and drop it on the laft. But whatever beauty this alliteration might have, yet the affectation of it must appear ridiculous; for poems are not made by mechanical rules: and it was ridiculed as long ago as the times of old Ennius. O Tite tute Tati tibi tante tyranne tulifti. And by Shakespeare in his Midsummer-Night's dream, A& V. Whereat with blade, with bloody blameful " blade, "He bravely broach'd his boiling bloody breast." THE SECT. XIII. HERE are many blunders that creep into books from a compendious manner of writing; and if this happen to be blotted, the transcriber has a hard task to trace the author's words. This feems to have occafion'd a very extraordinary confufion in a paffage in Othello. But before I mention my emendation, I beg leave to cite a fhort story from the first book of the Ethiopian romance of Heliodorus. Thyamis, an Aegyptian robber, fell in love with Chariclea; ftung with jealoufie, and defpairing to enjoy her himself, he refolves to murder murder her and thinking he had killed her, (but it happened to be añother) he cries out, Alas poor maid, these are the nuptial gifts I prefent thee. This story is alluded to in the TwelfthNight, Act V. Nor did the allufion escape the notice of Mr. Theobald. "Duke. Why fhould I not, had I the heart "to do't, *Like the Egyptian thief, at point of death And this fame story seems to me hinted at in Othello, Act V. where the Moor, speaking of his favage jealoufie, adds, "Of one whofe hand "Like th' bafe Egyptian, threw a pearl away "Richer than all his tribe." Now this exactly agrees with the romance. 'Twas Thyamis' own hand, and he too in a strong fit of love and jealoufie, that committed this murder. When Othello robbed Brabantio of his daughter, the old man calls him in the beginning of the play, "O thou foul thief! T Thefe Book II. These circumftances all croud into Othello's mind to increase his horror: for this reason, as well as for feveral others, with great propriety he calls himself, the bafe Egyptian. In Mr. Pope's edition 'tis "Like the bafe Indian, &c." which he thus interprets: " In the first edition "it is Judian, occafion'd probably by the word "tribe just after, but the common reading is "better; as the word tribe is applicable to any "race of people, and the thought of an igno"rant Indian's cafting away a pearl very natu "ral in itself; whereas to make sense of the “other, we must presuppose some particular ftory of a few alluded to, which is much less "obvious." Mr. Theobald in his edition has plainly overthrown Mr. Pope's explanation and reading, but whether he has established his own may be doubted; he reads, Like the bafe Judian, &c. "i. e. (fays he) the base Jew Herod, who "threw away fuch a jewel of a wife as Mari amne." But first of all there is no fuch word as Judian, which muft certainly occafion a fufpicion of it's not being genuine. Again, if any 271 one will confider the hiftory of Mariamne from Jofephus, he will find, 'tis very little applicable to Desdemona's cafe. Mariamne had an averfion to Herod, and always treated him with fcorn and contempt; fhe was publicly, tho falfely, accused of an attempt to poison him, and accordingly put to death. In the present circumstances, with which Othello is furrounded, he would never apply Herod's cafe to himself: he was a private murderer,-one whofe hand, &c. Herod brought his wife to public juftice; Defdemona was fond of the Moor, the Jewefs hated her husband. On the other hand, the story of the Egyptian thief is very minutely applicable; and the verses, cited from the Twelfth Night, fhew that our author was pleased with the allufion. It feems the correction was owing to fome fort of ill-written abbreviation, that might be in the original, as Egypian, and which could not easily be understood by printer or player. From fuch like abbreviations arife no fmall blunders in ancient books. In the Greek manufcripts we often find ἄνθρωπος, ανθρώπων, thus abbreviated, Aros, 'Aywy. This abbreviation has occafion'd fome confufion in many printed books. As for example, in a differtation of Maximus Tyrius, Τί ὁ Θεὸς κατὰ Πλάτωνα, what Deity is according to Plato. We find Plato is there called, T 2 ὁ εὐφων ὁ εὐφωνότατος τῶν ΟΝΤΩΝ, the moft eloquent of I BEINGS. But N, as used by Plato and his followers, is a word of facred import, Truth, Deity itself, that which really is Being, in contradistinction to ever-fleeting and changing matter. A Platonist therefore, enquiring what Deity is, would never fay even of his master Plato, ὁ εὐφωνότατος τῶν ΟΝΤΩΝ. It would be compliment fufficient to fay, ὁ εὐφωνόταλος τῶν ΑΝΩΝ ; i. e. avg. There is very little difference between ΟΝΤΩΝ and ΑΝΩΝ, if it be confidered might be miftaken for a by a transcriber: Plato, the most eloquent of mortals, feems the compliment intended by Maximus Tyrius. how easily the ftroke over av T 1 In this fenfe 'tis used by the Platonic writer of the Wisdom of Solomon. XIII, 1. "And could not out of the good things that are know HIM THAT IS: Tou ovla.” 66 SECT. XIV. T is not at all furprising that the perfons in In the drama should be changed, either thro' the blunders, or wrong judgment of the transcribers and players. In the Tempest, A& I.. "Profpero. What is the time o' th' day ? 3 "Ariel. |