It pleas'd the king his master very a late
To strike at me upon his misconstruction,
When he conjunct, and flattering his displeasure,
Tript me behind; being down, insulted, rail'd,
And put upon him such a deal of man, c that
That worthied him; got praises of the king,
For him attempting who was self-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. Bring forth the stocks, & ho!
You stubborn 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 serve the king;

On whose imployment I was sent to you,

You I shall do small m respect, shew too bold malice

Against the grace and person of my master,
Stocking his messenger.

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

The fo's and R. read compact for conjunt.

• 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.

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

• All but the qu's omit ho!

h The qu's read miscreant for ancient.

i The ad q. reads unreverent.

* The qu's read imployments.

1 The qu's read should for shall.

The fo's and R. read respects.

• The qu's read stopping for stocking.

Corn. Fetch forth the stocks;

*

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

1

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

[Stocks brought ouk,

Reg. Sir, being his knave, I will.

Corn. This is a fellow of the & self fame nature Our fifter fpeaks of. Come, bring away the ftocksw Glo. Let me beseech your grace not to do so'; * His fault is much, and the good king his master Will check him for't. Your purpos'd low correctioni contemned'st wretèhes common trespasses,

Is fuch, as bafest and
For pilf rings and most

dre punish'd with; the king must take it ill

That y he, fo flightly valued in his messenger,
Should have him thus restrain'd...

1.::

7

Reg. My fifter may receive it much more worse,

H. omits and honour.

The fo's and R. read should not.

The 2d q. omits feif.

The fo's and R. read colour for naturez

The ift q. reads Speake..

P. and H. omit come.

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

1.1

::

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

* The fo's and R. read the king his master needs must take it ill, &c. Y So the ist and ad fo's; the qu's, and 3d and 4th fo's read he's for be, which led R. to read to have in the next line for fhould have; followed by P.

H. reads yet much worfe.

To

To have her a gentleman abus'd, affaulted,

For following her affairs. Put in his legs- [Kent is put in

Come, my good lord, away.

SCENE

the stocks.

[Exeunt Reg. and Corn.

VII.

Glo. I am forry for thee, friend; 'tis the duke's pleasure,

Whose disposition, all the world well knows,

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

Kent. Pray, do not, fir.

I've watch'd and travell'd hard;

Sometime I shall sleep 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 faw,

Thou out of heav'n's benediction com'st

To the warm fun!

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

the moon.

The

q. reads gentlemen.

i

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

So the ist q. all the reft omit good.

d This is called Scene VI. in P. and H. they alfo call the foregoing Scene

the VIth, mifcounting to the end of this act.

* The 1st q. reads ont for out.

The qu's read tooke for taken.

5 An old proverbial faying, 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 thos J. reads that, in no edition before.

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

That by thy comfortable beams I may

Peruse this letter. Nothing almost sees * miracles,

But misery, I know. -'Tis from Cordelia, [Opening the letter.

Who hath most fortunately been inform'd

Of my obfcured course- and shall find time [Reading parts of the letter.

From this enormous state-seeking to give

Loffes their remedies. All weary and o'er-watch'd,
Take 'vantage, heavy eyes, not to behold

This shameful lodging.

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

SCENE

[Не Леерѕ.

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

? Does not attend my taking. Whiles I may 'scape, 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 reft there is a period after misery.

mR. and all after but J. read I for and. This in italic is supposed 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 J. read and feek for feeking.

• The qu's read I hear; the 4th f. and R. I have heard; all the rest I've

heard.

P The qu's read doft.

To

To take the basest and a most poorest shape,
That ever penury in contempt of man

Brought near to beast. My face I'll grime with filth,
Blanket my loins, elfe all my hair in knots;
And with presented nakedness out-face
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, sheep-coats and mills,
Sometimes with lunatic bans, sometimes with prayers,
Inforce their charity. Poor Turlygod, poor Tom!
That's fomething yet. Edgar I nothing am.

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

[Exit.

+ So the ist f.; the qu's and ad f. read elfe for elfe; the 3d and 4th fo's

put; followed by R. and P. See T. in loc. and H.'s Gloffary, to elfe, i. s. to intangle in so intricate a manner that it is not to be unravelled; like elfe

T

locks, supposed the work of fairies.

The three first fo's read bairs.

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

The qu's read wind and perfecution,

The qu's read fervice for farms.

* Perhaps pedling; or it may signify cottages thinly scattered. 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 Turlygood; W. thinks it should be Turlupin, a new species of gypsies in the 14th fontury.

SCENE