410 



KOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 131. 



both to the Windows and Corn. Many of the stones 

 measured six inches in circumference. It broke almost 

 all the South and West Windows both of this House 

 and my Vicarage House at Stillington. L. Sxerke." 



" In the year 1741 — 



" Hail fell in the midst of Summer as big as a 

 Pidgeon's egg, w''' unusual occurrence I thought fit to 

 attest under my hand. L. Sterne." 



These two accounts of hailstorms are supposed 

 to be only quizzes upon prodigious entries of the 

 same sort made by Vicar Walker in 1698. And 

 that this latter is so is evident, from the conclud- 

 ing words being the same as in Walker's memo- 

 randum. 



Sterne is characteristically exhibited in the sub- 

 joined account by the successor of the " reverend 

 joker" : 



" In the year 1764, during the Incumbency of Mr. 

 Lawrence Sterne, the Vicarage House was burnt down. 

 Tho' frequently admonished and required to rebuild 

 the Vicarage House, he found means to evade the per- 

 formance of it. He continued Vicar till he died, in 

 March, 1768. Andrew Cheap was appointed his suc- 

 cessor, and was advised to accept a composition for 

 Dilai)idations from the Widow. A Suit was instituted 

 for Dilapidations, but after a time (the Widow being 

 in indigent circumstances) sixty pounds were accepted. 



" In April, 1770, the New House was begun, and 

 finished in May, 1771. 



" Total amount of Suit and Building the House, 

 576/. 13s. 5d. Andrew Cheap, Vicar." 



Alfebd Gatty. 



BEADINGS IN SHAKSPEARE, KG. IV. 



" Of government the properties to imfold, 



Would seem in me to affect speech and discourse; 

 Since I am put to know, that your own science 

 Exceeds, in that, the lists of all advice 

 [ My strength can give you : Then, no more remains : 

 But that, to yoitf sufficiency as your worth, is able ; 

 And let them work. The nature of cur people. 

 Our city's institutions, and the terms 

 . J'or common justice, you are as pregnant in. 

 As art and practice hath enriched any 

 That we remember : There is our commission. 

 From which we would not have you warp." 



Opening of Measure for Measure. 



In Mr. Knight's edition, from which the fore- 

 going passage is printed and pointed, the following 

 note is appended to it : 



" We encounter at tlie onset one of the obscure pas- 

 sages for which this play is remarkable. The text is 

 usually pointed thus : — 



" ' Then no more remains 



But that to your sufficiency, as your worth is able, 



And let them work.' 

 It is certainly difficult to extract a clear meaning 

 from this ; and so Theobald and Hanmer assume that 

 a line has dropped out, which they kindly restore to us, 

 each in his own way." 



After relating Steevens' attempt at elucidation, 

 Mr. Knight proceeds to explain the passage by a 

 running interpretation parenthetically applied to 

 each expression ; but I doubt very much whether 

 any person would feel much enlightened by it ; or 

 whether, amongst so many explanations, any one 

 of them could be pointed out less obscure than 

 the rest. 



Letus try, then, what a total change of inter- 

 pretation will do. 



In the sixth line of the Duke's speech, as quoted 

 at the commencement, we find the demonstrative 

 pronoun that, which must have some object. Mr. 

 Knight supposes that object to be " your science." 

 I, on the contrary, am of opinion that it refers to 

 the commission which the Duke holds in his hand, 

 and which he is in the act of presenting to Escalus : 



" Then no more remains. 

 But — that, to your sufficiency, as your worth is able, 

 And let them work." 



By transposition, this sentence becomes " Then, as 

 your worth is able, no more remains, to your suf- 

 ficiency, but that." 



But what ? 



Your COMMISSION ! 



Have we not here the mot to the enigma, the 

 clue to the mystery ? When the Duke takes up 

 the commission, he addresses Escalus to the fol- 

 lowing effect : 



" It would be affectation in me to lecture you upon 

 the art of government, since I must needs know that 

 your own science exceeds, in that, the limits of all I 

 could teach you. Therefore, since your worth is able, 

 no more remains to your sufficiency, but — that, and 

 let them work." 



The sufficiency here spoken of is twofold, ability 

 to direct, and authority to enforce. The first was 

 personal to Escalus, consisting of his own skill 

 and knowledge ; the second was conferred upon 

 him by commission : when both were united, he 

 was to " let them work ! " 



Reading the passage in this way, there is no 

 necessity for the alteration of a single letter ; and 

 yet I will put it to any pej'son of sense and can- 

 dour, whether the passage be not thereby relieved 

 from all real obscurity ? 



It must be borne in mind, that the presentation 

 of the commission is the main object of the Duke's 

 address : the presentation therelbi'e is not a single 

 act, but rather a protracted action during the 

 whole speech, finally consummated with the con- 

 cluding words — " there is our commission." 



This is so plain, that it scarcely needs confirma- 

 tion; but,- if it did so, it would receive it, by 

 analogy, in the similarly protracted presentation 

 to Angelo when it becomes his turn to receive Ms 

 commission. In that case the act of presentation 

 commences with the word " hold : " 



"Hold — therefore, Angelo ! " 



