e, p. 82, l. 28.]

[Page 137]

BRUTUS. Good reasons must of force give place to better.
The people 'twixt Philippi and this ground
Do stand but in a forc'd affection, 205
For they have grudg'd us contribution:
The enemy, marching along by them,
By them shall make a fuller number up,
Come on refresh'd, new-added, and encourag'd;
From which advantage shall we cut him off 210
If at Philippi we do face him there,
These people at our back.

CASSIUS. Hear me, good brother.

BRUTUS. Under your pardon. You must note beside,
That we have tried the utmost of our friends,
Our legions are brim-full, our cause is ripe: 215
The enemy increaseth every day;
We, at the height, are ready to decline.
There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life 220
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat;
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures.

[Note 209: /new-added/ | new added Ff.]

[Note 224: /lose/ Rowe | loose Ff.]

[Note 203: /of force:/ of necessity, necessarily. Plutarch
represents this talk as occurring at Philippi just before the
battle: "Cassius was of opinion not to try this war at one
battle, but rather to delay time, and to draw it out in
length, considering that they were the stronger in money, and
the weaker in men and armour. But Brutus, in contrary manner,
did alway before, and at that time also, desire nothing more
than to put all to the hazard of battle, as soon as might be
possible; to the end he might either quickly restore his
country to her former liberty, or rid him forthwith of this
miserable world."--_Marcus Brutus._]

[Note 209: /new-added:/ re-enforced. Singer suggested 'new
aided.']

[Note 218-221: Cf. _Troilus and Cressida_, V, i, 90; _The
Tempest_, I, ii, 181-184. Dr. Wright (Clar) quotes from Bacon
a parallel passage: "In the third place I set down reputation,
because of the peremptory tides and currents it hath; which,
if they be not taken in their due time, are seldom recovered,
it being extreme hard to play an after game of
reputation."--_The Advancement of Learning_, II, xxiii, 38.]

[Note 224: /ventures:/ what is risked, adventured. The figure
of a ship is kept up, and 'venture' denotes whatever is put on
b