IV.i.128 (300,3) [Griev'd I, I had but one? Chid I for that at frugal nature's frame?] [W: nature's 'fraine] Though _frame_ be not the word which appears to a reader of the present time most proper to exhibit the poet's sentiment, yet it may as well be used to shew that he had _one child_, and _no more_, as that he had a _girl_, not a _boy_, and as it may easily signify _the system of things_, or _universal scheme_, the whole order of beings is comprehended, there arises no difficulty from it which requires to be removed by so violent an effort as the introduction of a new word offensively mutilated. IV.i.137 (301,4) [But mine, and mine I lov'd, and mine I prais'd, And mine that I was proud on] [W: "as mine" in three places] Even of this small alteration there is no need. The speaker utters his emotion abruptly, But _mine_, _and mine_ that _I loved_, &c. by an ellipsis frequent, perhaps too frequent, both in verse and prose. IV.i.187 (303,6) [bent of honour] _Bent_ is used by our authour for the utmost degree of any passion, or mental quality. In this play before Benedick says of Beatrice, _her affection has its full bent_. The expression is derived from archery; the bow has its _bent_, when it is drawn as far as it can be. IV.i.206 (304,8) [ostentation] Show; appearance. IV.i.251 (305,1) [The smallest twine nay lead me] This is one of our author's observations upon life. Men overpowered with distress, eagerly listen to the first offers of relief, close with every scheme, and believe every promise. He that has no longer any confidence in himself, is glad to repose his trust in any other that will undertake to guide him. IV.ii.70 (311,6) [_Sexton_. Let them be in hand] There is nothing in the old quarto different in this scene from the common copies, except that the names of two actors, Kempe and Cowley, are placed at the beginning of the speeches, instead of the proper words, (see 1765, III,249,7) V.i.15 (313,7) [If such a one will smile and stroke his beard; And, sorrow wag! cry; hem, when he should groan] Sir Thomas Hammer, and after him Dr. Warburton, for _wag_ read _waive_, which is, I suppose, the same as, _put aside_ or _shift off_. None of these conjectures satisfy me, nor perhaps any other reader. I cannot but think the true meaning nearer than it is imagined. I point thus, _If such an one will smile, and stroke his beard, And, sorrow wag! cry; hem, when he should groan;_ That is, _If he will smile, and cry_ sorrow be gone, _and hem instead_ of groaning. The order in which _and_ and _cry_ are placed is harsh, and this harshness made the sense mistaken. Range the words in the common order, and my reading will be free from all difficulty. _If such an one will smile, and stroke his beard, Cry, sorrow, wag! and hem when he should groan._ V.i.32 (314,8) [My griefs cry louder than advertisement] That is, than _admonition_, than _moral instruction_.