in

me knit to thy deserving with cables of perdurable toughness; I could never better stead thee than now. Put money in thy purse; follow these wars; defeat thy favour with an usurped beard; I say, put money in thy purse. It cannot be, that Desdemona should long continue her love to the Moor,-put money in thy purse-nor he his to her: it was a violent commencement, and thou shalt see an answerable sequestration;-put but money thy purse. These Moors are changeable in their wills;-fill thy purse with money: the food, that to him now is as luscious as locusts, shall be to him shortly as bitter as coloquintida. She must change for youth: when she is sated with his body, she will find the error of her choice. She must have change, she must: therefore put money in thy purse.-If thou wilt needs damn thyself, do it a more delicate way than drowning. Make all the money thou canst: if sanctimony and a frail vow, betwixt an erring barbarian and a supersubtle Venetian, be not too hard for my wits, and all the tribe of hell, thou shalt enjoy her; therefore make money. A pox of drowning thyself! it is clean out of the way: seek thou rather to be hanged in compassing thy joy, than to be drowned and go without her.

Rod. Wilt thou be fast to my hopes, if I depend on the issue? Iago. Thou art sure of me ;-Go make money:-I have told thee often, and I re-tell thee again and again, I hate the Moor: My cause is hearted; thine hath no less reason: let us be conjunctive in our revenge against him: if thou canst cuckold him, thou dost thyself a pleasure, and me a sport. There are many events in the womb of time, which will be delivered. Traverse; go; provide thy money. We will have more of this to-morrow. Adieu.

Rod. Where shall we meet i'the morning?

Iago. At my lodging.

Rod. I'll be with thee betimes.

Iago. Go to; farewell. Do you hear, Roderigo?

Rod. What say you?

Iago. No more of drowning, do you hear.

Rod. I am changed. I'll sell all my land.

Iago. Go to; farewell: put money enough in your purse.

[Exit Roderigo.

It was inferred in the sketch that he would be "an adept "at seduction." The instructions which he gives to Roderigo in the scene from which we have given the above quotation, and the grounds of his belief that Desdemona might be seduced, prove that such practices were not uncommon to him, and shew how he himself would have acted in similar circumstances.

The soliloquy which immediately follows our last quotation is too important to be omitted:

Thus do I ever make my fool my purse :

For I mine own gain'd knowledge should profane,
If I would time expend with such a snipe,
But for my sport and profit. I hate the Moor;
And it is thought abroad, that 'twixt my sheets
He has done my office: I know not if't be true;
But I, for mere suspicion in that kind,

Will do, as if for surety. He holds me well;
The better shall my purpose work on him.
Cassio's a proper man: Let me see now;
To get his place, and to plume up my will;
A double knavery,-How? how?-Let me see:
After some time, to abuse Othello's ear,
That he is too familiar with his wife :-
He hath a person, and a smooth dispose,

To be suspected; framed to make women false.
The Moor is of a free and open nature,

That thinks men honest, that but seem to be so;
And will as tenderly be led by the nose,

As asses are.

I have't;-it is engender'd :-Hell and night

Must bring this monstrous birth to the world's light.

[Exit. In this soliloquy Iago begins to hatch his deep-laid schemes of villany. His first object seemed to be merely to cheat and rob Roderigo of his money, by pretending to assist him in his suit with Desdemona. But now his villany takes a wider range. His pride was hurt, and his revenge excited, first, against Othello, for not bestowing on him the office of his lieutenant, and giving it to Cassio; and, secondly, against Cassio himself, as standing in the way of his advancement. His hatred of the Moor was farther excited by a suspicion of his wife's infidelity with him. He therefore determines for revenge, by insinuating that Desdemona was unfaithful with Cassio, so as at once to destroy Othello's peace of mind, to ruin Cassio, and eventually to obtain his place. Here then are plots and plans, wheels within wheels, and a different game to be played with Roderigo, Othello, and Cassio, and indeed with every individual in the drama. Nothing short of the high intellectual endowment marked in the development, joined to his Secretiveness, Cautiousness, &c. could have conceived, planned, and carried on enterprises, at once so difficult and so hazardous.

In the first scene of Act II. we have a display of Iago's

satirical powers in a conversation with Desdemona, and to which we refer our readers as a proof that he would "be remarkably distinguished by a talent for satire." During the conversation, Cassio, who was present, takes Desdemona by the hand, on which Iago observes aside, "He takes her "by the palm. Ay, well said, whisper: with as little a web "as this will I ensnare as great a fly as Cassio. Ay, smile upon her, do; I will gyve thee in thine own courtship. You say true; 'tis so indeed: if such tricks as those strip you out "of your lieutenancy, it had been better you had not kissed 66 your three fingers so oft, which now again you are most apt "to play the sir in. Very good; well kissed! an excellent courtesy! 'tis so, indeed. Yet again your fingers to your "lips? would they were clyster-pipes for your sake."

It appears from a soliloquy which we shall quote presently, that Desdemona's charms had made an impression on Iago himself, and jealousy at her supposed preference of Cassio excites his revenge against the latter, and generates that satire or irony which it was stated in the sketch would be" biting, severe, and sarcastic."

In his next interview with Roderigo, Iago informs him, that "Desdemona is directly in love with Cassio." Roderigo naturally exclaims, " Why, 'tis not possible,”—but "this poor trash of Venice" was no match for so profound and accomplished a villain as Iago, by whom he is " as tenderly led by the nose as asses are." He is therefore soon convinced by Iago's arguments, that he has every thing to fear from Cassio, and to regard him as a formidable rival. Iago had a double purpose to serve in producing this conviction in Roderigo's mind. In the first place, it tended to satisfy him that Desdemona's virtue was not unassailable, since it had so far yielded to Cassio's supposed addresses; while, at the same time, this afforded a pretext to Iago for his want of success in prosecuting Roderigo's suit with Desdemona. And, in the second place, he now urges Roderigo to pick a quarrel with Cassio, that this obstacle to his success may be taken out of the way," and the impediment "most profitably removed, without the which there were no expectation of our prosperity." "Selfishness still reigns

" with a predominating sway." Afraid of Cassio himself, he artfully engages Roderigo to execute his own purposes of revenge, under the mask of distinterested friendship for the latter; thus taking " especial care not to run unnecessarily "into danger." We may farther observe, that the above dialogue affords another proof of Iago's knowledge of the arts of seduction.

It is in his soliloquies that his plans of villany stand forth in all their nakedness; and we therefore give the next entire:

Iago. That Cassio loves her, I do well believe it;
That she loves him, 'tis apt, and of great credit;
The Moor-howbeit that I endure him not,-
Is of a constant, loving, noble nature;
And, I dare think, he'll prove to Desdemona
A most dear husband. Now I do love her too;
Not out of absolute lust, (though, peradventure,
I stand accountant for as great a sin,)

But partly led to diet my revenge,

For that I do suspect the lusty Moor

Hath leap't into my seat: the thought whereof

Doth, like a poisonous mineral, gnaw my inwards;
And nothing can nor shall content my soul,

Till I am even with him, wife for wife;

Or, failing so, yet that I put the Moor

At least into a jealousy so strong,

That judgment cannot cure. Which thing to do,-
If this poor trash of Venice, whom I trash

For his quick hunting, stand the putting on,

I'll have our Michael Cassio on the hip;

Abuse him to the Moor in the rank garb,

For I fear Cassio with my night-cap too;

Make the Moor thank me, love me, and reward me,

For making him egregiously an ass,

And practising upon his peace and quiet,

Even to madness. "Tis here, but yet confused;

Knavery's plain face is never seen till used.

Cassio is intrusted by Othello with the command of the guard on the evening of a day set apart for festivity and rejoicing, on account of the news of the destruction of the Turkish fleet, and the celebration of Othello's nuptials. Iago's next plan is to embroil Cassio with Othello, by making the former drunk while on duty, and thus to bring down upon him the displeasure of his superior. And at the same VOL. I.-No. III. 2 E

time to stir up the incipient quarrel between Cassio and Roderigo, by encouraging the latter to attack the former when in a state of intoxication, and thereby an easy prey. The plan succeeds. Cassio, plied hard by Iago, gets drunk. Montano, Othello's predecessor in the government of Cyprus, is a witness to his exceptionable conduct, and his reputation is proportionably injured in his estimation. Roderigo meanwhile makes his appearance, goes after Cassio, and they reappear fighting. The quarrel is witnessed by Montano, who is himself attacked and wounded by Cassio; and the uproar to which it gives rise is heard by Othello, who enters to inquire into its cause. Iago, alone, is cool and collected, and appears the only one who has taken no part in the fray. He avails himself to the utmost of the advantage he has gained, and magnifies and exaggerates, in the most artful manner, the misconduct of Cassio to Othello. In his subsequent conversation with Cassio, he assumes the mask of friendship, and, with deep sagacity, urges Cassio to make his court to Desdemona, and engage her to plead for him with Othello. On this he makes the following soliloquy:

Iago. And what's he then, that says,-I play the villain?
When this advice is free, I give, and honest,

Probal to thinking, and (indeed) the course
To win the Moor again?

How am I then a villain,
To counsel Cassio to this parallel course,
Directly to his good?-Divinity of hell!
When devils will the blackest sins put on,
They do suggest at first with heavenly shows,
As I do now: For, while this honest fool
Plies Desdemona to repair his fortunes,
And she for him pleads strongly to the Moor,
I'll pour this pestilence into his ear,-
That she repeals him for her body's lust;
And, by how much she strives to do him good,
She shall undo her credit with the Moor.
So will I turn her virtue into pitch;

And out of her own goodness make the net
That shall enmesh them all.

We think it almost unnecessary again to repeat the infer