And coafting homeward, came to Ephesus:
Hopeless to find, yet loth to leave unfought,
Or that, or any place that harbours men.
But here muft end the ftory of my life;
And happy were I in my timely death,
Could all my travels warrant me they live.

Duke. Haplefs Egeon, whom the fates have markt To bear th extremity of dire mifhap;

Now, truft me, were it not against our laws, (1)
(Which Princes, would they, may not difannul ;)
Against my crown, my oath, my dignity,
My foul fhould fue as advocate for thee.
But, tho' thou art adjudged to the death,
And paffed fentence may not be recall'd,
But to our honour's great difparagement;
Yet will I favour thee in what I can;
I therefore, merchant, limit thee this day,
To feek thy life by beneficial help:
Try all the friends thou haft in Ephefus,
Beg thou, or borrow, to make up the fum,
And live; if not, then thou art doom'd to die.
Jailor, take him to thy cuftody.

Jail. I will, my Lord.

[Exeunt Duke, and Train

Egeon. Hopeless and helplefs doth Egeon wend, But to procraftinate his livelefs end.

[Exeunt Egeon, and Jailor.

(1) Now trust me, were it not against our Laws,

Against my Crown, my Oath, my Dignity,

Which Princes would, they may not difannul,] Thus are thefe Lines placed in all the former Editions. But as the fingle Verb does not agree with all the Subftantives, which should be govern'd of it, I have ventur'd to make a Transposition; and, by a Change in the Pointing, clear'd up the Perplexity of the Sense,

SCENE

SCENE changes to the Street.

Enter Antipholis of Syracufe, a Merchant, and Dromio.

Mer. Herefore give out, you are of Epidamnum,

T

Left that your goods too foon be confifcate.
This very day, a Syracufan merchant
Is apprehended for arrival here;
And, not being able to buy out his life,
According to the ftatute of the town,
Dies ere the weary fun fet in the west:
There is your mony, that I had to keep.

Ant. Go bear it to the Centaur, where we hoft,
And stay there, Dromio, 'till I come to thee:
Within this hour it will be dinner-time;
'Till that I'll view the manners of the town,
Perufe the traders, gaze upon the buildings,
And then return and fleep within mine inn;
For with long travel I am stiff and weary.
Get thee away.

Dro. Many a man would take you at your word,
And go indeed, having fo good a means.

[Exit Dromio. Ant. A trufty villain, Sir, that very oft, When I am dull with care and melancholy, Lightens my humour with his merry jefts. What, will you walk with me about the town, And then go to the inn and dine with me?

Mer. I am invited, Sir, to certain merchants, Of whom I hope to make much benefit: I crave your pardon. Soon at five o'clock, Pleafe you, I'll meet with you upon the mart, And afterward confort you 'till bed-time: My prefent bufinefs calls me from you now. Ant. Farewel 'till then; I will go lofe myself, And wander up and down to view the city. Mer. Sir, I commend you to your own content. [Exit Merchant

Ant

Ant. He that commends me to my own content,
Commends me to the thing I cannot get.
I to the world am like a drop of water,
That in the ocean seeks another drop,
Who falling there to find his fellow forth,
Unfeen, inquifitive, confounds himself:
So I, to find a mother and a brother,
In queft of them, unhappy, lose myself.
Enter Dromio of Ephefus.

Here comes the almanack of my true date.
What now? how chance, thou art return'd fo foon?
E. Dro. Return'd fo foon! rather approach'd too

late:

The capon burns, the pig falls from the fpit,
The clock has ftrucken twelve upon the bell;
My mistress made it one upon my cheek;
She is fo hot, because the meat is cold;

The meat is cold, because you come not home;
You come not home, because you have no ftomach;
You have no ftomach, having broke your faft:
But we, that know what 'tis to faft and pray,
Are penitent for your default to day.

Ant. Stop in your wind, Sir; tell me this, I pray,
Where you have left the mony that I gave you?

E. Dro. Oh,-fix-pence, that I had a Wednesday laft, Το pay the fadler for my mistress' crupper ? The fadler had it, Sir; I kept it not.

Ant. I am not in a sportive humour now; Tell me and dally not, where is the mony ? We being ftrangers here, how dar'ft thou truft So great a charge from thine own cuftody?

E. Dro. I pray you, jeft, Sir, as you fit at dinner:
I from my mistress come to you in post;
If I return, I fhall be poft indeed;

For she will score your fault upon my pate:
Methinks, your maw, like mine, should be your
And ftrike you home without a meffenger.

clock;

Ant. Come, Dromio, come, these jefts are out of feafon ;

Referve

Referve them 'till a merrier hour than this:

Where is the gold I gave in charge to thee?

E. Dro. To me, Sir? why, you gave no gold to me. Ant. Come on, Sir knave, have done your foolish nefs;

And tell me, how thou haft difpos'd thy charge?

E. Dro. My charge was but to fetch you from the

mart

Home to your house, the Phoenix, Sir, to dinner;
My mistress and her fifter ftay for you.

Ant. Now, as I am a chriftian, answer me,
In what fafe place you have bestow'd my mony;
Or I fhall break that merry sconce of yours,
That ftands on tricks when I am undifpos'd:
Where are the thousand marks thou hadst of me?
E. Dro, I have fome marks of yours upon my pate;
Some of my miftrefs' marks upon my fhoulders;
But not a thousand marks between you both.-
If I fhould pay your worship those again,
Perchance, you will not bear them patiently.

Ant. Thy miftrefs' marks? what mistress, flave, haft thou?

E. Dro. Your worship's wife, my miftrefs at the Phanix;

She, that doth faft, 'till you come home to dinner; And prays, that you will hie you home to dinner. Ant. What wilt thou flout me thus unto my face, Being forbid there take you that, Sir knave. E. Dro. What mean you, Sir? for God's fake, hold your hands;

Nay, an you will not, Sir, I'll take my heels.

[Exit Dromio. Ant. Upon my life, by fome device or other, The villain is o'er-wrought of all my mony. They fay, this town is full of couzenage; As, nimble jugglers, that deceive the eye; (2)

Dark

(2) As, nimble Jugglers, that deceive the Eye ; Dark-working Sorcerers, that change the Mind: Soul-killing Witches, that deform the Body ;] Thofe, who

attentively

Dark-working forcerers, that change the mind;
Soul-killing witches, that deform the body;
Difguifed cheaters, prating mountebanks,
And many fuch like liberties of fin:
If it prove fo, I will be gone the fooner.
I'll to the Centaur, to go feek this flave;
I greatly fear, my mony is not fafe.

[Exit.

attentively consider these three Lines, must confess, that the Poet intended, the Epithet given to each of these Misereants, fhould declare the Power by which they perform their Feats, and which would therefore be a juft Characteristick of each of them. Thus, by nimble Jugglers, we are taught that they perform their Tricks by Slight of Hand: and by Soul-killing Witches, we are inform'd, the Mischief they do is by the Af fiftance of the Devil, to whom they have given their Souls: But then, by dark-working Sorcerers, we are not inftructed in the Means by which they perform their Ends. Befides, this Epithet agrees as well to Witches, as to them; and therefore, certainly, our Author could not design This in their Characte riftick. I am confident, we should read;

Drug-working Sorcerers, that change the Mind;

And we know by the whole Hiftory of ancient and modern Superftition, that thefe kind of Jugglers always pretended to work Changes of the Mind by these Applications.

Mr. Warburton,

ACT