I be reveng❜d on him? for reveng'd I will be, as fure' as his guts are made of puddings. Enter Mistress Ford. Mrs. Ford. Mistress Page! truft me, I was going your house. Mrs. Page. And truft me, I was coming to you. You look very ill. Mrs. Ford. Nay, I'll ne'er believe that; I have to fhew to the contrary. Mrs. Page. 'Faith, but you do, in my mind. Mrs. Ford. Well, I do then; yet, I fay, I could shew you to the contrary: O miftrefs Page, give me fome counfel! Mrs. Page. What's the matter, woman? Mrs. Ford. O woman, if it were not for one trifling refpect, I could come to fuch honour! Mrs. Page. Hang the trifle woman; take the honour: what is it? difpenfe with trifles; what is it? licly tranfacting. The Merry Wives of Windfor appears to have been wrote in 1601, or very fhortly after. And we are informed by Sir Simon D'Ewes' Journal, that no home affair made more noife in and out of parliament at that time, than the fuppreffion and regulation of taverns, inns, ale-houses, ftrong liquors, and the drinkers of them. In the parliament. held 1597, a bill was brought into both houses, For fup"preffing the multitude of malfters," &c. Another, "To "reftrain the exceffive making of malt, and diforderly brewing "of ftrong beer." Another, "For regulating of inns, ta&c. In the next parliament, held 1601, was a bill," For the fuppreffing of the multitude of ale-houses and "tipling-houses." Another, " Against exceffive and com"mon drunkennefs;" and several others of the fame nature. Some of which, after much canvaffing, were thrown out, and others paffed into acts. WARBURTON. verns, I do not fee that any alteration is neceffary; if it were, either of the foregoing conjectures might ferve the turn. But furely Mrs. Ford may naturally enough, in the first heat of her anger, rail at the fex for the fault of one. JOHNSON. Mrs. Mrs. Ford. If I would but go to hell for an eternal moment, or fo, I could be knighted. Mrs. Page. What?-thou lieft!--Sir Alice Ford! —These knights will hack, and fo thou shouldst not alter the article of thy gentry. Mrs. Ford. We burn day-light-here, readread;-perceive how I might be knighted.-I fhall think the worse of fat men, as long as I have an eye to make difference of mens' liking: and yet he would not fwear; prais'd womens' modefty; and gave fuch orderly and well-behaved reproof to all uncomeliness, + What?-thou lieft!-Sir Alice Ford!-These knights will HACK, and fo thou shouldft not alter the article of thy gentry.] The unintelligible nonfenfe of this fpeech is hardly to be matched. The change of a fingle letter has occafioned it, which is thus cafily removed. Read and point-Thefe knights will LACK, and fo thou shouldst not alter the article of thy gentry. The other had faid, I could be knighted, meaning, I could have a knight for my lover; her companion took it in the other fenfe, of conferring the title, and fays, What?-thou lieft !-Sir Alice Ford! -Thefe knights will lack a title [i. e. risk the punishment of degradation] rather than not make a whore of thee. For we are to obferve that and fo thou shouldft not, is a mode of speech, amongst the writers of that time, equivalent to-rather than thou shouldft not. WARBURTON. Upon this paffage the learned editor has tried his ftrength, in my opinion, with more fpirit than fuccefs. I read thus-Thefe knights we'll back, and fo thou shouldeft not alter the article of thy gentry. The punishment of a recreant or undeferving knight, was to back off his fpurs: the meaning therefore is; it is not worth the while of a gentlewoman to be made a knight, for we'll degrade all these knights in a little time, by the ufual form of hacking off their fpurs, and thou, if thou art knighted, fhalt be hacked with the reft. JOHNSON. Hanmer fays, to hack, means to turn hackney, or prostitute. I fuppofe he means-Thefe knights will degrade themfelves, fo that he will acquire no honour by being connected with them. Perhaps the paffage has been hitherte entirely misunderstood. To back, is an expreffion already ufed in the ridiculous fcene between Quickly, Evans, and the Boy, and fignifies, to de mifchief. The fenfe of this paffage may therefore be, these knights are a riotous, diffolute fort of people, and on that account thou should'st not wish to be of the number. STEEVENS. that that I would have fworn his difpofition would have gone to the truth of his words: but they do no more adhere, and keep place together, than the hundredth pfalm to the tune of Green Sleeves. What tempeft, trow, threw this whale, with fo many tuns of oil in his belly, afhore at Windfor? How shall I be reveng'd on him? I think, the best way were to entertain him with hope, 'till the wicked fire of luft have melted him in his own grease. Did you ever hear the like? Mrs. Page. Letter for letter; but that the name of Page and Ford differs! To thy great comfort in this mystery of ill opinions, here's the twin-brother of thy letter but let thine inherit first; for, I proteft, mine never fhall. I warrant, he hath a thousand of these letters, writ with blank space for different names (fure more); and thefe are of the fecond edition: he will print them out of doubt; for he cares not what he puts into the 5 prefs, when he would put us two. I had rather be a giantess, and lie under mount Pelion. Well, I will find you twenty lascivious turtles, 'ere one chafte man. Mrs. Ford. Why, this is the very fame, the very hand, the very words; what doth he think of us? Mrs. Page. Nay, I know not: it makes me almost ready to wrangle with mine own honesty. I'll entertain myself like one that I am not acquainted withal; for, fure, unless he knew some strain in me, that I know not myself, he would never have boarded me in this fury. s-prefs,-] Prefs is used ambiguously, for a press to print, and a press to fqueeze. JOHNSON. fome firain in me,-] Thus the old copies. The modern editors read, "fome ftain in me," but I think unneceffarily. A fimilar expreffion occurs in The Winter's Tale : "With what encounter fo uncurrent, have I "Strain'd to appear thus ?" And again in Timon: 66 -a noble nature May catch a wrench." STEEVENS. Mrs. Mrs. Ford. Boarding, call you it? I'll be fure to keep him above deck. Mrs. Page. So will I; if he come under my hatches, I'll never to fea again. Let's be reveng'd on him: let's appoint him a meeting; give him a show of comfort in his fuit; and lead him on with a fine baited delay, till he hath pawn'd his horfes to mine Hoft of the Garter. Mrs. Ford. Nay, I will confent to act any villainy against him, that may not fully the charinefs of our honefty. Oh, that my husband faw this letter! it would give eternal food to his jealousy. Mrs. Page. Why, look, where he comes; and my good man too: he's as far from jealoufy, as I am from giving him caufe; and that, I hope, is an unmeafurable diftance. Mrs. Ford. You are the happier woman. Mrs. Page. Let's confult together against this greafy knight. Come hither. [They retire. Enter Ford with Piftol, Page with Nym. Ford. Well, I hope, it be not fo. Pift. Hope is a 7 curtail-dog in fome affairs. Sir John affects thy wife. Ford. Why, Sir, my wife is not young. Pift. He wooes both high and low, both rich and poor, Both young and old, one with another, Ford; Pift. With liver burning hot: prevent, or go thou, Like Sir Acteon, he, with Ring-wood at thy heels :O, odious is the name! Ford. What name, Sir? 7-curtail-dog-] That is, a dog that miffes his game. The tail is counted neceffary to the agility of a greyhound; and one method of difqualifying a dog, according to the forest laws, is to cut his tail, or make him a curtail. JOHNSON. Pift. The horn, I say: farewel. Take heed; have open eye; for thieves do foot by night. Take heed, ere fummer comes, or 8 cuckoo-birds do fing. 9 Away, Sir corporal Nym. Believe it, Page, he fpeaks fenfe. [Exit Piftol. Ford. I will be patient; I will find out this. Nym. And this is true: I like not the humour of lying. He hath wrong'd me in fome humours: I fhould have borne the humour'd letter to her; but ■ I have a fword, and it fhall bite upon my neceffity. -He loves your wife; there's the fhort and the long. -My name is corporal Nym; I speak, and I avouch. 'Tis true:-my name is Nym, and Falstaff loves your wife.-Adieu; I love not the humour of bread and cheese; and there's the humour of it. Adieu. 8 [Exit Nym. -cuckoo-birds do fing.] Such is the reading of the folio, and the quarto 1630. The quarto 1619 reads-when cuckoobirds appear. The modern editors- when cuckoo-birds affright. For this laft reading I find no authority. STEEVENS. 9 Away, Sir corporal Nym. Believe it, Page, he speaks fenfe.] Nym, I believe, is out of place, and we should read thus: Away, Sir corporal. Nym. Believe it, Page, he speaks fenfe. JOHNSON. I have a fword, and it shall bite upon my neceffity.-He loves your wife, &c.] This abfurd paffage may be pointed into fenfe. I have a fword, and it fhall bite- upon my necefity, he loves your wife, &c.--Having faid his fword fhould bite, he stops fhort, as was fitting: for he meant that it should bite upon the highway. And then turns to the subject of his conference, and fwears, by his neceffity, that Falftaff loved his wife. WARBURTON. I do not fee the difficulty of this paffage: no phrafe is more common than you may, upon a need, thus. Nym, to gain credit, fays, that he is above the mean office of carrying loveletters; he has nobler means of living; he has a fword, and upon his neceffity, that is, when his need drives him to unlawful expedients, his fword fhall bite. JOHNSON. VOL. I. Р Page. |