And his affairs come to me on the wind.

Where is he now ?

Octa. My lord, in Athens.

Caj. No, my moft wronged fifter; Cleopatra
Hath nodded him to her. He hath given his empire
Up to a whore; who now are levyings.

The kings o' the earth for war: He hath affembled
Bocchus, the king of Lybia; Archelaus,

Of Cappadocia ; Philadelphos, king

Of Paphlagonia; the Thracian king, Adallas:
King Malchus of Arabia; king of Pont ;
Herod of Jewry; Mithridates, king

Of Comagene; Polemon and Amintas,
The kings of Mede, and Lycaonia,
With a more larger lift of fcepters.
Octa. Ah me, moft wretched,

That have my heart parted betwixt two friends,
That do afflict each other!

Caf. Welcome hither:

Your letters did withhold our breaking forth;
Till we perceiv'd, both how you were wrong-led,
And we in negligent danger. Cheer your heart:
Be you not troubled with the time, which drives
O'er your content thefe ftrong neceffities;
But let determin'd things to destiny
Hold unbewail'd their way.
Nothing more dear to me.
Beyond the mark of thought:

Welcome to Rome:
You are abus'd
and the high gods,

To do you justice, make them minifters 7

5

- who now are levying] That is, which two perfons now are levying, &c. MALONE.

6 Mr. Upton remarks, that there are fome errors in this enumeration of the auxiliary kings: but it is probable that the authour did not much wish to be accurate. JOHNSON.

Mr. Upton propofes to read:

" Polemon and Amintas

"Of Lycaonia; and the king of Mede."

And this obviates all impropriety. STEEVENS.

7- them minifiers] Old Copy-bis ministers. Corrected by Mr. Capell. MALONE,

Of

Of us, and thofe that love you. Best of comforts;
And ever welcome to us.

Agr. Welcome, lady.

Mec. Welcome, dear madam.

Each heart in Rome does love and pity you :
Only the adulterous Antony, moft large

In his abominations, turns you off;

And gives his potent regiment to a trull,

That noifes it against us.

Oa. Is it fo, fir?

Caf. Moft certain. Sifter, welcome: Pray you, Be ever known to patience: My deareft fifter! [Exeunt.

SCENE VII.

Antony's Camp, near the Promontory of Actium.

Enter CLEOPATRA, and ENOBARBUS. 'Cleo. I will be even with thee, doubt it not.

Eno.

8- Best of comfort;] Thus the original copy. The connecting particle, and, feems to favour the old reading. According to the modern innovation, Be of comfort, (which was introduced by Mr. Rowe,) it ftands very awkwardly. "Beft of comfort" may mean-Thou beft of comforters! a phrafe which we meet with again in the Tempest:

"A folemn air, and the beft comforter
"To an unfettled fancy's cure!"

Cæfar however may mean, that what he has just mentioned is the best kind of comfort that Octavia can receive. MALONE.

9- potent regiment to a trull,] Regiment, is, goverment, authority; he puts his power and his empire into the hands of a falfe woman. It may be obferved, that trull was not, in our authour's time, a term of mere infan y, but a word of flight contempt, as wench is now.

JOHNSON.

Trull is used in the First Part of King Henry VI. as fynonymous to barlot, and is rendered by the Latin word Scortum, in Cole's Dictiona ry, 1679.-There can therefore be no doubt of the sense in which it is ufed here. MALONE.

Regiment is ufed for regimen or government by most of our ancient writers. The old tranflation of the Schola Salernitana is called the Regiment of Helth.

Again, in Spenfer's Faery Queen, B. II. c. x :
"So when he had refign'd his regiment.”.

VOL. VII.

LI

Trail

Eno. But why, why, why?

Cleo. Thou haft forfpoke my being in these wars; And fay'ft, it is not fit.

Eno. Well, is it, is it?

Cleo. If not, denounce't against us, why should not we Be there in perfon.

Eno. [Afide.] Well, I could reply :

If we should serve with horfe and mares together
The horse were merely loft; the mares would bear
A foldier, and his horse.

Cleo. What is't you say?

Eno. Your prefence needs muft puzzle Antony; Take from his heart, take from his brain, from his time, What should not then be spar'd. He is already Traduc'd for levity; and 'tis faid in Rome, That Photinus an eunuch, and your maids, Manage this war.

Cleo. Sink Rome; and their tongues rot,

That fpeak against us! A charge we bear i' the war,
And, as the prefident of my kingdom, will

Trull is not employed in an unfavourable fenfe by G. Peele in the Song of Coridon and Melampus, published in England's Helicon:

"When swaines fweet pipes are puft, and truls are warme." Again, in Damætas's Jigge in praise of his love, by John Wootton; printed in the fame collection:

- be thy mirth feene;

"Heard to each swaine, feene to each trull." STEEVENS. 1-forfpoke my being-] To forfpeak, is to contradić, to speak againft, as forbid is to order negatively. JOHNSON.

Thus, in the Arraignment of Paris, 1584:

66 -thy life for fpoke by love."

To forfpeak has generally reference to the mifchiefs effected by enchantment. So, in Ben Jonfon's Staple of News, " ----a witch, goflip, to for fpeak the matter thus. "In Shakipeare it is the oppofite of bespeak. STEEVENS.

2

-denounc't against us,] The old copy has-denounc'd. For this flight alteration I am anfwerable. Mr. Tyrwhitt propofed to read denounce, but the other is nearer to the original copy. I am not however fure that the old reading is not right. "If not denounc'd," If there be no particular denunciation against me, why should we not be there in perfon? There is however, in the folio, a comma after the word met, and no point of interrogation at the end of the fentence; which favours the emendation now made, MALONE.

Appear

Appear there for a man. Speak not against it;

I will not stay behind.

Eno. Nay, I have done: Here comes the emperor.
Enter ANTONY, and CANIDIUS.

Ant. Is it not ftrange, Canidius,

That from Tarentum, and Brundufium,
He could fo quickly cut the Ionian sea,

And take in Toryne 3-You have heard on't, fweet? Cleo. Celerity is never more admir'd,

Than by the negligent.

Ant. A good rebuke,

Which might have well becom❜d the best of men,
To taunt at flackness.-Canidius, we

Will fight with him by fea.

Cleo. By fea! What else?

Can. Why will my lord do fo?
Ant. For that he dares us to't.

Eno. So hath my lord dar'd him to fingle fight.
Can. Ay, and to wage this battle at Pharfalia,
Where Cæfar fought with Pompey: But thefe offers,
Which ferve not for his vantage, he shakes off;
And fo fhould you.

Eno. Your fhips are not well mann'd:
Your mariners are muleteers 4, reapers, people
Ingrofs'd by swift imprefs; in Cæfar's fleet

Are thofe, that often have 'gainst Pompey fought:
Their fhips are yares; yours, heavy: No difgrace

3 And take in Toryne.] To take in is to gain by conquest. STEEV. See p. 160, n. 8. MALONE.

4 Your mariners are muleteers, reapers, &c.] The old copy has mili ters. The correction was made by the editor of the fecond folio. It is confirmed by the old tranflation of Plutarch: "—for lacke of watermen his captains did preffe by force all fortes of men out of Græce, that they could rake up in the field, as travellers, muliters, reapers, harvestmen," &c. Muliter was the old fpelling of muleteer. MALONE.

5 Their fhips are yare; yours beavy-] So, in fir Thomas North's Plutarch: CϾfar's fhips were not built for pomp, high and great, &c. but they were light of yarage." Yare generally fignifies, dextrous, manageable. STEEVENS.

See Vol. I. p. 4, n. 3. MALONE.

Eno. Moft worthy fir, you therein throw away
The abfolute foldiership you have by land;
Distract your army, which doth most confift
Of war-mark'd footmen; leave unexecuted
Your own renowned knowledge; quite forego
The way which promifes affurance; and
Give up yourself merely to chance and hazard,
From firm fecurity.

Ant, I'll fight at fea.

Cleo. I have fixty fails, Cæfar none better.

Ant. Our overplus of fhipping will we burn;

And, with the reft full-mann'd, from the head of Actium Beat the approaching Cæfar. But if we fail,

Enter a Meffenger.

We then can do't at land.-Thy business?

Mef. The news is true, my lord; he is descried;
Cæfar has taken Toryne.

Ant. Can he be there in perfon? 'tis impoffible;
Strange, that his power should be.-Canidius,
Our nineteen legions thou thalt hoid by land,
And our twelve thoufand horfe :-We'll to our ship;

Enter a Soldier.

Away, my Thetis 7!-How now, worthy foldier?
Sold. Ó noble emperor, do not fight by fea;

Truft

Strange, that bis power should be.] It is strange that his forces should be there. So afterwards in this fcene:

"His power went out in such distractions, as

"Beguil'd all spies."

Again, in our authour's Rape of Lucrece:

Before the which was drawn the power of Greece." MALONE. 7 - my Thetis !] Antony addreiles Cleopatra by the name of this fea-nymph, because she had just promised him affiftance in his naval expedition, STEEVENS.

8 O noble emperor, &c.] So, in the old tranflation of Plutarch. "Now, as he was fetting his men in order of battell, there was a cap taine, & a valliant man, that had ferued Antonius in many battells & conflicts, & had all his body hacked & cut: who, as Antonius passed by him, cryed out vnto him, and fayd: O, noble emperor, how commeth