hence Gloucester bestows the epithet on the bishop in derision and scorn, referring to his licentious life, so strongly painted in act iii. scene 1, as "lascivious wanton," etc.

"I'll call for CLUBS"-The usual cry in the city in case of tumult. See "As YOU LIKE IT."

SCENE IV.

"-80 VILE-esteem'd "-The old reading is "so pil'd esteem'd," an evident misprint for "vile-esteem'd." Vile" was often of old spelled vild, and hence, perhaps, the error. One editor, however, would have it pileesteem'd, as a Latinism, pili-æstimo; and Stevens insists that the word intended was Philistined.

"Here, said they, is the terror of the French,

The scare-crow that affrights our children so," etc. "This man (Talbot) was to the French people a very scourge and a daily terror; insomuch that, as his person was fearful and terrible to his adversaries present, so his name and fame were spiteful and dreadful to the common people absent: insomuch that women in France, to fear their young children, would cry, “The Talbot cometh, the Talbot cometh !"-HALL.

"Pucelle or PUZZEL, DOLPHIN or dogfish," etc. "Puzzel," in the time of Shakespeare, meant a low prostitute, and Minshew derives it from the Italian puzza, malus fœtor; but it may be doubted whether it was not merely a corruption of pucelle, and applied in derision to women of that class. Dauphin is invariably printed "Dolphin" in the folio, (1623,) as in other books of that age, and was so pronounced: hence "dolphin or dogfish."

SCENE V.

"Blood will I draw on thee, thou art a witch," etc. It was supposed of old, and the superstition has survived to our own day, that if blood could be drawn from a witch, the enchantment was dissolved, and her power at an end.

"Sheep run not half so TIMOROUS from the wolf," etc.

The folio, (1623,) reads treacherous, and the word was adopted in all editions previous to that of Pope, who changed it t. " timorous," which seems the word meant by the author; though Collier contends that "Talbot may call them 'treacherous,' or not to be trusted, because they are cowardly."

"Rescu'd is Orleans from the English WOLVES."

The word 'wolves' is derived from the second folio, and seems necessary, though Malone contends that 'English' ought to be pronounced as a trisyllable. In the next line but one, bright' is also from the second folio, but Malone goes the length of contending that Astræa' ought to be pronounced Asteraa."-COLLIER.

"Than Rhodope's, or Memphis"-Knight and Collier read, "Than Rhodope's, or Memphis." The pyramid of Rhodope, near Memphis, is mentioned by Pliny:The fairest and most commended for workmanship was built at the cost and charges of one Rhodope, a very strumpet."

"weak and WRITHLED shrimp"-i. e. Wrinkled. So in Spenser:

Her writhled skin, as rough as maple rind.

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"a riddling MERCHANT for the NONCE"-" For the nonce" is for the occasion. Merchant" was often, of old, used as a term of contempt: thus, in "Jacob and Esau," (1568:)—

What, ye saucy merchant, are ye a prater now? The Morality of "The Conflict of Conscience," (1581,) contains several instances of the same application of the term. See also ROMEO AND JULIET, act ii. scene 4, where the Nurse calls Mercutio "a saucy merchant.”

"no less than fame hath BRUITED"-" Bruited" is noised, from the French bruit. It is a word of constant occurrence in writers of the time.

"nor MISCONSTER"-So the original. It is ordinarily printed misconstrue. In the quarto edition of OTHELLO We find the word:

And his unbookish jealousy must conster.

SCENE IV.

"Or else was wrangling Somerset in the error?" The meaning is, "Or, in other words, was not the wrangling Somerset in error?" Johnson would read, the right for "in error;" and Hanmer, And was not, instead of, "Or else was;" both being in opposition to the plain meaning of Shakespeare, who intended to make Richard Plantagenet assert his own correctness in two different forms of speech. In the old copy, in the prefixes, Plantagenet is called York; although near the end of the scene Warwick talks of the justice of creating Plantagenet Duke of York.

"I love no COLOURS"-" Colours" is here used ambiguously for deceits: as, in LoVE'S LABOUR'S LOST, "I do fear colourable colours."

"—it is well OBJECTED"-" Objected" is not here used in the ordinary sense of opposed, but in its less common meaning of proposed-suggested.

"I scorn thee and thy FACTION"-"The old copies have fashion, a word that may possibly be tortured into a meaning, as Warburton attempted; but which was in all probability a mere misprint for 'faction,' to which Theobald changed it. Warburton's notion was, that it referred to the fashion of wearing the red rose; but, as Mr. Barron Field observes, the same character, not long afterwards, employs the word 'faction' in precisely the

same sense:

Will I for ever, and my faction, wear.

"His grandfather was Lionel, duke of Clarence," etc. Malone pointed out the Poet's mistake. "Plantagenet's paternal grandfather was Edmund of Langley, duke of York. His paternal grandfather was Roger Mortimer, earl of March, who was the son of Philippa, the daughter of Lionel, duke of Clarence. The duke, therefore, was his maternal great great grandfather."

for this APPREHENSION"-Theobald changed this to reprehension; and Warburton explains it by opinion. It rather means conception, or a conceit taken that matters are different from what the truth warrants.

SCENE V.

"Enter MORTIMER," etc.-Here again Edwards, Stevens, and others, notice a variance from the strict truth of history. Edmund Mortimer, who was trusted and employed by Henry V. throughout his reign, died of the plague in his own castle, at Trim, in Ireland, 1424-5: being then only thirty-two years old. The poet was either led into error by the popular historians of his time, or, as I rather think, intentionally varied from the literal fact, for the purpose of thus more clearly explaining the grounds of the opposing claims, and thus connecting this part with the other plays of the series of the civil wars.

"Chok'd with ambition of the meaner sort."

I suppose York meant to rebuke the meanness of that ambition of the house of Lancaster, which, when in possession of the crown, jealously kept Mortimer a perpetual prisoner, instead of treating him with generosity.

"my ILL th' advantage of my good"-The old editions read, "Or make my will," etc. Theobald's amendment clears the sense, and preserves the antithesis. Malone properly understands by "ill," ill usage.

ACT III.-SCENE I.

"Com'st thou with deep premeditated lines," etc. "This parliament was held in 1426, at Leicester, though here represented to have been held in London. King Henry was now in the fifth year of his age. In the first parliament, which was held in London shortly after his father's death, his mother, Queen Katharine, brought the young king from Windsor to the metropolis, and sat on the throne with the infant in her lap."MALONE.

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- an INKHORN mate"-The epithet "inkhorn" was usually applied in derision of pedantry. Thus, Churchyard, in his " Choice," sign. E e 1, has this line:

As ynkhorne termes smell of the schoole sometyme;and in the comedy "The Weakest goeth to the Wall," (1600,) one of the characters asks

Is not this better farre than respice,

And precor, and such ink-horne terms?

"the bishop hath a kindly gird"-i. e. The bishop has received a kindly rebuke. Some commentators, not perceiving that hath is thus meant, (as we now say, he has got a rebuke,) suppose, without any authority for such a use, that "kindly gird" means "a pang, a yearning of kindness," manifested by the prelate.

"And in REGUERDON”—“ Reguerdon" and guerdon are the same; viz. reward or recompense. We have "guerdon" in LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST. "Reguerdon'd" occurs again in this play.

"the PRIDE of France"-Theobald read "prize of France;" and Warburton and Stevens explain" pride of France" as haughty power of France. Collier refers the epithet to La Pucelle, the "pride of France," from whom Talbot and his friends had "hardly escap'd."

"'Twas full of DARNEL; do you like the taste?" "Darnel' (says Gerarde, in his 'Herbal') hurteth the eyes and maketh them dim, if it happen either in corn for bread or drink.' La Pucelle means to intimate, that the corn she carried with her had produced the same effect on the guards of Rouen; otherwise they would have seen through her disguise, and defeated her stratagem."-SINGER.

SCENE III.

"Brave Burgundy, undoubted hope of France," etc. "The defection of the Duke of Burgundy from the English cause did not take place till 1434, and it was in that year that he wrote the letter to Henry to which Gloster alludes, in the first scene of the fourth act. The English chroniclers are totally silent as to any influence exercised, or attempted to be exercised, by Joan of Arc, in the separation of Burgundy from the interests of England. The actual event, of course, took place after Joan's death; yet it is most remarkable that the spirited dialogue between La Pucelle and Burgundy, in this act is wholly borne out by the circumstance that the Maid, on the very day of the coronation of Charles at Rheims in 1429, addressed a letter to the Duke of Burgundy, in which she uses arguments not at all unlike those of this scene of the play. The letter is published by Barante. (Histoire des Ducs de Bourgogne.) The original is in the archives of Lille; and Barante says it was first published in 1780. We can scarcely avoid thinking that the author of this play had access to some French chronicler, who gave the substance of the letter."-KNIGHT.

SCENE IV.

Black

whoso draws a sword, 'tis present death"-The reference is clearly to the then well-known law, that whoever drew a sword, within the precincts of the palace, was punished with death. Warburton would read, "That who so draws a sword i' th' presence 'tis death;" but as the king was not present, he was obliged to apply his alteration to the presence chamber. stone tells us," By the ancient law, before the Conquest, fighting in the king's palace, or before the king's judges, was punished with death; and at present, by the sta tute 33 Henry VIII., chap. 12, malicious striking in the king's palace, whereby blood is drawn, is punishable by perpetual imprisonment and fine, and with the loss of the offender's right hand; the solemn execution of which sentence is prescribed in the statute at length." Stowe gives an account of Sir Edmond Knevet being found guilty of this offence, with the ceremonials for carrying the sentence into execution. He petitioned the king to take his left hand, instead of his right; and the king pardoned him altogether.

ACT IV. SCENE I.

at the battle of PATAY"-The old copy has Porctiers-an obvious typographical error. The action of which Shakespeare is speaking happened (according to Hollingshed) "neare unto a village in Beausse, called Pataie," in 1428; whereas the battle of Poitiers was fought in 1357. "From this battell (of Patay) departed without anie stroke stricken, Sir John Fastolfe, the same yeere by his valiantnesse elected into the order of the garter. But for doubt of misdealing at this brunt. the Duke of Bedford tooke from him the image of St. George and his garter," etc.

"PRETEND some alteration"-The verb "pretend" is here used in its etymological sense of hold out. In the opening of this scene, we have had it employed in the kindred sense of intend, which was its most common signification in the time of Shakespeare.

"if I wIST, he did"-So Stevens reads, and in all probability rightly. The folios have "And if I wish he did." York means to hold out a sort of threat, “And if I wist, or knew, that he did;"-but, as we find from what follows, he immediately corrects and restrains himself, by "suppressing his voice."

and strength that every one of them alone is able and sufficient to torment and afflict a proud prince-and they, all joined together, are of puissance to destroy the most populous country and most richest region of the world."-HALL.

“— 'DUE thee withal"—The old copies print dew, for "'due." Some commentators have supposed that it was to be taken in the sense of bedew; others, that it 'pay thee as thy due." But we prefer Johnson's explanation, that "due" is for endue. Shakespeare, Milton, and many other writers, have "endue"

means

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for invest.

"-be then in BLOOD"-A term of the forest. So in LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST:

The deer was, as you know, in sanguis, blood. "Not RASCAL-like"-" Rascal" was also a term of wood-craft, for a lean deer.

SCENE III.

46 To

"I am LOWTED by a traitor villain"—" To lowt may signify to depress, to lower, to dishonour," says Johnson; but in his Dictionary he explains it to overpower. Stevens knows not what to make of it-" to let down, to be subdued, or vanquished, or baffled." be treated with contempt, like a lowt, or country fellow," says Malone. But the meaning of the word here is evidently loitered, retarded; and the following quotation, from Cotgrave, will show that this was sometimes the sense of to lowt :-" Loricarder, to luske, lowt, or lubber it; to loyter about like a masterless man.' SINGER.

"All 'LONG of this vile traitor"-i. e. All by means, or by reason of this traitor. The origin of the phrase is not clear, though ingeniously and dogmatically examined by Horne Tooke. (See Diversions of Purley," vol. i.)||

SCENE V.

66 UNAVOIDED danger"-" Unavoided" is used in the same way, in RICHARD II. :"

And unavoided is the danger now,

meaning inevitable, or not to be avoided.

"The world will say he is not Talbot's blood, That basely fled, when noble Talbot stood." "For what reason this scene is written in rhyme, (says Dr. Johnson,) I cannot guess. If Shakespeare had not, in other plays, mingled his rhymes and blank verses in the same manner, I should suspect that this dialogue had been part of some other poem, which was never finished; and that, being loath to throw his labour away, he inserted it here." It was a practice common to all Shakespeare's contemporaries.

I take the reason to be, as well for this use of rhyme as for Shakespeare's here and elsewhere, its superior effect in mere declamatory poetry, especially for the declamation of military excitement. Many of the splendid rants of Dryden and of N. Lee are examples of the effect of rhyme, in swelling and excited declamation.

"TENDERING my RUIN"-"Ruin" is used in its primitive Latin sense, for fall; as elsewhere in old English poets. "Tendering," for watching, or aiding tenderly, is, I believe, nowhere else used.

"-through the LITHER sky"-i. e. "Through the yielding sky. Milton's epithet, buxom, as applied to the air, has much the same meaning; for the old signification of buxom was obedient. Chaucer uses it both in the sense of obedient and civil.”—COLLIER.

“―raging woon"-i. e. Raging mad. "Wood” was the old word for mad.

"earl of WASHFORD"-We learn, from Malone, that Wexford, in Ireland, was anciently called Weysford. In Crompton's "Mansion of Magnanimitie," (1599,) it is written, as here, "Washford." This long list of titles is from the epitaph formerly existant on Lord Talbot's tomb, at Rouen. It is to be found in the work above cited, with one other, "Lord Lovetoft of Worsop," which would not easily fall into the verse. It concludes as here, and adds, "who died in the battle of Burdeaux, 1453."

ACT V.-SCENE II.

"Enter a ScoUT"-So called in the old copies, and not a mere messenger, as he is termed in modern. editions.

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SCENE III.

-ye charming spells, and PERIA PTS"-" Periapts," or amulets, were worn about the neck, as preservatives from disease or danger. Of these, the first chapter of St. John's Gospel was deemed the most efficacious.

- the lordly monarch of the north"-" The monarch of the North (says Douce) was Zimimar, one of the four principal devils invoked by witches. The others were Amaimon, king of the East; Gorson, king of the South: and Goap, king of the West. Under these devil-kings were devil-marquesses, dukes, prelates, knights, presidents, and earls. They are all enumerated, from Wier, (De Præstigiis Dæmonum,) in Scot's Discoverie of Witchcraft, (book xv. chap. 2, 3.")

"Fell, BANNING hag"-To "ban" was very commonly used as a synonym to curse. It is from the Saxon abannan.

"For I will touch thee but with reverend hands: I kiss these fingers," [Kissing her hand,] etc. We follow Knight's restoration of these lines, as they stand in the original. Other modern editors give them thus:

For I will touch thee but with reverent hands,
And lay them gently on thy tender side.

I kiss these fingers for eternal peace, etc.

Malone says that, by the original reading, "Suffolk is made to kiss his own fingers-a symbol of peace of which there is, I believe, no example." Knight replies, We do not see this. Suffolk says

do not fear, nor fly; For I will touch thee but with reverent hands.

He then adds, kissing the lady's fingersI kiss these fingers for eternal peace, And lay them gently on thy tender side,accompanying the words by a corresponding action. He takes the lady's hand, but, instead of seizing it as the hand of a prisoner, he replaces it, having kissed it, on her tender side."

"As plays the sun upon the glassy streams,

Twinkling another counterfeited beam," etc. "This comparison, made between things which seem sufficiently unlike, is intended to express the softness and delicacy of Lady Margaret's beauty, which delighted, but did not dazzle; which was bright, but gave no pain by its lustre."-JOHNSON.

"-there lies a COOLING CARD"-" A cooling card was most probably a card so decisive as to cool the courage of the adversary. Metaphorically, something to damp or overwhelm the hopes of an expectant."-SINGer.

"-a WOODEN thing"-i. e. An awkward business, (says Stevens:) an undertaking not likely to succeed. Several instances are adduced of such a sense, in contemporary writers. Thus Lyly, in 1592, speaks of "wooden luck."

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tokens.

that thou wilt be so OBSTACLE"-In various writers of the time of Shakespeare, and earlier, "obstacle" was used for obstinate; though I believe always, as here, when it is meant to indicate a rustic, or illiterate speaker.

"MISCONCEIVED Joan of Arc hath been

A virgin from her tender infancy," etc. "Malone, Stevens, and other modern editors, strangely point this passage as follows:

No, misconceived! Joan of Arc hath been, etc.

stood misconceivers; when in fact the meaning clearly is, that Joan asserts that she has herself been mistaken and misconceived,' as she is not what she has been supposed to be."-COLLIER.

"-that notorious Machiavel!"-The character of Machiavel seems to have made so deep an impression on the dramatic writers, that he is many times prematurely spoken of. Thus, in the "Valiant Welshman," one of the characters bids Caradoc (Caractacus)

-Read Machiavel.

Princes that would aspire, must mock at hell.

SCENE V.

"If you do CENSURE me by what you were"-To "cen sure" is here simply to judge. "If, in judging me, you consider the past frailties of your own youth.'