Pol. Marry, well said: very well said. Look you, sir, Inquire me first what Danskers are in Paris; And how, and who, what means, and where they keep, What company, at what expence; and finding, By this encompassment and drift of question, That they do know my son, come you more nearer Than your particular demands will touch it:3 Take you, as 'twere, some distant knowledge of him; As thus,--I know his father, and his friends, And, in part, him ;-Do you mark this, Reynaldo?

Rey. Ay, very well, my lord.

Pol. And, in part, him ;-but, you may say,_not well : But, if 't be he I mean, he's very wild ; Addicted so and 80;—and there put on him What forgeries you please; marry, none so rank As may dishonour him; take heed of that; But, sir, such wanton, wild, and usual slips, As are companions noted and most known To youth and liberty. Rey.

As gaming, my lord. Pol. Ay, or drinking, fencing, swearing, 4 quarrelling,

I- well said: very well said.] Thus also, the weak and tedi. ous Shallow says to Bardolph, in The Second Part of King Henry IV, Act III, sc. ï : “ It is well said, sir; and it is well said indeed too.” Steevens.

2- Danskers -] Danske (in Warner's Albion's England) is the ancient name of Denmark. Steevens.

come you more nearer Than your particular demands will touch it:] The late editions read, and point, thus :

come you more nearer ; Then your particular demands will touch it : Throughout the old copies the word which we now writethan, is constantly written—then. I have therefore printed-than, which the context seems to me to require, though the old copies have then. There is no point after the word nearer, either in the original quarto, 1604, or the folio. Malone.

4 drinking, fencing, swearing,] I suppose, by fencing is meant a too diligent frequentation of the fencing-school, a resort of violent and lawless young men. Johnson.

Fencing, I suppose, means, piquing himself on his skill in the use of the sword, and quarrelling and brawling, in consequence of that skill. “ The cunning of fencers, says Gosson, in his Schoole of Abuse, 1579, is now applied to quarrelling : they thinke themselves no men, if for stirring of a straw, they prove not their valure uppon some bodies fleshe.” Malone VOL. XV.

H

3

Drabbing :

-You may go so far.
Rey, My lord, that would dishonour him.

Pol. 'Faith, no; as you may season it in the charge.
You must not put another scandal on him,
That he is open to incontinency;
That's not my meaning:? but breathe his faults so

quaintly,
That they may seem the taints of liberty:
The flash and out-break of a fiery mind;
A savagenessé in unreclaimed blood,
Of general assault.
Rey.

But, my good lord,
Pol. Wherefore should you do this?
Rey.

Ay, my lord,
I would know that.
Pol.

Marry, sir, here's my drift;
And, I believe, it is a fetch of warrant:1
You laying these slight sullies on my son,
As 'twere a thing a little soil'd i' the working,
Mark

you,
Your party in converse, him you would sound,
Having ever seen, in the prenominate crimes,
The youth you breathe of, guilty, be assurd,
He closes with you in this consequence;
Good sir, or so ;3 or friend, or gentleman,--

$'Faith, no; as you may season it &c.] The quarto reads Faith, as you may season it in the charge. Malone.

another scandal on him,] Thus the old editions. Mr. Theobald reads-an utter. Johnson.

another scandal - ) i. e. a very different and more scan. dalous failing, namely habitual incontinency. Mr. Theobald in his Shakspeare Restored proposed to read-an utter scandal on him; but did not admit the emendation into his edition. Malone.

7 That's not my meaning : ] That is not what I mean, when I permit you to accuse him

of drabbing. M. Mason. savageness —] Savageness, for wildness: Warburton. 9 Of general assault.) i. e. such as youth in general is liable to.

Warburton. 1 And, I believe, it is a fetch of warrant :] So the folio. The quarto reads--a fetch of wit. Steevens. prenominate crimes,] i. e. crimes already named.

Steevens. 3 Good sir, or so ;] I suspect, (with Mr. Tyrwhitt) that the

8

According to the phrase, or the addition,
Of man, and country.
Rey.

Very good, my lord.
Pol. And then, sir, does he this,He does--
What was I about to say ?-By the mass, I was about to
say something :- Where did I leave?
Rey. At, closes in the consequence.

Pol. At, closes in the consequence,*--Ay, marry;
He closes with you thus:-I know the gentleman ;
I saw him yesterday, or r other day,
Or then, or then; with such, or such; and, as you sali,
There was he gaming; there o'ertook in his rouse;
There falling out at tennis : or, perchance,
I saw him enter such a house of sale,
(Videlicet, a brothel) or so forth.-
See you now;
Your bait of falsehood takes this carp of truth:
And thus do we of wisdom and of reach,
With windlaces, and with assays of bias,
By indirections find directions out;
So, by my former lecture and advice,
Shall you my son: You have me, have you not?

Rey. My lord, I have.
Pol.

God be wi' you; fare you well.
Rey. Good my lord,
Pol. Observe his inclination in yourself."
Rey. I shall, my lord.
Pol. And let him ply his musick.
Rey.

Well, my lord.

[Exit.

5

Poet wrote-Good sir, or sir, or friend, &c. In the last Act of this play, so is used for so forth : " - - six French rapiers and poniards, with their assigns, as girdle, hanger, and so." Malone

4 At, closes in the consequence,] Thus the quarto. The folio adds -At friend, or so, or gentleman. Malone.

in yourself.] Sir T. Hanmer reads-e'en yourself, and is followed by Dr. Warburton; but perhaps in yourself, means, in your own person, not by spies. Johnson.

The meaning seems to be–The temptations you feel, suspect in him, and be watchful of them. So, in a subsequent scene :

« For by the image of my cause, I see

“ The portraiture of his." Again, in Timon:

“ I weigh my friend's affection with my own." C.

Enter OPHELIA. Pol. Farewel !-How now, Ophelia? what 's the mat

ter? Oph. O, my lord, my lord, I have been so affrighted! Pol. With what, in the name of heaven?

Oph. My lord, as I was sewing in my closet,
Lord Hamlet,— with his doublet all unbrac'd ;
No hat upon his head; his stockings foul'd,
Ungarter'd, and down-gyved to his ancle ;
Pale as his shirt; his knees knocking each other;
And with a look so piteous in purport,
As if he had been loosed out of hell,
To speak of horrors,- he comes before me.

Pol. Mad for thy love?
Oph.

My lord, I do not know;
But, truly, I do fear it.
Pol.

What said he?
Oph. He took me by the wrist, and held me hard;
Then goes he to the length of all his arm ;
And, with his other hand thus o'er his brow,
He falls to such perusal of my face,
As he would draw it. Long stay'd he so;
At last,—a little shaking of mine arm,
And thrice his head thus waving up and down,----
He raised a sigh so piteous and profound,
As it did seem to shatter all his bulk,?
And end his being: That done, he lets me go:
And, with his head over his shoulder turn’d,
He seem'd to find his way without his eyes;
For out o’ doors he went without their helps,
And, to the last, bended their light on me.

Pol. Come, go with me; I will go seek the king.
This is the very ecstacy of love;

6 Ungarter'd, and down-gyved to his ancle;] Down.gyved means, hanging down like the loose cincture which confines the fetters round the ancles. Steevens.

Thus the quartos, 1604, and 1605, and the folio. In the quarto of 1611, the word gyved was changed to gyred. Malone.

all his bulk,] i. e. all his body. So, in The Rape of Lucrece :

her heart “ Beating her bulk, that his hand shakes with all." See Vol. XI, p. 48, n. 6. Malone.

66

Whose violent property foredoes itself,3
And leads the will to desperate undertakings,
As oft as any passion under heaven,
That does afflict our natures. I am sorry,
What, have you given him any hard words of late?

Oph. No, my good lord; but, as you did command,
I did repel his letters, and deny'd
His access to me.
Pol.

That hath made him mad. I am sorry,

that with better heed, and judgment, I had not quoted him:' I fear’d, he did but trifle, And meant to wreck thee; but, beshrew my jealousy! It seems, it is as proper to our age To cast beyond ourselves in our opinions, As it is common for the younger sort To lack discretion. Come, go we to the king:

8

- foredoes itself,] To foredo is to destroy. So, in Othello :

“ That either makes me, or foredoes me quite.” Steevens. 9 I had not quoted him :) To quote is, I believe, to reckon, to take an account of, to take the quotient or result of a computation.

Johnson. I find a passage in The Isle of Gulls, a comedy, by John Day, 1606, which proves Dr. Johnson's sense of the word to be not far from the true one :

“ -'twill be a scene of mirth

“For me to quote his passions, and his smiles.”
To quote on this occasion undoubtedly means to observe.
Again, in Drayton's Mooncalf :

“ This honest man the prophecy that noted,
“ And things therein most curiously had quoted,

“ Found all these signs,” &c. Again, in The Wornan Hater, by Beaumont and Fletcher, the intelligencer says, “I'll quote him to a tittle,” i. e. I will mark or observe him.

To quote, as Mr. M. Mason observes, is invariably used by Shakspeare in this sense. Steevens. 1- it is as proper to our age

To cast beyond ourselves in our opinions,
As it is common for the younger sort

To lack discretion.] This is not the remark of a weak man. The vice of age is too much suspicion. Men long accustomed to the wiles of life cast commonly beyond themselves, let their cunning go farther than reason can attend it. This is always the fault of a little mind, made artful by long commerce with the world.

Fohnson. The quartos read-By heaven it is as proper &c. Stec