It pleas'd the king his mafter very a late

To strike at me upon his misconstruction,

b

When he conjunct, and flattering his displeasure,

Tript me behind; being down, insulted, rail'd,
And put upon him fuch a deal of man, that
That worthied him; got praises of the king,
For him attempting who was felf-fubdued ;
And, in the d fleshment of this dread exploit,
Drew on me here again.

Kent. None of these rogues and cowards,
But Ajax is their fool.

Corn. f Bring forth the stocks,

ho!

You ftubborn ancient knave, you i rev'rend braggart,

We'll teach you

Kent. Sir, I am too old to learn.

Call not your stocks for me: I ferve the king;
On whose k imployment I was fent to you.
You shall do small m refpect, fhew too bold malice
Against the grace and perfon of my mafter,
Stocking his meffenger.

a So the qu's and fo's; the rest lately.

The fo's and R. read compact for conjun&.

So the qu's, T. W. and J.; the rest omit this first that.
The qu's read flechuent.

* W. conjectures foil, but puts it not in his text.

f So the qu's; the rest fetch for bring.

All but the qu's omit ho!

h The qu's read mifcreant for ancient.

i The 2d q. reads unreverent.

* The qu's read imployments.

The qu's read fhould for fhall.

ni The fo's and R. read respects.
The qu's read stopping for stocking.

Corn. Fetch forth the ftocks;

As I have life and honour, there fhall he fit till noon.

Reg. Till noon? till night, my lord, and all night too, Kent. Why, madam, if I were your father's dog,

You could not use me fo.

Reg. Sir, being his knave, I will.

[Stocks brought qus,

Corn. This is a fellow of the 9 felf fame nature.

Our fifter fpeaks of. Come, bring away the ftocks.
Glo. Let me befeech your grace not to do fo;

Are punish'd with; the king must take it ill
That y he, fo flightly valued in his messenger,
Should have him thus reftrain'd.

Corn. I'll answer that.

Reg. My fifter may receive it much more worse,

H. omits and honour.

The fo's and R. read fhould not.

The 2d q. omits felf.

The fo's and R. read colour for nature;

་

• The ift q. reads fpeake.

t P. and H. omit come.

u What is in italic is omitted in the fo's and R.

w The qu's read temneft; P. and the rest the meanest : but the particle the does not read fo well before meanest, unlefs it had been placed before baseft too; and which Shakespeare would have done in this cafe, notwithstanding a foot of three fyllables would have occurred. Besides, bosest and meanest are fynonymous terms: contemnedft is the confequence of basest.

x The fo's and R. read the king his master needs must take it ill, &c.

So the 1st and 2d fo's; the qu's, and 3d and 4th fo's read he's for he, which led R. to read to have in the next line for fhould have; followed by P. and M.

H. reads yet much worse.

To

a

To have her gentleman abus'd, affaulted,

For following her affairs. Put in his legs

[Kent is put in the stocks.

[Exeunt Reg. and Corn.

VII.

Glo. I am forry for thee, friend; 'tis the duke's pleasure, Whofe difpofition, all the world well knows,

Will not be rubb'd nor ftopt. I'll intreat for thee.

e

Kent. Pray, do not, fir. I've watch'd and travell'd hard; Sometime I shall fleep out, the rest I'll whistle. A good man's fortune may grow out at heels.

Give you good morrow.

Glo. The duke's to blame in this, 'twill be ill f taken.

[Exit.

Kent. Good king, that must approve the common 8 saw, h Thou out of heav'n's benediction com'st

To the warm fun!

i Approach, thou beacon to this under-globe, [Looking up to

a The ift १. reads gentlemen.

b The fo's and R. omit this line.

So the ift q. all the reft omit good.

the moon.

d This is called Scene VI. in P. and H. they alfo call the foregoing Scene the VIth, miscounting to the end of this act.

e The 1ft q. reads ont for out.

f The qu's read tooke for taken.

& An old proverbial saying, applied to those who are turned out of house and home, deprived of all the comforts of life excepting the common benefits of the air and fun. H...

h For thou F. reads that, in no edition before.

i Thefe lines from approach to reme lies are omitted in H.'s text, as not Shakespeare's.

That by thy comfortable beams I may

k

Peruse this letter. Nothing almoft fees miracles,

But mifery, 'I know.-'Tis from Cordelia, [Opening the letter. Who hath most fortunately been inform'd

m

Of my obfcured courfe- and fhall find time [Reading parts

n

From this enormous ftate feeking to give

of the letter.

Loffes their remedies.-All weary and o'er-watch'd,

Take 'vantage, heavy eyes, not to behold

This fhameful lodging.

Fortune, good night; fmile once more; turn thy wheel.

SCENE

[He peeps.

VIII.

Changes to part of a heath,

Enter Edgar.

Edg. I heard myself proclaim'd;

And, by the happy hollow of a tree,

Escap'd the hunt. No port is free, no place,

That guard and most unusual vigilance

P Does not attend my taking. Whiles I may 'fcape,

I will preferve myself, and am bethought

* The qu's read my wracke for miracles.

In the qu's there is a comma after mifery, and no stop after I know; in all the rest there is a period after mifery.

m R. and all after but J. read I for and. This in italic is fuppofed by all the editors to be a continuation of Kent's speech, except J. who puzzles, and does not know what to make on't.

n R. and all after but F. read and feck for feeking.

• The qu's read I hear; the 4th f. and R. I bave heard; all the reft I've beard.

The qu's read doft.

To take the bafeft and a moft poorest shape,

That ever penury in contempt of man

Brought near to beaft. My face I'll grime with filth,
Blanket my loins, elfe all my hair in knots;

And with prefented nakedness out-face

u

The winds and perfecutions of the sky.

The country gives me proof and precedent

Of Bedlam beggars, who, with roaring voices,
Strike in their numb'd and mortify'd bare arms
Pins, wooden pricks, nails, sprigs of rosemary,
And with this horrible object, from low w farms,
Poor * pelting villages, fheep-coats and mills,
Sometimes with lunatic bans, fometimes with prayers,
Inforce their charity. Poor Turlygad, poor Tom!
That's fomething yet. Edgar I nothing am.

So all before P. he and all after the for moft.

[Exit.

So the ft f.; the qu's and 2d f. read else for elfe; the 3d and 4th fo's put; followed by R. and P. See T. in loc. and H.'s Glossary, to elfe, i. c. to intangle in fo intricate a manner that it is not to be unravelled; like elfe locks, fuppofed the work of fairies.

• The three firft fo's read hairs.

The qu's for in read with; which feems to be taken from the foregoing line, with filth.

u The qu's read wind and perfecution.

w The qu's read fervice for farms.

* Perhaps pedling; or it may fignify cottages thinly fcattered. This was my first idea of pelting, till Warburton drove it out of my head: but I refume it again, believing it to be Shakespeare's own idea.

So the qu's, fo's, R. and P.'s quarto; H. Turlurù; all the rest Turly good; W. thinks it fhould be Turlupin, a new fpecies of gypfics in the 14th Contury.

SCENE