Page:The Plays of William Shakspeare (1778).djvu/354

[ 338 ] Cominius, in the panegyrick which he pronounces on Coriolanus, ays,

“In the brunt of eventeen battles ince “He lurch’d all words of the garland.”

In Ben Jonon’s Silent Woman, Act V. Sc. lat, we meet (as Mr. Steevens has oberved) the ame uncommon phraeology: “You have lurch’d your friends of the better half of the garland.”

Whether this was a neer at Shakpeare, or a new phrae of that day, it adds ome degree of probability to the date here aigned to Coriolanus; for The Silent Woman alo made its firt appearance in 1609.

There is a M. comedy now extant, on the ubject of Timon, which, from the hand-writing and the tyle, appears to be of the age of Shakpeare. In this piece a teward is introduced, under the name of Laches, who, like Flavius in that of our author, endeavours to retrain his mater’s profuion, and faithfully attends him when he is foraken by all his other followers.Here too a mock-banquet is given by Timon to his fale friends; but, intead of warm water, tones painted like artichokes are erved up, which he throws at his guets.From a line in Shakpeare’s play, one might be tempted to think that omething of this ort was introduced by him; though, through the omiion of a marginal direction in the only ancient copy of this piece, it has not been cutomary to exhibit it:

“Second Senator. Lord Timon’s mad. “3d Sen. I feel it on my bones. “4th Sen. One day he gives us diamonds, next day tones.”

This comedy, (which is evidently the production of a cholar, many lines of Greek being introduced into it,) appears to have been written after Ben Jonon’s Every Man out of his Humour, (1599) to which it contains a reference; but I have not dicovered the precie time when it was compoed. If it were acertained, it might beome guide to us in fixing the date of our author’s Timon, which, on the grounds that have been already tated, I uppoe to have been poterior to this anonymous play.

Dr.