Fal. Indeed, you come near me now, Hal. For we,. that take purfes, go by the moon and seven stars, and not by Phabus, he, that wandring knight fo fair. And I pray thee, fweet wag, when thou art King-as God fave thy Grace (Majefty, I fhould fay; for grace thou wilt have none. P. Henry. What! none? Fal. No, by my troth, not fo much as will ferve to be prologue to an egg and butter. P. Henry. Well, how then?--come- roundly, roundly Fal. Marry, then, fweet wag, when thou art King, 'let not us that are fquires of the night's body, be call'd thieves of the day's booty. Let us be Diana's forefter's, gentlemen of the fhade, minions of the Moon; and let men fay, we be men of good government, being governed as the Sea is, by our noble and chafte miftrefs the Moon, under whofe countenance we-steal. P. Henry. Thou fay'ft well, and it holds well too; for the fortune of us, that are the Moon's men, doth ebb and flow like the Sea; being govern'd as the Sea is, by the Moon. As for proof, now: a purfe of gold moft refolutely fnatch'd on Monday night, and moft diffolutely fpent on Tuesday morning; 3 got with fwearing, lay by; and fpent with crying, bring In former editions, Let not Us, that are Squires of the Night's body, be call'd Thieves of the Day's Beauty. ] This conveys no manner of Idea to me. How could they be called Thieves of the Day's Beauty? They robbed by Moonfhine; they could not iteal the fair Day-light. I have ventured to fubftitute, Booty: and this I take to be the Meaning. Let us not be called Thieves, the Purloiners of that Booty, which, to the Proprietors, was the Pur chafe of honest Labour and Indultry by Day. THEOBALD. 3 got with fwearing, lay by ;] i. e. fwearing at the paffengers they robbed, lay by your arms; or rather, lay by was a phrase that then fignified stand still, addreffed to those who were preparing to rush forward. But the Oxford Editor kindly accommodates thefe old thieves with a new cant phrafe, taken from Baghot-Heath or Finchly Common, of WARBURTON. LUG-OUT. in : in: now in as low an ebb as the foot of the ladder; and by and by in as high a flow as the ridge of the gallows. Fal By the lord, thou fay'ft true, lad: and is not mine Hostess of the tavern a moft fweet wench? P. Henry. As the honey of Hybla, my old lad of 4 As the Honey of Hybla, my Old Lad of the Caftle.) Mr. Rowe took notice of a Tradition, that this Part of Falftaff was written originally under the Name of Oldcastle. An ingenious Cor-, refpondent hints to me, that the Paffage above quoted from our Author proves, what Mr. Rowe tells us was a Tradition. Old Lad of the Cafle feems to have a Reference to Oldcastle. Be. fides, if this had not been the Fact, why, in the Epilogue to the Second Part of Henry IV. where our Author promifes to continue his Story with Sir John in it, fhould he fay, Where, for any Thing I know, Falstaff ball die of a Sweat, unless already he be killed with your hard Opinions: for Oldcastle dy'd a Martyr, and this is not the Man. This looks like declining a Point, that had been made an Objection to him. I'll give a farther Matter in Proof, which feems almost to fix the Charge. I have read an old Play, called, The famous Victories of Henry the Vth, containing the Honourable Battle of Agincourt. -The Action of this Piece commences about the 14th Year of K. Henry IVth's Reign, and ends with Henry the Vth marrying Princefs Catharine of France. The Scene opens with Prince Henry's Robberies. Sir the Jodn Oldcastle is one of his Gang, and called Jockie: and Ned and Gads hill are two other Com. rades.- -From this old imperfect Sketch, I have a Sufpicion, Shakespeare might form his two Parts of Henry the IVth, and his History of Henry V : and confequently, 'tis not improbable, that he might continue the mention of Sir John Oldcastle, till fome Defcendants of that Family moved Queen Elizabeth to command him to change the Name. THEOBALD. my old lad of the caftle ;] This alludes to the name Shakespeare first gave to this buffoon character, which was Sir John Oldcaftle: And when he changed the name, he forgot to ftrike out this expreffion that alluded to it. The reafon of the change was this, one Sir John Oldcastle having fuffered in the time of Henry V. for the opinions of Wickliffe, it gave offence; and therefore the Poet altered it to Falstaff, and endeavours to remove the scandal, in the Epilogue to the second part of Henry IV. Fuller takes notice of this matter in his Church Hiftory, Stage-Poets have themselves been very bold with, and others very merry at, the memory of Sir John Oldcastle, whom they have fancied a boon companion, a jovial royfter, and a coward the caftle; and is not a buff-jerkin a most sweet robe. of durance. Fal. How now, how now, mad wag; what, in thy quips and thy quiddities? what a plague have I to do with a buff-jerkin? P. Henry. Why, what a pox have I to do with my Hoftefs of the tavern? Fal. Well, thou hast called her to a reckoning many a time and oft, P. Henry. Did I ever call thee to pay thy part? Fal. No, I'll give thee thy due, thou haft paid all there. P. Henry. Yea and elsewhere, so far as my coin would stretch; and where it would not, I have us'd my credit. Fal. Yea, and fo us'd it, that were it not here apparent, that thou art heir apparent--But, I pr'ythee, fweet wag, fhail there be Gallows ftanding in England, when thou art King? and refolution thus fobb'd as it is, with the rufty curb of old father antick, the law? Do not thou, when thou art a King, hang a thief. P. Henry. No: thou fhalt. Fal. Shall I? O rare! By the Lord, I'll be a brave judge. coward to boot. The beft is, Sir John Falstaff hath relieved the memory of Sir John Oldcastle, and of late is fubftituted buffoon in his place. Book 4. p. 16%. But, to be candid, I believe there was no malice in the matter. Shake fpear wanted a droll name to his character, and never confidered whom it belonged to: we have a like inftance in the Merry Wives of Windsor, where he calls his French Quack, Caius, a name, at that time very refpectable, Es belonging to an eminent and I P. Henry. Thou judgeft falfe already: I'mean, thou fhalt have the hanging of the thieves, and fo become a rare hangman. Fal. Well, Hal, well; and in fome fort it jumps with my humour, as well as waiting in the Court, I can tell you. 6 P. Henry. For obtaining of fuits? Fal. Yea, for obtaining of fuits; whereof the hangman hath no lean wardrobe. 'Sblood, I am as me lancholy as a' gib-cat, or a lugg'd bear. P. Henry. Or an old lion, or a lover's lute. Fal. Yea, or the drone of a Lincolnshire bagpipe. P. Henry. What fay'ft thou to a Hare, or the melancholy of Moor-ditch? Fal. Thou haft the moft unfavoury fimilies; and art, indeed, the most comparative, rafcallieft, sweet young Prince-But, Hal, I pr'ythee trouble me no more with vanity; I would to God, thou and I knew where a commodity of good names were to be bought an old lord of the Council rated me the other day in the street about you, Sir; but I mark'd him not, and yet he talk'd very wifely, and in the street too. P. Henry. Thou didst well; for wifdom cries out in the freets, and no man regards it. Fal. O, thou haft damnable iteration, and art, indeed, 6 For obtaining of fuits.] Suit, fpoken of one that attends at court, means a petition; ufed with refpect to the hangman, means the cloaths of tho offender. after him, read, incomparative, I fuppofe for incomparable, or peerless, but comparative here means quick at comparisons, or fruitful in families, and is properly 1 A Gib-cat means, I know not introduced. why, an old cat. The melancholy of Moorditch I do not understand, unless it may allude to the croaking of frogs. The most comparative.] Sir T. Hanmer, and Dr. Warburton I O, thou haft, &c.] For iteration Sir T. Hanmer and Dr. Warburton read attraction, of which the meaning is certainly more apparent: but an Editor is not always to change what he does not understand. In the laft fpeech indeed, able to corrupt a faint. Thou haft done much harm unto me, Hal, God forgive thee for it! Before I knew thee, Hal, I knew nothing; and now am I, If a man fhould fpeak truth, little better than one of the wicked. I must give over this life, and I will give it over by the lord, an I do not, I am a villain. I'll be damn'd for never a King's fon in chriftendom. P. Henry. Where fhall we take a purfe to morrow, Fack? Fal. Where thou wilt, lad, I'll make one; an I dà not, call me villain and baffle me. P. Henry: F fée à good amendment of life, in thee, From praying to purfe-taking Fal. Why, Hat, 'tis my vocation, Hal. 'Tis no 14 fin all the Editors here, as any thro' the whole Set of Plays. Will any one perfuade me Shakespeare could be guilty of fuch an Inconfiftency, as to make Poins at his firft entrance want News of Gads bill, and immediately after to be able to give a full Account of him?- -No; Falfiaff, feas ing Poins at hand, turns the Stream of his Difcourfe from the Prince, and lays: Now fall we know whether Gads ill has fet a Match for Us; and thea immediately falls into Railing and Invectives against Poins, How admirably is this in Charafter for Falstoff! And Poins, who knew.well his abufive manner, feems in part to overhear him: and fo icon as he has return'd the Prince's Salutation, cries, by way of Anfwer, What Jays Minfieur Remorie ? What jays Sir John Sack and Sugar! THEOBALD. Mr. Theobald has faftened ad oblerva |