Bussy D'Ambois and The Revenge of Bussy D'Ambois Part 53

=217=, 82-6. =Who knowes . . . made:= who is unaware that crafty policy pads out the giant that does his will, so that his wisdom may seem commensurate with his bulk, though it is merely for a trifling encounter with what, when touched, proves a shadow, though policy makes it out to be a monster.

=219=, 12. =The Locrian princes.= The inhabitants of Locri, a settlement near the promontory of Zephyrium, were celebrated for the excellence of their code of laws, drawn up by Zaleucus.

=220=, 41-46. =Demetrius Phalerius=, born about B. C. 345, was a follower of Phocion, and on the death of the latter in B. C. 317, became head of the Athenian administration. The citizens, in grat.i.tude for his services, erected 360 statues to him, but afterwards turned against him.

In B. C. 307 he was driven from Athens, sentence of death was pa.s.sed on him, and the statues were demolished.

=220=, 47. =Demades=, a contemporary of Demosthenes, who, by his genius for extempore oratory, raised himself to a predominant position in Athens as a champion of the Macedonian influence, but afterwards incurred the penalty of ?t??a.

=228-230=, 209-34. =I will search you . . . search no more.= This episode is suggested by the following pa.s.sage concerning the Count of Auvergne in Appendix B. "Hee was ready to call the two brothers of Murat into his cabinet, and to cause them to be searcht, for that he was well advertised that they alwayes carryed the Kings letters and his commandments. But a great resolution, thinking that there is no more harme in fearing, then in the thing that causeth feare, feares extremely to make shewe that hee hath any feare."

=233=, 24. =Two . . . Hercules.= A proverbial expression. Cf. V, iv, 34-5.

=234=, 14-25. =When Homer . . . despis'd.= The editor of the 1873 edition of Chapman's Plays points out that "these twelve lines headed _Of great men_ appear, with a few unimportant verbal differences, among the Epigrams printed at the end of Chapman's Petrarch in 1612."

=234=, 20. =for disposing these:= for regulating these gifts of fame, strength, n.o.ble birth, and beauty. _These_ is used loosely to qualify the nouns implied by the adjectives, _Strong'st_, _n.o.blest_, _fairest_, in l. 19.

=236=, 56-7. =You can . . . minde.= If the text is correct, the lines mean: you can never find means to give attention to externals without neglecting the improvement of your mind. Mr. Brereton has suggested to the editor that the true reading may be, _Things out worth care_, in which case "out" = "outward."

=236=, 58-75. =G.o.d . . . birth.= A free paraphrase of the _Discourses_ of Epictetus, bk. IV, vii, 6-11.

=236=, 78-9. =But . . . honour=, but the reason alleged, to see these battalions in review order, is a great compliment to you.

=237=, 84-95. =I over-tooke . . . the Earle of Oxford.= The subject of this remarkable encomium was Edward de Vere (1550-1604), seventeenth Earl of Oxford. He was educated at Cambridge, and from an early age became a prominent figure at the Court of Elizabeth, who, it was said in 1573, "delighteth more in his personage, and his dancing and valiantness, than any other." In 1575 he paid a visit to Italy, and it is apparently to an episode on his return journey in the spring of 1576 that reference is made here, and in the following lines. The portrait here drawn of him is too flattering, as he was violent in temper and extravagant, but the Earl's literary gifts merited the praise of Chapman. Puttenham and Meres speak highly of him as a writer of comedy, and Webbe pays a tribute to his excellence in "the rare devises of poetry." Over twenty of his lyrics survive, chiefly in anthologies.

=237=, 95-103. =being offer'd . . . quit.= The _Duke Ca.s.simere_ here spoken of was John Casimir, Count Palatine, who in the autumn of 1575 entered into alliance with the Huguenots and invaded France, but, after suffering a check at the hands of the Duke of Guise, made a truce and retired. The incident here spoken of apparently took place in the spring of the next year (cf. the previous note). Why, however, does Chapman introduce it here, and how did he know of it? Can he, immediately after leaving Oxford, which he entered, according to Wood, "in 1574 or thereabouts," have gone in Oxford's train to the Continent?

=238=, 112. =a Sir John Smith.= Though alluded to in so contemptuous a way, this Sir John Smith appears to be the noted soldier of fortune, diplomatist, and military writer, who lived from about 1534 to 1607.

After serving for many years in continental armies, in 1574 he became an agent of the English government, and took part in various diplomatic missions. In 1590 he published "Certain Discourses concerning the formes and effects of divers sorts of Weapons" and dedicated the work to the English n.o.bility, whom he calls in one part of his "proeme" the "verie eyes, eares and language of the king, and the bodie of the watch, and redresse of the Commonwealth." Hence perhaps the allusion in l. 113 to "common n.o.bles fas.h.i.+ons."

=238-9=, 127-41. =If you would Consull be . . . no thought?= A translation of the _Discourses_ of Epictetus, bk. IV, x, 20-22.

=238-9=, 129-30. =gloryfying Plebeians, Kissing Patricians hands.= Epictetus has simply, t?? ?e??a? ?ataf???sa?.

=239=, 134. =sit for the whole tribunall.= A mistranslation of ??? ?a ?a??sa?, i. e. "sit on the tribunal."

=239=, 138-9. =And to be voide . . . constancie.= An obscure rendering of ?p?? ?pa?e?a? ???, ?p?? ?ta?a??a?. _For constancie_ = for the sake of tranquillity of mind.

=240=, 152. =Colonell.= Clermont seems to be addressed by this t.i.tle because of the statement in Appendix B that "D'Eurre intreated the count of Auvergne to see [the muster] to the ende . . . that all his companions should be wonderfully honored with the presence of their coronell."

=242-3=, 11-39. =What spirit . . . of the skie.= This account of Clermont's desperate struggle to avoid capture is an invention of Chapman. P. Matthieu says of the Count of Auvergne: "It was feared that he would not have suffered himselfe to bee taken so easily nor so quietly." Cf. Appendix B.

=245=, 77. ="Who . . . none."= Cf. III, ii, 242.

=245=, 80-5. =But . . . more.= Cf. Appendix B. "Hee was mooved to see himselfe so intreated by laquais, intreating D'Eurre . . . that hee might not see those rascals any more."

=246=, 99. =organe of his danger:= instrument of his dangerous designs.

=246=, 109. =To leave . . . trumpets.= Cf. Appendix B. "'Well,' said hee, 'I yeeld, what will you have mee to doe?' 'That you mount upon the trompets horse,' sayd D'Eurre."

=247=, 112-24. =let mee begge . . . rather die.= Cf. Appendix B. "He intreated D'Eurre to lend him one of his troupe to carry some message of his remembrance, and of his miserie, to a ladie that attended him. . . .

Shee loved him well, and was well beloved: for the Count of Auvergne hath been heard say, that if the King did set him at libertie and send him back to his house, uppon condition that he should not see this ladie, hee would rather desire to die."

=250=, 30. =Something . . . goe.= An obscure line. It seems to mean that, as the wealth of merchants may be scattered by storms, so the performances of "state-merchants" or rulers may be cut short before obtaining their end.

=254=, 44-5. =let . . . danger:= let them be afraid that the precedents set by Kings in violating obligations may prove a dangerous example.

=255=, 70-76. =O knew I . . . a pistoll.= Cf. Appendix B. "If I knew . .

. that I might save him, in forcing through your troupe, I would willingly doe it, and if I had but tenne men of my courage and resolution, you should not carrie him where you thinke. But I will never die till I have given D'Eurre a hundred shott with a pistoll, and to Murat a hundred blowes with a sword."

=256=, 87. =Exit Ancil[la].= i. e. Riova, the Countess's waiting-maid.

=257=, 108. =This . . . charge.= The thrifty Usher is apparently deploring that the Countess, before retiring, had sent so rich a gift of jewels to Clermont.

=259=, 42-3. =this Senecall man . . . compare.= He is so completely a Senecall man that he may be compared with, etc.

=259=, 51-3. =Cacusses . . . still.= The legend of the Italian shepherd and robber Cacus, who carried his plunder to his cave or "den," is told by Ovid (_Fasti_, I, 544 ff.), Virgil (_aeneid_, VIII, 190 ff.), and other writers.

=260=, 57-8. =Better . . . thrive:= it were better for a man to be buried alive than exist as a mere property for a despoliating government to grow rich upon.

=265=, 98-102. =the late . . . on him.= It is singular that _Bussy D'Ambois_ contains no such "dying prophesie" as is here alluded to, unless the reference is to V, iv, 76-78. Bussy, as he dies, forgives his murderers (V, iv, 112).

=267=, 37-9. =Hast thou . . . Reimes.= Cf. Appendix B. "At the Barricades this voice was heard: 'It is no longer time to dally, let us lead my lord to Reimes.'"

=268=, 53. =The cause alike doth.= The same cause doth.

=268=, 55-61. =which . . . counsailes.= Cf. Appendix B. "Advertis.e.m.e.nts were come to him from all parts, both within and without the realme, from Rome, Spaine, Lorraine, and Savoye, that a bloodie catastrophe would dissolve the a.s.semblie."

=268-69=, 62-8. =Retyre . . . exhale.= Cf. Appendix B. "The Archbishop of Lion . . . 'Retyring yourselfe from the Estates' (said he unto him) 'you shall beare the blame to have abandoned France in so important an occasion, and your enemies, making their profit of your absence, wil sone overthrowe al that which you have with so much paine effected for the a.s.surance of religion.'"

=270=, 89-91. =To be . . . eternitie:= to be His image is to do the deeds that confer immortality, which, owing to the existence of death, consists only in doing the deeds that befit eternal life.

=270=, 102. =Thou dream'st awake now.= Guise here turns Clermont's own words in l. 41 against him.

=272=, 144-8. =those loveliest eyes . . . teares.= A much more overwhelming calamity than that which befell the lady in the original narrative, where it is stated that owing to her "pa.s.sion . . . she lost the sight of one eye for a tyme."

=276=, 18-19. =for not . . . neglect:= for the counsels that you disclose you do not render of no account.

=278=, 29. =this mortal quarrie:= this deadly attack. _Quarry_ is generally used of slaughtered game, but it also signifies the attack or swoop of the bird or beast of prey on its victim, and here we have an extension of this sense.

=280=, 3-6. =I . . . enter.= Chapman here combines two episodes a.s.signed by De Serres to different days. Cf. Appendix B. "The eve before his death, the Duke himselfe sitting down to dinner, found a scroule under his napkin, advertising him of this secret ambush." On the following morning "the Duke of Guise comes, and attending the beginning of the councell sends for a handkercher. . . . Pericart, his secretarie . . .

ties a note to one of the corners thereof, saying, 'Come forth and save your selfe, else you are but a dead man.'"

=281=, 34-5. =Not . . . goe.= Taken in conjunction with III, iii, 24, this means: Hercules is no match for two foes, but Guise will encounter two, though with Hercules as their ally.

=283=, 61-3. =y'have a brother to . . . on him.= Louis de Lorraine, youngest brother of the Duke of Guise, became Archbishop of Rheims in 1574, and Cardinal in 1578.

=286=, 33-4. =the sword . . . life.= Cf. _Bussy D'Ambois_, V, iv, 114-118.

=286=, 41-2. =Hee will lie . . . shee cryes.= This habit of the lapwing gave the bird an evil reputation as a symbol of deceitfulness. Cf.