SO. Page 378. ELDER LOVELESS........ Only the elder has the prouder dowry. Rich alike means, both of them rich, not equally Page 385. ELDER LOVELESS........ You are a thousand women of her in worth. The old reading is of ber, which is wrong; but the only amendment necessary is to read off instead of of. You are a thousand women off her. That is, distant from her. Page 386. ELDER LOVELESS........ I'll not remember you, &c: That is, I will not recal to your remembrance. Page 386. ELDER LOVELESS........ Rather than her that hath forsook her family, And put her tender body in my hand. Upon my word.. The pointing of this passage proves that the Editors did not comprehend the meaning of it. It should be pointed thus-- Rather than her, that hath forsook her friends, And put her tender body in my hands, Upon my word. That is, depending on my word. Page 389. SAVILLE............ My eldest son is half a rogue already: By a rogue Saville means a beggar; à profession for which, he says, his son is half qualified by his natural deformity. Page 390. MORECRAFT.... Thou hadst land and thousands, which thou spen'st, The Editors have introduced the word which into this passage, as requisite both to the sense and metre; but no metre was intended, and the sense is better without it, as the mode of expression corresponds more nearly with Morecraft's manner of stating his own situation, which he compares with that of Loveless. Page 390. YOUNG LOVELESS............ The word persevere is generally spelt in the old plays without the e final, and the accent is always laid on the second syllable. Page 390. MORECRAFT....` 'Till I have a penny. That is, Whilst I have a penny. So in Pericles, Prince of Tyre, the King says-- At whose conception, 'till Lucina reign'd, In which passage the word till means whilst, or while. On the other hand, while is used by the old writers to express till: so, in Wit with several Weapons, Pompey says-- I'll lie under your bed while midnight. g And Simonides, in Mossinger's Old Law, says-- I'll trust you while your father's dead. That is, until he be dead. The words are used indiscriminately for each other, and are both expressed in Latin by the same word, donce. Page 394. LADY....... I would have vexed you more than a tired post-horse, And been longer bearing than ever after-game at Irish was. When I first read this passage, I imagined that by the after-game at Irish was meant the aftergame at backgammon; but there is a passage in Howel's Letters which induces me to think that Irish and Backgammon were two distinct games. In a letter to Mr. G. Stone, No. 68 of the second volume, he says-- Your father tells me that he finds you are so wedded to the Italian and French, that you utterly neglect the Latin tongue; that is not well. Though you have learned to play at backgammon, you must not forget Irish, which is a serious game: but I know you are so discreet in the course and method of your studies, that you will make the daughters to wait upon the mother, and still love your old friend. Perhaps Irish was what we now call Trictrac, Page 396. YOUNGER LOVELESS............ Bless you, and then I'll tell. Bless you means, bless yourself. Page 398. ELDer Loveless............ Alluding to the game of Barley-break. We should probably read, either the Sun's in Gemini, or the sign is Gemini. VOL. II. THE CUSTOM OF THE COUNTRY. Page 6. ARNOLDO............ You are dispos'd. This is not an imperfect sentence. You are disposed means, You are disposed to be merry. So, in Wit without Money, Valentine says-- I'll keep you waking, Widow. To which she replies-- You are disposed, sir. The same expression occurs in many other plays. Page 11. ARNOLDO............ When your poor servant lives but in your favour, But in your favour, means, Except in your favour. Page 13. CHARINO............. Nor did I touch your person With any edge of spite, or strain your loves No amendment is wanting in this passage, though both Theobald and Sympson propose the reading of stain instead of strain, which cannot be admitted; for to stain with persuasions would be nonsense. The last Editors adhere to the text; but mistake the import of the word strain, which does not mean to thwart or torture, as they suppose, but merely to constrain or force against their natural bent. So, in the 76th page, Zabulen says-- What power or will Over her beauty have you now, by violence To constrain her love? Page 15. ZENOCIA............. Empire, and most imperious Love, alone Rule, and admit no rival. Theobald says, and the last Editors seem to agree with him, that this is a fine translation of the following sentiment in Ovid's Metamorphoses-- Non bene conveniunt, nec in una, sede morantur But every reader, who understands the quotation, will immediately perceive that there is not the slightest resemblance between the two passages. Ovid means to say, that the dignity and reve |