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P. 181, 1. 10. put thine iron on : -} I think it should be rather,

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Thine iron is the iron which thou hast in thy hand, i. e. Antony's armour. So, in King Henry 7. Henry says to a soldier, "Give me thy glove;" meaning Henry's own glove, which the soldier at that moment had in his hat. MALONE.

P. 181,1. 15-18. Cleo. Nay, I'll help too. &c.] These three little speeches, which in the other editions are only one, and given to Cleopatra, were happily disentangled by Sir T. Hanmer.

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EN JOHNSON.

Briefly, Sir.] That is, quickly,

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↑ P. 181, 1. 23. Sir. JOHNSON. P. 181, 1. 27. To doff't for our repose,] To doff is to do off to put off. STEEVENS. Amutax P. 181, 1. 29. More tight at this, than thou Tight is handy, adroit. So, in The Merry Wives of Windsor: "bear you these letters tightly." In the country, a tight lass still signifies a handy one. STEEVENS,

P. 183, 1. 5. Sold. The Gods make this a happy day to Antony!-] 'Tis evident, as Dr. Thirlby likewise conjectured, by what Antony immediately replies, that this line should not be placed to Eros, but to the soldier, who, before the battle of Actium, advised Antony to try his fate at land. THEOBALD.

The same mistake has, I think, happened in the next two speeches addressed to Antony, which are also given in the old copy to Eros, I have

given them to the soldier, who would naturally reply to what Antony said. Antony's words, "What says thou?" compared with what follows, shew that the speech beginning, "Who? One ever near thee" &c. belongs to the soldier. This regulation was made by Mr. Capell.

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MALONE.

P. 183, last but one 1. Eros, despatch. } Thus the second folio; except that these two words are here, for the sake of metre, transposed, The first folio has

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Dispatch Enobarbus.

Dr. Johnson would read:

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Despatch! To Enobarbus ;

And Mr. Holt White supposes that "Antony, being astonished at the news of the desertion of Enobarbus, merely repeats his name in a tone of surprize.

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In my opinion, Antony was designed only to enforce the order he had already given to Eros. I have therefore followed the second folio.

STEEVENS.

It will be evident to any person who consults the second folio with attention and candour, that many of the alterations' must have been furnished by some corrected copy of the first folio, or an authority of equal weight, being such as no person, much less one so ignorant and capricious as the editor has been represented, could have possibly hit upon, without that sort of information. Among these valuable emendations is the present, which affords a striking improvement both of the sense and of the metre, and should of course be inserted in the text, thus:

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Corrupted honest men. Eros, despatch! The same transposition, which is a mere though

frequent inadvertence of the press, has happened in a subsequent scene:

"Unarm, Eros, the long day's task is done:" Where the measure plainly requires, as the author must have written, Eros, unarm,

RITSON. P. 184, 1. 6. Our will is, Antony be took alive; It is observ

able with what judgment, Shakspeare draws the character of Octavius. Antony was his hero; so the other was not to shine yet being an historical character, there was a necessity to draw him like. But the ancient historians, his flatterers, had delivered him down so fair, that he seems ready cut and dried for a hero. Amidst these difficulties Shakspeare has extricated himself with great address He has admitted all those great strokes racter as he found them, set best of his chan a very unamiable character, deceitful, mean-spirited, n narrow-minded, proud, and revengeful. WARBURTON, “P. 184, I. 10-12. Prove this a prosperous day, the three-nook'd world Shall bear the olive freely.] i, e. shall spring up every where spontaneously and without culture. WARBURTON.

Dr.Warburton mistakes the sense of the passage. To bear does not mean to produce, but to carry, and the meaning is, that the world shall then enjoy the blessings of peace, of which olive-branches were the emblem. The success, of Augustus could not so change the nature of things, as to make the olive-tree. grow without culture in all climates, but it shut the gates of the temple of Janns. M. MASON.

I doubt whether Mr. M. Mason's explication of the word bear he just. The poet certainly did

not intend to speak literally; and might only mean, that, should this prove a prosperous day, there would be no occasion to labour to effect a peace throughout the world; it would take place without any effort or negotiation. MALONE.

1. 184, 1. 21. 22.

there did persuade

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Great Herod to incline himself to Caesar,] The old copy has dissuade, perhaps rightly, JOHNSON.

It is undoubtedly corrupt. The words in the old translation of Plutarch are: "for where he should have kept Herodes from revolting from him, he persuaded him to turne to Caesar.

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MALONE. 1. 185, 1. 10. 11. I am alone the villain of the earth, And feel I am so most.] That is, and feel I am so, more than any one else thinks it.

M. MASON. Surely, this explanation cannot be right. I am alone the villain of the earth, means, I am pre-eminently the first, the greatest villain of the earth. To stand alone, is still used in that sense, where any one towers above his competitors. And feel I am so most, must signify, I feel or know it myself, more than any other person ean or does feel it. REED.

P. 185, 1, 15-18.

This blows my heart: If swift thought break it not, a swifter

eping mean

by Shall outstrike thought but thought will

latter editions have:

do't, I feel,] All the

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This bows my heart:

I have given the original word again the place from which I think it unjustly excluded. This

generosity, (says Enobarbus,) swells my heart, so that it will quickly break, if thought break it not, a swifter mean. JonNSON.

That to blow means to puff or swell, the following instance, in the last scene of this play will sufficiently prove:

on her breast

"There is a vent of blood, and something blown." STEEVENS. Thought, in this passage, as in many others, signifies melancholy. MALONE. C

P. 185, last lines,

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and our oppression

Exceeds what we expected.]

for opposition. WARBURTON.

Oppression

Sir T. Hanmer has received opposition. Perhaps rightly. JOHNSON.

Our oppression means, the force by which we are oppress'd or overpowered. MALONE.

P. 186, 1. 28.

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let the Queen know of our

guests.] Antony Tafter his success intends to bring his officers to sup with Cleopatra, and orders notice to be given of their guests. JOHNSON.

P. 187, 1. 4. is to embrace. , 187, 1. 10.

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clip your wives, ] To clip STEEVENS.

To this great fairy I commend ee thy acts, Mr. Upton has well observed, that fairy, which Dr. Warburton and Sir T, Hanmer explain by Inchantress, comprises the idea of power and beauty. JOHNSON.

Fairy in former times did not signify only a diminutive imaginary being, but an inchanter, in which last sense, as has been observed, it is used here. But Mr. Upton's assertion that it comprizes the idea of beauty as well as power, seems questionable; for Sir W. D'Avenaut employs the

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