Our poet, however, has introduced one of the same thoughts in his 142d sonnet: -not from those lips of thine "That have prophan'd their scarlet ornaments, "And seal'd false bonds of love, as oft as mine." STEEVENS. Again, in his Venus and Adonis, 1593: "Pure lips, sweet seals on my soft lips imprinted, "What bargains may I make still to be sealing.” MALONE. It occurs also in the old Black Letter Translation of Amadis of Gaule, 4to. p. 171. “—rather with kisses (which are counted the seales of Love) they chose to confirm their unanimitie, then otherwise to offend a resolved pacience." REED. 15. My mirth it much displeas'd, but pleas'd my woe.] Though the musick soothed my sorrows, it had no tendency to produce light merriment. JOHNSON. -constantly -] Certainly; with 23. out fluctuation of mind. So, in the Merchant of Venice: "Could so much turn the constitution JOHNSON. STEEVENS. 30. --circummur'd with brick,] Circummured, walled round. "He caused the doors to be mured and cased up." Painter's Palace of Pleasure. JOHNSON. 32. -a planched gate,] i. e. a gate made of boards, Planche, Fr. A plancher is a plank. So, in Lylly's Maid's Metamorphosis, 1600 : 66 -upon the ground doth lie "A hollow plancher." Again, in Sir Arthur Gorges' translation of Lucan, 1614: "Yet with his hoofes doth beat and rent "The planched floore, the barres and chaines.” STEEVENS. The expression is common at this day in the west. *** 36. There have 1, &c.] In the old copy the lines stand thus: There have I made my promise upon the Heavy middle of the night, to call upon him. STEEVENS. 41. In action all of precept,—] . e. shewing the several turnings of the way with his hand; which action contained so many precepts, being given for my direction. WARBURTON. 46. I have possess'd him,-] I have made him clearly and strongly comprehend. JOHNSON. To possess had formerly the sense of inform or acquaint. As, in Every Man in his Humour, act i. sc. 5. Captain Bobadil says, "possess no gentleman of our acquaintance with notice of my lodging.” REED. 49. That stays upon me ;- -] So in Macbeth: "Worthy "Worthy Macbeth, we stay upon your leisure.” STEEVENS. 64. false eyes] That is, Eyes insidious and traiterous. JOHNSON. So, in Chaucer's Sompnoures Tale, late edit. v. 7633: "Ther is ful many an eye, and many an ere, "The senate has sent out three several quests." STEEVENS. -false and contrarious quests in this place, rather mean lying and contradictory messengers, with whom run volumes of report. An explanation, which the line quoted by Mr. Steevens will serve to confirm. REMARKS. -] A metaphor 82. Doth flourish the deceit.taken from embroidery, where a coarse ground is filled up, and covered with figures of rich materials and elegant workmanship. WARBURTON. Flourish is ornament in general. So, in another play of Shakspere: empty trunks o'er-flourish'd by the devil." Dr. Warburton's illustration of the metaphor seems to be inaccurate. STEEVENS. The passage from another of Shakspere's plays, quoted by Mr. Steevens, suggests to us the true one, "empty trunks o'erflourish'd," &c. The The term flourish alludes to the flowers impressed on the waste printed paper and old books, with which trunks are commonly lined. HENLEY. 83. for yet our tithe's to sow. w.] As before, the blundering editors have made a prince of the priestly Angelo, so here they have made priest of the prince. We should read tilth, i. e. our tillage is yet to make. The grain from which we expect our harvest, is not yet put into the ground. WARBURTON. The reader is here attacked with a petty sophism. We should read tilth, i. e. our tillage is to make. But in the text it is to sow; and who has ever said that his tillage was to sow? I believe tythe is right, and that the expression is proverbial, in which tythe is taken, by an easy metonymy, for harvest. JOHNSON. Dr. Warburton did not do justice to his own conjecture; and no wonder, therefore, that Dr. Johnson has not. Tilth is provincially used for land till'd, prepared for sowing. Shakspere, however, has ap plied it before in its usual acceptation. FARMER. Dr. Warburton's conjecture may be supported by many instances in Markham's English Husbandman, 1635: "After the beginning of March you shall begin to sowe your barley upon that ground which the year before did lye fallow, and is commonly called your tilth, or fallow field." In p. 74 of this book, a corruption, like our author's, occurs. "As before, I said beginning to fallow your tithe field ;" which is undoubtedly misprinted for tilth field. TOLLET. Tilth is used for crop or harvest by Gower, De Con fessione Amantis, lib. v. fol. 93. b. "To sowe cockill with the corne, "So that the tilth is nigh forlorne, "Which Christ sew first his owne honde." Shakspere uses the word tilth elsewhere: "her plenteous womb "Expresseth its full tilth and husbandry.” But my quotation from Gower shews that to sow tilth was a phrase once in use. STEEVENS. It does not follow, because Dr. Farmer, Mr. Tollet, and Mr. Steevens have shewn that to sow tilth is not nonsense, it ought therefore to displace the original reading. The Duke is speaking in the person of an ecclesiastick; tythe, therefore, is a word more in character than tilth. Besides, the advantage expected by him to spring from the present stratagem, was but one of the TEN which he looked for from the whole of his plan. HENLEY. 116. a good favour-] Favour is coun tenance. So, in Antony and Cleopatra: "To publish such good tidings?" STEEVENS. 123, —what mistery there should be in hanging, if I should be hang'd, I cannot imagine. Abhor. Sir, it is a mistery. Clown. Proof. Abhor. Every true man's apparel fits your thief. Clown. If it be too little for your thief, your true man thinks it big enough; if it be too big for your thief, your |