Enter a Messenger.

Mef. The emperor calls Canidius.

Can. With news the time's in labour, and throes

Caf. Strike not by land. Keep whole, provoke not

battle,

Till we have done at fea. Do not exceed

The prefcript of this fcrowl: our fortune lies

Upon this jump.

Enter Antony and Enobarbus.

[Exeunt.

Ant. Set we our fquadrons on yon' fide o' the hill, In the eye of Cæfar's battle; from which place the number of the ships behold,

We may

And fo proceed accordingly.

[Exeunt.

Enter Canidius, marching with his land-army one way over the ftage; and Taurus, the lieutenant of Cafar, the other way. After their going in, is beard the noife of a fea-fight. Alarm. Enter Enobarbus.

Eno. Naught, naught, all naught! I can behold no longer:

3 The Antoniad, the Ægyptian admiral,

3 The Antoniad, &c.] Which Plutarch fays, was the name of Cleopatra's fhip.

РОРЕ.

With all their fixty, fly, and turn the rudder;
To fee't, mine eyes are blafted.

Enter Scarus.

Scar. Gods and Goddeffes,

All the whole fynod of them!
Eno. What's thy paffion?

Scar. The greater cantle of the world is loft
With very ignorance; we have kiss'd away
Kingdoms and provinces.

Eno. How appears the fight?

5

Scar. On our fide like the token'd peftilence, Where death is fure. Yon'' ribauld nag of Ægypt, 7 Whom leprofy o'ertake! i' the midft o' the fight, When vantage like a pair of twins appear'd

The greater cantle-] A piece or lump.

РОРЕ.

Cantle is rather a corner. Cæfar in this play mentions the threenook'd world. Of this triangular world every triumvir had a cor

The word is in the old edition ribaudred, which I do not underftand, but mention it, in hopes others may raise some happy conjecture. JOHNSON. -Yon ribauld nag of Egypt,] I believe we should read,

bag. What follows feems to prove it:

-She once being looft,

The noble ruin of her magic, Antony,
Claps on his fea-wing

Obfervations and Conjectures, printed at Oxford, 1766. The brieze, or cftrum, the fly that ftings cattle, proves that nag is the right word. JOHNSON.

7 Whom leprofy o'ertake !] Leprofy, an epidemical distemper of the Egyptians; to which Horace probably alludes in the controverted line.

Both as the fame, or rather ours the elder;
The brieze upon her, like a cow in June,
Hoifts fails, and flies.

Eno. That I beheld:

Mine eyes did ficken at the fight, and could not
Endure a further view.

Scar. She once being looft,

The noble ruin of her magic, Antony,

Claps on his fea-wing, and like a doating mallard,
Leaving the fight in height, flies after her:

I never faw an action of fuch fhame;
Experience, manhood, honour, ne'er before
Did violate fo itself.

Eno. Alack, alack!

Enter Canidius.

.Can. Our fortune on the fea is out of breath,
And finks moft lamentably. Had our general
Been what he knew himfelf, it had gone well:
Oh, he has given example for our flight,
Moft grofly by his own.

Eno. Ay, are you thereabouts? why then, good night

Indeed.

Can. Towards Peloponnefus are they fled.
Scar. 'Tis eafy to't.

And there I will attend what further comes.
Can. To Cæfar will I render

My legions, and my horfe; fix kings already

Shew me the way of yielding.

Eno. I'll yet follow

being looft,] To loof is to bring a fhip close to the wind.

STEEVENS.

The

The wounded chance of Antony, though my reafon Sits in the wind against me. [Exeunt, feverally.

SCENE IX.

The palace in Alexandria.

Enter Antony, with Eros and other attendants.

Ant. Hark, the land bids me tread no more upon't,
It is afham'd to bear me !-Friends, come hither;
I am solated in the world, that I

Have loft my way for ever:-I have a fhip
Laden with gold; take that, divide it; fly,
And make your peace with Cæfar.

Omnes. Fly! not we.

Ant. I have fled myself; and have instructed cowards To run, and fhew their fhoulders.-Friends, be gone: I have myself refolv'd upon a course,

Which has no need of you. Be gone,

My treasure's in the harbour:-Take it.-Oh,
I follow'd that I blush to look upon :
My very hairs do mutiny; for the white
Reprove the brown for rashness, and they them
For fear and doating. Friends, begone; you fhall
Have letters from me to fome friends, that will
Sweep your way for you. Pray you, look not fad,
Nor make replies of lothnefs: take the hint,
Which my defpair proclaims. Let that be left,

'The wounded chance of Antony,-] I know not whether the author, who loves to draw his images from the fports of the field, might not have written,

The wounded chafe of Antony,

The allufion is to a deer wounded and chafed, whom all other deer avoid. I will, fays Enobarbus, follow Antony, though chafed

and wounded.

The common reading, however, may very well stand. JOHNS. -fo lated in the world,-] Alluding to a benighted traveller.

O 2

JOHNSON.
Which

Which leaves itself.-To the fea-fide. Straightway
I will poffefs you of that ship and treasure.
Leave me, I pray, a little: pray you now:
Nay, do fo; for, indeed, 'I have loft command,
Therefore, I pray you :-I'll fee you by and by.

Enter Cleopatra, led by Charmian and Iras.

Eros. Nay, gentle madam, to him:-Comfort him. Iras. Do, moft dear queen.

Char. Do! why, what elfe?

Cleo. Let me fit down: oh Juno!

Ant. No, no, no, no, no.

Eros. See you here, fir!

Ant. Oh fy, fy, fy.

Char. Madam,

Iras. Madam, oh good emprefs!
Eros. Sir, fir.

Ant. Yes, my lord, yes ;-4 He at Philippi kept
His fword e'en like a dancer, while I ftruck
The lean and wrinkled Caffius; ' and 'twas I,
'That the mad Brutus ended: he alone

6

Dealt on lieutenantry, and no practice had

3 -I've loft command,] I am not master of my own emotions.

4

-He at Philippi kept

JOHNSON.

His word e'en like a dancer,-] In the Morifco, and perhaps anciently in the Pyrrhick dance, the dancers held fwords in their hands with the points upward. JOHNSON.

and 'twas I,

That the mad Brutus ended: --] Nothing can be more in character, than for an infamous debauched tyrant to call the heroic love of one's country and public liberty, madness. WARBURTON.

6

-be alone

Dealt on lieutenantry,] I know not whether the meaning is, that Cæfar acted only as lieutenant at Philippi, or that he made his attempts only on lieutenants, and left the generals to Antony. JOHNSON.

Dealt on lieutenantry, I believe, means only,-fought by proxy, made war by his lieutenants.

STEEVENS.