"That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain."
_Hamlet_.
The notable quotation of this line by the Earl of Derby, in the Lords, on
Monday evening, April 25, has once more reminded me of my unanswered Query
respecting it, Vol. vi., p. 270.
On the 26th February (Vol. vii., p. 217.) MR. COLLIER was good enough to
say, that his only {450} reason for not answering it was, that he had not
then within his reach the copy of "N. & Q." wherein it had been proposed;
politely adding, that if I would reprint the Query, he would at once answer
it.
Supposing, however, that MR. COLLIER'S absence from his library would be
only temporary, I deemed it less troublesome to the Editor of "N. & Q." to
wait until MR. COLLIER could refer to the Query, as already printed.
Two months have since elapsed, and I now no longer hesitate to ask the
Editor for an opportunity of again referring to it, trusting that a
sufficient excuse will be found in the importance of the subject, as
affecting the fundamental sense of a passage in Shakspeare.