Rotten humidity; below thy fifter's orb Infect the air. Twinn'd brothers of one womb, Scarce is dividant, touch with several fortunes; Not ev'n nature, Το whofe uninterrupted courfe of fucceffes, as we learn from hiftory, turned his head, and made him fancy himself a God, and contemn his human origin. The Poet fays, ev'n nature, meaning nature in its greatest perfection: And Alexander is reprefented by the ancients as the moft accomplish'd perfon that ever was, both for his qualities of mind and body, a kind of masterpiece of nature. He adds, To whom all fores lav fiege,i. e. Although the imbecility of the human condition might eafily have informed him of his error. Here Shakespear feems to have had an eye to Plutarch, who, in his life of Alexander, tells us, that it was that which stagger'd him in his fober moments con cerning the belief of his Divinity. "Exeyer de márisa ovnisvai Dinτὸς ὢν ἐκ τῶ καθεύδειν καὶ συνεσίας ζειν ὡς ἀπὸ μιᾶς ἐξγινόμενον ἀσθενείας τῇ φύσει καὶ τὸ πινὸν καὶ τὸ ἡδο evovo WARB. To whom all fores lay fiege, can bear great But by contempt of nature. fortune "Raife me this beggar, and denude that Lord, The fenator fhall bear contempt hereditary, The beggar native honour. It is the Paftour lards the brother's fides, I have preferved this note rather for the fake of the commentator than of the authour. How nature, to whom all fores lay fiege, can fo emphatically exprefs nature in its greatest perfection, I fhall not endeavour to explain. The meaning take to be thi: Brober when his fortune is in larged will forn brother; for this is the general depravity of human nature, which befieged as it is by mifery, admonished as it is of want and imperfection, when elevated by fortune, will defpife beings of nature like its own. 7 Raife me this Beggar, and deny't that Lord, Where is the fenfe and Engl of den't that Lord? Deny him what? What preceding Noun is there to which the pronoun It is to be referr'd? And it would be abfurd to think the Poet meant, deny to raise that Lord. The Antithefts must be, let fortune raife this beggar, and let her Arip and defpoil that lord of all his pomp and ornaments, &c. which fenfe is compleated by this flight alteration, -and denude that lord. So lord Rea in his relation of M. Hamilton's plot, written in 1630, All thefe Hamiltons had denuded themfelves of their fortunes and eftates. And Charles the First, in his meffage to the parliament, The fays, Denude ourselves of all. Clar. Vol. 3. p. 15. Octavo Edit. WARBURTON. 8 It is the Pafture lards the Beggar's fides, ] This, as the editors have order'd it, is an idle repetition at the beft; fuppofing it did, indeed, contain the fame fentiment as the foregoing lines. But Shakespear meant a quite different thing: and having, like a fenfible writer, made a fmart obfervation, he illuftrates it by a fimilitude thus: It is the Pajiure lards the Weather's fies, The Want that makes him lean. And the fimilitude is extremely beautiful, as conveying this fatirical reflexion; there is no more difference between man and man in the esteem of fuperficial or corrupt judgments, than between a fat fheep and a lean one. WARBURTON. The Want that makes him leave. Who dares, who dares, And fay, this man's a flatterer? if one be, What's here? Gold? yellow, glittering, precious gold? Roots, you clear heav'ns! Thus much Of this will make black, white; fair, foul; wrong, right; The want that makes him lean. And upon this reading, of no authority, raised another equally uncertain. Alterations are never to be made without neceffity. Let us fee what fenfe the genuine reading will afford. Poverty, fays the Poet, bears contempt bereditary, and wealth native honour. To illuftrate this pofition, having already mentioned the cafe of a poor and rich brother, he remarks, that this preference is given to wealth by those whom it leaft becomes; it is the Paftour that greafes or flatters the rich brother, and will grease him on till want makes him leave. The Poet then goes on to afk, Who dares to fay, this man, this Paftour, is a flatterer; the crime is univerfal; through all the world the learned pate, with allufion to the Paftour, ducks to the golden fool. If it be objected, as it may justly be, that the mention of Paftour is unfuitable, we must remember the mention of grace and cherubims in this play, and many fuch anachronisms in many others. I would therefore read thus: It is the Paftour lards the brother's fides, 'Tis want that makes him leave. The obfcurity is still great. Perhaps a line is loft. I have at leaft given the original reading. 9 for every greeze of fortune] Greeze, for ftep or dePOPE. -no idle votarift.] No infincere or inconftant fupplicant. Gold will not ferve me initead of roots. Bafe Base, noble; old, young; coward, valiant. You Gods! why this? What? This you Gods? Why, this Will lug your priefts and fervants from your fides: 3 Pluck ftout mens' pillows from below their heads. This yellow flave Will knit and break religions; blefs th' accurs'd * That makes the wappen'd widow wed again; But yet I'll bury thee. Thou'lt go, ftrong thief, why, this Will lug your prifts and fervants from your fides:] Arifophanes in his Platus, Act 5. Scene 2. makes the priest of Jupiter defert his fervice to live with Plutus. WARBURTON. 3 Pluck flout mens' pillows from below their heads.] i.e. men who have strength yet remain ing to ftruggle with their diftemper: This alludes to an old cuftom of drawing away the pillow from under the heads of men in their laft agonies, to make their departure the easier. But the Oxford Editor, fuppofing fout to fignify heal by, alters it to fick; and this he calls emending. WARBURTON. 4 That makes the wappen'd wi dow awed again;] Waped or wappen'd fignifies both forrowful and terrified, either for the lofs of a good husband, or by the treatment of a bad. But gold, he fays, can overcome both her affection and her fears. WARB. Of wappened I have found no example, nor know any meaning. To awhape is ufed by Spenfer in his Hubberd's tale, but I think not in either of the fenfes mentioned. I would read quained, for decayed by time. So our authour in Richard the third, A beauty-waining and diftreffed w dow. 5 To th' April day again.] That is, to the wedding-day, called by the poet, fatirically, April day, or fool's da. Do thy right nature.] Lie in the earth where nature laid thee. 7 Thou'rt quick,] Thou hast life and motion in thee. When gouty keepers of thee cannot ftand. -Nay, ftay thou out for earneft. [Keeping fome gold. SCENE IV. Enter Alcibiades with drum and fife in warlike manner, and Phrynia and Timandra. Alc. What art thou there? fpeak. 3 Tim. A beaft, as thou art. Cankers gnaw thy heart, For fhewing me again the eyes of man. Alc. What is thy name? Is man fo hateful to thee, That art thyfelf a man? Tim. I am Mifanthropos, and hate mankind. Alc. I know thee well; But in thy fortunes am unlearn'd, and strange. Tim. I know theé too, and more than that I know thee, I not defire to know. Follow thy drum, With man's blood paint the ground. Gules! gules! Then what fhould war be? this fell whore of thine Phry. Thy lips rot off! Tim. I will not kifs thee, then the Rot returns To thine own lips again. Alc. How came the noble Timon to this change? Tim. As the moon does, by wanting light to give; But then renew I could not, like the moon, There were no funs to borrow of. Alc. Noble Timon, what friendship may I do thee? Tim. Promise me friendship, but perform none. If * I will not kifsthee,] This alludes to an opinion in former times, generally prevalent, that the venereal infection tranfinitted to another, left the infecter free. I will not, fays Timon, take the rot from thy lips by kiffing thee. thou |