The annexed cuts exhibit different sorts of mufflers. The first and third figures are copied from Jost Amman's _Theatrum mulierum_, Francof. 1586, 4to; the second, from Speed's Map of England, is the _costume_ of an English countrywoman in the reign of James I.; the fourth is from an old German print; and the others from Weigel's _Habitus præcipuorum populorum_, Nuremb. 1577, folio; a work which, for the beauty of the wood-cuts, has never been surpassed. [Illustration] In the reign of Charles I. the ladies wore masks which covered the eye-brows and nose, holes being left for the eyes. Sometimes, but not always, the mouth was covered, and the chin guarded with a sort of muffler then called a _chin-cloth_; these were chiefly used to keep off the sun. See Hollar's print of _Winter_. The velvet masks probably came from France, as they are mentioned in the _Book of values of merchandize imported_, under the administration of Oliver Cromwell. There was another sort called _visard masks_, that covered all the face, having holes only for the eyes, a case for the nose, and a slit for the mouth. They were easily disengaged, being held in the teeth by means of a round bead fastened in the inside. These masks were usually made of leather, covered with black velvet. Randle Holme, from whose _Academy of armory_, book iii. c. 5, their description is extracted, adds, that the devil invented them, and that none about court except w----s, bawds, and the devil's imps, used them, being ashamed to show their faces. SCENE 2. Page 450. PAGE. Why this _passes_!---- The word had been already explained by Warburton in p. 329. Page, astonished at Ford's conduct, says it _exceeds every thing_. Such is the sense in the New Testament, "the love of Christ, which _passeth_ knowledge," _Ephes._ iii. 19. The French often use _passer_ in the same manner; and in _Hamlet_ we have this expression, "I have that within which _passeth_ show." SCENE 2. Page 452. FORD. ... his wife's _leman_. Mr. Steevens derives it from the Dutch, a language whence we have borrowed few, if any words. The term is of Saxon origin, and _leveman_ can be traced to an Anglo-Norman period. This was afterwards contracted into _leman_. The etymology is perhaps from leoꝼe, amabilis, and man, homo. The latter in Saxon denoted both man and woman; so that _leman_ was formerly applied to both sexes as a _person beloved_. SCENE 2. Page 455. MRS. PAGE. ... in the way of _waste_---- This expression is from the same _law_ manufactory referred to by Mr. Ritson in the preceding note. The incident in the present scene, of Falstaff's threshing in the habit of a woman, might have been suggested by the story of the beaten and contented cuckold in Boccaccio's _Decameron_, day 7. ver. 7. SCENE 5. Page 466. SIMP. Pray you, sir, was't not the _wise woman of Brentford_?