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And fo ere answer knowes what question would,

Sauing in Dialogue of Complement,

211-213. In parentheses Pope, Han. Cap. Varr. Ran. Mal. Steev. Varr. Sing. Hal. Ktly, Sta. Huds.

210

211. Sauing] Serving Warb. Theob. i, Han. Salving Vaughan.

211-213. Sauing in Dialogue... riuer Poe] WARBURTON: At the first intimation of his desire to hear strange stories, the Traveller complies, and the answer comes as easy as an A, b, c book. Now, Sir, says the Knight, this is my question: The over-ready Traveller will scarce give him leave to make it, but, e'er Answer knows what question would,-What then? Why according to the Stupidity of the hitherto receiv'd reading, it grows towards supper time, And is not this worshipful Society? To spend all the time betwixt Dinner and Supper, before either of them knows what the other would be at. So absurdly is the sense vitiated by putting the three lines in a parenthesis [see Text. Notes]; which, we may suppose was first occasioned by their blunder in the word 'Saving,' instead of the true word, serving. Now my emendation gives the text this turn: ‘And e'er Answer knows what the Question would be at, my Traveller serves in his Dialogue of Compliment, which is his standing Dish at all tables, then he comes to talk of the Alps and Appenines, &c., and by the time this discourse concludes it draws towards Supper.' All now here is sense and humour; and the phrase 'serving in' is a very humourous one, to signify that this was his Worship's second course.—CAPELL (I, pt ii, p. 119): The second modern [Pope] only has pointed rightly, giving some lines their parenthesis, [which] will be sufficient to set aside a nonsensical reading of the three that come after him— Serving for 'Saving,' whose sense is excepting. Excepting, says the Bastard, that question gives occasion to much compliment, and to scraps of discourse concerning Alps and the rest, supper is well-nigh come without Answer's knowing even the meaning of what Question propounds to him, he's so lost in his compliments.— HEATH (p. 223): If we follow Pope's punctuation the construction, as well as the sense, is extremely clear. . . . [I] have not yet been able to discover how it appears that answer knows what question would be at, one jot the sooner or the better in Mr Warburton's correction, than in the former reading. But there is a farther objection to this conjecture (as it is scarce possible to adjust error so well with truth but the seam will betray itself somewhere or other), serving in is a participle, and consequently requires a substance. Now I would fain know what substantive it can be joined with in this passage consistently with grammatical construction. I must own myself utterly at a loss to find one, unless we should suppose, He, the said answer, to be understood, which if Mr Warburton pleases to accept, it is entirely at his service. But in truth our critic did not comprehend the delicacy of the poet's satire, which represents the traveller, after having sufficiently established his character for good breeding by the compliments in vogue, as launching out into a tedious common-place relation of his travels, without giving himself the leisure to inform himself, with what view, and to what purpose his patron had begun his enquiry. [Heath, in his laudable desire to rebuke Warburton, sometimes overreaches himself, as, I think, he has here. The substantive antecedent to the participle is undoubtedly the personified Answer; just as in l. 207 'O sir, says answer,' and in 209 'No sir, says question.' The picture presented by Warburton of the Traveller serving up a dialogue of compliments, wherein he must be both question and answer, is certainly 'humorous'; though possibly not quite in the way Warburton

And talking of the Alpes and Appenines,
The Perennean and the riuer Poe,

It drawes toward fupper in conclufion fo.
But this is worshipfull society,

And fits the mounting spirit like my selfe;
For he is but a bastard to the time

213. Perennean] Pyrennean Ff, Rowe. Pyreneans Coll. ii. (MS.). Pyrenean Pope et seq.

Poe] Po Rowe et seq.

214. toward] F2, Cap. Var. '78, '85. towards F3F4, Rowe,+, Sing. Hal. Ktly, Huds.

214. Supper] F1.

Jo] Om. Cap. Ran.

216. the] a Coll. MS.

212

215

217

Spirit like] Ff, Rowe, Pope,+, Knt, Dyce, Sta. Cam.+, Neils. spirit, like Cap et cet.

intends. The latter part of Heath's explanation is much more satisfactory. Philip cares nothing about Alps, Apennines, or rivers, what he wants to know concerns only manners, customs, and good behaviour.-ED.]-IVOR JOHN: If we take the line as it stands—‘Before the answering man knows what the questioner would, except in so far as customary complimentary retorts are concerned'-we leave 'And so' in the air; but having regard to the looseness of structure of the whole speech, this may not be impossible. We may shuffle out of the difficulty by suspecting a dropped line.-[Is it not simpler to follow Pope's arrangement, including these three lines in a parenthetical clause? And so' then has the force of in this manner.-ED.]

211. Dialogue of Complement] TOLLET: Sir W. Cornwallis's 28th Essay thus ridicules the extravagance of compliment in our poet's days, 1601: 'We spend even at his (i. e., a friend's or a stranger's) entrance a whole volume of words.-What a deal of synamon and ginger is sacrificed to dissimulation! "O, how blessed do I take mine eyes for presenting me with this sight!" "O Signior, the star that governs my life in contentment, give me leave to interre myself in your arms!”—“Not so, sir, it is too unworthy an inclosure to contain such preciousness," &c., &c. This, and a cup of drink, makes the time as fit for a departure as can be.'-WRIGHT: The cynic Jaques in As You Like It (II, v, 56) compares [such a dialogue] to 'the encounter of two dog-apes.'

214. in conclusion so] CAPELL, regarding 'so' redundant, omits it; but is it not here used for the more emphatic form also, as in 'Mad in pursuit, and in possession so.'-Sonnet cxxix. (See ABBOTT, § 65.)—Moberly interprets these words as meaning 'In this kind of trial at conversation'; apparently understanding 'conclusion' as in the phrase 'to try conclusions,' but the construction hardly admits this.-ED. 216. the mounting spirit] MADDEN (p. 204) compares the present line to a passage in 2 Henry VI: II, i, 5 et seq., wherein is shown a royal hunting party with their falcons; and particularly the lines given to Gloucester, 'My lord, 'tis but a base ignoble mind That mounts no higher than a bird can soar.'-ED.

217-223. bastard to the time... poyson for the ages tooth] The following observations by CAPELL on the concluding lines of this soliloquy, although they somewhat anticipate other remarks, are so closely connected with each other that it seems better to give them here in full: 'And now we shall wind up our string of observations on this soliloquy, with acknowledging our own former ignorance of the sense of some parts of it, and certain consequent errors in the reading of this

218

That doth not fmoake of obferuation,

218, 219. Smoake.../macke] smack... smoak Pope. smack...smack Theob. et

seq.

218. obferuation] observation Fleay.

copy. "Too," the Oxford editor's [Hanmer] reading in l. 222 [see Text. Notes], was embrac'd with great readiness; and his comment upon the words of next line seem'd a likely and just one,-that its "poison" was flattery: but when these were acceded to, it was perceiv'd that the parts of this period, read and pointed as now, did not accord nor had proper construction. To make the latter out tolerably, l. 222 must have another change yet, and "deliver" must be delivers; and to make the comment complete, flattery must be taken extensively, and comprehend its exteriors of complaisance and address; after which and with the pointing that follows it is conceiv'd the speaker's sense will be clear: "For he is but a bastard to the time, I That doth not smack of observation,— | And so am I, whether I smack, or no; | And not alone in habit and device, | Exterior form, outward accoutrement, | But from the inward motion too, delivers | Sweet, sweet, sweet poison for the age's tooth." "Observation" must be observation of foreign manners and things; and "poison" lyes not in that, unless it be in its nothingness, and the misspending of time in hark'ning to it, which is no mighty injury: persons void of this talent, or not smacking of it, in this speaker's language,―are, according to him, "bastards to the time"; meaning that the time held them cheap, set as little by them as bastards. And having vented this maxim, and the wipe or gird on himself, he turns to another traveller's talent, which is a poison indeed, and of all ages; and yet the person that wants it, is as much in common esteem as he that wanted the other; and his rising to honour will be with difficulty, for this and no other talent strews the footsteps are made to it, makes the road to it easy. Thus understood, the construction and concord:-"he is but a bastard to the time, that doth not smack of observation and he another, that not delivers sweet poison, &c., in habit and device alone, &c., but from the inward motion too": the last expressions importing that the party must be sincere in his flattery, or have the appearance of being so; and in the expressions before them,-"device,” “habit," &c.,—the necessity of address is insinuated, which has its flattery too, and produces all the effects of it.' [Capell has not, I think, shown in the foregoing his usual sagacity. In the first place, Hanmer's emendation, even with Capell's grammatical correction of the verb, is hardly to be commended; in fact, it completely alters the sense, where all was plain before, and is, therefore, unnecessary. Secondly, Capell refers the phrase 'bastard to the time' to the attitude of the polite world towards one who does not conform to usage; MALONE likewise interprets these words and thus paraphrases it: 'He is accounted but a mean man, in the present age, who does not show, by his dress, his deportment, and his talk that he has travelled and made observations in foreign countries.' Does not this expression rather mean, as WRIGHT interprets, 'He is no true child of this age'? Compare 'son to the King' in any Dramatis Persona. Capell, on the other hand, is quite right in rejecting Hanmer's explanation of the 'sweet poison' as flattery, his own words are, however, more suo, so obscure and his sentences so involved that it is not, at first, quite apparent that the 'traveller's talent,' to which he refers, is the 'deceit' mentioned by Faulconbridge in 1. 225. Thus the sweet poison for the age's tooth is mere outward show both in accoutrement and speech. Deception both in speech and action.-ED.]

And so am I whether I smacke or no:

And not alone in habit and deuice,
Exterior forme, outward accoutrement;
But from the inward motion to deliuer
Sweet, sweet, sweet poyson for the ages tooth,

219. am I...fmacke] Ff, Rowe, Pope. am I,...smack Theob.+, Dyce, Ktly, Cam.+, Fleay. am I,...smack, Cap.

et cet.

220

223

222. motion] motion, Sta. Fleay. to deliuer] to deliver Han. too, deliver Cap.

218. smoake of obseruation] RANN: That is, exhibit some spice of foreign manners; and that not only by his outward habit and address, but also by the infallible criterion of politeness, a perpetual propensity to flattery, that sweet poison so highly palatable to the age's tooth.-WRIGHT: 'Observation' here seems to mean not so much the knowledge and experience gained by taking notice of what goes on around, as the habit of paying personal attention or court. It is derived from observe as used in 2 Henry IV: IV, iv, 30: 'For he is gracious if he be observed.' So Hamlet was the 'observed of all observers' (III, i, 162), to whom they all paid court. [The whole tenour of the passage seems confirmatory of this excellent suggestion. -ED.-Miss C. PORTER: Theobald's change is all that remains of various changes formerly made in this speech. Why is that left? What is meant by saying, I am one who smacks whether I smack or not? It is a curious contradiction, and seems less clear to the present writer than the unchanged original. Smoke is the sign of fire, as observation is of the time. The speaker who is not a bastard to the time, 'smokes' of it, is redolent of this universal trait of observation. So he is, whether he relishes it or not, whether I smack or no. [Miss Porter's attempt to wrest a meaning, from what has been accepted heretofore as a misprint in the Folio, is certainly praiseworthy; but has she not misunderstood Philip's parenthetical remark? See next note.-ED.]

219, 222. And so . . . to deliuer] BELDEN (Tudor Sh.): [He also is] not a true child of the age, being without fashionable dress and manners, and without the disposition to flatter. 'From,' l. 222, is equivalent to by reason of the lack of [any inward motion]. Yet he will arm himself against the flattery which will be strewn in the path of his social ascent. [MOORE-SMITH'S interpretation is substantially the same as the foregoing.-ED.]

219. And... or no] WARBURTON: A nonsensical line of the players.

221, 222. outward accoutrement... inward motion] RUSHTON (N. & Q., IV, x, 515] compares: "This face were faire, if it were tourned, noting that the inward motions would make the outward favour but counterfeit.'-Lyly: Euphues and his England, [ed. Bond, ii, 61].

222. motion] BRADLEY (N. E. D., s. v. 9.): An inward prompting or impulse; an instigation or incitement from within; a desire or inclination. Also a stirring of the soul, an emotion. [Compare IV, ii, 264, 265: 'Within this bosome, never entred yet The dreadfull motion of a murderous thought.']

222-225. to deliuer . . . I meane to learne] HUDSON (ed. ii.): Something of obscurity here. But I take the infinitive 'to deliver' as depending upon 'I am.'. So that Sir Richard means that he is going to humour the world in his outward man,

Which though I will not practice to deceiue,
Yet to auoid deceit I meane to learne;
For it shall strew the footsteps of my rising:
But who comes in fuch hafte in riding robes?
What woman poft is this? hath fhe no husband
That will take paines to blow a horne before her?
O me, 'tis my mother: how now good Lady,
What brings you heere to Court so hastily?

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225

230

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and at the same time be thoroughly sound within; or that he appear what the age craves, and yet be what he ought. The 'Which,' in this latter member of the sentence, I understand as referring to the whole sense of the preceding member. The speaker means to learn the arts of popularity, and to practice them, not hollowly, that he may cheat the people, or play the demagogue, but from the heart, and that he may be an overmatch for the cheats and demagogues about him. The Poet here prepares us for the honest and noble part which Faulconbridge takes in the play; giving us an early inside taste of this most downright and forthright humorist, who delights in a sort of righteous or inverted hypocrisy, talking like a knave, and acting like a hero.

225. to auoid deceit] That is, to avoid being deceived.

226. strew... my rising] IVOR JOHN: As I rise flattery will be strewn before me like flowers before one making a progress.-[Miss PORTER's interpretation is, I think, preferable, that deceit shall 'smooth his way, alluding to the rushes strewing the presence-chamber of the king, also the stage floor.' Philip's practical mind looks forward to an easy ascent, not a flowery path.-ED.]

229. blow a horne] JOHNSON: He means that a woman who travelled about like a 'post' was likely to 'horn' her husband.-COLLIER: The allusion is, of course, double,-to the horn of a post, and to the horn of such a husband as Lady Faulconbridge had rendered hers. [HUDSON also sees here this double allusion. It is somewhat rash to question the opinions of two authorities such as these; I can but say that I prefer to think them mistaken. In the first place Philip does not recognise the 'woman-post' until her nearer approach; secondly, it is not pleasant to think that he would thus make a jest of his mother's infidelity. Is not Johnson's explanation quite sufficient?-ED.]

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