['Tis very pregnant,
The jewel that we find, we stoop and take it,
Because we see it; but what we do not see,
We tread upon, and never think of it]
'Tis _plain_ that we must act with bad as with good; we punish the
faults, as we take the advantages, that lie in our way, and what
we do not see we cannot note.
II.i.28 (30,8) [For I have had such faults] That is, _because, by
reason that I_ have had faults.
II.i.57 (31,9) [This comes off well] This is nimbly spoken; this is
volubly uttered.
II.i.63 (32,1) [a tapster, sir; parcel-bawd] This we should now express
by saying, _he is_ half-tapster, half-bawd. (1773)
II.i.66 (32,2) [she professes a hot-house] A _hot-house_ is an English
name for a _bagnio_.
_Where lately harbour'd many a famous whore,
A purging-bill now fix'd upon the door,
Tells you it it a_ hot-house, _so it may.
And still be a whore-house_. Ben. Jonson.
II.i.85 (32,3) [Ay, sir, by mistress Over-done's means] Here seems
to have been some mention made of Froth, who was to be accused,
and some words therefore may have been lost, unless the irregularity
of the narrative may be better imputed to the ignorance
of the constable.
II.i.180 (35,4) [Justice or Iniquity?] These were, I suppose, two
personages well known to the audience by their frequent appearance
in the old moralities. The words, therefore, at that time,
produced a combination of ideas, which they have now lost.
II.i.183 (35,5) [Hannibal] Mistaken by the constable for _Cannibal_.
II.i.215 (36,6) [they will draw you] _Draw_ has here a cluster of
senses. As it refers to the tapster, it signifies _to drain, to
empty_; as it is related to hang, it means _to be conveyed to execution
on a hurdle_. In Froth's answer, it is the same as _to
bring along by some motive or power_.
II.i.254 (37,7) [I'll rent the fairest house in it, after three
pence a bay] A _bay_ of building is, in many parts of England, a
common term, of which the best conception that I could ever attain,
is, that it is the space between the main beams of the
roof; so that a barn crossed twice with beams is a barn of three
_bays_.
II.ii.26 (40,8) [Stay yet a while] It is not clear why the provost
is bidden to stay, nor when he goes out.
II.ii.32 (40,9) [For which I must not plead but that I am
at war, 'twixt will, and will not]
This is obscure; perhaps it may be mended by reading,
_For which I must_ now _plead; but_ yet _I am
At war, 'twixt will, and will not._
_Yet_ and _yt_ are almost indistinguishable in a manuscript. Yet no
alteration is necessary, since the speech is not unintelligible
as it now stands, (see 1765, 9I,294,5)
II.ii.78 (42,2) [And mercy then will breathe within your lips, Like
man new made] I rather think the meaning is, _You would then
change the severity of your present character_. In familiar
speech, _You would be quite another man_. (see 1765, 1,296,7)