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Oth. Amen to that, fweet Powers!

I cannot speak enough of this content,
It ftops me here, it is too much of joy,
And this, and this, the greateft difcords be [Kiffing ber.
That e'er our hearts fhall make !

Iago. Oh, you are well-tun'd now;

But I'll let down the pegs that make this mufic,

As honeft as I am.

Oth. Come, let's to the castle.

Now, friends, our wars are done

drown'd.

[Afide.

the Turks are

How do our old acquaintance of this ifle!
Honey, you fhall be well defir'd in Cyprus,
I've found great love amongst them.

Oh my sweet.

> I prattle out of fashion, and I dote
In mine own comfort. Pr'ythee, good Iago,
Go to the bay, and disembark my coffers:
Bring thou the mafter to the citadel,
He is a good one, and his worthinefs

Does challenge much refpect.

Once more well met at Cyprus.

Come, Desdemona,

[Exeunt Othello and Desdemona,

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Manent Iago and Rodoriga.

Iago. Do you meet me prefently at the harbour, Come thither, if thou be'ft valiant; as, they say, base men, being in love, have then a nobility in their natures, more than is native to them. Lift me, the lieutenant to-night watches on the Court of Guard. First,

3 I prattle out of fashion,—]

4-the mafter-] The pilot Out of method, without any of the fhip. ettled order of discourse.

I must tell thee, this Defdemona is directly in love with him.

Rod. With him? why, 'tis not poffible?

Iago. Lay thy finger thus; and let thy foul be inftructed. Mark me with what violence fhe first lov'd the Moor, but for bragging, and telling her fantaftical lies. And will fhe love him ftill for prating? let not thy difcreet heart think it. Her eye must be fed. And what delight fhall fhe have to look on the Devil? • When the blood is made dull with the act of sport, there should be again to inflame it, and give Satiety a fresh appetite, lovelinefs in favour, fympathy in years, manners, and beauties: all which the Moor is defective in. Now, for want of thefe required conveniences, her delicate tenderness will find itself abus'd, begin to heave the gorge, difrelish and abhor the Moor; very nature will inftruct her in it, and compel her to fome fecond choice. Now, Sir, this granted, as it is a moft pregnant and unforc'd pofition, who ftands fo eminent in the degree of this fortune, as Caffio does? a knave very voluble; no farther conscionable, than in putting on the mere form of civil and humane Seeming, for the better compaffing of his falt

5 Lay thy finger thus ;] On thy mouth, to stop it while thou art listening to a wifer man.

6 When the blood is made dull with the act of Sport, there should be a game to inflame it, and to give fatiety a fresh appetite; lovelinefs in favour, fympathy in years, manners, and beauties ] This, 'tis true, is the reading of the generality of the copies: but, methinks, 'tis a very peculiar experiment, when the blood and fpirits are dull'd and exhaufted with fport, to raise and recruit them

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and moft hidden loose affection; a flippery and subtle knave, a finder of warm occcafions, that has an eye can stamp and counterfeit advantages, though true advantage never prefent itself. A devilish knave! befides, the knave is handfome, young, and hath all thofe requifites in him, that folly and 7 green minds look after. A peftilent compleat knave! and the woman hath found him already.

Rod. I cannot believe that of her, she's full of most blefs'd & condition.

Iago. Blefs'd figs' end! the wine fhe drinks is made of grapes. If he had been blefs'd, fhe would never have lov'd the Moor. Blefs'd pudding! Didft thou not fee her paddle with the palm of his hand? didst not mark that?

Rod. Yes, that I did; but that was but courtesy,

Iago. Letchery, by this hand; an index, and obfcure prologue to the hiftory of huft, and foul thoughts, They met fo near with their lips, that their breaths embrac'd together. Villainous thoughts, Roderige! when these mutualities fo marfhal the way, hard at hand comes the main exercise, the incorporate conclufion. Pish-But, Sir, be you rul'd by me. I have brought you from Venice. Watch you to-night. For the command, I'll lay't upon you. Caffio knows you not: I'll not be far from you. Do you find fome occafion to anger Caffio, either by speaking too loud, or 9 tainting his difcipline, or from what other course you please, which the time shall more favourably minifter.

Rod. Well.

Iago. Sir, he's rafh, and very fudden in choler:

green minds] Minds unripe, minds not yet fully formed. • condition.] Qualities, difpofition of mind.

• tainting] Throwing a flur upon his discipline.

fudden in choler:] Sudden, is precipitately violent.

and,

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and, haply, may ftrike at you. Provoke him, that he may; for even out of that will I caufe thofe of Cyprus to mutiny, whofe qualification fhall come into no true taste again, but by difplanting of Caffio. So fhall you have a fhorter journey to your defires, by the means I fhall then have to prefer them, and the impediments moft profitably removed, without which there were no expectation of our prosperity.

Rod. I will do this, if you can bring it to any opportunity.

Iago. I warrant thee. Meet me by and by at the citadel. I must fetch his neceffaries afhore. Farewel. Rod. Adieu.

[Exit.

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Tago. That Caffio loves her, I do well believe:
That she loves him, 'tis apt, and of great credit.
The Moor, howbeit that I endure him not,
Is of a conftant, loving, noble nature;
And, I dare think, he'll prove to Desdemona
A most dear husband. Now I love her too,
Not out of abfolute luft, though, peradventure,
I ftand accountant for as great a fin;
But partly led to diet my revenge,

For that I do fufpect, the lufty Moor

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Hath leapt into my feat. The thought whereof Doth, like a poisonous mineral, gnaw my inwards, And nothing can, or fhall content my foul,

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whofe qualification fhall come, &c.] Whofe refentment fhall not be lo qualified or tempered, as to be well tafted, as not to retain Some bitterness. The phrafe is

harfh, at least to our ears.

3-like a poisonous mineral,-] This is philofophical. Mineral poifons kill by corrosion.

Till I am even with him, wife for wife.
Or failing fo, yet that I put the Moor
At laft into a jealoufy fo ftrong,
That judgment cannot cure.

Which thing to do,
If this poor trash of Venice, whom I trace
For his quick hunting, ftand the putting on,
I'll have our Michael Caffio on the hip,
Abuse him to the Moor in the right garb,
For I fear Caffio with my night-cap too,

4 ——Which thing to do,
If this poor Trash of Venice,
whom Itrace

For his quick hunting, ftand the putting on.] A trifling, infignificant fellow may, in fome respects, very well be call'd trash; but the metaphor is not preferved. For what agreement is there betwixt trash, and quickbunting, and ftanding the putting on? The allufion to the chafe, Shakespear feems to be fond of applying to Rodorigo, who fays of himself towards the conclufion of this Act;

I follow her in the chafe, not like a hound that hunts, but one that fills up the cry.

I fuppofe therefore that the poet wrote,

If this poor brach of Venice,which is a low fpecies of hounds of the chace, and a term generally us'd in contempt: and this compleats and perfects the metaphorical ailufion, and makes it much more fatirical. Vitius, in his notes on Gratius, fays, Racha Saxonibus canem fignificabat, unde Scoti hodie Rache pro cane femina babent, quod Anglis eft Brache. Nos verò (he fpeaks of the Hol landers) Brach non quemvis çanem

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So the

fed fagacem vocamus.
French, Braque, efpece de chien de
chaffe. Menage Etimol. WARE.
-whom 1 do TRACE
For bis quick bunting,-
Juft the contrary. He did not
trace him, he put him on, as he
fays immediately after. The old
Quarto leads to the true reading.

-whom I do CRUSH
For his quick hunting,
Plainly corrupted from CHERISH.
WARBURTON.

-whom I do TRACE] It is a term of hunting or field-fport; to trace sometimes fignifies to follow, as Hen. VIII. A&t, ii. scene 2.

Now all joy trace the conjunc

tion;

and a dog or a man traces a bare; but to trace a dog, in those sports, is to put a trace, or pair of couples, upon him, and fuch a dog is faid to be traced. The sense, then, of whom I do trace

For his quick hunting is this, Whom I do affociate to me for the purpose of ruining Cofio the fooner. T. Row 6 I'll have our Michael Caffio on the hip.] A phrase from the art of wrestling.

Make

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