in quæ velint animalia vertere, sanare quæ apud alios insa nabilia sunt, scire ventura et prædicare: sed non nisi deditas navigantibus, et in id tantum ut se consulerent profectis." But the word Barrigenas, which occurs in the neat edition of Abr. Gronovius, and is the reading of his father Jacob, and of Is. Vossius, stands, in my opinion, upon no solid bottom. The MSS. have Gallicenas, Galligenas; and from hence Is. Vossius corrected it Barrigenas, which is now commonly received.

It happens, Sir, that Ricardus Corinensis, lately published by M. Bertram at Copenhagen, has transcribed this passage, p..47. and in the MS. he used, it stood Senas Galli vocant; by which transposition, and the reading of Senas for Genas, the principal foundations of Vossius's conjecture are totally subverted and destroyed.

But let us examine, before we finally discard it, what he has alledged in support of it.

He cites the Glossaries, to shew Barigena signified Pere grine; but what reason is there for thinking the priestesses Gallici numinis were Peregrine? In others they are called Bareginnæ, and Bargenne, which signifies a barbarous cry, or acclamation; which is still as little to the purpose; since these priestesses, though they were superstitious enough, were not more barbarous than the rest of the Gauls. He next observes, the women might be called Bargina, and the men Bargi, which he asserts to be the same with Bardi. If this were the case, the Barrigena, who ranked with the Bards, could never with any propriety be taxed with barbarism; since they must have been rather more civilized and learned than the rest of the Gauls: and if Bargus were the masculine, the feminine, one would rather expect, should be Barga, than Bargina. He then tells us, that Gronovius thought the French word Baragouin was deduced from the barbarous sounds uttered by these Barigena, in their incantations, and he highly approves it. But now the French themselves, particularly the most learned and polite Menage, give a more rational etymology of that word. "Baragouin," says this excellent author, "de ces deux mots bara et guin, qui signifient en Bas-Breton pain et vin, qui sont les deux choses dont on apprend premierement les noms quand on apprend les langues estrangeres. De ce mot Baragouin on a fait la verbe baraguiner, qui est comme qui diroit ne sçavoir autre chose d'une langue que les mots du Pain et de Vin, &c." This now agrees very well with the Glossaries, where Barrigene are explained by Peregrina and Barbare; and is, in my opinion, the true original of the word Baragouin.

But, to return to Vossius; he says, who can believe that Pomponius would write, that the women of the island of Sena were called by the Gauls Sena? And this argument, from absurdity, is in truth his capital allegation; and yet there is little or no weight in it; for were not the Soothsayers of Chaldæa called Chaldæans? And are not those of Egypt, at this day, termed Ægyptians, or Gypsies? And I dare say, if an Armorican Gaul, that could speak Latin, had then said, proficiscor ad Senas consulendas, he would have been understood to mean, he was going to consult these Weird Sisters, who were stiled Sena, nar goy. I am therefore clearly of opinion, upon the whole, that Turnebus's conjecture, of Galli Senas, which is supported by the MS. used by Ric. Corinensis, is the true reading of this place.

If Richard's MS. were but one hundred years older than himself, which is as little as one can deem it, it was probably more ancient than any copy that has been hitherto collected.

However, before I dismiss the passage, I would beg leave to observe, that apud alios, which Schottus would expunge, occurred also in Richard's MS. where it is likewise prædicere, as both he and Pintianus conjectured, and not prædicare. And lastly, that whereas Schottus would read didita, or debita, and Vossius also has substituted deditas, which is the received lection, Richard's MS, has dedite, which no doubt is the truth, erant being understood; and that this is a legiti mate word, in respect of Schottus, is clear, from the passage above-quoted from Cæsar. The latter part of the sentence will therefore stand thus, and so the future editor, I hope, will give it: "Galli Senas vocant, putantque ingeniis singularibus præditas, maria ac ventos concitare carminibus, seque in quæ velint animalia vertere, sanare quæ apud alios insanabilia sunt, scire ventura et prædicere. Sed non nisi dedite navigantibus, et ob id tantum ut se consulerent pro

fectis."

Quære, whether this same island be not intended by those words of Strabo, iv. p. 403, "In Oceano autem insulam esse aiunt parvam, non plane in alto sitam, objectam ostio Ligeris in ea habitare Samniticas Mulieres, Bacchico instinctu correptas, quæ Bacchum cæremoniis et sacrificiis demereantur, &c." The situation does not greatly vary; and it is possible the women might be called both Sena and Senita, which last might easily be turned to Samnitæ*.

* Xylander takes this word in Strabo to be corrupted; but I question that; for see the passage from Dionys. Tepiny. adduced by Casaubon; as also Joh. Galisius, and Menag. in Laert. p. 3.

But see Casaubon's note. If this be so, the Gallicum Nu◄ men, mentioned by Mela as having been here worshipped, was no other than Bacchus,

1763, Feb.

T. Row.

XXXVII. Critical Remarks on a Passage in Shakespeare's Othello.

OTHELLO II. 8.

Which thing to do,

If this poor trash of Venice, whom I do trace
For his quick hunting, stand the putting on,
I'll have our Michael Cassio on the hip,
Abuse him to the Moor, &c.

IAGO is here opening his designs against Othello, and his lieutenant Michael Cassio. By this poor Trash of Venice he means Roderigo, who was a Venetian, and whom he had been just talking with in the foregoing scene. For his quick hunting, means the speedy running down of Cassio, whom by means of Roderigo, if he could but keep him up to his metal, he intended, as he says, to ruin.

Mr. Warburton has too emendations on this passage, "Trash of Venice," a trifling insignificant fellow may, in some respects, very well be called trash; but the metaphor is not preserved; for what agreement is there between trash and quick hunting, and standing the putting on? The allusion to the chase, Shakespeare seems to be fond of applying to Roderigo, who says of himself, towards the conclusion of this act, "I follow her in the chase, not like a hound that hunts, but one that fills up the cry." I suppose, therefore, that the poet wrote,

If this poor brach of Venice,

which is a low species of hounds of the chace, and a term generally used in contempt; and this completes and perfects the metaphorical allusion, and makes it much more satirical. Utilius in his notes on Gracian, says, "Racha Saxonibus canem significabat, unde Scoti hodie Rache pro cane femina habent, quod Anglis est Brache. Nos vero (he speaks of the Hollanders) Brach non quemvis canem, sagacem vocamus." So the French, Braque, Espece de chien de chasse. Menage etymol. [whom I do trace for his quick hunting] just the contrary. He did not trace him, he put him on, as he says immediately after. The old quarto leads to he true reading,

sed

whom I do crush

For his quick hunting,

plainly corrupted from cherish; and so this emendator gives it in his edition,

Whom I cherish.

Now, Sir, as for the first of these emendations, it is doubtless very obvious, but I fear will not bear examination : for I absolutely deny, that the brach was a low species of hounds of the chace, and a term generally used in contempt: and an instance is required of such its use, for I am certain that the authors whom he cites say no such thing. The passage of Janus Ulitius, whom here he erroneously calls Utilius, in his notes on Gracian (that is on Gratius, for so the author of the Latin poem entitled Cynegeticon is called, and not Gratianus) may be seen above; and as to Menage in les origines de la Langue Francoise, v. Brague, Sir H. Spelman in his Gloss. v. Barmbraccus et Bracco. Lindenbrogius in Gloss. v. Bracco. Sir William Dugdale's Baron. I. p. 264. Fr. Junij etymol. in v. Shakespeare Troilus and Cressid. II. 2. King Lear III. 9. Massinger's Unnat. Combat. IV. 2. Webster's White Devil, p. 407. Broom's Jov. Crew, p. 348. All which are good men and true, and very impartial in this cause, and whom I have very carefully consulted; these none of them drop the least hint of the Brach's being of a contemptible or degenerate breed. But I will give you the words of John Caius, than whom no better judge can be required in this behalf, who in his book de Canibus Britannicis, knows no other difference between the Brach and the best hound, but that the Brach was the female. These are his words, p. 496, Edit. Burmanni, "Quod autem ex his aliquas, Brachas nostri, Rachas Scoti sua lingua nominant, in causa sexus est, non genus, Sic enim Canes femineas in venatico genere vocare solent nostri," and this agrees very well with what Ulitius delivers above, as likewise with Junius, and others, and in Broom's Jov. Crew, p. 348, Beggar-braches are Beggar-wenches. Now, Sir, is it not a flat contradiction in terms to call a person a poor Brach? or to stile any thing of the male kind a Brach? Wherefore, I am of opinion, that the old reading of poor trash must stand, since Mr. Warburton will allow that a trifling insignificant fellow may very well be called trash; and, if so, it may certainly with equal propriety be applied to a paltry or worthless hound. But I am the clearer

in this, on account of the pun, which the author appears here to aim at,

If this poor trash of Venice, whom I do trace, &c. Now this pun, once conceived in the author's head, led him to proceed in the metaphor, and afterwards led him to carry on the speech in words borrowed from hounds and the chace, it being one of the sort itself; insomuch that these metaphorical allusions do not commence at the word trash, but at the word trace; from which point the metaphor is sufficiently followed and preserved, as there are no less than three terins from the chase employed, trace, quick hunting, and putting on.

We then proceed to consider this editor's second emendation, by which all this is lost, and the true foundation of these metaphorical terms, in my conception of things, totally removed and annihilated. He has altered the words do trace, or do crush, as it is corruptly printed in the old quarto, into cherish; do crush is evidently nonsense, and is a gross corruption of something; of do trace, probably, the scribe not understanding that term, and not of cherish; for though this may seem an easy corruption from crush, it could not well arise from do crush. In short, it appears to me from Mr. Warburton's attempting an emendation here, and his having recourse to the corrupt reading of the quarto, that he did not understand the meaning of the word trace in this place, any more than the printer or editor of the quarto did. It is a term of hunting or field sport; to trace sometimes signifies to follow, as Hẹn. VIII. A. iii. Sc. 2.

Now all joy trace the conjunction;

and a dog or a man traces a hare; but to trace a dog in those sports is to put a trace, or pair of couples, upon him, and such a dog is said to be traced. The sense then of

whom I do trace

For his quick hunting

is this, whom I do associate to me for the purpose of ruining Cassio the sooner. In the using of these traced dogs, they often took the trace into their hands, and ran along with the dog, especially the blood hound, which is very apropos to this subject; for Dr. Caius, speaking of these hounds pursu ing thieves, as well as beasts, says, "iidem cum fures insequuntur, non ea donantur libertate, qua cum feras, nisi in magna celeritate fugientium furum, sed loro retenti herum ducunt qua velit ille celeritate, sive pedes sit, sive eques."