NOTE XI.
[IV. 10. 14.] By comparing this scene as it stands in the Quartos with that of the Folios it will appear that Shakespeare, in remodelling it, intended that Iden should be alone when he encountered Cade, as his first speech is evidently a soliloquy; and after he has killed Cade he disposes of the body with his own hands. Shakespeare omitted, however, to strike out the reference to the ‘five men’ in line 36.
Steevens who brought the servants on the stage forgot to send them off it. The mistake remained uncorrected down to Mr Dyce’s first edition.
Another example of Shakespeare’s incomplete alteration of the Quarto has been pointed out by Malone at V. 1. 56.