An unnecessary transposition of these most plain and intelligible lines has been offered by Dr. Johnson, on his supposition that every one who reads them "looks about for a meaning which he cannot find." In confirmation of their original arrangement, we learn from Stowe and Holinshed, the historians whom Shakspeare followed, and Dr. Johnson perhaps never thought worth consulting, that the plot against the king was laid by the conspirators at Southampton: a circumstance that is weakened, if not altogether cancelled, by the proposed alteration. See a speech by King Henry in the ensuing act.
Scene 1. Page 314.
Pist. No; to the spital go,
And from the powdering tub of infamy
Fetch forth the lazar kite of Cressid's kind
Doll Tear-sheet, she by name——
This alludes to the punishment of Cressida for her falsehood to Troilus. She was afflicted with the leprosy, "like a Lazarous" and sent to the "spittel hous." See Chaucer's Testament of Creseide.
Scene 2. Page 324.
K. Hen. If that same dæmon, that hath gull'd thee thus,
Should with his lion gait walk the whole world——
This very uncommon comparison of the devil to a lion seems to have been suggested by 1 Pet. v. 8. "The devil as a roaring lion walketh about, seeking whom he may devour."
Scene 3. Page 329.
Quick. 'A made a finer end, and went away, an it had been any christom child.
It was the ancient practice at baptism not only to use water, but oil, which from the Greek was denominated chrism, whence the name of the chrisome or white cloth in question. The priest first made the sign of the cross with the holy oil on the child's breast and between the shoulders, saying, "I anoint thee with the oil of health, in Christ Jesus our lord, that thou mayest inherit eternal life. Amen." After the usual immersion in water, he made another cross on its head with the oil. Then the chrisome was put on, the priest asking at the same time the child's name, and saying, "Receive this white, pure and holy vestment which thou shalt wear before the tribunal of our lord Jesus Christ that thou mayest inherit eternal life. Amen." This chrisome might be used a second time on a similar occasion, and then it was not to be applied to any common use, but brought back and deposited in the church. The chrisome was an emblem of the Christian purity communicated by baptism, and which it was expected the party should maintain during life; and it might also, as Ducange conjectures, have been used for the purpose of preventing the oil from running off. It was sometimes ornamented with a sort of crown worked in crimson thread, alluding to the passion of Christ, and the crown or reward of eternal life obtained by his sacrifice. It was to be worn seven days, being taken off on the eighth, as symbolical of the seven ages of man's life; or, according to others, of the passage from the sabbath of mortal life to that of eternity. It was also thought to refer to the influence of the seven planets. The above ceremony took place before the reformation; afterwards several changes were made. The use of oil was omitted, and the chrisome worn by the child till the mother's purification by the ceremony of churching, when it was returned to the church. If the child died before the latter rite, it was buried in the chrisome; and this is probably the reason why children were called chrisoms in the bills of mortality. Dame Quickly simply compares the manner of Falstaff's exit to that of a young infant.