Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 9.djvu/469

 us. ix. JUNE is, i9i4.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

463

WEBSTER ; A QUESTION OF AUTHORSHIP.

(See ante, pp. 382, 405, 443.)

(xiii.)

He bore his steerage true in every part, Led by the compass of a noble heart.

'C.C./IV. ii. (iv.75). Compare :

his Faith and Charity

Was the true compass, measur'd every part, And took the latitude of his Christian heart. 1 Monuments of Honor ' (iii. 244). (xiv.)

And what worse office can I do i' th' world Unto my enemy than to endeavour By all means possible to marry him Unto a whore ? * C. C.,' IV. ii. (iv. 75). Compare :

Thy fame, fond duke,

I first have poison'd, directed thee the way To marry a whore ; what can be worse ? 1 W. D.,' IV. iii. (ii. 94).

(xv.) if he '11 bite

I '11 give him line to play on.

' C. C.,' V. i. (iv. 85). Compare :

Well, I will give him line ;

Let him run on in 's course of spending.

' D. L. C.,' II. i. (iii. 28). (xvi.)

What I have said, I have said.

' C. C.,' V. i. (iv. 85). Compare :

What I have done, I have done.

' D. M.,' V. ii. (ii. 257). [Appius.] What we will, we will.

' A. and V.,' I. iv. (iii. 141).

(xvii.) Lessingham tells Woodroff that Annabel " plays false " with Bonvile. Woodroff (who is Annabel's father) ex- claims :

Why, then, of all men living do you address This report to me, that ought of all men breathing To have been the last o' th' roll, except the

husband That should have heard ot 't ?

' C. C.,' V. i. (iv. 87).

This reflection is characteristic of Webster. Compare :

We that have such servants Are like to cuckolds that have riotous wives : We are the last to know on 't.

'A. and V.,' III. ii. (iv. 180). And again :

... .oft haps

No man alive more welcome to the husband Than he that makes him cuckold.

'D. L. C.,'IV.ii. (iii. 87). (xviii.) Are you return'd

With the Italian plague upon you, jealousy ? ' C. C.,' V. i. (iv. 90). Compare :

my jealousy ! I am to learn what that Italian means.

' W. D.,' II. i. (ii. 36).~1

May my executors cozen all my kindred To whom I bequeath legacies.

' C. C.,' V. i. (iv. 92), Uompare :

... .in whom I have no more right Than false executors have in orphans' goods They cozen them of.

' D. L. C.,' II. iv. (iii. 50), xx.)

Carry it like a French quarrel, privately whisper y Appoint to meet, and cut each other's throats With cringes and embraces.

' C. C.,' V. i. (iv. 92).

Webster had a true John Bull mistrust of the tricky methods of the foreigner. Com.' pare ' The Devil's Law Case,' II. i. :

Contarino I have not ta'en the way

Like an Italian, to cut your throat

By practice. (iii. 38),

And again, in the same scene of this play z

Ercole. For that let me embrace you. Con. Methinks, being an Italian, I trust you; To come somewhat too near me. (iii. 39).

Of the above points of resemblance, five 1 have previously been noted: Nos. i., vi., xi., and xii. by Dr. Stoll, and No. iii. by Prof* Sampson. Many other minor points echoes of phrases and sentiments might be recorded, but doubtless enough has been said to establish Webster's claim.

The share of each partner in this play can, I think, be determined almost exactly, a follows :

Act

I. Sc. I. (Hazlitt, iv. 9-16) Webster. Sc. II. (17-24) Webster.

Act II. Sc.

Sc.

I. II.

Sc. III.

25-26) Webster. 27-30) Webster. 31-37) Rowley.

Sc. IV. (37-43) Webster, with slight

touches by Rowley. Act III. Sc. I. (44-49) Webster. Sc. II. (50-54) Rowley. Sc. III. (54-58) Webster. Act IV. Sc. I. (58-68) Webster and Rowley

together.

Sc. II. (68-76) Webster. Sc. III. (76-81) Rowley, with slight assistance from Web- ster.

Act V. Sc. I. (81-93) Webster. Sc. II. (93-97) Webster.

(97-99) Rowley, with possibly a touch or two by Web- ster in concluding speeches.

My reason for ascribing to Webster the portions of the play assigned solely to him will sufficiently appear from what I have already written. Rowley's authorship of the underplot has never been questioned, and with regard to the scenes ascribed to him alone, all that need be said is that they closely resemble his acknowledged work, both in the rough, unpolished style in which