Page 403, ll. 67-8. and he is braver now
Than his captain.
By 'braver' the poet means, not more courageous, but more splendidly attired, more 'braw'.
Page 404, l. 88. Abraham France—who wrote English hexameters. His chief works are The Countess of Pembrokes Ivy Church (1591) and The Countess of Pembrokes Emmanuel (1591). He was alive in 1633.
Page 405, l. 113. So they their weakness hide, and greatness show. Grosart refused the reading 'weakness', which he found in his favourite MS. S, and Chambers ignored it. It has, however, the support of B, O'F, and L74 (which is strong in Roe's poetry), and seems to me to give the right edge to the sarcasm. 'By giving to flatterers what they owe to worth, Kings and Lords think to hide their weakness of character, and to display the greatness of their wealth and station.' They make a double revelation of their weakness in their credulity and their love of display.
l. 128. Cuff. Henry Cuff (1563-1601), secretary to Essex and an abettor of the conspiracy.
l. 131. that Scot. It is incredible that Donne wrote these lines. He found some of his best friends among the Scotch—Hay, Sir Robert Ker, Essex, and Hamilton, to say nothing of the King.
Page 406. Satyre.
Page 407, ll. 32-3. A time to come, &c. I have adopted Grosart's punctuation and think his interpretation of 'beg' must be the right one—'beg thee as an idiot or natural.' The O.E.D. gives: '†5a. To beg a person: to petition the Court of Wards (established by Henry VIII and suppressed under Charles II) for the custody of a minor, an heiress, or an idiot, as feudal superior or as having interest in the matter: hence also fig. To beg (any one) for a fool or idiot: to take him for, set him down as. Obs.' Among other examples is, 'He proved a wiser man by much than he that begged him. Harington, Met. Ajax 46.' What the satirist says is, 'The time will come when she will beg to have wardship of thee as an idiot. If you continue she will take you for one now.'