Chapter 12

"Since I am put to know that your own scienceExceeds in that the lists of all adviceMy strength can give you."

"Since I am put to know that your own science

Exceeds in that the lists of all advice

My strength can give you."

I know of no meaning 'put' has in English that will make any sense here. We must, then, regard it as a misprint; and as a negative is plainly wanting, I readnot yet, the negative being, as so frequently, omitted, and 'put' printed foryet. "Why, brother Rivers, are you yet to learn?" (3 H. VI. iv. 4.) Pope readnotfor 'put.'

"But that to your sufficiency asYour worth is able * * *"

"But that to your sufficiency as

Your worth is able * * *"

It is quite evident that part of a line has been lost. The numerous corrections attempted here may be seen in the Cambridge Edition. I supplyyou add diligence.

"Hold therefore, Angelo,thy deputation."

Something was surely lost here; and as Angelo is constantly called the Deputy,deputation(which occurs a few lines higher) seems to be the missing word.

"I grant as there may between the list[s] and the velvet."

"And which is more, within these three days his head'sto be chopped off."

"Only for propagation of a dowerRemaining in the coffer of her friends."

"Only for propagation of a dower

Remaining in the coffer of her friends."

For 'propagation' Malone would readprorogation; but the text seems to be right, as 'propagation' was used in the sense of extension, increase.

"All kinds of naturesThat labour on the bosom of this sphereTopropagatetheir states."—Timon, i. 1.

"All kinds of natures

That labour on the bosom of this sphere

Topropagatetheir states."—Timon, i. 1.

"Griefs of my own lie heavy in my breast,Which thou wiltpropagate, to have it press'd,With more of thine."—Rom. and Jul. i. 1.

"Griefs of my own lie heavy in my breast,

Which thou wiltpropagate, to have it press'd,

With more of thine."—Rom. and Jul. i. 1.

"To give thanks to the gods of Rome,That for thepropagationof the empireVouchsafe us one to govern it like themselves."

"To give thanks to the gods of Rome,

That for thepropagationof the empire

Vouchsafe us one to govern it like themselves."

Massinger, Rom. Actor. i. 3.

And portions—as we learn by Sir Moth Interest in Jonson's Magnetic Lady—used to double in seven years. The same play would also justify Malone's reading, as guardians were not always willing to part with dowers in their hands. Perhaps for 'ofadower' we should read 'ofherdower,' for thehinhernot being pronounced, and therbut slightly, the printer might easily make the mistake; so also 'coffer' should probably be 'coffers.'

"For terror not to use, in time the rodMore mock'd than fear'd, so our decreesDead to infliction, to themselves are dead."

"For terror not to use, in time the rod

More mock'd than fear'd, so our decrees

Dead to infliction, to themselves are dead."

In the second lineBecomeswas added by Pope, or rather by Davenant, and it has been adopted by subsequent editors. Yet the poet may have written, and I think did write, 'the rodis' and 'More mockedat.'

"And yet my nature never in the fighthaveTo do in slander."

"And yet my nature never in the fighthave

To do in slander."

"How I may formally in person bearme."

"Only this onenow: Lord Angelo is precise."

"Sir, make me not your story."

For 'story' Singer would readsport; but 'me' may be 'tome,' and her meaning be, seek not to impose on me.

"As those that feed grow full; as blossoming timeThat from the seedness the bare fallow bringsTo teeming foison ... even so her plenteous womb," etc.

"As those that feed grow full; as blossoming time

That from the seedness the bare fallow brings

To teeming foison ... even so her plenteous womb," etc.

"The Duke,whois very strangely gone from hence,Bore many gentlemen, myself being one,In hand and hope of action."

"The Duke,whois very strangely gone from hence,

Bore many gentlemen, myself being one,

In hand and hope of action."

Asinandandare so frequently confounded (see on iii. 2ad fin.) I would readinfor 'and' in the last line.

"Err'd in this point which now you censure himfor."

"What's open madeTo justice, that justice seizes. What know the laws?"

"What's open made

To justice, that justice seizes. What know the laws?"

"Some run from brakes of ice and answer none,And somearecondemn'd for a fault alone."

"Some run from brakes of ice and answer none,

And somearecondemn'd for a fault alone."

We have a similar sentiment in Cymb. v. 1. Asof iceandof viceare pronounced exactly alike, we may safely assume the latter to be the true reading. The whole difficulty then lies in 'brakes.' A brake was certainly, as we are told, a frame to confine restless or vicious horses in when shoeing; but when it is added that it is also an instrument of torture, I become somewhat dubious. At any rate no one would say a rack or a gibbet of vice; so why a brake of vice? I incline then, but with hesitation, to think that we should readwreaks o' vice. We have "wreak the love" (R. and J. iii. 5); "wreak our wrongs." (Tit. And. iv. 3.) I put the ambiguouso', becausewreaktakesonrather thanofafter it.

"I thought by the readiness in the office, you had," etc.

For 'by the,' the usual correction (which I have followed) is 'byyour.' Mr. Collier thinks 'bythis' might be better; forthisandyourwere used promiscuously. Either might easily be confounded withthe. (See Introd. p.68.)

"But you might do it, and do the world no wrong."

This apparently necessary transposition was made by S. Walker. The folio reads "But might you."

"May call itbackagain. Well, believe this."

Herebackis the proper addition made in the 2nd folio.

"Becomes them not with half so fair a graceAs mercy does. If he had been as you,And you as he, you would have slipped like him,But he, like you, would not have been so stern."

"Becomes them not with half so fair a grace

As mercy does. If he had been as you,

And you as he, you would have slipped like him,

But he, like you, would not have been so stern."

"Why, all the souls that were were forfeit once."

As the first 'were' may have been caused by the second, I would, like Warburton, read for itare. In "We cannot cross the cause why we were born" (L. L. L. iv. 3), the folio reads 'areborn.'

"If the first that did th' edict infringe."

So it stands in the folio, and Pope was, it may be, right in reading 'If the firstman,' but we might also read, and perhaps better, as I have done, 'the edict did.'

"Either now, or by remissness new-conceiv'd."

For 'now' I felt inclined to readnew, with Pope, but I prefer 'nowborn,' and so I have printed it. (See on All's Well, ii. 3.)

"Are now to have no successive degreesBut here they live to end."

"Are now to have no successive degrees

But here they live to end."

We should for 'here' either readwhere, or better, with Hanmer,ere.

"Would use his heaven for thunder; nothing but thunder!Merciful Heaven!"

"Would use his heaven for thunder; nothing but thunder!

Merciful Heaven!"

"Than the softyieldingmyrtle; but man, proud man!"

"That soft andyieldingmind should not be in him."

Lyly, Campaspe, ii. 2.

"Most ignorant of what he's most assuredof."

"Not with fond sickles of the tested gold."

In all the English versions of the Scriptures anterior tothe Authorized one,sicleis the word, fromsiclusof the Vulgate, by which the Hebrewshekelis rendered. Shakespeare therefore knew nothing of this last, and must of course have writtensickle. Yet all editors, the Cambridge and myself included, have adopted Pope's correction,shekel, for which all are highly to blame. The word 'tested' proves that Gen. xxiii. 16 was in the poet's mind.

"Would all themselves laugh mortal."

It would be simpler and better to read: "Would laugh themselves all mortal."

"For I am that way going to temptation,Where prayers cross.—At what hour to-morrow shall IAttend your lordship?—At any time fore noon."

"For I am that way going to temptation,

Where prayers cross.—At what hour to-morrow shall I

Attend your lordship?—At any time fore noon."

"Heavensave your honour!—From thee, even from thy virtue."

"Who, falling in the flaws of her own youth,Hath blister'd her report."

"Who, falling in the flaws of her own youth,

Hath blister'd her report."

Editors follow Warburton in readingflamesfor 'flaws'; but asflawis defect, weakness, the text may be right.Flawis also gust, blast of wind, which also might make some sense here. We should, then, perhaps read 'flaw.'

"Showing we would not spare Heaven, as we love it,But as we stand in fear...."

"Showing we would not spare Heaven, as we love it,

But as we stand in fear...."

For 'spare' Collier's folio readsserve.

"Jul.Maygrace go with you!Duke.Benedicite!"

So Ritson properly arranges. It is evident that the names andMay, which I and Steevens have added, were effaced in the MS. In Twelfth Night (i. 5) we have a similar effacement of names of speakers. In the following line 'love' should belaw, a change made by Hanmer.

"Is like a good thing, being often read,Grown sear'd and tedious."

"Is like a good thing, being often read,

Grown sear'd and tedious."

The folio has 'fear'd'; the correction is Warburton's. It is a most unusual use of 'sear'd' in the sense of dry;searwould seem less strange. So Heath also thought.

"To thy false seeming.—Blood thou art bloodstill!—Let us write 'Good Angel' on the Devil's horn,'Tis not the Devil's crest.... How now! Who's there?"

"To thy false seeming.—Blood thou art bloodstill!—

Let us write 'Good Angel' on the Devil's horn,

'Tis not the Devil's crest.... How now! Who's there?"

Pope read 'butblood'; Malone 'stillblood.'

"As to put metal in restricted means."

It might be better to read, with Malone,mouldsinstead of 'means.'

"Ha!say you so, then I shall pose you quickly."

"Now took your brother's life or to redeem him."

Here 'or' is a correction by Davenant and Rowe ofandof the folio.

"'Twere equal poise of sin and charity."

"If that be sin I'll make it my morn-prayer."

As Shakespeare has used 'morn' elsewhere but once in a compound, it were better, as the metre requires, to read 'morning', as Hanmer also read.

"Or seem so, crafty; and that is not good."

Editors read 'craftily'; we might also read 'seeming.' "Or seeming so in skill" (Winter's Tale, ii. 1); but no change is necessary. The folio has 'that's'; hence the reading of the editors, the Cambridge included.

"Proclaim an enshield beauty."

The word 'enshield' occurs nowhere else. It is of course, as Steevens says, enshielded, covered with a shield. To this there is no very great objection; but as elsewhere (Cor. iv. 6) the poet has 'inshell'd,'i.e.covered with a shell,itmight be better to read so here also, as I find Tyrwhitt has done.

"Than beauty could display'd.—But mark menow."

So I think we should read, and not 'displayed' and with the metric accent on 'me.' Perhaps also for 'beauty' we should readitself.

"But in the loss of question."

There is no need, with Johnson and others, to change 'loss'; it is quite correct. (See Indexs. v.'Lose.')

"No.Ignomy in ransom and free pardonAre of two houses. Lawful mercy isNothingakin to foul redemption."

"No.Ignomy in ransom and free pardon

Are of two houses. Lawful mercy is

Nothingakin to foul redemption."

Sense and metre alike demand the negative, which had evidently been effaced. Steevens also read 'akin.'

"Else let my brother die.—If not a fedary but only he,Owe and succeed thy weakness."

"Else let my brother die.—

If not a fedary but only he,

Owe and succeed thy weakness."

"A very obscure passage," says Mr. Dyce, "in which Rowe printed 'byweakness,' and Malone proposes 'thisweakness.' (On 'fedary' see Richardson's Dictionary,subFederal.)" And this is all this noted critic has to say! For my part I do not regard this passage as by any means past cure, and I think that Warburton came very near the true sense. The main point is to ascertain the exact meaning offedary. "Federyandfederary," says Richardson, "in Shakespeare are the same word differently written (having no connexion whatever withFeudorFeudatory), and signify a colleague, associate, orconfederate;" and he refers to Minshew,s. v.Feodarie. Now Minshew's words are "FeodariealiasFeudarisaliasFeudatrie, Feudelarius, is an office authorized by the Master of the Court of Wards and Liveries by letters patent, and under the seal of that office," etc. Cotgrave has "A feodarie,feudal,feodal,feudataire;" in both of which places I think the "connexion withFeudandfeudatory" is very apparent; and the last convinces me that afedaryorfeodarywas a vassal, a liegeman; and that, I have no doubt, is its sense in this place? and in Cymb. iii. 2, where it again occurs, as I shall there show. I do not think Richardson was at all justified in making, as he seems to do,fedarya different word fromfeodary. There was alsofeodara vassal, "For seventeen kings were Carthagefeodars." (Marston. Sophon. Prol.) It must strike every one of tastewith surprise that Shakespeare should have written such a leonine verse as

"If not a fedary, but only he."

And further, whether 'fedary' be vassal or confederate, the person should be mentioned to whom he stood in that relation. In the former sense—the only true one—that person must be either Heaven or the Duke, which was omitted by the printer. I am in favour of the former, both for metre-sake and because we have elsewhere, "The rest of yourfees, O Gods! the senators of Athens" (Tim. iii. 5); and "God'svassalsdrop and die" (Hen. V. iii. 2). I read thus:—

"We are all frail.—Isab.Else let my brother die.—If not a fedary ofHeaven, but only he,Owe and succeed this weakness....Ang.Nay, women are frail too."

"We are all frail.—Isab.Else let my brother die.—

If not a fedary ofHeaven, but only he,

Owe and succeed this weakness....Ang.Nay, women are frail too."

Isabella replies at once, fully assenting to Angelo's observation. After a brief pause, she is proceeding to reason on the subject, when he interrupts her. We may observe that 'owe' and 'succeed' are legal terms, which here form a hysteron-proteron, like some other common phrases. Perhaps, indeed, we might transpose them; for Isabella is speaking quite calmly and composedly. The change of 'thy' tothisis perfectly legitimate; andtomay have been omitted or effaced after 'succeed.'

"Who would believe me? Oh!theseperilous mouths!"

The same addition was proposed by Mr. Seymour.

"To such abhorr'd pollutionas this."

Though this addition is not absolutely necessary, it gives such force to the sentiment that I willingly believe it may have come from the poet's pen.

"Servile to all the skyey influencesThat dost this habitation, where thou keepest,Hourly afflict."

"Servile to all the skyey influences

That dost this habitation, where thou keepest,

Hourly afflict."

No doubt 'dost' may make some sense here, butdo, or rather, as more Shakesperian,doth, makes far better sense. In Son. xxxix. there is the very same confusion ofdostanddoth.

"For thy complexion shifts to strange effects."

Johnson readaffects, which seems to be better.

"And Death unloads thee.—Friend hast thou none."

There might seem to be no need of adding anything here. But we may see that there is not an end of a paragraph. (See Introd. p.82.) I therefore read, 'And Deathin fine.'

"For all thy blessed youthBecomes as aged, and doth beg the almsOf palsied Eld."

"For all thy blessed youth

Becomes as aged, and doth beg the alms

Of palsied Eld."

No sense has been made of 'as aged,' which may therefore be regarded as corrupt. As in Tr. and Cr. v. 3,as lawfulshould beunlawful, I have here read in my Editionengaged(also the reading of Mr. Staunton) in the sense of dependent, in subjection, the ordinary state of youth under the authority of parents and elders, depending on them for money, etc. We might perhaps readas gagedin the same sense, if we had examples. The Cambridge editors proposeabased, which is good, and might easily have become 'as aged.' Possibly the poet wrotean abject, as we have, "We are the Queen'sabjects" (Rich. III. i. 1), and "I will make thee stoop, thouabject" (Jonson, Ev. Man Out, etc., v. 3), "That thou wilt never let me live to beAn abject" (Chapman, Hymn to Venus,v.312), "Yea, the very abjects" (Ps. xxxv. 15).

"What is yet in thisThat bears the name of life? Yet in this lifeLie hid moe thousand deaths; yet death we fear."

"What is yet in this

That bears the name of life? Yet in this life

Lie hid moe thousand deaths; yet death we fear."

For 'Yet,' caused by the other two, I readYea; for 'moe'some, notmore, as is usual, and which makes no sense.

"Dear sir, ere long I'll visit thee again."

For 'sir' Mason, with whom I agree, readsson. Further on in the scene the Duke calls him 'son.' (See on Cor. iii. 2.) It was perhaps the following line that suggested 'sir' to the printer.

"Bring me to hear them speak."

So Steevens read, transposing the 'them' and 'me' of the folio; and later editors have properly followed him.

"Now, sister, what's the comfort?—Why, as all comforts are, most good, most good indeed."

"Now, sister, what's the comfort?—

Why, as all comforts are, most good, most good indeed."

This is the proper arrangement. Editors usually omit the first 'most good,' to get their favourite decasyllabic verse, heedless of the loss of force.

"Think you I can a resolution fetchFrom flowery tenderness?"

"Think you I can a resolution fetch

From flowery tenderness?"

It appears to me that a negative is required to make the passage more correct and natural; and we know how frequently it is omitted in these plays. Here, however, I think, 'a' has been printed in its place (see on Twelfth Night, ii. 2), for the compositor probably did not pronounce thetin 'cannot,' and so made it 'can a.' I therefore read, 'I cannot resolution fetch.' Heath takes 'Think you' as imperative, not interrogative, likeBethink you.

"Thou art too noble to preserve a lifeIn base appliances."

"Thou art too noble to preserve a life

In base appliances."

It might seem better to readBythan 'In'; but it is not safe to meddle with prepositions. See on iv. 4.

"Nips youth in the head, and follies doth enmewAs falcon doth the fowl."

"Nips youth in the head, and follies doth enmew

As falcon doth the fowl."

It is the falcon, not the fowl, that is enmewed. Would that every correction were as certain as that which I have made here! I read, with the fullest confidence,enew. (SeeIndexs. v.) It is a most curious circumstance that in this place of the MS. I unconsciously wrotebudfor 'head,' a correction which was afterwards given in Notes and Queries (3rd S. v. 229), and had, I believe, been previously proposed by Grey. If 'head' be the right reading, it may signify the state of bloom. "That unmatch'd form and feature ofblownyouth" (Ham. iii. 1).

"The prenzie Angelo!—Oh! 'tis the cunning livery of HellThe damnedst bodie to invest and coverIn prenzie gardes."

"The prenzie Angelo!—

Oh! 'tis the cunning livery of Hell

The damnedst bodie to invest and cover

In prenzie gardes."

So the passage stands in the folio. As there is no such word known in English as 'prenzie,' the 2nd folio readprincely, Hanmerpriestly, which Mr. Dyce adopts. I think,however, that the German Tieck hit on the right word,precise, and I have so printed it without hesitation. We have had already, "Lord Angelo is precise" (i. 4), "is severe" (ii. 1), and "well-seeming" (iii. 1); but it is nowhere said that he wasprincelyorpriestly, and surely the guards or bindings of a dress could hardly be so termed. As to the change of accent, which Mr. Dyce makes an objection, a reader of our old poets should be ashamed to urge it, it is of such frequent occurrence, and it occurs more than once in this very play. In i. 2 we actually have "précise villains," and "A sort of sober, scurvy, precise neighbours" (Jonson, Alch. i. 1). (See Introd. p.80.) I further think we should read 'bodies,' and with Collier's foliogarbs, which being speltgarbesdiffers only in one letter from 'gardes.' As the latter were mere bindings, edgings, facings, they could hardly be said to cover a body. The infinitives 'invest' and 'cover' are used (as so frequently) where we now use a participle with an article. See Introd. p.70.

"Yes.—Has he affections in him?"

For 'Yes' the metre demandsI will, as I have printed it. See Introd. p.68.

"That age, ache, penury, or imprisonment."

The folio readsperjury; 'penury' is the correction of the 2nd folio.

"Stead up your appointment,andgo in your place."

"I drink, I eat, array myself, and live."

The folio readsaway. Theobald's correction, 'array,' is self-evident.

"You will not bail me then, sir?Neitherthen, Pompey, nor now."

Both metre and sense requireNeither.

"Ha, what sayest thou, trot?"

I adopt Grey's reading,to'tfor 'trot.' He has just asked a question, and he is repeating it.

"I knowofnone. Can you tell me of any?"

"And that he is a motion generative."

With Theobald I read 'ungenerative.'

"Yes,withyour beggar of fifty, and his use was."

"And knowledge with dearer love."

The folio hasdeare; the obvious correction is Hanmer's.

"He's now past it, yet."

With Hanmer I readnotfor 'now.'

"My lord, so please you, this friar hath been with him."

The metre requires this addition, which also relieves the Provost's speech from abruptness.

"Of gracious order, late come from the See."

The folio readsSea. This wrong spelling was not unusual. In King John (iii. 1) we have 'holy Sea' used of Canterbury. As 'See' never occurs thus alone, we might read 'theHolySee,' or rather, as I have done, "the Seeof Rome;" "I Pandulph ... Legate from the See of Rome." (Old Play of King John.) For a similar effacement see Ant. and Cleop. ii. 4.

"He who the sword of Heaven will bearMust be as holy as severe;Pattern in himself to know,Grace to stand and virtue go."

"He who the sword of Heaven will bear

Must be as holy as severe;

Pattern in himself to know,

Grace to stand and virtue go."

The last line is evidently corrupt. I would read,

"Ingrace to stand, in virtue go,"

in which I had been anticipated by Johnson. We have more than one instance ofinbeing effaced in the beginning of a line; and such having been the case here, the printer, to get some appearance of sense, converted the remaining 'in' toand—also a usual change. 'To know,' 'to stand,' 'to go,' are equivalent toknowing, etc. (See Introd. p.70.) For 'know,' I, as well as Mr. Staunton, had conjecturedshow; but no change is needed.

"How may likeness made in crimes,Making practice on the times,To draw with idle spider's stringsMost ponderous and substantial things!"

"How may likeness made in crimes,

Making practice on the times,

To draw with idle spider's strings

Most ponderous and substantial things!"

"A passage," says Mr. Dyce, "in which it seems hopeless to ascertain what the poet really wrote." At all events, by omitting 'To' in the third line we get excellent sense, and what more need we require? After I had made this simple emendation, I learned, to my great surprise—for the editors gave no heed to it—that I had been anticipated in it by Theobald. 'Draw' in the third line connects with 'may' in the first; but the printer, taking 'practice' for a verb, added 'To' to try to make sense. For 'making practice,' see on All's Well, iv. 2. 'Likeness' is simulation: "Do not assume my likeness,"i.e.pretend to be like me. (Tim. iv. 3.) "Thou simular of virtue." (Lear iii. 2.) The poet probably wrote 'crime' and 'time.'

"There have I made my promise upon theHeavy middle of the night to call upon him."

"There have I made my promise upon the

Heavy middle of the night to call upon him."

Capell, I think rightly, arranges thus:

"There have I made my promise to call upon himUpon the heavy middle of the night."

"There have I made my promise to call upon him

Upon the heavy middle of the night."

Transpositions of this kind, made by the printers, are not uncommon. (See on Tr. and Cr. v. 2.) Capell read 'on him.'

"Good Friar, I know you do, andIhave found it."

So Pope also conjectured.

"Run with these false and most contrarious quest."

I incline to readtheir. The 2nd folio addedsto 'quest.'

"Our corn's to reap, for yet our tithe's to sow."

Warburton properly readtilth.

"If it be too little for your thief," etc.

I quite agree with those who make this part of Abhorson's speech.

"This is a gentle Provost. Seldom when."

Mr. Singer reads 'seldom-when' as one word, and quotes in defence of itseldom-time,any-when,seldom-what; and he might have addedseld-when, from Gower's Conf. Amantis.In any case,'Tisseems wanting before it, as in "'Tis seldom when the bee doth leave her comb" (2 Hen. IV. iv. 4).

"That wounds the unsisting postern with those strokes."

The printer, by a most common error, omittedreinunresisting. Surely the critics in general should have seen this, as Rowe did.

"This is his lordship's man."

The folio reads 'lord's man'; but both sense and metre require the correction adopted by the editors, after Pope.

"Is it now apparent?"

So Pope. The folio transposes 'Is' and 'It.' (See on Two Gent. ii. 4.)

"Asa man that apprehends death no more."

So I should have printed it, but did not.

"Perchance of the Duke's death, perchancehisenteringinto some monastery, but, by chance, nothingof what'sherewrit."

"Perchance of the Duke's death, perchancehisentering

into some monastery, but, by chance, nothing

of what'sherewrit."

Hanmer also addedhere.

"And to transport him in the mind he isin."

"And how shall we continue, Claudio."

Persons are not continued. Perhaps we should read 'continueto keep.'

"Ere twice the sun hath made his journal greetingTo the under generation, you shall findYour safety manifested."

"Ere twice the sun hath made his journal greeting

To the under generation, you shall find

Your safety manifested."

I adopt Hanmer's emendation, 'under' for 'yond' of the folio. "The under-generation," says Mr. Dyce, "is the human race that dwellsunderheaven." In Timon (i. 1) we have "thisbeneath-world,"i.e.this world under heaven.

"Quick,quick, despatch, and send the head to Angelo."

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