"One man in his time plays many parts,

His acts being seven ages.”—Act II., Scene 7.

Dr. Warburton boldly asserts that this was "no unusual" division of a play before our author's time. One of Chapman's plays ("TWO WISE MEN, AND ALL THE REST FOOLS") is indeed in seven acts: this, however, is the only dramatic piece that I have found so divided. But surely it is not necessary to suppose that our author alluded here to any such precise division of the drama. His comparisons seldom run on four feet. It was sufficient for him that a play was distributed into several acts, and that human life, long before his time, had been divided into seven periods.

In the "TREATISE OF ANCIENT AND MODERN TIMES" (1613), Proclus, a Greek author, is said to have divided the life of man into seven periods, over which one of the seven planets was supposed to rule. Hippocrates also divided the life of man into seven ages, but differs from Proclus in the number of years allotted to each period. See Brown's "VULGAR ERRORS," folio, p. 173.-MALONE.

"Full of wise saws, and modern instances."

Act II., Scene 7.

The meaning seems to be, that justice is full of old sayings and late examples.

"Thy tooth is not so keen,

Because thou art not seen."-Act II., Scene 7.

"Thou winter wind (says Amiens), thy rudeness gives the less pain, as thou art not seen: as thou art an enemy that dest not brave us with thy presence, and whose unkindness is therefore not aggravated by insult."

"Though thou the waters warp."-Act II., Scene 7. The surface of waters, so long as they remain unfrozen, is apparently a perfect plane; whereas, when they are frozen, this surface deviates from its exact flatness, or warps. This is remarkable in small ponds, the surface of which, when frozen, forms a regular concave; the ice on the sides rising higher than that in the middle.-KENRICK.

To warp was probably in Shakspere's time a colloquial word, which conveyed no distinct allusion to anything else, physical or medicinal. To warp is to turn, and to turn is to change; when milk is changed by curdling, we now say it is turned; when water is changed or turned by frost, Shakspere says it is curdled. To be warped is only to be changed from

its natural state. JOHNSON.

"And thou, thrice crownéd queen of night.”—Act III., Scene 2.

This alludes to the triple character of Proserpine, Cynthia, and Diana, given by some mythologists to the same goddess.

"The fair, the chaste, and unexpressive she.”
Act III., Scene 2.

The word unexpressive is here used in the sense of inexpressible. Milton, in his "HYMN ON THE NATIVITY," employs it in a similar manner:

"Harping with loud and solemn quire,

With unexpressive notes to Heaven's new-born heir."

"He that hath learned no wit by nature nor art may complain of good breeding."-Act III., Scene 2.

A doubt is expressed by Dr. Johnson whether custom did not formerly authorise this mode of speech, and make "complain of good breeding" the same with "complain of the want of good breeding." In the last line of the "MERCHANT OF VENICE," we find that to "fear the keeping" is to "fear the not keeping."

"Why should this a desert be?"—Act III., Scene 2. The old copy reads "Why should this desert be." The judicious insertion of the "a" was made by Pope. The omission was probably a typographical error. Tyrwhitt's interpolation of the word "silent" is unnecessary.

"Tongues I'll hang on every tree,

That shall civil sayings shew."—Act III., Scene 2.

The term civil is here used as when we say civil wisdom, or civil life, in opposition to a solitary state, or to the state of nature. "This desert (says Orlando) shall not appear unpeopled, for every tree shall teach the maxims or incidents of social life."

"Helen's cheek, but not her heart;

Cleopatra's majesty;

Atalanta's better part;

Sad Lucretia's modesty.”—Act III., Scene 2.

It is plausibly suggested by Mr. Tollett, that "Atalanta's better part" may mean her virgin chastity, with which Nature had graced Rosalind, together with Helen's beauty, without her heart, or lewdness; with Cleopatra's dignity or behaviour; and with Lucretia's modesty, that scorned to survive the loss of honour. The term "better part" appears, however, to have been a colloquial one, signifying worth or virtue in general.

“I was never so be-rhymed since Pythagoras' time, that I was an Irish rat."—Act III., Scene 2.

This passage probably refers to some metrical charm or incantation used in Ireland for ridding houses of rats. Similar allusions are found in various writers of the age. In Ben Jonson's "POETASTER," we find,

"Rhyme them to death, as they do Irish rats,
In drumming tunes."

"Good my complexion! dost thou think, though I am caparisoned like a man, I have a doublet and hose in my disposition?"-Act III., Scene 2.

The meaning of the exclamation "Good my complexion!" probably is, as suggested by Malone, "My native character, my female inquisitive disposition, canst thou endure this?" Complexion is used in the sense of disposition in the "MERCHANT OF VENICE:"-"It is the complexion of them all to leave their dam."

"Ros. Answer me in one word.

CEL. You must borrow me Garagantua's mouth first." Act III, Scene 2 Rosalind requires nine questions to be answered in one word. Celia tells her that a word of such magnitude is too big for any mouth but that of Garagantua, the giant of Rabelais, who swallowed five pilgrims, their staves and all, in a salad.

"It is as easy to count atomies as to resolve the propositions of a lover."—Act III., Sceue 2.

Bullokar, in his "ENGLISH EXPOSITOR" (1616), says, "An atomie is a mote flying in the sunne. Anything so small that it cannot be made less."

"Cry holla! to thy tongue, I pr'y thee; it curvets unseasonably."-Act III., Scene 2.

"Holla!" was a term by which the rider restrained and stopped his horse. It is so used by Shakspere in his "VENUS

AND ADONIS:"

"What recketh he his rider's angry stir,

His flattering holla,' or his stand,' I say."

"I answer you right painted cloth, from whence you have studied your questions."-Act III., Scene 2.

This passage alludes to the placing moral maxims or sentences in the mouths of the figures represented on the painted cloth hangings of the period. The custom is frequently mentioned by contemporary writers. Shakspere also adverts to it in his "TARQUIN AND LUCRECE:"

"Who fears a sentence, or an old man's saw,
Shall by a painted cloth be kept in av."

"An unquestionable spirit; which you have not." Act III., Scene 2. An unquestionable spirit is a spirit not inquisitive; a mind indifferent to common objects, and negligent of common occurrences; Shakspere has used a passive for an active mode of speech. So in a former scene, "The duke is too disputable for me;" that is, too disputatious.

"A material fool!"-Act III., Scene 3. That is, a fool with matter in him; a fool stocked with notions.

"I' faith, his hair is of a good colour."-Act III., Scene 4.

There is much nature in this petty perverseness of Rosalind. She finds fault in her lover, in hope to be contradicted; and when Celia, in sportive malice, too readily seconds her accusations, she contradicts herself rather than suffer her favourite to want a vindication.-JOHNSON.

"A nun of winter's sisterhood kisses not more religiously." Act III., Scene 4. That is, of an unfruitful sisterhood that had devoted itself to chastity. A similar expression is found in the "MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM:"

"To be a barren sister all your life,

Chanting faint hymns to the cold fruitless moon."

"What though you have more beauty."-Act III., Scene 5. The old copy reads, "What though you have no beauty." That no is a misprint appears clearly from the passage in Lodge's "ROSALYNDE" which Shakspere has here imitated: "Sometimes I have seen high disdaine turne to hot desires. Because thou art beautiful be not so coy; as there is nothing more faire, so there is nothing more fading." Mr. Theobald corrected the error by expunging the word no; in which he was copied by the subsequent editors; but omission, as 1 have often observed, is of all the modes of emendation the most exceptionable. "No" was, I believe, a misprint for "mo," a word often used by our author and his contemporaries for "more." So in a former scene of this play :

"I pray you, mar no mo of my verses, by singing them ill favouredly."

Again, in "MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING:"

"Sing no more ditties, sing no mo."

Again, in the "TEMFEST:"

"Mo widows of this business' making."

Many other instances may be added. The word is found in almost every book of that age-MALONE.

"Foul is most foul, being foul to be a scoffer."

Act III., Scene 5.

That is, the ugly seem most ugly, when, though ugly, they are scoffers.-JOHNSON.

"Dead shepherd! now I find thy saw of might: Who ever loved, that loved not at first sight!" Act III., Scene 5. The line quoted by Phebe is from Marlowe's "HERO AND LEANDER," in which the passage stands thus:

"Where both deliberate, the love is slight; Who ever loved, that loved not at first sight?" The poem, it appears, was very popular; one edition of it was entered in the Stationers' books in 1593, and another in 1597.

Shakspere perhaps formed this song on a hint furnished by Lodge:-"What news, forester? Hast thou wounded some deer, and lost him in the fall? Care not, man, for so small a loss; thy fees was but the skin, the shoulders, and the horns."

"The rank of osiers, by the murmuring stream,
Left on your right hand, brings you to the place."
Act IV., Scene 3.

That is, passing by the rank of osiers, and leaving them on your right hand, you will reach the place.

"Chewing the food of sweet and biller fancy."

Act IV., Scene 3. Fancy here signifies love, which is always described as composed of contraries. As in Lodge's "ROSALYNDE:""I have noted the variable disposition of fancy; a bitter pleasure wrapped in sweet prejudice."

"In which hurtling,

From miserable slumber I awaked.-Act IV., Scene 3. To hurtle is to move with impetuosity and tumult. The term is used in "JULIUS CESAR:"

"A noise of battle hurtled in the air.

"The heathen philosopher, when he had a desire to eat a grape.."-Act V., Scene 1.

Warburton reasonably supposes that this passage implies a sneer on the trifling sayings and actions recorded of the ancient philosophers by the writers of their lives.

"It was a lover and his lass."-Act V., Scene 3 The stanzas of this song were in all the editions transposed; the present arrangement was made by Dr. Johnson; and there can scarcely be a doubt of its correctness. The last stanza was previously printed as the second.

'In spring time, the only prelly ring time."

Act V., Scene 3.

For "ring time," the original reads "rang time." The usual reading is "rank time." Steevens suggested "ring time," i. e. the aptest season for marriage; and this is found to be the word used in an old MS. copy of the music to this song, and many others, now in the Signet-office Library at Edinburgh.

Touchstone here enumerates seven kinds of lies, from the retort courteous, to the seventh and most aggravated species of lie, which he calls the lie direct. The courtier's answer to his intended affront, he expressly tells us, was the retort courteous. When, therefore, he says that they found the quarrel was on the lie seven times removed, we must understand, by the latter word, the lie removed seven times, counting backwards (as the word removed seems to intimate), from the last and most aggravated species of lie-the lie direct.

"O, sir, we quarrel in print, by the book."

Act V. Scene 4. The particular book here alluded to is a very ridiculous treatise of one Vincentio Saviola, entitled "OF HONOUR AND HONOURABLE QUARRELS" (1594). The first part of this tract is, "A discourse most necessary for all gentlemen that have in regard their honours, touching the giving and receiving the lie, whereupon the duello and the combat in divers forms doth ensue, and many other inconveniences, for lack only of true knowledge of honour, and the right understanding of words, which is here set down."

Touchstone's satirical allusion to the virtue of "if," is founded on a passage in the fourth chapter, in which the writer says, "Conditional lies be such as are given conditionally; as if a man should say or write these words 'If thou hast said that I have offered my lord abuse, thou liest; or, if thou sayst so hereafter, thou shalt lie.'"

"That thou mightst join her hand with his Whose heart within her bosom is."

Act V., Scene 4.

The old copy, for "her" in this passage, reads "his," in both instances. The errors were corrected by Rowe and Malone. The meaning is, "that thou mightst join her hand with the hand of him whose heart is lodged within her bosom;" that is, whose affection she already possesses. In "LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST" the King says to the Princess:

"Hence ever, then, my heart is in thy breast."

In the same play, with the saine error that has happened in the passage quoted at the head of this note, the Princess says to her ladies :-

"But while 't is spoke, each turn away his face."

"Meeting with an old religious man, After some question with him was converted Both from his enterprize and from the world. Act V., Scene 4. In Lodge's novel, the usurping Duke is not diverted from his purpose by the pious counsels of a hermit, but is subdued and killed by the twelve peers of France.

Dr. Grey and Mr. Upton asserted that this play was certainly borrowed from the "COKE'S TALE OF GAMELYN," printed in Urry's Chaucer; but it is hardly likely that Shakspere saw that in manuscript, and there is a more obvious source from whence he derived his plot, viz., the pastoral romance of "ROSALYNDE, OR EUPHUES' GOLDEN LEGACY," by Thomas Lodge, first printed in 1590. From this he sketched his principal characters, and constructed his plot; but those admirable beings, the melancholy Jaques, the witty Touchstone, and his Audrey, are of the poet's own creation.

Lodge's novel is one of those tiresome (I had almost said unnatural) pastoral romances, of which the "EUPHUES" of Lyly, and the "ARCADIA" of Sidney, were also popular examples :-it has, however, the redeeming merit of some very beautiful verses interspersed; and the circumstance of its having led to the formation of this exquisite pastoral drama is enough to make us withhold our assent to Steevens's splenetic censure of it, as "worthless."-SINGER.

Everything about Rosalind breathes of youth's sweet prime. She is fresh as the morning, sweet as the dewawakened blossom, and light as the breeze that plays among them. She is as witty, as voluble, as sprightly as Beatrice, but in a style altogether distinct. In both, the wit is equally unconscious; but in Beatrice it plays about us like the lightning, dazzling, bnt also alarming; while the wit of Rosalind bubbles up and sparkles like the living fountains, refreshing all around. Her volubility is like the bird's song: it is the outpouring of a heart filled to overflowing with life, love, and joy, and all sweet and affectionate impulses. She has as much tenderness as mirth, and in her most petulant raillery there is a touch of softness-"By this hand it will not hurt a fly."

As her vivacity never lessens our impression of her sensibility, so she wears her masculine attire without the slightest impugnment of her delicacy. Shakspere did not make the modesty of his women depend on their dress. Rosalind has in truth no "doublet and hose in her disposition." How her heart seems to throb and flutter under her page's vest! What depth of love in her passion for Orlando; whether disguised beneath a saucy playfulness, or breaking forth with a fond impatience, or half betrayed in that beautiful scene where she faints at the sight of the kerchief stained with his blood! Here the recovery of her self-possession-her fears lest she should have revealed her sex-her presence of mind and quick-witted excuse, "I pray you tell your brother how well I counterfeited," and the characteristic playfulness which seems to return so naturally with her recovered senses, are all as amusing as consistent.

Then how beautiful is the dialogue managed between herself and Orlando; how well she assumes the airs of a saucy page, without throwing off her feminine sweetness! How her wit flutters free as air over every subject! with what a careless grace, yet with what exquisite propriety:

"

"For innocence hath a privilege in her To dignify arch jests and laughing eyes.' And if the freedom of some of the expressions used by Rosalind or Beatrice be objected to, let it be remembered that this was not the fault of Shakspere or the women, but generally of the age. Portia, Beatrice, Rosalind, and the rest, lived in times when more importance was attached to things, than to words; now we think more of words than of things, -and happy are we in these days of super-refinement, if we are to be saved by our verbal morality.-MAS. JAMESON"CHARACTERISTICS OF WOMEN."