mous warrior,

Duke Menaphon, your most renowned uncle.
Adr. Which of you two did dine with me to-day?
Ant. S. I, gentle mistress.
Adr.

And are not you my husband?
Ant. E. No, I say nay to that.

Ant. S. And so do I, yet did she call me so;
And this fair gentlewoman, her sister here,
Did call me brother:-What I told you then,
I hope, I shall have leisure to make good;
If this be not a dream, I see, and hear.

Ang. That is the chain, sir, which you had of me.
Ant. S. I think it be, sir; I deny it not.
Ant. E. And you, sir, for this chain arrested me.
Ang. I think I did, sir; I deny it not.
Adr. I sent you money, sir, to be your bail,
By Dromio; but I think, he brought it not.
Dro. E. No, none by me.

Ant. S. This purse of ducats I receiv'd from you, And Dromio my man did bring them me : I see, we still did meet each other's man, And I was ta'en for him, and he for me, And thereupon these Errors are arose.

Ant. E. These ducats pawn I for my father here. Duke. It shall not need, thy father hath his life. Cour. Sir, I must have that diamond from you. Ant. E. There, take it: and much thanks for my good cheer.

Abb. Renowned duke, vouchsafe to take the pains To go with us into the abbey here,

And hear at large discoursed all our fortunes:-
Aud all that are assembled in this place,
That by this sympathized one day's error
Have suffer'd wrong, go, keep us company,

And we shall make full satisfaction.

Of you, my sons; nor, till this present hour,
My heavy burdens are delivered:-
The duke, my husband, and my children both,
And you the calendars of their nativity,
Go to a gossip's feast, and go with me;
After so long grief, such nativity!

Duke. With all my heart, I'll gossip at this feast [Exeunt Duke, Abbess, Egeon, Courtezan, Mer chant, Angelo, and Attendant Dro. S. Master, shall I fetch your staff ine shipboard!

[embark Ant. E. Dromio, what stuff of mine hast tho Dro. S. Your goods, that lay at host, sir, in th Centaur.

(Drom Ant. S. He speaks to me: I am your master, Come, go with us; we'll look to that anon: Embrace thy brother there, rejoice with him.

[Exeunt Antipholus S. and E., Adr., and Lat Dro. S. There is a fat friend at your master's house,

That kitchen'd me for you to-day at dinner;
She now shall be my sister, not my wife.
Dro. E. Methinks, you are my glass, and not
my brother:

I see by you, I am a sweet-faced youth.
Will you walk in to see their gossiping?

Dro. S. Not I, sir, you are my elder.
Dro. E. That's a question: How shall we try it.
Dro. S. We will draw cuts for the senior: t
then, lead thou first.

Dro. E. Nay, then thus:

We came into the world, like brother and brother And now let's go hand in hand, not one beare another.

[Exe

P 361, c. 1, Z. 18. "Syracusians," uniformly in Mr. Malone's edit.

Id. 1. 40 Was wrought by nature, not by vile offence] All his hearers understood that the punishment he was about to undergo was in consequence of no private crime, but of the public enmity between two states, to one of which he belonged: but it was a general superstition among the ancients, that every great and sudden misfortune was the vengeance of heaven pursuing men for their secret offences. Hence the sentiment put into the mouth of the speaker was proper. By my past life (says he), which I am going to relate, the world may understand, that my present death is according to the ordinary course of Providence [wrought by nature], and not the effects of divine vengeance overtaking me for my crimes [not by vile offence.] WARBURTON.

The real meaning of this passage is much less abstruse than that which Warburton attributes to it. By nature is meant natural affection. Egeon came to Ephesus in search of his son and tells his story, in order to show that his death was in consequence of natural affection for his child, not of any criminal intention. M. MASON.

Id. l. 48. "And the great care of goods at random left."-MALONE.

Id. c. 2, 1. 43. "wished light,"-MALONE. Next

line, "discover'd." We have not thought it always necessary to notice these trifling variations. Many of them seem accidental, and are not to be found in Mr. Malone's first edition. P. 362. c. 1, l. 24. My youngest boy, and yet my eldest care,] Shakspeare has here been guilty of a little forgetfulness. Egeon had said, p. 8, that the youngest son was that which his wife had taken care of:

"My wife, more careful for the latterborn. Had fasten'd him unto a small spare mast." He himself did the same by the other; and then each fixing their eyes on whom their care was fixed, fastened themselves at either end of the mast. M. MASON.

66

Id. 1. 27. so his case was like "-MALONE. Id. 1. 32. farthest-" MALONE.

Id. 1. 33. Roaming clean through the bounds of Asia," In the northern parts of England this

wend, i. e. go. An obsolete word.

SCENE II.

1. 53.

is head.

P. 363, c. 1, l. 13.-- o'er-raught -] That is, over reached.

Id.l. 14. They say, this town is full of cozenage:]

Id.

This was the character the ancients give of it. Hence Εφεσια ἄ λεξιφάρμακα was proverbial amongst them. Thus Menander uses it, and Eperia ypaμμara, in the same sense. WAR

Id. 1 39. Adr. There's none, but asses, will be bridled so.

Luc. Why headstrong liberty is lash'd with woe.] Should it not rather be leash'd i. e. coupled like a headstrong hound? Or perhaps the meaning of this passage may be, that those who refuse the bridle must bear the lash, and that woe is the punishment of headstrong liberty. Mr. M. Mason inclines to leashed Id. I. 44. "subject "- Mr. Malone reads subjects Id. l. 56. start some other where?] Probably The where has here the power of a noun. sense is, How if your husband fly off in pursuit of some other woman?

Id. l. 58.

though she pause; To pause is to

rest, to be in quiet.

P. 363, c. 1, l. 59. They can be meek, that have no other cause.] That is, who have no cause to be otherwise.

Id. 1. 65. With urging helpless patience-] By exhorting me to patience which affords no help. ld. l. 67.

fool-begg'd-] She seems to mean, by fool-begg'd patience, that patience which is so near to idiotical simplicity, that your next relation would take advantage from it to represent you as a fool, and beg the guardianship of your fortune.

Id. c.

2, 1. 6. — that I could scarce understand them.] i. e. that I could scarce stand under | them. This quibble, poor as it is, seems to have been a favourite with Shakspeare. Id. 1. 37. Am I so round with you, as you with me,] He plays upon the word round, which signifies spherical, applied to himself, and unrestrained, or free in speech or action spoken of his mistress.

Id. l. 40.----case me in leather.] Still alluding to a football, the bladder of which is always covered with leather. Id. 1. 54. Of my defeatures:] By defeatures is here meant alteration of features for the worse. At the end of this play the same word is used with a somewhat different signification. Id. l. 54. My decayed fair-] Fair for fairness.

1d. l. 57. - poor I am but his stale.] i. e. his pretence.

Id. 1. 69. "and no man,"-MALONE.

Id. l. 70. I see, the jewel, best enamelled,

Will lose his beauty; and, though gold
'bides still,

That others touch, yet often touching will
Wear gold; and so no man, that hath a

name,

But falsehood and corruption doth it shame. The sense is this: "Gold, indeed, will long bear the handling; however, often touching will wear even gold; just so the greatest character, though as pure as gold itself, may, in time, be injured, by the repeated attacks of falsehood and corruption." WARBURTON.

SCENE II.

P. 364, c. 1, 1. 32. And make a common of my serious hours.] i e. intrude on them when you please. The allusion is to those tracts of ground destined to common use, which are thence called commons.

Id. 1. 35. countenance. Id. l. 41. and insconce it too;] A sconce was a petty fortification. Id. c. 2, l. 1. — by fine and recovery!] This attempt at pleasantry must have originated from our author's clerkship to an attorney. He has other jokes of the same school. STEE

know my aspect,] i. e. study my

VENS.

Id. 1. 28. "e'en no time." MALONE.

Id. l. 36.

wafts us-] i. e. beckons us. Id. 46. " or look'd, or touch'd,"-MALONE. Id. 1.53. - may'st thou fall-] To fall is here a verb active.

P. 365, c. 1, l. 23. -you are from me exempt,] Johnson says that exempt means separated, parted; yet I think that Adriana does not use the word exempt in that sense, but means to say, that as he was her husband she had no power over him, and that he was privileged to do her wrong. M. MASON.

Id. c. 2, l. 9——carkanet,] Seems to have bee a necklace, or rather chain, perhaps hanging down double from the neck.

Id.

Id.

l. 48, Mome] A dull stupid blockhead, a stock.
a post; from one of those similar words
many languages, signifying something fools
It may also owe its original to the French word
momon, which signifies the gaming at dice
masquerade, the custom and rule of which a
that a strict silence is to be observed; what
ever sum one stakes, another covers, but
a word is to be spoken. From hence also
comes our word mum! for silence, HAWKINS,
and DOUCE.

l. 49. — patch!] i. e. fool. Allading to the party-coloured coats worn by the licensed foos Id. l. 67. — I owe?] i. e. I own, am owner of or jesters of the age. P.366, c. 1, l. 32.--we shall part with neither.

Mr. Tyrwhitt says, that in our old language, f part, signified to have part. But part does not signify to share or divide, but to depart or go away; and Balthazar means to say, that whilst debating which is best, they should away without either.

Id. 1. 66. Once this,] Once this, may mean, encr for all, at once.

Id. 1. 70

-the doors are made against you.” To make the door is the expression used to this day in some counties of England, instead of, to bar the door.

Id. 1. 77. "of it," MALONE.

Id.

c. 2, 1. 3. " where it gets possession." Mi

LONE,

Id. 1.6. And, in despight of mirth.] Though mirta has withdrawn herself from me, and seems determined to avoid me, yet in despight of her and whether she will or not, I am resolved to be merry.

SCENE II.

Id. l. 47. ——"shall, Antipholus,

Even in the spring of love, thy love-springs rot?

Shall love, in building, grow so ruinous!"

MALONE.

Id. l. 59. meteors tilting in his face?] Alluding to those meteors in the sky, which have the appearance of lines of armies meeting in the shock.

Id. l. 61. Mr. Malone, in this play, constantly reads spight, a word not to be found in our dictionaries.

Id. 1.77.

SON.

cere,] That is, dry, withered. JOHN

P. 369, c. 1, l. 2, Stigmatical in making.] That is, marked or stigmatized by nature with deformity, as a token of his vicious disposition. Id. 1. 7. Far from her nest the lapwing, &c.] This expression seems to be proverbial-I have met with it in many of the old comic writers. STEEVENS.

Id. 1. 17. an everlasting garment-] The sergeants, in those days, were clad in buff, as Dromio tells us the man was who arrested | Antipholus. Buff is also a cant expression for a man's skin, a covering which lasts him as long as his life. Dromio therefore calls buff an everlasting garment: and in pursuance of this quibble on the word buff, he calls the sergeant, in the next scene, the "Picture of old Adam;" that is, of Adam before his fall, whilst he remained unclad. "What, have you got the picture of old Adam new apparelled?"

Id. l. 23. — and narrow lands;] Lands in the

present instance may mean, what we now call landing-places at the water-side. Idl. 24. A hound that runs counter, and yet draws dry foot well:] To run counter is to run backward, by mistaking the course of the animal pursued; to draw dry-foot is, I believe, to pursue by the track or prick of the foot; to run counter and draw dry foot well are, therefore, inconsistent. The jest consists in the ambiguity of the word counter, which means the wrong way in the chase, and a prison in London. The officer that arrested him was a sergeant of the counter. For the congruity of this jest with the scene of action, let our author answer. JOHNSON.

A hound that draws dry-foot, means what is usually called a bloodhound, trained to follow men by the scent.

Id. l. 26. poor souls to hell.] Hell was the cant term for an obscure dungeon in any of our prisons.

There was likewise a place of this name under the Exchequer Chamber, where the king's debtors were confined till they had "paid the uttermost farthing." STEEVENS.

'An account of the local situation of Hell may be found in the Journals of the House of Commons, Vol. X. p. 83, as the Commons passed through it to King William and Queen Mary's Coronation, and gave directions concerning it. In Queen Elizabeth's time the office of Clerk of the Treasury was situated there, as find in Sir James Dyer's Reports, fol. 245, A, where mention is made of “one Christopher Hole Secondary del Treasurie, et un auncient attorney and practiser in le office del Clerke del Treasurie al HELL"

This I take to be the Treasury of the Court of Common Pleas, of which Sir James Dyer was Chief Justice, and which is now kept immediately under the Court of Exchequer. The office of the Tally-Court of the Chamberlain of the Exchequer is still there, and tallies for many centuries back are piled up and preserved in this office. Two or three adjacent apartments have within a few years been converted to hold the Vouchers of the public Accounts, which had become so numerous as to overstock the place in which they were kept at Lincoln's Inn. These, therefore, belong to the Auditors of public Accounts. Other rooms are turned into coalcellars. There is a pump still standing of excellent water, called HELL Pump :-And the place is to this day well known by the name of Hell. VAILLANT.

Id. 1. 33. "But is in," &c.-MALONE. Id. l. 39. --was he arrested on a band?] A bond, i. e. an obligatory writing to pay a sum of money, was anciently spelt band. A band is likewise a neckcloth. On this circumstance the humour of the passage turns. Id. 1, 51. "bankrout."-MALONE. Id. l. 61.

conceit;] i. e. fanciful conception.

SCENE III.

Id. c. 2, l. 3. What have you got the picture of Old Adam new apparelled?] The allusion is to Adam, in his state of innocence, going naked; and immediately after the fall, being clothed in a frock of skins. Thus he was new apparelled: and, in like manner, the sergeants of the counter were formerly clad in buff, or calf's skin, as the author humorously a little lower calls it. These jests on Adam's dress are common among our old writers. Mr. Malone reads thus, "What have you got rid of the picture of old Adam new apparell'd?” Id. 1. 17 he that sets up his rest to do more

exploits with his mace, than a morris-pike } The rest of a pike was a common term, and signified, I believe, the manner in which it was fixed to receive the rush of the enemy. A morris-pike was a pike used in a morris or a military dance, and with which great exploits were done, that is, great feats of dexterity were shown. JOHNSON.

There is, I believe, no authority for Dr. Johnson's assertion, that the morris-pike was used in the morris-dance. Swords were sometimes used upon that occasion. It certainly means the Moorish pike, which was very common in the 16th century. See Grose's His

tory of the English Army. Vol. I. p. 135. DOUCE.

The phrase he that sets up his rest, in this instance, signifies only, I believe, "he that trusts" is confident in his expectation. Thus, Bacon: "Sea-fights have been final to the war, but this is, when princes set up their REST upon the battle." Again Clarendon : "they therefore resolved to set up their REST upon that stake, and to go through with it, or perish." This figure of speech is certainly derived from the military exercise, as that was the only kind of rest which was ever set up. HENLEY.

P. 369, c. 2, l. 51. - We'll mend our dinner here.] i. e. by purchasing something additional in the adjoining market. MALONE. Id. 1. 52. - if you do expect spoon-meat, or bespeak a long-spoon.] í. e. “if you do expect spoon-meat, either stay away, or bespeak a long spoon." Mr. Malone reads, "Master, if you do expect spoon-meat or bespeak a long spoon."

Id. l. 64. “parings”—MALONE.

SCENE IV.

P. 370, c. 1, l. 28. wilt pay them all] i. e. serve to hit, strike, correct them all. STEEVENS. Id. l. 49. by my long ears.] He means, that

his master had lengthened his ears by frequently pulling them. STEEVENS.

Id. c. 2, 1. 11. - companion-] A word of contempt, anciently used as we now use--fellow. STEEVENS.

Id. l. 19 "Din'd at home !"--Malone. Id. 1. 24 Perdy ] A corruption of the common French oath--Pardieu. Chaucer's personages are frequent in their use of it. Id. 1. 29. Certes.] i. e. certainly. Id. 1. 29.-kitchen-vestal-] Her charge being like that of the vestal virgins, to keep the fire burning. JOHNSON.

Id. c. 2, l. 16. Beaten the maids a-row,] i, e successively, one after another

Id. 1. 20 "My master preaches patience to him, and the while"-MALONE.

Id. l. 21. His man with scissars nicks him like a fool:] The force of this allusion I am unable to explain with certainty. Perhaps it was once the custom to cut the hair of idiots close to their heads. There is a proverbial simile"Like crop the conjurer;" which might have been ironically applied to these unfortunate beings. STEEVENS.

There is a penalty of ten shillings in one of King Alfred's ecclesiastical laws, if one oppro briously shave a common man like a fool. TOLLET.

Fools, undoubtedly, were shaved and nicked in a particular manner, in our author's time, as is ascertained by the following passage in The Choice of Change, containing the Tr plicitie of Divinitie. Philosophie, and Peetrie, by S. R Gent. 4to. 1598: "Three things used by monks, which provoke other men to laugh at their follies: They are shaves and notched on the head like fooles.”—Ma

LONE

Id. 1. 42 To bestride one in battle is an act of friendship, or assistance, frequently mentioned in these plays.

Id. l. 57. with harlots-] Harlot was a term of reproach applied to cheats among men, ai well as to wantons among women.

Id. l. 67. — 1 am advised-] i. e. I am not going to speak precipitately or rashly, but on reflection and consideration.

Id.

ACT V.

SCENE I.

Id. c. 2, l. 20. – get within him,] i. e. close with him, grapple with him.

Id. l. 23.

- take a house.] i. e. go into a house. So. we say a dog takes the water. Id. 1 36. "And much different," &c.- MALONE. Id. 1. 55. —the copy-] i e. the theme. We

still talk of setting copies for boys.-STEEVENS. Id. 1. 73. (Kinsman to grim and comfortless despair;)] Kinsman means near relation. Many words are used by Shakspeare with much greater latitude.

Id. 1.74 "their heels,"-MALONE.

P. 372, c. 1, l. 21. —— a formal man again :] i. e. to bring him back to his senses, and the forms of sober behaviour.

new

l. 68. "disturbed"-MALONE, who considers the effect as making only two syllables. 373, c. 2, 1. 3. deformed] For deforming. Id. l. 4. strange defeatures-1 Defeatures are certainly neither more nor less than features: as demerits are neither more nor less than merits. Time, says Egeon, hath placed and strange features in my face; i. e. gives it quite a different appearance: no wonder therefore thou dost not know me. RITSON Id. l. 16. my feeble key of untun'd cares! i. e. the weak and discordant tone of my vot that is changed by grief. DouCE. Id. l. 17.

this grained face-] i. e. furrowed, like the grain of wood.

Id. 1. 68. Why, here begins his morning_story right:] "The morning story" is what gea tells the duke in the first scene of this play. P. 374, c. 2, l. 3. Mr. Malone reads "until th present hour,

"My heavy burthen not delivered." Id. l. 7. After so long grief, such nativity!] She has just said, that to her, her sons were not born till now. STEEVENS.