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, act iv. sc. ii.:
[i. e. “render flat, deprive it of zest by previous intimation.” Gifford ad loc.] And many other places.” Editor of 1816.
392. of] Old ed. “or.”
393. What] Old ed. “And what.”
394. ingredience] Compare p. 88, 1. 14. Old ed. “ingredian.”
397. your castle] “He [Vermandero] being Captain of the castle of that City [Alicant].” Reynolds’s Triumphs of God’s Revenge against Murther, p. 34, ed. 1726.—See note, p. 205.
398. promonts] i. e. promontories.
399. iulan down] i. e. the first tender down (Gr. ἴουλος)—a somewhat pedantic expression. Old ed. has “Julan;” and the editor of 1816, thinking that the word was a dissyllable, and that it contained an allusion to the beard of the emperor Julian, printed “[the] Julan,” &c.
400. Whose death I had reveng’d, &c. “Boyling thus in the heat of his youthful blood, and contemplating often on the death of his father, he [Alsemero] resolves to go to Validolyd, and to imploy some Grandee either to the King or the Duke of Lerma his great favourit, to procure him a Captains place and a Company under the Arch-Duke Albertus, who at that time made bloody Wars against the Netherlands, thereby to draw them to obedience: But as he began this sute, a general truce of both sides laid aside Arms, which (by the mediation of England and France) was shortly followed by a peace, as a Mother by the Daughter; which was concluded at the Hague by his Excellency of Nassaw and Marquess Spinold, being chief Commissioners of either party.” Reynolds’s Triumphs of God’s Revenge against Murther, p. 34, ed. 1726.—See note, p. 205.
401. this] Qy. “his.”
402. toy] i. e. trifle.
405. pelt] i.e. skin.
406. Assure] Old ed. “Assures.”
407. these] Old ed. “this.”
408. Shrewd application] “The ‘shrewd application’ meant is, I conceive, to that perpetual jest of the age, the cuckold’s horns; which Lollio supposes might raise Alibius’s head above his wife’s.” Editor of 1816.
409. ward] i. e. guard—(in fencing).
410. pluck a rose] See Grose’s Class. Dict. of Vulgar Tongue, in v. Pluck.
411. the] Old ed. “his.”
412. able] i. e. warrant, answer for.
413. what state] “i. e. as a keeper of fools and madmen.” Editor of 1816.
414. true] “i. e. honest.” Editor of 1816.
415. go] Old ed. “goes.”
416. parlous] A corruption of perilous,—dangerously shrewd.
417. we three] “Antonio probably alludes to the old sign of two idiots' heads, with an inscription,
Perhaps the allusion is to some song.
418. crag] i. e. neck.
419. go] Old ed. “goes.”
420. wire] i. e. whip.
421. parmasant] i. e. Parmesan cheese: compare Ford’s Works, vol. i. p. 148, ed. Giff.
422. plucks] Old ed. “pluckt”
423. Garden-bull] The allusion is to Paris Garden in Southwark, where both bears and bulls were baited.
424. their] So the editor of 1816. Old ed. “his.”
425. She helps, &c.] “The reading of the quartos [there is but one 4to: see note, p. 205]—
not only destroys the measure, but obscures the sense.” Editor of 1816.—See notes 241 and 244, vol. ii. p. 134.
426. and] i. e. if.
427. bring] Old ed. “brings.”
428. condition] i. e. quality.
429. prun’d yourself] i. e. beautified yourself, improved your looks. Birds (hawks especially) are said to prune themselves when they pick, oil, and set in order their feathers.
430. so amorously] i. e. so much an object of love. Compare Epigrams and Satyres, by Richard Middleton, 1608;
“Longato amorous in his Maias eie,” &c. P. 3.
431. amber] i.e. ambergris.
432. [hands] So the editor of 1816: but, perhaps, the author considered “cure” as a dissyllable.
433.
the editor of 1816: but, perhaps, the following disposition of the lines is preferable;
434. There’s no excuse, &c.] The editor of 1816, by the insertion of a syllable, has given a perhaps more musical arrangement of this speech: but he did not perceive that the conclusion of it, “beat at your bosom,” was evidently intended to make up a line with “Would creation.”
435. [De Flores] So the editor of 1816.
436. In the act-time, &c.] i. e. while the music plays before the commencement of the act, &c. This circumstance is taken from the “history,” where the murder of Alonzo (there called Alfonso) is thus narrated: “Whiles Piracquo is at dinner with Vermandero, De Flores is providing of a bloody banquet in the East Casemate; where of purpose he goes and hides a naked Sword and Ponyard behind the door. Now dinner being ended, Piracquo finds out De Flores, and summons him of his promise; who tells him he is ready to wait on him: so away they go from the Walls to the Ravelins, Sconces, and Bulwarks, and from thence by a Postern to the Ditches; and so, in again to the Casemates, whereof they have already viewed three, and are now going to the last, which is the Theater whereon we shall presently see acted a mournful and bloody Tragedy. At the descent hereof De Flores puts off his Rapier, and leaves it behind him; treacherously informing Piracquo that the descent is narrow and craggy. See here the Policy and Villany of this devillish and treacherous Miscreant. Piracquo, not doubting nor dreaming of any Treason, follows his example, and so casts off his Rapier: De Flores leads the way, and he follows him; but alas! poor Gentleman, he shall never return with his life. They enter the Vault of the Casemate, De Flores opens the door, and throws it back, thereby to hide his Sword and Ponyard: he stoops and looks thorow a Port-hole, and tells him that that Peece doth thorowly scour the Ditch. Piracquo stoops likewise down to view it, when (O grief to think thereon) De Flores steps for his Weapons, and with his Ponyard stabs him thorow the back, and swiftly redoubling blow upon blow kills him dead at his feet, and without going farther, buries him there, right under the ruins of an old wall, whereof that Casemate was built.” Reynolds’s Triumphs of God’s Revenge against Murther, p. 40, ed. 1726.
437. Scene II. A vault] Old ed. has only (after the words “Lead, I'll follow thee,”) “Ex. at one door and enter at the other.” See note, p. 195.
438. approve] i.e. prove the performance of.
439. proper] i. e. handsome.
441. prophet] Old ed. “poet.”
442. we’ll beat the bush, and kick the dog] “The quartos [there is but one 4to: see note, p. 205] read, 'we’ll kick the dog, and beat the bush:' the transposition will, I think, be approved.” Editor of 1816.
443. lycanthropi] i. e. frenzied persons labouring under the delusion that they are turned into wolves: see the description in Webster’s Duchess of Malfi—Works, vol. i. p. 290, and my note there.
444. walk] Old ed. “walks.”
446. nigget] Nidget, or nigeot—i. e. idiot.
447. bauble] The sceptre of the licensed fool: see Douce’s Illust. of Shak., vol, ii. p. 318, and plates.
449. he] Old ed. “she.”
450. the last couple in hell] “The allusion here is to the game of barley-break.” Editor of 1816.—See note, vol. iii. p. 114.
451. Lipsius] Is it necessary to notice that the name of this great scholar is introduced merely for the sake of its first syllable?
452. way] Old ed. “wayes.”
453. statue] Qy. “statua”?—a form which repeatedly occurs in our old writers.
454. the ring] Qy. “the ring and the finger”?
455. golden florens] Pieces first coined by the Florentines: the floren of Spain (according to the Dictionaries) is 4s. 4-1/2d.—Does Beatrice offer here a paper to De Flores?
456. [slept at ease] Supplied by the editor of 1816.
458. have] Old ed. “has.”
459. the] Old ed. “thy.”
460. love’s] Old ed. “lovers.”—I suspect the author wrote;
461. Dumb Show] “These dumb shows are common enough in the dramas of our poets' age.” Editor of 1816.—They had fallen much into disrepute when the present play was written.
462. smiling at the accident] So old ed. The editor of 1816 gives “smiling scornfully at the ceremony;” but I doubt if that be the meaning of the original words.
463. who’s] So editor of 1816. Old ed. “both.”
464. Secrets in Nature] In Antonii Mizaldi Monluciani De Arcanis Naturæ, Libelli quatuor, ed. tertia, 1558, 12mo, I find no passages resembling those which are read by Beatrice.
465. slight] i. e. artifice, contrivance.
466. incontinently] i. e. immediately.
467. ow’d ’em not] i. e. owned them not,—they were not hers.
468. I'd] Old ed. “I will.”
469. Briamata] “Briamata, a fair house of his [Vermandero’s] ten leagues from Alicant.” Reynolds’s Triumphs of God’s Revenge against Murther, p. 36, ed. 1726; see note, p. 205.
470. An] Old ed. “One.”
471. round-pack’d] Qy. “round-pac’d”?
472. sins and vices] Surely the right reading is “chins and noses.”
473. 'Twill] Old ed. “I will.”
474. pretend] i. e. offer.
475. prevent] i. e. anticipate.
476. touch’d] i. e. infected, stained.
477. resolv’d] i. e. satisfied.
479. waning] Old ed. “waiting.” “I am inclined to read,
480. To the bright ... Pay the post] Given to Lollio in old ed.
481. Why] Old ed. “We.”
482. Nay, the fair, &c.] “i. e. Nay, understand my speeches in the fair and modest sense in which they are uttered.” Editor of 1816.
483. and] i. e. if.
484. he] Old ed. “she.”
485. straits] Old ed. “streets.”
486. desire] Qy. “desert”?
492. harsh] Qy. “rash”?
494. And] i. e. if.
495. [I threw] Compare ninth line preceding.
497. Alsemero’s apartment] So, on account of what follows, it is necessary to mark this scene; but as Jasperino presently says, “She meets you opportunely from that walk,” I suspect that Middleton intended the audience to imagine that the earlier part of the scene did not pass where the latter part certainly does, in Alsemero’s apartment: see notes, pp. 28, 154, 195, 242.
498. garden has shew’d] The editor of 1816 prints “garden [must] have shew’d;” but, probably, “garden” was used here as a trisyllable.
499. Clip] i. e. embrace.
500. hung] Old ed. “hang.”
501. I ne’er, &c.] The editor of 1816 gives the passage thus:
503. hence] Old ed. “thence.”
504. innocence] A play on the word,—idiotcy.
505. All we can do, &c.] These lines in old ed. are printed on a page by themselves, with the prefix Als., and headed Epilogue.
506. Gifford, misled by a MS. note of Oldys on Langbaine, says that A Game at Chess “was embellished with an engraved frontispiece, where Gondomar was introduced in propria persona in no very friendly conversation with Loyola.” Note on B. Jonson’s Works, vol. v. p. 248. There is no figure of Ignatius in either of the engraved title-pages.
507. States] i. e. personages of high rank.
508. angle] i. e. corner.
509. taste] So two eds. Quarto C. “cast.”
510. Roch] St. Roch “was honoured, especially in France and Italy, amongst the most illustrious saints in the fourteenth century.... Many cities have been speedily delivered from the plague by imploring his intercession,” &c.! Butler’s Lives of the Saints, vol. viii. p. 206, sec. ed.
511. Main] St. Main, an abbot; who appears to have been of no great eminence. Id. vol. i. p. 172.
512. Petronill] i. e. Petronilla, a holy virgin, according to some the daughter, or, as seems to be more generally supposed, only the spiritual daughter of the apostle St. Peter. Id. vol. v. p. 439.