I.iii.19 (341,2) Old fools are babes again; and must be us'd/ With
checks, as flatteries when they are seen abus'd] These lines hardly
deserve a note, though Mr. Theobald thinks them _very fine_. Whether
_fools_ or _folks_ should be read is not worth enquiry. The controverted
line is yet in the old quarto, not as the editors represent it, but
thus:
With checks as flatteries when they are seen abus'd.
I am in doubt whether there is any error of transcription. The sense
seems to be this: _Old men must be treated with checks_, when as _they
are seen to be deceived with flatteries_: or, _when they are weak enough
to be_ seen abused by flatteries, they are then weak enough to be _used
with checks_. There is a play of the words _used_ and _abused_. To
_abuse_ is, in our author, very frequently the same as to _deceive_.
This construction is harsh and ungrammatical; Shakespeare perhaps
thought it vicious, and chose to throw away the lines rather than
correct them, nor would now thank the officiousness of his editors, who
restore what they do not understand.
I.iv.118 (347,5) Would I had two coxcombs, and two daughters] Two fools
caps, intended, as it seems, to mark double folly in the man that gives
all to his daughters.
I.iv.133 (347,7) Lend less than thou owest] That is, _do not lend all
that thou hast_. To _owe_, in old English, is _to possess_. If _owe_ be
taken for _to be in debt_, the more prudent precept would be, Lend
_more_ than thou owest.
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