Notes and Queries, Number 48, September 28, 1850 | Page 4

have examined probably thought the connexion so
self-evident or insignificant as not to require either notice or
explanation. If so, I differ from them, and I therefore offer the
following remarks for the amusement rather than for the instruction of
those who, like myself, are not at all ashamed to confess that they
cannot read Shakspeare's music "at sight." I believe that both Replies
contain an allusion to the fact that _Anger, grafted on sorrow, almost
invariably assumes the form of frenzy; that it is in every sense of the
word "Madness," when the mind is unhinged, and reason, as it were,

totters from the effects of grief_.
Cassius had but just mildly rebuked Brutus for making no better use of
his philosophy, and now--startled by the sudden sight of his bleeding,
mangled heart--"Portia is--Dead!" pays involuntary homage to the very
philosophy he had so rashly underrated by the exclamation--
"How 'scaped I killing when I crossed you so!"
I wish, if possible, to support this view of the case by the following
passages:--
I. Romeo's address to Balthasar. "But if thou ... roaring sea."
II. His address to Paris. "I beseech thee youth ... away!"
_Romeo and Juliet_, Act v. Sc. 3.
III. "The poor father was ready to fall down dead; but he grasped the
broken oar which was before him, jumped up, and called in a faltering
voice,--'Arrigozzo! Arrigozzo!' This was but for a moment. Receiving
no answer, he ran to the top of the rock; looked at all around, ran his
eye over all who were safe, one by one, but could not find his son
among them. Then seeing the count, who had so lately been finding
fault {276} with his son's name, he roared out,--'Dog, are you here?'
And, brandishing the broken oar, he rushed forward to strike him on the
head. Bice uttered a cry, Ottorino was quick in warding off the blow; in
a minute, Lupo, the falconer, and the boatmen, disarmed the frantic
man; who, striking his forehead with both hands, gave a spring, and
threw himself into the lake.
"He was seen fighting with the angry waves, overcoming them with a
strength and a courage which desperation alone can give."--_Marco
Viconti_, vol. i. chap. 5.
IV. A passage that has probably already occurred to the mind of the
reader, Mucklebackit mending the cable in which his son had been lost:
"'There is a curse either on me or on this auld black bitch of a boat, that
I have hauled up high and dry, and pitched and clouted sae mony years,
that she might drown my poor Steenie at the end of them, an' be d----d
to her!' And he flung his hammer against the boat, as if she had been
the intentional cause of his misfortune"--_Antiquary_, vol. ii. chap. 13.
Cadell, 1829.
V. "Giton præcipuè, _ex dolore in rabiem efferatus_, tollit clamorem,
me, utrâque manu impulsum, præcipitat super lectum."--Petron. _Arb.
Sat._ cap. 94.

The classical reader will at once recognise the force of the words
"rabiem," "efferatus," "præcipitat," in this passage. The expression
"utrâque manu" may not at first sight arrest his attention. It seems
always used to express the most intense eagerness; see
"Ijecit utramque laciniæ manum."--Pet. _Arb. Sat._ 14.
"Utrâque manu Deorum beneficia tractat."--Ib. 140.
"Upon which Menedemus, incensed at his insolence,
answered,--'Nothing is more necessary than the preservation of
Lucullus;' and thrust him back with both hands."--Plutarch, Life of
Lucullus.
"Women have a sort of natural tendency to cross their husbands: they
lay hold with both hands [à deux mains] on all occasions to contradict
and oppose them, and the first excuse serves for a plenary
justification."--Montaigne, _Essays_, book 2. chap. 8.
"Marmout, deceived by the seemingly careless winter attitude of the
allies, left Ciudad Rodrigo unprotected within their reach and
Wellington jumped with both feet upon the devoted fortress of Napier,"
_Pen. War_, vol. iv. p. 374.
Any apology for the unwarrantable length of this discursive despatch,
would, of course, only make matters worse.
C. FORBES.
Temple.
* * * * *
ETYMOLOGICAL NOTES.
1. _Gnatch._--"The covetous man dares not gnatch" (Hammond's
_Catechism_). From this, and the examples in Halliwell's _Dictionary_,
the sense seems to be "to move." Is it related to "gnake?"
2. _Pert._--I lately met with an instance of the use of this word in the
etymological sense _peritus_: "I beant peart at making button-holes,"
said a needlewoman.
3. _Rococo._--A far-fetched etymology suggests itself. A wealthy
noble from the north might express his admiration for the luxuries of
Paris by the Russian word [Cyrillic: roskosha], or Polish roskosz. A
Frenchman, catching the sound, might apply it to anything extravagant
enough to astonish a barbarian.
4. _Cad._--The letters from Scotland ascribed to a Captain Burtt,
employed in surveying the forfeited estates, give an account of the

"cawdies,"