Ant. He fhall not live; look, with a spot I damn him3. But, Lepidus, go you to Cæfar's houfe;

Fetch the will hither, and we fhall determine

How to cut off fome charge in legacies.

Lep. What, fhall I find you here?
O. Or here, or at the Capitol.

[Exit LEPIDUS.

Ant. This is a flight unmeritable man,

Meet to be sent on errands: Is it fit,

The three-fold world divided, he should stand
One of the three to share it ?

Od. So you thought him;

And took his voice who fhould be prick'd to die,
In our black fentence and profcription.

Ant. Octavius, I have feen more days than you:
And though we lay these honours on this man,
To ease ourselves of divers flanderous loads,
He shall but bear them as the ass bears gold,
To groan and fweat under the business,
Either led or driven, as we point the way;
And having brought our treasure where we will,
Then take we down his load, and turn him off,
Like to the empty ass, to shake his ears,
And graze in commons.

Od. You may do your will;

But he's a try'd and valiant foldier.

Ant. So is my horse, Octavius; and, for that,
I do appoint him ftore of provender.
It is a creature that I teach to fight,

To wind, to ftop, to run directly on;

His corporal motion govern'd by my spirit.

3 — damn bim.] i. e. condemn him. So, in Promos and Caffandra,

1578:

"Vouchsafe to give my damned husband life."

Again, in Chaucer's Kingbtes Tale, v. 1747.

by your confeffion

"Hath damned you, and I wol it recorde." STEEVENS. -as the afs bears gold,] This image had occurr'd before in Meefure for Measure, A& IÏI. fc. i:

66

like an afs whofe back with ingots bows, "Thou bear'ft thy heavy riches but a journey, "Till death unloads thee." STEEVENS,

forth:

And, in fome tafte, is Lepidus but fo;
He must be taught, and train'd, and bid go
A barren-fpirited fellow; one that feeds
On objects, arts, and imitations';
Which, out of use, and stal'd by other men,
Begin his fashion: Do not talk of him,
But as a property. And now, Octavius,
Liften great things.-Brutus and Caffius,
Are levying powers: we must straight make head:
Therefore let our alliance be combin'd,

Our best friends made, our means ftretch'd to the utmost"; And let us presently go fit in council,

5-one that feeds

How

On objects, arts, and imitations;] It is eafy to find a reafon why that devotee to pleasure and ambition, fhould call him barren-spirited who could be content to feed his mind with objects, i. e. fpeculative knowledge, or arts, i. e. mechanic operations. Lepidus, in the tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra, is reprefented as inquifitive about the ftructures of Egypt, and that too when he is almost in a state of intoxication. tony, as at present, makes a jeft of him, and returns him unintelligible answers to very reasonable questions.

An

Objects, however, may mean things objected or thrown out to him. In this fenfe Shakspeare ufes the verb to object in another play, where I have given an inftance of its being employ'd by Chapman on the fame occafion. A man who can avail himself of neglected hints thrown out by others, though without original ideas of his own, is no uncommon character. STEEVENS.

Theobald, in the rage of innovation, reads-On abjeƐ arts, &c.

MALONE.

6 Our best friends made, our means fretch'd to the utmoft;] In the old copy by the careleffness of the tranfcriber or printer this line is thus imperfectly exhibited:

Our best friends made, our means ftretch'd;

The editor of the fecond folio fupplied the line by reading

Our best friends made, and our beft means stretch'd out. This emendation, which all the modern editors have adopted, was, like almost all the other corrections of the fecond folio, as ill conceived as poffible. For what is beft means? Means, or abilities, if fretch'd out, receive no additional strength from the word beft, nor does means, when confidered without reference to others, as the power of an individual, or the aggregated abilities of a body of men, feem to admit of a degree of comparifon. However that may be, it is highly improbable that a tranfcriber or compositor should be guilty of three errors in the fame line; that he should omit the word and in the middle of it; then the word beft after our, and laftly the concluding word. It is much more pro

bable

How covert matters may be beft disclos'd,
And open perils fureft answered.

Oct. Let us do fo: for we are at the ftake7,
And bay'd about with many enemies;

And fome, that smile, have in their hearts, I fear,
Millions of mischief.

SCENE II.

[Exeunt

Before Brutus' tent, in the camp near Sardis.

Drum. Enter BRUTUS, LUCILIUS, LUCIUS, and Soldiers: TITINIUS and PINDARUS meeting them.

Bru. Stand here.

Luc. Give the word, ho! and stand.

Bru. What now, Lucilius? is Caffius near?
Luc. He is at hand; and Pindarus is come

To do you falutation from his master.

Bru. He greets me well.-Your master, Pindarus,

[Pindarus gives a letter to Brutus.

In his own change, or by ill officers,

Hath

bable that the omiffion was only at the end of the line, (an error which is found in other places in thefe plays;) and that the authour wrote, as I have printed:

Our best friends made, our means ftretch'd to the utmost.

So, in a former fcene:

and, you know, his means,

"If he improve them, may well fretch so far,-".

Again, in the following paflage in Coriolanus, which, I truft, will juftify the emendation, now made:

for thy revenge,

"Wrench up your power to the bigbeft." MALONE.

7 at the stake.] An allufion to bear-baiting. So, in Macbeth, A& V:

"They have chain'd me to a flake, I cannot fly,

"But bear-like I must fight the courfe." STEEVENS.

8 In bis own change, or by ill officers,] Dr. Warburton, without any neceffity, reads-By his own charge, &c. that is, "either by those under his own immediate command, or under the command of his lieute nants, who had abufed their truft." MALONE.

Brutus could not but know whether the wrongs commited were done by those who were immediately under the command of Caffius, or thofe under his officers. The anfwer of Brutus to the fervant is only an act of artful civility; his question to Lucilius proves, that his fufpicion still continued. Yet I cannot but fufpect a corruption, and would read:

Hath iven me fome worthy cause to wish
Things done, undone: but, if he be at hand,
I fhall be fatisfied.

Pin. I do not doubt,

But that my noble mafter will appear
Such as he is, full of regard, and honour.

Bru. He is not doubted.-A word, Lucilius ;
How he receiv'd you, let me be resolv'd.

Luc. With courtesy, and with refpect enough;
But not with fuch familiar inftances,

Nor with fuch free and friendly conference,
As he hath us'd of old.

Bru. Thou haft defcrib'd

A hot friend cooling: Ever note, Lucilius,
When love begins to ficken and decay,
It useth an enforced ceremony.

There are no tricks in plain and fimple faith:
But hollow men, like horfes hot at hand,
Make gallant fhew and promise of their mettle :
But when they fhould endure the bloody fpur,
They fall their crefts, and, like deceitful jades,
Sink in the trial. Comes his army on?

Luc. They mean this night in Sardis to be quarter'd; The greater part, the horse in general,

Are come with Caffius.

Bru. Hark, he is arriv'd:

March gently on to meet him.

[March within.

Enter CASSIUS, and Soldiers.

Caf. Stand, ho!

Bru. Stand ho! Speak the word along.

In bis own change, or by ill offices,-.

That is, either changing his inclination of bimself, or by the ill offices and bad influences of others. JOHNSON.

Surely alteration is unneceffary. In the fubfequent conference Brutus charges both Caffius and his officer Lucius Pella, with corruption.

STEEVENS.

Brutus immediately after fays to Lucilius, when he hears his account of the manner in which he had been received by Caffius,

"Thou haft defcrib'd

"A bot friend cooling."

That is the change which Brutus complains of. MASON.

VOL. VII.

Сс

Within.

Within. Stand.

Within. Stand.

Within. Stand.

Caf. Moft noble brother, you have done me wrong. Bru. Judge me, you gods! Wrong I mine enemies? And, if not fo, how should I wrong a brother?

Caf. Brutus, this fober form of yours hides wrongs; And when you do them

Bru. Caffius, be content,

*

Speak your griefs foftly,-I do know you well:-
Before the eyes of both our armies here,

Which should perceive nothing but love from us,
Let us not wrangle: Bid them move away;
Then in my tent, Caffius, enlarge your griefs,
And I will give you audience.

Caf. Pindarus,

Bid our commanders lead their charges off

A little from this ground.

Bru. Lucilius, do you the like; and let no man

Come to our tent, till we have done our conference.
Let Lucius and Titinius guard our door.

[Exeunt.

Lucius and Titinius at fome diftance from it.
Enter BRUTUS, and CASSIUS.

Caf. That you have wrong'd me, doth appear in this:
You have condemn'd and noted Lucius Pella,
For taking bribes here of the Sardians;
Wherein, my letters, praying on his fide,
Because I knew the man, were flighted off.

Bru. You wrong'd yourfelf, to write in fuch a cafe. Caf. In fuch a time as this, it is not meet That every nice offence should bear his comment.

—your griefs➡] i. e. your grievances. See Vol. IV. p. 50, n. 3, and Vol. V. p. 237, n.9. MALONE.

9

every nice offence-] i. e. fmall trifling offence. WARBURTON. So, in Romeo and Juliet, A&t V:

"The letter was not nice, but full of charge,

"Of dear import." STEEVENS.

Bra.