Hard Knots in Shakespeare

t is true that there are no dots in the Folios, nor any traces of any interruption; but the want of a finite verb, the prolongation of the metre, and a supposed harshness of rhythm, have led editors to conclude with Theobald?an excellent, but not an infallible judge?that the metrical chain has been broken: accordingly the Duke's opening address is thus presented to us: Of government the properties to unfold, Would seem in me to affect speech and discourse ; Since I am put to know that your own science Exceeds, in that, the lists of all advice My strength can give you : then no more remains But that to your sufficiency as your worth is able. Most readers will acquiesce in this arrangement, without stopping to consider whether it is right ornot. But the critic may not be so compliant. It is his business to strike out the conjectural dots, and try how the two fragmentary halves will read, as they appear in the Folios, as a whole. And this is what first strikes us, that the line of the Folios will scan; the rhythm may be a little harsh and jumping, but not more so than in a number of other lines, which are found in Shakespeare, the soundness of which has never been contested. As for the line being an Alexandrine, that can be no solid ground for rejecting it, Alexandrines being a recognized portion of Shakespearian versification. If, however; we are pressed to assign a reason for one being introduced here, we might plead that it conveys with more t...