princes, or states, to observe their motions, or to hold correspondence with them." The same association of ideas is carried forward in the word appointment, which Stevens explains as preparation for death. But the word especially belongs to an ambassador, as we find in Burnet:-" He had the appointments of an ambassador, but would not take the character."

"all the world's VASTIDITY"-i. e. Though you were the possessor of the vast world, the terms proposed will fetter you to a fixed limit.

"the poor beetle, that we tread upon"-These lines, taken apart from the context, would indicate that the bodily pain, such as is attended with death, is felt with equal severity by a giant and a beetle. The physiologists tell us that this is not true; and that the nervous system of a beetle does not allow it to feel pain so acutely as that of a man. We hope this is correct; but we are not sure that Shakespeare meant to refine quite so much as the entomologists are desirous to believe. "It is somewhat amusing, (says a writer in the Entomological Magazine,') that his words should, in this case, be entirely wrested from their original purpose. His purpose was to show how little a man feels in dy ing; that the sense of death is most in apprehension, not in the act; and that even a beetle, which feels so little, feels as much as a giant does. The less, therefore, the beetle is supposed to feel, the more force we give to the sentiment of Shakespeare."

11

-follies doth EMMEW"-Angelo makes follies mew up, or hide themselves; as the falcon compels the fowl to conceal himself. "Emmew" was a term in falconryto coop up.

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The PRECISE Angelo"-The first folio has, "the prenzie Angelo" and the second substituted princely for prenzie. The word occurs again three lines lower, where Isabella talks of "prenzie guards." Warburton would read priestly in both places, and Tieck suggests precise; which last, strange as it may be that a critic, who has learned English as a foreign language, should have hit what so many ingenious Englishmen had missed, bears in itself strong presumption of being the true reading. We agree with Knight, that, "having to choose some word which would have the double merit of agreeing with the sense of the passage and being similar in the number and form of the letters, nothing can be more unfortunate than the correction of princely. Warburton's priestly is much nearer the meaning intended to be conveyed. Tieck's precise has a much closer resemblance to prenzie than either of the others

(Prenzie; precise; princelie; priestlie.)

Angelo has already been called precise; and the term, so familiar to Shakespeare's contemporaries, of precisian, for puritan, and precise in reference to strictness of morals and manners, would make Claudio's epithet appropriate and intelligible. Princely guards (understanding by guards the trimmings of a robe) certainly does not give us the meaning of the Poet: it only says, the worst man may wear a rich robe. Priestly is here again much better. But precise guards distinctly gives us the formal trimmings of the scholastic robe, to which Milton alludes in Comus:'

"And blown with restless violence round about The pendent world," etc.

This idea does not belong to any form of Christian doctrine or opinion, but comes from the ancient philosophy, taught by Cicero in his "Somnium Scipionis:""Eorum animi qui se corporis voluptatibus dediderunt, corporibus elapsi circum terram ipsam volutantur," etc. The metrical harmony of the spheres, so beautifully introduced in the MERCHANT OF VENICE, (act v. scene 1.,) is also one of the topics of Cicero, in this same philosophical fragment; so that it is probable that the Poet may have drawn that, as well as this poetic notion of the old philosophy, from the same source. If it is not allowed that he could read the original, yet he might have read Newton's translation, which was " turned into English" in 1577.

"-age, ache, PENURY"-The oldest copy has perjury. It was corrected in the second folio. In a previous line it has thought for "thoughts."

"What sin you do to save a brother's life,

•

Nature dispenses with the deed so far,” etc. "One of the most dramatic passages in the present play, (says Hazlitt, in his Characters of Shakespeare's Plays,') is the interview between Claudio and his sister, when she comes to inform him of the conditions on which Angelo will spare his life. What adds to the dramatic beauty of the scene, and the effect of Claudio's passionate attachment to life, is that it immediately follows the Duke's lecture to him, in the character of the Friar, recommending an absolute indifference to it." The attempt of Claudio to prove to his sister that the loss of her chastity, upon such an occasion, will be a virtue, is finely characteristic of the profound knowledge Shakespeare possessed of the intricate complexities of the human heart. "Shakespeare was, in one sense, the least moral of all writers, (says Hazlitt;) for morality (commonly so called) is made up of antipathies; and his talent consisted in sympathy with human nature, in all its shapes, degrees, depressions, and elevations. The object of the pedantic moralist is to find out the bad in every thing: his was to show that there is some soul of goodness in things evil.'" With reference to the representation of such scenes on the stage, Schlegel observes:-"It is certainly to be wished that decency should be observed on all public occasions, and consequently also on the stage; but even in this it is possible to go too far. That censorious spirit, which scents out impurity in every sally of a bold and vivacious description, is at best but an ambiguous criterion of purity of morals; and there is frequently concealed under this hypocrisy the consciousness of an impure imagination. The determination to tolerate nothing which has the least reference to the sensual relation between the two sexes may be carried to a pitch extremely oppressive to a dramatic poet, and injurious to the boldness and freedom of his composition. If considerations of such a nature were to be attended to, many of the happiest parts of the plays of Shakespeare, for example, in MEASURE FOR MEASURE, and ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL, which are handled with a due regard to decency, must be set aside for their impropriety.'

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-a WARPED slip of WILDERNESS"-i. e. Wildness-a wild "slip," not proceeding from the grafted stock. Beaumont and Fletcher, Decker, and Milton, use "wilderness" in the same sense.

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- the goodness that is cheap in beauty"-The quaint brevity of the sentence makes it obscure. He says "The goodness which, when associated with beauty, is held cheap, does not remain long so associated: but grace, being the very life of your features, must continue to preserve their beauty."

" he made trial of you only"-i. e. He will avoid your accusation by alleging that "he made trial of you only."

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-COMBINATE husband"-i. e. Contracted husband

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"DETECTED for women"-The use of this word, in the various extracts from old authors, collected by the commentators, show that its old meaning was (not suspected, as some of them say, but) charged, arraigned, accused. Thus, in Greenway's Tacitus," (1622,) the Roman senators, who informed against their kindred, are said "to have detected the dearest of their kindred.” "-in her CLACK-DISH"-"A wooden dish, with a moveable cover, formerly carried by beggars, which they clacked and clattered to show that they were empty. In this they received the alms. It was one mode of attracting attention. Lepers, and other paupers deemed infectious, originally used that the sound might give warning not to approach too near, and alms be given without touching the object. The custom of clacking at Easter is not yet quite disused, in some of the counties in England. Lucio's meaning is too evident to want explanation."-SINGER.

"-weed my vice, and let his grow"-Some commentators make this refer to the Duke's personal fault, which he confesses-"'twas my fault to give this people scope." I rather think most readers will agree with Malone, that "My does not relate to the Duke in particular, but to any indefinite person. The meaning seems to be, to destroy by extirpation (as it is expressed in another place) a fault that I have committed, and to suffer his own vices to grow to a rank and luxuriant height. The speaker puts himself in the case of an unoffending person.”

"Most pond'rous and substantial things"-I believe, with several of the best critics, that this passage, probably originally obscure from brevity of expression, has become more so from some misprint, the correction of which has not been discovered. "Likeness (says Collier) has been construed comeliness; but likeness made in crimes may refer to the resemblance, in vicious inclination, between Angelo and Claudio." Stevens gave up the lines as unintelligible, and the other commentators have not extracted much meaning out of them. We have printed the old text, as at least as good as any of the proposed emendations. The sense seems to be'How may persons, of similar criminality, by making practice on the times, draw to themselves, as it were with spiders' webs, the ponderous and substantial benefits of the world."

ACT IV.-SCENE 1.

"Take, O! take those lips away"-The earliest authority for assigning this song to Shakespeare, (excepting that one stanza of it is found here,) is the spurious edition of his Poems," printed in 1640. It is inserted in Beaumont and Fletcher's "Bloody Brother," (act v. scene 2,) with a second stanza, as follows:

"4

Hide, O! hide those hills of snow, Which thy frozen bosom bears, On whose tops the pinks that grow Are of those that April wears; But first set my poor heart free, Bound in those icy chains by thee.

Critics differ as to the authorship. Coupling the two circumstances that one stanza of the song is found here, and that the whole was imputed to Shakespeare in 1640, his claim may be admitted, until better evidence is adduced to deprive him of it; unless, indeed, we admit Weber's very probable conjecture, that this stanza is Shakespeare's, and that Fletcher, having occasion for a similar song, borrowed the first, and added the second

stanza.

"a PLANCHED gate"-i. e. A gate made of boards: (from the French planche.)

"There, have I made my promise, upon the Heavy middle of the night to call upon him."

I have here, like Knight, preferred retaining the original metrical regulation, harsh as it may be, to an arbi

trary change, which adds little melody to the linesand these, indeed, are not the worse for approaching to prose. By pointing and reading, as the sense directs, "have I made my promise" parenthetically, or between commas, the verse is more perceptible. Knight well remarks:-"There are many examples in Shakespeare's later plays, particularly in HENRY VIII., of metrical arrangements such as this, in which the freedom of versification is carried to the extremest limit. We believe it to be characteristic of a period of the Poet's life, and therefore cannot consent to remove these decided indications. The lines are ordinarily regulated as follows:There have I made my promise to call on him, Upon the heavy middle of the night."

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"Our TILTH's to sow"-The older copies have, "our tythes to sow.' Warburton suggested it was a misprint for "tilth," which is, I think, the true reading, though not generally adopted. "Tilth" was a favourite old farming word, which is thus explained, by an old writer on husbandry—(Markham's "English Husbandry," 1635)-"Begin to sow your barley upon that ground which the year before did lye fallow, and is commonly called your tilth, or fallow-field." It is a confirmation of this correction that, in this very book, on another page," tilth" is misprinted, as here, tithe. The Duke then says "The harvest is so far from being ready to reap, that we have as yet not even sowed our field!"

SCENE 11.

every TRUE man's apparel fits your thief”— This is the old and more characteristic division of the dialogue, though the last speech of the Clown has been, after much learned discussion, in several editions, coupled with Abhorson's answer. The Clown asks Abhorson for proof that his occupation is a mystery, and receives for reply, merely, "Every true man's (i. e. honest man's) apparel fits your thief." The Clown, who is a quick fellow, catches at the reasoning passing in Abhorson's mind, and explains in what way "every true man's apparel fits your thief." The author has made Abhorson a person of a certain concise and silent gravity, as if, indeed, he painted from some individual of this class, whose peculiarities he thought worthy of being preserved in this representative of his profession. He, therefore, contents himself with the assertion upon which the Clown enlarges.

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you shall find me YARE”—i. e. Handy; nimble in the execution of the office.

"it lies STARKLY"-i. e. Stiffly.

were he MEAL'D"-" Meal'd (says Blackstone, and Nares) means mingled, or compounded-(from the French méler.) Mell, for meddle, or mingle, is common." I doubt this, and prefer Johnson's explanation:"Were he meal'd; were he sprinkled, or defiled." A figure of the same kind our author uses in MACBETH:The blood-bolter'd Banquo.

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"UNSISTING postern"-" Unsisting (says Blackstone) may signify never at rest, always opening." It may be a misprint for resisting, or unresting.

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here comes Claudio's pardon"-We have no hesitation nere in adopting Tyrwhitt's suggestion as to

the assignment of these speeches. In the original, the Duke says, "This is his lordship's man ;" whereas it is not likely that the Provost, who has so strongly expressed his opinion that Angelo would be unrelenting. and who subsequently says "I told you," should, upon the very appearance of a messenger, exclaim-“And here comes Claudio's pardon."

SCENE III.

"1

young MR. RASH"-" This enumeration of the inhabitants of the prison affords a very striking view of the practices predominant in Shakespeare's age. Besides those whose follies are common to all times, we have four fighting-men and a traveller. It is not unlikely that the originals of the pictures were then known."-JOHNSON.

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- a commodity of brown paper and old ginger"An amusing and instructive paper might be made up from the plays, novels, and essays of France and Eng land, for the last three centuries, describing the still familiar arts of the money-lenders, to whom men of des perate credit are driven for aid, in contriving to avoid the usury laws, by obliging the hapless customer to take a portion of their loan in some unsaleable commodities. such as "brown paper and old ginger." From Shakespeare, who, as he soon became (in his own phrase) “a rich fellow enough, and had every thing handsome about him," must have described only the experience of others, to Sheridan, who doubtless related his own experience in that of Charles Surface, there is hardly an English writer of comic fiction but has at least hinted at this fruitful topic. Le Sage, Molière, etc., down to the present novelists of Paris, have also found in this perpetual food for pleasantry; and their laughable satire would not require much alteration to make it very intelligible on this side of the Atlantic. The first notice of it, that has fallen in my way, was in Wilson's "Discourse on Usury," (1572;) and, as he speaks of it as be ing then no novelty, this establishes a very respectable antiquity for this time-honoured usage.

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44

"— for the Lord's sake"-Alluding to the custom of prisoners begging for the Lord's sake"-a custom which lasted, in London, till the present generation. Thomas Nash thus mentions begging "for the Lord's sake," at the Fleet, in his "Pierce Penniless," (1592 :)— At that time that thy joys were in the fleeting, and thus crying, for the Lord's sake,' out of an iron window."

4

"YONDER generation"-" The original is yond, in which the printer no doubt followed the contraction of the writer. But in most modern editions, we have the under generation; which change (says Johnson) was made by Hanmer, with true judgment.' Shakespeare has, indeed, in RICHARD II., alluded to the antipodes in a poetical figure:—

when the searching eye of heaven is hid Behind the globe, and lights the lower world.

But what is gained in the passage before us by perplexing the time when the Duke assures the Provost he shall find his safety manifested? The scene takes place before the dawning: Claudio is to be executed by four of the clock. The Duke says—

As near the dawning, provost, as it is, You shall hear more ere morning.

Subsequently, when the morning is come, Isabella is told the Duke comes home to-morrow.' Speaking. then, in the dark prison, before sunrise, nothing can be more explicit than the Duke's statement that before the sun has twice made his daily greeting to 'yonder' generation-i. e. to the life without the walls-the Provost shall be assured of his safety. But at the time when he was speaking it would be evening at the antipodes: and if the Provost waited for his safety till the sun had twice risen upon the under generation, he would have to wait till a third day before he received that assurance: and this contradicts what is afterwards said of to-morrow."-KNIGHT.