To fhew him what a beggar his heart is,
Being of no power to make his wishes good;
His promifes fly fo beyond his ftate,

That what he fpeaks is all in debt; he owes for ev'ry word:
He is fo kind, that he pays interest for't:

His land's put to their books. Well, would I were
Gently put out of office, ere I were forc'd.
Happier is he that has no friend to feed,
Than fuch that do e'en enemies exceed.
I bleed inwardly for my Lord.

[Exit.

Tim. You do yourfelves much wrong, you bate too much of your own merits. Here, my Lord, a trifle of our love.

I Lord. With more than common thanks I will receive it.

3 Lord. He has the very foul of bounty.

Tim. And now I remember, my Lord, you gave good words the other day of a bay courfer I rode on.

'Tis

yours, becaufe you lik'd it.

2 Lord. Oh, I befeech you, pardon me, my Lord, in that. Tim. You may take my word, my Lord: I know no man can juftly praife, but what he does affect. I weigh my friends affection with my own; I'll tell you true, I'll call on you.

All Lords. O, none fo welcome.

Tim. I take all, and your feveral vifitations
So kind to heart, 'tis not enough to give ;

Methinks, I could deal kingdoms to my friends,
And ne'er be weary. Alcibiades,

Thou art a foldier, therefore feldom rich,

It comes in charity to thee; thy living

Is 'mongst the dead; and all the lands thou haft
Lye in a pitcht field.

Alc. I defy land, my Lord.

1 Lord. We are fo virtuou fly bound

Tim. And fo am I to you.

2 Lord. So infinitely endear'd.

Tim. All to you. Lights! more lights, more lights. 3 Lord. The beft of happiness, honour and fortunes, Keep with you, Lord Timon·

Tim. Ready for his friends.
Apem. What a coil's here,

[Exeunt Lords.

Serving of becks and jutting out of bums! (9)
I doubt, whether their legs be worth the fums
That are giv'n for 'em. Friendship's full of dregs;
Methinks, falfe hearts fhould never have found legs.
Thus honeft fools lay out their wealth on courtefies.
Tim. Now, Apemantus, if thou wert not fullen,
I would be good to thee.

Apem. No, I'll nothing; for if I fhould be brib'd too, there would be none left to rail upon thee, and then thou wouldst fin the fafter. Thou giv'ft fo long Timon, (10) I fear me, thou wilt give away thy felf in paper

fhortly.

(9) Serving of becks,] I have not ventur'd to alter this phrafe, tho' I confefs freely, I don't understand it. It may be made intelligible two ways, with a very flight alteration. Mr. Warburton acutely propos'd to me,

Serring of becks,

from the French word ferrer, to join clofe together, to lock one within another; by a metat bor taken from the billing of pigeons, who interfert their bills into one another. Or, we might read,

Scruing of backs, and jutting out of bums! For Apemantus is obferving on the ridiculous congees, and complimental motions of the flattering guets in taking their leave. Both conjectures are fubmitted to judgment,

(10) I fear me, thou wilt give away thyself in paper jhortly.] i. e. be ruin'd by his fecurities entered into. But this fenfe, as Mr. Warburton obferves, is cold; and relishes very little of that falt which is in Apemantus's other reflections. He proposes,

-give away thyfelf in proper fhortly.

i. e. in perfon; thy proper feif. This latter is an expreffion of our author's in the Tempest;

And ev'n with fuch like valour men hang and drown
Their proper felves.

And of B. Jonfon in the induction to his Cynthia's Revels;

-If you please to confer with our author by attorney, you may,

Sir: our proper felf here ftands for him.

And the other phrase, thyself in proper---without the substantive subjoin'd, I believe, may be juftified by fimular ufage.

B. Jonfon in his Sejanus;

My Lords, this ftrikes at ev'ry Roman's private.

i. c. private property, or intereft. And again, in the fame play; Macro, thou art engag'd; and what before

Was publick, now must be thy private.

i. e. thy

fhortly. What need these feafts, pomps, and vain

glories?

Tim. Nay, if you begin to rail on fociety once, I am fworn not to give regard to you. Farewel, and come with better mufick.

Apem. So-(11) thou wilt not fhalt not then.

[Exit.

hear me now, thou

AND late, five thousand, to far, and to Tidore He owes nine thousand, befides my former fum; Which makes it five and twenty.- -Still in motion

i. e. thy private concern. And, to quote one authority from an author of more modern date;

Milton in his Paradife loft, B. 7. v. 367.

By tincture, or reflection, they augment

Their fmall peculiar.

i. e. peculiar body, or brightnefs; for it is spoken of the stars.
(11) Thou wilt not bear me now, thou shalt not then.

I'll lock thy beaven from thee.] So, in Cymbeline, Imogen says;
-if he fhould write,
And I not have it, 'tis a paper loft

As offer'd mercy is.

i. e. not to be retriev'd, In both thefe paffages our poet is alluding to a theological opinion, that the Holy Spirit by fecret whispers in the mind, the ftill voice, inward fuggeftions, offers its affistance very often when it is not attended to: either when men are drag'd away by the violence of the paffions, or blinded by too great attention to worldly avocations. This by divines is call'd the lofs of offer'd mercy: and when it is for a length of time rejected, or difregarded, the offender's cafe is look'd upon to be the more defperate. Mr. Warburton.

of

Of raging wafte? It cannot hold, it will not.
If I want gold, fteal but a beggar's dog,
And give it Timon, why, the dog coins gold.
If I would fell my horfe, and buy ten more
Better than he; why, give my horfe to Timon;
Afk nothing, give it him, it foals me ftraight
Ten able horse. No porter at his gate; (12)
But rather one that fmiles, and ftill invites
All that pafs by it. It cannot hold; no reason
Can found his ftate in fafety. Caphis, hoa!
Caphis, I fay.

Enter Caphis..

Cap. Here, Sir, what is you pleasure ?
Sen. Get on your cloak, and hafte you to Lord Timon z
Importune him for monies, be not ceaft
With flight denial; nor then filenc'd with
• Commend me to your mafter-and the cap
Plays in the right hand, thus :-but tell him, firrah,
My ufes cry to me, I muft ferve my turn
Out of mine own; his days and times are past,
And my reliance on his fracted dates

Has fmit my credit. I love and honour him;
But must not break my back, to heal his finger.
Immediate are my needs, and my relief
Muft not be toft and turn'd to me in words,
But find fupply immediate. Get you gone.
Put on a most importunate afpect,

A vifage of demand: for I do fear,

(12) Ask nothing, give it him, it foals me ftraight

An able borfe,] The ftupidity of this corruption will be very obvi ous, if we take the whole context together. "If I want gold, (fays "the Senator) let me fteal a beggar's dog, and give it to Timon, the "dog coins me gold. If I would fell my horfe, and had a mind to buy ten better inftead of him; why, I need but give my horse to Timon, to gain this point; and it prefently fetches me an borje." But is that gaining the point propos'd? fenfe and reafon warrant the reading, that I have reftor'd to the text. The first folio reads, less corruptly than the modern impreifions, -And able horfes.

Which reading, join'd to the reafoning of the passage, gave me the

hint for this emendation.

When

When every feather fticks in his own wing,
Lord Timon will be left a naked Gull,

Who flashes now a Phoenix-get you gone.

Cap. I go, Sir.

Sen. I go, Sir?-take the bonds along with you, (13) And have the dates in compt.

Cap. I will, Sir.

Sen. Go.

Flav.

[Exeunt,

SCENE changes to Timon's hall.

Enter Flavius, with many bills in his hand.

O care, no ftop? fo fenfelefs of expence, That he will neither know how to maintain it, Nor ceafe his flow of riot? Takes no account How things go from him, and resumes no care Of what is to continue: never mind

Was to be fo unwife, to be fo kind.

What fhall be done?-he will not hear, 'till feel:
I must be round with him, now he comes from hunting.
Fie, fie, fie, fie.

Enter Caphis, Ifidore, and Varro.

Cap. Good evening, Varro; what, you come for money?
Var. Is't not your business too?

Cap. It is; and yours too, Ifidore?
Ifid. It is fo.

Cap. Would we were all discharg❜d.

Var. I fear it.

Cap. Here comes the Lord.

(13)

take the bonds along with you,

And have the dates in. Come.] The abfurdity of this paffage is fo glaring, that one cannot help wondering, none of our poet's editors fhould have been fagacious enough to ftumble at it. Certainly, ever fince bonds were given, the date was put in when the bond was enter'd into: And these bonds Timon had already given, and the time limited for their payment was laps'd. The Senator's charge to his fervant must be to the tenour as I have amended the text; viz. Take good notice of the dates, for the better computation of the intereft due upon them. Mr. Pope has vouchfafed to acknowledge my emendation, and cry recte to it in the appendix to his laft impreffion.

Enter