[321] _Ram-Alley_ is one of the avenues into the Temple from Fleet Street. It formerly, among other places, claimed to be exempt from the process of the Courts of Law, a privilege which was taken from it by the Stat. of 9 & 10 William III. c. xxvii. s. 15. [322] [Compare Dyce's Middleton, iii. 81.] [323] [Old copies, _my_.] [324] [A contemptuous allusion--one of many--to the profusion with which James I. created this dignity for the sake of raising money.] [325] [Edits., wholesale-men.] [326] A paint or composition used by the ladies to beautify the face and heighten the complexion. It is mentioned in Ben Jonson's "Sejanus," act ii. sc. 1-- "To-morrow morning I'll send you a perfume, first to resolve And procure sweat, and then prepare a bath To cleanse and clear the cutis; against when I'll have an excellent new _fucus_ made, Resistive 'gainst the sun, the rain, or wind, Which you shall lay on with a breath or oil, As you best like, and last some fourteen hours." ["Works," by Gifford, 1816, iii. 45, where _breath_ seems to be an error--forsaw, _brush_.] [327] A _laundress_ is the name still preserved at the Inns of Court for the women, who attend to the men in chambers. [328] The 4o of 1636 has it _If I spend_, which was followed by Mr Reed, but the first 4o of 1611 gives the true reading, _If I speed_.--_Collier_. [329] Meaning Constantia, so disguised.--_Collier._ [330] See note to "The Antiquary," act iv. sc. I (vol. 13.) [331] See note at p. 277 _suprá_. [332] [Old copies, _man's_.] [333] [Edits., _and much_. This seems to have been introduced as a playful allusion by Widow Taffata to herself], unless these words should be given to Adriana. [334] [Edits., _five_.] [335] [This part of the dialogue is conducted by Adriana and Taffata above, while the other persons enter and converse below.] [336] Bring it back. [337] _i.e._, Puppet-shows. See note to "The Antiquary," act i. sc. I (vol. 13.) [338] [Properly the stick to hold the gunner's match; but here the meaning is _figurative_.] [339] _i.e._, Whip thee. [340] Tiresias, the blind prophet of Thebes. Sec "The OEdipus" of Sophocles, and that of Dryden and Lee. [341] [Edits., '_Tis_.] [342] Absolutely. So in "The Honest Man's Fortune," by Beaumont and Fletcher-- "I am as happy In my friend's good, as if 'twere _merely_ mine." [343] Perhaps we ought to read _Now he returns_, and not _Now he retires_; but both the old copies are uniform in favour of _retires_.--_Collier_. [_Retire_ may be right, as it is justifiable to interpret it in its original sense of draw back, in which it is almost equivalent to _return_.] [344] [Old copies, _a power_.]