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Enter tavo Lords.

1. Lord. What time a day is't, Apemantus? Apem. Time to be honest.

1. Lord. That time ferves ftill.

Apem. The most accursed thou, that ftill omit'ft it.. 2. Lord. Thou art going to lord Timon's feaft?

Apem. Ay; to fee meat fill knaves, and wine heat

fools.

2. Lord. Fare thee well, fare thee well.

Apem. Thou art a fool, to bid me farewell twice. 2. Lord. Why, Apemantus ?

Apem. Should't have kept one to thyfelf, for I mean to give thee none.

1. Lord. Hang thyself.

Apem. No, I will do nothing at thy bidding: make thy requests to thy friend.

2. Lord. Away, unpeaceable dog, or I'll fpurn thee

hence.

Apem. I will fly, like a dog, the heels of the afs. [Exit. 1. Lord. He's oppofite to humanity. Come, fhall we in,

And tafte lord Timon's bounty? he out-goes

The very heart of kindness.

2. Lord. He pours it out; Plutus, the god of gold, Is but his steward: no meed?, but he repays

Sevenfold above itfelf; no gift to him,
But breeds the giver a return exceeding
All ufe of quittances.

1. Lord. The nobleft mind he carries,

-no meed,] Meed, which in general fignifies reward or recompence, in this place feems to mean defert. So, in a comedy called Look about you, 1600:

"Thou shalt be rich in honour, full of speed;

"Thou shalt win foes by fear, and friends by meed."

See Vol. VI. p. 268, n. 4. MALONE.

STEEVENS,

8 All use of quittance.] i. e. All the customary returns made in difcharge of obligations. WARBURTON.

That

That ever govern'd man.

2. Lord. Long may he live in fortunes! Shall we in? 1. Lord. I'll keep you company.

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[Exeunt,

The fame. A State-Room in Timon's house.

Hautboys playing loud mufick. A great banquet ferved in 3 FLAVIUS and others attending; then Enter TIMON, ALCIBIADES, LUCIUS, LUCULLUS, SEMPRONIUS, and other Athenian Senators, with VENTIDIUS and Attendants. Then comes, dropping after all, APEMAN TUS difcontentedly.

Ven. Moft honour'd Timon, it hath pleas'd the gods to remember

My father's age, and call him to long peace.
He is gone happy, and has left me rich:
Then, as in grateful virtue I am bound
Το your free heart, I do return those talents,
Doubled, with thanks, and fervice, from whofe help
1 deriv'd liberty.

Tim. O, by no means,

Honeft Ventidius: you mistake my love;

I gave it freely ever; and there's none
Can truly fay, he gives, if he receives :

If our betters play at that game, we must not dare
To imitate them; Faults that are rich, are fair".

Ven.

If our betters play at that game, we must not dare, To imitate them; Faults that are rich are fair.] Dr. Warburton, with his ufual love of innovation, transfers the last word of the first of thefe lines, and the whole of the second to Apemantus. Mr. Heath has juftly obferved that this cannot have been Shakspeare's intention, for thus Apemantus would be made to addrefs Timon perfonally, who muft therefore have feen and heard him; whereas it appears from a fubfequent fpeech that Timon had not yet taken notice of him, as he falutes him with some furprize-"O, Apemantus!-you are welcome." The term-our betters, being used by the inferior claffes of men when they speak of their superiors in the state, Shakspeare uses these words, with his ufual laxity, to exprefs perfons of high rank and fortane. Dr. Warburton idly fuppofes, he meant the gods. MALONE.

C 3

I cannor

Ven. A noble fpirit.

[They all ftand ceremoniously looking on Timon.

Tim. Nay, my lords,

Ceremony was but devis'd at first,

To fet a glofs on faint deeds, hollow welcomes,
Recanting goodness, forry ere 'tis shown;

But where there is true friendship, there needs none.
Pray, fit; more welcome are ye to my fortunes,
Than my fortunes to me.

[They fit. 1. Lord. My lord, we always have confefs'd it. Apem. Ho, ho, confefs'd it? hang'd it, have you not*? Tim. O, Apemantus!-you are welcome.

Apem. No; you fhall not make me welcome:

1 come to have thee thruft me out of doors.

Tim. Fye, thou art a churl; you have got a humour there

Does not become a man, 'tis much to blame :

They fay, my lords, ira furor brevis eft,

But yond' man is ever angry 2.

Go, let him have a table by himself;
For he does neither affect company,
Nor is he fit for it, indeed.

I cannot fee that thefe lines are more proper in any other mouth than Timon's, to whofe character of generofity and condefcenfion they are very fuitable. To fuppofe that by our betters are meant the gods, is very harth, becaure to imitate the gods has been hitherto reckoned the highest pitch of human virtue. The whole is a trite and obvious thought, uttered by Timon with a kind of affected modefty. If I would make any alteration, it should be only to reform the numbers thus :

Our betters play that game; we must not dare

Timitate them: faults that are rich are fair. JOHNSON. The faults of rich perfons, and which contribute to the increase of riches, wear a plaufible appearance, and as the world goes are thought fair; but they are faults notwithstanding. HEATH.

1-confefs'd it? bang'd it, bave you not?] There feems to be fome allufion here to a common proverbial faying of Shakspeare's time: "Confefs and be hang'd." See Orbello, A& IV. fc. i. MALONE. 2 But yond' man is ever angry.] The old copy has very angry; which can hardly be right. The emendation now adopted was made by Mr. Rowe. MALONE.

L

Perhaps we should read-But yon man is very anger; i. c. anger itfelf, which always maintains its violence. STEEVENS.

Арет.

Apem. Let me ftay at thine own peril, Timon; I come to observe; I give thee warning on't.

Tim. I take no heed of thee; thou art an Athenian, therefore welcome: 1 myfelf would have no power3; 'pr'ythee, let my meat make thee filent.

Apem. I fcorn thy meat; 'twould choke me, for I should
Ne'er flatter thee.-O you gods! what a number
Of men eat Timon, and he fees them not!

It grieves me, to fee fo many dip their meat
In one's man blood; and all the madness is,
He cheers them up too.

I wonder, men dare truft themselves with men:
Methinks, they should invite them without knives;
Good for their meat, and fafer for their lives.
There's much example for't; the fellow, that
Sits next him now, parts bread with him, pledges
The breath of him in a divided draught,

Is the readiest man to kill him: it has been prov'd.
If I were a huge man, I should fear to drink at meals;

at thine own peril,-] The old copy reads-at thine apperil. I have not been able to find fuch a word in any dictionary, nor is it reconcileable to etymology. I have therefore adopted an emendation made by Mr. Steevens. MALONE.

3-I myself would have no power;] These words refer to what follows, not to that which precedes. I claim no extraordinary power in right of my being mafter of the boufe: I wish not by my commands to impofe filence on any one: but though I myself do not enjoin you to filence, let my meat flop your mouth. MALONE.

I understand Timon's meaning to be: I myself would have no power to make thee filent, but I wish thou would'st let my meat make thee filent. Timon, like a polite landlord, difclaims all power over the meaneft or moft troublesome of his guests. TYRWHITT.

4 I fcorn thy meat; 'twould choke me, for Ifhould

Ne'er flatter thee.-] The meaniug is, I could not swallow thy meat, for I could not pay for it with flattery; and what was given me with an ill will would stick in my throat. JOHNSON.

For has here perhaps the fignification of becaufe. So, in Othello: "Haply, for I am black." MALONE.

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-fo many dip their meat

In one man's blood;] The allufion is to a pack of hounds trained to purfuit by being gratified with the blood of an animal which they kill, and the wonder is that the animal on which they are feeding cheers them to the chafe. JOHNSON.

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Left they should spy my wind-pipe's dangerous notes":
Great men fhould drink with harness on their throats.
Tim. My lord, in heart7; and let the health go round.
2. Lord. Let it flow this way, my good lord.
Apem. Flow this way!

*

A brave fellow!-he keeps his tides well. Timon,
Thofe healths will make thee, and thy ftate, look ill.
Here's that, which is too weak to be a finner,
Honeft water, which ne'er left man i'the mire:
This, and my food, are equals; there's no odds.
Feafts are too proud to give thanks to the gods.
APEMANTUS'S GRACE.
Immortal gods, I crave no pelf;
I pray for no man but myself:
Grant I may never prove fo fond,
To truft man on his oath, or bond;

- wind-pipe's dangerous notes:] The notes of the wind-pipe feem to be only the indications which thew where the wind-pipe is. JOHNSON Shakspeare is very fond of making ufe of mufical terms, when he is Speaking of the human body, and wind pipe, and notes favour strongly of a quibble. STEEVENS.

7 My lord, in beart;] That is, my lord's bealth with fincerity. An emendation has been propofed thus:

My love in beart;

but it is not neceffary. JOHNSON.

So, in the Queen of Corinth, by B. and Fletcher : "I will be never more in heart to you." Again, in K. Henry IV. P. I. A& 1V. fc.i: 66 -in beart defiring ftill

"You may behold," &c.

Again, in Love's Labour's Loft, A& V. fc.ii:

Doft thou not wish in beart,

"The chain were longer, and the letter fhort?" STEEVEN -Timon,

Thofe bealths-] This speech, except the conclucing couplet, is printed as profe in the old copy; nor could it be exhibited as verfe but by transferring the word Timon, which follows-look ill, to its prefent place. The tranfpofition was made by Mr. Capell. The word might have been an interlineation, and so have been misplaced. Yet, after all, I fufpect many of the fpeeches in this play, which the modern editors have exhibited in a loose kind of metre, were intended by the author as profe; in which form they appear in the old copy. MALONE.

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