ACT I.

SCENE 1.

P. 107, c. 1, 1. 8. Since I am put to know,] may am compelled to acknowledge. lists) Bounds, limits.

mean,

Id. 1.9.
Id. 1. 12.

Then no more remains,

But that to your sufficiency, as your worth is able,

And let them work.] Something is wanting in this passage, which the commentators have not been able to supply. The meaning may be, your skill in government is in ability to serve me, equal to the integrity of your heart, and let them co-operate in your future ministry.

Id l. 20 with special soul

Elected him-] By these words the poet perhaps means that he was the immediate choice of his heart.

Id 1.35.

- thy belongings -] i. e. endowments. ld. 1. 36. Are not thine own so proper, i. e. are not so much thy own property. STEEVENS. Id. l. 42. -to fine issues:] To great conse

getting such a dower as her friends might hereafter bestow on her, when time had reconciled them to her clandestine marriage. STEE

VENS.

Id. l. 14.--- the fault and glimpse of newness;] The fault and glimpse is the same as the faulty glimpse. And the meaning seems to be

Whether it be the fault of newness, a fault arising from the mind being dazzled by a novel authority, of which the new governor has yet had only a glimpse, has yet taken only a hasty survey; or whether, &c. Shakspeare has many similar expressions. MALONE. Id. 1 29. so tickle-1 i. e. ticklish. Id. l. 35

11

probation.

Id. 1. 40.

her approbation;] i. e. enter on her

prone and speechless dialect,] Prone, perhaps, may stand for humble; as a prone posture is a posture of supplication.

Id. i. 69.

'tis my familiar sin

With maids to seem the lapwing,] The modern editors have not taken in the whole similitude here: they have taken notice of the lightness of a spark's behaviour to his mistress, and compared it to the lapwing's hovering and fluttering as it flies. But the chief, of which no notice is taken, is,-"—and to jest." (See Ray's Proverbs. ] "The lapwing cries, tongue far from heart;" i. e. most farthest from the nest.

P. 110, c. 1, l. 3. To teeming foison;] Foison is plenty.

Id. l. 61. Provost,] The Provost here is not a military officer, but a kind of sheriff or gaoler. Id. c. 2, 1. 9. That thieves do pass on thieves?] Pass or decide.

Id. l. 9. 'Tis very pregnant,] "Tis plain that we must act with bad as with good; we punish

the faults as we take the advantages that lie in our way, and what we do not see we cannot note.

Id. l. 29. brakes of vice,-] The commentators have not decided the meaning of this word. By brakes of vice may be meant a collection, a thicket of vices. Brake was also the name of an engine of torture.

Id. l. 59. whom I detest-] He designed to say protest.

P. III, c. 1, l. 39.

LONE.

"All-hallownd eve." MA

P. 112, c. 2, l. 17. - let it be his fault, And not my brother.] i. e. let his fault be condemned, or extirpated, but let not my brother himself suffer.

Id. l. 43. - touch'd with that remorse-] Remorse, for pity.

Id. l. 70. And mercy then will breathe within your lips,

Like man new made.] As amiable as a man come fresh out of the hands of his Creator; or, as tender-hearted and merciful as the first man was in his days of innocence, immediately after his creation. P. 113, c. 1, l. 10.

like a prophet,

Looks in a glass,] This alludes to the fopperies of the beril, a kind of crystal which hath a weak tincture of red in it. Among other tricks of astrologers, the discovery of past or future events was supposed to be the consequence of looking into it.

Id. 1. 15. But where they live, to end. i. e. they

should end WHERE they began, i. e. with the
criminal.

Id. 1. 31. — pelting, i. e. paltry.
Id. 1. 35.

lish word Id. l. 36. Id. l. 41.

gnarled oak] Gnarre is the old Engfor a knot in wood.

"But man, proud_man!"

who, with our spleens, Would all themselves laugh mortal.] By spleens, Shakspeare means that peculiar turn of the human mind, that always inclines it to a spiteful, unseasonable mirth. Had the an gels that, says Shakspeare, they would laugh themselves out of their immortality, by indulging a passion which does not deserve that prerogative. Id. l. 71. fond shekels-] Fond means very frequently in our author, foolish. It signifies in this place valued or prized by folly. tested gold, i. e. brought to the

Id. l. 71.

test, or cupelled. Id. 1 75. preserved souls,] i e. preserved from the corruption of the world. Id. c. 2, l. 3. I am that way going to temptation,

Where prayers cross.] This appointment of his for the morrow's meeting, being a premeditated exposure of himself to temptation, which it was the general object of prayer to thwart.

horn,

'Tis not the devil's crest.] This whole pa sage, as it stands, appears to me to mean:"0 place! O form! though you wrench awe from fools, and tie even wiser souls to your fa seeming, yet you make no alteration in th minds or constitutions of those who possess or assume you. Though we should write good angel on the devil's horn, it will not change his nature, so as to give him a right to wear that crest. M. MASON. Id. 1. 45. The general, i. e. generality Id. 1. 65. that hath from nature stolen, & i. e. that hath killed a man. Id. c. 2, l. 1. I had rather give my body thas my soul.] She means, I think, I had rather die, than forfeit my eternal happiness by the prostitution of my person. MALONE Id. 1. 14 Pleas'd you to do't, at peril, &c.] The reasoning is thus: Angelo asks, whether there might not be a charity in sin to save this brother? Isabella answers, that if Ange will save him, she will stake her soul that it were charity, not sin. Angelo replies, that if Isabella would sare him at the hazard her soul, it would be not indeed no sin, but

Id 1 60. Iguomy in ransom,] So ignominy was formerly written. Id. 1.72. If not a feodary, but only he, &c.] The meaning should seem to be this: We are all frail, says Angelo. Yes, replies Isabella; if he has not one associate in his crime, if no other person own and follow the same criminal courses which you are now pursuing, let my brother suffer death. MALONE.

Id. l. 79. In profiting by them.] In taking advantage of them.

Id 115, c. 1. 7. 1. —— false prints.] i. e. take any impression.

Id. L. 17. - hath a license in't,] an appearance | of licentiousness.

Id 1 23. Seeming, seeming!] Hypocrisy, hypo

crisy.

11. 1. 53. — prompture-] Suggestion, temptation, instigation.

ACT III.

SCENE I.

Id. 1. 74. That none but fools would keep :) i. e. care for

Id. c. 2, 1. 7. -- Thy best of rest is sleep, And that thou oft provok'st; yet grossly fear'st

Thy death, which is no more.] I cannot without indignation find Shakspeare saying that death is only sleep, lengthening out his exhortation by a sentence which in the Friar is impious, in the reasoner is foolish, and in the poet trite and vulgar. JoHNSON.

This was an oversight in Shakspeare; for in the second scene of the fourth Act, the Provost speaks of the desperate Bernardine, as one who regards death only as a drunken sleep. | STEEVENS.

I apprehend Shakspeare means to say no more, than that the passage from this life to another is as easy as sleep; a position in which there is surely neither folly nor impiety. MA

LONE.

Id 1 14. strange effects,] read affects or affecserpigo,] The serpigo is a kind of

tions. 14. 1. 21.

letter.

Id. 1. 27.

- palsied eld;] Eld is here put for old people. Shakspeare declares that man has neither youth nor age; for in youth, which is the happiest time, or which might be the happiest, he commonly wants means to obtain what he could enjoy; he is dependent on palsied eld; must beg alms from the coffers of hoary avarice; and being very niggardly supplied, becomes as aged, looks, like an old man, on happiness which is beyond his reach. And, when he is old and rich, when he has wealth enough for the purchase of all that formerly excited his desires, he has no longer the powers of enjoyment,

has neither heat, affection, limb, nor beauty,

To make his riches pleasant.

P.

a restrain!

To a determin'd scope.] A confinement of your mind to one painful idea; ignominy, of which the remembrance can neither be suppressed nor escaped. JOHNSON.

116, c. 1, 7. 13.- -follies doth enmew,] Forces follies to lie in cover, without daring to show themselves.

Id. 1. 14. As falcon doth the fowl-] as the fowl is afraid to flutter while the falcon hovers over it.

Id. 1. 15. His filth within being cast,] To cast a pond is to empty it of mud.

Id. l. 20. princely guards!] i. e. badges of royalty, or outward appearances. Some would read priestly guards, or sanctity.

Id.

Id.

1. 24. from this rank offence.] from the time of my committing this offence, you might persist in sinning with safety.

1. 42. Be perdurably fin'd?] Perdurably is lastingly.

ld. l. 49 delight spirit-] i. e. the spirit accustomed here to ease and delights. Id. l. 52. viewless winds,] i. e. unseen, invisi

ble.

Id. l. 72. —— a warped slip of wilderness :] i. e.

wildness.

Id 1 73. Take my defiance :] Defiance is refusal. Id. 1. 80.

but a trade :] A custom; an esta

blished habit. Id. c. 2, l. 23. Do not satisfy your resolution with hopes that are fallible] i. e. Do not rest with satisfaction on hopes that are fallible. Id. 1. 35. In good time.] i. e. à la bonne heure, so be it, very well.

Id. 1. 73 and limit of the solemnity,] i. e. appointed time. P. 117, c 1, 7. 4.

her combinate husband,] Combinate is betrothed.

Id 1. 9.

-

bestowed her on her own lamenta tion ] i. e. left her to her sorrows, or gave her up to them.

Id. 1. 26.

only refer yourself to this advantage, i. e. reserve to yourself. Id. l. 36.

the corrupt deputy scaled.] i. e.

over-reached. Id. l. 47. the moated grange,] A in grange, its original signification, meant a farm-house of a monastery, from which it was always at some little distance.

Free from our faults, as faults from seeming free!] i. e as faults are destitute of all comeliness or seeming. The first of these lines refers to the deputy's sanctified hypocrisy; the second to the Clown's beastly occupation. But the latter part is thus ill expressed for the sake of rhyme. WARBURTON. Mr. Malone omits Free at the beginning of the line.

l. 17. His neck will come to your waist, a cord, sir, His neck wil be tied, like your waist, with a rope. The friars of the Franciscan order, perhaps of all others, wear a hempen cord for a girdle.

- much detected for women ;]

clack-dish:] The beggars, two or three centuries ago, used to proclaim their want by a wooden dish, with a moveable cover, which they clacked, to show that their vessel was empty.

an inward of his :] Inward is inti

Id. 1. 33. mate. Id. l. 39. number. Id. l. 46. -the business he hath helmed,] The difficulties he hath steer'd through. A metaphor from navigation. Id. l. 69. opposite] i. e. opponent, adversary. Id. c. 2, 1. 55. There is scarce truth enough alive, to make societies secure: but security enough, to make fellowships accurs'd:] The sense is, "There scarcely exists sufficient honesty in the world to make social life secure; but there are occasions enough where a man may be drawn in to become surety, which will make him pay dearly for his friendships."

-The greater file] The greater

Id. l. 75. resolved-] i. e. satisfied.

Id. c. 2, 1.7.—the unsisting postern-] i. c. never at rest, always opening.

| Id. l. 41. -putting on: i. e. spur, incitement, Id. l. 55. -one that is a prisoner nine years oldi. e. that has been confined these nine

Id. l. 19, siege of justice,] i. e. seat of justice. Siége, French.

your_bosom-] your wish; your heart's desire. JOHNSON.

Id. l. 70. I am combined,- i. e. bound by agreement.

Summum jus, summa injuria.

Id. 1. 12. Pattern in himself to know,] "Pattern in himself to know," is to feel in his own breast that virtue which he makes others practise. Id. 1. 24. How may likeness made in crimes, Making practice on the times, Draw with idle spiders' strings,

Most pond'rous and substantial things!] Likeness is here used for specious or seeming virtue. So, before: "O, seeming, seeming!" The sense then of the passage is,- How many persons, assuming the likeness or semblance of virtue, while they are in fact guilty of the grossest crimes, impose with this counterfeit sanctity upon the world, in order to draw to themselves by the flimsiest pretensions the most solid advantages; i. e. pleasure, honour, reputation, &c. MALONE. The same critic reads "Mocking practice," and "To draw."

obsolete word.

l. 62. Yet reason dares her?-no:] yet does not reason challenge or incite her accuse me?-no, (answers the speaker for my authority, &c. To dare in this sense, is yet a school-phrase. MALONE. Id. l. 65. —— my authority bears a credent bulk, That no particular scandal, &c.] Credent is creditable, enforcing credit, not questionable. Mr. Malone reads "bears off."

Id. l. 34.

Id. 1. 35. Have hent the gates.] Have seized of taken possession of.

ACT V.

Id. l. 68.

SCENE I.

Vail your regard-] i. e. cond scend to look, from higher things, upon, &c. Id. c. 2, 1. 35. -as shy, as grave, as just, a absolute,] As shy; as reserved, as abstracted! as just; as nice, as exact: as absolute; as complete in all the round of duty. JOHNSON. Id. l. 48. - do not banish reason

For inequality:] Do not suppose I am mad because I speak passionately and unequally MALONE.

Id. 1 21. In hateful practice:] Practice was used by the old writers for any unlawful or insidious stratagem.

Id. 1. 33 In countenance !] i. e. false appearance, hypocrisy

Id. 1.74.his mere request,] i. e. his absolute request.

Id. 1. 80. Whensoever he's convented,] i. e. cited, summoned.

Id c. 2,1 2 So vulgarly - i. e. publicly.
Id. 1. 11. In this I'll be impartial;] Impartial
was sometimes used in the sense of partial.
Id. l. 71.. her promised proportions.

Came short of composition;] Her fortune, which was promised proportionate to mine, fell short of the composition, that is, contract or bargain. JOHNSON.

P. 125, c. I. / 11. These poor informal women -] i e. out of their senses. Id. c. 2. 1.5.

to retort your manifest appeal,] To refer back to Angelo the cause in which you appeal from Angelo to the Duke. Id 1 23. Nor here provincial ] Nor here accountable, as out of his province.

Id. 1. 36. Make rash remonstrance-] i. e. a premature discovery.

Id. l. 61. - denies thee vantage:] The denial of which will avail thee nothing.

Id. c. 2, l. 48. --after more advice:] after more consideration.

P. 127, c. 1, l. 20. according to the trick:] To the trick of the times.

Id. c. 2, l. 17..

that is more gratulate.] Some other reward in store for him more acceptable than thanks.