you die, Mr. Loader?” Steevens.

Note return to page 290 7Thou say'st true; 'tis not our bringing up of poor bastards, &lblank;] There seems to be something wanting. Perhaps—that will do— or some such words. The author, however, might have intended an imperfect sentence. Malone.

Note return to page 291 8I too eleven, and brought them down again.] Read, Ay, to eleven, &c—I have brought up (i. e. educated) says the bawd, some eleven. Yes, (answers Boult) to eleven, (i. e. as far as eleven years of age) and then brought them down again. The latter clause of the sentence requires no explanation. My emendation is confirmed by the quarto, 1609. Steevens.

Note return to page 292 9Thou say'st true; there's two unwholesome o' conscience.] Thus all the copies. But the preceding dialogue shews that they are erroneous The complaint had not been made of two, but of all the stuff they had.—According to the present regulation the pander merely assents to what his wife had said. The words two and too are perpetually confounded in the old copies. Malone.

Note return to page 293 1Ay, she quickly poop'd him,] The following passage in the Devil's Charter, a tragedy, 1607, will sufficiently explain this singular term: “&lblank; foul Amazonian trulls, “Whose lanterns are still lighted in their poops.” Malone.

Note return to page 294 2&lblank; the commodity wages not with the danger: &lblank;] i. e. is not equal to it. Several examples of this expression are given in the notes on Shakspeare, last edition: “&lblank; his taints and honours “Wag'd equal with him.” Ant. and Cleop. Steevens.

Note return to page 295 3&lblank; to keep our door hatch'd; &lblank;] The doors or hatches of brothels, in the time of our author, seem to have had some distinguishing mark.—So in Cupid's Whirligig, 1616:—“Set some picks upon your hatch, and I pray, profess to keep a bawdy-house.” Malone.

Note return to page 296 4Come, other sorts offend as well as we.] From her husband's answer, I suspect the poet wrote—Other trades, &c. Malone.

Note return to page 297 5&lblank; I have gone thorough &lblank;] i. e. I have bid a high price for her, gone far in my attempt to purchase her. Steevens.

Note return to page 298 6I cannot be bated one doit of a thousand pieces.] This speech should seem to suit the pirate. However, it may belong to Boult.—I cannot get them to bate me one doit of a thousand pieces. Malone.

Note return to page 299 7&lblank; that she may not be raw in her entertainment.] Unripe, unskilfull. So in Hamlet:—“and yet but raw neither, in respect of his quick sail.”— Malone.

Note return to page 300 8&lblank; and cry, He that will give most, shall have her first.] The prices of first and secondary prostitution are exactly settled in the old prose romance already quoted: “Go thou and make a crye through the cyte that of all men that shall enhabyte with her carnally, the fyrst shall gyve me a pounde of golde, and after that echone a peny of golde.” Steevens.

Note return to page 301 9&lblank; had but over-board Thrown me, &lblank;] All the copies are here evidently corrupt. They read—had not o'er-board &c. Malone.

Note return to page 302 1&lblank; that cowers i'the hams?] To cower is to sink by bending the hams. So in King Henry VI: “The splitting rocks cowr'd in the sinking sands.” Again, in Gammer Gurton's Needle: “They cow'r so o'er the coles, their eies be blear'd with smooke.” Steevens.

Note return to page 303 2&lblank; he offered to cut a caper at the proclamation; but he made a groan at it, and swore he would see her to-morrow.] If there were no other proof of this piece's having been written by Shakspeare, this admirable stroke of humour would, in my apprehension, stamp it as his. Malone.

Note return to page 304 *&lblank; here he doth but repair it. To repair here means to renovate. So in Cymbeline: “O disloyal thing! “That should'st repair my youth &lblank;” Malone.

Note return to page 305 3&lblank; to scatter his crowns in the sun.] The allusion is to the lues venerea. It occurs frequently in our author's plays. So in Measure for Measure: “Lucio. A French crown more. “Gent. Thou art always figuring diseases in me”— Malone. &lblank;I know he will come in our shadow to scatter his crowns in the sun.] This passage, as the words which compose it are arranged at present, is to me unintelligible. I would correct and read:—“I know he will come in, to scatter his crowns in the shadow of our sun.—I suppose the bawd means to call Marina the sun of her house. So in King Richard III: “Witness my sun, now in the shade of death.” There is indeed a proverbial phrase alluded to in Hamlet, and introduced in K. Lear:—“out of heaven's benediction into the warm sun.” But I cannot adapt it to this passage. Let the reader try. Steevens.

Note return to page 306 4&lblank; we should lodge them with this sign.] If a traveller from every part of the globe were to assemble in Mitylene, they would all resort to his house, while we had such a sign to it as this virgin.— This, I think, is the meaning. A similar eulogium is pronounced on Imogen in Cymbeline: “She's a good sign, but I have seen small reflection of her wit.” Perhaps there is some allusion to the constellation Virgo. Malone. &lblank; lodge them with this sign.] A term from the chase. So in Cato: “The deer is lodg'd, I've track'd her to her covert.” Steevens.

Note return to page 307 5&lblank; a mere profit.] i. e. an absolute, a certain profit. So in Hamlet: “&lblank; things rank and gross in nature “Possess it merely.” Again, in the Merchant of Venice: “Engag'd my friend to his mere enemy.” Malone.

Note return to page 308 6&lblank; for your bride goes to that with shame, which is her way to go with warrant.] You say true; for even a bride, who has the sanction of the law to warrant her proceeding, will not surrender her person without some constraint. Which is her way to go, means only9Q1331—to which she is entitled to go. Malone.

Note return to page 309 7&lblank; When nature fram'd this piece, she meant thee a good turn; &lblank;] A similar sentiment occurs in King Lear: “That eyeless head of thine was first fram'd flesh, “To raise my fortunes.” Steevens.

Note return to page 310 8&lblank; thunder shall not so awake the beds of eels, &lblank;] Among the effects ascribed by the vulgar to a thunder-storm, is that of making fish more easy to be taken. Steevens.

Note return to page 311 9If fires be hot, knives sharp, or waters deep,] So in Antony and Cleopatra, last edit vol. viii. p. 278: “&lblank; if knife, drugs, serpents, have “Edge, sting, or operation, I am safe.” Steevens.

Note return to page 312 1If thou hadst drunk to him, it had been a kindness Becoming well thy face. &lblank;] i. e. hadst thou poisoned thyself by pledging him, it would have been an action well becoming thy gratitude to him; as well as thy audacity or confidence. Face, in the Alchemist is a name bestowed on the most plausible and bold of his male cheats. Perhaps, however, we should read fact instead of face. Steevens.

Note return to page 313 2&lblank; What canst thou say, When noble Pericles shall demand his child?] So in the ancient romance already quoted: “&lblank; tell me now what rekenynge we shall gyve hym of his doughter, &c.” Steevens. So also in the Gesta Romanorum: “Quem [Apollonium] cum vidisset Strangulio, perrexit rabido cursu, dixitque uxori suæ Dyonisidi— Dixisti Apollonium naufragum esse mortuum. Ecce, venit ad repetendam filiam. Ecce, quid dicturi sumus pro filiâ?” Malone.

Note return to page 314 3&lblank; Nurses are not the fates, To foster it, nor ever to preserve.] So king John, on receiving the account of Arthur's death: “We cannot hold mortality's strong hand:— “Why do you bend such solemn brows on me? “Think you I bear the shears of destiny? “Have I commandment on the pulse of life?” Malone.

Note return to page 315 4She died at night; &lblank;] I suppose Dionyza means to say that she died suddenly; was found dead in the morning. The words are from Gower: “She saith that Thayse sodeynly “By night is dead.”— Steevens.

Note return to page 316 5&lblank; I'll say so. Who can cross it?] So in Macbeth: “Mach. &lblank; Will it not be receiv'd, “When we have mark'd with blood those sleepy two “Of his own chamber, and us'd their very daggers, “That they have done't? “Lady. Who dares receive it other, “As we shall make our grief and clamour roar “Upon his death?” Malone.

Note return to page 317 6Unless you play the impious innocent,] The folios and the modern editions have omitted the word impious, which is necessary to the metre, and is found in the first quarto.—She calls him, an impious simpleton, because such a discovery would touch the life of one of his own family, his wife. An innocent was formerly a common appellation for an ideot. See Mr. Whalley's note in the preceding volume, p. 137. Malone.

Note return to page 318 7&lblank; I do shame To think of what a noble strain you are, And of how coward a spirit.] Lady Macbeth urges the same argument to persuade her husband to commit the murder of Duncan, that Dionyza here uses to induce Cleon to conceal that of Marina: “&lblank; art thou afraid “To be the same in thine own act and valour, “As thou art in desire? Would'st thou have that “Which thou esteem'st the ornament of life, “And live a coward in thine own esteem? “Letting I dare not wait upon I would, “Like the poor cat i' the adage?” Again, after the murder, she exclaims: “My hands are of your colour, but I shame “To wear a heart so white.” Malone.

Note return to page 319 8Though not his pre-consent, &lblank;] The first quarto reads— prince consent. The second quarto, which has been followed by the modern editions, has—whole consent. In the second edition, the editor or printer seems to have corrected what was apparently erroneous in the first, by substituting something that would afford sense, without paying any regard to the corrupted reading, which often leads to the discovery of the true. For the emendation inserted in the text the reader is indebted to Mr. Steevens. A passage in King John bears no very distant resemblance to the present: “&lblank; If thou didst but consent “To this most cruel act, do but despair, “And, if thou want'st a cord, the smallest thread “That ever spider twisted from her womb “Will serve to strangle thee.” Malone.

Note return to page 320 9Whilst ours was blurted at,] Thus the quarto 1609. All the subsequent copies have—blurred at. Malone. She did disdain my child, and stood between Her and her fortunes: none would look on her, But cast their gazes on Marina's face; Whilst ours was blurted at, &lblank;] The usurping duke in As You Like It gives the same reasons for his cruelty to Rosalind: “&lblank; she robs thee of thy name; “And thou wilt show more bright, and seem more virtuous, “When she is gone.” Steevens.

Note return to page 321 1&lblank; a malkin Not worth the time of day.] A malkin is a coarse wench. A kitchen-malkin is mentioned in Coriolanus. Not worth the time of day is, not worth a good day or good morrow; undeserving the most common and usual salutation. Steevens.

Note return to page 322 2And though you call my course unnatural,] So in Julius Cæsar: “Our course will seem too bloody, Caius Cassius, “To cut the head off, and then hack the limbs.” Malone.

Note return to page 323 3It greets me, as an enterprize of kindness, Perform'd to your sole daughter.] Perhaps it greets me, may mean, it pleases me;—c'est a mon gré. If greet be used in its ordinary sense of saluting or meeting with congratulation, it is surely a very harsh phrase. I suspect the passage to be corrupt. Malone.

Note return to page 324 4Thou art like the harpy, Which, to betray, dost, with thine angel's face, Seize with thine eagle's talons.] There is an awkwardness of construction in this passage, that leads me to think it corrupt. The sense designed seems to have been—Thou resemblest in thy conduct the harpy, which allures with the face of an angel, that it may seize with the talons of an eagle.—Might we read: Thou art like the harpy, Which, to betray, dost wear thine angel's face; Seize with thine eagle's talons. Which is here, as in many other places, for who. Mr. Steevens thinks a line was omitted at the press, which, he supposes, might have been of this import: Thou art like the harpy, Which, to betray, dost with thine angel's face Hang out fair shews of love, that thou may'st surer Seize with thine eagle's talons. Malone.

Note return to page 325 5Doth swear to the gods, that winter kills the flies;] You resemble him who is angry with heaven, because it does not control the common course of nature. Marina, like the flies in winter, was fated to perish; yet you lament and wonder at her death, as an extraordinary occurrence. Malone.

Note return to page 326 6Sail seas in cockles,] We are told by Reginald Scott in his Discovery of Witchcraft, 1584, that “it was believed that witches could sail in an eggshell, a cockle or muscle shell, through and under tempestuous seas.”—This popular idea was probably in our author's thoughts. Malone.

Note return to page 327 7Making, (to take your imagination) From bourn to bourn, &lblank;] Making, if that be the true reading, must be understood to mean proceeding in our course, from bourn to bourn, &c.—It is still said at sea—the ship makes much way. I suspect, however, that the passage is corrupt. All the copies have—our imagination—which is clearly wrong. Perhaps the author wrote—to task your imagination. Malone. Making, (to take your imagination) From bourn to bourn, &c. &lblank;] i. e. travelling (with the hope of engaging your attention) from one part of the world to another; i. e. we hope to interest you by the variety of our scene, and the different countries through which we pursue our story. Steevens.

Note return to page 328 8&lblank; who stand i' the gaps to teach you, The stages of our story,] So, in the chorus to the Winter's Tale: “I slide “O'er sixteen years, and leave the growth untry'd “Of that wide gap.” The earliest quarto reads—with gaps; that in 1619—in gaps. The reading that I have substituted, is nearer that of the old copy. Malone. To learn of me who stand with gaps &lblank;] I should rather read:—i' the gaps. So in Antony and Cleopatra: “That I may sleep out this great gap of time “My Antony's away.” I would likewise transpose and correct the following lines thus: &lblank; I do beseech ye To learn of me, who stand i' the gaps to teach ye, The stages of our story. Pericles Is now again thwarting the wayward seas, Attended on by many a lord and knight, To see his daughter, all his life's delight. Old Escanes, whom Helicanus late Advanc'd in time to great and high estate, Is left to govern. Bear it you in mind, Old Helicanus goes along behind. Well-sailing ships and bounteous winds have brought This king to Tharsus: think his pilot wrought So with his steerage, and your thoughts shall groan To fetch, &c.— Steevens.

Note return to page 329 9&lblank; thwarting the wayward seas; So in K. Henry V: “&lblank; and there being seen, “Heave him away upon your winged thoughts “Athwart the seas.” Malone.

Note return to page 330 1Old Escanes, whom Helicanus late, &c.] In the old copies these lines are strangely misplaced: Old Helicanus goes along behind Is left to governe it: you beare in mind Old Escenes whom Helicanus late Advancde in time to great and hie estate, Well sailing ships and bounteous winds Have brought this king to Tharsus, &c. The regulation suggested by Mr. Steevens renders the whole passage perfectly clear. Malone.

Note return to page 331 2&lblank; think this pilot thought, So with his steerage shall your thoughts groan To fetch his daughter home, who first is gone.] Thus, all the old copies; but they appear to me corrupt. I read, &lblank; think his pilot thought; Suppose that your imagination is his pilot. So in King Henry V: “&lblank; 'Tis your thoughts that now must deck our kings, “Carry them here and there; jumping o'er times.” Again, ibid: “Heave him away upon your winged thoughts “Athwart the seas.” In the next line the versification is defective by one word being printed instead of two. By reading grow on instead of groan, the sense and metre are both restored So in the Midsummer Night's Dream (fol. 1623):—“and so grow on to a point.” See vol. iii. p. 18. where various instances are produced of the word grow being used in the sense required here. We might read go on; but the other appears to me more likely to have been the author's word. Malone.

Note return to page 332 3&lblank; who first is gone.] Who has left Tharsus before her father's arrival there. Malone.

Note return to page 333 4&lblank; for true old woe:] So, in K. Henry V: “Sit and see, “Minding true things by what their mockeries be.” Malone. &lblank; for true old woe:] i. e. for such tears as were shed when, the world being in its infancy, dissimulation was unknown. All poetical writers are willing to persuade themselves that sincerity expired with the first ages.—Perhaps, however, we ought to read “true-told woe.” Steevens.

Note return to page 334 5&lblank; Now please you wit] Now be pleased to know. So, in Gower: “In whiche the londe hath to him writte “That he would understonde and witte”— The editor of the second quarto (which has been copied by all the other editions) probably not understanding the passage, altered it thus: &lblank;Now take we our way To the epitaph for Marina writ by Dionysia. Malone.

Note return to page 335 6Thetis, being proud, swallow'd some part o' th' earth:] Her mother, Thaisa. Our author uses nearly the same expression in Romeo and Juliet: “Thou detestable maw, thou womb of death, “Gorg'd with the dearest morsel of the earth”— The modern editions read: That is, being proud, &c. Malone.

Note return to page 336 7&lblank; and swears she'll never stint,] She'll never cease. So, in Romeo and Juliet: “It stinted, and said, ay.” Malone.

Note return to page 337 8&lblank; while our tears must play] The old copies have, While our steare must play We might read—our stage—or rather, our scene (which was formerly spelt sceane). So in As You Like It: “This wide and universal theatre “Presents more woeful pageants than the scene “Wherein we play.” But the emendation which Mr. Steevens proposed to me, and which I have inserted in the text, appears preferable to either, because produced merely by the transposition transportation of the letters. Malone.

Note return to page 338 9&lblank; Here comes the lord Lysimachus, disguis'd.] So in the ancient prose romance already quoted: “Than anone as Anthygoras prynce of the cyte it wyste, went and he dysguysed hymselfe, and went to the bordell whereas Tarcye was, &c.” Steevens. So also in the Gesta Romanorum: “Cum lenone antecedente et tuba, tertia die cum symphonia ducitur [Tharsia] ad lupanar. Sed Athenagoras princeps primus ingreditur velato corpore. Tharsia autem videns eum projecit se ad pedes ejus, et ait, &c.” No mention is made in the Conf. Amant. of this interview between Athenagoras (the Lysimachus of our play) and the daughter of Appolinus. So that Shakspeare must have taken this circumstance either from Kyng Appolyn of Thyre, or some other translation of the Gesta Romanorum. Malone.

Note return to page 339 1How now? how a dozen of virginities?] For what price may a dozen of virginities be had? So in K. Henry IV. Part II: “How a score of ewes now?” Malone.

Note return to page 340 2Now the gods to-bless your honour!] This use of to in composition with verbs (as Mr. Tyrwhitt observes) is very common in Gower and Chaucer. See notes on the Merry Wives of Windsor, last edit. vol. i. p. 342. Steevens.

Note return to page 341 3&lblank; wholesome iniquity?] Thus the quarto 1609. The second quarto and the modern editions read—impunity. Malone.

Note return to page 342 4That dignifies the renown of a bawd, no less than it gives a good report to a number to be chaste.] This is the reading of the quarto 1619. The first quarto has—That dignities &c. Perhaps the poet wrote—That dignity is the renown, &c. The word number is, I believe, a misprint. Malone. The meaning of the passage should seem to be this: “The mask of modesty is no less successfully worn by procuresses than by wantons. It palliates grossness of profession in the former, while it exempts a multitude of the latter from suspicion of being what they are. 'Tis politick for each to assume the appearance of this quality, though neither of them in reality possess it.” Steevens.

Note return to page 343 5My lord, she's not pac'dyet,] She has not yet learned her paces. Malone.

Note return to page 344 6Come, we will leave his honour and her together.] The first quarto adds—Go thy ways. These words, which denote both authority and impatience, I think, belong to Lysimachus. He had before expressed his desire to be left alone with Marina: “&lblank; Well, there's for you;—leave us.” Malone.

Note return to page 345 7Why I cannot name but I shall offend.] I would read—What I cannot &c. So in Measure for Measure: “What but to speak of would offend again.” Steevens.

Note return to page 346 8Were you a gamester at five, or at seven?] A gamester was formerly used to signify a wanton. So in All's Well that Ends Well: “She's impudent, my lord, “And was a common gamester to the camp.” Malone.

Note return to page 347 9If you were born to honour, shew it now;] In the Gesta Romanorum, Tharsia (the Marina of the present play) preserves her chastity by the recital of her story: “Miserere me propter Deum, et per Deum te adjuro, ne me violes. Resiste libidini tuæ, et audi casus infelicitatis meæ, et unde sim diligenter considera.’ Cui cum universos casus suos exposuisset, princeps confusus et pietate plenus, ait ei—‘Habeo et ego filiam tibi similem, de qua similes casus metuo.’ Hæc dicens, dedit ei viginti aureos, dicens, ecce habes amplius pro virginitate quam impositus est. Dic advenientibus sicut mihi dixisti, et liberaberis.” The affecting circumstance which is here said to have struck the mind of Athenagoras, (the danger to which his own daughter was liable), was probably omitted in the translation. It hardly, otherwise, would have escaped our author. Malone.

Note return to page 348 1Some more;—be sage &lblank;] Lysimachus says this with a sneer. &lblank; Proceed with your fine moral discourse. Malone.

Note return to page 349 2Persever in that clear way thou goest,] Continue in your present virtuous disposition. So in the Tempest: “&lblank; nothing but heart's sorrow “And a clear life ensuing.” Again, in the Two Noble Kinsmen, 1634: “For the sake “Of clear virginity, be advocate “For us and our distresses.” Malone.

Note return to page 350 3&lblank; a piece of virtue, &lblank;] This expression occurs in the Tempest: “&lblank; thy mother was “A piece of virtue &lblank;” Steevens.

Note return to page 351 4&lblank; under the cope,] i. e. under the cope or covering of heaven. The word is thus used in Cymbeline. Steevens.

Note return to page 352 5She makes our profession as it were to stink afore the face of the gods.] So in Measure for Measure, the Duke says to the Bawd: “Can'st thou believe thy living is a life, “So stinkingly depending. “Clown. Indeed, it does stink in some sort, sir &lblank;” Steevens.

Note return to page 353 6&lblank; crack the glass of her virginity, and make the rest malleable.] So in the Gesta Romanorum: “Altera die, adhuc eam virginem audiens, iratus [leno] vocans villicum puellarum, dixit, duc eam ad te, et frange nodum virginitatis ejus.” Malone.

Note return to page 354 7&lblank; my dish of chastity with rosemary and bays!] Anciently many dishes were served up with this garniture, during the season of Christmas. The bawd means to call her a piece of ostentatious virtue. Steevens.

Note return to page 355 *Mar. Pr'ythee tell me one thing first. Boult. Come now, your one thing?] So in K. Hen. IV. P. II: “P. Hen. Shall I tell thee one thing, Poins? “Poins. Go to, I stand the push of your one thing.” Malone.

Note return to page 356 8&lblank; to ev'ry Coyst'rel that comes enquiring for his tib;] To every mean or drunken fellow that comes to enquire for a girl. Coysterel is properly a wine-vessel. Tib is, I think, a contraction of Tabitha. Malone. &lblank; coysterel &lblank;] i. e. paltry fellow. See notes on Twelfth Night, last edit. vol. iv. p. 162. Steevens.

Note return to page 357 9For what thou professest, a baboon, could he speak, Would own a name too dear.] i. e. a baboon would think his tribe dishonoured by such a profession. Thus says Iago— “Ere I would drown myself, &c. I would change my humanity with a baboon.” Steevens.

Note return to page 358 1I doubt not but this populous city will Yield many scholars.] The scheme by which Marina effects her release from the brothel, the poet adopted from the Confessio Amantis. Malone.

Note return to page 359 2&lblank; and she dances As goddess-like to her admired lays:] This compound epithet (which is not common) is again used by our author in Cymbeline: “&lblank; and undergoes, “More goddess-like than wife-like, such assaults “As would take in some virtue.” Malone.

Note return to page 360 3Deep clerks she dumbs; &lblank;] So in the Midsummer Night's Dream: “Where I have come, great clerks have purposed “To greet me with premeditated welcomes; “Where I have seen them shiver and look pale, “Make periods in the midst of sentences, “Throttle their practis'd accents in their fears, “And in conclusion dumbly have broke ope, “Not paying me a welcome.” These passages are compared only on account of the similarity of expression, the sentiments being very different.—Theseus confounds those who address him, by his superior dignity; Marina silences the learned persons with whom she converses, by her literary superiority. Malone.

Note return to page 361 4&lblank; and with her neeld composes] Neeld for needle. So in the translation of Lucan's Pharsalia, by Sir A. Gorges, 1614: “&lblank; Like pricking neelds, or points of swords.” Malone.

Note return to page 362 5That even her art sisters the natural roses;] I have not met with this word in any other writer. It is again used by our author in A Lover's Complaint, 1609: “From off a hill, whose concave womb reworded “A plaintful story from a sist'ring vale”— Malone.

Note return to page 363 6Her inkle, silk, twin with the rubied cherry:] Inkle is a species of tape. It is mentioned in Love's Labour's Lost, and in the Winter's Tale. All the copies read, I think corruptly—twine with the rubied cherry. The word which I have substituted is used by Shakspeare in Othello: “&lblank; tho' he had twinn'd with me, “Both at a birth”— Again, in Coriolanus: “&lblank; who twin as it were in love.” Malone. Again, more appositely, in the Two Noble Kinsmen, by Fletcher: “Her twinning cherries shall their sweetness fall “Upon thy tasteful lips.” Steevens.

Note return to page 364 7&lblank; Here we her place,] So, the first quarto. The other copies read,—Leave we her place. Malone.

Note return to page 365 8Where we left him on the sea. We there him lost;] The first quarto reads—We there him lest. The editor of that in 1619, finding the passage corrupt, altered it entirely. He reads Where we left him at sea tumbled and tost &lblank; The corresponding rhime, coast, shews that lest, in the first edition, was only a misprint for lost. Malone.

Note return to page 366 9&lblank; The city striv'd God Neptune's annual feast to keep:] The citizens vied with each other in celebrating the feast of Neptune. This harsh expression was forced upon the author by the rhime. Malone.

Note return to page 367 1And to him in his barge with fervour hies.] This is one of the few passages in this play, in which the error of the first copy is corrected in the second. The eldest quarto reads unintelligibly— &lblank; with former hies. Malone.

Note return to page 368 2In your supposing once more put your sight; Of heavy Pericles think this the bark:] Once more put your sight under the guidance of your imagination. Suppose, you see what we cannot exhibit to you; think this stage, on which I stand, the bark of the melancholy Pericles.—So before: “In your imagination hold “This stage, the ship, upon whose deck “The sea-toss'd Pericles appears to speak.” Again, in K. Henry V: “Behold “In the quick forge and working-house of thought.” Again, ibid: “&lblank; your eyes advance “After your thoughts.” Again, ibid: “Work, work your thoughts, and therein see a siege.” The first quarto reads—Of heavy Pericles.—The second has On. If the latter be right, the passage should be regulated differently: And to him in his barge with fervour hies, In your supposing.—Once more put your sight On heavy Pericles; &c. You must now aid me with your imagination, and suppose Lysimachus hastening in his barge to go on board the Tyrian ship. Once more behold the melancholy Pericles, &c. But the former is, in my opinion, the true reading.—To exhort the audience merely to behold Pericles, was very unnecessary; as in the ensuing scene, he would of course be presented to them. Gower's principal office in these choruses is, to persuade the spectators, not to use, but to disbelieve, their eyes. Malone.

Note return to page 369 3Where what is done in action, more, if might,] Where all that may be displayed in action, shall be exhibited; and more should be shown, if our stage would permit.—The poet seems to be aware of the difficulty of representing the ensuing scene. More, if might—is the reading of the first quarto. The other copies read, unintelligibly,—more of might. Malone.

Note return to page 370 4But to prorogue his grief.] To lengthen or prolong his grief. The modern editions read unnecessarily, But to prolong his grief. Prorogued is used by our author in Romeo and Juliet for delayed: “My life were better ended by their hate, “Than death prorogued wanting of thy love.” Malone.

Note return to page 371 5Pericles discovered.] Few of the stage-directions that have been given in this and the preceding acts, are found in the old copy. In the original representation of this play, Pericles was probably placed in the back part of the stage, concealed by a curtain, which was here drawn open. The antient narratives represent him as remaining in the cabin of his ship. Thus in the Confessio Amantis it is said, “But for all that though hem be lothe, “He [Athenagoras, the governor of Mitylene] fonde the ladder and downe he goeth “And to him spake”— So also in K. Appolyn of Thyre, 1510—“he is here benethe in tenebres and obscurete, and for nothinge that I may doe he wyll not yssue out of the place where as he is.”—But as in such a situation he would not be visible to the audience, a different stage-direction is now given. Malone.

Note return to page 372 6'Till the disaster that, one mortal night, Drove him to this.] The copies all read—one mortal wight. The word which I suppose the author to have written, affords an easy sense. Mortal is here used for pernicious, destructive. So, in Othello: “The gutter'd rocks, and congregated sands, “Traitors ensteep'd to clog the guiltless keel, “As having sense of beauty, do omit “Their mortal natures, letting safe go by “The divine Desdemona.” Malone.

Note return to page 373 7Sir, we have a maid, &c.] This circumstance resembles another in All's Well that Ends Well, where Lafeu gives an account of Helena's attractions to the king before she is introduced to attempt his cure. Steevens.

Note return to page 374 8And make a battery through his deafen'd parts,] One of the copies reads defended, the other defend. The author's word was, I suppose, defenc'd. So in the Merry Wives of Windsor: “I could drive her then from the ward of her purity, her reputation, and a thousand other her defences, which are now too strongly embattled against me.” Steevens. The earliest quarto reads defend. I believe, Shakspeare wrote —through his deafen'd parts,—i. e. his ears; which were to be assailed by the melodious voice of Marina. This kind of phraseology, though it now appears uncouth, was common in our author's time. In the old quarto few of the participles have an elision-mark. Malone.

Note return to page 375 9And, with her fellow-maids, is now upon The leafy shelter &lblank;] Marina might be said to be under the leafy shelter, but I know not how she could be upon it; nor have I a very clear idea of a shelter abutting against the side of an island. Might we read, &lblank; is now upon The leafy shelver that abuts against The island's side. i. e. the shelving bank near the sea-side, shaded by adjoining trees. It appears from Gower that the feast of Neptune was celebrated on the strand: “The lordes both and the commune “The high festes of Neptune “Upon the stronde, at rivage, “As it was custome and usage “Solempneliche thei be sigh.” So before in this scene, Being on shore, honouring of Neptune's triumphs— Marina and her fellow-maids, we may suppose, had retired a little way from the crowd, and seated themselves under the adjoining trees, to see the triumph.—This circumstance was an invention of the poet's. In K. Appolyn of Thyre, Tharsye, the Marina of this play, is brought from the bordel where she had been placed. In the Confessio Amantis, she is summoned, by order of the governor, from the honest house to which she had retreated. Malone. The leafy shelter &lblank;] I suppose that the printer, or copyist, meeting here with an uncommon word, corrupted it. Perhaps the poet wrote—levisell, i. e. leafy seat, from the Saxon lefe folium, and setl, sedes. So in Chaucer's Persones Tale, p. 183. last edit. “right as the gay levesell at the taverne, &c.” See also Mr. Tyrwhitt's note on line 4059. Some word, however, may have been omitted, or the verse is defective. We might then read, “She is all happy as the fairest of all, “And with her fellow-maids is now upon “The levisell that close abuts against “The island's side.” Steevens.

Note return to page 376 1Exit Lord in the barge of Lysimachus.] It may seem strange that Shakspeare should have chosen a fable to form a drama upon, in which the greater part of the business of the last act should be transacted at sea; and wherein it should even be necessary to produce two vessels on the scene at the same time. But the customs and exhibitions of the modern stage give this objection to the play before us a greater weight than it really has. It appears that, when Pericles was originally performed, the theatres were furnished with no such apparatus as by any stretch of the imagination could be supposed to represent either a sea, or a ship; and that the audience were contented to behold vessels sailing in and out of port, in their mind's eye only. This licence being once granted to the poet, the lord, in the instance now before us, walked off the stage, and returned again in a few minutes, leading in Marina, without any sensible impropriety; and the present drama, exhibited before such indulgent spectators, was not more incommodious in the representation than any other would have been. Malone.

Note return to page 377 2And so inflict our province;] Thus all the copies. But I do not believe to inflict was ever used by itself in the sense of to punish. I would read—And so afflict our province. Malone.

Note return to page 378 3Sit, sir, &lblank;] Thus the eldest quarto. The modern editions read—sir, sir. Malone.

Note return to page 379 4&lblank; is't not A goodly presence?] Is she not beautiful in her form? So, in King John: “Lord of thy presence, and no land beside.” All the copies read, I think corruptedly, &lblank; is it not a goodly present? Malone.

Note return to page 380 5Fair on, all goodness that consists in beauty Expect even here, where is a kingly patient;] Thus the first quarto. The editor of the second quarto in 1619, finding this unintelligible, altered the text, and printed—Fair and all goodness, &c. which renders the passage nonsense.—One was formerly written on. They are perpetually confounded in our ancient dramas The latter part of the line, which was corrupt in all the copies, has been happily amended by Mr. Steevens. Malone. I should think, that instead of beauty we ought to read bounty. All the good that consists in beauty she brought with her. But she had reason to expect the bounty of her kingly patient, if she proved successful in his cure. Indeed Lysimachus tells her so afterwards in clearer language. The present circumstance puts us in mind of what passes between Helena and the King, in All's Well that Ends Well. Steevens.

Note return to page 381 6If that thy prosperous and artificial fate Can draw him &lblank;] I would read: If that thy prosperous and artful lay Can draw him &lblank; It appears from the preceding part of this scene, that the cure of Pericles was expected from the melody of Marina's voice, which has been already celebrated by the interlocutor, Gower: &lblank; she dances As goddess-like to her admired lays. So also Gower himself: “She goeth hir doune there as he laie, “Where that she harped many a lay.” Steevens. If that thy prosperous and artificial fate &lblank;] “Veni ad me, Tharsia; (says Athenagoras) ubi nunc est ars studiorum tuorum, ut consoleris dominum navis in tenebris sedentem; ut provoces eum exire ad lucem, quia nimis dolet pro conjuge et filia suâ?—Gesta Roman. p. 586. edit. 1558. We might read, If that thy prosperous, artificial lute &lblank; So in the Confessio Amantis: “A messager for hir is gone, “And she came with hir harpe in honde”— In K. Appolyn of Thyre we are told “how kynge Appolyn arryved at Mylytayne, and how his doughter luted afore him.” Malone.

Note return to page 382 7Marina sings.] This song (like most of those that were sung in the old plays) has not been preserved. Perhaps it might have been formed on the following lines in the Gesta Romanorum, (or some translation of them) which Tharsia is there said to have sung to King Apollonius: “Per scorta [f. heu!] gradior, sed scorti conscia non sum; “Sic spinis rosa [f. quæ] nescit violarier ullis. “Corruit et [f. en] raptor gladii ferientis ab ictu; “Tradita lenoni non sum violata pudore. “Vulnera cessassent animi, lacrimæque deessent, “Nulla ergo melior, si noscam certa parentes. “Unica regalis generis sum stirpe creata; “Ipsa, jubente Deo, lætari credo aliquando. “Fuge [f. terge] modo lacrimas, curam dissolve molestam; “Redde polo faciem, mentemque ad sidera tolle: “Jam [f. Nam] Deus est hominum plasmator, rector et auctor, “Non sinit has lacrimas casso finire labore.” Malone.

Note return to page 383 8&lblank; and aukward casualties] Aukward is adverse. Our author has the same epithet in the Second Part of K. Hen. VI. “And twice by aukward wind from England's bank “Drove back again.” Steevens.

Note return to page 384 9I do Think so.—Pray you turn your eyes upon me. You are like something, that—What country-woman? Here of these shores?] This passage is so strangely corrupted in the first quarto and all the other copies, that I cannot forbear transcribing it: Per. I do thinke so, pray you turne your eyes upon me, your like something that, what countrey women heare of these shewes. Mar. No nor of any shewes, &c. For the ingenious emendation,—shores, instead of shewes— (which is so clearly right, that I have not hesitated to insert it in the text) as well as the happy regulation of the whole passage, I am indebted to the patron of every literary undertaking, my friend, the Earl of Charlemont. Malone.

Note return to page 385 1Her eyes as jewel-like, And cas'd as richly;] So, in K. Lear: “&lblank; and, in this habit, “Met I my father with his bleeding rings, “Their precious stones new-lost.” Again, ibid: “What, with this case of eyes?” Malone.

Note return to page 386 2&lblank; in pace another Juno:] So in the Tempest: “Highest queen of state “Great Juno comes—I know her by her gait.” Malone.

Note return to page 387 3Who starves the ears she feeds, and makes them hungry, The more she gives them speech.] So, in Antony and Cleopatra: “&lblank; other women cloy “The appetites they feed, but she makes hungry, “Where most she satisfies.” Again, in Hamlet: “&lblank; As if increase of appetite did grow “By what it fed on.” Malone.

Note return to page 388 4And how atchiev'd you these endowments, which You make more rich to owe?] To owe in ancient language is to possess. So, in Othello: “&lblank; that sweet sleep “That thou ow'd'st yesterday.” The meaning of the compliment is:—These endowments, however valuable in themselves, are heighten'd by being in your possession. They acquire additional grace from their owner. Thus also one of Timon's flatterers: “You mend the jewel by the wearing it.” Steevens.

Note return to page 389 5Didst thou not say &lblank;] All the copies read—Didst thou not stay.—It was clearly a false print in the first edition. Malone.

Note return to page 390 6&lblank; thou art a man, and I Have suffer'd like a girl; &lblank;] So in Macbeth: “If trembling I inhibit thee, protest me “The baby of a girl.” Malone.

Note return to page 391 7Like Patience, gazing on kings' graves, &lblank;] So, in Twelfth Night: “She sat like Patience on a monument, “Smiling at Grief.” Again, in the Rape of Lucrece, 1594: “Onward to Troy with these blunt swains he goes; “So mild, that Patience seem'd to scorn his woes.” Malone.

Note return to page 392 8&lblank; and smiling Extremity out of act.] By her beauty and patient meekness disarming Calamity, and preventing her from using her uplifted sword.—Extremity (though not personified as here) is in like manner used in King Lear, for the utmost of human suffering: “&lblank; another, “To amplify too much, would make much more, “And top extremity.” Malone.

Note return to page 393 9How lost thou them? Thy name, my most kind virgin? Recount, I do beseech thee;—come, sit by me.] All the copies read—How lost thou thy name, my most kind virgin, recount, &c. But Marina had not said any thing about her name. She had indeed told the king, that “Time had rooted out her parentage, and to the world and aukward casualties bound her in servitude:”—Pericles, therefore, naturally asks her, by what accident she had lost her friends; and at the same time desires to know her name. Marina answers his last question first, and then proceeds to tell her history. The insertion of the word them, which I suppose to have been omitted by the negligence of the compositor, renders the whole clear.—The metre of the line which was before defective, and Marina's answer, both support the conjectural reading of the text. Malone.

Note return to page 394 1&lblank; a troubler of your peace,] Thus the earliest quarto. The folios and the modern editions read—a trouble of your peace. Malone.

Note return to page 395 3Have you a working pulse? and are no fairy? Motion?—Well; speak on. Where were you born?] I suspect that a word is wanting at the beginning of the second line, &lblank; and are no fairy? No motion? &lblank; i. e. no puppet dress'd up to deceive me. So, in the Two Gentlemen of Verona: “Oh excellent motion! oh exceeding puppet!” Steevens.

Note return to page 396 3Who died the very minute I was born,] Either the construction is—My mother, who died the very minute I was born, was the daughter of a king,—or we ought to read: She died the very minute, &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 397 4You scorn, believe me 'twere best I did give o'er.] Thus all the copies. The reply of Pericles induces me to think the author wrote: You'll scarce believe me; 'twere best, &c. Pericles had expressed no scorn in the preceding speech, but, on the contrary, great complacency and attention. So, also before: &lblank; Pr'ythee speak: Falseness cannot come from thee— &lblank; I'll believe thee, &c. The false prints in this play are so numerous, that the greatest latitude must be allowed to conjecture. Malone. I think we should read: You scorn believing me: (or, belief in me) 'twere best, &c. and this is authorised by Pericles' reply: “I will believe you”— Marina regards the speech of Pericles as expressive of scorn, because he has just told her that what she has said is—the rarest dream; assuring her at the same time that she cannot be his daughter. He desires her indeed to advance in her story; but has not yet declared that he will believe it. It is for this reason that she styles his behaviour contemptuous. Steevens. The words This is the rarest dream, &c. are not addressed to Marina, but spoken aside. Malone.

Note return to page 398 5I will believe you by the syllable, &c.] i. e. I will believe every word you say. So, in Macbeth: “To the last syllable of recorded time.” Again, in All's Well that Ends well: “To the utmost syllable of your worthiness.” Steevens.

Note return to page 399 6&lblank; who being drawn to do't,] i. e. who having drawn a weapon. So, in Romeo and Juliet: “What! art thou drawn among these heartless hinds?” Again, in K. Henry V: “O well-a-day, if he be not drawn now!” The old copy reads—who having drawn. The compositor, I am persuaded, caught the word having from the preceding line. The phraseology of the text, as now regulated, is the same as in each of the instances above quoted. Malone.

Note return to page 400 7And drown me with their sweetness.] We meet a kindred thought in the Merchant of Venice: “O love, be moderate, allay thy ecstasy, “In measure rain thy joy, scant this excess, “I feel too much thy blessing; make it less, “For fear I surfeit.” Malone.

Note return to page 401 8Though doubts did ever sleep.] i. e. in plain language, though nothing ever happened to awake a scruple or doubt concerning your veracity. Steevens.

Note return to page 402 9Thou hast been god-like perfect, the heir of kingdoms, And another like to Pericles thy father.] I strongly suspect that some words have been here omitted.—Perhaps the poet wrote, &lblank; As in the rest you said Thou hast been god-like-perfect, so go on; Proceed and tell me but thy mother's name, The heir of kingdoms, and a mother like To Pericles thy father. Malone. I would read, I am Pericles of Tyre; but tell me now My drown'd queen's name: In all the rest thou said'st Thou hast been god-like, perhaps the heir of kingdoms, And another like to Pericles thy father. Steevens.

Note return to page 403 1Thaisa was my mother, who did end The minute I began.] So, in the Winter's Tale: “&lblank; Lady, “Dear queen, that ended when I but began, “Give me that hand of yours to kiss.” Malone.

Note return to page 404 2Who, hearing of your melancholy state,] The folios and Mr. Rowe read, Who hearing of your melancholy— The word state, which is necessary to the metre, has been supplied from the first quarto. Malone.

Note return to page 405 3&lblank; But hark, what musick's this? Tell Helicanus, my Marina, tell him] Thus the earliest quarto. The quarto 1619, and all the subsequent editions read, But hark what musick's this Helicanus? my Marina, &c. Malone.

Note return to page 406 4O'er, point by point &lblank;] So in Gower: “Fro poynt to poynt all she hym tolde “That she hath long in herte holde, “And never durst make hir mone “But only to this lorde allone.” Malone.

Note return to page 407 5&lblank; for yet he seems to doat,] This is clearly a misprint. We should certainly read—to doubt. Malone.

Note return to page 408 6Most heavenly musick: It nips me unto list'ning, and thick slumber Hangs, &c.] So in Love's Labour's Lost: “Makes heaven drowsy with the harmony.” See vol. ii. last edit. p. 464, 465. Steevens.

Note return to page 409 7Well, my companion friends, if this but answer to My just belief, I'll well remember you.] These lines clearly belong to Marina. She has been for some time silent, and Pericles having now fallen into a slumber, she naturally turns to her companion, and assures her, that if she has in truth found her royal father, (as she has good reason to believe) she shall partake of her prosperity. It appears from a former speech in which the same phrase is used, that a lady had entered with Marina: Sir, I will use My utmost skill in his recovery; provided That none but I and my companion maid Be suffer'd to come near him. I would therefore read in the passage now before us, Well, my companion-friend &lblank; or, if the text here be right, we might read in the former instance —my companion-maids.—In the preceding part of this scene it has been particularly mentioned that Marina was with her fellow-maids upon the leafy shelter, &c. There is nothing in these lines that appropriates them to Lysimachus; nor any particular reason why he should be munificent to his friends because Pericles has found his daughter. On the other hand, this recollection of her lowly companion is perfectly suitable to the amiable character of Marina. Malone.

Note return to page 410 8My temple stands in Ephesus; &lblank;] This vision is formed on the following passage in Gower: “The hie God, which wolde hym kepe, “Whan that this kynge was fast aslepe, “By nightes tyme he hath hym bede “To sayle unto another stede: “To Ephesum he bad hym drawe, “And as it was that tyme lawe, “He shall do there hys sacrifice; “And eke he bad in all wise, “That in the temple amongst all “His fortune, as it is befalle, “Touchyng his doughter and his wife, “He shall be knowe upon his life.” Malone.

Note return to page 411 9&lblank; call, And give them repetition to the like.] I suppose he means to say—Call hither to thee the priestesses, and bid them repeat the same story. The narrative being thus diffused, would be the more sure to reach those ears for which eventually it was designed. Steevens.

Note return to page 412 1&lblank; goddess argentine,] That is, regent of the silver moon. Malone.9Q1338

Note return to page 413 2I have another sleight.] So all the copies. But the answer of Pericles shews clearly that they are corrupt. The sense requires some word synonymous to request. I therefore read,—I have another suit. Malone. I have another sleight.] i. e. another contrivance. He either means, that he intends some farther entertainment for Pericles, or that he has a design relative to Marina. Steevens.

Note return to page 414 3More a little, and then dumb.] Permit me to add a few words more, and then I shall be silent. The old copies have dum; in which way I have observed in ancient books the word dumb was occasionally spelt.—There are many as imperfect rhimes in this play, as that of the present couplet. So, in a former Chorus, moons and dooms. Again, at the end of this, soon and doom. Mr. Rowe reads—More a little, and then done. Malone.

Note return to page 415 4This my last boon give me,] The metre is defective here. I suppose we should read,—This as my last boon give me,—i. e. give it me as it is the last kindness I shall desire of you. Steevens.

Note return to page 416 5Till he had done his sacrifice,] That is, till Pericles had done his sacrifice. Malone.

Note return to page 417 6The interim, pray you, all confound.] So in K. Henry V: “Myself have play'd “The interim, by remembering you 'tis past.” Again, in Julius Cæsar: “&lblank; all the interim is “Like a phantasma, or a hideous dream.” To confound here signifies to consume.—So in K. Henry IV: “He did confound the best part of an hour, “Exchanging hardiment with great Glendower.” Malone.

Note return to page 418 7That he can hither come so soon, Is by your fancy's thankful doom.] As soon and doom are not rhimes exactly corresponding, I would rather read &lblank; thankful boon. Thankful boon may signify—the licence you grant us in return for the pleasure we have afforded you in the course of the play. So before in this Chorus: This as my last boon give me. Steevens. We had similar rhimes before: &lblank; if king Pericles Come not home in twice six moons, He, obedient to their dooms, Will take the crown. I have, therefore, not disturbed the reading of the old copy. Malone.

Note return to page 419 8Who, frighted from my country, did wed] Country must be considered as a trisyllable. So entrance, semblance, and many others Malone.

Note return to page 420 9You are, you are—O royal Pericles! &lblank;] The similitude between this scene, and the discovery in the last act of the Winter's Tale, will, I suppose, strike every reader. Malone.

Note return to page 421 1Look to the lady; &lblank;] When lady Macbeth pretends to swoon, on hearing the account of Duncan's murder, the same exclamation is used. These words belong, I believe, to Pericles. Malone.

Note return to page 422 2Early in blust'ring morn, &lblank;] The author, perhaps, wrote, Early one blustring morn, &lblank; Malone.

Note return to page 423 3Found these rich jewels; &lblank;] Thus the second quarto; the folios and Mr. Rowe. Pericles's next question shews that this could not be the poet's word. The true reading is found in the first quarto. It should be remembered, that Cerimon delivered these jewels to Thaisa, (before she left his house) in whose custody they afterwards remained. Malone.

Note return to page 424 4Here in Diana's temple.] The same situation occurs again in the Comedy of Errors, where Ægeon loses his wife at sea, and finds her at last in a nunnery. Steevens.

Note return to page 425 5&lblank; they shall be brought you to my house, Whither I invite you.] This circumstance bears some resemblance to the meeting of Leontes and Hermione. The office of Cerimon is not unlike that of Paulina in the Winter's Tale. Steevens.

Note return to page 426 6This, this; no more you gods! your present kindness Makes my past miseries sport:] So, in K. Lear: “It is a chance that does redeem all sorrows “That ever I have felt.” Malone.

Note return to page 427 7&lblank; I may Melt, and no more be seen. &lblank;] This is a sentiment which Shakspeare never fails to introduce on occasions similar to the present. So, in Othello: “If it were now to die “'Twere now to be most happy, &c.” Again, in the Winter's Tale: “If I might die within this hour, I have liv'd “To die when I desire.” Malone. Melt and no more be seen.] So, in one of the Psalms—“O spare me a little that I may recover my strength, before I go hence and be no more seen.” Steevens.

Note return to page 428 8&lblank; O come, be buried, A second time within these arms.] So, in the Winter's Tale: “Not like a corse; or if—not to be buried, “But quick, and in mine arms.” Malone.

Note return to page 429 9Blest, and mine own!] So, in the Winter's Tale: “Tell me, mine own, “Where hast thou been preserv'd? Where liv'd? How found “Thy father's court?” Malone.

Note return to page 430 1&lblank; the fair-betrothed &lblank;] i. e. fairly contracted, honourably affianced. Steevens.

Note return to page 431 2In Antiochus and his daughter &lblank;,] Read—In Antioch and his daughter. So in Shakspeare's other plays—France for the K. of France, Morocco for the king of, &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 432 3Virtue preserv'd from fell Destruction's blast, Led on by heaven, and crown'd with joy at last.] All the copies are here, I think, manifestly corrupt.—They read, Virtue prefer'd from fell Destruction's blast— The gross and numerous errors of even the most accurate copy of this play, will, it is hoped, justify the liberty that the editor has taken on this and some other occasions. It would be difficult to produce from the other works of Shakspeare many couplets more spirited and harmonious than this. Malone.

Note return to page 433 4&lblank; and honour'd name] The first and second quarto read— the honour'd name. The reading of the text, which appears to me more intelligible, is that of the folio 1664. The city is here used for the collective body of the citizens. Malone.

Note return to page 434 5To punish, although not done, but meant.] The defective metre of this line induces me to think that the word which I have supplied, was omitted by the carelessness of the printer. Malone.9Q1341

Note return to page 435 * The letters in Italicks have been supplied by the conjecture of Mr. Tyrwhitt, who very obligingly examined this ancient fragment, and furnished the editor with the above extract.

Note return to page 436 for five feet metre r. five-feet metre.

Note return to page 437 *Notwithstanding what I have advanced in favour of Shakspeare's uncommon powers of imitation, I am by no means sure he would have proved successful in a cold attempt to copy the peculiarities of language more ancient than his own. His exalted genius would have taught him to despise so servile an undertaking; and his good sense would have restrained him from engaging in a task which he had neither leisure nor patience to perform. His talents are displayed in copies from originals of a higher rank. Neither am I convinced that inferior writers have been over-lucky in poetical mimickries of their early predecessors. It is less difficult to deform language, than to bestow on it the true cast of antiquity; and though the licentiousness of Chaucer, and the obsolete words employed by Gower, are within the reach of moderate abilities, the humour of the one, and the general idiom of the other, are not quite so easy of attainment. The best of our modern poets have succeeded but tolerably in short compositions of this kind, and have therefore shewn their prudence in attempting none of equal length with the assembled choruses in Pericles, which consist at least of three hundred lines.—Mr. Pope professes to give us a story in the manner of Chaucer; but uses a metre on the occasion in which not a single tale of that author is written.

Note return to page 438 *The reader who is willing to pursue this hint, may consult what are now called the stage-directions, throughout the folio 1623 in the following pages. I refer to this copy, because it cannot be suspected of modern interpolation. Tempest, p. 13, 15, 16. All's Well, &c. 234, 238. K. Hen. VI. P. I. 100, 102, 105. Ditto, P. II.—125, 127, 129. Ditto, P. III.—164. K. Henry VIII. 206, 207, 211, 215, 224, 226, 231. Coriolanus, 6, 7. Tit. Andron. 31. Timon, 82. Macbeth, 135, 144. Hamlet, 267. Ant. and Cleop. 351, 355. Cymbeline, 392, 393.

Note return to page 439 †Those opticks that can detect the smallest vestige of Shakspeare in the character of the Pentapolitan monarch, cannot fail with equal felicity to discover Helen's beauty in a brow of Egypt, and to find all that should adorn the Graces, in the persons and conduct of the weïrd sisters. Compared with this Simonides, the King of Navarre in Love's Labour's Lost, Theseus in the Midsummer Night's Dream, and the Rex fistulatissimus in All's Well that Ends Well, are the rarest compounds of Machiavel and Hercules.

Note return to page 440 *It is remarkable, that not a name appropriated by Shakspeare to any character throughout his other plays, is to be found in this. At the same time the reader will observe that, except in such pieces as are built on historical subjects, or English fables, he employs the same proper names repeatedly in his different dramas. [Table: 4Kb] Antonio. Tempest. Two. Gent. M. Ado. T. Night. M. of V. Sebastian. &lblank; Tw. Night. Ferdinand. &lblank; L. L. Lost. Francisco. &lblank; Hamlet. Stephano. &lblank; M. of Ven. Helena. Cymbeline. All's Well. M N. Dr. T. and Cress. Demetrius. M. N. Dr. Ant. and Cl. Valentine. Two Gent. Tw. Night. Balthazar. Much Ado. M. of Ven. Com. of E. R. and Jul. Escalus. R. and Jul. M. for Me a Claudio. Much Ado. &lblank; Juliet. R. and Jul. &lblank; Mariana. M. for Meas. All's Well. Vincentio. Tam. the Shr. &lblank; Portia. Julius Cæsar. M. of Ven. Gratiano. Othello. &lblank; Rosaline. L. L. Lost. As You, &c. Catharine. Tam. the Shr. L. L. Lost. Maria. Tw. Night. &lblank; Emilia. Othello. W. Tale. Com. of E. Angelo. M. for Meas. Com. of E. Varro. Timon. Julius Cæs. Flavius &lblank; &lblank; Lucilius. &lblank; &lblank; Diomedes. Tr. and Cress. Ant. and Cl. Varrius. M. for Meas. &lblank; Cornelius. Hamlet. Cymbeline. Bianca. Othello. T. the Shr. Paris. Tr. and Cress. R. and Jul. Baptista. Hamlet. T. the Shr. Claudius. &lblank; Jul. Cæsar. Philo. Ant. and Cleo. Timon. Ventidius. &lblank; &lblank; Lucius. Cymbeline. &lblank; Cesario. Tw. Night. Ant. and Cl. To these might be added such as only differ from each other by means of fresh terminations. [Table: 1Kb] Launce. Two Gent. and Launcelot. M. of Ven. Adrian. Tempest. and Adriana. Com. of Er. Francisco. Hamlet, &c. and Francisca. M. for Meas. Luce. Com of Errors. Lucina, ibid. Lucetta. Two Gent. Silvius. As You Like It. and Silvia. Two Gent. Egeus. Mid. Nights Dr. and Egeon. Com of Err. Hortensius. Timon. and Hortensio. Tam. the Shr. Leonato. Much Ado. and Leonatus. Cymbeline. Names that in some plays are appropriated to speaking characters, in other dramas are introduced as belonging only to absent persons or things. Thus we have mention of a Rosaline, a Lucio, a Helena, a Valentine, &c. in Romeo and Juliet. Isabella, Escalus, Antonio, and Sebastian, in All's Well that Ends Well. Capulet and Roderigo, in Twelfth Night. Ferdinand and Troilus, in the Taming of a Shrew, &c. I have taken this minute trouble to gain an opportunity of observing how unlikely it is that Shakspeare should have been content to use second-hand names in so many of his more finished plays, and at the same time have bestowed original ones throughout the scenes of Pericles. This affords additional suspicion, to me at least, that the story, and the personæ dramatis, were not of our author's selection. —Neither Gower nor the translator of K. Appolyn has been followed on this occasion; for the names of Pericles, Escanes, Simonides, Cleon, Lysimachus, and Marina, are foreign to the old story, as related both by the poet and the novellist.

Note return to page 441 *Dr. Johnson once assured me, that when he wrote his Irene he had never read Othello; but meeting with it soon afterwards, was surprized to find he had given one of his characters a speech very strongly resembling that in which Cassio describes the effects produced by Desdemona's beauty on such inanimate objects as the gutter'd rocks and congregated sands. The doctor added, that on making the discovery, for fear of imputed plagiarism, he struck out this accidental coincidence from his own tragedy.

Note return to page 442 †Though I admit that a small portion of general and occasional relations may pass unsuspected from the works of one author into those of another, yet when multitudes of minute coincidences occur, they must have owed their introduction to contrivance and design. The surest and least equivocal marks of imitation (says Dr. Hurd) are to be found in peculiarities of phrase and diction; an identity in both, is the most certain note of plagiarism. This observation inclines me to offer a few words in regard to Shakspeare's imputed share in the Two Noble Kinsmen. On Mr. Pope's opinion relative to this subject, no great reliance can be placed; for he who reprobated the Winter's Tale as a performance alien to Shakspeare, could boast of little acquaintance with the spirit or manner of the author whom he undertook to correct and explain. Dr. Warburton (vol. i. after the table of editions) expresses his belief that our great poet wrote “the first act, but in his worst manner.” The doctor indeed only seems to have been ambitious of adding somewhat (though at random) to the decision of his predecessor. Mr. Seward's enquiry into the authenticity of this piece, has been fully examined by Mr. Colman, who adduces several arguments to prove that our author had no concern in it. [See Beaumont and Fletcher, last edit. vol. i. p. 118.] Mr. Colman might have added more to the same purpose; but, luckily for the publick, his pen is always better engaged than in critical and antiquarian disquisitions. As Dr. Farmer has advanced but little on the present occasion, I confess my inability to determine the point on which his conclusion is founded. This play, however, was not printed till eighteen years after the death of Shakspeare; and its title-page carries all the air of a canting bookseller's imposition. Would any one else have thought it necessary to tell the world, that Fletcher and his pretended coadjutor, were “memorable worthies?” The piece too was printed for one John Waterson, a man who had no copy-right in any of our author's other dramas. It was equally unknown to the editors in 1623, and 1632; and was rejected by those in 1664, and 1685,—In 1661, Kirkman, another knight of the rubrick post, issued out the Birth of Merlin, by Rowley and Shakspeare. Are we to receive a part of this also as a genuine work of the latter? for the authority of Kirkman is as respectable as that of Waterson.—I may add, as a similar instance of the craft or ignorance of these ancient Curls, that in 1640, the Coronation, claimed by Shirley, was printed in Fletcher's name, and (I know not why) is still permitted to hold a place among his other dramas. That Shakspeare had the slighted [Correction: 1Kb]

Note return to page 443 for slighted r slightest.

Note return to page 444 *Shakspeare died in 1616; and it is hardly probable that his godson (a lad about ten years old) instead of searching his pockets for apples, should have enquired of him concerning the dates of his theatrical performances. It is not much more likely that afterwards, in an age devoid of literary curiosity, Sir William should have been solicitous about this circumstance, or met with any person who was capable of ascertaining it. If it be urged against this opinion, that most of the players contemporary with Shakspeare, were yet alive, and from that quarter Sir William's information might have been derived, I answer,—from those who were at the head of their fraternity while our author flourished, he could not have received it. Had they known that Pericles was the entire composition of our great poet, they would certainly have printed it among his other works in the folio 1623.—Is it likely that any of our ancient histrionick troop were better acquainted with the incunabula of Shakspeare's Muse, than the very people whose intimate connection with him is marked by his last will, in which he calls them—“his fellows John Hemynge, and Henry Condell?”

Note return to page 445 *Perhaps not by all of them. The treasures of Greece and Rome had not been long discovered, and to the study of ancient languages almost every Englishman that aspired to literary reputation applied his talents and his time, while his native tongue was neglected. Even the learned Ascham was but little acquainted with the language of the age immediately preceding his own. If scholars were defective in this respect, the people, we may be sure, were much more so.

Note return to page 446 †If I am warranted in supposing that the language of the Confessio Amantis would have been unintelligible to the audience, this surely was a sufficient reason for departing from it.

Note return to page 447 ‡See p. 6 of this vol. (note 4)

Note return to page 448 *The plays of lord Sterline are entirely in alternate rhimes; but these seem not to have been intended for the stage, nor were they, I believe, ever performed in any theatre.

Note return to page 449 †When B. Jonson calls Pericles a mouldy tale, he alludes, I apprehend, not to the remote date of the play, but to the antiquity of the story on which it is founded.

Note return to page 450 *Here also were found the names of the greater part of the characters introduced in this play; for of the seventeen persons represented, six of the names only were the invention of the poet. The same quantity not being uniformly observed in some of these names, is mentioned by Mr. Steevens as a proof that this piece was the production of two hands. We find however Tha&ibar;sa and Tha&ishort;sa in the fifth act, in two succeeding lines. Is it to be imagined, that this play was written like French Bouts rimeés, and that as soon as one verse was composed by one of this supposed duumvirate, the next was written by his associate?

Note return to page 451 †In the conduct of Measure for Measure his judgment has been arraigned for certain deviations from the Italian of Cinthio, in one of whose novels the story on which the play is built, may be read. But, on examination it has been found, that the faults of the piece are to be attributed not to Shakspeare's departing from, but too closely pursuing his original, which, as Dr. Farmer has observed, was not Cinthio's novel, but the Heptameron of Whetstone. In like manner the catastrophe of Romeo and Juliet is rendered less affecting than it might have been made, by the author's having implicity followed the poem of Romeus and Juliet, on which his play appears to have been formed. In the Winter's Tale, Bohemia, situated nearly in the center of Europe, is described as a maritime country, because it had been already described as such by Robert Greene in his Dorastus and Faunia; and in the Two Gentlemen of Verona, Protheus goes from one inland town to another by sea; a voyage that in some novel he had probably taken before. Many similar instances might be added.

Note return to page 452 *It is observable that the two plays of Pericles and Antony and Cleopatra were entered together at Stationers' Hall in the year 1608, by Edward Blount, a bookseller of eminence, and one of the printers of the first folio edition of our author's works.

Note return to page 453 *“Considering the vast variety of words which any language, and especially the more copious ones furnish, and the infinite possible combinations of them into all the forms of phraseology, it would be very strange, if two persons should hit on the same identical terms, and much more, should they agree in the same precise arrangement of them in whole sentences.” Discourse on Poetical Imitation. Hurd's Horace, vol. iii. p. 109. edit. 1766.

Note return to page 454 †Sir William D'Avenant produced his first play at the theatre in Blackfryars, in 1629, when he was twenty-four years old, at which time his passion for apple-hunting, we may presume, had subsided, and given way to more manly pursuits. That a young poet thus early acquainted with the stage, who appears to have had a great veneration for our author, who was possessed of the only original picture of Shakspeare ever painted, who carefully preserved a letter written to him by king James, who himself altered four of his plays and introduced them in a new form on the stage, should have been altogether incurious about the early history and juvenile productions of the great luminary of the dramatick world, (then only thirteen years dead) who happened also to be his god-father, and was by many reputed his father, is not very credible. That he should have never made an enquiry concerning a play, printed with Shakspeare's name, and which appears to have been a popular piece at the very time when D'Avenant produced his first dramatick essay, (a third edition of Pericles having been printed in 1630) is equally improbable. And it is still more incredible, that our author's friend, old Mr. Heminge, who was alive in 1629, and principal proprietor and manager of the Globe and Blackfryar's play-houses, should not have been able to give him any information concerning a play, which had been produced at the former theatre, probably while it was under his direction, and had been acted by his company with great applause for more than thirty years.

Note return to page 455 1“The lamentable Tragedie of Locrine, the eldest Son of King Brutus, discoursinge the Warres of the Britaines, &c.” was entered in the Stationers' Books by Thomas Crede, July 20, 1594. It is observable, that in this entry no mention is made of the author of the piece. In the title-page of the first edition, in 1595, it is said to be newly set foorth, overseene, and corrected by W. S. Supposing for a moment that W. S. here stood for our great poet's name (which is extremely improbable), these words prove that Shakspeare was not the writer of this performance. If it was only set forth, overseen and corrected, it was not composed, by him. I do not however believe that it was either corrected or published by our author; for it is scarcely credible that he who never took the trouble to superintend the impression of his own plays, when he found that surreptitious copies of them were about to be printed without his consent, or to correct in the second editions the numerous errors that he must have observed in the first, should have undertaken this irksome task for another poet. Exclusive, however, of this circumstance, the piece itself affords abundant internal evidence that not a single line of it was written by Shakspeare. In the versification, the style, and the conduct of the play, it resembles Hieronimo, Tamburlaine the Greate, Dido Queen of Carthage, Soliman and Perseda, Titus Andronicus, Marius and Sylla, the Battle of Alcazar, and several other tragedies, that were exhibited before our author commenced a writer for the stage. Those who have patience enough to wade through these plays, will, I think, see clearly the similitude between Locrine and them, and not hesitate to ascribe this tragedy to some one of the authors of those dramas. The editor of the folio in 1664 was, I believe, the first person that interpreted the initial letters in the original title-page of Locrine to mean William Shakspeare; for it is not attributed to him in Kirkman's catalogue of plays printed in 1661; and therefore, we may presume, had not been ascribed to him in any preceding list. A collection of Sonnets, entitled Chloris or the Complaint of the passionate despised Shepheard, by William Smith, was published at London in 1596, one year after the appearance of Locrine. These initials were, I suppose, intended for that writer. One of Smith's Sonnets is printed in England's Helicon, 1600, subscribed in like manner with only the letters W. S. My creed, therefore, relative to this piece is, that it was written by Christopher Marlowe, whose style it appears to me to resemble more than that of any other known dramatick author of that age. Marlowe died in 1593. The play was entered on the Stationers' books in 1594, probably in the state in which the poet left it, and was, I imagine, revised and published in the following year by the above-mentioned William Smith. That the revision and additions were not made till 1595, may be inferred from a passage at the end of the drama, compared with the entry at Stationers' Hall. Dr. Farmer supposes the writer of Titus Andronicus and the lines spoken by the player in the Interlude in Hamlet to have likewise been the author of this tragedy. The argument of this play may be found in Milton's History of Great Britain, Book I. Malone. That this play was not the production of Shakspeare, I have attempted to show in the last edit. of that author, vol i. p. 240, &c. I think we may safely pronounce it to be the work of some academick, whose learning was ostentatious, and whose merriment was low. Steevens.

Note return to page 456 2Scene I.] The scene of the greater part of this play being laid in a wood, through which the editor confesses himself too dim-sighted to discern his way, it has been found impracticable to give any clear description of the different places where the various personages of this drama recite their tedious and uninteresting declamations; and therefore nothing of that kind has been attempted. Malone.

Note return to page 457 *&lblank; the greedy gulf of Ocean,] Ocean is here put for Oceanus, the most ancient god of the sea, the son of Cœlus and Vcsta [Subnote: for Vcsta r. Vesta.] , and husband of Tethys. Steevens.

Note return to page 458 3&lblank; my numbed senses fail,] This is the reading of the quarto. The modern editions read—my number'd senses fail. In the former part of the line the old copy, by an apparent error of the press, has shrunk. Malone.

Note return to page 459 4Black ugly Death with visage pale and wan Presents himself before my dazzled eyes, And with his dart prepared is to strike:] So in Milton's Paradise Lost, b. xi. l. 491: “And over them triumphant Death his dart “Shook, but delay'd to strike.” Steevens.

Note return to page 460 *And he that would annihilate his mind,] Thus, the old copy. Either here is some gross depravation of the text, or the sense of the passage is beyond my comprehension. Steevens. I have no doubt that the author wrote, And he that would annihilate their minds— The effort of him who should presumptuously endeavour to controll the decrees of the Fates, would be as ineffectual as that of Icarus, whose daring attempt to fly in too high a region is said to have been frustrated by the irresistible influence of the sun.—Mind is here used for will. The same sentiment is indeed expressed nearly in the same words just afterwards: No mortal force can countermand their minds. But that is no objection to the present emendation, for throughout this play the author seldom impresses any sentiment less than twice. In the next speech the same thought, couched in different terms, is four times repeated. In the ancient English manuscripts, contractions were used for the pronouns, which were the occasion of many errors. Malone.

Note return to page 461 5&lblank; since there's no way but one,] This phrase appears to be proverbial. So in K. Henry V. last edit. vol. vi. p. 53. “&lblank; I knew there was but one way.” See the note on this passage. Steevens.

Note return to page 462 6Wings that do soar beyond fell envious flight.] Read—Envy's flight. Theobald. For Mr. Theobald's notes on this play, I am indebted to Mr. Steevens, who furnished me with a copy of Locrine that had formerly belonged to that editor of Shakspeare. Malone.

Note return to page 463 7Or with Ixion's overdaring soon,] Read—son; i. e. one of the centaurs. Steevens.

Note return to page 464 8&lblank; mine eame,] i. e. my uncle. So Fairfax: “Daughter, said she, fly, fly; behold thy dame “Foreshows the treason of thy wretched eame.” Steevens.

Note return to page 465 9Whereas our brother Corineus was; &c.] Whereas was anciently used in the sense of where. It is so employed in this place. See a note on Pericles, p. 36. The quarto instead of Since when—has Which when, &c. and afterwards Cicilian and Illician; all evidently misprints. Malone.

Note return to page 466 1&lblank; transfreting &lblank;] Transfreting is passing over. Transfreto. Lat. Steevens.

Note return to page 467 2&lblank; sacred virtue's lore,] That is, lesson. Malone.

Note return to page 468 3Sorted amongst, &c.] i. e. having thy lot among. Sors. Lat. Steevens.

Note return to page 469 4&lblank; the wealthy mines Found in the bowels of America.] Perhaps alluding to Sir Walter Raleigh's voyage. Theobald.

Note return to page 470 5And far be it from my maiden's thoughts] Read—any maiden's thoughts. Theobald. The folio 1664, and Mr. Rowe, read—my pure maiden thoughts. Malone.

Note return to page 471 6I will not stand aloof from off the lure,] The lure, in the amusement of hawking, was a technical term for the bait. So in the Taming of a Shrew: “&lblank; she must not be full-gorg'd. “For then she never looks upon her lure.” Steevens.

Note return to page 472 7Than I do peerless Guendolen.] A word seems to have been omitted, which I have supplied. The author of this piece appears to have been so attentive to a certain stately march of versification, that whenever the metre is defective, we may be certain that it arose from the negligence of the printer. Malone.

Note return to page 473 8&lblank; thy mother Junoger,] Read Innogen. See Holinshed, p. 8. Theobald.

Note return to page 474 *Hard-hearted gods and too envíous fates,] The word envy seems to have been sometimes accented on the second syllable. So, in Shakspeare's 128th Sonnet: “Do I envý those jacks that nimble leap— Malone.9Q1342

Note return to page 475 9&lblank; can fear judge Rhadamanth.] i. e. can appal him. So Shakspeare: “For Warwick was a bug that fear'd us all.” The quarto has Lacus and Rhodomonth. The author delighting in repetition, I suspect that judge was also a misprint for just. Malone.

Note return to page 476 1And every man must tread the way of death;]&lblank; omnibus calcanda semel via lethi. Theobald.

Note return to page 477 2Lactantius in his fourth book of Constultations &lblank;] In Strumbo (who is far beneath the meanest of Shakspeare's comick characters) I know not how much literature was intended to appear. The reader who is unwilling to suppose him designed for a blunderer, instead of constultations will substitute constellations, for aliquant—elegant, for Cuprit—Cupid, &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 478 3&lblank; bird-bolts, &lblank;] See note on Much Ado about Nothing, last edit. vol. ii. p. 254. Steevens.

Note return to page 479 *I burn, I burn, and I burn-a, &c.] I suppose these words are the burthen of some old song. Malone.

Note return to page 480 4&lblank; not Dina with the ass Tom? &lblank;] Meaning, I suppose, Diana, with Acteon; and yet Strumbo could utter the name of Lactantius without mis-pronunciation. Steevens. From the structure of the next sentence, I imagine some words have been here omitted. Perhaps—but one more beautiful than her; yea, with these eyes &c. Malone.

Note return to page 481 5&lblank; will work thy bale. &lblank;] i. e. thy destruction.—The word is frequently used by our ancient writers. Malone.

Note return to page 482 †Ah! Strumbo, what hast thou heard?] What is wanting in the old copies. Malone.

Note return to page 483 6&lblank; Now, pate, for thy master!] i. e. now good head-piece assist me! Steevens.

Note return to page 484 7&lblank; gentlemen, lend me a knife; &lblank;] Strumbo here, and in many other places in this play, addresses the groundlings, for whose entertainment alone he seems to have been introduced. In some of B. Jonson's plays the same licence, I think, is taken. Malone. There is nothing uncommon in these appeals to the audience. So in A mad World my Masters, by Middleton, 1608: “An old man's venery is very chargeable, my masters; there's much cookery belongs to it.” Steevens.

Note return to page 485 8&lblank; of good fame and name, majestical, in 'parel comely, in gait portly. &lblank;] The context, I think, shews, that the word person was omitted by the negligence of the copyist or printer. Stephen Gosson, in a work entitled Playes confuted in five several actions, bl. no date, speaking of his antagonist, describes him as “one in wit simple; in learning ignorant; in attempt rash; in name Lodge.” Perhaps in the present passage this writer was intended to be ridiculed. Malone.

Note return to page 486 9Thou knowest, my pretty boy, &c.] The author seems here to have had the first scene of the Andria of Terence in his thoughts. Malone.

Note return to page 487 1&lblank; and then you shall soon have the succado de labres, &lblank;] The meaning is sufficiently clear; but unless the reader happens to be possessed of a Strumbonian dictionary, I believe, he will seek for an explanation of the word succado in vain. Malone.9Q1343

Note return to page 488 2&lblank; god Risus &lblank;] i. e. the deity who was supposed to preside over merriment and laughter. Steevens. This deity is likewise introduced by Marston in his Insatiate Countess, 1603: “&lblank; to Risus will we consecrate this evening.” I think it probable that the Act closed with a rhime, and that the author wrote, And offer to god Risus all our tasks. The compositor might have caught the word sports from a preceding line. Malone.

Note return to page 489 *If she that rules fair Rhamnus' golden gate,] That is, Fortune. One of the chief places where she was worshipped, was Rhamnus, a town in Attica. Steevens.

Note return to page 490 3&lblank; the pittering leaves &lblank;] A word coined to express the noise made by the fluttering of leaves. Thomson in his Seasons applies pattering, I think, to the sound of hail, or rain. Steevens. Rowe in this place reads pattering; but pittering is right. The word is used by other authors. In the following passage by R. Greene, quoted in England's Parnassus, 1600, it seems to mean bubbling: “When summer's heat hath dried up the spring, “And when his pittering streams are low and thin.” Malone.

Note return to page 491 4And thus consorted all &lblank;] All the old copies read comforted. The present reading was introduced by Mr. Rowe. Malone.

Note return to page 492 5&lblank; though they were in number infinite, More than the mighty Babylonian queen, Semiramis, &c.] Milton has much the same allusion in his Paradise Regained, b. iii: “&lblank; what numbers numberless &lblank; “Such forces met not, nor so wide a camp “When Agrican with all his northern powers “Besieg'd Albracca, &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 493 6&lblank; upon his burgonet,] i. e. his helmet. See note on Ant. and Cleopatra, vol. viii. p. 152. last edit. Malone.

Note return to page 494 7&lblank; blew hood &lblank;] i. e. blood. Malone. So in the Valiant Welchman, 1615, by R. A. [perhaps Robert Armin] Morgan, a Welchman, says, “Cads blue-hood, cousin, take hur to hur heeles, &c.” Steevens.

Note return to page 495 8&lblank; the common house &lblank;] i. e. the rendezvous. Steevens.

Note return to page 496 9 &lblank; well may I waiment;] i. e. lament. Sax.—The word is used by Chaucer. Steevens.9Q1345

Note return to page 497 1Fetching careers &lblank;] The old copies read corruptly—carriers. Malone.

Note return to page 498 2As fortunate as was Polycrates;] Polycrates the tyrant of Samos, who having never suffered from any real misfortune, was determined to try the effect of an imaginary one. Cicero de Finibus, &c Steevens. A line preceding this seems to have been lost; perhaps of this import: But were they brave as Phthia's arm-strong chief— Malone.

Note return to page 499 3From the building to the brenning.] This reading is proposed by Mr. Theobald in the margin of his copy. The old copies all read—burning. Malone.

Note return to page 500 4Thou princox boy,] i. e. thou conceited fellow. This term of contempt occurs frequently in our ancient dramatick writers. See note on Romeo and Juliet, vol. X. p. 47. last edit. Malone.

Note return to page 501 5&lblank; giant Monychus &lblank; &lblank; shot huge cedars at Minerva's shield.] “&lblank; quantas jaculetur Monychus ornos.” Juv. Sat. I. Steevens.

Note return to page 502 6checquer'd grass;] We meet with “checquer'd shadow” in Titus Andronicus, and Milton has “&lblank; many a youth and many a maid “Dancing in the checquer'd shade.” Steevens.

Note return to page 503 *&lblank; fleeting &lblank;] i. e. floating. The word is thus used in Antony and Cleopatra. Steevens.

Note return to page 504 †And last, (O that this last night so long last!) This is to me unintelligible. Perhaps the author wrote—might so long last! Malone.

Note return to page 505 *Yet one, good, good master.] Thus, the quarto and the folio. The first good seems to have been a misprint for word. Malone.

Note return to page 506 7O colliers of Croydon, and rusticks of Roydon,] In Ulysses upon Ajax, an answer to An Anatomie of the Metamorphosis of Ajax by sir John Harrington, are the two following burlesque verses: “O vos de Croidon, o vos de rustico Roidon, “Bibite blackjackos, per gaudia solvite saccos.” I know not whether the English or the Latin poet claims the merit of originality. Steevens.

Note return to page 507 8At this same stoure, &lblank;] Stour is battle, tumult, incursion. The word is often used by Spenser. Steevens.

Note return to page 508 *Rhamnusia's drum,] Rhamnusia was one of the titles of Nemesis, the goddess of vengeance, who had a temple at Rhamnus, a town in Attica. Exiget ad dignas ultrix Rhamnusia pœnas. Malone.

Note return to page 509 9&lblank; squeltering &lblank;] i. e. sweltering. So in Macbeth: “Swelter'd venom sleeping got.” Steevens.

Note return to page 510 1&lblank; with Semeleius' gifts] With the gifts of Bacchus, the son of Jupiter and Semele.—No one but a pedant would have used this title in an English tragedy. Malone.

Note return to page 511 *&lblank; Niobe, fair Athens' queen,] Niobe was the wife of Amphion, king of Thebes. The poet, therefore, either wrote: The grief of Niobe, fair A'mphion's queen, —(So lord Sterline has Dar&ishort;us, and Shakspeare Hyper&ishort;on) or has made a blunder. Malone.

Note return to page 512 2&lblank; where I hold my regiment,] i. e. my government. The old translation of the Schola Salernitana is entitled The Regiment of Health. Malone.

Note return to page 513 3Shall be agnominated by our name,] Here again is a pedantick display of minute learning. This word (formed from the agnomen of the Romans) is, I believe, used by no other English writer. Malone.

Note return to page 514 *&lblank; fair Thetis' plains,] i. e. the level of the sea. Æquor. Lat. Steevens.

Note return to page 515 4&lblank; the virent plains.] i. e. green. The affected Brown uses this word in his Vulgar Errors. Steevens.

Note return to page 516 *Enter the Ghost of Albanact.] Why this personage is summoned from the dead, it is not easy to say. Though an interlocutor in the scene, he neither addresses Humber, nor is seen by him. Malone.

Note return to page 517 5The broken lances climb the chrystal skies;] So in Marlowe's Lust's Dominion: “Veins why crack you not, “And tilt your blood into the face of heaven?” Malone.9Q1346

Note return to page 518 *Were they enchanted in grim Pluto's court,] The author, I believe, wrote enchained. A line preceding this seems to have been lost. Malone.

Note return to page 519 6&lblank; the warding of the camp?] i. e. the defence of it. So in Titus Andronicus: “Tell him it was a hand that warded him “From thousand dangers.” Steevens.

Note return to page 520 7No, by my dorth &lblank;] He means—by my troth. Malone. No, by my dorth &lblank;] I know not what this word can signify. The western dialect seems (from its frequent introduction) to have given great entertainment to our early audiences. I am sure it is an equal plague to the present race of commentators. Perhaps he means—By my troth. To combat at once with printers' blunders, and provincial jargon, is a severe tax on patience. Steevens.

Note return to page 521 8&lblank; and to fish her belly?] Shakspeare hath a similar allusion in the Winter's Tale: “Many a man there is, even at this present, “Now, while I speak this, holds his wife by the arm, “That little thinks she hath been sluic'd in his absence, “And his pond fish'd by his next neighbour &lblank;” He again presenteth to us the same wanton image in Measure for Measure: “Bawd. But what's his offence? “Clown. Groping for trouts in a peculiar river.” Amner.

Note return to page 522 *&lblank; mistress Nicebice. &lblank;] As Margery hath just demominated Strumbo slop-sauce and lick-fingers, perhaps in return he is disposed to call her Nice-bit. It is plain that he had already tasted her, and was no stranger to her sweetness or her nicety. Amner.

Note return to page 523 *&lblank; thou hast done thy master!] That is, destroyed. So in Shakspeare's Rape of Lucrece: “&lblank; And if possessed, as soon decay'd and done.” The folio and Mr. Rowe read, without authority or necessity, undone. Malone.

Note return to page 524 9My lord, within yon foul accursed grove,] The old copies all read—your foul accursed grove. The alteration was made by Mr. Rowe. Malone.

Note return to page 525 1The arm-strong offspring of the doubted knight,] Read—of the doubled night—i. e. the night protracted to twice its usual length, while Jupiter begot Hercules. Steevens. The following lines in the Tragicall Hystory of Romeus and Juliet, 1562, fully support Mr. Steevens's emendation: “So that I deeme, if they might have (as of Alcume [Alcmene] we heare) “The sunne bond to theyr will, if they the heavens might gyde, “Black shade of night and doubled darke should straight all over-hyde.” Malone.

Note return to page 526 2&lblank; detract the fight,] i. e. withdraw from it; a very harsh and, I believe, an unprecedented expression. Steevens.

Note return to page 527 3Do plunge yourselves in Puryflegethon,] i. e. Pyriphlegethon, one of the infernal rivers, commonly called Phlegethon. Steevens.

Note return to page 528 4To bring a corsive to our miseries!] i. e. a corrosive. So in the Spanish Tragedy: “His son distrest, a corsive to his heart.” Malone.

Note return to page 529 5&lblank; taking off her pantofle, &lblank;] i. e. her slipper. Malone.

Note return to page 530 6&lblank; with great occision,] i. e. slaughter. Malone. This affected word was coined, I believe, by the author of this play. Steevens.

Note return to page 531 *&lblank; for the Britons' safety. Safety is here used as trisyllable. Malone.

Note return to page 532 †What prince soe'er, &c. &lblank;] It is observable that this speech consists entirely of sextains. Malone.

Note return to page 533 7The perfect platform &lblank;] i. e. plan, model. Steevens.

Note return to page 534 8Once was I guarded with Mavortial bands,] Here we have another Latinism. Mavors is a poetical name for Mars, quod magna vertat.—Hence Mavortial. Malone.

Note return to page 535 9&lblank; must pacify their mood.] i. e. their anger. So in Othello: “You are but now cast in his mood &lblank;” Malone.

Note return to page 536 1&lblank; the force of Cupid's sudden stroke.] Mr. Theobald proposes to read dart, for the sake of the rhime. Malone.

Note return to page 537 2&lblank; object to all miseries!] i. e. expos'd. I have elsewhere given an example of this use of the word, from Chapman. Steevens.

Note return to page 538 3Better to live, than not to live at all.] Read, Better to love, &c. Steevens. Perhaps the author meant only to say—That it is better to live on any terms, than to die.—He has many similar truisms in this play, delivered with the same pomp of versification. Malone.

Note return to page 539 4Is this the guerdon &lblank;] i. e. the reward. The word is frequently used by our ancient poets. Malone.

Note return to page 540 5Avaunt, proud princox! &lblank;] See. p. 216. note (4.) Malone.

Note return to page 541 6Hath dreadful Fames &lblank;] i. e. hunger personified. Malone.

Note return to page 542 *&lblank; to benight me &lblank;] To come home to me so late at night. Malone.

Note return to page 543 7&lblank; her ten commandments &lblank;] i. e. her nails. This is a constant joke in antient moralities, interludes, comedies, &c. See note on K. Hen. VI. last edit. vol. vi. p. 312. Steevens.

Note return to page 544 8Nigh Durolitum, by the pleasant Ley,] i. e. the river of that name. Malone. The old copy corruptedly reads Deucolitum. Durolitum, according to Camden, is Leyton in Essex; i. e. a town upon the Ley, Durolitum being in ancient British the water of the Ley. Steevens.

Note return to page 545 *A curious arch of costly marble fraught] I would read wrought. Steevens.

Note return to page 546 9And gentle Aby take my troubled corpse,] In a preceding scene this river has been called Abis. There is, I believe, no river in England of this name. Aber, says Drayton in his Polyolbion, signifies in British the mouth of a river.—The river Humber, perhaps, was formerly called Aby. Malone.

Note return to page 547 *&lblank; conspir'd 'gainst Humber's death.] The rhime led the author into an inaccuracy. He should either have written—'gainst Humber's life, or, for Humber's death. Malone.

Note return to page 548 1Flings himself into the river.] So Spenser. Book iv. Cant. xi. “But past not long, ere Brutus' warlike son,   “Locrinus, them aveng'd, and the same date “Which the proud Humber unto them had done,   “By equal doom repaid on his own pate:   “For in the self-same river, where he late “Had drenched them, he drowned him again,   “And nam'd the river of his wretched fate: “Whose bad condition yet it doth retain, “Oft tossed with his storms, which therein still remain.” Steevens.

Note return to page 549 *Now Sisyphus, &c.] Thus Mr. Pope in his Ode on St. Cecilia's Day: “Thy stone, O Sisyphus, stands still, “Ixion rests upon his wheel, “And the pale spectres dance.” but he may have stolen the whole thought from Warner's Albion's England, b. iii. ch. 18. “The elves and fairies, taking fists, did hop a merrie round. “Upon his stone sat Cisaphus, Ixion on his wheel.” Steevens.

Note return to page 550 2I mean not so to macerate my mind,] i. e. to mortify.—Another word formed from the Latin. Malone.

Note return to page 551 3&lblank; a Venerean squire.] A follower of Venus. Steevens.

Note return to page 552 4They leese &lblank;] i. e. they loose. The word is now obsolete. Malone.

Note return to page 553 5Then, losel Locrine, &lblank;] Losel is an unworthy wretch. The word is frequently used by our ancient poets. Malone.

Note return to page 554 6&lblank; and learn to use thy tongue.] Theobald would in this place read—to rule thy tongue. But there is no need of change. To use thy tongue—is, to use it with propriety; not to abuse it. Malone.

Note return to page 555 7Oh say me, page, &c.] i. e. tell me, say to me. This phrase, I think, has occurred before in the play. Steevens.

Note return to page 556 8&lblank; to work his scathe.] i. e. his destruction. So in Solyman and Perseda, 1599: “Millions of men opprest with ruin and scathe.” The word is now obsolete. Malone.

Note return to page 557 9&lblank; the air, the fire reclaims;] i. e. cries out against.—Another Latinism. Malone.

Note return to page 558 1&lblank; Cornish chuffs] A chuff or chough is a thievish bird that collects its prey by the sea shore. These birds are common on the coasts of Cornwall. Steevens.

Note return to page 559 *&lblank; in cloudy chariot seated,] So Milton, Par Lost, b. ii. “As in a cloudy chair ascending rides.” Steevens.

Note return to page 560 *With sable mantles covering all the earth] So Milton, Par. Lost, b. iv: “And o'er the dark her silver mantle threw.” Steevens.

Note return to page 561 2The watry ladies, &lblank;] Theobald would read Naiads, because they are mentioned in the Tempest; but he seems to have forgot that ladies of the lake, were, in the time of Elizabeth, well-known characters. Steevens.

Note return to page 562 3thy arcane secrecy?] i. e. thy secret secrecy; another affected word of the author's coinage. Steevens.

Note return to page 563 4Thou wrong'st thy first and truest feere] i. e. mate. So in Titus Andronicus: “And swear with me, as with the woeful feere “And father of that chaste dishonour'd dame, “Lord Junius Brutus sware for Lucrece' rape.” Malone.

Note return to page 564 5&lblank; frumps,] i. e. gibes, sneers. Steevens.

Note return to page 565 6&lblank; what barbarous Myrmidon,] “&lblank; Quis talia fando “Myrmidonum, Dolopumve, aut duri miles Ulixi “Temperet a lachrymis? Virg. Æneid. 2. Steevens.

Note return to page 566 7&lblank; to hold this steely glaive:] i. e. a broad sword. So Fairfax: “&lblank; each a glave had pendant by his side” Malone.

Note return to page 567 *What art thou, Death?] I would read—Where art thou, Death? Steevens.

Note return to page 568 8And, for because the river was the place Where little Sabren resolutely dy'd, Sabren for ever shall the same be call'd.] So Milton, in his Masque presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634: “There is a gentle nymph not far from hence, “That with moist curb sways the smooth Severn stream, “Sabrina is her name, a virgin pure. “Whilome she was the daughter of Locrine, “That had the scepter from his father Brute. “She, guiltless damsel, flying the mad pursuit “Of her enraged stepdame Guendolen, “Commended her fair innocence to the flood “That stay'd her flight, &c.” The curious reader will find the same story in Drayton's Polyolbion, and Albion's England. The legends of Albanact, Humber, Locrine, Estrild, and Sabrina, are also in the Mirror for Magistrates. Steevens.

Note return to page 569 9Lo! here the end &lblank;] What Theseus says to Bottom in the Midsummer-Night's Dream, may not unaptly be applied to this concluding speech—“No epilogue, I pray you; your play needs no excuse—for when the players are all dead, there need none to be blamed”. The following is the dead list of this lamentable tragedy, as it is very properly entitled in the first edition: Brutus—Debon—Corineus— Humber—Albanact—Hubba—Locrine—Estrild—Segar and Sabren. Malone.

Note return to page 570 1That eight and thirty years the scepter sway'd,] It appears from this passage that the play was printed after the 17th of November, 1595, when the thirty-eighth year of queen Elizabeth's reign began. Steevens. It was, however, written before. See the entry on the Stationers' books, ante, p. 189. This passage therefore must have been added by the person who revised and corrected the play. Malone.

Note return to page 571 1The sarcasm which this prologue contains on some writer who in a preceding drama had exhibited a pampered glutton and an aged counsellor to youthful sin—(by which description either sir John Oldcastle, a character in the old King Henry V. or sir John Falstaff, seems to have been pointed at) induced me on a former occasion to doubt whether Shakspeare was the author of the present play. The apparent allusion also to this prologue, in the epilogue to The Second Part of King Henry IV. (“for Oldcastle died a martyr —and this is not the man”) appeared to me a strong circumstance against the authenticity of this piece. I am still of the same opinion; nor do I see how it could have been the production of an author who had before exhibited sir John Falstaff on the stage. The present play was written, I believe, after the representation of the First Part, and before that of the Second Part of King Henry IV. Malone.

Note return to page 572 2The history of sir John Oldcastle (who, having married the heiress of lord Cobham, was summoned to parliament by that title on the 18th of December, 1409) may be found in Holinshed's Chronicle, vol. ii. p. 544. & seq. and in many other books. In order to heighten his character, the author of this drama has departed from historical truth; for the conspiracy of the earl of Cambridge, lord Scroope, &c. against king Henry V. was discovered by Edmund earl of March, and not by sir John Oldcastle, who was himself engaged in a traiterous design against Henry, and hanged about four years after the execution of those conspirators.—The present play was entered on the Stationers' books on the 4th of August, 1600, by Thomas Pavier, under the title of “The First Part of the History of the Life of Sir John Oldcastle, Lord Cobham.” At the same time was entered “The Second Part of the History of Sir John Oldcastle, Lord Cobham, with his Martyrdom;” but this was never published. In the title-page of the original edition, in 1600, the name of William Shakspeare is printed at length. I do not perceive the least trace of our great poet in any part of this play. It is observable that in the entry on the Stationers' books the author's name is not mentioned. The printer, Pavier, (whose name is not prefixed to any of Shakspeare's undisputed performance, except King Henry V. and two parts of King Henry VI. of which plays he issued out copies manifestly spurious and imperfect) when he published it, was induced, I imagine, to ascribe it to Shakspeare by the success of the First Part of King Henry IV. The character of Falstaff having been formed, as I conceive, on the sir John Oldcastle of an elder drama, a hope was probably entertained that the publick might be deceived, and suppose this piece also to be Shakspeare's performance. Malone. The History of Sir John Oldcastle, and The Life and Death of Lord Cromwell, are much in the style and manner of Thomas Heywood, by whom I suppose them to have been written. Farmer.

Note return to page 573 3&lblank; especially Welsh-hooks, &lblank;] See note on K. Henry IV. last edit. vol. V. p. 333. Steevens.

Note return to page 574 4Wherein my lord of Hertford &lblank;] It should be, I think, my lord of Hereford. Malone.

Note return to page 575 5If I forget, do you remember me.] i. e. remind me. Malone.

Note return to page 576 6To summon him unto the arches,] The court of arches, so called because it was anciently held in the church of Saint Mary le Bow, Sancta Maria de arcubus. Malone.

Note return to page 577 7A sumner shall be sent &lblank;] A sumner is an apparitor or messenger employed to summon persons to appear in the spiritual court. Malone.

Note return to page 578 8To be upon those golden ruddocks.] The ruddock is the robin-red-breast. The word is here used as a cant term for money. The vulgar still call our gold coins, gold-finches. Steevens.

Note return to page 579 9And shrive him of it &lblank;] To shrive a man, was to ease him of his burden of sins, by confession. The parson applies the term to the act of lightening a purse, and consequently unloading the bearer of it. Steevens.

Note return to page 580 1&lblank; there be some 'sessed &lblank;] i. e. taxed. Hence the phrase “out of all cess.” Steevens.

Note return to page 581 2&lblank; your backs, your backs, &lblank;] The meaning I believe is—It is the sumptuousness of your apparel that has lessened your ability to assist the poor. So, in King Henry VIII. “&lblank; many “Have broke their backs with laying manors on them, “For this great journey.” Malone.

Note return to page 582 3&lblank; against his challenge,] Thus the quarto 1600. The folio 1664 reads—this challenge. Malone.

Note return to page 583 4&lblank; I could eat this conger.] The conger is the sea eel. Malone.

Note return to page 584 5&lblank; a hundred tall fellows?] A tall fellow, in old language, is a stout fighting man. Malone.

Note return to page 585 6&lblank; devour, sirrah, devour.] This circumstance is not a fiction of the author of this play. Nashe in his Apologie of Pierce Pennilesse, 1593, says, he once saw Robert Greene (a voluminous writer of those days) “make an apparitor eat his citation, wax and all, very handsomely served 'twixt two dishes.” The same story is also told of one of the attendants of Bogo de Clare in the eighteenth year of Edward I. See Mills's Discourse of the Antiquity of the Star-chamber, 4to. 1590, p. 46. Malone. &lblank; devour, sirrah, devour.] This scene corresponds in many particulars with that in K. Henry V. where Fluellen compels Pistol to eat the leek. Poins likewise, in the Second Part of K. Henry IV. threatens to steep a letter in sack, and make Falstaff eat it. See note on that passage, vol. V. p. 484. last edit. Steevens.

Note return to page 586 7Har. Be champing, be chewing, sir, or I'll chew you, you rogue, the purest of the honey. Sum. Tough wax is the purest honey: Har. O Lord, sir, oh, oh. Feed, 'tis wholesome, &c.] I believe the printer, by repeating some words twice over, has entangled these speeches, which I would regulate as follows: Har. Be champing, be chewing, sir, or I'll chew you: Tough wax is the purest honey. Sum. O, lord sir! Oh, oh! Har. Feed, feed; 'tis wholesome, &c.] Or thus: Har. Be champing, be chewing, sir, or I'll chew you, you rogue. The purest of the honey— Sum. Tough wax is the purest honey! oh lord, sir oh! Har. Feed, feed, &c. Steevens. I have nearly followed the regulation proposed by Mr. Steevens. The old copies were evidently corrupt. Malone.

Note return to page 587 8&lblank; tough old sheepskin's bare dry meat.] Thus all the copies. I suppose the author wrote—tough old sheepskin's but dry meat. Malone.

Note return to page 588 9&lblank; ingle this old serving-man.] i. e. impose on him, make a fool of him. Perhaps it means the same as inveigle him, and may be a contraction of that word. B. Jonson likewise uses it. Steevens. I am afraid a less decent idea was intended to be conveyed by this word. Malone.

Note return to page 589 1I pledge you sir, and thank you therefore, and I pray you let it come.] These words, I suspect, are part of some old ballad. Malone. Something like this song may be found in K. Henry IV. P. II. “Fill the cup and let it eome, &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 590 2&lblank; truly you are as full of favour, as a man may be.] Your countenance is as complete and perfect as any man's. So in Pericles: “So bucksome, blithe, and full of face, “As heaven had lent her all his grace.” Malone.

Note return to page 591 *O you are an old boy, &lblank;] The quarto reads, I think, corruptedly —“O, you are an odd boy.” Harpool had before called Doll an old colt. Malone.

Note return to page 592 3&lblank; you lion of Cotswold.] By this term I believe was meant a daring, athletick fellow, a man as strong and active as those who used to exercise themselves in the games at Cotswold in Gloucestershire.—In the Interlude of Nature, bl. let. no date, we meet the same phrase: “By my fayth ye are wont to be as bold “As yt were a lyon of Cottyswold.” Justice Shallow in the Second Part of K. Henry IV. mentions Will. Squeele, a Cotswold man, as one of the most famous swinge-bucklers of his time. Malone. As yt were a lyon of Cottyswold.] When I quoted this passage, and offered an explanation of it in the last edition of Shakspeare's plays, vol. V. p. 522, I had mistaken its meaning. The Cotswold hills in Gloucestershire were famous on account of the number of sheep fed upon them. A Cotswold lion therefore meant a Cotswold sheep; as an Essex lion is still the cant term for an Essex calf. Steevens.

Note return to page 593 4You old mutton-monger.] i. e. you old whore-master. Mutton was formerly a cant term for a strumpet. See a note in the Two Gentlemen of Verona, vol. i. p. 127. last edit.—and on Measure for Measure, vol. ii. p. 99. Malone.

Note return to page 594 5&lblank; a singer, a drinker, a bencher, &lblank;] “Thou art so fatwitted (says prince Henry to Falstaff) with drinking of old sack, and unbuttoning thee after supper, and sleeping upon benches at noon.”—Before alehouses, formerly, benches were placed for the accommodation of company. So in the preceding act: “&lblank; when the vulgar sort “Sit on their ale-bench with their cups and cans,”— It is yet a fashion in the country. Malone.

Note return to page 595 6Marry God dild you &lblank;] See note on Macbeth, last edit. vol. iv. p. 412. Malone.

Note return to page 596 7&lblank; master Murley, you shall be a knight.] This is founded on an historical fact. When Murley, or Murle, was taken, he had a pair of gilt spurs in his bosom, imagining that he should have been made a knight the next day by lord Cobham. See Stowe's Annals, p. 344. edit. 1631. Malone.

Note return to page 597 8Till-vally &lblank;] The hostess uses the same exclamation in K. Henry IV. Part II. “Tilly-vally, sir John, never tell me,” &c. See also note on Twelfth Night, last edit. vol. iv. p. 194. Malone.

Note return to page 598 9&lblank; every jack shall have a skull, &lblank;] A skull is a helmet. Malone. A jack is a coat of mail; jacque, Fr. So Hayward: “The residue on foot, well furnished with jack and skull, pike, dagger, &c. Hist. of K. Henry IV. 1599. Steevens.

Note return to page 599 1&lblank; craving no remorse &lblank;] i. e. no mercy or pity. So in Braithwaite's Survey of Histories, 1614—“Their relations might move a kind of sensible pity and remorse in the peruser.” Malone.

Note return to page 600 2&lblank; pretensed malice, &lblank;] Thus the quarto, 1600. The folio 1664, and Mr. Rowe read—propensed. Malone. &lblank; pretensed malice, &lblank;] i. e. malice aforethought. Pretence in Shakspeare commonly means design. Thus “to no pretence and purpose of danger.” Again: “pretensed malice of the queen.” Steevens.

Note return to page 601 3What we remit, is but the body's scourge.] Our pardon extends only to the remission of corporal punishment. For the rest he must address himself to a higher power. Malone.

Note return to page 602 *&lblank; in thy greasy maw,] So Pistol in K. Henry V: “&lblank; the solus—in thy maw perdy.” Cobham aims a stroke at sacerdotal luxury. Steevens.

Note return to page 603 4&lblank; knowing him to be a paritor,] i. e. an apparitor, or messenger employed to cite persons to appear in the spiritual court. So in Love's Labour's Lost: “Sole imperator and great general “Of trotting paritors.” Malone.

Note return to page 604 5Whereby his master neither was brought forth,] This is the reading of the original edition in 1600. The folio 1664, and Mr. Rowe, read—Whereby this matter, &c. Malone.

Note return to page 605 6Intending reformation of religion;] Intending was formerly used in the sense of pretending. Malone.

Note return to page 606 7&lblank; commander of this rout?] The modern editions read row. The reading of the text is that of the quarto 1600. Malone.

Note return to page 607 8&lblank; how he smooth'd,] How submissive and dutiful he appeared. So in King Lear (folio 1623): “&lblank; such smiling rogues as these “&lblank; smooth ev'ry passion “That in the nature of their lords rebels.” Malone.

Note return to page 608 9By fortune was to marry; &lblank;] All the copies concur in this reading; but it is evidently corrupt. Richard earl of Cambridge was the husband of Anne, daughter to Roger Mortimer earl of March. There can, therefore, be no doubt that by was an error of the press for my, which is now placed in the text. Malone.

Note return to page 609 *&lblank; Edward the third's first son.] Read fifth son: for so Edmund of Langley, duke of York, was to king Edward III. Percy.

Note return to page 610 †Harry the first, &lblank;] Thus the old copies. I once thought the author might have meant the first of the two intruding Harrys. But as in a former line first was printed instead of fifth, the same word (as Dr. Percy and Mr. Steevens observe to me) was probably here an erratum for fourth. Malone.

Note return to page 611 1&lblank; ought proceed,] Thus the quarto of 1600, and all the other copies. I believe the author wrote precede. However as proceed before affords the same meaning, I have made no change. Malone. I think proceed is the true reading. To proceed is to go forward, to tend to the end designed, to advance. So in Coriolanus: “Temperately proceed to what you would.” Steevens.

Note return to page 612 2I am resolv'd our enterprize is just.] i. e. I am convinced. Steevens.

Note return to page 613 3Our serious conference hath beguil'd the way;] So in King Richard II. “&lblank; hath very much beguil'd “The tediousness and process of my travel.” Steevens.

Note return to page 614 4But will ye not take Cowling for your host,] Cowling was the name of lord Cobham's seat in Kent. Malone.

Note return to page 615 5&lblank; should let you] i. e. should hinder you. The word is frequently used with that signification, by our ancient writers. Malone.

Note return to page 616 6&lblank; he's broke into a several,] See an explanation of this term in vol. ii. p. 407. edit. 1778. Malone.

Note return to page 617 7And how imperiously he holds the crown?] I suspect the author wrote—injuriously. The plea set up by these insurgents, was, not Henry's arbitrary exercise of the regal power, but his want of title to the crown. All the copies, however, concur in the present reading; which, as it is intelligible, I have not disturbed. Malone.

Note return to page 618 8We are the like, &lblank;] The quarto reads—We are the light. The reading of the text is that of the folio 1664. Malone.

Note return to page 619 9The commons likewise, as we hear, pretend A sudden tumult; &lblank;] It has been already observed that pretend and intend were formerly considered as synonymous. Malone.

Note return to page 620 1&lblank; lord Scroope, whom oftentimes He maketh choice of for his bed-fellow.] See notes on King Henry V. last edit. vol. vi. p. 42. Steevens.

Note return to page 621 *And you, lord Grey, &lblank;] Grey was not a peer. The author probably thought himself at liberty to give him this title, (which happens to suit the metre,) as a member of the privy-council. Malone.

Note return to page 622 2Enter Murley and his followers.] The direction in the old copy is—Enter Murley and his men, prepared in some filthy order for war. Malone.

Note return to page 623 3&lblank; Dun is the mouse.] The same phrase occurs in Romeo and Juliet. See vol. x. p. 34. edit. 1778. Malone.

Note return to page 624 4&lblank; to leave his life behind him;] The speaker, I suppose, would say, that Lawrence means, if necessary, to lay down his life; or rather, that going to the field, he leaves all thoughts of life behind him, or at home.—The expression is singular. Malone.

Note return to page 625 5&lblank; Tom upon Cut,] This appears to have been the common name of a horse in Shakspeare's time. See note on K. Hen. IV. P. I. last edit. vol. v. p. 292. Steevens.

Note return to page 626 6Which, ere the sun &lblank;] The metre of this line is defective. The author probably wrote: Which ere the sun to-morrow shine upon us &lblank; Malone.

Note return to page 627 7&lblank; thou art my lands, my goods, &c.] So in the Taming of the Shrew: “She is my goods, my chattels; she is my house, “My household stuff, my field, my barn, &c.” Steevens.

Note return to page 628 8&lblank; I was in as good doing, &lblank;] This word was formerly often used in a wanton sense. See a note on Measure for Measure, vol. ii. p. 16. edit. 1778. Malone.

Note return to page 629 9Where the devil are all my old thieves? Falstaff, that villain, is so fat, he cannot get on his horse;] From this passage it appears that this play was not written till after Falstaff had been exhibited on the stage in the First Part of King Henry IV. Malone. Where the devil are all my old thieves, &c. &lblank;] It should seem that this play was written after both Parts of King Henry IV. and that the author thought himself at liberty to mention these favourite characters, without adhering to their former destinations, according to which Falstaff, Poins, and Peto were either to be reformed or banished. All the incidents in the piece before us are supposed to happen between his majesty's accession and his departure on the French expedition. Steevens. I have already mentioned the reasons which induce me to believe that this piece was exhibited before the Second Part of K. Henry IV. Though the present drama comprehends a period subsequent to Shakspeare's two plays, it might yet have been written before the exhibition of the latter of them. Malone.

Note return to page 630 1&lblank; and think thou might'st get a poor thief his pardon, if he should have need?] Thus all the old copies. The word you was, I believe, omitted at the press. The king's answer shews that the concluding words of sir John's speech were interrogative. Malone.

Note return to page 631 2Nay, I am a pitiful thief;] i. e. merciful. So in one of Shakspeare's plays: “&lblank; Would my heart were flint like Edward's, “Or Edward's soft and pitifull like me.” Malone.

Note return to page 632 3that foul villainous guts,] In the First Part of Henry IV. the prince addresses Falstaff by this name—“Peace, ye fat guts, lye down.” Again—“Why thou clay-brain'd guts, thou knotty-pated fool &lblank;” Malone.

Note return to page 633 4&lblank; take thou half of it; this is a token betwixt thee and me.] A token was not a coin, but a piece that passed in traffick as the fourth part of a penny. It is mentioned by B. Jonson in his Bartholemew Fair: “Buy a token's worth of great pins to fasten yourself to my shoulder.” On which words Mr. Whalley observes that “before farthings were coined in 1672, tradesmen were allowed to make them for necessary change, which words were sometimes circumscribed on the reserve. The person's name, or the initial letters of it, appeared on the other side, and he was obliged to receive them back again. They were commonly called tokens.” Malone.9Q1358

Note return to page 634 5&lblank; we will revel in our bever;] i. e. our luncheon before dinner; something eaten in order to drink with it. Beuvoir. Fr. Steevens. I suspect, the passage is corrupt. In a subsequent scene sir John says to Doll—“We'll to St. Albans, and revel in our bower. I suppose the same word was intended in both places. Malone.

Note return to page 635 *&lblank; some good boot among them.] Some advantage, some gain. Perhaps the author wrote booty. Malone.

Note return to page 636 6Bring us a drum,] The drum is called for as a substitute for a table to play upon. Malone.

Note return to page 637 7&lblank; we'll keep this court of guard] The court of guard was, I believe, the guard-room. It is likewise mentioned in Antony and Cleopatra: “If we be not reliev'd within this hour, “We must return to the court of guard.” Again, in Othello: “In night, and on the court of guard and safety.” In the first quarto edition of Othello the words were inadvertently misplaced; and the error has been followed in the subsequent copies, which all read, In night and on the court and guard of safety. The passage now before us shews, I think, that this line ought to be printed as it is quoted above. Malone.

Note return to page 638 8Passage, if you please.] This was a game at tables. Steevens.

Note return to page 639 9Edge ye, good fellows;] i. e. sit sideways; sit closer. Malone.

Note return to page 640 1No crack'd French crowns! I hope to see more crack'd crowns ere long.] So in K. Hen. IV. P. I. “We must have bloody noses, and crack'd crowns, “And pass them current too.” Steevens.

Note return to page 641 *&lblank; 'Tis I must shred the priest:] Strip him of every thing that he has. Perhaps the author wrote—shrieve the priest. Malone.

Note return to page 642 2When, parson, when?] See note on K. Richard II. last edit. vol. v. p. 138. Steevens.

Note return to page 643 3&lblank; and take neither part?] Thus the quarto 1600.—In the two folios and Mr. Rowe's edition, the word take is omitted. Malone.

Note return to page 644 4The grey-ey'd morning &lblank;] The same epithet is applied to the morning in Romeo and Juliet: “The grey-ey'd morn smiles on the frowning night &lblank;” Malone.

Note return to page 645 5&lblank; thou hast made it more than popular.] Thou hast made it vulgar. Thou hast done more than captivate the affections of the people; thou hast debased thyself by associating with the lowest of the populace. Malone.

Note return to page 646 6Thy conscience! then conscience is corrupt;] The defective metre of this line shews that the word thy, which has been supplied, was omitted by the haste of the compositor. Malone. Conscience is often used, by our ancient writers, as a trisyllable. Steevens. It does not, however, seem to have been intended so here. If it were, there would be a redundant syllable in the line. It is not a trisyllable in the preceding line, nor in a subsequent part of this scene, where it again occurs. Besides, the sense requires the word that has been supplied. Malone.

Note return to page 647 9To clear my conscience ere I die my lord,] This line, which is omitted in the folios and Mr. Rowe's edition, is found in the quarto. Malone.

Note return to page 648 1&lblank; as I have a soul,] The modern editors read, without either authority or necessity,—as I love my soul. Malone.

Note return to page 649 2Be lay'd forthwith, &lblank;] Be watched by persons employed to way-lay and observe all who attempt to leave the kingdom. Malone.

Note return to page 650 3&lblank; with thy kind respective tears,] Respective was used by our ancient writers in the sense of respectful. So in K. John: “'Tis too respective and too sociable.” Malone.

Note return to page 651 4This old iniquity, &lblank;] Alluding to the character with that name in the old moralities. See note on K. Rich. III. last edit. vol. vii. p. 70. Steevens.

Note return to page 652 6&lblank; eat fish all Lent, &c.] See note on K. Lear, last edit. vol. ix. p. 387. Steevens.

Note return to page 653 6Bevis of Hampton, Owleglass, The Friar and the Boy, Elinour Rumming, Robin Hood, &lblank;] The metrical romances of Bevis of Hampton, and Robin Hood, are well known. Elinour Rumming is a poem by Skelton, and Owleglass a translation from the Dutch Uyle-Spegel. The Friar and the Boy I have met with only once. It is bound up with twenty-five other curious tracts in the University Library at Cambridge, vol. D. 5. 2. It consists of 76 six-line stanzas, together with six of four lines each. Its title, conclusion, and varieties of metre, are as follow.—Here begynneth a mery geste of the Frere and the boye. “God that dyed for us all, “And dranke bothe eysell and gall,   “Brynge us out of bale! “And gyve them good lyfe and longe, “That lysteneth to my songe,   “Or tendeth to my tale!” “Thus they departed in that tyde,   “The offycyall and the sompnere,   “His stepdame, and the frere, “With grete joye and moche pryde.” Thus endeth the frere and ye boye. Emprynted at London in Flete-strete at the sygne of the sonne by Wynkyn de Worde. No date. This boy, who suffers from the capricious cruelty of a mother-in-law, is presented by a magician, whom he meets accidentally, with three gifts. The first is an unerring bow; the second a pipe which would compel all who heard it to dance incessantly; the third must explain itself. “Whan my fader gyveth me mete, “She wolde thereon that I were cheke,   “And stareth me in the face. “Whan she loketh on me so, “I wolde she sholde let a rappe go   “That it myght rynge over all the place.” At his return, he finds occasion to try the effects of his magick, which are described as follows. “That greved his step moder's herte sore. “As I tolde you before,   “She stared hym in the face. “With that she let go a blaste, “That they in the hall were agaste,   “It range over all the place.” “All they laughed, and had great game, “The wyfe waxed reed for shame,   “She wolde that she had ben gone. “Quod the boye, well I wote “That gonne was well shote   “As it had ben a stone.” “Cursedly she loked on him tho,— “An other blaste she let go,   “She was almooste rente: “Quoth the boye, wyll ye se “How my dame letteth pellettes fle,   “In fayth or ever she stynte.” In consequence of this discipline, the frere is employed by the stepdame to persecute the boye: the boye first mollifies the frere by a display of the wonders of his bow. Then sending him into the thicket to pick up a bird that he had shot, he pulls out his pipe, and playing on it compels the ghostly father to dance and caper, till his clothes are rent from his back among the thorns. “The frere out of the bushe wente, “All to ragged and to-rente,   “And torne on every side; “Unnethes on hym had one cloute, “His bely for to wrappe aboute,   “His harneys for to hyde.” The boye is then brought before the offycyall, or magistrate, who desires to hear a specimen of his musick. The frere remonstrates against this proposal, but the lad plays, and throws all the parties into another fit of dancing, in which the offycyall himself is compelled to join, and the stepdame exhibits fresh proofs of her flatulency. The tired magistrate at last entreats our hero to suspend his operations, and, on his compliance, immediately reconciles him to his enemies. From a circumstance in the accusation preferr'd “before the offycyall” against the lad, as well as from some words and peculiarities of phrase, I should suppose the tale to be of French extraction. “He is a grete nygromancere, “In all orlyaunce is not his pere.” Mention is made of the witches of Orleans in some of our ancient treatises on sorcery. I am told likewise that the French have a petit piece founded on the same story; and that the performance of Carlin, the celebrated Harlequin, was comick in the highest degree throughout the whole, but especially in the scene where he danced till he was ready to expire. Steevens.

Note return to page 654 7&lblank; in St. Margaret's ale.] St. Margaret's ale is, I suppose, water, which in cant language is still called Adam's ale. The old copies read—Saint Marget's ale; and I know not whethet [Subnote: for whethet r. whether.] they are not right. Malone.

Note return to page 655 *You shall scarcely get out of the Tower, but I'll down upon them:] The old copies read, I think corruptedly—You shall safely, &c. Malone.

Note return to page 656 8&lblank; in his inner chamber,] So the quarto. The folios and the modern editors read—in this inner chamber. Malone.

Note return to page 657 9And I] These words are, in the old editions, connected by mistake with the latter part of the bishop's speech. The lieutenant's interruption shews that they belong to one of the bishop's attendants. Malone.

Note return to page 658 *Where fled, can you tell?—They are both escap'd.] Perhaps the latter words belong to the servant. Steevens. The word fled has been added. The defective metre of the line, as it stands in the old copy, shews that some word was omitted. Malone.

Note return to page 659 1The haven's laid &lblank;] i. e. way-lay'd—or guarded. Malone.

Note return to page 660 2Marry, lord Grey &lblank;] Here again either the author was inattentive, or has given the title of nobility to sir Thomas Grey, as one of the lords of the council; for so the members of that body are sometimes called. From his second speech in the present scene, he should seem to have been lord president. Malone.

Note return to page 661 3This scene in all the old editions is misplaced; being introduced after the interview between lord Cobham and the host, and after the Irishman had been divested of the gold that he had taken from his dead master, and had fled for refuge to the inn.— The necessary alteration was made by Mr. Rowe. Malone.

Note return to page 662 4we must nip the bung, &c.] i. e. cut a purse. See Greene's Works. See also a note on K. Henry IV. P. II. last edit. vol. v. p. 497. Steevens.

Note return to page 663 5&lblank; left him thrice;] As these words afford no meaning, it is to be presumed that they are corrupt. The copies afford no assistance. Malone. I am told that in Wales the geese bear plucking twice a year. The bird which the person [Correction: 1Kb]

Note return to page 664 for person r. parson.

Note return to page 665 6&lblank; for de shaine,] i. e. for thy chain. Malone.

Note return to page 666 *Ise a leufter.] This was probably an intentional corruption; but I know not what word it was put for. Malone.

Note return to page 667 7&lblank; at the three horse-loaves at Stony-Stratford.] It appears from the earl of Northumberland's Houshold Book, that horses were not so usually fed with corn loose in the manger, in the present manner, as with their provender made into loaves. Percy.

Note return to page 668 *&lblank; with the Irishman in Harpool's apparel.] The Irishman must be supposed to have risen early, and have gone from the barn, where he lay, into the house, in which he is found by the mayor, &c. Malone.

Note return to page 669 8Has left me nothing but a lowsy mantle] The mantle, or long cloak, was the common dress of the ancient Irish. Spenser was much offended with this garment. “It is (says he) a fit house for an out-law, a meet bed for a rebel, and an apt cloak for a thief. —For a bad huswife it is no lesse convenient; for some of them that be wandering women, called of them mona-shul, it is half a ward-robe: for in summer you shall find her arrayed commonly but in her smock and mantle, to be more ready for her light services; in winter and in her travaile it is her cloake and safeguard, and also a coverlet for her lewd exercise.” View of Ireland, edit. 1633, p. 37. Malone.

Note return to page 670 *&lblank; of the carrier and his daughter.] I suspect that daughter should be niece. She afterwards calls the carrier neam Club, i. e. came, uncle. Steevens. The mistake (if it be one) has occurred before; for in the fourth scene of the present act, the host particularly mentions the carrier's daughter. Malone.

Note return to page 671 9Come, let's in to stable, to look to our capons.] It should be capuls, an old cant word for horses. So in the Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, vol. i. p. 86. The wighty (or stout, brave) yeoman that was sent to apprehend Robin Hood. “&lblank; was clad in a capul hyde, “Top and tail and mane.” i. e. in a horse's hide, having the fore-top, or forelock, and tail and mane dressed on it.—This old word capul, or caple, is taken from the Welsh cayfill or keyffill. Latine, Caballus. Percy. I adhere to the old reading. The conveyance of live poultry by carriers appears to have been very common formerly. Shakspeare seems here to have been followed. The carriers in K. Henry IV. have turkeys in their panniers. Malone.

Note return to page 672 1&lblank; it fills all the house full of fleas;] The same complaint had been made in the first Part of K. Henry IV. by one of the carriers. Steevens.

Note return to page 673 *You bawl, quoth-a;] These words, I believe, belong to the host. Malone.

Note return to page 674 2&lblank; thou's dizeard i'faith.] He means dizened, which in vulgar langauge signifies gaudily dressed. Malone.

Note return to page 675 3And see we not sometimes the eye of heaven Dimm'd with o'er-flying clouds?] So in Macbeth: “&lblank; Can such things be, “And over-come us like a summer cloud? Steevens.

Note return to page 676 4&lblank; the wood-kerns' fury;] See note on Macbeth, last edit. vol. iv. p. 446. Steevens. Kerns was the name usually given to the wild Irish. I take wood here not to be used in the sense of sylvanus, but of insanus, furiosus.—“To escape the rage of the furious wild Irish. Percy. The kern was the Irish light-armed foot-soldier. It appears from Spenser's View of Ireland, and many other accounts, that they generally endeavoured to bring their enemies to an engagement in the thick woods with which Ireland formerly abounded; or, if obliged to fight in the open country, they always, when defeated, fled for refuge to those secure retreats. Hence, I suppose, the epithet in question. Malone.

Note return to page 677 5Dazzled their senses with benumming sleep,] In the folios and the modern editions this passage is perplexed. They read, Dazling their senses,&c. The reading of the text is that of the quarto. Malone.

Note return to page 678 6&lblank; that with cries] Thus the quarto and the first folio. The second folio and Mr. Rowe read corruptly—that which cries. Malone.

Note return to page 679 7&lblank; mandrakes' shrieks &lblank;] See note on Romeo and Juliet, last edit. vol. x. p. 131. Steevens.

Note return to page 680 8The body of my son, by you misdone?] i. e. destroyed. So in Lilly's Woman in the Moon, 1597: “Pardon me “That I misdid thee in my witless rage.” Malone. As to do is, to make, so to misdo is to destroy. Thus misdeeds for criminal actions. Steevens.

Note return to page 681 9And though contempt of witness and reproach] Thus the folios and the modern editions.—The reading in the text is that of the quarto. Malone.

Note return to page 682 1I reck of death the less, &lblank;] I make the less account of death. The old copies read, I think corruptedly—wreak. The two words are frequently confounded in our ancient dramas. Malone.

Note return to page 683 21 Just. How came this linen-cloth so bloody then?] The author of this play appears to have been little acquainted with legal proceedings. The justices of peace never sit on the bench with the judge of assize, as assessors, nor put questions to witnesses or culprits. They attend the assizes solely for the purpose of delivering in the examinations on which the prisoners have been committed. Malone.

Note return to page 684 3What made you &lblank;] i. e. what were you doing? Of the frequent use of this now obsolete phrase, instances have been already given. Malone.

Note return to page 685 4As was the thick where the dead corpse was thrown?] Thick for thicket. Malone.

Note return to page 686 5Journeying, my lord, from London, from the term,] The law-terms are mentioned in our ancient dramas as the great eras of business, pleasure, and profit. No one goes from any distant county to London till the term begins, or leaves the metropolis till the term ends. No book is published till the beginning of term. From that period the shop-keepers hope for custom, and the players expect audiences. It should seem from the various passages of this kind in our old plays, that law-suits were more numerous formerly than at present. Malone.

Note return to page 687 6&lblank; my strouces there;] Strouces are trowsers. They were anciently worn by the Irish. So in K. Henry V:—“like a kerne of Ireland, your French hose off, and in your straight trossers.” Malone.

Note return to page 688 7&lblank; and let me be hanged in a wyth,] A band made of twigs. Bacon says, “an Irish rebel put up a petition that he might be hanged in a with, and not in a halter, because it had been so used with former rebels.” Malone.

Note return to page 689 8We are contented that you shall be prov'd.] We are content that a trial shall be made of your sincerity; that you shall be unpunished at present, and remain in a state of probation. Malone.

Note return to page 690 9&lblank; where, to my power,] The old copies read—where though my power. This cannot, I think, be right. Perhaps we ought to read, &lblank; where, though my power May not acquittance those great benefits I have receiv'd of you, yet both my house, My purse, &c. —where though it be not in my power to repay all the obligations that I have received from you, yet I will do my utmost to shew my gratitude. Malone. I would read, &lblank; where through my power (Though not, &c. Percy.

Note return to page 691 for hangman r. executioner.

Note return to page 692 1“A booke called the Lyfe and Death of the Lord Cromwell, as yt was lately acted by the Lord Chamberleyn his Servantes,” was entered on the Stationers' Books by William Cotton, August 11, 1602; and the play, I am informed, was printed in that year. I have met with no earlier edition than that published in 1613, in the title of which it is said to be written by W. S. I believe these letters were not the initials of the real author's name, but added merely with a view to deceive the publick, and to induce them to suppose this piece the composition of Shakspeare. The fraud was, I imagine, suggested by the appearance of our author's King Henry VIII, to which the printer probably entertained a hope that this play would be considered as a sequel or second part. Viewed in this light, the date of the first edition of the present performance in some measure confirms that which has been assigned to King Henry VIII; which, for the reasons stated in the Attempt to ascertain the Order in which the Plays of Shakspeare were written [vol. i. p. 309, last edit.] is supposed to have been first acted in 1601, or 1602. The present piece, we find, followed close after it. King Henry VIII. it appears, was after its first exhibition laid by for some years, and revived with great splendour in 1613. The attention of the town being now a second time called to the story and age of Wolsey, so favourable an opportunity was not to be lost; accordingly a second impression of the Life and Death of Lord Cromwell was issued out in that year. This play has been hitherto printed without any division of acts or scenes. Malone. The part of history on which this play is founded, occurs in Fuller, Stow, Speed, Holinshed, &c. but more amply in Fox's Book of Martyrs. The particulars relating to Francesco Frescobaldi (whom our author, or his printer, so familiarly has styled Friskiball) were first published by Bandello the novellist in 1554. “Francesco Frescobaldi fa cortesia ad un straniero, e nè ben remeritato, essendo colui diuenuto contestabile d'inghilterra.” Seconda Parte, Novell. 34. This story is translated by Fox, edit. 1596. vol. ii. p. 1082. Steevens.

Note return to page 693 2he keeps such a coil &lblank;] All the copies read corruptedly— quile. The transcriber's ear was probably deceived; the word coil being vulgarly pronounced kile. Malone. Sailors to this hour pronounce a coil of ropes (i. e. ropes wreathed into a circle) a quile. Steevens.

Note return to page 694 3&lblank; to the strong ale,] An ale anciently sometimes signified a festival—from the liquor drank on the occasion. Thus we hear of church-ales, Whitsun-ales, &c. It sometimes also signified an ale-house. Malone.

Note return to page 695 4Adds comfort to my spirit, that mounts on high;] Spirit was formerly often pronounced and written spright. The metre shews it was intended to be so pronounced here. Malone.

Note return to page 696 5&lblank; if you let us from working.] If you hinder us. So in Middleton's No Wit like a Woman's, a comedy, 1657: “That lets her not to be your daughter now.” Malone.

Note return to page 697 6No hammers walking and my work to do!] Thus the quarto and the folios. The author probably either wrote, No hammers working; and my work to do! or perhaps the line stood thus: No hammers?—walking, and my work to do. What do I see? no hammers in your hands;—and you walking about, when you ought to be at work? We might read—talking, and my work to do. It is of little consequence. Malone. I would adhere to the old reading. To walk does not always signify to move by slow steps, putting one foot before the other, but sometimes simply, to be in motion.—In low language a woman's tongue is often said to walk. So Spenser: “&lblank; and as she went her tongue did walk “In foul reproach.” No hammers walking? may therefore mean, are no hammers stirring, or in motion? Steevens. Though the tongue of the female mentioned by Spenser might by the licence of poetry be said to walk, when she was herself in motion, I doubt whether he would have ventured so extraordinary an expression, if he had been speaking of a person at rest. The example that has been quoted is the only one produced in Dr. Johnson's Dictionary as an authority for this very singular phraseology. I have however not disturbed the reading of the old copies. Malone.

Note return to page 698 7&lblank; have I thus cark'd and car'd,] To cark is to be anxious. The word is now obsolete. Malone.

Note return to page 699 8And dost thou let my servants at their work,] Obstruct them. Let has already occurred in the same sense. Malone.

Note return to page 700 9They shall not hear me.] The old copies read—he shall not hear me. I believe he was a misprint for they. The old man is pleased with the ambition of his son, and commends his spirit; but does not wish that his servants should hear him, lest young Cromwell's inattention to business should corrupt them. Accordingly, he afterwards rebukes his son aloud—“Hence, you saucy boy.” Malone. I read,—He will not hear me. Percy.

Note return to page 701 1To time, who doth abuse the world,] This speech was clearly intended by the author to be in metre. In the present line a word was probably omitted either by the transcriber or printer, which is now supplied. Malone.

Note return to page 702 2This is but course, which in the name of fate. Is seen as often as it whirls about] That is, as the world whirls about. Perhaps we might better read—This is the course— Malone. The old reading is perhaps sufficiently clear. I would point the passage thus: And from the dunghill minions do advance To state and mark in this admiring world. Mark is attention, or distinction. So in K. Henry IV. P. I: “A fellow of no mark nor likelihood.” i. e. a man undistinguished from the vulgar, &c. This is but course, which in the name of fate Is seen, as often as it whirls about. i. e. this is but the common course of events, which nevertheless is regarded as the operation of a presiding destiny, or, in other words, as the work of fate, as often as it changes the position of human affairs. So in Fenton's Mariamne: “Superiour to the giddy whirls of fate.” Steevens. I have followed the regulation proposed by Mr. Steevens, which appears to me clearly right; but I think it is the world, and not Fate, that is said to whirl about. Malone.

Note return to page 703 3This is the lodging of master Frescobald,] In all the copies of this play (that I have seen) this Italian merchant is called Friskiball. But as his name is given rightly (omitting only the Italian termination) in Fox's Book of Martyrs, and the other English narratives in which he is mentioned, (some of which the author of this piece had probably read,) I suppose that the corruption was owing either to the transcriber or printer, and therefore have not followed it. Malone.

Note return to page 704 4This two months day: &lblank;] This is a provincial phrase which I often heard [Subnote: for I often heard r. I have often heard.] , though I have no example of it to produce. I mention it only that the reader may not suspect a corruption. Steevens.

Note return to page 705 5And to deal strictly with such a one as he Better severe, &c.] An intermediate line seems to have been lost. Malone. Perhaps we should read And to deal strict with such a one as he, Is better sure than too much lenity. Steevens.

Note return to page 706 6&lblank; yet will not be known thereof.] Will not acknowledge it. So in Othello: “Be not acknown of it.” Malone.

Note return to page 707 7And sell, as part to pay the debt we owe you.] This and the two following lines have been recovered from the quarto. They are omitted in the folios and the modern editions. Malone.

Note return to page 708 8Ne'er may ought prosper with me is my own,] The old elliptical idiom, for—that is my own. Percy.

Note return to page 709 9Hold, Bagot, there's a portague to drink,] A portague was a gold coin of Portugal, worth about four pounds ten shillings, sterling. Portugaise. Fr. This seems to have been too considerable a present to deserve the observation that Bagot makes on receiving it: Where he had wont to give a score of crowns, Doth he now foist me with a portague? I suspect we ought to read cardecue, i. e. un quart d'ecu, the fourth part of a crown.—The word is used by Fletcher in the Elder Brother: “And in a suit not worth a cardecue.” Malone.

Note return to page 710 1Enter Chorus.] In most of our ancient dramas in which a Chorus appears, it marks the intervals of the acts. In the present piece the Chorus interposes but three times, and seems to have been introduced for the purpose of relating what the author did not chuse to exhibit, without any regard to the usual pauses in the action. Malone.

Note return to page 711 2In Antwerp, leiger for the English merchants:] A resident factor for transacting the business of the English merchants. Malone. So in Measure for Measure: “Where you shall be an everlasting leiger.” See that play, edit. 1778. vol. ii. p. 77. Steevens.

Note return to page 712 3&lblank; to buy you spurs and wands.] i. e. switches. Malone.

Note return to page 713 4Your heart should still have feeling of remorse,] Remorse, in old language, is tenderness, pity. Malone.

Note return to page 714 5Rather than with your poise to hold them down:] Poise is weight. So in Othello: “It shall be full of poise and difficulty &lblank;” Malone.

Note return to page 715 6I know this place to be extortion;] Perhaps the author wrote—extortious. Malone. Perhaps a word was omitted at the end of the line. We might read, I know this place to be extortion's nest, So in Romeo and Juliet: “&lblank; come from that nest “Of death, contagion, and unnatural sleep.” Steevens.

Note return to page 716 7Your son Thomas, quoth you! I have been Thomass'd.] Hodge enters in the midst of a speculation on the unreasonableness of old Cromwell in sending him a long voyage to look for his son Thomas. Malone.

Note return to page 717 8I'll go you to Parish-Garden &lblank;] He means the bear-garden, which was sometimes called Paris-garden from the name of the person who kept it. It was in Southwark, near the Globe-play-house. Malone.

Note return to page 718 9&lblank; and Bess Make-water a race of ginger;] A race of ginger is supposed by some to mean no more than a root of ginger. In K. Henry IV. P. I. however, where it is mentioned by one of the carriers, it should seem to be more bulky. “I have a gammon of bacon and two razes of ginger to be delivered as far as Charing Cross.” Malone.

Note return to page 719 1&lblank; my fellows Will and Tom hath between them sent you a dozen of points.] Points were strings with metal tags, by which the trunk hose were formerly fastened. Malone.

Note return to page 720 *&lblank; goodman Toll, of the goat, &lblank;] Perhaps we ought to read—gate. Malone.

Note return to page 721 2&lblank; and when I have seen Boreas play the ruffian with us,] The author had perhaps Shakspeare's King Henry IV. P. II. in his thoughts: “&lblank; in the visitation of the winds, “Who take the ruffian billows by the tops”— Malone. Again, in Troilus and Cressida: “But let the ruffian Boreas once enrage “The gentle Thetis” &lblank; Steevens.

Note return to page 722 3&lblank; you offer too much under foot.] You offer too low; under the real value. Malone.

Note return to page 723 4Lade him with irons] Lade was the old word for load. Hence lading for loading; scil. a ship's lading, &c. Percy.

Note return to page 724 5Stands with your liking, I will wait on you.] Elliptical, for—If it stands, &c. Percy.

Note return to page 725 6&lblank; at the ale there.] i. e. at the ale-house. So in the Two Gentlemen of Verona, fol. 1623: “Thou hast not so much charity in thee as to go to the ale with a Christian.” Steevens.

Note return to page 726 7God send some to read, &c.] Hodge seems to have formed his wish on the cant lines which were formerly written on the blank leaves at the beginning of school-books, &c. “Philemon Holland his book, “God give him grace therein to look: “And not to look but understand, &c.” Steevens.

Note return to page 727 8Whereas a noble earl is much distress'd:] Whereas for where. So in K. Henry VI. P. II: “You do prepare to ride unto Saint Albans, “Whereas the king and queen do mean to hawk.” Malone.

Note return to page 728 9Bononia is the Latin name of Bolognia [Subnote: for Bolognia r. Bologna.] , a town in Italy. Malone.

Note return to page 729 1And made the French stir, when they heard my name;] I suspect that we should read—skir, i. e. scour away, run away hastily. So in K. Henry V: “We'll make them skir away as swift as stones “Enforced from the old Assyrian slings.” To stir may as well mean to be active in their own defence, as to fly before their enemies. Steevens.

Note return to page 730 2I'll have my body first bor'd like a sieve, And die as Hector, 'gainst the Myrmidons,] So in King Richard III: “&lblank; this anointed body “By thee was punched full of deadly holes.” Malone.

Note return to page 731 3&lblank; your dapple grey.] The old copy reads—your dapper grey. It was clearly a misprint. Malone.

Note return to page 732 4And they, my lord,] i. e. the people of Mantua. Malone.

Note return to page 733 5Could you but get out of the Mantua port,] He was in Bononia, and wanted to go to Mantua. It should therefore be “into the Mantuan port” or gate;—or in at, &c. Percy, The old reading is, I think, right. Could you but get out of the gate in this town of Bononia, which leads to Mantua. It is very common in provincial towns to denominate the gates from the places to which they lead;—thus London gate and London road are found in various parts of England.—So (as Mr. Steevens observes to me) “in Sparta one of the gates was called Porta Amyclæa, or Amyclarum, because it led towards Amyclæ, a city of Laconia.” Malone.

Note return to page 734 6The states, they know you not] A state was, in old language, a principal personage; a ruler or governour. So in Troilus and Cressida, vol. ix. p. 64: “If any thing more than your sport and pleasure “Did move your greatness, and this noble state, “To call on him” &lblank; See the note there. Malone. The word has often this sense in the writings of that time, especially among political writers, and even in publick proclamations, &c. So in the orders issued out for receiving the princess Catharine of Spain, when she came over to be espoused by our prince Arthur, A. D. 1501, it is directed “The said princess shall be met about Blackwall, with the states following: that is to say, the duke of Bucks in one barge: the bishop of Bath in another: the bishop of Exeter in another: the earl of Northumberland in another: the earl of Kent in another, &c.” See the MS original in the British Museum, Harl. MSS. 69. (25).—So in our translation of the New Testament, St. Mark, vi. 21. it is, “Herod on his birth-day made a supper to his lords, high captains, and chief states [Gr. &grt;&gro;&gric;&grst; &grp;&grr;&grwa;&grt;&gro;&gri;&grst;] of Gallilee.” Percy.

Note return to page 735 *&lblank; of this device?] Thus the quarto, and folio 1664. The modern editions read—advice. Malone.

Note return to page 736 7My nobility is wonderful melancholy: Is it not most gentleman-like to be melancholy?] So in the Winter's Tale: “He seems to be the more noble in being fantastical.” Again, in Every Man in his Humour: “Oh, it's your only fine humour, sir; your true melancholy breed; your perfect fine wit.” Malone.

Note return to page 737 8Go draw the curtains, let us see the earl: &lblank;] Here is another proof of what has been already advanced relative to the want of scenes in our old theatres. See vol. i. p. 19. Malone. To draw the curtains, anciently meant the same as to open, or undraw them, as we say in modern language. So in the stage directions relative to the murder of duke Humphrey, quarto edit. “Then the curtaines being drawne, duke Humphrey is discovered, &c.” Again, ibid. at the death of cardinal Beaufort: —“the curtaines be drawne and the cardinal is discovered—” Nothing was once more common than to divide large rooms by means of a curtain, or traverse, that they might answer the purpose of more than one apartment. The chamber of Bedford was properly separated from his study by this contrivance. I think therefore that nothing relative to want of scenery in our early theatres, can be inferred from the passage before us. Steevens. I doubt much whether it was ever a common practice in England to divide rooms in private houses by means of curtains; but however that may have been, it seems both from the present passage and many others (which are cited ante, vol. i. p. 19.) that it certainly was a common practice in our ancient theatres: and the resorting to this expedient, when any person was to be discovered in a different apartment from that in which the principal action was exhibited, appears to me as decisive a proof of the want of scenery as can be well produced. Malone.

Note return to page 738 9&lblank; among the Polonian sausages.] I suppose Hodge uses this as a term of contempt for the people of Bolognia [Correction: 1Kb]

Note return to page 739 for Bolognia r. Bologna.

Note return to page 740 1&lblank; that hath bored you, sir.] So in King Henry VIII: “He bores me with some trick.” Steevens.

Note return to page 741 2And tells him that those parts he meant to see, He had not yet set footing on the land;] I would read—of those parts. The lines appear to me ungrammatical as they stand. Steevens.

Note return to page 742 3The earl to France;] Yet Bedford [ante, Scene II.] is only apprehensive of having his body sent into France, &c. This is a strange inconsistency. Percy. The earl's apprehensions in the former scene are, that he should be sent a prisoner into France. “I'll have my body first bor'd like a sieve, “Ere France shall boast, Bedford's their prisoner.” It appears from a subsequent part of the play that he returned to England; to which his shortest route from Mantua was through France. Malone.

Note return to page 743 4&lblank; began to flourish; An hour will shew you what few years did cherish.] I suppose for the sake of rhime we should read nourish. Steevens.

Note return to page 744 5&lblank; this ruder flesh,] i. e. these coarser natures; meaning, I suppose, his servants, to whom he points as he speaks. Steevens.

Note return to page 745 6&lblank; If welcome want, Full bowls and ample banquets will seem scant.] We meet a similar sentiment in Macbeth: “&lblank; the feast is sold, “That is not often vouch'd while 'tis a making, “'Tis given with welcome.” Malone.

Note return to page 746 7&lblank; and the poorest snake,] This term, equivalent to “poorest creature,” is still current in Staffordshire. Cole (who in his Latin and English Dictionary, 8vo. has almost every peculiar word and phrase of Shakespeare) renders “a poor snake” Latinè, Irus, as if it were expressive of “a poor beggar.” The same expression is found in Sir John Oldcastle: “&lblank; and you poor snakes come seldom to a booty.” Percy.

Note return to page 747 8&lblank; pilchers,] We should read pilchards, i. e. the fish so called. Pilche or pilcher is a leathern coat. Steevens.

Note return to page 748 9&lblank; will bear a case More fat and gallant than his starved face.] By case the poet seems to mean their clothes. They defraud their appetites to adorn their persons. Their habits are more fat (i. e. rich) than their faces. Fat may, however, mean bolstered out, bombasted, as was anciently the fashion. Steevens. When “queen Elizabeth (says Cary in his Present State of England, 1626) asked a knight, named Young, how he liked a company of brave ladies; he answered—As I like my silver-haired conies at home; the cases are far better than the bodies.” Perhaps we ought to read, More fine and gallant, &c. Malone.

Note return to page 749 *Who stagger after &lblank;] Thus the folios. The quarto has stager. Malone.

Note return to page 750 1&lblank; for I here was born,] I do not praise England because I am a native of it, but for its superiority over other countries. So in Othello: “&lblank; haply for I am black.” Malone.

Note return to page 751 *My lord cardinal, you are a royal winner, &lblank; Well, my good knight, pray that we come &c.] The metre of these lines is defective in the old copies, on which account the words in Roman characters have been added. There can be no doubt that these couplets were rendered imperfect by the carelessness of the printer. Malone.

Note return to page 752 2That ne'er will leave to love and honour you.] That ne'er will cease to love, &c. So in King Henry VI. P. II. “You bad me ban, and will you bid me leave?” Malone.

Note return to page 753 3His sudden death I grieve for, not his fall,] Thus all the copies. The context shews, I think, that the author wrote nor. Malone. I believe the old reading is the true one. I grieve, says Cromwell, for his death, because it was too sudden to allow time for repentance. I am not sorry for his fall, because had his power lasted, he would have employed it against the interests of his country. Steevens.

Note return to page 754 *O how uncertain is the wheel of state!] This may be the true reading, and may mean the revolution of state affairs. But I rather think we should read—the wheel of fate, the word state having occurred just before. Steevens.

Note return to page 755 4Then to add honour to His name, the king creates him the lord keeper Of his privy seal, &c.] The rise of Cromwell to the highest honours of the state was certainly sudden, but not quite so rapid as this author has represented. In 1531 he was made a privy counsellor and master of the jewel-house, and the next year clerk of the hanaper, and chancellor of the exchequer: in 1534, principal secretary of state and master of the rolls. The following year he was appointed vicar-general over all the spiritualities in England, under the king; on the second of July 1536, lord keeper of the privy-seal; and soon afterwards he was advanced to the dignity of a baron. In 1537 he was created knight of the garter, and in 1540 earl of Essex and lord high chamberlain of England. Malone.

Note return to page 756 5Which you, sir Christopher, do now enjoy:] The fact was exactly the reverse of what is here stated. Cromwell's predecessor in this office was not sir Christopher Hales, but Dr. Taylor; and Hales, (who was the king's attorney-general,) succeeded Cromwell in the rolls; not however immediately on his advancement to the office of keeper of the privy-seal. Malone.

Note return to page 757 6Forswear my money, &lblank;] Deny on oath that they are indebted to me. Malone.

Note return to page 758 7I wis we have done for him,] I wis is I know. The word is now obsolete. Malone.

Note return to page 759 8&lblank; how he would mouch up my cheese-cakes?] To mouch is to eat eagerly. Hence, I suppose, mounch, a word which we meet with in Macbeth: “A sailor's wife had chestnuts in her lap, “And mounch'd, and mounch'd, and mounch'd”. Malone.

Note return to page 760 9&lblank; but now we'll remember him.] We'll remind him. So in Sir John Oldcastle: “If I forget, do you remember me,” Malone.

Note return to page 761 1But, i'faith I'll jibber a joint, but I'll tell him his own.] Of this phrase it is not easy to ascertain the precise import. The meaning seems to be—I'll suffer my joints to be torn asunder if I do not tell him, &c. Or perhaps Seely means to say—I'll be contented to be spitted if I don't, &c. The phrase is used by Fletcher in his Woman Pleas'd, 1647, in such a manner as rather countenances the latter interpretation: “3 Gent. To supper dost thou mean? “Pen. To any thing That has the smell of meat in't.—Tell me true, gentlemen, Are not you three now going to be sinfull? To jeabard a joint, or so? I've found your faces, And see whore written in your eyes.” The modern editors of Fletcher's plays, in 1750 and 1778, have for jeabard (which appears to be the same word as that in the text, only differently spelled) substituted jeopard, without assigning any reason for departing from the reading of the old copy, which appears from the present passage to be right. The substituted word will not admit of the equivoque which was clearly intended by the author. Malone. Perhaps we ought to read—I'll gibbet a joint, &c. i. e. suffer one of my limbs to be gibbeted. Percy.

Note return to page 762 2Good four pound it is; I hav't o' the post at home.] The post on which the account was scored. So in the Comedy of Errors: “If she return, I shall be post indeed, “For she will score your fault upon my pate.” Malone.

Note return to page 763 3And look your wife and you do stay to dinner:] Stowe says [Survey of London, p. 139.] that “he had himself often seen at lord Cromwell's gate more than two hundred persons served twice every day with bread, meat, and drink sufficient.” Malone.

Note return to page 764 4&lblank; but to feed a sort Of lazy abbots and of full-fed fryars?] A sort anciently signified a company; a numerous body. So in Aretine's Wars of the Goths, translated by Golding, 1563: “Howbeit, when night came, espying a great sorte of fiers on the sea-coast”— Malone.

Note return to page 765 5Things past redress 'tis bootless to complain.] Complain was formerly used in an active sense. So in the Rape of Lucrece: “And by chaste Lucrece' soul, that late complain'd “Her wrongs to us”— Malone.

Note return to page 766 6This is the reason why they wear long coats.] Whatever might have been the reason, the fact is as here represented. Stowe, who tells us he remembered Cromwell's houshold, says that the skirts of his yeomen in livery were large enough for their friends to sit upon them.” Survey of London, 139. edit 1618. Malone. Is not this story of the bishop sitting on his skirts told of the difference between the duke of Buckingham and cardinal Wolsey? Percy. The story told of the duke of Buckingham and cardinal Wolsey is somewhat different. It is this. The duke one day holding a bason for the king to wash, as soon as his majesty had done, the cardinal dipped his hands in the same water. The duke resenting this as an indignity, spilled some of the water in Wolsey's shoes, with which the cardinal being provoked threatened him that he would sit on his skirts. Buckingham came the next day to court very richly dressed, but without skirts to his doublet; at which Henry being surprised, asked him what he meant by that strange fashion; to which he replied, that his purpose was to prevent cardinal Wolsey from sitting on his skirts The author of the present piece, who does not appear to have been a very accurate historian, had probably a confused recollection of this story. Nothing of this kind is said by any of our ancient writers (that I have read) to have happened between Cromwell and the bishop of Winchester. Malone.

Note return to page 767 7Enter the Usher and the Sewer.] The sewer was the officer in the housholds of our ancient nobility, who placed the dishes on the table. He and the carver stood on each side their lord, when he was seated at table. Cole renders sewer, Lat. structor, dapiser. And to sewer, Lat. Fercula struere, prægustare. Percy.

Note return to page 768 8I am that Cromwell that you there reliev'd.] This incident is founded on an historical fact. See Burnet's History of the Reformation, vol. i. p. 172; and Wanley's History of Man, p. 173. Malone.

Note return to page 769 9&lblank; to repay thee without interest.] The old copies read unintelligibly: Yet it injustice were that serving at my need For to repay them, &c. Serving is, I think, used for service. Malone.

Note return to page 770 1That you heard Cromwell, the lord chancellor,] Cromwell was never lord chancellor. He is before with equal impropriety called lord keeper, and introduced with the mace carried before him. The author of this piece confounded the great and the privy seal.—The story of his wishing a dagger in the king's heart is an invention of the poet's.—Though the bishop of Winchester was his enemy, and contributed as much as he could to his downfall, he was not the principal agent in that business. It is well known that the immediate cause of Cromwell's ruin (added to the jealousy of the nobility, and the hatred of the common people on account of the subversion of the monasteries) was Henry's aversion to Anne of Cleves, and his desire to marry Catharine Howard, niece to the duke of Norfolk, Cromwell's chief enemy. By him he was accused of high treason, and attainted, unheard, in parliament, in the absence of Cranmer, the only person who had spirit and honesty enough to remonstrate with the king on the injustice of this proceeding. Malone.

Note return to page 771 *This crucifix &lblank;] Before the Reformation, the English bishops probably wore a small crucifix hanging on their outward garment; as in popish countries the bishops do at this day. Malone.

Note return to page 772 2I know your honours muse &lblank;] To muse, in old language, is to wonder. Malone.

Note return to page 773 3Their proofs are great, but greater is my heart.] I suppose he means—the proofs that have been brought against Cromwell are strong, but my affection for him, and my confidence in his innocence, are still stronger. Malone.

Note return to page 774 4Let them Depart, my lord of Winchester:] Perhaps we ought to read, Let him depart—alluding to what Bedford had just before said as he went out: Pardon me, lords, for I must needs depart. Malone.

Note return to page 775 5This act, my lords, he caus'd the king to make.] This is asserted by Saunders in his book de Scism. Angl. but no such act of parliament was made in Henry's reign. Malone.

Note return to page 776 6&lblank; else he'll go beyond us.] Over-reach us. So in Hamlet: “For in these things we cast beyond ourselves.” Malone.

Note return to page 777 *&lblank; but I will shave his head.] We ought perhaps to read— shake his head. The compositor might have been misled by thinking on the more familiar phrase. Malone.

Note return to page 778 *I see your honour is address'd to talk.] This line, which is omitted in the folios and the modern editions, has been recovered from the quarto. Address'd is prepared. Malone.

Note return to page 779 *How smooth and easy is the way to death!] In England's Parnassus, 1600, p. 48, the following line is attributed to Shakspeare: “The path is smooth that leadeth unto danger.” but perhaps it is only the preceding one misquoted. Steevens.

Note return to page 780 7Here, take this letter, &lblank;] The author attended but little to his scenery. It is evident from the manner of Cromwell's passing and repassing in this scene, that Bedford must be here supposed to be in a street or other publick place, not very well calculated for writing. But a letter was wanted, and one is accordingly written. Malone.

Note return to page 781 8Why then soon will we meet again: adieu!] The concluding word of this line has been supplied by Mr. Steevens. A rhime was probably intended. Malone.

Note return to page 782 9With scandalous ignomy, &lblank;] Ignominy. The word is contracted in the same manner in Shakspeare's plays, and in many other of our ancient dramas. Malone.

Note return to page 783 1&lblank; you hear the tenure of your life.] You hear how short a period you have to live. The old copy reads, I think corruptedly, tenor. The two words are frequently confounded in our ancient dramas. Malone.

Note return to page 784 2To lose his head before his cause was tried;] Speed is the only historian (that I have seen) who asserts that the bill of attainder against Cromwell did not pass till after his death. In one sense indeed he might be said to be executed before his cause was tried, for it was never fairly tried; but the act of parliament by which he suffered, received the royal assent four days before his execution. Malone.

Note return to page 785 3Mark, boy, the last words that I speak to thee:] The author has here departed from historical truth. The earl of Essex's son was arrived to manhood some time before the execution of his father; and had been called up by summons to the house of peers four years before that event, by the title of baron Cromwell of Wimbleton in the county of Surry. Malone.

Note return to page 786 4Ambition, like the plague, see thou eschew it;] To eschew is to avoid. It is a very common phrase in ancient warrants—“as you will eschew that which may ensue.” Percy.

Note return to page 787 *&lblank; upon the floor of death.] Thus the folios. The quarto has floure. Malone.

Note return to page 788 5It would have better seem'd you to have been absent, Than with your words disturb a dying man.] Perhaps here is a covert allusion to sir Walter Raleigh, who was reproached for having attended at the execution of his rival, the amiable earl of Essex. Malone.

Note return to page 789 *The land of worms, which dying men discover:] Some line, or couplet, seems wanting here, to introduce what follows; or perhaps we should read: Hail land of worms, which dying men discover! Steeven.

Note return to page 790 6Here is a kind of reprieve come from the king,] No reprieve was at any time sent for Cromwell. The unfortunate statesman during his confinement in the Tower wrote a pathetick letter to Henry, which brought tears into the eyes of that sanguinary tyrant, but produced no other effect. Malone.

Note return to page 791 7My conscience now tells me this deed was ill;] So sir Piers of Exton, on the same occasion, at the conclusion of K. Richard II: “For now the devil that told me I did well, “Says that this deed is chronicled in hell.” Steevens.

Note return to page 792 1Concerning the origin of this play having been ever ascribed to Shakspeare, I have not been able to form any probable hypothesis. It was not entered on the Stationers' Books, but was published in 1605, as it was plaide by the king's majestie's servants, and is said in the title-page to be written by William Shakspeare. It was printed by T. C. [Thomas Creede] for Nathaniel Butter, who three years afterwards published King Lear. One knows not which most to admire, the impudence of the printer in affixing our great poet's name to a comedy publickly acted at his own theatre, of which it is very improbable that he should have written a single line, or Shakspeare's negligence of fame in suffering such a piece to be imputed to him without taking the least notice of it. It appears from a passage in the first [Correction: 1Kb]

Note return to page 793 for first r. second.

Note return to page 794 2Why your exhibition &lblank;] The allowance you gave him. So in the Two Gentlemen of Verona: “Like exhibition you shall have from me.” This word is now used in this sense only in the universities. Malone.

Note return to page 795 3Although I know that he spends is yours, &lblank;] An ancient idiom for “that which:” So afterwards, Weathercock says, “who can hold that will away.” So in our Liturgy; “to do always that is righteous in thy sight.” See the third Collect for grace, in the morning service. Percy.

Note return to page 796 4If they do not relish altogether of damnation,] So in Hamlet: “That hath no relish of salvation in it.” Malone.

Note return to page 797 5&lblank; but not in keeping those oaths is better;] There must be here, I think, some corruption. We might read—“but keeping those oaths is not better;” or rather thus:—but in not keeping those oaths is better:—which, though strangely expressed, may mean— I acknowledge swearing at all to be bad, but the not keeping an oath, that ought never to have been sworn, in some sort redeems the crime. Malone.

Note return to page 798 6Tom White's, James Brock's, or Nick Hall's; as good rapier-and-dagger-men, &c.] It is observable that when Shakspeare introduces any names in this way, they are always characteristical; master Forthright, the tilter, master Shoetie, the traveller, &c. These are not so. Malone.

Note return to page 799 7&lblank; if the Catharine and Hugh be come home or no?] A ship of that name. The old copy has—if the Katern-hue. In a subsequent passage the name is given rightly. Malone. Perhaps we should read the Catharine hoy, i. e. a vessel whose size is between that of a boat and a ship. So in naval language— the Nancy sloop, the Sarah galley, the Betsy pink, the Infernal bomb. Steevens.

Note return to page 800 8&lblank; a colour de roy,] A colour so called in honour of the king. There is, I believe, a silk of that name at present. Malone.

Note return to page 801 9&lblank; a sad green,] A grave, dark, green. Malone.

Note return to page 802 1&lblank; o' Thursday, my velure, &lblank;] My velvet. So in the Taming of the Shrew—“a crupper of velure.” Malone.

Note return to page 803 2&lblank; decimo tertio Septembris—no, no; decimo tertio Octobris;] All the copies read—didecimo tertios Septembris; no no tridissimo tertios Octobris. It does not appear that the author meant to describe young Flowerdale as wholly illiterate, and therefore I suppose this was a printer's blunder. The opposition intended seems to be between September and October, and not between any particular days of either month. Malone. Could this gibberish be intended for decimo tertio Septembris, and vicesimo tertio Octobris; or was it meant to pass for Spanish or Italian, then used in keeping merchants' accounts and bills of lading? Percy.

Note return to page 804 3&lblank; How say you, Kester?] This should seem to have been formerly the abbreviation of Christopher. Malone.9Q1361

Note return to page 805 4&lblank; any stintance. &lblank;] i. e. any stop, any remission. So in Romeo and Juliet:—“it stinted and cried ay.” Steevens.

Note return to page 806 5By God, I assure you,] The sacred name is oftner introduced in this play than any that I remember to have read. Being published before the stat. 3 Jac. I. c. 21. neither the author or printer had any scruple on the subject. Malone.

Note return to page 807 6&lblank; two bale of false dice, viz. high men and low men, fulloms, stop-cater-traies, &c.] In the English Rogue, P. I. p. 322. edit. 1680, we are told that “high fullums are those dice which are loaded in such a manner as seldom to run any other chance than four, five, or six; low fullums, or low men, are those which usually run one, two, or three.” Stop-cater-traies were probably dice prepared in such a manner as frequently to exhibit a four and a three. Pistol, in one of his rants, in the Merry Wives of Windsor, mentions some of these bones of function: “Let vultures gripe thy guts! for gourd and fullam holds “And high and low beguiles the rich and poor.” Malone. See note on the Merry Wives of Windsor, last edit. vol. i. p. 245. Steevens.

Note return to page 808 7any way to make it come easily off, &lblank;] To get it counted down freely. So in the Merry Wives of Windsor: “They must come off: I'll sauce them.” Malone. See notes on Timon of Athens, and the Merry Wives, last edit. vol. VIII. p. 321, and vol. I. p. 338. Steevens.

Note return to page 809 8Or as a hawk, &lblank; &lblank; must be watch'd, or still she's wild.] See the Taming of a Shrew, last edit. vol. iii. p. 486. Steevens. No allusions are more frequent in the old comedies than those referring to the sport of hawking. Wild hawks are tamed by keeping them from sleeping. The faulconers sit up by turns to watch them, or they will still continue wild. Percy.

Note return to page 810 9Sentences still, sweet mistress!] Sentences are wise sayings; maxims. Malone.

Note return to page 811 1&lblank; an it were your alabaster.] i. e. as fair as alabaster; a comparison purposely affected. Steevens.

Note return to page 812 2&lblank; thy tongue trips trenchmore.] Trenchmore was a dance. In the Island Princess of B. and Fletcher, one of the townsmen says, “All the windows of the town dance a new trenchmore.” The same dance is mentioned in Selden's Table-talk, and in the duke of Buckingham's Rehearsal. Steevens.

Note return to page 813 3Then there's young Oliver, the De'nshire lad,] Throughout this play Devonshire is used as a dissyllable. Perhaps it was formerly pronounced De'nshire. Thus we at this day say se'nnight instead of sevennight; and Ca'ndish for Cavendish. “To Devonshire or De'nshire land (says Ray in his Collection of English Proverbs, 1670) is to pare off the surface, &c.” Malone.

Note return to page 814 4&lblank; he's a desperate Dick indeed] Of this phrase I know not the origin. It probably had its rise from some well-known individual, and perhaps the alliteration chiefly contributed to its being preserved. Malone. Perhaps originally from the desperate conduct of K. Rich. III. Steevens.9Q1362 In Grubb's old song of St. George, (printed in the Reliques of Anc. Eng. Poetry, vol. III. p. 323, 3d. edit.) the twin deities Castor and Pollux are called heavenly double-Dicks. Percy.

Note return to page 815 5By my fay &lblank;] By my faith. Malone.

Note return to page 816 6Be he rich, or be he poor, Be he high, or be he low,] Perhaps we should read—Be he rich or be he poe. So in old language moe for more. This abbreviation or corruption is used in Sir John Oldcastle: “Alas poe master!” Malone.

Note return to page 817 7&lblank; witch'd with an owl. &lblank;] So in the Comedy of Errors: “We talk with goblins, owls, and elvish sprites.” See note on that passage, edit. 1778, vol. II, p. 190, &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 818 8&lblank; but the black gate is before] Thus the folios and the modern editions. The quarto furnished the true reading. Malone.

Note return to page 819 9I would be loth to be riddled, sir.] i. e. to be sifted, examined. In some counties a sieve is called a riddle. Steevens.

Note return to page 820 1&lblank; to bestow the wine of that gentlewoman.] To pay for what she may choose to drink;—to send her a present of wine. See note 6, page 464. Malone.

Note return to page 821 2Nay royster, &lblank;] This word for a braggadocio or swaggerer, is derived from the old verb to roist, which was not out of use when Cole compiled his English and Latin Dictionary, who thus Latinizes it: To roist, Thrasonicè jactare. A roisting, jactatio Thrasonica. A roister, Thraso. Percy.

Note return to page 822 3&lblank; cut upon cloth of silver; &lblank;] i. e. with cloth of silver placed under all the cuts, openings, or slashes in it. “Cloth of gold and cuts” is mentioned in Much Ado about Nothing, last edit. vol. ii. p. 322. Steevens.

Note return to page 823 4&lblank; a carcanet of gold, &lblank;] A carcanet was an ornament for the neck formerly worn. Malone. See note on the Comedy of Errors, last edit. vol. ii. p. 192. Steevens.

Note return to page 824 5&lblank; and the rogue puts me in rerages for orient pearl:] Rerages, I suppose, is for arrearages, which properly signifies the remainder of an accompt or sum of money in the hands of an accomptant, [arrierages Fr.] and might thence be applied to signify old goods left behind or on hand as unsaleable. Malone. Perhaps rerages has here the same meaning as refuse. The rear of an army is the hindmost division of it. Rerages therefore may signify such pearls as have been left behind, after all the better sort had been selected from them. Steevens.

Note return to page 825 6Sir, here is one that hath sent you a pottle of Rhenish wine, brewed with rose-water.] It seems to have been formerly a very common custom at taverns to send presents of wine from one room to another, either as a memorial of friendship, or (as in the present instance) by way of introduction to acquaintance. Of the existence of this practice the following anecdote of Ben Jonson and the ingenious bishop Corbet (which has not, I believe, been printed) furnishes a proof: “Ben Jonson was at a tavern, and in comes bishop Corbet (but not so then) into the next room. Ben Jonson calls for a quart of raw wine, and gives it the tapster. Sirrah, (says he) carry this to the gentleman in the next chamber, and tell him I sacrifice my service to him. The fellow did; and in those words. Friend, says Dr. Corbet, I thank him for his love; but pr'ythee tell him from me, he is mistaken; for sacrifices are always burnt.” Merry Passages and Jeasts, Mss. Harl. 6395. Malone.9Q1363

Note return to page 826 7&lblank; a month's mind &lblank;] See note on the Two Gent. of Verona, last edit. vol. i. p. 135. Steevens.

Note return to page 827 8&lblank; his father was one of these lease-mongers, these corn monmongers,] This should seem to allude to some particular transactions; but to what it refers, I have not been able to learn. Malone. I believe he alludes to the monopolies so much complained of about the time when this play may be supposed to have been written. Steevens.

Note return to page 828 9&lblank; he was a wary husband.] A prudent manager. Malone. The person who manages the repairs and fitting out of an East India ship is still called her husband. Steevens.

Note return to page 829 1Away, sirrah; charm your tongue.] This phrase, which occurs frequently in our old dramas, means no more than hold your peace. So in King Henry VI. P. II: “This hand of mine hath writ in thy behalf, “And therefore shall it charm thy riotous tongue.” Again, in Othello: “With Cassio, mistress: Go to; charm your tongue.” Malone. See note on Othello, last edit. vol. X. p. 612. Steevens.

Note return to page 830 2I am a commander, sir, under the king.] Is it not to be inferred from hence that this play was written after the accession of king James? If it had been written in queen Elizabeth's reign, would it not have been “under the queen?” Percy. From this passage and another in the next page—“The fitter for the wars,” It is almost certain that the play before us was written between the 24th of March 1602–3, when queen Elizabeth died, and the 19th of August 1604, when peace was proclaimed with Spain. Malone.

Note return to page 831 *&lblank; I devy; &lblank;] Perhaps he means to say I defy thee, though his words are clouded by provinciality. Steevens.

Note return to page 832 3&lblank; press scoundrels and thy messels.] Such poor mean rascals as you can pick up. Messel was perhaps a corruption of measle, a term of contempt for a low wretch, which is now supplied by one equally offensive—a scab. Malone. A messel signified originally a leprous person, and thence became a term of abhorrence. Steevens.

Note return to page 833 4&lblank; Lewsham;] A village in Kent, not far from Greenwich. Queen Elizabeth is said to have given it this character as she passed through it:—“Long, lazy, lousy Lewsham.” Steevens.

Note return to page 834 5&lblank; the golden ruddocks he.] The ruddock is the red-breast. This cant phrase for money has already occurred in Sir John Oldcastle: “Beshrew me but my fingers' ends do itch “To be upon those golden ruddocks.” Malone.

Note return to page 835 6Ay marry shall he. Press cloth and kersey,] Alluding to the manufacture of the Devonshire clothier. Percy.

Note return to page 836 7&lblank; white-pot] This is a favourite dish in Devonshire. Percy.

Note return to page 837 8&lblank; drowsen broth;] i. e. grounds of beer boiled up with herbs. It is a common beverage for servants &c. in Devonshire. Steevens.

Note return to page 838 9Well said vlittan vlattan.] These seem to be made words, merely to ridicule the clothier's sounding an f. like a v. Malone.

Note return to page 839 1Ay, and well sed cocknel and Bow-bell too.] A cocknell is in old language what we now call a cockney; a mere Londoner, born within the sound of Bow-bell. Cockney originally seems to have meant a fondling; one too tenderly and effeminately brought up. Cotgrave renders the word by Mignot, Niais. Malone.

Note return to page 840 2&lblank; since thy dame bound thy head] Since thou wert an infant; since thou wore a frontlet or forehead cloth. Malone.

Note return to page 841 3&lblank; cham all of a vlaming fire-brand;] Cham in the western dialect is I am; chill, I will. Malone.

Note return to page 842 4But honesty maintains a French-hood;] The context, as well as the metre, shows that we should read—maintains not a French hood. It appears from the contemporary writers that a French-hood was an article of finery. So in B. Jonson's Tale of a Tub: “Can you make me a lady? “Pol. I can gi' you “A silken gown, and a rich petticoat, “And a French-hood.” Malone.

Note return to page 843 5Woodcock o' my side!] What! does this fool peck at me too? A woodcock is a proverbial expression for a dunce. So in Much Ado about Nothing: “He hath bid me to a calve's head and capon: shall I not find a woodcock too?” Malone.

Note return to page 844 6I'faith I like not shadows, bubbles, breath;] All the copies have broth. The context, as well as the rhime, shows breath to be the true reading Malone.

Note return to page 845 7I hate a Light o'love, as I hate death] Light of love was the name of an old tune mentioned in the Two Gentlemen of Verona: “But sing it to the tune of Light o'love.” Flowerdale had been just talking of cutting a caper. Malone. See notes to the Two Gentlemen of Verona, last edit. vol. i. p. 133, and to Much Ado, &c. vol. ii. p. 323. Steevens.

Note return to page 846 8&lblank; threescore packs of karsey at Blackem-Hall,] He means Blackwell-Hall, in London, the great repository of woollen goods. Malone.

Note return to page 847 9'Tis you I love, whatsoever others say.] This line is given in the old copies to sir Lancelot. The answer shews it belongs to his daughter Luce. Malone.

Note return to page 848 1What han you to say to me now?] Han contracted for haven is the common idiom still in the West. Percy.

Note return to page 849 2What if he should come more? I am fairly dress'd?] There is, here, I believe, some corruption which I am unable to rectify. Flowerdale seems to be apprehensive of meeting Oliver. Perhaps more has the signification of again. Malone. I believe we should read—What if he should come now? Steevens.

Note return to page 850 3&lblank; I saw him the other day hold up the bucklers,] He who was victorious in mock-combat was said to gain the bucklers. So in Chapman's May-day, 611: “But now I'll lay the bucklers at your feet.” Again, in Every Woman in her Humour, 1609: “&lblank; if you lay down the bucklers, you lose the victory.” Malone. See note on Much Ado &c. vol. ii. p. 364. Steevens.

Note return to page 851 4&lblank; by the mouse-foot I will:] So in Soliman and Perseda, 1599: “By cock and pie and mouse-foot.” Steevens.

Note return to page 852 5In the mean time take heed of cutting, Flowerdale:] A cutter in old language meant a swaggerer. Hence the title of Cowley's play—The Cutter of Coleman Street. Malone.

Note return to page 853 6&lblank; an honest fellow, and a tall thou art.] A tall fellow, in old language, is a stout man. Malone.

Note return to page 854 7Our servants must be taught what they should know.] We are forced to teach our servants what they ought to do without any instruction. Malone.

Note return to page 855 8Crying, God pays and &lblank;] I believe we should read—God pays all; i. e. they never pay any thing themselves, but live on free booty; too common a practice, I suppose, with the disbanded soldiers of that age. Percy.

Note return to page 856 9&lblank; timeless graves.] i. e. untimely graves. Percy.

Note return to page 857 for yousrelf r. yourself.

Note return to page 858 1First get your assurance made &lblank;] Get your marriage settlement drawn. All deeds are in legal language called assurances. Malone.

Note return to page 859 2An I do not meet him, chil give you leave to call me cut.] To call me cut is a common expression in the old comedies. So in Twelfth Night: “If thou hast her not in the end, call me cut.” Again, in Nashe's Apologie for Pierce Pennilesse, 1593: “If thou bestowest any courtesy upon me, and I do not requite it, then call me cut. So also in B. Jonson's Tale of a Tub: “If I prove not “As just a carrier as my friend Tom Long was, “Then call me curtal.” i. e. a dog whose tail had been cut. Malone. See Twelfth Night, last edit. vol IV. p. 202. Steevens.

Note return to page 860 3&lblank; I see thou art somewhat testern.] I suppose he means needy, poor. A testern is a sixpence. Malone. In the Two Gent of Verona: “you have testern'd me,” means you have given me sixpence. Steevens.

Note return to page 861 4&lblank; che vore thee.] I assure thee. The same expression occurs frequently in B. Jonson's Tale of a Tub. Malone.

Note return to page 862 5And I'll attach you first, &lblank;] To attach is a legal term, and means to apprehend. Malone.

Note return to page 863 6&lblank; What do you think chill be abaffeled up and down the town for a messel and a scoundrel?] Abaffelled is treated with contempt. So in Spenser's Faierie Queen, b. V. c. iii. p. 35: “First he his beard did shave and fowly shent, “Then from him rest his shield and it renverst, “And blotted out his arms with falshood blent, “And himself baffal'd and his arms unherst, “And broke his sword in twain and all his armour sperst.” A messel has been already explained. Malone. See note on King Richard II. last edit. vol. V. p. 138. Steevens.

Note return to page 864 7&lblank; no, che bor you.] i. e. no, I warrant you. Though a great deal of this gibberish can only be explained by a West-countryman, yet this word bor is evidently derived or contracted from the old English verb to borrow, which was used in the same sense (See Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, vol. I. Gloss. borrowed). The same word is probably intended in other of Oliver's speeches when he says chy vor thee. Percy. Bor was, I imagine, here a misprint, this being the only place in this comedy where it is found. The phrase che vore you, occurs frequently throughout the play. It likewise is used more than once in the Tale of a Tub, by Ben Jonson, who probably paid particular attention to the Western dialect. Malone.

Note return to page 865 *Well, sir, my master deserves, &c.] These two lines have occurred in the preceding page, where they are appropriated to the same speaker. Steevens.

Note return to page 866 8No, che vore you.] The old copies read corruptedly—Now che vore you. Malone.

Note return to page 867 9&lblank; marry chil veeze him too, and again; &lblank;] He means to say that he will feese him. To pheeze or fease is to separate a twist into single threads. Sly uses the same cant term in the induction to the Taming of a Shrew:—“I'll pheeze you in faith.” See note there, vol. iv. p. 395, edit. 1778. Malone.

Note return to page 868 1&lblank; his daughter Franke.] The diminutive of Frances. The modern familiar appellation, Fanny, perhaps was not used in the time of queen Elizabeth. The final e has been retained, to distinguish this name from the abbreviation of Francis. Malone.

Note return to page 869 2&lblank; I'll have thee go like a citizen, in a guarded gown, and a French hood.] A gown with guards or facings to it seems to have been the best dress of a city-lady in the early part of the last century. So in K. Henry IV. P. I. Hotspur requests that lady Percy will “&lblank; leave in sooth “And such protests of pepper ginger-bread, “To velvet guards, and Sunday citizens.” Malone. See note on the Merchant of Venice, vol iii. last edit. p. 161. Steevens. A French hood (whatever it was) seems used above to denote the dress of a person in slender circumstances. So before: “Honesty maintains a French hood.” Does Civet mean here that she shall go in the sober frugal garb of a citizen's wife? (If so the guarded gown means a meaner dress.) Percy. See the note on the passage referred to by Dr. Percy, ante, p. 469. Malone.

Note return to page 870 *Brother, take heed of pride, some bids thrift adieu.] I suppose we should read: Brother, take heed of pride; it soon bids thrift adieu. The line as it stands in the old copy being unintelligible, I have made this slight change in the text. Perhaps the word brother was caught from a preceding line, and ought to be omitted. Malone. I would read and point this irregular line as follows: Brother, take heed; pride soon bids thrift adieu. Steevens.

Note return to page 871 3&lblank; a mocado coat, &lblank;] This stuff is mentioned in several of the old plays. So in the Devil's Charter, 1607: “Varlet of velvet, old heart of durance, moccado villain, &c.” Steevens.

Note return to page 872 4&lblank; Cuckold's-haven; &lblank;] Now called Cuckold's point, a landing place almost opposite to Radcliffe. Steevens.

Note return to page 873 5And then Repentance cries—for had I wist.] This seems a proverbial scrap of an old Scottish song (printed in the Reliques of English Poetry, vol. iii. p. 145. ed. 3) which in some copies is, For had I wist, &c. Percy.

Note return to page 874 6&lblank; for look you, I have set down my rest thus far,] I have come to this resolution. So in the Spanish Gipsie, by Middleton and Rowley, 1653: “Could I set up my rest “That he were lost, or taken prisoner, “I could hold truce with sorrow.” Malone. &lblank; I have set down my rest thus far, &lblank;] Compare my explanation of this phrase in Romeo and Juliet, last edit. vol. x. p. 134, with Mr. Reed's account of the same expression, new edit. of Dodsley's Collection of plays, 1780, vol. x. p. 364. Steevens.

Note return to page 875 7Ay, and a better penny, sister] Sir Hugh Evans uses the same phrase in the Merry Wives of Windsor: “Ay, and her father is make her petter penny.” Steevens.

Note return to page 876 8Keep you the rest for points. &lblank;] See note I. p. 392. Malone.

Note return to page 877 1&lblank; or leave his life behind him.] This appears to have been anciently a common phrase, meaning to lose his life. So in Sir John Oldcastle: “Nay I am of Lawrence's mind for that, for he means to leave his life behind him.” Malone.

Note return to page 878 2That's a round O;] That is a complete and absolute truth. In this assertion there is no break or flaw for cavil to lay hold on. Malone. I believe that by a round O is meant a plump falshood: a circle in arithmetick being the representative of nothing, unless in conjunction with other figures. These words were probably meant to be spoken aside. Steevens.

Note return to page 879 3&lblank; A pestilent human fellow! &lblank;] Should we not read— inhuman. Percy.

Note return to page 880 4&lblank; and there's the fine.] So in Shakspeare passim—“and there an end.” Malone.

Note return to page 881 5&lblank; in his third canton.] In his third canto. Malone. I suppose he means the third Canto of the first Book of Spenser's Faery Queen, in which Abessa slanders the lady Una. Steevens.9Q1364

Note return to page 882 6&lblank; I will have order to hinder your encounter.] I will take measures to prevent your meeting. So in Othello: “Honest Jago hath ta'en order for it.” Malone. See note on Othello, last edit. vol. x. p. 606. Steevens.

Note return to page 883 7Is't possible he hath his second living?] Is it possible that his fellow, one equally abandoned, is to be found on earth? Malone.

Note return to page 884 8&lblank; he humours up and down,] Perhaps we should read hammers. We now say, a person is hammering and contriving, &c. Percy. Perhaps the old reading is the true one. So in the Merry Wives &c. Nym says,—“it is good: humour me the angels. Steevens.

Note return to page 885 9&lblank; And che were avise he would make a coystrel on us, &lblank;] If I were aware, if I thought, that he intended to treat me like a mean person.—On for of. A coystrel or custrel [Coustillier Fr.] is properly the servant of a man at arms, or life-guard of a prince. Each of the life-guards of king Henry VIII. had a custrel that attended upon him. Hence it came to signify a low mean man.— I have given a wrong explanation of this term, ante p. 84. Malone. See notes on Twelfth Night, last edit. vol. iv. p. 162. Steevens.

Note return to page 886 1To make a vlowten merriment of it.] Vlowten is the Western pronunciation of flowting. To make a jeering merriment of it. Malone. In the Merry Wives of Windsor, sir Hugh Evans complains that he is made a “vlouting stog,” i. e. flouting stock. Steevens.

Note return to page 887 2Cousin, cousin, you have uncled me; and, if you be not staid, you'll prove a cozener &lblank;] So in K. Henry IV. P. I: “And gentle Harry Percy, and kind cousin, &lblank; “O the devil take such cozeners.” Again, in K. Richard III: “Cousins indeed; and by their uncle cozen'd.” Malone.

Note return to page 888 3&lblank; where to quote your lands might lie.] i. e. to observe, to point out to observation. See note on the Two Gent. of Verona, last edit. vol. i. p. 152. Steevens.

Note return to page 889 4And you, greedy gnat, &lblank;] I think we should read—And you, you greedy gnats. The term seems addressed to the sheriff's officers, who appear as troublesome to the Prodigal as so many blood-sucking insects. Steevens. He insinuates by this (unusual but) expressive phrase, that his uncle was a little stinging blood-sucker, equally insatiable and contemptible. Percy.

Note return to page 890 5&lblank; in huckster's handling &lblank;] Hucksters being petty tradesmen, and consequently tenacious of their customers, their prices, and their gains, in that point of view resemble bailiffs who hold fast the person whom they have seized. For running away, has the same meaning as from running away. In cant language a person in confinement is still said to be spoiled for a runner. Some acquaintance with the vulgar tongue is necessary towards the explanation of this play. Steevens.

Note return to page 891 6Methinks, within, a face so reverend, So well experienc'd in this tottering world, Should have some feeling &lblank;] Methinks the heart that is lodged in so reverend a form, should have some pity, &c.—Perhaps however a line has been lost. If the text be not corrupt, within is used as an adverb. Malone. Perhaps we should read—Should live some feeling, &c. So in Hamlet: “If it live in your memory, begin at this line.” You who have a face so respectable, are one who has seen so much of the world, should at least express some feeling of a maiden's sorrow. Steevens.

Note return to page 892 *&lblank; I shall meet with “you.”] I shall retaliate; I shall be even with you. Malone.

Note return to page 893 7Minckins &lblank;] This seems to have been intended for the diminutive of minx. Percy.

Note return to page 894 *&lblank; that is more worse than bad.] I suppose he means to say, Weep not for one whose vices top extremity. Malone.

Note return to page 895 8&lblank; though she had the prick and praise for a pretty wench:] Though she was marked as a pretty girl. So in Julius Cæsar: “These many then shall die; their names are prick'd.” Malone. &lblank; she had the prick and praise &lblank;] This alliterative expression occurs in Ulpian Fullwel's Poem on Anna Bullen: “Whose princely praise hath pearst the pricke “And price of endless fame.” To have the prick was to gain the prize in archery. The prick was the mark shot at. Steevens.

Note return to page 896 9Dun is the mouse;] This proverbial expression frequently occurs in our ancient dramas. So in Romeo and Juliet: “Tut! dun's the mouse; the constable's own word.” Malone. See Romeo and Juliet, last edit. p. 34. Steevens.

Note return to page 897 1&lblank; Well farewel to you.—God's pity, master Weathercock! we shall have your company too?] All the copies read unintelligibly— Well farewell too. You, Gods pity, master Weathercock, &c. Malone.

Note return to page 898 2&lblank; all a-mort, &lblank;] Quite sunk; quite dead. Amorti. Fr. Malone. See note on the Taming of a Shrew, last edit. vol. iii. p. 495. Steevens.

Note return to page 899 3Cheerly, Sir Lancelot, and merrily say, Who can hold that will away?] Who can hold that which will be gone?—Cheerly is chearfully. Percy.

Note return to page 900 4Nay, but an you be well avisen, it were not good by this vrampolness, &c.] Well avisen is well advised. Vrampolness for frampoldness, or peevishness. “The sweet woman (says dame Quickly, speaking of Mrs. Ford,) leads an ill life with him; a very frampold life.” Malone. See note on the Merry Wives of Windsor, last edit. vol i. p. 278. Steevens.

Note return to page 901 5&lblank; a Dowsabel, &lblank;] See note on the Comedy of Errors, last edit. vol. ii. p. 213. Steevens.

Note return to page 902 6&lblank; as an could chance &lblank;] An for one. As one should chance to see, &c. The old copy reads I think corruptedly—as am. Malone.

Note return to page 903 7To 'tach my daughter &lblank;] To attach or apprehend her. Malone.

Note return to page 904 8&lblank; A pox of come, a five!] At hazard, the players frequently, as they are casting, invocate the dice. Malone.

Note return to page 905 *&lblank; vang thee that.] To vang in the Devonshire jargon is to take or receive. Malone.

Note return to page 906 9I wad you were ysplit, &lblank;] In the Western dialect y is frequently prefixed to participles passive, as ybeen, ydone, &c. So in Ben Jonson's Tale of a Tub: “There is John Clay who is yfound already.” See Junii Etymol. letter Y. Malone.

Note return to page 907 1Who makes a triumphant life his daily sport.] If there were any authority for such a word, we might better read, Who makes a trompant life his daily sport. i. e. a cheating life—from tromper, Fr. to deceive. Malone. &lblank; a triumphant life &lblank;] i. e. a life pass'd in gaming, in looking for triumphs, which we now call trumps. So in Antony and Cleopatra, last edit. vol. viii. p. 269: “Pack'd cards with Cæsar, and play'd false my glory “Unto an enemy's triumph.” Steevens.

Note return to page 908 2&lblank; thou canst tell how to help me to cheeks and ears.] Probably the name of a head-dress then worn. Malone.

Note return to page 909 3Yet one good time &lblank;] Thus the folios and the modern editions. The quarto reads: Yet one lovers time &lblank; apparently a misprint for hour's, which in the old spelling was houer's. Malone.

Note return to page 910 4&lblank; a spice-cake I had at a burial;] The usual entertainment at ancient funerals.—Rich cakes were given to the mourners, poorer ones distributed to the populace, among whom the Prodigal appears to have been one. Steevens.

Note return to page 911 5&lblank; for they are men of good carriage.] A quibble between carrying burdens, and demeanour. Malone. The same quibble occurs in Romeo and Juliet. See last edit. vol. x. p. 41. Steevens.

Note return to page 912 6&lblank; the two coney-catchers, &lblank;] A coney-catcher was a cheat; a gambler. Malone. See note on the Merry Wives of Windsor, last edit. vol. i. p. 228. Steevens.

Note return to page 913 7Not far from hence there dwells a cockatrice,] A harlot. So in the Gul's Hornbook, by Decker, 1609:—“provide yourself a lodging by the water-side; for above the convenience that it brings to shun shoulder-clapping, and to ship away your cockatrice betimes in the morning, it adds, &c.” Cotgrave renders the word by Putaine. Malone.

Note return to page 914 *&lblank; I'll not let a sixpenny purse escape me.] In the first part of K. Henry IV. Gadshill says he is joined with no “long staff sixpenny strikers.” See note on this passage, last edit. vol. v. p. 296, &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 915 8&lblank; or garden house, &lblank;] So in Greene in Conceipt, 1598:— “a garden-house having round about it many flowers and much deflowring.” Many of the illicit meetings between the sexes in former times appear to have happened in these receptacles. Steevens.

Note return to page 916 9&lblank; zo veeze thee, &lblank;] i. e. feaze, or pheese. See note on the Taming of a Shrew, last edit. vol. iii. p. 395, &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 917 *&lblank; Open the door to my kin,] Thus all the copies. It appears in a former scene that Luce assumed the name of Tanikin, to whom Flowerdale Sen. I believe, here addresses himself. The author therefore, I suppose, wrote—Open the door to me, 'Kin; i. e. Tanikin. Malone.

Note return to page 918 1&lblank; so young an armin!] i. e. a beggar. Arm in Dutch signifies poor and needy. So arm-worden to grow poor—arm-maken to empoverish. Steevens.

Note return to page 919 2Indeed dat vas not scone.] There is here, I believe, some corruption. Luce says below—“dat is not good; dat is not seen.” The same word was probably meant in both places. Malone.

Note return to page 920 3&lblank; I might have rid out &lblank;] i. e. I might have been a highwayman, this fraternity always travelling on horseback. Steevens.

Note return to page 921 4Take on him that strict habit, very that, When he should turn to angel; a dying grace.] Assume the religious appearance of doing a munificent action, and while yet living, and in health, affect the benevolence of a dying Christian, whose virtues would entitle him to eternal happiness.—Such I believe is the meaning. Malone.

Note return to page 922 *&lblank; and master Weathercock, To make my grounded resolution;] The compositor probably caught the words master Weathercock from the preceding line, and omitted something here, the want of which renders this passage unintelligible. Perhaps the author wrote: &lblank; and by this artifice To shake my grounded resolution. Malone.

Note return to page 923 5Wherefore to prison? snick-up.] Of this cant phrase it is not easy to ascertain the meaning. It occurs in many of the old comedies. So in the Fleire, by E. Sharpham, 1615: “When they sing and are merry, then take your time and put them to it. If they will, so; if not, let them sneak up. Snick-up seems to be synonymous to the modern expression—go and hang yourself. Malone. For all the intelligence I am able to give on the subject of this phrase, see note on Twelfth Nght, last edit. vol. iv. p. 197. Steevens.

Note return to page 924 6Have me no oder way dan you have him:] i. e. wherever he goes, I'll go along with him. The old copies are manifestly corrupt. They all read—Have me no and or way do you have him. Malone.

Note return to page 925 7&lblank; and as true as the skin between any man's brows here.] As true as the skin between his brows, is yet a proverbial expression. Malone. See Much Ado about Nothing, last edit. edit vol. ii. p. 326, and Hamlet, vol. x. p. 352. Steevens.

Note return to page 926 *&lblank; I defy thee, I] i. e. I refuse to receive thee. So in Romeo and Juliet: “I do defy thy commiseration.” See note on that passage, last edit. vol. x. p. 151. Steevens.

Note return to page 927 8in a tocking mill, &lblank;] i. e. ducking mill, fulling mill. Steevens.

Note return to page 928 9&lblank; I hope your under &lblank;] Under is evidently a corruption for vader, meaning sir Lancelot. Percy. By—your under Oliver perhaps means your servant; i. e. old Flowerdale, who attended on his son in disguise. Malone.

Note return to page 929 1&lblank; and maintain him brave.] And support him in splendour. Brave anciently signified fine as well as valiant. Malone.

Note return to page 930 2Ay, do, Franke; I'll buy thee a new one with a longer handle] Fans in the age of queen Elizabeth had frequently silver handles, and other valuable ornaments. The upper part of them was composed of feathers. See different representations of ancient fans in the last edition of Shakspeare's plays, vol. i. p. 263. Malone.

Note return to page 931 1“A booke called the Comedie of the Puritan Wydowe” was entered at Stationers' Hall by G. Eld, August 6, 1607; and the play was published by him in the same year with the following title: The Puritaine, or the Widdow of Watling streete. Acted by the Children of Paules. Written by W. S. This circumstance alone might lead us to suspect that it was not the composition of Shakspeare; for it does not appear that any one of his pieces was acted by the children of St. Paul's. But without having recourse to any argument of that kind, it may be sufficient to say that there is no authority whatsoever for attributing this comedy to him. The colour of the style is entirely different from that of his plays, and it was, as we see, not printed under his name in his life-time: it is not mentioned as his production by any contemporary writer, nor was it, I believe, ever attributed to him till Kirkman, a bookseller, in one of his Catalogues, chose to interpret the letters W. S. to mean William Shakspeare. The initial letters in the title-pages of this play and the Life and Death of Lord Cromwell, so far from furnishing us with any ground for supposing them to be our great poet's performances, afford in my opinion a very strong argument to show that they were not his compositions. If the bookseller could with truth have affixed Shakspeare's name at length, (a name that certainly would have promoted the sale of his play,) what should have prevented him from doing so? or why should he content himself with annexing initial letters which might belong to others as well as to Shakspeare? I suppose this piece to have been written by William Smith, whose name has been already mentioned in the preliminary observations on Locrine, and who was likewise the author of two other plays, The Palsgrave, or the Hector of Germany, printed in the year 1615, and the Freeman's Honour, a performance that was, I believe, never published.—From some expressions in the present comedy (Act I. Sc. II.) the author (whoever he was) appears to have been bred at the university of Oxford. Malone. On August 15, 1597, were enter'd by Richard Jones on the Stationers' Books, “Two ballads, being the first and second parts of the Widowe of Watling Street.” These might be the songs on which the play was founded, or indeed the play itself; as it was not uncommon to separate a dramatick piece, though designed for a single exhibition, into two parts; and the terms book and ballad were anciently used to signify tragedies and comedies, as well as any other forms of composition. Gildon, in a work of his entitled A Comparison between the Two Stages, with an Examen of the Generous Conqueror, and some Critical Remarks on the Funeral, &c. 8vo. 1702, attributes this comedy to Shakspeare: “&lblank; as I remember 'tis Shakspeare's Puritan, or Widow of Watling-street, where the dissimulation of these widows is pleasantly described,” p. 156. Steevens. In the list of plays, &c. prefixed to the late edition, the Puritan is set down as printed in 1600 and 1607. The former of these dates I suspect to be a mistake, as the play appears evidently to have been written after the peace with Spain, which was not concluded before 1604. See Act I. Sc. II: “Since the ceasure of the wars I have spent above a hundred crowns, &c.” There is not the same objection to the other date of 1607, though a passage in the play itself (if there be no external evidence to the contrary) would induce us to place it rather in 1608. See Act III. Sc. VI. where mention is made of a Sunday, the 13th of July; a circumstance, which was true in 1608, but in none of the preceding or subsequent years between 1603 and 1614. Tyrwhitt. In addition to what has been observed by Mr. Tyrwhitt it may be added that in the third act of this comedy “Britain gold of the last coining” is mentioned; from whence it may be inferred to have been written after the accession of king James, who first assumed the title of King of Great Britain. It certainly was exhibited in or before 1607, for I have a copy in my possession printed in that year. Malone.

Note return to page 932 *&lblank; a cyprus hat:] i. e. a hat with a crape hat band in it. So in the Winter's Tale: “Cyprus black as any crow.” Steevens.

Note return to page 933 2O, that ever I was born!] Autolycus in the Winter's Tale has exactly the same exclamation. See that play, last edit. vol. iv. p. 369. Steevens.

Note return to page 934 3He was my brother, as right as right.] As right as right is an idiom still prevalent in Northamptonshire for very right. Percy.

Note return to page 935 for outshind em r. outshin'd 'em.

Note return to page 936 4&lblank; he out-shin'd them all.] I suspect a quibble here. As money, in the cant language of the time, was called shiners, so sir Godfrey means to say that his brother had more money than any of the persons before enumerated. Steevens.

Note return to page 937 5&lblank; and not once shed a tear for thy father's death, &lblank;] The behaviour of Edmond on this occasion, exactly resembles that of Launce's dog in the Two Gentlemen of Verona. Steevens.

Note return to page 938 6&lblank; with all his cards and writings,] I suspect the author wrote charts, i. e. papers. Malone.

Note return to page 939 7&lblank; if blessed be the corse, &c.] This is a proverbial saying. Steevens.

Note return to page 940 8&lblank; for what should we do with all our knights, I pray, &lblank;] Probably a sneer upon the multitude of poor knights made by the earl of Essex at the taking of Cadiz. Percy. I rather imagine the allusion is to the knights made by king James soon after his accession. The continuator of Stowe's Annals says that he on one day “dubbed in his garden between three and four hundred.” Malone.

Note return to page 941 9&lblank; leave snobbing and weeping.] Snobbing is still used in Shropshire (I think) for sobbing. Percy.

Note return to page 942 1&lblank; I would not have the elf see me now.] Whom does he mean by the elf? some invisible attendant like Robin Good-fellow, or any of the characters present? Steevens.

Note return to page 943 2&lblank; yet I cannot choose but weep for him.] Ophelia in Hamlet uses the same words. See that play, last edit. vol. x. p. 348. Steevens.

Note return to page 944 3&lblank; nothing was so hot, nor too dear for me.] Thus the quarto. I suppose the author wrote—too hot, nor too dear for me. Nothing is too hot nor too cold for him, is a proverbial expression mentioned by Cotgrave, applied to one who can digest every thing. Malone. I am told that “nothing is too hot or too cold” for a person, is still a common vulgarism. Chaucer has this phrase in the Frere's Tale, v. 7018. “Now certes, (quod this sompnour) so fare I; “I spare not to taken, God it wote, “But if it be to hevy or to hote.” Here Mr. Tyrwhitt has the following observation. “We have nearly the same expression in Froissart, v. i. c. 229.—“ne laissoient rien à prendre, s'il n'estoit trop chaud, trop froid, ou trop pesant.” Steevens.

Note return to page 945 4&lblank; Besides, I had the keys of all, kept all, received all, had money in my purse, spent what I would, went abroad when I would, same home when I would, and did all what I would.] So in the Merry Wives of Windsor, last edit. vol. i. p. 280: “Never a wife in Windsor leads a better life than she does; do what she will, say what she will, take all, pay all, go to bed when she list, rise when she list, all is as she will.” Steevens.

Note return to page 946 5How like him is their model! their breif picture Quickens my tears: my sorrows are renew'd At their fresh sight.] Thus the old copies. It is manifest that the compositor has here three times printed their instead of this. In Shakspeare's Sonnets their is printed instead of thy not less than twenty times. Probably abbreviations were used for these words so nearly resembling each other as not to be easily distinguished. Malone.

Note return to page 947 6&lblank; widowers' tears &lblank;] Surely we should read widows'. Steevens. I think I have observed in old English books the word widower applied to both sexes. Malone.

Note return to page 948 7&lblank; bucks a handkerchief! &lblank;] i. e. wets a handkerchief. A great washing of the coarser linen is called a bucking. Percy. Bucking is a particular manner of washing; but as it cannot be explained in few words, I forbear to say any more about it. Steevens.

Note return to page 949 8&lblank; and sometimes the 'spital stands too nigh St. Thomas a' Waterings. &lblank;] I suppose the meaning is, that those widows who assume the greatest appearance of sorrow, and shed most tears, are sometimes guilty of such indiscretions as render them proper subjects for the publick hospital. There seems to be a poor quibble on the word waterings. This Saint is mentioned by Peele in his Edward I. 1599: “I am his receiver, and am now going to him: 'a bids St. Thomas a' Waterings to breakfast this morning to a calf's head and bacon.” Malone. Here is a wretched quibble between spittle the moisture of the mouth, and spital a corruption from hospital. St. Thomas a' Waterings is the name of a church which was burnt down in the fire of London, and has never since been rebuilt , the parish to which it belonged being consolidated with another. It appears from Stowe's Survey, vol. ii. p. 167, that this edifice stood somewhere on the outside of the city. Steevens.

Note return to page 950 9&lblank; I could give twenty kisses for a quick husband.] Quick, i. e. alive. Percy.

Note return to page 951 1&lblank; but I'll take another order. &lblank;] I'll pursue another course. The phrase is common in old English writers. Malone.

Note return to page 952 2Enter Pyeboard,] The pie is a table or rule in the old Roman offices shewing how to find out the service which is to be read each day. Hence probably the scholar's name. The printing letter called the pica, seems (as Mr. Steevens observes) to have been denominated from the same original. Malone. See note on the Second part of K. Henry IV. last edit. vol. v. p. 581. Steevens.

Note return to page 953 3&lblank; Where be your muskets, calivers, &c.] A caliver was an old English musket. Malone.

Note return to page 954 4&lblank; give warning with hems, hums, and pocky coughs:] So Othello addressing himself to Æmilia: “&lblank; shut the door; “Cough, or cry—hem, if any body come. Steevens.

Note return to page 955 5&lblank; only your chambers are licens'd to play upon you, &lblank;] Chambers are small pieces of ordnance. Malone. See note on K. Henry IV. P. II. vol. v. last edit. p. 493. Steevens.

Note return to page 956 6&lblank; full of holes, like a shot ancient;] So in King Henry IV. last edit. vol. v. p. 392:—“ten times more dishonourably ragged than an old fac'd ancient. Steevens.

Note return to page 957 7&lblank; peace has more hidden oppressions, and violent, heady sins, than a profess'd war.] &lblank; sævior armis Luxuria incubuit &lblank; Juv. Steevens.

Note return to page 958 8I have been matriculated in the university; &lblank; went bareheaded over the quadrangle, eat my commons with a good stomach, and battled with discretion; &lblank;] These phrases, which are seldom heard of, and little known, out of universities, render it probable that the writer of this play was an academick. From the latter expression Dr. Farmer supposes the author to have been bred at Oxford, battling being the term used there to express what is called sizing at Cambridge. Quadrangle is likewise, if I am not mistaken, an Oxford, and not a Cambridge, phrase. Battles and sizings are certain portions of bread, beer, &c. got from the college buttery, on credit, without paying for them at the time they are received. Malone. To battle or size is to purchase from the cook of the college such provisions as are not furnished by the rules of the society as commons in the hall. Steevens.

Note return to page 959 *&lblank; to tower &lblank;] i. e. rise like a hawk to descend on my prey. So in K. Henry VI. P. II: “My lord protector's hawks do tower so well.” Steevens.

Note return to page 960 9&lblank; hatch'd and nourish'd in the idle calms of peace, &lblank;] So in K. Henry IV. P. I. last edit. vol. v. p. 391: “&lblank; the cankers of a calm world and a long peace.” Steevens.

Note return to page 961 1&lblank; the affection of my words, &lblank;] i. e. affectation. So Hamlet: “&lblank; no matter in the phrase that might indite the author of affection,” Malvolio in Twelfth Night is also called “&lblank; an affection'd ass.” Steevens. &lblank; the affection of my words, &lblank;] Thus the folios. The quarto has—affliction. Malone.

Note return to page 962 2&lblank; Nicholas St. Antlings, &lblank;] The name of a church near Lombard street. Antling's is a corruption of Antholin's. This church was always open very early in a morning, and was much resorted to by the devotees of the age. The situation of St. Mary-Overee's is well known. Steevens.

Note return to page 963 3Why how now, we three? &lblank;] He alludes probably to an old song; of which these were, I believe, the first words. Malone. So in Twelfth Night: “Did you never see the picture of we three?” A common sign in the time of Shakspeare, &c. consisting of two men in fool's coats. The spectator, or enquirer concerning its meaning, was supposed to make the third. Steevens.

Note return to page 964 4&lblank; you ungodmother'd varlets. &lblank;] The Puritans objected to the practice of having godfathers and godmothers in baptism. Percy.

Note return to page 965 5&lblank; to a man of mark?] To a person of distinction. So in K. Henry IV. P. I: “A fellow of no mark or likelihood.” Malone.

Note return to page 966 6&lblank; I do not think he can show a beggar's noble.] That is, a farthing. Malone. &lblank; a man of mark &lblank; I do not think he can show a beggar's noble.] A quibble between mark the ancient coin, value 13s. 4d. and mark a token of eminence. A noble was likewise a coin valued at 6s. 8d. Steevens.

Note return to page 967 7&lblank; to blow you up all drye with your books at your girdles.] Thus, the quarto. The author, without doubt, wrote—all three. Malone. I believe the old reading is the true one. The corporal means that he will blow them up with such violence of explosion as shall destroy their lives, but preserve their forms by drying them in an instant. Steevens. The corporal by this vaunt evidently means to impress these silly fellows with a high idea of his military prowess. The violent explosion with which he threatens them, should seem more likely to shatter them to pieces, than either to dry or to preserve their forms. With the species of gunpowder that has this power, I am indeed unacquainted. Malone.

Note return to page 968 8&lblank; he may well blow me above twelve-score off on him:] That is, twelve-score yards. Malone.

Note return to page 969 9&lblank; to the leads of Ludgate.] The old gate had a flat leaded roof. Nichol. &lblank; if the wind stood right, a man might smell him from the top of Newgate, to the leads of Ludgate.] So in Much Ado about Nothing, last edit. vol. ii. p. 283:—“if her breath were as terrible as her terminations, she would infect to the north-star.” Steevens.

Note return to page 970 1&lblank; thou hollow book of wax-candle—] I suppose alluding to the rolls of wax-candle coiled up in the form of a book. Percy.

Note return to page 971 2&lblank; by Vulcan's leather cod-piece point &lblank; If he should chance to break it, the poor man's breeches would fall down about his heels.] Points were the metal hooks which anciently fastened the breeches to the waistcoat. The same kind of pleasantry occurs in K. Henry IV. P. I. last edit. vol. v. p. 326: “Their points being broken— “Down fell their hose.” Steevens. A point seems to have been a string with a metal tag to it. Cotgrave renders it by aiguillette. Malone.

Note return to page 972 3With these my bully feet &lblank;] The folio 1685 and the modern editions read unintelligibly—bully-fleet. Malone.

Note return to page 973 4&lblank; in cappadochio?] A cant term still used among vulgar jokers for captivity. Cappadoces is often employed in Latin poetry for slaves, Cappadocia being a country famous for them. Steevens.

Note return to page 974 5Why do't now then, marmozet.] A marmozet is a small monkey. Malone.

Note return to page 975 6&lblank; but the poor purchase of ten groats. &lblank;] Purchase was the cant term formerly for any thing got by plunder. Pieces of ten groats or three shillings and four pence were common in king James's time. Malone.

Note return to page 976 *&lblank; in respect of so many desperate, unsettled soldiers, &lblank;] Here is another proof of this play's having been written after the peace with Spain in 1604. Malone.

Note return to page 977 7&lblank; I fear me I shall dance after their pipe for it.] That is, I shall be hanged. To dance Ketch's jig, is still, I believe, a vulgar phrase. Malone.

Note return to page 978 8Here's a clean gentleman too, to receive.] I suppose the captain is lamenting that he is not better dressed to receive his company. Malone. I believe he means only—“Here's a clean pipe to receive the tobacco.” Steevens.

Note return to page 979 *&lblank; restor'd to his blood,] i. e. to his family honours, his rank, which he once held as an angel. So in the Yorkshire Tragedy: “You are a gentleman by many bloods.” Steevens.

Note return to page 980 9&lblank; most tyrannically.] So in Hamlet: “&lblank; little eyases, that cry out on the top of question, and are most tyrannically clapp'd for it.” Steevens.

Note return to page 981 1&lblank; Though he be a Puritan, yet will he be a true man.] A true man, in ancient language, is an honest man. Our jurymen are yet styled good men and true. Malone. In ancient language a true man is always set in opposition to a thief. See King Henry IV. P. I. last edit. vol. v. p. 305. Steevens.

Note return to page 982 2&lblank; like the pomewater of his eye,] The pomewater is the apple or pupil of the eye. Malone. &lblank; like the pomewater of his eye,] i. e. the apple of his eye. See note 6. Love's Labour's Lost, last edit. vol. ii. p. 436. A pomewater is the name of a particular sort of apple. Steevens.

Note return to page 983 3&lblank; wilt thou nym it &lblank;] A cant word signifying to filch. Malone. Hence the name of Nym, one of Falstaff's companions. Steevens.

Note return to page 984 4Here's no notable gullery!] This kind of exclamation is very common in old plays. So in the Taming of the Shrew: “Here's no knavery!” Again, in Jeronimo, a tragedy, 1605: “Here's no fine villainy!” Malone. See note on King Henry IV. last edit. vol. v. p. 413. Steevens.

Note return to page 985 5&lblank; with most Irish dexterity, &lblank;] With the agility of a running footman. In the time of queen Elizabeth and king James I. many noblemen had Irish running footmen in their service. Malone.9Q1365

Note return to page 986 6&lblank; I would ne'er be seen within twelve score of a prison; &lblank;] That is, within twelve score yards of a prison. Malone. See note on King Henry IV. last edit. vol. v. p. 346. Steevens.

Note return to page 987 7&lblank; and you know such jills will quickly be upon a man's jack.] Jill is a low appellation for a woman; originally a corruption of Julian. A jack or jacket was the quilted waistcoat formerly worn under a coat of mail. See Spenser's View of Ireland, p. 49, edit. 1633. Malone. &lblank; such jills will quickly be upon a man's jack.] See note on the Taming of a Shrew, last edit. vol. iii. p. 478. Steevens.

Note return to page 988 *&lblank; by yon Bear at Bridge-foot, in heaven shalt thou.] I do not understand this adjuration. Perhaps the word heaven is a corruption. We were told, just before, that the pretended scuffle was to be in the evening. I therefore suspect we should read—“by yon Bear at the Bridge-foot, (the sign of a well-known tavern at the foot of London Bridge) in the even shalt thou.” The corporal would naturally enough swear by the sign of a publick house which he was accustomed to frequent.” Steevens.

Note return to page 989 8&lblank; a fine gallant knight of the last feather.] When this play was written, feathers were much worn by men. See Decker's Gul's Horn-book, 1609: “&lblank; if the writer be a fellow that hath either epigrammed you, or hath had a flirt at your mistress, or hath brought either your feather, or your red beard, or your little legs, &c. on the stage”— Malone. “A hat of the last block,” was a phrase signifying a hat of the newest fashion. Steevens.

Note return to page 990 9&lblank; and therefore he may do it in time. &lblank;] All the copies read absurdly—and therefore he may dote in time. Malone.

Note return to page 991 1&lblank; she's spitting in the kitchen.] I suppose he means, scolding her servants. A cat, when vexed, is said to spit. Malone.

Note return to page 992 2Then, not forgetting the sweete of new ceremonies, &lblank;] Thus all the copies. The author perhaps wrote suit; the course or train. Suite. Fr. Malone. I am not sure that suite was used in its present sense when this comedy was produced I would rather read “&lblank; not forgetting the sweet, in new ceremonies:” i. e. not omitting the sweetest circumstance in salutation, though, in compliance with modern forms, it must be preceded by art of address and regularity of approach. A following note of Mr. Malone's will sufficiently prove that suit was not anciently pronounced sweet, so that on that account the one word could not have been mistaken for the other. Steevens. “And thereupon he brings suit (i. e. the followers of the plaintiff,) has been long the conclusion of every declaration at common law. Malone.

Note return to page 993 3Your husband's fletcher I warrant.] A fletcher is a maker of arrows. Fleche. Fr. Malone.

Note return to page 994 4Shooters and archers are all one, I hope.] From this and many other passages in our old comedies it appears that the words suitors and shooters were in the age of queen Elizabeth, not distinguished in pronounciation [Subnote: for pronounciation r. pronunciation.] . See a note on Love's Labour's Lost, vol. i. p. 161. Malone.

Note return to page 995 *&lblank; there's life in't yet.] So Lear: “Then there's life in it.” Steevens.

Note return to page 996 5&lblank; the last general bonfire; &lblank;] This unseasonable piece of levity occurs likewise in Macbeth: “&lblank; go the primrose way to the everlasting bonfire.” Steevens.

Note return to page 997 6&lblank; which must come to me Metaphysically, &lblank;] Metaphysically is used here for immaterially, spiritually, invisibly. Percy. So in Macbeth: “That Fate and metaphysical aid do seem “To have me crown'd withal.” Steevens.

Note return to page 998 7It quakes me too, &lblank;] It makes me also shudder. Malone. Quake is here used as a verb active. So in our author's Coriolanus: “And gladly quak'd hear more.” See note on this passage, last edit. vol. vii. p. 363. Steevens.

Note return to page 999 8&lblank; nay (sir reverence) untrussed, &lblank;] This singular phrase, which occurs frequently in ancient English books, appears to have been equivalent to, and was perhaps originally a corruption of, another expression that was also formerly in use—save reverence. This latter seems to be a gallicism;—sauve votre grandeur, votre dignité. Malone.

Note return to page 1000 9&lblank; 'tis but the induction to it.] The prelude or introduction to it. Malone.

Note return to page 1001 1You may believe my strains, I strike all true,] The allusion seems to be to a musical instrument. Malone.

Note return to page 1002 *&lblank; two of you (the elder) &lblank;] These words seem to have been transposed at the press. Probably the author wrote—the two elder of you, &c. Malone.

Note return to page 1003 2&lblank; shall have pass'd probation.] So in Macbeth, last edit. vol. iv. p. 525: “&lblank; pass'd in probation with you.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1004 3A double torment.] The being deprived both of speech and a husband. Malone.

Note return to page 1005 4&lblank; would with horror kill the ear should hear them related.] So in Macbeth: “The repetition in a woman's ear, “Would murder as it fell.” Steevens. Again, in Hamlet: “He would drown the stage with tears, “And cleave the general ear with horrid speech.” Malone.

Note return to page 1006 5&lblank; I have advis'd old Peter Skirmish, the soldier, &c.] Here is an odd agreement between a few circumstances in the present scene, and a few others in the last act of Othello. I, shall only point them out, without any attempt to account for them. Pyeboard (Iago) advises Skirmish (Rodrigo) to wound Oath (Cassio). In the confusion occasioned by this attempt, Pyeboard (Iago again) rushes among them, and instead of giving Oath (Cassio again) assistance, prepares somewhat to make him seem dead. Thus Iago wounds Cassio. The cut too is given on the leg; and Pyeboard takes on him the cure, as lago comes out and proffers to bind up Cassio's wound. Query, which of these pieces was the elder? Steevens.

Note return to page 1007 6&lblank; I'll pour into his mouth a potion of a sleepy nature, to make him seem as dead—the corporal will wake at his minute, when the sleepy force has wrought itself; &lblank;] We have here the stratagem which the Friar practises on Juliet. Steevens.

Note return to page 1008 7&lblank; to 'say on a new doublet,] That is, to essay or try it on. Malone.

Note return to page 1009 8&lblank; 'praising of a doublet: &lblank;] Appretiating, estimating the price of a doublet; delivering the items of his charge. Malone.

Note return to page 1010 9Why do you take us to be Jacks o' the clock-house?] Figures formerly placed in the great clocks of churches, which by mechanism struck the hours. At St. Dunstan's church in London, two of these Jacks of the clock-house may yet be seen. Malone. See notes on K. Richard III. last edit. vol. vii. p. 113. Steevens.

Note return to page 1011 1&lblank; dost thou speak of my casting in the street?] There is a play on the word cast, which formerly signified to vomit as well as to throw or to reckon. See Macbeth, vol. iv. last edit. p. 509. Malone.

Note return to page 1012 2Clubs, clubs, clubs.] From our old plays it appears that it was customary on the first appearance of a broil or riot to cry out clubs; I suppose, to part the combatants. So in As You Like It: “Clubs cannot part them.” Malone.

Note return to page 1013 3&lblank; blue welkin, &lblank;] i. e. sky. See note on the Winter's Tale, last edit. vol. iv. p. 300. Steevens.

Note return to page 1014 4&lblank; bleeding chance. &lblank;] So in Antony and Cleopatra: “The wounded chance of Antony.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1015 5Madam, he was carried to the superior; &lblank;] I suppose the superior was the pastor or spiritual director of these sectaries. The term belongs originally to the Romish church. Malone. Frailty is not designed for a male Slipslop, but perhaps meant to say a surgeon, though the carelessness of the printer may have defeated his intention. Steevens.

Note return to page 1016 6&lblank; huge grandfather's; &lblank;] i. e. great grandfather's. Percy.

Note return to page 1017 7&lblank; my holiday gaskins, &lblank;] Gaskins are breeches. Malone.

Note return to page 1018 8Out varlet! it had full three thousand links;] The author perhaps had Shylock in his thoughts.—“Why there, there, there; there! A diamond gone, cost me two thousand ducats in Frankfort.”—Again: “Out upon her! thou torturest me, Tubal; it was my turquoise, &c.” Malone.

Note return to page 1019 9I have oft told it over at my prayers;] The poet seems here to have made his puritan a papist. Perhaps, however, he only meant to insinuate that sir Godfrey's thoughts, while he was saying his prayers with pretended devotion, were employed not upon heaven, but in estimating the value of his chain. Malone.

Note return to page 1020 1Why, if your chain had so many links, it cannot choose but come to light.] Shakspeare has been censured for his frequent play upon words. But it was the vice not of the poet but the age. From the present and many other passages in our old comedies we find that no dramatick writer could resist a quibble when it lay in his way.—A link is a torch. Malone.

Note return to page 1021 2&lblank; a sesarara.] A corruption of the writ of certiorari. Steevens.

Note return to page 1022 3&lblank; and been in the seven and twenty provinces:] A misnomer for the seventeen provinces in the Low Countries, which were then the objects of general attention on account of their long war with Spain. Percy.

Note return to page 1023 4&lblank; Puttock, Ravenshaw, &lblank;] A puttock is a buzzard. A ravenshaw is a thicket where ravens assemble and build. Pyeboard, like Falstaff, is to be arrested at the suit of his hostess, by bailiffs who may be meant for copies of Phang and Snare in the Second Part of K. Henry IV. Steevens.

Note return to page 1024 *I have the good angel to arrest him.] He means the coin so called. Malone.

Note return to page 1025 5&lblank; 'tis natural in us, you know, to hate scholars; &lblank;] See King Henry VI. last edit. vol. vi. p. 402. note 3. Steevens.

Note return to page 1026 †&lblank; besides, they will publish &lblank;] I suspect the author wrote because. Malone.

Note return to page 1027 6Whist, whist, &lblank;] Whist was the old interjection of silence; whence the game of whist. Hence was anciently formed a verb, which was applied both by lord Surrey and Phaer in their respective translations of the Second Book of Virgil's Eneid, to render into English the first line, Conticuere omnes;—scil. They whisted all. In one edition of Phaer, by a comical blunder of the printer, these words are corrupted into—They whistled all. Percy.

Note return to page 1028 7&lblank; if I clutch him once, &lblank;] So in K. Henry IV. P. II. Phang says—“An I but fist him once; an he come but within my vice.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1029 8&lblank; that has dragg'd as tall men of their hands, &lblank;] As stout fellows. Malone. See note on the Winter's Tale, last edit. vol. iv. p. 430. Steevens.

Note return to page 1030 9A gentleman is accidens inseparabile &lblank;] Here is another shred of scholastick literature. Malone.

Note return to page 1031 *I swear now my device is cross'd indeed:] I suspect the author wrote—I fear. Malone.

Note return to page 1032 1&lblank; if I take prison once, &lblank;] This phrase seems borrowed from the sports of the field. The fox is said to take earth. Malone.

Note return to page 1033 2&lblank; to keep my poor carcase from these puttocks?] The puttock is a bird of prey. Malone.

Note return to page 1034 3&lblank; no lawful picture about me.] Money is still called king's pictures, in low language. Steevens.

Note return to page 1035 4Worship, I think; for so much the posts at the door should signify, &lblank;] Justices of peace and sheriffs, in the time of queen Elizabeth, had two posts placed before their door. Malone. See note on Twelfth Night, last edit. vol. iv. p. 175. Steevens.

Note return to page 1036 5Is't not most wholsomely plotted?] i. e. Is not the groundplot of this house laid in a most wholsome situation? Percy.

Note return to page 1037 6No matter; what is forgot in you, will be remember'd in your master.] The sense seems rather to require—what is forgot in him [i. e. the servant] will be remembered in his master.—The servant having retired to apprize his master of a visitor, Pyeboard throws this out in order to account to the bailiffs for the former's not knowing him. Malone.

Note return to page 1038 7&lblank; neatly, delicately &lblank;] Perhaps the author wrote—neatly delineated. Malone. The author meant an imperfect sentence. The arrival of the gentleman interrupts Pyeboard before he could conclude the observation he had begun. Steevens.

Note return to page 1039 8&lblank; and hoping to make purchase of me, &lblank;] Hoping to plunder me. In the cant language of former times whatever was obtained by thieving or robbery was called a purchase. The term is often used in the two parts of K. Henry IV. Malone.

Note return to page 1040 9O, there's no talk on't;] Perhaps we should read—O, there's no doubt on't. There's no talk of it may however mean—the matter is clear; it can't be doubted or denied. Malone.

Note return to page 1041 1&lblank; he's an excellent scholar, and especially for a mask.] The hint for this scene was taken from The Merrie conceited Jests of George Peele, Gentleman, sometimes a Student in Oxford, &c. bl. l. 1607, p. 7: “At that time (says the author) he had the oversight of the Pageants.” He escaped from one of his creditors by the same stratagem that is here practised by George Pyeboard, whose character might have been designed for that of George Peele. A circumstance that adds no inconsiderable weight to my conjecture is, that a pye-board (i. e. a board on which bakers carry their pyes to the oven) is still called a peel. The word is derived from paelle, Fr. “instrument de patissier.” See Cotgrave under both peel, paelle, &c. &c. Our former derivation therefore of the scholar's name, (see p. 542.) is almost certainly erroneous; and at the same time it is highly probable that the comedy of the Puritan was written while the idea of Peele, who died about 1597, was recent in the memory of our ancient audiences. George Peele was author of the Arraignment of Paris, 1584,— King David and fair Bethsabe,—King Edward I.—Hyren the faire Greeke, &c; but if the pamphlet already mentioned is to be credited, he was more of a sharper than a wit. Steevens.

Note return to page 1042 2&lblank; but I could ne'er find the Counter in the Poultry.] The prison so called. Malone.

Note return to page 1043 [3] &lblank; out o'cry now,] i. e. as Shakspeare expresses it in As You Like it, “out of all whooping.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1044 4God you good den, sir. &lblank;] God give you a good e'en or even. Malone. See note on Timon of Athens, last edit. vol. viii. p. 356. Steevens.

Note return to page 1045 5&lblank; he's gone above an hour ago.] The poet ought rather to have written “above a quarter of an hour ago;” which is the utmost that by any stretch of the imagination can be supposed to have elapsed since Pyeboard retired. Malone.

Note return to page 1046 6I protest, he receiv'd of me all in Britain gold of the last coining.] “On the 16th of November, 1604, (says Stowe, Annals, p. 856, edit. 1631.) was proclaimed at London certain new pieces of coine both of gold and silver, with the true valuation and weights of them, according to the mint of both nations, English and Scottish.” Malone.9Q1369

Note return to page 1047 7Sup, Simon, now!] This alludes to the character of “Simon of Southampton, alias Sup-broth,” whom we read of in Thomas of Reading, or the sixe worthie Yeomen of the West. Now the sixth time corrected and enlarged by T. D. (i. e. Thomas Decker) 1632. Steevens.

Note return to page 1048 8The Hole shall rot him.] The Hole was one of the meanest apartments in the Counter prison. See The Walks of Hogsdon, with the Humours of Woodstreet Compter, a comedy, 1657: “Next from the stocks, the Hole, and Little-ease, “Sad places, which kind nature do displease, “And from the rattling of the keeper's keys, Libera nos, Domine.” “If a man must be in a prison (says Suckling) 'tis better to lie in a private room, than in the Hole.” Malone. So in the Counter-rat, a poem, 1658: “In Woodstreet's hole, or Poultry's hell.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1049 9Almost as many as George Stone, the bear:] George Stone was a noted bear exhibited at Paris Garden; so called from the name of his owner. Thus in the Silent Woman, by B. Jonson, 1605:—“and then out of the banqueting house window, when Ned Whiting and George Stone were at the stake.”—Sacarson, the bear mentioned in the Merry Wives of Windsor, probably likewise bore the name of his keeper. Malone. See note on the Merry Wives of Windsor, last edit. vol. i. p. 237. Steevens.

Note return to page 1050 1Ere the day he spent to the girdle, &lblank;] That is, before mid-day or noon. Nichols. So in Hamlet: “In the dead waist and middle of the night.” Again, in another old play: “'Tis now about th' immodest waist of night.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1051 2Thy kinsman has express'd thee; &lblank;] I suppose he means—has drawn thee out. A Latinism purposely put into the mouth of the scholar. Malone. Has express'd thee, signifies, has said that for you which you would have said for yourself; i. e. has express'd your meaning. Steevens

Note return to page 1052 *&lblank; or poor soldier &lblank;] We should read I believe,—of poor soldiers. Malone.

Note return to page 1053 3&lblank; and we geld fools of more money &lblank;] That is, empty their purses. So in the Winter's Tale Autolycus says—“'twas nothing to geld a codpiece of a purse.” Malone.

Note return to page 1054 4&lblank; false-tail'd gelding &lblank;] i. e. a horse for a highwayman, with a false tail to take on and off. The arts of deceit have received few improvements from modern practitioners. I believe sir John Fielding and his coadjutors are acquainted with no kinds of fraud that were unknown to Robert Green, Thomas Decker, and other ancient writers on the subjects of Legerdemaine, Cozening, Coney-catching, &c. &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 1055 5&lblank; a stalking, stamping player, that will raise a tempest with his tongue, and thunder with his heels?] We meet the same expression in Hamlet:—“In the very torrent, tempest, and as I may say, whirlwind of your passion, you must acquire and beget a temperance.” —Again, in K. Henry VIII: “These are the youths that thunder at a playhouse, and fight for bitten apples.” Malone. Shakspeare has frequent allusions to the violence of injudicious actors. So in Hamlet “—hear a robustious perriwig-pated fellow tear a passion to tatters, to very rags, to split the ears of the groundlings.” Again, in Macbeth: “&lblank; a poor player “That frets and struts his hour upon the stage.” Again, in &lblank; “A strutting player does think it rich “To hear the wooden dialogue and sound, “'Twixt his stretch'd footing and the scaffoldage.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1056 6Puh! that's but the babe of a man, &lblank;] The author, I suppose, means to say that the devil, as well as infants, owes his existence to man;—that the former is the creature merely of the imagination, and may be stilled as easily as the latter. Malone. A similar phrase occurs in Macbeth: “If trembling I inhibit thee, protest me “The baby of a girl.” Again,   “&lblank; 'Tis the eye of childhood “That fears a painted devil.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1057 7&lblank; that I should ne'er lin laughing.] That I should never leave off laughing. A provincial word. Malone. So in Gamaliel Ratsey's Repentance, a poem, 1605: “And all things did from wearie labour linne.” Malone:

Note return to page 1058 8&lblank; both by reason of the act pass'd in parliament against conjurers and witches, &lblank;] The act alluded to passed in the first year of James I. (1604). This passage therefore corroborates the various other circumstances that have been mentioned to show that the play before us was not written till after that period. There is a particular clause in this statute against all persons “taking upon them by witchcraft, &c. to tell or declare in what place any treasure of gold or silver should or might be found or had in the earth or other secret places.” Malone. This would tend to prove the play had been written after our British Solomon was on the throne, if an act against sorcery, &c. had not pass'd in a preceding reign. To discover lost or hidden treasures was one of the earliest pretences of our English magick. Steevens.

Note return to page 1059 9&lblank; I know 'tis somewhere above the earth.] Thus the quarto. The folios and the modern editions read—about the earth, Malone.

Note return to page 1060 1&lblank; hot-houses.] i. e. brothels. Both Shakspeare and Jonson use the word, but I do not at present recollect where. Steevens.

Note return to page 1061 2&lblank; simply, though I stand here, &lblank;] So in the Merry Wives of Windsor: “He's a justice of peace in his country, simple though I stand here.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1062 3Here's the fifteenth day.—Hot and fair. &c.] When this play was written, even scholars and men of sense believed the astrological predictions of the Almanack. Percy.

Note return to page 1063 4Why now thou art a good knave; worth a hundred Brownists.] Sectaries, so called from Robert Brown, who first advanced the doctrines held by them, about the year 1583. See Fuller's Church Hist. B. IX. p. 268. Malone. See notes on Twelfth Night, last edit. vol. iv. p. 231. Steevens.

Note return to page 1064 5&lblank; Would Derrick had been his fortune seven years ago, &lblank;] Derrick was the common hangman at the time this play was produced. Malone. So in the Bell-man of London, 1616:—“he rides circuit with the devil, and Derricke must be his host, and Tyborne the inne at which he will light.” Again—‘, if Dericke's cables do but hold.” Again, in the ancient Ballad entitled “Upon the Earle of Essex his death:” “Derick, thou know'st at Cales I sav'd   “Thy life lost for a rape there done, “Where thou thyself can'st testifye   “Thine owne hand three and twenty hung.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1065 6&lblank; There's physicians enough there to cast his water: &lblank;] To discover his distemper by the inspection of his urine. So in Macbeth: “&lblank; If thou couldst, doctor, cast “The water of my land, find her disease, &c.” Malone. See note on Macbeth, last edit. vol. iv. p. 597. Steevens.

Note return to page 1066 7A guarded lacky to run before it, &lblank;] A running footman with guards or facings to his livery. Malone. See note on the Merchant of Venice, last edit. vol. iii. p. 161. Steevens.

Note return to page 1067 8&lblank; to come trashing after it.] To trash, in this instance, I suppose, means to follow. In Fletcher's Bonduca it signifies to stop. Steevens.

Note return to page 1068 9Coades! &lblank;] She may mean to call these confederate lovers co-aids; but I rather think the word is a corruption of some oath. Steevens.

Note return to page 1069 1&lblank; and your pisse, pisse, pisse.] Thus the quarto. Perhaps he means her little dirty lap-dog. Steevens.

Note return to page 1070 2O, as clear as a cat's eye, &lblank;] Thus the quarto. The folio and Mr. Rowe read—as clear as a carter's eye. Malone.

Note return to page 1071 3&lblank; simply though it lies here, &lblank;] This phrase, as I have remarked already, is used by Anne Page's unsuccessful wooer in the Merry Wives of Windsor. Steevens.

Note return to page 1072 4&lblank; the fescue of the dial is upon the christ-cross of noon.] A fescue is a small wire, by which those who teach children to read, point out the letters. Malone. So in Romeo and Juliet—“the bawdy hand of the dial is upon the point of noon.” Steevens. The meridional line in the old dial plate was distinglished by a cross ✗; which also being prefixed to the alphabet in the ancient Primer, occasioned it to be denominated by the vulgar the Christ-cross row, here alluded to: and, carrying on the same allusion, the gnomon of the dial is here called the fescue or long pin used in pointing out the letters of the Alphabet to children. Percy.

Note return to page 1073 5&lblank; I'll tear two or three rosaries &lblank;] A rosary is a pair of beads. Malone.

Note return to page 1074 6Rhumbos ragdayon pur pur colucundrion hoisplois.] Here we have another proof of this piece being composed by an academick. These nonsense lines are regular hexameters. Malone. The captain represents himself as an illiterate character, and yet all he says is designed to be in regular heroicks. It would be made so by the omission of a single syllable. Some of the words indeed are Greek, only a little mispelt; as &grk;&gra;&gri;, &grl;&gra;&grl;&gro;&gru;&grm;&gre;&grn;&gro;&grst;, &grk;&gra;&grk;&gro;&grp;&gro;&grt;&grm;&gro;&grst;, &grp;&gru;&grr;, &c. Where the players found gibberish, they always injudiciously added to it. Hence the redundant foot in the last line.—Coomb-park is in Surry. It was anciently the seat of the Nevils earls of Warwick. Steevens.

Note return to page 1075 *&lblank; ips drip—dropite—] Ips is found in the folios. The quarto has ipis. The next word is not, I think, a misprint. The author makes Idle doubtful which of the words, dripite or dropite, he shall use, merely to introduce sir Godfrey's remark. Either of them completes the hexameter. Malone.

Note return to page 1076 7&lblank; what a steam the rogue has left behind him! &lblank; it smells horribly of brimstone: &lblank;] So in Cymbeline: “He came in thunder; his celestial breath “Was sulphurous to smell.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1077 8&lblank; cure him to his proper health again.] So in Macbeth: “And purge it to a sound and pristine health.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1078 *&lblank; run upon the ropes, &lblank;] i. e. play roguish tricks. Roguery was anciently called ropery and rope-tricks. See note on Romeo and Juliet, last edit. vol. x. p. 75. Steevens. I believe he only means, he had rather attempt the most hazardous feats of a rope-dancer, than be hanged. Malone.

Note return to page 1079 9&lblank; than have a rope like a tetter run upon me.] To render this comparison intelligible, it should be remark'd that a tetter (commonly called a ring-worm) is a humour that forms itself into a circle. To this he compares the operation of the circular noose at the end of a halter. Steevens.

Note return to page 1080 1&lblank; in sparkling charnico, &lblank;] See notes on K. Henry VI. P. II. last edit. vol. vi. p. 336 Steevens.

Note return to page 1081 2&lblank; instead of a jester, we'll have the ghost in the white sheet sit at the upper end of the table.] Dr. Farmer thinks this was intended as a sneer on Macbeth; for which supposition on a former occasion I doubted whether there was any foundation, as I then erroneously thought there had been an edition of this comedy in 1600; a mistake which I take this opportunity of acknowledging. See Macbeth, vol. iv. p. 539. edit. 1778. Malone. I have the misfortune to be the culprit who first mentioned this quarto edition published in the year 1600; and certain I am that I have either seen it, have been assured of its existence, or met with such notice of it, in print or manuscript, as I could adopt with implicit confidence. I cannot well be suspected of design on this subject, as I had no purpose to effect by misrepresentation. I was neither about to publish the Puritan, or to ascertain the smallest fact that depended on its date. I may be mistaken, but still remain unconvinced that I am so, by any arguments advanced in dispute of my assertion. The coincidences mentioned by my opponents, may seem friendly to their sentiments, but are not absolutely decisive in their favour. Allusions to particular facts are not unfrequently detected in the second impressions of our ancient dramatick pieces, though they were wanting in the first. Out of many instances to this purpose, I shall only produce the following. The stroke of satire levelled at the number of knights created by the mercenary James, is not found in the earliest copies of the Merry Wives of Windsor, but was added in a subsequent one. This too may have been the case in regard to all the passages selected by Mr. Tyrwhitt and Mr. Malone as supports to their respective opinions. The reader who had only met with a third edition of Shakspeare's comedy already mentioned, would have had as fair a right to maintain that it could not have been written in the reign of Elizabeth, because a hint at her successor's folly is included in it, as these gentlemen have to deny that the Puritan was printed in 1600, because they have seen no quarto of that year, and because allusions to some events which happened afterwards may be discovered in a later impression of the same piece. See my note on the Merry Wives of Windsor, last edit. vol. i. p. 258. and sir William Blackstone's remark, inserted among the Supplemental Observations in the first of these two volumes, p. 91. Steevens.

Note return to page 1082 *&lblank; like fine Britons &lblank;] Alluding perhaps to the picti Britanni, our ancestors. Steevens.

Note return to page 1083 3&lblank; they have hired men and all, by the clock.] I know not whether he means to swear by the clock, or to intimate that they had hired their habits and their attendants by the hour. Steevens.

Note return to page 1084 4Enter Mary in a balcony, &lblank;] The quarto adds “lacing herself.” See an account of the balcony erected on the old English stage, ante, vol. i. p. 19. Malone.

Note return to page 1085 5&lblank; what such a man utters will be thought effectual, &lblank;] Since the time when this comedy was written, the sentiments of the citizens are somewhat changed. The narrative of a lord would now be regarded by them (to use the words of Shakspeare's Lady Constance) “As but the vain breath of a common man.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1086 *And I'll maintain it, knight, if she'll be true.] There is here, I believe, some corruption. Perhaps the author wrote—I tell you true. Malone.

Note return to page 1087 6Is my lord come already? His honour's early.] Honour was the established term of respect, used in addressing a lord, as lordship is now. Percy.

Note return to page 1088 7&lblank; Such is the peevish moon that rules your bloods.] So in the Revenger's Tragedy, 1608: “I know 'twas but some peevish moon in him.” See Winter's Tale, last edit. vol. iv. p. 330. Steevens.

Note return to page 1089 8Out slave! I'll rend my lion from thy back, With mine own hands.] He means his crest, which was wrought in the back part of his servant's livery, and worn as a cognizance or badge. Malone. In the dress of the yeomen of the guards, which is still worn as it was formed and settled by king Henry VII. the rose, which was the badge of that prince, is to this day (I believe) worn both on the breast and back. Percy. I hardly think this can be the meaning. A Puritan would not have carried about a distinction so ostentatious; it would have been regarded as a mark of the beast. Neither perhaps were badges worn by any servants but those of the nobility. These cognizances likewise were never exhibited on the back, but on the sleeve, as appears from the following stanza in a ballad entitled Time's Alteration, &c: “The nobles of our land   “Were much delighted then “To have at their command   “A crew of lusty men, “Which by their coats were known   “Of tawny, red, or blue, “With crests on their sleeves shown,   “When this old cap was new.” It may be remarked that Iago alludes to the same custom, when he says: “—I will wear my heart upon my sleeve, “For daws to peck at.” Besides, we are told in the first act that the three sanctimonious servingmen were dressed in “black, scurvy, mourning coats, with books at their girdles.” I suspect lion to be a printer's blunder for livery, (i. e. the sober livery of the saints) unless some stroke was aimed at the play of K. John, in which the Bastard threatens to tear the lion's hide from the back of Austria. Steevens. These servants were dressed in the early part of the play in mourning, having just returned from their master's funeral; but as the widow in the present scene appears in a bridal dress, her attendants (who were the servants of sir Godfrey also) must be presumed to have likewise changed their apparel.—Badges were usually, I believe, worn on the sleeve (as they are at this day by the watermen belonging to the nobility); but whether cognizances were not likewise sometimes embroidered in the back part of ancient liveries, does not seem to be ascertained. Malone.

Note return to page 1090 9Come, enter into your joys; you shall not want For fathers, now; &lblank;] There is here, I believe, some corruption. Malone. I see no reason for suspecting any corruption in the text. It is the office of the father, whether real or suppositious, to give away a bride, by taking her hand in his, and delivering it to her husband. The present speaker, referring to an audience in good humour, addresses himself to the three brides on the stage, observing &lblank; you shall not want For fathers now; I doubt it not, &c. &c. i. e. you shall find hands enough at your service among the spectators of our play. We should read, however, in the last line: But that you shall have hands enough to give you. Steevens.

Note return to page 1091 1“A booke called A Yorkshire Tragedy” was entered by Thomas Pavier at Stationers' Hall, May 2, 1608, and the play or rather interlude was printed by him in the same year, under the title of A Yorkshire Tragedy, not so new as lamentable and true.— The murder on which this short drama is founded, was committed in 1604 [Correction: 1Kb]

Note return to page 1092 for 1604 r. 1605.

Note return to page 1093 for following r. same.

Note return to page 1094 for 1604 r. 1605.

Note return to page 1095 2Enter Oliver and Ralph.] I know not well to whom these servants can belong. Sam comes from London to recount an event which had happened at least five years before, in the very country where Ralph and Oliver, who ask him questions, reside. He is likewise loaded with articles relative to female dress, which could not have been sent for by the wife who avoids expence, nor provided for her by her husband who treats her with no such degree of indulgence.—I believe we must suppose that these are the domesticks of some neighbouring family.—A love-sick mistress is also mentioned by one of the same communicative fraternity; but no future use of her character is attempted. The whole dialogue indeed might be omitted without injury to the plot. Steevens. Oliver, Ralph, and Sam, should seem to be servants to the principal personage of this tragedy. Oliver expressly calls Sam his fellow; and the latter afterwards asks Ralph, “Is our beer sour this thunder?” Perhaps the love-sick mistress is the wife of Mr. Calverly, who, though married three or four years, might be impatient for the return of her husband from London. Sam, who had accompanied his master thither, and is just returned with him, perhaps amuses his fellow-servants with idle prattle, that he had married another lady, &c. A subsequent passage indeed—“And I think she was bless'd in her cradle that he never came in her bed”—is inconsistent with this account of the matter; but if the emendation proposed by Dr. Percy be admitted, that difficulty also will be removed. However, the text, as it stands at present, strongly supports Mr. Steevens's supposition. Malone.

Note return to page 1096 3&lblank; apples hanging longer on the tree than when they are ripe &lblank;] So in Macbeth: “Macbeth is ripe for shaking.” Again, in Cymbeline: “&lblank; a storm “Shook down my mellow hangings.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1097 4&lblank; 'tis common you know, &c. Oliv. Mass thou say'st true; 'tis common indeed.] So in Hamlet: “Thou know'st 'tis common, &c. Ham. “Ay, madam, it is common.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1098 5&lblank; our young master &lblank;] Who is meant by this description? Steevens. By our young master is perhaps meant the hero of the piece. It appears from a subsequent passage that he had but lately come of age. From the manner too in which the question is asked, the young master enquired for should seem to be Sam's master: “Is neither our young master returned, nor our fellow, &c.” Sam afterwards talks of his master's having brought his brother at the university into some distress, which can apply to no one but Mr. Calverly.—If however Mr. Steevens's hypothesis concerning Ralph and Oliver be just, by our young master may have been intended some neighbouring Yorkshire gentleman, who might have accompanied Mr. Calverly to London, leaving a sister in the country, (the young mistress already mentioned) to whom the latter may be supposed to have paid his addresses before his visit to the metropolis. From a subsequent scene it appears that Mrs. Calverly's uncle resided in London, which adds some probability to the supposition that her husband first met her there; and if she be supposed to have just arrived with him from thence, this will also account for Sam's being furnished with some articles of female dress. Malone.

Note return to page 1099 6Neither of either, as the puritan bawd says.] This is designed as a ridicule on the circumstantiality of expression affected by the saints of Shakspeare's age. Steevens.

Note return to page 1100 7&lblank; two rebato wires &lblank;] Wires employed in the plaits of the ancient ruff. Malone. See notes on Much Ado about Nothing, last edit. vol. ii. p. 321. Steevens. Rebato was the name of an ancient head-dress. The wires were used to distend the hair or lace. Percy.

Note return to page 1101 8&lblank; in my codpiece. &lblank;] See note on the Two Gent. of Verona, last edit. vol. i. p. 165. Steevens.

Note return to page 1102 9&lblank; the true picture of a common serving-man.] I remember to have seen one of these representations of a man loaded with several domestick instruments and utensils. It was painted against a buttery fronting the screen of an ancient hall. I think another hieroglyphick of the same kind is still visible at one of our publick schools or colleges. In the year 1566 is entered on the Stationers' books “The pourtraicture of a trusty servant.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1103 1&lblank; any woman bears the more when she is beaten.] Alluding to the old unmannerly proverb, that says, A woman and a walnut-tree bear the better for being thresh'd. Steevens.

Note return to page 1104 2And I think she was bless'd in her cradle, that he never came in her bed.] I would read: And I think she were bless'd in her cradle, had he never come in her bed. Percy.

Note return to page 1105 3&lblank; stand in wax for him:] Enter into a bond. Malone.

Note return to page 1106 4&lblank; a fine phrase for a scrivener.] This passage was perhaps imitated by B. and Fletcher in The Prophetess: “A fine periphrasis for a kennel-raker!” Steevens.

Note return to page 1107 5&lblank; I quite forgot my two poking-sticks:] These were used to adjust the plaits of the ruff formerly worn. They were usually made of steel and heated in the fire. See note on The Winter's Tale, p. 386. edit. 1778. Malone.

Note return to page 1108 6Ay, far-fetch'd, you know, Sam &lblank;] A proverb. Vache de loin a laict assez. Fr. On the books of the Stationers' Company, 1566, is entered “a playe intituled Farre fetched and deare bowght ys good for ladies.” Steevens. In the old copies this and the following speech are differently divided. The mistake seems to have been occasioned by the printer's supposing Sam (whom Oliver addresses by his name) to stand as a designation of the beginning of a speech. He has accordingly ascribed the subsequent words—“But speak in your conscience, &c.” to the former. Malone.

Note return to page 1109 7&lblank; they call it knighting in London, when they drink upon their knees.] So in K. Henry IV. P. II: “Do me right, “And dub me knight.” See the note there, vol. v. p. 597. edit. 1778. Malone.

Note return to page 1110 8&lblank; I'll give you all the degrees of it in order.] Alluding perhaps to Philocothonista, or the Drunkard; a pamphlet by Thomas Haywood, in which all these degrees are set down with the most minute exactness. The earliest copy of this piece that I have met with, was published in 1635, but the first edition of it is perhaps of much elder date. Steevens.

Note return to page 1111 9Enter Wife. It is observable that the poet has not given a name to any of the persons exhibited in this piece, except the three servants. Malone. The author might not think himself at liberty to use the real names belonging to his characters, and at the same time was of opinion that fictitious ones would appear unsatisfactory, as the true were universally known, either from the ballad spoken of by Mr. Malone, or from the prose narratives published soon after these notorious murders were committed. See note the last. Steevens.

Note return to page 1112 1The weakness of his state so much dejected, Not as a man repentant, but half mad, His fortunes cannot answer his expence, He sits, &c.] Perhaps these lines are shuffled out of their natural order. I would transpose them thus: The weakness of his state so much dejected, His fortunes cannot answer his expence,— Not as a man repentant, but half mad, He sits, &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 1113 2&lblank; the last throw, &lblank;] It should seem from this speech that he was just returned from a gaming house. Steevens. He is speaking, I suppose, of his ill luck at play in London, from which he is just returned. Malone.

Note return to page 1114 3I am damn'd, I'm damn'd; The angels have forsook me.] Here is a quibble designed between angel the messenger of heaven, and angel the gold coin of ten shillings value. So in the Merry Wives of Windsor:—“she hath a legion of angels.” “As many devils entertain.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1115 4Wife. Dear husband. Husb. Most punishment of all, I have a wife.] So in Venice Preserved: Belv. “My life! Jaff. “My plague!” Steevens.

Note return to page 1116 5&lblank; thou art the cause, Effect, quality, property, thou, thou, &c.] So in King Richard III: “Thou wast the cause and most accurst effect.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1117 6&lblank; and so much unlike Himself at first, &c.] So in Othello: “&lblank; nor should I know him, “ Were he in favour as in humour alter'd.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1118 7&lblank; as if some vexed spirit Had got his form upon him.&lblank;] So in Antony and Cleopatra: “As if a god, in hate of mankind, had “Destroy'd in such a shape.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1119 8&lblank; what meant I to marry to get beggars? &lblank;] In the same strain Hamlet says to Ophelia: “Why would'st thou be a breeder of sinners?” Steevens.

Note return to page 1120 9&lblank; a snaffle upon mine inheritance, &lblank;] So in Antony and Cleopatra: “The third part of the world's your's, which with a snaffle “You may pace easy.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1121 1&lblank; My second son must be a promoter, &lblank;] An informer. Malone.

Note return to page 1122 2&lblank; to what base uses doth it put a man!] So in Hamlet: “To what base uses we may return!” Malone.

Note return to page 1123 3&lblank; I think the devil scorns to be a bawd; he bears himself more proudly, has more care of his credit.] So in Pericles, Marina speaking to the Pander: “Thou hold'st a place, for which the pained'st fiend “In hell, would not in reputation change.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1124 4&lblank; a gentleman by many bloods,] So in another of our author's plays: “I am a gentleman of blood and breeding.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1125 5&lblank; these three lovely boys] We should either read—“these two” or “the three,” for the younger of them is absent at nurse. The pronoun plural these would imply that they were all present. Steevens. These and those are sometimes confounded by our ancient authors. Malone.

Note return to page 1126 6Puh! bastards, bastards, bastards &lblank;] Though Shakspeare has thought it necessary to deviate from his story as it is still related in Yorkshire, yet here he seems to have had the original cause of this unhappy gentleman's rashness in his mind.—Mr. Calverly is represented to have been of a passionate disposition, and to have struck one of his children in the presence of his wife, who pertly told him, to correct children of his own, when he could produce any. On this single provocation he is said to have immediately committed all the bloody facts that furnish matter for the tragedy before us. He died possessed of a large estate. Steevens.

Note return to page 1127 7&lblank; wound into debts, &lblank;] We should say at present involved in debts. The tribunes, however, tell Coriolanus that he has wound himself into arbitrary power. Steevens. So in King Lear: “Edmund, seek him out; wind me into him, I pray you.” Malone.

Note return to page 1128 8&lblank; Midnight, still I love you,] Thus Falstaff: “Now comes in the sweetest morsel of the night.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1129 9Shall it be said in all societies, That I broke custom?] This speech, among others, increases the suspicion I have mentioned in the last note on the tragedy before us, that the scene of it was originally designed to have been laid in London. It is rather improbable that any place in Yorkshire should in the year 1605 have furnished gaming associations, or people who attended to the poverty or affluence of such as frequented them. Steevens. He alludes perhaps to the company with whom he lived during his late residence in London. Malone.

Note return to page 1130 1&lblank; when my state was fullest.] When my fortune was most affluent. So in Othello: “What a full fortune does the thick-lips owe!” Malone.

Note return to page 1131 2O much against my blood!] i. e. my inclination. So, afterwards: “For 'tis our blood to love what we're forbidden.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1132 3Exit.] Between this scene and the next, the lady has travelled from Calverly in Yorkshire, to London, and from London back again to Calverly; in all about 386 miles. Steevens.

Note return to page 1133 4Scandals unjust, to soil his better name.] This line, which is found in the quarto, is omitted in the folios and the modern editions. Malone.

Note return to page 1134 5Good den; &lblank;] See this phrase explained, ante, p. 589, note 4. Malone. This phrase, which occurs in Romeo and Juliet, and Much Ado About Nothing, appears to mean good even. Mr. Tyrwhitt, in a note on Timon, observes that it was the usual salutation from noon, the moment that good morrow became improper. Steevens.

Note return to page 1135 6&lblank; who were sent for her up to London &lblank;] Who were sent to conduct her up to London. Malone.

Note return to page 1136 7&lblank; let it not move me: For if thou chid'st me angry, I shall strike.] So in Romeo and Juliet: “I strike quickly, being mov'd.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1137 8&lblank; fond and peevish;] i. e. weak and silly. Shylock calls the Jailor fond for permitting Antonio to walk abroad; and Iachimo tells Imogen that his man is peevish as well as shy. See last edit. vol. ix. p. 206. Steevens.

Note return to page 1138 9&lblank; thy lands and credit Lie now both sick &lblank;] So in K. Henry VIII: “&lblank; kinsmen of mine have “So sicken'd their estates” &lblank; Steevens.

Note return to page 1139 1The spring-time of thy youth did fairly promise] So in King Henry V: “The courses of his youth promis'd it not.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1140 2The party you wot on.] This phrase was formerly used when any idea gross or wanton was to be conveyed without plain or offensive words. So in the Jests of George Peele, 1607: “George [conversing with a courtesan] fell to the question about the thing you wot of.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1141 3&lblank; shall I stand idle, And see my reputation touch'd to death?— It has gall'd you, this; has it?] Thus in Mr. Rowe's Tamerlane: Arp. “And stand I here an idle looker on, “To see my innocence murder'd and mangled?— Baj. “Ha! does it gall thee, Tartar?” Steevens.

Note return to page 1142 4He needs no cunning that for truth doth fight.] So in K. Henry VI. P. II: “Thrice is he arm'd that hath his quarrel just.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1143 5Alas, that hate should bring us to our grave!] Thus in King Henry VIII. Buckingham says— “&lblank; no black envy “Shall make my grave.” Envy anciently signified both hatred and malice. Steevens.

Note return to page 1144 6Has the dog left me then, After his tooth has left me?] I suspect this passage to be corrupt, and wish the copies would authorize us to read—After his tooth has gor'd me. Nothing is more common than for a printer to catch a word from one line and repeat it in the next. We have all met with too many examples of this act of carelessness. Steevens.

Note return to page 1145 7And makes my breast spit blood;] So in Coriolanus: “&lblank; Hector's forehead when it spit forth blood, “At Grecian swords contending.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1146 8&lblank; 'tis want of money makes men weak: Ay, 'twas that o'erthrew me:] Iachimo in Cymbeline complains that the want of a good cause to fight in, has the same effect on his skill and manhood. Steevens.

Note return to page 1147 *Enter Wife &lblank;] The quarto adds—in a riding suit, the lady being supposed to have just returned from London. Malone.

Note return to page 1148 9Himself wither'd with debts;] So in A Midsummer Night's Dream: “Like to a stepdame, or a dowager, “Long withering out a young man's revenue.” Malone.

Note return to page 1149 1&lblank; as I smooth'd him] So in King Richard II: “&lblank; Had it been a stranger, not my child, “To smooth his fault I would have been more mild.” Steevens. Again, in Pericles: “&lblank; the sinful father “Seem'd not to strike, but smooth.” Malone.

Note return to page 1150 2Are in form uglier than an unshap'd bear,] So the duke of Gloster speaking of himself in one of our author's historical plays: “To disproportion me in every part, “Like to a chaos, or unlick'd bear-whelp.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1151 3&lblank; my words shall like you well.] Shall please you. Malone.

Note return to page 1152 4&lblank; thou politick whore, &lblank;] Thus Othello: “I took you for the cunning whore of Venice,” &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 1153 5&lblank; to crouch and stand, &c.] So in Julius Cæsar: “Must I observe you? Must I stand and crouch “Under your testy humour?” The construction, I think, is—to stand, and crouch in the hams, like an old man, &c. Malone. &lblank; in service to crouch &lblank;] So in the Prologue to K. Henry V: “Crouch for employment.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1154 6&lblank; like an old man i'the hams, &lblank;] I would read, &lblank; like a man old i'the hams. i. e. with his knees bent. Hamlet, among other marks of age takes notice of most weak hams. “&lblank; my hat off. So in Antony and Cleopatra: “I have ever held my cap off to thy fortunes.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1155 *Give me but pleasant looks, &lblank;] Thus the folio. The quarto, 1608, has comely. Malone.

Note return to page 1156 7What the devil—How now! thy hasty news?] In Macbeth we meet with the same abruption: “And falls on the other—How now! What news?” Steevens.

Note return to page 1157 8&lblank; or I will execute the point on thee: &lblank;] Thus in Othello:   &lblank; “with determin'd sword “To execute upon him.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1158 9I see how ruin with a palsy hand Begins to shake the ancient seat to dust:] These two picturesque lines have been preserved in a play called the Fatal Extravagance, (written by one Mitchel, with the assistance of Aaron Hill,) which appeared in the year 1721. It was first exhibited as a piece of one act, and afterwards was enlarged to five. The author professes to have taken the hint of his tragedy from the drama now before us. Malone. I would read,—a palsied hand. Steevens. This slight change has been adopted in the text, Shakspeare having used this word in Measure for Measure: “&lblank; and does beg the alms “Of palsied eld.” Malone. I would read—this ancient seat. Percy.

Note return to page 1159 1The heavy weight of sorrow draws my lids Over my dankish eyes:] So in K. Richard III: “My soul is heavy and I fain would sleep— “Sorrow breaks seasons.” Steevens. &lblank; my dankish eyes:] i. e. eyes moistened with tears. Percy.

Note return to page 1160 *Thus grief will last; &lblank;] I believe we ought to read—This grief will last &lblank; Malone.

Note return to page 1161 2'Tis not my fashion, sir, to dwell in long circumstance, but to be plain, &c.] So in King Lear: “Sir, 'tis my occupation to be plain.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1162 3&lblank; all his studies amazed, &lblank;] i. e. confounded, stunn'd. So in K. Henry V. last edit. vol. vi. p. 154: “Enough, captain, you have astonish'd him.” Again, in King John: “I am amaz'd—and lose my way “Among the thorns and dangers of this world.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1163 4&lblank; a man who profited in his divine employments, and might have made ten thousand souls fit for heaven, &lblank;] Our pompous master of a college, with all this circumlocution, means to say no more than that his pupil was designed for a parson Steevens.

Note return to page 1164 5&lblank; never look for prosperous hour, good thoughts, quiet sleep, &c.] Somewhat like this enumeration of particular circumstances necessary to happiness, occurs in the Tempest: “&lblank; As I hope “For quiet days, fair issue, and long life, &c.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1165 6&lblank; makes man perfect, &lblank;] i. e. perfectly happy. The expression, however, is unexampled in this sense. Steevens.

Note return to page 1166 7&lblank; your art's master. &lblank;] A quibble on master of arts, an academical distinction. Steevens.

Note return to page 1167 8&lblank; your syllables have cleft me. &lblank;] So in Hamlet: “&lblank; and cleave the general ear with horrid speech.” Again, “O Hamlet, thou hast cleft my heart &lblank;” Steevens.

Note return to page 1168 9Fill me a bowl of wine. &lblank;] The same words, I think, are found in King Richard III. and in Julius Cæsar. Steevens.

Note return to page 1169 1Thy pleasant sins have undone thee; &lblank;] So in King Lear: “The gods are just, and of our pleasant vices “Make instruments to scourge us.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1170 2&lblank; and yet made women, &c.] The darling vice which brought on the ruin of Mr. Calverly, is represented, throughout this play, to have been gaming. His wife, his nurse, &c. accuse him no further. In the present speech, however, he seems to charge himself with other acts of intemperance. These circumstances but serve to increase the suspicion I have hinted in my last note. Steevens.

Note return to page 1171 3&lblank; for 'tis our blood to love what we are forbidden.] We are inclined by our natural constitution to love, &c. Malone. See notes on Cymbeline, last edit. vol. ix. p. 174; and on Timon, vol. viii. p. 400. Steevens.

Note return to page 1172 4Had not drunkenness been forbidden, &c.] Thus the quarto. The folios and the modern editions read—What man would have been forbidden, what man would have been a fool &c. Malone.

Note return to page 1173 5&lblank; what man would have been fool to a beast, and zany to a swine, &lblank;] Thus in Othello, where Cassio reproves himself on the same occasion:—“To be now a sensible man, by and by a fool, and presently a beast!” Steevens.

Note return to page 1174 6What is there in three dice, &c.] It should seem that the species of gaming practised when this play was written, was what is called passage, or pass-dice, which is played with three dice. Malone.

Note return to page 1175 7&lblank; shake out his posterity &lblank;] In some other play our author has the same expression:—“many a man's tongue shakes out his own undoing.” The same thought has occurred already in the piece before us: &lblank; ruin with a palsied hand Begins to shake, &c. This is some slight proof that the Yorkshire Tragedy was composed in a hurry. Steevens.

Note return to page 1176 8&lblank; How well was I left!] To leave, in this instance, is to bequeath as a legacy, or inheritance. Dryden uses it in the same sense. Steevens.

Note return to page 1177 9Why sit my hairs upon my cursed head? Will not this poison scatter them?] Alluding to the effects of some kinds of poison. So in Leicester's Commonwealth: “&lblank; yet was he like to have lost his life, but escaped in the end (being yong) with the losse onely of his haire.” The author is here speaking of a page who had tasted a potion prepared by Leicester for the earl of Essex. Steevens.

Note return to page 1178 *&lblank; and make him give;] Leather when stretched is said to give. Malone.

Note return to page 1179 1Divines and dying men may talk of hell, But in my heart her several torments dwell.] Thus in Rowe's Tamerlane:   “&lblank; the restless damn'd “(If mufties lye not) wander thus in hell.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1180 2I, that did ever in abundance dwell, For me to want, exceeds the throes of hell.] The same aggravation of the miseries occasioned by unexpected poverty, is introduced in Timon:   “But myself, “That had the world as my confectionary &lblank;   “I to bear this “That never knew but better, is some sufferance.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1181 3I fear no vizards nor bugbears,] This is a natural circumstance. The child mistakes the distortions of real passion, for grimaces exhibited only with a sportive intention to fright him. Steevens.

Note return to page 1182 *Up, sir, for here thou hast no inheritance left.] He means, I believe, that his child having nothing left on earth, he will send him to heaven. Malone.

Note return to page 1183 4Thou shalt not live to ask an usurer bread;] This is said in the true spirit of Macbeth:   “&lblank; I will not yield “To kiss the ground before young Malcolm's feet, &c.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1184 5Son. How shall I learn, now my head's broke?] This infant, like lady Macduff's, is inclined to be a joker. Steevens.

Note return to page 1185 6&lblank; My children's blood Shall spin into your faces;] So in King Henry V. “That their hot blood may spin in English eyes.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1186 7Nothing but Misery serves in this house;] In K. Henry VIII. we have a similar personification: “And Danger serves among them.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1187 8&lblank; to charm a woman's tongue,] To silence her. See a former note, p. 466. Malone.

Note return to page 1188 9&lblank; break her neck: a politician did it.] The satire in this passage is undoubtedly personal. The politician alluded to was queen Elizabeth's favourite, the earl of Leicester, the death of whose first wife is thus described in the celebrated libel entitled his Commonwealth. This work is attributed to Parsons the Jesuit, though sir William Cecil, lord Burleigh, is suspected of having furnished his materials. It was first printed abroad in the year 1584, and was circulated with malicious industry by means of multiplied editions, throughout our kingdom, and through others by repeated translations into various languages. “The death of Leicester's first lady and wife.” “For first his lordship hath a speciall fortune, that when he desireth any woman's favour, then what person so ever standeth in his way, hath the luck to dye quickly for the finishing of his desire. As for example, when his lordship was in full hope to marry her majesty, and his owne wife stood in his light, as he supposed; he did but send her aside to the house of his servant Forster of Cummer by Oxford, where shortly after she had the chance to fall from a paire of staires, and so to breake her neck, but yet without hurting of her hood that stood upon her head. But sir Richard Varney, who by commandment remained with her that day alone, with one man onely, and had sent away perforce all her servants from her to a market two miles of, he (I say) with his man, can tell how she died, which man being taken afterward for a fellony in the marches of Wales, and offering to publish the manner of the said murder, was made away privily in the prison: and sir Richard himself dying about the same time in London, cried pitiously and blasphemed God, and said to a gentleman of worship of mine acquaintance, not long before his death, that all the devils in hell did teare him in pieces. The wife also of Bald Butler, kinsman to my lord, gave out the whole fact a little before her death. But to return unto my purpose, this was my lord's good fortune to have his wife dye, at that time when it was like to turne most to his profit* [Footnote: 1Kb]

Note return to page 1189 *Shakspeare appears likewise to have borrowed the following allusion from this book, and inserted it in King John: “&lblank; she standeth like a fiend or fury at the elbow of her Amadis, to stirre him forward when occasion shall serve.” “With him along is come the mother-queen, “An Atè, stirring him to war and strife.” Act II. Sc. I.

Note return to page 1190 1Mother, mother; I am kill'd, mother.] So in Macbeth, lady Macduff's child says: “He has kill'd me, mother.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1191 2&lblank; want would make thee one.] So in Antony and Cleopatra:   “&lblank; want would perjure “The ne'er-touch'd vestal.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1192 3Enter a lusty servant.] Thus the old copy. This scene bears some resemblance to another in King Lear, where the servant strives to prevent Cornwall from putting out the eyes of Gloster. “&lblank; my vassal! Thus Cornwall:— “My villain!” Steevens.

Note return to page 1193 4Com'st thou between my fury to question me?] So in King Lear: “Come not between the dragon and his wrath.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1194 5&lblank; now I'll tear thee; Set quick spurs to my vassal, &c.] So afterwards, the Servant says, He has &lblank; &lblank; torn my flesh with his blood-hasty spur. To render this intelligible, it should be understood that the ancient spurs had rowels whose points were more than an inch long, with keen broad edges like daggers. Percy.

Note return to page 1195 6&lblank; you look of a distracted colour. Hus. Who, I, sir? 'Tis but your fancy.] So in Romeo and Juliet: “Balth. Your looks are pale and wild. “Rom. Tush! thou art deceiv'd.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1196 7O, how damnation can make weak men strong!] So in the Comedy of Errors: “More company: the fiend is strong within him.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1197 8A deadly greeting! &lblank;] This passage may not be unhappily illustrated by another in Titus Andronicus: “They greet in silence, as the dead are wont.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1198 9To raise the town upon him.] The town of Calverly, as I am informed, is about a mile from the spot where these murders were committed. Steevens.

Note return to page 1199 *O'erthrew me with his arms;] i. e. employed his arms as its instrument, or agent. Steevens.

Note return to page 1200 1Like a man mad in execution,] The servant means to compare his master either to a person whose rage kindles in the progress of its gratification; or to a madman busied in the commission of frantick barbarity. Steevens.

Note return to page 1201 2The fifty diseases stop thee!] “Had he as many diseases as two and fifty horses,” occurs, I think, in the Taming of a Shrew. Malone. There is an old book entitled the Fifty Diseases of a Horse; by Gervase Markham. Steevens.

Note return to page 1202 3&lblank; within a flight o' the town,] Perhaps within an arrow's reach. A particular kind of small arrow was called a flight. See note on Much Ado about Nothing, vol. ii. p. 254. edit. 1778. Malone.

Note return to page 1203 4&lblank; throw away the meadows.] Play for his estate. Malone.

Note return to page 1204 5My will is 'bated; &lblank;] His will (i. e. inclination) to murder his surviving infant, is by no means abated, for in the next line he wishes he could reach him. I believe we should read—My will is barr'd. So in another of our author's plays: “Who shall bar my will?” Many instances of the use of this word may be found in Shakspeare. Steevens. He means, I think—“My intention to kill all my children is defeated or overthrown. Beggary claims one of them.” To 'bate or abate (from abatre Fr.) properly signifies to overthrow. Malone.

Note return to page 1205 6Enter Master of the College, &c.] Mr. Calverly is said to have been taken by his own groom. Steevens.

Note return to page 1206 7The Scythians or the marble-hearted Fates, &c.] All the copies read, “The Scythians in their marble-hearted Fates— Dr. Percy proposes to read, &lblank; in their marble-hearted feats— “i. e. their cruel, remorseless, inhuman acts.” The same mistake, he observes, has happened in the last act of Pericles (ante, p. 159.) where instead of If that thy prosperous and artificial fate— he would read—artificial feat. The learned commentator's observations not having reached my hands till that play was printed off, I had not an opportunity of availing myself of this ingenious emendation, which is in my opinion well entitled to a place in the text. I am not so clear with respect to the correction of the present passage. Some change is certainly necessary. But the reading proposed by Mr. Steevens offering a more poetical image, I have adopted it, with a slight variation. In our old plays in was frequently printed instead of even. See a note on All's Well that Ends Well, ante, Vol. I. p. 135. Malone. The Scythians in their marble-hearted fates, Could not have acted more remorseless deeds In their relentless natures, &lblank;] I suspect we ought to read, The Scythians, or the marble-hearted Fates, i. e. the unrelenting destinies. Feats (the reading proposed by Dr. Percy) and deeds, are too much alike; and “in their feats,” and “in their natures” are likewise expressions placed offensively near each other. I may add that the perpetrator of a savage act is properly styled marble-hearted, (an epithet appropriated to a fiend in King Lear, as stony-hearted is to the companions of Falstaff in King Henry IV. P. I.) but to talk of the heart of a feat is to deal in language so figurative as to want somewhat of propriety. A train of thought resembling this, occurs in K. Henry VI. P. III: “That face of his the hungry cannibals “Would not have touch'd, would not have stain'd with blood: “But you are more inhuman, more inexorable— “O, ten times more,—than tygers of Hyrcania.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1207 8&lblank; he can have no more of us than our skins,] This is proverbial. “You can have no more of a car than her skin.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1208 9Great sins have made him impudent, &c.] So in K. Henry VI. P. III:   “&lblank; his face is, vizor-like, unchanging, “Made impudent with use of evil deeds.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1209 1There shall his deeds be blaz'd.] To blaze is to publish, to make known. So in Romeo and Juliet: “&lblank; till we can find a time “To blaze your marriage.” Yet blaz'd in the play before us may mean the same as blazon'd, the term in heraldry, signifying depicted in proper colours. Shakspeare has this phrase in Othello, Cymbeline, Twelfth Night, &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 1210 2I grieve for nothing, but I miss'd of one. Mast. There's little of a father in that grief:] Thus in Mr. Rowe's Tamerlane: “Die Selima?—was that a father's voice?” Steevens.

Note return to page 1211 3So the cry goes.] i. e. so they say. The same phrase, which was once a common one, occurs in Othello: “Why, the cry goes that you shall marry her.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1212 4Till this black minute without stain or blemish.] It should seem from hence that the worthy magistrate was the only person in the neighbourhood unacquainted with this gentleman's course of life, or that he thought his preceding extravagance, and inhumanity to his wife, was no disgrace to his family. The farther I proceed, the more am I convinced that our little drama was a piece of hasty patchwork. See note the last. Steevens.

Note return to page 1213 5The serpent of his house: &lblank;] Perhaps he is so denominated because he had destroyed his whole family, as the serpent of Aaron swallowed all its kindred snakes produced by the sorcerers of Egypt. Stevens.

Note return to page 1214 6Do not repeat it twice; I know too much:] Thus in Cymbeline: “&lblank; Spare your arithmetick: “Once, and a million.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1215 7Your father's sorrows are alive in me:] i. e. what your father would have felt on this occasion, had he been alive, I feel. So in Othello:   “&lblank; thy father,—did he live now, “This sight would make him do a desperate turn, &c.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1216 8&lblank; in to-morrow's judgment, The terror will sit closer to your soul,] So in King Richard III: “Let me sit heavy on thy soul to-morrow.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1217 9When the dread thought of death remembers you:] When death shall be thought on; shall remind you of what you have done. So in K. Henry V:   “&lblank; myself have play'd “The interim, by remembering you 'tis past.” Malone.

Note return to page 1218 1Come, come; away with me.] Dame Eleanor Cobham, in the Second Part of King Henry VI. expresses the same impatience on a similar occasion: “Go, lead the way; I long to see my prison.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1219 *That man is nearest shame, that is past shame.] The compositor perhaps caught this word from the end of the line. The author, I believe, wrote: That man is nearest sin, that is past shame. Malone.

Note return to page 1220 2I am right against my house, seat of my ancestors:] I am told, such general horror was inspired by the fact on which this play is founded, that the mansion of Mr. Calverly was relinquished by all his relations, and being permitted to decay, has never since proved the residence of persons of fashion or estate, being at present no more than a farm-house. They say also, it would be difficult even now to persuade some of the common people in the neighbourhood, but that the unfortunate master of Calverly Hall underwent the fate of Regulus, and was rolled down the hill before his own seat, enclosed in a barrel stuck with nails. Such is one of the stories current among the yeomanry of the circumjacent villages; where it is likewise added, that the place of Mr. Calverly's interment was never exactly known, several coffins supposed to be filled with sand having been deposited in various parishes, that his remains might elude the pursuit of the populace, who threatened to expose them to publick infamy on a gibbet. They were imagined however at last to have been clandestinely conveyed into the family vault in Calverly church, where the bodies of his children lie; and it was long believed that his ghost rode every night with dreadful cries through the adjoining woods, to the terror of those whose business compelled them to travel late at night, or early in the morning.—I have related all this mixture of truth and fable, only to gain an opportunity of observing that no murders were ever more deeply execrated, or bid fairer for a lasting remembrance. Steevens.

Note return to page 1221 3Now my soul bleeds.] So in Timon: “I bleed inwardly for my lord.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1222 4I did my murders roughly, out of hand, Desperate and sudden; but thou hast devis'd A fine way now to kill me: &lblank;] Thus in Cymbeline: “&lblank; how fine this tyrant “Can tickle where she wounds.” The sentiment, taken all together, resembles a passage at the conclusion of Juvenal's sixth Satire. &lblank; Tyndaris illa bipennem Insulsam et fatuam dextra lævaque tenebat: At nunc res agitur tenui pulmone rubetæ. I do not, however, suppose that our author had ever read Juvenal. I only add this remark to spare some other critick the trouble of introducing it with all the pomp of discovery, as a proof that the Yorkshire Tragedy was the performance of a scholar. Steevens.

Note return to page 1223 5Bind him one thousand more, &lblank;] One thousand years more. Malone. The author alludes to that passage in the Revelations, chap. xx. ver. 1, 2, 3, where St. John says, he saw an angel come down from heaven, &c. who laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil and satan, and “bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit,” &c. Percy.

Note return to page 1224 6To spread into a father, &lblank;] i. e. to extend the influence of cruelty, till even fathers become the murderers of their children. Steevens.

Note return to page 1225 7&lblank; that man's dark, where heaven is quite forgot.] So in Measure for Measure: “&lblank; when once our grace we have forgot, “Nothing goes right &lblank;” Steevens.

Note return to page 1226 8For death I die, &lblank;] So in another of our author's plays: “&lblank; death for a deadly deed.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1227 9Thou should'st not, be assur'd, for these faults die, If the law could forgive as soon as I.] So in Jane Shore, Alicia says to Hastings as he is going to the block: “O, that inhuman Gloster could be mov'd “But half so easily as I can pardon.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1228 1&lblank; to make a heart-string crack.] So in Hamlet: “Now cracks the cordage of a noble heart.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1229 2And both your murders shoot upon my cheeks!] If I understand this line, it should seem to mean that blushes or tears for your murders should dart along my cheeks. Steevens.

Note return to page 1230 3O, 'twas the enemy my eyes so blear'd!] i. e. the devil, whom our author calls in Macbeth “&lblank; the common enemy of mankind.” To blear the eye was anciently a vulgar phrase signifying to deceive. So in the Taming of the Shrew: “While counterfeit supposes blear'd thine eyne.” Steevens. O 'twas the enemy my eyes so blear'd!] Scil. the devil, Satan, which word signifies in Hebrew emphatically the adversary, S&abar;&tdel;&abar;n. Percy.

Note return to page 1231 4It makes me even forget all other sorrows, And leave part with this.] The first line is like another in Othello: “&lblank; it engluts and swallows other sorrows.” Of the hemistich I do not comprehend the meaning; but suspect a corruption, and that we should read— And live apart with this. i. e. and brood over this alone. So in the Winter's Tale:   “&lblank; therefore I keep it “Lonely, apart.” To leave, however, in ancient language, signifies to cease, to desist. We might therefore produce sense by supplying the adverb to: And leave to part with this. i. e. all my other sorrows are swallowed up in this one; which, being on account of a husband I loved, is so dear to me that I am loth to part with it. Steevens. This line being unintelligible as it stands in the old copy, I have inserted the first reading proposed by Mr. Steevens, in the text. In King John we meet with a similar allusion: —“Here I and Sorrow sit.” Malone.

Note return to page 1232 5My punishments are their eternal joys.] i e. the fact for which I am to suffer, has proved their introduction to everlasting happiness. Steevens.

Note return to page 1233 6Let every father look into my deeds, And then their heirs may prosper while mine bleeds.] The concluding lines of Dr. Young's Brothers bear some resemblance to these: “Tremble, ye parents, for the child ye love, “For your Demetrius; mine is doom'd to bleed, “A guiltless victim for his father's deed.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1234 7&lblank; my answer's set;] i. e. fixed, settled. A metaphor from the fixing of colours. So in Twelfth Night: “He's drunk, sir Toby, above an hour agone; his eyes were set at eight i'the morning.” Steevens.

Note return to page 1235 8&lblank; on a deadlier execution.] A quibble between execution, the writ in law, and execution, or death, by publick justice. Steevens.

Note return to page 1236 *It was not only printed as Shakspeare's, but is entered with his name on the Stationers' Books. See also the coincidences between his other plays and this, which, considering its size, exhibits as many as will be found in Pericles.

Note return to page 1237 *On the 12th of June 1605, the following entry was made on the books of the Stationers' Company: “Twoo unnaturall murthers the one practised by Mr. Coverley a Yorkshire gent. uppon his wife, and happend on his children the 23d of April 1605. The other practised by Mrs. Browne and performed by her servant upon her husband who in Lent last were executed at Berry in Suffolke.” Again, July 1605: “A ballad of a lamentable murther done in Yorkeshire by a gent. uppon 2 of his owne children fore wounding his wife and nurse.” Again, August 24, 1605: “The Arraignement and Condempnacion of Mr. Calverly at Yorke in Auguste 1605.”

Note return to page 1238 †The frequent mixture of rhime with blank verse, may serve to strengthen this supposition.

Note return to page 1239 ‡The hero of the Yorkshire Tragedy first enters reflecting on the fatal throw that cost him the small remains of his fortune. Concerning this too he expresses himself as of a recent calamity, an occurrence that had happened immediately before his appearance on the scene. Pox o' the last throw, &c. Here Mr. Malone observes, that being just returned from London into the country, the circumstance which occasioned his final loss might yet be uppermost in his mind. I am still however influenced by the suspicion I have already encouraged; [See p. 637, 641, &c.] for considering the state of roads a century and a half ago, our hero could not have reached his seat at Calverly in less than six or eight days; and before that time was elapsed, it is natural to conceive that all his recollection of the particulars of loss must have given way to the single overwhelming idea of hopeless misery and decisive ruin. If, as Mr. Malone observes, (p. 633) this couple were just arrived from the metropolis, how happened it that no application was made by the wife (as soon as her husband was beggared by gaming) to her uncle who resided in London? Was it necessary for her to travel down into Yorkshire, only that she might return to town, and then go back again? I am more and more confirmed in my former belief, that this play was hastily and carelessly constructed with heterogeneous materials.

Note return to page 1240 *These particulars escaped me till after the last edition of Shakspeare was printed off. See note on Pericles, p. 176.

Note return to page 1241 †I affirm this on repeated inspection of their books, in which both their frequent frauds and invasions of each other's property, and their respective fines on discovery, are minutely recorded. The names of eight of the printers of the quarto editions of our author's plays, appear on the list of these delinquents.

Note return to page 1242 *Entered on the Stationers' Books, June 26, 1590.

Note return to page 1243 *Mr. Tytler, who hath incontrovertibly proved these letters to be forgeries, very well observes upon this passage, “We must believe the queen to have been of a very warm constitution indeed, to be thus writing her love-letter stark naked in the month of January in Scotland. See An Inquiry into the Evidence against Mary, Queen of Scots, 3d. edit. p. 82. A book which hath long and loudly called for the notice of Dr. Robertson!

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