the double merit of agreeing with the
sense of the passage and be similar in the number and form of the letters,
nothing can be more unfortunate than the correction of "princely;" Mr.
Collier, on the other hand, follows Steevens and Malone, and reads
"princely," observing the Tieck's reading ("precise") "sounds ill as
regards the metre, the accent falling on the wrong syllable. Mr. Collier's
choice is determined by the _authority_ of the second folio, which he
considers ought to have considerable weight, whilst Mr. Knight regards the
authority of that edition as very trifling; and the only point of agreement
between the two distinguished recent editors is with respect to Warburton's
word "priestly," which they both seem to think nearly conveys the meaning
of the poet.

I have over and over again considered the several emendations which have
been suggested, and it seems to me that none of them answer all the
necessary conditions; namely, that the word adopted shall be (1.) suitable
to the reputed character of Angelo; (2.) an appropriate epithet to the word
"guards," in the reply of Isabella above quoted; (3.) of the proper metre
in both {402} places in which the misprint occurred; and (4.) similar in
appearance to the word "prenzie." "Princely" does not agree with the sense
or spirit of the particular passage; for it is extremely improbable that
Claudio, when confined under sentence of death for an absurd and
insufficient cause, would use a term of mere compliment to the man by whom
he had been doomed. "Precise" and "priestly" are both far better than
"princely;" but "precise" is wholly unsuited to the metre in both places,
and "priestly" points too much to a special character to be appropriate to
Angelo's office and position. It may also be remarked, that both "princely"
and "priestly" differ from the number and form of the letters contained in
"prenzie."

The word which I venture to suggest is "PENSIVE," a word particularly
applicable to a person of saintly habits, and which is so applied by Milton
in "Il Penseroso:"

"Come, pensive nun, devout and pure,
Sober, stedfast, and demure."

The word "pensive" is stated by Dr. Johnson to mean "sorrowfully
thoughtful, sorrowfully serious," or melancholy; and that such epithets are
appropriate to the reputed character of Angelo will be seen from the
following extracts:

"I implore her, in my service, that she make friends
To the strict deputy."--_Claudio_, Act I.