I think Malone's conjecture very probable. If the present be the right reading, it is rightly explained by Malone.

F

But earthlier happy is the rose distill'd,
Than that, which, withering on the virgin thorn,
Grows, lives, and dies, in single blessedness.

I wish to read with Mr. Steevens, earthly happier.

P. 11.-447.-14.

Lys. I have a widow aunt, a dowager
Of great revenue, and she hath no child :
From Athens is her house remote seven leagues;
And she respects me as her only son.

There seems to me no necessity for the regulation proposed by Dr. Johnson. Whether we are to read remote, or removed, is surely not worth spending half a line upon.

Herm.

P. 11.-448.-15.

My good Lysander !

I swear to thee, by Cupid's strongest bow;
By his best arrow with the golden head;
By the simplicity of Venus' doves;

By that which knitteth souls, and prospers loves;
And by that fire which burn'd the Carthage queen,
When the false Trojan under sail was seen;
By all the vows that ever men have broke,
In number more than ever women spoke;-
In that same place thou hast appointed me,
To-morrow truly will I meet with thee.

I see no occasion for Warburton's emendation; nor do I perceive that Hermia appears nauseously coming, Lysander being before acquainted with her passion for him.

P. 13.-449.-16.

Hel. Sickness is catching; O, were favour so!
Yours would I catch, fair Hermia, ere I go.

I think Mr. Steevens is right.

P. 15.-450.-18.

Her. And in the wood, were often you and I
Upon faint primrose-beds, were wont to lie,
Emptying our bosoms of their counsel sweet;
There my Lysander and myself shall meet.

I think Theobald's emendation is right.

P. 16.-451.-20.

Things base and vile, holding no quantity,
Love can transpose to form and dignity.

I wish to read quality, as Dr. Johnson suggests.

P. 20.-453.-24.

"The raging rocks,
"With shivering shocks,
"Shall break the locks
"Of prison-gates.

I do not think the emendation proposed by Dr. Farmer is necessary.

P. 30.-461.-37.

The wisest aunt, telling the saddest tale,
Sometime for three-foot stool mistaketh me.

"The note on this passage, that the wisest “aunt here means the most sentimental bawd, is "truly Warburtonian, as the expression taken in its direct sense is much more "Such notes make one sick. We shall by and humourous. " by be informed, when Hamlet says mother, he " means capital bawd, because Mother Needham's "character is well known." HERON's Letters of Literature, p. 109.

Steevens's note seems to merit the severity of this reprehension.

P.34.462.-41.

By paved fountain, or by rushy brook.

I incline to think that Mr. Henley's explana

tion of paved fountain is right.

P. 35.-463.-42.

The fold stands empty in the drowned field,
And crows are fatted with the murrain flock.

Should we not read murrain'd flock?

P. 36.-464.-44.
Human mortals.

"Of the information in the note that fairies

were subject to mortality, I will venture to say "there is no evidence in any creed of popular "superstition." HERON, p. 112.

The passage produced by Mr. Reed completely

refutes Heron's assertion.

P. 36.-464.-45.

The human mortals want their winter here.

I am for reading cheer, with Theobald and Sir

Thomas Hanmer.

P. 42.-468.-51.

Tita. His mother was a vot'ress of my order:
And, in the spiced Indian air, by night,
Full often hath she gossip'd by my side;
And sat with me on Neptune's yellow sands,
Marking the embarked traders on the flood;
When we have laugh'd to see the sails conceive,
And grow big-bellied, with the wanton wind:
Which she, with pretty and with swimming gait,
(Following her womb, then rich with my young 'squire,)
Would imitate; and sail upon the land,
To fetch me trifles,

1

Following is, I think rightly explained by Dr. Johnson. I can by no means acquiesce in the explanation given by Dr. Farmer and Mr. Kenrick. I think Malone's remark is very just.

P. 51.-473.-61.

I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,
Where ox-lips and the nodding violet grows.

I should like to hear Mr. Malone pronounce some of the lines which contain his dissyllables.

P. 55.-476.-67.

Lys. O, take the sense, sweet, of my innocence;
Love takes the meaning, in love's conference.

Dr. Johnson appears to me to have given the right explanation of this. I do not see any necessity for Mr. Tyrwhitt's emendation.

P. 57.-477.-68.

Pretty soul! she durst not lie
Near this lack-love, kill-courtesy.

I would read, Near to this lack-love, this kill

courtesy, taking it for a sort of alexandrine, or hypermetrical verse.

P.71.-489.-87.

Bot. Good master Mustard-seed, I know your patience well.

I incline to think that Mr. Reed's is the right explanation.

P. 72.-489.-87.

Tie up my love's tongue, bring him silently.

I have no conception how lover is to be pronounced as a monosyllable.

P. 73.-490.-89.

Anon, his Thisbe must be answered,
And forth my mimick comes.

I incline to believe mimick is the right word.

P. 81.-495.-98.

Can you not hate me, as I know you do,
But you must join, in souls, to mock me too.

I can hardly think Mr. Tyrwhitt is right.