NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 192. 



matters, in expressing an earnest desire for their 

 continuance. S. W. Singeb. 



Mickleham. 



ON THE PASSAGE FROM "KING LEAS. 



(Vol. vii., p. 592.) 



Will you allow me to suggest to your ingenious 

 Deeds correspondent (whose communications 

 would be read with only the more pleasure if they 

 evinced a little more respect for the opinions of 

 others) that before he asserts the existence of a 

 certain error which he points out in a passage in 

 King Lear to be " undeniable," it would be de- 

 sirable that he should support his improved 

 reading by other passages from Shakspeare, or 

 from cotemporary writers, in which the word he 

 proposes occurs ? For my own part, I think 

 A. E. B.'s suggestion well worthy of consideration, 

 but I cannot admit that it " demonstrates itself," 

 or " that any attempt to support it by argument 

 would be absurd," for it would unquestionably 

 strengthen his case to show that the verb " re- 

 cuse " was not entirely obsolete in Shakspeare's 

 time. IJiTeither can I admit that there is an " ob- 

 vious opposition between means and defects,^' the 

 two words having no relation to each other. The 

 question is, which of two words must be altered ; 

 and at present I must own I am inclined to put 

 more faith in the authority of " the old corrector " 

 than in A. E. B. 



Having taken up my pen on this subject, allow 

 me to remark upon the manner in which Mk. 

 Collier's folio is referred to by your corre- 

 spondent. I have carefully considered many of 

 the emendations proposed, and feel in my own 

 mind satisfied that so great a number that, in the 

 words of your correspondent, demonstrate them- 

 selves, could not have been otherwise than adopted 

 from some authority. Even in the instance of the 

 passage from Henry F., " on a table of green 

 friese," which A. E. B. selects, I presume, as being 

 especially absurd, I think " the old corrector " 

 right ; although I had frequently cited Theobald's 

 correction as particularly happy, and therefore 

 the new version was at first to me very distasteful. 

 But, whatever opinion may be held as to the value 

 of the book, it is surely unbecoming to the dis- 

 cussion of a literary question to indulge in the 

 unsparing insinuations that have been thrown out 

 on all sides respecting it. I leave out of question 

 the circumstance, that the long and great services 

 of Mr. Collier ought to protect him at least from 

 such unworthy treatment. Samuel Hickson. 



P. S. -^ Since writing the above, I have seen 

 Mr. Keightley's letter. I hope he will not de- 

 prive the readers of " N. & Q." of the benefit of 

 his valuable communications for the offences of 



one or two. He might consider, first, that his 

 own dignity would suffer least by letting them 

 pass by him " as the idle wind ; " and, secondly, 

 that some allowance should be made for gentle- 

 men who engage in controversy on a subject 

 which, strangely enough, next to religion, seems , 

 to be most productive of discord. S. H. 



" I have no way, and therefore want no eyes ; 

 I stumbled when I saw. Full oft 'tis seen 

 Our means secure us ; and our mere defects 

 Prove our commodities." 



Does not Shakspeare here use secure as a verb, 

 in the sense " to make careless ? " If so, the pas- 

 sage would mean, "Our means," that is, our power, 

 our strength, make us wanting in care and vigi- 

 lance, and too self-confident. Gloucester says, 

 " I stumbled when I saw ; " meaning. When I had 

 eyes I walked carelessly; when I had the "means" 

 of seeing and avoiding stumbling-blocks, I stum- 

 bled and fell, because I walked without care and 

 watchfulness. Then he adds, " And our mere de- 

 fects prove our commodities." Our deficiencies, 

 our weaknesses (the sense of them), make us use 

 such care and exertions as to prove advantages to 

 us. Thus the antithesis is preserved. 



How scriptural is the first part of the passage ! 



" Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest 

 he fall."— 1 Cor. x. 12. 



" He hath said in his heart, Tush, I shall never be 

 cast down : there shall no harm happen unto me."^ 

 Ps. X. 6. 



The second part is also scriptural : 



" My strength is made perfect in weakness." — 

 2 Cor. xii. 9. 



" When I am weak then am I strong." — 2 Cor. xii. 

 10. 



In Timon of Athens we find secure used as a 

 verb : '■'■Secure thy heart." — Act II. Sc. 2. 

 Again, in Othello : 



" I do not so secure me In the error." — Act I. Sc. 3. 



In Du Cange's Gloss, is the verb ''Securare 

 nude pro securum reddere." In the " Alter Index 

 sive Glossarium " of Ainsworth's Dictionary is the 



verb "Securo, as to live carelessly." In 



the " Verba partim Grajca Latine scripta, partial 

 barbara," &o., is " Securo, as securum reddo." 



The means of the hare in the fable for the race 

 (that is, her swiftness) secured her ; the defects of 

 the tortoise (her slowness) proved her commodity. 



F. W. J. 



MANNERS OF THE IRISH. 



The following are extracts from a MS. volume 

 of the sixteenth century, containing, inter alia, 

 notes of the Manners and Superstitions of the 



