181LT Critical Remarks 071 Shakespeare, 9.2$ 
t 
apparently is, that if he be not hurt, his 
body is a carcass through which any thing 
may pass without injuring it. 
Ibid) Scene 5.—“Each of us fell in 
praise of our mistresses, this gentleman 
vouching, and upon warrant of bloody 
eifirmution) his to be more fair, virtuous, 
ivise, chaste, constant, &c. than any the 
rarest of our ladies in France.” 
Shakespeare, who paid infinitely more 
attention to the drawing and colouring 
than to the keeping of his dramatic paint¬ 
ings, has here advanced a thousand years 
forward into the ages of chivalry and.ro- 
mancco 
——— -Most miserable 
Is the desire that’s glorious; blessed be those.. 
How mean soe’er, that have their honest 
wills 
Which seasons comfort. Ibid. Scene 7, 
The meaning of the last words. Dr. 
Warburton says, is, Who are beholden 
only to the seasons for their support, &c.” 
Dr. Johnson, justly dissatisfied with this 
gloss, proposes to read “ with reason’s 
comfort.” But Mr. Steevens renders all 
change unnecessary, by explaining the 
passage thus, Miserable are those who 
indulge aspiring thoughts: and blessed 
are they, how mean soever their condi¬ 
tion, who have the power of gratifying 
their honest inclinations, which circuin- 
stance bestows an additional relish on 
comfort itself.” This is undoubtedly 
right. I’or the use of the verb “ seasons,” 
Mr. Steevens quotes Alburaazar, *‘'The 
memory of misfortunes past seasons the 
welcome.” A still more decisive autho¬ 
rity may be found in the Merchant of 
A^enice, Act. IV, “Earthly power shews 
then most like to the divine, when mercy 
seasons justice.” 
•-1 am sure 
She could not lose it, her attendants are 
All sworn and honorable—They induc’d to 
steal it ! 
And by a stranger? No. Act IL Scene 4. 
Dr. Warburton acutely and judiciously 
observes that in this passage the ab¬ 
surd conclusions of jealousy are admira¬ 
bly painted and exposed. Posthumus, 
on the credit of a bracelet and an oath 
of the party concerned, judges against all 
appearances from the intimate knowledge 
of his wife^s honour, thqt she was false to 
his bed; and giounds that judgment at 
i^ast upon much less appearances of the 
honour of her atte,ndants.” 
It may be likewise added that the con- 
fluct of Posthuinus, as prompted by those 
^onclusioiis, and exhibited in the pro- 
Mag. JN q. 2If. 
gress of the fable, is no less extravagant; 
for if Imogen had really been “ false to 
his bed,” what probability was there that 
she should yield that implicit obedience 
to his wishes as transmitted by Pisanio, 
which could be the result only of the 
purest and tenderest affection.? 
Good wax thy leave! blest be 
bees that make these locks q£ counsel; 
lovers 
And men in dangerous bonds pray not alike. 
Though ferrfeiters you cast in prison, yet 
You cl^sp young Cupid’s tables. 
Act 111. Scene 2. 
Imogen fancifully remarks that lovers and 
men in dangerous bonds will not join in 
the same benediction ; for wax is to these 
the source of misery, by giving efficacy 
to the bonds which deprive them of li¬ 
berty, but to those of happiness by secu¬ 
ring under the seal of secrecy that free 
communication of thought, which could, 
in the language of Eloisa, 
Speed the soft intercourse from soul to soul. 
And waft a sigh from Indus to the Pole. 
I agree with Dr. Johnson and Mr. Stee< 
vens that the character of Cloten is not 
well preserved. He is repeatedly styled 
a fool, an ass. Belarius says, “ he was 
scarce made up to man,” and it is af¬ 
firmed of him “ that he can’t take two 
from twenty for his life and leave eigh¬ 
teen. This is certainly not to be inferred 
from the general tenor of his conduct and 
conversation. lie is depictured as igno¬ 
rant, conceited, rude, and vulgar, but 
not deficient in natural understanding, 
except in the two or three first scenes, in 
which he displays, not rnerely pride and 
ill-breeding, but an intellect of the lowest 
class. This the following short and 
humourous quotation will sufficiently 
evince. 
1 Lord. There’s an Italian come, and ’tis 
thought one of Leonatus’s friends. 
C/of. Leonatus I a banished rascal, and he’s 
another, whatsoever lie be.-—Who 
told you of this stranger ? 
1 Lord. One of your lordship’s pages. 
C/ot. Is it fit 1 went to look upon him ? Is 
there no derogation in it ? 
J Lord. You cannot derogate, my lord. 
Clot. Not easily, I think^Conie, 1 will go 
see this Itaiian. 
After all, though the designs of Cloteri 
against Imogen and Postiiumus prove 
abortive, the traits of his character are 
too odious for comic delineation. To 
the striking beauties of this dramatic ro¬ 
mance, Dr. Johnson has not done suffi¬ 
cient justice, though it must be acknow¬ 
ledged, that the severity of his censures 
