146 
THE FALL OF A SPARROW. 
“ This ungenitured agent will unpeople the province 
with continency ; sparrows must not build in his house, 
because they are lecherous.”— Measure for Measure , Act 
iii. Sc. 2. 
Iris tells us that Cupid— 
“ Swears he will shoot no more, but play with sparrows, 
And be a boy right out.” 
Tempest , Act iv. Sc. 1. 
In Troilus and Cressida , as well as in Hamlet , are passages 
in which it is evident the poet had in his mind the words 
of Matthew x. 29 :— 
“ Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing ? And one 
of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.” 
“ I will buy nine sparrows for a penny, and his pia 
mater is not worth the ninth part of a penny.”— Troilus 
and Cressida , Act ii. Sc. 1. 
“ There’s a special providence in the fall of a sparrow.” 
Hamlet , Act v. Sc. 2. 
Again, in the following lines, there is an evident allusion 
to Psalm cxlvii. 9 (“ He feedeth the young ravens- that 
call upon him ”) :—- 
“ And He that doth the ravens feed, 
Yea, providently caters for the sparrow, 
Be comfort to my age !” 
As You Like It , Act ii. Sc. 3. 
