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By those that know the very nerves of state,
His givings out were of an infinite distance
From his true-meant defign. Upon his place,
And with full line of his authority,

Governs lord Angelo; a man, whose blood
Is very fnow-broth; one who never feels
The wanton ftings and motions of the fenfe;
But doth rebate and blunt his natural edge
With profits of the mind, study and fast.
He (to give fear to use and liberty,

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Which have, for long, run by the hideous law,
As mice by lions,) hath pick'd out an act,
Under whose heavy sense your brother's life
Falls into forfeit: he arrefts him on it;
And follows close the rigour of the ftatute,
To make him an example: all hope is gone,
Unless you have the grace' by your fair prayer
To foften Angelo: and that's my pith

2

Of bufinefs 'twixt you and your poor brother.
ISAB. Doth he fo feek his life?

phrafe for to keep in expectation and dependance; but we should read:

with hope of action. JOHNSON.

So, in Macbeth:

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"How you were borne in hand," &c. STEEVENS.

with full line-] With full extent, with the whole length.

JOHNSON.

to give fear to use-] To intimidate ufe, that is, practices long countenanced by cuftom. JOHNSON.

9 Unless you have the grace-] That is, the acceptableness, the power of gaining favour. So, when she makes her fuit, the provoft fays:

2

"Heaven give thee moving graces!" JOHNSON.

my pith

Of business] The inmoft part, the main of my meffage.

So, in Hamlet:

JOHNSON.

"And enterprizes of great pith and moment." STEEVENS.

LUCIO.

Has cenfur'd him '

Already; and, as I hear, the provost hath
A warrant for his execution.

ISAB. Alas! what poor ability's in me
To do him good?

LUCIO.

Affay the power you have.

Our doubts are traitors,

ISAB. My power! Alas! I doubt,— LUCIO. And make us lofe the good we oft might win, By fearing to attempt: Go to lord Angelo, And let him learn to know, when maidens fue, Men give like gods; but when they weep and

kneel,

All their petitions are as freely theirs
As they themselves would owe them.'
ISAB. I'll fee what I can do.

LUCIO.

But, speedily.

3 Has cenfur'd him-] i. e. fentenced him. So, in Othello:

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to you,

lord governor,

"Remains the cenfure of this hellish villain." STEEVENS, We fhould read, I think, He has cenfured him, &c. In the Mfs. of our author's time, and frequently in the printed copy of thefe plays, he has, when intended to be contracted, is writtenb'as. Hence probably the mistake here.

So, in Othello, 4to. 1622:

"And it is thought abroad, that 'twixt my sheets
"H'as done my office."

Again, in All's well that ends well, p. 247, folio 1623, we find H'as twice, for He has. See alfo Twelfth-Night, p. 258, edit. 1623: "h'as been told fo," for " he has been told fo."

MALONE.

4 All their petitions are as freely theirs-] All their requests are as freely granted to them, are granted in as full and beneficial a manner, as they themselves could with. The editor of the fecond folio arbitrarily reads--as truly theirs; which has been followed in all the fubfequent copies. MALONE.

5 would owe them.] To owe, fignifies in this place, as in many others, to poffefs, to have. STEEVENS.

ISAB. I will about it straight;

No longer staying but to give the mother'
Notice of my affair. I humbly thank you:
Commend me to my brother: foon at night
I'll fend him certain word of my fuccefs.
LUCIO. I take my leave of you.

ISAB.

Good fir, adieu. [Exeunt.

ACT II.

SCENE I.

A Hall in ANGELO's Houfe.

Enter ANGELO, ESCALUS, a Juftice, Provoft,' Officers, and other Attendants.

ANG. We must not make a fcare-crow of the law, Setting it up to fear the birds of prey,

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the mother-] The abbefs, or priorefs. JOHNSON.

7 Provoft,] A Provoft martial, Minfbieu explains, "Prevoft des marefchaux: Præfectus rerum capitalium, Prætor rerum capitalium." REED.

A provoft is generally the executioner of an army. So, in The Famous Hiftory of Tho. Stukely, 1605, bl. 1:

"Provoft, lay irons upon him, and take him to your charge." Again, in The Virgin Martyr, by Maffinger:

"Thy provoft, to fee execution done

"On these bafe Chriftians in Cæfarea." STEEVENS.

A prifon for military offenders is at this day, in fome places, called the Prevôt. MALONE.

The Provoft here, is not a military officer, but a kind of sheriff or gaoler, fo called in foreign countries. DOUCE.

8 - to fear the birds of prey,] To fear is to affright, to terrify• So, in The Merchant of Venice:

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this afpéct of mine

"Hath fear'd the valiant." STEEVENS,

And let it keep one fhape, till custom make it
Their perch, and not their terror.

ESCAL.

Ay, but yet

Let us be keen, and rather cut a little,

Than fall, and bruife to death: Alas! this gentle

man,

Whom I would fave, had a moft noble father.
Let but your honour know,*

(Whom I believe to be moft ftrait in virtue,)
That, in the working of your own affections,
Had time coher'd with place, or place with wishing,
Or that the refolute acting of your blood

Could have attain'd the effect of your own purpofse,
Whether you had not fometime in your life
Err'd in this point which now you censure him,'
And pull'd the law upon you.

9 Than fall, and bruife to death:] I fhould rather read fell, i. e. ftrike down. So, in Timon of Athens:

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All fave thee,

I fell with curfes."

WARBURTON,

Fall is the old reading, and the true one. Shakspeare has used the fame verb active in The Comedy of Errors:

"as eafy may'st thou fall

"A drop of water,"

i. e. let fall. So, in As you Like it:

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the executioner

"Falls not the axe upon the humbled neck." STEEVENS. Than fall, and bruife to death:] i. c. fall the axe;-or rather, let the criminal fall, &c. MALONE.

Let but your honour know,] To know is here to examine, to take cognifance. So, in A Midfummer Night's Dream:

"Therefore, fair Hermia, queftion your defires;

"Know of your youth, examine well your blood." JOHNSON. 3 Err'd in this point, which now you cenfure him,] Some word feems to be wanting to make this line fenfe. Perhaps, we fhould read:

"Err'd in this point which now you cenfure him for. STEEVENS. The fenfe undoubtedly requires, "which now you cenfure him for," but the text certainly appears as the poet left it. I have elfewhere fhewn that he frequently ufes thefe elliptical expreffions.

MALONE

ANG. 'Tis one thing to be tempted, Efcalus, Another thing to fall. I not deny,

The jury, paffing on the prifoner's life,

May, in the fworn twelve, have a thief or two Guiltier than him they try: What's open made to juftice,

That juftice feizes. What know the laws,
That thieves do pafs on thieves?' 'Tis very preg-
nant,"

The jewel that we find, we ftoop and take it,
Because we see it; but what we do not fee,
We tread upon, and never think of it.
You may not fo extenuate his offence,
For I have had fuch faults; but rather tell me,
When I, that censure him, do so offend,

Let mine own judgement pattern out my death,
And nothing come in partial. Sir, he muft die.
ESCAL. Be it as your wisdom will.

ANG.

Where is the provost?

4 That juftice feizes.] For the fake of metre, I think we should read,-feizes on; or, perhaps, we should regulate the paffage thus: Guiltier than him they try: What's open made

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To juftice, juftice feizes. What know, &c. STEEVENS.

What know the laws,

That thieves do pafs on thieves?] How can the administrators of the laws take cognizance of what I have just mentioned? How can they know, whether the jurymen who decide on the life or death of thieves be themselves as criminal as those whom they try? To pays on is a forenfick term. MALONE.

So, in King Lear, A&t III. fc. vii:

"Though well we may not pass upon his life."

See my note on this paffage. STEEVENS.

6 'Tis very pregnant,] 'Tis plain that we must act with bad as with good; we punish the faults, as we take the advantages that lie in our way, and what we do not fee we cannot note.

JOHNSON.

7 For I have had-] That is, becaufe, by reafon that I have had fuch faults. JOHNSON.

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