The adage alluded to is, The cat loves fish but dares not wet her foot.
Catus amat pisces, sed non vult tingere plantas.
NOTE XVIII.
Will I with wine and wassel so convince.
To convince is, in Shakespeare, to overpower or subdue, as in this play:
—Their malady convinces
The great assay of art.
NOTE XIX.
—Who shall bear the guilt
Of our great quell?
Quell is murder, manquellers being, in the old language, the term for which murderers is now used.