. What I am truly
Is thine, and my poore countries to command:
Whither indeed before they (thy) heere-approach,
Old Seyward with ten thousand warlike men
Already _at a point_, was setting forth."
_Macbeth_, Act IV. Sc. 3. 1st Fol.

No profit to give the commentators' various guesses at the import of the
phrase in the above passage, which will be best gathered from the following
instances of its use elsewhere. But, before passing further, I beg
permission to inform MR. KNIGHT that the original suggester of "sell" for
"self," in an earlier part of this play, whose name {522} he is at a loss
for, was W. S. Landor, whose footnote to vol. ii. p. 273., Moxon's edit. of
his works, is as follows:

"And here it may be permitted the editor to profit also by the
manuscript, correcting in Shakespeare what is _absolute nonsense_ as
now printed:

'_Vaulting_ ambition that o'erleaps _itself_,
And falls on the _other side_.'

Other side of what? It should be _its sell_. _Sell_ is saddle in
Spenser and elsewhere, from the Latin and Italian."

A correspondent of "N. & Q."., Vol. vii., p. 404., will be delighted to
find his very ingenious discovery brought home, and corroborated by
Landor's valuable manuscript: but it is an old said saw--"Great wits jump."
Now to our examples:

"_Pasquin._ Saint Luke also affirmeth the same, saying flatly that he
shall not be forgiuen. Beholde, therefore, how well they interprete the
Scriptures.

_Marforius._ I am alreadie _at a poynt_ with them, but thou shalt doo
me great pleasure to expounde also vnto me certayne other places, vppon
the which they ground this deceit."--_Pasquine in a Traunce_, turned
but lately out of the Italian into this tongue by W. P.: London, 1584.

"But look, where malice reigneth in men, there reason can take no
place: and, therefore, I see by it, that you are all _at a point_ with
me, that no reason or authority can persuade you to favour my name, who
never meant evil to you, but both your commodity and profit."--Foxe's
_Acts and Monuments_, vol. viii. p. 18.

"Not so, my lord," said I, "for I am _at a full point_ with myself in
that matter; and am right well able to prove both your
transubstantiation with the real presence to be against the Scriptures
and the ancient Fathers of the primitive Church."--_Id._, p. 587.

"_Winchester._ No, surely