[266] “And for the hurt of envy,” i. e. against the hurt of envy. Envy being the cause of his seeking to shrowd himself.

[267] A shrowd, signified a shield or buckler, and metaphorically any kind of defence, coverture, or place of protection.

[268] ——“least I shold fall In the daynger of the learned and honorable sort.”

That is, “lest I should encounter their censure, or fall into the control of their severe judgment.” The phrase has its origin from the barbarous Latin in dangerio, and is common to Chaucer and our elder writers as well as to Shakspeare and his cotemporaries.

[269] By this is meant the Fourth Year of the Reign of Philip, and the Fifth of Queen Mary, answering to 1558. The Latin rhyming couplet Cavendish appears to have added after the commencement of Elizabeth’s reign. How far from a true prophecy it proved, the long and prosperous reign of Elizabeth may witness.

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