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NOTES AND QUERIES, [ii s. vm. AUG. so, ma

in 1887 (pp. iv and 652), and formed one of " Hughes's Matriculation Manuals." He was then described as " late assist ant - examiner in the University of London, for many years an examiner in the Cambridge ' Local ' and ' Schools' Syndicate ' examina- tions." The fourth edition (much altered, and enlarged to pp. xii and 843) appeared in 1889, as the joint work of H. Marmaduke Hewitt, M.A., LL.M., and George Beach, M.A., LL.D In 1894 the tenth edition came out in two volumes, and the twelfth " revised and partly rewritten " in 1904. The ' Grammatical Portion of " Our Mother Tongue," ' still by Hewitt and Beach, was published in 1906. This work evidently met a general demand.

The Master of St. John's College, Cam- bridge, has kindly assisted me in this memoir. W. P. COURTNEY.

THE VERSE OF 'JULIUS CAESAR.'

EVERY student knows when prose is used in 'Shakespeare. And it is used consistently, even when, in the same scene, some speakers are in verse, others in prose Titania and Bottom; Jessica and Launcelot ; Brutus with Cassius and Casca ; tribunes and plebs.

So there seems no doubt that in the first scene of ' Julius Caesar ' the contrast is to be kept throughout, and 1. 19 not to be prose, as in Globe ed., &c., but What meanest | thou by that ? j mend me, | thou

sauc | y fellow. So in scene ii. : A sooth | sayer bids | you beware | the ides of

March. And compare in ' Macbeth,' III. i. :

Are you so gospell'd

To pray for this good man, and for his issue, Whose heavy hand hath bowed you to the grave, And beg | gar'd yours | for ever ?

We are m4n | my liege ; and

Who wear our health but sickly in his life Which in | his death | were perfect. |

I am one | my liege,

Whom the vile blows and buffets of the world Have so incensed, that I am reckless what I do to spite the world. And ' King Lear,' closing lines :

Vex not | his ghost : | [O] let him pass ; | he hates | him much,

which First Quarto reading is incomparably better than

Vex not | his ghost : | O let | him pass ; | he hates him :

a dull reading.

Very many such Shakespeare lines, of course, may be quoted. Wherefore hi& editors may fairly be corrected who make a prose exception for the above - quoted 'Julius Caesar,' I. i. 19, one of the tribunes- speeches. Hundreds of lines illustrate such use of extra syllables, not only at the end of lines, but at stops within lines ; and hundreds illustrate also the hurrying of unaccented syllables, almost 'm for him, 'st for est, I 'm for / am. These are common- places.

Even Abbott's ' Shakespearian Grammar' Was too ready to declare some verses alex- andrines. In 'Julius Caesar,' IT. ii. 117 118, scan Is not | withstand [ ing up. | Good morrow, |i

Antony. So, to | most noble J [Caesar].

Bid them | prepare | within^

To have only one accented syllable in a proper name is common. And as for 1. 118, certain words thought of parentheti- cally are not taken count of. Abbott indeed points that out.

The Clarendon Press editors were cer- tainly too ready with alexandrines. And as a warning against this readiness, even- in Mr. Verity's editions, the following may- be compared with the restored ' Julius Caesar,' I. i. 19 :

Hum ! go | to thy | cold bed | and warm thee. |

Didst thou Give all J to thy daughters ? | And art thou come


 * to this ? Lear,' III. iv. 47.

all the words of Lear in that scene being inu verse.

' Julius Caesar,' I. ii. 175, should be left as in First Folio. So Globe and Clarendon. Press : Is like to lay upon us.

I am glad that my weak words.. The Pitt Press is impossible with

Is like to lay upon us.

I am glad That my weak words have struck but thus much

show ;

" and ten low words oft creep in one dull' line." Abbott ignores the passage.

But is the original an alexandrine ?' Test by natural sympathetic reading of the sense, in a language so far accentual. Which test may be applied rightly to other passages here quoted, from ' Julius Caesar,* ' Macbeth,' ' King Lear.'

Under these hard conditions as this time Is like | to lay upon vis. |

As, often, what is almost equal to "t'lay

'pon 's."

Is like 1 1' lay 'pon 's |

I am glad \ that my |- weak words.