TIM. Pr'ythee, no more. FLAV. Heavens, have I said, the bounty of this lord! How many prodigal bits have flaves, and peasants, Great Timon, noble, worthy, royal Timon? TIM. Come, fermon me no further: No villainous bounty yet hath pass'd my heart; Unwifely, not ignobly, have I given.' Why dost thou weep? Canft thou the confcience lack, To think I fhall lack friends? Secure thy heart; If I would broach the veffels of my love, And try the argument of hearts by borrowing, Who is not Timon's?] I fuppofe we ought to read, for the fake of measure: Who is not lord Timon's? STEEVENS. 9 No villainous bounty yet hath pass'd my heart; Unwifely, not ignobly, have I given.] Every reader muft rejoice in this circumftance of comfort which prefents itself to Timon, who, although beggar'd through want of prudence, confoles himfelf with reflection that his ruin was not brought on by the pursuit of guilty pleasures. STEEVENS. 2 And try the argument-] The licentioufnefs of our author forces us often upon far-fetched expofitions. Arguments may mean contents, as the arguments of a book; or evidences and proofs. JOHNSON. The matter contained in a poem or play was in our author's time commonly thus denominated. The contents of his Rape of Lucrece, which he certainly published himself, he calls The Argument. Hence undoubtedly his ufe of the word. If I would, says Timon, by borrowing, try of what men's hearts are compofed, what they Men, and men's fortunes, could I frankly use, FLAV. Affurance blefs your thoughts! TIM. And, in fome fort, thefe wants of mine are crown'd,+ That I account them bleffings; for by thefe Enter FLAMINIUS, SERVILIUS, and other Servants. SERV. My lord, my lord, TIM. I will defpatch you severally.-You, to lord Lucius, To lord Lucullus you; I hunted with his have in them, &c. The old copy reads-argument, not, as Dr. Johnfon fuppofed-arguments. MALONE. So, in Hamlet" Have you heard the argument? Is there no offence in it?" Many more inftances to the fame purpose might be fubjoined. STEEVENS. 3 As I can bid thee Speak.] Thus the old copy; but it being clear from the overloaded measure that these words are a playhouse interpolation, I would not hefitate to omit them. They are understood, though not expreffed. STEEVENS. -crown'd,] i. e. dignified, adorned, made refpectable. So, in King Henry VIII: "And yet no day without a deed to crown it." STEEVENS. s Within there, ho!] Ho, was fupplied by Sir Thomas Hanmer. The frequency of Shakspeare's ufe of this interjection, needs no examples. STEEVENS. 6 Flaminius!] The old copy has-Flavius. The correction was made by Mr. Rowe. The error probably arofe from Fla. only being fet down in the MS. MALONE. That my occafions have found time to use them FLAM. As you have faid, my lord. FLAV. Lord Lucius, and lord Lucullus?" humph! [Afide. TIM. Go you, fir, [To another Serv.] to the fe nators, 8 (Of whom, even to the ftate's beft health, I have Deferv'd this hearing,) bid 'em fend o'the instant A thousand talents to me. FLAV. I have been bold, (For that I knew it the most general way,') To them to use your fignet, and your name; But they do fhake their heads, and I am here No richer in return. TIM. Is't true? can it be? FLAV. They answer, in a joint and corporate voice, That now they are at fall,' want treasure, cannot Do what they would; are forry-you are honour able, But yet they could have wifh'd-they know notbut 3 Something hath been amiss-a noble nature 7 lord Lucullus? As the fteward is repeating the words of Timon, I have not fcrupled to fupply the title lord, which is want. ing in the old copy, though neceffary to the metre. STEEVENS. Go you, fir, to the fenators,] To complete the line, we might read, as in the firft fcene of this play: the fenators of Athens. STEEVENS. 9 - I knew it the most general way,] General is not fpeedy, but compendious, the way to try many at a time. JOHNSON. at fall,] i. e. at an ebb. STEEVENS. 2 but plete the verfe. was fupplied by Sir Thomas Hanmer, to comSTEEVENS. May catch a wrench-would all were well-'tis pity And fo, intending 4 other ferious matters, After diftafteful looks, and these hard fractions,' With certain half-caps," and cold-moving nods," They froze me into filence. TIM. You gods, reward them!— I pr'ythee, man, look cheerly: Thefe old fellows Have their ingratitude in them hereditary: Their blood is cak'd, 'tis cold, it feldom flows; 'Tis lack of kindly warmth, they are not kind; ▲ — intending —] is regarding, turning their notice to other things. JOHNSON. To intend and to attend had anciently the fame meaning. So, in The Spanish Curate of Beaumont and Fletcher: "Good fir, intend this business.” See Vol. V. p. 145, n. 6. STEEVENS. So, in Wits, Fits, and Fancies, &c. 1595: "Tell this man that I am going to dinner to my lord maior, and that I cannot now intend his tittle-tattle." 5 Again, in Pafquil's Night-Cap, a poem, 1623: "For we have many fecret ways to spend, MALONE. and thefe hard fractions,] Flavius, by fractions, means broken hints, interrupted fentences, abrupt remarks. JOHNSON. ·half-caps,] A half-cap is a cap slightly moved, not put off. JOHNSON. 6 7 cold-moving nods,] By cold-moving I do not understand with Mr. Theobald, chilling or cold-producing nods, but a flight motion of the head, without any warmth or cordiality. Cold-moving is the fame as coldly-moving. So perpetual fober gods, for perpetually fober; lazy-pacing clouds,-loving-jealousflattering fweet, &c.-Such diftant and uncourteous falutations are properly termed cold-moving, as proceeding from a cold and unfriendly difpofition. MALONE. 8 Have their ingratitude in them hereditary:] Hereditary, for by natural conftitution. But fome diftempers of natural conftitution being called hereditary, he calls their ingratitude fo. WARBURTON. And nature, as it grows again toward earth, Thou art true, and honeft; ingenioufly I speak, No blame belongs to thee:-[To Serv.] Ventidius lately Bury'd his father; by whofe death, he's stepp'd I clear'd him with five talents: Greet him from me; Bid him fuppofe, fome good neceffity Touches his friend,' which craves to be remem ber'd With those five talents:-that had,-[TO FLAVIUS,] give it these fellows To whom 'tis inftant due. Ne'er fpeak, or think, That Timon's fortunes 'mong his friends can fink. 9 And nature, as it grows again toward earth, Is fashion'd for the journey, dull, and heavy.] The fame thought occurs in The Wife for a Month of Beaumont and Fletcher : 2 "Befide, the fair foul's old too, it grows covetous, "And we are earth again." STEEVENS. ingeniously-] Ingenious was anciently used instead of ingenuous. So, in The Taming of a Shrew: "A course of learning and ingenious ftudies." REED. 3 Bid him fuppofe, fome good neceffity Touches his friend,] Good, as it may afford Ventidius an opportunity of exercising his bounty, and relieving his friend, in return for his former kindness :-or, fome honeft neceflity, not the confequence of a villainous and ignoble bounty. I rather think this latter is the meaning. MALONE. So afterwards: "If his occafion were not virtuous, "I should not urge it half so faithfully." STEEVENS. |