wilderness. Chapman, Bussy d'Ambois, v. 1, Old English Plays, vol. iii. p. 322, The errant wilderness of a woman's face;" read, metro postulante, wildness. Possibly in the manuscript it was written wildenesse (though this does not seem a likely spelling), whence the error. 2, ad fin., "With Angelo to-night shall lie And perform an old contracting." Read, metro postulante, “th' disguis'd;" and so the folio; which has also despised and disguised; more harmoniously, I think. Macbeth, i. 1, write, metri gratia, "Hover through th' fog and filthy air." iv. 1, near the beginning,— -"much upon this time have I promised here to meet. Mari. You have not been inquired Was meet, used absolutely, good English in Shakespeare's age any more than now? Qu., "to meet -" (yet, on the other hand, why should Mariana interrupt him?) See is used in a manner somewhat similar, Troilus and Cressida, iv. 4, and Cymbeline, i. 2,— Ib., "When shall we see again?" "There have I made my promise to call on him, Fol., "There haue I made my promise vpon the Heauy midle of the night to call vpon him.” It is impossible that such a change, as that supposed in the received reading, could have taken place through mere corruption. The lines wanted only new arranging,"There have I made my promise Upon the heavy middle of the night Lines of seven syllables—though not so common as those of five or six-are, like them (see S. V., Art. liv.), legitimate parts of Shakespeare's metrical system; as much so as the ten-syllable one itself. What is unusual in the case, is the slightness of the pause at the end of the line; short lines being usually followed by a full stop, or something very like it. Much Ado &c. iv. 1, Claudio. "What do you mean, my lord? Not to be married; Not to knit my soul to an approved wanton." Arrange, "What do you mean, my lord? Claudio. Not to be married; not to knit my soul Ib., "And rack thee in their fancies.-Welcome! How agreed?" 'greed, as a few lines above, and elsewhere; e.g., Antony and Cleopatra, ii. 6,— this 'greed upon, To part with unhack'd edges," &c. 3 The recent editors have been unfortunate here. They mostly read, "There have I made my promise on the heavy Middle of the night to call upon him;" the measure of which, according to Mr. Collier, "is not defective, though rather harsh." The last line has every accent on the wrong syllable!-Ed. Ib., ad fin., "Our corn's to reap, for yet our tithe 's to sow." See Var. notes. Undoubtedly tilth's. 3, By cold gradation and weal-balanc'd form." Well-balanc'd 5 of course. Ib., ct If you can, pace your wisdom In that good path that I would wish it go; And you shall have your bosom on this wretch," &c. Point (in the folio, too, there is no comma after can),— In If you can pace your wisdom go," &c. Standing thus, the construction is very harsh; I think quite beyond the limits of Shakespearian grammar. I believe that a line is lost after go. 1b., I dare not for my head fill my belly; one fruitful meal would set me to 't." Bountiful, copious. Othello, ii. 3, 4 According to Mr. Knight, tithe means "seed which is to produce tenfold:" in other words, division is the same as multiplication; 10.-Ed. = 5 This reading did not originate with Hanmer, as is usually supposed; it is found in Rowe and Pope. Strange to say, it was neglected by Theobald, Warburton, Capell, and Johnson, not to mention Malone, Mr. Knight, and (in his first edition) Mr. Collier. It has been received by Mr. Dyce, Mr. Staunton, Mr. Halliwell, and now by Mr. Collier. It is also found in the Old Corrector. -Ed. King Lear, iv. 6, near the end,- -"—if your will want not, time and place will be fruitfully offered." v. 1, we should arrange, perhaps, No, my good lord; Nor wish'd to hold my peace. Duke. I wish you now, then ; pray [for pray you] take note of it: And when you have a business for yourself, Strange is quite alien here. Read strong. He is too ill to move. The converse of the error in the Comedy of Errors, ii. 2, 89, col. 2, "Whose weaknesse married to thy stranger state, Makes me with thy strength to communicate." In this latter play, v. 1,— "Anon, I wot not by what strong escape, He broke from those that had the guard of him ;" (atque ita fol.) read strange. As You Like It, i. 3,-" Is it possible on such a sudden, you should fall into so strong a liking with Sir Rowland's youngest son?" (here, too, the folio agrees with all the editions.) Strange, I think. King Richard II. v. 3, "O heinous, strong, and bold conspiracy!" Strange. King Lear, ii. 1,— O strong and fasten'd villain!" 6 So the Old Corrector.-Ed. Fol., strange. Partly perhaps from strangeness (erratum for strange news) eleven lines below. Machin, Dumb Knight, ii., near the end, Dodsley, vol. iv. p. 409,— "Yet if my tears may mollify thy heart, Receive them as the flood of strangest tides; Turn not thy face from her that dotes on thee." Strongest. Beaumont and Fletcher, Custom of the Country, sc. ult., near the beginning, ઃઃ I am troubled, strongly troubled." Strangely, I suspect. COMEDY OF ERRORS. i. 1, "And this it was,-for other means were none,— Read thus. ii. 1, yet often touching will Wear gold," &c. = Read," And so no man, that hath" &c. Suggested by a note in the Variorum; and so indeed some editions have it. 2, "Unless I spake, or look'd, or touch'd, or carv'd to thee." Qu., carv'd thee. Besides that carv'd to thee makes the verse drag, Shakespeare, as I have observed elsewhere, in his earlier plays eschews the trisyllabic ending altogether. Two Noble Kinsmen, where the Doctor is giving directions to the wooer as to the behaviour to be observed in the company of his mistress, the jailor's daughter; iv. 3, near |