[And I to be a corporal of his field,
And wear his colours! like a tumbler's hoop!]
The conceit seems to be very forced and remote, however it be
understood. The notion is not that the _hoop wears colours_, but
that the colours are worn as a _tumbler_ carries his _hoop_, hanging
on one shoulder and falling under the opposite arm.
III.i.207 (383,5) [Some men must love my lady, and some Joan] To this
line Mr. Theobald extends his second act, not injudiciously, but,
as was before observed, without sufficient authority.
IV.i.19 (384,6) [Here,--good my glass] To understand how the princess
has her glass so ready at hand in a casual conversation, it
must be remembered that in those days it was the fashion among
the French ladies to wear a looking-glass,' as Mr. Bayle coarsely
represents it, _on their bellies_; that is, to have a small mirrour
set in gold hanging at the girdle, by which they occasionally
viewed their faces or adjusted their hair.
IV.i.35 (385,8) [that my heart means no ill] [W: tho'] _That my heart
means no ill_, is the same with _to whom my heart means no ill_; the
common phrase suppresses the particle, as _I mean him_ [not _to_ him]
_no harm_.
IV.i.41 (386,9) [a member of the commonwealth] Here, I believe, is a
kind of jest intended; a member of the _common_-wealth is put for
one of the _common_ people, one of the meanest.