2 To let him there a month, behind the gest' Prefix'd for his parting: yet, good-deed,' Leontes, to let or hinder himself. The commiffion is given to Polixenes, to whom she is speaking, to let of hinder her husband. WARBURTON. "I'll give him my licence of abfence, fo as to obftruct or retard his departure for a month," &c. To let him, however, may be ufed as many other reflective verbs are by Shakspeare, for to let or hinder himself: then the meaning will be, " I'll give him my permiffion to tarry for a month," &c. Dr. Warburton and the fubfe quent editors read, I think, without neceffity,-I'll give you my commiffion, &c. MALONE. behind the geft] Mr. Theobald fays: he can neither trace, nor understand the phrafe, and therefore thinks it should be juft: But the word geft is right, and fignifies a stage or journey. In the time of royal progreffes the king's ftages, as we may fee by the journals of them in the herald's office, were called his gefts; from the old French word gifte, diverforium. WARBURTON. In Strype's Memorials of Archbishop Cranmer, p. 283.-The archbishop entreats Cecil," to let him have the new refolved upon gefts, from that time to the end, that he might from time to time know where the king was." Again, in Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay, 1594: "Caftile, and lovely Elinor with him, "Have in their gefts refolv'd for Oxford town." Again, in The White Devil, or Vittoria Corombona, 1612: Do, like the gefts in the progrefs, "You know where you fhall find me." STEEVENS. Gefts, or rather gifts, from the Fr. gifte, (which fignifies both a bed, and a lodging-place,) were the names of the houses or towns where the king or prince intended to lie every night during his PROGRESS. They were written in a fcroll, and probably each of the royal attendants was furnished with a copy. MALONE. 3 yet, good-deed,] fignifies indeed, in very deed, as Shakfpeare in another place expreffes it. Good-deed is ufed in the fame fenfe by the Earl of Surry, Sir John Hayward, and Gafcoigne. Dr. Warburton would read-good beed,-meaning-take good heed. STEEVENS. The fecond folio reads-good heed, which, I believe, is right. TYRWHITT, 1 I love thee not a jar o'the clock behind You put me off with limber vows: But I, Though you would seek to unsphere the ftars with oaths, Should yet fay, Sir, no going. Verily, You shall not go; a lady's verily is As potent as a lord's. Will you go yet? Force me to keep you as a prifoner, Not like a gueft; fo you fhall pay your fees, When you depart, and save your thanks. How fay you? My prifoner? or my gueft? by your dread verily, POL. 4-a jar o'the clock-] A jar is, I believe, a fingle repetition of the noise made by the pendulum of a clock; what children call the ticking of it. So, in K, Richard II: "My thoughts are minutes, and with fighs they jar." STEEVENS. A jar perhaps means a minute, for I do not fuppofe that the ancient clocks ticked or noticed the feconds. See Holimfhed's Defcription of England, p. 241. TOLLET. To jar certainly means to tannica, cant. IV. ft. 107; clocke, nor watch to jarre." tick; as in T. Heywood's Troia Briedit. 1609. "He hears no wakingHOLT WHITE. So, in The Spanish Tragedy, 1601 :-" the owle fhrieking, the toades croaking, the minutes jerring, and the clocke ftriking twelve." Which is for me lefs easy to commit, Than you to punish. HER. Not your gaoler then, kind hoftefs. Come, I'll queftion you But your kind hoftefs. Of my lord's tricks, and yours, when you were boys; You were pretty lordings' then. : We were, fair queen, POL. Two lads, that thought there was no more behind, But fuch a day to-morrow as to-day, And to be boy eternal. HER. Was not my lord the verier wag o'the two? POL. We were as twinn'd lambs, that did frisk i'the fun, And bleat the one at the other: what we chang'd, And our weak spirits ne'er been higher rear'd heaven Boldly, Not guilty; the impofition clear'd, lordings ] This diminutive of lord is often ufed by Chaucer. So, in the prologue to his Canterbury Tales, the host fays to the company, v. 790, Mr. Tyrwhitt's edit: "Lordinges (quod he) now herkeneth for the beste.” STEEVENS. "The doctrine of ill-doing, no, nor dream'd-] Do&rine is here ufed as a trifyllable. So children, tickling, and many others. The editor of the fecond folio inferted the word no, to fupply a fuppofed defect in the metre, [-, nor dream'd] and the interpolation was adopted in all the fubfequent editions. MALONE. I cannot fuppofe my felf to be reading a verfe, unless I adopt the emendation of the fecond folio. STEEVENS. 2 the impofition clear'd, Hereditary ours.] i. e. fetting aside original fin; bating the im HER. By this we gather, You have tripp'd fince. POL. O my most sacred lady, Temptations have fince then been born to us: for In those unfledg'd days was my wife a girl; Your precious felf had then not crofs'd the eyes Of my young play-fellow. HER. Grace to boot! Of this make no conclufion; left you fay,R pofition from the offence of our firft parents, we might have boldly protefted our innocence to heaven. WARBURTON. 8. Grace to boot! Of this make no conclufion; left you fay, &c.] Polixenes had faid, that fince the time of childhood and innocence, temptations had grown to them; for that, in that interval, the two queens were become women. To each part of this obfervation the queen anfwers in order. To that of temptations the replies, Grace to boot! i. e. though temptations have grown up, yet I hope grace too has kept pace with them. Grace to boot, was a proverbial expreffion on these occafions. To the other part, the replies, as for our tempting you, pray take heed you draw no conclufion from thence, for that would be making your queen and me devils, &c. WARBURTON. This explanation may be right; but I have no great faith in the existence of fuch a proverbial expreffion. STEEVENS. She calls for Heaven's grace, to purify and vindicate her own character, and that of the wife of Polixenes, which might seem to be fullied by a fpecies of argument that made them appear to have led their husbands into temptation. Grace or Heaven help me!-Do not argue in that manner; do not draw any conclufion or inference from your, and your friend's, having, fince those days of childhood and innocence, become ac quainted with your queen and me; for, as you have said that in the period between childhood and the prefent time temptations have been born to you, and as in that interval you have become acquainted with us, the inference or infinuation would be ftrong against us, as your corrupters, and, "by that kind of chafe," your queen and I would be devils. MALONE. If you first finn'd with us, and that with us You did continue fault, and that you flipp'd not With any but with us. - LEON. HER. He'll stay, my lord. LEON. Is he won yet? At my request, he would not Hermione, my deareft, thou never spok'st HER. LEON, Never? Never, but once. HER. What? have I twice faid well? when was't I pr'ythee, tell me : Cram us with praife, and make us As fat as tame things: One good deed, dying tongue lefs, Slaughters a thoufand, waiting upon that. Or I mistake you: O, would her name were Grace! With Spur we beat an acre. But to the goal;-] Thus this paffage has been always printed; whence it appears, that the editors did not take the poet's conceit. They imagined that, But to th' goal, meant, but to come to the purpose; but the fenfe is different, and plain enough when the line is pointed thus: ere With Spur we heat an acre, but to the goal. i. c. good ufage will win us to any thing; but, with ill, we ftop fhort, even there where both our intereft and our inclination would otherwise have carried us. WARBURTON. I have followed the old copy, the pointing of which appears to afford as apt a meaning as that produced by the change recommended by Dr. Warburton. STEEVENS, |