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And flies flee under fhade, Why, then, the thing of

courage,

As rowz'd with rage, with rage doth fympathize,

And with an accent tun'd in felf-fame key, 'Returns to chiding fortune.

Ulyff. Agamemnon,—

Thou great commander, nerve and bone of Greece,
Heart of our numbers, foul and only spirit,

In whom the tempers and the minds of all
Should be shut up,-hear what Ulyffes fpeaks.
Befides the applause and approbation

The which,-moft mighty for thy place and sway,

[To Agamemnon.

And thou most reverend for thy ftretcht-out life,

t

[To Neftor.
I give to both your speeches,— ' which were fuch,
As Agamemnon and the hand of Greece
Should hold up high in brass; and fuch again,
As venerable Neftor, hatch'd in filver,

Should with a bond of air (ftrong as the axle-tree
On which heaven rides) knit all the Greekifh ears
To his experienc'd tongue,—yet let it please both,—
"Thou great, and wife,-to hear Ulyffes fpeak.

W

Agam. Speak, prince of Ithaca; and be't of lefs ex

pect

That matter needlefs, of importless burden,

the thing of courage,]-the fierce tyger roars moft in ftorms. • Returns]-its own notes.

which were fuch, &c.]—As that Agamemnon's ought to be engraven on a table of brafs, fupported on the one fide by the Prince, and on the other by Greece, in token of that perfect harmony which fubfifts between them; and for Neftor's a filver medal fhould be voted, exhibiting him in the attitude of haranguing his countrymen, and rivetting their attention by his eloquence, that powerful bond of air. "Though great and wife. * and we lefs.

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Divide thy lips; than we are confident,
When rank Therfites opes his mastiff jaws,
We fhall hear mufic, wit, and oracle.

Uly. Troy, yet upon her bafis, had been down,
And the great Hector's fword had lack'd a master,
But for thefe inftances.

* The fpecialty of rule hath been neglected;
And, look, how many Grecian tents do ftand
Upon this plain, fo many hollow factions.
When that the general is not like the hive,
To whom the foragers fhall all repair,

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What honey is expected? Degree being vizarded,
The unworthieft fhews as fairly in the mask.

2

The heavens themselves, the planets, and this center,
Obferve degree, priority, and place,

'Infifture, course, proportion, feafon, form,
Office, and custom, in all line of order:
And therefore is the glorious planet, Sol,
In noble eminence enthron'd and spher'd
Amidft the other; whofe med'cinable eye
Corrects the ill afpects of planets evil,

And posts, like the commandment of a king,

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Sans check, to good and bad: But, when the planets,

In evil mixture, to disorder wander,

What plagues, and what portents? what mutiny?
What raging of the fea? fhaking of earth?
Commotion in the winds? frights, changes, horror,

The specialty of rule]-The peculiar rights of fovereignty. Y When that the general, &c.]-When an army is not under a control fimilar to that of a hive of bees, and the commander's tent ceases to be the feat of public refort, for the benefit of the whole body. Degree being vizarded,]—Diftinction of rank being destroyed. this center,]-the earth, then thought the center of the univerfal fyftem. b Infiflure,]-ftation. In evil mixture,]-Forming unfavourable conjunctions.

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d

Divert and crack, rend and deracinate

The unity and married calm of states

Quite from their fixture? So, when degree is shak'd,
Which is the ladder to all high defigns,

h

Then enterprize is fick! How could communities,
Degrees in schools, and brotherhoods in cities,
Peaceful commerce from dividable fhores,
The primogeniture and due of birth,
Prerogative of age, crowns, fcepters, laurels,
But by degree, ftand in authentic place?
Take but degree away, untune that string,
And, hark, what difcord follows! each thing meets
In mere oppugnancy: The bounded waters
Should lift their bofoms higher than the shores,
And make a fop of all this folid globe:

Strength should be lord of imbecility,

And the rude fon fhould ftrike his father dead: Force fhould be right; or, rather, right and wrong (Between whose endless jar justice 1 refides)

i

Should lofe their names, and fo should justice too.

k

Then every thing * includes itself in
Power into will, will into appetite;

And appetite, 'an univerfal wolf,

power,

So doubly feconded with will and power,
Muft make perforce an univerfal prey,
And, laft, eat up himself. Great Agamemnon,
This chaos, when degree is fuffocate,

d deracinate]-root up.

e married-harmonious" married lineament."

ROMEO AND JULIET, A& I. S. 3. La. Cap.

f brother boods]-companies.

hauthentic]-proper, juft, appointed.

i refides)]-as
as an arbitrator.

dividable]-divided, diftant.

* includes itself—is abforbed into power, which, becoming fole agent, foon converts itself into will, &c.

ว an univerfal wolf,]-perhaps alluding to the Edda, or eating ulcer.

Follows

Follows the choaking.

And this neglection of, degree it is,

That" by a pace goes backward, with a purpose
It hath to climb: The general's disdain'd
By him one step below; he, by the next;
That next, by him beneath: fo every step,
Exampled by the first pace that is fick

Of his fuperior, grows to an envious fever
Of pale and bloodlefs emulation:

n

And 'tis this fever that keeps Troy on foot,
Not her own finews. To end a tale of length,
Troy in our weakness ftands, not in her strength.
Neft. Moft wifely hath Ulyffes here discover'd
The fever whereof all our power is fick.

Agam. The nature of the ficknefs found, Ulyffes,
What is the remedy?

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Ulyff. The great Achilles,-whom opinion crowns

The finew and the forehand of our hoft,

Having his ear full of his airy fame,

Grows dainty of his worth, and in his tent

Lies mocking our defigns: With him, Patroclus,
Upon a lazy bed, the livelong day

Breaks fcurril jefts;

And with ridiculous and aukward action

(Which, flanderer, he imitation calls)

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Thy topless deputation he puts on;

And, like a ftrutting player,-whofe conceit
Lies in his ham-ftring, and doth think it rich.

m by a pace goes backward,]-gradually depreffes its immediate fuperiour, with a view to advance itself.

n bloodless]-frigid, sluggish, malignant rivalry.

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To hear the wooden dialogue and found
'Twixt his stretch'd footing and the scaffoldage,—
Such to-be-pitied and o'er-wrefted feeming

He acts thy greatness in: and when he speaks,
'Tis like a chime a mending; with terms' unfquar'd,
Which, from the tongue of roaring Typhon drop'd,
Would feem hyperboles. At this fusty stuff,
The large Achilles, on his prefs'd bed lolling,
From his deep cheft laughs out a loud applause;
Cries-Excellent!-'tis Agamemnon just.—
Now play me Neftor;-hem, and stroke thy beard,
As be, being 'dreft to fome oration.

That's done;-as near" as the extremeft ends
Of parallels; as like as Vulcan and his wife :
Yet good Achilles ftill cries, Excellent!
'Tis Neftor right! Now play him me, Patroclus,
Arming to anfwer in a night alarm.

And then, forfooth, the faint defects of age
Must be the scene of mirth; to cough, and spit,
And with a palfy-fumbling on his gorget,

W

I

Shake in and out the rivet and at this fport,
Sir Valour dies; cries, O!-enough, Patroclus;-
Or give me ribs of fteel! fhall split all
In pleasure of my spleen. And in this fashion,
All our abilities, gifts, natures, shapes,
* Severals and generals of grace exact,
Atchievements, plots, orders, preventions,
Excitements to the field, or fpeech for truce,

the wooden dialogue and found]-the echo of his loud ftamp on the ftage returning from the roof of the theatre.

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unfquar'd]-irregular, untuneable.

'dreft to]-upon the point of speaking.

as the extremeft ends of parallels ;]—as caft and weft.

pally-palfy'd, paralytic.

* Severals and generals of grace exact,]-All our personal or national accomplishments, however decent and irreprehenfible.

Succefs,

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