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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Notes to Shakespeare, Volume III: The
+Tragedies, by Samuel Johnson
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Notes to Shakespeare, Volume III: The Tragedies
+
+Author: Samuel Johnson
+
+Editor: Arthur Sherbo
+
+Release Date: April 6, 2005 [EBook #15566]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NOTES TO SHAKESPEARE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Starner, David King, and the PG Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team
+
+
+
+
+
+THE AUGUSTAN REPRINT SOCIETY
+
+SAMUEL JOHNSON
+
+NOTES TO SHAKESPEARE
+
+
+Vol. III
+
+Tragedies
+
+Edited, with an Introduction, by
+Arthur Sherbo
+
+Los Angeles
+William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
+University of California
+1958
+
+GENERAL EDITORS
+
+Richard C. Boys, _University of Michigan_
+
+Ralph Cohen, _University of California, Los Angeles_
+
+Vinton A. Dearing, _University of California, Los Angeles_
+
+Lawrence Clark Powell, _Clark Memorial Library_
+
+
+ASSISTANT EDITOR
+
+W. Earl Britton, _University of Michigan_
+
+
+ADVISORY EDITORS
+
+Emmett L. Avery, _State College of Washington_
+
+Benjamin Boyce, _Duke University_
+
+Louis Bredvold, _University of Michigan_
+
+John Butt, _King's College, University of Durham_
+
+James L. Clifford, _Columbia University_
+
+Arthur Friedman, _University of Chicago_
+
+Louis A. Landa, _Princeton University_
+
+Samuel H. Monk, _University of Minnesota_
+
+Ernest C. Mossner, _University of Texas_
+
+James Sutherland, _University College, London_
+
+H. T. Swedenberg, Jr., _University of California, Los Angeles_
+
+
+CORRESPONDING SECRETARY
+
+Edna C. Davis, _Clark Memorial Library_
+
+
+
+
+Introduction on Tragedies
+
+Dr. Johnson's reaction to Shakespeare's tragedies is a curious one,
+compounded as it is of deep emotional involvement in a few scenes in
+some plays and a strange dispassionateness toward most of the others. I
+suspect that his emotional involvement took root when he read
+Shakespeare as a boy--one remembers the terror he experienced in reading
+of the Ghost in _Hamlet_, and it was probably also as a boy that he
+suffered that shock of horrified outrage and grief at the death of
+Cordelia that prevented him from rereading the scene until be came to
+edit the play. Johnson's deepest feelings and convictions, Professor
+Clifford has recently reminded us, can be traced back to his childhood
+and adolescence. But it is surprising to learn, as one does from his
+commentary, that other scenes in these very plays (_Hamlet_ and _King
+Lear_, and in _Macbeth_, too) leave him unmoved, if one can so interpret
+the absence of any but an explanatory note on, say, Lear's speech
+beginning "Pray, do not mock me;/I am a very foolish fond old man."
+Besides this negative evidence there is also the positive evidence of
+many notes which display the dispassionate editorial mind at work where
+one might expect from Johnson an outburst of personal feeling. There are
+enough of these outbursts to warrant our expecting others, but we are
+too frequently disappointed. Perhaps Johnson thought of most of
+Shakespeare's tragedies as "imperial tragedies" and that is why he could
+maintain a stance of aloofness; conversely, "the play of _Timon_ is a
+domestick Tragedy, and therefore strongly fastens on the attention of
+the reader." But the "tragedy" of Timon does not capture the attention
+of the modern reader, and perhaps all attempts to fix Johnson's likes
+and dislikes, and the reasons for them, in the canon of Shakespeare's
+plays must circle endlessly without ever getting to their destination.
+
+
+
+
+TRAGEDIES
+
+
+Vol. IV
+
+
+MACBETH
+
+
+(392) Most of the notes which the present editor has subjoined to this
+play were published by him in a small pamphlet in 1745.
+
+I.i (393,*) _Enter three Witches_] In order to make a true estimate of
+the abilities and merit of a writer, it it always necessary to examine
+the genius of his age, and the opinions of his contemporaries. A poet
+who should now make the whole action of his tragedy depend upon
+enchantment, and produce the chief events by the assistance of
+supernatural agents, would be censured as transgressing the bounds of
+probability, be banished from the theatre to the nursery, and condemned
+to write fairy tales instead of tragedies; but a survey of the notions
+that prevailed at the time when this play was written, will prove that
+Shakespeare was in no danger of such censures, since he only turned the
+system that was then universally admitted, to his advantage, and was far
+from overburthening the credulity of his audience.
+
+The reality of witchcraft or enchantment, which, though not strictly the
+same, are confounded in this play, has in all ages and countries been
+credited by the common people, and in most, by the learned themselves.
+These phantoms have indeed appeared more frequently, in proportion as
+the darkness of ignorance has been more gross; but it cannot be shown,
+that the brightest gleams of knowledge have at any time been sufficient
+to drive them out of the world. The time in which this kind of credulity
+was at its height, seems to have been that of the holy war, in which the
+Christians imputed all their defeats to enchantments or diabolical
+opposition, as they ascribed their success to the assistance of their
+military saints; and the learned Dr. Warburton appears to believe
+(_Suppl. to the Introduction to Don Quixote_) that the first accounts of
+enchantments were brought into this part of the world by those _who_
+returned from their eastern expeditions. But there is always some
+distance between the birth and maturity of folly as of wickedness: this
+opinion had long existed, though perhaps the application of it had in no
+foregoing age been so frequent, nor the reception so general.
+Olympiodorus, in Photius's extracts, tells us of one Libanius, who
+practised this kind of military magic, and having promised [Greek:
+choris opliton kata barbaron energein] to perform great things against
+the Barbarians without soldiers, was, at the instances of the empress
+Placidia, put to death, when he was about to have given proofs of his
+abilities. The empress shewed some kindness in her anger by cutting him
+off at a time so convenient for his reputation.
+
+But a more remarkable proof of the antiquity of this notion may be found
+in St. Chrysostom's book _de Sacerdotia_, which exhibits a scene of
+enchantments not exceeded by any romance of the middle age: he supposes
+a spectator overlooking a field of battle attended by one that points
+out all the various objects of horror, the engines of destruction, and
+the arts of slaughter. [Greek: Deichnuto de eti para tois enantiois kai
+petomenous hippous dia tinos magganeias, kai oplitas di' aeros
+pheromenous, kai pasaen goaeteias dunomin kai idean.] _Let him then
+proceed to shew him in the opposite armies horses flying by enchantment,
+armed men transported through the air, and every power and form of
+magic._ Whether St. Chrysostom believed that such performances were
+really to be seen in a day of battle, or only endeavoured to enliven his
+description, by adopting the notions of the vulgar, it is equally
+certain, that such nations were in his time received, and that therefore
+they were not imported from the Saracens in a later age; the wars with
+the Saracens however gave occasion to their propagation, not only as
+bigotry naturally discovers prodigies, but as the scene of action was
+removed to a great distance.
+
+The Reformation did not immediately arrive at its meridian, and though
+day was gradually encreasing upon us, the goblins of witchcraft still
+continued to hover in the twilight. In the time of queen Elizabeth was
+the remarkable trial of the witches of Warbois, whose conviction is
+still commemorated in an annual sermon at Huntingdon. But in the reign
+of king James, in which this tragedy was written, many circumstances
+concurred to propagate and confirm this opinion. The king, who was much
+celebrated for his knowledge, had, before his arrival in England, not
+only examined in person a woman accused of witchcraft, but had given a
+very formal account of the practices and illusions of evil spirits, the
+compacts of witches, the ceremonies used by them, the manner of
+detecting them, and the justice of punishing them, in his dialogues of
+_Daemonologie_, written in the Scottish dialect, and published at
+Edinburgh. This book was, soon after his accession, reprinted at London,
+and as the ready way to gain king James's favour was to flatter his
+speculations, the system of _Daemonologie_ was immediately adopted by
+all who desired either to gain preferment or not to lose it. Thus the
+doctrine of witchcraft was very powerfully inculcated; and as the
+greatest part of mankind have no other reason for their opinions than
+that they are in fashion, it cannot be doubted but this persuasion made
+a rapid progress, since vanity and credulity co-operated in its favour.
+The infection soon reached the parliament, who, in the first year of
+king James, made a law, by which it was enacted, chap. xii. "That if any
+person shall use any invocation or conjuration of any evil or wicked
+spirit; 2. or shall consult, covenant with, entertain, employ, feed or
+reward any evil or cursed spirit to or for any intent or purpose; 3. or
+take up any dead man, woman or child out of the grave,--or the skin,
+bone, or any part of the dead person, to be employed or used in any
+manner of witchcraft, sorcery, charm, or enchantment; 4. or shall use,
+practise or exercise any sort of witchcraft, sorcery, charm, or
+enchantment; 5. whereby any person shall be destroyed, killed, wasted,
+consumed, pined, or lamed in any part of the body; 6. That every such
+person being convicted shall suffer death." This law was repealed in our
+own time.
+
+Thus, in the time of Shakespeare, was the doctrine of witchcraft at once
+established by law and by the fashion, and it became not only unpolite,
+but criminal, to doubt it; and as prodigies are always seen in
+proportion as they are expected, witches were every day discovered, and
+multiplied as fast in some places, that bishop Hall mentions a village
+in Lancashire, where their number was greater than that of the houses.
+The jesuits and sectaries took advantage of this universal error, and
+endeavoured to promote the interest of their parties by pretended cures
+of persons afflicted by evil spirits; but they were detected and exposed
+by the clergy of the established church.
+
+Upon this general infatuation Shakespeare might be easily allowed to
+found a play, especially since he has followed with great exactness such
+histories as were then thought true; nor can it be doubted that the
+scenes of enchantment, however they may now be ridiculed, were both by
+himself and his audience thought awful and affecting.
+
+I.i.10 (396,5) Fair is foul, and foul is fair] I believe the meaning is,
+that _to us_, perverse and malignant as we are, _fair is foul, and foul
+is fair_.
+
+I.ii.14 (398,9) And Fortune, on his damned quarry smiling] Thus the old
+copy; but I am inclined to read _quarrel_. _Quarrel_ was formerly used
+for _cause_, or for _the occasion of a quarrel_, and is to be found in
+that sense in Hollingshed's account of the story of Macbeth, who, upon
+the creation of the prince of Cumberland, thought, says the historian,
+that he had _a just quarrel_, to endeavour after the crown. The sense
+therefore is, _Fortune smiling on his excrable cause_, &c. This is
+followed by Dr. Warburten. (see 1765, VI, 373, 4).
+
+I.ii.28 (400,4) Discomfort swells] _Discomfort_ the natural opposite to
+_comfort_. _Well'd_, for _flawed_, was an emendation. The common copies
+have, _discomfort swells_.
+
+  I.ii.37 (400,5) As cannons overcharg'd with double cracks,
+  So they
+  Doubly redoubled strokes upon the foe]
+
+Mr. Theobald has endeavoured to improve the sense of this passage by
+altering the punctuation thus:
+
+  --_they were
+  As cannons overcharg'd, with double cracks
+  So they redoubled strokes_--
+
+He declares, with some degree of exultation, that he has no idea of a
+_cannon charged with double cracks_; but surely the great author will
+not gain much by an alteration which makes him say of a hero, that he
+_redoubles strokes with double cracks_, an expression not more loudly to
+be applauded, or more easily pardoned than that which is rejected in its
+favour. That a cannon is charged _with thunder_, or _with double
+thunders_, may be written, not only without nonsense, but with elegance,
+and nothing else is here meant by _cracks_, which in the time of this
+writer was a word of such emphasis and dignity, that in this play he
+terms the general dissolution of nature the _crack of doom_.
+
+The old copy reads,
+
+_They doubly redoubled strokes_.
+
+I.ii.46 (401,8) So should he look, that seems to speak things strange]
+The meaning of this passage, as it now stands, is, _so should he look,
+that looks as if he told things strange_. But Rosse neither yet told
+strange things, nor could look as if he told them; Lenox only
+conjectured from his air that he had strange things to tell, and
+therefore undoubtedly said,
+
+  _What haste looks thro' his eyes?
+  So should he look, that_ teems _to speak thinks strange_.
+
+He looks like one that _is big with_ something of importance; a metaphor
+so natural that it is every day used in common discourse.
+
+I.ii.55 (402,1) Confronted him with self-comparisons] [Theobald
+interpreted "him" as Cawdor; Johnson, in 1745, accused Shakespeare of
+forgetfulness on the basis of Theobald's error; and Warburton here
+speaks of "blunder upon blunder."] The second blunderer was the present
+editor.
+
+I.iii.6 (403,5) _Aroint thee, witch_!] In one of the folio editions the
+reading is _Anoint thee_, in a sense very consistent with the common
+accounts of witches, who are related to perform many supernatural acts
+by the means of unguents, and particularly to fly through the air to the
+places where they meet at their hellish festivals. In this sense,
+_anoint thee, Witch_, will mean, _Away, Witch, to your infernal
+assembly_. This reading I was inclined to favour, because I had met with
+the word _aroint_ in no other authour till looking into Hearne's
+Collections I found it in a very old drawing, that he has published, in
+which St. Patrick is represented visiting hell, and putting the devils
+into great confusion by his presence, of whom one that is driving the
+damned before him with a prong, has a label issuing out of his mouth
+with these words, OUT OUT ARONGT, of which the last is evidently the
+same with _aroint_, and used in the same sense as in this passage.
+
+I.iii.15 (405,8) And the very points they blew] As the word _very_ is
+here of no other use than to fill up the verse, it is likely that
+Shakespeare wrote _various_, which might be easily mistaken for _very_,
+being either negligently read, hastily pronounced, or imperfectly heard.
+
+I.iii.21 (405,9) He shall live a man forbid] Mr. Theobald has very
+justly explained _forbid_ by _accursed_, but without giving any reason
+of his interpretation. To _bid_ is originally _to pray_, as in this
+Saxon fragment,
+
+  Ethe iy şiy ş bit y bote
+  _He is wise that_ prays and makes amends.
+
+As to forbid_ therefore implies to _prohibit_, in opposition to the word
+_bid_ in its present sense, it signifies by the same kind of opposition
+to _curse_, when it is derived from the same word in its primitive
+meaning.
+
+I.iii.42 (409,3) are you aught/That man may question?] Are ye any beings
+with which man is permitted to hold converse, or of which it is lawful
+_to ask questions_?
+
+I.iii.53 (410,5) Are ye fantastical] By _fantastical_, he means
+creatures of fantasy or imagination; the question is, Are these real
+beings before us, or are we deceived by illusions of fancy?
+
+I.iii.97 (412,8) As thick as tale] [As thick as hail] Was Mr. Pope's
+correction. The old copy has,
+
+  --_As thick_ as tale
+  _Can_ post _with_ post;--
+
+which perhaps is not amiss, meaning that the news came as _thick_ as a
+_tale_ can _travel_ with the _post_. Or we may read, perhaps yet better,
+
+  --_As thick as tale_
+  Came _post with post_;--
+
+That is, posts arrived as fast as they could be counted.
+
+I.iii.130 (414,4) This supernatural solliciting] _Solliciting_ is
+rather, in my opinion, _incitement_ than _information_.
+
+I.iii.134 (414,5) why do I yield] To _yield_ is, simply, to _give way
+to_.
+
+I.iii.137 (414,6) Present fears/Are less than horrible imaginings] [W:
+feats] _Present fears_ are _fears of things present_, which Macbeth
+declares, and every man has found, to be less than the _imagination_
+presents them while the objects are yet distant. _Fears_ is right.
+
+I.iii.140 (415,7) single state of man] The _single state of man_ seems
+to be used by Shakespeare for an _individual_, in opposition to a
+_commonwealth_, or _conjunct body_.
+
+I.iii.40 (415,8) function/Is smother'd in surmise; and nothing is,/ But
+what is not] All powers of action are oppressed and crushed by one
+overwhelming image in the mind, and nothing is present to me, but that
+which is really future. Of things now about me I have no perception,
+being intent wholly on that which has yet no existence.
+
+I.iii.147 (415,9) Time and the hour runs through the roughest day] I
+suppose every reader is disgusted at the tautology in this passage,
+_Time and the hour_, and will therefore willingly believe that
+Shakespeare wrote it thus,
+
+  _Come what come may_,
+  Time! on!--_the hour runs thro' the roughest day_.
+
+Macbeth is deliberating upon the events which are to befall him, but
+finding no satisfaction from his own thoughts, he grows impatient of
+reflection, and resolves to wait the close without harrassing hinaelf
+with conjectures.
+
+  _Come what come may_.
+
+But to shorten the pain of suspense, he calls upon Time In the usual
+stile of ardent desire, to quicken his motion,
+
+  _Time! on!_ --
+
+He then comforts himself with the reflection that all his perplexity
+must have an end,
+
+  --_the hour runs thro' the roughest day._
+
+This conjecture is supported by the passage in the letter to his lady,
+in which he says, _they referred me to the_ coming on of time, _with
+Hail, King that shalt be_.
+
+I.iii.149 (416,1) My dull brain was wrought] My head was _worked_,
+_agitated_, put into commotion.
+
+I.iv.9 (417,3) studied in his death] Instructed in the art of dying. It
+was usual to say _studied_, for _learned_ in science.
+
+I.iv.12 (417,4) To find the mind's construction in the face] The
+_construction of the mind_ is, I believe, a phrase peculiar to
+Shakespeare; it implies the _frame_ or _disposition_ of the mind, by
+which it is determined to good or ill.
+
+I.iv.26 (418,5) Which do but what they should, by doing everything, Safe
+toward your love and honour] Of the last line of this speech, which is
+certainly, as it is now read, unintelligible, an emendation has been
+attempted, which Dr. Warburton and Dr. Theobald once admitted as the
+true reading:
+
+  --_our duties
+  Are to your throne and state, children and servants,
+  Which do but what they should, in doing every thing_
+  Fiefs _to your love and honour._
+
+My esteem for these critics inclines me to believe that they cannot be
+much pleased with these expressions _fiefs to love_, or _fiefs to
+honour_, and that they have proposed this alteration rather because no
+other occured to them, than because they approved of it. I shall
+therefore propose a bolder change, perhaps with no better success, but
+_sua cuique placent_. I read thus,
+
+  --_our duties
+  Are to your throne and state, children and servants
+  Which do but what they should, in doing_ nothing,
+  Save _toward_ your love and honour.
+
+We do but perform our duty when we contract all our views to your
+service, when we act with _no other_ principle than regard to _your love
+and honour_.
+
+It is probable that this passage was first corrupted by writing _safe_
+for _save_, and the lines then stood thus:
+
+  --_doing nothing
+  Safe toward your love and honour._
+
+which the next transcriber observing to be wrong, and yet not being able
+to discover the real fault, altered to the present reading.
+
+Dr. Warburton has since changed _fiefs_ to _fief'd_, and Hanmer has
+altered _safe_ to _shap'd_. I am afraid none of us have hit the right
+word.
+
+I.v.2 (420, 6) _by the perfected report_] By the best intelligence. Dr.
+Warburton would read, _perfected_, and explains _report_ by
+_prediction_. Little regard can be paid to an emendation that instead of
+clearing the sense, makes it more difficult.
+
+I.v.23 (420, 7) thoud'st have, great Glamis,/That which cries, _Thus
+thou must do, if thou have it_] As the object of Macbeth's desire is
+here introduced speaking of itself, it is necessary to read,
+
+  --_thoud'st have, great Glamis,
+  That which cries_, thus thou must do, if thou have _me_.
+
+I.v.39 (422, 8) The raven himself is hoarse] Dr. Warburton reads,
+
+  --_The raven himself's_ not _hoarse_.
+
+Yet I think the present words may stand. The messenger, says the
+servant, had hardly breath _to make up his message_; to which the lady
+answers mentally, that he may well want breath, such a message would add
+hoarseness to the raven. That even the bird, whose harsh voice is
+accustomed to predict calamities, could not _croak the entrance of_
+Duncan but in a note of unwonted harshness.
+
+I.v.42 (422, 2) mortal thoughts] This expression signifies not _the
+thoughts of mortals_, but _murtherous, deadly_, or _destructive
+designs_. So in act 5,
+
+  _Hold fast the_ mortal _sword_.
+
+And in another place,
+
+  _With twenty_ mortal _murthers_.
+
+I.v.47 (422, 3) nor keep peace between/The effect, and it!] The intent
+of lady Macbeth evidently is to wish that no womanish tenderness, or
+conscientious remorse, may hinder her purpose from proceeding to effect;
+but neither this, nor indeed any other sense, is expressed by the
+present reading, and therefore it cannot be doubted that Shakespeare
+wrote differently, perhaps thus,
+
+  _That no compunctious visitings of nature
+  Shake my fell purpose, nor keep_ pace _between
+  Th' effect, and it_.--
+
+To _keep_ pace _between_ may signify _to pass between_, to _intervene_.
+_Pace_ is on many occasions a favourite of Shakespeare's. This phrase is
+indeed not usual in this sease, but was it not its novelty that gave
+occasion to the present corruption? [The sense is, _that no compunctious
+visitings of nature_ may prevail upon her, to give place in her mind to
+_peaceful_ thoughts, or to rest one moment in quiet, from the hour of
+her purpose to its full completion in the effect. REVISAL.] This writer
+thought himself perhaps very sagacious that be found a meaning which
+nobody missed, the difficulty still remains how such a meaning is made
+by the words. (see 1765, VI, 394, 6)
+
+I.v.49 (423, 5) take my milk for gall] _Take_ away _my milk_, and put
+_gall_ into the place.
+
+I.v.51 (423, 6) You wait on nature's mischief!] _Nature's mischief_ is
+mischief done to nature, violation of nature's order committed by
+wickedness.
+
+I.v.55 (423,8) To cry, _hold, hold_!] On this passage there is a long
+criticism in the _Rambler_.
+
+I.v.58 (424,1) This ignorant present time] _Ignorant_ has here the
+signification of _unknowing_; that it, I feel by anticipation these
+future hours, of which, according to the process of nature, the present
+time would be _ignorant_.
+
+I.vi.3 (425,3) our gentle senses] _Senses_ are nothing more _than each
+man's sense_. _Gentle senses_ is very elegant, as it means _placid_,
+_calm_, _composed_, and intimates the peaceable delight of a fine day.
+(see 1765, VI,396,2)
+
+I.vi.7 (426,5) coigne of 'vantage] Convenient corner.
+
+I.vi.13 (426,7) How you should bid god-yield as for your pains] I
+believe _yield_, or, as it is in the folio of 1623, _eyld_, is a
+corrupted contraction of _shield_. The wish implores not _reward_ but
+_protection_.
+
+I.vii.1 (428,1) If it were _done_] A man of learning recommends another
+punctuation:
+
+  _If it were done, when 'tis done, then 'twere well.
+  It were done quickly, if, &c._
+
+I.vii.2 (428,2) If the assassination/Could tramel up the consequence] Of
+this soliloquy the meaning is not very clear; I have never found the
+readers of Shakespeare agreeing about it. I understand it thus,
+
+"If that which I am about to do, when it is once _done_ and executed,
+were _done_ and ended without any following effects, it would then be
+best _to do it quickly_; if the murder could terminate in itself, and
+restrain the regular course of consequences, if _its success_ could
+secure _its surcease_, if being once done _successfully_, without
+detection, it could _fix a period_ to all vengeance and enquiry, so that
+_this blow_ might be all that I have to do, and this anxiety all that I
+have to suffer; if this could be my condition, even _here_ in _this
+world_, in this contracted period of temporal existence, on this narrow
+_bank_ in the ocean of eternity, _I would jump the life to come_, I
+would venture upon the deed without care of any future state. But this
+is one of _these cases_ in which judgment is pronounced and vengeance
+inflicted upon as _here_ in our present life. We teach others to do as
+we have done, and are punished by our own example." (1773)
+
+I.vii.4 (428,3) With his surcease, success] I think the reasoning
+requires that we should read,
+
+  _With its_ success surcease.
+
+I.vii.6 (429,4) shoal of time] This is Theobald's emendation,
+undoubtedly right. The old edition has _school_, and Dr. Warburton
+_shelve_.
+
+I.vii.22 (429,7) or heavens cherubin, hors'd/Upon the sightless couriers
+of the air] [W: couriers] _Courier_ is only _runner_. _Couriers of air_
+are _winds_, air in motion. _Sightless_ is _invisible_.
+
+I.vii.25 (430,8) That tears shall drown the wind] Alluding to the
+remission of the wind in a shower.
+
+I.vii.28 (430,9) _Enter Lady_] The arguments by which lady Macbeth
+persuades her husband to commit the murder, afford a proof of
+Shakespeare's knowledge of human nature. She urges the excellence and
+dignity of courage, a glittering idea which has dazzled mankind from age
+to age, and animated sometimes the house-breaker, and sometimes the
+conqueror; but this sophism Macbeth has for ever destroyed, by
+distinguishing true from false fortitude, in a line and a half; of which
+it may almost be said, that they ought to bestow immortality on the
+author, though all his other productions had been lost:
+
+  _I dare do all that become a man,
+  Who dares do more, is none_.
+
+This topic, which has been always employed with too much success, is
+used in this scene with peculiar propriety, to a soldier by a woman.
+Courage is the distinguishing virtue of a soldier, and the reproach of
+cowardice cannot be borne by any man from a woman, without great
+impatience.
+
+She then urges the oaths by which he had bound himself to murder Duncan,
+another art of sophistry by which men have sometimes deluded their
+consciences, and persuaded themselves that what would be criminal in
+others is virtuous in them; this argument Shakespeare, whose plan
+obliged him to make Macbeth yield, has not confuted, though he might
+easily have shewn that a former obligation could not be vacated by a
+latter: that obligations laid on us by a higher power, could not be
+over-ruled by obligations which we lay upon ourselves.
+
+I.vii.41 (431,1)
+
+  --Whouldst thou have that,
+  Which then esteem'st the ornament of life,
+  And live a coward in thine own esteem?]
+
+In this there seems to be no reasoning. I should read,
+
+  Or _live a coward in thine own esteem_?
+
+Unless we choose rather,
+
+  --_Wouldst thou_ leave _that_.
+
+I.vii.45 (431,2) Like the poor cat i' the adage?] The adage alluded to
+is, _The cat loves fish, but dares not wet her feet, Catus amat pisces,
+sed men vult tingere plantas_.
+
+I.vii.64 (432,5) Will I with wine and wassel so convince] To _convince_
+is in Shakespeare to _overpower_ or _subdue_, as in this play,
+
+  --_Their malady_ convinces
+  _The great assay of art_.
+
+I.vii.67 (433,6) A limbeck only] That is, shall be only a vessel to emit
+_fumes_ or _vapours_.
+
+I.vii.71 (433,7) our great quell] _Quell_ is _murder_. _manquellers_
+being in the old language the term for which _murderers_ is now used.
+
+II.i (434,8) _Enter Banquo, and Fleance with a torch before him_] The
+place is not mark'd in the old edition, nor is it easy to say where this
+encounter can be. It is not in the _hall_, as the editors have all
+supposed it, for Banquo sees the sky; it is not far from the bedchamber,
+as the conversation shews: it must be in the inner court of the castle,
+which Banquo might properly cross in his way to bed.
+
+II.i.25 (435,2) If you shall cleave to my consent, Then 'tis,/It shall
+make honour for you] Macbeth expressed his thought with affected
+obscurity; he does not mention the royalty, though he apparently has it
+in his mind, _If you shall cleave to my consent_, if you shall concur
+with me when I determine to accept the crown, _when 'tis_, when that
+happens which the prediction promises, _it shall make honour for you_.
+
+II.i.49 (437,6) Now o'er the one half world/Nature seems dead] That is,
+_over our hemisphere all action and motion seem to have ceased_. This
+image, which is perhaps the most striking that poetry can produce, has
+been adopted by Dryden in his _Conquest of Mexico_:
+
+  _All things are hush'd as Nature's self lay dead,
+  The mountains seem to nod their drowsy head;
+  The little birds in dreams their song repeat,
+  And sleeping flow'rs beneath the night dews sweat.
+  Even lust and envy sleep!_
+
+These lines, though so well known, I have transcribed, that the contrast
+between them and this passage of Shakespeare may be more accurately
+observed.
+
+Night is described by two great poets, but one describes a night of
+quiet, the other of perturbation. In the night of Dryden, all the
+disturbers of the world are laid asleep; in that of Shakespeare, nothing
+but sorcery, lust, and murder, is awake. He that reads Dryden, finds
+himself lull'd with serenity, and disposed to solitude and
+contemplation. He that peruses Shakspeare looks round alarmed, and
+starts to find himself alone. One is the night of a lover, the other, of
+a murderer.
+
+II.i.52 (438,8)
+
+  --wither'd Murther,
+  --thus with hia stealthy pace,
+  With Tarquin's ravishing strides, tow'rds his design
+  moves like a ghost.--]
+
+This was the reading of this passage [ravishing sides] in all the
+editions before that of Mr. Pope, who for _sides_, inserted in the text
+_strides_, which Mr. Theobald has tacitly copied from him, though a more
+proper alteration might perhaps have been made. A _ravishing stride_ is
+an action of violence, impetuosity, and tumult, like that of a savage
+rushing at his prey; whereas the poet is here attempting to exhibit an
+image of secrecy and caution, of anxious circumspection and guilty
+timidity, the _stealthy pace_ of a _ravisher_ creeping into the chamber
+of a virgin, and of an assassin approaching the bed of him whom he
+proposes to murder, without awaking him; these he describes as _moving
+like ghosts_, whose progression is so different from _strides_, that it
+has been in all ages represented te be, as Milton expresses it,
+
+  _Smooth sliding without step_.
+
+This hemiatic will afford the true reading of this place, which is, I
+think, to be corrected thus:
+
+  --_and wither'd Murder_.
+  --_thus with his_ stealthy _pace_.
+  _With Tarquin ravishing_, slides _tow'rds his design_,
+  _Moves like a ghost_.--
+
+_Tarquin_ is in this place the general name of a ravisher, and the sense
+is, Now is the time in which every one is a-sleep, but those who are
+employed in wickedness; the witch who is sacrificing to Hecate, and the
+ravisher, and the murderer, who, like me, are stealing upon their prey.
+
+When the reading is thus adjusted, he wishes with great propriety, in
+the following lines, that the _earth_ may not _hear his steps_.
+
+II.i.59 (439,3) And take the present horrour from the time,/Which now
+suits with it] Of this passage an alteration was once proposed by me, of
+which I have now a less favourable opinion, yet will insert it, as it
+may perhaps give some hint to other critics:
+
+  _And take the present horrour from the time,
+  Which now suits with it_.--
+
+I believe every one that has attentively read this dreadful soliloquy is
+disappointed at the conclusion, which, if not wholly unintelligible, is,
+at least, obscure, nor can be explained into any sense worthy of the
+authour. I shall therefore propose a slight alteration:
+
+  --_Thou sound and firm-set earth,
+  Hear not my steps, which way they walk, for fear
+  Thy very stones prate of my where-about,
+  And talk--the present horrour of the time!
+  That now suits with it_.--
+
+Macbeth has, in the foregoing lines, disturbed his imagination by
+enumerating all the terrors of the night; at length he is wrought up to
+a degree of frenzy, that makes him afraid of some supernatural discovery
+of his design, and calls out to the stones not to betray him, not to
+declare where he walks, nor _to talk_.--As he is going to say of what,
+he discovers the absurdity of his suspicion, and pauses, but is again
+overwhelmed by his guilt, and concludes, that such are the horrors of
+the present night, that the stones may be expected to cry out against
+him:
+
+  That _now suits with it_.--
+
+He observes in a subsequent passage, that on such occasions _stones have
+been known to move_. It is now a very just and strong picture of a man
+about to commit a deliberate murder under the strongest conviction of
+the wickedness of his design. Of this alteration, however, I do not now
+see much use, and certainly see no necessity.
+
+Whether to _take horrour from the time_ means not rather to _catch_ _it_
+as communicated, than to _deprive the time of horrour_, deserves te be
+considered.
+
+II.ii.37 (443,6) sleave of care] A skein of silk is called a _sleave_ of
+silk, as I learned from Mr. Seward, the ingenious editor of Beaumont and
+Fletcher.
+
+II.ii.56 (444,8) gild the faces of the grooms withal,/For it must seem
+their guilt] Could Shakespeare possibly mean to play upon the similitude
+of _gild_ and _guilt_.
+
+II.iii.45 (447,5) I made a shift to cast him] To _cast him up_, to ease
+my stomach of him. The equivocation is between _cast_ or _throw_, as a
+term of wrestling, and _cast_ or _cast up_.
+
+II.iii.61 (448,7)
+
+  --strange screams of death;
+  And prophesying, with accents terrible
+  Of dire combustions, and confus'd events,
+  New hatch'd to the woeful time: The obscure bird
+  Clamour'd the live-long night: some say the earth
+  Was feverous, and did shake]
+
+Those lines I think should be rather regulated thus:
+
+  --_prophecying with accents terrible,
+  Of dire combustions and cosfus'd events.
+  New-hatch'd to th' woful time, the obscure bird
+  Clamour'd the live-long night.  Some say the earth
+  Was fev'rous and did shake._
+
+A _prophecy_ of an _event new hatch'd_, seems to be a _prophecy_ of an
+_event past_. And _a prophecy new hatch'd_ is a wry expression. The term
+_new hatch'd_ is properly applicable to a _bird_, and that birds of ill
+omen should be _new-hatch'd to the woful time_, that is, should appear
+in uncommon numbers, is very consistent with the rest of the prodigies
+here mentioned, and with the universal disorder into which nature is
+described as thrown, by the perpetration of this horrid murder. (see
+1765, VI, 413, 7)
+
+II.iii.117 (452,3) Here, lay Duncan,/His silver skin lac'd with his
+golden blood] Mr. Pope has endeavoured to improve one of these lines by
+substituting _goary blood_ for _golden blood_; but it may easily be
+admitted that he who could on such an occasion talk of _lacing the
+silyer skin_, would _lace it_ with _golden blood_. No amendment can be
+made to this line, of which every word is equally faulty, but by a
+general blot.
+
+It is not improbable, that Shakespeare put these forced and unnatural
+metaphors into the mouth of Macbeth as a mark of artifice and
+dissimulation, to shew the difference between the studied language of
+hypocrisy, and the natural outcries of sudden passion. This whole speech
+so considered, is a remarkable instance of judgment, as it consists
+entirely of antithesis and metaphor.
+
+II.iii.122 (432,5) Unmannerly breech'd with gore] An _unmannerly
+dagger_, and a _dagger breech'd_, or as in some editions _breech'd
+with_, gore, are expressions not easily to be understood. There are
+undoubtedly two faults in this passage, which I have endeavored to take
+away by reading,
+
+  --_daggers_
+  Unmanly drench'd _with gore_:--
+
+_I saw_ drench'd _with the King's blood the fatal daggers, not only
+instruments of murder but evidence of cowardice_.
+
+Each of these words might easily be confounded with that which I have
+substituted for it, by a hand not exact, a casual blot, or a negligent
+inspection, [W: Unmanly reech'd] Dr. Warburton has, perhaps, rightly put
+_reach'd_ for _breech'd_.
+
+II.iii.138 (454,8)
+
+  In the great hand of God I stand; and thence,
+  Against the undivulg'd pretence I fight
+  Of treasonous malice]
+
+_Pretence_ is not act, but _simulation_, a _pretence_ of the traitor,
+whoever he might be, to suspect some other of the murder. I here fly to
+the protector of innocence from any charge which, yet _undivulg'd_, the
+traitor may pretend to fix upon me.
+
+II.iii.147 (454,7) This murtherous shaft that's shot,/Hath not yet
+lighted] The design to fix the murder opon some innocent person, has not
+yet taken effect.
+
+II.iv.15 (456,9) minions of their race] Theobald reads,
+
+  --_minions of_ the _race_,
+
+very probably, and very poetically.
+
+II.iv.24 (456,1) What good could they pretend?] To _pretend_ is here to
+_propose to themselves_, to _set before themselves_ as a motive of
+action.
+
+III.i.7 (457,2) As upon thee, Macbeth, their speeches shine] _Shine_,
+for appear with all the _lustre_ of _conspicuous_ truth.
+
+III.i.56 (459,4) as, it is said,/Mark Anthony's was by Caesar] Though I
+would not often assume the critic's privilege of being confident where
+certainty cannot be obtained, nor indulge myself too far in departing
+from the established reading; yet I cannot but propose the rejection of
+this passage, which I believe was an insertion of some player, that
+having so much learning as to discover to what Shakespeare alluded, was
+not willing that his audience should be less knowing than himself, and
+has therefore weakened the authour's sense by the intrusion of a remote
+and useless image into a speech bursting from a man wholly possess'd
+with his own present condition, and therefore not at leisure to explain
+his own allusions to himself. If these words are taken away, by which
+not only the thought but the numbers are injured, the lines of
+Shakespeare close together without any traces of a breach.
+
+  _My genius is rebuk'd. He chid the sisters._
+
+This note was written before I was fully acquainted with Shakespeare's
+manner, and I do not now think it of much weight; for though the words,
+which I was once willing to eject, seem interpolated, I believe they may
+still be genuine, and added by the authour in his revision. The authour
+of the _Revisal_ cannot admit the measure to be faulty. There is only
+one foot, he says, put for another. This is one of the effects of
+literature in minds not naturally perspicacious. Every boy or girl finds
+the metre imperfect, but the pedant comes to its defence with a
+tribrachys or an anapaest, and sets it right at once by applying to one
+language the rules of another. If we may be allowed to change feet, like
+the old comic writers, it will not be easy to write a line not metrical.
+To hint this once, is sufficient. (see 1765, VI, 424, 2)
+
+III.i.65 (460,5) For Banquo's issue have I fil'd my mind] [W: 'filed]
+This mark of contraction is not necessary. To _file_ is in the bishop's
+_Bible_.
+
+III.i.69 (460,6) the common enemy of man] It is always an entertainment
+to an inquisitive reader, to trace a sentiment to its original source;
+and therefore, though the term _enemy of man_, applied to the devil, is
+in itself natural and obvious, yet some may be pleased with being
+informed, that Shakespeare probably borrowed it from the first lines of
+the Destruction of Troy, a book which he is known to have read. This
+expression, however, he might have had in many other places. The word
+_fiend_ signifies enemy.
+
+III.i.71 (461,7) come, Fate, into the list,/And champion me to the
+utterance!] This passage will be best explained by translating it into
+the language from whence the only word of difficulty in it is borrowed,
+"_Que la destinee se rende en lice, et qu'elle me donne un defi a
+l'outrance_." A challenge or a combat _a l'outrance_, _to extremity_,
+was a fix'd term in the law of arms, used when the combatants engaged
+with an _odium internecinum, an intention to destroy each other_, in
+opposition to trials of skill at festivals, or on other occasions, where
+the contest was only for reputation or a prize. The sense therefore is,
+_Let Fate, that has foredoom'd the exaltation of the sons of Banquo,
+enter the lists against me, with the utmost animosity, in defence of its
+own decrees, which I will endeavour to invalidate, whatever be the
+danger_. [Johnson quotes Warburton's note] After the former explication,
+Dr. Warburton was desirous to seem to do something; and he has therefore
+made _Fate_ the _marshal_, whom I had made the _champion_, and has left
+Macbeth to enter the lists without an opponent.
+
+III.i.88 (462,9) Are you so gospell'd] Are you of that degree of precise
+virtue? _Gospeller_ was a name of contempt given by the Papists to the
+Lollards, the puritans of early times, and the precursors of
+_protestantism_.
+
+III.i.94 (463,1) Showghes] _Showghes_ are probably what we now call
+_shocks_, demi-wolves, _lyciscae_; dogs bred between wolves and dogs.
+(1773)
+
+III.i.95 (463,2) the valued file] In this speech the word _file_ occurs
+twice, and seems in both places to have a meaning different from its
+present use. The expression, _valued file_, evidently means, a list or
+catalogue of value. A station in the _file_, and not in the worst rank,
+may mean, a place in the list of manhood, and not in the lowest place.
+But _file_ seems rather to mean in this place, a post of honour; the
+first rank, in opposition to the last; a meaning which I have not
+observed in any other place. (1773)
+
+III.i.112 (465,2) So weary with disasters, tug'd with fortune] _Tug'd
+with fortune_ may be, _tug'd_ or _worried_ by fortune.
+
+III.i.130 (465,4) Acquaint you with the perfect spy o' the time] What is
+meant by _the spy of the time_, it will be found difficult to explain;
+and therefore sense will be cheaply gained by a slight
+alteration.--Macbeth is assuring the assassins that they shall not want
+directions to find Banquo, and therefore says,
+
+  _I will_--
+  _Acquaint you with_ a perfect spy _o' the time_.
+
+Accordingly a third murderer joins them afterwards at the place of
+action.
+
+_Perfect_ is _well instructed_, or _well informed_, as in this play,
+
+  _Though in your state of honour I am_ perfect.
+
+though I am _well acquainted_ with your quality and rank. [Warburton
+explained this as "the critical juncture"] How the _critical juncture_
+is the _spy o' the time_ I know not, but I think my own conjecture
+right.
+
+III.ii.38 (467,1) nature's copy's not eternal] The _copy_, the _lease_,
+by which they hold their lives from nature, has its time of termination
+limited.
+
+III.iii.1 (469,6) But who did bid thee join with us?] The meaning of
+this abrupt dialogue is this. The _perfect spy_, mentioned by Macbeth in
+the foregoing scene, has, before they enter upon the stage, given them
+the directions which were promised at the time of their agreement; yet
+one of the murderers suborned suspects him of intending to betray them;
+the other observes, that, by his exact knowledge of _what they were to
+do_, he appears to be employed by Macbeth, and needs not be mistrusted.
+
+III.iv.1 (470,9) You know your own degrees, sit down: at first,/And last
+the hearty welcome] As this passage stands [sit down:/At first and
+last], not only the numbers are very imperfect, but the sense, if any
+can be found, weak and contemptible. The numbers will be improved by
+reading,
+
+  --_sit down at first,
+  And last a hearty welcome_.
+
+But for _last_ should then be written _next_. I believe the true reading
+is,
+
+  _You know your own degrees, sit down_.--_To first
+  And last the hearty welcome_.
+
+All of whatever degree, from the highest to the lowest, may be assured
+that their visit is well received.
+
+III.iv.14 (471,1) 'Tis better thee without, than he within] The sense
+requires that this passage should be read thus:
+
+  _'Tis better_ thee _without, than_ him _within_.
+
+That is, _I am better pleased that the blood of Banquo should be on thy
+face than in his body_.
+
+The authour might mean, _It is better that Banquo's blood were on thy
+face, than_ he _in this room_. Expressions thus imperfect are common in
+his works.
+
+III.iv.33 (472,2) the feast is sold] The meaning is,--That which ia not
+_given cheerfully_, cannot be called a _gift_, it is something that must
+be paid for. (1773)
+
+III.iv.57 (473,3) extend his passion] Prolong his suffering; make his
+fit longer.
+
+III.iv.60 (473,4) O proper stuff!] This speech is rather too long for
+the circumstances in which it is spoken. It had begun better at, _Shame
+itself_!
+
+III.iv.63 (473,5)
+
+  Oh, these flaws, and starts,
+  (Impostors to true fear,) would well become
+  A woman's story at a winter's fire,
+  Authoriz'd by her grandam]
+
+_Flaws_, are _sudden gusts_. The authour perhaps wrote,
+
+  --_Those flaws and starts_,
+  Impostures true to fear _would well become_;
+  _A woman's story_,--
+
+These symptoms of terrour and amazement might better become _impostures
+true_ only _to fear, might become a coward at the recital of such
+falsehoods as no man could credit, whose understanding was not weaken'd
+by his terrours; tales told by a woman over a fire on the authority of
+her grandam_.
+
+III.iv.76 (474,6) Ere human statute purg'd the gentle weal] The _gentle
+weal_, is, the _peaceable community_, the state made quiet and safe by
+_human statutes_.
+
+  _Mollia securae peragebant otia gentes_.
+
+III.iv.92 (475,7) And all to all] I once thought it should be _hail_ to
+all, but I now think that the present reading is right.
+
+III.iv.105 (475,8) If trembling I inhabit] This is the original reading,
+which Mr. Pope changed to _inhibit_, which _inhibit_ Dr. Warburton
+interprets _refuse_. The old reading may stand, at least as well as the
+emendation. Suppose we read,
+
+  _If trembling I_ evade _it_.
+
+III.iv.110 (476,9) Can such things be,/And overcome us, like a summer's
+cloud,/Without our special wonder?] [W: Can't] The alteration is
+introduced by a misinterpretation. The meaning is not that _these things
+are like a summer-cloud_, but can such wonders as these pass over us
+without wonder, as a casual summer cloud passes over us.
+
+III.iv.112 (477,1) You make me strange/Even to the disposition that I
+owe] You produce in me an _alienation of mind_, which is probably the
+expression which our author intended to paraphrase.
+
+III.iv.124 (477,2) Augurs, and understood relations] By the word
+_relation_ is understood the _connection_ of effects with causes; to
+_understand relations_ as _an angur_, is to know how these things
+_relate_ to each other, which have no visible combination or dependence.
+
+III.iv.141 (479,5) You lack the season of all natures, sleep] I take the
+meaning to be, _you want sleep_, which _seasons_, or gives the relish to
+_all nature_. _Indiget somni vitae condimenti_.
+
+III.v.24 (480,8) vaporous drop, profound] That is, a drop that has
+_profound_, _deep_, or _hidden_ qualities.
+
+III.v.26 (480,9) slights] Arts; subtle practices.
+
+III.vi (481,1) _Enter Lenox, and another Lord_] As this tragedy, like
+the rest of Shakespeare's, is perhaps overstocked with personages, it is
+not easy to assign a reason why a nameless character should be
+introduced here, since nothing is said that might not with equal
+propriety have been put into the mouth of any other disaffected man. I
+believe therefore that in the original copy it was written with a very
+common form of contraction Lenox and An. for which the transcriber,
+instead of Lenox and Angus, set down Lenox and _another Lord_. The
+author had indeed been more indebted to the transcriber's fidelity and
+diligence had he committed no errors of greater importance.
+
+III.vi.36 (482,3) and receive free honours] [_Free_ for grateful.
+WARBURTON.] How can _free_ be _grateful_? It may be either honours
+_freely bestowed_, not purchased by crimes; or honours _without
+slavery_, without dread of a tyrant.
+
+IV.i (484,5) As this is the chief scene of enchantment in the play, it
+is proper in this place to observe, with how much judgment Shakespeare
+has selected all the circumstances of his infernal ceremonies, and how
+exactly he has conformed to common opinions and traditions:
+
+  _Thrice the brinded cat hath mew'd_.
+
+The usual form in which familiar spirits are reported to converse with
+witches, is that of a cat. A witch, who was tried about half a century
+before the time of Shakespeare, had a cat named Rutterkin, as the spirit
+of one of these witches was Grimalkin; and when any mischief was to be
+done she used to bid Rutterkin _go and fly_, but once when she would
+have sent Rutterkin to torment a daughter of the countess of Rutland,
+instead of _going_ or _flying_, he only cried _mew_, from whence she
+discovered that the lady was out of his power, the power of witches
+being not universal, but limited, as Shakespeare has taken care to
+inculcate:
+
+  _Though his bark cannot be lost,
+  Yet it shall be tempest-tost._
+
+The common afflictions which the malice of witches produced were
+melancholy, fits, and loss of flesh, which are threatened by one of
+Shakespeare's witches:
+
+  _Weary sev'n nights, nine times nine,
+  Shall he dwindle, peak, and pine._
+
+It was likewise their practice to destroy the cattle of their
+neighbours, and the farmers have to this day many ceremonies to secure
+their cows and other cattle from witchcraft; but they seem to have been
+most suspected of malice against swine. Shakespeare has accordingly made
+one of his witches declare that she has been _killing swine_, and Dr.
+Harsenet observes, that about that time, _a sow could not be ill of the
+measles, nor a girl of the sullens, but some old woman was charged with
+witchcraft_.
+
+  _Toad, that under the cold stone,
+  Days and night has, thirty-one,
+  Swelter'd venom sleeping got;
+  Boil thou first i'the charm'd pot_.
+
+Toads have likewise long lain under the reproach of being by some means
+accessory to witchcraft, for which reason Shakespeare, in the first
+scene of this play, calls one of the spirits Padocke or Toad, and now
+takes care to put a toad first into the pot. When Vaninus was seized at
+Theleuse, there was found at his lodgings _ingens Bufo Vitro inclusus, a
+great toad shut in a vial_, upon which those that prosecuted him,
+_Veneficium exprebrabent, charged him_, I suppose, _with witchcraft_.
+
+  _Fillet of fenny snake,
+  In the cauldron boil and bakae:
+  Eye of newt, and toe of frog;--
+  For a charm, &c_.
+
+The propriety of these ingredients may be known by consulting the books
+_de Viribus Animalium_ and _de Mirabilibus Mundi_, ascribed to Albertus
+Magnus, in which the reader, who has time and credulity, may discover
+very wonderful secrets.
+
+  _Finger of birth-strangled babe,
+  Ditch deliver'd by a drab_;--
+
+It has been already mentioned in the law against witches, that they are
+supposed to take up dead bodies to use in enchantments, which was
+confessed by the woman whom king James examined, and who had of a dead
+body that was divided in one of their assemblies, two fingers for her
+share. It is observable that Shakespeare, on this great occasion, which
+involves the fate of a king, multiplies all the circumstanaces of
+horror. The babe, whose finger is used, must be strangled in its birth;
+the grease must not only be human, but must have dropped from a gibbet,
+the gibbet of a murderer; and even the sow, whose blood is used, must
+have offended nature by devouring her own farrow. These are touches of
+judgment and genius.
+
+  _And now about the cauldron sing--
+  Black spirits and white,
+     Blue spirits and grey,
+  Mingle, mingle, mingle,
+  You that mingle say_.
+
+And in a former part,
+
+  --_weyward sisters, hand in hand,--
+  Thus do go about, about.
+  Thrice to thine, and thrice to mine.
+  And thrice again to make up nine!_
+
+These two passages I have brought together, because they both seem
+subject to the objection of too much levity for the solemnity of
+enchantment, and may both be shewn, by one quotation from Camden's
+account of Ireland, to be founded upon a practice really observed by the
+uncivilised natives of that country: "When any one gets a fall, _says
+the informer of Camden_, he starts up, and, _turning three times to the
+right_, digs a hole in the earth; for they imagine that there is a
+spirit in the ground, and if he falls sick in two or three days, they
+send one of their women that is skilled in that way to the place, where
+she says, I call thee from the east, west, north, and south, from the
+groves, the woods, the rivers, and the fens, from the fairies _red,
+black, white_." There was likewise a book written before the time of
+Shakespeare, describing, amongst other properties, the _colours_ of
+spirits.
+
+Many other circumstances might be particularised, in which Shakespeare
+has shown his judgment and his knowledge.
+
+IV.i.53 (489,6) yesty waves] That is, _foaming_ or _frothy waves_.
+
+IV.i.88 (491,1) the round/And top of sovereignty?] This _round_ is that
+part of the crown that encircles the head. The _top_ is the ornament
+that rises above it.
+
+IV.i.95 (492,3) Who can impress the forest] i.e. who can command the
+forest to serve him like a soldier impress'd. (1773)
+
+IV.i.97 (492,4) Rebellious head, rise never] Mr. Theobald, who first
+proposed this change ["head" for "dead"] rightly observes, that _head_
+means _host_, or power.
+
+  --_Douglas and the rebels met,
+  A mighty and a fearful_ head _they are_.
+
+And again,
+
+  _His divisions--are in three heads_.
+
+IV.i.113 (493,6) Thy crown does sear mine eye-balls] The expression of
+Macbeth, that the _crown_ sears _his_ eye-balls, is taken from the
+method formerly practised of destroying the sight of captives or
+competitors, by holding a burning bason before the eye, which dried up
+its humidity. Whence the Italian, _abacinare_, to _blind_.
+
+IV.i.113 (493,7) And thy air,/Thou other gold-bound brow, is like the
+first:--/A third is like the former] In former editions,
+
+  --_and thy_ hair,
+  _Thou other gold-bound brow, is like the first_:--
+  _A third is like the former_:--
+
+As Macbeth expected to see a train of kings, and was only enquiring from
+what race they would proceed, he could not be surprised that the _hair_
+of the second was _bound with gold_ like that of the first; he was
+offended only that the second resembled the first, as the first
+resembled Banquo, and therefore said,
+
+  --_and thy_ air,
+  _Thou other gold-bound brow, is like the first_.
+
+This Dr. Warburton has followed.
+
+IV.i.144 (495,2) Time, thou anticipat'st my dread exploits] To
+_anticipate_ is here to _prevent_, by taking away the opportunity.
+
+IV.ii.9 (496,3) He wants the natural touch] Natural sensibility. He is
+not touched with natural affection.
+
+IV.ii.71 (498,7) To do worse to you, were fell cruelty] To do _worse_
+is, to let her and her children be destroyed without warning.
+
+IV.iii.2 (500,9) Let us rather/Hold fast the mortal sword; and, like
+good men,/ Bestride our down-faln birthdom] In former editions,
+
+  _Let us rather
+  Hold fast the mortal sword; and, like good men,
+  Bestride our_ downfal birthdoom.--]
+
+He who can discover what is meant by him that earnestly exhorts him to
+_bestride_ his _downfal birth-doom_, is at liberty to adhere to the
+present text; but it is probable that Shakespeare wrote,
+
+  --_like good men,
+  Bestride our_ downfaln birthdom--
+
+The allusion is to a man from whom something valuable is about to be
+taken by violence, and who, that he may defend it without incombrance,
+lays it on the ground, and stands over it with his weapon in his hand.
+Our birthdom, or birthright, says he, lies on the ground, let us, like
+men who are to fight for what is dearest to them, not abandon it, but
+stand over it and defend it. This is a strong picture of obstinate
+resolution. So Falstaff says to Hal.
+
+  _When I am down, if thou wilt_ bestride me, _so_.
+
+_Birthdom_ for _birthright_ is formed by the same analogy with
+_masterdom_ in this play, signifying the _privileges_ or _rights_ of a
+_master_.
+
+Perhaps it might be _birth-dame_ for _mother_; let us stand over our
+_mother_ that lies bleeding on the ground.
+
+IV.iii.19 (501,4) A good and virtuous nature may recoil/In an imperial
+charge] A good mind may _recede_ from goodness in the execution of a
+_royal commission_.
+
+IV.iii.23 (501,5) Though all things foul would wear the brows of
+grace,/Yet grace must look still so] This is not very clear. The meaning
+perhaps is this:--_My suspicions cannot injure you, if you be virtuous,
+by supposing that a traitor may put on your virtuous appearance. I do
+not say that your virtuous appearance_.
+
+_proves you a traitor; for virtue must wear its proper form, though that
+form be often counterfeited by villany_.
+
+IV.iii.26 (502,6) Why in that rawness left you wife and children]
+Without previous provision, without due preparation, without _maturity_
+of counsel.
+
+IV.iii.33 (502,7) Wear thou thy wrongs] That is, _Poor country, wear
+thou thy wrongs_.
+
+IV.iii.69 (503,1) Sudden, malicious] [_Sudden_, for capricious. WARBUR.]
+Rather violent, passionate, hasty.
+
+IV.iii.85 (504,2) Than summer seeming lust] When I was younger and
+bolder I corrected it thus,
+
+  _Than fume, or seething lust_.
+
+that is, Than angry passion, or boiling lust. (1773)
+
+IV.iii.135 (506,4) All ready at a point] [W: at appoint] There is no
+need of change.
+
+IV.iii.136 (506,5) and the chance of goodness/Be like our warranted
+quarrel!] The _chance of goodness_, as it is commonly read, conveys no
+sense. If there be not some more important errour in the passage, it
+should at least be pointed thus:
+
+  --_and the chance, of goodness,
+  Be like our warranted quarrel_!--
+
+That is, may the event be, of the goodness of heaven, [_pro justitia
+divina_] answerable to the cause.
+
+The author of the _Revisal_ conceives the sense of the passage to be
+rather this: _And may the success of that goodness, which is about to
+exert itself in my behalf, be such as may be equal to the justice of my
+quarrel_.
+
+But I am inclined to believe that Shakespeare wrote,
+
+  --and the chance, O goodness,
+  Be like our warranted quarrel!--
+
+This some of his transcribers wrote with a small _o_, which another
+imagined to mean _of_. If we adopt this reading, the sense will be, _and
+O thou sovereign Goodness, to whom we now appeal, may our fortune answer
+to our cause_. (see 1765, VI, 462, 7)
+
+IV.iii.170 (508,9) A modern ecstacy] I believe _modern_ is only
+_foolish_ or _trifling_.
+
+IV.iii.196 (509,2), fee-grief] A peculiar sorrow; a grief that hath a
+single owner. The expression is, at least to our ears, very harsh.
+
+IV.iii.216 (511,4) He has no children] It has been observed by an
+anonymous critic, that this is not said of Macbeth, who had children,
+but of Malcolm, who having none, supposes a father.
+
+V.i.86 (515,8) My mind she has mated] [Conquer'd or subdued. POPE.]
+Rather astonished, confounded.
+
+V.ii.24 (516,1) When all that is within him does condemn/Itself, for
+being there?] That is, when all the faculties of the mind are employed
+in self-condemnation.
+
+V.iii.1 (516,2) Bring me no more reports] _Tell me not any more of
+desertions--Let all ny subjects leave me--I am safe till,_ &c.
+
+V.iii.8 (517,3) English Epicures] The reproach of Epicurism, on which
+Mr. Theobald has bestowed a note, is nothing more than a natural
+invective uttered by an inhabitant of a barren country, against, those
+who have more opportunities of luxury.
+
+V.iii.22 (518,6) my way of life/Is fall'n into the sear] As there is no
+relation between the _way of life_, and _fallen into the sear_, I am
+inclined to think that the W is only an M inverted, and that it was
+originally written,
+
+  --_my_ May _of life_.
+
+_I am now passed from the spring to the autumn of my days, but I am
+without those comforts that should succeed the spriteliness of bloom,
+and support me in this melancholy season._
+
+The authour has _May_ in the same sense elsewhere.
+
+V.iv.8 (521,1) the confident tyrant/Keeps still in Dunsinane, and will
+endure/Our setting down before't] He was _confident_ of success; so
+_confident_ that he would not fly, but endure their _setting down_
+before his castle.
+
+V.iv.11 (521,2) For where there is advantage to be given,/ Both more and
+less have given him the revolt] The impropriety of the expression,
+_advantage to be given_, and the disagreeable repetition of the word
+_given_ in the next line, incline me to read,
+
+  --_where there is_ a 'vantage _to be_ gone,
+  _Both more and less have given him the revolt._
+
+_Advantage or 'vantage_, in the time of Shakespeare, signified
+_opportunity_. _He shut up himself and his soldiers_, (says Malcolm) _in
+the castle, because when there is an opportunity to be gone they all
+desert him_.
+
+_More and less_ is the same with _greater and less_. So in the
+interpolated _Mandeville_, a book of that age, there is a chapter of
+_India the More and the Less_.
+
+V.iv.20 (522,4) arbitrate]--_arbitrate_ is _determine_.
+
+V.v.11 (523,3) fell of hair] My hairy part, my _capillitium_. _Fell_ is
+_skin_.
+
+V.v.17 (523,7) She should have dy'd hereafter;/ There would have been a
+time for such a word] This passage has very justly been suspected of
+being corrupt. It is not apparent for what _word_ there would have been
+a _time_, and that there would or would not be a _time_ for any _word_
+seems not a consideration of importance sufficient to transport Macbeth
+into the following exclamation. I read therefore,
+
+  _She should have dy'd hereafter.
+  There would have been a time for--such a_ world!--
+  _Tomorrow_, &c.
+
+It is a broken speech in which only part of the thought is expressed,
+and may be paraphrased thus: _The queen is dead_. Macbeth. _Her death
+should have been deferred to some more peaceful hour; had she liv'd
+longer_, there would at length have been a time for the _honours due to
+her as a queen, and that respect which I owe her for her fidelity and
+love. Such is the_ world--such is the condition of human life, that we
+always think_ to-morrow _will be happier than to-day, but to-morrow and
+to-morrow steals over us unenjoyed and unregarded, and we still linger
+in the same expectation to the moment appointed for our end. All these
+days, which have thus passed away, have sent multitudes of fools to the
+grave, who were engrossed by the same dream of future felicity, and,
+when life was departing from them, were, like me, reckoning on
+to-morrow_.
+
+Such was once my conjecture, but I am now less confident. Macbeth might
+mean, that there would have been a more convenient _time_ for such a
+_word_, for such _intelligence_, and so fall into the following
+reflection. We say we send _word_ when we give intelligence.
+
+V.v.21 (524,8) To the last syllable of recorded time] _Recorded time_
+seems to signify the time fixed in the decrees of Heaven for the period
+of life. The _record_ of _futurity_ is indeed no accurate expression,
+but as we only know transactions past or present, the language of men
+affords no term for the volumes of prescience, in which future events
+may be supposed to be written.
+
+V.v.23 (524,9) The way to dusty death] _Dusty_ is a very natural
+epithet. The second folio has,
+
+  _The way to_ study _death_.--
+
+which Mr. Upton prefers, but it is only an errour by an accidental
+transposition of the types.
+
+V.v.42 (525,2) I pull in resolution, and begin/To doubt the equivocation
+of the fiend,/ That lies like truth] Though this is the reading of all
+the editions, yet, as it is a phrase without either example, elegance or
+propriety, it is surely better to read,
+
+  _I_ pall _in resolution,--
+  I languish in my constancy, my confidence begins to forsake as_.
+
+It is scarcely necessary to observe how easily _pall_ might be changed
+into _pull_ by a negligent writer, or mistaken for it by an unskilful
+printer. With this emendation Dr. Warburton and Mr. Heath concur. (see
+1765, VI,478,8)
+
+V.viii.9 (529,3) the intrenchant air] That is, air which cannot be cut.
+
+V.viii.20 (529,5) That palter with us in a double sense] That _shuffle_
+with ambiguous expressions.
+
+V.viii.48 (531,7) Had I as many sons as I have hairs, I would not wish
+them to a fairer death]
+
+This incident is thus related from Henry of Huntingdon by Camden in his
+_Remains_, from which our authour probably copied it.
+
+When Seyward, the martial earl of Northumberland, understood that his
+son, whom he had sent in service against the Scotchmen, was slain, he
+demanded whether his wounds were in the fore part or hinder part of his
+body. When it was answered, in the fore part, he replied, "I am right
+glad; neither wish I any other death to me or mine."
+
+General Observation. This play is deservedly celebrated for the
+propriety of its fictions, and solemnity, grandeur, and variety of its
+action; but it has no nice discriminations of character, the events are
+too great to admit the influence of particular dispositions, and the
+course of the action necessarily determines the conduct of the agents.
+
+The danger of ambition is well described; and I know not whether it may
+not be said in defence of some parts which now seem improbable, that, in
+Shakespeare's time, it was necessary to warn credulity against vain and
+illusive predictions.
+
+The passions are directed to their true end. Lady Macbeth is merely
+detested; and though the courage of Macbeth preserves some esteem, yet
+every reader rejoices at his fall.
+
+
+
+
+Vol. VII
+
+CORIOLANUS
+
+
+1.i.19 (292,1) but they think, we are too dear] They think that the
+charge of maintaining us is more than we are worth.
+
+I.i.23 (292,3) ere we become rakes] It is plain that, in our authour's
+time, we had the proverb, _as lean as a rake_. Of this proverb the
+original is obscure. _Rake_ now signifies a _dissolute man_, a man worn
+out with disease and debauchery. But the signification is, I think, much
+more modern than the proverb. _Raekel_, in Islandick, is said to mean a
+_cur-dog_, and this was probably the first use among us of the word
+_rake_; _as lean as a rake_ is, therefore, as lean as it dog too
+worthless to be fed.
+
+1.i.94 (294,4) I will venture/To scale't a little more] [Warburton had
+taken Theobald to task for emending to "stale't", offering two
+quotations to prove that "scale" meant "apply."] Neither of Dr.
+Warburton's examples afford a sense congruous to the present occasion.
+In the passage quoted, to _scale_ may be to _weigh_ and _compare_, but
+where do we find that _scale_ is to _apply_? If we _scale_ the two
+criticks, I think Theobald has the advantage.
+
+I.i.97 (295,5) fob off our disgraces with a tale] _Disgraces_ are
+_hardships, injuries_.
+
+I.i.104 (295,6) where the other instruments] _Where_ for _whereas_.
+
+I.i.112 (296,7) Which ne'er came from the lungs] with a smile not
+indicating pleasure, but contempt.
+
+I.i.120 (296,9) The counsellor heart] The heart was anciently esteemed
+the seat of prudence. _Homo cordatum_ is a _prudent man_.
+
+I.i.163 (297,1) Thou rascal, that art worst in blood, to ruin,/ Lead'st
+first, to win some 'vantage] I think, we may better read, by an easy
+change, _Thou rascal that art worst, in blood, to_ ruin [to run]
+_Lead'st first, to win_, &c.
+
+Thou that art the meanest by birth, art the foremost to lead thy fellows
+_to ruin_, in hope of some advantage. The meaning, however, is perhaps
+only this, Thou that art a hound, or running dog of the lowest breed,
+lead'st the pack, when any thing is to be gotten. (see 1765, VI, 493, 1)
+
+I.i.172 (298,4) What would you have, ye curs,/ That like not peace, nor
+war? The one affrights you,/ The other makes you proud] [W: likes] That
+_to like_ is _to please_, every one knows, but in that sense it is as
+hard to say why peace should not _like_ the people, as, in the other
+sense, why the people should not _like_ peace. The truth is, that
+Coriolanus does not use the two sentences consequentially, but
+reproaches them with unsteadiness, then with their other occasional
+vices.
+
+I.i.202 (300,6) I'd make a quarry/With thousands] Why a quarry? I
+suppose, not because he would pile them square, but because he would
+give them for carrion to the birds of prey.
+
+I.i.215 (300,7) To break the heart of generosity] To give the final blow
+to the _nobles_. _Generosity_ is _high birth_.
+
+I.i.231 (301,8) 'tis true, that yon have lately told us./The Volscians
+are in arms] Coriolanus had been but just told himself that _the
+Volscians were in arms_. The meaning is, _The intelligence which you
+gave us some little time ago of the designs of the Volscians is now
+verified; they are in arms._
+
+I.i.255 (302,8) Your valour puts well forth] That is, You have in this
+mutiny shewn fair blossoms of valour.
+
+I.i.260 (303,9) to gird. To _sneer_, to _gibe_. So Falstaff uses the
+noun, when he says, _every man has a _gird _at me_.
+
+I.i.281 (304,3) in what fashion,/More than his singularity he goes/ Upon
+this present action] We will learn what he is to do, besides _going
+himself_; what are his powers, and what is his appointment.
+
+I.ii.28 (305,4) for the remove/Bring up your army] [W:'fore they] I do
+not see the nonsense or impropriety of the old reading. Says the senator
+to Aufidius, _Go to your troops, we will garrison Corioli_. If the
+Romans besiege us, bring up your army _to remove them_. If any change
+should be made, I would read,
+
+  --_for_ their _remove_.
+
+I.iii.16 (307,5) brows bound with oak] The crown given by the Romans to
+him that saved the life of a citizen, which was accounted more
+honourable than any other.
+
+I.iv.14 (311,9) nor a man that fears you less than he,/That's lesser
+than a little] The sense requires it to be read,
+
+  _nor a man that fears you_ more _than he_,
+
+Or more probably,
+
+  _nor a man_ but _fears you less than he,
+  That's lesser than a little_.
+
+I.v.5 (314,4) prize their hours] In the first edition it is, _prize
+their_ hours. I know not who corrected it [to _prize their honours_]. A
+modern editor, who had made such an improvement, would have spent half a
+page in ostentation of his sagacity.
+
+I.vi.36 (317,6) Ransoming him, or pitying] i.e. _remitting his ransom_.
+
+I.vi.61 (318,8) swords advanc'd] That is, swords lifted high.
+
+I.vi.83 (319,9) Please you to march,/And four shall quickly draw out my
+command,/Which men are best inclin'd] I cannot but suspect this passage
+of corruption. Why should they _march_, that _four_ might select those
+that were _best inclin'd_? How would their inclinations be known? Who
+were the _four_ that should select them? Perhaps, we may read,
+
+  --_Please you to march,
+  And_ fear _shall quickly draw out_ of _my command,
+  Which men are_ least _inclin'd_.
+
+It is easy to conceive that, by a little negligence, _fear_ might be
+changed to _four_, and _least_ to _best_. Let us march, and that fear
+which incites desertion will free my army from cowards. (see 1765, VI,
+512, 1)
+
+I.viii.11 (320,1) Wert thou the Hector,/That was the whip of your
+bragg'd progeny] The Romans boasted themselves descended from the
+Trojans, how then was Hector the _whip of their progeny_? It must mean
+the whip with which the Trojans scourged the Greeks, which cannot be but
+by a very unusual construction, or the authour must have forgotten the
+original of the Romans; unless _whip_ has some meaning which includes
+_advantage_ or _superiority_, as we say, _he has the_ whip-hand, for _he
+has the_ advantage.
+
+I.viii.14 (321,2) you have sham'd me/In your condemned seconds] For
+_condemned_, we may read _contemned_. You have, to my shane, sent me
+help _which I despise_.
+
+I.ix.12 (321,4) Here is the steed, we the caparisons!] This is an odd
+encomium. The meaning is, _this man performed the action, and we only
+filled up the show_.
+
+I.ii.14 (322,5) a charter to extol] A privilege to praise her own son.
+
+I.ix.29 (322,6) Should they not] That is, _not be remembered_.
+
+I.ix.72 (325,9) To the fairness of any power] [_Fairness_, for _utmost_.
+WARE.] I know not how _fairness_ can mean _utmost_. When two engage on
+_equal_ terms, we say it is _fair_; _fairness_ may therefore be
+_equality; in proportion equal to my power_.
+
+I.ix.76 (325,1) The best] The _chief_ men of Corioli.
+
+I.x.5 (326,3) Being a Volsce, be that I am] It may be just observed,
+that Shakespeare calls the _Volsci, Volsces_, which the modern editors
+have changed to the modern termination [Volscian]. I mention it here,
+because here the change has spoiled the measure. _Being a_ Volsce, _be
+that I am. Condition_. [Steevans restored _Volsce_ in the text.]
+
+I.x.17 (326,2) My valour's poison'd,/With only suffering stain by him,
+for him/ Shall flie out of itself] To mischief him, my valour should
+_deviate from_ its own native generosity.
+
+I.x.25 (327,4) At home, upon my brother's guard] In my own house, with
+my brother posted to protect him.
+
+II.i.8 (328,5) Pray you, who does the wolf love?] When the tribune, in
+reply to Menenius's remark, on the people's hate of Coriolanus, had
+observed that even _beasts know their friends_, Menenius asks, _whom
+does the wolf love_? implying that there are beasts which love nobody,
+and that among those beasts are the people.
+
+II.i.43 (329,6) towards the napes of your necks] With allusion to the
+fable, which says, that every man has a bag hanging before him, in which
+he puts his neighbour's faults, and another behind him, in which he
+stows his own.
+
+II.i.56 (330,7) one that converses more with the buttock of the night,
+than with the forehead of the morning] Rather a late lier down than an
+early riser.
+
+II.i.84 (330,1) set up the bloody flag against all patience] That is,
+declare war against patience. There is not wit enough in this satire to
+recompense its grossness.
+
+II.i.105 (331,2) herdsmen of beastly Plebeians] As kings are called
+[Greek: poimenes laon].
+
+II.i.115 (331,3) Take my cap, Jupiter, and I thank thee] [W: cup]
+Shakespeare so often mentions throwing up caps in this play, that
+Menenius may be well enough supposed to throw up his cap in thanks to
+Jupiter.
+
+II.i.146 (333,4) possest of this?] _Possest_, in our authour's language,
+is fully informed.
+
+II.i.178 (334,6) Which being advanc'd, declines] Volumnia, in her
+boasting strain, says, that her son to kill his enemy, has nothing to do
+but to lift his hand up and let it fall.
+
+II.i.232 (337,3) Commit the war of white and damask, in/Their nicely
+gawded cheeks] [W: wars] Has the commentator never heard of roses
+_contending_ with lilies for the empire of a lady's cheek? The
+_opposition_ of colours, though not the _commixture_, may be called a
+war.
+
+II.i.235 (338,1) As if that whatsoever God] That is, _as if that God who
+leads him, whatsoever_ God he be.
+
+II.i.241 (338,2) From where he should begin, and end] Perhaps it should
+be read,
+
+  _From where he should begin_ t'an _end_.--
+
+II.i.247 (338,3) As he is proud to do't] [I should rather think the
+author wrote _prone_: because the common reading is scarce sense or
+English. WARBURTON.] _Proud to do_, is the same as, _proud of doing_,
+very plain sense, and very common English.
+
+II.i.285 (340,4) carry with us ears and eyes] That is, let us observe
+what passes, but keep our hearts fixed on our design of crushing
+Coriolanus.
+
+II.ii.19 (340,5) he wav'd indifferently] That is, _he would wave
+indifferently_.
+
+II.ii.29 (341,6) supple and courteous to the people; bonnetted] The
+sense, I think, requires that we should read, _unbonnetted_. Who have
+risen only by _pulling off their hats_ to the people. _Bonnetted_ may
+relate to _people_, but not without harshness.
+
+II.ii.57 (342,7) Your loving motion toward the common body] Your kind
+interposition with the common people.
+
+II.ii.64 (342,9) That's off, that's off] That is, that is nothing to the
+purpose.
+
+II.ii.82 (343,1) how can he flatter] The reasoning of Menenius is this:
+How can he be expected to practice flattery to others, who abhors it so
+much, that he cannot bear it even when offered to himself.
+
+II.ii.92 (343,2) When Tarquin made a head for Rome] When Tarquin, who
+had been expelled, _raised a power_ to recover Rome.
+
+II.ii.113 (344,6) every motion/Was tim'd with dying cries] The cries of
+the slaughter'd regularly followed his motions, as musick and a dancer
+accompany each ether.
+
+II.ii.115 (345,7) The mortal gate] The gate that was made the scene of
+death.
+
+II.ii.127 (345,8) He cannot but with measure fit the honours] That is,
+no honour will be too great far him; he will show a mind equal to any
+elevation.
+
+II.ii.131 (345,1)
+
+      rewards
+  His deeds with doing them; and is content
+  To spend his time, to end it]
+
+I know not whether my conceit will be approved, but I cannot forbear to
+think that our author wrote thus.
+
+  --he _rewards
+  His deeds with doing them, and is content
+  To spend his time, to spend it.
+
+To do great acts, for the sake of doing them; to spend his life, for the
+sake of spending it.
+
+II.iii.4 (348,2) We have power in ourselves to do it, but it is a power
+that we have no power to do] [Warburton saw this as "a ridicule on the
+Augustine manner of defining _free-will_."] A ridicule may be intended,
+but the sense is clear enough. _Power_ first signifies _natural power_
+or _force_, and then _moral power_ or _right_. Davies has used the same
+word with great variety of meaning.
+
+  _Use all thy_ powers _that heavenly_ power _to praise,
+  That gave thee_ power _to do_.--
+
+II.iii.18 (348,3) many-headed multitude] Hanmer reads, _many-headed_
+monster, but without necessity. To be _many-headed_ includes
+_monstrousness_.
+
+II.iii.115 (352,7) I will not seal your knowledge] I will not strengthen
+or compleat your knowledge. The seal is that which gives authenticity to
+a writing.
+
+II.iii.122 (352,8)
+
+  Why in this woolvish tongue should I stand here
+  To beg of Bob and Dick, that do appear,
+  Their needless vouches?]
+
+Why stand I here in this ragged apparel to beg of Bob and Dick, and such
+others as _make their appearance_ here, their _unnecessary votes_. I
+rather think we should read [instead of _voucher_], _Their needless_
+vouches. But _voucher_ may serve, as it may perhaps signify either the
+act or the agent.
+
+II.iii.122 (352) this woolvish gown] Signifies this _rough hirsute_
+gown.
+
+II.iii.182 (355,1) ignorant to see't?] [W: "ignorant" means "impotent"]
+That _ignorant_ at any time has, otherwise than consequentially, the
+same meaning with _impotent_, I do not know. It has no such meaning in
+this place. _Were you_ ignorant _to see it_, is, did you want knowledge
+to discern it.
+
+II.iii.208 (356,2) free contempt] That is, with contempt open and
+unrestrained.
+
+II.iii.227 (357,4) Enforce his pride] Object his pride, and enforce the
+objection.
+
+II.iii.258 (358,7) Scaling his present bearing with his past] That is,
+_weighing_ his past and present behaviour.
+
+II.iii.267 (359,8) observe and answer/The vantage of his anger] Mark,
+catch, and improve the opportunity, which his hasty anger will afford
+us.
+
+III.i.23 (360,9) prank them in authority] _Plume, deck, dignify_
+themselves.
+
+III.i.58 (362,3) This paltring/Becomes not Rome] That is, this trick of
+dissimulation, this shuffling.
+
+  _Let these be no more believ'd
+  That_ palter _with us in a double sense_. Macbeth.
+
+III.i.60 (362,4) laid falsly] _Falsly_ for _treacherously_.
+
+III.i.66 (362,5) Let them regard me, as I do not flatter, and/ Therein
+behold themselves] Let them look in the mirror which I hold up to them,
+a mirror which does not flatter, and see themselves.
+
+III.i.89 (363,6) minnows] a _minnow_ is one of the smallest river fish,
+called in some counties a _pink_.
+
+III.i.90 (364,6) 'Twas from the canon] Was contrary to the established
+role; it was a form of speech to which he has no right.
+
+III.i.98 (364,9) Then vail your ignorance] [W: "ignorance" means
+"impotence."] Hanmer's transposition deserves notice
+
+  --_If they have power,
+  Let them have cushions by you; if none, awake
+  Your dang'rous lenity; if you are learned,
+  Be not as commmon fools; if you are not,
+  Then vail your ignorance. You are Plebeians_, &c.
+
+I neither think the transposition of one editor right, nor the
+interpretation of the other. The sense is plain enough without supposing
+_ignorance_ to have any remote or consequential sense. _If this man has
+power, let the_ ignorance _that gave it him_ vail _or bow down before
+him._
+
+  III.i.101 (365,1) You are Plebeians,
+  If they be Senators: and they are no less,
+  When, both your voices blended, the greatest taste
+  Most palates theirs]
+
+These lines may, I think, be made more intelligible by a very slight
+correction.
+
+  --_they no less [than senators]
+  When, both your voices blended, the great'st taste_
+  Must palate _theirs._
+
+When the _taste_ of the _great_, the patricians, must _palate_, must
+_please_ [or must _try_] that of the plebeians.
+
+III.i.124 (366,3) They would not thread the gates] That is, _pass_ them.
+We yet say, to _thread_ an alley.
+
+III.i.129 (366,4) could never be the native] [_Native_ for natural
+birth. WARBURTON.] _Native_ is here not natural birth, but _natural
+parent_, or _cause of birth_. But I would read _motive_, which, without
+any distortion of its meaning, suits the speaker's purpose.
+
+III.i.151 (367,7) That love the fundamental part of state/More than you
+doubt the change of't] To _doubt_ is to _fear_. The meaning is, You
+whose zeal predominates over your terrours; you who do not so much fear
+the danger of violent measures, as wish the good to which they are
+necessary, the preservation of the original constitution of our
+government.
+
+III.i.158 (368,2) Mangles true judgment] _Judgment_ is _judgment_ in its
+common sense, or the faculty by which right is distinguished from wrong.
+
+III.i.159 (368,3) that integrity which should become it] _Integrity_ is
+in this place _soundness_, uniformity, consistency, in the same sense as
+Dr. Warburton often uses it, when he mentions the _integrity_ of a
+metaphor. To _become_, is to _suit_, to _befit_.
+
+III.i.221 (370,5) are very poisonous] I read, _are very_ poisons.
+
+III.i.242 (371,7) One time will owe another] I know not whether to _owe_
+in this place means to _possess by right_, or to _be indebted_. Either
+sense may be admitted. _One time_, in which the people are seditious,
+will _give us power_ in some other time; or, _this time_ of the people's
+predominance will _run them in debt_; that is, will lay them open to the
+law, and expose them hereafter to more servile subjection.
+
+III.i.248 (372,8) Before the tag return] The lowest and most despicable
+of the populace are still denominated by those a little above them,
+_Tag, rag, and bobtail_. (1773)
+
+III.ii.7 (376,4) I muse] That is, _I wonder. I am at a loss_.
+
+III.ii.12 (376,5) my ordinance] My _rank_.
+
+III.ii.51 (378,8) Why force you] Why _urge_ you.
+
+III.ii.56 (378,9) bastards, and syllables/Of no allowance, to your
+bosom's truth] I read,
+
+  _Of no_ alliance,--
+
+therefore _bastards_. Yet _allowance_ may well enough stand, as meaning
+_legal right, established rank_, or _settled authority_. (see 1765, VI,
+566, 7)
+
+III.ii.64 (379,1) I am in this/Your wife, your son] I rather think the
+meaning is, _I am in their_ condition, I am _at stake_, together with
+_your wife, your son_.
+
+III.ii.66 (379,2) our general lowts] Our _common clowns_.
+
+III.ii.69 (379,3) that want] The _want_ of their loves.
+
+III.ii.71 (379,4) Not what] In this place _not_ seems to signify _not
+only_.
+
+III.ii.77 (379,5) Waving thy head,/With often, thus, correcting thy
+stout heart] [W: thy hand,/Which soften thus] The correction is
+ingenious, yet I think it not right. _Head_ or _hand_ is indifferent.
+The _hand_ is _waved_ to gain attention; the _head_ is shaken in token
+of sorrow. The word _wave_ suits better to the hand, but in considering
+the authour's language, too much stress must not be laid on propriety
+against the copies. I would read thus,
+
+  --_waving thy head_,
+  With _often, thus, correcting thy stout heart_.
+
+That is, _shaking thy head_, and _striking_ thy breast. The alteration
+is slight, and the gesture recommended not improper.
+
+III.ii.99 (381,6) my unbarb'd sconce?] The suppliants of the people used
+to present themselves to them in sordid and neglected dresses.
+
+III.ii.113 (381,8) Which quired with my drum] Which played in concert
+with my drum.
+
+III.ii.116 (382,1) Tent in my cheeks] To _tent_ is _to take up
+residence_.
+
+III.ii.121 (382,2) honour mine own truth] [Greek: Panton de malis
+aischuneui sauton]. Pythagoras.
+
+III.ii.125 (382,3) let/Thy mother rather feel thy pride, than fear/ Thy
+dangerous stoutness] This is obscure. Perhaps, she means, Go, _do thy
+worst; let me rather feel the_ utmost _extremity that thy pride can
+bring upon us, than live thus in fear of thy dangerous obstinacy_.
+
+III.iii.17 (384,3)
+
+  Insisting on the old prerogative
+  And power in' the truth o' the cause]
+
+This is not very easily understood. We might read,
+
+  --o'er _the truth o' the cause_.
+
+III.iii.26 (384,4) and to have his word/Of contradiction] _To have his
+word of contradiction_ is no more than, _he is used to contradict_; and
+_to have his word_, that is, _not to be opposed_. We still say of an
+obstinate disputant, _he will have the last word_.
+
+III.iii.29 (384,5) which looks/With us to break his neck] To _look_ is
+to _wait_ or _expect_. The sense I believe is, _What he has in his
+heart_ is waiting there _to help us to break his neck_.
+
+III.iii.57 (386,8) Rather than envy you] _Envy_ is here taken at large
+for _malignity_ or ill intention.
+
+III.iii.64 (386,9) season'd office] All _office established_ and
+_settled_ by time, and made familiar to the people by long use.
+
+III.iii.96 (387,1) has now at last] Read rather,
+
+  --has _now at last_ [instead of _as now at last_].
+
+III.iii.97 (387,2) not in the presence] _Not_ stands again for _not
+only_.
+
+III.iii.114 (388,3) My dear wife's estimate] I love my country beyond
+the rate at which I _value my dear wife_.
+
+III.iii.127 (389,4)
+
+        Have the power still
+  To banish your defenders'; till, at length,
+  Your ignorance, (which finds not, till it feels)]
+
+_Still retain the power of banishing your defenders, till your
+undiscerning folly, which can foresee no consequences, leave none in the
+city but yourselves, who are always labouring your own destruction._
+
+It is remarkable, that, among the political maxims of the speculative
+Harrington, there is one which he might have borrowed from this speech.
+_The people_, says he, _cannot see, but they can feel_. It is not much
+to the honour of the people, that they have the same character of
+stupidity from their enemy and their friend. Such was the power of our
+authour's mind, that he looked through life in all its relations private
+and civil.
+
+IV.i.7 (390,1) Fortune's blows,/When most struck home, being gentle
+wounded, craves/A noble cunning] This it the ancient and authentick
+reading. The modern editors have, for _gentle wounded_, silently
+substituted _gently warded_, and Dr. Warburton has explained _gently_ by
+_nobly_. It is good to be sure of our authour's words before we go about
+to explain their meaning.
+
+The sense is, When Fortune strikes her hardest blows, to be wounded, and
+yet continue calm, requires a generous policy. He calls this calmness
+_cunning_, because it is the effect of reflection and philosophy.
+Perhaps the first emotions of nature are nearly uniform, and one man
+differs from another in the power of endurance, as he is better
+regulated by precept and instruction.
+
+  _They bore as heroes, but they felt as men_.
+
+(see 1765, VI, 577, 9)
+
+IV.i.33 (391,3) cautelous baits and practice] By artful and false
+tricks, and treason.
+
+IV.ii.15 (393,6)
+
+  _Sic._ Are you mankind?
+  _Vol._ Ay, fool; Is that a shame? Note but this fool.
+  Was not a man my father?]
+
+The word _mankind_ is used maliciously by the first speaker, and taken
+perversely by the second. A _mankind_ woman is a woman with the
+roughness of a man, and, in an aggravated sense, a woman ferocious,
+violent, and eager to shed blood. In this sense Sicinius asks Volumnia,
+if she be _mankind_. She takes _mankind_ for a _human creature_, and
+accordingly cries out,
+
+  --_Note but this, fool.
+  Was not a man my father?_
+
+IV.ii.18 (394,7) Hadst thou foxship] Hadst thou, fool as thou art, mean
+cunning enough to banish Coriolanus?
+
+IV.iii.9 (395,7) but your favour is well appear'd by your tongue] [W:
+well appeal'd] I should read,
+
+  --_is well_ affear'd,
+
+That is, _strengthened, attested,_ a word used by our authour.
+
+  _My title is_ affear'd. Macbeth.
+
+To _repeal_ may be _to bring to remembrance_, but _appeal_ has another
+meaning.
+
+IV.iii.48 (397,8) already in the entertainment] That is, tho' not
+actually encamped, yet already in _pay_. To _entertain_ an army is to
+take them into pay.
+
+IV.iv.22 (398,1)
+
+        So, with me:--
+  My birth-place hate I, and my love's upon
+  This enemy's town:--I'll enter: if he slay me]
+
+He who reads this [My country have I and my lovers left;/This enemy's
+town I'll enter] would think that he was reading the lines of
+Shakespeare: except that Coriolanus, being already in the town, says, he
+_will enter it_. Yet the old edition exhibits it thus
+
+  --_So with me.
+  My birth-place have I; and my loves upon
+  This enemic towne; I'll enter if he slay me_, &c.
+
+The intermediate line seems to be lost, in which, conformably to his
+former observation, he says, that _he has_ lost _his birth-place, and
+his loves upon_ a petty dispute, and is trying his chance in _this enemy
+town_, he then cries, turning to the house of Anfidius, _I'll enter if
+he slay me_.
+
+I have preferred the common reading, because it is, though faulty, yet
+intelligible, and the original passage, for want of copies, cannot be
+restored.
+
+IV.v.76 (403,3) a good memory] The Oxford editor, not knowing that
+_memory_ was used at that time for _memorial_, alters it to _memorial_.
+
+IV.v.90 (403,4) A heart of wreak in thee] A heart of resentment.
+
+IV.v.91 (403,5) maims/Of shame] That is, disgraceful diminutions of
+territory.
+
+IV.v.207 (406,5) sanctifies himself with's hands] Alluding, improperly,
+to the act of _crossing_ upon any strange event.
+
+IV.v.212 (407,6) He will go, he says, and sowle the porter of Rome gates
+by the ears] That is, I suppose, drag him down by the ears into the
+dirt. _Souiller_, Fr.
+
+IV.v.214 (407,7) his passage poll'd] That is, _bared, cleared_.
+
+IV.v.238 (408,8) full of vent] Full of _rumour_, full of materials for
+_discourse_.
+
+IV.vi.2 (408,1) His remedies are tame i' the present peace] The old
+reading is,
+
+  _His remedies are tame, the present peace_.
+
+I do not understand either line, but fancy it should be read thus,
+
+  --_neither need we fear him;
+  His remedies are ta'en, the present peace,
+  And quietness o' the people_,--
+
+The meaning, somewhat harshly expressed, according to our authour's
+custom, is this: _We need not fear him_, the proper _remedies_ against
+him _are taken_, by restoring _peace and quietness_.
+
+IV.vi.32 (410,2) affecting one sole throne,/Without assistance] That is,
+without _assessors_; without any other suffrage.
+
+IV.vi.51 (411,3) reason with the fellow] That is, have some _talk_ with
+him. In this sense Shakespeare often uses the word.
+
+IV.vi.72 (412,4) can no more atone] To _atone_, in the active sense, is
+to _reconcile_, and is so used by our authour. To _atone_ here, is, in
+the neutral sense, to _come to reconciliation_. To _atone_ is to
+_unite_.
+
+IV.vi.85 (412,5) burned in their cement] [W: "cement" for "cincture or
+inclosure"] _Cement_ has here its common signification.
+
+IV.vi.98 (413,5) The breath of garlick-eaters!] To smell of garlick was
+once such a brand of vulgarity, that garlick was a food forbidden to an
+ancient order of Spanish knights, mentioned by Guevara.
+
+IV.vi.112 (414,7)
+
+        they charge him even
+  As those should do that had deserv'd his hate,
+  And therein shew'd like enemies]
+
+Their _charge_ or injunction would shew them insensible of his wrongs,
+and make them _shew like enemies_. I read _shew_, not _shewed, like
+enemies_.
+
+IV.vi.124 (414,8) They'll roar him in again] As they _hooted_ at his
+departure, they will _roar_ at his return; as he went out with scoffs,
+he will come back with lamentations.
+
+IV.vii.37 (417,1)
+
+        whether pride,
+  Which out of daily fortune ever taints
+  The happy man; whether]
+
+Ausidius assigns three probable reasons of the miscarriage of
+Coriolanus; pride, which easily follows an uninterrupted train of
+success; unskilfulness to regulate the consequences of his own
+victories; a stubborn uniformity of nature, which could not make the
+proper transition from the _casque_ or _helmet_ to the _cushion_ or
+_chair of civil authority_; but acted with the same despotism in peace
+as in war.
+
+IV.vii.48 (418,2) he has a merit,/To choak it in the utterance] He has a
+merit, for no other purpose than to destroy it by boasting it.
+
+IV.vii.55 (418,4) Right's by right fouler] [W: fouled] I believe
+_rights_, like _strengths_, is a plural noon. I read,
+
+  _Rights by rights_ founder, _strengths by strengths do fail_.
+
+That is, by the exertion of one right another right is lamed.
+
+V.i.20 (420,2) It was a bare petition] [_Bare_, for mean, beggarly.
+WARBURTON.] I believe rather, a petition unsupported, unaided by names
+that might give it influence.
+
+V.i.63 (422,4) I tell you, he does sit in gold] He is inthroned in all
+the pomp and pride of imperial splendour.
+
+  [Greek: Chruzothronos  Aerae]--Hom.
+
+V.i.69 (422,5) Bound with an oath to yield to his conditions] This if
+apparently wrong. Sir T. Hanmer, and Dr. Warburton after him, read,
+
+  _Bound with an oath_ not to _yield to_ new _conditions_.
+
+They might have read more smoothly,
+
+  --_to yield no new conditions_.
+
+But the whole speech is in confusion, and I suspect something left out.
+I should read,
+
+  --_What he would do,
+  He sent in writing after; what he would not,
+  Bound with an oath. To yield to his conditions_.
+
+Here is, I think, a chasm. The speaker's purpose seems to be this: _To
+yield to his conditions_ is ruin, and better cannot be obtained, _so
+that all hope is vain_.
+
+V.ii.10 (424,7) it is lots to blanks] A _lot_ here is a _prize_.
+
+V.ii.17 (424,8)
+
+  For I have ever verify'd my friends,
+  (Of whom he's chief) with all the size that verity
+  Would without lapsing suffer]
+
+[W: narrified] [Hanmer: magnified] If the commentator had given any
+example of the word _narrify_, the correction would have been not only
+received, but applauded. Now, since the new word stands without
+authority, we must try what sense the old one will afford. To _verify_
+is _to establish by testimony_. One may say with propriety, he brought
+false witnesses to verify his title. Shakespeare considered the word
+with his usual laxity, as importing rather _testimony_ than _truth_, and
+only meant to say, _I_ bore witness _to my friends with all the size
+that verity would suffer_.
+
+V.ii.45 (426,1) the virginal palms of your daughters] [W: _pasmes_ or
+_pames_, French for "swooning fits." Warburton also quotes _Tarquin and
+Lucrece_, "To dry the old oak's sap, and cherish springs" and emends to
+"tarnish," from the French, meaning "to dry up," used of springs and
+rivers.] I have inserted this note, because it contains an apology for
+many others. It is not denied that many French words were mingled in the
+time of Elizabeth with our language, which have since been ejected, and
+that any which are known to have been then in use may be properly
+recalled when they will help the sense. But when a word is to be
+admitted, the first question should be, by whom was it ever received? in
+what book can it be shown? If it cannot be proved to have been in use,
+the reasons which can justify its reception must be stronger than any
+critick will often have to bring. Even in this certain emendation, the
+new word is very liable to contest. I should read,
+
+  --_and_ perish _springs_.
+
+The verb _perish_ is commonly neutral, but in conversation is often used
+actively, and why not in the works of a writer negligent beyond all
+others of grammatical niceties?
+
+V.ii.60 (427,2) Back, I say, go; lest I let forth your half pint of
+blood;--back, that's the utmost of your having:--Back] [Warburton
+emended the punctuation] I believe the meaning never was mistaken, and
+therefore do not change the reading.
+
+V.ii.69 (428,3) guess by my entertainment with him] I read, _Guess_ by
+_my entertainment with him, if thou standest not i' the state of
+hanging_ [in place of _guess_ but _my entertainment_].
+
+V.ii.80 (428,4) Though I owe/My revenge properly] Though I have a
+_peculiar right_ in revenge, in the power of forgiveness the Volacians
+are conjoined.
+
+V.ii.104 (429,5) how we are shent] _Shent_ is _brought to destruction_.
+
+V.iii.3 (430,6) how plainly/I have born this business] That is, _how
+openly, how_ remotely from artifice or concealment.
+
+V.iii.39 (431,7) The sorrow, that delivers us thus chang'd,/Makes you
+think so] Virgilia makes a voluntary misinterpretation of her husband's
+words. He says, _These eyes are not the same_, meaning, that he saw
+things with _other eyes_, or other _dispositions_. She lays hold on the
+word _eyes_, to turn his attention on their present appearance.
+
+V.iii.46 (431,8) Now by the jealous queen of heaven] That is, _by Juno_,
+the guardian of marriage, and consequently the avenger of connubial
+perfidy.
+
+V.iii.64 (432,1) The noble sister of Poplicola] Valeria, methinks,
+should not have been brought only to fill up the procession without
+speaking.
+
+V.iii.68 (432,2) epitome of yours] I read,
+
+  --_epitome of you_.
+
+_An epitome of you_ which, _enlarged by the commentaries of time_, may
+equal you in magnitude.
+
+V.iii.74 (433,4) every flaw] That is, every _gust_, every _storm_.
+
+V.iii.100 (435,2) Constrains them weep, and shake] That is, _constrain_
+the eye to _weep_, _and_ the heart to _shake_.
+
+V.iii.149 (436,3) the fine strains] The niceties, the refinements.
+
+V.iii.159 (436,5) he lets me prate,/Like one i' the stocks] Keep me in a
+state of ignominy talking to no purpose.
+
+V.iii.176 (437,6) Does reason our petition] Does _argue for_ us and our
+petition.
+
+V.iii.201 (438,7) I'll work/Myself a former fortune] I will take
+advantage of this concession to restore myself to my former credit and
+power.
+
+V.iii.206 (438,8) Come, enter with us,--Ladies, you deserve] [Warburton
+proposed to give the speech beginning "Ladies, you deserve" to Aufidius]
+The speech suits Aufidius justly enough, if it had been written for him;
+but it may, without impropriety, be spoken by Coriolanus: and since the
+copies give it to him, why should we dispossess him?
+
+V.iv.22 (439,1) He sits in state as a thing made for Alexander] In a
+foregoing note he was said to _sit in gold_. The phrase, _as a thing
+made for Alexander_, means, _as one made to resemble Alexander_.
+
+V.vi.39 (443,2) He wag'd me with his countenance] This is obscure. The
+meaning, I think, is, he _prescribed_ to me vith an air of authority,
+and gave me _his countenance_ for _my wages_; thought me sufficiently
+rewarded with good looks.
+
+V.vi.44 (443,3) For which my sinews shall be stretch'd upon him] This is
+the point on which I will attack him with my utmost abilities.
+
+V.vi.66 (444,4) answering us/With our own charge] That is, _rewarding us
+with our own expences_; making the cost of the war its recompence.
+
+V.vi.125 (446,5) his fame folds in/This orbe o' th' earth] His fame
+overspreads the world.
+
+(447) General Observation. The tragedy of Coriolanus is one of the most
+amusing of our author's performances. The old man's merriment in
+Menenius; the lofty lady's dignity in Volumnia; the bridal modesty in
+Virgilia; the patrician and military haughtiness in Coriolanus; the
+plebeian malignity and tribunitian insolence in Brutus and Sicinius,
+make a very pleasing and interesting variety: and the various
+revolutions of the hero's fortune fill the mind with anxious curiosity.
+There is, perhaps, too much bustle in the first act, and too little in
+the last.
+
+
+
+
+Vol. VIII
+
+JULIUS CAESAR
+
+
+I.i.20 (4,2) _Mar._ What meanest thou by that?] [Theobald gave this
+speech to Flavius] I have replaced _Marullus_, who might properly enough
+reply to a saucy sentence directed to his colleague, and to whom the
+speech was probably given, that he might not stand too long unemployed
+upon the stage.
+
+I.ii.25 (7,5) [_Sennet. Exeunt Caesar and Train_] I have here inserted
+the word _Sennet_, from the original edition, that I may have an
+opportunity of retracting a hasty conjecture in one of the marginal
+directions in _Henry_ VIII. _Sennet_ appears to be a particular tune or
+mode of martial musick.
+
+I.ii.35 (8,6) You bear too stubborn and too strange a hand] _Strange_,
+is alien, unfamiliar, such as might become a stranger.
+
+I.ii.39 (8,7) Vexed I am,/Of late, with passions of some difference]
+With a fluctation of discordant opinions and desires.
+
+I.ii.73 (9,9) To stale with ordinary oaths my love/To every new
+protester] To invite _every new protestor_ to my affection by the
+_stale_ or allurement of _customary_ oaths.
+
+I.ii.87 (10,1) And I will look on both indifferently] Dr. Warburton has
+a long note on this occasion, which is very trifling. When _Brutus_
+first names _honour_ and _death_, he calmly declares them indifferent;
+but as the image kindles in his mind, he sets _honour_ above _life_. Is
+not this natural?
+
+I.ii.160 (12,6) eternal devil] I should think that our author wrote
+rather, _infernal devil_.
+
+I.ii.171 (13,7) chew upon this] Consider this at leisure; _ruminate_ on
+this.
+
+I.ii.186 (13,8) Looks with such ferret, and such fiery eyes] A ferret
+has red eyes.
+
+I.ii.268 (16,2) a man of any occupation] Had I been a mechanick, one of
+the Plebeians to whom he offered his threat.
+
+I.ii.313 (17,3) Thy honourable metal may be wrought/From what it is
+dispos'd] The best _metal_ or _temper_ may be worked into qualities
+contrary to its original constitution.
+
+I.ii.318 (17,4) If I were Brutus now, and he were Cassius,/He should not
+humour me] The meaning, I think, is this, _Caesar loves Brutus, but if
+Brutus and I were to change places, his love should not humour me_,
+should not take hold of my affection, so as to make me forget my
+principles.
+
+I.iii.1 (18,5) brought you Caesar home?] Did you attend Caesar home?
+
+I.iii.3 (18,6) sway of earth] The whole weight or _momentum_ of this
+globe.
+
+I.iii.21 (19,7) Who glar'd upon me] The first edition reads,
+
+  _Who_ glaz'd _upon me_,--
+
+Perhaps, _Who_ gaz'd _upon me_.
+
+I.iii.64 (20,8) Why birds, and beasts, from quality and kind] That is,
+Why they _deviate_ from quality and nature. This line might perhaps be
+more properly placed after the next line.
+
+  _Why birds, and beasts, from quality and kind;
+  Why all these things change from their ordinance._
+
+I.iii.65 (20,9) and children calculate] [Shakespeare, with his usual
+liberty, employs the _species_ [calculate] for the _genus_ foretel].
+WARB.] Shakespeare found the liberty established. _To calculate a
+nativity_, is the technical term.
+
+I.iii.l14 (22,2) My answer must be made] I shall be called to account,
+and must _answer_ as for seditious words.
+
+I.iii.117 (22,3) Hold my hand] Is the same as, _Here's my hand_.
+
+I.iii.118 (22,4) Be factious for redress] _Factious_ seems here to mean
+_active_.
+
+I.iii.129 (23,5) It favours, like the work] The old edition reads,
+
+  It favours, _like the work_--
+
+I think we should read,
+
+  In favour's, _like the work we have in hand,
+  Most bloody, fiery, and most terrible._
+
+_Favour_ is _look, countenance, appearance_. (rev. 1778, VIII, 25, 7)
+
+II.i.19 (25,6) Remorse from power] [_Remorse_, for mercy. WARB.]
+_Remorse_ (says the Author of the _Ravisal_) signifies the conscious
+uneasiness arising from a sense of having done wrong; to extinguish
+which feeling, nothing hath so great a tendency as absolute uncontrouled
+power.
+
+I think Warbuton right. (1773)
+
+II.i.21 (25,7) common proof] Common experiment.
+
+II.i.26 (25,8) base degrees] Low steps.
+
+II.i.33 (26,9) as his kind] According to his nature.
+
+II.i.63 (27,3)
+
+  Between the acting of a dreadful thing,
+  And the first motion, all the interim is
+  Like a phantasma, or a hideous dream:
+  The genius, and the mortal instruments
+  Are then in council; and the state of man,
+  Like to a little kingdom, suffers then
+  The nature of an insurrection]
+
+The [Greek: deinon] of the Greek critics does not, I think, mean
+sentiments which _raise fear_, more than _wonder_, or any other of the
+tumultuous passions; [Greek: to deinon] is that which _strikes_, which
+_astonishes_, with the idea either of some great subject, or of the
+author's abilities.
+
+Dr. Warburton'a pompous criticism might well have been shortened. The
+_genius_ is not the _genius_ of a _kingdom_, nor are the _instruments,
+conspirators_. Shakespeare is describing what passes in a single bosom,
+the _insurrection_ which a conspirator feels agitating the _little
+kingdom_ of his own mind; when the _Genius_, or power that watches for
+his protection, and the _mortal instruments_, the passions, which excite
+him to a deed of honour and danger, are in council and debate; when the
+desire of action and the care of safety, keep the mind in continual
+fluctuation and disturbance.
+
+II.i.76 (29,5) any mark of favour] Any distinction of countenance.
+
+II.i.83 (30,6) For if thou path thy native semblance on] If thou _walk_
+in thy true form.
+
+II.i.114 (31,7) No, not an oath. If not the face of men] Dr. Warburten
+would read _fate of men_; but his elaborate emendation is, I think,
+erroneous. _The_ face _of men_ is the _countenance_, the _regard_, the
+_esteem_ of the publick; in other terms, _honour_ and _reputation_; or
+_the face of men_ may mean the dejected look of the people.
+
+He reads, with the other modern editions,
+
+  --_If_ that _the face of men_,
+
+but the old reading is,
+
+  --_if_ not _the face_, &c.
+
+II.i.129 (32,1) Swear priests, and cowards, and men cautelous] This is
+imitated by Utway,
+
+  _When you would bind me, is there need of oaths?_ &c.
+  Venice preserved.
+
+II.i.187 (34,2) take thought] That is, _turn_ melancholy.
+
+II.i.196 (34,3) Quite from the main opinion he held once] _Main
+opinion_, is nothing more than _leading, fixed, predominant opinion_.
+
+II.i.225 (36,6) Let not our looks put on our purposes] Let not our faces
+_put on_, that is, _wear_ or _show_ our designs.
+
+II.ii.36 (42,3) death, a necessary end,/Will come, when it will come]
+This is a sentence derived from the Stoical doctrine of predestination,
+and is therefore improper in the mouth of Caesar.
+
+II.ii.41 (42,4) The Gods do this in shame of cowardice:/Caesar should be
+a beast without a heart] The ancients did not place courage but wisdom
+in the heart.
+
+II.ii.88 (44,7) and that great men shall press/For tinctures, stains,
+relicks, and cognisance] [Warburton conjectured some lines lost] I am
+not of opinion that any thing is lost, and have therefore marked no
+omission. This speech, which is intentionally pompous, is somewhat
+confused. There are two allusions; one to coats armorial, to which
+princes make additions, or give new _tinctures_, and new marks of
+_cognisance_; the other to martyrs, whose reliques are preserved with
+veneration. The Romans, says Brutus, all come to you as to a saint, for
+reliques, as to a prince, for honours.
+
+II.ii.104 (45,8) And reason to my love is liable] And reason, or
+propriety of conduct and language, is subordinate to my love.
+
+II.iii.16 (47,9) the fates with traitors do contrive] The fates join
+with traitors in contriving thy destruction.
+
+III.i.38 (51,2) And turn pre-ordinance and first decree/Into the lane of
+children] I do not veil understand what is meant by the _lane_ of
+children. I should read, the _law_ of children. It was, _change
+pre-ordinance and decree into the law of children_; into such slight
+determinations as every start of will would alter. _Lane_ and _laws_ in
+some manuscripts are not easily distinguished.
+
+III.i.67 (52,4) apprehensive] Susceptible of fear, or other passions.
+
+III.i.68 (52,5) but one] One, and only one.
+
+III.i.69 (52,6) holds on his rank] Perhaps, _holds on his_ race;
+continues his course. We commonly say, To _hold a rank_, and To _hold
+on_ a _course_ or _way_.
+
+III.i.75 (52,7) Doth not Brutus bootless kneel?] I would read, Do _not
+Brutus bootless kneel_!
+
+III.i.152 (55,9) Who else must be let blood, who else is rank] Who else
+may be supposed to have _overtopped_ his equals, and _grown too high_
+for the public safety.
+
+III.i.257 (59,3) in the tide of times] That is, in the course of times.
+
+III.i.262 (60,4) A curse shall light upon the limbs of men] Hanmer
+reads,
+
+  --kind _of men_.
+
+I rather think it should be,
+
+  --_the_ lives _of men_.
+
+unless we read,
+
+  --these lymms _of men_;
+
+That is, _these bloodhounds_ of men. The uncommonness of the word _lymm_
+easily made the change.
+
+III.i.273 (60,5) Cry _Havock_] A learned correspondent has informed me,
+that, in the military operations of old times, _havock_ was the word by
+which declaration was made, that no quarter should be given.
+
+In a tract intitled, _The Office of the Conestable & Mareschall in the
+Tyme of Werre_, contained in the Black Book of the Admiralty, there is
+the following chapter:
+
+"The peyne of hym that crieth _havock_ and of them that followeth hym.
+etit. v."
+
+"Item Si quis inventus fuerit qui clamorem inceperit qui vecatur
+_Havok_."
+
+"Also that no man be so hardy to crye _Havok_ upon peyne that he that is
+begynner shal be deede therefore: & the remanent that doo the same or
+folow shall lose their horse & harneis: and the persones of such as
+foloweth & escrien shal be under arrest of the Conestable & Mareschall
+warde unto tyme that they have made fyn; & founde suretie no morr to
+offende; & his body in prison at the Kyng wylle.--"
+
+III.ii.116 (66,8) Caesar has had great wrong] [Pope has a rather
+ridiculous note on this] I have inserted this note, because it is
+Pope's, for it is otherwise of no value. It is strange that he should so
+much forget the date of the copy before him, as to think it not printed
+in Jonson's time. (see 1765, VII, 81, 1)
+
+III.ii.126 (68,9) And none so poor] The meanest man is now too high to
+do reverence to Caesar.
+
+III.ii.192 (68,2)
+
+  And, in his mantle muffling up his face,
+  Even at the base of Pompey's statue,
+  Which all the while ran blood, great Caesar fell.
+  O, what a fall was there, my countrymen!]
+
+[Warburton suggested transposing the second and third of these lines]
+The image seems to be, that the blood of Caesar flew upon the statue,
+and trickled down it. And the exclamation,
+
+  _O what a fall was there--_
+
+follows better after
+
+  _-great Caesar fell,_
+
+than with a line interposed, (see 1765, VII, 64, 3)
+
+III.ii.226 (70,4) For I have neither writ] The old copy reads instead of
+_wit_,
+
+  _For I have neither_ writ, _nor words,--_
+
+which may mean, I have no _penned_ and premeditated oration.
+
+IV.ii.4 (77,1
+
+  Your master, Pindarus,
+  In his own change, or by ill officers,
+  Hath given me some worthy cause to wish
+  Things done, undone]
+
+[W: own charge] The arguments for the change proposed are insufficient.
+Brutus could not but know whether the wrongs committed were done by
+those who were immediately under the command of Cassius, or those under
+his officers. The answer of Brutus to the servant is only an act of
+artful civility; his question to Lucilius proves, that his suspicion
+still continued. Yet I cannot but suspect a corruption, and would read,
+
+  _In his own change, or by ill_ offices.
+
+That is, either _changing_ his inclination _of himself_, or _by_ the
+_ill offices_ and bad influences of others. (see 1765, VII, 71, 8)
+
+IV.iii.30 (80,4) To hedge me in] That is, to limit my authority by your
+direction or censure.
+
+IV.iii.32 (80,5) To make conditions] That is, to know on what terms it
+is fit to confer the offices which are at my disposal.
+
+IV.iii.86 (82,7)
+
+  A friend should bear a friend's infirmities,
+  But Brutus makes mine greater than they are.
+  _Bru._ I do not, till you practise them on me]
+
+The meaning is this; I do not look for your faults, I only see them, and
+mention them with vehemence, when you force them into my notice, _by
+practising them on me._ (see 1765, VII, 77, 6)
+
+IV.iii.100 (53,8)
+
+  There is my dagger,
+  And here my naked breast; within, a heart
+  Dearer than Plutus' mine, richer than gold:
+  If that thou be'st a Roman, take it forth]
+
+[W: thou needst a Roman's,] I am not satisfied with the change proposed,
+yet cannot deny, that the words, as they now stand, require some
+interpretation. I think he means only, that he is so far from Avarice,
+when the cause of his country requires liberality, that if any man
+should wish for his heart, he would not need enforce his desire any
+otherwise, than by showing that he was a Roman.
+
+V.i.5 (92,5) They mean to warn as at Philippi here] To warn, seems to
+mean here the same as to alarm. Hanmer reads,
+
+  _They mean to_ wage _us_.
+
+V.i.43 (93,6) While damned Casca, like a cur behind,/Struck Caesar on
+the neck] Casca struck Caesar on the neck, coming _like_ a degenerate
+_cur behind him._
+
+V.i.100 (96,2)
+
+  Even by the rule of that philosophy,
+  By which I did blame Cato for the death
+  Which he did give himself; (I know not how,
+  But I do find it cowardly and vile,
+  For fear of what might fall, so to prevent
+  The time of life:) arming myself with patience]
+
+Dr. Warburton thinks, that in this speech something is lost, but there
+needed only a parenthesis to clear it. The construction is this; I an
+determined to act according to that philosophy which directed me to
+blame the suicide of Cato, arming myself with patience.
+
+V.iv.12 (102,6) _Luc._ Only I yield to die:/There is so much, that then
+wilt kill me straight] Dr. Warburton has been much inclined to find
+_lacunae_, or passages broken by omission, throughout this play. I think
+he has been always mistaken. The soldier here says, _Yield, or thou
+diest_. Lucilius replies, I yield only on this condition, that I may
+die; here is so much gold as thou seest in my hand, which I offer thee
+as a reward for speedy death. What now is there wanting?
+
+(106) General Observation. Of this tragedy many particular passages
+deserve regard, and the contention and reconcilement of Brutus and
+Cassius is universally celebrated; but I have never been strongly
+agitated in perusing it, and think it somewhat cold and unaffecting,
+compared with some other of Shakespeare's plays; his adherence to the
+real story, and to Roman manners, seems to have impeded the natural
+vigour of his genius.
+
+
+
+
+ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA
+
+
+I.i.9 (110,2) And is become the bellows, and the fan,/To cool a gypsy's
+lust] In this passage something seems to be wanting. The bellows and fan
+being commonly used for contrary purposes, were probably opposed by the
+author, who might perhaps have written,
+
+  _--is become the bellows, and the fan_,
+  To kindle and _to cool a gypsy's lust_.
+
+I.i.10 (110,3) gypsy's lust] Gypsy is here used both in the original
+meaning for an _Egyptian_, and in its accidental sense for a _bad
+woman_.
+
+1.i.17 (110,6) Then must thou needs find out new heaven] Thou must set
+the boundary of my love at a greater distance than the present visible
+universe affords.
+
+1.i.18 (110,7) The sum] Be brief, _sum_ thy business in a few words.
+
+I.i.33 (111,8) and the wide arch/Of the rang'd empire fall!] [Taken from
+the Roman custom of raising triumphal arches to perpetuate their
+victories. Extremely noble. WARBURTON.] I am in doubt whether
+Shakespeare had any idea but of a fabrick standing on pillars. The later
+editions have all printed the _raised_ empire, for the _ranged_ empire,
+as it was first given, (see 1765, VII, 107, 8)
+
+I.i.42 (112,1)
+
+  Antony
+  Will be himself.
+  _Ant._ But stirr'd by Cleopatra]
+
+_But_, in this passage, seems to have the old Saxon signification of
+_without, unless, except. Antony_, says the queen, _will recollect his
+thoughts_. Unless _kept_, he replies, _in commotion by Cleopatra_. (see
+1765, VII, 108,1)
+
+I.ii.5 (113,2) change his horns with garlands] [W: charge] Sir Thomas
+Hanmer reads, not improbably, _change_ for _horns_ his _garlands_. I am
+in doubt, whether to _change_ is not merely to _dress_, or _to dress
+with changes of_ garlands.
+
+I.ii.23 (114,3) I had rather heat my liver] To know why the lady is so
+averse from _heating_ her _liver_, it must be remembered, that a heated
+liver is supposed to make a pimpled face.
+
+I.ii.35 (114,5) Then, belike, my children shall have no names] If I have
+already had the best of my fortune, then I suppose _I shall never name
+children_, that is, I am never to be married. However, tell me the
+truth, tell me, _how many boys and wenches_?
+
+1.ii.38 (114,6) If every of your wishes had a womb, and foretel every
+wish, a million] [W: fertil ev'ry] For _foretel_, in ancient editions,
+the latter copies have _foretold_. _Foretel_ favours the emendation,
+which is made with great acuteness; yet the original reading may, I
+think, stand. _If you had as many wombs as you will have wishes; and_ I
+should _foretel all those wishes, I should foretel a million of
+children._ It is an ellipsis very frequent in conversation; _I should
+shame you, and tell all_; that is, _and if I should_ tell all. _And_ is
+for _and if_, which was anciently, and is still provincially, used for
+_if_.
+
+I.ii.105 (117,8) extended Asia] To _extend_, is a term used for to
+_seize_; I know not whether that be not the sense here.
+
+I.ii.113 (118,9) Oh, when we bring forth weeds,/When our quick winds lie
+still] The sense is, that man, not agitated by censure, like soil not
+ventilated by _quick winds_, produces more evil than good.
+
+I.ii.128 (118,1)
+
+  the present pleasure,
+  By revolution lowring, does become
+  The opposite of itself]
+
+[The allusion is to the sun's diurnal course; which rising in the
+_east_, and _by revolution lowering_, or setting in the _west_, becomes
+_the opposite of itself_. WARB.] This is an obscure passage. The
+explanation which Dr. Warburton has offered is such, that I can add
+nothing to it; yet perhaps Shakespeare, who was less learned than his
+commentator, meant only, that our pleasures, as they are _revolved_ in
+the mind, turn to pain.
+
+I.ii.146 (119,3) upon far poorer moment] For less reason; upon meaner
+motives.
+
+I.ii.169 (120,4) It shews to man the tailors of the earth; comforting
+therein] I have printed this after the original, which, though harsh and
+obscure, I know not how to amend. Sir Tho. Hanmer reads, They shew _to
+man the tailors of the earth comforting_ him therein. I think the
+passage, with somewhat less alteration, for alteration is always
+dangerous, may stand thus; _It shews to_ men _the tailors of the earth,
+comforting_ them, &c.
+
+I.ii.187 (121,6) more urgent touches] Things that touch me more
+sensibly, more pressing motives.
+
+I.ii.190 (121,7) Petition us at home] Wish us at home; call for us to
+reside at home.
+
+I.ii.201 (121,9)
+
+  Say, our pleasure
+  To such whose places under us, requires
+  Our quick remove from hence]
+
+This is hardly sense. I believe we should read,
+
+  Their _quick remove from hence_.
+
+Tell our design of going away to those, who being by their places
+obliged to attend us, must remove in haste.
+
+I.iii.3 (122,1) I did not send you] You must go as if you came without
+my order or knowledge.
+
+I.iii.37 (123,2) a race of heaven] [i.e. had a smack or flavour of
+heaven. WARB.] This word is well explained by Dr. Warburton; the _race_
+of wine is the taste of the woil. Sir T. Hanmer, not understanding the
+word, reads, _ray_.
+
+I.iii.44 (124,3) Remains in use] The poet seems to allude to the legal
+distinction between the _use_ and _absolute possession_.
+
+I.iii.54 (124,4) should safe my going] [T: salve] Mr. Upton reads, I
+think rightly,
+
+  --_safe_ my going.
+
+I.iii.62 (125,5)
+
+  O most false love!
+  Where be the sacred vials thou shouldst fill
+  With sorrowful water?]
+
+Alluding to the lachrymatory vials, or bottles of tears, which the
+Romans sometimes put into the urn of a friend.
+
+I.iii.77 (125,6) the tears/Belong to Egypt] To me, the queen of Egypt.
+
+I.iii.90 (126,7) Oh, ny oblivion is a very Antony,/And I am all
+forgotten] [The plain meaning is, _My forgetfulness makes me forget
+myself_. WARBURTON.] [Hanmer explained "all forgotten" as "apt to forget
+everything"] I cannot understand the learned critic's explanation. It
+appears to me, that she should rather have said,
+
+  _O my_ remembrance _is a very_ Antony,
+  _And I am all forgotten._
+
+It was her memory, not her oblivion, that, like Antony, vas forgetting
+and deserting her. I think a slight change will restore the passage. The
+queen, having something to say, which she is not able, or would not seem
+able to recollect, cries out,
+
+  _O my oblivion_!--'Tis _a very Antony_.
+
+The thought of which I was in quest is a very Antony, is treacherous and
+fugitive, and has irrevocably left me,
+
+  _And I am all forgotten._
+
+If this reading stand, I think the explanation of Hanmer must be
+received, (see 1765, VII, 122, 6)
+
+I.iv.3 (127,9) One great competitor] Perhaps, _Our_ great competitor.
+
+I.iv.12 (128,1) as the spots of heaven,/More fiery by night's blackness]
+If by spots are meant stars, as night has no other fiery spots, the
+comparison is forced and harsh, stars having been always supposed to
+beautify the night; nor do I comprehend what there is in the
+counter-part of this simile, which answers to night's blackness. Hanmer
+reads,
+
+  --_spots_ on ermine
+  Or fires, _by night's blackness_.
+
+I.iv.14 (128,2) purchas'd] Procured by his own fault or endeavour.
+
+I.iv.21 (128,3) say, this becomes him, (As his composure must be rare,
+indeed, Whom these things cannot blemish] This seems inconsequent. I
+read
+
+  _And his composure_, &c.
+  _Grant that this becomes him_, and _if it can become him, he must
+  have in him something very uncommon_; yet, _&c._
+
+I.iv.25 (128,4) So great weight in his lightness] The word _light_ it
+one of Shakespeare's favourite play-things. The sense is, His trifling
+levity throws so much burden upon us.
+
+I.iv.25 (129,5)
+
+  If he fill'd
+  His vacancy with his voluptuousness,
+  Full surfeits, and the dryness of his bones,
+  Call on him for't]
+
+_Call on him_, is, _visit him_. Says Caesar, _If Antony followed his
+debaucheries at a time of leisure, I should leave him to be punished by
+their natural consequences, by_ surfeits _and_ dry bones.
+
+I.iv.31 (129,6) boys; who being mature in knowledge] For this Hanmer,
+who thought the _maturity_ of a _boy_ an inconsistent idea, has put,
+
+  --_who_, immature _in knowledge_,
+
+but the words _experience_ and _judgment_ require that we read _mature_;
+though Dr. Warburton has received the emendation. By _boys mature in
+knowledge_, are meant, _boys old enough to know their duty_.
+
+I.iv.38 (129,7) he is belov'd of these/That only have fear'd Caesar]
+Those whom not _love_ but _fear_ made adherents to Caesar, now shew
+their affection for Pompey.
+
+I.iv.49 (130,2) which they ear] To _ear_, is to _plow_; a common
+metaphor.
+
+I.iv.52 (130,3) Lack blood to think on't] Turn pale at the thought of
+it.
+
+I.v.4 (132,5) mandragora] A plant of which the infusion was supposed to
+procure sleep. Shakespeare mentions it in _Othello_:
+
+  _Not poppy, nor_ mandragora,
+  _Can ever med'cine thee to that sweet sleep_.
+
+I.v.38 (133,8) that great medicine hath/With his tinct gilded thee]
+Alluding to the philosopher's stone, which, by its touch, converts base
+metal into gold. The alchemists call the matter, whatever it be, by
+which they perform transmutation, a _medicine_.
+
+I.v.48 (134,9) arm-gaunt steed] [i.e. his steed worn lean and thin by
+much service in war. So Fairfax, _His_ stall-worn _steed the champion
+stout bestrode_. WARB.] On this note Mr. Edwards has been very lavish of
+his pleasantry, and indeed has justly censured the misquotation of
+_stall-worn_, for _stall-worth_, which means _strong_, but makes no
+attempt to explain the word in the play. Mr. Seyward, in his preface to
+Beaumont, has very elaborately endeavoured to prove, that an _arm-gaunt_
+steed is a steed with _lean shoulders_. _Arm_ is the Teutonick word for
+_want_, or _poverty_. _Arm-gaunt_ may be therefore an old word,
+signifying, _lean_ for _want_, ill fed. Edwards's observation, that a
+worn-out horse is not proper for Atlas to mount in battle, is
+impertinent; the horse here mentioned seems to be a post horse, rather
+than a war horse. Yet as _arm-gaunt_ seems not intended to imply any
+defect, it perhaps means, a horse so slender that a man might clasp him,
+and therefore formed for expedition. Hanmer reads,
+
+  --_arm-girt steed_.
+
+I.v.50 (134,1) Was beastly dumb by him] Mr. Theobald reads _dumb'd_, put
+to silence. _Alexas means_, (says he) _the horse made such a neighing,
+that if he had spoke he could not have been heard_.
+
+I.v.76 (136,3) Get me ink and paper: he shall have every day/ A several
+greeting, or I'll unpeople Aegypt] By sending out messengers.
+
+II.i (136,4) _Enter Pompey_, _Menecrates_, _and Menas_] The persons are
+so named in the first edition; but I know not why Menecrates appears;
+Menas can do all without him.
+
+II.i.4 (136,5) While we are suitors to their throne, decays/The thing we
+sue for] [W: delays] It is not always prudent to be too hasty in
+exclamation; the reading which Dr. Warburton rejects as _nonsense_, is
+in my opinion right; if _delay_ be what they sue for, they have it, and
+the consolation offered becomes superfluous. The meaning is, _While we
+are praying_, _the thing for which we pray_ is losing its value.
+
+II.i.38 (138,8) The ne'er-lust-wearied Antony] [Theobald emended "near
+lust-wearied" to "ne'er-lust-wearied"] Could it be imagined, after this
+swelling exultation, that the first edition stands literally thus,
+
+  _The_ neere _lust wearied Antony_.
+
+II.i.45 (139,9) square] That is, quarrel.
+
+II.i.51 (139,1) Our lives upon] This play is not divided into acts by
+the authour or first editors, and therefore the present division may be
+altered at pleasure. I think the first act may be commodiously continued
+to this place, and the second act opened with the interview of the chief
+persons, and a change of the state of action. Yet it must be confessed,
+that it is of small importance, where these unconnected and desultory
+scenes are interrupted.
+
+II.ii.7 (140,2) Were I the wearer of Antonius' beard,/I would not shav't
+to-day] I believe he means, _I would meet him undressed_, _without shew
+of respect_.
+
+II.ii.25 (141,3) Nor curstness grow to the matter] Let not _ill-humour_
+be added to the real _subject_ of our difference.
+
+II.ii.28 (141,4) _Caes_. Sit./_Ant_. Sit, sir!] [Antony appears to be
+jealous of a circumstance which seemed to indicate a consciousness of
+superiority in his too successful partner in power; and accordingly
+resents the invitation of Caesar to be seated: Caesar answers, _Nay
+then_--i.e. _if you are so ready to resent what I meant an act of
+civility, there can be no reason to suppose you have temper enough for
+the business on which at present we are met_. STEEVENS.] The following
+circumstance may serve to strengthen Mr. Steevens's opinion: When the
+fictitious Sebastian made his appearance in Europe, he came to a
+conference with the Conde de Lemos; to whom, after the firat exchange of
+civilities, he said, _Conde de Lemos, be covered_. And being asked by
+that nobleman, by what pretences he laid claim to the superiority
+expressed by such permission, he replied, I do it by right of my birth;
+I am Sebastian. (1773)
+
+II.ii.43 (142,5) their contestation/Was theam for you, you were the word
+of war] [W: theam'd] I am neither satisfied with the reading nor the
+emendation; _theam'd_ is, I think, a word unauthorised, and very harsh.
+Perhaps we may read,
+
+  --_their contestation_
+
+Had _theme_ from _you_, _you were the word o' th' war_. _The dispute
+derived its subject from you_. It may be corrected by mere
+transposition,
+
+  --_their contestation_
+
+You were theme for, _you were the word_.
+
+II.ii.51 (143,8) Having alike your cause?] The meaning seems to be,
+_having the same cause as you to be offended with me_. But why, because
+he was offended with Antony, should he make war upon Caesar? May it not
+be read thus,
+
+  --_Did he not rather
+  Discredit my authority with yours,
+  And make the wars alike against my stomach_,
+  Hating _alike_ our _cause_?
+
+II.ii.53 (143,9) As matter whole you have not to make it with] The
+original copy reads,
+
+  _As matter whole you_ have _to make it with_.
+
+Without doubt erroneously; I therefore only observe it, that the reader
+may more readily admit the liberties which the editors of this authour's
+works have necessarily taken.
+
+II.ii.61 (144,1) fronted] i.e. _opposed_.
+
+II.ii.85 (145,4) The honour's sacred which he talks on now,/Supposing
+that I lack'd it] [_Sacred_, for unbroken, unviolated. WARB.] Dr.
+Warburton seems to understand this passage thus; _The honour which he_
+talks _of me as_ lacking, _is_ unviolated, _I never lacked it_. This may
+perhaps be the true meaning, but before I read the note, I understood it
+thus: Lepidus interrupts Caesar, on the supposition that what he is
+about to say will be too harsh to be endured by Antony; to which Antony
+replies, _No, Lepidus, let him speak, the security of_ honour on which
+he now speaks, _on which this conference is held now_, is sacred, _even_
+supposing that I lacked _honour_ before.
+
+II.ii.112 (146,5) your considerate stone] This line is passed by all the
+editors, as if they understood it, and believed it universally,
+intelligible. I cannot find in it any very obvious, and hardly any
+possible meaning. I would therefore read,
+
+  _Go to then_, you _considerate_ ones.
+
+You, who dislike my frankness and temerity of speech, and are so
+_considerate_ and discreet, _go to_, do your on business.
+
+II.ii.113 (146,6) I do not much dislike the matter, but/The manner of
+his speech] I do not, says Caesar, think the man wrong, but too free of
+him interposition; _for't cannot be, we shall remain in friendship: yet
+if it were possible, I would endeavour it_.
+
+II.ii.123 (147,7) your reproof/Were well deserv'd] In the old edition,
+
+  --_your_ proof
+  _Were well deserv'd_--
+
+Which Mr. Theobald, with his usual triumph, changes to _approof_, which
+he explains, _allowance_. Dr. Warburton inserted _reproof_ very properly
+into Hanmer's edition, but forgot it in his own.
+
+II.ii.159 (148,8) Lest my remembrance suffer ill report] Lest I be
+thought too willing to forget benefits, I must barely return him thanks,
+and then I will defy him.
+
+II.ii.210 (150,1) And what they undid, did] It might be read less
+harshly,
+
+  _And what they did_, undid.
+
+II.ii.212 (150,2) tended her i' the eyes] Perhaps _tended her_ by th'
+_eyes_, discovered her will by her eyes.
+
+II.iii.21 (153,6) thy angel/Becomes a Fear] Mr.Uptan reads,
+
+  _Becomes_ afear'd,--
+
+The common reading is more poetical.
+
+II.iii.37 (154,7) his quails ever/Beat mine] The ancients used to match
+quails as we match cocks.
+
+II.iii.38 (154,8) inhoop'd, at odds] Thus the old copy. _Inhoop'd_ is
+_inclosed, confined_, that they may fight. The modern editions read,
+
+  _Beat mine_, in whoop'd-_at odds_.--
+
+II.v.1 (155,9) musick, moody food] [The _mood_ is the _mind_, or _mental
+disposition_. Van Haaren's panegyrick on the English begins,
+_Groot-moedig Volk, great-minded nation_.] Perhaps here is a poor jest
+intended between _mood_ the _mind_ and _moods_ of musick.
+
+II.v.41 (l57,4) Not like a formal man] [_Formal_, for ordinary. WARB.]
+Rather decent, regular.
+
+II.v.103 (161,8) Thou art not what thou'rt sure of!] For this, which is
+not easily understood, Sir Thomas Hanmer has given,
+
+  _That_ say'st but _what thou'rt sure of!_
+
+I am not satisfied with the change, which, though it affords sense,
+exhibits little spirit. I fancy the line consists only of abrupt starts.
+
+  _Oh that his fault should make a knave of thee_,
+  That art--not what?--Thou'rt sure on't.--Get thee
+  hence.
+
+_That his fault should make a knave of thee that art_--but what _shall I
+say thou art not_? Thou art then sure of _this marriage._--Get thee
+hence.
+
+Dr. Warburton has received Sir T. Hanmer's emendation.
+
+II.v.115 (161,9) Let him for ever go] She is now talking in broken
+sentences, not of the messenger, but Antony.
+
+II.vi.24 (163,2) Thou canst not fear us] Thou canst not affright us with
+thy numerous navy.
+
+II.vi.28 (163,3) But since the cuckow builds not for himself] Since,
+like the cuckow, that seizes the nests of other birds, you have invaded
+a house which you could not build, keep it while you can.
+
+II.vii.1 (167,6) some o' their plants] _Plants_, besides its common
+meaning, is here used for the _foot_, from the Latin.
+
+II.vii.14 (167,9) a partizan] A pike.
+
+II.vii.16 (167,1) To be call'd into a huge sphere, and not to be seen to
+move in't, are the holes where eyes should be, which pitifully disaster
+the cheeks] This speech seems to be mutilated; to supply the
+deficiencies is impossible, but perhaps the sense was originally
+approaching to this.
+
+_To be called into a huge sphere, and not to be seen to move in it_, is
+a very ignominious state; great offices _are the holes where eyes should
+be, which_, if eyes be wanting, _pitifully disaster the cheeks_.
+
+II.vii.88 (170,2) thy pall'd fortunes] _Palled_, is vapid, past its time
+of excellence; _palled_ wine, is wine that has lost its original
+spriteliness.
+
+II.vii.102 (171,3) Strike the vessels] Try whether the casks sound as
+empty.
+
+II.vii.116 (171,4) The holding every man shall bear] Every man shall
+accompany the chorus by drumming on his sides, in token of concurrence
+and applause. [Theobald had emended "beat" to "bear"] (1773)
+
+III.i.1 (173,6) Now, darting Parthia, art thou struck] _Struck_ alludes
+to darting. Thou whose darts have so often struck others, art struck now
+thyself. (1773)
+
+III.ii.12 (175,8) Arabian bird!] The phoenix.
+
+III.ii.16 (176,9)
+
+  Ho! hearts, tongues, figure, scribes, bards, poets, cannot
+  Think, speak, cast, write, sing, number, ho!]
+
+Not only the tautology of _bards_ and _poets_, but the want of a
+correspondent action for the _poet_, whose business in the next line is
+only to _number_, makes me suspect some fault in this passage, which I
+know not how to mend.
+
+III.ii.26 (176,1) as my furthest bond] As I will venture the greatest
+pledge of security, on the trial of thy conduct.
+
+III.ii.40 (177,1) The elements be kind to thee, and make/Thy spirits all
+of comfort!] This is obscure. It seems to mean, _May the different_
+elements _of the body, or principles of life, maintain such proportion
+and harmony as may keep you cheerful_.
+
+III.iv.26 (182,7) I'll raise the preparation of a war/Shall stain your
+brother] [T: strain] I do not see but _stain_ may be allowed to remain
+unaltered, meaning no more than _shame_ or _disgrace_.
+
+III.iv.30 (182,8) Wars 'twixt you 'twain would be/As if the world should
+cleave] The sense is, that war between Caesar and Antony would engage
+the world between them, and that the slaughter would be great in so
+extensive a commotion.
+
+III.v.8 (183,9) rivality] Equal rank.
+
+III.v.11 (183,1) Upon his own appeal] To _appeal_, in Shakespeare, is to
+_accuse_; Caesar seized Lepidus without any other proof than Caesar's
+accusation.
+
+III.v.21 (184,3) More, Domitius] I have something _more_ to tell you,
+which I might have told at first, and delayed my news. Antony requires
+your presence.
+
+III.vi.9 (184,4) made her/Of Lower Syria, Cyprus, Lydia./Absolute queen]
+For _Lydia_, Mr. Upton, from Plutarch, has restored _Lybia_.
+
+III.vi.68-75 (187,6) Mr. Upton remarks, that there are some errours in
+this enumeration of the auxiliary kings; but it is probable that the
+authour did not much wish to be accurate.
+
+III.vi.95 (188,7) And gives his potent regiment to a trull] _Regiment_,
+is _government, authority_; he puts his _power_ and his empire into the
+hands of a false woman.
+
+It may be observed, that _trull_ was not, in our author's time, a term
+of mere infamy, but a word of slight contempt, as _wench_ is now.
+
+III.vii.3 (188,8) forespoke my being] To _forespeak_, is to
+_contradict_, to _speak against_, as _forbid_ is to order negatively.
+
+III.vii.68 (191,1)
+
+  By Hercules, I think, I am i' the right.
+  Can.  Soldier, thou art:  but his whole action grows
+  Not in the power on't]
+
+That is, his whole conduct becomes, ungoverned by the right, or by
+reason.
+
+III.vii.77 (191,2) distractions] Detachments; separate bodies.
+
+III.x.6 (193,4) The greater cantle] [A piece or lump. POPE.] _Cantle_ is
+rather a _corner_. Caesar in this play mentions the _three-nook'd
+world_. Of this triangular world every triumvir had a corner. (see 1765,
+VII, 185, 6)
+
+III.x.9 (193,5) token'd pestilence] Spotted.
+
+III.x.10 (193,6) Yon' ribauld nag of Aegypt] The word is in the old
+edition _ribaudred_, which I do not understand, but mention it, in hopes
+others may raise some happy conjecture. [Tyrwhitt: hag] The brieze, or
+oestrum, the fly that stings cattle, proves that _nag_ is the right
+word. (1773)
+
+III.x.11 (193,7) Whom leprosy o'ertake!] _Leprosy_, an epidemical
+distemper of the Aegyptians; to which Horace probably alludes in the
+controverted line.
+
+  _Contaminato cum grege turpium
+  Morbo virorum._
+
+III.x.36 (195,1) The wounded chance of Antony] I know not whether the
+author, who loves to draw his images from the sports of the field, might
+not have written,
+
+  _The wounded_ chase _of Antony_,--
+
+The allusion is to a deer wounded and chased, whom all other deer avoid.
+_I will_, says Enobarbus, _follow Antony_, though _chased_ and
+_wounded_.
+
+The common reading, however, may very well stand.
+
+III.xi.3 (195,2) so lated in the world] Alluding to a benighted
+traveller.
+
+III.xi.23 (196,3) I have lost command] I am not master of my own
+emotions.
+
+III.xi.35 (196,4) He at Philippi kept/His sword e'en like a dancer] In
+the Moriaco, and perhaps anciently in the Pyrrhick dance, the dancers
+held swords in their hands with the points upward.
+
+III.xi.39 (196,6) he alone/Dealt on lieutenantry] I know not whether the
+meaning is, that Caesar acted only as lieutenant at Philippi, or that he
+made his attempts only on lieutenants, and left the generals to Antony.
+
+III.xi.47 (197,7) death will seize her; but/Your comfort] _But_ has
+here, as once before in this play, the force of _except_, or _unless_.
+
+III.ii.52 (197,8) How I convey my shame] How, by looking another way, I
+withdraw my ignominy from your sight.
+
+III.ii.57 (197,9) ty'd by the strings] That is by the _heart string_.
+
+III.xii.18 (199,1) The circle of the Ptolemies] The diadem; the ensign
+of royalty.
+
+III.xii.34 (199,2) how Antony becomes his flaw] That is, how Antony
+conforms himself to this breach of his fortune.
+
+III.xiii.1 (200,3) Think, and die] [Hanmer: Drink] This reading, offered
+by sir T. Hanmer, is received by Dr. Warburton and Mr. Upton, but I have
+not advanced it into the page, not being convinced that it is necessary.
+_Think, and die_; that is, _Reflect on your folly, and leave the world_,
+is a natural answer.
+
+III.xiii.9 (201,4) he being/The meered question] The _meered_ question
+is a term I do not understand. I know not what to offer, except,
+
+  _The_ mooted _question_.--
+
+That is, the _disputed_ point, the subject of debate. _Mere_ is indeed a
+_boundary_, and the _meered question_, if it can mean any thing, may,
+with some violence of language, mean, the _disputed boundary_.
+
+III.xiii.25 (202, 5)
+
+  I dare him therefore
+  To lay his gay comparisons apart
+  And answer me declin'd]
+
+I require of Caesar not to depend on that superiority which the
+_comparison_ of our different fortunes may exhibit to him, but to answer
+me man to man, in this decline of my age or power.
+
+III.xiii.42 (202,6) The loyalty, well held to fools, does make/Our faith
+meer folly] [T: Though loyalty, well held] I have preserved the old
+reading: Enobarbus is deliberating upon desertion, and finding it is
+more prudent to forsake a fool, and more reputable to be faithful to
+him, makes no positive conclusion. Sir T. Hanmer follows Theobald; Dr.
+Warburton retains the old reading.
+
+III.xiii.77 (204,9) Tell him, from his all-obeying breath I hear/The
+doom of Aegypt] _Doom_ is declared rather by an _all-commanding_, than
+an _all-obeying breath_. I suppose we ought to read,
+
+  --_all_-obeyed breath.
+
+III.xiii.81 (205,1) Give me grace] Grant me the favour.
+
+III.xiii.109 (206,3) By one that looks on feeders?] One that waits at
+the table while others are eating.
+
+III.xiii.128 (207,4) The horned herd] It is not without pity and
+indignation that the reader of this great poet meets so often with this
+low jest, which is too much a favourite to be left out of either mirth
+or fury.
+
+III.xiii.151 (208,5) to quit me] To repay me this insult; to _requite_
+me.
+
+III.xiii.180 (209,9) Were nice and lucky] [_Nice_, for delicate,
+courtly, flowing in peace. WARBURTON.] _Nice_ rather seems to be, _just
+fit for my purpose, agreeable to my wish_. So we vulgarly say of any
+thing that is done better than was expected, it is _nice_.
+
+IV.i.5 (210,1) I have many other ways to die] [Upton: He hath.../I
+laugh] I think this emendation deserves to be received. It had, before
+Mr. Upton's book appeared, been made by sir T. Hanmer.
+
+IV.i.9 (211,2) Make boot of] Take advantage of.
+
+IV.ii.8 (212,3) _take all_] Let the survivor take all. No composition,
+victory or death.
+
+IV.ii.14 (212,4) one of those odd tricks] I know not what obscurity the
+editors find in this passage. _Trick_ is here used in the sense in which
+it is uttered every day by every mouth, elegant and vulgar: yet sir T.
+Hanmer changes it to _freaks_, and Dr. Warburton, in his rage of
+Gallicism, to _traits_.
+
+IV.ii.26 (213,5) Haply, you shall not see me more; or if,/A mangled
+shadow] _Or if_ you see me more, you will see me _a mangled shadow_,
+only the external form of what I was.
+
+IV.ii.35 (213,6) onion-ey'd] I have my eyes as full of tears as if they
+had been fretted by onions.
+
+IV.iv.3 (215,8) Come, good fellow, put thine iron on] I think it should
+be rather,
+
+  --mine _iron_--
+
+IV.iv.5 (215,9) Nay, I'll help too] These three little speeches, which
+in the other editions are only one, and given to Cleopatra, were happily
+disentangled by sir T. Hanmer.
+
+IV.iv.10 (215,1) Briefly, sir] That is, _quickly_, sir.
+
+IV.v.17 (218,3) Dispatch. Enobarbus!] Thus [_Dispatch, my Eros_] the
+modern editors. The old edition reads,
+
+  --_Dispatch Enobarbus_.
+
+Perhaps, it should be,
+
+  --_Dispatch! To Enobarbus!_ (see 1765, VII, 208, 3)
+
+IV.vi.12 (219,6) persuade] The old copy has _dissuade_, perhaps rightly.
+
+IV.vi.34 (219,7) This blows my heart] All the latter editions have,
+
+   --_This_ bows _my heart_;
+
+I have given the original word again the place from which I think it
+unjustly excluded. _This generosity_, (says Enobarbus) swells _my
+heart_, so that it will quickly break, _if thought break it not, a
+swifter mean_.
+
+IV.vii.2 (220,8) and our oppression] Sir T. Hanmer has received
+_opposition_. Perhaps rightly.
+
+IV.viii.1 (221,9) run one before,/And let the queen know of our guests]
+[W: gests] This passage needs neither correction nor explanation. Antony
+after his success intends to bring his officers to sup with Cleopatra,
+and orders notice to be given her of their _guests_.
+
+IV.viii.12 (222,1) To this great fairy] Mr. Upton has well observed,
+that _fairy_; which Dr. Warburton and sir T. Hanmer explain by
+_Inchantress_, comprises the idea of power and beauty.
+
+IV.viii.22 (222,2) get goal for goal of youth] At all plays of barriers,
+the boundary is called a _goal_; to _win a goal_, is to be superiour in
+a contest of activity.
+
+IV.viii.31 (223,4) Bear our hack'd targets like the men that owe them]
+i.e. hack'd as much as the men are to whom they belong. WARB.] Why not
+rather, _Bear our hack'd targets_ with spirit and exaltation, such as
+becomes the brave warriors _that own them_?
+
+IV.ix.15 (224,5)
+
+  Throw my heart
+  Against the flint and hardness of my fault;
+  Which, being dried with grief, will break to powder,
+  And finish all foul thoughts]
+
+The pathetick of Shakespeare too often ends in the ridiculous. It is
+painful to find the gloomy dignity of this noble scene destroyed by the
+intrusion of a conceit so far-fetched and unaffecting.
+
+IV.xii.13 (226,1) Triple turn'd whore!] She was first for Antony, then
+was supposed by him to have _turned_ to Caesar, when he found his
+messenger kissing her hand, then she _turned_ again to Antony, and now
+has _turned_ to Caesar. Shall I mention what has dropped into my
+imagination, that our author might perhaps have written
+_triple-tongued_? _Double-tongued_ is a common term of reproach, which
+rage might improve to _triple-tongued_. But the present reading may
+stand.
+
+IV.xii.21 (227,2) That pannell'd me at heels] All the editions read,
+
+  _That_ pannell'd _me at heels_,--
+
+Sir T. Hanmer substituted _spaniel'd_ by an emendation, with which it
+was reasonable to expect that even rival commentators would be
+satisfied; yet Dr. Warburton proposes _pantler'd_, in a note, of which
+he is not injur'd by the suppression; and Mr. Upton having in his first
+edition proposed plausibly enough,
+
+  _That_ paged _me at heels_,--
+
+in the second edition retracts his alteration, and maintains _pannell'd_
+to be the right reading, being a metaphor taken, he says, from a
+_pannel_ of wainscot.
+
+IV.xii.25 (227,3) this grave charm] I know not by what authority, nor
+for what reason, _this_ grave _charm_, which the first, the only
+original copy exhibits, has been through all the modern editors changed
+to _this_ gay _charm_. By _this_ grave _charm_, is meant, _this sublime,
+this majestic beauty_.
+
+IV.xii.29 (227,4) to the very heart of loss] To the utmost loss
+possible.
+
+IV.xii.45 (228,7) Let me lodge, Lichas] Sir T. Hanmer reads thus,
+
+  --thy _rage_
+  Led thee _lodge Lichas_--and--
+  _Subdue_ thy _worthiest self_.--
+
+This reading, harsh as it is, Dr. Warburton has received, after having
+rejected many better. The meaning is, Let me do something in my rage,
+becoming the successor of Hercules,
+
+IV.xiv.19 (230,2) Pack'd cards with Caesar, and false play'd my
+glory/Unto an enemy's triumph] [Warburton had explained and praised
+Shakespeare's "metaphor"] This explanation is very just, the thought did
+not deserve so good an annotation.
+
+IV.xiv.39 (231,3) The battery from my heart] I would read,
+
+  This _battery from my heart_.--
+
+
+IV.xiv.49 (232,4) Seal then, and all is done] I believe the reading is,
+
+  --seel _then, and all is done_--
+
+To _seel hawks_, is to close their eyes. The meaning will be,
+
+  --_since the torch is out,
+  Lie down, and stray no further. How all labour
+  Marrs what it does_.--Seel _then, and all is done_.
+
+Close thine eyes _for ever, and be quiet_.
+
+IV.xiv.73 (233,5) pleach'd arms] Arms folded in each other.
+
+IV.xiv.77 (233,6) His baseness that ensued?] The poor conquered wretch
+that followed.
+
+IV.xiv.86 (233,7) the worship of the whole world] The _worship_, is the
+_dignity_, the _authority_.
+
+IV.xv.9 (237,9)
+
+  O sun,
+  Burn the great sphere thou mov'st in!--darkling stand
+  The varying shore o' the world]
+
+She desires the sun, to _burn_ his own _orb_, the vehicle of light, and
+then the earth will be dark.
+
+IV.xv.19-23 (237,1) I here importune death] [Theobald had regularized
+the versification and had added two words] Mr. Theobald's emendation is
+received by the succeeding editors; but it seems not necessary that a
+dialogue so distressful should be nicely regular. I have therefore
+preserved the original reading in the text, and the emendation below.
+
+IV.xv.28 (238,2) still conclusion] Sedate determination; silent coolness
+of resolution.
+
+IV.xv.32 (236,3) Here's sport, indeed!] I suppose the meaning of these
+strange words is, _here's_ trifling, _you_ do not work _in earnest_.
+
+IV.xv.39 (239,4) Quicken with kissing] That is, _Revive by my kiss_.
+
+IV.xv.44 (239,6) That the false huswife Fortune break her wheel] This
+despicable line has occurred before.
+
+IV.xv.65 (240,8) The soldier's pole] He at whom the soldiers pointed, as
+at a pageant held high for observation.
+
+IV.xv.72 (240,9)
+
+  _Char_. Peace, peace, Iras.
+  _Cleo_. No more--but e'en a woman]
+
+[W: peace, Isis] Of this note it may be truly said, that it at least
+deserves to be right, nor can he, that shall question the justness of
+the emendation, refuse his esteem to the ingenuity and learning with
+which it is proposed.
+
+Hanmer had proposed another emendation, not injudiciously. He reads
+thus,
+
+  Iras. _Royal Aegypt! empress!_
+  Cleo. _Peace, peace, Iras.
+  No more but a mere woman_, &c.
+
+That is, _no more an empress, but a mere woman_.
+
+It is somewhat unfortunate that the words, _mere woman_, which so much
+strengthen the opposition to either _empress_ or _Isis_, are not in the
+original edition, which stands thus,
+
+  _No more but_ in a _woman_.
+
+_Mere woman_ was probably the arbitrary reading of Rowe. I suppose,
+however, that we muy justly change the ancient copy thus,
+
+  _No more, but_ e'en a _woman_.
+
+which will enough accommodate either of the editors.
+
+I am inclined to think that she speaks abruptly, not answering her
+woman, but discoursing with her own thoughts,
+
+  _No more--but_ e'en a _woman_.
+
+_I have_ no more _of my wonted greatness_, but am even a woman, _on the
+level with other women; were I what I once was_.
+
+  --It were for me
+  To throw my scepter, _&c_.
+
+If this simple explanation be admitted, how much labour has been thrown
+away. _Peace, peace, Iras_, is said by Charmian, when she sees the queen
+recovering, and thinks speech troublesome.
+
+V.i.15 (244,4) The round world/Should have shook lions into civil
+streets] I think here is a line lost, after which it is in vain to go in
+quest. The sense seems to have been this: _The round world should have
+shook_, and this great alteration of the system of things should send
+_lions into streets, and citizens into dens_. There is sense still, but
+it is harsh and violent.
+
+V.i.27 (244,5) but it is tidings/To wash the eyes of kings!] That is,
+May _the Gods rebuke me_, if this be not _tidings to make kings weep_.
+
+_But_, again, for _if not_.
+
+V.i.46 (245,7) that our stars,/Unreconciliable, should divide/Our
+equalness to this] That is, _should have made us_, in our equality of
+fortune, disagree _to_ a pitch like this, that one of us must die.
+
+V.i.52 (246,8) A poor Aegyptian yet; the queen my mistress] If this
+punctuation be right, the man means to say, that he is _yet an
+Aegyptian_, that is, _yet a servant of the queen of Aegypt_, though soon
+to become, a subject of Rome.
+
+V.i.65 (246,9) her life in Rome/Would be eternal in our triumph] Hanmer
+reads judiciously enough, but without necessity,
+
+  _Would be_ eternalling _our triumph_.
+
+The sense is, _If she dies here, she will be forgotten, but if I send
+her_ in triumph at Rome, _her memory and my glory_ will be eternal.
+
+V.ii.3 (247,1) fortune's knave] The _servant_ of fortune.
+
+V.ii.4 (247,2)
+
+  it is great
+  To do that thing, that ends all other deeds;
+  Which shackles accidents, and bolts up change;
+  Which sleeps, and never palates more the dung,
+  The beggar's nurse, and Caesar's]
+
+[Warburton added a whole line and emended "dung" to "dugg"] I cannot
+perceive the loss of a line, or the need of an emendation. The
+commentator seems to have entangled his own ideas; his supposition that
+_suicide_ is called _the beggar's nurse and Caesar's_, and his
+concession that the position is _intelligible_, show, I think, a mind
+not intent upon the business before it. The difficulty of the passage,
+if any difficulty there be, arises only from this, that the act of
+suicide, and the state which is the effect of suicide are confounded.
+Voluntary death, says she, is an act _which bolts up change_; it
+produces a state,
+
+  _Which sleeps, and never palates more the dung,
+  The beggar's nurse, and Caesar's_.
+
+Which has no longer need of the gross and terrene sustenance, in the use
+of which Caesar and the beggar are on a level.
+
+The speech is abrupt, but perturbation in such a state is surely
+natural.
+
+V.ii.29 (249,4) I am his fortune's vassal, and I send him/The greatness
+he has got] I allow him to be my conqueror; I own his superiority with
+complete submission.
+
+V.ii.34 (249,5) You see how easily she may be surpriz'd] This line in
+the first edition is given not to Charuian, but to Proculeius; and to
+him it certainly belongs, though perhaps misplaced. I would put it at
+the end of his foregoing speech,
+
+  _Where he for grace is kneel'd to._
+  [Aside to Gallus.] _You see, how easily she may be surpriz'd._
+
+Then while Cleopatra makes a formal answer, Gallus, upon the hint given,
+seizes her, and Proculeius, interrupting the civility of his answer,
+
+  _--your plight is pity'd
+  Of him that caus'd it._
+
+Cries out,
+
+  _Guard her till, Caesar come._
+
+V.ii.40 (250,6) who are in this/Reliev'd, but not betray'd] [W:
+Bereav'd, but] I do not think the emendation necessary, since the sense
+is not made better by it, and the abruptness in Cleopatra's answer is
+more forcible in the old reading.
+
+V.ii.42 (250,7) rids our dogs of languish] For _languish_, I think we
+may read, _anguish_.
+
+V.ii.48 (251,8) Worth many babes and beggars] Why, death, wilt thou not
+rather seize a queen, than employ thy force upon _babes_ and _beggars_.
+(see 1765, VII, 238, 9)
+
+V.ii.50 (251,9) If idle talk will once be necessary] [This nonsense
+should be reformed thus,
+
+  _If idle_ TIME _whill once be necessary._
+
+i.e. if _repose_ be necessary to cherish life, I will not sleep.
+WARBURTON.] I do not see that the nonsense is made sense by the change.
+Sir T. Hanmer reads,
+
+  _If idle talk will once be_ accessary;
+
+Neither is this better. I know not what to offer better than an easy
+explanation. That is, _I will not eat_, and _if it will be necessary now
+for once_ to waste a moment in _idle talk_ of my purpose, _I will not
+sleep neither_. In common conversation we often use _will be_, with as
+little relation to futurity. As, Now I am going, it _will be_ fit for me
+to dine first.
+
+V.ii.98 (254,2)
+
+                      yet to imagine
+  An Antony, were Nature's piece 'gainst Fancy,
+  Condemning shadows quite]
+
+[W: Nature's prize] In this passage I cannot discover any temptation to
+critical experiments. The word _piece_, is a term appropriated to works
+of art. Here Nature and Fancy produce each their _piece_, and the
+_piece_ done by Nature had the preference. Antony was in reality _past
+the size of dreaming_; he was more by _Nature_ than _Fancy_ could
+present in sleep.
+
+V.ii.121 (255,3) I cannot project mine own cause so well] [W: procter]
+Sir T. Hanmer reads,
+
+  _I cannot_ parget _my own cause---_
+
+meaning, I cannot _whitewash, varnish_, or _gloss_ my cause. I believe
+the present reading to be right. To _project a cause_ is to _represent_
+a cause; to _project_ it _well_, is to _plan_ or _contrive_ a scheme of
+defense.
+
+V.ii.139 (256,4) "tis exactly valued, /Not petty things admitted] [T:
+omitted] Notwithstanding the wrath of Mr. Theobald, I have restored the
+old reading. She is angry afterwards, that she is accused of having
+reserved more than petty things. Dr. Warburton and sir T. Hanmer follow
+Theobald.
+
+V.ii.146 (257,5) seel my lips] Sew up my mouth.
+
+V.ii.163 (258,7) Parcel the sum of my disgraces by] _To parcel her
+disgraces_, might be expressed in vulgar language, _to bundle up her
+calamaties_. (see 1765, VII, 244, 8)
+
+V.ii.176 (259,8)
+
+  _Cleo._ Be't known, that we, the greatest, are misthought
+  for things that others do; and, when we fall,
+  We answer others merits in our names;
+  Are therefore to be pitied]
+
+I do not think that either of the criticks [Warburton and Hanmer] have
+reached the sense of the author, which may be very commodiously
+explained thus;
+
+We suffer at our highest state of elevation in the _thoughts of mankind
+for that which others do, and when we fall_, those that contented
+themselves only to think ill before, call us to _answer in our own names
+for the merits of others. We are therefore to be pitied. Merits_ is in
+this place taken in an ill sense, for actions _meriting_ censure.
+
+If any alteration be necessary, I should only propose, _Be 't known,
+that we_ at _greatest_, &c.
+
+V.ii.185 (259,1) Make not your thoughts your prisons] I once wished to
+read,
+
+  _make not your thoughts your_ poison:--
+
+Do not destroy yourself by musing on your misfortune. Yet I would change
+nothing, as the old reading presents a very proper sense. _Be not a
+prisoner in imagination, when in reality you are free._
+
+V.ii.215 (261,2) scald rhimers] Sir T. Hanmer reads,
+
+  --stall 'd _rhimers.
+
+Scald_ was a word of contempt, implying poverty, disease, and filth.
+
+V.ii.216 (261,3) quick comedians] The gay inventive players.
+
+V.ii.226 (261,5) Their most absurd intents] [T: assured] I have
+preserved the old reading. The design certainly appeared _absurd_ enough
+to Cleopatra, both as she thought it unreasonable in itself, and as she
+knew it would fail.
+
+V.ii.243 (263,7) the pretty worm of Nilus] _Worm_ is the Teutonick word
+for _serpent_; we have the _blind-worm_ and _slow-worm_ still in our
+language, and the Norwegians call an enormous monster, seen sometimes in
+the northern ocean, the _sea-worm_.
+
+V.ii.264 (263,9) the worm will do him kind] The serpent will act
+according to his nature.
+
+V.ii.305 (205,2) He'll make demand of her, and spend that kiss,/ Which
+is my heaven to have] He will enquire of her concerning me, and kiss her
+for giving him intelligence.
+
+V.ii.352 (267,5) something blown] The flesh is somewhat _puffed_ or
+_swoln_.
+
+(268) General Observation. This play keeps curiosity always busy, and
+the passions always interested. The continual hurry of the action, the
+variety of incidents, and the quick succession of one personage to
+another, call the mind forward without intermission from the first act
+to the last. But the power of delighting is derived principally from the
+frequent changes of the scene; for, except the feminine arts, some of
+which are too low, which distinguish Cleopatra, no character is very
+strongly discriminated. Upton, who did not easily miss what he desired
+to find, has discovered that the language of Antony is, with great skill
+and learning, made pompous and superb, according to his real practice.
+But I think his diction not distinguishable from that of others: the
+most tumid speech in the play is that which Caesar makes to Octavia.
+
+The events, of which the principal are described according to history,
+are produced without any art of connexion or care of disposition.
+
+
+
+
+TIMON OF ATHENS
+
+
+I.i.3 (271,3)
+
+  _Poet_. Ay, that's well known:
+  But what particular rarity! what strange,
+  Which manifold record not matches? See,
+  Magick of bounty!]
+
+The learned commentator's [Warburton's] note must shift for itself. I
+cannot but think that this passage is at present in confusion. The poet
+asks a question, and stays not for an answer, nor has his question any
+apparent drift or consequence. I would range the passage thus:
+
+  Poet. _Ay, that's well known.
+  Bat what particular rarity? what so strange,
+  That manifold record not matches?_
+
+  Pain. _See!_
+
+  Poet. _Magick of--bounty, &c._
+
+It may not be improperly observed here, that as there is only one copy
+of this play, no help can be had from collation, and more liberty must
+be allowed to conjecture.
+
+I.i.10 (272,4) breath'd as it were/To an untirable and continuate
+goodness] _Breathed_ is _inured by constant practice; so trained as not
+to be wearied. To _breathe_ a horse, is to exercise him for the course.
+
+I.i.20 (273,8) _Poet_.
+
+  A thing slipt idly from me.
+  Our poesy is as a gum, which oozes
+  From whence 'tis nourished. The fire i' the flint
+  Shews not, 'till it be struck: our gentle flame
+  Provokes itself, and, like the current flies
+  Each bound it chafes. What have you there!]
+
+This speech of the poet is very obscure. He seems to boast the
+copiousness and facility of his vein, by declaring that verses drop from
+a poet as gums from odoriferous trees, and that his flame kindles itself
+without the violence necessary to elicit sparkles from the flint. What
+follows next? that it, _like a current, flies each bound it chafes_.
+This may mean, that it expands itself notwithstanding all obstructions:
+but the images in the comparison are so ill-sorted, and the effect so
+obscurely expressed, that I cannot but think something omitted that
+connected the last sentence with the former. It is well knovn that the
+players often shorten speeches to quicken the representation; and it may
+be suspected, that they sometimes performed their amputations with more
+haste than judgment, (see 1765, VI, 169, 6)
+
+I.i.27 (274,9) _Poet_. Upon the heels of my presentment, sir.] As soon
+as my book has been presented to lord Timon.
+
+I.i.29 (274,1) This comes off weil and excellent] [By this we are to
+understand what the painters call the _goings off_ of a picture, which
+requires the nicest execution. WARBURTON.] The note I understand less
+than the text. The meaning is, This figure rises weil from the canvas.
+_C'est bien releve._
+
+I.i.37 (275,3) artificial strife] _Strife_ is either the contest or act
+with nature.
+
+  _Hic ille est_ Raphael, _timuit, quo aospite vinci
+  Rerum magna parens, & moriente, mori_.
+
+Or it is the contrast of forms or opposition of colours.
+
+I.i.43 (275,4) this confluence, this great flood of visitors] _Mane
+salutantum totis vomit aedibus undam_.
+
+I.1.46 (275,5) Halts not particularly] My design does not stop at any
+single characters.
+
+I.1.47 (276,7)
+
+  no levell'd malice
+  Infects one comma in the course I hold;
+  But flies an eagle-flight, bold, and forth on,
+  Leaving no tract behind]
+
+To _level_ is to _aim_, to point the shot at a mark. Shakespeare's
+meaning is, my poem is not a satire written with any particular view, or
+_levelled_ at any single person; I fly like an eagle into the general
+expanse of life, and leave not, by any private mischief, the trace of my
+passage.
+
+I.i.51 (276,8) I'll unbolt] I'll open, I'll explain.
+
+I.i.53 (276,9) glib and slippery creatures] Hanmer, and Warburton after
+him, read, _natures_. _Slippery_ is _smooth_, unresisting.
+
+I.i.58 (276,1) glass-fac'd flatterer] That shows in his own look, as by
+reflection, the looks of his patron.
+
+I.i.65 (277,3) rank'd with all deserts] _Cover'd with ranks_ of all
+kinds of men.
+
+I.i.67 (277,4) To propagate their states] To advance or improve their
+various conditions of life.
+
+I.i.72 (277,5) conceiv'd to scope] Properly imagined, appositely, to the
+purpose.
+
+I.i.82 (278,8) through him/Drink the free air] That is, catch his breath
+in affected fondness.
+
+I.i.90 (278,9) A thousand moral paintings I can shew] Shakespeare seems
+to intend in this dialogue to express some competition between the two
+great arts of imitation. Whatever the poet declares himself to have
+shewn, the painter thinks he could have shewn better. (1773)
+
+I.i.107 (279,1) 'Tis not enough to help the feeble up,/But to support
+him after] This thought is better expressed by Dr. Madden in his elegy
+on archbishop Boulter.
+
+  --_He thought it mean
+  Only to help the poor to beg again._
+
+I.i.129 (280,2) Therefore he will be, Timon] I rather think an
+emendation necessary, and read,
+
+  _Therefore_ well be him, _Timon.
+  His honesty rewards him in itself._
+
+That is, _If he in honest_, bene fit illi, _I wish him the proper
+happiness of an honest man, but his honesty gives him no claim to my
+daughter_.
+
+The first transcriber probably wrote _will be him_, which the next, not
+understanding, changed to, _he will be_. (1773)
+
+I.i.149 (281,3)
+
+  never may
+  That state, or fortune, fall into my keeping,
+  Which is not ow'd to you!]
+
+The meaning is, let me never henceforth consider any thing that I
+possess, but as _owed_ or _due_ to you; held for your service, and at
+your disposal.
+
+I.i.159 (281,4) pencil'd figures are/Even such as they give out]
+Pictures have no hypocrisy; they are what they profess to be.
+
+I.i.165 (282,5) unclew me quite] To _unclew_, is to _unwind_ a ball of
+thread. To _unclew_ a man, is to draw out the whole mass of his
+fortunes.
+
+I.i.171 (282,5) Are prized by their masters] Are rated according to the,
+esteem in which their possessor is held.
+
+I.i.178 (282,8)
+
+  _Tim._ Good-morrow to thee, gentle Apemantua!
+  _Apam._ 'Till I be gentle, stay for thy good-morrow.
+  When thou art Timon's dog, and these knaves honest,--]
+
+[Warburton conjectured a line lost and added one of his own making] I
+think my punctuation may clear the passage without any greater effort.
+
+I.i.180 (283,9) Then thou art Timon's dog] When thou hast gotten a
+better character, and instead of being Timon, as thou art, shalt be
+changed to Timon's dog, and become more worth; of kindness and
+salutation. (1773)
+
+I.i.241 (284,9) That I had no angry wit to be a lord] [W: so hungry a
+wit] The meaning may be, I should hate myself for _patiently enduring to
+be a lord_. This is ill enough expressed. Perhaps some happy change may
+set it right. I have tried, and can do nothing, yet I cannot heartily
+concur with Dr. Warburton.
+
+I.i.259 (286,2) The strain of man's bred out/Into baboon and monkey] Man
+is exhausted and degenerated; his _strain_ or lineage is worn down into
+monkey.
+
+I.ii.12 (288,5)
+
+  If our betters play at that game, we must not dare
+  To imitate them. Faults that are rich, are fair]
+
+[Warburton gave the second line to Apemantus] I cannot see that these
+lines are more proper in any other mouth than Timon's, to whose
+character of generosity and condescension they are very suitable. To
+suppose that by _our betters_ are meant the Gods, is very harsh, because
+to imitate the Gods has been hitherto reckoned the highest pitch of
+human virtue. The whole is a trite and obvious thought, uttered by Timon
+with a kind of affected modesty. If I would make any alteration, it
+should be only to reform the numbers thus:
+
+  _Our betters play that game; we must not dare
+  T' imitate then; faults that are rich are fair._
+
+I.ii.34 (289,6) thou art an Athenian,/Therefore welcome: I myself would
+have no power] If this be the true reading, the sense is, _all Athenians
+are welcome to share my fortune_; I would myself have no _exclusive
+right or power in this house_. Perhaps we might read, _I myself would
+have no_ poor. I would have every Athenian consider himself as joint
+possessor of my fortune.
+
+I.ii.38 (289,7) I scorn thy meat, 'twould choke me, for I should/ Ne'er
+flatter thee] [W: 'fore/I should e'er] Of this emendation there is
+little need. The meaning is, I could not swallow thy meat, for I could
+not pay for it with flattery; and what was given me with an ill will
+would stick in my throat.
+
+I.ii.41 (290,8) so many dip their meat/In one man's blood] The allusion
+is to a pack of hounds trained to pursuit by being gratified with the
+blood of the animal which they kill, and the wonder is that the animal
+on which they are feeding _cheers them_ to the chase.
+
+I.ii.52 (290,9) wind-pipe's dangerous notes] The notes of the windpipe
+seem to be the only indications which shew where the windpipe is. (see
+1765, VI, 184, 4)
+
+I.ii.54 (290,1) My lord, in heart] That is, _my lord's health with
+sincerity_. An emendation hat been proposed thus:
+
+  _My_ love _in heart_;--
+
+but it is not necessary.
+
+I.ii.89 (292,2) we should think ourselves for ever perfect] That is,
+arrived at the perfection of happiness.
+
+I.ii.94 (292,4) did not you chiefly belong to my heart?] I think it
+should be inverted thus: _did I not chiefly belong to_ your hearts.
+Lacius wishes that Timon would give him and the rest an opportunity _of
+expressing some part of their zeals_. Timon answers that, _doubtless the
+Gods have provided that I should have help from you; how else are you my
+friends_? why are you stiled my friends, if--what? _if I do not love
+you_. Such is the present reading; but the consequence is not very
+clear; the proper close must be, _if you do not love me_, and to this my
+alteration restores it. But, perhaps, the old reading may stand. [The
+_Revisal_'s note on this line is quoted.] The meaning is probably this.
+Why are you distinguished from thousands by that title of endearment,
+was there not a particular connection and intercourse of tenderness
+between you and me. (see 1765, VI, 185, 8)
+
+I.ii.97 (293,5) I confirm you] I fix your characters firmly in my own
+mind.
+
+I.ii.99 (293,7) O joy, e'en made away, ere it can be born!] For this
+Hanmer writes, _O joy, e'en made a joy ere't can be born_; and is
+followed by Dr. Warburton. I am always inclinable to think well of that
+which is approved by so much learning and sagacity, yet cannot receive
+this alteration. Tears being the effect both of joy and grief, supplied
+our author with an opportunity of conceit, which he seldom fails to
+indulge. Timon, weeping with a kind of tender pleasure, cries out, _O
+joy, e'en made away_, destroyed, turned to tears, before _it can be
+born_, before it can be fully possessed.
+
+I.ii.110 (293,8) Mine eyes cannot hold water, methinks: to forget their
+faults, I drink to you] In the original edition the words stand thus:
+_mine eyes cannot hold out water, methinks. To forget their faults, I
+drink to you_. Perhaps the true reading is this, _Mine eyes cannot hold
+out_; they _water. Methinks, to forget their faults, I will drink to
+you_. Or it may be explained without any change. _Mine eyes cannot hold
+out water_, that is, cannot keep water from breaking in upon them, (see
+1765, VI, 186, 2)
+
+I.ii.113 (294,9) _Apem_. Thou weep'st to make them drink] Hanmer reads,
+
+  --_to make then drink_ thee,
+
+and is again followed by Dr. Warburton, I think without sufficient
+reason. The covert sense of Apemantus is, _what thou losest, they get_.
+
+I.ii.118 (294,1) like a babe] That is a _weeping babe_.
+
+I.ii.138 (295,3)
+
+  They dance! They are mad women.
+  Like madness is the glory of this life,
+  As this pomp shews to a little oil and root]
+
+[Warburton conjectured some lines lost after the second verse] When I
+read this passage, I was at first of the same opinion with this learned
+man; but, upon longer consideration, I grew less confident, because I
+think the present reading susceptible of explanation, with no more
+violence to language than is frequently found in our author. _The glory
+of this life is very near to madness_, as may be made appear from _this
+pomp_, exhibited in a place where a philosopher is feeding on _oil and
+roots_. When we see by example how few are the necessaries of life, we
+learn what madness there is in so much superfluity.
+
+I.ii.146 (296,5) who dies, that bears/Not one spurn to their graves, of
+their friends gift?] That is, given them by their friends.(1773)
+
+I.ii.155 (297,6) mine own device] The mask appears to have been design'd
+by Timon to surprise his guests.
+
+I.ii.157 (297,7) _L Lady_. My lord, you take us even at the best] This
+answer seems rather to belong to one of the ladies. It was probably only
+mark'd _L_ in the copy.
+
+I.ii.169 (298,1) 'Tis pity, bounty has not eyes behind] To see the
+miseries that are following her.
+
+I.ii.170 (298,2) That man might ne'er be wretched for his mind] For
+nobleness of soul.
+
+I.ii.176 (298,3) to/Advance this jewel] To prefer it; to raise it to
+honour by wearing it.
+
+I.ii.230 (300,6)
+
+  all the lands thou hast
+  Lie in a pitch'd field.
+  _Alc._ I' defiled land, my lord]
+
+This is the old reading, which apparently depends on a very low quibble.
+Alcibiades is told, that _his estate lies in a_ pitch'd _field_. Now
+_pitch_, as Falstaff says, _doth defile_. Alcibiades therefore replies,
+that his estate lies _in defiled land_. This, as it happened, was not
+understood, and all the editors published,
+
+  _I defy land_,--
+
+I.ii.237 (301,8) Serving of becks] [W: serring] The commentator
+conceives _beck_ to mean the _mouth_ or the _head_, after the French,
+_bec_, whereas it means a salutation made with the head. So Milton,
+
+  "Nods and _becks_, and wreathed smiles."
+
+To _serve a beck_, is to offer a salutation.
+
+I.ii.238 (301,9) I doubt, whether their legs] He plays upon the word
+_leg_, as it signifies a _limb_ and a _bow_ or _act of obeisance_.
+
+I.ii.247 (302,1) I fear me, thou/Wilt give away thyself in paper
+shortly] [W: in proper] Hanmer reads very plausibly,
+
+  --_thou
+  Wilt give away thyself_ in perpetuum.
+
+I.ii.235 (302,2) I'll lock/Thy heaven from thee] The pleasure of being
+flattered.
+
+II.i.10 (304,5) No porter at his gate;/But rather one that smiles, and
+still invites] I imagine that a line is lost here, in which the
+behaviour of a surly porter was described.
+
+II.i.12 (304,6) no reason/Can found his state in safety] The supposed
+meaning of this [Can sound his state] must be, _No reason_, by
+_sounding_, fathoming, or trying, _his state_, can find it _safe_. But
+as the words stand, they imply, that _no reason can_ safely _sound his
+state_. I read thus,
+
+  --_no reason
+  Can_ found _his state in safety_.--
+
+_Reason_ cannot find his fortune to have any _safe_ or solid
+_foundation_.
+
+The types of the first printer of this play were so worn and defaced,
+that _f_ and _s_ are not always to be distinguished.
+
+II.ii.5 (305,9) Never mind/Was to be so unwise, to be so kind] Of this
+mode of expression conversation affords many examples: "I was always to
+be blamed, whatever happened." "I am in the lottery, but I was always to
+draw blanks." (1773)
+
+II.ii.9 (306,1) Good even, Varro] It is observable, that this _good
+evening_ is before dinner; for Timon tells Alcibiades, that they will
+_go forth again as soon as dinner's done_, which may prove that by
+_dinner_ our author meant not the _coena_ of ancient times, but the
+mid-day's repast. I do not suppose the passage corrupt: such
+inadvertencies neither author nor editor can escape.
+
+There is another remark to be made. Varro and Isidore sink a few lines
+afterwards into the servants of Varro and Isidore. Whether servants, in
+our author's time, took the names of their masters, I know not. Perhaps
+it is a slip of negligence.
+
+II.ii.47 (308,4) _Enter Apemantus and a Fool_] I suspect some scene to
+be lost, in which the entrance of the fool, and the page that follows
+him, was prepared by some introductory dialogue, in which the audience
+was informed that they were the fool and page of Phrynia, Timandra, or
+some other courtesan, upon the knowledge of which depends the greater
+part of the ensuing jocularity.
+
+II.ii.60-66 (309,4) Poor rogues] This is said so abruptly, that I am
+inclined to think it misplaced, and would regulate the passage thus:
+
+  Caph. _Where's the fool now?_
+  Apem. _He last ask'd the question._
+  All. _What are we, Apemantus?_
+  Apem. _Asses._
+  All. _Why?_
+  Apem. _That you ask me what you are, and do not know yourselves. Poor rogues', and usurers' men! bawds between
+  gold and want! Speak_, &c.
+
+Thus every word will have its proper place. It is likely that the
+passage transposed was forgot in the copy, and inserted in the margin,
+perhaps a little beside the proper place, which the transcriber wanting
+either skill or care to observe, wrote it where it now stands.
+
+II.ii.71 (309,5) She's e'en setting on water to scald] The old name for
+the disease got at Corinth was the _brenning_, and a sense of _scalding_
+is one of its first symptoms.
+
+II.ii.117 (311,7) with two stones more than's artificial one] Meaning
+the celebrated philosopher's stone, which was in those times much talked
+of. Sir Thomas Smith was one of those who lost considerable sums in
+seeking of it.
+
+II.ii.152 (312,9) Though you hear now, yet now's too late a time]
+[Warburton objected to this, an emendation by Hanmer] I think Hanmer
+right, and have received his emendation.
+
+Il.ii.155 (313,1) and at length/How goes our reckoning?] [W: Hold good
+our] It is common enough, and the commentator knows it is common to
+propose interrogatively, that of which neither the speaker nor the
+hearer has any doubt. The present reading may therefore stand.
+
+II.ii.171 (314,2) a wasteful cock] [i.e. a _cockloft_, a garret. And a
+_wasteful cock_, signifies a garret lying in waste, neglected, put to no
+use. HANMER.] Hanmer's explanation is received by Dr. Warburton, yet I
+think them both apparently mistaken. A _wasteful cock_ is a _cock_ or
+pipe with a turning stopple _running_ to _waste_. In this sense, both
+the terms have their usual meaning; but I know not that _cock_ is ever
+used for _cockloft_, or _wasteful_ for _lying in waste_, or that lying
+in waste is at all a phrase.
+
+Il.ii.187 (314,4) And try the arguments] [_Arguments_ for natures.
+_WARB_.] How _arguments_ should stand for natures I do not see. But the
+licentiousness of our author forces us often upon far fetched
+expositions. _Arguments_ may mean _contents_, as the _arguments_ of a
+book; or for _evidences_ and _proofs_.
+
+II.ii.209 (315,5) I knew it the most general way] _General_ is not
+speedy, but _compendious_, the way to try many at a time.
+
+II.ii.219 (316,6) And so, intending other serious matters] _Intending_
+is _regarding, turning their notice_ to other things.
+
+II.ii.220 (316,7) these hard fractions] [Warburton saw an allusion to
+fractions in mathematics] This is, I think, no conceit in the head of
+Flavius, who, by _fractions_, means _broken_ hints, _interrupted_
+sentences, _abrupt_ remarks.
+
+II.ii.221 (316,8) half-caps] A _half cap_ is a _cap_ slightly moved, not
+put off.
+
+II.ii.241 (317,3) I would, I could not] The original edition has, _I
+would, I could not think it, that thought_, &c. It has been changed
+['Would], to mend the numbers, without authority.
+
+II.ii.242 (317,4)
+
+  That thought is bounty's foe;
+  Being free itself, it thinks all other so]
+
+_Free_, is _liberal_, not parsimonious.
+
+III.i.57 (319,6) Has friendship such a faint and milky heart, It turns
+in less than two nights?] Alluding to the _turning_ or acescence of
+milk.
+
+III.ii.3 (320,3) We know him for no less] That is, _we know him_ by
+report to be _no less_ than you represent him, though we are strangers
+to his person.
+
+III.ii.24 (321,5) yet had he mistook him, and sent him to me] [W:
+mislook'd] I rather read, _yet had he_ not _mistook him, and sent to
+me_.
+
+III.ii.45 (322,7) If his occasion were not virtuous] [_Virtuous_, for
+strong, forcible, pressing. _WARBURTON_.] The meaning may more naturally
+be;--If he did not want it for a good use. (1773)
+
+III.ii.51 (322,9) that I should purchase the day before for a little
+part, and undo a great deal of honour?] [T: a little dirt] This
+emendation is received, like all others, by sir T. Hanmer, but neglected
+by Dr. Warburton. I think Theobald right in suspecting a corruption; nor
+is his emendation injudicious, though perhaps we may better read,
+_purchase the day before for a little park_.
+
+III.ii.71 (323,1) And just of the same piece is every flatterer's soul]
+This is Dr. Warburton's emendation. The other editions read,
+
+  _Why this is the world's soul;
+  Of the same piece is every flatterer's_ sport.
+
+Mr. Upton has not unluckily transposed the two final words, thus,
+
+  _Why, this is the world's_ sport:
+  _Of the same piece is ev'ry flatterer's_ soul.
+
+The passage is not so obscure as to provoke so much enquiry. _This_,
+says he, _is the soul_ or spirit _of the world: every flatterer_ plays
+the same game, makes _sport_ with the confidence of his friend. (see
+1765, VI, 211, 4)
+
+III.ii.81 (324,2) He does deny him, in respect of his, What charitable
+men afford to beggars] That is, _in respect of his_ fortune, what Lucius
+denies to Timon is in proportion to what Lucius possesses, less than the
+ususal alms given by good men to beggars.
+
+III.ii.90 (324,3) I would have put my wealth into donation, And the best
+half should ha' return'd to him] Hanmer reads,
+
+  _I would have put my wealth into_ partition,
+  _And the best half should have_ attorn'd _to him_.
+
+Dr. Warbarton receives _attorn'd_. The only difficulty is in the word
+_return'd_, which, since he had received nothing from him, cannot be
+used but in a very low and licentious meaning, (see 1765, VI, 212, 6)
+
+III.iii.5 (325,4) They have all been touch'd] That is, _tried_, alluding
+to the _touchstone_.
+
+III.iii.11 (325,5) His friends, like physicians,/Thrive, give him over?]
+The original reading is,
+
+  --his friends, (_like physicians_)
+  Thrive, give him over?
+
+which Theobald has misrepresented. Hanmer reads, _try'd_, plausibly
+enough. Instead of _three_ proposed by Mr. Pope, I should read _thrice_.
+But perhaps the old reading is the true.
+
+III.iii.24 (326,6) I had such a courage] Such an ardour, such an eager
+desire.
+
+III.iii.28 (326,8) The devil knew not what he did] I cannot but think
+that, the negative _not_ has intruded into this passage, and the reader
+will think so too, when he reads Dr. Warburton's explanation of the next
+words.
+
+III.iii.28 (326,9) The devil knew not what he did, when he made men
+politick; he cross'd himself by't: and I cannot think, but in the end
+the villainies of man will set him clear] [_Set him clear_ does not mean
+acquit him before heaven; for then _the devil_ must be supposed _to know
+what_ he did: but it signifies puzzle him, outdo him at his own weapons.
+WARBURTON.] How the devil, or any other being, should be _set clear_ by
+being _puzzled_ and _outdone_, the commentator has not explained. When
+in a crowd we would have an opening made, we say, _Stand clear_, that
+is, _out of the way of danger_. With some affinity to this use, though
+not without great harshness, to _set clear_, may be to _set aside_. But
+I believe the original corruption is the insertion of the negative,
+which was obtruded by some transcriber, who supposed _crossed_ to mean
+_thwarted_, when it meant, _exempted from evil_. The use of _crossing_,
+by way of protection or purification, was probably not worn out in
+Shakespeare's time. The sense of _set clear_ is now easy; he has no
+longer the guilt of tempting man. To cross himself may mean, in a very
+familiar sense, _to clear his score, to get out of debt, to quit his
+reckoning_. He knew not _what he did_, may mean, he knew not how much
+good he was doing himself. There is then no need of emendation. (1773)
+
+III.iii.42 (327,2) keep his house] i.e. keep within doors for fear of
+duns.
+
+III.iv (328,3) _Enter Varro, Titus, Hortense, Lucius_] Lucius is here
+again for the servant of Lucius.
+
+III.iv.12 (328,4) a prodigal's course/Is like the sun's] That is, like
+him in blaze and splendour.
+
+  _Soles occidere et redire possunt._  Catul.
+
+III.iv.25 (329,5) I am weary of this charge] That is, of this
+_commission_, of this _employment_.
+
+III.iv.32 (329,6) Else, surely, his had equall'd] Should it not be,
+_else, surely, mine had equall'd_.
+
+III.iv.67 (330,7) _Enter Servilius_] It may be observed that Shakespeare
+has unskilfully filled his Greek story with Roman names.
+
+III.v.14 (333,6)
+
+  He is a man, setting his fate aside,
+  Of comely virtues:
+  Nor did he soil the fact with cowardise;
+  (An honour in him which buys out his fault)]
+
+I have printed these lines after the original copy, except that, for _an
+honour_, it is there, _and honour_. All the latter editions deviate
+unwarrantably from the original, and give the lines thus:
+
+  _He is a man, setting his fault aside,
+  Of virtuous honour, which buys out his fault;
+  Nor did he soil_, &c.
+
+III.v.22 (333,3)
+
+  He did behave, his anger ere 'twas spent,
+  As if he had but prov'd an argument]
+
+The original copy reads not _behave_ but _behoove_. I do not well
+understand the passage in either reading. Shall we try a daring
+conjecture?
+
+  --_with such sober and unnoted passion
+  He did behold his adversary shent,
+  As if he had but prov'd an argument_.
+
+He looked with such calmness on his slain adversary. I do not suppose
+that this is right, but put it down for want of better. (1773)
+
+III.v.24 (334,4) You undergo too strict a paradox] You undertake a
+paradox too _hard_.
+
+III.v.32 (334,5) and make his wrongs His outsides: to wear them like an
+argument, carelessly. We outside wear; hang like his] The present
+reading is better.
+
+III.v.46 (335,6) What make we/Abroad?] _What do we_, or _what have we to
+do in the field_.
+
+III.v.46 (335,7)
+
+                            what make we
+  Abroad? why then, women are more valiant,
+  That stay at home, if bearing carry it;
+  The ass, more than the lion; and the fellow,
+  Loaden with irons, wiser than the judge,
+  If wisdom be in suffering]
+
+Here is another arbitrary regulation, the original reads thus,
+
+                _what make we
+  Abroad, why then women are more valiant
+  That stay at home, if bearing carry it:
+  And the ass more captain than the lion,
+  The fellow, loaden with irons, wiser than the judge,
+  If wisdom_, &c.
+
+I think it may be better adjusted thus:
+
+              _what make we
+  Abroad, why then the women are more valiant
+  That stay at home;
+  If bearing carry it, than is the ass
+  More captain than the lion, and the_ felon
+  _Loaden with irons, wiser than the judge,
+  If wisdom_, &c.
+
+III.v.54 (336,8) sin's extreamest gust] _Gust_ is here in its common
+sense; the utmost degree of _appetite_ for sin.
+
+III.v.55 (336,9) by mercy, 'tis most just] [By _mercy_ is meant
+_equity_. WARBURTON] _Mercy_ is not put for equity. If such explanation
+be allowed, what can be difficult? The meaning is, _I call_ mercy
+_herself_ to witness, that defensive violence is just.
+
+III.v.68 (338,2) a sworn rioter] A _sworn rioter_ is a man who practises
+riot, as if he had by an oath made it his duty.
+
+III.v.80 (337,3) your reverend ages love/Security] He charges them
+obliquely with being usurers.
+
+III.v.96 (337,5) Do you dare our anger?/'Tis in few words, but spacious
+in effect] This reading may pass, but perhaps the author wrote,
+
+              _our anger_?
+  _'Tis few in words, but spacious in effect._
+
+III.v.114 (338,7)
+
+          I'll cheer up
+  My discontented troops, and play for hearts.
+  'Tis honour with most hands to be at odds]
+
+[Warburton had substituted "hands" for "lands"] I think _hands_ is very
+properly substituted for _lands_. In the foregoing line, for, _lay for
+hearts_, I would read, _play_ for _hearts_.
+
+III.vi.4 (339,7) Upon that were my thoughts tiring] A hawk, I think, is
+said to _tire_, when she amuses herself with pecking a pheasant's wing,
+or any thing that puts her in mind of prey. To _tire_ upon a thing, is
+therefore, to be _idly employed upon it_.
+
+III.vi.100 (342,9) Is your perfection] Your _perfection_, is _the
+highest of your excellence_.
+
+III.vi.101 (342,1) and spangled you with flatteries] [W: with your] The
+present reading is right.
+
+III.vi.106 (342,2) time-flies] Flies of a season.
+
+III.vi. 107 (342,5) minute-jacks!] Hanmer thinks it means
+_Jack-a-lantern_, which shines and disappears in an instant. What it was
+I know not; but it was something of quick motion, mentioned in Richard
+III.
+
+III.vi.108 (342,4) the infinite malady] Every kind of disease incident
+to man and beast.
+
+IV.i.19 (344,6)
+
+  Degrees, observances, customs and laws,
+  Decline to your confounding contraries,
+  And yet confusion live!]
+
+Hanmer reads, _let_ confusion; but the meaning may be, _though by such
+confusion all things seem to hasten to dissolution_, yet _let not
+dissolution come, but the miseries of_ confusion _continue._
+
+IV.ii (345,1) Enter Flavius] Nothing contributes more to the exaltation
+of Timon's character than the zeal and fidelity of his servants. Nothing
+but real virtue can be honoured by domesticks; nothing but impartial
+kindness can gain affection from dependants.
+
+IV.ii.10 (345,2) So his familiars from his buried fortunes/Slink all
+away] The old copies have _to_ instead of _from_. The correction is
+Hanmer's; but the old reading might stand (see 1765, VI, 231, 2)
+
+IV.ii.38 (346,4) strange unusual blood] Of this passage, I suppose,
+every reader would wish for a correction; but the word, harsh as it is,
+stands fortified by the rhyme, to which, perhaps, it owes its
+introduction. I know not what to propose. Perhaps,
+
+  --_strange unusual_ mood,
+
+may, by some, be thought better, and by others worse.
+
+IV.iii.1 (347,5) O blessed, breeding sun] [W: blessing breeding] I do
+not see that this emendation much strengthens the sense.
+
+IV.iii.2 (347,6) thy sister's orb] That is, the moon's, this _sublunary_
+world.
+
+IV.iii.6 (348,7) Not nature,/To whom all sores lay siege] I have
+preserved this note rather for the sake of the commentator [Warburton]
+than of the author. How _nature, to whom all sores lay siege_, can so
+emphatically express _nature in its greatest perfection_, I shall not
+endeavour to explain. The meaning I take to be this: _Brother, when his
+fortune is inlarged, will scorn brother_; for this is the general
+depravity of human nature, which, _besieged as it is by misery_,
+admonished as it is of want and imperfection, when _elevated by fortune,
+will despise_ beings of _nature like its own_.
+
+IV.iii.12 (349,9) It is the pastor lards the brother's sides,/The want
+that makes him leave] [W: weather's sides] This passage is very obscure,
+nor do I discover any clear sense, even though we should admit the
+emendation. Let us inspect the text as I have given it from the original
+edition,
+
+  _It is the_ pastour _lards the_ brother's _sides,
+  The want that makes him_ leave.
+
+Dr. Warburton found the passage already changed thus,
+
+  _It is the_ pasture _lards the_ beggar's _sides,
+  The want that makes him_ lean.
+
+And upon this reading of no authority, raised another equally uncertain.
+
+Alterations are never to be made without necessity. Let us see what
+sense the genuine reading will afford. Poverty, says the poet, _bears
+contempt hereditary_, and _wealth native honour_. To illustrate this
+position, having already mentioned the case of a poor and rich brother,
+he remarks, that this preference is given to wealth by those whom it
+least becomes; _it is the_ pastour _that greases or_ flatters _the rich_
+brother, and will grease him on till _want makes him leave_. The poet
+then goes on to ask, _Who dares to say this man_, this pastour, _is a
+flatterer_; the crime is universal; through all the world _the learned
+pate_, with allusion to the pastour, _ducks to the golden fool_. If it
+be objected, as it may justly be, that the mention of pastour is
+unsuitable, we must remember the mention of _grace_ and _cherubims_ in
+this play, and many such anachronisms in many others. I would therefore
+read thus:
+
+  _It is the pastour lards the brother's sides_,
+  'Tis _want that makes him leave_.
+
+The obscurity is still great. Perhaps a line is lost. I have at least
+given the original reading.
+
+IV.iii.27 (350,2) no idle votarist] No insincere or inconstant
+supplicant. _Gold_ will not serve me instead of _roots_.
+
+IV.iii.38 (351,5) That makes the wappen'd widow wed again] Of _wappened_
+I have found no example, nor know any meaning. To _awhape_ is used by
+Spenser in his _Hubberd's Tale_, but I think not in either of the senses
+mentioned. I would read _wained_, for _decayed by time_. So our author
+in _Richard the Third_, _A beauty_-waining _and distressed widow_.
+
+IV.iii.41 (352,6) To the April day again] That is, _to the wedding day_,
+called by the poet, satirically, _April day_, or _fool's day_.
+
+IV.iii.44 (352,7) Do thy right nature] Lie in the earth where nature
+laid thee.
+
+IV.iii.44 (352,8) Thou'rt quick] Thou hast life and motion in thee.
+
+IV.iii.64 (353,9) I will not kiss thee] This alludes to an opinion in
+former times, generally prevalent, that the venereal infection
+transmitted to another, left the infecter free. I will not, says Timon,
+take the rot from thy lips by kissing thee.
+
+IV.iii.72 (353,1)
+
+  _Tim._ Promise me friendship, but perform none. If
+  Thou wilt not promise, the Gods plague thee, for
+  Thou art a man; if thou dost perform, confound thee,
+  For thou art a man!]
+
+That is, however thou may'st act, since thou art man, hated man, I wish
+thee evil.
+
+IV.iii.82 (354,2)
+
+  Be a whore still! They love thee not that use thee;
+  Give them diseases, leaving with thee their lust:
+  Make use of thy salt hours]
+
+There is here a slight transposition. I would read,
+
+  --_They love thee not that use thee,
+  Leaving with thee their lust; give them diseases;
+  Make use of thy salt hours; season the slaves
+  For tubs and baths_;--
+
+IV.iii.115 (356,6) milk-paps,/That through the window-bars bore at mens'
+eyes] [W: window-lawn] The reading is more probably,
+
+  --_window-bar_,--
+
+The virgin that shews her bosom through the lattice of her chamber.
+
+IV.iii.119 (356,8) exhaust their mercy] For _exhaust_, sir T. Hanmer,
+and after him Dr. Warburton, read _extort_; but _exhaust_ here signifies
+literally to _draw forth_.
+
+IV.iii.120 (356,7)
+
+  Think it a bastard, whom the oracle
+  Hath doubtfully prunounc'd thy throat shall cut]
+
+An allusion to the tale of OEdipus.
+
+IV.iii.134 (357,8) And to make whores a bawd] [W: make whole] The old
+edition reads,
+
+  _And to make whores a bawd._
+
+That is, _enough to make a whore leave whoring, and a bawd leave making
+whores_.
+
+IV.iii.139 (357,9) I'll trust to your conditions] You need not swear to
+continue whores, I will trust to your inclinations.
+
+IV.iii.140 (358,1) Yet may your pains, six months,/Be quite contrary]
+The explanation [Warburton's] is ingenious, but I think it very remote,
+and would willingly bring the author and his readers to meet on easier
+terms. We may read,
+
+  --_Yet may your pains six months
+  Be quite_ contraried.--
+
+Timon is wishing ill to mankind, but is afraid lest the whores should
+imagine that he wishes well to them; to obviate which he lets them know,
+that he imprecates upon them influence enough to plague others, and
+disappointments enough to plague themselves. He wishes that they may do
+all possible mischief, and yet take _pains six months_ of the year in
+vain.
+
+In this sense there is a connection of this line with the next. Finding
+_your pains contraried_, try new expedients, _thatch your thin roofs_,
+and _paint_.
+
+To _contrary_ is on old verb. Latymer relates, that when he went to
+court, he was advised not to _contrary_ the king.
+
+IV.iii.153 (359,3) mens' spurring] Hanmer reads _sparring_, properly
+enough, if there be any ancient example of the word.
+
+IV.iii.158 (359,5)
+
+  take the bridge quite away
+  Of him, that his particular to foresee
+  Smells from the general weal]
+
+[W: to forefend] The metaphor is apparently incongruous, but the sense
+is good. To _foresee his particular_, is _to provide for his private
+advantage_, for which _he leaves the right scent of publick good_. In
+hunting, when hares have cross'd one another, it is common for some of
+the hounds _to smell from the general weal, and foresee their own
+particular_. Shakespeare, who seems to have been a skilful sportsman,
+and has alluded often to falconry, perhaps, alludes here to hunting.
+
+To the commentator's emendation it may be objected, that he used
+_forefend_ in the wrong meaning. To _forefend_, is, I think, never to
+_provide for_, but to _provide against_. The verbs compounded with _for_
+or _fore_ have commonly either an evil or negative sense.
+
+IV.iii.182 (361,8) eyeless venom'd worm] The serpent, which we, from the
+smallness of his eyes, call the _blind worm_, and the Latins,
+_caecilia_.
+
+IV.iii.183 (361,9) below crisp heaven] [W: cript] Mr. Upton declares for
+_crisp_, curled, bent, hollow.
+
+IV.iii.188 (361,1) Let it no more bring out ingrateful man!] [W: out to
+ungrateful] It is plain that _bring out_ is _bring forth_, with which
+the following lines correspond so plainly, that the commentator might be
+suspected of writing his note without reading the whole passage.
+
+IV.iii.193 (362,2) Dry up thy marrows, vines, and plough torn leas] I
+cannot concur to censure Theobald [as Warburton did] as a _critic_ very
+_unhappy_. He was weak, but he was cautious: finding but little power in
+his mind, he rarely ventured far under its conduct. This timidity
+hindered him from daring conjectures, and sometimes hindered him
+happily.
+
+This passage, among many others, may pass without change. The genuine
+reading is not _marrows, veins_, but _marrows_, vines: the sense is
+this; _O nature! cease_ to _produce men, ensear thy womb_; but if thou
+wilt continue to produce them, at least cease to pamper them; _dry up
+thy marrows_, on which they fatten with _unctuous morsels_, thy _vines_,
+which give them _liquorish draughts_, and thy _plow-torn leas_. Here are
+effects corresponding with causes, _liquorish draughts_ with _vines_,
+and _unctuous morsels_ with _marrows_, and the old reading literally
+preserved.
+
+IV.iii.209 (363,3) the cunning of a carper] _Cunning_ here seems to
+signify _counterfeit appearance_.
+
+IV.ii.223 (364,4) moist trees] Hanmer reads very elegantly,
+
+  --moss'd _trees_.
+
+IV.iii.37 (364,5)
+
+  _Tim._ Always a villain's office, or a fool's.
+  Dost please thyself in't?
+
+  _Apem._ Ay.
+
+  _Tim._ What! a knave too?]
+
+Such was Dr. Warburton's first conjecture ["and know't too"], but
+afterwards he adopted Sir T. Hanmer's conjecture,
+
+  _What a knave_ thou!
+
+but there is no need of alteration. Timon had just called Apemantus
+_fool_, in consequence of what he had known of him by former
+acquaintance; but when Apemantus tells him, that he comes _to vex him_,
+Timon determines that to _vex_ is either _the office of a villain or a
+fool_; that _to vex by design_ is _villainy, to vex without design_ is
+_folly_. He then properly asks Apemantus whether he takes delight in
+_vexing_, and when he answers, _yes_, Timon replies, _What! and knave
+too?_ I before only knew thee to be a _fool_, but I now find thee
+likewise a _knave_. This seems to be so clear as not to stand in need of
+a comment.
+
+IV.iii.242 (365,6) Willing misery/Out-lives incertain pomp; is crown'd
+before] Arrives sooner at _high wish_; that is, at the _completion of
+its wishes_.
+
+IV.iii.247 (365,7) Worse than the worst, content] Best states
+contentless have a wretched being, a being worse than that of the worst
+states that are content. This one would think too plain to have been
+mistaken. (1773)
+
+IV.iii.249 (365,8) by his breath] It means, I believe, by his _counsel_,
+by his _direction_.
+
+IV. iii. 252 (366,l) Hadst thou, like us] There is in this speech a
+sullen haughtiness, and malignant dignity, suitable at once to the lord
+and the man-hater. The impatience with which he bears to have his luxury
+reproached by one that never had luxury within his reach, is natural and
+graceful.
+
+There is in a letter, written by the earl of Essex, just before his
+execution, to another nobleman, a passage somewhat resembling this, with
+which, I believe every reader will be pleased, though it is so serious
+and solemn that it can scarcely be inserted without irreverence.
+
+"God grant your lordship may quickly feel the comfort I now enjoy in my
+unfettered conversion, but that you may never feel the torments I have
+suffered for my long delaying it. _I had none but deceivers to call upon
+me, to whom I said, if my ambition could have entered into their narrow
+breasts, they would not have been so precise. But your lordship hath one
+to call upon you, that knoweth what it is you now enjoy; and what the
+greatest fruit and end is of all contentment that this world can
+afford._ Think, therefore, dear earl, that I have staked and buoyed all
+the ways of pleasure unto you, and left them as sea-marks for you to
+keep the channel of religious virtue. For shut your eyes never so long,
+they must be open at the last, and then you must say with me, _there is
+no peace to the ungodly_."
+
+IV.iii.252 (366,2) from our first swath] From infancy. _Swath_ is the
+dress of a new-born child.
+
+IV.iii.258 (366,3) precepts of respect] Of obedience to laws.
+
+IV.iii.259 (366,4) But myself] The connection here requires some
+attention. _But_ is here used to denote opposition; but what immediately
+precedes is not opposed to that which follows. The adversative particle
+refers to the two first lines.
+
+  _Thou art a slave, whom fortune's tender arm
+  With favour never claspt; but bred a dog.
+  --But myself,
+  Who had the world as my confectionary,_ &c.
+
+The intermediate lines are to be considered as a parenthesis of passion.
+
+IV.iii.271 (367,5) If thou wilt curse, thy father, that poor rag,/ Must
+be thy subject] If we read _poor rogue_, it will correspond rather
+better to what follows.
+
+IV.iii.276 (367,6) Thou hadst been knave and flatterer] Dryden has
+quoted two verses of Virgil to shew how well he could have written
+satires. Shakespeare has here given a specimen of the same power by a
+line bitter beyond all bitterness, in which Timon tells Apemantus, that
+he had not virtue enough for the vices which he condemns.
+
+Dr. Warburton explains _worst_ by _lowest_, which somewhat weakens the
+sense, and yet leaves it sufficiently vigorous.
+
+I have heard Mr. Bourke commend the subtilty of discrimination with
+which Shakespeare distinguishes the present character of Timon from that
+of Apemantus, whom to vulgar eyes he would now resemble. (see 1763, VI,
+249, 6) (rev. 1778, VIII, 424, 4)
+
+IV.iii.308 (369,8) Ay, though it look like thee] Timon here supposes
+that an objection against hatred, which through the whole tenor of the
+conversation appears an argument for it. One would have expected him to
+have answered,
+
+  Yes, _for it looks like thee_.
+
+The old edition, which always gives the pronoun instead of the
+affirmative particle, has it,
+
+  _I, though it look like thee_.
+
+Perhaps we should read,
+
+  _I_ thought _it_ look'd _like thee_.
+
+IV,iii.363 (371,2) Thou art the cap] i.e. the property, the bubble.
+WARBURTON.] I rather think, the _top_, the _principal_.
+
+The remaining dialogue has more malignity than wit.
+
+IV.iii.383 (372,4) 'Twixt natural, son and sire!']
+
+  [Greek: dia touton ouk adelphoi
+  dia touton ou toxaeas. ANAC.]
+
+IV.iii.398 (373,6) More things like men?] This line, in the old edition,
+is given to Aremantus, but it apparently belongs to Timon. Hanmer has
+transposed the foregoing dialogue according to his own mind, not
+unskilfully, but with unwarrantable licence.
+
+IV.iii.419 (373,7) you want much of meat] [T: of meet] Such is Mr.
+Theobald's emendation, in which he is followed by Dr. Warburton. Sir T.
+Hanmer reads,
+
+  --_you want much of_ men.
+
+They have been all busy without necessity. Observe the series of the
+conversation. The thieves tell him, that they are _men that much do
+want_. Here is an ambiguity between _much want_ and _want_ of _much_.
+Timon takes it on the wrong side, and tells them that their _greatest
+want is_, that, like other men, _they want much of meat_; then telling
+them where meat may be had, he asks, _Want? why want?_ (see 1765, VI,
+254, 5)
+
+IV.iii.420 (374,8) the earth hath roots;/Within this mile break forth an
+hundred springs]
+
+  _Vile plus, et duris haerentia mora rubetis
+  Pugnantis stomachi composuere famen:
+  Flumine vicino stultus sitit._
+
+I do not suppose these to be imitations, but only to be similar thoughts
+on similar occasions.
+
+IV.iii.442 (375,2) The sea's a thief, whose liquid surge resolves/The
+moon into salt tears] [W: The mounds] I am not willing to receive
+_mounds_, which would not be understood but by him that suggested it.
+The _moon_ is supposed to be humid, and perhaps a source of humidity,
+but cannot be _resolved_ by the _surges_ of the sea. Yet I think _moon_
+is the true reading. Here is a circulation of thievary described: The
+sun, moon, and sea all rob, and are robbed.
+
+IV.iii.456 (376,3) 'Tis in the malice of mankind, that he thus advises
+us; not to have us thrive in our mystery] [Hanmer: his malice to]
+Hanmer's emendation, though not necessary, is very probable, and very
+unjustly charged with nonsense [by Warburton]. The reason of his advice,
+says the thief, is _malice to mankind_, not any kindness to us, or
+desire _to have us thrive in our mystery_.
+
+IV.iii.468 (378,5) What an alteration of honour has/Desperate want
+made!] [W: of humour] The original copy has,
+
+  _What an alteration of honour has desperate want made!_
+
+The present reading is certainly better, but it has no authority. To
+change _honour_ to _humour_ is not necessary. _An alteration of honour_,
+is an _alteration_ of an _honourable state_ to a state of disgrace.
+
+IV.iii.474 (378,8)
+
+  Grant, I may ever love, and rather woe
+  Those that would mischief me, than those that do!]
+
+[W: rather too/...that woo] In defiance of this criticism, I have
+ventured to replace the former reading, as more suitable to the general
+spirit of these scenes, and as free from the absurdities charged upon
+it. It is plain, that in this whole speech _friends_ and _enemies_ are
+taken only for those who _profess friendship_ and _profess enmity_; for
+the _friend_ is supposed not to be more kind, but more dangerous than
+the _enemy_. In the amendation, _those that would mischief_ are placed
+in opposition to _those that woo_, but in the speaker's intention _those
+that woo_ are _those that mischief_ most. The sense is, _Let me rather
+woo or caress those that_ would _mischief, that_ profess to mean me
+mischief, _than those_ that really _do_ me _mischief under false
+professions of kindness_. The Spaniards, I think, have this proverb;
+_Defend me from my friends, and from my enemies I will defend myself_.
+This proverb is a sufficient comment on the passage.
+
+IV.iii.484 (379,9) all/I kept were knaves, to serve in meat to villains]
+_Knave_ is here in the compounded sense of a _servant_ and a _rascal_.
+
+IV.iii.492 (379,1) Pity's sleeping] I do not know that any correction is
+necessary, but I think we might read,
+
+  --_eyes do never give
+  But thorough lust and laughter, pity sleeping_.
+
+_Eyes never flow_ (to _give_ is to dissolve as saline bodies in moist
+weather) _but by lust_ or _laughter_, undisturbed _by_ emotions of
+_pity_.
+
+IV.iii.499 (380,2) It almost turns my dangerous nature wild] [W: mild]
+This emendation is specious, but even this may be controverted. To _turn
+wild_ is _to distract_. An appearance so unexpected, says Timon, _almost
+turns my savageness_ to distraction. Accordingly he examines with nicety
+lest his phrenzy, should deceive him,
+
+  _Let me behold thy face. Surely this man
+  Was born of woman_.
+
+And to this suspected disorder of mind he alludes,
+
+  _Perpetual, sober, Gods_!--
+  Ye powers whose intellects are out of the reach of perturbation.
+
+IV.iii.533 (381,3) thou shalt build from men] Away from human
+habitations.
+
+V.i (382,5) _Enter Poet and Painter_] The poet and the painter were
+within view when Apemantus parted from Timon, and might then have seen
+Timon, since Apemantus, standing by him could not see them: But the
+scenes of the thieves and steward have passed before their arrival, and
+yet passed, as the drama is now conducted within their view. It might be
+suspected that some scenes are transposed, for all these difficulties
+would be removed by introducing the poet and painter first, and the
+thieves in this place. Yet I am afraid the scenes must keep their
+present order; for the painter alludes to the thieves when he says, _he
+likewise enriched poor straggling soldiers with great quantity_. This
+impropriety is now heightened by placing the thieves in one act, and the
+poet and painter in another: but it must be remembered, that in the
+original edition this play is not divided into separate acts, so that
+the present distribution is arbitrary, and may be changed if any
+convenience can be gained, or impropriety obviated by alteration.
+
+V.i.47 (384,6) While the day serves, before black-corner'd night] [W:
+black-cornette] _Black-corner'd night_ is probably corrupt, but
+_black-cornette_ can hardly be right, for it should be _black-cornetted
+night_. I cannot propose any thing, but must leave the place in its
+present state. (1773)
+
+V.i.101 (386,8) a made-up villain] That is a villain that adopts
+qualities and characters not properly belonging to him; a hypocrite.
+
+V.i.105 (386,9) drown them in a draught] That is, _in the_ jakes.
+
+V.i.109 (388,1)
+
+  But two in company--
+  Each man apart, all single and alone,
+  Yet an arch villain keeps him company]
+
+This passage is obscure. I think the meaning is this: _but two in
+company_, that is, stand apart, _let only two be together_; for even
+when each stands single there are two, he himself and a villain.
+
+V.i.151 (388,3) Of its own fall] [The Oxford editor alters _fall_ to
+_fault_, not knowing that Shakespeare uses _fall_ to signify dishonour,
+not destruction. So in _Hamlet_,
+
+  _What a_ falling_ off was there_! WARBURTON.]
+
+The truth is, that neither _fall_ means _disgrace_, nor is _fault_ a
+necessary emendation. _Falling off_ in the quotation is not _disgrace_
+but _defection_. The Athenians _had sense_, that is, felt the danger _of
+their own fall_, by the arms of Alcibiades.
+
+V.i.151 (388,4) restraining aid to Timon] I think it should be
+_refraining aid_, that is, with-holding aid that should have been given
+_to_ Timon.
+
+V.i.154 (389,5) Than their offence can weigh down by the dram] This
+which was in the former editions can scarcely be right, and yet I know
+not whether my reading will be thought to rectify it. I take the meaning
+to be, We will give thee a recompence that our offences cannot outweigh,
+_heaps of wealth down by the dram_, or delivered according to the
+exactest measure. A little disorder may perhaps have happened in
+transcribing, which may be reformed by reading,
+
+  --_Ay, ev'n such heaps
+  And sums of love and wealth, down by the dram,
+  As shall to thee_--
+
+V.i.165 (389,6) Allow'd with absolute power] _Allowed_ is _licensed_,
+_privileged_, _uncontrolled_. So of a buffoon, in _Love's Labour lost_,
+it is said, that he is _allowed_, that is, at liberty to say what he
+will, a privileged scoffer.
+
+V.i.139 (390,7) My long sickness/Of health and living now begins to
+mend] The disease of life begins to promise me a period.
+
+V.i.211 (391,8) in the sequence of degree] Methodically, from highest to
+lowest.
+
+V.iii.4 (393,2) Some beast read this; here does not live a man] [W:
+rear'd] Notwithstanding this remark, I believe the old reading to be the
+right. _The soldier had only seen the rude heap of earth._ He had
+evidently seen something that told him _Timon was dead_; and what could
+tell that but his tomb? The tomb he sees, and the inscription upon it,
+which not being able to read, and finding none to read it for him, he
+exclaims peevishly, _some beast read this_, for it must be read, and in
+this place it cannot be read by man.
+
+There is something elaborately unskilful in the contrivance of sending a
+soldier, who cannot read, to take the epitaph in wax, only that it may
+close the play by being read with more solemnity in the last scene.
+
+V.iv.7 (394, 3) traverst arms] Arms across.
+
+V.iv.8 (394,4) the time is flush] A bird is _flush_ when his feathers
+are grown, and he can leave the nest. _Flush_ is _mature_.
+
+V.iv.18 (395,7)
+
+                        So did we woo
+  Transformed Timon to our city's love,
+  By humble message, and by promis'd means]
+
+[T: promis'd mends] Dr. Warburton agrees with Mr. Theobald, but the old
+reading may well stand.
+
+V.iv.28 (395,8) Shame, that they wanted cunning, in excess/Hath broke
+their hearts] [Theobald had emended the punctuation] I have no wish to
+disturb the means of Theobald, yet think some emendation nay be offered
+that will make the construction less harsh, and the sentence more
+serious. I read,
+
+  _Shape that they wanted, coming in excess,
+  Hath broke their hearts._
+
+_Shame which they_ had so long _wanted at last_ coming in _its utmost_
+excess.
+
+V.iv.36 (396,8) not square] Not regular, not equitable.
+
+V.iv.35 (397,9) uncharged ports] That is, _unguarded gates_.
+
+V.iv.59 (397,1) not a man/Shall pass his quarter] Not a soldier shall
+quit his station, or be let loose upon you; and, if any commits
+violence, he shall answer it regularly to the law.
+
+V.iv.76 (308.,3) our brain's flow; Hanmer and Dr. Warburton read,
+
+  --brine's flow,--
+
+Our brain's flow is our tears; but we any read our brine's flow, our
+salt tears. Either will serve. (see 1765, VI, 276, 6)
+
+(399) General Observation. The play of _Timon_ is a domestic tragedy,
+and therefore strongly fastens on the attention of the reader. In the
+plan there is not much art, but the incidents are natural, and the
+characters various and exact. The catastrophe affords a very powerful
+warning against that ostentations liberality, which scatters bounty, but
+confers no benefits, and buys flattery, but not friendship.
+
+In this tragedy are many passages perplexed, obscure, and probably
+corrupt, which I have endeavoured to rectify, or explain, with due
+diligence; but having only one copy, cannot promise myself that my
+endeavours shall be much applauded.
+
+
+
+
+TITUS ANDRONICUS
+
+
+(403,1) It is observable, that this play is printed in the quarto of
+1611, with exactness equal to that of the other books of those times.
+The first edition was probably corrected by the author, so that here is
+very little room for conjecture or emendation; and accordingly none of
+the editors have much molested this piece with officious criticism.
+
+I.i.70 (406,2) Hail, Rome, victorious in thy mourning weeds!] [W: my]
+_Thy_ is as well as _my_. We may suppose the Romans in a grateful
+ceremony, meeting the dead sons of Andronicus with mourning habits.
+
+I.i.77 (407,3) Thou great defender of this Capitol] Jupiter, to whom the
+Capitol was sacred.
+
+I.i.168 (410,5) And fame's eternal date for virtue's praise!] [W: In] To
+_live in fame's date_ is, if an allowable, yet a harsh expression. To
+_outlive_ an _eternal date_, is, though not philosophical, yet poetical
+sense. He wishes that her life may be longer than his, and her praise
+longer than fame.
+
+I.i.309 (414,6) changing piece] Spoken of Lavinia. _Piece_ was then, as
+it is now, used personally as a word of contempt.
+
+II.i (421,8) In the quarto, the direction is, _Manet Aaron_, and he is
+before made to enter with Tamora, though he says nothing. This scene
+ought to continue the first act.
+
+II.i.9 (421,9) So Tamora--/Upon her wit doth earthly honour wait] [W:
+her will] I think _wit_, for which she is eminent in the drama, is
+right.
+
+II.i.116 (425,2) by kind] That is, by _nature_, which is the old
+signification of _kind_.
+
+II.ii (425,3) _Changes to a Forest_] The division of this play into
+acts, which was first made by the editors in 1623, is improper. There is
+here an interval of action, and here the second act ought to have begun.
+
+II.iii.8 (427,6)
+
+  And so repose, sweet gold, for their unrest,
+  That have their alms out of the empress' chest]
+
+This is obscure. It seems to mean only, that they who are to come at
+this gold of the empress are to suffer by it.
+
+II.iii.72 (430,9) swarth Cimmerian] _Swarth_ is _black_. The Moor is
+called Cimmerien, from the affinity of blackness to darkness.
+
+II.iii.85 (430,1)
+
+  _Bas._ The king, my brother, shall have note of this.
+  _Lav._ Ay, for these slips have made him noted long]
+
+He had yet been married but one night.
+
+II.iii.104 (431,2) Should straight fall mad, or else die suddenly] This
+is said in fabulous physiology, of those that hear the groan of the
+mandrake torn up.
+
+II.iii.126 (432,3) And with that painted hope she braves your
+mightiness] [W: cope] _Painted hope_ is only _specious_ hope, or ground
+of confidence more plausible than solid.
+
+II.iii.227 (435,4) A precious ring, that lightens all the hole] There is
+supposed to be a gem called a carbuncle, which emits not reflected but
+native light. Mr. Boyle believes the reality of its existence.
+
+II.iv.13 (438,5) If I do dream, 'would all my wealth would wake me'] If
+this be a dream, I would give all my possessions to be delivered from it
+by waking.
+
+III.i.91 (443,8) It was my deer] The play upon _deer_ and _dear_ has
+been used by Waller, who calls a lady's girdle, _The pale that held my
+lovely_ deer.
+
+III.i.216 (447,1) And do not break into these deep extremes] [We should
+read, instead of this nonsense,
+
+  --woe-_extremes_.
+
+i.e. extremes caused by excessive sorrow. But Mr. Theobald, on his own
+authority, alters it to _deep_, without notice given. WARB.] It is
+_deep_ in the old quarto of 1611, (rev. 1778, VIII, 510, 8)
+
+III.ii (450,2) _An apartment in Titus's house_] This scene, which does
+not contribute any thing to the action, yet seems to have the same
+author with the rest, is omitted in the quarto of 1611, but found in the
+folio of 1623.
+
+III.ii.45 (452,3) by still practice] By _constant_ or _continual_
+practice.
+
+IV.i.129 (458,6) Revenge the heavens] It should be,
+
+  _Revenge_, ye _Heavens_!--
+
+_Ye_ was by the transcriber taken for _y'e_, the.
+
+IV.ii.85 (461,7) I'll broach the tadpole] A _broach_ is a _spit_. I'll
+_spit_ the tadpole.
+
+IV.ii.99 (462,8) Coal-black is better than another hue,/ In that it
+seems to bear another hue] We may better read, _In that it_ scorns _to
+bear another hue_.
+
+IV.iii.88 (466,1) Yet wrung with wrongs] To _wring_ a horse is to press
+or strain his back.
+
+IV.iv.90 (472,4) With words more sweet, and yet more dangerous,/ Than
+baits to fish, or honey-stalks to sheep] _Honey-stalks_ are
+clover-flowers, which contain a sweet juice. It is common for cattle to
+over-charge themselves with clover, and die.
+
+V.i.102 (476,7) As true a dog, as ever fought at head] An allusion to
+bull-dogs, whose generosity and courage are always shown by meeting the
+bull in front, and seizing his nose.
+
+V.ii.189 (484,1) And of the paste a coffin will I rear] A _coffin_ is
+the term of art for the cavity of a raised pye.
+
+V.iii.19 (486,2) break the parley] That is, _begin_ the parley. We yet
+say, he _breaks_ his mind.
+
+(492) General Observation. All the editors and critics agree with Mr.
+Theobald in supposing this play spurious. I see no reason for differing
+from them; for the colour of the stile is wholly different from that of
+the other plays, and there is an attempt at regular versification, and
+artificial closes, not always inelegant, yet seldom pleasing. The
+barbarity of the spectacles, and the general massacre, which are here
+exhibited, can scarcely be conceived tolerable to any audience; yet we
+are told by Jonson, that they were not only borne, but praised. That
+Shakespeare wrote any part, though Theobald declares it _incontestible_,
+I see no reason for believing.
+
+The testimony produced at the beginning of this play, by which it is
+ascribed to Shakespeare, is by no means equal to the argument against
+its authenticity, arising from the total difference of conduct,
+language, and sentiments, by which it stands apart from all the rest.
+Meeres had probably no other evidence than that of a title-page, which,
+though in our time it be sufficient, was then of no great authority; for
+all the plays which were rejected by the first collectors of
+Shakespeare's works, and admitted in later editions, and again rejected
+by the critical editors, had Shakespeare's name on the title, as we must
+suppose, by the fraudulence of the printers, who, while there were yet
+no gazettes, nor advertisements, nor any means of circulating literary
+intelligence, could usurp at pleasure any celebrated name. Nor had
+Shakespeare any interest in detecting the imposture, as none of his fame
+or profit was produced by the press.
+
+The chronology of this play does not prove it not to be Shakespeare's.
+If it had been written twenty-five years, in 1614, it might have been
+written when Shakespeare was twenty-five years old. When he left
+Warwickshire I know not, but at the age of twenty-five it was rather too
+late to fly for deer-stealing.
+
+Ravenscroft, who in the reign of Charles II, revised this play, and
+restored it to the stage, tells us, in his preface, from a theatrical
+tradition, I suppose, which in his time might be of sufficient
+authority, that this play was touched in different parts by Shakespeare,
+but written by some other poet. I do not find Shakespeare's touches very
+discernible, (see 1765, VI, 364) (rev. 1778, VIII, 559)
+
+
+
+
+Vol. IX.
+
+TROILUS AND CRESSIDA
+
+
+Prologue. (4,2)
+
+  _And hither am I come
+  A prologue arm'd; but not in confidence
+  Of author's pen, or actor's voice; but suited
+  In like conditions as our argument_]
+
+I come here to speak the prologue, and come in armour; not defying the
+audience, in confidence of either the author's or actor's abilities, but
+merely in a character suited to the subject, in a dress of war, before a
+warlike play.
+
+I.i.12 (8,3) And skill-less as unpractis'd infancy] Mr. Dryden, in his
+alteration of this play, has taken this speech as it stands, except that
+he has changed _skill-less_ to _artless_, not for the better, because
+_skill-less_ refers to _skill_ and _skilful_.
+
+I.i.58 (10,4) The cignet's down is harsh, and spirit of sense/Hard as
+the palm of ploughman!] _In comparison with_ Cressid's _hand_, says he,
+_the spirit of sense_, the utmost degree, the most exquisite power of
+sensibility, which implies a soft hand, since the sense of touching, as
+Scaliger says in his _Exercitations_, resides chiefly in the fingers, is
+hard as the callous and insensible palm of the ploughman. WARBURTON
+reads,
+
+  --SPITE _of sense_:
+
+HANMER,
+
+  --to th' _spirit of sense_.
+
+It is not proper to make a lover profess to praise his mistress in
+_spite of sense_; for though he often does it in _spite of the sense_ of
+others, his own senses are subdued to his desires.
+
+I.i.66 (10,5) if she be fair, 'tis the better for her; an she be not,
+she has the mends in her own hands] She may mend her complexion by the
+assistance of cosmeticks.
+
+I.ii.4 (12,1) Hector, whose patience/Is, as a virtue, fix'd] [W: Is as
+the] I think the present text may stand. Hector's patience was as a
+virtue, not variable and accidental, but fixed and constant. If I would
+alter it, it should be thus:
+
+  --Hector, whose patience
+  Is ALL a virtue fix'd,--
+
+_All_, in old English, is the _intensive_ or enforcing particle.
+
+I.ii.8 (13,2) Before the sun rose, he was harness'd light] [Warburton
+stated that "harnessed light" meant Hector was to fight on foot] How
+does it appear that Hector was to fight on foot rather to-day than on
+any other day? It is to be remembered, that the ancient heroes never
+fought on horseback; nor does their manner of fighting in chariots seem
+to require less activity than on foot.
+
+I.ii.23 (14,4) his valour is crushed into folly] To be _crushed into
+folly_, is to be _confused_ and mingled with _folly_, so as that they
+make one mass together.
+
+I.ii.46 (15,6) Ilium] Was the palace of Troy.
+
+I.ii.120 (17,7) compass-window] The _compass-window_ is the same as the
+_bow-window_. (1773)
+
+I.ii.212 (20,2)
+
+  _Cre._ Will he give you the nod?
+  _Pan._ You shall see.
+  _Cre._ If he do, the rich shall have more]
+
+[W: rich] I wonder why the commentator should think any emendation
+necessary, since his own sense is fully expressed by the present
+reading. Hanmer appears not to have understood the passage. That to
+_give the nod_ signifies to _set a mark of folly_, I do not know; the
+allusion is to the word _noddy_, which, as now, did, in our author's
+time, and long before, signify, _a silly fellow_, and may, by its
+etymology, signify likewise _full of nods_. Cressid means, that _a_
+noddy _shall have more_ nods. Of such remarks as these is a comment to
+consist?
+
+I.ii.260 (22,3) money to boot] So the folio. The old quarto, with more
+force, Give _an eye_ to boot. (rev. 1778, IX, 25, 1)
+
+I.ii.285 (22,4) upon my wit to defend my wiles] So read both the copies)
+yet perhaps the author wrote,
+
+  Upon my wit to defend my will.
+
+The terms _wit_ and _will_ were, in the language of that time, put often
+in opposition.
+
+I.ii.300 (23,5) At your own house; there he unarms him] [These necessary
+words added from the quarto edition. POPE.] The words added are only,
+_there he unarms him_.
+
+I.ii.313 (23,6) joy's soul lies in the doing] So read both the old
+editions, for which the later editions have poorly given,
+
+  --the _soul's joy_ lies in doing.
+
+I.ii.316 (23,7) That she] Means, that woman.
+
+I.iii.31 (25,2) With due observance of thy godlike seat] [T: godlike
+seat] This emendation [for goodly seat] Theobald might have found in the
+quarto, which has,
+
+  --the _godlike_ seat.
+
+I.iii.32 (25,3) Nestor shall apply/Thy latest words] Nestor _applies_
+the words to another instance.
+
+I.iii.54 (26,7) Returns to chiding fortune] For _returns_, Hanmer reads
+_replies_, unnecessarily, the sense being the same. The folio and quarto
+have _retires_, corruptly.
+
+I.iii.62 (27,8)
+
+  both your speeches; which are such,
+  As Agamemnon and the hand of Greece
+  Should hold up high in brass; and such again,
+  As venerable Nestor, hatch'd in silver,
+  Should with a bond of air (strong as the axle-tree
+  On which heaven rides) knit all the Greekish ears
+  To his experienc'd tongue]
+
+Ulysses begins his oration with praising those who had spoken before
+him, and marks the characteristick excellencies of their different
+eloquence, strength, and sweetness, which he expresses by the different
+metals on which he recommends them to be engraven for the instruction of
+posterity. The speech of Agamemnon is such that it ought to be engraven
+in brass, and the tablet held up by him on the one side, and Greece on
+the other, to shew the union of their opinion. And Nestor ought to be
+exhibited in silver, uniting all his audience in one mind by his soft
+and gentle elocution. Brass is the common emblem of strength, and silver
+of gentleness. We call a soft voice a _silver_ voice, and a persuasive
+tongue a _silver_ tongue.--I once read for _hand_, the _band_ of Greece,
+but I think the text right.--To _hatch_ is a term of art for a
+particular method of _engraving_. _Hatcher_, to cut, Fr.
+
+I.iii.78 (28,1) The specialty of rule] The particular rights of supreme
+authority.
+
+I.iii.81 (29,2) When that the general is not like the hive] The meaning
+is, _When the general is not_ to the army _like the hive_ to the bees,
+the repository of the stock of every individual, that to which each
+particular resorts with whatever be has collected for the good of the
+whole, _what honey is expected_? what hope of advantage? The sense is
+clear, the expression is confused.
+
+I.iii.101 (30,5) Oh, when degree is shak'd] I would read,
+
+  --So when degree is shak'd. (see 1765, VII, 431, 5)
+
+I.iii.103 (30,6) The enterprize] Perhaps we should read,
+
+  _Then_ enterprize is sick!--
+
+I.iii.104 (30,7) brotherhoods in cities] Corporations, companies,
+_confraternities_.
+
+I.iii.128 (31,8) That by a pace goes backward] That goes backward _step
+by step_.
+
+I.iii.128 (31,9) with a purpose/It hath to climb] With a design in each
+man to aggrandize himself, by slighting his immediate superior.
+
+I.iii.134 (31,1) bloodless emulation] An emulation not vigorous and
+active, but malignant and sluggish.
+
+I.iii.152 (31,2) Thy topless deputation] _Topless_ is that has nothing
+_topping_ or _overtopping_ it; supreme; sovereign.
+
+I.iii.167 (32,3) as near as the extremest ends/Of parallels] The
+parallels to which the allusion seems to be made are the parallels on a
+map. As like as East to West.
+
+I.iii.179 (32,4)
+
+  All our abilities, gifts, natures, shapes,
+  Severals and generals of grace exact,
+  Atchievements, plots]
+
+The meaning is this, All our good _grace exact_, means of _excellence
+irreprehensible_.
+
+I.iii.184 (32,5) to make paradoxes] _Paradoxes_ may have a meaning, but
+it is not clear and distinct. I wish the copies had given,
+
+  --to make _parodies_.
+
+I.iii.188 (33,6) bears his head/In such a rein] That is, holds up his
+head as haughtily. We still say of a girl, _she bridles_.
+
+I.iii.196 (33,7) How rank soever rounded in with danger] A _rank weed_
+is a _high weed_. The modern editions silently read,
+
+  How _hard_ soever--
+
+I.iii.202 (33,8) and know by measure/Of their observant toil the
+enemies' weight] I think it were better to read,
+
+  --and know _the_ measure,
+  _By_ their observant toil, _of_ th' enemies' weight.
+
+I.iii.220 (34,1) Achilles' arm] So the copies. Perhaps the author wrote,
+
+  --_Alcides'_ arm.
+
+I.iii.262 (35,4) long continu'd truce] Of this long _truce_ there has
+been no notice taken; in this very act it is said, that _Ajax coped
+Hector yesterday in the battle_.
+
+I.iii.270 (36,7) (With truant vows to her own lips he loves)] That is,
+_confession made with idle vows to the lips of her whom he loves_.
+
+I.iii.319 (37,1) nursery] Alluding to a plantation called a nursery.
+
+I.iii.341 (38,4) scantling] That is, a _measure_, _proportion_. The
+carpenter cuts his wood to a certain _scantling_.
+
+I.iii.343 (38,5) small pricks] Small _points compared_ with the volumes.
+
+II.i (40,1) _The Grecian camp. Enter Ajax and Thorsites_] ACT II.] This
+play is not divided into acts in any of the original editions.
+
+II.i.13 (41,2) The plague of Greece] Alluding perhaps to the plague sent
+by Apollo on the Grecian army.
+
+II.i.15 (41,3) Speak then, thou unsalted leaven, speak] [T:
+unwinnow'dst] [W: windyest] Hanmer preserves _whinid'st_, the reading of
+the folio; but does not explain it, nor do I understand it. If the folio
+be followed, I read, _vinew'd_, that is _mouldy leven_. Thou composition
+of _mustiness_ and _sourness_.--Theobald's assertion, however confident,
+is false. _Unsalted_ leaven is in the old quarto. It means _sour_
+without _salt_, malignity without wit. Shakespeare wrote first
+_unsalted_; but recollecting that want of _salt_ was no fault in leaven,
+changed it to _vinew'd_.
+
+II.i.38 (42,5) aye that thou bark'st at him] I read, _O_ that thou
+_bark'dst_ at him.
+
+II.i.42 (42,6) pun thee into shivers] _Pun_ is in the midland counties
+the vulgar and colloquial word for _pound_. (1773)
+
+II.i.125 (45,1) when Achilles' brach bids me] The folio and quarto read,
+_Achilles'_ brooch. _Brooch_ is an appendant ornament. The meaning may
+be, equivalent to one of _Achilles' hangers on_.
+
+II.ii.29 (47,2) The past-proportion of his infinite?] Thus read both the
+copies. The meaning is, _that greatness, to which no measure bears any
+proportion_. The modern editors silently give,
+
+  The _vast_ proportion--
+
+II.ii.58 (48,4) And the will dotes that is inclinable] [Old edition, not
+so well, has it, _attributive_. POPE.] By the old edition Mr. Pope means
+the old quarto. The folio has, as it stands, _inclinable_.--I think the
+first reading better; _the will dotes that attributes_ or gives _the
+qualities which it affects_; that first causes excellence, and then
+admires it.
+
+II.ii.60 (48,5) Without some image of the affected merit] The present
+reading is right. The will _affects_ an object for some supposed
+_merit_, which Hector says, is uncensurable, unless the _merit_ so
+_affected_ be really there.
+
+II.ii.71 (48,7) unrespective sieve] That is, into a _common voider_.
+_Sieve_ is in the quarto. The folio reads,
+
+  --unrespective _fame_;
+
+for which the modern editions have silently printed,
+
+  --unrespective _place_.
+
+II.ii.88 (49,9)
+
+        why do you now
+  The issue of your proper wisdoms rate;
+  And do a deed that fortune never did,
+  Beggar that estimation which you priz'd
+  Richer than sea and land?]
+
+If I understand this passage, the meaning is, "Why do you, by censuring
+the determination of your own wisdoms, degrade Helen, whom fortune has
+not yet deprived of her value, or against whom, as the wife of Paris,
+fortune has not in this war so declared, as to make us value her less?"
+This is very harsh, and much strained.
+
+II.ii.122 (50,2) her brain-sick raptures/Cannot distaste the goodness of
+a quarrel] Corrupt; change to a worse state.
+
+II.ii.179 (52,3) benummed wills] That is, inflexible, inmoveable, no
+longer obedient to superior direction.
+
+II.ii.180 (52,4) There is a law in each well-ordered nation] What the
+law does in every nation between individuals, justice ought to do
+between nations.
+
+II.ii.188 (52,5) Hector's opinion/Is this in way of truth] Though
+considering _truth_ and _justice_ in this question, this is my opinion;
+yet as a question of honour, I think on it as you.
+
+II.ii.196 (53,6) the performance of our heaving spleens] The execution
+of spite and resentment.
+
+II.ii.212 (53,7) emulation] That is, envy, factious contention.
+
+II.iii.18 (54,8) without drawing the massy iron and cutting the web]
+That is, _without drawing their swords to cut the web_. They use no
+means but those of violence.
+
+II.iii.55 (55,1) decline the whole question] Deduce the question from
+the first case to the last.
+
+II.iii.108 (57,6) but it was a strong composure, a fool could disunite]
+So reads the quarto very properly; but the folio, which the moderns have
+followed, has, _it was a strong_ COUNSEL.
+
+II.iii.118 (57,7) noble state] Person of high dignity; spoken of
+Agamemnon.
+
+II.iii.137 (58,8) under-write] To _subscribe_, in Shakespeare, is to
+_obey_.
+
+II.iii.215 (60,2) pheese his pride] To _pheese_ is to _comb_ or _curry_.
+
+II.iii.217 (60,3) Not for the worth that hangs upon our quarrel] Not for
+the value of all for which we are fighting.
+
+II.iii.267 (62,6)
+
+  _Ajax._ Shall I call you father?
+  _Nest._ Ay, my good son]
+
+In the folio and in the nodern editions Ajax desires to give the title
+of _father_ to Ulysses; in the quarto, more naturally, to Nestor.
+
+III.i.35 (64,1) love's invisible soul] _love's_ visible _soul_.] So
+HANMER. The other editions have _invisible_, which perhaps may be right,
+and may mean the _soul of love_ invisible every where else.
+
+III.i.83 (65,3) And, my lord, he desires you] Here I think the speech of
+Pandarus should begin, and the rest of it should be added to that of
+Helen, but I have followed the copies.
+
+III.i.96 (65,4) with my disposer Cressida] [W: dispouser] I do not
+understand the word _disposer_, nor know what to substitute in its
+place. There is no variation in the copies.
+
+III.i.132 (67,6) _Yet that which seems the wound to kill_] _To kill the
+wound_ is no very intelligible expression, nor is the measure preserved.
+We might read,
+
+    _These lovers cry,
+    Oh! oh! they die!_
+  But _that which seems to kill,
+    Doth turn_, &c.
+  _So dying love lives still_.
+
+Yet as _the wound to kill_ may mean _the wound that seems mortal_, I
+alter nothing.
+
+III.ii.25 (69,1) tun'd too sharp in sweetness]--and _too sharp in
+sweetness_,] So the folio and all modern editions; but the quarto more
+accurately,
+
+  --_tun'd_ too sharp in sweetness.
+
+III.ii.99 (71,4) our head shall go bare, 'till merit crown it] I cannot
+forbear to observe, that the quarto reads thus: _Our head shall go bare,
+'till merit_ lower part no affection, _in reversion_, &c. Had there been
+no other copy, hov could this have been corrected? The true reading is
+in the folio.
+
+III.ii.102 (72,5) his addition shall be humble] We will give him no high
+or pompous titles.
+
+III.ii.162 (74,6)
+
+        but you are wise,
+  Or else you love not; to be wise and love,
+  Exceeds man's might]
+
+I read,
+
+  --but _we're not_ wise,
+  Or else _we_ love not; to be wise and love,
+  Exceeds man's might;--
+
+Cressida, in return to the praise given by Troilus to her wisdom,
+replies, "That lovers are never wise; that it is beyond the power of man
+to bring love and wisdom to an union."
+
+III.ii.173 (74,8) Might be affronted with the match] I wish "my
+integrity might be met and matched with such equality and force of pure
+unmingled love."
+
+III.ii.184 (75,2) As true as steel, as plantage to the moon] _Plantage_
+is not, I believe, a general term, but the herb which we now call
+_plantain_, in Latin, _plantago_, which was, I suppose, imagined to be
+under the peculiar influence of the moon.
+
+III.ii.187 (76,3)
+
+  Yet after all comparisons of truth,
+  As truth's authentic author to be cited
+  _As true as Troilus_, shall crown up the verse]
+
+Troilus shall _crown the verse_, as a man _to be cited as the authentic
+author of truth_; as one whose protestations were true to a proverb.
+
+III.iii.1-16 (77,5) Now, princes, for the service I have done you] I am
+afraid, that after all the learned commentator's [Warburton's] efforts
+to clear the argument of Calchas, it will still appear liable to
+objection; nor do I discover more to be urged in his defence, than that
+though his skill in divination determined him to leave Troy, jet that he
+joined himself to Agamemnon and his army by unconstrained good-will; and
+though he came as a fugitive escaping from destruction, yet his services
+after his reception, being voluntary and important, deserved reward.
+This argument is not regularly and distinctly deduced, but this is, I
+think, the best explication that it will yet admit.
+
+III.iii.4 (78,6) through the sight I bear in things, to Jove] This
+passage in all the modern editions is silently depraved, and printed
+thus:
+
+  --through the sight I bear in things to come.
+
+The word is so printed that nothing but the sense can determine whether
+it be _love_ or _Jove_. I believe that the editors read it as _love_,
+and therefore made the alteration to obtain some meaning.
+
+III.iii.28 (79,7)
+
+  he shall buy my daughter; and her presence
+  Shall quite strike off all service I have done,
+  In most accepted pain]
+
+Sir T. HANMER, and Dr. WARBURTON after him, read,
+
+  In most accepted _pay_.
+
+They do not seem to understand the construction of the passage. _Her
+presence_, says Calchas, shall strike off, or recompence _the service I
+have done_, even in these _labours_ which were _most accepted_.
+
+III.iii.44 (80,8) derision med'cinable] All the modern editions have
+_decision_. The old copies are apparently right. The folio in this place
+agrees with the quarto, so that the corruption was at first merely
+accidental.
+
+III.iii.96 (82,9) how dearly ever parted] I do not think that in the
+word _parted_ is included any idea of _division_; it means, _however
+excellently endowed_, with however _dear_ or precious _parts_ enriched
+or adorned.
+
+III.iii.113 (82,2) but the author's drift:/Who, in his circumstance] In
+the detail or circumduction of his argument.
+
+III.iii.125 (83,3) The unknovn Ajax] Ajax, who has abilities which were
+never brought into view or use.
+
+III.iii.134 (83,4)
+
+  How some men creep in skittish Fortune's hall,
+  While others play the idiots in her eyes!]
+
+To _creep_ is to _keep out of sight_ from whatever motive. Some men
+_keep out of notice in the hall of Fortune_, while others, though they
+but _play the idiot_, are always _in her eye_, in the way of
+distinction.
+
+III.iii.137 (83,5) feasting] Folio. The quarto has _fasting_. Either
+word may bear a good sense.
+
+III.iii.145 (84,6) Time hath, my lord, a wallet at his back] This speech
+is printed in all the modern editions with such deviations from the old
+copy, as exceed the lawful power of an editor.
+
+III.iii.171 (85,2) for beauty, wit,/High birth, vigour of bone, desert
+in service] The modern editors read,
+
+  For beauty, wit, high birth, desert in service, &c.
+
+I do not deny but the changes produce a more easy lapse of numbers, but
+they do not exhibit the work of Shakespeare, (see 1765, VII, 435, 2)
+
+III.iii.178 (85,3)
+
+  And shew to dust, that is a little gilt,
+  More laud than gilt o'er-dusted]
+
+[T: give to ... laud than they will give to gold] This emendation has
+been received by the succeeding editors, but recedes too far from the
+copy. There is no other corruption than such as Shakespeare's
+incorrectness often resembles. He has omitted the article _to_ in the
+second line: he should have written,
+
+  _More laud than_ to _gilt o'er-dusted_. (1773) (rev. 1778, IX, 93, 7)
+
+III.iii.189 (86,4) Made emulous missions] The meaning of _mission_ seems
+to be _dispatches_ of the gods _from heaven_ about mortal business, such
+as often happened at the siege of Troy.
+
+III.iii.197 (86,5) Knows almost every grain of Pluto's gold] For this
+elegant line the quarto has only,
+
+  Knows almost every _thing_.
+
+III.iii.201 (86,7) (with which relation/Durst never meddle)] There is a
+secret administration of affairs, which no _history_ was ever able to
+discover.
+
+III.iii.230 (87,9)
+
+  Omission to do what is necessary
+  Seals a commission to a blank of danger]
+
+By _neglecting_ our duty we _commission_ or enable that _danger_ of
+dishonour, which could not reach us before, to lay hold upon us.
+
+III.iii.254 (88,1) with a politic regard] With a _sly look_.
+
+IV.i.11 (91,1) During all question of the gentle truce] I once thought
+to read,
+
+  During all _quiet_ of the gentle truce.
+
+But I think _question_ means intercourse, interchange of conversation.
+
+IV.i.36 (92,4) His purpose meets you] I bring you his meaning and his
+orders.
+
+IV.i.65 (93,6)
+
+  Both merits pois'd, each weighs no less nor more,
+  But he as he, the heavier for a whore]
+
+I read,
+
+  But he as he, _each_ heavier for a whore.
+
+_Heavy_ is taken both for _weighty_, and for _sad_ or _miserable_. The
+quarto reads,
+
+  But he as he, _the_ heavier for a whore.
+
+I know not whether the thought is not that of a wager. It must then be
+read thus:
+
+  But he as he. Which heavier for a whore?
+
+That is, _for a whore_ staked down, _which is the heavier_.
+
+IV.i.78 (94,7) We'll not commend what we intend to sell] I believe the
+meaning is only this: though you practise the buyer's art, we will not
+practise the seller's. We intend to sell Helen dear, yet will not
+commend her.
+
+IV.ii.62 (96,4) My matter is so rash] My business is so _hasty_ and so
+abrupt.
+
+IV.ii.74 (97,6) the secrets of neighbour Pandar] [Pope had emended the
+Folio's "secrets of nature" to the present reading] Mr. Pope's reading
+is in the old quarto. So great is the necessity of collation.
+
+IV.iv.3 (99,1) The grief] The folio reads,
+
+  The grief is fine, full perfect, that I taste,
+  And no less in a sense as strong
+  As that which causeth it.--
+
+The quarto otherwise,
+
+  The grief is fine, full, perfect, that I taste,
+  And _violenteth_ in a sense as strong
+  As that which causeth it.--
+
+_Violenteth_ is a word with which I am not acquainted, yet perhaps it
+may be right. The reading of the text is without authority.
+
+IV.iv.65 (101,3) For I will throw my glove to death] That is, I will
+_challenge_ death himself in defence of thy fidelity.
+
+IV.iv.105 (103,5)
+
+  While others fish, with craft, for great opinion,
+  I, with great truth, catch mere simplicity.]
+
+The meaning, I think, is, _while others_, by their art, gain high
+estimation, I, by honesty, obtain a plain simple approbation.
+
+IV.iv.109 (103,6) the moral of my wit/Is, _plain and true_] That is, the
+_governing principle of my understanding_; but I rather think we should
+read,
+
+  --the _motto_ of my wit
+  Is, plain and true,--
+
+IV.iv.114 (103,7) possess thee what she is] I will _make thee fully
+understand_. This sense of the word _possess_ is frequent in our author.
+
+IV.iv.134 (104,9) I'll answer to my list] This, I think, is right,
+though both the old copies read _lust_.
+
+IV.v.8 (105,1) bias cheek] Swelling out like the bias of a bowl.
+
+IV.v.37 (106,3) I'll make my match to live./The kiss you take is better
+than you give] I will make such _bargains_ as I may live by, _such as
+may bring me profit_, therefore will not take a worse kiss than I give.
+
+IV.v.48 (107,4) Why, beg then] For the sake of rhime we should read,
+
+  Why beg _two_.
+
+If you think kisses worth begging, beg more than one.
+
+IV.v.52 (107,5) Never's my day, and then a kiss of you] I once gave both
+these lines to Cressida. She bids Ulysses beg a kiss; he asks that he
+may have it,
+
+  When Helen is a maid again--
+
+She tells him that then he shall have it:
+
+  When Helen is a maid again--
+
+  _Cre._ I am your debtor, claim it when 'tis due;
+  Never's my day, and then a kiss _for_ you.
+
+But I rather think that Ulysses means to slight her, and that the
+present reading is right.
+
+IV.v.57 (107,6) motive of her body] _Motive_ for _part that contributes
+to motion_.
+
+IV.v.59 (107,7) a coasting] An amorous address; courtship.
+
+IV.v.62 (107,8) sluttish spoils of opportunity] Corrupt wenches, of
+whose chastity every opportunity may make a prey.
+
+IV.v.73 (108,9) _Aga._ 'Tis done like Hector, but securely done]
+[Theobald gave the speech to Achilles] As the old copies agree, I have
+made no change.
+
+IV.v.79 (108,1) Valour and pride excel themselves in Hector]
+Shakespeare's thought is not exactly deduced. Nicety of expression is
+not his character. The cleaning is plain, "Valour (says AEneas) is in
+Hector greater than valour in other men, and pride in Hector is less
+than pride in other men. So that Hector is distinguished by the
+excellence of having pride less than other pride, and valour more than
+other valour."
+
+IV.v.103 (109,2) an impair thought] A thought suitable to the dignity of
+his character. This word I should have changed to _impure_, were I not
+over-powered by the unanimity of the editors, and concurrence of the old
+copies, (rev. 1778, IX, 120, 8)
+
+IV.v.105 (109,3) Hector in his blaze of wrath subscribes/To tender
+objects] That is, _yields, gives_ way.
+
+IV.v.112 (110,4) thus translate him to me] Thus _explain his character_.
+
+IV.v.142 (111,5) _Hect._ Not Neoptolemus so mirable] [W: Neoptolemus's
+sire irascible] After all this contention it is difficult to imagine
+that the critic believes _mirable_ to have been changed to _irascible_.
+I should sooner read,
+
+  Not Neoptolemus th' admirable;
+
+as I know not whether _mirable_ can be found in any other place. The
+correction which the learned commentator gave to Hanmer,
+
+  Not Neoptolemus' _sire_ so mirable,
+
+as it was modester than this, was preferable to it. But nothing is more
+remote from justness of sentiment, than for Hector to characterise
+Achilles as the father of Neoptolemus, a youth that had not yet appeared
+in arms, and whose name was therefore much less knovn than his father's.
+My opinion is, that by Neoptolemus the author meant Achilles himself;
+and remembering that the son was Pyrrhus Neoptolemus, considered
+Neoptolemus as the nomen gentilitium, and thought the father was
+likewise Achilles Neoptolemus.
+
+IV.v.147 (112,6) We'll answer it] That is, answer the _expectance_.
+
+IV.v.275 (117,5) Beat loud the tabourines] For this the quarto and the
+latter editions have,
+
+  To taste your bounties.--
+
+The reading which I have given from the folio seems chosen at the
+revision, to avoid the repetition of the word _bounties_ [273].
+
+V.i.5 (118,1) Thou crusty batch of nature] _Batch_ is changed by
+Theobald to _botch_, and the change is justified by a pompous note,
+which discovers that he did not know the word _batch_. What is more
+strange, Hanmer has followed him. _Batch_ is any thing _baked_.
+
+V.i.19 (119,3) Male-varlet] HANMER reads _male-harlot_, plausibly
+enough, except that it seems too plain to require the explanation which
+Patroclus demands.
+
+V.i.23 (119,4) cold palsies] This catalogue of loathsome maladies ends
+in the folio at _cold palsies_. This passage, as it stands, is in the
+quarto: the retrenchment was in my opinion judicious. It may be
+remarked, though it proves nothing, that, of the few alterations made by
+Milton in the second edition of his wonderful poem, one was, an
+enlargement of the enumeration of diseases.
+
+V.i.32 (119,5) you ruinous butt; you whoreson indistinguishable cur]
+Patroclos reproaches Thersites with deformity, with having one part
+crowded into another.
+
+V.i.35 (119,6) thou idle immaterial skeyn of sley'd silk] All the terms
+used by Thersites of Patroclus, are emblematically expressive of
+flexibility, compliance, and mean officiousness.
+
+V.i.40 (119,7) Out, gall!] HANMER reads _nut-gall_, which answers well
+enough to _finch-egg_; it has already appeared, that our author thought
+the _nut-gall_ the bitter gall. He is called _nut_, from the
+conglobation of his form; but both the copies read, _Out, gall_!
+
+V.i.41 (120,8) Finch egg!] Of this reproach I do not know the exact
+meaning. I suppose he means to call him _singing bird_, as implying an
+useless favourite, and yet more, something more worthless, a singing
+bird in the egg, or generally, a slight thing easily crushed.
+
+V.i.64 (121,2) forced with wit] Stuffed with wit. A term of cookery.--In
+this speech I do not well understand what is meant by _loving quails_.
+
+V.i.73 (121,3) spirits and fires!] This Thersites speaks upon the first
+sight of the distant lights.
+
+V.ii.11 (124,1) And any man may sing her, if he can take her cliff] That
+is, her _key_. _Clef_, French.
+
+V.ii.41 (125,2) You flow to great distraction] So the moderns. The folio
+has,
+
+  You _flow_ to great _distraction_.--
+
+The quarto,
+
+  You _flow_ to great _destruction_.--
+
+I read,
+
+  You _show too_ great distraction.--
+
+V.ii.108 (128,7) But with my heart the other eye doth see] I think it
+should be read thus,
+
+  But _my heart with_ the other eye doth see.
+
+V.ii.113 (128,8) A proof of strength she could not publish more] She
+could not publish a stronger proof.
+
+V.ii.125 (129,1) I cannot conjure, Trojan] That is, I cannot raise
+spirits in the form of Cressida.
+
+V.ii.141 (129,2) If there be rule in unity itself] I do not well
+understand what is meant by _rule in unity_. By _rule_ our author, in
+this place as in others, intends _virtuous restraint, regularity of
+manners, command of passions and appetites_. In Macbeth,
+
+  He cannot buckle his distemper'd cause
+  Within the belt of rule.--
+
+But I know not how to apply the word in this sense to _unity_. I read,
+
+  If there be rule in _purity_ itself,
+
+Or, If there be rule in _verity_ itself.
+
+Such alterations would not offend the reader, who saw the state of the
+old editions, in which, for instance, a few lines lower, _the almighty
+sun_ is called _the almighty fenne_.--Yet the words may at last mean, If
+there be _certainty_ in _unity_, if it be a _rule_ that _one is one_.
+
+V.ii.144 (130,3) Bi-fold authority!] This is the reading of the quarto.
+The folio gives us,
+
+  _By foul_ authority!--
+
+There is _madness_ in that disquisition in which a man reasons at once
+_for_ and _against himself upon authority_ which he knows _not to be
+valid_. The quarto is right.
+
+V.ii.144 (130,4)
+
+        where reason can revolt
+  Without perdition, and loss assume all reason
+  Without revolt]
+
+The words _loss_ and _perdition_ are used in their common sense, but
+they mean the _loss_ or _perdition_ of _reason_.
+
+V.ii.157 (131,6) And with another knot five-finger-tied] A knot tied by
+giving her hand to Diomed.
+
+V.ii.160 (131,7) o'er-eaten faith] Vows which she has already swallowed
+_once over_. We still say of a faithless man, that he has _eaten his
+words_.
+
+V.ii.161 (131,8)
+
+  _Ulyss._ May worthy Troilus be half attach'd
+  With that which here his passion doth express!]
+
+Can Troilus really feel on this occasion half of what he utters? A
+question suitable to the calm Ulysses.
+
+V.iii.21 (133,2)
+
+  For us to count we give what's gain'd by thefts,
+  And rob in the behalf of charity]
+
+This is so oddly confused in the folio, that I transcribe it as a
+specimen of incorrectness:
+
+  --do not count it holy,
+  To hurt by being just; it were as lawful
+  _For we would count give much to as violent thefts_,
+  And rob in the behalf of charity.
+
+V.iii.23 (133,3)
+
+  _Cas._ It is the purpose that makes strong the vow;
+  But vows to every purpose must not hold]
+
+The mad prophetess speaks here with all the coolness and judgment of a
+skilful casuist. "The essence of a lawful vow, is a lawful purpose, and
+the vow of which the end is wrong must not be regarded as cogent."
+
+V.iii.27 (134,4)
+
+  Life every man holds dear; but the dear man
+  Holds honour far more precious dear than life]
+
+_Valuable_ man. The modern editions read,
+
+  --_brave_ man.
+
+The repetition of the word is in our author's manner.
+
+V.iii.37 (134,5)
+
+  Brother, you have a vice of mercy in you,
+  Which better fits a lion, than a man]
+
+The traditions and stories of the darker ages abounded with examples of
+the lion's generosity. Upon the supposition that these acts of clemency
+were true, Troilus reasons not improperly, that to spare against reason,
+by mere instinct of pity, became rather a generous beast than a wise
+man.
+
+V.x.33 (137,9) Hence, broker lacquey!] For _brothel_, the folio reads
+_brother_, erroneously for _broker_, as it stands at the end of the play
+where the lines are repeated. Of _brother_ the following editors made
+_brothel_.
+
+V.iv.18 (138,2) the Grecians begin to proclaim barbarism, and policy
+grows into an ill opinion] To set up the authority of ignorance to
+declare that they will be governed by policy no longer.
+
+V.vi.11 (142,1) you cogging Greeks] This epithet has no particular
+propriety in this place, but the author had heard of _Graecia Mendax_.
+
+V.vi.29 (144,3) I'll frush it] The word _frush_ I never found elsewhere,
+nor understand it. HANMER explains it, to _break_ or _bruise_.
+
+V.viii.7 (146,1) Even with the vail and darkening of the sun] The _vail_
+is, I think, the _sinking_ of the sun; not _veil_ or _cover_.
+
+(149) General Observation. This play is more correctly written than most
+of Shakespeare's compositions, but it is not one of those in which
+either the extent of his views or elevation of his fancy is fully
+displayed. As the story abounded with materials, he has exerted little
+invention; but he has diversified his characters with great variety, and
+preserved them with great exactness. His vicious characters sometimes
+disgust, but cannot corrupt, for both Cressida and Pandarus are detested
+and contemned. The comic characters seem to have been the favourites of
+the writer; they are of the superficial kind, and exhibit more of
+manners than nature; but they are copiously filled and powerfully
+impressed. Shakespeare has in his story followed, for the greater part,
+the old book of Caxton, which was then very popular; but the character
+of Thersites, of which it makes no mention, is a proof that this play
+was written after Chapman had published his version of _Homer_.
+
+
+
+
+CYMBELINE
+
+
+I.i.1 (153,2)
+
+  You do not meet a man, but frowns: our bloods
+  No more obey the heavens, than our courtiers'
+  Still seen, as does the king's]
+
+[W: brows/No more] This passage is so difficult, that commentators may
+differ concerning it without animosity or shame. Of the two emendations
+proposed, Hanmer's is the more licentious; but he makes the sense clear,
+and leaves the reader an easy passage. Dr. Warburton has corrected with
+more caution, but less improvement: his reasoning upon his own reading
+is so obscure and perplexed, that I suspect some injury of the press.--I
+am now to tell my opinion, which is, that the lines stand as they were
+originally written, and that a paraphrase, such as the licentious and
+abrupt expressions of our author too frequently require, will make
+emendation unnecessary. _We do not meet a man but frowns; our
+bloods_--our countenances, which, in popular speech, are said to be
+regulated by the temper of the blood,--_no more obey_ the laws of
+_heaven_,--which direct us to appear what we really are,--_than our
+courtiers_;--that is, than the_ bloods of our courtiers_; but our
+bloods, like theirs,--_still seem, as doth the king's_.
+
+I.i.25 (155,3) I do extend him, Sir, within himself] I extend him within
+himself: my praise, however _extensive_, is _within_ his merit.
+
+I.i.46 (156,4) liv'd in court,/(Which rare it is to do) most prais'd,
+most lov'd] This encomium is high and artful. To be at once in any great
+degree _loved_ and _praised_ is truly _rare_.
+
+I.i.49 (156,5) A glass that feated them] _A glass that featur'd them_]
+Such is the reading in all the modern editions, I know not by whom first
+substituted, for
+
+  A glass that _feared_ them;--
+
+I have displaced _featur'd_, though it can plead long prescription,
+because I am inclined to think that _feared_ has the better title.
+_Mirrour_ was a favourite word in that age for an _example_, or a
+_pattern_, by noting which the manners were to be formed, as dress is
+regulated by looking in a glass. When Don Bellianis is stiled _The
+Mirrour of Knighthood_, the idea given is not that of a glass in which
+every knight may behold his own resemblance, but an example to be viewed
+by knights as often as a glass is looked upon by girls, to be viewed,
+that they may know, not what they are, but what they ought to be. Such a
+glass may _fear the more mature_, as displaying excellencies which they
+have arrived at maturity without attaining. To _fear_ is here, as in
+other places, to _fright_. [I believe Dr. Johnson is mistaken as to the
+reading of the folio, which is _feated_. The page of the copy which he
+consulted is very faintly printed; but I have seen another since, which
+plainly gives this reading. STEEVENS.] If _feated_ be the right word, it
+must, I think, be explained thus; _a glass that_ formed _them_; a model,
+by the contemplation and inspection of which they formed their manners.
+(see 1765, VII, 260, 4)
+
+I.i.86 (158,1)
+
+  I something fear my father's wrath; but nothing
+  (Always reserv'd my holy duty) what
+  His rage can do on me]
+
+I say I do not fear my father, so far as I may say it without breach of
+duty.
+
+I.i.101 (158,2) Though ink be made of gall] Shakespeare, even in this
+poor conceit, has confounded the vegetable _galls_ used in ink, with the
+animal _gall_, supposed to be bitter.
+
+I.i.132 (160,4) then heapest/A year's age on me] Dr. WARBURTON reads,
+
+  A _yare_ age on me.
+
+It seems to me, even from SKINNER, whom he cites, that _yare_ is used
+only as a personal quality. Nor is the authority of Skinner sufficient,
+without some example, to justify the alteration. HANMER's reading is
+better, but rather too far from the original copy:
+
+  --thou heapest _many_
+  A year's age on me.
+
+I read,
+
+  --thou heap'st
+  _Years, ages_ on me.
+
+I.i.135 (160,5) a touch more rare/Subdues all pangs, all fears] _Rare_
+is used often for _eminently good_; but I do not remember any passage in
+which it stands for _eminently bad_. May we read,
+
+  --a touch more _near_.
+
+_Cura deam_ propior luctusque domesticus angit. _Ovid_.
+
+Shall we try again,
+
+  --a touch more _rear_.
+
+_Crudum vulnus._ But of this I know not any example. There is yet
+another interpretation, which perhaps will remove the difficulty. _A
+touch more rare_, may mean _a nobler passion_.
+
+I.i.140 (161,6) a puttock] A _kite_.
+
+I.ii.31 (163,1) her beauty and her brain go not together] I believe the
+lord means to speak a sentence, "Sir, as I told you always, beauty and
+brain go not together."
+
+I.ii.32 (164,2) She's a good sign] [W: shine] There is acuteness enough
+in this note, yet I believe the poet meant nothing by _sign_, but _fair
+outward_ shew.
+
+I.iii.8 (165,2)
+
+                     for so long
+  As he could make me with this eye, or ear,
+  Distinguish him from others]
+
+[W: this eye] Sir T. HANMER alters it thus:
+
+  --for so long
+  As he could _mark_ me with his eye, or _I_
+  Distinguish--
+
+The reason of Hanmer's reading was, that Pisanio describes no address
+made to the _ear_.
+
+I.iii.18 (165,3) till the diminution/Of space had pointed him sharp as
+my needle] _The diminution of space_, is _the diminution_ of which
+_space_ is the cause. Trees are killed by a blast of lightning, that is,
+by _blasting_, not _blasted_ lightning.
+
+I.iii.24 (166,4) next vantage] Next _opportunity_.
+
+I.iii.37 (166,6) Shakes all our buds from growing] A bud, without any
+distinct idea, whether of flower or fruit, is a natural representation
+of any thing incipient or immature; and the buds of flowers, if flowers
+are meant, _grow_ to flowers, as the buds of fruits _grow_ to fruits.
+
+I.iv.9 (167,1) makes him] In the sense in which we say, This will _make_
+or _mar_ you.
+
+I.iv.16 (167,2) words him, I doubt not, a great deal from the matter]
+Makes the description of him very distant from the truth.
+
+I.iv.20 (167,3) under her colours] Under her banner; by her influence.
+
+I.iv.47 (168,6) I was then a young traveller; rather shunn'd to go even
+with what I heard, than in my every action to be guided by others'
+experiences] This is expressed with a kind of fantastical perplexity. He
+means, I was then willing to take for my direction the experience of
+others, more than such intelligence as I had gathered myself.
+
+I.iv,58 (169,7) 'Twas a contention in publick, which may, without
+contradiction, suffer the report] Which, undoubtedly, may be publickly
+told.
+
+I.iv.73 (169,8) tho' I profess myself her adorer, not her friend] Though
+I have not the common obligations of a lover to his mistress, and regard
+her not with the fondness of a friend, but the reverence of an adorer.
+
+I.iv.77 (169,9) If she went before others I have seen, as that diamond
+of yours out-lustres many I have beheld, I could not believe she
+excelled many] [W: could believe] I should explain the sentence thus:
+"Though your lady excelled, as much as your diamond, _I could not
+believe she excelled many_; that is, I too _could_ yet _believe that
+there are_ many _whom_ she did not excel." But I yet think Dr. Warburton
+right. (1773)
+
+I.iv.104 (171,l) to convince the honour of my mistress] [_Convince_, for
+overcome. WARBURTON.] So in _Macbeth_,
+
+  --their malady _convinces_
+  "The great essay of art."
+
+I.iv.124 (171,2) abus'd] _Deceiv'd._
+
+I.iv.134 (172,3) approbation] Proof.
+
+I.iv.148 (172,4) You are a friend, and therein the wiser. If you buy
+ladies' flesh at a million a dram, you cannot preserve it from tainting.
+But, I see, you have some religion in you, that you fear] _You are a
+friend_ to the lady, _and therein the wiser_, as you will not expose her
+to hazard; and that you _fear_, is a proof of your _religious_ fidelity.
+(see 1765, VII, 276, 1)
+
+I.iv.l60 (173,5) _Iach._ If I bring you no sufficient testimony that I
+have enjoy'd the dearest bodily part of your mistress, my ten thousand
+ducats are yours, so is my diamond too: if I come off, and leave her in
+such honour as you have trust in, she your jewel, this your jewel, and
+my gold are yours--
+
+  _Post._ I embrace these conditions]
+
+[W: bring you sufficient] I once thought this emendation right, but am
+now of opinion, that Shakespeare intended that Iachimo, having gained
+his purpose, should designedly drop the invidious and offensive part of
+the wager, and to flatter Posthumus, dwell long upon the more pleasing
+part of the representation. One condition of a wager implies the other,
+and there is no need to mention both.
+
+I.v.18 (176,1) Other conclusions] Other _experiments_. _I commend_, says
+WALTON, _an angler that tries_ conclusions, and improves his art.
+
+I.v.23 (175,2) Your highness/Shall from this practice but make hard your
+heart] Thare is in this passage nothing that much requires a note, yet I
+cannot forbear to push it forward into observation. The thought would
+probably have been more amplified, had our author lived to be shocked
+with such experiments as have been published in later times, by a race
+of men that have practised tortures without pity, and related then
+without shame, and are yet suffered to erect their heads among human
+beings.
+
+  "Cape saxa manu, cape robora, pastor."
+
+I.v.33-44 (175,3) I do not like her] This soliloquy is very
+inartificial. The speaker is under no strong pressure of thought; he is
+neither resolving, repenting, suspecting, nor deliberating, and yet
+makes a long speech to tell himself what himself knows.
+
+I.v.54 (176,4) to shift his being] To change his abode.
+
+I.v.58 (118,5) What shalt thou expect,/To be depender on a thing that
+leans?] That _inclines_ towards its fall.
+
+I.v.80 (177,7) Of leigers for her sweet] A _leiger_ ambassador, is one
+that resides at a foreign court to promote his master's interest.
+
+I.vi.7 (178,9)
+
+                    Bless'd be those,
+  How mean soe'er, that have their honest wills,
+  Which seasons comfort]
+
+I am willing to comply with any meaning that can be extorted from the
+present text, rather than change it, yet will propose, but with great
+diffidence, a slight alteration:
+
+  --Bless'd be those,
+  How mean soe'er, that have their honest wills,
+  _With reason's_comfort.--
+
+Who gratify their innocent wishes with reasonable enjoyments.
+
+I.vi.35 (180,2) and the twinn'd stones/Upon the number'd beach?] I know
+not well how to regulate this passage. _Number'd_ is perhaps _numerous_.
+_Twinn'd stones_ I do not understand. _Twinn'd shells_, or _pairs of
+shells_, are very common. For _twinn'd_, we might read _twin'd_; that
+is, _twisted, convolved_; but this sense is more applicable to shells
+than to stones.
+
+I.vi.44 (181,3)
+
+  Sluttery, to such neat excellence oppos'd,
+  Should make desire vomit emptiness,
+  Not so allur'd to feed]
+
+[i.e. that appetite, which is not allured to feed on such excellence,
+can have no stomach at all; but, though empty, must nauseate every
+thing. WARB.] I explain this passage in a sense almost contrary.
+Iachimo, in this counterfeited rapture, has shewn how the _eyes_ and the
+_judgment_ would determine in favour of Imogen, comparing her with the
+present mistress of Posthumus, and proceeds to say, that appetite too
+would give the same suffrage. _Desire_, says he, when it approached
+_sluttery_, and considered it in comparison with _such neat excellence_,
+would not only be _not so allured to feed_, but, seized with a fit of
+loathing, _would vomit emptiness_, would feel the convulsions of
+disgust, though, being unfed, it had nothing to eject. [Tyrwhitt: vomit,
+emptiness ... allure] This is not ill conceived; but I think my own
+explanation right. _To vomit emptiness_ is, in the language of poetry,
+to feel the convulsions of eructation without plenitude. (1773)
+
+I.vi.54 (182,4) He's strange, and peevish] He is a foreigner, easily
+fretted.
+
+I.vi.97 (184,5) timely knowing] Rather timely _known_.
+
+I.vi.99 (184,6) What both you spur and stop] What it is that at once
+incites you to speak, and restrains you from it. [I think Imogen means
+to enquire what is that news, that intelligence, or information, you
+profess to bring, and yet with-hold: at least, I think Dr. JOHNSON's
+explanation a mistaken one, for Imogen's request supposes Iachimo an
+agent, not a patient. HAWKINS.] I think my explanation true. (see 1765,
+VII, 286, 7)
+
+I.vi.106 (184,7)
+
+  join gripes with hands
+  Made hard with hourly falshood (falshood as
+  With labour) then lye peeping in an eye]
+
+The old edition reads,
+
+  --join gripes with hands
+  Made hard with hourly falshood (_falshood _ as
+  With labour) then by peeping in an eye, &c.
+
+I read,
+
+  --then _lye_ peeping--
+
+The author of the present regulation of the text I do not know, but have
+suffered it to stand, though not right. _Hard with falshood_ is, hard by
+being often griped with frequent change of hands.
+
+I.vi.122 (185,8) With tomboys, hir'd with that self-exhibition/Which
+your own coffers yield!] _Gross strumpets_, hired with the _very
+pension_ which you allow your husband.
+
+I.vi.152 (186,9) As in a Romish stew] The stews of Rome are deservedly
+censured by the reformed. This is one of many instances in which
+Shakespeare has mingled in the manners of distant ages in this play.
+
+II.i.2 (188,1) kiss'd the jack upon an up-cast] He is describing his
+fate at bowls. The _jack_ is the small bowl at which the others are
+aimed. He who is nearest to it wins. _To kiss the jack_ is a state of
+great advantage. (1773)
+
+II.i.15 (189,2) 2 _Lord_. No, my lord; nor crop the ears of them.
+[_Aside_.] This, I believe, should stand thus:
+
+  1 _Lord_. No, my lord.
+  2 _Lord_. Nor crop the ears of them, [_Aside_.
+
+II.i.26 (189,3) you crow, cock, with your comb on] The allusion is to a
+fool's cap, which hath a _comb_ like a cock's.
+
+II.i.29 (189,4) every companion] The use of _companion_ was the same as
+of _fellow_ now. It was a word of contempt.
+
+II.ii.12 (191,1) our Tarquin] The speaker is an Italian.
+
+II.ii.13 (191,2) Did softly press the rushes] It was the custom in the
+time of our author to strew chambers with rushes, as we now cover them
+with carpets. The practice is mentioned in _Caius de Ephemera
+Britannica_.
+
+II.iii.24 (194,2) _His steeds to water at those springs On chalic'd
+flowers that lies_]
+
+Hanmer reads,
+
+  Each _chalic'd_ flower supplies;
+
+to escape a false concord: but correctness must not be obtained by such
+licentious alterations. It may be noted, that the _cup_ of a flower is
+called _calix_, whence _chalice_.
+
+II.iii.28 (195,3) _With, every thing that pretty bin_] is very properly
+restored by Hanmer, for _pretty is_; but he too grammatically reads,
+
+  With _all the things_ that pretty _bin_.
+
+II.iii.102 (197,5) one of your great knowing/Should learn, being taught,
+forbearance] i.e. A man _who is taught forbearance should learn it_.
+
+II.iii.111 (198,7) so verbal] Is, so _verbose_, so full of talk.
+
+II.iii.118-129 (199,8) The contract you pretend with that base wretch]
+Here Shakespeare has not preserved, with his common nicety, the
+uniformity of character. The speech of Cloten is rough and harsh, but
+certainly not the talk of one,
+
+  Who can't take two from twenty, for his heart,
+  And leave eighteen.--
+
+His argument is just and well enforced, and its prevalence is allowed
+throughout all civil nations: as for rudeness, he seems not to be mach
+undermatched.
+
+II.iii.124 (199,9) in self-figur'd knot] [This is nonsense. We should
+read,
+
+  --SELF-FINGER'D _knot_;
+
+WARBURTON.] But why nonsense? A _self-figured knot_ is a knot formed by
+yourself. (see 1765, VII, 301, 8)
+
+II.iv.71 (204,4) And Cydnus swell'd above the banks, or for/The press of
+boats, or pride] [This is an agreeable ridicule on poetical
+exaggeration, which gives human passions to inanimate things: and
+particularly, upon what he himself writes in the foregoing play on this
+very subject:
+
+  "--And made
+  The water, which they beat, to follow faster,
+  As amorous of their strokes."
+
+WARBURTON.] It is easy to sit down and give our author meanings which he
+never had. Shakespeare has no great right to censure poetical
+exaggeration, of which no poet is more frequently guilty. That he
+intended to ridicule his own lines is very uncertain, when there are no
+means of knowing which of the two plays was written first. The
+commentator has contented himself to suppose, that the foregoing play in
+his book was the play of earlier composition. Nor is the reasoning
+better than the assertion. If the language of Iachimo be such as shews
+him to be mocking the credibility of his hearer, his language is very
+improper, when his business was to deceive. But the truth is, that his
+language is such as a skilful villain would naturally use, a mixture of
+airy triumph and serious deposition. His gaiety shews his seriousness to
+be without anxiety, and his seriousness proves his gaiety to be without
+art.
+
+II.iv.83 (205,5) never saw I figures/So likely to report themselves] So
+near to speech. The Italians call a portrait, when the likeness is
+remarkable, a _speaking picture_.
+
+II.iv.84 (205,6) the cutter/Was as another nature, dumb, out-went
+her;/Motion and breath left out] [W: done; out-went her.] This
+emendation I think needless. The meaning is this, The _sculptor_ was as
+_nature_, but as _nature dumb_; he gave every thing that nature gives,
+but _breath_ and _motion_. In _breath_ is included _speech_.
+
+II.iv.91 (205,7) _Post._ This is her honour!] [T: What's this t'her
+honour?] This emendation has been followed by both the succeeding
+editors, but I think it must be rejected. The expression is ironical.
+Iachimo relates many particulars, to which Posthumus answers with
+impatience, This is her honour! That is, And the attainment of this
+knowledge is to pass for the corruption of her honour.
+
+II.iv.95 (206,8) if you can/Be pale] If you can forbear to flush your
+cheek with rage.
+
+II.iv.110 (207,9)
+
+  The vows of women
+  Of no more bondage be, to where they are made,
+  Than they are to their virtues]
+
+The love vowed by women no more abides with him to whom it is vowed,
+than women adhere to their virtue.
+
+II.iv.127 (207,2) The cognizance] The badge; the token; the visible
+proof.
+
+III.i.26 (211,2) and his shipping,/(Poor ignorant baubles!) on our
+terrible seas] [_Ignorant_, for _of no use_. WARB.] Rather,
+_unacquainted_ with the nature of our boisterous seas.
+
+III.i.51 (212,3) against all colour] Without any pretence of right.
+
+III.i.73 (213,5) keep at utterance] [i.e. At extreme distance. WARB.]
+More properly, in a state of hostile defiance, and deadly opposition.
+
+III.i.73 (213,6) I am perfect] I am well informed. So, in Macbeth, "--in
+your state of honour _I am perfect_." (see 1765, VII, 314,7)
+
+III.ii.4 (214,2) What false Italian (As poisonous tongu'd as handed)]
+About Shakespeare's time the practice of poisoning was very common in
+Italy, and the suspicion of Italian poisons yet more common.
+
+III.ii.9 (214,3) take in some virtue] To _take in_ a town, is to
+_conquer_ it.
+
+III.ii.34 (215,6) For it doth physic love] That is, grief for absence,
+keeps love in health and vigour.
+
+III.ii.47 (215,8) _loyal to his vow, and your increasing in love_] I
+read, Loyal to his vow and _you_, increasing in love.
+
+III.ii.79 (216,1) A franklin's housewife] A _franklin_ is literally a
+_freeholder_, with a small estate, neither _villain_ nor _vassal_.
+
+III.ii.80 (217,2)
+
+  I see before me, man, nor here, nor here,
+  Nor what ensues; but have a fog in them,
+  That I cannot look thro']
+
+This passage may, in my opinion, be very easily understood, without any
+emendation. The lady says, "I can see neither one way nor other, before
+me nor behind me, but all the ways are covered with an impenetrable
+fog." There are objections insuperable to all that I can propose, and
+since reason can give me no counsel, I will resolve at once to follow my
+inclination.
+
+III.iii.5 (218,2) giants may jet through/And keep their impious turbans
+on] The idea of a _giant_ was, among the readers of romances, who were
+almost all the readers of those times, always confounded with that of a
+Saracen.
+
+III.iii.16 (218,3) This service it not service, so being done,/But being
+so allow'd] In war it is not sufficient to do duty well; the advantage
+rises not from the act, but the acceptance of the act.
+
+III.iii.23 (219,5) Richer, than doing nothing for a babe] I have always
+suspected that the right reading of this passage is what I had not in my
+former edition the confidence to propose: Richer, than doing nothing for
+a _brabe_.
+
+_Brabium_ is a badge of honour, or the ensign of an honour, or any thing
+worn as a mask of dignity. The word was strange to the editors as it
+will be to the reader: they therefore changed it to _babe_; and I am
+forced to propose it without the support of any authority. _Brabium_ is
+a word found in Holyoak's Dictionary, who terms it a _reward_. Cooper,
+in his _Thesaurus_, defines it to be a _prize, or reward for any game_.
+(1773) (rev. 1778, IX, 248, 8)
+
+III.iii.35 (219,6) To stride a limit] To overpass his bound.
+
+III.iii.35 (220,7) What should we speak of,/When we are as old as you?]
+This dread of an old age, unsupplied with matter for discourse and
+meditation, is a sentiment natural and noble. No state can be more
+destitute than that of him who, when the delights of sense forsake him,
+has no pleasures of the mind.
+
+III.iii.82 (221,9)
+
+  tho' trained up thus meanly
+  I' the cave, wherein they bow, their thoughts do hit
+  The roof of palaces]
+
+[W: wherein they bow] HANMER reads,
+
+  I' the cave, _here in this brow_.--
+  I think the reading is this:
+  I' the cave, wherein the BOW, &c.
+
+That is, they are trained up in the _cave, where their thoughts_ in
+hitting the _bow_, or arch of their habitation, _hit the roofs of
+palaces_. In other words, though their condition is low, their thoughts
+are high. The sentence is at last, as THEOBALD remarks, abrupt, but
+perhaps no less suitable to Shakespeare. I know not whether Dr.
+WARBURTON's conjecture be not better than mine.
+
+III.iii.101 (223,2) I stole these babes] Shakespeare seems to intend
+Belarius for a good character, yet he makes him forget the injury which
+he has done to the young princes, whom he has robbed of a kingdom only
+to rob their father of heirs.--The latter part of this soliloquy is very
+inartificial, there being no particular reason why Belarius should now
+tell to himself what he could not know better by telling it.
+
+III.iv.15 (224,2) drug-damn'd Italy] This is another allusion to Italian
+poisons.
+
+III.iv.39 (225,4) Kings, queens, and states] Persons of highest rank.
+
+III.iv.52 (225,6) Some jay of Italy,/Whose mother was her painting]
+_Some jay of Italy_, made by art the creature, not of nature, but of
+painting. In this sense _painting_ may be not improperly termed her
+_mother_. (see 1765, VII, 325, 9)
+
+III.iv.63 (226,7) So thou, Posthumus,/Wilt lay the leaven on all proper
+men] HANMER reads,
+
+  --lay the _level_--
+
+without any necessity.
+
+III.iv.97 (228,1) That now thou tir'st on] A hawk is said to _tire_ upon
+that which he pecks; from _tirer_, French.
+
+III.iv.104 (228,2)
+
+  I'll wake mine eye-balls blind first.
+  _Imo._ Wherefore then]
+
+This is the old reading. The modern editions for _wake_ read _break_,
+and supply the deficient syllable by _ah_, wherefore. I read, I'll wake
+mine eye-balls _out_ first, or, _blind_, first.
+
+III.iv.111 (228,3) To be unbent] To have thy bow unbent, alluding to a
+hunter.
+
+III.iv.146 (229,4)
+
+  Now, if you could wear a mind
+  Dark as your fortune is, and but disguise
+  That, which, to appear itself, must not yet be,
+  But by self-danger]
+
+To wear a dark mind, is to carry a mind impenetrable to the search of
+others. _Darkness_ applied to the _mind_ is _secrecy_, applied to the
+_fortune_ is _obscurity_. The next lines are obscure. _You must_, says
+Pisanio, _disguise that_ greatness, _which, to appear_ hereafter _in its
+proper form_, cannot yet appear without great _danger to itself_. (see
+1765, VII, 329, 6)
+
+III.iv.149 (230,5) full of view] With opportunities of examining your
+affairs with your own eyes.
+
+III.iv.155 (230,6) Though peril to my modesty, not death on't,/I would
+adventure] I read,
+
+  _Through_ peril--
+
+_I would for such means adventure_ through _peril of my modesty_; I
+would risque every thing but real dishonour.
+
+III.iv.162 (230,7)
+
+  nay, you must
+  Forget that rarest treasure of your cheek;
+  Exposing it (but, oh, the harder heart!
+  Alack, no remedy)]
+
+I think it very natural to reflect in this distress on the cruelty of
+Posthumus. Dr. WARBURTON proposes to read,
+
+  --the harder _hap_!--
+
+III.iv.177 (231,8) which you'll make him know] This is HANMER's reading.
+The common books have it,
+
+  --which _will_ make him know.
+
+Mr. THEOBALD, in one of bit long notes, endeavours to prove, that it
+should be,
+
+  --which will make him _so_.
+
+He is followed by Dr. WARBURTON.
+
+III.iv.184 (231,9) we'll even/All that good time will give us] We'll
+make our work _even_ with our _time_; we'll do what time will allow.
+
+III.v.71 (235,2)
+
+  And that she hath all courtly parts more exquisite
+  Than lady, ladies, woman; from every one
+  The best she hath]
+
+[The second line is intolerable nonsense. It should be read and pointed
+thus,
+
+  Than lady ladies; _winning_ from each one.
+
+WARBURTON.]
+
+I cannot perceive the second line to be intolerable, or to be nonsense.
+The speaker only rises in his ideas. _She has all courtly parts_, says
+he, _more exquisite than_ any _lady_, than all _ladies_, than all
+_womankind_. Is this nonsense?
+
+III.v.101 (236,3) _Pia._ Or this, or perish] These words, I think,
+belong to Cloten, who, requiring the paper, says,
+
+  Let's see't: I will pursue her
+  Even to Augustus' throne. Or this, or perish.
+
+Then Pisanio giving the paper, says to himself,
+
+  She's far enough, &c.
+
+III.vi.12 (239,1) To lapse in fullness/Is sorer, than to lye for need]
+Is a _greater_, or _heavier_ crime.
+
+III.vi.23 (239,3) If any thing that's civil, speak; if savage,/Take, or
+lend] [W: Take 'or 't end.] I suppose the emendation proposed will not
+easily be received; it is strained and obscure, and the objection
+against Hanmer's reading is likewise very strong. I question whether,
+after the words, _if savage_, a line be not lost. I can offer nothing
+better than to read,
+
+  --Ho! who's here?
+  If any thing that's civil, _take or lend_,
+  If savage, _speak_.
+
+If you are _civilised_ and _peaceable, take_ a price for what I want, or
+_lend_ it for a future recompence; if you are _rough inhospitable_
+inhabitants of the mountain, _speak_, that I may know my state.
+
+III.vi.77 (242,4) then had my prize/Been less; and so more equal
+ballasting] HANMER reads plausibly, but without necessity, _price_, for
+_prize_, and _balancing_, for _ballasting_. He is followed by Dr.
+WARBURTON. The meaning is, Had I been a less prize, I should not have
+been too heavy for Posthumus.
+
+III.vi.86 (243,5) That nothing-gift of differing multitudes] [T:
+deferring] He is followed by Sir T. HANMER and Dr. WARBURTON; but I do
+not see why _differing_ may not be a general epithet, and the expression
+equivalent to the _many-headed_ rabble.
+
+III.vii.8 (244,2)
+
+  and to you, the tribunes,
+  For this immediate levy, he commands
+  His absolute commission]
+
+The plain meaning is, he _commands_ the commission to be given to you.
+So we say, I _ordered_ the materials to the workmen.
+
+IV.ii.10 (245,1) Stick to your journal course: the breach of custom/ Is
+breach of all] Keep your _daily_ course uninterrupted; if the stated
+plan of life is once broken, nothing follows but confusion.
+
+IV.ii.17 (246,2) How much the quantity] I read, _As_ much the
+quantity.--
+
+IV.ii.38 (247,3) I could not stir him] Not _move_ him to tell his story.
+
+IV.ii.39 (247,4) gentle, but unfortunate] _Gentle_, is _well born_, of
+birth above the vulgar.
+
+IV.ii.59 (248,6) And let the stinking elder, Grief, untwine/ His
+perishing root, with the encreasing vine!] Shakespeare had only seen
+_English vines_ which grow against walls, and therefore may be sometimes
+entangled with the _elder_. Perhaps we should read _untwine from the
+vine_.
+
+IV.ii.105 (251,9) the snatches in his vice,/And burst of speaking] This
+is one of our author's strokes of observation. An abrupt and tumultuous
+utterance very frequently accompanies a confused and cloudy
+understanding.
+
+IV.ii.111 (251,1) for the effect of judgment/Is oft the cause of fear]
+HANMER reads, with equal justness of sentiment,
+
+  --for defect of judgment
+  Is oft the _cure_ of fear.--
+
+But, I think, the play of _effect_ and _cause_ more resembling the
+manner of our author.
+
+IV.ii.118 (252,2) I am perfect, what] I am _well informed_, what. So in
+this play,
+
+  I'm _perfect_, the Pannonians are in arms.
+
+IV.ii.121 (252,3) take us in] To _take in_, was the phrase in use for to
+_apprehend_ an out-law, or to make him amenable to public justice.
+
+IV.ii.148 (253,5) the boy Fidele's sickness/Did make my way long forth]
+Fidele's sickness made my _walk forth_ from the cave _tedious_.
+
+IV.ii.159 (254,6) revenges/That possible strength might meet] Such
+pursuit of vengeance as fell within any possibility of opposition.
+
+IV.ii.168 (254,7) I'd let a parish of such Clotens blood] [W: marish]
+The learned commentator has dealt the raproach of nonsense very
+liberally through this play. Why this is nonsense, I cannot discover. I
+would, says the young prince, to recover Fidele, kill as many Clotens as
+would fill a _parish_.
+
+IV.ii.246 (258,1) He was paid for that] HANMER reads,
+
+  He _has_ paid for that:--
+
+rather plausibly than rightly. _Paid_ is for _punished_. So JONSON,
+
+  "Twenty things more, my friend, which you know due,
+  For which, or pay me quickly, or I'll _pay_ you."
+
+(see 1765, VII, 356, 3)
+
+IV.ii.247 (258,2) reverence,/(That angel of the world)] _Reverence_, or
+due regard to subordination, is the power that keeps peace and order in
+the world.
+
+IV.ii.268 (259,4) _The scepter, learning, physic, must/ All follow this,
+and come to dust_] The poet's sentiment seems to have been this. All
+human excellence is equally the subject to the stroke of death: neither
+the power of kings, nor the science of scholars, nor the art of those
+whose immediate study is the prolongation of life, can protect then from
+the final destiny of man. (1773)
+
+IV.ii.272 (260,5) _Fear not slander, censure rash_] Perhaps, Fear not
+_slander's_ censure rash.
+
+IV.ii.275 (260,6) Consign to thee] Perhaps, Consign to _this_. And in
+the former stanza, for _all follow this_, we might read, _all follow_
+thee.
+
+IV.ii.280 (260,7) Both. _Quiet consummation have;/ And renowned be thy
+grave!_] For the obsequies of Fidele, a song was written by my unhappy
+friend, Mr. William Collins of Chichester, a man of uncommon learning
+and abilities. I shall give it a place at the end in honour of his
+memory.
+
+IV.ii.315 (262,1) Conspired with] The old copy reads thus,
+
+  --thou
+  Conspir'd with that irregulous divel, Cloten.
+
+I suppose it should be,
+
+  Conspir'd with _th' irreligious_ devil, Cloten.
+
+IV.ii.346 (263,2) Last night the very gods shew'd me a vision] [W:
+warey] Of this meaning I know not any example, nor do I see any need of
+alteration. It was no common dream, but sent from _the very gods_, or
+the gods themselves.
+
+IV.ii.363 (264,3)
+
+  who was he,
+  That, otherwise than noble nature did,
+  Hath alter'd that good figure?]
+
+Here are many words upon a very slight debate. The sense is not much
+cleared by either critic [Theobald and Warburton]. The question is
+asked, not about a _body_, but a _picture_, which is not very apt to
+grow shorter or longer. To _do_ a picture, and a picture is well _done_,
+are standing phrases; the question therefore is, Who has altered this
+picture, so as to make it otherwise than nature _did_ it.
+
+IV.ii.389 (266,5) these poor pickaxes] Meaning her fingers.
+
+IV.iii (266,1) _Cymbeline's palace_] This scene is omitted against all
+authority by Sir T. HANMER. It is indeed of no great use in the progress
+of the fable, yet it makes a regular preparation for the next act.
+
+IV.iii.22 (267,3) our jealousy/Does yet depend] My suspicion is yet
+undetermined; if I do not condemn you, I likewise have not acquitted
+you. We now say, the _cause_ is _depending_.
+
+IV.iii.29 (267,4) Your preparation can affront no less/Than what you
+hear of] Your forces are able to _face_ such an army as we hear the
+enemy will bring against us.
+
+IV.iii.44 (268,6) to the note o' the king] I will so distinguish myself,
+the king shall remark my valour.
+
+IV.iv.11 (269,1) a render/Where we have liv'd] An account of our place
+of abode. This dialogue is a just representation of the superfluous
+caution of an old man.
+
+IV.iv.13 (269,2) That which we have done, whose answer would be death]
+The _retaliation_ of the death of Cloten would be _death_, &c.
+
+IV.iv.18 (269,3) their quarter'd fires] Their fires regularly disposed.
+
+V.i (271,1) _Enter Posthumus, with a bloody handkerchief_] The bloody
+token of Imogen's death, which Pisanio in the foregoing act determined
+to send.
+
+V.i.1-33 (271,2) Yea, bloody cloth, I'll keep thee] This is a soliloquy
+of nature, uttered when the effervescence of a mind agitated and
+perturbed spontaneously and inadvertently discharges itself in words.
+The speech, throughout all its tenor, if the last conceit be excepted,
+seems to issue warm from the heart. He first condemns his own violence;
+then tries to disburden himself, by imputing part of the crime to
+Pisanio; he next sooths his mind to an artificial and momentary
+tranquility, by trying to think that he has been only an instrument of
+the gods for the happiness of Imogen. He is now grown reasonable enough
+to determine, that having done so much evil he will do no more; that he
+will not fight against the country which he has already injured; but as
+life is not longer supportable, he will die in a just cause, and die
+with the obscurity of a man who does not think himself worthy to be
+remembered.
+
+V.i.9 (271,3) to put on] Is to _incite_, to _instigate_.
+
+V.i.14 (272,4) To second ills with ills, each elder worse] For this
+reading all the later editors have contentedly taken,
+
+  --each worse than other,
+
+without enquiries whence they have received it. Yet they know, or might
+know, that it has no authority. The original copy reads,
+
+  --each elder worse,
+
+The last deed is certainly not the oldest, but Shakespeare calls the
+_deed_ of an _elder_ man an _elder deed_.
+
+V.i.15 (272,5) And make them dread it, to the doers' thrift] [T:
+dreaded, to] This emendation ia followed by HANMER. Dr. WARBURTON reads,
+I know not whether by the printer's negligence,
+
+  And make them _dread_, to the doers' thrift.
+
+There seems to be no very satisfactory sense yet offered. I read, but
+with hesitation,
+
+  And make them _deeded_, to the doers' thrift.
+
+The word _deeded_ I know not indeed where to find; but Shakespeare has,
+in another sense _undeeded_, in _Macbeth_:
+
+  "--my sword
+  "I sheath again _undeeded_."--
+
+I will try again, and read thus,
+
+  --others you permit
+  To second ills with ills, each other worse,
+  And make them _trade it_, to the doers' thrift.
+
+_Trade_ and _thrift_ correspond. Our author plays with _trade_, as it
+signifies a lucrative vocation, or a frequent practice. So Isabella
+says,
+
+  "Thy sins, not accidental, but a _trade_."
+
+V.i.16 (273,9) Do your best wills,/And make me blest to obey!] So the
+copies. It was more in the manner of our author to have written,
+
+  --Do your blest wills,
+  And make me blest t' obey.--
+
+V.iii.41 (276,3) A rout, confusion thick] [W: confusion-thick] I do not
+see what great addition is made to _fine diction_ by this compound. Is
+it not as natural to enforce the principal event in a story by
+repetition, as to enlarge the principal figure in a figure?
+
+V.iii.51 (276,4) bugs] Terrors.
+
+V.iii.53 (277,5) Nay, do not wonder at it] [T: do but] There is no need
+of alteration. Posthumus first bids him not wonder, then tells him in
+another mode of reproach, that wonder is all that he was made for.
+
+V.iii.79 (278,8) great the answer be] _Answer_, as once in this play
+before, is _retaliation_.
+
+V.iii.87 (278,9) That gave the affront with them] That is, that turned
+their faces to the enemy.
+
+V.iv.1 (279,1) You shall not now be stolen, you have locks upon you;/So,
+graze, as you find pasture] This wit of the gaoler alludes to the custom
+of putting a lock on a horse's leg, when he is turned to pasture.
+
+V.iv.27 (280,3) If you will take this audit, take this life,/And cancel
+those cold bonds] This equivocal use of _bonds_ is another instance of
+our author's infelicity in pathetic speeches.
+
+V.iv.45 (281,5) That from me my Posthumus ript] The old copy reads,
+
+  That from me _was_ Posthumus ript.
+
+Perhaps we should read,
+
+  That from _my womb_ Posthumus ript,
+      Came crying 'mongst his foes.
+
+V.iv.146 (284,7)
+
+  'Tis still a dream; or else such stuff, as madmen
+  Tongue, and brain not: either both or nothing:
+  Or senseless speaking, or a speaking such
+  As sense cannot untie. Be what it is,
+  The action of my life is like it]
+
+The meaning, which is too thin to be easily caught, I take to be this:
+_This is a dream or madness, or both--or nothing--but whether it be a
+speech without consciousness_, as in a dream, _or a speech
+unintelligible_, as in madness, be it as it is, _it is like my course of
+life_. We might perhaps read,
+
+  Whether _both, or nothing_--
+
+V.iv,164 (285,8) sorry that you have paid too much, and sorry that you
+are paid too much] _Tavern bills_, says the gaoler, _are the sadness of
+parting, as the procuring of mirth--you depart reeling with too much
+drink; sorry that you have paid too much, and_--what? _sorry that you
+are paid too much_. Where is the opposition? I read, _And_ merry _that
+you are paid_ so _much_. I take the second _paid_ to be _paid_, for
+_appaid, filled, satiated_.
+
+V.iv.171 (286,9) debtor and creditor] For an _accounting book_.
+
+V.iv.188 (286,1) jump the after-enquiry] That is, _venture_ at it
+without thought. So _Macbeth_,
+
+  "We'd _jump_ the life to come." (see 1765, VII, 382, 7)
+
+V.v.9 (288,1) one that promis'd nought/But beggary and poor looks] To
+promise _nothing but_ poor _looks_, may be, to give no promise of
+courageous behaviour.
+
+V.v.88 (291,2) So feat] So ready; so dextrous in waiting.
+
+V.v.93 (291,3) His favour is familiar to me] I am acquainted with his
+countenance.
+
+V.v.120 (292,4) One sand another/Not more resembles. That sweet rosy
+lad] [W: resembles, than be th' sweet] There was no great difficulty in
+the line, which, when properly pointed, needs no alteration.
+
+V.v.203 (296,8) averring notes/Of chamber-hanging, pictures] Such marks
+of the chamber and pictures, as _averred_ or confirmed my report.
+
+V.v.220 (297,9) the temple/Of virtue was she; yea, and she herself] That
+is, She was not only _the temple of virtue_, but _virtue herself_.
+
+V.v.233 (297,1) these staggers] This wild and delirious perturbation.
+_Staggers_ is the horse's apoplexy.
+
+V.v.262 (298,2) Think, that you are upon a rock; and now/Throw me again]
+In this speech, or in the answer, there is little meaning. I suppose,
+she would say, Consider such another act as equally fatal to me with
+precipitation from a rock, and now let me see whether you will repeat
+it.
+
+V.v.308 (300,3) By tasting of our wrath] [W: hasting] There is no need
+of change; the consequence is taken for the whole action; _by tasting_
+is _by forcing us to make thee taste_.
+
+V.v.334 (301,5) Your pleasure was my near offence, my punishment,/
+Itself, and all my treason] I think this passage may better be read
+thus,
+
+  Your pleasure was my _dear_ offence, my punishment
+  Itself _was_ all my treason; that I suffer'd,
+  Was all the harm I did.--
+
+The offence which cost me so _dear_ was only your caprice. My sufferings
+have been all my crime.
+
+V.v.352 (302,6)
+
+  Thou weep'st, and speak'st.
+  The service that you three have done is more
+  Unlike than this thou tell'st]
+
+"Thy tears give testimony to the sincerity of thy relation; and I have
+the less reason to be incredulous, because the actions which you have
+done within my knowledge are more incredible than the story which you
+relate." The king reasons very justly.
+
+V.v.378 (303,7) When ye were so, indeed] The folio gives,
+
+  When _we_ were so, indeed.
+
+If this be right, we must read,
+
+  _Imo._ I, you brothers.
+  _Arv._ When we were so, indeed.
+
+V.v.382 (303,8) fierce abridgment] _Fierce_, is _vehement, rapid_.
+
+V.v.459 (306,1) My peace we will begin] I think it better to read,
+
+  _By_ peace we will begin.--
+
+(307) General Observation. This play has many just sentiments, some
+natural dialogues, and some pleasing scenes, but they are obtained at
+the expence of much incongruity. To remark the folly of the fiction, the
+absurdity of the conduct, the confusion of the names, and manners of
+different times, and the impossibility of the events in any system of
+life, were to waste criticism upon unresisting imbecility, upon faults
+too evident for detection, and too gross for aggravation.
+
+
+
+
+KING LEAR
+
+
+I.i.4 (311,2) in the division of the kingdom] There is something of
+obscurity or inaccuracy in this preparatory scene. The king has already
+divided his kingdom, and yet when he enters he examines his daughters,
+to discover in what proportions he should divide it. Perhaps Kent and
+Gloucester only were privy to his design, which he still kept in his own
+hands, to be changed or performed as subsequent reasons should determine
+him.
+
+I.i.37 (313,7) express our darker purpose] [_Darker_, for more secret;
+not for indirect, oblique. WARBURTON.] This word may admit a further
+explication. _We shall express our darker purpose_: that is, we have
+already made known in some measure our design of parting the kingdom; we
+will now discover what has not been told before, the reasons by which we
+shall regulate the partition. This interpretation will justify or
+palliate the exordial dialogue.
+
+I.i.39 (313,8) and 'tis our fast intent] [This is an interpolation of
+Mr. Lewis Theobald, for want of knowing the meaning of the old reading
+in the quarto of 1608, and first folio of 1623; where we find it,
+
+  --and 'tis our _first_ intent.
+
+WARBURTON.]
+
+_Fast_ is the reading of the first folio, and, I think, the true
+reading.
+
+I.i.44 (314,9) We have this hour a constant will] _constant will_ seems
+a confirmation of _fast_ intent.
+
+I.i.62 (314,2) Beyond all manner of so much I love you] Beyond all
+assignable quantity. I love you beyond limits, and cannot say it is _so
+much_, for how much soever I should name, it would yet be more.
+
+I.i.73 (315,4)
+
+  I find, she names my very deed of love,
+  Only she comes too short; that I profess]
+
+_That_ seems to stand without relation, but is referred to _find_, the
+first conjunction being inaccurately suppressed. I find _that_ she names
+my deed, I find that I profess, &c.
+
+I.i.76 (315,5) Which the most precious square of sense possesses]
+[Warburton explained "square" as the "four nobler senses"] This is
+acute; but perhaps _square_ means only _compass, comprehension_.
+
+I.i.80 (315,6) More pond'rous than my tongue] [W: their tongue] I think
+the present reading right.
+
+I.i.84 (316,8) Now our joy] Here the true reading is picked out of two
+copies. Butter's quarto reads,
+
+  --_But_ now our joy,
+  Although the last, not least in our dear love,
+  What can you say to win a third, &c.
+
+The folio,
+
+  --Now our joy,
+  Although our last, _and_ least; to whose young love
+  The vines of France, and milk of Burgundy,
+  Strive to be int'ress'd. _What can you say?_
+
+I.i.138 (318,5) The sway, revenue, execution of the rest] [W: of th'
+hest] I do not see any great difficulty in the words, _execution of the
+rest_, which are in both the old copies. The _execution of the rest_ is,
+I suppose, _all the other business_. Dr. Warburton's own explanation of
+his amendment confutes it; if _hest_ be a _regal comnand_, they were, by
+the grant of Lear, to have rather the _hest_ than the execution.
+
+1.1.149 (319,6)
+
+  Think'st thou, that duty shall have dread to speak,
+  When power to flattery bows? To plainness honour's bound,
+  When majesty stoops to folly. Reverse thy doom,
+  And in thy best consideration check
+  This hideous rashness: answer my life my judgment,
+  Thy youngest daughter does not love thee least]
+
+I have given this passage according to the old folio, from which the
+modern editions have silently departed, for the sake of better numbers,
+with a degree of insincerity, which, if not sometimes detected and
+censured, must impair the credit of ancient books. One of the editors,
+and perhaps only one, knew how much mischief may be done by such
+clandestine alterations. The quarto agrees with the folio, except that
+for _reserve thy state_, it gives, _reverse thy doom_, and has _stoops_
+instead of _falls to folly_. The meaning of _answer my life my
+judgment_, is, _Let my life be answerable for my judgment_, or, _I will
+stake my life on my opinion_.--The reading which, without any right, has
+possessed all the modern copies is this;
+
+  --to plainness honour
+  Is bound, when majesty to folly falls.
+  Reserve thy state; with better judgment check
+  This hideous rashness; with my life I answer,
+  Thy youngest daughter, &c.
+
+I am inclined to think that _reverse thy doom_ was Shakespeare's first
+reading, as more apposite to the present occasion, and that he changed
+it afterwards to _reserve thy state_, which conduces more to the
+progress of the action.
+
+I.i.161 (320,9) The true blank of thine eye] The _blank_ is the _white_
+or exact mark at which the arrow is shot. _See better_, says Kent, _and
+keep me always in your view_.
+
+I.i.172 (320,1) strain'd pride] The oldest copy reads _strayed pride_;
+that is, _pride exorbitant_; pride passing due bounds.
+
+I.i.174 (320,3) Which nor our nature, nor our place, can bear;/ Our
+potency made good] [T: (Which ... bear) ... made good] [Warburton
+defended "make"] Theobald only inserted the parenthesis; he found _made
+good_ in the best copy of 1623. Dr. Warburton has very acutely explained
+and defended the reading that he has chosen, but I am not certain that
+he has chosen right. If we take the reading of the folio, _our potency_
+made _good_, the sense will be less profound indeed, but less intricate,
+and equally commodious. _As thou hast come with unreasonable pride
+between the_ sentence _which I had passed, and the_ power _by which I
+shall execute it_, take thy reward _in another sentence which shall_
+make good, _shall establish, shall maintain_, that power. If Dr.
+Warburton's explanation be chosen, and every reader will wish to choose
+it, we may better read,
+
+  Which nor our nature, nor our state can bear,
+  _Or_ potency make good.--
+
+Mr. Davies thinks, that _our potency made good_ relates only to _our
+place_.--Which our nature cannot bear, nor our _place_, without
+departure from the _potency_ of that place. This is easy and
+clear.--Lear, who is characterized as hot, heady, and violent, is, with
+very just observation of life, made to entangle himself with vows, upon
+any sudden provocation to vow revenge, and then to plead the obligation
+of a vow in defence of implacability.
+
+I.i.181 (322,4) By Jupiter] Shakespeare makes his Lear too much a
+mythologist: he had Hecate and Apollo before.
+
+I.i.190 (322,6) He'll shape his old course] He will follow his old
+maxims; he will continue to act upon the same principles.
+
+I.i.201 (323,7) If aught within that little, seeming, substance]
+_Seeming_ is _beautiful_.
+
+I.i.209 (323,9) Election makes not up on such conditions] To _make up_
+signifies to complete, to conclude; as, _they made up the bargain_; but
+in this sense it has, I think, always the subject noun after it. To
+_make up_, in familiar language, is, neutrally, _to come forward_, to
+_make advances_, which, I think, is meant here.
+
+I.i.221 (324,2)
+
+   Sure her offence
+  Must be of such unnatural degree,
+  That monsters it: or your fore-vouch'd affection
+  Fall into taint]
+
+The common books read,
+
+  --or your fore-vouch'd affection
+  Fall'n into taint:--
+
+This line has no clear or strong sense, nor is this reading authorized
+by any copy, though it has crept into all the late editions. The early
+quarto reads,
+
+  --or you for vouch'd affections
+  Fall'n into taint.--
+
+The folio,
+
+  --or your fore-vouch'd affection
+  Fall into taint.--
+
+_Taint_ is used for _corruption_ and for _disgrace_. If therefore we
+take the oldest reading it may be reformed thus:
+
+  --sure her offence
+  Must be of such unnatural degree,
+  That monsters it; or you for vouch'd affection
+  Fall into taint.
+
+Her offence must be prodigious, or _you_ must _fal1 into reproach_ for
+having _vouched affection_ which you did not feel. If the reading of the
+folio be preferred, we may with a very slight change produce the same
+sense:
+
+  --sure her offence
+  Must be of such unnatural degree,
+  That monsters it, or your fore-vouch'd affection
+  _Falls_ into taint.--
+
+That is, _falls into reproach_ or _censure_. But there is another
+possible sense. _Or_ signifies _before_, and _or ever_ is _before ever_;
+the meaning in the folio may therefore be, _Sure her crime must be
+monstrous_ before _your affection can be affected with hatred_. Let the
+reader determine.--As I am not much a friend to conjectural emendation,
+I should prefer the latter sense, which requires no change of reading.
+
+I.i.243 (325,3) from the intire point] _Intire_, for right, true. WARB.]
+Rather, single, unmixed with other considerations.
+
+I.i.264 (326,5) Thou losest here, better where to find] _Here_ and
+_where_ have the power of nouns. Thou losest this residence to find a
+better residence in another place.
+
+I.i.282 (326,6) And well are worth the want that you have wanted] [This
+I take to be the poet's meaning, stript of the jingle which makes it
+dark: "You well deserve to meet with that _want_ of love from your
+husband, which you have professed to _want_ for our father." THEOBALD.]
+[W: have vaunted] I think the common reading very suitable to the manner
+of our author, and well enough explained by Theobald.
+
+I.i.283 (327,7) plaited cunning] i.e. _complicated, involved_ cunning.
+(1773)
+
+I.ii.3 (328,2) Stand in the plague of custom] The word _plague_ is in
+all the copies; I can scarcely think it right, nor can I yet reconcile
+myself to the emendation proposed, though I have nothing better to offer
+[Warburton had proposed _plage_].
+
+I.ii.21 (330,7) Shall be the legitimate] [Hanmer: toe th'] Hanmer's
+emendation will appear very plausible to him that shall consult the
+original reading. Butter's quarto reads,
+
+  --Edmund the base
+  Shall _tooth'_ legitimate.--
+
+The folio,
+
+  --Edmund the base
+  Shall _to th'_ legitimate.--
+
+Hanmer, therefore, could hardly be charged with coining a word, though
+his explanation may be doubted. To _toe_ him, is perhaps to _kick_ him
+_out_, a phrase yet in vulgar use; or, to _toe_, may be literally to
+_supplant_. The word _be_ has no authority.
+
+I.ii.24 (331,1) subscrib'd his power!] To subscribe, is, to transfer by
+signing or _subscribing_ a writing of testimony. We now use the term, He
+_subscribed_ forty pounds to the new building.
+
+I.ii.25 (331,2) Confin'd to exhibition!] Is _allowance_. The term is yet
+used in the universities.
+
+I.ii.25 (331,3) All this done/Upon the gad!] So the old copies; the
+later editions read,
+
+  --All _is gone_
+  Upon the gad!--
+
+which, besides that it is unauthorized, is less proper. _To_ do upon the
+_gad_, is, to act by the sudden stimulation of caprice, as cattle run
+madding when they are stung by the gad fly.
+
+I.ii.47 (332,4) taste of my virtue] Though _taste_ may stand in this
+place, yet I believe we should read, _assay_ or _test_ of my virtue:
+they are both metallurgical terms, and properly joined. So in Hamlet,
+
+  Bring me to the _test_.
+
+I.ii.51 (323,6) idle and fond] Weak and foolish.
+
+I.ii.95 (333,7) pretence] _Pretence_ is design, purpose. So afterwards
+in this play,
+
+  _Pretence_ and purpose of unkindness.
+
+I.ii.106 (333,8) wind me into him] I once thought it should be read,
+_you_ into him; but, perhaps, it is a familiar phrase, like _do me
+this_.
+
+I.ii.107 (333,9) I would unstate myself to be in a due resolution] [i.e.
+I will throw aside all consideration of my relation to him, that I may
+act as justice requires. WARBURTON.] Such is this learned man's
+explanation. I take the meaning to be rather this, _Do you frame the
+business_, who can act with less emotion; _I would unstate myself_; it
+would in me be a departure from the paternal character, _to be in a due
+resolution_, to be settled and composed on such an occasion. The words
+_would_ and _should_ are in old language often confounded.
+
+I.ii.l09 (334,1) convey the business] [_Convey_, for introduce. WARB.]
+To _convey_ is rather to _carry through_ than to introduce; in this
+place it is to _manage artfully_: we say of a juggler, that he has a
+clean _conveyance_.
+
+I.ii.112 (334,2) These late eclipses in the sun and moon portend no good
+to us: tho' the wisdom of nature can reason it thus and thus, yet nature
+finds itself scourg'd by the frequent effects] That is, though natural
+philosophy can give account of eclipses, yet we feel their consequences.
+
+I.ii.156 (338,8) I promise you, the effects he writes of, succeed
+unhappily] The folio edition commonly differs from the first quarto, by
+augmentations or insertions, but in this place it varies by omission,
+and by the omission of something which naturally introduces the
+following dialogue. It is easy to remark, that in this speech, which
+ought, I think, to be inserted as it now is in the text, Edmund, with
+the common craft of fortune-tellers, mingles the past and future, and
+tells of the future only what he already foreknows by confederacy, or
+can attain by probable conjecture. (see 1765, VI, 27, 6)
+
+I.ii.178 (339,1) that with the mischief of your person it would scarcely
+allay] This reading is in both copies; yet I believe the author gave it,
+_that_ but _with the mischief_ of your person it would scarce allay.
+
+I.iii.19 (341,2) Old fools are babes again; and must be us'd/ With
+checks, as flatteries when they are seen abus'd] These lines hardly
+deserve a note, though Mr. Theobald thinks them _very fine_. Whether
+_fools_ or _folks_ should be read is not worth enquiry. The controverted
+line is yet in the old quarto, not as the editors represent it, but
+thus:
+
+  With checks as flatteries when they are seen abus'd.
+
+I am in doubt whether there is any error of transcription. The sense
+seems to be this: _Old men must be treated with checks_, when as _they
+are seen to be deceived with flatteries_: or, _when they are weak enough
+to be_ seen abused by flatteries, they are then weak enough to be _used
+with checks_. There is a play of the words _used_ and _abused_. To
+_abuse_ is, in our author, very frequently the same as to _deceive_.
+This construction is harsh and ungrammatical; Shakespeare perhaps
+thought it vicious, and chose to throw away the lines rather than
+correct them, nor would now thank the officiousness of his editors, who
+restore what they do not understand.
+
+I.iv.118 (347,5) Would I had two coxcombs, and two daughters] Two fools
+caps, intended, as it seems, to mark double folly in the man that gives
+all to his daughters.
+
+I.iv.133 (347,7) Lend less than thou owest] That is, _do not lend all
+that thou hast_. To _owe_, in old English, is _to possess_. If _owe_ be
+taken for _to be in debt_, the more prudent precept would be, Lend
+_more_ than thou owest.
+
+I.iv.153-170 (348,9) This dialogue, from _No, lad; teach me_, down to,
+_Give me an egg_, was restored from the first edition by Mr. Theobald.
+It is omitted in the folio, perhaps for political reasons, as it seemed
+to censure monopolies.
+
+I.iv.181 (349,2) Fools ne'er had less grace in a year] There never was a
+time when fools were less in favour; and the reason is, that they were
+never so little wanted, for wise men now supply their place. Such I
+think is the meaning. The old edition has _wit_ for _grace_.
+
+I.iv.219 (350,5) That's a sheal'd peascod] i.e. Now a mere husk, which
+contains nothing. The outside of a king remains, but all the intrinsic
+parts of royalty are gone: he has nothing to give. (1773)
+
+I.iv.245 (351,3) Whoop, Jug] There are in the fool's speeches several
+passages which seem to be proverbial allusions, perhaps not now to be
+understood.
+
+I.iv.256 (352,1) _Fool_. Which they will make an obedient father] [This
+line I have restored from the quarto. STEEVENS] This note [Tyrwhitt's,
+quoted by Steevens] is written with confidence disproportionate to the
+conviction which it can bring. Lear might as well know by the marks and
+tokens arising from sovereignty, knowledge, and reason, that he had or
+had not daughters, as he could know by any thing else. But, says he, if
+I judge by these tokens, I find the persuasion false by which I long
+thought myself the father of daughters. (1773)
+
+I.iv.302 (355,7) from her derogate body] [_Derogate_ for _unnatural_.
+WARB.] Rather, I think, _degraded; blasted_.
+
+I.iv.320 (356,9)
+
+  That these hot tears, which break from me perforce,
+  Should make thee worth them.--Blasts and fogs upon thee!
+  The untented woundings of a father's curse
+  Pierce every sense about thee!--Old fond eyes,
+  Beweep this cause again]
+
+I will transcribe this passage from the first edition, that it may
+appear to those who are unacquainted with old books, what is the
+difficulty of revision, and what indulgence is due to those that
+endeavour to restore corrupted passages.--_That these hot tears, that
+breake from me perforce, should make the worst blasts and fogs upon the
+untender woundings of a father's curse, peruse every sense about the old
+fond eyes, beweep this cause again, &c._
+
+I.iv.362 (358,3) compact it more] Unite one circumstance with another,
+so as to make a consistent account.
+
+I.iv.366 (358,4) You are much more at task for want of wisdom] It is a
+common phrase now with parents and governesses. _I'll take you to task_,
+i.e. _I will reprehend and correct you. To be at task_, therefore, is to
+be liable to _reprehension and correction_. (1773)
+
+I.v.5 (358,1) I shall be there afore you] He seems to intend to go to
+his daughter, but it appears afterwards that he is going to the house of
+Glo'ster.
+
+I.v.25 (359,2) I did her wrong] He is musing on Cordelia.
+
+I.v.42 (359,3) To take it again perforce!] He is meditating on the
+resumption of his royalty.
+
+II.i.9 (360,1) ear-kissing arguments] Subjects of discourse; topics.
+
+II.i.19 (361,2) queazy question] Something of a _suspicious,
+questionable, and uncertain nature_. This is, I think, the meaning.
+
+II.i.27 (361,4) have you nothing said/Upon his party 'gainst the duke of
+Albany?] I cannot but think the line corrupted, and would read,
+
+  _Against_ his party, _for_ the duke of Albany?
+
+II.i.57 (363,7) gasted] Frighted.
+
+II.i.59 (363,8) Not in this land shall he remain uncaught;/And
+found--Dispatch] [Not in this land shall he remain uncaught; And found
+dispatch--the noble duke, &c.]
+
+[W: found, dispatch'd.] I do not see how this change mends the sense: I
+think it may be better regulated as in the page above. The sense is
+interrupted. He shall be caught--and found, _he shall be punished_.
+Dispatch.
+
+II.i.67 (363,2) And found him pight to do it, with curst speech] _Pight_
+is _pitched_, fixed, settled. _Curst_ is severe, harsh, vehemently
+angry.
+
+II.i.122 (366,7) Occasions, noble Glo'ster, of some prize] [W: poize]
+_Prize_, or _price_, for value. (1773)
+
+II.i.126 (366,8) from our home] Not at home, but at some other place.
+
+II.ii.9 (367,1) Lipsbury pinfold] The allusion which seems to be
+contained in this line I do not understand. In the violent eruption of
+reproaches which bursts from Kent in this dialogue, there are some
+epithets which the commentators have left unexpounded, and which I am
+not very able to make clear. Of a _three-suited knave_ I know not the
+meaning, unless it be that he has different dresses for different
+occupations. _Lilly-liver'd_ is _cowardly_; _white-blooded_ and
+_white-liver'd_ are still in vulgar use. An _one-trunk-inheriting
+slave_, I take to be a wearer of old cast-off cloaths, an inheritor of
+torn breeches.
+
+II.ii.36 (368,4) barber-monger] Of this word I do not clearly see the
+force.
+
+II.ii.39 (368,5) Vanity the puppet's] Alluding to the mysteries or
+allegorical shews, in which vanity, iniquity, and other vices, were
+personified.
+
+II.ii.45 (369,6) neat slave] You mere slave, you very slave.
+
+II.ii.69 (369,8) Thou whoreson zed; thou unnecessary letter!] I do not
+well understand how a man is reproached by being called _zed_, nor how Z
+is an _unnecessary letter_. Scarron compares his deformity to the shape
+of Z, and it may be a proper word of insult to a crook-backed man; but
+why should Gonerill's steward be crooked, unless the allusion be to his
+bending or cringing posture in the presence of his superiors. Perhaps it
+was written, _thou whoreson_ C (for cuckold) _thou unnecessary letter_.
+C is a letter unnecessary in our alphabet, one of its two sounds being
+represented by S, and one by K. But all the copies concur in the common
+reading.
+
+II.ii.87 (371,3) epileptic visage!] The frighted countenance of a man
+ready to fall in a fit.
+
+II.ii.103 (372,5) constrains the garb/Quite from his nature] Forces his
+_outside_ or his _appearance_ to something totally _different from_ his
+natural disposition.
+
+II.ii.109 (372,8) Than twenty silly ducking observants] [W: silky] The
+alteration is more ingenious than the arguments by which it is
+supported.
+
+II.ii.119 (373,8) though I should win your displeasure to intreat me
+to't] Though I should win you, displeased as you now are, to like me so
+well as to intreat me to be a knave.
+
+II.ii.167 (375,3)
+
+  Good king, that must approve the common saw!
+  Thou out of heaven's benediction com'at
+  To the warm sun!]
+
+That art now to exemplify the common proverb, _That out of_, &c. That
+changest better for worse. Hanmer observes, that it is a proverbial
+saying, applied to those who are turned out of house and home to the
+open weather. It was perhaps first used of men dismissed from an
+hospital, or house of charity, such as was erected formerly in many
+places for travellers. Those houses had names properly enough alluded to
+by _heaven's benediction_.
+
+II.ii.173 (376,4)
+
+  I know 'tis from Cordelia;
+  Who hath most fortunately been inform'd
+  Of my obscur'd coarse, and shall find time
+  From this enormous state, seeking to give
+  Losses their remedies]
+
+This passage, which some of the editors have degraded, as spurious, to
+the margin, and others have silently altered, I have faithfully printed
+according to the quarto, from which the folio differs only in
+punctuation. The passage is very obscure, if not corrupt. Perhaps it may
+be read thus:
+
+  --Cordelia--has been--informed.
+  Of my obscur'd course, and shall find time
+  From this enormous state-seeking, to give
+  Losses their remedies.--
+
+Cordelia is informed of our affairs, and when the _enormous_ care of
+_seeking her fortune_ will allow her time, she will employ it in
+remedying losses. This is harsh; perhaps something better may be found.
+I have at least supplied the genuine reading of the old copies.
+_Enormous_ is unwonted, out of rule, out of the ordinary course of
+things.
+
+II.iii.18 (377,2) Poor pelting villages] _Pelting_ is, I believe, only
+an accidental depravation of _petty_. Shakespeare uses it in the
+_Midsummer-Night's Dream_ of _small brooks_.
+
+II.iii.20 (378,3) Poor Turlygood! poor Tom!] [W: Turlupin] Hanmer reads,
+_poor_ Turlurd. It is probable the word _Turlygood_ was the common
+corrupt pronunciation.
+
+II.iii.21 (378,4) Edgar I nothing am] As Edgar I am out-lawed, dead in
+law; I have no longer any political existence.
+
+II.iv (378,1) _Changes again to the earl of Glo'ster's castle_] It is
+not very clearly discovered why Lear comes hither. In the foregoing part
+he sent a letter to Glo'ster; but no hint is given of its contents. He
+seems to have gone to visit Glo'ster while Cornwall and Regan might
+prepare to entertain him.
+
+II.iv.24 (380,4) To do upon respect such violent outrage] To violate the
+public and venerable character of a messenger from the king.
+
+II.iv.46 (380,7) Winter's not gone yet, if the wild geese fly that way]
+If this be their behaviour, the king's troubles are not yet at an end.
+
+II.iv.70 (381,9) All that follow their noses are led by their eyes, but
+blind men; and there's not a nose among twenty, but can smell him that's
+stinking] There is in this sentence no clear series of thought. If he
+that follows his nose is led or guided by his eyes, he wants no
+information from his nose. I persuade myself, but know not whether I can
+persuade others, that our author wrote thus:--"All men are led by their
+eyes, but blind men, and they follow their noses; and there's not a nose
+among twenty but can smell him that's stinking."--Here is a succession
+of reasoning. You ask, why the king has no more in his train? why,
+because men who are led by their eyes see that he is ruined; and if
+there were any blind among them, who, for want of eyes, followed their
+noses, they might by their noses discover that it was no longer fit to
+follow the king.
+
+II.iv.83 (382,2)
+
+  But I will tarry; the fool will stay,
+  And let the wise man fly;
+  The knave turns fool, that runs away;
+  The fool no knave, perdy]
+
+I think this passage erroneous, though both the copies concur. The sense
+mill be mended if we read,
+
+  But I will tarry; the fool will stay,
+  And let the wise man fly;
+  The fool turns knave, that runs away;
+  The knave no fool,--
+
+That I stay with the king is a proof that I am a fool, the wise men are
+deserting him. There is knavery in this desertion, but there is no
+folly.
+
+II.iv.116 (383,3) Is practice only] _Practice_ is in Shakespeare, and
+other old writers, used commonly in an ill sense for _unlawful
+artifice_.
+
+II.iv.122 (384,4) Cry to it, nuncle, as the cockney did to the eels,
+when she put them i' the paste alive] Hinting that the eel and Lear are
+in the same danger.
+
+II.iv.142 (384,7) Than she to scant her duty] The word _scant_ is
+directly contrary to the sense intended. The quarto reads,
+
+  --_slack_ her duty,
+
+which is no better. May we not change it thus:
+
+  You less know bow to value her desert,
+  Than she to _scan_ her duty.
+
+To _scan_ may be to _measure_ or _proportion_. Yet our author uses his
+negatives with such licentiousness, that it is hardly safe to make any
+alteration.--_Scant_ may mean to _adapt_, to _fit_, to _proportion_;
+which sense seems still to be retained in the mechanical term scantling.
+(see 1765, VI, 67, 4)
+
+II.iv.155 (385,1) Do you but mark how this becomes the house?] [T: the
+use?] [Warburton called "becomes the house" "a most expressive phrase"]
+with this _most expressive phrase_ I believe no reader is satisfied. I
+suspect that it has been written originally,
+
+  Ask her forgiveness?
+  Do you but mark how this becometh--thus.
+  Dear daughter, I confess, &c.
+
+_Becomes the house_, and _becometh thus_, might be easily confounded by
+readers so unskilful as the original printers.
+
+II.iv.157 (386,2) _Age is unnecessary_] i.e. Old age has few wants.
+
+II.iv.162 (386,3) Look'd black upon me] To _look black_, may easily be
+explained to _look cloudy_ or _gloomy_. See Milton:
+
+  "So frown'd the mighty combatants, that hell
+  Grew darker at their frown."--
+
+II.iv.170 (386,4) To fall, and blast her pride!] Thus the quarto: the
+folio reads not so well, _to fall and blister_. I think there is still a
+fault, which may be easily mended by changing a letter:
+
+  --Infect her beauty,
+  Ye fen-suck'd fogs, drawn by the powerful sun,
+  _Do_, fall, and blast her pride!
+
+II.iv.174 (387.6) Thy tender-hested nature shall not give/Thee o'er to
+harshness] This word, though its general meaning be plain, I do not
+critically understand.
+
+II.iv.178 (387,7) to scant my sizes] To contract my allowances or
+proportions settled.
+
+II.iv.203 (388,9) much less advancement] The word _advancement_ is
+ironically used here for _conspicuousness_ of punishment; as we now say,
+_a man is advanced to the pillory_. We should read,
+
+  --but his own disorders
+  Deserv'd much _more_ advancement.
+
+II.iv.204 (388,1) I pray you, father, being weak, seem so] [W: deem't
+so] The meaning is, since _you are weak_, be content to think yourself
+weak. No change is needed.
+
+II.iv.218 (389,3) base life] i.e. In a _servile_ state.
+
+II.iv.227 (390,5) embossed carbuncle] _Embossed_ is _swelling,
+protuberant_.
+
+II.iv.259 (391,6) Those wicked creatures yet do look well-favour'd:/
+When others are more wicked] Dr. Warburton would exchange the repeated
+epithet _wicked_ into _wrinkled_ in both places. The commentator's only
+objection to the lines as they now stand, is the discrepancy of the
+metaphor, the want of opposition between _wicked_ and _well-favoured_.
+But he might have remembered what he says in his own preface concerning
+_mixed modes_. Shakespeare, whose mind was more intent upon notions than
+words, had in his thoughts the pulchritude of virtue, and the deformity
+of wickedness; and though he had mentioned _wickedness_, made the
+correlative answer to _deformity_.
+
+III.i.7 (394,1) That things might change, or cease: tears his white
+hair] The first folio ends the speech at _change, or cease_, and begins
+again with Kent's question, _But who is with him?_ The whole speech is
+forcible, but too long for the occasion, and properly retrenched.
+
+III.i.18 (395,3) my note] My observation of your character.
+
+III.i.29 (395,6) _are but furnishings_] _Furnishings_ are what we now
+call _colours, external pretences_. (1773)
+
+III.i.19 (395,8)
+
+  There is division,
+  Although as yet the face of it is cover'd
+  with mutual cunning, 'twixt Albany and Cornwall;
+  _Who have (as who have not, whom their great stars
+  Throne and set high?) servants, who seem no less;
+  Which are to France the spies and speculations
+  Intelligent of our state. What hath been seen,
+  Either in snuffs and packings of the dukes;
+  Or the hard rein, which both of them have borne
+  Against the old kind king; or something deeper,
+  Whereof, perchance, these are but furnishings._
+  [But, true it is, from France there comes a power
+  Into this scatter'd kingdom; who already,
+  Wise in our negligence, have secret fee
+  In some of our best ports, and are at point
+  To shew their open banner.--Now to you:]]
+
+The true state of this speech cannot from all these notes be discovered.
+As it now stands it is collected from two editions: the lines which I
+have distinguished by Italics are found in the folio, not in the quarto;
+the following lines inclosed in crotchets are in the quarto, not in the
+folio. So that if the speech be read with omissions of the Italics, it
+will stand according to the first edition; and if the Italics are read,
+and the lines that follow them omitted, it will then stand according to
+the second. The speech is now tedious, because it is formed by a
+coalition of both. The second edition is generally best, and was
+probably nearest to Shakespeare's last copy, but in this passage the
+first is preferable; for in the folio, the messenger is sent, he knows
+not why, he knows not whither. I suppose Shakespeare thought his plot
+opened rather too early, and made the alteration to veil the event from
+the audience; but trusting too much to himself, and full of a single
+purpose, he did not accommodate his new lines to the rest of the
+scene.--The learned critic's [Warburton] emendations are now to be
+examined. _Scattered_ he has changed to _scathed_; for _scattered_, he
+says, gives _the idea of an anarchy, which was not the case_. It may be
+replied that _scathed_ gives the idea of ruin, waste, and desolation,
+_which was not the case_. It is unworthy a lover of truth, in questions
+of great or little moment, to exaggerate or extenuate for mere
+convenience, or for vanity yet less than convenience. _Scattered_
+naturally means _divided, unsettled, disunited_.--Next is offered with
+great pomp a change of _sea_ to _seize_; but in the first edition the
+word is _fee_, for _hire_, in the sense of having any one in _fee_, that
+is, at _devotion for money_. _Fee_ is in the second quarto changed to
+_see_, from which one made _sea_ and another _seize_.
+
+III.ii.4 (398,1) thought-executing] Doing execution with rapidity equal
+to thought.
+
+III.ii.19 (399,4) Here I stand, your slave] [W: brave] The meaning is
+plain enough, he was not their _slave_ by right or compact, but by
+necessity and compulsion. Why should a passage be darkened for the sake
+of changing it? Besides, of _brave_ in that sense I remember no example.
+
+III.ii.24 (399,5) 'tis foul] Shameful; dishonourable.
+
+III.ii.30 (399,6) So beggars marry many] i.e. A beggar marries a wife
+and lice.
+
+III.ii.46 (400,1) Man's nature cannot carry/The affliction, nor the
+fear] So the folio: the later editions read, with the quarto, _force_
+for _fear_, less elegantly.
+
+III.ii.56 (401,3) That under covert and convenient seeming] _Convenient_
+needs not be understood in any other than its usual and proper sense;
+_accommodate_ to the present purpose; _suitable_ to a design.
+_Convenient seeming_ is _appearance_ such as may promote his purpose to
+destroy.
+
+III.ii.53 (401,4) concealing continents] _Continent_ stands for that
+which _contains_ or _incloses_.
+
+III.ii.72 (401,(5) Poor fool and knave, I have one part in my heart,/
+That's sorry yet for thee] Some editions read,
+
+  --_thing_ in my heart;
+
+from which Hanmer, and Dr. Warburton after him, have made _string_, very
+unnecessarily; both the copies have _part_.
+
+III.ii.74 (402,7)
+
+  _He that has a little tiny wit,--
+  With heigh ho, the wind and the rain;
+  Must make content with his fortunes fit,
+  Though the rain it raineth every day_]
+
+I fancy that the second line of this stanza had once a termination that
+rhymed with the fourth; but I can only fancy it; for both the copies
+agree. It was once perhaps written,
+
+  With heigh ho, the wind and the rain _in his way_.
+
+The meaning seems likewise to require this insertion. "He that has wit,
+however small, and finds wind and rain in his way, must content himself
+by thinking, that somewhere or other _it raineth every day_, and others
+are therefore suffering like himself." Yet I am afraid that all this is
+chimerical, for the burthen appears again in the song at the end of
+_Twelfth Night_, and seems to have been an arbitrary supplement, without
+any reference to the sense of the song. (see 1765, VI, 84, 6)
+
+III.ii.80 (402,8) I'll speak a prophecy ere I go] [W: or two ere] The
+sagacity and acuteness of Dr. Warburton are very conspicuous in this
+note. He has disentangled the confusion of the passage, and I have
+inserted his emendation in the text. _Or e'er_ is proved by Mr. Upton to
+be good English, but the controversy was not necessary, for _or_ is not
+in the old copies. [Steevens retained "ere"]
+
+III.ii.84 (403,1) No heretics burnt, but wenches' suitors] The disease
+to which _wenches' suitors_ are particularly exposed, was called in
+Shakespeare's time the _brenning_ or _burning_.
+
+III.iv.26 (406,1)
+
+  In, boy; go first. [_To the Fool._] You houseless poverty--
+  Nay, get thee in. I'll pray, and then I'll sleep]
+
+These two lines were added in the author's revision, and are only in the
+folio. They are very judiciously intended to represent that humility, or
+tenderness, or neglect of forms, which affliction forces on the mind.
+
+III.iv.52 (407,3) led through fire and through flame] Alluding to the
+_ignis fatuus_, supposed to be lights kindled by mischievous beings to
+lead travellers into destruction.
+
+III.iv.54 (407,4) laid knives under his pillow] He recounts the
+temptations by which he was prompted to suicide; the opportunities of
+destroying himself, which often occurred to him in his melancholy moods.
+
+III.iv.60 (407,5) Bless thee from whirlwinds, star-blasting, and
+taking!] To _take_ is to blast, or strike with malignant influence:
+
+  --strike her young limbs,
+  Ye taking airs, with lameness.
+
+III.iv.77 (408,6) pelican daughters] The young pelican is fabled to suck
+the mother's blood.
+
+III.iv.95 (408,8) light of ear] [i.e. Credulous. WARBURTON.] Not merely
+_credulous_, but _credulous of evil_, ready to receive malicious
+reports. (1773)
+
+III.iv.103 (409,1) says suum, mun, ha no nonny, dolphin my boy, boy,
+Sessy: let him trot by] Of this passage I can make nothing. I believe it
+corrupt: for wildness, not nonsense, is the effect of a disordered
+imagination. The quarto reads, _hay no on ny, dolphins, my boy, cease,
+let him trot by_. Of interpreting this there is not much hope or much
+need. But any thing may be tried. The madman, now counterfeiting a proud
+fit, supposes himself met on the road by some one that disputes the way,
+and cries _Hey!--No--but altering his mind, condescends to let him pass,
+and calls to his boy _Dolphin_ (Rodolph) not to contend with him.
+_On--Dolphin, my boy, cease. Let him trot by_.
+
+III.iv.122 (410,3) web and the pin] Diseases of the eye.
+
+III.iv.125 (411,4)
+
+  Saint Withold footed thrice the void;
+  He met the night-mare, and her nine-fold;
+  Bid her alight, and her troth plight,
+  And aroynt thee, witch, aroynt thee!]
+
+In the old quarto the corruption is such as may deserve to be noted.
+"Swithold footed thrice the old another night moore and her nine fold
+bid her, O light, and her troth plight, and arint thee, with arint
+thee."
+
+III.iv.144 (412,6) _small deer_] Sir Thomas Hanmer reads _geer_, and is
+followed by Dr. Warburton. But _deer_ in old language is a general word
+for wild animals.
+
+III.iv.187 (414,8) _Child Rowland_] This word is in some of our ballads.
+There is a song of _Child Walter, and a Lady_.
+
+III.v.21 (415,2) If I find him comforting the king] He uses the word in
+the juridical sense for _supporting, helping_, according to its
+derivation; _salvia_ comfortat _ne vos_.--_Schol. Sal._ (rev. 1778, IX,
+477, 3)
+
+III.vi.20 (416,2) a horse's health] [W: heels] Shakespeare is here
+speaking not of things maliciously treacherous, but of things uncertain
+and not durable, A horse is above all other animals subject to diseases.
+
+III.vi.26 (416,3) Wantest thou eyes at trial, madam?] It may be observed
+that Edgar, being supposed to be found by chance, and therefore to have
+no knowledge of the rest, connects not his ideas with those of Lear, but
+pursues his own train of delirious or fantastic thought. To these words,
+_At trial, madam?_ I think therefore that the name of Lear should be
+put. The process of the dialogue will support this conjecture. (1773)
+
+III.vi.27 (417,4) _Come oe'er the broom, Bessy, to me_] As there is no
+relation between _broom_ and a _boat_, we may better read,
+
+  Come o'er the _brook_, Bessy, to me.
+
+III.vi.43 (417,6)
+
+  _Sleepest, or wakest thou, jolly shepherd?
+  Thy sheep be in the corn;
+  And for one blast of thy minikin mouth,
+  Thy sheep shall take no harm.]
+
+This seems to be a stanza of some pastoral song. A shepherd is desired
+to pipe, and the request is enforced by a promise, that though his sheep
+be in the corn, i.e. committing a trespass by his negligence, implied in
+the question, _Sleepest thou or wakest?_ Yet a single tune upon his pipe
+shall secure them from the pound. (1773)
+
+III.vi.77 (419,8) Sessy, come] Here is _sessey_ again, which I take to
+be the French word _cessez_ pronounced _cessey_, which was, I suppose,
+like some others in common use among us. It is an interjection enforcing
+cessation of any action, like, _be quiet, have done_. It seems to have
+been gradually corrupted into, _so, so_.
+
+III.vi.78 (419,9) thy horn is dry] Men that begged under pretence of
+lunacy used formerly to carry a horn, and blow it through the streets.
+
+III.vi.103-121 (420,2) [_Kent._ Opprest nature sleeps] The lines
+inserted from the quarto are in crotchets. The omission of them in the
+folio is certainly faulty: yet I believe the folio is printed from
+Shakespeare'a last revision, carelessly and hastily performed, with more
+thought of shortening the scenes, than of continuing the action.
+
+III.vi.111 (421,4) free things] States clear from distress.
+
+III.vi. 117 (421,5)
+
+  Mark the high noises! and thyself bewray,
+  When false opinion, whose wrong thought defiles thee,
+  In thy just proof, repeals, and reconciles thee]
+
+Attend to the great events that are approaching, and make thyself known.
+Then that _false opinion_ now prevailing against thee shall, in
+consequence of _just proof_ of thy integrity, revoke its erroneous
+sentence, and recall thee to honour and reconciliation.
+
+III.vii.13 (421,6) ray lord of Glo'ster] Meaning Edmund, newly invested
+with his father's titles. The steward, speaking immediately after,
+mentions the old duke by the same title.
+
+III.vii.24 (422,3)
+
+  Though well we may not pass upon his life
+  Without the form of justice; yet our power
+  Shall do a courtesy to our wrath]
+
+_To do a courtesy_ is to gratify, to comply with. _To pass_, is to pass
+a judicial sentence. (1773)
+
+III.vii.29 (422,4) corky arms] Dry, wither'd, husky arms.
+
+III.vii.54 (424,9) I am ty'd to the stake, and I must stand the course]
+The running of the dogs upon me.
+
+III.vii.65 (425,2) All cruels else subscrib'd] Yielded, submitted to the
+necessity of the occasion.
+
+III.vii.99-107 (426,3) I'll never care what wickedness I do] [This short
+dialogue I have inserted from the old quarto, because I think it full of
+nature. Servants could hardly see such a barbarity committed on their
+master, without pity; and the vengeance that they presume canst overtake
+the actors of it is a sentiment and doctrine well worthy of the stage.
+THEOBALD.] It is not necessary to suppose them the servants of Glo'ster;
+for Cornwall was opposed to extremity by his own servant.
+
+IV.i.1 (427,1) Yet better thus, and known to be contemn'd] The meaning
+is, _'Tis better_ to be _thus contemned, and_ known _to yourself_ to be
+contemned. Or perhaps there is an error, which may be rectified thus:
+
+  Yet better thus unknown to be contemn'd.
+
+When a man divests himself of his real character he feels no pain from
+contempt, because he supposes it incurred only by a voluntary disguise
+which he can throw off at pleasure. I do not think any correction
+necessary.
+
+IV.i.20 (429,3) Our mean secures us] [i.e. Moderate, mediocre condition.
+WARBURTON.] Banner writes, by an easy change, _meanness_ secures us. The
+two original editions have,
+
+  Our _meanes_ secures us.--
+
+I do not remember that _mean_ is ever used aa a substantive for low
+fortune, which is the sense here required, nor for mediocrity, except in
+the phrase, the _golden mean_. I suspect the passage of corruption, and
+would either read,
+
+  Our means _seduce_ us:--
+
+Our powers of body or fortune draw us into evils. Or,
+
+  Our _maims_ secure us.--
+
+That hurt or deprivation which makes us defenceless, proves our
+safeguard. This is very proper in Glo'ster, newly maimed by the evulsion
+of his eyes.
+
+IV.i.59-64 (431,8) [Five fiends have been in poor Tom at once; of lust,
+as _Obidicut_; _Hobbididance_, prince of dumbness; _Mahu_, of stealing;
+_Modo_, of murder; and _Flibbertigibbet_, of mopping and mowing; who
+since possesses chamber-maids and waiting-women. So bless thee,
+master!]] The passage in crotchets is omitted in the folio, because I
+suppose as the story was forgotten, the jest was lost.
+
+IV.i.68 (432,1) Let the superfluous and lust-dieted man] Lear has before
+uttered the same sentiment, which indeed cannot be too strongly
+impressed, tho' it may be too often repeated.
+
+IV.i.69 (432,2) That slaves your ordinance] [W: braves] The emendation
+is plausible, yet I doubt whether it be right. The language of
+Shakespeare is very licentious, and his words have often meanings remote
+from the proper and original use. To _slave_ or _beslave_ another is to
+_treat_ him _with terms of indignity_; in a kindred sense, to _slave the
+ordinance_, may be, to _slight_ or _ridicule_ it.
+
+IV.ii.1 (433,1) our mild husband] It must be remembered that Albany, the
+husband of Gonerill, disliked, in the end of the first act, the scheme
+of oppression and ingratitude.
+
+IV.ii.29 (434,5) I have been worth the whistle] This expression is a
+reproach to Albany for having neglected her; _though you disregard me
+thus_, I have been worth the whistle, _I have found one that thinks me
+worth calling_. (1773)
+
+IV.ii.35 (435,9) From her maternal sap] [W: material] I suppose no
+reader doubts but the word should be _maternal_. Dr. Warburton has taken
+great pains without much success, and indeed without much exactness of
+attention, to prove that _material_ has a more proper sense than
+_maternal_, and yet seemed glad at last to infer from an apparent error
+of another press that _material_ and _maternal_ meant the same.
+
+IV.ii.45 (436,2) A man, a prince by him so benefited?] [After this line
+I suspect a line or two to be wanting, which upbraids her for her
+sister's cruelty to Glo'ster. WARBURTON.] Here is a pompous note to
+support a conjecture apparently erroneous, and confuted by the next
+scene, in which the account is given for the first time to Albany of
+Glo'ster's sufferings.
+
+IV.ii.50 (436,3) Like monsters of the deep] Fishes are the only animals
+that are known to prey upon their own species.
+
+IV.ii.62 (437,5) Thou changed, and self-cover'd thing] Of these lines
+there is but one copy, and the editors are forced open conjecture. They
+have published this line thus;
+
+  Thou chang'd, and _self-converted_ thing;
+
+but I cannot but think that by _self-cover'd_ the author meant, thou
+that hast _disguised_ nature by wickedness; thou that hast _hid_ the
+woman under the fiend.
+
+IV.ii.83 (438,6) One way, I like this well] Gonerill is well pleased
+that Cornwall is destroyed, who was preparing war against her and her
+husband, but is afraid of losing Edmund to the widow.
+
+IV.iii (439,1) _The French camp, near Dover. Enter Kent, and a
+Gentleman_] This scene seems to have been left out only to shorten the
+play, and is necessary to continue the action. It is extant only in the
+quarto, being omitted in the first folio. I have therefore put it
+between crotchets.
+
+IV.iii (439,2) _a Gentleman_] The gentleman whom he sent in the
+foregoing act with letters to Cordelia.
+
+IV.iii.26 (440,4) Made she no verbal question?] I do not see the
+impropriety of _verbal question_; such pleonasms are common. So we say,
+_my ears have heard, my eyes have beheld_. Besides, where is the word
+_quest_ [Warburton's emendation] to be found?
+
+IV.iii.33 (440,6) And clamour-moisten'd] _Clamour moisten'd her_; that
+is, _her out-cries were accompanied with tears_.
+
+IV.iii.36 (441,7) one self-mate and mate] The same husband and the same
+wife.
+
+IV.iii.51 (441,9) 'Tis so they are a-foot] Dr. Warburton thinks it
+necessary to read, _'tis said_; but the sense is plain, _So it is_ that
+_they are on foot_.
+
+IV.iv.4 (442,1) With bur-docks, hemlock] I do not remember any such
+plant as a _hardock_, but one of the most common weeds is a _burdock_,
+which I believe should be read here; and so Hanmer reads.
+
+IV.iv.20 (443,2) the means to lead it] The reason which should guide it.
+
+IV.iv.26 (443,3) My mourning and important tears hath pitied] In other
+places of this author for _importunate_.
+
+IV.iv.27 (443,4) No blown embition] No inflated, no swelling pride. Beza
+on the Spanish Armada:
+
+  "Quem bene te ambitio mersit vanissima, ventus,
+  Et tumidos tumidae voa superastis aquae."
+
+IV.v.4 (444,1) _Reg._ Lord Edmund spake not with your lady at home?] The
+folio reads, _your lord_; but lady is the first and better reading.
+
+IV.v.22 (444,3) Let me unseal the letter./_Stew._ Madam, I had rather] I
+know not well why Shakespeare gives the steward, who is a mere factor of
+wickedness, so much fidelity. He now refuses the letter; and afterwards,
+when he is dying, thinks only how it may be safely delivered.
+
+IV.v.29 (445,5) I do advise you, take this note] _Note_ means in this
+place not a _letter_ but a _remark_. Therefore _observe_ what I am
+saying.
+
+IV.v.32 (446,6) You may gather more] You may infer more than I have
+directly told you.
+
+IV.vi (446,1) _The country near Dover. Enter Glo'ster, and Edgar as a
+peasant_] This scene, and the stratagem by which Glo'ster is cured of
+his desperation, are wholly borrowed from Sidney's _Arcadia_.
+
+IV.vi.7 (447,2) thy voice is alter'd] Edgar alters his voice in order to
+pass afterwards for a malignant spirit.
+
+IV.vi.11 (447,5) How fearful/And dizzy 'tis, to cast one's eyes so low!]
+This description has been much admired since the time of Addison, who
+has remarked, with a poor attempt at pleasantry, that "he who can read
+it without being giddy, has a very good head, or a very bad one." The
+description is certainly not mean, but I am far from thinking it wrought
+to the utmost excellence of poetry. He that looks from a precipice finds
+himself assailed by one great and dreadful image of irresistible
+destruction. But this overwhelming idea is dissipated and enfeebled from
+the instant that the mind can restore itself to the observation of
+particulars, and diffuse its attention to distinct objects. The
+enumeration of the choughs and crows, the samphire-man, and the fishers,
+counteracts the great effect of the prospect, as it peoples the desert
+of intermediate vacuity, and stops the mind in the rapidity of its
+descent through emptiness and horror.
+
+IV.vi.19 (447,4) her cock] Her cock-boat.
+
+IV.vi.43 (448,6) when life itself/Yields to the theft] When life is
+willing to be destroyed.
+
+IV.vi.47 (449,7) Thus might he pass, indeed] Thus he might _die_ in
+reality. We still use the word _passing_ bell.
+
+IV.vi.53 (449,9) Ten masts at each make not the altitude] [Pope:
+attacht] Mr. Pope's conjecture may stand if the word which he uses were
+known in our author's time, but I think it is of later introduction. He
+may say,
+
+  Ten masts _on end_--
+
+IV.vi.57 (449,1) chalky bourn] _Bourn_ seems here to signify a _hill_.
+Its common signification is a _brook_. Milton in _Comus_ uses _bosky
+bourn_ in the same sense perhaps with Shakespeare. But in both authors
+it may mean only a _boundary_.
+
+IV.vi.73 (450,2) the clearest gods] The purest; the most free from evil.
+
+IV.vi.80 (450,3) Bear free and patient thoughts] To be melancholy is to
+have the mind _chained down_ to one painful idea; there is therefore
+great propriety in exhorting Glo'ster to _free thoughts_, to an
+emancipation of his soul from grief and despair.
+
+IV.vi.81 (450,4) The safer sense will ne'er accommodate/His master thus]
+[W: sober sense] I read rather,
+
+  The _saner_ sense will ne'er accoomodate
+  His master thus.
+
+"Here is Lear, but he must be mad: his sound or _sane_ senses would
+never suffer him to be thus disguised."
+
+IV.vi.87 (451,5) That fellow handles his bow like a crow-keeper] This
+_crow-keeper_ was so common in the author's time, that it is one of the
+few peculiarities mentioned by Ortelius in his account of our island.
+
+IV.vi.93 (451,8) Give the word] Lear supposes himself in a garrison, and
+before he lets Edgar pass, requires the watch-word.
+
+IV.vi.97 (452,7) Ha! Gonerill!--with a white beard!] So reads the folio,
+properly; the quarto, whom the later editors have followed, has, _Ha!
+Gonerill, ha! Regan! they flattered me_, &c. which is not so forcible.
+
+IV.vi.98 (452,8) They flattered me like a dog] They played the spaniel
+to me.
+
+IV.vi.121 (453,2) Whose face between her forks] I believe that the
+_forks_ were two prominences of the ruff rising on each side of the
+face.
+
+IV.vi.124 (453,4) nor the soyled horse] _Soiled_ horse is probably the
+same as _pampered_ horse, _un cheval soule_.
+
+IV.vi.169 (454.5) Robes and furr'd gowns hide all] From _hide all_ to
+_accuser's lips_, the whole passage is wanting in the first edition,
+being added, I suppose, at his revisal.
+
+IV.vi.187 (455,8) This a good block!] I do not see how this _block_
+corresponds either with his foregoing or following train of thoughts.
+Madmen think not wholly at random. I would read thus, _a good flock_.
+_Flocks_ are wool moulded together. The sentence then follows properly:
+
+  It were a delicate stratagem to shoe
+  A troop of horse with felt;--
+
+i.e. with _flocks_ kneaded to a mass, a practice I believe sometimes
+used in former ages, for it is mentioned in _Ariosto_:
+
+  "--Fece nel cader strepito quanto
+  Avesse avuto sotto i piedi il _feltro_."
+
+It is very common for madmen to catch an accidental hint, and strain it
+to the purpose predominant in their minds. Lear picks up a _flock_, and
+immediately thinks to surprize his enemies by a troop of horse shod with
+_flocks_ or _felt_. Yet _block_ may stand, if we suppose that the sight
+of a block put him in mind of mounting his horse.
+
+IV.vi.199 (457,1) Why, this would make a man, a man of salt] Would make
+a man melt away like salt in wet weather.
+
+IV.vi.206 (457,2) Then there's life in't] The case is not yet desperate.
+
+IV.vi.217 (457,3) the main descry/Stands on the hourly thought] The
+_main_ body is _expected_ to be _descry'd_ every hour. The expression is
+harsh.
+
+IV.vi.246 (459,7) che vor'ye] _I warn you_. Edgar counterfeits the
+western dialect.
+
+IV.vi.281 (460,3) Thee I'll rake up] I'll _cover_ thee. In
+Staffordshire, to _rake_ the fire, is to cover it with fuel for the
+night.
+
+IV.vi.234 (460,4) the death-practis'd duke] The duke of Albany, whose
+death is machinated by _practice_ or treason.
+
+IV.vii.3 (461,1) every measure fail me] All good which I shall allot
+thee, or _measure out_ to thee, will be scanty.
+
+IV.vii.9 (461,4) shortens my made intent] [W: laid] An intent _made_, is
+an intent _formed_. So we say in common language, to _make a design_,
+and to _make a resolution_.
+
+IV.vii.41 (464,2) 'Tis wonder, that thy life and wits, at once,/Had not
+concluded all] [W: concluded.--Ah!] The plain construction is this: _It
+is wonder that the wits and life had not all ended_.
+
+IV.vii.85-97 (466,9)
+
+  [_Gent_. Holds it true, Sir,
+  That the duke of Cornwall was so slain?]
+
+What is printed in crotchets is not in the folio. It is at least proper,
+if not necessary; and was omitted by the author, I suppose, for no other
+reason than to shorten the representation.
+
+V.i.4 (467,2) his constant pleasure] His settled resolution.
+
+V.i.54 (470,7) We will greet the time] We will be ready to meet the
+occasion.
+
+V.i.61 (470,8) carry out my side] Bring my purpose to a successful
+issue, to completion. _Side_ seems here to have the sense of the French
+word _partie_, in _prendre partie, to take his resolution_.
+
+V.i.68 (471,9) for my state/Stands on me to defend, not to debate] I do
+not think that _for_ stands in this place as a word of inference or
+causality. The meaning is rather: _Such is my determination concerning
+Lear_; _as_ for my state _it requires now, not_ deliberation, _but_
+defence _and support_.
+
+V.iii.16 (472,1) And take upon us the mystery of things,/As if we were
+God's spies] As if we were angels commissioned to survey and report the
+lives of men, and were consequently endowed with the power of prying
+into the original motives of action and the mysteries of conduct.
+
+V.iii.18 (472,2) packs and sects] Packs is used for _combinations_ or
+_collection_, as is a _pack of cards_. For _sects_ I think _sets_ might
+be more commodiously read. So we say, _affairs are now managed by a new_
+set. _Sect_, however, may well stand.
+
+V.iii.24 (473,6) flesh and fell] Flesh and skin.
+
+V.iii.54 (475,1)
+
+        [At this time
+  We sweat and bleed: the friend hath lost his friend;
+  And the best quarrels, in the heat, are curs'd
+  By those that feel their sharpness:--
+  The question of Cordelia, and her father,
+  Requires a fitter place.]]
+
+This passage, well worthy of restoration, is omitted in the folio.
+
+V.iii.65 (475,4) The which immediacy] [_Immediacy_, for representation.
+WARBURTON.] _Immediacy_ is rather _supremacy_ in opposition to
+_subordination_, which has _quiddam medium_ between itself and power.
+
+V.iii.79 (476,7) The lett alone lies not in your good will] Whether he
+shall not or shall depends not on your choice.
+
+V.iii.89 (476,8) An interlude!] This short exclamation of Gonerill is
+added in the folio edition, I suppose, only to break the speech of
+Albany, that the exhibition on the stage might be more distinct and
+intelligible.
+
+V.iii.129 (478,1) Behold, it is the privilege of mine honours,/My oath,
+and my profession] The _privilege_ of this _oath_ means the privilege
+gained by taking the oath administered in the regular initiation of a
+knight professed.
+
+V.iii.151 (479,3)
+
+  _Alb._ Save him, save him!
+  _Gon._ This is mere practice, Glo'ster]
+
+He desired that Edmund's life might be spared at present, only to obtain
+his confession, and to convict him openly by his own letter.
+
+V.iii.166 (480,6) Let us exchange charity] Our author by negligence
+gives his heathens the sentiments and practices of Christianity. In
+_Hamlet_ there is the same solemn act of final reconciliation, but with
+exact propriety, for the personages are Christians.
+
+V.iii. 204-221 (481,2) [Edg;.--This would have seem'd a period] The
+lines between crotchets are not in the folio.
+
+V.iii.229 (433,4) Here comes Kent, Sir] The manner in which Edgar here
+mentions Kent, seems to require the lines which are inserted from the
+first edition in the foregoing scene.
+
+V.iii.264 (485,7)
+
+  _Edg._ Or image of that horror?
+  _Alb._ Fall, and cease!]
+
+These two exclamations are given to Edgar and Albany in the folio, to
+animate the dialogue, and employ all the persons on the stage; but they
+are very obscure.
+
+V.iii.301 (487,4) With boot] With advantage, with increase.
+
+(488) General Observation. The tragedy of Lear is deservedly celebrated
+among the dramas of Shakespeare. There is perhaps no play which keeps
+the attention so strongly fixed; which so much agitates our passions and
+interests our curiosity. The artful involutions of distinct interests,
+the striking opposition of contrary characters, the sudden changes of
+fortune, and the quick succession of events, fill the mind with a
+perpetual tumult of indignation, pity, and hope. There is no scene which
+does not contribute to the aggravation of the distress or conduct of the
+action, and scarce a line which does not conduce to the progress of the
+scene. So powerful is the current of the poet's imagination, that the
+mind, which once ventures within it, is hurried irresistibly along.
+
+On the seeming improbability of Lear's conduct it may be observed, that
+he is represented according to histories at that time vulgarly received
+as true. And, perhaps, if we turn our thoughts upon the barbarity and
+ignorance of the age to which this story is referred, it will appear not
+so unlikely as while we estimate Lear's manners by our own. Such
+preference of one daughter to another, or resignation of dominion on
+such conditions, would be yet credible, if told of a petty prince of
+Guinea or Madagascar. Shakespeare, indeed, by the mention of his earls
+and dukes, has given us the idea of times more civilized, and of life
+regulated by softer manners; and the truth is, that though he so nicely
+discriminates, and so minutely describes the characters of men, he
+commonly neglects and confounds the characters of ages, by mingling
+customs ancient and modern, English and foreign.
+
+My learned friend Mr. Warton, who has in the _Adventurer_ very minutely
+criticised this play, remarks, that the instances of cruelty are too
+savage and shocking, and that the intervention of Edmund destroys the
+simplicity of the story. These objections may, I think, be answered, by
+repeating, that the cruelty of the daughters is an historical fact, to
+which the poet has added little, having only drawn it into a series by
+dialogue and action. But I am not able to apologize with equal
+plausibility for the extrusion of Glo'ster's eyes, which seems an act
+too horrid to be endured in dramatic exhibition, and such as must always
+compel the mind to relieve its distress by incredulity. Yet let it be
+remembered that our author well knew what would please the audience for
+which he wrote.
+
+The injury done by Edmund to the simplicity of the action is abundantly
+recompensed by the addition of variety, by the art with which he is made
+to co-operate with the chief design, and the opportunity which he gives
+the poet of combining perfidy with perfidy, and connecting the wicked
+son with the wicked daughters, to impress this important moral, that
+villainy is never at a stop, that crimes lead to crimes, and at last
+terminate in ruin.
+
+But though this moral be incidentally enforced, Shakespeare has suffered
+the virtue of Cordelia to perish in a just cause, contrary to the
+natural ideas of justice, to the hope of the reader, and, what is yet
+more strange, to the faith of chronicles. Yet this conduct is justified
+by _The Spectator_, who blames Tate for giving Cordelia success and
+happiness in his alteration, and declares, that, in his opinion, _the
+tragedy has lost half its beauty_. Dennis has remarked, whether justly
+or not, that, to secure the favourable reception of _Cato, the town was
+poisoned with much false and abominable criticism_, and that endeavours
+had been used to discredit and decry poetical justice. A play in which
+the wicked prosper, and the virtuous miscarry, may doubtless be good,
+because it is a just representation of the common events of human life:
+but since all reasonable beings naturally love justice, I cannot easily
+be persuaded, that the observation of justice makes a play worse; or,
+that if other excellencies are equal, the audience will not always rise
+better pleased from the final triumph of persecuted virtue.
+
+In the present case the public has decided. Cordelia, from the time of
+Tate, has always retired with victory and felicity. And, if my
+sensations could add any thing to the general suffrage, I night relate,
+I was many years ago so shocked by Cordelia's death, that I know not
+whether I ever endured to read again the last scenes of the play till I
+undertook to revise them as an editor.
+
+There is another controversy among the critics concerning this play. It
+is disputed whether the predominant image in Lear's disordered mind be
+the loss of his kingdom or the cruelty of his daughters. Mr. Murphy, a
+very judicious critic, has evinced by induction of particular passages,
+that the cruelty of his daughters is the primary source of his distress,
+and that the loss of royalty affects him only as a secondary and
+subordinate evil. He observes with great justness, that Lear would move
+our compassion but little, did we not rather consider the injured father
+than the degraded king.
+
+The story of this play, except the episode of Edmund, which is derived,
+I think, from Sidney, is taken originally from Geoffry of Monmouth, whom
+Hollinshed generally copied; but perhaps immediately from an old
+historical ballad. My reason for believing that the play was posterior
+to the ballad, rather than the ballad to the play, is, that the ballad
+has nothing of Shakespeare's nocturnal tempest, which is too striking to
+have been omitted, and that it follows the chronicle; it has the
+rudiments of the play, but none of its amplifications: it first hinted
+Lear's madness, but did not array it in circumstances. The writer of the
+ballad added something to the history, which is a proof that he would
+have added more, if more had occurred to his mind, and more must have
+occurred if he had seen Shakespeare. [Johnson appends "A lamentable SONG
+of the Death of King Leir and his Three Daughters"]
+
+
+
+
+Vol. I
+
+ROMEO AND JULIET
+
+
+I.i.82 (9,7) Give me my long sword] The _long sword_ was the sword used
+in war, which was sometimes wielded with both hands.
+
+I.i.158 (11,2)
+
+  As is the bud bit with an envious worm,
+  Ere he can spread his sweet leaves to the air,
+  Or dedicate his beauty to the same]
+
+I cannot but suspect that some lines are lost, which connected this
+simile more closely with the foregoing speech; these lines, if such
+there were, lamented the danger that Romeo will die of his melancholy,
+before his virtues or abilities were known to the world.
+
+I.i.176 (12,3)
+
+  Alas, that love, whose view is muffled still,
+  Should, without eyes, see path-ways to his will.]
+
+Sir T. Hanmer, and after him Dr. Warburton, read, to his _ill_. The
+present reading has some obscurity; the meaning may be, that _love_
+finds out means to pursue his _desire_. That the _blind_ should _find
+paths to ill_ is no great wonder.
+
+I.i.183 (13,4) O brawling love! O loving hate!] Of these lines neither
+the sense nor occasion is very evident. He is not yet in love with an
+eneny, and to love one and hate another is no such uncommon state, as
+can deserve all this toil of antithesis.
+
+I.i.192 (14,5) Why, such is love's transgression] Such is the
+consequence of unskilful and mistaken kindness. (see 1765, VIII, 12, 2)
+
+1.1.198 (14,6) Being purg'd, a fire sparkling in lovers' eyes] The
+author may mean _being purged of smoke_, but it is perhaps a meaning
+never given to the word in any other place. I would rather read, _Being_
+urged, _a fire sparkling_. Being excited and inforced. To _urge_ the
+fire is the technical term.
+
+I.i.199 (14,7) Being vex'd, a sea nourish'd with lovers' tears] As this
+line stands single, it is likely that the foregoing or following line
+that rhym'd to it, is lost.
+
+I.i.206 (14,8) Tell me in sadness] That is, tell me _gravely_, tell me
+in _seriousness_.
+
+I.i.217 (15,1) in strong proof] In chastity _of proof_, as we say in
+armour _of proof_.
+
+I.i.222 (15,2)
+
+  O, she is rich in beauty; only poor
+  That when she dies, with beauty dies her store]
+
+Mr. Theobald reads, "_With_ her dies beauties _store_;" and is followed
+by the two succeeding editors. I have replaced the old reading, because
+I think it at least as plausible as the correction. _She is rich_, says
+he, _in beauty_, and _only poor_ in being subject to the lot of
+humanity, that _her store_, or riches, _can be destroyed by death_, who
+shall, by the same blow, put an end to beauty.
+
+I.ii.15 (17,2) She is the hopeful lady of my earth] _The lady of his
+earth_ is an expression not very intelligible, unless he means that she
+is heir to his estate, and I suppose no man ever called his lands his
+earth. I will venture to propose a bold change:
+
+  She is the hope _and stay_ of my _full years_.
+
+I.ii.25 (18,3) Earth-treading stars that make dark heaven light] [W:
+dark even] But why nonsense [Warburton's comment]? Is any thing mere
+commonly said, than that beauties eclipse the sun? Has not Pope the
+thought and the word?
+
+  "Sol through white curtains shot a tim'rous ray,
+  "And spe'd those eyes that must _eclipse the day_."
+
+Both the old and the new reading are philosophical nonsense, but they
+are both, and both equally poetical sense.
+
+I.ii.26 (18,4) Such comfort as do lusty young men feel] To say, and to
+say in pompous words, that a _young man shall feel_ as much in an
+assembly of beauties, _as young men feel in the month of April_, is
+surely to waste sound upon a very poor sentiment. I read,
+
+  Such comfort as do lusty _yeomen_ feel.
+
+You shall feel from the sight and conversation of these ladies, such
+hopes of happiness and such pleasure, as the farmer receives from the
+spring, when the plenty of the year begins, and the prospect of the
+harvest fills him with delight.
+
+I.ii.32 (18,5)
+
+  Such, amongst view of many, mine, being one.
+  May stand in number, the' in reckoning none]
+
+The first of these lines I do not understand. The old folio gives no
+help; the passage is there, _Which_ one _more view_. I can offer nothing
+better than this:
+
+  _Within your view_ of many, mine being one,
+  May stand in number, &c.
+
+I.iii.13 (22,1) to my teen] To my sorrow.
+
+I.iii.66 (24,4) It is an honour] The modern editors all read, _it is an
+honour_. I have restored the genuine word ["hour"], which is more seemly
+from a girl to her mother. _Your, fire_, and such words as are vulgarly
+uttered in two syllables, are used as dissyllables by Shakespeare. [The
+first quarto reads _honour_; the folio _hour_. I have chosen the reading
+of the quarto. STEEVENS.] (rev. 1778, X, 28, 2)
+
+I.iii.92 (25,9) That in gold clasps locks in the golden story] The
+_golden story_ is perhaps the _golden legend_, a book in the darker ages
+of popery much read, and doubtless often exquisitely embellished, but of
+which Canus, one of the popish doctors, proclaims the author to have
+been _homo ferrei oris, plumbei cordis_.
+
+I.iv.6 (27,2) like a crow-keeper] The word _crow-keeper_ is explained in
+Lear.
+
+I.iv.37 (28,8) for I am proverb'd with a grand-sire phrase] The
+grandsire phrase is--_The black ox has trod upon my foot_.
+
+I.iv.42 (30,1) Or (save your reverence) love] The word _or_ obscures the
+sentence; we ahould read _O_! for _or love_. Mercutio having called the
+affection vith which Romeo was entangled by so disrespectful a word as
+_mire_, cries out,
+
+  O! save your reverence, love.
+
+I.iv.84 (34,7) Spanish blades] A sword is called a toledo, from the
+excellence of the Toletan steel. So Gratius,
+
+  "--Ensis Toletanus
+  "Unda Tagi non est alie celebranda metallo,
+  Utilis in cives est ibi lamna sues."
+
+I.iv.113 (35,9) Direct my sail:] [I have restored this reading from the
+elder quarto, as being more congruous to the metaphor in the preceding
+line. _Suit_ is the reading of the folio. STEEVENS.]
+
+  _Direct my suit_! Guide the _sequel_ of the adventure.
+
+I.v.27 (37,4)
+
+  You are welcome, gentlemen. Come musicians, play.
+  A ball! a ball! Give room. And foot it, girls]
+
+These two lines, omitted by the modern editors, I have replaced from the
+folio.
+
+I.v.32 (37, 6) good cousin Capulet] This _cousin_ Capulet is _unkle_ in
+the paper of invitation; but as Capulet is described as old, _cousin_ is
+probably the right word in both places. I know not how Capulet and his
+lady might agree, their ages were very disproportionate; he has been
+past masking for thirty years, and her age, as she tells Juliet, is but
+eight-and-twenty.
+
+II.Prologue (42,3) _Enter CHORUS_] The use of this chorus is not easily
+discovered; it conduces nothing to the progress of the play, but relates
+what is already known, or what the next scenes will shew; and relates it
+without adding the improvement of any moral sentiment.
+
+II.ii.1 (45,1) He jests at scars] That is, Mercutio jests, whom he
+overheard.
+
+II.ii.7 (45,2) Be not her maid] Be not a votary to the moon, to Diana.
+
+II.ii.10 (45,3)
+
+  It is my lady; O! it is my love;
+  O, that she knew we were!]
+
+This line and half I have replaced.
+
+II.ii.39 (47,7) Thou art thyself, though not a Montague] I think the
+true reading is,
+
+  Thou art thyself, _then_ not a Montague.
+
+Thou art a being of peculiar excellence, and hast none of the malignity
+of the family, from which thou hast thy name.--Hanmer reads,
+
+  Thour't not _thyself_ so, _though_ a Montague.
+
+II.iii.15 (53,6) the powerful grace, that lies/In plants] Efficacious
+virtue.
+
+II.iii.27 (53,7) Two such opposed foes encamp them still] [W: opposed
+kin] _Foes_ may be the right reading, or _kings_, but I think _kin_ can
+hardly be admitted. Two _kings_ are two opposite _powers_, two
+contending _potentates_, in both the natural and moral world. The word
+_encamp_ is proper to _commanders_. (see 1765, VIII, 46, 2)
+
+II.iv.20 (57,3) courageous captain of compliments] A complete master of
+all the laws of ceremony, the principal man in the doctrine of
+punctilio.
+
+  "A man of compliments, whom right and wrong
+  "Have chose as umpire;"
+
+says our author of Don _Armado_, the Spaniard, in _Love's Labour Lost_.
+
+II.iv.27 (57,6) the hay!] All the terms of the modern fencing-school
+were originally Italian; the rapier, or small thrusting sword, being
+first used in Italy. The _hay_ is the word _hai_, you _have_ it, used
+when a thrust reaches the antagonist, from which our fencers, on the
+same occasion, without knowing, I suppose, any reason for it, cry out,
+_ha_!
+
+II.iv.35 (58,9) these pardonnez-moy's] _Pardonnez-moi_ became the
+language of doubt or hesitation among men of the sword, when the point
+of honour was grown so delicate, that no other mode of contradiction
+would be endured.
+
+II.iv.64 (59,3) then is my pump wall flower'd] Here is a vein of wit too
+thin to be easily found. The fundamental idea is, that Romeo wore
+_pinked_ pumps, that is, pumps punched with holes in figures.
+
+II.iv.87 (60,7) a wit of cheverel] _Cheverel_ is soft-leather for
+gloves.
+
+II.iv.138 (62,8) No hare, Sir] Mercutio having roared out, _So ho_! the
+cry of the sportsmen when they start a hare; Romeo asks _what he has
+found_. And Mercutio answers, _No hare_, &c. The rest is a series of
+quibbles unworthy of explanation, which he who does not understand,
+needs not lament his ignorance.
+
+II.iv.162 (63,1) none of his skains-mates] The word _skains-mate_, I do
+not understand, but suppose that _skains_ was some low play, and
+_skains-mate_, a companion at such play.
+
+II.iv.200 (64,2) like a tackled stair] Like stairs of rope in the tackle
+of a ship.
+
+II.iv.222 (65,4) Ah, mocker! that's the dog's name. R is for the nonce;
+I know it begins with another letter] This passage is thus in the old
+folio. _A mocker, that's the dog's name. R is for the_ no, _I know it
+begins with some other letter._ In this copy the error is but small. I
+read, _Ah, mocker. that's the dog's name. R is for the_ nonce, _I know
+it begins with another letter._ For the _nonce_, is for some _design,
+for a sly trick_.
+
+II.vi.15 (70,2) Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow] He that travels
+too fast is as long before he comes to the end of his journey, as he
+that travels slow. Precipitation produces mishap.
+
+III.i.2 (71,1) The day is hot] It is observed, that in Italy almost all
+assassinations are committed during the heat of summer.
+
+III.i.124 (75,6) This day's black fate on more days does depend] This
+day's unhappy destiny _hangs over_ the days yet to come. There will yet
+be more mischief.
+
+III.i.141 (78,7) Oh! I am fortune's fool] I am always running in the way
+of evil fortune, _like_ the fool in the play. _Thou art death's fool_,
+in _Measure for Measure_. See Dr. Warburton's note.
+
+III.i.153 (77,8) as thou art true] As thou art _just_ and _upright_.
+
+III.i.159 (77,9) How nice the quarrel] How _slight_, how _unimportant_,
+how _petty_. So in the last act,
+
+  The letter was not _nice_, but full of charge
+  Of dear import.
+
+III.i.182 (78,2) Affection makes him false] The charge of falshood on
+Bonvolio, though produced at hazard, is very just. The author, who seems
+to intend the character of Bonvolio as good, meant perhaps to shew, how
+the best minds, in a state of faction and discord, are detorted to
+criminal partiality.
+
+III.i.193 (78,3) I have an interest in your hate's proceeding: Sir
+Thomas Hanmer saw that this line gave no sense, and therefore put, by a
+very easy change,
+
+  I have an interest in your _heat's_ proceeding!
+
+which is undoubtedly better than the old reading which Dr. Warburton has
+followed; but the sense yet seems to be weak, and perhaps a more
+licentious correction is necessary. I read therefore,
+
+  I _had no_ interest in your _heat's preceding_.
+
+This, says the prince, is no quarrel of mine, _I had no interest in your
+former discord_; I suffer merely by your private animosity.
+
+III.ii.5 (79,3) Spread thy close curtain, love-performing night,/That
+run-away's eyes may wink] [Warburton explained the "run-away" as the
+"sun"] I am not satisfied with this explanation, yet have nothing better
+to propose.
+
+III.ii.10 (80,4) Come, civil night] _Civil_ is _grave, decently solemn_.
+
+III.ii.14 (80,5) unmann'd blood] Blood yet unacquainted with man.
+
+III.ii.25 (81,6) the garish sun] Milton had this speech in his thoughts
+when he wrote _Il Penseroso_.
+
+  "--Civil night,
+  "Thou sober-suited matron."--_Shakespeare_.
+  "Till civil-suited morn appear."--_Milton_.
+  "Pay no worship to the gairish sun."--_Shakespeare_.
+  "Hide me from day's gairish eye."--_Milton_.
+
+III.ii.46 (82,7) the death-darting eye of cockatrice] [The strange lines
+that follow here in the common books are not in the old edition. POPE.]
+The strange lines are these:
+
+  I am not I, if there be such an I,
+  Or these eyes shot, that makes thee answer I;
+  If he be slain, say I; or if not, no;
+  Brief sounds determine of my weal or woe.
+
+These lines hardly deserve emendatien; yet it may be proper to observe,
+that their meanness has not placed them below the malice of fortune, the
+two first of them being evidently transposed; we should read,
+
+  --That one vowel _I_ shall poison more,
+  Than the death-darting eye of cockatrice,
+  Or these eyes shot, that make thee answer, I.
+  I am not I, &c.
+
+III.ii.114 (85,9) Hath slain ten thousand Tybalts] Hath put Tybalt out
+of my mind, as if out of being.
+
+III.ii.120 (85,1) Which modern lamentation might have mov'd] This line
+is left out of the later editions, I suppose because the editors did not
+remember that Shakespeare uses _modern_ for _common_, or _slight_: I
+believe it was in his time confounded in colloquial language with
+_moderate_.
+
+III.iii.112 (89,4)
+
+  Unseemly woman in a seeming man!
+  And ill-beseeming beast in seeming both!]
+
+[W: seeming groth] The old reading is probable. _Thou art a beast of ill
+qualities, under the appearance both of a woman and a man_.
+
+III.iii.135 (90,5) And thou dismember'd with thine own defence] And thou
+torn to pieces with thy own weapons.
+
+III.iii.166-168 (91,6) Go hence. Good night] These three lines are
+omitted in all the modern editions.
+
+III.iii.166 (91,7) here stands all your state] The whole of your fortune
+depends on this.
+
+III.iv.12 (92,9) Sir Paris, I will make a desperate tender/Of my child's
+love] _Desperate_ means only _bold, advent'rous_, as if he had said in
+the vulgar phrase, _I will speak a_ bold _word_, and venture _to promise
+you my daughter_.
+
+III.v.20 (94,1) 'Tis but the pale reflex of Cynthia's brow] The
+appearance of a cloud opposed to the moon.
+
+III.v.23 (94,2) I have more care to stay, than will to go] Would it be
+better thus, _I have more will to stay, than care to go_?
+
+III.v.31 (94,3) Some say, the lark and loathed toad chang'd eyes] This
+tradition of the toad and lark I hare heard expressed in a rustick
+rhyme,
+
+  --_to heav'n I'd fly,
+  But the toad beguil'd me of my eye._
+
+III.v.33 (95,4)
+
+  Since arm from arm that voice doth us affray,
+  Hunting thee hence with huntaup to the day]
+
+These two lines are omitted in the modern editions, and do not deserve
+to be replaced, but as they may shew the danger of critical temerity.
+Dr. Warburton's change of _I would_ to _I wot_ was specious enough, yet
+it it is evidently erroneous. The sense is this, _The lark, they say,
+has lost her eyes to the toad, and now_ I would _the toad had her voice
+too, since she uses it to the disturbance of lovers_.
+
+III.v.86 (97,3)
+
+  _Jul._ Ay, Madam, from the reach of these my hands:
+  'Would, none but I might venge my cousin's death.!]
+
+Juliet's equivocations are rather too artful for a mind disturbed by the
+loss of a new lover.
+
+III.v.91 (98,4) That shall bestow on hin so sure a draught] [Thus the
+elder quarto, which I have followed in preference to the quarto 1609,
+and the folio 1623, which read, less intelligibly,
+
+  "Shall give him such an unaccustom'd dram." STEEVENS.]
+
+--_unaccustomed dram_.] In vulgar language, Shall give him a _dram_
+which he is _not used_ to. Though I have, if I mistake not, observed,
+that in old books _unaccustomed_ signifies _wonderful, powerful,
+efficacious_.
+
+III.v.112 (98,6) in happy time] _A la bonne heure_. This phrase was
+interjected, when the hearer was not quite so well pleased as the
+speaker.
+
+III.v.227 (103,3) As living here] Sir T. HANMER reads, _as living_
+hence; that is, at a dsitance, in banishment; but _here_ may signify,
+_in this world_.
+
+IV.i.3 (104,1) And I am nothing alow to slack his haste] _His haste
+shall not be abated by my slowness_. It might be read,
+
+  And I an nothing slow to _back_ his haste:
+
+that is, I am diligent to _abet_ and _enforce_ his haste.
+
+IV.i.l8 (104,2)
+
+  _Par._ Happily met, my lady and my wife!
+  _Jul._ That may be, Sir, when I may be a wife]
+
+As these four first lines seem intended to rhyme, perhaps the author wrote thus:
+
+  --my lady and my _life_!
+
+IV.i.62 (106,3) this bloody knife/Shall play the umpire] That is, this
+knife shall decide the struggle between me and my distress.
+
+IV.i.64 (106,4) commission of thy years and art] _Commission_ is for
+_authority_ or _power_.
+
+IV.i.79 (106,5)
+
+  Or chain me to some sleepy mountain's top,
+  Where rearing bears and savage lions roam;
+  Or shut me nightly in a charnel house]
+  [Or walk in thievish ways, or bid me lurk
+  Where serpents are; chain me with rearing bears,
+  Or hide me nightly, &c.
+
+It is thus the editions vary. POPE.] my edition has the words which Mr.
+Pope has omitted; but the old copy seems in this place preferable; only
+perhaps we might better read,
+
+  Where _savage_ bears and _rearing_ lions roam.
+
+IV.i.119 (108,8) If no unconstant toy] If no _fickle freak_, no _light
+caprice_, no _change of fancy_, hinder the performance.
+
+IV.ii.38 (110,2) We shall be short] That is, we shall be _defective_.
+
+IV.iii.3 (110,3) For I have need of many orisons] Juliet plays most of
+her pranks under the appearance of religion: perhaps Shakespeare meant
+to punish her hypocrisy.
+
+IV.iii.46 (112,6) Alas, alas! it is not like that I] This speech is
+confused, and inconsequential, according to the disorder of Juliet's
+mind.
+
+IV.iv.4 (113,1) The curfeu bell] I knew not that the morning-bell is
+called the _curfeu_ in any other place.
+
+IV.iv.107 (119,9) O, play me some merry dump] This is not in the folio,
+but the answer plainly requires it.
+
+V.i (121,1) ACT V. SCENE I. MANTUA] The acts are here properly enough
+divided, nor did any better distribution than the editors have already
+made, occur to me in the perusal of this play; yet it may not be
+improper to remark, that in the first folio, and I suppose the foregoing
+editions are in the same state, there is no division of the acts, and
+therefore some future editor may try, whether any improvement can be
+made, by reducing them to a length more equal, or interrupting the
+action at more proper intervals.
+
+V.i.1 (121,2) If I may trust the flattering truth of sleep] The sense
+is, _If I may only trust the_ honesty _of sleep_, which I know however
+not to be so nice as not often to practise _flattery_.
+
+V.i.3 (121,3)
+
+  My bosom's lord sits lightly on his throne;
+  And all this day an unaccustom'd spirit
+  Lifts me above the ground with chearful thoughts]
+
+These three lines are very gay and pleasing. But why does Shakespeare
+give Romeo this involuntary cheerfulness just before the extremity of
+unhappiness? Perhaps to shew the vanity of trusting to these uncertain
+and casual exaltations or depressions, which many consider as certain
+foretokens of good and evil.
+
+V.i.45 (123,6) A beggarly account of empty boxes] Dr. Warburton would
+read, a _braggartly_ account; but _beggarly_ is probably right: if the
+_boxes_ were _empty_, the _account_ was more _beggarly_, as it was more
+pompous.
+
+V.iii.31 (127,1) a ring that I must use/In dear employment] That is,
+_action of importance_. Gems were supposed to have great powers and
+virtues.
+
+V.iii.86 (129,4) her beauty makes/This vault a feasting presence full of
+light] A _presence_ is a _public room_.
+
+V.iii.90 (129,5) O, how may I/Call this a lightning?] I think we should
+read,
+
+  --_O_, now _may I
+  Call this a lightning_!--
+
+V.iii.178 (135,1)
+
+  Raise up the Montagues.--Some others; search:--
+  We see the ground whereon these woes do lie;
+  But the true ground of all these piteous woes
+  We cannot without circumstance descry]
+
+Here seems to be a rhyme intended, which may be easily restored;
+
+  "Raise up the Montagues. Some others, go.
+  "We see the ground whereon these woes do lie,
+  "But the true ground of all _this_ piteous _woe_
+  "We cannot without circumstance descry."
+
+V.iii.194 (136,2) What fear is this, which startles in our ears?]
+[Originally _your ears_] Read,
+
+  "What fear is this, which startles in _our_ ears?
+
+V.iii.229 (138,6) _Fri._ I will be brief] It is much to be lamented,
+that the poet did not conclude the dialogue with the action, and avoid a
+narrative of events which the audience already knew.
+
+(141) General Observation. This play is one of the most pleasing of our
+author's performances. The scenes are busy and various, the incidents
+numerous and important, the catastrophe irresistibly affecting, and the
+process of the action carried on with such probability, at least with
+such congruity to popular opinions, as tragedy requires.
+
+Here is one of the few attempts of Shakespeare to exhibit the
+conversation of gentlemen, to represent the airy sprightliness of
+juvenile elegance. Mr. Dryden mentions a tradition, which might easily
+reach his time, of a declaration made by Shakespeare, that _he was
+obliged to kill Mercutio in the third act, lest he should have been
+killed by him_. Yet he thinks him _no such formidable person, but that
+he might have lived through the play, and died in his bed_, without
+danger to a poet. Dryden well knew, had he been in quest of truth, that,
+in a pointed sentence, more regard is commonly had to the words than the
+thought, and that it is very seldom to be rigorously understood.
+Mercutio's wit, gaiety, and courage, will always procure him friends
+that wish him a longer life; but his death is not precipitated, he has
+lived out the time allotted him in the construction of the play; nor do
+I doubt the ability of Shakespeare to have continued his existence,
+though some of his sallies are perhaps out of the reach of Dryden; whose
+genius was not very fertile of merriment, nor ductile to humour, but
+acute, argumentative, comprehensive, and sublime.
+
+The Nurse is one of the characters in which the author delighted: he
+has, with great subtilty of distinction, drawn her at once loquacious
+and secret, obsequious and insolent, trusty and dishonest.
+
+His comic scenes are happily wrought, but his pathetic strains are
+always polluted with some unexpected depravations. His persons, however
+distressed, _have a conceit left them in their misery, a miserable
+conceit_.
+
+
+
+
+HAMLET
+
+
+(145,2) This play is printed both in the folio of 1623, and in the
+quarto of 1637, more correctly, than almost any other of the works of
+Shakespeare.
+
+I.i.29 (147,7) approve our eyes] Add a new testimony to that of our
+eyes.
+
+I.i.33 (147,8) What we two nights have seen] This line is by Hanmer
+given to Marcellus, but without necessity.
+
+I.i.63 (149,9) He smote the sledded Polack on the ice] Polack was, in
+that age, the term for an inhabitant of Poland: Polaque, French. As in a
+translation of Passeratius's epitaph on Henry III. of France, published
+by Camden:
+
+  "Whether thy chance or choice thee hither brings,
+  "Stay, passenger, and wail the best of kings.
+  "this little stone a great king's heart doth hold,
+  "Who rul'd the fickle French and Polacks bold:
+  "So frail are even the highest earthly things,
+  "Go, passenger, and wail the hap of kings." (rev. 1776, I, 174,3)
+
+I.i.65 (149,2) and just at this dead hour] The old reading is, _jump at
+this same hour; same_ is a kind of correlative to _jump; just_ is in the
+oldest folio. The correction was probably made by the author.
+
+I.i.68 (149,4) gross and scope] General thoughts, and tendency at large.
+(1773)
+
+I.i.93 (151,7) And carriage of the articles design'd] _Carriage_, is
+_import; design'd_, is _formed, drawn up between them_.
+
+I.i.96 (151,8) Of unimproved mettle hot and full] _Full of unimproved
+mettle_, is full of spirit not regulated or guided by knowledge or
+experience.
+
+I.i.100 (151,1) That hath a stomach in't] _Stomach_, in the time of our
+author, was used for _constancy, resolution_.
+
+I.i.107 (152,3) romage] Tumultous hurry. (1773)
+
+I.i.108-125 (152,3) These, and all other lines confin'd within crotchets
+throughout this play, are omitted in the folio edition of 1623. The
+omissions leave the play sometimes better and sometimes worse, and seen
+made only for the sake of abbreviation.
+
+I.i.109 (152,4) Well may it sort] The cause and the effect are
+proportionate and suitable. (1773)
+
+I.i.121 (152,7) Was even the like precurse of fierce events] Not only
+such prodigies have been seen in Rome, but the elements have shewn our
+countrymen like forerunners and foretokens of violent events. (1773)
+
+I.i.128 (153,1) If thou hast any sound] The speech of Horatio to the
+spectre is very elegant and noble, and congruous to the common
+traditions of the causes of apparitions.
+
+I.i.153 (154,2)
+
+  Whether in sea or fire, in earth or air,
+  The extravagant and erring spirit hies
+  To his confine]
+
+According to the pneumatology of that tine, every element was inhabited
+by its peculiar order of spirits, who had dispositions different,
+according to their various places of abode. The meaning therefore is,
+that all _spirits extravagant_, wandering out of their element, whether
+aerial spirits visiting earth, or earthly spirits ranging the air,
+return to their station, to their proper limits in which they are
+_confined_. We might read,
+
+  "--And at his warning
+  "Th' extravagant and erring spirit hies
+  "To his confine, whether in sea or air,
+  "Or earth, or fire. And of, &c.
+
+But this change, tho' it would smooth the construction, is not
+necessary, and being unnecessary, should not be made against authority.
+
+I.i.163 (154,5) No fairy takes] No fairy _strikes_, with lameness or
+diseases. This sense of _take_ is frequent in this author.
+
+I.ii.37 (156,8) more than the scope/Of these dilated articles allows]
+More than is comprised in the general design of these articles, which
+you may explain in a more diffuse and dilated stile. (1773)
+
+I.ii.47 (157,9)
+
+  The head is not more native to the heart,
+  The hand more instrumental to the mouth,
+  Than to the throne of Denmark is thy father]
+
+[W: The blood ... Than to the throne] Part of this emendation I have
+received, but cannot discern why the _head_ is not as much _native to
+the heart_, as the _blood_, that is, _natural_ and _congenial_ to it,
+_born with it_, and co-operating with it. The relation is likewise by
+this reading better preserved, the _counsellor_ being to the _king_ as
+the _head_ to the _heart_.
+
+I.ii.62 (158,1)
+
+  Take thy fair hour, Laertes; time be thine,
+  And thy best graces spend it at thy will]
+
+I rather think this line is in want of emendation. I read,
+
+  --_Time is thine_,
+  _And_ my best _graces; spend it at thy will_.
+
+I.ii.65 (158,2) A little more than kin, and less than kind] _Kind_ is
+the Teutonick word for _child_. Hamlet therefore answers with propriety,
+to the titles of _cousin_ and _son_, which the king had given him, that
+he was somewhat more than _cousin_, and less than _son_.
+
+I.ii.67 (159,3) too much i' the sun] He perhaps alludes to the proverb,
+_Out of heaven's blessing into the warm sun_.
+
+I.ii.70 (159,4) veiled lids] With lowering eyes, cast down eyes. (1773)
+
+I.ii.89 (160,5) your father lost a father;/That father lost, lost his] I
+do not admire the repetition of the word, but it has so much of our
+author's manner, that I find no temptation to recede from the old
+copies.
+
+I.ii.92 (160,6) obsequious sorrow] _Obsequious_ is here from
+_obsequies_, or _funeral ceremonies_.
+
+I.ii.103 (161,9) To reason most absurd] Reason is here used in its
+common sense, for the _faculty_ by which we form conclusions from
+arguments.
+
+I.ii.110 (161,1) And with no less nobility of love] [_Nobility_, for
+_magnitude_. WARBURTON.] _Nobility_ is rather _generosity_.
+
+I.ii.112 (161,2) Do I impart toward you] I believe _impart_ is, _impart
+myself_, _communicate_ whatever I can bestow.
+
+I.ii.125 (162,4) No jocund health] The king's intemperance is very
+strongly impressed; every thing that happens to him gives him occasion
+to drink.
+
+I.ii.163 (164,9) I'll change that name] I'll be your servant, you shall
+be my friend. (1773)
+
+I.ii.164 (164,1) what make you] A familiar phrase for _what are you
+doing_.
+
+I.ii.167 (164,2) good Even, Sir] So the copies. Sir Th. Hanmer and Dr.
+Warburton put it, _good morning_. The alteration is of no importance,
+but all licence is dangerous. There is no need of any change. Between
+the first and eighth scene of this act it is apparent, that a natural
+day must pass, and how much of it is already over, there is nothing that
+can determine. The king has held a council. It may now as well be
+_evening_ as _morning_.
+
+I.ii.182 (165,3) 'Would I had met my dearest foe in heaven] _Dearest_,
+for _direst_, most dreadful, most dangerous.
+
+I.ii.192 (165,5) Season your admiration] That is, _temper_ it.
+
+I.ii.204 (166,6) they, distill'd/Almost to jelly with the act of
+fear,/Stand dumb] [W: th' effect of] Here is an affectation of subtilty
+without accuracy. _Fear_ is every day considered as an _agent_. _Fear
+laid hold on him; fear drove him away_. If it were proper to be rigorous
+in examining trifles, it might be replied, that Shakespeare would write
+more erroneously, if he wrote by the direction of this critick; they
+were not _distilled_, whatever the word may mean, _by the effect of
+fear_; for that _distillation_ was itself the _effect_; _fear_ was the
+cause, the active cause, that _distilled_ them by that force of
+operation which we strictly call _act_ involuntary, and _power_ in
+involuntary agents, but popularly call _act_ in both. But of this too
+much.
+
+I.iii.15 (169,9) The virtue of his will] _Virtue_ seems here to comprise
+both _excellence_ and _power_, and may be explained the _pure effect_.
+
+I.iii.21 (169,1) The sanity and health of the whole state] [W: safety]
+HANMER reads very rightly, _sanity_. _Sanctity_ is elsewhere printed for
+_sanity_, in the old edition of this play.
+
+I.iii.32 (170,2) unmaster'd] i.e. _licentious_. (1773)
+
+I.iii.34 (170,3) keep you in the rear of your affection] That is, do not
+advance so far as your affection would lead you.
+
+I.iii.49 (170,4) Whilst, like a puft and reckless libertine] [W: Whilest
+he] The emendation is not amiss, but the reason for it is very
+inconclusive; we use the same mode of speaking on many occasions. When I
+say of one, _he squanders like a spendthrift_, of another, _he robbed me
+like a thief_, the phrase produces no ambiguity; it is understood that
+the one is a _spendthrift_, and the other a _thief_.
+
+I.iii.64 (172,7) But do not dull thy palm with entertainment/Of each
+new-hatch'd, unfledg'd comrade] The literal sense is, _Do not make thy
+palm callous by shaking every man by the hand_. The figurative meaning
+may be, _Do not by promiscuous conversation make thy mind insensible to
+the difference of characters_.
+
+I.iii.81 (173,1) my blessing season this in thee!] [_Season_, for
+_infuse_. WARBURTON.] It is more than to _infuse_, it is to infix it in
+such a manner as that it never may wear out.
+
+I.iii.83 (173,3) your servants tend] i.e. your servants are waiting for
+you. (1773)
+
+I.iii.86 (173,4) 'Tis in my memory lock'd,/And you yourself shall keep
+the key of it] That is, By thinking on you, I shall think on your
+lessons.
+
+I.iii.107 (174,6)
+
+  Tender yourself mere dearly;
+  Or (not to crack the wind of the poor phrase)
+  Wronging it thus, you'll tender me a fool]
+
+I believe the word _wronging_ has reference, not to the phrase, but to
+Ophelia; if you go on _wronging it thus_, that is, _if you continue to
+go on thus wrong_. This is a mode of speaking perhaps not very
+grammatical, but very common, nor have the best writers refused it.
+
+  _To sinner it or saint it_,
+
+is in Pope. And Rowe,
+
+  --_Thus to_ coy it,
+  _To one who knows you too._
+
+The folio has it,
+
+  --_roaming it thus_,--
+
+That is, _letting yourself loose to such improper liberty_. But
+_wronging_ seems to be more proper.
+
+I.iii.112 (175,7) fashion you may call it] She uses _fashion_ for
+_manner_, and he for a _transient practice_.
+
+I.iii.122 (175,8) Set your intreatments] _Intreatments_ here means
+_company, conversation_, from the French _entretien_.
+
+I.iii.125 (175,9) larger tether] _Tether_ is that string by which an
+animal, set to graze in grounds uninclosed, is confined within the
+proper limits. (1773)
+
+I.iii.132 (176,2) I would not, in plain terms, from this time forth,/
+Have you so slander any moment's leisure] [The humour of this is fine.
+WARBURTON.] Here is another _fine_ passage, of which I take the beauty
+to be only imaginary. Polonius says, _in plain terms_, that is, not in
+language less elevated or embellished than before, but _in terms that
+cannot be misunderstood_: _I would not have you so disgrace your most
+idle moments, as not to find better employment for them than lord
+Hamlet's conversation_.
+
+I.iv.9 (177,3) the swaggering up-spring] The blustering upstart.
+
+I.iv.17 (177,4) This heavy-headed revel, east and west] I should not
+have suspected this passage of ambiguity or obscurity, had I not found
+my opinion of it differing from that of the learned critic [Warburton].
+I construe it thus, _This heavy-headed revel makes us traduced east and
+west, and taxed of other nations_.
+
+I.iv.22 (178,5) The pith and marrow of our attribute] The best and most
+valuable part of the praise that would be otherwise attributed to us.
+
+I.iv.32 (178,7) fortune's scar] In the old quarto of 1637, it is
+
+  --_fortune's_ star:
+
+But I think _scar_ is proper.
+
+I.iv.34 (178,8) As infinite as man may undergo] As large as can be
+accumulated upon man.
+
+I.iv.39-57 (179,2) Angels and ministers of grace defend us!] Hamlet's
+speech to the apparition of his father seems to me to consist of three
+parts. When first he sees the spectre, he fortifies himself with an
+invocation.
+
+  _Angel and ministers of grace defend us!_
+
+As the spectre approaches, he deliberates with himself, and determines,
+that whatever it be he will venture to address it.
+
+  _Be thou a spirit of health, or goblin damn'd,
+  Bring with thee airs from heaven, or blasts from hell,
+  Be thy intents wicked or charitable,
+  Thou com'st in such a questionable shape,
+  That I will speak to thee. I'll call thee_, &c.
+
+This he says while his father is advancing; he then, as he had
+determined, _speaks to him_, and _calls him--Hamlet, King, Father, Royal
+Dane: oh! answer me_. (1773)
+
+I.iv.43 (180,4) questionable shape] [By _questionable_ is meant
+provoking question. HANMER.] So in _Macbeth_,
+
+  _Live you, or are you aught
+  That man may_ question?
+
+I.iv.46 (180,5) tell,/Why thy canoniz'd bones, hearsed in death,/ Have
+burst their cearments?] [W: in earth] It were too long to examine this
+note period by period, though almost every period seems to me to contain
+something reprehensible. The critic, in his zeal for change, writes with
+so little consideration, as to say, that Hamlet cannot call his father
+_canonized_, because _we are told he was murdered with all his sins
+fresh upon him_. He was not then told it, and had so little the power of
+knowing it, that he was to be told it by an apparition. The long
+succession of reasons upon reasons prove nothing, but what every reader
+discovers, that the king had been buried, which is implied by so many
+adjuncts of burial, that the direct mention of _earth_ is not necessary.
+Hamlet, amazed at an apparition, which, though in all ages credited, has
+in all ages been considered as the most wonderful and most dreadful
+operation of supernatural agency, enquires of the spectre, in the most
+emphatic terms, why he breaks the order of nature, by returning from the
+dead; this he asks in a very confused circumlocution, confounding in his
+fright the soul and body. Why, says he, have _thy bones_, which with due
+ceremonies have been intombed _in death_, in the common state of
+departed mortals, _burst_ the folds in which they were embalmed? Why has
+the tomb, in which we saw thee quietly laid, opened his mouth, that
+mouth which, by its weight and stability, seemed closed for ever? The
+whole sentence is this: _Why dost thou appear, whom we know to be dead?_
+
+Had the change of the word removed any obscurity, or added any beauty,
+it might have been worth a struggle; but either reading leaves the sense
+the same.
+
+If there be any asperity in this controversial note, it must be imputed
+to the contagion of peevishneas, or some resentment of the incivility
+shewn to the Oxford editor, who is represented as supposing the ground
+_canonized_ by a funeral, when he only meant to say, that the _body_ has
+deposited in _holy ground_, in ground consecrated according to the
+_canon_.
+
+I.iv.65 (183,9) I do not set my life at a pin's fee] The value of a pin.
+(1773)
+
+I.iv.73 (183,1) deprive your sovereignty] I believe _deprive_ in this
+place signifies simply to _take away_.
+
+I.iv.77 (184,4) confin'd to fast in fires] I am rather inclined to read,
+_confin'd to_ lasting _fires_, to fires _unremitted_ and _unconsumed_.
+The change is slight.
+
+I.v.30 (186,7) As meditation or the thoughts of love] The comment
+[Warburton's] on the word _meditation_ is so ingenious, that I hope it
+is just.
+
+I.v.77 (188,6) Unhonsel'd, disappointed, unaneal'd] This is a very
+difficult line. I think Theobald's objection to the sense of
+_unaneal'd_, for _notified by the bell_, must be owned to be very
+strong. I have not yet by my enquiry satisfied myself. Hanmer's
+explication of _unaneal'd_ by _unprepar'd_, because to _anneal_ metals,
+is to _prepare_ them in manufacture, is too general and vague; there is
+no resemblance between any funeral ceremony and the practice of
+_annealing_ metals.
+
+_Disappointed_ is the same as _unappointed_, and may be properly
+explained _unprepared_; a man well furnished with things necessary for
+any enterprize, was said to be well _appointed_.
+
+I.v.80 (190,7) Oh, horrible! oh, horrible! most horrible!] It was
+ingeniously hinted to me by a very learned lady, that this line seems to
+belong to Hamlet, in whose mouth it is a proper and natural exclamation;
+and who, according to the practice of the stage, may be supposed to
+interrupt so long a speech. (1773)
+
+I.v.154 (193,5) Swear by my sword] [Here the poet has preserved the
+manners of the ancient Danes, with whom it was _religion_ to swear upon
+their swords. WARBURTON.] I was once inclinable to this opinion, which
+is likewise well defended by Mr. Upton; but Mr. Garrick produced me a
+passage, I think, in _Brantoms_, from which it appeared, that it was
+common to swear upon the sword, that is, upon the cross which the old
+swords always had upon the hilt.
+
+II.i.25 (197,8) drinking, fencing, swearing] I suppose, by _fencing_ is
+meant a too diligent frequentation of the fencing-school, a resort of
+violent and lawless young men.
+
+II.i.46 (197,4) _Good Sir_, or so, or _friend_, or _gentleman_] [W:
+sire] I know not that _sire_ was ever a general word of compliment, as
+distinct from _sir_; nor do I conceive why any alteration should be
+made. It is a common mode of colloquial language to use, _or so_, as a
+slight intimation of more of the same, or a like kind, that might be
+mentioned. We might read, but we need not,
+
+  _Good sir_, forsooth, _or friend, or gentleman_.
+
+_Forsooth_, a term of which I do not well know the original meaning, was
+used to men as well as to women.
+
+II.i.71 (198,5) Observe his inclination in yourself] HANMER reads,
+_e'en_ yourself, and is followed by Dr. Warburton; but perhaps _in_
+yourself means, _in your own person_, not by spies.
+
+II.i.112 (200,7) I had not quoted him] To _quote_ is, I believe, to
+_reckon_, to take an account of, to take the _quotient_ or result of a
+computation.
+
+II.i.114 (201,8)
+
+                    it as proper to our age
+  To cast beyond ourselves in our opinions,
+  As it is common for the younger sort
+  To lack discretion]
+
+This is not the remark of a weak man. The vice of age is too much
+suspicion. Men long accustomed to the wiles of life _cast_ commonly
+_beyond themselves_, let their cunning go further than reason can attend
+it. This is always the fault of a little mind, made artful by long
+commerce with the world.
+
+II.ii.24 (202,2)
+
+  For the supply and profit of our hope,
+  Your visitation shall receive such thanks]
+
+That the hope which your arrival has raised may be completed by the
+desired effect.
+
+II.ii.47 (203,4) the trail of policy] The _trail_ is the _course of an
+animal pursued by the scent_.
+
+Il.ii.52 (203,5) My news shall be the fruit of that great feast] The
+_desert_ after the meat.
+
+II.ii.84 (204,7) at night we'll feast] The king's intemperance is never
+suffered to be forgotten.
+
+II.ii.86-167 (205,8) My liege, and Madam, to expostulate] This account
+of the character of Polonius, though it sufficiently reconciles the
+seeming inconsistency of so much wisdom with so much folly, does not
+perhaps correspond exactly to the ideas of our author. The commentator
+Warburton makes the character of Polonius, a character only of manners,
+discriminated by properties superficial, accidental, and acquired. The
+poet intended a nobler delineation of a mixed character of manners and
+of nature. Polonius is a man bred in courts, exercised in business,
+stored with observations, confident of his knowledge, proud of his
+eloquence, and declining into dotage. His mode of oratory is truly
+represented as designed to ridicule the practice of those times, of
+prefaces that made no introduction, and of method that embarrassed
+rather than explained. This part of his character is accidental, the
+rest is natural. Such a man is positive and confident, because he knows
+that his mind was once strong, and knows not that it is become weak.
+Such a man excels in general principles, but fails in the particular
+application. He is knowing in retrospect, and ignorant in foresight.
+While he depends upon his memory, and can draw from his repositories of
+knowledge, he utters weighty sentences, and gives useful counsel; but as
+the mind in its enfeebled state cannot be kept long busy and intent, the
+old man is subject to sudden dereliction of his faculties, he loses the
+order of his ideas, and entangles himself in his own thoughts, till he
+recovers the leading principle, and falls again into his former train.
+This idea of dotage encroaching upon wisdom, will solve all the
+phaenomena of the character of Polonius.
+
+II.ii.109 (207,1) _To the celestial, and my soul's idol, the most
+beautified Ophelia_] [T: beatified] Both Sir Thomas Hanmer and Dr.
+Warburton have followed Theobald, but I am in doubt whether
+_beautified_, though, as Polonius calls it, a _vile phrase_, be not the
+proper word. _Beautified_ seems to be a _vile phrase_, for the ambiguity
+of its meaning, (rev. 1778, X, 241, 3)
+
+II.ii.126 (208,2) more above] is, _moreover, besides_.
+
+II.ii.145 (209,6) she took the fruits of my advice] She took the
+_fruits_ of advice when she obeyed advice, the advice was then made
+_fruitful_.
+
+II.ii.181 (211,9) For if the sun breed maggots in a dead dog,/Being a
+god, kissing carrion] [This is Warburton's emendation for "a good
+kissing"] This is a noble emendation, which almost sets the critic on a
+level with the author.
+
+II.ii.265 (214,2) the shadow of a dream] Shakespeare has accidentally
+inverted an expression of Pindar, that the state of humanity is the
+_dream_ of a _shadow_.
+
+II.ii.269 (215,3) Then are our beggars, bodies] Shakespeare seems here
+to design a ridicule of these declamations against wealth and greatness,
+that seem to make happiness consist in poverty.
+
+II.ii.336 (217,7) shall end his part in peace] [After these words the
+folio adds, _the clown shall make those laugh whose lungs are tickled o'
+th' sere_. WARBURTON.] This passage I have omitted, for the same reason,
+I suppose, as the other editors: I do not understand it.
+
+II.ii.338 (217,8) the lady shall say her mind freely, or the blank verse
+shall halt for't] _The lady shall have no obstruction, unless from the
+lameness of the verse._
+
+II.ii.346 (217,9) I think, their inhibition comes by the means of the
+late innovation] I fancy this is transposed: Hamlet enquires not about
+an _inhibition_, but an _innovation_; the answer therefore probably was,
+_I think, their_ innovation, _that is_, their new practice of strolling,
+_comes by the means of the late_ inhibition.
+
+II.ii.352-379 (218,1) _Ham._ How comes it? do they grow rusty?] The
+lines marked with commas are in the folio of 1623, but not in the quarto
+of 1637, nor, I suppose, in any of the quartos.
+
+II.ii.355 (218,2) cry out on the top of question] The meaning seems to
+be, they ask a common question in the highest notes of the voice.
+
+II.ii.362 (218,3) escoted] Paid.
+
+II.ii.362 (218,4) Will they pursue quality no longer than they can
+_sing_?] Will they follow the _profession_ of players no longer than
+they keep the voices of boys? So afterwards he says to the player,
+_Come, give us a taste of your_ quality; come, _a passionate speech_.
+
+II.ii.370 (219,6) to tarre them on to controversy] To provoke any animal
+to rage, is _to tarre him_. The word is said to come from the Greek.
+(1773)
+
+II.ii.380 (219,8) It is not very strange, for mine uncle is king of
+Denmark] I do not wonder that the new players have so suddenly risen to
+reputation, my uncle supplies another example of the facility with which
+honour is conferred upon new claimants.
+
+II.ii.412 (220,2) Buz, buz!] Mere idle talk, the _buz_ of the vulgar.
+
+II.ii.414 (220,3) _Then came each actor on his ass_] This seems to be a
+line of a ballad.
+
+II.ii.420 (221,6) For the law of writ, and the liberty, these are the
+only men] All the modern editions have, _the law of_ wit, _and the
+liberty_; but both my old copies have, _the law of_ writ, I believe
+rightly. _Writ_, for _writing, composition_. Wit_ was not, in our
+author's time, taken either for _imagination_, or _acuteness_, or _both
+together_, but for _understanding_, for the faculty by which we
+_apprehend_ and _judge_. Those who wrote of the human mind distinguished
+its primary powers into _wit_ and _will_. Ascham distinguishes _boys_ of
+tardy and of active faculties into _quick wits_ and _slow wits_.
+
+II.ii.438 (221,8) the first row of the pious chanson] [It is _pons
+chansons_ in the first folio edition. POPE.] It is _pons chansons_ in
+the quarto too. I know not whence the _rubric_ has been brought, yet it
+has not the appearance of an arbitrary addition. The titles of old
+ballads were never printed red; but perhaps _rubric_ may stand for
+_marginal explanation_.
+
+II.ii.439 (222,9) For, look, where my abridgment comes] He calls the
+players afterwards, _the brief chronicles of the time_; but I think he
+now means only _those who will shorten my talk_.
+
+II.ii.448 (223,2) be not crack'd within the ring] That is, _crack'd too
+much for use_. This is said to a young player who acted the parts of
+women.
+
+II.ii.450 (223,3) like French faulconers] HANMER, who has much
+illustrated the allusions to falconry, reads, _like_ French _falconers.
+[French falconers_ is not a correction by Hanmer, but the reading of the
+first folio. STEEVENS.] (see 1765, VIII, 198, 1)
+
+II.ii.459 (223,5) (as I received it, and others whose judgment in such
+matters cried in the top of mine)] [i.e. whose judgment I had the
+highest opinion of. WARBURTON.] I think it means only that _were higher
+than mine_.
+
+II.ii.466 (224,8) but called it, an honest method] Hamlet is telling how
+much his judgment differed from that of others. _One said, there was no
+salt in the lines_, &c. _but call'd it an honest method_. The author
+probably gave it, _But I called it an honest method_, &c.
+
+II.ii.525 (226,9) _the mobled queen] Mobled signifies _huddled, grossly
+covered_.
+
+II.ii.587 (228,5) the cue for passion] The _hint_, the _direction_.
+
+II.ii.589 (228,6) the general ear] The ears of all mankind. So before,
+_Caviare to the_ general, that is, to the _multitude_.
+
+II.ii.595 (229,7) unpregnant of my cause] [_Unpregnant_, for _having no
+due sense of_. WARBURTON.] Rather, _not quickened with a new desire of
+vengeance; not teeming with revenge_.
+
+II.ii.598 (229,8) A damn'd defeat was made] [_Defeat_, for
+_destruction_. WARBURTON.] Rather, _dispossession_.
+
+II.ii.608 (229,1) kindless] _Unnatural_.
+
+II.ii.616 (229,3) About, my brain!] _Wits, to your work_. _Brain_, go
+_about_ the present business.
+
+II.ii.625 (230,5) tent him] Search his wounds.
+
+II.ii.632 (230,7) More relative than this] [_Relative_, for
+_convictive_. WARB.] _Convictive_ is only the consequential sense.
+_Relative_ is, _nearly related, closely connected_.
+
+III.i.17 (231,2) o'er-raught on the way] _Over-raught_ is
+_over-reached_, that is, _over-took_.
+
+III.i.31 (232,4) Affront Ophelia.] To _affront_, is only _to meet
+directly_.
+
+III.i.47 (233,5) 'Tis too much prov'd] It is found by too frequent
+experience.
+
+III.i.52 (233,6) more ugly to the thing that helps it] That is,
+_compared with_ the thing that helps it.
+
+III.i.56-88 (233,7) To be, or not to be?] Of this celebrated soliloquy,
+which bursting from a man distracted with contrariety of desires, and
+overwhelmed with the magnitude of his own purposes, is connected rather
+in the speaker's mind, than on his tongue, I shall endeavour to discover
+the train, and to shew how one sentiment produces another. Hamlet,
+knowing himself injured in the most enormous and atrocious degree, and
+seeing no means of redress, but such as must expose him to the extremity
+of hazard, meditates on his situation in this manner: _Before I can form
+any rational scheme of action under this pressure of distress_, it is
+necessary to decide, whether, _after our present state, we are_ to be or
+not to be. That is the question, which, as it shall be answered, will
+determine, _whether 'tis nobler_, and more suitable to the dignity of
+reason, _to suffer the outrages of fortune_ patiently, or to take arms
+against _them_, and by opposing end them, _though perhaps_ with the loss
+of life. If _to die_, were _to sleep_, no more, _and by a sleep to end_
+the miseries of our nature, such a sleep were _devoutly to be wished_;
+but if _to sleep_ in death, be _to dream_, to retain our powers of
+sensibility, we must _pause_ to consider, _in that sleep of death what
+dreams may come_. This consideration _makes calamity_ so long endured;
+for _who would bear_ the vexations of life, which might be ended _by a
+bare bodkin_, but that he is afraid of something in unknown futurity?
+This fear it is that gives efficacy to conscience, which, by turning the
+mind upon _this regard_, chills the ardour of _resolution_, checks the
+vigour of _enterprize_, and makes the _current_ of desire stagnate in
+inactivity. We may suppose that he would have applied these general
+observations to his own case, but that he discovered Ophelia.
+
+III.i.59 (234,8) Or to take arms against a sea of troubles] [W: against
+assail] Mr. Pope proposed _siege_. I know not why there should be so
+much solicitude about this metaphor. Shakespeare breaks his metaphors
+often, and in this desultory speech there was less need of preserving
+them.
+
+III.i.70 (235,2) the whips and scorns of time] [W: of th' time] I doubt
+whether the corruption of this passage is not more than the editor has
+suspected. _Whips_ and _scorns_ have no great connexion with one
+another, or with _time: whips_ and _scorns_ are evils of very different
+magnitude, and though at all _times scorn_ may be endured, yet the
+_times_ that put men ordinarily in danger of _whips_, are rery rare.
+Falstaff has said, that the _courtiers would_ whip _him with their quick
+wits_; but I know not that _whip_ can be used for a _scoff_ or _insult_,
+unless its meaning be fixed by the whole expression.
+
+I am afraid lest I should venture too far in correcting this passage. If
+_whips_ be retained, we may read,
+
+  _For who would bear the whips and scorns of_ tyrant.
+
+But I think that _quip_, a _sneer_, a _sarcasm_, a _contemptuous_ jest,
+is the proper word, as suiting very exactly with _scorn_. What then must
+be done with _time_? it suits no better with the new reading than with
+the old, and _tyrant_ is an image too bulky and serious. I read, but not
+confidently,
+
+  _For who would bear the_ quips _and scorns of_ title.
+
+It say be remarked, that Hamlet, in his enumeration of miseries,
+forgets, whether properly or not, that he is a prince, and mentions many
+evils to which inferior stations only are exposed.
+
+III.i.77 (236,4) To groan and sweat] All the old copies have, _to_ grunt
+_and sweat_. It is undoubtedly the true reading, but can scarcely be
+borne by modern ears.
+
+III.i.89 (237,5) Nymph, in thy orisons] This is a touch of nature.
+Hamlet, at the sight of Ophelia, does not immediately recollect, that he
+is to personate madness, but makes her an address grave and solemn, such
+as the foregoing meditation excited in his thoughts.
+
+III.i.107 (237,6) That if you be honest and fair, you should admit no
+discourse to your beauty] This is the reading of all the modern
+editions, and is copied from the quarto. The folio reads, your honesty
+_should admit no discourse to your beauty_. The true reading seems to be
+this, _If you be honest and fair, you should admit_ your honesty _to no
+discourse with your beauty_. This is the sense evidently required by the
+process of the conversation.
+
+III.i.127 (238,7) I have thoughts to put them in] _To put a thing into
+thought_, is _to think on it_.
+
+III.i.148 (239,8) I have heard of your paintings too, well enough] This
+is according to the quarto; the folio, for _painting_, has _prattlings_,
+and for _face_, has _pace_, which agrees with what follows, _you jig,
+you amble_. Probably the author wrote both. I think the common reading
+best.
+
+III.i.152 (239,9) make your wantonness your ignorance] You mistake by
+_wanton_ affectation, and pretend to mistake by _ignorance_.
+
+III.i.161 (239,2) the mould of form] The model by whom all endeavoured
+to form themselves.
+
+III.ii.12 (241,3) the groundlings] The meaner people then seem to have
+sat below, as they now sit in the upper gallery, who, not well
+understanding poetical language, were sometimes gratified by a mimical
+and mute representation of the drama, previous to the dialogue.
+
+III.ii.14 (242,4) inexplicable dumb shews] I believe the meaning is,
+_shews, without words to explain them_.
+
+III.ii.26 (242,6) the very age and body of the time, his form and
+pressure] The _age_ of the _time_ can hardly pass. May we not read, the
+_face_ and _body_, or did the author write, the _page_? The _page_ suits
+well with _form_ and _pressure_, but ill with _body_.
+
+III.ii.28 (242,7) pressure] Resemblance, as in a _print_.
+
+III.ii.34 (242,8) (not to speak it profanely)] _Profanely_ seems to
+relate, not to the praise which he has mentioned, but to the censure
+which he is about to utter. Any gross or indelicate language was called
+_profane_.
+
+III.ii.66 (243,9) the pregnant hinges of the knee] I believe the sense
+of _pregnant_ in this place is, _quick, ready, prompt_.
+
+III.ii.68 (244,1) my dear soul] Perhaps, my _clear_ soul.
+
+III.ii.74 (244,2) Whose blood and judgment] According to the doctrine of
+the four humours, _desire_ and _confidence_ were seated in the blood,
+and _judgment_ in the phlegm, and the due mixture of the humours made a
+perfect character.
+
+III.ii.89 (244,3) Vulcan's stithy] _Stithy_ is a smith's _anvil_.
+
+III.ii.103 (245,4) nor mine now] A man's words, says the proverb, are
+his own no longer than he keep them unspoken.
+
+III.ii.112 (245,5) they stay upon your patience] May it not be read more
+intelligibly, _They stay upon your_ pleasure. In _Macbeth_ it is, "Noble
+Macbeth, we stay upon your _leisure_."
+
+III.ii.123 (245,6) Do you think I meant country matters?] I think we
+must read, _Do you think I meant country_ manners? Do you imagine that I
+meant to sit in your lap, with such rough gallantry as clowns use to
+their lasses?
+
+III.ii.137 (246,7) Nay, then, let the devil wear black, for I'll have a
+suit of sables] I know not why our editors should, with such implacable
+anger, persecute our predecessors. The dead, it is true, can make no
+resistance, they may be attacked with great security; but since they can
+neither feel nor mend, the safety of mauling them seems greater than the
+pleasure; nor perhaps would it much misbeseem us to remember, amidst our
+triumphs over the _nonsensical_ and the _senseless_, that we likewise
+are men; that _debemur morti_, and, as Swift observed to Burnet, shall
+soon be among the dead ourselves.
+
+I cannot find how the common reading is nonsense, nor why Hamlet, when
+he laid aside his dress of mourning, in a country where it was _bitter
+cold_, and the air was _nipping and eager_, should not have a _suit of
+sables_. I suppose it is well enough known, that the fur of sables is
+not black.
+
+III.ii.147 (249,1) Marry, this is miching maliche; it means mischief]
+[W: malhechor] I think Hanmer's exposition most likely to be right. Dr.
+Warburton, to justify his interpretation, must write, _miching_ for
+_malechor_, and even then it will be harsh.
+
+III.ii.167 (250,3) sheen] Splendor, lustre.
+
+III.ii.177 (250,4) For women fear too much, even as they love] Here
+seems to be a line lost, which should have rhymed to _love_.
+
+III.ii.192 (251,6) The instances, that second marriage move] The
+_motives_.
+
+III.ii.202 (252,7)
+
+  Most necessary 'tis, that we forget
+  To pay ourselves what to ourselves is debt]
+
+The performance of a resolution, in which only the _resolver_ is
+interested, is a debt only to himself, which he may therefore remit at
+pleasure.
+
+III.ii.206 (252,8)
+
+  The violence of either grief or joy,
+  Their own enactures with themselves destroy]
+
+What grief or joy _enact_ or determine in their violence, is revealed in
+their abatement. _Enactures_ is the word in the quarto; all the modern
+editions have _enactors_.
+
+III.ii.229 (252,9) An anchor's cheer in prison be my scope] May my whole
+liberty and enjoyment be to live on hermit's fare in a prison. _Anchor_
+is for _anchoret_.
+
+III.ii.250 (253,1) Baptista] _Baptista_ is, I think, in Italian, the
+name always of a man.
+
+III.ii.262 (254,4) So you must take your husbands] Read, _So you_ must
+take _your husbands_ [in place of "mistake"]; that is, _for better, for
+worse_.
+
+III.ii.288 (255,5) with two provencial roses on my rayed shoes] When
+shoe-strings were worn, they were covered, where they met in the middle,
+by a ribband, gathered into the form of a rose. So in an old song,
+
+  Gil-de-Roy _was a bonny boy_,
+  _Had_ roses _tull his_ shoen.
+
+_Rayed_ shoes, are shoes _braided_ in lines.
+
+III.ii.304 (256,1) For if the king like not the comedy/Why, then,
+belike] Hamlet was going on to draw the consequence when the courtiers
+entered.
+
+III.ii.314 (256,2) With drink, Sir?] Hamlet takes particular care that
+his uncle's love of drink shall not be forgotten.
+
+III.ii.346 (257,3) further trade] Further business; further dealing.
+
+III.ii.348 (257,4) by these pickers] By these hands.
+
+III.ii.373 (258,6) ventages] The holes of a flute.
+
+III.ii.401 (259,9) they fool me to the top of my bent] They compel me to
+play the fool, till I can endure to do it no longer.
+
+III.iii.7 (261,4) Out of his lunes] [The old quartos read,
+
+  _Out of his_ brows.
+
+This was from the ignorance of the first editors; as is this unnecessary
+Alexandrine, which we owe to the players. The poet, I am persuaded,
+wrote,
+
+  --_us doth hourly grow_
+  _out of his_ lunes.
+
+i.e. his _madness, frenzy_. THEOBALD.]
+
+_Lunacies_ is the reading of the folio.
+
+I take _brows_ to be, properly read, _frows_, which, I think, is a
+provincial word for _perverse humours_; which being, I suppose, not
+understood, was changed to _lunacies_. But of this I an not confident.
+[Steevens adopted Theobald's emendation]
+
+III.iii.33 (262,7) of vantage] By some opportunity of secret
+observation.
+
+III.iii.56 (263,9) May one be pardon'd, and retain the offence?] He that
+does not amend what can be amended, _retains_ his _offence_. The king
+kept the crown from the right heir.
+
+III.iii.66 (263,1) Yet what can it, when one cannot repent?] What can
+repentance _do for a man that cannot be penitent_, for a man who has
+only part of penitence, distress of conscience, without the other part,
+resolution of amendment.
+
+III.iii.77 (264,1) I, his sole son, do this same villain send] The folio
+reads foule son, a reading apparently corrupted from the quarto. The
+meaning is plain. _I, his_ only _son_, who am bound to punish his
+murderer.
+
+III.iii.88 (264,2) Up, sword, and know thou a more horrid hent] [T:
+bent] This reading is followed by Sir T. HANMER and Dr. WARBURTON; but
+_hent_ is probably the right vord. To _hent_ is used by Shakespeare for,
+to _seize_, to _catch_, to _lay hold on_. _Hent_ is, therefore, _hold_,
+or _seizure_. _Lay hold_ on him, sword, at a more horrid time.
+
+III.iii.94 (265,3) his soul may be as damn'd and black/As hell, whereto
+it goes] This speech, in which Hamlet, represented as a virtuous
+character, is not content vith taking blood for blood, but contrives
+damnation for the man that he would punish, is too horrible to be read
+or to be uttered.
+
+III.iv.4 (266,4) I'll silence me e'en here:/Pray you, be round vith him]
+Sir T. HANMER, who is folloved by Dr. WARBURTON, reads,
+
+  --_I'll_ sconce _me here_.
+
+_Retire_ to a place of _security_. They forget that the contrivance of
+Polonius to overhear the conference, was no more told to the queen than
+to Hamlet.--_I'll silence me even here_, is, _I'll use no more words_.
+
+III.iv.48 (268,8)
+
+  Heaven's face doth glow;
+  Yea, this solidity and compound mass,
+  With tristful visage, as against the doom,
+  It thought-sick at the act]
+
+[W: O'er this ... visage, and, as 'gainst] The word _heated_ [from the
+"old quarto"], though it agrees well enough with _glow_, is, I think,
+not so striking as _tristful_, which was, I suppose, chosen at the
+revisal. I believe the whole passage now stands as the author gave it.
+Dr. WARBURTON's reading restores two improprieties, which Shakespeare,
+by his alteration, had removed. In the first, and in the new reading:
+_Heaven's_ face _glows with tristful_ visage; and, _Heaven's face is_
+thought-sick. To the common reading there is no just objection.
+
+III.iv.52 (268,9) what act,/That roars so loud, and thunders in the
+index?] The meaning is, _What is_ this act, of which the _discovery_, or
+_mention_, cannot be made, but with this violence of clamour?
+
+III.iv.82 (270,5) Rebellious hell,/If thou canst mutiny in a matron's
+bones] I think the present reading right, but cannot admit that HANMER's
+emendation ["Rebellious heat"] produces nonsense. May not what is said
+of _heat_, be said of _hell_, that it will mutiny wherever it is
+quartered? Though the emendation be elegant, it is not necessary. (1773)
+
+III.iv.88 (271,6) reason panders will] So the folio, I think rightly;
+but the reading of the quarto is defensible;
+
+  --_reason_ pardons _will_.
+
+III.iv.90 (271,7) grained] Dyed in grain.
+
+III.iv.92 (271,8) incestuous bed] The folio has _enseamed_, that is,
+_greasy_ bed.
+
+III.iv.98 (271,9) vice of kings!] a low mimick of kings. The vice is the
+fool of a farce; from whom the modern _punch_ is descended.
+
+III.iv.102 (272,2) A king of shreds and patches] This is said, pursuing
+the idea of the _vice of kings_. The _vice_ was dressed as a fool, in a
+coat of party-coloured patches.
+
+III.iv.107 (272,3) lap's in time and passion] That, having suffered
+_time_ to _slip_, and _passion_ to _cool, lets go_, &c.
+
+III.iv.151 (274,6) And do not spread the compost on the weeds/To make
+them ranker] Do not, by any new indulgence, heighten your former
+offences.
+
+III.iv.155 (274,7) curb] That is, _bend_ and _truckle_. Fr. _courber_.
+
+III.iv.161 (274,8) That monster custom, who all sense doth eat/ Of
+habits evil, is angel yet in this] [Thirlby: habits evil] I think
+THIRLBY's conjecture wrong, though the succeeding editors have followed
+it; _angel_ and _devil_ are evidently opposed. [Steevens accepted
+"evil"]
+
+III.iv.203 (277,5) adders fang'd] That is, adders with their _fangs_, or
+_poisonous teeth_, undrawn. It has been the practice of mountebanks to
+boast the efficacy of their antidotes by playing with vipers, but they
+first disabled their fangs.
+
+IV.i (278,l) _A royal apartment. Enter King, Queen, Rosencrantz, and
+Guildenstern_] This play is printed in the old editions without any
+separation of the acts. The division is modern and arbitrary; and is
+here not very happy, for the pause is made at a time when there is more
+continuity of action than in almost any other of the scenes.
+
+IV.i.18 (278,2) out of haunt] I would rather read, _out of_ harm.
+
+IV.i.25 (279,3)
+
+  his very madness, like some ore
+  among a mineral of metals base,
+  Shews itself pure]
+
+Shakespeare seems to think _ore_ to be _or_, that is, gold. Base metals
+have _ore_ no less than precious.
+
+IV.ii.19 (281,5) he keeps them, like an ape, in the corner of his jaw]
+The quarto has _apple_, which is generally followed. The folio has
+_ape_, which HANMER has received, and illustrated with the following
+note.
+
+"It is the way of monkeys in eating, to throw that part of their food,
+which they take up first, into a pouch they are provided with on the
+side of their jaw, and then they keep it, till they have done with the
+rest."
+
+IV.ii.28 (281,6) The body is with the king] This answer I do not
+comprehend. Perhaps it should be, _The body is_ not _with the king_, for
+_the king is not with the body_.
+
+IV.ii.32 (282,7) Of nothing] Should it not be read, _Or_ nothing? When
+the courtiers remark, that Hamlet has contemptuously called the _king a
+thing_, Hamlet defends himself by observing, that the king must be a
+_thing_, or _nothing_.
+
+IV.ii.46 (283,9) the wind at help] I suppose it should be read, _The
+bark is ready, and the wind at_ helm.
+
+IV.ii.68 (284,3) And thou must cure me: till I know 'tis done,/ Howe'er
+my haps, my joys will ne'er begin] This being the termination of a
+scene, should, according to our author's custom, be rhymed. Perhaps he
+wrote,
+
+  _Howe'er my_ hopes, _my joys_ are not begun.
+
+If _haps_ be retained, the meaning will be, _'till I know 'tis done, I
+shall be miserable_, whatever befall me (see 1785, VIII, 257, 3)
+
+IV.iv.33 (286,4)
+
+  What is a man,
+  If his chief good and market of his time
+  Be but to sleep and feed?]
+
+If his highest good, and _that for which he sells his time_, be to sleep
+and feed.
+
+IV.iv.36 (286,5) large discourse] Such latitude of comprehension, such
+power of reviewing the past, and anticipating the future.
+
+IV.iv.53 (286,6) Rightly to be great,/Is not to stir without great
+argument] This passage I have printed according to the copy. Mr.
+THEOBALD had regulated it thus:
+
+  --_'Tis not to be great,
+  Never to stir without great argument;
+  But greatly_, &c.
+
+The sentiment of Shakespeare is partly just, and partly romantic.
+
+  --_Rightly to be great,
+  Is not to stir without great argument_;
+
+is exactly philosophical.
+
+  _But greatly to find quarrel in a straw,
+  When honour is at stake_,
+
+is the idea of a modern hero. _But then_, says he _honour is an
+argument, or subject of debate_, sufficiently great, _and_ when honour
+is at stake, we must _find cause of quarrel in a straw_.
+
+IV.iv.56 (287,7) Excitements of my reason and my blood] Provocations
+which excite both my reason and my passions to vengeance.
+
+IV.v.37 (289,4) _Larded all with sweet flowers_] The expression is taken
+from cookery. (1773)
+
+IV.v.53 (290,6) _And dupt the chamber-door_] To _dup_, is to _do up_; to
+lift the latch. It were easy to write,
+
+  _And_ op'd--
+
+IV.v.58 (290,7) _By Gis_] I rather imagine it should be read,
+
+  _By_ Cis,--
+
+That is, by St. Cecily.
+
+IV.v.83 (291,8) but greenly] But _unskilfully_; with _greenness_; that
+is, without_ maturity_ of judgment.
+
+IV.v.84 (291,9) In hugger-mugger to inter him] All the modern editions
+that I have consulted give it,
+
+  _In_ private _to inter him_;--
+
+That the words now replaced are better, I do not undertake to prove; it
+is sufficient that they are Shakespeare's: if phraseology is to be
+changed as words grow uncouth by disuse, or gross by vulgarity, the
+history of every language will be lost; we shall no longer have the
+words of any author; and, as these alterations will be often unskilfully
+made, we shall in time have very little of his meaning.
+
+IV.v.89 (292,1) Feeds on his wonder] The folio reads,
+
+  Keeps _on his wonder_,--
+
+The quarto,
+
+  Feeds _on_ this _wonder_.--
+
+Thus the true reading is picked out from between them. HANMER reads
+unnecessarily,
+
+  Feeds _on his_ anger.--
+
+IV.v.92 (292,2) Wherein necessity, of matter beggar'd,/ Will nothing
+stick our persons to arraign] HANMER reads,
+
+  Whence animosity, _of matter beggar'd_.
+
+He seems not to have understood the connection. _Wherein_, that is, _in
+which pestilent speeches, necessity_, or, _the obligation of an accuser
+to support his charge, will nothing stick_, &c.
+
+IV.v.99 (293,4) The ocean, over-peering of his list] The lists are the
+barriers which the spectators of a tournament must not pass.
+
+IV.v.105 (293,5) The ratifiers and props of every ward] [W: ward] With
+this emendation, which was in Theobald's edition, Hanmer was not
+satisfied. It is indeed harsh. HANMER transposes the lines, and reads,
+
+  _They cry_, "Chuse we Laertes for our king;"
+  The ratifiers and props of every word,
+  _Caps, hands, and tongues, applaud it to the clouds_.
+
+I think the fault may be mended at less expence, by reading,
+
+  _Antiquity forgot, custom not known,
+  The ratifiers and props of every_ weal.
+
+That is, of every _government_.
+
+IV.v.110 (294,6) Oh, this is counter, you false Danish dogs] Hounds run
+_counter_ when they trace the trail backwards.
+
+IV.v.161 (296,9)
+
+  Nature is fine in loves and, where 'tis fine,
+  It sends some precious instance of itself
+  After the thing it loves]
+
+These lines are not in the quarto, and might hare been omitted in the
+folio without great loss, for they are obscure and affected; but, I
+think, they require no emendation. _Love_ (says Laertes) is the passion
+by which _nature is most_ exalted and _refined_; and as substances
+_refined_ and subtilised, easily obey any impulse, or follow any
+attraction, some part of nature, so purified and _refined_, flies off
+after the attracting object, after the thing it loves.
+
+  _As into air the purer spirits f1ow,
+  And separate from their kindred dregs below,
+  So flew her soul_.--
+
+IV.v.171 (297,1) O how the wheel becomes it!] [W: weal] I do not see why
+_weal_ is better than _wheel_. The story alluded to I do not know; but
+perhaps the lady stolen by the steward was reduced to _spin_.
+
+IV.v.175 (297,2) There's rosemary, that'll far rememberance. Pray you,
+love, remember. And there's pansies, that's for thoughts] There is
+probably some mythology in the choice of these herbs, but I cannot
+explain it. _Pansies_ is for _thoughts_, because of its name, _Pensees_;
+but _rosemary_ indicates _remembrance_, except that it is an ever-green,
+and carried at funerals, I have not discovered.
+
+IV.v.214 (300,7) No trophy, sword, nor batchment] It was the custom, in
+the times of our author, to hang a sword over the grave of a knight.
+
+IV.v.218 (300,8) And where the offence is, let the great axe fall] [W:
+tax] _Fall_ corresponds better to _axe_.
+
+IV.vi.26 (301,9) _for the bore of the matter_] The _bore_ is the
+calibier of a gun, or the capacity of the barrel. _The matter_ (says
+Hamlet) _would carry the heavier words_.
+
+IV.vii.18 (302,1) the general gender] The _common race_ of the people.
+
+IV.vii.19 (302,2)
+
+  dipping all his faults in their affection,
+  Would, like the spring that turneth wood to stone,
+  Convert his gyves to graces]
+
+This simile is neither very seasonable in the deep interest of this
+conversation, nor very accurately applied. If the _spring_ had changed
+base metals to gold, the thought had been more proper.
+
+IV.vii.27 (302,3) if praises may go back again] If I may praise what has
+been, but is now to be found no more.
+
+IV.vii.77 (304,5) Of the unworthiest siege] Of the lowest rank. _Siege_,
+for _seat, place_.
+
+IV.vii.82 (304,6) Importing health and graveness] [W: wealth]
+_Importing_ here may be, not _inferring_ by logical consequence, but
+_producing_ by physical effect. A young man regards show in his dress,
+an old man, _health_.
+
+IV.vii.90 (305,7) I, in forgery of shapes and tricks/Come short of what
+he did] I could not contrive so many proofs of dexterity as he could
+perform.
+
+IV.vii.98 (305,8) in your defence] That is, _in the science of_ defence.
+
+IV.vii.101 (305,9) The scrimers] The _fencers_.
+
+IV.vii.112 (305,1) love is begun by time] This is obscure. The meaning
+may be, _love_ is not innate in us, and co-essential to our nature, but
+begins at a certain time from some external cause, and being always
+subject to the operations of time, suffers change and diminution. (1773)
+
+IV.vii.113 (300,2) in passages of proof] In transactions of daily
+experience.
+
+IV.vii.123 (306,4) And then this _should_ is like a spendthrift sigh/
+That hurts by easing] [W: sign] This conjecture is so ingenious, that it
+can hardly be opposed, but with the same reluctance as the bow is drawn
+against a hero, whose virtues the archer holds in veneration. Here may
+be applied what Voltaire writes to the empress:
+
+  _Le genereux Francois--
+  Te combat & t'admire._
+
+Yet this emendation, however specious, is mistaken. The original reading
+is, not a _spendthrift's_ sigh, but a _spendthrift_ sigh; a _sigh_ that
+makes an unnecessary waste of the vital flame. It is a notion very
+prevalent, that _sighs_ impair the strength, and wear out the animal
+powers.
+
+IV.vii.135 (307,5) He being remiss] He being not vigilant or cautious.
+
+IV.vii.139 (307,7) a pass of practice] Practice is often by Shakespeare,
+and other writers, taken for an _insidious stratagem_, or _privy_
+treason, a sense not incongruous to this passage, where yet I rather
+believe, that nothing more is meant than a _thrust for exercise_.
+
+IV.vii.151 (308,8) May fit us to our shape] May _enable_ us to _assume
+proper characters_, and to act our part.
+
+IV.vii.155 (308,9) blast in proof] This, I believe, is a metaphor taken
+from a mine, which, in the proof or execution, sometimes breaks out with
+an ineffectual _blast_.
+
+V.i.3 (310,1) make her grave straight] Make her grave from east to west
+in a direct line parallel to the church; not from north to south,
+athwart the regular line. This, I think, is meant.
+
+V.i.87 (313,1) which this ass now o'er-reaches] In the quarto, for
+_over-offices_ is, _over-reaches_, which agrees better with the
+sentence: it is a strong exaggeration to remark that an _ass_ can
+_over-reach_ him who would once have tried to _circumvent_.--I believe
+both the words were Shakespeare's. An author in revising his work, when
+his original ideas have faded from his mind, and new observations have
+produced new sentiments, easily introduces images which have been more
+newly impressed upon him, without observing their want of congruity to
+the general texture of his original design.
+
+V.i.96 (314,2) and now my lady Worm's] The scull that was _my lord Such
+a one's_, is now my _lady Worm's_.
+
+V.i.100 (314,3) to play at loggats with 'em?] A play, in which pins are
+set up to be beaten down with a bowl.
+
+V.i.149 (316,5) by the card] The _card_ is the paper on which the
+different points of the compass were described. _To do any thing by the
+card_, is, _to do it with nice observation_.
+
+V.i.151 (316,6) the age is grown so picked] So _smart_, so _sharp_, says
+HANMER, very properly; but there was, I think, about that time, a
+_picked_ shoe, that is, _a shoe with a long pointed toe_, in fashion, to
+which the allusion seems likewise to be made. _Every man now is smart;
+and every man now is a man of fashion_.
+
+V.i.239 (319,7) winter's flaw!] Winter's _blast_.
+
+V.i.242 (319,8) maimed rites!] Imperfect obsequies.
+
+V.i.244 (319,9) some estate] Some person of high rank.
+
+V.i.255 (319,2) Yet here she is allow'd her virgin crants] I have been
+informed by an anonymous correspondent, that _crants_ is the German word
+for _garlands_, and I suppose it was retained by us from the Saxons. To
+carry _garlands_ before the bier of a maiden, and to hang them over her
+grave, is still the practice in rural parishes.
+
+_Crants_ therefore was the original word, which the author, discovering
+it to be provincial, and perhaps not understood, changed to a term more
+intelligible, but less proper. _Maiden rites_ give no certain or
+definite image. He might have put _maiden wreaths_, or _maiden
+garlands_, but he perhaps bestowed no thought upon it, and neither
+genius nor practice will always supply a hasty writer with the most
+proper diction.
+
+V.i.310 (323,6) When that her golden couplets] [W: E'er that] Perhaps it
+should be,
+
+  _Ere yet_--
+
+_Yet_ and _that_ are easily confounded.
+
+V.ii.6 (324,7) mutinies in the bilboes] _Mutinies_, the French word for
+seditious or disobedient fellows in the army or fleet. _Bilboes_, the
+_ship's prison_.
+
+V.ii.6 (324,8) Rashly,/And prais'd be rashness for it--Let us know] Both
+my copies read,
+
+  --Rashly,
+  _And prais'd be rashness for it_, let _us know_.
+
+Hamlet, delivering an account of his escape, begins with saying, that he
+_rashly_--and then is carried into a reflection upon the weakness of
+human wisdom. I rashly--praised be rashness for it--_Let us_ not think
+these events casual, but _let us know_, that is, _take notice and
+remember_, that we sometimes succeed by _indiscretion_, when we _fail_
+by _deep plots_, and infer the perpetual superintendance and _agency_ of
+the _Divinity_. The observation is just, and will be allowed by every
+human being who shall reflect on the course of his own life.
+
+V.ii.22 (325,9) With, ho! such bugs and goblins in my life] With _such
+causes of terror_, arising from my character and designs.
+
+V.ii.29 (325,2) Being thus benetted round with villainies,/ Ere I could
+make a prologue to my brains] [W: mark the prologue ... bane] In my
+opinion no alteration is necessary. Hamlet is telling how luckily every
+thing fell out; he groped out their commission in the dark without
+waking them; he found himself doomed to immediate destruction. Something
+was to be done for his preservation. An expedient occurred, not produced
+by the comparison of one method with another, or by a regular deduction
+of consequences, but before he _could make a prologue to his brains,
+they had begun the play_. Before he could summon his faculties, and
+propose to himself what should be done, a complete scheme of action
+presented itself to him. His mind operated before he had excited it.
+This appears to me to be the meaning.
+
+V.ii.41 (326,5) As peace should still her wheaten garland wear,/ And
+stand a comma 'tween their amities] HANMER reads,
+
+  _And stand a_ cement--
+
+I am again inclined to vindicate the old reading.
+
+The expression of our author is, like many of his phrases, sufficiently
+constrained and affected, but it is not incapable of explanation. The
+_comma_ is the note of _connection_ and continuity of sentences; the
+_period_ is the note of _abruption_ and disjunction. Shakespeare had it
+perhaps in his mind to write, That unless England complied with the
+mandate, _war should put a_ period _to their amity_; he altered his mode
+of diction, and thought that, in an opposite sense, he might put, that
+_Peace should stand a_ comma between their amities_. This is not an easy
+stile; but is it not the stile of Shakespeare?
+
+V.ii.43 (327,6) as's of great charge] _Asses_ heavily _loaded_. A
+quibble is intended between _as_ the conditional particle, and _ass_ the
+beast of burthen. That _charg'd_ anciently signified _leaded_, may be
+proved from the following passage in _The Widow's Tears_, by Chapman,
+1612.
+
+"Thou must be the _ass charg'd with crowns_ to make way." (see 1765,
+VIII, 294, 2)
+
+V.ii.53 (327,7) The changeling never known] A _changeling_ is a _child_
+which the fairies are supposed to leave in the room of that which they
+steal.
+
+V.ii.68 (328,1) To quit him] To requite him; to pay him his due.
+
+V.ii.84 (329,2) Dost know this water-fly] A _water-fly_, skips up and
+down upon the surface of the water, without any apparent purpose or
+reason, and is thence the proper emblem of a busy trifler.
+
+V.ii.89 (329,3) It is a chough] A kind of jackdaw.
+
+V.ii.112 (330,5) full of most excellent differences] Full of
+_distinguishing_ excellencies.
+
+V.ii.114 (330,6) the card or calendar of gentry] The general preceptor
+of elegance; the _card_ by which a gentleman is to direct his course;
+the _calendar_ by which he is to choose his time, that what he does may
+be both excellent and seasonable.
+
+V.ii.115 (330,7) for you shall find in him the continent of what part a
+gentleman would see] _You shall find him containing_ and comprising
+every _quality_ which a _gentleman_ would desire to _contemplate_ for
+imitation. I know not but it should be read, _You shall find him the
+continent_
+
+V.ii.119 (330,9) and yet but raw neither in respect of his quick sail]
+[W: but slow] I believe _raw_ to be the right word; it is a word of
+great latitude; _raw_ signifies _unripe, immature_, thence _unformed,
+imperfect, unskilful_. The best account of him would be _imperfect_, in
+respect of his quick sail. The phrase _quick sail_ was, I suppose, a
+proverbial term for _activity of mind_.
+
+V.ii.122 (330,1) a soul of great article] This is obscure. I once
+thought it might have been, _a soul of great altitude_; but, I suppose,
+_a soul of great article_, means _a soul of_ large comprehension, of
+many contents; the particulars of an inventory are called _articles_.
+
+V.ii.122 (331,2) his infusion of such dearth and rareness] _Dearth_ is
+_dearness_, value, price. And his internal qualities of such value and
+rarity.
+
+V.ii.131 (331,3) Is't not possible to understand in another tongue? you
+will do't, Sir, really] Of this interrogatory remark the sense ie very
+obscure. The question may mean, _Might not all this be understood in
+plainer language_. But then, _you will do it, Sir, really_, seems to
+have no use, for who could doubt but plain language would be
+intelligible? I would therefore read, _Is't possible_ not to be
+understood in a mother _tongue_. You will do it, Sir, really.
+
+V.ii.140 (331,4) if you did, it would not much approve me] If you knew I
+was not ignorant, your esteem would not nuch advance my reputation. To
+_approve_, is to _recommend to approbation_.
+
+V.ii.145 (331,5) I dare not confess that, lest I should compare with him
+in excellence] I dare not pretend to know him, lest I should pretend to
+an equality: no man can completely know another, but by knowing himself,
+which is the utmost extent of human wisdom.
+
+V.ii.149 (332,6) in his meed] In his excellence.
+
+V.ii.156 (332,7) impon'd] Perhaps it should be, _depon'd_. So Hudibras,
+
+  "I would upon this cause _depone_,
+  "As much as any I have known."
+
+But perhaps _imponed_ is pledged, _impawned_, so spelt to ridicule the
+affectation of uttering English words with French pronunciation.
+
+V.ii.165 (332,9) more germane.] More_a-kin_.
+
+V.ii.172 (333,1) The king, Sir, hath laid, that in a dozen passes
+between yourself and him, he shall not exceed you three hits; he hath
+laid on twelve for nine] This wager I do not understand. In a dozen
+passes one must exceed the other more or less than three hits. Nor can I
+comprehend, how, in a dozen, there can be twelve to nine. The passage is
+of no importance; it is sufficient that there was a wager. The quarto
+has the passage as it stands. The folio, _He hath one twelve for mine_.
+
+V.ii.193 (333,2) This lapwing runs away with the shell on his head] I
+see no particular propriety in the image of the lapwing. Osrick did not
+run till he had done his business. We may read, _This lapwing_ ran
+_away_--That is, _this fellow was full of unimportant bustle from his
+birth_.
+
+V.ii.199 (334,4) a kind of yesty collection, which carries them through
+and through the most fond and winnowed opinions] [W: most fann'd] This
+is a very happy emendation; but I know not why the critic should suppose
+that _fond_ was printed for _fann'd_ in consequence of any reason or
+reflection. Such errors, to which there is no temptation but idleness,
+and of which there was no cause but ignorance, are in every page of the
+old editions. This passage in the quarto stands thus: "They have got out
+of the habit of encounter, a kind of misty collection, which carries
+them through and through the most profane and renowned opinions." If
+this printer preserved any traces of the original, our author wrote,
+"the most fane and renowned opinions," which is better than fann'd and
+winnow'd.
+
+The meaning is, "these men have got the cant of the day, a superficial
+readiness of slight and cursory conversation, a kind of frothy
+collection of fashionable prattle, which yet carried them through the
+most select and approved judgment. This airy facility of talk sometimes
+imposes upon wise men."
+
+Who has not seen this observation verified?
+
+V.ii.201 (335,6) and do but blow them to their trials, the bubbles are
+out] These men of show, without solidity, are like bubbles raised from
+soap and water, which dance, and glitter, and please the eye, but if you
+extend them, by blowing hard, separate into a mist; so if you oblige
+these specious talkers to extend their compass of conversation, they at
+once discover the tenuity of their intellects.
+
+V.ii.216 (335,7) gentle entertainment] Mild and temperate conversation.
+
+V.ii.234 (336,1) Since no man knows aught of what he leaves, what is't
+to leave betimes?] The reading of the quarto was right, but in some
+other copy the harshness of the transposition was softened, and the
+passage stood thus: _Since no man knows aught of what he leaves_. For
+_knows_ was printed in the later copies _has_, by a slight blunder in
+such typographers.
+
+I do not think Dr. Warburton's interpretation of the passage the best
+that it will admit. The meaning may be this, Since _no man knows aught
+of_ the state of life which _he leaves_, since he cannot judge what
+others years may produce, why should he be afraid of _leaving_ life
+betimes? Why should he dread an early death, of which he cannot tell
+whether it is an exclusion of happiness, or an interception of calamity.
+I despise the superstition of augury and omens, which has no ground in
+reason or piety; my comfort is, that I cannot fall but by the direction
+of Providence.
+
+Hanmer has, _Since no man_ owes _aught_, a conjecture not very
+reprehensible. Since _no man can call any possession certain_, what is
+it to leave?
+
+V.ii.237 (337,2) Give me your pardon, Sir] I wish Hamlet had made some
+other defence; it is unsuitable to the character of a good or a brave
+man, to shelter himself in falsehood.
+
+V.ii.272 (338,5) Your grace hath laid upon the weaker side] Thus Hanmer.
+All the others read,
+
+  _Your grace hath laid the odds o' the weaker side._
+
+When the odds were on the side of Laertes, who was to hit Hamlet twelve
+times to nine, it was perhaps the author's slip.
+
+V.ii.310 (340,7) you make a wanton of me] A _wanton_ was, a man feeble
+and effeminate. In _Cymbeline_, Imogen says,
+
+  "I am not so citizen a _wanton_,
+  To die, ere I be sick."
+
+V.ii.346 (342,8) That are but mutes or audience to this act] That are
+either mere _auditors_ of this _catastrophe_, or at most only _mute
+performers_, that fill the stage without any part in the action.
+
+V.ii.375 (344,2) This quarry cries, on havock!] Hanmer reads,
+
+  --_cries_ out, _havock!_
+
+To _cry on_, was to _exclaim against_. I suppose, when unfair sportsmen
+destroyed more _quarry_ or _game_ than was reasonable, the censure was
+to cry, _Havock_.
+
+(346) General Observation. If the dramas of Shakespeare were to be
+characterised, each by the particular excellence which distinguishes it
+from the rest, we must allow to the tragedy of Hamlet the praise of
+variety. The incidents are so numerous, that the argument of the play
+would make a long tale. The scenes are interchangeably diversified with
+merriment and solemnity; with merriment that includes judicious and
+instructive observations, and solemnity, not strained by poetical
+violence above the natural sentiments of man. New characters appear from
+time to time in continual succession, exhibiting various forms of life
+and particular modes of conversation. The pretended madness of Hamlet
+causes much mirth, the mournful distraction of Ophelia fills the heart
+with tenderness, and every personage produces the effect intended, from
+the apparition that in the first act chills the blood with horror, to
+the fop in the last, that exposes affectation to just contempt. The
+conduct is perhaps not wholly secure against objections. The action is
+indeed for the most part in continual progression, but there are some
+scenes which neither forward nor retard it. Of the feigned madness of
+Hamlet there appears no adequate cause, for he does nothing which he
+might not have done with the reputation of sanity. He plays the madman
+most, when he treats Ophelia with so much rudeness, which seems to be
+useless and wanton cruelty.
+
+Hamlet is, through the whole play, rather an instrument than an agent.
+After he has, by the stratagem of the play, convicted the king, he makes
+no attempt to punish him, and his death is at last effected by an
+incident which Hamlet had no part in producing.
+
+The catastrophe is not very happily produced; the exchange of weapons is
+rather an expedient of necessity, than a stroke of art. A scheme might
+easily have been formed to kill Hamlet with the dagger, and Laertes with
+the bowl.
+
+The poet is accused of having shewn little regard to poetical justice,
+and may be charged with equal neglect of poetical probability. The
+apparition left the regions of the dead to little purpose; the revenge
+which he demands is not obtained, but by the death of him that was
+required to take it; and the gratification which would arise from the
+destruction of an usurper and a murderer, is abated by the untimely
+death of Ophelia, the young, the beautiful, the harmless, and the pious.
+
+
+
+
+OTHELLO
+
+
+I.i.20 (358,4)
+
+  One Michael Cassio, a Florentine,
+  A fellow almost damn'd in a fair wife]
+
+This is one of the passages which must for the present be resigned to
+corruption and obscurity. I have nothing that I can, with any approach
+to confidence, propose. I cannot think it very plain from Act 3. Scene
+1. that Cassio was or was not a Florentine.
+
+I.i.30 (361,6) must be belee'd and calm'd] [--_must be_ LED _and
+calm'd_. So the old quarto. The first folio reads _belee'd_: but that
+spoils the measure. I read LET, hindered. WARBURTON.] _Belee'd_ suits to
+_calm'd_, and the measure is not less perfect than in many other places.
+
+I.i.36 (361,7) Preferment goes by letter] By _recommendation_ from
+powerful friends.
+
+I.i.37 (361,8) And not by old gradation] [W: Not (as of old)] _Old
+gradation_, is _gradation_ established by_ancient_ practice. Where is
+the difficulty?
+
+I.i.39 (361,9) If I in any just term am affin'd] _Affine_ is the reading
+of the third quarto and the first folio. The second quarto and all the
+modern editions have _assign'd_. The meaning is, _Do I stand_ within
+_any such_ terms _of propinquit_ or _relation to the Moor, as that it is
+my duty to love him_?
+
+I.i.49 (362,1) honest knaves] _Knave_ is here for _servant_, but with a
+mixture of sly contempt.
+
+I.i.63 (362,2) In compliment extern] In that which I do only for an
+outward shew of civility.
+
+I.i.76 (363,3) As when, by night and negligence, the fire/Is spied in
+populous cities] [Warburton, objecting to "by": Is spred] The particle
+is used equivocally; the same liberty is taken by writers more correct.
+
+  _The wonderful creature! a woman of reason!
+  Never grave_ out of _pride, never gay_ out of _season_.
+
+I.i.115 (364,4) What profane wretch art thou?] That is, _what wretch of
+gross and licentious language?_ In that sense Shakespeare often uses the
+word _profane_.
+
+I.i.124 (365,6) this odd even] The _even_ of _night_ is _midnight_, the
+time when night is divided into _even_ parts.
+
+I.i.149 (366,7) some check] Some rebuke.
+
+I.i.150 (366,8) cast him] That is, _dismiss_ him; _reject_ him. We still
+say, a _cast_ coat, and a _cast_ serving-man.
+
+I.i.162 (366,9) And what's to come of my despised time] [W: despited]
+_Despised time_, is _time of no value_; time in which
+
+  "There's nothing serious in mortality,
+  The wine of life is drawn, and the mere dregs
+  Are left, this vault to brag of." _Macbeth_.
+
+I.i.173 (367,2) By which the property of youth and maidhood/May be
+abus'd?] By which the faculties of a young virgin may be infatuated, and
+made subject to illusions and to false imagination.
+
+  "Wicked dreams _abuse_
+  The curtain'd sleep." _Macbeth._
+
+I.ii.2 (368,3) stuff o' the conscience] This expression to common
+readers appears harsh. _Stuff_ of the _conscience_ is, _substance_, or
+_essence_ of the conscience. _Stuff_ is a word of great force in the
+Teutonic languages. The elements are called in Dutch, _Hoefd stoffen_,
+or _head stuffs_.
+
+I.ii.13 (368,4) And hath, in his effect, a voice potential/As double as
+the duke's] [Warburton had given a source in Dioscorides and Theocritus
+for "double"] This note has been much censured by Mr. Upton, who denies,
+that the quotation is in Dioscorides, and disputes, not without reason,
+the interpretation of Theocritus.
+
+All this learning, if it had even been what it endeavours to be thought,
+is, in this place, superfluous. There is no ground of supposing, that
+our author copied or knew the Greek phrase; nor does it follow, that,
+because a word has two senses in one language, the word which in another
+answers to one sense, should answer to both. _Manus_, in Latin,
+signifies both a _hand_ and _troop of soldiers_, but we cannot say, that
+_the captain marched at the_ head _of his_ hand; or, that _he laid his_
+troop _upon his sword_. It is not always in books that the meaning is to
+be sought of this writer, who was much more acquainted with naked reason
+and with living manners.
+
+_Double_ has here its natural sense. The president of every deliberative
+assembly has a _double voice_. In our courts, the chief justice and one
+of the inferior judges prevail over the other two, because the chief
+justice has a _double_ voice.
+
+Brabantio had, _in his effect_, though not by law, yet by _weight_ and
+_influence_, a voice not _actual_ and formal, but _potential_ and
+operative, as _double_, that is, a voice that when a question was
+suspended, would turn the balance as effectually _as the duke's_.
+_Potential_ is used in the sense of science; a _caustic_ is called
+_potential_ fire.
+
+I.ii.23 (370,7) speak, unbonnetted] [Pope: unbonnetting] I do not see
+the propriety of Mr. Pope's emendation, though adopted by Dr. Warburton.
+_Unbonnetting_ may as well be, _not putting on_, as _not putting off_,
+the bonnet. Hamner reads _e'en_ bonnetted.
+
+I.ii.26 (370,8) unhoused] Free from _domestic_ cares. A thought natural
+to an adventurer.
+
+I.ii.28 (370,9) For the sea's worth] I would not marry her, though she
+were as rich as the Adriatic, which the Doge annually marries.
+
+I.ii.30 (371,2) a land-carrack] A _carrack_ is a ship of great bulk, and
+commonly of great value; perhaps what we now call a _galleon_.
+
+I.ii.55 (372,3) be advis'd] That is, be _cool_; be _cautious_; be
+_discreet_.
+
+I.ii.68 (372,4) The wealthy curled darlings of our nation] _Curled_ is
+_elegantly and ostentatiously dressed_. He had not the hair particularly
+in his thoughts.
+
+I.ii.74 (373,6) Abused her delicate youth with drugs, or minerals,/ That
+weaken notion] [T: notion] Hanmer reads with equal probability, _That_
+waken motion. [Originally _motion_].
+
+I.iii.6 (375,9) As in these cases where they aim reports] [W: the aim]
+The folio has,
+
+  --_the_ aim reports.
+
+But, _they aim reports_, has a sense sufficiently easy and commodious.
+There men _report_ not by certain knowledge, but by _aim _and
+conjecture.
+
+I.ii.18 (375,1) By no assay of reason] Bring it to the _test_, examine
+it by reason as we examine metals by the _assay_, it will be found
+counterfeit by all trials.
+
+I.iii.23 (376,2) facile question] _Question_ is for the _act of
+seeking_. With more _easy endeavour_.
+
+I.iii.24 (376,4) warlike brace] State of defence. To arm was called to
+_brace on_ the armour.
+
+I.iii.42 (376,5) And prays you to believe him] The late learned and
+ingenious Mr. Thomas Clark, of Lincoln's Inn, read the passage thus:
+
+  _And prays you to_ relieve _him_.
+
+But the present reading may stand. _He intreats you not to doubt the
+truth of this intelligence_.
+
+I.iii.54 (377,6) Hath rais'd me from my bed; nor doth the general care]
+The word _care_, which encumbers the verse, was probably added by the
+players. Shakespeare uses _the general_ as a substantive, though, I
+think, not in this sense.
+
+I.iii.69 (373,8) though our proper son/Stood in your action] Were the
+man exposed to your _charge_ or _accusation_.
+
+I.iii.80 (378,9) The very head and front of my offending] The _main_,
+the _whole_, unextenuated.
+
+I.iii.85 (379,2) Their dearest action] That is _dear_, for which much is
+paid, whether money or labour; _dear action_, is action performed at
+great expence, either of ease or safety.
+
+I.iii.107 (380,4) overt test] Open proofs, external evidence.
+
+I.iii.108 (380,5) thin habits and poor likelihoods/Of modern seeming]
+Weak shew of slight appearance.
+
+I.iii.139 (381,6) And portance in my travel's history] [I have restored,
+
+  _And with it all my travel's history_:
+
+From the old edition. It is in the rest,
+
+  _And portance in my travel's history_.
+
+Rymer, in his criticism on this play, has changed it to _portents_,
+instead of _portance_. POPE.] Mr. Pope has restored a line, to which
+there is little objection, but which has no force. I believe _portance_
+was the author's word in some revised copy. I read thus,
+
+  _Of being----sold
+  To slavery, of my redemption, thence,
+  And portance in't; my travel's history._
+  My redemption from slavery, and behaviour in it.
+
+I.iii.140-170 (381,7) Wherein of antres vast, and desarts idle] Whoever
+ridicules this account of the progress of love, shows his ignorance, not
+only of history, but of nature and manners. It is no wonder that, in any
+age, or in any nation, a lady, recluse, timorous, and delicate, should
+desire to hear of events and scenes which she could never see, and
+should admire the man who had endured dangers and performed actions,
+which, however great, were yet magnified by her timidity. [Pope: deserts
+wild] Every mind is liable to absence and inadvertency, else Pope could
+never have rejected a word so poetically beautiful. Idle is an epithet
+used to express the infertility of the chaotic state, in the Saxon
+translation of the Pentateuch. (1773)
+
+I.iii.140 (382,8) antres] [French grottos. POPE.] Rather _caves_ and
+_dens_.
+
+I.iii.142 (382,9) It was my hint to speak] [W: hent] _Hent_ is not used
+in Shakespeare, nor, I believe, in any other author; _hint_, or _cue_,
+is comnonly used for occasion of speech, which is explained by, _such
+was the process_, that is, the course of the tale required it. If _hent_
+be restored, it may be explained by _handle_. I had a _handle_, or
+_opportunity_, to speak of cannibals.
+
+I.iii.144 (382,1) men whose heads/Do grow beneath their shoulders] Of
+these men there is an account in the interpolated travels of Mondeville,
+a book of that time.
+
+I.iii.199 (384,4) Let me speak like yourself;] [W: our self] Hanmer
+reads,
+
+  _Let me_ now speak _more_ like your self.
+
+Dr. Warburton's emendation is specious; but I do not see how Hanmer's
+makes any alteration. The duke seems to mean, when he says he will speak
+like Brabantio, that he will speak sententiously.
+
+I.iii.213 (385,6) But the free comfort which from thence he hears] But
+the moral precepts of consolation, which are liberally bestowed on
+occasion of the sentence.
+
+I.iii.232 (386,8) thrice-driven bed of down] A _driven_ bed, is a bed
+for which the feathers are selected, by _driving_ with a fan, which
+separates the light from the heavy.
+
+I.iii.237 (337,9)
+
+  I crave fit disposition for my wife;
+  Due reverence of place, and exhibition]
+
+I desire, that a proper _disposition_ be made for my wife, that she may
+have _precedency_, and _revenue_, accommodation, and _company_, suitable
+to her rank.
+
+For _reference_ of place, the old quartos have _reverence_, which Hanmer
+has received. I should read,
+
+  _Due_ preference _of place_.--
+
+I.iii.246 (387,1) And let me find a charter in your voice] Let your
+favour _privilege_ me.
+
+I.iii.250 (387,2) My down-right violence and storm of fortunes] [W: to
+forms, my fortunes] There is no need of this emendation. _Violence_ is
+not _violence suffered_, but _violence acted_. Breach of common rules
+and obligations. The old quarto has, _scorn_ of fortune, which is
+perhaps the true reading.
+
+I.iii.253 (388,3) I saw Othello's visage in his mind] It must raise no
+wonder, that I loved a man of an appearance so little engaging; I saw
+his face only in his mind; the greatness of his character reconciled me
+to his form.
+
+I.iii.264 (386,4)
+
+  Nor to comply with heat (the young affects,
+  In me defunct) and proper satisfaction]
+
+[T: me distinct, i.e. with that heat and new affections which the
+indulgence of my appetite has raised and created. This is the meaning of
+_defunct_, which has made all the difficulty of the passage. WARBURTON.]
+I do not think that Mr. Theobald's emendation clears the text from
+embarrassment, though it is with a little imaginary improvement received
+by Hanmer, who reads thus:
+
+  _Nor to comply with heat_, affects the young
+  _In my_ distinct _and proper satisfaction_.
+
+Dr. Warburton's explanation is not more satisfactory: what made the
+difficulty, will continue to make it. I read,
+
+  --_I beg it not,
+  To please the palate of my appetite,
+  Nor to comply with heat (the young affects
+  In me defunct) and proper satisfaction;
+  But to be free and bounteous to her mind._
+
+_Affects_ stands here, not for _love_, but for _passions_, for that by
+which any thing is affected. _I ask it not_, says he, _to please
+appetite, or satisfy loose desires_, the passions of youth which I have
+now outlived, or _for any particular gratification of myself, but merely
+that I may indulge the wishes of my wife_.
+
+Mr. Upton had, before me, changed _my_ to _me_; but he has printed young
+_effects_, not seeming to know that _affects_ could be a noun. (1773)
+
+I.iii.290 (391,6) If virtue no delighted beauty lack] [W: belighted]
+Hanmer reads, more plausibly, _delighting_. I do not know that
+_belighted_ has any authority. I should rather read,
+
+  _If virtue no_ delight or _beauty lack_.
+
+_Delight_, for _delectation_, or _power of pleasing_, as it is
+frequently used.
+
+I.iii.299 (391,8) best advantage] Fairest opportunity.
+
+I.iii.317 (392,9) a Guinea-hen] A showy bird with fine feathers.
+
+I.iii.346 (392,1) defeat thy favour with an usurped beard] [W: disseat]
+It is more English, to _defeat_, than _disseat_. To _defeat_, is to
+_undo_, to _change_.
+
+I.iii.350 (393,2) It was a violent commencement in her, and thou shalt
+see an answerable sequestration] There seems to be an opposition of
+terms here intended, which has been lost in transcription. We may read,
+_It was a violent_ conjunction, _and thou shalt see an answerable
+sequestration_; or, what seems to me preferable, _It was a violent
+commencement, and thou shalt see an answerable sequel_.
+
+I.iii.363 (393,4) betwixt an erring Barbarian] [W: errant] Hanmer reads,
+_errant_. _Erring_ is as well as either.
+
+II.i.15 (396,1) And quench the guards of the ever-fixed pole] Alluding
+to the star _Arctophylax_.
+
+II.i.48 (397,3)
+
+  His bark is stoutly timber'd, and his pilot
+  Of very expert and approv'd allowance;
+  Therefore my hopes, not surfeited to death,
+  Stand in bold cure]
+
+I do not understand these lines. I know not how _hope_ can be _surfeited
+to death_, that is, _can be encreased, till it is destroyed_; nor what
+it is _to stand in bold cure_; or why _hope_ should be considered as a
+disease. In the copies there is no variation. Shall we read
+
+  Therefore my fears, not surfeited to death,
+  Stand in bold cure?
+
+This is better, but it is not well. Shall we strike a bolder stroke, and
+read thus?
+
+  _Therefore my hopes, not_ forfeited _to death_,
+  _Stand_ bold, not sure.
+
+II.i.49 (398,4) Of very expert and approv'd allowance] I read, _Very
+expert, and of approv'd allowance_.
+
+II.i.64 (308,5) And in the essential vesture of creation/Does bear all
+excellency; We in terrestrial] I do not think the present reading
+inexplicable. The author seems to use _essential_, for _existent, real_.
+She excels the praises of invention, says he, and in _real qualities_,
+with which _creation_ has _invested_ her, _bears all excellency_.
+
+_Does bear all excellency_----] Such is the reading of the quartos, for
+which the folio has this,
+
+  _And in the essential vesture of creation_
+  Do's tyre the ingeniuer.
+
+Which I explain thus,
+
+  _Does tire the_ ingenious verse.
+
+This is the best reading, and that which the author substituted in his
+revisal.
+
+II.i.112 (401,9) Saints in your injuries] When you have a mind to do
+injuries, you put on an air of sanctity.
+
+II.i.120 (402,1) I am nothing, if not critical] That is, _censorious_.
+
+II.i.137 (402,2) _She never yet was foolish_] We may read,
+
+  She ne'er was yet so foolish that was fair,
+  But even her folly help'd her to an heir.
+
+Yet I believe the common reading to be right; the lay makes the power of
+cohabitation a proof that a man is not a _natural_; therefore, since the
+foolishest woman, if _pretty_, may have a child, no _pretty woman_ is
+ever foolish.
+
+II.i.146 (403,3) put on the vouch of very malice itself] _To put on the
+vouch of malice_, is to assume a character vouched by the testimony of
+malice itself.
+
+II.i.165 (404,5) profane] Gross of language, of expression broad and
+brutal. So Brabantio, in the first act, calls Iago _profane_ wretch.
+
+II.i.165 (404,6) liberal counsellor.] _Counsellor_ seems to mean, not so
+much a man that _gives counsel_, us one that discourses fearlessly and
+volubly. A talker.
+
+II.i.177 (405,8) well kiss'd! an excellent courtesy!] [--_well kissed_,
+and _excellent courtesy_;--] This I think should be printed, _well
+kiss'd_! an _excellent courtesy_! Spoken when Cassio kisses his hand,
+and Desdemona courtesies. [The old quarto confirms Dr. Johnson's
+emendation. STEEVENS.]
+
+II.i.208 (406,1) I prattle out of fashion] Out of method, without any
+settled order of discourse.
+
+II.i.211 (406,2) the master] The pilot of the ship.
+
+II.i.223 (406,3) Lay thy finger thus] On thy mouth, to stop it while
+thou art listening to a wiser man.
+
+II.i.252 (407,5) green minds] Minds unripe, minds not yet fully formed.
+
+II.i.254 (408,6) she is full of most bless'd condition] Qualities,
+disposition of mind.
+
+II.i.274 (408,7) tainting his discipline] Throwing a slur upon hie
+discipline.
+
+II.i.279 (408,8) sudden in choler] _Sudden_, is precipitately violent.
+
+II.i.283 (408,9) whose qualification shall come into no true taste
+again] Whose resentment shall not be so _qualified_ or _tempered_, as to
+be _well tasted_, as not to retain _some bitterness_. The phrase is
+harsh, at least to our ears.
+
+II.i.306 (409,1) like a poisonous mineral] This is philosophical.
+Mineral poisons kill by corrosion.
+
+II.i.314 (411,4) I'll have our Michael Cassio on the hip] A phrase from
+the art of wrestling.
+
+II.i.321 (411,6) Knavery's plain face is never seen] An honest man acts
+upon a plan, and forecasts his designs; but a knave depends upon
+temporary and local opportunities, and never knows his own purpose, but
+at the time of execution.
+
+II.iii.14 (413,8) Our general cast us] That is, _appointed us to our
+stations_. To _cast the play_, is, in the stile of the theatres, to
+assign to every actor his proper part.
+
+II.iii.26 (413,9) And when she speaks, is it not an alarum to love?] The
+voice may _sound_ an _alarm_ more properly than the _eye_ can _sound_ a
+_parley_.
+
+II.iii.46 (413,1) I have drunk but one cap to-night, and that was
+carefully qualified too] Slily mixed with water.
+
+II.iii.59 (414,2) The very elements; As quarrelsome as the as the
+_discordia semina rerum_; as quick in opposition as fire and water.
+
+II.iii.64 (414,3) If consequence do but approve my dream] [T: my deer]
+This reading is followed by the succeeding editions. I rather read,
+
+  _If consequence do but approve my scheme_.
+
+But why should _dream_ be rejected? Every scheme subsisting only in the
+imagination may be termed a _dream_.
+
+II.iii.93-99 (416,6) _King Stephen was a worthy peer_] These stanzas are
+taken from an old song, which the reader will find recovered and
+preserved in a curious work lately printed, intitled, _Relicks of
+Ancient Poetry_, consisting of old heroic ballands, songs, &c. 3 vols.
+12.
+
+II.iii.95 (416,7) _lown_] Sorry fellow, paltry wretch.
+
+II.iii.135 (417,8) He'll watch the horologe a double set] If he have no
+drink, he'll keep awake while the clock strikes two rounds, or four and
+twenty hours.
+
+Chaucer uses the ward _horologe_ in more places than one.
+
+  "Well skirer was his crowing in his loge
+  "Than is a clock or abbey _horologe_."]
+
+The bracketed part of Johnson's note is taken verbatim from Zacbary
+Gray, _Critical ... Notes on Shakespeare_, 1754, II, 316.] (see 1765,
+VIII, 374, 6) (rev. 1778, I, 503, 9)
+
+II.iii.145 (418,9) ingraft infirmity; An infirmity _rooted, settled_ in
+his constitution.
+
+II.iii.175 (419,3) it frights the isle/From her propriety] From her
+regular and _proper state_.
+
+II.iii.180 (419,4) In quarter] In their quarters; at their lodging.
+
+II.iii.194 (420,5) you unlace your reputation thus] Slacken, or
+_loosen_. Put in danger of dropping; or perhaps strip of its ornaments.
+
+II.iii.195 (420,6) spend your rich opinion] Throw away and squander a
+reputation as valuable as yours.
+
+II.iii.202 (420,7) self-charity] Care of one's self.
+
+II.iii.211 (421,9) he that is approv'd in this offence] He that is
+convicted by proof, of having been engaged in this offence.
+
+II.iii.274 (423,1) cast in his mood] Ejected in his anger.
+
+II.iii.343 (425,4) this advice is free] This counsel has an appearance
+of honest openness, of frank good-will.
+
+II.iii.348 (425,5) free elements] Liberal, bountiful, as the elements,
+out of which all things are produced.
+
+II.iii.355 (425,6) to this parallel course] i.e. a course level, and
+even with his design.
+
+II.iii.363 (425,8) That she repeals him] That is, recalls him.
+
+II.iii.382 (426,1)
+
+  Though ether things grew fair against the sun,
+  Yet fruits, that blossom first, will first be ripe]
+
+Of many different things, all planned with the same art, and promoted
+with the same diligence, some must succeed sooner than others, by the
+order of nature. Every thing cannot be done at once; we must proceed by
+the necessary gradation. We are not to _despair_ of slow events any
+_more_ than of tardy fruits, while the causes are in regular progress,
+and the fruits _grow fair against the sun_. Hanmer has not, I think,
+rightly conceived the sentiment; for he reads,
+
+  _Those fruits which blossom first_, are not first _ripe_.
+
+I have therefore drawn it out at length, for there are few to whom that
+will be easy which was difficult to Hanmer.
+
+III.i.3 (427,2) Why, masters, have your instruments been in Naples, that
+they speak i' the nose thus?] The venereal disease first appeared at the
+siege of Naples.
+
+III.iii.14 (430,6)
+
+  That policy may either last so long,
+  Or feed upon such nice and waterish diet,
+  Or breed itself so out of circumstance,
+  That I, being absent, and my place supplied,
+  My general will forget my love and service]
+
+He may either of himself think it politic to keep me out of office so
+long, or he may be satisfied with such slight reasons, or so many
+accidents may make him think my re-admission at that time improper, that
+I may be quite forgotten.
+
+III.iii.23 (431,7) I'll watch him tame] It is said, that the ferocity of
+beasts, insuperable and irreclaimable by any other means, is subdued by
+keeping them from sleep.
+
+III.iii.47 (431,8) His present reconciliation take] [W: make] To _take
+his reconciliation_, may be to accept the submission which he makes in
+order to be reconciled.
+
+III.iii.65 (432,1) the wars must make examples/Out of their best] The
+severity of military discipline must not spare the _best men_ of the
+army, when their punishment nay afford a wholesome _example_.
+
+III.iii.90 (433,2) Excellent wretch!--Perdition catch my soul,/But I do
+love thee!] The meaning of the word _wretch_, is not generally
+understood. It is now, in some parts of England, a term of the softest
+and fondest tenderness. It expresses the utmost degree of amiableness,
+joined with an idea, which perhaps all tenderness includes, of
+feebleness, softness, and want of protection. Othello, considering
+Desdemona as excelling in beauty and virtue, soft and timorous by her
+sex, and by her situation absolutely in his power, calls her _Excellent
+wretch!_ It may be expressed,
+
+  _Dear, harmless, helpless Excellence._
+
+III.iii.91 (433,3) when I love thee not,/Chaos is come again] When my
+love is for a moment suspended by suspicion, I have nothing in my mind
+but discord, tumult, perturbation, and confusion.
+
+III.iii.123 (435,4) They are close delations working from the heart,/
+That passion cannot rule] _They are_ cold dilations _working from the
+heart,/That passion cannot rule_.] I know not why the modern editors are
+satisfied with this reading, which no explanation can clear. They might
+easily have found, that it is introduced without authority. The old
+copies uniformly give, _close dilations_, except that the earlier quarto
+has _close denotements_; which was the author's first expression,
+afterwards changed by him, not to _cold dilations_, for _cold_ is read
+in no ancient copy; nor, I believe, to _close dilations_, but to _close
+delations_; to _occult_ and _secret accusations, working_ involuntarily
+_from the heart_, which, though resolved to conceal the fault, cannot
+rule its _passion_ of resentment.
+
+III.iii.127 (435,5) Or, those that be not, 'would they might seem none!]
+[W: seem knaves] I believe the meaning is, _would they might no longer
+seem_, or bear the shape of _men_.
+
+III.iii.140 (436,6) Keep leets and law-days] [i.e. govern. WARBURTON.]
+Rather _visit_ than _govern_, but visit with authoritative intrusion.
+
+III.iii.149 (437,8) From one that so improbably conceits]--imperfectly
+_conceits_,] In the old quarto it is,
+
+  --improbably _conceits_,
+
+Which I think preferable.
+
+III.iii.166 (437,9) the green-ey'd monster, which doth make/The meat it
+feeds on] _which doth_ mock _The meat it feeds on_.] I have received
+Hanmer's emendation ["make"]; because _to mock_, does not signify _to
+loath_; and because, when Iago bids Othello _beware of jealousy, the
+green-eyed monster_, it is natural to tell why he should beware, and for
+caution he gives him two reasons, that jealousy _often_ creates its own
+cause, and that, when the causes are real, jealousy is misery.
+
+III.iii.173 (438,1) But riches, fineless] Unbounded, endless, unnumbered
+treasures.
+
+III.iii.180 (438,3)
+
+  Exchange me for a goat,
+  When I shall turn the business of my soul
+  To such exsuffolate and blown surmises,
+  Matching thy inference]
+
+This odd and far-fetched word was made yet more uncouth in all the
+editions before Hanmer's, by being printed, _exsufflicate_. The allusion
+is to a bubble. Do not think, says the Moor, that I shall change the
+noble designs that now employ my thoughts, to suspicions which, like
+bubbles _blown_ into a wide extent, have only an empty shew without
+solidity, or that in consequence of such empty fears, I will close with
+thy inference against the virtue of my wife.
+
+III.iii.188 (439,4) Where virtue is, those are most virtuous] An action
+in itself indifferent grows virtuous by its end and application.
+
+III.iii.201 (439,6)
+
+  I know our country disposition well;
+  In Venice they do let heaven see the pranks]
+
+Here Iago seems to be a Venetian.
+
+III.iii.207 (440,7) And, when she seem'd to shake, and fear your
+looks,/She lov'd them most] This and the following argument of Iago
+ought to be deeply impressed on every reader. Deceit and falsehood,
+whatever conveniencies they may for a time promise or produce, are, in
+the sum of life, obstacles to happiness. Those, who profit by the cheat,
+distruat the deceiver, and the act, by which kindness was sought, puts
+an end to confidence.
+
+The same objection may be made with a lower degree of strength against
+the imprudent generosity of disproportionate marriages. When the first
+heat of passion is over, it is easily succeeded by suspicion, that the
+same violence of inclination, which caused one irregularity, may
+stimulate to another; and those who have shown, that their passions are
+too powerful for their prudence, will, with very alight appearances
+againat them, be censured, as not very likely to restrain them by their
+virtue. (see 1765, VIII, 397, 1)
+
+III.iii.210 (440,8) To seel her father's eyes up, close as oak] There is
+little relation between _eyes_ and _oak_. I would read,
+
+  _She seel'd her father's eyes up close as_ owl's.
+
+_As blind as an owl_, is a proverb.
+
+III.iii.222 (441,1) My speech would fall into such vile success]
+[_Success_, far succession, i.e. conclusion; not prosperous issue.
+WARB.] I rather think there is a depravation, and would read,
+
+  _My speech would fall into such vile_ excess.
+
+If _success_ be the right word, it seems to mean _consequence_ or
+_event_, as _successo_ is used in Italian.
+
+III.iii.232 (441,2) will most rank] _Will_, is for wilfulness. It is so
+used by Ascham. A _rank will_, is _self-will_ overgrown and exuberant.
+
+III.iii.249 (442,3) You shall by that perceive him, and his means] You
+shall discover whether he thinks his best _means_, his most powerful
+_interest_, is by the solicitation of your lady.
+
+III.iii.250 (442,4) strain his entertainnent] Press hard his
+re-admission to his pay and office. _Entertainment_ was the military
+term for admission of soldiers.
+
+III.iii.256 (442,5) Fear not my government] Do not distrust ay ability
+to contain my passion.
+
+III.iii.259 (442,6) knows all qualities, with a learned spirit,/Of human
+dealings] The construction is, He knows with a learned spirit all
+qualities of human dealings.
+
+III.iii.260 (442,7) If I do prore her haggard] A _haggard_ hark, is a
+_wild_ hawk, a _hawk unreclaimed_, or _irreclaimable_.
+
+III.iii.262 (443,8) I'd whistle her off, and let her down the wind,/ To
+prey at fortune] The falconers always let fly the hawk against the wind;
+if she flies with the wind behind her, she seldom returns. If therefore
+a hawk was for any reason to be dismissed, she was _let down the wind_,
+and from that time shifted far herself, and _preyed at fortune_. This
+was told me by the late Mr. Clark.
+
+III.iii.276 (443,9) forked plague] In allusion to a _barbed_ or _forked_
+arrow, which, once infixed, cannot be extracted.
+
+III.iii.312 (445,2) And, to the advantage, I, being here, took it up] I
+being _opportunely_ here, took it up.
+
+III.iii.319 (445,3) Be not you known on't] Should it not rather be read,
+
+  _Be not you known_ in't?
+
+The folio reads,
+
+  _Be not_ unknown _on't_.
+
+The sense is plain, but of the expression I cannot produce any example.
+
+III.iii.332 (446,5) that sweet sleep,/Which thou owedst yesterday] To
+_owe_ is, in our author, oftener to _possess_, than _to be indebted_,
+and such was its meaning here; but as that sense was growing less usual,
+it was changed unnecessarily by the editors to _hadst_; to the sane
+meaning, more intelligibly expressed.
+
+III.iii.351 (447,6)
+
+  Farewell the neighing steed, and the shrill trump,
+  The spirit-stirring drum, the ear-piercing fife]
+
+Dr. Warburton has offered _fear-spersing_, for _fear-dispersing_. But
+_ear-piercing_ is an epithet so eminently adapted to the _fife_, and so
+distinct from the shrillness of the trumpet, that it certainly ought not
+to be changed. Dr. Warburton has been censured for this proposed
+emendation with more noise than honesty, for he did not himself put it
+in the text.
+
+III.iii.369 (449,8) abandon all remorse] [_Remorse_, for repentance.
+WARBURTON.] I rather think it is, Let go all scruples, throw aside all
+restraints.
+
+III.iii.429 (451,4) _Oth._ 'tis a shrewd doubt] [The old quarto gives
+this line, with the two following, to Iago; and rightly. WARB.] I think
+it more naturally spoken by Othello, who, by dwelling so long upon the
+proof, encouraged Iago to enforce it.
+
+III.iii.448 (452,8) hearted throne] [W: parted] _Hearted_ throne, is the
+heart on which thou wast _enthroned_. _Parted_ throne has no meaning.
+
+III.iii.467 (453,3)
+
+      Let him command,
+  And to obey, shall be in me remorse,
+  What bloody business ever]
+
+[Pope: Not to obey] [T: Nor, to obey.] [W: me. Remord] Of these two
+emendations, I believe, Theobald's will have the greater number of
+suffrages; it has at least mine. The objection against the propriety of
+the declaration in Iago is a cavil; he does not say that he has no
+principle of remorse, but that it shall not operate against Othello's
+commands. _To obey shall be in me_, for _I will obey you_, is a mode of
+expression not worth the pains here taken to introduce it; and the word
+_remords_ has not in the quotation the meaning of _withhold_, or _make
+reluctant_, but of _reprove_, or _censure_; nor do I know that it is
+used by any of the contemporaries of Shakespeare.
+
+I will offer an interpretation, which, if it be received, will make
+alteration unnecessary, but it is very harsh and violent. Iago devotes
+himself to wronged Othello, and says, _Let him command whatever bloody
+business_, and in me it shall be an act, not of cruelty, but _of
+tenderness, to obey him_; not of malice to other, but of _tenderness_
+for him. If this sense be thought too violent, I see nothing better than
+to follow Pope's reading, as it is improved by Theobald.
+
+III.iv.26 (457,5) cruzadoes] [A Portugueze coin, in value three
+shillings sterling. Dr. GREY.] So called from the cross stamped upon it.
+
+III.iv.46 (458,6) The hearts, of old, gave hands] [Warburton explains
+this is an allusion to James the First's practice of creating baronets
+for money and emends to "The hands of old gave hearts"] The historical
+observation is very judicious and acute, but of the emendation there is
+no need. She says, that her hand gave away _her heart_. He goes on with
+his suspicion, and the hand which he had before called _frank_, he now
+terms _liberal_; then proceeds to remark, that _the hand was formerly
+given by the heart_; but now it neither gives it, nor is given by it.
+
+III.iv.51 (459,7) salt and sullen rheum]--_salt and_ sorry rheum] The
+old quarto has,
+
+  --_salt and_ sullen _rheum_---
+
+That is, a _rheum obstinately troublesome_. I think this better.
+
+III.iv.70 (459,8)
+
+  A Sybil, that had numbred in the world
+  The sun to course two hundred compasses]
+
+The expression is not very infrequent; we say, _I counted the clock to
+strike four_; so she _number'd_ the sun _to course_, to run _two hundred
+compasses_, two hundred annual circuits.
+
+III.iv.79 (460,1) Why do you speak so startingly, and rash?] Is
+_vehement, violent_.
+
+III.iv.103 (461,2) 'Tis not a year, or two, shews us a man] From this
+line it may be conjectured, that the author intended the action of the
+play to be considered as longer than is marked by any note of time.
+Since their arrival at Cyprus, to which they were hurried on their
+wedding-night, the fable seems to have been in one continual progress,
+nor can I see any vacuity into which a _year or two_, or even a month or
+two, could be put. On the night of Othello's arrival, a feast was
+proclaimed; at that feast Cassio was degraded, and immediately applies
+to Desdemona to get him restored. Iago indeed advises Othello to hold
+him off a while, but there is no reason to think, that he has been held
+off long. A little longer interval would increase the probability of the
+story, though it might violate the rules of the drama. See Act. 5. Sc.
+2. (see 1765, VIII, 416, 1)
+
+III.iv.113 (461,3) the duty of my heart] --_the office _of my heart_.]
+The elder quarto reads,
+
+  --_the_ duty _of my heart_.
+
+The author used the more proper word, and then changed it, I suppose,
+for fashionable diction; but, as fashion is a very weak protectress, the
+old word is now ready to resume its place.
+
+III.iv.119 (462,4)
+
+  But to know so, must be my benefit]
+
+  "Si nequeo placidas affari Caesaris aures,
+  "Saltem aliquis veniat, qui mihi dicat, abi."
+
+III.iv.125 (462,7) in favour] In _look_, in _countenance_.
+
+III.iv.128 (462,8) within the blank of his displeasure] Within the
+_shot_ of his anger.
+
+III.iv.141 (463,9) some unhatch'd practice] Some treason that has not
+taken effect.
+
+III.iv.146 (463,1)
+
+  for let our finger ach,
+  And it endues our other healthful members
+  Even to that sense of pain]
+
+_Endue with a sense of pain_, is an expression, which, though it might
+be endured, if it were genuine, cannot deserve to be introduced by
+artifice. The copies, both quarto and folio, read, _Endue our other
+healthful members even to a sense of pain_. I believe it should be
+rather, SUBDUE _our other healthful members to a sense of pain_.
+
+III.iv.151 (463,2) (unhandsome warrior as I am)] [W: wrangler]
+_Unhandsome warrior_, is evidently _unfair assailant_.
+
+III.iv.178 (464,3) a more continuate time]--_more_ convenient _time_]
+The folio has,
+
+  --_more_ continuate _time_;
+
+Time _less interrupted_, time which I can call more my own. It gives a
+more distinct image than _convenient_.
+
+III.iv.180 (464,4) Take me this work out] The meaning is not, "Pick out
+the work, and leave the ground plain;" but, "Copy this work in another
+handkerchief."
+
+IV.i.5 (466,6)
+
+  Naked in bed, Iago, and not mean harm?
+  It is hypocrisy against the devil]
+
+_Hypocrisy against the devil_, means hypocrisy to cheat the devil. As
+common hypocrites cheat men, by seeming good, and yet living wickedly,
+these men would cheat the devil, by giving him flattering hopes, and at
+last avoiding the crime which he thinks them ready to commit.
+
+IV.i.22 (467,8) Boding to all] Thus all the old copies. The moderns,
+less grammatically,
+
+  _Boding to_ ill--
+
+IV.i.42 (468,2) without sone instruction] [W: induction] This is a noble
+conjecture, and whether right or wrong does honour to its author. Yet I
+am in doubt whether there is any necessity of emendation. There has
+always prevailed in the world an opinion, that when any great calamity
+happens at a distance, notice is given of it to the sufferer by some
+dejection or perturbation of mind, of which he discovers no external
+cause. This is ascribed to that general communication of one part of the
+universe with another, which is called sympathy and antipathy; or to the
+secret monition, _instruction_, and influence of a superior Being, which
+superintends the order of nature and of life. Othello says, _Nature
+could not invest herself in such shadowing passion without_ instruction.
+_It is not words that shake me thus._ This passion, which spreads its
+clouds over me, is the effect of some agency more than the operation of
+words; it is one of those notices which men have of unseen calamities.
+
+IV.i.76 (471,4) Confine yourself but in a patient list] For attention;
+act of listening.
+
+IV.i.82 (471,5) encave yourself] Hide yourself in a private place.
+
+IV.i.89 (471,6) Or I shall say, you are all in all in spleen,/And
+nothing of a man] I read,
+
+  _Or shall I say, you're all in all a spleen_.
+
+I think our author uses this expression elsewhere.
+
+IV.i.121 (472,8) Do you triumph, Roman? do you triumph?] Othello calls
+him _Roman_ ironically. _Triumph_, which was a Roman ceremony, brought
+Roman into his thoughts. _What_ (says he) _you are now_ triumphing _as
+great as a Roman_?
+
+IV.i.123 (472,9) a customer!] A common woman, one that invites custom.
+
+IV.i.130 (473,1) Have you scar'd me? Have you made my reckoning? have
+you settled the term of my life? The old quarto reads, _stored_ me. Have
+you disposed of me? have you laid me up?
+
+IV.i.150 (473,2) 'Tis such another fitchew! marry, a perfum'd one]
+Shakespeare has in another place mentioned the lust of this animal. He
+tells Iago, that she is as lewd as the _polecat_, but of better scent,
+the polecat being a very stinking animal.
+
+IV.i.244 (476,4) atone them] Make them _one_; reconcile them.
+
+IV.i.256 (477,5)
+
+  If that the earth could teem with woman's tears,
+  Each drop she falls would prove a crocodile]
+
+If womens tears could impregnate the earth. By the doctrine of equivocal
+generation, new animals were supposed producible by new combinations of
+matter. See Bacon.
+
+IV.i.277 (478,7)
+
+        whose solid virtue
+  The shot of accident, nor dart of chance,
+  Could neither graze nor pierce]
+
+[T: of change] To _graze_ is not merely to touch superficially, but to
+strike not directly, not so as to bury the body of the thing striking in
+the matter struck.
+
+Theobald trifles, as is usual. _Accident_ and _chance_ may admit a
+subtle distinction; _accident_ may be considered as the _act_, and
+_chance_ as the _power_ or _agency_ of fortune; as, _It was_ by chance
+_that this_ accident _befel me_. At least, if we suppose all corrupt
+that is inaccurate, there will be no end of emendation.
+
+IV.ii.57 (482,1) garner'd up my heart] That is, _treasured_ up; the
+_garner_ and the _fountain_ are improperly conjoined.
+
+IV.ii.62 (482,2)
+
+  Turn thy complexion there!
+  Patience, thou young and rose-lipp'd cherubim;
+  Ay, there, look grim as hell]
+
+At such an object do thou, _patience_, thyself _change colour_; at this
+do thou, even thou, _rosy cherub_ as thou art, _look grim as hell_. The
+old editions and the new have it,
+
+  _I here look grim as hell._
+
+_I_ was written for _ay_, and not since corrected.
+
+IV.ii.109 (484,4) The small'st opinion on my great'st abuse] The old
+quarto reads [for "least misuse"],
+
+  _The small'st opinion on my_ great'st abuse.
+
+Which I think is better.
+
+IV.ii.140 (486,6) Some base notorious knave] For _gross_, not in its
+proper meaning for _known_.
+
+IV.ii.144 (486,7) Speak within door] Do not clamour so as to be heard
+beyond the house.
+
+IV.ii.146 (486,8) the seamy side without] That is, _inside out_.
+
+IV.iii.27 (490,2) and he, she lov'd, prov'd mad,/And did forsake her] I
+believe that _mad_ only signifies _wild, frantick, uncertain_.
+
+IV.iii.31 (490,3) I have much to do,/But to go hang my head] I _have
+much_ ado to do any thing _but hang my head_. We might read,
+
+  Not _to go hang my head_.
+
+This is perhaps the only insertion made in the latter editions which has
+improved the play. The rest seem to have been added for the sake of
+amplification, or of ornament. When the imagination had subsided, and
+the mind was no longer agitated by the horror of the action, it became
+at leisure to look round for specious additians. This addition is
+natural. Desdemona can at first hardly forbear to sing the song; she
+endeavours to change her train of thoughts, but her imagination at last
+prevails, and she sings it.
+
+IV.iii.41 (491,4)
+
+  _Des._ "The poor soul sat singing by a sycamore-tree,
+  "Sing all a green willow]
+
+This song, in two parts, is printed in a late collection of old ballads;
+the lines preserved here differ somewhat from the copy discovered by the
+ingenious collector.
+
+IV.iii.55 (491,5)
+
+  _Des._ "I call'd my love false love; but what said
+  "he then?
+  "Sing willow, &c.]
+
+This couplet is not in the ballad, which is the complaint, not of a
+woman forsaken, but of a man rejected. These lines were probably added
+when it was accommodated to a woman.
+
+IV.iii.94 (493,6) our former having] Our former allowance of experience.
+
+IV.iii.107 (493,7) heaven me such usage send] --_heaven me such_ uses
+_send_,] Such is the reading of the folio, and of the subsequent
+editions; but the old quarto has,
+
+  --_such_ usage _send_.--
+
+_Usage_ is an old word for _custom_, and, I think, better than _uses_.
+
+V.i.11 (494,1) I have rubb'd this young quat _almost to the sense_] In
+some editions,
+
+  _I've rubb'd this young_ gnat _almost to the sense,
+  And he grows angry_.]
+
+This is a passage much controverted among the editors. Sir T. Hanner
+reads _quab_, a _gudgeon_; not that a gudgeon can be _rubbed_ to much
+_sense_, but that a man grossly deceived is often called a _gudgeon_.
+Mr. Upton reads _quail_, which he proves, by much learning, to be a very
+choleric bird. Dr. Warburton retains _gnat_, which is found in the early
+quarto. Theobald would introduce _knot_, a small bird of that name. I
+have followed the text of the folio, and third and fourth quartos.
+
+A _quat_ in the midland counties is a _pimple_, which by rubbing is made
+to smart, or is _rubbed to sense_. Roderigo is called a _quat_ by the
+same mode of speech, as a low fellow is now termed in lay language a
+_scab. To rub to the sense_, is _to rub to the quick_.
+
+V.i.37 (496,2) No passage?] No passengers? No body going by?
+
+V.i.42 (499,4) a heary night] A _thick cloudy_ night, in which an ambush
+may be commodiously laid.
+
+V.ii.1 (499,4) It is the cause, it is the cause, my soul;--/Let me not
+name it] The abruptness of this soliloquy makes it obscure. The meaning,
+I think, is this: "I am here (says Othello in his mind) overwhelmed with
+horror. What is the reason of this perturbation? Is it want of
+resolution to do justice? Is it the dread of shedding blood? No; it is
+not the action that shocks me, but _it is the cause, it is the cause, my
+soul; let me not name it to you, ye chaste stars; it is the cause_."
+
+V.ii.20 (500,7)
+
+        I must weep,
+  But they are cruel tears: this sorrel's heavenly;
+  It strikes, where it doth love.--She wakes--]
+
+This tenderness, with which I lament the punishment which justice
+compels me to inflict, is a holy passion.
+
+I wish these two lines could be honestly ejected. It is the fate of
+Shakespeare to counteract his own pathos.
+
+V.ii.65 (502,8) A murder, which I thought a sacrifice] This line is
+difficult. _Thou hast hardened my heart, and makest me_ kill thee with
+the rage of a _murderer_, when _I thought to have sacrificed_ thee to
+justice with the calmness of a priest striking a victim.
+
+It must not be omitted, that one of the elder quartos reads, _thou dost
+stone_ thy _heart_; which I suspect to be genuine. The meaning then will
+be, _thou forcest me_ to dismiss thee from the world in the state of the
+_murdered_ without preparation for death, _when I intended_ that thy
+punishment should have been a _sacrifice_ atoning for thy crime.
+
+I am glad that I have ended my revisal of this dreadful scene. It is not
+to be endured.
+
+V.ii.134 (505,3) false as water] As water that will support no weight,
+nor keep any impression.
+
+V.ii.151 (506,4) villainy has made mocks with love] _Villainy_ has taken
+advantage to _play upon_ the weakness of a violent passion.
+
+V.ii.162 (506,5) Thou hast not half that power to do me harm, /As I have
+to be hurt] [Hamner: to bear hurt] The Oxford Editor saw well the
+meaning of his author, but weakened his expression. She means to say, _I
+have in this cause power to endure more than thou hast power to
+inflict_.
+
+V.ii.183 (507, 6) charm your tongue] I know not whether I have read, or
+whether my own thoughts hare suggested, an alteration of this passage.
+It seems to me not improbable, that Shakespeare wrote _clam_ your
+tongue; to _clam_ a bell, is to cover the clapper with felt, which
+drowns the blow, and hinders the sound.
+
+V.ii.211 (509,7) she with Cassio had the act of shame/A thousand times
+committed] This is another passage which seems to suppose a longer space
+comprised in the action of this play than the scenes include.
+
+V.ii.253 (512,2) It was a sword of Spain, the ice-brook's temper] [In
+the first edition it is, _Isebroke's temper_. Thence corrupted to
+_Ice-brook's_.--_Ebro's temper_; the waters of that river of Spain are
+particularly famous for tempering of steel. POPE.] I believe the old
+reading changed to _ice-brook_ is right. Steel is hardened by being put
+red hot into very cold water.
+
+V.ii.286 (513,3)
+
+  I look down towards his feet; but that's a fable.
+  If that thou be'st a devil, I cannot kill thee]
+
+To see if, according to the common opinion, his feet be cloven.
+
+V.ii.292 (513,4) Fall'n in the practice of a cursed slave] In the
+_snare_, by the _stratagem_.
+
+V.ii.317 (514,5) in the interim] The first copy has, _in the_ nick. It
+was, I suppose, thought upon revisal, that _nick_ was too familiar.
+
+V.ii.342 (515,6) Speak of me as I am] The early copies read, _Speak of
+them as they are_. The present reading has more force. (rev. 1778, X,
+622, 6)
+
+(520,2) General Observation. The beauties of this play impress
+themselves so strongly upon the attention of the reader, that they can
+draw no aid from critical illustration. The fiery openness of Othello,
+magnanimous, artless, and credulous, boundless in his confidence, ardent
+in his affection, inflexible in his resolution, and obdurate in his
+revenge; the cool malignity of Iago, silent in his resentment, subtle in
+his designs, and studious at once of his interest and his vengeance; the
+soft simplicity of Desdemona, confident of merit, and conscious of
+innocence, her artless perseverance in her suit, and her slowness to
+suspect that she can be suspected, are such proofs of Shakespeare's
+skill in human nature, as, I suppose, it is vain to seek in any modern
+writer. The gradual progress which Iago makes in the Moor's conviction,
+and the circumstances which he employs to inflame him, are so artfully
+natural, that, though it will perhaps not be said of him as he says of
+himself, that he is _a man not easily jealous_, yet we cannot but pity
+him, when at last we find him _perplexed in the extreme_.
+
+There is always danger, lest wickedness, conjoined with abilities,
+should steal upon esteem, though it misses of approbation; but the
+character of Iago is so conducted, that he is from the first scene to
+the last hated and despised.
+
+Even the inferior characters of this play would be very conspicuous in
+any other piece, not only for their justness, but their strength. Cassio
+is brave, benevolent, and honest, ruined only by his want of
+stubbornness to resist an insidious invitation. Roderigo's suspicious
+credulity, and impatient submission to the cheats which he sees
+practised upon him, and which by persuasion he suffers to be repeated,
+exhibit a strong picture of a weak mind betrayed by unlawful desires to
+a false friend; and the virtue of Aemilia is such as we often find, worn
+loosely, but not cast off, easy to commit small crimes, but quickened
+and alarmed at atrocious villainies.
+
+The scenes from the beginning to the end are busy, varied by happy
+interchanges, and regularly promoting the progression of the story; and
+the narrative in the end, though it tells but what is known already, yet
+is necessary to produce the death of Othello.
+
+Had the scene opened in Cyprus, and the preceding incidents been
+occasionally related, there had been little wanting to a drama of the
+most exact and scrupulous regularity.
+
+(LI 2) Appendix. Some apology perhaps is necessary for the inconvenience
+of an Appendix, which, however, we can justify by the strongest of all
+pleas, the plea of necessity. The Notes which it contains, whether
+communicated by correspondents, or collected from published volumes,
+were not within our reach when the plays were printed, to which they
+relate. Of that which chance has supplied, we could have no previous
+knowledge; and he that waited till the river should run dry, did not act
+with less reason than the Editor would do, who should suspend his
+publication for possibilities of intelligence, or promises of
+improvement. Had we foreseen the _Oxford_ edition, the assistance we
+expected from it might have persuaded us to pause; but our volumes were
+completely finished before its publication. [There are no notes by
+Johnson in this Appendix; several are by Steevens.]
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Notes to Shakespeare, Volume III: The
+Tragedies, by Samuel Johnson
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