And in his Staple of News, A& II. "Mirth. How like "you the Vice i' the play? Expectation. Which is he? "Mirth. Three or four, old Covetousness, the fordid Pe niboy, the Money-bawd, who is a flesh-bawd too they say "Tattle. But here is never a Fiend to carry him away. "Befides, he has never a wooden-dagger! I'd not give a "rufh for a VICE, that has not a wooden-dagger to fnap "at every body he meets. Mirth. That was the old "way, Goflip, when Iniquity came' in like hokos pokos, "in a juglers jerkin, &c." He alludes to the VICE in the Alchymift, Act I. Sc. III. «Subt. And, on your ftall, a puppet, with a VICE." Some places of Shakespeare will from hence appear more eafy as in the 1ft part of Henry IV. A& II. where Hal, humourously characterizing Falstaff, calls him, That reverend VICE, that grey INIQUITY, that father RUFFIAN, that VANITY in years, in allufion to this buffoon character. In K. Richard III. A&t II. Thus like the formal Vice, Iniquity, I moralize two meanings in one word. INI paffage, Qu ITY is the formal Vice. Some correct the Thus, like the formal wife Antiquity, I moralize two meanings in one word. Which correction is out of all rule of criticifm. In Hamlet, Act I. there is an allufion, still more diftant, to THE VICE; which will not be obvious at firft, and therefore is to be introduced with a fhort explanation. This buffoon chaacter was used to make fun with the Devil; and he had feveral trite expreffions, as, I'll be with you in a trice: Ah, ha, boy, are you there, &c. And this was great entertainment tainment to the audience, to see their old enemy fo belabour'd in effigy. In K. Henry V. A& IV. a boy characterizing Pistol, fays, Bardolph and Nim had ten times more valour, than this roaring Devil i' th' old play ; every one may pare his nails with a wooden dagger. Now Hamlet, having been inftructed by his father's ghost, is resolved to break the subject of the discourse to none but Horatio ; and to all others his intention is to appear as a fort of madman: when therefore the oath of fecrefy is given to the centinels, and the Ghoft unfeen calls out fwear; Hamlet speaks to it as THE VICE does to the Devil. Ah, ha boy, fayft thou fo? Art thou there, trupenny ? Hamlet had a mind that the centinels fhould imagine this was a fhape that the Devil had put on ; and in Act III. he is fomewhat of this opinion himself, The Spirit that I have feen May be the Devil. This manner of speech therefore to the Devil was what all the audience were well acquainted with; and it takes off in fome measure from the horror of the scene. Perhaps too the poet was willing to inculcate, that good humour is the best weapon to deal with the Devil. True penny is either by way of irony, or literally from the Greek Tgúnavov, veterator. Which word the Scholiaft on Ariftophanes' Clouds. 447. explains, spúμn, ò wegilelpiμpévos Ev τοῖς πράγμασιν, ὃν ἡμεῖς ΤΡΥΠΑΝΟΝ καλεμεν. Several have tried to find a derivation of THE VICE; if I fhould not hit on the right, I fhould only err with others. THE VICE is either a quality personalized as BIH and KAPŢOE in Hefiod and Aefchylus. SIN and DEATH in Milton; and indeed VICE itself is a perfon. B. XI, 517. And took us image whom they ferv'd, a brutif VICE. bis image, i. e. a brutish Vice's image: the Vice Gluttony; not without some allufion to the VICE of the old plays. Or VICE may be in the abstract, as in Martial, Non Vitiofus homo es, Zoile, fed VITIUM. But rather, I think, 'tis an abbreviation of Vice-Devil, as Vice-roy, Vice-doge, &c. and therefore properly called THE VICE. He makes very free with his master, like moft other Vice-roys, or prime-minifters. So that he is the Devil's Vice, and prime minifter; and 'tis this, that makes him fo fawcy. The other old droll characters, are the Fool, and the Clown, which we have in Shakespeare's plays. The Romans in their Atellan interludes, and Mimes, had their buffoons, called Maccus, Maxos, from whence the English word Mocker; and Sannio, from whence the Italian Zanni, and Zany. See Cicer. de Orat. L. 2. c. 61. and Bucco à quoigrales, quod buccas inflaret ad rifum movendum: from whence is derived a Buffoon, Page 128. SHAKESPEARE labouring with a mul tiplicity of fublime ideas often gives himself not time to be delivered of them by the rules of" flow"endeavouring art :" bence be crowds various figures together, and METAPHOR upon METAPHOR; and runs the hazard of far-fetched expreffions, whilst intent on nobler ideas be condescends not to grammatical niceties.] The crouding and mixing together heterogeneous metaphors is doing a fort of violence to the mind; for each new metaphor calls it too foon off from the idea which the former has rais'd: 'tis a fault doubtless, and not to be apologized apologized for; and inftances are very numerous in Shake. speare. The poet is to take his fhare of the faults, and the critic is to keep his hands from the context. Yettis ftrange to see how many paffages the editors have corrected, meerly for the case of confonance of metaphor: breaking thro' that golden rule of criticifm: mend only the faults of tranfcribers. Bentley fhew'd the way to critics, and gave a fpecimen, in his notes on Callimachus, of his emendations of Horace by correcting the following verfe, Et male tornatos incudi reddere verfus. where he reads ter natos, for confonance of metaphor. But pray take notice, ter natos, is a metaphorical expreffion; for nafcor, natus, fignifies to be born: and are things born brought to the anvil? Is not here diffonance of metaphor with a witness ? This verse of Horace has been variously criticized. So at present I fay no more concerning it; but return to our poet, whofe vague and licentious ufe of metaphors is fo vifible to almoft every reader, that I wonder any editor, of what degree foever, fhould in this respect think of altering his manner of expreffion. Some few alterations of this kind I here exhibit to the reader, and leave it to him to make his own reflections. Shakespeare. Meafure for Measure, Act II. "Look, here comes one; a gentlewoman of mine, "Who falling in the flaws of her own youth, "Hath blifter'd her report. "Who doth not fee that the integrity of metaphor re"quires we should read FLAMES of her own youth.” Mr. W. In the Merchant of Venice, A&t II. "How much honour "Pickt from the chaff and ruin of the times, "To be new varnish'd. Mr. W. has printed it, To be new vanned." In All's Well, that Ends Well, A&t I. Hel." The compofition that their valour and fear makes "in you, is a virtue of a good wING, and I like "the wear well." Mr. W.-" is a virtue of good MING.” Ibid. A& V. Count." "Tis paft, my liege; "And I beseech your Majefty to make it "Natural rebellion, done i̇' th' blade of youth, "When oil and fire, too ftrong for reason's force, "Oer-bears it and burns on. *The whole figure here employ'd fhews we should read, "ith' BLAZE of youth." Mr. W. In the fecond part of K. Henry IV. A& I. "For from his metal was his party steel'd, "Which once in him abated, all the reft "Turn'd on themselves, like dull and heavy lead. Mr. W. “ rebated.” In the last part of K. Henry VI. A& II. Sc. the laft. "Here dies the dusky torch of Mortimer, "Choak'd with ambition of the meaner fort. Mr. W. Here lies, &c." |