6 The late Lord. Shaftesbury, in his Advice to an Author, fell into a mistake concerning the name of the unfortunate Defdemona : "But why (fays he) amongst his Greek names, he fhould "have chosen one which denoted the Lady fuperftitious, I can't imagine: unless, &c." Her name is not derived from Δεισιδαίμων, but Avodaíμwv: i. e. THE UNFORTUNATE : and 7 Giraldi Cinthio, in his novels, making the word feminine, calls her Difdemona, from whom Shakespeare took the name and story. Thus the reader may fee with what elegance, as well as learning, Shakespeare familiarizes ftrange names to our tongue and pronunciation. 6 Charact. vol. I. p. 348. 7 Novella VII. Deca terza. Avène, che una virtuofa Dona, di maravigliofa bellezza, Difdemona chiamata, &c. He calls her afterwards, in allufion to her name, la infelice Difdemona. And I make no question but Othello in his rapturous admiration, with fome allufion to her name, exclaims, in A& III. "Excellent wretch! perdition catch my foul, The ancient tragedians are full of these allufions; fome instances I have mention'd above, p. 258, 259. This rapturous exclamation and allufion too has fomething ominous in it; and inftances of thefe prefaging and ominous expreffions our poet is full of. RULE RULE II. He makes Latin words English, and ules them according to their original idiom and latitube. In Hamlet, Act I. Horatio is speaking of the prodigies, which happened before Caefar's death, "As harbingers preceding ftill the fates "And prologue to the omen coming on." The omen coming on, i. e. the event, which happened in confequence of the omens. In the very fame manner Virgil, Aen. I, 349. "Cui pater intactam dederat, primisque jugaret "Ominibus." Ominibus, i. e. nuptiis: viz. the event which was the confequence of the omens. In the Taming of a Shrew, Act I. 2 "Sir, I fhall not be flack, in fign whereof, "Please you, we may contrive this afternoon; "And quaff carouses to our mistress' health" I They read, the omen'd. 2 They have corrected, convive. Contrive Contrive this afternoon, i. e. fpend this afternoon together. Terence has, contrivi diem. Thence 'tis made English, and so used by Spencer in his Fairy Queen, B. II. c. 9. ft. 48. "Nor that fage Pylian fire, which did furvive "Three ages, such as mortal men contrive.” Contrive, i. e. fpend. In K. Richard II. Act I. "Or any other ground 3 inhabitable, "Where never Englishman durft set his foot." Inhabitable, 3 In the late editions, unhabitable. In answers to the latin from whence it came, and by us is generally turned into un; but not always; as here inhabitable, negatively. So in Spencer informed, for unformed. B. III. C. VI. f. 8. "So after Nilus inundation "Infinite shapes of creatures men doe fynd, 66 Informed in the mud on which the funne hath shynd." This is imitated from Ovid. Met. I, 423. Sic ubi deferuit madidos feptemfluus agros Nilus &c. Plurima cultores verfis animalia glebis Inveniunt, & in his quædam modo facta sub ipsum Inhabitable, Lat. inhabitabilis, that cannot be inhabited. Cicero de Nat. Deor. I. Regiones inhabitabiles et incultae. In Othello, A& IV. "If I court more women, you'll touch with 66 more men." In the fame naught fenfe Propertius II, 25. "Lynceu, tune meam potuifti tangere curam ?” Epictetus in Enchirid. xxxiii. Περὶ ἀφροδίσια, εἰς δύναμιν πρὸ γάμο καθαρευτέον· ΑΠΤΟΜΕΝΩΙ δὲ, ὡς νόμιμόν ἐςι μεταληπτέον. Mr. Theobald's edition reads, Couch with more men. In Measure for The reading which I have here given is not without it's authority tho' in no printed book; befide the conftruction and the elegance both require it :—quædam modo factaquædam imperfecta. But informed is literally from the latin informatus. "His informatum manibus jam parte polita And Spencer 'tis plain renders IMPERFECTA, in Ovid, informed. In our language un like the latin in is fometimes used intenfively as in John I, 27. "Whofe fhoes "latchet I am not worthy to unloose." In the western parts of England in the fame manner they say to unthaw, meaning thoroughly to thaw. So Virgil ufes infractos [Æn. xii, 1.] thoroughly broken. Measure, 2 Meafure, Act III. In the fame fenfe we have their beaftly touches. And in Antony and Cleopatra, Act III. The neer-touch'd vestal. So Horace calls Pallas, L. I. Od. 7. Intacta. There is another word of not unlike import and fignification, In the Winter's Tale, Act I. "Go play, boy, play: thy mother PLAYS, "and I play too." This is used in the fame fenfe as the Latins ufe LUDERE, and the Greeks Пare. Fis anus, et tamen Vis formofa videri ELV. LUDISQUE et bibis impudens. Hor. IV, 13. Turba Menandreae fuerat nec Thaidos olim 4 Our learned comedian in his Silent Woman, A& IV. Sc. I. thus literally tranflates Ovid. Art. Amator. Lib. I. *.677. At quæ, cum cogi poffet, non TACTA receffit, Ut fimulet vultu gaudea, triftis erit. "She that might have been forced, and you let her go free "without TOUCHING, tho' then the feem'd to thank you, "will ever hate you after; and glad i'th' face, is affuredly "fad at the heart," |