Leeds.
_Mr. J. Payne Collier's "Notes and Emendations."_--There can be no doubt
that many of these emendations are rational and judicious; but I cannot
help thinking, _on the whole_, that MR. COLLIER has rather overrated their
value, and placed too implicit faith in the infallibility of his unknown
guide. At all events, there is not a shadow of authority given for any one
of the corrections, and we have therefore a full right to try them, as the
lawyers would say, "upon the merits;" or, in other words, to treat them as
mere speculative alterations, and to adopt or reject them, as may appear
advisable in each particular case. It is difficult to conjecture what can
have been the position in life, or the occupation of this mysterious
annotator. That his pursuits were not purely literary, I think is plain:
first, from the very circumstance of his not authenticating any of his
notes, which a literary inquirer would certainly have done; and, secondly,
from the very minute attention which is paid to the _business_ of the scene
and the movements of the actors. These considerations, coupled with the
fact of his frequently striking out whole passages of the text (which a
literary enthusiast would _not_ have done), would at first lead us to
suppose that the writer was a theatrical manager, and that the alterations
were made to suit either the fancies, or perhaps the peculiar
qualifications of certain performers. But in this case one can hardly
suppose that the remarks would have extended to more than a certain number
of plays, which were most frequently acted. Thus much, however, appears
certain, that the commentaries are rather those of an _habitual play-goer_,
than of a studious critic; and it will be easy to show that a great portion
of the new readings he proposes are really changes _for the worse_, while a
still larger number are at least unnecessary! I shall content myself with
only a few instances, on this occasion, as I am unwilling to encroach too
far on your space; but I can easily multiply them, if I am encouraged to
renew the subject.
In the first place, I differ from MR. COLLIER entirely as to the famous
passage from _Henry VIII._, p. 324., which he brings so prominently forward
as to give it special notice in his Introduction. To me, I confess, the
phrase--
"To steal from spiritual _labour_ a brief span,"
appears quite tame and poor in comparison with
"To steal from spiritual _leisure_ a brief span,"
and, moreover, destroys all the poetry of the thought. Nor can I see the
slightest difficulty in the _sense_ of the original passage. The king means
to say that Wolsey cannot steal from the _little leisure_ afforded him by
his spiritual labours "a brief span, to keep his earthly audit:" and surely
this is much more poetical than the substituted passage.