Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 6.djvu/440

 364 NOTES AND QUERIES. p» s. VL NOV. 10,1900. the peace had power to enforce against rogues and vagabonds, but it probably has reference to certain special enactments for the relief of soldiers landing from over the seas, which are thus given in Lambarde's 'Justice of the Peace :— "The Justice of peace, in or neere the place where any idle and wandring Souldier or Mariner (conmiing from his Captain from the seas or from beyond) doth land, ought (npim request) to give him a Testimonial! under hia hand, expressing therein the time and place of such his landing, with the place of his dwelling or birth, to which he is to pass, and with a convenient time therein limited tor his passage thither. And the Justice of peace, next adjoining to the place, or direct way, wher any Souldier or Mariner (comming from or beyond the Seas) landeth or travelleth, and maketh known his povertie, may Licence him to passe the next and direct way to the place whither he is to repaire, and may limit him time necessary onely for his travel thither: which licence if he pursue, hee may aske and take (without danger) for his necessarie relief in such his travel, that which any persons shall willingly give him, 39 Eliz. cap. 17, 1 Jac. cap. 25."—Book II. cap. vii. And again:— "Two Justices of Peace, of, or neere the place to which a Souldier or Mariner commeth with the Testimonial! of one Justice of Peace, shall take order by their discretion for setting to worke, or releeving him, if he cannot of himself get worke there, or employ himselfe in lawful course of life, 39 Eliz. cap. 17.'—Book III. cap. ii. What I understand Lafeu to mean is:— "As a soldier returning from the wars, if you are in need of money, you must get a testimonial from a Justice of the Peace, which will enable you, with- out transgressing the law, to beg your way home. And if you do not succeed in getting other em- ployment, the Justices of the Peace have power to provide work for or to relieve you, and so to make you and fortune friends." It is Lafeu's insistence on the assumed notion that Parolles is begging for money which lends support to this interpretation. The quotations from Lambarde are from an edit ion published in the reign of James I. ALFKED E. THISELTON. 'As You LIKE IT.'II. vii. 53-7.— He that a fool doth very wisely hit Doth very foolishly, although he smart, Not to seem senseless of the bob: if not, The wise man's folly is anatomized Even by the squandering glances of the fool. Were it not that leading editors differ as to the text, Wright preferring Theobald's " Not to " before " seem," Rolfe the Coll. (MS.)" But to," meaning practically the same, and Fur- ness the original reading of the Folio, it would be unnecessary to read any later comment than Johnson's. He explained the passage : " Unless men have the prudence not to appear touched with the sarcasms of a jester, they subject themselves to his power; and the wise man will have his folly 'anatomized,' that is, dissected and laid open, by the ' squandering glances' or random nhot« of a fool." With the meaning practically settled, it is interesting to see how the battle has raged around the interpolation " Not to," Theobald supporting his conjecture with the claim that " the third verse is defective one whole foot in measure." That the Folio line, with the natural pause after "bob," reads smoothly is sufficient answer to this claim. It is certainly not true, as further asserted by Theobald, that " the tenor of what Jaques continues to say, and the reasoning of the passage, show it no less defective in the sense. Either reading enables us to arrive at the indisputable meaning of these lines. Jaques, in the Folio, states what a man does under certain circumstances in order not to have his folly anatomized—"doth very foolishly seem senseless of the bob," "doth seem" being the verb. Theobald makes Jaques say that a man under such circum- stances, if he would avoid having his folly anatomized, "doth (acts) very foolishly not to seem senseless of the bob," "doth" being the verb. The one is an affirmative, the other a negative, statement of the same thought. The one says the object of the jest follows a certain course, which is shown to be wise; the other, that in not following such course he acts unwisely. In the two state- ments, however, there is a slight difference in the meaning of " foolishly." In the former we may read " doth (all) very foolishly (as a part of the general foolery) seem senseless of the bob," his acting a part being held com- plimentary to his wisdom. In the latter statement " foolishly " is a positive criticism. The following "if not" would seem to require a preceding affirmative statement, though even this may be supplied in thought. Bearing in mind "durior lectio pre- ferendast," if the original text wijl fully serve our purpose it would appear inadvis- able to make any change. E. MEBTON DEY. 'OTHELLO'II. i. 60-65 (9th S. ii. 403).—In threading the maze of critical comment on this passage one comes across many hints that assist in arriving at what seems to be the true meaning, and at the same time the .simplest interpretation of the last two lines. Warburton : "It is plain that something very hyperbolical was here intended." To Johnson "essential" means existent, real. Steevens: " I believe the word' tire' was not introduced to signify to fatigue, but to attire, to dres*.* Several nave shown that "Ingeniuer," "In-