Formerly the long and round s were used indiscriminately, by some printers, in the middle of words; though a cautious printer made the distinction, by placing the long at the beginning, and the round s in the middle of words; as in fubscription; unless a t, or an i followed the s, as in fubftance and fubfift. Thus, then, the error originated: The compartments for the long f and f being next each other, thèse letters were frequently mixed; and as it required a sharp eye to distinguish them, the compositor took up an instead of an ƒ, and produced the corrupt reading, as in the two first folios.We should read:

I forgiv't:

For these sweet thoughts do even refresh my labours;
Most busy left, when I do it.

Thus corrected, the meaning is clearly and comprehensively familiar. When Ferdinand had accomplished the daily labour enjoined on him by Prospero, he was more busy left than while at work; i. e. the severe task occupied his mind, and banished disagreeable reflections; but labour over, and oppressed with fatigue; then his mind became busily employed, in reflecting on the tears shed for him by his mistress; the cutting thoughts of his servile state; the irreparable loss of his father; and, the desponding idea of never returning to his dominions.

ACT IV.

SCENE I.-page 122.

PROSPERO. If I have too austerely punish'd you,

Your compensation makes amends; for I

Have given you here a thread of mine own life, &c.

The old copy reads third. According to the passage quoted by Mr. Hawkins, from the Comedy of Mucedorus:

thread, was formerly spelt third; but in Markham's ENGLISH HUSBANDMAN, the same word is spelt thrid; and in this manner, I believe Shakspeare gave it in this passage. A slight transposition, however, seems to have been made by the compositor, who, from a cursory glance at his copy, made third; which, being understood by the corrector, in reading the proof, to mean a third part of Prospero's existence, he changed the definite for the indefinite article; and thus perverted the Author's meaning, by leaving Prospero two-thirds of his life in reserve. We should read:

If I have too austerely punish'd you,

Your compensation makes amends; for I

Have given you here the thread of mine own life,
Or that for which I live, &c.

Why should Prospero say,-"Or that for which I live," if he reserves two-thirds of his life; even should Ferdinand prove the worst of husbands? Ridiculous! No: he means, that, in giving Miranda to Ferdinand, he gives the very thread of his own life, and which Ferdinand cuts, the moment he withdraws from Miranda the affectionate tenderness of a husband.

ANTONIO.

ACT V.

SCENE I.-page 168.

One of them is a plain fish, &c.

To explain what Antonio calls a plain fish, we must resort to Act IV. sc. i. where Ariel relates the trick she played on Caliban, Stephano, and Trinculo:

So I charm'd their ears,

That, calf-like, they my lowing follow'd, through
Tooth'd briers, sharp furzes, pricking goss, and thorus,
Which enter'd their frail shins: at last I left them
I'the filthy mantled pool beyond your cell,
There dancing up to the chins," &c.

Thus mantled with the green superficies of the stagnant pool, (scale-like substances, which float on the surface of ditches,) they appeared before the cell, where Stephano and Trinculo habited themselves in the glittering apparel· left on the lines; but Caliban remained in his filthy state, and thus appeared like an amphibious monster, which Antonio calls a plain fish.

ALONSO.

SCENE I.-page 169.

Where should they

Find this grand liquor that hath gilded them? Gilded is designed to convey a double meaning:—their external appearance in the glittering robes of Prospero; and, as drinking much liquor heightens the complexion and gives it a gloss, their inebriation adds to the gilded figure.

Two Gentlemen of Verona.

ACT I.

SCENE I.-page 187.

SPEED. And being so hard to me that brought your mind, I fear, she'll prove as hard to you in telling her mind.

The old copy has-"in telling your mind." It appears to me that we should read-"In telling you her mind." The person who read to the transcriber coupled the words you her as youer, omitting to aspirate the h; the want of which sound deceiving the transcriber, he took it for your, as in the old copy. Thus corrected we gain Speed's meaning.

ACT II.

SCENE II.-page 212.

JULIA. If you turn not, you will return the sooner: If your affections do not change, you will return the

sooner.

ACT III.

SCENE I.-page 249.

LAUNCE. I am but a fool, look you; and yet I have the wit to think, my master is a kind of knave: but that's all one, if he be but one knave.

Launce, convinced that his master is the cause of Valentine's banishment, calls him a kind of knave; and

having a shrewd suspicion, that he will rob him of his mistress as well as his liberty, will, thereby, prove himself doubly a knave.

ACT IV.

SCENE I.-page 275.

SYLVIA. I am very loth to be your idol, Sir;

But, since your falshood shall become you well
To worship shadows, and adore false shapes,
Send to me in the morning, and I'll send it:

Dr. Johnson proposes to correct this unmeaning passage by reading-"But since you're false, it shall become you well;" which certainly removes the obscurity; and Mr. Tyrwhitt, is satisfied with the present text, "only to suppose," as he says, "that it is understood."

I, however, am confident that the obscurity of this passage is owing both to the transcriber and compositor; to the first, from false punctuation; and to the latter, from having composed a T in place of a G, which making To, (it being a word) escaped the corrector's notice. I read, as I believe the author wrote:

But, since your falshood shall become you; well-
Go: worship shadows and adore false shapes:
Send to me in the morning, and I'll send it:

Thus the indignation of Sylvia is displayed; her language emphatic; her determination conclusive; and, ordering him from her presence, she tells him to send in the morning for the picture.