11. Freeze, freeze, thou bitter fky, Though thou the waters warp, As friend remember'd not." Heigh, bo! fing, heigh, ho! &c. Duke S. The Oxford editor, who had this emendation communicated to him, takes occafion from hence to alter the whole line thus: Thou caufeft not that teen. But, in his rage of correction, he forgot to leave the reason, which is now wanting, Why the winter quind was to be preferred to man's ingratitude. WARBURTON, I am afraid that no reader is fatisfied with Dr. Warburton's emendation, however vigorously enforced; and it is indeed enforced with more art than truth. Sheen, i. e. fmiling, shining. That been fignifies soining, is eafily proved, but when or where did it fignify fmiling? yet fmiling gives the fenfe neceflary in this place. Sir T. Hanmer's change is less uncouth, but too remote from the prefent text. For my part, I question whether the original line is not loft, and this fubftituted merely to fill up the measure and the rhyme. Yet even out of this line, by strong agitation may fenfe be elicited, and fenfe not unfuitable to the occafion. Thou winter wind, fays Amiens, thy rudeness gives the less pain, as thou art not feen, as thou art an enemy that doft not brave us with thy prefence, and whofe unkindness is therefore not aggravated by infult. JOHNSON. Though the old text may be tortured into a meaning, perhaps it would be as well to read: e 1 Because the heart's not seen. barts, according to the ancient mode of writing, was easily corrupted. FARMER. 9 The furface of waters, fo long as they remain unfrozen, is apparently a perfect plane; whereas, when they are, this furface deviates from its exact flatnefs, or warps. This is remarkable in fmall ponds, the furface of which when frozen, forms a regular concave; the ice on the fides rifing higher than that in the middle. KENRICK. To warp was probably in Shakspeare's time, a colloquial word, which conveyed no diftant allufion to any thing elfe, phyfical or mechanical. To warp is to turn, and to turn is to change: when milk is changed by curdling, we now fay it is turned: when water is changed or turned by froft, Shakspeare fays, it is curdied. To be warp'd is only to be changed from its natural ftate. JoHNSON. Dr. Duke S. If that you were the good fir Rowland's fon,- That lov'd your father: The refidue of your fortune, [Exeunt Dr. Johnfon is certainly right. So, in Cynthia's Revels, of Ben Jonfon. "I know not, he's grown out of his garb a late, he's warp'd.And fo, methinks too, he is much converted." Thus the mole is called the mould-warp, because it changes the appearance of the furface of the earth. Dr. Farmer fuppofes warp'd to mean the fame as curdled, and adds that a fimilar idea occurs in Timon: -the icicle "That curdled by the froft," &c. STEEVENS. Among a collection of Saxon adages in Hickes's Thefaurus, Vol. I. på 221, the fucceeding appears: pinzen rceal zeþeonpan peder, winter fhall warp water. So that Shakspeare's expreffion was anciently proverbial. It should be remarked, that among the numerous examples in Manning's excellent edition of Lye's Dictionary, there is no inftance of peonpan or ze peoppan, implying to freeze, bend, turn, or curdle, though it is a verb of very extenfive fignification. Probably this word ftill retains a fimilar fenfe in the Northern part of the Inland, for in a Scottish parody on Dr. Percy's elegant ballad, beginning, O Nancy, wilt thou go with me," I find the verfe Nor fhrink before the wintry wind, is altered to " Nor fhrink before the warping wind." HoET WHITE. The meaning is this: Though the very waters, by thy agency, are forced, against the law of their nature, to bend from their stated level, yet thy fting occafions lefs anguifh to man, than the ingratitude of those he befriended. HENLEY. Wood is faid to warp when its furface, from being level, becomes bent and uneven; from varpan, Sax. to caft. So, in this play, A&t III. fc. jii:- -then one of you will prove a fhrunk pannel, and, like green timber, warp, warp." I doubt whether the poet here alludes to any operation of froft. The meaning may be only, Thou bitter wintry sky, though thou curleft the waters, thy fting, &c. Thou in the line before us refers only to-bitter fky. The influence of the winter's fky or feafor may, with fufficient propriety, be faid to warp the furface of the ocean, by agitation of its waves alone. MALONE. 2 Remember'd for remembering. MALONE. Z 6 ACT ACT III. SCENE I. A Room in the Palace. Enter Duke FREDERICK, OLIVER, Lords, and Attendants. Duke F. Not fee him fince? Sir, fir, that cannot be: But were I not the better part made mercy, I should not seek an absent argument 3 Of my revenge, thou prefent: But look to it; Seek him with candle; 4 bring him dead or living, Thy lands, and all things that thou doft call thine, Oli. O, that your highness knew my heart in this! I never lov'd my brother in my life. Duke F. More villain thou.-Well, pufh him out of doors: And let my officers of fuch a nature Make an extent upon his house and lands: 5 6 Do this expediently, and turn him going. [Exeunt. SCENE 3 An argument is ufed for the contents of a book, thence Shakspeare confidered it as meaning the subject, and then used `it for subjeɛ, in yet another fenfe. JOHNSON. 4 Alluding, probably, to St. Luke's Gospel, ch. xv. v. 8: "If she lose one piece, doth the not light a candle, and feek diligently till she find it?” STEEVEN To make an extent of lands,” is a legal phrase, from the words of a writ, (extendi facias) whereby the fheriff is directed to caufe certain Jands to be appraised to their full extended value, before he delivers them to the perfon entitled under a recognizance, &c. in order that it may be' ⚫ertainly known how foon the debt will be paid. MALONE. 6--expediently.] That is, expeditiously. JOHNSON. Expedient, throughout our author's plays, fignifies-expeditious So, in King John: His marches are expedient to this town." STEZVENS. SCENE II. The Foreft. Enter ORLANDO, with a Paper. Orl. Hang there, my verfe, in witnefs of my love: Enter CORIN and TOUCHSTONE. [Exit. Cor. And how like you this fhepherd's life, mafter Touchstone? Touch. Truly, thepherd, in refpect of itself, it is a good life; but in refpect that it is a fhepherd's life, it is naught. In refpect that it is folitary, I like it very well; but in refpect that it is private, it is a very vile life. Now in refpect it is in the fields, it pleaseth me well; but in refpect it is not in the court, it is tedious. As it is a fpare life, look you, it fits my humour well; but as there is no more plenty in it, it goes much against my ftomach. Haft any philosophy in thee, fhepherd? Cor. No more, but that I know, the more one fickens, the worse at eafe he is; and that he that wants money, means, and content, is without three good friends:-That the 7 Alluding to the triple character of Proferpine, Cynthia, and Diana, given by fome mythologifts to the fame goddefs, and comprised in these memorial lines: $ Terret, luftrat, agit, Proferpina, Luna, Diana, Ima, fuperna, feras, fceptro, fulgore, fagittis. JOHNSON. -unexpreffive-] For inexpreffible. JOHNSON. the property of rain is to wet, and fire to burn: That good paiture makes fat sheep; and that a great cause of the night, is lack of the fun: That he, that hath learned no wit by nature nor art, may complain of good breeding, or comes of a very dull kindred.9 Touch. Such a one is a natural philofopher. Waft ever in court, fhepherd? Cor. No, truly. Touch. Then thou art damn'd. Cor. Nay, I hope, Touch. Truly, thou art damn'd; like an ill-roafted egg,3 all on one fide, Cor. 9 I am in doubt whether the custom of the language in Shakspeare's time did not authorife this mode of fpeech, and make complain of good breeding the fame with complain of the want of good breeding. In the laft line of The Merchant of Venice we find that to fear the keeping is to fear the not keeping. JOHNSON. I think, he means rather-may complain of a good education, for being fo inefficient, of fo little ufe to him. MALONE. 2 The shepherd had faid all the philofophy he knew was the property of things, that rain we ted, fire burnt, &c. And the Clown's reply, in a fitire on phyficks or natural philofophy, though introduced with a quibble, is extremely just. For the natural philofopher is indeed as ignorant (notwithstanding all his parade of knowledge) of the efficient cause of things, as the ruftic. It appears, from a thousand inftances, that our poet was well acquainted with the phyficks of his time; and his great penetration enabled him to fee this remedilefs defect of it. WARBURTON. Shakspeare is refponfible for the quibble only, let the commentator anfwer for the refinement. STEEVENS. The Clown calls Coin a natural philofopher, because he reasons from his obfervations on nature. M. MASON. A natural being a common term for a fool, Touchstone, perhaps, means to quibble on the word. He may however only mean, that Corin is a felf-taught philofopher; the difciple of nature. MALONE. 3. Of this jest I do not fully comprehend the meaning. JOHNSON. There is a proverb, that a fool is the best roaster of an egg, because be is always turning it. This will explain how an egg may be damn`d ́all on one fide; but will not fufficiently fhow how Touchstone applies his fimile with propriety, unless he means that he who has not been at court is but balf educated. STBEVENS. I believe there was nothing intended in the correfponding part of the fimile, to anfwer to the words, all on one fide." Shakspeare's fimiles (as has been already obferved) hardly ever run on four feet. Touchitone, I apprehend, only means to fay, that Corin is completely damned; as ir retrievably |