As therefore kept to do fo. Sic. Let them assemble; And on a fafer Judgment all revoke But that you muft caft your election on him. Sic. Say, you chofe him, more after our command+ ment, Than guided by your own affections; And that your minds, pre-occupied with what Bru. Ay, spare us not: fay, we read lectures to you, How youngly he began to ferve his Country, How long continued; and what stock he springs of, That (22) Of the fame houfe Publius] I have taken notice, in the Course of these Notes, of many Anachronisms knowingly committed by our Author: I cannot help obferving, that He is guilty of more than One here, thro' an Inadvertence, and Defire of copying Plutarch at all Hazards. This Paffage, as Mr. Pope rightly informs us, is directly tranflated from that Greek Biographer: but I'll tell Mr. Pope a piece of Hiftory, which, I dare fay, he was no more aware of than our Author was. Plutarch, in the Entrance of Coriolanus's Life, tracing the Origin of the Marcian Family, blends his Account not only with the Ancestors, but the Defcendants of that Great Man and Shakespeare in his hafte, (or perhaps, his Inacquaintance with this particular Point;) not attending to Plutarch's Drift; but taking all the Perfons named ހ That our best water brought by conduits hither. Sic. One thus defcended, That hath befide well in his person wrought, Bru. Say, you ne'er had don't, (Harp on that still) but by our putting on; And prefently, when you have drawn your number, Repair to th' Capitol. All. We will fo; almost all repent in their election. Bru. Let them go on: [Exeunt Plebeians. This mutiny were better put in hazard, If, as his nature is, he fall in rage named to be Coriolanus's Ancestors; has ftrangely tripp'd in Time, and made his Tribune talk of Persons and Things not then in Being. For Inftance, he is made to talk of Cenfors: Now Coriolanus was kill'd in the Year, after Rome built, 266: But no Cenfors were ever created at Rome 'till 46 Years after that Period, in the Year 312. Again; here is Mention not only of a Cenfor, but of Cenforinus. Now Caius Marcius Rutilus, when he came a fecond time to that Office, on Account of the known Law propounded by him, was dignified with that additional Name, in the Year 487. But This was not till 220 Years after Coriolanus's Death. And then, again, here is mention of the Marcian Waters being brought into Rome. But we have the positive Teftimony of Julius Frontinus, that they had no Aqueducts at Rome till the Year 441; and that the Marcian Water was not introduced till the Year 613 So that the Tribunes are made to talk of a Fact 347 Years later in Time than the Period of Coriolanus. I would not be fuppofed to found any Mefit on this Difcovery; much less, to be defirous of convicting my Author of fuch Miftakes; but I thought it proper to decline a Charge of Ignorance, that might have been laid at my Door, had I pass'd this Affair over in Silence. Mr. Pope, 'tis plain, tho' he took the Pains to add the Conjectural Line about Cenforinus, was not aware of this Confufion in Point of Chronology, or of our Author's innocent Trespass. Non omnia poffumus omnes. With their refufal, both observe and answer Sic. To th' Capitol, come; We will be there before the ftream o'th' people : [Exeunt. A CT III. SCENE, a publick Street in Rome. Cornets. Enter Coriolanus, Menenius, Cominius, Titus Lartius, and other Senators. T CORIOLANUS. Ullus Aufidius then had made new head? Our swifter compofition. Cor. So then the Volfcians ftand but as at first, Ready, when time shall prompt them, to make road Upon's again. Com. They're worn, Lord Conful, fo, That we shall hardly in our ages fee Their Banners wave again. Cor. Saw you Aufidius? Lart. On fafe-guard he came to me, and did curse Against the Volfcians, for they had fo vilely Yielded the Town; he is retir'd to Antium. Cor. Spoke he of me? Lart. He did, my Lord. Cor. How?what? Lart. How often he had met you, fword to fword: That of all things upon the earth he hated Your perfon moft: that he would pawn his fortunes Το To hopeless reftitution, so he might Gor. At Antium lives he? Lart. At Antium. Cor. I with, I had a cause to seek him there, To oppose his hatred fully. Welcome home. [To Lartius. Behold! these are the Tribunes of the people, Enter Sicinius and Brutus. The tongues o'th' common mouth: I do defpife them; For they do prank them in authority Against all noble fufferance. Sic. Pafs no further. Cor. Hah! what is that! Bru. It will be dangerous to go on no further. Men. The matter? Com. Hath he not pafs'd the Nobles and the Commons? Bru. Cominius, no, Cor. Have I had childrens voices? Sen. Tribunes, give way; he fhall to th' market place, Bru. The people are incens'd against him. Sic. Stop, Or all will fall in broil. Cor Are these your herd? Must these have voices, that can yield them now, offices? You being their mouths, why rule you not their teeth? Have you not fet them on? Men. Be calm, be calm. Cor. It is a purpos'd thing, and grows by plot, Suffer't, and live with fuch as cannot rule, Bru. Call't not a plot ; The people cry, you mock'd them; and, of late, Scandal'd Scandal'd the fuppliants for the people; call'd them Time-pleasers, flatterers, foes to Nobleness. Cor. Why, this was known before, Bru. Not to them all.. Cor. Have you inform'd them fince? Cor. You are like to do fuch business. Bru. Not unlike, each way, to better yours. Cor. Why then should I be Conful? by yond clouds, Let me deserve fo ill as you, and make me Your Fellow-Tribune. Sic. You fhew too much of That, For which the people ftir; if you will pafs Or never be fo noble as a Conful, Nor yoke with him for Tribune. Com. The people are abus'd. Becomes not Rome: nor has Coriolanus Set ons this Deferv'd this fo difhonour'd Rub, laid falfly Cor. Tell me of corn! This was my speech, and I will speak't again Sen. Not in this heat, Sir, now. Cor. Now as I live, I will As for my nobler friends, I crave their pardons: (23) The People are abus'd, fet on;] This is pointed, as if the Senfe were, the People are fet on by the Tribunes: but I don't take That to be the Poet's Meaning. Cominius makes a fingle Reflection, and then bids the Train fet forward, as again afterwards; Well, On to th' Market place. And fo in Julius Cæfar; Set on, and leave no Ceremony out. The |