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Jago. I am glad of this; for now I fhall have reason
To fhew the love and duty that I bear you
With franker fpirit: therefore, as I am bound,
Receive it from me :-I fpeak not yet of proof.
Look to your wife; obferve her well with Caffio;
Wear your eye-thus, not jealous, nor fecure:
I would not have your free and noble nature,
Out of felf-bounty, be abus'd; look to't:
I know our country difpofition well;

In Venice' they do let heaven fee the pranks
They dare not fhew their husbands; their best conscience
Is-not to leave undone, but keep unknown 3.

Oth. Doft thou say so?

Iago. She did deceive her father, marrying you; And, when the feem'd to shake and fear your looks, She lov'd them most.

6 Out of felf-bounty, be abus'd;] Self-bounty for inherent generofity. WARBURTON.

7

our country disposition—

In Venice] Here Iago feems to be a Venetian. JOHNSON. Various other paffages, as well as the prefent, prove him to have been a Venetian, nor is there any ground for doubting the poet's intention on this head. See p. 529, n. 9. MALONE.

8 Is not to leave undone, but keep unknown.] The folio perhaps more clearly reads:

Is not to leav't undone, but keep't undone. STEEVENS. The folio, by an evident errour of the prefs, reads kept unknown. MALONE.

9 And, when she feem'd, &c.] This and the following argument of Iago ought to be deeply imprefied on every reader. Deceit and falsehood, whatever conveniencies they may for a time promife or produce, are, in the fum of life, obftacles to happiness. Thofe, who profit by the cheat, diftruft the deceiver, and the act, by which kindness was fought, puts an end to confidence.

The fame objection may be made with a lower degree of ftrength against the imprudent generofity of difproportionate marriages. When the first heat of paffion is over, it is eafily fucceeded by fufpicion, that the fame violence of inclination, which caufed one irregularity, may ftimulate to another; and those who have fhewn, that their paffions too powerful for their prudence, will with very flight appearances against them, be cenfured, as not very likely to restrain them by their virtue. JOHNSON.

are

VOL. IX.

N n

Oth.

Oth. And fo fhe did.

lago. Why, go to, then ;

She that, fo young, could give out fuch a feeming,
To feel her father's eyes up, close as oak',-

He thought, 'twas witchcraft :-But I am much to blame;

I humbly do beseech you of your pardon,

For too much loving you.

Oth. I am bound to thee for ever.

Iago. I fee, this hath a little dash'd your fpirits.
Oth. Not a jot, not a jot.

Iago Truft me, I fear it has.

I hope, you will confider, what is fpoke

Comes from my love;-But, I do fee you are mov'd:I am to pray you, not to ftrain my speech

To groffer iffues, nor to larger reach,

Than to fufpicion.

Oth. I will not.

Iago. Should you do fo, my lord,

My speech fhould fall into fuch vile fuccefs 3

As

To feel ber father's eyes up, close as oak,-] The oak is, I believe, the moft close-grained wood of general ufe in England. Close as oak, means, clofe as the grain of the oak. To feel is an expreffion from falconry. STEEVENS.

To feel a hawk is to few up his eyes-lids. See Vol. VII. p.589, n. 9. In the Winter's Tale, Paulina fays,

"The root of his opinion, which is rotten

"As ever oak, or ftone, was found." MALONE.

2 To groffer iffues,] Iues, for conclufions. WARBURTON, 3 My fpeech fhould fall into fuch vile fuccefs,] If fuccefs be the right word, it seems to mean confequence or event, as fuccesso is used in Italian. JOHNSON

I think fuccefs may, in this inftance, bear its common interpretation. What Iago means, feems to be this: "Should you do fo, my lord, my words would be attended by such an infamous degree of fuccefs, as my thoughts do not even aim at." Iago, who counterfeits the feelings of virtue, might have faid fall into fuccefs, and wile fuccefs, because he would appear to Othello, to with that the enquiry into Desdemona's guilt might prove fruitless and unfuccessful.

STEEVENS.
The

As my thoughts aim not at. Caffio's my worthy friendMy lord, I fee you are mov'd.

Oth. No, not much mov'd :

I do not think, but Defdemona's honeft.

lage. Long live the fo! and long live you to think fo! Oth. And yet, how nature erring from itself,Iago. Ay, there's the point: As,-to be bold with

you,

Not to affect many propofed matches,

Of her own clime, complexion, and degree;
Whereto, we fee, in all things nature tends:
Foh! one may fmell, in fuch, a will moft rank*,
Foul difproportion, thoughts unnatural.-
But pardon me; I do not, in pofition,
Diftinctly speak of her: though I may fear,
Her will, recoiling to her better judgment,
May fall to match you with her country forms,
And (hapily) repent.

Oth. Farewel, Farewel:

If more thou doft perceive, let me know more ;
Set on thy wife to obferve: Leave me, lago.
Iago. My lord, I take my leave.

[going. Oth. Why did I marry? This honeft creature, doubtless,

Sees and knows more, much more, than he unfolds.
Iago. My lord, I would, I might entreat your honour
To fcan this thing no further; leave it to time:
And though it be fit that Caffio have his place,
(For, fure, he fills it up with great ability,)
Yet, if you please to hold him off a while,

The following paffages will perhaps be confidered as proofs of Dr. Johnfon's explanation:

"Then the poore defolate women, fearing left their cafe would forte to fome pitifull fucceffe," Palace of Pleasure, bl. let.

"God forbid all his hope fhould turné to fuch fucceffe." Promos and Caffandra, 1578. HENDERSON.

4- a will most rank,] Will, is for wilfulness. It is fo ufed by Afcham. A rank will, is felf-will, overgrown and exuberant.

JOHNSON.

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You shall by that perceive him and his means:
Note, if your lady ftrain his entertainment"
With any ftrong or vehement importunity;
Much will be feen in that. In the mean time,
Let me be thought too busy in my fears,
(As worthy cauíe I have, to fear-I am,)
And hold her free, I do befeech your honour.
Oth. Fear not my government'.
Iago. I once more take my leave.

[Exit.

Oth. This fellow's of exceeding honesty,
And knows all qualities, with a learned fpirit",
Of human dealings: If I do prove her haggard 9,
Though that her jeffes were my dear heart-ftrings',

I'd

5 You fall by that perceive him, and bis means :] You shall discover whether he thinks his best means, his moft powerful intereft, is by the folicitation of your lady. JOHNSON,

- ftrain bis entertainment-] Prefs hard his re-admiffion to his pay and office. Entertainment was the military term for admiffion of foldiers. JOHNSON.

7 Fear not my government.] Do not diftruft my ability to contain my paffion. JOHNSON.

with a learned fpirit,] Learned, for experienced.

WARBURTON.

The conftruction is, He knows with a learned fpirit all qualities of human dealings. JOHNSON.

9-If I do prove her haggard,] A baggard hawk is a wild hawk, a bark unreclaimed, or irreclaimable. JOHNSON.

A baggard is a particular fpecies of hawk. It is difficult to be reclaimed, but not irreclaimable.

From a paffage in Vittoria Corembona, it appears that baggard was a term of reproach fometimes applied to a wanton: "Is this your perch, you baggard? fly to the stews."

Turbervile fays, that "the baggart falcons are the most excellent birds of all other falcons." Latham gives to, the baggart only the fecond place in the valued file. In Holland's Leaguer, a comedy, by Shakerly Marmyon, 1633, is the following illuftrative paffage : "Before thefe courtiers lick their lips at her,

"I'll trust a wanton baggard in the wind."

Haggard, however, had a popular fenfe, and was used for wild by thofe who thought not on the language of falconers. STEEVENS.

Though that ber jesses were my dear beart-firings,] Jesses are thort ftraps of leather tied about the foot of a hawk, by which he is held on the fift. HANMER.

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I'd whistle her off, and let her down the wind,
To prey at fortune 2. Haply, for I am black;
And have not thofe foft parts of converfation
That chamberers 3 have: Or, for I am declin'd
Into the vale of years; yet that's not much ;-
She's gone; I am abus'd; and my relief
Muft be-to loath her. O curfe of marriage,
That we can call thefe delicate creature ours,
And not their appetites! I had rather be a toad,
And live upon the vapour of a dungeon,
Than keep a corner in the thing I love,

For others' ufes. Yet, 'tis the plague of great ones; Prerogativ'd are they lefs than the bafe+:

'Tis

In Heywood's comedy, called A Woman killed with Kindness, 1617, a number of these terms relative to hawking occur together: Now the hath feiz'd the fowl, and 'gins to plume her; "Rebeck her not; rather stand still and check her. "So: feize her gets, her jesses, and her bells." STEEVENS. I'd avbifile her eff, and let ber down the wind,

To prey at fortune.] The falconers always let fly the hawk against the wind; if the flies with the wind behind her, the seldom If therefore a hawk was for any reafon to be dismissed, he was let down the wind, and from that time fhifted for herself, and preyed at fortune. This was told me by the late Mr. Clark.

returns.

JOHNSON.

I'd whiftle ber off, &c.] This paffage may poffibly receive illuftration from a fimilar one in Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, p. 2. fect. 1. mem. 3. "As a long-winged hawke, when he is first zubified off the fift, mounts aloft, and for his pleasure fetcheth many a circuit in the ayre, ftill foaring higher and higher, till he come to his full pitch, and in the end, when the game is fprung, comes down amaine, and floupes upon a fudden."

Again, in Beaumont and Fletcher's Bonduca ;

he that bafely

PERCY:

"Whiffled his honour off to the wind," &c. STEEVENS. 3 - chamberers-] i. e. men of intrigue. So, in the Countess of Pembroke's Antonius, 1590:

"Fal'n from a fouldier to a chamberer." STEEVENS.

Chambering and wantonness are mentioned together in the facred wri. ings. MALONE.

4 Prerogativ'd are they less than the bafe :] In afferting that the

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bafe

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