Enter TIMON, ALCIBIADES, and Lords, &c. Of Athens, here, my lord. To call upon his own; and humbly prays you, Tim. Mine honest friend, I pr'ythee, but repair to me next morning. Tim. Contain thyself, good friend. Fool. Look you, here comes my mistress' page. Page. [To the Fool.] Why, how now, captain? what do you in this wise company?-How dost thou, Apemantus? Apem. Would I had a rod in my mouth, that I might answer thee profitably. Page. Pr'ythee, Apemantus, read me the super Var. Serv, One Varro's servant, my good lord,scription of these letters; I know not which is He humbly prays your speedy payment,- wants, Var. Serv. 'Twas due on forfeiture, my lord, six weeks, And past, which. Apem. Canst not read? Apem. There will little learning die then, that day thou art hanged. This is to Lord Timon; this to Alcibiades. Go: thou wast born a bastard, and thou'lt die a bawd. Page. Thou wast whelped a dog; and thou shalt Isid. Serv. Your steward puts me off, my lord; famish, a dog's death. Answer not, I am gone. And I am sent expressly to your lordship. Tim. Give me breath, you; I do beseech you, good my lords, keep on; Flav. Tim. See them well entertain'd. Do so, my friends: ⚫ I pray, draw near. Enter APEMANTUS and a Fool." The reason of this? Var. Serv. I could render one. Apem. Do it, then, that we may account thee a whoremaster and a knave; which notwithstanding, Caph. Stay, stay, here comes the fool with Ape- thou shalt be no less esteemed. mantus; let's have some sport with 'em. Var. Serv. Hang him, he'll abuse us. Apem. Dost dialogue with thy shadow? 1 Good even, or good den, was the usual salutation from noon, the moment that good morrow became improper. See Romeo and Juliet, Act ii. Sc. 4. 2 i.e. to hunting; in our author's time it was the custom to hunt as well after dinner as before. Thus in Tancred and Gismunda, 1592, 'He means this evening in the park to hunt. Queen Elizabeth, during her stay at Kenilworth Castle, always hunted in the afternoon. 3 i. e. that you will behave on this occasion in a manner consistent with your other noble qualities. The old.copy reads:of debt, broken bonds.' The emendation, which was made by Malone, is well supported by corresponding passages in the poet. Thus at p. 195, ante : one:" Vur. Serv. What is a whoremaster, fool? Fool. A fool in good clothes, and something like thee. "Tis a spirit: sometime, it appears like a lord; sometime, like a lawyer; sometime, like a philosopher, with two stones more than his artificial He is very often like a knight; and, genehere lost, in which the audience were informed that the fool and the page that follows him belonged to Phrynia, Timandra, or some other courtesan; upon the know. ledge of which depends the greater part of the ensuing jocularity. were put 6 The reputation of the ladies of Corinth for gallantry caused the term to be anciently used for a house of ill repute. The scalding, to which the fool alludes, is the curative process for a certain disease, by means of a tub, which persons affected (according to Randle Holme, Storehouse of Armory, b. iii. p. 441) into, not to boyl up to an heighth, but to parboyl.' In the frontispiece to the Old Latin Comedy of Cornelianum Dolium this sweating tub is represented. It was anciently the practice to scald the feathers off poultry instead of plucking them. 7 Meaning the celebrated object of all alchymical re. search, the philosopher's stone, at that time much talk5 Johnson thought that a scene or passage had been ed of. Sir Thomas Smith was one of those who lost And my reliances on his fracted dates.' rally in all shapes, that man goes up and down in, | When all our offices have been oppress'd Var. Serv. Thou art not altogether a fool. mantus. O my good lord! At many times I brought in my accounts, And your great flow of debts. My dear-lov'd lord, Tim. Tim. To Lacedæmon did my land extend. Fla. O my good lord, the world is but a word;" Were it all yours to give it in a breath, How quickly were it gone? Tim. You tell me true. Flav. If you suspect my husbandry, or falsehood, Call me before the exactest auditors, And set me on the proof. So the gods bless me, considerable sums in seeking of it. Sir Richard Steele was one of the last eminent men who entertained hopes of being successful in this pursuit. His laboratory was at Poplar. 1 The construction is, And made that unaptness your minister.' 2 He does not mean so great a sum, but a certain Bum. 3 Though you now at last listen to my remonstran ees, yet now your affairs are in such a state, that the whole of your remaining fortune will scarce pay half your debts: you are therefore wise too late.' With riotous feeders; when our vaults have wept Pr'ythee, no more. Tim. Great Timon, noble, worthy, royal Timon! Tim. Come, sermon me no further: No villanous bounty yet hath pass'd my heart; Unwis ly, not ignobly, have I given." Why dost thou weep? Canst thou the conscience lack, To think I shall lack friends? Secure thy heart; Flav. Assurance bless your thoughts! Tim. And, in some sort, these wants of mine are crown'd,10 That I account them blessings; for by these Tim. I will despatch you severally. You, to Flar. I have heen bold (For that I knew it the most general way,)" To them to use your signet, and your name; present hour of five until the bell has told eleven, countenances Steevens's explanation; as does another passage, from Shirley's Opportunitie, cited by Mr. Bos well: 'Let all the offices of entertainment The cellar and the buttery are probably meant. was favourable to meditation. 4 How will you be able to subsist in the time inter-ity in the mind of the steward, while its remoteness vening between the payment of the present demands (which your whole substance will hardly satisfy) and the claim of future dues, for which you have no fund whatsoever; and, finally, on the settlement of all accounts, in what a wretched plight will you be i. e. as the world itself may be comprised in a word, you might give it away in a breath. 8 Every reader must rejoice in this circumstance of comfort which presents itself to Timon, who, although beggared through want of prudence, consoles himself with reflection that his ruin was not brought on by the pursuit of guilty pleasures.-Steevens. 9 i. e. the contents of them. The argument of a book was a brief sum of the whole matter contained in it.' So in Hamlet, the king asks concerning the play :Have you heard the argument? is there no offence in it? 6 Steevens asserted that offices here meant apart ments allotted to culinary purposes, the reception of domesties, &c.; and that feeders meant servants. Malone contended that by offices was intended all rooms or places at which refreshments were prepared or served out; as Steevens had explained it in Othello; and that feeders did not here mean servants. It must be confessed that the passage in Othello, All offices are open, and there is full liberty of feasting from this to try many at a time. 10 i. e. dignified, adorned, made gracious. "And yet no day without a deed to crown it.' King Henry VIII. 11'The most general way,' is the most compendious But they do shake their heads, and I am here Tim. Is't true? can it be? sir: And what hast thou there under thy cloak, pretty Flaminius? Flam. 'Faith, nothing but an empty box, sir; which, in my lord's behalf, I come to entreat your honour to supply; who, having great and instant Flav. They answer, in a joint and corporate voice, That now they are at fall, want treasure, cannot Do what they would; are sorry-you are honour-occasion to use fifty talents, hath sent to your lord able, ship to furnish him; nothing doubting your present But yet they could have wish'd-they know not-assistance therein, FLAVIUS. be not sad, Thou art true and honest; ingeniously I speak, Buried his father; by whose death, he's stepp'd To whom 'tis instant due. Ne'er speak, or think, Being free itself, it thinks all others so. [Exeunt Lucul. La, la, la, la,-nothing doubting, says he? alas, good lord! a noble gentleman 'tis, if he would not keep so good a house. Many a time and often I have dined with him, and told him on't; and come again to supper to him, of purpose to have him spend less: and yet he would embrace no counsel, take no warning by my coming. Every man has his fault, and honesty is his; I have told him on't, but I could never get him from it. Re-enter Servant, with wine. Serv. Please your lordship, here is the wine. Lucul. Flaminius, I have noted thee always wise. Here's to thee. Flam. Your lordship speaks your pleasure. Lucul. I have observed thee always for a towardly prompt spirit,-give thee thy due,—and one that knows what belongs to reason: and canst use the time well, if the time use thee well: good parts in thee.-Get you gone, sirrah.-[To the Servant, who goes out.]-Draw nearer, honest Flaminius. Thy lord's a bountiful gentleman; but thou art wise; and thou knowest well enough, although thou comest that this is no time to lend money; especially upon bare friendship, without security. Here's three solidares" for thee; good boy, wink at me, and say, thou saw'st me not. Fare thee well. to me, Flam. Is't possible, the world should so much To him that worships thee. [Throwing the money away. Let molten coin be thy damnation," O, may diseases only work upon't! nature Serv. Here's my lord. Lucul. [Aside. One of Lord Timon's men? a gift, I warrant. Why, this hits right; I dreamt of a silver bason and ewer to-night. Flaminius, honest Which my lord paid for, be of any power Flaminius; you are very respectively welcome, To expel sickness, but prolong his hour!1 [Exit. sir.-Fill me some wine.-[Exit Servant.]-And how does that honourable, complete, free-hearted SCENE II. The same. gentleman of Athens, thy very bountiful good lord and master? Flam. His health is well, sir. Lucul, I am right glad that his health is well, 1 i. e. at an ebb. A public Place. Enter LUCIUS, with three Strangers. Luc. Who, the Lord Timon? he is my very good friend, and an honourable gentleman. 1 Stran. We know 14 him for no less, though we poured down their throats. In the old Shepherd's Ca2 Johnson, Steevens, and Malone have explained in-lendar, Lazarus declares himself to have seen covetous tending here regarding, turning their notice, or attend- men and women in hell dipped in caldrons of molten ing to, &c.: but it certainly means pretending. See metal. And in the old black letter ballad of The Dead King Richard III. Sc. 5. Shakspeare uses pretend in Man's Song:Ladles full of melted gold many places for intend: and I have shown that he Were poured down their throats.' also usos pretend for intend in several instances. Crassus was so punished by the Parthians. 10 So in King Lear : 3 Fractions are broken hints, abrupt remarks. A half-cap is a cap slightly moved, not put off. 4 Liberal, not parsimonious. 5 i. e. consideratively, regardfully. 6 Honesty here means liberality. That nobleness of spirit or honesty that free-born men have.'-Baret. 7 Steevens says, 'I believe this coin is from the mint of the poet. We are not to look for the name of a Greek toin here, but he probably formed it from solidarı, or soldi, a small coin, which Florio makes equal to shillings in value. 8 And we alive now who lived then. As much as to say, in so short a time. 9 One of the punishments invented for the covetous and avaricious in hell of old, was to have melted gold my daughter, Or rather a disease,' &c. 11 i. e. suffering, grief. Othello, when Desdemona weeps, says: O well-dissembled passion.' 12 Some modern editions have changed his honour into this hour. I think the old reading which Steevens explains, "This slave (to the honour of his character) has,' &c. not what is meant to be expressed, and should prefer the correction. 13 i. c. prolong his hour of suffering. Thus Timon, in a future passage, says, 'Live loath'd, and long" 14 Acknowledge. are but strangers to him. But I can tell you one thing, my lord, and which I hear from common rumours; now Lord Timon's happy hours are done and past, and his estate shrinks from him. Luc. Fye, no, do not believe it; he cannot want for money. 2. Stran. But believe you this, my lord, that, not long ago, one of his men was with the Lord Lucullus, to borrow so many talents; nay, urged extremely for't, and showed what necessity belonged to't, and yet was denied. Luc. How? 2 Stran. I tell you, denied, my lord. Luc. What a strange case was that? now, before the gods, I am ashamed on't. Denied that honourable man? there was very little honour showed in't. For my own part, I must needs confess, I have received some small kindnesses from him, as money, plate, jewels, and such like trifles, nothing comparing to his; yet had he mistook him, and sent to me, I should ne'er have denied his occasion so many talents. Enter SERVILIUS. Ser. See, by good hap, yonder's my lord; I have sweat to see his honour.--My honoured lord,[To LUCIUS. Luc. Servilius! you are kindly met, sir. Fare thee well:-Commend me to thy honourable-virtuous lord, my very exquisite friend. Ser. May it please your honour, my lord hath sent Luc. Ha! what has he sent ? I am so much endeared to that lord; he's ever sending: How shall I thank him, thinkest thou? And what has he sent now? Ser. He has only sent his present occasion now, my lord; requesting your lordship to supply his instant use with so many talents." Luc. I know, his lordship is but merry with me; He cannot want fifty-five hundred talents. Ser. But in the mean time he wants less, my lord. If his occasion were not virtuous, 4 I should not urge it half so faithfully. Luc. Dost thou speak seriously, Servilius? Luc. What a wicked beast was I, to disfurnish myself against such a good time, when I might have shown myself honourable! how unluckily it happened, that I should purchase the day before for a little part, and undo a great deal of honour !5 -Servilius, now before the gods, I am not able to do't: the more beast, I say:-I was sending to use Lord Timon myself, these gentlemen can witness; but I would not, for the wealth of Athens, I had done it now. Commend me bountifully to his good lordship and I hope, his honour will conceive the fairest of me, because I have no power to be kind: And tell him this from me, I count it one of my greatest afflictions, say, that I cannot pleasure such an honourable gentleman. Good Servilius, will 1 So many talents,' a common colloquial phrase for an indefinite number: the stranger apparently did not know the exact sum; and yet some editors have artitrarily substituted fifty talents.' 2 Lucius means to insinuate that it would have been a kind of mistake in Timon to apply to him, who had received but few favours from him in comparison to those bestowed on Lucullus. 3 Such is again the reading the old copy supplies; Bome modern editors have here again substituted fifty talents.' But this was the phraseology of the poet's age. In Julius Cæsar, Lucilius says to his adversary :There is so much that thou wilt kill me straight.' 4 If he did not want it for a good use.' 5 i. e. by purchasing what brought me but little honour, I have lost the more honourable opportunity of supplying the wants of my friend.' 6 The old copy reads:-- Is every flatterer's spor! The emendation 's Theobald's. I think with Malone that this speech was never intended for verse, though printed as such in the folio you befriend me so far, as to use mine own words to him? Ser. Yes, sir, I shall. Luc. I will look you out a good turn, Servilius.[Exit SERVILIUS True, as you said, Timon is shrunk, indeed; And he, that's once denied, will hardly speed. [Exit LUCIUS. 1 Stran. Do you observe this, Hostilius? money Is the world's soul; and just of the same piece For mine own part, I never tasted Timon in my life, I would have put my wealth into donation, [Exeunt. Sem. Must he needs trouble me in't? Humph! 'Bove all others? He might have tried Lord Lucius, or Lucullus; Whom he redeem'd from prison: All these Serv. O my lord, They have all been touch'd,” and found base metal ; They have all denied him. Sem. for How! have they denied him? Has Ventidius and Lucullus denied him? It shows but little love or judgment in him. And does he send to me? Three? humph!10 Must I be his last refuge? His friends, like physicians, me?- Thrive," give him over; Must I take the cure upon He has much disgrac'd me in't; I am angry at him, nies to Timon is in proportion to his fortune less than the usual alms given by good men to beggars. 8 The commentators have made difficulties about this passage, of which the meaning appears to be-Had he applied to me, I would have put my wealth into the form of a gift, and have sent him the best half of it. The Stranger could not mean that he would have treated his wealth as a present originally received from Timon,' because he expressly declares that he never tasted his bounties 9 Alluding to the trial of metals by the touchstone Thus in King Richard III. :— O Buckingham, now do I play the touch, To try if thou be current gold indeed.” 10 This speech appears to be mutilated, and therefore unmetrical; the first part of it may perhaps bear modi fying thus: Ventidius, and Lucius, and Lucullus, 7 i. c. in respect of his fortune, What Lucius debut says, perhaps the old reading is the true;' which That might have known my place: I see no sense But his occasions might have woo'd me first; And does he think so backwardly of me now, I had rather than the worth of thrice the sum, I had such a courage to do him good. But now Is like the sun's ; but not, like his, recoverable. "Tis deepest winter in Lord Timon's purse; Phi. I am of your fear for that. Tit. I'll show you how to observe a strange event. Hor. Hor. It is against my heart. Mark, how strange it shows, And with their faint reply this answer join ; Of such a nature is his politic love. This was my lord's best hope; now all are fled, [Exit. SCENE IV. The same. A Hall in Timon's House. Enter two Servants of VARRO, and the Servant of LUCIUS, meeting TITUS, HORTENSIUS, and other Servants to TIMON's Creditors, waiting his coming out. Hor. I am weary of this charge," the gods can witness: know, my lord hath spent of Timon's wealth, And now ingratitude makes it worse than stealth. 1 Var. Serv. Yes, mine's three thousand crowns: What's yours? Luc. Serv. Five thousand mine. ] Var. Serv. 'Tis much deep and it should seem Your master's confidence was above mine; Enter FLAMINIUS. Tit. One of Lord Timon's men. Luc. Serv. Flaminius! sir, a word: Pray, is my lord ready to come forth? Flam. No, indeed, he is not. Tit. We attend his lordship; 'pray, signify so much. Luc. Serv. Ha! is not that his steward muffled so? Var. Serv. Well met; good-morrow, Titus and He goes away in a cloud call him, call him. Hortensius. Luc. Serv. Tit. Do you hear, sir? 1 Var. Serv. By your leave, sir, Flav. What do you ask of me, my friend? Flav. Ay, If money were as certain as your waiting, Upon his debts, and take down th' interest but wrong, To stir me up; let me pass quietly: Not yet."Tis not so base as you; for you serve knaves. [Exit. Phi. I wonder on't; he was wont to shine at seven. with him: You must consider that a prodigal course ship mutter? generous jealousy of friendship, that is affronted if any Steevens illustrates by the following passage in Web-other be applied to before it.' ster's Datchess of Malfy Physicians thus, With their hands full of money, use to give o'er The passage will then mean, His friends, like phy. sicians, thrive by his bounty and fees, and either relinquish and forsake him, or give up his case as desperate. It is remarked by Malone that Webster has frequently imitated Shakspeare, and that this passage may be an imitation of that in the text. 1 I take the sense of this passage to be, "The devil knew not what he did when he made man politic, (i. e. crafty, or full of cunning shifts:) he thwarted himself by so doing, overreached himself: and I cannot think but in the end the villanies of man will (make the devil appear in comparison innocent) set him clear, and that they will change places; man becoming the tempter, not the tempted. 2 Warburton thinks that this is levelled at the Puritans. Sempronius, like them, takes a virtuous semblance to be wicked, pretending that warm affection and 3 i. e. keep within doors for fear of duns. Thus in Measure for Measure, Act iii. Sc. 2: You will turn good husband now, Pompey, you will keep the house.' 4 i. e. like him in blaze and splendor. 'Soles occidere et redire possunt.”— Catull. 5 Still perhaps alluding to the effects of winter, during which some animals are obliged to seek their scanty provision through a depth of snow. 6 The old copy reads, For which I wait for money.' 7 i. e. this office or employment. 8 The commentators thought this simple passage required a comment; and the reader will be surprised o hear that it bears several constructions. It is obvious that the meaning is, it should seem by the sum your master lent, his confidence in Timon was greater than that of my master, clse surely my master's loan had equalled his. If there be any obscurity, it is because the relative pronoun his does not quite clearly refer to I should not have its immediate antecedent mine. thought the passage needed explanation, had it not been the subject of contention. |