That are to cenfure them 1. Cor. We are not the first, Who, with beft meaning, have incurr'd the worst". Myfelf could elfe out-frown falfe fortune's frown.- Lear. No, no, no, no! Come, let's away to prison: Talk of court news; and we'll talk with them too,- As if we were God's fpies 3: And we'll wear out, Edm. Take them away. Lear. Upon fuch facrifices, my Cordelia, The gods themselves throw incenfes. Have I caught thee? 1- to cenfure them.] To pafs judgment on them. See Vol. IV. P. 149, n. 8. MALONE. 2 Who, with beft meaning, bave incurr'd the worst.] i. e. the worst that fortune can inflict. MALONE. 3 And take upon us the mystery of things, As if we were God's Spies:] As if we were angels commiffioned to furvey and report the lives of men, and were confequently endowed with the power of prying into the original motives of action and the myfteries of conduct. JOHNSON. 4-packs and feets-] Packs is used for combinations or collection, as is a pack of cards. For feets, I think fets might be more commodiously read. So we fay, affairs are now managed by a new let. Sect, however, may well ftand. JOHNSON. 5 Upon fuch facrifices, my Cordelia, The gods themselves throw incenfe.] The thought is extremely noble, and expreffed in a fublime of imagery that Seneca fell fhort of on the like occafion. "Ecce fpectaculum dignum ad quod refpiciat intentus operi fuo deus: ecce par deo dignum, vir fortis cum malâ fortunâ compofitus." WARBURTON. He, He, that parts us, fhall bring a brand from heaven, 6 Have I caught thee?] Have I caught my beavenly jewel, is a line of one of Sir Philip Sidney's fongs, which Shakspeare has put into Falftaff's mouth in the Merry Wives of Windfor. MALONE. 7 And fire us bence, like foxes.] I have been informed that it is ufual to fmoke foxes out of their holes. So, in Harrington's tranflation of Ariefto, book xxvii. ftan. 17: "Ev'n as a foxe whom smoke and fire doth fright, "So as he dare not in the ground remaine, "Bolts out, and through the fmoke and fire he flieth "Into the tarrier's mouth, and there he dieth." STEEVENS So, in Marlowe's K. Edward II. 1598: "Advance your ftandard, Edward, in the field, "And march to fire them from their starting boles." Mr. Upton, however, is of opinion that "the allufion is to the fcriptural account of Sampfon's tying foxes, two and two together by the tail, and faftening a fire-brand to the cord; then letting them loofe among the ftanding corn of the Philistines. Judges, xv. The words-shall bring a brand from beaven, feem to favour Mr. Upton's conjecture. If it be right, the conftruction must be, they fhall bring a brand from heaven, and, like foxes, fire us bente: referring foxes, not to Lear and Cordelia, but to those who should feparate them. MALONE. 8 The goujeers fhall devour them,-] The goujeres, i. e. Morbus Gallicus. Gouge, Fr. fignifies one of the common women attending a camp; and as that difeafe was firft difperfed over Europe by the French army, and the women who followed it, the first name it ob tained among us was the gougeries, i. e. the disease of the gouges. HANMER The refolute John Florio has fadly mistaken these goujeers. He writes "With a good yeare to thee!" and gives it in Italian, “ Il mal anno che dio ti dia." FARMER. The old copies have good yeares, the common corruption in Shakfpeare's time of the other word. Sir T. Hanmer made the correction. MALONE. 9-flesh and fell,] Flesh and skin. JOHNSON. In the Dyar's Play, among the Chester Collection of Myfteries, in the Museum, Antichrift says: "I made thee man of fiefb and fell." STEEVENS. Take Take thou this note; [giving a paper.] go, follow them to prifon : One ftep I have advanc'd thee; if thou doft As this inftructs thee, thou doft make thy way Does not become a fword :-Thy great employment Off. I'll do't, my lord. Edm. About it; and write happy, when thou haft done. Mark,-I fay, inftantly; and carry it fo, As I have fet it down. Off. I cannot draw a cart, nor eat dry'd oats; If it be man's work, I will do it. [Exit Off Flourish. Enter ALBANY, GONERIL, REGAN, Officers, and Attendants. Alb. Sir, you have fhewn to-day your valiant ftrain, And fortune led you well: You have the captives Who were the oppofites of this day's ftrife: We do require them of you3; fo to use them, As we shall find their merits and our fafety 9 Take thou this note ;] This was a warrant, figned by the Bastard and Goneril, for the execution of Lear and Cordelia. In a fubfequent fcene Edmund fays quickly fend, "Be brief in't,-to the caftle: for my writ I Thy great employment Will not bear queftion;] The important business which is now entrusted to your management, does not admit of debate: you must inftantly refolve to do it, or not. Queftion, here, as in many other places in these plays, fignifies difcourje, conversation. See Vol. IX. P. 223, n. 9. MALONE. 2 I cannot draw, &c.] Thefe two lines I have restored from the old quarto. STEEVENS. 3 We do require them of you ;] So the folio. The quartos read: We do require then of you so to use them, &c. MALONE. May May equally determine. Edm. Sir, I thought it fit To fend the old and miserable king To fome retention, and appointed guard+; Which do command them. With him I fent the queen; By those that feel their fharpness: The question of Cordelia, and her father, Alb. Sir, by your patience, I hold you but a fubject of this war, Reg. That's as we lift to grace him. Methinks, our pleasure might have been demanded, Ere you had spoke so far. Bore the commiffion of my place and person; 9 And 4 - and appointed guard;] Thefe words are omitted in the quarto of which the first fignature is B, and in the folio. MALONE. 5 And turn our imprefs'd lances in our eyes-] i. e. Turn the launcemen which are prefs'd into our fervice, against us. So, in Anteny and Cleopatra, A&III. sc. vii: people "Ingroft by fwift imprefs." STEEVENS. 6 At this time, &c.] This paffage, well worthy of restoration, is omitted in the folio. JOHNSON. 7 Requires a fitter place.] i. e. The determination of the question what fhall be done with Cordelia and her father, fhould be reserved for greater privacy. STEEVENS, 8 Bore the commiffion➡] Commission, for authority. WARB. 9 The which immediacy-] Immediacy is fupremacy, in oppofition to subordination, which has quiddam medium between itself and power. JOHNSON. And call itself your brother. Gon. Not fo hot: In his own grace' he doth exalt himself, By me invested, he compeers the beft. Gon. That were the most, if he should husband you3. Gon. Holla, holla! That eye, that told you fo, look'd but a-fquint. Take thou my foldiers, prisoners, patrimony; Gon. Mean you to enjoy him? Alb. The let-alone lies not in your good will". Alb. Half-blooded fellow, yes. Immediacy is, I think, close and immediate connexion with me, and direct authority from me, without, to ufe Dr. Johnson's words, quiddam medium. So, in Hamlet: HOUTS. let the world take note, "You are the most immediate to our throne." MALONE. In his own grace-] Grace here means accomplishments, or bo 2 —in your advancement.] So the quartos. Folio-your addition. MALONE. 3 Gon. That were the most, if he should bufband you.] If he were married to you, you could not fay more than this, nor could he enjoy greater power. Thus the quartos. In the folio this line is given to Albany. MALONE. 4 The eye that told you fo, look'd but a-fquint.] Alluding to the proverb: "Love being jealous makes a good eye look afquint." See Ray's Collection. STEEVENS. 5- the qualls are thine:] A metaphorical phrafe taken from the camp, and fignifying, to furrender at difcretion. WARBURTON. 6 The let-alone lies not in your good will.] Whether he shall not or fhall, depends not on your choice. JOHNSON. To obftruct their union lies not in your good pleasure: your veto will avail nothing. MALONE. Reg. |