354 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2°'i S. VII. April 30. '59. 



to the Low Countries will probably sbare my be- 

 lief that in pourtraying the contests between the 

 Greek nnd Trojan hosts, he but recorded his 

 recollections of encounters between the forces of 

 England and the United Provinces and those 

 under the Duke of Alva. 



We have the very " Prologue " armed, and tell- 

 ing us that " our play leaps o'er the vaunt." 



The " hacks on Hector's helmet," " the ward at 

 which Cressid was wont to lie," are but small 

 matters compared to the picture drawn by Ulysses 

 of the distraction in the Grecian camp, and which 

 resemble those which Shakspeare might himself 

 have witnessed in the camp of the allies — 



"... The General's disdained 

 By him one step below ; he, by the next; 

 The next by him beneath." 



Who can doubt when Patroclus plays old 

 Nestor, — 



" And with a palsy-fumbling on his gorget, 

 Shakes in and out the rivet " — 



that Shakspeare drew the picture from the life ; 

 or that he had any other source for the follow- 

 ing : — 



" So that the ram, that battels down the roall, 

 For the great swing and rudeness of his poize, 

 They place before the hand that made the engine ; 

 Or those that with the fineness of their souls, 

 By reason guide his execution," — Act I. Sc. 3. 



Nestor's message — 



" I'll hide my silver beard in a gold heaver. 

 And in my vautbrace put this withered brawn." 



Agamemnon's comparison of Achilles — 



"... Like an engine 

 Not portable" — 



Cassandra speaking of " notes of sally " — Troilus' 

 allusion to the — 



« . . . . Hand of Mars 

 Beckoning with_^ry truncheon my retire " — 



Hector's — 



" . . . I like thy armour well, 

 VWfrush it, and unlock the rivets all" — 



and the allusions to the wearing of "gloves" and 

 *' sleeves" — the threat, 



" For I will throw my glove to death himself," — 

 the picture, 



" Or like a gallant horse fall'n in first rank. 

 Lie there for pavement to the abject rear 

 O'errun and trampled on," — 



and the reference to the " sticklers " who separate 

 the armies, — are all redolent of the camp, and 

 could I think scarcely have been learned in any 

 other school. 

 I pass by 



Measure fob Measure," 



in which the allusions of this character are but 

 scant, that I may come to 



Othello, 



which abounds with them. The space which I 

 have already occupied is, however, so very large, 

 that I must condense the passages as much as 

 possible. The well-known description of Cassio — 



, " That never set a squadron in the field, 

 'Nor the division of a battle knows, 

 '"' '''■'•'More than a spinster," — 



the distinction between "li^^^t'ell^n4i)"J^J\pd5rJy^- 

 ciwt"— the allusion to ^ •*! ■; -'^ 



-!£ 'lUOiia''" " T (' ' *^® curse of service, 

 =• "' PreferiheBt goes by letter and aff'ection, 

 Not by the old gradation," — 



are among many instances. 

 And — 



" . . . when he's old cashiered," — 

 " I must show out a sign and flag of love," — 

 " For that it stands not in such warlike brace," — 

 " Men do their broken weapons rather use 

 Than their bare hands," — 

 " The tyrant custom, most brave senators. 

 Hath made the flinty and steel couch of Avar 

 My thrice driven bed of down," — 

 " Let housewives make a skillet of my helm," — 

 " Cas. What an ej'-e she hath — methinks it sounds a 

 parley of provocation. 



" lago. And when she speaks, is it not an alarm to 

 love ? " — 



" And stood within the blank of bis displeasure," — 

 " . . . . whose solid virtue 

 The shot of accident, nor dart of chance 

 Could neither graze, nor pierce," — 

 " It is a sword of Spain, the icebrook's temper 



A better never did sustain itself 

 Upon a soldier's thigh," — 



show how much of Shakspeare's imagery was 

 drawn from the " tented field." 

 • Who can doubt that from that "tented field," 

 and the stern necessities of discipline he had there 

 witnessed, he learned that 



" . . . Wars must make examples 

 Outof the best" — 



and only repeated what he had himself heard from 

 some officer, suppressing a broil in the camp, when 

 he makes Othello exclaim 



" . . . . What ! in a town of war 

 Yet wild, the people's hearts brimful of fear. 

 To manage private and domestic quarrel. 

 In night, and on the court of guard and safety ! 

 'Tis monstrous." 



Who can doubt that it was under the inspi- 

 ration of having shared in the dangers and excite- 

 ment of a campaign, that Shakspeare put into 

 the mouth of the noble Moor his chivalrous and 

 touching farewell to military glory : — 



" Farewell the plumed troop and the big wars 

 That make ambition virtue ! O farewell ! 

 Farewell the neighing steed and the shrill trump, 

 The spirit-stirring drum, the ear-piercing fife. 

 The royal banner ; and all quality. 



