than that. The true and only meaning of the line was thoroughly explained in Blackwood's Magazine for August last, p. 186. A. E. B. has seen that explanation—yet he still not only takes credit for the new reading, but he makes no apology for his antecedent senselessness. We call that mala fides. And further, he aggravates the criminality of his dulness by referring to a passage in Cicero (quoted in Gnats and Queries, vol. iii. p. 229), which has no bearing whatever on the reading, and can only serve to throw the reader off the true scent. Altogether, for so small a matter, this is as complicated a case of stupidity, and of something worse, as over came under the notice of the public. We may just add, what we only recently discovered, that Mr Collier had inserted the original text of the line, "Most busy, least when I do it," in his edition of Shakespeare published some ten years ago; but then he deserves just as little credit for this as A. E. B. does; because his note, as might very easily be shown, and as will be apparent to any one who reads it along with Blackwood's Magazine, p. 186, is directly at variance with his text.
But we have kept the old Corrector too long waiting. Begging pardon, we shall now attend to his interests, taking him mildly in hand,—at least at first.
Titus Andronicus.—Act I. Scene 2.—To change "set abroad" into set abroach may be permissible; but it is not necessary. In the following line (Act II. Scene 1) the alteration is most decidedly for the worse
"The woods are ruthless, dreadful, deaf, and dull."
"Dreadful" is altered by the MS. corrector to dreadless—a very unpoetical, indeed senseless substitution.
We cannot accept the corrector's rhyming phraseology in Act II. Scene 2. No man has any business to rewrite Shakespeare after this fashion. The liberty which this scourer of the old text here takes with the play is just another of the numerous proofs that his design was, not to restore their language, but merely to popularise it. Dine, however, for "drive," in the Line,
"The hounds
Should drive upon thy new transformed limbs,"
(Act II. Scene 3)
is a very sensible emendation, and one which we are disposed to recommend for the text, "drive" being very probably a misprint. Possibly also "breeder" (Act IV. Scene 2) may be a misprint for burthen, which the corrector proposes, and to which we have no very great objection. The best part of the change of the words, "Not far one Muliteus" into "not far hence Muli lives," is due to Steevens: the MS. corrector's contribution being very unimportant.
Act IV. Scene 4.—-The flow of the following line, as printed in the common editions, is much more easy and idiomatic,
"My lords, you know, as do the rightful gods,"
than the corrector's substitution—
"My lords, you know, the rightful gods no less."
Nothing farther of any mark or likelihood presents itself in the corrections of this play. The emendations are generally insignificant; but in one instance, and perhaps two, they may deserve some approbation.
Romeo and Juliet.— Act I. Scene 1.—We never can accept puffed in lieu of "purged" in the lines—
"Love is a smoke, made with the fume of sighs,
Being purg'd, a fire sparkling in lovers' eyes."
Urged, as proposed by Johnson, is infinitely better than puffed; but no change is required.
In the following lines, the MS. corrector's amendment seems to us to be no improvement either upon the common or the original text. The text of the quarto 1597 is this (Romeo is speaking of Rosaline)—
"She'll not be hit
With Cupid's arrow; she hath Dian's wit,
And, in strong proof of chastity well arm'd,
From love's weak childish bow she lives uncharm'd,"
that is, disenchanted. The ordinary reading is" unharm'd" for "uncharmed," and it affords a very excellent and obvious sense. The MS. corrector proposes encharmed—i.e. en-chanted. But if any one is dissatisfied with "unharmed," we think he will do more wisely to fall back on the primitive reading, rather than espouse
