If e'er thou ftand at mercy of my fword,
Name Creffid, and thy life shall be as fafe
As Priam is in Ilion.

Dio. Lady Creffid,

So please you, fave the thanks this prince expects:
The luftre in your eye, Heaven in your cheek,
Pleads your fair ufage; and to Diomede

You fhall be miftrefs, and command him wholly.
Trai. Grecian, thou doft not use me courteoufly,
To thame the zeal of my petition towards thee, (35)
By praifing her. I tell thee, Lord of Greece,
She is as far high-foaring o'er thy praises,
As thou unworthy to be called her fervant.
I charge thee ufe her well, even for my charge:
For by the dreadful Pluto, if thou dost not,
(Tho' the great bulk Achilles be thy guard)
I'll cut thy throat.

Dio. Oh, be not moved, Prince Troilus.
Let me be privileged by my place and meffage,
To be a speaker free. When I am hence,
I'll answer to my lift: and know, my Lord,
I'll nothing do on charge; to her own worth
She fhall be prized: but that you fay, be't fo;
I'll speak it in my spirit and honour-no.

Troi. Come, to the port---I'll tell thee, Diomede, This brave fhall oft make thee to hide thy head.

(35) To frame the feal of my petition towards thee

By praising her.] There is great room for hefitating at this expreffion. To fhame the feal of a petition, carries no fenfible idea that I can find out. The change of a fingle letter makes Troilus's complaint apt and reafonable, and the fenfe is this: "Grecian, you ufe me difcourteously; you fee, I am a paffionate lover, by my petition to you; and therefore you should not thame the zeal of it, by promifing to do, what I requre of you, for the fake of her beauty; when, if you had good manners, or a fenfe of a lover's delicacy, you would have promised to do it in compaffion to his pangs and fufferings." Mr Warburton.

Lady, give me your hand—and as we walk,
To our own felves bend we our needful talk.

Par. Hark, Hector's trumpet !

[Sound Trumpet,

Ene. How have we spent this morning? The prince muft think me tardy and remifs, That fwore to ride before him in the field.

Par. 'Tis Troilus' fault. Come, come, to field Dio. Let us make ready strait.

[with him. Ene. Yea, with a bridegroom's fresh alacrity Let us addrefs to tend on Hector's heels: The glory of our Troy doth this day ly On his fair worth, and fingle chivalry. [Exeunt.

SCENE changes to the Grecian Camp.

Enter AJAX armed, AGAMEMNON, ACHILLES, PATROCLUS, MENELAUS, ULYSSES, NESTOR, &C.

Agam. Here art thou in appointment fresh and Anticipating time with ftarting courage. [fair, (36) Give with thy trumpet a loud note to Troy, Thou dreadful Ajax, that th' appalled air May pierce the head of the great combatant, And hale him hither.

Ajax. Trumpet, there's my purse;

Now crack thy lungs, and fplit thy brazen pipe;
Blow, villain, till thy fphered bias cheek
Out-fwell the cholic of puft Aquilon:

Come, ftretch thy cheft, and let thy eyes fpout blood:
Thou blowest for Hector.

(36) Here art thou in appointment fresh and fair, Anticipating time. With ftarting courage

Give with thy trumpet,] I have altered the pointing of this paffage for this reafon; the Poet feems to mean, that Ajax fhewed his starting courage in coming into the field be fore the challenger.

Ulyf. No trumpet answers.

Achil. 'Tis but early day.

Agam. Is not yonde Diomede with Calchas
daughter?

Ulyf. 'Tis he, I ken the manner of his gait;
He rifes on his toe; that spirit of his
In afpiration lifts him from the earth.

Enter DIOMEDE with CRESSIDA.

Agam. Is this the Lady Creffida?
Dio. Even fhe.

Agam. (37) Moft dearly welcome to the Greeks,
fweet lady.

Neft. Our General doth falute you with a kiss. Ulf. Yet is the kindness but particular; "Twere better fhe were kiffed in general.

Neft. And very courtly counfel: I'll begin. So much for Neftor.

Achil. I'll take that winter from your lips, fair Achilles bids you welcome.

[Lady: Men. I had good argument for kiffing once. Pat. But that's no argument for kiffing now:

(37) Moft dearly welcome to the Greeks, fweet lady.] From this line Mr Pope has thought fit to degrade, or throw out of the text, the quantity of a whole page. But is it not very abfurd, that Diomede fhould bring Creffid on, where fo many princes are prefent, and preparing to give her a welcome, and then lead her off abruptly, fo foon as ever Agamemnon has faid a fingle line to her? An idiò tantùm venerat, ut exiret? as Martial fays of Cato's coming into the theatre. But is it not ftill more abfurd for Creffid to be led off without uttering one fingle fyllable, and for Neftor and Ulyffes to obferve that he is a woman of quick fenfe, and glib of tongue, as if he had faid feveral witty things? Methinks Neftor's character of her wit, from her faying nothing, is as extraordinary as the two Kings of Brentford hearing the whisper, though they are not prefent, in the Rebearfal.

For thus popped Paris in his hardiment,
And parted thus you and your argument.

Ulyf. O deadly gall, and theme of all our fcorns, For which we lofe our heads to gild his horns! Pat. The firft was Menelaus' kifs---this mine--Patroclus kiffes you.

Men. O, this is trim.

Pat. Paris and I kifs evermore for him.

Men. I'll have my kifs, Sir; Lady, by your leave.

Cre. In kiffing do you render or receive?
Pat. Both take and give.

Cre. I'll make my match to live,

The kiss you take is better than you give;
Therefore no kifs.---

Men. I'll give you boot, I'll give you three for one.
Cre. You are an odd man, give even, or give noLe.
Men. An odd man, Lady? every man is odd.
Cre. No, Paris is not; for you know 'tis
That you are odd, and he is even with you.
Men. You fillip me o' th' head,

Cre. No, I'll be fworn.

true,

Uly. It were no match, your nail against his horn? May 1, fweet Lady, beg a kifs of you?

Cre. You may.

Ulyf. I do defire it.

Cre. Why, beg then.

Uhf. Why then, for Venus' fake, give me a kiss, When Helen is a maid again, and his

Cre. I am your debtor, claim it when 'tis due.
Ulyf. Never's my day, and then a kifs of you.
Neft. A woman of quick fenfe!

Dio. Lady, a word

father.

Ulf. Fy, fy upon her!

There's language in her eye, her cheek, her lip:

Nay, her foot fpeaks; her wanton fpirits look out
At every joint and motive of her body:
Oh, thefe encounterers! fo glib of tongue,
They give a coafting welcome ere it comes;
And wide unclafp the tables of their thoughts
To every ticklish reader: fet them down
For fluttish fpoils of opportunity,

And daughters of the game.

[Trumpet within.

Enter HECTOR, PARIS, TROILUS, ENEAS, HELENUS, and Attendants.

All. The Trojans' trumpet !

Aga. Yonder comes the troop.

Ene. Hail, all the state of Greece! what fhall be done

To him that victory commands? or do you purpose,
A victor shall be known? will you, the knights
Shall to the edge of all extremity

Purfue each other, or fhall be divided
By any voice, or order of the field?
Hector bade afk.

Aga. Which way would Hector have it?
Ene. He cares not; he'll obey conditions.
Achil. (38) 'Tis done like Hector, but fecurely
done,

(38) Aga. 'Tis done like Hector, but fecurely done ;] It seems abfurd to me, that Agamemnon fhould make a remark to the difparagment of Hector for pride, and that Æneas fhould immediately fay, If not Achilles, Sir, what is your name? and then defire him to take notice, that Hector was as void of pride as he was full of valour. Why was Achilles to take notice of this, if it was Agamemnon that threw this imputation of pride in Hector's teeth? I was fully fatisfied that this reproach on Hector ought to be placed to Achilles, as I have ventured to place it; and confulting Mr Dryden's alteration of this play, I was not a little pleased to find that I had but feconded the opinion of that great man in this