P. 257. (22) "the observation we have made of it hath not been little :" Here the "not" happens to have dropt out of the folio; and accordingly Mr. Knight and Delius, in defiance of common sense, the observation we have made of it hath been little."

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P. 257. (23) "hit together: if our father carry authority with such dispositions"

So the quartos (“hit, i. e. agree." STEEVENS).—The folio has "sit together, if our Father carry authority with such disposition as," &c.; which Mr. Knight gives, though "sit" is a stark misprint. As to " dispositions" or "disposition," either reading may stand: we have afterwards from the mouth of the present speaker, p. 269,

"and put away

These dispositions;"

and p. 271,

"But let his disposition have that scope."

P. 258. (24)

"Shall top the legitimate. I grow; 1 prosper:-"

The quartos have "shall tooth' legitimate: I grow, I prosper.”—The folio has

"Shall to' th' Legitimate: I grow, I prosper.”

Rowe printed" Shall to th' legitimate-1 grow, I prosper," supposing the sentence to be imperfect; which it evidently is not.-Theobald reads "Shall be th' legitimate," &c.-Hanmer gives "Shall toe th' legitimate," &c.—I have adopted the more probable correction of Edwards.

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P. 260. (25)

"though the wisdom of nature ... yet nature,” &c.

Possibly wrong." Walker's Crit. Exam. &c. vol. i. p. 287.-For the first "nature" Hanmer substituted "mankind."-Johnson's explanation of the text is, "though natural philosophy can give account of eclipses, yet we feel their consequences."

The folio omits this interjection; but without it the sentence has a baldness. (In all the quartos I have seen it stands "Fut;" which seems to be a misprint for "Tut," rather than intended for "Foot" or "Sfoot.")

"Dependance'?" Walker's Crit. Exam. &c. vol. iii. p. 277.

So the quartos.-The folio has "Lear. Why my Boy?"-the eye of the transcriber or compositor having most probably caught the next speech but one.

-Here Mr. Collier and Delius adhere to the folio, and consequently mark the words "Why, for taking one's part that's out of favour" (which they wrongly point, with the folio, "Why? for taking," &c.) as spoken by the Fool to Lear. But it is plain that the Fool addresses the king for the first time when he says "How now, nuncle," &c.

So the folio. The quartos have "when lady oth'e brach."-This has been altered to "when the lady's brach," and to "when Lady, the brach" (as in The First Part of King Henry IV. act iii. sc. 1, "Lady, my brach”). — Steevens cites from "the old black-letter Booke of Huntyng," &c., no date, "and small ladi popies,” &c. : and see Nares's Gloss, in v. “Brach."

P. 266. (30)

Capell gives this to Kent.

P. 267. (31)

"Lear. Do."

"lords and great men will not let me; if I had a monopoly out, they would have part on't: and ladies too, they will not let me have all fool to myself; they'll be snatching."

From "Fool. That lord that counsell'd thee" down to the end of the present quotation is only in the quartos; which have here "loades" and "lodes" instead of "ladies."-" Modern editors," observes Mr. Collier, "without the slightest authority, read and ladies too,' when the old copies have not a word about ladies: all the fool means to say is, that if he had a monopoly of folly, great men would have part of it, and a large part too." But mark the ridiculous inconsistency of expression in the passage, if the Fool be speaking of lords only,-" they would have part on't"-" and loads too" -"they'll be snatching."

P. 269. (32)

"That it had its head bit off by its young."

The old eds. have “That it [and "it's”] had it head bit off beit [and “by it"] young."-See Preface to the present edition, p. xv., note.

Walker (Crit. Exam. &c. vol. i. p. 4) would read "That I had daughters.”— This speech is only in the quartos, where it stands as prose.

"The folios, Steevens's reprint of the 4tos, [Rowe], Pope, Theobald, [Hanmer], and Knight have 'savour' here; while Capell, Var. 1821, and Collier, [Staunton, and Grant White] have 'favour,' all in silence." W. N. LETTSOM, note on Walker's Shakespeare's Versification, &c. p. 230.—“Whether the word of some old editions be 'favour' or 'savour' is hard pronouncing; nor is there much choice between them, in this place all the moderns have

inclined towards 'savour.'" CAPELL, Notes, &c. vol. i. P. ii. p. 152.-"favour,' i. e. complexion. So in Julius Cæsar, 'In favour's like the work we have in hand.'" STEEVENS.

P. 269. (35) "As you are old and reverend, should be wise."

So the folio.-The quartos have "As you are old and reverend, you should be wise."-Rowe printed "You, as you are old and reverend, should be wise." -Steevens proposes "As you are old and reverend, be wise."

P. 270. (36)

"The worships of their name."

Qy."The worships of their names," or "The worship of their name”?

P. 270. (37)

"Lear.

It may be so, my lord," &c.

So this passage (which, slightly different, stands as prose in the quartos) is divided in the folio.-A modern arrangement is

"Lear. It may be so, my lord.-Hear, nature, hear; Dear goddess, hear! Suspend thy purpose, if

Thou didst intend to make this creature fruitful!
Into her," &c.

P. 271. (38)

"I have another daughter,"

So the folio; which I follow in preference to the reading of the quartos, "yet haue I left a daughter," because we have already had, p. 270,

"Degenerate bastard! I'll not trouble thee:
Yet have I left a daughter."

What, Oswald, ho!-You, sir, more knave than fool,

After your master.'"

P. 272. (40)

Walker's Crit. Exam, &c. vol. iii, p. 277.

"As may compact it more.

Get you gone;"

"Qu. 'Go, get you gone.'" Walker's Crit. Exam. &c. vol. ii. p. 258.-Most probably a word has dropt out from this line, though our old poets seem occasionally to have used "more" as a dissyllable.

"Brain' surely; and so Pope and some others." Walker's Crit. Exam. &c. vol. i. p. 256.

P. 276. (43)

"the revenging gods

'Gainst parricides did all their thunders bend ;"

So the quartos.-The folio has "did all the thunder bend,"-a vile reading; which, however, Mr. Knight, Delius, and Mr. Grant White prefer.

"And found-dispatch."

P. 276. (44) "Warburton reads 'And found, dispatch'd;' as also does Mr. Collier's annotator. But the old text is right: thus in [Middleton's] 'Blurt, Master Constable,' Act v. Sc. 1,- There to find Fontinelle: found to kill him.'" STAUNTON.-I cannot see that Mr. Staunton's quotation supports the old reading.

In this passage "spurs," which is the reading of the quartos, means, of course, incitements.-The folio has ". – potentiall spirits;" which Delius adopts, and defends by what he considers to be a parallelism,—“As he is very potent with such spirits," Hamlet, act ii. sc. 2. But here the lection of the folio, "spirits," is as evidently wrong as is its reading "strange," in the commencement of the next speech; "O strange [instead of "Strong," i. e. determined] and fastend villaine;" which, however, Mr. Knight and Delius prefer.

P. 277. (47) "Yes, madam, he was of that consort."

Qy.

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he was one of that consort"?-Here the quartos have merely 'Yes, madam, he was."

P. 279. (48) "Edm. How now! What's the matter?

Kent. With you, goodman boy," &c.

So the quartos.-The folio has

"Bast. How now, what's the matter? Part.

Kent. With you goodman Boy," &c.

But "Part" is undoubtedly a stage-direction. This is clear from its interference with the dialogue: Edmund asks "What's the matter?" and Kent immediately replies, "With you [i.e. the matter is with you, I will deal with you], goodman boy," &c.-The stage-direction "Part" is found in other old dramas: e. g.

"Rich. Art thou content to breath?

[Fight & part once or twise.” A Pleasant Commodie, called Looke about you, 1600, sig. I 3.(Here the quartos have “Enter Edmund with his rapier drawne, Glocester, the Duke and Dutchesse;" while the folio has "Enter Bastard, Cornewall, Regan, Gloster, Seruants," the entrances, as is often the case in copies of early plays, being marked en masse: but it is evident that the persons in question enter as I have made them enter in my text.)

P. 279. (49) "The messengers from our sister and the king."

On this line Mr. Collier observes, "All the old copies have 'messengers,' but Oswald is the only one upon the stage."-The old copies are quite right-Oswald is the messenger "from our sister," Kent the messenger "from the king."

1865. In the second edition of his Shakespeare, Mr. Collier silently prints "messengers." But Mr. Grant White, to my surprise, gives "messenger," observing that "the old copies add a superfluous s to the word."

P. 280. (50)

"smooth every passion

That in the natures of their lords rebel;" See note 114 on Love's Labour's lost, vol. ii. p. 251.

A line slightly mutilated.-The usual modern emendation is "As knowing naught," &c.—Mr. Collier's Ms. Corrector reads "And knowing naught,” &c.

P. 282. (52)

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Come, bring away the stocks!

[Stocks brought out."

In the folio the stage-direction "Stocks brought out" is placed two lines earlier (as it no doubt stood in the prompter's book, that the stocks might be in readiness); and so it is given by the modern editors, without any regard to the present speech.-Here the quartos have no stage-direction. -1865. Mr. Staunton, Mr. Grant White, and the Cambridge Editors (Globe Shakespeare) place this stage-direction rightly.

P. 282. (53)

"Is such as basest and contemned'st wretches"

So Capell here corrected the quartos, which have "Is such, as basest and temnest wretches."-This passage, from "His fault is much" to "Are punish'd with" inclusive, is not in the folio (where, in consequence of that omission, the words "The king must take it ill" are altered to "The King his Master needs must take it ill").

Of this obscure, and, it may be, corrupted passage, no satisfactory explana. tion or emendation has yet been given.