359. ~over-exquisite~, _i.e._ too curious, over-inquisitive. _Exquisite_
is here used in the sense of _inquisitive_; in modern English
'exquisite' has a passive sense only, while 'inquisitive' has an active
sense (Lat. _quaero_, to seek): see note, l. 714.
"The dialogue between the two brothers is an amicable contest between
fact and philosophy. The younger draws his arguments from common
apprehension, and the obvious appearance of things; the elder proceeds
on a profounder knowledge, and argues from abstracted principles. Here
the difference of their ages is properly made subservient to a contrast
of character" (Warton).
360. ~To cast the fashion~, _i.e._ to prejudge the form. 'To cast' was
common in the sense of to calculate or compute; see Shakespeare, ii.
_Henry IV._ i. 1. 166, "You _cast_ the event of war." Some think,
however, that the word has here its still more restricted sense as used
in astrology, _e.g._ "to _cast_ a nativity"; others see in it a
reference to the founder's art; and others to medical diagnosis.
361. ~Grant they be so~: a concessive clause = granted that the evils turn
out to be what you imagined. The alternative is given in l. 364.
362. ~What need~, etc., _i.e._ why should a man anticipate his hour of
sorrow. 'What' = for what (Lat. _quid_): comp. l. 752; also _On
Shakespeare_, 6, "_What need'st_ thou such weak witness of thy name?" On
the verb _need_ Abbott, § 297, says: "It is often found with 'what,'
where it is sometimes hard to say whether 'what' is an adverb and 'need'
a verb, or 'what' an adjective and 'need' a noun. 'What need the bridge
much broader than the flood?' _M. Ado_, i. 1. 318; either '_why need_
the bridge (be) broader?' or '_what need_ is there (that) the bridge
(be) broader?'"
363. Compare Hamlet's famous soliloquy, "rather bear those ills we
have," etc.; and Pope's _Essay on Man_, "Heaven from all creatures hides
the book of fate," etc.
366. ~to seek~, at a loss. Compare _Par. Lost_, viii. 197: "Unpractised,
unprepared, and still _to seek_." Bacon, in _Adv. of Learning_, has:
"Men bred in learning are perhaps _to seek_ in points of convenience."
367. ~unprincipled in virtue's book~, _i.e._ ignorant of the elements of
virtue. A principle (Lat. _principium_, beginning) is a fundamental
truth; hence the current sense of 'unprincipled,' implying that the man
who has no fixed rules of life is the one who will readily fall into
evil. Comp. _Sams. Agon._ 760, "wisest and best men ... with goodness
_principled_."
368. ~bosoms~, holds within itself. The nom. is 'goodness.' 'Peace' is
governed by 'in,' l. 367.
369. ~As that~, etc. This is an adverbial clause of consequence to
'unprincipled'; in modern English such a clause would be introduced by
'that,' and in Elizabethan English either by 'as' or 'that.' Here we
have both connectives together. ~single~: see note, l. 204. noise, sound.
370. ~Not being in danger~, _i.e._ she not being in danger: absolute
construction. This parenthetical line is equivalent to a conditional
clause--'if she be not in danger, the mere want of light and noise need
not disquiet her.'