Abused extremely, and to cry 'That's witty!' 8 we're] w' are Ff. we are Capell. men, But Collier conj. 11 'em] them Malone. 10 NOTES. NOTE I. 1. 1. 167. Mr Collier says: "In the three earlier Folios the word is spelt 'wrenching,' which the printer of the fourth folio, not understanding, altered to 'drenching.' In the three copies of the fourth Folio now before us the word is 'wrenching.' NOTE II. 1. 2. Capell, followed by Malone, made many gratuitous alterations in the stage-directions of the Folios, which we have not thought it worth while always to record. NOTE III. II. 3. 7-9. Pope's reading is as follows: Still growing in a majesty and pomp, The which to leave, a thousand-fold more bitter Theobald, followed by Hanmer, has : Still growing to a majesty and pomp, The which to leave's a thousand-fold more bitter Capell reads, following the arrangement of the Folios: 'Still growing in a majesty and pomp,-the which To leave, 's a thousand fold more bitter, than "Tis sweet at first to acquire.' We are in doubt here as to which is the reading of Mr Collier's MS. Corrector, for in his edition of Coleridge's Lectures he gives it, To leave's a thousand times more bitter, than while in the second edition of his Shakespeare he quotes it as follows: The [The former version is the more accurate, but both are wrong. only changes made by the Corrector were the addition of "s' in the first line, and the omission of ""Tis' in the second.] 11. 3. 103. NOTE IV. Mr Collier says, "If the blood of Anne Bullen had saluted or welcomed the news,-'If my blood salute this a jot—' there would have been no difficulty." It is not clear whether Mr Collier intends this as a conjectural emendation or not. NOTE V. II. 4. The stage direction which we have given from the Folios has been variously altered. The only important change which Capell introduces is in making the Archbishop of Canterbury follow the Bishops. The alteration 'between' for 'below' appeared in Reed's edition of 1803, and has been followed by some modern editors. NOTE VI. 11. 4. 75. This line appears to have been accidentally omitted by the printer of the edition by Johnson, who, without taking the trouble to refer even to Warburton's text, conjectured that the passage was corrupt and proposed to read: 'Nay, before. Induc'd by potent circumstances, that - NOTE VII. 11. 4. 182. Mr Collier, in his 2nd edition, says, "We are quite satisfied that Theobald was right in reading 'The bottom of my conscience.'" Theobald does not adopt the conjecture in the text of his first edition. His note is as follows: "Tho this reading be sense, and therefore I have not ventur'd to displace it; yet, I verily believe, the poet wrote; 'The bottom of my conscience, My reason is this. Shakespeare in all his historical plays was a most diligent observer of Hollingshead's Chronicle; and had him always in eye, wherever he thought fit to borrow any matter from him. Now Hollingshead, in the speech which he has given to King Henry upon this subject, makes him deliver himself thus. Which words, once conceived within the secret bottom of my conscience, ingendred such a scrupulous doubt, that my conscience was incontinently accombred, vex'd, and disquieted."" Theobald appears to have forgotten that the emendation was suggested to him by Dr Thirlby (See Nichols' Illustrations, 11. p. 461). He put it in the text of his second edition (1740). NOTE VIII. III. 2. 192. The first and second Folios, which in so doubtful a case we have followed, read: that am, have, and will be (Though...horrid) yet my duty, &c.' The third and fourth extend the parenthesis so as to include line 198, "(Though... break).' Rowe reads that am I, have been, and will be: Though...horrid; yet, my duty, &c.' Pope: 'that am I, have been, will be:' pointing the rest with Rowe. Capell, reading as the Folios, puts a full stop at 'be,' line 192, and a semicolon at 'horrid,' line 196. Mason proposes to omit the words 'that am, have, and will be,' because he can find no meaning in them. Malone supposes that a line following 192 has been lost. Seymour proposes to read: 'that I am, have been, and shall be And throw it from their soul (most firm and loyal) Jackson conjectures: 'that aim, has, and will be, Though, &c.' or, 'that aim has, and will be To you, though...duty, And throw, &c.' Mr Knight conjectures: that aim I have and will, Though, &c.,' 'will' being here a noun. Mr Collier adopts this reading, but takes 'will' to be a verb, for 'will have.' Mr Singer reads: 'that I am true, and will be, Though, &c.' by which, he says, all is made 'congruous and clear.' Mitford would read: 'that am, and will be yours. Though, &c.' Dr Badham (1856) suggests: 'that am your slave and will be. Though, &c.' [I am informed that Dr Badham's conjecture was anticipated by Mr Benjamin Bickley Rogers, of Wadham College, Oxford, in a letter to the Press newspaper. W. A. W.] Mr Staunton conjectures: 'to that I am slave and will be, Though, &c.' Sidney Walker says: "If there be no other corruption, the period after 'be' ought to be replaced by a comma: otherwise the words appear unintelligible. Even so, however, this will be a most harsh instance of ἀνακολουθία. But I rather think that a line is lost, somewhat to the following effect: 'that I am, have, and will be, [In heart and act, tied to your service; yea,] Mr Grant White adopts Mr Singer's reading, nearly: 'that am true and will be, &c' Mr Nichols proposes to transfer 'yours' from line 199 to follow 'will be :' 'that am, have, and will be yours And stand unshaken.' Mr Keightley prints, that am, have and will be... Though &c.,' indicating that the sense is interrupted. |