So bless thee,
master!]] The passage in crotchets is omitted in the folio, because I
suppose as the story was forgotten, the jest was lost.
IV.i.68 (432,1) Let the superfluous and lust-dieted man] Lear has before
uttered the same sentiment, which indeed cannot be too strongly
impressed, tho' it may be too often repeated.
IV.i.69 (432,2) That slaves your ordinance] [W: braves] The emendation
is plausible, yet I doubt whether it be right. The language of
Shakespeare is very licentious, and his words have often meanings remote
from the proper and original use. To _slave_ or _beslave_ another is to
_treat_ him _with terms of indignity_; in a kindred sense, to _slave the
ordinance_, may be, to _slight_ or _ridicule_ it.
IV.ii.1 (433,1) our mild husband] It must be remembered that Albany, the
husband of Gonerill, disliked, in the end of the first act, the scheme
of oppression and ingratitude.
IV.ii.29 (434,5) I have been worth the whistle] This expression is a
reproach to Albany for having neglected her; _though you disregard me
thus_, I have been worth the whistle, _I have found one that thinks me
worth calling_. (1773)
IV.ii.35 (435,9) From her maternal sap] [W: material] I suppose no
reader doubts but the word should be _maternal_. Dr. Warburton has taken
great pains without much success, and indeed without much exactness of
attention, to prove that _material_ has a more proper sense than
_maternal_, and yet seemed glad at last to infer from an apparent error
of another press that _material_ and _maternal_ meant the same.
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