two white herring. no food for thee.

9

Croak not, black angel; I have

Kent. How do you, sir? Stand you not so amaz❜d: Will you lie down and rest upon the cushions?

Lear.I'll see their trial first:-Bring in the evidence.Thou robed man of justice, take thy place; [To EDG. —And thou, his yoke-fellow of equity, [To the Fool. Bench by his side:-You are of the commission, Sit you too.

Edg. Let us deal justly.

[TO KENT

Sleepest, or wakest thou, jolly shepherd?

Thy sheep be in the corn;

And for one blast of thy minikin mouth,
Thy sheep shall take no harm.

Pur! the cat is grey.

Lear. Arraign her first; 'tis Goneril. I here take my oath before this honourable assembly, she kicked the poor king her father.

Fool. Come hither, mistress ; Is your name Goneril? Lear. She cannot deny it.

Fool. Cry you mercy, I took you for a joint-stool. Lear. And here's another, whose warp'd looks proclaim What store her heart is made of.-Stop her there ! Arms, arms, sword, fire !-Corruption in the place! False justicer, why hast thou let her 'scape? Edg. Bless thy five wits!

Kent. O pity-Sir, where is the patience now, That you so oft have boasted to retain ?

Edg. My tears begin to take his part so much, They'll mar my counterfeiting.

Lear. The little dogs and all,

[Aside.

Tray, Blanch, and Sweet-heart, see, they bark at me. Edg. Tom will throw his head at them :-Avaunt, you curs !

Be thy mouth or black or white,'
Tooth that poisons if it bite;
Mastiff, grey-hound, mongrel grim,
Hound, or spaniel, brach, or lym ; 2

[9] Sarah Williams confessed (see Harsnet's book, p. 195.) that when she was troubled with a croaking in her stomach, from emptiness, the priests persuaded her that it was the fiend within her.

STEEVENS.

[1] To have the roof of the mouth black is in some kind of dogs a proof that their breed is genuine. STEEVENS.

[2] Brach or lym, &c.-Names of particular sorts of dogs. POPE. A limner, or leamer, a dog of the chace, was so called from the leam or leash in which he was held till he was let slip. So in the book of Ancient

Or bobtail tike,3 or trundle tail;
Tom will make them weep and wail :
For, with throwing thus my head,
Dogs leap the hatch, and all are fled.

Do de, de de. Sessa.4 Come, march to wakes and fairs, and market-towns ;-Poor Tom, thy horn is dry. 5

Lear. Then let them anatomize Regan, see what breeds about her heart: Is there any cause in nature, that makes these hard hearts ?—You, sir, I entertain you for one of my hundred; only, I do not like the fashion of your garments: you will say, they are Persian attire ; but let them be changed. [TO EDGAR.

Kent. Now, good my lord, lie here, and rest awhile. Lear.Make no noise,make no noise; draw the curtains: So, so, so: We'll go to supper i'the morning : So, so, so. Fool. And I'll go to bed at noon.

Re-enter GLOSTER.

Glo.Come hither,friend: Where is the king my master? Kent. Here, sir; but trouble him not, his wits are gone. Glo. Good friend, I pr'y thee take him in thy arms; I have o'er-heard a plot of death upon him:

There is a litter ready; lay him in't,

And drive towards Dover, friend, where thou shalt meet
Both welcome and protection. Take up thy master :
If thou shouldst dally half an hour, his life,

With thine, and all that offer to defend him,
Stand in assured loss: Take up, take up ;
And follow me, that will to some provision
Give thee quick conduct.

Kent. Opprest nature sleeps:

This rest might yet have balm'd thy broken senses,
Which, if convenience will not allow,

Stand in hard cure.-Come, help to bear thy master ;

Tenures, 1679, the words "canes domini regis lesos," are translated "Leash bounds, such as draw after a hurt deer in a leash, or liam." STEEVENS. [3] Tijk is the Runick word for a little, or worthless dog. STEEVENS. [4] Here is sessa again, which I take to be the French word cessez, pronounced cessey, which was, I suppose, like some others, in common use among us. It is an interjection enforcing cessation of any action, like, be quiet, have done. JOHNSON.It is not impossible that this may be a part of some old song, and originally stood thus:

Cissy, come march to wakes

And fairs, and market towns.

There is another line in the character of Edgar which I am very confident I have seen in an old ballad, viz.

Thro' the sharp hawthorn blows the cold wind. STEEVENS.

[5] Men that begged under pretence of lunacy used formerly to carry # horn, and blow it through the streets. JOHNSON.

Thou must not stay behind.

Glo. Come, come, away.

[To the Fool.

[Exeunt KENT, GLOSTER, and the Fool, bear-
ing off the King.

Edg. When we our betters see bearing our woes,
We scarcely think our miseries our foes.
Who alone suffers, suffers most i'the mind;
Leaving free things, and happy shows, behind :
But then the mind much sufferance doth o'erskip,
When grief hath mates, and bearing fellowship.
How light and portable my pain seems now,

When that, which makes me bend, makes the king bow;
He childed, as I father'd !-Tom, away;
Mark the high noises; and thyself bewray,7
When false opinion, whose wrong thought defiles thee,
In thy just proof, repeals, and reconciles thee.
What will hap more to-night, safe 'scape the king!
Lurk, lurk.

SCENE VII.

[Exit.

A Room in GLOSTER's Castle. Enter CORNWALL, REGAN, GONERIL, EDMUND, and Servants.

Corn. Post speedily to my lord your husband; show him this letter:-The army of France is landed :— Seek out the villain Gloster. [Exe.some of Servants. Reg. Hang him instantly.

Gon. Pluck out his eyes.

Corn. Leave him to my displeasure.-Edmund, keep you our sister company; the revenges we are bound to take upon your traitorous father are not fit for your beholding. Advise the duke, where you are going, to a most festinate preparation; we are bound to the like. Our posts shall be swift, and intelligent betwixt us. Farewell, dear sister ;-farewell, my lord of Gloster. Enter Steward.

How now? Where's the king?

Stew. My lord of Gloster hath convey'd him hence :

[6] Free things-states clear from distress.

JOHNSON.

[7] Attend to the great events that are approaching, and make thyself known when that false opinion now prevailing against thee shall, in consequence of just proof of thy integrity, revoke its erroneous sentence, and recal thee to honour and reconciliation. JOHNSON.

[8] Meaning Edmund, newly invested with his father's titles. The steward, speaking immediately after, mentions the old earl by the same title. JOHNSON.

Some five or six and thirty of his knights,

Hot questrists after him, met him at gate;
Who, with some other of the lord's dependants,

Are gone with him towards Dover; where they boast
To have well-armed friends.

Corn. Get horses for your mistress.

Gon. Farewell, sweet lord, and sister.

[Exeunt GONERIL and EDMUND. Corn.Edmund,farewell.-Go, seek the traitor Gloster,

Pinion him like a thief, bring him before us:

[Exeunt other Servants.

Though well we may not pass upon his life
Without the form of justice; yet our power
Shall do a courtesy to our wrath, which men

May blame, but not control. Who's there? The traitor ?
Re-enter Servants, with GLOSTER.

Reg. Ingrateful fox! 'tis he.

Corn. Bind fast his corky arms.1

Glo. What mean your graces ?—Good my friends,

consider

You are my guests: do me no foul play, friends.

Corn. Bind him, I say.

[Servants bind him.

Reg. Hard, hard :-O filthy traitor !

Glo. Unmerciful lady as you are, I am none.

Corn. To this chair bind him.-Villain,thou shalt find

[REGAN plucks his beard.

Glo. By the kind gods, 'tis most ignobly done

To pluck me by the beard.

Reg. So white, and such a traitor!

Glo. Naughty lady,

These hairs, which thou dost ravish from my chin,
Will quicken, and accuse thee: I am your host ;
With robbers' hands, my hospitable favours
You should not ruffle thus. What will you do?

Corn.Come,sir, what letters had you late from France? Reg. Be simple-answer'd, for we know the truth. Corn. And what confederacy have you with the traitors Late footed in the kingdom?

Reg. To whose hands have you sent the lunatic king? Speak.

Glo. I have a letter guessingly set down,

Which came from one that's of a neutral heart,
And not from one oppos'd.

[9] A questrist is one who goes in search or quest of another. STEE V. [1] Dry, withere d, husky arins. JOHNSON.

Corn. Cunning.

Reg. And false.

Corn. Where hast thou sent the king?
Glo. To Dover.

Reg. Wherefore

To Dover? Wast thou not charg'd at thy peril—
Corn. Wherefore to Dover? Let him first answer that.
Glo.I am tied to the stake,and I must stand the course.2
Reg. Wherefore to Dover?

Glo. Because I would not see thy cruel nails

Pluck out his poor old eyes; nor thy fierce sister
In his anointed flesh stick boarish fangs.

The sea, with such a storm as his bare head

In hell-black night endur'd, would have buoy'd up,
And quench'd the stelled fires: yet, poor old heart,
He holp the heavens to rain.

If wolves had at thy gate howl d that stern time, 3
Thou shouldst have said, Good porter, turn the key :
All cruels else subscrib'd : 4-But I shall see

The winged vengeance overtake such children.

Corn. See it shalt thou never :-Fellows, hold the chair: -Upon these eyes of thine I'll set my foot.

[GLOSTER is held down in his chair,while CORNWALL plucks out one of his eyes, and sets his foot on it. Glo. He, that will think to live till he be old, Give me some help :-O cruel! O ye gods! Reg. One side will mock another; the other too. Corn. If you see vengeance,

Serv. Hold your hand, my lord:

I have serv'd you ever since I was a child;

But better service have I never done you,

Than now to bid you hold.

Reg. How now, you dog?

Serv. If you did wear a beard upon your chin, I'd shake it on this quarrel: What do you mean ? Corn. My villain! [Draws, and runs at him. Serv. Nay, then come on, and take the chance of anger. [Draws. They fight. CORNWALL is wounded. Reg. To another Servant.] Give me thy sword.-A peasant stand up thus !

[Snatches a sword, comes behind, and stabs him. Serv. O, I am slain !-My lord, you have one eye left To see some mischief on him :-O ! [Dies,

JOHNSON.

[2] The course-the running of the dogs upon me. [3] Thus the folio. Both the quartos read, dearn time. Dearn-is a northcountry word, signifying lonely, solitary, far from neighbours.

STEEV.

[4] Subscrib'd,yielded,submitted to the necessity of the occasion. JOHNS.

7

VOL. VIII.