Vouchsaf'd to think he had partners:4 You shall find there A man, who is the abstract of all faults

That all men follow.

Lep.

I must not think, there are

Evils enough to darken all his goodness:

His faults, in him, seem as the spots of heaven,
More fiery by night's blackness; hereditary,

Vouchsaf'd to think he had partners] The irregularity of metre in the first of these lines induces me to suppose the second originally and elliptically stood thus:

Or vouchsaf'd think he had partners &c.

So, in Cymbeline, Act II, sc. ii:

Will force him think I have pick'd the lock" &c.

not to think. Steevens.

5 as the spots of heaven,

More fiery by night's blackness;] If by spots are meant stars, as night has no other fiery spots, the comparison is forced and harsh, stars having been always supposed to beautify the night; nor do I comprehend what there is in the counterpart of this simile, which answers to night's blackness. Hanmer reads:

spots on ermine,

Or fires, by night's blackness. Johnson.

The meaning seems to be-As the stars or spots of heaven are not obscured, but rather rendered more bright, by the blackness of the night, so neither is the goodness of Antony eclipsed by his evil qualities, but, on the contrary, his faults seem enlarged and aggravated by his virtues.

That which answers to the blackness of the night, in the counterpart of the simile, is Antony's goodness. His goodness is a ground which gives a relief to his faults, and makes them stand out more prominent and conspicuous.

It is objected, that stars rather beautify than deform the night. But the poet considers them here only with respect to their prominence and splendour. It is sufficient for him that their scintillations appear stronger in consequence of darkness, as jewels are more resplendent on a black ground than on any other. That the prominence and splendour of the stars were alone in Shakspeare's contemplation, appears from a passage in Hamlet, where a similar thought is less equivocally expressed:

"Your skill shall, like a star i' the darkest night,
"Stick fiery off indeed."

A kindred thought occurs in King Henry V:

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though the truth of it stands off as gross
"As black from white, my eye will scarcely see it."

Again, in King Henry IV, P. 1:

"And like bright metal on a sullen ground,

My reformation, glittering o'er my fault,

Rome. An Apartment in Enter OCTAVIUS CESAR, LEP Cas. You may see, Lepidus, a It is not Cæsar's natural vice to! One great competitor :3 From Ale This is the news; He fishes, drinks The lamps of night in revel: is nou Than Cleopatra; nor the queen of More womanly than he: hardly gave

It is to this, perhaps, that she allude That conduct which, in my own opinion, b it appears ungraceful to you, is a shock to

1 laurel'd victory!] Thus the sec rate predecessor of it-laurel victory. St

2 That thou, residing here, &c.] This co suggested by the following passage in Sid "She went they staid; or, rightly "She staid with them, they went Thus also, in The Mercator of Plautus: animus; sin foris sum, animus domi est." 3 One great competitor:] Perhaps-Our

Johnson is certainly right in his conject read-" Our great competitor," as this s Lepidus, his partner in the empire. Comp does wherever the word occurs in Shaksp ner. So Menas says:

"These three world-sharers, these "Are in thy vessel."

And again, Cæsar, speaking of Antony, sa "That thou, my brother, my compe "In top of all design, my mate in e

Rather than purchas'd; what he cannot change,
Than what he chooses.

Cas. You are too indulgent: Let us grant, it is not
Amiss to tumble on the bed of Ptolemy;

To give a kingdom for a mirth; to sit

And keep the turn of tippling with a slave;
To reel the streets at noon, and stand the buffet

With knaves that smell of sweat: say, this becomes him, (As his composure must be rare indeed,

Whom these things cannot blemish,7) yet must Antony No way excuse his soils, when we do bear

"Shall show more goodly, and attract more eyes, "Than that which hath no foil to set it off." Malone. See Hamlet, Act V, sc. ii. Steevens.

6

7

- purchas'd;] Procured by his own fault or endeavour. Johnson.

say, this becomes him,

(As his composure must be rare indeed,

Whom these things cannot blemish,)] This seems inconsequent. 1 read:

And his composure &c.

Grant that this becomes him, and if it cannot become him, he must have in him something very uncommon, yet, &c. Johnson. Though the construction of this passage, as Dr. Johnson observes, appears harsh, there is, I believe, no corruption. In As you Like it we meet with the same kind of phraseology: what though you have beauty,

(As by my faith I see no more in you

"Than without candle may go dark to bed,)
"Must you therefore be proud and pitiless?"

See Vol. V, p. 101, n. 7. Malone.

8 No way excuse his soils,] The old copy has-foils. For the emendation now made I am answerable. In the MSS. of our author's time f and f are often undistinguishable, and no two letters are so often confounded at the press. Shakspeare has so regularly used this word in the sense required here, that there cannot, I imagine, be the smallest doubt of the justness of this emendation. So, in Hamlet:

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and no soil, nor cautel, doth besmirch "The virtue of his will.”

Again, in Love's Labour's Lost:

"The only soil of his fair virtue's gloss."

Again, in Measure for Measure:

"Who is as free from touch or soil with her,
"As she from one ungot."

Again, ibid:

"My unsoil'd name, the austereness of my life." Again, in King Henry IV, P. II:

So great weight in his lightness. If he fill'd
His vacancy with his voluptuousness,

Full surfeits, and the dryness of his bones,
Call on him for 't: but, to confound such time,2
That drums him from his sport, and speaks as loud
As his own state, and ours,-'tis to be chid

As we rate boys; who, being mature in knowledge,s
Pawn their experience to their present pleasure,
And so rebel to judgment.

Lep.

Enter a Messenger.

Here's more news.

Mess. Thy biddings have been done; and every hour, Most noble Cæsar, shalt thou have report How 'tis abroad. Pompey is strong at sea; And it appears, he is belov'd of those That only have fear'd Cæsar:4 to the ports The discontents repair, and men's reports

"For all the soil of the achievement goes
"With me into the earth."

In the last Act of the play before us we find an expression nearly synonymous:

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His taints and honours

"Wag'd equal in him."

Again, in Act II, sc. iii:

"Read not my blemishes in the world's reports." Malone. 9 So great weight in his lightness,] The word light is one of Shakspeare's favourite play-things. The sense is-His trifling levity throws so much burden upon us. Johnson.

1 Call on him for 't:] Call on him, is, visit him. Says CæsarIf Antony followed his debaucheries at a time of leisure, I should leave him to be punished by their natural consequences, by surfeits and dry bones. Johnson.

2

3

to confound such time,] See p. 191, n. 8. Malone.

boys; who, being mature in knowledge,] For this Hanmer, who thought the maturity of a boy an inconsistent idea, has put: who, immature in knowledge:

but the words experience and judgment require that we read mature: though Dr. Warburton has received the emendation. By boys mature in knowledge, are meant, boys old enough to know their duty. Johnson.

4 That only have fear'd Cæsar :] Those whom not love but fear made adherents to Cæsar, now show their affection for Pompey. Johnson.

5 The discontents repair,] That is, the malecontents. So, in King Henry IV, P. I: