as the speeches assigned to Dorset could have been given by a messenger, and are evidently supposed to come from an inferior and not from an equal. 285. Lines 42, 43: Lord Rivers and Lord Grey are sent to Pomfret, With them Sir Thomas Vaughan, prisoners. According to Sir Thomas More (p. 28) Gloucester "sent the lord Riuers and the Lorde Richarde with Sir Thomas Vaughan into the Northe countrey into diuers places to prison, and afterward al to Pomfrait, where they were in conclusion beheaded." The text is printed as in Qq.; Ff. print as three lines: Lord Riuers, and Grey. Are sent to Pomfret, and with them. 286. Line 45: Q. Eliz. For what offence?-Qq. give this line to Cardinal; Ff. to Archbishop; but setting aside the fact that both Qq. and Ff. have "my gracious lady" in line 48 below, the epithet gracious has been applied to the queen above (line 21), and therefore the supposition that lady was a misprint in F. 1 for lord can hardly be entertained. 287. Lines 51, 52: Insulting tyranny begins to JET Upon the innocent and aweless throne. Ff. have jut. Compare Titus Andronicus (ii. 1. 64), "to jet upon a prince's right" (Ff. read set). (See Comedy of Errors, note 35.) There is no instance I can find of jut upon used in this sense; but the words jet and jut are both derived from the same source, the French jeter. In fact, Skeat considers jut merely a corruption of jet, so that practically they may be said to be the same; and it merely comes to the question which form of the word is more commonly used in this sense, namely, "to strut with a conceited air." 288. Line 61: Clean over-blown.-For this sense of clean see Rich. II. iii. 1. 10; and for over-blown, see same play, iii. 2. 190. 289. Line 66: we will to SANCTUARY.-This was the building within the precincts of the Abbey, and stood where Westminster Hospital now stands. Some think all the precincts were included in the term sanctuary. It retained its privilege of protecting criminals and debtors till 1632. (See III. Henry VI. note 264.) Queen Elizabeth sought refuge in the sanctuary at Westminster in 1470, and Edward V. was born there. ACT III. SCENE 1. 290. Line 16: God keep me from false friends! but they were none. We have marked this line to be spoken Aside, in accordance with the conjecture of the Cambridge edd. 291. Line 24: in good time.-This is equivalent to the French apropos. 292. Line 39: Expect him here; but if she be obdúrate.Qq. Ff. have "Anon expect him." We have omitted the anon, following Steevens. 293. Line 44: senseless-obstinate.-Not hyphened in Qq Ff. Staunton suggests needless-obstinate; but senseless is used in the sense of "unreasonable." Compare Comedy of Errors, iv. 4. 25, and Taming of the Shrew, i. 2. 37. 294. Line 45: Too ceremonious and traditional; i.e. "Too much attached to forms and ceremonies, and to tradition." 295. Line 46: Weigh it but with THE GROSSNESS OF THIS AGE. This phrase seems to mean that the age was one of unusual violence; a time for firm and vigorous action rather than servile adherence to law and form. 296. Line 52: Therefore, in mine opinion, cannot have it.-Qq. F. 1 have "And therefore," F. 2 rightly omits And. 297. Line 56: But sanctuary-children NE'ER till now.Qq. have "never till now." 298. Line 63: Where it SEEMS best unto your royal self.— So Q. 1, Q. 2; the other Qq. have thinkst; Ff. think`st. If the latter reading thinkst is to be retained in the text, then it must be omitted, and the word printed thinks 't= thinks it; for the verb would be then used impersonally, as in Hamlet, v. 2. 63: Does it not, thinks 't thee, stand me now upon, where many editors wrongly print think'st, as if it were contracted from thinkest. Compare the common use of methinks, i.e. me thinks [it]. 299. Line 68: I do not like the Tower, of ANY place; ie. "of all places."-Compare II. Henry VI. i. 3. 167: "most unmeet of any man." 300. Lines 70, 71: He did, my GRACIOUS lord, begin that place; Which, since, succeeding ages have RE-EDIFIED. The latter line is a very inharmonious one, and would be a much better one if, instead of re-edified, we read rebuilt. There is an air of pedantry about re-edified which is alien to Shakespeare's usual style. The word only occurs in one other passage, in Titus Andronicus, i. 1. 351: which I have sumptuously re-edified. Hanmer also proposes rebuilt. Steevens omitted gracious in the line above, commencing line 71 with Succeeding. This is a great improvement, from the metrical point of view; but the objection to omitting gracious is that Buckingham never addresses the prince, who was the titular king, simply as my lord. Gloster once addresses him as such, in line 17; but then Gloster was a prince of the blood royal, and had the right so to do. 301. Line 77: As 't were RETAIL'D to all posterity.- Minsheu (edn. 1617) gives "to Retail or Retel- renumerare. The word is generally derived from the old French retailler to cut into small pieces. Tooke says: "To sell by tale is to sell by numeration, not by weight or measure, but by the number told; and that retail means-told over again" (see Richardson, sub voce). Compare iv. 4. 335. 302. Line 78: Even to the general ALL-ending day So Q. 1; all the rest of the old copies read ending day, which makes a very bad line. The omission of all very likely arose from the transcriber mistaking it for the final syllable of general, which is spelt in Qq. Ff. generall 303. Line 79: So wise so young, they say, do ne'er live long.-This passage is founded on the Latin proverb: Is cadet ante senem qui sapit ante diem (Bohn's Dict. of Latin Quotations, p. 188). There are two similar Latin proverbs: Cito maturum cito putridum (ut supra, p. 51), and a sentence from Cicero which Gloucester might have quoted very appropriately: Odi puerulos prœcoci ingenio (ut supra, p. 304) Reed quotes a very apposite passage from Bright's Treatise on Melancholy, 1586, p. 52, where he speaks of some children "having after a sorte attained that by disease, which other have by course of yeares; whereon I take it, the proverbe ariseth, that they be of short life who are of wit so pregnant” (Var. Ed. vol. xix. p. 98). 304 Line 81: I say, without charácters, fame lives long. -It is necessary to explain this quibble of Gloster's, otherwise line 83 below has no force. Quibbling on the double sense of characters, ie, written characters and peculiar dispositions, his remark would refer, first, as was obvious to all, to fame, such as Julius Cæsar's, living long without any written record; secondly, in his own mind, it applies to the Prince, who, if he had had less character and individuality, might have been allowed to lice long. 305. Line 82: Thus, like the formal VICE, Iniquity.—In spite of the various emendations in the text that have been proposed in this line, there can be little doubt that the old copies, which all coincide, are correct; and that by the Vice, is meant the Vice, or low comedian of the old Moralities or Interludes, and so called because he generally figured among the Dramatis Personæ as one of the Vices, or bad qualities of human nature. Originally the Vice was, probably, an inferior Devil; and it would seem that the comic element was not introduced at all into many of the old Mysteries. In the Eight Specimen Coventry Mysteries, given by Hone in his Ancient Mysteries Described (edn. 1823), there is no trace of any such character as the Vice. In Mystery VI., the Visit of Mary to Elizabeth (p. 53), there is, at the conclusion of the play, a comic address given by one of the performers, but whether by anyone who had taken part in the Mysteries is very doubtful. The address served to usher in the pageant which followed the Mystery, and will be found on pp. 57, 58 of Hone's book. In the next Mystery, The Trial of Mary and Joseph, Two Detractors, or Slanderers, seem to have some comic element in them. In the Interlude of the Four Elements, one of the earliest printed Interludes in the English language, there does not seem to be any Vice, though among the names of the players are Sensual Appetite, and Ignorance. Sensual Appetite perhaps fulfilled this role, as he is treated throughout from rather a comic point of view. In the illustrated list of the characters prefixed to Hickscorner, Free Will is not represented in such a dress as we should expect the Vice to wear, though he seems to have been the comic character of the piece. In Lusty Juventus, Hypocrisy is the Vice. In the players' names prefixed to Jack Juggeler that character is described as The vyce; and, in the Nice Wanton, the name of the Vice was Iniquity. In the Disobedient Child, Satan is introduced, but unattended by the Vice. He has only one speech, and it does not seem clear whether he, or the servant, was intended to be the comic character. In the Trial of Treasure, among the names of the players is Inclination the Vice; and it is to be noted that he is the only one of the players who does not represent more than one character. The Trial of Treasure was printed in 1567. In Like Will To Like, the first edition of which was printed in 1568, among the names of the players is Nicol Newfangle, the Vice. Baret in his Alvearie, 1573, gives under Vice, "a Vice in the play," We may conclude that the word did not come into general use, in this sense, till about the middle of the sixteenth century. Ben Jonson in The Devil is an Ass (i. 1) gives some very interesting particulars of the Vice. The play opens with a dialogue between Satan and Pug, described as the latter's Devil. Pug asks his chief: And lend me but a Vice, to carry with me. -Works, vol. v. p. 9. When asked what kind he would have, he answers: Fraud, Or Covetousness, or lady Vanity, Or old Iniquity. Iniquity, who is described as the Vice, immediately comes on, and promises Pug to teach him (p. 10): to cheat, child, to cog, lie and swagger, And ever and anon to be drawing forth thy dagger. Pug exclaims (p. 11): "how nimble he is!" serves (p. 13): Satan ob fifty years agone, and six, From this it is evident that the Vice resembled the more familiar harlequin. As to formal, it would seem that it does not here mean "precise," "pedantic," or, as it is generally explained, "conventional," because the Vice was conventional in his dress, demeanour, and his jokes; but it would seem rather to have the sense of "common," "ordinary," as it is used in Ant. and Cleo. ii. 5. 40, 41: Thou shouldst come like a Fury crown'd with snakes, Heath, in his work on the text of Shakespeare (p. 296), says: "a formal man, according to the poet, is one who performs all the functions proper and peculiar to a man;" and he quotes a passage in the Comedy of Errors, v. 1. 103-105: Till I have us'd the approved means I have, With wholesome syrups, drugs and holy prayers, where we have explained formal, in a foot-note, as meaning "reasonable." Compare also Twelfth Night, ii. 5. 128: "this is evident to any formal capacity." 306. Line 87: Death makes no conquest of THIS conqueror. So Q. 1; all the rest of the old copies have his. 307. Line 96: how fares our NOBLE brother? —Q. 1, Q2 have "loving brother;" all the other old copies "noble brother." 308. Line 99: Too late he died that might have kept that title.-Compare Rape of Lucrece, lines 1800, 1801: I did give that life Which she too early and too late hath spill'd. See also III. Henry VI. note 171. 309. Line 106: cousin.-See above, note 242. 310. Line 110: I pray you, uncle, give me this--[playing with Gloster's swordbelt-then touching the dagger] this dagger.-Qq. Ff. read: I pray you, uncle, give me this dagger. Various emendations have been made in order to complete the metre. Hanmer reads "uncle then;" Keightley "gentle uncle;" Warburton "this your dagger." The objection is, not to the line being imperfect- we have an imperfect line just below (line 112)-but to its being unrhythmical. The emendation, which we have ventured to print, is a very simple one. It is probable that, if our conjecture is right, the transcriber might have overlooked the repetition of this. It is pretty certain, whether we insert the word this or not, that the speaker was intended to pause before naming his request; and it would seem, from the context, that Gloster had no idea of what the little prince was going to ask for, and that he was rather relieved when he found that his request was a comparatively trifling one. 311. Lines 113, 114: Of my kind uncle, that I know will give 't, Being but a toy, which is no grief to give. This is Lettsom's conjecture. Modern editors usually print these lines: Of my kind uncle, that I know will give; And being but a toy, which is no grief to give; which is substantially the reading of Qq. F. 1, except that they have a comma after give. F. 2, F. 3, F. 4 omit but, and instead of which is read it is. If we adhere to the reading of the old copies, the construction must be elliptical, being "it being." I would propose to read: Of my kind uncle who will give 't, I know. 312. Line 116: A greater gift!-0, that's the sword to it. -A dagger was part of the regular equipment of a knight, and was worn in the sword-belt on the opposite side to the sword. Civilians wore them stuck in their purses or pouches. The daggers varied considerably in length, the longest being a three-sided dagger, called a misericorde, used to give the coup de grâce to a fallen foe. 313. Line 121: I weigh it lightly, were it heavier. -Hanmer's emendation, I'd weigh it lightly, is well worthy consideration. As the text now stands, we must take it that York means "If it were heavier I should value it lightly, as I do anything belonging to you." 314. Line 122: What, would you have mý weapon, little lord?-Note the emphasis; Gloster asks contemptuously: "Would you, child as you are, have my weapon, the sword with which I have done such mighty deeds." 315. Line 123: I would, that I might thank you asas-you call me.-So Walker; but I had marked it independently, before seeing his conjecture. Q. 3 has as as; F. 1 as, as. 316. Lines 130, 131: Because that I am little, like an ape, He thinks that you should bear me on your shoulders. There has been some difference of opinion, among the commentators, as to what the author exactly means here: whether his only intention is to refer to his uncle's deformity; or, as Douce suggests, to the fact that an ape was often the companion of the fool; as an instance of which he refers to a picture by Holbein of Henry VIII. and some of his family, in which Will Summers is represented as with a monkey clinging to his neck. Be that as it may, there is no doubt that, at this time, monkeys, or apes, were very common domestic pets; and it is a wellknown fact that a monkey will always sit on the back of another animal, or on the shoulder of a man, if he can get the chance. Richard's deformity was said really to consist in the fact, not that he was humpbacked, but that he had one shoulder higher than the other; though Shakespeare undoubtedly intended to exaggerate this deformity. He makes Richard say (III. Henry VI. iii. 2. 157, 158) that Nature had been bribed To make an envious mountain on my back, a passage in which, very probably, some idea of a monkey sitting on his shoulder was in the speaker's mind. 317. Line 132: With what a SHARP PROVIDED wit he reasons! These words are not hyphened in Qq. Ff., and we see no reason for doing so. Provided is probably an independent epithet. It may either mean provided, i.e. ready furnished, or a wit which is provided; that is to say, equipped for every emergency. 318. Line 136: My lord, will 't please you pass along?— Note the short line which expresses Gloucester's vexation. See again below, line 143. 319. Line 141: My lord protector NEEDS will have it so.— So Q. 1; F. 1 and other old copies omit needs. 320. Lines 157, 158: Well, let them rest.-Come hither, Catesby. Thou'rt sworn as DEEP to effect what we intend. These two lines have been arranged variously by different commentators. Qq. and Ff. read deepely. Pope omitted hither and ended the first line at sworn. Dyce reads thou art, putting thou into the first line, and suggests deep instead of deeply, but does not adopt it. We have no hesitation in printing deep. It is used adverbially by Shakespeare in many passages, e.g. in Measure for Measure, v. 1. 480: "so deep sticks it in my penitent heart." The Cambridge edd. suggest Thou'rt sworn should be printed as a separate line; but we prefer to print the two lines as we have done in the text, because the first is an instance of the middle pause (see Richard II. note 170), and the rhythm is in no way injured by the want of one syllable. 321. Line 162: To make Lord William Hastings of our mind.-Qq. Ff. have William Lord Hastings, making so very awkward a line that we have, with some reluctance, adopted Pope's emendation. Compare line 181 below. where Gloster calls Hastings Lord William. 322. Lines 169, 170: Well, then, no more but this: go, gentle Catesby, And, as it were far off, sound thou Lord Hastings. Arranged as by Pope; as three lines in Ff. ending-this of-Hastings-of which it is difficult to make any rhythmical verse at all. 323. Line 170.-See Sir Thomas More (p. 69): "For which cause he moued Catesby to proue wyth some words cast out a farre of, whither he could thinke it possible to winne the Lord Hasting into their parte," and (p. 67) where Hastings addresses Stanley: My Lord (quod the lord Hastinges) on my life neuer doute you. For while one man is there which is neuer thence, neuer can there be thinge ones minded that should sownde amisse toward me, but it should be in mine eares ere it were well oute of their mouthes. This ment he by Catesby, which was of his nere secret counsail, and whome he veri familiarly vsed, and in his most weighty matters put no man in so special trust, rekening hymself to no man so liefe, sith he well wist there was no man to him so much beholden as was thys Catesby, which was a man wel lerned in the lawes of this lande, and by the special fauour of the lorde chamberlen, in good aucthoritie and much rule bare in al the county of Leceter where the Lorde Chamberlens power chiefly laye." 324 Line 179: For we to-morrow hold divided councils. -See Sir Thomas More (p. 66): "But the protectour and the duke, after that, that they had set the lord Cardinall to commune and deuise about the coronacion in one place: as fast were they in an other place contryuyng the contrary, and to make the protectour kyng;" and (p. 67) Stanley warns Hastings: "For while we (quod he) talke of one matter in the tone place, little wote we wherof they talk in the tother place." 325 Line 190: Crosby Place; very generally printed Crosby-place. Ff. have Crosby House. In Sir Thomas More it is Crosbies place. See i. 2. 212 supra, and note 95 thereon. 326 Line 193: Chop of his head,-SOMETHING WE WILL DETERMINE. Qq. read: Chop off his head, man; somewhat we will do; which many editors prefer. We have retained the reading of Ff.; it is not necessary to take determine here as= to put an end to. It seems to us that the reading of Qq. is more commonplace than that of Ff. Gloster answers with characteristic promptitude, Chop off his head, so getting rid of Hastings; but the next sentence, something we will determine, is spoken in a more serious manner; the meaning being, "having got rid of him we will determine on some plan of action." 327. Line 195: Th' earldom of Hereford, and the moveables - See note 476. Compare Richard II. ii. 1. 161: The plate, coin, revenues, and moveables. 328 Line 200: cómplots.-This word occurs with the accent on the last syllable, just above, line 192. It is only used by Shakespeare in four other places, viz. in II. Henry VI. iii. 1. 147: I know their complot is to have my life; the accent being on the first syllable; and three times in Titus Andronicus, in two of which, ii. 3. 265, v. 2. 147, the accent is on the first syllable, and in v. 1. 65 on the second. ACT III. SCENE 2. 329. To give some idea of the difficulties to be met in editing this play, this scene-which is a short scene, and a fair specimen of the condition of the text-contains, altogether, 124 lines, in which (including stage-directions) there are 64 points of difference between Q. 1 and F. 1. We give some of the less important ones; the more important will be noticed, in their place, in the notes: Line 1: Q. 1, What, ho! F. 1, My lord. Line 2: Q. 1, Who knocks at the door? F. 1 omits at Line 3: Q. 1, A messenger from the Lord Stanley. Line 4: Q. 1, What's o'clock? F. 1, What is 't o'clock? Line 8: Q. 1, to your noble lordship. F. 1, to your Line 9: Q. 1, And then. F. 1, What then? Line 11: Q. 1, had raste his helme. F. 1, rased off. Line 16: Q. 1, presently you will. Line 28: Q. 1, the boar pursues us. F. 1. you will pre F. 1 omits us. Q. 1, My gracious lord I'll tell him what you say. F. 1, I'll go, my lord, and tell him what you say. Line 39: Q. 1, And I believe it will never stand upright. F. 1 omits it (for the sake of the metre). Line 44: Q. 1, Ere I will. F. 1, Before Ile. Line 46: Q. 1, Upon my life my lord. F. 1, ay, on my life (omitting my lord). Line 52: Q. 1, mine enemies. F. 1, my adversaries. Line 62: Q. 1, elder. F. 1, older. (for sake of metre). F. 1, as thou know'st Line 81: Q. 1, life. F. 1, days (to avoid repetition of life). Line 86: Q. 1, their states was sure. F. 1, their states were sure. Line 88: Q. 1, the day overcast. F. 1, the day o`re-cast (for the sake of the metre). Line 89: Q. 1, sudden scab of rancour. F. 1, sudden stab of rancour. (Q. 1 evident misprint.) Line 96: Q. 1, let us away. F. 1, let 's away. Line 99: Q. 1, that it please your Lo. F. 1, that your lordship please. Line 101: Q. 1, I met thee. F. 1, thou met'st me. Line 113: Q. 1, Sabaoth. F. 1, Sabboth. F. 1, Nay, like Line 123: Q. 1, knowest. F. 1, know'st (for the sake of the metre). The differences between the stage-directions in Q. 1 and F. 1 are as follows:- Line 97: Exit Lord Stanley and Catesby. Omitted by Q. 1. Line 108: Q. 1, He gives him his purse. F. 1, He throws him his purse. Line 109: Exit Pursuivant. Omitted by Q. 1. Line 113: He whispers in his ear. Omitted in F. 1. With the exception of the last important stage-direction, the above instances show that Q. 1 is not so complete in its stage-directions as F. 1; and it may be doubted if Q. 1 was really taken from the authorized MS. belonging to the theatre at that time. 330. Line 6: Cannot thy master sleep these tedious nights? -So Q. 1; which seems preferable to the reading of F. 1, "Cannot my lord Stanley?" on metrical grounds. If we adopt the reading of F.1 we must elide Cannot into Can't. It looks very much as if the passage were intended to be prose. 331. Lines 10, 11: Then certifies your lordship, that this night He dreamt the boar had RASED OFF his helm. There seems to be some difficulty about the real meaning of rased in this passage. Qq. (see note 329) have not rased off, but simply rased (raste). Sir Thomas More (p. 74) thus refers to this dream, in which him thoughte that a bore with his tuskes so raced them both bi the heddes." Shakespeare uses the verb to raze in the ordinary sense of "to erase" in several places, e.g. in Richard II. ii. 3. 75: To raze one title of your honour out; and, without the preposition, in Measure for Measure, i. 2. 11, and Sonnet xxv. 11. It is used in the sense of "to destroy," "to level with the ground," in I. Henry VI. ii. 3. 65: Razeth your cities, and subverts your towns. It seems to us that the word used in this passage in the text has nothing to do with the word raze to erase. Steevens, in his note, says, "This term rased or rashed, is always given to describe the violence inflicted by a boar" (Var. Ed. vol. xix. p. 110); and he quotes a passage from Lear, iii. 7. 58: In his anointed flesh rash boarish fangs, in which, however, the reading of Ff. is stick. If we accept the reading of Qq. in that passage, it would be the only other passage in Shakespeare in which rash, or rase, was used in this sense. But Nares gives, under the word rash, a quotation from Warner's Albion's England (vii. c. 36), the same as given by Steevens:1 Ha! cur, avant, the boar so rashe thy hide; and from the Ballad of Launcelot : They buckled them together so, 1 Steevens gives rase, not rashe. where Dr. Percy explains the word as "rending, like the wild boar with his tusks" (Reliques, bk. i. p. 104). In both these passages the word seems to mean "tearing with the tusks," a meaning which would suit the passage in our text as well as the passage in Sir Thomas More. We find the word used, with the preposition of, by Daniel, in a stagedirection in Hymen's Triumph (iv. 4), "[He stabs Clarindo, and rashes off his Garland" (Works, vol. i. p. 139). Baret, in his Alvearie, gives no such form as rash; but gives besides, "to Rase and crosse out a thing written," "to rase, to overthrow, or cast doune to the ground, to destroy." Palsgrave has "I rasshe a thing from one, I take it from hym hastyly. Je arache, prim. conj. He rasshed it out of my handes . . . ; il larracha hors de mes mayns. Skeat gives the word as being derived from the old French esracer, modern French arracher. Chaucer uses arrace in The Clerkes Tale, line 8979: The children from hire arm they gan arrace. -Vol. ii. p. 239. The meaning there is evidently "to tear away." From the above instances it is clear that "to rase or to rash" is quite a different word from "to rase" or "to raze"-to erase. 332. Lines 12-14.-See above, note 324. And at the other is my good friend Catesby; Compare the passage in Sir Thomas More's history (p. 67) given in note 323 above. 334 Line 40: Till Richard WEAR THE GARLAND of the realm.-Compare II. Henry IV. in King Henry's speech when addressing his son, iv. 5. 202: So thou the garland wear'st successively. Sir Thomas More says: "In whose time and by whose occasion, what about the getting of the garland, keping it, lesing and winning againe, it hath cost more englishe blood then hath twise the winning of Fraunce" (p. 107). 335. Line 55: God knows I will not do it TO THE DEATH. -Compare Much Ado, i. 3. 71, 72: “You are both sure, and will assist me? Con. To the death, my lord;" and Love's Labour's Lost, v. 2. 146: No, to the death, we will not move a foot. 336. Line 58: That they who brought me IN my master s hate. For this sense of in, compare Much Ado, ii. 3. 31: "One woman shall not come in my grace;' and in this play, above, i. 3. 89: Falsely to draw me in these vile suspects. 337. Lines 60, 61: Well, Catesby, ere a fortnight make me older, Ile send some packing, that yet thinke not on it. It is difficult to see why some editors should have adopted the reading of Q. 1 here. The interpolated speech of |