having contracted the word unwished, he exhibited the line thus:

"Unto his lordship, to whofe unwish'd yoke
My foul confents not to give fovereignty."

an interpolation which was adopted in the fubfequent copies, and which, with all the modern editors, I incautiously suffered to remain in the present edition.4

The grave-digger in Hamlet obferves" that your tanner will last you nine year," and fuch is the phrafeology which Shakspeare always attributes to his lower characters; but instead of this, in the fecond folio, we find-" nine years.

"Your skill fhall, like a ftar i'the darkest night,
"Stick fiery off indeed.—"

fays Hamlet to Laertes. But the editor of the fecond folio, conceiving, I fuppofe, that if a ftar appeared with extraordinary fcintillation, the night muft neceffarily be luminous, reads" i'the brightest night:" and, with equal fagacity, not acquiefcing in Edgar's notion of "four-inch'd bridges," this editor has furnished him with a much fafer pafs, for he reads " four-arch'd bridges."

In King Henry VIII. are thefe lines:

"His contemplation were above the earth

Not understanding this phrafeology, and fuppofing that were muft require a noun in the plural number, he reads:

4 See Vol. IV. p. 322, n. 7.

If we did think

"His contemplations were above the earth," &c.

Again, in Troilus and Crefsida, Act IV. fc. ii:

"With wings more momentary-fwift than thought."

This compound epithet not being understood, he reads:

"With wings more momentary, Swifter than thought."

In The Taming of the Shrew, Act I. fc. ii. Hortenfio, defcribing Catharine, fays,

"Her only fault (and that is-faults enough)

Is, that she is intolerable curst ;—”

meaning, that this one was a hoft of faults. But this not being comprehended by the editor of the fecond folio, with a view, doubtlefs, of rendering the paffage more grammatical, he fubftituted_ "and that is fault enough."

So, in King Lear, we find-" Do you know this noble gentleman?" But this editor fuppofing, it fhould feem, that a gentleman could not be noble, or that a noble could not be a gentleman, inftead of the original text, reads-" Do you know this nobleman ?"

home to

In Measure for Meafure, Act II. fc. i. Efcalus, addreffing the Juftice, fays, "I pray you dinner with me:" this familiar diction not being " I pray understood, we find in the second folio, home to dinner with me." And in Othello, you go not having fagacity enough to fee that apines was printed by a mere tranfpofition of the letters, for paines,

"Though I do hate him, as I do hell apines,"

inftead of correcting the word, he evaded the difficulty by omitting it, and exhibited the line in an imperfect state.

The Duke of York, in the third part of King Henry VI. exclaims,

"That face of his the hungry cannibals

"Would not have touch'd, would not have ftain'd with blood."

These lines being thus carefully arranged in the first folio:

"That face of his

"The hungry cannibals would not have touch'd,
"Would not have stain'd with blood-"

the editor of the fecond folio, leaving the first line imperfect as he found it, completed the laft line by this abfurd interpolation :

"Would not have ftain'd the roses just with blood."

These are but a few of the numerous corruptions and interpolations found in that copy, from the editor's ignorance of Shakspeare's phrafeology.

II. Let us now examine how far he was acquainted with the metre of these plays.

In The Winter's Tale, Act III. fc. ii. we find—

"What wheels? racks? fires? what flaying? boiling? "In leads, or oils?"

Not knowing that fires was used as a diffyllable, he added the word burning at the end of the line:

"What wheels? racks fires? what flaying? boiling? burning 9"

So again, in Julius Cæfar, Act III. fc. ii. from the fame ignorance, the word all has been interpolated by this editor:

"And with the brands fire all the traitors' houses."

instead of the reading of the original and authentick copy,

"And with the brands fire the traitors' houses."

Again, in Macbeth:

"I would, while it was fmiling in my face,
"Have pluck'd my nipple from his boneless gums,
"And dash'd the brains out, had I fo fworn

"As you have done to this."

Not perceiving that fworn was used as a diffyllable, he reads-" had I but fo fworn."

Charms our poet fometimes uses as a word of two fyllables. Thus, in The Tempeft, Act I. fc. ii:

"Curs'd be I, that did fo! All the charms," &c.

instead of which this editor gives us,

"Curs'd be I, that I did fo! All the charms," &c.

Hour is almoft always ufed by Shakspeare as a diffyllable, but of this the editor of the fecond folio was ignorant; for inftead of these lines in King Richard II:

So fighs, and tears, and groans,

"Show minutes, times, and hours: but my time
"Runs pofting on," &c.

he gives us

So fighs, and tears, and groans,

"Show minutes, times, and hours: Obut my time," &c.

So again, in The Comedy of Errors :

"I'll meet you in that place, fome hour, fir, hence."

inftead of the original reading,

"I'll meet you in that place fome hour hence."

Again, in The Winter's Tale, Act I. fc. ii:

"Hours, minutes? the noon, midnight? and all eyes," &c.

inftead of the original reading,

"Hours, minutes? noon, midnight? and all eyes," &c.

Again, in All's well that ends well, Act II. fc. iii:

5 In Meafure for Measure we find thefe lines:

Merciful heaven!

"Thou rather, with thy fharp and fulphurous bolt,

Split'ft the unwedgeable and gnarled oak,

"Than the foft mirtle ;-But man, proud man," &c. There can be no doubt that a word was omitted in the laft line; perhaps fome epithet to mirtle. But the editor of the fecond folio, reforting to his ufual expedient, abfurdly reads:

"Than the foft mirtle. O but man, proud man,—." So, in Titus Andronicus, A& III. fc. ii: complaynet being corruptly printed inftead of complayner,

"Speechlefs complaynet, I will learn thy thoughts,” this editor, with equal abfurdity, reads:

Speechless complaint, O, I will learn thy thoughts." I have again and again had occafion to mention in the notes on these plays, that omiffion is of all the errors of the prefs that which moft frequently happens. On collating the fourth edition of King Richard III. printed in 1612, with the fecond printed in 1598, I found no less than twenty-fix words omitted.