'It is not for prisoners to be silent in their words.' The text is certainly right: silent' is here employed in the sense of gentle, or in that of wanting efficacy [so used by Milton] or power, The meaning is, It is not likely that those who are in dread of punishment will, if once they begin to speak, use mild or gentle language in their complainings: if they remonstrate at all, it will be loudly. I will, therefore, [lest finding myself in such situation, I should be provoked to any improper expression] say nothing.' B.

Mar. A man of sovereign parts he is esteem'd:
Well fitted in the arts, glorious in arms:
Nothing becomes him ill, that he would well.

A man of sovereign parts he is esteem'd;] The first quarto, 1598, has the line thus:

'A man of sovereign peerlesse he is esteem'd.' MAL.

A man of sovereign peerlesse."

Quære 'Peerlesse,' for the substantive peerlessness, incomparableness. B.

King,

And not demands,

On payment of a hundred thousand crowns,

To have his title live in Aquitain;

Which we much rather had depart withal.

Depart withal.] To depart and to part were anciently synonymous. STEEV.

'Depart withal.'

Departer, (fr.) to part with, to give up. B.

Ros. Non poynt, with my knife.

Non poynt.] So in the Shoemaker's Holliday, 1600; -tell me where he is.

No point. Shall I betray my brother?' STEEV.

'Non poynt,' non pas; a French expression, and which merely means, no, not. 'No point,' in the Shoemaker's holiday, means never; though it may involve in it a further signification, not the smallest hint. B.

Mar. My lips are no common, though several they be.

My lips are no common, though several they be.] Several is an inclosed field of a private proprietor; so Maria says, her lips are private property. Of a lord that was newly married, one observed that he grew fat; 'Yes, said Sir Walter Raleigh, any beast, will grow fat, if you take him from the common, and graze him in the several. JOHN.

So, in The Rival Friends, 1633;

-my sheep have quite disgrest

Their bounds, and leap'd into the severall.

Again, in Green's Disputation, &c. 1592; rather would have mewed me up as a henne, to have kept that severall to himself by force,' &c. Again in Sir John Oldcastle, 1600;

Of late he broke into a severall

That does belong to me.'

Again, in Fenton's Tragical Discourses, 4to. b. l. 1597; he entered commons in the place which the olde John thought to be reserved severall to himself, p. 64. b. Again, in Holinshed's Hist. of Eng. b. vi. p. 150, not to take and pale in the commons to enlarge their severalles.' STEEV.

In Minshew's Dictionary, 1617, is the following article. To sever from others. Hine nos pascua et campos seorsim ab aliis separatos severela dicimus.' In the margin he spells the word as Shakspeare does,-severals.

Our author is seldom careful that his comparisons should answer on both sides. If several be here considered as synonymous to distinct, or separate, the sense is clear. But if it be understood in its rustic acceptation; and it must be taken both ways, the adversative particle stands but aukwardly. To say, that though land is several, it is not common, seems as unjustifiable as to assert, that though a house is a cottage, it is not a palace. Dr. Johnson's explanation of this passage appears peculiarly faulty in this respect. MAL.

My lips are no common, though several they be.] In the note upon this 'passage it is said that SEVERAL is un inclosed field of a private propriétor. Dr. Johnson has totally mistaken this word. In the first place it should be spelled severell. This does not signify an inclosed field or private property, but is rather the property of every landholder in the parish. Each field in its turn is fallow every third year; and the field thus fallowed is called the common field, on which the cows and sheep graze, and have herdsmen and shepherds to attend them, in order to prevent them from going into the two other fields which bear corn and grass. Dr. JAMES.

My lips are no common, though several they be.'

Several' does not here signify the several, an inclosed, or private field, as stated by Dr. Johnson; nor the severell of Dr. James, which, by the way, very little differs from it, since he acknowledges that the severell is laud set apart from the common field, and for the growing of corn and grass. 'Several,' in this place, and as employed by Maria, alludes to several tenancy, (law term) which is not a separate, but joint tenancy: and is explained in the books as follows: land in the possession of two or more persons.' 'My lips are no common [not the right of several] though several [being

two] they are,' may therefore be understood: yet after all, the conceit is exceedingly poor. B.

Boyet. His tongue, all impatient to speak and not see, Did stumble with haste in his eye-sight to be;

His tongue, all impatient to speak and not see.] That is, his tongue being impatiently desirous to see as well as speak. JoN.

'His tongue,' &c.

This is very harsh, not to say ridiculous. I think we may read 'fee.' To fee, in old language, is the same as to winnow, i. e. sift, examine. Beside, eye-sight occurs in the immediately succeeding line. The meaning will then be, His tongue is so impatient to speak, that he does not examine or enquire into matters. B.

Moth. By my penny of observation.

By my pen of observation.] Sir T. Hanmer reads: by my penny of observation;' and this is certainly right. The allusion is to the famous old piece, called a Penniworth of Wit. FARM.

'My pen of observation.'

Should it not rather beken of observation? There is an old piece entitled a Groatsworth of Wit, but I have never heard of that which Dr. Farmer has here mentioned.

B.

Cost. No egma, no riddle, no l'envoy; no salve in the male, Sir: Ö Sir, plantain, a plain plantain; no l'envoy, no l'envoy, no salve, Sir, but a plantain !

No l'envoy;] The l'envoy is a term borrowed from the old French poetry. It appeared always at the head of a few concluding verses to each piece, which either served to convey the moral, or to address the poem to some particular person. It was frequently adopted by the ancient English writers.

So, in Monsieur D'Olive, 1606 :

'Well said: now to the L'Envoy!

All the tragedies of John Bochas, translated by Lidgate, are followed by a L'Envoy.

No salve, in the male, sir.] The old folio reads, no salve in thee male, sir, which, in another folio, is, no salve, in the male, sir. What it can mean is not easily discovered: if mail for a packet or bag was a word then in use, no salve in the mail, may mean, no salve in the mountebank's budget. Or shall we read, no enigma, no riddle, no l'envoy-in the vale, sir―0, sir, SHAK. X

II.

plantain. The matter is not great, but one would wish for some meaning

or other. JOHN.

Male, or mail, was a word then in use. Reynard the fox sent Kayward's head in a male. And, so, in Tamburlane, or the Scythian Shepherd, 1590:

Open the males, yet guard the treasure, sure.

I believe Dr. Johnson's first explanation to be right. STEEV.

No salve in the male, sir, may mean, I will have none of all the salves you have in the male:' treating them as a mountebank. MUSG. Perhaps we should read—no salve in them all, sir. TYRWH.

I believe we should read and point the passage thus:

'No egma, no riddle, no l'envoy. No salve à the mal, sir. O, sir plantain, a plain plantain ; no l'envoy, no salve, sir, but a plantain.' There is a quibble on the word envoy, which signifies not only the address that Dr. Johnson has noticed, but an ambassador.

When Costard (having his head broken) comes in, Armado says, 'Here is some riddle, come, the l'envoy, the address,-begin.' Costard plays upon envoy, as it may mean ambassador, whom he considers as a salve, insinuating that an envoy is frequently sent to heal grievances, but that envoy would not heal a broken pate. He therefore goes on, No salve à the mal, sir' (i.e. this is no salve for my sore, sir). Plantain, plantain, sir, no salve like a plain plantain.' That such is the conceit will be seen by what follows:

Armad. Doth the inconsiderate take salve for l'envoy, and the word envoy for a salve?

Moth. Doth the wise consider them other? is not l'envoy a salve?

Cost. My sweet ounce of man's flesh! my incony Jew! My incony Jew!] Incony, or kony, in the north signifies fine, delicate, as a kony thing, a fine thing. It is plain therefore, we should read;

my incony jewel. WARB.

I know not whether it be right, however specious, to change Jew to jewel Jew, in our author's time, was for whatever reason, apparently a word of endearment. So, in the Midsummer Night's Dream;

'Most brisky juvenile, and eke most lovely Jew.' JOHN.

The word is used again in the 4th act of this play:

< -most incony vulgar wit.'

In the old comedy called Blurt Master Constable, 1602, I meet with it again. A maid is speaking to her mistress about a gown;

'it makes you have a most inconie body.'

Cony and incony have the same meaning. So, Metaphor says in Jonson's Tale of a tub,

'O superdainty canon, vicar inconey,

Again, in the Two Angry Women of Abingdon, 1599; " 0, I have sport inconey i'faith."

Again, in Marlow's Jew of Malta, 1633 ;

'While I in thy incony lap do tumble.'

Again, in Doctor Dodypoll, a comedy, 1600;

"A cockscomb incony, but that he wants money.' STEEV. There is no such expression in the North as either kony, or incony. The word canny, which the people there use, and from which Dr. Warburton's mistake may have arisen, bears a variety of significations, none of which is fine, delicate, or applicable to a thing of value. Dr. Johnson's quotation by no means proves Jew to have been a word of endearment. REM.

'My inconey Jew.'

Jew' is undoubtedly contracted of jewel, and has precisely the same meaning. Such abbreviations are frequent in the early writers. It should be printed Jew'.' This example of Jew will serve to confirm the justness of my remark on the word 'quat,' as being contracted of quater. See note on Othello. Incony' signifies unpractised, artless, from in and con-[to con is to learn, to study.] The meaning of incony Jew' will therefore be 'My precious, yet artless fellow.' In Act 4, Sc. 1. We find incony vulgar wit.' This must signify coarse, rude expression. B.

Biron. This wimpled, whining, purblind, wayward boy; This signior Junio's giant-dwarf, Dan Cupid;

This wimpled] The wimple was a hood or veil which fell over the face. Had Shakspeare been acquainted with the flammeum of the Romans, or the gem which represents the marriage of Cupid and Psyche, his choice of the epithet would have been much applauded by all the advocates in favor of his learning. STEEV.

"This wimpled,' &c. What, it may be asked, would the modest Mr. Steevens insinuate by this his note? Why that Shakspeare not being acquainted with the flammeum of the Romans, the applause, as Mr. S. is pleased to term it, and which would have been due to the poet, by reason of such very great learning, must necessarily belong to himself. It unfortunately happens, however, that this very learning, for which the editor is contending, is, in fact, no learning at all, since the flammeum can signify nothing but the veil which is worn by women, and no more appertains to Cupid than it does to the commentator. The following explanation, I think, will be admitted as right. The wimple, like to the flammeum, is certainly a hood or veil for women. The wimple is likewise the peplum, or sacred veil of the Greeks. Now the peplum of this nation, and which is distinguished by the name of veil, is a large and loose robe. This robe was carried in procession by the Athenians at the celebration of the Panathenia or festival of Minerva, and on it were depicted