Sav. Now do I sensibly begin to feel Myself a rascal. Would I could teach a school, Or beg, or lie well! I am utterly undone.-- Now, he that taught thee to deceive and cozen, | Take thee to his mercy! so be it! [Exit. | 140 | More. Come, widow, come, never stand upon a knighthood; 'Tis a mere paper honour, and not proof Enough for a sergeant. Come, come, I'll make thee-- Wid. To answer in short, 'tis this, sir,--no knight, no widow. | If you make me anything, it must be a lady; | 145 | And so I take my leave. More. Farewell, sweet widow, And think of it. Wid. Sir, I do more than think of it; It makes me dream, sir. [Exit. More. She's rich, and sober if this itch were from her: | And say I be at charge to pay the footmen, | 150 | And the trumpets, ay, and the horsemen too, And be a knight, and she refuse me then; Then am I hoist into the subsidy, And so, by consequence, should prove a coxcomb: | I'll have a care of that. Six thousand pound, | 155 | And then the land is mine: there's some refreshing yet. [Exit. ____________________ | 141 | A rascal] A vagabond; he anticipates beggary. An acknowledgment of roguery would be inappropriate here, when he has just done all he could to prevent the sale. | | 142 | Not proof enough for a sergeant] i. e. not enough to establish rank as a sergeant-at-law. After Henry VII. had knighted a sergeant-at-law all his brother sergeants claimed equality knights-bachelors. In Tudor times, when it began to be bestowed for other than military services, the hunour fell into comparative disrepute. Elizatbeth gave two mastiffs in ransom of a knight. | | 150 | pay the footmen . . . too] The outlay of a Knight of Garter, on liveries, etc., on the occasion of his "ride" to be installed at Windsor, had become so heavy that James I. found it necessary to limit it under a fine. | | 150 | at charge] So QQ1, 2: the rest at the charge. | | 153 | hoist into the subsidy] i. e. become liable for certain taxes levied on knights. In Lyly Mother Bombie, II. v. 14, 'he that had a cup of red wine to his oysters, was hoysted in the queens subsidies booke.' | -402- |