F OTH. Peace, and be ftill! DES. I will fo: What's the matter? Oтн. That handkerchief, which I fo lov'd, and gave thee, Thou gav'ft to Caffio. DES. Send for the man, and ask him. Отн. No, by my life and foul; Sweet foul, take heed, Take heed of perjury; thou'rt on thy death-bed. DES. Ay, but not yet to die. OTH. Yes, presently: Therefore confefs thee freely of thy fin; For to deny each article with oath, Cannot remove, nor choke, the ftrong conception, DES. Then, Lord have mercy on me! I fay, amen. Отн. Отн. By heaven, I faw my handkerchief in his O perjur'd woman! thou doft ftone my heart, 6 A murder, which I thought a facrifice :] This line is difficult. Thou haft hardened my heart, and makeft me kill thee with the rage of a murderer, when I thought to have facrificed thee to justice with the calmness of a prieft ftriking a victim. It muft not be omitted, that one of the elder quartos reads,― thon deft ftone thy heart; which I fufpect to be genuine. The meaning then will be,-thou forceft me to difmifs thee from the world in the ftate of the murdered without preparation for death, I saw the handkerchief. DES. He found it then; I never gave it him:-Send for him hither, Honeft Iago hath ta'en order for't. DES. My fear interprets then,-What, is he dead? Oтн. Had all his hairs been lives, my great revenge Had ftomach for them all. when I intended that thy punishment fhould have been a facrifice atoning for thy crime. I am glad that I have ended my revifal of this dreadful scene. It is not to be endured. JOHNSON. Thy heart, is the reading of the original quarto, 1622. MALONE. 7 That he hath-us'd thee.] The quarto, 1622, exhibits this line thus: That he hath-uds death. 8 - MALONE. -hath ta'en order for't.] i. e. has taken measures. So, in Holinfhed's Reign of King John: he took fuch order for him, that he was defpoiled of all his goods and benefices," p. 174. STEEVENS Again, in Dido Queen of Carthage, by Marlowe and Nathe, 1594: "I will take order for that presently." MALONE. 9 Had all his hairs been lives,] This thought appears to have been very common, as it occurs frequently in dramatick per DES. Alas! he is betray'd, and I undone. OTH. Out, ftrumpet! Weep'it thou for him to my face? DES. O, banish me my lord, but kill me not. ОTн. Down, ftrumpet! DES. Kill me to-morrow, let me live to-night. ОTн. Nay, if you firive, formances prior to Shakspeare's Othello. So, in The Devil's Charter, by Barnaby Barnes, 1607: "Know Cafar, had I now as many lives "As there are ftones, or hairs upon my head, Again, in Beaumont and Fletcher's King and no King: but if all My hairs were lives, I would not be engaged "In fuch a caufe." Again, in Hieronymo: "Had I as many lives as there be ftars-." STEEVENS. King and no King, as appears by Sir Henry Herbert's papers, was produced in 1611. See The Historical Account of the Englih Stage. Vol. II. MALONE. 3 Being done, There is no paufe.] The first quarto omits this fpeech. STEEVENS. 4It is too late.] After this fpeech of Othello, the elder quarto adds an invocation from Defdemona, confifting only of the facred name thrice repeated. As this must be fuppofed to have been uttered while he is yet ftruggling with death, I think an editor may be excufed from inferting fuch a circumftance of fupererogatory horror, especially as it is found in but one of the ancient copies. STEEVENS. This alteration was probably made in confequence of the ftatute of the 3d of James I. c. 21. which lays a penalty for the profane EMIL. [Within.] My lord, my lord! what ho! my lord! my lord! OTн. What noife is this?-Not dead! not yet quite dead? I, that am cruel, am yet merciful; I would not have thee linger in thy pain.- EMIL. [Within.] What,ho! my lord, my lord! Отн. Who's there? EMIL. [Within.] O, good my lord, I would speak a word with you. OTH. Yes; 'tis Emilia:-by and by.-She's dead. 'Tis like fhe comes to speak of Caffio's death; ufe of the name of God, &c. in ftage-plays, interludes, Maygames, &c. TOLLET. The ftatute was neceffary; for not only the ancient moralities, but the plays (thofe of Chapman in particular) abound with the moft wanton and fhocking repetitions of a name which never ought to be mentioned in fuch an irreverend manner on the stage. STEEVENS. The alteration was undoubtedly made by, the Mafter of the Revels. MALONE. 5 My wife! my wife! what wife?—I have no wife:]" Filium unicum adolefcentulum habeo: ah! quid dixi habere me? imo habui, Chreme." Ter. Heautont. STEEVENS. a 6 O heavy hour!] In the first scene of this act we have “ heavy night." This epithet likewife occurs in a fense somewhat unufual in Letters from the Pafton Family, Vol. II. p. 193: it is demyd yt my Lady wolde herafter be the rather myn hevy Lady for yt delyng-." STEEVENS. Methinks, it should be now a huge eclipfe of fun and moon; and that the affrighted globe Should yawn at alteration. EMIL. [Within.] I do beseech you I may speak with you, O, good my lord! OTH. I had forgot thee: O, come in, Emilia:— Soft,-by and by:-Let,me the curtains draw.Where art thou? What's the matter with thee now? [Unlocks the door. Enter EMILIA. EMIL. O, good my lord, yonder's foul murder done. OTH. What? now? EMIL. But now, my lord? OTH. It is the very error of the moon; She comes more near the earth than she was wont; And makes men mad. EMIL. Caffio, my lord, has kill'd a young Venetian, Call'd-Roderigo. Отн. And Caffio kill'd? EMIL. Roderigo kill'd! No, Caffio is not kill'd. OTH. Not Caffio kill'd? Then murder's out of tune, And fweet revenge grows harfh. DES. O, falfely, falfely murder'd!" 70, falfely, falfely murder'd!] It cannot be fuppofed that a perfon who had been effectually ftrangled or fmothered, could fpeak again; for if the power of breathing returned after the inftrument of fuf |