Gent. None but the fool, who labours to out-jest His heart-ftruck injuries. Kent. Sir, I do know you; And dare, upon the warrant of 3 my note, Commend a dear thing to you. There is divifion, Although as yet the face of it is cover'd With mutual cunning, 'twixt Albany and Cornwall; 4 Who have (as who have not, whom their great stars Throne and fet high?) fervants, who seem no less; Which are to France the Spies and fpeculations Intelligent of our state. What hath been seen, 5 Either in fnuffs and packings of the dukes; Or the hard rein, which both of them have borne Against the old kind king; or something deeper, Whereof, perchance, thefe are but furnishings. [7 But, true it is, from France there comes a power 6 Into 3 my note,] My obfervation of your character. JOHNS. The quartos read, upon the warrant of my art, i. e. perhaps, on the strength of my skill in phifiognomy. STEEV, 4 Who have (as who have not,] The eight fubfequent verfes were degraded by Mr. Pope, as unintelligible, and to no purpose. For my part, I fee nothing in them but what is very eafy to be understood; and the lines feem abfolutely neceffary to clear up the motives upon which France prepared his invafion nor without them is the fenfe of the context complete. THEOBALD, 5 Either in jnuffs or packings] Snuffs are diflikes, and packings underhand contrivances. STEEVENS. are but furnishings.] Furnishings are what we now call colours, external pretences. JOHNSON. 7 But, true it is, &c.] In the old editions are the five following lines which I have inferted in the text, which feem neceffary to the plot, as a preparatory to the arrival of the French army with Cordelia in act iv. How both thefe, and a whole scene between Kent and this gentleman in the fourth act, came to be left out in all the later editions, I cannot tell; they depend upon each other, and very much contribute to clear that incident. POPE. 8 from France there comes a power Into this SCATTER'D kingdom; who already, Wife in our negligence, have fecret SEA In jome of our beft ports, Scatter'd kingdom, if it have any fenfe, gives us the idea of a kingdom fallen into an anarchy: Into this scatter'd kingdom; who already, In anarchy: but that was not the cafe. It fubmitted quietly to the government of Lear's two fons-in-law. It was divided, indeed, by this means, and so hurt, and weaken'd. And this was what Shakespeare meant to fay, who, without doubt, wrote, fcathed kingdom; i. e. hurt, wounded, impaired. And fo he frequently ufes feath for hurt or damage. Again, what a ftrange phrafe is, having fea in a port, to fignify a fleet's lying at anchor? which is all it can fignify. And what is ftranger ftill, a fecret sea, that is, lying incognito, like the army at Knight's-Bridge in The R.hearjal. Without doubt the poet wrote, have fecret feize In fome of our best ports; i. e. they are fecretly fecure of fome of the beft ports, by having a party in the garrifon ready to fecond any attempt of their friends, &c. The exactness of the expreffion is remarkable; he fays. Secret feize in fome, not of jome. For the first implies a confpiracy ready to feize a place on warning, the other, a place already feized. WARBURTON. The true ftate of this fpeech cannot from all these notes be discovered. As it now ftands it is collected from two editions: the lines which I have diftinguished by Italics are found in the folio, not in the quarto; the following lines inclosed in crotchets are in the quarto, not in the folio. So that if the speech be read with omiffions of the Italics, it will ftand according to the first edition; and if the Italics are read, and the lines that follow them omitted, it will then ftand according to the second. The fpeech is now tedious, because it is formed by a coalition of both. The fecond edition is generally beft, and was probably nearest to Shakespeare's laft copy, but in this paffage the first is preferable; for in the folio, the meffenger is fent, he knows not why, he knows not whither. I fuppofe Shakespeare thought his plot opened rather too early, and made the alteration to veil the event from the audience; but trusting too much to himself, and full of a fingle purpofe, he did not accommodate his new lines to the rest of the fcene.-The learned critic's emendations are now to be examined. Scattered he has changed to feathed; for fcattered, he fays, gives the idea of an anarchy, which was not the cafe. It may be replied that feathed gives the idea of ruin, wafte. and defolation, which was not the cafe. It is unworthy a lover of truth, in queftions of great or little moment, to exaggerate or extenuate for mere convenience, or for vanity yet lefs than convenience. Scattered naturally means divided, unfettled, In some of our best ports, and are at point If on my credit you dare build fo far To make your speed to Dover, you shall find I am a gentleman of blood and breeding, Gent. I will talk further with you. Kent. No, do not. For confirmation that I am much more Gent. Give me your hand; have you no more to say? Kent. Few words, but, to effect, more than all yet; That when we have found 9 the king. I'll this way, You that he that first lights on him, Halloo the other. [Exeunt feverally. SCENE unfettled, difunited.-Next is offered with great pomp a change of fea to feize; but in the first edition the word is fee, for hire, in the fenfe of having any one in fee, that is, at devotion for money. Fee is in the fecond quarto changed to fee, from which one made fea and another feize. JOHNSON. One of the quarto's (for there are two different ones, though printed in the fame year, and for the fame printer) reads fecret feet. Perhaps the author wrote fecret foot, i. e. footing. STEEV. the king. I'll this way, You that, -] The folio reads, the king, in which your pain, That way, I'll this: he that first, &c. So that the late reading, for which you take That way, I this, was not genuine. The meaning of the paffage feems to be this: "Have you any thing more to say?" "Yes," replies Kent, SCENE II. Storm fill. Enter Lear and Fool. Lear. Blow winds, and crack your cheeks! rage, blow! You cataracts, and hurricanoes, spout Till you have drench'd our fteeples, drown'd the cocks! 3 Crack nature's mould, all germins fpill at once Fool. O nuncle, court-holy-water in a dry houfe is better than the rain water out o' door. Good nuncle, in, and afk thy daughters bleffing; here's a night pities neither wife men nor fools. Lear. Rumble thy belly full! fpit fire! fpout rain! Nor rain, wind, thunder, fire, are my daughters. I tax not you, you elements, with unkindness, I never gave you kingdom, call'd you children, 46 Kent," a few words, which are of greater confequence than any thing I have hitherto faid. That fecret, however, you "fhall not hear till we have found the king." STEEVENS. 1 -thought-executing-] Doing execution with rapidity equal to thought. JOHNSON. But 2 Strike flat, &c.] The quarto reads,-Smite flat. STEEV. 3 Crack nature's mould, all GERMAINS Spill at once] Thus all the editions have given us this paffage; and Mr. Pope has explained germains to mean relations, or kindred elements. the poet means here, "Crack nature's mould, and fpill all the feeds of matter, that are hoarded within it." To retrieve which fenfe we muft write germins, from germen. Our author not only uses the fame thought again, but the word that afcertains my explication. In The Winter's Tale; "Let nature crush the fides o' the earth together, Theobald is right. So in Macbeth, "Of nature's germins tumble altogether." STEEVENS. You * You owe me no subscription; then let fall Your horrible pleasure. 4 Here I ftand, your flave, That have with two pernicious daughters join'd The cod-piece that will house, The head and he fhall lowse: So beggars marry many. Shall of a corn cry, woe, And turn his fleep to wake. -For there was never yet fair woman, but fhe made mouths in a glass. 3 You owe me no fubfcription ;-] Subscription, for obedience. 4 WARBURTON. Here I ftand your SLAVE,] But why fo? It is true, he fays, that they owed him no fubfcription; yet fure he owed We should read, them none. Here I ftand your BRAVE; i. e. I defy your worft rage, as he had faid juft before. What led the editors into this blunder was what should have kept them out of it, namely, the following line, A poor, infirm, weak, and defpis'd old man. And this was the wonder, that fuch a one should brave them all. WARBURTON. The meaning is plain enough, he was not their fave by right or compact, but by neceffity and compulfion. Why should a paffage be darkened for the fake of changing it? Befides, of brave in that fenfe I remember no example. JOHNSON. 6 -'tis feul.] Shameful; difhonourable. JOHNSON. So beggars marry many.] i. e. A beggar marries a wife and lice. JOHNSON. Enter |
