SCENE VI.

Near Mifenum.

Enter POMPEY, and MENAS, at one fide, with drum and trumpet: at another, CESAR, LEPIDUS, ANTONY, ENOBARBUS, MECENAS, with foldiers marching.

POм. Your hoftages I have, fo have you mine; And we shall talk before we fight.

CES.

Most meet,

That first we come to words; and therefore have we
Our written purposes before us fent:

Which, if thou haft confider'd, let us know
If 'twill tie up thy difcontented fword;
And carry back to Sicily much tall youth,
That else must perish here.

Ром.
To you all three,
The fenators alone of this great world,
Chief factors for the gods,-I do not know,
Wherefore my father fhould revengers want,
Having a fon, and friends; fince Julius Cæfar,
Who at Philippi the good Brutus ghofted,'
There faw you labouring for him. What was it,
That mov'd pale Caffius to confpire? And what
Made the all-honour'd, honeft, Roman Brutus,
With the arm'd reft, courtiers of beauteous freedom,
To drench the Capitol; but that they would

9 the good Brutus ghofted,] This verb is also used by Burton, in his Anatomy of Melancholy. Preface p. 22. edit. 1632. "What madneffe ghofts this old man? but what madnesse ghofts us all? STEEVENS.

2 Made the] Thus the fecond folio. In the firft, the article the is omitted, to the manifest injury of the metre. STEEVENS.

Have one man but a man? And that is it,
Hath made me rig my navy; at whofe burden
The anger'd ocean foams; with which I meant
To fcourge the ingratitude that defpiteful Rome
Caft on my noble father.

CES.

Take your time.

ANT. Thou canst not fear us,3 Pompey, with thy

fails,

We'll speak with thee at fea: at land, thou know'st How much we do o'er-count thee.

Ром. At land, indeed, Thou doft o'er-count me of my father's houfe: + But, fince the cuckoo builds not for himself,

3 Thou canst not fear us,] Thou canst not affright us with thy numerous navy. JOHNSON.

So, in Meafure for Measure:

"Setting it up, to fear the birds of prey." STEEVENS. 4 At land, indeed,

Thou doft o'er-count me of my father's houfe:] At land indeed thou doft exceed me in poffeffions, having added to thy own my father's houfe. O'er-count feems to be ufed equivocally, and Pompey perhaps meant to infinuate that Antony not only out-numbered, but had over-reached, him. The circumstance here alluded to our author found in the old tranflation of Plutarch: "Afterwards, when Pompey's house was put to open fale, Antonius bought it; but when they afked him money for it, he made it very ftraunge, and was offended with them."

Again: Whereupon Antonius afked him [Sextus Pompeius,] And where fhall we fup? There, fayd Pompey; and fhowed him his admiral galley, which had fix benches of owers: that faid he is my father's houfe they have left me. He fpake it to taunt Antonius, because he had his father's houfe, that was Pompey the great. See p. 521, n. 4. MALONE.

5 But, fince the cuckoo builds not for himself, &c] Since, like the cuckoo, that feizes the nefts of other birds, you have invaded a houfe which you could not build, keep it while you can.

JOHNSON.

So, in P. Holland's tranflation of Pliny, B. X. ch. ix:
"Thefe (cuckows) lay alwaies in other birds' nefts,"

STEEVENS.

Remain in't, as thou may'st.

LEP.

Be pleas'd to tell us,

(For this is from the prefent,*) how you take The offers we have fent you.

CES.

There's the point.

ANT. Which do not be entreated to, but weigh What it is worth embrac’d.

CES.

To try a larger fortune.

Ром.

And what may follow,

You have made me offer

Of Sicily, Sardinia; and I must

Rid all the fea of pirates; then, to fend Measures of wheat to Rome: This 'greed upon, Το part with unhack'd edges, and bear back Our targe' undinted.

CES. ANT. LEP. That's our offer.

Ром.

Know then,

I came before you here, a man prepar'd
To take this offer: But Mark Antony
Put me to fome impatience :-Though I lose
The praise of it by telling, You must know,
When Cæfar and your brothers were at blows,
Your mother came to Sicily, and did find
Her welcome friendly.

ANT.

I have heard it, Pompey;

And am well ftudied for a liberal thanks,
Which I do owe you.

Ром.

Let me have your hand: I did not think, fir, to have met you here.

this is from the prefent,] i. e. foreign to the object of our prefent difcuffion. See Vol. III. p. 7, n. 7. STEEVENS. 5 Our targe] Old copy, unmetrically-targes. STEEVENS.

ANT. The beds i' the east are foft; and thanks

to you,

That call'd me, timelier than my purpose, hither;

For I have gain'd by it.

CES.

Since I faw you last,

Well, I know not

There is a change upon you.

Ром.

What counts harsh fortune cafts upon my face;" But in my bofom shall she never come,

To make my heart her vaffal.

LEP.

Well met here.

POм. I hope fo, Lepidus.-Thus we are agreed: I crave, our compofition may be written,

And feal'd between us.

CES.

That's the next to do.

POм. We'll feast each other, ere we part; and

let us

Draw lots, who shall begin.

ANT.

That will I, Pompey.

Pом. No, Antony, take the lot:" but, first,

Or laft, your fine Egyptian cookery

Shall have the fame. I have heard, that Julius

6 What counts harsh fortune casts &c.] Metaphor from making marks or lines in cafting accounts in arithmetick. WARBURTON. take the lot:] Perhaps (a fyllable being here wanting to the metre,) our author wrote:

take we the lot." STEEVENS. meanings,] Former editions, meaning. REED.

The correction was fuggefted by Mr. Heath. MALONE.

Ром. Then fo much have I heard:And I have heard, Apollodorus carried―

What, I pray you?

ENO. No more of that :-He did fo.
Ром.
ENO. A certain queen to Cæfar in a mattress."
Poм. I know thee now; How far'ft thou, soldier?
ENO.

And well am like to do; for, I perceive,

Four feafts are toward.

Ром.

Well;

Let me shake thy hand;

I never hated thee: I have feen thee fight,
When I have envied thy behaviour.

ENO.

Sir,

I never lov'd you much; but I have prais'd you, When you have well deferv'd ten times as much As I have faid you did.

Ром.

Enjoy thy plainness,

It nothing ill becomes thee.

Aboard my galley I invite you all:

Will you lead, lords?

CES. ANT. LEP. Show us the way, fir.

Ром.

Come.

[Exeunt POMPEY, CESAR, ANTONY, LEPIDUS, Soldiers, and Attendants.

MEN. Thy father, Pompey, would ne'er have made this treaty.-[afide.]-You and I have known,

fir.$

1 A certain queen to Cæfar in a mattrefs.] i. e. To Julius Cæfar. STEEVENS.

This is from the margin of North's Plutarch, 1579: Cleopatra truffed up in a maitreffe, and fo brought to Cafar, upon Apollodorus backe." RITSON.

8 You and I have known, fir.] i. e. been acquainted. So, in Cymbeline: Sir, we have known together at Orleans." STEEVENS.