Did I not say he would work it out? the cur is excellent

at faults.

When the scent is lost in hunting, so that the hounds cannot readily hit upon it, they are said to be at fault.

VIOLA....So thou may'st say the king lies by a beggar,

if a beggar dwell near him; or the church stands by thy tabor, if thy tabor stands by the church. This reply of Viola's, would, according to Mr. Malone's interpretation, be fimple indeed; for if the king dwells by the beggar, the beggar must necessarily dwell by the king: it appears to me, therefore, that the passage is erroneous, and that we ought to read,

So thou may'st say, the king lives by the beggar, if a beggar dwell near him.

By this reading, the equivoque is preserved, and Viola answers the clown precisely in his own manner. To live by the church, means, not only to live near it, but to gain a livelihood by it, as to stand by the church, means, not only to stand near it, but to be supported by it. On this play upon words, the spirit of the dialogue depends.

ACT III. Sc. 4.

SIR TOBY....Nay, if you be an undertaker, I am for

you.

I am of Ritson's opinion, that by an under taker, Sir Toby means, a man who takes upon

himself the quarrel of another. Tyrwhit's explanation is too learned to be just, and was probably suggested by his official situation.

To do a thing, where I the issue doubted,
Whereof the execution did cry out
Against the non-performance, 'twas a fear
Which oft infects the wisest.

I do not perceive the obscurity of this passage, as Camillo's meaning appears to be this:

If ever, through a cautious apprehension of the issue, I have neglected to do a thing, the subsequent successful execution of which, cried out against my former non-performance, it was a species of fear which often infects the wisest.

Mr. Malone considers this as one of the passages in which Shakspeare has entangled himself, and says it is clear that he should have written either,

Or,

Whereof the execution did cry out
Against the performance,

For the non-performance.

If the lines had run so, I should not have attempted to extract a meaning from them; because I cannot discover any difference between the execution of a thing and the performance of it.

ACT II. Sc. 2.

PAULINA....These dangerous unsafe lunes of the king, The old copy reads,-lunes in the king, which should not have been changed: the French phrase quoted by Theobald is,

Les femmes ont des lunes dans la tête,

And the passage quoted by Steevens, from the Revenger's Tragedy, is,

I know it was but some peevish moon in him.

MACBETH.

ACT I. Sc. 2.

ROSSE....Till that Bellona's bridegroom, lapt in proof, Confronted him with self-comparisons.

Mr. Henly says that this passage is a proof how little Shakspeare knew of the heathen mythology: but I cannot well conceive why his calling an intrepid warrior, the bridegroom of Bellona, fhould be considered as a proof of ignorance.

ACT II.-Sc. 2.
MACBETH..

Sleep, that knits up the ravell'd sleeve of care..

Ravelled means entangled, so in the Two Gentlemen of Verona, Thurio says to Proteus, speaking of Sylvia,

Therefore as you unwind her love from him,

Lest it should ravel and be good to none,

You must provide to bottom it on me.

ACT II.-Sc. 3.

MACBETH...

My hand will rather

The multitudinous sea incarnadine.

I am inclined to think, with Mr. Malone, that multitudinous means the seas that swarm with inhabitants.-Poets have frequently compared a multitude of people to waves; but I do not recollect that any poet has compared the waves to a multitude.

ACT II.-Sc. 3.

MACBETH...Let's briefly put on manly readiness,
And meet in the hall together;

To be ready, in all the antient plays, means, to be dressed.

By manly readiness, Macbeth means that they should put on their armour.

Act III.-Sc. 4.

MACBETH....Augurs and understood relations,

By magot-pies, and choughs, and rooks brought forth
The secretest man of blood.

F

It appears to me that we ought to read,

Augurs that understood relations, &c.

Which, by a very slight alteration, removes every difficulty.

ACT IV.-Sc. 1.

1st WITCH....I'll charm the air to give a sound, While you perform your antique round.

I should suppose that antique in this place, means antick as it is now spelt.

ACT IV.-Sc. 3.

MALCOLM........And the chance of goodness
Be, like our warranted quarrel.

If this be the right reading, goodness must mean good success; but the amendment proposed by Johnson, that of reading O, Goodness! is surely well imagined.

ACT V.-Sc. 5.

MACBETH....I pull in resolution, and begin-
To doubt the equivocation of the fiend.

This reading is supported by a passage in
Fletcher's Sea Voyage, where Aminta says,
..And all my spirits,

As if they heard my passing bell go for me,
Pull in their powers, and give me up to destiny.