Part 6

BARABAS. No, governor; I'll satisfy thee first; Thou shalt not live in doubt of any thing. Stand close, for here they come. [FERNEZE retires.] Why, is not this A kingly kind of trade, to purchase towns By treachery, and sell 'em by deceit? Now tell me, worldlings, underneath the sun [203] If greater falsehood ever has been done?

Enter CALYMATH and BASSOES.

CALYMATH. Come, my companion-bassoes: see, I pray, How busy Barabas is there above To entertain us in his gallery: Let us salute him.--Save thee, Barabas!

BARABAS. Welcome, great Calymath!

FERNEZE. How the slave jeers at him! [Aside.]

BARABAS. Will't please thee, mighty Selim Calymath, To ascend our homely stairs?

CALYMATH. Ay, Barabas.-- Come, bassoes, ascend. [204]

FERNEZE. [coming forward] Stay, Calymath; For I will shew thee greater courtesy Than Barabas would have afforded thee.

KNIGHT. [within] Sound a charge there! [A charge sounded within: FERNEZE cuts the cord; the floor of the gallery gives way, and BARABAS falls into a caldron placed in a pit.

Enter KNIGHTS and MARTIN DEL BOSCO. [205]

CALYMATH. How now! what means this?

BARABAS. Help, help me, Christians, help!

FERNEZE. See, Calymath! this was devis'd for thee.

CALYMATH. Treason, treason! bassoes, fly!

FERNEZE. No, Selim, do not fly: See his end first, and fly then if thou canst.

BARABAS. O, help me, Selim! help me, Christians! Governor, why stand you all so pitiless?

FERNEZE. Should I in pity of thy plaints or thee, Accursed Barabas, base Jew, relent? No, thus I'll see thy treachery repaid, But wish thou hadst behav'd thee otherwise.

BARABAS. You will not help me, then?

FERNEZE. No, villain, no.

BARABAS. And, villains, know you cannot help me now.-- Then, Barabas, breathe forth thy latest fate, And in the fury of thy torments strive To end thy life with resolution.-- Know, governor, 'twas I that slew thy son,-- I fram'd the challenge that did make them meet: Know, Calymath, I aim'd thy overthrow: And, had I but escap'd this stratagem, I would have brought confusion on you all, Damn'd Christian [206] dogs, and Turkish infidels! But now begins the extremity of heat To pinch me with intolerable pangs: Die, life! fly, soul! tongue, curse thy fill, and die! [Dies.]

CALYMATH. Tell me, you Christians, what doth this portend?

FERNEZE. This train [207] he laid to have entrapp'd thy life; Now, Selim, note the unhallow'd deeds of Jews; Thus he determin'd to have handled thee, But I have rather chose to save thy life.

CALYMATH. Was this the banquet he prepar'd for us? Let's hence, lest further mischief be pretended. [208]

FERNEZE. Nay, Selim, stay; for, since we have thee here, We will not let thee part so suddenly: Besides, if we should let thee go, all's one, For with thy galleys couldst thou not get hence, Without fresh men to rig and furnish them.

CALYMATH. Tush, governor, take thou no care for that; My men are all aboard, And do attend my coming there by this.

FERNEZE. Why, heard'st thou not the trumpet sound a charge?

CALYMATH. Yes, what of that?

FERNEZE. Why, then the house was fir'd, Blown up, and all thy soldiers massacred.

CALYMATH. O, monstrous treason!

FERNEZE. A Jew's courtesy; For he that did by treason work our fall, By treason hath deliver'd thee to us: Know, therefore, till thy father hath made good The ruins done to Malta and to us, Thou canst not part; for Malta shall be freed, Or Selim ne'er return to Ottoman.

CALYMATH. Nay, rather, Christians, let me go to Turkey, In person there to mediate [209] your peace: To keep me here will naught advantage you.

FERNEZE. Content thee, Calymath, here thou must stay, And live in Malta prisoner; for come all [210] the world To rescue thee, so will we guard us now, As sooner shall they drink the ocean dry, Than conquer Malta, or endanger us. So, march away; and let due praise be given Neither to Fate nor Fortune, but to Heaven. [Exeunt.]

Footnotes:

[Footnote 1: Heywood dedicates the First Part of THE IRON AGE (printed 1632) "To my Worthy and much Respected Friend, Mr. Thomas Hammon, of Grayes Inne, Esquire."]

[Footnote 2: Tho. Heywood: The well-known dramatist.]

[Footnote 3: censures: i.e. judgments.]

[Footnote 4: bin: i.e. been.]

[Footnote 5: best of poets: "Marlo." Marg. note in old ed.]

[Footnote 6: best of actors: "Allin." Marg. note in old. ed.--Any account of the celebrated actor, Edward Alleyn, the founder of Dulwich College, would be superfluous here.]

[Footnote 7: In HERO AND LEANDER, &c.: The meaning is--The one (Marlowe) gained a lasting memory by being the author of HERO AND LEANDER; while the other (Alleyn) wan the attribute of peerless by playing the parts of Tamburlaine, the Jew of Malta, &c.--The passage happens to be mispointed in the old ed. thus,

"In Hero and Leander, one did gaine A lasting memorie: in Tamberlaine, This Jew, with others many: th' other wan," &c.

and hence Mr. Collier, in his HIST. OF ENG. DRAM. POET. iii. 114, understood the words,

"in Tamburlaine, This Jew, with others many,"

as applying to Marlowe: he afterwards, however, in his MEMOIRS OF ALLEYN, p. 9, suspected that the punctuation of the old ed. might be wrong,--which it doubtless is.]

[Footnote 8: him: "Perkins." Marg. note in old ed.--"This was Richard Perkins, one of the performers belonging to the Cock-pit theatre in Drury-Lane. His name is printed among those who acted in HANNIBAL AND SCIPIO by Nabbes, THE WEDDING by Shirley, and THE FAIR MAID OF THE WEST by Heywood. After the play-houses were shut up on account of the confusion arising from the civil wars, Perkins and Sumner, who belonged to the same house, lived together at Clerkenwell, where they died and were buried. They both died some years before the Restoration. See THE DIALOGUE ON PLAYS AND PLAYERS [Dodsley's OLD PLAYS, 1. clii., last ed.]." REED (apud Dodsley's O. P.). Perkins acted a prominent part in Webster's WHITE DEVIL, when it was first brought on the stage, --perhaps Brachiano (for Burbadge, who was celebrated in Brachiano, does not appear to have played it originally): in a notice to the reader at the end of that tragedy Webster says; "In particular I must remember the well-approved industry of my friend Master Perkins, and confess the worth of his action did crown both the beginning and end." About 1622-3 Perkins belonged to the Red Bull theatre: about 1637 he joined the company at Salisbury Court: see Webster's WORKS, note, p. 51, ed. Dyce, 1857.]

[Footnote 9: prize was play'd: This expression (so frequent in our early writers) is properly applied to fencing: see Steevens's note on Shakespeare's MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR, act. i. sc. 1.]

[Footnote 10: no wagers laid: "Wagers as to the comparative merits of rival actors in particular parts were not unfrequent of old," &c. Collier (apud Dodsley's O. P.). See my ed. of Peele's WORKS, i. x. ed. 1829; and Collier's MEMOIRS OF ALLEYN, p. 11.]

[Footnote 11: the Guise: "i.e. the Duke of Guise, who had been the principal contriver and actor in the horrid massacre of St. Bartholomew's day, 1572. He met with his deserved fate, being assassinated, by order of the French king, in 1588." REED (apud Dodsley's O. P.). And see our author's MASSACRE AT PARIS.]

[Footnote 12: empery: Old ed. "Empire."]

[Footnote 13: the Draco's: "i.e. the severe lawgiver of Athens; 'whose statutes,' said Demades, 'were not written with ink, but blood.'" STEEVENS (apud Dodsley's O. P.).--Old ed. "the Drancus."]

[Footnote 14: had: Qy. "had BUT"?]

[Footnote 15: a lecture here: Qy. "a lecture TO YOU here"?]

[Footnote 16: Act I.: The Scenes of this play are not marked in the old ed.; nor in the present edition,--because occasionally (where the audience were to SUPPOSE a change of place, it was impossible to mark them.]

[Footnote 17: Samnites: Old ed. "Samintes."]

[Footnote 18: silverlings: When Steevens (apud Dodsley's O. P.) called this "a diminutive, to express the Jew's contempt of a metal inferior in value to gold," he did not know that the word occurs in Scripture: "a thousand vines at a thousand SILVERLINGS." ISAIAH, vii. 23.--Old ed. "siluerbings."]

[Footnote 19: Tell: i.e. count.]

[Footnote 20: seld-seen: i.e. seldom-seen.]

[Footnote 21: Into what corner peers my halcyon's bill?: "It was anciently believed that this bird (the king-fisher), if hung up, would vary with the wind, and by that means shew from what quarter it blew." STEEVENS (apud Dodsley's O. P.),--who refers to the note on the following passage of Shakespeare's KING LEAR, act ii. sc. 2;

"Renege, affirm, and turn their HALCYON BEAKS With every gale and vary of their masters," &c.]

[Footnote 22: custom them: "i.e. enter the goods they contain at the Custom-house." STEEVENS (apud Dodsley's O. P.).]

[Footnote 23: But: Old ed. "By."]

[Footnote 24: fraught: i.e. freight.]

[Footnote 25: scambled: i.e. scrambled. (Coles gives in his DICT. "To SCAMBLE, certatim arripere"; and afterwards renders "To scramble" by the very same Latin words.)]

[Footnote 26: Enter three JEWS: A change of scene is supposed here, --to a street or to the Exchange.]

[Footnote 27: Fond: i.e. Foolish.]

[Footnote 28: Aside: Mr. Collier (apud Dodsley's O. P.), mistaking the purport of this stage-direction (which, of course, applies only to the words "UNTO MYSELF"), proposed an alteration of the text.]

[Footnote 29: BARABAS. Farewell, Zaareth, &c.: Old ed. "Iew. DOE SO; Farewell Zaareth," &c. But "Doe so" is evidently a stage- direction which has crept into the text, and which was intended to signify that the Jews DO "take their leaves" of Barabas: --here the old ed. has no "EXEUNT."]

[Footnote 30: Turk has: So the Editor of 1826.--Old ed. "Turkes haue": but see what follows.]

[Footnote 31: Ego mihimet sum semper proximus: The words of Terence are "Proximus sum egomet mihi." ANDRIA, iv. 1. 12.]

[Footnote 32: Exit: The scene is now supposed to be changed to the interior of the Council-house.]

[Footnote 33: bassoes: i.e. bashaws.]

[Footnote 34: governor: Old ed. "Gouernours" here, and several times after in this scene.]

[Footnote 35: CALYMATH. Stand all aside, &c.: "The Governor and the Maltese knights here consult apart, while Calymath gives these directions." COLLIER (apud Dodsley's O. P.).]

[Footnote 36: happily: i.e. haply.]

[Footnote 37: Officer: Old ed. "Reader."]

[Footnote 38: denies: i.e. refuses.]

[Footnote 39: convertite: "i.e. convert, as in Shakespeare's KING JOHN,

## act v. sc. 1." STEEVENS (apud Dodsley's O. P.).]

[Footnote 40: Then we'll take, &c.: In the old ed. this line forms a portion of the preceding speech.]

[Footnote 41: ecstasy: Equivalent here to--violent emotion. "The word was anciently used to signify some degree of alienation of mind." COLLIER (apud Dodsley's O. P.).]

[Footnote 42: Exeunt three Jews: On their departure, the scene is supposed to be changed to a street near the house of Barabas.]

[Footnote 43: reduce: If the right reading, is equivalent to--repair. But qy. "redress"?]

[Footnote 44: fond: "i.e. foolish." REED (apud Dodsley's O. P.).]

[Footnote 45: portagues: Portuguese gold coins, so called.]

[Footnote 46: sect: "i.e. sex. SECT and SEX were, in our ancient dramatic writers, used synonymously." REED (apud Dodsley's O. P.).]

[Footnote 47: Enter FRIAR JACOMO, &c.: Old ed. "Enter three Fryars and two Nuns:" but assuredly only TWO Friars figure in this play.]

[Footnote 48: Abb.: In the old ed. the prefix to this speech is "1 Nun," and to the next speech but one "Nun." That both speeches belong to the Abbess is quite evident.]

[Footnote 49: Sometimes: Equivalent here (as frequently in our early writers) to--Sometime.]

[Footnote 50: forgive me--: Old ed. "GIUE me--"]

[Footnote 51: thus: After this word the old ed. has "†",--to signify, perhaps, the motion which Barabas was to make here with his hand.]

[Footnote 52: forget not: Qy. "forget IT not"]

[Footnote 53: Enter BARABAS, with a light: The scene is now before the house of Barabas, which has been turned into a nunnery.]

[Footnote 54: Thus, like the sad-presaging raven, that tolls The sick man's passport in her hollow beak Mr. Collier (HIST. OF ENG. DRAM. POET. iii. 136) remarks that these lines are cited (with some variation, and from memory, as the present play was not printed till 1633) in an epigram on T. Deloney, in Guilpin's SKIALETHEIA OR THE SHADOWE OF TRUTH, 1598,--

"LIKE TO THE FATALL OMINOUS RAVEN, WHICH TOLLS THE SICK MAN'S DIRGE WITHIN HIS HOLLOW BEAKE, So every paper-clothed post in Poules To thee, Deloney, mourningly doth speake," &c.]

[Footnote 55: of: i.e. on.]

[Footnote 56: wake: Old ed. "walke."]

[Footnote 57: Bueno para todos mi ganado no era: Old ed. "Birn para todos, my ganada no er."]

[Footnote 58: But stay: what star shines yonder in the east, &c. Shakespeare, it would seem, recollected this passage, when he wrote,--

"But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun!" ROMEO AND JULIET, act ii. sc. 2.]

[Footnote 59: Hermoso placer de los dineros: Old ed. "Hormoso Piarer, de les Denirch."]

[Footnote 60: Enter Ferneze, &c.: The scene is the interior of the Council-house.]

[Footnote 61: entreat: i.e. treat.]

[Footnote 62: vail'd not: "i.e. did not strike or lower our flags." STEEVENS (apud Dodsley's O. P.).]

[Footnote 63: Turkish: Old ed. "Spanish."]

[Footnote 64: luff'd and tack'd: Old ed. "LEFT, and TOOKE."]

[Footnote 65: stated: i.e. estated, established, stationed.]

[Footnote 66: Enter OFFICERS, &c.: The scene being the market-place.]

[Footnote 67: Poor villains, such as were: Old ed. "SUCH AS poore villaines were", &c.]

[Footnote 68: into: i.e. unto: see note †, p. 15.

[note |, p. 15, The First Part of Tamburlaine the Great: "| into: Used here (as the word was formerly often used) for UNTO."]

[Footnote 69: city: The preceding editors have not questioned this word, which I believe to be a misprint.]

[Footnote 70: foil'd]=filed, i.e. defiled.]

[Footnote 71: I'll have a saying to that nunnery: Compare Barnaby Barnes's DIVILS CHARTER, 1607;

"Before I do this seruice, lie there, peece; For I must HAUE A SAYING to those bottels. HE DRINKETH. True stingo; stingo, by mine honour.* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * I must HAUE A SAYING to you, sir, I must, though you be prouided for his Holines owne mouth; I will be bould to be the Popes taster by his leaue." Sig. K 3.]

[Footnote 72: plates: "i.e. pieces of silver money." STEEVENS (apud Dodsley's O. P.).--Old ed. "plats."]

[Footnote 73: Slave: To the speeches of this Slave the old ed. prefixes "Itha." and "Ith.", confounding him with Ithamore.]

[Footnote 74: Lady Vanity: So Jonson in his FOX, act ii. sc. 3.,

"Get you a cittern, LADY VANITY, And be a dealer with the virtuous man," &c.;

and in his DEVIL IS AN ASS, act i. sc. 1.,--

"SATAN. What Vice? PUG. Why, any: Fraud, Or Covetousness, or LADY VANITY, Or old Iniquity."]

[Footnote 75: Katharine: Old ed. "MATER."--The name of Mathias's mother was, as we afterwards learn, Katharine.]

[Footnote 76: stay: i.e. forbear, break off our conversation.]

[Footnote 77: was: Qy. "was BUT"?]

[Footnote 78: O, brave, master: The modern editors strike out the comma after "BRAVE", understanding that word as an epithet to "MASTER": but compare what Ithamore says to Barabas in act iv.: "That's BRAVE, MASTER," p. 165, first col.]

[Footnote 79: your nose: An allusion to the large artificial nose, with which Barabas was represented on the stage. See the passage cited from W. Rowley's SEARCH FOR MONEY, 1609, in the ACCOUNT OF MARLOWE AND HIS WRITINGS.]

[Footnote 80: Ure: i.e. use, practice.]

[Footnote 81: a-good: "i.e. in good earnest. Tout de bon." REED (apud Dodsley's O. P.).]

[Footnote 82: Enter LODOWICK: A change of scene supposed here,--to the outside of Barabas's house.]

[Footnote 83: vow love to him: Old ed. "vow TO LOUE him": but compare, in Barabas's next speech but one, "And she VOWS LOVE TO HIM," &c.]

[Footnote 84: made sure: i.e. affianced.]

[Footnote 85: Ludovico: Old ed. "Lodowicke."--In act iii. we have,

"I fear she knows--'tis so--of my device In Don Mathias' and LODOVICO'S deaths." p. 162, sec. col.]

[Footnote 86: happily: i.e. haply.]

[Footnote 87: unsoil'd: "Perhaps we ought to read 'unfoil'd', consistently with what Barabas said of her before under the figure of a jewel--

'The diamond that I talk of NE'ER WAS FOIL'D'." COLLIER (apud Dodsley's O. P.). But see that passage, p. 155, sec. col., and note ||. [i.e. note 70.]]

[Footnote 88: cross: i.e. piece of money (many coins being marked with a cross on one side).]

[Footnote 89: thou: Old ed. "thee."]

[Footnote 90: resolv'd: "i.e. satisfied." GILCHRIST (apud Dodsley's O. P.).]

[Footnote 91: Enter BELLAMIRA: She appears, we may suppose, in a veranda or open portico of her house (that the scene is not the interior of the house, is proved by what follows).]

[Footnote 92: Enter MATHIAS. MATHIAS. This is the place, &c.: The scene is some pert of the town, as Barabas appears "ABOVE,"--in the balcony of a house. (He stood, of course, on what was termed the upper-stage.)

Old ed. thus;

"Enter MATHIAS.

Math. This is the place, now Abigail shall see Whether Mathias holds her deare or no.

Enter Lodow. reading.

Math. What, dares the villain write in such base terms?

Lod. I did it, and reuenge it if thou dar'st."]

[Footnote 93: Lodovico: Old ed. "Lodowicke."--See note *, p. 158. (i.e. note 85.)]

[Footnote 94: tall: i.e. bold, brave.]

[Footnote 95: What sight is this!: i.e. What A sight is this! Our early writers often omit the article in such exclamations: compare Shakespeare's JULIUS CAESAR, act i. sc. 3, where Casca says,

"Cassius, WHAT NIGHT IS THIS!"

(after which words the modern editors improperly retain the interrogation-point of the first folio).]

[Footnote 96: Lodovico: Old ed. "Lodowicke."]

[Footnote 97: These arms of mine shall be thy sepulchre: So in Shakespeare's THIRD PART OF KING HENRY VI., act ii. sc. 5, the Father says to the dead Son whom he has killed in battle,

"THESE ARMS OF MINE shall be thy winding-sheet; My heart, sweet boy, SHALL BE THY SEPULCHRE,"--

lines, let me add, not to be found in THE TRUE TRAGEDIE OF RICHARD DUKE OF YORKE, on which Shakespeare formed that play.]

[Footnote 98: Katharine: Old ed. "Katherina."]

[Footnote 99: Enter ITHAMORE: The scene a room in the house of Barabas.]

[Footnote 100: held in hand: i.e. kept in expectation, having their hopes flattered.]

[Footnote 101: bottle-nosed: See note †, p. 157. [i.e. note 79.]]

[Footnote 102: Jaques: Old ed. "Iaynes."]

[Footnote 103: sire: Old ed. "sinne" (which, modernised to "sin", the editors retain, among many other equally obvious errors of the old copy).]

[Footnote 104: As: Old ed. "And."]

[Footnote 105: Enter BARABAS: The scene is still within the house of Barabas; but some time is supposed to have elapsed since the preceding conference between Abigail and Friar Jacomo.]

[Footnote 106: pretendeth: Equivalent to PORTENDETH; as in our author's FIRST BOOK OF LUCAN, "And which (ay me) ever PRETENDETH ill," &c.]

[Footnote 107: self: Old ed. "life" (the compositor's eye having caught "life" in the preceding line).]

[Footnote 108: 'less: Old ed. "least."]

[Footnote 109: Well said: See note *, p. 69.]

(note *, p. 69, The Second Part of Tamburlaine the Great:

"* Well said: Equivalent to--Well done! as appears from innumerable passages of our early writers: see, for instances, my ed. of Beaumont and Fletcher's WORKS, vol. i. 328, vol. ii. 445, vol. viii. 254.")]

[Footnote 110: the proverb says, &c.: A proverb as old as Chaucer's time: see the SQUIERES TALE, v. 10916, ed. Tyrwhitt.]

[Footnote 111: batten: i.e. fatten.]

[Footnote 112: pot: Old ed. "plot."]

[Footnote 113: thou shalt have broth by the eye: "Perhaps he means--thou shalt SEE how the broth that is designed for thee is made, that no mischievous ingredients enter its composition. The passage is, however, obscure." STEEVENS (apud Dodsley's O. P.).--"BY THE EYE" seems to be equivalent to--in abundance. Compare THE CREED of Piers Ploughman:

"Grey grete-heded quenes With gold BY THE EIGHEN."

v. 167, ed. Wright (who has no note on the expression): and Beaumont and Fletcher's KNIGHT OF THE BURNING PESTLE, act ii. sc. 2; "here's money and gold BY TH' EYE, my boy." In Fletcher's BEGGARS' BUSH, act iii. sc. 1, we find, "Come, English beer, hostess, English beer BY THE BELLY!"]

[Footnote 114: In few: i.e. in a few words, in short.]

[Footnote 115: hebon: i.e. ebony, which was formerly supposed to be a deadly poison.]

[Footnote 116: Enter FERNEZE, &c.: The scene is the interior of the Council-house.]

[Footnote 117: basso: Old ed. "Bashaws" (the printer having added an S by mistake), and in the preceding stage-direction, and in the fifth speech of this scene, "Bashaw": but in an earlier scene (see p. 148, first col.) we have "bassoes" (and see our author's TAMBURLAINE, PASSIM).

(From p. 148, this play:

"Enter FERNEZE governor of Malta, KNIGHTS, and OFFICERS; met by CALYMATH, and BASSOES of the TURK.")]

[Footnote 118: the resistless banks: i.e. the banks not able to resist.]

[Footnote 119: basilisks: See note ||, p. 25.

(note ||, p. 25, The First Part of Tamburlaine the Great:)

"basilisks: Pieces of ordnance so called. They were of immense size; see Douce's ILLUST. OF SHAKESPEARE, i. 425."]

[Footnote 120: Enter FRIAR JACOMO, &c.: Scene, the interior of the Nunnery.]

[Footnote 121: convers'd with me: She alludes to her conversation with Jacomo, p. 162, sec. col.

(p. 162, second column, this play:

"ABIGAIL. Welcome, grave friar.--Ithamore, be gone.

Exit ITHAMORE.

Know, holy sir, I am bold to solicit thee. FRIAR JACOMO. Wherein?")]

[Footnote 122: envied: i.e. hated.]

[Footnote 123: practice: i.e. artful contrivance, stratagem.]

[Footnote 124: crucified a child: A crime with which the Jews were often charged. "Tovey, in his ANGLIA JUDAICA, has given the several instances which are upon record of these charges against the Jews; which he observes they were never accused of, but at such times as the king was manifestly in great want of money." REED (apud Dodsley's O. P.).]

[Footnote 125: Enter BARABAS, &c.: Scene a street.]

[Footnote 126: to: Which the Editor of 1826 deliberately altered to "like," means--compared to, in comparison of.]

[Footnote 127: Cazzo: Old ed. "catho."--See Florio's WORLDE OF WORDES (Ital. and Engl. Dict.) ed. 1598, in v.--"A petty oath, a cant exclamation, generally expressive, among the Italian populace, who have it constantly in their mouth, of defiance or contempt." Gifford's note on Jonson's WORKS, ii. 48.]

[Footnote 128: nose: See note †, p. 157. [i.e. note 79.]]

[Footnote 129: inmate: Old ed. "inmates."]

[Footnote 130: the burden of my sins Lie heavy, &c.: One of the modern editors altered "LIE" to "Lies": but examples of similar phraseology,--of a nominative singular followed by a plural verb when a plural genitive intervenes,--are common in our early writers; see notes on Beaumont and Fletcher's WORKS, vol. v. 7, 94, vol. ix. 185, ed. Dyce.]

[Footnote 131: sollars: "i.e. lofts, garrets." STEEVENS (apud Dodsley's O. P.).]

[Footnote 132: untold: i.e. uncounted.--Old ed. "vnsold."]

[Footnote 133: BARABAS. This is mere frailty: brethren, be content.-- Friar Barnardine, go you with Ithamore: You know my mind; let me alone with him.]

FRIAR JACOMO. Why does he go to thy house? let him be gone

Old ed. thus;

"BAR. This is meere frailty, brethren, be content. Fryar Barnardine goe you with Ithimore. ITH. You know my mind, let me alone with him; Why does he goe to thy house, let him begone."]

[Footnote 134: the Turk: "Meaning Ithamore." COLLIER (apud Dodsley's O. P.). Compare the last line but one of Barabas's next speech.]

[Footnote 135: covent: i.e. convent.]

[Footnote 136: Therefore 'tis not requisite he should live: Lest the reader should suspect that the author wrote,

"Therefore 'tis requisite he should not live," I may observe that we have had before (p. 152, first col.) a similar form of expression,-- "It is not necessary I be seen."]