ACT V.

SCENE I.-page 479.

THESEUS. Here come two noble beasts in, a moon and a lion.

Truly, the moon is paid a pretty compliment: the passage is beastly corrupt. We should read:

Here come two noble beasts in; a man and a lion.

As a man is the most noble of the animal creation, so is the lion of all quadrupeds: Theseus, therefore, considers Snout as a beast from his manners and actions. The Author's word, man, should be restored. The metamorphose of man to moon is the witchcraft of Mr. Theobald.

We are not to take this passage in a sense so strictly literal, as, a man in a whale; which was the case with Jonah, when in the whale's belly; though, I doubt not our Author had this figure in view, and most probably wrote "a man in a lion." Meaning Snout, who enters enveloped in a Lion's skin.

Merry Wives of Windsor.

ACT I.

SCENE III.-page 40.

FALSTAFF. I spy entertainment in her; she discourses, she carves, she gives the leer of invitation.

No doubt Mrs. Ford was an excellent carver, perhaps equal to any in Windsor; and entertained her friends with choice viands: but the entertainment to which Falstaff alludes being that of love, her adroitness in the art of carving is not absolutely necessary.

Falstaff has spied a certain craving in the eye of this merry wife; and as she has given him the leer of invitation, he, in his lascivious humour, says,

She craves, she gives the leer of invitation.

See a subsequent speech in this scene, where Falstaff boasts of the impression he has also made on the heart of Mrs. Page:

"O, she did so course o'er my exteriors with such a greedy intention, that the appetite of her eye did seem to scorch me up like a burning glass !”

And by the appetite of Mrs. Ford's eye, Falstaff thinks he knows that for which she craves.

It is almost unnecessary to say, that the compositor, from the cursory view he took of the copy, read, she carves, instead of she craves.

C

SCENE III.-page 41.

NYм. The anchor is deep: Will that humour pass?

The anchor and arrow being similarly pointed, Nym compares the former to the arrow used by the wanton archer; and, as an anchor, when cast, darts through the bosom of the deep, so Nym displays his humour by saying, the anchor is deep in Mrs. Ford's bosom.

SCENE III.-page 47.

NYM. I will possess him with yellowness, for the revolt of mien is dangerous.

The old copies read-"the revolt of mine." I am of opinion we should read-the revolt of mind; meaning, that by making Page jealous, he will become so enraged, so mad, as to chastise Falstaff. The revolt, or revolution in his mind, occasioned by jealousy, will divest him of all prudence.

ACT II.

SCENE I.-page 60.

MRS. PAGE. Why, I'll exhibit a bill in the parliament for the putting down of men.

No doubt Mrs. Page means fat men. Her passion is blended with revenge and humour :-she will pray the parliament to pass a bill, that all fat men shall be restricted in diet; and thereby, their lustful passions being subdued, virtuous women may be neither subject to their arts or insolence. Perhaps the original read—pulling down. We frequently say, pull down your flesh with exercise, and use spare diet.

He may speak sense, but I cannot develop it according to the present arrangement of the passage.

The characters present are Pistol, Nym, and Page.— Nym has been filling Page with yellowness; and Pistol, thinking that enough has been said to give a good dose, wishes Nym to depart. We shall obtain order out of confusion, by arranging the lines as our Author wrote them:

PISTOL. Away, Sir Corporal. [To Nym, meaning, Let us depart.

NYM. Believe it. [Impressing on Page's mind that all he told him was true. PAGE. He speaks sense. [To himself: giving credit to what Nym related.

I am certain the error originated thus: the person who read to the transcriber did not make sufficient pauses, and the names and words corresponded so well, that he, disregarding the sense, perceived not the blunder he was making. Moreover, are we to believe that Nym would take such a liberty with so respectable a character as Page, and thus address him, Believe it, Page—as though he were his familiar acquaintance?

SCENE II.-page 78.

PISTOL. I will retort the sum in equipage.

Equipage is certainly a very familiar word; but, with Mr. Steevens, I must say,-" that it ever meant stolen goods, I am yet to learn." The compositor mistook the word: our Author wrote:

I will retort the sum in equipoise.

Retort, (return) Equipoise (equal weight.) I will return you equal weight in money. "No," says Falstaff, "not a penny." The oi was taken for an a, the i being closely joined to the o; and the ≈ for a g, the word equipoise being formerly spelt equipoize.

SCENE III.-page 106.

HOST. I will bring thee where mistress Ann Page is, at a farm-house a feasting; and thou shall woo her: Cry'd game, said I

well?

We have three pages of close notes on this passage in Johnson and Steevens' edition: all of which, I think, may hereafter be dispensed with.

Let it be considered, that the Host avails himself of Caius's ignorance of the English language, and conveys gross abuse under the mask of friendship.-In one place he calls him Heart of Elder; which means a spiritlessfellow-the elder-tree having no heart, its interior being all pulp. In another place, he gives him the genteel name of Monsieur Muck-water; which he interprets-valour, bully: again,— He will clapper-claw thee tightly, bully: which he interprets- He will make thee amends. But the epithet which he gives him at present is even worse than these; the grossest he could use to a man going to court a young and beautiful damsel; yet, for this, Caius's ignorance of what the other says, is such, that he promises to procure him guests of the first distinction:-de good guest, de earl, de knight, de lords, de gentlemen, &c. and all this for being called-Dry'd game: i. e. an old sapless fellow, in whom the animal juices that could create passion are extinct. Thus then the original :

Mistress Ann Page is, at a farm-house a feasting; and thou shall woo her: Dry'd game, said I well?

The case in which the capital letters are deposited has uniform compartments, and the letters follow successively in each. The C and D, therefore, being next door neighbours, often visit each other; and such a visit being unfortunately paid by C to D, about the time when the manuscript of this play made its first appearance in a printing-office, Cry'd game has maintained its situation ever since.