MIRA.

o the heavens ! What foul play had we, that we came from thence? Or blessed was't, we did ? PRO.

Both, both, my girl : By foul play, as thou fay'ft, were we heav'd thence; But blessedly holp hither. MIRA.

O, my heart bleeds To think o' the teen that I have turn'd

you to , Which is from my remembrance ! Please you,

further. Pro. My brother, and thy uncle

thy uncle, callid Antonio, I pray

thee, mark me, that a brother should Be só perfidious ! - he whom, next chyself, Of all the world I lov'd, and to him put The manage of my state; as, at that time, Through all the figniories it was the first, And Prospero the prime duke; being so reputed In dignity, and, for the liberal arts, Without a parallel; those being all my study, The government I cast upon iny brother,

flate

grew stranger, being transported, And rapt in secret ftudies. Thy false uncle Dost thou attend me ? MIRA.

Sir , most heedfully. Pro. Being once perfected how to grant suits , How to deny them ; whom to advance, and whom : To trash for over-topping; ' new created

) is forrow, grief, trouble. So, in Romeo and Juliet,

to my teen be it spoken." STEEVENS. whom to advance, and whom --! The old copy has who in both places. Correded by the editor of the second folio.

MALONE, 9 To trash for over-topping ; ) To trash, as Dr. Warburton observes, is to cut away the superfluities. This word I have met with in

And to my

7

teen

8

The creatures that were mine ; I say, or chang’d

I them,

however,

on

books containing directions for gardeners, published in the time of queen Elizabeth.

The present exclamation may be countenanced by the following passage in Warner's Albion's England , 1602 , B. X.'ch. 57:

• Who suffreth none by might, by wealth or blood to overtopp, -« Himself gives all preferment, and whom listeth him doth lop." Again in our author's K. Richard Il :

« Go thou, and, like an executioner,
• Cut off the heads of too-fast-growing sprays

" That look too lofty in our commonwealth." Mr. Warton's note ,

trash for his quick hunting," in the second act of Othello, leaves my interpretation of this paffage somewhat disputable.

Mr. M. Mason observes that trash for overtopying, “ may mean to lơp them, because they did overtop, or in order to prevent them from overtopping. So Lucetta, in the second scene of The Two Gentlemen of Verona , says

“ I was taken up for laying them down,

" Yet here they shall not lie, for catching cold." That is, left they should catch cold. See Mr. Mason's note on this passage.

In another place la note on Othello ) Mr. M. Mason observes that Shakspeare had probably in view , when he wrote the passage before usi « the manner in which Tarquin conveyed to Sextus his advice to destroy the principal citizens of Gabii, by striking off, in the presence of his messengers, the heads of all the tallest poppies, as he walked with them in his garden." STEEVENS.

I think this phrase means - « to corre& for too much haughtiness or overbearing." It is used by sportsmen in the North when they corre& a dog for milbehaviour in pursuing the game. This explanatiou is warranted by the following passage in Othello, Ad II. sc. i:

. If this poor trash of Venice, whom I trash

. For his quick hunting." It was not till after I had made this remark, that I saw Mr. War. ton's note on the above lines in Othello , which corroborates it.

Douce, A trash is a term still in use among hunters , to denote a piece of leather , couples, or any other weight fastened round the neck of a dog , when his speed is superior to the rest of the pack; i. c. whco he over-tops tbem, when he hunts too quick. G.

Or elfe new form'd them: having both the key *
Of officer árd office, fet all hearts?
To what tune pleasd his ear; 'that now he was
The ivy, which liad hid my princely trunk,
And suck'd my verdure out on't. - Thou attend'st

not:

I pray thee, mark me.*
MIRA.

O good Sir, I do. Pro. Ithus neglecting wordly ends, all dedicate To closeness, and the bettering of iny

mind With that, which, but by being so retir'd, O'er-priz'd all popular rate, in my false brother Awak'd an evil nature : and my trust, Like a good parent, did beget of him

6 A falfhood, in its contrary as great As my trust was; which had, indeed, no limit, A confidence sans bound. He being thus lorded, Not only with what my revenue yielded,

2

both the key -) This is meant of a key for tuning the harpsichord, spinnet, or virginal; we call it now a tuning hammer.

SIR J. HAWKINS. 3 Of Officer and office, set all hearts - ) The old copy reads on all hearts i'th' fate," but redundantly in regard to metre, and unnecessarily refpe&ing sense ; for what hearts, except such as were i'th' state, could Alonso incline to his purposes ?

I have followed the advice of Mr. Ritson, who judiciously pro. poses to omit the words now cje&cd from the text. STEEVENS.

4 I pray thee, mark me. ) In the old copy, these words are the beginning of Prospero's next speech; but, for the restoration of metre, I have changed their place. STEVENS.

s I thus negle&ting worldly ends, all dedicate —) The old copy bas - dedicated; " but we should read, as in the present text,

dedicate." Thus in Measure for Measure :

Prayers from fafting maids, whose minds are dedicate

“ To nothing temporal." Ritson. 6 Like a good parent, &c. ) Alluding to the observation, that a father above the common rate of men buas commonly a fon below it. Heroum filii nox4. JOHNSON.

VOL. IV.

like one,

But what my power might else exact,
Who having, unto truth, by telling of it,
Made such a finner of his memory,
To credit his own lie, he did believe

6
He was the duke; out of the substitution,
And executing the outward face of royalty,
With all prerogative : - Hence his ambition
Growing, - Dost hear?

Your tale, sir, would cure deafness.
Pro. To have no screen between this part he
PRO

play'd
And him he play'd it for, he needs will be
Absolute Milan : Me, poor man! -

my library
Was dukedom large enough; of temporal royalties
He thinks me now incapable: confederates
(So dry he was for fway ) with the king of Naples,
To give him annual tribute, do him homage ;
Subject his coronet to his crown, and bend
The dukedom, yet unbow'd, (alas, poor Milan!)
To most ignoble stooping.

like one,

1

Who having , unto truth, by telling of it,
Made such a finner of his memory,

To credit his own lie.) There is, perhaps, no correlative, to which the word it can with grammatical propriety belong. Lie, however, seems to have been the correlative to which the post mcant to refer, however ungrammatically.

The old copy reads - vinte truth." The necessary corre&ion was made by Dr. Warburton. STEEVENS.

7 He was the duke; out of the substitution, ) The old copy reads

He was indeed the duke." I have omiited the word indeed, for the sake of metre. The reader should place his emphasis on

STEEVENS. (So dry he was for sway )) i. e. So thizzly. The expression, I am told , is not uncommon in the midland counties. Thus in Leicester's Commonwealth ; against the designments of the hafty Erle who thirsleth a kingdome with great iniemperance. Again, in Troilus and Cressida : - His ambition is dry." STEEVENS.

was.

MIRA.

O the heavens !
PRO. Mark his condition, and the event; then

tell me,

୨

If this might be a brother.'
MIRA.

I should fin
To think but nobly' of my grandmother :
Good wombs have borne bad sons.
PRO.

Now the condition,
This king of Naples, being an enemy
To me inveterate, hearkens my brother's fuit ;
Which was, that he in lieu o' the premises,
Of homage, and I know not how much tribute,
Should presently extirpate me and mine
Out of the dukedom; and confer fair Milan,
With all the honours, on my brother: Whereon,
A treacherous army levy'd, one midnight
Fated to the purpose, did Antonio open
The gates of Milan; and, i’ the dead of darkness,
The ministers for the purpose hurried thence
Me, and thy crying felf.
MIRA.

Alack, for pity!
I, noi rememb’ring how I cried out then,"
Will cry it o'er again ; it is a hint, *

2

SO,

9 To think but nobis -- } But, in this place, signifies otherwise than.

STEEVENS,
in lieu o' the premises, &c.) In lieu of, means here, in con
fideration of; an unusual acceptation of the word.
Fletcher's Prophetess, the chorus, speaking of Drusilla, says

6. But takes their oaths, in lieu of her affiftance,
“ That they shall not presume to touch their lives,"

M. MASON. 3 cried out ----) Perhaps we should read - cried on't. STEEVENS.

- a hint, ) Hint is suggestion. So, in the beginning speech of the second act:

our hint of woe e is common

ca