3 O, one too much by thee! Why had I one? Again, in Daniel's Verfes on Montaigne: 66 extracts of men, "Though in a troubled frame confus'dly set.” Again, in this play: "Whofe fpirits toil in frame of villainies." STEEVENS. It feems to me, that by frugal nature's frame, Leonato alludes to the particular formation of himself, or of Hero's mother, rather than to the universal system of things. Frame means here framing, as it does where Benedick fays of John, that "His fpirits toil in frame of villainies." Thus Richard fays of Prince Edward, that he was. And, in All's well that ends well, the King fays to Bertram : "Hath well compos'd thee." But Leonato, diffatisfied with his own frame, was wont to complain of the frugality of nature. M. MASON. The meaning, I think, is, Grieved I at nature's being fo frugal as to have framed for me only one child? MALONE. 3 Who fmirched thus, &c.] Thus the quarto, 1600. The folio readsfmeared." To fmirch is to daub, to fully. So, in King Henry V: "Our gaynefs and our gilt are all befmirch'd." &c. STEEVENS. 4 But mine, and mine I lov'd, and mine I prais'd, And mine that I was proud on; ] The fenfe requires that we fhould read, as in these three places. The reafoning of the speaker ftands thus Had this been my adopted child, her fhame would not have rebounded on me. But this child was mine, as mine I lov'd her, praised her, was proud of her: confequently, as I claimed the glory, I muft needs be fubject to the shame, &c. WARBURTON. Even of this fmall alteration there is no need. The fpeaker utters his emotion abruptly. But mine, and mine that I lov'd, &c.' by an ellipfis frequent, perhaps too frequent, both in verfe and profe. JOHNSON. That I myself was to myself not mine, Hath drops too few to wash her clean again BENE. Sir, fir, be patient: BEAT. O, on my foul, my cousin is belied! BENE. Lady, were you her bedfellow last night? BEAT. No, truly, not; although, until last night, I have this twelvemonth been her bedfellow. LEON. Confirm'd, confirm'd! O, that is ftronger made, Which was before barr'd up with ribs of iron! Would the two princes lie? and Claudio lie? Who lov'd her fo, that, fpeaking of her foulnefs, Wafh'd it with tears? Hence from her; let her die. FRIAR. Hear me a little ; For I have only been filent fo long, 1 And given way unto this courfe of fortune, 2 the wide fea Hath drops too few to wash her clean again; ] The fame thought is repeated in Macbeth: 3 "Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood "Clean from my hand?" which may feafon give STEEVENS. To her foul tainted flesh!] The fame metaphor from the kitchen ccurs in Twelfth Night: all this to feafon A brother's dead love." STEEVENS. And in her eye there hath appear'd a fire, LEON. Friar, it cannot be: Thou feeft, that all the grace that fhe hath left, Why feek'st thou then to cover with excuse That which appears in nakedness? FRIAR. Lady, what man is he you are accus'd of? HERO. They know, that do accuse me; I know 4 To burn the errors ] The fame idea occurs in Romeo and Juliet: Transparent hereticks be burnt for liars." of my book; ] i. e. of what I have read. STEEVENS. 6 Friar. what man is he you are accus'd of? ] The friar had juft before boafted his great skill in fishing out the truth. And, indeed, he appears by this queftion to be no fool. He was by, all the while at the accufation, and heard no name mentioned. Why then should he ask her what man fhe was accufed of? But in this lay the fubtilty of his examination. For, had Hero been guilty, it was very probable that in that hurry and confufion of fpirits, into which the terrible infult of her lover had thrown her, she, would never have obferved that the man's name was not mentioned; and fo, on this question, have betrayed herself by naming the perfon fhe was confcious of an affair with. The Friar obferved this, and fo concluded, that were she guilty, fhe would probably fall into the trap he laid for her. I only take notice of this to fhow how admirably well Shakspeare knew how to fuftain his characters. WARBURTON. - Than that which maiden modesty doth warrant, Maintain'd the change of words with any creature, FRIÁR. There is fome ftrange mifprifion in the princes. BENE. Two of them have the very bent of ho And if their wifdoms be mifled in this, The practice of it lives in John the bastard, LEON. I know not; If they speak but truth of her, Thefe hands fhall tear her; if they wrong her honour, The proudeft of them fhall well hear of it. Time hath not yet fo dried this blood of mine, Nor fortune made fuch havock of my means, FRIAR. Paufe a while, And let my counsel fway you in this case. 6 bent of honour; ] Bent is ufed by our author for the utmoft degree of any paffion, or mental quality. In this play before, Benedick fays of Béatrice, her affection has its full bent. The expreffion is derived from archery; the bow has its bent, when it is drawn as far as it can be. JOHNSON. 7 Your daughter here the princes left for dead; ] In former copics Your daughter here the princess (left for dead ;) But how comes Hero to Atart up a princefs here? We have ne 8 Let her awhile be fecretly kept in, LEON. What fhall become of this? What will this do? FRIAR. Marry, this, well carried, fhall on her behalf Change flander to remorse; that is fome good: That what we have we prize not to the worth, 2 intimation of her father being a prince; and this is the firft and only time fhe is complimented with this dignity. The remotion of a single letter, and of the parenthesis, will bring her to her own rank, and the place to its true meaning: Your daughter here the princes left for dead; i. c. Don Pedro, prince of Arragon; and his bastard brother, who is likewife called a prince. THEOBALD. 8 oftentation; Show, appearance. JOHNSON. 9 - we rack the value;] i. e. we exaggerate the value. The allufion is to rack-rents. The fame kind of thought occurs in Antony and Cleopatra: "What our contempts do often hurl from us, "We with it ours again." STEEVENS. died upon his words, ] i. e. died by them. So, in A Midfummer Night's Dream: "To die upon the hand I love fo well." STEEVENS. |