P 76, c. 2, l. 45. "into desolation.”—MALONE. ld l. 72. — - let me bring thee to Staines.] i. e. let me attend, or accompany thee. P 77. c. 1, 1.4. —an it had been any christom child; i. e. child that has wore the chrysom, or white cloth, put on a new baptised chud.

- turning o'the tide:] It has been a very old opinion, which Mead, de imperio sohs, quotes, as if he believed it, that nobody dies but in the time of ebb: half the deaths in London confute the notion; but we find that it was common among the women of the poet's time JOHNSON,

Id 1 18-cold as any stone.] Such is the end of Falstaff, from whom Shakspeare had promised us, in his epilogue to King Henry IV. that we should receive more entertainment. It happened to Shakspeare, as to other writers, to have his imagination crowded with a tumul

tuary confusion of images, which, while they were yet unsorted and unexamined, seemed sufficient to furnish a long train of incidents, and a new variety of merriment: but which, when he was to produce them to view, shrunk suddenly from him, or could not be accommodated to his general design. That he once designed to have brought Falstaff on the scene again, we know from himself; but whether be could contrive no train of adventures suitable to his caracter, or could match him with no companions likely to quicken his humour, or could open no new vein of pleasantry, and was afraid to continue the same strain lest it should not find the same reception, he has here for ever discarded him, and made haste to despatch him, perhaps for the same reason for which Addison killed Sir Rozer, that no other hand might attempt to exhibit him.

Let meaner authors learn from this example, that it is dangerous to sell the bear which is yet not hunted; to promise to the public what they have not written.

This disappointment probably inclined queen Elizabeth to command the poet to produce him once again, and to show him in love or courtship. This was, indeed, a new source of humour, and produced a new play from the former characters. JOHNSON. IL.B. — rheumatic;] This word is else where used by our author for peevish, or spinetie, as scorbutico is in Italian. Mrs. Quickly however probably means lunatic. 73. clear thy chrystals.] Dry thine

eyes.

IL 75.

SCENE IV.

—so dull a kingdom,] i. e. render it callous, insensible.

e. 21.15 How modest in exception,] How dident and decent in making objections. 11.33. strain.] lineage.

34. That haunted us-] To haunt is a word of the utmost horror, which shows that they dreaded the English as goblins and spirits.

147fate of him. His fate is what is allotted him by destiny, or what he is fated to perform.

11 1.57 spend their mouths,] that is, bark; the sportsman's term.

14 1.77

--

memorable line.] This genealogy;

thas deduction of his lineage. P.78.1.1 38. Shall chide your trespass,] To chide is to resound, to echo.

1d. l. 45. Scene IV.] This scene is mean enough, when it is read; but the grimaces of two French women, and the odd accent with which they uttered the English, made it divert upon the stage. It may be observed, that there is in it not only the French language, but the French spirit. Alice compliments the princess upon her knowledge of four words, and teils her that she pronounces like the English themselves. The princess suspects no deficiency in her instructress, nor the instructress in ker

self. Throughout the whole scene there may be found French servility, and French vanity. JOHNSON.

P. 80, c. 1, l. 57. "may foy "-MALONE.

SCENE V.

Id. c. 2. 1 43. our father's luxury. In this place, as in others, luvury means lust. Id. 7. 44. savage — is here used in the French original sense, for, silvan, uncultivated, the same with wild.

Id. L. 51 In that nook-shotten isle of Albion. Shotten siguities any thing projected; so nook shotten isle, is an isle that shoots out into capes, promontories, and necks of land, the very figure of Great-Britain.

Id. 1. 56 A drench for sur rein'd jades.) Surrein'd means over worked or ridden; and is perhaps derived from th reins of the back. Id. l. 71'--lavoltas high.] A dance in which there was much train; and much cap erug. P. 81, 1.10 17th pennons - Pennons armorial were small flags, on which the armis, device, and motto of a knight were painted. Id. . 11. melted snow -] The poet has here d. feated himself by passing too soon from one image to another. To bid the French rush upon the English as the torreats formed from melted snow stream from the Alps, was at once vehement and proper, but its force is destroyed by the grossness of the thought in the next line.

SCENE VI.

1d. 1. 61. Of buxom valour] 1. e. valour under good command, obed ent to its superiors Id. 1.76 For he hath stoln a pix.] A pir, or little chest, (from the Latin word pixis, a box), in which the consecrated host was used to be kept.

Id. c. 2. 1 17. The fix of Spain!] Mr. Steevens thinks this is an allusion to the custom of giving poisoned figs to those who were the objects either of Spanish or Italian revenge. Id. Í. 30. ——a sconce, appears to have been some hasty, rude, inconsiderable kind of fortification.

Id. 1 35. --a beard of the general's cut. It appears from an old ballad inserted in a MScellany, entitled Le Prince d Amour, S.0. 1650. that our ancestors were very curious in the fashion of their beards, and that a certain cut or form was appropriated to the soldier, the bishop, the judge, the clown, &e. The spade beard, and perhaps the stilettobeard also, was appropriated to the first of these characters. It is observable that our author's patron, Henry Earl of Southampton, who spent much of his time in camps, is drawn with the latter of these beards; and his unfortunate friend, Lord Essex, is constantly represented with the former. his fire's out. This is the last time that any sport can be made with the red face of Bardolph, which, to confess the truth, seems to have taken more hold on Shakspeare's imagination than on any other. The conecption is very cold to the solitary reader, though it may be somewhat invigorated by the exhi bition on the stage. This poet is always more careful about the present than the future, about his audience than his readers. JOHNSON. Id. 1. 77. Enter Montjoy Mont-joie is the title of the first king at arms in France, as Garter is in our own country.

Id. 1. 68

--

Id. 1. 78 -by my habit That is, by his herald's coat. The person of a herald being in

violable, was distinguished in those times of formality by a peculiar dress, which is likewise yet worn on particular occasions. P. 82, c. 1. l. 9 upon our cue. ia our turn.

This phrase the anther learned among players, and has imparted it to kings.

Id. 1. 30. Without impeachment: i. e. hinderance. Empechement, French,

SCENE VII.

Id. c. 2, l. 1. He bounds from the earth, as if his entrails were hairs: Alluding to the bounding of tennis-balls, which were staffed with hair.

Id. 1. 42.

or trosers

-

your straight trossers This word very frequently occurs in the old dramate writers, and seems to mean straight breeches P. 83 c. 1. 7. 18 'tis a hooded valour; and, when it appears, it will hate. This is a poor pun, taken from the terms used in falconry. The whole scuse and sarcasm depends upon the equivoque of one word, viz. bate, in souad, but not in orthography, auswering to the ter bout in falconry. When the hawk is unhooded her first action is baiting, that is flapping her wings, as a preparation to her flying at the game The hawk wants uo courage, but in vari ibly baits upon taking off the hood. Id. 1 38. - peevish- In ancient language, sig mfied-foolish.

Id 1.72 Id. 1 76

ACT IV.

stilly sounds. i. e. gently, lowly. the other's umber'd face: Umber's means here discoloured by the gleam of the fires. Umber is a dark yellow earth, brough from Umbra in Italy, which being mixed with water, produces such a dusky yellow colour a the gleam of fire by night gives to the cou

tenance.

Id. c. 2, 18 -over-lusty-1 i. e. over-saucy, Id. 1. 9. Do the low-rated English play at dice; i. e do play them away at dice, Id. 1. 43. Minding true things 】 To mind is th same as to call to remembrance.

SCENE I.

Id. 1. 57. "That we should 'dress. &c.—MALONE Id. 1. 71. With casted slough, &e Slough is th

skin which the serpent anunally throws off, and by the change of which he is supposed to re gain new vigour and fresh youth.' 'Legerityi lightness, nimbleness. JOHNSON. P. 84. c. 1. l. 37. It sorts- i, e. it agrees. Id. c. 2, l. 4. conditions: Are qualities. Th meaning is, that objects are represented by t senses to him, as to other men by theirs. Wha is danger to another is danger Likewise to him and. when he feels fear, it is like the fear of

meaner mortals.

Id. l. 41..

their children rawly left.] i, e. lef

young and helpless. Id. 1.69. native punishment.] That is, punish ment in their native country; or, perhaps, na tire punishment is such as they were born to if they offend.

Id. l. 78. Every subject's duty-] This is a very just distinction, and the whole argument is wel followed, and properly concluded.

P. 85. c. 1, 20 Mass, you'll pay him then! T pay, in old language, meant to thrash or best. and here signifies to bring to account, to pu mush. Id. 1. 26.

too round;] i. e. too rough, too un

ceremonious.

P. 89. c. 1, 1. 55. - great sort, High rank. Id. 1. 55. quite from the answer of his degree.] A man of such station as is not bound to hazard his person to answer to a challenge | from one of the soldier's low degree.

ACT V.

P. 90. c. 2, 7. 19. --a mighty whiffler- An officer who walks first in processions, or before persons in high stations, on occasions of ceremony. The name is still retained in London, and there is an officer so called that walks before their companies at times of public solemnity. It seems a corruption from the French word huissier.

Id. l. 24. --to have borne, &c.] The construction is, to have his bruised helmet, &c. borne before him through the city: i. e. to order it to be borne.

Id. 1. 28. Giving full trophy,] Transferring all the honours of conquest, all trophies, tokens, and shows, from himself to God.

Id. 1. 36. likelihood,] Likelihood for similiWARBURTON.

tude.

Id. 1. 37.

the general of our gracious em press- The earl of Essex, in the reign of queen Elizabeth.

Id. l. 39. Bringing rebellion broached-] Spitted, transfixed.

The military habit of those times vagant. was extremely so.

Id 1 60. Id. 1. 80

-former favour, Former appearance. we will suddenly,

Pass our accept and peremptory answer.] i e. we will pass our acceptance of what we approve, and we will pass a peremptory auswet to the rest. Politeness might forbid his saying we will pass a denial, but his own dignity re quired more time for deliberation. P. 92, c. 1. 7. 46 such a plain king.]} know not why Shakspeare now gives the kin nearly such a character as he made him for merly ridicule in Perey. This military gross ness and unskilfulness in all the softer art does not suit very well with the gaieties of hi youth, with the general knowledge ascribed t him at his accession, or with the contemptuon message sent him by the Dauphin, who repr sents him as fitter for a ball-room than t field, and tells him that he is not to revel in duckies, or win provinces with a nimb galliard. The truth is, that the poet's matt failed him in the fifth Act, and he was glad fill it up with whatever he could get; and a even Shakspeare can write well without proper subject. It is a vain endeavour for t most skilful hand to cultivate barrenness, or paint upon vacuity. JOHNSON.

Id.

57. --no strength in measure,] i. e. dancing.

Id. 1. 65. - look greenly, i. e. like a you lover, awkwardly.

Id. l. 76. ——take a fellow of plain and uncoin constancy Uncoined constancy signifies re and true constancy, unrefined and unadorne JOHNSON.

Id. c. 2, 69. - untempering effect- The sen is, that you love me notwithstanding my has no power to temper, i, e. soften you to1 purpose. weak list- i. e. slight be

P. 93, c. 1, l. 39.

Tar historical transactions contained in this play, take in the compass of above thirty years. Imast observe, however, that our author, in the three parts of Henry VI. has not been very precise to the date and disposition of his facts; but shuffled them, backwards and forwards, out of time. For instance, the lord Talbot is Ulled at the end of the Fourth Act of this play, who in the reality did not fall till the 13th of July, 1453; and The Second Part of Henry VI. opens with the marriage of the king, which was sdemnized eight years before Talbot's death,

the year 1445. Again, in the Second Part de Eleanor Cobham is introduced to insult Queen Margaret! though her penance and shment for sorcery happened three years before that princess came over to England. I could point out many other transgressions gainst history, as far as the order of time is poncerned. Indeed, though there are several master-stokes in these three plays, which incontestibly betray the workmanship of Shakpeare, yet I am almost doubtful, whether they ere entirely of his writing. And unless they ere wrote by him very early, I should rather agine them to have been brought to him as a rector of the stage; and so have received some

hing beauties at his hand. An accurate oberver will easily see, the diction of them is more obsolete, and the numbers more mean and rosacal, than in the generality of his genuine mpositions. THEOBALD.

Like many others, I was long struck with the any evident Shaksperianisms in these plays, hach appeared to me to carry such decisive ight, that I could scarcely bring myself to amine with attention any of the arguments that

have been urged against his being the author of them. But I should have adverted to a very striking circumstance which distinguishes this first part from the other parts of King Hen ry VI. This circumstance is, that none of these Shakspearian passages are to be found here, though several are scattered through the two other parts. I am therefore decisively of opinion that this play was not written by Shakspeare. I would here request the reader to attend particularly to the versification of this piece (of which almost every line has a pause at the end), which is so different from that of Shakspeare's undoubted plays, and of the greater part of the two succeeding pieces, as altered by him, and so exactly corresponds with that of the tragedies written by others before and about the time of his first commencing author, that this alone might decide the question, without taking into the account the numerous classical allusions which are found in this first part.

With respect to the second and third parts of King Henry VI. or, as they were originally called, The Contention of the Two famous Houses of Yorke and Lancaster, they stand, in my apprehension, on a very different ground from that of this first part, or, as I believe it was anciently called, The Play of King Henry VI.

The Contention, &c. printed in two parts, in quarto, 1600, was, I conceive, the production of some playwright who preceded, or was contemporary with, Shakspeare; and out of that piece he formed the two plays which are now denominated the Second and Third Parts of King Henry VI.; as, out of the old plays of King John and The Taming of the Shrew, he formed two other plays with the same titles.