The works of Thomas Middleton, Volume 4 (of 5)
act v.
# 180:
_reading_] By this direction we are to understand, perhaps, that John is looking on a paper which he afterwards gives to Constanza (“this paper tells you more,” p. 128); for, surely, the rhyming lines now spoken by him are a soliloquy.
# 181:
_ennoble_] Old eds. “enable.”
# 182:
_keep_] Old eds. “keeps.”
# 183:
_float_] i. e. flow, flood.
# 184:
_conjure_] Old eds. “conjures.”
# 185:
_temption_] Altered by the editor of 1816 to “temptation;” and, I believe, with similar inconsiderateness, by myself, in a prose passage of one of the preceding plays, though I cannot recollect where.
# 186:
_and_] Qy. “of?”
# 187:
_fegary_] i. e. vagary.
# 188:
_Of the sweet voyage_, &c.] Here the editor of 1816, “to complete the measure,” prints,
“Of the sweet voyage [that] he stole to-night;”
and a little after,
“You’re i' the right, [it was] not you indeed;”
but I apprehend that the speeches of Roderigo, “You’re pleasant,” and “Not I,” make up the lines.
# 189:
_lin’d_] Qy. “lim’d?”
# 190:
_I have_, &c.] The editor of 1816, boldly deviating from the old eds., gives,
“I have observ’d him often to frequent The sports the gipsies newly come present;”
which, as he thinks, “improves the measure without affecting the sense.”
# 191:
_pullen_] i. e. poultry.
# 192:
_the arts of Cocoquismo and Germania_, &c.] Alvarez proceeds to explain his meaning; but I may just observe that _Cocoquismo_ should perhaps be _Cacoquismo_, formed from the Spanish _caco_, a pickpocket (unless indeed it has some affinity with the phrase _hacer cocos_, to wheedle), and that _Germania_ signifies, in that language, the jargon of the gipsies: see Neuman’s _Span. and Engl. Dict._ in vv.
# 193:
_pickaroes_] i. e. rogues.—“_Picaro_, knavish, roguish,” &c. Neuman’s _Span. and Engl. Dict._ in v.
# 194:
_foisting_] See note, vol. ii. p. 544.
# 195:
_defy_] i. e. reject, renounce.
# 196:
_teniente_] “_Teniente de una compania_, lieutenant of a company.” Neuman’s _Span. and Engl. Dict._ in v.
# 197:
_Madrill_] See note, p. 104.
# 198:
_grandees_] Old eds. “grandos,” which, perhaps, the author wrote.
# 199:
_We shall ... short_] One speech in old eds., with the prefix “_Both._”
# 200:
_tweezes_] i. e. tweezers.
# 201:
_marvedi_] Or _maravedi_—“an extremely small [copper] Spanish coin.” Editor of 1816.
# 202:
_blank_ “_Blanquilla_, doit, a very small coin.” Neuman’s _Span. and Engl. Dict._ in v.—_Blanks_ “are said to be coins struck by Henry V. in France, of baser alloy than sterling [silver], and running for eightpence. They were called Blanks or Whites from their colour.” Ruding’s _Ann. of the Coinage_, vol. ii. p. 8, ed. 4to.
# 203:
_pullen_] i. e. poultry.
# 204:
_Valladolid ... Cordova_] Old eds. “Vallidoly ... Cordica.”
# 205:
_Rochelle_] “In the time of our poets, seems to have been a general asylum for those persecuted Protestants who knew not where to go; and Alvarez intimates that the whole world was equally open to people of their description, who had no settled home.” Editor of 1816,—whether rightly or not, I cannot determine.
# 206:
_sack-buts_] See the same play on the meanings of the word—_musical instruments_ and _buts of sack_—in vol. i. p. 177.
# 207:
_the_] Editor of 1816, “thee.”
# 208:
_bubbers_] Which Nares (_Gloss._ in v.) would alter to “lubbers”—is (see Grose’s _Class. Dict. of Vulg. Tongue_, in v.) a vulgarised form of _bibbers_, Constanza having used the word _butt_ in the double sense of _mark_ and _liquor-vessel_.
# 209:
_gave aim_] See note, vol. ii. p. 335. The editor of 1816 wrongly follows the reading of ed. 1661, “give.”
# 210:
_a parrot ... almond_] See note, vol. iii. p. 112.
# 211:
_woman’s_] Old eds. “womens.”
# 212:
_try that conclusion_] i. e. make that experiment.
# 213:
_alcumy_] Or _alchemy_—a sort of base mixed metal (supposed originally to have been formed by the alchemist). Compare vol. ii. p. 249, “here be the tavern beakers, and here peep out the fine _alchemy knaves_.”
# 214:
_in musses_] “i. e. to make a scramble of.” Editor of 1816.
# 215:
_sakers_] “A species of hawk.” Editor of 1816.
# 216:
_Thyself_] A MS. addition in copy of the first 4to: see note, p. 109.
# 217:
_None but myself_, &c.] Here the editor of 1816 thinks that “perhaps the performer who personated Pretiosa [Constanza] had before met with applause in Antonio, the character in _The Changeling_ that gives name to the piece.”
# 218:
_come aloft_] See note, vol. iii. p. 112.
# 219:
_cogs_] i. e. teeth of the wheels.
# 220:
_cummin-seeds_] Were used for luring pigeons to a dove-cote.
# 221:
_mother Bumby_] Or _Bomby_—was a _wise_ or _cunning woman_ of great celebrity, who told fortunes, cast waters, &c. Lilly wrote a comedy called _Mother Bombie_ (first ed. 1594), in which she figures.
# 222:
_yon_] Old eds. “you.”
# 223:
_San. Hum, hum_] A MS. addition in copy of the first 4to: see note, p. 109.
# 224:
_nuncle_] i. e. uncle—contracted from _mine uncle_.
# 225:
_Alv. And of as long a style_] A MS. addition in copy of the first 4to: see note, p. 109.
# 226:
_be_] Old eds. “been.”
# 227:
_do you wish me blind_] “The whitish spots in the eye, arising from the small pox or other causes, and occasioning blindness, are still frequently called pearls.” Editor of 1816.
# 228:
_rhymes_] A MS. correction in copy of the first 4to: see note, p. 109. Old eds. “crime.”
# 229:
_then_] A MS. addition, ibid.
# 230:
_Soto. Do, master, and I'll run division behind your back_
# 231:
_maunders_] “i. e. speaks obscurely [rather,—whines], as beggars do. [See note, vol. ii. p. 536.]” Editor of 1816.
# 232:
_Const., Car., &c._] Old eds. “Omnes.”
# 233:
_thy_] Old eds. “thee.”
# 234:
_a pistolet_] A play on the word—which meant both a small coin and a small pistol.
# 235:
_Alv., Car., &c._] Old eds. “Omnes.”
# 236:
_told_] Qy. “trowed?”
# 237:
_task_] Old eds. “taste” and “tast.”
# 238:
_turn gipsy_] “Vincent and Hilliard are required by Rachel and Meriel, in the _Jovial Crew_ of Brome, to give a similar proof of their affection.” Editor of 1816. If there be any imitation in the case, it is on the part of Brome.
# 239:
[_heaven with_] So the editor of 1816. There is certainly some imperfection in the line.
# 240:
_Mar._] Old eds. “Ped.”
# 241:
_Here comes, &c._] To this line old eds. prefix DIE., which in copy of the first 4to (see note, p. 109) is rightly drawn through with a pen.
# 242:
_when_] The editor of 1816 follows the reading of ed. 1661, “then.”
# 243:
_cast_] i. e. couple: see Gifford’s note on B. Jonson’s _Works_, vol. iii. p. 447, and my note on Webster’s _Works_, vol. iv. p. 295.
# 244:
_without his cloak, &c._] See p. 125.
# 245:
_How, &c._] Given to “_Soto_” in old eds.
# 246:
_beg me for a fool_] See note, vol. iii. p. 16.
# 247:
_cony-catched_] i. e. cheated, deceived: see vol. i. p. 290.
# 248:
_haut_] i. e. high, lofty: “to brave his enemy in the rich and _lofty Castilian_ [tongue].” Dekker’s _English Villanies_, &c. sig. M 4, ed. 1632.
# 249:
_brave_] A play on the word—fine.
# 250:
_cloth_] Improperly altered by the editor of 1816 to “clothes.”
# 251:
_maps_] i. e. mops.
# 252:
_in Rome, I'll go to him with a mortar_ “The clown in Fletcher’s _Fair Maid of the Inn_, act v. sc. 2, makes use of a similar expression: ‘He did measure the stars with a false yard, and may now _travel to Rome with a mortar on’s head_, to see if he can recover his money.’ On this Mason observes, ‘One class of presidents in the parliament of Paris were styled _présidents à mortier_, for a cap they wore resembling in shape a mortar.’” Editor of 1816. See also Cotgrave’s _Fr. Engl. Dict._ in v. _mortier_; but in this expression, which seems to have been proverbial, does _mortar_ mean a cap? “So that methinkes I could flye to Rome (at least hop to Rome, as the olde Prouerb is) with a morter on my head.” _Dedicatory Epistle_ to _Kemps nine daies wonder_, 1600.
# 253:
_woods_] Old eds. “wookes.”
# 254:
_marvedi_] See note, p. 119.
# 255:
_larks_] So editor of 1816. Old eds. “_markes_.”
# 256:
_cog_] See note, p. 67.
# 257:
_the elephant and camels_] The writer thought only of London, where such shows were much followed: see Gifford’s notes on B. Jonson’s _Works_, vol. ii. pp. 149, 152; and Chalmers’s _Suppl. Apol._, p. 208.
# 258:
_vild_] i. e. vile—a form common in our old authors.
# 259:
_about_] Qy. “above?”
# 260:
_Madrill_] See note, p. 104.
# 261:
_Who are_] A MS. addition in copy of the first 4to: see note, p. 109. The editor of 1816 supplied “But who are.”
# 262:
_gaberdines_] i. e. coarse loose frocks.
# 263:
_tiring-house_] i. e. the dressing-room—in theatrical language.
# 264:
_do our tops_, &c.] Qy. ought Alvarez and his companions to enter before these words?
# 265:
_Alv. Gui., &c._] Old eds. “Omnes.”
# 266:
_grandees_] Old eds. “grandoes:” see note, p. 119.
# 267:
_San._ [_sings_] I suspect that only a portion of this song should be assigned to Sancho.
# 268:
_threading-needles_] “_Thread my needle_ is yet a common sport; and to this, probably, the song alludes.” Editor of 1816.
# 269:
_ging_] i. e. gang: see note, vol. ii. p. 532.
# 270:
_Mull-sack_] A familiar contraction: so “mull-wines,” vol. i. p. 391.
# 271:
_Peter-see-me_] A corruption of _Pedro-Ximenes_: see note, vol. iii. p. 213.
# 272:
_noul_] i. e. noddle, head.
# 273:
_fox_] “i. e. intoxicate.” Editor of 1816.
# 274:
_A garden_, &c.] See note, p. 154.
# 275:
_quarrels_] Old eds. “families.”—“I have no doubt the printer caught the word from the preceding lines.” Editor of 1816.
# 276:
_his_] Old eds. “he.”
# 277:
_Mar._] Old ed. “Al.”
# 278:
_in your t’other hose_]—_hose_, i. e. breeches—a sort of proverbial expression: compare vol. i. p. 262, and B. Jonson’s _Tale of a Tub_;
“We robb’d in St. John’s wood! _In my t’other hose!_” _Works_ (by Gifford), vol. vi. p. 164.
# 279:
_report_] Ed. 1661, “a report.”
# 280:
_Madrill_] See note, p. 104.
# 281:
_trow_] i. e. think you.
# 282:
_Yes, sure_, &c.] To this line, which in old eds. forms part of Francisco’s speech, the prefix “_Joh._” is added with a pen in copy of the first 4to: see note, p. 109.
# 283:
_As hotly_, &c.] To this line in old eds. is prefixed “Ans.” i. e., perhaps, the _Answer_ of those who form the rear.
# 284:
_Ped_.] Old eds. “Ro.”
# 285:
_father_] Old eds. “fathers.”
# 286:
_need_] Old eds. “needs.”
# 287:
_have_] Old eds. “hath.”
# 288:
_Gui. Car., &c._] Old eds. “Omnes.”
# 289:
_and_] i. e. if.
# 290:
_we’d_] Old eds. “hee’d.”
# 291:
_your_] Qy. “you?” compare p. 145, 3d line from bottom.
# 292:
[_straightway_] Inserted by the editor of 1816.
# 293:
_Sir_] A MS. correction in copy of the first 4to: see note, p. 109. Old eds. “For.” The editor of 1816 makes “For she’s past the worst” the conclusion of Louis’s speech.
# 294:
_You shall not part_, &c.] The audience, it seems, was to suppose that, after Francisco (p. 152) had said, “With your favour, We will attend you home,” the scene had changed to the neighbourhood of Fernando’s house!
# 295:
_alablaster_] See note, vol. i. p. 281.
# 296:
_Thy griefs grow wild_] So editor of 1816. Old eds. “The _griefs grow_ wide.”
# 297:
_Azevida_] A MS. correction in copy of the first 4to: see note, p. 109. Old eds. “Azeutda.”
# 298:
_Madrill_] See note, p. 109.
# 299:
_a wife, young lady_] The editor of 1816 strangely follows the reading of ed. 1661, “_a_ wise _young lady_.”
# 300:
_style_] Old eds. “stiles.”
# 301:
_crucifix_] See p. 108.
# 302:
_one_] Qy. “son?”
# 303:
_What I have suffer’d, what thou ought’st to do_] “I cannot but believe that the line that should follow this has been lost.” Editor of 1816.—I see no reason for believing so.
# 304:
_Sir_] Qy. “Sit?”
# 305:
_gules_] i. e., in heraldic language, red.
# 306:
_This_] The editor of 1816 prints “Thy.”
# 307:
_Night_] Old eds. “Might.”
# 308:
_Alv., Gui., &c._] Old ed. here and afterwards, “_All._”
# 309:
_mutton_] See note, vol. iii. p. 102.
# 310:
_Muly Crag a whee_] A corrupted name probably, used with a quibble.
# 311:
[_sings_] Had there not been a “Chorus” (in old eds. “_Omnes_”), I should have supposed that the rhyming lines in this initiation-scene were spoken, not sung.
# 312:
_best_] Qy. “left?”
# 313:
_leman_] i. e. mistress.
# 314:
_Now mark_, &c.] Before these words in the old eds. is a direction (printed as part of the verse), “_Teach him how_,” merely intended for the actor who played Alvarez,—not, as the editor of 1816 thinks, “a direction to the other gipsies to instruct Don John how he is to perform the directions of their chief.”
# 315:
_Car._] Old eds. “_Cla._”
# 316:
_hey-de-guize_] A kind of rural dance—a word variously spelt, and of doubtful etymology.
# 317:
_lopes_] i. e. leaps.
# 318:
_wench_] Qy. “wrench?” Compare Sir John Davies’s _Orchestra, or a Poeme of Dauncing_;
“Such winding sleights, such turns and tricks he hath, Such creeks, such _wrenches_, and such dalliaunce.” St. 53.
# 319:
_growt_] a corruption of _great_.
# 320:
_because the beast is corn-fed_] “This seems so odd a reason why the elephant could not go, that I believe we should read, ‘is _not_ fed.’” Editor of 1816.—But does not _corn-fed_ mean, even in the present day, fattened up? and, perhaps, there is a quibble— _cornified_ (having corns).
# 321:
_Jack[s]-in-boxes_ I have to regret that the following passage does not well admit of abridgment: “This Jacke in a Boxe, or this Diuell in mans shape, wearing (like a player on a stage, good clothes on his backe) comes to a Goldsmiths Stall, to a Drapers, a Habberdashers, or into any other shoppe, where he knowes good store of siluer faces are to be seene. And there drawing foorth a faire new boxe, hammered all out of Siluer plate, he opens it, and powres forth twenty or forty Twenty-shillings pieces in new Gold. To which heape of worldly temptation thus much hee addes in words, that either he himselfe, or such a Gentleman (to whom he belongs) hath an occasion for foure or fiue dayes to vse forty pound. But because he is very shortly (nay he knowes not how suddenly) to trauaile to Venice, to Jerusalem or so, and would not willingly bee disfurnished of Gold, he doth therefore request the Citizen to lend (vpon those Forty Twenty-shilling pieces) so much in white money (but for foure, or fiue, or sixe dayes at the most) and for his good will he shall receiue any reasonable satisfaction. The Citizen (knowing the pawne to be better then a Bond) powreth downe forty pound in siluer: the other drawes it, and hauing so much gold in hostage, marcheth away with Bag and Baggage. Fiue dayes being expired, Jacke in a Boxe (according to his bargaine) beeing a man of his word, comes againe to the shop or stall, (at which he Angles for fresh Fish) and there casting out his line with a siluer hooke, that is to say, powring out the forty pound which he borrowed. The Citizen sends in, or steppes himselfe for the Boxe with the Golden Deuill in it: it is opened, and the army of Angels being mustered together, they are all found to be there. The Boxe is shut againe and set on the stall whilest the Citizen is telling of his mony: But whilest the musicke is sounding, Jacke in a Boxe actes his part in a dumbe shew thus; he shifts out of his fingers another Boxe of the same mettall and making that the former beares, which second Boxe is filled only with shillings, and being poized in the hand, shall seeme to carry the weight of the former, and is clap’d downe in place of the first. The Citizen in the meane time (whilest this Pitfall is made for him) telling the forty pounds, misseth thirty or forty shillings in the whole summe, at which the Jacke in a Boxe starting backe (as if it were a matter strange vnto him) at last (making a gathering within himselfe for his wits) he remembers, he sayes, that he layd by so much money as is wanting (of the forty pounds) to dispatch some businesse or other, and forgot to put it into the bag againe; notwithstanding, he intreats the Citizen to keepe his Gold still, he will take the white money home to fetch the rest and make vp the summe, his absence shall not bee aboue an houre or two: before which time hee shall bee sure to heare of him, and with this the little Deuil vanisheth carrying that away with him which in the end will send him to the Gallowes, (that is to say, his owne Gold) and forty pound besides of the Shop-keepers which he borrowed, the other being glad to take forty shillings for the whole debt, and yet is soundly boxt for his labor.” _English Villanies_, &c., sig. H, ed. 1632.
# 322:
_cozen fools with gilt rings_ “You haue another kind of Lifter, or more properly a cunning night shifter, and it is thus: You shall haue a fellow that in an euening or night time, or some time at noone dayes, as hee likes the company and sorts his opportunity, that will wilfully drop sometime a spoone, other while a ring or else some peece of coyned money, as the likenes of gold and siluer, and so spurning it afore them in the view of others, to the end they should cry halfe part; which he taking hold of, sayth, nay by my troth, what will you giue me and take it all? and so some greedy fooles offer thus much, thinking it gold, which the Lifter takes as knowing it counterfeit, and so are they cunny-caught.” Dekker’s _Belman of London_, sig. G 4, ed. 1608.
# 323:
_Not_] Ed. of 1816, “Rot,” mistaking for an _r_ the broken _n_ of ed. 1661.
# 324:
_such a motion as the city Nineveh_] See note, vol. i. p. 229.
# 325:
_black_] May be the right reading: but qy. “back?”
# 326:
_Car._] Old eds. “_Cla._”
# 327:
_mall’d_] So written for the rhyme.
# 328:
_all to-be-dabbled_ A writer in the additions to Boucher’s _Gloss._ (new ed. in v. _All_) has well observed, that in such expressions as this it is a mistake to suppose that _all_ is coupled with _to_, and that it becomes equivalent to _omnino_ from being thus conjoined: the _to_ is connected with the following participle as a prefix.
# 329:
_dill_] i. e., perhaps, darling: see Nares’s _Gloss._ in v. _Dilling_, and Moor’s _Suff. Words_ in v. _Dills_; or, perhaps, another form of _dell_—see note, vol. ii. p. 538.
# 330:
_Jet_] i. e. strut.
# 331:
_bravery_] i. e. finery.
# 332:
_like_] i. e. please.
# 333:
_young_] A MS. correction in copy of the first 4to, see note, p. 109, and so the editor of 1816. Old eds. “younger.”
# 334:
_reals_] “_Real_, a Spanish sixp_Guide into Tongues_ in v.—“A coin worth forty maravedis.” Neuman’s _Span. and Engl. Dict._ in v.
# 335:
_since_] A MS. correction _ubi sup._, and so the editor of 1816. Old eds. “sinne,” and “sin.”
# 336:
_a striker_] A quibble:
“nor was old Laïs liker Unto herselfe then shee is to _a striker_.” Brathwait’s _Honest Ghost_, 1658, p. 167.
The word is more frequently applied to the dissolute of the other sex: note, vol. ii. p. 454.
# 337:
_arm_] A MS. correction _ubi sup._ Old eds. “army,” which the editor of 1816 vainly endeavoured to explain.
# 338:
_See they_, &c.] Given to “_Al._” in first ed. by a mistake, which is corrected in ed. 1661.
# 339:
_not like a pantaloon_] “i. e. represent him in the full possession of his strength and mental faculties, and not like a feeble old man. ‘The lean and slipper’d pantaloon’ of Shakespeare will occur to every reader.” Editor of 1816.
# 340:
_canaries_] A quick and lively dance: see note, vol. iii. p. 39.
# 341:
_jet_] i. e. strut.
# 342:
[_pleasures_] Compare p. 172, last line; but I am by no means confident that I have supplied the right word.
# 343:
_property_] i. e. in theatrical language, a thing necessary for the scene.
# 344:
_Take you pepper in the nose_] “i. e. if you be captious and ready to take offence.” Editor of 1816.
# 345:
_like an owl_, &c.] “To look like an owl in an ivy-bush” is a proverbial expression: see Ray’s _Proverbs_, p. 61, ed. 1768. A tuft or bush of ivy was formerly hung out at the door of a vintner.
# 346:
_marvedi_] See note, p. 119.
# 347:
_Hold his nose_, &c.] i. e. “confine him to a short allowance.” Editor of 1816.
# 348:
_case_] i. e. pair.
# 349:
_anon, anon_] “Was the reply of the waiters [drawers] when called, as sufficiently appears in act ii. sc. iv. of the _First Part of Henry IV._” Editor of 1816.
# 350:
_ningle_] i. e. intimate, favourite: see note, vol. ii. p. 498.
# 351:
_Alv._] Old eds. “An.”
# 352:
_visitation_] Ed. 1661, “visitations.”
# 353:
_Madrill_] See note, p. 104.
# 354:
_Exit Sancho_] So the editor of 1816: but I suspect a misprint in the words “Away you.” It is necessary, however, that Sancho should quit the stage: see p. 180.
# 355:
_haberdine_] See note, p. 64.
# 356:
_I make buttons_] Compare vol. i. p. 135 and note.
# 357:
_Madrill_] See note, p. 104.
# 358:
_sell_] A MS. correction in copy of the first 4to: see note, p. 109. Old eds. “see.”
# 359:
_she_] A MS. correction _ubi sup._ Old eds. “how.”
# 360:
_lannard_] “Or laner, is a species of hawk.” Editor of 1816.
# 361:
_sin_] Old eds. “sins.”
# 362:
_stamp_] So ed. 1661. First ed. “stamps.”
# 363:
_fall_] Old eds. “full.”
# 364:
_flow_] Old eds. “flew.”
# 365:
_storm_] Ed. 1661, “storms.”
# 366:
_Sir, I am_, &c.] Qy.
“_Sir, I'm not So poor_ in spirit _to put this injury up_?”
Six lines after, the metre is imperfect.
# 367:
_lovely_] So MS. correction in copy of the first 4to: see note, p. 109. Old eds. “lively.”
# 368:
_sweet_] A MS. correction _ubi sup._ Old eds. “sir.”
# 369:
_here sit they_] A MS. correction _ubi sup._ First ed. “he _sit they_.” Ed. 1661 has only “_they sit_.”
# 370:
_white_] Qy. for the metre, “whiter”? The double comp. was common: “his _more braver_ daughter.” Shakespeare’s _Tempest_, act ii. sc. 1.
# 371:
_it_] Old eds. “_it_ is.”
# 372:
_sometimes heard_] A MS. correction _ubi sup._, which the editor of 1816 had anticipated. Old eds. “_some_thing hard.”
# 373:
_friends_] Qy. “friend”?
# 374:
_First promise_, &c.] The editor of 1816 gives the line thus: “First, promise me [that] you will get reprieve;” but the preceding “Despatch!” makes up the measure.
# 375:
_Madrill_] See note, p. 104.
# 376:
_Scene II. A field_] Old eds. have only “_Ex. at one dore, Enter presently at the other_” (a stage-direction which occurs again in _The Changeling_]: as there was no moveable painted scenery (see notes, vol. ii. pp. 142, 147, and pp. 29, 111, 154, of this vol.), the audience was to suppose that, on the re-entrance of Alvarez and Louis, the stage represented a field.
# 377:
_scurvily_] A MS. correction in copy of the first 4to: see note, p. 109. Old eds. “securely.”
# 378:
_age_] A MS. correction _ubi sup._ Old eds. “rage;” which the editor of 1816 altered to “rags.” Compare _The Old Law_;
“Take hence that _pile of years_.” Vol. i. p. 31.
# 379:
_transform_] Old eds. “transforms.”
# 380:
_disgest_] Frequently used for _digest_ by our old writers.
# 381:
_assur’d_] i. e. affianced.
# 382:
_Fran., Ped., &c._] Old eds. “_Omnes._”
# 383:
_Me thine_] For these words the editor of 1816 rashly substituted “And me,” observing, in a note, “‘Me thine’ is the reading of the quartos; but as Francisco and Fernando both address Don John, the change was, I think, necessary to make sense of the passage.” Fernando evidently addresses Constanza, and taking her hand, gives it to John.
# 384:
_Fran., Rod., &c._] Old eds. “_Omnes._”
# 385:
_you be_] Qy. “be you.”
# 386:
_bent knees_] Here, of course, the performers were to kneel—perhaps, to pray, according to the old custom: see note, vol. ii. p. 418.
# 387:
_Malta_ “Yet his [Alsemero’s] thoughts ran still on the Wars, in which Heroick and Illustrious profession he conceived his chiefest delight and felicity; and so taking order for his Lands and affairs, he resolves to see Malta, that inexpugnable Rampier of Mars, the glory of Christendome and the terrour of Turkey, to see if he could gain any place of command and honour either in that Island or in their Gallies ... and so building many Castles in the air, he comes to Alicant, hoping to find passage there for Naples, and from thence to ship himself upon the Neapolitan Gallies for Malta.” Reynolds’s _Triumphs of God’s Revenge against Murther_, p. 34, ed. 1726.—See note, p. 205.
# 388:
_buy a gale_, &c.] “It has been observed by Steevens, in a note on _Macbeth_, act i. sc. 3, that the selling of winds was an usual practice amongst the witches,” &c. &c. Editor of 1816.
# 389:
_inclination to travel_] Old ed. “inclinations to travels.”
# 390:
_There’s one_, &c.] So editor of 1816: old ed.;
“Oh there’s one above me, sir, for five dayes past.”
# 391:
_you must stale_] “The quartos [there is but one 4to: see note, p. 205] read ‘you must _stall_,’ and it may be understood for _forestall_; I have no doubt, however, that the right word is restored. So Montaigne, in the _Unnatural Combat_ of Massinger,