P. 143. Nor none of thee, thou stale and common drudge "Tween man and man: but thou, thou meagre lead,

Which rather threatenest than dost promise aught,

Thy plainness moves me more than eloquence. — Here the old copies have pale instead of stale, and paleness instead of plainness. Stale is Farmer's correction; and Dyce, who adopts it, remarks that the two words "are frequently confounded by early transcribers and printers." We have stale coupled with common in 1 Henry IV., iii. 2: "So common-hackney'd in the eyes of men, so stale and cheap to vulgar company.". Warburton changed paleness to plainness, which Staunton adopts, with the just remark, that 'the plainness, which moves Bassanio more than eloquence, is the plain speaking of the inscription on the leaden coffer, contrasted with the tempting labels of its neighbours."

P. 145.

66

But the full sum of me

Is sum of something. — Instead of something, which is the reading of the quartos, the folio has nothing. The latter, though generally preferred, savours, I think, rather too much of affectation of humility to accord well with Portia's character. Besides, she seems to be playing with the likeness of sound in sum and some.

P. 145. Happy in this, she is not yet so old

But she may learn; then happier in this,
She is not bred so dull but she can learn ;
Happiest of all, in that her gentle spirit

Commits itself to yours, &c. — In the old copies, the second of these lines stands thus: "But she may learne: happier then this"; which leaves both sense and metre defective. In the fourth line, again, the old copies have is instead of in, which is the reading of Collier's second folio. The phrase in that for inasmuch as is often used by the Poet.

P. 147. What, and my old Venetian friend Solanio. - Here the old copies introduce, for the first time, a new name, Salerio; but the person is clearly the same who appears in the first scene of the play under the name of Solanio, and as the common friend of Antonio, Bassanio, and Salarino. In fact, the old copies present a strange

confusion in regard to two of the names: Salarino, Slarino; Solanio, Salanio, Salino, Salerio. I therefore concur with Staunton and Dyce in substituting Solanio for Salerio wherever the latter occurs in this

scene.

P. 149. And I must have the half of any thing That this same paper brings you. - The old copies read "And I must freely have"; a redundancy both in sense and in metre. The word freely occurs five lines after; hence, probably, it crept in here out of place. Corrected by Pope.

P. 151. Shall lose a hair through my Bassanio's fault. So the second folio. The other old copies are without my. To cure this defect in the metre, some editors change through to thorough, which is indeed but another form of the same word, and is often used by Shakespeare.

ACT III., SCENE III.

P. 153. The Duke cannot deny the course of law, For the commodity that strangers have With us in Venice: if it be denied, 'Twill much impeach the justice, &c. So Capell, who is followed by Staunton. The old copies set a (:) after law, print Will instead of 'Twill; and so make commodity the subject of will impeach. This greatly obscures, if it does not quite defeat, the meaning of the passage. Staunton aptly notes that, without the second line, "the passage is perfectly logical and easy." See foot-note 3.

ACT III., SCENE IV.

P. 156. And use thou all th' endeavour of a man

In speed to Padua. — Mantua in the old copies; but Padua is spoken of repeatedly as the residence of Bellario.

ACT III., SCENE V.

P. 160. He finds the joys of Heaven here on Earth;

And if on Earth he do not merit it,

In reason he should never come to Heaven.- Here the old copies present a remarkable variety of readings. Instead of merit it, one of the quartos has meane it, then; the other, meane it, it; which latter the folio repeats, merely changing In to Is at the beginning of the next line. The reading in the text is Pope's. And it appears that Walker, without knowing of Pope's correction, hit upon the same as regards merit it, though he proposed to substitute "'Tis reason "In reason."

" for

ACT IV., SCENE I.

P. 163. And others, when the bag-pipe sings i' the nose,
Cannot contain themselves for affection.

Masters of passion sway it to the mood

Of what it likes or loathes. So the old copies, except that they have swayes instead of sway. The more common reading, which was first proposed by Thirlby, sets a (:) after themselves, changes Masters to Master, and puts it in apposition with affection, and makes affection the subject of sways. But it is not altogether clear to me how, or in what sense, affection may be said to be the master of passion. Then too, in Thirlby's reading, I am something at a loss what the second it refers to, whether to affection or to passion. The old reading, with the simple change of sways to sway, leaves no doubt on that point; and, if we take affection in the sense the Poet elsewhere uses it in, gives an apt and natural meaning; for it is strictly true that masters of passion do sway it, that is, passion, to the mood of its own predispositions. See foot-notes 15 and 16.

P. 163. Why he cannot abide a gaping pig;
Why he, a harmless necessary cat;

Why he, a wauling bag-pipe. - The old editions read a woollen bag-pipe." It has been urged, in defence of this reading, that bag-pipes were wont to be carried or kept in woollen cases: so were

fiddles; but this would hardly make it proper, or even sense, to speak of them as woollen fiddles. Johnson proposed wooden, and Sir John Hawkins swollen; which latter Steevens adopted, and is Singer's reading. Collier's second folio has bollen, which is an old word meaning about the same as swollen; and Dyce adopts that reading. Wauling is Capell's happy conjecture; and it is remarkable that, in our own day, both Dr. Ingleby and Mr. A. E. Brae, each independently of the other, and without being aware of Capell's conjecture, hit upon the same correction. Mason aptly notes that "it is not by the sight of the bag-pipe that the persons alluded to are affected, but by the sound."

P. 166. To cut the forfeit from that bankrupt there. The old copies have forfeiture instead of forfeit. Forfeiture overfills the verse. The correction was made by Rowe, and was also proposed by Ritson. This scene has forfeit repeatedly in the sense of forfeiture.

P. 166. O, be thou damn'd, inexorable dog. - The old copies read "inexecrable dog"; which some approve, taking the prepositive in as intensive. Inexorable in the third folio.

P. 170. Yes, here I tender't for him in the court;

Yea, thrice the sum. - The old copies here read "Yea, twice the summe." But it appears, from two statements of the same point afterwards, that thrice is the right word.

P. 172.

From which lingering penance

--

Of such a misery doth she cut me off. So the second folio. The earlier editions read "Of such misery," omitting the a. Jervis proposes “Of such-like misery"; Lettsom, “And searching misery."

P. 173. Whether Bassanio had not once a lover. - The old copies have "once a love." Lover was continually used for friend, and this play has it repeatedly so; but love, I think, was never used in that sense.

P. 174. I take his offer, then. This instead of his in the old copies. The two words were very often misprinted for each other. Corrected by Capell.

P. 176.

So Hanmer. In

And thou hast incurr'd

The danger formally by me rehearsed. stead of formally, the old copies have formorly and formerly.

Did pretty Jessica, like a little shrew, &c. - So some copies of the second folio. The And at the beginning of both speeches is wanting in the other old editions.

P. 184. Loren. Sweet soul, let's in. — In the old copies the words Sweet soul are made the conclusion of Launcelot's preceding speech. Corrected by Malone.

P. 188. Peace, ho! the Moon sleeps with Endymion. - The old copies have "Peace, how the Moone sleepes." The misprint of how for ho or hoa occurs repeatedly. The correction is Malone's.

P. 190. That she did give to me; whose posy was For all the world like cutler's poetry. - So Collier's second folio. The old text reads "did give me," omitting to, and so leaving the metre defective.

P. 191. And riveted with faith unto your flesh. -"And so riveted" in the old copies; the so having probably crept in here by mistake from the second line before.

P. 191. You give your wife too únkind cause of grief. - So Walker. The old copies have "too unkind a cause." Such interpolations of a are very frequent, as Walker abundantly shows.

P. 194. In Summer, when the ways are fair enough. So Collier's second folio. The old copies have where instead of when.

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