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this unbolted villain into mortar, and daub the wall of a jakes with him. Spare my grey beard? you wagtail!

Corn. Peace, Sirrah!

You beastly knave, know you no reverence?
Kent. Yes, Sir, but anger hath a privilege.
Corn. Why art thou angry?

Kent. That fuch a flave as this should wear a fword,
Who wears no honesty. Such smiling rogues as these,
Like rats, oft bite the holy cords in twain
Too 'intrinficate t'unloofe; footh every pasion,

this unbolted villain] i. e. unrefined by education, the bran yet in him. Metaphor from the bakehouse. WARBURTON. * Like rats, oft bite the holy cords atwaine,

Which are t'intrince, t'unloose ;) Thus the first Editors blundered this Paffage into unintelligible Nonfenfe. Mr. Pope so far has difengaged it, as to give us plain Sense; but by throwing out the Epithet holy, 'tis evident, that he was not aware of the Poet's fine Meaning. I'll first establish and prove the Reading; then explain the Allusion. Thus the Poet gave it:

Like rats, oft bite the holy
Cords in twain,

Too intrinficate t'unloose. -This Word again occurs in our Authour's Anony and Cleopatra, where she is speaking to the Afpick:

Come, mortal wretch;
With thy sharp Teeth this knot
intrinficate

Of Life at once untie.

And we meet with it in Cynthia's Revels by Ben. Johnson.

E.4

That

Yet there are certain punctilios.. or, as I may more nakedly infinuate them, certain intrinticate Strokes and Words, to which your Activity is not yet amounted, &c.

It means, inward, hidden, perplext; as a Knot, hard to be unravell'd; it is deriv'd from the Latin adverb intrinfecus; from. which the Italians have coin'd a very beautiful Phrafe, intrinfi carfi col une, i. e. to grow intimate with, to wind one self into another. And now to our Author's Sense. Kent is rating the Steward, as a Parafite of Gonerili's; and supposes very juftly, that he has fomented the Quarrel betwixt that Princess and her Father: in which office he compares him to a facrilegious Rat; and by a fine Metaphor.. as Mr Warburton observ'd to me, ftiles the Union between Parents and Children the bely Cords.

THEOBALD.

Like rats, oft bite the holy cords in tawain

Too intrinficate t'unloofe :-] By these boly cords the Poet means the natural union between va

rents

That in the nature of their Lords rebels,
Bring oil to fire, snow to their colder moods,
Renege, affirm, and turn their halcyon beaks
With ev'ry Gale and Vary of their matters,
As knowing nought, like dogs, but following.
A plague upon your epileptick visage!
Smile you my fpeeches, as I were a fool?
Goofe, if I had you upon Sarum-plain,
I'd drive ye cackling home to Camelot.
Corn. What art thou mad, old fellow?
Glo. How fell you out? Say that.
Kent. No contraries hold more antipathy,

Than I and fuch a knave.

Corn. Why dost thou call him knave? What is his

fault?

Kent. His countenance likes me not. -

Corn. No more, perchance, does mine, nor his,

nor hers.

Kent. Sir, 'tis my occupation to be plain;

I have seen better faces in my time,
Than stand on any shoulder that I fee
Before me at this instant:

Corn. This is fome fellow,

Who having been prais'd for bluntness, doth affect
A fawcy roughness; and + conftrains the garb,
Quite from his nature. He can't flatter, he!
An honeft mind and plain, he must speak truth;

rents and children. The meta-
phor is taken from the cords of
the fanctuary; and the fomenters
of family differences are com-
pared to these facrilegious rats.
The expreffion is fine and noble.

WARBURTON.

-epileptick visage!] The frighted countenance of a man ready to fall in a fit.

3-Camelot] Was the place where the romances fay, King Aribur kept his court in the weit;

fo this alludes to some proverbial specchin those romances. WAR B

In Somersetshire near Cameier are many large moors, where are bred great quantities of geefe, fo that many other places are from hence supplied with quills and feathers. HANMER.

4 --constrains the garb Quite from bis nature.] Forces his outside or his appearance to something totally different from his natural difpofition.

*

An

An they will take it so; if not, he's plain....
These kind of knaves I know, which in this plainness
Harbour more craft, and more corrupter ends,
5 Than twenty filly ducking obfervants,
That stretch their duties nicely.

Kent. Sir, in good faith, in fincere verity,
Under th' allowance of your grand aspect,
Whose influence, like the wreath of radiant fire
On flickering Phæbus front

Corn. What mean'st by this?

Kent. To go out of my dialect, which you difcom-> mend fo much. I know, Sir, I am no flatterer; he, that beguil'd you in a plain accent, was a plain knave; which for my part I will not be, * though I should win your difpleasure to intreat me to't

Corn. What was th' offence you gave him?
Stew. I never gave him any.

It pleas'd the King his master very lately;
To strike at me upon his misconstruction,
When he conjunct, and flatt'ring his displeasure,...
Tript me behind; being down, infulted, rail'd,
And put upon him fuch a deal of man, that
That worthied him; got praises of the King,

$ Than twenty SILLY ducking obfervants.] The epithet SILLY cannot be right. 1st, Becaufe Cornwall, in this beautiful speech, is not talking of the different fuccefs of these two kind of parafites, but of their different corruption of heart. 2. Because he says these ducking obfervants know how to stretch their duties nicely. I am perfuaded we should read,

Than twenty SILKY ducking obfervants,

Which not only alludes to the garb of a court sycophant, but admirably well denotes the fmoothness of his character. But

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For him attempting who was self-fubdu'd;
And, in the fleshment of this dread exploit,
Drew on me here again.

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

Corn. Fetch forth the Stocks.

You stubborn ancient knave, you 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 imployment I was sent to you.
You shall do small respect, shew too bold malice
Against the grace and person of my master,
Stocking his messenger.

Corn. Fetch forth the Stocks;

As I have life and honour, there shall he sit 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 out.

Corn. This is a fellow of the self-fame nature Our fister speaks of. Come, bring away the Stocks. 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 correction Is such, as basest and the meaneft wretches For pilf'rings, and most common trespasses, Are punish'd with; the King must take it ill, That he, so slightly valued in his messenger, Should have him thus restrain'd. Corn. I'll answer that.

Reg. My Sister may receive it much more worfe,

To have her Gentleman abus'd, afsaulted,

For following her affairs. Put in his legs

[Kent is put in the Stocks.

Come, my Lord, away. [Exeunt Regan and Cornwall. SCENE

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Glo. I'm forry for thee, friend. 'Tis the Duke's

pleafure,

Whose disposition, all the world well knows, • Will not be rubb'd nor stopp'd. I'll intreat for thee. Kent. Pray, do not, Sir. 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 taken, [Exit.

Kent. Good King, that must approve the common

Saw,

That out of heaven's benediction com'st
To the warm fun!

Approach, thou beacon to this under-globe,

[Looking up to the moon.

That by thy comfortable beains I may

Peruse this letter. Nothing almost sees miracles,

But misery. I know, 'tis from Cordelia,

6

[Reading the letter.

Who

Will not be rubb'd nor ny places for travellers. Those
stopp'd-] Metaphor from houses had names properly e-
WARB.nough alluded to by Heaven's
Benediction.

bowling.

1 Good King, that must approve the common Saw,] That art now to exemplify the common proverb,

That out of, &c.

That changest better for worse. Hanmer obferves, that it is a proverbial saying, applied to those who are turned out of house and home to the open weather. It was perhaps first used of men dismissed from an hofpital, or house of charity, such as was erected formerly in ma

$ I know, 'tis from Cordelia, &c.] This passage, which some of the editors have degraded, as spurious, to the margin, and others have filently altered, I have faithfully printed according to the quarto, from which the folio differs only in punctuation. The passage is very obfcure, if not corrupt. Perhaps it may be read thus: - Cordelia-has been-informed

:

Of

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