Breaking his oath and refolution, like

A twift of rotten filk.

Coriolanus, A. 5, S. 5:

You fwore to us,

And you did fwear that oath at Doncafter,-
That you did nothing purpose 'gainst the state;
Nor claim no further than your new-fall'n right,
The feat of Gaunt, dukedom of Lancaster :
To this we fware our aid. Henry IV. P. 1, A. 5, S. 1.

That's a brave man! he writes brave verses, speaks brave words, fwears brave oaths, and breaks them bravely. As you like it, A. 3, S. 4.

Were it not against our laws,

Against my crown, my oath, my dignity,
Which princes, would they, may not difannul,
My foul fhould fue as advocate for thee.

Comedy of Errors, A. 1, S. 1.

Pernicious woman,

Think'st thou thy oaths

Were teftimonies against his worth and credit,
That's feal'd in approbation?

Meafure for Measure, A. 5,
With mine own hands I give away my crown,
With mine own tongue deny my facred state,
With mine own breath release all duteous oaths:
All pomp and majefty I do forfwear.

S. 1.

Richard II. A. 4. S. 1.

Were I a common laugher, or did use
To ftale with ordinary oaths my love.
To every new protefter; if you know.
That I do fawn on men,
And after fcandal them;

I.

and hug them hard,
hold me dangerous.
Julius Cæfar, A. 1, S. 2.

No, not an oath :
Swear priefts and cowards, and men cautelous,
Old feeble carrions, and fuch fuffering fouls
That welcome wrongs; unto bad caufes fwear

Such

Such creatures as men doubt: but do not ftain
The even virtue of our enterprize,

Nor the infuppreffive mettle of our fpirits,

To think, that, or our cause, or our performance,
Did need an oath,
Julius Cæfar, A. 2, S. 1.

So foon as ever thou feeft him, draw; and, as thou draw'ft, fwear horribly: for it comes to pafs oft, that a terrible oath, with a fwaggering accent fharply twang'd off, gives manhood more approbation than even proof itself would have earn'd him.

Twelfth Night, A. 3, S. 4.

OBLIVION.

Your defert fpeaks loud; and I should wrong it,
To lock it in the wards of covert bosom,
When it deferves with characters of brass

A forted refidence, 'gainst the tooth of time
And razure of oblivion.

Meafure for Measure, A. 5, S. 1.

Laft fcene of all,

Is fecond childishness, and mere oblivion;

Sans teeth, fans eyes, fans tafte, fans every thing.

As you like it, A. 2, S. 7.

Time hath, my lord, a wallet at his back,

Wherein he puts alms for oblivion,

A great-fiz'd monfter of ingratitudes;

Thofe fcraps are good deeds paft; which are devour'd

As faft as they are made.

Troilus and Creffida, A. 3, S. 3.

The noble ifle doth want her proper limbs;
Her face defac'd with fears of infamy,
Her royal ftock graft with ignoble plants,
And almost shoulder'd in the fwallowing gulph
Of dark forgetfulness and deep oblivion.

Richard III. A. 3, S. 7.

Sir, you and I muft part,-but that's not it:
Sir, you and I have lov'd,--but there's not it;
That you know well: fomething it is I would,—
O, my oblivion is a very Antony,

And I am all forgotten.

Antony and Cleopatra, A. 1, S. 3.

OBSTRUCTION.

Ay, but to die, and go we know not where;
To lie in cold obftruction, and to rot;

This fenfible warm motion to become

A kneaded clod. Measure for Measure, A. 3, S. 1.

OCCUPATION.

O you mortal engines, whofe rude throats
The immortal Jove's dread clamours counterfeit,
Farewel! Othello's occupation's gone!

Othello, A. 3, S. 3.

Contract, fucceffion,

'Bourn, bound of land, tilth, vineyard, none,

No use of metal, corn, or wine, or oil:

No occupation.

Tempeft, A. 2, S. 1.

ODOUR.

That ftrain again ;-it had a dying fall:
O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet fouth,
That breathes upon a bank of violets,

Stealing and giving odour.

Twelfth Night, A. 1, S. 1.

1 Bourn, bound of land.] A bourn, in this place, fignifies limit, a meer, a land-mark. STEEVENS.

"Bourn" is properly a little river, though fometimes used for a boundary. It must have its original meaning here, the more ef pecially as "bound of land" immediately follows it.

Borne is a limit, a boundary. See note on King Lear, page 37.

A. B.

OFFENCES.

OFFENCE S.

That I have ta'en away this old man's daughter,
It is moft true; true, I have married her;
The very head and front of my offending
Hath this extent, no more. Othello, A. 1, S. 3.
If my offence be of fuch mortal kind,
That, neither service paft, nor present forrows,
Nor purpos'd merit in futurity,

Can ranfom me into his love again,
But to know fo must be my benefit;
So fhall I clothe me in a forc'd content,
And shut myself up in fome other course,
To fortune's alms.

Othello, A. 3, S. 4.

Who is here fo base, that would be a bond-man? If any, speak; for him have I offended. Who is here fo rude, that would not be a Roman? If any, fpeak; for him have I offended. Who is here fo vile, that will not love his country? If any, fpeak; for him have I offended. Julius Cæfar, A. 3, S. 2.

King of England fhalt thou be proclaim'd

In every borough as we pass along;

And he, that cafts not up

his cap for joy,

Shall for the offence make forfeit of his head.

Henry VI. P. 3, A. 2, S. 1.

* And Shoot myself up in fome other course.] The quarto 1630, and the folio read,

"And fhut myself up.'

I cannot help thinking this reading the true one. The idea feems taken from the confinement of a monaftic life.

STEEVENS.

I think the quarto right which reads fhoot, instead of Jhut. To fay that a man will shut himself up in a course of life, is language fuch as Shakespeare would never make use of, even in his moft whimsical or licentious moments. MONCK MASON.

I think the poet may have written,

"And shape myself upon fome other course." To fhape one's courfe, is a very common expreffion, and is used by Shakespeare elsewhere.

A. B.

The

The nature of his great offence is dead,
And deeper than oblivion we do bury
The incenfing relicks of it.

All's well that ends well, A. 5, S. 3.

My life, fir, in any cafe: not that I am afraid to die; but that, my offences being many, I would repent out the remainder of nature: let me live, fir, in a dungeon, i' the ftocks, or any where, fo I may All's well that ends well, A. 4, S. 3.

live.
This is most strange! that she should in this time
Commit a thing fo monftrous, to dismantle
So many folds of favour! fure, her offence
Must be of fuch unnatural degree,

That monsters it, or your fore-vouch'd affection
Fall into taint ".

Lear, A. 1, S. 1.

I am

in Co

STEEVENS.

That monfters it.] This uncommon verb occurs again riolanus.

"To hear my nothings monfter'd,"

"Monsters it" fhould, I think, be mafters it; and I am the more inclined to this opinion, as monftrous occurs a line or two before. I read the paffage thus:

A 66

that fhe fhould

"Commit a thing fo monftrous, to dismantle
"So many folds of favour! fure, her offence
"Must be of most unnatural degree,

"That masters it."

"That masters it," i. e. that mafters your favour or kindness. If we do not admit this reading, where is the antecedent to it?

2

or your fore-vouch'd affection

A. B.

Fall into taint.] Such is the reading of the folio. The common books read,-" fall'n into taint." Or, fignifies before, and or ever, is, before ever; the meaning of the folio may therefore be, fure her crime must be monftrous before your affection can be affected with hatred. JOHNSON.

I believe the reading of the first quarto,

66 or you for vouch'd affection "Fall'n into taint,'

to be the true one. In fupport of the reading of the quarto, in preference to that of the folio, it fhould be obferved, that Lear had not vouch'd, had not made any particular declaration of his

affection