but I have (miffingly) noted, he is of late much retired from Court, and is lefs frequent to his princely Exercises than formerly he hath appear'd. Pol. I have confider'd fo much, Camillo, and with fome care fo far, that I have eyes under my fervice, which look upon his removednefs; from whom I have this intelligence, that he is feldom from the houfe of a moft homely fhepherd; a man, they fay, that from very nothing, and beyond the imagination of his neighbours, is grown into an unfpeakable eftate. Cam. I have heard, Sir, of fuch a man, who hath a daughter of moft rare note; the report of her is extended more than can be thought to begin from such a cottage. Pol. (22) That's likewife a part of my intelligence; and, I fear, the Engle that plucks out fon thither. Thou shalt accompany us to the place, where we will (not appearing what we are) have fome queftion with the fhepherd; from whofe fimplicity, I think it not uneafie to get the cause of my fon's Refort thither. Pr'ythee, be my prefent partner in this business, and lay afide the thoughts of Sicilia. Cam. I villingly obey your Command. Pol. My best Camillo!we muft difguife our felves. [Exeunt. SCENE changes to the Country. Enter Autolicus finging. HEN daffadils begin to peere, WH W. With, beigh! the doxy over the dale, Why then comes in the fweet o'th' year; For the red blood reigns in the winter's pale. I 2 The (22) That's likewife part of my Intelligence; but, I fear the Angle that plucks our Son thither.] The disjunctive here, I think, makes ftark Nonsense of the Context: and the Editors have palm'd an Allufion in the Word Angle, which feems foreign to the Senfe of the Paffage. As, before, in the Taming of the Shrew, Angel is mistakenly put for The white sheet bleaching on the hedge, With, hey! the fweet birds, O how they fing! For a quart of ale is a difb for a King. With, hey! with, hey! the thrush and the jay: I have ferved Prince Florizel, and in my time wore three-pile, but now I am out of service. But fhall I go mourn for that, my dear? If tinkers may have leave to live, My traffick is fheets; when the kite builds, look to leffer linnen. (23) My father nam'd me Autolicus, be for Engle: fo, I fufpect, Angle, by the fame eafy Corruption, is here. I have there prov'd the Ufe and Meaning of the Word. I'll proceed briefly to juftify the Emendation I have here made, by fhewing how naturally it falls in with the Sense we should expect. Camillo had juft told the King, he had heard of fuch a fhepherd, and of a Daughter he had of moft rare Note. Ay, replies the King, that's a Part of my Intelligence too; and, I fear, [that Daughter is] the Siren, the Decoy, the Invitation, that plucks our Son thither. (23) My Father nam'd me Autolicus, who being, as I am, litter'd under Mercury, was likewife a fnapper up of unconfider'd Trifles.] The flight Tranfpofition I have ventur'd to make of four fhort Monofyllables in this Paffage, was prefcrib'd by my ingenious Friend Mr. Warburton The Poet's Meaning feems to be this. My Father nam'd me Autolicus, because I was born under Mercury; who was a Thief, as I am. The Allufion is, unquestionably, to this Paffage in Ovid; Alipedis de ftirpe Dei verfuta propago Nafcitur Autolycus, furtum ingeniofus ad omne. Metam. Lib. xi. The true Autolycus was the Son of Mercury; our fictitious one, born under his Planet: the firft a Copy of his Father; the other, fuppos'd to derive his Qualities from natal Predominance. To this Autolycus, the Son of Mercury, Martial has alluded in the 8th Book of his Epigrams. Non fuit Autolyci tàm piceata manus. We find his Hiftory in Pherecydes, Hyginus, &c. ing litter'd under Mercury; who, as I am, was likewife a fnapper-up of unconfider'd trifles: with die and drab, I purchas'd this caparison, and my revenue is the filly Cheat. Gallows, and knock, are too powerful on the high-way; beating and hanging are terrors to me: for the life to come, I fleep out the thought of it. A prize! a prize! Enter Clown. Clo. Let me fee, - Every eleven weather tods, every tod yields pound and odd fhilling; fifteen hundred fhorn, what comes the wooll to? Aut. If the fprindge hold, the cock's mine. [Afide. Clo. I cannot do't without compters. Let me fee, what am I to buy for our fheep-fhearing feast, three pound of fugar, five pound of currants, rice-what will this fifter of mine do with rice? but my father hath made her mistress of the feaft, and fhe lays it on. She hath made me four and twenty nofe-gays for the fhearers; (24) three-man fong-men all, and very good ones, but they are most of them means and bafes; but one Puritan among them, and he fings pfalms to hornpipes. I must have faffron to colour the warden-pies, mace-dates none that's out of my note: nutmegs, seven; a race or two of ginger, but that I may beg; four pound of prunes, and as many raifins o'th' Sun. Aut. Oh, that ever I was born! Clo. I'th' name of me [Groveling on the ground. (24) Three-man Songmen all, and very good ones.] By a three-man Songfter we are to understand, a Singer of Catches; which Catches were then, and are now moft commonly, in three Parts. So our Author, in 2d Part of K. Henry IV ; Fal. If I do, fillip me with a three-man beetle. i. e. a three-handed Beetle, or one used by three Men together. So in an old Play, call'd, The Merry Milk-maids; Smirk. Nay, I'll put in too for my ha, ha, ha. This is a three-man's laughter. For the Laugh is kept up by three Perfons in the Scene Aut. Aut. Oh, help me, help me: pluck but off these rags, and then death, death Clo. Alack, poor foul, thou haft need of more rags to lay on thee, rather than have these off. Aut. Oh, Sir, the loathfomness of them offends me, more than the stripes I have receiv'd, which are mighty ones, and millions. Clo. Alas, poor man! a million of beating may come to a great matter. Aut. I am robb'd, Sir, and beaten; my mony and apparel ta'en from me, and these deteftable things put upon me. Clo. What, by a horfe-man, or a footman? Aut. A foot-man, sweet Sir, a footman. Clo. Indeed, he fhould be a foot-man, by the garments he has left with thee; if this be a horse-man's coat, it hath feen very hot fervice. Lend me thy hand, I'll help thee. Come, lend me thy hand. Aut. Oh! good Sir, tenderly, oh! Clo. Alas, poor foul. [Helping him up. Aut. O good Sir, foftly, good Sir: I fear, Sir, my fhoulder-blade is out. Clo. How now? canst stand? Aut. Softly, dear Sir; good Sir, foftly; you ha' done me a charitable office. Clo. Doft lack any mony? I have a little mony for thee. Aut. No, good fweet Sir; no, I beseech you, Sir; I have a kinfman not past three quarters of a mile hence, unto whom I was going; I fhall there have mony, or any thing I want: offer me no mony, I pray. you; That kills my heart. Clo. What manner of fellow was he, that robb'd you? Aut. A fellow, Sir, that I have known to go about with trol-my-dames: I knew him once a fervant of the Prince; I cannot tell, good Sir, for which of his virtues it was, but he was certainly whipp'd out of the Court. Clo. Clo. His vices, you would fay; there's no virtue whipp'd out of the Court; they cherish it to make it ftay there, and yet it will no more but abide. Aut. Vices I would fay, Sir. I know this man well, he hath been fince an ape-bearer, then a procefs-ferver, a bailiff; then he compafs'd a Motion of the Prodigal Son, and married a tinker's wife within a mile where my land and living lyes; and, having flown over many knavish profeffions, he fettled only in rogue; fome call him Autolicus. Clo. Out upon him, prig! for my life, prig; -he haunts wakes, fairs, and bear-baitings. Aut. Very true, Sir; he, Sir, he; that's the rogue, that put me into this apparel. Clo. Not a more cowardly rogue in all Bohemia; if you had but look'd big, and fpit at him, he'd have run. Aut. I must confefs to you, Sir, I am no fighter; I am false of heart that way, and that he knew, I warrant him. Clo. How do you now? Aut. Sweet Sir, much better than I was; I can stand, and walk; I will even take my leave of you, and pace foftly towards my kinfman's. Clo. Shall I bring thee on thy way ? Aut. No, good-fac'd Sir; no, fweet Sir. Clo. Then, farewel, I must go to buy fpices for our fheep-fhearing. [Exit. Aut. Profper you, fweet Sir! Your purfe is not hot enough to purchase your fpice. I'll be with you at your sheep-fhearing too: if I make not this Cheat bring out another, and the fhearers prove sheep, (25) let me be unroll'd, and my name put into the book of virtue! (25) Let me be unroll'd, and my Name put in the Book of Virtue.] Begging Gipfies, &c. in the Time of our Author were in Gangs, that had fomething of the Regularity of an incorporated Body. This is alluded to here. From this noble Society he wishes he may be unroll'd, if he does not do fo, and fo. Mr. Warburton, |