'Jady groom,' is the right reading (jadis, Fr.) 'heretofore.' The sense of the passage is-Thou who wert heretofore a groom, and held my stirrup. B.

Clerk. Emanuel.

Dick. They use to write it on the top of letters ;- "Twill go hard with you.

They use to write it on the top of letters ;] i. e. Of letters missive, and such like public acts. See Mabillon's Diplomata. Ware.

On the top of letters.' This Emanuel' being written on the top of letters, as the Butcher expresses it, is yet not understood by him. The Bishop, however, should have set down the interpretation-God with us. B.

Cade. As for these silken-coated slaves, I pass not;
It is to you, good people, that I speak.

I pass not ;] I pay them no regard. JoHN.

'I pass not.' 'Pass' should probably be bass (baisse fr.) Baisser, to lower, to stoop,-Baisser la tete, to bow the head. 'As for these silken slaves, I will not bend to them.' B.

Say. These hands are free from guiltless blood-shedding, This breast from harbouring foul, deceitful thoughts.

These hands are free from guiltless blood-shedding.] The word guiltless was, I imagine, an interlineation in the MS. and has, I think, been inserted in a wrong place. I believe, we ought to read:

"These hands are guiltless, free from blood-shedding." MAL. These hands are free' &c. Free from guiltless blood-shedding,' is free from shedding the blood of the guiltless. The text is apparently right. B.

K. Henry. Like to a ship, that, having 'scap'd a tempest, Is straitway calm'd, and boarded with a pirate:

Is straightway claim'd and boarded with a pirate:] So the edi tions read; and one would think it plain enough; alluding to York's claim to the crown. Cade's head-long tumult was well compared to a tempest, as York's premeditated rebellion to a piracy. But see what it is to be critical: Mr. Theobald says, claim'd should be calm'd, because a calm frequently succeeds a tempest. It may be so; but not here, if the king's word may be taken; who expressly says, that no sooner was Cade driven back but York appeared in arms: But now is Cade driv'n back, his men dispers'd; And now is York in arms to second him. WARB.

Claim'd and boarded with a pirate.' There is no integrity

I

of expression in either reading, 'Claim'd' or calm'd. would prefer cramp'd, i. e. ' caught by the grappling iron,' (the cramp-iron and grapnel are one and the same,) and boarded &c.' Thus a consistency will be given to the whole: and which the passage otherwise wants.

B.

Iden. As for more words, whose greatness answers words,
Let this my sword report what speech forbears.

As for more words, whose greatness answers words,
Let this my sword report what speech forbears.

Sir Thomas Hanmer, and, after him, Dr. Warburton, read:
As for more words, let this my sword report

(Whose greatness answers words) what speech forbears. It seems to be a poor praise of a sword, that its greatness answers/ words, whatever be the meaning of the expression. The old reading, though somewhat obscure, seems to me more capable of explanation. For more words, whose pomp and tumor may answer words, and only words, I shall forbear them, and refer the rest to my sword.

JOHN.

'As for more words' &c. I do not think the explication of either Warburton or Johnson happy. More' is not found in the earlier copies and wordes is a dissyllable. I read and point thus, As for wordes-(whose greatness answers wordes?)'meaning shall a Gentleman stand squabbling with a base fellow, a thief?—No-my sword must determine the matter.' · B. Iden. Sword, I will hallow thee for this thy deed, And hang thee o'er my tomb, when I am dead:

-when I am dead:] How Iden was to hang a sword over his own tomb, after he was dead, it is not easy to explain. STEEV.

Hang thee o'er my tomb' &c. This is according to the very ancient custom of hanging trophies, or the actual spoils of war, on the tombs of distinguished chiefs. These are now represented by the sculptor on the monumental stone. But Mr. Steevens is unable to discover how Iden can hang a sword on his tomb, after he is dead.' Alas! endeavouring, in spite of nature and his stars,' to appear acute, this gentleman evinces nothing but dullness. Seriously-it were very easy to do away this tremendous difficulty in the passage, but the reader must not be affronted with an explication of it. B.

Iden. How much thou wrong'st me, heaven be my judge. Die, damned wretch, the curse of her that bare thee!

How much thou wrong'st me,--] That is, in supposing that I am proud of my victory. JouN.

'How much thou wrong'st me.' That Iden is proud of his victory is sufficiently evident. Cade advises him to exhort all the world to be cowards: intimating that he (Iden) was cowardly in his attack of him, nearly famished as he had declared himself to be. To this, Iden would answer, thou wrong'st me by using the word coward. Being found in my garden and braving me, I attacked thee as a thief.' B.

York. I cannot give due action to my words,
Except a sword, or sceptre, balance it.

-balance it. That is, Balance my hand. Jonx.

'Balance it.' - A sceptre cannot be said to balance a hand, although a hand may balance a sceptre. Dr. Johnson has totally mistaken the sense. It is not a relative, but used somewhat emphatically. Balance it,' i. e. serve as regulator in the matter.' The meaning of the whole is this-I cannot give proper action to my words, except by the power or direction of the sword or sceptre. B.

Clif. But fly you must; uncurable discomfit Reigns in the hearts of all our present parts. -all our present parts.] Should we not read ?

'Parts,' i. e. Divisions or Companies. B.

-party.

York. And like a gallant in the brow of youth,
Repairs him with occasion?

TYRWI.

-gallant in the brow of youth,] The brow of youth is an expression not very casily explained. I read the blow of youth; the blossom, the spring. JOHN.

'Brow of youth.' We may, perhaps, read browse of youth. The metaphor from the browse wood, or early shoots of trees, B.

THIRD PART OF

King Henry VI.

ACT I. SCENE I.

K. Henry. Whose haughty spirit, winged with desire,
Will coast my crown, and, like an empty eagle,
Tire on the flesh of me, and of my son!

Whose haughty spirit, winged with desire,

Will cost my crown, and, like an empty eagle,

Tire on the flesh- -] Read coast, i. e. hover over it.

WARE.

The word which Dr. Warburton would introduce, appears to violate the metaphor, nor is to coast used as a term of falconry in any of the books professedly written on that subject. To coast is a sea-faring expression, and means to keep along shore. We may, however, maintain the integrity of the figure, by inserting the word cote, which is used in Hamlet, and in a sense convenient enough on this occasion:

"We coted them on the way."

To cote is to come up with, to overtake. STEEV.

'Cote' may perhaps be right. To cote, however, is not to come up with, to overtake, but to mark, to notice. Henry's meaning is, that the Duke of York would keep his eye at all times on the crown: that he would never lose sight of it. B.

Mes. Ah, one that was a woeful looker-on,

When as the noble Duke of York was slain.

Ah, one that was a woeful looker-on,

When as the noble Duke of York was slain.

'When as' should be printed as a single word, whenas. It means nothing more than when: as is added for the sake of the metre. So whereas' is frequently printed for where. So in our author's poem- Wholesome Counsel.'

Whenas thine eye hath chose the dame. B.

Edw. O Warwick! Warwick! that Plantagenet,
Which held thee dearly, as his soul's redemption,
Is by the stern lord Clifford done to death.

1s by the stern lord Clifford done to death.] Done to death for killed, was a common expression long before Shakspeare's time.

JOHN.

The expression is according to the French idiom-faire mourir. B.

Edw. A wisp of straw were worth a thousand crowns, To make this shameless callat know herself.

To make this shameless callat know herself.-Shakspeare uses the word callat likewise in The Winter's Tale. GREY.

A callat,' is a scold, a ruiler. (a Latin sense).

Edward soon after says, No, wrangling woman:" and when he stabs the prince, her son, he uses the same language, 'take that, thou likeness of this railer here!' and in the Winter's Tale, Leontes says:

A callat of boundless tongue.' B.

K. Henry. Why so I am, in mind; and that's enough. Why, so I am, in mind;] There seems to be an allusion to a line in an old song, (quoted in Every Man out of his Humour :)

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My mind to me a kingdom is." MAL,

'My mind to me' &c. This old song is found intire in the Reliques of ancient Poetry. It is particularly beautiful. B.

War. Exempt from envy, but not from disdain,
Unless the lady Bona quit his pain.

Exempt from envy, but not from disdain,] Envy is always supposed to have some fascinating or blasting power; and to be out of the reach of envy is therefore a privilege belonging only to great excellence. I know not well why envy is mentioned here, or whose ency can be meant; but the meaning is, that his love is superior to envy, and can feel no blast from the lady's disdain. Or, that, if Bona refuse to quit or requite his pain, his love may turn to disdain,