Hath ftuff'd these hollow veffels with their power,'
To beat us down, the which are down already;
And make a conqueft of unhappy me,2
Whereas no glory's got to overcome.

LORD. That's the least fear; for, by the semblance4 Of their white flags difplay'd, they bring us peace, And come to us as favourers, not as foes.

CLE. Thou speak'ft like him's untutor'd to repeat,5 Who makes the faireft fhow, means moft deceit.

Hath Stuff'd thefe hollow veffels with their power,] [Old copy-the-] The quarto, 1609, reads-That ftuff'd &c. The context clearly fhows that we ought to read Hath inftead of That. By power is meant forces. The word is frequently used in that fenfe by our ancient writers. So, in King Lear : from France there comes a power "Into this scatter'd kingdom." MALONE.

I read :

Hath Stuff'd thefe hollow veffels" &c.

ollow, applied to ships, is a Homeric epithet. See Iliad I. v. 26. STEÉVENS.

2 And make a conquest of unhappy me,] I believe a letter was dropped at the prefs, and would read:

of unhappy men, &c. MALONE.

Perhaps the m is only a w reverfed, and the author defigned us to read, however improperly and ungrammatically-of unhappy we.

So, in Coriolanus:

and to poor we,

"Thine enmity's moft capital." STeevens.

3 Whereas no glory's-] Whereas, it has been already obferved, was anciently used for where. MALONE.

4 That's the last fear; for, by the femblance-] It should be remembered, that femblance was pronounced as a trifyllable -femble-ance. So, our author in The Comedy of Errors: "And these two Dromios, one in femblance." So, in The Two Gentlemen of Verona, refembleth is a quadrifyllable :

"O how this fpring of love resembleth."

MALONE.

Thou Speakft like him's untutor'd to repeat,] The quarto,

But bring they what they will, what need we fear ?" The ground's the low'ft, and we are half way there. Go tell their general, we attend him here,

To know for what he comes, and whence he comes, And what he craves.

LORD. I go, my lord.

[Exit.

CLE. Welcome is peace, if he on peace confift ;7 If wars, we are unable to refist.

Enter PERICLES, with Attendants.

PER. Lord governor, for fo we hear you are, Let not our fhips and number of our men,

1609, reads-like himnes untutor'd to repeat. I fuppofe the author wrote him is an expreffion which, however elliptical, is not more fo than many others in this play. MALone.

Perhaps we should read—him who is, and regulate the metre as follows:

Thou speak ft

Like him who is untutor'd to repeat &c.

The fenfe is-Deluded by the pacifick appearance of this navy, you talk like one, who has never learned the common adage, that the faireft outfides are most to be fufpected."

6

STEEVENS.

what need we fear? &c.] The earliest copy reads and

points thus:

What need we leave our grounds the lowest ? The reading which is inferted in the text, is that of the fecond quarto, printed in 1619. MALONE.

But bring they what they will, and what they can,

What need we fear?

The ground's the lowest, and we are half way there.] The redundancy of the metre leads me to fufpect this paffage of interpolation. I therefore read :

But bring they what they will, what need we fear? The ground's the low'ft, and we are half way there. Are the words omitted—and what they can-of any value? STEEVENS.

-if he on peace confift ;] If he stands on peace. A Latin fenfe. MALONE.

Be, like a beacon fir'd, to amaze your eyes.
We have heard your miseries as far as Tyre,
And feen the defolation of your streets:
Nor come we to add forrow to your tears,
But to relieve them of their heavy load;
And these our ships you happily may think
Are, like the Trojan horfe, war-stuff'd within,
With bloody views, expecting overthrow,8
Are ftor'd with corn, to make your needy bread,
And give them life, who are hunger-starv'd, half

dead.

ALL. The gods of Greece protect you !
And we'll pray for you.

PER.
Rife, I pray you, rife;
We do not look for reverence, but for love,
And harbourage for ourfelf, our fhips, and men.
CLE. The which when any fhall not gratify,
Or pay you with unthankfulness in thought,"

And these our fhips you happily may think Are, like the Trojan horfe, war-ftuff'd within, With bloody views, expecting overthrow,] i. e. which you happily, &c. The old copy reads:

And thefe our hips you happily may think,

Are like the Trojan horse, was ftuff'd within
With Bloody veines, &c.

For the emendation of this corrupted paffage the reader is indebted to Mr. Steevens. So, as he has obferved, in a former fcene:

9

"Hath Stuff'd the hollow veffels with their power."

MALONE.

to make your needy bread,] i. e. to make broad for your needy subjects. PERCY.

1 Or pay you with unthankfulness in thought,] I fuspect the author wrote:

Or pay you with unthankfulness in aught,

Be it our wives, &c.

If we are unthankful to you in any one instance, or refuse, fhould there be occafion, to facrifice any thing for your fervice,

Be it our wives, our children, or ourselves,

The curfe of heaven and men fucceed their evils! Till when, (the which, I hope, fhall ne'er be feen,) Your grace is welcome to our town and us.

PER. Which welcome we'll accept ; feaft here a

while,

Until our ftars that frown, lend us a fmile.

ACT II.

[Exeunt.

Enter Gower.

Gow. Here have you feen a mighty king
His child, I wis, to inceft bring;

A better prince, and benign lord,
Prove awful both in deed and word,"

whether our wives, our children or ourselves, may the curfe of heaven, and of mankind, &c.Aught was anciently written ought. Our wives, &c. may however refer to any in the former line; I have therefore made no change. MALONE.

I believe the old reading is the true one. Ingratitude in thought is mental ingratitude. The governor imprecates vengeance on himself and his people, fhould any of them harbour even an ungrateful thought in their bofoms refpecting Pericles.

STEEVENS.

No amendment is wanting; the meaning is this:-" May thefe perfons be curfed who fhall pay you with unthankfulness, even in thought, though they should be our dearest friends, or even ourselves." M. MASON.

A better prince, and benign lord,

Prove awful &c.] i. e. you have feen a better prince, &c.

Be quiet then, as men fhould be,
Till he hath pafs'd neceffity.
I'll show you thofe in troubles reign,
Lofing a mite, a mountain gain.3
The good in conversation 4

(To whom I give my benizon,)

Is ftill at Tharfus, where 5 each man
Thinks all is writ he spoken can :6

prove awful &c. The verb in the first line is carried on to the third. Old copy:

That will prove awful both in deed and word.

I have omitted the two firft words, as the sense proceeds without them, and they render the metre irregular. STEEVENS.

3 I'll show you thofe &c.] I will now exhibit to you perfons, who, after fuffering fmall and temporary evils, will at length be bleffed with happiness. I fufpect our author had here in view the title of the chapter in Gefta Romanorum, in which the story of Apollonius is told; though I will not say in what language he read it. It is this: "De tribulatione temporali quæ in gaudium fempiternum poftremo commutabitur." MALOne.

to

4 The good in converfation] Converfation is conduct, behaviour. So, in the Second Epiftle of St. Peter, iii. 11: “ be in all holy converfation and godlinefs." STEEVENS.

5 The good in converfation

(To whom I give my benizon,)

Is Still at Tharfus, where-] This paffage is confusedly expreffed. Gower means to fay-The good prince (on whom I bestow my best wishes) is ftill engaged at Tharfus, where every man &c. STEEVENS.

• Thinks all is writ he spoken can:] Pays as much respect to whatever Pericles fays, as if it were holy writ. "As true as the gofpel," is ftill common language. MALONE.

Writ may certainly mean fcripture; the holy writings, by way of eminence, being fo denominated. We might, however, read-wit, i. e. wifdom. So, Gower, in this ftory of Prince Appolyn:

Though that thou be of littel witte." STEEVENS.