FEATURE Thou changed and self-cover'd thing, for fhame, Be-monfter not thy feature. Lear, A. 4, S. 2. Being enfranchis'd, bid him come to me :'Tis not enough to help the feeble up, o But to fupport him after. Timon of Athens, A. 1, S. 1. in that fenfe here. We cannot well read, a perilous fear. Par lous is peerless, as well as dangerous, and will therefore fignify, in this place, very great. If, however, we read parlous feat, which I think is rather to be preferred, it will mean a dangerous undertaking. A. B. Thou changed and felf-cover'd thing.] Of thefe lines there is but one copy, and the editors are forced upon conjecture. They have published this line thus: "Thou chang'd and felf-converted thing." But I cannot but think, that by felf-cover'd the author meant, thou that haft disguised nature by wickedness; thou that hast hid the woman under the fiend. JOHNSON. I think it not improbable but that the poet might write, "selfconvict," alluding to her open and violent abufe of her father.. A. B. POPE. 2 ribald .] A luxurious fquanderer. The word is, in the old edition, ribaudred, which I do not understand, but mention it, in hopes others may raife fome happy conjecture. JOHNSON. Ă ribald is a lewd fellow. Ribaudred, the old reading, is, I believe, no more than a corruption. Shakespeare, who is not always very nice about his verfification, might have written: STEEVENS. "Yon ribald-rid nag of Egypt.' Ribaudred is, I am perfuaded, the true reading. Ribaude, in the French language, is a whore, a ftrumpet. I would likewife read hag. Ribaudred bag, i. e. a woman who has been the property of feveral men; as was the cafe with Cleopatra. Had our author written frumpeted bag, he would, I prefume, have been generally understood: ribaudred bag is exactly the fame. The affectation of employing French words was extremely common in Shakespeare's time. A. B. Whom leprofy o'ertake i' the midst o' the fight, Hoifts fails, and flies. Antony and Cleopatra, A. 3, S. 8. To fee thee fight, to fee thee foin', to see thee traverse, to see thee here, to fee thee there; to fee thee pass thy punto, thy ftock, thy reverse, thy diftance, thy montant. Merry Wives of Windfor, A. 2, S. 3. When he reads Thy perfonal venture in the rebels fight, Which fhould be thine, or his : filenc'd with that, He finds thee in the ftout Norweyan ranks. She once being looft, Macbeth, A. 1, S. 3. To fee thee foin.] To foin, I believe, was the ancient term for making a thruft in fencing or tilting. STEEVENS. I rather think that foil is the proper word here-i. e. to see thee overcome or conquer thine enemy. The foining, or fencing, of Caius, is afterwards fpoken of. His wonders and his praifes do contend, A. B. Which fhould be thine, or his filenc'd with that.] This is fomewhat obfcure. We may regulate the paffage thus: 3 wind. And when he reads Thy perfonal valor in the rebel's fight, Silenced with that which fhould be thine, not his. A. B. being looft.] To loof, is to bring a fhip close to the STEEVENS. Mr. Steevens obferves, that to loof is to bring a fhip close to the wind---very true; but that is not the poet's particular meaning here. Cleopatra might loof, or luff her veffel, as well for the purpose of meeting the enemy, as for flying from him. To fay, therefore, that fhe looft, is faying nothing. Looft, in this place, is aloof, or at a distance. Cleopatra having run away, fays Scarus, Antony quickly followed her. A. B. The The noble ruin of her magic, Antony, Claps on his fea-wing, and, like a doating mallard, Leaving the fight in height, flies after her. Antony and Cleopatra, A. 3, S. 8. FIGURE. One * To whom you are but as a form in wax, By him imprinted, and within his power To leave the figure, or disfigure it. Midsummer Night's Dream, A. 1, S. 1. FIRE, I would not marry her, though fhe were endowed with all that Adam had left him before he tranfgrefs'd: she would have made Hercules have turn'd fpit; yea, and have cleft his club to make the fire too. Much ado about nothing, A. 2, S. 1. Where two raging fires meet together, They do confume the thing that feeds their fury; Though little fire grows great with little wind, Yet extreme gufts will blow out fire and all, Taming of the Shrew, A. 2, S. 1. Thus have I fhunn'd the fire, for fear of burning; And drench'd me in the sea, where I am drown’d. Two Gentlemen of Verona, A. 1, S. 3. * To whom you are but as a form in wax, To leave the figure, or disfigure it.] We should read, i. e. releve, to heighten or to add to the beauty of the figure, which is faid to be imprinted by him. "Tis from the French, relever. WARBURTON. I know not why so harth a word fhould be admitted with fo little need; a word that, fpoken, could not be understood, and of which no example can be fhewn. JOHNSON. "Lave" is the proper word. To lave is a term of art in paint, ing, and fignifies to embellish, to beautify. K 3 A. B. Know Know you not, The fire, that mounts the liquor 'till it run o'er, Henry VIII. A. 1, S. 1. Oh, who can hold a fire in his hand, Richard II. A. 1, S. 3. FLATTERER. A thousand flatterers fit within thy crown, Richard II. A. 2, S. 1. He loves to hear, That unicorns may be betray'd with trees, Here feel we but the icy fang, And churlifh chiding of the winter's wind; As you like it, A. 2, S. 1. The people cry, you mock'd them; and, of late, Coriolanus, A. 3, S. 1. 'the field prove flatterers, let courts and cities be Made 1 Made of all falfe-fac'd foothing! When steel grows Soft as the parafite's filk, let him be made A coverture for the wars! Coriolanus, A. 1, S. 9. This flave-like habit? and thefe looks of care? If thou hadft not been born the worst of men, Thou hadft been a knave and flatterer. Timon of Athens, A. 4, S. 3. By putting on the cunning of a carper 1. Timon of Athens, A. 4, S. 3, FLEE T. Do but think, You ftand upon the rivage, and behold Holding due courfe to Harfleur. Henry V. A. 3, Chorus. the cunning of a carper.] For the philofophy of WARBURTON. a cynic, of which fect Apemantus was. The cunning of a carper, is the infidious art of a critic. Shame not thefe woods, fays Apemantus, by coming here to find fault. There is no apparent reafon why Apemantus (according to Dr. Warburton's explanation) fhould ridicule his own fect. STEEVENS. There is little reason to imagine that Apemantus, by calling himself a carper, had any intention of ridiculing his fect. He is proud of his cynical manners; and had said immediately before to Timon, "thou dost affect my manners." By cunning of a carper, he undoubtedly means; the fubtilty and feverity of a cynic. K 4 A. B. FLESH, |