dwell with her, let her not leave him.' And again in verse 21 of the same chapter, ' But and if thou marry, thou hast not sinned.' So also Matt. xxiv. 48, ' But

and if that evil servant shall say in his heart,' &c. In Shakspeare wherever the same phrase occurs the and is softened into an. Thus in Othello:

It is not lost, but what an if it were?

Act iii. Sc. 4.

And in Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act i. Sc. 1 :

Indeed a sheep doth very often stray,

An if the shepherd be awhile away.

The phrase 'by and by,' as in S. Matt. xiii. 21, 'When tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended,' and again in S. Luke xxi. 9, 'The end is not by and by,' has gone through a considerable change since the beginning of the seventeenth century. In both those passages and in two others of the New Testament where it occurs, viz., S. Mark vi. 25, and S. Luke xvii. 7, it is used to represent a Greek word which signifies 'immediately.' And in Shakspeare it has sometimes the same meaning. Thus in Romeo and Juliet, Act iii. Sc. 4 :—

It is so very late, that we

May call it early by and by :—Good night.

And again in the same play, Act v. Sc. 3 :

Anon comes one with light to ope the tomb;

And by and by my master drew on him.

But occasionally our poet employs it more in accord

ance with the sense which it now bears; as in Hamlet, Act v. Sc. 2:—

I dare not drink yet, madam; by and by.

The classical reader may compare the different meanings of the Latin adverb 'maturè.'

6

Of the double negative used to strengthen the negation there is, I think, only one instance in the Bible, viz., 2 Sam. xiv. 7: They shall not leave to my husband neither name nor remainder upon the earth;' but in Shakspeare it is not uncommon.

Give not me counsel,

Nor let no comforter delight mine ear.

Much Ado, Act v. Sc. 1.

She cannot love,

Nor take no shape, nor project of affection.

Ibid. Act iii. Sc. 1.

CHAPTER II.

Of Noticeable Words found in the English Bible and in

B

Shakspeare.

Y noticeable words' I mean such as are now

rarely or never used in the same sense, or which have become altogether obsolete.

The most convenient form into which the materials intended for this chapter can be cast will be that of a comparative glossary.

What follows forms but a portion of the author's own collection; and it is offered merely as a sample of what every reader of Shakspeare and the Bible may do for himself.

ABJECTS: once in Bible, and once in Shakspeare.

Yea, the abjects gathered themselves together against me.

We are the Queen's abjects, and must obey.

Ps. xxxv. 15.

King Rich. III., Act i. Sc. 1.

i.e., treated by her as abjects, or vile persons, rather than as subjects ought to be treated.

ADO once in Bible, frequent in Shakspeare.

:

Why make ye this ado, and weep?
Make ye no more ado, but all embrace him.

Mark v. 39.

King Hen. VIII., Act v. Sc. 2.

It means trouble, difficulty, bustle, tumult.

ALLOW.

That which I do, I allow not.

Ye allow the deeds of your fathers.

I like them all, and do allow them well.

Rom. vii. 15.

Luke xi. 48.

King Hen. IV., 2nd Pt., Act iii. Sc. 2.

Praise us as we are tasted; allow us, as we prove.

Troilus and Cressida, Act iii. Sc. 2.

Thus used it means to approve of. In the present ordinary signification to permit, it is also found in Shakspeare, but not, I think, in the Bible.

AMAZE, AMAZEMENT.

I do beseech your Majesty, make up;
Lest your retirement do amaze your friends.

King Hen. IV., 1st Pt., Act v. Sc. 4.

i.e., alarm them, confuse with terror.

I will make many people amazed at thee. Ezek. xxxii. 10.
And are not afraid with any amazement.

ATONE, ATONEMENT.

I Pet. iii. 6.

I would do much to atone them. Othello, Act iv. Sc. 1. i.e., reconcile them, 'set them at one again,' as we read in Acts vii. 26. And we have the substantive at onement, in Bishop Hall's Satires, Book iii. S. vii. 69:

Which can never be set at onement more.

Shakspeare uses both the verb and the substantive. and the former both as transitive and neuter.

He and Aufidius can no more atone. Coriol. Act iv. Sc. 6. But in the Bible, though the substantive is used frequently, the verb does not occur.

i.e., be reconciled, agree.

BESTOW.

There will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. Luke xii. 18. i.e., lay up, put away. See also 2 Kings v. 24. We will bestow you in some better place.

BEWRAY

King Hen. VI, 1st Pt., Act iii. Sc. 2.

discover, disclose.

Thy speech bewrayeth thee.

See also Prov. xxvii. 16; xxix. 24.

Should we be silent, and not speak, our raiment
And state of bodies would bewray what life
We have led since thy exile.

Matt. xxvi. 73.

Coriolanus, Act v. Sc. 3.

From Isaiah xvi. 3, and from several places in Shakspeare, it appears that the use of this word was already fast becoming synonymous with that of the word betray, which has now superseded it.

BLAZE abroad, or forth = proclaim.

To blaze abroad the matter.

Mark i. 45.

The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes.

Jul. Cæsar, Act ii. Sc. 2.

BRAVERY: once only in the Bible.

In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling

ornaments about their feet-i.e., finery.

With scarfs and fans and double change of bravery.

Isaiah iii. 18.

Taming of Shrew, Act iv. Sc. 3.