The old eds. have "forfeiture."—"Read," says Ritson, "forfeit.' It occurs repeatedly in the present scene for 'forfeiture'." But the correction had been made long before Ritson's time. So the third folio,—in which the misprint "inexecrable dog” was first corrected. The old eds. have "twice the summe." But a little after, Portia says, "Shylock, there's thrice thy money offer'd thee;" and so too Shylock himself, at p. 403, “I take his offer, then ;—pay the bond thrice," &c. (Malone's attempt to reconcile the inconsistency of the old eds. is very far from happy-“ Bassanio had offered at first but twice the sum, but Portia goes further," &c.) The "a" was added in the second folio.-Mr. Swynfen Jervis proposes “ Of such-like misery;" Mr. W. N. Lettsom (somewhat boldly), "And searching misery." The old eds. have "I take this offer then" (which Malone and Mason defend). So Hanmer (Warburton).-The old eds. have "formorly" and " formerly." P. 406. (77) "Be valu'd 'gainst your wife's commandment." Roberts's quarto has, Heyes's quarto, The folio, "Be valued against your wiues commandement."— Here "commandment" is to be read as a quadrisyllable, and so again in a line in The First Part of King Henry VI. act i. sc. 3, which the folio gives thus, "From him I haue expresse commandement," &c. (In all the other passages of Shakespeare where it occurs in his blank verse it is a trisyllable.) But the spelling of this word in the old copies goes for nothing: e. g. in King John, act iv. sc. 2, the folio has "Haue I commandement on the pulse of life?" though "commandement" is there a trisyllable. And I cannot understand why several of the modern editors should print "commandement” here and in the above-mentioned line of Henry VI., while in a great number of other words, which, if the orthography is to be suited to the metre, require the addition of a syllable, they content themselves with the usual spelling; for instance, they print “dazzled,” “children,” “England,” “remembrance,” “juggler,” “handling," ," "enfeebled," &c. &c.,-when, to be consistent, they ought to have printed"dazzeled," "childeren," Engéland," "rememberance," "juggeler," "handeling," "enfeebeled," &c. &c. P. 408. (78) "And" This, as well as the "And" at the commencement of the next speech, is found in some copies of the second folio.-"Read (and so Pope), ' And in such a night'," &c. Walker's Crit. Exam, &c. vol. iii. p. 58. In the old eds. these words form the conclusion of the preceding speech. 66 Here Heyes's quarto and the folio have "pattens;" Roberts's quarto has 'pattents.”—Whether we spell the word “patines,” “patens,” or “patents,” matters perhaps little: but we must consider the reading of the second folio "patterns" (which Mr. Collier adopts) as a mere misprint.-The poet means that the floor of heaven is thickly inlaid with plates or circular ornaments of gold. Compare Sylvester's Du Bartas; "Th' Almighties finger fixed many a million Of golden scutchions [the original has “platines dorees"] in that rich pavillion." The Fourth Day of the First Week, p. 33, ed. 1641. "That sumptuous canapy, The which th' un-niggard hand of Majesty Poudred so thick with shields [the original has "escussons"] so shin ing cleer," &c. Id. p. 34. 1863. Mr. W. N. Lettsom observes, "Patterns,' the reading of the second folio, seems to me rather a sophistication than a misprint." But whilst this muddy vesture of decay So Heyes's quarto.-Roberts's quarto and the folio have "Doth grossly close in it," &c.-In the words, "close it in," we must understand "it" as referring to the soul: but some of the earlier editors printed "close us in." ("Our walls of flesh, that close our soules, God knew too weak, and gaue A further guard," &c. Warner's Albions England, book x, ch. lix. p. 258, ed. 1596.) P. 411. (82) "Peace, ho! the moon sleeps with Endymion, And would not be awak'd. [Music ceases." The old eds. have "Peace, how the moone," &c.-I adopt Malone's alteration; and since one critic has been pleased to say that "there is not a more inexcusable defeat committed on the text of Shakespeare by any editor than is done by Mr. Malone in this exquisite passage," I am forced, at the risk of being tedious, to state fully the grounds of my conviction that Malone's is the true reading.-I. Shakespeare would hardly have employed such a phrase as "how the moon sleeps with Endymion," &c.;-he would have interposed some adverb (or adverbial adjective) between "how" and "the moon," &c.: so previously in this scene (p. 409) we have 46 "How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank!" II. "Ho," as I have already observed, was often written with the spelling "How,"'—see p. 253, note 133, of this volume; and I may add, that previously in the present play, p. 369, where Lorenzo calls out, "Ho! who's within " Heyes's quarto has "Howe whose within?" (In like manner examples are not wanting of "Low" being put for " Lo;" as in Hubert's Edward the Second, p. 32, ed. 1629, "Low now (quoth he) I haue my hearts desire.") III. That Portia is enjoining the musicians to be silent, is proved by the stage-direction of the old eds., "Music ceases." So in Julius Cæsar Casca silences the music with, and we have the same expression in other of our author's plays; 66 "Peace, ho! I bar confusion," &c. As you like it, act v. sc. 4. Peace, ho, for shame! confusion's cure lives not IV. It is quite natural that immediately after the command "Peace, ho!" we should have the reason for that command, viz. “the moon sleeps with Endymion," &c.: while, on the contrary, there is (as Malone saw) an "oddness" in 'Peace?" being followed by a mere exclamation, “how the moon sleeps,” &c. 'Malone," says Mr. Knight, "substituted Peace, ho! the moon, thinking that Portia uses the words as commanding the music to cease. This would be a singularly unladylike act of Portia, in reality as well as in expression." But, for my own part, I see no impropriety in a lady ordering her own musi cians, in her own domain, to leave off playing; and as to the "expression,”Mr. Knight seems to have forgotten both that in the next page we have “ho” from the mouth of Portia,-"A quarrel, ho, already!" and that “ho” in our early writers does not necessarily convey the idea of bawling. It is really difficult to believe that Mr. Knight can be serious when he goes on to say that "Portia, having been talking somewhat loudly to Nerissa as she approached the house, checks HERSELF, as she comes close to it, with the interjection Peace!"-(If she speaks piano, how happens it that Lorenzo immediately exclaims, "That is the voice, Or I am much deceiv'd, of Portia”?)— and that "the stage-direction, Music ceases, is a COINCIDENCE with Portia's Peace! but not a consequence of it:"- -a coincidence more surprising than any upon record. Mr. Collier's Ms. Corrector, not knowing that "how" was the old spelling of "ho," substitutes "now the moon," &c.,-just as in Antony and Cleopatra, act i. sc. 2, he wrongly alters "From Sicyon how the news?" to "From Sicyon now the news?" "Is 'sense' in this passage singular or plural ['sense']?" Walker's Shakespeare's Versification, &c. p. 248. P. 412. (84) "That she did give to me; whose posy was" The old eds. omit "to;" which Steevens proposed to insert, comparing what The old eds. have " And so riueted;" which Capell altered to “ And riveted so:" but the "so" in this line was evidently repeated by mistake from the "so," just above it, in the preceding line but one. P. 412. (86) "You give your wife too únkind cause of grief:" Walker's correction (see his remarks on the interpolated a,-Crit. Exam. &c. vol. i. p. 87; where he compares King Lear, act iii. sc. 4, "To such a lowness but his únkind daughters"). The old eds. have "You give your wife too vnkinde a cause of greefe." P. 415. (87) "In lieu of this, last night did lie with me." Mr. Grant White too hastily prints "In lieu of thee, last night," &c., asking "What meaning has 'in lieu of this' here?" The answer is-It means “in consideration of this (ring).” Compare, earlier in this play, p. 405, “in lieu [i. e. in consideration] whereof," &c.; and The Tempest, act i. sc. 2, "Which was, that he, in lieu o' [i. e. in consideration of] the premises,Of homage," &c. So Mr. Collier's Ms. Corrector.-The old eds. have "where." END OF VOLUME SECOND. |
