r; are so powerful when acting under ye Directions of another yet, when left to themselves, they are weak, and unable to perform any thing. Vol. i., page 133, Midsummer's Night's Dream, Act v., Sc. 2. Pyr. And Like Limander am I trusty still. Thi. And I like Helen till the Fates me kill. Limander stands evidently for Leander, but how came Helen to be coupled with him? Might it not have originally been wrote Heren, which is as ridiculous a corruption of Hero, as ye other is of her Lover. [In allusion to the Story of Hero and Leander. Ovid's Epist.] Vol. i., page 391, Comedy of Errors, Act i., Se. 1. At either end ye mast At th' end of either mast Vulg. By what goes before in this, and follows in ye next speech of geon, it appears that the infants were fastened at either end of ye same Mast, on ye middle of wch he & his wife rode, as it should seem, back to back, fixing their Eyes on whom their care was fixed; that this Mast was broke in two by a rock, just between ye Husband and Wife, so that she was left with one Child, and he with ye other. Vulg. Vol. i., page 441, Comedy of Errors, Act v., Se. 7. Besides her Urging of her Wrack at Sea Bothsides emerging from their Wrack at Sea Sr T. H. The new reading is obscure; but ye meaning of ye discarded seems to be this: Emilia may be supposed, at her first coming to Ephesus, to have urged her Wrack at Sea, in order to move compassion. The Duke (comparing this, Egeon's Morning Story, and the Likeness of the Twins, together) pronounces These plainly are ye Parents of these Children, which how she has proved herself to be unless by some former story, is difficult to say. VOL. I. H Vol. iii., pag. 212, K. Richard II., Act ii., Sc. 2. For young hot Colts, being raged, do rage ye more. That they certainly do, but perhaps Shakespear wrote it, as the Context will very well bear, being rein'd, do rage ye more. Vol. iii., pag. 219, K. Rich. II., Sc. 5. Like Perspectives, which rightly gaz'd upon Shew nothing but confusion; eyed awry Distinguish Form. The Perspectives, now used, are surely widely different from those in ye days of Shakespear ! We should rather have wrote (as perhaps he did), Like Perspectives, which gaz'd upon awry, Shew nothing but confusion; rightly eyed Besides that this Reading agrees with ye sense, wch Vol. iii., pag. 315, 1 Hen. IV., Act ii., Sc. 10, Manour ye other Vulg. Sr T. H. that found upon him which And so we use to say when Act, that we took him with Maynour is when a Theefe hath stolne, and is followed with Hue and Cry, and taken, having he stole, that is called Maynour. we find one doing of an unlawful the Maynour or Manner." Termes de la Ley, voce Maynour. Vol. iv., pag. 293, K. Rich. III., Act i. Sc. 2. If ever he have Wife, let her be made More miserable by ye Death of him, &c. When Anne recounts this wish, pag. 358, Act iv., Sc. 1, she alters it thus: More miserable by ye Life of him. The Mistake, if any, seems rather in ye 1st than 2nd passage; since a Wife would be rendered more miserable by ye Life of so horrid a Wretch as Glo'ster, than by his death, wch, instead of a Curse, would be a Blessing to her. Vol. v., pag. 115-16, Coriolanus, Act ii., Sc. 4. [1.] Into a RAPTURE lets her Baby cry. A RAPTURE is an odd effect of crying in Babies. Dr * wd read it RUPTURE. Only Qu. If crying ever produces this Effect? I have since enquired, and am told it is usual.' Vol. v., pag. 118, Coriolanus, Act ii., Sc. 5 (Sc. 2.) If he did not care whether he had their Love or no, He waved indifferently 'twixt doing them neither good nor harm. By transposing a Letter, and reading he'd wave, the Sense and grammar are much mended. Vol. v., pag. 175, Coriolanus, Act v., Sc. 1. It was a bare Petition of a State. Vol. v., pag. 117, Coriolanus, Act v., Sc. 1. I tell you he doth sit in gold, &c. This passage wants certainly either a Note or an Emendation; Till a better is found out we may read it: I tell you he doth sit engall'd, &c. Vol. v., pag. 210, Julius Cæsar, Act i., Sc. 5. He should not humour me Cæsar shd not love me Vulg. ST T. H. This is a bold stroke, and seems to have quite spoiled ye Sense, for Cassius is reflecting on the discourse he has just 1 Evidently written at another time. had with Brutus; pronounces him Noble, but remarks that he might be persuaded to act contrary to his Disposition, and proceeds to shew that He was justifiable in endeavouring to seduce Brutus, though Brutus was not so in suffering himself to be seduced. He concludes that had he been in Brutus's place, and Brutus in his, he would not have given way to Brutus's Persuasions. Vol. vi., pag. 404, Hamlet, Act iv., Sc. 6. Antiquity forgot, Custom not known, They cry, Chuse we Laërtes for our King. Why, then, is In Denmark, as in all the Gothic Constitutions, ye Kingdom was, till of late years Elective. To this Shakespeare alludes, pag. 425 & 433, Act v., Sc. 3 & 6. Antiquity forgot, &c., by this popular Choice of Laërtes? The Danes usually paid such respect to the Memory of their Princes, that they generally elected ye nearest of Blood to ye deceased Monarch that appeared worthy of ye Crown; and seldom a Stranger to his Family, as was Laërtes. Sir, Castle Priory, Wallingford, 25 Dec 1829. I have just received your letter of the 18th, directed to me at N. I. Hall, Oxford, requesting me to furnish you with an autograph of my deceased father, which I very willingly comply with, and out of the variety in my possōn, I send you the first I lay my hand upon; which appears to be some casual notes on Shakspear; which I rather think were communicated to Mr. Steevens at the time of the publication of his edition 1779. I send this through the same channell by which I received your letter, and am Your obed' humble servt, (Signed) JAS. BLACKSTONE. HENRY ADAMS, Esq., L.L.D. 18, Queen Street, South Mall, Cork. The following "emendations, offered to the consideration of the critics on Shakespeare," in a letter addressed to the "London Chronicle" for Jan. 18-21, 1766, p. 71, although not connected with the foregoing, may, for want of a fitter opportunity, be here introduced. "In Julius Cæsar, Anthony, having got leave from the conspirators to give funeral honours to his master, enters with these words, on seeing the murdered Cæsar Thou wert the greatest Man That ever lived in the Tide of Times. Read (as Bentley used to say, meo periculo,) Tides of Time. How has it come to pass that so many critics on Shakspere should have missed this obvious emendation, I confess, amazes me. Tides! a Saxon word for epochs, eras, annals, but commonly the last; Shrove-tide, Lammas-tide, and so of all the anniversary returns of certain days or months. I ask all the critics where is the similarity of Tide and Time? One flows without ebbing, the other ebbs as often as it flows. There is a very old remark, and, as I revere antiquity, I shall not dispute it, Time and Tide wait for no man—no, nor a Gravesend barge, nor a stage coach, but they are not alike, though this is not very similar either to my remark. In the same play and speech Anthony says: And Cæsar's spirit, raging for revenge, "I should request to know what idea Havock represents? to me, none: to make this quite clear, vide the Book of Sports, or Laws of the Paddock, published the 2nd of King James I., where are these directions: No Keeper shall slip his Greyhound till the Warden throws down his Wardour and cries, Hay! voux! Undoubtedly, then, the text is Hay! |