Rather than purchas'd;' what he cannot change, Than what he chooses. CAS. You are too indulgent: Let us grant, it is not Amifs to tumble on the bed of Ptolemy; him, (As his compofure must be rare indeed, Whom these things cannot blemish,) yet must Antony Splendour of the ftars were alone in Shakspeare's contemplation, appears from a paffage in Hamlet, where a fimilar thought is lefs equivocally exprefs'd: "Your skill fhall, like a ftar i' the darkest night, A kindred thought occurs in King Henry V: 66 though the truth of it ftands off as grofs "As black from white, my eye will scarcely fee it." Again, in King Henry IV. P. I: 3 "And like bright metal on a fullen ground, "My reformation, glittering o'er my fault, "Shall fhow more goodly, and attract more eyes, "Than that which hath no foil to fet it off." MALONE. -purchas'd;] Procur'd by his own fault or endeavour. -fay, this becomes him, (As his compofure must be rare indeed, JOHNSON. Whom thefe things cannot blemish,)] This feems inconfequent; I read : And his compofure &c. Grant that this becomes him, and if it can become him, he must have in him fomething very uncommon, yet, &c. JOHNSON. Though the conftruction of this paffage, as Dr. Johnfon obferves, appears harfh, there is, I believe, no corruption. In A You Like It, we meet with the fame kind of phrafeology: 66 what though you have beauty, (As by my faith 1 fee no more in you No way excufe his foils,' when we do bear "Than without candle may go dark to bed.) See Vol. VI. p. 118, n. 5. MALONE. No way excufe his foils,] The old copy has-foils. For the emendation now made I am answerable. In the Mfs. of our author's time f and fare often undistinguishable, and no two letters are fo often confounded at the prefs. Shakspeare has fo regularly used this word in the fenfe required here, that there cannot, I imagine, be the fmalleft doubt of the juftness of this emendation. So, in Hamlet: 66 and no foil, nor cautel, doth befmirch "The virtue of his will." Again, in Love's Labour's Loft: "The only foil of his fair virtue's glofs." Again, in Measure for Measure: "Who is as free from touch or foil with her, Again, ibid: My unfoil'd name, the auftereness of my life." "For all the foil of the atchievement goes In the last act of the play before us we find an expreffion nearly fynonymous: "Wag'd equal in him." Again, in Act II. fc. iii: "Read not my blemishes in the world's reports." MALONE. If foils be inadmiffible (which I queftion) we might readfails. In The Winter's Tale we meet with this fubftantive, which fignifies omiffion, or non-performance: Mark, and perform it. Sce'ft thou? for the fail "Of any point in't, fhall not only be "Death to thyfelf," &c. Yet, on the whole, I prefer Mr. Malone's conjecture. STEEVENS. So great weight in his lightness.] The word light is one of Shakspeare's favourite play-things. The fenfe is, His trifling levity throws fo much burden upon us. JOHNSON. Call on him for't: but, to confound fuch time, LEP. Enter a Meffenger. Here's more news. MES. Thy biddings have been done; and every hour, Most noble Cæfar, fhalt thou have report How 'tis abroad. Pompey is strong at fea; "Call on him for't:] Call on him, is, vifit him. Says Cæfar, If Antony followed his debaucheries at a time of leisure, I should leave him to be punished by their natural confequences, by furfeits and dry bones. JOHNSON. 8 9 to confound fuch time,] See p. 412, n. 2. MALONE. boys; who, being mature in knowledge,] For this Hanmer, who thought the maturity of a boy an inconfiftent idea, has put: who, immature in knowledge: but the words experience and judgement 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. JOHNSON. 2 That only have fear'd Cæfar:] Thofe whom not love but fear made adherents to Cæfar, now fhow their affection for Pompey. 3 The difcontents repair,] That is, the malecontents. Henry IV. P. I: 66 that may please the eye "Of fickle changelings and poor discontents." See Vol. VIII. p. 567, n. 4. MALONE. JOHNSON. 1 CES. It hath been taught us from the primal ftate, That he, which is, was wifh'd, until he were ; And the ebb'd man, ne'er lov'd, till ne'er worth love, I fhould have known no lefs : Comes dear'd, by being lack'd. This common body, Like to a vagabond flag upon the stream, Goes to, and back, lackeying the varying tide, he, which is, was wish'd, until he were ; And the ebb'd man, ne'er lov'd, till neʼer worth love, Comes dear'd, by being lack'd.] [Old copy-fear'd.] Let us examine the fenfe of this [as it ftood] in plain profe. The earliest hiftories inform us, that the man in fupreme command was always wifh'd to gain that command, till he had obtain'd it. And be, whom the multitude has contentedly feen in a low condition, when he begins to be wanted by them, becomes to be fear'd by them. But do the multitude fear a man because they want him? Certainly, we must read: Comes dear'd, by being lack'd. i. e. endear'd, a favourite to them. Befides, the context requires this reading; for it was not fear, but love, that made the people flock to young Pompey, and what occafioned this reflection. So, in Coriolanus: "I fhall be lov'd, when I am lack'd." WARBURTON. The correction was made in Theobald's edition, to whom it was communicated by Dr. Warburton. Something, however, is yet. wanting. What is the meaning of " ne'er lov'd till ne'er worth love?" I fuppofe that the fecond ne'er was inadvertently repeated at the prefs, and that we should read-till not worth love. MALONE. 5 - rot itfelf] The word-itfelf, is, I believe, an interpolation, being wholly useless to the fenfe, and injurious to the measure. STEEVENS. 6 Goes to, and back, lackeying the varying tide, To rot itfelf with motion.] [Old copy-lafbing] But how can a flag, or ruth, floating upon a ftream, and that has no motion but what the fluctuation of the water gives it, be faid to lash the tide? This is making a fcourge of a weak ineffective thing, and giving it an active violence in its own power. "Tis true, there is no fenfe in the old reading; but the addition of a fingle letter will not only MES. Cæfar, I bring thee word, Menecrates and Menas, famous pirates, Make the fea ferve them; which they ear and wound With keels of every kind: Many hot inroads Taken as feen; for Pompey's name strikes more, give us good fenfe, but the genuine word of our author into the bargain: Lackeying the varying tide, i. e. floating backwards and forwards with the variation of the tide, like a page, or lackey, at his mafter's heels. THEOBALD. Theobald's conjecture may be supported by a paffage in the fifth book of Chapman's tranflation of Homer's Odyjey: who would willingly Lacky along fo vast a lake of brine ?” Again, in his verfion of the 24th Iliad: My guide to Argos either fhip'd or lackying by thy fide." Again, in the Prologue to the fecond part of Antonio and Mellida, 1602: "O that our power "Could lacky or keep pace with our defires!" Again, in The whole magnificent entertainment given to king James, queen Anne his wife, &c. March 15, 1603, by Thomas Decker, 4to, 1604: "The minutes (that lackey the heeles of time) run not fafter away than do our joyes." Perhaps another messenger should be noted here, as entering with fresh news. STEEVENS. 6 which they ear -] To ear, is to plough; a common metaphor. JOHNSON. To ear, is not, however, at this time, a common word. I meet with it again in Turbervile's Falconry, 1575: because I have a larger field to ear." See alfo Vol. VI. p. 216, n. 7. STEEVENS. "Lack blood to think on't,] Turn pale at the thought of it. 8 JOHNSON. and flush youth-] Flush youth is youth ripened to manhood; youth whofe blood is at the flow. So, in Timon of Athens : "Now the time is flush,-." STEEVENS. |