Pliny relates that a comet appeared before the death of Claudius, lib. ii. c. 25; and Geffrey of Monmouth speaks of one that preceded the death of Aurelius Ambrosius; but the comets would have appeared though the men had not died, and the men would not have lived longer had the comets never been seen.

Sc. 2. p. 300.

SER. Plucking the entrails of an offering forth

They could not find a heart within the beast. Cæs. The gods do this in shame of cowardice: Cæsar should be a beast without a heart,

If he should stay at home to day, for fear. Dr. Johnson remarks on this occasion, that "the ancients did not place courage in the heart." He had forgotten his classics strangely.

"Nunc animis opus, Ænea, nunc pectore firmo."

"Corda pavent comitum, mihi mens interrita mansit."

Ovid. Metam. lib. xv. 514.

Seeing those beads of sorrow stand in thine,
Began to water.

We have a similar expression in The tempest, Act v. Sc. 1., where Prospero says,

"Holy Gonzalo, honourable man,

Mine eyes even sociable to the shew of thine,
Fall fellowly drops."

ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA.

ACT I.

Scene 1. Page 410.

ANT. Let Rome in Tiber melt! and the wide arch

As

Of the rang'd empire fall! Here is my space.

range signifies compass, extent, so the verb seems to be used, rather licentiously, in the present instance, in the sense of spread, extended. It may be doubted, at least, whether there be any allusion to a triumphal arch, as Dr. Warburton supposed, or even of a fabric standing on pillars, according to Dr. Johnson. The wide arch may refer to the vast concave of the Roman world, its wide domains covered by the arch of heaven, which has been beautifully styled by some oriental writer "the star-built arch of heaven." See The tales of Inatulla by Dow, vol. i. p. 78.

Sc. 3. p. 440.

CLEO. O my oblivion is a very Antony
And I am all forgotten.

She compares her memory to Antony, and says she is treacherously abandoned and neglected by both. Mr. Steevens's explanation of the first line is satisfactory; but one cannot well agree with him or Mason, that "I am all forgotten" can possibly mean, "I forget myself, or every thing."

66

ANT.

ACT II.

Scene 4. Page 490.

and his quails

Ever beat mine, inhoop'd at odds.

It may be doubted whether quail-fighting was practised in Shakspeare's time, though Dr. Farmer appears to have thought so; but when our poet speaks of their being inhoop'd, he might suppose that Cæsar's or Antony's quails, which he found in Plutarch, were trained to battle like game cocks in a ring or circle. Hanmer plausibly reads incoop'd, but no change is necessary.

:

Quail combats were well known among the ancients, and especially at Athens. Julius Pollux relates that a circle was made in which the birds were placed, and he whose quail was driven out of this circle lost the stake, which was sometimes money, and occasionally the quails themselves. Another practice was to produce one of these birds, which being first smitten or filliped with the middle finger, a feather was then plucked from its head if the quail bore this operation without flinching, his master gained the stake, but lost it if he ran away. The Chinese have been always extremely fond of quail-fighting, as appears from most of the accounts of that people, and particularly in Mr. Bell's excellent relation of his travels to China, where the reader will find much curious matter on the subject. See vol. i. p. 424, edit. in 8vo. We are told by Mr. Marsden that the Sumatrans likewise use these birds in the manner of game cocks. The annexed copy from an elegant Chinese miniature painting represents some ladies engaged at this amusement, where the quails are actually inhoop'd.

CHAR,

Sc. 5. p. 493.

"T was merry, when

You wager'd on your angling; when your diver