Be thou a flatterer now, and seek to thrive
By that which has undone thee: hinge thy knee,
And let his very breath, whom thou'lt observe,
Blow off thy cap; praise his most vicious strain,
And call it excellent: Thou wast told thus;
Thou gav'st thine ears, like tapsters, that bid welcome,
To knaves, and all approachers: 'Tis most just,
That thou turn rascal; hadst thou wealth again,
Rascals should have't. Do not assume my likeness.

Tim. Were I like thee, I'd throw away myself.

Apem.Thou bastcastaway thyself,being like thyself; A madman so long, now a fool: What, think'st That the bleak air, thy boisterous chamberlain, Will put thy shirt on warm? Will these moss'd trees, That have outlivď the eagle, page thy heels, And skip when thou point'st out? Will the cold brook, Candied with ice, caudle thy morning taste, To cure thy o'ernight's surfeit? call the creatures, Whose naked natures live in all the spite Of wreakful heaven; whose bare unhoused trunks, To the conflicting elements expos’d, Answer mere nature,-bid them flatter thee; O! thou shalt find

Tim. Thou art a slave, whom Fortune's tender arm With favour never clasp'd ; but bred a dog, Hadst thou, like us, from our first swath *, proceeded The sweet degrees that this brief world affords To such as may the passive drugs of it Freely command, thou would'st have plung'd thyself In general riot; melted down thy youth In different beds of lust; and never learn'd The icy precepts of respect t, but follow'd The sugar'd game before thee. But myself, Who had the world as my confectionary ; The mouths, the tongues, the eyes, and hearts of men At duty, more than I could frame employment;

* From infancy.
+ The cold admonitions of cautious prudence.

That numberless upon me stuck, as leaves
Do on the oak, have with one winter's brush
Fell from their boughs, and left me open, bare
For every storm that blows;-1, to bear this,
That never knew but better, is some burden:
Thy nature did commence in sufferance, time [men?
Hath made thee hard in't. Why should'st thou hate
They never flatter'd thee: What hast thou given?
If thou wilt curse,-thy father, that poor rag,
Must be thy subject; who, in spite, put stuff
To some she beggar, and compounded thee
Poor rogue hereditary. Hence! be gone!-
If thou hadst not been born the worst of men,
Thou badst been a knave, and flatterer.

ON GOLD.

$

0, thou sweet king-killer, and dear divorce

[Looking on the Gold. "Twixt natural son and sire! Thou bright defiler Of Hymen's purest bed! thou valiant Mars ! Thou ever young, fresh, lov'd, and delicate wooer, Whose blush doth thaw the consecrated snow That lies on Dian's lap! thou visible god, That solder’st close impossibilities, And mak'st them kiss! that speak'st with

every tongue, To every purpose ; 0, thou touch * of hearts ! Think, thy slave man rebels; and by thy virtue Set them into confounding odds, that beasts May have the world in empire!

TIMON TO THE THIEVES.

Why should you want? Behold, the earth hath roots ; Within this mile break forth a hundred springs: 'The oaks bear mast, the briars scarlet hips; The bounteous housewife, nature, on each bush Lays her full mess before you. Want? why want?

1 Thief. We cannot live on grass, on berries, water, As beasts, and birds, and fishes.

[fishes; Tim. Nor on the beasts themselves, the birds, and

You must eat men.

Yet thanks I must you con, That you are thieves profess'd; that you work not In holier shapes: for there is boundless theft In limited* professions. Rascal thieves, Here's gold: Go, suck the subtle blood of the grape, Till the high fever seeth your blood to froth, And so 'scape hanging: trust not the physician; His antidotes are poison, and he slays More than you rob: take wealth and lives together; Do, villany, do, since you profess to do't, Like workmen. I'll example you with thievery: The sun's a thief, and with his great attraction Robs the vast sea: the moon's an arrant thief, And her pale fire she snatches from the sun: The sea's a thief, whose liquid surge resolves The moon into salt tears: the earth's a thief, That feeds and breeds by a composturet stolen From general excrement: each thing's a thief; The laws, your curb and whip, in their rough power Have uncheck'd theft. Love not yourselves: away; Rob one another. There's more gold: Cut throats; All that you meet are thieves: To Athens, go, Break open shops; nothing can you steal, But thieves do lose it.

ON HIS HONEST STEWARD.

Forgive my general and exceptless rashness,
Perpetual sober gods! I do proclaim
One honest man,-mistake me not,—but one ;
No more, I pray,—and he is a steward.-
How fain would I have hated all mankind,
And thou redeem'st thyself: But all, save thee,
I fell with curses.
Methinks, thou art more honest now, than wise ;
For, by oppressing and betraying me,
Thou might'st have sooner got another service:
For many so arrive at second masters,
Upon their first lord's neck.
* For legal.

+ Compost, manure.

ACT V.

PROMISING AND PERFORMANCE.

PROMISING is the very air o' the time: it opens the eyes of ex on : performance is ever the duller for his act; and, but in the plainer and simpler kind of people, the deed of saying * is quite out of use. To promise is most courtly and fashionable: performance is a kind of will or testament, which argues a great sickness in his judgment that makes it.

WRONG AND INSOLENCE.

Now breathless wrong
Shall sit and pant in your great chairs of ease;
And pursy insolence shall break his wind,
With fear and horrid flight.

Titus Andronicus.

ACT I.

MERCY.

Wilt thou draw near the nature of the gods?
Draw near them then in being merciful:
Sweet mercy is nobility's true badge.

THANKS.

Thanks, to men Of noble minds, is honourable meed.

* The doing of that we said we would do.

My lovely Aaron, wherefore look'st thou sad,
When every thing doth make a gleeful boast?
The birds chaunt melody on every bush ;
The snake lies rolled in the cheerful sun;
The green leaves quiver with the cooling wind,
And make a chequer'd shadow on the ground:
Under their sweet shade, Aaron, let us sit,
And—whilst the babbling echo mocks the hounds,
Replying shrilly to the well-tun'd horns,
As if a double hunt were heard at once,-
Let us sit down, and mark their yelling noise:
And, after conflict, such as was suppos'd
The wandering prince and Dido once enjoy'd,
When with a bappy storm they were surpris'd,
And curtain'd with a counsel-keeping cave;
We may, each wreathed in the other's arms,
Our pastimes done, possess a golden slumber;
Whiles hounds, and horns, and sweet melodious birds,
Be unto us, as is a nurse's song
Of lullaby, to bring her babe asleep.