Rid all the fea of Pirates; then to fend Omnes. That's our offer. I came before you here, a man prepar'd Put me to fome impatience.-Though I lose Ant. I have heard it, Pompey, And am well ftudied for a liberal thanks, Pomp. Let me have your hand: I did not think, Sir, to have met you here. Ant. The beds i' th' Eaft are foft, and thanks to you, That call'd me timelier than my purpose hither, For I've gain'd by it. Caf. Since I faw you laft, There is a change upon you. Pomp. Well, I know not, (1) What counts hard fortune cafts upon my face, But in my bofom she shall never come, To make my heart her vaffal. Lep. Well met here. Pomp. I hope fo, Lepidus. Thus we are agreed. I crave, our compofition may be written And feal'd between us.. Caf. That's the next to do. Pomp. We'll feaft each other, ere we part, and let's Draw lots who fhall begin.. Ant. That I will, Pompey. Pomp. No, Antony, take the lot: But, firft or laft, your fine Egyptian cookery Shall have the fame. I've heard that Julius Cæfar (1) What counts hard fortune cafts, &c.] Metaphor from making marks or lines in cafting accounts in arithmetick. WARBURTON. Ant. Ant. You have heard much. Pomp. Then fo much have I heard. Pomp. What, I pray you? Eno. A certain Queen to Cæfar in a matrefs. Eno. Well; How far'ft thou, Soldier. And well am like to do; for, I perceive, Pomp. Let me shake thy hand; I never hated thee: I have feen thee fight, Eno. Sir, I never lov'd you much, but I ha' prais'd ye, Pomp. Enjoy thy plainnefs, It nothing ill becomes thee; Aboard my Galley I invite you all. Will you lead, Lords? All. Shew's the way, Sir. Pomp. Come. [Exeunt. Manent Enob. and Menas. Men. [Afide.] Thy Father, Pompey, would ne'er have made this Treaty. You and I have known, Sir. Eno. At fea, I think. Men. We have, Sir. Eno. You have done well by water. Men. And you by land. Eno. (2) I will praife any man that will praise me, though it cannot be denied what I have done by land. (2) I will praife any man that will praife me,] The poet's art in delivering this humorous fentiment, which gives us so very true and natural a picture of the commerce of the world, can never be fufficiently admired. The confeffion could come from none but a frank and rough character like the speaker's: and the moral leffon infinuated under it, that flattery can make its way through the most stubborn manners, deferves our serious reflexion. WARB. Men. Men. Nor what I have done by water. Eno. Yes, fomething you can deny for your own fafety: you have been a great thief by fea. Men. And you by land. Eno. There I deny my land-fervice; but give me your hand, Menas. If our eyes had authority, here they might take two thieves kiffing. Men. All men's faces are true, whatsoe'er their hands are. Eno. But there is ne'er a fair woman, has a true face. Men. No flander, they fteal hearts. Eno. We came hither to fight with you. Men. For my part, I am forry it is turn'd to a drinking. Pompey doth this day laugh away his for tune. Eno. If he do, fure he cannot weep't back again. Men. You've faid, Sir; we look'd not for Mark Antony here; pray you, is he married to Cleopatra? Eno. Cæfar's Sifter is called Octavia. Men. True, Sir, fhe was the Wife of Caius Marcellus.tab Eno. But now fhe is the Wife of Marcus Antonius. Men. Pray ye, Sir? Eno. 'Tis true. Men. Then is Cæfar and he for ever knit together. Eno. If I were bound to divine of this Unity, I would not prophefy fo. Men. I think, the policy of that purpose made more in the marriage, than the love of the parties. Eno. I think fo too. But you fhall find, the band, that feems to tie their friendship together, will be the very ftrangler of their amity. Octavia is of a holy, cold, and still converfation. Men. Who would not have his Wife fo? Eno. Not he, that himself is not fo; which is Mark Antony. He will to his Egyptian Dish again; then fhall the fighs of Octavia blow the fire up in Cafar, and, as I faid before, that which is the ftrength af their amity, fhall prove the immediate author of their G 2 variance, variance. Antony will ufe his affection where it is; he married but his occafion here. Men. And thus it may be. Come, Sir, will you aboard? I have a health for you. Eno. I fhall take it, Sir. We have us'd our throats in Egypt. Men. Come, let's away. [Exeunt. SCENE VII. On board Pompey's Galley. Mufick plays. Enter two or three Servants with a 1 Serv. Banquet. ERE they'll be, man: (3) fome o' their rooted already, the leaft wind i' th' world will blow them down. 2 Serv. Lepidus is high-colour'd. 1 Serv. (4) They have made him drink alms-drink. 2 Serv. (5) As they pinch one another by the difpofition, he cries out, no more; reconciles them to his entreaty, and himfelf to th' Drink. 1 Serv. But it raises the greater war between him and his difcretion. 2 Serv. Why, this it is to have a name in great men's fellowship: I had as lieve have a reed that will do me no fervice, as (6) a Partizan I could not heave. (3) fome o' their plants-] Plants, befides its common meaning, is here used for the foot, from the Latin. (4) They have made him drink alms-drink.] A phrafe, amongst good fellows, to fignify that liquor of another's fhare which his companion drinks to eafe him. But it fatirically alJudes to Cæfar and Antony's admitting him into the triumvirate, in order to take off from themselves the load of envy. WARBURTON. (5) As they pinch one another by the difpofition,] A phrafe equivalent to that now in ufe, of Touching one in a fore place. WARBURTON. (6) a Partizan] A pike. I Serv. 1 Serv. (7) To be call'd into a huge sphere, and not to be feen to move in't, are the holes where eyes fhould be, which pitifully difafter the checks. Trumpets. Enter Cæfar, Antony, Pompey, Lepidus, Agrippa, Mecænas, Enobarbus, Menas, with other Captains. Ant. Thus do they, Sir: they take the flow o' th By certain fcales i' th' pyramid; they know, Lep. You've ftrange ferpents there. Ant. Ay, Lepidus. Lep. Your ferpent of Egypt is bred now of your mud by the operation of your Sun; fo is your Crocodile. Ant. They are fo. Pomp. Sit, and fome wine. A health to Lepidus. Lep. I am not fo well as I fhould be; But I'll ne'er out. Eno. Not 'till you have flept; I fear me, you'll be in, 'till then. Lep. Nay, certainly, I have heard, the Ptolemy's Pyramifis are very goodly things; without contradiction, I have heard that. Men. Pompey, a word. Pomp. Say in mine ear, what is't? [Afide. (7) To be call'd into a huge sphere, and not to be feen to move in't, are the holes where eyes fhould be, which pitifully difafter the cheeks.] This fpeech feems to be mutilated; to supply the deficiencies is impoffible, but perhaps the fenfe was originally approaching to this: To be called into a huge fphere, and not to be feen to move in it, is a very ignominious ftate; great offices are the holes where eyes fbould be, which, if eyes be wanting, pitifully difafter the cheeks. Men. |