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Thou art their foldier, and being bred in broils,
Haft not the foft way,4 which, thou doft confefs,
Were fit for thee to use, as they to claim,

In asking their good loves; but thou wilt frame

thyng was in deede the cause that thei fell from hym and forfoke him. Wherefore he," &c. See also Vol. IX. p. 420, n. 5.

Mr. M. Mason says, that there is no verb in the fentence, and therefore it must be corrupt. The verb is go, and the sentence, not more abrupt than many others in these plays. Go to the people, fays Volumnia, and appear before them in a fupplicating attitude, with thy bonnet in thy hand, thy knees on the ground, (for in such cases action is eloquence, &c.) waving thy head; it, by its frequent bendings, (fuch as thofe that I now make,) fubduing thy ftout heart, which now fhould be as humble as the ripeft mulberry: or, if these filent geftures of fupplication do not move them, add words, and fay to them, &c.

Whoever has seen a player fupplicating to be heard by the audience, when a tumult, for whatever cause, has arisen in a theatre, will perfectly feel the force of the words" waving thy head."

No emendation whatever appears to me to be neceffary in these lines.

MALONE.

All I fhall obferve respecting the validity of the inftances adduced by Mr. Malone in fupport of his pofition, is, that as ancient prefs-work feldom received any correction, the errors of one printer may frequently ferve to countenance thofe of another, without affording any legitimate decifion in matters of phrafeology. STEEVENS.

3 humble, as the ripeft mulberry,] This fruit, when thoroughly ripe, drops from the tree. STEEVENS.

Æfchylus (as appears from a fragment of his PTTEΣ EKTOPOE ATTPA, preferved by Athenæus, Lib. II.) fays of Hector that he was fofter than mulberries:

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• Ανὴρ δ' ἐκεῖνος ἦν πεπαίτερος μόρων.” MUSGRAVE.

and being bred in broils,

Haft not the foft way,] So, in Othello (folio 1623):

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Rude am I in my speech,

"And little blefs'd with the foft phrase of peace;
"And little of this great world can I speak,

"More than pertains to feats of broils and battles."

MALONE.

Thyfelf, forfooth, hereafter theirs, fo far
As thou haft power, and perfon.

MEN.

This but done,

Even as the speaks, why, all their hearts were

yours :5

For they have pardons, being afk'd, as free

As words to little purpose.

VOL.

Pr'ythee now,

Go, and be rul'd: although, I know, thou had’st

rather

Follow thine enemy in a fiery gulf,

Than flatter him in a bower.7 Here is Cominius.

Enter COMINIUS.

COM. I have been i' the market-place: and, fir, 'tis fit

You make ftrong party, or defend yourself
By calmness, or by abfence; all's in anger.
MEN. Only fair speech.

COM.

Can thereto frame his fpirit.

I think, 'twill serve, if he

5 Even as he speaks, why, all their hearts were yours:] The word all was fupplied by Sir Thomas Hanmer to remedy the apparent defect in this line. I am not fure, however, that we might not better read, as Mr. Ritfon proposes:

6

Even as fhe fpeaks it, why their hearts were yours.

STEEVENS.

-in a fiery gulf,] i. e. into. So, in King Richard III: "But firft, I'll turn yon fellow in his grave."

STEEVENS.

7 Than flatter him in a bower.] A bower is the ancient term for a chamber. So Spenfer, Prothalam, ft. 8. speaking of The Temple:

"Where now the ftudious lawyer's have their bowers." See alfo Chaucer &c. paffim. STEEVENS.

VOL.

He muft, and will:

Pr'ythee, now, fay, you will, and go about it.

COR. Muft I go show them my unbarb'd fconce?8
Muft I

With my base tongue, give to my noble heart
A lie, that it must bear? Well, I will do't :
Yet were there but this single plot to lose,
This mould of Marcius, they to duft should grind

8

it,

my unbarb'd fconce ?] The fuppliants of the people used to present themselves to them in fordid and neglected dreffes. STEEVENS.

Unbarbed, bare, uncovered. In the times of chivalry, when a horfe was fully armed and accoutred for the encounter, he was faid to be barbed; probably from the old word barbe which Chaucer uses for a veil or covering. HAWKINS.

Unbarbed Sconce is untrimmed or unshaven head. To barb a man, was to fhave him. So, in Promos and Caffandra,

1578:

"Grim. ∙you are so clean a young man.
"Row. And who barbes you, Grimball?

"Grim. A dapper knave, one Rofco.

"Row. I know him not, is he a deaft barber ?"

To barbe the field was to cut the corn. So, in Drayton's Polyolbion, Song XIII :

"The labring hunter tufts the thick unbarbed grounds.” Again, in The Malcontent, by Marston :

"The ftooping fcytheman that doth barbe the field.” But (fays Dean Milles, in his comment on The Pfeudo-Rowley, p. 215 :)" would that appearance [of being unshaved] have been particular at Rome in the time of Coriolanus?" Every one, but the Dean, understands that Shakspeare gives to all countries the fashions of his own.

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Unbarbed may, however, bear the fignification which the late Mr. Hawkins would affix to it. So, in Magnificence, an interlude by Skelton, Fancy, fpeaking of a hooded hawk, says: Barbyd like a nonne, for burnynge of the fonne."

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STEEVENS,

-fingle plot-] i. e. piece, portion; applied to a piece of earth, and here elegantly transferred to the body, carcafe, WARBURTON.

And throw it against the wind.-To the market

place:

You have put me now to fuch a part, which never1 I fhall discharge to the life.

Сом.

Come, come, we'll prompt you.

VOL. I pr'ythee now, fweet fon; as thou haft

faid,

My praises made thee first a soldier, so,

To have my praise for this, perform a part
Thou haft not done before.2

COR.

Well, I must do't:

Away, my difpofition, and poffefs me

Some harlot's fpirit! My throat of war be turn'd, Which quired with my drum,3 into a pipe

I

fuch a part, which never &c.] So, in King Henry V1. P. III. Vol. XIV. p. 95 :

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he would avoid such bitter taunts "Which in the time of death he gave our father." Again, in the present scene :

"But with fuch words that are but roted," &c. Again, in A& V. fc. iv:

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the benefit

"Which thou shalt thereby reap, is fuch a name,
"Whofe repetition will be dogg'd with curfes."

i. e. the repetition of which-.

Again, in A& V. fc. iii:

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no, not with fuch friends,

"That thought them fure of you."

This phrafeology was introduced by Shakspeare in the first of thefe paffages, for the old play on which The Third Part of King Henry VI. was founded, reads-As in the time of death. The word as has been substituted for which by the modern editors in the paffage before us. MALONE.

2 -perform a part

Thou haft not done before.] Our author is ftill thinking of his theatre. Cominius has just said, Come, come, we'll prompt you. MALONE.

3 Which quired with my drum,] Which played in concert with my drum. JOHNSON.

Small as an eunuch, or the virgin voice
That babies lulls afleep! The fimiles of knaves
Tent in my cheeks; and fchool-boys' tears take up
The glaffes of my fight! A beggar's tongue
Make motion through my lips; and my arm'd
knees,

Who bow'd but in my stirrop, bend like his
That hath receiv'd an alms !-I will not do't:
Left I furceafe to honour mine own truth,5
And, by my body's action, teach my mind
A most inherent baseness.

VOL.

At thy choice then:

To beg of thee, it is my more difhonour,
Than thou of them. Come all to ruin; let
Thy mother rather feel thy pride, than fear
Thy dangerous ftoutnefs; for I mock at death
With as big heart as thou. Do as thou list.
Thy valiantness was mine, thou fuck'dft it from me;
But owe thy pride thyself.

COR.

Pray, be content;

"Still quiring to the young-ey'd cherubins.”

So, in The Merchant of Venice :

STEEVENS.

* Tent in my cheeks ;] To tent is to take up refidence.

JOHNSON.

to honour mine own truth,]

σε Πάντων δὲ μάλις αἰσχύνεο σαύτον.” Pythag. JOHNSON,

let

Thy mother rather feel thy pride, than fear

Thy dangerous ftoutness ;] This is obfcure. Perhaps, the means :-Go, do thy worft; let me rather feel the utmost extremity that thy pride can bring upon us, than live thus in fear of thy dangerous obftinacy. JOHNSON.

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"To throw away the dearest thing he owed,
"As 'twere a careless trifle." STEEVENS.

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