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 so ;—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. Poz. Ay, or drinking, fencing, swearing, quarrelling,

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,

*First folio, And thus.

the context seems to me to require, after the second folio. There is no point after the word nearer, either in the original quarto 1604, or the folio. MALONE.

7 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 quarreling: they thinke themselves no men, if for stirring of a straw, they prove not their valure uppon some bodies fleshe.' MALONE.

'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.

9

- another scandal-." i. e. a very different and more scandalous failing, namely, habitual incontinency. Mr. Theobald in

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;

2

A savageness in unreclaimed blood,

Of general assault3.

REY.

POL. Wherefore should you do this?

REY.

I would know that.

POL.

But, my good lord,

Ay, my lord,

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

Your party in convèrse, him you would sound,
Having ever seen in the prenominate crimes",
The youth you breathe of, guilty, be assur'd,
He closes with you in this consequence;
Good sir, or so: or friend, or gentleman,-
According to the phrase, or the addition,
Of man, and country.

REY.

* Quarto, with working.

Very good, my lord.

† First folio, and.

his Shakspeare Restored proposed to read- an utter scandal on him;' but did not admit the emendation into his edition.

MALONE.

'That's not my meaning:] That is not what I mean when I permit you to accuse him of drabbing. M. MASON.

2 A SAVAGENESS -] Savageness, for wildness. WARBURTON. 3 Of general assault.] i. e. such as youth in general is liable to. WARBURTON.

4 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.

Good sir, or so;] 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.

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 t'other day,

Or then, or then; with such, or such; and, as you say,

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,

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 R.

REY. I shall, my lord.

POL. And let him ply his musick.

* First folio omits by the mass. † Quarto omits with you. Quarto, or took.

At, closes in the consequence,] Thus the quarto. The folio adds-" At friend, or so, and gentleman." MALONE.

8

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

66

"The portraiture of his."

Again, in Timon:

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

REY.

Well, my lord.

[Exit.

Enter OPHELIA.

POL. Farewell!-How now, Ophelia ? what's the matter?

OPH. O, my lord, my lord *, I have been so affrighted!

POL. With what, in the name of heaven?
ОPH. 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.
Poz. Mad for thy love?

OPH.

But, truly, I do fear it.

POL.

My lord, I do not know;

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 staid he so;

At last, a little shaking of mine arm,

And thrice his head thus waving up and down,— He rais'd a sigh so piteous and profound,

As it did seem to shatter all his bulk',

* First folio, Alas, my lord, I have. † First folio, chamber. First folio, That it.

9 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 Lu

crece :

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 help
And, to the last, bended their light on me.
POL. Come, go with me; I will go seek the king.
This is the very ecstasy of love :

Whose violent property foredoes itself 2,
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 com-

mand,

I did repel his letters, and denied

His access to me.

POL.

That hath made him mad.

I am sorry, that with better heed and judgment,
I had not quoted him3: I fear'd, he did but trifle,

66

66

* Quarto, helps.

her heart

Beating her bulk, that his hand shakes with all.”

So, in Richard III. Act I. Sc. IV. :

66

But still the envious flood

Kept in my soul, and would not let it forth,

"But smother'd it within my parting bulk." MALONE. Bulk, is not, I think, all his body, but his breast. Johnson derives it from bulke, Dutch, which has that meaning. Pettorata, in Florio, is explained, "a shock against the breast or bulk." BOSWELL. FOREDOES itself,] To foredo is to destroy. So, in Othello: "That either makes me, or foredoes me quite."

2

STEEVENS.

3 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."