Which, as I think, you know not: Here is a letter,
Found in the pocket of the slain Roderigo;
And here, another: the one of them imports
The death of Cassio to be undertook

By Roderigo.

Oth. O villain!

Cas.

Most heathenish, and most gross!

Lod. Now here's another discontented paper, Found in his pocket too; and this, it seems, Roderigo meant to have sent this damned villain ; But that, belike, Iago in the interim

Came in and satisfied him.

Oth.
How came you, Cassio, by that handkerchief
That was my wife's?

Cas.

O the pernicious cailiff!-

I found it in my chamber:

And he himself confess'd, but even now,
That there he dropp'd it, for a special purpose,
Which wrought to his desire.

Oth.

O fool! fool! fool!

Cas. There is, besides, in Roderigo's letter,—

How he upbraids Iago, that he made him
Brave me on the watch; whereon it came
That I was cast: And even but now he spake,
After long seeming dead,-Iago hurt him,

Iago set him on.

Lod. You must forsake this room, and go with us; Your power and your command is taken off, And Cassio rules in Cyprus. For this slave,—

If there be any cunning cruelty,

That can torment him much, and hold him long,
It shall be his. You shall close prisoner rest,
Till that the nature of your fault be known
To the Venetian state :-Come, bring him away.
Oth. Soft you; a word or two, before you go.

I have done the state some service, and they know it;
No more of that:-I pray you, in your letters,
When you shall these unlucky deeds relate,
Speak of me as I am; nothing extenuate,

Nor set down aught in malice: then must you speak
Of one, that lov'd not wisely, but too well;

Of one, not easily jealous, but, being wrought,
Perplex'd in the extreme; of one, whose hand,
Like the base Judean, threw a pearl away,

Richer than all his tribe; of one, whose subdu'd eyes,
Albeit unus'd to the melting mood,

Drop tears as fast as the Arabian trees
Their medicínal gum: Set you down this:
And say, besides,-that in Aleppo once,
Where a malignant and a turban'd Turk
Beat a Venetian, and traduc'd the state,
I took by the throat the circumcised dog,
And smote him-thus.

[Stabs himself.

Lod. O bloody period! Gra. All, that's spoke, is marr'd. Oth. I kiss'd thee, ere I kill'd thee;-No way but this, [Falling upon Desdemona. Killing myself, to die upon a kiss.

[Dies. Cas. This did I fear, but thought he had no weapon; For he was great of heart. Lod. O Spartan dog, More fell than anguish, hunger, or the sea! Look on the tragic loading of this bed; [To lago. This is thy work: the object poisons sight;Let it be hid.-Gratiano, keep the house, And seize upon the fortunes of the Moor, For they succeed to you.u.-To you, lord governor, Remains the censure of this hellish villain; The time, the place, the torture,-O enforce it! Myself will straight aboard; and, to the state, This heavy act with heavy heart relate. [Exeunt.

The beauties of this play impress themselves so strongly upon the attention of the reader, that they can draw no aid from critical illustration. The fiery openness of Othello, magnanimous, artless, and credulous, boundless in his confidence, ardent in his affection, inflexible in his resolution, and obdurate in his revenge; the cool malignity of Iago, silent in his resentment, subtle in his designs, and studious at once of his interest and his vengeance; the soft simplicity of Des

demona, confident of merit, and conscious of innocence, her artless perseverance in her suit, and her slowness to suspect that she can be suspected, are such proofs of Shakspeare's skill in human nature, as, I suppose, it is vain to seek in any modern writer. The gradual progress which lago makes in the Moor's conviction, and the circumstances which he employs to inflame him, are so artfully natural, that, though it will, perhaps, not be said of him as he says of himself, that he is a man not easily jealous, yet we cannot but pity him, when at last we find him perplexed in the extreme.

There is always danger, lest wickedness, conjoined with abilities, should steal upon esteem, though it misses of approbation; but the character of lago is so conducted, that he is from the first scene to the last hated and despised.

Even the inferior characters of this play would be very conspicuous in any other piece, not only for their justness, but their strength. Cassio is brave, benevolent, and honest, ruined only by his want of stubbornness to resist an insidious invitation. Roderigo's suspicious credulity, and impatient submission to the cheats which he sees practised upon him, and which, by persuasion, he suffers to be repeated, exhibit a strong picture of a weak mind betrayed, by unlawful desires, to a false friend; and the virtue of Emilia is such as we often find, worn loosely, but not cast off, easy to commit small crimes, but quickened and alarmed at atrocious villanies.

The scenes from the beginning to the end are busy, varied by happy interchanges, and regularly promoting the progression of the story; and the narrative in the end, though it tells but what is known already, yet is necessary to produce the death of Othello.

Had the scene opened in Cyprus, and the preceding incidents been occasionally related, there had been little wanting to a drama of the most exact and scrupulous regularity. JOHNSON.

C. Whittingham, Printer, Chiswick.

GLOSSARY.

ABJECTS, the most servile
and lowest of subjects.
Aby, to pay dear for, to suffer.
Abysm, abyss, from the French
abysme, now abime.
Aceite, to call or summons.
Aconitum, wolfsbane.
Adam, the name of an outlaw,
noted for his skill in archery.
Much Ado.

Adam Cupid, an allusion to the
same person. Rom. and Jul.
Addrest, ready, prepared.
Advertising, attentive.
Aery or Aiery, a nest.
Affect the letter, to practise alli-
teration. Love's Lab.
Affects, affections or passions.
Affeered, a law-term for con-
firmed.

Afied, betrothed.

Affined, joined by affinity. Affront, sometimes, to face or confront.

Affy, to betroth in marriage. Aglet-baby, a diminutive being, not exceeding in size the tag of a point; from aiguillettes. Agnize, acknowledge, confess,

avow.

Aiery, a hawk's or eagle's nest.
Rich. III.

Airy fame, verbal eulogium.
Alder-liefest, preferred to all
things; from leve or lefe, dear,
and alder, of all.
A'life, at life.

Amazonian chin, a chin without
a beard.

Ames-ace, the lowest chance of the dice.

Amort, sunk, dispirited.

Ancient, an ensign, or standard

bearer.

Antres, caves and dens
Appeach, to impeach.
Apple-John, species of apple that
will keep for two years; in
French, deux-ans.
Approof, approbation, or some-
times proof, confirmation.
Aqua vita, probably, usque-
baugh. Mer. Wiv.
Arabian bird, the phoenix.
Argentine goddess, regent of the
silver moon.
Argier, Algiers.

Argosies, ships of great burthen..
Aroint, avaunt, or be gone.
Ascapart, a giant.

Ascaunt, askew, aside, side

ways.

Aspersion, sprinkling. Temp. Assay, to take the assay, applied to those who tasted wine for princes. Ham.-Test. Oth. Assinego, an ass driver, a foolish . fellow.

Astringer, a gentleman falconer;
from austercus, a goshawk.
As point, completely armed.
Atomies, minute particles dis-
cernible when the sun breaks
into a darkened room.
Attasked, taken to task, cen-

sured.
Attent, attentive.

Baccare, a proverbial word, of
doubtful meaning; perhaps
from baccalare, arrogant.
Bail, bane, ruin, misfortune.
Hen. VI. 2d Part.
Baldrick, a belt.

Balker, either bathed, or piled
up. Hen, IV. 1st Part.
Bandog, i. e. band-dog, a village
dog, or mastiff.
Bandy, a metaphor from tennis-
playing, to exchange smartly.

I

Banning, cursing, commonly | Bevy, a company, or number,

originally applied to larks. Beway, betray, discover. Bezonian, a term of reproach; from bisognoso,a needy person. Bias cheek, swelling out like the