Act I. Scene 3.—Helena says—
"You know my father left me some prescriptions
Of rare and proved effects, such was his reading
And manifest experience."
Read "manifold," says the corrector; and Mr Collier adds, "we may safely admit the emendation." Retain the old reading, say we; "manifest" means sure, well-grounded, indisputable, and is much more likely to have been Shakespeare's word than "manifold."
Act III. Scene 2.—The countess, comforting Helena, who has been deserted by Bertram, says—
"I pr'ythee, lady, have a better cheer,
If thou engrossest all the griefs are thine,
Thou robb'st me of a moiety."
"The old corrector," says Mr Collier, "tells us, and we may readily believe him, that there is a small but important error in the second line. He reads—
"If thou engrossest all the griefs as thine
Thou robbest me of a moiety.'"
The small but important error here referred to is committed by the old corrector himself. The countess, to give her words in plain prose, says—if you keep to yourself all the griefs which are thine, you rob me of my share of them. The context where the countess adds—
"He was my son,
But I do wash his name out of my blood,
And thou art all my child,"
seems to have misled the old corrector. He appears to have supposed that the countess had griefs of her own, occasioned by the conduct of her son Bertram, and that she protests against Helena's monopolising these together with her own. This is the only ground on which "as" can be defended. But the answer is, that although the countess may have had such griefs, she was too proud to express them. She merely expresses her desire to participate in the afflictions which are Helena's. This is one of the innumerable instances in which Shakespeare shows his fine knowledge of human nature. Whatever grief a proud mother may feel on account of a disobedient son, anger is the only sentiment which she will express towards him. The word "as," however, had the countess used it, would have been equivalent to an expression of grief, and not merely of indignation; and therefore we strongly advocate its rejection, and the retention in the text of the word "are."
Act IV. Scene 2.—The following is a troublesome passage. Diana says to Bertram, who is pressing his suit upon her—
"I see that men make ropes, in such a scarre,
That we'll forsake ourselves."
This is the old reading, and it is-manifestly corrupt. Rowe, the earliest of the variorum editors, reads—
"I see that men make hopes, in such affairs,
That we'll forsake ourselves."
Malone gives "in such a scene" for "in such a scarre." The MS. corrector proposes "in such a suit." Mr Singer says "that it is not necessary to change the word scarre at all: it here signifies any surprise or alarm, and what we should now write a scare." We agree with Mr Singer; and, following his suggestion, we give our vote for the following correction—
"I see that men make hopes, in such a scare
That we'll forsake ourselves."
That is, I see that men expect that we (poor women) will lose our self-possession in the flurry or agitation, into which we are thrown by the vehemence of their addresses.
Act V. Scene 1.—We willingly change the received stage direction, "enter a gentle astringer"—a most perplexing character certainly—into "enter a gentleman, a stranger," as proposed by the old corrector, who, in this case, corrects like a human being.
Act V. Scene 3.—To change the fine expression
"Natural rebellion done in the blade of youth."
into "Natural rebellion done in the blaze of youth," is to convert a poeticism into a barbarism. "The blade of youth" is the springtime of life. Besides, there is an affinity between the word "natural" and the word "blade," which proves the latter to have been Shakespeare's expression.
If "all was well that ended well," as the title of this play declares to be
