TROILUS and CRESSIDA. ACT I. SCENE III. P. 373 Serv. r TH Servant of Ajax. Hey say, he is a man per se, Chaucer, in the Teftament of Crefeide, has the like expreffion. "O, faire Crefeide, the flower, and a per fe, "Of Troie, and Greece." L. 78, 79. Sc. iv. p. 378. Cref. The mich fhall have more.] "The rich," folios 1623, and 1632; and fo I fuppofe it ftands in all other editions, Sir Tho Hanmer's excepted, who has altered it from rich to rest. Sc. v. p. 383. Neftor to Agamemnon. Neft. With due obfervance of thy goodly feat,] Godly feat, folios 1623, and 1632. Godlike, Sir Tho. Hanmer. Neftor, though he has been called (on account of this fpeech) "a talkative old man,' was famed among the Grecian chiefs for his great wisdom. Homer fpeaks of him (Iliad, 1. 330, &c. See Mr. Pope's tranflation) as follows. Slow from his feat arofe the Pilian fage, "Experienc'd Neftor, in perfuafion skill'd, "Words fweet as honey from his lips distill'd.” And again, Iliad, book ii. 440, &c. "To him the King, how much thy years excel, "In arts of council, and in fpeaking well! "Oh would the gods, in love to Greece, decree "But ten fuch fages, as they grant in thee, "Such wifdom foon fhould Priam's force de"stroy, "And foon should fall the haughty tow'rs of " Troy." Ib. p. 384. Bounding between the two moift elements, Alluding to the fable of wings lent to Perfeus by Minerva, with which he flew through the air, when he rescued Andromeda from the fea-monster. Id. ib. The herd bath more annoyance by the brize, than by the tyger.] Brize, an infect, a gad-fly, or borse-fly. So Shakespeare uses the word, Antony and Cleopatra, act iii. fc. vii. Scarus. "The brize upon her, like a cow in 66 " June." The infect is thus defcribed by Mr. Dryden, in his tranflation of Virgil, Georgic. 3. 235, &c. "About the Albumian groves, with holly green, "Of winged infects, mighty fwarms are feen. "This flying plague, to mark it's quality, "Oeftros the Grecians call, Afylus we; "A ' "A fierce, loud-buzzing breeze, their ftings "draw blood, “And drive the cattle gadding thro' the wood.” Sc. v. Ulyf The large Achilles, on his preft-bed lolling, cries, Now play me Neftor—bum—and stroke thy beard.] The ftroking the beard, before a person spoke, was preparatory to favour; as appears from a paffage in the tenth book of the Iliad of Homer; where he introduces Dolon, as fupplicating Diomed for mercy, who had threatened, and then stood ready to kill him. "Sternly he spoke, and as the wretch prepared, "With humble blandishment, to ftrake his beard, "Like light'ning fwift, the wrathful faulchion "flew, "Divides his neck, and cuts the nerves in two." See Mr. Pope's tranflation, v. 522, &c. Tange manu mentum, tangunt quo more pre cantes, Optabis merito cum mala multa viro. Ovid. Sc. vi. p. 393. En. Mid way between your tents, and walls of Troy, To rouze a Grecian that is true in love, If any come, Hector fhall honour him; If none, he'll fay in Troy, when he returns, Hector's challenge is mentioned in Homer's Iliad, Iliad, book vii. 79, &c. See Mr. Pope's tranfla tion. "Hear, all ye Trojan, all ye Grecian bands, "What my foul prompts, and what fome god "commands. "Great Jove, averfe our warfare to compose, "O'erwhelms the nations with new toils and 66 woes. "War with a fiercer tide once more returns, "Till Ilion fall, or till your navy burns. "You then, O princes of the Greeks, appear, " 'Tis Hector fpeaks, and calls the gods to hear. "From all your troops felect the boldeft knight, "And him the boldeft Heitor dares to fight. “Here if I fall, by chance of battle flain, "Be his my spoil, and his my arms remain; "But let my body, to my friends return'd, "By Trojan hands, and Trojan flames be burn'd. "And if Apollo, in whofe aid I truft, "Shall stretch your daring champion in the duft, "If mine the glory to defpoil the foe, "On Phœbus' temple I'll his arms bestow. “The breathless carcafe to your navy sent, "Greece on the fhore fhall raife a monument; "Which when fome future mariner furveys, "Wash'd by broad Hellefpont's refounding feas, "Thus fhall he fay, A valiant Greek lies there, By Hector flain, the mighty man of war. “The stone shall tell your vanquish'd hero's 66 "fame, "And diftant ages learn the victor's name. "This "This fierce defiance Greece aftonifh'd, heard, "Blush'd to refufe, and to accept it fear'd." Challenges of this kind were not uncommon here in England. There were feveral in the reigns of (a) King Edward III. Henry VI. Edward IV. Henry VII. Henry VIII. and one ift and 2d of Philip and Mary, published in the chamber of prefence, by a king of arms, 25th of November, in the following words. (b) "Forafmuch as ever it hath been a "cuftom, that to the courts of Kings and great, "princes, knights aud gentlemen of diverse na❝tions, have made their repaires, for the trial "of knighthood, and exercise of armes; and knowing this roial court of England, to be "replenished with as many noble knights, "as any kingdome in the world, at this day, "it feemeth good to Don, Frederick de Toledo, "the Lord Strange, Don Francifco de Men"doza, and Garfulace de la Vega; that feeing "here, in this place, better than in any other, "they may fhew their great defires to ferve their "ladies, by the honourable adventure of their "perfons, they fay they will maintain a fight on foot, at the barriers, with footman's har"ness, three pushes with a pike, and seven "strokes with a fword, at the place appointed, "before the court-gate, on Tuesday the fourth (a) Segar, of Honour, military and civil, lib. iii. chap. 53. P. 190. (b) Id. ib. p. 192. "day |