LIER'S folio of 1632. These proposed are not,
however, there, or I would not have troubled you, though it is many months
since I first altered the reading of my copy. {52}

_Taming of the Shrew,_ Act V. Sc. 2.--On the exit of Katharina to "fetch"
in the disobedient wives, Lucentio remarks:

"_Luc._ Here is a wonder, if you talk of a wonder.

_Hort._ And so it is. I wonder what it bodes.

_Pet._ Marry, peace it bodes, and love, and quiet life,
_An awful_ rule, and right supremacy;
And, to be short, what not that's sweet and happy."

For "an awful rule" I propose to substitute _and lawful rule_, as agreeing
better with the text and context; indeed, the whole passage indicates it.
Petruchio means that the change in Katharina's temper and conduct bodes
love, peace, law, and order, in contradistinction to awe or fear. The
repetition of the conjunction _and_ also makes the harmony of the language
more equal; "and love, and quiet life, and lawful rule, and right
supremacy," rings evenly to the ear. Considering the number and character
of the emendations in MR. COLLIER'S volume, I have the less hesitation in
proposing this one. The language of Shakspeare is, as we know it, for the
most part so clear, harmonious, distinct, and forcible, that I think we are
justified in considering any obscure, inconsistent, or harsh passage, as
having met with some mishap either in hearing, transcribing, or in
printing. Some months ago, and certainly before MR. COLLIER'S volume of
corrections appeared, I forwarded to "N. & Q." (it never appeared) a
correction from _Antony and Cleopatra_, Act V. Sc. 2., where Cleopatra,
contemplating suicide, says it is--

"To do that thing that ends all other deeds,
Which shackles accidents, and bolts up change;
Which sleeps, and never palates more the dung.
The beggar's nurse and Caesar's."

The word "dung" ending the third line, was so evidently _dug_, or nipple,
that I thought no man to whom it was pointed out could have a doubt about
it. MR. COLLIER remarks in his recent volume, "This emendation may, or may
not, have been conjectural, but we may be pretty sure it is right." I doubt
if MR. COLLIER would have accepted any authority other than that of his own
folio, although Shakspeare has frequently used the word _dug_ as a synonym
for nipple, as see _Romeo and Juliet_, Act I. Sc. 3.:

"_Nurse._ And she was wean'd,--I never shall forget it,--
Of all the days of the year, upon that d