That wrings mine eyes." PRO. Hear a little further, And then I'll bring thee to the prefent business Which now's upon us; without the which, this ftory Were most impertinent. MIRA. That hour deftroy us? PRO. Wherefore did they not Well demanded, wench; My tale provokes that queftion. Dear, they durft not; (So dear the love my people bore me) nor set A mark fo bloody on the business; but With colours fairer painted their foul ends. Bore us fome leagues to fea; where they prepar'd A rotten carcafs of a boat, not rigg'd, 7 A fimilar thought occurs in Antony and Cleopatra, A& V. sc. i: it is a tidings "To wash the eyes of kings." STEEVENS. That wrings mine eyes. ) i. c. fqueezes the water out of them. The old copy reads - That wrings mine eyes to't." To what? every reader will ask. I have therefore, by the advice of Dr. Farmer, omitted thefe words, which are unneceffary to the metre; hear, at the beginning of the next fpeech, being ufed as a diffyllable. To wring, in the fenfe I contend for, occurs in the Merry Wives of Windsor, A&. I. fc. ii: his cook, or his laundry, or his washer, and his wringer." STEEVENS. -- 6 of a boat,) The old copy reads of a butt. HENLEY. It was corrected by Mr. Rowe. MALONE. 8 To cry to the fea that roar'd to us; to figh To the winds, whofe pity, fighing back again, Did us but loving wrong. MIRA. Was I then to you! PRO. Alack! what trouble O a cherubim Thou waft, that did preferve me! Thou didft fmile, Infused with a fortitude from heaven, When I have deck'd the fea with drops full salt; To cry to the fea that roar'd to us;) This conceit occurs again in the Winter's Tale: "How the poor fouls roar'd, and the fea mock'd them," &c. STEEVENS. 9-deck'd the fea) To deck the fea, if explained, to honour, adorn, or dignify, is indeed ridiculous, but the original import of the verb deck is, to cover; so in some parts they yet say deck the table. This fenfe may be borne, but perhaps the poet wrote fleck'd, which I think is ftill ufed in ruftic language of drops falling upon Dr. Warburton reads mock'd; the Oxford edition brack'd. water, JOHNSON. Verftegan, p. 61. fpeaking of Beer, fays, "So the overdecking or covering of beer came to be called berham, and afterwards "barme." This very well fupports Dr. Johnson's explanation. The following paffage in Antony and Cleopatra may countenance the verb deck in its common acceptation: do not please sharp fate "To grace it with your forrows." What is this but decking it with tears; Again, our author's Caliban fays, Ad III. fc. ii 66 He has brave utenfils, Which, when he has a houfe, he'll deck withal." STEEVENS To deck, I am told, fignifies in the North, to Sprinkle. See Ray's DICT. of North Country words, in verb. to deg, and to deck į and his DICT. of South Country words, in verb dag. The latter fignifies dew upon the grass; T hence daggle-tailed. In Cole's Latin Dictionary, 1679, we find To dag, collutulo, irroro." MALONE. A correfpondent, who figns himself Eboracenfis, proposes that this contefted word fhould be printed degg'd, which, fays he, fignifies Sprinkled, and is in daily ufe in the North of England. When cloaths that have been washed are too much dried, it ig Under my burden groan'd; which rais'd in me An undergoing ftomach, to bear up 2 Against what fhould enfue. MIRA. How came we afhore? PRO. By Providence divine, Some food we had, and fome fresh water, that A noble Neapolitan, Gonzalo, Out of his charity, (who being then appointed Mafter of this defign,) did give us;' with neceffary to moiften them before they can be ironed, which is always done by Sprinkling this operation the maidens univerfally call degging. REED. • An undergoing ftomach.) Stomach is fubborn refolution. Sa Horace, 66 - gravem Pelidæ ftomachum." STEEVENS. 3 Some food we had, and fome fresh water, that A noble Neapolitan, Gonzalo, Out of his charity, (who being then appointed Mafter of this defign,) did give us ;) Mr. Steevens has fuggefted, that we might better read he being then appointed; and fo we fhould certainly now write: but the reading of the old copy is the true one, that mode of phraseology being the idiom of Shakspeare's time. So, in the Winter's Tale: «And fon unto the king, (whom heavens dire&ing,) Again, in Coriolanus: waving thy hand, Which often, thus, correding thy flout heart, Now humble as the ripeft mulberry, That will not hold the handling; or, fay to them," &c. MALONE. I have left the passage in question, as I found it, though with flender reliance on its integrity. What Mr. Malone has ftyled the idiom of Shakspeare's time," can scarce deserve fo creditable a liftin&ion. It should be remembered that the inftances adduced by him in fupport of his pofition, are not from the early quartos which he prefers on the fcore of accuracy, but from the folio 1623, the inaccuracy of which, with equal judgment he has cenfured. The genuine idiom of our language, at its different periods, can only be ascertained by reference to contemporary writers whose Rich garments, linens, ftuffs, and neceffaries, Which fince have fteaded much fo, of his gen tleness, Knowing I lov'd my books, he furnish'd me, works were skilfully revifed as they paffed through the prefs, and are therefore unfufpe&ed of corruption. A fufficient number of fuch books are before us. If they supply examples of phrafeology refembling that which Mr. Malone would eftablish, there is an end of controverfy between us: Let, however, the difputed phrafes be brought to their test before they are admitted; for I utterly refufe to accept the jargon of theatres and the miftakes of printers, as the idiom or grammar of the age in which Shakspeare wrote. Every grofs departure from literary rules may be countenanced, if we are permitted to draw examples from vitiated pages; and our readers, as often as they meet with restorations founded on such authorities, may justly exclaim, with Othello, ..Chaos is come again." STEEVENS. Now I arife :) Why does Profpero arife? Or, if he does it to eafe himself by change of pofture, why need he interrupt his narrative to tell his daughter of it? Perhaps thefe words belong to Miranda, and we fhould read; Pro. Sit ftill, and hear the last of our fea-forrow: Profpero, in p. 13. had directed his daughter to fit down, and learn the whole of this hiftory; having previoufly by fome magical charm difpofed her to fall asleep. He is watching the progrefs of this charm; and in the mean time tells her a long ftory, often afking her whether her attention be ftill awake. The ftory being ended (as Miranda fuppofes) with their coming on thore, and partaking of the conveniences provided for them by the loyal humanity of Gonzalo, the therefore firft expreffes a wish to fee the good old man, and then obferves that fhe may now drife, as the ftory is done. Profpero, furprised that his charm does not yet work, bids her fit ftill; and'then enters on fresh matter to amuse the time, telling her (what she knew before) that he had been her Sit ftill, and hear the laft of our fea-forrow. MIRA. Heavens thank you for't! And now, I pray you, fir, (For ftill 'tis beating in my mind) your reafon For raising this fea-storm? PRO. Know thus far forth. By accident most strange, bountiful fortune, Now my dear lady," hath mine enemies Brought to this fhore: and by my prefcience I find my zenith doth depend upon A moft aufpicious ftar; whofe influence If now I court not, but omit,' my fortunes Will ever after droop. Here ceafe more queftions; Thou art inclin'd to fleep; 'tis a good dulnefs, tutor, &c. But foon perceiving her drowfinefs coming on, he breaks off abruptly, and leaves her fill fitting to her flumbers. BLACKSTONE. As the words "now I arife" may fignify, now I rife in my narration." now my ftory heightens in its confequence," I have left the paffage in queftion, undisturbed. We ftill fay, that the intereft of a drama rifes or declines. STEEVENS. 6 Now my dear lady,) i. e. now my auspicious mistress. STEEVENS. 7 I find my zenith doth depend upon A moft aufpicious flar; whofe influence If now I court not, but omit, &c.) So, in Julius Cæfar: "There is a tide in the affairs of man, "Which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in fhallows and in miferies." MALONE. 'tis a good dulnefs, Dr. Warburton rightly observes, that this fleepiness, which Profpero by his art had brought upon Miranda, and of which he knew not how foon the effect would begin, makes him queftion her fo often whether he is attentive to his ftory. JOHNSON, |