He shall be found, and such a way of justice Queen of Corinth. i. e. such justice. "Probably," say the editors, "we should read weight of justice; way is very flat." "If we can wipe out Valentinian. The way of your offences, we are yours, sir.” i. e. your offences. "To wipe out the way," the same editors again remark, "seems a strange phrase; stain, we apprehend, will be allowed a better word: yet we should not have substituted it," (they actually foist it into the text) "had we not been persuaded that the old reading was corrupt."! And thus our best poets are edited! It is unnecessary to proceed any further :-indeed I should have been satisfied with fewer examples, had not my respect for Shakspeare made me desirous of disencumbering his page, by ascertaining beyond the possibility of cavil, the meaning of an expression so long and o laboriously agitated. To return to Macbeth: the sere and yellow leaf is the commencement of the winter of life or of old age; to this he has attained, and he laments, in a strain of inimitable pathos and beauty, that it is unaccompanied by those blessings which render it supportable. As his manhood was without virtue, so he has now before him the certain prospect of an old age without honour.' On a passage in The Fatal Dowry, (Act 2. Sc. 2.) we have this note: you shall see him in the morning in the Galley-foist, at noon in the Bullion, in the evening in Quirpo, &c.] I know not what to make of this passage. Mr. M. Mason thinks the places here mentioned were taverns; it is full as likely that they were houses of pub. lick resort for some kind of amusement. Our old writers give the name of galley foist to the lord mayor's barge; but I see not how this, or any other of the city barges, can be meant here. Bullions are noticed by Jonson ; and in a manner that seems to determine them to be receptacles for thieves or gamblers: "While you do eat, and lie about the town here, And cozen in your Bullions." The Devil's an Ass. Of Quirpo I can find no mention, and am therefore compelled to leave it, with the rest, to the reader's better judgment.' Both Mr. M. Mason and Mr. Gifford are probably mistaken here, We think that these are neither taverns nor places of public resort, resort, but the names of the different dresses which were put on this dressing block. The passage runs thus: "The other is his dressing block, upon whom my lord lays all his clothes and fashions ere he vouchsafes them his own person: you shall see him in the morning in the Galley-foist, at noon in the Bullion, in the evening in Quirpo, and all night in"-"a bawdy-house" says Malotin, interrupting the former speaker. What the gal ley-foist was, we do not know: perhaps, some morning dress. The bullion was probably the rich or laced suit, an idea which the quotation from Jonson rather favours; and even now the rich pendant parts of the epaulette and of some other laced ornaments are called bullions: in the evening, the Block was again stripped of this, and reduced to his close jacket, the Quirpo or Cuerpo, and was thus in a state of preparation to pass the remainder of the night in the place to which Malotin dismisses bim. On some occasions, Mr. Gifford leaves his author's meaning obscure where a very slight alteration would render him intelligible. Such is a passage in The Bondsman, Act 5. Sc. 3. "Is my high birth a blemish? Or does my wealth, which all the vain expence The last line we would read thus, The honours I can call my own, thought scandals?" "While you, to whose sweet innocence both Indies Sophia.If I am so rich, or In your opinion, why should you borrow What is the or here? Either it is superfluous, or the phrase is elliptical, and some other words are omitted; as-"or am so." Although we perfectly agree with Mr. Gifford that, in some of the editions of our old poets, particularly Shakspeare, the volumes are overloaded with useless notes, we cannot avoid thinking that he has run into an opposite extreme, and has been too sparing of information where it was really required. Expressions and allusions frequently occur in Massinger, which, though clear to those who are versed in the writings. of our old poets, may require to be explained to others. Such, perhaps, are the following: To take Unnatural Combat. A say of venison or stale fowl." that is, assay-to make an examination or tryal of it. "I am jelly within already, and without Parliament of Love. "If you've a suit, shew water; I am blind else." Maid of Honour. "I will not have you feed like the hangman of Flushing Was it peculiar to the hangman New Way to pay old Debts. of Flushing to feed alone? "When a young lady wrings you by the hand, thus, Looks babies in your eyes," &c. Renegado. With regard to this passage, Mr. Gifford perhaps thought that the readers of Massinger would not be at a loss for the meaning of the metaphorical expression, Looks babies in your eyes; or perhaps he chose not to attempt any explanation of it. It may indeed be considered by many connoisseurs in these amorous glances, as sufficiently obvious that Massinger here meant an invitation to that mysterious intercourse which the appearance of little tell-tales would afterward explain: but the words have been considered by others as alluding to those looks in which the Lover traces the miniature of himself in the pupil of his mistress's eye; and on this idea we recollect that a literary friend of ours composed a few stanzas, in which he has made a neat and, we think, a poetical allusion to this expres sion : "Oh Lady, from whose lips the sweetest sounds, Oh no! th' inviting smile that o'er them plays, To read my sentence in that half-raised eye! We cannot close our review of this edition of Massinger's Plays, without expressing our obligations to Mr. Gifford for the pains which, in particular, he has bestowed on The Parliament of Love; a comedy now first printed from a manuscript in the possession of Mr. Malone. This is certainly a piece of great merit, and cannot be otherwise than applauded, though with commendation requiring numerous and great abatements: the principal of which must be on the score of the strain of indelicacy which runs throughout it, and which is interwoven in its very texture.-The poet, however, deserves much praise for his skill in the conduct of his play, and for many of his sentiments, as well as for the language in which they are conveyed. We certainly must rejoice in the recovery of this comedy, as it affords real pleasure to the reader, while it adds to the fame of the writer. To each of these plays is affixed a short critical inquiry into its merits, written by Dr. Ireland*; and subjoined to The Old Law, an eloquent and masterly delineation of Massinger's character' is given by the same hand. These, we are happy to say, in the words of Mr. Gifford, will be received with peculiar pleasure, if precision, vigour, discrimination, and originality, preserve their usual claims to esteem.' ART. II. The Principles of Botany, and of Vegetable Physiology SING PP. 512. 10s. 6d. INCE Professor Willdenow's new edition of Linné's Species Plantarum, though still unfinished, bears ample testimony to the extent and accuracy of his botanical knowlege, we opened this elementary volume with more than ordinary expectations. In one important respect, namely, in a greater variety of valuable information, it certainly possesses a decided advantage over similar publications, which have from time to time appeared in our own country: but logical precision has not uniformly presided over the exposition and distribution of his materials. In the first section of the Introduction, a very inadequate definition is given of Natural Philosophy, or Physics, which is said to be that science which teaches the properties of elements.' The distinctions of the three kingdoms of Nature, founded on the presence or absence, and on the duration or decay of the organs of reproduction, are scarcely more satisfactory, because, in a great many instances, the existence of these organs cannot be easily ascertained.-The remainder of the Introduction is occupied with directions for forming an Herbarium, and with definitions of certain technical terms: the former of which are too short to be of much practical utility, and might with propriety have been detailed in a conclude ing section of the work, while the latter should have been incorporated with the explanation of terms. Prebendary of Westminster, and Vicar of Croydon in Surrey. The The Treatise itself is divided into eight parts, viz. Terminology, Classification, Botanical Aphorisms, Nomenclature, Physiology, Diseases of Plants, History of Plants, and History of the Science. It is obvious that this divison of the subject is by no means strictly philosophical. Nomenclature is only the detailed expression of Classification; Botanical Aphorisms are the principles on which both are founded; and the Diseases and History of Plants appertain to their Physiology. The Uses of Plants, on the contrary, might have formed a separate and important section: but these are wholly overlooked. 1. The title of the Professor's first division is a word of bybrid origin, which we could therefore wish to discard from our language. Under this head, nearly the whole range of botanical phraseology is explained with suitable precision and perspicuity; and, for the most part, in conformity with the Linnéan definitions: but there is an obvious inaccuracy in stating the stem (caulis) as a genus, having under it several species, of which the stem or caulis is the first mentioned. The terms applicable to the stems of mosses are inserted with great propriety; though we can scarcely approve of the new application of seta, since it may give rise to ambiguity. The removal of frond from the Trunk to the Leaves is a very justifiable innovation: but the species of Fulcra, or Props, are very superfluously multiplied, and are represented as including bulbs, gems, and involucra. M. Willdenow's exposition of the fructification and other parts of plants comprizes various terms relative to the class Cryptogamie, which had not yet found their way into other works of a similar description, and for which the student will feel duly indebted to the author. We see no good reason, however, for substituting theca, which had already a determinate signification, instead of capsula. Utriculus and Samara are assumed from Gærtner as species of pericarp, to which are added pepo, lomentum, and some others, though Gartner's improved division of pericarps is passed unnoticed. The new terms introduced by Hedwig form part of the explanations. 2. Having briefly stated the necessity of systematical arrangement, the learned author indicates a few of the most obvious natural families of plants, and then proceeds to a concise exposition of the methods constructed by Caesalpinus, Morrison, Hermann, Ray, Camellus, Rivinus, Tournefort, Linné, &c. That of the illustrious Swedish naturalist is, unfortunately, too compressed; and though the names of Batsch and Jussieu are mentioned, we are not favoured even with an outline of their arrangements: an omission for which it is not easy to devise an apology. 3 3. The |