Th' imperial Cæsar, should again unite.
His favour with the radiant Cymbeline,
Which shines lere in the West.

Cym.

Laud we the gods;

And let our crooked smokes climb to their nostrils
From our bless'd altars. Publish we this peace

To all our subjects. Set we forward; let

A Roman and a British ensign wave

Friendly together: so through Lud's-town march;
And in the temple of great Jupiter

Our peace we'll ratify; seal it with feasts.

Set on there! - Never was a war did cease,
Ere bloody hands were wash'd, with such a peace.

[Exeunt.

CRITICAL NOTES.

ACT I., SCENE 1.

Page 9. You do not meet a man but frowns: our bloods

Not more obey the heavens than our courtiers

Still seem as does the King. In the second of these lines, the original has No instead of Not, and in the third Kings instead of King. No does not give the right sense. Coleridge proposed to substitute countenances for courtiers, and Keightley conjectures "courtiers' faces"; either of which would accord with King's. But with the two slight changes here made we get substantially the same sense. The second correction is Tyrwhitt's.

P. 10.

But not a courtier,

Although they wear their faces to the bent

Of the King's looks, but hath a heart that is

Glad at the thing they scowl at. - So Theobald. Instead of "but hath a heart that is," the original reads "hath a heart that is not." The sense is about the same either way; but I can hardly think the Poet would have endured such a halt in the metre. Pope's second edition reads as in the text.

P. II. I cannot delve him to the root: his father

Was call'd Sicilius, who did gain his honour

Against the Romans with Cassibelan; &c.—The original has joyne instead of gain, which is White's correction. Jervis conjectured win, which gives the same sense as gain, but involves more of literal change. I do not well see how to get any fitting sense out of join.

P. 14. You gentle gods, give me but this I have,

And cere up my embracements from a next, &c. The original has “And seare up"; but this seems to have been only another way of spelling cere. Singer reads "And seal up." See foot-note 9.

P. 14.

Remain, remain thou here

While sense can keep it on. As both thou and it refer to the ring, Pope substituted thee for it, and has been followed by various editors. Perhaps rightly; for the change of person is very harsh. See, however, foot-note 10.

That shouldst repair my youth, thou heap'st

A year's age on me !-To complete the second of these lines, Hanmer reads "thou heapest many"; Capell, "thou heap'st instead.” Perhaps it should be "thou heap'st more than A year's age on me."

P. 17.

About some half hour hence,
I pray you, speak with me.—The original omits I.

ACT I., SCENE 2.

-The original assigns this

P. 19. 2 Lord. I'll attend your lordship. speech to the first Lord. Corrected by Capell.

nal reads “with his eye," &c. Coleridge proposed "with the eye"; which I am apt to think the better correction.

P. 20. I would have broke mine eye-strings, crack'd the balls,

To look upon him; &c. Here the original has an awkward and uncharacteristic anti-climax, - "crack'd them but to look upon him." Staunton proposed to read "I would have crack'd mine eyestrings, broke their balls, To look upon him." But I think the climax is duly made without transposing broke and crack'd; while in the proposed reading their would of course refer to eye-strings, and thus untune the language, if not the sense.

ACT 1., SCENE 4.

P. 22. For taking a beggar without his quality. The old text has "without lesse quality"; which expresses no meaning at all suited to the place. Rowe changed less to more, and has been followed by some

more.

editors. For my part, I could not print less, and did not like to print The reading in the text was proposed by Knight. It seems to me just the thing. See foot-note 5.

Cor

P. 23. But, upon my mended judgment,— if I offend not to say it is mended, &c. -The original lacks not. A very obvious error. rected by Rowe.

P. 24. I could but believe she excelled many. - So Heath. The original has not instead of but. The misprint occurs repeatedly, and not is palpably wrong here. Malone reads "could not but believe," and is followed by Dyce and the Cambridge Editors. But that reading seems to me to convey a wrong sense: it means, I could not help believing; whereas the meaning seems rather to be, "I could only believe"; I could believe only that she excelled many, not that she excelled all.

P. 24. The one may be sold or given, if there were wealth enough for the purchase or merit for the gift. — The original reads “or given, or if there were wealth enough for the purchases," &c. Corrected by Rowe. Doubtless an accidental repetition of or.

P. 25. You are afraid, and therein the wiser.—So Warburton. The original has "You are a Friend." The correction is approved by the next sentence: "But I see you have some religion in you, that you fear." See foot-note 20.

P. 26. If I bring you sufficient testimony that I have enjoy'd the dearest bodily part of your mistress, my ten thousand ducats are mine; so is your diamond too: if I come off, and leave her in such honour as you have trust in, she your jewel, this your jewel, and my gold are yours; &c.. So Warburton, who is followed by Hanmer and Capell. The original reads "If I bring you no sufficient testimony," and "my ten thousand Duckets are yours." So, instead of stating the two alternative conditions, as the case plainly requires, Iachimo is made to state one of them twice over in different words. Surely this is absurd enough to justify the correction.

P. 27.

ACT I., SCENE 5.

I do wonder, doctor,

Thou ask'st me such a question. —So Theobald and Walker. The original omits do.

P. 28.

I will try the forces

Of these thy compounds on such creatures as

We count not worth the hanging,— but none human,To test the vigour of them, &c. —So Walker. Instead of test, the original repeats try; which is very awkward, to say the least.

P. 28. Ilere comes a flattering rascal; upon him

Will I first work: he's factor for his master,

And enemy to my son. — - So Walker. The original is without factor, which is used in a later scene for agent. And some such insertion is plainly needful here both for sense and for metre. Where tivo consecutive words begin with the same or similar letters, one of them is very apt to be overlooked in transcribing or in printing.

P. 30. Think what a chance thou chancest on.-— - So Rowe, and Collier's second folio. The original has "thou changest on." Theobald reads "what a change thou chancest on."

P. 31.

ACT I., SCENE 6.

Had I been thief stol'n,

As my two brothers, happy! Blest be those,
How mean soe'er, that have their honest wills;

Which seasons comfort: but most miserable

Is the desire that's glorious. In the last of these lines, the original has desires. An obvious error; corrected in the second folio. I here adopt an important transportation proposed by Staunton. The old text defeats both metre and logical order by misplacement, thus:

Had I been thief-stol'n,

As my two brothers, happy! but most miserable

Is the desire that's glorious: blest be those,
How mean soe'er, that have their honest wills;
Which seasons comfort.