Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 3.djvu/370

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [9* s. m. MAY 13, m

alone C. C. JB., if he had dealt honestly with my line, had to do. I hope I do not need to inform him that Shakespeare (as in this in- stance) of ten treats a syllable with a diphthong preceding the letter r not as one syllable, but as two (Abbott's ' Shak. Gram.,' 480).

K. M. SPENCE, D.D. Manse of Arbuthnott, N.B.

'OTHELLO,' V. ii. 1 (9 th 8. i. 283, 422). A somewhat belated comment on DK. SPENCE'S explanation of " It is the cause."

Othello is seeking to justify on the highest grounds his meditated deed, and wishes to feel that it is through no desire for private vengeance. By " the cause " he means that the trait of character leading to a betrayal of honour, not the specific act of guilt, is the reason for what he is about to do ; it is not his private wrong, but the cause of that wrong her disposition to infidelity that condemns her. In this scene Othello is un- alterably fixed in his purpose ; there is no question in his mind as to the necessity for the deed, and, with him, such determination means certain execution. But the nobility of his nature requires a purification of his own soul the casting out of everything but a sense of duty. That he has put aside all his former passionate resentment, witness the tender expressions, the sadness in this speech.

I call attention to this meaning of " the cause " as the distinction adds greatly to the sublimity of the scene, and, I believe, is essential to the true conception of Othello. E. MERTON DEY.

St. Louis.

CHARLES POWLETT, FIRST DUKE OF BOLTON. This nobleman succeeded to the marquess- ate of Winchester on the death, in 1674, of his father, John Powlett, fifth marquess, called the " Great Loyalist " for his gallant defence of Basing House in the Civil Wars. Many readers will remember the fine engraving of the ' Siege of Basing House,' which was taken by storm 16 October, 1645, when most of the garrison were put to the sword. John Powlett's portrait is in Lodge's 'Portraits,' and his epitaph by Dryden may yet be seen in the church of Englefield, Berks. His eldest son, Charles Powlett, succeeded to the mar- quessate, and was created Duke of Boltori by William III. in 1689. He had married Mary, the eldest illegitimate daughter of Emanuel Scrope, Earl of Sunderland, and with her obtained the extensive estates in Wensley- dale belonging to the Scropes, who were Lords of Bolton. Bolton Castle, in Wensley- dale, was the ancient residence of the Scropes,

n which Mary, Queen of Scots, was imprisoned
 * or a short period ; but after a siege in the

Civil Wars it was dismantled and rendered untenable in 1649. Be it observed that this s a ruined castle, not far distant from Bolton Ball, a later structure consisting of a centre and two wings, lower down the dale, built by Charles Powlett, Marquess of Winchester, in 1679.

Macaulay in his 'History of England ' does not appear to notice Charles Powlett, the sixth marquess, afterwards the first Duke of Bolton, though he makes mention of his son

harles Powlett, who bore the courtesy title of Earl of Wiltshire (see chaps, ix. and x.), going over to the Hague in order to con- cert measures with the Prince of Orange, and taking a prominent part in bringing about the Revolution of 1688. He was born in 1661 and died in 1721/2. Why Macaulay does not mention his father 1 am unable to say, as he was a most important personage, both on account of wealth and position ; but he seems at that time to have retired from public life, and to have assumed a somewhat eccentric character. Burnet says of him :

'This year [1699] died the Marquess of Win- chester, whom the King had created Duke ol Bolton. He was a man of a strange mixture. H( had the spleen to a high 'degree, and affected ar extravagant behaviour ; for many weeks he woulc not open his mouth till such an hour of the daj when he thought the air was pure. He changec the day into night, and often hunted by torchlight and took all sorts of liberties to himself, many o: which were very disagreeable to those about him He was a man of profuse expense, and of almosl ravenous avarice to support that ; and though h< was much hated, yet he carried matters before hin with such authority and success that he was in al respects the great riddle of the age."

In the 'Diary of Bishop Cartwright,' pub lished by the Camden Society in 1843, then is the following mention of a visit paid bj the Bishop to the Marquess of Winchester which corroborates Burnet's statement of hi eccentricities :

"[12 Nov., 1686.] I was received by the Nobl* Marquess [i.e., of Winchester] with all kindnea imaginable at dinner from one at noon till one ii! the morning; Sir Richard Shuttleworth, Mr. Deai of Ripon, Mr. Darcy and others there." Pp. 11, IS'

A note by the editor of the 'Diary' on thi' entry mentions the place of entertainmen by this nobleman as being "at his castle o Bolton," which is, of course, a mistake, as th banquet must have taken place at Bolto: Hall, then recently erected, the handsom mansion, to which reference has been mad above, now occupied by Lord Bolton. Then is frequent mention of Thomas Cartwright Bishop of Chester, in the pages of Macaulay.