"and curfed you, for the wrongs you have "done unto the holy church." Fox. Vol. I. p. 285. So in Macbeth, Act I. "He shall live a man forbid. In Macbeth, A& III. "And put a barren fcepter in my gripe, "Thence to be wrench'd with an unlineal hand." i. e. not of my line, or defcent. In Macbeth, A& V. "For their dear caufes "Would to the bleeding and the grim alarm "Excite the mortified man." dear caufes, i. e. dreadful. So To this land of conjurors Shakespeare removes the scene, as I faid above, and calls it the Fairy land. This Fairy land ran in Dromio's head fo much that Adriana afking him where his mafter is, he replies, "A Devil in an everlasting garment hath him, I find the editors have changed this Fairy into a Fury; notwithstanding Ephefus is here called a Fairy land: and befide Fairy fometimes answered to the latin Strix or lamia : [Horman's So in Hamlet. "Would I had met my dearest foe in heav'n." Perhaps from the Latin dirus, dire, dear. In the translation of Virgil by Douglas 'tis fpelt Dere, which the Gloffary thus explains, "Dere, [Horman's vulgaria, printed An. 1519. Fol. 21. STRIX vel LAMIA pro meo fuum parvulum fuppofuit: The FAYRE hath chaunged my childe.] And fo the word is used in Cymbeline, A& II. "Guard me, befeech ye, "From Fairies, and the tempters of the night." These Fairies I find in our old poets sometimes to have been mischievous bugs and furies, at other times fair and benign beings of a fuperior race. They were Farefolkis as Douglas, in his version of Virgil, calls them, from their fairness; or if of a lower kind, and employ'd in fervile offices, Brownis, from their fwarthy countenance: fometimes again they were Satyrs and Fawns, or Centaurs, OHPEΣ as Homer [II. d, 268.] and Euripides in his Cyclops [. 620.] names them. In fhort their characters were as various, as the characters of us mortals. And this account here given will explain many paffages in Spencer, and our old poets, particularly Chaucer in the Merchant's tale, 1259. where he plainly alludes to the fame etymology, as afterwards Douglas "That her to behold it seemed a Feirie." And Shakespeare in Antony and Cleopatra, A&t IV. "To this great Faiery I'll commend thy acts." 66 to "to hurt, trouble: Belg. Deeren, Deren. F. "Theut. Deran. AS. Derian, nocere. It. hurt, " injury." How near to the Greek, dügis, contentio, pugna: Sngiaw, rixor, prælior: or to, Teigw, vexo, infefto? And fhould it not be thus spelt in Shakespeare? But inftances of our poet's ufing words contrary to the modern acceptation of them are numberless. RULE III. He fometimes omits the primary and proper fenfe, and uses words in their fecondary and im proper fignification. Changes of garments, for different dresses, is a common expreffion: and we fay, to change, for to dress properly to change one drefs and put on another. But Shakespeare uses to change, only for to new dress and adorn. In Antony and Cleopatra, Act I. I "Charm. Oh! that I knew this hufband, "which you fay muft change his horns with "garlands. In Coriolanus, A& II. "Cor. From whom I have receiv'd not only *greetings, They have printed it, charge. "But 2 "But with them, change of honours." e. been newly adorned with honours; received new ornaments of honours. Again, because the popish and heathenish myfteries are vain and whimsical, he therefore ufes myfteries, for vanities, or whimfies. In Henry VIII. A& I. "Cham. Is't poffible the fpells of France "fhould juggle "Men into fuch strange mysteries." i. e. vanities, and whimfies. He is speaking of court fashions. 2 They have likewife printed it here, charge. 3. They correct mockeries. The explication here given is fufficient to vindicate our poet's thus ufing the word. But myfteries may fignify manners of life, &c. The French and Italians have the fame word, and Chaucer ufes it for a profeffion, trade, calling, &c. in this fignification miftere, comes from minifterium, as minster from monafterium. But in the former fignification 'tis a Greek word. Spencer ufes it like the French, as mifter wight, manner, kind of person: mister malady, kind of malady. And, it miftreth not; it needeth not, there is no neceffity. In which of these fenfes to understand it, is the better, I leave to the reader; only one thing I caution him againft, which is, the changing our poet's words for any whimfies of his own. RULE RULE IV. He uses one part of speech foz another. For instance, he makes verbs of adjectives, as, to ftale, i. e. to make ftale and familiar. To fafe, to make safe and secure, &c. Antony and Cleopatra, Act I.: "Ant. My more particular. "And that which moft with you should safe my going, "Is Fulvia's death." fhould fafe, i. e. fhould make safe and secure. So again, he uses verbs foz fubftantives. Accufe, for accufation: Affect, for affection: Deem, for a deeming, an opinion: Difpofe, for difpofition: Prepare, for preparation: Vary, for variation &c. And, adjectives for substantives. As Mean, for mediocrity or mean estate. In K. Lear, A& IV. "Glo. Full oft 'tis feen "Our mean fecure us." So Private, for privacy, &c. Nothing is more frequent among the Latins than to use fubftantively, ardua invia, avia, fupera, acuta, &c. 2 They correct, falve. In 2 Milton very frequently uses adjectives in this manner, |