Peace, Trojan; lay thy finger on thy lips!
The worthiness of praife diftains his worth,
If he, that's prais'd, himself bring the praife forth:
But what the repining enemy commends,

That breath Fame blows; that praife fole pure tranfcends.

Aga. Sir, you of Troy, call you yourself Æneas? Ene. Ay, Greek, that is my name.

Aga. What's your affair, I pray you?

Ene. Sir, pardon; 'tis for Agamemnon's ears. Aga. He hears nought privately that comes from Troy.

Ene. Nor I from Troy come not to whisper him: I bring a trumpet to awake his ear; To fet his fenfe on the attentive bent, And then to speak.

Aga. Speak frankly as the wind;

It is not Agamemnon's fleeping hour;
That thou fhalt know, Trojan, he is awake,
He tells thee fo himself.

Ene. Trumpet, blow loud,

Send thy brafs voice thro' all thefe lazy tents;-
And every Greek of mettle, let him know
What Troy means fairly, fhall be spoke aloud.
[Trumpets found.

We have, great Agamemnon, here in Troy
A prince call'd Hector, Priam is his father;
Who in this dull and 4 long continu'd truce
Is 5 rufty grown; he bade me take a trumpet,
And to this purpose speak: kings, princes, lords!
If there be one amongst the fair'st of Greece,
That holds his honour higher than his eafe;
That feeks his praise more than he fears his peril;
That knows his valour, and knows not his fear;

long continu'd truce] Of this long trace there has been no notice taken; in this very act it is faid, that Ajax coped Hector yesterday in the battle. JOHNSON.

5 rufty- Quarto, rety. JOHNSON.

C 2

That

That loves his mistress 6 more than in confeffiort,
(With truant vows 7 to her own lips he loves)
And dare avow her beauty and her worth
In other arms than hers;-to him this challenge.
Hector, in view of Trojans and of Greeks,
Shall make it good, or do his best to do it;
He hath a lady, wifer, fairer, truer,

Than ever Greek did compass in his arms;
And will to-morrow with his trumpet call,
Midway between your tents and walls of Troy,
To roufe a Grecian that is true in love.
If any come, Hector fhall honour him;
If none, he'll fay in Troy, when he retires,
The Grecian dames are fun-burn'd, and not worth
The splinter of a lance. Even so much.

;

Aga. This fhall be told our lovers, lord Æneas. If none of them have foul in fuch a kind, We left them all at home: but we are foldiers; And may that foldier a mere recreant prove, That means not, hath not, or is not in love! If then one is, or hath, or means to be, That one meets Hector; if none else, I am he. Neft. Tell him of Neftor; one, that was a man When Hector's grandfire fuckt: he is old now, But, if there be not in our Grecian hoft One noble man, that hath one fpark of fire, To answer for his love, tell him from me, I'll hide my filver beard in a gold beaver, 9 And in my vantbrace put this wither'd brawn;

6

7

more than in confeffion,] Confeffion, for profession.

to her own lips he loves,] That is, idle vows to the lips of her whom he loves.

8

and not worth

WARBURTON. confeffion made with JOHNSON.

The plinter of a lance.-] This is the language of roSuch a challenge would better have fuited the mouth of Amadis, than Hector or Aneas. STEEVENS.

mance.

9 And in my vantbrace-] An armour for the arm, avanthras.

POPE.

Milton ufes the word in his Sampfon Agonifles. STEEVENS.

And,

And, meeting him, will tell him, that my lady
Was fairer than his grandam, and as chafte
As may be in the world: his youth in flood,
I'll pawn this truth with my three drops of blood.
Ene. Now heavens forbid fuch scarcity of youth!
Ubff. Amen.

Aga. Fair lord Æneas, let me touch your hand: To our pavilion fhall I lead you, Sir.

Achilles fhall have word of this intent,

So fhall each lord of Greece, from tent to tent:
Yourself fhall feaft with us before you go,
And find the welcome of a noble foe.

Manent Ulyffes and Hector.

Ulyff. Neftor

Neft. What fays Ulyffes?

[Exeunt.

Ulyff. I have a young conception in my brain, 9 Be you my time to bring it to fome shape. Neft. What is't?

Uly. This 'tis :

Blunt wedges rive hard knots: the feeded pride,
That hath to its maturity blown up

In rank Achilles, muft or now be cropt,

Or, fhedding, breed a nursery of like evil,
To over-bulk us all.

Neft. Well, and how?

Uly. This challenge that the gallant Hector fends, However it is spread in general name,

Relates in purpose only to Achilles,

Neft. The purpose is perfpicuous even as substance,

Whofe groffness little characters fum up:

And,

Be you my time, &c.] i. e. be you to my prefent purpose what time is in refpect of all other schemes, viz, a ripener and bringer of them to maturity. STEEVENS.

I

nursery-] Alluding to a plantation called a nursery. JOHNSON.

2 The purpose is perfpicuous even as fubftance, Whofe groffness little characters fum up ] That is, the purpofe is as plain as body or fubftance; and though I have collected this purpofe from many minute particulars, as a grofs

C 3

body

3 And, in the publication, make no strain, But that Achilles, were his brain as barren As banks of Libya-tho', Apollo knows, 'Tis dry enough--will with great fpeed of judgment, Ay, with celerity, find Hector's purpose Pointing on him.

Ulyff. And wake him to the answer, think you? Neft. Yes, 'tis moft meet; whom may you elfe oppofe,

That can from Hector bring his honour off,
If not Achilles? Though't be a fportful combat,
Yet in this trial much opinion dwells;

For here the Trojans tafte our dear'ft repute
With their fin'ft palate: and truft to me, Ulyffes,
Our imputation fhall be oddly pois'd

In this wild action:-for the fuccefs,
Although particular, fhall give a 4 fcantling
Of good or bad unto the general;

And in fuch indexes, although 5 fmall pricks
To their fubfequent volumes, there is seen
The baby figure of the giant mafs

Of things to come, at large. It is fuppos'd,
He that meets Hector, iffues from our choice:
And choice, being mutual act of all our fouls,
Makes merit her election; and doth boil,
As 'twere, from forth us all, a man distill'd
Out of our virtues; who mifcarrying,

body is made up of fmall infenfible parts, yet the refult is as clear and certain as a body thus made up is palpable and vifible. This is the thought, though a little obfcured in the concifenefs of the expreflion. WARBURTON.

3 And, in the publication, make no ftrain,] Neftor goes on to fay, make no difficulty, no doubt, when this duel comes to be proclaimed, but that Achilles, dull as he is, will difcover the drift of it. This is the meaning of the line. So afterwards, in this play, Ulyffes fays,

I do not train at the pofition,

i. e. I do not hesitate at, I make no dimculty of it.

THEOB.

Jeanling] That is, a measure, proportion. The car

pen er cuts his wood to a certain fcantling. JouNSON. 5-mall pricks] Small points compared with the volumes.

2

What

What heart from hence receives the conquering part, To feel a ftrong opinion to themfelves!

"Which entertain'd, limbs are his inftruments, In no lefs working, than are fwords and bows Directive by the limbs.

Ulyff. Give pardon to my speech;

Therefore 'tis meet Achilles meet not Hector.
Let us, like merchants, fhew our fouleft wares,
And think, perchance, they'll fell; if not,
The luftre of the better fhall exceed,

By fhewing the worst first. Do not then confent
That ever Hector and Achilles meet;

For both our honour and our fhame, in this
Are dogg'd with two strange followers.

Neft. I fee them not with my old eyes; what are they?

Ulyff. What glory our Achilles fhares from Hector, Were he not proud, we all fhould 7 fhare with him: But he already is too infolent;

And we were better parch in Africk fun,
Than in the pride and falt fcorn of his eyes,
Should he 'fcape Hector fair. If he were foil'd,
Why then we did our main opinion crush
In taint of our beft man. No, make a lottery;
And, by device, let blockish Ajax draw
The fort to fight with Hector: among ourselves,
Give him allowance as the worthier man,
For that will phyfick the great Myrmidon,
Who broils in loud applaufe; and make him fall
His creft, that prouder than blue Iris bends..
If the dull brainlefs Ajax come fafe off,
We'll drefs him up in voices: if he fail,
Yet go we under our opinion ftill,

That we have better men. But, hit or mifs,

6 Which entertain'd- ] Thefe two lines are not in the quarto. JOHNSON.

-

-fare] So the quarto. The folio, wear. JoHNS. The forti. e. the lot. STEEVENS.