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J.B.Llppincott CO.,
Philadelphia
I/ay 9, 1890

The Tragedie of Ivlivs C^sar

A NEW VARIORUM EDITION

Shakespeare

The Tragedie

IVLIVS C^SAR

EDITED BY

HORACE HOWARD FURNESS, Jr.

PHILADELPHIA
J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY

LONDON: 5, HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN

I913

%^/ri(3

IN MEMORIAM
H. H. F.

Methinks, 'tis prize enough to be his son.

3 Henry VI : II, i, 20.

PREFACE

The earliest text of Julius Casar is that of the First Folio. It is
markedly free from corruptions, and we may almost say that in but
one or two instances would an earlier Quarto text be required to
render any doubtful readings more sure.

The most notable example is that of the lines: 'Know, Caesar doth
not wrong, nor without cause Will he be satisfied.' — III, i, 56, 57.
This line is quoted by Ben Jonson in his Discoveries: ' Caesar did never
wrong, but with just cause'; this change in form and Jonson 's
ridicule of its absurdity seem to point to the existence of a text
earlier than that which has come down to us. As the remarks of
editors and commentators are given at some length in the notes on
this passage, it is imnecessary to recapitulate them individually here.
The general feeling is, however, that even had the line ever existed
as quoted by Jonson, it is not so widely inconsistent with other
grandiloquent speeches of Shakespeare's Caesar, and, in this case at
least, Jonson — to use Drummond's words — loved his jest better
than his friend. Another passage wherein an earlier Quarto text
might have helped towards a better understanding of the author's
intention is in Act IV. scene iii, where Brutus, having told Cassius
of Portia's death, denies all knowledge of it when questioned later
by Messala, for no purpose, apparently, other than to exhibit his
stoic power of self-control imder that insupportable and touching
loss. Resch's sagacious conjecture, that the dialogue with Messala
is the result of an interpolation of an alternative passage from a
player's copy, is a happy solution of the problem, and clears Brutus
of the ugly stain of making capital out of the death of Portia.

Other corruptions — which may be classed as purely textual —
wherein ingenious editors may frolic in conjecture are, in the present
play, pleasurably few in number. In the Appendix will be found a
list of those passages wherein emendations of the Folio text have
been adopted in the Cambridge Edition; the small number of these
is a striking proof of the purity of the earliest text.

vi PREFACE

By several of the older editors Julius CcBsar is considered as one of
Shakespeare's later plays; but the range of dates of composition
stretches between 1599 as the earliest, down to and including 1608.
Of the thirty commentators who have discussed this question, seven
are in favour of 1607; six, in favour of 1601; five, in favour of 1599;
three, in favour of 1603; two, for 1600. The remaining five are some-
what non-committal, preferring a date within certain limits, with no
more definite assignment. That the two dates, 1601 and 1607 —
separated by six years — should be thus so closely shared by the
larger number of editors — seven for the later date; six for the earlier
— seems, at first sight, somewhat odd; the reason is, however, not far
to seek: The first editors, beginning with Capell, all accepted the
later date, partly on account of the style and general treatment of
the tragedy as showing the maturer poet; partly on account of its
apparent close relation to Hamlet; and it was not until Halliwell
in 1865 pointed out a passage in Weever's Mirror oj Martyrs, pub-
lished in 1 601, wherein there is a reference to the speeches of Brutus
and Mark Antony on the death of Caesar, and, though Weever does
not mention Shakespeare's play, his use of the word 'ambitious' as
that of Brutus, and his saying how Mark Antony by his eloquence
showed Caesar's virtues, point pretty clearly to the fact that he had
before him the memory of a very striking scene. Whether it were
that in Shakespeare's Julius CcBsar who shall say? Halliwell himself
later was disposed to discount somewhat the value of this piece of
external evidence, characterising it as a 'possibility derived from an
apparent reference' to Shakespeare's play; but, nevertheless, his dis-
covery turned the tide in favour of the earlier date for the composition,
1 60 1. The Mirror of Martyrs was, however, written two years before
its publication — Weever says so in his dedication — moreover, Meres,
in his Palladis Tamia, 1598, among other works of Shakespeare, does
not enumerate Julius Ccesar; these two facts will account for the year
1599 being accepted by the other editors. It is, I think, well-nigh
impossible to assign the date within limits closer than these two
years, 1599 to 1601, and, therefore, accept that period as its time of
composition. The whole question is, however, purely academic, and
whether Julius Ccesar were written in 1599 or 1607 can in no way affect
our admiration of Antony's oration; the scenes between Brutus and
Cassius; or the wonderful dramatic climax.

Shakespeare's indebtedness to Sir Thomas North's translation of
Plutarch for the plot of his tragedy, and for countless details, has
been universally admitted. The lives of Julius CcBsar, Marcus

PREFACE vii

Brutus, and Antonius are so wonderfully blended that a narration of
the plot of the play forms a remarkably coherent story; and it is
only by seemg the many passages that have been used in its com-
position that we realise Shakespeare's marvellous ingenuity in dra-
matic construction. Certain details have been omitted; others given
prominence; incidents widely separated are placed in close sequence,
and the auditor is now hurried on, now held back. What cares he
that actually more than a year elapsed between the murder of Caesar,
the proscriptions of the Triumvirate, and the first battle at Philippi?
Or that, in reality, three weeks separated the first encounter at that
place from the death of Brutus?

In the Appendix will be found a transcript from Leo's facsimile of
those portions of North's Plutarch, ed. 1595, on which are based the
incidents of the tragedy; throughout the Commentary references are,
however, made to the passages in Skeat's volume, Shakespeare's
Plutarch — this for two reasons, first, Skeat's text is that of the edition
of 1603, and it is at times interesting to note the slight verbal changes
between the two editions; secondly, for convenience of reference; the
chapter divisions as in Skeat's work are entirely absent in the earlier
edition.

That Shakespeare consulted the works of other Roman historians
is not impossible, but that he made any extensive use of The Lives
of the CcEsars, by Suetonius, is, I think, doubtful; Philemon Hol-
land's translation did not appear until 1602, which is late if we
accept the date of composition as between 1599-1601. Malone's
references to Holland's Suetonius are based on his belief in the
later date, 1607. With Appian's Civil Wars the case is different;
of this a translation by Bynniman was made in 1578. Shakespeare
has apparently taken certain points in Antony's oration over Csesar
from the harangue as given at length in Appian's account of the funeral.
Plutarch mentions the displaying of the blood-stained mantle by
Antony and the frenzy of the people, but does not give the substance
of the speech. That Appian's report is authentic is not contended — it
was written over two hundred years after the event — it is merely what
Appian thought Antony should have said. On the same principle
Samuel Johnson wrote the Parliamentary Debates, and did not, as he
said, allow 'the Whig dogs to have the best of it.'

Satisfactory evidence of Shakespeare's acquaintance with the other
Greek historian, Dion Cassius, is, so far, not forthcoming. His
Annals of the Roman People was but little known in Shakespeare's
time; no translation appeared until early in 1700; the work was,

viii PREFACE

therefore, accessible to those only who could read it in the original
Greek.

Too little attention, I think, has been paid heretofore by editors
and commentators of the present play to the writings of Cicero — not
that Shakespeare has made use of these, but that they contain many
valuable hints in regard to contemporary events, and thus furnish a
check upon the incidents related by Plutarch. Taken together,
Cicero's Letters and the Philippics give almost a daily record of
those troublous times preceding and following the assassination of
Caesar. For example, in Plutarch's Lije of Ccesar it is said that Decius
Brutus was the conspirator who drew Marc Antony out of the way
during the murder; in the Life of Brutus this office is given to Tre-
bonius; but the question of identity is settled at once by a letter to
Trebonius, 2 February, B. C. 43, from Cicero, who, in referring to the
assassination, says: 'In fact, for Antony's having been taken out of
the way by you, ... I sometimes feel, though perhaps I have no
right to do so, a little angry with you.' (See note on III, i, 33.)
Again, Cicero's letter to Atticus, wherein he gives his opinion of the
oration by Brutus after Caesar's death, is an interesting piece of
testimony from one who was an acknowledged master of the art of
the orator. Cicero's letter, also, to Brutus, offering his sympathy
on the death of Portia, is corroboration of Plutarch's statement that
her death preceded that of Brutus.

Although, as has been shown, Shakespeare follows where North
leads and trusts to his guide for the salient points of his drama,
there is a curious discrepancy as regards the character of the
protagonist, Julius Caesar. The reader of North's Plutarch is at
once struck with the nobility of the character of Caesar, the
intrepid warrior, astute statesman, and sagacious governor, and
although his biographer does not disguise the fact that in his
later years Caesar became vain and arrogant, that side of his
character is not given undue prominence. Very different is, how-
ever, the Caesar of Shakespeare. He is a braggart, inflated with
the idea of his own importance; speaking of his decrees as of those
of a god. The Roman Senate is his Senate, and himself like Olym-
pian Jove. In fact, in his life nothing becomes him like the leaving
it; his most dignified action is that of his death, ^vith his face muffled
in his mantle. Wherefore then did Shakespeare depart thus from his
authority? We know, from many references in the other plays,
that Julius Caesar was one in whom Shakespeare ever took a keen
interest. In the present tragedy Antony speaks of him as the

PREFACE ix

noblest man that ever lived in the tide of times; and Brutus, as the
foremost man of all this world. The solution of this is found in the
fact that Shakespeare is but following the traditional representation
of Caesar as manifested in the writings of his predecessors. The
gradual evolution of the braggart Caesar from its direct prototypes —
the Hercules of Seneca, and the Ajax of Sophocles — is the subject of a
careful study by H. M. Ayres, the main points of which, so far as
they relate to the Character of CcBsar, will be found in the Appendix.

Although Julius Caesar apparently held a prominent place as an
historic character in Shakespeare's regard, as such he occupies but
comparatively a small part in the tragedy which bears his name.
The themes of the action are the conflict in the mind of Brutus
between two opposing interests — love of country and love of Caesar
as friend and benefactor; his decision to sacrifice that friend upon
the altar of his country; and his tragic suicide in ignorance of his
complete failure as a patriot. It would almost seem as though Brutus
were rightly the titular hero. The bodily presence of Caesar, it is true,
disappears from the scene at the beginning of the third Act, yet
thereafter his spiritual presence is omnipresent and brings about the
final catastrophe. Antony's prophecy, that Caesar's spirit shall come
forth ranging for revenge, is fulfilled. Brutus recognizes its power at
the death of Cassius, and his last words bear -witness to his belief that
by his death alone will that perturbed spirit find rest. This is but the
carrying out of the classic idea of tragedy: mortals striving impotently
against fate; and Shakespeare, according to his invariable custom,
has chosen the most dramatically effective treatment of his material.
If any tragedy is to be named from that character which is its domi-
nant force, then this can be called by no name other than Julius Ccesar.

The incidents connected with the career of Caesar, especially his
rivalry with Pompey, have been made the subject of dramas by other
authors. As early as 1561 there was performed at Whitehall a play
entitled Julius Ccesar, which is mentioned by Collier* as the earliest
instance of a subject from Roman History being brought upon the
English stage. Not all of these dramas are extant; such of them as
have survived are now known in only their printed form ; some never
even gained a hearing in the theatre; but they one and all bear witness
^dthin themselves to the cause of their early deaths: they are unre-
lievedly tedious. That one which is perhaps the best knowTi, chiefly
on account of Malone's references in his notes on the present play,

* History of Dramatic Literature, i, 180.

X PREFACE

is The Tragedy of Julius CcBsar, by Sir William Alexander, Earl of
Stirling (or Sterline, as he himself prints in his title-pages). His
tragedy is based upon Plutarch's Life of Ccesar, and was composed
probably in 1604 or 1606, though not published until 1607. It has
been lately shown that, in large part, Alexander's work is a translation
of a tragedy by Jules Grevin, which, in turn, is based on one in Latin
by Muret.* The one or two points wherein Alexander's tragedy
coincides with Shakespeare's may be ascribed to the fact that their
source of information was identical, namely, Plutarch. Alexander's
final and authorised edition of his Tragedy was published, with his
other works, in a volume entitled Recreations with the Muses, in 1637.
A reprint of this is included in the Appendix to the present volume.

A work on somewhat the same theme, by an author now unknown,
entitled The Tragedy of Ccesar and Pompey, or Ccesar's Revenge,
was performed at Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1605, and published
in 1607. Its chief claim to notoriety now is that it was the first
drama in English, on a classic theme, performed at either of the
Universities. It is thoroughly academic in treatment; at no point
does it rise above a uniform level of dulness, and one is divided in
opinion as to which deserves the more commiseration — the unhappy
performers on that occasion or their patient auditors.

George Chapman's Tragedy, of the same title as this Trinity College
play, was probably composed some years before its publication in
1631. Like its predecessor, it is academic in form, and is based upon
the lives of Caesar, Pompey, and Marcus Cato as related by Plutarch;
but neither in point of poetic style nor in dramatic construction is it
worthy of comparison to Chapman's later works.

While, as has been said, the story of Caesar's life was the first subject
from Roman history to be cast in dramatic form for the English stage,
Shakespeare's tragedy was the first of all his works to be translated
into German, and through which he became first known in Germany.
This translation was by Caspar Wilhelm von Borck, who was Prus-
sian envoy in London from 1735 to 1738, its title-page is as follows:
Versuch einer gehundenen Uebersetzung des Traiier-Spiels von dem Tode
Julius Ccesar. Aus dem Englischen Werke des Shakespeare. Berlin,
hey Ambrosius Hande — 1741.! Ten years before this date Voltaire
had composed his tragedy. La Mort de Cesar, which he did not hesitate

* H. M. Ayres: Shakespeare's J til. Cas. in the Light of Some Other Versions,
p. 220.

t W. Paetow: Die Ersle metrische Deutsche Uebersetzung, passim.

PREFACE xi

to say was inspired by his having seen Shakespeare's work on the
same subject when in London; and his wonder at the deep emotion
and interest which it ever excited. Voltaire's work was, however,
not produced on the stage until 1735. It was never received with
quite the amount of applause which its author thought that it de-
served. Thirty years later, while at work on his Commentaires sur
Corneille, Voltaire appended to that writer's Cinna a literal trans-
lation (as he persisted in calling it) of those parts of Shakespeare's
Julius CcBsar which dealt also with a conspiracy against a Roman
chief -magistrate, in order that his countrymen might comprehend
how vastly superior was the work of the nobleman (Corneille) to that
of the commoner (Shakespeare). 'If this translation,' says Francois-
Victor Hugo, 'had only been unfaithful it still might have passed
muster; but it is disloyal. That Voltaire did not always understand
the text of Shakespeare is excusable, but not his absolute falsification
of it.' — {Shakespeare, x, 463). The whirligig of time has brought in
its revenges. Voltaire's Tragedies, deahng with the Uves and acts
of Julius Caesar and Brutus — written, be it remembered, to show
Shakespeare's inferiority — belong to the past, but the spirit of
Shakespeare's Caesar is mighty yet, and still walks abroad.

Be my thanks here given to Dr. Morris Jastrow, Jr., Librarian of the
University of Pennsylvania ; to Dr. William J. Taylor and Mr. Charles
P. Fisher, Librarian of the College of Physicians; to Mr. George M.
Abbot, and his efficient assistants, Mr. D. C. Knoblauch and Mr. John
E. Govan, of the Philadelphia Library, one and all, for their unfailing
courtesy and attention to many demands.

My most just and severe — albeit, my most tender — critic has
passed beyond my inadequate words of gratitude. He to whom I
owe the deepest obligations, the inspiration of all my work, is no
longer by my side with ever-ready help and never-failing and in-
valuable counsel. The rest is silence.

H. H. F., Jr.

Dramatis Perfonae

Julius C^sar.

Octavius Caesar, ") ^ . . , , , , /-t ,.
^ A \ TriwnvirSy after the death of ]\x\\\x?,

M. yEmil. Lepidus, J ' 5

Cicero.

I. AsinDyce. Om. Ff. First given s, 6. M. Mmil. Lepidus... Cicero]

imperfectly by Rowe. Added by Theob.

3; Octavius Caesar] Niebuhr (iii, 87): Caesar in his will had appointed C.
Octavius, the grandson of his sister Julia, heir ex dodrante, that is, of three-fourths
of his property, after the deduction of all legacies, and his other relatives were to
have the remaining fourth. . . . Young C. Octavius was in his nineteenth
year when Caesar was murdered, having been born on the 23d of September, 681^
Caesar had taken an interest in him ever since his return from Spain; whereas be-
fore that time he does not appear to have taken any particular notice of him.
. . . [He] had been adopted by Caesar, which is the first instance of an adop-
tion by will that I know in Roman history; afterwards such adoptions are very
frequent. ... If we compare Antony with Octavian, we must admit that
Antony was open-hearted; whereas Octavian was made up of hypocrisy: his whole
life was a farce. It is well known that on his death-bed at Nola he asked his
friends whether he had not played the comedy of his life well? He was an actor
throughout; everything he did was a farce, well devised and skilfully executed.
The most profound hypocrisy was his greatest talent. In the vicious and prof-
ligate life of Antony, on the other hand, there occur some actions which shew good
nature, generosity, and even greatness. — Tolman (Introd., p. xxxviii) : Probably,
upon the Elizabethan stage, the same actor took the parts of Caesar and Octavius,
and thus gave outward expression to the spiritual connection of the two roles.

4. M. Antony] Horn (i, 112): Antony is one of the most perfect portraits
that the poet has drawn. His overflowing nature delights in combining the
extremes of thought and action with dangerous abilities. He is rash and prudent,
brave and sensual, he fears not death, but, a wastrel, seeks every sort of pleasure
from quickly flying life. So long as Caesar lived Antony is but seldom to be
blamed — he feels towards Caesar an absolute love; prefers to be subordinate to
him, and is therewith become, so to speak, dependent upon him, a dependence
which, however, causes him enjoyment; is it not the mighty Julius who loves him
in return? He desires the crown for Caesar that thus all friction may be avoided,
and that, after Caesar, he can have the highest position, he who seems rather to
desire more of the pleasures of life than the highest place. Yet all these particu-
lars are moved to the background as soon as Caesar is no more. He has lost his
only love, and is now in the highest degree dangerous. It is impossible for him to

DRAMATIS PERSONS

[4. M. Antony]
subordinate himself to anyone else; least of all to the conspirators, the greater part
of whom he values slightly. Brutus alone he regards highly; but he does not love
him, the high virtue of the man is uncomfortable to Antony; towards Cassius he
has no feeling other than that expressed by Caesar (I, ii, 217-229), but, at peace
in those pleasant days, he endeavors to place even this thought to one side. It
was repugnant to him to regard anyone as repugnant. But with Cassar dead
the thought returns and will not away. — Dowden (p. 289): Antony is a man
of genius without moral fibre; a nature of a rich, sensitive, pleasure-loving kind;
the prey of good impulses and of bad; looking on life as a game in which he has
a distinguished part to play, and playing that part with magnificent grace and
skill. He is capable of personal devotion (though not of devotion to an idea),
and has, indeed, a gift of subordination, — subordination to a Julius Caesar, to a
Cleopatra. And as he has enthusiasm about great personalities, so he has a
contempt for inefficiency and ineptitude. Lepidus is to him ' a slight, unmerit-
able man meet to be sent on errands,' one that is to be talked of not as a
person, but as a property. Antony possesses no constancy of self-esteem; he can
drop quickly out of favour with himself; and being without reverence for his
own type of character, and being endowed with a fine versatility of percep-
tion and feeling, he can admire qualities the most remote from his own. It is
Antony who utters the eloge over the body of Brutus at Philippi. Antony is
not without an aesthetic sense and imagination, though of a somewhat unspiritual
kind: he does not judge men by a severe moral code, but he feels in an esthetic
way the grace, the splendour, the piteous interest of the actors in the exciting
drama of life, or their impertinence, ineptitude and comicality; and he feels that
the play is poorer by the loss of so noble a figure as that of a Brutus. But Brutus,
over whom his ideals dominate, and who is blind to facts which are not in harmony
with his theory of the universe, is quite unable to perceive the power for good or for
evil that is lodged in Antony, and there is in the great figure of Antony nothing
which can engage or interest his imagination; for Brutus' view of life is not imagina-
tive, or pictorial, or dramatic, but wholly ethical. The fact that Antony abandons
himself to pleasure, is 'gamesome,' reduces him in the eyes of Brutus to a very
ordinary person, — one who is silly or stupid enough not to recognize the first
principle of human conduct, the need of self-mastery; one against whom the laws
of the world must fight, and who is, therefore, of no importance. And Brutus was
right with respect to the ultimate issues for Antony. Sooner or later Antony
must fall to ruin. But before the moral defect in Antony's nature destroyed his
fortune much was to happen. Before Actium might come Philippi. — Marshall
(p. 87): Except in the great scene in the Forum, where his speech to the people is
perhaps the finest piece of oratory to be found in all Shakespeare, Antony plays
no very striking part in the drama. We see him aroused by a sudden ambition
from his early career of dissipation, and taking a place in the Triumvirate; and it
reminds us of Prince Hal's coming to himself, like the repentant prodigal, when he
comes to the throne. But Antony is, morally at least, a slighter man than Henry.
His reform lacks the sincerity and depth of the latter's, and he cannot hold the
higher plane to which he has temporarily risen. His fall is to be depicted in a later
and greater drama, of which he is the hero and not a subordinate actor as here. —
Oechelhauser [Einfuhriingcn, etc., p. 227): Antonius should be represented as
a young man, in his thirtieth year (historically he was thirty-seven years old

DRAMATIS PERSONS 3

> Conspirators against Julius Caesar.

Brutus,

Cassius,

Casca,

Trebonius,

Ligarius,

Decius Brutus,

Metellus Cimber,

Cinna, j 14

9. Casca\ Caska Ff throughout. "^ 12. Decius] Decitnus Han.

at the time of Caesar's assassination), as a man of the world, of noble bear-
ing and handsome features and insinuating manner. In outward appearance
he thus offers a contrast to Brutus, upon whose character and task the poet has
imprinted that of a noble patriot, as an assassin, stamping the frivolous egoist
as the avenger, both characters labouring under tasks in complete contrast to
their original natures.

6. Cicero] Froude (p. 531): In Cicero Nature half-made a great man and left
him uncompleted. Our characters are written in our forms, and the bust of Cicero
is the key to his history. The brow is broad and strong, the nose large, the lips
tightly compressed, the features lean and keen from restless intellectual energy.
The loose, bending figure, the neck, too weak for the weight of the head, explain
the infirmity of will, the passion, the cunning, the vanity, the absence of manliness
and veracity. He was bom into an age of violence with which he was too feeble
to contend. — J. M. Brown (p. 67): The only character in the whole play that
stands clear of its effects is the prosaic, conceited, lukewarm Cicero. He is the
incarnation of the pedant and critic who is dissatisfied with most things and people,
but will never follow others into remedying the evils or even lead himself. He is
the type of the commonplace man who is ever trying to impress his neighbors
with his learning and importance by uttering trite maxims that face both ways, and
to seem wise by expressing himself in confidential and futile mystery or in a lan-
guage not understood by those around him. Like all such busybodies, he is
omniscient and cannot bear contradiction or even information. His 'ferret and
fiery eyes' gleam out when he is crossed. Brutus will not have him told of the con-
spiracy, ' For he will never follow anything That other men begin.' At the great
crisis in Roman affairs, when the crown was offered to Caesar, he 'spoke Greek' in
order to look wise and yet hide the nothing he had to say; and his following wagged
their heads as if they understood it and ranged high above the unlettered crowd.
Such a mind would scorn to be surprised at anything in this so commonplace world;
he knows too much for even nature to astonish him. And thus in the portentous
night before the assassination, when the coldly sceptical soul of Cassius is stirred
to passion and defiance, and the prickly humour and cynicism of Casca is awed into
superstition, he assumes the most superior indifference and will not commit him-
self; interpretation either way might be quite mistaken: all he will venture on is
that 'it is a strange-disposed time' and that 'this disturbed sky is not to walk in,'
remarks of the usual type about the weather. It is such 'men cautelous, old feeble
carrions,' that along with 'priests and cowards' need oaths to spur them on to
redress of wrongs. What other fate was there in revolutionary times for such a

DRAMATIS PERSONS

[8. Cassius]
Mr Facing-both-ways, such a 'dish of skimmed milk' as Hotspur would have
called him, but to vanish by an ignominious death in the proscriptions?

8. Cassius] Plutarch {Lije oj Brutus, § 22): Cassius would have done Brutus
much honour, as Brutus did unto him, but Brutus most commonly prevented him,
and went first unto him, both because he was the elder man as also for that he was
sickly of body. And men reputed him commonly to be very skilful in wars, but
otherwise marvellous choleric and cruel, who sought to rule men by fear rather
than with lenity: and on the other side, he was too familiar with his friends, and
would jest too broadly with them. — Gervinus (ii, 339) : Shakespeare has scarcely
created anything more splendid than the relation in which he has placed Cassius
to Brutus. Closely as he has followed Plutarch, the poet has, by slight alterations,
skilfully placed this character, even more than the historian has done, in the
sharpest contrast to Brutus, — the clever, politic revolutionist, opposed to the
man of noble soul and moral nature. Roman state-policy and a mode of reason-
ing peculiar to antiquity are displayed in every feature of this contrast of Cassius
to Brutus, as well as in the delineation of the character itself; the nature and spirit
of antiquity operated with exquisite freshness and readiness upon the unburdened
brain of the poet, unfettered by the schools. . . . According to Plutarch,
public opinion distinguished between Brutus and Cassius thus: that it was
said that Brutus hated tyranny, Cassius, tyrants; yet, adds the historian, the
latter was inspired with a universal hatred of tyranny also. Thus has Shake-
speare represented him. His Cassius is imbued with a thorough love of
freedom and equality; he groans under the prospect of a monarchical time
more than the others; he does not bear this burden with thoughtful patience like
Brutus, but his ingenious mind strives with natural opposition to throw it ofif;
he seeks for men of the old time; the new, who are like timid sheep before the wolf,
are in abhorrence to him. His principles of freedom are not crossed by moral
maxims which might lead him astray in his political attempts; altogether a pure
political character, he esteems nothing so highly as his country and its freedom
and honour. These principles, if they were not rooted in the temperament, spirit,
and character of Cassius, would at all events have been more powerfully sup-
ported by them than the same principles would have been by Brutus' more
humane, more feeling nature. . . . Throughout with eagle-eye he sees the
right means for attaining his ends, and would seize them undeterred by scruples
of morality; less irreproachable as a man than Brutus, he is as a statesman far more
excellent. Full of circumspection, he is full of suspicion of his adversary; he is
very far from that too great confidence in a good cause which is the ruin of Brutus.
He possesses the necessary acuteness of judgment and action available only in
times of revolution; he knows that it is useless mixing in politics, far less in revolu-
tion, unless one is prepared to exchange the tender morality of domestic life for a
ruder kind; he would treat tyranny according to its own baseness; he would carry
on matters according to the utmost requirements of his own cause, but not with
the utmost forbearance towards the enemy; he would not use unnecessary harsh-
ness, but he would omit none that was necessary; he would think just as ill of the
tyrant as the tyrant would of his adversary; he would, as far as in him lay, turn
against him his cunning, his cruelty, and his power; he would go with the flood
at the right time, and not, like Brutus, when it was too late. The difference,
therefore, between his nature and the character of Brutus comes out on every

DRAMATIS PERSONS 5

[9, Casca]
occasion: Brutus appears throughout just as humanely noble as Cassius is politic-
ally superior: each lacks what is best in the other, and the possession of which
would make each perfect. — Goll (p. 43): Cassius, with his mixture of political
hatred, with his power to let the one strengthen and excite the other, is the type of
one of the groups of which the adherents of revolution consists, the great haters,
those who, as Auguste Comte sa^'s about the followers of the great French Revolu-
tion, are perpetually in a condition of 'chronic rage,' which enables them, whenever
they consider the right moment has come, to perform the most horrible actions —
the men of whom the anarchists of the present time are the lineal descendants.

g. Casca] Stapfer (p. 365) : If it were not a somewhat hazardous conjecture
when applied to the most impartial of dramatic poets, one would be inclined to
suspect that the type of character to which Casca belongs was a peculiar favourite
of Shakespeare's. In the first place, he is a humourist, he has a strong sense of
the comedy of human life, and of the nothingness of this world. It is he that
relates in a tone of transcendent mockery to Brutus and Cassius, who are not at all
in a mood to laugh with him, the great event of the feast of Lupercal, and describes
how Antony offered the crown to Caesar. Brutus is shocked at his levity of tone,
and when Casca leaves them he expresses his disapprobation with all the weighty
injustice of a stem moralist, who takes everything seriously, and who, as a matter
of course, is invariably wrong in his judgments of men. Cassius, who has no
obtuseness of this sort, answers that what shocks Brutus in him is only put on, and
that he may be safely counted on for any bold or noble enterprise. Casca, when
enrolled amongst the conspirators, soon justifies this opinion of him, and is the one
to strike the first blow. This mingled good-humour and practical energj^, this
strength and solidity of character underlying all his merry jests and laughter,
cannot but represent not only one of Shakespeare's favourite t>'pes, but the special
type of his predelection, if we admit, with his most learned commentators, that
Henry V., in whom these characteristics are most strongly marked, was his ideal.
Casca is, moreover, an aristocrat in true disdainful English fashion. He expresses
the most elegant contempt, which is all the more cutting because he speaks without
any bitterness and with a smile on his lips, for the folly of the crowd, and for
their dirty hands and sweaty night-caps and stinking breath. . . . One last
thing to be noticed concerning Casca is the wonderful effect that the prodigies
foretelling the death of Caesar have upon him; they work a complete revolution in
his nature, and give a suddenly meditative turn to his usual airiness of tone; his
irony is, in reality, only a thin and superficial covering, which falls at the first serious
occasion and lets the true nature of the man be seen. — Oechelhauser {Einfuhr-
ungen, p. 222) : The actor is to take accoimt of a well-calculated hypocrisy in Casca.
His loyalty to Caesar is only assumed; to Brutus also, whose attitude towards
Cffisar he does not wholly understand, he expresses himself guardedly, masking his
true opinion of the important occurrence he describes under an affected indiffer-
ence, concealing it by a rough, coarse hmnor. In such a fashion is the story of
Cffisar's refusal of the offered crown to be delivered. His true character is revealed
for the first time when he finds himself alone with Cassius during the dreadful
night of storm and rain. His mode of expression suddenly changes to the normal
tone of a serious man. Cassius happily makes use of this mood in order to enrol
him among the conspirators. He is to become its most zealous member, and his
hand the first to strike a mortal blow at Caesar. With that his part is finished.

6 DRAMATIS PERSONS

Popilius Lsena, 1 15

-nil- r Senators.

rublius, )

Flavius, 1 „ ., , _ . ^

,, 1, ( Trimmes and Enemies to Q^sdiX. »

Murellus, J 18

15, 16. Popilius L(Bna...Publius] 15. Lana] Lena Cap. et seq.

Added by Theob. 18. Murellus] Ff, Rowe, Pope, Cap.

Marullus Theob. et cet.

Casca should be represented as somewhat younger than Brutus, whose school-
friend he formerly was. A very expressive power of mimicry should be at his
command, and this should be well taken into account in casting the part. — Mac-
Callum (p. 286) : Plutarch has only two particulars about Casca, the one that he
was the first to strike Caesar and struck him from behind; the other that when
Caesar cried out and gripped his hand, he shouted to his brother in Greek. Shake-
speare, as we have seen, summarily rejects his acquaintance with Greek, but the
stab in the back sets his fancy to work, and he constructs for him a character and
life-history to match. Casca is a man who shares with Cassius the jealousy of
greatness — 'the envious Casca,' Antony described him — but is vastly inferior to
Cassius in consistency and manhood. He seems to be one of those alert, precocious
natures, clever at the uptake in their youth, and full of a promise that is not always
fulfilled: Brutus recalls that 'he was quick mettle when we went to school' (I, ii,
318). Such sprightly youngsters when they fail often do so from a certain lack
of moral fibre. And so with Casca. He appears before us at first as the most
obsequious henchman of Cassar. When Caesar calls for Calpurnia, Casca is at his
elbow: 'Peace, ho! Caesar speaks.' When Caesar, hearing the soothsayer's shout,
cries, 'Ha! who calls?' Casca is again ready: 'Bid every noise be still: peace yet
again ! ' Cassius would never have condescended to that. For Casca resents the
supremacy of Caesar as much as the proudest aristocrat of them all: he is only
waiting an opportunity to throw off the mask. But meanwhile in his angry bitter-
ness with himself and others he affects a cross-grained bluntness of speech, 'puts
on a tardy form, ' as Cassius says, plays the satirist and misanthrope, as many others
conscious of double dealing have done, and treats friend and foe with caustic
brutality. But it is characteristic that he is panic stricken with the terrors of the
tempestuous night, which he ekes out with superstitious fancies. It illustrates
his want both of inward robustness and of enlightened culture. We remember
that Cicero's remark in Greek was Greek to him, and that Greek was as much the
language of rationalists then as was French of the eighteenth century Philosophes.
Nor is it less characteristic that even at the assassination he apparently does not
dare to face his victim. Antony describes his procedure: 'Damned Casca, like a
cur, behind Struck Caesar on the neck.' Yet even Casca is not without redeeming
qualities. His humour, in the account he gives of the coronation fiasco, has an
undeniable flavour: its very tartness, as Cassius says, is a 'sauce to his good wit.'
And there is a touch of nobility in his avowal:

* You speak to Casca, and to such a man,
That is no fleering tell-tale. Hold, my hand:
Be factious for redress of all these griefs.
And I will set this foot of mine as far,
As who goes farthest.' — I, iii, 127-131.

DRAMATIS PERSONS

Messala,

Titinius,

Artemidorus, a Soothsayer,

A Soothsayer.

Young Cato.

Cinna, a Poet.

Another Poet.

Lucilius,

Dardanius,

Volumnius,

Varro,

Clitus,

Claudius,

Strato,

Lucius,

21. Soothsayer] Sophist of Cnidos
Theob.+- of Cnidos, a teacher of
Rhetoric, Cam. ii.

22, 23. A Soothsayer.. .Young Cato]

Friends to Brutus and Cassius.

y Servants of Brutus.

Added by Theob.

25. Another Poet] Added by Cap.

26-32. Lucilms... Strato] Added by
Theob.

iQ. Messala] Appian (Bk IV, ch. vi, § 38) says of Messala: 'A young man of
distinction [who] fled to Brutus. The triumvirs, fearing his high spirit, published
the following edict: "Since the relatives of Messala have made it clear to us that
he was not in the city when Gaius Caesar was slain, let his name be removed from
the list of the proscribed." He would not accept pardon, but, after Brutus and
Cassius had fallen in Thrace, although there was a considerable army left, as well
as ships and money, and strong hopes of success still existed, Messala would not
accept the command when it was offered to him, but persuaded his associates to
yield to overpowering fate and join forces with Antony. He became intimate with
Antony and adhered to him until the latter became the slave of Cleopatra. Then
he heaped reproaches upon him and joined himself to Octavius, who made him
consul in place of Antony himself, when the latter was deposed and again voted a
public enemy. After the battle of Actium, where he held a naval command
against Antony, Octavius sent him as a general against the revolted Celts and
awarded him a triumph for his victory over them.' — (Trans. White, vol.
ii, 318.)

21. Artemidorus] Theobald (Nichol's Lit. Illust., ii, 491) : Who told our editors
that Artemidorus was a soothsayer? They were thinking, I suppose, of his name-
sake, whose critique on Dreams we still have, but did not think that he did not
live till the time of Antoninus. Our Poet's Artemidorus, who had been Caesar's
host in Cnidos, did not pretend to know anything of the conspiracy against Caesar
by prescience or prognastication : but he was the Cnidian sophist, who taught
that science in Greek at Rome: by which means, being intimate with Brutus and
those about him, he got so far into the secret as to be able to warn Caesar of his
danger.

8 DRAMATIS PERSONyE

Pindarus, Scrva?it of Cassius.

Ghost of Julius Caesar. 35

Cobler.

Carpenter.

Other Plebeians. ^^

Calphurnia, Wife to Caesar.

Portia, Wife to Brutus. 40

34-38. Pindar us... Other Plebeians] 36, 37. Cobler.. .Carpenter] Om. Cam.

Added by Theob. 39. Calphurnia] Calpurnia Wh.

35. Ghost. ..Ccesar] Theob. Om. Cap. Cam.+, Rolfe.

et seq. 40. Portia] Porcia Theob. +.

39. Calphurnia] F. Horn (i, 129): We encounter in this tragedy two women,
both alike in the absorbing love for their husbands, on which their characters are
founded; and yet — what a difference do we notice in them! Calphurnia lives in
Caesar's life alone, and by night and day it is her joy; but her solicitude for him is,
perhaps, at times obtrusive; she wishes to be his sole possessor, and, since he has
already done too much, that he undertake nothing further; he must, in short, take
care and reserve himself for her alone. She loves him not only as her husband,
but almost as a mother loves her child, or as a tenderly domestic wife guards and
nurses her helpmate, who, although intellectually greater than she, is still weak and
sickly. By a number of portents she is deeply moved to solicitude for Caesar's
safety, and herein we wish to be more lenient than many English critics, who
blame, almost harshly, the superstition of this well-meaning woman without re-
membering that she, poor creature, had not the advantages of their education. —
Rolfe (Poet Lore, vi, 12): No critic or commentator, I believe, has thought Cal-
purnia worthy of notice, but the reader may be reminded to compare carefully the
scene between her and Cassar with that between Portia and Brutus. . . . The
difference in the two women is not more remarkable than that in their husbands'
bearing and tone towards them. Portia, with mingled pride and affection, takes her
stand upon her rights as a wife — 'a woman that Lord Brutus took to wife' — and
he feels the force of the appeal as a man of his noble and tender nature must.
Calpurnia is a poor creature in comparison with this true daughter of Cato, as her
first words to Cassar sufficiently prove: 'Think you to walk forth? You shall not
stir out of your house today. ' When a wife takes that tone, we know what the
reply will be: 'Caesar shall forth!' Later, of course, she comes down to entreaty.
Caesar, with contemptuous acquiescence in the suggestion, yields for the moment
to her weak importunities. When Decius comes in and urges Caesar to go, the
story of her dream and its forebodings is told him with a sneer (could we imagine
Brutus speaking of Portia in that manner?), and her husband, falling a victim to
the shrewd flattery of Decius, departs to his death with a parting fling at her
foolish fears, by which he is ashamed of having been moved.

40. Portia] Mrs Jameson (p. 330): Portia, as Shakespeare has truly felt and
represented the character, is but a softened reflection of that of her husband
Brutus; in him we see an excess of natural sensibility, an almost womanish tender-
ness of heart, repressed by the tenets of his austere philosophy: a stoic by profes-
sion and in reality the reverse — acting deeds against his nature by the strong force

DRAMATIS PERSONS ^

[40. Portia]
of principle and will. In Portia there is the same profound and passionate feel-
ing, and all her sex's softness and timidity, held in check by that self-discipline,
that stately dignity, which she thought became a woman 'so fathered and so
husbanded.' The fact of her inflicting on herself a voluntary wound to try her
own fortitude is perhaps the strongest proof of this disposition. Plutarch relates
that on the day on which Caesar was assassinated Portia was overcome with terror,
and even swooned away, but did not in her emotion utter a word which could
affect the conspirators. Shakespeare has rendered this circumstance literally
[II, iv]. . . . There is another beautiful incident related by Plutarch which
could not well be dramatised. When Brutus and Portia parted for the last time
in the island of Nisida, she restrained all expression of grief that she might not
shake his fortitude; but afterwards, in passing through a chamber in which there
hung a picture of Hector and Andromache, she stopped, gazed upon it for a time
with a settled sorrow, and at length burst into a passion of tears. — Oechelhauser
(Einfuhrungen , etc., i, 229) : Portia herself mentions her 'once commended beauty';
therefore it would be quite proper to represent her in the present time as a hand-
some woman, about thirty years old. She is, although well built and intellectual,
by no means a masculine woman; of tender nature (according to Plutarch she was
sickly), her emotion in the scene with Lucius completely shattered her, and almost
fainting she staggered home. In the fourth act we hear that she has killed herself;
she could not bear the separation from her husband and the accounts of his ill-
success. — Hudson (Life, Art, etc., ii, 238): The delineation of Portia is completed
in a few, brief, masterly strokes. Once seen, the portrait ever after lives, an old
and dear acquaintance of the reader's inner man. Like some women I have known,
Portia has strength enough to do and to suffer for others, but very little for herself.
As the daughter of Cato and wife of Brutus, she has set in her eye a pattern of how
she ought to think and act, being 'so father'd and husbanded'; but still her head
floats merged over the ears in her heart; and it is only when affection speaks that
her spirit is hushed into the listening which she would fain yield only to the speech
of reason. She has a clear idea of the stoical calmness and fortitude which appears
so noble and so graceful in her Brutus; it all lies faithfully reproduced in her mind;
she knows well how to honour and admire it; yet she cannot work it into the texture
of her character; she can talk it like a book, but she tries in vain to live it. Portia
gives herself that gash without flinching, and bears it without a murmur, as an ex-
ercise and proof of manly fortitude; and she translates her pains into smiles, all to
comfort and support her husband. So long as this purpose lends her strength, she
is fully equal to her thought, because here her heart keeps touch perfectly with
her head. But, this motive gone, the weakness, if it be not rather the strength,
of her woman's nature rushes full upon her; her feelings rise into an uncontrollable
flutter, and run out at every joint and motion of her body; and nothing can arrest
the inward mutiny till affection again whispers her into composure, lest she spill
something that may hurt or endanger her Brutus. O noble Portia! — Staffer
(p. 370): Portia as she appears in Plutarch is, I think, an even finer and more
interesting character to study than she is in Shakespeare. The poet has un-
doubtedly enriched the historian's account with the more vivid life of the drama,
and has given more force to her words, more distinctness to her actions, but he
could add no further feature of any importance to her character. History fur-
nishes a complete and finished portrait of Portia, to which poetry may give a warmer

10 DRAMATIS PERSONS

Scene, For the three first Acts, and beginning 41

of the Fourth i?i Rome : For the remainder
of the Fourth fiear Sardis ; for the Fifth in
the Fields of Philippi. 44

41-44. and beginning.. .PAz7//>/>i.] at Rome: afterwards, at an Isle near Mutina;
at Sardis; and Philippi. Theob.+.

glow and richer colouring, but which in its essential lines it can never improve.
It is only fair that this should be openly and clearly stated, that Plutarch may
have the full credit of his victories in a most unequal combat, in which it would
seem that his highest success could only consist in not being entirely beaten.
But not only does the poet's rendering not surpass his model, but it seems to me to
fall a little short of it, and to leave out some of its beauties, which apparently
belong peculiarly to the form of narrative and refuse to be transplanted into
dramatic regions. It requires all the wooden inflexibility of a systematic admira-
tion not to regret the absence in Shakespeare's tragedy of the beautiful scene in
which Brutus and Portia take leave of each other at Elea.
510

THE TRAGEDIE OF
IVLIVS C^SAR.

Aclits Prinms. Scocna Prima.

Enter Flauiiis , MiireHus , and certaine Commoners
oner the Stage.

Flaniiis.

Ence : home you idle Creatures, get you home
Is this a Holiday ? What, know you not

/ I. Tragedie] Tragedy F3F4.

3. Actus Primus. Scoena Prima]
Act I. Scene i. Rowe.

Scexe. Rome. Rowe. a Street in
Rome Theob. et seq. (subs.)

4, 5. Enter Flauius...the Stage]
Ff, Cam.4-. Enter a Rabble of Citi-
zens: Flavius and IMurellus driving
them. Capell. Enter Flavius, Manil-
las, and a body of Citizens. Collier,

Hal. Enter FIa\aus, Marullus, and a
rabble of Citizens. Malone et cet.

4. Murellus] Ff, Rowe, Pope, Cap.
Marullus Theob. et cet.

Murellus, and...] Marullus, a Car-
penter, a Cobbler, and... Jennens.
Commoners] Plebeians Han.

5. ouer... Stage] Om. Pope et seq.
8. Holiday] Holy-day F4, Rowe.

I. The Tragedie] Gildon (p. 377): This Play or History is call'd Julius Cczsar,
tho' it ought rather to be call'd IMarcus Brutus; Caesar is the shortest and most
inconsiderable part in it, and he is kill'd in the beginning of the Third Act. But
Brutus is plainly the shining and darling character of the Poet; and is to the end
of the Play the most considerable Person. If it had properly been call'd Julius
CcEsar it ought to have ended at his Death, and then it had been much more regu-
lar, natural, and beautiful. But then the Moral must naturally have been the
punishment or ill Success of Tyranny. — Steevens: It appears from Peck's Collec-
tion of divers curious historical Pieces (appended to his Memoirs, &c., of Oliver
Cromwell), p. 14, that a Latin play on this subject had been written: Epilogus
CcBsaris interfedi, quomodo in scenam prodiit ea res, acta, in Ecclesia Christi, Oxon.
Qui Epilogus a Magistro Ricardo Eedes, et scriptus et in proscenia ibidem dictus fuit,
A. D. 1582. Meres, whose Wit's Commonwealth was published in 1598, enumerates
Dr Eedes among the best tragic writers of that time. — Malone: From some words
spoken by Polonius in Hamlet, I think it probable that there was an English play on
this subject before Shakespeare commenced as a writer for the stage. Stephen
Gosson, in his School of Abuse, 1579, mentions a play entitled The History of Ccesar
and Pompey. William Alexander, afterwards Earl of Sterline, wrote a tragedy on
the story and with the title of Julius Ccesar. It may be presumed that Shake-
speare's play was posterior to his; for Lord Sterline, when he composed his Julius

12 THE TRACED IE OF [act i, sc. i.

[i. The Tragedie of Ivlivs Caesar]
Casar, was a very young author, and would hardly have ventured into that circle
within which the most eminent dramatic writer of England had already walked.
The death of Ccesar, which is not exhibited, but related to the audience, forms the
catastrophe of his piece. In the two plays many parallel passages are found,
which might, perhaps, have proceeded only from the two authors drawing from
the same source. However, there are some reasons for thinking the coincidence
more than accidental. A passage in The, Tempest: 'The cloud-capped towers,'
etc., IV, i, 152, seems to have been copied from one in Darius, another play of Lord
Sterline's, printed at Edinburgh in 1603. His Julius Casar appeared in 1607, at
/* a time when he was little acquainted with English writers; for both these pieces

abound with Scotticisms, which, in the subsequent folio edition, 1637, he corrected.
But neither The Tempest nor Julius Casar of our author was printed until 1623.
It should also be remembered that our author has several plays founded on sub-
jects which had been previously treated by others. Of this kind are King John,
Rich. II., I Henry IV., 2 Henry IV., Henry V., Rich. III., Lear, Ant. &- Geo.,
Meas. for Meas., Tarn, of Shr., Mer. of Vcn., and, I believe, Titnon and 2 and 3
Hen. VI., whereas no proof has hitherto been produced that any contemporary
writer ever presumed to new-model a story that had already employed the pen
of Shakespeare. On all these grounds it appears more probable that Shakespeare
was indebted to Lord Sterline than that Lord Sterline borrowed from Shakespeare.
If this reasoning be just, this play could not have appeared before the year 1607.
I believe it was produced in that year. [See Appendix: Date of Composition,
Malone. The reference, in the foregoing note, to a play The History of Cccsar and
Ponipey, mentioned by Gosson in his Schoole of Abuse, has been repeated by sub-
sequent editors. It was, however, Halliwell, in 1864 (Folio ed., Introd.), who
gave the correct reference, as Gosson's second pamphlet: Plaies Confuted in Five
Actions, to which Collier [Introduction to the Shakespeare Society's edition of
The Schoole of Abuse, p. vii) assigns the date of the 'autumn of 1581, or spring of
1582.' The passage to which Malone refers is as follows: 'So was the history of
Cassar and Pompey, and the play of the Fabii at the Theatre, both amplified there,
where the Drummes might walke, or the pen rufHe.' — English Drama and Stage
under the Tudor and Stuart Princes: Roxburghe Library; ed. W. C. Hazlitt; p. 188.
— Ed.] — Collier {Introd., p. 5): It is a new fact [1842], ascertained from an entry
in Henslowe's Diary, 22nd May, 1602, that Anthony Munday, Michael Drayton,
John Webster, Thomas Middleton, and other poets were engaged upon a tragedy
entitled Ccesar's Fall. The probability is that these dramatists united their exer-
tions in order without delay to bring out a tragedy on the same subject as that of
Shakespeare, which, perhaps, was then performing at the Globe Theatre with suc-
cess. Malone states that there is no proof that any contemporary writer 'had
presumed to new-model a story that had already employed the pen of Shakespeare.'
He forgot that Ben Jonson was engaged upon a Richard Crookback in 1602; and he
omitted, when examining Henslowe's Diary, to observe that in the same year four
distinguished dramatists, and 'other poets,' were employed upon Ca:sar's Fall.
[In a foot-note Collier remarks that Lord Sterling's [sic] Julius Ccesar was first
printed in 1604, which date may be accounted for, he thinks, by the popularity of
Shakespeare's tragedy about 1603, and, therefore, this 'date is of consequence.'
Of this earlier date Malone appears to have been unaware.] — Upton: The real
length of time in Julius Cczsar is as follows: About the middle of February, A. U. C.

ACT I, sc. i.] IVLIVS C^SAR 13

[i. The Tragedie of Ivlivs Caesar]
709 [B. C. 44], a frantic festival, sacred to Pan, and called Lupercalia, was held in
honor of Caesar, when the regal crown was offered to him by Antony. On the 15 th
of March in the same year he was slain. November 27, A. U. C. 710, the trium-
virs met at a small island, formed by the river Rhenus, near Bononia, and there
adjusted their cruel proscriptions. A. U. C. 711 Brutus and Cassius were defeated
near Philippi. — Bathurst (p. 79): This play does not contain so much of high
poetical passages, delicate descriptions, nor tender touches of feeling as often occur
in many of Shakespeare's plays; but then it has very little that is not quite easy to
understand; it is full of active business; of spirit in the dialogue; contains a good deal
of dignity without being stiff or tiresome, and very considerable expression of char-
acter; besides, the extraordinary merit of one long speech, that of Antony to the
people, which alone would be sufficient to attract us to the play. Shakespeare in
this play, as in some others, was taken out of his usual turn and taste by founding a
play strictly upon history. This makes him more regular.

3. Actus Primus] Oechelhaijser (Einfukrungen,i, 234): The First Act takes
place in an open square decorated with statues and memorials, a temple or a palace
with a colonnade in the distance. Cassar's train, both in its entrance and exit,
passes across the stage diagonally, or goes along a raised street, or viaduct winding
downwards. Over this way Cinna rushes during the storm. The greatest care
is to be taken to render this dreadful night as realistic as possible. — Verity: The
value of this scene is twofold: (i) It indicates the feeling of Rome towards Caesar;
among the ofl&cial classes he has jealous enemies, with the crowd he is popular. (2)
It illustrates the fickleness of the crowd, a point of which so much is made on the
occasion of Antony's great speech. Also the reference to the Lupercalia fixes the
time of the action of the play at its opening. — F. C. Kolbe (Irish Monthly, Sept.,
1896, p. 511) : The power of the people is a force external to the action of the play,
yet it underlies and determines that action; in such cases it is Shakespeare's habit
to begin the play with the underlying force, as, e. g., the Ghost in Hamlet, the
Witches in Macbeth, and the storm in The Tempest. The mob then, thus shouting
for Caesar, is confronted by the Tribunes, who remind them of their love for Pom-
pey, and chide them for cheering the man who comes in triumph over Pompey's
blood. ... It is the first muttering of the storm against Caesar; and the spirit
of the storm is the veiled figure of the Nemesis of Pompey, justifying the con-
spiracy that is to be. It is the beginning of the dip of the wave of public opinion
which curls in continuous motion throughout the play, — it is crested with Caesar's
triumph, sinks to its trough at Caesar's death, and rises once more crested with
Caesar's revenge.

4. Murellus] Theobald: I have, upon the authority of Plutarch, &c., given to
this tribune his right name, Marulhis.

4. Flauius, Murellus] Francis Gentleman, author of the Dramatic Censor,
has written a number of commeyts, for the most part laudatory, on passages and
scenes of the stage arrangement of Julius Ccesar as given in Bell's British Theatre.
On the present line Gentleman remarks: 'Though ludicrous characters appear
very incompatible with tragedy, yet the mob, in this historical piece, are natural,
justifiable, and exceedingly well supported; several characters, to reduce an enor-
mous multiplicity and insignificance of some, are judiciously blended with others;
particularly those of Flavins and Marullus, in the first scene, are thrown into
Casca and Decius Brutus.^ — The wisdom of a change which reduces the multi-

THE TRACED IE OF [act i, sc. i.

[4. Flauius, Murellus]
plicity of characters at the expense of consistency is certainly questionable. The
indignant speech of Marullus, beginning: 'Wherefore rejoice? What conquest
brings he home? ' 1. 40 et seq., is utterly unlike any other speech which Shakespeare
has assigned to Casca. A casual comparison of this speech, in verse, with Casca's
humorous account, in prose, of the offering of the crown to Caesar will show that
the same character could not consistently deliver both. Again, in Bell's arrange-
ment, it is Decius Brutus who bids Casca ' disrobe the images,' and later in the scene,
when Casca is speaking with Brutus and Cassius, it is Casca who tells them Flavius
and Marullus 'are put to silence' for this same deed. The retention of this is,
perhaps, merely an oversight on the part of the adapter; if so, it was not noticed by
Mrs Inchbald, who has the same assignment of characters and speeches as has
Bell.— Ed.— Mark Hunter: Note that the tribunes of the people are no longer
demagogues as they are in Coriol. They have not the slightest personal sympathy
or relationship with the 'people.' The 'people' again, as is obvious in this first
scene, are thoroughly monarchical in sentiment. They have not the smallest
desire to be 'free' in the conspirators' sense. Thus, even before we hear of the
conspiracy, we see that such is bound to prove futile.

4. certaine Commoners] Knight {Studies, etc., p. 411): Shakespeare, in the
opening scene of Jul. Cas., has marked very distinctly the difference between the
citizens of this period and the former period of Coriolanus. In the first play
they are a turbulent body. They would revenge with their pikes: the wars
would eat them up. In Jul. Cas., on the contrary, they are ' mechanical'— the
carpenter or the cobbler. They ' make holiday to see Caesar, and to rejoice in his
triumph.' The speech of Marullus, the Tribune, brings the Rome of the hour
vividly before us. It is the Rome of mighty conquests and terrible factions.
Pompey has had his triumphs, and now the men of Rome ' Strew flowers in his
way. That comes in triumph over Pompey's blood.' — Jusserand {Literary History,
etc., iii, 258): In this play, as in Coriol., one of the most minutely described
personages, if it can be so called, is the People. Shakespeare, who belongs to his
time, not to ours, has no tenderness for the people; he depicts with great compla-
cency their exigencies, their credulity, their ignorance, their fits of irresistible but
transient ferocity, their contradictions, their violent exaggerations, everything, in
fact, that history has ever reproached them with. And as history repeats itself,
and as Shakespeare's knowledge of the human heart was marvellous, he seems at
times to divine traits unknown then, and which modern researches have dis-
covered in the past; or, at other times, to describe the most tragic incidents of
recent revolutions. On that point, from the beginning of his career to the end,
Shakespeare never varied; his scornful disposition remained the same; the people
who follow Jack Cade in Henry VI. are the same as those who now applaud Brutus
and Antony, exile Coriolanus, and proclaim Laertes king to console him for the
death of his father slain by Hamlet.— A. H. Tolm.^n {Introd., p. xliii): In the
plays of Jul. Cas. and Coriol. Shakespeare is not following Plutarch when he
represents the common people of Rome as too fickle, too ignorant, too subject to
demagogues, to deserve the slightest respect. Coriolanus tells the populace:
'He that depends Upon your favours swims with fins of lead. And hews down oaks
with rushes.' — I, i, 183. It seems clear that the evil smell of the very crowds which
thronged his theater and helped to make him rich was most distasteful to the
sensitive player-poet. . . . We need to remember that Shakespeare as a dramatist

ACT I, sc. i.] IVLIVS C^SAR 15

(Being Mechanicall) you ought not walke
Vpon a labouring day, without the figne 10

Of your Profeffion ? Speake, what Trade art thou ?

was concerned entirely with what the common people were in his own time, and
had been in the past.

9. you ought not walke] Wright: In all other cases in which 'ought' occurs
in Shakespeare it is followed by to. Both constructions are found. For in-
stance, in the later Wicliffite version of Genesis, xxxiv, 31: 'Symeon and Leuy
answeriden. Whether thei oughten mysuse oure sistir'; where some manuscripts
read 'to mysuse.' Again, in Holinshed's Chronicle (ed. 1577), ii, 1006a: 'But the
Lord Henry Percy L. Marshall, . . . came to the knight, and told him, that he
ought not come at that time.' The earlier construction appears to have been with
to. Dr Morris (English Accidence, § 303) states that o'a'e as an auxiliary verb first
appears in Laghamon's Brut. If this be the case, it is instructive to observe that
in the earlier recension of the poem (ed. Madden, i, 262) we find 'and that that heo
aghen me to ghelden,' and that they ought to yield to me; while in the later the
line stands thus, 'and hii that hahteghelden'= and they ought yield that. . . . On
the other hand, we find in the earlier recension, when the word is more strictly
used as an auxiliary (ii, 276): 'and swa thu aghest Hengest don'= and so thou
oughtest do to Hengest. In the last-quoted example 'aghest' is the present tense,
but ought, though properly past, is used also as a present, like wot and must. On
this irregularity in the use of the infinitive, with or without to after auxiliary or
quasi-auxiliary verbs, Dr Guest remarks (Philological Society's Proceedings, ii,
237): 'Originally the to was prefixed to the gerund, but never to the present, in-
finitive; as, however, the custom gradually prevailed of using the latter in place of
the former, the to was more and more frequently prefixed to the infinitive, till it
came to be considered as an almost necessary appendage of it. . . . The to is still
generally omitted after the auxiliaries and also after certain other verbs, as bid,
dare, see, hear, make, &c. But even in these cases there has been great diversity
of usage.' The following early instances of the omission of to are taken from Matz-
ner's Englische Grammatik, and the Worterbuch which accompanies his Altengliscke
Sprachproben: 'I oughte ben hyere than she' — Piers Ploughman (ed. T. Wright),
1. 936; 'With here bodies that aghte be so free' — Robert of Gloucester (ed. Hearne),
i, p. 12; 'And glader ought his freend ben of his deth' — Chaucer, Cant. Tdles, 1. 3053.
Milton imitated the construction in Paradise Lost: 'And not divulge His secrets,
to be scann'd by them who ought Rather admire.' — Bk, viii, 73, 74.

10, II. without the signe Of your Profession] Ward says (i, 425) that
Shakespeare here 'applies a police-law, originating in the mediaeval distinction of
guilds, to Roman citizens,' thus using the present passage to show that 'Shake-
speare's acquaintance with Roman history was slender.' — Wright, on the other
hand, notes that 'it is more likely that Shakespeare had in his mind a custom
of his own time than any sumptuary law of the Romans.' — Marshall, after
quoting Wright, says: 'It is evident that there is no reference here to the mediaeval
guilds; as the next speech but one, that of Marullus, shows us that what the Tribune
meant was not that the mechanics should wear any special badg6 or sign, but merely
the usual working dress of their trade or occupation; in short, that they had no
right to be in holiday, or, as we should say, in their Sunday clothes, on a working
day.' — Miss Porter^ and Miss Clarke discern a reference here to the Sumptuary

1 6 THE TRACED IE OF [act i, sc. i.

[lo, II. without the signe Of your Profession]
Laws, particularly to that prescribing the wearing of a woollen cap on Sundays and
holidays by all persons 'above six years, except ladies, knights, and gentlemen,'
which law was repealed in 1597. — [But does not Flavius mention specifically that
they should wear the sign of their profession upon a labouring day? He does not
recognise the present occasion as a festival. I am inclined to agree with Marshall
that this line does not refer to any regulation of the medieval guilds. The follow-
ing account of these associations is abridged from Toulmin-Smith's exhaustive
monograph on this subject (issued by the Early English Text Society) and Herbert's
History of the Livery Companies of London: The medieval guilds, or gilds, were
originally mutual benefit or protective societies, and took, their names from char-
acters either from the Bible or offices of the church, e. g.. The Gild of the Holy
Spirit, the Gild of St. Peter, or of St. Paul. The members paid a small entrance
fee and a sum annually. Fines were also exacted for non-attendance at meetings
or infraction of the rules. The general fund was used for the help of the poorer
brethren during illness, or payment of funeral expenses. The various trades were
quick to understand the advantage of such fraternities, and the transition from the
gild to the trade-union was accomplished. In the regulations and by-laws of gilds
and trade-unions there is not, as far as I have been able to discover, any mention
prescribing a form of dress or badge to be worn on all occasions, though mention
is made of certain hoods or gowns which are to be worn on the feast of a gild's
patron saint. They were not, however, distinctive of the profession of the gild
or trade-union. Later these trade-unions were merged into twelve companies
representing the principal trades of the time, such as, the Merchant Tailors; the
Masons; the Skinners; the Stationers, etc., and to them was granted each a royal
charter with the right to wear certain liveries on festival occasions. These liveries
were not typical of the various companies, but were merely uniforms to distinguish
the members of one company from another. Neither in the charter nor in the by-
laws is it made compulsory to wear this livery except on certain holidays or festi-
vals. It is, I think, quite evident that the speech of Flavius cannot, therefore,
refer to this custom, since he mentions the fact that the sign of the profession must
be worn upon a laboring day. Referring now to the question of a Sumptuary Law:
Such laws were first issued in the time of Edward III., and related not to the particu-
lar form of costume which the different classes should wear, but to the cost of the
material. Every one was limited, according to his rank, in the cost. If there
were any clause, which there is not, in these Sumptuary laws making it obligatory
that artisans wear a distinctive dress it would furnish a valuable piece of internal
evidence to determine the date of composition of Jul. Cas., as all such laws were
repealed in the first year of James I. (1603), and it is hardly probable that Shake-
speare would have referred to an unpopular law which was no longer in force.
In the 22nd year of Henry VIII. (1531) there was passed an act relating to vagrants
wherein it was stated that : ' if any man or woman being whole & mightie in bodie,
& able to labour, having no land, master, nor using any lawful merchandise, craft
or mysterie, whereby hee might get his living ... be vagrant, & can give no
reckoning how he doeth lawfully get his living: that then it shalbe lawfuU to the
Constables, and all other the kings officers ... to arrest the sayd vagabonds,'
etc. (Rustal: English Statutes, 1594). Then follows the form of punishment for
such vagrants. This Act remained in force until the 39th year of Elizabeth (1597),
when it was reissued, with many changes in phraseology. The clause in regard to

ACT I. sc. i.] IVLIVS CjESAR ly

Car. Why Sir, a Carpenter. 12

]\Iuf, Where is thy Leather Apron, and thy Rule?
What doft thou with thy beft Apparrell on ?
You fir, what Trade are you ? 1 5

Cobl. Truely Sir, in refpe6l of a fine Workman, I am
but as you would fay, a Cobler.

JMiir. But what Trade art thou ? Anfwer me direclly.

Cob. A Trade Sir, that I hope I may vfe, with a fafe
Confcience, which is indeed Sir, a Mender of bad foules. 20

Fla. What Trade thou knaue ? Thou naughty knaue,

what Trade ? 22

12. Car.] I Pleb. Hanmer. i C. 20. foides]Jotds¥y foals F^,'Ro\7e+,

Capell. I Cit. Malone et seq. (subs.) Cap. Varr. Mai. Steev. Varr. Sing.

15. You fir,] FjFu. YouftrFi. You, 5o/e5 Knt et cet.

Sir, — Theob. Warb. Dyce, Sta. 21. Fla.] ISIur. Capell. Mar. Jen-

— You, Sir, Johns. Var. '73. You, sir nens. Mai. Ran. Steev. Varr. Sing.

Cap. et cet. Dyce, Wht. Hal. Cam.4-.

16, 19, 23, 27, 29. Cob.] 2 Pleb. Trade thou] trade, thou Rowe et
Hanmer. 2 C. Capell. 2 Cit. seq.

Malone et seq. (subs.)

the vagrant's inability to give an account of his means of livelihood does not ap-
pear; and there is added one relating to players of interludes and stage-players,
who are not under the patronage of some nobleman, classing them among vaga-
bonds and vagrants. Such an act would naturally be humiliating to all players,
and it is possible that to this Shakespeare has made Flavins refer. The evidence
is, it must be admitted, slight and, at best, but circumstantial. On the other hand,
there is no evidence whatever to support the viev,' that there is here a reference
either to the laws of the Trade-gilds or to the Sumptuary Laws. — Ed.]

11-15. art thou . . . are you] For other examples of this use of 'thou' and
'you,' see, if needful, Abbott §§ 232-234.

20. Mender of bad soules] Maloxe: Fletcher has the same quibble in his
Wo7nen Pleased: 'If thou dost this (mark me, thou serious sowter), ... If thou
dost this, there shall be no more shoe-mending; Every man shall have a special care
of his own soal.' — [Act IV, sc. i. Compare also: 'Not on thy sole, but on thy soul,
harsh Jew.' — Mer. of Ven., IV, i, 123. — Ed.].

21. Fla. What Trade] Capell (ii, 96): The mistake made in this speech's
assigimient is evinced by the immediate reply to it, the reply to that reply, and
what proceeds from this speaker. Short as is the part of these tribunes, they
have different characters; Marullus is grave and severe and no relisher of evasions
and quibbles: the first with which the cobbler regales him puts him out of humour,
his second increases it, and a third endangers a storm; but that Fla\'ius — who is
somewhat gentler disposed, and a better dec>T5herer, interposes a question that
puts a stop to evasions, but not to quibbling, for that goes on as before; but not
clear as before, if former copies are kept to, who read 'withall' [1. 31] in one word,
and with no point to it; what the speaker would now say in that sentence is this:
that he meddled not with this or that matter particularly, but vnth all in which the
awl had concern. — Knight: We doubt whether it is correct to assume that only

THE TRACE DIE OF

[act I, sc. i.

Cobl. Nay I befeech you Sir, be not out with me : yet
if you be out Sir, I can mend you.

Mur. What mean ft thou by that? Mend mee, thou
fawcy Fellow?

Cob. Why fir. Cobble you.

Fla. Thou art a Cobler,art thou ?

Cob. Truly fir, all that I liue by, is with the Aule : I
meddle with no Tradefmans matters, nor womens mat-
ters; but withal I am indeed Sir, a Surgeon to old fhooes :
when they are in great danger, I recouer them. As pro-
per men as euer trod vpon Neats Leather, haue gone vp-
on my handy-worke,

Fla. But wherefore art not in thy Shop to dayf
Why do'ft thou leade thefe men about the ftreets?

Cob. Truly fir, to weare out their fhooes, to get my
felfe into more worke. But indeede fir, we make Holy-

38-

24. if you he\ if you should he Ktly.

25. Mur.] Flav. Theobald, Han.
Warb. Sing. Ktly.

mean ft thou] meanest thou Cap.
Varr. Mai. Steev. Varr. Knt, Dyce, Sta.

28. Cobler] cobbler, then Quincy (MS).

29. with the] the Rowe,+, Cap.
(Errata).

30. Tradefmans] tradesmen's Warb.
trade, — man's Farmer, Var. '78, '85.
trades, man's Sta. conj.

womens] womans Ff. woman's

Rowe,-|-, Varr. Ran.

31. withal I] Wh. i. wilhall I F2F3.
withal, I F4, Rowe. with-all, I Pope,+.
with all. I Cap. Var. '73, Ran. Knt,
Coll. Hal. Sing, ii, Ktly, Huds. with
awl. I Farmer, Jen. et cet.

S3- Neats Leather] N eats-Leather
F3F,.

34. handy-worke] handy worke Ff. X

36. do'ft] doft F3F4.

37, 38. Truly fir.. .worke] Mnemonic
Warb.

one should take the lead; whereas it is clear that the dialogue is more natural,
certainly more dramatic, according to the original arrangement, where Flavius and
Marullus alternately rate the people, like two smiths smiting on the same anvil.
25. mean st thou by that] Steevens: Perhaps this, like all the other speeches
of the Tribunes (to whichsoever of them it belongs), was designed to be metrical,
and originally stood thus, 'What mean'st by that? Mend me, thou saucy fellow?'
— [Coleridge (Notes, p. 131) suggests the same omission and arrangement.]

29, 30. I meddle . . . nnatters] Brentano says (p. cxxxix): 'Sometimes the
richer craftsmen withdrew from their poorer brethren into separate gilds, as, for
instance, the Shoemakers from the Cobblers, the Tanners from the Shoemakers.'

30, 31. no Tradesmans matters . . . but withal] M alone: Where our
author uses words equivocally, he imposes some difficulty on his editor with
respect to the mode of exhibiting them in print. Shakespeare, who wrote for the
stage, not for the closet, was contented if his quibble satisfied the ear. I have,
with the other modern editors, printed here with awl, though in the First Folio
we find 'withal'; as in a preceding speech bad soals, instead of 'bad soules.'

37, 38. Truly sir . . . But indeede] Delius: The Cobbler, with the jocular

ACT I, sc. i.] IVLIVS C^SAR I9

day to fee Ccefar, and to reioyce in his Triumph.

Miir. Wherefore reioyce ? 40

What Conqueft brings he home ?
What Tributaries follow him to Rome,
To grace in Captiue bonds his Chariot Wheeles ?
You Blockes, you fl:ones,you worfe then fenfleffe things :
O you hard hearts, you cruell men of Rome, 45

Knew you not Pompey many a time and oft ?

40, 41. As one line Rowe et seq. 46. yoii\ ye Var. '73.

41. Conqiiefl] conquests Pope ii. Pompey ... 0//?] Pompey? ... oft
43. Wheeles?] Wheels F3. Rowe ii et seq.

subtlety of the clown, makes a distinction between 'truly' and 'indeed,' as though
there were two meanings. — Wright, after referring to the foregoing note, says:
'I think the Cobbler had no more meaning in using them than Master Slen-
der had, and that certainly is not much. Shakespeare frequently puts such petty
expletives into the mouth of his uneducated characters. See Merry Wives, I, ii,
322-326.'

39. his Triumph] Wright: Caesar had returned from Spain, where he had
defeated the sons of Pompey at the battle of Munda, 17th March, B. C. 45.
. . . This triumph took place in the beginning of October, and as it was for a
victory over Pompey's sons it makes the reproaches of Marullus more pointed.
Shakespeare, not caring for dates, has placed the triumph at the time of the Lupe-
calia, which was held 15 February, B. C. 44.

40. Wherefore reioyce] Campbell {Life &• Writings, etc., p. lix): It is evident
from the opening scene of Jul. Ccbs. that Shakespeare, even dealing with classical
subjects, laughed at the classic fear of putting the ludicrous and sublime into
juxta-position. After the low and farcical jests of the saucy Cobbler the elo-
quence of the Roman Tribune, Marullus, 'springs upwards like a pyramid of fire.'
... It can be no exaggeration to say that these lines are among the most mag-
nificent in the English language. They roll over my mind's ear like the lordliest
notes of a cathedral organ, and yet they succeed immediately to the ludicrous idea
of a cobbler leading a parcel of fools about the streets, in order to make them wear
out their shoes and get himself into more work.

41. 42. home . . . Rome] Walker (Crit., ii, 114): In quoting Ant. &• Geo.,
I, ii, 189, 190, 'many our contriving friends in Rome Petition us at home,' I
observed, 'Pronounce " Rome" as usual. Room'; this removes the jingle between
'Rome' and 'home.' Coriol. V, iii, 172: 'so we will home to Rome And die among
our neighbors.' Here, too, the same pronimciation obviates the jingle; as it does
the rhyme in Jul. Ccbs., I, i, [41, 42]. Was this the ordinary pronunciation down
to the beginning of the present century? (I learnt it at school.) In Heber's
Palestine it must be Room, auribus postulantihus: 'When Tiber slept beneath the
cypress gloom. And silence held the lonely woods of Rome.' . . . 'But heavier ]
far the fetter'd captive's doom ! To glut with sighs the iron ear of Rome.' Read ~S-
Ihe poem continuously, and it will be evident. Tait's Magazine, x, p. 444: '"I

say, that if he was in Room" — Every one — Kemble himself — said "Room'" in
those days — "if he was in Room,"' &c. [See I, ii, 172.]

20 THE TRACE DIE OF [act i, sc. i.

Haue you climb'd vp to Walks and Battlements, 47

To Towres and Windowes? Yea, to Chimney tops,

Your Infants in your Armes, and there haue fate

The liue-long day, with patient expectation, 50

To fee great Pompcy paffe the ftreets of Rome :

And when you faw his Chariot but appeare,

Haue you not made an Vniuerfall fhout,

That Tyber trembled vnderneath her bankes

To heare the replication of your founds, 55

Made in her Concaue Shores ?

And do you now put on your beft attyre ?

And do you now cull out a Holyday ? 58

48. Windowes?] windows, Rowe et ending: now ...now ...now ...Rome ...Be

seq. gone Han.

54, 56. her. ..her] his. ..his Rowe,+, 56. Shores] Sh'otes F2.

Cap. Var. '78, Ran. her. ..his Var. '85. 58. a Holyday] a Holy-day Fj. an

56-61. Made. ..Be gone] Five lines, Holy-day F4, Rowe,+.

54. her bankes] Steevens: As Tyber is always represented by the figure of a
man, the feminine gender is improper. Milton says that 'the river of bliss . . .
Rolls o'er Elysian flow'rs her amber stream.' — [Paradise Lost, iii, 358.] But he is
speaking of the water, and not of its presiding power or genius. — Malone: Dray-
ton, in his Polyolbion, frequently describes the rivers of England as females, even
when he speaks of the presiding power of the stream. Spenser, on the other hand,
represents them, more classically, as males. — To this note by Malone Steevens
replies that 'The presiding power of some of Drayton's rivers were females; like
Sahrina, &c. ' For several examples where rivers are spoken of as feminine in
the Polyolbion, see First Song, lines 506-546. — Wright notes that in Shake-
speare where a river is not personified it is neuter, e. g., 'Like a proud river peering
o'er his bounds' — King John, III, i, 23; and 2 Hen. IV: IV, iv, 127, and adds:
'In Drayton's Polyolbion the rivers are mostly feminine. But in the Seventeenth
Song the Thames, the king of rivers, is masculine, as he is to this day; and Spenser's
description of the marriage of the Thames and Medway {Faerie Quecne, IV, 11),
the Medway being the bride, shews that in this respect the usage is not uniform.'

56. Made . . . Concaue Shores] Ceaik (p. 141): An imperfect line (or
hemistich, as it is commonly called), but prosodically regular so far as it goes, which
is all we have a right to look for. The occasional use of such shortened lines would
seem to be, at least in dramatic poetry, one of the proper and natural prerogatives
of blank verse, according well, as it does, with the variety of pause and cadence
which makes the distinctive charm of verse of that form. But, apparently, it need
not be assumed, as is always done, that the fragment must necessarily be in all
cases the beginning of a line. Why should not the poet be supposed sometimes,
when he begins a new sentence or paragraph in this manner, to intend that it should
be connected, in the prosody as well as in the meaning, with what follows, not with
what precedes? A few lines lower down, for instance, the words 'Be gone'
might be either the first foot of the verse or the last.

ACT I, sc. i.] IVLIVS CAESAR 21

And do you now ftrew Flowers in his way,

That comes in Triumph ouer Pompcycs blood ? 6o

Be gone,

Runne to your houfes, fall vpon your knees.

Pray to the Gods to intermit the plague

That needs muft light on this Ingratitude.

Fla. Go,go,good Countrymen, and for this fault 65

Affemble all the poore men of your fort ;
Draw them to Tyber bankes,and weepe your teares
Into the Channell, till the loweft flreame " 68

60. comes hi\ comes to Rome in Han. 62. your knees] you knees Var. '78

61, 62. Be gone ...knees] One line (misprint).

Ktly. 65. this] that Theob. ii,+ ( — Var.

61. Be gone,] Be gone — Rowe,+. '73).

Be gone; Cap. Varr. Mai. Steev. Varr. 67. Tyber batikes] Tyber bank Rowe,

Be gone ! Knt et seq. Pope. Tyber' s bank Theoh. ii,+.

59, 60. his way, That comes] Abbott (§ 218): That is, in the way of him
that comes. [Other passages, wherein the genitive of the pronoun 'stands as the
antecedent of a relative,' are given.]

60. Pompeyes blood] Herford: That is, his son, Cneius, who had fallen in the
battle of Munda, the immediate occasion of Caesar's Triumph. That 'blood' has
this special reference is shown by Plutarch's emphatic statement, which Shakespeare
clearly had in view, that this triumph was peculiarly offensive to the Romans
'because he had not overcome captains that were strangers, nor barbarous kings,
but had destroyed the sons of the noblest man of Rome, whom fortune had over-
thrown.'

63. intermit] Walker (Crit., i, 65) quotes this line as an instance of the inaccu-
rate use of the word 'intermit' for remit; adding that ' in this case the inaccuracy
seems rather to have originated in a slight degree of carelessness.' — The word
is not used elsewhere by Shakespeare. — Murray (N. E. D., s. v. Intermit, v^ i.
fe.) gives four examples, extending from 1563 to 1692, wherein this word is used in
the sense of 'To omit, leave out, pass over, let slip,' which is, perhaps, the meaning
as used in the present line. It is marked by Murray as obsolete in this sense. — Ed.

67. weepe your teares] Wright: This transitive use of 'weep' is not com-
mon. See Zove's Labour's, IV, iii, 33: 'Thou shinest in every tear that I do
weep.' [Schmidt (Lex.) also quotes: 'Purple tears that his wound wept.' — Ven.
&• Ad., 1054; 'May have a tomb of orphan's tears wept on 'em.' — Hen. VIII:
III, ii, 399; besides other examples, such as to weep seas, to weep blood. — Ed.]

67, 68. weepe . . . till the lowest streame, etc.] Jusserand {Literary Hist.,
etc., iii, 342): Sometimes those luminous rays with which natural objects are
aureoled in Shakespeare's eye, distort the contours and destroy proportions.
Such is the case, for instance, when it is a question of sighs or tears. Those signs
of emotion scarcely ever offer themselves to the dramatist's imagination save under
the guise of floods and storms. The Romans risk causing the Tiber to overflow
with their tears; Richard II. spoils the harvest with his sobs and sighs. Juliet is
'a bark, a sea, a wind'; her tears, old Capulet explains, are the sea, her bodj' is the

22 THE TRACED IE OF [act i, sc. i.

Do kiffe the mofl exalted Shores of all.

Exetait all the Commoners. 70

See where their bafeft mettle be not mou'd,

They vanifh tongue-tyed in their guiltineffe :

Go you downe that way towards the Capitoll,

This way will I : Difrobe the Images, 74

70. all the] Ff, Cam.+, Om. Rowe ■wher Dyce, Sta. whether Cam.+.
et cet. Quincy MS. whe'r Han. et cet.

Commoners] Ff, Cam.+- Citi- 71. their] that Quincy MS.

zens Capell et cet. 72. tongiie-tyed] tongue-ty^d F3F4.

71. where] Ff. whe're Theob.+.

bark, her sighs are the wind. Laertes does not weep over drowned Ophelia:
'Too much of water hast thou, poor Ophelia, And therefore I forbid my tears.'
Romeo roams abroad before sunrise: 'With tears augmenting the fresh morning's
dew, Adding to clouds more clouds with his deep sighs.' The habit is a settled
one; the poet reverts to it almost mechanically; his heroes feel they have never
said enough, they try to outdo each other; Richard II. proposes a competition in
weeping: * — To drop them [tears] still upon one place, Till they have fretted us a
pair of graves Within the earth.' Mere child's play, thinks Queen Elizabeth in
Rich. III.; as for herself, she will 'send forth plenteous tears to drown the world.'
It may be appropriate to recall that such exaggerations were frequent in the
romances then in vogue. In the Diana of Montemayor a shepherd causes the grass
to grow in a meadow, and the water surrounding an island to rise, by the abundance
of his tears.

69. Do kisse] Craik (p. 142): In this we have a common archaism, the reten-
tion of the auxiliary, now come to be regarded, when it is not emphatic, as a pleo-
nasm enfeebling the expression, and consequently denied alike to the writer of
prose and to the writer of verse. It is thus in even a worse predicament than the
separate pronunciation of the final ed in the preterite indicative or past participle
passive. In the age of Shakespeare they were both, though beginning to be aban-
doned, still part and parcel of the living language, and instances of both are numer-
ous in the present play. The modern forms probably were as yet completely
established only in the spoken language, which commonly goes before that which
is written and read, in such economical innovations.

71. where] Guest (p. 58): We have one of the best proofs of the elision
[of the final syllable] in the further corruptions such words have undergone,
ov'r became o'er, ev'r ere, oth'r or, whether whe'r; and in those dialects which are so
intimately connected with our own, as almost to make part of the same language,
we find these letters similarly afifected. Thus, in the Frisic facr is father, moar is
mother, broer is brother, foer is fodder. With a slight change in the orthography, we
find the same words in the Dutch. This seems to point clearly to a similar cause
of corruption in all these dialects. The elision of the vowel I believe to have been
the first step. [Compare also V, iv, 35: 'And see where Brutus be alive or dead. ']

74. Disrobe the Images] According to Plutarch, ' — there were set up im-
ages of Caesar in the city, with diadems upon their heads like kings. Those
the two tribunes, Flavius and Marullus, went and pulled down' — ed. Skeat, p. q6.
Suetonius says: ' — one of the crowd put upon a statue of him a laurel crown, with

ACT I, sc. i.] IVLIVS C^SAR 23

If you do finde them deckt with Ceremonies. 75

Ahir. May we do fo ?
You know it is the Feaft of Lupercall. "

Fla. It is no matter, let no Images
Be hung with CcEfars Trophees : He about,

And driue away the Vulgar from the ftreets ; 80

So do you too, where you perceiue them thicke.
Thefe growing Feathers, pluckt from Ccefars wing,
Will make him flye an ordinary pitch,
Who elfe would foare aboue the view of men,
And keepe vs all in feruile fearefulneffe. Exeunt. 85

75. Ceremonies] ceremony Wh. i.

a white ribbon tied round it, and the tribunes of the commons, Epidius Marullus
and Caesetius Flavius, ordered the ribbon to be taiien away, and the man to be
carried to prison.' — Cap. Ixxix.

75. deckt with Ceremonies] R. G. White: It can hardly be necessary to
remark, ceremoniously or pompously decorated. [See Text. Note.] The Folio
has 'with ceremonies,' which has been hitherto retained, with the explanation that
'ceremonies' means here religious ornaments or decorations [thus Warburton and
Malone]. But such a use of the word is illogical and unprecedented. The word
in the Folio is merely ceremonie with the superfluous 5 so constantly added in
books of its period. — Craik (143): By ceremonies must here be meant what are
afterwards in 1. 79 called 'Caesar's trophies,' and are described in I, ii, 306 as
' scarfs ' which were hung on Caesar's images. No other instance of this use of
the word, however, is produced by the commentators. — Wright, after citing the
two passages, also referred to by Craik, in which mention is made of 'Caesar's
trophies ' and the ' scarfs, ' thinks, with Malone, that ' ceremonies ' must here be ' re-
garded as denoting marks of ceremonious respect'; and compares: 'His ceremonies
laid by, in his nakedness he appears but a man,' Hen. V: IV, i, 109. Wright adds
to this: 'In a passage from Hakluyt's Voyages, i, 114, given in Richardson's Dic-
tionary, "ceremony" is used loosely, not only of outward observance, but of the
things whereby such observance was shown. "And I asked him, Why therfore
haue you not the crosse with the image Jesu Christ therupon? And he answered:
We haue no such custome. Wherupon I coniectured that they were indeede
Christians: but, that for lacke of instruction, they omitted the foresaide ceremonie.
. . . For the Saracens doe onely inuite men thither, but they will not haue them
speake of their religion. And therfore, when I enquired of the Saracens concerning
such ceremonies, they were offended thereat." In Du Cange one of the meanings
given to "Ceremonia" is Vidima hostia, showing that the concrete sense had be-
come attached to the word.' — Murray (iV. E. D., s. v. Ceremony. t4- concr.): An
external accessory or symbolical 'attribute' of worship, state, or pomp. [Besides
the present line Murray quotes] 1581 Sidney Apol. Poetrie (Arb.) 47: Aeneas . . .
carrying away his religious ceremonies. Meas.for Meas., II, ii, 59: ' No ceremony
that to great ones 'longs, Not the king's crown, nor the deputed sword, The mar-
shal's truncheon, nor the judge's robe Become them with one half so good a grace
As mercy does.'

77. the Feast of Lupercall] For a description of the rites attending this

THE TRACE DIE OF

[act I, sc. ii.

\Sce7ie 11^^

Enter Ccz/ar, Antony for the Coiir/e , Galpliurjiia, Portia, De- i
cius, Cicero, Brutus, Cajfms, Caska,a Soothfayer.af-

ter tliem Miirelliis and Flauius. x

Scene ii.] Pope et seq.

The Same. A publick Place. Rowe.

I. Enter Caefar...] Enter in solemn
procession, with Musick, &c., Caesar...
Rowe. Enter in procession with
trumpets and other music, C^sar...
Coll. ii, iii (MS).

1,2. Decius] Decimus Hanmer, Ran.

I, 4, 6, 12. Calphumia] Calpumia

Wh. Cam.+, Rolfe.

2. Caska, a...] Casca and a... Han-
mer. Casca, &c., a great crowd follow-
ing; Soothsayer in the Crowd. Capell
et seq. (subs.)

2, 3. after.. .Flauius] Ff, Rowe, Pope,
Jen. Var. '78, '85. Om. Theob. et cet.

3. Murellus] Ff, Rowe, Pope, Cap.
Marullus Theob. et cet.

Roman festival, see Smith: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, s. v. Lupcr-
calia. The time of its celebration was the 15th of February.

83. Will make him flye, etc.] Craik (p. 144): A modern sentence con-
structed in this fashion would constitute the 'him' the antecedent to the 'who,'
and give it the meaning of the person generally who (in this instance) 'else
would soar,' etc., or whoever would. But it will be more accordant with the
style of Shakespeare's day to leave the 'him' unemphatic, and to regard 'Caesar'
as being the antecedent to 'who.' Compare: 'Two mighty eagles fell, and there
they perched, Gorging and feeding from our soldiers' hands; Who to Philippi here
consorted us.' — V, i, 94.

83. pitch] That is, the highest flight of a hawk or falcon.

I. Antony for the Course] ' — that day [the Feast of Lupercal] there are
divers noblemen's sons, young men (and some of them magistrates themselves
that govern them), which run naked through the city, striking in sport them they
meet in their way with leather thongs, hair and all on, to make them give place.
And many noblewomen and gentlewomen also go of purpose to stand in their way,
and do put forth their hands to be stricken, as scholars hold them out to their
schoolmaster to be stricken with the ferula: persuading themselves that, being
with child, they shall have good delivery; and so, being barren, that it will make
them to conceive with child. . . . Antonius, consul at that time, was one of them
that ran this holy course.' — Plutarch: Ccesar, cap. xli (p. 96, ed. Skeat).

I. Calphumia] R. G. White: The Folio has Calphumia here and wherever
the name occurs; yet the needful correction has not hitherto been made, although
the name of Caesar's wife was Calpumia, and it is correctly spelled throughout
North's Plutarch, and although no one has hesitated to change the strangely
perverse 'Varn<5' and 'Claud/o' of the Folio to 'Varro' and 'Claud/wj', or its
'AntAony' to 'An/ony' in this play and in Ant. &* Cleo, I am convinced that in
both 'Anthony' and 'Calphumia' h was silent to Shakespeare and his readers. —
[Ellis, speaking of the pronunciation during the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth
centuries, says (pt i, p. 316) : 'There is no reason for supposing p, ph, qu to have been
anything but p,f, and kw.' — Ed.] — Wright: Calpumia was the daughter of L. Cal-
purnius Piso, married to Cffisar B. C. 59. She was his fourth wife, the other three
being Cossutia, Cornelia, and Pompeia.

I, 2. Decius] Steevens: This person was not Decius, but Decimus Brutus.

ACT I. sc. ii.] IVLIVS C^SAR 25

C<£f, Calphurnia.

Cask. Peace ho, Ccsfar fpeakes. 5

Ccef. CalpJiurnia.

Calp. Heere my Lord.

C(zf. Stand you direftly in Antotiids way,
When he doth run his courfe. Antonio.

Ant. Cafar, my Lord. lO

Ccb/. Forget not in your fpeed Antonio,
To touch Calphurnia : for our Elders fay,
The Barren touched in this holy chace,
Shake off their fterrile curfe. 14

5. [Musick ceases. Cap. Mai. Steev. 10. Cjefar] Om. anon. ap. Cam.

Varr. 13. touched] touched Dyce.

8. Antonio'5] Ff, Rowe, Ktly. An- 14. fterrile] Fj. fterril F3. sterile
tonius' Pope et cet. Dyce, Sta. Cam.-|-, Huds. Col. iii.

9, II. Antonio] Ff, Rowe, Ktly. fteril F4 et cet.

Antonius Pope et cet. ctirje] course Rowe ii. Pope, Han.

The poet (as Voltaire has done since) confounds the characters of Marcus and
Decimus. Decimus Brutus was the most cherished by Caesar of all his friends,
while Marcus kept aloof, and declined so large a share of his favors and honors
as the other had constantly accepted. Velleius Paterculus, speaking of Decimus
Brutus, says: 'For, though he had been the most intimate of all his [C. Cassar's]
friends, he became his murderer, and threw on his benefactor the odium of that
fortune of which he had reaped the benefit. He thought it just that he should
retain the favors which he had received from Caesar, and that Caesar, who had
given them, should perish. — Bk ii, cap. Ixiv, [p. 475, trans. Watson. Steevens
quotes also from Thomas May's Supplement to Lucan's Pharsalia two passages in
which Decimus Brutus is referred to as among the closest of the friends of Caesar.] —
Farmer: Shakespeare's mistake of Decius for Decimus arose from the old transla-
tion of Plutarch. — Malone: In Holland's translation of Suetonius, 1606, which
I believe Shakespeare had read, this person is likewise called Decius Brutus. —
R. G. White: This mistake is not in the spelling of a name, but the identity of a
person, and is one into which the poet was lead by his authority, North's Plutarch.
Therefore it should not be corrected.

8. Antonio's] Steevens: The old copy generally reads 'Antonio,' 'Octavio,'
'Flavio.' The players were more accustomed to Italian than Roman terminations,
on account of the many versions from Italian novels, and the many Italian charac-
ters in dramatic pieces formed on the same originals. — [The form Antonio occurs
but four times throughout the play. In all other instances the name is given either
as Marke Antony or Antony. Octavio occurs twice, and Labia and Flavio but once
each. — Ed.]

13, 14. The Barren . . . sterrile curse] See note on 1. i; extract from
Plutarch. — F. Schone (p. 17, foot-note): It has been thought that Caesar here
shows himself childishly superstitious. . . . But what Shakespeare wishes clearly
to indicate is Caesar's anxiety for an heir to his power and the establishing of a
dynasty. That he was not actually superstitious is shown shortly after by his

26 T//£ TRACE DIE OF [act i, sc. ii.

Arit. I fhall remember, 15

When Ccsfar fayes, Do this ; it is perform'd.

Cc£f. Set on, and leaue no Ceremony out.

Sooth. Ccefaj'.

C(Bf. Ha? Who callesf

Cask. Bid cuery noyfe be ftill : peace yet againe, 20

Ccef. Who is it in the preffe, that calles on me/
I heare a Tongue fhriller then all the Muficke
Cry, Ccefar : Speake,Ci^^/' is turn'd to heare.

Sooth. Beware the Ides of March.

C(s/. What man is that ? 25

Br.A Sooth-fayer bids you beware the Ides of March.

16. Do this] As quotation Knt, Coll. 20, 21 continued to Caesar Sta. conj.
Dyce, Wh. Hal. Cam.+, Huds. 23. Casfar: Speake,] Caesar. Speak;

17. [Musick; and the procession Pope,+, Dyce, Sta. Caesar! Speak
moves. Capell. Han. Coll. Wh. Hal. Ktly, Cam.+,

20. [Musick ceases. Capell. Huds.

20, 21. againe. Caef. Who...] Caes. 26. bids you] bids Cap.

Again! (as sep. line) Who... or all of 11.

curt dismissal of the soothsayer, who bids him beware of the Ides of March,
calling him merely 'a dreamer.' — [Wright says, however, that Caesar, 'though a
professed free-thinker, was addicted to superstition'; and cites, in support of this,
Merivale: History of the Romans, etc., ii, 446, 7; see also note on H, i, 219.]

17. Ceremony] Wright: The scanning of this line shows that Staunton was
wrong in maintaining that Shakespeare pronounced the first two syllables of
'ceremony' as cere in cerecloth. — [Although Walker's Criticisms did not appear
until i860, the same date of publication as Staunton's Shakespeare, yet it was
written several years before that date, and as Walker has quite an article on the
subject of this pronunciation of 'Ceremony' (vol. ii, p. 73), he should, I think, be
given the priority; he has furnished many examples of its pronunciation as a tri-
syllable from Shakespeare and from other writers. — Ed.]

18. Sooth. Caesar] Verity: This incident strikes the note of mystery. The
strangeness of this unknown voice from the crowd, giving its strange warning,
creates an impression of danger. In Plutarch the warning is more precise; here
the vague sense of undefined peril inspires greater awe.

20. Cask. Bid . . . againe] Wright: There is no need for any change in the
arrangement [see Text. Notes], as the whole suits well with the officious character
of Casca.

26. A Sooth-sayer . . . March] Coleridge (Notes, etc., p. 131): If my ear
does not deceive me, the metre of this line was meant to express that sort of
mild philosophic contempt characterizing Brutus even in his first casual speech.
The line is a trimeter, each dipodia containing two accented and two unaccented
syllables, but variously arranged. — Craik (p. 144) : That is, It is a sooth-sayer,
who bids. It would not otherwise be an answer to Caesar's question. The omis-
sion of the relative in such a construction is still common. — [Wright acknowl-
edges that such omissions are common, but adds that the present line 'does

ACT I, sc. ii.] IVLIVS CjESAR. 2/

Ccb/. Set him before me, let me fee his face. 27

Cajfi. YcWow, come from the throng, look vpon Cce/ar.

Ccef. What fayft thou to me now? Speak once againe.

Sooth. Beware the Ides of March. 30

Ccef. He is a Dreamer, let vs leaue him : Paffe.

Somet. Exanit. Manet Briit. & Caff.

Caffi. Will you go fee the order of the courfe ?

Brut. Not I.

Caffi. I pray you do. 35

Brut. I am not Gamefom: I do lacke fome part
Of that quicke Spirit that is in AiitoJiy :
Let me not hinder Caffius your defires ;
He leaue you.

Caffi. Brutus, I do obferue you now of late : 40

28. Caffi.] Casca. Johns. Var. '73. Exeunt all but Bru. and Cass. Cap.

29. thou\ thon F3. et cet.

31. Dreamer,] Dreamer F2F3. 33. Scene hi. Pope, Han. Warb.

32. Sennet.] Senate. F4. Om. Johns. Jen.

Rowe,+. Musick. Cap. 34- Not I.] Not I. F,.

Exeunt.. .& Caff.] Ff (Manent 39. He leaue you] Om. Seymour.

FjF4), Rowe, Pope. Exeunt Caesar 40. you now] Om. Steev. conj.

J^r • J.2^V, ^^""^, ^"pv-. ^^v-v^xxu

J/t' and Train. Theob.+, Varr.

Ran.

not seem to be an instance.' Abbott (§ 460) suggests that metri gratia, 'beware,'
be shortened by the omission of the prefix. Capell's reading (see Text. Notes) is,
perhaps, preferable. — Ed.] — Schwartzkopf (p. 324): It is noteworthy that it
is Brutus who immediately repeats the soothsayer's warning words to Caesar.
And they are to be heard again by both, as we see later. To one as a warning
which, heeded, could have been his salvation; to the other as a magnetic attraction
towards the assassin's dagger.

32. Manet Brut. & Cass.] Knight (Studies, p. 114): The leading distinc-
tions between these two remarkable men, as drawn by Shakespeare, appear to
us to be these: Brutus acts wholly upon principle; Cassius partly upon impulse.
Brutus acts only when he has reconciled the contemplation of action with his
speculative opinions; Cassius allows the necessity of some action to run before and
govern his opinions. Brutus is a philosopher; Cassius is a partisan. Brutus, there-
fore, deliberates and spares; Cassius precipitates and denounces. Brutus is the
nobler instructor; Cassius the better politician. Shakespeare, in the first great
scene between them, brings out these distinctions of character upon which future
events so mainly depend. Cassius does not, like a merely crafty man, use only
the arguments to conspiracy which will most touch Brutus; but he mixes with
them, in his zeal and vehemence, those which have presented themselves most
strongly to his own mind.

40. Brutus, I do obserue, etc.] Wright: In Plutarch's Life of Brutus the
quarrel between Brutus and Cassius arose from their contest for the praetorship,
which Caesar assigned to Brutus. This, too, was one of the causes of Cassius'

28 THE TRAGEDIE OF [act i, sc. ii.

I haue not from your eyes, that gentleneffe 41

And fhew of Loue,as I was wont to haue :
You beare too flubborne, and too ftrange a hand
Ouer your Friend, that loues you.

Bru. Cajfrns, 45

Be not deceiu'd : If I haue veyl'd my looke,
I turne the trouble of my Countenance
Meerely vpon my felfe. Vexed I am
Of late, with paffions of fome difference,

Conceptions onely proper to my felfe, 50

Which giue fome foyle (perhaps) to my Behauiours :
But let not therefore my good Friends be greeu'd
(Among which number Caffiiis be you one)
Nor conftrue any further my negle6l.

Then that poore Brutus with himfelfe at warre, 5 5

Foreets the fhewes of Loue to other men.

Caffi. Then Brutus, I haue much mifbook your paffion,
By meanes whereof, this Breft of mine hath buried 58

.J 44. P^ieni\ Friends Ff, Rowe, Pope. ( — Johns. Var. '73).

' loues] love F4, Rowe, Pope. 5.1 fiirfhpA fnrth,

48. Vexed] Vexed Dyce. Wai

51. Behaiiioiirs] Behaviour Rowe,+ Hal

loues] love F4, Rowe, Pope. 54- further] farther Pope ii, Theob.

48. Vexed] Vexed Dyce. Warb. Johns. Var, '73, Coll. Wh. i,

personal animosity against Cassar, and the first step in the plot for his assassina-
tion was the reconciliation of Cassius and Brutus.

43. strange] Johnson: That is, alieji, unfamiliar, such as might become a
stranger.

49. passions of some difference] Johnson: That is, with a fluctuation of
discordant opinions and desires. — Steevens: Compare ' — thou hast set thy mercy
and thy honour At difference in thee.' — Coriol., V, iii, 201. — Malone: A following
line may prove the best comment on this: 'Than that poor Brutus, with himself at
war,' 1. 55.

57. passion] Murray (N. E. D., s. v., Ill, 6): Any kind of feeling by which the
mind is powerfully affected or moved; a vehement, commanding, or overpowering
emotion; in psychology and art, any mode in which the mind is affected or acted
upon (whether vehemently or not), as ambition, avarice, desire, hope, fear, love,
hatred, joy, grief, anger, revenge.

58. By meanes whereof] Capell (1. 97): That is, by means of mistaking; but
what was Cassius' mistake? Wherein lay it? WTiy, in thinking that his friend's
'passion,' what he appear'd to suffer, proceeded from his concern for the public;
which thought of his he calls a thought of great value, a worthy cogitation; and then
enters upon his sounding in terms that show it premeditated, and a manner more
artificial than is consistent with real friendship; which the poet does not attribute
to him or make a part of his character, and that in order to difference him from the
open and honest Brutus.

ACT I, sc. ii.] IVLIVS C^SAR 29

Thoughts of great value, worthy Cogitations.

Tell me good Bnitiis, Can you fee your face ? 60

Bnitiis. No CaJJius :
For the eye fees not it felfe but by refle6lion,
By fome other things.

Cajfins. 'Tis iuft,
And it is very much lamented Brutus^ 65

60. jace\ eye Upton (Obs., p. 237). himjelf: F4.

61-63. No Csi&us... other things] Two 63. By] from Pope,+, Ran. of Sta.

lines, ending: Jelfe... things Rowe et conj.

seq. things] thing Walker (Crit. i,

62. it felfe] himfelfe F2. himfelf, Fj. 243), Wh. i, Dyce ii, iii, Coll. iii.

60. Can you see your face] J. Hunter: Cassius is now proceeding to move
Brutus to conspiracy. Observe how artfully he employs the considerations of his
affection for Brutus; of the respect in which Brutus is held by others, and in which
he should hold his own honour; of the republican principles which Brutus cherishes;
and of his being a descendant of that Brutus who drove Tarquin from the throne;
and then observe the result which manifests itself in the speech: 'That you do
love me,' etc.

62. the eye sees not it selfe] Stee\t;ns: So, Sir John Davies (Nosce Teipsum,
1599) : 'Is it because the Mind is like the Eye (Through which it gathers knowledge
by degrees) , Whose rays reflect not but spread outwardly. Not seeing itself, when
other things it sees?' [p. 48, ed. Arber]. — [Steevens quotes also a passage from
Marston's Parisitasler which contains this same idea; and Malone gives another
from Davies' second part of Nosce Teipsum, which is, perhaps, more nearly parallel
to the present line in Julius Ccesar: ' Mine eyes which see all objects nigh and far,
Look not into this little world of mine; Nor see my face, wherein they fixed are'
(p. 51, ed. Arber). — Craik compares 'Nor doth the eye itself. That most pure
spirit of sense, behold itself — Tro. &* Cress., Ill, iii, 105, 106 — and adds: 'It may
be worth noting that these lines appear only in the two original quarto editions of
the play (1609), and are not in any of the Folios.' — Ed.]

62, 63. by reflection . . . other things] Craik (p. 150): The 'other things'
must apparently, if we interpret the words with reference to their connection,
be the reflectors or mirrors spoken of by Cassius. Taken by itself, however,
the expression might rather seem to mean that the eye discovers its own existence
by its power of seeing other things. The verse in the present speech is ingeniously
broken up in the original edition [by the colon after ' Cassius ' and the comma
after 'reflection']. It may still be suspected that all is not quite right, and pos-
sibly some words have dropped out. 'By reflection, by some other things' is
hardly Shakespeare's style. It is not customary with him to employ a word which
he finds it necessary thus to attempt immediately to amend, or supplement, or
explain by another. — Wright, referring to the foregoing note by Craik, says: 'I do
not see why " by," in the sense of by means of, does not give a very good mean-
ing, even if we connect it closely with reflection.' — [More reliance might be placed
upon the punctuation of the Folio were we sure that it was from Shakespeare's own
hand. Wright's interpretation, based upon the removal of the printer's comma,
shows how needless the latter point is. — Ed.]

30 THE TRACED IE OF [act i, sc. ii.

That you haue no fuch Mirrors, as will turne (^

Your hidden worthineffe into your eye,

That you might fee your fhadow :

I haue heard,

Where many of the beft refpe6l in Rome, 70

(Except immortall Ccs/ar) fpeaking of Brutus,

And groaning vnderneath this Ages yoake,

Haue wifh'd, that Noble Brutus had his eyes.

Bru, Into what dangers, would you
Lead me CaJJius ? 75

That you would haue me feeke into my felfe.
For that which is not in me ?

Caf. Therefore good Brutus, be prepar'd to heare : 78

66. 'M.irrors\ mirror Walker (Crit. i, 73. eye^.] eyes — Johns.

243), Dyce ii, iii, Huds. 74, 75. 7«/o...Caffius?] One line Rowe

68, 69. Thai. ..heard] One line Rowe, et seq.
Pope, Theob. Han.+. 74. dangers] daungers F2.

69,70. I haue heard ... best respect in Rome] Boissier (p. 301): The
conspirators were but little over sixty in number, but they had all Rome for their
accomplice. 'All the honest men,' said Cicero {Philip, ii, 12), 'in so far as they
could, have killed Caesar. Some wanted the means, others the resolution, several
the opportunity; no one wanted the will.'

71. speaking of Brutus] Mark Hunter: The repetition of 'Brutus' imme-
diately afterwards is by no means natural or graceful. I believe the 'Brutus' in
1. 72 caught the printer's eye, and he substituted it for some other word.

73. Haue wish'd . . . Brutus had his eyes] Delius: That is, the Romans
mourned the fact that Brutus did not see, and wished that he might but use
the eyes nature had given him in order to recognise the needs of the times. —
Wright: I should rather suppose that 'his' was written carelessly for their, as if
what precedes had been ' Many a one . . . hath wish'd, ' etc. The speakers wished
Brutus to see himself as they saw him, and to recognize his own importance at such
a crisis. This seems to be the whole point of Cassius' appeal. Of course, 'to have
one's eyes' does occur, in the sense in which Delius takes it, in other passages of
Shakespeare; as, for instance: 'Nay, indeed, if you had your eyes, you might fail
of the knowing me.' — Mer. of Ven., II, ii, 79. Again: 'If you saw yourself with
your eyes, or knew yourself with your judgment.' — .1^ You Like It, 1, ii, 185.

78. Therefore good Brutus] Craik (p. 151): The eager, impatient temper of
Cassius, absorbed in his own one idea, is vividly e.xpressed by his thus continuing
his argument as if without appearing to have even heard Brutus' interrupting
question; for such is the only interpretation which his 'therefore' would seem to
admit of. — [Craik is doubtless right regarding the impetuous temper of Cassius,
but in the present instance is his interpretation of 'therefore' the only one? does
not 'therefore' here introduce the answer to the foregoing question? Brutus asks:
Why do you ask me to search within myself for something which does not exist?
Cassius replies: Since you yourself cannot, after seeking, find it, therefore be pre-

ACT I, sc. ii.] IVLIVS CyESAR 3 1

And fince you know, you cannot fee your fclfe

So well as by Rcfleclion; I your Glaffc, 80

Will modeftly difcouer to your felfe

That of your felfe, which you yet know not of.

And be not iealous on me, gentle Brutus:

Were I a common Laughter, or did vfe

To ftale with ordinary Oathes my loue 85

82. yoii yet] yet you F3F4, Ro\ve,4-, Steev. Varr. Sing. i.

Varr. Ran. Cap. 84. Laughter] talker Kmnear (p. ^62,).

83. on] of Rowe,+, Varr. Mai. Ran. lover Herr (p. 7). laugher Rowe et seq.

pared to have me tell you 'That of yourself, which you yet know not of (1. 82). —
Ed.] — M.\RK Hunter: It is plain that Cassius' vehemence, his outspoken envy,
do not and cannot appeal to a person of Brutus' temperament, and that Brutus'
more philosophic doubts can win no sympathy from Cassius. He does not under-
stand them. Thus Brutus scarcely seems to hear all that Cassius says to him, and
Cassius attends to nothing that Brutus says save where it seems to coincide with
his own thoughts.

83. on me] For examples of 'on' meaning of, see Shakespeare passim.

84. a common Laughter] Cr.\ik (p. 153): The necessity or propriety of
[Rowe's] change is, perhaps, not so unquestionable as it has been generally thought.
Neither word seems to be perfectly satisfactory. 'Were I a common laughter'
might seem to derive some support from the expression of the same speaker in
IV, iii, 126: 'Hath Cassius lived to be but mirth and laughter to his Brutus?' —
Heath (p. 435): Seward, in his notes on Beaumont and Fletcher (Note 10 of the
Faithful Shepherdess), thinks ['laughter'] 'a stronger word to express a low buffoon
than laugher. But he seems to have misunderstood the drift of the poet; a low
buffoon, who is commonly laughed at, is not the idea he intended, but one who,
without regard to friendship or any other consideration, abuses the confidence of
his friends in order to expose them to the laughter of the first company he comes
into. — Hudson: 'Laughter' may possibly be right in the sense of laughing-stock.
Some one has proposed 'a common lover' [see Text. Notes]; and so, I have hardly
any doubt, we ought to read. This would make common emphatic, and give it the
sense of indiscriminate or promiscuous; which quite accords with the context. —
Wright: I do not feel quite certain that the Folio reading may not be correct,
'laughter' being used in the sense of laughing-stock. Whether Cassius were a com-
mon buffoon or a common butt, he would be equally untrustworthy'; but he ap-
peals here to what Brutus knows of his habits of speech. — Miss Porter and Miss
Clarke: Rowe's change ... is a misrepresentation of the meaning. Cassius
means to say: 'were I an object of laughter, as a man like Antony is,' his whole
conversation glancing at Antony as standing for all Brutus is opposed to. . . . 'An-
tony,' says Plutarch, 'was laughed at. For he would further every man's love
and . . . not be angry that men should merrily tell him of those he loved.' Cas-
sius says, therefore, that he is not given, like Antony, to 'fawn on men, and hug
them hard. And after scandal them.' — [Murray (iV. E. D.) does not apparently
give any example of the use of 'laughter' in the sense of the object laughed at. — Ed.]

85. To stale] Johnson: That is, to invite rcery new protester to my affection by
the stale or allurement of customary oaths. — Hudson : ' To stale ' a thing is to make

(/-

22 T//E TRACED IE OE [act i, sc. ii.

To euery new Protefter : if you know, 86

That I do fawne on men, and hugge them hard,

And after fcandall them : Or if you know,

That I profeffe my felfe in Banquetting

To all the Rout, then hold me dangerous. 90

Floiirijh, and Shout.

Bru. What meanes this Showting ?
I do feare, the People choofe Ccefar
For their King.

Caffi. I, do you feare it ? 95

Then muft I thinke you would not haue it fo.

Bru. I would not CaJJlus, yet I loue him well :
But wherefore do you hold me heere fo long ?
What is it, that you would impart to me ? 99

86. Protejler] Ktly here marks an in. Cap. Jen.

omission..^, ^'| g2-gs. What meanes. ..feare it?] Tvfo

89. my felfe] Om. Ff; • lines, ending: People. ..feare it? Roweet

91. Flourifh, and Shout] Shout with- seq.

it common or stale by indiscriminate use. Compare: 'Out of use and staled by
other men,' IV, i, 43. — [R-. G. White accepts Johnson's e.xplanation; but that given
by Hudson seems preferable, and has been generally followed. — Ed.]

88. scandall] Craik (p. 153): We have lost the verb 'scandal' altogether, and
we scarcely use the other form, to scajidalize, except in the sense of Hellenistic
skandalizo, to shock, to give offence. Both had formerly also the sense of to defame
or traduce.

91. Flourish, and Shout] Moulton {Sh. as Dram. Art., p. igo): All through
the conversation between Brutus and Cassius the shouting of the mob reminds
of the scene which is at the moment going on in the Capitol, while the conver-
sation is interrupted for a time by the returning procession of Caesar. In this
action behind the scenes, which thus mingles with the main incident, Caesar
is committing the one fault of his life: this is the fault of 'treason,' which can be
justified only by being successful and so becoming 'revolution,' whereas Caesar is
failing, and deserving to fail from the vacillating hesitation with which he sins.
Moreover, unfavourable as such incidents would be in themselves to our sympathy
with Ca;sar, yet it is not the actual facts that we are permitted to see, but they are
further distorted by the medium through which they reach us — the csmicism of
Casca which belittles and disparages all he relates.

97. I loue him well] Ferrero (ii, 2,12, foot-note): The affection and intimacy
between Caesar and Brutus have been much exaggerated. It must be remem-
bered that from Pharsalia down to Caesar's return from Spain they can only have
been together for quite a short time, during 47 in the East; afterwards Caesar went
to Africa and Brutus spent the whole of 46 as Governor of Cisalpine Gaul. When
Brutus returned to Rome Caesar had already left for Spain.

ACT I, sc. ii.] IVLIVS C^SAR 33

If it be ought toward the generall good, lOO

Set Honor in one eye, and Death i'th other,

And I will looke on both indifferently :

For let the Gods fo fpeed mee, as I loue

The name of Honor, more then I feare death. 104

100. oiigh(\ aught Theob. et seq. 102. both] death Warb. Theob. Han.

loi. i'th] i'th' F3F4 et seq. Quincy MS.

100. If it be ought toward] Craik (p. 154): All that the prosody demands
here is that the word 'toward' be pronounced in two syllables; the accent may be
either on the first or on the second. 'Toward' when an adjective has, I believe,
always the accent on the first syllable in Shakespeare; but its customary pronuncia-
tion may have been otherwise in his day when it was a preposition, as it is here.
Milton, however, in the few cases in which he does not run the two syllables
into one, always accents the first. And he uses both 'toward' and towards. —
Wright: When 'toward' is a preposition I find only the following lines in which
the accent could be placed on the last syllable: ' Toward that shade I might behold
addrest.' — Love's Labour's Lost, V, ii, 92; 'And sigh'd his soul toward the Grecian
tents.' — Mer. of Ven., V, i, 5; ' Toward Peloponnesus are they come.' — Ant. b" Cleo.,
Ill, X, 31. But even in these lines such an accentuation is not necessary, and, as
it is contrary to Shakespeare's usage and also to analogy, I believe it to be wrong.

100. the generall good] Verity: This is the keynote of the action of Brutus.
He is influenced by ' no personal cause ' : what he believes to be the ' common good
to air is his sole motive — as Antony himself allows (V, v, 83, 84).

102. And I ... on both indifferently] Warburton: WTiat a contradiction
to this are the lines immediately succeeding! If he lov'd Honour more than he
fear'd Death, how could they be both indifferent to him? Honour thus is but in
equal Balance to Death, which is not speaking at all like Brutus; for, in a soldier
of any ordinary pretension, it should always preponderate. We must certainly
read: 'I will look on Death indifferently.' What occasion'd the corruption, I pre-
sume, was the transcriber's margining; the adverb 'indifferently' must be applied
to two things oppos'd. But the use of the word does not demand it; nor does Shake-
speare always apply it so. In the present passage it signifies neglectingly; without
fear or concern. And so Casta afterwards again in this Act employs it: 'And
dangers are to me indifferent,' i. e., I weigh them not; am not deterred on the score
of danger. — Johnson: Warburton has a long note on this occasion, which is very
trifling. When Brutus first names 'honour' and 'death,' he calmly declares them
indijfferent; but as the image kindles in his mind, he sets honour above life. Is not
this natural? — Upton {Crit. Obs., p. 293): That is, whatever comes in competition
with the general good, will weigh nothing; death and honour are to me things of an
indifferent nature; but, however, I freely acknowledge that, of these indifferent
things, honour has my greatest esteem, my choice and love; the very name of
honour I love, more than I fear even death. — Heath (p. 435): I entirely conciu:
in Warbiurton's emendation. . . . \Vhat appears decisive in this point is the causal
particle ' for,' which introduces the two following lines, and the express declaration
which Brutus therein makes of the superior influence which the love of honour
had with him beyond the fear of death. — Capell (i, 97) : Here the editor must play

34 THE TRACED IE OF [act i, sc. ii.

[102. And I will looke on both indifferently]
the recanter; and repent him that a reading of his three predecessors had not a place
in his text; for, notwithstanding all the plausible reasons that have been urged for
the old one [by Upton], a more intent examen of the passage at large has con-
vinc'd him it will not proceed rightly without reading as they do — death for 'both':
'And I will look on death indifferently, or with indifference,' /. e., unconcern.
The subjoin'd assertion of Brutus concerning 'honour' contradicts the equality
which the old reading sets up between that and death; and his friend's declaration
that what he had to impart to him, his story's subject, was 'honour,' is every whit
as repugnant to the reading of elder copies and of this copy after them. For what
sensible man would urge a topic from 'honour' to one who had just told him
that 'honour' had no weight with him when put in balance with 'good,' the good
of the general. — Coleridge (Notes, p. 132): I prefer the old text. There are here
three things — the public good, the individual Brutus' honour, and his death.
The latter so balanced each other that he could decide for the first by equipoise;
nay, — the thought growing, — that honour had more weight than death. That
Cassius understood it as Warburton is the beauty of Cassius as contrasted with
Brutus. — Craik (p. 154): What Brutus means by sa>-ing that he will look upon
Death and Honour indifferently, if they present themselves together, is merely
that, for the sake of the honour, he will not mind the death, or the risk of death, by
which it may be accompanied; he will look as fearlessly and steadily upon one as
upon the other. He will think the honour to be cheaply purchased even by the
loss of life; that price will never make him falter or hesitate at clutching such a
prize. He must be understood to set honour above life from the first; that he should
ever have felt otherwise for a moment would have been the height of the unheroic.
— Wright: Warburton ought to have remembered the clause in the prayer for the
Church Militant: 'that they may truly and indifferently administer justice.' —
L. F. MOTT (Mod. Lang. Notes, May, 1S97, p. 160): The difficulty which both
Johnson and Coleridge have felt seems to have been occasioned by their failure
to perceive that Brutus is here punning on the word ' honor,' which means not only
personal integrity, but also high rank, dignity, distinction. In this latter sense we
find it, for example, in the Aler. of Ven.: 'O, that estates, degrees and offices Were
not derived corruptly, and that clear honour Were purchased by the merit of the
wearer! . . . How much low peasantry would then be glean'd From the true seed
of honour! and how much honour Pick'd from the chaff and ruin of the times.' —
II, ix, 142. A score of further examples might be cited, but I content myself with
one from Cymh.: ' — of him I gathered honour Which he to seek of me, again per-
force. Behoves me keep at utterance.' — III, i, 70. According to the interpretation
here advanced, Brutus' meaning might be stated thus: In matters concerning the
public good, I will take indifferently high position or death, for I love my personal
integrity more than I fear death. The probability of this explanation is increased
by the fact that the same play upon the word 'honor' is found in another of Shake-
speare's dramas : ' Meantime receive such welcome at my hand As honour without
breach of honour may Make tender of to thy true worthiness.' — Love's Labour's
Lost, III, i, 170. I have been unable to find either of these puns upon 'honor' in
Wurth's Worts piel bei Shakspere. — Mark Hunter: Brutus looks at honour and
death together; death has become a necessary condition or consequence of honour,
and, since that is so, Brutus loves the one as well as the other; the love of honour
has taken away the fear of death. We may, therefore, paraphrase the whole: If

ACT I, sc. ii.] IVLIVS C^SAR 35

Caffi. I know that vertue to be in you Brutus, 105

As well as I do know your outward fauour.
Well, Honor is the fubiecl of my Story :
I cannot tell, what you and other men
Thinke of this life : But for my fmgle felfe,

I had as liefe not be, as liue to be 1 10

In awe of fuch a Thing, as I my felfe.
I was borne free as Ccefar, fo were you,
We both haue fed as well, and we can both
Endure the Winters cold, as well as hee.

For once, vpon a Rawe and Guftie day, 115

The troubled Tyber, chafing with her Shores,
Ccefar faide to me, Dar'ft thou CaJJius now
Leape in with me into this angry Flood,
And fwim to yonder Point/ Vpon the word, 1 19

•

( 109. /or] Om. Ff. 117-119. Dar'Jl...Poi}it?] Ff, Rowe,

115-125. Mnemonic Warb. Pope, Warb. As quotation Theob.

116. chafing] clujfing F2F3. Johns. Var. '73, Knt, Coll. Dyce, Wh.
her] his Rowe,+, Varr. Ran. Hal. Cam.+, Huds. In Italics Han.

117. /aide] Jaies F2F3. Jays F4, et cet.
Rowe,+.

the thing be for the public good, even though it cost me my life, I will do it, for the
cause of honour is more to me than the fear of death.

105. Cassi. I know that vertue, etc.] F. Gentleman (ap. Bell, p. 10):
Tho' this speech of Cassius is imusually and, perhaps, blameably long, yet there is
such an exquisite variety of expression and richness of description that the actor
must be very deficient of capability who does not entertain, if not strike, in it;
however, we think attention would be greatly strengthened, and the actor's powers
much reheved, if a couple of lines were given to Brutus after the words: 'Did I the
tired Caesar,' [1. 131]. — [The above note, with its patronising suggestion of a dra-
matic improvement, is here given merely to show the attitude of the majority of
the early criticasters and adapters toward Shakespeare. — Ed.]

no. I had ... as liue to be] Shuckburgh (iv, 244) calls attention to the
similarity of thought in this and the following passage in a letter written by Brutus
to Cicero in B. C. 43, wherein the writer is speaking of Octavius: 'The one and
only thing — you say — that is demanded and expected of him is that he consent
to the safety of those citizens, of whom the loyalists and the people have a good
opinion. What? If he doesn't consent, shall we not be safe? And yet it is better not
to be than to be by his favour.' — [The original reads: 'Quid? si nolit, non erimus?
Atqui, non esse, quam esse per ilium praestat.' — ed. LeMaire, iii, 683. — Ed.]

116. her Shores] For the feminine gender as applied to rivers, see note on I, i, 55.

1 1 7-1 19. Dar'st thou ... to yonder Point] Malone: Shakespeare prob-
ably recollected the story which Suetonius has told of Cesar's leaping into the
sea when he was in danger by a boat's being overladen, and swimming to the next
ship with his Comtnejitaries in his left hand. (Holland's Translation, ed. 1606, p.

36 THE TRACED IE OF [act i, sc. ii.

Accoutred as I was, I plunged in, 120

And bad him follow : fo indeed he did.

The Torrent roar'd, and we did buffet it

With lufty Sinewes, throwing it afide,

And fternming it with hearts of Controuerfie.

But ere we could arriue the Point propos'd, 125

CcBfar cride, Helpe me CaJJins, or I fmke.

I ( as yEneas, our great Anceftor,

Did from the Flames of Troy, vpon his fhoulder

The old Ancliyfcs beare) fo, from the waues of Tyber

Did I the tyred Cccfar : And this Man, 130

Is now become a God, and CaJJius is

120. Accoutred] Accounted Ff. 125. ere] e're F4.

plunged] plunged Dyce. 126. Helpe. ..finke] Ff, Rowe, Pope,

121. bad] Ff, Rowe, Pope i, Han. Warb. As quotation Theob. Johns.
Cap. Jx<f Pope ii, Theob. Warb. Johns. Var. '73, Knt, Coll. Dyce, Wh. Hal.
Var. '73. bade Var. '78 et seq. Cam.+, Huds. In Italics Han. et cet.

122. we] he Pope ii. 130. tyred] tired Dyce.

26.) So also ibid., p. 24: 'Were rivers in his way to hinder his passage, cross over
them he would, either swimming, or else bearing himself upon blowed leather
bottles.' — [Plutarch also relates this story of Caesar's swimming, 'holding diuers
books in his hand,' and if this anecdote be not due to Shakespeare himself, Plutarch
is, I think, more likely than Suetonius to have furnished it. — Ed.]

125. arriue the Point] Steevens quotes as another example of the use of
'arrive' without the preposition: ' — the powers that the queen Hath raised in
Gallia, have arriv'd our coast.' — 3 Hen. VI: V, iii, 8. — Abbott (§ 198) also quotes
the above and the present passage as the only two wherein 'arrive' is thus used,
although several others are given wherein the preposition is omitted after a verb of
motion. — Ed.

127. I (as .^neas] Craik (p. 159): This commencement of the sentence,
although necessitating the not strictly grammatical repetition of the first personal
pronoun, is in fine rhetorical accordance with the character of the speaker, and
vividly expresses his eagerness to give prominence to his own part in the adven-
ture. Even the repetition (of which, by the way, we have another instance in
this same speech) assists the effect. At the same time, it may just be noted that
the '/' here is not printed differently from the adverb of affirmation in 'I, and
that tongue of his,' 1. 140.

129. The old ... of Tyber] Craik (p. 160) suggests that the redundant sylla-
bles in this line typify the efforts and emotion of Cassius. [It is, however, to be
remembered that proper nouns, particularly at the end of a line, are not always
strictly metrical. — Ed.) — Delius compares: 'As did Aeneas old Anchises bear.
So bear I thee upon my manly shoulders.' — 2 Hen. VI: V, ii, 62.

130, 131. this Man . . . God] Hudson (Life, etc., ii, 230): [Cassius] over-
flows with mocking comparisons, and finds his pastime in flouting at Caesar as
having managed, by a sham heroism, to hoodwink the world. And yet the Poet
makes Cffisar characterize himself very much as Cassius, in his splenetic temper.

ACT I, sc. ii.] IVLIVS CAESAR 37

A wretched Creature, and muft bend his body, 132

If Ccefar carelefly but nod on him.

He had a Feauer when he was in Spaine,

And when the Fit was on him, I did marke 135

134. Feauer\ Feaher F2.

describes him. Caesar gods it in his talk, as if on purpose to approve the style
in which Cassius mockingly gods him. This, taken by itself, would look as if the
Poet sided with Cassius; yet one can hardly help feeling that he sjTnpathised rather
in Antony's great oration. And the sequel, as we have seen, justifies Antony's
opinion of Caesar. Thus, it seems to me, the subsequent course of things has the
effect of inverting the mockery of Cassius against himself; as much as to say,
'You have made fine work with your ridding the world of great Caesar: since your
daggers pricked the gas out of him, you see what a grand humbug he was.'

132. Creature] For many examples wherein 'creature' is pronounced as a tri-
syllable, see Walker, Crit., ii, 19.

134. He had a Feauer, etc.] Voltaire, in a note on this passage in his
translation, says: 'All these incidents which Cassius recounts resemble a discourse
made by a mountebank at a fair. It is natural, yes; but it is the naturalness of a
man of the populace who is conversing with his crony in a pot-house. Not thus
did the great men of the Roman republic talk.' — Theatre de Corneille, ii, 272. [An
efl&cacious antidote to the \arulence of the foregoing is supplied by the following
remarks by Trevelyan on Macauley's attitude towards the Roman dramas of
Shakespeare: 'He knew that what Shakespeare could teach him about human
nature was worth more than anything which he could have taught Shakespeare
about Roman history and Roman institutions. He was well aware how very
scanty a stock of erudition will qualify a transcendent genius to produce admirable
literary effects; and he infinitely preferred Shakespeare's Romans, and even his
Greeks, to the classical heroes of Ben Jonson, and Addison, and Racine, and Cor-
neille, and Voltaire. Of the conversation in the street between Brutus and Cassius,
Act I, sc. ii, Macauley says [in a marginal note]: "These two or three pages are
worth the whole French drama ten times over."' — edition 1908, p. 704. — Ed.] —
T. R. Gould (p. 151): [J. B. Booth's] description of Cassius and Caesar swimming
in the Tiber on that 'raw and gusty day,' and of Caesar's sickness were especially
noteworthy. Booth's vivid portraiture recreated the event. He touched the arm
of Brutus; leaned, but without imdue familiarity, upon his shoulder. In the line:

His coward lips did from their color fly' Cassius, by a subtle reversion of the common
phrase, the color fled from his lips, implies a sarcasm on Caesar's quality as a soldier.
Booth illustrated the meaning bj^ a momentary- gesture, as if carrj-ing a standard.
The movement was fine, as giving edge to the sarcasm, but pointed to a redundancy
of action which sometimes appeared in this great actor's personations.

135. I did marke] Appian says that Caesar appointed Quintus Cassius governor
of Spain on his departure after the Ilerda campaign in B. C. 49 (Bk II, ch. vi, § 43),
and, according to Shuckburgh (iii, 173), on Caesar's second invasion of Spain Caius
Cassius refused to accompany him, and spent that winter, B. C. 45, at Brundisium.
Plutarch does not refer to an attack of fever in his account of Caesar in Spain; he
says, however, that it was at Corduba that Caesar had the falling sickness. The
present incident is, therefore, an invention of Shakespeare. — Ed.

38 THE TRACED IE OF [act r. sc. ii.

How he did fhake : Tis true, this God did fhake, 136

His Coward Hppes did from their colour flye,

And that fame Eye, whofe bend doth awe the World,

Did loofe his Luftre : I did heare him grone :

I, and that Tongue of his, that bad the Romans 140

Marke him, and write his Speeches in their Bookes,

Alas, it cried, Giue me fome drinke Titiiiius,\

As a ficke Girle : Ye Gods, it doth amaze me,

A man of fuch a feeble temper fhould

So get the ftart of the Maiefticke world, 145

138. bend] beam Daniel (Sh. Notes, 141. write] writ Y^Y^.
p. 70). 142. Alas] 'Alas!' Sta.

139. his] its Pope,+, Cap. Giiie. ..Titmius] Ff, Rowe, Pope,

140. bad] bade Theob. ii,+, Varr. Warb. As quotation Theob. Johns.
Mai. Ran. Steev. Varr. Sing. Knt, Coll. Var. '73, Knt, Coll. Dyce, Wh. Hal.
Dyce, Wh. i. Cam.+, Huds. In Italics Han. et cet.

137. lippes did . . . flye] Warburton: A plain man would have said the
colour fled from his lips, and not his lips from their colour. But the false impression
was for the sake of as false a piece of wit: a poor quibble, alluding to a coward
flying from his colours. — Whiter (p. 107) : Warburton has discovered the associa-
tion which had escaped the author; who, indeed, intended no quibble, but was him-
self entangled by the similitude of colour and 'colours.' This introduced to him the
appropriate terms of 'coward' and 'fly'; and thus, under the influence of such an
embarrassment, it was scarcely possible to express the sentiment in a form less
equivocal than the present. Let me add likewise another circumstance, which
might operate in suggesting this military metaphor, that the cowardice of a soldier
is the subject of the narrative. — Wright quotes Warburton's note and adds:
'No doubt; but Shakespeare does not always say what a plain man would have
said.'

138. bend] Murray (N. E. D., s. v. sb''. I. 3) quotes the present line as the
only example of ' bend ' in the sense of ' an inclination of the eye in any direction,
glance.' — Schmidt {Lex.) furnishes several examples of the verb 'to bend' as ap-
plied to the act of looking.

139. his Lustre] For a philological account of the use of the personal possessive
pronoun 'his' in place of the neuter pronoun, see Murray, N. E. D., s. v. Its.

139. I did heare him grone] Mark Hunter: Cassius shows himself want-
ing in tact, or true judgment of character, in addressing such arguments as these
to a man of Brutus' disposition and philosophy. Brutus was the last man 'to
spurn at' Caesar for shivering and turning pale when a fever was on him. But
Cassius has no craft or cunning, save such as suggests the simple artifice of throwing
papers in different hands through Brutus' windows. He influences others only by
the energy and earnestness of his character.

145. get the start, etc.] Warburton: This image is extremely noble: it is taken
from the Olympic games. 'The majestic world' is a fine periphrasis for the Roman
empire: their citizens set themselves on a footing with kings, and they called their
dominion Orbis Romanus. But the particular allusion seems to be to the known

ACT I, sc. ii.] IVLIVS CAESAR 39

And beare the Palme alone. 146

Shout. Flourijli.

Bru. Another generall fhout ?
I do beleeue, that thefe applaufes are
For fome new Honors, that are heap'd on Ccsfar. 150

CaJJi. Why man, he doth beftride the narrow world
Like a Coloffus, and we petty men
Walke vnder his huge legges,and peepe about
To finde our felues difhonourable Graues.

Men at fometime, are Mafters of their Fates. 155

The fault (deere Brutus )'v5, not in our Starres,
But in our Selues, that we are vnderlings. 157

147. Shout. Flourifli] Shout again. Pope,+ (sometimes Warb.). fome
Capell. Shout. Jen. time F3F4, Var. '73" et cet.

151-171. Mnemonic Pope, Warb. 155. Fates.] fates: Rowe et seq.

155. fometime] ¥2- fome times Rowe,

story of Caesar's great pattern, Alexander, who, being asked whether he would
run the course at the Olympic games, replied: 'Yes, if the racers were kings.' —
M alone: That the allusion is to the prize allotted in games to the foremost in the
race is very clear. All the rest existed, I apprehend, only in Warburton's imagina-
tion.— [To Coleridge we are indebted for the happy and veracious phrase: 'the
idealess, but thought-swarming Warbvurton.' — Ed.]

148. Another . . . shout] J. Hunter: This hemistich and the one preceding
do not together form the usual metrical line; it is, as it were, regardless of the
former, and represents the interruption occasioned by the shouting.

151. man] Wright: Cassius grows more familiar as Brutus is more moved.

151. he doth bestride, etc.] Ferrero (ii, 306): One of the greatest mistakes
made by all historians of Caesar is the assertion that after Pharsalia and Thapsus he
was practically omnipotent, sole master of the republic and of the Roman world.
In truth, he was nothing of the kind. Sulla had saved the whole Empire from
imminent destruction and rescued an entire class of citizens from political extinc-
tion. Caesar had not emerged triumphant from a revolution; he had merely
happened to win in a civil war brought about in a peaceful and peace-loving country
through the rivalry of two political cliques. He had neither the prestige to inspire
one-tenth of the terror or admiration of Sulla, nor an army on whose fidelity he could
rely, nor a body of supporters united in their aims and ideals. On the contrarj^, dis-
cord was making way among his adherents and the solid block of his party showed
new fissures every day. Antony himself had refused to obey him in pa>'ing for
Pompey's goods which he had bought by auction, and was spreading threats and
invectives against his leader broadcast through Rome. It was even whispered that
he had made attempts to hire an assassin.

156, 157. The fault ... we are vnderlings] J. M. Brown (p. 69): It is
one of the most striking facts about these great tragedies that their writer should
have taken so little trouble to make their merits and their authorship known.
Once only does he struggle against this paralysis that is creeping over his hold of
the prizes of existence. And the feebleness of the effort is apparent when we see

40 THE TRACED IE OF [act i, sc. ii.

Bnitiis and Ccefar : What fhould be in that Cczfar'i 158

Why fhould that name be founded more then yours ?

Write them together : Yours, is as faire a Name: 160

Sound them, it doth become the mouth afwell :

Weigh them, it is as heauy : Coniure with 'em,

Brtitus will ftart a Spirit as foone as CcEfar»

Now in the names of all the Gods at once,

Vpon what meate doth this our Ccc/m' feede, 165

That he is growne fo great ? Age, thou art fham'd.

Rome, thou haft loft the breed of Noble Bloods.

When went there by an Age, fince the great Flood,

But it was fam'd with more then with one man ?

When could they fay (till now) that talk'd of Rome, 170

That her wide Walkes incompaft but one man ?

158. Caefar:] Caesar. Rowe. Caesar! 163. [Shout. Jen. Mai. Steev. Varr.

Pope,+, Huds. Sing. Knt.

160. Yours, is\ yowrj' Walker (Vers. 171. PFa/^es] Ff, Rowe i, Mai. Steev.
98). Varr. Sing, i, Huds. Walls Rowe ii

161. afwell] as well Ff. et cet.

162. with 'em] with 'em man, F3F4. incompaft] incompass'd Theob.
with them Cap. Var. Mai. Ran. Steev. et seq.

Varr. Sing. Knt, Coll. Hal. Ktly, Huds. one man?] one? Fj.

that he puts a sentiment into the mouth of Cassius as an argument to stir Brutus
up to conspiracy: 'The fault, dear Brutus,' etc. There is no heart in this utter-
ance. All his poetry, all his imagination is on the side of fatalism; he feels that the
reward of human honour and glory and fame are not worth the infinite toil and
struggle, the pettiness and injustice that men apply in order to attain them.

158. What should be] That is, what might tJiere, or what could there, be; see, if
needful, Abbott, § 325.

158. What should be . . . Caesar] Boas (p. 462): Such an argument is an
unconscious reductio ad absurdum of Cassius' own theory, and it is needless to say
that, from a historical point of view, this decidedly primitive conception of de-
mocracy is curiously inapt on the lips of a Roman of the first century B. C. With
Cassius' passionate conviction of the divine right of republicanism, he sees in
Caesar's ascendancy nothing but a proof of the degeneracy of the times.

163. Spirit] R. G. White: Here 'spirit' is doubtless meant to be pronounced as a
monosyllable, and perhaps should be so printed.

163. as soone as Caesar] Jennens: It is said [1. 246] that the people shouted
thrice; but we have no direction in any edition for any more than two shouts.
This seems the most proper place for the third shout, which I look upon to be the
occasion of the sudden apostrophe: ' Now in the name,' etc.

168. the great Flood] That of Deucalion and Pyrrha; Wright compares:
'Marcus is proud; who, in a cheap estimation, is worth all your predecessors since
Deucalion.' Coriol., H, i, 102.

171. Walkes] Craik (p. 172): Despite the critical canon which warns us
against easy or obvious amendments, it is impossible not to believe that we have a

ACT I. sc. ii.] IVLIVS CESAR 41

Now is it Rome indeed, and Roome enough 172

misprint here, [see Text. Notes]. What Rome's 'wide walks' may mean is not
obvious; still less, how she could be encompassed by her 'walks,' however wide. —
Staunton: The original 'wide walkes,' i. e., spacious hounds, ought not to be dis-
placed. 'It happened therefore in rogation weeke that the clergie going in solemne
procession a controversie fell betweene them about certeine walkes and limits which
the one side claimed and the other denied.' — Holinshed: Description of Britaine,
p. 57. — Wright [referring to Staunton's note]: It is more probable that Walks
was corrupted into 'Walkes' by the transcriber or printer from 'talk'd' in the
previous line; for it is not likely that Shakespeare would have used a word which
produced such a disagreeable assonance, while on other grounds it is inappropriate.
Milton could say with reference to the garden of Eden: 'But if within the circuit
of these walks In whatsoever shape he lurk,' Paradise Lost, iv, 586; for walks in
this sense are proper to a pleasure ground; but they are out of place in a description
of Rome, and the word 'encompass'd,' which follows, points to walls as the true
reading. — Perrixg (p. 355): On a question of euphony not every ear will hear
alike. All I can say is, that, if these lines jar, there are scores of jarring lines to be
found in Shakespeare. We will grant that 'j.'alls would in all probability have been
preferred by a prose writer; but 'walks,' which is the rarer word, strikes me as of
more exquisite fancy, more picturesque and poetical, true topographically, and
even more appropriate here, because it admits of a more comprehensive span. For
the walls of Rome did not include all the inhabitants of Rome; there were plenty
of habitations outside as well as inside the old Servian ramparts; but the 'circuit
of the walks' (to introduce iMilton's significant phrase) — the outlying pleasure
grounds which environed the metropolis; the vast ring of groves and parks and
gardens in which the citizens were wont to walk abroad and refresh themselves —
these contained within their compass all the inhabitants of Rome, and to insinuate
that but one man could be found within them was monstrous, startling, invidious.
There is an allusion in this very play to a portion of these 'walks' — those which
Caesar bequeathed to the Roman people — ' ^loreover, he hath left you all his walks,'
III, ii, 258. . . . 'Walks' is entitled to the place on the ground that it is supported
by the Folios, besides having distinct claims of its own to recommend it. Walls
reads to me poor and tame in comparison with it.

172. Rome . . . and Roome] Dyce {Gloss., s. v. Rome) quotes: 'That I
have room with Rome to curse a while,' King John, III, i, 180, and besides the
present passage, two others in which occurs the same play on the words, namely,
The Tragedie of Nero, 1607, sig. F verso; and Hawkins' Apollo Shroving, 1626, p. 88.
He also gives an example from Sylvester's Dti Barlas, TJie Colonies, p. 130, ed.
1641, wherein Rome is made to rhjTne with tomb. In regard to a passage in 5 Hen.
VI: 'Rome shall remedj- this. Roam thither then,' — III, i, 51, Dyce says (ad. loc):
'This may, perhaps, be considered as one of the proofs that Shakespeare was not
the author of this play.' — Ellis (pt iii, p. 925), after quoting the foregoing remarks
by Dyce, adds: 'But the existence of the pim shows that the old Chaucerian {00)
of Roome was still knowTi though the final e was dropped. ... To these [ex-
amples given by Dyce] we may add Shakespeare's own rhymes: Rome, doom,
Lucrece, 715; Rome, groom, lb., 1644. Bullokar also unites (Ruum). It is, how-
ever, certain that both pronunciations have been in use since the middle of the
sixteenth centiu^'. Ruum may still be heard [1867], but it is antiquated; in Shake-
speare's time it was a fineness and an innovation, and it is therefore surprising that

42 THE TRACED IE OF [act i, sc. ii.

When there is in it but one onely man. 173

O! you and I, haue heard our Fathers fay,

There was a Brutus once, that would haue brook'd

Th'eternall Diuell to keepe his State in Rome, 176

173. When.. .man.] In margin Pope, 176. eternal!] infernal Grey (ii, 172),

Han. Johns, conj.

Bullokar adopted it.' — Earle (p. 148): No doubt [the pronunciation of Rome as
Room] is the phantom of an old French pronunciation of the name, bearing the same
relation to the French Ro>ne that boon does to the French bon. But what is odd
about it is that in Shakespeare's day the modern pronunciation (like roam) was
already heard and recognised, and that the double pronunciation should have gone
on till now, and it should have taken such a time to establish the mastery of the
latter. The fact probably is that the roo?n pronunciation has been kept alive in the
aristocratic region, while the rest of the world has been saying the name as it is
generally said now. Rootn is said to have been the habitual pronunciation of the
late Lord Lansdowne; not to instance living persons. — Wright adds to the fore-
going examples from Lucrece, 1. 1851, and says: 'A similar equivoque is found
in Mer. of Ven., Ill, v, 44: " It is much that the Moor should be more than reason." '
[See also note by Walker, I, i, 42.]

i7S~i77- There was a Brutus ... as a King] Staffer (p. 344): Here
begins the tragedy in the soul of Brutus. He hated tyranny, but he loved Caesar.
Shakespeare has passed Plutarch's hint over in silence as to Brutus being Caesar's
own son, not considering any complication of emotion of this kind necessary to
the dramatic interest, and wishing to preserve the tragedy in purer and more
ideal regions by not allowing the conscience of his hero to be disturbed by the
too obtrusive pleadings of a love enforced by the ties of nature.

175. a Brutus once] Steevens: That is, Lucius Junius Brutus.

176. eternall Diuell] Grey (ii, 172) conjectures that we should here read
infernal devil; Johnson likewise makes this suggestion. — Steevens: I would con-
tinue to read 'eternal devil.' L. J. Brutus (says Cassius) would as soon have sub-
mitted to the perpetual dominion of a daemon, as to the lasting government of a
king. — Walker {Crit., i, 62): The following [is an instance] of an inaccurate use
of words in Shakespeare, some of them owing to his imperfect scholarship (imper-
fect, I say, for he was not an ignorant man even in this point), and others common
to him with his contemporaries. 'Eternal' for infernal: 'But this eternal blazon
must not be' — Hamlet, I, v, 21; 'Some eternal villain. Some busy and insinuating
rogue' — Othello, IV, ii, 130. And this, I think, is its meaning, ' — O proud Death!
What feast is toward in thine eternal cell' — Hamlet, V, ii, 375. [Walker also quotes
the present line in Jul. Ca:s.] This seems to be still in use among the common
people. In two tales of Allan Cunningham's (Ollier's Miscellany and London
Magazine) I observe the e.xclamation, 'Eternal villain!' I need scarcely notice
the Yankee Harnal. — Wright: Johnson is undoubtedly right. In truth, Shake-
speare uses 'eternal' without the least intention of expressing his belief in th.e
continued existence of the impersonation of evil, but probably to avoid coming
under the operation of the Act of James I, 'to restrain the abuses of players'
in the use of profane language. ... On the other hand, infernal occurs in Much
Ado, 2 Hen. IV, and Tit. And., all of which were printed in 1600. — Mark Hunter:
Though an alteration may have been made in the MS after the passing of the

ACT I, sc. ii.] IVLIVS C^SAR 43

As eafily as a King. 177

Bru. That you do loue me, I am nothing iealous :

What you would worke me too, I haue fome ayme :

How I haue thought of this, and of thefe times 180

I fhall recount heereafter. For this prefent,

I would not fo (with loue I might intreat you)

Be any further moou'd '. What you haue faid,

I will confider : what you haue to fay

I will with patience heare, and finde a time 185

Both meete to heare, and anfwer fuch high things.

Till then, my Noble Friend, chew vpon this :

Brutus had rather be a Villager,

Then to repute himfelfe a Sonne of Rome

Vnder thefe hard Conditions, as this time 190

Is like to lay vpon vs.

CaJJi. I am glad that my weake words

Haue flrucke but thus much fhew of fire from Brutus.

Enter C(zfar and his Traine.

BrJi. The Games are done, 195

And CcBfar is returning.

CaJJi. As they paffe by,
Plucke Caska by the Sleeue,
And he will (after his fowre fafhion) tell you
What hath proceeded worthy note to day. 200

179. ayme[ aim of Ktly conj. (Exp. 192, 193. / am. ..from Brutus] Lines
p. 307). end: glad...flieii'...'Bxut.M?, Walker (Crit.

180. thought] though Fj. iii, 244).

186. Both] But Rowe ii. ' 193. Scene tv. Pope,+ ( — Var. '73),
things] thing Rowe i. Jen.

187-191. Till then. ..vpon vs] Trans- 194. Enter...Traine] After 1. 196 Coll.

posed to follow 1. 330 in Bell's Edit. Sing. Wh. i, Hal. Ktly, Huds. After 1.

190. theje] such Rowe,+, Cap. Jen. 200 Dyce, Sta. Cam.+.
Varr. Ran. those Craik conj.

Act of 1605, it is difficult to conceive why, if it be not an ' abuse in plaj'ers ' to
speak of the devil, it should be an abuse to style him infernal.

178. nothing iealous] ScHinDT {Lex.) gives numerous examples of 'nothing'
used adverbially, in the sense of not at all. And s. v., 'Jealous (3): suspiciously
fearful, doubtful.' Schmidt quotes the present line with other passages, wherein
'jealous' is used with much the same meaning as here.

187. chew vpon this] Johnson: That is, consider this at leisure, ruminate on this.
193. Haue strucke . . . fire] Wright: Brutus' emotion was Hke Ajax's

wit, of which Thersites says: 'It lies as coldly in him as fire in a flint' — Tro. b"
Cress., Ill, iii, 257. Compare IV, iii, 122, 123.

44 THE TRACE DIE OF [act i, sc. ii.

Bru. I will do fo : but looke you CaJJius , 20I

The angry fpot doth glow on Ccefars brow,
And all the reft, looke like a chidden Traine ;
Calphurnia^s Cheeke is pale, and Cicero

Lookes with fuch Ferret, and fuch fiery eyes ] 205

As we haue feene him in the Capitoll
Being crofl in Conference, by fome Senators.

CaJ/i. Caska will tell vs what the matter is.

Ccb/. Antonio.

Ajit. Ccb far. 210

202. ^o'w\ hlow Fj. blow F3F4, 207. by] with Rowe, Pope, Han.

Rowe i. Senators] Senator Walker (Crit.

204. Calphumia's] Calpurnia's Wh. i, 244), Dyce ii, iii.

Cam.+, Rolfe. 209. Antonio] Ff, Rowe, Cap. Ktly.

207. crojt] crossed Cap. et seq. Antonius Pope et cet.

Conference] conf'rence Pope,4- 210. Caefar.] Caesar? Theob. Warb.

(— Var. '73). Johns.

204. Cicero] Wright: This portrait of Cicero is from Shakespeare's own
imagination. — [Dion Cassius, in a speech purporting to have been dehvered by
Cicero before the Senate, gives many reasons for the orator's anger on this occa-
sion, and among others: 'The Lupercalia would not have missed its proper rever-
ence, but you [Antony] disgraced the whole city at once, — not to speak a word yet
about your remarks on that occasion. Who is unaware that the consulship is
public, the property of the whole people, that its dignity must be preserved every-
where, and that its holder must nowhere strip naked or behave wantonly. . . .
You remember the nature of his language when he approached the rostra, and the
style of his behavior when he had ascended it. But when a man who is a Roman
and a consul has dared to name any one King of the Romans in the Roman Forum,
close to the rostra of liberty, in the presence of the entire people and the entire
senate, and straightway to set the diadem upon his head and further to affirm
falsely in the hearing of us all that we ourselves bade him say and do this, what
most outrageous deed will that man not dare, and from what action, however
revolting, will he refrain?' — Bk xlv, §§ 30, 31.]

205. Ferret . . . fiery eyes] Topsell, in his description of the Ferret, says:
'The eyes small but fiery, like red-hot iron, and therefore she seeth most easily in
the dark.' — p. 171. — Ed.

207. Senators] Walker {Crit., i, 244): The interpolation of an 5 at the end of
a word — generally but not always a noun substantive — is remarkably frequent in
the Folio. Those who are conversant with the MSS of the Elizabethan Age may,
perhaps, be able to explain its origin. Were it not for the different degree of fre-
quency with which it occurs in different parts of the Folio — being comparatively
rare in the Comedies (except perhaps in The Winter's Tale), appearing more fre-
quently in the Histories, and becoming quite common in the Tragedies — I should
be inclined to think it originated in some peculiarity of Shakespeare's handwriting
[See also Rich. Ill: III, vii, 232; and Macbeth, III, i, 81, this ed., where the above
note by Walker is also given, and is here repeated on accoimt of its interest and
importance. — Ed.]

ACT I. sc. ii.] IVLIVS CAESAR 45

Cczf. Let me haue men about me, that are fat, 211

Sleeke-headed men, and fuch as fleepe a-nights :
Yond Cafjhis has a leane and hungry looke,
He thinkes too much : fuch men are dangerous.

Ant. Feare him not Ccefar, he's not dangerous, 215

He is a Noble Roman, and well giuen.

Ccef. Would he were fatter ; But I feare him not : 217

211-231. Mnemonic Warb. Yond' Mai. Steev. Varr. Sing. Knt,

211. [To Ant. apart. Johns. Var. '73, Coll. Wh. i, Ktly, Hal. Huds.

Jen. 214, 215. dangerotis] daiingerous Fj.

212. a-nights] F2, Rowe,+. a nights 217. Would] 'Would Warb. Johns.
F3F4. o'nights Cap. et seq. Cap. Varr. Mai. Ran. Steev. Varr. Sing.

213. Yotid] Yon Cap. Varr. Ran. Knt, CoU. Wh. i, Hal. Ktly, Huds.

211. men . , . that are fat] 'Caesar also had Cassius in great jealousy, and
suspected him much; whereupon he said on a time to his friends, "What will
Cassius do, think ye? I like not his pale looks." Another time when Caesar's
friends complained unto him of Antonius and Dolabella, that they pretended some
mischief towards him: he answered them again, "As for those fat men and smooth-
combed heads," quoth he, "I never reckon of them; but these pale-visaged and
carrion-lean people, I fear them most," meaning Brutus and Cassius.' — Plutarch,
CcEsar, p. 97, ed. Skeat. See also Ibid., Brutus, p. iii; and Marcus Antonius, p. 163.

212. such as sleepe a-nights] DrSiGiSMOND (7a/;rJ!<f A, xviii, p. 157): In the
Life of Marcus Cato it is said that those slaves who had had a good night's sleep
were more to Cato's liking than those who were dull from wakefulness, because he
thought the former would be in a better humor. The import of sound sleep as an
indication of a good disposition, of which Shakespeare's Caesar makes mention, does
not appear either in the Life of Ccesar or Antony; it is found only in the Life of Cato.

216. well giuen] Bradley {N. E. D., s. v., given 2): Used predicatively:
Inclined, disposed, addicted, prone. 1535. Stewart: Cron. Scot., II, 692: 'How
Duncane was crounit King of Scotland and was weill gevin.'

217. Would he . . . feare him not] Warburton: Ben Jonson, in his Bar-
tholomews Fair, 1614, unjustly sneers at this passage, in Knockham's speech to
the Pig-woman: 'Come, there's no malice in these fat folks; I never fear thee, an I
can scape thy lean Moon-calf here.' [Page 412, ed. Gifford, where the Editor has
the following: 'This passage is adduced as another proof of Jonson's malignity,
it being an evident sneer at those hnes in Julius CcRsar: "Let me have men," etc.
Who can doubt it? And when he personified En\'y in the lean Macilente, it is
equally clear that he intended to ridicule those which immediately follow them:
" Yon Cassius hath a lean and hungr>'^ look," etc. It may, indeed, be urged that
Macilente appeared many years before Julius Ccesar; but that plea is always in-
validated in Jonson's case. Seriously, it would seem as if the commentators
thought no one before Shakespeare had discovered that fat people were com-
monly good humoured! Admitting, however, this important observation to be
beyond the reach of Jonson (though it is found in his Catiline and elsewhere),
it \v\\\ not even then follow that he sneers at our great poet in adopting it. The
fact is, that the lines in question are taken from North's translation of Plutarch, an
author with whom Jonson was intimately acquainted, and assuredly little likely

46 THE TRACED IE OF [act i, sc. ii.

Yet if my name were lyable to feare, 2 1 8

I do not know the man I fhould auoyd

So foone as that fpare Cajfms. He reades much, 220

He is a great Obferuer, and he lookes

Quite through the Deeds of men. He loues no Playes,

As thou doft Antony : he heares no Muficke ;

Seldome he fmiles, and fmiles in fuch a fort

As if he mock'd himfelfe, and fcorn'd his fpirit 225

That could be mou'd to fmile at any thing.

Such men as he, be neuer at hearts eafe, 227

218-231. Mnemonic Pope. 226. thhig.] thing, F3F4.

to ridicule. Shakespeare has merely put the sentiment (which was familiar to
every man, woman, and child in the kingdom) into good verse [the passage from
Plutarch quoted]. We shall probably now hear no more of "old Ben's malignity"
in this instance.']

218. my name ... to feare] Craik (p. 177): In the case of Cjesar the name
was even more than the representative and most precise expression of the person;
it was that in which his power chiefly resided, his renown. Every reader of Milton
will remember the magnificent passage: ' — with him enthroned Sat sable-vested
Night, eldest of things, The consort of his reign; and by them stood Orcus and
Ades, and the dreaded name Of Demogorgon.' — Paradise Lost, ii, 964. — Wright
quotes the foregoing and adds : ' But in this case it was the " name " of Demogorgon
that was dreaded, and, therefore, the "name of Demorgogon" is something more
than a mere periphrasis.'

220-226. He reades ... at any thing] Oechelhaxjser {Einfiihrungen, i,
221) : The key to the correct representation of the character of Cassius lies in these
words of Caesar; they give to the actor the frame for the dramatic picture, with
which all his future words and deeds should harmonise.

221. a great Obseruer] Wright: In consistency with this, Cassius describes
himself as having carefully watched the bearing of Brutus towards himself.

223. he heares no Musicke] Theobald: This is not a trivial Observation, nor
does our Poet mean barely by it that Cassius was not a merry, sprightly man;
but that he had not a due Temperament of Harmony in his Composition; and
that, therefore, Natures so uncorrected are dangerous. He has finely dilated on
this Sentiment in his Merchant of Venice: 'The man, that hath no music in him-
self. And is not mov'd with concord of sweet sounds. Is fit for treasons, stratagems,
and Spoils,' V, i, 83-85. — Coleridge (Notes, p. 132): O Theobald! what a com-
mentator wast thou, when thou wouldst affect to understand Shakespeare, instead
of contenting thyself with collating the text! The meaning here is too deep for a
line tenfold the length of thine to fathom. [At the risk of being thought presump-
tuous in criticising our greatest Shakespearean critic it may be asked, whether
the above is not too severe? All that Theobald has said is little more than a
paraphrase; and that there is a somewhat similar passage in the Mer. of Ven.
Possibly the malign influence of Pope and his followers was the cause for Coleridge's
attitude towards Theobald. It will, however, be noticed that Coleridge has not
attempted any elucidation whatever. — Ed.]

ACT I, sc. ii.] IVLIVS C^SAR 47

Whiles they behold a greater than themfelues, 228

And therefore are they very dangerous.

I rather tell thee what is to be fear'd, 230

Then what I feare : for alwayes I am Ccufar.
Come on my right hand, for this eare is deafe,
And tell me truely, what thou think'ft of him. Sennit.

Exeunt Ccefar arid his Traine.

Cask. You pul'd me by the cloake, would you fpeake 235
with me?

228. TFAzVes] ir/n"/^/ Rowe,+- Casca. Han. Jen. Train: Casca stays.

233. Sennit.] Ff. Sennet. Sing, ii, Cap. Train: Casca stays behind.
Cam. + . Om. Rowe et cet. Mai. et cet.

234. Traine.] Ff. Train. Manent 235. cloaked cloak. Johns.

Brutus and Cassius: Casca to them. 236. Scene v. Pope,+ ( — Var. '73),

Theob. Warb. Johns. Varr. Ran. Jen.
Train. Manent Brutus, Cassius and

232. this eare is deafe] Wright: This, like Cicero's ferret eyes, is a touch of
Shakespeare's own. — Rossi (p. 174): Does Caesar here pretend an actual deafness?
Certainly not. It seems to me that what he really means to say is : If you are of my
party and wish to be attended to, get on the right side of me. — Schwartzkopf (p.
315) : Caesar's deafness is not only an attribute of human frailty, but also a symbol
of that obstinacy which is deaf to all warnings; it does not wish to hear. — G.
Wherry {Notes b' Queries, X, xi, 243) says in regard to Caesar's deafness: 'It is
possible that attacks of giddiness, associated with Meniere's disease of the ear, may
have been mistaken for Epilepsy. ... It is unlikely that aural vertigo was under-
stood at that time.' — [As Wright observes, Cassar's deafness is an 'invention of
Shakespeare'; no other reference, however, to this deafness is again made. Is
there not some special reason for its mention? Does not Casca say that Caesar is
but lately recovered from an epileptic fit? A temporary deafness was recognized
in Shakespeare's day as one of the effects of an epileptic seizure: 'But we may
know whether it [an epileptic fit] come from the right or left side of the head most:
By this, either the sight of one eye is more obscured, or the hearing more thick
with the noise of the head on that side; or if the right or left side be more dull'
(Riverius, 1658, vol. i, p. 30). Hippocrates (trans. F. Adams, ii, 836) also speaks of
epilepsy affecting the right or left side; although he does not mention the auditory
nerves specifically, it may be, I think, inferred that they are also included. Finally,
in our own day, E. H. Sieveking {On Epilepsy, etc., 1858, p. 4) says: 'It has ap-
peared to me that the left side is the one most frequently affected.' — The italics are
mine. Shakespeare is again triumphant and stands pre-eminent as a keen ob-
server of facts; it is the left ear which, with Caesar, is temporarily deaf. — Ed.]

234. Exeunt Caesar] Hazlitt {Char, of Sh., p. 37): We know hardly any pas-
sage more expressive of the genius of Shakespeare than this [lines 195-234]. It
is as if he had been actually present, had known the different characters, and what
they thought of one another, and had taken down what he heard and saw, their
looks, words, and gestures, just as they happened.

48 THE TRACED IE OF [act i, sc. ii.

Bru. I Caska,\&\\ vs what hath chanc'd to day 237

That CcBfar lookes fo fad.

Cask. Why you were with him, were you not ?

Bru. I fhould not then aske Gaska what had chanc'd. 240

Cask. Why there was a Crowne offer'd him; & being
offer'd him, he put it by with the backe of his hand thus,
and then the people fell a fhouting.

Bru. What was the fecond noife for ?

Cask. Why for that too. 245

CaJJi. They fhouted thrice: what was the laft cry for?

Cask. Why for that too.

Bru. Was the Crowne offer'd him thrice ?

Cask. I marry was't, and hee put it by thrice, euerie
time gentler then other; and at euery putting by, mine 250
honeft Neighbors fhowted.

CaJJi. Who offer'd him the Crowne ?

Cask. Why Antony.

Bru. Tell vs the manner of it,gentle Caska.

Caska. I can as well bee hang'd as tell the manner of 255

240. had\ hath Steev. Varr. Sing. Varr. Mai. Ran. Steev. Var. '03, Var.
Coll. Hal. Huds. '21, Sing. Knt, Hal. Ktly, Huds.

243. a Jhouting] a' shouting Cap. a-shouting Dyce, Cam.+, Coll. iii.

237. hath chanc'd] Compare: 'And bring us word . . . How everything is
chanc'd.' — V, iv, 36.

251. honest Neighbors] Wright: Casca uses the word 'honest' with a tone
of patronising contempt, as Leonato in Mtich Ado, addressing Dogberry: 'What
would you with me, honest neighbor?' — III, v, i.

255. Caska. I can as well, etc.] Mrs Montagu (p. 256): It is not im-
probable the poet might have in his eye some person of eminence in his days who
was distinguished by such manners [as Casca's]. Many allusions and imitations
which please at the time are lost to posterity, unless they point at transactions
and persons of the first consequence. Whether we approve such a character on
the stage or not, we must allow his narration represents the designs of Caesar's
party, and the aversion of the Roman people to that royalty which he affected;
and it was right to avoid engaging the parties in more deep discourse, as Shake-
speare intended, by a sort of historical process, to show how Brutus was led on to
that act to which his nature was averse. — Verity (p. 21 i) : It is always instructive
to note how in parts where a conversational, not tragic or poetical, effect is desired,
verse gives place to prose, and vice verso; and how characters which are viewed in a
wholly tragic or poetical light normally use verse alone. Thus in this scene,
while Casca gives his description in prose, Brutus and Cassius make their com-
ments and questions in verse; and Casca himself speaks entirely in verse at his
next appearance, where the interest is purely tragic, and his own inner character
is revealed under stress of the agitation roused by the storm.

ACT I, sc. ii.] IVLIVS CAESAR 49

it: It was meere Foolerie, I did not marke it. I fa we 256
Marke Antony offer him a Crowne, yet 'twas not a
Crowne neyther, 'twas one of thefe Coronets : and as I
told you, hee put it by once : but for all that, to my thin-
king, he would faine haue had it. Then hee offered it to 260
him again : then hee put it by againe : but to my think-
ing, he was very loath to lay his fingers off it. And then
he offered it the third time ; hee put it the third time by, 263

^ 256. was] were Ff. 262. loath] loth Pope,+, Cap. Varr.

'^ Mai. Knt, Dyce, Wh. i, Huds.

255, 256. manner of it] Delius: Brutus uses 'manner' in the sense of way, fash-
ion, but Casca, in that of proper deportment, politeness, in contrast to the following
phrase, 'mere foolery.' — [Weight thinks there is no evidence of an equivocal
use of the word 'manner' by Casca; but I am inclined to agree with Delius that
there is a double meaning, though not quite in the way in which Delius takes it.
Bradley (iV. E. D., s. v., manner 2.) thus defines the phrase: 'The manner of:
the state of the case with respect to (a person, thing, or event) ; the character, dis-
position, or nature of.' Brutus asks how the offering of the crown was done,
but Casca pretends to misunderstand, and says that he can as well be hanged
as tell what were Caesar's and Antony's actual dispositions in the aijfair; he goes on
to say that he paid but Httle attention, as it was mere foolery, that is, he thought
that neither of them were really serious. Without some such explanation of
Casca's use of the word 'manner,' is not his assertion that he could not tell what
had actually occurred contradicted by the circumstantial account which follows?
'Manner' is used, perhaps, in this same sense by Jonson, Every Man Out of His
Humour, where Sogliardo, in attempting to describe the customary meeting of
Puntarvolo and his wife, says finally: 'Faith, I remember all, but the manner of it
is quite out of my head.' — II, i. (ed. Gifford, p. 56). — Ed.]

256. I did not marke it] J. Hunter: There is probably here a playful intro-
duction to the mention of Antony's name.

256,257. I sawe Marke Antony, etc.] Staffer (p. 330) : Shakespeare was not
to be imposed upon by this apparent love of the Roman people for liberty, the
shallowness of which at this time he truly divined: his account of the scene in the
Forum is an admirable instance of the sovereign authority with which poetry, as
Bacon has so splendidly pointed out, corrects history, not by falsifying its spirit,
but by rendering it more at one with ideal truth. The wonderfully vivid accoimt
full of grim humour, given by Casca, of Caesar's refusal of the crown lets us plainly
see that the cheering of the populace had nothing solid, nor even intelligent, about
it, and that if Caesar had been only bold enough to set the crown upon his head, the
same rabble that applauded his respect for the law would have been equally ready
to applaud his violation of it.

- 262. he was very loath] 'Mark Antony, his colleague in the consulship, a
man always ready for any daring deed, had excited a strong feeling against him by
placing on his head, as he was sitting in the Rostrum at the festival of Pan, a royal
diadem, which Caesar, indeed, pushed away, but in such a manner that he did not
seem offended.'— Velleius Paterculus, II, Ivi.— Ed.
4

50 THE TRACED IE OF [act i, sc. ii.

and ftill as hee refus'd it, the rabblement howted, and
clapp'd their chopt hands, and threw vppe their fweatie 265
Night-cappes, and vttered fuch a deale of fhinking
breath, becaufe Ccsfar refus'd the Crowne, that it had
(^almoft) choaked Ccsfar : for he fwoonded, and fell
downe at it : And for mine owne part, I durft not laugh,
for feare of opening my Lippes, and receyuing the bad 270
Ayre.

Cajjfi. But foft I pray you : what, did CcE/ar fwound ?

Cask. He fell downe in the Market-place,and foam'd
at mouth, and was fpeechleffe.

Brut. 'Tis very like he hath the Falling fickneffe. 275

264. howted] F2F3, houted F4, Rowe, you? What? Var. '73. you: What?
Pope, Theob. Warb. Cap. shouted Varr. Mai. Ran. Steev. Varr. Sing.
Han. Coll. Sta. hooted Johns, et cet. Knt. you. Wliatl Coll. Wh. i, Hal.

265. chopt] chopped Mai. Steev. Varr. Ktly, Huds.

Sing. Hal. Cam.+, Huds. chapped 272. fwound] Ff, Cam.+. swoon

Knt, Coll. Dyce, Wh. Sta. Rowe et cet.

268. Jwoonded]Yi. swounded Cam.-]- . 275. like he] Ff, Coll. i, ii. like, he

swooned Rowe et cet. Rowe, Pope. like, — he Dyce, Sta.

272. you: what,] you. What? Johns. like; he Theob. et cet. (subs.)

264. howted] Wright: This was clearly a cry of applause, as in 1. 251, and
not disapprobation. In other places where hoot occurs it is spelt sometimes hoot
and sometimes 'howt,' so that no argument can be derived from this. Most
probably the initial letter was broken off in the printing. [See Text. Notes.]

275. 'Tis very like he hath] The need of some sort of punctuation after the
word 'like' has been felt by the majority of editors, as will be seen by referring to
the Text. Notes, and while the Folio reading gives a sufSciently sensible meaning,
the separation of the two parts of the sentence by a semicolon — Theobald's reading —
is certainly preferable, since, as Wright says: 'This infirmity of Cassar's must have
been well known to Brutus.' — Ed.

275. Falling sicknesse] Wright: This is the rendering of the French mal
caduc of Amyot's translation which North followed. Cotgrave gives: 'Epilepsie.
The falling sicknesse, or foule evill. Epilepliqiie. That hath the falling sicknesse.'
— Halford (p. 71): Epilepsy has this peculiarity about it, that the patient who is
aflflicted, though an object of terror and of pity to those who witness his struggles
under a fit, yet, by the mercy of heaven, he himself is unconscious of the frightful
attack. He sleeps after his frame has been convulsed from head to foot, and
awakens unaware of all that has passed — 'himself again.' Repeated fits, however,
at length weaken the faculties; his memory suffers decay, his judgment becomes
unsound, derangement follows, and this alienation of mind degenerates at last into
idiocy. I do not say that this is the course of all epilepsies. Many attacks of
epilepsy are symptomatic only of some irritation in the alimentary canal, or of
some eruptive disease about to declare itself, or of other occasional passing ills.
So far Julius Caesar was epileptic; and so far it has been said was Mahomet also.
. . . But the attacks were of no consequence in deteriorating his masculine mind. —

ACT I, sc. ii.] IVLIVS CJESAR 5 1

Caffi. l^o,Ccsfar hath it not : but you, and I , 276

And honeft Caska, we haue the Falling fickneffe.

Cask. I know not what you meane by that, but I am
fure Cczfar fell downe. If the tag-ragge people did not
clap him, and hiffe him, according as he pleas'd, and dif- 280
pleas'd them, as they vfe to doe the Players in the Thea-
tre, I am no true man.

Brut. What faid he, when he came vnto himfelfe ?

Cask. Marry, before he fell downe, when he perceiu'd
the common Heard was glad he refus'd the Crowne, he 285
pluckt me ope his Doublet, and offer'd them his Throat
to cut : and I had beene a man of any Occupation, if I
would not haue taken him at a word, I would I might
goe to Hell among the Rogues, and fo hee fell. When
he came to himfelfe againe, hee faid, If hee had done, or 290
faid any thing amiffe , he defir'd their Worfhips to thinke
it was his infirmitie. Three or foure Wenches where I 292

279. tag-ragge] tag rag F4. Var. '73. an I Cap. et cet.

281. vfe] used Theob.+ ( — Han.). 288. at a] at his Han.

284. Marry] Mary F2. 290. //] Fj.

285. Heard] Herd F4. 290-292. IJ...infir7nitie\ As quotation
287,302. a«<^ /] Ff , Rowe. zy/Pope, Theob. Warb. In Italics Johns. Var.
Han. An' I Theob. Warb. Johns. '73.

C. A. Smith {Poet Lore, vi, 466): The true explanation [of Shakespeare's allusion
to the falling sickness], though hitherto overlooked, lies, I am convinced, in the
nature of epilepsy itself. The Latin name for it was morbus comitialis, so called be-
cause of its ominous nature; the meetings of the comitia were dissolved the moment
any one was seen to fall in the throes of this dreaded disease. Here is evidently
the clew, for Shakespeare is trying to show that Caesar's fortune is waning, that
the gods as well as men have conspired against him. Thus he would have us see in
epilepsy one of those 'portentous things' that point with fatal finger to the Ides
of March and the costly blood that is then to be shed.

277. And honest Caska, etc.] Craik (p. 180): The slight interruption to
the flow of this line occasioned by the supernumerary syllable in 'Caska' adds
greatly to the effect of the emphatic 'we' that follows. It is like the swell of the
wave before it breaks.

282. no true man] Malone: That is, no honest man. The jury still are styled
good men and true.

286-292. his Doublet . . . his infirmitie] Hudson quotes, from Plutarch's
Life of CcEsar, the passage which doubtless gave to Shakespeare the hint for this
incident in Casca's description: ' — Caesar rising departed home to his house, and
tearing open his doublet-collar, making his neck bare, he cried out aloud to his
friends, " that his throat was ready to offer to any man that would come and cut it."
Notwithstanding it is reported, that afterwards to excuse his folly, he imputed it to

52 THE TRACED IE OF [act i, sc. ii.

flood, cryed, Alaffe good Soule, and forgaue him with 293
all their hearts : But there's no heed to be taken of them;
if Ccefar had ftab'd their Mothers, they would haue done 295
no leffe.

Brut, And after that, he came thus fad away.

Cask. I.

Caffi. Did Cicero fay any thing ?

Cask. I , he fpoke Greeke. 300

293. AlaJfe-.-Soide] In Italics Cap. 293. Soule, and] Ff. soul! and Cap.

Varr. Mai. Ran. Steev. Varr. Sing. Jen. soul — and Rowe et cet.

Ktly. As quotation Knt, Coll. Dyce, 295. Jlab'd] Jlabl'd F2F3. Jlabb'd

Wh. Hal. Sta. Cam.+, Huds. F4.

his disease, saying, " that their wits are not perfit which have this disease of the
falling evil, when standing on their feet they speak to the common people, but are
soon troubled with a trembling of their body, and a sudden dimness or giddiness." '
(ed. Skeat, p. 95). — Wright: No doubt on the stage Julius Caesar appeared in
doublet and hose, like an Englishman of Shakespeare's time. [North or, perhaps,
Amyot is, I think, responsible for the anachronism; the original reads: ' cnvayayovra
Tov Tpax^^-ov TO Ifidriox',' that is, taking off the covering from his throat. — Ed.]

287. a man of any Occupation] Johnson: Had I been a mechanic, one of
the plebeians to whom he offered his throat. — M alone: Compare: ' — you that
stood so much Upon the voice of occupation.' — CorioL, IV, vi, 97. — R. G. White:
Does not 'a man of any occupation' here mean a man of action, a busy man? —
Wright: Johnson's explanation is, no doubt, part of the meaning, but not the
whole. The phrase appears to have a secondary sense: Had Casca not been an
indolent trifler, but what would now be called a practical man, a man of business,
prompt to seize an opportunity when it occurred. All the way through the dia-
logue he plays upon the double meaning of words, and here he seems to glance
at a meaning which may have been given to 'occupation' from its etymology.

300. he spoke Greeke] Horn (i, 116): Hardly any incident in the Roman
tragedy is so interesting as this, and perfectly intelligible is the question of Cassius:
how did Cicero behave? The answer, 'he spoke Greek,' gives us in three words
the complete character of Cicero; it is, moreover, quite evident that this could
have been said only in regard to the Cicero of that period, when he was not more
advanced in years. He has not sufficient force of character to decide definitely,
before a change of opinion takes place; and he does not wish to express a decided
opinion easily comprehensible, in order that he may always be free in case the
affair at first seemed more clear and easy. It is not so much timidity as an artistic
foresightedness; it is not for him now to speak with the common people, nor should
so eccentric a character as Casca understand him. If Shakespeare could have
read and studied all Cicero's collected writings in the original, never, in my opinion,
would there have offered itself a phrase more characteristic than 'he spoke Greek.'
— Skottowe (ii, 228): Casca's reply may not unfairly be ascribed to the passage
which relates that Cicero was commonly called 'the Grecian, and scholer, which
are two words which the artificers (and such base mcchanicall people at Rome) have
ever at their tongue's end.' (Plutarch: Life of Cicero, p. 861). The poet has

ACT I, sc. ii.] IVLIVS CACSAR 53

Caff I. To what effe6l ? 30 1

Cask. Nay, and I tell you that, lie ne're looke you
i'th' face againe . But thofe that vnderftood him, fmil'd
at one another, and fhooke their heads : but for mine
owne part, it was Greeke to me. I could tell you more 305
newes too : Miirrellus and Flaiiius, for pulling Scarffes
off CcBfars Images, are put to filence. Fare you w^ell .
There was more Foolerie yet , if I could remem-
ber it.

Caffi. Will you fuppe with me to Night, Caskaf 310

Cask. No, I am promis'd forth.

Caffi. Will you Dine with me to morrow ?

Cask. I, if I be aliue, and your minde hold, and your
Dinner worth the eating.

Caffi. Good, I will expe6l you. 315

Cask. Doe fo : farewell both. Exit.

Brut. What a blunt fellow is this growne to hef
He was quick Mettle, when he went to Schoole. 318

303. i'th'] i'the Var. '78, '85, Mai. 313. your] my Walker (Crit. iii, 245).

Ran. Steev. Varr. Sing. Knt, Coll. ^14. worth] be worth Ro-we,+ { — Var.

Sta. Hal. Cam.+. '73).

306. IMurrellus] Murellus Ff, Cap. 318. quick Mettle] quick mettVd Cap.
!Marullus Theob. et cet. conj. quick metal Walker (Crit. iii,

307. Images] Imags F2. 245).

judiciously enough made the unlettered Casca endeavor to convert Cicero's love
of Greek into a subject of contempt: such a reproach from the attic mind of
Brutus, or from the lips of Cassius, who 'read much,' would have been ridiculous,
to say nothing of it as a violent deviation from the spirit of his authority. — Skeat
(p. xix.) : In Plutarch's Life of Cicero there is a passage worth notice in connection
with his speaking Greek: 'And it is reported also, that ApoUonius, wanting the Latin
tongue, he did pray Cicero for exercise sake to declame in Greeke. Cicero was well
contented with it, thinking that thereby his faults should be the better corrected.
When he had ended his declamation, all those that were present were amazed to
heare him, and euery man praised him one after another. Howbeit ApoUonius,
all the while Cicero spoke, did neuer show any glad countenance; and, when he had
ended, he stayed a great while, and said neuer a word. Cicero misliking withall,
ApoUonius at length said unto him: " As for me, Cicero, I doe not only praise thee,
but more then that I wonder at thee; and yet I am sorie for pore Grece, to see
that learning and eloquence (which were the two onely gifts and honours left vs)
are by thee obtained with vs, and caried vnto the Romaines." ' — p. 861, ed. 1612.
305. it was Greeke to me] Wright: Casca's ignorance of Greek was affected,
for in the description of Caesar's assasination, Plutarch says: 'Caesar . . . cried
out in Latin: " O traitor Casca, what dost thou?" Casca, on the other side, cried in
Greeke, and called his brother to help him.' — (ed. Skeat, p. 119).

54 THE TRACE DIE OF [act i, sc. ii.

Cciffi. So is he now, in execution
Of any bold, or Noble Enterprize, 320

How-euer he puts on this tardie forme :
This Rudeneffe is a Sawce to his good Wit,
Which giues men flomacke to difgeft his words
With better Appetite.

Brut. And fo it is : 325

For this time I will leaue you :
To morrow, if you pleafe to fpeake with me,
I will come home to you : or if you will.
Come home to me, and I will wait for you.

Caffi. I will doe fo : till then, thinke of the World. 330

Exit Brutus.
Well Brutus , thou art Noble : yet I fee,
Thy Honorable Mettle may be wrought
From that it is difpos'd : therefore it is meet,
That Noble mindes keepe euer with their likes : 335

For who fo firme , that cannot be feduc'd ?
CcEfar doth beare me hard, but he loues Brutus. 337

320. Enterprize] Enteprize F2. 332. thou art Arable:... fee,] thou art:

323. difgejl] digeft F3F4. Noble. ..fee, F2. thou art noble:...see

324. Appetite] Appetites Ff, Rowe, Rowe, Pope, Han. Jen. Knt.

Pope, Han. 333. Mettle] Mettall F^. Metal F3F4.

325. 326. And. ..you] Ff, Wh. i. One 334. that] what Pope,+ ( — Han.),
line Rowe et cet. it is] Sing. Dyce, Sta. Ktly,

329. io we] if/ZA we Var. '03, '13. Cam.+. tisYi. '//^ F3F4 et cet.

difpos'd] disposed to Ktly.

321. tardie forme] Wright: That is, this appearance of sloth. For this pecu-
liar use of the adjective, compare I, ii, 14: 'sterile curse'; IV^ ii, 19: 'familiar in-
stances'; and : 'Thou by thy dial's shady stealth mayst know,' Somiet, Ixxvii, 7,
where 'shady stealth' is almost equivalent to stealing shadow.

330. thinke of the World] Wright: That is, of things in general; or it may
mean think of the world in which we live, the present state of affairs. The ex-
pression is obscure. [May Cassius not mean, 'Think of the present situation and
do not be lost in thoughts regarding your self? This is practically the same ex-
hortation with which he begins his address; to which Brutus had answered that if
Cassius had aught towards the general good, he should impart it to him at once.
Compare: 'Thou seest the world,' — V, v, 29. — Ed.]

333> 334- Mettle . . • that it is dispos'd] Johnson: The best metal or temper
may be worked into qualities contrary to its original constitution.

334. that it is] For other examples of the omission of the relative, see, if
needful, Abbott, § 244.

337. Caesar doth beare me hard] Murray {N. E. D., s. v., bear, vb, 16):
To bear hard, heavy, or heavily (Latin, aegre ferre): to endure with a grudge, take

ACT I. sc. ii.] IVLIVS C^SAR 55

If I were Brutus now, and he were CaJJius, 338

He fliould not humor me. I will this Night,

339. He. ..humor] CcEsar...love Han.

(a thing) ill or amiss, have ill will to, have a resentment against; so to bear upon the
spleen. [The present line quoted. Compare II, i, 239; III, i, 180.] — J. W. Hales
(Aeademy, 30 June, 1877): Another instance of this phrase occurs in The Life and
Death of Thomas, Lord Cromwell. Says Cromwell: 'Good morrow to my lord of
Winchester; I know You bear me hard about the Abbey lands.' — IV, ii. [See
Appendix: Date of Composition — Fleay.]

33^^ 339. If I were . . . humor me] Warburtox: This is a reflection on
Brutus's ingratitude; which concludes, as is usual on such occasions, in an encomium
on his own better conditions. 'If I were Brutus' (says he), 'and Brutus, Cassius,
he should not cajole me as I do him.' To 'humour' signifies here to turn and wind
him by inflaming his passions. — Capell (i, 99): That is, should not play upon
me; work upon my affections by friendship, — the shews of it, — and so bias my
principles. The soliloquy sets out with this thought that Brutus had been ' wrought'
upon; a thing inferr'd by the speaker from the little 'fire' that his words had
struck out of him; then follows the sentiment about selection of company, and
to that is link'd the present assertion — that were the persons of he and Brutus
exchang'd, he had either not consorted with Caesar, or his commerce and demon-
strations of love had not influenc'd him. The whole passage is liable to be misap-
prehended, and this part of it specially from uniting 'He' in these words with one
immediately next it, instead of a remoter in 1. 337, which is, in truth, its associate.
[That is, the 'He' of I. 339 refers to Caesar; not to Brutus.] — Heath (p. 435):
Mr Seward, ... in his notes on Beaumont and Fletcher, vol. iv, pp. 178, 179, thus
explained this part of [the soliloquy]: If Brutus and I were to exchange situa-
tions, so that I were Brutus, and he Cassius, Caesar should not, by the demonstra-
tions of his friendship and affection, cajole me out of my principles. Mr Seward's
whole note very well deserves the reader's attention. — [Dr. Johnson, without
referring to Seward, gives this same interpretation, and although the date of
Johnson's Shakespeare, 1765, is later than Seward's Beaimiont and Fletcher, it
is not, I think, likely that Johnson had read all of Seward's notes. The two works
may have been written contemporaneously. — Ed.] — Craik (p. 184): Warburton's
remark that the words convey a reflection on Brutus's ingratitude, seems unfounded.
It is rather Brutus's simplicity that Cassius has in his mind. It would be more
satisfactory, however, if other examples could be produced of the use of the verb
'to humour' in the sense assumed. Johnson appears to have quite mistaken the
meaning of the passage. — J. Hunter: To make [Johnson's interpretation] ad-
missible, the text should simply have been: If I were Brutus now, he should not
humour me. Cassius means that he would continue attached to Caesar; for there
was this distinction between Brutus and Cassius, that the former hated royalty,
and the latter hated Casar. — Hudson: It is somewhat in doubt whether the 'He,'
1. 339, refers to Brutus or to Caesar. If to Brutus, the meaning, of course, is, he
should not play upon my humours and fancies as I do upon his. And this sense is,
I think, fairly required by the context. For the whole speech is occupied with the
speaker's success in cajoling Brutus, and with plans for cajoling and shaping him
still further. — Wright: Warburton's interpretation appears to be the correct
view, because Cassius is all along speaking of his own influence over Brutus, not-

56 THE TRACED IE OF [act i, sc. ii.

In feuerall Hands, in at his Windowes throw, 340

As if they came from feuerall Citizens,

Writings, all tending to the great opinion

That Rome holds of his Name : wherein obfcurely

Ccs/ars Ambition fhall be glanced at.

And after this,let Ccsfar feat him fure, 345

For wee will fhake him, or worfe dayes endure.

Exit, 347

342. Writings\ Writtings F2. 344- glanced] glanced Dyce. glanc'd

343. Name:] Name. Pope. Coll. ii.

withstanding the difference of their characters, which made Caesar dislike the
one and love the other. — Verity: Cassius sees that his words have had some
effect in stirring Brutus against Csesar: he knows that Caesar is the friend of
Brutus; and he wonders that Brutus should suffer himself to be influenced against
his friend. Cassius regards things from a personal standpoint: personal friendship
or enmity is sufficient motive with him; whereas Brutus would not allow personal
feelings either for or against Caesar to affect him, if he thought that the good of
Rome required of him some service. Johnson's interpretation implies that Caesar
humours Brutus in such a way as to make him neglect his duty to his country.
But the whole drift of the play is opposed to such a conception of the character of
Brutus: he is the last man in the world 'to forget principles' — as Cassius knew. —
Macmillan: Cassius is not as high-minded as Brutus. He is somewhat un-
scrupulous in his use of means, and his conduct is no doubt partly influenced by
personal feelings of envy. But he is not a villain conscious of his villainy like
Richard III. and lago. He really has a high opinion of his uprightness, and
regards himself as a true patriot. — Mark Hunter: I am of opinion that the
pronoun 'he' must refer to Caesar. . . . The controversy, however, is practically
decided by a reference to the passage in Plutarch upon which this speech is un-
doubtedly based. Cassius's friends prayed Brutus 'to beware of Caesar's sweet
enticements, and to fly his tyrannical favours: the which they said Cssar gave him,
not to honour his virtue, but to weaken his constant mind, framing it to the bent of
his bow' (ed. Skeat, p. iii). — MacCallum (p. 278): Probably Cassius is making
the worst of his own case, and is indulging that vein of self-mockery and scorn that
Caesar observed in him. (This explanation is offered with great diffidence, but it is
the only one I can suggest for what is perhaps the most perplexing passage in the
play, not even excepting the soliloquy of Brutus.) But, at any rate, the lurking
sense of unworthiness in himself and his purpose will be apt to increase in such a
man his natural impatience of alleged superiority in his fellows. He is jealous of
excellence, seeks to minimise it, and will not tolerate it. . . . It is now resentment of
pre-eminence that makes Cassius a malcontent. Caesar finds him 'very dan-
gerous' just because of his grudge at greatness; and his own avowal that he 'would
as lief not be as live to be in awe ' of a thing like himself, merely puts a fairer colour
on the same unamiable trait. He may represent republican liberty and equality,
at least in the aristocratic acceptation, but it is on their less admirable side. —
[Capell's interpretation, that the sentence, 'He should not humor me,' etc., refers
to Caesar, is the one accepted by the present Ed.]

ACT I, sc. iii.] IVLIVS CESAR 57

\Scene IIL\

Thunder, and Lightning. Enter Caska, i

(Did Cicero.

Cic. Good Q.MQ.n,Caska : brought you Ccnfar home?
Why are you breathleffe, and why ftare you fo ? 4

Scene iii.] Cap. et seq. Scene con- Mai. Steev.
tinned. Ff, Rowe. Scene vi. Pope, + i. Caska,] Casca with his sword

( — Var. '73), Jen. Act II, Scene i. drawn, Rowe,+, Cap.
Warb. conj. (Nichols' Lit. Illust., ii, 2. and Cicero.] and Cicero meeting

492). him. Theob. Warb. Johns. Varr. Ran.

I. Enter Caska,] Enter from op- 4. hreathlcjje,] Ff, Rowe,-f-, Coll.

posite sides, Cicero and Casca, Capell, Wh. i, Hal. breathless? Cap. et cet.

Scene III.) Daniel {Time Analysis, etc., p. 198) marks this scene, opening at
about midnight, as the beginning of the second day of the action of the Tragedy.

I, 2. Enter Caska, and Cicero] Lloyd {Essays, p. 509): There is no aid for
the character of Casca in Plutarch beyond the significant fact that he was chosen
to be the first to raise his hand against Caesar, and is scarcely heard of otherwise.
Shakespeare turns him to admirable use in the storm scene so wondrously imitative,
where he is placed at equal distance between Cicero, ambiguously contemptuous
respecting omens, as busied in thought with the business of the house he Hfts his
draggled toga from the splashing street, and Cassius, baring his bosom to the
thunderstorm, and free from superstition as Cicero, yet associating the horrors of the
fiery night with the idea of his enemy and all his acts.

3. brought you Caesar home] Johnson: That is, did you attend Caesar home?
[Schmidt {Lex.) furnishes many examples of 'bring' in the sense of to accompany,
to conduct.] — Macmillan {Introd., xlix.): Historically there should be an interval
of a month between scenes ii. and iii. [This line], taken in connection with what
goes before, is naturally understood to mean 'home from the Lupercalia.' Further
in the preceding scene Casca had declared himself to be engaged for supper that
night, and promised to sup on the morrow with Cassius, who, no doubt, intended to
enlist him in the conspiracy during the supper. In [this present scene] Cassius meets
Casca and sounds him. There is no reference to their having met in the interval,
. . . and the conversation makes it almost impossible that such a meeting could have
taken place. Therefore it would appear that Casca ... is returning home from
the supper at which he had promised to be present on the night of the Lupercalia.

4. Why stare you so] Dowden (p. 291): Casca here appears with the
superficial garb of cynicism dropt. Does Shakespeare in this play mean
to signify to us unobtrusively that the philosophical creed which a man
professes grows out of his character and circumstances as far as it is really a
portion of his own being; and that as far as it is received by the intellect in the
calm of life from teachers and schools, such a philosophical creed does not adhere
very closely to the soul of a man, and may, upon the pressure of events or of
passions, be cast aside? The Epicurean Cassius is shaken out of his philosophical
scepticism by the portents which appeared upon the march to Philippi; the Stoic
Brutus, who by the rules of his philosophy blamed Cato for a self-inflicted death.

5 8 THE TRACED IE OF [act i. sc. iii.

Cask. Are not you mou'd,when all the fway of Earth 5

Shakes, like a thing vnfirme ? O Cicero^
I haue feene Tempefts, when the fcolding Winds
Haue riu'd the knottie Oakes,and I haue feene
Th'ambitious Ocean fwell,and rage, and foame,
To be exalted with the threatning Clouds : 10

But neuer till to Night, neuer till now,
Did I goe through a Tempeft-dropping-fire,
Eyther there is a Ciuill ftrife in Heauen,
Or elfe the World, too fawcie with the Gods,
Incenfes them to fend deftruction. 15

Cic. Why, faw you any thing more wonderfull ?

Cask. A common flaue, you know him well by fight,
Held up his left Hand, which did flame and burne 18

10. threatning] Ff, Rowe,+. threat- dropping fire Rowe et seq.

enz«g Var. '73, Coll. Dyce.Wh. Cam.+, 13. Heauen] Heav'ti Ro-we,-}-.

Huds. threatening Cap. et cet. 17. you knoif] you'd know Dyce conj.

12. Tempefl-drop ping-fire] Tempest Huds. you knew Craik conj.

runs upon his own sword and dies. The dramatic self-consistency of the charac-
ters created by certain writers is to be noticed; we must notice in the case of Shake-
speare, as a piece of higher art, the dramatic inconsistency of his characters. In
the preceding scene, describing in his cynical mood the ceremony at which an offer
of the crown was made to Ccesar, Casca utters himself in prose; here Shakespeare
puts verse into his mouth. 'Did Cicero say anything?' Cassius inquired, and
Casca answered with curt scorn: 'Ay, he spoke Greek.' But now so moved out of
himself is Casca by the portents of the night that he enlarges himself and grows
effusive to this very Cicero, the recollection of whom he had dismissed with such
impatient contempt.

5. sway of Earth] Johnson: That is, the whole weight or momentian of this
globe. — Craik: That is, the balanced swing of earth. — Wright: Compare:
*0 firste moving cruel firmament. With thy diurnal swegh that croudest ay. And
hurtlest all from Est til Occident, That naturally would hold another way.' —
Chaucer: Man 0} Law's Tale, 1. 4716 (ed. Tyrwhitt).

8. riu'd] Wright: Shakespeare never uses the form riven for the participle.

15. Incenses] Murray {N. E. D., vh'. f 4): To incite to some action; to urge,
instigate, stir up, 'set on.'

16. any thing more wonderfull] Delius interprets this as meaning anything
more wonderful than what you have described; Craik explains it as anything else
wonderful, and Abbott (§ 6) says: 'The comparative "more wonderful" seems to
be used, as in Latin, for "more wonderful than usual," if this line is to be at-
tributed to Cicero as in the editions.' — The interpretation by Delius is the best
in the opinion of the present Ed.

17. 18. A common slaue . . . and burne]^ 'But Strabo the philosopher
writeth, that divers men were seen going up and down in fire: and furthermore,
that there was a slave of the soldiers that did cast a marvellous burning flame out

ACT I, sc. iii.] IVLIVS CAESAR ' 5^

Like twentie Torches ioyn'd; and yet his Hand,

Not fenfible of fire,remain'd vnfcorch'd. 20

Befides, I ha'not fince put vp my Sword,

Againft the Capitol! I met a Lyon,

Who glaz'd vpon me, and went furly by, 23

21. ha'not] Ff, Rowe,+, Cam.+j gaz'd Johns, conj., Mai. Var. '21.
Dyce. have not Cap. et cet. glared Rowe ii et cet.

23. glaz'd] Ff, Rowe i, Hal. Cam. ii.

of his hand, insomuch as they that saw it thought he had been burnt; but when
the fire was out, it was found he had no hurt.' — Plutarch: Life 0} Cesar, § 43; (ed.
Skeat, p. 97).

17. you know ... by sight] Craik (p. 186): Is it to be supposed that
Casca really means to say that the common slave whom he chanced to meet was a
particular individual well known to Cicero? Of what importance could that cir-
cumstance be? Or for what purpose should Casca notice it, even supposing him
to be acquainted with the fact that Cicero knew the man well, and yet knew him
only by sight? It is impossible not to suspect some interpolation or corruption.
Perhaps the true reading may be : ' You knev.< him well,' meaning that anyone would
have known him at once to be but a common slave (notwithstanding the preternat-
ural appearance, as if something almost godlike, which his uplifted hand exhibited,
burning but unhurt). — Wright: There does not appear to be any necessity to read,
with Dyce, you'd know, [see Text. Notes], because the slaves had no distinctive dress;
or with Craik, you knew. It is simply a graphic touch. — Rolfe: This has per-
ple.xed some of the commentators, but it is nothing strange that both Cicero and
Casca should happen to know a particular slave by sight, and it is natural enough
that Casca, in referring to him here, should say: 'And you yourself know the man.'

18. left Hand] Another graphic touch. Plutarch does not mention either
hand particularly. — Ed.

23- glaz'd vpon me] Rowe's emendation, g/ar'i, has been accepted by a major-
ity of the editors. Stee\t;ns furnishes quotations both from Shakespeare and other
authors to corroborate his opinion that it is Shakespeare's own word. Malone,
on the other hand, adopts Johnson's conjecture, gaz'd — it is to be feared out of
perversity — and to strengthen his position gives two passages from Stowe's Chron-
icle, 161S, wherein the word gaze is applied to the manner in which a lion looked
upon his adversaries in a fight held at the Tower in 1609. Steevens thus replies to
Malone: 'That glar'd is no modern word is sufficiently ascertained by the following
passage in Macbeth, "Thou hast no speculation in those eyes Which thou dost
glare with." — III, iv, 95. I, therefore, continue to repair the poet with his own
animated phraseology, rather than with the cold expression suggested by the narra-
tive of Stowe; who, having been a tailor, was undoubtedly equal to the task of
mending Shakespeare's hose, but, on poetical emergencies, must not be allowed to
patch his dialogue.'— Wright, in support of the Folio reading, says: 'I am in-
formed by a correspondent (Mr Knight of Tavistock) that the word "glaze" in
the sense of stare is common in some parts of Devonshire, and that "glazing like a
conger" is a familiar expression in Cornwall.'— T. Wright {Dialed Diet.) gives
. several examples of 'glaze,' in the Dialect of Cornwall and Devonshire, used in the
sense of ' to stare, to gaze intently. ' — Ed.

6o THE TRACED IE OF [act i, sc. iii.

Without annoying me. And there were drawne

Vpon a heape,a hundred gaftly Women, 25

Transformed with their feare, who fwore they faw

Men, all in fire, walke vp and downe the ftreetes.

And yefterday , the Bird of Night did fit,

Euen at Noone-day , vpon the Market place,

Howting,and fhreeking. When thefe Prodigies 30

Doe fo conioyntly meet, let not men fay,

Thefe are their Reafons , they are Naturall :

For I beleeue,they are portentous things

Vnto the Clymate, that they point vpon.

Cic. Indeed, it is a ftrange-difpofed time: 35

25. Y pon\ Up on Ran. Hooting Johns, et cet.

26. Transformed] Transformed Dyce. 32. are ... Reafons] have ...seasons S.

29. Noone-day] Noone day Ff. Jervis. are. .. seasons CoW.'n (MS) ,}i\ids.

30. Howling] F2F3. Houting F4, 35. flrange-difpofed] flrange difpofed
Rowe, Pope, Theob. Han. Warb. Ff , Rowe, Pope, strange-disposed Dyce.

25. heape] Murray {N. E. D., s. v. 3.) : A great company (especially of persons);
a multitude, a host.

27. Men, all in fire] See extract from Plutarch, 1. 17.

28-30. Bird of Night . . . Howling, and shreeking] Wright: See Pliny,
X, 12 (Holland's trans.): 'The Scritch owle betokeneth alwaies some heavie
newes, and is most execrable and accursed, and namely in the presages of public
affaires. ... In summe, he is the verie monster of the night. . . . There fortuned
one of them to enter the very secret sanctuarie within the capitoU at Rome, in
that yeere when as Sext. Papellio Ister and L. Pedanius were Consuls : whereupon
at the Nones of March, the citie of Rome that yeere made generall processions to
appease the wrath of the gods, and was solemnly purged by sacrifices.'

30. these Prodigies] H. Coleridge (ii, 180): To the most affecting prognostic
of Caesar's death Shakespeare has not alluded. The horses which had crossed the
Rubicon, and which ever since had been allowed to range at liberty, refused to
graze, and, Suetonius says, wept abundantly, ubertim pleverunt.

32. These are their Reasons] Craik (p. 188): That such and such are their
reasons. It is the same form of expression that we have afterwards in II, i, 34:
'Would run to these and these extremities.' But the present line has no claim
to either a distinctive type or inverted commas. It is not as if it were 'These are
our reasons.' — Wright: For the sentiment, compare AWs Well, II, iii, i-6: 'They
say miracles are past: and we have our philosophical persons, to make modern and
familiar, things supernatural and causeless. Hence it is that we make trifles of
terrors, ensconcing ourselves into seeming knowledge, when we should submit
ourselves to unknown fear.'

34. Clymate] Craik (p. 188): The region of the earth, according to the old
geographical division of the globe into so many climates, which had no reference, or
only an accidental one, to differences of temperature.

35. Cic. Indeed, it is, etc.] Staffer (p. 367): There is nothing highly
original or daring in this remark, but its very insignificance seems to belong to

ACT I, sc. iii.] IVLIVS CAESAR ( 6l

But men may conftrue things after their fafhion, 36

Cleane from the purpofe of the things themfelues.
Comes Carfar to the Capitol to morrow ?

Cask He doth : for he did bid Antonio
Send word to you, he would be there to morrow. 40

Cic. Good-night then, Caska:
This difturbed Skie is not to walke in.

Cask. Farewell Cicero. Exit Cicero,

Enter Cajfms.
CaJJi. Who's there ? 45

Cask. A Romane.
CaJJt. Caska, by your Voyce.
Cask. Your Eare is good.
CaJfiuSywYidX Night is this ? 49

38. to the] vp the F3F4. Rowe et seq.

39. Antonio] Ff, Rowe, Cap. Ktly. 42. dijltirbed] disturbed Dyce.
Antonius Pope et cet. 43. Scene vii. Pope,+, Jen.

41, 42. Good-night. ..Skie] One line 49. what Night] what a night Craik.

Shakespeare's conception of the character; besides which, though the Roman
orator may say nothing very important himself, he is twice mentioned in the
play in terms sufl&ciently explicit to make his faults and failings known.

42. is not to walke in] That is, is not fit to walk in; for other examples of a Uke
ellipsis see, if needful, Abbott, § 405.

49. What Night is this?] Dyce: The Folio has an interrogation point after
these words, and the modem editors retain it, — most erroneously. Casca is not
putting a question, but uttering an exclamation of surprise; here 'what night is
this!' is equivalent to ^what a night is this!' In such exclamations it was not
unusual to omit 'a' — so in Two Gent., 'What fool is she, that knows I am a maid?'
and Twelfth Night, 'What dish o' poison has she dressed him!' — Wright: It also
occurs in dependent clauses, as, for example, in Cymheline: 'Jove knows what man
thou mightst have made.' — IV, iii, 207. — [Is it not too severe to characterise as
most 'erroneous' the retention of this interrogation point? Whether Casca's
remark be a question or an exclamation is a point on which the compositors of the
Folio can give us no assured help; their use of the exclamation point is too incon-
sistent. Many phrases which are there printed with an interrogation point might,
with perfect correctness, in a modern text be printed as rhetorical questions with
the exclamation point. It is, moreover, merely a matter of personal opinion
whether the present line be a simple question or an exclamation. As an illustra-
tion of futile labor, such as falls to the lot of the harmless drudge, an editor, I
mention that I have counted the number of exclamation points which appear in
the present play as printed in the Folio and those which appear in the Cambridge
Text. In the Folio there are seventeen; in the Cambridge, one hundred and
eighty-eight. It will, moreover, be noticed that in the Folio, in nearly every
instance, this punctuation point is of a different font of type; at times it is larger

62 ' THE TRACED IE OF [act I, sc. iii.

Caffi. A very pleafmg Night to honeft men. 50

Cask. Who euer knew the Heauens menace fo ?

Caffi. Thofe that haue knowne the Earth fo full of
faults.

For my part, I haue walk'd about the fbreets,
Submitting me vnto the perillous Night ; 55

And thus vnbraced, Caska,2iS you fee,
Haue bar'd my Bofome to the Thunder-flone :
And when the croffe blew Lightning feem'd to open
The Breft of Heauen, I did prefent my felfe
Euen in the ayme , and very flafh of it. (uens ? 60

Cask. But wherefore did you fo much tempt the Hea-
It is the part of men, to feare and tremble,
When the moft mightie Gods, by tokens fend
Such dreadfuU Heraulds, to aftonifh vs.

Caffi. You are dull, Caska : 65

And thofe fparkes of Life, that fhould be in a Roman,
You doe want, or elfe you vfe not.
You looke pale and gaze, and put on feare,
And caft your felfe in wonder, 69

51. Heauens] heaveti's Warb. seq.

56. vnbraced] unbraced Dyce. 66. that] which Cap.

65-69. FoM...U'on(^er] Four lines, end- 67. Koi.] «o/, F3F4.

ing: Life... want... gaze... wonder Rowe et 69. caft] case Wh. i, Dyce ii, iii.

than the other characters, at times it is an Italic. This perhaps suggests that
this small number of exclamation points was due not to the caprice of the com-
positor, but to an actual lack of such types in the printing office. — Ed.]

56. vnbraced] Wright: Shakespeare in matters of dress speaks of the costume
of his own time. Cassius, like Hamlet, was walking with his doublet unbuttoned.

57. Thunder-stone] Steevens: A stone fabulously supposed to be discharged
by thunder. So in Cymbeline: 'Fear no more the lightning-flash, Nor the all-
dreaded thunder-stone.' — IV, ii, 270. — [Pliny, Natural Hist., says: 'Brontea is a
stone like the head of a tortoise, which falls with thunder, it is supposed: if too,
we are to believe what is said, it has the property of quenching the fire in objects
that have been struck by lightning.' — Bk xxxvi, ch. 55. — Ed.]

69. cast your selfe in wonder] Grant White; S. Jervis (p. 22); and W.Wil-
liams (Parthenon, 7 June, 1862) proposed almost contemporaneously that this
should read 'case yourself in wonder,' that is, put on as a garment, and both White
and Jervis quoted as a parallel passage: 'I am so attired in wonder.' — Much Ado,
IV, i, 146. Wright does not 'think any change is necessary, and to "case oneself"
is rather to put on a mask. The figure suggested by putting on fear as a garment
is sustained in this expression ['cast yourself], which signifies, you hastily dress your-
self in wonder, you throw yourself into wonder as into a robe. . . . The same

ACT I, sc. lii.] IVLIVS CAESAR 63

To fee the ftrange impatience of the Heaucns : 70

But if you would confider the true caufe,

Why all thefe Fires, why all thefe gliding Ghofts,

Why Birds and Beafl;s,from qualitie and kinde,

Why Old men,Fooles,and Children calculate, 74

74. Old men, Fooles,] old men fools, Blackstone, Var. '78, '85, Mai. Steev. Varr.
Dyce, Sta. old men fool, Lettsom (ap. Walker, Crit., i, 250), Wh. Cam.+, Dyce
ii, iii.

figure is found in Lucrece: "Why art thou thus attired in discontent?" — 1. 1601.
And Macbeth: "Was the hope drunk Wherein you dressed yourself?" — I, vii, 36.'

73. Why Birds . . . and kinde] Johnson: That is, why they deviate from
quality and nature. This line might, perhaps, be more properly placed after the
next line.

74. Why Old men . . . calculate] Warburton: 'Calculate' here signifies
to foretell or prophesy: for the custom of foretelling fortunes by judicial astrology
(which was at that time much in vogue) being performed by a long tedious calcula-
tion, Shakespeare, with his usual liberty, employs the species (calculate) for the
genus (foretell). — Johnson: Shakespeare found the liberty established. To
'calculate the nativity' is the technical term. — Blackstone: There is certainly
no prodigy in old men's calculating from their past experience. The wonder is
that old men should not, and that children should. I would, therefore, point thus:
'Why old men fools, and children calculate.' — Craik (p. 192): Blackstone's novel
pointing of this passage is ingenious; i. e., why we have all these fires, etc., why
we have old men fools. But the amendment is hardly required; or, at any rate, it
would not go far to give us a perfectly satisfactory text. Nor does there seem to be
any necessity for assigning to 'calculate' the singular sense of prophesy. There
is probably some corruption; but the present line may be very well understood as
meaning merely, why not only old men, but even fools and children, speculate upon
the future; or, still more simply, why all persons, old and young, and the foolish
as well as the wise, take part in such prognosticating. Shakespeare may have
been so far from thinking with Blackstone, that it was something unnatural and
prodigious for old men ever to be fools, that he has even designed to classify them
with foolish persons generally, and with children, as specially disqualified for
looking with any very deep insight into the future. And so, doubtless, they are
apt to be when very old. — J. Hunter: There is perhaps some corruption of the
text in this line; or the meaning may be: why not only men of age and wisdom, but
even fools and children, seeing these prodigies, discern them to be portentous, and
construe them as signs of heaven's displeasure. — [Lettsom's suggested pointing and
slight change of the noun 'fooles' to fool, the verb, brings out quite clearly the
complete reversal of those actions appropriate to old men and to children, and
seems quite in accord with the rest of the passage. — Ed.] — Macmillan (Appendix,
p. 169): The use of 'calculate' intransitively in the sense ol prophesy is so strange
and gives such unsatisfactory sense that I am tempted to conjecture that 'why'
is here an emphatic interjectional expletive, as it is in 1. 77. The meaning will then
be: . . . the significance of these prodigies is so obvious that not only old men,
but even fools and children can form an estimate of the reason why these things
act contrary to their nature. You will assuredly find that the reason is that they

64 THE TRACED IE OF [act i, sc. iii.

Why all thefe things change from their Ordinance, 75

Their Natures, and pre-formed Faculties,

To monftrous qualitie ; why you fhall finde,

That Heauen hath infus'd them with thefe Spirits,

To make them Inftruments of feare, and warning,

Vnto fome monfbrous State. 80

Now could I ( Caska) name to thee a man,

Moft like this dreadfuU Night,

That Thunders, Lightens, opens Graues, and roares.

As doth the Lyon in the Capitoll : 84

78. Heauen] nature Cap. Steev. Var. '03, '13, Sing, i, Craik,

hath] has Theob. Warb. Johns. Huds.
Var. '73. 81. to thee] thee Cap. Huds. iii.

80-82. Vnto ... Night] Two lines, 83. roares] teares F2. tears F3F4.

ending: Caska ... night Han. Cap. Mai. 84. Lyon in] lion, in Craik.

are intended by heaven to point to an unnatural state of affairs. ... In support
of this interpretation it may be urged that the two preceding lines refer to prodigies
already recorded, whereas the folly of old men and the prophesying of fools and
children is not among the prodigies related either by Shakespeare or Plutarch.
. . . Exception may be taken to the use of ' why ' in a sense different from that in
which it is used in the lines immediately preceding and following, but this objec-
tion would prove too much, as it would condemn the undoubtedly expletive use of
'why' in 1. 77, where also, as in the present line, 'why' is not followed by a comma
in the Folio.

80. Vnto some monstrous State] Hudson: As Cassius is an avowed Epi-
curean, it may seem out of character to make him speak thus. But he is here
talking for effect, his aim being to kindle and instigate Casca into the conspiracy;
and to this end he does not stick to say what he does not himself believe.

83, 84. and roares ... in the Capitoll] Craik: Many readers, I believe,
infer from this passage that Caesar is compared by Cassius to some live lion that
was kept in the Capitol. Or perhaps it may be sometimes imagined that he alludes
to the same lion which Casca (though not in his hearing) has just been telling
Cicero that he had met 'against the Capitol.' — Wright: The [comma at 'roares'
in the Folio] is against Craik's interpretation, and though there were no lions in the
Capitol at Rome there were lions in the Tower of London, which, there is reason to
believe from indications in the play, represented the Capitol to Shakespeare's mind.
See note on II, i, 128, 129. [This is, perhaps, an example of Shakespeare's reference
to an incident which was recognised by the audience, although the character de-
scribing it could not have actually had any knowledge of the matter. As an illus-
tration of this compare the speech of Gratiano to Salerio in Mer. of Ven., Ill,
ii, 244, 'We are the Jasons, we have won the fleece,' referring, of course, to the
success of their enterprise; but it will be recalled that Bassanio, in describing Portia
to Antonio, I, i, 169, says: 'her sunny locks Hang on her temples like a golden
fleece Which makes her house at Belmont Colchos strand. And many Jasons come
in quest of her.' Gratiano was not present when these words were said; but the
audience heard and would doubtless recall a vague idea of having heard someone

ACT I, sc. iii.] IVLIVS C^SAR 65

A man no mightier then thy felfe, or me, 85 ,/

In perfonall a6lion ; yet prodigious growne,
And fearefull, as thefe sftrange eruptions are.

Cask. 'Tis CcBfar that you meane :
Is it not, Caffius ?

Caffi. Let it be who it is : for Romans now 90

Haue Thewes, and Limbes, like to their Anceftors ;
But woe the while, our Fathers mindes are dead.
Are we are gouern'd with our Mothers fpirits,
Our yoake, and fufferance, fhew vs Womanifh. 94

87. theje Jlrange] thefer Jlrange F2. 91. Thewes] Sinews F3F4.

88, 89. One line Rowe et seq.

refer to Portia as a bearer of locks resembling the fleece; which was all sufficient.
Again, in Richard III, the Duchess of York says to Queen Elizabeth, IV, iv, 133 :
' — in the breath of bitter words let's smother My damned son, which thy two sweet
sons smother'd.' The manner of the murder of the princes was totally imknown
to the Duchess; but TjTrell had told it circumstantially, and the audience, of
course, knew exactly what had been the process of their death. Such instances
might easily be multiplied, but these two are, I think, enough to show that such
references were not merely accidental. — Ed.]

90. Let it be who it is] Craik (p. 193): Not who it may be; Cassius, in his
present mood, is above that subterfuge. While he abstains from pronouncing the
name, he will not allow it to be supposed that there is any doubt about the actual
existence of the man he has been describing. — Wright: I do not think any such
refinement [as Craik suggests] was intended, and regard 'Let it be' as equivalent to
the common expression Let be, in the sense of no matter, never mind. The first 'it'
refers to the question as to 'who it is,' and not to the same subject as the second 'it.'

91. Thewes] Wright: That is, muscles, sinews; used of physical strength.
Compare 2 Hen. IV: ' Care I for the limb, the thews, the stature, bulk and big
assemblance of a man? ' — III, ii, 76. Two distinct words are confused by being spelt
alike. In the earlier usage of the language ' thews ' always denotes moral qualities
or virtues. The Anglo-Saxon theaw signifies custom, mariner, and hence is derived
'thewes' or thews, which we meet with in Chaucer {Ca^it. Tales, 12029) and Spenser
{Faerie Queene, I, x, 3), who is affectedly archaic in his use of words. But 'thews,'
in the sense of muscles or bodily strength, must come from a different root, and is
probably connected with the Anglo-Saxon theSti, to grow, thrive, and so with theok,
thigh. Sir F. Madden, in a note to Layamon's Brut., 6361 ('monnene strengest
of maine and of theauwe of alle thissere theode,' of men strongest of main and of
thews of all this land), says: 'This is the only instance in the poem of the word
[theauwe] being applied to bodily qualities, nor has any other passage of an earlier
date than the sixteenth century been found in which it is so used. In modem
Scotch I find adj. thowles, feeble.'

92. woe the while] Craik (p. 195): This, I believe, is commonly imderstood
to mean, alas for the present time; but may not the meaning, here at least, rather
be, alas for what hath come to pass in the meanwhile, or in the interval that has
elapsed since the better days of our heroic ancestors?

66 THE TR AGED IE OF [act i, sc. iii.

Cask. Indeed, they fay, the Senators to morrow 95

Meane to eftablifh Ccsfar as a King :
And he fhall weare his Crowne by Sea, and Land,
. In euery place, faue here in Italy.

Caffi. I know where I will weare this Dagger then ;
Caffiiis from Bondage will deliuer Caffius : lOO

Therein, yee Gods, you make the weake moft ftrong ;

99-110. Mnemonic Pope, Warb. 99. Dagger\ dagger, Craik.

96-98. Caesar . . . here in Italy] 'Decius Brutus . . . reproved Csesar, say-
ing . . . that they [the Senators] were ready willingly to grant him all things, and
to proclaim him king of all his provinces of the Empire of Rome out of Italy, and
that he should wear his diadem in all other places both by sea and land.' — Plutarch,
Life of Casar, § 44 (ed. Skeat, p. 99).

99. Cassi. I know where, etc.] Skottowe (ii, 222): Shakespeare has very
artfully contrived to present a more favorable portrait of Cassius than that which
the page of history warrants without, however, so misrepresenting him as to de-
stroy the identity of his character. With reference to dramatic efifect, indeed,
some change was necessary. Brutus could only, with propriety, be associated, in
private friendship and in public undertakings, with a man who, in outward appear-
ance at least, possessed some claim to equality with him. The poet, therefore,
suppressed the vindictiveness, cruelty, and tyranny of Cassius, and gave the utmost
effect to the fire and energy which characterised him, and particularly marked his
abhorrence from living under the control of an arbitrary monarch. Shakespeare
has made Cassius's hatred of Caesar sufficiently apparent; but so repeatedly is his
love of liberty enforced that the patriot, rather than the malignant avenger of his
own wrongs, appears to strike against the tyrant.

99. Dagger then] Craik (p. 195) : The true meaning of this line is ruined by its
being printed, as it is in the old and also in most of the modem editions, without
the comma [after ' Dagger ']. Cassius does not intend to be understood as intimating
that he is prepared to plunge his dagger into his heart at that time, but in that case.
— Delius: Wenn Casar die Krone tragt, will Cassius den Dolch in seiner Brust
tragen, sich den Dolch in's Herz stossen. — [I have given Delius's own words, as I
think possibly his meaning has been misunderstood by Wright, who says: 'Delius
sees in this his intention to kill Caesar, but such an interpretation is contrary to the
whole tenor of the speech. Besides, a man cannot be said to "wear" a dagger
which he plants in the heart of his enemy.' — In the phrase 'sich den Dolch . . .
stossen,' 'sich' is used reflexively and refers to the subject of the verb. — Ed.]

100. Cassius . . . will deliuer Cassius] There is a curious resemblance
between this passage and one in Cornelia, translated by Kyd from the French of
Gamier, 1594; the interlocutors are Brutus and Cassius; to the latter is given the
following lines: 'But know, while Cassius hath one drop of blood To feed this
worthless body that you see. What reck I death to do so many good? In spite of
Ciesar, Cassius will be free.' — Act IV. (ed. Dodsley, p. 224). — This thought is
the invention of both dramatists; Plutarch does not ascribe such sentiments to
Cassius. — Ed.

loi. yee . . .you] Abbott (§ 236): In the original form of the language

ACT I. sc. iii.] IVLIVS C^SAR 67

Therein, yee Gods, you Tyrants doe defeat. 102

Not Stonie Tower, nor walls of beaten Braffe,

Nor ayre-leffe Dungeon, nor ftrong Linkes of Iron,

Can be retentiue to the ftrength of fpirit : 105

But Life being wearie of thefe worldly Barres,

Neuer lacks power to difmiffe it felfe.

If I know this, know all the World befides,

That part of Tyrannic that I doe beare,

I can fhake off at pleafure. Thimder Jiill. no

Cask. So can I :
So euery Bond-man in his owne hand beares
The power to cancell his Captiuitie.

Cajfi. And why fhould Ccsfav be a Tyrant then ?
Poore man, I know he would not be a Wolfe, 115

But that he fees the Romans are but Sheepe :
He were no Lyon, were not Romans Hindes.
Thofe that with hafte will make a mightie fire,
Begin it with weake Strawes. What trafh is Rome? 1 19

no. Thunder flill.] Ff, Knt, Coll. 119, 120, 122. Rome?. ..Of all?...

Dyce, Sta. Hal. Cam.+, Wh. Craik, Caefar.] Ff, Rowe, Theob. Warb.

Huds. Thunders. Ktly, Om. Rowe et Rome,...0_ffal,...C3£sa.T? Han. et cet.
cat.

'ye' is nominative; 'you,' accusative. This distinction, however, though observed
in our version of the Bible, was disregarded by Elizabethan authors, and 'ye'
seems to be generally used in questions, entreaties, and rhetorical appeals. Ben
Jonson: 'The second person plural is for reverence sake to some singular thing.'
He quotes, 'O good father dear. Why make ye this heavy cheer?'
V 112, 113. Bond-man ... to cancell] It is, perhaps, too much to say that
Shakespeare was fond of the thought that life was like a bond or a security en-
trusted to us, and that death was the cancelling agent; at all events he has used this
simile in three other passages, as others have before pointed out, viz.: 'Cancel
and tear to pieces that great bond Which keeps me pale.' — Macbeth, III, ii, 49;
'Cancel his bond of life, dear God I pray.' — Rich. Ill: IV, iv, 77; 'Take this life
And cancel these cold bonds.' — Cyntb., V, iv, 28. — Ed.

lis, 116. a Wolfe . . . Romans are but Sheepe] Percy Simpson (ap. Mark
Hunter) compares Barnabe Rich, The Irish Hubbub, 1617, p. 6: 'But I will come
ouer these fellowes with a prouerbe that many yeeres agoe I brought out of France,
and thus f ollowes the text : He that will make himself e a sheepe, it is no matter though
the Wolues doe eat him.' 'The proverb,' adds Simpson, 'is "Qui se fait brebis, le
loup le mange, " and is still current.'

117. Hindes] Is there possibly here a play upon the word 'hind' in its other
sense of domestic servant, peasant? — Ed.

119. What trash is Rome] Htjdson: The idea seems to be that as men
start a huge fire with worthless straws or shavings, so Caesar is using the degenerate

68 THE TRACED IE OF [act i, sc. iii.

What Rubbifh, and what Offall? when it ferues 120

For the bafe matter, to illuminate

So vile a thing as Ccsfar. But oh Griefe,

Where hafb thou led me ? I (perhaps j fpeake this

Before a willing Bond-man : then I know

My anfwere muft be made. But I am arm'd, 125

And dangers are to me indifferent.

Cask. You fpeake to Caska, and to fuch a man,
That is no flearing Tell-tale. Hold, my Hand :
Be fa6lious for redreffe of all thefe Griefes,

And I will fet this foot of mine as farre, 1 30

As who goes fartheft.

CaJJi. There's a Bargaine made.
Now know you, Caska, I haue mou'd already
Some certaine of the Nobleft minded Romans
To vnder-goe, with me, an Enterprize, 1 35

Of Honorable dangerous confequence ;
And I doe know by this, they ftay for me
In Ponipeyes Porch : for now this fearefuU Night,
There is no ftirre, or walking in the ftreetes ; 1 39

122. Griefe,] grief! F4. 136. Honorable dangerozis] Ff,

128. Hold,] Ff, Rowe, Pope, Coll. Rowe,+, Jen. honourable, dangerous

Dyce, Hal. Wh. Craik, Huds. Hold, — Coll. ii. hotiourable-dattgerotis Cap. et

Sing. Ktly. Hold Theob. et cet. cet.

Romans of the time to set the whole world ablaze with his own glory. Cassius's
enthusiastic hatred of 'the mightiest Julius' is irresistibly delightful. For 'a
good hater' is the next best thing to a true friend; and Cassius's honest gushing
malice is far better than Brutus's stabbing sentimentalism.

125. My answere must be made] Johnson: That is, I shall be called to
account, and must answer as for seditious words.

128. Hold, my Hand] Johnson: That is, Here's my hand.

129. factious] Johnson: This seems here to mean ac//z)e. — Malone: It means,
I apprehend, embody a party or faction. — Steevens: Perhaps Dr Johnson's
explanation is the true one. Menenius, in Coriol., says: 'I have been always
factionary on the part of your general,' — V, ii, 30; and the speaker, who is describing
himself, would scarce have employed the word in its common and unfavourable
sense. — Coleridge {Notes, etc., p. 132): I understand it thus, 'You have spoken
as a conspirator; be so in fact, and I will join you. Act on your principles, and
realize them in a fact.'

129. Griefes] That is, grievances, causes of complaint. Compare III, ii, 223;
IV, ii, so.

135. vnder-goe] For other examples of undergo in the sense of to undertake, to
take upon oneself, see Schmidt {Lex.), 3.

ACT I, sc. iii.] IVLIVS C^SAR 69

And the Complexion of the Element 140

Is Fauors, like the Worke we haue in hand,

\i,o. Elcment\ demenis\^axh. Glo.+- Is kaviourSjHeTT. Ill-favoured

141. Is Faiiors,] Ff. Is feav'rous, Elze. I ti's favor's, F. C. B. Terry. Is

Rowe, Pope, Theob. Han. Warb. Jen. fervoiis, R. R. (N. & Q., 21 Aug., 1880).

Ran. Is favoured Cap. Mai. Steev. His favour's Perring (p. 358). Infa-

Var. '03, '13. It favours, Va.x.'T2,- H wwr'^, Johns, et cet.

favours Var. '78, '85. In favour's Cam.

140. Complexion of the Element] Warburton: We find from the preceding
relation (11. 7-12) that it was not one Element only which was disturbed, but all;
being told that all the sway of Earth shook like a thing infirm; that Winds rived the
knotty oaks; that the Ocean raged and foamed; and that there was a tempest
dropping Fire. So that all the four Elements appeared to be disordered. We
should read therefore: 'the complexion of the Elements' which is confirmed by
the following line: 'Most bloody, fiery, and most terrible.' Bloody referring to the
Water; Fiery, to the Air and Fire; and Terrible, to the Earthquakes. — Heath:
There was not the least occasion to alter the ancient reading 'element' [see Text.
Notes], which in common acceptation more particularly denotes the air. Lightning
and ghosts seem to be the only extraordinary appearances of that fearful night
of which Cassius is speaking; and these appearances may very well be referred to the
air alone. ... As to what Casca adds, of 'all the sway of the earth shaking like a
thing infirm,' it needs not be interpreted of an actual earthquake, which if the poet
had had in his view, he would have expressed himself with greater propriety and
certainty. It means only that the agitations in the heavens were so violent
that they seemed even to portend that the earth itself would fall back into its
original chaos. It is remarkable that the poet does not say the earth shook, but all
the 'sway of earth shook,' which may very well be understood of the element which
every way surrounds and embraces it, and in consequence may be supposed to have
a very great share in bringing on any changes that may happen to it. Thus
Warburton's most accurate distribution of the three epithets, in the next line,
among the four elements appears to be absolutely without foundation. — Edwards
(p. 215): There is not the least reason to think that anything is here alluded to
but some extraordinary meteors in the air. But Mr W[arburton], having laid hands
on a speech of Casca where the words Earth, Winds, Ocean, and Fire happen all
to occur, he immediately falls to his work; and, stirring them together with his
uncreative paw, he brews us up this horrid Chaos of the Elements. And from the
midst of all this turmoil of his own raising comes staring out and tells us that
' Bloody refers to the Water, Fiery to the Air and Fire, and Terrible to the Earth-
quakes.' As well as I can conjecture, for these reasons: Bloody to the Water,
because No mention is made of water in the passage: Fiery to the Air and Fire,
because the Air was on Fire, and 'tis hard if a thing may not refer to itself; and,
lastly, as for Terrible to the Earthquakes; when Mr W[arburton] gives us any
reason, why Terrible must refer to Earthquakes rather than to any other objects
of terror; except because Terra is Latin for the Earth; I promise to take this off
his hands again.

141. Is Fauors, like] Craik (p. 199): To say that the complexion of a thing is
either featured like or in feature like to something else is very hke tautology. I
should be strongly inclined to adopt Rowe's ingenious conjecture, feverous. . . .

70 THE TRACED IE OF [act i, sc. iii.

Moft bloodie, fierie, and moft terrible. 142

Enter Cinna,

Caska. Stand clofe a while, for heere comes one in
hafte. 145

CaJJi. 'Tis Cinnay I doe know him by his Gate,

He is a friend. Cinfia, where hafte you fo ?

Cvma. To finde out you : Who's that, Metellus
Cyniber ?

Caffi. No, it is Caska, one incorporate 1 50

To our Attempts. Am I not ftay'd for, Cintia ?

Cinna. I am glad on't.
What a fearefuU Night is this ? 153

142. bloodie, fierie] bloody-fiery 152,153. One line Rowe et seq.

Walker (Crit., i, 33), Dyce ii, iii, 152. / am] I'm Pope.

Huds. iii. 153. is this?] Om. Ff. is this! Ran.

151. Attempts] attempt Wh.i, Dyce ii, Sing. Knt, Coll. Dyce.
iii, Coll. iii.

Feverous is exactly the sort of word that, if it were not distinctly written, would
be apt to puzzle and be mistaken by a compositor. It may perhaps count, too, for
something, though not very much, against both favour's like and favoured like
that a very decided comma separates the two words in the Folio. — Wright:
Johnson's emendation ['In favour's like'] is to be preferred. The comparison
is between the bloody nature of the work which the conspirators had in hand
and the fiery exhalations in the sky; and the word 'complexion' in the previous
line suits better with ' favour's ' than with feverous, for it refers to the aspect of
the heavens only and not to any other prodigies, as, for instance, an earthquake,
which might be likened to the symptoms of a fever. — [In The Athenmitn for 27th
December, 1879, Browning proposed to read: Is Mavors, like — explaining the word
'Mavors' as the full form of name of which Mars is the contraction. The sugges-
tion has not yet met with much commendation. Is there, however, need of any
change in the Folio text? Cassius says: The complexion of the element is bloody
and terrible favors; a construction much the same as 'The wages of sin is death.'
Johnson's emendation is, of course, more easily comprehended, and perhaps, there-
fore, has been generally accepted. But the old scholastic rule, diirior lectio, etc.,
is a safe one to follow, especially when applied to Shakespeare; that the Folio read-
ing is here to be preferred is the opinion of the present Ed.]

142. Most bloodie, fierie] Walker {Crit., i, 23): Read 'bloody-fiery.'
alu6<l>'ko^, as a Greek tragedian might have expressed it, or, in Latin poetical
language, sanguineum ardens; covered over with fiery meteors of a blood-red
colour. [Dyce adopts Walker's suggestion.]

148. To finde out you] Abbott (§ 240): 'Find out' is here treated as a single
word. So, 'To belch-up you.' — Temp., Ill, iii, 56; 'And leave-out thee.' —
Rich. Ill: I, iii, 216. [Wright compares 'Groped I to find out them.' — Hamlet,
V, ii, 16.]

ACT I, sc. iii.] IVLIVS CAESAR 71

There's two or three of vs haue feene ftrange fights.

CaJJu Am I not ftay'd for? tell me. 155

Cinna. Yes, you are. O CaJJius,
If you could but winne the Noble Brutus
To our party

CaJJi. Be you content. Good Cinna, take this Paper,
And looke you lay it in the Pretors Chayre, 160

Where Brtitus may but finde it : and throw this
In at his Window ; fet this vp with Waxe
Vpon old Brutus Statue ; all this done,
Repaire to Pompeyes Porch, where you fhall finde vs.
Is Decius Brutus and Trebonius there? 165

Cinna. All, but Metellus Cymber, and hee's gone
To feeke you at your houfe. Well, I will hie,
And fo beftow thefe Papers as you bad me.

Caffi. That done, repayre to Pompeyes Theater.

Exit Cinna. 170
Come Caska, you and I will yet.ere day,
See Brutus at his houfe : three parts of him
Is ours alreadie, and the man entire
Vpon the next encounter, yeelds him ours. 174

155. jiay^i for?] stayed for, Cinna? line Rowe, Pope, Theob. Han. Warb.
Cap. Steev. Varr. Jen. Sing, i, Knt, Coll. i, iii, Wh. i, Hal.

156, 157. Yes. ..could] One line Johns. 157, 158. One line Ktly.

Coll. ii. 157. If. ..but] could you Pope, Theob.

156-158. you are.. .party] Two lines, Han. Warb.

ending: winne. ..party Cap. Varr. Mai. 160. Pretors] Prcetors F4.

Ran. Steev. Varr. Huds. Lines end: 161. but] best Craik conj.

are. ..could. ..party. Walker (Vers. 290), 165. Decius] Decimus Han.

Sing, ii, Craik, Dyce, Sta. Cani.+. 167. feeke] fecke F2.

156, 157. O Caffius... Brutus] One 173. Is] Are Han.

156-158. Yes, you are . . . our party] Craik (p. 200): I cannot doubt that,
whatever we are to do with 'Yes, you are,' — whether we make these compara-
tively unimportant words the completion of the line of which Cassius's question
forms the beginning, or take them along with what follows, which would give us a
line wanting only the first syllable (and deriving, perhaps, from that mutilation an
abruptness suitable to the occasion), — ^the close of the rhythmic flow must be as
follows: 'O Cassius, if you could But win the noble Brutus to our party.'

1 60. Pretors Chayre] ' His [Brutus's] tribunal or chair, where he gave audience
during the time he was Praetor, was full of such bills: "Brutus, thou art asleep, and
art not Brutus indeed."' — Plutarch, Life of Brutus, § 6; (ed. Skeat, p. 112).

168. bad me] Wright: I am inclined to think that bid is the proper reading here,
as Cinna had but just received his instructions from Cassius.

72 THE TRACED IE OF [act ii, sc. i.

Cask. O, he fits high in all the Peoples hearts : 175

And that which would appeare Offence in vs,
His Countenance, like richeft Alchymie,
Will change to Vertue, and to Worthineffe.

Caffi' Him, and his worth, and our great need of him,
You haue right well conceited : let vs goe, 180

For it is after Mid-night, and ere day,
We will awake him, and be fure of him.

Exeunt. 183

A^ltts Sectmdits.
[Scene /.]

Enter Brntns in his Orchard. 2

2. Enter.. .Orchard.] A Garden. Enter Brutus. Rowe, Pope. Brutus's Garden.
Enter Brutus. Theob.-|-, Cap. Jen. Brutus's Orchard. Enter Brutus. Mai. et seq.
(subs.)

177. Countenance] That is, authority, credit, patronage. For other examples
see Schmidt {Lex., s. v. 4).

179, 180. Him, and his worth . . . right well conceited] Lloyd (ap. Singer,
viii, 509): The surrender by Cassius of the leading voice in the enterprise,
which he originated, is the homage of vice to virtue, at least of personal to lofty
principle. Not unconscious of the faulty motive of his own passion, he has greater
confidence in the influence of Brutus's character and reputation than any other
chance in favor of success; moreover, he not only respects, but loves him, even
while he is deceiving him, and is raised by the feeling far above the level of the
mere intriguer, and remains, with all his faults, a noble Roman. His interest in the
affection of Brutus strengthens as the consciousness of a desperate cause, — desperate
through the incongruity of the alliance of personal and patriotic motive, — induces a
melancholy that only invades hearts of great natural sensibility.

2. Enter . . . Orchard] Craik (p. 203): Assuming that Brutus was probably
not possessed of what we now call distinctively an orchard (which may have been
the case), the early editors took upon them to change 'Orchard' into Garden.
But this is to carry the work of rectification (even if we should admit it to be such)
beyond what is warrantable. To deprive Brutus in this way of his orchard was to
mutilate or alter Shakespeare's conception. It is probable that the words 'Or-
chard ' and garden were commonly understood in the early part of the seventeenth
century in the senses which they now bear; but there is nothing in their etymology
to support the manner in which they have come to be distinguished. In Much
Ado, II, iii, although the scene is headed Leonato^s Garden, Benedick, sending the
Boy for a book from his chamber-window, says: 'Bring it hither to me in the
orchard.' A Garden (or yard, as it is still called in Scotland) means merely a piece
of ground girded in, or enclosed; and an Orchard (properly Ortyard) is, literally,
such an enclosure for worts, or herbs. — Oechelhatjser (Einfiihrungen, i, 234):
This scene in Brutus's garden, by moonlight, requires special careful attention. On

ACT II, sc. i.] IVLIVS C^SAR 73

Brut. What Lucius, hoe ? 3

I cannot, by the progreffe of the Starres,

Giue gueffe how ncere to ddcy—Luciiis, I fay ? 5

I would it were my fault to fleepe fo foundly.
When Lucius, when ? awake, I fay: what Lucius ?

Enter Lucius.
Luc. Call'd you, my Lord ?

Brut. Get me a Tapor in my ^XM^y, Lucius: 10

When it is lighted, come and call me here.
Luc. I will, my Lord. Exit.

Brut. It muft be by his death : and for my part, 13

10. Tapor\ Fi.

the right, half concealed by the shrubbery, is a semicircular marble bench, on
which, at the rising of the curtain, Brutus is seated in deep thought. On the left
is seen the entrance to Brutus's house, showing a vestibule with columns, dimly
illuminated by a hanging lamp. The whole background filled in with high bushes,
from the shade of which the conspirators cautiously emerge.

13. It must be by his death, etc.] Coleridge {Notes, p. 132): This speech
is singular; at least, I do not at present see into Shakespeare's motive, his rationale,
or in what point of view he meant Brutus's character to appear. For surely —
(this, I mean, is what I say to myself, with my present quantuftt of insight, only
modified by my experience in how many instances I had ripened into a perception
of beauties, where I had before descried faults) — surely, nothing can seem more
discordant with our historical preconceptions of Brutus, or more lowering to the
intellect of the Stoico-Platonic tyrannicide, than the tenets here attributed to him —
to him, the stem Roman republican; namely, that he would have no objection to a
king, or to Caesar, a monarch in Rome, would but Caesar be as good a monarch as he
now seems disposed to be! How, too, could Brutus say that he found no personal
cause — none in Caesar's past conduct as a man? Had he not passed the Rubicon?
Had he not entered Rome as a conqueror? Had he not placed his Gauls in the
Senate? Shakespeare, it may be said, has not brought these things forward —
True; — and this is just the ground of my perplexity. What character did Shake-
speare mean his Brutus to be? — Courtenay (ii, 263) : Brutus says that he will kill
Caesar because he is powerful and may abuse his power; and the passages of his
life, to which Coleridge refers, gave Brutus no personal cause of offence, though
much 'for the general.' — Knight {Studies, p. 413): Brutus has a terror of con-
spiracy. He has been 'with himself at war,' speculating, we doubt not, upon the
strides of Caesar towards absolute power, but unprepared to resist them. Of Cassar
he has said, 'I love him well'; he now says: 'I know no personal cause to spurn at
him.' As a triumvir, a dictator, Brutus had no personal cause against Caesar;
but the name of king, which Cassius poured into his ear, rouses all his speculative
republicanism. . . . We must bear in mind that Brutus is not yet committed to the
conspiracy. The character that Shakespeare meant his Brutus to be is not yet fully
developed. He is yet irresolute; and his reasonings are, therefore, to a certain

74 THE TRACED IE OF [act ii. sc. i.

[13. It must be by his death, etc.]

extent, inconsequential. He is instigated from without; the principles associated
with the name of Brutus stir him from within. — Dowdex (p. 293): Shakespeare
wishes to show upon what grounds the political idealist acts. Brutus resolves that
Caesar shall die by his hand as the conclusion of a series of sorites of abstract prin-
ciples about ambition, and power, and reason, and affection; finally, a profound
suspicion of Caesar is engendered, and his death is decreed. — HrDSOx: Upon the
supposal that Shakespeare meant Brutus for a wise and good man, the speech
seems to me utterly unintelligible. But the Poet, I think, must have regarded
him simply as a well-meaning, but conceited and shallow idealist; and such men are
always cheating and puffing themselves with the thinnest of sophisms; feeding on
air, and conceiving themselves inspired; or, as Gibbon puts it: 'mistaking the
giddiness of the head for the illumination of the Spirit.' — St.a.pfer (p. 344): One
is inclined to speculate whether in this strange meditation on the dangerous effect
the crown might have on Caesar's nature, Shakespeare intended to show the subject-
ive tendency of Brutus's mind, and his habit of scrutinising things below the sur-
face; or whether it may not be an illustration of the hold that his affectionate and
gentle disposition had over him. It would almost seem that, in his love for Caesar,
he could suffer his acceptance of the crowTi, if only he were sure that Caesar would
not abuse his power. He weighs calmly and impartially the considerations on
either side. But the stem republican fibre of his nature checks this confidence
and makes him dread the possible consequences to the liberty of the people, and
in the end triumphs over all hesitation. According to this view, we see him in-
dulging, indeed, to a certain extent the psychological bent of his mind, but it is di-
rected towards practical ends. The acquisition of kingly power may change
Caesar's nature, and if so what would be the effect on the nation? The chances
are that it would be of the most disastrous kind, therefore kill him in the shell. —
V^ERiTY: The point of this speech seems to me to lie in the fact that it expresses
the extreme, almost pedantic, horror which Brutus feels for kingship and the mere
name of 'king' and all its associations, and increased in his case by family tradition.
Practically Caesar was king already; could it really make much difference to Rome
if he assumed the name when he possessed the reality? He had wielded immense
power for years, and was then a man of fifty-six; would the assumption of royaltj' be
likely to make any change in his character? Brutus says 'yes'; if Caesar were made
'king,' all the evil in him would be developed, so that Rome would find herself in
the hands of a tyrant without 'remorse.' Brutus speaks as if the bare fact of
'crowning' Caesar would 'change his nature,' a change fraught with 'danger' to
Rome. Here, as ever, 'Rome' is his first consideration. — Tolman believes that
Shakespeare wishes here to present the experience of one who would be startled by
considerations distinctly set forth, and, therefore, these words are intended to repre-
sent the 'unexpressed thought of Brutus.' — J. L. Etty (Macmillan's Maga., March,
1903; p. 354) : A man who could argue thus was a politician of the most dangerous
ty-pe, one who would wreck his own side as well as that of his adversaries. And so
it proved; the obstinate refusal of Brutus to let Antony share Caesar's fate, and
his folly in allowing him to speak publicly to the people, completely spoiled what-
ever chance of success the conspirators ever had. — H. Hodge (Harper's Maga.,
Feb., 1906; p. 367): The whole soliloquy is the sophistic device of a man squaring
his moral character with his intention. The situation is clinched by the eagerness
with which Brutus snatches at the papers thrown in through the window. Then

ACT II, sc. i.] IVLIVS C^SAR 75

[13. It must be by his death, etc.]
comes the melodramatic apostrophe, with himself as audience. What true man,
unusually philosophic too in temper, could be influenced in a tremendous enterprise,
to which public necessity drove him against his will, by an anonymous scrawl thrown
in at the window? Cassius knew his man. — F. Harris (p. 255) : When speaking of
himself, on the plains of Philippi, Shakespeare's Brutus explicitly contradicts the
false reasoning [in the present passage] : ' — I do find it cowardly and vile For fear
of what might fall, so to prevent the term of life.' It would seem, therefore, that
Brutus did not kill Csesar, as one crushes a serpent's egg, to prevent evil conse-
quences. It is equally manifest that he did not do it for 'the general,' for if ever
the general were shown to be despicable and worthless it is in this very play,
where the citizens murder Cinna, the poet, because he has the same name as Cinna,
the conspirator, and the lower classes are despised as the 'rabblement.' — Goll (p.
52): The argument which Brutus finally accepts or, rather, the image which finally
carries conviction to Brutus's mind is Ca;sar as the serpent's egg. . . . Apparently,
there is much theoretical scholasticism in the whole of this argument; and it is
evident it never would have succeeded in convincing Brutus had not Cassius's
incitements been still actively working in his mind. But, as little as this argument
could have arisen without these incitements, as little could they or any other
instigations have succeeded in influencing Brutus to commit the murder had he
not been able to justify it to his reason. This is precisely the nature of the pro-
nounced theorist. His train of ideas amounts almost to a rubric. He cannot con-
cur in anything unless it is founded on a theory, a principle, a syllogism. He
fancies his resolution is based on his theory because he believes he is pushing all
personal feelings into the background. In reality, of course, the feelings produce
the theory and the theory the resolution. Cassius's play on the inherited instincts of
Brutus, namely, a Brutus's duties towards an autocrat, finds him so responsive that
he is able to delude himself into the idea that he has no personal duties towards
Caesar; that these, on the contrary, are unfair to all other persons; and, from the
moment this theory, artificial and perverted as it is, has come into existence, Brutus
dares to follow the impulses of his heart. ... If the theor>' lead him to outrage all
human feelings, so much the more is it his duty to follow it and to conquer senti-
ment.— MacCallum (p. 204): Perhaps Shakespeare thought no more of Caesar's
crossing the Rubicon [as mentioned by Coleridge], to suppress Pompey and put
an end to the disorders of Rome, than of Richmond's crossing the channel to sup-
press Richard HI, and put end to the Wars of the Roses. At any rate, he makes
no mention of these and similar grounds of oflence, though all or most of them were
set down in his authority. It may be noted, however, that Plutarch says nothing
about the Gauls [in the senate, also referred to by Coleridge]. If Shakespeare had
known of it, it would probably have seemed to him no worse than the presence of the
Bretons, 'those overweening rags of France,' as Richard III. calk them, in the
army of the patriotic and virtuous Richmond. — M.acmillan (/?z/roJ., xxxiii.):
lago's soliloquy in I, iii, has been called by Coleridge 'the motive-hunting of a
motive-less malignity.' The soliloquy of Brutus might almost be described as the
motive-hunting of a motive-less benignity. Yet one would think that Brutus had a
distinct enough motive for killing Caesar. He was a republican, and Caesar had
overthrov^Ti the republic. . . . Brutus might well have concluded his soliloquy in
the words of lago: ' I know not if't be true. But I for mere suspicion in that kind
Will do as if for surety.'

76 THE TRACED IE OF [act ii, sc. i.

f I know no perfonall caufe,to fpurne at him,

But for the generall. He would be crown'd : 1 5

How that might change his nature, there's the queftion?

It is the bright day, that brings forth the Adder,

And that craues warie walking : Crowne him that,

And then I graunt we put a Sting in him.

That at his will he may doe danger with. 20

Th'abufe of Greatneffe, is, when it dis-ioynes

Remorfe from Power : And to fpeake truth of CcB/ar,

I haue not knowne,when his Affeftions fway'd

More then his Reafon. But 'tis a common proofe, 24

15. crown'd:] crown'd — Rowe,+ 18. Crowne him that,] Crown him —
( — Johns.), Jen. Var. '78, Mai. Steev. that — Rowe,+, Jen. Crown him?
Varr. Sing. Craik, Dyce, Sta. That; Cap. Crown him! — that! J. D.

16-22. Mnemonic Warb. (N. & Q., V, viii, 263). Crown him? —

16. qiiejlion?] question, Rowe,+, that; — Var. '73 et cet.

Cap. Jen. 21. dis-ioynes] disjoynes F3F4.

18. Crowne him that] Perring (p. 361): The best sign to mark the pause
which the speaker makes after ' Crown him ' is a hyphen. After ' that ' at the end of
the line are a semicolon and a hyphen [in the Globe edition], which would lead us to
suppose that the words to be supplied are 'craves wary walking'; nothing would
be more incorrect. 'That,' which is tantamount to a repetition of 'Crown him,'
and is full of Republican animus, is in close connexion with the line tliat follows, and
should be separated from it only by a comma — 'Crown him' — do 'that,' allow that,
grant that, 'and then . . . actum est de reptiblica.' We have precisely the same
phraseology, save that the verb is expressed, and the same punctuation, in III, i,
120: 'Grant that, and then is death a benefit.' — O. F. Adams {Notes b° Queries,
23 July, 1892; p. 63): My belief is that the punctuation of the Folio is correct.
We have probably here a late use, in the oblique case, of he that, or lie emphatic.
The phrase was, no doubt, obsolete in the literary language of Shakespeare's day,
but it may have survived in the rustic speech of his native county. After the
reference to the adder, a little emphasis in reverting to Caesar is natural.

22-24. Remorse from Power . . . his Reason] Hudson: Some obscurity
here, owing to the use of certain words in uncommon senses. 'Remorse,' in Shake-
speare, commonly means pity or compassion; here it means conscience or con-
scientiousness. So in Otlicllo, 'Let him command. And to obey shall be in me
remorse.' — III, iii, 467. The possession of dictatorial power is apt to stifle or sear
the conscience, so as to make a man literally remorseless. 'Affections' again here
stands for passions, as in several other instances. Finally, 'reason' is here used
in the same sense as 'remorse.' So the context clearly points out; and the con-
science is, in a philosophical sense, the moral reason.

24. common proofe] Johnson: That is, a co?mno}i experiment. — M. Mason:
'Common proof means a matter proved by common experience. With great
deference to Johnson, I cannot think that the word experiment will bear that
meaning.

ACT II, sc. i.] IVLIVS CjESAR yy

That Lowlyneffe is young Ambitions Ladder, 25

Whereto the CHmber vpward turnes his Face :

But when he once attaines the vpmoft Round,

He then vnto the Ladder turnes his Backe,

Lookes in the Clouds, fcorning the bafe degrees

By which he did afcend : fo Cczfar may ; 30

Then leaft he may,preuent. And fmce the Quarrell

Will beare no colour, for the thing he is,

Fafhion it thus ; that what he is, augmented.

Would runne to thefe,and thefe extremities :

And therefore thinke him as a Serpents &gg&, 35

Which hatch'd, would as his kinde grow mifchieuous;

And kill him in the fhell.

Enter Lucius.
Luc. The Taper burneth in your Clofet, Sir :
Searching the Window for a Flint, I found 40

25-30. Mnemonic Pope, Warb. topmost Anon. ap. Cam.

26. Climber vpward] Ff, Rowe, Pope, 28. Backe,] Backe. Ff.

Theob. Han. Craik. climber-upward 30. afcend:] ascend. Johns. Var. '73,

Warb. et cet. Coll. Hal. Wh. i, Huds.

27. vpmojl] utmost Knt (misprint). 31. leajl] left Ff.

26. Climber vpward turnes] Delixjs suggests that 'upward' is here connected
with ' turns ' more naturally than by the hyphen first inserted by Warburton (see
Text. Notes). The suggestion has not thus far met with much approval. — Ed.

29. degrees] Murray {N. E. D., s.v. i.): A step in an ascent or descent; one
of a flight of steps; a step or rung of a ladder. [The present line quoted.]

31. least he may, preuent] J. Hunter: That is, be beforehand with him;
stop his further progress. Observe how he delicately represents the temper of
Brutus by avoiding any pronominal reference to the agent who is to prevent; he
does not say 'let me prevent,' but uses the imperative indefinitely. Compare the
subsequent imperatives, 'fashion,' 'think,' 'kill.' — Wright: The construction does
not connect 'lest' with 'prevent,' as if it were prevent lest he may, but as in King
Lear: ' Lest it see more, prevent it. Out, vile jelly!' — HI, vii, 83.

31. Quarrell] Craigie {N.E.D.,s.v. f i.): A complaint; especially a complaint
against a person; hence in Law: an accusation or charge; an action or suit. Obsolete.

36. as his kinde] Johnson: That is, according to his nature. — Steevens:
Compare, 'You must think this, look you, that the worm will do his kind.' — Ant.
&• Cleo., V, ii, 263.— M. Mason: 'As his kind' does not mean according to his
nature, as Johnson asserts, but, like the rest of his species. [Wright agrees with
Johnson, but, since the passage quoted by Steevens is not a parallelism, that
Mason's is the better interpretation is the opinion of the present Ed.]

37. And kill . . . shell] Craik (p. 129): It is impossible not to feel the
expressive effect of the hemistich here. The line itself is, as it were, killed in the
shell.

78 THE TRACED IE OF [act ii, sc. i.

This Paper, thus feal'd vp, and I am fure 41

It did not lye there when I went to Bed.

Giues him the Letter.

Brut. Get you to Bed againe,it is not day :
Is not to morrow (Boy^ the firfl of March f 45

Ltic. I know not, Sir.

Brut. Looke in the Calender, and bring me word. 47

45. jirfl\ Ides Theob. et seq. 47. Calender] Kaletidar F4.

45. first of March] Theobald was the first to notice here, what he termed, a
'palpable blunder,' that is, the date should be the Ides of March. Theobald gener-
ously acknowledged that his 'friend Mr Warburton likewise started this very
emendation, and communicated' it to him by letter. That friend was, however,
silent in regard to Theobald when he wrote his own note on this passage. Theobald
gave as a hypothetical cause for the misprint that Ides in the MS was written j^, and
thus confused by the compositors with the old symbol for i^t, although 'the
Players knew the word well enough in the contraction.' He thus concludes his
note: 'That the Poet wrote Ides, we have this in confirmation: Brutus makes the
enquiry on the dawn of the very day in which Caesar was killed in the Capitol.
Now 'tis very well known that this was on the 15th day, which is the Ides of March.'
— Warburton : We can never suppose the speaker to have lost fourteen days in his
account. He is here plainly ruminating on what the Soothsayer told Caesar in his
presence. — J. Hunter : If ' the first of March ' be the genuine reading, Shakespeare
must either have inadvertently quoted from a passage in Plutarch, not applicable
here, but which refers to Cassius asking Brutus if he intended to be in the senate-
house on the first of March, or else the poet must have meant to represent Brutus
as exceedingly oblivious, and even Lucius as rather too unobservant of time's
progress. [The passage to which Hunter refers is as follows: 'Cassius asked him
[Brutus] if he were determined to be in the senate-house the first day of the month
of March, because he heard say that Caesar's friends should move the council that
day, that Caesar should be called king by the Senate.' — Life of Brutus, § 7 (ed.
Skeat, p. 113). — Ed.) — Joseph Hunter {New Illustrations, etc., ii, 150) : Whatever
opinion may be formed of Shakespeare's scholarship, it cannot be placed so low as
that he was not so far acquainted with the Roman calendar; but he had the in-
formation before his eyes in the very book which he used, in which occurs this
passage: 'Furthermore there was a certain soothsayer that had given Caesar warning
long time afore, to take heed of the Ides of March (which is the fifteenth of the
month), for on that day he should be in great danger,' and it is manifest that the
passage had attracted his attention by his having given the same explanation which
Sir Thomas North had thought it necessary to give in his parenthesis, for he makes
Brutus ask the day of the month, and Lucius replies that 'March is wasted fifteen
days.' The old reading 'fifteen' might be justified. — Wright: Ides is, no doubt,
what Shakespeare ought to have written. . . . But I have as little doubt that what
he actually wrote was what stands in the Folio. It is quite possible that from the
passage [in North's Plutarch, cited by J. Hunter] the first of March fixed itself in
Shakespeare's mind, although Brutus was thinking of the Ides which he had heard
t.he soothsayer warn Caesar against.

ACT II. sc. i.] IVLIVS C^SAR 79

L71C. I will, Sir. Exit. 48

Brut. The exhalations, whizzing in the ayre,
Giue fo much light, that I may reade by them. 50

Opens the Letto' ,and r cades.
Brutus thou Jlccp'Jl ; aivakc, and fee thy f elf e :
Shall Rome., &c. fpeake ,firike , redreffe.
Bmtusfliou Jleeffl : awake.

Such inftigations haue beene often dropt, 55

Where I haue tooke them vp :
Shall Route, &c. Thus muft I piece it out :
Shall Rome ftand vnder one mans awe? What Rome?
My Anceftors did from the ftreetes of Rome
The Tarquin driue, when he was call'd a King. 60

Speake,firike, redreffe. Am I entreated

S3, 57. Rome, &c.] Ff, Steev. Varr. 59. Ancejlors] ancestor Dyce ii, iii.

Sing. Knt, Coll. Dyce, Sta. Hal. Wh. 61. Speake...en/^ec/erf] Two lines, the

Cam.+- Rome, — Rowe et cet first ending: redreffe. Craik.

54-56. Brutus... J)/)] Two lines, end- entreated] entreated then Pope,

ing: inftigations. ..vp Ktly. Theob. Han. Warb. Steev. Var. '03,

S2>. What Rome?]What, Rome? RoYit '13, Ktly.
et seq.

4Q. exhalationsl That is, meteors; frequently thus called by Shakespeare and
others of his time.

53. speake, strike, etc.} Capell (i, loi): The mode of printing this line in
former copies may mislead the pronouncer; the paper is drop'd at that time, and
the reflections upon it begun by a repetition of part of it; the other repeated words
in that speech require a rais'd hand and other looks at the paper; the words that
follow the last of them have a foolish then added to them in the four latter moderns.

58. Shall Rome ... vnder one mans awe] MacCallum (p. 203): This
certainly has somewhat of the republican ring. It breathes the same spirit as
Cassius's own avowal: 'I had as lief not be, as live to be In awe of such a thing as
I myself; except that Cassius feels Caesar's predominance to be a personal affront,
while Brutus characteristically extends his view to the whole community. But
here Brutus is speaking under the excitement of Cassius's 'instigation,' and making
himself Cassius's mouthpiece to fill in the blanks. Assuredly the declaration is not
on that account the less personal to himself; nevertheless in it Brutus, no longer
attempting to square his action with his theory, falls back on the blind impulses of
blood that he shares with the other aristocrats of Rome. And in this, the most
republican and the only republican sentiment that falls from his lips, which for the
rest is so little republican that it might be echoed by the loyal subject of a limited
monarchy, it is only the negative of the matter and the public amour propre that
are considered. Of the positive essence of republicanism, of enthusiasm for a state
in which all the lawful authority is derived from the whole body of fully qualified
citizens, there is, despite Brutus's talk of freemen, and slaves, and Caesar's ambition,
no trace whatever in any of his utterances from first to last.

So THE TRACED IE OF [act ii, sc. i.

To fpeake, and ftrike ? O Rome, I make thee promife, 62

If the redreffe will follow, thou receiuefl
Thy full Petition at the hand of Brutus.

Enter Lucius. 65

Luc. Sir, March is wafted fifteene dayes.

Knockc within.

Brut. 'Tis good. Go to the Gate, fome body knocks :
Since CaJJius firfl; did whet me againft Ccefar,
I haue not flept. 'JO

Betweene the a6ling of a dreadfull thing,
And the firft motion, all the Interim is
Like a Phantaf ma, or a hideous Dreame : 73

62. thee] the F^Fj. 68-70. Go to...Jlept] Two lines, end-

66. fifteene] Ff, Rowe, Pope, Ktly. ing: firfl. ..Jlept Ktly.
fourteen Theob. et cet. 70. flept.] slept — Pope, Theob. Han.

68. [Exit Luc. Theob. et seq. Warb.

71-77. Mnemonic Pope, Warb.

66. fifteene dayes] Theobald: March was wasted but fourteen days; this
was the dawn of the fifteenth when the boy makes his report.

68. 'Tis good] J. Hunter: This expression may be merely a mannerly ac-
knowledgment of the servant's attention; or perhaps the pronoun 'it' refers to the
fact announced, and Brutus may be here welcoming the near termination of that
hideous interim to which he presently refers.

69. Since Cassius . . . Caesar] Theobald: Some Readers might, perhaps,
imagine that (because Brutus, in his last scene with Cassius, said that he would
on the morrow stay at home for Cassius, and because Cassius here comes home to
him) this was the day immediately succeeding that on which Cassius open'd the
secret of the Conspiracy to him. But, however any circumstances in any preced-
ing lines may countenance such an opinion, it would be a great diminution of the
sedate character of Brutus to be let into a plot of such serious moment one day,
and to be ready to put it in execution on the next. The Poet intended no such
rash conduct. We are to observe, from the first Act, that Cassius opened the plot
to him on the feast of the Lupercalia, which solemnity was held in February, and
Ccesar was not assassin'd till the middle of March. Some of the critics, with
what certainty I dare not pretend to say, fix down this feast to XV"" before the
Calends of March (z. c, the isth of February); if so, the interval betwixt that
and the time when Caesar was murther'd is twenty-nine days. — Daniel (Sk.
Soc. Trans., 1877-79, P- 198): [These words] give a sound as of a long period of
mental agony; and, to come to more definite evidence, his remark on the sealed
paper which his boy Lucius has found thrown in at the window, ' Such instigations
have been often dropped,' is only intelligible on the supposition of a considerable
interval between this present scene and Act I, sc. ii. This paper which Lucius
now finds must be that which Cassius confides to Cinna (I, iii, 161), and must
not be confounded with those Cassius talks of at the end of Act I, sc. ii, in
Day No. i. — [Macmillan (Introd., Ii.) cites this as the only passage in the present
play wherein there is a 'clear instance of long and short time side by side.']

ACT II. sc. i.] IVLIVS C^SAR 8l

The Gcnms^^x^di the mortall Inftruments 74

71-73. Betweene the acting ... a hideous Dreame] Warbtjrton, in a
letter to Concanen in 1726, makes an elaborate comparison between this passage
and one in Addison's Caio, wherein the time between the birth of a plot and its
'fatal period' is characterised as a 'dreadful interval of time, Filled up with horror
all, and big with death.' The greater part of Warburton's note is actually a criti-
cism of Addison more than Shakespeare, though he thus concludes: 'Comparing
the troubled mind of a conspirator to a state of anarchy is just and beautiful; but
the interim or interval, to a hideous vision or a frightful dream, holds something
so wonderfully of truth, and lays the soul so open, that one can hardly think it pos-
sible for any man, who had not some time or other been engaged in a conspiracy,
to give such force of coloring to nature.' — Steevens is our authority for the state-
ment that 'the foregoing was perhaps among the earliest notes written by War-
burton on Shakespeare. Though it was not inserted by him in Theobald's edi-
tions, 1732 and 1740, but was reserved for his own in 1747.' — Goll (p. 59): Cold
fanatic as the revolutionary of theory becomes, he shrinks from no action when
it is demanded, as a consequence of his principles; and, idealist as he is, he cannot
be moved to any action which does not accord with his ideal. In contrast to the
practical man, to whom the action is the central object, which requires the most
careful preparations, the idea is the reality to the theorist, the action merely an
external circumstance, an unpleasant, almost unnecessary delay, retarding the
onward flight of the mind, which must, therefore, be got rid of with all possible
despatch. That is why the interval between the thought and its execution is to
Brutus 'Like a phantasma or a hideous dream,' which disturbs the clear thought,
not exactly because fit creates a doubt of the rightness of the thought, but because
it retards its progress! To profoundest conviction all hesitation is but torture.

74. Genius . . . mortall Instruments] Warburton, in connection with his com-
parison of Addison and Shakespeare, 11. 71-73, asserts that the 'genius' here meant
is that which in Pagan theology was supposed to preside over kingdoms, and might
be either good or bad, here represented 'with the most daring stretch of fancy, as
sitting in consultation with the conspirators,' who are here called the 'mortal in-
struments.'— Johnson, after declaring that Warburton's pompous criticism
'might well have been shortened,' adds that 'the "genius" is not the genius of a
kingdom, nor are the "instruments" conspirators. Shakespeare is describing what
passes in a single bosom, the insurrection which a conspirator feels agitating the
little kingdom of his own mind; when the "genius," or power that watches for
his protection, and the "mortal instruments," the passions which excite him to a
deed of honour and danger, are in council and debate.' — Grey (ii, 175) proposes
that we read instrument for 'instruments,' and thus explains the passage: 'The

genius," i. e., the soul or spirit, which should govern; and the "mortal instrument,"
i. e., the man, with all his earthly passions, are then in council, the soul and rational
powers dissuading, and the man with his bodily passions pushing on to the horrid
deed, whereby the state of man suffers the nature of an insurrection, the inferior
powers rising and rebelling against the superior. Compare Macbeth, " My thought,
whose murder yet is but fantastical Shakes so my single state of man that function
Is smother'd in surmise, and nothing is But what is not," — I, iii, 139.' Grey's
Notes were published in 1754, nine years before Johnson's edition; chronologically,
therefore, Grey's e.xplanation should precede Johnson's, but the latter does not
refer to Grey, and as his note is mainly a comment upon Warburton's, I have
6

82 THE TRACED IE OF [act ii, sc. i.

Are then in councell ; and the ftate of a man, 75

75. councell] conflict Huds. iii, conj. 75. a man] F,, Mai. Var. '21, Knt, ^ (Jf^

Coll. man Ff et cet.

herein followed the arrangement of the notes in the Variorum of 1821, in which
Grey's suggestion and note are, however, omitted. — Heath (p. 439) and Capell
(i, loi) understand the 'mortal instruments' to refer to the humati passions, and
not, as does Warburton, to the conspirators themselves. — M. Mason compares:
' — imagined worth Holds in his blood such swoln and hot discourse That 'twixt his
mental and his active parts Kingdom'd Achilles in commotion rages.' — Tro. &•
Cress., II, iii, 182; and, in confirmation of Johnson's interpretation of 'instruments,'
quotes as parallel a passage from Macbeth, whose mind was, at the time, in the
very state which Brutus is here describing: ' — I am settled and bend up Each
corporal agent to this terrible feat.' — I, vii, 79. — Malone prefers to limit the
meaning of the word 'mortal' to deadly; 'the "mortal instruments" then are the
deadly passions.' — Blakeway agrees with Malone that 'mortal' here means
deadly, but dissents from the 'mortal instruments' being taken for the 'deadly
passions'; 'the passions,' adds Blakeway, 'are rather the motives exciting us to
use our instruments, by which I understand our bodily powers, as Othello calls
his eyes and hands his "speculative and active instruments," I, iii, 271; and Mene-
nius, in Coriol., " — cranks and offices of man The strongest nerves and small
inferior veins." ' — [Compare also: ' — the other instruments did see and hear, devise,
instruct, walk, feel' — Ibid., I, i, 105.] — Craik quotes, as a passage throwing
light on the present one, the words of Brutus: 'Let our hearts, as subtle masters
do, Stir up their servants to an act of rage And after seem to chide 'em,' 1. 195.
'The "servants" here,' adds Craik, 'maybe taken to be the same with the "in-
struments" in the passage before us. It is not obvious how the bodily powers or
organs could be said to hold consultation with the genius or mind. Neither could
they in the other passage be so fitly said to be stirred up by the heart.' — [Does not
the 'their' preceding 'servants' refer to the 'masters' and not to 'hearts'?] —
E. B. Tylor (ii, 184) gives the following account of 'Genius' as it is used in this
passage: 'In the Roman world the doctrine [of a man's guardian spirit] came to
be accepted as a philosophy of human life. Each man had his "genius natalis"
associated with him from birth to death, influencing his action and his fate. . . .
The demon or genius was, as it were, the man's companion soul, a second spiritual
ego. The Egyptian astrologer warned Antonius to keep far from the young Oc-
tavius, "for thy demon," said he, " is in fear of his." . . . The doctrine which could
thus personify the character and fate of the individual man, proved capable of a
yet further development. Converting into animistic entities the inmost operations
of the human mind, a dualistic philosophy conceived as attached to every mortal
a good and an evil genius, whose efi'orts through life drew him backward and for-
ward toward virtue and vice, happiness and misery. It was the kakodasmon of
Brutus which appeared to him by night in his tent: "I am thy evil genius," it said,
"we meet again at Philippi."' — [Shakespeare alludes to this belief in the following
passages, to which those who are interested may, if they so choose, refer: Tempest,
IV, i, 27; Com. of Errors, V, i, 332; Twelfth Night, III, iv, 142; Tro. Ssr Cress., IV,
iv, 52; Macb., Ill, i, 56; and for a further statement of the doctrine, see Baynes,
p. 272, an article which appeared in the Edinburgh Review for July, 1869. — Ed.]
75. state of a man] Malone: I have adhered to the reading of the Folio.

ACT II, sc. i.] IVLIVS C^SAR 83

Like to a little Kingdome, fufifers then 76

Shakespeare is here speaking of the individual, in whose mind the genius and
the mortal instruments hold a council, not of man or mankind, in general. . . .
The editor of the Second Folio omitted the article, probably from a mistaken notion
concerning the metre. . . . Many words of two syllables are used by Shakespeare
as taking up the time of only one, as whether, either, brother, etc., and I suppose
' council ' is so used here. The Folio reading is supported by a passage in Hamlet:
'What a piece of work is a man.' — Steevens: I persist in following the Second Folio,
as our author, on this occasion, meant to write verse instead of prose. The instance
from Hamlet can have little weight; the article a, which is injurious to the metre in
question, being quite innocent in a speech decidedly prosaic. — Ritson (Cursory
Rem., p. 81): Neither our author, nor any other author in the world, ever used
such words as either, brother, etc., as monosyllables; and though whether is some-
times so contracted, the old copies on that occasion usually print where. It is, in
short, morally impossible that two should be no more than one. — [Ritson's dogmatic
assertion is to some extent refuted by a number of examples from Shakespeare
and other authors collected by Walker (Vers., p. 103), who saj's: 'Either, neither,
whether, mother, brother, and some other disyllables in which the final ther is pre-
ceded by a vowel — perhaps in some measure, all words in ther — are frequently used
either as monosyllables or as so nearly such that, in a metrical point of view, they
may be regarded as monosyllables. . . . This usage is more frequent in some
words than in others, e. g., in whether than in hither, whither, &c. Either occurs
not infrequently even in the unaccented places ilocis obliquis).' See also Ibid.,
Crit., i, 90. — Ed.]

75, 76. man. Like to a little Kingdome] Malone: The little kingdom of man
is a notion that Shakespeare seems to have been fond of. King Richard II, speak-
ing of himself, says: 'And these same thoughts people this little world.' — Rich. II:
V, V, 9; again in Lear: 'Strives in his little world of man to out-scorn The to-and-
fro conflicting wind and rain.' — III, i, 10; again in King John: ' — in the body
of this fleshly land. This kingdom.' — IV, ii, 245. — [References and allusions to the
body of man as a microcosm or world in little are found in many of the writers
contemporary with Shakespeare and those before him. The idea is very ancient.
Sir Walter Raleigh (Historic of the World, 1614) says: 'Zanchius laboureth to
prove, that man was formed after the image of God. . . . The body of man (saith
he) is the image of the world, and called, therefore, Microcosmus . . .' (ed. 1652,
Bk i, ch. 2, § i; p. 20). And further: 'Therefore (saith Gregory Nazianzene), . . .
Man is the bond and chaine which tyeth together both natures; and because in the little
frame of man's body there is a representation of the Universal; and (by allusion)
a kinde of participation of all the parts there, therefore was man called Micro-
cosmos, or the little World. . . . God therefore placed in the Earth the man he had
made, as it were another World; the great and large World in the small and little World.'
— Ibid., p. 25. Montaigne (Apology for Raimond de Sebonde), referring to the
confused idea which man has of himself, observes: 'It is not to heaven only that
philosophy sends her ropes, engines, and wheels; let us consider a little what she
says of ourselves and our contexture. There is not more retrogradation, trepida-
tion, accession, recession, and rapture in the stars and celestial bodies, than they
have feigned in this poor little human body. In truth, they have good reason upon
that very account to call it a microcosm, or little world, so many views and parts
have they employed to erect and build it.' — (ed. Coste, ii, 284). In 1628 appeared a

84 THE TRACED IE OF [act ii, sc. i.

The nature of an Infurre6lion. 77

Enter Lucius.

Luc. Sir/tis your Brother Cajfms at the Doore,
Who doth defire to fee you. . 80

Brut. Is he alone f

Luc. No, Sir, there are moe with him.

Brut. Doe you know themf

Luc. No, Sir, their Hats are pluckt about their Eares,
And halfe their Faces buried in their Cloakes, 85

That by no meanes I may difcouer them,
By any marke of fauour.

Brut. Let 'em enter :
They are the Faftion. O Confpiracie, 89

82. moe\ Ff, Craik. more Rowe et F3F4, Rowe, Pope, cloaks Theob. et seq.
cet. 88. 'ew] F2F3, Jen. Craik, Dyce,

85. Cloakes] Cloathes F4. Cloaths Sta. Wh. i, Cam.+. them F4 et cet.

series of Essays, attributed to John Earle, a fellow of Merton College, Oxford, en-
titled Microsmogrophie, or a Peece of the World, these dealt with various characters
of men, such as 'A grave Divine'; 'An Alderman,' etc. The work was exceedingly
popular and ran through at least seven editions. It is included among the Early
English reprints edited by Edward Arber. In the moral mask entitled Micro-
cosmus, written by Thomas Nabbes in 1637, the Dramatis Personce are the five
senses, the elements and the four humours, besides such others as ' Bellanima, the
Soul'; 'Bonus Genius, an angel'; 'Malus Genius, a devil'; 'Nature,' etc. 'Phys-
ander, a perfect grown man,' is the hero. The mask is written in blank verse in
five short acts and follows much the same plan of the older moralities in its symbolic
treatment of the characters. — Ed.]

79. Brother Cassius] Cassius had married Brutus's sister, Tertia.

82. moe] Skeat (Diet., s. v. more): The modern English more does duty for two
Middle English words which were, generally, well distinguished, viz.: 'mo' and
more, the former relating to number, the latter to size. [Compare V, iii, 114.]

84. Hats] Cambridge Edd. (Note II, p. 252): In both the editions of Pope this

line is ludicrously printed thus: 'No, Sir, their are pluckt about their ears.'

He seems to have thought that 'hat' was an intolerable anachronism, for in Coriol.,
II, iii, 95 and 164, he has substituted 'cap.' In this passage it would seem that
he could not make up his mind, and left a blank accordingly. It is noticed in one
of Theobald's letters to Warburton (Nichols, ii, 493).

86. naay] For other examples wherein 'may' is equivalent to to be able, see, if
needful, Abbott, § 307.

89. They are the Faction, etc.] Sidgwick (p. 98): This is a fine outburst,
but it does not seem very appropriate to the actual moment when the conspirator's
colleagues are being let in; and at first one is disposed to think that Shakespeare
in introducing it has aimed at theatrical effect rather than dramatic propriety.
And perhaps Shakespeare would have felt this later on in his career. Still, reflection
will show that it has a larger dramatic meaning. He has just shown us Brutus

ACT 11, sc. i.] IVLIVS C^SAR 85

Sham'ft thou to fhew thy dang'rous Brow by Night, 90

When euills are moft free/ O then, by day

Where wilt thou finde a Cauerne darke enough,

To maske thy monftrous Vifage? Seek none Confpiracie,

Hide it in Smiles, and Affabilitie :

For if thou path thy natiue femblance on, 95

94. a in\ in it Var. '03, '21. on W. Sawyer (N. & Q., 22 April, 1865).
y 95. path thy. ..on,] F3F4, Var. '73, '03, park thy. ..on Nicholson (N. & Q., 10

Sing, hath thy. ..on, Quarto, 1691 (ap. Feb., 1866). pass thy. ..on Cartwright,

Cam.). march thy. ..on. Pope, Han. Huds. iii. thy path.. .own Bulloch.

put thy, ...on, Southern (MS), Quincy passed thy.. .071 Macmillan conj. path, . Jy^

(MS), Coleridge, Dyceii, iii. 'a-'a/yfe^/iy... thy. ..on. F^et cet^ ' C.^'^'^'*'^

convincing himself, by a dry imemotional process of reasoning, that Caesar must
be killed; he wants to show us that, while stoically determined to act for the general
good by the dry light of reason alone, Brutus is no cold passionless pedant: he
feels intensely the moral repugnance that a fine nature must feel to the dreadful
deed. This passage . . . may also . . . illustrate the change in versification . . .
as we pass from the first to the second manner. The blank verse of the earliest
period too much resembles rhymed verse in its structure. ... In the versification
of Jul. CcBS. . . . adequate variety and flexibility is introduced by var>'ing the
pauses, allowing the sense to run over from one line to another, and introducing
extra syllables not only at the end of lines, but sometimes even in the middle:
' To mask thy monstrous visage? Seek none conspiracy. ' I do not think you will
find a line like that in a play earlier than Jtd. Cces. [Abbott (§ 494) classes the line
quoted by Sidgwick among 'apparent Alexandrines,' in which 'the last foot con-
tains, instead of one extra syllable, two extra syllables, one of which is slurred.'
Among other such lines Abbott gives three from Rich. Ill, which is, by many
critics, considered as one of Shakespeare's early plays. — Ed.]

90. Sham'st thou] For other examples of 'shame' used in this intransitive sense,
see, if needful, Schmidt {Lex., s. v. verb. 2). As a possible explanation of its use
here it may be suggested that the word 'thou' thus receives the accent metrically.
Art 'shamed woidd have suited the rest of the sentence quite as well. — Ed.

95. path] Johkson: That is, if thou walk in thy true form. — Stee\'ens: The
same verb is used by Drayton in Polyolhion: 'Where from the neighboring hills,
her passage Wey doth path.' — Song ii; again in his Epistle from Duke Humphrey
to Elinor Cobham: 'Pathing young Henry's unadvised ways,' — p. no, ed. 1748. —
Coleridge {Notes, p. 133): Surely, there need be no scruple in treating this
'path' as a mere misprint or mis-script for put. In what place does Shakespeare —
where does any writer of the same age — use 'path' as a verb for -walk? ['Aliqiiando
dormitat,' etc. — Ed.] — Walker {Crit., iii, 245) gives the two passages quoted by
Steevens, and adds: 'It is quite clear that neither of them is to the point,' since in
the line from the Poly olbion 'path' evidently means 'to track.' — Walker agrees
with Coleridge that put is here the correct reading.— R. G. White {Sh. Scholar,
p. 397): The Quarto of 1691 reads, 'hath thy,' etc. I do not mean to say that
hath is the word; but neither do I believe that it is a mere misprint in the Quarto.
Eath is very frequently used by Shakespeare and his contemporaries for have; and
in his time, and long after, the bow of the letter h was short, while the second

86 THE TRACED IE OF [act ii, sc. i.

Not Erebus it felfe were dimme enough, 96

To hide thee from preuention.

Enter the Confpirators, CaJJitis, Caska, Decuis,
Cinfia, MeteUus,and Trcbonius.

Caff. I thinke we are too bold vpon your Reft : 100

Good morrow Brutus, doe we trouble you ?

Briit. I haue beene vp this howre, awake all Night :
Know I thefe men, that come along with you ?

Caff Yes, euery man of them ; and no man here
But honors you : and euery one doth wifh, 105

98. Scene n. Pope,+, Jen. 103. [Aside. Rowe,+.

stroke was brought far below the line. Three examples occur on the fac-simile
page of Collier's second Folio, published with his "Sotcs &* Emendations. [In his
edition of Shakespeare which appeared a few years later \\'hite suggests that 'path'
is a misprint for hadst. — Ed.] — Singer (Notes 6* Queries, 10 April, 1858, p. 289)
thinks that the passage required ' the verb to be in the conditional future, and that
we must read: "if thou put'st,"' etc., and that this fairly accounts 'for the mis-
print, as it would satisfy the ductus literarum.' . . . He adds: 'I have since fovmd
in a very neat and accurate MS transcript of the play, made in the reign of Charles
II, the difficulty got over by writing the line thus: "For should thou put."' —
Heracd (p. 369): To me it is clear that the line contains two errors. It should
have run: 'For if thou pall thy native semblance o'er.' Shakespeare had already
used the verb to pall in the same sense in Macbeth: 'And pall thee in the durmest
smoke of hell.' ... It is to [the statement of Lucius, 'their faces buried in their
cloaks'], that Brutus refers in the line in question, which simply means that if con-
spirators come [thus] their conspiracy will be suspected — that the true mode of
concealment is to let their naked faces be seen, and only to 'hide' the 'monstrous
visage' of conspiracy 'in smiles and affability.' . . . The faces &MnV(f in their cloaks
suggest the image of the pall, and this again the allusion to Erebus. [Murray (.V. E.
D., s. V. Path) gives as an e.xample of its use as a verb, besides the present line,
another from Drayton: 'This river did so strangely path itself that the foote seemed
to touch the head.' — Epistle, Rosamund to Henry II. [Notes), Poems, 1605. — Ed.)

95. Erebus] Hudson: Of the five divisions of Hades, Erebus was, probably, the
third. Shakespeare, however, seems to identify it with Tartarus, the lowest deep
of the infernal world, the horrible pit where Dante locates Brutus and Cassius, along
with Judas Iscariot. [See note by Staffer, V, v, 60; Shakespeare alludes to
Erebus, as typical of darkness, in two other passages: 'His affections dark as Ere-
bus.'— Mer. of Ven., V, i, 87; ' — the infernal deep, with Erebus and tortures vile
also.'— 2 Hen. IV: II, iv, 171.— Ed.]

100. too bold vpon] Wright: That is, in intruding upon your rest. The
same construction is found in Bacon's Advancement of Learning: 'Here is noted,
that whereas men in wronging their best friends use to extenuate their fault,
as if they mought presume or be bold upon them, it doth contrariwise indeed aggra-
vate their fault.' — II, 23, 6; (ed. Wright, p. 223).

ACT II. sc. i.] IVLIVS C^SAR 87

You had but that opinion of your felfe, 106

Which euery Noble Roman beares of you.
This is Trcbonius.

Brut. He is welcome hither.

Caff. This, Decius Brutus. 1 10

Bntt. He is welcome too.

Caff. This, Caska ; this, Cinna ; and this, Metellus
Cynibcr.

Brut. They are all welcome.
What watchfuU Cares doe interpofe themfelues 115

Betwixt your Eyes, and Night?

Caff Shall I entreat a word ? They whifper.

Dccius. Here l}^es the Eaft : doth not the Day breake
heere ? 1 19

112. this, Cinna] Cinna, this Cap. ...Cymber. Rowe,+, Varr. Mai. Ran.

a^id this\ and this our frietid, Steev. Varr. Sing, i, Coll. Wh. i.
Wordsworth. 115. themfelues] Om. Steev. conj.,

112, 113. As two lines, ending: Cinna ending line with Betwixt.

112. this, Cinna . . . this, Metellus] John Hunter: The line would read bet-
ter by omitting the word 'this' before 'Cinna' and 'Metellus Cimber,' and sup-
posing Cassius to point out these persons by some indication of the hand.

118. Here lyes the East] Rymer (p. 152): One may note that all our author's
Senators and his orators had their learning and education at the same school, be
they Venetians, black-amoors, ottomites, or noble Romans. Brutus, here, may
cap sentences with Brabantio, and the Doge of Venice, or any magnifico of them
all. . . . Here the Roman Senators the midnight before Caesar's death (met in the
garden of Brutus . . .) are gazing up to the stars, and have no more in their heads
than to wrangle about which is the East and West. This is directly, as Bayes tells
us, to show the world a pattern here, how men should talk of business. But it would
be a wrong to the Poet not to inform the reader that, on the stage, the spec-
tators see Brutus and Cassius all this while at whisper together. That is the
importance, that deserves all the attention. But the grand question would be:
Does the Audience hear 'em whisper? — Theobald: I cannot help having the ut-
most contempt for this poor ill-Judg'd Sneer [by Rymer]. It shows the height of
good manners and politeness in the conspirators, while Brutus and Cassius whisper,
to start any occasional topic, and talk extefnpore; rather than seem to listen to, or
be desirous of overhearing, what Cassius draws Brutus aside for. And, if I am not
mistaken, there is a piece of art shewn in this whisper which our Caviller either did
not, or would not, see into. The audience are already apprized of the subject on
which the faction meet; and, therefore, this whisper is an artifice, to prevent the
preliminaries, of what they knew beforehand, being formally repeated. — Knight
(Studies, p. 413): Other poets would have made the inferior men exchange oaths,
and cross swords, and whisper, and ejaculate. He makes everything depend upon
the determination of Brutus and Cassius. ... Is this nature? The truest and most
profound nature. The minds of all men thus disencumber themselves, in the

88 THE TRACED IE OF [act ii, sc. i.

Cask. No. 1 20

Cin. O pardon, Sir, it doth ; and yon grey Lines,
That fret the Clouds, are Meffengers of Day, 122

121. yon\ yotid' Coll. yon' Wh. i.

moments of the most anxious suspense, from the pressure of an overwhelming
thought. There is a real relief if some accidental circumstance . . . can produce
this disposition of the mind to go out of itself for an instant or two of forgetfulness.
— Mark Hunter: Thus Hamlet, waiting on the castle platform for the appearance
of his father's spirit, speaks first of the coldness of the night, and then falls to
moralise on Danish customs which are 'more honoured in the breach than the
observance.'

122. fret the Clouds] In the Shakspere Society Transactions for 1877-78,
p. 410, appears a letter from Ruskin to Furnivall on the meaning of 'fret' in this
line; after a few remarks — characteristically depreciatory of human intelligence
in the nineteenth century — Ruskin says: 'The root of the whole matter is, first,
that the reader should have seen what he has often heard of, but probably not
seen twice in his life — "Daybreak." Next, it is needful he should think what
"break" means in that word — what is broken, namely, and by what. That is to
say, the cloud of night is Broken up, as a city is broken up (Jerusalem, when
Zedekiah fled), as a school breaks up, as a constitution, or a ship is broken up; in
every case with a not inconsiderable change of idea, and in addition to the central
word. The breaking up is done by the Day, which breaks — out, as a man breaks,
or bursts out, from his restraint in a passion; breaks down in tears; or breaks in,
as from heaven to earth — with a breach in the cloud wall of it; or breaks out —
with sense of outwards — as the sun — out and out, farther and farther, after rain.
Well; next, the thing that the day breaks up is partly a garment, rent, more than
broken; a mantle, the day itself "in russet mantle clad" — the blanket of the dark,
torn to be peeped through — whereon instantly you get into a whole host of new
ideas; fretting, as a moth frets a garment; unravelling at the edge, afterwards;
thence you get into fringe, which is an entirely double word, meaning partly a
thing that guards, and partly a thing that is worn away on the ground; the French
Frange has, I believe, a reminiscence of (ppdaau in it — our fringe runs partly to-
wards frico and friction — both are essentially connected with frango, and the
fringe of breakers at the shores of all seas, and the breaking of the ripples and foam
all over them — but this is wholly different in a northern mind, which has only seen
the sea "Break, break, break on its cold gray stones" — and a southern, which has
seen a hot sea on hot sand break into lightning of phosphor flame — half a mile of
fire in an instant — following in time, like the flash of minute guns. Then come
the great new ideas of order and time, and — "I did but tell her she mistook her
frets," — and so the timely succession of either ball, flower, or lentil, in architec-
ture: but this, again, going off to a totally different and still lovely idea, the main
one in the word aurifrigium . . . going back, nobody knows how far, but to the
Temple of the Dew of Athens, and gold of Mycense, anyhow; and in Etruria to the
Deluge, I suppose. Well then, the notion of the music of morning comes in — with
strings of lyre (or frets of Katharine's instrument, whatever it was) and stops of
various quills; which gets us into another group beginning with plectrum, going aside
again into plico and plight, and Milton's "Play in the plighted clouds," . . . and
so on into the plight of folded drapery, — and round again to our blanket. I think

ACT II. sc. i.] IVLIVS C^SAR 89

Cask. You fliall confeffe,that you are both deceiu'd : 123
Heere,as I point my Sword, the Sunne arifes,
Which is a great way growing on the South, 125

Weighing the youthfull Seafon of the yeare.
Some two moncths hence, vp higher toward the North
He firft prefents his fire, and the high Eaft
Stands as the CapitoU, dire6lly heere. 129

127. motieths] months F4.

that is enough to sketch out the compass of the word. Of course, the real power
of it in any place depends on the writer's grasp of it, and use of the facet he wants to
cut with.'

122. Messengers of Day] The Cowden-Clarkes {Sh. Key, p. 176): By
keeping well before the spectator the presence of night, supervening upon after-
noon and evening, and then the gradual approach of dawn, of morning, and of day^
the dramatist has magically contrived to bring on the date of Caesar's death in Act
III, even while linking it subtly with the very date the dictator was offered and
refused the crown of Rome in Act I.; so that a whole month is illusorily passed,
while but the passing from one day to the next is actually accounted for. [DowDEN
(p. 295) also calls attention to this device of Shakespeare to mark ' the passage of
time up to the moment of Caesar's death.']

124. as I point my Sword] Abbott (§ 112): [In this sentence] 'as' is used for
where.

125. Which is a great way, etc.] Craik (p. 215): The commentators, who
flood us with their explanations of many easier passages, have not a word to say
upon this. Casca means that the point of sunrise is as yet far to the south (of east),
weighing (that is, taking into account or on account of) the unadvanced period of
the year.

125. growing on the South] 0. F. Adams: It is curious that no commentator
has noted that on the is"* of March, or previous to the vernal equinox, the sun
would not rise at all to the south of the true east, but a little to the northward of
that point. — F. A. Marshall: It should be noted that during this and the pre-
ceding speech the change from night to early dawn is supposed to take place; but
even in Italy, in the middle of March it would not be light at three o'clock in the
morning. [See I. 215.]

129. Stands as the Capitoll] Wright: It is worth remarking that the Tower,
which would be the building in London m^ost resembling the Capitol to Shake-
speare's mind, was as nearly as possible due east of the Globe Theatre on Bank-
side. There is no reason to suppose that he troubled himself about the relative
positions of Brutus's house and the Capitol, even if the site of the former were
known. — Mark Hunter says, in reference to the foregoing note by Wright, 'It
is a doubtful question whether Jul. Cces. was first acted at the Globe Theatre or at
either of the Bankside theatres. Between 1595 and 1599 Shakespeare's company
occupied the stages of the Curtain and of the Theatre in Shoreditch. The
Globe was built in 1599. Jul. Cces. seems to have been acted about that time, and
possibly before the completion of the Globe. But wherever the players may have
been, the conspirators, whom they represented, when they met in the house of

go THE TRACED IE OF [act ii, sc. i.

Br7i. Giue me your hands all ouer, one by one. 1 30

Caf. And let vs fweare our Refolution.

Bnit. No, not an Oath : if not the Face of men, 132

130. [He takes their hands. Coll. Han. if that. ..fate \Va.Th. Sing, ii, Ktly.

132-154. Mnemonic Warb. if not. ..faiths Mai. conj. if not. ..fears

132. if not. ..Face] if that. ..face Theob. Cartwright. if not. ..yoke Kerr.

Brutus were, in the imagination of every spectator, far away from London, near the
Tiber, not the Thames.'

132. if not the Face of menl Warburton: What is 'the face of men'? "
Did he mean they had honest looks? This was a poor and low observation un-
worthy of Brutus, and the occasion, and the grandeur of his speech. Besides, it is
foreign to the motives he enumerates; . . . but 'the face of men,' not being one of
these motives, must needs be a corrupt reading. Shakespeare, without question,
wrote: the fate of men, or of mankind, which, in the ideas of a Roman, was in-
volved in the fate of their Republic. — Theobald, in a letter to Warburton, dated
14"^ Feb., 1749, says: 'If Brutus meant by this, gentlemen, you have very good faces
(as you expound it), this would be a very bad motive. But I look upon this to be
the sense: if that dejection which appears in your countenances, that insuppressive
sorrow which you cannot hide, joined to the sufferance of your souls, &c., be weak
motives, &c. And this, I think, makes a true climax: and the progression from
face to soul seems to heighten the dignity of the passion' (Nichols, ii, 494). — Heath
(p. 440) : 'The face of men,' that is. If that the face of our fellow citizens, which we
should never for the future be able to look up to without the most insupportable
confusion, after having, by our treachery, defeated an enterprize, on the success
of which the preservation of our common liberties and the very existence of the
republic absolutely depends, is a weak motive, insufi&cient to secure our fidelity
to our engagement, etc. — Johnson: That is, the countenance, the regard, the esteem
of the public; or 'the face of men' may mean: the dejected look of the people. — Capell
(i, 102): The suspension of voice at 'abuse' shows that something is wanting, and
directs to that something; which is also conveyed in the words that follow, not
direct but obliquely; giving us what we see instead of — if these be not sufficiently
strong, its right connection with 'not.' The enumeration itself proceeds rightly,
in a progress from strong to stronger; the topic it opens with is enforced again with
great energy at the speech's conclusion, which shews its weight with the speaker. —
Steevens: So Tully, In Catilinam, 'Nihil horum ora vultusque moverunt?'
[Oralio, i, 1. 7]. Shakespeare formed this speech on the following passage in North's
Plutarch: [The conspirators] 'having never taken oaths together, nor taken or
given any caution or assurance, nor binding themselves together by any religious
oaths,' [ed. Skeat, p. 114.] — M. Mason believes that we should read faith of men,
because of what Brutus says in lines 142-15S, 'which prove,' says Mas.on, 'that
Brutus considered the faith of men as their firmest security in each other.' — Malone
observes that Shakespeare 'perhaps imitates the abruptness and inaccuracy of
discourse,' and has constructed 'the latter part of the sentence without any
regard to the beginning.' Referring to Mason's proposal faith, he adds that
'faiths is more likely to have been the word from confusion by the ear.' — Craik
(p. 125): There seems to be no great difficulty in the old reading, understood as
meaning the looks of men. It is preferable, at any rate, to anything which it has
been proposed to substitute. — Dowden (p. 295) : It is characteristic of Brutus that

ACT II, sc. i.] IVLIVS C^SAR. 91

The fufifcrance of our Soules, the times Abufe ; 133

If thefc be Motiues weake, breake off betimes,

And euery man hence, to his idle bed : 1 35

So let high-fighted-Tyranny range on,

Till each man drop by Lottery. But if thefe

(As I am fure they do) beare fire enough

To kindle Cowards, and to fteele with valour

The melting Spirits of women. Then Countrymen, 140

What neede we any fpurre, but our owne caufe,

To pricke vs to redreffe ? What other Bond,

Then fecret Romans, that haue fpoke the word,

And will not palter ? And what other Oath, 144

136. high-fighted] high-sieged Warb. 140. women. Then] women; Then Ff

conj. (withdrawn), high-seated Theob. Rowe,+.

conj.

he will allow no oath to be taken by the conspirators. He who has been all his life
cultivating reliance on the will apart from external props, cannot now fall back for
support upon the objective bond of a vow or pledge. — Verity accepts Heath's
interpretation of 'face,' i. e., the shame which each would feel from the reproach-
ful looks of the world, if he were a traitor to the cause; and adds: ' The imsuspi-
cious character of Brutus, who thinks others as noble-minded as himself, is clearly
brought out in this speech.'

133. the times Abuse;] Percy Simpson {Sh. Punctuation, p. 61): The semi-
colon serv-es to mark a sudden pause, or a break in the construction.

134. If . . . Motiues weake] Wright: [The negative required in this sen-
tence is contained in] the negative idea put into the word ' weak ' instead of being
directly expressed.

136. high-sighted-Tyranny] Wright: That is, tyranny with lofty looks.
There seems to be an implied comparison of tyranny to an eagle or bird of prey,
whose keen eye discovers its victim from the highest pitch of its flight. We have
the same figure in I, i, 82-84, and although the primary meaning of 'high-sighted'
may be proud, supercilious, there is a secondary meaning in keeping with the
comparison of tyranny to a bird of prey. That this comparison seems to be in-
tended appears to me to be confirmed by the occurrence of the word 'range,' which
is technically used of hawks and falcons flying in search of game. Turberville
(Booke of Falconrie) says of eagles: 'In like sort they take other beastes, and
sundry times doe roue and range abroad to beat and seaze on Goates, Kiddes, and
Fawnes.' — p. 23.

137. Till each ... by Lottery] Steevens: Perhaps the poet alluded to the
custom of decimation, i. e., the selection by lot of every tenth soldier, in a general
mutiny, for punishment. He speaks of this in CorioL, 'By decimation and a
tithed death. Take thou thy fate.' — [John Hunter corrects Steevens's reference;
the line quoted is from Timon, V, v, 31; he adds that 'the allusion to decimation
does not seem sufficiently warranted,' which is likewise the opinion of the present
Ed.]

144. palter] Murray (A^. E. D., s. v. verb, II, 3) : To shift, shuffle, equivocate,

'.^

g2 THE TRACED IE OF [act ii, sc. i.

Then Honefty to Honefty ingag'd, 145

That this fhall be, or we will fall for it.

Sweare Priefts and Cowards, and men Cautelous ^

Old feeble Carrions, and fuch fuffering Soules

That welcome wrongs : Vnto bad caufes, fweare

Such Creatures as men doubt; but do not ftaine 150

146. it\ ill Theob. et seq. 150. jlaine\ strain Warb. conj.

147. Caideloiis] Cautelous, F3F4.

prevaricate in statement or dealing; to deal crookedly or evasively; to play fast
and loose, use trickery. [The present line quoted as earliest use.]

147. Cautelous] Both Steevens and Malone interpret 'cautelous,' as here
used, in the sense of cautious, wary, circumspect. — Murray {N. E. D.) furnishes-
examples, as does Steevens also, of this meaning, but Murray likewise gives others
wherein 'cautelous' means crafty, full of deceit; and Wright thus interprets it,
remarking that 'the transition from caution to suspicion, and from suspicion to
craft and deceit is not very abrupt.' — In corroboration of this interpretation we
may take what Brutus says, 'Unto bad causes swear Such creatures as men
doubt, ' which would not apply to men who are cautious and circimispect. — Ed.

150-154. do not staine . . . neede an Oath] Warburton: The opinion that
the cause or actors wanted an oath to hold them together cannot be called a
stain, because it doth not necessarily imply a suspicion of the honesty of either;
or if such an opinion did necessarily imply such a suspicion, yet such suspicion
could not stain the honesty of either, as an oath is no unjust means of union; for
it is only an unjust means used for a good end that can be said to stain that end.
Admitting such an opinion might be called a stain, yet the metaphor here em-
ployed will not allow the use of the term. For the expression of ' insuppressive
mettle' alludes to the elastic quality of steel, which, being beyond its tone, loses
its spring, and thereby becomes incapable of keeping that machine in motion
which it is designed to actuate. We must, therefore, read, 'do not strain' that is,
beyond its natural and proper tone; the consequence of which will be the stopping
the motion of the whole machine. — Heath (p. 440) : Nothing can be plainer than
the sense of this passage, the expression of which, as well as the sentiment, is ex-
tremely fine. ... If the reader hath a mind to divert himself with a most remark-
able instance of a man ensnared in the nets of his own subtilty, and puzzled to
that degree that he neither knows where he is, what he is about, nor what he says,
I would recommend to him Warburton's note on this place. ... He is to prove
that the suspicion of want of honesty could not stain the honesty of the cause or
the actors, and he labours only to prove that it could not stain the end the actors
proposed to themselves. And how doth he prove it? By asserting that the means
towards attaining that end were not unjust; as if no means that were not strictly
speaking unjust, whatever meanness of spirit they might betray, could imprint a
stain. But what have we to do with means or end? The question is simply,
Whether an avowed distrust of a man's honesty doth not reflect an imputation on it?
and, Whether that imputation may not properly be called a stain upon it? Com-
mon sense and common language concur in avouching that it may. For though
no suspicion or imputation can alter the real nature of things, they may greatly
alter their external appearance, and, like a spot on a garment, lessen their estimation

ACT II, sc. i.] IVLIVS CyESAR 93

The euen vertue of our Enterprize, 15 1

Nor th'infuppreffiue Mettle of our Spirits,

To thinke,that or our Caufe, or our Performance

Did neede an Oath. When euery drop of blood 154

154. Did\ Doth Han. 154. Oath. When] oath; when Cap.

et seq.

in the eye of the world. . . . One would think it scarce possible to crowd so many
absurdities and inconsistencies into so narrow a compass [as in the last paragraph
of his note]. First, he confounds 'mettle,' that is, vigour, activity, with metal, and
mistakes the one for the other. Next, he interprets ' insuppressive' to signify the
same as elastic, what is easily bent and kept down, though it will recover itself as
soon as the force that kept it down is removed, and not before; whereas, in truth,
it signifies the direct contrary, what is not to be bent or kept under by any force
whatever. Then this insuppressive mettle is become all on a sudden so exceedingly
suppressive, that if you clog it only with the addition of an oath, it is overstrained,
its spring is lost, its power destroyed, and it is reduced to a state utterly unactive
and useless. Lastly, for it is time to have done, the interpretation resulting from
this admirable reasoning is perfectly of a piece with it. Whereas Shakespeare
contented himself with saying, That to suppose their union needed an oath, to
secure their fidelity and steadiness in the prosecution of their enterprize, would
be to tarnish the lustre, both of the cause they were engaged in, and of that un-
daunted courage which prompted them to undertake it; Warburton makes him
say: That their courage was such, that while they continued imswom it could
not fail of supporting them, but the moment they added to it the artificial bond
of an oath, that oath would infallibly overstrain that courage, and by so doing de-
stroy its virtue and efficacy, and render the whole motion of their enterprize
motionless and ineffectual. Is there any one sentiment of Mr Bayes in The Re-
hearsal which comes up to this for sublimity of nonsense? — Heraud (p. 372):
Here is apparent the weakness of Brutus in having associated with minds so much
beneath his own; and this weakness soon shows itself constitutional in his objecting
to admit the participation of a superior or equal mind. He will not take Cicero
into his counsel. Nor will he go all lengths with his confederates, but insists on
sparing Antony, and by so doing ruins his cause. ... As it is, the catastrophe of the
tragedy grows out of the faiUngs of Brutus, which though 'they leaned to virtue's
side,' were still failings, and fatal both to his friends and his country.

151. euen . . . Enterprize] Malone: That is, the calm, equable, temperate
spirit that actuates us.

152. insuppressiue] John Hunter: 'Insuppressive' ought to mean not having
a tendency to suppress; and such may be the meaning here; the mettle of our spirits
not at all disposed to restrain us from deeds 'of honourable dangerous conse-
quence.' WTien 'or' is used for either [as in the next line], it should be pronounced
more emphatically than the 'or' following. 'Our cause' has reference to the 'even
virtue,' and 'our performance' has reference to the 'insuppressive metal.' [For
examples of adjectives ending in ive, used in a passive sense, see Walker, Crit., i,
179-1

154. Did neede an Oath.] Percy Simpson {Sh. Punctuation, p. 79): The colon
and semicolon served for heavier stopping in a run of commas; and on the same
principle, if these had been already employed and it was necessary to mark a

94 THE TRACED IE OF [act ii, sc. i.

That euery Roman beares, and Nobly beares 155

Is guilty of a feuerall Baftardie,

If he do breake the fmalleft Particle

Of any promife that hath paft from him.

Caf. But what of Cicero ? Shall we found him ?
I thinke he will ftand very ftrong with vs. 1 60

Cask. Let vs not leaue him out.

Cyn. No, by no meanes.

Metel. O let vs haue him, for his Siluer haires
Will purchafe vs a good opinion :

And buy mens voyces, to commend our deeds : 165

It fhall be fayd, his iudgement rul'd our hands.
Our youths,and wildeneffe, fhall no whit appeare,
But all be buried in his Grauity.

Bru. O name him not ; let vs not breake with him,
For he will neuer follow any thing 170

That other men begin.

157. do\ doth F4, Rowe,+. . 169. with him,] with him. F3F4.

164. opinion:] opinion. F3F4.

stronger pause, a full stop could be used even for an unfinished sentence. In such
cases the sense was a sufi&cient guide. [Compare V, iii, 34, and note.]

161. Cask. Let vs not, etc.] Mark Hunter (Introd., p. cxhii.): Casca's
pretended self-dependence is the last quality that can be ascribed to him. No one
could more quickly adopt the sentiments and enthusiasms of others. [Here, for
example,] Cassius diffidently suggests that Cicero should be sounded. 'Let us not
leave him out, ' Casca chimes in. Cassius abandons his proposal in deference to
Brutus's opinion. 'Indeed, he is not fit,' is Casca's emphatic comment.

163. his Siluer haires] John Hunter: Cicero was bom in the same year as
Pompey, viz., 104 B. C; he was now, therefore, about sixty years old. Observe the
play of words between 'silver' and the following verbs, 'purchase' and 'buy.'

168. buried in his Grauity] Is there here, not exactly a play upon words, so
much as an association of ideas, suggested by the words bury and grave? — Ed.

169. breake with him] Murray {N. E. D., s. v. Verb, 22): To break one's
mind (heart) : to deliver or reveal what is in one's mind. To break news, a matter,
a secret: to make it known, disclose, divulge it; now implying caution and delicacy,
[b.] Hence, intransitive to break with (rarely to a person) of ot concerning (a thing).
Two Cent.: 'I am to breake with thee of some affaires.' — III, i, 59.

170. 171. he will neuer . . . other men begin] Plutarch is, I think, Shake-
speare's authority for this trait in the character of Cicero; he says: 'And now
when Cicero, full of expectation, was again bent upon political affairs, a certain
oracle blunted the edge of his inclination; for consulting the god of Delphi how he
should attain most glory, the Pythoness answered, by making his own genius and
not the opinion of the people the guide of his life.' — (Life of Cicero, § 5). Niebuhr,
referring to this passage from Plutarch, remarks: 'If this is an invention, it was

ACT II, sc. i.] IVLIVS CyESAR . 95

Caf. Then leaue him out. 172

Cask. Indeed, he is not fit.

Dcchis. Shall no man elfe be toucht,but onely CcEfar?

Caf. Dccitis well vrg'd : I thinke it is not meet, 175

Marke Antony, fo well belou'd of Ccsfar,
Should out-liue Cce/ar, we shall finde of him
A fhrew'd Contriuer. And you know, his meanes
If he improue them, may well ftretch fo farre
As to annoy vs all : which to preuent, 1 80

Let Antony and Ccrfar fall together.

Bru. Our courfe will feeme too bloody, Caius Cafsius, 182

173, 174. Cask. Indeed. .X)&(i\\x%. 175. Decius] Decimus Han.
Shall..\ Dec. Indeed... Shall... Hanmer. 178. Jlirew'd] Jhrewd F3F4.

174. toticht] touched F4.

certainly made by one who saw very deeply, and perceived the real cause of all
Cicero's sufferings. If the Pythia did give such an answer, then this is one of the
oracles which might tempt us to believe in an actual inspiration of the priestess.' —
(iii, 31). Merivale (iii, 150) says of Cicero: 'When we read the vehement claims
which Cicero put forth to the honour of association, however tardy, with the
glories and dangers of Caesar's assassins, we should deem the conspirators guilty
of a monstrous oversight in having neglected to enlist him in their design were we
not assured that he was not to be trusted as a confederate either for good or for
evil.'— Ed.

177. of him] For other examples of 'of ' thus used for in, see, if needful, Abbott,

§ 172.

178. Contriuer] Murray (N. E. D., s. v. i): One who ingeniously or artfully
devises the effecting of anything; one who effects by plotting or scheming; a
schemer, plotter. [The present line quoted.]

179. improue] Murray {N.E.D.,s. v. 2. e): To make good use of, to turn to
good account (an action, occurrence, event, season, time; now usually with occasion,
opportunity, or the like). [Murray, among other examples, quotes, 'How doth the
little busy bee Improve each shining hour.' — Watts, Divine Songs, xx.]

182. Our course . . . too bloody] Ferrero (ii, 349): It was not Brutus,
with his scruples against the shedding of Roman blood, that saved him [Antony],
but more probably the reflection that the simultaneous disappearance of the two
Consuls would have prevented the immediate restoration of the old constitution.
No doubt they also hoped that so recent a convert to the party of tyranny would
return to his old allies on the death of the Dictator. — [Cicero in his letters, ed.
Shuckburgh, refers to this mistake of the conspirators in sparing Antony. For
example, writing to Atticus from Arpinum, 24 May, B. C. 44, he says: 'Antony's
policy — as you describe it — is revolutionary, and I hope he will carry it out by
popular vote rather than by decree of the Senate! I think he will do so. . . .
You say you don't know what our men are to do. Well, that difficulty has been
txoubhng me all along. Accordingly, I was a fool, I now see, to be consoled by the
Ides of March. The fact is, we showed the courage of men, the prudence of children.
The tree was felled, but not cut up by the roots. Accordingly, you see how it is

96 THE TRACED IE OF [act ii. sc. i.

To cut the Head off, and then hacke the Limbes : 183

Like Wrath in death, and Enuy afterwards :

For Ajitony, is but a Limbe of CcB/ar. 185

Let's be Sacrificers, but not Butchers Cains :

We all ftand vp againft the fpirit of Cafar,

And in the Spirit of men, there is no blood :

O that we then could come by CcBfars Spirit,

And not difmember Cafarl But (alas) 190

C(sfar muft bleed for it. And gentle Friends,

Let's kill him Boldly, but not Wrathfully :

Let's carue him, as a Difli fit for the Gods,

Not hew him as a Carkaffe fit for Hounds: 194

186. Lei''s\ Ff, Rowe, Dyce, Sta. Pope, Han.
Lei us Pope et cet. 188. men] man Pope,+.

not] no Var. '03, '13. 189. Spirit] Spirits Ff, Rowe.

Caius] Cassius Rowe. Om. 191-197. Mnemonic Warb.

sprouting up.' — Letter 731, vol. iv, p. 55. Again, writing to C. Cassius, from
Rome, between the 2 and 9* of October in the same year, Cicero says: ' — that
madman [Antony] asserts that I was the head and front of that most glorious
deed of yours. Would that I had been ! He would not have been troubling us now.
But it is you and your fellows who are responsible for this: and since it is past
and done with, I only wish I had some advice to give you.' — Letter 738, iv, 55.
In another letter to C. Cassius, written from Rome on the 2"*^ of February, in the
next year, B. C. 43, Cicero says: 'I could wish that you had invited me to the
banquet of the Ides of March; there would have been nothing left over! As it is,
your leavings give me much trouble — yes, me more than anybody.' He repeats
almost these same words in his letter to Trebonius written on the same day. —
Letters 815 and 816, iv, 174, 175. — Ed.]

189. O that . . . Caesars Spirit] Genee (p. 343): This is, however, a bad
piece of sophistry with which Brutus dooms the deed itself. The sequel shows
that the spirit of Caesar was unassailable by the swords of his opponents. It
proved worst of all for Brutus; and what caused his downfall before all the others
was the disunion in his own well-conditioned nature, a disunion which laid him
open to inconsistencies and political mistakes.

191. Caesar must bleed] Malone: Lord Stirling has the same thought.
Brutus, remonstrating against the taking of Antony, says: 'Ah! Ah! we must but
too much murder see. That without doing evil cannot do good; And would the
gods that Rome could be made free. Without the effusion of one drop of blood.'

193. fit for the Gods] Walker (Crit., i, 294): Is 'fit' here the past participle,
*'. q. fitted? So in Ta7n. of Shr., Ind., i, 87: ' — but sure, that part Was aptly fit,
and naturally perform'd,' not fitted.

194. Not hew him, etc.] M.^^lone: Compare Plutarch, 'Ca;sar turned himselfe
no where but he was stricken at by some, and still had naked swords in his face,
and was hacked and mangled among them, as a wild beast taken of hunters,' [ed.
Skeat, p. loi]. — Macmillan: Brutus's idea of killing Caesar reverently was not
realised.

ACT II, sc. i.] JVLIVS CJLSAR 97

And let our Hearts, as fubtle Mafters do, 195

Stirre vp their Seruants to an a61;e of Rage,
And after feeme to chide 'em. This fliall make
Our purpofe Neceffary, and not Enuious.
Which fo appearing to the common eyes.

We fhall be call'd Purgers, not Murderers. 200

And for Marke Antony, ihiviko. not of him :
For he can do no more then Ccefars Arme,
When Cczfars head is off.
Caf. Yet I feare him,'
For in the ingrafted loue he beares to Ccefar. 205

197. 'ew] F2, Coll. Craik, Dyce, Sta. 204. / jeare\ I do fear Pope,+

WTi. Hal. Cam.+, Huds. eniYy them ( — Var. '73), Cap. Steev. Varr. Sing, i,

F4 et cet. Craik, Ktly.

make] mark Coll ii. (MS), Craik, 204, 205. hhn. For] him For Leo.

Huds. iii. 205. in] Om. Pope, Han.

200. caird Purgers] purgers called Sta,. ilie] th' Theob. Warb. Johns,

conj. Caefar.] Caesar — Rowe et seq.

202, 203. Caefars] Caefar 's F4.

195. as subtle Masters do] Hudson cites the scene wherein King John blames
Hubert for his too hasty obedience in putting Arthur to death (King Johfi,IV, ii,
208 et seq.). — Verity, beside this scene from King John, cites also those in Rich. II,
wherein Bolingbroke 'rebukes Exton for murdering Richard, after having insti-
gated him to the deed' (V, iv. and vi.). He adds also that 'Elizabeth has been cred-
ited with an attempt to pursue the same policy in regard to Mary Queen of Scots.'

197. This shall make] Craik (p. 226): The old reading . . . is sense, if at all,
only on the assumption that 'make' is here equivalent to make to seem. — John
Hunter: Observe the force of 'shall'; it is not simply reference to futurity which
Brutus expresses, for in that case will should have been the auxiliary; there is an
idea of planning or intending involved, as if he had said, ' Let this be our procedure
in order to make,' etc. The next assertion, 'we shall be called,' is simple anticipa-
tion, for which 'shall' in the first person is appropriate. Compare the use of
'shall' in the speech of Metellus, 1. 166, 'It shall be said' means let us have it said.

198. Enuious] That is, malignant, spiteful. Compare 'See what a rent the
envious Casca made.' — III, ii, 185; and for other examples see, if needful, Schmidt
{Lex., s. V. i).

199. so appearing to the common eyes] Marshall: This is very charac-
teristic advice, and shows that Brutus was quite fit to be the leader of a political
party which claimed to be the 'popular' one. But it appears that all the great
actors who played the part of Brutus and, naturally enough, sought to make
him a sympathetic character, have always omitted this passage on the stage; as
well they might, considering their object.

204. Yet I feare him] Knight: The pause, which naturally occurs before
Cassius offers an answer to the impassioned argument of Brutus, would be most
decidedly marked by a proper reader or actor; yet Pope and other editors read
do fear, to make out the metre.

205. For in ... to Caesar] Craik (p. 227): The manner in which this Hne is

gS THE TRACED IE OF [act ii, sc. i.

Brii. Alas, good Cafsius, do not thinke of him : 206

If he loue Ccefar, all that he can do
Is to himfelfe; take thought, and dye for Ccrfar,
And that were much he fhould : for he is giuen
To fports, to wildeneffe, and much company. 210

Treb. There is no feare in him; let him not dye,

208. himfelfe; take] himfelfe, take F3F4, Rowe, Theob. Han. Craik. himself
take Pope, himself, — take Knt, Dyce, Sta.

given in the Folio shows that the printer, or so-called editor, had no notion of what
the words meant, or whether they had any meaning, in his exhibition of them;
with a full point after ' Caesar,' they have none. — [May it not be that ' in ' is here
due to the compositor's anticipating the first syllable of ' ingrafted,' the next word
but one? Its omission makes the line metrically correct. — Ed.]

208. take thought, and dye] Steevens compares 'What shall we do, Eno-
barbus? Eno. Think and die.' — Ant. &* Cleo., Ill, xiii, i, 2. On this line in Ant. &*
Cleo. ToLLET observes that the expression of taking thought, in our old English
writers, is equivalent to the being anxious or solicitous, or laying a thing much to
heart. — Craik (p. 227): To think, or to 'take thought,' seems to have been formerly
used in the sense of to give way to sorrow and despondency. [In the notes on the
line quoted from Ant. b" Cleo. in the New Variorum Edition, the Editor, after
giving the foregoing observation by Craik, remarks: 'Possibly, our most familiar
quotation is, "Take no thought for the morrow." — Matthew, vi, 34.' — Ed.] —
MacCallum (p. 248) quotes a passage from Plutarch's Life of Brutus (ed. Skeat,
p. 119), wherein is given Brutus's argument against the slaying of Antony, that
there was a hope of reformation in him and that 'when he should knowe that
Caesar was dead [he] would willingly helpe his countrie to recover her libertie.'
'In this hope,' adds MacCallum, 'of converting a ruse libertine like Antony, there
is no doubt a hint of idealism, but it is not so marked as in the high-pitched mag-
nanimity of Shakespeare's Brutus, who denies a man's powers of mischief because
his life is loose.' — [Brutus's argument is, I think, not that Antony is harmless on
account of his loose morals, but that, since he is such a man, it would be too much
to expect that he would 'take thought and die for Caesar.' — Ed.]

209. much] Bradley (A^. E. D., s. v. g.) : Used predicatively. To be much: to be
a great thing, an important point, matter, etc. Temp., I, ii, 252: 'Thou . . .
thinkst it much to tread the ooze of the salt deepe.'

209, 210. he is giuen To sports] ' — the noblemen (as Cicero saith) did not only
mislike him, but also hate him for his naughty life: for they did abhor his banquets
and drunken feasts he made at unseasonable times, and his extreme wasteful ex-
penses upon vain light huswives.' — Plutarch, Life of Antony, §5; ed. Skeat, p. 161.

211. no feare in him] Wright: That is, no cause of fear, nothing formidable.
In Plutarch, Trebonius is represented as averse to the proposal that Antony should
be admitted into the confidence of the conspirators, but it is Brutus who will not
consent to kill him. — Macmillan: Trebonius was a friend of Antony's. He
therefore wishes to save his life, and is employed to keep him out of the way at
the time of the assassination. . . . The prophecy of Trebonius is fulfilled, but
not in the way that he intended. No doubt Antonius afterwards laughed at tha
folly of the conspirators in sparing him, who was to be Caesar's avenger.

ACT II, sc. i.] IVLIVS C^SAR 99

For he will Hue, and laugh at this heereafter. 212

Clocke Jirikes.

Bru. Peace, count the Clocke.

Caf. The Clocke hath flricken three. 2 1 5

Trcb, 'Tis time to part.

CaJJ But it is doubtfull yet.
Whether CcBfar will come forth to day, or no :
For he is Superftitious growne of late, 219

215. jlricken\ strucken Var. '78, '85, '73)- Whe'r Cap. Var. '78, '85, Mai.
Ran. Ran. Steev. Varr. Sing. i.

218. Whether] If Pope,+ (—Var.

213. Clocke strikes] John Hunter: This is one of Shakespeare's anachronistic
licences or inadvertencies: the use of clocks and watches was unknown to the
Romans; but they had sun dials and clepsydrae at the time to which this play refers.

219. he is Superstitious growne] De Quincy (p. 24): No mob could be more
abjectly servile than was that of Rome to the superstition of portents, prodigies,
and omens. Thus far, in common with his order and in this sense, Julius Caesar
was naturally a despiser of superstition. Mere strength of understanding would,
perhaps, have made him such in any age, and apart from the circumstances of his
personal history. But this natural tendency would doubtless receive a further
bias in the same direction from the office of Pontifex Maximus, which he held at an
early stage of his public career. This office, by letting him too much behind the
curtain, and exposing too entirely the base machinery of ropes and pulleys, which
sustained the miserable jugglery played off upon the popular credulity, impressed
him perhaps even unduly with contempt for those who could be its dupes. . . . We
find that though sincerely a despiser of superstition, and with a frankness which
must sometimes have been hazardous in that age, Caesar was himself also super-
stitious. No man could have been otherwise who lived and conversed with that
generation and people. But if superstitious, he was so after a mode of his own. . . .
That he placed some confidence in dreams, for instance, is certain; because had
he slighted them unreservedly he would not have dwelt upon them afterwards, or
have troubled himself to recall their circumstances. Here we trace his himian
weakness. Yet again we are reminded that it was the weakness of Caesar; for
the dreams were noble in their imagery, and Caesarean (so to speak) in their tone
of moral feeling. Thus, for example, the night before he was assassinated he
dreamt at intervals that he was soaring above the clouds on wings, and that he
placed his hand within the right hand of Jove. . . . We are told that Calpumia
dreamed on the same night, and to the same ominous result. The circumstances
of her dream are less striking, because less figurative; but on that account its import
was less open to doubt. . . . Laying all these omens together, Caesar would have
been more or less than human had he continued utterly undepressed ' by them.
And if so much superstition as even this implies must be taken to argue some little
weakness, on the other hand, let it not be forgotten that this very weakness does
but the more illustrate the imusual force of mind, and the heroic will, which ob-
stinately laid aside these concurring prefigurations of impending destruction.
[On the subject of Cesar's superstition see also Merivale, ii, 353. De Quincy has,
I think, obtained his information from Suetonius, who mentions both Caesar's and

lOO THE TRACE DIE OF [act ii, sc. i.

Quite from the maine Opinion he held once, 220

Of Fantafie, of Dreames, and Ceremonies :

It may be, thefe apparant Prodigies,

The vnaccuftom'd Terror of this night,

And the perfwafion of his Augurers,

May hold him from the CapitoU to day. 225

Decius. Neuer feare that : If he be fo refolu'd,
I can ore-fway him : For he loues to heare,
That Vnicornes may be betray'd with Trees,
And Beares with Glaffes, Elephants with Holes, 229

220. maine\ mean M. Mason. 227. ore-^way\ oWe-Jway F4.

221. Fantafie] fantasies Hain. 227-232. For. ..flattered] Mnemonic
223. Terror] terrors Coll. MS (ap. Warb.

Cam.).

Calpurnia's dreams {Casar, ch. 81); Plutarch, the earliest historian, mentions
Calpurnia's only (Ccesar, ch. 43); as likewise does Appian; Dion Cassius ascribes
both dreams to Calpurnia (Bk, xliv, ch. 17). — Ed.]

220. maine Opinion] Johnson: That is, leading fixed, predominant opinion.

221. Fantasie] Murray (N. E. D., s. v. 4): Imagination; the process or the
faculty of forming mental representations of things not actually present. Also
personified. . . . In early use not clearly distinguished from [delusive imagination];
an exercise of poetic imagination being conventionally regarded as accompanied
by belief in the reality of what is imagined. [Compare also 1. 257 and III, iii, 3.]

221. Ceremonies] Murray (N. E. D., s. v. 5): A portent, omen (drawn from the
performance of some rite). [The present line and II, ii, 18 are quoted as examples
of this use of 'ceremony.']

227. I can ore-sway him] Verity calls attention to a reference in Bacon's
Essay, Of Friendship, to this power of Decimus Brutus to o'ersway Caesar. [It
is, perhaps, also worth noting that this Essay appeared first in the edition of 1607;
but when entirely rewritten for the edition of 1625 this paragraph, with many
others, was added (Arber, Harmony of the Essays, p. 169) perhaps on account of
the increasing popularity of the story of Julius Caesar. — Ed.]

228. That Vnicornes may be, etc.] Steevens: So in Spenser, 'Like as a lyon,
whose imperiall powre A prowd rebellious Unicorn defyes, T'avoide the rash
assault and wrathful stowre Of his fiers foe, him to a tree applyes, And when
him ronning in full course he spyes. He slips aside; the whiles that furious beast
His precious home, sought of his enimyes, Strikes in the stocke, ne thence can be
releast, But to the mighty Victor yields a bounteous feast.' — Bk, ii, canto v, verse
10. [Steevens also quotes a passage from Chapman's Biissy D'Ambois (ed. Pearson,
ii, 25), wherein is described the capture of a unicorn by a jeweller who used this
same method. — Ed.]

229. Beares with Glasses] Steevens: Bears are reported to have been sur-
prised by means of a mirror, which they would gaze on, affording their pursuers
an opportunity of taking the surer aim. — Grey (ii, 176) quotes the following com-
munication from Mr. Smith: 'Glais or glas in French signifies classicum; by only
changing "holes" into stoles, and then making it change places with "trees,"

ACT II. sc. i.] JVLIVS CjESAR ioi

Lyons with Toyles, and men with Flatterers. 230

But , when I tell him, he hates Flatterers,

He fayesjhe does; being then moft flattered.

Let me worke :

For I can giue his humour the true bent ;

And I will bring him to the Capitoll. 235

Caf, Nay, we will all of vs, be there to fetch him.

Bni. By the eight houre, is that the vttermoft?

Cin. Be that the vttermoft, and faile not then.

Met, Cains Ligarius doth beare CcBfar hard,
Who rated him for fpeaking well oi Pompey, 240

I wonder none of you haue thought of him.

Bru. Now good Mctelhis go along by him :
He loues me well, and I haue giuen him Reafons, 243

231. Flatlerers,] flatteries Warb. MS Let me alone to work Wordsworth,
(ap. Cam.), flatterers; Craik. flatterers: 237. eight] eighth F4.

Pope et cet. 239. hard] hatred Ff, Rowe, Pope,

232. flattered] flattered Dyce. Han. Cap.

233. Let me] Leave me to Vo^e,V joh. 242. hy] to Pope,+, Cap. Varr.
Han. Warb. Let me to Steev. conj. Ran.

with the alteration of "glasses" to glas, we shall probably have it as Shakespeare
wrote it.' Grey adds: 'Had Shakespeare wrote pards instead of "bears," the
image would have been more just with regard to "glasses." The manner of taking
them is beautifully described by the ingenious Mr Somervile, Chace, Bk, iii, 11.
294 et seq.' — Wright: Compare Batman vppon Bartholome (ed. 1582, fol. 384 b,
of the bear), 'And when he is taken he is made blinde with a bright basin, and bound
with chaynes, and compelled to playe.' This, however, probably refers to the
actual blinding of the bear. The original Latin has 'pelvis ardentis aspectu
excecatur.'

229. Elephants with Holes] 'In Africa they take them [elephants] in pit-falls;
but as soon as an elephant gets into one, the others immediately collect boughs of
trees and pile up heaps of earth, so as to form a mound, and then endeavor with
all their might to drag it out.' — Pliny, Nat. Hist., Bk, viii, ch. 8.

231. But, when I tell him] Craik (p. 230): The import of the 'For,' with which
Decius introduces his statement, is not seen till we come to his 'But when,' etc.,
which, therefore, ought not, as is commonly done, to be separated from what pre-
cedes by as strong a point as the colon — the substitute of the modern editors for
the full stop of the Folio.

236. there] Wright: 'There' must mean at Caesar's house.

239. Caius Ligarius] Verity: His praenomen was Quintus, not 'Caius.'
In the Life of M. Brutus Plutarch calls him ' Caius,' but Quintus in the Life of
Octavius. Ligarius had taken Pompey's side against Caesar, and after the battle
of Pharsalia was banished from Italy.

239. beare Caesar hard] See I, ii, 337, for a note on the meaning of this phrase.

242. by him] Malone: That is, by his house. Make that your way home.

243. Reasons] Walker {Crit., i, 250) gives this as an example of the interpola-

I02 THE TRACED IE OF [act ii, sc. i.

Send him but hither, and He fafhion him.

Caf. The morning comes vpon's : 245

Wee'l leaue you Bnitus,

And Friends difperfe your felues; but all remember
What you haue faid, and fhew your felues true Romans.

Bni. Good Gentlemen, looke frefh and merrily,
Let not our lookes put on our purpofes, 250

But beare it as our Roman A6lors do,
With vntyr'd Spirits, and formall Conftancie,
And fo good morrow to you euery one. Exeunt.

Manet Brutus.
Boy : Lucius : Faft afleepe? It is no matter, 255

Enioy the hony-heauy-Dew of Slumber :

245, 246. One line Rowe et seq. Pope, honey heauy dew Johns. Dyce.

245. vpon's] upon us Cap. Varr. Mai. heavy honey-dew Coll. ii, iii. (MS), Craik,

Steev. Varr. Sing. Knt, Ktly. Dyce ii, iii. honey-heavy dew Theob. et

256. hony-heauy-Dew] Ff, Rowe, cet.

tion of a final s in the Folio, which 'error,' says Walker, 'is frequent in this play.' —
Dyce, in his second edition, adopts Walker's correction, remarking that 'here
assuredly the old reading is not to be defended by a later passage: "you shall give
me reasons Why and wherein Caesar was dangerous." — III, i, 246.' — Hudson,
in his second and third editions, also follows Walker's correction; which, at least in
the present line, seems quite unnecessary; 'reasons' is a more forcible expression
than the mention of only one cause for the good will of Ligarius. — Ed.

249. fresh and merrily] For examples of this construction, wherein but one of
two adverbs has the adverbial termination, see, if needful, Abbott, § 397.

250. Let not . . . our purposes] Craik (p. 231): That is, such expression as
would betray our purposes. Compare 'To beguile the time Look like the time
. . . look like the innocent flower, But be the serpent under it.' — Macbeth, I, v,
64-67. Also: 'Away and mock the time with fairest show, False face must hide
what the false heart doth know.' — Ibid., I, vii, 81. — Wright: Brutus himself fol-
lowed the counsel which he gave to others. ' When he was out of his house, he did
so frame and fashion his countenance and looks that no man could discern he had
anything to trouble his mind.' — Plutarch, Brutus, ed. Skea.t, p. 115. Compare 'So
is he now, in Execution Of any bold, or noble enterprize, However he puts on this
tardy form.' — I, ii, 319.

256. hony-heauy-Dew] Collier (Emendations, etc., p. 425): The compound
unquestionably is not 'honey-heavy,' but honey-dew, a well-known glutinous de-
posit upon the leaves of trees, etc.; the compositor was guilty of a transposition,
and ought to have printed the line in this form: 'heavy honey-dew.' Such is the
manuscript emendation. — [Craik (p. 231) thinks the two hyjjhens in the Folio
are evidence of some confusion or indistinctness in the original manuscript, 'perhaps
occasioned by an interlineation.' — Dyce explains 'honey heavy' as that which is
both 'honeyed and heavy'; and Grant White explains it as 'slumber which is as
refreshing as dew, and whose heaviness is sweet.' — Rolfe (ap. Craik, p. 232) quotes,

ACT II, sc. i.] IVLIVS C^SAR IO3

Thou haft no Figures, nor no Fantafies, 257

Which bufie care drawes, in the braines of men ;
Therefore thou fleep'ft fo found.

Enter Portia. 260

Par, Bj'utiis , my Lord.

Bru. Portia: What meane youPwherfore rife you now?
It IS not for your health, thus to commit
Your weake condition, to the raw cold morning.

Por. Nor for yours neither. Y'haue vngently Brutus 265
Stole from my bed : and yefternight at Supper
You fodainly arofe , and walk'd about,
iMufing, and fighing, with your armes a-croffe ;
And when I ask'd you what the matter was,
You ftar'd vpon me, with vngentle lookes. 270

I vrg'd you further, then you fratch'd your head,

260. Scene hi. Pope,+, Jen. 265-279. Mnemonic Warb.

Portia] Porcia Theob. Warb. 265. Y'haue] Ff. You've Rowe,+,

Johns. Dyce, Craik, Sta. Wh. Cam.+. You

264. raw cold] raw-cold Steev. Varr. have Var. '73 et cet.

Sing. Knt, Ktly, Dyce ii, iii, Huds. 266. Stole] stol'n Johns. Var. '73.

Coll. iii. 267. fodainly] fuddenly F3F4.

271. further] farther Coll. Hal. WTi.

in support of Collier's MS, a passage from Titus And., Ill, i, 112, wherein the
words 'honey-dew' appear. — Ed.]

257- Figures] Murray {N.E.D., s.v. II, 9. b): An imaginary form, a phan-
tasm. Merry Wives, IV, n, 2$i: 'To scrape the figures out of your husbands
braines.'

257. Fantasies] See line 221, above; also III, iii, 3.

265. Y'haue vngently, etc.] Mrs Jameson (ii, 239): The situation is exactly
similar [here to that between Hotspur and Lady Percy in i Hen. IV: II, iii, 76-
120]; the topics of remonstrance are nearly the same; the sentiments and the style
as opposite as are the characters of the two women. Lady Percy is evidently
accustomed to win more from her fier>- lord by caresses than by reason; he loves
her in his rough way, 'as Harry Percy's wife,' but she has no real influence over
him; he has no confidence in her. . . . Lady Percy has no character, properly so
called; whereas that of Portia is very distinctly and faithfully drawn from the
outline furnished by Plutarch. Lady Percy's fond upbraidings, and her half-
playful, half-pouting entreaties, scarcely gain her husband's attention. Portia, with
true matronly dignity and tenderness, pleads her right to share her husband's
thoughts and proves it too. [Dowden (Mind and Art, p. 298) also contrasts these
two scenes, remarking that ' the relation of husband and wife, as conceived in the
historical plays, differs throughout from that relation as conceived in the tragedies.']

266. Stole] The only other instance of Shakespeare's use of this form of the
participle is in Macbeth, II, iii, 73: ' — sacriligious murder hath broke ope The
lord's anointed temple and stole thence The life of the building.' — Ed.

104 ^^-^ TRACED IE OF [act ii, sc. i.

And too impatiently ftampt with your foote : 272

Yet I infifled, yet you anfwer'd not,

But with an angry wafter of your hand

Gaue figne for me to leaue you : So I did, 275

Fearing to ftrengthen that impatience

Which feem'd too much inkindled ; and withall,

Hoping it was but an effefl of Humor,

Which fometime hath his houre with euery man.

It will not let you eate, nor talke, nor fleepe ; 280

And could it worke fo much vpon your fhape,

As it hath much preuayl'd on your Condition,

I fhould not know you Brntus, Deare my Lord,

Make me acquainted with your caufe of greefe.

Bru. I am not well in health, and that is all. 285

Por, Brutus is wife, and were he not in health,
He would embrace the meanes to come by it.

Bni. Why fo I do : good Portia go to bed.

Por. Is Brutus ficke ? And is it Phyficall
To walke vnbraced, and fucke vp the humours 290

Of the danke Morning ? What, is Brutus ficke?
And will he fteale out of his wholfome bed
To dare the vile contagion of the Night ?
And tempt the Rhewmy,and vnpurged Ayre, 294

274. wafter] wafture Rowe et seq. sick; Var. '73 et cet.

283. you Brntus] Fi. you Brutus 290. vnbraced] unbraced Dyce.

FjFj. you, Brutus F4. 291. danke] darke or dark Ff.

289-291. ficke? ...ficke?] Ff, Rowe, 293. Night?] night, Knt, Coll. Dyce,

Pope, Theob. Warb. Johns. sick,... Sta. Wh. Hal. Cam. ii. night

sick, Han. Coll. Dyce, Sta. Wh. Hal. Cam. i.

Cam.+. sick;. .. sick; Cz.Y>.]&n. sick?... dg^. vnpurged] unpurged Dyce.

274. wafter] Wright compares, for this spelling of the Folios, rounder for
'roundure,' in King John, H, i, 259; in both cases it is, possibly, phonetic.

279. his] Any discussion on this use of the personal possessive pronoun, and the
gradual adoption of the neuter form its, belongs to the history of the language rather
than to Shakespearean usage; the student is, therefore, referred to Murray {N.E.
D., s.v. Its). — Ed.

282. Condition] Murray (N. E. D.,s.v. ii): Mental disposition, cast of mind;
character, moral nature; disposition, temper. [Schmidt (Lc.x.) furnishes numerous
examples of this use of 'condition.']

287. come by it] Compare ' But how I caught it, found it, or came by it . , .
I am to learn.' — Mer. of Ven., I, i, 3.

294. Rhewmy] Craigie (N. E. D., s. v. 3): Moist, damp, wet; especially of the
air. [The present line quoted as earliest use of the word. Craigie compares the

ACT II. sc. i.] IVLIVS CjESAR 105

To addc vnto hit fickneffe ? No my Brutus, 295

You haue fome ficke Offence within your minde,

Which by the Right and Vertuc of my place

I ought to know of : And vpon my knees,

I charme you, by my once commended Beauty,

By all your vowes of Loue, and that great Vow 300

Which did incorporate and make vs one,

That you vnfold to me, your felfe; your halfe

Why you are heauy : and what men to night

Haue had refort to you : for heere haue beene

Some fixe or feuen, who did hide their faces 305

Euen from darkneffe.

Bni. Kneele not gentle Portia.

Por. I fhould not neede, if you were gentle Brutus.
Within tho Bond of Marriage, tell me Brutus,
Is it excepted, I fnould know no Secrets 310

That appertaine to you ? Am I your Selfe,

295. hii[ Fi. 302. yotir felfe] Ff, +, Cap. yourself

299. charme] charge Pope, Han. Johns, et cet.

once cotnmetided] once-com- 307. [Raising her. Capell.

mended Pope,+, Dyce. 309. tho] Fi.

adjective rheumatic as applied to 'weather, places: Inducing or having a tendency
to produce (a) catarrhal affections, {b) rheumatism.']

299. I charme you] Steevens, in defence of this reading [see Text. Notes],
compares ' — tis your graces That from my mutest conscience to my tongue
Charms this report out.' — Cymheline, I, vi, 117. — Craik (p. 235), referring to this
comparison, says: 'This is merely the common application of the verb to charm in
the sense of to produce any kind of effect, as it were, by incantation. "Charm" is
from carmen, as incantation or enchantment is from cano. In the passage before us,
"I charm you" (if such be the reading) must mean I adjure or conjure you.' —
Murray (iV. E. D., s. v. verb. 6): To conjure, entreat (a person) in some potent
name, quotes the present line; also: '1599. T. M[oufet] Silkewormes 16, She Pyram
drencht and then thus charmes: Speakeloue, O speake, how hapned this to thee?'
—Ed.

302. your selfe] The later mode of printing 'your self as one word seems to me
wrong; it makes Portia ask Brutus, and not another person, to tell her why he is
heavy, but is not 'self here in apposition to 'me'? Does she not mean that she is
his self, just as she goes on to say that she is his 'half,' and as, indeed, she does call
herself in I. 311?: 'Am I your self?' — Ed.

308. gentle Brutus] Staunton's comma after 'gentle' detracts somewhat from
the force of Portia's reply. Brutus has called her 'gentle Portia,' and she answers
that she would not have to kneel if he were gentle also. — Wright hkewise calls
attention to this change in punctuation. — Ed.

I06 THE TRACED IE OF [act ii. sc. i.

But as it were in fort, or limitation ? 312

To keepe with you at Meales, comfort your Bed,

And talke to you fometimes? Dwell I but in the Suburbs 314

312. limilation?] Ff, Rowe, Pope, Johns.

Theob. Han. Warb. Ktly. Ihnitation, 314. to you] t'you Walker (Crit. i,

Johns. Dyce, Sta. Cam.+. limitation; 221).

Cap. et cet. fometimes] Om. Pope, Han.

313. comfort] consort Theob. Han. zn ^/rc] /'//;' Walker (Crit. i, 221).

312. in sort, or limitation] Schmidt (Lex., s. v. sort, subst. 5): In a certain
manner and with restrictions.

313. To keepe with you, etc.] Malone calls attention to a passage in Lord
Stirling's Play, Julius CcBsar, wherein both the author and Shakespeare follow
North's Plutarch in this scene; likewise at 1. 324 we find that Stirling paraphrases
Plutarch as does Shakespeare, and again in the scene between Ligarius and Brutus,
346 et seq. Any similarity of thought is, of course, accounted for by the fact
that both were using the same authority. — Ed.

313. comfort] Murray (N. E. D., s. v. verb. 5): To minister delight or pleasure
to; to gladden, cheer, please, entertain. [The present line quoted.]

314. And talke . . . the Suburbs] Walker {Crit., i, 221) suggests that 'to
you' and 'in the' be read t^you and i'th' and the accent placed on the second syllable
of ' sometimes,' in order that this line be metrically correct. — Craik, independently
of Walker, proposes the same elisions. Prosodically, this line is obviously wrong;
the rhythm is, however, really smooth, and rather than mutilate it, would it not be
better to divide the line into two impassioned sentences? And yet, after all, in the
mouth of an accomplished actress it could be uttered musically and no discord
felt.— Ed.

314. in the Suburbs] Steevens: Perhaps here is an allusion to the place in
which the harlots of Shakespeare's age resided. So, in Beaumont and Fletcher'3
Monsieur Thomas: 'Get a new mistress. Some suburb saint, that si.xpence, and
some oaths, Will draw to parley,' [II, i; ed. Dyce, p. 335]. — Nares (s. v. Subtirbs):
The general resort of disorderly persons in fortified towns, and in London also. . . .
We find in the classics that it was the same in ancient times. See Beaumont and
Fletcher, Humorous Lieutenant, I, i; Massinger's Emperor of the East, where the
Mignion of the Suburbs is a prominent character (I, ii.). . . . This will sufficiently
explain the question of Portia to Brutus in Jul Cces. — Wright: Portia claims the
freedom of one who is a full citizen. . . . Gosson {Schoole of Abuse) ssiys: 'They [har-
lots] either couch them selves in Allyes, or blind Lanes, or take sanctuary in fryeries,
or Hue a mile from the Cittie like Venus nunnes in a Cloyster at Newington, Rat-
liffe, Islington, Hogsdon, or some such place.' — ed. Arber, p. 36. [The whole phrase,
'Dwell I but in the suburbs Of your good pleasure,' may be compared to the fol-
lowing from Sidney's Arcadia: ' — then she listed no longer stay in the suburbs
of her foolish desires, but directly entred upon them,' Bk ii, ch. 20; ed. 1590, p.
192. This refers to the attempts of Andromana to get Pyrocles into her power, by
fair means or foul, and the metaphor is taken from an army's advance upon a city or
town. Whiter, in his excellent study of the association of ideas, shows that fre-
quently, with Shakespeare, a word is sufficient to suggest a new train of thought;
in the present passage we have, I think, an example: 'Harlot' is the word which

ACT II, sc. i.] IVLIVS C^SAR ^oy

Of your good pleafure ? If it be no more, 315

Portia is Bridus Harlot, not his Wife,

Bni. You are my true and honourable Wife,
As deere to me, as are the ruddy droppes
That vifit my fad heart. 319

Plutarch puts in the mouth of Portia in this scene; their usual place of resort was
the outlying districts, as has been shown, hence the word 'suburbs.' The phrase
quoted from the Arcadia shows, moreover, that the idea is not as extraordinary as
at first it might seem, and may be used without the slightest reference to dissolute
life— Ed.]

317. You are my . . . Wife] Boas (p. 467): This absolute communion of
soul is in designed contrast to the shallow relation of Caesar and Calpumia. The
dictator treats his wife as a child to be himioured or not according to his caprice,
but Portia assumes that, 'by the right and virtue of her place,' she is entitled to
share her husband's inmost thoughts. Brutus discloses to her the secret which lies
so heavily upon his breast, and we know that this secret is inviolably safe in her
keeping.

318,319. ruddy droppes . . . my sad heart] T. Nimmo, in a communication
to the Shakespeare Society, dated 16 June, 1844, calls attention to this passage,
wherein, he thinks, there is ' a distinct reference to the circulation of the blood, which
was not announced to the world until after the death of Shakespeare. Harvey,'
continues Nimmo, 'is supposed to have brought forward his views ... in 1618,
but their actual publication . . . was in 1628. There is, however, a MS in the
British Museum, entitled De Anatome Universali, dated April, 1616, ... in which
the germ of his great discovery is to be found.' Nimmo considers that this may help
to establish the date of composition of Jul. Cces., which would thus be made later
than 1603 — the generally accepted date. 'Harvey's ideas on [the circulation of the
blood],' Nimmo says, 'had their origin while he was a student at Padua from
1599 to 1602, when he returned to England. Is it then impossible that Harvey . . .
may have acquainted Shakespeare with these great ideas? . . . There appears to me
to nm through the whole play a more medical spirit than is to be found in any other
of his works; as if he had been discoursing with Har\^ey. ... It is really surprising,
too, how often the blood is referred to in the course of the play.' — T. J. Pettigrew
wrote a reply to the foregoing communication, in the course of which he takes
exception to some of the statements by Nimmo; in particular in regard to the MS
dated 1616 and said to be in the British Museum, which, Pettigrew says, diligent
search both by himself and Sir Frederick Madden has thus far failed to produce.
'The only volume at all like that referred to is one in the Sloane Collection, No. 486,
entitled Observaliones AnatomiccB, and dated 1627; but the notes are upon the
muscles and nerves, not upon the blood-vessels.' He adds: 'Having gone through
the whole of the MS, I can affirm that there is not a single passage in it which relates
to the circulation. . . . Other anatomists appear to have been on the confines of
the discovery, but not to have developed it. To Harvey alone is due the discovery.
. . . Servetus [whose Christianismi Restitutio appeared in 1553] certainly knew
the nature of the pulmonic circulation, and he was well acquainted with the manner
in which the blood passed from one ventricle of the heart to the other before it
went through the general circulation. These being the opinions with regard to the
distribution of the blood in the time of Shakespeare are sufficient to account for the

I08 THE TRAGEDIE OF [act ii, sc. i.

[318, 319. ruddy droppes That visit my sad heart]

allusions . . . referred to by Nimmo. There is no evidence given that Shakespeare
knew Harvey; and as Shakespeare died in 1616, when the first ideas of Harvey
upon the subject were promulgated at the college, he could not, through that
medium, have been acquainted with it; but if the date 1603 [for the composition
of Jul. C<zs\ be the correct one, it is quite clear that Shakespeare could not have
then known Harvey, for he must at that time have been abroad; and . . . there
are no traces in any of his writings to show that he had then entertained any par-
ticular views upon the nature of the circulation.' (Sh. Soc. Papers, pt ii, pp. 109-
113.) — BucKNiLL {Med. Knowledge, etc., p. 215): There are several passages in
the plays in which the presence of blood in the heart is quite as distinctly referred
to as in this speech of Brutus, [and these] prove that Shakespeare entertained the
Galenical doctrine . . . that although the right side of the heart was visited by
the blood, the function of the heart and its proper vessels, the arteries, was the
distribution of the vital spirits. Shakespeare believed, indeed, in the flow of the
blood, . . . but he considered that it was the liver, and not the heart, which was
the cause of the flow. There is not, in my opinion, in Shakespeare a trace of any
knowledge of the circulation of the blood. [In corroboration of the foregoing note
by Bucknill, in regard to the knowledge of the flow of the blood, among the writers
contemporary with Shakespeare, the following from Marlowe's Tamburlaine, the
Great, 1590, seems apposite: 'A deadly bullet, gliding through my side. Lies heavy
on my heart; I cannot live. I feel my liver pierced, and all my veins. That there
begin and nourish every part, Mangled and torn, and all my entrails bathed In
blood that straineth from their orifex.' — Pt ii. III, iv, 4-9. — Ed.] — Da Costa (p. 37)
gives the following account of the steps which led Harvey to his discovery and
just what that discovery was in regard to the motion of the blood: 'He [Harvey]
finds, contrary to the opinions commonly received, that the heart when it contracts
is emptied. He sees that as it becomes tense the blood is expelled; he observes
that as it receives blood. Every time the heart contracts the pulse is felt. When
the right ventricle contracts and propels its charge of blood, the pulmonary is
distended simultaneously with the other arteries of the body. He notices that the
auricle on the right side of the heart contracts at the same time as that on the
left, and that subsequently both ventricles contract. Why should both ventricles
contract for the sole purpose of nourishing the lungs? asks his intelligence. It is
against every evidence of design in nature to be so wasteful of structure and force.
Why, too, is there a great artery taking its origin from the left heart? It can but
be for the complete distribution of the blood to all parts of the body. Light has
dawned. The heart is the propelling engine; the right ventricle is made for the
sake of the lungs chiefly, the left, for the general circulation. Good anatomist as he
is, he knows that channels of communication between the right and left heart,
through the heart walls, are mere fanciful assumptions. He thinks of the valves
of the heart; of the valves in the veins, which his old teacher Fabricius has pointed
out to him. He knows that an artery differs in the strength and thickness of its
coats from a vein. He finds evidence in all this of regulating flow; of preventing
return; of sustaining the shock of the impelling heart and streaming blood. He
makes experiments by tying the aorta at the base of the heart and opening the
carotids; they are empty, the veins are full. The arteries receive, then, no blood
except by transmission through the heart, is his conclusion. The left heart, he has
found, gets its changed nutritive blood after the blood has passed through the

ACT II, sc. i.] IVLIVS CAESAR IO9

Par. If this were true, then fliould I know this|fecret. 320
I graunt I am a Woman; but withall,
A Woman that Lord Brutus tooke to Wife :
I graunt I am a Woman ; but withall,
A Woman well reputed : Catd's Daughter.

Thinke you, I am no ftronger then my Sex 325

Being fo Fathered, and fo Husbanded?
Tell me your Counfels, I will not difclose 'em :
I haue made ftrong proofe of my Conftancie,
Gluing my felfe a voluntary wound
Heere,in the Thigh : Can I beare that with patience, 330

324. reputed: Cato's] reputed Cato's 327. 'em\ Jen. Dyce, Craik. em F3. /^ ^4/^^

Warb. Johns. Var. '73, Coll. i, Sta. them F4 et cet. ^ -^

lungs, " the workshop of its last perfection. " The blood is thrown with each con-
traction of the left ventricle into the arterial system, and as the contractions are so
frequent a large quantity is passed on in a short space of time. The veins would
be drained; the ingested aliment could never rapidly and efficiently enough supply
them with blood, which goes on so quickly into the arteries. These, strong as they
are, would burst unless relieved. "There must be motion, as it were, in a circle."
The circulation is discovered. . . . The old fabric of fanciful hypothesis has been
shivered; a great, simple truth has been established.' Da Costa quotes several
passages from Shakespeare (among them the present line) which 'seem to prove
that Shakespeare understood the circulation of the blood in advance of Harvey';
he arrives, however, at the same conclusion as does Bucknill, given above, that these
passages simply show Shakespeare's knowledge of the pulmonary circulation, and
to the presumed movement of the blood in the veins. And that there is nothing
'which can be twisted to make it clear that he knew anything of the real circula-
tion,— of the circuit of the blood.' The passages quoted 'certainly prove Shake-
speare,' says Da Costa, ' to have been as far-seeing a physiologist as any of his age,
with the single exception of Harvey.'

324. well reputed : Cato's Daughter] Capell {Notes, p. 103): The words that
follow this compound are declarative of the sense 'tis confined to, giving it in the
way that is most pleasing, namely, by implication; the speaker was 'well-reputed'
for qualities she might be thought to inherit, and that fitted her to be partaker of
what she solicited; general goodness was neither thought of nor should be; though
that turn is given it by a contender for removing the comma, the last modern,
[Warburton] a removal the Poet seems to have guarded against by using a greater
stop than was necessary, — a full colon, — if that stop be from him. — Henley: By
the expression 'well-reputed' she refers to the estimation in which she was held
as being the wife of Brutus; whilst the addition, Cato's daughter, implies that
she might be expected to inherit the patriotic virtues of her father. It is with propriety,
therefore, that she immediately asks: 'Think you, I am no stronger than my sex,
Being so father'd, and so husbanded?' — Craik: (p. 238) It is interesting to note
what we have here in the Mer. of Few., 'Her name is Portia; nothing undervalued
To Cato's daughter, Brutus' Portia.'— I, i, 165. The Mer. of Ven. had certainly
been written by 1598.

no THE TRACED IE OF [act ii, sc. i.

And not my Husbands Secrets ? 331

Bm. O ye Gods !
Render me worthy of this Noble Wife. Knockc.

Harke, harke, one knockes : Portia go in a while,
And by and by thy bofome fhall partake 335

The fecrets of my Heart.
All my engagements, I will conftrue to thee,
All the Charra6lery of my fad browes :
Leaue me with haft. Exit Portia.

Enter Lucius and Ligarius. 340

Lucius, who's that knockes.

Luc. Heere is a ficke man that would fpeak with you.

Bm. Cuius Ligarius, that Mctcllus fpake of.
Boy,ftand afide. Caius Ligarius, how?

Cai. Vouchfafe good morrow from a feeble tongue. 345

331. Secrets] secret Cap. conj. Sing. Huds. who is that, Mai. Varr.

341. who's that] who' there that Pope, Coll. Hal. Wh. i. who isH that Ran.
+ . who's that that Cap. Walker (Crit. 343. [Aside. Cap.

iii, 246). who is that Var. '73, '78, '85, 344. [Exit Luc. Cap.

333. Render me . . . this Noble Wife] MacCallum (p. 326): What insight
Shakespeare shows even in his omissions! This is the prayer of Plutarch's Brutus
too, but he lifts up his hands and beseeches the gods that he may ' bring his enter-
prise to so goode passe that he mighte be founde a husband worthy of so noble a
wife as Porcia.' Shakespeare's Brutus does not view his worthiness as connected
with any material success. And these words are also an evidence of his humble-
mindedness. However aggressive and overbearing he may appear in certain rela-
tions, we never fail to see his essential modesty. If he interferes, as often enough
he does, to bow others to his will, it is not because he is self-conceited, but because
he is convinced that a particular course is right; and where right is concerned a man
must come forward to enforce it.

338. Charractery] Murray {N. E. D.,s.v.): Expression of thought by symbols
or characters; the characters or symbols collectively. [The present line quoted.]

339-341. Leaue me . . . that knockes] Cr.aik (p. 239): It is unnecessary
to suppose that the two broken lines were intended to make a whole between them.
They are best regarded as distinct hemistichs.

341. who's that knockes] For other examples of the omission of the relative,
see, if needful, Abbott, § 244. At the same time it is not impossible, I think,
that there is here, perhaps, an absorption of the words is 't that may accoimt for
this omission. — Ed.

345. Vouchsafe good morrow] Abbott (§ 382) quotes the present line as an
illustration of an ellipsis of the words to receive; according to Skeat {Diet., s. v:)
the original meaning of 'vouchsafe' is 'sanction or allow without danger, conde-
scend to grant.' He quotes: '"Vowche sauf that his sone hire wedde," Will, of
Palerne, 1449.' The ellipsis is, therefore, only apparent. — Ed.

ACT II. sc. i.] IVLIVS CyESAR 1 1 1

Bnt. O what a time haue you chofe out braue Cuius. 346
To weare a Kerchiefe ? Would you were not ficke.

Cai. I am not ficke, \i Brutics haue in hand
Any exploit worthy the name of Honor.

Bru. Such an exploit haue I in hand Ligarius, 350

Had you a healthfull eare to heare of it.

Cat. By all the Gods that Romans bow before,
I heere difcard my fickneffe. Soule of Rome,
Braue Sonne, deriu'd from Honourable Loines,
Thou like an Exorcift, haft coniur'd vp 355

My mortified Spirit. Now bid me runne,
And I will flriue with things impoffible," 357

347. Woxild] 'Would Warb. Johns. 352. that] the Rowe ii,+.

Cap. Varr. Mai. Ran. Steev. Sing. Knt, 353. [Throwing away his bandage.

Wh. i, Ktly. Coll. ii.

351. a] a« F4, Rowe,+. 356. mortified] mortified Dyce.

346-356. O what a time . . . My mortified Spirit] In Plutarch's account
it is Brutus who visits Ligarius, but in other respects Shakespeare closely follows
his authority. '[Brutus] said unto him, "Ligarius, in what a time art thou sick?"
Ligarius, rising up in his bed and taking him by the right hand, said unto him,
"Brutus," said he, "if thou hast any great enterprise in -hand worthy of thyself,
I am whole. " '—Ij/e of Brutus, § 7; (ed. Skeat, p. 113).

347. To weare a Kerchiefe] Malone: It was a common practice in England
for those who were sick to wear a kerchief on their heads, and still continues
among the common people in many places. 'If,' says Fuller, ' this county [Cheshire]
hath bred no writers in that faculty [physic], the wonder is the less, if it be true what
I read, that if any here be sick, " they make him a posset, and tie a kerchief on his
head; and if that will not mend him, then God be merciful to him!" But be this
understood of the common people, the gentry having the help (no doubt) of the
learned in that profession.' — Worthies: Cheshire, p. 180, [Ed. Nuttall, i, 276; in a
foot-note the editor gives as the reference for Fuller's quotation: William Smith,
Vale Royal, p. 16. — Ed.]

355. Exorcist] MuRR.w {N. E. D., s. v. 2): One who calls, or pretends to call,
up spirits by magical rites. [The present line quoted; also, Burton, Anat. of
Melancholy, 'The knavish impostures of Juglers, Exorcists, Mass-Priests and
Mountebanks,' I, iii, III. ed., 1651, where 'Exorcist,' from its connection ".-ith
'mass-priests,' may possibly mean, as given by Murray under i, b, 'the third
of one of the four lesser orders in the Roman Catholic Church. Shakespeare uses
this word, as well as exorciser and exorcism, with the same meaning of raising, not
laying spirits.— M. Mason, in a note on the present line, remarks that he beheves
Shakespeare to be 'singular in his acceptation of it.' — Ed.]

356. mortified] Bradley (.V. E. D., s. v. 3): Deadened, numb, insensible.
[The present line quoted.]— Walker {Crit., II, 35) gives several examples of other
verbs ending in fied, wherein, for the sake of the metre, the final ed is pronounced
as a separate syllable.

112 THE TRACED IE OF [act ii. sc. i.

Yea get the better of them. What's to do? 358

Dru. A peece of worke,
That will make ficke men whole. 360

Cai. But are not fome whole, that we muft make ficke?

Bru. That muft we alfo. What it is my Cams,
I fhall vnfold to thee , as we are going,
To whom it muft be done.

Cai. Set on your foote, 365

And with a heart new-fir d, I follow you,
To do I know not what : but it fufficeth
That Brutus leads me on. Thunder,

Bru, Follow me then. Exetint 369

358. Fea] Fe^Roweii,+ ( — Var. '73). 363, 364. going, To whom] going To

359, 360. One line Rowe et seq. whom Cap. Var. '78, '85, Mai. Steev.

362. mujl we] we must Theob. ii,+. Varr. Knt.

363, 364. going, To whom] Craik (p. 240): That is, while we are on our way
to those whom it must be done to. The ellipsis is the same as in ' From that it is
disposed,' I, ii, 334. I do not understand how the words are to be interpreted if
we are to separate 'going' from what follows by a comma, as in the Folio. [See
Text. Notes.] — Wright: As we had in 1. 341 an instance of the relative absorbed
in the demonstrative, [which, be it remembered, was somewhat doubtful,] we have
here an example of the contrary. ... If the Folio reading be retained, we must
take ' To whom it must be done'as a repetition of 'What it is?'inl.362. — Verity:
By the ellipsis Brutus purposely leaves Ligarius in doubt whether to him or to
them 'to whom' is meant to refer; the latter would be untrue, while the former
would show at once that Caesar was meant. [Are not the words *as we are going'
parenthetical? Another example occurs in the present play in V, v, 57, where
Brutus says to Strato, 'Hold then my sword, and turne away thy face, While
I do run upon it,' which, if taken in its literal construction, presents an extra-
ordinary picture of Brutus's intention. — Ed.]

365. Set on your foote] Wright compares 'I will set this foot of mine as far
As who goes farthest,' — I, iii, 130; and also a passage from North's Plutarch,
wherein Martius is mentioned as 'being ever the foremost that did set out feet to
fight.' — Life of Coriolanus, § 9; ed. Skeat, p. 15. — Ed.

366. new-fir'd] Murray {N. E. D., s. v. fire, vb. 3): Fig. To set (a person) on
fire; to inspire with passion or strong feeling or desire; to inflame, heat, animate.
Also, to kindle or inflame (a passion, etc.).

368,369. Thunder . . . Exeunt] Mark Hunter: This seems a not ineffective bit
of stage business, as symbolical of the desperate and fatal undertaking on which Bru-
tus had set out. The First Folio was printed from a stage copy, and the direction
was perhaps only a player's insertion; but it is not on that account without interest.

369. Exeunt] E. Whitney {NewEnglander Maga., Oct., 18S6, p. 867) suggests the
following divisions of Acts in place of those as given in the Folio: 'The First Act
should terminate at the end of the first scene of the Second Act; the Second Act,
at the end of the first scene of the Third Act; the third Act, at the end of the Third
Act of the common editions. The Fourth and Fifth Acts should remain as they are.*

ACT II, sc. ii.] IVLIVS CAESAR Hj

[Scene 11.^

Thunder & Liglitning. I

Enter lulius Ccefar in his Night-gowne.

Ccefar. Nor Heauen, nor Earth,
Haue beene at peace to night :

Thrice hath Calphirnia, in her fleepe crycd out, 5

Helpe, ho : They murther Ccs/ar. Who's within?

Enter a Ser'uant.

Ser. My Lord.

Ccrf. Go bid the Priefts do prefent Sacrifice,
And bring me their opinions of Succeffe. 10

Ser. I will my Lord. Exit

Enter Calphnrnia.

Gr/.What mean you Cce/ar} Think you to walk forth ?
You Ihall not ftirre out of your houfe to day.

Ccb/. C(2far fhall forth; the things that threaten'd me, 15
Ne're look'd but on my backe : When they fhall fee
The face of Cce/ar, they are vanifhed. 17

Scene n. Rowe. Scene iv. Pope, 4-, 3- Heauen] heav'n Rowe,+.

Jen. 5. Calphurnia] Calpumia. ^Vh. i,

Caesar's Palace. Rowe,+. A Room Craik, Glo. Cam.+, Rolfe (through-

in Caesar's Palace. Cap. et seq. (subs.) out).

2. in his Night-gowne] Om. Pope, +, 15. threatened] threatned Rowe,+.
Cap. threaten Walker (Crit. iii, 246) , Huds. iii.

3, 4. One line Rowe et seq. 16. look'd] look Huds. iii.

3,4. Nor Heauen, nor Earth, Haue] Craik (p. 241): The strict grammatical
principle would, of course, require has been; but where, as here, the two singular
substantives are looked at together by the mind, it is more natural to regard them
as making a plurality, and to use the plural verb, notwithstanding the disjimctive
conjunction (as it is sometimes oddly designated). — Wright: In other cases where
'Nor . . . nor' is equivalent to neither . . . nor, they are followed by a singular
verb. For instance: 'Nor God, nor I, delights in perjured men.' — Love's Labour's,
V, ii, 346; 'But since Nor brass nor stone nor parchment bears not one.' — Winter's
Tale, I, ii, 360. 'Sith nor the exterior nor the inward man Resembles what it
was.' — Hamlet, II, ii, 6. On the other hand, the plural occurs in Sonnet cxli, 7:
'Nor tender feeling, to base touches prone. Nor taste nor smell desire to be invited.'

10. Successe] Wright: Here, and in V, iii, 73, 'success' denotes good fortune;
but in many cases it is a colourless word, signifying merely issue, result, which has
to be qualified by some adjective, as good or ill.

IS, 17. Caesar . . . Caesar] Rumelin (p. 11) is of the opinion that Shake-
speare is somewhat at fault in thus making Caesar refer to himself in the third
8

114 THE TRACED IE OF [act ii, sc. ii.

Calp. Ccsfar, I neuer ftood on Ceremonies, i8

Yet now they fright me : There is one within,
Befides the things that we haue heard and feene, 20

Recounts moft horrid fights feene by the Watch.
A Lionneffe hath whelped in the flreets,
And Graues haue yawn'd, and yeelded vp their dead ;
Fierce fiery Warriours fight vpon the Clouds 24

22. whelped] whelped Dyce. 24. fight] fought Wh. i, Dyce ii, iii,

Coll. iii. did fight Ktly.

person. — To this view Schone (p. 16, foot-note) dissents, remarking that: 'In no
better way could the poet have indicated the pride and self-confidence of the
man aspiring to royalty, and he has thus devised a suitable means of introducing
the name of Ceesar as a title. As such it will be used later in the play, in order
to show that the Caesarean idea is dominant. "He shall be Caesar!" cries the
Third Citizen after Brutus's oration. "There was a Caesar, when comes such
another!" says Antony to the citizens.' — Ed.

18. I neuer . . . Ceremonies] ' — it seemed that Caesar likewise did fear
or suspect somewhat, because his wife Calpurnia until that time was never given
to any fear and superstition.' — Plutarch: CcBsar, § 43; (ed. Skeat, p. 98). — For
Shakespeare's use of 'ceremonies' as applied to superstition, see note on II, i,
221. — Ed.

21. the Watch] Wright remarks that 'night-watchmen were not established
[in Rome] before the time of Augustus.'

22. A Lionnesse hath whelped] Mark Hunter: As illustrative of popular
feeling in Shakespeare's time Percy Simpson cites passages from Stowe's Annales
in which Stowe records how 'a Lionesse named Elizabeth, in the Tower of London,
brought forth a lion's whelp' (s"' August, 1604); and how on 'the 26* of February
(1605) was an other Lion whelped, in the Tower of London by the foresaid Lionesse.
. . . Thus much of these whelpes have I observed, and put in memory, for that I
have not read of any the hke in this land before this present year.'

23. And Graues . . . their dead] Capell (i, 104) compares: 'Graves
yawn, and yield your dead.' — Much Ado, V, iii, 19; and also: 'A little ere the
mightiest Julius fell. The graves stood tenantless, and the sheeted dead Did squeak
and gibber in the Roman streets.' — Hamlet, I, i, 113. — Malone likewise quotes
the foregoing passages.

24. Fierce fiery . . . vpon the Clouds] Steevens: So in Tacitus: 'Visae
per coelum concurrere acies, rutulantia arma & subito nubium igne coUucere.' —
History, Bk v, [ch. 13]. — Malone also quotes a passage from Tambiirlaine (ed.
Bullen, Pt ii; IV, ii, 125-130), in which allusion is made to this phenomenon or
appearance as of a line of armed men in the clouds. — Ed.] — Verity: Milton prob-
ably had these lines in mind when he wrote: 'As when, to warn proud cities, war
appears Waged in the troubled sky, and armies rush To battle in the clouds.' —
Paradise Lost, II, 533-535.

24. fight] Wright: [This] may have been so written by Shakespeare; Cal-
purnia realising what had been reported to her as if it were then present to her
mind. Compare Tempest, I, ii, 148, for a similar change from a past tense to a
present. I quote from the Folio: 'A rotten carkasse of a Butt, not rigg'd, Nor

ACT II. sc. ii.] IVLIVS CAESAR 1 15

In Rankes and Squadrons, and right forme of Warre 25

Which drizcl'd blood vpon the Capitol! :

The noife of Battell hurtled in the Ayre :

Horffes do neigh, and dying men did grone.

And Ghofts did flirieke and fquealc about the ftreets.

O Ccufar, thefe things are beyond all vfe, 30

And I do fcare them.

Cccf. What can be auoyded
Whofe end is purpos'd by the mighty Gods ?
Yet CcBfar fhall go forth : for thefe Predidlions
Are to the world in generall, as to Cczfar. 35

Calp, When Beggers dye, there are no Comets feen,
The Heauens themfelues blaze forth the death of Princes 37

. 1}^ 27. hurtled] hurried Ff, Rowe. did Ff et cet. t/Lx-f^

l\r^ 2?,'fdo\ Mai. Var. '21, Knt, Coll. i. 29. Ghofts] Ghofl F4.

tackle, sayle, nor mast, the very rats Instinctiuely haue quit it.' [In a note on this
passage in the Tempest, Wright also cites as examples of a like change, Ibid., I, ii,
205, and Wint. Tale, V, ii, 83. See likewise 1. 28, below. — Ed.]

27. hurtled] Murray {N. E. D., s. v. hurtle, verb): Apparently a diminutive
and iterative of hurt, in its original sense of 'strike with a shock.' Sometimes con-
fused with hurl; but the essential notion in 'hurtle' is that of forcible projection;
if, however, I hurl a javelin at a shield and strike it, I also hurtle the one against
the other; hence the contact of sense. — [Under 'II, 5. To emit a sound of collision;
to clatter,' etc. Murray quotes the present line. — Ed.]

28. do neigh . . . did grone] Craik (p. 243) : No degree of mental agitation
ever expressed itself ... in such a jumble and confusion of tenses as this, — not
even insanity or drunkenness. The 'fight' in 1. 24 is not a case in point. It is
perfectly natural in animated narrative or description to rise occasionally from the
past tense to the present; but who ever heard of two facts or circumstances equally
past, strung together, as here, with an 'and' and enunciated in the same breath,
being presented the one as now going on, the other as only having taken place?
[See note on 1. 24, above.]

29. And Ghosts . , , about the streets] Craik (p. 244) quotes the passage
from Hamlet, I, i, 113, which is quoted also by Capell at 1. 23, and on this Craik
remarks: 'It is rare to find Shakespeare coming so near upon the same words in
two places as he does here and in Hamlet. The passage [in Hamlet] is found, how-
ever, only in the Quarto editions and is omitted in all the Folios.'

29. squeale] Wright: That ghosts had thin and squeaking voices was a belief
in the time of Homer, who compares the noise of the souls of the suitors, whom
Hermes conducted to Hades, to the noise of a string of bats when disturbed in a
cave {Odyssey, xxiv, [6, 7]). ' Compare Horace: 'Quo pacto alterna loquentes
Umbrae cum Sagana resonarint triste et acutum.' — Sat., i, 8, 41. And Virgil, of
the shades which yEneas saw: 'Pars tollere vocem Exiguam.' — yEneid, vi, 491.

37. The Heauens . . . the death of Princes] Malone: Compare: 'Let us
look into the nature of a comet, by the face of which it is supposed that the same

Ii6 THE TRACE DIE OF [act ii, sc. ii.

Ccef. Cowards dye many times before their deaths, 38

The valiant neuer tafte of death but once :
Of all the Wonders that I yet haue heard,
It feemes to me mofl ftrange that men fhould feare, 41

38-43. Mnemonic Pope.

should portend plague, famine, warre, or the death of potentates.' — H. Howard,
Defensative against the Poison of supposed Prophecies, 1583. — Douce (p. 364):
This might have been suggested by what Suetonius has related of the blazing star
which appeared for seven days together, during the celebration of games instituted
by Augustus in honour of Julius.

37. blaze forth] Murray {N. E. D., s. v. blaze, v-. 2.): To proclaim (as with a
trumpet), to publish, divulge, make known, [s. v. Ibid., b. 'with abroad {forth,
about), The prevalent use,' Murray quotes the present line.]

38. Cowards . . . before their deaths] 'When some of his friends did
counsel him to have a guard for the safety of his person, and some also did offer
themselves to serve him, he would never consent to it, but said: "It was better to
die once, than always to be afraid of death."' — Plutarch: Ccesar, § 39; (ed. Skeat,
p. 92). — Malone: So in Marston, Insatiate Countess, 1613: 'Fear is my vassal;
when I frown, he flies, A hundred times in life a coward dies.' — [ed. BuUen, IV, iii,
98.] Lord Esse.x, probably before either of these writers, made the same remark.
In a letter to Lord Rutland, he observes: 'that as he which dieth nobly, doth
live for ever, so that he that doth live in fear, doth die continually.' [W. B. Devereux:
Lives and Letters of the Devereux, vol. i, p. 325; this letter is to be found in the Harl.
MSS, 4888, 16. — Ed.] — BoswELL: As a specimen of Steevens's love of mischief,
I may mention, that by putting the quotation from Plutarch first, and changing the
words 'either of these writers,' i. e., Shakespeare or Marston, to 'any of these,'
etc., he made Malone appear to write nonsense. — [This refers to the note as printed
in Steevens's own edition of 1793; Malone's note appears in his edition of 1790. —
Ed.] — Prescot (ii, 290): Seneca writes: 'quid timoris dementissimi pactio? diu
mori.' Or again: 'quid est timere? diu mori.' The rest is all from Arrian, who
says: 'death? let it come, when it will.' The philosopher dictates to each 'to bear
death as 7ncn': at very distant pages, again and again argues it out of nature and
a wonder not to do so. Whence is to be observed with what propriety, proceeding
from looking over Arrian, the exclamation: 'Of all the wonders I yet have heard,'
comes forth, collected from different columns of the author.

40, 41. Of all . . . men should feare] MacCallum (p. 221): Caesar's courage,
of course, is beyond question; but is there not a hint of the theatrical in this over-
strained amazement, in this statement that fear is the most unaccountable thing
in all his experience? . . . We see and know that he is the bravest of the brave,
but if anything could make us suspicious, it would be his constant harping on his
flawless valour. So, too, he says of Cassius: 'I fear him not,' etc. Why should
he labour the point? If he has not fears, he has at least misgivings in regard to
Cassius, that come very much to the same thing. His anxiety is obvious, as he calls
Antony to his side to catechise him on his opinions of the danger. — JNIark Hunter:
It cannot be said that Caesar in this scene, or elsewhere in the play, justifies Cassius's
account of his having grown superstitious. He called the soothsayer a dreamer,
and later on twits him on (as he supposes) the non-fulfilment of his prophecy;

ACT II, sc. ii.] IVLIVS CuESAR. 117

Seeing that death, a neceffary end 42

Will come, when it will come.

Enter a Scriiant.
What fay the Augurers ? 45

Scr. They would not haue you to ftirre forth to day.
Plucking the intrailes of an Offering forth,
They could not finde a heart within the beaft:.

C(2f. The Gods do this in fliame of Cowardice :
Cafar fhould be a Beaft without a heart 50

If he fhould ftay at home to day for feare :
No Cafar fhall not; Danger knowes full well
That Ccefay'is more dangerous then he. 53

45. Attgiirers] augurs Pope, Theob. 46. to Jlirre] ftir F4.

Han. Warb. 52-56. In margin Pope, Han.

if he consults the auguries, that is nothing more than a comphance with custom,
for he will not suffer his purpose to be shaken by their forebodings. If he for a
moment consents to remain at home, that is merely to humour Calpurnia's fears;
and if he seems to accept the dream as expounded by Decius as having a direct
reference to himself, he does so with a good-humoured smile at Decius's ingenuity.
Finally, so little effect have the dream and prodigies upon him that to the last
'his wisdom is consumed in confidence'; he entertains no smallest suspicion, and he
deliberately rejects Artemidorus's petition.

42. death, a necessary end, etc.] Johnson: This is a sentence derived from
the stoical doctrine of predestination, and is, therefore, improper in the mouth of
Caesar.

43. Will come, when it will come] Compare, Hamlet: 'If it be now, 'tis not
to come; if it be not to come it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come: the
readiness is all: since no man has aught of what he leaves, what is't to leave be-
times.'— V, ii, 231-235. — Ed.

45. Augurers] Walker {Crit., ii, 49): It seems possible that in this passage
'augurers' may be an erratum for augures, as 'augurs' is spelt in Macbeth, III, iv,
fol. p. 142, col. 2: 'Augures and vnderstood Relations.' Perhaps, too, the flow
of Jul. CcEs. requires augurs. [For instances of this kind of erratum (helpers for
helpes, etc.) see Ibid., p. 52 et seq.]

50, SI. should . . . should] For other examples of this use of 'should,' where
modern usage has would in the first clause, see Abbott, § 322.

50. without a heart] Johnson: The ancients did not place courage, but
wisdom, in the heart. [Douce (ii, 83), commenting on the foregoing, remarks
that Johnson has 'strangely forgotten his classics,' and thereupon gives seven
quotations from Virgil and from Ovid wherein the heart or the breast is referred
to as the seat of bravery. — Ed.]

52. Danger] John Hunter: [This perhaps signifies] the life of exposure to
danger through which Caesar had safely passed; there may be here also some
allusion to Caesar being a relative of Marius, and, therefore, in his youth exposed to
the danger of being put to death by Sylla.

Il8 THE TRACED IE OF [act ii, sc. ii.

We heare two Lyons litter'd in one day,

And I the elder and more terrible, 55

And Ccefar fhall go foorth,

Calp. Alas my Lord,
Your wifedome is confum'd in confidence :
Do not go forth to day : Call it my feare,

That keepes you in the houfe, and not your owne. 60

Wee'l fend Mark Afitony to the Senate houfe,
And he fhall fay, vou are not well to day :
Let me vpon my knee,preuaile in this.

Ccuf. Mark Antony fhall fay I am not well,
And for thy humor, I will flay at home. 65

Enter Decius.
Heere's Decius Brutus^ he fhall tell them fo.

Deci. Ccs:/ar,a.l[ haile : Good morrow worthy Ca/ar, 6S

54. heare] F,. hear F3F4. heard Cap. et cet.
Rowe, Pope, were Theob.+, Var. 62. Jhall] will Rowe ii, Pope,+-

'78, Steev. Varr. Sing. Knt, Coll. i, 66. Scene v. Pope,H-, Jen.

Huds. I and he are (pronounced I'nd 66, 67, 74, 79. Decius] Decimus

AeVe) Macmillan conj. are Upton, Han. Ran.

54. We heare . . . one day] The Text. Notes show that opinion between Theo-
bald's emendation. We were, and Upton's, We are, is about evenly divided. Refer-
ring to his own reading, Theobald says: 'The sentiment will neither be unworthy
of Shakespeare, nor the boast too extravagant for Caesar in vein of vanity to
utter: that he and danger were two twin whelps of a lion, and he the elder and more
terrible of the two.' — M alone follows Upton's suggestion, yet acknowledges that
Theobald's reading is, perhaps, the more Shakespearean of the two. 'It may
mean,' adds Malone, 'the same as if he had written: We two lions were litter'd in
one day.' — Steevens compares the thought to the boast of Otho: ' Experti invicem
sumus. Ego ac Fortuna.' — Tacitus, [History, Bk ii, ch. 47]. — R. G. White gives as a
reason for preferring Upton's reading that 'are pronounced air, and "heare"
pronounced hair (see " this vn-heard sawcinesse," King John, Folio; p. 19, col. b.)
might easily have been confounded in Shakespeare's time, especially by a com-
positor or a transcriber who " exhaspirated his haitches."'

56. Cxsar . . . foorth] Boswell: There cannot be a stronger proof of Shake-
speare's deficiency in classical knowledge than the boastful language he has put
in the mouth of the most accomplished man of all antiquity, who was not more
admirable for his achievements than for the dignified simplicity with which he has
recorded them. — Hazlitt (p. 22): We do not much admire the representation
here given of Julius Caesar, nor do we think it answers the portrait given of him in
his Commentaries. He makes several vapouring and rather pedantic speeches, and
does nothing. Indeed, he has nothing to do. So far, the fault of the character
is the fault of the plot. — Ayres (p. 197) compares Tro. b" Cress., V, iii, where
'Hector insists on rushing to his doom in spite of Andromche's dreams: "You
train me to offend you, get you gone. By all the everlasting gods; I'll go," 11. 4, 5.'

ACT II, sc. ii.] IVLIVS C^SAR II9

I come to fetch you to the Senate houfe.

Ccb/. And you are come in very happy time, 70

To beare my greeting to the Senators,
And tell them that I will not come to day :
Cannot, is falfe : and that I dare not,falfer :
I will not come to day, tell them fo Decius.

Calp. Say he is ficke. 75

Ccef. Shall Ccefar fend a Lye ?
Haue I in Conquefl ftretcht mine Arme fo farre,
To be afear'd to tell Gray-beards the truth :
Decius, go tell them, Ccefar will not come.

Deci. Moft mighty Ccefar, let me know fome caufe. 80

Left I be laught at when I tell them fo. t vr^

Ccsf. The caufe is in my Will, I will not come\^^^
That is enough to fatisfie the Senate. J

But for your priuate fatisfaflion,

Becaufe I loue you, I will let you know. 85

Calplmrnia heere my wife, ftayes me at home :
She dreampt to night, (he faw my Statue, 87

75. he is\ he's F4. 87. dreampt] dream't FaFj. dreamt

78. afear'd] afraid F4, Rowe,-|-. F4.

87, 88. She. ..Which] One line Han. to night] to nigh Fj. last night

Mai. Rowe,+-

87-92. She... imminent] Lines end: Statue] statue, Decius Cap.

which. ..run. ..came. ..these... portents. ..im- statua Steev. Var. '03, '13, Sing. Dyce,

minent Mai. conj. Sta. Wh. i, Hal. statue Ktly, Cam.-l-.

86. stayes me] For other examples of this causative use of 'stay,' see Schmidt
{Lex., s. V. f.).

87-89. She dreampt . . . run pure blood] Grey (ii, 182) says that Valerius
Maximus also makes mention of this dream, and in a foot-note quotes a passage
in which occurs the following: 'Audiverat enim . . . uxorem Calpumiam nocte
. . . vidisse multis eum confectum vulneribus in suo sinu iacentem.' — De Somniis
(lib. i, cap. 2). Plutarch likewise gives this version of the dream, but says that
it was discredited by many, amongst them Titus Livius, who gave the following
as the authentic account: 'The senate having set upon the top of Caesar's house,
for an ornament and setting forth of the same, a certain pinnacle, Calpumia
dreamed that she saw it broken down, and that she thought she lamented and
wept for it.' — Julius Ccesar, §43. Suetonius says: 'Calpumia fancied in her
sleep that the roof of the house was tumbling down.' — Ccesar, § xliii. Either of
these might presage disaster; the cause for Calpumia's anxiety is, however, to be
found possibly in Florus, who says (Bk iv, ch. 2) that among the honors decreed
by the senate to Caesar after his victory in Spain was the erection of afastigium
on the front of his house. The fastigium is the pediment which is to be found only
on temples; it is emphatically the sign of a building dedicated to a god, or the

I20 THE TRACED IE OF [act ii. sc. ii.

Which hke a Fountaine, with an hundred fpouts ^^^

88. like fl] like to a Han. Mai. Steev. Van. Sing. Knt, Coll.

an] a Cap. Jen. Var. '78, '85, Wh. i, Ktly.

house of the chief governor of the state. Its fall would, therefore, signify the de-
struction of Caesar as chief magistrate. When Cicero, in the second PhiUippic,
chap, xliii, alludes twice to a temple dedicated to Caesar, he probably refers to this
addition of a sacred symbol to the house. — ISIiss Porter notes that the dream of the
statue of Caesar is an invention of Shakespeare. It was, perhaps, suggested by
Plutarch's description of Pompey's statue, which, at the time of Caesar's assassina-
tion, he says, 'ran all of a gore blood.' — Ed.]

87. Statue] I. Reed, in a note on 'My substance should be statue in thy
stead,' Two Gentlemen, IV, iv, 206, says: Alterations have often been improperly
made in the text of Shakespeare by supposing 'statue' to be intended by him for a
disyllable. . . . From authors of the times it would not be difficult to fill whole
pages with instances to prove this. Many authors spell it stalua. On so clear a
point the first proof which occurs is enough. Take the following from Bacon:
'It is not possible to have the true pictures or statuaes of Cyrus, Alexander, Caesar,'
etc. — Adv. of Learning, ed. 1663, p. 88, [Bk I, ch. 8, § 6; Clar. ed., p. 72]. Again:
' — without which the history of the world seemeth [to me] to be as the statua of
Polyphemus with his eye out.' — [Ibid., Clar. ed., p. 85.] — Steevens, in a note on
this same line in Two Gentlemen, remarks: 'some Latin words which were admitted
into the English language still retained their Roman pronunciation. Thus hcroe
and heroes are constantly used for trisyllables.' — Nares {s. v. Statua) gives as a
reason for this pronunciation that 'the word "statue" was often applied to a
picture. Thus in Massinger: The City Madam [162,2]: "Your nieces crave humbly
. . . they may take leave Of their late suitors statues." — V, iii.' Gifford, in his
note on this passage, says that ' Massinger, like his contemporaries, confuses " statue "
with picture.'' — Craik (p. 246): 'Statue' is of frequent occurrence in Shakespeare;
and in general it is only a disyllable. In the present Play, for example, [1. 95, below.
Also, I, iii, 163; III, ii, 53]. Only in one line, 'But like dumb statues or breathing
stones,' Rich. Ill: III, vii, 25, is it absolutely necessary that it should be regarded
as of three syllables. ... In that passage also, however, the word in the First
Folio is printed simply statues, exactly as it always is in the English which we now
write and speak. . . . The only other lines in Shakespeare in which it [may be
trisyllabic are: 'My substance should be statue in thy stead.' — Two Gentlemen, IV,
iv, 206]; the present line, and III, ii, 198, 'Even at the base of Pompey's statue.'
... In both these the supposed trisyllable concludes the verse. . . . After all,
Shakespeare's word may really have been statua. . . . Perhaps the best way would
be [thus] to print it in all cases, and to assume that this was the form which Shake-
speare always wrote. Statua would have the prosodical value either of a disyllable
or of a trisyllable according to circumstances, just as 'Mantua,' for instance, has
throughout Rotn. b" Jul. — Coleridge (Notes, etc., p. 133): No doubt it should be
statua. A modem tragic poet would have written: ' — that she my statue saw.'
But Shakespeare never avails himself of the supposed license of transposition
merely for the metre. There is always some logic either of thought or passion to
justify it. — Wright: It appears that at the beginning of the seventeenth century
the spelling statua was a novelty, and it may have been introduced, as Nares
suggests, because 'statue' was frequently used for picture. — [In Fynes Moryson's

ACT II. sc. ii.] IVLIVS C^SAR 12 1

Did run pure blood : and many lufty Romans
Came fmiling,& did bathe their hands in it : 90

And thefe docs flie apply, for warnings and portents,
And euils imminent ; and on her knee
Hath begg'd, that I fliall ftay at home to day.
DccL This Dreame is all amiffe interpreted.
It was a vifion, faire and fortunate : 95

Your Statue fpouting blood in many pipes,
In which fo many fmiling Romans bath'd,
Signifies, that from you great Rome fhall fucke
Reuiuing blood, and that great men fhall preffe
For Tin6lures,Straines, Reliques,and Cognifance. 100

90. hathc\ bath F3. 92. And euils] Of evils Han. Warb.

91. And thcfe] As separate line Cap. Ran. Coll. ii. (MS), Craik, Huds.
Dyce ii, iii. iii.

Atid thefe... warnings and] As one 98. great] our Cap. conj.

line Craik conj. 99. prejje] Warb. marks omission of

And. ..apply] These she applies several lines following.

Pope,+ {And these does apply Var. 100. Cognifance] cognisances Han.

'73). And these she plies Wordsworth. Ktly. cognisance' Walker (Vers. 259),

and] Om. Cap. Ran. Steev. Dyce ii, iii.
Var. '03, '13.

Itinerary, 1617, the word statua is used constantly to designate an image, also with
the plural form, statuaes, see, for example, his description of the Strasburg Clock,
Part I, ch. i, § 31; ed. MacLehose, vol. i, p. 64. See Walker, Vers., p. 295, for other
examples. — Ed.]

91. and portents] Wright: Capell's omission of 'and' would throw the accent
on the first sj-llable of 'portents,' whereas in Shakespeare it is always on the last.

92. And] Henley thinks that the alteration of the word 'and' to of, proposed by
Edwards, is not only needless, but tends 'to weaken the force of the expressions,
which form, as they now stand, a regular climax.'

100. For Tinctures, Staines, etc.] Warburton: This line must needs be in
way of similitude onl}-; and if so, it appears that some lines are wanting; which
want should, for the future, be marked with asterisks. The sense of them is not
difficult to recover, and, with it, the propriety of the line in question, . . . [which]
can bear no other sense than as an allusion to the blood of the martyrs, and the
superstition of some Churches with regard to it. — Johnson: This speech, which is
intentionally pompous, is somewhat confused. There are two allusions: one to
coats armorial, to which princes make additions, or give new 'tinctures,' and new
marks of ' cognisance'; the other to martyrs, whose 'reliques' are preserved with
veneration. — Malone: I believe 'tinctures' has no relation to heraldry, but
means merely linen tinged with blood. Bullokar, Expositor, 161 6, [s. v. Tincture:]
has 'a dipping, colouring, or staining of a thing.' Compare IH, ii, 143: 'And
dip their napkins in his sacred blood.' — Steevens says that at the execution of
several of our ancient nobility handkerchiefs were stained with their blood and
preserved as memorials. — Craik (p. 255): Does [Malone's interpretation] not

122 THE TRACED IE OF [act ii, sc. ii.

This by Calphtirnid!s Dreame is fignified. loi

Ccef. And this way haue you well expounded it.
Decu I haue, when you haue heard what I can fay :

And know it now, the Senate haue concluded

To giue this day, a Crowne to mighty Ccsfar. 105

If you fhall fend them word you will not come,

Their mindes may change. Befides,it were a mocke

Apt to be render'd, for fome one to fay,

Breake vp the Senate, till another time :

When C<2fars wife fhall meete with better Dreames. 1 10

If Ccefar hide himfelfe, fhall they not whifper

Loe CcBfar is afifraid ?

Pardon me Ccefar^ for my deere deere loue

To your proceeding, bids me tell you this : 1 14

make the speaker assign to Caesar by implication the very kind of death Calpumia's
apprehensions of which he professes to regard as visionary? . . . Do we refine too
much in supposing that this inconsistency between the purpose and the language
of Decius is intended by the poet, and that in this brief dialogue between him and
Caesar, in which the latter suffers himself to be so easily won over, — persuaded and
relieved by the very words that ought naturally to have confirmed his fears, — we
are to feel the presence of an unseen power driving on both the unconscious prophet
and the blinded victim?

100. Cognisance] Walker {Vers., p. 259) says 'surely cognizance' is meant';
and on p. 243 he gives examples wherein the plurals of words ending in s, ss, or ce
are found without the usual addition of s or es — in pronunciation at least.

no. Caesars wife . . . better Dreames] ' — if any man should tell them from
him they should depart for that present time, and return again when Calpumia
should have better dreams, what would his enemies and ill-willerssay?' — Plutarch:
CcEsar, § 44; ed. Skeat, p. 99. — Malone quotes a passage from Lord Sterline's
Julius Ccesar, in which the same thought is expressed; and Wright quotes from
Bacon's Essay of Friendship: 'This Man lifted him gently by the Arme, out of his
Chaire, telling him, he hoped he would not dismisse the Senate, till his wife had
dreamt a better Dreame.' — [This verbal similarity in all three authors is, doubtless,
due to the common source, Plutarch. The whole passage from Bacon's Essay is
one of the many additions made to it, when entirely rewritten for the edition of
1625. (See Arber: Harmony of the Essays, p. 169). — Ed.]

114. To your proceeding] Warburton understands this as meaning to your
advancement, and is therein followed by Craik, who gives as an example of this
use of 'proceeding': 'Be opposite all planets of good luck To my proceeding.' —
Rich. Ill: IV, iv, 402. [In this example, however, 'proceeding' may quite as
well mean course of conduct, and the reading of all the Quartos is proceedings, which
seems to indicate that this is the meaning intended.] — Murray {N. E. D., s. v.
proceeding, 4.) : The action of going on with something already begun; continuance
of action; advance, progress, advancement. — Delius considers the phrase 'to
your proceeding' dependent upon 'tell you this,' and therefore interprets it as /or

ACT II. sc. ii.] IVLIVS C^SAR 123

And reafon to my loue is liable. 1 15

C^.How foolifh do your fears feeme now Calpliurniai
I am alhamed I did yeeld to them.
Giue me my Robe, for I will go.

Enter Brut us ^ Ligarius, Metellus, Caska, Trebo-

fiius, Cynna^and Publius. 120

And looke where Publius is come to fetch me.
Pub. Good morrow Ccefar,
Ccef. Welcome Publius.
What Brutus ^2iXQ. you ftirr'd fo earely too ? 1 24

117, 118. / am. ..Giue me] One line 118-121. Giue me. ..And looke] As

Ktly. one line Johns.

117. ajhamed] ashamed Dyce. asham'd 118. [To an Att. Capell.

Ktly. 119. Scene vi. Pope,+ ( — Var. '73).

your advantage; and Wright understands it as your course of conduct, your career,
which interpretation is that also of the present Ed.

115. And reason . . . liable] Johnson: That is, propriety of conduct and
language is subordinate to my love. — Craik (p. 256): That is, if I have acted
wrong in telling you, my excuse is that my reason, where you are concerned, is
subject to and overborne by my affection.

119. Enter Brutus] Conrad (p. 477) calls attention to the fact that, from
the moment when Cassius acquaints Brutus with the hour for the assassination,
no time is given wherein Brutus may pause sufl&ciently to deliberate upon the
deed. As thus: Ligarius enters immediately after the scene with Portia, and
Brutus starts at once for Caesar's house, where he joins the rest of the faction.
This lack of opportimity for reflection, Conrad says, was doubtless designed by
Shakespeare in order to furnish a mitigating circumstance for the crime which
Brutus is to commit. — Mark Hunter {Introd., cxxxviii.): Cassius is, indeed,
honourably distinguished from the others in one respect. He is at least an open
enemy. He makes no pretence of love for his victim, but at once distrusts and is
distrusted. It is significant that he separates himself from the final act of treachery
to which even Brutus stoops, and is the only conspirator who does not present him-
self at Caesar's house on the morning of the Ides to partake of his hospitaUty,
'Hke a friend,' and then lead him forth to the slaughter. — P. Simpson (ap. Mark
Hunter) : In the revival of Jul. Cces. at Her Majesty's Theatre, [under the direc-
tion of H. Beerbohm Tree, 6 Sep., 1900, when the conspirators entered to escort
Caesar to the Senate House] Cassius entered immediately after the aged Publius,
and in front of Brutus. Caesar greeted Publius, and then, catching sight of Brutus,
pressed forward affectionately to greet him, and in his eagerness overlooked Cassius,
who stepped aside with flashing eyes. Brutus, touched with remorse, shrank be-
hind the others, and delivered with deep feeling the lines: 'That every like is not
the same,' etc. Finally, as the conspirators went in to 'taste some wine,' Brutus
still himg back, but Caesar waited for him, and they passed in together, arm in
arm, 'like friends.' ... In the printed acting copy of the 1898 performance the
entry of Cassius is not marked.

124 THE TRACED IE OF [act ii, sc. ii.

Good morrow Caska : Cains Ligayins, 1 25

Cte/ar was ne're fo much your enemy,

As that fame Ague which hath made you leane.

What is't a Clocke ?

Bni. C(vfar,Ws ftrucken eight.

C(e/. I thanke you for your paines and curtefie. 130

Enter AntoHj'.
See, Anto?iy that Reuels long a-nights
Is notwithftanding vp. Good morrow A)itony.

Ant. So to moft Noble Cczfar

CcsJ. Bid them prepare within : 135

I am too blame to be thus waited for.
Now Cynna, now Mctclhis : what TrebonmSy
I haue an houres talke in ftore for you :
Remember that you call on me to day :
Be neere me, that I may remember you. 140

Treb. Ccefar I will : and fo neere will I be,
That your beft Friends fhall wifli I had beene further.

Ccz/,Good Friends go in, and tafte fome wine with me
And we (like Friends) will ftraight way go together.

Bm. That euery like is not the fame, O C<£far, 145

The heart of Brutus earnes to thinke vpon. Exeunt

125. Caius] Ohl Caius Han. 138. houTe$\ hours Ktly.

128. a Clocke] o'clock Theob. et seq. 141. [Aside. Rowe et seq.

129. ftriicken\stricken}o\\T\s.Co\.'iid.\. 142. further] farther Coll. Wh. i.
132. a-nights] o'nights Theob. et seq. 145. [Aside. Pope, Theob. Han.
'^2)2>y 134- Good-.-Csdidir] One line Warb. Cap. Dyce, Craik, Sta. Wh.

Steev. Var. '03, '13, Sing, i, Craik. Ktly, Cam.+-

135. [To an Att. Capell. 146. earnes] yerns Theob. + Varr.

136. too blame] to blame F3F4 et seq. Ran. yearns Cap. et seq.

126. Caesar was ne're, etc.] Davies (ii, 228): There is scarcely any part of
Caesar's character so well understood and so happily expressed by Shakespeare
as the great urbanity of his manners, and the ease and affability of his conversa-
tion. If Caesar was the greatest soldier, he seems likewise to have been the best-
bred man of all antiquity. In this short scene his address varies with the character
of the person to whom he speaks. The compliment he pays to Caius Ligarius is a
happy mixture of politeness and humanity.

136. too blame] Wright: It appears that 'to blame,' being regarded as equiv-
alent to the adjective blamcivorthy, it is frequently spelt 'too blame,' especially
when preceded by much, and this led to the strange compound in i Hen. IV:
III, i, 177: ' — you are too wilful blame.'

146. earnes] Skeat {Diet., s. v. yearn, (2).): This verb . . . occurs several
times in Shakespeare; and it is remarkable that he never uses yearn in the sense to

ACT II, sc. iii.] IVLIVS C^SAR 1 25

\Scejie IIL\

Enter Artemidoriis. I

Ccefar, beware of Brutus, take heede of Cafsius ; come not
neere Caska , liauc an eye to Cynna, trujl not Trebonius , niarke
well Me tell us Cyniber, Deems Brutus loues thee not : Thou
Jiafi "i.vrong'd Cams Ligarms . There is but 07ie viinde in all 5

thefe men, and it is bent againfi Ccefar : If thou beejl not Im-

Scene continued. Ff. Scene vti. i. Artemidorus.] Artemidorus read-
Pope, +. Scene v. Jen. Scene in. ing a Paper. Rowe et seq.
Rowe et cet. 6. beeft] be'st Johns. Cap. (Errata),

The Street, Rowe, Pope, Han. A Varr. Mai. Ran. Steev. Varr. Sing, i,

Street near the Capitol. Theob. et cet. Coll. Craik, Wh. i, Hal. Huds.

long for. It is often spelt earft or em in old editions. The proper sense is intransi-
tive, to grieve, to mourn. . . . Em is the true word, whilst yern is a form due to the
Anglo-Saxon prefix ge-. Again, em is certainly a corruption of IMiddle English
ennen, to grieve, occurring in Cant. Tales, 12,246. [Pardoner's Tale; prologue.]
A later instance is in the following: 'Thenne departed he fro the kj-nge so heuyly
that many of them ermed.' — Caxton: Reynard the Fox, ed. Arber, p. 48, 1. 6.
[Murray (.V. E. D.) quotes these remarks by Skeat.]

I. Artemidorus] See Dram. Person., 1. 15.

2-9. Caesar, beware . . . Artemidorus] Walker {Crit. i, 12): [This passage]
is, if I mistake not, in verse: 'Caesar, beware of Brutus; take heed of Cassius; |
Come not near Casca; have an eye to Cinna; | Trust not Trebonius; mark well
Mctellus Cimber; | Decius Brutus loves thee not; th' hast wrong'd | Caius Ligarius.
There's but one mind | In all these men, and it is bent 'gainst Csesar. | If thou
be'st not immortal, look about you; | Secur'ty gives way to conspiracy. | The
mighty Gods defend thee. | (The last three words are extra meirinn.) — [Is this not
an example of that which is found in other passages — metric prose? In the eight
other instances wherein a letter appears the text of the written words is in this
form, although there may be verse both before and after it. It may, I think,
therefore be said to be an invariable custom, at least with Shakespeare. Secondly,
are the lines as divided by Walker metrically correct? It is to be feared that he
himself would have been the first to suggest many additions and omissions had
this passage been printed in the form which he suggests. For other letters, thus
read aloud, compare: Hamlet, II, ii, 120; IV, vi, 12; IV, vii, 42; Lear, I, ii, 48;
Cymbeline, III, ii, 40; III, iv, 21; Mer. of Few., Ill, ii, 317; Macbeth, I, v, i. — Ed.]

6. beest] Craik (p. 342): This is not to be confounded with the subjunctive be;
it is bist, hysl, the 2"^ person singular present indicative of bcon, to be. It is now
obsolete, but is also used by Milton in a famous passage: ' If thou beest he; but oh,
how fallen! how changed,' etc. — Paradise Lost, i, 84. — [Compare also: 'Render
therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's, and unto God the things which
be God's.' — Luke, xx, 25. The incident which provoked this reply is also related by
St Mark, but he gives the sentence: 'Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's,
and to God the things that are God's.'— xii, 17.— Ed.]

126 THE TRACED IE OF [act ii, sc. iv.

mortall,looke about yoti : Security giues way to Confpiracie . j

The mighty Gods defend thee.

Thy Louer, Artemidorus.
Heere will I ftand, till Ccsfar paffe along, lO

And as a Sutor will I giue him this :
My heart laments, that Vertue cannot liue
Out of the teeth of Emulation.
If thou reade this, O Cczfar , thou mayeft liue;
If not, the Fates with Traitors do contriue. Exit. 1 5

\Sce7ie /K]

Enter Portia afid Lticius. I

7. you]theeRowe,4- (Var. '73), Jen. Scene continued. Ff, Rowe,+.

14. mayefl] Ff, Craik. mayst Dyce, Scene vi. Jen. Scene rv. Cap. et cet.
Coll. ii, Sta. Cam.+. may'sl Rowe et Another part of the same Street be-
cet. fore Brutus's House. Cap.

7. looke about you] Abbott (§ 235): In this short scene Caesar is six times
addressed by the soothsayer in the solemn and prophetic ihou and thee, but once,
as above, you. I can only suggest that 'look about you' may mean: look about
you and your friends. — [May it not be that 'Look about you' was a catch phrase
of the day? A play with this title was popular in 1600. See Hazlitt's-Dodsley,
vii, p. 384.— Ed.]

7. Security] That is, unguardedness, false confidence; for other examples of
this use of the word, see Shakespeare passim.

13. Emulation] Murray {N. E. D., s. v. 3.): Grudge against the superiority
of others; dislike, or tendency to disparagement, of those who are superior.

15. Fates ... do contriue] Johnson: That is, the fates join with traitors
in contriving thy destruction.

Scene IV.] Verity: Such side-scenes as this give us the impressions of those
who are watching the course of events from a little distance, and we seem to join
them as spectators; here, for instance, we cannot help feeling something of Portia's
anxiety as she waits for news and suddenly thinks that she hears a sound from
the direction of the Capitol. Compare the scene in Rich. II. (Ill, iv), where the
gardeners and servants talk about the unhappy state of England; as we hear their
comments on contemporary events, those events appear much nearer to us and
more vivid; we slip insensibly into the feelings of an onlooker.

I. Enter Portia] Wright: Since the first Scene of this Act Brutus has told the
secret to his wife, who is now agitated by possessing what she desired. Portia is
no Lady Macbeth. — MacCallum (p. 273): This scene . . . serves the function in
the main story of heightening our excitement by means of Portia's, in expectation
of what will presently be enacted at the Capitol; but it is even more important for
the light it throws on her character. She may well confess: 'I have a man's heart,
but a woman's might.' Her feverish anxiety quite overmasters her throughout,
and makes her do and say things which do not disclose the plot only because the

ACT II, sc. iv.] IVLIVS CyESAR 1 27

Por. I prythee Boy, run to the Senate-houfe, 2

Stay not to anfwer me, but get thee gone.

Why doeft thou ftay ?

Ltic, To know thy errand Madam. 5

Por. I would haue had thee there and heere agen

Ere I can tell thee what thou fhould'ft do there :

0 Conftancie, be flrong vpon my fide,

Set a huge Mountaine 'tweene my Heart and Tongue :

1 haue a mans minde, but a womans might : 10
How hard it is for women to keepe counfell.

Art thou heere yet ?

Luc. Madam, what fhould I do ?
Run to the Capitoll, and nothing elfe ?
And fo returne to you, and nothing elfe ? 1 5

8-1 1. [Aside Cap. 10. might\ heart Cap.

bystanders are faithful or unobservant. . . . For her, as for Brutus, the burden of
a duty which she assumes by her own choice, but which one of her nature must
assume, is too heavy. And in the after consequences, for which she is not directly
responsible, but which none the less flow from the deed that she has encouraged and
approved, it is the same inability to bear suspense, along with her craving for her
husband's presence and success, that drives her through madness to death.

3. get thee gone] Craik (p. 261): An idiom; that is to say, a peculiar form of
expression, the principle of which cannot be carried out beyond the particular
instance. Thus we cannot say either: Make thee gone or He got him gone. —
R. G. White: [In reference to the preceeding] Is this true? We do not; but can we
not? i. e., in accordance with the laws of thought and the principles of our language.
... Is there any objection but lack of usage against ' Make thee gone' or ' He got
him gone'? Of course, lack of usage is the only objection. In saying that 'we
cannot,' Craik means merely that usage forbids us to say 'Make thee gone.'

4. Why doe St thou stay] Steevens: Shakespeare has expressed the perturba-
tion of King Richard the Third's mind by the same incident: 'Dull unmindful
villain! Why stay'st thou here, and go'st not to the Duke.'— [Rich. Ill: IV, iv,
444. It is, perhaps, worth remarking that throughout this present scene a distinc-
tion is uniformly made in the mode of address between Portia, Lucius, and the
Soothsayer. Portia addresses each of them with ' thou ' and ' thee,' while they both
use the more respectful you. — Ed.]

8. Constancie] Craik (p. 201): Not exactly our present 'constancy'; rather
what we should now call firmness or resolution. In the same sense Brutus says:
'Cassius be constant.' — III, i, 30.

II. How hard . . . keepe counsell] Brandes (i, 378): This reflection is evi-
dently not Portia's, but an utterance of Shakespeare's own philosophy of life,
which he has not cared to keep to himself. In Plutarch she even falls down as
though dead, and the news of her death surprises Brutus just before the time ap-
pointed for the murder of Caesar, so that he needs all his self-control to save him-
self from breaking down.

128 THE TRACE DIE OF [act ii. sc. iv.

Por. Yes, bring me word Boy, if thy Lord look well, i6
For he went fickly forth : and take good note
What Ccefar doth, what Sutors preffe to him.
Hearke Boy, what noyfe is that ?

Luc. I heare none Madam. 20

Por. Prythee liften well :
I heard a bufsling Rumor like a Fray,
And the winde brings it from the Capitoll.

Luc. Sooth Madam, I heare nothing.

Enter the Soothfayer. 25

Por. Come hither Fellow, which way haft thou bin ?

Sooth. At mine owne houfe, good Lady.

Por. What is't a clocke ?

Sooth. About the ninth houre Lady.

Por. Is CcEfar yet gone to the Capitoll ? 30

Sooth. Madam not yet, I go to take my fland.
To fee him paffe on to the Capitoll.

Por. Thou haft fome fuite to Ccefar, haft thou not?

Sooth. That I haue Lady, if it will pleafe C(zfar
To be fo good to Ccefar,diS to heare me : 35

I fhall befeech him to befriend himfelfe.

16. Boy] Om. F4. 26. Come. ..thou bin?] As two lines,

22. heard] hear Knt (Nat. Ed.), ap. the first ending Fellow Cap.

Cam. 28. a clocke] Ff, Rowe, Pope, Han.

25. Soothsayer] Artemidorus Rowe, o'clock Theob. et cet.

+ , Dyce i, Wh. i. (throughout). 36. befriend] defend Rowe ii. Pope,

Han.

25. the Soothsayer] Tyrwhitt: The introduction of the Soothsayer here is
unnecessary and, I think, improper. All that he is made to say should be given
to Artemidorus, who is seen and accosted by Portia in his passage from his first
stand to one more convenient. [See Text. Notes.] — O. F. Ad.a.ms: At the beginning
of the next scene we have speeches assigned to [Artemidorus and the Soothsayer]
in immediate succession, and in the heading of that scene the Folio also gives:
'Enter Artemidorus, Publius, and the Soothsayer.' It is, therefore, improbable
that there is any misprint or corruption in the original text; and under the circum-
stances we are not justified in making any alteration.

26. Come hither Fellow] Capell and the subsequent Editors, except Craik,
divide this line, making these first three words complete 1. 24, and the latter half
supply the necessary syllables for 1. 26. On this arrangement Craik remarks:
'"Which way hast thou been" is not a possible commencement of a verse, unless
we were to lay an emphasis on "thou," which would be absurd.' — Ed.

36. I shall beseech, etc.] Ferrero (ii, 2,50, foot-note): I believe that there is a
great deal of exaggeration in the ancient stories of warnings given to Caesar. If

ACT II, sc. iv.] IVLIVS C^SAR 1 29

Par. Why know'ft thou any harme's intended to- 37

wards him ?

Sooth. None that I know will be,
Much that I feare may chance : 40

Good morrow to you : here the ftreet is narrow :
The throng that followes Ccs/ar at the heeles,
Of Senators, of Praetors, common Sutors,
Will crowd a feeble man ( almoft ) to death :

He get me to a place more voyd, and there 45

Speake to great Cczfar as he comes along. Exit

For. I muft go in :
Aye me / How weake a thing
The heart of woman is f O Brutus,

The Heauens fpeede thee in thine enterprize. 50

Sure the Boy heard me : Brutus hath a fuite
That CcBfar will not grant. O, I grow faint :
Run Lucius , and commend me to my Lord, 53

37. harme's\ harm Pope,+. 48. Aye\ Ah Johns. Var. '73, Mai.

39, 40. One line, omitting may chance Steev. Varr. Sing. Knt, Coll. Wh.

Pope,+ ( — Var. '73). As one line Cap. Hal. Huds. Coll. iii.

et seq. 48-51. [Aside. Cap.

41. you: heere] you. Here Rowe et 49. O Brutus] 0 Brutus, Brutus

seq. Pope,+, Cap. Ktly. As separate line

47, 48. One line Rowe et seq. Craik. Brutus mine! Wordsworth.

the conspiracy had been so well known it would have come to the ears of Antony,
Lepidus, and other faithful friends, which would have been enough to stop it. It
was not necessary that Caesar himself should be warned. It is probable that during
these days he received imaginary revelations of a conspiracy such as he had often
received before, like all the heads of a government. The only real piece of evidence
for a betrayal of the secret seems to me to be that of Popilius Laena in Plutarch's
Brutus, § 12. The conspirators, after all, were Senators and aristocrats, and it
is not surprising that they could keep their own counsel.

39,40. None that . . . may chance] Craik (p. 264): If [the metrical arrange-
ment of these two lines as one, see Text. Notes,] be accepted, it is better, perhaps, to
consider it as a prolonged verse. In this somewhat doubtful instance the rhythm
will be certainly that of an Alexandrine. Let the three words 'know will be,' and
also the three 'fear may chance,' at any rate, be each and all emphatically enunci-
ated.

48. Aye me] Craik (p. 264), in support of this form of the exclamation, quotes
several passages from Milton wherein the phrase is thus given; he adds: 'Ah me is
a form Milton nowhere uses.'

SI. Brutus hath a suite] Malone: These words Portia addresses to Lucius, to
deceive him, by assigning a false cause for her present perturbation.

S3. Run Lucius] MacCallxbi (p. 200): Shakespeare may, perhaps, have been
unwilling to introduce anything into the assassination scene that might distract

130 THE TRACED IE OF [act hi, sc. i.

Say I am merry ; Come to me againe,

And bring me word what he doth fay to thee. Exeunt 55

A6lits Tertiits.
\Scene /.]

FlouriJJi.

Enter Ccefar, Brutus, Caffins, Caska, Dccius, Metellus, Tre-

bonius , Cynna, A ntony,Lepidus, A rtwicdorus Pub-

lius , and the Soothfaycr. 5

55. Exeunt] Om. Ff, Cap. Exeunt sayer. Cap. et seq. (subs.)

severally. Theob.4-. 3. Artimedorus] Artemidorus Rowe.

Scene i. Rowe. 4, 5. Publius] Popilius Ff. and

The Capitol. Rowe,+. Street lead- Popilius Rowe i. Popilius, Publius

ing to the Capitol. Jen. Senate sitting. Theob.+.

In the Entrance and amid a Throng of 5. and the Soothsayer] Om. Rowe i.

People, Artemidorus and the Sooth- and the Soothsayers Rowe ii, Pope.

attention from the decisive business on hand, but the alteration is chiefly due to
another cause. These, the last words we hear Portia utter, were no doubt intended
to bring out her forgetfulness of herself and her thought of Brutus even in the
climax of her physical distress. This, of course, does not afJect our general estimate-,
of Portia; but Shakespeare has no scruple about creating an entirely new character
for a minor personage, and, in the process, disregarding the hints that he found and
asserting quite the reverse.

Scene I.] Capell (i, 105): If ever [a stage direction] were wanted, it is in this
scene, which is rendered difficult many ways, but chiefly by its much action, and
that action's uncommonness, all the first part of it passing while the train is in
moving, and this accounts for the expressions of Cassius: his 'street' is the Capitol's
entrance and his 'capitol, the Senate's assembly; as is further insinuated by the
first of the new directions that follow. — Jennens: I have presumed to make what
is done without and within the Capitol two distinct scenes, as I believe Shakespeare
intended. Nor is it necessary to fix the first scene close to the Capitol, but, rather
more consonant with several passages in the foregoing act, that it should be at some
distance. [Jennens concludes the first scene with 1. 18. — R. G. White also suggests
the advisability of a change of locality after this line. — Ed.] — von Maltzahn
{Jahrbiich, vii, p. 58) suggests the following scenic arrangement of the preceding
Act and first scene of this Act: Since the three scenes of Act II, namely, Brutus's
Garden; A Room in Caesar's House; A Street, do not require a great depth of stage
for what takes place in each, they may be represented by means of three curtains
to be raised successively. Preparation can thus be made for the opening scene of
Act III, wherein the Senate is discovered in session by the raising of the last
curtain, and need not be further back than the depth of one scene from this curtain.
Though Maltzahn does not mention the fact, yet it is apparent that for such an

ACT III, sc. i.] IVLIVS CyESAR 13I

Ccef. The Ides of March are come. 6

Sooth. I Ccs/ar, but not gone.

Art. Haile Ccefar : Read this Scedule.

Z?trz". Trcbonius doth defire you to ore-read
(At your beft leyfure) this his humble fuite. 10

Art. O C(z/ar, reade mine firfl : for mine's a fuite
That 'touches Ccefar neerer. Read it great Ccefar.

Caf. What touches vs our felfe,fhall be laft feru'd.

Art. Delay not Ccefar^ read it inftantly.

C(zf. What, is the fellow mad ? 15

Pub. Sirra, giue place.

CaJ/i. What, vrge you your Petitions in the flreet? 17

yC_ 8. Scedule] Schedule F3F4. (MS), Craik. What ... us? Coll. iii.

12. great] Om. Pope, Han. (misprint?).

13. What ...vs] That. ..us? Coll. ii. 16. Sirra] Sirrah Y.

A-

arrangement the first eighteen lines of Act III. must be joined to the last scene of
Act II. The act-drop must also be lowered before the raising of the last scenic
curtain, otherwise Acts II. and III. form one continuous act; which is, dramatically,
undesirable. — Ed.

7. but not gone] Moulton {Sh. as Dram. Art., p. 196): Such words seem to
measure out a narrow area of time in which the crisis is to work itself out. There is,
however, no distinct break between different stages of a dramatic movement like
that in the present play; and two short incidents have preceded this scene which
have served as emotional devices to bring about a distinct advance in the intensi-
fication of the strain. . . . Our sympathy has thus been tossed from side to side,
although in its general direction it still moves on the side of the conspirators.

13. What touches . . . last seru'd] Craik follows the reading of Collier's MS
• corrector (see Text. Notes), and thus justifies it: 'To "serve," or attend to, a person
is a familiar form of expression; to speak of a thitig as "served," in the sense of
attended to, would, it is apprehended, be unexampled. The " us ourself," how-
ever, would be unobjectionable.' — Staunton, commenting on Craik's note, says:
'There is nothing uncommon or improper in speaking of a dinner or of a dish
as served, and it is in this sense, we believe, the verb is used in the present
case.' — R. G. White considers the reading given by the MS corrector as 'specious,
but entirely needless.' — John Hunter: That is, last attended to or promoted.
This is designed to represent Caesar as avoiding all appearance of eagerness to
receive those honours which he has been lead to expect on this occasion, and as
evidently having no suspicion of anything unfavourable. The pronoun 'what,'
in relation to 'served,' may be regarded as implying reference to the object or
purpose of the paper. — Wright: That is, presented. A summons is still said to be
'served.' Compare: 'The deep vexation of his inward soul Hath served a dumb
arrest upon his tongue.' — Rape of Luc, 1. 1780. — Heeford: Shakespeare gives
Cassar the plural of modern royalty; unknown even to the Emperors of Rome. —
Verity : This is one of the few utterances in the play that seem worthy of the great
Dictator. It is not suggested by anything in Plutarch's account of the incident.

132 THE TRAGEDIE OF [act hi, sc. i.

Come to the Capitoll. 1 8

Popil. I wifh your enterprize to day may thriue.
Caffi. What enterprize Popillitis ? 20

i8. [Artemidorus is push'd back. ters the Capitol, the rest following.

Caesar, and the rest, enter the Senate: Var. '73, '78, '85. Caesar.. .the rest fol-

The Senate rises. Popilius presses lowing. All the Senators rise. Mai. et

forward to speak to Caesar; and pass- seq. (subs.)
ing Cassius^says,... Capell. Caesar en- 19. [Aside to Cas. Jennens.

18. the Capitoll] Malone {Chron. Order; Var., 1821, ii, 448): Shakespeare's
making the Capitol the scene of Caesar's murder, contrary to the truth of history, is
easily accounted for in Hamlet, [III, ii, 100], where it afforded an opportunity for
introducing a quibble; but it is not easy to conjecture why in Jul. Cas. he should
have departed from Plutarch, where it is expressly said that Julius was killed in
Pompey's portico, whose statue was placed in the centre. I suspect he was led into
this deviation from history by some former play on the subject, the frequent
repetition of which before his own play was written probably induced him to insert
the following: * — How many ages hence Shall this our lofty scene be acted o'er,
In states unborn, and accents yet unknown!' [11. 128-130, below]. 'The accents
yet unknown ' could not allude to Dr Eedes's Latin play exhibited in 1582, and, there-
fore, may be fairly urged as presumptive proof that there had been some English
play on this subject previous to that of Shakespeare. Hence, I suppose it was
that in his earlier performance he makes Polonius say that in his youth he had
enacted, the part of the Roman Dictator, and had been killed by Brutus in the
Capitol; a scenic exhibition which was then probably familiar to the greater part
of the audience. — Miss L. A. Fisher {Modern Language Notes, June, 1907, p. 177)
has collected a number of quotations, beginning at the thirteenth century and ex-
tending past the time of Shakespeare, wherein the Capitol is identified as the scene
of Caesar's assassination; and, as a possible source of this tradition, offers the follow-
ing: 'About the time that the attempt was made in the twelfth century to restore
the Senate to Rome, a guide book was put forth for the use of pilgrims to the
Eternal City. It was a compilation by some one unknown, and was entitled
Mirabilia Urbis Romae: the earliest extant copy is of the twelfth century, and is in
the Vatican library. It proved immensely popular, going through many editions
and translations in the succeeding centuries, and, of course, losing no whit of its
wonderfulness at the hands of monkish copyists. A MS of the thirteenth or four-
teenth century, with additions, omissions, and rearrangements, is in the Laurentian
library at Florence, and, being entitled Graphia, Aurea Urbis Romae, is ordinarily
distinguished as the Graphia. [The author of the Mirabilia says:] "The Capitol
is so called because it was the head of the world, where consuls and senators abode
to govern the earth. ... On the other side of the Capitol, over Cannapara, was
the temple of Juno. Fast by the public market-place the temple of Hercules.
In the Tarpeian hill, the temple of Asilis where Julius Ca;sar was slain of the
Senate." — (Tr. F. M. Nicholls, 1889.)' Miss Fisher also shows the influence of
the Mirabilia upon English Literature through the Polychronicon of Ralph Higden,
c. 1327, whereof 'there are more than one hundred Latin MSS extant, besides
translations into English of the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries.
It was printed by Caxton, 1482, and by de Worde, 1495.' It contains a descrip-
tion of Rome which is taken almost directly from the Mirabilia.

ACT III, sc. i.] IVLIVS CJLSAR 133

Popil. Fare you well. 2 1

Bru. What faid Popillius Lena ?

CaJJi. He wifht to day our enterprize might thriue :
I feare our purpofe is difcouered.

Brii, Looke how he makes to Ccefar: marke him. 25

Cajfi. Caska be fodaine, for we feare preuention.
Brutus what fhall be done? If this be knowne,
Cajjius or Ccsfar neuer fhall tume backe, 28

21. [Leaves him and joins Caesar. 26. be...preiieniion] One line Walker,
Cap. Follows Caesar. Jennens. Dyce ii, iii, Cam.

22. [Aside to Cas. Jennens. fodaine] Judden F3F4.

24. difcouered] discovered Dyce. 28. or] on Mai. conj., Craik, Wh. i,

25. marke him] mark him well John Hunter, for {^= instead of) Siev-
Steev. conj. ers (ed. iii.).

26. Caska . . . preuention] Walker {Crit., i, 269) thinks this line has not a
'Shakespearean flow,' and suggests that the word 'Caska' be given to 1. 25, and
that 'prevention' be then pronounced preventi-on.

28. Cassius or Caesar • . . tume backe] Malone: I believe Shakespeare
wrote 'Cassius on Caesar,' etc. The next line strongly supports this conjecture.
If the conspiracy was discovered, and the assassination of Cassar rendered imprac-
ticable by prevention, . . . Cassius could have no hope of being able to prevent
Caesar from turning back (allowing 'turn back' to be used for return back); and in
all events this conspirator's slajing himself could not prevent that effect. . . .
Cassius now declares that [if the plot be discovered] he will not endeavor to save
himself by flight, . . . but instantly put an end to his own life. [In support of his
emendation Malone quotes the following from Plutarch's Life of Brutus, § 12]:
'It was easie to see that they were all of a minde, that it was no tarrying for them
till they were apprehended, but rather that they should kill themselves with their
own handes.' — [ed. Skeat, p. 118.] . . . Shakespeare was induced to give this
sentiment to Cassius as being exactly agreeable to his character, and to that
spirit which has appeared in a former scene : ' I know where I will wear this dagger
then; Cassius from bondage will deliver Cassius.' — I, iii, 99, 100. — Ritson: The
disjimctive is right, and the sense apparent. Cassius says. If bur purpose is dis-
covered, either Caesar or I shall never return alive; for, if we cannot kill him, I will
certainly slay myself. The conspirators were numerous and resolute, and had
they been betrayed, the confusion that must have arisen might have afforded des-
perate men an opportunity to despatch the tyrant. — Craik adopts Malone's emen-
dation and, in answer to the foregoing note by Ritson, says: 'To "turn back"
cannot mean to return alive, or to return in any way. The most it could mean
would be to make a movement towards returning; which is so far from being the
same thing with the accomplished return, which this translation would have it
imply, that it may almost be said to be the very opposite.' — Delius considers that
the meaning here is not either Caesar or Cassius will perish, but that neither of
them shall escape alive; in which case the words 'or' and 'never' are equivalent
to nor and ever, and neither is to be understood before ' Cassius.' — John Hunter
follows Malone's conjecture, remarking, '"be," [1. 27], is the present indicative.
If this purpose of ours is discovered, Cassius shall never be a fugitive from Caesar's

- -■ »■ <f M,

134 THE TRACED IE OF [act hi, sc. i.

For I will flay my felfe,

Bru. Caffnis be conftant. 3^

Popillius Lena fpeakes not of our purpofes,
For looke he fmiles, and CcBfar doth not change.

Caffi. Trebo7ims knowes his time : for look you Brutus
He drawes Mark Antony out of the way.

Deci. Where is Mctelltis Cimber, let him go, 35

And prefently preferre his fuite to Ccs/ar.

Bru. He is addreft : preffe neere, and fecond him.

Cin. Caska, you are the firft that reares your hand. 38

29. [Caesar being arrived at his seat, 34- Exeunt Antony and Trebonius,
Popilius whispers him and smiles. Caesar and the Senators take their
Jennens. seats. Mai.

31. purpofes] purpose Theob. ii,+, 38. reares] rear Han. Cap. Varr. Ran.

Walker (Crit., 141), Dyce ii, iii. your] his Tyrwhitt.

wrath.' The old reading . . . makes 'turn back' signify re/z/rw /zome, a sense quite
unwarranted, we believe, by any of the other instances of the phrase in Shakespeare.
— Wright follows Ritson's interpretation, that is, either Cassius or Caesar shall
never return alive, for I will kill him or slay myself. 'This,' adds Wright, 'seems
the obvious meaning.' Which is the opinion also of the present Ed.

30. Cassius be constant] Lloyd (ap. Singer, viii, 509) : Nothing can be more
remote from the process by which Brutus deliberately advances to his resolution
than the passion of pique and fury which Shakespeare has expanded from Plutarch's
hint of the bearing of Cassius at the great crisis, as one almost beside himself.
Engrossed by present animosity he looks but little forward, and even leans, at an
emergency, on the suggestions of others, as when alarmed at the words and be-
haviour of Popilius Lena. Least of all has he a preconcerted plan for keeping the
main direction of the enterprise in a sense and intention of his own; he remon-
strates, truly, but does not assert and exercise the high hand that would support
remonstrance or render it unnecessary.

33. Trebonius] In Plutarch's Life of CcBsar it is Decius Brutus who 'enter-
tained' Antony out of the Senate House (ed. Skeat, p. 100); but in the Life of
Brutus, which Shakespeare is here evidently following, this duty is given to Tre-
bonius (op. cit., p. 118). That this last is the correct account we have Cicero's
testimony in confirmation; writing to Trebonius on February 2, B. C. 43, he says:
*. . . the magnificent service which you men did the state [by the murder of
Caesar] leaves room for some grumbling. In fact, for Antony's having been taken
out of the way by you — the best of men — and that it was by your kindness that
this pest still survives, I sometimes do feel, though perhaps I have no right to do so,
a little angry with you.'— (ed. Shuckburgh, iv, i7S-)— A letter, by the way, which
the unfortunate Trebonius may have never received; it was written on the same
date as that of his cruel murder by Dolabella. — Ed.

34. out of the way] Walker {Crit., ii, 171): Pronounce out of (or at least lay
the stronger accent on 'of'), which removes the harshness.

37. addrest] Murray {N. E. D., s. v. address. 3.): To order or arrange for any
purpose; to prepare, make ready.

ACT III, sc. i.] IVLIVS CAESAR 135

Ccef. Are we all ready? What is now amiffe,
That Cafar and his Senate muft redreffe ? 40

Mctcl. Mofl high,mofl: mighty, and moft puifant Ccsfar
Ml- tell us Cy) fiber throwes before thy Seate
An humble heart,

Ccuf. I muft preuent thee Cymber :
Thefe couchings, and thefe lowly courtefies 45

Might fire the blood of ordinary men,
And turne pre-Ordinance,and firft Decreel
Into the lane of Children. Be not fond,
To thinke that Ccefar beares fuch Rebell blood 49

39. ATe...ready\ Continued to Cinna. 46. jire\ Jlir Warb. Ktly conj.

Ritson. Assigned to Casca. Coll. ii, iii. 47. Jirji] fixt Craik conj.

(MS), Dyce, Craik, Sta. Wh. i, Huds. 48. lane] law Johns, conj., Mai. Ran.

we] you Han. ii. Steev. Varr. Sing. Knt, Coll. Dyce,

45. couchings] crouchings Han. Coll. Craik, Sta. Wh. Hal. Ktly, Cam.+.

MS. line Steevens conj. play Mason conj.

courtefies] ciirtefies Fj. curtfies Huds. iii. plaie Singer conj. (N. & Q.,

F4, Rowe. 10 Ap., 1858). vane Bailey (i, 106).

38. you are . . . reares your] Malone: According to the rules of grammar
Shakespeare should certainly have written his hand; but he is often thus inac-
curate. Compare: ' — all his faults observ'd Set in a note-book, learn'd and conn'd
by rote To cast into my teeth.' — IV, iii, 107. — Steevens: As this and similar
offences against grammar might have originated only from the ignorance of the
players, or their printers, I cannot concur in representing such mistakes as the
positive inaccuracies of Shakespeare. According to this mode of reasoning the false
spellings of the First Folio, as often as they are exampled by corresponding false
spellings in the same book, may also be charged upon our author. — Abbott (§ 247)
gives other examples of this construction, and adds: '. . . taking all these, we are,
I think, justified in saying that the relative was often regarded like a noun, by
nature third person singular, and, therefore, uninfluenced by the antecedent.'

41. puisant] Craik (p. 271): 'Puissant' and the substantive form puissance
are, I believe, always disyllables in Milton; with Shakespeare they generally are
so (as here), but not always.

47. pre-Ordinance] Warburton: That is, ordinance already established. —
Wright: Caesar speaks as if his ordinances and decrees were those of a deity. —
[Note also the arrogance indicated by the phrase 'his Senate,' in 1. 40. — Ed.]

48. lane of Children] Johnson's emendation law, and his interpretation, that
fixed decree will be changed into such slight determinations as every start of will
would alter, have been almost universally accepted (see Text. Notes). — Steevens,
in support of the Folio, quotes: ' A narrow-minded man! my thoughts do dwell AH
in a lane.' — Staple of News, [V, i; ed. Gifford, p. 292]. 'The "lane of children"
will then mean,' he remarks, 'the narrow conceits of children, which must change
as their minds grow more enlarged.'

49. Rebell] Craigie (iV. E. D., s. v. A. adjective. 2.): Disobedient to a supe-
rior or to some higher power; contumacious, refractory.

136 THE TRACED IE OF [act in, sc. i.

That will be thaw'd from the true quality 50

With that which melteth Fooles, I meane fweet words,

Low-crooked-curtfies, and base Spaniell fawning :

Thy Brother by decree is banifhed :

If thou doeft bend, and pray, and fawne for him,

I fpurne thee like a Curre out of my way : 55

Know, Ccefar doth not wrong, nor without caufe

Will he be fatisfied. 57

52. Low-crooked-curtfies] Ff, Rowe, iii. (MS), Craik. low-crooked-curt' sies

Pope. low-crooked curtsies Theob. Han. et cet.

Coll. i, Sta. Wh. Huds. low crooked 52. Spaniell fawning] spaniel-fawn-
curtsies Knt. low-crooked curt'sies ing Johns. Var. '73.
Dyce. low-crouched courtesies Coll. ii, 53. banijhed] banisliM Dyce.

50. the true quality] Wright: For the use of the definite article where we should
expect the possessive pronoun, compare Bacon, Advancetnent of Learning: 'For we
see that it is the manner of men to scandalize and deprave that which retaineth
the state and virtue, by taking advantage upon that which is corrupt and degener-
ate.'— Bk i, § 4; (Clar. ed., p. 27). Again, Hamlet: 'Ere yet the salt of most un-
righteous tears Had left the flushing in her galled eyes.' — I, ii, 155; where, how-
ever, the Quarto of 1603 reads 'their flushing.'

56, 57. Know, Caesar ... be satisfied] These lines have been the occa-
sion of much comment from the time of Pope down to the present, chiefly
on account of two passages in the writings of Ben Jonson. In the Itiduction
to The Staple of News, first acted in 1625, Prologue says to Gossip Expectation,
'Cry you mercy, you never did wrong but with just cause' — (ed. Gifford,
p. 162). This of itself would hardly be sufl&cient evidence that Jonson was
ridiculing the present passage in Jul. Cces. were there not, as corroboration, the
following in his Discoveries first printed in the Folio of 1641: ' De Shakspeare
nostrat. — Augustus in Hat. — I remember, the players have often mentioned
it as an honour to Shakespeare, that in his writing (whatsoever he penned) he
never blotted out a line. My answer hath been. Would he had blotted a thou-
sand. Which they thought a malevolent speech. I had not told posterity this,
but for their ignorance, who chose that circumstance to commend their friend by,
wherein he most faulted; and to justify mine own candour: for I loved the man,
and do honour his memory, on this side idolatry, as much as any. He was (indeed)
honest, and of an open and free nature; had an excellent phantasy, brave notions,
and gentle expressions; wherein he flowed with that facility, that sometimes it was
necessary he should be stopped: Sufflaminandus erat, as Augustus said of Haterius.
His wit was in his own power, would the rule of it had been so too. Many times he
fell into those things, could not escape laughter: as when he said in the person of
Caesar, one speaking to him, "Csesar thou dost me wrong." He replied, "Caesar
did never wrong but with just cause," and such like; which were ridiculous. But
he redeemed his vices with his virtues. There was ever more in him to be praised
than to be pardoned.' — Ed. Gifford, p. 175. — Pope, in a note on IH, ii, 120, 'Caesar
has had great wrong,' adds a line, Casar had never wrong but with just cause, remark-
ing: 'If ever there was such a line written by Shakespeare, I should fancy it might
have its place here, and very humourously in the mouth of a Plebeian. One might

ACT III. sc. i.] IVLIVS C^SAR 1 37

[56, 57. Know, Caesar doth not wrong, . . . cause \A^ill he be^ satisfied]
believe Ben Johnson's \sic\ remark [as quoted above] was made upon no better
credit than some blunder of an actor in speaking that verse near the beginning of
the Third Act [the present line]. But the verse as cited by Jonson does not con-
nect with "Will he be satisfied." Perhaps this play was never printed in Ben
Jonson's time, and so he had nothing to judge by, but as the actor was pleased to
speak it.' — Theob.'^ld quotes the passages from Jonson, already given, but to
which Pope has merely referred. 'I can't pretend to guess,' continues Theobald,
'for what reason Ben has left this sarcasm upon our author; when there is no room
for it from any of the printed copies.' — Pope's attempted explanation of Jonson's
misquotation we may charitably ascribe to carelessness rather than ignorance; he
could hardly have been so unfamiliar with the Folios as not to have known that
Jonson was the author of both the Address to the Reader and some commendatory
lines in the First Folio; we, in these days, have no spur to prick the sides of our
intent, but Theobald would have been more than human had he let slip this oppor-
tunity for a home thrust, with an unbated foil, the point envenomed too. 'I
should not,' he says, 'have thought it worth while to revive the memory of such a
remark [as Jonson's], had not Mr Pope purposely deviated into a criticism upon the
affair. There is a sort of fatality attends some people when they aim at being
hjT^ercritical. ... I don't know how this gentleman's head was employ'd when
he made this profound obser\-ation; for he could not but know that B. Jonson liv'd
to the year 1637, fourteen years before which the Players had put out their edition
of all Shakespeare's genuine plays in Folio. The surly Laureate, therefore, cannot
stand excus'd, from any blunder of an actor, for wounding the memory of a Poet,
when the absurdity reflected on is not to be found in his works.' — Tyrwhitt is of
the opinion that the defect in the metre and the turn of the sentence in these two
lines are indications that possibly Jonson did not misquote, and that originally the
passage stood thus: 'Know Caesar doth not wrong, bid with just cause; Nor without
cause will he be satisfied.' TjTwhitt suggests as a reason for the present reading
that Shakespeare, 'overawed by so great an authority, withdrew the words in
question.' ' In poetical language,' he continues, ' " wrong " may be very well under-
stood to mean only harm or hurt, what the law calls damnum sine injuria; ... in
this sense there is nothing absurd in Caesar's saying that he doth not wrong {i. e.,
doth not inflict any evil or punishment) but with just cause. . . . The excep-
tionable words were undoubtedly left out when the play was printed [in
the Folio], and, therefore, what are we to think of the malignant pleasure
with which Jonson continued to ridicule his deceased friend for a slip, of which
posterity, without his information, would have been totally ignorant.' — Steevens
cites the passage from Jonson's Discoveries and quotes that from the Induction to
the Staple of News, but makes no comment other than that Jonson here quoted
'unfaithfully,' and Malone quotes, in support of Tyrwhitt's interpretation of
'wrong,' 'Time's glory is ... To wrong the wronger, till he render right.' — Rape
of L71C., 942; and Schmidt (Lex.) furnishes many other similar interpretations. —
Gifford's note on the line in the Induction to The Staple of Xrws is much to the
purpose: 'The attacks on Jonson for this quotation, which are multipHed bej-ond
credibility, are founded on two charges, first, that he has falsified the passage, and
secondly that he was actuated by malignity in adverting to it at all. I caimot be-
lieve that the passage is "quoted " (as Steevens says) "unfaithfully." It is sufficient
to look at it in the printed copy to be convinced that it never came in this form from

r 1 1 1 » •»ncT«'

138 THE TRACED IE OF [act hi, sc. i.

[56, 57. Know, Caesar doth not wrong, . . . cause Will he be satisfied]

the pen of Shakespeare. One of the conspirators . . . kneels at the feet of Cassar,
with this short address: "Metellus Cimber throws before thy seat, An humble
heart." And what is Ca;sar's reply? "Know Caesar doth not wrong, nor without
cause will he be satisfied." How satisfied, and of what? Here is no congruity,
and the poetry is as mean as the sense. In Jonson it stands thus: "Met. Caesar,
ihoii dost me wrong. Cces. Cassar did never wrong, but with just cause." Here is,
at least, a reference to something. The fact seems to be that this verse, which
closely borders upon absurdity without being absolutely absurd, escaped the poet
in the heat of composition, and being unluckily one of those quaint slips which are
readily remembered became a jocular and familiar phrase ... of the day. To
suppose, with Steevens and Malone, that Jonson derived all his knowledge of
Shakespeare's works from the printed copy is not a little ridiculous: those gentle-
men choose to forget that he [Jonson] passed his life among play-houses and players,
and that he must have frequently seen Jid. Ccbs. on the stage. There he undoubt-
edly heard the expression he has quoted. He tells us himself that, till he was past
the age of forty, he could repeat everything that he had written. His memory,
therefore, was most retentive, and as his veracity was never called in question, but
by the duumvirate just mentioned, I cannot but believe that he has given the words
as they were uttered. When The Staple of News was written cannot be told, but
it was acted in 1625, nine years after the death of Shakespeare; it seems, however,
not to have been published until 1641, when the author himself had long been dead;
though the title-page bears date 1631. Jul. Cces. was printed in 1623; but it does
not necessarily follow from this that Jonson consulted the pkyers' copy. He had
no occasion to look into it for what he already knew; and if he had opened it at all,
the probability is that he would have paid no attention to their botchery (for
theirs I am pursuaded it was) when the genuine words were so familiar to him.
He wrote and spoke at a time when he might easily have been put to shame if his
quotation had been unfaithful. . . . After relieving Jonson from the heaviest part
of the charge — that of sophisticating a line "for the gratification of his malignity" —
I have no desire to push the matter further, or seek, in any way, to exonerate him
from the crime of having produced it at all. Valeat quod valeat. Whether it be a
satire, as Whalley, a sneer, as Malone, a scoff, as Steevens, a piece of wanton malice,
as Tyrwhitt calls it, or all of them together, as others say, the reader may determine
at his pleasure. I would only remind him that this is the first place in Jonson's
works in which I have found any e.xpression that could be construed (whether
fairly or not) into an attack on Shakespeare, and that a small part of the tender-
ness that is felt for this great poet would not be altogether cast away on Marlowe,
Lyly, Kyd, and others of some note in their day, whom he incessantly ridicules
without stint and without mercy, though he had obligations to some of them, and
had received provocation from none.' — Collier: It is very evident that Jonson was
only speaking from memory, 'shaken' (as he himself confesses in the same work)
'with age now and sloth,' because Metellus had not said, 'Caesar thou dost me
wrong' nor anything like it, though that might have been the upshot of his com-
plaint. We have little doubt that the Folio represents the passage as written by
Shakespeare, and that it was never, in fact, liable to the criticism of Jonson. [Has
not Collier referred Jonson's criticism to a period later than its original utterance?
The greater number of the Remarks in the Discoveries were, according to Giflord,
made subsequently to 1630. This remark was not, however, made when Jonson

ACT III. sc. i.] IVLIVS CAESAR 139

[56, 57. Know, Caesar doth not wrong, . . . cause Will he be satisfied]
was ' shaken with age,' but at the time when Jul. Cas. was a popular play in the
early part of 1600, and in his Discoveries Jonson is quoting what he himself had
said in his younger days — see his own words as given above. — Ed.]. — Craik (p.
274) thinks that as these two affirmations do not 'hang very well together,' and
their meaning is not ' effectively expressed,' that, therefore, the lines are presump-
tively wrong — that they are actually wrong he finds evidence in the passage from
Jonson's Discoveries; because Jonson gives the lines as they stood originally, and
he had evidently heard of no alteration of them. 'After all,' adds Craik, 'Caesar's
declaring that he never did wrong but with just cause would differ little from what
Bassanio says: "Wrest once the law to your authority: To do a great right, do a
little wrong." — Mer. of Ven., IV, i, 215.' — Walker {Crit., iii, 246) asks, if the true
reading be as Jonson gives it, whether light is thrown on this by: 'He never did fall
off, my sovereign liege. But by the chance of war'? — i Hen. IV: I, iii, 94. [Not a
ray. — Ed.] — Halliwell, in reference to the present lines, queries: 'How satisfied,
and of what? Take Jonson's words as literally true [Cassar, thou dost me wrong.
Cces. Caesar did never wrong, but with just cause], and the whole becomes clear;
not clear, indeed, as to Shakespeare's meaning, but it unfolds a dialogue not more
obscure than many others in his plays; and without such an arrangement the only
alternative is to accuse Jonson of wilful misrepresentation for the sake of a jest
against a deceased friend, a theory, I should imagine, the wildest critic would
hardly venture to adopt. — Cambridge Edd. {Note IV.): Surely the first twelve
lines of Caesar's reply, to which Gifford makes no allusion, cannot have been written
by any other hand than Shakespeare's. On the whole, it seems more probable that
Jonson, quoting from memory, quoted wrong than that the passage was altered in
consequence of his censure, which was first made, publicly, in 1625 [when The Staple
of News was first acted.] — Ingleby {Still Lion, p. 152): Where was the blunder?
We say it was Jonson's and his fellow censors': that the line they laughed at
[' Cffisar did never wrong, but with just cause'] was and is imimpeachable good sense,
and that it is the editor's duty to use Jonson's censure for the purpose of correcting
the Folio reading, and restoring the passage to that form in which, as we believe,
it flowed from the pen of Shakespeare. — Wright {Clarendon Ed.) : I am not con-
vinced that any change is necessary. Caesar claims infallibility in his judgements,
and a firmness of temper resisting appeals to his vanity. ... If it had not been for
Jonson's story, no one would have suspected any corruption in the passage. The
question is, whether his authority is sufficient to warrant a change. . . . The
supposition [that the lines originally stood as Jonson quotes them] is not probable,
because if his remarks are hypercritical, and the lines yield a tolerable sense,
Shakespeare would have been aware of this as well as any of his commentators, and
is not likely to have made a change which is, confessedly, unnecessary. On the
other hand, if the players introduced the change it is not easy to see why they
should have left out the words which Jonson puts in the mouth of Metellus, ' Caesar,
thou dost me wrong'; nor why they should have written, 'Know, Caesar doth not
wrong' instead of 'Caesar did never wrong.' The argument that the passage is
obviously corrupt because it ends with an imperfect line is of no weight, because it
would equally apply to the proposed restoration, in which another imperfect line
is introduced. On the whole, I am disposed to believe that Jonson loved his jest
better than his friend, and repeated a distorted version of the passage without
troubling himself about its accuracy, because it afforded him an opportunity of

I40 THE TRACED IE OF [act hi, sc. i.

Metells there no voyce more worthy then my owne, 58
To found more fweetly in great Ccsfars eare,
For the repealing of my banifh'd Brother ? 60

Bru. I kiffe thy hand, but not in flattery Ccefar :
Defiring thee, that Piibluis Cyinber may 62

giving a hit at Shakespeare. It is worth while to remark that for Metellus to inter-
rupt Caesar with the petulant exclamation, ' Caesar, thou dost me wrong,' is out of
character with the tone of his speeches before and after, which is that of abject
flattery. — Hudson (Ed. iii, wherein Jonson's quotation is substituted for the Folio
reading) asks: 'How came the passage to be as the Folio gives it?' and thus answers:
* As Jonson had some hand in getting up the Folio, it is nowise unlikely that he may
have made the alteration; though it would seem as if he might have seen that the
change just spoilt the poet's dramatic logic. Or it may well be that the Editors,
not understanding the two senses of " wrong" [as given by Tyrwhitt above], struck
out the words hid with just cause, and then altered the language at other points
in order to salve the metre. Either of these is, I think, much more probable than
that Shakespeare himself made the change in order to "escape laughter." At all
events, Jonson is better authority as to how Shakespeare wrote the passage than
the Folio is that Shakespeare himself made the change.'— [See Appendix: Fleay
on Date 0} Composition, where the present passage, with several others, is used to
show that Jul. Cces. is the joint work of Jonson and Shakespeare. Those editors
who opine that the passage stood as quoted twice by Jonson have undoubtedly
presented a goodly array of reasons in justification; but, on the other hand, we have
the direct evidence of the Folio that such is not the case; Wright's remark, that we
have here an instance of 'Jonson's preferring his jest to his friend,' is a further
corroboration when it is recalled that this very trait is one of those given by Drum-
mond in an analysis of Jonson's character after the memorable visit to him in 1619.
Under date of January 19 Drummond writes in his journal: 'He is a great lover
and praiser of himself; a contemner and scomer of others; given rather to losse a
friend than a jest; jealous of every word and action of those about him (especiallie
after drink, which is one of the elements in which he liveth).' — ed. Laing, p. 40,
Sh. Soc. Papers. — Even had the line been as Jonson quotes it his words would have
been none the less malicious. 'Would he had blotted a thousand [lines],' and then
but one example given, which, as has been shown, is quite in keeping with other
grandiloquent speeches of Caesar, even if it were originally as Jonson has quoted
it.— Ed.]

57. satisfied] W. W. [Williams {Parthenon, 2""^ Aug., 1862, p. 442): Upon
comparing the line in Meas.for Meas., 'Do not satisfy your resolution with hopes
that are fallible,' HI, i, 170, with the present passage, we find the same word
['satisfy'] used apparently in the same sense, and translatable only by the same
modem equivalent, [i. e., unsettle]. What precise shade of meaning Shakespeare
may have attached to it is another matter; but we must pause before tampering
with either passage, when each is so confirmatory of the other.

60. repealing] Craigie {N. E. D., s. v. repeal, vb, 3 b.): To recall (a person)
from exile. [Among examples from other writers the two following, from Shake-
speare, are given: 'Thebanish'd Bullingbrooke repeales himselfe.' — Rich. II: II, ii,
49; 'This healthfull hand whose banisht sence Thou hast repeal'd.' — ^4//'^ Well, II,
wi, 55-

ACT III, sc. i.] IVLIVS C^SAR I41

Haue an immediate freedome of repeale. 63

Ccef. What Brutus ?

CaJJi. Pardon Ccefar : Ccefar pardon : 65

As lovve as to thy foote doth Caffius fall,
To begge infranchifement for Publius Cymber.

C(zf. I could be well mou'd, if I were as you,
If I could pray to mooue, Prayers would mooue me ;
But I am conftant as the Northerne Starre, 70

Of whofe true fixt, and refting quality,
There is no fellow in the Firmament.
The Skies are painted with vnnumbred fparkes, 73

64. Brutus?] Brutus/ — Rowe et seq. Jen. true-fixt Cap. Var. '78, '85, Ran.
66. lowe] loue F2. true-fix'd Mai. Steev. Varr. Sing. Knt.
70-79. In margin Pope, Han. Dyce, Sta. Wh. Ktly, Cam.+. true,
71. true fixi] true, fixt Rowe,+, fix^d Coll. Hal.

62. Publius Cymber] Sykes: Plutarch does not mention this brother's name.
There is here possibly an echo of the Cataline conspiracy, 63 B. C, and Publius
Gabinius Cimber, for whose banishment Caesar pleaded; but Gabinius was put to
death.

63. freedome of repeale] Craik (p. 276): That is, a free unconditional recall.
This application of the term ' freedom ' is a little peculiar. It is apparently imitated
from the expression freedom of a city. As that is otherwise called the municipal
franchise, so this is called 'enfranchisement' in 1. 67. — Wright interprets thus:
'Liberty to be recalled from banishment.' — [May not 'of here be equivalent to
resulting from, as a consequence of, as in, 'We were dead of sleep.' — Temp., V, i, 221?
— Abbott, § 168, gives other examples of this use. The sentence will thus mean
that Cimber may be granted immediate freedom in consequence of his recall from
exile. — Ed.]

65. Pardon Caesar : Caesar pardon] Possibly the reason for this form of repe-
tition is that each word may receive a passionate emphasis. First on one, then on
the other, thus: 'Pardon, Cassar; Ccesar, pardon.'— Ed.

69. If I could pray to mooue, etc.] Wright suggests that Shakespeare may
have taken the hint for this speech from Plutarch's description of the character of
Brutus: 'For as Brutus's gravity and constant mind would not grant all men their
requests that sued unto him, but, being moved with reason and discretion, did
alway incline to that which was good and honest: even so, when it was moved to
follow any matter, he used a kind of forcible and vehement persuasion, that calmed
not until he had obtained his desire. For by flattering of him a man could never
obtain anything at his hands, nor make him do that which was imjust. Further,
he thought it not meet for a man of calling and estimation to yield unto the requests
and entreaties of a shameless and importunate suitor, requesting things immeet:
the which notwithstanding some men do for shame, because they dare deny noth-
ing.'— Life of Brutus, § 4; ed. Skeat, pp. 109, no.

73. painted] For this use of 'paint,' in the sense of decorate, compare: 'And
cuckoo-buds of yellow hue Do paint the meadows with delight.' — Love's Labour's,
V, ii, 907. — Schmidt {Lex., s. v. 3.) also compares: 'Pluck the wings from painted

142 THE TRACED IE OF [act hi, sc. i.

They are all Fire, and euery one doth fhine :

But, there's but one in all doth hold his place. 75

So, in the World ; 'Tis furnifh'd well with IMen,

And Men are Flefh and Blood, and apprehenfiue ;

Yet in the number, I do know but One

That vnaffayleable holds on his Ranke,

Vnfhak'd of Motion : and that I am he, 80

Let me a little fhew it, euen in this :

That I was conftant Cynibcr fhould be banifh'd,

And conftant do remaine to keepe him fo.

Cinna. O Ccefar.

CcbJ. Hence : Wilt thou lift vp Olympus ? 85

Deems. Great Ccsfar .

Ccsf. Doth not Bnit2is bootleffe kneele \ 87

80. Moiion\ notion Upton (Obs. p. V 87. Doth] Do Ff, Rowe, Pope,
224). Han.

84. Cinna.] Cim. Rowe,+ (—Han.). kneele?] kneel. Rowe, Pope.

butterflies.' — Mid. N. Dream, III, i, 175, but this is not, I think, quite the same;
the wing of a butterfly might properly be said to be painted; to paint a meadow with
what causes delight or to paint the sky with sparks is not only far more poetical,
but is in one case subjective; in the other, objective. — Ed.

77. apprehensiue] Murray {N. E. D., s. v. 4.): Of intelligent beings: In the
habit, or capable of grasping with the mind, perceptive; hence, quick to learn, intelli-
gent, 'sharp.' [Compare: 'In apprehension how like a god.' — Hamlet, II, ii, 319.]

79. holds on his Ranke] Johnson: Perhaps, 'holds on his race'; continues his
course. We commonly say: To hold a rank, and to hold on a course or way. — M.
Mason: That is, continues to hold it. [Johnson's proposal] race would but ill agree
with unshak'd of motion, or with the comparison to the polar star. 'Holds on his
rank,' in one part of the comparison, has precisely the same import with 'hold his
place' in the other.

80. Vnshak'd of Motion] Malone: That is, unshaken by suit or solicitation,
of which the object is to move the person addressed. — Craik (p. 276) suggests as
another interpretation, 'unshaken in his motion, or with perfectly steady move-
ment.'

83. And constant do remaine, etc.] Hudson: All through this scene Caesar is
made to speak quite out of character, and in a strain of hateful arrogance, in order,
apparently, to soften the enormity of his murder, and to grind the daggers of the
assassins to a sharper point. Perhaps, also, it is a part of the irony which so marks
this play, to put the haughtiest words in Cesar's mouth just before his fall.

87. Doth not Brutus] Johnson conjectures that this should read Do not — the
reading of the Second Folio, of which Johnson was apparently unaware — but
Steevens rightly, I think, decides that the present text is preferable, and thus inter-
prets the line: 'See you not my own Brutus kneeling in vain? What success can
you expect to your solicitations, when his are ineffectual? ' Steevens also compares
the passage from Homer (which Johnson quotes in his preface) wherein Achilles

ACT III. sc. i.] IVLIVS C^SAR 143

Cask. Speake hands for me. 88

They Jlab Ca;far.
Ccef. Et Til Brute? Then fall Ccefar. Dyes 90

88. [Stabbing him in the Neck. other conspirators, and at last by
Caesar rises, catches at the Dagger, and Marcus Bmtus. Mai. et seq. (subs.)
struggles with him: defends himself, V, -\ 90. Dyes] Om. Ff. He submits;
for a time, against him, and against ^^lufHes up his face in his Mantle; falls
the other Conspirators; but, stab'd by ^ and dies. Senate in confusion. Cap.
Brutus,... Capell. Casca stabs Ciesar Dies. The Senators and people retire in
in the neck. Ca;sar catches hold of his confusion Mai. Steev. Varr.
arm. He is then stabb'd by several

addressing his captive [Hector] says: 'When so great a man as Patroclus has fallen
before thee, dost thou complain of the common lot of humanity?' — [Iliad, xxii,
331-333.] — Malone: By 'Brutus' here Shakespeare certainly meant Marcus
Brutus, because he has confounded him with Decimus (or Decius, as he calls him);
and imagined that ^Marcus Brutus was the peculiar favorite of Cfesar. [See note
on this name, I, ii, i.]

90. Et Tu Brute .'] Malone: Suetonius says, ' — with three and twenty wounds
he [Caesar] was stabbed, during which time he gave but one groan (without any
word uttered), and that was at the first thrust; though some have written that, as
Marcus Brutus came running upon him, he said, aal cv renvov, and thou my
Sonne.' — Holland's Translation; [ed. Henley, i, 75]. . . . Plutarch [North's trans-
lation] says that, on receiving his first wound from Casca, 'he caught hold of
Casca's sword, and held it hard; and they both cried out, Caesar in Latin, 0 vile
traitor, Casca; what doesl thou? and Casca in Greek to his brother, Brother, help we.'
. . . Neither of these writers, therefore, we see, furnished Shakespeare with this
exclamation. His authority appears to have been a line in The True Tragedie of
Richarde Duke of Yorke, 1600, on which he formed his 3 Henry VI: 'Et Tu, Brute?
Wilt thou stab Caesar too?' — [Cambridge Edd., V, i, 53.]. This line Shakespeare
rejected, . . . but it appears it had made an impression on his memory. The
same line is also found in Nicholson's Acolastus, his Afterwitte, 1600. So, in CcBsar's
Legend: Mirror for Magistrates, 1587: 'O this, quoth I, is violence; then Cassius
pierc'd my breast; And Brutus thou, my sonne, quoth I, whom erst I loved best.'
— [ed. Haslewood, i, 274]. The Latin words probably appeared originally in the
old Latin play. See notes on I, i, i. — Thomson (p. 6$, foot-note): The words koI ah
TEKvov are not in the Salmasian copy [of Suetonius's Lives], and I am strongly
inclined to reject their authority. It is extremely improbable that Caesar, who had
never before avowed Brutus to be his son, should make so unnecessary an acknowl-
edgement at the moment of his death. Exclusive of this objection, the apostrophe
seems too verbose, both for the suddenness and the celerity of the occasion. But
this is not all. Can we suppose that Caesar, though a perfect master of the Greek,
would at such a time have expressed himself in that language rather than the Latin,
. . . which he spoke with peculiar elegance? Upon the whole, the probability
is that the words uttered by Caesar were Et tu, Brute! which, while equally express-
ive of astonishment with the other, and even of tenderness, are both more natural
and more emphatic. — [Dion Cassius, who wrote at least one hundred years later than
Suetonius, says: 'Thereupon they attacked him [Caesar] from many sides at once
and wounded him to death, so that by reason of their numbers Caesar was unable

144 ^^^ TRACED IE OF [act hi, sc. i.

Cin. Liberty, Freedome ; Tyranny is dead, 91

Run hence, proclaime, cry it about the Streets.

Caljl, Some to the common Pulpits, and cry out
Liberty, Freedome, and Enfranchifement.

Bru. People and Senators, be not affrighted : 95

Fly not,ftand ftill : Ambitions debt is paid.

Cask. Go to the Pulpit Brutus.

Dec. And Cajjfms too.

Bru. Where's Publius ?

Cin. Heere, quite confounded with this mutiny. loc

Met. Stand faft together, leaft fome Friend of C<^fars
Should chance

Bru. Talke not of ftanding. Publius good cheere,
There is no harme intended to your perfon,
Nor to no Roman elfe : fo tell them Publius. 105

CaJJi. And leaue vs Publius, leaft that the people
Rufliing on vs, fhould do your Age fome mifchiefe. 107

loi. Friend] friends Pope ii, Theob. 105. to no] ot no F4.

Warb. Johns. Var. '73.

to say or do anything, but, veiling his face, was slain with many wounds. This is
the truest account. In times past some have made a declaration like this, that to
Brutus who struck him severely he said: "Thou, too, my child?"' — Bk, xliv, § ig.
— Ed.] — Ferrero (ii, 353, /oo/-wo/c): Caesar's words to Brutus, as he wrapped
himself in his toga, are certainly a myth. How could he wrap himself in his toga
with his assassins striking at him from all sides? As for the invocation to Brutus
(/« quoque, Brule, fill mi), it is merely a piece of sentiment tacked on to the fantastic
legend which makes Brutus the child of Caesar.

97. Cask. Go to . . . Brutus] Steevens: We have now taken leave of Casca.
Shakespeare for once knew that he had a sufficient number of heroes on his hands,
and was glad to lose an individual in the crowd. It may be added that the singu-
larity of Casca's manners would have appeared to little advantage amidst the
succeeding varieties of tumult and war. [Steevens is, however, here following
Pope's assignment of speeches. The Folios give 11. 118, 119 to Casca; Pope, in his
second edition, gives them to Cassius, see Text. Notes and Comments, ad loc. — Ed.]

103. cheere] Murray {N. E. D., s. v. subst. 3.): Disposition, frame of mind,
mood, especially as showing itself by external demeanor, etc. Usually with quali-
fication, as 'good,' 'glad,' 'joyful,' etc. [Murray gives as its derivation the old
French word chiere, chere, face.]

105. Nor . . . no] For other examples of double or triple negatives for emphasis,
see, if needful, Abbott, § 406.

107. your Age] Wright: Publius is here represented as an old man, and can,
therefore, hardly be the same as Antony's sister's son, mentioned in IV, i. Shake-
speare seems to have taken Publius as a convenient and familiar name for any
Roman. See above, 1. 67.

ACT III, sc. i.] IVLIVS C^SAR I45

Bru. Do fo, and let no man abide this deede, 108

But we the Doers.

Enter Trebo7iius^ no

CaJJi. Where is Antony ?

Trcb. Fled to his Houfe amaz'd:
Men, Wiues,and Children, ftare, cry out, and run.
As it were Doomefday.

Bni. FateSjWe will know your pleafures : 115

That we fhall dye we know, 'tis but the time
And drawing dayes out, that men ftand vpon.

Cask. Why he that cuts off twenty yeares of life,
Cuts off fo many yeares of fearing death.

Bru. Grant that, and then is Death a Benefit : 120

So are we Cccfars Friends, that haue abridged
His time of fearing death. Stoope Romans, ftoope, 122

no. Scene ii. Pope,+ ( — Var. '73). Dyce i, Craik, Wh. Ktly, Cam.+,

III. Where is\ Whereas Pope, Han. Huds. Cass. Pope et cet.
Cap. Steev. Varr. Sing, i, Coll. Craik, 119. of\ ofF^.

Wh. i, Dyce ii, iii, Huds. 122-127. Stoope Romans ... Liberty]

115. will] well Sta. conj. Case. Stoop Romans. ..Liberty Pope,

118. Cask.] Ff, Rowe, Knt, Coll. Warb.

108. abide] Murray (N. E. D., s. v. verb. 17. If.): Through confusion of form
with Abye [to pay the penalty, to atone for], when that verb was becoming archaic,
and through association of sense between abye (pay for) a deed, and abide the
consequences of a deed, 'abide' has been erroneously used for abye. [Compare,
for another example of this use. III, ii, 124.]

115. we will know] Deighton: That is, we desire to know, etc. — Mark
Hunter: This [interpretation] seems inconsistent with what immediately follows,
and with Brutus's philosophy. Brutus seems to mean. What destiny has in store
for us shall be known one day; meantime we know we have to die. Compare what
Brutus says before Philippi: 'But it sufl&ceth that the day will end And then the
end is known.' — V, i, 142.

117. stand vpon] Nares: To stand upon to anyone, to be of great importance
to him. [So, also, Dyce {Gloss.).]

118, 119. Cask. Why he . . . fearing death] Wright, who follows Pope's
assignment (see Text. Notes), says: 'This speech . . . belongs to Cassius, who is
a stoic' — Hudson (ed. iii, p. 199) : Surely [this speech] is more characteristic of
Casca than of Cassius. And I am the more unwilling to take it from Casca, as it
is the last he utters.

122. Stoope Romans, stoope] Pope says, in reference to his assignment of
this speech to Casca: 'In all the editions this speech is ascribed to Brutus, than
which nothing is more inconsistent with his mild and philosophical character.
But (as I often find speeches in the later editions put into wrong mouths, different
from the first publish'd by the author) I think this liberty not unreasonable.' —
[It will be remembered that it is Pope who says, in his Preface, that, were the names

146 THE TRACED IE OF [act hi, sc. i.

And let vs bathe our hands in Ccefars blood 123

Vp to the Elbowes, and befmeare our Swords :

Then walke we forth, euen to the Market place, 125

And wauing our red Weapons o're our heads,

Let's all cry Peace, Freedome, and Liberty.

CaJJi. Stoop then, and wafh . How many Ages hence 128

123. halhe\ baih F4, Cap.

to be omitted from the speeches in any play, it would not be difficult to place
them correctly, so distinctly consistent are the characters to their utterances.
Possibly this thought prompted him to this change and its justification. — Ed.] —
Theobald (Letter to Warburton; Nichols, II, 495): In this [change of speech] I
think [Pope] has been more nice than wise. Brutus esteemed the death of Caesar
a sacrifice to liberty; and as such gloried in his heading the enterprize. Besides,
our author is strictly copying history. ' Brutus and his followers, being yet hot with
the murder, marched in a body from the Senate-house to the Capitol with their
drawn swords, with an air of confidence and assurance.' — Plutarch, CcEsar, § 45.
And: 'Brutus and his party betook themselves to the Capitol, and in their way
shewing their hands all bloody, and their naked swords, proclaiming liberty to the
people.' — Ibid., Brutus, § 13. — [This note, with one or two slight changes, appears
also in Theobald's edition, 1733. The passages from Plutarch contain, however,
in both instances many verbal differences from North's translation. — Ed.]

123. bathe our . . . blood] Upton (p. 90): This was agreeable to an ancient
and religious custom. So in /Eschylus we read that the seven captains, who
came against Thebes, sacrificed a bull, and dipped their hands in the gore, invoking
at the same time the gods of war, and binding themselves with an oath to revenge
the cause of Eteocles {Seven Against Thebes, v, 42). . . . By this solemn action
Brutus gives the assassination of Caesar a religious air and turn. — Capell (i, 105) :
For the action which is ushered in by these words we have seen a preparative [in
that passage] where the same speaker opposes shedding any more blood but only
Caesar's, which, in his idea, was an offering to the goddess he worshipped most —
public liberty; and from this idea results the action proposed by him; such action
having many examples in ancient sacrifices, the more solemn particularly, as this
is thought, by the speaker. [See Appendix: Source of Plot; Paton.]

127. Let's all cry Peace] Knight {Studies, t^. 416) : We have seen the stoic
Brutus . . . gradually warm up to the great enterprise of asserting his principles
by one terrible blow, for triumph or for extinction. The blow is given. The
excitement which succeeds is wondrously painted by the poet, without a hint from
the historian. The calm of the gentle Brutus is lifted up, for the moment, into an
attitude of terrible sublimity. It is he who says: 'Stoop, Romans, stoop. . . .
Let's all cry, Peace, Freedom, and Liberty!' From that moment the character
flags; the calmness returns; something also of the irresolution comes back. Brutus
is too high-minded for his position.

128. wash] M. Mason: That is, wash over, as we say, washed with gold; Cassius
means that they should steep their hands in the blood of Caesar.

128. How many Ages hence, etc.] MacCallum (p. 2S0, foot-note): What a
strange effect these words are apt to produce on auditor and reader! 'How true!'
we say, 'The prophecy is fulfilled. This is happening now.' And then the reflec-

ACT III, sc. i.] IVLIVS C^SAR 147

Shall this our lofty Scene be a6led ouer,

In State vnborne, and Accents yet vnknowne ? 130

Brii. How many times fhall Ccefar bleed in fport,
That now on Pompcyes Bafis lye along,
No worthier then the duft ?

Caffi. So oft as that fhall be,
So often fhall the knot of vs be call'd, 135

129. [Dipping their swords in Cae- 131. Bru.] Case. Pope, Han.
sar's Blood. Rowe,+, Jen. 132. lye[ lyes Fj. lies F3F4.

ouer] o'er Pope,+, Walker 134. Caffi.] Bru. Pope, Han.

(Crit. iii, 247), Dyce ii, iii, Huds. iii. Jhall be] Om. Steev. conj.

130. Stale] Mai. States Ff et cet.

tion comes that just because that is the case, there is no prophecy and no truth in
the scene; the whole is being enacted in sport. We experience a kind of vertigo,
in which we cannot distinguish the real and the illusory, and yet are conscious of
both in their highest potence. And this is characterisic of all poetry, though it is
not always brought so clearly before the mind. . . . Compare the reference to
the 'squeaking Cleopatra' in Ant. &* Cleo., which is almost exactly parallel; com-
pare, too, Shakespeare's favorite device of the play within the play, when we
see the actors of a few minutes ago sitting like ourselves as auditors; and thus,
on the one hand, their own performance seems comparatively real, but, on the other,
there is the constant reminder that we are in their position, and the whole is merely
spectacular.

130. State] Malone is the only editor who retains this reading of the Folio, and
thus interprets it: 'In theatric pomp yet imdisplayed.' To this Steevens replies:
'But surely by "unborn states" our author must have meant communities which
as yet have no existence.' — Wright thinks the present reading an example of 'one
of the commonest misprints in the First Folio'; viz.: the omission or insertion of an
5 at the end of words, for which see Walker, Crit., i, 233. Wright also calls atten-
tion to another omission of the final s in the word 'lye', 1. 132; this last may, how-
ever, be due to the plural by attraction from the two words directly preceding
'lye.'— Ed.

134. So oft as that, etc.] Hudson: This [and the two preceding speeches],
vain-gloriously anticipating the stage celebrity of the deed, are very strange;
and unless there be a shrewd irony lurking in them, I am at a loss to imderstand
the purpose of them. Their effect on my mind has long been to give a very ambi-
tious air to the work of these professional patriots, and to cast a highly theatrical
colour on their alleged virtue; as if they had sought to immortalize themselves by
'striking the foremost man of all this world.' — [Hudson is here, I think, a victim
to the 'vertigo' mentioned by MacCallum in his note on 1. 128 above. Has it,
however, been noticed that although Shakespeare has here undoubtedly produced
a novel effect, yet it is done at the expense of making his heroes theatrical patriots;
this will possibly also account for a like tone in the speeches of Brutus, notably
that one beginning 'Fates, we will know your pleasures.' — Ed.]

135. knot] Murray {N. E. D., s. v. subsiant., IH, 18.): A small group, cluster,
band, or company of persons or things (gathered together in one place, or associ-
ated in any way). [The present line quoted.]

148 THE TRACED IE OF [act hi, sc. i.

The Men that gaue their Country hberty. 136

Dec. What, (hall we forth ?

CaJJi. I,euery man away.
Brui2is fhall leade, and we will grace his heeles
With the mod boldeft,and befl: hearts of Rome. 140

Enter a Sernant.

Bru. Soft, who comes heere ? A friend of Antonies.

Ser. Thus Brutus did my Mafber bid me kneele ;
Thus did Mark Anto7iy bid me fall downe.

And being proftrate, thus he bad me fay : 145

Brutus is Noble, Wife, Valiant, and Honeft;
C(Efar was Mighty, Bold, Royall, and Louing : 147

136. /A«>] owr Steev. Varr. Sing. i. 141. Enter...] After htere, 1. 142

137. Wha(\ What, what Rowe. Dyce, Sta.

138. man away] man: Away! Cap. 142. /I. ..Antonies] Given to Servant
conj. Pope, Han.

140. boldejl, and befl] bold, and the 143. [Kneeling. Pope.

best Rowe, Pope, Han. 147. Bold, Royall] royal, bold Pope

Theob. Han. Warb.

140. most boldest] For another example of this double superlative compare:
'most unkindest,' HI, ii, 193; and see, if needful, Abbott, § 11. — Craik (p. 281)
Calls attention to the form the most Highest, in the old version of the Psahns.
'Nor is there,' he continues, 'anything intrinsically absurd in such a mode of ex-
pression. If we are not satisfied to consider it as merely an intensified superlative,
we may say that "the most boldest" should mean those who are boldest among the
boldest. ... In most cases, however, the double superlative must be regarded as
intended merely to express the extreme degree more emphatically.'

141. Enter a Seruant] Moulton (Sh. as Dram. Artist, p. 198): This simple
stage-direction is the 'catastrophe,' the turning round of the whole action; the
arch has reached its apex and the Reaction has begun. So instantaneous is the
change, that though it is only the servant of Antony who speaks, yet the first words
of his message ring with the tone of subtly-poised sentences which are inseparably
associated with Antony's eloquence; it is like the first announcement of that which
is to be a fijial theme in music, and from this point this tone dominates the scene to
the very end. ... In the whole Shakespearean Drama there is nowhere such a
swift swinging round of a dramatic action as is here marked by this sudden up-
springing of the suppressed individuality in Antony's character, hitherto so colour-
less that he has been spared by the conspirators as a mere limb of Caesar. The tone
of exultant triumph in the conspirators has in an instant given place to Cassius's
'misgiving' as Brutus grants Antony an audience; and when Antony enters, Brutus's
first words to him fall into the form of an apology. — [That this is the turning point
is quite true; but is there anything but the light of our knowledge of what is to
follow to indicate it directly? The whole tone of Antony's message is completely
submissive; and the apologetic tone of Brutus's first speech to him is no more so
than his words to Publius directly after the murder. Cassius, it will be recalled,
also had misgivings in regard to Antony from the first. — Ed.]

ACT III, sc. i.] IVLJVS C^SAR 149

Say, I loue Brntus, ?ir\d I honour him ; 148

Say, I fear'd Ccefar, honour'd him, and lou'd him.

If Brutus will vouchfafe, that Antony 1 50

May fafely come to him, and be refolu'd

How Cirfar hath deferu'd to lye in death,

Mark Antony, fhall not loue G^/rrdead

So well as Brutus lining ; but will follow

The Fortunes and Affayres of Noble Brutus,'^ 155

Thorough the hazards of this vntrod State,

With all true Faith. So fayes my Mafler Antony.

Brti, Thy -Mafter is a Wife and Valiant Romane,
I neuer thought him worfe :

Tell hirn, fo pleafe him come vnto this place 160

He fhall be fatisfied : and by my Honor
Depart vntouch'd.

Ser. He fetch him prefently. Exit Seruant.

Bru. I know that we fhall haue him well to Friend.

CaJJi. I wifh we may : But yet haue I a minde 165

That feares him much : and my mifgiuing ftill
Falles fhrewdly to the purpofe.

Enter Antony.

Bru. But heere comes Antony :
Welcome Mark Antony. 170

Ant. O mighty Ccefar \ Doft thou lye fo lowe ?

156. Thorough] Through Pope. 169, 170. But. ..Antony] One line

165. haue I] I have Pope ii. Pope et seq.

168. Enter Antony] After Antony, 1. 171. [Kneeling over the body. Coll.

169 Dyce, Sta. ii. (MS).

Scene ni. Pope,+ ( — Var. '73).

160. so please him come] That is, if it may so please him to come; see, for this
use of 'so,' Abbott, § 133; and for examples of the omission of to in the infinitive.
Ibid., § 349.— Ed.]

164. to Friend] That is, for a friend; see, if needful, Abbott, § 189.

166. my misgiuing, etc.] Weight: That is, my presentment of evil always
turns out to be very much to the purpose, and is, therefore, to be regarded. . . .
'Shrewdly,' which literally means mischievously, is used as an intensive adverb.

171. O mighty Caesar] Davies (ii, 242): Wilks, ... as soon as he entered
the stage, without taking any notice of the conspirators, walked swiftly up to the
dead body of Caesar and knelt down: he paused some time before he spoke; and,
after surveying the corpse with manifest tokens of the deepest sorrow, he addressed
it in a most affecting and pathetic manner. [A stage-direction in Collier's (MS)
calls for this action on the part of Antony; and further that at 1. 177 he should rise

I^o THE TRACED IE OF [act hi, sc. i.

Are all thy Conquefhs, Glories, Triumphes,Spoiles, 172

Shrunke to this little Meafure ? Fare thee well.

I know not Gentlemen what you intend,

Who elfe muft be let blood, who elfe is ranke : 1 75

If I my felfe, there is no houre fo fit

As Ccefars deaths houre ; nor no Inftrument

Of halfe that worth, as thofe your Swords; made rich

With the moft Noble blood of all this World.

I do befeech yee, if you beare me hard, 180

Now, whil'ft your purpled hands do reeke and fmoake.

Fulfill your pleafure. Liue a thoufand yeeres,

I fhall not finde my felfe fo apt to dye. 183

180. yee] you Sing. Ktly, Huds. 180. yow] ye Theob. ii.

and address the assassins. — Ed.] — Wright: By apostrophising Caesar's body An-
tony avoids the embarrassment of first meeting the conspirators.

175. must be let blood] Compare: 'His ancient knot of dangerous adver-
saries To-morrow are let blood at Pomfret Castle.' — Rich. Ill: III, i, 183.

175. ranke] Wright: That is, diseased from repletion. For such disorders
blood-letting was the old remedy.

177. deaths houre] WRIGHT: The G/o6e £rf/ifon, I believe by an oversight, has
death hour, as Collier also printed it in his one- volume edition. It stands 'death's
hour' in the Folios, and we have the analogy of deaths man, although, on the other
hand, Shakespeare uses death-bed everywhere except where he makes his Welsh
Parson Evans say 'upon his death's-bed.' — Merry Wives, I, i, 53. In Gosson's
Schoole of Abuse we find 'death's wound.' — p. 61.

180. beseech yee, if you] For this use of 'ye' and 'you,' compare: 'Therein,
ye gods, you make the weak most strong.' — I, iii, loi.

180. beare me hard] Compare: 'Caius Ligarius doth bear Caesar hard,' II, i,
239; also, I, ii, 337, and note.

181. reeke and smoake[ Craigie {N. E. D., s. v. reek, verb, i.) : To emit smoke.
(2) To emit hot vapour or steam; to smoke with heat; to exhale vapour (or fog),
(c) of blood freshly shed, or of things smeared with this. — [Under this last division
Craigie quotes the present line. — It is evident that originally the verbs 'to reek'
and 'to smoke' were synonymous; then as that which emits vapour is itself moist
the cause and its effect were merged. For a survival of the older word compare
the local name for Edinburgh, 'Auld Reekie.' — Ed.]

182. Liue a thousand yeeres] Craik (p. 284) : That is, Suppose I live; If I live;
Should I live. But, although the suppression of the conditional conjunction is
common and legitimate enough, that of the pronoun, or nominative to the verb,
is hardly so defensible. The feeling probably was that the 'I' in the next
line might serve for both verbs. — Wright compares: 'Live thou, I live.' — Mer.
of Ven., Ill, ii, 61; and also the elliptical phrase: ' — so please him come.' — 1. 160,
above.

183. apt] Murray {N. E. D., s. v. adj. 2. b.): Fit, prepared, ready.— [The
present line quoted. — Wright compares: ' Besides it were a mock Apt to be render'd,

ACT III. sc. i.] IVLIVS C^SAR 151

No place will pleafe me fo, no meane of death,

As heere by Cafar, and by you cut off, 1 85

The Choice and Mafter Spirits of this Age.

Bru. O Antony \ Begge not your death of vs :
Though now we muft appeare bloody and cruell,
As by our hands, and this our prefent Acle

You fee we do : Yet fee you but our hands, 190

And this, the bleeding bufineffe they haue done:
Our hearts you fee not, they are pittifull :
And pitty to the generall wrong of Rome,
As fire driues out fire, fo pitty, pitty

Hath done this deed on Ccefar. For your part, 195

To you, our Swords haue leaden points Ma^'ke Antony :

184-186. Mnemonic Warb. 184. meane] means Pope, Han.

for some one to say, Break up the senate, till another time.' But is this a parallel
use? Decius means, I think, not that the mock would he fitting, but that it would
be likely; which last meaning of 'apt' Murray gives under 4. a. — Ed.1

184. meane] Schmidt (Lex., s. v. siibst. 4) gives numerous examples of 'mean'
in the sense of that which is used to effect a purpose; it is, however, oftener used in
the plural, as Schmidt remarks. — Ed.

,185. by Caesar, and by you] That is, here beside Caesar, and at your hands. .

186. The Choice and Master Spirits] Craik (p. 284): 'Choice' here may be
understood either in the substantive sense as the elite, or, better perhaps, as an ad-
jective in concord with spirits. — [Schmidt (Lex., s. v. Choice, 5. The best part,
select assemblage) quotes: * — a braver choice of dauntless spirits Than now the
English bottoms have waft o'er Did never float upon the swelling tide.' — King
John, II, i, 72; and Murray, N. E. D., likewise quotes these lines from King John
as the only example of 'choice' used as a substantive as suggested above by Craik.
His alternative interpretation that this word is better taken as an adjective in
concord with spirits is the 'choice' of the present Ed.]

194. As fire . . . fire] Malone: So in Coriol., 'One fire drives out one fire;
one nail one nail.' — IV, vii, 54. — Steevens: Again in Two Gentlemen: 'Even as
one heat another heat expels. Or as one nail by strength drives out another.' — II,
iv, 192. — Craik remarks that this illustration is a favorite one with Shakespeare,
and, besides the two passages quoted by Malone and Steevens, gives: 'Tut, man,
one fire burns out, another's burning.' — Rom. &• Jul., I, ii, 46; and says: 'This is
probably also the thought which we have in the heroic Bastard's exhortation to
his uncle in King John: "Be stirring as the time; be fire with fire; Threaten the
threatener." — V, i, 48.' — Delius adds another passage from King John: 'And
falsehood falsehood cures, as fire cures fire Within the scorched veins of one new
bum'd.' — in, i, 277.

IQ4. fire] For other examples wherein words ending in -ire and -our are at times
either monosyllabic or disyllabic for metrical reasons, see Walker, Vers., 136, or
Abbott, § 475.

152 THE TRACED IE OF [act hi, sc. i.

Our Armes in ftrength of malice, and our Hearts 197

197. in Jlrength of malice,] exempt in strength of welcome, Coll. ii. (MS),

from malice. Pope,-}- ( — Var. '73). Craik. in strength of manhood, CoW. in.

no strength of malice; Cap. Jen. Sing, ii, in strength of justice, Cartwright. un-

Ktly, Huds. in strength of amity. Sing. fraught of malice Anon. ap. Cam. For-

(N. & Q., 24 Jan., 1857), Huds. iii. 5/>ew/ 0/ wa/Zce Anon. ap. Cam.
in strength of friendship Ktly conj.

197. Our Armes in strength of malice] Steevens: To you (says Brutus)
our swords have leaden points; our arms, strong in the deed of malice they have
just performed, and our hearts united like those of brothers in the action, are yet
open to receive you with all possible regard. The supposition that Brutus meant
their hearts were of brothers' temper in respect of Antony seems to have misled
those who have commented on this passage before. — [Who are these commentators
to whom Steevens here refers? His note appears for the first time in the Variorum
of 1773, and Capell's Notes were not published until 1779, so it is impossible that
Steevens could have seen them. He proposes, 'if alteration were necessary,' to
read: 'our arms no strength of malice'; but this is the reading in Capell's text
which appeared about 1761 or 1762. Steevens does not, however, call attention
to the fact that this emendation rightfully belongs to a predecessor; and the absence
of Capell's name throughout the other Variorum editions seems to indicate an inten-
tional neglect. — Ed.] — Capell (i, 106): 'Strength of malice' is strength proceed-
ing from malice, strength set on work by it; and the speaker purges his arm, and
the arms of his company, from imputation of any such strength to guide the
'swords' that he talks of, or any other: and this sense is procured for us by means
simple, and critical, and with it a flow becoming an orator. — Badham (p. 287):
'No strength of malice' [as Capell's text reads] would imply that there was malice,
but that it was of an impotent kind. Besides, there is great awkwardness of con-
struction in having three clauses of which the first and the last have each its ap-
propriate verb, 'have' and 'receive in,' while the middle one is obliged to borrow
from its neighbor. [In order to overcome this difficulty Badham proposes: Our
arms unstring their malice.] — Singer (Notes &* Queries, 24 Jan., 1857, p. 61): We
may be disposed to ask [Dr Badham] what arms are to unstring their malice? I
regret exceedingly that I did not give this passage the attention I have done since,
when I printed the play; I have since thought it certain that we should find a solu-
tion of the difficulty from some parallel passage in the poet, and I have not been
disappointed. IrxmAnt. &* Cleo., when Mark Antony is leaving Octavius, he says
on embracing him: ' Come, Sir, come, I'll wrestle with you in my strength of love.' —
III, ii, 61. Who can doubt, therefore, that we should read: 'Our arms in strength of
amity'? Here all is congruous. The metaphorical antithesis is palpable between the
leaden points of the swords — weak and untcmpered — and the transference of the
qualities of strength and temper to the arms of amity and hearts of brothers. — [Singer,
in defence of his emendation, says that the word was likely written amitie in the
MS, as sometimes it is so printed in the Folio, and might thus be easily mistaken by
the compositor for 'malice.' In Notes 6* Queries, 10 April, 1858, he repeated this
suggested change, without referring to his former note, and added in corroboration
another quotation frdm Ant. 6* Cleo.: 'that which is the strength. of their amity
shall prove the immediate author of their variance.' — II, vi, 137. — Ed.] — Grant
White: That is, our arms, even in the intensity of their hate to Cassar's tyranny,
and our hearts, in their brotherly love to all Romans, do receive you in. — John

ACT III, sc. i.] IVLIVS CAESAR 1 53

Of Brothers temper, do rcceiuc you in, 198

With all kinde loue, <;ood thoughts, and reuerence.

CaJJi Your voyce fliall be as ftrong as any mans, 200

In the difpofing of new Dignities.

Bru. Onely be patient, till we hauc appeas'd
The Multitude, befide themfelues with feare.
And then, we will deliuer you the caufe.

Why I, that did loue Ca/ar when I ftrooke him, 205

Haue thus proceeded.

Ant. I doubt not of your Wifedome : 207

198. in] in them Ktly. 206. Haue thus proceeded] Proceeded

205. ftrooke] struck Cap. thus Pope,4- ( — Var. '73).

207. Wifedome] wijdom F3F4.

Hunter: Our arms with strength like that of malice, and, at the same time, our
hearts full of brotherly affection, embrace and welcome you. . . . Brutus alludes
to Antony's saying: ' if you bear me hard.' Observe also what is said a little farther
on about 'ingratitude more strong than traitors' arms.' — Wright: That is, strong,
as if nerved in malice against you, the death grip of enemies being stronger than
the most loving embrace. The same apparently contradictory figure is used in
Hamlet: 'The friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, Grapple them to thy soul
with hoops of steel.' — I, iii, 63; where 'grapple' naturally describes a hostile and
not a friendly act. ... If any change be necessary, Singer's [see Text. Notes] is the
best that has been proposed, 'malice' and amitie being words which might be con-
founded by a printer. But it gives a rather feeble sense, and I prefer to leave the
text as it stands, although the figure may be a violent one. — Macmillan: Brutus
means that towards him they had no more malice than brothers have towards one
another. 'Of brothers' temper' is an adjectival phrase qualifying 'arms' and
'hearts,' and itself modified by the adverbial phrase 'in strength of malice.' The
disorder in the arrangement of the sentence is probably due to 'and our hearts'
being added as an after thought in the middle of the sentence. Compare: 'And
my heart too.' — IV, iii, 130. For 'strength,' such a small amount of strength that it
is equivalent to weakness, compare Hecuba, 227, where a2.Ky means powerless-
ness. Compare also Cymbeline, where 'malice' expresses ahsen»e of malice: 'The
power that I have on you is to spare you; The malice towards you to forgive you:
live.' — V, V, 419.

200, 201. Your voyce . . . new Dignities] Boswt;ll: Here, as Blakeway ob-
serves, Shakespeare has maintained the consistency of Cassius's character, who,
being selfish and greedy himself, endeavors to influence Antony by similar motives.
Brutus, on the other hand, is invariably represented as disinterested and generous,
and is adorned by the poet with so many good qualities that we are almost tempted
to forget that he was an assassin. — Mark Hunter: It is significant that Brutus,
so scrupulous not to stain the honesty of his cause by the imposition of an oath,
should suffer such an utterance as this of Cassius to pass without protest, and with
apparent approval. He either cannot or will not see the true character of his
associates, and the punishment which waits on a blindness, at once intellectual and
moral, is near at hand.

154 '^^^ TRAGEDIE OF [act hi, sc. i.

Let each man render me his bloody hand. 208

Flrft Marcus Brntus will I fhake with you ;

Next Caius CaJJius do I take your hand ; 210

Now Deems Brntus yours ; now yours Metcllus ;

Yours Cinfia; and my valiant Caska,yo\xrs ;

Though laft, not leaft in loue, yours good Trebonius

Gentlemen all : Alas, what fhall I fay,

My credit now ftands on fuch flippery ground, 215

That one of two bad wayes you muft conceit me,

Either a Coward, or a Flatterer.

That I did loue thee dsfar, O 'tis true :

If then thy Spirit looke vpon vs now.

Shall it not greeue thee deerer then thy death, 220

To fee thy Antony making his peace,

Shaking the bloody fingers of thy Foes ?

Mofl: Noble, in the prefence of thy Coarfe, 223

208. [Taking them one after the 218. [Turning to the body and bend-
other. Coll. ii. (MS). ing over it. Coll. ii. (MS).

214. all:] all — Rowe et seq. 222, 223. Foes? ...Coarfe,] foes,.. .corse?

216. wayes] waies F3. Rowe et seq.

208. Let each man render me his bloody hand] MoulTon {Sh. as Dram.
Artist, p. 198): The quick subtlety of Antony's intellect has grasped the whole
situation, and with irresistible force he slowly feels his way towards using the con-
spirators' aid for crushing themselves and avenging their victim. The bewilder-
ment of the conspirators in the presence of this unlooked-for force is seen in Cassius's
unavailing attempt to bring Antony to the point, as to what compact he will make
with them. Antony, on the contrary, reads his men with such nicety that he can
indulge himself in sailing close to the wind, and grasps fervently the hands of the
assassins while he pours out a flood of bitter grief over the corpse. It is not hy-
pocrisy nor a trick to gain time, this conciliation of his enemies. Steeped in the
political spirit of the age, Antony knows, as no other man, the mob which governs
Rome, and is conscious of the mighty engine he possesses in his oratory to sway that
mob in what direction he pleases; when his bold plan has succeeded, and his ad-
versaries have consented to meet him in contest of oratory, then ironical concilia-
tion becomes the natural relief to his pent-up passion: 'Friends am I with you all
and love you all.' It is as he feels the sense of innate oratorical power and of the
opportunity his enemies have given to that power that he exaggerates his tem-
porary amity with the men he is about to crush; it is the executioner arranging his
victim comfortably on the wrack before he proceeds to apply the levers.

213. last, not least in loue] Malone: So in Lear: 'Although the last, not
least in our dear love.' — I, i, 85. [The Quarto reading.]

220. deerer] For examples of 'dear' thus used intensively, see Schmidt (Lex.),
or Shakespeare passim.

222, 223. Foes.' . . . Coarse,] Thiselton (p. 25): The exquisite rhetoric of

ACT III, sc. i.] IVLIVS C^SAR 155

Had I as many eyes, as thou haft wounds,

Weeping as fafl: as they ftreame forth thy blood, 225

It would become me better, then to clofe

In tearmes of Friendfhip with thine enemies.

Pardon me lulius, heere was't thou bay'd braue Hart,

Heere did'fl thou fall,and heere thy Hunters ftand

Sign'd in thy Spoyle,and Crimfon'd in thy Lethee. 230

328. EaTt\ Heart Ff, Craik. Theob. Han. Craik, Coll. iii. slaughter

230. Lethee] Lethe F4. death Pope, Kinnear. earth Herr. Lethe FjFj et cet.

this passage is murdered by the rude hands of our modem 'improvers,' who make
the note of interrogation after 'foes' and the comma after 'coarse' change places
[see Text. Notes]. The slightest attention to the careful Folio punctuation would
have disclosed the obvious fact that the passage is composed of two sets of five
lines each, in which each line in order of the second set is adjusted so as to balance
each line in order of the first set. ... It might also have occurred to those who
had overlooked this that the presence of Caesar's corpse would hardly aggravate the
grief of Caesar's spirit, while it would clearly increase Antony's sense of the un-
becomingness of the occasion chosen for making terms with Caesar's enemies.

228. bay'd] Wright: Cotgrave gives: 'Abbayer, to barke, or bayt at'; and
'Abbois: m. barkings, hayings.' Under the last he has the phrase: 'Aux demiers
abbois, at his last gaspe, or, breathing his last; also, put to his last shifts, driuen to
vse his last helper: A metaphor from hunting; wherein a Stag is sayd, Rendre les
abbois, when wearie of running he tumes vpon the hounds, and holds them at, or
puts them to, a bay.'

229. heere . . . stand] Wright: This was probably suggested by the ex-
pression in North's Plutarch, where Caesar is described as 'hackled and mangled
among them, as a wild beast taken of hunters.' — (ed. Skeat, p. loi).

230. Crimson'd in thy Lethee] Capell (Glossary, s. v. lethe) says that this is a
'Term us'd by hunters, to signify the blood shed by a deer at its fall, with which
it is still a custom to mark those who come in at the death.' — This explanation has
been accepted, and repeated, by subsequent editors; I have been unable, however,
to verify this use of the word by any other example. Turbervile, Markham, and the
Duke of York in their detailed and explicit directions for the hunting of the Hart
do not give the smearing of the hunters with blood, as one of the proper ceremonials
connected therewith; nor does the word 'lethe' appear in their Glossaries of hunting
terms. — W. A. Baillie-Grohman, the able co-editor of the modern reissue of the
Duke of York's book. The Master of Game, is my authority that 'the word "lethe"
is not in use, nor does it appear in any of the old accounts of deer-hunting.' — In a
sketch by John Leech {Punch; Almanac, 1861), Mr Briggs, having killed his first
stag on the Scottish moors, is shown with the chief huntsman smearing the face
of the successful hunter with the blood of the deer as a sign that he has won the
'Freedom of the Forest.' From this we may infer that this signing of the hunter
was, at that time, a local custom; how much older it may be I am unable to say. —
Steevens, in support of his statement that 'lethe' is used by the old translators of
' novels ' for death, quotes : ' The proudest nation that great Asia nurst Is now extinct
in lethe.'— Heywood; Iron Age, Pt ii. (ed. Pearson, vol. iii, p. 394); but, as Craik
shows, in this line by Heywood, 'lethe' may plainly be taken in its proper and

136 THE TRACED IE OF [act in, sc. i.

O World! thou waft the Forreft to this Hart, 231

And this indeed, O World, the Hart of thee.
How like a Deere, ftroken by many Princes,
Doft thou heere lye ?

Caffi. Mark Ant07iy. 235

Ant. Pardon me Cams CaJJius :
The Enemies of CcBfar fhall fay this : 237

231-234. In margin Pope, Han. Cam.4-. ftricken Ff et cet. (,Ar>*''*^

232. Hart] heart Theob. et seq. 235. Antony] Antony — Rowe et

233. Jlrok/n] strooken Cap. strucken seq. (subs.)
Var. '78, '85, Ran. Dyce, Craik, Sta.

usual sense oi for get fulness, oblivion. 'No other example,' he adds, 'is produced by
the Commentators. Shakespeare, too, repeatedly uses " lethe," and nowhere,
unless it be in the present passage, in any other than its proper sense. If, however,
"lethe" and lethum or letiim, — which may, or may not, be connected, — were really
sometimes confounded by the popular writers of the early part of the seventeenth
century, they are kept in countenance by the commentators of the eighteenth.' —
Both the Rev. John Hunter and Wright suggest that 'lethe' may be here used
in a derivative sense from the Latin word lethum, meaning death or destruction. —
R. G. White declares that, in spite of Steevens's assertion that 'lethe' is used for
death and that Theobald and Collier's MS thus read, he is reluctant to abandon
the apprehension that 'lethe' here means 'the stream which bears thee to oblivion.'
— Delius says: ' Since Shakespeare has sho\vn in other passages that he understood
the word "lethe" to be the name of a river of the infernal regions, i. e., of death;
so here, by a transferred application, the word is used for the blood, the stream of
death.' — If any explicit explanation of the use of the word be needed, do we not at
once understand it to be a poetic name for life-blood? The foregoing note, by Delius,
is quite sufficient. As one of the other infernal rivers was Cocytus, a river of blood,
Shakespeare may have here confused it with Lethe, which caused oblivion. — Ed.

231, 232. O World . . . Hart of thee] Coleridge (p. 134): I doubt the
genuineness of these two lines; not because they are vile, but, first, on account of
the rhythm, which is not Shakespearean, but just the very tune of some old play,
from which the actor might have interpolated them; and secondly, because they
interrupt not only the sense and connection, but likewise the flow both of the
passion and (what is with me still more decisive) of the Shakespearean link of
association. As with many another parenthesis or gloss slipt into the text, we
have only to read the passage without it to see that it never was in it. I venture to
say there is no instance in Shakespeare fairly like this. Conceits he has, but they
not only rise out of some word in the line before, but also lead to the thought in the
line following. Here the conceit is a mere alien: Antony forgets an image when
he is even touching it, and then recollects it when the thought last in his mind must
have led him away from it.

237. shall say this] Craik (p. 295): By 'shall' Shakespeare here meant no
more than would now be expressed by will; yet to us the 'shall' elevates the ex-
pression beyond its original import, giving it something, if not quite of a prophetic,
yet of an impassioned, rapt, and, as it were, vision-seeing character. [See also 1.
247, below.]

ACT III, sc. i.] JVLIVS C^SAR 1 57

Then, in a Friend, it is cold Modeftie. 238

Cajji. I blame you not for praifing Cafar fo,
But what compa6l meane you to haue with vs ? 240

Will you be prick'd in number of our Friends,
Or fhall we on, and not depend on you?

Afit. Therefore I tooke your hands ,but was indeed
Sway'd from the point, by looking downe on C(r/a}\
Friends am I with you all, and loue you all, 245

Vpon this hope, that you fhall giue me Reafons,
Why, and wherein, Ccs/ar w^s dangerous.

B7'ti. Or elfe were this a fauage Speftacle :
Our Reafons are fo full of good regard.

That were you Antony, the Sonne of Ccefar, 250

You fhould be fatisfied.

A71L That's all I feeke.
And am moreouer futor, that I may
Produce his body to the Market-place,

And in the Pulpit as becomes a Friend, 255

Speake in the Order of his Funerall.

248. v:ere this] this were Pope ii, 250. you Antony.] you Antony F3F4,
Theob. Warb. Johns. Var. '73. Rowe,Pope. yoti, Antony ,Theoh.etseq.

238. cold Modestie] That is, moderation. Compare Bassanio's admonition to
Gratiano: 'Pray thee take pain To allay with some cold drops of modesty Thy
skipping spirit.' — Mer. of Ven., II, ii, 194. — Ed.

241. prick'd] That is, nominated, as by a puncture opposite the name. Com-
pare IV, i, where this word is used three times in this sense within the first twenty
lines.

245. Friends am I] Compare: 'I would be friends with you and have your
love.' — Mer. of Ven., I, iii, 139.

249. Reasons . . . good regard] Goll (p. 64): Brutus murders Caesar with
firm faith in his reasons, and their power to convince others as they have convinced
him. He does not even know that his own convictions are drawn from entirely
different sources than these good, well-considered reasons, neither does he recognise
the scant power of these good reasons to convince others. From his own need of
reason as a support for his action, he concludes that, by giving this same support
to others, he will be able to govern their actions. He does not see that he merely
needed to look into his own soul to understand clearly that it is deep emotion
stored through generations, and personal interests, which decide actions, not 'rea-
sonings' which these emotions or interests accidentally create — reasonings gener-
ally of value only to him who originates them.

256. Order] John Hunter: 'Order' here means formal arrangement or cere-
mony, and has reference to the liturgical word for a prescribed religious service, as
'The Order for the Burial of the Dead.'

158 THE TRACED IE OF [act hi. sc. i.

Bru. You fhall Markc Antony. 257

CaJ/l, Brutus ,2i word with you :
You know not what you do ; Do not confent .
That Afiiony fpeake in his Funerall : 260

Know you how much the people may be mou'd
By that which he will vtter.

Bni. By your pardon :
I will my felfe into the Pulpit firft,

And fhew the reafon of our Ccefars death. 265

What Antony fhall fpeake, I will proteft
He fpeakes by leaue,and by permifsion :
And that we are contented Ccrfar fhall
Haue all true Rites, and lawfuU Ceremonies,
It fhall aduantage more, then do vs' wrong. 270

Caffi, I know not what may fall, I like it not.

Bru. Mark Ajitony, heere take you Ccefars body : 272

258. -wilh you\ Om. Steev. conj. 263-271. Marked as aside Cap.

259. [Aside. Rowe et seq. 269. true\ due Pope,+, Walker (Crit.

260. fpeake] shall speak Han. ii, 239), Coll. iii. (MS), Huds. iii.
262. vtter.] utter, F4. 272. you] your Pope.

259. Do not consent] F. Gentleman: The real patriot is finely distin-
guished here from the pretended one; Brutus, conscious that he struck for
liberty alone, suspects no ill consequences from Antony's having the rostrum;
while Cassius, who acted from malevolence and ambition, justly forebodes the
real event.

264. I will . . . the Pulpit first] Hudson: Note the high self-appreciation of
Brutus here in supposing that if he can have a chance to speak to the people, and
to air his wisdom before them, all will go right. Here, again, he overbears Cassius,
who now begins to find the effects of having stuffed him with flatteries, and served
as a mirror to 'turn his hidden worthiness into his eye.' — MacCallum (p. 251):
The infatuation is almost incredible, and it springs not only from generosity to
Antony and Caesar, but from the fatal assumption of the justice of his cause, and
the Quixotic exaltation the assumption brings with it. For were it ever so just,
could this be brought home to the Roman populace? Brutus, who is never an ex-
pert in facts, has been misled by the inventions of Cassius, which he mistakes for
the general voice of Rome. Here, too, Shakespeare departs from his authority to
make the duping of his hero more conspicuous. For in Plutarch these communica-
tions are the quite spontaneous incitements of the public, not the contrivances of
one dissatisfied aristocrat.

269. Ceremonies] For examples where 'ceremony' is pronounced as a trisyl-
lable, falsely, I think, see Walker, Crit., ii, 73; compare also II, i, 221.

270. aduantage] Wright compares: 'What advantageth it me if the dead rise
not?' — I Corinthians, xv, 32. — Murray {N. E. D., s. v. Advantage, verb, 4. To be oj
benefit or profit) quotes this same passage from St Paul's Epistle.

ACT III, SC. i.]

IVLIVS C^SAR

159

You fhall not in your Funerall fpeech blame vs, 273

But fpeake all good you can deuife of Ccejar,

And fay you doo't by our permifsion : 275

Elfe fhall you not haue any hand at all

About his Funerall. And you fhall fpeake

In the fame Pulpit whereto I am going,

After my fpeech is ended.

Ant. Be it fo : 280

I do defire no more.

Brn. Prepare the body then, and follow vs. Exeunt,

Manet Antony.
O pardon me, thou bleeding peece of Earth :
That I am meeke and gentle with thefe Butchers. 285

Thou art the Ruines of the Nobleft man
That euer liued in the Tide of Times.
Woe to the hand that fhed this coftly Blood.
Ouer thy wounds, now do I Prophefie,

(Which like dumbe mouthes do ope their Ruby lips, 290

To begge the voyce and vtterance of my Tongue)
A curfe fhall light vpon the limbes of men ; 292

276. ElJe...noi\ Else you shall not
Rowe ii. You shall not else Pope, Han.

282. Exeunt.] Ff. Exeunt Con-
spirators. Theob.+, Varr. Ran. Ex-
eunt all but Antony. Cap. at cet.

283. Scene iv. Pope.

284. bleeding... Earth] piece of bleeding
earth Var. '03, '13, '21, Sing. i.

288. hand] haiids Wh. i, Huds. iii.

292. limbes of] kind of Han. line of
Warb. limes 0/ Walker (Crit. iii, 247).
loins of Coll. ii. (MS), Craik. lives of
Hal. tombs of Sta. conj. minds of
Jervis, Dyce ii, iii, Cartwright conj.
souls of Huds. iii. (conj.). heads of
John Hunter conj. Herr, Kinnear.
bonds of Joicey (N. & Q., 25 July,
1891).

273. blame vs] Craik (p. 297) points out that both 'sense and prosody' make
the emphasis here fall on 'm5.'

282. Exeunt] T. R. Gould (p. 152): After Caesar had been encompassed and
stabbed by the conspirators, and lay extended on the floor of the Senate-house,
J. B. Booth [as Cassius] strode right across the dead body, and out of the scene, in
silent and disdainful triumph.

292. limbes of men] Johnson: I think it should be Hives of men'; unless we
read lymms, that is, these bloodhounds of men. The uncommonness of the word
lymm easily made the change. — Capell (i, 297): The Poet's idea and that he
meant to excite by the word ' limbs,' is — that of wounds and dismemb'rings, con-
sequences of the 'curse' here intended, the curse of war; prophetically denounc'd
by the speaker, not on man universally, as the corrections import, but on some
men, members of Cesar's empire, agreeable to what immediately follows concern-
ing 'Italy.' Both the readings [of Hanmer and Warburton, see Text. Notes] create
a great anticlimax; and in one of them the alliterative beauty is lost that occa-

l6o THE TRACED IE OF [act hi, sc. i.

Domefticke Furj--, and fierce Ciuill|ftrife, 293

Shall cumber all the parts of Italy :

Blood and deftru6lion fliall be fo in vfe, 295

And dreadfull Obiecls fo familiar,

That Mothers fliall but fmile,\vhen they behold

Their Infants quartered with the hands of Warre:

All pitty choak'd with cuftome of fell deeds,

And Ccefars Spirit ranging for Reuenge, 300

With Ate by his fide, come hot from Hell,

298. m/A] fty Pope, Theob. Han. Warb. 301. Ate] Ate Theob. et seq.

sion'd 'limbs.' — Steevens: Antony means that a future curse shall commence in
distempers seizing on the limbs of men, and be succeeded by commotion, cruelty,
and desolation over Italy. So in Phaer's yEneid: 'The skies corrupted were,
that trees and come destroyed to nought. And limmes of men consuming rottes.' —
Bk, iii. Sig. E. 1. ed. 1596.— M alone: By men Antony means not mankind in
general, but those Romans whose attachment to the cause of the conspirators, or
wish to revenge Caesar's death, would expose them to wounds in the civil wars
which Antony supposes that event would give rise to. The generality of the curse
here predicted is limited by the subsequent words, 'the parts of Italy' and 'in
these confines.' — Collier, in his second edition, adopts the emendation of the
MS, ^ loins of men,' and says: 'That is, the generations of mankind. There can
be no doubt among impartial readers that we have here recovered the true word
of the poet.' — Craik pronounces this as 'one of the most satisfactory and valuable
emendations which have ever been made.' — Dyce, on the other hand, declares it
to be 'vile.'— R. G. White: I am almost sure that Shakespeare wrote the Jonnes of
men. — Wright: Is any change necessary? Lear's curses were certainly levelled
at his daughter's limbs. Compare the curse which Timon invokes upon Athens:
'Thou cold sciatica Cripple our senators, that their limbs may halt As lamely as
their manners!' — Timon, IV, i, 21. — From bodily plagues Antony rises to the
quarrels of families, and reaches a climax in fierce civil strife. — [Are Lear's curses
levelled at his daughter's limbs? He exclaims: ' Strike her young bones You taking
airs with lameness.' — II, iv, 165; but, as Wright himself explains in the Clarendon
Edition, this refers to her 'unborn infant.' — Ed.] — Perring (p. 366) compares
Rich. Ill: II, i, where Lady Anne invokes a curse on the hands, the heart, and the
blood of the murderer of her husband and of her husband's father. — F. Adams
{N. 6* Q., 23 July, 1892, p. 63) : What is implied by the curse [on the limbs] may be
their perversion into instruments of 'Domestic fury and fierce civil strife.' Limbs
working such internecine carnage as Antony pictures may not inaptly be deemed
curse-smitten. The fime figure of 'infants quartered with the hands of war' seems
to point to the interpretation I suggest.

299. choak'd] Wright: That is, being choked. — Mark Hunter: Perhaps it is
better to understand shall be, in which case this line is connected with what follows,
rather than what goes before, and the comma after 'deeds' should exchange places
with the colon after 'Warre.'

301. Ate] Craik (p. 299): This Homeric goddess had taken a strong hold of
Shakespeare's imagination. In Much Ado, Benedick, inveighing to Don Pedro
against Beatrice, says: 'You shall find her the infernal Ate in good apparel.' — II, i,

ACT 111. sc. i.] JVLIVS C^SAR i6i

Shall in thefe Confines, with a Monarkes voyce, 302

Cry hauocke, and let flip the Dogges of Warre,

263. In King John, Elinor is described by Chatellon as *an Ate stirring him [John]
to blood and strife.' — II, i, 63. And in Love's Labour's, Biron, at the representation
of the Nine Worthies, calls out, 'More Ates, more Ates; stir them on! stir them on!'
— V, ii, 694. Where did Shakespeare get acquainted with this divinity, whose name
does not occur, I believe, even in any Latin author? — [The following passage from
Chapman's Homer, Iliad, xix, 91-94, may perhaps have furnished Shakespeare
with his knowledge of 'Ate': 'And more; all things are done by strife; that ancient
seed of Jove, Ate, that hurts all, perfects all, her feet are soft, and move Not on the
earth, they bear her still aloft men's heads, and there She harmful hurts them.' —
Ed. Hooper, ii, 159. — Ed.]

302, 303. with a Monarkes voyce, Cry hauocke] Johnson: Sir William
Blackstone has informed me that, in the military operations of old times, havock
was the word by which declaration was made that no quarter should be given. In
a tract entitled The Office of the Constable and Mareschall in the Tyme of Werre,
contained in The Black Book of Admiralty, there is the following chapter: 'The pejTi
of hym that crieth havock and of them that followeth hym, etit. V. Item: Si quis
inventus fuerit qui clamorem inceperit qui vocatur Hawk. Also that no man be so
hardy to crye Ilavok upon peyne that he that is begynner shall be deede therefore:
& the remanent that doo the same or folow, shall lose their horse & harneis: and
the persones of such as foloweth and escrien shall be under arrest of the Conestable
and Mareschall warde unto tyme that they have made fyn; and found suretie no
morr tooffende; and his body in prison at the Kyng will — ' — M. H. {Gentlemen's
Maga., April, 1790; p. 307) opines that 'For havock should be substituted Ha!
voiis, which Shakespeare collected from Manwood's Forest Laws, published in the
reign of James I, where it is ordained that "none shall let slip his greyhound till
the huntsman has cried, 'Ha! voiis.""—[lt is, I think, evident, though Johnson
does not call attention to it, that to 'cry Havoc' was the prerogative of the
Monarch; which explains Antony's particular use of the words 'with a monarch's
voice.' — Malone cites Coriol., Ill, i, 275: 'Do not cry havoc where you should but
hunt With modest warrant.' — 'A passage,' says Weight, 'which well illustrates the
present line.' — Murray {N. E. D., s. v. Havoc, i.) gives as a partial explanation
of the origin that it is from the 'Anglo French havok, altered in some way from
Old French havot (c. 11 50 in Du Cange havo), used in same sense, especially in
phrase crier havot. Probably of Teutonic origin.' A careful search of the five
hundred pages of Manwood's Treatise of the Lawes of the Forrest, ed. 1615, and
also of that of 1598, has failed in locating the phrase to which M. H. refers. — Ed.]

303. let slip] Malone: To 'let slip a dog' at a deer was the technical phrase of
Shakespeare's time.

303. the Dogges of Warre] Steele (Taller, No. 137, February 23, 1709)
compares the departure of the Duke of Marlborough from Harwich to that
of Henry V. from Southampton and quotes: 'Then should the warlike Harry,
like himself, Assume the part of Mars, and at his heels. Leashed in like hounds,
should famine, sword, and fire Crouch for employments.' — Hett. V: Prologue, 1. 5.
'Shakespeare,' says Steele, 'understood the force of this particular allegory so well
that he had it in his thoughts in another passage, which is altogether as daring and
sublime as the former.' He then quotes the present line. Toilet, who contributed
II

l62 THE TRAGEDIE OF [act hi, sc. i.

That this foule deede, fhall fmell aboue the earth

With Carrion men, groaning for Buriall. 305

Enter Oclaiiid's Seniant.
You ferue Oftauins Ccs/ar, do you not ?

Ser. I do Maj'kc Antony,

Ant. CcBsar did write for him to come to Rome.

Ser. He did receiue his Letters, and is comming, 310

And bid me fay to you by word of mouth

O Ccefar!

Ant. Thy heart is bigge : get thee a-part and weepe :
Pafsion I fee is catching from mine eyes.

Seeing thofe Beads of forrow ftand in thine, 3 1 5

Began to water. Is thy Mafter comming ?

Ser. He Hes to night within feuen Leagues of Rome.

Ant. Poft backe with fpeede.
And tell him what hath chanc'd :
Heere is a mourning Rome, a dangerous Rome, 320

306. Octauio's] Ff. Octavius's 314. catching from] catching, for

Rowe,+ ( — Var. '73). A Capell et Rowe et seq.
seq. 315. Beads] beds Pope.

309. for] to Cap. 316. Began] Begin Han. Jen. Dyce ii,

to Rome] Rome Fj. iii, Coll. iii, Huds. iii.

311. [Seeing the body. Rowe,4-- 319, 320. One line Rowe et seq.

sundry notes and observations to Johnson and Steevens's edition of 1773, may
possibly not have read this passage in the Tatler, but he notes the similarity in
thought and remarks that in this passage Shakespeare doubtless intended that
Famine, Sword, and Fire were to be typified as the 'Dogs of War.' — Malone
quotes Toilet and cites only the number of the Tatler. — Craik (p. 301): To this
[passage from Henry V .] we might add what Talbot says to the Captains of the
French forces before Bordeaux: 'You tempt the fury of my three attendants,
Lean Famine, quartering Steel, and climbing Fire.' — i Henry VI: IV, ii, 10. In
illustration of the former passage Steevens quotes what Holinshed makes Henry V.
to have said to the people of Rouen: 'He declared that the Goddess of Battle,
called Bellona, had three handmaidens ever of necessity attending upon her, as
Blood, Fire, and Famine.' And at that from / Henry VI. Malone gives the fol-
lowing from Hall's Chronicle: 'The Goddess of War, called Bellona, . . . hath
these three hand-maids ever of necessity attending on her: Blood, Fire, and Famine.'
... It might, perhaps, be questioned whether the words 'And let slip the dogs of
war' ought not to be considered as also part of the exclamation of Caesar's spirit.

305. groaning for Buriall] Wright: It is not an uncommon thing in some
parts of the country still to say of a corpse which begins to show signs of decora-
position that 'it calls out loudly for the earth.'

306. Octauio's] For this form compare V, ii, 6 and I, ii, 8.

314. Passion ... is catching] DoucE (p. 366) compares: 'Mine eyes even
sociable to the shew of thine Fall fellowly drops.' — Temp., V, i, 63.

Ff,()v^

ACT III, SC. ii.]

IVLIVS CjESAR

163

No Rome of fafety for Qclauiiis yet, 321

Hie hence, and tell him fo. Yet ftay a-while,

Thou fhalt not backe, till I haue borne this courfe

Into the Market place : There fhall I try

In my Oration, how the People take 325

The cruell iffue of thefe bloody men.

According to the which, thou fhalt difcourfe

To yong 0£lauius , of the ftate of things.

Lend me your hand. Exeunt 329

\Scene //.]

Enter Brutus and goes into the Pulpit }a?id CaJJi- i

us, with the Plebeians.

Pie. We will be fatisfied : let vs be fatisfied.
Bru. Then follow me, and giue me Audience friends.
Caffius go you into the other flreete, 5

322. a-wkile] F2. awhile F4, Knt, Sta.
Dyce, Cam.+. a while Fj et cet.

323. borne] born F3F4.

courfe] Coarje F3F4, Rowe.
corse Pope et seq. I

328. yo}ig] young Ff. lA/"*^^

329. Exeunt] Exeunt with Caesar's
body. Rowe et seq. (subs.)

Scene continued. Ff. Scene v.
Pope,+. Scene ni. Jen. Scene ii.
Rowe et cet.

The Forum.

I, 2. Enter... Plebeians.] Enter a
Throng of Citizens, tumultuously; Bru-
tus and Cassius. Cap. Enter Brutus
and Cassius with Plebeians. Var. '73,
'78. Enter Brutus and Cassius with
throng of Citizens. Mai. et seq.

I. goes.. .Pulpit] mounts the Rostra
Pope,+.

3. Pie.] Cit. Capell et seq. (through-
out).

321. Rome of safety] For this play on the word in accordance with the similarity
in pronunciation between Room and 'Rome,' see I, ii, 172.

328. the state of things] Appian (Civ. Wars; Bk, ii, ch. xvii, §§ 120 et seq) gives
a circumstantial account of the incidents following Caesar's murder. It is, as his
translator Horace White notes, 'a very strong picture of the corruption of Roman
Society at that time, and of its incapacity for self-government.' — Ed.

2. the Plebeians] Staffer (p. 313): Shakespeare has portrayed his Romans
truthfully, in so far as they are Englishmen, — so far goes his historical exactitude,
and no further. As to the incongruous details with which these plays abound, I
attach no importance to them whatever, but the case is very different when it
comes to confusing, as he has done, the early days of the Republic with those of
the Empire, and no greater mistake could be made than to confoimd the proud,
brave Plebeians of Rome, at the beginning of her greatness, with the degraded
populace of the Rome of later times.

l64 THE TRAGEDIE OF [act hi. sc. ii.

And part the Numbers : 6

Thofe that will heare me fpeake, let 'em ftay heere ;
Thofe that will follow CaJJ'ms,go with him,
And publike Reafons fhall be rendred

Of Ccsfars death. 10

\.Plc. I will heare BriitJis fpeake.

2. I will heare Cajfms, and compare their Reafons,
When feuerally we heare them rendred.

3. The Noble Brutus is afcended: Silence.

Bru. Be patient till the laft. 1 5

7. me\ my Rowe ii. Brutus goes into the Rostrum. Cap. et

9. [Exit Cassius with some of the seq.
Plebeians. Rowe (Exeunt... Rowe ii,+). 9, 13. rendred] Ff, Rowe. rendered

Exit Cassius with some of the Citizens. Dyce. rettdered Pope et cet.

13. Jeuerally] sev' rally Pope,4--

9. rendred] Craik (p. 303): It may be observed that in the FoHo, where the
ehsion of the e in the verbal affix -cd is usually marked, the spelling is here 'rendred';
but this may leave it still doubtful whether the word was intended to be represented
as of two or of three syllables. It is the same in 1. 13.

II. I. Pie.] F. C. KoLBE {Irish Monthly, Sep., 1896; p. 512): Four citizens are
taken as the chief spokesmen, — they are the typical moving spirits of a crowd;
you find their counterparts in every market-place. Each speaks about a dozen
times, and by putting all their speeches together and watching their sequence, a
tolerably complete induction can be made. No. i is a practical man and an origin-
ator: all the practical suggestions originate from him, and he sticks to his own
plans, whatever the others might say; it is he who wants to start a discussion of
his own when Antony is going to speak; he assumes the leadership; he never ad-
dresses Brutus or Antony as the others do, but speaks always directly to the mob.
No. 2 listens and reflects and is sympathetic; he does not make suggestions himself,
but is very quick to pick up, and carry on, and improve upon suggestions when
made by others; he is a useful echo; we may note it is he who is most moved by an
appeal to the pocket. Nos. i and 2 work together like a voice and a speaking
trumpet; or, to borrow a very different metaphor from history, No. i lays the egg
and No. 2 hatches it. No. 3 is the type of the personal partisan; he is good-natured
and responsive, one of those men who answer when a question is put to nobody in
particular; he has a powerful bump of admiration; ideas are nothing to him, persons,
everything; it is men like him that make tyranny possible; with him it is 'noble
Brutus,' and 'noble Antony,' and 'O royal Caesar'; it is he who says of Brutus:
'Let him be Csesar'; and his fears are, like his hopes, on men, 'I fear there will a
worse come in his place.' No. 4, too, has a marked personality; he is impatient, hot
tempered, talkative, and suspicious; he also has a strong bump, that of inquisitive-
ness; he represents the well-known prying tendency of a mob. Such are the men
Mark Antony sets himself to win. He finds them shouting for Brutus and exe-
crating Csesar. He begins by assuming their attitude, — ' For Brutus's sake I am
beholding to you ' and ' I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.' His tactics are to
overdo their enthusiasm, and thus make them come to question it themselves.

ACT III, sc. ii.] IVLIVS C.'ESAR 165

Romans, Countrey-men, and Louers, heare mee for my 16

16. Louers] Friends Pope, Han.

16. Romans, Countrey-men, and Louers] Warburton: There is nowhere,
in all Shakespeare's works, a stronger proof of his not being a scholar than this;
or of his not knowing of the genius of learned antiquity. This speech of Brutus is
wrote in imitation of his famed laconic brevity, and is very fine in its kind; but no
more like that brevity than his times were like Brutus's. The ancient laconic
brevity was simple, natural, and easy; this is quaint, artificial, jingling, and abound-
ing with forced antitheses. In a word, a brevity that, for its false eloquence, would
have suited any character, and for its good sense would have become the greatest
of our author's time; but yet, in a style of declaiming, that sits as ill upon Brutus as
our author's trousers or collar-band would have done. — M. Mason: I cannot
agree with Warburton that this speech is very fime in its kind. I can see no degree
of e.xcellence in it, but think it a very paltry speech for so great a man on so great
an occasion. Yet Shakespeare has judiciously adopted in it the style of Brutus —
the pointed sentences and labored brevity which he is said to have affected. —
Capell (i, 107): Every true admirer of Shakespeare has good cause for wishing
that there had been some authority to question this speech's genuineness, but
editors afford it not; and it has the sanction besides of many likenesses to other
parts of his work, and of this in particular; in which we have already seen too great
a number of things hardly defensible. . . . The truth is, his genius sank in some
measure beneath the grandeur of Roman character, at least in this play, which we
may judge from thence to have been the first he attempted. The oratory of this
speech has no resemblance whatever to that which Brutus affected, which was a
nervous and simple laconism. — Steevens: This artificial jingle of short sentences
was affected by most of the orators in Shakespeare's time, whether in the pulpit
or at the bar. The speech of Brutus may, therefore, be regarded rather as an imita-
tion of the false eloquence then in vogue than as a specimen of laconic brevity. —
Singer: It is worthy of remark that Voltaire, who has stolen and transplanted into
his tragedy of Brutus the fine speech of Antony to the people, and has unblushingly
received the highest compliments upon it from the king of Prussia and others,
affects to extol this address by Brutus, while he is most disingenuously silent on
that of Antony, which he chose to purloin. — Verplanck: Tacitus, De Oratorihus,
says that Brutus's style was censured as 'otiosum et disjunctum,' [ch. xviii.]. The
broken up style, without oratorical continuity, is precisely that assumed by the
dramatist. — Knight (Studies, p. 417): The speech of Antony may not be equal to
Demosthenes, and the speech of Brutus may not be a very paltry speech. But
each being written by the same man, we have a right to accept each with a con-
viction that the writer was capable of making a good speech for Brutus as well as
for Antony; and that if he did not do so, he had very abundant reasons. It requires
no great refinement to understand his reasons. The excitement of the great asser-
tion of republican principles . . . had been succeeded by a calm. . . . Brutus will
present calmly and dispassionately the ' reasons of our Caesar's death.' He expects
that Antony will speak with equal moderation. — Lloyd (Crit. Essay, ap. Sing, ii,
p. 513): Shakespeare found the model of the curt, sententious oratory of Brutus in
Plutarch's desciption of his written style: 'They do note that in some of his
epistles he counterfeited that brief compendious manner of the Lacedaemonians.
As, when the war was begun, he wrote to the Pergamenians in this sort: "I

1 66 THE TRACE DIE OF [act hi, sc. ii.

[i6. Romans, Countrey-men, and Louers, heare mee for my cause]

understand you have given Dolabella money: if you have done it willingly, you
confess you have offended me; if against your wills, show it by giving me will-
ingly." These were Brutus's manner of letters, which were honored for their brief-
ness.' [§ 2; ed. Skeat, p. 107.] — Hudson (L?/^, etc., ii, 234): The speech in question
is far enough indeed from being a model of style either for oratory or anything
else; but it is finely characteristic; while its studied primness and epigrammatic
finish contrast most unfavourably with the frank-hearted yet artful eloquence of
Antony. — Dowden (p. 302, foot-note) compares, for the style of this speech, that
of Brutus to Cassius: 'That you do love me, I am nothing jealous: What you would
work me to, I have some aim,' etc. — I, ii, 178 et seq., and also the last lines of the
same speech. — Wright: The speech of Brutus is that of one who is convinced of the
goodness of his cause, but at the same time is sensible of the difficulty of convincing
others. It is, therefore, laboured, formal, and guarded. He does not attempt to
move the feelings of his hearers to sympathy with him, but is argumentative and
logical throughout. To stir emotion is as foreign to his purpose as to show emotion
is contrary to his nature. — R. G. Moulton {Sh. as Dram. Art., p. 175): It is a
master-stroke of Shakespeare that he utilises the euphuistic prose of his age to
express impassiveness in Brutus's oration. . . . The mob are swaying with fluctuat-
ing passions; . . . Brutus, called on to speak for the conspirators, still maintains
the artificial style of carefully balanced sentences, such as emotionless rhetoric
builds up in the quiet of a study. — Mark Hunter (Introd., clxiii.) : It is charac-
teristic of Brutus, who is ready enough to indulge in persuasive eloquence and
impassioned sentiment when such are wholly superfluous, that when a passion-
ate appeal to the emotions of his hearers is most required, he should disdain the
emotional note, and clothe his words in the coldest rhetoric. It is no less character-
istic that the arguments, ostensibly addressed to the intellect, the 'reasons' of
whose logical cogency he is so confident, should prove on examination to be no
reasons at all, but a mere assertion backed up by a reference to the absolute trust-
worthiness of the speaker — himself. — Rolfe {Poet-Lore, vol. vi, No. i, p. 10): It ia
to be noted that the speech of Brutus is in prose, — the only instance of the kind in
all Shakespeare. It is the poet's way of emphasizing the mistake that Brutus makes.
Confident in the purity of his motives, in his love of liberty and of Rome, he assumes
that a plain straightforward statement of the ' reasons ' that have influenced him and
his confederates must commend itself to his fellow-citizens, and that no arts or
rhetoric are needed to enforce and impress it. — Rossi (p. 195) also calls attention
to this prose, and considers that this form was here used in order that the whole
speech might thus be kept within the bounds of truth and simplicity; Brutus is not
looking for any reward for himself, but calmly awaits the judgement of the People.
— [Cicero, writing to Atticus on the iS"* of May, B. C. 44, from Arpinum, says:
'Our friend Brutus has sent me his speech delivered at the public meeting on the
Capitol, and has asked me to correct it before publication without any regard to
his feelings. It is, I may add, a speech of the utmost finish as far as the sentiments
are concerned, and in point of language not to be surpassed. Nevertheless, if I
had had to handle that cause, I should have written with more fire. But the theme
and the character of the writer being as you see, I was unable to correct it. For,
granting the kind of orator that our Brutus aims at being, and the opinion he enter-
tains of the best style of speech, he has secured an unqualified success. Nothing
could be more finished. But I have always aimed, rightly or wrongly, at some-

ACT III, sc. ii.] IVLIVS CAESAR 167

caufe, and be filent, that you may heare. Beleeue me for 17

mine Honor, and haue refpe6l to mine Honor, that you

may beleeue. Cenfure me in your Wifedom, and awake

your Senfes, that you may the better ludge. If there bee 20

any in this Affembly, any deere Friend of Ccz/ars, to him

I fay, that Brutus loue to Ccsfar, was no leffe then his. If

then, that Friend demand, why BruUis rofe againft Cce-

far, this is my anfwer : Not that I lou'd Ccsfar leffe, but

that I lou'd Rome more. Had you rather C(^far were li- 25

uing, and dye all 51aues ; then that Ccefar were dead, to

liue all Free-men ? As C(Efar lou'd mee, I weepe for him ; 27

20-35. Mnemonic Pope, Warb. 22. Brutus] Brutus's Pope, 4".

1/ 21. io liim] Pope,+, Cap. to them 27. Free-men] free men Johns, et

Ff et cat. (^X-^U'^ seq.

thing different. However, read the speech yourself, unless indeed you have read
it already, and tell me what you think of it. However, I fear that, misled by your
surname, you will be somewhat hyper-Attic in your criticism. But if you will
only recall Demosthenes's thunder, you will understand that the most vigorous
denunciation is consistent with the purest Attic style. But of this when we meet.' —
{Ad Att., kx\,\h\ ed. Shuckburgh, iv, 50). This has, of course, no bearing on
the present speech by Shakespeare; but is interesting solely as a contemporary criti-
cism on the actual speech of Brutus. — Ed.]

19. Censure] That is, pass judgment, estimate.

21. Caesars] John Hunter: This is a possessive, used objectively, and com-
prehending both possessor and thing possessed; it means what pertained to CcEsar.
The noun friends might, indeed, be supplied to complete the construction.

24, 25. Caesar lesse, but . . , Rome more] Wright: This feature of Brutus's
character . . . may have been suggested by Plutarch. 'But Brutus, preferring the
respect of his country and commonwealth before private affection, and persuading
himself that Pompey had juster cause to enter into arms than Caesar, he then took
part with Pompey.' — Life of Brutus, ed. Skeat, p. 108. — [P. Lentulus Spinther says,
in a letter to Cicero, 29"' May, B. C. 43 (Shuckburgh, iv, 275) : "'loving my country
more" I was the first to proclaim war against all my friends.' An expression
curiously similar to the present passage. In a foot-note the translator and editor
gives the original Greek: (pi.lij tekv' aA?.a TrarpiS' e/iijv fid?.Aov(pt?.(l)v; and says that
this line is 'said to be from the Erechtheus of Euripides.' — Ed.]

26, 27. dye all Slaues . . . liue all Free-men] The speech of Brutus to
the Plebeians, as given by Appian (Bk, II, ch. xix, § 137), contains the following:
'If he [Caesar] had required us to swear not only to condone the past, but to be
willing slaves for the future, what would our present accusers have done? For
my part I think that, being Romans, they would have chosen to die many times
rather than take an oath of voluntary servitude.' The similarity in thought is,
I think, but a coincidence; that Shakespeare consulted a translation of Appian is,
of course, possible, but Plutarch has apparently furnished him with all the material
necessary. — Ed.

27. Free-men] Craik (p. 305) maintains that this should be printed as one

1 68 THE TRACED IE OF [act hi, sc. ii.

as he was Fortunate, I reioyce at it ; as he was Valiant, I 28

honour him : But, as he was Ambitious, I flew him. There

is Teares, for his Loue : loy, for his Fortune : Honor, for 30

his Valour : and Death, for his Ambition. Who is heere

fo bafe, that would be a Bondman ? If any,fpeak, for him

haue I offended. Who is heere fo rude, that would not

be a Roman? If any,fpeak, for him haue I offended. Who

is heere fo vile that will not loue his Countrey? If any, 35

fpeake, for him haue I offended. I paufe for a Reply.

All. None Btutus, none.

Brutus. Then none haue I offended. I haue done no
more to Ccefar ^'Oa^.n you fhall do to Brutus. The Quefti-
on of his death, is inroll'd in the Capitoll : his Glory not 40

29, 30. There is\ There are Pope,4-, 37- AH] Ff, Rowe,+, Coll. Hal. Wh.

Varr. Ran. Cam.+, Huds. Cit. Capell et cet.

31-36. As six lines, verse Johns. [Several speaking at once. Mai.

31. Who is\ W'ho's Pope,+ ( — Var. Knt, Craik. ^y 1, ■ -^' - "^

'73). Btutus] Fi. t^^^J^^^^"

36. Reply.] Reply — Rowe,+. 39. Jhall] should Mai.

word, freemen, since Shakespeare cannot have intended that prominence should be
given to the word 'men,' 'the notion conveyed by which is equally contained in
"slaves"; for which we might have had bondmen, with no difference of effect.'

29. as he was Ambitious, I slew him] Both Brutus and Antony use 'ambi-
tion' and 'ambitious' in the sense of inordinate desire for rank, honours, or prefer-
ment, as given by Murray (A". E. D., s. v. i.). In the majority of passages wherein
these words occur in Shakespeare they bear a meaning rather more discreditable
than otherwise. The word ambitio was used in the time of the Republic to character-
ise the canvassing for votes by a candidate in a perfectly legitimate manner; the
word ambitus, on the other hand, implied the use of underhand methods. — Ed.

S^. rude] That is, devoid of refinement, uncultured. 'Rude' is here probably used
for its alliteration with 'Roman'; just as 'base,' 1. 32, is coupled with 'bondman.' —
Ed.

39, 40. The Question . . . inroll'd in the Capitoll] Hudson: That is, the
reason of his death is made a matter of solemn official record in the books of the
Senate, as showing that the act of killing him was done for public ends, and not
from private hate. — [Shakespeare, perhaps, here refers to the legislative acts of
the Senate called SenatusconsiiUa, so named because the Consul was said Senatum
consulere. — Smith {Diet, of Greek b" Roman Antiquities, s. v. Senatusconsullum)
says: 'When a Senatusconsultum was made on the motion of a person, it was said
to be made " in sententiam ejus." If the S. C. was carried, it was written on tablets
and placed in the ^rarium [the common Treasury of the state]: the S. C. de Bac-
chanalibus provides that it shall be cut on a bronze tablet, but this was for the pur-
pose of its being put up in a public place where it could be read. The S. C. were
originally entrusted to the care of the tribunes and the aediles, but in the time ot
Augustus the quaestors had the care of them. (Dion Cassius, Iv, 36, and the note
of Reimarus.) Under the later emperors the S. C, "quae ad principes pertinebant,"

ACT III, sc. ii.] IVLIVS CAESAR 1 69

extenuated, wherein he was worthy; nor his offences en- 41
forc'd, for which he fuffered death.

Enter Mark Antony ^ with Ctzfars Body.

Heere comes his Body, mourn'd by Marke Antony, who
though he had no hand in his death, fhall receiue the be- 45
nefit of his dying, a place in the Comonwealth, as which
of you fliall not. With this I depart, that as I flewe my
beft Louer for the good of Rome, I haue the fame Dag-
ger for my felfe, when it fliall pleafe my Country to need
my death. 50

AIL Line Brtitus, Hue, Hue.

1. Bring him with Triumph home vnto his houfe.

2. Giue him a Statue with his Anceftors.

3. Let him be CcBfar.

4. Ccefars better parts, 55

41. nor his\ not his F3F4. 51. Hue, Hue.] live! Pope, Han.

42. [Comes down. Cap. 52, 53, 54, 55. i., 2., 3., 4.] i Pleb.,

43. Enter...Body.] Enter Antony and 2 Pleb., 3 Pleb., 4 Pleb. Rowe,+
certain of his House, bearing Caesar's (throughout), i. C, 2. C, 3. C, 4. C.
Body. Cap. Enter Antony and others Capell. i. Cit., 2. Cit., 3. Cit., 4. Cit.
with Caesar's Body. Mai. et seq. Mai. et seq.

47. JJtall not.] Jliall not? F4 et seq.

were preserved in "libri elephantini." (Vopiscus, Tacitus, c. 8.).' — That Shake-
speare evidently knew of such a custom is shown by the present passage; whence
he obtained that information is of small import. — Ed.]

41, 42. enforc'd] Wright: That is, urged unduly, exaggerated. 'Extenuate' and
'enforce' are here contrasted, as in: 'know We will extenuate rather than enforce.'
— Ant. 6* Cleo., V, ii, 125.

48. Louer] Bradley {N. E. D.,s. v. i.): One who is possessed by sentiments of
affection, or regard towards another; a friend or well-wisher. Now rare. — [The
present line, among numerous other examples, quoted. Compare also 1. 15, supra;
and II, iii, 9, where Artemidorus subscribes himself to Caesar 'Thy Louer.' — Ed.)

48-50. I haue ... to need my death] Snider (ii, 253): One naturally asks
who is to be judge whether his country needs his death — the country or himself?
If the country, then he would be a criminal publicly condemned, and there would
be no necessity for his dagger. . . . But, if he was to be the judge himself, why
did he commit such villainous acts that, in his own opinion, his country needed
his death? All this was intentional, no doubt, on the part of Shakespeare, for it
comports too well with the contradictory character of Brutus to admit of any
other supposition.

54. Let him be Caesar] Staffer (p. 328): What must have been the bitterness
of mind and spirit experienced by Brutus when, in answer to his proclamation of
liberty from the Forum, he heard the stupid people cry: 'Let him be Caesar!'

I/O THE TRACED IE OF [act hi, sc. ii.

Shall be Crown'd in Brutus. 56

1. Wee'l bring him to his Houfe,
With Showts and Clamors.

Bru. My Countrey-men.

2. Peace, filence, Briit2is fpeakes. 60
I. Peace ho.

Bru. Good Countrymen, let me depart alone,
And (for my fake)ftay heere with Antony :
Do grace to Ccefars Corpes,and grace his Speech
Tending to Ccefars Glories,which Markc Antony ' 65

(By our permiffion) is allow'd to make.
I do intreat you, not a man depart,
Saue I alone, till Anto7iy haue fpoke. Exit

I Stay ho, and let vs heare Mark Ant07iy.

3 Let him go vp into the publike Chaire, 70

Wee'l heare him ; Noble Antony go vp.

56. Shall be] Shall now be Pope, Han. 64. Corpes] Corps F3F4.

Cap. Steev. Varr. Sing, i, Coll. i, ii, 65. Glories] glory Walker (Crit., i,

Craik, Sta. Wh. i, Hal. Dyce ii, iii, 250), Dyce ii, iii, Huds. iii.

Huds. 68. Scene vi. Pope, Han. Warb.

Brutus.] Brutus, Live! live! Bru- Johns.

Uis, live! Mitford. 70. publike] publique F3. publick F4.

57, 58. One line Cap. et seq.

Had the empire depended only upon the genius of one man, Brutus, in killing
Caesar, might have saved the Republic, but, in point of fact, the Empire was rooted
in the general state of things. It was in not perceiving this that the error of Brutus
lay, and from this also resulted the utter failure of his enterprise. — Verity: No
words could well be more distasteful to Brutus. He has just told the Citizens that
patriotism alone led him to 'rise against Caesar,' and here he is treated as if he were
an ambitious schemer who for his own advantage had struck down a rival. The
Crowd all through ignore principles and care only for persons — now Pompey, now
Cffisar, now Brutus, now Antony — and their favour is readily transferred from the
philosophic Brutus who does not understand them to the practical Antony who does.

56. Shall be Crown'd] Craik (p. 307), referring to the word 'how,' inserted by
Pope for the sake of the metre, is doubtful as to its being the correct word, but is
certain that some addition is necessary, since this line as it now stands is 'not a
possible commencement of a verse.' — Staunton suggests that the line read either
shall all or shall well, etc.

62. let me . . . alone] Verity: Here Brutus makes his third great mistake,
viz., in leaving Antony to say what he likes and have the last word. [The other two
mistakes are, his sparing Antony at the time of the assassination of Cassar, and
allowing him to speak on this occasion.]

65. Glories] Walker {CriL, i, 250) quotes this line as an example wherein a
final s has been interpolated in the Folio, remarking that the error in question is
frequent in this play. Compare II, i, 243.

ACT III. sc. ii.] IVLIVS C^SAR 171

Ant. For BriiUts fake, I am beholding to you. 72'

4 What does he fay of Brutus ? V

3 He fayes, for Brutus sake

He findes himfelfe beholding to vs all. 75

4 'Twere befl he fpeake no harme of Brutus heere ?

1 This Ccsfar was a Tyrant.
3 Nay that's certaine :

We are bleft that Rome is rid of him.

2 Peace, let vs heare what Atitony can fay. 80
Ant. You gentle Romans. •

All. Peace hoe, let vs heare him.

y^;^.Friends , Romans , Countrymen, lend me your ears : 83

72. beholding] beholden F4, Rowe,+, 78. that's] ihats F,. j

Jen. Craik, Sta. Ktly. 79- blejl] glad Ff,,Rowe, Pope, Han. 0^

[Goes into the pulpit. Cam. +. Cam.+. most blest Cap. bless' d Steev.

75. beholding] beholden F4, Rowe, +, et seq.

Craik, Sta. Ktl^y^ 81. Romans.] Romans — F4.

76. he fpeake] fpeake or fpeak Ff, j^ 83-117. Mnemonic Pope, Warb.
Rowe. '4|v^^

72, 75. beholding] Murray (N. E. D.): The sense [under obligation, obliged]
evidently originated in an error for beholden, either through confusion of the endings
{cf. especially the 15''' century spelling -yne for -en), or, more probably, after be-
holden was shortened to beholde, behold, and its grammatical character obscured,
the general acceptance of 'beholding' may have been due to a notion that it meant
looking (e. g., unth respect, or dependence) , or to association with the idea of holding
of or from a feudal superior. (It was exceedingly common in the 1 7"^ century, for
which no fewer than ninety-seven instances have been sent in by our readers.)

83. An. Friends . . . Countrymen] Davies (ii, 242): The only hint which
Shakespeare has here borrowed from Plutarch is Antony's shewing the dead body
of Cassar to the populace: it is composed of such topics as were most conducive
to the desired effect. . . . The Duke of Buckingham has very prudently pre-
served almost the whole of Antony's oration as the author wrote it, though he has
presumed to alter every other scene in the play. — Wright: There is no reason to
suppose that Shakespeare went beyond North's Plutarch for hints when he wrote
the speeches of Brutus and Antony. Those which are put into their mouths by
Appian, and of which there was a translation in English published in 1578, have no
points of resemblance to these. Like Brutus, Antony speaks under constraint,
but for a different reason. — [Warde (ed. 2; ii, p. 140) is also of the opinion that the
evidence in favor of Shakespeare's indebtedness to Appian is insufficient. — Ed.] —
MacCallum (p. 646) : [The oration given to Antony by Appian] may be analysed
and summarised as follows: Antony begins by praising the deceased as a consul
a consul, a friend a friend, a kinsman a kinsman. He recites the public honours
awarded to Caesar as a better testimony than his private opinion, and accompanies
the enumeration with provocative comment. He touches on Caesar's sacrosanct
character and the unmerited honours bestowed on those who slew him, but acquits
the citizens of unkindness on the ground of their presence at the funeral. He

172 THE TRACED IE OF [act hi, sc. ii.

I come to bury Cczfar, not to praife him :

The euill that men do, Hues after them, 85

The good is oft enterred with their bones,

So let it be with Ccsfar. The Noble Brutus^

Hath told you Ccz/ar was Ambitious :

If it were fo, it was a greeuous Fault,

And greeuousfly hath Cafar anfwer'd it. 90

Heere, vnder leaue of Brutus , and the reft

(For Briihis is an Honourable man.

So are they all; all Honourable men^

Come I to fpeake in Ccefars Funerall.

He was my Friend, faithfull,and iuft to me ; 95

But Brutus fayes , he was Ambitious,

And Brutus is an Honourable man.

He hath brought many Captiues home to Rome,

Whofe Ranfomes, did the generall Coffers fill :

Did this in Cafar feeme Ambitious ? 100

When that the poore haue cry'de, Ccs/ar hath wept :

86. enterred] interred Dyce. 87. The] Om. Pope,+ ( — Var. '73).

their hones] the hones F4, Rowe i. 99. Ranjomes] Ransons Rowe ii.

avows his own readiness for revenge, and thus censures the policy of the Senate,
but admits that that policy may be for the public interest. He intones a hymn
in honour of the deified Caesar; reviews his wars, battles, victories, the provinces
annexed, and the spoils transmitted to Rome, and glances at the subjugation of
the Gauls as the payment of an ancient score. He uncovers the body of Caesar and
displays the pierced and blood-stained garment to the wrath of the populace. He
puts words in the mouth of the dead, and makes him cite the names of those whom
he had benefited and preserved that they should destroy him. And the people
brook no more. ... It is quite possible that Shakespeare, while retaining Plu-
tarch's general scheme, may have filled it in with suggestions from Appian. . . .
Apparent loans from the same quarter in Antony &° Cleopatra show that he was
acquainted with the English translation [by Henry Bynniman, 1578].

84. to bury Caesar] Wright: Shakespeare was, no doubt, thinking of his own
time and country. The custom of burning the dead had not been in use in Rome
very long before the time of Caesar

91. vnder leaue] Mark Hunter: If Antony has not himself overheard Brutus's
speech, we may suppose he had instructed some dependent to be present, who
in the interval between his master's entrance and Brutus's departure found time
rapidly to 'post' Antony in all that had passed. This would make a good piece
of stage-business. [Hunter adds that he has learned later that such an action was
adopted by Tree in his revival of Jul. Ccbs.]

loi. When that] Craik (p. 312): The 'that' in such a case as this is merely a
summary or compendious expression of what follows, which was convenient, per-
haps, in a ruder condition of the language, as more distinctly marking out the

ACT III, sc. ii.] IlLIVS CAESAR 173

Ambition fliould be made of fterner ftuffe, 102

Yet Brutus fayes, he was Ambitious :

And Brutus is an Honourable man.

You all did fee, that on the Lupercall, «— - 105

I thrice prefented him a Kingly Crowne,

Which he did thrice refufe. Was this Ambition ?

Yet Brutus fayes, he was Ambitious :

And fure he is an Honourable man.

I fpeake not to difprooue what Brutus fpoke, 1 10

But heere I am, to fpeake what I do know ;

You all did loue him once, not without caufe,

What caufe with-holds you then, to mourne for him ?

O ludgement \ thou are fied to brutifh Beafts, 114

I L
105. on] at Pope, Han. 114. thou arc] thou art ¥1. ij^^^~xj/

clause to be comprehended under the 'when.' We still commonly use it with
no'iV, when it serves to discriminate the conjunction from the adverb, although not
with other conjunctions which are never adverbs.

105. on the Lupercall] Hudson interprets this, on //ze Jay when the feast of Lu-
percalia was held. — Wright remarks that Shakespeare here speaks of ' the Lupercal
as if it were a hill, when in reality it was a cave.' The words given to Marullus in
I, i, 77, 'You know it is the feast of Lupercal,' prove sufficiently that there was no
confusion in Shakespeare's mind; and, therefore, Hudson's interpretation is the one
preferred by the present Ed.

109. Honourable man] Lloyd {Crit. Essay; ap. Sing, ii, p. 513): The ambig-
uous tones in which Antony harps upon his consideration for Brutus especially,
and then his associates, as honourable men, come down from Cicero; the second
Philippic furnishes his very words: [Lloyd gives the Latin; the following transla-
tion is by Yonge] 'However remark the stupidity of this fellow, — I should say, of
this brute beast. For thus he spoke: " ^Marcus Brutus whom I name to do him
honour, holding aloft his bloody dagger, called upon Cicero, from which it must
be understood that he was pri\'y to the action." . . . You wise and considerate
man, what do you say to this? If they are parricides, why are they always
named by you, both in this assembly and before the Roman people, with a view
to do them honour?' — §§ xii, xiii; (ed. Bohn, p. 310.) — Hudson: Of course, these
repetitions of 'honourable man' are intensely ironical; and for that very reason
the irony should be studiously kept out of the voice in pronouncing them. I
have heard speakers and readers utterly spoil the effect of this speech by spe-
cially-emphasizing the irony; the proper force of which, in this case, depends on its
being so disguised as to seem perfectly unconscious. For, from the extreme deli-
cacy of his position, Antony is obliged to proceed with the utmost caution imtil
he gets, and sees he has got, the audience thoroughly in his power.

114. ludgement! thou are fled to brutish Beasts] A passage in Jonson's
Every Man out of his Humour, ' — reason long since is fled to animals, you know,'
III, i, provoked the following note from Gifford (ed., p. 100): 'I wonder the com-
mentators have not .... pointed out this [line in Jonson] as designed to sneer at

174 THE TRACED IE OF [act hi, sc. ii.

And Men haue loft their Reafon. Beare with me, 115

My heart is in the Coffin there with Cce/ar,
And I muft pawfe,till it come backe to me.

1 Me thinkes there is much reafon in his fayings.

2 If thou confider rightly of the matter,

Ccsfar ha's had great wrong. (his place. 1 20

3 Ha's hee Mafters ? I feare there will a worfe come in

119. 2] Om. Ff, Rowe,+. 2 Cit. 121. Ea's hee Majicrs?] As separate

Capell et seq. line Cap. et seq.

121. Ha's hee] Ha! has he Anon. a.p. Mafters?] my masters? Cap.

Cam. That he has H. Morley, M. S. Walker, Ktly. not, masters? Craik,

Hunter. That has he Macmillan conj. Dyce ii, iii, Huds. iii.

Shakespeare, ['Judgement thou art fled,' etc.]. It is true that Every Man out, etc.,
was published several years before Jul. Cces., [i. e., in 1600], but that, I find, is no
conclusive argument in favour of Jonson, for "he might have seen the lines in
manuscript"; or, as the manuscript was certainly not in existence at this time,
he might have known that Shakespeare intended to make use of such an expression.'
— Whalley explains that Jonson's allusion is 'designed as a sneer on those phil-
osophers who, from the tractable and imitative qualities in brutes, maintained that
they were reasonable creatures.' These remarks would hardly be worth noting
were it not that Koeppel (Jahrbuch, xliii, p. 211) has apparently taken Gifford
seriously, inasmuch as Gifford has not made any use of this seeming similarity in
thought to establish the date of composition of Jul. Cas. because he considered the
Roman tragedies to belong to a later date. Koeppel then quotes a line from the
anonymous play: The Wisdone of Doctor Dodypoll, 1600: 'Then reason's fled to
animals, I see.' — III, ii; (ed. Bullen, p. 129), and uses this as a proof that both
Jonson and the anonymous author are here referring to the present line in Jul.
Cas., which play must, therefore, have been well known prior to 1600. It may
not be denied that there is a similarity in all three passages; but that both the
author of Doctor Dodypoll and Jonson were herein copying from Shakespeare is not
so manifest. Doctor Dodypoll's progenitor may perhaps be referring to the line in
Jonson's play; but may he not quite as well refer to the philosopher's opinions,
mentioned by Whalley? On this point it is, perhaps, interesting to call attention
to an essay in Plutarch's Morals, entitled. That Brute Beasts have Reason, wherein
Gryllus, transformed into a pig by Circe, tries to convince Ulysses that all brutes
have more 'discourse of reason' than mankind. This work by Plutarch was first
translated into English by Philemon Holland in 1603; a translation in French
by Amyot appeared in 1572. — Ed.

116, 117. My heart . . . backe to me] Malone thinks that perhaps Shake-
speare may have recollected these lines from Daniel's Cleopatra, 1594: 'As for my
love, say Antony hath all; Say that my heart is gone into the grave With him, in
whom it rests, and ever shall.' — To this Wright pertinently replies that it is
' even more probable that the idea may have occurred to Shakespeare independ-
ently.' He also calls attention to the contrast between this pause by Antony and
that by Brutus, who pauses for a reply, since his speech is an argument. — Ed.

121. Ha's hee Masters ?] Delius: This is here no question of astonishment
or doubt, but rather an asseveration: Has harm been done him! [Ob ihm Unrecht
geschehen ist.] Underlying which is to be understood: Indeed I think so.

ACT III, SC. ii.]

IVLIVS C^SAR

4. Mark'd yc his words? he would not take y Crown,
Therefore 'tis certaine, he was not Ambitious.'

1. If it be found fo, fome will deere abide it.

2. Poore foule, his eyes are red as fire with weeping.

3. There's not a Nobler man in Rome then Antony.

4. Now marke him, he begins againe to fpeake.
Ant. But yefterday, the word of Ccsfar might 1

Haue flood againfl the World : Now lies he there,
And none fo poore to do him reuerence,

0 Maifters ! If I were difpos'd to ftirre
Your hearts and mindes to Mutiny and Rage,

1 fhould do Bj'utus wrong, and CaJJius wrong :
Who (you all know) are Honourable men.

I will not do them wrong : I rather choofe

To wrong the dead, to wrong my felfe and you,

Then I will wrong fuch Honourable men.

But heere's a Parchment, with the Scale of CcBfar^

I found it in his Cloffet, 'tis his Will :

Let but the Commons heare this Teftament :

('Which pardon me) I do not meane to reade,

And they would go and kiffe dead C(zfars wounds,

And dip their Napkins in his Sacred Blood ;

Yea, begge a haire of him for Memory,

And dying, mention it within their Willes,

Bequeathing it as a rich Legacie

Vnto their iffue.

4 Wee'l heare the Will, reade it Marke Antony.

175
122

125

130

135

140

145

148

Wh.

126. Nobler] bolder
print?).

127. againe] Om.
(—Han.).

128-147. Mnemonic Pope, Warb.
141. (Which pardon me) ... reade,]

. (mis-
Theob. ii,+

Which {pardon me) ... read, Q., 1691.
Which, pardon me, ... read, Rowe.
(Which pardon me ... read) Pope at
seq.

144. Yea] Nay Cap.

148. 4] All. Anon. conj. ap. Cam.

124. abide] See III, i, 108, for meaning of 'abide,' in this sense.

130. none so poore to do him reuerence] Johnson: That is, the meanest man
is now too high to do reverence to Caesar. — Craik (p. 313): It is as if it were
'with none so poor.' And 'and' is logically (whatever it may be etymologically)
equivalent to with.

132. Mutiny and Rage] Wright: Compare, 'Therewithal the people fell
presently into such a rage and mutiny, that there was no more order kept amongst
the common people.' — Plutarch: Life of Brutus, § 15; ed. Skeat, p. 122.

143. Napkins] That is, handkerchiefs; the two words were used interchangeably.

176 THE TRACE DIE OF [act hi, sc. ii.

All. The Will, the Will; we will heare Ccefars Will.

Ant. Haue patience gentle Friends, I muft not read it. 150
It is not meete you know how Ccsfar lou'd you :
You are not Wood, you are not Stones, but men :
And being men, hearing the Will of Cce/ar,
It will inflame you, it will make you mad ;

'Tis good you know not that you are his Heires, 155

For if you fhould, O what would come of it?

4 Read the Will, wee'l heare it Anto7iy :
You fhall reade vs the Will, Ccsfars Will.

Ant. Will you be Patient? Will you ftay a-while ?
I haue o're-fliot my felfe to tell you of it, 160

I I feare I wrong the Honourable men,
Whofe Daggers haue ftabb'd Ccefar : I do feare it.

4 They were Traitors : Honourable men ?

All. The Will,the Teftament.

2 They were Villaines, Murderers:the Will, read the 165
Will.

Ant. You will compell me then to read the Will :
Then make a Ring about the Corpes of Ccrfar,
And let me fhew you him that made the Will :
Shall I defcend? And will you giue me leaue f 170

All. Come downe.

2 Defcend.

3 You fhall haue leaue. 173

150-156. Mnemonic Pope, Warb. Cap. conj., Ktly. grea/ Caesar's Words-

154. //] / Cap. [corrected in Er- worth conj.

rata]. 159-162. Mnemonic Pope, Warb.

156. Jhould, 0] should — 0 Ro\ve,+. 164. AIL] Citizens. Dyce, Sta.

157, 158. As prose Craik. 167. Will:] -d'ill? Pope et seq.

157. wee'l] we will Theob. Warb. 168. Corpes] Corps F3F4.

Johns. Cap. Varr. Mai. Ran. Steev. 171. All.] First Cit. Cam. Edd. conj.

Varr. Sing. Dyce, Ktly, Huds. [He comes down from the

158. Caefar's Will] read Cssar'swill Pulpit. Rowe,+.

155, 156. 'Tis good . . . would come of it] Verity: Observe the slow, de-
liberate rhythm due to the use of monosyllables. Antony speaks in this drawling
way so as to tantalize the crowd, whose impatience to hear the will increases every
moment. — Mark Hunter: I should imagine that at these words Antony sud-
denly drops his voice, hitherto at a somewhat excitedly high pitch, and speaks in a
lower, but more impressive tone.

161. Honourable men] Here, I think, for the first time Antony uses these
words with a distinct sneer; and then fairly hurls the next line in the faces of
the crowd. — Ed.

ACT III. sc. ii.] IVLIVS C^SAR. 177

4 A Ring, ftand round.

1 Stand from the Hearfe, ftand from the Body. 175

2 Roome for Antony , moft Noble Antony.
Ant. Nay preffe not fo vpon me, ftand farre off.
All. Stand backe: roome,beare backe.

Ant. If you haue teares ,prepare to flied them now.
You all do know this Mantle, I remember 180

The firft time euer Cczfar put it on,
'Twas on a Summers Euening in his Tent,
That day he ouercame the Ncrnij. ""^ 183

177. jarre\ far' Dyce. 183. Neruij] Nervii F3F4.

179-188. Mnemonic Pope, Warb.

iSo. this Mantle] Theobald {Nichols, ii, 496): This circumstance with re-
gard to Cffisar's mantle seems to me an invention of the poet; and, perhaps, not with
the greatest propriety. The Nerv'ii were conquered in the second year of his
Gaulish expedition, seventeen [Qu. thirteen?] years before his assassination; and
it is hardly to be thought that Cassar preserved any one robe of state so long. —
[Is this not hypercriticism? Plutarch, Appian, and Dion Cassius mention the
fact of Caesar's rent robe being exhibited by Antony; and, acting on this, Shakespeare
but gives a more realistic touch to the incident by naming the particular mantle; as
well might we find fault with Antony's showing the gashes in it and naming the
very men whose swords made them — a manifest impossibility even had he been
an eye-witness of the murder, which he was not. Theobald's note appears also in
his edition, 1733, with an additional comparison between this passage and that
in Hamlet, wherein Horatio, speaking of the Ghost, says: ' Such was the very armour
he had on When he th' ambitious Norway combated.' — I, i, 60. With this Theo-
bald also finds fault on the ground that 'Horatio, being a school-fellow of young
Hamlet, could hardly know in what armour the old King killed Fortinbras of
Norway; which happened on the very day, whereon young Hamlet was bom.' —
Would any one in the audience of Shakespeare's time, or the present, be so
conversant with all the facts as to be seriously disturbed by such slight inaccu-
racies?— Hudson also says that the matter about the mantle is fictitious, as
' Caesar had on the civic gown, not the military cloak, when killed.' As Antony's
present speech is ' fictitious,' why may he not be allowed to display a fictitious
mantle? — Ed.]

180. I remember] Wright: Antony did not join Caesar in Gaul till three years
after this event. — [This may, perhaps, furnish an excuse for Antony's further forget-
fulness; the victory over the Nervii was accomplished in the winter of 57 B. C, not
summer. — Ed.]

183. the Neruij] Sherlock (p. 31): This word is one of the most eloquent that
Antony has spoken. The Nervii had been some of the most formidable enemies of
Rome, and they had never been conquered till that day. The assembly which
Antony harangued was entirely composed of citizens and of the veterans of Caesar.
To the citizens these words said: 'See, that Caesar who has delivered you from
your fears, who has given safety to your wives and children. . . .' To the soldiers:
* See, massacred by traitors, that Caesar who conducted you to glory. . . .' Every
12

178 THE TRACED IE OF . [act hi, sc. ii.

Looke,in this place ran Caffms Dagger through :

See what a rent the enuious Caska made : 185

Through this, the wel-belou'd Brutus ftabb'd,

And as he pluck'd his curfed Steele away :

Marke how the blood of Ccsfar followed it,

As rufhing out of doores, to be refolu'd

\i Brutus fo vnkindely knock'd,or no : 190

For Brutus, 2iS you know, was Cafcu'S Angel.

Iudge,0 you Gods,how deerely Cczfar lou'd him:

This was the moft vnkindeft cut of all. ■ 193

/ 184. Caffius] Caffius's F4, Rowe. 188. followed] Ff, Wh. i. follow'd

Cassius' Pope et seq. Rowe et cet.

186. wel-belou'd] well-beloved Dyce. 191-207. Mnemonic Warb.

187. curfed] cursed Dyce. 193. This. ..moft] This, this was the

Pope, Theob. Han. Warb.

line of this speech deserves an eulogium. — [While Sherlock's remark as to the value
of this allusion to the Nervii is certainly just, it is not difi&cult, I think, to see why
Shakespeare makes Antony allude to this particular victory; it is thus mentioned
by Plutarch: 'The Senate understanding it [the victory] at Rome, ordained that
they should do sacrifices to the gods, and keep feasts and solemn processions fifteen
days together without intermission, having never made the like ordinance at Rome
for any victory that ever was obtained: because they saw the danger had been mar-
vellous great, so many nations rising as they did in arms together against him: and
further, the love of the people unto him made his victory much more famous.' —
Ccesar, § 19; (ed. Skeat, p. 61). — Ed.]

185. enuious] That is, malicious.

186. Through this . . . Brutus stabb'd] Wright: According to Suetonius,
of all the wounds which Cassar received, the only one which was mortal was the
second. Shakespeare in this passage appears to make Brutus give him the death-
blow. If so, we should read in III, i, 89, stage direction: Marcus Brutus and the
other conspirators.

189. As rushing out of doores] Mrs Montagu (p. 273): The miserable con-
ceit of Caesar's blood rushing out of the wound, to ask who so unkindly knocked,
is indefensible. — [That this, as a poetic conceit, is not of the best may not be
gainsaid; but is not the assertion that it is 'indefensible' somewhat rash? The
dogmatic tone is of itself almost sufficient to challenge defense, if any such were
needed, for words uttered under such stress as was Antony's on this occasion. — Ed.]

191. Caesars Angel] Steevens tells us that this term of endearment is quite
frequent in Sidney's Arcadia, which does not help us much to its particular meaning
here. — Boswell suggests that Brutus was trusted by Caesar as his guardian angel. —
To this view Craik (p. 315) dissents, preferring to understand 'angel' as being sim-
ply his best beloved, his darling; and Wright considers it as almost synonymous
with the genius, as in II, i, 74 (q. v.), which is also the opinion of the present Ed.

193. vnkindest] Delius interprets this as most unnatural; for a somewhat
similar thought, compare: 'Blow, blow, thou winter wind. Thou art not so unkind
As man's ingratitude.' — As You Like It, II, vii, 174. — Ed.

ACT III, sc. ii.] IVLIVS C^SAR I^g

For when the Noble Cce/ar faw him ftab,

Ingratitude, more ftrong then Traitors armes, 195

Quite vanquifli'd him .-then burft his Mighty heart,

And in his Mantle, muffling vp his face,

Euen at the Bafe of Povipeyes Statue

(Which all the while ran blood)great Ccsfar fell.

O what a fall was there,my Countrymen ? 200

Then I,and you,and all of vs fell downe,

Whil'ft bloody Treafon flourifh'd ouer vs.

O now you weepe, and I perceiue you feele

The dint of pitty : Thefe are gracious droppes.

Kinde Soules,what weepe you,when you but behold " 205

Our CcB/ars Vefture wounded ? Looke you heere,

196. his\ this Upton. Varr. Sing, i, Dyce, Sta. Wh. i, Cam. i,

198, 199. Ellen... Statue {Which... GI0.+. Statue Ktly, Cam. ii.

fell] Which... fell, Even.. .Statue Warb. 199. ran] ran with Han.

198, 199. Euen...{Which] As one line 205. what weepe] Ff, Knt, Cam. ii.

Han. what! weep Coll. ii, iii, Wh. i, Hal.

198. Statue] statua Mai. conj., Steev. Ktly, Huds. what, weep Pope et cet.

196, 197. Mighty . . . Mantle, muffling] Observe how this recurrence seems,
so to speak, to have the effect of 'muffling' the lines. — Ed.

198. Statue] M alone: If 'even' be considered as a monosyllable, [which it
usually is, with Shakespeare], the measure is defective. I suspect, therefore, he
wrote Statua. [For examples of this pronunciation, see II, ii, 87.]

199. Which all the while ran blood] 'He was driven . . . against the base
whereupon Pompey's image stood, which ran all of a gore-blood till he was slain.' —
Plutarch: CcEsar, § 44; ed. Skeat, p. loi.

202. fiourish'd] Steevens: That is, flourished the sword. — Craik (p. 315)
interprets 'flourish' in the sense in which a plant is said to put forth its flowers:
'treason thus shot up into vigorous efflorescence over us.' — Wright, in opposition
to Steevens, says: 'the contrast is between the prostrate state of the people and the
triumphant attitude of the conspirators.'

204. dint] Murray {N. E. D., s. v. 3.) : A mark or impression made by a blow, or
by pressure, in a hard or plastic surface; an indentation.

204. These are gracious droppes] Craik (p. 315): Falling, the thought seems
to be, like the bountiful and refreshing rain from heaven.

205. what weepe you] Mark Hunter: Pope's insertion of a comma after
'what,' making it an exclamation of surprise, is a distinct improvement in the
matter, both of sense and rhythm.

206. Looke you heere] Macmillan {Introd., p. xli.): Although Shakespeare
had probably never read in the original, or in translations, any of Cicero's oratorical
treatises, he happens to attribute to his Antony the same magnetic influence of
real passion felt by the speaker and transmitted to the audience, and the same
overpowering appeal to pity and indignation by tearing away the robe and dis-
playing the wounds of the subject of his eulogy, as were employed with such effect
on a similar occasion by his grandfather, the famous orator. — (Cicero: De Oratore,

l8o I^HE TRACE DIE OF [act hi, sc. ii.

Heere is Himfelfe, marr'd as you fee with Traitors. 20/

1. O pitteous fpe6lacle !

2. O Noble Ccsfar\

3. O wofull day! 210

4. O Traitors, Villaines !

1. O moft bloody fight !

2. We will be reueng'd : Reuenge
About, feeke, burne, fire, kill, flay.

Let not a Traitor Hue. 2 1 5

Ant. Stay Country-men.

1. Peace there,heare the Noble Antony^

2. Wee'l heare him, wee'l follow him, wee'l dy with
him. (you vp

A7it. Good Friends, fweet Friends, let me not ftirre 220

To fuch a fodaine Flood of Mutiny :
They that haue done this Deede,are honourable.
What priuate greefes they haue, alas I know not,
That made them do it : They are Wife, and Honourable, 224

207. wil}i\ hy Pope,-|-. 213. Reuenge] All. Revenge! Glo.

208-216. 0 pitteous ...Cotmtry-men] Cam.-|-.

Asfivelines,verseCap. MS. (ap. Cam.). 216. [They are rushing out. Coll. ii.

213. We will] We'll Cap. (MS).

213-215. We will. ..Traitor Hue] Ff, 217. Peace] Peace, peace Cap. conj.

Rowe. As two lines, ending: About... 220-240. Mnemonic Pope, Warb.

Hue Var. '78, '85, Ran. As two lines, 221. fodaine] Juddain F3. Jiidden F4.

ending: burne. ..line Ktly. As prose 224. do it: They are] do't: they' are

Pope et cet. Walker (Crit., iii, 247).

ii, xlvii.). — [Marc Antony may possibly have remembered the action of his grand-
father and used it to produce a like effect; but it is not necessary, I think, to suppose
that Shakespeare knew anything about Cicero's Treatise. He is here closely fol-
lowing Plutarch's account of the incidents in connection with Caesar's funeral, as
related in the Life of Ccesar, § 45, ed. Skeat, p. 102; and in the Life of Brutus, § 15,
Ibid., p. 122. — Ed.]

213-215. We will be reueng'd . . . Let not a Traitor Hue] Delius: These
words are not, perhaps, spoken by the 2'"^ Plebeian alone, but shouted out by
different ones. Likewise the following words, 1. 218, 'We'll hear him,' etc. [Wright
also suggests that this last-mentioned line be distributed as in 11. 208-212.]

214. About, seeke, burne, fire, kill, slay] Sherlock (p. 32): The same
passion, the same violence in their emotions, the same readiness to be inflamed,
the same disposition to do everything by the impulse of a moment, and nothing by
reason; these are the distinctive qualities of the people of Rome; and the words of
Shakespeare, 'burn, fire, kill, slay,' are the lines of the character of the Transte-
verins, such as it still appears at the moment of my writing [1786].

223. greefes] That is, grievances. Compare I, iii, 129; IV, ii, 50.

ACT III, sc. ii.] IVLIVS CAESAR l8l

And will no doubt with Reafons anfwer you. 225
I come not (Friendsj to fteale away your hearts,

I am no Orator, as Brutus is ; ^ IT"^ 'i '^I'^^ I

But (as you know me all) a plaine blunt man / vi I \K

That loue my Friend, and that they know full well, (^|'l ^

That gaue me publike leaue to fpeake of him: 230
For I haue neyther writ nor words, nor worth,

225. Reafons] reason Warb. 231. writ] Johns. Var. '73, Mai. Var.
f\,J^ 230. ga^e] giiie Ff, Rowe,4-. '21, Coll. i, ii. wit Ff et cet. c^'^

226. steale away your hearts] Wright: That is, to deceive you by working
on your feelings. In Genesis, xxxi, 20, where the Authorised Version has, 'And
Jacob stole away unawares to Laban,' the rendering of the Bishops' Bible is, 'And
Jacob stale away the heart of Laban'; that is, deceived him.

228. a plaine blunt man] Mark Hunter {Introd., clxvi.): With all his arti-
fice, Antony is only completely successful because the passion which pervades the
speech is perfectly genuine. Antony feels what he says, and even when the words
seem most at variance with the actual fact, there is a certain element of truth in
the orator's attitude, and consequently a strain of sincerity in the utterance. . . .
Between the plain blunt man, who loves his friend and understands the elementary
obligations of man to man, and the serious philosopher, whose subtle reasoning
can find warrant in ethics for ingratitude, treachery, and murder, there is an eternal
distinction which the common conscience of mankind can recognise clearly enough,
but which the dreaming enthusiast and idealist is apt to miss.

231. For I haue neyther writ] As will be seen by a reference to the Text.
Notes those Editors who have followed this Folio reading are in the minority. —
Johnson and Malone, who are of this number, naturally understand Antony to
mean that he has no written or premeditated speech. Malone even accuses the
editor of the Second Folio of changing 'whatever he did not understand,' and
furthermore declares that ' wit in Shakespeare's time had not the meaning which it
now bears, but meant understanding. 'Would Shakespeare,' asks Malone, 'make
Antony declare himself void of common intelligence?' — Steevens, in opposition to
Malone's interpretation, says: 'The artful speaker was surely designed, with affected
modesty, to represent himself as one who had neither wit (i. e., strength of under-
standing) ... to influence the minds of the people. Was it necessary that on an
occasion so precipitate he should have urged that he had brought no written
speech in his pocket. ... I, therefore, continue to read with the Second Folio,
being unambitious of reviving the blunders of the First.' — Craik finds grave fault
with Malone for following, and attempting to explain, the Folio reading. 'Is it
possible,' he asks, 'that such a critic can have had the smallest feeling of anything
in Shakespeare above the level of the merest prose? ' Continuing, Craik shows that
there are numerous passages in Shakespeare wherein wit has exactly its present
signification. . . . 'How would Malone,' he concludes, 'or those who think with
him (if there be any), explain the conversation about Benedick's wit, in Act V, sc. i,
of Much Ado, without taking the word as there used in the sense which it now
ordinarily bears? In the present passage, to be sure, its meaning is more compre-
hensive, corresponding nearly to what it still conveys in the expression "the wit of

1 82 THE TRACED IE OF [act hi, sc. ii.

A6lion, nor Vtterance, nor the power of Speech, 232

To flirre mens Blood. I onely fpeake right on :

I tell you that, which you your felues do know,

Shew you fweet Ccefars wounds, poor poor dum mouths 235

And bid them fpeake for me : But were I Brutus,

And Brutus Antony, there were an Afitony

Would ruffle vp your Spirits,and put a Tongue

In euery Wound of Ccsfar, that fhould moue

The ftones of Rome, to rife and Mutiny. 240

232. Vlierance\ VW ranee Pope,+ ( — Var. '73).

man." Compare: "Hast thou or word, or wit, or impudence, That yet can do thee
ofiBce? " — Meas. for Meas., V, i, 368.'

232. power of Speech,] Mark Hunter: I feel certain that the comma after
'speech' should be omitted, and that 'to stir men's blood' should refer exclusively
to 'power of speech.'

237. Antony . . . Antony] Abbott (§ 475): A word repeated twice in a verse
often receives two accents the first time, and one accent the second, when it is less
emphatic the second time than the first. [In the present line] the former 'Antony'
is the more emphatic.

240. The stones ... to rise and Mutiny] Wordsworth (Shakespeare's
Knowledge 6* Use, etc., p. 267) calls attention, if that were needed, to the origin
of these words, Luke, xix, 40, and also shows that Shakespeare makes use of this
most striking thought in Rich. II, 'when King Richard returned from Ireland to
suppress the insurrection of Bolingbroke, he thus apostrophises the coast of Wales :
"Mock not my senseless conjuration, lords; This earth shall have a feeling, and
these stones Prove armed soldiers, ere her native king Shall falter under foul
rebellion's arms." — III, ii, 23.' To this same source we may also, perhaps, assign:
'Thou sure and firm-set earth Hear not my steps which way they walk, for fear
Thy very stones prate of my whereabout.' — Macbeth, II, i, 56. — Ed.

240. to rise and Mutiny] MacCallum (p. 296): Note the last words; for
though Antony feels entitled to indulge in this farcing and enjoys it thoroughly, he
does not forget the serious business. He keeps recurring more and more distinctly
to the suggestion of mutiny, and for mutiny the citizens are now more than fully
primed. All this, moreover, he has achieved without ever playing his trump card.
They have quite forgotten about the will, and, indeed, it is not required. But
Antony thinks it well to have them beside themselves, so he calls them back for
this last maddening draught. And all this while, it will be observed, he has never
answered Brutus's charge that Caesar was ambitious. Yet such is the headlong
flight of his eloquence, winged by genius, by passion, by craft, that his audience
never perceive this. No wonder; it is apt to escape even deliberate readers. —
[Antony, be it remembered, has already declared that he 'came not to disprove what
Brutus said, ' but merely to state facts, and in this connection shows wherein Caesar
had manifested not ambition, but a lack of it: (i) The ransoms of all his captives
went into the general coffers. (2) Caisar showed sympathy for the sorrows of the
poor of Rome. (3) Caesar refused the crown when it was offered him. See 11. 98-107,
above. — Ed.]

ACT III, sc. ii.] IVLIVS CESAR 183

All. Wee'I Mutiny. 241

1 Wee'I burne the houfe oi Brutus.

3 Away then,come,feeke the Confpirators.

Ant. Yet heare me Countrymen, yet heare me fpeake

All, Peace hoe, heare Antony ,\\\o?i Noble Antony. 245

Ant. Why Friends, you go to do you know not what :

Wherein hath Ccsfar thus deferu'd your loues?

Alas you know not, I muft tell you then :

You haue forgot the Will I told you of,

AIL Mod true, the Will, let's ftay and heare the Wil. 250
Ant. Heere is the Will,and vnder Ccefars Scale:

To euery Roman Citizen he giues, ^*N /

To euery feuerall man, feuenty fiue Drachmaes. y '^

2 Pie. Moft Noble Cczfar, wee'l reuenge his'oeath.

3 Pie. O Royall Ccsfar. 255
Ant. Heare me with patience.

All. Peace hoe

Ant. Moreouer, he hath left you all his Walkes,
His priuate Arbors, and new-planted Orchards, 259

252, 253. euery... euery] ev'ry...ev'ry 253. feuenty] sev^fity Pope,+ ( — Var.
Pope,+ (-Var. '73). '73).

253. feuerall] sev'ral Theob. Warb. Drachmaes] drachma's Rowe,4-
Johns. ( — Var. '73). drachmas Cap. et seq.

253. Drachmaes] Smith (Diet, of Greek 6* Roman Antiquities) gives the value
of a 'drachma' as 9 d. 3 farthings, or about twenty cents. Each citizen would thus
receive nearly fifteen dollars.

258, 259. his Walkes . . . and new-planted Orchards] Merpvale (iii, 34):
Although enclosed within the city walls, the Transtiberine region retained all the
appearance of a suburb, and a large part of it was included in the gardens of
[Caesar]. The temple of Fors Fortuna lay at the first milestone from the Porta
Flumentana, or river-gate, and marked the extreme point of Cesar's property.
The gardens stretched thither along the bank of the Tiber from the Palatine bridge,
some mutilated arches of which are now distinguished by the name of Ponte Rotto.
The Sublician bridge abutted upon them in the centre, and we may amuse ourselves
with imagining that the palace of the Pamphili, standing close to its head, occupies
the exact site of the mansion itself which furnished a temporary residence to the
queen of ancient beauty [Cleopatra]. When this estate was surrendered to the use
of the Roman people, the halls and corridors would be devoted to the reception of
works of art and objects of indoor amusement; while the gardens, planted with
groves and intersected with alleys, would furnish a grateful alternation of shade
and sunshine for recreation in the open air. It would be adorned with shrubs of
evergreen, cut and trimmed with various fanciful shapes. Statues of admired
workmanship, the spoil of many an Oriental capital, would spring from gravelled
walks or parterres of native and exotic flowers; and ivy would be trained to creep

1 84 THE TRACED IE OF [act in, sc. ii.

On this fide Tyber, he hath left them you, 260

And to your hey res for euer : common pleafures
To walke abroad, and recreate your felues.
Heere was a CcBfar : when comes fuch another ?

i.P/i\ Neuer, neuer : come, away, away :
Wee'l burne his body in the holy place, 265

And with the Brands fire the Traitors houfes.
Take vp the body.

2.P/e. Go fetch fire.

S.P/e. Plucke downe Benches. / 269

260. this] that Theob.+ (— Var. '73), 266. fire the] fire all the Ff, Rowe,+,

Cap. Jen. Cap. Jen.

264. come, away, away] come, come Traitors] traitors' Warb. et seq.

away Cap. come, away, away, away 269. Benches] The benches (as sep-

Ktly. come, come, away, away Anon. arate line) Cap.
ap. Cam.

in studied negligence around them. Long ranges of tessellated pavements would vie
in variegated brilliancy of colour with the roses and violets, the hyacinths and
poppies, which satisfied the simple tastes of the ancient florists. These gardens,
occupying the right bank of the river, immediately faced the slope of the Aventine
hill, and lay almost in its morning shadow.

260. On this side Tyber] Theobald: The scene is here in the Forum near
the Capitol, and in the most frequented part of the city; but Caesar's gardens were
very remote from that quarter. 'Trans Tibirim longe cubat is prope Caesaris hor-
tos,' says Horace, [Sat., I, ix, 18]. And both the Naumachia and Gardens of Caesar
were separated from the main city by the river. . . . Our author, therefore,
certainly wrote: 'On that side Tiber.' And Plutarch, . . . speaking of Caesar's
will, expressly says: *. . . his gardens and walks beyond the Tiber.' — (Life of
Brutus); where, in that author's time, the Temple of Fortune stood. — Farmer
exonerates Shakespeare of this mistake and assigns it to North's lack of care in
translating. — [Plutarch's words here are: koI tQ StjfK^ ruv nepav rov Trorafiov
K^TTuv aTToAeififiEvcjv' . — Ed. Sintenis, ch. xix. North has, however, here followed
Amyot, who is really responsible for this trifling error. — Theobald is, of course, re-
ferring to a correct translation of the original. — Ed.]

266. fire] For 'fire,' in sense of to enkindle, compare II, i, 266; III, i, 46.

266. fire the Traitors houses] Steevens: The more modern editors read:
'Fire all the traitors houses,' [see Text. Notes], but 'fire' was then pronounced as it
was sometimes written, fier. [For many examples wherein the words fire, desire,
hour, and the like are pronounced with an extra syllable, see Walker, Vers., p.
136.] — Malone: By the expression 'the more modem editors,' Mr Steevens seems
to have been willing to conceal that this was one of the many corruptions intro-
duced by the editor of the Second Folio. — [This note, for its patronising tone, and
subtile accusation of careless collation, would be, I think, difficult to surpass. —
Ed.] — Craik (p. 138): The harshness and dissonance produced by the irregular fall
of the accent, in addition to the diaeresis, in the case of the word 'fire,' may be
thought to add to the force and expressiveness of the line [as in the Folio].

ACT III, sc. ii.] IVLIVS a-ESAR 185

4.PIt\ Plucke downe Fi)rmes, Windowes, any thing. 270

^^Exit Plebeians.

Ant. Now let it worke : Mifcheefe thou art a-foot,
Take thou what courfe thou wilt.
How now Fellow ? 274

270. VJindoires\ the windows Cap. 273, 274. Take. ..Fellow?] One line,

271. Exit Plebeians.] Exeunt Plebe- Pope, et seq.

ians with the Body. Rowe,+. 273-276. Take. ..Sir] As one line in

Cap. MS. (ap. Cam.).

270. Windowes] Skeat {Diet., s. v.) gives as the derivation of 'window,'
" wind-eye," the hole or aperture through which light and air were admitted.' —
[Shakespeare, apparently uses 'window' indiscriminately both for the opening
and the shutter, as thus: ' — these windows that let forth thy life.' — Rich. Ill:
I, ii, 12; 'It [the soul] would not out at windows nor at doors.' — King John, V, vii,
ag. In these examples ' window' can mean only an opening; just as it seems to desig-
nate the shutter in the present line, and in 'Shuts up his windows, locks fair daylight
out.' — Rom. &• Jul., I, i, 145. This last may, of course, be either opening or shutter.
Shakespeare uses ' window,' however, in several passages metaphorically for the eye-
lid, as the shutter of the eye, considered as an opening; e. g., 'thy eyes windows
fall Like death when he shuts up the day of life.' — Rom. &* Jid., IV, i, 100; and
'Ere I let fall the windowes of mine eyes.' — Rich. Ill: V, iii, 116. (For a
discussion on this metaphorical use of 'window,' see Rich. Ill: V, iii, 129, this
edition.) — Ed.)

272. Mischeefe thou art a-foot] Oechelhauser (Einfiihrungen, etc., i,
226): Up to this point Antony has aroused the admiration and sympathy of the
crowd; in the same degree he suddenly descends from that lofty flight and trans-
forms himself into a frivolous comedian with these last words spoken as an aside.
The actor must, both by tone and action, make clear, in the most pronounced
manner, this sudden transformation. — [It is, I think, well to remember that this
is Oechelhaiiser's conception of Antony; not Shakespeare's. — Ed.]

273. Take thou] Craik (p. 318) suggests that we should read: 'Take now,'
since any emphasis on a pronoun is 'here unaccountable.' He remarks also that
'the abrupt entrance of the Servant is vividly expressed by the reversal of the
regular accentuation in the last foot.' Craik refers, however, to Pope's arrangement
of 11. 273 and 274 as one line (adopted by subsequent editors), which makes the
accent fall on the last syllable of 'fellow.' He then digresses into a discussion of
other examples of this abnormal accentuation which, while it is not germane to the
question of accent in a line — not, however, by Shakespeare — is interesting. He
quotes: 'Beyond all past example and future.' — Paradise Lost, x, 840; and also
'To whom thus Michael: These are the product.' — Ibid, xi, 683. 'Future,' says
Craik, ' which is common in Milton's verse, has everywhere else the accent on the
first syllable.' — In a note on the first of these lines H. G. Bohn remarks: 'The
accent upon the second syllable of "future" is a Latinism, but not peculiar to
Milton, being found in earlier poets. See Fairfax's Tasso, xvii, 88, 1. i: [" But not
by art or skill, of things future."]' — Note that here the word is also the last in the
line, where license is always accorded. Neither Walker nor Abbott include future
among those words wherein the accent varies. — Ed.

1 86 THE TRACED IE OF [act in, sc. iii.

Enter Scriiant. 275

Scr. S\T,Oclanitis is already come to Rome.

Ant. Where is hee ?

Scr. He and Lepidtis are at CcEfars houfe.

Afit. And thither will I ftraight,to vifit him :
He comes vpon a wifh. Fortune is merry, 280

And in this mood will giue vs any thing.

Scr. I heard him fay, Brutus and Caffius
Are rid like Madmen through the Gates of Rome.

Ant. Belike they had fome notice of the people
How I had moued them. Bring me to Oftauius. Exeunt 285

\Scene III.\

Enter China the Poet, a?id after him the Plebeians. i

Cinna. I dreamt to night, that I did feaft with C(zfar,

And things vnluckily charge my Fantafie : ■ 3

275. Enter...] After 1. 273. Cap. 285. moucd\ mov'd Pope et seq.
Jen. Dyce, Sta. Ocftauius] 0(5lavus Fj.

Seruant] Ff, Rowe i, Cap. Jen. Scene continued. Ff, Rowe. Scene

Dyce, Hal. a Servant Rowe ii. et cet. vii. Pope,+. Scene iv. Jen. Scene

276. Sir] Om. Pope,+. iii. Cap. et cet.

278. He] He, sir Cap. conj. i. and ... Plebeians.] Om. Cap. et

Lepidus] lord Lepidus Walker seq.

(Grit., ii, 264). 3. vnluckily] unlucky Warb. Cap.

282. hijn] them Cap. Coll. ii. 'ew Sing, ii, Dyce, Sta. Del. \Mi. i, Huds.

Dyce ii, iii, Huds. iii. Coll. iii. tinlikely Coll. ii. (MS), Craik.

284, 285. notice of the people How I had moued them] Both Walker

[Crit., i, 69) and Abbott (§ 414) quote this passage as an example of the redundant
object; as, for example, in 'You hear the leam'd Bellario what he writes.' — Mer.
of Ven., IV, i, 167. — 'Of in the present line must then mean about, as Abbott ex-
plains it; but may it not as well be taken in the sense of by ox from, as in Abbott
(§ 170), who quotes, in illustration of this last meaning, 'Received of the most
pious Edward'? — Macbeth, IH, vi, 27. — Ed.

2. I dreamt . . . that I did feast] Steevens tells us that he 'learns from
an old black letter treatise on Fortune-Telling, &c., that "to dream of being at
banquets, betokeneth misfortune."' — It is, however, not necessary to suppose
that Shakespeare was influenced by this; he is here transcribing almost the words
of North's Plutarch: 'There was one of Ciesar's friends called Cinna, that had a
marvellous strange and terrible dream the night before. He dreamed that Caesar bad
him to supper, and that he refused and would not go : then Cassar took him by the
hand, and lead him against his will.' — Life of Ccesar, § 45; ed. Skeat, p. 102. — Ed.

3. vnluckily charge my Fantasie] Steevens: That is, circumstances oppress
my fancy with an ill-omened weight. — Collier (Notes and Einend., &c., p. 426):
Why should he consider it unlucky to dream of feasting with Caesar? His fancy

ACT in, sc. iii.] IVLIVS CAESAR 1 87

I haue no will to wander foorth of doores,

Yet fomething leads me foorth. 5

1. What is your name?

2. Whether are you going ?

3. Where do you dwell f

4. Are you a married man, or a Batchellor?

2. Anfwer euery man diredlly. lO
I. I, and breefely.

4. I, and wifely.

3. I, and truly, you were befl.

Cin. What is my namef Whether am I going? Where
do I dwell ? Am I a married man, or a Batchellour ? Then 15

to anfwer euery man, direftly and breefely, wifely and
truly : wifely I fay, I am a Batchellor.

2 That's as much as to fay, they are fooles that mar-
rie : you'l beare me a bang for that I feare : proceede di-
rectly. 20

5. [Enter Citizens. Cap. et seq. wisely, I say, I Sta.

7, 14. Whether] Whither F3F4. 18-20. Mnemonic Warb.

8. dwell] live Cap. iq. feare: proceede]' fear. Proceed
17. wifely I fay, I] wisely, I say — Johns.

/ Rowe,+. wisely, I say, I Var. '73.

was charged with things improbable, and the [MS correction] is 'things imlikely,'
which also suits the measure better. — Wright interprets 'unluckily' as, in a
manner foreboding misfortune; and, for this use of the adverb, compares: 'The
best news is that we have safely found Our king and company.' — Temp., V, i, 221;
that is, have found them safe. — Singer (Sh. Vindicated, p. 246) characterises the
change of 'unluckily' to «M//^e/y as 'mischievous.' 'The Poet's presentiment,' he
says, 'is of some misfortune to happen, and nothing more is required than to omit
the letters il and read unlucky.' — This emendation was first made by Warburton
and adopted by several other editors, including Singer in his second edition, three
years after his foregoing note. — Ed.

3. Fantasie] For this use of 'fantasy,' in the sense of the imaginative faculty,
compare II, i, 221, 257.

4. I haue no will to wander foorth] Steevens compares for a similar ,un-
willingness to go forth, after an ominous dream, the words of Shylock: * — By
Jacob's staff I swear, I have no mind of feasting forth tonight: But I will go.' —
Mer. of Ven., II, v, 36.

13. you were best] For other examples of this idiom, see Abbott, § 230, or
Shakespeare passim.

17. wisely I say, I am] Craik (p. 320): Cinna's meaning evidently is, Wisely
I am a bachelor. But that is not conveyed by the way in which the passage has
hitherto been always pointed. [See Text. Notes.]

19. beare me a bang] An example of the ethical dative, for which see, if need
ful, Abbott, § 220.

1 88 THE TRACED IE OF [act hi, sc. iii.

Cinna. Dire6lly I am going to CcBfars Funerall. 21

1. As a Friend, or an Enemy?
Cinna. As a friend.

2. That matter is anfwered direftly.

4. For your dwelling : breefely. 25

Cvma. Breefely, I dwell by the Capitoll.

3. Your name fir, truly.

Cinna. Truly, my name is Cinna.

I. Teare him to peeces, hee's a Confpirator.

Cinna. I am Cinna the Poet, I am Cinna the Poet. 30

4. Teare him for his bad verfes, teare him for his bad
Verfes.

Cin. I am not Cinna the Confpirator.

4. It is no matter, his name's Cifma, plucke but his
name out of his heart, and turne him going. 35

3. Teare him, tear him; Come Brands hoe. Firebrands :
to Bruins, to Caffms , burne all. Some to Dccius Houfe, 37

31, 32. Mnemonic Warb. verse Rowe ii,+-

33. Cin. I...ConJpirator] Om. Var. 37. Brutus...Caffius] Brutus'...Cas-
'03, '13, '21, Sing. i. sius' Cap. Jen.

34. It is] It's Cap. (Errata). to Caffius] and to Cassius' Var.
but] out Johns. Var. '73. '78, '85, Ran.

36, 37. Teare him. ..Houfe] As verse Decius] Decius's F4, Rowe.

Cap. Decimus's Han. Ran. \,

36-38. Teare him ... Away, go] As Houfe] Houfes Ff. ^^t^

29. Teare him to peeces] Staffer (p. 460) : The blackest action committed
by the people, in all Shakespeare's Roman plays, is the murder of the poet Cinna
in the midst of the tumult. The incident is given in Plutarch, but in his account
the crime, as perpetrated by the populace whom Antony had worked up into wild
excitement, is of a most ordinary and, so to speak, consistent character. It is a
very deplorable occurrence, but it is not an odious or a vile one, outraging all
feeling and reason. . . . Shakespeare, a bolder and more searching anatomist of
the human monster, has added a refinement of cruelty and folly to their crime,
knowing well what the mob is capable of in its into.xication on the day of revolu-
tion, and he shows us the amazing unreasonableness, and lets us hear the loud
bursts of stupid and ferocious laughter of a populace in revolt, who are perfectly
aware of what they are doing, and who, without the e.xcuse of a mistake as to the
poor wretch's identity, tear him to pieces in a most light-hearted manner as a
punishment for bearing a name grown distasteful to them.

31. Teare him for his bad verses] Kreyssig (p. 46): Were it not that the
fate of the poet Cinna is related by Plutarch, one would like to consider this whole
incident as a characteristic invention by Shakespeare. The scornful exclamation,
'Tear him for his bad verses,' is manifestly English in its humour. Even in Plu-
tarch it is apparent that the situation is an intentional misunderstanding, since the

ACT IV, sc. i.] IVLIVS C^SAR 1 89

and fome to Cas^a's; fome to Ligarms: Away, go. 38

Exaint all the Plebeians.

A^iis Qttartits. i

\Scene /.]

Enter Antojiy, 0£lauins ^a7id Lepidtis. 2

39. all the Plebeians.] forcing out Island in the little River Rhenus near

Cinna. Coll. ii. (MS). Bononia. Han. A Room in Antony's

Act IV, Scene i. Rowe et seq. House. Cap. et seq.

Rome. Rowe, Pope. 2. Enter... Lepidus.] Antony, Octa-

A small Island near Mutina. Theob. vius and Lepidus, seated at a Table.

Johns. Var. '73, '78, '85. A small Mai. et seq.

blood of the crazed populace, once aroused, demands a victim, and in the chance
likeness of a name finds but another incitement to satisfy its wild desires.

I. Actus Quartus] Lloyd {Crit. Essay, ap. Singer, ii; p. 510): The scene of the
triimivirs in consultation, which precedes that of the quarrel between Brutus and
Cassius, is admirably invented to define the characterization of either party.
The proscription with which they commence depnves them of all moral superiority
to the so-called traitors and murderers they are leagued against; and the little
delicacy they evince in tampering with the will of the friend whose death they are
bound to avenge shows that the sacred motive is practically debased into a mock
heroic pretence. — Moulton {Sh. as Dram. Art., p. 200): The emotional strain
now ceases, and, as in the first stage, the passion is of the calmer order; the calmness
in this case is of pity balanced by a sense of justice. From the opening of the
Fourth Act the decline in the justification of the conspirators is intimated by the
logic of events. The first scene exhibits to us the triumvirate that now governs
Rome, and shows that in this triumvirate Antony is supreme; with the man who
is the embodiment of the reaction thus appearing at the head of the world, the
fall of the Conspirators is seen to be inevitable. The decline of our sympathy with
them continues in the following scenes. — G. P. Baker (p. 271): What makes this
Fourth Act ineffective to-day is what may have made it ineffective in its own day,
that just when we have been wrought up to the keenest interest in what the mob
will do to the murderers of Caesar, we are asked to let that pass for good and all.
Instead, we are given two short scenes which merely prepare for the fighting in the
Fifth Act, and a long scene of the quarrel between Brutus and Cassius, delightful in
itself, but purely episodic. It does bring out the sensitiveness and the underlying
sweetness of Brutus, it does count in characterization; but it does not move the
story towards its close; make a dramatic climax after Act III, or in any way fulfil
the exciting promises of that act. The fact is, of course, that from the moment the
Fourth Act begins the play lacks the unifying influence of Cffisar, and we are forced
to make one of those awkward changes of interest midway in a play which are [sic]
usually fatal to any unity of effect. For, whether we like Caesar or not, the first
three acts tell his story rather than that of Brutus, and the last three [sic] acts be-
long to Brutus more than to any other character. [See Note by MacCallum on
IV, iii, I.] — Macmillan {Introd., p. xlix.): There was an interval of a year and a

190 THE TRACED IE OF [act iv, sc. i.

^«/.Thefe many then fhall die, their names are prickt 3

3. many\ marry Grey (ii, 186).

half between the arrival of Octavius in Rome and the proscriptions of the Trium-
virate recorded in Act IV, sc. i. . . . The struggle between Antony and Octavius,
and the predominance of Cicero at Rome during their difference, is omitted by
Shakespeare. In III, ii, 279 Antony arranges to meet Lepidus and Octavius at
Caesar's house and their meeting is described in [the present scene]. — Maltzahn
{Jahrhiich, vii, p. 59) suggests that, in representation, this scene with the Trium-
virate be substituted for the scene with Cinna as the closing scene of Act III.
Since the stage-setting is an interior, it can be played as a front scene. The fact
that the modem stage-direction requires the Triumvirate to be seated at a table
may be obviated by having them enter together, Antony carrying the proscription
list in his hand. By this arrangement the whole of the Fourth Act is thus made to
take place in the Tent of Brutus.

2. Enter Antony, Octauius, and Lepidus] Theobald, on the authority of
Plutarch and of Appian, fixes the locality of this scene of the proscriptions
at: 'a little Island, near Mutina, upon the River Lavinius.' — Hanmer places
the scene in an island on the Rhenus, near Bononia, which is the spot mentioned
by Dion Cassius (Bk, xlvi, ch. 54). — Jennens pertinently remarks: 'What if
Shakespeare knew all this? Is a poet obliged to follow history exactly? . . .
What though the old copies say nothing of the place here? yet it is implied in
[11. 10-14]. What! does Antony send Lepidus on a journey (not to say a voyage)
from an island near Mutina or Bononia, to fetch the will from Caesar's house in
Rome, and direct him to come again to him to this same island, and if he did not
meet with him there, to return to the capitol at Rome? . . . Besides, supposing
this island to be the scene, Octavius should rather have said, "Or here or at Rome";
for the direction "at the capitol" is too particular.' — Warburton, for reasons
best known to himself, follows the Folios and omits to assign any locality. —
Capell lays the scene 'At Rome. A Room in Antony's house,' wherein he has
been followed by subsequent editors. Shakespeare must have regarded it as of
slight import, as he has made Antony appoint his meeting with Octavius and
Lepidus at the house of Caesar, and yet here he sends Lepidus to that same place.
Capell's stage direction seems, therefore, the most appropriate. — Ed.

3. These many then shall die] Appian gives the full text of this Proclama-
tion, which Horace White, its translator, says, 'is the only copy of this hideous
instrument that has come down to us. The text corresponds with all that we
glean from other authorities concerning it.' After a preamble reciting at length
the causes for such a proscription and wholesale condemnation to death of those
who had been concerned in the conspiracy against the state, it thus concludes:
'In God's name, then, let no one harbor any of those whose names are hereto ap-
pended, or conceal them, or send them away, or be corrupted by their money.
Whoever shall be detected in saving, or aiding, or conniving with them we will put
on the list of the proscribed without allowing any excuse or pardon. Those who
kill the proscribed and bring us their heads shall receive the following rewards:
to a free-man 25,000 Attic drachmas per head; to a slave his freedom and 10,000
Attic drachmas and his master's right of citizenship. Informers shall receive the
same rewards. In order that they may remain unknown, the names of those who
receive the rewards shall not be inscribed in our registers.' — {Civil Wars, Bk, IV,
ch. ii, §§ 8-i3).-Ed.

ACT IV. sc. i.] IVLIVS C^SAR

191

On,aN OMX Brother too muft dyexonfent you Lepidiis'i

Lcp. I do confcnt. c

Ofta. Pricke him downe Antony.

Lcp. Vpon condition Publms fliall not Hue,
Who is your Sifters fonne, Marke Antoiiy.

Ant. He fliall not liue; looke, with a fpot I dam him.
But Lcpidus, go you to CcBfars houfe : 10

Fetch the Will hither, and we fliall determine
How to cut off fome charge in Legacies.

Lep. What? fhall I finde you heere ?

Ocla. Or heere,or at the Capitoll. Exit Lepidus

Ant. This is a flight vnmeritable man, 15

S- confent.] consent: Cap. consent — Coll. Huds.
Knt, Cam.+. 13, 14. What. ..at] As one line Craik,

II. Jhall] will Steev. Varr. Sing, i, Dyce ii, iii.

4-7. Your Brother too must dye . . . Publius shall not liuel 'For Caesar
left Cicero to Antonius's will, Antonius also forsook Lucius Caesar, who was his
uncle by his- mother: and both of them together suffered Lepidus to kill his own
brother, Paulus.' — Plutarch: Life of Antonius, § 10; (ed. Skeat, p. 169). — Upton
{Crit. Obs., p. 326): As 'tis not uncommon to blunder in proper names, I make no
doubt but in the room of 'Publius' [1. 7] we should read Lucius, Antony's uncle by
his mother's side: and then a trifling correction sets right the other line: 'You
are his sister's son.'- — Steevens: The mistake is more like the mistake of the
author than of his transcriber or printer. — [According to both Appian and Dion
Cassius, Lucius and Paulus were among the few of those proscribed who escaped.
Dion Cassius (Bk, xlvii, ch. 8) says: 'Except that Antony did release his uncle,
at the earnest entreaty of his mother, Julia, he performed no other praiseworthy
act.'— Ed.]

6. Octa. Pricke . . . Antony] Lloyd (Crit. Essay; ap. Singer, p. 511): Already in
this scene we have an adumbration of the future relative attitudes of Octavius and
Antony, arid of the predominant genius of the first. Lepidus and Antony give up
brother and sister's son, but no friend is demanded of Octavius as a sacrifice;
afterwards he cautiously guards himself against giving an unlimited assent to
Antony's depreciation of their absent colleague, and there is warning that he is
prepared against such double-dealing if brought to bear upon himself in the
concluding words of this scene [11. 53-56].

9. I dam him] Wright: In many passages of the New Testament the substitu-
tion of condemn for 'damn,' and condemnation ioT damnation, would prevent many
erroneous interpretations.

15. This is a slight . . . man] WiacHT: With this description of Lepidus, com-
pare the scene in Ant. &" Cleo., II, vii, 28-57. — [In ^«'- &° Clco. Shakespeare is ampli-
fying the portrait of Lepidus, of whom we have but a sketch in J id. Cces. Possi-
bly he formed his opinion of him from this slight hint given by Plutarch : ' Now the
government of these triumviri grew odious and hateful to the Romans, for divers
respects; but they most blamed Antonius, because he, being elder than Caesar, and

192

THE TRACED IE OF [act iv, sc. i.

Meet to be fent on Errands : is it fit 16

The three-fold World diuided, he fhould ftand^
One of the three to fhare it ?

05la. So you thought him,
And tooke his voyce who fhould be prickt to dye 20

In our blacke Sentence and Profcription.

Ant. Oclmdus, I haue feene more dayes then you,
And though we lay thefe Honours on this man,
To eafe our felues of diuers fland'rous loads,
He fhall but beare them, as the Affe beares Gold, 25

To groane and fwet vnder the Bufineffe,
Either led or driuen,as we point the way :
And hauing brought our Treafure, where we will.
Then take we downe his Load, and turne him off 29

24. fland'rous] slanderous Coll. Hal. 27. Either] Or Pope,+ (— Var. '73). K^
Dyce, Ktly, Cam.+, Huds. point] print Ff, Rowe. {p^

of more power and force than Lepidus, gave himself again to his former riot and
excess.' — Life of Antonius, § 10; (ed. Skeat, p. 170). — Ed.]

15. vnmeritable] For other examples of adjectives ending in able and ible, both
positive and negative, used in an active sense, see Walker (Crit., i, 183); or
Abbott, § 3.

17. The three-fold World] Green (p. 350): Curious it is to note how slowly
the continent which Columbus discovered became fully recognized as an integral
part of 'the inhabited world.' . . . Brucioli's Trattato delta Sphera, Venice, 1543,
... in dividing the globe into climates, does not take a single instance except from
what is named the Old World; in fact, the New World of America is never mentioned.
Somewhat later, in 1564, when Sambucus published his Emblems, and presented
Symbols of the parts of the inhabited Earth, he gave only three [parts, Europe, Asia,
and Africa, as comprising the whole world]. . . . Shakespeare's geography, how-
ever, though at times defective, extended further than its 'symbols' by Sambucus.
He refers to America and the Indies in Com. of Err., Ill, ii, 131, and to the East and
West Indies in the Merry Wives, I, iii, 64. Yet in agreement with the map of
Sambucus, [where] the three Capes prominent upon it are the Gibraltar Rock, the
Cape of Good Hope, and that of Malacca, Shakespeare on other occasions ignores
America and all its western neighbors.— [In the present passage] and also in Ant.
6- Cleo. he speaks of the 'three nook'd worid.'— IV, vi, 6.— [For a discussion on
the last mentioned passage, see Ant. 6* Cleo., this edition, p. 274.]

25. as the Asse beares Gold] Steevens compares: ' — like an ass whose back
with ingots bows, Thou bear'st thy heavy riches but a journey, And death unloads
thee.'— Meas. for Meas., Ill, i, 25. And Wright adds, also: 'Wears out his time,
much like his master's ass. For naught but provender, and when he's old, cashier'd.'
—Othello, I, i, 47.

27. Either] Metrically 'either' is here a monosyllable. For other examples of
like contraction, see Abbott, § 466.

20. turne him off] Macmillan: Notice the dramatic irony in this speech.

•'

ACT IV, sc. i.] IVLIVS C^SAR 193

(Like to the empty Afre)to fhake his eares, 30

And graze in Commons.

Oila. You may do your will :
But hee's a tried, and valiant Souldier.

Ant. So is my Horfe Octainus^ and for that
I do appoint him ftore of Prouender. 35

It is a Creature that I teach to fight,
To winde, to ftop, to run dire6lly on :
His corporall Motion, gouern'd by my Spirit,
And in fome tafte, is Lepidus but fo :

He muft be taught, and train'd,and bid go forth : 40

A barren fpirited Fellow ; one that feeds
On Obiecls, Arts, and Imitations. 42

31. in] on Coll. (MS). Coll. iii. abjeds, arts Sta. conj. Glo.

Commons] cotnnwn Han. Cam.+. abject arts R. G. White conj.

33. tried] tnd F3F,. (Sh. Schol., 398).

38. Motion,] motion Pope et seq. 42. Imitations.] imitations, Rowe et
42. Obieds, Arts] abject arts Theob. seq. (subs.)

Han. Warb. Johns. Cap. Jen. Dyce,

Antony proposes to treat Lepidus much as he himself was afterwards treated by
Octavius.

31. Commons] Murray {N. E. D., s. v. 5.): A common land or estate; the
undivided land belonging to the members of a local community as a whole. Hence,
often, the unenclosed or 'waste' land which remains to represent that. Formerly
often commons. — [The present line quoted. — Walker (Crit., i, 245) somewhat
doubtfully included this present line among those examples wherein the letter s was
interpolated at the end of certain words in the Folio; later (p. 261) he withdraws
this word, as it frequently is used in the plural with a singular sense. — Ed.]

35. appoint] Murray (N. E. D., s. v. II. 9.) : To decree, assign, or grant authori-
tatively or formally (a thing to a person). [The present line quoted.]

39. in some taste] Craik (p. 323): The 'taste' which is here referred to is a
taste in contradistinction to a more full enjoyment or participation, a taste merely.
' In some taste ' is another way of saying, not in iome sense, but in some measure or
degree.

42. On Obiects, Arts, and Imitations] Theobald: 'Tis hard to conceive
why he should be called a 'barren-spirited fellow' that could feed either on 'ob-
jects' or 'arts'; that is, as I presume, form his ideas and judgment upon them;
stale and obsolete imitation, indeed, fixes such a character. I am persuaded we
must read, 'On abject orts,' i. e., on the scraps and fragmettts of things rejected
and despised by others. — Steevens: Sure, it is easy enough to find a reason why
that devotee to pleasure and ambition, Antony, should call him 'barren-spirited'
who could be content to feed his mind with 'objects,' /. e., speculative knowledge,
or 'arts,' i. e., mechanic operations. . . . Lepidus, in Ant. fe' Cleo., II, vii, is rep-
resented as inquisitive about the structures of Egypt, and that, too, when he is
almost in a state of intoxication. Antony, as at present, makes a jest of him,
and returns him unintelligible answers to very reasonable questions. 'Objects,'
13

194 THE TRACED IE OF [act iv, sc. i.

Which out of vfe, and ftal'de by other men 43

Begin his fafhion. Do not talke of him,

But as a property : and now Oclaniiis, 45

Liften great things. Brnius and Cajfms

Are leuying Powers; We muft ftraight make head :

Therefore let our Alliance be combin'd, 48

43. flaVde\ JiaPd F3. Jlall'd F4.

however, may mean things objected, or thrown out to him. ... A man who
can avail himself of neglected hints thrown out by others, though without orig-
inal ideas of his own, is no uncommon character. — [Wright: If any other com-
mentator had written such a note, Steevens would have been the first to point
out its weakness.] — Knight, in reference to Steevens's note, asks, Upon what are
we to feed, when both 'speculative knowledge' and the 'mechanical operations' are
excluded? Lepidus, he thinks, is called barren-spirited because he is merely a fol-
lower of the discarded opinions of others. — Delius considers the words 'arts and
imitations' as qualifying or, rather, amplif3ang the word 'objects,' and connected
thus with the relative clause. That is, the objects upon which Lepidus is nourished
are arts and imitations which are already staled by the use of others. Though
Delius does not say so, 'arts' must then be interpreted in the sense of artifices,
crafty designs, which is quite admissible, and his whole e.xplanation commends
itself inasmuch as it does not depend upon any alteration of the text. — Hudson
declares that to him Theobald's emendation is 'little less than shocking, ' and asks
if it be 'credible that Shakespeare could have been guilty of such a combination as
abject arts? Besides, does not the word "imitations" show that he had in mind
works of art? And why may not "objects" stand for any objects of interest or
curiosity?' — Rolfe: Antony says that Lepidus feeds not on objects, arts, and
imitations generally, but on such of them as are out of use and staled by other
people. — [This is, I think, one of the passages whereof any paraphrase hardly renders
a meaning more comprehensible than the words themselves. What auditor or
reader is in doubt as to Anthony's contemptuous opinion of Lepidus; even though
the words be changed to abject arts, as Theobald suggests, or objects, arts, as does
Staunton? On the other hand, is any change of the text necessary? 'Objects*
is here, I think, used in the sense given by Murray (N. E. D., s. v. I. 3. b.): 'Some-
thing which on being seen excites a particular emotion, as admiration, horror, dis-
dain, commiseration, amusement; a sight, spectacle, gazing-stock.' &c., and among
other examples he quotes: 'Swear against objects, Put armour on thine ears and on
thine eyes.' — Timon, IV, iii, 122. — Ed.]

44. Begin his fashion] Steevens compares the character of Justice Shallow,
as described by Falstaff: "a came ever in the rearward of the fashion, and sung
those tunes to the overscutch'd huswives that he heard the carmen whistle.' —
2 Hen. IV: III, ii, 340.

45. property] Murray {N. E. D., s. v. 4.): A mere means to an end; an in-
strument, a tool, a cat's-paw. [Compare: ' — 'tis a thing impossible I should love
thee but as a property.' — Merry Wives, III, iv, 9.]

46. Listen] Schmidt {Lex., s. v. 2.) gives several examples of this transitive use
of 'listen.' See also, if needful, Abbott, § 199.

ACT IV, SC. i.]

IVLIVS CyESAR

195

Our beft Friends made, our meanes ftretcht,
And let vs prefently go fit in Councell,
How couert matters may be beft difclos'd,
And open Perils fureft anfwered.

OHa. Let vs do fo : for we are at the flake,
And bayed about with many Enemies ,
And fome that fmile haue in their hearts I feare
Millions of Mifcheefes.

Exeunt

49. made] all combined Leo (Notes,
p. 59). vtadc secure Mark Hunter conj.
our meaues jlretcht] our best
means strctcht Johns. Cap. Var. '73.
oiir means stretch'd to the utmost Mai.
Var. '21, Ktly. otir choicest means
stretch'd out Sta. conj. our means, our
plam stretched out Bulloch, our means

stretch'd out Leo (Notes, p. 59). our
vieanys stretch'd J. D. (N. & Q., 6 Oct.,
1877, p. 263). all our means stretched
Mark Hunter conj. and our beft meanes
stretcht out Ff et cet. (subs.)

52. anfwered] answered Dyce.

56. Mifcheefes] mischief Varr. '78,
'85, Mai. Ran. Steev. Varr. '03, '13.

49. our meanes stretcht] M alone, whose text reads 'our means stretched to
the utmost,' considers the reading of the Second Folio, 'and our best means stretch'd
out,' 'as ill-conceived as possible. . . . "Means" or abilities, if stretched out,
receive no additional strength from the word best, nor does "means," when con-
sidered without reference to others, . . . seem to admit of a degree of comparison.'
An omission, due to transcriber or compositor, would occur at the end of the line
rather than at three points in the line itself, says Malone, which justifies him in
preferring his own emendation to that of the Second Folio's editor. — Steen'ens:

1 am satisfied with the reading of the Second Folio, in which I perceive neither
awkwardness nor want of perspicuity. 'Best' is a word of mere enforcement, and
is frequently introduced by Shakespeare. Compare: 'My life itself and the best
heart of it.' — Hen. VIII: I, ii, i. Why does 'best,' in this instance, seem more
significant than when it is applied to 'means'? — Macmillan: 'Our best friends
made' is so incomplete in itself that it seems likely that what is omitted in the
Folio is an adjective meaning jJrwj after 'made,' or perhaps an infinitive with to,
so that the line would be nearly as follows: 'Our best friends made to know our
best means stretch'd.'

53, 54. at the stake, And bayed about] Two metaphors, one taken from
bear-baiting, and the other from hunting the hart. For the first, compare: 'They
have tied me to a stake; I cannot fly. But, bearlike, I must fight the course.' —
Macb., V, vii, i, 2; for the second, see H, ii, 228, above, and note. — Ed.

56. Mischeefes] That is, harms, injuries. Compare: 'The name of Henry the
Fifth hales them to an himdred mischiefs, and makes 'them leave me desolate.' —

2 Hen. VI: IV, viii, 59.

196

THE TRACE DIE OF

[act IV, sc. ii.

\Sceiie //.]

Dnan, Enter Brutus, Lticillius , and the Army,
and Pmdarus meete them.

Bru. Stand ho.

Lucil. Giue the word ho, and Stand.

Bru. What now Lucillius, is Caffius neere ?

Lucil. He is at hand, and Pindarus is come
To do you falutation from his Mafter.

Bni.We greets we well. Your Mafter Pindarus

Titinius

Scene ii. Rowe et seq.

Before Brutus's Tent in the Camp,
near Sardis. Rowe,+, Cap.

I, 2. Drum.. ..them] Enter Brutus
and Forces; Lucius and others attend-
ing. Cap. Drum. Enter Brutus and
Soldiers; to them Lucilius and his
Soldiers marching, Titinius and Pin-
darus. Jennens et seq. (subs.)

I. Lucillius,] Lucilius, Lucius, Mai.
€t seq.

2. meete] meeting Var. '73 et seq.

3. ho\ here Mai.

[to his Officers entering. Cap.

4. [to him Lucilius, with Soldiers;
Pindarus and Titinius. Cap.

4, 5. Giue </tewor(i... Lucillius] As one
line Walker (Crit., iii, 247).

6. [to his Party. Cap.

7. [presenting Pindarus, who gives a
letter. Cap. et seq. (subs.)

Scene IL] Maltzahn {Jahrbiich, vii, p. 59) recommends that this and the fol-
lowing scene be acted continuously, with but one stage-setting. Thus: Brutus's
Tent, with its front curtains drawn back, occupies almost three-fourths of the
stage on either the right or left side. In the background a distant view of hills, and
in the middle foreground the camp with tents, outposts, etc. When Cassius enters,
he and Brutus go within the Tent and the rest of the scene there takes place;
followed by that with Messala, and the appearance of the Ghost of Caesar. — Mac-
MiLLAN {Introd., p. 1.): An interval of about a year must be supposed to separate
the first and second scenes of this Act.

I. Enter Brutus, Lucillius, and the Army] Jennens: In Capell's text
Lucillius, Titinius, and Pindarus do not enter until Brutus has said 'Stand ho!'
and a direction is given that these words shall be spoken lo his (Brutus's) officers,
entering. Then Lucillius (entering with his soldiers, and Pindarus and Titinius)
says to his party: 'Give the word, ho, and stand.' By thus ordering the scene,
Capell seems to understand that Brutus and Lucillius, with their several bodies of
soldiers, being upon their march, meet; and then each of them gives the word of
command to stand to their separate parties. But the scene is before Brutus's
Tent. . . . Therefore he and his soldiers have done marching, have erected the
tent, and are expecting the other companies at the place appointed. Here the
scene opens; Lucillius, being upon the march, and having arrived where Brutus is,
Brutus (as generalissimo of the forces) bids him stand; Lucillius conveys these
orders to his ofTicers, and bids them give the word of command to the soldiers.

7. do you salutation] Wright: Compare: ' The early village cock Hath twice
done salutation to the mom.' — Rich. Ill: V, iii, 2x0.

ACT IV, sc. ii.J IVLIVS CjESAR igy

In his owne change, or by ill Officers,

Hath giuen me fome worthy caufe to wifh lO

Things done, vndone : But if he be at hand

I fhall be fatisfied.

Pin. I do not doubt
But that my Noble Mafter will appeare
Such as he is, full of regard, and Honour. 1 5

Bru. He is not doubted. A word Lucillius
How he receiu'd you : let me be refolu'd.

Lucil. With courtefie, and with refpe6l enough.
But not with fuch familiar inftances, 19

9. change] charge Warb. Han. Cap. line Craik.

Huds. iii. 16, 17. Lucillius... yow;] Ff. Lucillius

Officers] offices Johns, conj. — ...you, Rowe,+, Cap. Lucilius,...

16. A word] Hear a word Han. you; Walker (Crit., iii, 247). Lucilius;

A word Lucillius] As separate ...you, Mai. et cet.

9. In his owne change] Warburton: That is, either your master, by the
change of his virtuous nature, or by his officers abusing the power he had entrusted
to them, hath done some things I could wish undone. This implies a doubt which
of the two was the case. Yet, immediately after, on Pindarus's saying, 'His
master was full of regard and honour,' Brutus replies, 'He is not doubted.' To
reconcile this we should read: 'In his own charge.^ — Johnson: The arguments for
the change proposed are insufficient. Brutus could not but know whether the
wrongs committed were done by those who were immediately under the command
of Cassius or those under his officers. The answer of Brutus to the Servant is only
an act of artful civilit}^; his question to Lucillius proves that his suspicion still con-
tinued. Yet I cannot but suspect a corruption, and would read, 'or by ill offices.'
That is, either changing his inclination of himself, or by the /// offices and bad
influences of others. — M. Mason: Brutus says to Lucillius, 'Thou hast de-
scrib'd a hot friend cooling.' That is the 'change' which Brutus complains of. —
Steevens: Surely alteration is unnecessary. In the subsequent conference Brutus
charges both Cassius and his officer, Lucius Pella, with corruption.

16. He is not doubted. A word Lucillius] Craik (p. 326): Brutus . . .
first addresses himself to Pindarus, then to Lucilius. Even if the prosody did not
admonish us to the same effect, it would, in these circumstances, be better to print
the passage with two hemistichs or broken lines. — [See Te.vt. A'otes. Capell denotes
this change in address by printing this dialogue between Brutus and Lucilius as an
aside (i. e., in quotation marks, according to his custom) down to the entrance of
Cassius, 1. 36. — Ed.]

19. instances] Cr.\ik (p. 236): The word still in use that most nearly ex-
presses this obsolete sense of 'instances' is, perhaps, assiduities. — Dyce (Gloss.,
s. V. 'Instance') says: 'A word used by Shakespeare with various shades of mean-
ing, which it is not always easy to distinguish — "motive, inducement, cause,
ground; symptom, prognostic; information, assurance; proof, example, indica-
tion."'—Murray {N. E. D., s. V.) gives ten shades of meaning of this word. The

1^8 THE TRACE DIE OF [act iv, sc. ii.

Nor with fuch free and friendly Conference 20

As he hath vs'd of old.

Bill. Thou haft defcrib'd
A hot Friend, cooling : Euer note Lucillius,
When Loue begins to ficken and decay-
It vfeth an enforced Ceremony. 25
There are no trickes, in plaine and fimple Faith :
But hollow men, hke Horfes hot at hand,
Make gallant fhew, and promife of their Mettle :

Lozv March within.
But when they fhould endure the bloody Spurre, 30

They fall their Crefts, and like deceitful lades
Sinke in the Triall. Comes his Army on ?

Lticil.Th&Y meane this night in Sardis to be quarter'd:
The greater part, the Horfe in generall 34

2$. enforced] enforced Byce. distance, advancing. Wh. i. (after 1. 32).

27. at hand] in hand Craik conj. March within. Cap. et cet. Jlr

29. Low.. .within] After 1. 35 Pope,+. 31. Crefis] Crejl Ff, Rowe,+ (— Var. {J\r^

After I. 37 Wh. ii. March heard in the '73). ^

one which most nearly approaches the present use is III, 7: 'Something which
proves or indicates; a proof, evidence; a sign, token, mark.' This is also the last
group of meanings given by Dyce, and as he quotes the present line among his
last examples, it is a fair inference that he thus understands it. Murray does not
include assiduity among the different meanings of 'instance.' — Ed.

25. Ceremony] For the sake of the metre, though to the destruction of euphony,
'ceremony' might be here pronounced as a trisyllable. — Walker (Vers, ii, 73)
gives many examples from Shakespeare and from other writers of this — as I think
mistaken — pronunciation. — Ed.

27. at hand] Craik (p. 328) explains this phrase as here meaning 'when held
by the hand or led,' and Wright also thus interprets it; but since Murray {N. E.
D., s. V. hand, II, 25. c) quotes the present line and two other pasages wherein
'at hand' means 'At the immediate moment; at the start,' that meaning here
seems preferable. — John Hunter compares for this and the following lines:
' — those that tame wild horses Pace 'em not in their hands to make 'em gentle,
But stop their mouths with stubborn bits, and spur 'em Till they obey the manage.'
— Hen. VIII: V, iii, 21. But beyond the fact that certain words, such as 'hands,'
'horses,' 'spur,' are common to both passages, there does not appear much similar-
ity; the thought is, moreover, quite different. — Ed.

2Q. Low March within] In this form directions for music, in the Folio, are
rare; the word 7nusic more usually precedes, as thus: Music of march within.
Perhaps a parallel for 'March' thus used to designate a piece of music may be in
'Our dreadful marches to delightful measures.'— i?rV/r. Ill: I, i, 8. Compare also
the stage-direction, V, i, 24: 'March.' — Ed.

31. fall] For numerous examples of 'fall' thus used transitively, see ScHinDT
(Le.v., s. V. 16. B.), or consult Abbott, § 291.

ACT IV, sc. ii.] IVLIVS CAESAR I99

Are come with Caffms. 35

Enter Caffuis aiid his Powers.

Bru. Hearke, he is arriu'd :
March gently on to meete him.

Caffi. Stand ho.

Bru. Stand ho, fpeake the word along. 40

Stand.
Stand.
Stand.

CaJJi. Mofl: Noble Brother,you haue done me wrong.

Bru. ludge me you Gods; wrong I mine Enemies? 45

And if not fo, how fhould I wrong a Brother.

Caffi.Bmtus, this fober forme of yours, hides wrongs,
And when you do them

Brut. CaJJlus, be content,
Speake your greefes foftly, I do know you well. $0

Before the eyes of both our Armies heere
(Which fliould perceiue nothing but Loue from vs)
Let vs not wrangle. Bid them moue away :
Then in my tent CaJJlus enlarge your Greefes, 54

36. Enter ... Powers.] After 1. 38 Cap. [Without] Stand. [Without]

Cap. Dyce. Stand. [Without] Starid. Sta. First

his Powers.] Ff. Forces. Cap. Sol. Stand. Second Sol. Starid. Third

Soldiers. Rowe et cet. Sol. Stand. Cam.+, Within. Stand.

38. March] Martch Fj. Within. Stand. Within. Staiid. Rowe

39. [To his Officers entering. Cap. et cet.

40. ho] [to his] Cap. 43. [One after other and fainter.
41-43. Stand. Stand. Stand.] Ff. Coll. MS.

I. O. Stand. 2. O. Stand. 3. O. Stand. 46. Brother.] Brother? F3F4.

48. And when you do them] Mark Hunter: The general meaning is that
Brutus, in spite of his outward appearance of conscious rectitude, is still liable Uke
other men to do wrong, and when he does, act unjustly. — Here Brutus interrupts
Cassius, who was perhaps going on to say that wrongs so offered were resented all
the more on that account. The taunt is not without justification, and possibly
Brutus feels that it has touched him on a vulnerable point. At any rate, the fol-
lowing speech is distinctly conciliatory.

49. content] Murray {N. E. D., s. v. I. b.) : Be satisfied in mind; be calm, quiet,
not uneasy. [The present line quoted. Compare I, iii, 159.]

50. greefes] For a similar use of 'griefs,' for grievances, caus£l of complaint,
compare I, iii, 129; III, ii, 223.

50. I do know you well] Brutus means by this, I think, that there is no occa-
sion for Cassius to be so vehement, since they are both intimate friends; he
then adds a second reason against anj' unseemly wrangling in the presence of their
armies. — Ed.

200 THE TRACED IE OF [act iv, sc. ii.

And I will giue you Audience. 55

Cafft, Pindarus,
Bid our Commanders leade their Charges off
A little from this ground.

Bni. Liicillms, do you the like, and let no man
Come to our Tent, till we haue done our Conference. 60

Let Lucius and Titinius guard our doore. Exeunt

Manet Brutus and Caffms. 62

58-60. A little... Conference] Lines 60. done] dooe Fj.

end: LuciWius,.. .like, ...till we. ..Confer- 61. Let Lucius] Lucilius Craik, Wh.

ence. Walker (Crit., iii, 248). i, Dyce ii, iii, Huds. iii. Let Lucilius

59. Lucillius] As separate line Cap. Coll. iii. (misprint?).
Lucius Craik, Wh. i, Dyce ii, iii, Coll. our] tlie Rowe ii, Pope, Theob.

iii. Han. Warb. Dyce ii, iii, Coll. iii, Huds.

do yoii] do Pope,+, Steev. Var. iii. ^

1^03, '13. 62. Manet] Manent Ff. -^JL ^^r

man] man, Lucilius Cap. "^

57. Charges] That is, the troops under command.

59-61. Lucillius . . . Lucius and Titinius] Craik (p. 331): The function
of Lucius was to carry messages. As Cassius sends his servant, Pindarus, with a
message to his chvision of the force, Brutus sends his servant with a similar message
to his division. Nothing can be clearer than that Lucillius in 1. 59 is a misprint for
Lucius, and Lucius in 1. 61 a misprint for Lucillius. Or the error may have been
in the copy; and the insertion of the 'Let' was probably an attempt of the printer
or editor to save the prosody of that line, as the omission of the ' you ' is of some
modem editors to save that of the other. [See Text. Notes.] — Wright quotes the
foregoing, and suggests that as Lucilius and Titinius convey the orders to the com-
manders in the next scene, 1. 156, it would be better to interchange Pindarus and
Titinius in 11. 56 and 61.

62. Manet Brutus and Cassius] Knight: In the Shakesperean theatre Brutus
and Cassius evidently retired to the secondary stage. — Dyce: The 'Manet'
shows, I think, that Knight is mistaken, and that here the audience were to suppose
(as they frequently had to suppose) a change of scene. — Wright: As the scene
merely changes from the outside to the inside of Brutus's tent, the simple arrange-
ments of the theatre in Shakespeare's time did not indicate it. There is a similar
instance in Rom. b" Jul., II, ii, where the scene on the modern stage changes from
one side of the wall of Capulet's orchard to the other, and yet the first line of the
new scene rhymes with the last of the one before it.

;

ACT IV, sc. iii.] IVLIVS C^SAR 201

\Scene IIL\

Scene continued. Ff, Rowe. Scene sius.Theob.4-- Lucius and Titinius at

III. Pope et seq. the door. Enter Brutus and Cassius.

Inside of Brutus's Tent. Theob. et Cap. et seq.
seq. (subs.) Re-enter Brutus and Cas-

Scene III.] Dryden {Preface to his Troilus b" Cressida, sig. a. redo) says that
though his own quarrel scene between Troilus and Hector in Act V. may be said to re-
semble somewhat the present scene, and also that scene between Amintor and Mel-
antius in Beaumont and Fletcher's Maid's Tragedy, III, ii, yet had ' these two never
been written Euripides had furnish'd [him] with an excellent example in Iphegenia in
Aiilis, [11. 317 to 472,] between Agamemnon and Menelaus'; he acknowledges that
the latter and not Shakespeare's work was his model. He thus continues: 'The
occasion which Shakespeare, Euripides, and Fletcher have all taken is the same:
grounded upon Friendship; and the quarrel of two virtuous men, rais'd by natural
degrees to the extremity of passion, is conducted in all three to the declination
of the same passion; and concludes with a warm renewing of their friendship.
But the particular groundwork that Shakespeare has taken is incomparably
the best: Because he has not only chosen two the greatest heroes of their age; but
has likewise interested the liberty of Rome, and their own honors, who were the
redeemers of it, in this debate. And if he has made Brutus, who was naturally a
patient man, to fly into excess at first; let it be remembered, in his defence, that
just before he has received the news of Portia's death: whom the Poet, on purpose
neglecting a little chronology, supposes to have dy'd before Brutus, only to give
him an occasion of being more easily exasperated. Add to this, that the injury he
had received from Cassius had long been brooding in his mind; and that a melan-
choly man, upon consideration of an aflfront, especially from a friend, would be
more eager in his passion than he who had given it, though naturally more chol-
erick.' — Rymer (p. 154): Brutus and Cassius are by the poet represented acting
the parts of Mimics: from the Nobility and Buskins, they are made the Planipedes;
are brought to dance barefoot, for a Spectacle to the people, Two Philosophers,
two generals {imperatores was their title), the tiltimi Romanorum, are to play the
Bullies and Buffoon, to shew their Legerdemain, their activity of face, and divarica-
tion of Muscles. They are to play a prize, a tryal of skill in hufl&ng and swaggering,
like two drunken Hectors for a two-penny reckoning. — Gildon (p. 381): I must
needs say that the advantage Mr Dryden gives to the Briton is equally due to
Euripides, for certainly Agamemnon and Menelaus, in the poetic world at least,
and in the system of heroes in the time Euripides wrote, were as great as Brutus
and Cassius, one of whom cannot carry away the prize of the greatest hero of his
age without some dispute. Next in the quarrel of Euripides, not the disappoint-
ment of some pay of legions, or the denial of quitting a man guilty of bribery,
which both were past, but the fate, the glory, and the honour if not the safety of
all Greece, depended on the ground of their difference. — Theobald : This quarrel-
ling scene . . . was received with so much applause that it is spoken of in one of the
preliminary copies of verses in the First Folio: 'Or till I hear a scene more nobly
take. Than what thy half-sword parlying Roman's spake.' — [lines by L. Digges.] —
Mrs Montagu (p. 274): The characters of the men are well sustained [in this

202 THE TRACED IE OF [act iv, sc. iii.

[Scene III.]
scene]: it is natural, it is interesting; but it rather retards than brings forward the
catastrophe, and is useful only in setting Brutus in a good light. . . . The principal
object of our poet was to interest the spectator for Brutus; to do this he was to
show that his temper was the furthest imaginable from anything ferocious or
sanguinary, and by his behaviour to his wife, his friends, his servants, to demon-
strate, that out of respect to public liberty, he made as difficult a conquest over his
natural disposition, as his great predecessor had done for the like cause over natural
affection. — Coleridge (p. 105): I know no part of Shakespeare that more im-
presses on me the belief of his genius being superhuman than this scene between
Brutus and Cassius. In the Gnostic heresy it might have been credited with less
absurdity than most of their dogmas that the Supreme had employed him to
create, previously to his function of representing, character. — Knight {Studies, p.
418) : The matchless art of Shakespeare [in this scene] consists as much in what he
holds back as in what he puts forward. Brutus subdues Cassius by the force of his
moral strength, without the slightest attempt to command the feelings of a sensi-
tive man. When Cassius h subdued, he owns that he has been hasty. They are
friends again, hand and heart. — A. C. Bradley (p. 60): One purpose of this
scene, as also of the appearance of Cassar's Ghost just afterwards, is to indicate the
inward changes. Otherwise the introduction of this famous and wonderful scene
can hardly be defended on strictly dramatic grounds. No one would consent to
part with it, and it is invaluable in sustaining interest during the progress of the
reaction, but it is an episode, the removal of which would not affect the actual
sequence of events (unless we may hold that, but for the emotion caused by the
quarrel and reconciliation, Cassius would not have allowed Brutus to overcome his
objection to the fatal policy of offering battle at Philippi). The quarrel-scene illus-
trates yet another favourite e.xpedient. In this section of a tragedy Shakespeare
often appeals to an emotion different from any of those excited in the first half of
the play, and so provides novelty and generally also relief. As a rule this new emo-
tion is pathetic; and the pathos is not terrible or lacerating, but, even if painful,
is accompanied by the sense of beauty and by an outflow of admiration or affection,
which come with an inexpressible sweetness after the tension of the crisis and first
counterstroke. So it is with the reconciliation of Brutus and Cassius and the
arrival of the news of Portia's death. — MacCallutvi (p. 267, foot-note) : Two objec-
tions have been made to this scene or, rather, to the whole Act. The first, in
A. C. Bradley's words, that it has a 'tendency to drag'; [the second, by G. P.
Baker, that it was 'probably] not entirely successful in Shakespeare's own day';
and afterwards Baker refers to it as 'ineffective today.' [See note on IV, i, i.] In
view of Digges' testimony, it is diflicult to see how Baker can say that it was not
entirely successful in Shakespeare's day. As to the impression it makes now, one
must largely depend on one's own feelings and e.xperience. Certainly I myself
have never been conscious that it dragged or was ineffective, nor have I noted that
it failed to stir the audience. . . . On every occasion it seemed to me that the
quarrel-scene was the most popularly successful in the play. This statement is, I
believe, strictly accurate, for having Digges' lines in my mind I was on the watch
to see whether the taste of the Elizabethan coincided with the taste of a later
generation. [Bradley's criticism of this scene,] that in the economy of the piece
it leads to nothing, ... is quite true, though his proviso is a most important one.
But it does very manifestly connect with what has gone before, and gives the

ACT IV, sc. iii.J IVLIVS CyESAR 203

Caffi. That you haue wrong'd me, doth appear in this: i

You haue condemn'd, and noted Liicius Pclla
For taking Bribes heere of the Sardians ;
Wherein my Letters, praying on his fide,
Becaufe I knew the man was flighted off. 5

Br}i. You wrong'd your felfe to write in fuch a cafe.

Caffi. In fuch a time as this, it is not meet
That euery nice offence fhould beare his Comment.

Brti. Let me tell you Caffius, you your felfe
Are much condemn'd to haue an itching Palme. 10

To fell, and Mart your Offices for Gold
To Vndeferuers. 12

4. Wherein] Whereas Huds. Cap.

4, 5. Letters, praying. ..man was] 6. cafe] cause Cap. conj.

Letter, praying.. .man, was Ff, Rowe, 8. nice offence ... his Comment] of-

Cap. Var. '73, '78, '85. Letter (praying fence. ..nice comment Dodd ap. Cam.
...7nan) was Pope, Theob, Han. Warb. his] its Pope,4- (—Var. '73).

Johns. Letters, praying.. .man, were 9. Let] Yet let Pope, Theob. Han.

Mai. et seq. Warb. Ktly. And let Cap. Dyce ii, iii,

S- of] of Rowe ii, Pope, Han. Warb. Huds. iii. But let Kinnear.

essence and net result of the story. We could sooner dispense with the Fifth Act
than the Fourth, for the Fifth may with less injustice be described as an appendix,
than the Fourth as an episode. Not only is it less unique in kind, but for the most
part it works out issues that can easily be foreseen and that to some extent are
clearly indicated here. Of course, this is not to say that it could be rejected without
mutilating the play, for it works them out far more impressively than we could do
in our own imaginations, even with Plutarch to help us. — [MacCallum has, I
think, misunderstood Baker's criticism, which was that this whole act was dramatic-
ally ineffective inasmuch as it does not carry on the story of the fate of the con-
spirators.— Ed.)

2. You haue condemn'd, and noted] 'The next day after Brutus, upon
complaint of the Sardians, did condemn and note Lucius Pella for a defamed per-
son, that had been a praetor of the Romans.'— Plutarch: Life of Brutus, ^ 25 (ed.
Skeat, p. 135). This incident is, however, given as occurring on the day following
the altercation between Brutus and Cassius at their first meeting, and was the
cause for another dispute; Shakespeare has merged the two quarrels in one, just as
in the next Act he combines the two battles at Philippi.— Ed.

2. noted] Craigie {N. E. D., s. v. note 7. c): To stigmatize for some reason.
[The present line quoted.]

8. nice] That is, slight, insignificant.

8. his] See Murray {N. E. D., s.v. Its) for an account of this use of the mas-
culine possessive for the neuter pronoun.

10. condemn'd to haue] That is, condemned for having. Compare: 'you forget
yourself To hedge me in,' 1. 30, below; and for other examples of this gerundial use
of the infinitive, see Abbott, § 356.

204 THE TRACED IE OF [act iv, sc. iii.

Cajfi. I, an itching Palme ? 13

You know that you are Brutus that fpeakes this,
Or by the Gods, this fpeech were elfe your laft. 15

Bru. The name of Caffius Honors this corruption,
And Chafticement doth therefore hide his head.

Caffi. Chafticement ?

Bni. Remember March, the Ides of March Remeber :
Did not great Julius bleede for luftice fake ? 20

What Villaine touch'd his body, that did ftab,
And not for luftice ? What? Shall one of Vs,
That ftrucke the Formoft man of all this World,
But for fupporting Robbers : fhall we now, 24

13. 71 Ay Rowe i. 18. Chafticement?] Chastisement! —

14. fpeakes] /peaks F4, Rowe, Craik, Rowe et seq. (subs.)
Ktly, Cam. speak Pope et cet. 19-29. Mnemonic Warb.

17. dolh] does Coll. i. 20. Inftice] justice' Cap. YSir.'yS, ^85,

his] its Pope,+ ( — Var. '73). Mai. Ran. Steev. Varr. Knt, Coll.

Dyce, Wh. Ktly, Cam.+.

17. Chasticement doth therefore hide his head] Mark Hunter: The reply,
is feeble save as an additional insult, for Brutus has no authority to punish Cassius
for a public offence, and if he had, by refraining from doing so from personal
motives, his conduces not a whit more upright than Cassius's has been in the case
of Lucius Pella. '

19-24. Remember March . . . But for supporting Robbers] Mark Hunter
calls attention to the inconsistency between this speech and the other by
Brutus at the beginning of Act H, wherein he acknowledges that Caesar had in
no way abused his power. This want of agreement Hunter thinks can be explained
by the assumption that: 'Shakespeare may [in the present passage] have written
with his eye too much on the text of Plutarch, and have forgotten the remarkable
sentiments that without Plutarch's authority he had himself put into the mouth of
Brutus in Act II.'

21, 22. What Villaine . . . And not for Justice] Edwards (p. 125): This ques-
tion is so far from inferring [that those who touched Ca;sar were villains] that, on
the contrary, it is a strong way of denying that there were any such among them as
were villains enough to stab for any cause except that of Justice. — [This note from
Edwards's Canons, etc., 1748, is repeated, with a few slight verbal changes, by
Malone in his edition, 1790 — and is accredited to him in the following Variorum
editions, without, however, any acknowledgement to Edwards. This is unusual;
Malone was customarily fair in assigning to others their proper opinions; and,
therefore, we may, I think, make allowance for this apparent lapse of memory. —
Ed.] — Wright: Compare, for this construction, V, iv, 3: 'Yet, countrymen, O
yet hold up your heads. What bastard doth not?'

24. But for supporting Robbers] CoLERrocE (p. 134): This seemingly
strange assertion of Brutus is unhappily verified in the present day. What is an
immense army, in which the lust of plunder has quenched all the duties of the
citizen, other than a horde of robbers, or differenced only as fiends from ordinarily

ACT IV, sc. iii.] IVLIVS CAESAR 205

Contaminate our fingers, with bafc bribes ? 25

And fell the mighty fpace of our large Honors

For fo much trafli, as may be grafped thus?

I had rather be a Dogge,and bay the Moone,

Then fuch a Roman. 29

25. Bnhes'?\ bribes, Knt, Coll. Dyce, 27. grafped] grasped Dyce.

Cam.+. 28. bay] baile F2. bail F3F4, Rowe.

reprobate men? Cassar supported, and was supported by, such as these; and
even so Buonaparte in our days. — MacCallum (p. 202): This [speech of Brutus],
one feels, is merely an argumentiim ad hominem, brought forward very much in
afterthought for a particular purpose. At the time, neither in Brutus's speeches to
himself or others, nor in the discussions of the conspirators, is Caesar accused of
countenancing peculation, or is this made a handle against him. And if it were, it
would not be incompatible with acquiescence in a royal government. . . . On
Coleridge's interpretation Brutus's charge would come to nothing more than this,
that Caesar had employed large armies. I believe there is a more definite reference
to a passage in the Life of Antony: 'Now it grieved men much, to see that Caesar
should be out of Italy following of his enemies, to end this great warre, with such
great perill and daunger: and that others in the meantime abusing his name and
authoritie, should commit such insolent and outragious parts unto their citizens.
This me thinkes was the cause that made the conspiracie against Caesar increase
more and more, and layd the reynes of the brydle uppon the souldiers neckes, where-
by they durst boldlier commit many extorsions, cruelties, and robberies.' — [§ 5; ed.
Skeat, p. 162.]

28, 2Q. I had rather . . , Then such a Roman] MacCallum (p. 262) :
Surely there are few more pathetic passages even in Shakespeare than the con-
fession of disillusionment wrung from Brutus by the force of events, a confession
none the less significant that he admits disillusion only as to the results and still
clings to his estimate of the deed itself. ... In anticipating the effects of Caesar's
rule, he had said he 'had rather be a villager than to repute himself a son of Rome'
in the probable conditions. But his attempt at remedy has resulted in a situation
even more intolerable. He would rather be a dog than such Romans as the con-
federates, whom he sought to put in Caesar's place, are disclosing themselves to be.

28. a Dogge, and bay the Moone] Warburton, under covert and convenient
seeming of praising Shakespeare's ingenuity, but, in reality, extolling his own, says
that in this Brutus, by an innuendo, likens Cassius and his attitude toward Caesar
to a dog who barks at the moon but in envy of its brightness. — Capells' objection is,
I think, apposite, he says: 'This . . . refinement upon a thought is repugnant
to character. Brutus is but describing the " dog " by his idlest property, to heighten
his own with: if the vulgar-imputed motive for "baying" be at all thought of, to
wit, the dog's envy of the brightness of what he bays at, and the motives of others
shadow'd under it, this shadowing (it is likely) is general, and relates to all the con-
spirators, even the speaker himself.' — Green (p. 269) illustrates this line by three
examples from the emblem writers of the sixteenth century wherein is shown the
figure of a dog barking at the moon. An evidence, if such were needed, that this
habit was of quite general observation. — Murray {N. E. D., s. v. bay, vh}) 'To
bark at, to assail with barking'; quotes the present line. — Ed.

2o6 THE TRACED IE OF [act iv, sc. iii.

Caffi. Bruhis, baite not me, 30

He not endure it : you forget your felfe
To hedge me in. I am a Souldier, I,
Older in pra6lice, Abler then your felfe
To make Conditions.

Brii. Go too : you are not Caffius. 35

aV~ 30. ^aile\ Fj. hay Theob. Warb. Huds. \\y'' XyJ*

\}r Cap. Var. '78, '85, Steev. Var. '03, '13, 35. too] to Ff. ^

Dyce, Coll. ii, iii, Craik, Sta. Wh. yon are] You're Steev. Var. '03,

Hal. Ktly, GI0. + , Huds. iii. bait F3F4 '13, Sing. i.

et cet. not] Ff, Rowe, Pope, Theob.

32. in. I] in, I Rowe et seq. Warb. Johns. Cap. Var. '73. not,

Souldier, I] soldier, ay Var. '73. Theob. conj., Han. et cet.

28-30. bay . . . baite] In order fully to comprehend the discussion occasioned
by these two words a slight study of the Text. Notes is necessary. It will be noticed
that the Folios, in both 11. 28 and 30, have bait; Rowe, alone among modern editors,
follows this — probably because he printed directly from the Fourth Folio with all
its imperfections. — Theobald, on the other hand, reads in both lines bay; between
this reading and that of the First Folio the texts of subsequent editors are almost
equally divided. — Capell, who follows Theobald, says: 'Cassius does but catch
at the term which feeds the mood he is in,' and that, '"bait," is but the blunder
of copyists.' — M alone, while he acknowledges the plausibility of Theobald's
change — bay — considers that the Folio text should not be altered, since, though
examples of bay used in this sense may be shown, yet 'bait' occurs quite as often;
and Steevens, for exactly these same reasons, declares in favour of Theobald. —
Craik thinks it possible that there was some confusion between 'bait' and 'bay,'
and that 'both words were apt to call up a more or less distinct notion of encom-
passing, or closing in.' 'Perhaps something of this,' he adds, 'is what runs in
Cassius's head when says: "You forget yourself, To hedge me in."' — Wright con-
siders that there is no necessity for either the change of the later Folios in 1. 28
or that of Theobald, 1. 30. 'It would be absurd,' he says, 'to speak of baiting the
moon, and Cassius implies that Brutus was not only barking at him, but attacking
him as a wild beast is attacked by dogs.'

32. To hedge me in] Johnson: That is, to limit my authority by your direc-
tion or censure. — Craik (see preceding note), more justly, I think, refers this to
encompassing, etc., in a vague allusion, let me suggest, to the baiting of a bear. — Ed.

32. a Souldier, I] Steevens: The modern editors instead of 'I' have read
Ay, because the vowel sometimes stands for the affirmative adverb. I have replaced
the old reading on the authority of the following: 'And I am Brutus; Marcus
Brutus, I.' — [V, iv, 10. — As far as I know the only 'modern' edition which reads
Ay is the Variorum of 1773, of which Steevens was co-editor with Johnson. —
Jennens, whose edition appeared in the following year, gives Ay as a conjectural
reading of his own, but his collation of preceding editions does not, naturally,
include that of Johnson and Steevens. — Craik has also, independently, made the
same conjecture, and Hudson, in his last edition, adopts this reading. — Ed.]

34. To make Conditions] Johnson: That is, to know on what terms it is fit
to confer the offices which are at my disposal. [See 1. 11, above.]

35. you are not Cassius] Theobald, in a letter to Warburton, dated 14"' Febru-

ACT IV. sc. iii.] IVLIVS CESAR 207

CaJJi. I am. 3^

Bru. I fay, you are not.

36, 37. / am. ..I jay\ Brutus, / awr...Cassius, 7 say Steev. conj.

ary, i72cf, says: 'If this [the omission of a comma before Cassius"] be not persuad-
ing a man out of his Christian name, the devil is in it. What ! because Cassius is testy
the Editors will not allow Brutus to think he is Cassius. But this absurdity is de-
rived from false pointing. I read: "you are not, Cassius." Thus Brutus denies
Cassius's assertion that he is an older, or abler, soldier than himself.' — (Nichols, ii,
496). — But Theobald does not adopt this obvious pointing in his edition which
appeared in 1733, or even in his second, which was issued in 1740. Warburton either
forgot this suggestion or purposely ignored it, since he not only follows the Folio
text, but contributes a note in justification of it: ' Brutus in his reply only reproves
Cassius for degeneracy. And he could not do it in words more pathetic than by
saying, you are not Cassius, /. e., you are no longer that brave, disinterested philo-
sophic Cassius, whose character was made up of honor and patriotism; but are
sunk down into the impotency and corruption of the times.' — Such a remark as the
foregoing was an opportunity for Edwards, who, in his Canons of Criticism, fre-
quently turns Warburton 's own words against his arbitrary assertions; and he thus
rebukes him (p. 158) : 'One may justly say of our critic, as Worcester does of Hot-
spur: "He apprehends a world of figures here; But not the form of what he should
attend." . If Mr Warburton had not been giddy with his ideas of bravery, disin-
terestedness, philosophic honor, and patriotism, which have nothing to do here, he
would have seen that "Cassius" is the vocative case, not the nominative; and that
Brutus does not mean to say, you are not an abler soldier; but he says, yoM are not an
abler than I; a point which it was far from being beneath his character to insist on.
If the words "you are not Cassius" meant a new imputation on him of degeneracy,
his mere denial of it is very flat; and Brutus's replying to that denial, by a mere
repetition of his former assertion, is still worse; whereas, if the words mean only a
denial of what Cassius had just said, it is natural enough for each of them to
maintain his ground by a confident assertion of the truth of his opinion. And that
the superiority of soldeirship was the point of their dispute is most manifestly
evident by Brutus resuming it a little lower: "You say you are a better soldier:
Let it appear so." Upon which Cassius answers: "I said, an elder soldier; not a
belter." ' — Hanmer inserts a comma, as in Theobald's proposed reading; though it is
manifestly improbable that he had seen it. His silence on this point may be com-
pared to that of his greater follower, Johnson, who says, in his immortal preface, in
regard to Theobald, 'I have sometimes adopted his restoration of a comma without
inserting the panegyrick in which he celebrated himself for his achievement' {Var.
'21, vol. ii, p. 94). — Capell, however, takes Hanmer to task for this change; he
upholds the Folio, and says (p. no): '[Hanmer's] pointing . . . puts the sense of
this speech that is neither worthy of Brutus nor even pertinent: For what is it he
would deny? that Cassius was not ^^ abler than he was to make conditions"? Could
Brutus have such a thought, in any state of mind? or Cassius talk of making condi-
tions, unless in one so disturb'd as his apparently at this juncture? ' — The conclusion
to which Capell arrives is, of course, the only one possible with the Folio reading,
viz.: That Brutus tells Cassius he is not himself. Capell omits any mention of
Warburton. — This whole note on the presence or absence of a comma may stand,
I think, as an object lesson in the vagaries of textual criticism. — Ed.

2o8 THE TRACED IE OF [act iv, sc. iii.

Caffi. Vrge me no more, I fhall forget my felfe : 38

Haue minde vpon your health : Tempt me no farther.

Bru. Away flight man. 40

Caffi. Is't poffible ?

Bm, Heare me, for I will fpeake.
Muft I giue way, and roome to your rafh ChoUer ?
Shall I be frighted, when a Madman flares ?

Caffi, O ye Gods, ye Gods, Muft I endure all this ? 45

Bru. All this? I more : Fret till your proud hart break.
Go (hew your Slaues how Chollericke you are.
And make your Bondmen tremble. Muft I bouge ?
Muft I obferue you ? Muft I ftand and crouch
Vnder your Teftie Humour ? By the Gods, 50

You fhall digeft the Venom of your Spleene
Though it do Split you. For, from this day forth,
He vfe you for my Mirth, yea for my Laughter
When you are Wafpifli.

Caffi. Is it come to this ? 55

Bru. You fay, you are a better Souldier :
Let it appeare fo; make your vaunting true,
And it fhall pleafe me well. For mine owne part,
I fhall be glad to learne of Noble men. 59

39. farther] further Varr. Ran. Steev. 48. bouge] boudge F2F3. budge F4.

Varr. Sing. Knt, Dyce, Craik, Sta. 52. Though] Thought F2.

Ktly, Huds. 59. Noble] abler Coll. ii, iii. (MS),

44-48. Mnemonic Warb. Craik, Dyce ii, iii, Huds. iii. better

45. O ye] 0 Pope,+. Cartwright.

46. more: Fret] more. Fret F3F4.

39. health] That is, safety, well-being, welfare.

43. Mustlgius way, and roome, etc.] Cibber (p. 62): When the Betterton
Brutus was provoked, in his dispute with Cassius, his spirit flew only to his eye; his
steady look alone supplied that terror which he disdained an intemperance in his
voice should rise to. Thus, with a settled dignity of contempt, like an unheeding
rock, he repelled upon himself the foam of Cassius. . . . Not but, in some part of
this scene where he reproaches Cassius, his temper is not under this suppression,
but opens into that warmth which becomes a man of virtue; yet this is that 'hasty
spark' of anger which Brutus himself endeavors to excuse.

49. obserue] That is, reverence, show homage, or respect; used thus in its deriva-
tive sense; as in 'the observed of all observers.' — Hamlet, III, i, 162.

51. Venom of your Spleene] The spleen was considered the seat of the
emotions: either anger or pleasure; here, of course, it refers to a fit of passion. For
an exactly opposite use, compare: 'I shall split all in pleasure of my spleen.' —
Tro. 6* Cres., I, iii, 177. — Ed.

ACT IV, sc. iii.] JVLIVS CAESAR 209

Caff. You wrong me euery way : 60

You wrong me Brutus :
I faide, an Elder Souldier, not a Better.
Did I fay Better f

Bru. If you did, I care not. (me.

Caff. When Ccefar liu'd,he durft not thus haue mou'd 65

/?r//.Peace, peace, you durft not fo haue tempted him.

Caffi. I durfl not.

Bru. No.

Caffi. What? durft not tempt him ?

Bru. For your life you durft not. 70

Caffi. Do not prefume too much vpon my Loue,
I may do that I fhall be forry for.

Bru. You haue done that you fhould be forry for.
There is no terror Cafjius in your threats ; 74

60, 61. As one line Rowe et seq. 62. Betler] a better Knt (Nat. ed.).

60. fne euery way:] me; every way 74-90. Mnemonic Warb.

Ritson.

59. Noble men] Collier (Notes, etc., p. 427): Cassius had said nothing
about 'noble men,' and his reply has reference to what he did actually utter. His
word had been 'abler,' not 'noble' or nobler; and in order to make the retort of
Brutus apply to what Cassius had asserted, Brutus unquestionably ought to say
'abler men.' 'Noble' is struck through by the MS and abler inserted in the place
of it; whether upon any other authority than apparent fitness must remain doubtful.
— Craik (p. 336) says that even were Collier's MS correction 'a mere conjecture,
its claim to be accepted would be nearly irresistible'; and that 'noble' is here 'alto-
gether inappropriate.' — Marshall: This emendation seems to me, like so many
of those made in Collier's MS, to be just such a one as a person going through the
plays with his pencil would make on the spur of the moment, because it was what
he thought Shakespeare ought to have written.

62. an Elder Souldier, not a Better] Hudson: Cassius was much the abler
soldier, and Brutus knew it; and the mistake grew from his consciousness of what
he thought he heard. Long before this time Cassius had served as Quaestor under
Marcus Crassus in his expedition against the Parthians; and when the army was
all torn to pieces, both Crassus and his son being killed, Cassius displayed great
ability in bringing off a remnant; as he also did for some time after that, in the
military administration of Syria.

70. For your life you durst not] Davies (ii, 249) : Quin spoke this line with a
look of anger approaching to rage. Barton Booth, on the contrary, looked stedfastly
at Cassius, and pronounced the words with firmness indeed, but with a tone not
raised much above a whisper, which had much greater weight with the spectators,
and produced a stronger effect than the loudness of Quin.

72. that I shall be sorry for] For another e.xample of this omission of the
relative, compare: 'Thy honourable metal may be wrought From that it is dis-
posed.'—I, ii, 333.

2IO THE TRACED IE OF [act iv, sc. iii.

For I am Arm'd fo ftrong in Honefty, 75

That they paffe by me, as the idle winde,

Which I refpecl not. I did fend to you

For certaine fummes of Gold, which you deny'd me,

For I can raife no money by vile meanes :

By Heauen, I had rather Coine my Heart, 80

And drop my blood for Drachmaes, then to wring

From the hard hands of Peazants, their vile trafh

By any indire6lion. I did fend

To you for Gold to pay my Legions, 84

81. Drachmaes] drachma's Rowe, 83. indiredlion] indirectness Pope.

Pope,+. drachmas Cap. et seq.

75. Arm'd so strong in Honesty] Compare: ' What stronger breastplate than a
heart untainted Thrice is he armed that hath his quarrel just.' — 2 Hen. VI: III,
ii, 232. — Ed.

77. respect] Craigie {N. E. D., s. v. 2. b.): To heed, pay attention to; to ob-
serve carefully.

79-83. I can raise no money . . . By any indirection] Kreyssig (ii, 30):
It is a two-edged virtue to desire the end and despise the means! The sentiments
of Brutus are excellent. But drops of the heart's blood will not pay the legions,
and the sentimental contempt of money has seldom filled a military chest. Thus
the sermon against extortion ends prosaically enough — with a request for gold.
Does it not almost smack of self-deception {Selhst-Ironie) when Brutus continues,
'I did send To you for gold to pay my legions'? — Miss E. H. Hickey {Sh. Soc.
Trans., 13 Oct., 1882; p. 48*): It is curious how unconscious Brutus appears of
having given any occasion of annoyance to Cassius. With strange inconsistency
he blames Cassius for not sending him gold, after he had accused him of obtaining
gold by wrong means, — means which he himself would scorn to use. — MacCallum
(p. 264, foot-note): It will be noticed that in this episode Shakespeare has altered
Plutarch in two respects: In the first place Cassius did give money to the amount
of 'the thirde part of his totall summe.' This is not very important, as, in the
play, he disclaims ever having refused it. But in the second place Brutus was
neither so scrupulous nor so unsuccessful in raising supplies, but had used them
... in developing his sea-power.

81,82. to wring From the hard hands] Warburton: This is a noble senti-
ment, altogether in character, and expressed in a manner inimitably happy. For
to 'wring' implies both to get unjustly and to use force in getting; and 'hard hands'
signify both the peasant's great labour and pains in acquiring and his great uniinll-
ingness to quit his hold. — Holt White: I do not believe that Shakespeare, when
he wrote 'hard hands' in this place, had any deeper meaning than in 'Hard-
handed men that work in Athens here.' — Mid. N. Dreatn, V, i, 72.

83. indirection] Murray {N. E. D., s. v. 2.): Want of straightforwardness in
action; an act of practice which is not straightforward and honest; deceit; mal-
practice. [The present line quoted.]

83, 84. I did send ... to pay my Legions] Brutus, in a letter to Cicero
from Dyrrachium, i April, 43 B. C, says: 'The two things which I want are

ACT IV, sc. iii.] IVLIVS CAESAR 211

Which you deny'd me : was that done like Caffiusf 85

Should I haue anfwer'd Cains Caffms fo ?

When Marcus Brutus growes fo Couetous,

To locke fuch Rafcall Counters from his Friends,

Be ready Gods with all your Thunder-bolts,

Dafli him to peeces. 90

Cajfi. I deny'd you not.

Bru. You did.

CaJJi. I did not. He was but a Foole
That brought my anfwer hack.Brt/tus hath riu'd my hart:
A Friend fhould beare his Friends infirmities; 95

But Brutus makes mine greater then they are.

Bru. I do not, till you pradlice them on me. 97

93. Q4. / did... brought] As one line Warb.

Dyce. g7. till. ..them] will. ..that Kan. Still...

94. back] Om. Steev. conj. them Warb. Jen. though... them Quincy

95. his] a Rowe, Pope, Theob. Han. MS. 'tis. ..them Kinnear.

money and more men. The latter — the sending some part of the soldiers now in
Italy to me — you can accomplish either by secret arrangement with Pansa, or by
bringing the matter before the Senate. The former can be got from the Senate
direct. This is still more necessary, and not more so for my army than for that
of the other commanders. This makes me the more regret that we have lost Asia:
which I am told is being so harrassed by Dolabella that his murder of Trebonius
no longer appears the most cruel thing he has done. Antistius Vetus, however, has
come to my aid with money.' — (Shuckburgh, iv, 205). Again, writing from Dertona
on 5*'^ of May, he says: 'I am already unable to feed and pay my men. When
I undertook the task of freeing the Republic I had more than 40,000 sestertia
[about £320,000] in money. So far from any part of my private property remaining
unencumbered, I have by this time loaded all my friends with debt. I am now
supporting a force amoimting to seven legions, you can imagine with what diffi-
culty.'— (Ibid., p. 230). — Ed.

88. Rascall] The original meaning of 'rascal,' according to Ceaigie {N. E. D.,
s. V. A. I.), is: 'The rabble of an army or of the populace, . . . persons of the
lowest class,' and therefore, used as an adjective, it means pertaining to the lowest
class, hence, uretclied, mean, paltry.

95. A Friend should beare, etc.] Dowden (p. 304): Each is naturally and
inevitably aggrieved with the other; one from the practical, the other from the
ideal, standpoint. Shakespeare, in his infinite pity for human error and frailty,
makes us love Brutus and Cassius the better through the little wrongs which bring
the great wealth of their love and true fraternity to light. . . . When their hearts
are tenderest comes the confession of the sorrow which Brutus could not utter as
long as a shadow lay between his soul and his friend's.

97. I do not . . . them on me] Johnson: That is, I do not look for your
faults, I only see them, and mention them with vehemence when you force them
into my notice by practising them on me.

212 THE TRACED IE OF [act iv, sc. iii.

CaJJl. You loue me not. 98

Bru. I do not like your faults.

Cajfi. A friendly eye could neuer fee fuch faults. 100

Bru. A Flatterers would not, though they do appeare
As huge as high Olympus.

CaJJi. Come Antony, and yong OSlauitis come,i
Reuenge your felues alone on CaJJius,

For Coffins is a-weary of the World : 105

Hated by one he loues, brau'd by his Brother,
Check'd like a bondman, all his faults obferu'd.
Set in a Note-booke, learn'd, and con'd by roate
To calt into my Teeth. O I could weepe

My Spirit from mine eyes. There is my Dagger, no

And heere my naked Breaft : Within, a Heart
Deerer then Pinto's Mine, Richer then Gold:
If that thou bee'ft a Roman, take it foorth. 113

loi. do] did Coll. (MS), Huds. iii. iii. Wilhin] Within F3F4.

105. a-weary] F^Fj, Dyce, Wh. i, 112. Pluto's] Plutus' Pope et

Cam. i, Coll. iii. a weary F4, Rowe,+. seq.
aweary Cap. et cet. 113. bee^ft a Roman] need'st a Roman

109. my] his Cap. conj. Warb. beesl a Roman Cap. (corrected

4 no. eyes.] eyes: Ff {eies: F3). in Errata).

109. To cast into my Teeth] Compare: 'You are the first who rears your
hand.' — III, i, 38; also: 'Hail to thee worthy Timon, and to all That of his boun-
ties taste.' — Timon, I, ii, 129.

112. Pluto's] Verity: The identification of P/z^to^, the god of riches, with ' Pluto,'
the god of the nether world, occurs in classical writers, and their names are the same
in origin. Elizabethan writers often identify the two deities; compare Webster,
Duchess of Malfi: 'Pluto, the god of riches.' — III, ii. — Macmillan compares:
'every grain of Pluto's gold,' Tro. br Cress., Ill, iii, 197, as another example
of the confusion between the two names; and says: ' If Shakespeare and Webster
identify "Pluto" and Plutus, they might plead the authority of Aristophanes
(Plutus, 727) and Sophocles (Fr. 259) in support of the identification. It should
also be borne in mind that Pluto is the Italian form of Plutus.' — [In the line from
Plutus to which reference is made the dative of JIXoi't-coj', i. e., TWovtuvi, is
used instead of UXovtol, the dative of UXovtos; though a few lines further down
the forms 6 IlXoOros and tov UXovtov appear. I regret that I am unable to
identify Macmillan's reference to Sophocles. — Ed.]

113. If that thou bee'st a Roman] Johnson: I think he means only that he
is so far from avarice, when the cause of his country requires liberality, that if any
man should wish for his heart, he would not need enforce his desire any otherwise
than by showing that he was a Roman. — Blackstone: This seems only a form of
adjuration, as in 'Now as you are a Roman, tell me true,' 1. 215, below. — [Is
there not here a personal appeal rather than that on the score of patriotism, as
suggested by Johnson? There has been no mention of the public good. Cassius

y I jjj^ 116. y] thou F

V^ ir^ 1 19-124. Mne:

* 120. Di [honor,

ACT IV, sc. iii.j IVLIVS C^SAR 213

I that dcny'd thee Gold,will giue my Heart :
Strike as thou did'ft at Cccfar : For I know, 1 1 5

When thou did'ft hate him worft, y loued'ft him better
Then cuer thou loued'ft Caffnis.

Bru. Sheath your Dagger :
Be angry when you will, it fliall haue fcope :
Do what you will, Diflionor, fhall be Humour. 120

O CaJJhis , you are yoaked with a Lambe
That carries Anger, as the Flint beares fire,
Who much inforced, fhewes a haflie Sparke,
And ftraite is cold agen.

Caffi. Hath Caffius liu'd 125

Ff. 121. Lambe] man Pope. temper

nemonic Warb. Anon. ap. Cam. heart Herr.

Jhall]dif honour JhallF^. 122, 123. That. ..Who] That. ..Which

Humour] honor Craik conj., Han. Who. ..That Lloyd (N. & Q.,

White conj. 12 Sep., 1885).

121. yoaked] yoked Dyce. 123. inforced] enforced Dyce.

says: If I denied you gold I am prepared to give you even my heart in place of the
money. Compare what Henry says to Lord Scroop: 'Thou . . . That knew'st
the very bottom of my soul That almost might'st have coined me into gold.' —
Hen. V: II, ii, 97. — Ed.]

113, 114. thou . . . thee] Macmillan: The use of the singular pronoun
shows that Cassius is impassioned. The colder Brutus throughout the scene uses
the plural pronoun.- — [Does it not rather show that here, for the first time in their
contest, Cassius is beginning to weaken, and so uses the more familiar form of
address? It will, however, be noticed that Brutus does not respond in a like
manner. — Ed.)

113. bee'st] Compare III, iii, 6, and note.

119. it shall haue scope] That is, your anger, implied in the adjective 'angry,'
shall have full scope.

120. Dishonor, shall be Humour] That is, even a dishonourable action shall
be regarded as a mere caprice of the moment. Compare 1. 152, below.

121-124. you are yoaked with a Lambe . . . And straite is cold agen]
O. F. Adams: The reference is, of course, to Brutus himself, though occasionally
misunderstood. — F. A. Marshall: The author may have intended to use a some-
what exaggerated similitude; there being in his mind, as there often was, a double
idea. He meant Brutus to say that he had the gentleness of a 'lamb' in his nature,
as well as that slowness to anger which comes rather from a firm and resolute
disposition than from a gentle one.

122. as the Flint beares fire] Hudson says that as late as his own boyhood
the 'idea was common of fire sleeping in the flint, and being awaked by the stroke
of the steel.' Compare Tro. 6* Cress.: ' [wit] lies as coldly in him as fiire in a flint.'
—Ill, iii, 257; and Timon: 'the fire i' the flint Shows not till it be struck.'— I, i, 22;
also, Lucrece: 'as from this cold flint I enforced this fire.' — 1. 181.

125. Hath Cassius liued, etc.] This, of course, refers to Brutus's speech,

214 ^-^-^ TRACED IE OF [act iv, sc. iii.

To be but Mirth and Laughter to his Bnitiis, 1 26

When greefe and blood ill temper'd, vexeth him ?

Brti. When I fpoke that, I was ill remper'd too.s

Caffi. Do you confeffe fo much? Giue me your hand.

Bfu. And my heart too. 130

Caffi. O Brutus !

Bru. What's the matter ?

CaJJi. Haue not you loue enough to beare with me,
When that rafh humour which my Mother gaue me
Makes me forgetfull. 135

127. blood ill tempered] ¥i. blood, ill- Pope ii,+, Cap. Steev. Varr. Sing, i,

temper'd, blood ill-temper'd Rowe et cet. Knt i, Coll. Hal. Huds.
^ .1 ,Jv/- 128. re?nper'd too.s] Fj. 135. forgetfull] forgetfulls Fi-

^\ \r^ 130. [Embracing. Rowe,+. [A Noise within. Theob.+,

gy^ . 133. Haue not you] Have you not Cap. Varr. Mai. Steev. Varr. Sing.

r\u^''^ 'I'll use you for my mirth, yea for my laughter When you are waspish,' 1. 53. It had

^/ -^A apparently rankled in Cassius's mind and had stung him more than any other

reply by Brutus. Benedick in a like way, it will be remembered, bitterly resented

the remark of Beatrice that ' he was the prince's jester.' — Much Ado,ll,\, 250.— Ed.

127. blood ill temper'd] Wright: Burton (Anat. of Melancholy, Pt I, sec. i,
memb. 2, subsec. 2) describes the four humours, blood, phlegm, choler, and melan-
choly, corresponding to the four elements, upon the tempering or mixing of which
depended the temperatnent of a man's body. . . . See, also, Davies of Hereford's
Microcosmos: '111 tempred's that where some one element Hath more dominion
then it ought to haue; For they rule ill that haue more regiment Then nature,
wisdom, right, or reason gaue.' — (ed. Grosart, p. 30, col. 2). — Macmillan: '111-
temper'd' is here badly combined, so as to make a man inclined to be ill-tempered
in the present sense of the word, which we find in the following line. The expression
'ill-tempered blood' is not exactly in accordance with the doctrine of the four
humours, since here the blood is regarded as determining a man's character by
itself and not in combination with choler, phlegm, and melancholy. Often 'blood'
in Shakespeare expresses the whole of the passionate side of human nature as dis-
tinguished from the reason, e. g., in Hamlet: ' — blest are those, Whose blood and
judgment are so well commingled,' etc., Ill, ii, 74. — [That 'blood ill temper'd'
does not refer to the doctrine of the four humours, but here means disposition,
both for the reason above given by Macmillan, and since Schmidt {Lex.) gives
numerous examples of 'blood' used in this sense, is likewise the opinion of the
present Ed.]

127. vexeth] Wright: The verb is singular, because ' grief and blood ' express
but one idea.

134. rash humour] That is, choler, which was supposed by its predominance to
make a man of irascible temperament. Jonson gives to Asper, in Every Man out
of his Humour, the task of explaining the effect of too much of any one of the four
humours: ' — when some one peculiar quality Doth so possess a man, that it doth
draw All his affects, his spirits, and his powers. In their confluctions, all to run one
way, This may be truly said to be a humour.' — Induction; ed. Gifford, p. 16.
Compare also 1. 152, below. — Ed.

ACT IV, sc. iii.] IVLIVS CJSSAR 215

Bni. Yes Ca/s i u s ,dir\d from henceforth 136

When you are ouer-earneft with your Brutus,
Hee'l thinke your Mother chides, and leaue you fo.

Enter a Poet.

Poet. Let me go in to fee the Generals, 1 40

There is fome grudf^e betweene 'em, 'tis not meete
They be alone.

Lucil. You fliall not come to them.

Poet. Nothing but death fliall flay me.

Caf. How now? What's the matter? 145

Poet. For fhame you Generals; what do you meane ?
Loue,and be Friends, as two fuch men fhould bee,
For I haue feene more yeeres I'me fure then yee.

Caf. Ha , ha , how vildely doth this Cynicke rime ? 149

136. jrom\ Om. Cap. Steev. Var. 1. 144 Cap. et seq.

'03, '13. 140, 143, 144. Poet., Lucil., Poet.]

139. Enter a Poet.] Enter Lucilius Poet (Within), Lucil. (Within), Poet

and Titinius and a Poet. Rowe i. (Lu- (Within). Theob.+, Cap. Varr.

cius Rowe ii.). Enter Poet. Theob.+ 140-145. In margin Pope, Han.

( — Han.). Enter Poet followed by 141. 'ew] them Cap.

Lucilius and Titinius. Dyce, Sta. ,i43- [at the door. Cap.

Enter Poet followed by Lucilius, Titin- 149. vildely] vilely F^.

ius, and Lucius. Glo. Cam.+. After doth] does Cap.

138. chides] That is, scolds, upbraids.

139. a Poet] Steevens: In Plutarch the intruder was Marcus Phaonius, who
had been a friend and follower of Cato; not a poet, but one who assumed the char-
acter of a cynic philosopher. [The couplet, 11. 147, 148,] is a translation from
Homer: 'aXXd iridecrd', auipui de veurepw kcrroi' eneio — Iliad, Bk, i, 259, which
is thus given in North's Plutarch: 'My Lords, I pray you hearken both
to me. For I have seen mo years than suchie three.' — [Brutus, § 25; ed.
Skeat, p. 135.] Compare: 'Octavius I have seen more days than you.'— IV, i,
22, above. — Craik (p. 344): There was probably no other authority than the
Prompter's book for designating him a 'Poet.' — Mark Hunter: The expression
'jigging fool,' however, shows that Shakespeare intended Phaonius to be a poet.
. . '. North's doggerel rendering [of Homer's lines] doubtless suggested to Shake-
speare the idea of making him not only a counterfeit Cynic, but a miserable
rhymester.

143. Lucil. You shall not, etc.] Craik (p. 344): In the Variorum of '21 and
the other modem editions, although they commonly make no distinction between
the abbreviation for Lucilius and that for Lucius, this speech must be understood
to be assigned to Lucius, whose presence alone is noted by them in the heading
of the scene. But in the Folio the speaker is distinctly marked Lucil. This is a
conclusive confirmation, if any were wanting, of the change [of Lucilius for Lucius]
in IV, ii, 61.

2i6 THE TRACE DIE OF [act iv, sc. iii.

Bru. Get you hence firra : Sawcy Fellow,hence. 1 50

Caf. Beare with him Brutus, 'tis his fafhion.
Brut. He know his humor, when he knowes his time :
What fhould the Warres do with thefe ligging Fooles ? 153

150. firra\ fin ah Y^. i53- ligging] jinggling Pope,+, Cap.

Scene iv. Pope, Han. Warb. Johns. Jen.

150, 151. Bru. Get you hence . . . Cas. Beare with him] Staffer (p. 361):
When we seek the reason of Shakespeare's incontestable and uncontested pre-
eminence among all other poets as a delineator of character, we discover in the
last hiding-place of analysis that it consists in the largeness and breadth of his
treatment. He alone dares to introduce into his portraits the little seeming con-
tradictions which terrify ordinary reasoning because of their apparent inconsist-
ency with the general outlines of the character, although in reality they enhance
the resemblance by keeping closer to nature. The consistency of Shakespeare's
characters is universally admired. ... It is obvious and strikes the mind at once,
while the contradictions here spoken of are almost imperceptible; but it is their very
imperceptibility that makes it incumbent upon critics to dwell upon them with
especial care; for, without destroying the inner unity of the characters, these light
and dehcate touches break through all superficial harmony and reveal a still greater
art than what is usually the object of admiration. Who would ever have guessed
beforehand . . . that at the entrance of the ofiicious mediator, who comes and
preaches peace to the two generals when they have already made peace, that it
would be Brutus — the patient and gentle Brutus — that would be the most ex-
asperated; or that it would be Cassius — the violent and choleric man — that would
endeavor to protect the meddlesome intruder? But when the particular circum-
stances are taken into consideration, all surprise at the anomaly vanishes. The
fact is given by Plutarch, the reason of it by Shakespeare.

152. He know . . . his time] Craik (p. 345): In this line we have what the
rule, as commonly laid down, would make to be necessarily a short or unaccented
syllable carrjang a strong emphasis no fewer than four times: 'He' — 'his' — 'he' —
'his.'

152. know . . . knowes] Murray {N. E. D., s. v. 2 trans.): To recognise in
some capacity; to acknowledge; to admit the claims or authority of.

152. humor] See note on 1. 134, above.

153. ligging] According to Murray {N. E. D., s. v. Jig), the word was variously
applied; either to describe (i) a lively, rapid dance, or (3) a song or ballad of lively,
jocular, or mocking character; and s. v. Jigging (singing, playing, or composing
jigs), the present hne is quoted. — [Pope could hardly be ignorant of this secondary
meaning of 'jig' — its use survived for some time later than his editions — yet he
changed the word here to jingling, and was therein followed by subsequent editors
down to the Variorum of 1773. This provoked a note from Malone on the ignor-
ance of ancient English literature thus displayed, levelled not at Pope, the original
offender, but at Capell only of all those who had followed the change. Malone's
remarks on Capell's shortcomings as an editor require a half-page of fine print in
the Variorum of '21, but as this note is no more applicable here than in many
another place, and is perhaps inspired by personal rancor, it is omitted. Both
Malone and Steevens were ever unjust to Capell, though often silently adopting
or appropriating his sagacious emendations. — Ed.]

ACT IV, sc. iii.] IVLIVS CjESAR 21/

Companion , hence.

Caf. Away, away be gone. Exit Poet 155

Bru» Liicillius and Titinius bid the Commanders
Prepare to lodge their Companies to night.

Caf. And come your felues,& bring Mcffala with you
Immediately to vs.

Bru. Lucius ,3. bowle of Wine. 160

Caf. I did not thinke j'ou could haue bin fo angry.

Bru. O CaJJius , I am ficke of many greefes.

Caf. Of your Philofophy you make no vfe,
If you giue place to accidentall euils.

Bru. No man beares forrow better. Portia is dead. 165

Caf. Ha? Portia?

Bru. She is dead.

Caf. How fcap'd I killing,when I crofb you fo ?
O infupportable, and touching loffe !
Vpon what fickneffe ? 170

Bru. Impatient of my abfence,

155. [Enter Lucillius and Titinius. 161. bin] been F3F4.

Rowe et seq. 162-170. Mnemonic Pope, Warb.

159. [Exeunt Lucillius and Titinius. 165. Portia is] Portia's Pope, Theob.
Rowe et seq.

154. Companion] Schmidt {Lex., s. v. 4.) gives many examples of this word
used as a term of familiarity or contempt.

161. I did not thinke ... so angry] C. Forbes (N. £f Q., 28 Sep., 1850,
p. 275): I believe that both replies [here and in 1. 168] contain an illusion to the
fact that Anger, grafted on sorrow, almost invariably assumes the form of frenzy;
that it is in every sense of the word 'Madness,' when the mind is unhinged, and
reason, as it were, totters from the effects of grief. Cassius had but just mildly
rebuked Brutus for making no better use of his philosophy, and now — startled by
the sudden sight of his bleeding, mangled heart — pays involuntary homage to the
very philosophy he had so rashly underrated. Compare Romeo's address to
Balthasar: 'The time and my intents are savage- wild. More fierce and more in-
exorable far Than empty tigers or the roaring sea.' — V, iii, 37; and his remark to
Paris: 'Stay not, begone; live, and hereafter say, A madman's mercy bade thee
run away.' — lb., 1. 66. — Macmillan: To the foregoing illustrations we may add:
'And melancholy is the nurse of frenzy.' — Tarn, of Shrew, Ind., ii, 135.

171. Impatient of my absence] Capell (p. 112): Impatience and 'absence'
concurring wounded the poet's ear; he put up with 'impatient' and hopes his
reader will do so. — Craik (p. 347): This speech is throughout a striking ex-
emplification of the tendency of strong emotion to break through the logical forms
of grammar, and of how impossible it is for language to be perfectly intelligible
and highly expressive sometimes, with the grammar in a more or less chaotic or

21 8 THE TRACED IE OF [act iv, sc. iii.

And greefe, that yong Oclaidns with Mark Antony 172

Haue made themfelues fo ftrong : For with her death

That tydings came. With this flie fell diftra6l,

And (her Attendants abfent) fwallow'd fire. 175

174. came\ came; Dyce, Coll. ii, iii, 175. jire\ poison Oechelhaiiser (Stage

Craik, Sta. Hal. Cam.4-, Huds. came arrangement).
...Ktly.

uncertain state. It does not much matter whether we take 'grief to be a nomina-
tive, or a second genitive governed by 'impatient.' In principle, though not per-
haps according to rule and established usage, 'Octavius with Mark Antony' is as
much entitled to a plural verb as 'Octavius and Mark Antony.' — Wright: The
sense is quite clear, but there is a mixture of two constructions, 'Impatient of my
absence, and grieving' and 'impatience of my absence and grief.'

174. That tydings] Craik (p. 347): 'Tidings' is commonly used by Shake-
speare as a plural noun; we have in V, iii, 54: 'These tidings will well comfort
Cassius'; but there are other instances beside the present in which it is treated as
singular. — [In illustration of the latter Wright quotes: 'How near the tidings of
our own comfort is.' — Rich. II: II, i, 272. To this may be added: 'Where when
and how Camest thou by this ill tidings.' — Ibid., Ill, iv, 80; and, 'That's the worst
tidings that I hear of yet.' — i Hen. IV: IV, i, 127. — Ed.]

174. distract] Craik (p. 348): In Shakespeare's day the language possessed
the three forms — distracted, 'distrsLCt,' a.nd dislraught; he uses them all. We have
now only the first.

175. (her Attendants absent) swallow'd fire] This is from Plutarch, who
says: 'And for Porcia, Brutus's wife, Nicolaus the Philosopher and Valerius
Maximus do write, that she determining to kill herself (her parents and friends
carefully looking to her to keep her from it), took hot burning coals and cast them
into her mouth, and kept her mouth so close that she choked herself. There was a
letter of Brutus found, written to his friends, complaining of their negligence, that,
his wife being sick, they would not help her, but suffered her to kill herself; choosing
to die rather than to languish in pain. Thus it appeareth that Nicolaus knew not
well that time, sith the letter (at the least if it were Brutus's letter) doth plainly
declare the disease and love of this lady, and also the manner of her death.' — Life
of Brutus, § 32; (ed. Skeat, p. 151). — Steevens: The death of Portia may want
that foundation which has hitherto entitled her to a place in poetry as a pattern
of Roman fortitude. She is reported, by Pliny, I think, to have died at Rome of a
lingering illness while Brutus was abroad; but some writers seem to look on a
natural death as a derogation from a distinguished character. — [I have not suc-
ceeded in locating Steevens's doubtful reference to Pliny. Dion Cassius gives but
a line to this incident, he says: 'Portia perished by swallowing red-hot charcoal.' —
Bk, xlvii, § 49; (Foster's translation, vol. iii, p. 155). — Appian likewise says that
Portia killed herself by swallowing coals of fire; but places her suicide after that of
Brutus and caused by grief for that event. — Bk, IV, ch. xvii, § 136; trans. White, ii,
334. — Ed.] — Malone: Valerius Maximus says [Bk, iv, § 5] that Portia survived
Brutus, and killed herself on hearing that her husband was defeated and slain at
Philippi. [Malone here quotes the foregoing extract from Plutarch, and thus
continues:] 'See also Martial, Bk, i, epigr. xlii. Valerius Maximus, Nicolaus, and

ACT IV, sc. iii.] IVLIVS CAESAR 219

Caf. Anddy'dfo? 176

Brii. Euen fo.

Plutarch all agree in saying that she put an end to her life; and the letter [given by
Plutarch], if authentic, ascertains that she did so in the lifetime of Brutus. Our
author, therefore, we see, had sufficient authority for his representation; and there
is, I think, little ground for supposing with Dryden that Shakespeare knew that
Portia had survived Brutus, and that he on purpose neglected a little chronology,
only to give Brutus an occasion of being more easily exasperated.' [See note by
Drj'den on IV, iii, i. — Cicero wrote to Brutus in Macedonia on 8"" of June, B. C.
43, a letter which, says its translator and editor, Shuckburgh, 'is to condole with
Brutus on the death of his wife Porcia. . . . Her illness is alluded to [in a letter
from Brutus to Atticus in May of this same year]. If this letter is genuine, the ac-
count that she died a natural death must be the true one.' — Thus Cicero writes:
'I would have performed the function, which you performed in my own time of
mourning, and have written you a letter of consolation, had I not known that you
did not stand in need of those remedies in your sorrow \\-ith which you relieved mine.
And I should hope that you will now more easily heal your own wound than you then
could mine. It is, moreover, quite unlike a man as great as you are, not to be able to
do himself, what he has enjoined on another. For myself, the arguments which you
had collected, as well as your personal influence, deterred me from excessive indul-
gence in grief : for when I seemed to you to be bearing my sorrow with less firmness
than was becoming to a man, and especially one accustomed to console others, you
wrote upbraiding me with sharper terms than were usual with you. Accordingly,
putting a high value on your opinion, and having a wholesome awe of it, I pulled
myself together and regarded what I had learnt, read, and been taught as being
the weightier by the addition of your authority. And at that time, Brutus, I owed
nothing except to duty and nature: you now have to regard the people and the
stage — to use a common expression. For since the eyes not only of your army, but
of all the citizens, and I ought almost to say of all the world, are fixed on you, it is
not at all seemly that the man who makes us all braver should himself seem weak-
ened in mind. To sum up: you have met with a sorrow — for you have lost a thing
unparalleled in the world — and j'ou must needs suffer from so severe a wound, lest
the fact of having no sense of sorrow should be a greater misfortune than sorrow
itself: but that you should do so in moderation is advantageous to others, necessary
for yourself. I would have written at greater length, had not even this been al-
ready too much. We are expecting j^ou and your army, without which — even if
everything else succeeds to our wishes — we seem likelj' to be scarcely as free
as we could desire. On the whole political situation I will write at greater length,
and perhaps with more certainty, in the letter which I think of handing to our
friend Vetus.' — (ed. Shuckburgh, vol. iv, p. 307). — The Epigram bj- Martial, to
which Malone refers above, is thus translated in Bohn's edition: 'WTien Porcia
had heard the fate of her consort Brutus, and her grief was seeking the weapon,
which had been carefully removed from her, "Ye know not yet," she cried, "that
death cannot be denied: I had supposed that my father had taught you this
lesson by his fate. " She spoke, and with eager mouth swallowed the blazing coals.
Go now, officious attendants, and refuse me a sword, if you will." ' — p. 45. — Ed.]
175. absent] For other examples of an adjective thus used participially, see, if
needful, Abbott, § 380.

220 THE TRACED IE OF [act iv, sc. iii.

Caf. O ye immortall Gods ! 178

Enter Boy with Wine , and Tapers.

Bru. Speak no more of her:Giue me a bowl of wine, 180
In this I bury all vnkindneffe Cafsiiis. Drifikes

Caf. My heart is thirfty for that Noble pledge.
Fill Lucius, till the Wine ore-fwell the Cup :
I cannot drinke too much o{ Brutus loue.

Enter Titinius and Meffala. 185

Brutus. Come in Titinius :
Welcome good Meffala: 187

178. O ye\ Om. Steev. conj. Mai.

179. Enter Boy. ..Tapers.] Re-enter 185. Enter.. .and...] Re-enter.. .with...
Lucius.. .tapers. Cap. et seq. (subs.) Cap. Dyce. Re-enter.. .and... Varr.

184. Brutus] F.Fj. Brutus's F4, Scene v. Pope,-f- (— Var. '73).

Rowe, Theob. Brutus' Pope et cet. 186, 187. One line Rowe.

180. Speak no more of her] Dowden (Mind 6= Art, p. 304): Brutus is sus-
tained by the spirit of Portia. To live in her spirit of Stoicism becomes now the
highest act of religion to her memory. . . . The armed men talking so gravely,
before the great day which is to decide the fate of the world, of the 'insupportable
and touching loss' make us know what this woman was. Profound emotion,
Shakespeare was aware, can express itself quietly and with reserve. The noisy
demonstration of grief over the supposed dead Juliet is the extravagant abandon-
ment to sorrow, partly real and partly formal, of hearts which were little sensitive,
and which had little concerned themselves about the joy or misery of Juliet living.
Laertes's rant in the grave of Ophelia is reproved by the more violent hyperbole of
Hamlet. Brutus will henceforth be silent and possess his soul. The remainder of
his life is a sad, sustained devotion to his cause.

187. Welcome good Messala] Cicero, writing from Rome to Brutus in
Macedonia, the middle of July, says: 'You have Messalla [sic] with you. What
letter, therefore, can I write with such minute care as to enable me to explain to
you what is being done and what is occurring in public affairs, more thoroughly
than he will describe them to you, who has at once the most intimate knowledge of
everything, and the talent for enfolding and conveying it to you in the best possible
manner? For beware of thinking, Brutus — for though it is unnecessary for me to
write to you what you know already, yet I cannot pass over in silence such eminence
in every kind of greatness — beware of thinking, I say, that he has any parallel in
honesty and firmness, care and zeal for the republic. So much so that in him elo-
quence— in which he is extraordinarily eminent — scarcely seems to offer any oppor-
tunity for praise. . . . But my affection carries me away; for it is not the purpose
of this letter to praise Messalla, especially to Brutus, to whom his excellence is not
less known than it is to me, and these particular accomplishments of his, which I
am praising, even better. Grieved as I was to let him go from my side, my one
consolation was that in going to you, who are to me a second self, he was performing
a duty and following the path of the truest glory. But enough of this.' — (Shuck-
burgh, iv, 318). — Ed.

ACT IV, sc. iii.] IVLIVS CAESAR 221

Now fit we clofe about this Taper heere, i88

And call in queflion our ncceffities.

Caff. Portia, art thou gone ? I90

Bru. No more I pray you.

Mcffala, I haue heere receiued Letters,
That yong Oftaidus, and Markc Antony
Come downe vpon vs with a mighty power,
Bending their Expedition toward Philippi. 195

Meff My felfe haue Letters of the felfe-fame Tenure.

Brii. With what Addition.

Meff. That by profcription, and billes of Outlarie, 198

190, 191. Marked as aside Cap. 196. Tenure] Ff, Rowe, Pope, tenor

190. Portia,] 0 Portia! Pope,-|-. Knt, Sta. ietiour Theob. et cet.
192. heere] Om. Pope ii. 198. profcription] proscriptions Pope,

receiued] received Dyce. Han.
igS. toward] tow'rdFope,+. towards Outlarie] Outlawry F^.

Cap. Varr. Ran.

189. call in question] That is, consider, examine.

190, 191. Portia ... I pray you] These two lines are evidently spoken in a
lower tone, aside, and not heard by Messala; otherwise he would have known
that Brutus had already received intelligence of Portia's death. — Ed.

195. Bending] Murray (s. v., bend IV, 20. c): To direct (anything led, driven,
or carried). [Compare 'And towards London do they bend their power.' — Rich.
Ill: IV, V, 14.]

196. My selfe] Wright: 'Myself,' when used alone in the nominative, is gen-
erally followed by the first person, but sometimes takes the third, as in 'Even
so myself bewails good Gloucester's case.' — 2 Hen. VI: III, i, 217.

198-203. That by proscription . . . Cicero being one] 'Octavius Cassar,
Antonius, and Lepidus made an agreement between themselves . . . and did set
up bills of proscription and outlawry, condemning two hundred of the noblest men
of Rome to suffer death, and among that number Cicero was one.' — Plutarch:
Brutus, § 20; (ed. Skeat, p. 128).

198. That by . . . billes of Outlarie] Craik (p. 348) : The supernumerary
short syllable — the -tion or the 'and' — [may] be disposed of, as usual, by the two
being rapidly enunciated as one. The line might, indeed, be reduced to perfect
regularity by the -tion being distributed into a disyllable, in which case the prosody
would be completed at 'out,' and the two following unaccented syllables would
count for nothing (or be what is called hypercatalectic) , unless, indeed, any one
should take them for an additional foot, and so holding the verse to be an Alexan-
drine. But taste and probability alike protest against either of these ways of
managing the matter. Nay, even the running together of the -tion and the and
is not necessary, nor the way that would be taken by a good reader; that is, not
how the line be read, but only how it might be scanned: in reading it, the 'and'
would rather be combined with 'bills,' and a short pause would, in fact, be made
after the -tion, as the pointing and the sense require. So entirely unfoimded is the

222 THE TRACED IE OF [act iv, sc. iii.

Oftaimis, Antony, and Lepidus,

Haue put to death, an hundred Senators. 200

Bru. Therein our Letters do not well agree :
Mine fpeake of feuenty Senators, that dy'de
By their profcriptions, Cicero being one.

Cajfi. Cicero one ?

Meffa. Cicero is dead, and by that order of profcription 205
Had you your Letters from your wife, my Lord?

Bru, No Meffala.

Meffa. Nor nothing in your Letters writ of her ?
.' Bru. Nothing Meffala. 209

200. death,] death F3F4. 205. Cicero] Ay Cicero Cap. Steev.

an] a Cap. Var. '78, '85, Ran. Varr. Sing. Yes, Cicero Ktly.

204. Cicero] Cibero F2. by that] that by Cap.

204, 205. Cicero one? ...profcription] profcription] profcription. F3F4,
Ff, Rowe, Pope, Theob. Han. Warb. 207. No] No, not from her Words-
Mai. Var. '21. As two lines, ending: worth.
dead... profcription Cap. et cet. 208. your] you Fj.

notion that a pause, of whatever length, occurring in the course of a verse can ever
have anything of the prosodical efifect of a word or syllable.

200. an hundred] Compare 'Which like a fountain with an hundred spouts.'
— II, ii, 88. Yet, on the other hand, we have 'Upon a heap a hundred ghastly
women.' — I, iii, 25. This last, 'a hundred,' is the more usual, at least in Shake-
speare.— Ed.

200-202. an hundred Senators . . . seuenty Senators] These numbers are
apparently Shakespeare's own invention. As may be seen by the preceding note,
Plutarch gives the number as two hundred; Appian (Civil Wars, Bk, IV, ch. ii, § 5)
gives the number of senators as 'about 300, and of the so-called knights about
2000'; in the next section he says, however, that 'twelve or, as some say, seven-
teen names were on the first list; and that Cicero's name was among these.' — Ed.

204, 205. Cicero one ? . . . Cicero is dead] Steevens remarks: 'For the inser-
tion of the affirmative adverb [Ay, at the beginning of 1. 205] to complete the
metre I am answerable.' This refers also to the division of line 205 at the word
'dead.' As may be seen from the Text. Notes, Capell has anticipated Steevens both
in this addition and arrangement. — In regard to this distribution of lines Craik
(P- 35°) says: 'We are not entitled to exact or to expect a perfect observance
of the punctilios of regular prosody in such brief expressions of strong emotion as
the dialogue is here broken up into. What do the followers of Steevens profess to
be able to make, in the way of prosody, of the very next utterance: "No, Messala"?
The best thing we can do is to regard "Cicero one?" and "Cicero is dead"
either as hemistichs (the one the commencement, the other the conclusion, of a
line), or, if that view be preferred, as having no distinct or precise prosodical
character whatever. Every sense of harmony and propriety, however, revolts
against running " Cicero is dead " into the same line with "and by that order," etc'

207-209. No Messala . . . Nothing Messala] R. W. Hamilton (p. 221):
There is one apparent contradiction which is supposed to injure the truth of Brutus.

ACT IV, sc. iii.] IVLIVS CAESAR 223

[207-209. No Messala . . . Nothing Messala]
With the public despatches he has received the account of Portia's death. He
bears it in the spirit of his stoicism, and only reveals it to his friend. To Messala
he appears ignorant of it, and even denies to have received the information. He is
now sitting in a council of war, during the midnight which precedes the battle of
Philippi, and he will know no private grief. He will neither tell his widowerhood,
nor the cruel proscription of his friends to the harassed army. It may be sup-
pression; it is falsehood, but it is of the character of the courage which disinter-
estedly conceals the pain it endures. It is the nerve which will not shrink. It is
to save others that it veils the inly consuming agony. We offer not the excuse of
our principles: the stern character is fully supported on its own. It may be, too,
that he is supposed to warrant the deception, because his information is private,
though it accompanied the public news. He might deem that he was not required
to be the mourner before others until the fact obtained its legitimate publicity.
— J. Resch (Archivfur das Studiiim, etc., band Ixvii, p. 446) thinks that this pre-
tended ignorance and hj^jocrisy, which is quite inconsistent with the character of
Brutus as drawTi by Shakespeare, can only be explained by the supposition that the
prompter's copy from which the Folio was printed contained two versions of the
news of Portia's death, and, by an oversight, both became incorporated in the
text. 'Proofs for this hypothesis,' Resch continues, 'are, of course, lacking, since
there is no Quarto copy of Jul. Cas. Such a repetition is not without analogy,
e. g., in Love's Labour's Lost, IV, 111,302-304 and 350-352; again, V, ii, 827-832 and
833-840, we have in one case an actual repetition and in the other, two separate
versions. If we should discard the first version in the present play we must omit
lines 162-178, beginning with "I did not think you could have been so angry"
down to "Speak no more of her [it]. Give me a bowl of wine. " We must likewise
strike out the two short lines "Portia, art thou gone" and "No more I pray
you." With these omissions the bearing of Brutus on hearing Messala's message
and the remark of Cassius, "I have as much of this in art as you. But yet my nature
could not bear it so," become at least comprehensible. If, on the other hand,
the scene with Messala is to be considered as an interpolation, we must omit 11.
206-222, i. e., from "Cicero is dead, and by that order of proscription" down to
"Well to our work alive. What do you thinke Of marching to Philippi presently. " '
As to the question which of these two versions is the original or which is the better,
Resch opines that the version wherein Brutus tells Cassius of Portia's death de-
serves the preference, and for these reasons: ' His grief furnishes the best explanation
of his irritation with Cassius; besides, as has been shown, if the lines are to be
omitted a change in the text is involved. As regards the scene with Messala, it
establishes no special point which had not been brought forward previously, and
its excision, beginning and ending with a complete line, causes no actual break in
continuity; the reference to Cicero's death in 1. 205 is, moreover, perfectly approriate
to the speech of Brutus: "Well to our work alive," etc. Finally, Brutus's bearing
at the communication to Cassius of Portia's death is certainly more consistent with
his character as previously exhibited.' — [Paul Kannengiesser (Jahrbucli, xliv,
50) also discusses these two passages and arrives at the same conclusion as given in
this thoughtful essay by Resch, to whom he does not, however, refer. His arrange-
ments with their omissions are identical with those of his predecessor. — Ed.] —
Verity: Perhaps Brutus dissembles thus because he cherishes a faint hope that
after all Portia is not dead — that the report which reached him was false and that

224 ^^-^ TRACE DIE OF [act iv, sc. iii.

[207-209. No Messala . . . Nothing Messala]

Messala has later tidings of her being ahve. Compare his question: 'Hear you
ought of her, in yours? '^ — Beeching: Perhaps Brutus wishes to appear to take
his wife's death impassively in order not to dishearten Messala by seeming to
attach importance to her estimate of the situation. — Mark Hunter in his Preface ac-
knowledges his indebtedness to Percy Simpson for several scholarly notes, which
appear, I believe, in Hunter's edition only. Under the present passage he says
that Simpson 'thinks it possible that Brutus's first answers to Messala's ques-
tions: "No, Messala," "Nothing, Messala," are the half-dazed, half-indifferent
utterances of a man staggering under a loss that has stirred his nature to its depths,
and as Messala insists on probing the still fresh wound, Brutus takes, as it were, a
lesson in endurance by listening calmly, with no symptom of grief or agitation.' — To
this Hunter adds: 'What Messala takes for stoical fortitude is, in reality, a sensi-
tive shrinking from a wound which is too recent and too painful to be laid bare in
the presence of any but the most intimate friends. To Cassius, after the quarrel
has drawn the two men more closely together, Brutus can speak of his loss a little,
and even, in a broken way, speak of the circumstances of Portia's death. Before
others he cannot speak; hence he at once checks Cassius when Lucius enters, —
"Speak no more of her"; and again, after the entrance of Titinius and Messala, —
" No more, I pray you." With an effort Brutus turns to business. After a little, Mes-
sala abruptly puts the question. Brutus's repeated denial is surely not prompted
by any wish to give an example of fortitude, as I have heard suggested, but rather
to put aside the question. He hopes, perhaps, that Messala does not know the truth,
or knowing it, will not speak, if he imagines Brutus still ignorant. When Messala
persists, Brutus, as the least painful way, suffers him to tell the news again, rather
than venture himself to speak of it. Still he cannot bear the details, and when Mes-
sala is about to speak of the "strange manner" of Portia's end, he checks him by
an assumption of fortitude which is far from felt. Cassius, of course, knows that
Brutus has not now heard the news for the first time, and Messala must, I think,
recognise it too. They commend him, not because they think he regards the
greatest human loss as a thing not meriting sorrow, but because they admire the
strong manly nature that will not wear the heart upon the sleeve. Although Brutus
does not mention Portia again, we may be sure that he will find time to mourn for
her in secret, as he says he will find time to shed tears for Cassius. The interpreta-
tion here suggested is rather for the actor than for the commentator to make
good; but this is not seldom the case with Shakespeare. The fit actor could, I
believe, demonstrate throughout the whole scene that the loss of Portia and the
keenness of Brutus's suffering for that loss prompt all that Brutus says and
does; his harshness to Cassius at the beginning; the sudden self-abandonment, after
the quarrel is made up, in the single pathetic verse — pathetic as falling from the
lips of a strong self-contained man: "O Cassius, I am sick of many griefs"; the
strange denial to Messala; the "much forgetf ulness " a little later; the tenderness
shown to Lucius; the consideration for Claudius and Varro, even the little flash
of irritability when, at the close of the scene, he rouses the same soldiers from sleep.'
— Macmillan (p. 175): This is not the first lie that Brutus is guilty of in the play.
But his former lie [to Portia, 'I am not well in health, and that is all.' — II, i, 285]
was actuated by an easily intelligible motive, whereas this one is not. Further,
in the present case Brutus accepts without protest Messala's admiration, which is
based upon a misconception produced by the he. — [Macmillan, unaware apparently

ACT IV, sc. iii.] JVLIVS CjESAR. 225

McJJa. That me thinkes is ftrange. 210

Bru. Why aske )'Ou ?
Heare you ought of her, in yours ?

Mejfa. No my Lord.

Bru. Now as you are a Roman tell me true.

Meffa. Then like a Roman, beare the truth I tell, 215

For certaine fhe is dead, and by ftrange manner.

Bru. Why farewell Portia: We muft die Meffala:
With meditating that fhe muft dye once,
I haue the patience to endure it now. 219

211,212. One line Rowe et seq. 213. my Lord] my lord, nolhing

212. ought] aught Warb. et seq. Wordsworth.

that herein he has been anticipated by Resch, see ante, thinks that the 'difficulties
in the end of this scene are due to additions subsequently made, and not perfectly
reconciled with the original draft.' — Ed.] — Porter-Clarke: The wearing effect
on Brutus of all this pretence of control while his heart was in agony adds to what
he must suffer from anxiety as to the approaching battle. Does Shakespeare mean
to suggest that Brutus is discovering in this, as he may also discover in his disregard
of friendship for Caesar when his reason bade him strike him down, that the heart
may not be forced and violated undidy? — MAcCALLm (p. 242): Brutus may
profess ignorance to save himself the pain of explanation, though surely it would
have been simpler to say 'I know all.' But the effect is undoubtedly to bring his
self-control into fuller relief in presence of Messala and Titinius, even than in the
presence of Cassius a few minutes before; for then he was announcing what he al-
ready knew, here he would seem in the eyes of his informants to be encountering the
first shock. Too much must not be made of this, for Cassius, who is aware of the
circumstances, is no less impressed than the others, and Cassius would have de-
tected any hollow ring. But at the least it savours of a willingness to give a demon-
stration, so to speak, in Clinical Ethics. — [The foregoing remarks are, after all, but
excellent attempts to excuse what is nothing more or less than a deliberate lie.
And a lie, moreover, from which nothing but a reputation for fortitude, under the
most distressing calamity, could accrue. The lie told by Desdemona after her
supposed death is to shield Othello, and, therefore, to a certain extent, pardonable;
that told by Opheha to Hamlet in regard to the whereabouts of her father was to
shield that father, and is likewise, on that groimd, explicable. Brutus had no motive
but a selfish one; and as such a conclusion is quite inconsistent with the Brutus of the
former scenes, our only recourse is to accept the explanation given by Resch, viz.:
that these words between Brutus and Messala are an interpolation from a MS ad-
dition which appeared first in the play-house copy, and which, by mistake, became
incorporated in the text. — Ed.]

217. Why] Wright: Like what used as an interjection. Here it expresses
acquiescence; in that case, that being so. Compare 1. 331 : 'Why I will see thee at
Philippi then.'

218, 219. With meditating ... to endure it now] Kreyssig (p. 32):
This is Portia's only elegy. It is, moreover, evident that the triimiph here cele-

226 THE TRACE DIE OF [act iv, sc. iii.

MeJJa. Euen fo great men, great loffes fhold indure. 220

CaJJi. I haue as much of this in 'Art as you ,
But yet my Nature could not beare it fo.

Bru. Well, to our worke aliue. What do you thinke
Of marching to Philippi prefently.

Cafji. I do not thinke it good. 225

Bru. Your reafon ?

CaJJi. This it is : 227

!20. fliold\ Fi. 227. ii is\ Om. Steev. conj., John

Hunter conj. Wordsworth so prints.

brated is not that of the system of Stoic philosphy, but of the Heroic soul [Helden-
seele] of a man ever striving towards the great and noble.

218. once] Murray (N. E. D., s. v. B. 5.): At some future time; some day.

221. Art] Malone: That is, in theory. — [Craik (p. 351) takes exception to this
interpretation, and says that 'art' here 'rather signifies by acquired knowledge or
learning, as distinguished from natural disposition. The passage is one of the many
in our old poets . . . running upon the relation between nature and art.']

223. to our worke aliue] Craik (p. 351): That is, let us proceed to our living
business, to that which concerns the living, not the dead. — John Hunter:
'Alive' here qualifies the pronoun us, involved in 'our' (= of us): now to the work
which demands the attention of us alive, which we the living must attend to.
There is a somewhat similar grammatical difiiculty in such phraseology as 'his
ability as a statesman.'

223, 224. What do you thinke . . . Philippi presently] Mark Hunter:
In Plutarch the discussion between Brutus and Cassius as to the policy of adopt-
ing offensive and defensive tactics took place at Philippi itself; and in Shakespeare
we must imagine the discussion taking place in the same neighborhood; for although
at the beginning of the scene we were at Sardis, we can scarcely be there now.
Here we have not only a double time, but double notions of space are likewise
required. Sardis is a very long way from Philippi, and yet we have just learned
that Octavius and Antony are coming down upon Brutus and Cassius, 'bending
their expedition towards Philippi.' Evidently Philippi is directly in the line of
attack. Secondly, by (1. 233), 'The people 'twixt Philippi, and this ground,' we can
scarcely understand the inhabitants of the countries between Macedonia and
Sardis, but rather the natives of the immediately surrounding neighborhood upon
whom the army relied for supplies. 'This ground' again obviously points to some
military position capable of being strongly defended, where the troops are 'full of
defence,' and not very far from Philippi. In fact, the opening lines of Act V, where
Octavius expresses surprised satisfaction at the tactics adopted by the enemy,
tell us that ' this ground ' is no other than ' the hills and upper regions ' above Phil-
ippi. Lastly, the end of this scene is plainly closely connected in point of time with
the following Act. Almost everything that is said and done makes us feel that we
are on the eve of a decisive engagement, not merely at the beginning of a cam-
paign. There are, of course, both here and in V, i. touches which suggest 'long
time' and long distance; but this is Shakespeare's device to conceal an inevitable
inconsistency.

ACT IV. sc. iii.] IVLIVS CJESAR 227

'Tis better that the Enemie feeke vs, 228

So fhall he wafte his meanes, weary his Souldiers,
Doing himfelfe offence, whirft we lying ftill, 230

Are full of reft, defence, and nimbleneffe.

Bru.Good reafons muft of force giue place to better :
The people 'twixt Philippi, and this ground
Do ftand but in a forc'd affe6lion ;

For they haue grug'd vs Contribution. 235

The Enemy, marching along by them,
By them fhall make a fuller number vp,
Come on refrefht, new added, and encourag'd :
From which aduantage fhall we cut him off.
If at Philip pi we do face him there, 240

235. grug'd] grudg'd F3F4. 239. Jhall we] we shall Craik conj.

238. new added] Ff, Rowe,4-- new of.] Ff. of Cam. of, Rowe

aided Sing, ii, Ktly. new-aided Dyce, et cet.

Hal. Huds. new-hearted Coll. ii, iii. 240. him there] him, there Theob.

(MS), Craik. new-added Cap. et cet. conj. (Nichols, ii, 497), withdrawn.

229, 230. his . . . his . . . himselfe] Here and in 1. 239, below, 'enemy' is
taken collectively as a singular noun; it is not, however, always so; in V, i, 18 we
have 'The enemy comes on in gallant show. Their bloody sign of battle is hung
out.'— Ed.

238. new added] Collier's MS here reads new-hearted, upon which he remarks
(Notes, etc., p. 428) : 'This error might be occasioned by the then broad pronuncia-
tion of "added" having been mistaken for hearted.' — Craik (p. 352): The only
meaning that can be forced out of ' new-added ' gives us merely a repetition of what
has been already said in the preceding line, a repetition which is not only unneces-
sary, but would be introduced in the most unnatural way and place possible;
whereas [the MS correction] new-hearted is the very sort of word one would expect
to find where it stands, in association with 'refreshed' and 'encouraged.' — Collier
(ed. ii): 'New-aided,' which is Dyce's emendation [see Text. Notes], is only saying
the same thing over again that appears in 1. 237. New-hearted is a strong and
expressive compound. [Collier then quotes the last sentence of Craik's note
commending this emendation.] — Dyce, in defence of his conjecture (which also
had occurred to Singer), in his second edition thus replies: '"Hearted" bears
not the most distant resemblance, either in spelling or in sound, to the orig-
inal word "added"; from which the word substituted by me, aided, differs only
in a single letter. Collier declares that new-aided is only saying the same thing
over again [as in 1. 237]; but how came it to escape him that "new-hearted and
encouraged" are synonymous terms? — "To heart: To encourage; to hearten." —
Todd's Johnson. Craik's note would seem to show that he was not aware of my
conjecture, new-aided; though the reader would be apt to judge, from what Collier
says, that it was known to Craik, and had been condemned by him; in which case,
let me add (without any disrespect to Craik), I should not have thought the worse
of it.'

228 THE TRACED IE OF [act iv, sc. iii.

Thefe people at our backe. 241

Cajfu Heare me good Brother.

Bru. Vnder your pardon. You muft note befide,
That we haue tride the vtmoft of our Friends :
Our Legions are brim full, our caufe is ripe, 245

The Enemy encreafeth euery day.
We at the height, are readie to decline.
There is a Tide in the affayres of men,
Which taken at the Flood, leades on to Fortune :
Omitted, all the voyage of their life, 250

Is bound in Shallowes,and in Miferies.

246. encreafeth] increasing Ed. conj. 248-254. Mnemonic Pope, Warb..

248, 249. There is a Tide . . . leades on to Fortune] Steev'ens and
BoswELL quote, as parallel in sentiment, passages from Beaumont and Fletch-
er's Custom of the Country, II, iii, and Bloody Brother, II, i. — Malone likewise
from Chapman's Bnssy D'Ambois, I, i. (ed. Pearson, p. 10). [ — These are all
only paraphrases of the axiom that Opportunity once lost is irretrievable.
The observation is not, I think, original with Shakespeare, or Bacon, or Beau-
mont and Fletcher, or Chapman. — Ed.] — Walker (Crit., iii, 248) compares,
for a like intermingling of the simile with the thing compared, V, iii, 68-71. —
Green (p. 258): From at least four distinct sources in the Emblem-books of
the sixteenth century Shakespeare might have derived the characteristics of the
goddess [Occasion, or Opportunity]: from Alciat, Perriere, Corrozet, and Whit-
ney. Perriere (Theatre de Bans Engins, 1539) presents the figure with stanzas of
old French, [which] may be accepted as a translation of the Latin of Alciat, on the
goddess Opportunity; . . . she is portrayed standing on a wheel that is floating
upon the waves; and as the tide rises there are apparently ships or boats making for
the shore. The figure holds a razor in the right hand, has wings upon the feet, and
abundance of hair streaming from the forehead. Whitney's English lines (p. 181)
sufficiently express the meaning both of the French and of the Latin stanzas.
[It is to these which Green refers as ' an exact comment ' on the present passage in
Jul. CcEs.]: 'Why doest thou stande within an open place? That I maye wame all
people not to staye. But at the firste, occasion to imbrace. And when shee comes
to meete her by the waye.' 'There is,' adds Green, '"the full sea," on which
Fortune is now afloat; and people are all warned, "at the first occasion to embrace,"
or " take the current when it serves."' — Wright: Compare 'Bsicon, Advancement
of Learning, [1605]: '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.' —
Bk, ii, ch. 23, § 38; (Clarendon ed., p. 243).

251. bound in Shallowes] Verity: That is, confined to shallows, etc. —
Mark Hunter: There seems to be here some confusion between the adjective
bound, ready to go, as in homeward bound, bound for Naples, and the past parti-
ciple of biiid. — [Hunter is, perhaps, right; but the simpler explanation seems the
better, that 'boimd in' here means circumscribed by shallows and miseries. — Ed.)

ACT IV. sc. iii.] IVLIVS CyESAR 229

On fuch a full Sea are we now a-float, 252

And we muft take the current when it ferues,
Or loofe our Ventures.

Caffi. Then with your will go on : wee'l along 255

Our felues,and meet them at Philippi.

Brti, The deepe of night is crept vpon our talke,
And Nature muft obey Neceffitie,
Which we will niggard with a little reft :
There is no more to fay. 260

Caffi. No more, good night,
Early to morrow will we rife, and hence.

Enter Lucius. 263

255, 256. r/ten... Philippi] Lines end: 260. jay\ say? Cap. et seq.

o»... Philippi Cap. et seq. 262. will we] we will Rowe ii, Pope,

255. weeU along] we will along Rowe, Han.
+, Van. CoU. WTi. well on Cap.

255. Then with your will go on] GoLL (p. 71): In the discussion of the plan
of campaign Brutus is again victorious with his unfortunate scheme, because he
dictatorially closes the mouth of Cassius. Is it a proof that Brutus is only an indif-
ferent commander, possessed of small intelligence, that he seems to be so mistaken
as to the conditions? It might seem so, because this time his reasons for fighting
at Philippi rather than at Sardis cannot possibly be ethical. And yet the correct
explanation is another one. Brutus is tired to death of the whole string of events
which are so ill-suited to his disposition that from amongst all his shattered hopes
one -n-ish only remains — to bring the whole business to an end. On that accoimt
Brutus -nishes to advance; the only advantage of his plan being that the battle
will be expedited — Philippi is, therefore, better than Sardis. He seeks the judg-
ment for his actions which alone can give him peace and rest. Now, as before, the
interim between thought and action is like a 'hideous dream,' which must be cut as
short as possible. After all, judgment cannot be evaded. Let it come!

256. Our selues] This use of 'ourselves' seems to imply a separation of the
forces, that is: Go forward according to your desire, and we ourselves will go to
Phihppi. This is, of coiu-se, not what Cassius intends; therefore the word is used,
I think, in contradistinction to the 'himself referring to the enemy in 1. 230:
'doing himself offence.' — Ed.

259. niggard] Schmidt {Lex., s. v. 2.): To supply sparingly. — [The present line
quoted, as the only example of this word used in exactly this sense. Niggarding
occurs, used intransitively, in Sonnet i, 1. 12: 'And, tender churl, makes waste in
niggarding.' — Craigie {N. E. D., s. v. 2.) quotes the present line as the only ex-
ample, thus far found, of 'niggard' used transitively. — Ed.]

262. Early to morrow . . . hence] Mark Hunter: Notice how absolutely
unnecessary all this haste would be — the few hours snatched for sleep, the early
forced march — if the armies were still at Sardis. [See note, 11. 223, 224.]

262. will we . . . hence] Craik (p. 354): It might almost be said that the
adverb 'hence' is here turned into a verb; it is construed exactly as 'rise' is. So
both with 'hence' and home in I, i, 7.

230 '^^fE TRACED IE OF [act iv, sc. iii.

Bru. Lucius my Gowne: farewell good Meffala,
Good night Titinms : Noble, Noble Gz^/z^^, 265

Good night, and good repofe.

CaJJi. O my deere Brother :
This was an ill beginning of the night :
Neuer come fuch diuifion 'tweene our foules :
Let it not Brutus. 270

Enter Lucius with the Gowne.

Brn, Euery thing is well.

CaJli. Good night my Lord.

Bru, Good night good Brother.

Tet. Meffa. Good night Lord Brutus. 275

Bru. Farwell euery one. Exeunt.

Giue me the Gowne. Where is thy Inftrument ?

Liic. Heere in the Tent.

Bru. What, thou fpeak'ft drowfilyf
Poore knaue I blame thee not, thou art ore-watch'd. 280

264. farewell] now farewell Han. 272. Brn.] Fi.'^v-

farewell now Huds. Fare you (or ye) 273, 274. Caffi. Good. ..Brother] Om.

well Walker (Vers., p. 141). Pope,+. ff^"^

269. come] came Rowe i. 280. thee not] thee art F^. thee F3F4.

269. Neuer come] That is, may such difference never come. This refers, of
course, to their quarrel. ' Come ' is herein the optative mood.

273, 274. Good night my Lord . . . Brother] Mark Hunter: The formal
address, 'my Lord,' is with Cassius expressive of love, gratitude, and deep rever-
ence. In reply, 'good Brother,^ Brutus affectionately disclaims the title of supe-
riority.— [Compare, perhaps, Hamlet's reply to Horatio: 'Sir, my good friend, I'll
change that name with you,' when Horatio has called himself Hamlet's 'poor ser-
vant.'— I, ii, 162. — Ed.] — ^F. C. Kolbe {Irish Monthly, Sep., 1896; p. 509): It is a
wonderful touch that at the end of this scene, in which Cassius has felt the strength
of Brutus and been cowed by it, he calls him (for the only time in the whole play)
'my Lord.' No wonder, then, that when Brutus unfolds his plan about Philippi,
Cassius, although he does not like it, gives way. Over-generosity makes Brutus
forgive too much; over-admiration makes Cassius surrender his better judg-
ment.

280. ore-watch'd] Craik (p. 354): * O'er-watched ' is used in this sense of worn-
out ^vith watching by other writers as well as by Shakespeare, however irrecon-
cilable such an application of it may be with the meaning of the verb to watch. We
have it again in Lear: 'All weary and o'er watched.' — II, ii, 177. — [Is not 'watch'
here and in 1. 290, 'watch your pleasure,' used in its technical sense, from the
method of taming hawks by keeping them from sleep? See Tro. b" Cress., Ill, ii,
45: ' — you must be watched ere you be made tame'; also Othello: 'I'll watch him
tame.' — III, iii, 23. For other examples of active and passive verbs with neuter
form, see, if needful, Abbott, § 295. — Ed.]

ACT IV. sc. iii.] IVLIVS C^SAR 231

Call Claiidio, and fome other of my men, 281

He haue them fleepe on Cufhions in my Tent.

Luc. Varrus, 3ind Claudio.

Enter Varrus and Claudio.

Var. CalsmyLord? 285

Bru. I pray you firs, lye in my Tent and fleepe,
It may be I fliall raife you by and by
On bufmeffe to my Brother Caffius,

Var. So pleafe you, we will ftand.
And watch your plefaure. 290

Bni. I will it not haue it fo : Lye downe good firs.
It may be I fhall otherwife bethinke me.
Looke Liicius, heere's the booke I fought for fo :
I put it in the pocket of my Gowne. 294

281, 283, 284. Claudio] Claudius 289, 290. ^,One line Rowe. t

Rowe et seq. 291. will it] Fi. C'' — '-^

283, 284. Varrus] Varro Rowe et seq. 292. [Servants retire and sleep. Cap.

284. Scene vi. Pope, Han. Warb. et seq. (subs.)
Johns.

281. some other] Cr-\ik (p. 354): By 'some other' we should now mean
some of a different sort. For some more we say some others. But although 'other'
thus used as a substantive, with the plural of the ordinary form, is older than the
time of Shakespeare, I do not recollect that he anywhere has others. Nor does it
occur, I believe, even in Clarendon. On the other hand, it is frequent in Milton. —
[The plural form, 'others,' occurs in three passages in Shakespeare, viz.: 'With
eyes as red as new-kindled fire, And others more.' — King John, IV, ii, 164; 'What
is it they do When they change us for others?' — Othello, IV, iii, 98; and ' — the
greatest are misthought. For things that others do.' — Ant. b" Cleo., V, ii, 178. — Ed.]

283. Varrus] Walker (Crit., ii, 323), among other examples wherein the letter
r, both in proper names and in some other words, is doubled, cites the present pas-
sage, and says: 'Varrus . . . — vulg. Varro, — is, if this form be the right one,
Varus; of course, not the Varus. I rather think, however, that Varro is the true
reading.' — [See Text. Notes.]

287. raise] Schmidt {Lex., s. v. 4.): To rouse, to stir up, to awake, to make to
rise.

290. watch your pleasure] That is, stay awake during your pleasure, or as
long as you so will it. (Compare 1. 280, and note.)

293, 294. Looke Lucius . . . the pocket of my Gowne] Hudson {Life, etc.,
ii> 23s): What the man is, and where he ought to be, is all signified in these two
lines. And do we not taste a dash of benignant irony in the implied repugnance
between the spirit of the man and the stuff of his present undertaking? The idea
of a bookworm riding the whirlwind of war! The thing is most Hke Brutus; but how
out of his element, how unsphered from his right place, it shows him! There is a
touch of drollery in the contrast which the richest steeping of poetry does not dis-
gxiise. I fancy the Poet to have been in a bland, intellectual smile as he wrote

232 T//E TRACED IE OF [act iv, sc. iii.

Luc. I was fure your Lordfhip did mot giue it me. 295

Brii. Beare with me good Boy, I am much forgetfull.
Canft thou hold vp thy heauie eyes a-while,
And touch thy Inftrument a ftraine or two.

Luc. I my Lord, an't pleafe you.

Br7i. It does my Boy : 3^0

I trouble thee too much, but thou art willing.

Luc. It is my duty Sir.

Brjit. I fhould not vrge thy duty paft thy might,
I know yong bloods looke for a time of reft.

Liic. I haue flept my Lord already. 305

Bru^ It was well done, and thou fhalt fleepe againe:
I will not hold thee long. If I do Hue,
I will be good to thee.

Muficke and a Song. 309

297, 298. thy...a-u>kile,...thy...or two] (Crit., iii, 248).

thy. ..or two, thy...a--while Ff. 309. Muficke.. . Song.] Musick... Song:

300-302. It does. ..my duty Sir] Two toward the End, Lucius falls asleep,

lines, ending: much.. .duty Sir. Walker Cap. Jen.

that strain of loving earnestness in which the matter is delivered. And the irony is
all the more delectable for being so remote and unpronounced; like one of those
choice arrangements in the background of a painting, which, without attracting
conscious notice, give a zest and relish to what stands in front. The scene, whether
for charm of sentiment or felicity of conception, is one of the finest in Shakespeare.
Here, too, he had a hint from Plutarch: ' — whilst he [Brutus] was in war, . . .
after he had taken order [for his weightiest causes], if he had any leisure left him,
he would read some book till the third watch of the night, at what time the cap-
tains, petty captains, and colonels did use to come to him.' — [Brutus, § 26; ed.
Skeat, p. 136.] — Macmillan: The conversation between Brutus and his attendant
may be compared with that between Desdemona and her attendant, Bianca
[Emiha?], which has a similar position in the end of the Fourth Act of Othello.
Both scenes are pervaded with a feeling of drowsiness and peaceful tranquillity,
which agreeably relieves the strain to which our feelings are subjected by the
highly-wrought scene that has gone before, and by the tragic conclusion of the
drama which we know to be imminent. In both cases the ease and natural sim-
plicity of the conversation conceal the dramatist's consummate art.

295. I was] Walker {Crit., ii, 204) quotes this line among many other exam-
ples wherein 'tJwu wert, you were, "I was" must have been pronounced [for
the sake of the metre] as one syllable, in whatever manner the contraction was
affected.'

297, 298. Canst thou ... a strains or two] Staffer (p. 342): Brutus asks
Lucius for a little music, which he loved, and even this detail has its significance
when contrasted with the brief remark made by Cajsar respecting Cassius: 'he
hears no music'

ACT IV, sc. iii.] JVLIVS CyESAR 233

This is a flecpy Tune : O Murd'rous flumblcr \ 310

Layeft thou thy Leaden Mace vpon my Boy,

That playes thee Muficke ? Gentle knaue good night :

I will not do thee fo much wrong to wake thee :

If thou do'ft nod, thou break'll: thy Inftrument,

He take it from thee, and (good Boy) good night. 315

Let me fee, let me fee; is not the Leafe turn'd downe

Where I left reading ? Heere it is I thinke.

Enter the Gliojl of Ccsfar . 318

310. Jliimbler] Jltmber F3F4. me see Pope, let me see— Theob.+.

315. [Lays the instrument by, and let's see Steev. conj.

sits down. Cap. Jen. 3i7- [He sits down to read. Rowe,4-,

316. Let me fee,] But Pope,+ (— Var. Varr. Ran.

'73). Let's see Steev. conj. Scene vii, Pope, Han. Warb.

let me fee;] let me fee? Ff. let Johns.

310, 311. Murd'rous slumbler . . . thy Leaden Mace] Holt White com-
pares Spenser, Faerie Qiieene: 'When as Morpheus had with leaden mase
Arrested all that courtly company.'— I, iv, 44.— Mark Hunter: The metaphor is
from the bailiff touching persons on the shoulder with his mace or staff, in token of
arrest.

313. I will not ... to wake thee] Compare, for this construction, 'Be not
fond To thinke that Cssar beares such rebell blood.' — III, i, 48.

314. thou break'st] Abbott (§ 363): The subjunctive is replaced by the indica-
tive after if where there is no reference to futurity and no doubt is expressed, as in
'if thou lovest me.' [In the present line] the meaning is you are sure to break, and
the present indicative, being used in the consequent, is also used in the antecedent.

317. Heere it is I thinke] MacCallum (p. 268): Brutus's habit of reading
at night is mentioned by Plutarch, but, when we consider the circumstances, has it
not a deeper meaning here? His love for Portia we know, but after his brief refer-
ences to her death, he seems to banish her from his mind, and never, not even in
his dying words, does her name cross his lips again. Is this an inadvertence on
Shakespeare's part, or an omission due to the kinship of Jul. Ccbs. with the Chronicle
History? Is it not rather that he conceives Brutus as one of those who are so
bound up in their affections that they fear to face a thought of their bereavement
lest they should utterly collapse? Is it fanciful to interpret that search for his
book with the leaf turned down, in the light of Macauley's confession on the
death of his sister, 'Literature has saved my life and my reason; even now I dare
not, in the intervals of business, remain alone a minute without a book'? — [Morley
{On Popular Culture) observes, not, however, with any reference to the present
passage, 'Montesquieu used to say that he had never known a pain or a distress
which he could not soothe by half an hour of a good book.' — {Miscellanies, iii, 5). —
This is, I think, a translation of a sentence in the Portrait de Montesquieu, par Lui
Meme: 'L'etude a ete pour moi le souverain remede contre les degouts de la vie,
n'ayant jamais eu de chagrin qu'une heure de lecture n'ait dissipe.' — {(Euvres
Posthume, p. 134). — Ed.]

318. Enter the Ghost of Caesar] Stee\'ENS: It does not appear from Plu-
tarch that 'the Ghost of Caesar' appeared to Brutus, but 'a wonderful strange

234 ^-^-^ TRACED IE OF [act iv, sc. iii.

[318. Enter the Ghost of Caesar]

and monstrous shape of a body.' This apparition could not be at once the
shade of Caesar and the 'evil genius' of Brutus. 'Brutus boldly asked what
he was, a god or a man, and what cause brought him thither. The spirit
answered him, I am thy evil spirit, Brutus; and thou shalt see me by the city
of Philippes.' — \BTutus, § 26; ed. Skeat, p. 136. — Steevens cites Valerius Maxi-
mus, Acls and Sayings, etc., which passage is thus translated in Speed's edition,
1684: 'Antonius, having lost the battle of Actium, Cassius Parmensis, who had
taken his part, fled to Athens; where he fell asleep in the night, being tired with care
and trouble: He thought there came to him a person of a very great stature, black
complexion, his beard deformed, and long hanging hair, who, being ask'd what he
was, answer'd, Cacodemon. Being affrighted with so horrid a sight, and terrible
name, he called up his servants, and demanded of them if they saw any one in such
a habit either come in or go out of the chamber: Who affirming that no such had
come there, he again betook himself to his rest; when immediately the same shape
appeared to him again; when awaking altogether, he called for a light, commanding
the servants to depart. But between this night and the loss of his head, which
Caesar took from him, there followed a very short space of time.' — Bk, I, ch. vii,
§ 7. — Valerius Maximus also relates how the figure of Casar, 'above mortal stat-
ure clad in a purple robe, and an angry countenance,' appeared to Cassius at the
battle of Philippi. 'At which sight affrighted he fled, having first heard these
words uttered. What wouldst thou do more, if it he too little to have kiWd? Didst
thou not murther Caesar 0 Cassius? But no deity can be prevail'd against; there-
fore by injuring him whose mortal body still burns, thou hast deserv'd to have a
god so much thy enemy.' — (Bk, I, ch. viii, § 8; ed. Speed, p. 45). — Ed.] — Malone:
Shakespeare had also certainly read Plutarch's account of this vision in the Life
of Ccesar: 'Above all, the ghost that appeared unto Brutus showed plainly that
the gods were offended with the murther of Caesar. The vision was thus: . . .
He thought he heard a noise at his tent-door, and looking towards the light of the
lamp tJtat waxed very dim, he saw a horrible vision of a man, of a wonderful great-
ness and dreadful look, which at first made him marvelously afraid.' — [Ccesar,
§ 46; ed. Skeat, p. 103]. It is manifest from the words printed in italics that Shake-
speare had in his thoughts this passage, which relates the very event which he de-
scribes, as well as the other. — [This incident is related also by Appian, Civil Wars,
Bk, IV, ch. xvii, § 134; and, as the translator and editor, Horace White, points out,
Appian has apparently copied the words of Plutarch in the reply of the Spectre:
"0 0-6 J, a> fipovT€,balixo3v KaKos.' — Ed.] — Craik (p. 356): By 'evil spirit' apparently
is meant nothing more than a supernatural visitant of evil omen. At any rate,
the present apparition is afterwards distinctly stated by Brutus himself to have
been the ghost of the murdered dictator, V, v, 23. So also, in Ant. &" Cleo., 'Since
Julius Caesar, Who at Philippi the good Brutus ghosted.' — II, vi, 12. Perhaps
we might refer also to 'O Julius Caesar, thou art mighty yet, Thy spirit walks
abroad.' — V, iii, 106. And to 'Caesar's spirit, ranging for revenge.' — III, i, 300. —
DowDEN (p. 288): The Ghost of Caesar (designated by Plutarch only the'evill
spirit' of Brutus) serves as a kind of visible symbol of the vast posthumous power
of the dictator. — Beeching (Inlrod., p. xvii.): Tragedy has always made great use
of Ghosts. This is necessary as the only means of representing what is eternal in
man after death; it also helps to supply the place of what is impossible for us, the
direct presentation of Destiny. Where murder has been committed, it is at once

ACT IV, sc. iii.] IVLIVS C^SAR 235

How ill this Taper burnes. Ha ! Who comes heeref

I thinke it is the weakeneffe of mine eyes 320

That fliapes this monftrous Apparition.

It comes vpon me : Art thou any thing ?

Art thou fome God, fome Angell, or fome Diuell, 323

the simplest and most telling way of suggesting retribution. Thus Banquo appears
to Macbeth; a company of Ghosts, to Richard; Caesar, to Brutus. This last instance
is especially effective. Brutus had said: 'Oh that we then could come by Caesar's
spirit, And not dismember Caesar.' — II, i, 190. But in the event what happened
was this, that all they did was to 'dismember Caesar'; they could not 'come by his
spirit'; that survived the butchery and asserted itself at the battle of Philippi.
What an effective way, then, of exhibiting the unconscious irony of that speech,
and showing the terrible blunder of the whole conspiracy, to write the stage direc-
tion, 'Enter the Ghost of Cff^ar. '—MacCallum (p. 269): The Brutus of the play
breathes no word of the visitation, though it is repeated at Philippi, till a few min-
utes before his death, and then in all composure as a proof that the end is near, not
as a horror from which he seeks deliverance. . . . When he has taken heart the
spectre vanishes. This means, too, that it has a closer connection with his nerves,
with his subjective fears and misgivings, than the 'monstrous shape' in Plutarch.
. . . All day the mischievousness of his intervention has been present to his mind;
now his accusing thoughts take shape in the vision of his murdered friend, and his
vague presentiments of retribution at Philippi leap to consciousness in its prophetic
words. But all this does not abash his soul or shake his purpose. He only hastens
the morning march. — Oechelhauser (Einfuhmngen, i, 324) says that in order to
make this apparition effective the following arrangement of the lights is necessary:
'Before the appearance of the Ghost in the darkness of the background the lamp
hanging from the centre of the tent is slowly extinguished; house and stage are
plunged in darkness; only the single candle on Brutus's table throws its feeble light
into the gloom. The rising ghost should then be suddenly illuminated with a dull-
pale light shining upon it alone; Brutus then sees it. After the last words of the
ghost the illuminating light is extinguished, and the phantom vanishes; the light
in the hanging lamp returns and the scene is lit as before. Any such effect
as a gliding away of the Ghost is to be especially avoided.' — Winter {Art of
Mansfield, p. 162) commends Mansfield's arrangement of this scene, wherein,
'while the voice of Caesar was heard the Spectre remained invisible, except
to Brutus.' — [It may be asked, how then is the audience, unfamiliar with the
direction of the Folio, to grasp Shakespeare's intention as to the identity of the
Phantom? — Ed.]

319. How ill this Taper burnes] Steevens: That lights grew dim, or burned
blue, at the approach of spectres was a belief which Shakespeare might have found
examples of in almost every book of his age that treats of supernatural appearances.
Compare Rich. Ill: 'The lights burn blue. It is now dead midnight.'-^V, iii, 180.
— [By this note Steevens intends, I think, to demonstrate that Shakespeare need not
have relied solely upon Plutarch for this detail, as suggested by Malone in the fore-
going note. Under the line from Rich. III. Steevens quotes: ' — my mother would
often tell mee when the candle burnt blew, there was some ill Spirit in the house.' —
Galatltea, II, iii, 63. — Ed.]

236 THE TRACED IE OF [act iv, sc. iii.

That mak'ft my blood cold, and my haire to ftare ?

Speake to me, what thou art. 325

GhoJI. Thy euill Spirit Brutus ?

Bru. Why com'ft thou ?

GhoJl. To tell thee thou fhalt fee me at Philippi.

Brut. Well : then I fliall fee thee againe ?

GhoJl. I, at Philippi. 330

Brut. Why I will fee thee at Philippi then:
Now I haue taken heart, thou vanifheft.
Ill Spirit, I would hold more talke with thee. 333

326. Brutus?] Brutus Fj. Brutus. 330. [Exit Ghost. Rowe,+. Van-

• F3F4. ishes. Cap. et seq. (subs.)

329. Well: then... againe?] Well — 332, 333. vanijltefl. Ill Spirit,] van-
then. ..agaiyi — Rowe. Then. ..again — ishest, III spirit; Rowe.
Pope,+. Then ... again as one line t,Z2>- ///] £'i7 Ed. conj.
Steev. Varr. Sing. Dyce.

324. stare] Schmidt {Lex., s. v. i.): To be stiff, to stand on end. — Skeat (Diet.,
s. V. 1.): A weak verb," from a Teutonic type Stara, adjective fi.ved; appearing in
German, starr, stiff, inflexible, fixed. [The present line quoted. Compare also:
'With hair up-staring, — then like reeds, not hair.' — Tempest, I, ii, 213.]

325. Speake to me] That is, communicate, report. Compare: 'Speak your
griefs softly.' — IV, ii, 50, above.

326. Thy euill Spirit] GoLL (p. 73): What does this imply? It means that
Brutus has lived on a fallacy. He had not the right to kill Caesar into which he
reasoned himself. He has not acted rightly in putting his ideals above all human
considerations. His theory was wrong. He is not the great citizen he imagined
himself. He has chased phantoms; and, during the chase, he has trampled all true
humanity under foot, violated the noblest human qualities: goodness, pity, grati-
tude, love. He is, in spite of all, a murderer, and must suffer the fate of a murderer.
This, then, is the judgment on Brutus, the judgment of humanity, of society, ac-
cording to the objective measure of justice. ... To this judgment Brutus must
answer, and hvmianity, society, history declare him guilty — Caesar passes sentence
of death upon Caesar's murderer.

331. Why] That is, in that case, that being so. Compare: 'Why farewell Portia,'
1. 217, above.

332. Now I haue taken heart] Hudson: This strongly, though quietly,
marks the Ghost as subjective; as soon as Brutus recovers his firmness, the illusion
is broken. The order of things is highly judicious here, in bringing the 'horrible
vision' upon Brutus just after he has heard of Portia's shocking death. With
that great sorrow upon him he might well see ghosts. The thickening of calami-
ties upon him, as the consequences of his stabbing exploit, naturally awakens
remorse. — Verity, in reference to the foregoing note, says: *I suppose that many
who adopt this view do so from a vague desire to clear Shakespeare of the suspicion
that he himself "believed in ghosts." But the theory will not explain all the in-
stances of apparitions in Shakespeare. . . . No theory of "subjectivity" (to use a
tiresome word) will account for so emphatic an apparition [as the Ghost in Hamlet];

ACT IV, sc. iii.] IVLIVS C^SAR 237

Boy, Lucius, Varnis, Claudio, Sirs : Awake:

Claudia. 335

Luc. The firings my Lord, are falfe.

Bj-u. He thinkes he ftill is at his Inflrument.
Lucius, awake.

Luc, My Lord.

Bru. Did'ft thou dreame Lticus, that thou fo cryedft 340
out?

Luc. My Lord, I do not know that I did cry.

Bru . Yes that thou did'ft : Did'ft thou fee any thing ?

Luc. Nothing my Lord.

Bru. Sleepe againe Lucius'. Sirra Claudio, Fellow, 345

Thou : Awake.

Var. My Lord.

Clcsu. My Lord.

Bi-2i. Why did you fo cry out firs, in your fleepe ?

Both. Did we my Lord ? 350

Bru. I : faw you any thing?

Var. No my Lord, I faw nothing.

Clau. Nor I my Lord,

Bru. Go, and commend me to my Brother CaJJius :
Bid him fet on his Powres betimes before, 355

And we will follow.

Both. It fhall be done my Lord. Exeunt 357

334> 335- Varrus, Claudio... Claudio] 345, 346. Fellow... Awake] One line

Varro, Claudius. ..Claudius Rowe et Cap. et seq.

seq. 346. Thou:] Varro Warb. Theob.

337. ftill is] is ftill F4, Rowe i, Theob. Han.

ii, Warb. Johils. Var. '73. 4^48. ^xxx.] Fj.

I jL.340. Lucfus] Fi. 350. Both.] Var. Clau. Capell et seq.

(/'' 345. Claudio] Claudius Rowe et seq. 355. Powres] powers F3F4.

nor, surely, do we require any such theory. Shakespeare uses the supernatural as
one of the legitimate devices of dramatic art. It is part of the original story of
Caesar and Brutus, and he retains it for dramatic effect.' [See also, in this connec-
tion, note by Beeching, 1. 318, above. — For a similar example of an effort of will
overcoming an hallucination, compare Macbeth's exclamation on the disappear-
ance of the Ghost of Banquo: 'Why, so: being gone I am a man again.' — III, iv,
107. — Ed.]

346. Thou: Awake] Warburton: The accent is so unmusical and harsh, 'tis
impossible the poet could begin his verse thus. Brutus certainly was intended to
speak to both his other men; who both awake and answer at an instant.

357. Exeunt] In Bell's edition (1773) after this stage-direction the following lines
are given to Brutus: 'Sure they have raised some devil to their aid: And think to

238 THE TRACED IE OF [act iv, sc. iii.

[357. Exeunt]

frighten Brutus with a shade; But ere the night closes this fatal day I'll send more
ghosts, this visit to repay.' — In a foot-note F. Gentleman remarks: 'As these four
uncharacteristic, bouncing lines are used in representation, by way of sending the
actor off with a flourish, we insert them; though very disgraceful to Brutus and
Shakespeare: we have seen the Ghost introduced a second time; but such an addi-
tion is insufferable ignorance.' — In Mrs Inchbald's edition (1808) these lines
also appear, but are made to follow '111 spirit I would hold more talk with thee,'
1. 333, and the dialogue between Brutus and his attendants is omitted. — D. E.
Baker {Biog. Dram.), among the tragedies on this subject, gives: 'The Tragedy of
Julius C/ESAr, with the Deaths of Brutus and Cassius, written originally by Shake-
speare; altered by Sir William Davenant and John Dryden. Acted at Driiry Lane,
12 mo., 1719.' 'This seems,' says Baker, 'to be a publication of the play-house
copy, with alterations for the stage, which perhaps were traditionally ascribed to
Davenant and Dryden; how truly, let any person determine, after reading the
following ridiculous rant which is added at the close of the Fourth Act, and was
spoken by Mr Walker when he performed the character of Brutus at Covent
Garden Theatre.' Baker then quotes the foregoing lines as in Bell and Inchbald. —
Genest, in recording the above-mentioned performance by Walker, January 31,
1766, says in reference to the origin of these unfortunate lines: 'It being generally
known that Davenant and Dryden had joined in mangling Shakespeare's Tempest,
some person seems to have attributed the alteration of Jul. Ccbs. to them for that
reason, and that alone — it is, however, morally certain that Davenant never assisted
in altering Jul Cces. — that being one of the plays assigned to Killigrew, and which,
consequently, Davenant could not act at his own theatre — about 1682 Jtd. Cms.
was printed as acted at the Royal Theatre — in this edition there is not the slightest
foundation of the above quoted lines — it is, therefore, clear that this interpolation
was not received into that sink of corruption — the Prompt-Book — (for such it is
with regard to Shakespeare) — till after 1682.' — H. Fischer {Anglia, bd, viii, heft
iii, 1885, p. 416) discusses the question of collaboration in an adaptation of Shake-
speare's J id. Cces. by Davenant and Dryden. He agrees with Genest and Baker that
evidences of such a joint work are too slight to be of any value. Fischer lays stress
upon the fact that the 17 19 ed. of Jul. Cces. was issued under the name of W. Chet-
wood, who was prompter at Drury Lane when this version was produced. 'That
no contemporaries refer to this work,' he concludes, 'points to the fact that every
assertion as to the existence of an adaptation of Jtd. Cces. by Davenant and Dryden
rests upon the title-page of this copy of 17 19, which, perhaps, Chetwood for some
unknown purpose provided with the names of the two poets.' — [Thus, even as Omar,
we come out by the same door as in we went, and receive no answer to the question:
Who wrote those 'bouncing lines'? Let the galled jades wince; Shakespeare's
withers are un wrung! — Ed.]

ACT V, sc. i.] IVLIVS C^SAR 239

A^us Quintiis. i

\Scene /.]

Enter On^aidics , Antony ,and their Army.

06la. Now Antony, our hopes are anfwered,
You faid the Enemy would not come downe,
But keepe the Hilles and vpper Regions : , 5

It proues not fo : their battailes are at hand,
They meane to warne vs at Philippi heere :
Anfwering before we do demand of them.

Ant. Tut I am in their bofomes,and I know
Wherefore they do it : They could be content lO

I. Adlus Quintus] Act V, Scene i. Cap. et seq.

Rowe. 7. warne] wage Han. wait Mason

The Fields of Philippi, with the two (Com., p. 278).
Camps. Rowe. The Plains of Philippi.

I. Actus Quintus] Oechelhauser {Einfuhrungen, i, 235) and Schxegel (as
quoted in Jahrbuch, vii, 55) recommend that this Act be played not with the
five short scenes as here, but with two. Thus: After this scene between Octavius
and Antony, which may be acted as a front scene representing a landscape with
the tent visible, the rest of the Act may be set to the full depth of the stage. After
the death of Cassius and Titinius their bodies are to be carried out; Brutus after
his suicide will remain, of course, in the centre of the stage until the fall of the
curtain.

3. our hopes are answered] That is, what we hoped for has taken place.

5. keepe] Murray {N. E. D., s. v. II. t,2))'- To stay or remain in, on, or at (a
place); not to leave; especially in to keep one's bed, to keep the house.

5. the Hilles and vpper Regions] Appian {Civil Wars; Bk, IV, ch. xiii, § 105)
gives the following description of this locality: 'Philippi ... is situated on a
precipitous hill, and its size is exactly that of the summit of the hill. There are
woods on the north through which Rhascupolis led the army of Brutus and Cas-
sius. On the south is a marsh extending to the sea. On the east are the gorges
of the Sapasan and Corpileans, and on the west, a very fertile and beautiful plain
extending to the towns of Murcinus and Drabiscus, and the river Strymon, about
350 stades. . . . The plain slopes downward so that movement is easy to those
descending from Philippi, but toilsome to those going up from Amphipolis.'— Ed.

6. battailes] That is, one of the divisions of their army. Compare: 'The
French are bravely in their battles set.' — Hen. V: IV, iii, 69.

7. warne] That is, summon. Schmidt {Lex., s. v. 3) gives several examples of
this use of this word.

9. I am in their bosomes] That is, I understand their inmost thoughts.
Compare Regan's speech to Oswald, in regard to Goneril: 'I know you are of
her bosom.' — Lear, IV, v, 26. — Ed.

"^.sCSZ^j^f'-' ^^ta

240 THE TRACED IE OF [act v, sc. i.

To vifit other places, and come downe II

With fearefull brauery : thinking by this face

To fallen in our thoughts that they haue Courage ;

But 'tis not fo.

Enter a Mcffcnger. 1 5

Mef. Prepare you Generals,
The Enemy comes on in gallant fhew :
Their bloody figne of Battell is hung out.
And fomething to be done immediately.

Ant. Oclaiiius, leade your Battaile foftly on 20

11, 12. places, and... brauery:] places; 19. fomething] something's Han.
and... bravery, Pope et seq. Wh. i.

12. fearefull brauery] Malone: That is, with a gallant show of courage,
carrying with it terror and dismay. 'Fearful' is here used in an active sense —
producing fear, intimidating. — Steevens compares, for an interpretation more
just than Malone's, Sidney, Arcadia: ' — her horse, faire & lustie, which she rid
so, as might shew a fearefull boldnes, daring to doo that, which she knew that she
knew not how to doo.' — Bk, ii, [ch. 22; ed. i, p. 200 verso.] — ^To the same effect
Craik (p. 360), who takes 'fearful braverj^' for bravery in show or appearance,
which yet is full of real fear or apprehension. — Wright accepts Malone's ex-
planation of 'fearful,' and for 'bravery' in the sense of bravado compares Hamlet:
— 'the bravery of his grief did put me Into a towering passion.' — V, ii, 79. He
also shows that Shakespeare is here following Plutarch: ' — for bravery and rich
furniture, Brutus's army far excelled Caesar's.' — Brutus, § 27; (ed. Skeat, p. 137).

18. Their bloody signe of Battell] 'The next morning by break of day, the
signal of battle was set out in Brutus' and Cassius' camp, which was an arming
scarlet coat.' — Plutarch: Brutus, § 27; ed. Skeat, p. 139. — Mark Hunter says,
'This was the well-known Roman signal of battle'; and quotes Plutarch, Life of
Fabius: 'It was no sooner day, but he [Varro] set up the scarlet coat flying over
his tent, which was the signal of battle.' [ed. Clough, i, 390.] — Andrews (Latin-
English Lex., s. V. Sagum): A coarse woolen blanket, or majitle of servants; but most
frequently of soldiers, a military cloak. Hence saga is a sign of war, as toga is a
sign of peace in the phrases: saga sumere, To put on the saga, i. e., to take up
arms, prepare for battle. It was the custom for all Romans to do this, in token
of preparation for war, even those who were not going to the field, excepting per-
sons of consular rank. [From the foregoing it is not, I think, difBcult to trace the
origin of the custom referred to in the present line. The scarlet military cloak
would thus symbolise a battle. There is, perhaps, a reminiscence of this in The
True Tragedie of Richard Duke of Yorke, 1600: 'Sound trumpets, let our bloudie
colours wane, And either victorie or else a grave.' — II, iii, 66. In Chapman's
CcEsar &• Pompey, Csesar before Pharsalia says: 'Hang out of my tent My crim-
sine coat of Armes, to give my souldiers That ever sure sign of resolv'd for fight.' —
Act III. (p. 164, ed. Pearson). For a survival of this military signal, P. Simpson
{N. &■ Qu., 3 March, 1900, p. 164) compares: 'The twelfth day came news the
Hollanders were in sight, and out went their bloody colours at the fort.' — Last
East Indian Voyage (London, 1606: Hakluyt Soc. reprint, p. 44).— Ed.]

ACT V. sc. i.] IVLIVS C^SAR 241

Vpon the left hand of the euen Field. 21

Ocla. Vpon the right hand I, keepe thou the left.
Ant. Why do you croffe me in this exigent.
Ocla. I do not croffe you : but I will do fo. March. 24

21. euen\ euil 'F4. 23. exigent.] exigent? F3F4.

22. thou] you Ritson. 24. March] Om. Coll. iii.

22. Vpon the right hand I] Wmght: In Plutarch's account of the battle it is
said that Cassius, although more experienced as a soldier, allowed Brutus to lead
the right wing of the army. Shakespeare made use of this incident, but trans-
ferred to the opposite camp, in order to bring out the character of Octavius, which
made Antony yield. Octavius really commanded the left wing.

22. keepe thou] Ritson (p. 145): The tenour of the conversation e\adently
requires us to read 'keep you.' — Craik (p. 361): Ritson means, apparently, that
you and your are the words used elsewhere throughout the conversation. But he
forgets that the singular pronoun is peculiarly emphatic in this line, as being
placed in contrast or opposition to the 'I.' — Wright also objects to Ritson's
proposal, since '"thou" gives a touch of imperiousness to Octavius's speech.'

23. exigent] Schmidt (Lex., s. v. i.) : Pressing necessity, decisive moment. [Com-
pare Ant. b" Cleo.: 'Thou art sworn, Eros, That, when the exigent should come,
. . . Thou then wouldest kill me.' — IV, xiv, 63.]

24. I will do so] Delius: *Do so' refers not to 'cross you,' but rather to the
former speech of Octavius, 'Upon the right hand, I.' — [Hudson also thus interprets
this line.] — Rolfe: I take it that Octavius, instead of opposing Antony, yields to
him, and does it readily, with a play upon 'cross,' 'I will cross you (in the sense of
crossing over to the other side of the field) '; and with the word he does cross over.
According to Plutarch he commanded the left wing, and this makes the play
agree with the history. It is also confirmed by the context. So far from setting
himself in opposition to Antony, Octavius in his very next speech asks the former
whether they shall 'give sign of battle,' and when Antony says no, he at once
accepts this decision and gives orders accordingly. — Joicey (Notes &* Queries,
25 July, 1891, p. 63): If this line or the latter part of it were made an aside,
I think the sense would become much clearer. We may suppose that Antony
would be annoyed at his line of action being interfered with at this critical moment,
and that he would, therefore, utter 1. 23 with sharpness enough to anger Octavius.
The latter, knowing that his success was dependent on Antony's soldiership, would
check any bitter retort, and acquiesce either in silence (in which case the aside is
equal to 'I do not cross you now, but I will do so hereafter') or with the words
'I do not cross you' (I submit to your leadership), and as he turned he would
say, 'but I will do so,' aside. The aside will then forecast the quarrel that was
shortly to come between them. — Verity: 'Do so' is here probably equivalent to
I will do as you wish. — Mark Hunter: The conjunction 'but' is against this
view. [Octavius means] I do not seek to thwart you, but I shall do as I please. —
Tolman: Here we get a most skilful anticipatory glimpse of the coming struggle
between Octavius and Antony. . . . The fact that Octavius had command of
the left wing of the army, of himself and Antony, is not brought out in the play,
and it would be unlike Shakespeare to give us no indication of the coming strife
between Octavius and Antony. [This last sentence is Tolman's objection to
Rolfe's interpretation. — Ed.] — Herford: Octavius means that he does not differ

242 THE TRACED IE OF [act v, sc. i.

Drum. Enter Brutus, Cajfms , & their Army. 25

Bru. They ftand,and would haue parley.

GaJJi. Stand faft Titinius, we muft out and talke.

O^a. Mark Atitony, fhall we giue figne of Battaile ?

Ant. No Ccsfar, we will anfwer on their Charge.
Make forth, the Generals would haue fome words. 30

Oel, Stirre not vntill the Signall.

Brti. Words before blowes : is it fo Countrymen ?

O^a. Not that we loue words better, as you do.

Bru.Good words are better then bad ftrokes O^auius.

An.ln your bad ftrokes Brutus, you giue good words 35
Witneffe the hole you made in Ccsfars heart,
Crying long Hue, Haile Cccfar.

CaJJi. Antony,
The poflure of your blowes are yet vnknowne ; 39

25. Scene ii. Pope, Han. Warb. 39. pojlure] puncture Singer (N. &

Johns. Qu., 10 Ap., 1858). portents Bulloch.

Drum. ..Army.] Drum. ..Army; powers Herr.
Lucilius, Titinius, Messala, and others are] is Coll. ii. (MS), Ktly.

attending. Cap. et seq. (subs.)

for the sake of having his own way, but he will have it nevertheless. . . . Shake-
speare takes no notice of the parallel incident, where Brutus begs and obtains
the right wing from Cassius. . . . We cannot, therefore, assume that Shakespeare
meant him to lead the right, and consequently Octavius the imperial left. There
is thence no reason to forego [as suggested by Rolfe] the natural (and highly
dramatic) meaning of Octavius's words.

39. posture of your blowes] Staunton: Elsewhere Shakespeare always em-
employs 'posture' in its ordinary sense of attitude, position, &c.; but here, if not a
misprint, it must be taken to mean quality or composition. — [Murray (N. E. D.,
s. V.) does not give any example of 'posture' used in the sense suggested. — Ed.] —
John Hunter: That is, The way in which you give blows, the attitude you assume
when you are about to give blows, remains to be shown. — Wright: That is, It is
not yet known where your blows are directed. — Deighton: No one has ever seen
you strike a blow in combat. [Verity also so interprets; but would Cassius even
insinuate such a libel as this? Antony's prowess in arms was well known. Plu-
tarch says: 'Now there were divers hot skirmishes and encounters, in the which
Antonius fought so valiantly, that he carried the praise from them all. . . .
Caesar . . . showed plainly what opinion he had of him when at the last battle
of Pharsalia ... he himself did lead the right wing of his army, and gave An-
tonius the left wing, as the valiantest man and skillfullest soldier of all those he had
about him.' — Antojiius, § 4; ed. Skeat, p. 160. May not 'posture' be taken as
meaning position? i. e., as to whether they are to be held in high or low estima-
tion, is unknown, as for your words we know how honey sweet they can be.
This will, moreover, bring out the antithesis introduced by 'But' in the next
line. — Ed.]

ACT V, SC. i.]

IVLIVS C^SAR

243

But for your words, they rob the Hibla Bees,
And leaue them Hony-leffe.

Ant. Not ftingleffe too.

Bru. O yes, and foundleffe too :
For you haue ftolne their buzzing Antony^
And very wifely threat before you fting.

Ant. Villains : you did not fo, when your vile daggers
Hackt one another in the fides of Ccsfar :
You fliew'd your teethes like Apes,
And fawn'd like Hounds,

And bow'd like Bondmen, kiffing Cce/ars feete ;
Whil'ft damned Caska, like a Curre, behinde
Strooke CcEfar on the necke. O you Flatterers.

40. they\ you Cap.

42. Jiitiglejfe] stringless Rowe i. (mis-
print).

too.] too? Del. Perring, Macmil-
lan, Beeching.

43-45. O yes ... wifely] In margin
Pope, Han.

45. threat] You threat Pope, Han.

47. Hackt] Hack F,F4, Rowe.

48, 49. You. ..Hounds] One line Rowe
et seq.

48. teethes] teeth F3F4.

51. Whirjl] While Coll. (monovol-
ume).

Caska, like a Curre, behinde] Ff,
Rowe, Theob. Han. Warb. Casca, like
a cur behind, Johns. Var. '73. Casca,
like a cur, behind. Cap. et cet.

52. Strooke] Struck F3F4.

52, 53. Strooke. ..Flatterers?] One
line Cap. conj.

52. 0 you] 0 Pope,+ ( — Var. '73),
Cap. Steev. Var. '03, '13. Sing, i,
Dyce ii, iii, Huds. iii.

3Q. are] This is the plural by attraction. See, for other examples, if needful,
Abbott, § 412.

40. Hibla] Smith (Classical Diet.) says that there were three towns of this name
in Sicily, and adds: 'It is doubtful from which of these three places the Hyblean
honey came, so frequently mentioned by the poets.'

42. Not Stinglesse too.] 'With a full stop after "to," remarks Deighton, 'the
words can only mean, "I did not rob them of all their stings"; with the insinuation
that Brutus had robbed them of some.' Deighton commends Delius's conjecture,
'too?' (see Te.vt. Notes), as an improvement in the sense, and thus continues: 'An-
tony would then be made to say with irony: "You surely don't mean to say that
I at the same time robbed them of all their power of wounding, and kept that
power for my own purposes?" — [Deighton has, however, followed the punctuation
of the Folio. — Ed.]

47. Hackt one another] 'Then the conspirators thronging one upon another,
because every man was desirous to have a cut at him, so many swords and daggers
lighting upon one body, one of them hurt another, and among them Brutus caught
a blow on his hand.' — Plutarch: Brutus, § 12; ed. Skeat, p. 119.

48. teethes] Walker {Crit., i, 242) quotes this among many other examples
wherein, apparently, a final 5 is interpolated in the Folio.

51,52. Caska ... on the necke] Johnson: Casca struck Caesar on the neck,
coming like a degenerate cur behind him. [This interpretation is, doubtless,

244 ^-^^ TRACED IE OF [act v, sc. i.

Caffi. Flatterers f Now ^?7^/«j' thanke your felfe, 53

This tongue had not offended fo to day,
If Caffius might haue rulM. 55

Ocla. Come, come, the caufe. If arguing make vs fwet,
The proofe of it will turne to redder drops :
Looke, I draw a Sword againft Confpirators,
When thinke you that the Sword goes vp againe ?
Neuer till Ca:fars three and thirtie wounds 60

53. Flatterers?] You flatterers! Ktly. Varr. Sing. Dyce, Craik, Cam.

What! Flatterers! Wordsworth. GI0.4-.

thanke] you tnay thank Steev. 58. a Sword] sword Walker (Crit., i,

conj. 88).
' 58. Looke] Behold Rowe, Pope,+ 60. thirtie] twenty Theob.+, Cap.

J ( — Var. '73). As separate line Steev. Jen. Varr. Mai. Steev. Varr. Hal.

prompted by Johnson's own pointing of the passage (see Text. Notes) ; that of the
Folio and also Capell make Antony say that Casca struck Caesar behind, like a
degenerate cur. — Ed.]

55. Flatterers] Capell (i, 113) observes that when he adopted Pope's reading,
'0 Flatterers,' in the preceding line, he had not noticed that this line, 5^, is
'unmetrical still, through fault of the first printer or else of his copy.' He
suggests that 'Flatterers?' be printed apart, as it perfects 1. 52, and what
comes after as another line, 'being a three-foot hemistich.' — Walker (Vers.,
135) also proposes this arrangement of the lines. — Abbott (§ 506) quotes the
present line among examples wherein a deficiency in the metre may be supplied
by 'a gesture ... to demand attention,' as thus: 'Flatterers? (turns to Brutus)
Now, Brutus,' etc.

54, 55. This tongue ... If Cassias might haue rul'd] This refers to the
reasons urged by Cassius for the assassination of Antony at the same time with
Caesar; see II, i, 175-205; also. III, i, 167.— Macmillan interprets, how-
ever, that: 'If the advice of Cassius had been followed, they would not
have met the enemy imtil a later date, and Antony would have been in such
a hopeless position that his language would have been more humble.' — Macmil-
lan is here in the minority; the former interpretation being that almost universally
followed. — Ed.

59. the Sword] Octavius draws his sword and holds it aloft. Is not '//rij sword,'
therefore, more consonant than merely 'the sword.' The slight difference in
sound between 'this sword' and 'the sword' is hardly noticeable. This need not
apply to the words 'the sword' in 1. 62, below; there 'the sword' is sufficiently
identified as that belonging to traitors. — Ed.

60. three and thirtie] On the authority of Plutarch, Appian, and Suetonius,
Theobald changes ' thirtie ' to twenty; he considers the error due to the transcriber. —
RiTSON observes that there is a like error in Beaumont and Fletcher's Noble
Gentleman, where Caesar's ' two and thirty wounds ' are mentioned (V, i) ; but as the
Noble Gentleman was not licensed until 1625 the present passage may be responsible
for the words as in Fletcher's text. — Ed.

ACT V, sc. i.] IVLIVS C^SAR . 245

Be well aueng'd; or till another Ccefar 61

Haue added flaughter to the Sword of Traitors.

Brut. Cafar, thou canft not dye by Traitors hands,
Vnleffe thou bring'ft them with thee.

Ocla. So I hope: 65

I was not borne to dye on BmUis Sword.

Bni. O if thou wer't the Nobleft of thy Straine,
Yong-man, thou could'ft not dye more honourable.

Cajfi, A peeuifh School-boy, worthies of fuch Honor 69

61, 62. another Cxiar... Sword of print).

Traitors] the swords of traitors Have to 63. hands] Om. Var. '03, '13, '21.

slaughter added another Caesar. Herr. 66. Brutus] Brutus' Pope et seq.

62. Sword of Traitors] word of traitor 68. honourable] honourablie Craik
Coll. MS. conj. honourably Wh. i. jL^

Traitors] Tirators Rowe i. (mis- j^ 69. worthies] worthies Ff. (T-i'--*''^

61, 62. till another Caesar . . . the Sword of Traitors] Steevens compares:
'Or add a royal nimiber to the dead, . . . With slaughter coupled to the name
of kings.' — King John, II, i, 349; which does not help to explain the present passage;
and beyond the fact that the words 'add' and 'slaughter' are common to both,
there is but little similarity in thought. — John Hunter interprets thus: 'Until I
myself, another Caesar, fall, as another victim, by the sword of the same traitors.'

62. Sword of Traitors] Crahc (p. 363): [Collier's MS correction (see Text.
Notes)] would seem to be an admission on the part of Octavius (impossible in the
circumstances) that Cassius and Brutus were as yet free from treasonable slaughter,
and traitors only in word or name.' — Collier (ed. ii.) observes that this emenda-
tion might 'reasonably be disputed'; and Dyce (ed. ii.) characterises it as 'a most
unhappy alteration. '

65. So I hope:] Delius here pimctuates with a comma after 'hope,' and thus
interprets: 'So (in case I am not to die by traitor's hand) I hope I am not destined
to die on Brutus's sword.' — P. Simpson {Sh. Punctuation, p. 67) says: 'It is the
function of the colon [in the Folio] to mark an emphatic pause. Compare its use in
the Prayer Book to point the Psalms for singing. Compare also: "O pardon me,
thou bleeding peece of Earth: That I am meeke and gentle with these Butchers." —
III, i, 284.' — [Have we not another example in this present line? Octavius, I
think, says 'So I hope' slowly, while looking fixedly at Brutus; then, after a
short pause, 'I was not bom to die on Brutus sword.' — Ed.

67. Straine] Schmidt {Lex., s. v. 4.): Stock, race. [Compare: 'And he is bred
out of that bloody strain That havmted us in our familiar paths.' — Hen. V: II, iv,

5I-]

69. peeuish] Dyce (Gloss.): This appears to have generally signified, during
Shakespeare's days, silly, foolish, trifling, . . . though, no doubt, the word was
formerly used to signify, as now, pettish, perverse.

69. worthies of such Honor] John Hunter: That is, utterly unworthy to fall
by Brutus's sword. — [Schmidt {Lex., s. v. worthless. 2.) gives the present line as the
only example wherein Shakespeare uses this word in the sense of undeserving,
unworthy.]

246 THE TRACED IE OF [act v, sc. i.

loyn'd with a Masker, and a Reueller. 70

A7it. Old Caffius ftiU.

Ocla, Come Antony : away :
Defiance Traitors, hurle we in your teeth.
If you dare fight to day, come to the Field ;
If not, when you haue ftomackes. 75

Exit Oclaums , Antony , ayid Anny

CaJJi. Why now blow winde, fwell Billow,
And fwimme Barke :
The Storme is vp, and all is on the hazard.

Brn. Ho Lticillius, hearke, a word with you. 80

Lticillins and Meffala Jland forth.

Luc. My Lord.

Caffi Meffala.

Meffa, What fayes my Generall ?

Caf/i. Meffala, Xhis is my Birth-day : as this very day 85

76. Scene in. Pope, Han. Warb. separate line Steev. Varr. Sing, i, Dyce
Johns. ii, iii.

77. 78. Why now...Barke] As one line 82. [Brutus speaks apart to Lucilius.
Rowe et seq. Rowe et seq. (subs.)

78. Barke:] bark? Wh. i. 83. Meffala] Casca Bell's edition

79. 80. The Storme. ..Bra. Ho] As one (throughout).

line, reading: all's on th' hazard Walker 85. Meffala] As separate line Pope

(Vers., 76). et seq.

80. Ho] Om. Pope,+, Cap. As as] at Ktly.

71. Old Cassius still] John Hunter: This is spoken like Cassius! this is Cas-
sius as he ever used to be, viz., a choleric fellow.

72. Come Antony : away :] Here, I think, is another example (see 1. 65, above,
and note) wherein the colon is used to mark an emphatic pause, as suggested by
Percy Simpson. The two colons serve almost in place of stage-directions to in-
dicate Antony's hesitation and the impatience of Octavius. — Ed.

73. Defiance . . . hurle we] Holt White compares Milton: 'Hurling de-
fiance toward the vault of Heaven.' — Paradise Lost, i, 669; and observes that
'hurl' is here peculiarly expressive, as that is the word commonly used by the
challenger in casting down his gage of battle. [Good sentences and well pro-
nounced; but is it peculiar in Shakespeare to choose the most 'expressive' word? —
Ed.]

75. stomackes] That is, inclination, disposition.

85. Birth-day] For this punctuation, see 1. 72, above.

85. as this very day] Wright: For 'as' used redundantly with expressions
of time, compare: 'Meantime I writ to Romeo That he should hither come as this
dire night.' — Rotn. &" Jtil., V, iii, 247; and, 'One Lucio As then the Messenger.' —
Meas.for Meas., V, i, 74. [See, also, if needful, Abbott, § 114. — Professor Allen,
in a note on Tempest, I, ii, 70, 'as at that time,' shows by a number of examples
that many such adverbial forms with ' as ' prefixed or suffixed once existed in the

ACT V, sc. i.] IVLIVS C^SAR 247

Was CaJJius borne. Giue me thy hand Mcffala : 86

Be thou my vvitncffe, that againft my will

(As Pompcy was) am I compcll'd to fet

Vpon one Battcll all our Liberties.

You know, that I held Epicurus ftrong, — 90

And his Opinion : Now I change my minde,

And partly credit things that do prefage.

Comming from Sardis, on our former Enfigne 93

88. am r] I am Walker (Crit., ii, '78, '85, Huds. iii. forward Coll,
247), Huds. iii. (MS).

93. former] foremost Rowe,+, Var. 93. Enfigne] ensigns Lettsom.

old colloquial language of both England and Germany. He notices particularly
the expression in the Prayer-Book Collect for Christmas: 'as at this time to be
bom of a pure Virgin.' — {Minutes of Sh. Sac. of Philadelphia, 1864; p. 12).

86-89. Giue me thy hand Messala . . . our Liberties] 'But touching Cas-
sius, Messala reporteth that . . . after supper he took him by the hand, and,
holding him fast (in token of kindness, as his manner was), told him in Greek:
"Messala, I protest unto thee, and make thee my witness, that I am compelled
against my mind and will (as Pompey the Great was) to jeopard the liberty of our
country to the hazard of a battle.'" — Plutarch: Brutus, § 27; ed. Skeat, p. 139.

87-90. Be thou . . . You know] Abbott (§ 234): 'Thou' is often used in
statements and requests, while 'you' is used in conditional and other sentences
where there is no direct appeal to the person addressed. [Compare : ' Come thou
on my side and entreat for me, As you would beg were you in my distress.' —
Rich. Ill: I, iv, 273.]

88. (As Pompey was)] Verity: An allusion to the campaign of 48 B. C,
which ended in the battle of Pharsalia in Thessalus. Knowing that Caesar's troops
were veterans, while most of his own were inexperienced, Pompey wished to avoid
a decisive battle and to wear out the enemj'^; but his followers were impatient, and
practically forced him to fight. The complete defeat at Pharsalus was the result.

90. I held Epicurus strong] Wright: That is, 'I was firmly attached to
the doctrines of Epicurus.' 'Just before the murder of Caesar,' says Plutarch: 'It
is also reported, that Cassius (though otherwise he did favour the doctrine of
Epicurus), beholding the image of Pompey, ... he did softly call upon it to aid
him.' — [Cmsar, § 45]; ed. Skeat, p. 100. And again, when Brutus told him of the
vision he had seen at Sardis: 'Cassius being in opinion an Epicurean . . . spake
to him touching the vision.' — [Brutus, § 26]; ed. Skeat, p. 136.

92. credit things that do presage] Herford: The theory of divinations was
one of the points most hotly debated between the Epicureans and Stoics. The
Stoics, holding that the universe was permeated with divine influence, . . . were
the staunchest upholders of the significance of omens; the Epicureans, regarding
the gods as dwelling apart from the world and indifferent to its affairs, repudiated
presages and explained all 'visions' as optical illusions of sense. [See Lucretius:
De Rerum, etc., Bk, ii, 11. 644-659. — Ed.]

93. former] Bradley (iV. E. D., s. v. 3.): Situated more forward; front, fore.
[The present line quoted.]

248 THE TRACED IE OF [act v, sc. i.

Two mighty Eagles fell, and there they pearch'd,

Gorging and feeding from our Soldiers hands, 95

Who to PJiilippi heere conforted vs :

This Morning are they fled away, and gone.

And in their fteeds,do Rauens, Crowes, and Kites

Fly ore our heads, and downward looke on vs

As we were fickely prey ; their fhadowes feeme lOO

A Canopy moft fatall, vnder which

Our Army lies, ready to giue vp the Ghoft.

Mcffa. Beleeue not fo.

Cajfi. I but beleeue it partly.
For I am frefh of fpirit,and refolu'd 105

To meete all perils, very conflantly.

98. jlecds\ Jleads F3F4. 102. giue vp] give Pope, Theob. Han.

Rauens] ravenous Warb. Warb.

106. perils] Peril Ff, Rowe, +.

94. 95. Two mighty Eagles . . . from our Soldiers hands] 'When they
raised their camp, there came two eagles that, flying with a marvellous force,
lighted upon two of the foremost ensigns, and always followed the soldiers, which
gave them meat and fed them, until they came near to the city of Philippes: and
there, one day only before the battle, they both flew away.' — Plutarch: Brutus,
§ 26; ed. Skeat, p. 137.

95. Gorging] Bradley {N. E. D., s. v. gorge, i.): To fill the gorge; to feed
greedily. (In early use, of a bird of prey.) [The present line quoted.]

96. consorted] That is, accompanied, attended.

98. Rauens, Crowes, and Kites] Warburton justifies his reading, 'Raven-
ous crows,' by the ornithological statement that 'a raven and a crow is the same
bird of prey'; to this Edwards (p. 112) replies: 'Though Mr Warburton cannot
find it in the dictionaries, yet every crow-keeper in the country will tell him there
is as real a difference between a raven and ajcrow as there is between a crow and
a rook, or a rook and a jack-daw. The carrion crow, or gor-crow {i. e., gore-crow)
as it is called, is not the raven. Ben Jonson distinguished them in his Fo.x: " — vul-
ture, kite. Raven, and gor-crow, all my birds of prey." — I, ii. And Willoughby,
on Birds, would have told him that there is this small difference between them,
that one weighs almost as much again as the other.'

100. sickely prey] Mark Hunter: That is, sick to death and soon to become
their prey.

loi. fatall] That is, foreboding ill.

102. lies, ready] Mark Hunter: There is a strong pause after 'lies,' and
the trochee which follows, 'ready,' lends impressive emphasis to the verse.

104. I but beleeue it partly] Wright: For this position of 'but' in the
sentence, see, 'Where Brutus may but find it.' — I, iii, 161, where 'but' does not
qualify the verb ne.xt which it stands. [Does not the rhythm in each case orescribe
the position of 'but'? — Ed.]

106. constantly] That is, with firmness of mind.

ACT V, sc. i.] IVLIVS CJESAR 249

Bnt. Euen fo Lucillius. 107

Caffu Now mofl: Noble Brutus,
The Gods to day ftand friendly, that we may
Loucrs in peace, leade on our dayes to age. no

But fince the affayrcs of men refts ftill incertaine,
Let's reafon with the worft that may befall.
If we do lofe this Battaile, then is this
The very laft time we fhall fpeake together :
What are you then determined to do .^ 115

Bru. Euen by the rule of that Philofophy,

107. Lucillius] Zz/cn<5 Rowe ii. 110. age.] Ff, Rowe, Pope, age: Qo\.

[Lucilius stands back. Coll. age! Theob. et cet.
(monovolume). iii. re/?5] re5/ Rowe et seq.

109. ftand friendly,] stand friendly! incertaine] uncertain Cap. Jen.

Coll. (monovolume). Varr. Mai. Ran. Steev. Varr. Sing, i,

no. Louers in peace,] Lovers, in peace Craik.
Ed. conj. 115. determined] determined Dyce.

109. The Gods to day stand friendly,] Collier's punctuation of an excla-
mation point after 'friendly' (see Text. Notes), brings out more clearly than the
Folio's comma, I think, that 'stand' is here the optative. — Mark Hunter
also thus explains the verb, although he retains the punctuation of the
Folio. — Ed.

no. Louers] That is, friends; compare, for this use of the word, II, iii, 9;
III, ii, 16.

III. rests] Wright notes that this is 'a printer's blunder, and not a plural
inflection.' — The blunder may perhaps have been caused by the proximity of the 5
in the word 'still,' if, as has been said, the compositor was here working from
dictation; or this may be still another example of the interpolation of an 5 in the
Folio, for which see Walker {Crit., i, 242), and compare 1. 48, above. — Ed.

1X2. Let's reason . . . that may befall] Mark Hunter: That is, 'Let us
imagine the worst that may happen to us, and calmly determine how we
shall face it.' Not less than this seems to be implied in 'Let's reason with the
worst.'

113, 114. then is this The very last time, etc.] Warburton: That is, I am
resolved in such a case to kill myself. What are you determined of? [Might
not Cassius have been considering that in the loss of the battle, he would likely be
slain? — Ed.]

116-123. Euen by the rule of that Philosophy . . . That gouerne vs
below] Before entering upon the discussion of these lines, it is well to place
before the student the passage from North's Plutarch upon which the passage is
evidently based: 'Brutus answered him, being yet but a young man, and not over
greatly experienced in the world: I trust (I know not how) a certain rule of phil-
osophy, by the which I did greatly blame and reproue Cato for killing of himself,
as being no lawful nor godly acte, touching the gods, nor concerning men, valiant;
not to give place and yield to divine providence, and not constantly and patiently

250 THE TRAGEDIE OF [act v, sc. i.

[ 1 16-123. Euen by the rule of that Philosophy . . . That goueme vs below]

to take whatsoever it pleaseth him to send us, but to draw back and fly: but being
now in the middest of the danger, I am of a contrary mind. For if it be not the
will of God, that this battle fall out fortunate for us, I will looke no more for hope,
neither seek to make any new supply for war again, but will rid me of this miserable
world, and content me with my fortune. For, I gave up my life for my country in
the Ides of March, for the which I shall live in another more glorious world.' —
[Brutus, § 27; ed. Skeat, p. 140.] — Warbxjrton: This speech from Plutarch our
Shakespeare has extremely softened in all the offensive parts of it; as any one may
see who consults the original; and, with no less caution, has omitted his famous
exclamation against virtue: 'O virtue! I have worship'd thee as a real good; but
find thee only an unsubstantial name.' His great judgment in this is very re-
markable, on two accounts: First, in his caution, not to give offence to a moral
audience; and, secondly, as he has hereby avoided a fault, in drawing his hero's
character. For to have had Brutus gone off the stage in the manner Plutarch
represents it, would have suppressed all that pity (especially in a Christian audi-
ence) which it was the poet's business to raise. So that, as Shakespeare has man-
aged this character, he is as perfect a one for the stage as (Edipus, which the critics
so much admire. — Steevens: There is an apparent contradiction between the
sentiments contained in this and the following speech, which Shakespeare has
put into the mouth of Brutus. In this, Brutus declares his resolution to wait
patiently for the determinations of Providence; and in the next he intimates that,
though he should survive the battle, he would never submit to be led in chains to
Rome. This sentence in North's translation is perplexed, and might be easily
misunderstood. Shakespeare, in the first speech, makes that to be the present
opinion of Brutus, which in Plutarch is mentioned only as one he formerly en-
tertained, though he now condemned it. — Capell (i, 113): In making use of the
line from Plutarch ['What are you determined to do?'] the propriety of language is
violated; for to make the answer accord with it its terms ought to have been:
'How are you then determined to act?' This fault the poet fell into, probably, from
his intentness on other matters; namely, upon softening Brutus's answers, and
abating by artifice the rigor that is in the originals; a rigor that had revolted his
audience, hurting something his Cassius, and making Brutus unamiable and less a
subject of pity. How he affected this softening with regard to Cassius we may see
by comparison with Plutarch: In Brutus, he takes a different method; such a one
as throws a cloud on the answers (the first — chiefly) that has perplexed editors,
and (with their printing) is not penetrable by any: The artifice here lies in dark'-
ning the moral and Christian sentiment that is convey'd in the first by throwing
matter between; and in wording ambiguously the second speech's profession,
which, in fact, is a Roman one and a covert declaration, like Cassius's reversing that
of the former. — Blackstone: I see no contradiction. Brutus would not deter-
mine to kill himself merely for the loss of one battle: 'We will try fortune in a
second fight' (scene iii,l. 123, below). Yet he would not submit to be a captive. —
Malone assents to the views of Steevens, and dissents to Blackstone's solution,
since 'the question of Cassius relates solely to the event of this battle.' — M. Mason
observes that the inconsistency is apparent only; as thus: Brutus had determined
to abide every extremity of war, but to be led in triumph through the streets would
be a trial which, he acknowledges, he could not endure. 'Nothing,' adds Mason,
'is more natural than this. We lay down a system of conduct for ourselves, but

ACT V. sc. i.] IVLIVS C^SAR 25 1

[116-123. Euen by the rule of that Philosophy . . . That gouerne vs below]
occurrences may happen that will force us to depart from it.' — Ritson's method of
'reconciling' the 'apparent contradiction' is substantially the same as that of
Mason. — Courtenay (ii, 254) 'partly admits' that, as Steevens says, the passage
in North's translation might be easily misunderstood. 'The perplexity,' says
Courtenay, 'arises from North putting "I trust" in the present tense. The
original is in the past tense.' See Langhome, vi, 231, and Plutarch i, 1002. — [In
the Clough-Dryden translation the verb is rendered 'I was led,' v, 346. — Ed.]
Courtenay thus continues: 'Shakespeare's adoption of a version contradicted not
only by a passage immediately following, but by the event which he presently
portrays, is a striking instance of his careless use of his authorities.' — ['Striking'
on account of its rarity? — Ed.] — Craik (p. 366): The construction plainly is, I
know not how it is, but I do find it, by the rule of that philosophy, etc., cowardly
and vile. The common pointing, which completely separates 'I know not how,'
etc., from what precedes, leaves the 'by the rule' without connection or meaning.
It is impossible to suppose that Brutus can mean, I am determined to do by, the
rule of that philosophy, etc. [On this Rolfe, Craik's modern editor, remarks:
'This meaning, which Craik considers "impossible," seems, on the whole, the best
possible. So Dyce and Hudson appear to understand the passage, making " I
know not how . . . the time of life," parenthetical.' — This parenthesis is, how-
ever, Johnson's, see Text. Notes. — Ed.] — Craik continues: 'But how did Cato act?
He slew himself that he might not witness and outlive the fall of Utica. This was
merely "for fear of what might fall," to anticipate the end of life. It did not
follow that it would be wrong, in the opinion of Brutus, to commit suicide in order
to escape any certain and otherwise inevitable calamity or degradation, such as
being led in triumph through the streets of Rome by Octavius and Antony.' —
John Hunter: The question of Cassius may be presumed here to suggest to the
mind of Brutus that Cassius expects him to say he will kill himself; and the answer
of Brutus may be interpreted thus: I know not why it is, but even according to
the principles of that philosophy, etc., I cannot see that it is anything but cowardly
and base to anticipate the measure of our life-time, through fear of what might
happen to us: my determination is, that arming myself with patience, I shall
await the purpose of some powers above at whose disposal we on earth are. —
Birch (p. 460): It is curious that Shakespeare in the speech 'To be or not to be,'
which he gives to Hamlet, and where he may be supposed to speak his own senti-
ments, contradicts, in words as well as ideas, the thought of the Roman that it
was cowardly to kill oneself. Hamlet does not doubt there is any one who would
not rid himself of his misfortune if death was the end. According to Shakespeare,
our religion has made us cowards from the hope of a future state, as the idea of a
god would have deprived Brutus of the power of disposing of himself. Shakespeare
makes Brutus give way to the taunts of the unbelieving Cassius, while Plutarch
more naturally makes Brutus state at once that he was of a contrary mind to his
former opinion on suicide, which made him condemn the act in another, but which
he found untenable when placed himself in the same situation. — Wright (Introd., p.
xxxvii, foot-note): North mistook Amyot's French, which is as follows: 'Brutus luy
respondit, Estant encore ieune & non assez experimente es affaires de ce monde, ie
feis, ne sfay comment, un discours de philosophie, par lequel ie reprenois & blas-
mois fort Caton de s'estre desfait soymesme.' North translated feis ( =fis) as if
it were from Jier, and this error misled Shakespeare, who gave a different turn to

252 THE TRACED IE OF [act v, sc. i.

[116-123. Euen by the rule of that Philosophy . . . That gouerne vs below]
Brutus's speech. In III, ii, 48 he has represented Brutus as quite prepared for
suicide. — Herr (p. 17): It will be perceived in Plutarch that the particular
phrase, '■■not to give place and yield to divine Providence,' refers to Cato, not to
Brutus himself. So in Shakespeare, the corresponding words, 'arming with pa-
tience to stay the Providence,' refer also to Cato, not to Brutus himself; hence
'myself in the passage should necessarily be printed himself: while so it is equally
obvious the sense requires that the negative ' ho^' found in Plutarch, but accidentally
lost out of the text of Shakespeare, should be restored, and that it justifies itself to
absolute insertion therein. Finally, the ellipsis before 'not arming himself
should be understood to be 'for,' so as to run harmoniously with 'For fear of
what' in the preceding line. In the reading proposed, it is true the measure is not
observed; but it is better to make the author's meaning clear to the reader by re-
taining 'for not,' than to adhere too rigidly to metre, and leave his meaning in
obscurity. Thus the subsequent remarks and reasoning of Brutus coincide, and
the former just complaints of inconsistency disappear. — Wordsworth {Sh.
Historical Plays, i, 222): May it not be that in his delineation of the character
of Brutus our poet desired to set forth the utmost that the natural powers and
faculties of man can be expected to attain to, unenlightened by revelation and
unassisted by divine grace? — see sc. v. . . . Professor IMorley is reported to have
said [in a lecture on Shakespeare], ' From the study of Shakespeare's plays, one was
led to the conviction that he was deeply religious, and that a religious purpose
ran through the whole of his works.' — {The Times, 19* October, 1881.)— Beech-
ing: There is little likelihood that Shakespeare was misled by such an obvious
mispunctuation as the colon after 'world' [in North's Plutarch, see ante]; and even
if he was, that would not make him write nonsense. The interesting search for
the origines of speeches must not prevent our interpreting those speeches on their
own showing. Brutus says that not only does his philosophy forbid suicide 'for
fear of what might fall,' but it is repugnant to him: 'I do find it cowardly and
vile.' On being pressed by Cassius, he owns that victory and death are necessary
alternatives; but there is still the possibility of death in battle. See sc. iv. The
passage, 'I have the same dagger for myself,' III, ii, 48, can hardly come in
evidence as to Brutus's feeling about suicide; he could scarcely contemplate the
possibility of himself turning tyrant; and compare above: 'I have done no more
to Caesar than you shall do to Brutus.' — Ibid., I. 38. — Verity: I cannot help think-
ing that there is some confusion in the passage, and that Shakespeare has fallen
into it through following North's Plutarch too closely. What Plutarch really
makes Brutus say amounts to this: 'when I was young and unexperienced I
blamed Cato for his self-destruction: now I think difJerently: if we fail, I shall kill
myself.' That is, he does mean, in case of defeat, to imitate Cato, and says so. —
Mark Hunter: The true translation of Amyot [whom North here mistranslates]
would be: 'Brutus answered him, "When I was but a young man ... I made
(I know not how I was led to do it) a philosophical discourse."' . . . But for the
error in pimctuation (due perhaps to the printer), which makes Brutus at the time
of the conversation 'but a young man,' the passage as a whole is consistent enough.
. . . When Cassius asks him whether, if he will not slay himself, he is contented
to be led in triumph through the streets of Rome, he answers rather vaguely than
inconsistently. He may mean no more than that he will fight to the death. In
the end he acts inconsistently with his professed principles; but the abandonment

ACT V, sc. i.] IVLIVS C^SAR 253

By which I did blame Cato^ for the death 117

117. By\ Be F2.

of his principles form part of his tragic failure. — Herford: It is better to make
'I know not how' depend on what precedes than to suppose a long parenthesis
(I know not how . . . time of life), foreign to the simple style of this play; the first
two lines being then a direct answer to Cassius's question, which, however, they
do not neatly fit. . . . Shakespeare's Brutus does not formally announce his
retraction [as does Plutarch's]; he is startled into it by the sudden vision of a
Roman triumph. — MacCallum (p. 185): It is possible that North [in translat-
ing Amyot] used trust in the first sentence as a preterite equal to trusted, just as he
uses //// for lifted. But Shakespeare at least took it for a present: so he was
struck by the contradiction which the passage seems to contain. He got over it,
and produced a new eflect, and one very true to human nature, by making Brutus's
latter sentiment the sudden response of his heart, in defiance of his philosophy, to
Cassius's anticipation of what they must expect if defeated. . . . This last may
show us, however, that Shakespeare, even when he seems to copy most literally,
always introduces something which comes from himself. Despite his wholesale
appropriation of territory that does not in the first instance belong to him, the
produce is emphatically his own. — [I have reserved for the last, though out of
chronological order, the remarks of Charles Knight. His words — at times slightly
caustic — are, on the whole, a summing up of the evidence; and an answer to the
questions, viz.: Is there here any inconsistency? If there be, who is responsible —
Plutarch, Amyot, or Shakespeare? — Ed.] — C. Knight {Studies, etc., p. 419):
Most literal critics, why have you [who say that Shakespeare makes Brutus
express himself inconsistently] not rather confided in Shakespeare than in your-
selves? When he deserts Plutarch, he is true to something higher than Plutarch.
In Brutus he has drawn a man of speculation; one who is moved to kill the man he
loves upon no personal motive, but upon a theory; one who fights his last battle
upon somewhat speculative principles; one, however, who, from his gentleness,
his constancy, his fortitude, has subdued men of more active minds to the ad-
miration of his temper and to the adoption of his opinions. Cassius never reasons
about suicide: it is his instant remedy; a remedy which he rashly adopts, and
ruins, therefore, his own cause. Brutus reasons against it; and he does not revoke
his speculative opinions even when the consequences to which they lead are pointed
out to him. Is not this nature? and must we be told that this nicety of character-
ization resulted from Shakespeare carelessly using his authorities; trusting to the
false tense of a verb, regardless of the context? 'But he contradicts himself,'
says the critic [Courtenay, see ante], 'by the event which he presently portrays.'
Most wonderfully has Shakespeare redeemed his own consistency. It is when
the mind of the speculative man is not only utterly subdued by adverse circum-
stances, but bowed down before the pressure of supernatural warnings, that he
deliberately approaches his last fatal resolve. What is the work of an instant with
Cassius, is with Brutus a tentative process. . . . The irresistible pressure upon
his mind, which leads him not to fly with his friends, is the destiny which hovers
over him.

117. Cato] Cato the Yoimger, governor of Utica, who, rather than fall into the
hands of Caesar, killed himself when Utica was besieged. He is the protagonist of
Addison's tragedy.

254 ^-^-^ TRACED IE OF [act v, sc. i.

Which he did giue himfelfe, I know not how : 1 18

But I do finde it Cowardly, and vile,

For feare of what might fall, fo to preuent 120

The time of life, arming my felfe with patience,

To flay the prouidence of fome high Powers,

That gouerne vs below.

CaJJi, Then, if we loofe this Battaile, 1 24

118. kimfelfe,] himself. Pope,+, Coll. 121. //we]/ermCap.Craik,Coll. (MS).

Hal. Wh. i. life, arming] An omission be-

118-121. I know... of life,] Ff, Rowe, tween these two words Warb. conj.
Pope, Theob. Han. Warb. Coll. Hal. 122. fome] those Coll. ii, iii. (MS),

Wh. Cam. Glo. + . (/ know. ..of life) Craik.
Johns, et cet. 124. this Battaile] Om. Steev. conj.

120. preuent] M alone: That is, anticipate. — Steevens: 'Prevent,' I believe,
has here its common signification, [to obstruct, hinder].— Dt Johnson, in his Dic-
tionary, adduces this very instance as an example of it. — [Malone, pcu:e Johnson
and Steevens, is here unquestionably right. — Schmidt (Lex.) also thus interprets
'prevent ' in the present passage, and Murray (N. E. D., s. v. I. i.), to use the words
of Steevens, 'adduces this very instance as an example of it' in the sense of antic-
ipate. Compare: 'I must prevent thee, Cymber.' — III, i, 44. — Ed.]

121. The time of life] Malone: That is, the full and complete time, the
period. — Collier (Notes and Emend., etc., p. 249) observes that the MS correc-
tion (see Text. Notes) 'unquestionably reads better' than the Folio text; and,
while acknowledging that Malone has correctly explained the phrase ' time of life,'
remarks that Malone 'strangely persevered in printing "time" for term.' — Singer
(Sh. Vindicated, p. 249) thus replies: 'It would have been more strange if Malone
had ventured to change the undoubted word of the poet! One of his chief merits is
close adherence to the old text where good sense can be made of it. . . . "Time"
is duration. [Compare] Baret: "Died before his time, Filius immaturus obit."' —
Craik denounces the Folio reading as 'simply nonsense,' and willingly adopts the
MS correction, which Collier himself does not, except in his movovohime. — Ed.

121. arming my selfe with patience] Warburton conjectures that between
this and the preceding phrase some words are lost, perhaps to this effect:
On the contrary, true courage is seen in, etc. — Johnson, referring to this con-
jecture, remarks: 'there is needed only a parenthesis to clear it [see Text. Notes,
11. 118-121]. The construction is this: I am determined to act according to that
philosophy which directed me to blame the suicide of Cato; arming myself with
patience, etc' — [The occasion must, indeed, be desperate when we find Johnson
recommending as an aid to clearness a method of punctuation for which, as
Boswell tells us, he had a peculiar antipathy: 'Johnson's attention to precision and
clearness in expression was very remarkable. He disapproved of a parenthesis;
and, I believe, in all his voluminous writings not half a dozen of them will be
found.' — Life of Johnson; ed. Fitzgerald, p. 441. — Ed.]

124. this Battaile] Steevens justifies his proposed omission of these two words
inasmuch as they derange the metre, and have already occurred in the foregoing
speech of Cassius, 1. 113; and, further, as an example of such an ellipsis, quotes:
' King Lear hath lost, he and his daughter ta'en.' — Lear, V, ii, 6.

.^iiigSii^USOA

ACTv, sc. i.] IVLIVS C^SAR 255

You are contented to be led in Triumph 125

Thorovv the ftreets of Rome.

Bru. No CaJ/lus, no :
Thinke not thou Noble Romane,
That euer Brutus will go bound to Rome,

He beares too great a minde. But this fame day 130

Mufl end that worke, the Ides of March begun.
And whether we fhall meete againe, I know not :
Therefore our euerlafliing farewell take :
For euer, and for euer, farewell CaJJius,

If we do meete againe, why we fhall fmile ; 135

If not, why then this parting was well made.

CaJ/i. For euer, and for euer, farewell Brutus'.
If we do meete againe, wee'l fmile indeede ;
If not, 'tis true, this parting was well made.

Bru. Why then leade on. O that a man might know 140

126. ThoTOui] F2. Through F3F4, 127,128. One line Rowe.

Rowe, Hal. Ktly. Huds. Coll. iii. Along 127-136. Mnemonic Pope, Warb.

Pope, Han. Thorough Theob. et cet. 131. the Ides] that Ides Ff, Rowe i.

ftreets] street Rowe ii. begun] began Coll. Hal. Huds.

Rome.] Rome? Theob. ii. et seq. 140-143. Mnemonic Pope, Warb.

130. 131. this same day . . . the Ides of March begun] See extract from
Plutarch, II. 11 6-1 23, ante.

131. begun] Schmidt {Lex., s. v. begin) says that this form of the imperfect is
used by Shakespeare only when required by the rhyme. In the present passage
he interprets 'begim' as the participle, i. e., the work begun on the Ides of March.
— Wright shows, however, by many examples, that 'both began and "begun"
are found for the preterite at an early period of the language.'

132. whether we shall meete againe, I know not] Biech (p. 460): Cas-
sius did not speak of the possibility of meeting any^vhere hereafter [11. 113,
114, above] if they were not to meet alive after the battle. That was consistent
with his faith as it was in Epicurus, but not with the stoical philosophy, the re-
ligion, or even character of Brutus, as given by Shakespeare himself [as in his
lines to Cassius, 127-131]. Here he assents to the doctrine of Cassius, Hamlet, and
Shakespeare, that a great mind will not put up with misfortunes — and casting
off the idea of a disposer of events, he does not speak of submitting to Providence.
Nearly the whole of this speech [from the present line to the end of the scene]
is Shakespeare's, as nearly as the whole of the preceding was Plutarch's. Shake-
speare omits in the first speech the acknowledgment of a future state — which is to
be found in the Brutus of Plutarch — and makes Brutus and Cassius join in chorus
to its complete disavowal. . . . Nothing is more clear than the sentiments of
Shakespeare vnth regard to a future state; and here he offends against character
and against truth in order to suppress an opinion contrary to his own.

137-140. For euer, and for euer ... a man might know] Mark Hunter:
Cassius is too profoundly moved to fimd words of his own. He can only repeat

256 THE TRACE DIE OF [act v, sc. ii.

The end of this dayes bufineffe, ere it come : 141

But it fufficeth, that the day will end,

And then the end is knowne. Come ho, away. Exeunt. 143

\Scene II^^

Alariivi. Enter Briitns and Meffala. i

Bru. Ride, ride Meffala, ride and giue thefe Billes
Vnto the Legions, on the other fide.

Lowd Alarum.
Let them fet on at once : for I perceiue 5

But cold demeanor in Oclaiiid's wing :
And fodaine pufli giues them the ouerthrow :
Ride, ride Meffala, let them all come downe. Exeunt 8

Scene rv. Pope, Han. Warb. Johns. 6. 0(5lauio's] OClavxus' Pope et seq.

Scene ii. Cap. et seq. 7. And\ One Han. A Warb. Johns.

The Same. The Field of Battle. Ktly.

Capell. 8. Exeuntl Exeunt, Alarums. Rowe

1. Alarum.] Alarums, as of a Battle et seq.
join'd. Capell.

wistfully the words that have fallen from Brutus. Compare the spirit of the
farewell scene as it is in Shakespeare with North's Plutarch: 'Cassius fell a-laugh-
ing to hear what he said, and embracing him, "Come on then," said he, "let us go
and charge our enemies with this mind.'" \Brutus, § 27; ed. Skeat, p. 140.] Com-
pare and contrast the speech of the same Brutus: 'Fates, we will know your
pleasures,' etc. — IH, i, 11 5-1 17.

2. and giue these Billes] 'In the meantime Brutus, that led the right 'R'ing,
sent little bills to the colonels and captains of private bands, in the which he wrote
the word of the battle.' — Plutarch, Brutus, § 28; ed. Skeat, p. 140.

6. Octauio's] Compare, for this form of the genitive of a proper noun ending
in -ius, the stage-direction. III, i, 306, and: 'Stand you directly in Antonio's
way.' — I, ii, 8.

7. giues them the ouerthrow] For this construction — the present for the
future tense — compare: 'This is the night That either makes me or fordoes me
quite.'— O^M/o, V, i, 128.— Ed.

ACT V, sc. iii.] IVLIVS CAESAR 257

[Scene III.]

Alariwis. Enter CaJJitis and Titi?iius. ^i

CaJJl. O looke Titinius, looke, the Villaines flye :
My felfe haue to mine owne turn'd Enemy :
This Enfigne heere of mine was turning backe,
I flew the Coward, and did take it from him. 5

Titi7i. O CaJJins, Bnitiis gaue the word too early,
Who hauing fome aduantage on Oclanizes,
Tooke it too eagerly : his Soldiers fell to fpoyle,
Whil'ft we by Antony are all inclos'd.

Ejiter Pindarus. 10

Pind. Fly further off my Lord : flye further oft,
Mark A7ito7iy is in your Tents my Lord :
Flye therefore Noble CaJJius, flye farre off.

Cajffi, This Hill is farre enough. Looke, look Titinius
Are thofe my Tents where I perceiue the fire ? 15

Tit. They are, my Lord.

Caffi. Titmiti^, if thou loueft me, ly

Scene v. Pope, Han. Warb. Johns. 9. are\ were Pope,+ ( — Var. '73).

Scene in. Cap. et seq. 11. further... further] farther. ..farther

Another part of the Field, Cap. Coll. Hal. Wh. i.

4, 5. This Ensigne . . . and did take it from him] '[Cassius], perceiving
his footmen to give ground, he did what he could to keep them from fl>'ing, and
took an ensign from one of the ensign-bearers that fled, and stuck it fast at his
feet.' — Plutarch, Brutus, § 28; ed. Skeat, p. 143. — Wright here interprets 'ensign'
as the ensign-bearer; and 'it,' 1. 5, as 'the ensign or standard which he carried.'

5. I slew the Coward] Mark Hunter calls attention to this 'slaying of the
standard-bearer, characteristic of Cassius's fier>', choleric temper,' as a touch
added by Shakespeare to Plutarch's account.

7. aduantage on] Compare ' — I have seen the hungry ocean gain Advantage
on the kingdom of the shore.' — Sonnet, Ixiv, 6.

8. Tooke it too eagerly: his Soldiers fell to spoyle] Craik (p. 369): That
is, followed his advantage too eagerly. The prosody of this line, ^ath its two super-
fluous syllables, well expresses the hurry and impetuosity of the speaker. — Wright:
As Prince Rupert's at Naseby, where Cromwell was the Antony of the day.

13. farre off] Wright: It maybe that 'far' is here the comparative and equiva-
lent to further, just above. Compare: 'Far than Deucalion off.' — Wint. Tale, IV,
iv, 442. See Rich. II: V, i, 88: 'Better far off than near, be ne'er the near';
that is, to be never the nearer.

258

THE TRACED IE OF

[act V, sc. iii.

Mount thou my horfe, and hide thy fpurres in him,
Till he haue brought thee vp to yonder Troopes
And heere againe, that I may reft affur'd
Whether yond Troopes, are Friend or Enemy.

Tit. I will be heere againe, euen with a thought. -£ir//.

CaJJi. Go Pindarus, get higher on that hill,
My fight was euer thicke : regard Titinius,
And tell me what thou not'ft about the Field.
This day I breathed firft. Time is come round.
And where I did begin, there fhall I end.
My life is run his compaffe. Sirra, what newes ?

21. '^ond\ yorC Cap. Var. '78, '85.

23. higher\ thither Ff, Rowe, Cap.
Jen. Var. '78, '85. thee higher Cap. conj.

that] this Cap. conj., Mai. conj.

24. regard Titinius] regard, Titinius,
F,.

25. Field.] Ff, Rowe, Pope, Theob.

Warb. Johns, field, [Pindarus goes up.
Dyce, Wh. i. field. [Exit Pindarus.
Han. et cet.

26. breathed] breathed F3F4. breatJied
Dyce.

28. his] its Pope, Theob. Han. Warb.
Sirra] Now Pope,+.

22. euen with a thought] Steevens compares: 'That which is now a horse,
even with a thought The rack dislimns.' — Ant. &• Cleo., IV, xiv, 10; and Wright,
'Come with a thought.' — Temp., IV, i, 164.

23. Go Pindarus, get higher, etc.] To this scene, with Pindarus aloft de-
scribing the fight to Cassius below, Steevens compares the third scene in Act V.
of Beaumont and Fletcher's Bonduca, where Drusius and Penius describe, from an
upper platform, the battle between the Romans and the Britons. — It was, how-
ever, a common stage device; probably a survival of the classic dramatic rule that
all such actions were to be described to the audience by the actors. Compare:
' Aut agitur res in scenis, aut acta refertur. . . . Non tamen intus Digna geri promes
in scenam; multaq: tolles Ex oculis, quae mox narret facundia praesens.' — Horace,
De Arte Poetica, 1. 179. — Ed.

24. My sight was euer thicke] This and many other slight, yet realistic,
details are contained in the account of the battle in Plutarch (Brutus, §§ 28, 29;
ed. Skeat, pp. 142, 143), whom Shakespeare is here most closely following. — For
the adjective 'thick' as applied to 'sight,' Wright compares: 'His dimensions to
any thick sight were invincible.' — 2 Hen. IV: III, ii, 336.

26. Time is come round] Steevens compares: 'The wheel is come full
circle,' — Lear, V, iii, 174, in the dying speech of Edmund.

28. compasse] Murray (N. E. D., s. v. V. b.) : A circuit of time, round, revolu-
tion. [The present line quoted.] — Wright compares: 'A sibyl that had number'd
in the world The sun to course two hundred compasses.' — Othello, III, iv, 70.

28. Sirra] Craigie (iV. £. Z).,5. z).): From 5/r. The additional syllable had prob-
ably no definite origin, though explained by Minsheu as the interjection ah or ha.
A term of address used to men or boys, expressing contempt, reprimand, or as-
sumption of authority on the part of the speaker; sometimes employed less seriously
in addressing children.

28. Sirra, what newes] Craik (p. 370): The expressive effect of the break in

ACT V, sc. iii.]

IVLIVS CAESAR

259

Pind. Aboiu. O my Lord.

CaJJi. What newes ? 30

Pind. Titinius is enqlofed round about
With Horfemen, that make to him on the Spurre,
Yet he fpurres on. Now they are almoft on him :
Now Titmius. Now fome Hght : O he hghts too.
Hee's tane. Showt. 35

And hearke, they fhout for ioy.

CaJJi. Come downe, behold no more :
O Coward that I am, to Hue fo long,
To fee my befl Friend tane before my face.

Enter Pindarus. 40

Come hither firrah : In Parthia did I take thee Prifoner,
And then I fwore thee, fauing of thy life, 42

29. Aboue.] Within. Cap. Appearing
on the Hill. Jen.

29-31. 0 my Z.or<f... Titinius \s\ As
one line, and reading: my good Lord
Steev. conj.

31-36. Lines end: is...lhat...on...T'\'C\-
nius... hearke. .Joy. Mai. Steev. Var. '03,
'13. Lines end: about. ..Spurre. ..him...
Thlnms... too. ..hearke. ..ioy. Craik. Lines
end: about ... Spurre ... him ... Titinius...
hearke. ..ioy Dyce ii, iii.

^2,, 34- Yet he ... lights too] Lines
end: him; now ... lights too Var. '78,

'85, Ran.

34. Now Titinius.] Now Titinius, Ff.
Titinius! Pope,+, Cap.

34, 35. Now...Hee^s tane] One line
Var. '21, Sing. i.

34. light. ..lights] 'light...'lights Mai.
Steev. Varr. Sing. Coll. Wh. i.

35, 36. One line Pope et seq.
35. tane] taken Wh. i.

37. Come. ..more] Two lines, ending:
downe... more Cap.

41. Come. ..firrah] One line Pope et
seq.

the even flow of the rhythm produced by the superfluous syllable here, and the
vividness with which it brings before us the sudden awakening of Cassius from his
reverie, startled, we may suppose, by some sign of agitation on the part of Pindarus,
will be felt if we will try how the line would read with 'Sir, what news?' — [Much
depends upon the pronunciation of 'Sirrah'; and had Craik but given us some key
to this, his note would have an added force. — Ed.]

34. Now Titinius.] Mark Hunter: Pindarus calls excitedly to Titinius, as if he
could hear him, to quicken his pace and escape. — [The period after 'Titinius' may
perhaps be here used to mark an incomplete sentence. — According to Percy Simpson
(Sh. Punctuation, p. 79), 'a full stop could be used even for an unfinished sentence.
In such cases the sense was a sufiicient guide.' — Compare II, i, 154 and note. — Ed.]

34. light] Bradley {N. E. D., s. v. verb, i.) writes that '"light," in the sense
to dismount from a horse or vehicle, apparently originates in an absolute use of the
verb in the sense to relieve the horse or vehicle of one's weight.' — [The verb alight
has the same meaning, although it is a distinct verb; it is, therefore, not neces-
sary to print 'light' with an apostrophe (see Text. Notes), as though an abbreviation
of alight. — Ed.]

42. I swore thee] That is, I made thee take oath. Compare: 'Sweare priests
and cowards, and men cautelous.' — II, i, 147.

26o THE TRACED IE OF [act v, sc. iii.

That whatfoeuer I did bid thee do, 43

Thou fhould'fb attempt it. Come now, keepe thine oath,

Now be a Free-man, and with this good Sword 45

That ran through Ccefars bowels, fearch this bofome.

Stand not to anfwer : Heere, take thou the Hilts,

And when my face is couer'd,as 'tis now,

Guide thou the Sword (Tc^Azr, thou art reueng'd,

Euen with the Sword that kill'd thee. 50

47. llills\ hilt Pope,-|-. +, after Sword, 1. 49. Cassius falls on

50. thee.] thee. [Kills him. Ff, Rowe. his sword. Coll. iii. Kills himself. Pope
Dies. Capell. Pindarus stabs him. Cam. et cet.

42. sauing] Wright: 'Saving' is here a verbal substantive, and the full phrase
was 'in saving of thy life'; the preposition in first degenerated into a, as in
a-hunting, a-fishing, etc., and then disappeared altogether. Compare: 'I kill'd
the slave that was a-hanging thee.'— Zear, V, iii, 274. In John, ii, 20 the Authorised
Version has: 'Forty and six years was this temple in building,' where T>Tidale
gives 'a building.'

45. Free-man] Compare ' — to live all Free-men,' III, ii, 23; and see note
thereon.

46. search this bosome] Wright compares: 'Alas, poor shepherd! searching of
thy wound, I have by hard adventure found my own.' — As you Like It, II, iv, 44;
and: 'The tent that searches To the bottom of the worst.'— rro. b" Cress., II, ii, 16.
He suggests that: 'Perhaps Cassius intentionally uses the word with this surgical
meaning, his sword being the tent or probe which searched the wound of his grief.'
— Mark Hunter refers to the foregoing interpretation and remarks: I prefer
merely, search this bosom for my heart, just as Titinius says: 'Come Cassius'
sword and find Titinius' heart.' — I. 99, below.

47. Hilts] Murray {N. E. D., s. v. kilt): i. The handle of a sword or dagger,
fb. Formerly often in plural, with same sense. — [Wright compares: 'I'll run him
up to the hilts, as I am a soldier.' — Hen. V: II, i, 68.]

49. Caesar, thou art reueng'd] Boissier, in the following remarks, giv^es us a
strange picture of the times: '"You tell me," Cicero writes to Atticus, "that my
Tusculans give you courage: so much the better. There is no surer and speedier
resource against circumstances than that which I indicate.'" — (ad Att., xv, 2).
'This resource was death. How many people accordingly availed themselves of it!
Never has a more incredible contempt of life been seen, never has death caused less
fear. Since Cato's, suicide became a contagion, a frenzy. The vanquished, Juba,
Petreius, Scipio, know no other way of escaping the conqueror. . . . When Decimus
Brutus, a fugitive, hesitates to choose this heroic remedy, his friend Blasius kills
himself before him in order to set him an example. It was a veritable delirium at
Philippi. Even those who might have escaped did not seek to survive their de-
feat. . . . Cassius was impatient, and killed himself too soon; Brutus closes the
list by a suicide astonishing by its calmness and dignity. What a strange and
frightful commentary on the Tusculans, and how clearly this general truth,
thus put in practice by so many men of spirit, ceases to be a platitude!'
(p. 323).— Ed.

ACT V, sc. iii.] IVLIVS C^SAR 26 1

Phi. So, I am free, 5^

Yet would not fo haue beenc
Durft I haue done my will. O Cajfius ,
Farre from this Country Pindarus fhall run,
Where neuer Roman fhall take note of him. 55

Enter Titinius and Mcffala.

Mcffa. It is but change, Titinius : for Oilauius
Is ouerthrowne by Noble Brutus power,
As Caffms Legions are by Antony.

Titin. Thefe tydings will well comfort Caffius. 60

Mtjfa. Where did you leaue him.

Titin. All difconfolate.
With Pindarus his Bondman, on this Hill.

Mcffa. Is not that he that lyes vpon the ground ?

Titin. He lies not like the Liuing. O my heart ! 65

Mcffa. Is not that hee ?

Titin. No, this was he Mcffala,
But Caffius is no more. O fetting Sunne :
As in thy red Rayes thou doeft finke to night ;
So in his red blood Cafsius day is fet. 70

51, 52. One line Rowe et seq. 66. Is not that] Is that S. H. Clark

56. Scene v. Pope, Han. Warb. (MS).

Johns. 69. to night] to-night Knt, Coll. i, iii,

Enter.. .and...] Re-enter... with... Hal. .

Capell. 7°- is Jet] it Jet Ff . ,J,yJ^

60. 'ivell] much M. Hunter conj. y

57. It is but change] Wright: That is, the vicissitude of war, alternation of
fortune. What they had lost on one side they had gained on the other.

60. These tydings] For 'tidings' used as a singular noun, see IV, iii, 174.

68. O setting Sunne] Wright: It appears from 1. 122 that it was only three
oclock. — Mark Hunter: As the conspiracy at its stormy beginning was set with
a dramatic background of actual tempest, so its decay and death is dramatically
symbolised by setting sun and growing darkness.

69. sinke to night] Craik (p. 371) observes, in reference to Collier's and
Knight's reading 'to-night': 'Surely a far nobler sense is given to the words by
taking "sink to night" to be an expression of the same kind with sink to rest or
sink to sleep. The colorless dulness of the coming night is contrasted with the
red glow in which the luminary is descending. "O setting sun. Thou dost sink,"
meaning simply thou dost set, is not much in Shakespeare's manner. Besides, we
hardly say, absolutely, that the sim sinks, whether we mean that it is setting or
only that it is descending. And the emphasis given by the ^'to-night" to the mere
expression of the time seems uncalled for and unnatural.'

262

THE TRACED IE OF

[act V, sc. iii.

The Sunne of Rome is fet. Our day is gone, 71

Clowds , Dewes , and Dangers come; our deeds are done:

Miftrufl of my fucceffe hath done this deed.

Meffa. Miftrufl of good fucceffe hath done this deed.

O hateful! Error, Melancholies Childe : 75

Why do' ft thou fhew to the apt thoughts of men

The things that are not ? O Error foone conceyu'd,

Thou neuer com'fl vnto a happy byrth.

But kil'ft the Mother that engendred thee.

Tit. What Pindarus'> Where art thou Pindaj-nsf 80

Meffa. Seeke him Titmins ,\n\v\?^ I go to meet

The Noble Bnihis, thrufting this report

Into his eares ; I may fay thrufting it :

For piercing Steele, and Darts inuenomed, 84

71. Sunne\ Sonne F2. Son F3F4.
sun Rowe et seq.

75. Melancholies] Melancholy^s Pope
et seq.

77. 0 Error] Error Pope,+
( — Johns.), Cap.

80. What] Why Cap. (corrected in
Errata).

84. inuenomed] envenomed Dyce.

72. and Dangers come] 'Come' is here, I think, the imperative, as in 'Come,
you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts.' — Macbeth, I, v, 41. — Ed.

73. 74. successe . . . good successe] Craik (p. 372): It is plain that [in
Shakespeare's time] 'success' simply was not vmderstood to imply all that was
conveyed by the expression 'good success.' By 'mistrust of my success' Titinius
must be interpreted as meaning no more than mistrust, doubt, or apprehension
of what I had met with; in conformity with what he afterwards says: 'Alas, thou
hast misconstrued everything.' — 1. 93. [Compare II, ii, 10.]

74. Mistrust of good successe] Walker (Cn7., iii, 249) : Alluding to Cassius's
melancholy temperament.

76. apt] That is, easily impressed, impressionable. Compare: 'I find thee apt.'
— Hamlet, I, v, 31.

77-79. O Error soone conceyu'd . . . that engendred thee] Mark
Hunter: It is to be regretted that Shakespeare did not 'blot' these lines. The
fancy becomes a conceit and the conceit is followed too far, even if the thought
were otherwise unimpeachable, as it is far from being. The Mother of error is
said to be Melancholy; but obviously. Error is not reproached for slaying Melan-
choly, but for slaying Cassius. Cassius is thus the mother — certainly not a happy
simile. Should we read father? Father or mother, to assert that a misunderstand-
ing always results in the death of the person who misunderstands is far from
asserting a universal truth.

79. kil'st the Mother] Wright: Like the brood of the adder, according to a
popular belief. Compare: 'The Adders death, is her owne broode.' — Gosson,
Schoole of Abuse, 1579 (ed. Arber, p. 46).

82, 83. thrusting this report Into his eares] Compare: 'You cram these words
into mine ears against The stomach of my sense.' — Tempest, II, i, 106.

ACT V. sc. iii.] JVLIVS CAESAR 263

Shall be as welcome to the earcs of Brutus ^ 85

As tydings of this fight.

Tit. Hye you Meffala,
And I will feeke for Pindarus the while :
Why did'ft thou fend me forth braue Ca/siusf
Did I not meet thy Friends, and did not they 90

Put on my Browes this wreath of Viftorie,
And bid me giue it thee? Did'ft thou not heare their
Alas, thou haft mifconftrued euery thing. (fliowts ?

But hold thee, take this Garland on thy Brow,
Thy Bnitus bid me giue it thee, and I 95

Will do his bidding. Brutus, come apace.
And fee how I regarded Caitis Cafsius :
By your leaue Gods : This is a Romans part.
Come Cafsius Sword, and finde Titinius hart. Dies

Alarum. E^iter Brutus, Meffala,yong Cato , 100

Strata , Vo/u Junius , and Lucillius.

95. [Crowning him. Coll. ii. 99. Cafsius.. .Titinius] Cassius'...Titi-

98. [Stabs himself. Rowe. nius' Pope et seq.

100. Scene vi. Pope,+.

91. this wreath of Victorie] ' By and by they . . . might see Titinius crowned
with a garland of triumph, who came before with great speed unto Cassius.' —
Plutarch, Bruttis, § 29; ed. Skeat, p. 143.— [For a description and representation
of the various garlands used as rewards among the Roman soldiery, see Green
(pp. 224-226); but inasmuch as Shakespeare is here using the words of Plutarch
it seems hardly fair to take the present passage, as does Green, as an example
to show Shakespeare's knowledge and use of heraldic emblems. — Ed.]

94. hold thee] Compare: 'Hold thee, there's my puise.'—Airs Well, TV, v, 46.
— .\bbott (§ 212) takes 'thee' in both these passages as the dative. Presumably
ethical.— Mark. Hunter thinks it better, although hold and 'hold thee' frequently
precede the giN-ing of something, that 'hold thee' be here taken in the sense of
slop, stay. 'Here, of course,' says Hunter, '"hold thee" has no precise meaning,
whether of take or stay, but merely enables Titinius to pass naturally from the
lament for Cassius's error to the crowning of his brows. We may paraphrase:
"But enough of this.'"— Ed.

95. bid] Wright: Shakespeare uses both 'bid' and bade for the past tense. Com-
pare: 'My gentle Phebe bid me give you this.' — As You Like It, IV, iii, 7.

98. By your leaue Gods] Macmillan: In accordance with the Platonic view,
Titinius implies that he cannot voluntarily depart from life without the permission
of the gods. — Mark Hunter: The proud Roman scarcely thinks it necessary to
ask pardon from heaven for slaying himself.

98. a Romans part] See note by Boissier, 1. 49, ante. — Wright compares:
'Why should I play the Roman fool and die On mine own sword?' — Macb., V, vii, 30.

264 THE TRACED IE OF [act v. sc. iii.

Bru, Where, where Meffala, doth his body lye ? 102

Meffa, Loe yonder, and Titiniiis mourning it.
Bru. Titinius face is vpward.

'' Cato. He is flaine. 105

Bill. O lulius CcBfaVy thou art mighty yet,

104. Titinius] Titinius' Pope et seq.

103. mourning it] Craik (p. 373): An unusual construction of the verb lo
mourn in this sense. We speak commonly enough of mourning the death of a
person or any other thing that may have happened; we might even perhaps
speak of mourning the person who is dead or the thing that is lost; but we only
mourn over the dead body. — [Mxjrray (N. E. D.) does not quote the present pas-
sage under any of the various senses of the verb lo inoiirn.]

104. Titinius face is vpward] Joseph Hunter (ii, 150): This passage shows
that the practice of the stage to represent death by lying with the face upward is as
old as the time of Shakespeare.

106. O lulius Caesar, thou art mighty yet] Hudson {Life, etc., ii, 230):
The final issue of the conspiracy, as represented by Shakespeare, is a pretty con-
clusive argument of the blunder, not to say the crime, of its authors. Caesar,
dead, tears them and their cause all to pieces. In effect they did but stab him
into mightier life; so that Brutus might well say: 'O Julius Caesar, thou art mighty
yet,' etc. Am I wrong, then, in regarding the nemesis which asserts itself so sternly
in the latter part of the play as a reflex of irony on some of the earlier scenes?
I the rather take this view, inasmuch as it infers the disguise of Cassar to be an
instance of the profound guile with which Shakespeare sometimes plays upon his
characters, humouring their bent, and then leaving them to the discipline of
events. — Miss Julia Wedgwood (Contemporary Review, INIarch, 1893, p. 366):
The keynote of the play is struck in [this speech] of the dying [sic] Brutus. We
trace the first faint suggestion of that idea in Plutarch's assertion that the great
genius which attended him through his lifetime, even after his death, remained
as the avenger of his murder, pursuing through every sea and land all those who
were concerned in it, and suffering none to escape. . . . Here Shakespeare touches
silver and leaves gold. That idea of a guardian genius captivates his fancy, he uses
it for the delineation of meaner men; he brings it into one of the finest speeches of
Brutus; but in delineating the greatest of Romans he bids the guardian stand
aside; the great genius who pursues Caesar's murderers shall be Caesar himself. —
J. M. Brown (p. 100): As he sees comrade after comrade fall, Brutus feels the
growing power [of Caesar's spirit]. Even Cassius, most bitter and unwilling though
he was to see aught great in his foe, has, with his dying breath, to acknowledge
the rising might of his spirit. It is this noble spirit that is the true protagonist of
the tragedy. It is that that dominates every scene, every action, every word, every
character, and the weakened personality of the would-be king brings out all the
more distinctly the surpassing power of that which was almost becoming a separate
force in nature and history, nay, feels the influence of it raising his ambitions and
his tone far above the merely human. On his death the memory of the degenerate
snatcher at the crown completely vanishes; and the other, the great spirit, suffers
apotheosis; it reaches the divinity, the vacillating, superstitious Caesar aped.
Caesar, . . . the ambition-ridden weakling, has to die 'with none so poor to do

ACT V, sc. iii.] IVLIVS CAESAR 265

Thy Spirit walkcs abroad, and tunics our Swords 107

In our owne proper Entrailcs, Loiv Alancms.

Cato. Brauc Tilinius,
Looke where he haue not crown'd dead Cafsius. 1 10

Brii. Arc yet two Romans liuing fuch as thcfe ?
The laft of all the Romans, far thee well :
It is impoflible, that euer Rome 1 13

107. walke^X wa'kes F,. et cet.

108. Low Alarums.] Om. Cap. Jen. 112. ThelaJ}]TJ!Oulast'Rowe,+, C^p.
Low alarms. Var. '73. Jen. Varr. Ran. Dyce ii, iii, Huds. iii.

no. ulicrc] Ff, Rowe. if Pope,+- Romans,] Romans! Pope,+.

U'/ic/Acr Var. '73, Cam.+. -a/zcV Cap. far] F^. Ji^^

him reverence' that the spirit of Caesar may live as the never-failing fountain of
imperial power. [Compare: 'Thou, thou it was, most divine Julius, that didst
exact the revenge due to thy celestial wounds, compelling that proud head [Cas-
sius's], so pcrlidius to thee, to implore the sordid aid of a slave, driven to that
extremity of fury that he neither desir'd to live, nor durst to die by his own
hand.' — Valerius Maximus, Acts and Sayings, etc., Bk, vi, ch. viii, § 4; trans.
S. Speed, p. 293. — Ed.]

107, 108. turnes our Swords . . . proper Entrailes] SxEEVENS compares:
* — populumque potentem In sua victrici conversum viscera dextra.' — Lucan,
Pharsalia, i, [11. 3, 4].

108. In our] That is, into our; for other examples of 'in' thus used, see Shake-
speare passim.

no. where] That is, li'Iicthcr; compare: 'See where their baser mettle be not
moved.' — I, i, 71.

112. The last of all the Romans] Malone, in justification of the present
reading, and as an argument against Rowe's change ' Thou last,' quotes from North's
Plutarch the following: 'So when he [Brutus] was come thither, after he had
lamented the death of Cassius, calling him the last of all the Romans, being im-
possible that Rome should ever breed again so noble and valiant a man as he, he
caused his bodie to be buried.' — (Brutus, § 29; ed. Skeat, 144). Malone further
remarks that 'Thou last' was 'not the phraseolog}' of Shakespeare's time,' and in
corroboration quotes: 'Take that the likeness of this railer here.' — j Hen. VI:
V, v, 58; and: ' — as you, O the dearest of creatures, would not even renew me with
thine eyes.' — Cymh., Ill, ii, 42. — Stee\^xs, while following the Folio text, is still
'perfectly con\-inced' that in the instances quoted by Malone 'the' is 'merely the
error of a compositor who misunderstood the abbreviations employed to express
thou and ye in the original ilS.' He considers, moreover, that the passage from
Plutarch is not, in this case, to the purpose, since: 'The biographer is only relating
what Brutus had said. In the text Brutus is the speaker, and is addressing himself,
proprii! person,!, to Cassius.' In refutation of Malone's assertion that 'Thou last'
is not the language of Shakespeare, Steevens quotes: 'Thou loathed issue. . . .
Thou rag of honour! thou detested.' — Rich. Ill: I, iii, 232. — He himself admits, how-
ever, that, as it is of no great importance to the meaning of Shakespeare, whether
we read 'the' or thou, the Folio text is here to be preferred, which is the opinion
of the present Ed.

266

THE TRACE DIE OF

[act V, sc. iii.

Should breed thy fellow.Friends I owe mo teares
To this dead man, then you fhall fee me pay.
I fhall finde time, Cafsins : I fhall finde time.
Come therefore, and to Thar/us fend his body,
His Funerals fhall not be in our Campe,
Leaft it difcomfort vs. Lucillins come.

115

119

■"jt, 114. fellow.] fellow: Ff.

mo] Fa. moe F3F4, Craik. more
Rowe et cet.

117. Tharfus] Thassos or Thasos

Theob. et seq.

118. Funerals] Ff, Mai. Steev. Varr.
Knt, Coll. Dyce, Craik, Sta. Wh.
funeral Pope et cet.

114, 115. I owe mo teares To this dead man] Theobald: This passage
(but why I know not) seems twice to have been sneer'd [at] in Beaumont and
Fletcher's Knight of the Burning Pestle. Luce crying over Jasper, her sweetheart,
suppos'd dead, says: 'Good friends, depart a little, whilst I take My leave of this
dead man, that once I lov'd.' [IV, iv.]. And Master Humphrey, before, says to
Luce: '—it Shall be repaid again, although it cost me More than I'll speak of now.'
[I, i.]— [Theobald says he knows not why this passage should be thus apparently
derided; but is the sneer even apparent? Apart from the fact that the Knight of
the Burning Pestle is burlesque, is there any other ground for such an assumption?
There is, to be sure, a slight resemblance in the form of the lines and the thought,
but no more than might not be easily accounted for by the similarity of the situa-
tions.— Ed.]

114. mo] Compare: 'No, sir, there are moe with him.' — II, i, 82; and see note
thereon.

116. I shall finde time, Cassius : I shall finde time] Mark Hctnter: Notice
the solemn and impressive movement of this pathetic verse. There are three
troches and the remaining feet are almost spondees.

117. Tharsus] Theobald: The whole tenor of history warrants us to write,
as I have restored the text, Thassos. Tharsos was a town of Cilicia, in Asia Minor;
and is it probable Brutus could think of sending Cassius's body thither out of
Thrace, where they were now encamp'd? Thassos, on the contrary, was a little isle
lying close upon Thrace, and at but a small distance from Philippi, to which the
body might very commodiously be transported. Vide Plutarch, Appian, Dion
Cassius. [Both Plutarch and Dion Cassius mention Thassos as the place to which
the body of Cassius was conveyed. Appian refers to Thasos as the retreat of many
of the nobility during the proscriptions; but does not, however, mention it as the
place of Cassius's burial. The fact that it is so spoken of by Plutarch is, I think,
quite sufficient to justify Theobald's remark — that is, if Shakespeare cared that
the locality be correct. — Ed.]

118. Funerals] Walker (Crit., iii, 240): So our old writers passim; Latin,
funera. ... In the [present passage], however, I suspect that the readrng funeral
is right; the construction seems to require it. Both forms were used. — [Shake-
speare uses the form 'funerals' in only two other passages, viz.: 'Turn melancholy
forth to funerals.' — Mid. N. Dream, I, i, 14; 'Wise Laertes' son did graciously
plead for his funerals.'— n<. And., T, i, 176.— 'In the present passage,' Wright
notes, ' Shakespeare has taken the plural from Plutarch.' Funeral occurs four times
in this play alone: III, i, 256; 260; III, ii, 94; III, iii, 21.— Ed.]

ACT V, sc. iv.] IVLIVS CAHSAR. 267

And come yong Cato, let vs to the Field, 120

Labio and Flatdo fet our Battailes on :

'Tis three a Clocke, and Romans yet ere night,

We fhall try Fortune in a fecond fight. Exeunt. 123

\Scene IV\

Alarum. Enter Brutus, MeJJala, Cato, Lucillius, i

and Flauuis.
Bm. Yet Country-men : O yet, hold vp your heads.
Cato. What Baftard doth not? Who will go with me?
I will proclaime my name about the Field. 5

I am the Sonne of Marcus Cato, hoe.
A Foe to Tyrants, and my Countries Friend.
I am the Sonne o{ Marcus Cato,hoe.

Enter Souldiers , and fight. g

121. Labio] Labeo Han. et seq. part of the Field. Cap.

LI/*^ Flauio] Flavius Ff et seq. i. Alarum. ..Brutus, Meffala] Alar-

122. a Clocke] 0^ clock Theob. et ums. Enter, fighting, Soldiers of both
seq. Armies, then Brutus. Capell.

Scene vii. Pope, Han. VVarb. Johns. 2. Flauius] Others Capell.

Scene rv. Cap. et seq. 9. Enter.. .fight] Charges the retiring

The Field of Battle. Pope. Another Enemy. Capell.

122. 'Tis three a Clocke] Verity: This is scarcely consistent with 11. 68, 69
ante, which indicated that the time was already evening. Probably the incon-
sistency arose thus: Plutarch says, 'He [Brutus] suddenly caused his army to
march, being past three of the clock in the afternoon' (ed. Skeat, p. 148); but
Plutarch is speaking of the second battle of Philippi, which took place twenty
days later. . . . Here, in connecting [the two battles], he uses the statement of
Plutarch, and forgets, apparently, that he has previously spoken of sunset. —
Mark Hunter: As a second fight is to follow on the same day, some hours of
daylight are required for it. On the modem stage, with all its appliances to imitate
sunset, the inconsistency could not pass unnoticed. But an Elizabethan audience
might very well forget that they had just been called upon to imagine sunset.
For dramatic and symbolic reasons Shakespeare wished Cassius to die with the
sun. A little later he found it necessary to put the clock back, and trusted that
the trick would succeed, as similar tricks generally succeeded with him. If we can-
not thus account for the inconsistency on the 'double time' hypothesis, we must
then suppose that Shakespeare wrote more carelessly than the average reader reads.

4. What Bastard doth not] Wright: That is, Who is so base bom that he
doth not? Compare: 'What villain touched his bodv, that did stab And not for
justice.' — IV, iii, 21.

26S

THE TRACE DIE OF

[act V, sc. iv.

And I am Brutus, Ala reus Brutus, I,
Brutus my Countries Friend : Know me for Brutus.

Luc. O yong and Noble Cato, art thou downe ?
Why now thou dyeft, as brauely as Titinius,
And may'ft be honour'd, being Cato's Sonne.

Sold. Yeeld, or thou dyeft.

L21C. Onely I yeeld to dye :
There is fo much, that thou wilt kill me flraight :
Kill Brutus, and be honour'd in his death.

Sold. We muft not : a Noble Prifoner.

10. And I am] Ff. Lucil. And I am
Bru. And I am Rowe et cet.

11. Exit. Pope,+- Charges them in
another part, and Exit, driving them
in. The Party charg'd by Cato rally,
and Cato falls. Capell. Exit, charging

the Enemy. Cato is overpowered and
falls. Mai. et seq. (subs.)

16. Onely I] I only Han.

Warb. marks omission of line
following.

17. [Giving him money. Han. Johns.
19. not: a] not, sir. A Cap.

10, II. And I am Brutus . . . Know me for Brutus] Macmillan: The
name of the speaker of these two lines is omitted in the Folios. They are by almost
all editors assigned to Brutus [see Text. Notes]. But Brutus was so well known
that it is strange that he should tell his name with such emphasis, and it is still
more strange that he should follow the lead of such a young man as Cato. The
iteration of the name Brutus sounds like the language of a man who was pretend-
ing to be what he was not. The ascription of these two lines to Lucilius would
make the motive and action of Lucilius much plainer to the audience, who would
have some difficulty in taking in the situation with only the words 'Kill Brutus,' in
1. 18, to enlighten them. It seems probable that the printer of the Folio by mis-
take put the heading ' Luc. ' two lines too low down.

16. Onely I yeeld to dye] That is, I yield only in order to die. For other
examples of this transposition of the adverb, see, if needful, Abbott, § 420.

17. There is so much . . . kill me straight] Warburton supposes that
before this line there is an omission, the lost line being a question by the soldier
as to the amount of resistance sti!! maintained by the enemy; to this Lucilius replies:
'There is so much,' etc. — Johnson: Dr Warburton has been much inclined to
find lacuna, or passages broken by omission, throughout this play. I think he has
been always mistaken. The Soldier here says: 'Yield, or thy diest.' Lucilius
replies, 'I yield only on this condition, that I may die; here is so much gold as
thou seest in my hand, which I offer thee as a reward for speedy death.' What
now is there wanting? [See Text. Notes. — Heath (p. 447) also thus interprets this
line.] — Macmillan: Possibly Lucilius, speaking in the character of Brutus, means
that so much can be laid to his charge that the soldier is sure to kill him immedi-
ately.— [The consistency of Hanmer's stage-direction is not very obvious. Why
should Lucilius think that the offer of money would serve as a bribe, when by his
death the Soldier would naturally obtain all, whether offered or not? It is not, on
the other hand, necessary to suppose with Warburton that there is here an omis-
sion in order to arrive at the interpretation suggested by Macmillan, which
seems, on the whole, satisfactory. — Ed.]

ACT V, sc. iv.] IVLIVS C^SAR 269

Enter Antony. 20

2.S0U. Roome hoe : tell Antonj, Bnitus is tane.

I .Sold. He tell thee newes. Heere comes the Generall,
Brutus is tane, Jh'utus is tane my Lord.

Aiit. Where is hee ?

Luc. Safe Antony, Brutus is fafe enough : 25

I dare affure thee, that no Enemy
Shall euer take aliuc the Noble Briitus :
The Gods defend him from fo great a fhame,
When you do finde him, or aliue, or dead,
He will be found like Brutus, like himfelfe. 30

Ant. This is not Brutus friend, but I affure you,
A prize no leffe in worth ; keepe this man fafe,
Giue him all kindneffe. I had rather haue
Such men my Friends, then Enemies. Go on,
And fee where Brutus be aliue or dead, 35

And bring us word, vnto Oclauius Tent :
How euery thing is chanc'd. Exeunt. 37

20. Enter Antony] After 1. 22 Cap. F4 et seq.

et seq. 35- 'ii'here] Ff, Rowe. if Pope,+.

22. thee] the Pope ii. et seq. whether Var. '73, Cain.+. whe'r Cap.

24. [They show Lucilius. Cap. et cet. ^y .

29. or aliue] alive Warb. 36. livrd] Om. Ff. t't^^-*

31. Brutus friend,] Brutus, friend, Oclauius] Oclaviiis' Pope et seq.

31-34. I assure you . . . Friends, then Enemies] 'Antonius . . . said
unto them: "My companions, I think you are sorrj' you have failed of your pur-
pose, and that you think this man hath done you great wrong; but I assure you,
you have taken a better booty than that you followed. For instead of an enemy
you have brought me a friend: and for my part, if you had brought me Brutus
alive, truly I cannot tell what I should have done to him. For I had rather have
such men my friends, as this man here, than mine enemies." ' — Plutarch, Brutus,
§ 31; ed. Skeat, p. 149.

34. Friends, then Enemies] Percy Sqipsox {Sh. Piindtiation, p. 45) shows by
several other examples from the Folio and contemporary books that it was the
usual pointing to place a comma before 'than.' In the present instance this
comma surv-ived, however, down to and including the Variorum of 182 1. — Ed.

35. where] That is, whether; see V, iii, no and I, i, 71.

37. is chanc'd] Compare: 'I Caska, tell us what hath chanc'd to-day.' — I, ii, 237.

270 THE TRACED IE OF [act v, sc. v.

\Scene V.\

Enter Brutus ^ Dardanius ^ ClituSj Strata, i

a7id Volumnius.

Brut. Come poore remaines of friends, reft on this
Rocke.

cut. Statillius fhew'd the Torch-light, but my Lord 5

He came not backe : he is or tane, or flaine.

Brut. Sit thee downe, Clitus : flaying is the word,
It is a deed in fafhion. Hearke thee, Clitus.

cut. What I ,my Lord ? No, not for all the World.

Brut. Peace then, no words. lO

Clit. He rather kill my felfe.

Brut. Hearke \.\\ee,Dardanius .

Dard. Shall I doe fuch a deed ?

Clit. O Dardaniiis .

Dard. O Clitus. 1 5

Clit. What ill requeft did Brutus make to thee ?

Dard. To kill him, Clitus : looke he meditates.

Clit. Now is that Noble Veffell full of griefe. 18

Scene viii. Pope, Han. Warb. Another part of the Field. Pope.

Johns. 8. [Whispering. Rowe.

Scene v. Cap. et seq. 13. Shall] Om. Cap.

5, 6. Statillius shew'd the Torch-light, but . . . He came not backe]
'Brutus thought that there was no great number of men slain in battle: and to
know the truth of it, there was one called Statilius, that promised to go through his
enemies, for otherwise it was impossible to go see their camp: and from thence, if
all were well, that he would lift up a torch-light in the air, and then return again
with speed to him. The torch-light was lift up as he had promised, for Statilius
went thither. Now Brutus, seeing Statilius tarry long after that, and that he came
not again, he said: "If Statilius be alive he will come again." ' — Plutarch, Brutus,
§ 32; ed. Skeat, p. 150. — [Here, I think, is an instance where Shakespeare's com-
plete familiarity with his authority has blinded him to the fact that his auditors
have not this same advantage; without reference to this extract from Plutarch
these two lines are purposeless. — Ed.]

6. He came not backe] Wright: That is, he is not come back. For this use
of the past tense for the perfect, compare: 'I saw not better sport these seven
years' day.' — 2 Hen. VI: II, i, 2. Again: 'And I said. Surely he is torn in pieces;
and I saw him not since.' — Genesis, xliv, 28.

8. It is a deed in fashion] Referring to the suicide of Cassius and Titinius.
See also the note by Boissier on V, iii, 50.

18. Vessel] full of griefe] Delius: Compare: 'I never saw a vessel of like

ACT V, sc. v.] IVLIVS C^SAR 27 1

That it runnes ouer euen at his eyes.

Brut. Come hither, good K<?/«;wm^j,lifl: a word. 20

Voluni. What fayes my Lord ?

Brut. Why this, Vohivmius :
The Ghoft of Ccefar hath appear'd to me
Two feuerall times by Night : at Sardis,once ;
And this lafl: Night, here in Philippi fields : 25

I know my houre is come.

Volum. Not fo, my Lord.

Brut. Nay, I am fure it is ,Vol7inmius.
Thou feeft the VJ or\d ,Volunmius , how it goes,
Our Enemies haue beat vs to the Pit : Low Alarums. 30

It is more worthy, to leape in our felues.
Then tarry till they puOi vs. Good Vohunnius,
Thou know' ft, that we two went to Schoole together : 33

25. Philippi fields] Philippi-fields F3F4, Rowe,+. Philippi' fields Cap. Varr.
Mai. Steev. Varr. Coll.

sorrow So fill'd and so becoming.' — Witit. Tale, III, iii, 21.— Mark Hunter:
The comparison of a human being with a vessel is biblical, and from the Bible
Shakespeare probably took it. Several times in Shakespeare a woman is termed
'the weaker vessel,' from i Peter, iii, 7 {Love's Labour's, I, i, 270; As You Like It,
II, iv, 6, etc.). Here and in Wint. Tale the allusion seems to be to the vessels that
are made 'some to honour, and some to dishonour' (2 Timothy, ii, 20). Brutus,
that noble vessel, is a vessel imto honour, 'sanctified and prepared imto every good
work.'

23-25. The Ghost of Caesar . . . here in Philippi fields] Mark Hunter:
Here we have 'long time' suggested. It could not have been at Sardis that the
Ghost of Caesar first appeared to Brutus (see note on IV, iii, 224). Moreover, the
second appearance, if it occiured 'this last night' and 'in Philippi fields,' necessi-
tates an interval of at least one night between the opening of the first scene of this
Act (when the armies of the liberators came down from the heights to the plains
of Philippi to engage the enemy) and the present scene. But, according to short
time, there has been no such interval. The second battle takes place on the same
day as the first battle.

26. my houre is come] Deighton compares: 'Then they sought to take him:
but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come.' — John, vii, 30.

29. Thou seest the World] That is, you see the present state of affairs.
Compare: ' — till then, think of the world.' — I, ii, 330, and note.

30. Our Enemies haue beat vs to the Pit] Schmidt {Lex., s. v. Pit): Like
beasts of the chase. — Mark Hunter: There may also be a reference to the grave.

33. we two went to Schoole together] Macmillan: Brutus, in Plutarch,
'prayed him for the studies sake which brought them acquainted together.'
Plutarch here refers to the studies of philosophy and rhetoric in which Volumnius
and Brutus had been associated as grown men. Shakespeare makes the appeal
more touching by supposing that they were schoolboys together.

2/2

THE TRACED IE OF

[act V, SC. V.

Euen for that our loue of old, I prethee

Hold thou my Sword Hilts, whileft I runne on it. 35

Vol. That's not an Office for a friend, my Lord.

Alarum Jlill.

Cly. Fly, flye my Lord, there is no tarrying heere.

Brii. Farewell to you, and you, and you Volu7nnins.
Strata, thou haft bin all this while afleepe : 40

Farewell to thee, to Strata, Countrymen :
My heart doth ioy, that yet in all my life,
I found no man, but he was true to me.
I fhall haue glory by this loofmg day 44

34. prethee] Ff. pr'y thee Pope,+,
Craik, Sta. prithee Knt, Dyce, Cam.+.
pray thee Cap. et cet.

35. Sword Hills] Swords Hilt F3F4,
Rowe,+, Cap. Varr. sword-hilts Mai.
et seq.

35. whilefl] while F3F4, Rowe,4-.
whiVst Cap. Jen. whilst Var. '78 et
seq.

41. thee, to Strato,] thee too, Strata.
Theob. et seq. .1

42. in all] all Ff. ^M^

35. Hilts] See V, iii, 47.

38. there is no tarrying heere] * — one of them said there was no tarrying
for them there, but that they must needs fly.' — Plutarch, Brutus, § 32; ed. Skeat,
p. 150. — Craik compares: 'There is nor flying hence nor tarrying here.' — Macbeth,
V, V, 48.

39-41. Farewell to you . . . Farewell to thee] Abbott (§ 232): The dif-
ference between ' thou ' and ' you ' is well illustrated by this farewell addressed by
Brutus to his schoolfellow Volumnius, and his servant Strato. Compare also the
farewell between the noble Gloucester and Edgar 'dressed like a peasant': 'Edg.
Now fare you well, good sir.' 'Glouc. Now, fellow, fare thee well.' — Lear, IV, vi,
32, 41. — Mark Hunter: Although Shakespeare apparently makes Strato, who
was really Brutus's friend, his servant, Dardanius and Clitus, who are also ser-
vants, are addressed with the plural 'you.' 'Thee' in 1. 41 is due to 'thou' in the
preceding verse, which again is due to a desire for euphony. (Read the verse
substituting 'you have been.')

44. I shall haue glory by this loosing day] In Bell's Edition, after this
line, the following is added: 'Retire and let me think a while — Now, one last look,
and then, farewell to all; Scorning to view his country's wrongs, Thus Brutus al-
ways strikes for liberty. Poor slavish Rome, farewell.' Then follows 1. 60: 'Caesar
now be still,' etc. [To these lines the editor, F. Gentleman, adds a note to the effect
that though these lines are not in the original text, they are 'properly added,'
but does not vouchsafe any information as to their authorship. — Ed.] — Canning
(Sh.'s Historical Plays, p. 9) : Brutus firmly believes in the glorious happiness of a Ro-
man Republic without, apparently, studying whether his fellow-countrymen at that
time desired such a form of government, or what the views of the majority were upon
the subject. — [H. White, translator of Appian's History, remarks (ii, 379, foot-note) :
'Dion Cassius (xlvii, 49) says that before killing himself Brutus repeated the words
of Hercules, "Delusive virtue, thou art but a name. I cultivated thee as a reality,
but thou art the slave of fortune." Florus (iv, 7) puts in the mouth of Brutus

ACT V. sc. v.] IVLIVS C^SAR 273

More then O^auitis, and Marke Antony, 45

By this vile Conqueft fliall attaine vnto.

So fare you well at once, for Brutus tongue

Hath almoft ended his Hues Hiftory :

Night hangs vpon mine eyer, my Bones would reft,

That haue but labour'd to attaine this houre. 50

Alarum. OywitJiin, Flye^fiyCyfiye.

Cly. Fly my Lord, flye.

Bni. Hence : I will follow :
I prythee Strata, flay thou by thy Lord,

Thou art a Fellow of a good refpe6l : 55

Thy life hath had fome fmatch of Honor in it.
Hold then my Sword, and turne away thy face,
While I doe run vpon it. Wilt thou Strata ? 58

46. this] their Walker (Crit., i, 302), '03, '13.

Huds. iii. 53- [Exeunt Clitus, Dardanius, and

47. Brutus] Bruins' Pope at seq. Volumnius. Cap.

53. follow:] follow thee. Pope,+ 56. fmatch] smack Varr. Ran. Wh. i.

( — Var. '73), Cap. Steev. Varr. in it] in't Pope,+.

nearly the same words: "Non in re, sed in verba tantunt esse virtutem." Brutus's
dying speech given by Plutarch is much longer, as well as more appropriate and
dignified, and better entitled to credence.' — H. B. Foster (Dio's Annals of the
Roman People, iii, 155) notes that the above passage, 'Delusive virtue,' etc.,
is No. 374 among the Fragmenta Adespota in Nauck's Fragmenta Tragecorum
Graecorum . — Ed.]

56. smatch] Wright: That is, smack, tincture. With the forms smack for the
verb and 'smatch' for the noun, compare ake and ache as used in the Folio. — [See
note on Temp., I, ii, 433, this edition; and for other examples of smack, in this
sense, see Schmidt, Lex., s. v. The form 'smatch' is not used elsewhere by Shake-
speare.— Ed.]

57, 58. Hold then my Sword . . . While I doe run vpon it] Green (p. 202)

gives a reproduction from one of the emblem-writers, Alciat, 1581, wherein is

portrayed the death of Brutus, who is shown falling upon a sword which rests upon

the ground. Green also quotes two verses by Whitney descriptive of this event; and

adds : ' the references or allusions by the later poet to the earlier can scarcely be

questioned; they are too decided to be the results of pure accident.' — [The similarity

is certainly not due to accident, but to the fact that Whitney is here also following

Plutarch. Two lines betray him, thus: 'But firste, his frendes perswaded him to

flee, WTioe aunswer'd thus, my flighte with handes shalbee.' In Plutarch is this

sentence: * — one of them said . . . that they must needs fly. Then Brutus,

rising up, "We must fly indeed," said he, "but it must be with our hands, not with

our feet."' — Brutus, § 32; ed. Skeat, p. 150. — Ed.]
18

274

THE TRACE DIE OF [act v. sc. v.

Stra. Giue me your hand firft. Fare you wel my Lord.

Bru. Farewell good Strata. Ccefar^ now be ftill, 60

I kiird not thee with halfe fo good a will. Dyes.

Alarum, Retreat, Enter Antony , Oftauiiis , Meffala,
Lucillius , and the Army,

Ofta. What man is that ?

Meffa. My Mafters man. Strata, where is thy Maftef ? 65

Stra. Free from the Bondage you are in Meffala,
The Conquerors can but make a fire of him :
For Briitiis onely ouercame himfelfe,
And no man elfe hath Honor by his death.

Lucil. So Brutus fhould be found. I thank thee Brutus 70
That thou haft prou'd Lucillius faying true,

61. Dyes.] He runs on his sword and 63. the Army] their Army. Mai. et
dies. Rowe et seq. seq.

62. Scene rx. Pope, Han. Warb. 71- Lucillius] Lucilius' Pope et
Johns. seq.

61. I kill'd not thee with halfe so good a will] Staffer (p. 350): The death
of Brutus was not merely the penalty he paid for a series of imprudent and mis-
taken actions, but was also the expiation of a great crime. Dante and Virgil, after
having travelled through the eight circles of hell, and having arrived at the lowest
abyss of all, perceive the three-faced monster, ' the Emperor of the realm of sorrow,'
who 'at every mouth a sinner champed': '"That upper spirit Who hath worst
punishment," so spake my guide, "Is Judas, he that hath his head within And
plies the feet without. Of th' other two, Whose heads are under, from the murky
jaw Who hangs, is Brutus: lo! how he doth writhe And speaks not. The other
Cassius, that So large of limb."' — Canto xxxiv, [11. 56-63; trans. Cary]. . . . Many
extenuating circumstances could, indeed, easily be plead in Brutus's favour, and
there is no human tribunal at whose bar he would not stand absolved. ... But
from an absolute, ideal point of view like Dante's, abstracting all adventitious cir-
cumstances of place, time and persons, the regicide would deserve a place of honour
in the nethermost hell, for no crime could be greater than his — that of high treason
against the Divine King, for he who had committed it would be guilty of trying to
make himself wiser than God, and of taking the place of the Most High in the
government of the world. — [Cary, in a note on the passage quoted by Stapfer,
says: 'Landino struggles, but I fear in vain, to extricate Brutus from the unworthy
lot which is here assigned him. He maintains that by Brutus and Cassius are not
meant the individuals known by those names, but any who put a lawful monarch
to death. Yet if Caesar was such, the conspirators might be regarded as deserving
of their doom. ... If Dante, however, believed Brutus to have been actuated by
evil motives in putting Caesar to death, the excellence of the patriot's character in
other respects would only have aggravated his guilt in that particular.']
71. Lucillius saying true] See V, iv, 30.

ACT V, sc. v.] IVLIVS CyESAR 275

Oila. All that feru'd ^w//^^, I will entertaine them. 72

Fellow, wilt thou beftow thy time with me ?

Stra. I ,if MeJJala will preferre me to you.

Ocla, Do fo , good Mcffala. 75

Me/fa. How dyed my Mafter Strata "?

Stra. I held the Sword, and he did run on it.

Mcjfa. Otlauius, then take him to follow thee.
That did the latefl feruice to my Mafter.

Ant. This was the Nobleft Roman of them all : 80

All the Confpirators faue onely hee,
Did that they did, in enuy of great Cafar :
He, onely, in a generall honefl thought,
And common good to all, made one of them. 84

75. good] Om. Cap. Steev. Varr. '03, Han.

'ij. 83, 84. generall koneJl...And] gener-

-j^. Mafter] Om. Fj. Lord F3F4, o«5, /;o«€5/... Of Coll. ii, iii (MS), Craik.

Rowe,+. general-honesl...And Walker (Crit., i,

78. tlien take him] take him then 29), Dyce ii, iii, Huds. iii.

72. entertaine] That is, employ, take into service.

74. preferre] That is, recommend; compare: 'Shylock thy master spoke with me
this day And hath preferr'd thee.'— il/er. of Ven., II, ii, 155.

So. This was the Noblest Roman of them all] Dowtden (p. 306): The
life of Brutus, as the lives of such men must be, was a good life, in spite of its dis-
astrous fortunes. He had foimd no man who was not true to him. And he had
known Portia. The idealist was predestined to failure in the positive world. But
for him the true failure would have been disloyalty to his ideals. Of such failure
he suffered none. Octavius and IMark Antony remained victors at Philippi. Yet
the purest wreath of victory rests on the forehead of the defeated conspirator. —
SxTDER (ii, 25s): These lines are often quoted as Shakespeare's actual opinion of
Brutus, but they are spoken by Antony, to whom they appropriately belong, and
to nobody else.— Boas (p. 472): With characteristic felicity Antony, in his fare-
well tribute, gives Brutus the praise that he would have coveted most, of being a
pattern specimen of humanity. Dante, with his keen imperialistic s>Tnpathies,
consigns Brutus and Cassius to the lowest circle of the Inferno, with Judas as their
companion in torture. Shakespeare, on the contrary, exhibits their motives and
aims in the most favourable light. Yet the play is a demonstration throughout of
the inevitable triumph of Caesarism.

81. saue onely hee] Abbott (§ 118): 'Save' here seems to be used for
saved, and 'he' to be the nominative absolute. [Compare: 'Save I alone.' — III,
ii, 68.]

83, 84. a generall honest thought, And common good to all] Collier
(Notes, etc., p. 430) observes, in regard to the MS correction (see Text. Notes),
that: 'It is hardly requiring too much, in such a case, to suppose that the scribe
misheard generous and wrote "general"; but the propriety of introducing the
change into the text is a matter of discretion.' — To this moderate admission Singer

2/6 THE TRACE DIE OF [act v, sc. v.

His life was gentle, and the Elements 85

So mixt in him, that Nature might ftand vp,

And fay to all the World; This was a man. 87

(5A. Vindicated, p. 249) retorts : ' We may trust he [Collier] will be discreet enough
to avoid it.' — Craik (p. 378) pronounces the MS reading 'a great improvement
upon the old text,' and adds: 'To act "in a general honest thought" is perhaps
intelligible, though barely so; but, besides the tautology which must be admitted on
the common interpretation, what is to act "in a common good to all"?' — Wright
gives the answer to Craik's question thus: 'Under the influence of a general honest
motive, and for the common good of all. The construction is loose, as in "Impa-
tient of my absence And grief, that young Octavius," etc., IV, iii, 171, but there
is no necessity to read with Collier's MS annotator.'

85-87. His life was gentle . . . This was a man] Steevens compares:

'He was a man (then boldly dare to say)
In whose rich soul the virtues well did suit;
In whom so mix'd the elements all lay,
That none to one could sov'reignty impute;
As all did govern, so did all obey:
He of a temper was so absolute,
As that it seem'd, when nature him began,
She meant to show all that might be in man.' —

Drayton, Baron's Wars, 1598, canto iii. —

Malone notes that the original title of this poem was Mortimeriados, The Lamentable
Civil Warres of Edward the Second and the Barrons, and that it was published before
1598. 'But,' continues Malone, 'Drayton afterwards newmodelled the piece
entirely, and threw it into stanzas of eight lines, making some retrenchments and
many additions and alterations throughout. An edition of his poems was published
in 1602, but it did not contain The Baron's Wars in any form. They [Qu. it?] first
appeared with that name in the edition of 1608. . . . The lines quoted by Steevens
are from the edition of 1619. ... I am inclined to think that Drayton was the
copyist. ... He perhaps had seen this play when it was first exhibited, and per-
haps between 1613 and 1619 had perused the MS. ... It is not improbable that
both poets were indebted to Ben Jonson, who has this passage in Cynthia's Revells,
acted in 1600 and printed in 1601 : "A creature of a most perfect and divine temper:
one in whom the humours and elements are peaceably met without emulation of
precedency." — II, iii. (p. 266; ed. Gifford'). — R. G. White: Even if the likeness
between the passages in question must necessarily be the consequence of imitation
on the part of one poet, it would not follow that Drayton was the copyist. For we
know that Shakespeare was ready enough to take a hint or even a thought from
any quarter; and a decision that he did not do so in this case (imitation being pre-
sumed) must rest upon the previous establishment of the fact that Jul. Cces. was
written before 1603; as to conclude, from the resemblance, that the play was pro-
duced before the recasting of the poem is to beg the question in the most palpable
way. . . . Imitation of one poet by the other might have been more reasonably
charged . . . [on account of] the following similarity between a speech of Antony's
and another passage in The Baron's Wars:

ACT V, sc. v.] IVLIVS CAESAR 277

06la. According to his Vertue, let vs vfe him 88

Withall Rcfpea,and Rites of Buriall.

89. \Vilhall\ With all F3F4.

'I tell you that, which you yourselves do know;

Shew you sweet Caesar's wounds, poor, poor dumb mouths,

And bid them speak for me; but were I Brutus,

And Brutus Antony, there were an Antony

Would ruffle up your spirits, and put a tongue

In every wound of Caesar's.' — III, ii, 234-239,
'That now their wounds (with mouthes euen open'd wide)

Lastly inforc'd to call for present death.

That wants but tongues, your swords doe giue them breath.' —

Baron's Wars, Bk, ii, st. 38 (ed. 1603).

Which was thus altered for the edition of 1619, in which it is a part of stanza 39:

'So that their Woundes, like Mouthes, by gaping wide.
Made as they meant to call for present Death,
Had they but Tongues, their deepnesse gives them breath.'

85, 86. Elements So mixt in him] Nares (s. v. Elements) : Man was supposed
to be composed of the four elements, the due proportion and commixture of
which in his composition was what produced in him every kind of perfec-
tion, mental and bodily. The four temperaments, or complexions, which
were supposed immediately to arise from the four humours, were also more
remotely referred to the four elements. Thus in Microcosmus the four com-
plexions enter, and, being asked by whom they are sent, reply: 'Our parents,
the four elements'; and each afterwards refers himself to his proper element:
Choler to fire; Blood to air; Phlegm to water; Melancholy to earth, [Act II, sc. i.].
No idea was ever more current or more highly in favour than this, particularly
with the poets. Hence Sir Toby inquires: 'Does not our life consist of the four
elements?' — Twelfth Night, II, iii, 9. [Nares then quotes the present passage and
also that from The Baron's Wars given by Malone, and thus concludes] : It has been
doubted which author copied the other; but the thought was so much public
property at that time as to be obvious to every writer. So Browne says of a lady
that such a jewel 'was never sent To be possesst by one sole element. But such a
work nature disposde and gave Where all the elements concordance have.' — Brit.
Past., i, I, p. 8. The thought of Shakespeare's 44th and 45th Sonnets, which form
but one poem, turns chiefly upon this supposed combination; among other things
he says: 'My life being made of four, with two alone Sinks down to death oppress'd
with melancholy.' [Nares follows this with quotations from The Mirror for Mag-
istrates; Massinger's Renegado; Sir John Davies' Immortality of the Soul; Ant. &
Cleo., and Beaumont and Fletcher's Nice Valour, wherein allusion is made to this
doctrine that four elements in equal proportion made a perfect disposition. The
idea was common property, and in this instance, therefore, both Drayton and
Shakespeare may be freed from the charge of plagiarism. — Ed.]

87. This was a man] Upon which word is the emphasis here to be placed? —
Joseph Hunter (ii, 151) decides that 'was' is the important word; metrically the
accent there falls; but even then does not the sense require that we read it, 'This
was a man'? — Ed.

2/8 THE TRACE DIE OF IVLIVS C^SAR [act v. sc. v.

Within my Tent his bones to night fhall ly, 90

Moft Hke a Souldier ordered Honourably :

So call the Field to reft, and let's away,

To part the glories of this happy day. Exeunt omnes.

FINIS. 94

93. omnes.) Om. Cap. 94- FINIS.] Om. F4.

92. the Field] Wright: That is, the army on the field of battle.

APPENDIX

279

APPENDIX

THE TEXT

'The Tragedie of JcLirs Cesar' was first printed in the Folio of 1623, where
it occupies twenty-two pages, from p. 109 to p. 130 inclusive, in the division of
Tragedies, between Timon and Machelh. The Acts alone are indicated— with the
exception of scena prima at the beginning.

Collier: The manuscript originally used for the Folio must have been ex-
tremely perfect and free from corruptions, for there is, perhaps, no drama in the
volume more accurately printed.

The Cambridge Editors, on accoimt of the freedom from corruptions in the
Text, opine that Jul. Cces. 'may perhaps have been (as the preface [in the Folio]
falsely implied that all were) printed from the original manuscript of the author.'

List of Emendations Adopted in the Text of the Cambridge Edition

This List does not include Stage Directions; divisions into metrical lines; mere
punctuation, such as changing an .' into an ?; nor changes of spelling, such as
Pompcy's for 'Pompeyes'; months for 'moneths.' The Four Folios are considered as
one text. The lines are numbered according to the Text, as in the present volume.

In the following passages —

Rowe amends 'laughter' to laugher. — I, ii, 84.

Grant White amends 'old men, fooles,' to old men fool. — I, iii, 74.

Cam. Edd. amend 'Is fauors like' to in favor^s like. — I, iii, 141.

Theobald amends 'first of March' to ides of March. — II, i, 45.

Capell amends 'heare' to are. — II, ii, 64.

Johnson amends 'lane' to law. — III, i, 47.

Theobald amends 'hart' to heart. — III, i. 231.

Staunton amends 'obiects, arts' to objects, oris. — IV, i, 42.

Pope amends 'Pluto's' to Plutus'. — IV, iii, 112.

DATE OF COMPOSITION

Capell (i, pt ii, p. 99): This play is, perhaps, some ten years yoimger [than the
Mer. of Vcn., 1598], if (as it is probable) the three Roman plays were writ together;
for one of them, Avt. b° Cleo., is entered in the books of the Stationers' Company
imder the year 1608.

281

282 APPENDIX

Malone (Variorum, 1821, li, 295), in his Chronological Order of the plays,
places Jul. CcEs. 27"' in the list, with the date 1607, between Macbeth and Twelfth
Night. 'Lord Sterline's Julius Caesar,' says Malone (ibid., p. 446), 'though not
printed till 1607, might have been written a year or two before; and perhaps its
publication in that year was in consequence of our author's play on the same
subject being then first exhibited.' [See Malone's note on I, i, i.] The same obser-
vation may be made with respect to an anonymous performance, called The
Tragedy of Julius Casar and Potnpey, or Ccesar's Revenge, of which an edition (I
believe the second) was likewise printed in 1607. There is an edition without date,
which probably was the first. This play, as appears by the title-page, was privately
acted by the students of Trinity College, Oxford. In the running title it is called
The Tragedy of Julius Ccesar, perhaps the better to impose it on the public for the
performance of Shakespeare. The subject of that piece is the defeat of Pompey at
Pharsalia, the death of Julius, and the final overthrow of Brutus and Cassius at
Philippi. The attention of the town being, perhaps, drawn to the history of the
hook-nosed fellow of Rome, by the exhibition of Shakespeare's Jul. Cces., the book-
sellers, who printed these two plays, might have flattered themselves with the hope
of an expeditious sale for them at that time, especially as Shakespeare's play was not
then published. It does not appear that Lord Sterline's Julius Ccesar was ever
acted: neither it nor his other plays being at all calculated for dramatic exhibition.
On the other hand, Shakespeare's Jtd. Cces. was a very popular piece; as we learn
from Digges, a contemporary writer, who . . . has alluded to it as one of [Shake-
speare's] most celebrated performances. [See note by Theobald on IV, iii, i.]
We have certain proof that Ant. fir- Cleo. was composed before the middle of the
year 1608. An attentive review of that play and Jul. Cces. will, I think, lead us
to conclude that this latter was first written. Not to insist on the chronology of
the story, which would naturally suggest this subject to our author before the other,
in Jul. Cas. Shakespeare does not seem to have been thoroughly possessed of
Antony's character .... Antony is not fully delineated till he appears in [Ant. &•
Cleo.]. The rough sketch would naturally precede the finished picture. ... If
the date of The Maid's Tragedy [by Beaumont and Fletcher] were ascertained, it
might throw some light on the present enquiry; the quarrelling scene between
Melantius and his friend being manifestly from a similar scene in Jiil. Ccbs., [IV,
iii.]. . . . That the Maid's Tragedy was written before 161 1 is ascertained by a
MS play now extant, entitled The Second Maid's Tragedy, which was licensed by
Sir George Buck, on the 31" of October, 161 1. I believe it never was printed.
If, therefore, we fix the date of the original Maid's Tragedy in 1 610, it agrees sufii-
ciently well with that here assigned to Jul. Cces. [In regard to this play mentioned
in the Vertue MSS, Collier {hitrod., p. 5) says: 'This might be the produc-
tion of Lord Stirling, Shakespeare's drama, that written by Munday, Drayton,
Webster, Middleton, and others [entitled Casar's Fall], or a play printed in 1607,
under the title of The Tragedy of Julius Ccesar and Pompey. Mr Peter Cunning-
ham, in his Revel's Accounts (Introd., p. xxv.), has shown that a dramatic piece, with
the title of The Tragedy of Ccesar, was exhibited at Court on Jan. 31, 1636-7.']

Chalmers (p. 431): It is more than probable that the argument of Alexander
[Earl of Stirling's] play supplied Shakespeare with his outline; as the play itself
furnished Shakespeare with thoughts and expressions to fill up the figure. It is,
therefore, improbable that our poet produced his Jul. Cces. before 1607. . . .
I have not observed any not© of time in the play itself which would make this

DATE OF COMPOSITION— DRAKE— COLLIER 283

inference more certain. [In the list of all the plays in order Chalmers places Jul.
Gas. the 29"', between Macbeth and Ant. &* Cleo. Was he forgetful of the fact
that Plutarch furnished 'the argument' to both the Earl of Stirling and Shake-
speare?— Ed.]

Drake {Sh. and his Times) decides upon 1607 as the most likely date of the
composition, and in his chronological list likewise places Jul. Cas. between Macbeth
and Anl. &* Cleo.

Knight: The passages [in Anl. &• Cleo. to which Malone has referred] do not so
much point to the general historical notion of the characters, as to the poet's own
mode of treating them. This would imply that the play of Jui. Cces. had preceded
that of Ant. &* Cleo. But there is nothing to fix the exact time when either of them
was written. We believe that they were among the latest works of Shakespeare.

Collier (Inlrod., p. 3): We think there is good ground for believing that Jul.
Cces. was acted before 1603. We found this opinion upon some circumstances
connected with the publication of Drayton's Baron's Wars, and the resemblance
between a stanza there found and a passage in Jid. Cass. [In the notes to the
passage to which Collier refers, 'His life was gentle; and the elements So mix'd in
him, that Nature might stand up And say to all the world, This was a man,' — V,
V, 8s, will be found the opinions of Malone, Steevens, and others in regard to the
similarity between this and the verse from Drayton which Collier compares; for
convenience of reference this verse is here repeated: 'Such one he was, of him we
boldly say. In whose rich soul all sovereign powers did suit, In whom in peace th'
elements all lay So mix'd, as none could sovereignty impute; As all did govern,
yet all did obey: His lively temper was so absolute, That 't seem'd, when heaven
his model first began. In him it shew'd perfection in a man.' Malone was aware
that this stanza was not in the early issue, 1596, of Mortimeriados; and that the
entire form of the poem, as well as the name, was altered in a later edition, but he
apparently did not know that any edition earlier than that of 1608 contained this
stanza, or that before that time the name was changed to The Baron's Wars.
Collier thus continues]: 'This course [the change of form and name] Drayton took
before 1603. . . . We apprehend that he did so because he had heard or seen
J id. Cces. before then; and we think that strong presumptive proof that he was the
borrower, and not Shakespeare, is derived from the fact that in the subsequent
impressions of The Baron's Wars, in 1605, 1608, 1610, and 1613, the stanza remained
precisely the same as in the edition of 1603; but that in 1619 . . . Drayton made
even a nearer approach to the words of his original: "He was a man, then boldly
dare to say. In whose rich soul the vartues well did suit; In whom so mix'd the
elements did lay. That none to one could sovereignty impute; As all did govern,
so did all obey: He of a temper was so absolute, As that it seem'd when Nature him
began. She meant to show all that might be in man."' [To Steevens is due the
credit for noticing first the similarity between this later form of the verse and the
passage in Jul. Ccbs. From the mention, in Hamlet, III, ii, of the Capitol as the
scene of Caesar's assassination, and its representation in that place in the present
play. Collier adduces that Jid. Cces. is the older of the two tragedies. That this was
the popular notion is shown by many references to other writings; to these ex-
amples Collier adds: 'Thy stately Capitol (proud Rome) had not beheld the
bloody fall of pacified Caesar, if nothing had accompanied him,' Edward Dyer,

284 APPENDIX

Prayse of Nothing, 1585; and thus concludes: 'Robert Greene, a graduate of both
Universities, makes the same statement, and Shakespeare may have followed some
older play, where the assassination scene was laid in the Capitol. Chaucer had so
spoken of it in his Monk's Tale.' — For a further discussion on this point, see notes,
III, i, 18.— Ed.

Verplanck {Introd., p. 6) quotes the foregoing remarks by Collier, and thus
comments: Allowing that the resemblance pointed out to be one not admitting of
the easy explanation of an origin common to both, or of an accidental coincidence,
it no more proves Drayton to be the copyist than Shakespeare. The improved
edition of the Baron's Wars had been printed in 1603; and if it had then been read
by the great dramatist, he might have afterwards unconsciously used this or any
other thought, and so improved the expression of it that Drayton, in his subsequent
version of this poem, was induced to improve his original thought in somewhat
the same words. This is as probable a solution as Mr Collier's, and more so, as it
agrees better with the other evidence — if, indeed, there be any need of a conjectural
hypothesis on the subject, which I do not think there is. But the truth is that,
however imcommon the idea and expression may now appear to the modern reader,
both were, in the age of Shakespeare and Drayton, familiar to all readers of poetry,
and part of the common property of all writers. . . . [See Note on V, v, 85, by
Nares.] Thus it is quite evident that there cannot well be a slighter foundation for
any chronological argument than that drawn from such a supposed imitation of
one writer from another, when the opinions, images, and expressions are part of the
common-place property of the writers of the age. . . . Thus the composition of this
drama, like Coriol., may, with all reasonable probability, be assigned to some of the
seven or eight years subsequent to 1607 — that period of the author's life, and of
the history of English liberty, when the principles of popular rights were first dis-
tinctly and continuously brought into collision with the doctrine of divine regal
power and prerogative.

W. W. Lloyd (ap. Singer, viii, 515): My ovm impression is, as regards the play
[by Munday, Drayton, Middleton, etc.] and the poem [Alortimeriados] of 1602-3,
that Shakespeare's drama was subsequent to them, an impression, however, due
to little more than his readiness to welcome every scattered beauty he encountered,
and then to the preoccupation of these years with the composition of other dramas
of pretty certain and confirmed chronology.

Craik (p. 49), after presenting substantially Malone's reasons, concludes that
'the present Play can hardly be assigned to a date later than 1607; but there is
nothing to prove that it may not be of considerably earlier date. It is evident that
the character and history of Julius Caesar had taken a strong hold of Shakespeare's
imagination. There is perhaps no other historical character who is so repeatedly
alluded to throughout his Plays.' [Craik gives in full the passages wherein men-
tion is made of Caesar; to economise space the references only are here given]:
As You Like It, V, ii, 34; 2 Hen. IV: I, i, 23; Hen. V: V, Prol. 28; / Hen. VI:
I, i, 56; lb., I, ii, 139; 2 Hen. VI: IV, vii, 65; 3 Hen. VI: V, v, 53; Rich. Ill:
III, i, 69-84; Hamlet, I, i, 114; lb., V, i, 236; Ant. &• Cleo., I, v, 20; lb., II, vi,
passim; lb., Ill, ii, 54; lb., Ill, xiii, 82; Cymb., II, iv, 21; lb., Ill, i, passim.
[To these may be added: Merry Wives, I, iii, 9; Meas.for Meas., II, i, 263; Love's
Labour's, V, ii, 618; Rich. II: V, i, 2; 2 Hen. VI: IV, i, 137; Rich. Ill: IV, iv, 336;

DATE OF COMPOSITION— BATHURST-HUDSON 285

J Uen. VI: III, i, 18; Macbeth, III, i, 57; Othello, II, iii, 127.]— Mark Hunter
{Inirod., p. Ixxviii.) refers to the foregoing note by Craik, and says: 'Of such allu-
sions, however, there is not one in any authentic play of Shakespeare of earlier
date than 1599 that betrays any knowledge of Julius which is not popular or tradi-
tional.' In a foot-note he remarks: 'The allusions in the three parts of Hen. VI.
arc of a different character, but those in Pt i. occur in scenes admittedly not Shake-
speare's, while all the allusions in Parts 2 and 3 are found word for word in the
older plays. The Contention and the True Tragedy, in which plays Shakespeare's
share is much more than doubtful. . . . Most of the [later] allusions are clearly
traceable to Plutarch. It is not contended that Shakespeare was unacquainted with
North's Plutarch before 1599.'

Bathitrst (p. 79) : From the verse, I should say positively that [Jul. Cms.] is not
so late as 1602. It is mostly unbroken, like the Histories. Antony's speech,
'O pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth,' III, i, 283, is remarkably unbroken
and antiquated in the metre; his speech, 'O mighty Caesar,' lb., 1. 170, much the
reverse. Between the two we have instances of the weak ending; and so in
Brutus's soliloquy:

'All the interim is
Like a Phantasma.'

It is worth while to compare the last speech [V, v, 88-93] w^th that of Ant. b"
Cleo., in pari materia.

Both Dyce and Staunton follow Collier in assigning Jid. Ccrs. to a date prior
to 1603.

Halliwell (Folio Edition, xiii, 374): Jul. Ccbs. was written in or before the year
1601, as appears from the following lines in Weever's Mirror of Martyr's, printed in
that year, — lines which unquestionably are to be traced to a recollection of Shake-
speare's drama, not to that of the history as given by Plutarch:

* The many-headed multitude were drawne
By Brutus speech, that Caesar was ambitious
When eloquent Mark Antonie had showne
His Vertues, who but Brutus then was vicious? '

This interesting allusion disposes of the various theories which have assigned the
composition of Jid. Cces. to a later date. [Halliwell saw fit, however, to modify
this assertion, and in his Outlines, ed. ii, 1883, he thus refers to these lines: 'There
is supposed to be a possibility, derived from an apparent reference to Jid. Cces. in
Weever's Mirror of Martyr's, that this tragedy was in existence as early as 1599.
. . . Shakespeare's was not, perhaps, the only drama of the time to which the lines
of Weever were applicable.' — Ed.]

Hudson {Life, etc., ii, 222): It seems to me that in Jul. Ccfs. the diction is more
gliding and continuous, and the imagery more round and amplified, than in the
dramas known to have been of the poet's latest period. . . . Take a sentence from
the soliloquy of Brutus just after he has pledged himself to the conspiracy:

"Tis a common proof
That lowliness is young ambition's ladder,

286 APPENDIX

Whereto the climber-upward turns his face;
But, when he once attains the upmost round,
He then unto the ladder turns his back.
Looks in the clouds, scorning the base degrees
By which he did ascend.'

Here we have a full, rounded period in which all the elements seem to have been
adjusted, and the whole expression set in order, before any part of it was written
down. The beginning foresees the end, the end remembers the beginning, and the
thought and image are evolved together in an even, continuous flow. The thing is,
indeed, perfect in its way, still it is not in Shakespeare's latest and highest style.
Now compare with this a passage from the Wini. Tale:

'When you speak, sweet,
I'd have you do it ever: when you sing,
I'd have you buy and sell so; so give alms;
Pray so; and for the ordering your affairs,
To sing them too: when you do dance, I wish you
A wave o' the sea, that you might ever do
Nothing but that; move still, still so, and own
No other function.'

Here the workmanship seems to make and shape itself as it goes along, thought
kindling thought, and image prompting image, and each part neither concerning
itself with what has gone before nor what is coming after. The very sweetness has
a certain piercing quality, and we taste it from clause to clause, almost from word
to word, as so many keen darts of poetic rapture shot forth in rapid succession.
Yet the passage, notwithstanding its swift changes of imagery and motion, is
perfect in unity and continuity. Such is, I believe, a fair illustration of what
has long been familiar to me as the supreme excellence of Shakespeare's ripest,
strongest, and most idiomatic style. Ant. &" Cleo. is pre-eminently rich in this
quality, but there is enough of it in The Tempest, Wint. Tale, Coriol., and Hen.
VIII. to identify them as belonging to the same stage and period of authorship.
But I can find hardly so much as an earnest of it in Jul. Cms.; and nothing short of
very strong positive evidence would induce me to class this drama with these, as
regards the time of writing. [Hudson, therefore, on the evidence of Halliwell's
quotation from Weever, adopts a date prior to 1601. — Ed.]

Fttrnivall (Succession of Sh.'s Plays, p. xxxix.) : fWe must take into accoimt
that] Shakspere's great patron and friend, Southampton, was declared traitor and
imprisoned in 1601; was threatened with death, and in almost daily danger of it till
Elizabeth's own death in 1603 set him free through King James; the rebellion and
execution of Essex, Southampton's friend and the cause of his ruin, to whom Shak-
spere had two years before alluded with pride in his Prologue to Hen. V., 1. 30.
At any rate, the times were out of joint. Shakspere was stirred to his inmost
depths, and gave forth the grandest series of tragedies that the world has ever seen:
Hamlet (followed by the tragi-comedy Meas.for Meas.),Jul. Cms., Othello, Macbeth,
Lear, Tro. b" Cress., Ant. &° Cleo., Coriol., Timon. [In a following 'Trial table'
Fumivall assigns the date 1601-3 to Jitl. Ca:s.\ In a letter to The Academy, 18 Sep-
tember, 1875, Furnivall writes: 'I must note, too, how closely Shakespeare's
Julius Ccesar, 1601, would come home to the ears and hearts of this same London

DATE OF COMPOSITION— FLEA Y 287

audience of 1601, after the favourite's outbreak against his Sovereign. Et tu,
Brule? would mean more to them than to us. Indeed, it is possible that the con-
spiracy against Elizabeth may have made Shakespeare choose 1601 as the time for
producing, if not writing, his great tragedy, with its fruitful lesson of conspirators'
ends.' This date he also adopts in the Introd. to the Leopold Shakespeare, p. Ixvii.
In reference to the foregoing communication Wright {Introd., p. xlv.), after calling
attention to 'the singular reticence of Shakespeare with regard to contemporary
events,' says: 'To my own mind the coincidence in time between the representa-
tion of the play, assuming the date 1600-1601 to be correct, with the desperate
attempt of Essex, is a coincidence only, so far as regards Shakespeare. Still the
hearers would have their own thoughts, and the play to them might have a mean-
ing which the author did not consciously intend.'

Fleay {Sh. Soc. Trans., 1874, p. 357) opines that Jul. Cces. as it appears in the
Folio is but an alteration and abridgement, by Ben Jonson, of Shakespeare's
original play. His reasons for so deciding are substantially as follows: In all the
plays, other than Jul. Cces., wherein the name Anthony occurs, it is spelt with Ih;
in this play it is, however, either Antony or Antonie, which is the form used by
Ben Jonson in Catiline; again, the number of participles in -ed, with final syllable
pronounced, is out of proportion to that in other plays; certain phrases which appear
only in /«;. Cffi5. may be also found in Jonson's works, e.g., 'come home to you,'
I, ii, 328, is not found elsewhere in Shakespeare with just this shade of meaning,
equivalent to the French 'chez toi'; Jonson, in Catiline, has, however, 'I'll come home
to you,' III, i, [ed. Gifford, p. 252]; 'quality and kind,' I, iii, 73, is not used by
Shakespeare, who speaks of 'quality and brain,' 'quality and name.' Jonson,
Every Man Ln His Humour, has, 'Spirits of our kind and quality,' II, i; 'bear
me hard,' which occurs three times in Jul. Cces. and in no other of Shakespeare's
plays, is used by Jonson, who has: 'Ay, though he bear me hard I yet must do him
right.' — Catiline, IV, v, [ed. Gifford, p. 318]. The large proportion of short lines
where no pause is required is an evidence of abridgement for representation.
This is quite unlike Shakespeare in his complete work; but may be seen in the
surreptitious quartos of Hamlet and Rom. b° Jul. The number of once-used words is
not great, which is in Jonson's maimer, since we know his dislike to strange words
as shown by the last Act of The Poetaster. It is probable, Fleay thinks, that Shake-
speare worked with Jonson on Sejanus in 1602, and what then more likely than
that Jonson should be chosen to remodel Shakespeare's play if needed in a form
shorter than originally written. The practice of following up a successful play by
others is well-known. ' Is it not, then, highly probable,' asks Fleay, ' that this play,
produced about 1601 originally, should be revived in 1607, the date of Lord Ster-
ling's Julius CcBsar and of Ccesar's Revenge, ... or if it were produced in 1607, as
Malone believes, that the other play was then published in rivalry to it? In any
case I think it likely that some production or reproduction was at that date, and
another after Shakespeare's death, with Jonson's alterations. There is a stilted
feeling about the general style of this which is not the style of Jonson, but just
what one would fancy Shakespeare would become with an infusion of Jonson.'
As regards the resemblance between the quarreling scene, in The Maid's Tragedy,
and that between Brutus and Cassius, Fleay decides that Beaumont and Fletcher's
play 'was probably produced in 1609, the year after Philaster [which is imitated
from Cymb.]. It is, therefore, not improbable that Jul. Cas. was reproduced in the
year after, or, at any rate, about the same time as Cmyb., that is, in or close on 1607,

288 APPENDIX

just as Shakespeare's fourth period began.' Fleay calls attention to the like use
of the word ' lane,' meaning narrow conceits, in the line as in the Folio, ' the lane of
children,' III, i, 48, and a passage in Jonson's Staple of News; but herein he has
been anticipated by Steevens both in the interpretation and illustration (see note
ad loc. cit.). The Folio reading has not, moreover, been accepted by any editor
since Johnson's emendation Haw.' Fleay also notices (as did Malone) the similarity
between that passage in V, v, ' His life was gentle, and the elements So mixed in
him,' etc., and the lines in Cynthia's Revells (acted in 1600): 'A creature of a most
divine temper: one in whom the humours and elements are peaceably met without
precedency.' — II, iii. 'Surely,' adds Fleay, 'Shakespeare did not deliberately copy
Jonson: but if he wrote before him, Jul. Cas. must come before 1600, into the
time of the historical plays. This agrees with the date of allusion discovered by
Halliwell, but the paucity of rhymes, number of short lines, and brevity of the
play are conclusive as to its not having been produced in its present state at that
date. It has been abridged by some one for theatrical representation — if not by
Jonson, by some one else.' The final step in Fleay's argument is concerned with
that passage in Jonson's Discoveries, which has already been the source of so
much comment, wherein Jonson, in illustration of the many errors of the man whose
memory he honoured ' this side of idolatry,' quotes a line presumably as it originally
appeared in this play: 'as when he said in the person of Cassar, one speaking to
him, "Caesar, thou dost me wrong." He replied, "Cassar did never wrong but
with just cause."' From this Fleay deduces the following: '(i) That a line in
Jjil. CcES., as it originally stood, has been altered from its first form as quoted by
Jonson into: "Know Caesar doth not wrong, nor without cause Will he be satis-
fied" [as it now stands in the Folio text, III, i, 56]. (2) That this alteration had been
made in the acting copy, . . . though Jonson's statement of its being an alteration
was not published till after his death in 1637. (3) That Jonson gives this as one of
"many" instances. We cannot now find these in Shakespeare's works, but it is a
fair inference that other similar corrections have been made. (4) These alterations
were not commonly known; such an opportunity for what our forefathers called
"merry jests" would never have been lost. We have, then, a play in which one
error at least has been corrected; and an author to whom this correction was pri-
vately known — a play in which there is a deficiency of some thousand lines as
compared with the others of the same class by the same author; ... a play with
various peculiar phrases and usages of words; and the same critic-author in whose
works these peculiar words and phrases are found. Add to these considerations
. . . the probability that these two writers had worked together on Sejanus, and
I think there is a case made out that the play of Jul. Cess, as we have it was cor-
rected by Ben Jonson, whether it had been produced by Shakespeare in 1600-1
in a different form or not. If it had, ... it would be written by him as a con-
tinuation of the series of Histories immediately after Hen. V, to which play the
general style of Jul. Ccbs. seems to be more like than to any other work of Shake-
speare. ... If the allusion [in Hamlet, III, ii, 109-111] is to Shakespeare's play,
it distinctly points to an acting of Caesar's part by an inferior player: which would
give us a reason for the ill-success of the piece at its first production. Hamlet's
speech — "Be the players ready?" — so strongly contrasts Polonius with the good
actors, that he must, I think, be referring to some actual performer. ... Of
course, as I hold the alterations in this play ... to have taken place principally
at the ends of speeches, and especially at the ends of scenes, the proportion of
rhymes has been too seriously interfered with to be of any use by way of com-

DATE OF COMPOSiriOX—FURXIl'ALL—IXGRAM 289

parison with other plays of Shakespeare.' — [This article is reprinted in Fleay's
Shikespeare Manual, ch. xi, pp. 262-270. In his Life of Shakespeare, 1886, he
adopts a date anterior to 1601 as the most likely on account of the allusions in
Mirror of Martyrs and Hamlet, the Quarto of which appeared in 1601. — Ed.]

FuRNTVALL {Sit. Soc. Trans., 1874, p. 503) characterises the whole of Fleay's
theory as 'mere vagary'; he shows by numerous e.xamples from other plays that
Fleay's asertion, in regard to certain phrases and words peculiar to Jul. Cms.
and [)\a.y?, of Jonson, is not founded on fact and can thus be disproved; that 'the
spelling of the name Antony is easily accounted for, because the hero's Latin name
Antonius is also given to him in the play, as it also is in Sejaniis; that there is no
evidence for the statement that Shakespeare and Jonson worked together on
Scjanus beyond Jonson's words in his recast play: "this book, in all numbers, is
not the same with that which was acted on the public stage; wherein a second pen
had good share: in place of which, I have rather chosen to put weaker, and, no
doubt, less pleasing, of mine own, than to defraud so happy a genius of his right by
my loathed usurpation." Is it likely that a play of which Shakespeare, about the
best part of his middle time, uTote "good share," would fail; and that when
Jonson re-wrote this "good share," the play would succeed? (Dr Nicholson has
since shown cause to believe that Sheppard was Jonson's helper, as Sheppard claims
that he "dictated" to Jonson when he \vrote Sejanus.) . . . Fleay asks us to
believe that Shakespeare wrote Jul. Ccbs. in 1 600-1 (which is no doubt true),
and that at the very time he was engaged on his other Roman Plays, Coriol. and
Ant. s" Cleo., in 1606-8, he let Ben Jonson alter his Jul. Ccbs. in 1607. Is not this
too great a demand on our credulity? Again, as to the " ver>' important argimient"
from Jonson's Discoveries, it makes dead against Fleay's theory. For, as Mr Hales
well remarked to me, if Ben Jonson had really re\ased Shakespeare's J til. Cas.,
he would certainly have told us that he, the great Ben, had set his friend's ridicu-
lous passages all right. Jonson was not the man to hide his light under a bushel.
The only point in the whole paper,' concludes Fumivall, 'which I can at present
accept is the justification of the Folio reading "lane," III, i, 48; and this is taken
without acknowledgement from Steevens.'

J. W. Hales {Sh. Soc. Trans., 1874, p. 505): Of external evidence in favour of
Fleay's theory there is not one trace, nor is there a single fragment of definite
internal evidence.

Professor Ingr.\m {Sh. Soc. Trans., 1874, p. 450) has compiled a table of the
chronological order of Shakespeare's plays, based on the percentage of 'light
endings' (that is, lines ending with words such as am, has, since, though) and
'weak endings' (such words as and, hut, from, if). 'From this table,' says Ingram,
'the following results seem to be deducible: (i) During the first three-fourths (or
thereabouts) of Shakespeare's life, he used the light endings very sparingly, and
the weak endings scarcely at all. (2) The last fourth (or thereabouts) is . . . un-
mistakably distinguished from the earlier stages by the very great increase in the
number of light endings, and, still more, by the first appearance in any appreciable
number, and afterwards the steady growth, of the weak endings. (3) Hence in
any discrimination of periods which is founded on metrical considerations, this last
may be called the " weak-ending Period." (4) To this Period Cymb. undeniably
belongs. (5) Jul. Cas. belongs, not to this, but to the preceding Period.' [In
19

. 290 APPENDIX

Ingram's table Jul. Cas. stands twentieth in the list, between Meas. for Meas. and
Othello.]

Warde (i, 424): That Shakespeare's Jul. Cces., at all events in its original form,
had appeared several years previously to 1607 seems to be incontestably proved.
[Thus, also, Warde in his revised ed. of 1899; vol. ii, p. 138. — Ed.]

Elze (p. 351) considers the allusion in Weever's Mirror of Martyrs, 1601, as
'most unequivocal,' and calls attention to a passage in Weever's Dedication, wherein
the author says that his book had 'lain for two years in his desk ready for the
press,' 'and hence,' remarks Elze, 'Shakespeare's Jul. Cas. must have been written
before 1601, nay, before 1599. This is a striking proof that Shakespeare's career
began and ended earlier than is generally supposed.'

Stokes (p. 35) : The great similarity of style between this play and Hamlet and
Hen. V. has been pointed out by Gervinus . . . and others, and, I suppose, must have
been felt by nearly every reader. It is not only shown by the many allusions to
Caesar in these plays (allusions, by the by, which show a co-ordinate estimation of
his character), but by the 'minor relations' of these plays. This point is so strong
that, taking into consideration some of the references [mentioned by Malone, Collier,
Halliwell, and others], there can scarcely be any doubt that the original production
of this play must be placed in 1 599-1 600. It may have been revised afterwards,
and the appearance of several works bearing similar titles suggests, as Mr Fleay
says, its reproduction at that date. [To the apparent allusions to Shakespeare's
Jul. C(Bs. Stokes adds the following from a collection of poems on the death of
Elizabeth, entitled Sorrowes Joy, 1603: 'Upon the Death of oiur Late Queene.
They say a comet wooteth to appeare. When Princes baleful destinie is neare; So
Julius Starre was seene with fiery crest, Before his fall to blaze among the rest,'
&c. With this he compares: 'When beggars die there are no comets seen; The
heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes.' — II, ii, 36.]

Wright (Clarendon, ed. Jntrod., p. viii.): That Jul. Cces. was not brought out
before 1600 is rendered probable by the use of the word 'eternal' for infernal in
I, ii, 176 [see Note ad loc.]. At the beginning of the seventeenth century it is
evident that public attention had been directed by the Puritan party to the license
of the players, and very shortly after the accession of James I. an Act was passed
to restrain the abuses of the stage. . . . For some reason or other, whereas in
three plays which were all printed in 1600, Shakespeare uses the word 'infernal,'
he substitutes eternal for it in Jul. Cces., Hamlet, and Othello, and my inference is
that he did so in obedience to the popular objections which were urged against the
profanity of the stage, and that the plays in which 'eternal ' occurs as the equivalent
of infernal were produced after 1600. If this inference be sound, it follows that
Jul. CcBS. was brought out subsequently to 1600, and if Weever almost quoted
from it in 1601, the date of the play is fixed between very narrow limits. [Elze
has, however, shown that Weever's poem was written at least two years before its
publication . — Ed.]

Verity (Introd., p. ix.): The style, versification, and general tone of Jiil.
Cces. belong to the period 1 600-1 601 of Shakespeare's career. . . . Having the
more striking allusion in the Mirror of Martyrs, which points so strongly to

THE

TRAGEDY OF

JVLIVS C^SAR,

Aa I.

Juno. S

Though I (a Goddeffe) grace the azure round,
Whilfl birds (all bright with eyes) my Coach do move,
And am with radiant ftarres, heavens Empreffe crown'd,
The thunderers filler, wife of mighty love,

And though I banquet in th'etheriall bowres, lO

Where Ambrofie and Necflar ferves for meate,
And at the meeting of th' Immortall powres,
Am ftill advanc'd unto the high eft feat:
Yet by thofe glorious fliewes of boundleffe bliffe,

My burden'd minde can no way be reliev'd: IS

Since immortality affords but this,
That I live ever to be ever griev'd.
In vaine, vaine mortals feeke for helpe at me,
With facred odours on my Altars throwne:

What expectation can they have to fee 20

One venge their wrongs, who cannot venge her own?
May Pallas then drowne thoufands if Ihe pleafe,
Who metamorphos'd Diomedes mates?
And muft my enemies alwaies live at eafe,

As me to fpight appointed by the fates? 25

Of all the dying race which lives below.
With fuch indignities none could comport.
As wound my breft, whom Gods and men doe know,
To be abus'd by love in many a fort.

Though knowne to me, from others if conceal'd, 3°

His faults might breed me griefe, but yet not (hame;
Where, Ice, now both through heaven and earth reveal'd,
Each flandrous Theater doth his fcome proclaime.

If divine foules divinely liv'd aloft, ^

The world below would imitate them then, 35

319

320

APPENDIX

But humaniz'd by haunting mortals oft, 36

Where men fhould grow like Gods, Gods grow like men.

My painted Iris in her beauties pride,

Smiles not on Phmhus with fo many hewes.

As love in divers fhapes himfelfe can hide, 40

When he poore Maydes (by Cupid fpurr'd) purfues;

He Danae (a golden fhower) deceiv'd;

And did (a Swanne) in Ledaes bofome light;

Then (turn'd a Bull) Agenors daughter reav'd;

And lo made a Cow to mocke my fight : 45

But O! I wifh that with fuch wanton Dames,

He dill to fport would as with me remaine;

Not able then to touch celeftiall flames.

All (like the drunkards mother) might be flaine.

Then fuch a troupe as Rfteas bofome flores, 50

Would not hold him and me at endleffe jarres;

The heavens are peftred with my husbands whores,

Whofe lights impure doe taint the purefl ftarres.

"Though wrongs, when groffe, are heavy to digefl,

"An Acflors greatneffe doth fome griefe remove, 55

"Of whom to fuffer wrong it fhames one leaf!;:

"If I were wrong'd' I would be wrong'd by love;

But (ah) this long, tormented hath my breft,

A Man, a Boy, a fhepheard, yea, and worfe,

The Phrygian fire-brand, the adultrous guefl, 60

Who firfl wrought wrong by fraud, and then by force;

He, he was he, whofe verdi(5l mov'd me mod,

WTiilft partiall fancies judg'd of beauties right;

Nor was it flrange though one all judgement lofl,

Who had three naked Goddeffes in fight; 65

And yet I know, had not his wandring eyes

The Cyprian brib'd by fome lafcivious fmiles.

My pompous birds (in triumph) through the skyes.

Had borne the gold which oft her Nymphs beguiles;

And am I fhe whofe greatneffe is admir'd, 70

Wliom love for wife, whom thoufands court for love?

Whom haughty Ixion to embrace defir'd.

Yet with a cloud deluded did remove?

And what made me a matter to fubmit,

Where my authority might have avail'd? 75

Whilft though I promis'd wealth, and Pallas wit.

Yet with a yong man, Venus mofl prevail'd;

" But how durfl he of one the glory raife,

" Where two contemn'd would needs the wrong repaire?

" It fpites our fexe to heare anothers praife, 80

"Of which each one would be thought onely faire.

To venge my felfe no kinde of paine I fpar'd,

And made his greatefl gaine his greatefl loffe:

As Venus gave him Helen for reward,

I gave him Helen for his greatefl croffe; 85

ALEXANDER'S JULIUS CA£SAR 321

Nor did he long with joy her love enjoy, 86

Whofe futall flames his Country did confound,
Whilfl Armies arm'd for her did Troy deftroy.
And Neptiines labours levell'd with the ground;

Whilft Simois feem'd to be a buriall field, 90

Whofe ftreams (as ftreets) were with dead bodies pav'd,
All Zanllius Plaine (as tum'd a Sea) did yeeld
A floud of bloud, from Heroes wounds receiv'd;
Whilll braving thoufands once, though much efleem'd.

By dull; and bloud deform'd, of Hedor flaine, 95

(Not like Patroclus by the fword redeem'd)
The body bafcly was bought backe againe;
Then, by the fame mans fonne who kill'd his fonne,
Old Priamiis furpriz'd, figh'd forth his breath.

And even moil harm'd where he for helpe had nmne, 100

The Altar taking, taken was by death.
Though wreflling long to fcape the heavens decree,
(Bloud quenching luft) lafl parted from the light,
He who lov'd Helen, and was loath'd by me.

Did (as a Sacrifice) appeafe my fpight. 105

Then, having liv'd (if wretches have a life)
Till (in all hers ere dead, oft buried fpi'd)
Though once known both, nor mother then, nor wife,
The fertile Hecuba (made childeleffe) dy'd.

Thus, by thofe meanes it would have feem'd to fome no

That fcomed beauty had beene well reveng'd:
But whilfl they were o're-com'd, they did o're-come.
Since they their flates for better dates have chang'd.
I in one part that people did confound,

But did enlarge their power in every place: 115

All war-like Nations through the world renown'd,
From Phrygian mines flrive to raife their race.
And yet two traitors who betrayd the refl
O! that the heaven on treafon fometime fmiles!

Though having worfl deferv'd, did chance the beft, 120

More happy then at home in their exiles;
Did not Anlenor (flealing through his foes)
Neere to th' Euganian Mountaines build a Towne;
Of which fome nurflings once fhall feeke repofe,

Amidfl; the waves, and in the depths fit downe: 125

Their Citie (fpoufing Neptune) fhall arife.
The rarefl; Common-wealth that ever was,
Whofe people, if as flout as rich and wife.
Might boaft to bring miraculous things to paffe.

Then falfe ^Eneas, though but borne t' obey, 130

Did (of a fugitive) become a King:
And fome of his neere Tibers flreames that flay,
Would all the world to their obedience bring.
Their ravenous Eagles foaring o're all lands,

By violence a mighty prey have wonne, 135

322

APPENDIX

That baftard brood of Mars with martiall bands, 136

Have conquer'd both the Manfions of the Sunne;

Their coiirfe by mountaines could not be controld,

No; Neptune could not keep his bofome free:

The parching heate, nor yet the freezing cold, 140

Their Legions limits no way could decree;

Yet, of that City there can come no good,

Whofe rifmg walles with more then barbarous rage,

The builder firft bath'd with his brothers bloud.

Which their prodigious conquefls did prefage. 145

Oft hath that Towne my foule with anguifh fill'd,

Whofe new-borne ftate did triumph o're my wrath,

Like my old foe who in his Cradle kill'd

The Serpents which I fent to give him death.

By Sabins, Albans, Tujcans, oft affail'd, 150

Even in her infancy I tofs'd Romes ftate.

Yet flill Laomedons falfe race prevail'd,

And angry luno could doe nought but hate.

Then when the gallant Caules had vanquilh'd Rome,

Who bafely bought her liberty with gold, 155

A banifh'd man Camilliis chanc'd to come.

And her imballanc'd ftate redeem'd of old;

Great Hanniball our common caufe purfu'd,

And made his bands within their bounds remaine.

With Confuls and with Pretors bloud, imbru'd, 160

At Thrafimene, and at Cannas flayne;

In Romans mindes, ftrange thoughts did doubt infufe,

But whilfl they fear'd the taking of their Towne,

He who could vanquifh, vicftory not ufe.

Was by their brafen fate (when high) thrown downe; 165

0 what a torrent of Barbarian bands,

In inundations once their walles did boafl,

Whilfl Teutons huge, and Cymbers from their Lands,

Like Gyants march'd, a more then monftrous hofle?

But though from parts unknowne to ruine Rome, 170

1 led thofe troupes which all the world admir'd.
Yet did fierce Marius me with them o're-come.
And I in vaine to venge old wrongs afpir'd;

By meanes more bafe I likewife fought her harmes,

Whilft I anus Church imported never peace, 175

I rais'd up abjedl Spartacus in Armes,

Who neere eclips'd Romes glory with difgrace.

Though I who all the world for helpe have fought,

From Europe, Africke, and from Afia thus,

Gaules, Carthaginians, and the Cymbers brought, 180

Yet did the dammage ftill redound to us:

Of heaven and earth I all the pow'rs have prov'd,

And for their wracke have each advantage watch'd:

But they by forraine force cannot be mov'd:

By Romans, Romans onely may be match'd. 185

ALEXANDER'S JULIUS C^SAR 323

And I at lad have kindled civill warre, 186

That from their thoughts (which now no reafon bounds)

Not onely laws, but Natures laws doth barre;

The Sonne the Syre, the brother brother wounds-

Whil'ft th' Eagles are oppos'd to th' Eagles fo, 190

0 what contentment doth my minde attaine!
No wound is wrong beflow'd, each kills a foe,
What ever fide doth lofe, I alwayes gaine.
But this my foule exceedingly annoyes,

That all at one time cannot be fupprefl: 195

"The warre helps fome, as others it deftroyes,

And thofe who hate me moft, ftill profper bed.

Whil'ft with their bloud their glory thoufands fpend,

Ah! ones advancement aggravates my woe,

Who vaunts himfelfe from Venus to defcend, 200

As if he claim'd by kinde to be my foe.

1 meane the man whofe thoughts nought can appeafe,
Whil'ft them too high a blinde ambition bends,
Whom (as her minion) Fortune bent to pleafe,

Her rareft treafxires prodigally fpends; 205

Not onely hath he daunted by the Sword

The Gauls, the Germans, and th' ^Egyptians now,

But of all Lords pretends to be made Lord,

That who command the world to him may bow;

Thus difpoffeffing Princes of their Thrones, 210

Whil'ft his Ambition nothing can afTwage,

That the fubjecfled world in bondage grones.

The prey of pride, the facrifice to rage,

"Men raile on love, and figh for Saturnes time,

"And to the prefent, Ages paft preferre, 215

"Then burden would the Gods with every crime,

" And damne the heavens, where onely th' earth doth erre.

Though love (as ftupid) ftill with Cupid fports.

And not the humour of proud Cajar fpies?

Who may (if forcing thus the worlds chief e Forts) 220

Then Titans earft, more pow'rfull, fcale the skies.

Yet left he thrall him too, who none free leaves,

We from the bounds above him muft repell.

To brawle with Pluto in th' umbragious Caves,

There fince he will be firft, made firft in hell. 225

What? with that Tyrant I will ftraight be even,

And fend his foule to the Tartarian grove:

Though love will not be jealous of his heaven.

Yet luno muft be jealous of her love;

And though none in the heavens would do him ill, 230

I'le raife up fome in th' earth to hafte his death:

Yea, though both heaven and earth neglecfl my will,

Hell can afford me Minifters of wrath:

I'le croffe Cocytiis, and the fmoaking lakes,

To borrow thence my brothers damned bands, 235

324 APPENDIX

The furies arm'd with fire-brands, and with Snakes, 236

Shall plant their hell where Rome fo {lately flands;
Whil'ft Furies furious by my fury made.
Do fpare the dead to have the living pin'd:

O! with what joy will I that Army leade? 240

"Nought then revenge more calmes a wronged minde;
I mufl make this a memorable age.
By this high vengeance which I have conceiv'd:
But what though thoufands dye t' appeafe my rage?

So Cajar perifh, let no foule be fav'd. 245

Exeunt.

Chorus.

"Wejhoiild be loath to grieve the gods,

"Who hold us in a ballance Jlill;

"And as they will

"May weigh us up, or downe; $

"Thofe who by folly fojler pride,

"And do deride

" The terroiir of the Thunderers rods,

"Infeas of finne their foules do drowne,

"And others them abhorre as mofl unjufl; 10

" Who want Religion do deferve no trufl:

How dare fraile JlefJi prefume to rife

{Whilfl it deferves heavens wrath to prove)

On th' earth to move,

Left that it opening ftraight, 15

Give death and buriall both at once?

How dare fuch ones

Look up unto the skies.

For feare to feele the Thunderers weight?

"All th'' Elements their Makers will attend, 20

"As prompt to plague, as men are to of end.

All mufl be plagu'd who God difpleafe,

Then whil'Jl he Bacchus rites did fcorne,

Was Pentheus tome;

The Delians high difdaine 25

Made Niobe {though turned a flone)

With teares flill mone,

And (Pallas to appeafe)

Arachne weaves loathed webbes in vaine:

Heaven hath prepared ere ever they begin, 30

A fall for pride, a puni/hment for finne.

Loe, luno yet doth flill retaine

That indignation once conceiv'd,

For wrong received

From Paris as we finde; 3S

A nd for his caufe {bent to dif grace

The Trojan race) 37

ALEXANDER'S JULIUS C^SAR 325

Lolh hold a high dijdaine, 38

Long layd up in a loflie minde:

'^Wejhould abjlaine from irritating Ihoje 40

" Whoje thoughts {if wrong'd) not till reveng'd repofe.

Thus, thus for Ta.ns fond defire,

Who of his plcafures had no part,

For them mujl Jmart:

Such be the fruits of lujl; 45

Can heavenly breajls fo long time lodge

A fecret grudge?

Like Mortals thrall to yre,

Tilljujlice fometime feemes uniuft?

" Of all lite furies which afflia the foule, 50

" Lufl and revenge are hardejl to controull:

The Gods give them but rarely rejl.

Who do againjl their will contetid,

A nd plagues do fpend,

That fortunate in nought, 55

Their fpr its (quite parted from repofe)

May jlill expofe

The Jlormy troubled brejl

A prey to each tyrannicke thought:

"All felfe-accufing foules no rejl can fitide; 60

"What greater torment titen a troubled minde?

Let us adore tk' immortall powers,

On whofe decree, of all that ends,

The Jlate depends.

That (Jarre from barbarous broiles) 65

We of our life this little fpace

May fpend in peace

Free from affliilions Jhowres;

Or at the leajl from guilty toyles;

"Let us of rejl the treajure Jlrive to gains, 70

"Without the which nought can be had but paine.

A61 2. Scene i.

lulius Ccefar, Marcus Antonius.

Now have my hopes attain'd the long'd for heaven,

In fpight of partiall Envies poyfnous blafls:

My Fortune with my courage hath prov'd even; 5

No Monument of mifcontentment lafts.

Thofe who corrival'd me, by me o're-throwne,

Did by their falls give feathers to my flight:

I in fome comer rather live unknown e

Then fhine in glory, and not fhine moft bright; 10

WTiat common is to two, refts no more rare,

In all the world no Phxnix is fave one, 12

326 APPENDIX

That of my deeds none challenge might a fhare 13

Would God that I had acfted all alone:

And yet at lafl I need to mourne no more 15

For envy of the Macedonians praife,

Since I have equall'd all that went before;

My deeds in number do exceed my dayes.

Some earft (whofe deeds refl regiftred by Fame)

Did from their Conquefls glorious titles bring, 20

But Greatneffe to be great, muft have my name,

To be a Ca^ar is above a King.

Ant. Thofe vvarre-like Nations, which did Nations fpoile.
Are by thy Legions to our laws made thrall;

"What can brave mindes not do by time and toyle? 25

"True magnanimity triumphs o're all.

CcBJ. Th'out-ragious Gauls who in mofl monftrous fwarmes
Went wafting Ajia, thundering downe all things.
And {Macedony quaking at their Armes)

Did infolently make, and un-make Kings: 30

Thofe Gauls who having the worlds Conquerours foil'd,
(As if the world might not have match'd them then)
Would facrilegioufly have Delphos fpoil'd.
And warr'd againfl the Gods, contemning men;

Yea, thofe whofe Anceflors our City burn'd, 35

(The onely people whom the Romanes fear'd)
By me (Romes nurfling) match'd, and o're-match'd moum'd:
So what they firft eclipf'd, againe they clear'd.
Then, as to Subjecfts having given degrees,

The Gauls no more prefuming of their might, 40

I (wounding Neptimes bofome with wing'd trees)
Did with the world-divided Brilains iight;
The Germans from their birth inur'd to warre,
Whofe martiall mindes flill haughtie thoughts have bred,
Whil'fl neither men, nor walls, my courfe could barre, 45

(Mask'd with my banners) faw their Rhene runne red;
The Eafterne Realmes when conqu'ring now of late.
My comming, and o're-comming was but one;
With little paine ear'ft Pompey was call'd great.

Who fought foft bands whofe glorious dayes were gone: 50

But what though thoufands fet ones praifes forth,
For fields which fhadows, and not fwords, obtain'd;
The rate (too eafie) vilifies the worth:
"Save by great paines, no glory can be gain'd:

From dangers paft, my comfort now proceeds, 55

Since all who durfb gaine-fland I did o're-come:
And, in few words to comprehend my deeds,
Rome conquer'd all the world, and Cajar, Rome.

Ant. Loe thofe who ftriv'd your vertue to fupprefTe,
(As whofe great acflions made them jealous flill) 60

Whil'ft labouring but too much to make you leffe.
Have made you to grow great againfl your will : 62

ALEXANDER' S JULIUS C^SAR 327

Great Pompeys pompe is pad, his glory gone, 63

And rigorous Cato by himfelfe lyes kill'd;

Then daflard Cicero more your honours none, 6$

Thus all your foes are with confufion fiU'd.

The Senatours who could not be affwag'd,

Long to your prejudice their pow'r abus'd,

Till at their great ingratitude enrag'd,

I fwore our fwords would grant what they refus'd. 70

WTien having fcap'd, endanger'd, and defpis'd,

Brave Curio and I did to your Camp refort,

In old bare gownes (like fome bafe flaves) difguis'd,

All figh'd to fee us WTong'd in fuch a fort.

CcbJ. The higheft in the heaven who knows all hearts, 75

Do know my thoughts as pure as are their Starres,
And that (conflrain'd) I came from forraine parts
To feeme uncivill in the civill warres.
I mov'd that warre which all the world bemoanes,

WTiil'ft urg'd by force to free my felfe from feares; 80

Still when my hand gave wounds, my heart gave groanes;
No Ro7nans bloud was fhed, but I Ihed teares:
But how could any elevated fpright,
WTio had for honour hazarded his blood,

Yeeld willingly (by foes outragious fpight) 85

To be defrauded of th' expedled good:
When as a multitude of battels wonne,
Had made Romes Empire, and my glory great;
And that the Gauls (oft vanquifh'd) had begun

To beare the yoke which they difdain'd of late. 90

Then glorious Pompey, my proud fonne-in-law,
And Calo (who ftill crofT'd what I defign'd)
From favouring me the people did with-draw,
And had a fucceffour for fpight affign'd;

Not that he fhould fucceed in dangerous broils; 95

But (even through envy) as they had ordain'd,
That he might triimiph fo of all my toils,
And rob the glory which I dearly gain'd;
With fuch indignity who could comport.

When prizing honour dearer then the light? 100

No (whil'ft my foule refls foveraigne of this fort)
None fhall have pow'r to rob me of my right:
And yet by love who all the world commands,
To ufe fuch violence I did miflike:

And would have oft abandon'd all my bands, 105

If that mine enemies would have done the like;
But yet the multitude, which floting ftill
(As waves with windes) are carried with conceits.
With nought but my difgrace would bound their will.

And I committed all unto the fates: no

Yet when at Rubicon I flood perplex'd,
And weigh'd the horrour of my high attempt, 112

328 APPENDIX

My flormy foule a thoufand fancies vex'd, 113

Which refolution buried in contempt.

Ant. " Nought in a Captaine more confounds his foes, 115

"Then of a ventrous courfe, the fwift effedts,
" Since (fo quite crufh'd) ere they their thoughts difpofe,
"All good advice a care confuf'd negledls.
Though when you march'd to Rome, your pow'r was fmall,
The fudden news fo thundred in each eare, 120

That (as if heaven had falne upon them all)
It bred amazement, and th' amazement feare.
"Some fecret defliny (as when was feene)
"Doth guide mens acflions, and their judgement bounds:
"Thofe who by hods could not have frighted beene, 125

"A fhadow, or a rumour oft confounds:
"All haftie dangers fo furprife the minde,
"That feare prevents the refolutions power,
"Or elfe the fates make curious Reafon blinde,

"When heavens determin'd have a fatall houre. 130

Great Pompey (loe) who was growne ag'd in armes,
And had triumph'd o're all the worlds three parts,
Whil'fl (quite difcourag'd, by imagin'd harmes)
Fled Rome, though without reach of th' enemies darts.

As to a torrent all gave place to you, 135

And whom they call'd a rebell made their Lord;
Your fucceffour Domitius (forc'd to bow)
Did trufl your favour, more then feare your fword.
When in th' Iberian bounds you did arrive,

There, Adverfaries (who did vainly vaunt) 140

Had all th' advantage that the ground could give,
Of vidluals plenty, which with us were fcant.
Yet the celerity that you had us'd,
Did fo difcourage their difordred band.

That (as love in their breads had feare infus'd) i4S

They had no flrength againft our ftrokes to Hand.
And when Romes Generall with brave legions ftor'd,
Seem'd to polTefTe all that his foule requir'd,
Whil'fl us to daunt, both famine and the fword,

The Sea, the Land, and all in one confpir'd; 150

Then, for your oflQces they did contend.
As thofe who of the vidlory were fure.
And (where they might th' affaires of flate attend)
In Rome for lodgings fondly did procure.

Yet memorable now that day remaines, 15S

When all the world was in two Armies rang'd,
Whil'fl Mars went raging through th' yEmathian plaines,
And to defpaires high expectations chang'd;
When Pompey s partie had the battell loft;

(As Lyons do their prey) you did purfue 160

The fcattred remnant of that ruin'd hod,
On which new heads dill (like a Hydra) grew. 162

ALEXANDER' S JULIUS C^SAR 329

Though vidlory in Africke fatall feem'd 163

To any Army that a Scipio led,

Yet, you fhew'd there (for worth in warre efleem'd) 165

That Rome a better then a Scipio bred;

And all our Enemies were confounded thus,

Who us in number ever did furmount;

But Cajar and his fortune were with us,

Which we did more then many thoufands count. 170

CcrJ. The fweeteft comfort which my conquefls gave,
Was that I fo might do to many good:
For, every day fome Romanes life I fave.
Who in the field to fight againft me flood.

Thus, may my minde be judg'd by the event, 17S

Who (even when by my greateft foes affail'd)
To winne the battell never was more bent,
Then prompt to pardon when I had prevail'd.
Not covetous of bloud, of fpoyls, nor harmes,

I (even when vidlor) did infult o're none, 180

But layd afide all hatred with my Armes,
A foe in fight, a friend when it was gone:
"Of clemency I like the praife, more then
"Of force, which mortals with aflSidlion lodes;

" Strength oft may prove the worll thing that's in men, 185

"And pity is the beft thing in the Gods.
Sterne Cato (Hill affedling to be free)
Who either death or life (if given) disdain'd,
Thy death I envy, who didfl envy me.

The glory that I (faving thee) had gain'd. 190

Yet I to Rents and dignities reftore.
Even thofe who long mj?^ ruine had defign'd.
And O! it doth delight my minde farre more,
By benefits, then by conftraint to binde.

Ant. I would have all my foes brought to their ends, 195

CaJ. I rather have my foes all made my friends.

Ant. Their bloud whom I fufpe(5l'd Ihould quench all flrife.

Caf. So might one do who lik'd of nought but life.

Ant. Still life would be redeem'd from dangers forth.

CceJ. Not with a ranfome then it felfe more worth. 200

Ant. Then life to man, what thing more deare fucceeds?

CceJ. The great contentment that true glory breeds.

Ant. Men by all meanes this blaft of breath prolong.

CaJ. Men Ihould flrive to live well, not to live long.
And I would fpend this momentary breath 205

To live by fame for ever after death:
For, I afpire in fpight of fates to live.

Ant. I feare that fome too foone your death contrive.

CaJ. Who dare but lodge fuch thoughts within their mindes?

Ant. Thofe whom the (hadow of your Greatneffe blindes. 210

CceJ. The befl are bound to me by gifts in flore.

Ant. But to their Countrey they are bound farre more. 212

330

APPENDIX

CcbJ. Then loath they me as th' Enemy of the ftatc? 213

Ant. Who freedome love, you (as ufurper) hate.

Caf. I by great battels have enlarg'd their bounds. 2 1 5

Ant. By that they thinke your pow'r too much abounds.

C(bJ. From doing wrong, yet I refraine my will.

Ant. They feare your pow'r, becaufe it may do ill.

Caf. The prefent ftate ftill mifcontentment brings
To fadlious mindes affecting matters ftrange, 220

Which (burdens to themfelves) do loath all things.
And fo they change, regard not what they change.
In populous Townes where many do repaire,
(Who at their meeting what they pleafe do touch)

They further then their bounds extend their care: 225

"The idle who do nothing, muft thinke much.
Loe, Ro7ne (though wafted all with raging warres)
Whil'ft private grudge pretended publike good,
Equality (ftill rude) engendring jarres.

Did prove too prodigall of Roman blood. 230

Though yet now at the laft attaining reft,
Whil'fl all (obeying one) may banifh teares:
It (if conflrain'd) even fcoms (as bad) the befl,
This word neceflity fo wounds the eares.

The infolent with vile feditious words, 235

(Who trembled whil'fl they heard the Trumpets found)
Stirre now their tongues, as we did then our fwords,
And what Mars fpar'd, make Mercury confound.
"The people thus in time of peace agree

"To curbe the great men ftill, even in that forme, 240

" As in calme dayes they do disbranch the Tree,
"Which fhrowded them of late againfl a ftorme.
But now I look'd (brave deeds appeafmg fpight)
That burfted Envy fhould for anguifh dye,

Darke fhadows (as afham'd) do vanifh quite, 245

When at his height bright Phasbits cleares the skie.
And though their hatred deeply they difguife.
Yet can they not fo hide enflam'd defires.
But that their fpight refts fparkling through their eyes,
And boafts to burfl out flraight in open fires. 250

Ant. Since firfl (great Cajar) I difcern'd thy worth,
On all thy adlions I did flill attend;
And what fome whifper mufl fpeake freely forth:
" Franke admonitions do become a friend.

The men who do fufpecft that you afpire 255

Of government the prefent forme to change,
All in their foules your ruine do confpire,
And their affedlions farre from you eftrange.
Since chaft Liicrelia (by proud Tarquin ftain'd)

Wafh'd with her bloud the violated bed, 260

Whil'fl by his pow'r Rome bafely was conflrain'd.
All to obey which his curfl braine had bred. 262

ALEXANDER'S JULIUS C^SAR 331

This government which fome tyrannicke call, 263

,Doth found fo odious in the peoples eares,

That they as Tyrants vile, detefb them all, 265

Whofe greatneffe gives them any caufe of feares.

Caj. I not affedl the title of a King
For love of glory, or defire of gaine.
Nor for refpeft of any private thing,

But that the State may by my travels gaine. 270

You know Sibylla's books which never faile,
In many mindes have an opinion bred,
That o're the Parthians Rome cannot prevaile,
Till by a Prince her valorous Bands be led:

"For, as confufion is the fruit (we finde) 275

" Of thofe affaires which divers thoughts difpofe,
"So Soveraignty match'd with a gallant minde,
" Breeds reverence in ones owne, feare to his foes.
And O! it grieves me, that thefe fteps of ours

Have trod fo oft on many a millions necks, 280

Whil'ft yet the Parthian vilipends our pow'rs.
And all our vidlories (not vanquifh'd) checks;
Ah! (hould a Generall of the Roman race
Be by Barbarians kill'd? and not reveng'd?

And' fhould his Enfignes, fignes of our difgrace, 285

Reft in the ranke of conquer'd relidls rang'd?
No, no, (wretch'd CraJJus) now thy felfe content,
He pacific thy Ghoft with Parthians fpoyles.
My boyling fancies have beene alwayes bent
To match the matchleffe, daunt th' undaunted foiles. 290

Ant. With vidlories qmte cloi'd, will you not then
Your fafety once, more then new warres refpedl?

CaJ. No, though I have furmounted other men,
My fancies yet do greater things affedl:

In emulation of my felfe at laft, 295

I even with envy look on my owne deeds;
And (bent to make the new furpaffe things pafl)
Now to my minde flale praife no pleafure breeds.

Ant. The world hath feene thee (great man) for Romes good.
In danger oft of many a dangerous fhelfe, 300

Whil'ft for her glory thou engag'd thy bloud.
Of others carefull, careleffe of thy felfe.

Caf. Though whil'fl in th' Aprill of my blooming age,
I from the vulgar rate redeem'd my name.

Some with my deeds did burden youths hot rage, 30S

And an ambitious appetite of Fame,
Yet fmce the coldneffe of declining yeares,
Boafts to congeale the bloud which boil'd of late,
Whil'ft loe, my life the Sunne of glory cleares.

Who now of all the world am knowne moft great; 310

I cannot covet that thing which I have.

332 APPENDIX

I have all honour that can be requir'd: 312

And now (as that which wants) would onely crave

To tafle the pleafures of a life retjT'd:

But (fave to ferve the State) for nought I ftrive, 315

For, O! (neglecfling th' ecchoes of renowne)

I could content my felfe unknowne to live

A private man, with a Plebeian gowne:

Since {Anthonie) thus for the ftate I care,

And all delights which Nature loves difdaine, 320

Go, and in time the peoples mindes prepare,

That, as the reft, I may the title gaine;

Yet indirecftly at the firfl alTay

To what their doubtfull mindes do mofl incline,

But as without my knowledge, that they may 325

All marke your minde, and yet not thinke of mine.

Exeu7it, 327

A61 2, Scene 2.

Cicero, Decius, Brutus.

Did I furvive th' impetuous Scilla^s rage,

And in a torrent of deftrucflion flood,

Whil'fl Tyrants did make Rome a tragicke (lage S

Through a voluptuous appetite of bloud?

Scap'd I confufion in a time fo bad,

Of liberty and honour once to tafle,

That bondage now might make my foule more fad

By the remembrance of my fortunes pafl? 10

What though I once (when firfl by Fame made knowne)

From Catilines ftrange treafon did preferve

This Towne (when free from foes) thrall'd by her owne,

Since now the world from equity doth fwerve?

A fparke of that confpiracy I fpie 15

As yet not quench'd to have our flate imbroil'd.

Which Rome to bume makes many flames to flie:

Thus one was fpar'd, that we might all be fpoil'd.

O worthy Cato, in whofe matchlelTe minde

Three (rarely match'd) things Nature did reveale, 20

Wit, Honefly, and Courage, which defigned

A Citizen for Platans common-weale:

Whil'fl courteous Pompey did things as a friend,

Thou as a wife-man fpoke, and flill fore-told

To what all Ccejars deeds would turne in th' end, 25

If that his pride were not in time controld.

And had we him (as wifely thou advis'd)

Given to the Germans whom he had injur'd,

We had not now beene thus like flaves defpif'd.

To fee Rome's glory, and our owne obfcur'd: 30

But yet I may (disbending former cares)

ALEXANDER' S JULIUS C^SAR 333

A fpace comport with that proud Tyrants pow'rs; 32

Age gives alTurance by my hoarey haires,

Ere he Romes freedome, death will me devour.

But all whofe youth and fprite might have attain'd 35

Thofe dignities which Ccefar hath undone:

O! ye have loft as much as he hath gain'd,

Whofe rifing hopes muft be retrench'd fo foone.

Dec. Though innovations at the firft feeme ftrange,
Yet oft experience approbation brings, 40

And if with upright thoughts we weigh this change,
From thence the fafety of our City fprings;
As doth a fhip, when toff'd by feverall windes,
More danger runne whil'ft Pylots do conteft.

So was our City vex'd by differing mindes, 4S

Who did interpret laws as pleas'd them beft;
Whil'ft for one fickneffe divers drugges are us'd,
Whofe pow'rs (repugnant) in digeftion jarre,
Th' impatient patients perifh, when abus'd.

So did we long whil'ft croff'd by civill warre; 50

But now great Ccejar from tempeftuous windes,
Romes fcattered mines recolledls of late:
A Pilot meet to calme tumultuous mindes,
A fit Phyfitian for an aguifh State.
Cic. The State from ftormes fecure by drowning proves, 55

Now whil'ft defpaire doth doubtfull feares appeafe;
He (with the life) the fickneffe quite removes:
Thus is the Phyfick worfe then the Difeafe.
This Common-weale (as all the world did fpie)

Was by proud fpirits in civill warres involv'd, 60

Yet like black Clouds which would obfcure the skie,
Thefe tumid humours fuddenly diffolv'd;
And no difgrace unto the ftate redounds.
But to th' Ambitious men that it abus'd.

Who (had their pow'r like Ccefars wanted bounds) 65

Would (whil'ft they rul'd) have greater rigour us'd.
All parts (we fee) bred people of all kindes.
And as advanc'd fome bad men did abide,
In pow'r their equals, and of better mindes,

Some alwayes vertuous were to curbe their pride; 70

But fince that f acred liberty was loft,
The publike pow'r to private ends one turnes:
And (as his lawleffe wayes did alwayes boaft)
The Common-weale by violence o're-turnes.

Dec. Though what you burden Ccejar with were true, 75

Neceffity hath purg'd his part from crime.
Who was (foes force to (hunne) forc'd to purfue,
And urg'd by danger to attempt in time.
To th' enemies envy more oblig'd he refts,

Then to his wit which no fuch courfes fcan'd: 80

For when quite barr'd from ufing of requefts,

334

APPENDIX

Th' occafion then invited to command. 82

His thoughts when calme, to florm fond foes did tempt:

"True worth difdaines to fuffer open wrong:

"A gallant courage kindled by contempt 85

" Burns with revenge, whil'ft fury makes one flrong.

Cic. O Decius, now a wrong account you caft,
The purpofe, not th' event, declares the minde:
Tread backe the fteps of all his actions pafl,

And what he compaff'd had beene long defign'd. 90

As by fome fprite infpir'd, proud Scilla faid,
That there in Ccejar many Marians were.
And Rome in time was warn'd to be afraid
Of that evill-girded youth, with fmooth-comb'd haire;

Then when (as ftill to quietnelTe a foe) 95

The memory of Marius he renew'd,
By re-ere(5ling Tyrants ftatues fo,
His thoughts all bent to tyranny were view'd.
That people-pleafer might have beene perceiv'd,

By courteous complements below his rank, 100

Who (lavifhing forth gifts) the world deceiv'd,
And to gaine more then his, of his prov'd franke.
Though nought at all indulgent to his wife,
By proftrated pudicity difgrac'd;

Yet did he fave th' adultrous Clodius life, 105

To footh the multitude, whofe fteps he trac'd.

Dec. "Thefe be the meanes by which Ambition mounts,
"Without moft humble, when within moft high,
"As if it fled from that thing which it hunts,
"Still walling mofl, when it for mofl doth plie. no

Cic. Then he (ftill tyranny bent to embrace)
Was thought conjoyn'd with Catiline to be.
And, had wife Cato^s counfell taken place.
Might with the reft have fuffered death by me.

Yet having deeply div'd in fome mens foules, 115

With facflious followers being pined oft.
He got the Conful-lhip which nought controuls,
And matching pride with pow'r, did look aloft;
To flatter them who now mufl flatter him.

His pow'r to make unlawfuU laws prevail'd, 120

And thofe to croffe who fcom'd he fo fhould clime,
He furnifh't was with force, where reafon fail'd:
But yet becaufe he could not be affur'd
To rule alone according to his will.

To governe France, he craftily procur'd, 125

So to be flrengthened with an Army flill.
As Rome firft warr'd at home, till being flrong.
She thought her power might forraine Realmes o're-come:
So Cajar warr'd againft flrange Nations long.

Till that he thought his Might might conquer Rome. 130

Then having all that force or fate affignes,

ALEXANDER ' S JULIUS C^SAR 335

Of difcontentment he did caufe pretend, 132

So to diffemble fore-conceiv'd defignes:

" One foone may finde a fault that would oflcnd :

But when he iirft in a prodigious dreame, ' 135

His mother feem'd incefluoufly to ufe,

It might have fhown to his eternall fhame,

How of his birth the bounds he did abufe.

Dec. And yet I thinke (avoyding threatned harmes)
He by conflraint imbark'd in civill broyles: 140

Did he not covenant to quite his Armes,
As not defirous of his Countries fpoiles?

Cic. Durft he with thofe who had his charge confin'd,
Stand to capitulate, as if their mate,

Where (as his Soveraigne) to obey their rainde, 145

It was his duty, and their due of late.
What? what? durft he whom (bound to keep the law)
The people in authority did put
The fword which they had given, againft them draw;

When it was fharpned firft their throat to cut? 150

That had not come which all our anguifh breeds,
If he unforc'd when as his charge expir'd;
Till that the Senate cenfur'd had his deeds,
Had from his Province peaceably retir'd.

No, he hath but betray'd his native Towne, 155

Thofe bands, by which fhe did him firft preferre,
T' enlarge her borders, and his owne renowne,
Thofe hath he us'd to tjrrannize o're her.
My paffions (ah! tranfported as you fee

With an exceffive love to my deare foile) 160

Of my hearts flore have made my tongue too free,
By flaming forth what in my breft doth boile.

Bee. That Cmjars part might juflly be excus'd,
Loe, with the caufe alledg'd, his courfe accords.

Of which that mildeneffe which he fmce hath us'd, 165

A teflimony to the world affords.
Though forc'd to fight, he alwaies had great care
To fave our Citizens as each man knowes.
And will'd his Captaines Romans flill to fpare;

Barbarians bodies objedls were for blowes, 170

Of th' adverfaries after bloudy ftrife.
When oft he might have made fome Captives fmart,
Not onely was he liberall of their life.
But pardon'd them, even to take Pompeys part;

At that infortunate Pharfalian field, 175

When he fecurely might have us'd the fword.
He both did fpare all th' enemies that would yeeld,
And them to rents and dignities reflor'd:
Then when th' Egyptians (fo to get reliefe)

Brought to his fight pale Pompey's bloud-leffe head, 1.80

He teftifi'd with teares his inward griefe,

336 APPENDIX

And grac'd his Statues after he was dead. 182

Thofe his proceedings plainely may approve,

That he againfl his will did make this warre;

And to his Country beares a tender love, 185

Who could comport to reyne his rage fo farre.

Cic. Thofe favours fain'd, by him beflow'd, or due,
(As is ones cuflome whofe high heart afpires,)
Were fpent on many that who them did view

Might love his courfe, fo kindling their defires: 190

But where he thus pleas'd fome, he fpoil'd whole hofls,
And the Barbarians all to Rome not wrought
Such harme as he, who, of his goodneffe boafls,
Yet her beft men hath to confufion brought;

That great man, whom earfl fortune ne're did fayle, 195

Who Rill prevail'd, though warring without right,
Now in a good caufe, for the common- weale
With Cajar did infortunately fight.
Whilfl fled from Lesbos with his wretched wnfe.

Three bafe-borne Groomes (can fortune change fo foone?) 200

Stood to confult upon great Pornpeys life.
And did what thoufands durfl not once have done;
Then he whofe knees had oft been kifs'd by Kings,
(Mofl highly happy, had he dy'd in time)

By one of his owne flaves, with abjedt things 205

His funerals had perform'd; what monflrous crime
Romes greateft Captaine to entombe alone?
The Roman who arriv'd with reafon faid:
The fatall glory was too great for one.

And to have part of that lafl honour ftaid; 210

The teares beflow'd by C(sfar on his head.
Forth from a guilty minde, remorfe had throwne:
Or elfe he wept to fee his enemie dead
By any others hands then by his owne.

That conflant Cato, who even death did fcome, 215

And for a coward once had Ccefar brav'd,
(Who liv'd as if to grace all mortals borne)
Would rather perifh then by him be fav'd.
He juflly whilfl more jull, himfelfe more flrong

Then C(efar thought, who for no juflice car'd; 220

And fmce difcovering what he cloak'd fo long,
Said, that the other, and not he was fnar'd.
Thus Cafar conquer'd all but Cato's minde.
Who to a tyrant would not owe his breath:

But in fuch fort his famous courfe confin'd, 225

Then Ccrfars life, more glorious was his death:
Thofe great men thus brought to difaftrous ends.
The author of their death make me defpife.
Who to ufurpe all pow'r while as he tends,

By treading good men downe, doth ftrive to rife. 230

Now made moft great by leffening all the great.
He proudly doth triumph in Rome, o're Rome: 232

ALEXANDER'S JULIUS C^SAR 337

And we mud feeme to like the prefent (late, 233

Whofe doubtfull breath depends upon his doome.

Yet had I not enlarg'd my griefes fo long, 235

To you whom Ccejar doth pretend to love;

Save that (I know) touch'd with the common wrong:

"A juft difdaine all generous mindes mufl move.

Dec. Had Cajar willingly refign'd his Armes,
And rendred Rome her liberty at laft, 240

When as from foes he fear'd no further harmes,
But had repair'd his juft difpleafures pafl,
More then for all that could be done for me,
He fhould have had an Altar in my breft,

As worthy (for his vertuous deeds) to be 245

Fear'd by the bad, and honour'd by the bed:
But fince (though conqu'ring all the world by might)
He (to himfelfe a flave) would make Rome thrall.
His benefits are loathfome in my fight,

And I am griev'd that he deferves to fall; 250

My fancies move not in fo low a fphere,
But I difdaine that one Romes Crowne requires;
Yet it is befb that with the time we beare,
And with our pow'r proportion our defires.

Though firft diiTembling, fo your minde to try, 255

I told what fame to Ccejars praife relates;
Yet was I pleas'd, that moe were griev'd then I:
"All mifcontented men are glad of Mates.

Cic. Since tyranny all liberty exiles.
We muft our f elves (no more our felves) difguife; 260

Then, learne to maske a mourning minde with fmiles,
And feeme to like that which we moft defpife.
Yet all our deeds not Cajars humour pleafe,
Who (fince miftrufling once) efleemes us ftill,

When dumb difdainefull, flatterers when we praife, 265

If plaine, prefumptuous, and in all things ill:
Yea, we, whofe freedome Cafar now reftraines,
As his attenders all his fbeps muft trace;
And know, yet not acknowledge his difdaines,

But ftill pretend an intereft in his grace: 270

Though all my thoughts deteft him as a foe,
To honour him, a thoufand meanes I move.
Yet but to fave my felfe, and plague him fo:
" No hate more harmes then it that lookes like love.

His pride is by prepoft'rous ftate growne fuch, 275

That by the better fort, he is abhorr'd;
The gods are jealous, and men envy much
To fee a mortall man fo much ador'd.

Dec. Well, Cicero let all meanes be entertain'd,
That may embarke us in his bofomes deepes, 280

Till either willingly, or then conftrain'd,

He juftly quite what he unjuftly keepes. Exeunt. 282

338

APPENDIX

Chorus.

" This life of ours is like a Rofe,

" Which whilft rare beauties it array,

"Doth then enjoy the leafl repoje;

" When Virgin-like made blujh {we fee) 5

"Of every hand it is the prey,

"And by each winde is blowne auay;

" Yea, though from violence f cap' d free,

" (Thus time triumphs, and leades all Ihrals)

" Yet doth it languijh and decay: 10

"0! whiljl the courage hottejl boilcs,

"And that our lifefeemes befl to be,

"It is with dangers compajl Jlill;

" Whiljl it each little change appalles,

"The body, force, without oftfoiles, 15

"It th' owne dijlemp'rature oft fpoiles,

"And even, though none it chance to kill,

"As nature failes, the body falles,

"Of which fave death, nought bounds the toyles;

" What is this moving TowW in which we Irufl? 20

"A little winde clos'd in a cloud of dujl.

A nd yet fame fprites though being pent

In this fraile prifons narrow bounds,

{Whiljl what might Jerve, doth not content,)

Doe alwaies bend their thoughts too high, 25

And ayme at all the peopled groutids;

Then whiljl their brejls Ambition wounds,

They feed as fearing Jlraight to dye.

Yet build as if they Jlill might live,

Whiljl famijh'd for fames empty founds: 30

Of fuch no end the travell ends,

But a beginning gives, whereby

They may be vex'd worje then before;

For, whiljl they Jlill new hopes contrive,

" The hoped good more anguijh Jends, 35

" Then the pojff^ejs'd contentment lends;

As bcajls not tajle, but doe dcvoure,

They Jwallow much, and for more flrive,

Whiljl Jlill their hope Jome change attends:

"And how can Juch but Jlill themf elves annoy, 40

" Who can acquire, but know not how t' enjoy?

Since as ajhip amidjl the deepes.

Or as an Eagle through the ayre.

Of which no way th' imprefsion keepes,

Mojl Jwifl when Jceming leajl to move: 45

This breath of which we take fuch care,

Doth tojje the body every where, 47

ALEXANDER'S JULIUS CAESAR 339

Thai it may hence with hafle remove: 48

" Life flips andjleepes ahuayes away,

" Then hence, and as it came, goes hare, 50

Whoje Jleppes behinde no trace doe leave;

Whyjhould heaven-banijh'd Joules thus love

The cauje, and bounds 0} their exile,

As rejllejje Jlrangers where they flray?

And with fuch paine whyjhould they reave 55

That which they have no right to have.

Which with them in a little while.

As Jummers beauties mujl decay,

And can give nought eoccept the grave?

" Though all things doe to harme him what they can, 60

"No greater enemie then himjelfe to man;

Whiljl oft environed with his foes,

Which threatned death on every fide,

Great Cjefar parted from repofe,

(As Atlas holding up the Starres,) 6$

Did of a world the weight abide;

Butfince a prey to foolijh pride,

More then by all the former warres.

Be now by it doth harmed remaine,

And of his fortune doth diffide: 70

Made rich by m/iny Nations ureake,

He (breaking through the liquid harres)

In Xeptunes armes his Minion forc'd;

Yet Jim purju'd new hopes in vaine:

"Would the ambitious looking backe 75

"Of their inferiours knowledge lake,

" They from huge cares might be divorc'd,

"Whiljl viewing few, more pow'r attaine,

"And many more then they to lacke:

" The onely plague from men thai rejl doth reave, 80

"Is that they weigh their wants, not what they have.

Since thus the great Ihemjelves involve

In Juch a labyrinth of cares.

Whence none to fcape can well refolve,

But by degrees are forward led, 85

Through waves of hopes, rockes of defpaires:

Let us avoyd ambitions fnares,

A nd farre from Jlormes by envy bred.

Still Jeeke (though low) a quiet reft,

With mittdes where no proud thought repaires, 90

Thai in vaine Jhadowes doth delight;

Thus may our fancies ftill be fed

With that which Nature freely gives;

Let us iniquity deleft,

A nd hold but what we owe of right; 95

Th' eyes Ireajure ir th' all-circling light.

Not that vaine pom pe for which pride ftrives, 97

340 APPENDIX

Whofe glory {but a poyjnous pejl) 98

To plague the Joule, delights the fight:

"Eaje comes with eaje, where all by paine buy paine, 100

"Reft we in peace, by warre let others raigne.

A61 3. Scene i.

Caius Cafsius, Marcus Brutus.

Now (Brutus) now we need no more to doubt,

Nor with blinde hopes our judgement to fufpend,

That flatt'rers credit (loe) is quite wome out; 5

We mufl in time attempt, and not attend:

That race of vidlors which did Realmes appall,

Ah (vanquifh'd by their vi<5lories at laft)

Are by their too much liberty made thrall,

Since all their llrength but down themfelves doth cad; 10

And we who by our birth aym'd at great things.

Of the worlds miftreffe mighty minions once,

Who might have labour'd to give lawes to Kings,

Lawes from a King, mufl looke for now with grones:

For, fuch of Ccefar is the monftrous pride, 15

That though he domineers even at this houre,

And to his Clients kingdomes doth divide

With an unlimited tyrannicke pow'r;

Yet of Didlator he difdaines the name,

And feekes a tyrants title with the place, 20

Not for his honour, no, but for our fhame,

As onely bent to bragge of our difgrace.

Marc. Brut. I thought to fee that man (as others are)
Walke re-apparrell'd with a private gowne,

As one who had unwillingly made warre, 25

To ftand himfelfe, not to cafl others downe:
So Silla (though more inhumane then he)
Whilft having all to what his heart afpir'd.
The Soveraignty refign'd, and fet Rome free.

When expecftations date was quite expir'd. 30

By Cajars worth we mufl thinke that he too
Will render freedome to this captiv'd flate.
When firft the world hath view'd what he might doe,
His thoughts are generous, as his minde is great.

Though infolencies oft from courage flow, 35

His dying fury fparkles but a fpace:

"High thoughts which Mars infpires, nought can bring low,
"Till one have us'd the purity of peace.
"Thofe who by violence to all things tend,

"Scarce can themfelves to quietneffe conforme; 40

"Their ftately carriage, and franke words, offend,
" Whirft peace cannot comport with warres rude forme, 42

ALEXANDER'S JULIUS CvESAR . 341

I hope that Cajar felling civill broyles, 43

When wome by cuflome from inteftine rage,

Will flrive to mitigate his Countries toyles, 45

And all thofe flames which burn'd his breft, alTwage.

Ca. Cafsius. Thus, of his courfe you by your owne conceiv'd,
As if like thoughts of both did bound the will :
"Ah, honefl mindes are with leaft paine deceiv'd,

"Thofe who themfelves are good, dreame not of ill. 50

"To found of fome the flill unfound device,
"Their inclination muft your judgement fway:
" The fquare of vertue cannot meafure vice,
"Nor yet a line when ftraight, a crooked way.

So Cafar riling may ufurpe the State, 55

He cares not by what force, nor by what fleight:
"01 one may foone deceive men, and grow great,
"Wlio leaves religion, honefly and right.
When as the Senators (no more their owne)

Came to that T>Tant whom ambition blindes, 60

And by high honours (hew'd how they had fhowne
To gratifie his greatneffe, gratefull mindes;
He (in a Chayre imperioufly plac'd,)
Not daign'd to rife, nor bow in any fort,

As both of them had but their due embrac'd, 65

WTien he a haughty, they a humble port.
But if he thus, ere we be throughly thrall'd.
Dare fo difdainefully fuch great men ufe,
WTien in a regall Throne by us enftall'd.

Then will he breake that which he now doth bruife. 70

Was he not firfl who ever yet began
To violate the facred Tribunes place,
And punifh'd them for punilhing a man
Who had tranfgrefs'd the lawes in time of peace?

The lawes which doe of death all guilty hold, 75

Whofe actions feeme to tyranny inclin'd.
So eamefl were our Anceflors of old.
To quench a tyrants light before it fhin'd :
And Ihall our Nephewes (heires of bondage) blame

Vs daflard parents who their hopes deceiv'd, 80

Who faw, who fuft'red, who furvav'd fuch Ihame,
Not leaving dead, what we when borne receiv'd?
By Cajars friends, to an affembly brought,
The Senators intend to call him King.

Brut. I'le not be there. CaJJ. But what if we be fought 85

To ayde fas Pretors) fuch a publike thing?

Brut. I will refift that \'iolent decree;
None of Romes Crowne Ihall long fecurely boafl:
For, ere that I live thrall'd, I'le firft dye free,
"WTiat can be kept when liberty is loft? 90

Cajf. O! with what joy I fwallow up thofe words,
Words worthy of thy worth, and of thy name: 92

342

APPENDIX

But (Bruhis) doe not feare, this caufe affords 93

In danger many, but few mates in fame;

When Anthony proud Ccejars image crown'd, 9S

By filent forrow all the people told

In what a depth of woes their thoughts were drown'd,

That bondage-bragging Comet to behold.

What doe thofe fcroules throwne in thy chaire import:

Which, what thou art, to brave thy courage, brings? loo

Be thofe the fancies of the vulgar fort?

No, none but noble mindes dreame of great things;

Of other Pre tors people looke for (howes,

And diflributions whofe remembrance dyes,

Whilfl bloudy Fencers fall with mutuall blowes, 105

And Africkes monfters doe amaze their eyes;

But from thy hands they liberty attend,

(By birth-right due) the glory of thy race.

And bent for thee, their bloud will frankely fpend,

So thou fucceed in thy great Parents place. no

He {Rome redeeming) Tarquin did o'rethrow.

Though from his birth obey'd, and without (Irife;

A rifmg tyrant then bring boldly low,

To what extinguifli'd was, who would give life.

Brut. I weigh thy words with an afHicfted heart, 115

Which for compaffion of my Country bleeds:
And would to God that I might onely fmart, .
So that all others fcap'd what mifchiefe breeds;
Then, never man himfelfe from death did free,

With a more quiet and contented minde, 120

Then I would perifh, if I both could be
To Cafar thankefull, to my Country kinde:
But though that great mans grace to me enlarg'd,
May chalenge right in my affedlions flore.

Yet mufl the greatefl debt be firft difcharg'd, 125

I owe him much, but to my Country more.
This in my brefl hath great diffenfion bred:
I Cafar love, but yet Romes enemy hate.
And as love lives, I could be mov'd to fhed

My bloud for Cajar, Ccejars for the State. 130

I for my fathers death loath'd Pompey long,
Whilfl jufl difdaine did boyle within my brefl:
Yet when he warr'd to venge the common wrong,
I joyn'd with him, becaufe his caufe was beft.

A minde to raigne if Cafar now reveale, 13S

I will in time precipitate his end:
Thus (never arm'd but for the Common-weale)
I help'd a foe, and now mufl hurt a friend.

Caf. Left of his favour thou the poyfon prove,
From fwallowing of fuch baites in time now fpare, 140

" No tyrant (truft me) can intirely love,
"Nor none who for himfelfe doth onely care: 142

ALEXANDER' S JULIUS C^SAR 343

He by this courfe doth cunningly intend 143

(Thy vertue flack'd) to undermine thy minde:

Thy well-knowne courage purpos'd to disbend, 145

Thus (though with filken bonds) he would thee binde;

This of each tyrant is the common tread,

To wreake all thofe in whom mofl worth he findes;

Or (whilfl that terrours toffe his jealous head)

By fubtilty to fnare the greatefl mindes: 150

As, for the Pretor-fhip when we did flrive,

Then both were held in hope, that fo deceiv'd,

Each th' others harmes might fludy to contrive

Through emulation and difdaine conceiv'd.

Thus fubtile Cajar by fuch fleights hath toild 155

To fow diffenfion, that we both might paufe

Of private wrongs, and (by fuch meanes imbroil'd)

Still courting him, negleft the common caufe.

But nought mull make us th' one t' another ftrange,

Who fhould in time the tyrants courfe reflraine: 160

Let other men lament, we mufl revenge,

I fcorne to beare a fword, and to complaine.

Brul. Though Cajar (now) I mufl; confpire thy fall,
My heart to thee yet never harbour 'd hate;

But (pardon me) who ever make it thrall, 165

From bondage Brutus mufl redeeme the flate.
Of this my courfe what ever others judge,
Here, I protefl it is for good defign'd;
My thoughts are guilty of no private grudge,

For, reafon and not fury moves my minde; 170

Nor doth ambition now enflame my brefl.
With a prodigious appetite to raigne.
That when I have made Cajar Fluid's guefl,
I in his roome a Monarch may remaine:

No, if that glory did my fancies charme, 175

To which (blind-folded) tyrants doe afpire,
I needed not to doe, nor fuffer harme.
But with leffe paine might compafTe my defire:
For, if I would but temporize a fpace.

Till time or death diminilh Cajars might, 180

He thinkes that I deferve to have his place.
And I could make my day fucceed his night;
Yet doe I not for glory feeke fo much
As to attaine it by my Countries fhame:

But, O! I would (my zeale to it is fuch) 185

That it may fcape, incurre a kinde of blame.
Yea, fo that I may free with honour'd wounds
My foile that's dearer then my foule to me,
I could my felfe live banifh'd from that bounds.
Which at fo deare a rate I would fet free. 190

CaJ. WTiat man doth breath of Mars his martiall race,
But will with Brulus facrifize his bloud, 192

344

APPENDIX

And (charg'd with Armes) ere t3Tanny take place, 193

Dare venture all things for his Countries good,

Can any judgement be deceiv'd fo farre, 195

But it already clearely may behold,

How that this change Romcs greatneffe foon will marre,

And raze the Trophees which fhe rear'd of old.

Of old in Rome, all thofe who once had wome

The peace-importing gowne, or war-like Ihield, 200

(Of dignities as capable all borne,)

Durfl ayme at ought that liberty could yeeld;

Thofe in affaires to deale, who would fet forth,

Were not difcourag'd by their birth, though bafe;

And poverty could not hold backe true worth, 205

From having honour both by warre and peace:

Then emulation violently driv'd

All gallant mindes to tempt great acflions flill;

In vertues love, who friendly rivals liv'd,

Whilll in their bofomes Glory balme did flill: 210

Fahricius firfl was from the Plow advanc'd,

The Rudder of the Common-weale to hold.

Yet by no meanes his private wealth enhanc'd,

As rich in vertue flill, as poore in gold.

Rude Marius too, to match red Mars in fame, 215

Forth from the vulgar droffe his race remov'd,

And loe, of Cicero the ridiculous name.

As famous as the Fabians now hath prov'd.

Each abjedl minde difdain'd to be obfcure,

When flill preferment follow'd lofty cares, 220

And that one might by dangers pafl, procure

Fame for himfelfe, and honour to his heires:

But fmce that flate by Cajar is o're-turn'd,

Whilfl all our lives upon ones lippes depend.

Of brefts which once with love of glory burn'd, 225

The foaring thoughts this wholly doth disbend;

Advancement now doth not attend defert.

But flowes from fancies of a flatt'red minde;

Which to bafe hirelings, honour doth impart,

Whilfl envy'd worth no fafe retreat can finde. 230

"All proud ufurpers mofl addidled prove,

"To them whom without caufe they raife too high,

"As thinking thofe who fland but by their love,

"To entertaine the fame, all meanes mufl tr>'.

"Where they, whofe vertue reapes a due reward, 235

"Not building onely on the givers grace,

"Doe by deferts not gaine fo great regard,

"VVhilfl they maintaine, as they obtaine their place.

"And if a worthy man to worke great things,

"VVing'd with a tyrants favour, raife his flight, 240

"The highefl courfe to him mofl harme flill brings,

"Who till he fall, cannot have leave to light. 242

ALEXANDER'S JULIUS C^SAR 345

"Thofe who by force would have th* affe<5tion mov'd, 243

"When willingly men hold fuch gallants deare,

"Doe rage that any fhould be freely lov'd, 245

"Whofe vertue makes their vice more vile appeare.

The man who now to be preferr'd afpires,

Muft by bafe flattery in a fervile forme,

So foothing Cccjar, feale all his defires,

And in fome fhadow lurke to fcape a florme. 250

A number now of that proud Rebels foes,

Who grieve to fee the ground whence growes their griefe,

Would in obfcurity entombe their woes.

So waiting, and not working for reliefe.

But we whofe lofty mindes difdaine to lowre, 255

Like them who feeke but their owne fafety thus;

When fhall we ufe high indignations pow'r.

Which (as brave Romans) worthy is of us?

Brut. Since no indignity you will endure,
I fee our mindes doe fympathize in this; 260

Should we by fuff'ring, feek to live fecure,
Whofe a(5lion mufl amend what is amiffe?
No, no fuch abjecfl thought muft ftaine our breft,
Whofe a(5live thoughts reach further than difcourfe,

Whilfl but like beafls, affedling food and reft, 265

Where men by reafon flould diredl their courfe;
Like thofe of other parts, not rais'd by flrife,
If Cajar had been born, or chus'd our Prince,
Then thofe who durfl attempt to take his life.

The world of treafon juftly might convince. 270

Let ftill the States which Hourifh for the time.
By fubjedts be inviolable thought.
And thofe (no doubt) commit a monflrous crime,
Who lawfull Soveraignty prophane in ought:

And we muft thinke (though now thus brought to bow) 275

The Senate King; a fubjecft Cajar is;
The Soveraignty whom violating now.
The world muft damne, as having done amifTe.
We will (deare Cajsiiis) for our Countries fake,

(Whatever follow) give, or fuffer death, 280

And let us now advife what courfe to take,
Whilfl nought but th' ayre can beare away our breath.

CaJ. I thinke this matter needs not many words.
Since but one deed can bound the common fhame;

In Cmfars body we muft fheath our fwords, 285

And by his death our liberty reclaime;
But fmce his fortune did confound them all.
Who in the fields to match him did begin;
VVhilfl he by thoufands made their bands to fall,

With hoary legions alwayes us'd to winre: 290

As Ponipeys, Scipio's, and Petreius ghofts.
In lightleffe fhades can by experience tell, 292

346 APPENDIX

Who after fatall proofes of num'rous hoafts, 293

All famous (though infortunately, fell:)

And fince (provided for the Parthian warre) 295

His Armie arm'd attends on his decree,

Where we (fequeftred from fuch forces farre)

Would (if fufpedled) foone prevented be:

With fome few friends whom all things to affay,

A love to us, or to their Country bindes, 300

We to his wreake mufl walke another way,

Whilft, ere our tongues, our hands doe tell our mindes:

Now when moft high, and therefore hated moft,

The gathered Senate feeks to make him King,

We mufl goe give the blow before we boaft, 305

And him to death, Rome out of bondage bring.

Brui. In all this courfe I onely one thing blame.
That we fhould fleale, what we may juftly take,
By cloathing honour with a cloake of fhame,

Which may our caufe (though good) more odious make. 310

O! I could wifh with honourable wounds
To match Romes enemy in the battels dufl:
No fweeter Muficke then the Trumpets founds,
When right and valour keepe a confort jufl:

Then, free if quicke, elfe dead, no harme more fear'd, 315

I alwayes fo contentment might attaine;
What tombe to men more glorious can be rear'd.
Then mountaines made of foes whom they have flaine?
But how are my tranfported thoughts growne fuch,

That they difdaine a meafure to admit? 320

Whilft (bent not what to doe, but to doe much)
On Glories Throne, Ambition ftrives to fit.
No, to the State me from my felfe I give,
Free from particulars, as who expofe

Fame, life, and all for it, and whilfl I live, 325

So Rome may gaine, I care not what I lofe.
I'le never reft till he for ever reft,
Who gives my Country fuch a caufe of grief e:
And that to doe no forme I will detefl,

Nor for my fame endanger Romes reliefe: 330

But (worthy Cafsius) ere we further doe.
Let our friends mindes firfl well be underftood.
Of which I hope to have affiflance too,
Who will not venture for his Countries good?

Caf. Now whilfl my foule refts ravifh'd in a trance. 335

I thinke I fee great Rome her courage raife,
Then beat the ayre with fongs, th' earth with a dance.
And crowne thy vertues with deferved praife. 338

ALEXANDER'S JULIUS C^SAR 347

A61 3. Scene 2.

Marcus Brutus, Portia.

My dearefl halfe, my comfort, my delight,

Of whom one fmyle may fweeten all my fow'rs:

Thou in my bofome us'd to powre thy fpright, S

And where I was didft fpare aflBidlions pow'rs.

When broils domefticke did dillurbe thy reft,

Then ftill (till finding) faining fome relief e;

Thou with calme words difguif'd a ftormy breft,

loyes frankly fharing, and engroffing griefe; 10

Still tend'ring me with a refpedlive care,

What might offend, was by no meanes made knowne:

But (with loves colours all things painted faire)

What might have made me glad, was gladly fhowne.

How com'ft thou then thy courage thus to lofe, IS

That thou canft look fo fad, and in my fight?

Lend me (dear Love) a portion of thy woes;

"A burden (when divided) doth grow light;

I fee the Rofes fading in thy face.

The Lilies languifh, Violets take their place. 20

Port. Thou haft (deare Lord) prevented my defigne,
Which was to aske of thee, what makes me pale;
If Phcebus had no light, could Phoebe fhine?
No, with the caufe of force th' effedls muft faile.

The mirrour but gives backe as it receives, 25

By juft refemblance the objedled forme.
And what impreffion the ingraver leaves.
The waxe retains, ftill to the ftamp conforme.
I am the mirrour which reflects thy minde.

As forc'd from thoughts, or flowing from thine eyes; 30

I take the ftate in which thy ftate I finde;
Such is my colour as thy count'nance dyes.
Then how can I rejoyce, whil'ft thou art fad,
Whofe breaft of all thy croffes is the fcroule?

I am ftill as thou art, if griev'd, or glad, 35

Thy bodies fhadow, th' efl"ence of thy foule:
On that great Planet which divides the yeares,
Of fields inferiour as the fruit depends.
And as it vanifh doth, or pleas'd appeares.

In th' earths cold bofome, life begins, or ends; 40

Sunne of my foule, fo I fubfift by thee,
Whofe fhining vertue leades me as a thrall:
From care-bred clouds if that thy face be free,
I rife in joyes, but if thou faint, I fall.

Brut. With all my courfe this count'nance beft accords, 45

Who as you know, yet never from my birth,

348

APPENDIX

Light geftures us'd, nor did delight in words, 47

Whofe pleafant flraines were onely turn'd to mirth.

My melancholy Nature feeds on cares,

Whil'ft fmothred forrow by a habite fmokes: 50

"A thought-full breaft (when burden'd with afJaires)

"Doth make a filent mouth, and fpeaking looks;

As for my paleneffe, it imports but good:

"The bodies humbling doth exalt the minde,

Where fatneffe (come from food) but ferves for food: 55

In fattefl bodies, leanefl fprits we finde.

Ah! fmce I faw th' abhorr'd TheJJaUa's bounds.

All drench'd with bloud of Senatours and Kings,

(As if my foule yet fmarted in their wounds)

A fecret forrow of ten- times me ftings: 60

But fmce thy Father (braving paine with blows)

In the moll hideous forme affronted death,

To him my minde a fad remembrance owes,

Which forrow fhall exacfl whil'ft I have breath.

Yet grieve I that I gave thee caufe of griefe, 65

Who thoughtft fome new mifhap did me difmay;

To fuch old fores one worfl can give relief e;

But Time in end may weare my woes away.

Por. Why fhould'fl thou fo from me thy thoughts conceale?
From thine own foule between whofe breafts thou fleep'ft, 70

To whom (though fhowne) thou doft them not reveale.
But in thy felfe more inwardly them keep'ft?
And thou canfl hardly hide thy felfe from me.
Who foone in thee each alteration fpie,

I can comment on all that comes from thee: 75

"True love ftill looks with a fufpitious eye.
Within our bofome refls not every thought,
Tun'd by a fympathie of mutuall love?
Thou marr'fl the Muficke if thou change in ought.

Which (when diflemper'd) I do quickly prove. 80

Soule of my foule, unfold what is amiffe.
Some great difafler all my thoughts divine,
Whofe curioufneffe may be excus'd in this.
Since it concerns thy State, and therefore mine.

Brut. I wonder that thou dofl thy frailtie fhow! 85

" By Nature women have beene curious flill.
And yet till now thou never crav'd to know
More then I pleas'd to fpeak of my free will.
"Nought fave the wife a man within the walls,

"Nor ought fave him without fhe fhould embrace: 90

"And it not comely is, but th' one enthralls,
"When any fexe ufurpes anothers place.
Deare, to their wonted courfe thy cares inure,
I may have matters which import the State,

Whofe op'ning up might my difgrace procure, 95

Whofe weight for femall thoughts would be too great.

ALEXANDER'S JULIUS C^SAR 349

Port. I was not {Brutus) match'd with thee, to be 97

A partner onely of thy boord, and bed:
Each fervile whore in thofe might equall me,

Who but for pleafure, or for wealth did wed. 100

No, Portia fpouf'd thee minding to remaine
Thy Fortunes partner, whether good or ill:
" By loves ftricfl bonds whiFft mutuall duties chaine,
"Two breafts mull hold one heart, two fouls one will;

"Thofe whom jufl Hymen voluntar'ly bindes, 105

" Betwixt them fhould communicate all things,
" But chiefly that which moll doth move the mindes,
"Whence either pleafure, or difpleasure fprings.
If thus thou feek thy forrows to conceale

Through a difdaine, or a miftruft of me, no

Then to the world what way can I reveale,
How great a matter I would do for thee?
And though our fexe too talkative be deem'd.
As thofe whofe tongues import our greateft pow'rs,

For fecrets flill bad Treafurers efteem'd, 115

Of others greedy, prodigall of ours;
" Good education may reforme defe<5ls,
And this may leade me to a vertuous life,
(Whil'fl fuch rare patterns generous worth refpecfls)

I Cato's daughter am, and Brutus wife. 1 20

Yet would I not repofe my trufl in ought.
Still thinking that thy croffe was great to beare.
Till I my courage to a tryall brought,
Which fuffering for thy caufe can nothing feare:

For fir ft to try how that I could comport 125

With llerne afflidtions fprit-enfeebling blows,
Ere I would feek to vex thee in this fort.
To whom my foule a dutious reverence owes.
Loe, here a wound which makes me not to fmart.

No, I rejoyce that thus my ftrength is knowne: 130

Since thy diflreffe ftrikes deeper in my heart.
Thy griefe (lifes joy) makes me neglecft mine owne.

Brut. Thou muft (deare love) that which thou fought'ft receive,
Thy heart fo high a faile in ftormes flill beares.

That thy great courage doth deferve to have 135

Our enterprife entrufted to thine eares;
This magnanimitie prevailes fo farre.
That it my refolution mufl controule.
And of my bofome doth the depths unbarre.

To lodge thee in the centre of my foule. 140

Thou feeft in what eftate the State now ftands.
Of whofe ftrong pillars Cafar fpoyl'd the beft,
WTiil'ft by his owne, preventing others hands,
Our famous Father fell amongfl the reft.

That proud ufurper fondly doth prefume 145

To re-erecft detefled Tarqiiins throne.

350 APPENDIX

Thus the worlds Miftreffe all-commanding Rome, 147

Muft entertaine no Minion now but one.

All thofe brave mindes who mark where he doth rend,

Swell with difdaine, their Countries fcorne to fee; 150

And I am one of thofe who foone intend

(His death or mine procur'd) to be made free.

Port. And without me, canft thou refolve fo foone,
To try the danger of a doubtfull (Irife?

As if defpair'd, and alwayes but undone, 155

Of me growne weary, weary of thy life.
Yet fince thou thus thy rafh defigne haft fhowne,
Leave Portia's portion, venter not her part,
Endanger nought but that which is thine owne.

Go where thou lik'ft, I will hold ftill thy heart. 160

But left by holding of thy beft part back.
The other perifh't, aggravate my grones:
Who would be fo thought guilty of thy wrack,
Take all thy Treafure to the Seas at once.

Like Afia's Monarchs wife, who with fhort haires, 165

(Sad fignes of bondage) paft ftill where he paft,
To weare away, or beare away thy cares,
I'le follow thee, and of thy fortune tafte.
Thefe hands which were with mine own bloud imbru'd.

To ftrike another, may more ftrength afford, 170

At leaft when thou by th' enemies art purfu'd,
I'le fet my felfe betwixt thee and each Sword;
But if too great a priviledge I claime,
Whofe adlions all fhould be difpof'd by thee,

Ah! pardon (Brutus) and but onely blame 175

This ftreame of paffions that tranfported me.

Brut. Thou ask'ft what thou fhouldft give, forgive deare Mate,
This ventrous courfe of mine, which muft have place.
Though it make Fortune Tyrant of our State,

Whofe fickle foot-fteps Vertue grieves to trace. 180

And wonder not though thus to thee I prove,
Since private duties now all pow'r have loft;
I weigh not glory, profit, pleafure, love.
Nor what refpecfl may now import me moft:

So to the land of which I hold my life, 185

I may performe that worke which I intend,
Let me be call'd unkinde unto my wife:
Yea, worft of all, ingrate unto my friend.
"As an inftincft by Nature makes us know,

"There are degrees of duty to be paft, 190

"Of which the firft unto the Gods we owe,
"The next t' our Countrey, to our friends the laft.
From Rome of old proud Tyrants bent to drive.
Did th' author of my race with ardent zeale.

Make thofe to dye, whom he had made to live, 195

And fpoil'd himfelfe to raife the Common-weale?

ALEXANDER'S JULIUS C^SAR 351

To fettle that which Cajar now o're-throws, 197

(Though vertues nurferie, flately whil'ft it flood)

He with the Tyrant inter-changing blows,

On Glories Altar offered Fame his bloud. 200

And did that man to croffe the common foe,

Then damne his Sonnes to death? and with dry eyes,

And is his fpeciall heire degener'd fo,

In abje(5l bondage that he bafely lyes?

No, his poflerity his name not flaines, 205

But even to tread his fteps doth faft draw neare;

Yet, of his fprit in us fome fpark remaines,

Who more then life, our liberty hold deare.

Fort. Then profecute thy courfe, for I protefl.
Though with fome griefe, my foule the fame approves; 210

This refolution doth become thy breft.
In honours fpheare where heavenly Vertue moves:
And do this enterprife no more deferre.
What thee contents, to me contentment brings,

I to my life thy fafety do preferre, 215

But hold thy honour deare above all things.
It would but let the world my weakneffe fee,
If I fought my delights, not thy delires.
Though griefe it give, and threaten death to me,

Go follow forth that which thy Fame requires. 220

Though Nature, fexe, and education breed.
No power in me, with fuch a purpofe even,
I mufl lend help to this intended deed.
If vows and pray'rs may penetrate the heaven:

But difficulties huge my fancie findes, 225

Nought, fave the fucceffe, can defray my feare:
"Ah! Fortune alwayes frownes on worthy mindes,
"As hating all who trufl in ought fave her.
Yet I defpaire not but thou may'fl prevaile.

And by this courfe to eafe my prefent grones, 230

I this advantage have which cannot faile:
He be a free-mans wife, or elfe be nones:
For, if all profper not as we pretend.
And that the Heavens Romes bondage do decree,

Straight with thy liberty my life fhall end, 235

Who have no comfort but what comes from thee;
My Father hath me taught what way to dye.
By which if hindred from encountring death.
Some other meanes, I (though more ftrange) muft try:
For, after Brutus none fhall fee me breathe. 240

B/i'.t. Thou for my caufe all others earft didfl leave.
But now forfak'ft thy felfe to joyne with me,
"Ore generous love no pow'r weake paffions have,
Againft thy minde thou dofl with mine agree.

He (fmce by thee approv'd) fecurely go, 245

And '.-ilipend the dangers of this life:

352

APPENDIX

Heavens make my enterprife to profper fo, 247

That I may once prove worthy fuch a wife:
But ah! of all thy words thofe grieve me moft,

Which bragge me with the dating of thy dayes; 250

What? though I in fo good a caufe were loft,
" None flies the fate which flablifh'd for him flayes.
Do not defraud the world of thy rare worth,
But of thy Bruins the remembrance love;

From this faire prifon flrive not to breake forth, 255

Till firft the fates have forc'd thee to remove.

Fori. The heavens (I feare) have our confufion fwom,
Since this ill Age can with no good accord,
Thou and my Father (ah !) (hould have beene borne,

When Vertue was advanc'd, and Vice abhorr'd. 260

Then, ere the light of Vertue was declin'd.
Your worth had reverenc'd beene, not throwTie away.
Where now ye both have but in darkneffe fhin'd.
As Starres by night, that had beene Sunnes by day.

Brut. My treafure, ftrive to pacifie thy breft, 265

Left forrows but fmiftroufly prefage
That which thou would'ft not wifh, and hope the befl,
Though Vertue now mufl adl on Fortunes Stage.

Exeunt. 269

Chorus,

Then liberty, oj earthly things

What more delights a generous brejl?

Which doth receive,

And can conceive $

The matchlejfe treafure that it brings;

It making men fecurely reft,

As all perceive,

Doth none deceive.

Whir ft from the fame true courage fprings, 10

But fear' d for nought, doth what feemes beft:

" Then men are men, when they are all their owne,

"Not, but by others badges when made knowne:

Yet ftiould we not mif pending houres,

A freedome feeke, as oft it falls, 15

With an intent

But to content

Thefe vaine delights, and appetites of ours;

For, then but made farre greater thralls,

We might repent 20

As not ft ill pent

In ftriiter bounds by others powers,

Whil'ft feare licentious thoughts appalls:

"Of all the Tyrants that the world affords,

"Ones owne a_ffedlions are the fierceft Lords: 25

ALEXANDER ' S JULIUS C^SAR 353

As Libertines thofe onely live, 26

Who (from the bands of vice fet free)
Vile thoughts cancell,
And would excell

In all that doth true glory give, 30

Frotti which when as no Tyrants he
Them to rcpell,
A nd to compell

Their deeds againjl their thoughts to Jlrive,
They blejl are in a high degree: 35

''For,fuch of fame the fcrouls can hardly fill,
" Whofe wit is bounded by atiothers will.
Our A nceflors of old fuch prov'd,
{Who Rome from Tarquines yoke redeemed)
They firjl- obtain '</, 40

A?td then maintain' d
Their liberty fo dearly lov'd;
They from all things which odious feem'd
(Though not conflrain'd)

Themfelves rejlrain'd, 45

And willingly all good a p prov'd,
Bent to be much, yet well ejleem'd;
"And how could fuch hit ayme at fame great end,
" Whom liberty did leade, Glory attend?
They leading valorous legions forth, 50

(Though wattling Kings) trimnph'd o're Kings,
And fl ill afpir'd,
By Mars infpir'd,
To conquer all from South to North;

Then lending fame their Eagles wings, 55

They all acquir'd
That was requir'd.
To make them rare for rarefl things.
The world made wilnejfe of their worth:
Thus thofe great mitides who domineer'd o're all. 60

Did make themfelves firfl free, then others thrall,
But we who hold nought but their name.
From that to which they in times gone
Did high afcend,

Mujl low defcend, 65

And bound their glory with our (Jtame,
WhU'fl on an abject Tyrants Throne,
We (bafe) attend.
And do intend

Vs for our fortune jlill to frame, 70

Not it for us, and all for one:
"As liberty a courage doth impart,
"So bondage doth disbend, elfe breake the hearty
Yet, 0! who knows but Rome to grace

Another Brutus may arife? 75

354

APPENDIX

Who may efedl 76

What we aj^edl,

Attd Tarquines y?e/>5 make Caefar trace;

Though Jeeming dangers to dejpije

He doth fuf pea 80

What we expedl

Which from his brcajl hath batiijh'd peace,

Though fairely he his feares difguife:

"Of Tyrants even the wrong, revenge afords,

"AUfeare but theirs, and they fear e all mens fwords. 85

A61 4. Scene i,

Decius Brutus Albinus, Marcus
Brutus, Caius Cafsius.

Deare Cofin, Cafsius did acquaint mine eares

With a defigne which toff'd my minde a fpace; 5

"For, when flrange news, a ftrangers breath firft beares,

"One fhould not ftraight to rafh reports give place.

I would not then difcover what I thought,

Left he to trap my tongue, a fnare had fram'd,

Till firft with thee I to conferre was brought, 10

Whom he for Patron of his purpofe nam'd.

"One ihould look well to whom his minde he leaves,

"In dangerous times when tales by walls are told,

"Men make themfelves unnecefTar'ly flaves,

"Of thofe to whom their fecrets they unfold. IS

Mar. Brut. As Cafsius told thee, griev'd for Romes diftresse,
Which to our fhame in bondage doth remaine,
We ftraight intend what ever we profeffe,
With Ccefars bloud to wafh away this ftaine.

Though for this end a few fufficient are, 20

To whom their vertue courage doth impart.
Yet were we loth to wrong thy worth fo farre.
As of fuch glory to give thee no part.
Since both this caufe, yea, and thy name thee binde,

In this adventrous band to be compris'd, 2$

There needs no Rhetoricke to raife thy minde.
To do the thing which thou fhouldft have devis'd.

Dec. Brut. I thought no creature fhould my purpofe know.
But he whofe int'reft promis'd mutuall cares:

"Of thofe to whom one would his fecret fhow, 30

"No greater pledge of truft then to know theirs;
As when two meet whil'ft mask'd (though moft deare friends)
With them (as ftrangers) no refpecft takes place,
But ftraight when friend-fhip one of them pretends,
The other likewife doth un-cloud the face. 3S

ALEXANDER' S JULIUS C^SAR 355

So as thou firil, I'le now at laft be bold: 36

My breft with the fame birth long bigge hath gone,

But I to others durfl it not unfold,

Nor yet attempt to compalTe it alone;

But lince this courfe, at which I long did paufe, 40

On fuch great pillars now fo flrongly ftands,

WTiofe count'nance may give credit to a caufe,

It hath my heart, and it fhall have my hands.

Ca. Cajf. To our defignes propitious fignes are fent,
So that the Gods would give us courage thus: 45

For, all who ever heard of our intent,
Would willingly engage themfelves with us:
Let other men difcourfe of vertuous rites,
Ours but by a(5lion onely fhould be fhowTie:

" Bare fpeculation is but for fuch fprits 50

"As want of pow'r, or courage keeps imkno^Tie.
"In thofe who vertue view, when crown'd with deeds,
"Through Glories glaffe, whofe beauties long have fliin'd,
"To be embrac'd an high delire fhe breeds,

"As load-flones iron, fo ravilhing the minde: 55

What though a number now in darkneffe lyes.
Who are too weak for matters of fuch weight?
We who are eminent in all mens eyes,
Let us ftill hold the height of honour flraight.

Mar. Brut. Earfk (that our fadlion might be ftrengthned thus) 60

I labour'd much to pvirchafe all their pow'rs.
Whom hate to Cafar, love to Rome, or us,
Might make imbarke in thofe great hopes of ours;
By fickneffe then imprifon'd in his bed,

Whil'ft I Ligarius fpy'd whom paines did pricke, 65

When I had faid with words that anguifh bred:
In what a time Ligarius art thou lick?
He anfwer'd flraight as I had Phyficke brought.
Or that he had imagin'd my defigne,

If worthie of thy felfe thou would'ft do ought, 70

Then Brutus I am whole, and wholly thine:
Since he by Ccejar was accus'd of late
For taking Pompey^s part, yet at this houre
He (though abfolv'd) doth flill the Tyrant hate,

Since once endanger'd by his lawlefFe pow'r: 75

Thus (of great fprits exafperating fpites)
Heaven of our courfe the progrefTe doth direcfl.
One infpiration all our foules incites,
WTio have advis'dly fwome for one effecfl.

Dec. Brut. So I with Cicero did conferre at length, 80

Who (I perceive) the prefent ftate detefts,
And though old Age diminifh'd hath his flrength,
In him a will to free his Coimtrey refts.

Mar. Bru. That man whofe love ftill to his countrey fhin'd,
Would willingly the common- wealth reftore: 85

356 APPENDIX

Then he (I know) though he conceals his minde, 86

None CcE^ar more diflikes, nor likes us more:

Yet to his cuflody I'le not commit

The fecrets of our enterprife fo foone:

"Men may themfelves be often-times not fit 9°

"To do the things which they would wifh were done.

He ftill was timorous, and, by age growne worfe,

Might chance to lay our honour in the duft;

"All Cowards muft inconflant be of force,

"With bold defignes none fearful! breafls fhould trufl. 95

Then, fome of ours would hold their hands ftill pure,

Who (ere they be fufpe(5led) for a fpace,

Amid'ft the tumult may remaine fecure.

And with the people mediate our peace:

But who then Tulliiis fitter for that tume, loo

Whofe eloquence is us'd to charme their eares?

His banifhment they in black Gownes did moume,

Whom all do honour for his worth and yeares.

Cai. Caff. Thofe ftudious wits which have through dangers gone,
"Would ftill be out, ere that they enter in: los

"Who mufe of many things, refolve of none,
"And (thinking of the end) cannot begin.
"The minde which looks no further then the eye,
"And more to Nature trufts, then unto Art,

"Such doubtfuU fortunes fitteft is to try: no

"A furious a(5lor for a defp'rat part.
We have enow, and of the beft degree,
Whofe hands unto their hearts, hearts t' us are true,
And if that we feek moe, I feare we be

To hide, too many, if difclos'd, too few; "S

Let us advife with an induftrious care
(Now ere the Tyrant intercept our mindes)
The time, the place, the manner, when, and where
We fhould en-truft our Treafure to the windes;

And fince our ftates this doth in danger bring, 120

Let every point be circumfpedlly weigh'd,
"A circumftance, or an indifferent thing,
"Doth oft marre all, when not with care conveigh'd.

Mar. Brut. As for the time, none could be wifh'd more fit,
Then is the prefent to performe our vow, 125

Since all the people muft allow of it,
By recent anguifh mov'd extreamely now.
When reprefented in his triumph paft,
Great Cato's mangled intrails made them weep.

And defp'rat Scipio whil'ft he leap't at laft 130

To feek a Sanctuary amidft the deep.
Then all thofe great men whom in feverall parts,
Bent for Romes freedome, Cafar did o're-throw.
Did by their picftures pierce the peoples hearts.
And made a piteous (though a pompous) fhow; I35

ALEXANDER'S JULIUS C^SAR 357

How could they but conceive a jufl difdaine 136

To be upbraided in fo flrange a fort,

Whil'fl he who onely by their loffe did gaine,

Of their calamitie did make a fport?

But yet his purpofe grieves them mod of all, 140

Since that he ftrives to be proclaim'd a King:

And not contents himfelfe to make us thrall,

But would even all our heires to bondage bring.

Thus whil'fl the people are with him difpleas'd,

We befl may do what to our part belongs: I45

For, after this they may be beft appeas'd,

If, whil'fl their wrath doth lafl, we venge their wrongs;

And (fmce we nought intend but what is right,

Whil'fl from our Countrey we remove difgrace)

Let all be adled in the Senates fight, 15°

A common caufe, and in a common place.

Let thofe whofe guilty thoughts do damne their deeds.

In comers like Mmerva's birds abide,

That which our Countrey good, us glory breeds,

May by the lights of heaven and earth be try'd. ISS

The Senatours by our example mov'd,

Pleas'd with this adlion which imports them too.

To have the yoke of tyranny remov'd.

May at the leaft confirme that which we do;

So all the Senatours were faid of old, 160

King Romiihis in peeces to have tome.

Who then to tyrannize was growne too bold,

And ere turn'd God humanitie did fcome.

Dec. Brut. Yea, what though Cajar were immortall made,

As Romulus, whofe deitie him revives? 165

I rather as a God adore him dead.

Then as a King obey him whil'ft he lives.

Cai. CaJJ. That place indeed, mofl for our glory makes;

A Theater worthy of fo great an adl.

Where in their fight from whom moft pow'r he takes, 170

We of the Tyrant vengeance may exacfl.

But I mufl recommend unto your minde,

A courfe (though ftridl) of which we muft allow,

Lefl it o're-throw all that we have defign'd.

Since pafb recovery, if negledled now. I7S

There is Antonius, Ccejars greateft friend,

\ man whofe Nature tyranny affecfls.

Whom all the Souldiers daily do attend.

As one who nought but to command refpedls.

I feare that he when we have Ccejar flaine, 180

The grieved fadlion fumifh with a head:

So when we end, we muft begin againe

With one who lives worfe then the other dead.

And in my judgement I would thinke it beft,

When facrific'd the proud ufurper lyes. 185

358 APPENDIX

That this feditious enemy of refl i86

Should fall with him, with whom he firft did rife:

Thus, of our liberty we now may lay

A folid ground, which can be fhak't by none:

"Thofe of their purpofe who a part delay, 190

"Two labours have, who might have had but one.

Mar. Brut. I cannot (Cafshis) condefcend to kill
(Thus from the path of juftice to decline)
One faultlelle yet, left after he prove ill,

So to prevent his guiltineffe by mine; 195

No, no, that neither honefl were, nor juft.
Which rigorous forme would but the world affright,
Men by this meane, our meaning might miflrufl,
And for a little wrong damne all that's right:

If we do onely kill the common foe, 200

Our Countries zeale muft then acquire due praife,
But if (like Tyrants) fiercely raging fo,
We will be thought that which we raze to raife;
And where we but intend to aide the State,

Though by endangering what we hold mofl deare, 205

If flaying him (as arm'd by private hate)
We to the world all partiall will appeare,
Ah, ah! we muft but too much murder fee,
Who without doing ill cannot do good:

And, would the Gods, that Rome could be made free 210

Without the fhedding of one drop of bloud!
Then, there is hope that Anthonie in end,
Whil'fl firft our vertue doth direcfl the way,
Will (leagu'd with us) the liberty defend,
And (when brought back) will blufli, as once aftray. 215

Ca. CajJ. Well Brutus, I proteft againft my will,
From this black cloud, what ever tempeft fall.
That mercy but moft cruelly doth kill,
WTiich thus faves one, who once may plague us all.

Dec. Brut. When Ccefar with the Senatours fits downe, 220

In this your judgements generally accord.
That for affecfting wrongfully the Crowne,
He lawfully may perifli by the Sword:
No greater harme can for our courfe be wrought,

Then by protradting the appointed time, 225

Left that, which adled would be vertue thought.
Be (if prevented) conftru'd as a crime;
Can one thing long in many mindes be pent?
"No, purpofes would never be delayd,

"Which judg'd by th' ilTues Fortune doth comment, 230

"If profp'ring, reafon, treafon if betrai'd.
There may amongft our felves fome man remaine,
Whom (if afraid) his pardon to procure.
Or (if too greedy) for the hope of gaine,
Time to difclofe his conforts may allure. 235

ALEXANDER'S JULIUS C^SAR 359

Then for our recompence we ruine reape, 236

If ought our courfe thus made abortive marre,

For, if difcovered once, we cannot fcape:

"As tyrants eares heare much, their hands reach farre.

Ca. Cafsius. The breft in which fo deep a fecret dwels, 240

Would not be long charg'd with fo weighty cares:
For, I conjecfture, as their count'nance tels,
That many know our mindes, though we not theirs:
Even but of late one, Cafca came to fee

Who curious was to have our purpofe knowne, 245

And faid to him, that which thou had'fl from me,
To me by Brutus hath at length been fhown.
Then Lena once came to us in like fort.
And wifh'd that our defigne might profper well;

But yet to hafle did earneftly exhort, 250

Since others told what we refus'd to tell.
Whilft flrangers refl familiar with our minde,
And ere we them, doe all our purpofe fpy,
Make forward fafl, or we will come behinde:
"Fame (wing'd with breath) doth violently flye. 255

Mar. Brut. Their words but burft from tales uncertaine forth,
For, whilfl confidering of their bondage thus,
Of Cajars tjnranny and of our worth,
They thinke this fhould be done, and done by us.

Such conjurations to confirme of old, 260

Some drinking others blouds, fwore on their fwords,
And curfing thofe who did their courfe unfold,
Vs'd imprecations, execrable words;
And yet, then this, though voluntar'ly vow'd.

Free from all bonds, fave that which vertue bindes, 265

More conftantly no courfe was ere allow'd.
Till that the end mufl manifefl our mindes.
And fince fo many frankely keep their faith.
What firfl intended to accomplifh bent,

No doubt in fpight of fickle fortunes wrath, 270

A happy fuccefTe fhall our foules content.
Might fome few Thebans from the Spartans pride,
By divers tyrants deaths redeem their Towne?
And one Athenian who his vertue try'd.

By thirty tyrants ruine, get renowne? 275

And to the Greekes are we inferiours growne.
That where they have fo many tyrants fpoil'd.
There cannot one be by us all o'rethrowne,
Whofe ftate yet ftaggering may be foon imbroil'd?

I am refolv'd, and with my thoughts decree, 280

What ever chance to come, or fweet, or fowre,
I fhall my foile from tyranny fet free.
Or then my felfe free from the tyrants pow'r.

Dec. Brut. By Lepidus invited this lafl night,
Whilft CcBjar went to fuppe, and I with him, 285

360 APPENDIX

Of all deaths fhapes to talke, we tooke delight, 286

So at the table to beguile the time:

And whilfl our judgements all about were try'd,

Straight Cajar, (as tranfported) to the reft,

With a moft fudden exclamation cry 'd : 290

O! of all deaths, unlook'd for death is befl:

It from our felves doth fleale our felves fo fafl,

That even the minde no fearefuU forme can fee.

Then is the paine ere apprehended paft;

"Sowre things ere tafted, would firfl fwallowed be. 295

The threatned delliny thus he divin'd:

(It would appeare) divinely then infpir'd;

For, now I hope that he fhall fhortly finde

That forme of death which he himfelfe defir'd.

Cai. CaJ. Whilfl of our band the fury flames moft hot, 300

And that their will to end this worke is fuch.
Left Ccefars ab fence difappoint the plot,
Which would of fome abate the courage much;
It {Decius) were exceedingly well done.

That to his lodging you addreft your way, 305

Him by all meanes to further forward foone,
Left him fome fudden chance may move to flay.

Dec. Brut. There, where the Senate minds this day to (it,
Stand all prepar'd, not fearing danger more.

And for the Sacrifice when all is fit, 310

I'le bring an offring hallowed of before. Exeunt.

AS. 4. Scene 2.

Cajar, CalpJmrnia, Decius Brutus.

Long-lookt-for Time that fhould the glory yeeld,

Which I through Ncptunes truftlefTe raign have fought;

And through the duft of many a bloudy field, 5

As by all dangers worthy to be bought.

Thy comming now thofe lowring fhadowes cleares,

My hopes horizon which did long o're-caft;

This day defrayes the toyles of many yeares.

And brings the harvefl of my labours paft. 10

The Senators a Meffenger have fent

Mofl eameftly entreating me to come

And heare my felfe difcern'd by their confent

To weare a Crowne o're all, excepting Rome;

Thus, they devife conditions at this houre 15

For him, of whom Mars hath made them the prey,

As Subjedls limit could their Soveraignes pow'r.

Who mufl have minde of nought but to obey;

But having pacifi'd thofe prefent things,

I minde to leade my valorous legions forth 20

ALEXANDER'S JULIUS CjESAR 361

To th' orientall Realmes (adoring Kings) 21

Who can afford all that is due to worth.

Then fwimme my thoughts in th' ocean of delight,

Whilll on the pillow of foft praife repos'd;

Thofe eyes to gaze upon my glories light, 25

WTiich Envy open'd, Admiration clos'd.

Cal. Ah, though your fancies great contentment fmde,
Whilft thus the worid your vcrtue doth advance;
Yet a prepoft'rous terrovir flings my minde.

And braggs me with I know not what mifchance; 30

My wavering hopes o're-ballanc'd are with feares,
WTiich to my foule fmiftrous fignes impart;
And om'nous rumours fo aiTault mine eares.
That they almofh make breaches in my heart.

Caj. What? do foil'd Pompeys floting followers flrive 35

To recolledl their mines from the duft?
Dare they who onely by my tollerance live.
More to their flrength, then to my favour truft?
Or do'ft thou feare his fonnes dejc(5led flate.

Who fleales infamous flying through thofe fiouds, 40

Which his great father, Admirall of late.
Did plant with fhips, till all their waves feem'd woods;
Or makes his brothers death his hopes grow more,
Since (by them ftraited in a bloudy flrife)

I who in all the battels given before, 45

Did fight for vicTiory, then, fought for life;
Or, whilft to march to Parthia I prepare,
Doth a fufpition thus afilidl thy fprite:
By CraJJiis fortune mov'd, who perifh'd there,

The fcomed prey of the Barbarians fpight? 50

To thofe with Cafsius who from thence retir'd,
Amongft my bands a place I will allow,
Whofe foes fhall finde (bad fate at lafl expir'd.)
Though the fame fheep, another fheep-heard now;

Doe not imagine matters to bemone, 55

For, whilft there flands a world, can Cafar fall?
Though thoufand thoufands were conjur'd in one,
I, and my fortune might confound them all.

Cal. No, none of thofe my minde doth mifcontent,
Who undifguis'd ftill like themfelves remaine: 60

Vnlook't-for harmes are hardefl to prevent:
There is no guard againft conceal'd difdaine;
But, in whom further can yoiu: trufl repofe,
\Vhom danger now o're all by all attends?

"Wlicre private men but onely feare their foes, 65

"Oft Kings have greateft caufe to feare their friends;
" For, fmce mofl trufted, fittefl to betray,
"Thofe unto whom ones favour force affords,
" iVIofl dangerous ambufhes with eafe may lay,
"WTailft falfeft hearts are hid with faireft words. 70

362 APPENDIX

And fome report (though privately) yet plaine, 71

That Dolabella and Antonius now,

By your deflru(5lion doe intend to gaine

That which you keep by making all men bow.

Csf. No corpulent fanguinians make me feare, 75

Who with more paine their beards then th' en'mies flrike,
And doe themfelves like th' Epicurians beare
To Bacchus, Mars, and Venus borne alike;
Their hearts doe alwaies in their mouthes remaine,

As ilreames whofe murmuring fhowes their courfe not deep, 80

Then ftill they love to fport, though groffe, and plaine,
And never dreame of ought but when they fleep:
But thofe high fprites who hold their bodies downe,
Whofe vifage leane their reftleffe thoughts records:

Whilft they their cares depth in their bofomes drown, 85

I feare their filence more then th' others words.
Thus Cqfsius now and Briilus feeme to hold
Some great thing in their minde, whofe fire oft fmoaks;
What Brutus would, he vehemently would;

Thinke what they lift, I like not their pale lookes: 90

Yet with their worth this cannot well agree,
In whom bright vertue feemes fo much to fhine:
Can thofe who have receiv'd their lives from me.
Prove fo ingrate, that they doe thirfl for mine?

Dare Cafsius (match'd with me) new hopes conceive, 95

At th' Hellefpont, who fortune durft not try.
And (like a daflard) did his Gallies leave.
In all (fave courage) though more ftrong then I?
Shall I fufpedt that Bruhis feekes my bloud,

Whofe fafety ftill I tendred with fuch care, ico

Who when the heavens from mortals me feclude,
Is onely worthy to be Ccefars heire?

Cal. ■ "The comers of the heart are hard to know;
Though of thofe two the world the beft doth deeme,

Yet doe not trufl too much to th' outward fhow, 105

For, men may differ much from what they feeme.
"None oft more fierce then thofe who look moft milde,
" Impiety fometime appeares devout,
And (that the world the more may be beguil'd)

"Even vice can cloath it felfe with vertues cote. no

Though it would feem (all hatred now laid downe)
They on your favour onely fliould depend.
Yet no refpe<5l can counterpoife a Crowne:
"Ambition hath no bounds, nor Greed no end.

Mov'd by vindi(ftive hate, or emulous pride, 115

Since fome your perfon, fome your place purfue;
All threatned dangers to prevent, provide.
And ufe for fafety, what to State is due.

CceJ. No armour is tht can hold treafon out.

Cal. To fright your foes with bands be back'd about. 120

ALEXANDER' S JULIUS C^SAR 363

CaJ. So daflard tyrants flrive themfelves to beare. 121

Cal. It better is to give, then to take feare.

CaJ. No guard more ftrong then is the peoples love.

Cal. But nought in th' earth doth more inconflant prove.

Caj. Guards (fhewing feare) to charge me men might tempt. 125

Cal. Guards would put them from hope, you from contempt.

Caf. My brefl from terrour hath been alwaies cleare.

Cal. WTien one leaft feares, oft danger lurks moll neare.

Caj. I rather dye then feare: at laft life goes.

Cal. Yet, death mufl grieve, when forc'd by vaunting foes. 130

CaJ. I will not croffe my prefent pleafures fo,
By apprehending what may chance to come,
This world affords but too much caufe for woe;
And forrowes flill muft harbour'd be \)y fome.

By joyes in time we muft embrace reliefe, 135

That when they end, we in fome meafure may
By their remembrance mitigate the griefe
WTiich ftill attends all thofe on th' earth that flay.
I thinke the Senate is affembled now.

And for my comming doth begin to gaze, 140

Let me condignely once adome my brow.
And feaft mine eares by drinking in due praife.

Cal. Stay, ftay (deare Lord) retire thy fteps againe,
And fpare a fpace to prorogate whole yeares;

Let not this ominous day begin thy raigne, 145

Which fatall and unfortunate appeares.
An Aftrologian through the world renown'd,
Thy horofcopes jufl calculation la3'es.
And doth affirme (as he by fignes hath found)

That Marches Ides doe bragge to bound thy dayes; ' 150

Walke not abroad where harmes may be receiv'd
(By great neceffity fince no way forc'd)
For, (though his judgement may be farre deceiv'd)
"In things that touch thy Hfe, fufpecl the worft.

Caj. WTiilft I reform'd the Calendar by fits, 155

Which did confound the order of the yeare;
I waded through the depths of all their wits,
\\'ho of the flarres the myfteries would cleare.
Thofe pregnant fprites who walke betwixt the Poles,

And lodge at all the Zodiackes feverall fignes, 160

Doe'reade ftrange wonders wrapt in th' azure fcroules.
Of which our deeds are words, our lives are lines.
By fpeculation of fuperior pow'rs,
Some Natures fecrets curious are to know,

As how celeftiall bodies rule o're ours, 165

And-what their influence doth worke below.
Yea, they fometime may brave conjecflures make
Of thofe whofe parts they by their birth doe prove.
Since naturally all inclination take
From Planets then predominant above; 170

364 APPENDIX

And yet no certainty can fo be had, 171

Some vertuoufly againft their Starres have ftriv'd,

As Socrates, who grew (though borne but bad)

The mofl accomplifli'd man that ever liv'd.

But of the houre ordain'd to clofe our lights, 175

No earth-clog'd foule can to the knowledge come;

For, O! the deflinies farre from our fights,

In clouds of darkneffe have involv'd our doome!

And fome but onely gueffe at great mens falls,

By bearded Comets, and prodigious Starres, 180

Whofe fight-diftradting (hape the world appalls,

As ftill denouncing terrour, death, or warres.

The time uncertaine is of certaine death,

And that fantaflicke man farre paft his bounds:

"With doubt and reverence they fhould manage breath, 185

"Who will divine upon conjecftured grounds.

Cal. But this all day hath prey'd upon my heart,
And from the fame of cares a tribute claim'd;
Doe not defpife that which I mufl impart,

Though but a dreame, and by a woman dream'd. 190

I thought (alas) the thought yet wounds my breafl,
Then whilft we both (as thofe whom Morpheus weds)
Lay foftly buried (with a pleafant refl)
I in thy bofome, thou within the beds:

Then from my foul flrange terrours did with-draw 195

Th' expected peace by apprehended harmes;
For, I imagin'd, no, no doubt I faw,
And did embrace thee bloudy in mine armes.
Thus whilft my foule by forrowes was furcharg'd.

Of which huge weight it yet fome burden beares, 200

I big with griefe, two Elements enlarg'd,
Th' ayre with my fighes, the water with my teares.

CcbJ. That which I heard, with thy report accords,
Whilft thou all feem'd diffolv'd in griefe at once,

A heavy murmuring made with mangled words, 205

Was interrupted oft by tragicke grones.
The memory, but not the judgement frames
Thofe raving fancies which difturbe the braine,
Whilft night diffolves all dayes defignes in dreames,

"The fenfes fleeping, foules would ftirre in vaine. 210

From fuperftitious feares this care proceeds.
Which ftill would watch o're that which thou doft love,
And in thy minde thus melancholy breeds,
Which doth thofe ftrange imaginations move.

Cal. Ah, in fo light account leave off to hold 215

Thofe fatall warnings, which our mindes fhould leade
To fearch darke matters, till we may unfold
What dangers huge doe hang above thy head.
With facred Garlands he who things divines,
By th' in trails of the confecrated beaft, 220

ALEXANDER'S JULIUS C^SAR 365

Doth in the off ring fee finiftrous fignes, 221

And I entreat thee doe not hence make hafte.

CaJ. When I in Spaine againft yong Pompey went,
Thus, the diviner threatned me before,

Yet did I profecute my firft intent, 225

Which with new lawrels did my browes decore.

Cal. And yet you hardly there (as I doe heare)
From danger (farre engag'd) redeem'd your life;
But tokens now more monftrous doe appeare.
And I fufpedl farre worfe then open ftrife. 230

CceJ. Left I too much feeme wedded to my will,
(As others counfels fcoming to allow)
With jealous eyes I'le fearch about me ftill,
And even miftruft my felfe to truft thee now;

Yet if I ftay, the Senators deceiv'd, 235

May my beginning ftraight begin to hate;
So might I perifh, feeking to be fav'd:
" By flying it, fome fall upon their fate.
But here one comes who can refolve me much.

With whom I ufe to weigh affaires of weight; 240

Whence com'ft thou Deems, that thy hafte is fuch?
Is ought occurr'd that craves our knowledge ftraight?

Dec. I come to tell you how the Senate ftayesj
Till that your prefence blefl'e their longing fight.

And to conclude what is propos'd, delayes, 245

Since your applaufe can onely make it right:
They your contentment to procure intend,
And all their thoughts feeme at one object bent,
Save that amongft themfelves they doe contend,
Who you to pleafe, (hall rareft wayes invent. 250

Ccb/. Then that, no treafure to my foule more deare.
Which to enjoy from hence I long to part,
But yet I know not what arrefts me here,
And makes my feet rebellious to my heart;

From thee (deare friend) I never doe conceale 255

The weightieft fecrets that conceme me moft;
And at this time I likewife muft reveale.
How heavens by fignes me with deftrudtion boaft:
To fuperftition though not earft inclin'd,

My wife by dreames doth now prefage my fall, 260

It a footh-fayer likewife hath divin'd:
The Sacrifice prodigious feemes to all,
So that till this difaftrous day be gone,
All company I purpofe to difufe,

And to the Senators will fend fome one, 265

To paint my abfence with a faire excufe.

Dec. Brut. Doe not repofe on fuperftitious fignes.
You to fufpedl the people thus to bring,
Whilft Soveraigne-like you limit their defignes,
Seeme not a tyrant, feeking to be King: 270

366 APPENDIX

How can we fatisfie the worlds conceit, 271

Whofe tongue ftill in all eares your praife proclaimes?

Or Ihall we bid them leave to deale in flate,

Till that Calphiirnia firft have better dreames?

If that this day you private would remaine, 275

The Senate to diffolve your felfe muft goe,

And then incontinent come backe againe,

When you have Ihowne to it fome reverence fo.

CcbJ. With thy advife (as pow'rfull) I agree,

The Senatours fhall have no caufe to grudge: 280

A little fpace, all part a fpace from me,

And I'le be fhortly ready to diflodge.

Ccsfar alone.

Whence comes this huge and admirable change,

That in my breft hath uncouth thoughts infus'd 285

Doth th' earth then earft yeeld terrors now more ftrange,

Or but my minde leffe courage then it us'd?

What fpightfull fate againfl my ftate contends,

That I muft now to fancied plagues give place,

By foes not mov'd, afraid amongft my friends, 290

By warre fecure, endanger'd but by peace?

When ftrongeft troopes to fight with me did come,

Then did my heart the higheft hopes conceive,

I warr'd with many, many to o're-come;

The greateft battels, greateft glory gave. 295

As th' enemies numbers, ftill my courage grew;

Through depths of dangers oft times have I paft.

Yet never did thofe boundleffe labours rue,

To have none greater firft, none equall laft:

When bragging Gauls mov'd by their neighbours fals, 300

Had from the fields, no, from my fury fled;

And hid themfelves with Armes, their Armes with walles,

Whilft I my troupes before Alexia led;

Then, though there fwarm'd forth from the bounds about.

Huge hofts to compalTe me enflam'd with wrath, " 305

That the befiegers (all befieg'd about,)

Seem'd drawne by danger in the nets of death.

No way I who could with the pride comport,

That thofe Barbarians by vaine vaunts bewray'd,

Did re-affault th' affaulters in fuch fort, 310

That words by wounds, wounds were by death repayd.

Of thofe within the towne (to eafe their toyles)

Till quite o're-com'd, their comming was not knowne.

Who ftraight (upbraided by the barb'rous fpoiles)

Did yeeld themfelves, as if with them o're-throwne, 315

By liquid legions whilft with tumid boafts

The Trident-bearer ftriv'd my fpoiles to beare; 317

ALEXANDER' S JULIUS C^SAR 367

Though threatned thrife amid'ft his humid hofts, 318

Still courage fcom'd to thinke of abjecfl fcarc.

I us'd thofe Pyrats who had me deceiv'd, 320

Still as my fervants (thundring threatnings forth)
And gave them money more then they had crav'd,
Whofe ignorance too meanely priz'd my worth :
Yet gathering fhips, I ftay'd not long a fhore,

But trac'd their fteps, though they not pav'd the way, 325

And taking them (as I had vow'd before)
By nought but death their ranfome would defray;
Then when (without th' advice of others mindes)
Through hoary waves I pafl alone by night,

Whilfl in a little Barke againfl great windes, 330

That even the Pilot look't not for the light;
The waves themfelves afunder feem'd to teare,
That in their gravell I might chufe a grave,
And cryftall arches did above me reare,

That I a Tombe fit for my ftate might have, 335

Whilft dangers feem'd to merit Cajars death,
As Neptune rais'd his head, I rais'd my heart;
And (hewing what I was with conflant breath,
To weake Amiclas courage did impart.

Was I not once amid'ft large Niliis flote, 340

Whilfl me to wound, a wood of darts did flye,
Yet fwim'd fo careleffe of my enemies fhot,
. That in my hand I held fome papers dry?
With open dangers thus in every place,

I (whilfl oft compafs'd both by Sea and Land,) 345

Did undifmay'd looke horrour in the face,
As borne for nought, but onely to command.
But fince a world of vicflories have fill'd
With Trophees Temples, Theaters with my praife.

That bath'd with balme which glories bayes had ftill'd, 350

With friends in peace, I look'd to fpend my dayes.
The chambers muficke now afrights me more.
Then Tnmipets founds when marching in the field,
And Gowns (though fignes of peace) worfe then before

The pompous fplendour of a flaming fhield. 355

Thofe thoughts of late which had difdain'd to doubt.
Though I alone had march'd amongfl my foes,
Loe, whilft amongfl my friends well back'd about,
They, then the eyes more danger now difclofe.

If any chance, to meet a number brings, 360

I infurredlions feare from common wrath,
Yea, if two talke a part of private things.
Straight I fufpedl that they confpire my death;
When fudden rumours rife from vulgar fmoake;

(Whilfl th' inward motions roule my reflleffe eyes,) 365

I at each comer for an ambufh looke,
And flart aflonifh'd, left fome tumult rife. 367

368 APPENDIX

When light (first lightning) doth encourage toyles, 368

I flill defpaire to re-enjoy the night,

And when mine eyes th' umbragious darkeneffe fpoils, 370

I never looke to grace them with the light;

For, when the light with fhadowes makes a change,

To flatter mortals with a dreame of reft,

What ugly Gorgons, what Chimera's ftrange

Doe bragge the little world within my breft? 372

The time which fhould appeafe impetuous cares.

Doth double mine, who view moft when quite blinde;

I apprehend huge horrours and defpaires,

Whilft th' outward objects not diftracft my minde:

Now of my conquefts what delight remaines? 3 So

Where is the peace purfu'd by many a ftrife?

Have I but taken paine to purchafe paines?

And fought by dangers for a dangerous life?

Is this the period of afpiring pow'rs,

In promis'd calmes to be moft plagu'd by ftormcs? 385

Lurke poyf'nous Serpents under faireft flow'rs.

And hellifh furies under heavenly formes?

It will not grieve my ghoft below to goe,

If circumvented in the warres I end.

As bold Marcellus by Romes greateft foe, 3go

Who gave his afhes honour as a friend;

Or like t' Epaminondas in his death,

O! would the Gods I had amidft alarmes.

When charg'd with recent fpoiles, been fpoil'd of breath,

Whilft I to Pltito might have march'd in armes; 395

Yet, life to end, which nought but toyles affords,

I'le pay to death the tribute that it owes;

Straight with my bloud, let fome come dye their fwords,

Whofe naked breft encounter fhall their blowes:

But ah! how have the furies feaz'd my breft, 400

And poyfon'd thus my fprite with defp'rate rage?

By horrid Serpents whilft quite barr'd from reft.

No kinde of comfort can my cares affwage;

No, Atropos, yet fpare my threed a fpace.

That to the Stygian ftreames ere walking downe, 405

I may of honour have the higheft place.

And if I fall, yet fall beneath a Crowne.

Whilft eares are bended to applauding fhouts.

My thoughts divided are within my breft.

And my tofs'd foule doth flote between two doubts, 410

Yet knowes not on what ground to build her reft.

The Senators, they have this day defign'd.

To fhew the world how they efteeme my worth;

Yet doe portentuous fignes perturbe my minde.

By which the heavens would point my danger forth: 415

The Gods from me with indignation gone,

In every thing chara(5l'red have my death: 417

ALEXANDER'S JULIUS C^SAR 369

And mull both heaven and earth confpire in one, 418

To quench a little fparke of fmoaking breath?

My fafety would that I fhould ftay within 420

Till this difaftrous day give darkeneffe place,

But daring honour would have me begin

To reape the glory of my painefull race,

And I'le advance in fpight of threatned broyles,

For, though the fates accomplilli what we dreame, 425

WTien onely death hath triumph'd of my fpoyles,

I then (though breathleffe) ftill fhall breathe with fame. Exit.

Chorus.

What fury thus doth fill the hrefi
With a prodigious rajli defire,
Which banijhing their Joules from rejl.

Doth make tJiem live wJio high afpire, 5

(Whiljl it 'jjithin their bofome boyles)
As Salamanders in tlie fire;
Or like to Serpents changing fpoyles,
Their zvither'd beauties to renew?

Like Vipers with unnaturall toyles, 10

Of fuch the thoughts themfehes purfue,
Who for all lines their lives doe fquare,
Whilft like Camelions changing hue,
They onely feed on empty ayre:

"To pajje ambition greatefi matters brings, 15

"And (Jave contentment) can attaine all things.
This adive pafsion doth difdaine
To match with any vulgar minde.
As in bafe breafts where terrours raigne,
Too great a gueft to be confined; 20

It doth but lofty thoughts frequent,
Where it a fpatious field may fitide.
It felfe with honour to content.
Where reverenced fame doth lowdeft found;
Thofefor great things by courage bent, 25

(Farre lifted from this lumpijh round)
Would in the fphere of Glory move,
Whilft lofty thoughts which nought can binde,
All rivals live in verities love;

'On abjedl preyes as th' Eagles never light, 30

"Ambition poyfons but the greateft fprite,
And of this reftlejfe Vtdtures brood,
(If not become too great a flame)
A little fparke doth fometime good,

Which makes great mindes {af citing fame) 35

To fuffer ftill all kinde of paine:

Their fortune at the bloiidy game, 37

370

APPENDIX

Who hazard would for hope of gaine, 38

Vnlejfe firfl burn'd by thirjl of praife?

The learned to a higher Jlraine, 40

Their wits by emulation raife,

As thofe who hold applaufes deare;

And what great minde at which men gaze.

It felfe can of ambition cleare,

Which is when valu'd at the highejl price, 45

A generous errour, an heroicke vice?

But when this frenzie flaming bright.

Doth fo the foules of fome fiirprife,

That they can tafle of no delight,

But what from Soveraignty doth rife, 50

Then, huge affliction it affords;

Such mufl {themf elves fo to difguife)

Prove prodigall of courteous words,

Give much to fome, and promife all.

Then humble feeme to be made Lords, 55

Yea, being thus to many thrall,

Mufl words impart, if not f up port;

To thofe who cruOt'd by fortune fall;

A nd grieve themf elves to pleafe each fort:

"Are not thofe wretch''d, who o're a dangerous fnare, 60

"Do hang by hopes, whilfl ballanc'd in the ayre;

Then when they have the Port attain'd,

Which was through Seas of dangers fought.

They (Joe) at lafl but lojfe have gained,

And by great trouble, trouble bought: 65

Their mindes are married fl ill with feares,

To bring forth many a jealous thought;

With fearching eyes, and watching eares,

To learne that which it grieves to know,

The brefl that fuch a burden beares, 70

What huge affldions doe o'rethrow?

Thus, each Prince is {as all perceive)

No more exalted then brought low,

"Of many, Lord, ofmany,flave;

" That idoll greatnejfe which th' earth doth adore, 75

"Is gotten with great paine, and kept with more:

He who to this imagined good.

Did through his countries bowels tend,

Negleding frietuifliip, duty, bloud.

And all on which truft can depend, 80

Or by which love coidd be conceived,

Doth flnde of what he did attend.

His expedlations farre deceived;

For, fince fufpedting fecret fnares,

His foule hath flill of refl beene rcav^d, 85

Wkilfl fquadrons of tumultuous cares,

Forth from his brefl extort deep grones. 87

ALEXANDER'S JULIUS C^SAR 371

Thus Cajar now of life defpaires, 88

Whofe lot his hope exceeded once;

And who can long well keep an ill wonne State? go

"Thofe perifh muft by fome whom all men hate.

A61 5. Scene i.

Marcus Brutus, Chorus, Antonius, Caius
Ca/sius, Marcus Tullius Cicero.

Are generoiK Romans fo degener'd now,

That they from honour have eftrang'd their hands? 5

And, us'd with burdens, do not blufh to bow,

Yea (even though broken) fhake not off their bands;

This glorious worke was worthy of your paine.

Which now ye may by others dangers have;

But what enchaunts you thus, that ye abflaine 10

That which ye fhould have taken, to receive?

Where be thofe inundations of delight,

WTiich fhould burft out from thoughts o're-flow'd with Joy.

Whil'fl emulous Vertue may your mindes incite,

That which we give you bravely to enjoy; 15

Or quite conform'd unto your former flate.

Do flill your mindes of fervitude allow,

As broken by adverfitie of late.

Not capable of better fortune now?

Loe, we who by the Tyrants favour flood, 20

And griev'd but at the yoke which you out-rag'd,

Have our advancement, riches, refl, and bloud,

All liberally for liberty engag'd.

Chor. Thou like thy great Progenitour in this,
Haft glory to thy felfe, t' us freedome brought; 25

"Then liberty what greater treafure is?
"Ought with it much, without it much feemes nought:
But pardon us (heroicke man) though we
To high perfe(5lion hardly can afpire.

Though every man cannot a Brutus be, 30

"What none can imitate, all mufl admire.
At this ftrange courfe (with too much light made blinde)
We our opinions mufl fufpend a fpace,
"When fudden chances do difmay the minde,
"The Judgement to the Paffion firfl gives place. 35

A ni. What wonder now though this moft barbarous deed
Have with amazement clos'd your judgement in.
Which O (I feare) fhall great confufion breed?
WTien Cafars toyls did end, Romes did begin:

The mofl fufpitious mindes had not beleev'd, 40

That Romans reverenc'd for their worth by us,

372 APPENDIX

Would have prefum'd to kill, or to have griev'd 42

An hallow'd body inhumanely thus;

Who would have once but dream'd of fuch defpight?

What ftrange hoflilitie! in time of peace 45

To kill, though not acctis'd, againlt all right,

A facred man, and in a facred place?

Cai. Cajf. If Cajar as a Citizen had liv'd.
And had by Law decided ever>- ftrife,

Then I would grant thofe treafon had contriv'd, 50

Wlio went without a Law to take his life;
But to pervert the Laws, fubvert the State,
If all his travels did direclly tend,
Then I muft fay, we did no wrong of late:
"Why Ihould not TjTants make a Tragicke end? 55

Cho. Since deftinies did Cajars foule enlarge,
What courfe can we for his recovery^ take?
Ah! th' imrelenting Charons refllelTe Barge
Stands to tranfport all o're, but brings none back:

" Of lifes fraile glaffe (when broken) with vaine grones, 60

"What earthly power the mines can repaire;
" Or who can gather up, when fcattred once,
"Ones bloud from th' earth, or yet his breath from th' ajTC?
Let us of thofe who paffe obli\'ions floud

Oblivious be, lince hope of help is gone, 65

And fpend our cares where cares may do moft good,
Left Rome waile many, where fhe waUes but one.

Ant. Still concord for the Common- weale were beft,
To reconcile divided thoughts againe:

"Then difcord to great Townes, no greater pefl, ' 70

Whofe violence no reverence can reftraine.
Yet often-times thofe warie wits have err'd,
WTio would buy wealth and eafe at any coft:
" Let honefty to profit be preferr'd,

"And to \-ile peace warre when it wounds us moft; 75

But feeking peace, what furety can we finde?
Can faithleffe men give faith, juft feares to ftay?
"No facred band Impiety can binde.
WTiich fweares for truft, feeks truft but to betray;

" What help'd it CaJar, that we all had fwome 80

His body ftill from dangers to redeeme?
"Thofe who are once perjur'd, hold oaths in fcome?
"All are moft franke of what they leaft efteeme.

Mar. Brut. None needs in States which are from Tyrants free,
Loath'd execrations to confirme his will, 85

Where willingly men would with good agree.
And without danger might defpife all ill;
All odious oaths by thofe are onely crav'd,
WTiofe fuit from Reafon doth a warrant want,

Whil'ft who deceive (affraid to be deceiv'd) 90

Seek of men thrall'd, what none whil'ft free would grant.

ALEXANDER'S JULIUS CAESAR 373

When C*Jttr had prevaO'd in France and Spaitu, 92

HU Fwtime buQding <mi his Countries wiacke,

(Of libeity a ihadow to retaine)

We gave him aD that he was bent to take. 95

The Senate had referv'd noa^t but a (how,

Whofe courfe to it by Ctt/ar was impos'd.

Who lifted up, by bringing otbexs low.

Of Offices, and Provinces dispc^d:

Thai that our faded hopes mi^t never fixing, 100

Wlien bent to tiy the PartUoHS ?rooden fhowie.

He f w five yeares difpoTd <rf every thing.

Even in his abfence leaving us no pow'r,

O how f<Hne aggravate our deed with hate!

Who duift his body wound, or with bloud flaine; 103

Thou^ ccmfecrated by awibaint ol late.

Yea, but reputed Indy, yet prt^diaine.

And did fog^ how he (a wondrovB cafe)

Tlie Tribunefliq) did vidate widi fcome.

Which our f(Ke-6ithexs (bee) in time <tf peace no

Ad\-irdly had inviolable fwwne.

Did he not mce appn^mate (fwohe with wrath)

The puUike treafure to hb (Hivate ufe?

And to the Tribune boldly threatned death.

Who did lefift, griev'd at that great abufe. 115

Twiict Rnmms and a Tyrant xibat avails

A Covenant ^tdui'ft Rig^t refte trod <m thm?

' \\ : : . build further ^en the ground once fails?

C: .:. - c ;.v,- him who fou^t to rmne us?

^^ S : '.::ely goodnomaniemaines, 120

W i:: :- ::-;_:;.„ ; -.kneffe may not him o're-oome;
■■ E\-en Vertues dye ftcan Vice may take fosne ftaines,
''And wwthy minds may ot grt^e faults have fcMne:
"As in fine fruits, <» weeds, £at earth abounds,

"Evoi as the Labourers fpend, or fpare their paine, 123

"The greateft ^[srits (difdaining vulgar bounds)
"Of vdiat they SeA the hi^iea hei^t muft gaine;
"Tht"- 'hst brigjit ^kiry may be fo enjoy'd)

■ A^ ':x>nie to be in aiSJoa flin,

• • H .. : 7 ': e (then idle) ill imidoy*d: 130

' G : 0 .. : : : ? - - /: do great good, or then great Dl;
J'"x : :~ i.i;: : re?Ture wfaicb bii^t Rayes do arme,
H u ; ; L . ; . . : : . u : : . ;-. cnagh oikdy framM for good)
Till that f«Hi y .:.:. :--. his owne wilh did hatme,

W.v~ >■"■' * r:: : une^ 'nafloud. 135

E;. . - : K; ;;:: ::iL :: ~c ri^tly liv'd,
W " : : . c i-:ed by the State,
W":...: J : - . i; by C^ar were atchiev'd,
W":-.: : ■ ..- — :".deis mufl rdate?

Eu: ^ iaHre^jeas, 140

(As Uinde A :■ : :. h .1 : ; : :.h'd his minde)

374

APPENDIX

What harme enfu'd, by pitiful! effefts, 142

We at the firft, he at the lafl did finde;

Whil'fl like Narci_IJus with himfelfe in love,

He with our bondage banqueted his fight, 145

And for a while (uncertaine joyes to prove)

With all our woes would fweeten his delight;

How could brave men (with vertuous mindes) as thofe

VVho of their Countries weale are jealous flill.

But floutly to all ftormes their States expofe, 150

The States deflroyer refolute to kill?

But fince our freedome flows from Ccejars bloud.

Let us embrace that which too long we lack:

"Peace gives to juflice pow'r, it, to all good,

"Where warre breeds wrong, and wrong all kinde of wracke. 155

This Citie hath experienc'd with great paine,

What guilty troubles rife from civill flrife.

Which by her ruines regiftred remaine.

Since firfl the Gracchi gave contention life.

When Scilla once, and Marius (mad through pride) 0o

Did flrive who fhould the mofl tyrannicke prove,

What memorable miferies were try'd,

From Romans mindes no time can e're remove?

Then lafl by Cmjar, and his Sonne in law.

What thoufands Ghofls to Pluto were difpatch'd? 165

Ah 1 that the world thofe hofls divided faw,

Which, joyn'd in one, no world of worlds had match'd:

Yet with this wit which we have dearly bought,

Let us abhorre all that may breed fuch broils,

Left when we have our felves to ruine brought, 170

In end Barbarians beare away our fpoyls.

Cho. Rome to thofe great men hardly can afford
A recompence, according to their worth.
Who (by a Tyrants o're-throw) have reftor'd

The light of liberty which was put forth; 175

Yet (by due praifes with their merits even)
Let us acknowledge their illuftrious mindes;
And to their charge let Provinces be given:
" Still vertue grows, when it preferrement findes.

Ant. Thofe barbarous Realms by whofe refpecflive will, 180

Of Ccefars Conquefts monuments are fhowne:
As if they held them highly honour'd ftill.
Who warr'd with Cafar though they were o'rethrown,
Can this difgrace by their proud mindes be borne,

Whil'ft we difhonour, whom they honour thus? 185

And fhall we not (whil'ft as a Tyrant tome)
Give him a tombe, who gave the world to us?
Muft his Decrees be all reduc'd againe,
And thofe degraded whom he grac'd of late,
As worthy men unworthily did gaine 190

ALEXANDER' S JULIUS C^SAR 375

Their roomes of reputation in the State? 191

As if a Tyrant we him damne fo foone,

And for his murd'rers do rewards devife,

Then what he did, muft likewife be undone,

For which I feare, a foule-confufion rife. 195

Cho. Ah! (brave Anlonius) fow not feeds of warre.
And if thou alwayes do'fl delight in armes.
The haughty Parthians yet undaunted are,
Which may give thee great praife, and us no harmes.

Deteft in time th' abhominable broils, 200

For which no Conquerour to triumph hath com'd,
Whil'fl this wretch'd Towne (which flill fome party fpoils)
Muft loath the Vicflor, and lament th' o're-com'd:
And fhall we flill contend againfl all good.

To make the yoke where we fhould bound abide? 205

Muft flill the Commons facrifize their bloud.
As onely borne to ferve the great mens pride?

Ant. Whil'fl I the depths of my affedlion found,
And reade but th' obligations which I owe,

I finde my felfe by oaths, and duty bound, 210

All CcEjars foes, or then my felfe t' ore-throw.
But when I weigh what to the State belongs,
The which to plague no pafTion fhall get place.
Then I with griefe digefting private wrongs,

Warre with my felfe to give my Countrey peace. 215

Yet whil'fl my thoughts of this lafl purpofe mufe,
I altogether dif-aCfent from this,
That Cajars fame, or body we abufe,
To deale with Tyrants as the cuftome is.

Left guilty of ingratitude we feeme, 220

(If guerdoning our benefacflors thus)
Great Cajars body from difgrace redeeme.
And let his adls be ratifi'd by us.
Then for the publike-weale which makes us paufe,

Towards thofe that have him kill'd t' extend regard, 225

Let them be pardon'd for their kinfmens caufe:
"RemifTion given for evill is a reward.

Ca. CaJJ. We fland not vex'd like Malefadlors here,
With a dejecfled and remorfefull minde,

So in your prefence fupplicants t' appeare, 230

As who themfelves of death do guilty finde;
But looking boldly with a loftie brow,
Through a delight of our defigne conceiv'd.
We come to challenge gratefulneffe of you.

That have of us fo great a good receiv'd. 235

But if you will fufpend your thoughts a fpace.
Though not the givers, entertaine the gift;
Do us rejedl, yet liberty embrace:
To have you free (loe) that was all our drift.
So Rome her ancient liberties enjoy. 240

376

APPENDIX

Let Brutus and let Ca/sius banifh't live; 241

Thus banifhment would breed us greater joy,

Then what at home a Tyrants wealth could give.

Though fome mifconftrue may this courfe of ours,

By ignorance, or then by hate deceiv'd; 245

"The truth depends not on opinions pow'rs,

" But is it felfe, how ever mifconceiv'd.

Though to acknowledge us, not one would daigne,

Our merit of it felfe is a reward,

"Of doing good none fhould repent their paine, 250

"Though they get no reward, nor yet regard.

I'le venture yet my fortune in the field,

With every one that Rome to bondage draws;

And as for me, how ever others yeeld,

I'le nought obey, but Reafon, and the Laws. 255

Cic. What fools are thofe who further travcll take,
For that which they even paft recovery know?
Who can revive the dead, or bring time back?
That can no creature who doth live below.

Great Pompey (now) for whom the world ftill weeps, 260

Lyes low, negle(5ted on a barbarous fhore;
Selfe-flaughtered Scipio flotes amidft the deeps,
Whom, it may be, Sea-monfters do devoure.
Of Libyan Wolves grave Cato feafls the wombes,

Whofe death, of worth the world defrauded leaves; 265

Thus fome that did deferve Maujolean tombes,
Have not a title grav'd upon their graves.
And yet may Cajar who procur'd their death.
By brave men llaine be buried with his race;

All civill warre quite banifh'd with his breath, 270

Let him now dead, and us alive have peace.
"We fhould defifl our thoughts on things to fet,
"Which may harme fome, and can give help to none,
"Leame to forget that which we cannot get,

"And let our cares be gone of all things gone. 275

"Thofe who would ftrive all croffes to o're-come,
"To prefent times muft ftill conforme their courfe,
"And making way for that which is to come,
"Not medle with things paft, but by difcourfe.

"Let none feek that which doth no good when found; 280

Since Cajar now is dead, how ever dead;
Let all our griefe go with him to the ground.
For, forrow beft becomes a lightleffe fhade;
It were the beft, that joyn'd in mutuall love.

We phyficke for this wounded State prepare: 285

" Negle(5ting thofe who from the world remove,
" All men on earth for earthly things muft care.

Cho. O how thofe great men friendfhip can pretend,
By foothing others thus with painted windes;
And feeme to truft, where treafon they attend, 290

ALEXANDER'S JULIUS C^SAR 377

Whilft love their mouth, and malice fills their mindes; 291

Thofe but to them poore Ample foules appeare,

Whofe count'nance doth difcover what they thinke,

Who make their words, as is their meaning, cleare.

And from themfelves can never feeme to fhrinke. 295

Loe, how Antonius faines to quench all jarres,

And whom he hates with kindeneffe doth embrace,

But as he further'd firfl the former warres,

Some feare he flill will prove a foe to peace.

Now where Calpkurnia flayes our fleppes addreffe, 300

Since by this fudden chance her loffe was chiefe.

" All vifite fhould their neighbours in diflreffe,

"To give fome comfort, or to fhare in griefe, 303

A61 5. Scene 2,

Calphurnia, Nuntitis.
Chorus.

When darkenefTe lafl imprifoned had myne eyes.

Such monftrous vifions did my heart affright, S

That (quite dejecfted) it as ftupid dies

Through terrours then contradled in the night;

A melancholy cloud fo dimmes my breft.

That it my mind fit for misfortune makes,

A lodging well difpos'd for fuch a Guefl, 10

Where nought of forrow but th' impreflion lackes;

And I imagine every man I fee

(My fenfes fo corrupted are by feares)

A Herauld to denounce mifhaps to me.

Who fhould infufe confufion in my eares. 15

O! there he comes to violate my peace.

In whom the objedl of my thoughts I fee;

Thy meffage is chara(5lred in thy face.

And by thy lookes dire(fled is to me:

Thy troubled eyes reft rowling for reliefe, 20

As lately frighted by fome uglie fight;

Thy breath doth pant as if growne big with griefe,

And flraight to bring fome monftrous birth to light.

Nun. The man of whom the world in doubt remain'd,
If that his minde or fortune was more great, 25

Whofe valour conquer'd, clemencie retain'd
All Nations Subjecft to the Romane State;
Fraud harm'd him more then force, friends more then foes;
Ah! muft this fad difcourfe by me be made?

Cal. Stay, ere thou further goe defray my woes, 30

How doth my love? where is my life? Nun. dead. Cal. dead?

Cho. Though apprehending horrours in her minde,
Now fince Ihe hath a certaintie receiv'd, 33

378 APPENDIX

She by experience greater griefe doth finde:

"Till borne, the paffions cannot be conceav'd. 35

When as a high difafler force affords,

O how that Tyrant whom afflicflion bears,

Barres th' eares from comfort, and the mouth from words,

And when obdur'd f comes to diffolve in teares!

Cal. Ah! fmce the lights of that great light are fet, 40

Why doth not darkneffe fpread it felfe o're all?
At leaft what further comfort can I get,
Whofe pleafures had no period but his fall?
O would the Gods I always might confine

Flames in my brefl, and floods within my eyes 45

To entertaine fo great a griefe as mine.
That thence there might fit furniture arife;
Yet I difdaine (though by diftrelTe o'rethrowne)
By fuch extemall meanes to feeke relief e:

"The greateft forrowes are by filence fhowne, 50

"Whilft all the Senfes are fhut up with griefe:
But miferie doth fo tyrannick grow
That it of fighes and teares a tribute claimes;
"Ah! when the cup is full, it muft o'reflow,

"And fires which bume muft offer up fome flames; 55

Yet though what thou haft fayd my death fhall be,
(Since funke fo deeply in a melted heart)
Of my lives death report each point to mee,
For every circumflance that I may fmart.

'Nun. What fatall warnings did foregoe his end, 66

Which by his flay to fruftrate fome did try?
But he who fcom'd excufes to pretend,
Was by the deftinies drawne forth to die.
Whilft by the way he chanc'd to meet with one,

Who had his deaths-day nam'd, he to him faid: 65

The Ides of March be come; but yet not gone.
The other anfwer'd, and ftill conftant ftay'd:
Another brought a letter with great fpeed.
Which the confpiracie at length did touch,

And gave it Cajar in his hand to reade, 70

Protefting that it did import him much.
Yet did he lay it up where flill it refts.
As doe the great whom bleft the world reputes.
Who (griev'd to be importun'd by requefts)

Of fimple fupplicants negledl the fuites: 75

Or he of it the reading did deferre,
Still troubled by attendants at the gate,
Whilft fome to fhow their credit would conferre.
To flatter fome, fome fomething to entreate.

Not onely did the Gods by divers fignes 80

Give Ccejar warning of his threatned harmes;
But did of foes difturbe the rafh defignes.
And to their troubled thoughts gave flrange alarmes; 83

ALEXANDER'S JULIUS C^SAR 379

A Senator who by fome words we find,

To the confpirators (though none of tlieirs) 85

Had fhowne himfelfe familiar with their minde,

Then chanc'd to deale with Cajar in affaires.

That fight their foviles did with confufion fill,

For, thinking that he told their purpos'd deeds,

They ftraight themfelves, or Cajar thought to kill: 90

"A guiltie confcience no accufer needs;

But marking that he us'd (when taking leave)

A futers geflure when affording thankes.

They of their courfe did greater hopes conceave,

And rang'd them feven according to their rankes. 95

Then Cajar march 'd forth to the fa tall place;

Neere Pompeys Theater where the Senate was,

WTiere (when he had remain'd a litle fpace)

All the confederats flock'd about. Calph. Alas.

Nun. Firft for the forme, Metellus Cimber crav'd 100

To have his Brother from exile reflor'd.
Yet with the reft a rude repulfe receiv'd,
Whilfl it they all too eameflly implor'd:
Bold Cimber who in ftrife with him did Hand,

Did ftrive to cover with his Gowne his head: 105

Then was the firft blow given by Cajca's hand,
Which on his necke a litle wound but made.
And Ccefar (flarting whilft the ftroke he fpi'd)
By flrength from further ftriking Cafca ftai'd,

Whilft both the two burft out at once, and cry'd: no

He Traitour Cafca, and he, Brother aide;
Then all the reft againfl him did arife
Like defp'rat men, whofe furie force affords.
That Csjar on no fide could fet his eyes.

But every looke encountred with fome Swords; nS

Yet, as a lyon (when by nets furpriz'd)
Stands flrugling ftill fo long as he hath flrength,
So Csfar (as he had their pow'r defpis'd)
Did with great rage refift, till at the length

He thus cri'd out (when fpying Brutus come) 1 20

And thou my Sonne! then grief e did back rebound:
"Nought but vmkindneffe Cajar could o'recome,
"That, of all things, doth give the deepeft wound.

Cho. "Ah! when tmkindneffe is, where love was thought,
"A tender paflion breakes the flrongeft heart: 125

" For, of all thofe who give offence in ought,
"Men, others hate, but for unkinde men, fmart.

Nun. Ah! taking then no more delight in light,
As who difdainfullie the world difclaim'd.

Or if from Brutus blow to hold his fight, 13°

As of fo great ingratitude afham'd,
He with his Gowne when cover'd firft o're all.
As one who neither fought, nor wifh'd reliefe, i33

38o

APPENDIX

Not wronging majeflie, in ftate did fall,

No figh confenting to betray his griefe. 135

Yet (if by chance or force I cannot tell)

Even at the place, where Pompey's flatue flood,

(As if to crave him pardon,) Cajar fell,

That in revenge it might exhauft his blood;

But when his corpes abandon'd quite by breath, 140

Did fortunes frailties monument remaine.

That all might have like int'reft in his death,

And by the fame, looke for like praife or paine:

Then Cajsius, Brutus, and the reft began

With that great Emperours blood to die their hands; 145

"What beaft in th' earth more cruell is then man,

"When o're his reafon paffion once commands?

Col. Whilft brutifh Brutus, and proud Cajsius thus
Romes greateft Captaine under truft deceiv'd,

Where was Antonius (fmce a friend to us) 150

That he not loft himfelfe, or Cmjar fav'd?

Nun. The whole confpiratours remain'd in doubt,
Had he and Ccejar joyu'd, to be undone,
And fo caus'd one to talke with him without.

Who fain'd a conference till the fadl was done. 155

Then knowing well in fuch tumultuous broiles,
That the firft danger alwayes is the worft.
He fled in haft, difguis'd with borrow'd fpoiles.
For rage and for difdaine even like to burft.

Cal. The Senatours which were affembled there, 160

When they beheld that great man brought to end.
What was their part? to what inclin'd their care?
I fear afflicflion could not finde a friend.

Nun. Of thofe who in the Senate-houfe did fit
(So fad an objedl forrie to behold, 165

Or fearing what bould hands might more commit)
Each to his houfe a feverall way did hold;
This adl with horrour did confound their fight,
And unawares their judgement did furprife:

"When any haftie harmes un-lookt-for light, 170

"The refolution hath not time to rife:
That man on whom the world did once rely.
By all long reverenc'd, and ador'd by fome.
None to attend him had but two and I.

Cho. "To what an ebbe may fortunes flowing come? 175

Why fhould men following on the fmoake of pride,
Leave certaine eafe to feeke a dream'd delight.
Which when they have by many dangers tri'd,
They neither can with fafety keepe nor quite?

"The people who by force fubdu'd remaine, 180

"May pitty thofe by whom oppreft they reft;
"They but one Tyrant have, whereas there raigne
A Thoufand Tyrants in one Tyrants breft; 1S3

ALEXANDER'S JULIUS C^SAR 38 1

What though great Cajar once commanded Kings,

VVhofe onely name whole Nations did appall? 185

Yet now (let no man truft in wordly things)

A little earth holds him who held it all.

Cal. Ah! had he but beleev'd my faithfuU cares,
His State to ftabliih who have alwayes ftriv'd.

Then (fcaping this confpiracie of theirs) 19°

He, honour'd ftill, and I had happy liv'd.
Did I not fpend of fupplications flore,
That he within his houfe, this day would wafle,
As I by dreames advertis'd was before,

Which fhew'd what was to come, and now is pafl; 195

Whirft the Sooth-fayers facrific'd did finde
A beafl without a heart, their Altars ftaine,
By that prefage my foule might have divin'd.
That I without my heart would foone remaine;

But all thofe terrours could no terrour give 200

To that great minde, whofe thoughts too high ftill aym'd;
He by his fortune confident did live.
As, if the heavens, for him had all things fram'd;
Yet though he ended have his fatall race.

To bragge for this, let not his Murtherers ftrive: 205

For, O! I hope to fee within fhort fpace,
Him dead ador'd, and them abhorr'd alive.
Though now his name the multitude refpecfts.
Since murdering one who him had held fo deare,

Whirft inward thoughts each outward thing refledls, 210

Some monftrous fhape to Brutus muft appeare.
luft Nemcfis muft plague proud Cajsius foone,
And make him kill himfelfe, from hopes eftrang'd;
Once all the wrongs by foes to Ccefar done,
May by themfelves be on themfelves reveng'd. 215

Cho. "Some, Soveraigne of the earth, would fortune prove,
"As if, confus'dly, Gods did men advance;
" Nought comes to men below, but from above,
"By providence, not by a ftaggering chance:

"Though to the caufe that laft forgoes the end, 220

"Some attribute the courfe of every thing,
"That caufe, on other caufes doth depend,
"Which chain'd 'twixt heaven and earth due ends forth bring;
" Of thofe decrees the heavens for us appoint,

" (Who ever them approves, or doth difprove) 225

" No mortall man can difappoint a point,
" But as they pleafe here moves, or doth remove;
"We, when once come the worlds vaine pompe to try,
" (Led by the fates) to end our journey hafte :

"For, when firft borne, we ftraight begin to dye, 230

"Lifes firft day is a ftep unto the laft.
"And is there ought more fwift then dayes, and yeares,
"Which weare away this breath of ours fo foone, 233

382.. APPENDIX

"Whirfl Lachefis to no requeft gives eares,

"But fpinnes the threeds of life till they be done? 235

"Yet foolifh worldlings following that which flies,

"As if they had affurance of their breath,

"To fraile preferrement fondly ftrive to rife,

"Which (but a burden) weighs them dowTie to death.

Nun. There's none of us but muil remember (till, 240

How that the Gods by many a wondrous figne,
Did fhew (it feem'd) how that againfl their will,
The deflinies would Cajars dayes confine.
A monflrous ftarre amidft the heaven hath beene.

Still fmce they firft againfl him did confpire; 245

The folitary birds at noone were feene.
And men to walke environ'd all with fire:
What wonder though the heavens at fuch a time,
Do brave the earth with apparitions flrange.

Then whil'ft intending fuch a monflrous crime, 250

" Unnaturall men make Natures courfe to change?

Cho. Though all fuch things feeme wonderfull to fome,
They may by Reafon comprehended be,
For, what, beyond what ufuall is, doth come,

The Ignorant with wondring eyes do fee. 255

Thofe baflard Starres, not heritours of th' ayre,
Are firfl conceiv'd below, then borne above.
And when fore-knowing things, fprits take mofl care,
And by illufion, fuperftition move.

Yet this, no doubt, a great regard Ihould breed, 260

When Nature hath brought forth a monflrous birth.
In fecret Characn;ers where men may reade
The wrath of heaven, and wickedneffe of th' earth.
The Naturallifls, and th' Aflrologians skill

May oft, encountring, manifefl like care: 265

Since th' one looks back, the other forward flill,
One may tell what, the other why things are.

Nun. Shall forrow through the waves of woes to faile.
Have flill your teares for Seas, your fighs for winds;

To miferie what do bafe plaints availe? 270

A courfe more high becomes heroicke mindes.
"None are o're-come, fave onely thofe who yeeld,
From froward Fortune though fome blows be borne.
Let Vertue ferve Adverfity for fhield:

"No greater griefe to g^iefe then th' enemies fcorne; 275

This makes your foes but laugh to fee you weep.
At leafl thefe teares but for your felfe beflow.
And not for that great fprit, whofe fpoyls heavens keep;
For, he no doubt, refls deified ere now.

Cal. I onely waile my life, and not his death; 280

WTio now amongfl th' immortals doth repofe,
And fhall fo long as I have bloud or breath, 282

ALEXANDER'S JULIUS CAESAR

383

To furnifh forth the elements of woes.

I care not who rcjoyce, fo I lament,

Who do to darkneffe dedicate my dayes,

And fmce the light of my delight is fpent,

Shall have in horrour all Apollo's rayes.

(I will retyre my felfe to waile alone,

As truflie Turtles mourning for their Mates)

And (my misfortune alwayes bent to mone)

Will fpume at pleafures as empoyfon'd baits;

No fecond guefl (hall preffe great Cccfars bed,

Warm'd by the flames to which he firft gave life,

I thinke there may be greater honour had,

When CcEfars widow, then anothers wife.

This had afforded comfort for my harmes,

If I (ere chanc'd abandon'd thus to be)

Had had a little Ccefar in mine armes, ■

The living picflure of his Syre to me.

Yet doth that Idoll which my thoughts adore,

With me of late mod (Iricflly match'd remaine.

For, where my armes him fometimes held before,

Now in my heart I fhall him ftill retaine.

That (though I may no pretious things impart)

Thy deitie may by me be honour'd oft.

Still offring up my thoughts upon my heart,

My facred flame fhall alwayes mount aloft.

283
28s

290

29s

300

Exeunt.

305

308

Chorus.

Wfmt fools are thoje who do repofe their trujl
On what this ma^ffe of mifery affords?
A nd (bragging but of th' excrements of dnfl)
Of Ufe-lejfe Treafures labour to be Lords:

Which like the Sirens fongs, or Circes charmcs,
W ith fJiadows of delight hide certaine harmes.
Ah! whir ft they f port on pleafures ycie grounds,
Oft poyfon'd by Profpcritie with Pride,
A fudden florme their floting joyes cotifounds,
Whofe courfe is ordred by the cye-leffe guide.
Who fo inconflantly her felfe doth beare
Th' unhappie men may hope, the happy feare.
The fortunate who bathe in flouds of joyes,
To perifh oft amidfl their pleafures chance.
And mirthlejfe wretches wallowing in annoyes,
Oft by adverfitie themfelves advance;

Whil'Jl Fortune bent to mock vaine worldlings cares,
Doth change defpaires in hopes, hopes in defpaires.
That gallant Grecian whofe great wit fo foone.
Whom others could not number, did o're-come,

384 APPENDIX

Had he not beene undone, had beene undone, 22

Attd if not banijh'd, had not had a home;

To him fearc courage gave {what wondrous change!)

And tnany doubts are Jolution jlrange. 25

He who told one who then was Fortunes childe.
As if with horrour to congeale his blond:
That Caius Marius farre from Rome exiVd,
Wretch'd on the mines of great Carthage _/?oo(f;

Though long both plagu'd by griefe, and by difgrace, . 30

The Conful-Jliip regained, and dy'd in peace.
And that great Pompey {all the worlds delight)
Whom of his Theater then th' applaiifes pleas' d,
Whir ft praife-traf ported eyes endeer'd his fight.
Who by youths toyles fhould have his age then eas'd, 35

He by one blow of Fortune loft farre tnore

Then many battels gayned had before.
Such fudden changes fo difturbe the foide,
That ft ill the judgement ballanc'd is by doubt;
But, on a Round, what wonder though things route? 40

And fince within a Circle, turtle aboid?

Whir ft heaven on earth ftrange alterations brings,

To fcorne our confidence in worldly things.
And chanced there ever accidents more ftrange,
Then in thefe ftormy bounds where we remaine? 45

One did a ftieep-hooke to a Scepter change.
The 7iurceling of a Wolfe oWe men did raigne;

A little Village grew a mighty Towne,

Which whirft it had no King, held many a Crowne.
Then by hoiv many fundry forts of men, 50

Hath this great State beene rul'd? though now by none,
Which firft obey'd but one, then two, then ten.
Then by degrees returned to two, afui one;

Of which three States, their ruine did abide.

Two by Two's lufts, and one by Two mens pride. 55

What revolutions huge have hapned thus,
By fecrel fates all violently led.
Though fceming but by accident to us.
Yet in the depths of heavenly breafts firft bred,

As arguments demonftrative to prove 60

That weakneffe dwels below, and pow'r above.
Loe, profprous Casfar charged for a f pace.
Both with ftrange Nations, and his Countreys fpoyls,
Even when he feem'd by warre to purchafe peace.
And rofes of fweet reft, from thornes of toils; 65

Then ivhiVft his ininde and fortune fwelVd moft high.

Hath beene conftraiti'd the laft diftrejfe to trie.
What warnings large were in a time fo fhort.
Of that darke courfe which by his death now ftiines?
It,fpeechlejfc wonders plainly did report, 70

//, men reveal'd by words, and gods by fignes,

ALEXANDER'S JULIUS C^SAR 385

Yei by the chaynes of dejlinies wkil'Jl bound, 72

He Jaw the /word, but could not /cape the wound.
What curtaine o're our knowledge errour brings,
Now drawn, now open'd, by the heavenly hojl, 75

Which makes us Jometime JJiarpe to fee fmall things,
And yet quite blinde when as we fliould fee mofl.

That curiotis braines may refl amaz'd at it,

Whofe ignorance makes them prefume of wit;
Then let us live, fince all things change below, 80

When rais'd mofl high, as thofe who once may fall,
A nd hold when by difaflers brought more low.
The minde flill free, what ever elfe be thrall:

" Thofe (Lords of Fortune) fweeten every State,

"Who can command thetnf elves, though not their fate. 85

FINIS.

386 APPENDIX

CHARACTER OF C^SAR

Plutarch, Lije of Casar, § i6 (ed. Skeat, p. 57), gives the following account of
Caesar's appearance and habits: 'Concerning the constitution of his body, he was
lean, white, and soft-skinned, and often subject to headache, and otherwise to
the falling sickness (the which took him the first time, as it is reported, in Corduba,
a city of Spain) : but yet therefore he yielded not to the disease of his body, to make
it a cloak to cherish him withal, but contrarily, took the pains of war as a medicine
to cure his sick body, fighting always with his disease, travelling continually, living
soberly, and commonly lying abroad in the field. For the most nights he slept in
his coach or litter, and thereby bestowed his rest, to make him always able to do
something: and in the day time he would travel up and down the country to see
towns, castles, and strong places. He had always a secretary with him in the
coach, who did still write as he went by the way, and a soldier behind him that
carried his sword. He made such speed the first time he came from Rome, when he
had his ofiice, that in eight days he came to the river of Rhone. He was so excel-
lent a rider of horse from his youth that holding his hands behind him, he would
gallop his horse upon the spur. In his wars in Gaul, he did further exercise himself
to indite letters as he rode by the way, and did occupy two secretaries at once
with as much as they could write: and as Oppius writeth more than two at a time.
As it is reported, that Cassar was the first that devised friends might talk together
by writing cyphers in letters, when he had no leisure to speak with them for his
urgent business, and for the great distance besides from Rome. How little account
Caesar made of his diet, this example doth prove it. Caesar supping one night in
Milan with his friend Valerius Leo, there was served sperage [asparagus] to his
board, and oil of perfume put into it instead of sallet-oil. He simply eat it, and
found no fault, blaming his friends that were offended: and told them, that it had
been enough for them to have abstained to eat of that they misliked, and not to
shame their friend, and how that he lacked good manners that found fault with
his friend. Another time, as he travelled through the country, he was driven by
foul weather on the sudden to take a poor man's cottage, that had but one little
cabin in it, and that was so narrow that one man could but scarce lie in it. Then
he said to his friends that were about him: "Greatest rooms are meetest for great-
est men, and the most necessary rooms for the sickest persons." And thereupon he
called Oppius that was sick to lie there all night: and he himself , with the rest of
his friends, lay without, under the easing [eaves] of the house.'

Suetonius (ch. xlv, trans. Holland): Of stature he [Caesar] is reported to have
beene tall; of complexion white and cleare; with limbs well trussed and in good
plight; somewhat full faced; his eies black, lively, and quick; also very healthfull,
saving that in his latter dales he was given to faint and swonne sodainly; yea, and
as he dreamed, to start and be affrighted: twice also in the midst of his martiall
affaires, he was surprized with the falling sicknes. About the trimming of his body,
he was over-curious: so as he would not onely be notted and shaven very precisely,
but also have his haire plucked, in so much as some cast it in his teeth, and twitted
him therewith. Moreover, finding by experience, that the deformity of his bald
head was oftentimes subject to the scoffes and scomes of backbiters and slaunderers,
hee tooke the same exceedingly to the heart: and therefore he both had usually
drawne downe his haire that grew but thin, from the crowne toward his forehead:
and also of all honours decreed unto him from the Senate and People, he neither

CHARACTER OF C^SAR— LLOYD— LINDNER

387

received nor used any more willingly, than the privilegde to wearc continually
the triumphant Lawrel guirland. Men say also, that in his apparel he was noted for
singularity, as who used to goo in his Senatours purple studded robe, trimmed with
jagge or frindge at the sleeve hand: and the same so, as hee never was but girt over
it, and that very slack and loose: whereupon arose (for certaine) that saying of
Sulla, who admonished the Nobles oftentimes. To beware of the boy that went
girded so dissolutely. — [ed. Whibley, p. 48.]

Lloyd (ap. Singer, viii, p. 504): The leading characteristic ascribed to Caesar [by
Shakespeare] is a somewhat overcharged tendency to Thrasonical arrogance, which,
however, is saved from the ridiculous by a manifest sincerity that lies below, — by
a true magnanimity that subsists with professions of high pitched dignity of senti-
ments that are not base counterfeits, but simply exaggerations. It is by com-
parison with this rather strained expression of devotion to an ideal principle of
worthy self-respect that we are prepared to accept the more attempered form of the
like characteristic in Brutus, without an uneasy suspicion of vapouring or vain
parade. ... It is not only on public occasions that Csesar in the play falls into
this tone of turgid ostentation, it is quite as marked in his private intercourse with:
his wife Calpurnia; yet throughout the picture we trace the originally simpler
lineaments of character that are thus clouded and overlaid, and the change that
has been wrought by change of position is indicated by the frank anecdote of the
challenge he once gave on the banks of the Tiber, and the defeat he owned so
freely; placed as it is in such immediate contrast with the angry ill-humour and
suspicion, as he comes sad away from the unsuccessful stratagem of the offered
crown at the Lupercal. In the play itself allusion is made to the change in Cssar's
character, in respect to an entertainment of once contemned superstitions, which
is one of the incidents that beset the self-satisfied and successful, no less than the
as distinctly declared accessibility to flattery, and the self-condemning littleness of
spirit that hankers after a title. . . . Julius Cassar enters but three times, and the
action of the piece is extended more than as much again after his assassination.
Still the piece is rightly called by his name; it is his fate and fortune that give
commencement to the action, and the influence and predominance of his character
are observable to the end. Antony, over his bleeding body, predicts the agency of
his unplacated spirit in the civil conflicts to ensue; it is ever present to the imagina-
tion of Brutus, and actually decides at last, by visible intervention, the fated battle-
field of Philippi, and walks abroad, believed to turn, and therefore really turning,
the swords of his slayers into their proper entrails. Otherwise it is Brutus on whom
the interest and sympathy of the play converge and become continuous throughout
its course, making him thus, in a certain sense, its hero.

Lindner has taken this spiritual dominance of Caesar as the subject for an
article in the Jahrbuch for 1866 (vol. ii, pp. 90-95) in order to demonstrate the
dramatic unity in Shakespeare's tragedy, and that it is properly called Julius
CcEsar, since he and his influence on the lives of the others are the main themes.
In this connection Lindner contrasts the Ajax of Sophocles, wherein as long as
Ajax was alive he is a giant in body, a child in spirit; after his death, a non-entity,
merely a cause for the contention of others. As long as Caesar lives, he is a weakHng,
a phantom with many infirmities; after his death, a spiritual power, more fearful
than even in life. 'We may thus see,' continues Lindner, 'that the tragic difficulty
and artistic treatment of Shakespeare's tragedy is not to be measured by that of

388 APPENDIX

Ajax. Contrasted to Caesar, the thought which represents the dead Ajax does not
merit as much space as two acts, and, to say the least, the whole role of Menalaus is
superfluous. But in Caesar the last half of the Tragedy has a basis much firmer than
the first part.' Lindner thus concludes: 'To sum up: I am convinced that it was
the design of the poet to make known the vital force of Caesar as continued by
Octavius; the more expressed design, that the actor of Octavius should recall to the
audience, up to a certain point, the bodily appearance of Caesar. Shakespeare has
given many hints which point to this. Cassius in the present play calls him "a
peevish schoolboy worthless of such honour"; in Ant. d* Cleo. he is a weak drunk-
ard, who cannot endure anything, and Cleopatra teases Antony with the orders of
the beardless Emperor.'

Mezieres (p. 360): Shakespeare presents us with a conventional Caesar, very
different from that of Plutarch — a proud and arrogant Caesar, whose dictatorial
language forms a marked contrast to the simplicity of the Commentaries so well
preserved by the Greek historian. He does not tell us of those lofty thoughts which
engaged the mind of the master of the world up to the very hour when the swords
of the conspirators struck him down. Above all, he does not give sufficient promi-
nence to his generosity, his clemency, and that high-minded liberality which,
justly estimating its enemies, takes no precautions against them. It is but a weak
justification of Shakespeare's conception to urge, as have several critics, that, having
taken the life of Brutus as his main subject, he had the right to show only the weak
side of Caesar, his vanity, his ambition to reign, and his insolence, in order to furnish
a motive for the conspiracy. The decision to tell but a part of the truth does not
excuse him who makes the decision. The poet was under no obligation to follow
the plan which he has adopted, and we do not render his work immune from
blame in appealing to a choice which depended upon him alone to make. At all
events, it must be observable that here, contrary to his usual custom, he is lacking
in impartiality. I am quite aware that he shows himself impartial in the ad-
mirable oration of Antony. To be just, it is not sufficient to praise Caesar dead; it is
not sufficient even to give his name to the piece in order to attest his greatness.
This might have appeared of equal advantage in the r6Ie of Caesar living.

Gervinus (p. 719): The poet, if he intended to make the attempt of the re-
publicans his main theme, could not have ventured to create too great an interest
in Caesar; it was necessary that he be kept in the background, and to present that
view of him which gave a reason for the conspiracy. According even to Plutarch,
whose biography of Caesar is acknowledged to be very imperfect, Caesar's character
altered much for the worse shortly before his death, and Shakespeare has repre-
sented him according to this suggestion. With what reverence Shakespeare
viewed his character as a whole we learn from several passages of his works, and
even in this play from the way in which he allows his memory to be respected as
soon as he is dead. In the descriptions of Cassius we look back upon the time when
the great man was simple, natural, undissembling, popular, and on an equal footing
with others. Now he is spoiled by victory, success, power, and by the republican
courtiers who surround him. ... All around him treat him as a master; his wife,
as a prince; the Senate allow themselves to be called his Senate; he assumes the
appearance of a king even in his house; even with his wife he uses the language of a;
man who knows himself secure of power, and he maintains everywhere the proud,
strict bearing of a soldier, which is represented even in his statues. If one of the

CHARACTER OF C^SAR— HUDSON 389

changes at which Plutarch hints lay in this pride, this haughtiness, another lay in
his superstition. In the suspicion and apprehension before the final step he was
seized, contrary to his usual nature and habit, with misgivings and superstitious
fears. . . . These conflicting feelings divide him, ... his pride, his defiance of
danger struggle againt them, and restore his former confidence which was natural
to him, and which causes his ruin, just as a like confidence, springing from another
source, ruined Brutus. The actor must make his high-sounding language appear as
the result of this discord of feeling. Sometimes they are only incidental words
intended to characterise the hero in the shortest way. Generally they appear in
the cases where Caesar has to combat with his superstition, where he uses eflort
to take a higher stand in his words than at the moment he actually feels. He;
speaks so much of having no fear that, by this very thing, he betrays his fear. I

f~2ven in the places where his words sound most boastful, where he compares him-
elf to the north-star, there is more arrogance and ill-concealed pride at work
ihan real boastfulness. It is intended there with a few words to show him at the
point when his behaviour could most excite those free spirits against him. It was
fully intended that he should take but a small part in the action. . . . The poet
has handled this historical piece like his English historical plays. He had in his
eye the whole context of the Roman civil wars for this single drama, not as yet think-
ing of its continuation mAnt. 6* Cleo. He casts a glance back upon the fall of Pom-
pey, and makes it evident that Caesar falls for the same reason as that for which
he had made Pompey fall. In the triumph over him men's minds rise up at first
against Caesar, the conspirators assemble in Pompey's porch, and Caesar is slain in
front of his statue. As his death arose out of the civil war, so civil war recom-
mences at his death, just as Antony predicts. In this symbolic sense Caesar, after
his death, has a share in the action of the play which does not bear his name without
a reason.

Hudson (ii, 224): As here represented, Caesar is, indeed, little better than a
grand, strutting piece of puff-paste; and when he speaks, it is very much in the style
of a glorious vapourer and braggart, full of lofty airs and mock-thunder, than
which nothing could be further from the truth of the man, whose character, even in
his faults, was as compact and solid as adamant, and at the same time as limber and
ductile as the finest gold. Certain critics have seized and worked upon this as
proving that Shakespeare must have been very green in classical study, or else very
careless in the use of his authorities. To my thinking it proves neither the one nor
the other, though I am not quite clear as to what it does prove.

It is true, Caesar's ambition was, indeed, gigantic, but none too much so, I suspect,
for the mind it dwelt in. And no man ever framed his ambition more in sympathy
with the great force of Nature or built it upon a deeper foundation of political
wisdom and insight. Now this 'last infirmity of noble minds' is the only part of
him that the play really sets before us; and even this we do not see as it was, because
it is here severed from the constitutional peerage of his gifts and virtues; all those
transcendent qualities which placed him at the summit of Roman intellect and
manhood being either withheld from the scene or thrown so far into the back-
ground that the proper effect of them is mainly lost. Yet we have ample proof
that Shakespeare understood Caesar thoroughly. In fact, we need not go beyond
Shakespeare to gather that Julius Caesar's was the deepest, the most versatile, and
most multitudinous head that ever figured in the political affairs of mankind.
And, indeed, it is clear from this play itself that the Poet's course did not proceed at

390

APPENDIX

all from ignorance or misconception of the man. For it is remarkable that, though
Cassar delivers himself so out of character, yet others, both foes and friends,
deliver him much nearer the truth; so that, while we see almost nothing of him
directly, we nevertheless get, upon the whole, a pretty just reflection of him.
Especially in the marvellous speeches of Antony and in the later events of the
drama, both his inward greatness and his right of mastership over the Roman
world are fully vindicated. For, in the play as in the history, Caesar's blood just
hastens and cements the empire which the conspirators thought to prevent.
They soon find that in the popular sympathies, and even in their own dumb
remorses, he has ' left behind powers that will work for him.' He proves, indeed, far
mightier in death than in life; as if his spirit were become at once the guardian angel
of his cause and an avenging angel to his foes. And so it was in fact. For nothing
did so much to set the people in love with royalty, both name and thing, as the
reflection that their beloved Caesar, the greatest of their national heroes, the
crown and consummation of Roman genius and character, had been murdered for
aspiring to it. Thus their hereditary aversion to kingship was all subdued by the
remembrance of how and why their Caesar fell; and they who before would have
plucked out his heart rather than he should wear a crown, would now have plucked
out their own, to set a crown upon his head. Such is the natural result when the
intensities of admiration and compassion meet together in the human breast.

I am moved to add, though it is not strictly pertinent to my theme, that the man
Julius Caesar was in no sort a philosophic enthusiast or patriotic dreamer. With
his clear, healthy, practical mind, which no ideal or sentimental infatuation could
get hold of, he stood face to face with men and things as they were. It was not in
his line, therefore, to bid old 'Time run back and fetch the age of gold.' He knew —
he would not have been Julius Cassar if he had not known— that it was both criminal
and weak to suppose that the great wicked Rome of his day was to be crushed back
into the smaller and better Rome of a bygone age. If he sought to imperialize the
State, and himself at its head, it was because he knew that Rome, as she then was,
must have a master, and that himself was the fittest man for that office. We all
now see what he alone saw then, that the great social forces of the Roman world had
long been moving and converging irresistibly to that end. He was not to be deluded
with the hope of reversing or postponing the issue of such deep- working causes.
The great danger of the time lay in struggling to keep up a republic in show, when
they already had an empire in fact. And Caesar's statesmanship was of that high
and comprehensive reach which knows better than to outface political necessities
with political theories. For it is an axiom in government, no less than in science,
that Nature will not be the servant of men who are too brain-sick or too proud to
perceive and respect her laws. Great Cassar understood this matter thoroughly
in reference to the political state of his time; and his ambition, if that be the right
name for it, was but the instinct of a supreme administrative faculty for adminis-
trative modes and powers answerable to the exigency.

Now I feel morally certain that the Poet understood all this perfectly. I have
no doubt he knew the whole height and compass of Caesar's vast and varied capacity.
And I sometimes regret that he did not render him as he evidently saw him, inas-
much as he alone perhaps of all the men who ever wrote could have given an
adequate expression of that colossal man.

This seeming contradiction between Caesar as known and Caesar as rendered by
him is what, more than anything else in the drama, perplexes me. I am something
at a loss how to account for it. Shall we say that, upon the plan of making Brutus a

CHARACTER OF C^SAR—DOWDEN— STAFFER 391

dramatic hero, no other course was practicable? Was it that the great sun of Rome
had to be shorn of his beams, else so ineffectual a fire as Brutus could not command
the eye?

I have sometimes thought that the policy of the drama may have been to repre-
sent Caesar not as he was indeed, but as he must have appeared to the conspirators;
to make us see him as they saw him, in order that they too might have fair and equal
judgment at our hands. For Caesar was literally too great to be seen by them, save
as children often see bugbears by moonlight, when their inexperienced eyes are
mocked with air. And the Poet may well have judged that the best way to set us
right towards them was by identifjang us more or less with them in mental position,
and making us share somewhat in their delusion. For there is scarce anything
wherein we are so apt to err as in reference to the characters of men when time has
settled and cleared up the questions in which they lost their way'; we blame
them for not having seen as we see; while, in truth, the things that are so bathed in
light to us were full of darkness to them; and we should have understood them bet-
ter had we been in the dark along with them. Cassar, indeed, was not bewildered
by the political questions of his time; but all the rest were, and, therefore, he seemed
so to them; and, while their own heads were smmming, they naturally ascribed his
seeming bewilderment to a dangerous intoxication. As for his marvellous career of
success, they attributed this mainly to his good luck; such being the common
refuge of inferior minds when they would escape the sense of their inferiority.
Hence, as generally happens with the highest order of men, his greatness had to
wait the approval of later events. He, indeed, far beyond any other man of his
age, 'looked into the seeds of time'; but this was not nor could be known till time
had developed those seeds into their fruits. Why, then, may not the Poet's idea
have been so to order things that the full strength of the man should not appear
in the play, as it did not, in fact, till after his fall? This view, I am apt to think,
will both explain and justify the strange disguise — a sort of falsetto greatness —
under which Caesar exhibits himself.

DowDEN (p. 285): In Shakespeare's rendering of the character of Caesar, which
has considerably bewildered his critics, one thought of the poet would seem to be
this, that unless a man continually keeps himself in relation with facts, and with
his person and character, he may become to himself legendary and mythical. The
real man Caesar disappears for himself under the greatness of the Cassar myth. He
forgets himself as he actually is, and knows only the vast legendary power named
Caesar. He is a numen to himself, speaking of C^sar in the third person, as if of some
power above and behind his consciousness. And at this ver>' moment — so ironical
is the time-spirit — Cassius is cruelly insisting to Brutus upon all those infirmities
which prove this god no more than a pitiful mortal.

Staffer (p. 327): It is easily seen that in carefully preserving these details [of
infirmity mentioned by Plutarch and Suetonius] and in adding even further mala-
dies, such as fever and deafness, Shakespeare's intention was to bring into promi-
nent notice this clay, this dust, this mud on which Hamlet was one day to philoso-
phize. . . . But I think it is possible to penetrate deeper into the poet's thought
than this. Not only in body, but also in mind was Caesar becoming enfeebled in
those last days of his life; he was superstitious and frightened, he had lost all
foresight and firmness of purpose, and took refuge in a grandiloquent and empty
declamation; his mental collapse was everywhere evident. And yet, when the

392

APPENDIX

conspirators put a violent end to this poor exhausted spirit, which was dying of
itself, the Republic gained absolutely nothing: the Emperor is no more, but the
empire is begun — Caesar is dead, long live Caesar! By this Shakespeare, with a
depth of insight and observation, before which thought stands astounded and
abashed, meant to show that the days of liberty in Rome were irrevocably ended,
and that for the future the cause of her bondage would no longer be the command-
ing genius of a ruler, but the inward alteration in the public mind and disposition.
... It is not the spirit of any one man, but the spirit of a new era about to begin —
the spirit of Casarism — that iills Shakespeare's play and gives it its unity and
moral significance. [See note on III, ii, 54.]

MouLTON {Sh. as Dram. Art., p. 176): Under the influence of some of Caesar's
speeches we find ourselves in the presence of one of the masterspirits of mankind;
other scenes in which he plays a leading part breathe nothing but the feeblest
vacillation and weakness. ... It is the antithesis of the outer and inner life that
explains this contradiction in Caesar's character. Like Macbeth he is the embodi-
ment of one side and one side only of the antithesis; he is the complete type of the
practical — though in special qualities he is as unlike Macbeth as his age is unlike
Macbeth's age. Accordingly, Caesar appears before us perfect up to the point where
his own personality comes in. The military and political sphere, in which he has
been such a collossal figure, call forth practical powers, and do not involve intro-
spection and meditation on foundation principles of thought. . . . The tasks
of the soldier and statesman are imposed upon them by external authority and
necessities, and the faculties exercised are those which shape means to ends.
But at last Caesar comes to a crisis that does involve his personality; he attempts
a task imposed on him by his own ambition. He plays in a game of which the
prize is the world and the stake himself, and to estimate chances in such a game
tests self-knowledge and self-command to its depths. How wanting Caesar is in
the cultivation of the inner life is brought out by his contrast with Cassius. The
incidents of the flood and the fever, retained by the memory of Cassius, illustrate
this. The first of these was no mere swimming match; the flood in the Tiber was
such as to reduce to nothing the difference between one swimmer and another.
It was a trial of nerve, and as long as action was possible Caesar was not only as
brave as Cassius, but was the one attracted by the danger. Then some chance
wave or cross-current renders his chance of life hopeless, and no buffeting with
lusty sinews is of any avail ; that is the point at which the passive courage born of
the inner life comes in and gives strength to submit to the inevitable with calm-
ness. This Caesar lacks, and he calls for rescue. Cassius would have felt the water-
close over him and have sunk to the bottom and died rather than accept aid from ^
his rival. In like manner, the sick bed is a region in which the highest physical and
intellectual activity is helpless; the trained self-control of a Stoic may have a sphere
for exercise even here; but the god Caesar shakes and cries for drink like a sick girl;
It is interesting to note how the two types of mind, when brought into personal
contact, jar upon one another's self-consciousness. The intellectual man, judging
the man of action by the test of mutual intercourse, sees nothing to explain the ■
other's greatness, and wonders what people find in him that they so admire him
and submit to his influence. On the other hand, the man of achievement is uneasily
conscious of a sort of superiority in one whose intellectual aims and habits he finds
it so difficult to follow — yet superiority it is not, for what has he done? Shake-
speare has illustrated this in the play by contriving to bring Ciesar and his suite

CHARACTER OF CAESAR— MO ULTON

393

across the 'public place' in which Cassius is discoursing to Brutus. Cassius feels
the usual irritation at being utterly unable to find in his old acquaintance any
special qualities to explain his elevation. Similarly, Cassar, as he casts a passing
glance at Cassius, becomes at once uneasy. 'He thinks too much,' is the exclama-
tion of the man of action. The practical man, accustomed to divide mankind into a
few simple types, is always uncomfortable at finding a man he cannot classify.
Finally, there is a clima.x to the jealousy that exists between the two lives: Casar
complains that Cassius ^ Looks quite through the deeds of men.' There is another
circumstance to be taken into account in explaining the weakness of Caesar. A
change has come over the spirit of Roman political life itself — such seems to be
Shakespeare's conception. Cassar on his return has found Rome no longer the
Rome he had known. Before he left for Gaul, Rome had been the ideal sphere for
public life, the arena in which principles alone were allowed to combat, and from
which the banishment of personal aims and passions was the first condition of
virtue. In his absence Rome has gradually degenerated; the mob has become the
ruling force, and introduced an element of uncertainty into political life; politics
has passed from science into gambling. A new order of public men has arisen,
of which Cassius and Antony are the types; personal aims, personal temptations,
and personal risks are now inextricably interwoven with public action. This is a
changed order of things, to which the mind of Caesar, cast in a higher mould, lacks
the power to adapt itself. His vacillation is the vacillation of unfamiliarity with
the new political conditions. He refuses the crown 'each time gentlier than the
other,' showing want of decisive reading in dealing with the fickle mob; and on his
return from the Capitol he is too untrained in hypocrisy to conceal the angry spot
upon his face; he has tried to use the new weapons which he does not understand
and has failed. It is a subtle touch of Shakespeare's to the same effect that Caesar
is represented as having himself undergone a change of late: 'Quite from the main
opinion he held once.' To come back to the world of which you have mastered the
machinery and to find that it is no longer governed by machinery at all, that
causes no longer produce their effects — this, if anything, might drive a strong
intellect to superstition. And herein consists the pathos of Caesar's situation. The
deepest tragedy of the play is not the assassination of Cassar, it is rather seen in
such a speech as this of Decius:

'I can o'ersway him; for he loves to hear
That unicorns may be betray'd with trees,
And bears with glasses, elephants with holes,
Lions with toils, and men with flatterers;
But when I tell him he hates flatterers.
He says he does, being then most flattered.
Let me work.' — II, i, 227.

Assassination is a less piteous thing than to see the giant intellect by its very
strength unable to contend against the low cunning of a fifth-rate intriguer.
Such, then, appears to be Shakespeare's conception of Julius Caesar. He is the
consummate type of the practical: emphatically the public man, complete in all
the greatness that belongs to action. On the other hand, the knowledge of self
produced by self-contemplation is wanting, and so, when he comes to consider the
relation of his individual self to the state, he vacillates with the vacillation of a
strong man moving amongst men of whose greater intellectual subtlety he is dimly
conscious: no unnatural conception for a Caesar who has been founding empires

394

APPENDIX

abroad while his fellows have been sharpening their wits in the party contests of a
decaying state.

Brandes (i, 361): In dealing with the great figure of Caesar . . . Shakespeare
follows faithfully the detached, anecdotic indications of Plutarch, but he, strangely
enough, seems to miss altogether the remarkable impression we receive of Caesar's
character which, for the rest, the Greek historian was not in a position fully to
understand. We must not forget the fact, of which Shakespeare, of course, knew
nothing, that Plutarch, who was born a century after Caesar's death, at a time
when the independence of Greece was only a memory, and the once glorious Hellas
was part of a Roman province, wrote his comparative biographies to remind
haughty Rome that Greece had a great man to oppose to each of her greatest sons.
Plutarch was saturated with the thought that conquered Greece was Rome's
lord and master in every department of the intellectual life. . . . He wrote about
his great Romans as an enlightened and unprejudiced Pole might in our days write
about great Russians. He, in whose eyes the old republics shone transfigured,
was not especially fitted to appreciate Caesar's greatness. Shakespeare, having so
arranged his drama that Brutus should be its tragic hero, had to concentrate his
art on placing him in the foreground and making him fill the scene, . . . and,
therefore, Caesar was diminished and belittled to such a degree, unfortunately, that
this matchless genius in war and statesmanship has become a miserable caricature.
. . . [We cannot] fall back upon the argument that Caesar after his death be-
comes the chief personage of the drama, and as a corpse, as a memory, as a spirit,
strikes down his murderers. How can so small a man cast so great a shadow!
Shakespeare, of course, intended to portray Caesar as triumphing after his death.
He has changed Brutus's evil genius, which appears to him in the camp and at
Philippi, into Caesar's ghost; but this ghost is not suflScient to rehabilitate Caesar in
our estimation. Nor is it true that Caesar's greatness would have impaired the
unity of the piece. Its poetic value, on the contrar>', sufi'ers from his pettiness.
The play might have been immeasurably richer and deeper than it is had Shake-
speare been inspired by a feeling of Caesar's greatness. Elsewhere in Shakespeare
one marvels at what he has made out of poor and meagre material. Here history
was so enormously rich that his poetry is become poor and meagre in comparison
with it. Just as Shakespeare (if the portions of i lien. VI. which deal with La
Pucelle are by him) represented Jeanne d'Arc with no sense for the lofty and simple
poetry that breathed around her figure, ... so he approached the characterisation
of Caesar with far too light a heart and with imperfect knowledge and care. As
he had made Jeanne d'Arc a witch, so he makes Caesar a braggart. Caesar! If, Uke
the schoolboys of later generations, he had been given Caesar's Gallic War to read
in his childhood, this would not have been possible to him. Is it conceivable that,
in what he had heard about the Commentaries, he had naively seized upon and
misinterpreted the fact that Caesar always speaks of himself in the third person,
and calls himself by his name? . . . \\Taat enchanted every one, even his enemies,
who came in contact with Cajsar was his good-breeding, his politeness, the charm
of his personality. . . . Shakespeare conveys no idea of the wealth and many-sided-
ness of his gifts. He makes him belaud himself with unceasing solemnity. Caesar
had nothing of the stolid pomposity and severity which Shakespeare attributes
to him. He united the rapid decision of the general with the man of the world's
elegance and lofty indifference to trifles. . . . Caesar as opposed to Cato — and
afterwards as opposed to Brutus — is the many-sided genius who loves life and action

CHARACTER OF CAESAR— ALLEN 395

and power, in contradistinction to the narrow Puritan who hates such emancipated
spirits, partly on principle, partly from instinct. What a strange misunderstanding
that Shakespeare— himself a lover of beauty, intent on a life of activity, enjoyment,
and satisfied ambition, who always stood to Puritanism in the same hostile
relation in which Caesar stood — should of ignorance take the side of Puritanism
in this case, and so disqualify himself from extracting from the rich mine of Caesar's
character all the gold contained in it. In Shakespeare's Caesar we find nothing of
the magnanimity and sincerity of the real man. He never assumed a hypocritical
reverence towards the past, not even on questions of grammar. He grasped at
power and seized it, but did not, as in Shakespeare, pretend to reject it. Shake-
speare has let him keep the pride which he, in fact, displayed, but has made it un-
beautiful and eked it out with hypocrisy. ... It was because of Shakespeare's
lack of historical and classical culture that the incomparable grandeur "of the
figure of Caesar left him unmoved.

J. C. Allen {Poel Lore, vol. xiii, p. 574): We must remember that Shakespeare,
like every writer of his time, was a romanticist. Being such, he naturally gave to
his characters a poetic consistency. The hero looked a hero, the villain looked a
villain. Dwarfs, deformed persons, and those having physical defects were shown
to have moral defects to match. From Plutarch Shakespeare learned that Caesar |
was of delicate frame and subject to epileptic fits. From the same writer |
he received the impression that the emperor was self-conceited and overbearing,!
foolishly ambitious, vain, and unable to conceal his personal feelings. These
data, of which some are insignificant, some inaccurate, and the others false, are thef
basis on which he constructed the title-role of his play. Shall we blame Shake-
speare for superficiality in thus fitting a character to those external appearances
which, after all, as often conceal as they reveal the man? By no means. He
did not know Caesar, and had to use what data came to his hand. He was not
writing history for instruction, but a play for amusement. He chose that con-
ception of Caesar which was picturesque in preference to that which was misty,
without knowing which was the truer view; and the scattered references to the
same character in other plays show that he was not convinced the portraiture in
this instance was correct. Had he really known the greatness of the man, he would
have concealed his external defects. As it was, he ascribed to him a soul appro-
priate to the frail and mean tenement in which it was housed. We see, then, in this
subject the limitations both of genius and of the dramatic art. The play^vxight, like
the scene-painter, must use a large brush. Accuracy and subtle discrimination
are not dramatic excellences, however desirable they may be in literature and
delightful in plays, when we read them in an easy-chair. It is only an evidence of
Shakespeare's greatness that he instinctively obeyed the rule of seeking dramatic
excellence first, and then, with a delicate touch, making his plays immortal as a
literary classic. We see, too, how his genius was conditioned by the spirit of the
time, and probably strengthened by its harmony with that spirit. He was a
romanticist because it was an age of romanticism. Living, as he did, in the
Elizabethan period, he pictured Elizabethans in his plays. Always they were
Elizabethan heroes, villains, or clowns. It was unfortunate that Julius Cssar
would not fit into any of these categories.

Macmillan {Introd., p. xxv.): Though the nobler side of Caesar's character is
not entirely ignored, the general impression produced by Shakespeare's representa-

396

APPENDIX

tion of him falls far below the real greatness of the founder of the Roman Empire,
and we have to account for this discrepancy on historical or dramatic grounds.
In the first place, it must be noticed that it did not suit Shakespeare's design to
represent Caesar in all the grandeur of his historic position and greatness of char-
acter, enhanced, as it might have been, to the highest pitch by poetic art and
dramatic power. Had he done so, the figures of the conspirators would have been
completely dwarfed, and their great deed would have appeared to be a brutal and
entirely inexcusable murder. The poet's aim was to produce in the first part of the
play an even balance in our sympathies, so that they should waver to and fro,
inclining alternately to Caesar and the conspirators. This design is clearly mani-
fested by the skilful management of the scenes in which we are induced at one time
to share the anxiety of Calpurnia for her husband, and at another to listen with
agonised suspense to the rumours that the air conveys, or seems to convey, to Portia
from the Capitol.

MacCallum (p. 226): The impression Julius Caesar makes on the unsophisti-
cated mind, on average audiences, and the elder school of critics is undoubtedly
an heroic one. It is only minute analysis that discovers his defects, and though
the defects are certainly present and should be noted, they are far from sufficing to
make the general effect absurd or contemptible. It was not so that Shakespeare
meant them to be taken. For he has invented for his Caesar not only these trivial
blemishes, but several conspicuous exhibitions of nobility which Plutarch no-
where suggests; and this should give pause to such as find in Shakespeare's portrait
merely a wilful or wanton caricature." Thus, in regard to the interposition of
Artemidorus, Shakespeare read in North: 'Caesar tooke it [the scroll] of him, but
coulde never reade it, though he many times attempted it, for the multitude of
people that did salute him.' Compare this with the scene in the play:

^ Art. Hail, Caesar! read this schedule.

Dec. Trebonius doth desire you to o'er-read,
At your best leisure, this his humble suit.

Art. O Caesar, read mine first; for mine's a suit
That touches Cassar nearer: read it, great Cjesar.

Cas. What touches us ourself shall be last served.' — III, i, 8.

Can one say that Shakespeare has defrauded Cassar of his magnanimity? Or,
again, observe in the imaginary conclusion to the unrecorded remonstrances of
Calpurnia, how loftily he refuses to avail himself of the little white untruths that,
after all, pass current as quite excusable in society. They are beneath his dignity.
He turns to Decius:

'Cffi5. And you are come in very happy time,
To bear my greeting to the senators
And tell them that I will not come to-day:
Cannot, is false, and that I dare not, falser:
I will not come to-day: tell them so, Decius.
Cal. Say he is sick.

Cas. Shall Caesar send a lie?

Have I in conquest stretch'd mine arm so far.
To be afeard to tell graybeards the truth?
Decius, go tell them Caesar will not come.' — II, ii, 70.

CHARACTER OF CJESAR—AYRES 397

But this last instance is not merely an example of Shakespeare's homage to Caesar's
grandeur and his eagerness to enhance it with accessories of his own contrivance.
It gives us a clue to the secret of his additions both favourable and the reverse,
and points the way to his conception of the man. For observe that this refusal of
Caesar's to make use of a falsehood is an afterthought. A minute before he has,
also in words that Shakespeare puts in his mouth, fully consented to the proposal
that he should feign illness. He pacifies Calpurnia:
'Mark Antony shall say I am not well;
And, for thy humour, I will stay at home.'
This compliance he makes to his wife, but in presence of Decius Brutus he recovers
himself and adopts the stricter standard. What does this imply? Does it not mean
that, in a certain sense, he is plajang a part and aping the immortal to be seen of
men? . . . Shakespeare has a large tolerance for the practical statesman when
dowered with patriotism, insight, and resolution; and will not lightly condemn him
because he must use sorry tools, and take some soil from the world, and is not
unmoved by personal interests. Provided that his more selfish aims coincide with
the good of the whole, and that he has veracity of intellect to understand, with
steadiness of will to satisfy, the needs of the time, Shakespeare will vindicate for
him his share of prosperity, honor, and desert. And this seems to be, in a glorified
version, his view of Caesar. The only serious charge he brings against him in the
play, the only charge to which he recurs elsewhere, is that he was ambitious.
But ambition is not wholly of sin, and_brings forth good as well as^vil fruit.

H. JI. Ayres (p. 188): Shakespeare's Caesar is admittedly not Plutarch's; his
Calpurnia, his Portia are Plutarch's, and no more; his Antony, his Brutus, his Cas-
sius — by reason of the contrasts of character his art sets before us — are more,
but his Caesar has ever seemed something less and different. Nowhere does one
get so complete a sense of the greatness of Caesar as in Plutarch. Lucan's Caesar is
great in his almost diabolical competence beside the helplessness of Pompey, but
Lucan showers upon him a constant flood of villification and depreciation. Sueto-
nius deals out his gossip curtly; Dion Cassius leaves a pale, second-hand impression;
Appian is slow, though of historical value. But Plutarch is writing lives, not
history. Plutarch sets Caesar forth as, above ever>'thing else, astute; as a man
marked to rule, thrusting his way with unerring political sagacity into popular
favor; cultivated, brave, of inhuman energy, and renowned for a clemency designed
to be something more than its o^\^l reward; a man of humor and of pithy utterance;
toward the close of his life somewhat under the domination of his adherents, and
restless in the desire for further achievements. . . . Another trait which dis-
tinguished Caesar from the valiant knight-errant is his wily political forehandedness,
which Plutarch does not allow us to forget. Like a wrestler he 'striveth for tricks
to overthrow his adversary.' . . . Such, briefly, is the impression one bears
away of the heroic largeness of Plutarch's Caesar: not always the master of events,
but provided always with resources to meet them; versatile, witty, competent,
expeditious, sagacious, clement. Plutarch has framed an enduring literary portrait
of the man. How much now of this Caesar appears in Shakespeare? Let us examine
afresh his role. The noise and chatter of a holiday is hushed by Caesar's voice com-
manding the performance of a trivial piece of superstition, which in Caesar's mouth
is Shakespeare's invention. . . . Many of our impressions of Cassar we gain
through the eyes of his enemies: of the Tribunes, whose sjonpathies are with the
neglected memory of Pompey; of Cassius, the sarcastic victim of personal pique,

398 APPENDIX

who finds Caesar no more than a man, no conqueror over physical fatigue and dis-
ease; of Casca, who whimsically comments on Caesar's melodramatic demagoguery.
Meanwhile a word from Caesar himself. He distrusts, not fears — his name is not
liable to fear — Cassius's meagre, reflective asceticism. Then the sudden relapse
from his lofty arrogance: 'Come on my right hand, for this ear is deaf.' The in-
difference to fear is consistent with Plutarch, the pomposity and the human in-
firmity are Shakespeare's. . . . Our total impression of Shakespeare's Caesar is
not, of course, limited to his own brief part nor to the speeches of his enemies.
Under the spell of Antony's eloquence he stands before us the conqueror, the true
friend, and the people's lover. At Philippi he stalks mighty yet, and his spirit
prevails. Shakespeare has, that is, at times, suggested the heroic qualities of the
man, although the striking episodes of his career . . . fall outside the period which
Shakespeare has chosen to dramatize. And he has, indeed, done Caesar little wrong
in touching here and there on his human infirmities in the interests of the design of
the play as a whole. His error comes, if error there be, in the words he puts into
Caesar's mouth. We may, then, turn to a consideration of his pomposity of manner
and of language. Two elements at least enter into the explanation of this: the
first, a piece of traditional literary psychology; the second, possibly a specific
dramatic tradition. Suetonius says: 'Caesar left behind him in the minds of cer-
taine friends about him, a suspition, that he was neither willing to have lived any
longer, nor cared at all for life: because he stood not well to health, but was ever
more crasie' {quod valetudine minus prospera uteretur). — Trans. Holland; § 86.
... It is, of course, not meant to say that Caesar toward the end of his life was mad
in any other sense than that in which a world conqueror must always appear mad
when judged by an average sanity. ... It is not, however, necessary to go beyond
the domain of literature for the description of this phenomenon. Classical drama
makes frequent use of cltt}, the infatuation, the judicial blindness laid by the gods
on those whose destruction they are meditating. [As illustrative of this, Ayres
quotes: Sophocles, Ajax, 11. 758-761; 11. 470-472; 479, 480; 127-133; Ant. b° Cleo.,
Ill, xiii, 111-115.] It is this judicial blindness which makes Caesar scorn to read
Artemidorus's letter just because it touches himself nearly, though he has ample
reason to take every precaution for his personal safety. His action, and it is im-
portant to remember that Shakespeare seems here to be following none of his
sources, springs from the same C/Jpis, the desmesure, which kept Roland till too late
from sounding his horn in the pass of Roncevaux. Nor is it necessary to assume,
in order to make these citations from the classics bear on Shakespeare, any intimate
acquaintance on his part with Greek tragedy. The idea may be considered a
literary commonplace. ... In the Latin Julius Cccsar of Marc Antoine Muret,
written before the middle of the sixteenth century, the episodes connected with
Caesar's death are, as might be expected, selected and presented under the in-
fluence of the plays that go under the name of Seneca. Calpurnia's dream and
Brutus's mental struggles lend themselves admirably to such a method. The
character of Caesar, and this is our main point, is carefully modelled on that of
Hercules. It is to the opening and the close of the Hercules QLtosus that Muret
has chiefly resorted for the form and much of the language of the corresponding
portions of his play. His borrowings cover, however, the whole range of the so-
called Senecan plays. . . . What we have gained by the comparison of Muret's
play with its Senecan models is briefly this: we have seen the character of Cssar as
it passes into the drama of the Renaissance, carefully modelled on the braggart
Hercules of Seneca; and, along with the addition to his character of this pompous

CHARACTER OF C^SAR—MERIVALE 399

boastfulness, his contempt of death, as it appears in Plutarch, emphasized by
reason of its coincidence with the pervasive Stoicism of Seneca's dramas. . . .
Further, [we see] Ca;sar, who in Plutarch is a man of pithy and pregnant utterance,
elaborately transformed into a Hercules-like braggart, but with his Plutarchian
stoicism unimpaired. Both these characteristics are somewhat reinforced by
Lucan, himself partly perhaps under the same Senecan influence. Not all these
points will remain constant through succeeding treatments of the subject. As
the Senecan form is modified, many will inevitably disappear. We shall find,
however, preserved with considerable fidelity, down to and beyond the date of
Shakespeare's play, the character of the braggart Caesar which we have here ob-
served in the making. ... On turning to Grevin's {Cesar, acted in 1558,] we are
instantly aware that some of the superficial characteristics of the Senecan Hercules
have disappeared; Caesar no longer prays to be caught up to heaven, nor does his
voice comfort Calpumia with the news of his translation to the stars. . . . ^Vhere
Muret's Caesar could throw aside dread with a phrase, '.A.t enim timere Caesaris
nunquam fuit,' Grevin's needs a deal of rhetoric to calm his nerves. ... So far
as the character of Cassar is concerned, we have little in Grevin's play, save for a
rhetorical diffuseness resulting in greater emphasis on Caesar's premonitions of
impending danger, which was not contained in the tragedy of his master, Muret.
. . . The tradition which we saw taking shape in [the latter's] play under the
influence of Seneca appears now in England in the Julius Casar of Sir William
Alexander. One might surmise that the author was quite aware of the tradition he
was in, for he resorts for the first act of his play to Juno's monologue at the opening
of the Hercules Fiirens of Seneca, ingeniously substituting Caesar for Hercules as
the object of Junonian ire. It is not impossible that he also knew Muret's play.
... On the whole, his conception of Caesar's character . . . depends more
directly on [that of Gamier in Cornelie, 1574,] and the Senecan tradition inaugurated
by Muret. Let us now see what the Marlowesque tradition makes [of the character
of Caesar]. The anonymous play, Casar arid Pompey, or Ccesar's Revenge, has
sometimes been very tentatively identified with the Henslowe play of 1594.
Whether this identification is just or not, or whether the play belongs to a date
anterior to 1606, need not immediately concern us. . . . In form and temper, at
any rate, it belongs with the plays of the early go's. Most striking is the sustained
and successful imitation of Marlowe's style. . . . Between this play and Shake-
speare's there seems to be no immediate connection. But it is not with questions of
direct influence on Shakespeare that we have to do. Our study has aimed merely to
trace from its fountain head in Seneca a stream of tradition continuing to Shake-
speare's time and beyond, under the baptism of which Caesar has become Hercules
and speaks with his braggart's voice. In its developed form the character closely
resembles Tamburlaine, triumphing over a world too lost in amazement at his
wondrous victories to make effectual resistance; the heaven-storming conqueror
whose large utterance is filled with the pomp and circumstance of his own greatness.
Such, then, we may . . . more than guess to have been the Elizabethan stage Caesar.
And if such it were, we readily see how Shakespeare must of necessity endow him
with a little strut, a touch of grandiosity, if his audience is to believe that Caesar
stands before them.

[The four following extracts relate to the character of the Julius Caesar of
history:]

Merivale (ii, 394): For the historian the survey of Caesar's character derives

400

APPENDIX

its chief interest from the manner in which it illustrates the times wherem he
occupied so prominent a place. The disposition and conduct of the great man we
have been contemplating correspond faithfully with the intellectual and moral
development of the age of which he was the most perfect representative. He
combines literature with action, humanity with sternness, free-thinking with
superstition, energy with voluptuousness, a noble and liberal ambition with a fear-
ful want of moral principle. In these striking inconsistencies, which none but him-
self could blend in one harmonious temperament, he represented the manifold
conflicting tendencies which appeared in various proportions in the character of the
Roman nobility, at a period when they had thrown off the formal restraints of their
Etruscan discipline, and the specious indulgence of Hellenic cultivation lured them
into vice, selfishness, and impiety.

MoMMSEN (Bk, V, ch. xi; p. 456) : In his character as a man as well as his place
in history, Cassar occupies a position where the great contrasts of existence meet
and balance each other. Of the mightiest creative power and yet at the same time
of the most penetrating Judgment; no longer a youth and not yet an old man;
of the highest energy of will and the highest capacity of execution; filled with
republican ideals and at the same time born to be a king; a Roman in the deepest
essence of his nature, and yet called to reconcile and combine in himself as well
as in the outer world the Roman and the Hellenic types of culture — Caesar was the
entire and perfect man. Accordingly, we miss in him, more than in any other his-
torical personage, what are called characteristic features, which are, in reality,
nothing more than deviations from the natural course of human development.
What in Caesar passes for such at the first superficial glance is, when more closely
observed, seen to be the peculiarity not of the individual, but of the epoch of
culture or of the nation; his youthful adventures, for instance, were common to
him with all his more gifted contemporaries of like position, his unpoetical but
strongly logical temperament was the temperament of Romans in general. . . .
Caesar was a perfect man just because he more than any other placed himself
amidst the currents of his time, and because he more than any other possessed the
essential peculiarity of the Roman nation — practical aptitude as a citizen — in
perfection; for his Hellenism in fact was only the Hellenism which had been long
intimately blended with the Italian nationality. . . . The Roman hero himself
stood by the side of his youthful predecessor not merely as an equal, but as a supe-
rior; but the world had meanwhile become old and its youthful lustre had faded.
The action of Caesar was no longer, like that of Alexander, a joyous marching on-
ward towards a goal indefinitely remote; he built on, and out of, ruins, and was
content to establish himself as tolerably and as securely as possible within the
ample but yet definite bounds once assigned to him. With reason, therefore, the
delicate poetic tact of the nations has not troubled itself about the unpoetical
Roman, and has invested the son of Philip alone with all the golden lustre of poetry,
with all the rainbow hues of legend. But with equal reason the political life of
nations has during thousands of years again and again reverted to the lines which
Caesar drew; and the fact that the peoples to whom the world belong still at the
present day designate the highest of their monarchs by his name, conveys a warning
deeply significant and, unhappily, fraught with shame.

Frotjde (p. 537): In person Caesar was tall and slight. His features were more
refined than was usual in Roman faces; the forehead was wide and high, the nose

CHARACTER OF C^SAR—FERRERO

401

large and thin, the lips full, the eyes dark gray like an eagle's, the neck extremely
thick and sinewy. His complexion was pale. His beard and mustache were kept
carefully shaved. His hair was short and naturally scanty, falling ofl towards the
end of his life and leaving him partially bald. His voice, especially when he spoke
in public, was high and shrill. ... Of Caesar it may be said that he came into the
world at a special time and for a special object. The old religions were dead from
the Pillars of Hercules to the Euphrates and the Nile, and the principles on which
human society had been constructed were dead also. There remained of spiritual
conviction only the common and human sense of justice and morality; and out of
this sense some ordered system of government had to be constructed under which
quiet men could live and labour and eat the fruit of their industry. . . . Such a
kingdom was the Empire of the Caesars — a kingdom where peaceful men could
work, think, and speak as they pleased, and travel freely among provinces ruled
for the most part by Gallios who protected life and property, and forbade fanatics
to tear each other in pieces for their religious opinions. 'It is not lawful for us to
put any man to death' was the complaint of the Jewish priests to the Roman
governor. Had Europe and Asia been covered with independent nations, each with
a local religion represented in its ruling powers, Christianity must have been stifled
in its cradle. If St Paul had escaped the Sanhedrin at Jerusalem, he would have
been torn to pieces by the silversmiths at Ephesus. The appeal to Caesar's judg-
ment-seat was the shield of his mission, and alone made possible his success. And
this spirit, which confined government to its simplest duties, while it left opinion
unfettered, was especially present in Julius Cassar himself. From cant of all kinds
he was totally free. He was a friend of the people, but he indulged in no enthu-
siasm for liberty. He never dilated on the beauties of virtue or complimented, as
Cicero did, a Providence in which he did not believe. He was too sincere to stoop
to unreality. He held to the facts of this life and to his own convictions; and as he
found no reason for supposing that there was a life beyond the grave, he did not
pretend to expect it. He respected the religion of the Roman state as an institu-
tion established by the laws. He encouraged or left unmolested the creeds and
practises of the uncounted sects or tribes who were gathered under the eagle.
But his own writings contain nothing to indicate that he had any religious belief
at all. He saw no evidence that the gods practically interfered in human affairs.
He never pretended that Jupiter was on his side. He thanked his soldiers after a
victory, but he did not order Te Deums to be sung for it; and in the absence of these
conventionalisms he perhaps showed more real reverence than he could have dis-
played by the freest use of the formulas of pietism. He fought his battles to
establish some tolerable degree of justice in the government of this world; and he
succeeded, though he was murdered for doing it. Strange and startling resem-
blance between the fate of the founder of the kingdom of this world and of the
Founder of the kingdom not of this world, for which the first was a preparation.
Each was denounced for making himself a king. Each was maligned as the friend
of publicans and sinners; each was betrayed by those whom he had loved and
cared for; each was put to death; and Caesar also was believed to have arisen again
and ascended into heaven and become a divine being.

Ferrero (ii, 343): Caesar was a genius — a man whose powers have seldom or

never been equalled in history. He was at once student, artist, and man of action,

and in every sphere of his activity he left the imprint of greatness. His soaring yet

intensely practical imagination, his wonderfully clear-cut and well-balanced intelli-

402

APPENDIX

gence, his untiring energy and lightning quickness of decision, his marvellous elas-
ticity of temper and iron-power of self-control, his indifiference even at the moments
of greatest strain to anything of the nature of sentiment or mysticism, would have
made him at any time in the world's history one of the giants of his age. Under
twentieth-century conditions he might have become a captain of industry in the
United States, or a great pioneer, or mine-owner, or empire-builder in South
Africa, or a scientist or man of letters in Europe with a worldwide influence over
his contemporaries. In the Rome of his day both family tradition and personal
inclination forced him into pohtics. Political life is always perilous to a man of
genius. There is no sphere of activity which is so much at the mercy of unforeseen
accidents or where the effort put out is so incommensurable with the result obtained.
In the field of Roman politics Cassar succeeded in becoming a great general, a great
writer, a great character. He failed to become a great statesman, . . . but he was a
great destroyer. In him were personified all the revolutionary forces, the magnif-
icent but devastating forces of a mercantile age in conflict with the traditions of an
old-world society. . . . There is hardly a stranger irony in history than that
the riilers of Germany and Russia should have assumed the title of this prince of
revolutionaries. For we fail to grasp the true significance of Caesar's career till we
discern that, like Pompey and Crassus and the other great figures of his day, his
mission was primarily destructive — to complete the disorganization and dissolution
of the old world, both in Italy and the provinces, and thus make way for a stabler
and juster system. ... It is in this role of Titanic destroyer, therefore, that we must
admire him, a role which demanded almost superhuman qualities of conception and
achievement.

CHARACTER OF BRUTUS

Plutarch {Lije of Brutus, § 22; ed. Skeat, p. 1 29) : Brutus for his virtue and valiant-
ness was well-beloved of the people and his own, esteemed of noblemen, and hated of
no man, not so much as of his enemies; because he was a marvellous lowly and gentle
person, noble-minded and would never be in any rage, nor carried away with pleas-
ure and covetousness, but had ever an upright mind with him, and would never
yield to any wrong or injustice; the which was the chief est cause of his fame, of his
rising, and of the goodwill that every man bare him: for they were all persuaded
that his intent was good. For they did not certainly believe that, if Pompey him-
self had overcome Caesar, he would have resigned his authority to the law, but
rather they were of the opinion that he would still keep the sovereignty and
absolute government in his hands, taking only, to please the people, the title of
Consul, or Dictator, or of some other more civil office. ... It was said that
Antonius spake it openly divers times, that he thought, that of all them that had
slain Caesar, there was none but Brutus only that was moved to do it, as thinking
the act was commendable of itself: but that all the other conspirators did conspire
his death for some private malice or envy, that they otherwise did bear unto him.

Lloyd (ap. Singer, viii, 508): Brutus, it may be thought, is altogether too
refined and scrupulous for any efficient action whatever in such a world as this;
how much then, above all, for one which at every step trenches on the equivocal.
. . . The deference that has been paid to his moral qualities and influence betray
him as disastrously into an overestimate of his judgment and capacity; he relies

CHAR A CTER OF BR UTUS—GER VINUS 403

upon the force of his dry inflexile oratory with as ill result as on his generalship.
. . . There remains to him the dignity of pure intention, high motives, courage
untarnished, sensibility most lively and refined, preference of public to private
interest, and of failure by noble means, to success degraded by any baseness other
than that of the original deed of blood which was sanctified to him by ancestral
example and the fundamental maxims of the state.

Gervinus (ii, 329): Considered in himself, Brutus is of much too moral and too
pure a nature to be fit for the hard and often dirty work of politics, like the gross
degenerate Faulconbridge or the sharp Cassius. At the first hint, when Cassius
initiates him into his ideas of a conspiracy, he feels that he is drawn into a foreign
element: 'Into what dangers,' he asks,

'would you lead me, Cassius,
That you would have me seek into myself
For that which is not in me? '

His own inward voice calls him not to this deed. It is true, the necessities of the
time weigh upon him and prepare for him heavy sorrows; the rising ambition of
Ceesar has made him reflective, thoughtful, and sorrowful, but as ever, he has kept
the emotions of his soul concealed; to combat these sufferings or the cause of them
the strong sufferer is not disposed. When he assures Cassius that he would not

'repute himself a son of Rome,
Under these hard conditions as this time
Is like to lay upon us, '

he probably thinks only of voluntary banishment. But this man, in himself little
created for politics, is yet placed under a constitution that allows no rest from
politics, and he is brought up in principles which necessitate active life. He pos-
sesses, like Hamlet, a cultivated mind, and, according to Plutarch as well as Shake-
speare, he carries books about with him even in the camp; he is a lean thinker, as
Caesar in Plutarch describes not only Cassius but Brutus also; but, according to his
own testimony, which Shakespeare found in Plutarch, he could not endure the
Ciceros, men whose cultivation advantaged nothing, whose finest principles
were never living ones; and Shakespeare has represented him quite in this
spirit. Next to his human duties, consonant with the ideas of all antiquity,
stand his political duties; next to the virtue of the individual stands in
equal rank the honour of the patriot. ... To these, his political principles,
Cassius now applies himself in order to draw him into a conspiracy against Caesar.
From this moment his anxiety as to the condition of the time and state rises to
a great internal struggle. . . . We have seen Macbeth shaken by a similar revolu-
tion, by similar phantasms and fearful dreams, and he drove them away as soon as
possible; we have seen Hamlet disturbed and ruined by them; in Brutus, none but
the actor can show them to us, and he only very faintly; they are repressed by a
strong mental power which calmly weighs the principles of action in the disputed
point, and decides with stem composure accordingly. When Brutus exclaims
against the 'dangerous brow of conspiracy,' we see his whole nature opposed to it,
but after he has once acknowledged it as necessary, he teaches the practice of its
dangerous arts. . . . \\Tien the human relation between him and Caesar is opposed
to the relation toward his country in which he is placed by the republican spirit in-
herited from Junius Brutus, it is irremediable but that the restoration of public

404 APPENDIX

freedom must be his first duty. The purest motives decide the inward struggle in
favour of patriotism; even his bitterest foes acknowledge this. Caesar must fall as
a sacrifice to his countr>', its weal, and its freedom; necessity, not hatred, justice, not
personal feeling, arm those hands against him which Brutus, after the deed, would
chide if he could. No impure motive, such as Cicero's ambition, is to be per-
mitted. . . .

Now in this inward struggle, and in the decision which Brutus arrived at, there
lies a double error which may be viewed both from a moral and a political side.
Brutus appears in Shakespeare, and even in Plutarch, united in a closer friendship
with Caesar than his'^ory proves to have been the case. His brother-in-law Cassius
says to him:

' WTien thou didst hate him worst, thou lovedst him better
Than ever thou lov'dst Cassius.'

His enemy, Antony, calls him 'Caesar's angel.' The poet has rather strangely put
in the mouth of the faUing Caesar, at sight of Brutus, the Latin words, Et tu. Brute?
to give greater emphasis to the painful surprise of his fatherly friend, who would
never have expected to have seen Brutus among the number of his murderers.
Was it really suitable to the personal relations of this feeling and noble man that
he should imagine Caesar's death to be the only means for restoring the freedom of
the state? Do not the words of Antony fall upon him with fearful weight, that

'when the noble Caesar saw him stab,
Ingratitude, more strong than traitors' arms,
Quite vanquished him: then burst his mighty heart.'

Must he not have been struck dumb when the same Antony cast this reproach in
his face, that while exclaiming 'Hail, Caesar 1' and flattering him to his face, they
had maliciously killed him? The stain of assassination adheres to Brutus, a crime
which no poHtical duty, no opposite duty whatever, can outweigh. This stain
cleaves closer to the 'lover' of Caesar than to Caesar's personal enemy, Cassius,
and to him, therefore, to Caesar's good angel, the spirit of the murdered man sub-
sequently appears as his evil and revenge-annoimcing genius. If, from political
grounds, the deed of Brutus is nobler, it is in a human respect more imnatural than
that of Cassius, in whom it is represented as less noble, but more natural. Shake-
speare has not allowed considerations such as these to escape from the laconic
Brutus, but they are contained emphatically in the things themselves, especially
in the contrast of Antony. WTiat is this voluptuary, this man of loose morals,
this Epicurean, this racer and gambler, of whom it is presumed that at the best
he will ' take thought and die for Caesar,' perhaps also laugh at his death if he es-
capes, what is he compared to Brutus? In spirit and capacity, indeed, he is much
more than the unsuspecting Brutus imagines, but in a moral point of \'iew he is
only an abandoned and unprincipled man. So far as we see him act in this play,
his flattery of the murderers to their faces places him on an equality with them
in their flattery of Caesar; we cannot blame the art which he j-ields to circumstances,
compassing his worst ends with the air of the utmost honour, stirring up the people
by his eloquence in spite of the order that he should say nothing against the mur-
derers; we cannot blame the cunning with which, pretending to be a plain, blunt
man, he applauds the honourable republicans, whom he at the same time stamps as
traitors, while he mockingly extols the superiority of the orator Brutus, ha\-ing
already annihilated his speech and his deed; we cannot, we say, blame this art

CHARACTER OF BRUTUS— GERVINUS

405

and cunning any more than the hjqiocritical artifices of those who allured Caesar
into the net. But how low does this man sink when, contrasted with Brutus's
unselfishness, patriotism, mild forbearance, and saving of blood, we see the triumvir
subsequently indifferent to the fate of his political enemies, altering to the prejudice
of the people that will of Cassar's with which he had roused them to revolt, suing
Lepidus as a beast of burden, and himself silently submitting to the young Octavius?
And yet we must confess that even this wretch, on the score of humanity, recom-
mends himself to us besides the corpse of Ctesar more than even the noble Brutus.
Like Brutus, he was the friend of Cassar; to him also Caesar had been just and
faithful; his death touches him truly and sincerely; he testifies to this when he is
alone and when he is with the servant of Octavius; he ventures even to show his
sorrow to the murderers; his heart is truly 'in the coflin there, with Caesar,' and
only to this real and undissembled sorrow the great effects of his artful speech are
due. However great from a political point of view Brutus's patriotism and upright
intentions may appear in spite of his murderous act, equally estimable, in a moral
sense, is the sincere fidehty of Antony toward his deceased friend, who can help
him no further, in spite of his faithless projects against the conspirators whom it is
dangerous to oppose. The contrast which Shakespeare has instituted between
Antony and Brutus is one of cutting acuteness, and there is even a double edge
given to it with regard to the pohtical error of the action itself. When Brutus,
after conquering his inward reluctance, decides for Caesar's death, he tells us the
grounds of this decision in a soliloquy (Act II, sc. i) which in its whole tone has
much resemblance with the chief monologue in Hamlet. ... He must confess
that * the quarrel will bear no colour for the thing he now is,' he will, therefore,
'fashion' it thus:

'that, what he is, augumented.
Would run to these and these extremities,'

and, therefore, as 'a serpent's egg,' he must be killed ' in the shell.' But this, indeed,
for a man as upright and conscientious as Brutus, must be considered as looking
too deeply into an uncommitted fault; in the great exploit to which he aspires an
inherited ambition as refined, as popular is at work as in Caesar's aspirations after
dominion; and remorse is in him just as much disjoined from power as he fears
may be the case with Caesar. No man is constituted a judge over thoughts. If it
is lawful to condemn on suspicion and presumption, then the people too were right
in tearing the poet Cinna to pieces on a presumption. Had Brutus waited for these
'extremities,' it is possible that fate might have touched Caesar, that an involun-
tary revolution and not a plannedconspiracy, not the conspiracy of a friend, might
have overthrown him. Brutus might have been mistaken in Caesar; this is, indeed,
a mere possibility not to be proved; but that he erred in Antony is certain, and this
certainty makes the possibility of the other error the more probable. He considers
Antony as a harmless voluptuary, as ' Caesar's arm,' which could do nothing ' when
Caesar's head were off'; he knows that they shall 'have him well to friend.' In
all these opinions about Antony he is entirely deceived, although he had been
thoroughly warned by Cassius; and yet he decreed Caesar's death upon a suspicion.
He solemnly promised Rome that, if the restoration of the republic were to follow,
she should have her wish from Brutus's own hand. Uncertain whether this good
would follow the restoration, he commits a certain crime; a necessary part of this
crime, the removal of Antony, he leaves undone; and the consequence is that,
through this very Antony, the intended restoration is frustrated. In silence,

406 APPENDIX

before the battle of Philippi, he must hear from Antony the moral reproach of
assassination; he must hear from Cassius the blame of having unseasonably spared
the man whose tongue had otherwise not thus offended.

We have shown that the nature of Brutus in itself would never have compelled
him to such a deed of violence; it was too gentle and magnanimous. But in these
very qualities was that love of honour rooted which led him to listen to the call
of patriotism that urged him on; in them was rooted the tractability, the want of
obstinacy and selfishness, which rendered him accessible to counsel and reminder
from without; and finally, that unsuspiciousness which induced him to leave those
counsels untested. He yielded too quickly to the man who spoke from personal
hatred to Ccesar; he accepted too trustingly the call of men who used him as a cover-
ing for their own moral nakedness; he read too credulously the papers they threw
in his way as the voice of the Roman people. This call of his country stirred
him as strongly as Lady Macbeth's taunt of manhood had stung Macbeth. The
calm man, like that impassioned one, accepted his task; not that, like Macbeth, he
plunged into it madly, but he made a wrong choice between the impulses of his
nature within and the call of honour without. He sinks under this error without
acknowledging it. As this could not be expressed in any reflection of the man who
had once fallen into the error, the poet has made it evident by a parallel which
indicates a wonderful depth of thought. In the episode concerning Portia, Shake-
speare has closely copied Plutarch, almost without adding or omitting anything.
And yet by the mere introduction of this, light is obtained in a wonderful manner,
which by reflection reveals Brutus's concealed internal sensations after the deed.
Portia is represented by the poet as the feminine, tender counterpart of Brutus.
Altogether womanly in her care and watchfulness over her husband, as Cato's
daughter and as Brutus's wife, she feels a call to share the political plans of her con-
sort, just as he, the descendant of the ancient Brutus, thinks he must not deny him-
self to the cause of freedom. By a self-inflicted wound she proves her vocation, her
courage, her ability to be silent and to bear, and her proof succeeds. She now
presses into the counsels of her husband, takes her share in his grief and in his
secret, and becomes a passive conspirator. But no sooner is this accomplished than
her suppressed womanhood comes to light, as the subjugated humanity had done in
Brutus when he would not have Antony slain. She overrated her woman's strength
when she forced herself into the conspiracy, as he in his sphere overrated his
powers when he placed himself at the head of the conspirators. On the first failure
of her expectations Portia's heart breaks and she commits suicide. As quickly
mastered by anxiety, Brutus flies from Rome with Cassius, after Antony's success,
both of them like 'madmen'; this separation drives Portia to despair, and her death
reacts upon Brutus's inward agitation, which in his usual manner he conceals to the
last. The gloom, which overwhelms him from this time forth, reacts again upon the
evil issue of his cause; he betrays himself first of all in the severe manner with which
he reprimands Cassius. The discord between the leaders cannot be hidden from the
lookers-on and cannot have an encouraging effect; to spare his broken-hearted
friend, Cassius too quickly abandons his opposition to the plan of battle, and the
consequences are fatal. Powerfully as Brutus commands himself in the hour that
decides their fate, differently as he rules his passions and his inward agitation from
Macbeth, yet is he, like him, distracted, absent, peevish, and forgetful. His evil
genius appears to him, not torturing and tormenting him as Richard's did, only
paralyzing his courage in the passing moment of its apparition, but returning again
and announcing his last hour. Antony was right in supposing that both the

CHARACTER OF BRUTUS— HUDSON 407

republican leaders feigned courage, but did not possess it. The mistakes which
caused the loss of the battle, historical as they are, seem used by the poet to show
the analogy between the crime and its punishment. Distrust of good success had
too quickly driven Cassius to self-destruction. 'Mistrust, melancholy's child,
showed to the apt thoughts of men, the things that are not; error, soon conceived,
never comes to a happy birth, but kills the mother that engendered it.' These are
words which may apply also to the mistrustful error which showed Brutus things
in reference to Caesar that were not. By joining the conspiracy the honourable
man took a step for the sake of honour and patriotism which his moral principles
would have forbidden; quite corresponding to this is his end. His philosophy
taught him to bear the issue patiently, but when Cassius held before him the
ignominy of being led in triumph by the conqueror his feeling of honour led him to
turn away from his moral principles at the instigation of this same Cassius, who first
stimulated his feeling of honour against Caesar; he resorts with passive courage to
self-destruction, which he had once esteemed cowardly.

HtTDSON {Life, etc., ii, 231): Brutus heads a plot to assassinate the man who,
besides being clothed with the sanctions of the law as the highest representative of
the State, has been his personal friend and benefactor; all this, not on any ground of
fact, but on an assumed probability that the crown will prove a sacrament of evil
and transform him into quite another man. A strange piece of casuistry indeed!
but nowise unsuited to the spirit of a man who was to commit the gravest of crimes
purely from a misplaced virtue. And yet the character of Brutus is full of beauty
and sweetness. In all the relations of life he is upright, gentle, and pure; of a sen-
sitiveness and delicacy of principle that cannot bosom the slightest stain; his
mind enriched and fortified with the best extractions of philosophy; a man adorned
with all the virtues which, in public and private, at honfe and in the circle of
friends, win respect and charm the heart. Being such a man,''of course, he could
only do what he did under some sort of delusion. And so, indeed, it is. Yet this
very delusion serves, apparently, to ennoble and beautify him, as it takes him and
works upon him through his virtues. At heart he is a real patriot, every inch of him.
But his patriotism, besides being somewhat hidebound with patrician pride, is of the
speculative kind, and dwells where his whole character has been chiefly formed, in a
world of poetical and philosophic ideals. He is an enthusiastic student of books.
Plato is his favourite teacher, and he has studiously framed his life and tuned his
thoughts to the grand and pure conceptions won from that all but divine source. . . .
Brutus's great fault lies in supposing it his duty to be meddling with things that he
does not understand. Conscious of high thoughts and just desires, but with little
gift of practical insight, he is ill fitted to 'grind among the iron facts of life.' In
truth, he does not really see where he is; the actual circumstances and tendencies
amidst which he lives are as a book written in a language he cannot read. The char-
acters of those who act with him are too far below the region of his principles and
habitual thinkings for him to take the true cast of them. Himself incapable of
such motives as govern them, he just projects and suspends his ideals in them, and
then misreckons upon them as realizing the men of his own brain. So, also, he clings
to the idea of the great and free republic of his fathers, the old Rome that has
ever stood to his feelings touched with the consecrations of time, and glorified with
the high virtues that have grown up under her cherishing. But, in the long reign
of tearing faction and civil butchery, that which he worships has been substan-
tially changed, the reality lost. Caesar, already clothed with the title and the

4o8 APPENDIX

power of Imperator for life, would change the form so as to agree with the sub-
stance, the name so as to fit the thing. But Brutus is so filled with the idea of that
which has thus passed away never to return that he thinks to save or recover the
whole by preventing such formal and nominal change.

And so his whole course is that of one acting on his own ideas, not on the facts
that are before and around him. Indeed, he does not see them; he merely dreams
his own meaning into them. He is swift to do that by which he thinks his country
ought to be benefited. As the killing of Caesar stands in his purpose, he and his asso-
ciates are to be ' sacrificers, not butchers.' But, in order to [obtain] any such effect as
he hopes for, his countrymen generally must regard the act in the same light as he
intends it. That they will do this, is the very thing which he has, in fact, no reason
to conclude; notwithstanding, because it is so in his idea, therefore he trusts that
the conspirators will *be called purgers, not murderers.' Meanwhile the plain
truth is, that if his countrymen had been capable of regarding the deed as a sacrifice,
they would not have made nor permitted any occasion for it. It is certain that
unless so construed the act must prove fruitful of evil; all Rome is full of things
proving that it cannot be so construed; but this is what Brutus has no eye to see.
So, too, in his oration, 'to show the reason of our Caesar's death,' he speaks, in calm
and dispassionate manner, just those things which he thinks ought to set the
people right, and himself right in their eyes; forgetting all the while that the deed
cannot fail to make the people mad, and that popular madness is not a thing to be
reasoned with. And for the same cause he insists on sparing Antony, and on per-
mitting him to speak in Cjesar's funeral. To do otherwise would be unjust, and so
would overthrow the whole nature of the enterprise as it lives in his mind. And,
because in his idea it ought so to be, he trusts that Antony will make Caesar's
death the occasion of strengthening those who killed him; not perceiving the
strong likelihood, which soon passes into a fact, that in cutting off Caesar they have
taken away the only check on Antony's ambition. He ought to have foreseen that
Antony, instead of being drawn to their side, would rather make love to Caesar's
place at their expense.

Thus the course of Brutus serves no end but to set on foot another civil war,
which naturally hastens and assures the very thing he ought to prevent. He
confides in the goodness of his cause, not considering that the better the cause, the
worse its chance with bad men. He thinks it safe to trust others, because he knows
they can safely trust him; the singleness of his own eye causing him to believe that
others will see as he sees, the purity of his own heart, that others will feel as he feels.

Here, then, we have a strong instance of a very good man doing a very bad thing;
and, withal, of a wise man acting most unwisely, because his wisdom knew not its
place; a right noble, just, heroic spirit bearing directly athwart the virtues he
worships. On the whole, it is not wonderful that Brutus should have exclaimed, as he
is said to have done, that he worshipped Virtue, and found her at last but a shade.
So worshipped, she may well prove a shade indeed! Admiration of the man's
character, reprobation of his proceedings — which of these is the stronger with
us? And there is, I think, much the same irony in the representation of Bru-
tus as in that of Caesar; only the order of it is here reversed. As if one should
say, 'O yes, yes! in the practical affairs of mankind your charming wisdom of the
closet will doubtless put to shame the workings of mere practical insight and
sagacity.'

Shakespeare's exactness in the minutest details of character is well shown in the
speech already referred to; which is the utterance of a man philosophizing most

CHARACTER OF BRUTUS— CLARKE

409

unphilosophically; as if the Academy should betake itself to the stump, and this,
too, without any sense of the incongruity.

C. G. Clarke (Getilleman's Maga., March, 1878, p. 318): Brutus is the philos-
opher of patriotic duty and of abstract general good. He is a stoic philosopher,
with a heart swayed by the gentlest and most benevolent emotions. He cultivates
self-abnegation, self-devotion, self-immolation where the common weal demands
his individual sacrifice. At the call of public benefit he is ever ready to surrender
private satisfaction. His friendship for Caesar, his affection for Portia, his wife, are
merged in his love of countrj-. For the sake of Rome's advantage he willingly
yields his single Roman content, welfare, or even life. His sentiments are calm,
sober, dispassionate, almost phlegmatic. Here are a few of them, as illustrations
of the peculiar feature of his philosophy. In one place he remarks:
'That we shall die, we know; 'tis but the time
And drawing days out that men stand upon.'

His own nature, schooled to a stem impassiveness by the stoical teaching of his
philosophy, is self-sho\\Ti when he speaks of himself as one

' That carries anger as the flint bears fire
Who, much enforced, shows a hasty spark,
And straight is cold again.'

He thus forcibly describes a conceived intention:

* Between the acting of a dreadful thing
And the first motion, all the interim is
Like a phantasma, or a hideous dream:
The genius and the mortal instruments
Are then in council; and the state of man.
Like to a little kingdom suffers then
The nature of an insurrection.'
Elsewhere he says:

'The abuse of greatness is, when it disjoins

Remorse from power.' -»

Adding:

' 'Tis a common proof
That lowliness is young amibition's ladder;
WTiereto the climber upward turns his face;
But when he once attains the topmost round,
He then unto the ladder turns his back.
Looks in the clouds, scorning the base degrees
By which he did ascend.'

It is Brutus who makes that very acute remark:

'When love begins to sicken and decay.
It useth an enforced ceremony.
There are no tricks in plain and simple faith;
But hollow men, like horses hot at hand,
Make gallant show and promise of their mettle;
But when they should endure the bloody spur.
They fall their crests, and, like deceitful jades,
Sink in the trial.'

4IO APPENDIX

And his is the celebrated aphorism — instinct with the very quintessence of wisdom
— or philosophy in promptitude:

' 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
Is bound in shallows, and in miseries.'

I think no one character in all the dramas of Shakespeare delivers nobler philos-
ophy, in the guise of axiom and rule of conduct, than the illustrious Marcus Brutus,
and his prominent mental characteristic is sententiousness.

DowDEN (p. 283): Brutus is the political Girondin. He is placed in contrast
with his brother-in-law Cassius, the political Jacobin. Brutus is an idealist; he
lives among books; he nourishes himself with philosophies; he is secluded from the
impression of facts. Moral ideas and principles are more to him than concrete
realities; he is studious of self-perfection, jealous of the purity of his own character,
unwilling that so clear a character should receive even the apparent stain of mis-
conception or misrepresentation. He is, therefore, as such men are, too much given
to the explanation of his conduct. Had he lived he would have written an apology
for his life, educing evidence with a calm superiority to prove that each act of his
life proceeded from an honorable motive. Cassius, on the contrary, is by no means
studious of moral perfection. He is frankly envious, and hates Caesar. Yet he is
not ignoble. Brutus loves him, and the love of Brutus is a patent which establishes
a man's nobihty:

'The last of all the Romans, fare thee well!
It is impossible that ever Rome
Should breed thy fellow.'

And Cassius has one who will die for him. Titinius crowns the dead brow of the
conspirator:

' Brutus come apace.

And see how I regarded Caius Cassius.

By your leave, gods — this is a Roman's part:

Come Cassius' sword, and find Titinius' heart.'

Cassius has a swift and clear conception of the fact. He is not, like Brutus, a
theorist, but 'a great observer,' who 'looks quite through the deeds of men.'
Brutus lives in the abstraction, in the idea; Cassius lives in the concrete, in the
fact.

Snider (ii, 247): In ordinary times of civil repose we should say of Brutus:
What a noble citizen! No one could be more ready to fulfill his duties to his
family, to his fellow-men, and to his country. But it must be recollected that these
duties were the prescribed usages, customs, and beliefs of his nation; they were given
to him — transmitted from his ancestors. But, when prescription no longer points
out the way, such a man must fall, for he has no intellectual basis of action. Still,
the morality of mankind in general is prescriptive, and does not rest upon rational
insight; they follow the footsteps of their fathers. Hence it is that most people
think that Brutus is the real hero of the play, and that it is wrongly named. But
this was certainly not Shakespeare's design, for it was very easy to construct a drama

CHARACTER OF BRUTUS— STAFFER 411

in which Brutus should appear as triumphant by having it terminate at the assas-
sination of Caesar, with a grand flourish of daggers, frantic proclamations of
liberty, and 'sic semper tyrannis.' Shakespeare, however, takes special pains not
to do any such thing, but to show the triumph of Csesar's thought in the destruction
of the conspirators. Still, Brutus remains the favorite character with the multi-
tude, because they do not, and cannot, rise above this standpoint, and to-day he is
often taken as the great prototype of all lovers of liberty.

The effect of intellectual weakness combined with strong moral impulses appears,
then, to be the meaning of this character. It is amazing to observe its contradic-
tions and utter want of steadiness of purpose; nor are they at all exaggerated by
the Poet. This man, who could assassinate his best friend for the public good, can-
not, when a military leader, conscientiously levy contributions for his starving
soldiers, 'for,' says he, 'I can raise no money by vile means.' That is, he would
sacrifice that very cause, for which he committed the greatest crime known to man,
to a moral punctilio. This may be moral heroism, but it is collossal stupidity.
Furthermore, in every instance in which Cassius and he differed about the course
to be pursued, Brutus was in the wrong. He, out of moral scruples, saved Antony,
against the advice of Cassius; this same Antony afterward destroyed their army and
with it their cause. Moreover, in the battle of Philippi, the fatal termination of the
conflict was fought in disregard of the judgment of Cassius. And, finally, he
dies with a contradiction upon his lips, for he says that Cato was a coward for
committing suicide, and then declares that he will never be taken captive to Rome
alive, and shortly afterwards falls upon his own sword.

Perhaps, however, he came to the conclusion that his country needed his death,
for he said in his celebrated speech: 'I have the same dagger (which slew Caesar)
for myself when it shall please my country to need my death.'

Staffer (p. 366) : Brutus had a passion for reading and for books, but there are
many different ways of liking books and reading; some, for instance, delighting in
them as materials for dreamy speculation, as did Hamlet and all his posterity down
to Werther, Rene, and Obermann; others prizing them for the sake of the mental
culture they afford, like Cicero and other men of letters; others, again, for the satis-
faction of a craving after knowledge, like Terentius Varro and scientific men
of all periods. But Brutus was influenced by none of these motives; what he
asked for from books was food for moral meditation and their aid in perfecting
himself in virtue. Philosophical writers were those he valued above all others, and
among these his especial favourite was Plato.

He was greatly given to self-examination and self-study, contemplating and
observing himself so intently that the one great preoccupation of his life might be
said to be how to make himself a more noble character. To be noble, that is, to be
just, upright, brave, generous, and all the rest, implies, indeed, in one word the
fulfilling of the whole duty of man; still, in this very habit of making one's own per-
sonality the centre of the world, and of regarding things in general only in connec-
tion with oneself, there lurks a kind of moral egoism and the germ of a very serious
faihng. By dint of so entirely directing his attention inwards, Brutus became
blind to outward things, and lost the sense of reality. His idealism led him, when
confronted by the needs and requirements of practical life, to commit very grave
oversights; he observed facts badly, and had no good sound judgment, and was
of all men the one who could least understand and read the characters of others:
witness, for example, his enthusiastic praises of Cicero's son on account of a few

412 APPENDIX

brilliant hopes to which he had at first given rise, and he was qmte unable to
penetrate beneath the deceitful surface and to discover the young man's essential
mediocrity.

His self-engrossed and meditative habits so isolated him from the outer world
as to make him oblivious of the duties of friendship, for which Cassius gently
reproached him (Act I, sc. ii.). The reason, however, was no lessening of affection
on his part, only that —

' Poor Brutus, with himself at war,
Forgets the shows of love to other men.'

In striking contrast with Henry V, who, on the eve of the battle of Agincourt,
visited his soldiers to cheer and inspire them with the same courage and spirit
that glowed within himself, Brutus was always reading and pondering. We see him
in Shakespeare, on the eve of the battle of Philippi, seated in his tent, taking up a
book and begging his servant to draw sweet strains from his instrument to soothe
away his cares. In Plutarch, he is the same; on the day before the battle of Phar-
sala, when every one else thought only of the great struggle which was to decide the
fate of the Republic and of the world, he was able to abstract his mind from all
surrounding circumstances, and 'wrote all day long till night, writing a compen-
dium of Polybius.'

Men of this temperament are not the predestined leaders of a party, and Brutus
would never of himself, or from the unassisted promptings of his own nature, have
become the head of the conspiracy against Caesar. He would have let things follow
their course, silently grieving in his heart at the direction they were taking, but
doing nothing to prevent it. When he hears the shouts of the people, he says
calmly —

'I do fear the people
Choose Caesar for their king.'

Cassius, eager and impetuous, catches at the expression, exclaiming —

'Ay, do you fear it?
Then must I think you would not have it so.'

But Brutus answers gently —

'I would not, Cassius; yet I love him well.'

And in this melancholy regret and dreamy sadness Brutus, if left to himself, would
have passed his days.

Brutus was an eminently lovable person, which is rarely the case with those
who inspire very great respect, for men's hearts, it must frankly be confessed, are
not, as a rule, attracted by moral perfection; it is, indeed, admired and venerated —
but coldly and at a distince. The comparison is too humiliating for poor humanity
to feel very great interest in the sight of irreproachable virtue; and so true is this,
that Aristotle forbade the tragic poets to present blameless and altogether perfect
heroes, lest they should weary their audience. But in order to bring the Brutus of
history within this excellent rule, Shakespeare has no occasion to make any altera-
tions; all he had to do was to clothe in the language of poetry the features of his
character given by Plutarch.

Brutus was in reality a sensitive nature, gentle and tender-hearted as a woman;
he had great apparent self-control, but it was due to his reason as a philosopher

CHARACTER OF BRUTUS— MOULTON

413

which triumphed over his nature by an heroic effort of will, and this man of iron
was, in truth, only a reed, and a reed that never grew so rigid as not at times to be
felt to tremble. Nothing less resembles the real Brutus than the stiff, inexorable
stoic of the school of Seneca that Voltaire has drawn with superficial eloquence
in cold and rigid lines. He was beloved of the people and of his friends, 'because
he was a marvelous lowly and gentle person,' as North has it.

MouLTON {Sh. as Dram. Art., p. lyi): The force in Brutus's character is obvious:
it is rather its softer side that some readers find difficulty in seeing. But this
difficulty is in reality a testimony to Shakespeare's skill, for Brutus is a stoic, and
what gentleness we see in him appears in spite of himself. It may be seen in his
culture of art, music, and philosophy, which have such an effect in softening the
manners. Nor is this in the case of the Roman Brutus a mere conventional culture:
these tastes are among his strongest passions. When all is confusion around him
on the eve of the fatal battle he cannot restrain his longing for the refreshing tones
of his page's lyre; and, the music over, he takes up his philosophical treatise at the
page he had turned down. Again, Brutus's considerateness for his dependents is
in strong contrast with the harshness of Roman masters. On the same eve of the
battle he insists that the men who watch in his tent shall lie down instead of stand-
ing, as discipline would require. An exquisite little episode brings out Brutus's
sweetness of demeanour in dealing with his youthful page; this rises to womanly
tenderness at the end, when, noticing how the boy, wearied out and fallen asleep,
is lying in a position to injure his instrument, he rises and disengages it without
waking him.

Brutus's relations with Portia bear the same testimony. Portia is a woman
with as high a spirit as Lady Macbeth, and she can inflict a wound on herself to
prove her courage and her right to share her husband's secrets. But she lacks the
physical nerve of Lady Macbeth; her agitation on the morning of the assassination
threatens to betray the conspirators, and when these have to flee from Rome the
suspense is too much for her and she commits suicide. Brutus knew his wife better
than she knew herself, and was right in seeking to withhold the fatal confidence;
yet he allowed himself to be persuaded: no man would be so swayed by a tender
woman unless he had a tender spirit of his own. In all these ways we may trace an
extreme of gentleness in Brutus. But it is of the essence of his character that this
softer side is concealed behind an imperturbability of outward demeanor that
belongs to his stoic religion: this struggle between inward and outward is the
main feature for the actor to bring out.

Brutus's nature is developed on all its sides; in his character the antithesis of the
outer and inner life disappears. It reappears, however, in his action; for Brutus
is compelled to balance a weighty issue, with public policy on the one side, and on
the other not only justice to individual claims, but further the claims of friend-
ship, which is one of the fairest flowers of the inner life. And the balance dips
to the wrong side. If the question were of using the weapon of assassination
against a criminal too high for the ordinary law to reach, this would be a moral
problem which, however doubtful to modern thought, would have been readily
decided by a stoic. But the question which presented itself to Brutus was dis-
tinctly not this. Shakespeare has been careful to represent Brutus as admitting
to himself that Caesar has done no wrong: he slays him for what he might do.

It is true that Shakespeare, with his usual 'dramatic hedging,' softens down this
immoral bias in a great hero by representing him as both a Roman of the nation

414

APPENDIX

which beyond all other nations exalted the state over the individual, and a Brutus
representative of the house which had risen to greatness by leading violence against
tyranny. But Brutus's own conscience being judge, the man against whom he
moves is guiltless; and so the conscious sacrifice of justice and friendship to policy
is a fatal error which is source sufiicient for the whole tragedy of which Brutus is
the hero.

J. M. Brown (p. 114): In Hamlet Shakespeare showed how futile the thinker
is when thrown into a sphere of action. In Brutus he reveals how great the influence
of spotless probity may be before it enters into action, how vain it is amid the in-
tricate cares of office and leadership. Apart from power, kept out of action 'his
coimtenance like richest alchymy,' changes 'offence' to 'virtue and worthiness.'
How gentle and considerate he is to his servants! He will not break the slumbers
of his page Lucius even in the midst of his 'hideous dream' of assassination or in
his sore tribulation before the great battle that is to decide his fate and Rome's.
How humane he is in his relations with Portia! 'Musing and sighing,' 'staring
with ungentle looks, ' he will not answer her loving entreaties to have his confidence;
but 'with an angry wafture of his hand' 'gives sign for her to leave him'; he had,
to begin with, a mettlesome and moody nature, but he has brought it imder control.
She knows this and, kneeling, she tells him how she stabbed her thigh to show what
she would endure for him. And in admiration of her courage he entrusts the dark
secret to her. But nowhere is the depths of his tender love for her shown more than
when he knows that she is dead. He has quarreled with Cassius and they have wept
out a reconciliation. Then in talking over their anger he calmly says, 'O Cassius,
I am sick of many griefs,' and on being reminded of his stoic philosophy, he adds,
'No man bears sorrow better. Portia is dead.' The question of his friend reveals
the greatness of the loss: 'How 'scaped I killing when I crossed you so?' Nor will
he be induced to speak of it more.

'With meditating that she must die once
He had the patience to endure it now.'

There is no outcry here, no melodramatic appeal ; the grief is too stern for paltry
words, 'too deep for tears.' 'Even so great men great losses should endure.'

How dififerent is his conduct over Caesar's body with the mark of his own dagger
in it! That last upbraiding look and word of his great friend as he falls has pierced
to his very heart, though he will not show the scar by word or sign. He becomes
voluble in explanation and defence, he overflows in eloquence and action to stifle
the rising pain of remorse. He is satisfied he did right, and yet that look. Hence
the unreal ring that Shakespeare gives to his obituary eloquence compared with
the manly heart-broken eloquence of Antony. It sounds like a lesson that has been
conned. There is no genuine belief in it; he is only trying to persuade himself to
believe, as he is trying to persuade the people. Thenceforth there comes upon him
the fatalism of despair, whose voice he cannot stifle —

'That we shall die we know; 'tis but the time
And drawing days out that men stand upon.'

It reminds us of Hamlet's when he is driven to action.

And when he is not giving expression to this feeling that death is coming, the
sooner the better, there is a falsetto note in his utterances. What painful melo-
drama is his command to bathe their hands in Caesar's blood ' up to the elbows and

CHARACTER OF BRUTUS— BERGER 415

besmear their swords' and wave them o'er their heads! How monotonous is his
appeal to the citizens! And at last he and Cassius 'ride like madmen through the
gates of Rome.' Like true conspirators they come to quarrel, almost to blows, in
camp before Sardis. Brutus is ethically in the right, practically in the wrong.
.Against the will of Cassius he has punished an instrument because his hands were
foul with briber)', and he demands money from Cassius to pay his soldiers because
he would rather coin his heart's blood than ' wring from the hard hands of peasants
their vile trash.' The man who could not do this was not fit to be the general of
conspirators. He was too upright.

But in spite of his clinging to uprightness, there haunts him the sense that he
has sullied it. That last look of Caesar follows him wherever he goes; and to that
outraged friendship seems to come defeat after defeat, sorrow after sorrow in
revenge of it, and when the 'deep of night has crept upon their talk' and he sits
alone and sleepless, that haunting vision fixes itself so vividly upon his mind that it
seems to strike his eyeballs as the ghost of the dead Caesar.

Berger (p. 87) : Caesar is but a symbol, and so likewise is Brutus. His relation to
Caesar is identical with that of Judas to his IMaster. No psychological analysis
— rather one of inclinations — is necessary to explain the imderlying motives of
Judas. The thirty pieces of silver do not explain his action. To Caesar appertains
the personification of power condensed in one man; Brutus belongs in the popu-
listic fancy of men who cannot endure such power; for this reason Dante has placed
him together with Judas in the lowest circle of Hell. Shakespeare, ever sympathetic
to his heroes under constraint of circumstance as an explanation of their motives,
and to whom it suffices if we are sensible of the ' He must,' if we are unable to analyze
the 'must,' Shakespeare has not expressed the last word in regard to Brutus. It
lies unuttered in the depths of Brutus's noble and even spiritual being. .Another
has sought to put it in words, Friederich Nietzsche, whose penetrating glance here,
as often before, seeks to force its way 'behind the scenes of popular psychology
to the innermost secret places. . . . The passage, replete -n-ith hidden meaning,
is found in the Aphorismus, In Shakespeare's Honour, p. 118 of Joyful Wisdom
{Frohlichen Wissenschaft), ed. 1887. I think it darts a ray of light into the very
centre of Brutus's character; and it is thoroughly characteristic of Nietzsche
himself, who discovers in the relation of Brutus to Cassar a symbol of his own
relations to Richard Wagner. [Berger quotes but a sentence from Nietzsche which
is here given in Italic. The whole Aphorism relates to Brutus, and, in Common's
translation, is as follows]: 'The best thing I could say in honour of Shakespeare,
the man, is that he believed in Brutus and cast not a shadow of suspicion on the
kind of \-irtue which Brutus represents! It is to him that Shakespeare consecrated
his best tragedy — it is at present still called by a wrong name, — to him and to the
most terrible essence of lofty morahty. Independence of soul! — thai is the question
at issue! No sacrifice can be too great there: one must be able to sacrifice to it one's
dearest frie^id, though he be also the grandest of men, the ornament of the world, the
genius without peer, — // one really loves freedom as the freedom of great souls, and if
this freedom be threatened by him: — it is thus that Shakespeare must have felt! The
elevation in which he places Csesar is the most exquisite honour he could confer
upon Brutus; it is thus only that he lifts into vastness the inner problem of his
hero, and, similarly, the strength of soul which could cut this knot! And was it
actually political freedom that impelled the poet to sympathy with Brutus, — and
made him the accomplice of Brutus? Or was political freedom merely a symbol for

4i6 APPENDIX

something inexpressible? Do we perhaps stand before some sombre event or
adventure of the poet's own soul, which has remained unknown, and of which he
only cared to speak symbolically? What is all Hamlet — melancholy in com-
parison with the melancholy of Brutus! — and perhaps Shakespeare also knew this,
as he knew the other, by experience! Perhaps he also had his dark hour and his
bad angel, just as Brutus had them! But whatever similarities and secret rela-
tionships of that kind there may have been, Shakespeare cast himself on the
ground and felt unworthy and alien in presence of the aspect and virtue of Brutus:
he has inscribed the testimony thereof in the tragedy itself. He has brought in a
poet in it, and twice heaped upon him such an impatient and extreme contempt
that it sounds like a cry,— like the cry of self-contempt. Brutus, even Brutus,
loses patience when the poet appears, self-important, pathetic, and obtrusive, as
poets usually are— persons who seem to abound in the possibilities of greatness,
even moral greatness, and nevertheless rarely attain even to ordinary uprightness
in the philosophy of practice and of life. "He may know the times, hui I know his
temper, — away with the jigging fool!" shouts Brutus. We may translate this
back into the soul of the poet that composed it.' — Book ii, § 98; ed. Levy, p. 131.
— Berger thus concludes: 'Shakespeare, as an ingenious dramatist of the people,
seeks in Brutus for the warm human motive behind the cold, republican love of
freedom, and finds that which is indicated by Nietzsche in the foregoing.'

BoissiER (p. 309, foot-note) : A very curious statue of Brutus is to be seen at the
Campana Museum. The artist has not tried to idealize his model, and seems
to have aimed at nothing but a vulgar exactness; but we can very well recognize
in it the real Brutus. We can trace in that low forehead and the heavy bones of
the face a narrow mind and an obstinate will. The face has a feverish and sickly
look; it is at once young and old, and is the case with those who have never really
been young. Above all, we perceive in it a strange sadness, that of a man over-
whelmed by the weight of a great and fateful destiny. In the fine bust of Brutus
preserved in the Museum of the Capitol the face is fuller and handsomer. The
sweetness and sadness remain; the sickly look has disappeared. The features ex-
actly resemble those on the famous medal struck during Brutus's last years, and
which bears on the reverse a Phrygian cap between two daggers, with the threaten-
ing legend, Idus Martiae. Michael Angelo commenced a bust of Brutus, of which
the admirable rough model may be seen at the Uffizi in Florence. It was not a
fancy study, and we see that he had made use of ancient portraits while idealizing
them.

GoLL (p. 74) : If Brutus had possessed Antony's powers when he spoke to the
people, if he had had Cassius's prudence before the battle, if he had been victorious,
and, after victory, had led Rome forward to the golden age of which he dreamed —
the act, the murder would, nevertheless, have been the same; but would history's
judgment not then have been quite different? Is it not rather the qualities lack-
ing in him: his political dilettantism, his doctrinaire short-sightedness, his lack of
understanding of the age and its demands — is it not on these that the true premises
of the judgment are based?

If, on the other hand, Brutus had possessed Antony's and Cassius's abilities,
would he, then, have been Brutus, the hero of liberty? Would the murder not
have been far more hideous had it been carried out — not by the Brutus, who, by
virtue of his faults, is ruined by it, but by a Brutus who, through his political

CHARACTER OF BRUTUS— MAC CALLUM 417

sagacity, conquered the world through it? In this case would not the ethical judg-
ment have been far more damning?

Here is a yawning gulf which it is not easy to overpass. Are we to let our own
judgment be guided by that of history, the judgment of the world, which esti-
mates the act and asks: What has the man done? Or are we to follow the judg-
ment of ethics, which analyses the motives and asks: WTiatdid the man desire to do?

A universally binding answer cannot be given. Each one must here, according
to his bent, choose for himself; possibly he is the more just who never quite forgets
the man in the deed. That is the reason why Shakespeare does not allow history
to speak the last word over Brutus. The ethical judgment utters softer and more
consolatory words over the body of Brutus:

'This was the noblest Roman of them ail :
All the conspirators save only he
Did that they did in envy of great Csesar;
He only, in a general honest thought
And common good to all, made one of them.
His life was gentle and the elements
So mixed in him that Nature might stand up
And say to all the world, "This was a man."'

This was a man ! Yea, as surely as the splendid power of having a conviction and
following it be man's greatest possession. Maybe a play of words is hidden in the
last lines:

'His life was gentle and the elements

So mixed in him that Nature might stand up

And say to all the world, "This was a man."'

This was a man — but no more. In him the elements of Nature were mixed, as
they are in all human beings, however much he belonged to the best amongst them
all. Brutus desired to be more than man: to be the judge and avenger of justice —
he paid for it with his life, because he was only a man.

And this epitaph, which coincides accurately with Tolstoy's views of life, is per-
haps also a fit and proper epitaph over the political offender himself.

MacCallitm (p. 238): Brutus has no quarrel with Caesar as a man, and no
justification is given for the conspiracy in what Caesar has done. On the con-
trary, his murderer stands sponsor for his character, acknowledges his supreme
greatness, and loves him as a dear friend. But neither, on the other hand, is any-
thing introduced that might divert our sympathies from Brutus by representing
him as bound by other than the voluntary ties of affection and respect. And this
is the more remarkable that in Plutarch there are two particulars full of personal
pathos which Shakespeare cannot have failed to note, and which lend themselves
to dramatic piuposes, as other dramatists have proved. One of them, employed
by Voltaire, would darken the assassination to parricide. In explanation of the
indulgence with which Caesar treated Brutus, Plutarch says:

'^Mlen he was a young man, he had been acquainted with Servilia,
who was extremlie in love with him. And Bicause Brutus was
borne in that time when their love was hottest, he perswaded him
selfe that he begat him.'

And then follows what can be alleged in proof. . . .

41 8 APPENDIX

This is a mere casual hint; but the other point finds repeated mention in the life,
and is dwelt upon though explained away in the comparison. It is the circum-
stance that Brutus had fought on Pompey's side, and that thereafter Caesar had
spared him, amnestied his friends, and loaded him with favours.

'The greatest reproache they could make against Brutus was:
that Julius Caesar having saved his life, and pardoned all the prisoners
also taken in battell, as many as he made request for, taking him for
his frende, and honoring him above all his other frends, Brutus
notwithstanding had imbrued his hands in his blood.' {The com-
parison of Dion with Brutus.)

Plutarch, indeed, instances this as the grand proof of Brutus 's superiority to personal
considerations; but it looks bad, and certainly introduces a new element into the
moral problem. At all events, though it involves in a specially acute form that
conflict of duties which the drama loves, and was so used by Shakespeare's con-
temporaries as early as Muret and as late as Alexander, Shakespeare dismisses it.

Attention is concentrated on the single fact that Brutus felt it his duty to take
the life of Caesar, and no obligations of kinship or -gratitude are allowed to com-
plicate the one simple case of conscience.

The victim and the sacrificer are thus set before us, each with an imstained record,
and in only those personal relations that arise from warm and reverent friendship.

Of their mutual attachment we are left in no doubt, nor are we ever suffered to
forget it. Cassius, in talk to himself, bears witness that Caesar 'loves Brutus'
(I, ii, 317). Antony, in his speech to the people, appeals to this as a notorious fact:

' Brutus, as you know, was Caesar's angel :
Judge, O you gods, how dearly Caesar loved him.' — III, ii, 185.

But the strongest testimony is Caesar's own cry, the cry of astonishment and con-
sternation, whether from the betrayed when the beloved is the traitor, or from the
condemned when the beloved is the judge:

'Et tu Brute? Then fall Caesar!'— Ill, i, 77.

Nor is less stress laid on Brutus's feeling. He avows it in the Forum as before he
had assured Antony that 'he did love Caesar when he struck him.' — III, i, 182.
Cassius tells him:

' When thou didst hate him worst, thou lovedst him better
Than ever thou lovedst Cassius.' — IV, iii, 106.

But here, again, the most pathetic evidence is to be found in the assassination scene
itself. When Brutus stoops in the guise of petitioner, we cannot suppose it is
merely with treacherous adroitness:

'I kiss thy hand, but not in flattery, Caesar.' — III, i, 52.

Knowing the man, do we not feel that this is the last tender farewell?

But, though all this is true, it cannot be maintained, in view of the soliloquy
before the conspirators' meeting, that Shakespeare makes Brutus the mouthpiece of
republicanism, as he makes Caesar the mouthpiece of imperialism. The opposition
of principles is present, but it is of principles on a different plane.

Caesar, the spirit of Caesar is, indeed, the spirit of Empire, the spirit of practical
greatness in the domains of war, policy, organization: of this he is the exponent.

CHARACTER OF BRUTUS—MACCALLUM 419

to this he is the martyr. Brutus's spirit is rather the spirit of loyalty to duty,
which finds in him its exponent and martyr too.

He is lavishly endowed by nature with all the inward qualities that go to make
the virtuous man, and these he has improved and disciplined by every means in his
power. His standard is high, but he is so strenuous and sincere in living up to it
that he is recognized as no less pre-eminent in the sphere of ethics than Caesar in
the sphere of politics. Indeed, their different ideals dominate and impel both men
in an almost equal degree. And in each case this leads to a kind of pose. It ap-
pears even in their speech. The balanced precision of the one tells its own tale as
clearly as the overstrained loftiness of the other, and is as closely matched with the
part that he needs must play. Obviously, Brutus does not like to confess that he
has been in the wrong. No more in the au^fxov than in the Emperor is there room
for any weakness. After his dispute with Cassius he assumes rather unjustifiably
that he has, on the whole, been in the right, that he has been the provoked party,
and that, at worst, he has shown momentary heat. But even this slight admission,
coming from him, fills Cassius with surprise:

* Brutus. When I spoke that, I was ill-temper'd too.

Cassius. Do you confess so much? Give me your hand.' — IV, iii, 116.

The Ideal Wise Man must not yield to anger any more than to other passions, and
it costs Brutus something to own that he has done so. But he minimizes his con-
fession by accepting Cassius's apology for his rash humor, and promising to over-
look any future offences, as though none could be laid to his own door. We like
him none the worse for this; his cult of perfection becomes the assumption and
obtrusion of it.

There is a conflict in this sensitive and finely tuned spirit which, with all his
acquired fortitude, betrays itself in his bearing to Cassius before any foreign sug-
gestion has entered his mind, which afterwards makes him unlike himself in his
behaviour to his wife, which drives sleep from his eyes for nights together, which so
jars the rare harmony of his nature, in Antony's views his chief perfection, that he
seems to suffer from an insurrection within himself. And it is not hard to under-
stand why this should be. Morahty is the guiding principle of Brutus's character,
but what if it should be at variance with itself? Now two sets of moral forces are
at strife in his heart. There are the more personal sentiments of love and reverence
for Caesar and of detestation for the crime he contemplates. Even after his deci-
sion he feels the full horror of conspiracy with its 'monstrous visage'; how much
more must he feel the horror of assassinating a friend? On the other side are the
more traditional ethical obligations to state, class, and house. It is almost as fatal
to this visionary to be called Brutus, as it is to the poet to be called Cinna. For
a great historic name spares its bearer a narrow margin of liberty. It should be
impossible for a Bourbon to be other than a legitimist; it would be impossible for a
Romanoff to abandon the Orthodo.x Church; it is impossible for a Brutus to accept
the merest show of royal power. The memory of his stock is about him. Now
Cassius reminds him of his namesake who would brook the eternal devil in Rome
as easily as a king; now the admonition is fixed with wax upon Old Brutus's statue;
now he himself recalls the share his ancestors had in expelling the Tarquin. If
such a one acquiesced in the coronation of Caesar, he must be the basest renegade,
or more detached from his antecedents than it is given a mortal man to be. And in
Brutus there is no hint of such detachment. The temper that makes him so
attentive and loyal to the pieties of life, is the very temper that vibrates to all that

420 APPENDIX

is best in the past, and clings to the spirit of use and wont. Let it again be repeated
that Brutus reveals himself to Shakespeare very much in the form of a cultured and
high-souled English nobleman, the heir of great traditions and their responsibilities,
which he fulfills to the smallest jot and tittle; the heir also of inevitable preconcep-
tions.

But in Brutus there is more than individual morality and inherited ethos: there
is superimposed on these the conscious philosophic theory with which his actions
must be spared. He has to determine his conduct not by instinct or usage, but by
impersonal, unprejudiced reason. It is to this tribunal that in the last resort he
must appeal; and in that strange soliloquy of his he puts aside all private prefer-
ences on the one hand, all local considerations on the other, and discusses his
difficulty quite as an abstract problem of right and wrong.

CRITICISMS.

Johnson: Of this tragedy many particular passages deserve regard, and the
contention and reconcilement of Brutus and Cassius is universally celebrated,
but I have never been strongly agitated in perusing it, and think it somewhat cold
and unafFecting compared with some other of Shakespeare's plays; his adherence
to the real story and to Roman manners seem to have impeded the natural
vigor of his genius.

Voltaire {Theatre de Corneille, ii, 262), in order to demonstrate to his coimtry-
men the superiority of Corneille to Shakespeare, made a translation of the first
three acts of Shakespeare's Jul. Ccbs., and this he appended to Corneille's tragedy of
Cinna. Since both pieces dealt with a conspiracy against a ruler, any person
might thus compare the treatment of the same subject by the two authors. Vol-
taire asserted that his translation was absolutely literal; and as Antony excited the
people by showing them Caesar's rent robes and Caesar's body marred by traitors,
even so Voltaire attempted to arouse his readers by calling attention, in foot-
notes, to the many offences against elegance in diction, and the wounds inflicted
by Shakespeare upon the sacred body of classic tragedy. 'Good friends, sweet
friends, let me not stir you up,' cries Antony, and thereby excites them the more;
Voltaire produces much the same effect upon his readers by adding to his trans-
lation a few words wherein he begs them to pity, rather than blame, a people for
ignorance of what constituted good taste. He thus states his view of the situa-
tion: 'It is astonishing that a nation celebrated for its genius and its success in
the arts and sciences can be pleased with so many monstrous irregularities, and
hear with delight on the one hand Caesar expressing himself in heroic terms, or like
a captain in a farce; and on the other hand, carpenters, cobblers, and senators
themselves talking like market people. Our surprise will be less when we realise
that, for the most part, the pieces of Lopez de Vega and of Calderon in Spain are
in the same style. We shall place a translation of the Heraclius of Calderon
beside the Heraclius of Corneille; and shall see the same genius as in Shakespeare,
the same ignorance, the same grandeur, similar marks of imagination, the same
bombast, the same coarseness, a lack of consistency equally striking, and the same
mixture of the cap and bells of Gilles and the tragic buskin of Sophocles. Assuredly,
Spain and England, for more than a century, have not given the cue for applause for

CRITICISMS— HAZLITT 42 1

pieces which revolt the other nations. There can, moreover, hardly exist a greater
contrast than that between English nature and Spanish nature. How then did
these two different nations join together in a taste so strange? There must be a
reason, and this reason must be due to natural causes. In the first place, the
Spaniards have never known anything better. Secondly, there is a depth of in-
terest in pieces so bizarre and barbarous. I saw the Julius Casar of Shakespeare
acted, and I must admit that from the first scene when I heard the tribune re-
proaching the people for their ingratitude to Pompey and their attachment to
Ciesar, Pompey's conqueror, I began to be interested, to be moved. I did not
see any conspirator on the stage who did not excite my curiosity; and, in spite of
so many absurd incongruities, I felt that the piece held me. In the third place,
there is much that is natural: that naturalness is often low, vulgar, and barbarous.
These are no Romans who are talking; they are peasants of a past age conspiring
in a wine-shop; and Csesar, who invites them to drink a bottle with him, does not
in the least resemble Julius Csesar. The absurdity is outlandish, but there is no
weakness. From time to time sublime points-glitter and shine forth like diamonds
scattered in the mire. I must admit that I like this monstrous spectacle more than
long confidences of a cold love, or political discussions j^et more cold. Finally, a
fourth reason which, joined to the other three, has considerable weight: men in
general love the spectacular; they wish to be spoken to by the eyes; the people
are pleased with pomp and ceremony, . . . and, as has been said before, the
people form a large part. The mind must be very cultured and the taste formed,
as that of the Italians in the sixteenth century and the French in the seventeenth,
in order to wish for nothing but that which is rightly and sagaciously written, and
to insist that a theatrical piece be worthy of the court of the Medici or that of
Louis XIV. Unfortunately, Lopez de Vega and Shakespeare were geniuses at a
time when taste was quite unformed; they corrupted that of their compatriots, who
for the most part were utterly ignorant. Had we been in the like case we should
have resembled those nations.' — [Lounsbury {Sh. and Voltaire, p. 232) says in
regard to this translation, which is not to be confounded with Voltaire's other
tragedy, La Mart de Cesar: 'The version of Julius Ccesar, taken as a whole, was
much nearer a travesty than a translation. The French word for the discharge
of this function, as rendered by its corresponding etymological equivalent in
English, expressed both its intention and its character. Shakespeare had been
traduced, not translated. The version had been craftily calculated to mislead the
reader ignorant of the original. But Voltaire was eminently satisfied with what he
had done. He spoke of it both then and afterward with pride. He boasted con-
stantly of the superiority of the methods he had followed to those of La Place,
whose translation of Shakespeare was still the only one to which French readers
had access. That translation he censured constantly for its unfaithfulness.
To D'Argental he transmitted his own in August, 1762. "I believe," he wrote,
"that you will be convinced that La Place is very far from having made known the
English drama. Concede that it is well to become acquainted with the excessive
intemperance of its extravagance."' — See, if needful, Mrs Montague, pp. 372 et
seq., and for an exhaustive accoimt and an analysis of Voltaire's translation,
Loimsbury, op. cit., pp. 219-239. — Ed.]

H.\ZLiTT {Characters, etc., p. 22): Jul. Cces. is not equal, as a whole, to either of
Shakespeare's other plays taken from the Roman history. It is inferior in interest
to Coriol., and, both in interest and power, to Ant. b" Cleo. It, however, aboxmds

422 APPENDIX

in admirable and afifecting passages, and is remarkable for the profound knowledge
of character, in which Shakespeare could scarcely fail. If there is any exception
to this remark, it is in the hero of the piece himself. . . . Shakespeare has in this
play and elsewhere shown the same penetration into political character and the
springs of public events as to those of every-day life. For instance, the whole
design to liberate their country fails from the generous temper and overweening
confidence of Brutus in the goodness of their cause and the assistance of others.
[See, also, HazUtt's note, II, ii, 57.]

Hallam (iii, 87): In {Jul. Cas\ the plot wants even that historical unity which
the romantic drama requires; the third and fourth acts are ill connected; it
is deficient in female characters, and in that combination which is generally ap-
parent amidst all the intricacies of his fable. But it aboimds in fine scenes and
fine passages, the spirit of Plutarch's Brutus is well seized, the predominence of
Ciesar is judiciously restrained, the characters have that individuality which
Shakespeare seldom misses; nor is there, perhaps, in the whole range of ancient
and modern eloquence a speech more fully realising the perfection that orators have
striven to attain than that of Antony.

ScHLEGEL (p. 240) : In the term action, as understood by the ancients, we must
include the resolution to bear the consequences of the deed with heroic magna-
nimity, and the execution of this determination will belong to its completion.
The pious resolve of Antigone to perform the last duties of her unburied brother is
soon executed and without difficulty; but, genuineness, on which alone rests its
claim to be a fit subject for a tragedy, is only subsequently proved when, without
repentance and without any symptoms of weakness, she suffers death as its pen-
alty. And to take an example from quite a different sphere, is not Shakespeare's
Jul. C(ES., as respects the action, constructed on the same principle? Brutus is
the hero of the piece; the completion of his great resolve does not consist in the
mere assassination of Caesar (an action ambiguous in itself, and of which the motives
might have been ambition and jealousy), but in this, that he proves himself the
pure champion of Roman liberty by the calm sacrifice of his amiable life. . . .

(P. 415): Caesar is not the hero of the piece, but Brutus. The amiable beauty
. of this character, his feeling and patriotic heroism, are portrayed with peculiar
care. Yet the poet has pointed out with great nicety the superiority of Cassius
over Brutus in independent volition and discernment in judging of human affairs;
that the latter, from the purity of his mind and his conscientious love of justice, is
unfit to be the head of a party in a state entirely corrupted; and that these very
faults give an unfortunate turn to the cause of the conspirators. In the part of
Cassar several ostentatious speeches have been censured as unsuitable. But as he
never appears in action, we have no other measure of his greatness than the im-
pression which he makes upon the rest of the characters and his peculiar confidence
in himself. In this Caesar was by no means deficient, as we learn from history
and his own writings; but he displayed it more in the easy ridicule of his enemies
than in pompous discourses. The theatrical effect of this play is injured by a
partial falling off at the last two acts compared with the preceding in external
splendour and rapidity. The first appearance of Caesar in festal robes, when the
music stops, and all are silent whenever he opens his mouth, and when the few
words which he utters are received as oracles, is truly magnificent; the conspiracy
is a true conspiracy, which in stolen interviews and in the dead of night prepares the

CRITICISMS—KNIGHT 423

blow which is to be struck in open day, and which is to change the constitution
of the world, — the confused thronging before the murder of Caesar, the general
agitation even of the perpetrators after the deed, are all portrayed with most
masterly skill; with the funeral procession and the speech of Antony the effect
reaches its utmost height. Caesar's shade is more powerful to avenge his fall than
he himself was to guard against it. After the overthrow of the external splendour
and greatness of the conqueror and ruler of the world, the intrinsic grandeur of
character of Brutus and Cassius is all that remain to fill the stage and occupy the
minds of the spectators; suitably to their name, as the last of the Romans, they
stand there, in some degree alone; and the forming a great and hazardous de-
termination is more powerfully calculated to e.xcite our expectation than the ^
supporting the consequences of the deed with heroic firmness.

Knight (Studies, p. 414) : At the exact period of the action of this drama, Caesar, X
possessing the reality of power, was haunted by the weakness of passionately desir-
ing the title of king. Plutarch says: 'The chiefest cause that made him mortally
hated was the covetous desire he had to be called king.' This is the pivot upon
which the whole action of Shakespeare's tragedy turns. There might have been
another mode of treating the subject. The death of Julius Caesar might have
been the catastrophe. The republican and the monarchical principles might have
been exhibited in conflict. The republican principle would have triumphed in
the fall of Caesar; and the poet would have previously held the balance between the
two principles, or have claimed, indeed, our largest sympathies for the principles
of Caesar and his friends by a true exhibition of Caesar's greatness and Caesar's
virtues. The poet chose another course. And are we, then, to talk, with ready
flippancy, of ignorance and carelessness — that he wanted classical knowledge —
that he gave himself no trouble? 'The fault of the character is the fault of the
plot,' says Hazlitt. It would have been nearer the truth had he said: the char-
acter is determined by the plot. While Caesar is upon the scene it was for the
poet, largely interpreting the historian, to show the inward workings of 'the
covetous desire he had to be called king ' : and most admirably, according to our ^
notions of characterization, has he shown them. '^ Caesar is ' in all but name a king.'
He is surrounded by all the external attributes of power; yet he is not satisfied:

'The angry spot doth glow on Caesar's brow.'

He is suspicious — he fears. But he has acquired the policy of greatness — to seem
what it is not. To his intimate friend he is an actor:

*I rather tell thee what is to be fear'd
Than what I fear; for always I am Caesar.'

When Calphumia has recounted the terrible portents of the night — when the
augurers would not that Caesar should stir forth — he exclaims:

' The gods do this in shame of cowardice :
Caesar should be a beast without a heart,
If he should stay at home to-day for fear.
No, Caesar shall not: Danger knows full well
That Caesar is more dangerous than he.
We were two lions littered in one day.
And I the elder and more terrible;
And Caesar shall go forth.'

424 APPENDIX

But to whom does he utter this, 'the boastful language,' which so offends Boswell?
To the servant who has brought the message from the augurers; before him he
could show no fear. But the very inflation of his language shows that he did fear;
and an instant after, when the servant no doubt is intended to have left the scene,
he says to his wife —

'Mark Antony shall say I am not well,
And for thy humour, I will stay at home.'

Read Plutarch's account of the scene between Decius and Caesar, when Decius
prevails against Calphurnia, and Csesar decides to go. In the historian we have
not a hint of the splendid characterization of Caesar struggling between his fear
and his pride. Wherever Shakspere found a minute touch in the historian that
could harmonize with his general plan, he embodied it in his character of Caesar.
Who does not remember the magnificent lines which the poet puts into the mouth
of Caesar?

* Cowards die many times before their deaths;

The valiant never taste of death but once.

Of all the wonders that I yet have heard,

It seems to me most strange that men should fear;

Seeing that death, a necessary end,

Will come when it will come.'

A very slight passage in Plutarch, with reference to other circumstances of Caesar's
life, suggested this: 'When some of his friends did counsel him to have a guard
for the safety of his person, and some also did ofifer themselves to serve him, he
would never consent to it, but said it was better to die once than always to be afraid
of death.' We have already noticed the skill with which Shakspere, upon a very
bald narrative, has dramatized the last sad scene in which Cassar was an actor.
The tone of his last speech is indeed boastful:

' I do not know but one
That unassailable holds on his rank,
Unshaked of motion: and, that I am he,
Let me a little show it.'

That Caesar knew his power, and made others know it, who can doubt? He was
not one who, in his desire to be king, would put on the robe of humility. Alto-
gether, then, we profess to receive Shakspere's characterization of Caesar with a
perfect confidence that he produced that character upon fixed principles of art.
It is not the prominent character of the play; and it was not meant to be so. It is
true to the narrative upon which Shakspere founded it; but what is of more im-
portance, it is true to every natural conception of what Caesar must have been at
the exact moment of his fall.

Gervinus (ii, 324): It appears that Jul. Cas. was composed before 1603, about
the same time as Hamlet. Not alone is this confirmed by the frequent external
references to Caesar which we find in Hamlet, but still more by the inner relations
of the two plays. These are so remarkable that, if preponderating reasons had
not determined us not to separate the three Roman plays, we must have discussed
Jill. Cces., for the sake of its internal relationship, close by the side of Hamlet and
Macbeth, because it was conceived and written in the same train of thought as
these two pieces. If we enter at once upon the connection of these two works with

CRITICISMS— GERVINUS 425

each other, we shall reach the object of our considerations upon Caesar in the
shortest way.

In Ilatnld, the impassioned wavering hero looked with envy on the Roman
character of Horatio, who, while he suffered everything, seemed to suffer nothing,
who was the slave of no passion, taking with equal thanks the buffets and rewards
of fortune, his 'blood and Judgment well co-mingled.' If we transport this char-
acter from Christian times into heathen ages, and from Denmark into the excited
public life of Rome, we have the main features of Brutus who forms the chief
character in Jul. Cas. Of a phlegmatic temperament, calm and serious, indifferent
to amusement and pleasure, unmoved by passion, 'a lamb that carried anger, as
the flint bears fire,' Brutus is born to be a stoic, and practises the principles of that
school which prescribes the passive use of life and enjoins the power of endurance.
Of him, as of Horatio, it is said that none knew better how to endure than he, and
^lessala and Cassius acknowledge this with admiration. He possesses all the
virtues which constitute a noble nature; he has strengthened in himself all the
virtues which practical life ripens and brings to perfection; he has won for his own
all the virtues which arise out of strength of will and the dominion of the mind
over the passions. In his relations to his wife and servant he is tender and mild,
amiable and full of kindly consideration; in all his relations to society and to the
state he is unselfish, armed with probity, incapable of flatter^', unbiased by party
spirit, perfectly upright, and careful for the common weal; in his relation to him-
self, in his condemnation of passion, he is discreet and circumspect, never rash in
action or decision, but his resolution once taken, he is invincible in spirit and
action, firm and steady in carrying out his plans, and a stern ruler over inward
emotions. Standing between the unmanly irresolute Hamlet and the manly
overstrained Macbeth, the elements are

*So mixed in him, that nature might stand up,
And say to all the world, This was a man!'

That man, whose nature IMacbeth also originally possessed, that man, who does
nothing more and nothing less than what becomes a man, and who proves his
manhood, above all, by mastery over himself. Shakespeare has developed this
distinctive feature in Brutus by great examples. He has endowed him with a
nature as profound and with feelings as powerful and as excitable as Hamlet and
Macbeth, but the poet has concealed the uncommon intensity of these emotions
under the veil of heroic calmness, and behind the accepted character of the de-
termined politician. We scarcely perceive the uneasiness which disturbs him
within in those passages where, at the beginning of the conspiracy and towards the
conclusion of it, he envies the careless sleep of his boy Lucius. Little adapted for
dissimulation, he tells the conspirators to perform their parts steadily, like clever
actors, and he sets them a good example. When they think their plans are be-
trayed by Popilius Lena, Cassius is about to kill himself, but Brutus calmly looks
the suspected person in the face and observes that he is not dangerous. He
conceals the project from his wife until he has heroic proof of her discretion. The
early death of this beloved wife overwhelms him with 'grief and blood ill-tempered,'
and makes him more ready to quarrel with Cassius than is his nature, but imme-
diately after he is able to conceal Portia's death from Messala, that the tidings
may not shake his courage. Over the body of Cassius nature demands her rights,
but he puts off the debt of tears until another time that his personal anguish may
not endanger the public cause. All these striking features of a sharply drawn char-

426 APPENDIX

acter are without display and are almost silently indicated in the piece; no more
laconic characterization has Shakespeare ever made use of than in this laconic
Roman who performs the greatest deeds with the utmost simplicity, and uses the
fewest words over the grandest actions.

The play under consideration is a most striking variation on the theme of
Hamlet and Macbeth, and gives us a new and remarkable proof of the depth and
many-sidedness with which Shakespeare thought out and elaborated any problem
he had once seized upon. A deed of as great, nay greater, weight than that de-
manded of Hamlet or planned by Macbeth is laid on this pattern of a man, — the
murder of a hero who had increased the greatness of Rome as much as he had
endangered her freedom. It is a deed of a nature doubtful in itself which is
required of him, not one decidedly right or decidedly wrong, like that to which
Hamlet was called and to which Macbeth was tempted. The uncertainty, the
doubt, the discord lay in the other instances in the men themselves, here it lies in
the thing itself, and is only from thence transferred to an even, clear, and right-
judging mind. Hamlet was urged to a just revenge, he was called to punish a
wrong committed, he ventured not to take the first and only step, he scarcely
desired the end, and the means still less. Macbeth feels himself tempted to murder
and treachery, to the performance of a wrong not yet committed, he shudders at
both end and means, but as soon as he is resolved, he takes with the first step all the
ensuing ones; as soon as he is determined as to the end, he adopts the means also,
grasping even more than is necessary. Brutus is persuaded by his friends to take
part in a murder and conspiracy, as he himself calls it, for the restoration of freedom;
his task is to prevent an injustice as yet only apprehended on Caesar's part; he
desires the end, but only the means most necessary for attaining it; he takes the
first step, but not the second and third; whereas he should either not have taken
the first, or he should also have taken others. With him it is not a disturbance of
nature in consequence of an unequal temperament, and thus, resulting from this,
a sin of omission, as with Hamlet; it is not a disorderly, exaggerated discord, and,
after its removal, a crime, as with Macbeth, but after the quiet manly consider-
ration of an equivocal task, it is a deed unrepented, but atoned for, which from the
end in view and the means used was a fault, an error, and as such was revenged
upon his own head.

If in Hamlet the aim of the poet was to treat the relation of the intellectual to the
active nature in a thoroughly human sense, in the history of Jul. Cas. the tendency
is rather political: to depict the collision of moral against political duties. The
struggle between the humanity of a noble and gentle nature and the political
principles of an energetic character, between personal feelings and public duty,
this is the soul of this play, and the most interesting point of the situation in which
Brutus is placed.

RtJMELiN (p. 137): Among the Roman dramas, Jul. Cces, is the most complete,
and stands, moreover, in close proximity to the highest achievements of the Poet.
It is not only rich in beautiful detail, but the action throughout is well constructed
and intelligible. Few and far between are the indications that the Poet moved with
a lack of sureness among classic surroundings. Thus, for example, in the first scene
a Tribune of the People ordering them to return to their houses asks whether
they are ignorant of the fact that workpeople must not walk upon a labouring day
without the sign of their profession; such a police regulation in a republic of that
time is inconceivable; likewise that Cicero in a popular gathering should speak in

CRITICISMS— FRE YTA G 427

Greek. The sketch of Caesar himself may serve as an example that it is an un-
profitable task — if not well-nigh impossible — to place upon the stage a character
celebrated in history. Great historic achievements presuppose that a man in
difficult situations, among many possible and plausible solutions, undeceived by
conflicting counsels, chooses with judgment sure and swift and brings to comple-
tion that one which best serves the purpose he is pursuing. Such does not, how-
ever, lend itself to dramatic treatment, especially as it provides too much realistic
detail, and the poet is not usually endowed with that class of intellect necessary for
the purpose — he would hardly be a poet if he were. Thus it happens that great men
are commonly shown on the stage using big words. These, however, usually sound
but inflated and Thrasonical, and this especially applies to Shakespeare's Caesar.
That he refers to himself so often in the third person sounds offensively to us;
likewise when he declares it beneath him that the Senate should be told that he
cannot come; Decius must simply say: 'Caesar does not \vish to come.' He could
not threaten to 'spurn as a dog out of his way' a Roman Senator who prayed
pardon for a brother's banishment; when another repeats this request Caesar could
not have replied 'Wilt thou hold up Olympus?' Had the poet read but a single
chapter of Caesar's Commentaries he would not have assigned to his hero such ill-bred,
bragging words. To us it is somewhat striking that two really great men, Frederic
and Napoleon, did not admire Shakespeare's historic dramas; they knew only too
well that a great victory is not won after the fashion of Henry V. at Agincourt, and
that great men neither speak nor act as Caesar, Antony, and Coriolanus. Further-
more, it will not pass for a portrayal and habit of that period, if the hostile generals
personally encounter before the battle merely in order to abuse each other and
make threats as did the Homeric heroes. In the celebrated tent-scene between
Brutus and Cassius our final feeling is that the contention had gone too far to admit
of a reconciliation quite so sudden. If one friend has accused another of base action
and threatens chastisement, such words cannot be simply wiped out as with a
sponge, and to set matters right again with family affictions as an excuse one
should be in a more depressed mood. Even here the full tide of feeling corresponding
to the momentary aim compels the Poet, though submerged in details, to bring
the conflict, each situation and each part, to fullest expression along the proper
lines.

Freytag (p. 253): Let the judgments be tested which for a hundred years have
been pronounced in Germany on the character of Julius Caesar, and the glad ap-
proval with which our contemporaries accept the noble effects of this piece. Brutus,
the warm-hearted youth, the noble, the patriotic, is hero; an honest commentator
sees in Cjesar, the great, the immovable character, superior to all, a politician by
profession, rejoices in the ironical, inconsiderate severity with which, from the
introduction forward, the poet has treated Brutus and Cassius as impractical fools,
and their conspiracy as a silly venture of incapable aristocrats. The actor of judg-
ment at length finds in the same Caesar, whom his commentator has held up to
him as a pattern of the possessor of power, a hero inwardly woimded to death, a
soul in which the illusion of greatness has devoured the very joints and marrow.
WTio is right? Each of them. And yet each of them has the notion that the char-
acters are not entirely a mixture of incongruous elements, artfully composed or
in any way untrue. Each of them feels distinctly that they are excellently created,
live on the stage most effectively; and the actor himself feels this most strongly,
even if the secret of Shakespeare's poetic power should not be entirely understood.

428 APPENDIX

Hudson {Lije, etc., ii, p. 242): As a whole, this play is several degrees inferior
to Coriol. Admirable as is the characterization regarded individually, still, in
respect of dramatic composition, the play does not, to my mind, stand among the
Poet's masterpieces. But it abounds in particular scenes and passages fraught with
the highest virtue of his genius. Among these may be specially mentioned the
second scene of the first Act, where Cassius lays the egg of the conspiracy in Brutus's
mind, warmed with such a wrappage of instigation as to assure of its being quickly
hatched. Also, the first scene of the second Act, unfolding the birth of the Con-
spiracy, and winding up with the interview, so charged with domestic glory, of
Brutus and Portia. The oration of Antony in Caesar's funeral is such an inter-
fusion of art and passion as realizes the very perfection of its kind. Adapted at
once to the comprehension of the lowest mind and to the delectation of the highest
and running its pathos into the very quick of them that hear it, it tells with terrible
effect on the people; and when it is done we feel that Caesar's bleeding wounds are
mightier than ever his genius and fortune were. The quarrel of Brutus and Cassius
is deservedly celebrated. Dr Johnson thought it 'somewhat cold and unafiFecting.'
Coleridge thought otherwise. I am content to err with Coleridge here, if it be
an error. But there is nothing in the play that seems to be more divinely touched
than the brief scene of Brutus and his boy Lucius. The gentle and loving nature of
Brutus is there out in its noblest and sweetest transpiration. [See note on IV, iii, 293.]

Von Friesen (iii, 218) refers to the view of Gervinus in regard to the similarity
between the characters of Brutus and Hamlet and thus comments: 'There are to
be found, in both great tragedies, points which will not permit the dismissal of the
conjecture that Shakespeare carried both conceptions in his inmost being and,
with but a short interval between, brought them both forth. The earlier date of
composition for one as well as the other does not militate against this conjecture,
and whether one were the older or younger is of no consequence. The principal
similarity between Brutus and Hamlet lies, nevertheless, in their mutual inclination
to regard all questions and circumstances of life from the ideal rather than the
practical side. The depth of nature from which this habit arises exercises upon
us a peculiar magic of attractive power. We feel and suffer with Brutus in the
selfsame way as with Hamlet, although they both proceed from their natural
dispositions and mode of action in complete contrast to each other. Inasmuch
as Brutus condenses his overflowing thoughts and ideas by the energy of his will-
power into short brief words, as though in accord with an inflexible resolution,
he could not so lose himself as does Hamlet, who through a similar richness of
thought and feeling is ever ready in wavering indecision for talk ingenious and pro-
found, yet is not in the position to form an energetic resolution. The genius of
Shakespeare has worked most wonderfully towards Nature's handicraft, he has
brought out in the character of Brutus an ever-rising mildness and loveliness, a
determined denial to bitterness and cruelty, in distinction to Hamlet who, with
similar natural talents, loses himself in fanatical bitterness and acrimony, indeed,
even in cruelty. In spite of this marked opposition of one individuality to the
other, nevertheless the innermost source of tragic fate for both is one and the
same. Had Brutus but looked upon the intrusive resolution, to free his country
from tyranny, not merely from the ideal standpoint, the death of Antonius — prob-
ably also that of Octavius — would have seemed to him an unavoidable necessity.
That this oversight bitterly revenged itself upon him, in the relinquishing of the
interment to Antonius, Shakespeare might well have learned from Plutarch, but

CRITICISMS— D O WD EN— ULRICI 429

the words are the work of his genius as also the conduct of Brutus directly after the
assassination; his speech in the forum, and likewise the energy of his righteous
indignation at the unworthy behaviour of Cassius.

DowDEN (p. 285): In Jul. Cas. Shakspere makes a complete imaginative study '^
of the case of a man predestined to failure, who, nevertheless retains to the
end the moral integrity which he prized as his highest possession, and who with
each new error advances a fresh claim upon our admiration and our love. To
maintain the will in a fruitful relation with facts, that was what Romeo could not
do because he brooded over things as they reflected and repeated themselves in his
own emotions; what Hamlet could not do because he would not or could not come
into direct contact with events, but studied them as they endlessly repeated and
reflected themselves in his own thinking. Henry V. had been a ruler of men
because, possessing a certain plain genius for getting into direct relation with con-
crete fact, and possessing also entire moral soundness, his will, his conscience, his
intellect, and his enthusiasms had all been at one and had all tended to action.
Shakspere's admiration of the great men of action is immense because he himself
was primarily not a man of action, v He is stern to all idealists because he was aware ^
that he might too easily yield himself to the tendencies of an idealist. ... But
with his sternness there is mingled a passionate tenderness. He shows us remorse-
lessly their failure, but, while they fail, we love them.

Ulrici (p. iQs): In the historical drama the interest — if it is to be historical —
must, above all things, be truly historical, then it will be truly poetic as well. His-
tory, however, in a certain sense does not trouble itself about persons; its chief
interest is in historical facts and their meaning. Now in Jul. Cas. we have abso-
lutely only one point of interest, a true, but variously jointed unity. One and the
same thought is reflected in the fall of Csesar, in the deaths of Brutus and Cassius,
and in the victory of Antony and Octavius. No man, even though he were as
mighty as Csesar and as noble as Brutus, is sufi&ciently great to guide history ac-
cording to his own will; every one, according to his vocation, may contribute
his stone to the building of the grand whole, but let no one presume to think that
he can, with impunity, experiment with it. The great Cassar, however, merely
experimented when he allowed the royal crown to be offered to him, and then
rejected it thrice against his own will. He could not curb his ambition — this
history might perhaps have pardoned — but he did not understand her, and at-
tempted that which he, at the time at least, did not yet wish. The consequence
of this error which was entirely his own, the consequence of this arrogant pre-
sumption which the still active republican spirit, the old Roman love and pride
of freedom, stirred up against him, proved his downfall. But Brutus and Cassius
erred also by imagining that Rome could be kept in its glory and preserved from
its threatening ruin simply by the restoration of the republic; as if the happiness,
the power, and the greatness of a state depended upon its form, and as if a single
man could repair a nation's demoralization by a mere word of command. And as
Caesar had thought life unendurable without the outward dignity of the royal
throne, so they imagined Hfe not worth having without the honour of outward
freedom, for they confounded outward with inward moral freedom, or, at all
events, omitted to consider that the former can exist only as the result and ex-
pression of the latter. They, too, experimented with history; Cassius trusted
that his ambitious and selfish will, and Brutus, that his noble and self-sacrificing will,

430

APPENDIX

would be strong enough to direct the course of history. For both felt that the
moral spirit of the Roman nation had sunk too deep to be able in future to govern
itself as a Republic; Cassius knew, Brutus suspected, that the time of the Republic
was coming to an end. But in their republican pride and feeling their republican
honour hurt, they thought themselves called upon to make an attempt to save it,
they trusted to their power to be able, as it were, to take it upon their shoulders and
so keep its head above water. This was the arrogance which was added to the
error, and which spurred them on not only to imreasonable undertakings, but to
commit a criminal act; and, therefore, they doubly deserved the punishment which
befell them. Antony, on the other hand, with Octavius and Lepidus — the tal-
ented voluptuary, the clever actor and the good-natured simpleton — although not
half so powerful and noble as their opponents, come off victorious, because, in fact,
they but followed the course of history, and knew how to make use of it. Thus
in all the principal parts we have the same leading thought, the same unity in the
(historical) interest, except that it is reflected in various ways. But it also shines
forth in the secondary parts in Portia's death, as well as in the fall of Cato, Cicero,
and the other conspirators; Portia and Cato perish with the noble but erring Brutus,
who desires only what is good; the others with the selfish Cassius, who thinks only
of himself. All perish because they do not understand, but endeavoured arbi-
trarily to make history or, as arbitrarily, went round the problem which had to be
solved in its own time and 'spoke Greek.' Thus history appears represented from
one of its main aspects, in its inner autocratic, active, and formative power, by
which, although externally formed by individual men, it nevertheless controls and
marches over the heads of the greatest of them.

This is the general, ideal point of view from which history appears here to be
conceived, and also to determine the fate of the dramatic characters. The special
historical condition upon which the whole is foimded is again one of the transition
stages in political life, one of the most interesting points of history, both in a
poetical and historical respect. As Coriolanus forms the transition from the
aristocratic to the democratic form of government, here it is the transition from
the republican to the monarchical, the latter being demanded by the historical
circumstances as their stimulating and formative principle. This transition,
according to its idea and the position of things, required an intermediate stage
between the republican and the monarchical form, the oligarchical form which
had been aimed at ever since the days of Sulla, but had hitherto not been able to
obtain a legal existence. Regarded from this point of view, Caesar's death was the
necessary consequence of his antihistorical attempt to leap over his intermediate
stage. Caesar was, in reality, right; monarchy had become a necessity, an historical
right. But history will not tolerate any bounds, and where such are made with
violence, they are again corrected by retrogressions, so-called reactions. It was,
accordingly, the oligarchical principle, represented by Octavius, Antony, and
Lepidus, that in reality gained the victory over Caesar — the representative of the
monarchy which was still a thing of the future — as well as over Brutus and Cassius,
the representatives of the Republic which was already a thing of the past. It con-
quered because it had the right of the immediate present on its side.

But it may be asked, What is the meaning of the introduction of spirits into an
historical drama? Does it not, in the present case, appear a mere dramatic bonne
bouckc for the multitude? Shakspeare found the ghosts in Plutarch, and retained
them in accordance with his principle of following the historical tradition as faith-
fully as possible, but assuredly not merely out of regard for the historical subject-

CRITICISMS—SNIDER 43 1

matter, but doubtless also because it appeared to him to be an important symbol, a
significant reference to the actual motive and leading thought in the historical
events, and because it, at the same time, seemed to indicate the point where the
historico-political cause meets the ethical and moral cause. This is why Shak-
speare makes the ghost — which according to Plutarch appears to Brutus 'as his evil
genius' — assume the likeness of Caesar; this is why — as in Plutarch — he makes it
appear to Brutus and not to Cassius. Brutus is of a peaceful and tranquil dis-
position, truly noble in mind, devoted to the ethical principles of stoicism, desiring
only the good and the welfare of his country, a worthy and faithful husband to his
high-minded wife, a patriot ready for any sacrifice, but little inclined for energetic
action and still less for political activity. Yet he nevertheless allows himself to
be so far deluded by Cassius 's seductive artifices and well-calculated eloquence, by
the republican fame of his own race — which he thinks it his duty to maintain — and
by his own pride in his dignity as a man — which will not bow to any single indi-
vidual, not even to a Ctesar — that not only does he not see or ignores the evident
signs of the times, but determines (even though after great inward struggles) to
commit a deed the worth of which, in a political respect, is extremely doubtful,
because extremely doubtful in its consequences, and which, from a moral point of
view, is undoubtedly equal to a crime. For, apart from the fact that every delicate
sense of moral feeling must revolt with horror from a treachorous murder (even
though politically justifiable), Brutus, like Coriolanus, tramples upon the most
natural and the noblest emotions of the human heart— the duty of gratitude, of
esteem, and loyalty to Caesar — for the sake of the phantom-honour of free citizen-
ship. He murders a man who is not only politically great, but who, as a man,
had always proved himself great and noble, and who had more especially over-
whelmed him with kindness, with proofs of his affection and high esteem. On
the other hand, Brutus was the soul of the conspiracy; if his mind became confused,
his courage unnerved, the whole enterprise must inevitably collapse. And it
did collapse because it was as much opposed to the moral law as to the will of
history.

Accordingly, Shakspeare allows the ghost to play a part in the drama in order to
point out this twofold crime. It appears but once and utters a few, pregnant
words; but we continually feel that it is hovering in the backgroxmd, like a dark
thundercloud; it is, so to say, the offended spirit of history itself, which, in fact,
not only avenges political crimes, but visits ethical transgressions with equal
severity. This spirit, as it were, perpetually holds up before our view the moral
wrong in the murder of Caesar, as well as the political right which he had on his side
owing to the necessity of the monarchy, and points to the fact that even the
triumph of the oligarchical principle is but transitory, oligarchy itself but a transi-
tion stage. A similar intention induced Shakspeare to introduce the spectral appari-
tions in his Richard III, for both of these dramas occupy the same historical stage,
both represent turning points in history, the end of an old and the beginning of a
new state of things; they also exhibit a certain affinity from an ethical point of
view.

Snider (ii, 240) : This drama may be said to exhibit the Ethical World of Shake-
speare in its highest form, as well as in its most accurate gradation. Three typical
characters are brought before us participating in the revolution of a great epoch.
Domestic life is placed in the remote background, where, however, in the person
of Portia, it shines through the tempest of political strife with a divine beauty.

432

APPENDIX

We now behold the Poet rising to the serenest elevation of historical insight, in
which the nation is only a transitory element in the great movement of Universal
History.

But first it would perhaps be w^ell to enumerate some of the elements which
belong to this Ethical World of Shakespeare. Those most obvious and most
commonly recognized are the Individual, Family, and State. . . . For in-
stance, a person may assert the right of individual conscience — a certain
valid principle against the majesty of law, which is the command of the State;
or, like Antigone, may prefer duty towards Family to obedience to civil
authority; or, finally, there may be a still higher collision — that between the
defenders of the State on the one hand, and the supporters of the World Spirit on
the other. Such is the collision between nations struggling for independence and
their conquerors. . . .

Now, it is just this collision which Shakespeare has presented in Jul. Cas. For
Caesar is the representative of the World Spirit; he appears upon the stage of
History as the destroyer of his country's liberties; hence the great conflict of his
life was with the State. It is, indeed, this fact which has caused him to be ca-
lumniated by nearly twenty centuries of writers and speakers. But note that
Shakespeare does not join in this cry of execration. To him Caesar's career is not
political, but world-historical; not limited to a single state, but having the World
as its theatre. To him Caesar stands at the head of that eternal and infinite
movement in whose grasp the nations are playthings. But, on the other hand, let
us not forget that this movement was nothing external to Rome — it was the
movement of Rome herself; the Roman Constitution was sapped perhaps before
the birth of Caesar. He only carried out the unconscious national will; he saw what
Rome needed, and possessed the strength to execute it, and this is his greatness —
and, in fact, the only real political greatness. That one man can overturn the form
of government permanently, against the will and spirit of a whole people, is
preposterous. That such was not Shakespeare's view is shown by the termination
of the play — the conspirators are overthrown and the supporters of Caesar are
unsuccessful.

There are three leading moments in the drama: First, Caesar in the consumma-
tion of his world-historical career on the pinnacle of his power and glory; second,
the reaction of the State against him, headed by Cassius; third, the negation of this
reaction through the restoration and absolute validity of the Cffisarian movement.
Hence we see that Cassar is the real hero, and that the piece is justly entitled Julius
Ccssar. We also see that the collision is between the World Spirit and the Nation,
and that in this struggle three typical characters participate, forming a complete
cyclus of characterization. Caesar represents the world-historical standpoint;
Cassius, the political; Brutus, the moral. Caesar perishes; the ancient national
sentiment rises up for a moment and destroys the individual, for, being of flesh and
blood, an assassin may rush upon him and stab him to the heart — but his thought is
not thus doomed to perish. Next to him comes Cassius, whose great mistake was
that he still had faith in his country — a pardonable error, if any, to mortals! He
did not, and perhaps could not, rise above the purely political point of view; to him
the State was the ultimate ethical principle of the Universe. Hence he did not
comprehend the world-historical movement represented by Caesar, but collided
with it and was destroyed. He is, indeed, a painful, deeply tragic character; with
all his greatness, devotion, and intelligent activity — still finite and short-sighted.
The mistake of Brutus is that he had anything to do with the matter at all — that

CRITICISMS—STAFFER 433

he took a part — or, at least a leading part — in this revolution. The collision lay
wholly beyond his mental horizon; hence he represents nothing objective — is the
bearer of no greatest ethical principle, like Caesar and Cassius. He presumed to
lead when he was intellectually in total darkness, trusting alone to his own good
intentions. We do not blame him because he was ignorant, but because he did
not know that he was ignorant. Every rational being must at least comprehend
its own limits — must know that it does not know. We may laud the motive, but
lament the deed; still, man, as endowed with Reason and Universality, cannot
run away from his act and hide himself behind his intention, but must take the
inherent consequences of his deed in their total circumference.

Brutus is, no doubt, the sphinx of the play, and has given much trouble to
critics on account of the contradictions of his character. He seems both moral and
immoral — to be actuated by the noblest motives for the public good, yet can give
no rational ground for his act. Indeed, we are led to believe that his vanity was
so swollen by the flattery of Cassius that it hurried him unconsciously beyond the
pale of his convictions. Still, Brutus was undoubtedly a good citizen, a good hus-
band, and a good man. But any one of these three relations may come into conflict
with the others. Which, then, is to be followed? If a man has not subordinated
these spheres into a system — which can be done only by Intelligence — he cannot
tell what course to pursue. Sometimes he may follow one, sometimes another, for
in his mind they all possess equal validity. Hence such a person can only be in-
consistent, vacillating, and contradictory in his actions; and such a person was
Brutus — a good, moral man, who recognized all duties, but did not comprehend their
limitations, and, hence, fell beneath their conflict.

Staffer (p. 318) : Hamlet and Jul. Gas. stand to each other in a far closer relation-
ship than that implied by stray reminiscences and details; they belong to the same
current of reflections and ideas, and the poet's thought in each lies in the same
direction. In the earlier one, Shakespeare has drawn a noble nature grappling
with a duty enforced in no actual and binding category, and which, from its doubt-
ful and uncertain character, deeply troubles the conscience of the hero, who
questions and considers and weighs it over and over again. Brutus has a pas-
sionate love for justice, but is led astray by the exacting demands of a too delicate
and lofty soul. In the other tragedy the same note is again struck, but with this
considerable variation, that with Hamlet, although the duty is more imperious, yet
his uncertainty is greater; he, too, thirsts after the Ideal, but with him the generous
instincts of the heart are mingled with all the graceful refinements and superb
disgusts, all the baffling turns of an oversubtle brain, and the end of his hesitations
is a rapid moral decadence. Brutus, after his deliberation, acts resolutely; he
greatly errs, but he preserves our esteem and sympathy to the end. Hamlet —
always deliberating — errs in a far graver manner by never acting at all, and our
respect for him finally goes. Both of them are men of meditative and studious
nature, called by circumstances to a line of action repugnant to their whole char-
acter. But of this deep inner affinity that unites Hamlet with Julius Ccesar,
there is none between Julius Ccesar and the two later Roman tragedies. A ntony
and Cleopatra and Coriolanus, both written about the same time, proceed from
an entirely new order of thoughts and reflections, their motive being the portrayal
of selfishness, which in the one case presents itself in an amiable, open, and attract-
ive character, and in the other in a proud and reserved one. All these plays are
pre-eminently ethical studies, not historical sketches.
18

434 APPENDIX

Fleay (Life of Sh., p. 215): The structure of this play is remarkable; the first ">
three acts and last two have no characters in common except Brutus, Cassius,
Antony, and Lucius; there are, in fact, two plays in one, Casar's Tragedy and
CcBsar's Revenge. Contemporary plays by other dramatists were produced in a
double pattern, e. g., Marston's Antonio and Mellida, in two parts; Chapman's
Bussy d'Ambois, in two parts; Kyd's old play of Jeronymo, in two parts. All these
were on the stage at the same time as Jul. Cces. Revenge-plays, with ghosts in
them, were the rage for the next four years. That the present play has been
greatly shortened is shown by the singularly large number of instances in which
mute characters are on the stage, which is totally at variance with Shakespeare's
usual practice. The large number of incomplete lines in every possible position,
even in the middle of speeches, confirms this. r"

MoTJLTON (Sh. as Dram. Art., p. 183): To catch the Grouping of Characters in
Jul. CcEs. it must be contemplated in the light of the antithesis between the outer
and inner life. In Brutus the antithesis disappears amid the perfect balancing of
his character, to reappear in the action when Brutus has to choose between his
cause and his friend. In Caesar the practical life only is developed, and he fails
as soon as action involves the inner life. Cassius has the powers of both outer and
inner life perfect, and they are fused into one master-passion, morbid but unselfish.
Antony has carried to an even greater perfection the culture of both lives, and all
his powers are concentrated in one purpose, which is purely selfish. In the action
in which this group of personages is involved the determining fact is the change
that has come over the spirit of Roman life, and introduced into its public policy
the element of personal aggrandisement and personal risk. The new spirit works
upon Brutus: the chance of winning political liberty by the assassination of one
individual just overbalances his moral judgment, and he falls. Yet in his fall he
is glorious: the one false judgment of his life brings him what is more to him than
victory, the chance of maintining the calmness of principle amid the ruins of a fall-
ing cause, and showing how a Stoic can fail and die. The new spirit affects Cajsar
and tempts him into a personal enterprise in which success demands a meanness
that he lacks, and he is betrayed to his fall. Yet in his fall he is glorious: the
assassins' daggers purge him from the stain of his momentary personal ambition,
and the sequel shows that the Roman world was not worthy of a ruler such as Caesar.
The spirit of the age affects Cassius, and fans his passion to work itself out to his
own destruction, and he falls. Yet in his fall he is glorious: we forgive him the
lowered tone of his political action when we see by the spirit of the new rulers how
desperate was the chance for which he played, and how Cassius and his loved cause
of republican freedom expire together. The spirit of the age which has wrought
upon the rest is controlled and used by Antony, and he rises on their ruins. Yet
in his rise he is less glorious than they in their fall: he does all for self; he may claim,
therefore, the prize of success, but in goodness he has no share beyond that he is
permitted to be the passive instrument of punishing evil.

J. M. Brown (p. 25): Though Shakespeare paid no attention to the unities nor
consciously followed the rules of classical art, this play approaches more nearly to a
Greek tragedy in its exclusion of humor, its introduction of the fury or spirit of
revenge, its unfigurative strength of diction, and its statuesque art than any other
of his tragedies. There is none of the exuberance of wisdom and poetry, none of

CRITICISMS— MINTO

435

the overflow of thought and character, none of the tragic humor that we 6nd
in Hamlet or Lear. We see him holding the reign upon his imagination. His
passion never overcomes him or leads him to heights whence he may contemplate
all existence and its deeper problems. He was too absorbed in realising a
state of society, and a form of character so different from what he knew and
worked in, to give expression to the racking thoughts that were beginning to
harass his nature. ... [p. 77]: In no other play except CorioL, which is also from
Plutarch, has Shakespeare used his original with such reverence as to adopt almost
all its features and tone. He has resorted to no other source for his material. He
seems to have accepted it as entirely ready for the dramatic mould. And in history,
without a doubt, the dramatist is at the mercy of the historian he reads if the
historian is popular; he must retain the traditional facts and even views of the
facts. His whole genius must be spent on the scenes so that they shall be vivid
and easily represented, on the characters and their relations to each other, and on
the wisdom and poetry he puts into their mouths.

And closely as we feel the incidents, and the characters, and even their speeches
in the play follow the narratives of Plutarch, still we recognize that there is a
wealth of genius spent upon it, that Shakespeare has written his undoubted sign-
manual across the page. He has made it so noble and statuesque in its art that
critics almost incline to place it in this respect above his other and greater tragedies.
He has caught the spirit of the staunch Roman republican and interpreted his
ideals so as to ennoble them. He takes the Brutus of Plutarch and, without seem-
ing to change the spirit of the original, makes him 'the noblest Roman of them all,'
he chisels out of the crude and sometimes inconsistent material a statue worthy to
be placed in the shrine of the ages.

To begin with, the relations of Brutus to Caesar are not altogether plain or satis-
factory; if the conquerer is not his friend and adorer, then half the tragedy of the
death is gone. In the narrative the would-be king is made to distrust Brutus, and
to have his mind poisoned bj^ tales against him; he fears 'these pale and lean men,'
meaning both Brutus and Cassius. The poet rejects this feature and makes the
friendship between the two of the noblest; into Cassius he gathers up the offensive
touches of the picture; only to Cassius is the remark about lean men made to apply.
And from some other source than Plutarch (probably Suetonius's lives of the
Caesars, where the expression is quoted in Greek), however, he introduces the
striking phrase 'et tu Brute,' adding himself, 'then fall Caesar'; who can measure
how much this deepens the tragedy? It turns the assassination as far as Brutus is
concerned from a vulgar conspiracy against an ambitious tyrant into the mistake
of a lofty spirit after long spiritual struggle. The sleeplessness that haunts the
patriot in the original, as only physical fatigue from constant exertion and trouble, is
raised into new significance, it is the result of the conflict \\'ithin him between friend-
ship and patriotism. The last stroke that Brutus gives the victim is vulgarized in
Plutarch; here it is spiritualized and greatened by the tragic surprise of the loyal
friend disillusioned; here the last moments of the tyrant are made immortal by his
willing surrender of a life that had not an unsuUied friendship, a loyal Brutus in it.

MiXTO (p. 304) : There are passages in Julius Casar and Coriolanus almost as
bombastic as anything to be found in Shakespeare's dramatic predecessors.
Casar's bearing in the inter\'iew with the conspirators, when they beg the repeal
of Publius Cimber's banishment, is not less lofty than Tamburlaine's inflation,
though more calm and dignified:

43^

APPENDIX

'Know Caesar doth not wrong, nor without cause
Will he be satisfied.'

And the speech beginning,

'I could be well moved, if I were as you,'

may not be an offence against the modesty of nature, but, taken by itself, is an
offence against the modesty of art. The boasts and brags of Coriolanus out-Herod
the Herod of the mysteries. For example (I, i, 200),

'Would the nobility lay aside their truth,
And let me use my sword, I'd make a quarry
With thousands of these quarter'd slaves, as high
As I could pick my lance.'

And (IV, V, 112):

'Let me twine
Mine arms about that body, where against
My grained ash an hundred times hath broke
And scarr'd the moon with splinters.'

It is a noticeable circumstance that these inflated speeches — as well as one or
two in Antony and Cleopatra — are put in the mouths of Roman heroes. I am
not quite sure that this is not one explanation and justification of them; they may
have been Shakespeare's ideal of what appertained to the Roman character. But
apart from their being true to the Roman manner, they may be justified also on the
principle of variety. It must have been a relief to Shakespeare's mind, ever hungry
for fresh types of character, to expiate in the well-marked, high-astounding ideal;
and it is equally a relief to the student or spectator who may have followed his
career and dwelt with appreciative insight on his varied representation of humanity.
This is the broadest justification; if we consider more curiously, other justifications
make themselves palpable. The inflation of Coriolanus and Caesar is not, like Tam-
burlaine's, presented to us as a thing unquestioned and admired by those around
them, as being, for aught said upon the stage to the contrary, the becoming lan-
guage of heroic manhood. The violent language of Coriolanus is deprecated by his
friends, and raises a furious antagonism in his enemies. Side by side with Caesar's
high conception of himself, we have the humourous expression of his greatness by
blunt Casca and the sneering of cynical Cassius. In the case of Caesar, too, there
is a profound contrast between his lofty declaration of immovable constancy and
the immediate dethronement of the god to lifeless clay. We must not take the
rant of Caesar, Coriolanus, or Antony by itself simply as rant, and wish, with Ben
Jonson, that it had been blotted out. We must consider whether it does not be-
come the Roman character; we must remember that a varied artist like Shake-
speare may be allowed an occasional rant as a stretch to powers weary of the
ordinary level; and, above all, we must observe how it is regarded by other person-
ages in the drama — in what light it is presented to the audience.

Mabie (p. 296) : In point of style Jul. Ccbs. marks the culmination of Shakespeare's
art as a dramatic writer. The ingenuity of the earlier plays ripened in a rich and pel-
lucid flexibility; the excess of imagery gave place to a noble richness of speech; there
is deep-going coherence of structure and illustration; constructive instinct has

STAGE HISTORY

437

passed on into the ultimate skill which is born of complete identification of thought
with speech, of passion with utterance, of action with character. The long popu-
larity of the play was predicted by Shakespeare in the words of Cassius:

'How many ages hence
Shall this, our lofty scene be acted over
In States unborn and accents yet unknown.'

The great impression made by Jul. Cces. in a field which Jonson regarded as his
own probably led to the writing of Sejanus, which appeared two years later, and of
Catiline, which was produced in 1611. A comparison of these plays dealing with
Roman history brings into clear relief the vitalizing power of Shakespeare's
imagination in contrast with the conscientious and scholarly craftsmanship of
Jonson. In Sejanus almost every incident and speech, as Mr Knight has pointed
out, is derived from ancient authorities, and the dramatist's own edition of the
play was packed with references like a text-book. The characters speak with
admirable correctness after the manner of their time, but they do not live. Brutus,
Cassius, Antony, Portia, on the other hand, talk and act like living creatures, and
the play is saturated with the spirit and enveloped in the atmosphere of Rome.

ScHELLEs'G (ii, 23): Jid. Cms. is one of the most regularly constructed of the
tragedies of Shakespeare, excelling greater plays in the uniform adequacy of its
diction and in the evenness and finish of its workmanship. Essentially ornate
although the art of Shakespeare is, in this tragedy he seems to have caught by
inspiration the atmosphere of dignity and restraint which we habitually associate
with the republic of ancient Rome; and this even although his picture is made up
at times of details open to stricture at the hands of the classical purist and specialist
in archaeology.

STAGE HISTORY.

That Jtil. Cas. was one of the most popular plays at the time of its composition
we may infer from the manner in which Digges refers to certain passages in his
commendatory verses in the Folio. As to its earliest recorded performance, Malone
{Var. '21, vol. ii, p. 450) says: 'It appears by the papers of the late Mr George
Vertue that a play called Ccesar's Tragedy was acted at court before the loth of
April in the year 1613. This was probably Shakespeare's Jul. Cces. It being much
the fashion at that time to alter the titles of his plays.' Malone's conjecture is, no
doubt, borne out by circumstantial evidence, not only as to Shakespeare, but as to
almost all other authors of that time. The extraordinary Diary kept by Philip
Henslowe furnishes many examples of perversions and phonetic abbreviations of
titles of plays and names of writers with whom he had dealings while proprietor
of the Rose Theatre, between the years 1597 and 1603. A transcript of those
parts of Henslowe's Diary which Malone considered worthy of preservation is given
in the Variorum of '21 (vol. iii, pp. 294-328), and more recently the whole has been
printed under the able editorship of W.W.Greg. Sir Henry Herbert was Master of
the Revels from 1623 imtil the closing of the theatres in 1642, his roll of plays per-
formed at court — although it does not cover every year — is a fair index to the
popularity of those works publicly produced during that period. Under date 31
January, 1636, Julius Ccesar is entered as having been acted at St James; and this
is the only play by Shakespeare recorded by Herbert within those nineteen years.

438

APPENDIX

Among the fifteen old plays enumerated by Downes, the prompter, as forming the
repertoire of the King's Company at the Theatre Royal between 1660 and 1830,
Julius CcBsar, with one or two other of Shakespeare's plays, is mentioned. Downes
also records that Bell acted the part of Caesar, from which fact Genest (i, 339)
argues that this play 'must have been revived abojd 1671.' It is much to be
regretted that the Index to Genest's Account of the Stage from 1660 to 1830 is very
far from complete in its references to performances of plays recorded in the pages of
that excellent work. The following list of dates is compiled from a page by page
examination:

Theatre Royal.
Haymarket.

Drury Lane.
Lincoln's Inn Fields.
Drury Lane.

Jan.

1684,
14, 1706,

Covent Garden.

(I (I

Drury Lane.

<i ((

Covent Garden.

«
«

Drury Lane.
Covent Garden.

Bath.

Jan. 24, 1715,
March i, 1718,
Sept. 30, 1725,
Nov. 8, 1734,

April 16, 1736,

Jan. 19, 1738.

April 28, 1738.

Sept. 21, 1738,

Sept. 10, 1739.

Jan. 17, 1740.

March 13, 1740.

Oct. 4, 1740.

Dec. II, 1740.

April 3, 1741-

Nov. 20, 1742.

Jan. 19, 1744.

April 18, 1774,

Oct. 31, 1744,

March 28, 1744,

April 30, 1744.

April 20, 1744.

Nov. 24, 1748,

Oct. 19, 1749.
Nov. 24, 26, 27,

Feb. 19, 1751.

March 29, 1754.

Jan. 28, 1755.

April 14, 1758,

Jan. 31, 1766.

April 25, 1767.

May 4, 1773.

Jan. 24, 1780.

Feb. 29, 181 2,

Jan. 13, 1813.

Dec. 30, i8i2,

Brutus ...Betterton.

Brutus. ..Betterton; Casar... Booth; Cal-
phurnia...MTs Barry; Portia. ..Mrs Brace-
girdle.

Brutus. ..Booth; /ln/ow>'...Wilks.

Brutus. ..Keen; Antony. ..Quin.

Brutus. ..Qum.

(See vol. iii, p. 526, for account of the cast.)
(For the Shakespeare Monument Fund.)
2"'' Citizen. ..Macklin.

Brutus.. .Sheridan .
Por//a... Mrs Pritchard.
Antony...Ba.rry.

Portia. ..Veg Woffington.
1750. Portia. ..Veg VVofiington.

Antony... B&rxy.

(See vol. V, p. 107; for account of cast.)

(Acted about six times.)
Brtittis...]. P. Kemble; Atitony...C. Kemble.
[Eighteen performances.]

Brutus...]. P. Kemble.

STAGE HISTORY— BROWN

439

Covent Garden.

Bath.
Drury Lane.

Bath.

June

April
Dec.

Dec.

From Feb. 4, 1814, to May 17, 1817, J. P. Kemble acted
Brnlus sixteen times; the later date is
that of his last appearance in the char-
acter.

18, 1819, Caj«M5...Macready (his first appearance in
the part).

21, 1819.
7, 1820. Bn<i2<j...Wallack; ^n^ony... Cooper; Cas-

5/M5... Booth (the first appearances of
each in these parts).
18,1821, Bn</z<5... Young. [Genest says: 'No person
living had seen so good a Brutus as
Young, and in all probability there never
was a better.' — vol. ix, p. 121.]

22, 1822.

22, 1823, Brut us... Young; Antony. ..C. Kemble.

23, 1825.

19, 1825.
26, 1825. [Acted seven times.]

2, 1826. Brutus. ..Young.
I, 1827.
26, 1829, Brtttus... Young; Portia. ..Mrs Faucit.
Spring of 1837, Charles Kemble played Brutus for last time.
6, 1862, Phelps acted Brutus for farewell per-
formance.

Smock Alley Theatre, Dublin, season of 1749-50, Brz(/z(5... Sheridan; Cassius...

Mossop.
" " " Dec. 2, 1763. [Receipts third largest in twenty-two

nights; only exceeded by Mer. of Ven.]
Seilhammer records, as early performances in America, the following:
Charleston Theatre. April 20, 1774.
Southwark Theatre. Jan. 29, 1791.
New York Theatre. March 14, 1794.

In February, 1856, Jid. Cas. was produced for the first time in Boston at the
Boston Theatre. Among the numerous performances of this play recorded by
T. A. Brown {History of New York Stage) I have selected such as seemed worthy ol
special mention on account of prominence of actors, historic interest, etc. They
are as here given:
Chatham Garden & Theatre. Nov., 1828, Cassius...]. B. Booth.

Covent Garden.

April

(( '1

Dec.

U 11

May

Bath.

Feb.

Covent Garden.

Sept.

U (1

Oct.

« <(

Oct.

Drury Lane.

Oct.

Covent Garden.

Sprin

Sadler's Wells.

Nov.

Ireland :

Bowery Theatre.

Winter Garden.

Academy of Music.
Booth's Theatre.

Dec. I, 1827, Mark Antony. ..Yorrtit.

Dec. 27, 1839, Brutus. ..C. Kean.

March 19, 1884, M. Antony. ..Ba.Tna.y.

Nov. 16, 1 89 1, Meiningen Co.

Nov. 2S, 1864, Cassius...]. B. Booth, Jr.; Brutus ...E.
Booth; Antony...]. W. Booth.

Dec. 26, 1887, Brutus. ..Y.. Booth; Casssiiis. ..Baxrett.

Dec. 25, 1871, Antony... Booth.; Ca55iMS... Barrett; Casar...
F. Bangs.

Dec. 27, 1876, Brz</M5... Davenport; Cassius. ..Bzxx&tt; An-
tony...¥. Bangs; Casar...M. Levick.

440

APPENDIX

In 1898 H. Beerbohm Tree acted Mark Antony in an elaborate production at
Her Majesty's Theatre; two years later the play was reproduced at the same
theatre with a slightly different cast. The scenery and costumes for these pro-
ductions, designed by Sir L. Alma Tadema, were subsequently purchased by Richard
Mansfield and were used in his revival of the play in America at the Grand Opera
House, Chicago, on October 14, 1902. Jul. Cas. is at present included in the
Shakespearean repertoire of R. B. Mantell, wherein he acts the part of Brutus.

Actors.

L. TiECK in 181 7 visited London and was present at several performances of
Shakespeare's plays at Covent Garden Theatre, among which was Jul. Cces.,
wherein J. P. Kemble acted Brutus; Charles Kemble, Antony, and Young, Cassius.
Tieck (Kristische Schriften, iv, 324) describes the production, but, it is to be re-
gretted, in very general terms. This was evidently one of J. P. Kemble's last ap-
pearances in the role. Tieck's observation on the inadequacy of his voice in the
quarrel scene is, therefore, hardly surprising. 'Charles Kemble acted the part
of Antonius,' observes Tieck, 'with great intensity, except that his laughter, after
the uprising of the people, was too mischievously exultant [zu schadenfroh],
whereby the intent of the poet was mistaken and misrepresented.' The scene of
CiEsar's assassination is thus described: 'The stage was of great depth, and
Caesar sat upon a throne in the furthest background; as the petitioners approached
and were repulsed, the conspirators ranged themselves, markedly enough, in the
form of a pyramid, of which Caesar was the apex, while Brutus stood at the left
near the proscenium. Casca gave him the first blow, and Caesar turned to the
right and received from a second enemy a second wound; he staggered terrified
again toward the left, and met another injury, likewise on the right; and now the
space became much larger, and the agitated movements of the mortally wounded
man less and more dexterous, but yet he staggered five or six times left and right in
order to be stabbed by the conspirators who remained at rest, until he received the
death-blow from Brutus, and with the words "Et tu, Brute?" fell to the ground.
The whole scene thus arranged like a clever ballet, lost all value, and was rendered
flat by its pretentious majesty. It was only impossible not to laugh.'

Macready (p. 129) says that the part of Cassius, which he acted in 1818 for the
first time, was one in whose representation he had always taken 'peculiar pleasure,
as one among Shakespeare's most perfect specimens of idiosyncrasy.' In the ac-
count of the season of 1822 Macready notes (p. 170): 'The season dragged its slow
length along, but received an impetus from the performance of Jul. Ccbs., Young
acting Brutus; myself, Cassius; C. Kemble, Mark Antony; and Fawcett, Casca.
The receipt of the first night exceeded, it was said, £600, and the house was crowded
to its several repetitions. On this occasion I entered con amore into the study of
the character of Cassius, identifying myself with the eager ambition, the keen
penetration, and the restless envy of the determined conspirator, which, from that
time, I made one of my most real personations.' — In regard to the character of
Brutus, which he later acted, Macready, under date 18"' October, 1836, says: 'It
is one of those characters that requires peculiar care which only repetition can
give, but it never can be a part that can inspire a person with an eager desire to go
to a theatre to see represented.' — Again: 'London, Nov. 18, 1850: Acted Brutus
in my own opinion, in my own judgment, far beyond any performance I ever gave

STAGE HISTORY— WINTER

441

of the character; it was my last to many, and I wished it to be impressive. I do
not think the audience in the aggregate were equal to the performance; they ap-
plauded warmly the salient passages, but they did not seem to watch the gentle,
lo\ing, self-subdued mind of Brutus which I tried to make manifest before ihcm.
The gentle touches were done with great care, and, I think, with skill — the remon-
strances with Cassius in third act about Caesar's funeral and, in the fourth, the
quarrel.' — In 1851 ]Macready retired from the stage; on January 24 of that year
he acted Brutus for the last time, and thus records his own impressions of the
performance: 'Acted Brutus as I never — no never — acted it before, in regard to
dignified familiarity of dialogue, or enthusiastic inspiration of lofty purpose.
The tenderness, the reluctance to deeds of violence, the instinctive abhorrence of
t>Tanny, the open simplicity of heart, and natural grandeur of soul, I never so per-
fectly, so consciously, portrayed before. I think the audience felt it.'

Winter {Life and Art of E. Booth, p. 216): [Edwin] Booth's Cassius was comet-
like, rushing, and terrible — not lacking in human emotion, but coloured with some-
thing sinister. In Cassius he used the 'business' of his father's Richard, in the
moment after the murder of King Henry, — the business, namely, of striding with
heedless preoccupation across the head of the dead Cassar. [See note by Gould,
III, i, 281.] It was an embodiment replete with effect. As Brutus, on the other
hand. Booth presented an ideal of character more dependent on its absolute truth
than its electrical sympathy. . . . He discriminated between the parts with
excellent discretion. The more his Brutus was seen, the more it was loved. His
slender figure, so appropriate to Cassius, had not the massiveness usually asso-
ciated with the mental and moral attributes of Brutus. The absence of lurid
flash and of telling points lessened the effect of emotional excitement. But the
actor's spirit was celestial and his art was superb. Booth's Brutus had little
significance for the senses; it was full of loveliness for the soul. Booth's delivery
of the fine Shakespearean periods was full of grave sweetness and melancholy
beauty, and the touching effect of his melodious elocution was deepened by the
exquisite grace of his demeanor and gesture, and by his aspect of wasting thought
and almost haggard sorrow. One of the most striking qualities of his assumption
of Brutus was the lofty and lovely chivalry of his manner toward Portia. . . ,
Booth depicted Antony as a person of politic, reckless, somewhat treacherous
nature, yet resolute, strong, and fierce. ... To the lighter and more winning
qualities, and to the patrician nobility and refinement of Antony, Booth rendered
the utmost justice. The darker shades of the character were judiciously repressed.

[The following account of Sir H. Beerbohm Tree's production of Jul. Cms. and
his portrayal of Antony is by Percy Simpson. It is given as an appendix in Mark
Hunter's edition:]

Act I. to Act HI, Scene i. made in Tree's version one long act of five Scenes,
culminating in Caesar's murder and Antony's coming to the Senate House; Act II.
was the Forum Scene, ending with Antony's exulting cry —

'Mischief, thou art afoot.
Take thou what course thou wilt.'

Act III, in two Scenes — 'Brutus's tent' and 'Plains of Philippi' — ended with
Antony's tribute over the body of Brutus, 'This was a man.' Antony's part at
the close is slight, so the effect was to deepen the strong emphasis of the earlier acts

442 APPENDIX

and correspondingly to depress the later. It disturbed still further the uneven
balance of the play.

The scenery was an exquisite picture of vanished Rome. Sir L. Alma Tadema,
who designed it, has no rival among living artists in portraying the antique.
Temple and palace, street and forum were revealed aglow with Italian colour. . . .
The 'Public Place' of the opening Scene (Scenes i. to iii. in the poet's text) was
happily chosen for its associations with the great Dictator. It was the Forum of
Julius with the Temple of Venus Genetrix seen through a vast arch of triumph
spanning the front of the stage. Cassar laid out this space at vast cost, and built
the temple to the tutelary goddess of the Julian house which traced its descent from
lulus, the son of ^neas, the son of Venus. In the centre of the Forum stood a
bronze statue of Caesar 'decked with ceremony' and flanked by trees. In the
background the roof of the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus rose against the sky.
The crowd was a many-coloured group, in which the sober tints of the workmen's
tunics and short-hooded mantles set off the bright dresses of rich bystanders and
the pemp of the imperial procession. Caesar (played by Mr C. Fulton) entered
in royal state, accompanied by guards and standard-bearers and the actual pa-
geantry of a Roman triumph, by Senators in red and white togas, and by bands of
lictors with the fasces (axes tied in bundles of rods, symbolizing the magistrate's
power of life and death). He wore the kingly dress, which irritated the republican
faction, a robe of claret red silk with an amethyst-coloured toga, and a laurel-wreath
(used on the plea of hiding baldness), — and he carried an eagle-topped sceptre.
Calpumia had a robe of pale blue, and a sapphire 'palla' figured with gold lilies,
and she wore a crown of roses. Antony in this scene was equipped as a runner for
the Lupercalia with the goat-skin cincture, and had a dappled fawn-skin hanging
from his shoulder. As the procession passed out on its way to the games, a girl
from a house by the archway flung at Caesar's feet a handful of red roses, and he
started back at the omen of blood. It was a Roman touch, and not only recalled
the tribune's anger at strewing

flowers in his way
That comes in triumph over Pompey's blood,'

but it preluded very daintily Decius Brutus's comment upon Caesar's being 'super-
stitious grown of late.' Antony, however, took the omen very differently. He
caught a rose as he passed, and when the procession re-entered he came in caressing
two girls, one of whom had flung him the rose. It was these two girls who after-
wards induced the foremost of the mob to give him a hearing in the Forum scene.

Twice the procession crossed the stage, accentuating the dialogue of Cassius and
Brutus in the interval. . . . During the dialogue %vith Casca the stage darkened,
and the storm was vividly rendered, stray groups flying past to seek shelter while
Cassius 'bared his bosom to the thunder-stone.' The dying away of the storm and
the coming of morning were marked in the following scene, 'Brutus's orchard,'
a lovely glimpse of garden seen from the end of a pillared court. Round a marble
seat in the centre the conspirators gathered. Here, too, Mr Waller (Brutus) sat
for the opening of the speech, 'It must be his death,' then rose as he continued it and
leaned meditatively against a pillar. Action and utterance admirably expressed
the philosophic type. They further marked off the quieter tone of dramatic elocu-
tion to-day from the 'sound and fury' of a bygone school of actors. Miss Millard
played Portia movingly. Her dress was severely simple, as became the wife of
Brutus — pure white, in which the only touch of colour was a turquoise and silver

STAGE HISTORY— WINTER 443

clasp. In strong contrast with the setting of this scene was the gorgeous restora-
tion of a Roman atrium in Scene iii, 'Caesar's house.' Garlanded busts of the
Hermes type (carved heads on square pedestals) stood against the pillared walls;
in the centre was the impluvium or basin below the opening in the pannelled
ceiling which served as a smoke- vent and drained off the rain-water from the roof;
beyond was a view of the triclinium or dining room, and the peristyle or pillared
court. Miss Hanbury acted well the suspense and agony of Calpurnia.

The 'Public Street' of Scene iv. was very beautiful. Pillared buildings in the
foreground; then a row of shops with lowered sun-blinds led to a distant archway
with Ionic pilasters and massive entablature. Across the street ran a line of those
curious stepping-stones still to be seen at Pompeii, to enable passengers to cross in
bad weather. The text of this scene was very neatly arranged. It opened with
Portia's ' I prithee, boy, run to the Senate-house,' and the pretty dialogue which
follows, down to 'Sooth, madam, I hear nothing'; then lines 39-46, 'I will go in,'
&c., and the entry of Artemidorus. He wore the soothsayer's dress — the pileus
or skull-cap of felt and the trachea or augur's robe of bright scarlet stripes with a
purple hem — and he carried the litmus or crooked wand which probably originated
the medieval bishop's crozier. Portia left with the question whether Caesar had
gone to the Capitol; Artemidorus read his warning 'schedule,' and Caesar's proces-
sion entered, the scene closing with Artemidorus's discomfiture.

It was thus a happy prleude to Scene v. 'The Senate House.' The curtain
rose upon some senators seated in tiers of circular seats on either side, with a
throne raised high and steps in the centre, and behind this a canopied and pillared
balcony in which the archivists sat. Caesar entered in procession, escorted by his
murderers. They took their seats at the sides; then rose one by one and knelt be-
fore him, each moving nearer as he supported Cimber. When Casca struck, Caesar
sprang to his feet, then half-defending himself rushed down the steps, stabbed by
each man as he passed, and meeting with outstretched hands Brutus who waited
at the foot. Those not in the secret fled with a cry of horror. For the moment
there was an impressive hush; then a rising murmur was heard in the street outside,
the first sign of 'the people besides themselves with fear.' Gathering round the
body, the conspirators reddened their hands in blood — a graphic touch usually
omitted in acting copies, as its significance depends upon a hunting custom long
obsolete. They turned to depart by the curtained entrance behind, but paused
on meeting Antony, who passed through them, with signs of deep emotion, straight
to the body. The double part which he has to act — accepting their overtures,
but indicating his real feeling to the audience — was conveyed by strokes of byplay.
As each man 'rendered him his bloody hand,' the blunt Casca wiped off the stains
on Antony's wrist, and he repressed a rising look of horror. So his eyes flashed with
a momentary gleam of passion as Cassius at the line, ' Brutus, a word with you,'
stepped over Caesar's body in his haste to move across. The scene ended with an
unhappy inroad of modern sentimentality. Calpurnia, with a fold of crape thrown
over her shoulders, rushed in and postured in speechless agony over the dead.
Elizabethan tragedy was 'made of sterner stuff.' The lonely figure of Calpurnia in
her widowed home brooding over the fulfilment of her presage stirs the imagination
with depths of suggestion which surface-pathos leaves untouched. Moreover
the improvised half-mourning bordered on the ludicrous.

The great scene in the Forum followed as Act II. On the spectator's right was
the Temple of Concord with its outer gallery and the historic rostrum. The
Temple of Saturn was on the left. The towering height of the buildings and the

444 APPENDIX

vast surging crowd gave the impression of enormous space. The scene was per-
formed in its historic setting. First, Brutus's short-lived triumph. His reception
was friendly even in the 'We will be satisfied,' and he seemed to make his points,
not because of his laconic pleading, but because he 'sat high in all the people's
hearts.' The body was brought in, mourned by Antony, whose head was mufiled in
his toga. On Brutus's departure, he was ringed round by a sullen crowd who
hissed and made signs of leaving when he turned to mount the rostrum. Two
girls, with whom at his entrance in Act I, he had exchanged some smiling talk during
the pause in the procession, stood near. He spoke a hurried aside to them now,
and they stepped forward and induced some of the reluctant bystanders to wait.
The great speech began. It was finely modulated and struck the emotional note
distinctive of Antony. The mob became a storm-swept torrent. So far as mere
stage management goes, this episode of the play stood out as singularly brilliant.
With the cry 'We'll mutiny — we'll burn the house of Brutus,' they surged up the
terraced steps in the background, to be recalled with difficulty till the will was
mentioned. Opposite the rostrum was a shattered pedestal inscribed 'Cassar';
the effigy had been destroyed, perhaps by the coryphaeus of the mob, the First
Citizen, who weilded a large hammer. Springing on this pedestal, Antony read
the will. It was obviously impossible to represent the historic burning of the body
in the Forum and the plucking of lighted brands from the pyre to fire the murderer's
houses. But at the words 'Go fetch fire,' some of the crowd left to re-enter with
flaming torches and head the final rush of the avengers.

Act III. began in Brutus's tent. Fine as the episode of the quarrel is, it was tame
in comparison with the storm of passion which preceded. The catastrophe comes
as it were in the middle of the play. It is the spirit and method of Greek rather than
of Elizabethan drama. The modern playgoer calls it anti-climax. The scene was
well rendered, keeping the sharp antithesis of the leading figures. The loss of
Lucius's song is much to be regretted. Mr Tree uses the traditional substitute,
'Orpheus with his lute,' borrowed from Henry VIII.

The scene of Philippi — a picturesque ravine with a level space of foreground —
closed the act. From the rocks on either side the opening parley took place.
The battle is, as usual in Shakespeare, a series of loose excursions and alarms
sufficient to convey the suggestion of fighting. A seventeenth century audience,
unaccustomed to luxurious mounting, took the hint and

'made imaginary puissance
With four or five most vile and ragged foils
Right ill-disposed in brawl ridiculous.'

But in the conditions of the modern stage, the aimless rush and clatter of fighting
groups striking each other's shields and a moiety of them simulating death bring no
illusion. Cassius's suicide at sunset was dramatic for the contrast of the Roman
with the dark Eastern figure of the skin-clad Pindarus. The only marked depart-
ure from the text occurred at this point. There was no Titinius, and, therefore, no
crowning of dead Cassius with the wreath of victory. The fact that Cassius in-
spires sufiicient affection for his friend to follow him in death is of vital significance,
and gives point to Brutus's tribute —

* The last of all the Romans, fare thee well!
It is impossible that ever Rome
Should breed thy fellow.'

STAGE HISTORY— WINTER 445

Brutus* death was also changed. ... At the words 'Hence! I will follow,' Brutus
was left alone; he knelt, unbuckled the shoulder-clasp of his armour, and killed
himself with the cry, 'Caesar, now be still!' Octavius's army entered, and the
epitaph on 'the noblest Roman of them all' was spoken at once by Antony, con-
spicuous in rich armour and the general's scarlet cloak amid the plainly-accoutred
soldiery. It was a moving end, but it was impossible not to feel the lowered note of
these later scenes. The very success of the play was on that account an eloquent
tribute to the power and beauty of the representation; it ran an even course from
January to June, and public interest in it was keen to the last.

Winter {Art of Mansfield, ii, 160): All around Brutus, from first to last, there is
an atmosphere of omen that betokens peril, anguish, and death. In that spirit
Richard Mansfield apprehended the character, and because of his diffusion and sus-
tainment of that poetic ideal — making Brutus almost spectral, in spiritual conflict,
fanatical self -absorption, and silent, patient, majestic misery — the embodiment took
its place among the most thoughtful achievements of the modern stage. . . . The
potent charm of the impersonation was in its atmosphere, in its tremor of con-
flicting emotions, and in its sad isolation — the awful loneliness of a great soul fated
to disaster. In the scene of the quarrel with Cassius Mansfield wisely followed the
good precedent long ago established by Barton Booth, probably the most original
performer of Brutus ever seen upon the stage, and so he made the embodiment im-
pressive by innate authority, restrained demeanor, intense feeling, and penetrat-
ing tones. [See Notes IV, iii, 43; IV, iii, 70.] It was in the Garden Scene; the
moment after the assassination of CcEsar; the Ghost Scene; and the Death Scene
that he wrought his best effects. The spectral haggard, ravaged figure of Brutus,
in those imaginative passages — and more especially in presence of the phantom
— being the consummate image of a haunted mind, predestined to error, misery,
and ruin. Mansfield's embodiments of Brutus differed from previous present-
ments of the character that are still vividly remembered, in its strong accent-
uation, at first of fanatical monomania, and afterward of the self-contained
agony of remorse. His aspect, upon his first appearance, was that of a man
intensely preoccupied, almost dazed, with the conflict of distracting, harrowing
thoughts. The face was pale, the eyes were sunken and hollow. In the Gar-
den Scene the voice was peculiarly tremulous and distressful, till at the close of
that trying ordeal, and again in the Senate Scene, it became stern and solemn, as
if with a terrible resolution, the access of fanaticism. When striking at Casar
he delivered a perfunctory stroke, and momentarily seemed to recoil from the deed
— in that particular following the precedent of Edwin Booth. His aspect, imme-
diately after the assassination, became that of a man absolutely insane. His
delivery of the vindicatory speech to the people was colloquial, and it was cleverly
contrived; loud shouts were made to follow the words, 'Hear me for my cause,'
and the next were spoken as a check to the shouting, 'And be silent that you may
hear.' In appearance ... he looked, indeed, the noble Roman, closely resem-
bling certain paintings of Roman worthies that imaginative skill has framed.

The latest production of Jid. Cas. in America is that given at Buffalo, New York,
October 12, 191 2, under the direction of William Faversham, who acted Marc
Antony; with Tyrone Power as Brutus; Frank Keenan as Cassius; Fuller Mellish as
Julius CcBsar; Julie Opp as Portia; Jane Wheatley as Calphurnia.

446 APPENDIX

James O. Bennett (Chicago Record-Herald, Oct. 20, 191 2) gives the following
account of the performance: In the past it has been agreed that the right scenic
treatment of Julius CcEsar demands spaciousness and the degree of opulence that
is consistent with dignity. In the new production there is a radical departure
from tradition in this respect. The scenes are ablaze with color. This is not the
Rome of white marble, if there ever was such a Rome, but a city recalling the vivid
hues and abrupt contrasts of Pompeiian frescoes. The forum scene is framed in a
mighty double arch of brown stone that is nearly as high as the proscenium arch
of the theater, and that rises close to it. In the background the temples and obe-
lisks that overlook the forum mount high against the deep blue sky of Italy. The
scene is radiant with white sunlight. In the whole scheme of decoration the color
of that oriental influence which was permeating Rome, and which ultimately was
to work its destruction, is felt.

This opening scene is riotous with the merry-making of the participants in the
Lupercalian games and of thronging onlookers. Dancing girls and acrobats flash
across the stage. Music sounds, and troops of soldiers, some of them clanking in
armor and some hooded in undressed skins of beasts, escort notables to the games.

Laughter, ribaldry, and monkey tricks usher in the tragedy. This note of deca-
dence is authentic, as every reader of Mommsen knows, but the emphasis Mr Faver-
sham lays upon it is jarring. We weary in a few seconds of this carnival-of- Venice
kind of clamor, and we are thrown out of key with the austere business so soon to
occupy our minds. But the picture is effective, and the movement, save for too
much bobbing about, is well maneuvered.

The senate chamber is another stupendous picture. To the left of the stage as
you face it is the throne of Csesar, overshadowed by the statue of Pompey. To
the right the benches of the senators rise in four lofty tiers, and when the chamber
fills those benches are occupied by more than three score white-robed figures.
Pillars of richly hued marble stand sentinel around the room. In the background
are vistas of courts and corridors bright with gilding and flaming with color. The
far-flying eagles of Rome look down from gorgeous panels and bending standards.
Clouds of incense float beneath the ponderous ceilings. The stage trembles under
the tread of soldiers and the senators visit in animated groups pending the coming
of Caesar.

To command silence for the hearing of the petitions an officer of the senate strikes
thrice upon metal with a mallet. That detail is worth while, for it adds a curious
touch of reality to the scene.

Another detail, more calculated and, right or wrong, far more important, is the
entrance of Calpurnia into the silent and deserted senate chamber after the assas-
sination. Antony and the messenger who has brought tidings from Octavius are
standing in the remote background. They withdraw a little farther and avert their
faces as Calpurnia, her aspect that of dumb incredulity that has not yet broken in
woe, descends the marble steps to the floor of the chamber, her step slow, her gaze
wide with horror, her eyes fixed in awful fascination upon the body of Caesar.
Over her head she h?s thrown a long black scarf that sweeps nearly to her knees.
Reaching the body, she bends over it and a low note of wailing escapes her. The
prostrate body and the crouching, weeping woman seem pitifully huddled and im-
potent amid the blazing magnificence of the chamber. Antony and the messenger
have drawn still farther off. The mourner is alone with the imperial dead, and on
that eloquent, simple tableau the curtain slowly descends. Austere classicists may
pronounce this business only bizarre. To the writer it finds complete excuse in its

DRAMA TIC VERSIONS— PA RR O TT

447

enormous effectiveness. If other justification for it is demanded, record may be
made of the fact that Miss Wheatley performs it beautifully.

The rich, mysterious setting of the tent scene deserves a word of praise. It is
severe, but it is most imaginative. The massive folds of the tent fill the entire
width and height of the stage with color that shifts with the movement of the touches
from a Gobelin hue to deep, illusive green. The effects of night, of seclusion, of a
haunted place, and of a time of impending doom are created not by resort to clap-
traip, but by masterly painting, and the skilful, subtle, reserved manipulation of
lights. The play contains no finer picture than Mr. Faversham and his artists have
here devised. The Roman lamps burning with languid, bluish flames, the gleam
of burnished armor and crimson trappings and the compact group of generals poring
over their dispatches combine to produce an historical painting of the highest im-
pressiveness. The note of grandeur is here sounded as nowhere else in the play.

With the marvelous rapidity which marks all the scenic changes of this produc-
tion the tent scene vanishes and an entrancing picture of the plains of Philippi,
overlooked by the steep heights of Pangaeus that glow with the rose tints of the
dawn, is revealed. The foreground of this scene is rugged and wild; the distant
peaks are touched with a soft, ineffable beauty at once mournful and consoling.
The pure heights seem to breathe benediction upon the closing episodes of woe and
glory. The symbolism is so delicate that it is best let alone; to dwell upon it is to
render it obvious and so to cheapen it.

Speaking of Faversham's interpretation of ^«/0My, Bennett says that 'the por-
trayal is less a study than a lyric flight; spectacular in its grace and frankly dema-
gogic in its fluency and its cunning. It is ardent, loving, joyous, wild with youth-
ful spirit, instantly capable of rising to and revelling in an emotion. Here is the
fop, but here also is the passionate hero-worshipper, who can bend in awed grief,
that is no less genuine because it is luxurious, over the body of Ceesar, pouring forth
in tremulous tones and with wet eyes his rhapsody of woe. Such rapture and such
splendor as Mr Faversham here summons up turn his declamation to pure gold. It
will be recalled that Antony's speeches provide a succession of lyric climaxes, and
Mr Faversham rises to them not once, but three and four times. And still he avoids
the effect of anti-clima.x as surely as the poet does. This because his crescendos,
%vithout seeming to be, still are most carefully graduated.

The fimeral oration he gave not as a flight in elocution, but as a means to an end,
which, of course, is what it is. He wrestles \vith the mob, wrestles with every
phrase, and with the phrases he slowly beats do^^Ti the mob — beats it with rhetorical
questions and swift, argmnentative thrusts, the inspiration for which he seems to
find in the upturned faces. Always he is wary, always beneath the fluency is
anxious calculation of the effect upon the crowd. This complex treatment is sus-
tained imtil victory is siu-e, and then the reins are thrown away and the words
'Here was a Caesar!' are released in a wild, exultant cry.

DRAMATIC VERSIONS.

T. M. Parrott (Modern Lang. Revieii\ Oct., 1910, p. 438) giv^es a list of all those
'plays on Julius Caesar of which we have any knowledge.' Their titles are as
follows: Jidyus Sesar, performed at Court, i Feb., 1562. (See Collier, Hist, of
Dram. Poetry, i, 180.) Tke Third Blast of Retreat from Plays (1580) mentions 'the
life of Pompeie and the martial affaires of Caesar ' as among the histories which were

448 APPENDIX

represented upon the stage (Hazlitt, English Drama Documents, p. 145). In 1580
a play called The Storie of Pompey was played before the Queen at Whitehall on
Twelfth Night by the children of Paul's (Feuillerat, Documents relating to the Office
of the Revels, p. 336; and Schelling, ii, 21). The History of Ccesar and Pompey,
mentioned by Gosson, Playes Confuted, 1581 (see Note by Malone, I, i, i). Epi-
logiis Ccesaris Interfecti, by Richard Eedes, or Cedes, performed at Christchurch,
Oxford, 1582 (see note by Steevens, I, i, i). Henslowe's Diary mentions 'seser
and pompie' as first performed by the Admiral's Men on Nov. 8, 1594, and 'The
2 P" of sesore'' on June 18, 1595; and under the date May 22, 1602, he records the
advance of a sum of five pounds ' to give unto Antony Munday, Michael Drayton,
Webster, Middleton, and the rest in earnest of a book called Caesar's Fall {sesers
^alle).' No record exists of this play's production or publication. The Tragedy of
Julius Ccesar by Sir William Alexander, probably composed between 1604 and 1606
and published in 1607 (see note by Malone, I, i, i).

In reference to this Academic tragedy Ayres (p. 221) gives the following extract
from an unpublished dissertation by Dr T. A. Lester: Connections between the
Drama of France and Great Britain, particidarly in the Elizabethan Period, 1900:
'In general it may be said that Alexander follows Crevin [Cesar], availing himself
not only of Crevin's original scenes, but also of Crevin's non-Plutarchian order. . . .
There can be little doubt that Alexander's Julius Cctsar is nothing but Crevin's
Cesar, rewritten and enlarged.' — 'This is,' remarks Ayres, 'I think just, and, on the
whole, rather more than I had myself noticed; for Alexander has added so much
from the Cornelia [of Kyd] and from Plutarch (I think Plutarch's Life of Ccesar
could be almost reconstructed complete from his play) and rewritten it all in such
a parenthetically diffuse style that the outlines of Crevin's play are fairly obscured.
So far as the character of Caesar is concerned, however, Alexander owes to Crevin
hardly more than the monologue [p. 366, supra], in which Caesar expresses his vague
fears of impending disaster. On the whole, his conception of Caesar's character . . .
depends directly on Carnier and the Senecan tradition inaugurated by Muret.'

The Tragedie of Ccesar fir Pompey, or Ccesaris Revenge, Anon., 1607.

CcEsar and Pompey: A Roman Tragedy, by Ceorge Chapman, published 1631, but
written, as the author says in the dedication, 'long since. '—Schelling (ii, 22)
records also that ' the manuscript of a Latin Jidius Ccesar by Thomas May is still
extant, and may be identical with a late Julius Caesar, acted privately by students
of Trinity College, Oxford, it is not recorded when.'

Jidius CcEsar, a droll, or puppet-show, mentioned by Marston in 1605, and
Jonson in 1609.

Ccesar's Tragedy, mentioned in the Vertue MS. [See Malone: Stage History,
supra.]

D. E. Baker (Biographia Dram.) records a version, or alteration, of Shakespeare's
Jul. CcEs. by D'Avenant and Dryden dated 1719, for an account of which see notes
on IV, iii, 357.

Cenest (iii, 89): Sheffield Duke of Buckingham left behind him two Tragedies —
Julius CcEsar and Marcus Brutus, both founded on Shakspeare's play — they were
published in 1722 — the Prologue to Julius Ccesar begins with —

'Hope to mend Shakspeare! or to match his style!
'Tis such a jest would make a Stoick smile.'
Then why attempt it?

DRAMATIC VERSIONS— GENEST 449

Act I St. All the low Comedy of the ist scene is omitted — Antony offers Caesar
the crown on the stage — the scene between Brutus and Cassius — and that between
Cassius and Casca are not materially altered, but several unnecessary changes
are made.

Act 2d. Brutus's Soliloquy and the scene with the Conspirators are altered for
the worse — that between Brutus and Portia is turned into a contemptible love
dialogue — Brutus in love!!!

Act 3d consists of the scene at Caesar's palace badly altered — Calpurnia is
omitted, and two Priests relate the ill omens that have happened.

Act 4th consists of the Senate scene considerably altered for the worse.

Act 5th is the scene in the Forum — Brutus's address to the Citizens is turned into
blank verse with additions — one line deserves to be quoted —

'And when a grieving parent whips his child.'

— Then follows the remainder of the scene not materially altered — with this the
play ends.

Marcus Brutus— His Grace having but 2 acts of the original play to spin out
into 5, was obliged to introduce some new characters — thus we have Junia wife to
Cassius and sister to Brutus — Dolabella — Varius a young Roman studying at
Athens, &c.

The first three acts are entirely the Duke's — in the first Dolabella is most ab-
surdly introduced with a message from Antony to Brutus, requesting him to take
the sovereign power on himself — in the 3d act Junia says —

'But Rome's at stake.'
To which Varius replies —

'And well it would be lost,
For staying here one night within these arms.'

Cassius is almost of the same opinion.

The substance of the 4th and 5th Acts is taken from Shakespeare, but the words
are the Duke's — the quarrelling scene is not badly written, but it is vastly inferior
to the original — Cassius says —

'From a superior my Stars defend me!'

This is quite wrong, as Cassius was an Epicurean and did not believe in planetary
influence.

After Cassius has stabbed himself, Brutus comes on before Cassius dies — Caesar's
Ghost appears to Brutus at the close of the 3d act, and again just as he is going to
kill himself.

Brutus some few hours before his death looked up to heaven and quoted a line
from the Medea of Euripides—' O Jupiter, forget not who is the author of these
wrongs.' Shakspeare met with this circumstance in Plutarch, but did not insert
it in his play, which is a pity.

Both the Duke's plays have a Chorus at the end of each act — those at the end
of the ist and 2d acts of Marcus Brutus were written by Pope at the command
of his Grace — in Marcus Brutus the scene lies at Athens in the first three acts, and
near Philippi in the last two — for this violation of the unity of place his Grace
apologizes in the Prologue, but to satisfy us that he has preserved the unity of
time, we are studiously informed that the play begins the day before the battle of
29

45 O APPENDIX

Philippi and ends with it — consequently Brutus and Cassius with their attendants
must have gone from Athens to Philippi in one day — this absurdity is rendered the
more glaring as Cassius in act 2d says —

'I must immediately haste to our friends
Who all assembled in the fields of Sardis
Wait there for me and Brutus.*

In the next scene Junia says that her husband is gone to Sardis — however he
rides post, and arrives at Philippi considerably within the 24 hours — into such
disgraceful inconsistencies does the Duke fall from the silly affectation of appearing
to preserve the unity of time.

In fact Brutus and Cassius met at Sardis — from thence, and not from Athens,
they went to Philippi — their meeting was after a considerable interval, and several
grounds of mutual complaint had occurred— but in the Duke's play they had only
been parted some few hours, nor had any cause for an angry expostulation taken
place.

The Duke's plays are, on the whole, a very bad alteration of Jul. Cas., but it
would be doing him great injustice not to allow that his additions are very superior
to the stuff sometimes mixed up with Shakspeare's plays. [These adaptations
were never acted, and were not published until after the Duke's death. — Ed.]

Ibid, (iii, 94): In 1753 Aaron Hill published his Roman Revenge, a Tragedy
written on the death of Julius CcBsar — it had been acted at Bath — it has some good
lines in it, but on the whole it is superlatively dull — Hill has grossly misrepresented
the characters of Caesar — Brutus — Cassius and Servilia — he makes Calphurnia
and Portia sworn friends from their childhood — but the greatest absurdity of all is,
that he introduces Trinovantius, a British Tribune, who styles himself Caesar's
old Soldier, proposes to protect him from the Senate by his Britons, and afterwards
threatens to avenge his death, and guard Britannia's liberty — which no one but his
friend Caesar had at that time ever attacked — Caesar on his part politely tells him —

'I thought the sons of Thames had felt no fears.'

Hill's object in writing this play was evidently to set Caesar's character in the
fairest point of view — he says of him in the Prologue —

'And Caesar had a soul without one stain.'

Ibid, (iii, 95): Voltaire's Death of Ccesar is, in every respect, very inferior to
Shakespeare's play — he speaks of Scipio very improperly, and makes Doiabella
call himself an old soldier — to preserve the unity of place he falls into much the
same absurdities that Addison does in Cato — in Shakespeare the Conspirators meet
in Brutus's orchard, and before it is light — in Voltaire's play they settle their
measure in the day time, and at the Capitol — Caesar also holds his confidential
discourse with Brutus in the same public place — Hill and Voltaire both make Cassar
killed behind the scenes — Voltaire concludes his Tragedy with Antony's address to
the Citizens, which is in a considerable degree borrowed from Shakspeare.

From the intrigue between Caesar and Servilia, the mother of Brutus, a story has
been raised that Brutus was Caesar's son, tho' in fact Caesar was but 15 years older
than Brutus — (Dr Middleton) — this story Hill and Voltaire have eagerly seized
on for the sake of depreciating Brutus — in both their plays Caesar discovers himself

DRAMATIC VERSIONS— PARROTT

451

to Brutus as his father — Brutus is distressed at the discovery, but perseveres in his
intentions — in the Duke of Guise, Brutus is said to have stabbed his father, &c. —
this no doubt at the time produced a thundering clap — the same thing is said in the
Prologue to Love in a Forest.

Suetonius tells us that Caesar was more in love with Servilia than with any other
woman, but does not give the slightest hint that Brutus was his son; and as he
dwells more on the private transactions of the Emperors than r.ny other historian,
he would in all probability have noticed the report if he had ever heard it. [For
an accoimt of Voltaire's translation of Jul. Cas., see Appendix: Criticisms. — Ed.]

The Academic Tragedy: CcFsar &• Pompey.

T. ]\I. Parrott {op. cit., p. 440): It seems to me almost incredible that the
College Play [The Tragedy of CcEsar and Pompey] which has come down to us
should be identical with Henslowe's 'seser and pompie.' We know, to be sure,
nothing about this latter besides its name, except the date of its first performance
and the company that produced it. But these two facts enable us to hazard some
conjecture as to its probable tj'pe. The Admiral's Company in 1594 stood under
the leadership of Alleyn. and were, in their choice of tragedies, dominated by the
tradition of Marlowe. A glance through the pages of Henslowe's Diary for 1594
shows us what sort of tragedies they preferred; from June 3, 1594, to March 14,
1595 we have an unbroken series of plays. . . . 'Seser and pom pie' stands well up
among other plays, with a record of seven performances between Nov. 8, 1594, and
March 14, 1595, and was revived once more in connection with a less successful
second part on Jime 25, 1595. This mention of a second part, by the way, is itself
an argument against the identity of the Admiral's play -n-ith that of Trinity Col-
lege. The latter, as we shall see, exhausts its subject so that no continuation is
possible. Now, if we may argue from the known to the unknown, have we not
reason to suppose that the Admiral's play was a vigorous chronicle of the wars of
Caesar and Pompey with plenty of action to tickle the groundlings, and, I fancy, a
fine mouth-filling part for .\lle>-ne as Caesar? Is the Trinity College play anything
of this kind, or does it at all resemble the sort of play that coiild have been per-
formed with a fair measure of success before such an audience as frequented the
Rose in 1594? A brief analysis of the play will, I think, show the contrary.

[I gladly acknowledge my indebtedness to ^Ir Parrott for the following analytical
outline of this old tragedy; it would be but presumption on my part to hope to
improve upon, or even equal, his carefiJ work. — Ed.]

The Tragedy opens in the approved academic fashion by the entrance and solil-
oquising prologue of a supernatural figure. Discord, who informs the audience as to
the war between Csesar and Pompey and the former's victory at Pharsalia. As
Discord leaves the stage a number of fugitives from the battle, Pompey himself,
Titinius, and Brutus enter and discuss the situation. Pompey resolves to seek
aid in Egypt; Brutus remains, and in the next scene is taken prisoner and pardoned
by Caesar. In the third scene Caesar, in debate with Antony, Dolabella, and a Lord,
expresses his remorse for having precipitated civil war, but is still of a mind to
pursue Pompey. In the next scene Cato laments the loss of Roman liberty. In
the fifth we get the parting between Pompey and Cornelia, and in the last scene of
the act the meeting of Caesar with Cleopatra, who seeks his aid to restore her to
the throne of Eg>'pt. Caesar falls in love with her, and so also does Antony, who is
present at the interview.

452

APPENDIX

Discord appears again to open the Second Act with a rhetorical soliloquy, and
gives place to Achillas and Sempronius, who meet and murder Pompey on the
Egyptian sea-shore. In the second scene Cornelia laments Pompey's death and
kills herself. In the third Caesar pronounces sentence on the murderers and departs
to feast with Cleopatra; Antony remains to soliloquise on his hopeless passion for the
Egyptian. Then Brutus brings the news of Pompey's death to a group of Roman
nobles who are persuaded by Cicero to submit to Caesar; and in the last scene of the
act we have a long dialogue between Cato and his son, closing with the suicide of
Cato.

Discord opens the Third Act with a summons to Brutus and Cassius to slay
Caesar. Cassius enters to avow his purpose of killing the Dictator. The second
scene introduces Caesar's triumph. Antony remains on the stage to lament his
separation from Cleopatra. His Bonus Genius appears to rebuke his folly and to
prophecy his ruin through Cleopatra. He thereupon resolves to 'wake from idle
dream.' The third scene consists of a dialogue between Brutus and Cassius, in
which the former takes an oath to slay Caesar.- The fourth represents the festival
of Lupercalia, Antony's repeated offer of a crown to Caesar, and Caesar's repeated
refusal. This scene, not the first scene of Act II, as Collier {Annals of the Stage,
vol. Ill, p. 124, n.) states, contains a flagrant plagiarism from the Faerie Queen.
Compare:

' The restless mind that harbours sorrowing thoughts,

And is with child of noble enterprise.

Doth never cease from honor's toilsome task,

Till it brings forth Eternal glories brood.'

with Spenser's lines:

' The noble hart, that harbours vertuous thought,
And is with child of glorious great intent.
Can never rest, until it forth have brought
Th' eternall brood of glorie excellent.' — Faerie Queen, I, v, i.

The fifth scene represents the meeting of the conspirators, Brutus, Cassius, Casca,
Cumber (sic), and Trebonius. In the last scene of the act Calpurnia seeks to keep
Caesar from the Senate by reciting her ominous dream, an augur brings in bad
omens, and Caesar decides to remain at home. He is, however, overpersuaded by
Cassius, who enters at this moment. The scene then shifts, without any division
in the text, to the Senate house, where Caesar is attacked by the conspirators. He
defends himself by a long speech until Brutus, who has been detaining Antony
outside, enters and stabs him, whereupon he falls and dies. Antony enters to
lament his death and vow revenge, and bears off the body in his arms. One of the
murderers, by the way, bears the name of Bucolian, a fact which seems to point to
Appian's History, Bell. Civ., II, 113, 117, as a source.

The Fourth Act opens with the usual soliloquy of Discord, who introduces the
remaining action by foretelling the revenge of Caesar at Philippi. Octavian then
laments the death of Caesar, whose funeral is now performed, accompanied by
Antony's oration. It is worth noting that this oration does not bear the slightest
resemblance to the speech in Shakespeare's Julius Casar. This play, it is true,
was not printed till 1623, but if so unscrupulous a plagiarist as the author of Caesar
and Pompey had ever seen it performed, he could hardly have refrained from in-
troducing some reminiscence of it into his own play.

The second scene of this act shows Brutus and Cassius at the head of an army,

DRAMATIC VERSIONS— PARROTT 453

to whom Titinius, playing the part of a Senecan nuntius, reports the disturbances
in Rome. The leaders decide to levy more troops and to meet in Thessaly. The
third scene opens with a monologue by the Ghost of Caesar; Antony and Octavian
enter at swords' points, but are persuaded by the affable familiar Host to renounce
their quarrel and unite in a vow of revenge upon his murderers.

The Last Act consists of one long undivided scene. Discord opens it by calling
up the 'Stygian fiends' to make a hell on earth. Brutus and Cassius enter at the
head of an army, boasting of their conquests in the East, but Brutus is troubled by
forebodings of approaching death, and by remorse for the murder of Caesar. After
the departure of the others the Ghost of Caesar enters to Brutus and warns him that
he shall die that day by his own hand. The battle of Philippi is now supposed to
be fought off the stage. Cato's son enters wounded, tells of the battle, and dies.
Cassius sends Titinius for news of Brutus and in his absence kills himself. Titinius
returns and kills himself. Brutus enters, dogged by the Ghost of Caesar, and kills
himself. The revenge being accomplished in this satisfactory fashion, the play
closes with a dialogue between the Ghost and Discord quite in the manner of the
last scene of The Spanish Tragedy. A passage from the last speech of the Ghost will
give some notion of the author's old-fashioned versification and of his partiality for
classical allusions:

' I will descend to mine eternal home
Where everlastingly my quiet soul
The sweet Elysium pleasure shall enjoy,
And walk those fragrant flowery fields at rest:
To which nor fair Adonis bower so rare
Nor old .\lcinous gardens may compare.
There that same gentle father of the Spring
Mild Zephyrus doth odours breath divine,
Clothing the earth in painted bravery.
The which nor Winter's rage nor scorching heat
Or Simimers sun can make it fall or fade.
There with the mighty champions of old time
And great Heroes of the Golden Age
My dateless hours I'le spend in lasting joy.'

It is evident from the above analysis, I think, that the Trinity College play is as
unlike what we may fairly assume the Admiral's play to have been as could well be
expected. It has no central dominating role in which Alleyne could have found
scope for his powers. It is, indeed, entirely without that power of characterization
which gives life and interest even to some of the crudest and most formless plays'
of the time. It has, in spite of the enormous amount of matter which the author
has dragged in, curiously little action. Most of the scenes consist of detailed
reports of actions off the stage, or of long tirades in which the speakers express their
grief for the past or avow their determination for the future. There is no plot, in
the proper sense of the word, nor any attempt at dramatic construction, but scene
follows scene in purely chronological order. This is a method of dramatic com-
position that we are accustomed to associate with the popular rather than the aca-
demic Senecan drama; but Churchill and Keller {Shakespeare Jakrbuck, vol. xxxbc,
p. 257) have shown that a number of academic tragedies followed the lines of
the popular chronicle plays rather than the stricter Senecan form. Finally, there
is not the slightest trace in this play of the broad realistic hximour which is so fre-

454 APPENDIX

quent, not to say constant, in the early popular drama, and which we may reasonably
assume to have appeared in the Admiral's play.

The Trinity College play, then, fully deserves the name by which it is com-
monly known, the 'Academic Tragedy' of Casar and Pompey. It is modelled on
the Senecan imitations so popular at the Universities and Inns of Court, but shows
also the influence of the popular drama. I fancy the author's favourite play must
have been The Spanish Tragedy, which itself represents this popularization of
Seneca. The stiff and monotonous blank verse reminds one far more of Kyd than
of Marlowe or Shakespeare. It is, indeed, curiously archaic to have been written
in 1606, a fact which may, perhaps, suggest that it was composed by an elderly Don
rather than by an undergraduate. It is crowded to a most unusual degree with
classical allusions such as would appeal to an academic audience. If the dates in
MS. on the title-page refer to performances of this play, it must have been a marked
favourite at Oxford, and this conjecture is corroborated by the fact that two printed
editions were called for, whereas the majority of academic tragedies remain in
manuscript to the present day. But we can by no stretch of imagination conceive
of it as successful to the degree of seven performances in four months at the Rose.

We may then assert pretty positively that the Trinity College play has no con-
nection whatever — beyond a similarity of name — with the lost play of seser and
ponipie, mentioned by Henslowe. Nor has it any connection with Shakespeare's
Julius Ccesar, which precedes it, nor with Chapman's Ccesar and Pompey, which
follows it in date. The one play with which it may possibly have had some con-
nection is the lost Julius Ccesar of Eedes. Dull in itself, it is yet of interest historic-
ally as the first known example of a tragedy written in English on a classical
theme which was performed at either of the Universities.

Chapman's Ccesar 6* Pompey.

The following is a transcript of the title-page of Chapman's Tragedy as given in
Pearson's reprint of the first edition : CiESAR | and | Pompey: ] A Roman Tragedy,
DE- I glaring their Warres. I Out of whose euents is euicted this \ Proposition. \
Only a iust vtan is a freeman. \ by George Chapman. | London: | Printed by
Thomas Harper, and are to be | sold by Godfrey Edmondson, and Thomas Alchorne.
I M. DC. XXXI. I In the dedication to the Earl of Middlesex Chapman says that
this History 'yet never toucht it at the Stage' although written 'long since.' An
analysis of this composition more elaborate than the following outline is, I think,
unnecessary. Act I, sc. i. Cato, Athenodorus, Statilius, and Porcius discuss the
situation which confronts the citizens of Rome, owing to the rivalry of Caesar and
Pompey; Cato describes the approach of the rabble surrounding Caesar, and is
warned of Caesar's opposition to him in the Senate; Cato declares that all is nothing
to one who places faith in his own integrity. As they depart Caesar and Metellus
enter at the head of a procession of Senators, soldiers, and people. The Consuls
take their places, and Caesar sounds Metellus as to winning Cato to their side;
Metellus assures him that such is impossible and they must use all means to keep
him from the bench, wherein Caesar acquiesces. They take their places; Pompey
and his followers enter and after them Cato with Statilius and Porcius; after some
slight opposition Cato places himself between Caesar and Metellus, the people
encouraging him so to do. Metellus presents his requests that the army of Pompey
be allowed to enter Rome, for the better guarding of the people against Cataline's
conspirators, some of whom are now in prison, but others at large. Cato at once

DRAMATIC VERSIONS— CHAPMAN 455

replies that in such a case it were better to put to death those in prison than to incur
the greater danger of increasing Pompey's power. Caesar in a long speech rehearses
all his services to the state and his exploits in arms, urging that if it be but for pro-
tection that Pompey's army be needed, that his own soldiers are quite as com-
petent to that end. To which Pompey replies in an equally long harangue that
his services to the state should not be overlooked, and denies any intention of using
the army to his own advantage. Metellus then attempts to read the law allowing
Pompey to admit his army; he is prevented by Cato, and Caesar rebukes Cato for
his interference, threatening him with imprisonment, whereat Pompey replies that
Caesar's threat is far worse than Cato's act; this at once leads to a scene of mutual
recrimination between the two leaders: Pompey declares that Caesar's malady of
the falling sickness is a just visitation by the gods as a punishment for his many
excesses; Caesar replies that were punishments thus inflicted Pompey would be the
more deserving of the two, and proceeds to relate some of the scandals attached
to Pompey's name. Cato remonstrates at this undignified quarrel, and Pompey,
exclaiming 'Away, I'll hear no more,' adds, 'All you that love the good of Rome,
I charge ye, follow me; all such as stay, are friends to Caesar and their country's
foes.' The Act ends with the Ruffians exclaiming 'War! War! O Caesar,' and the
Senators replying 'Peace! Peace! worthy Pompey.'

Act II. Fronto, a ragged beggar, in a soliloquy tells of his wretched state and his
knavery, and is about to hang himself; to him appears a strange monster from the
infernal regions who gives his name asOphioneus, one of the fallen angels; he urges
Fronto to desist from his purpose since the present is 'the only time that ever
was for a rascal to live in.' They are interrupted by the sudden entry of Pompey
and his family in hurried flight. Ophioneus bids Fronto to ' drink with the Dutch-
man, sweare with the Frenchman, cheat with the Englishman, brag with the Scot,
and turn all this to religion.' (Which is perhaps not more anachronistic than the
appearance of Bottom and his companions at the court of Theseus.) Fronto
accedes and becomes a follower of Ophioneus. It is somewhat diflScult to under-
stand the purpose of this whole scene, as neither of these characters appear again,
and it merely retards the action. Niiniius, as chorus, then tells how Pompey has
fled from Rome and Caesar is in pursuit; and how Pompey turned and attacked his
pursuer. Caesar enters with his ofl&cers and to him enters Antony with Vibius
taken prisoner; he asks pardon of Caesar for his desertion; it is granted and Caesar
bids him return to Pompey with offers of peace and the mutual bestowal of their
armies in garrison. Vibius departs on this errand. Caesar decides to await no
longer for word from Sabius, but to set out for Brundusium. Crassinius and
Acilius endeavor to dissuade him, urging as a reason for his not going by sea that the
vessels to convey him are not safe. Caesar remains unmoved, declaring that
'suspicions are worse than assured destructions through thoughts.' With further
asseverations on this point the scene closes. The next shows Pompey after his
first encounter with Caesar, who has been repulsed with loss of two thousand men.
Cato bids him not to boast of this as they were his own countrymen, and begs that
he will ever be mindful of this in future battles and sieges of cities under Roman
rule. He assures Pompey that he doubts not 'there will come humble offer on
Caesar's part of honor'd peace.' Pompey begs Cato not to expose himself to danger
by leaving the safe refuge in which he now is. To which Cato replies that he is sent
by the Senators to visit both Pompey's army and Caesar's in order to curb the
stragglers puffed up with conquest on either side, and that he is now on his way to
Utica. Pompey, with many affectionate words, commits him to the care of

456 APPENDIX

Porcius and Statilius and Cato departs. The two Consuls enter, leading Brutus
between them; he assures Pompey that it is but his love for his country and not
regard for his personal safety that now brings him. Pompey gladly receives
Brutus. To them enter the Kings of Iberia, Thessaly, Cilicia, Epirus, and Thrace
to vow fealty and aid to Pompey. The air is suddenly darkened and a violent storm
with rain and thunder descends; in the midst of this Caesar enters disguised, still
firm in his determination to set out for Brundusium; the Master of a ship endeav-
ours to dissuade him from embarking, to his remonstrances Caesar replies:

'Launch, man, and all thy feares fraight ^m. ftraigh,(\ disavow
Thou carriest Caesar and his fortune now.'

and with this Act II. closes.

Act III. begins with a scene between Pompey, the Five Kings, Brutus, Demetrius,
and Gabinius, wherein Pompey declares that the coming fight at Pharsalia is to
be the touchstone of his fortunes, and that all shall share in whatever success he
obtains, but that he alone must suffer for any failure, in which event his ill fortune,
not he, must be blamed. The others contribute each his comment on such noble
sentiments; Pompey enquires as to the fate of Vibius; Gabinius recounts how Vibius
was taken, and while he is thus telling, the man himself appears; Pompey marvels
that Vibius should so soon return, but the latter assures him that it was Caesar's
grace and not a ransom that thus set him free. Pompey rather doubts Cassar's
disinterestedness, which he thinks inconsistent with his other acts; Vibius informs
him of Caesar's offer of peace, in which Pompey is at first disposed to trust; but
Brutus warns him that this offer may but hide a snare; Pompey is at once sus-
picious and declares that he will sooner 'take hell mouth for a sanctuary' than put
trust in Caesar's offers, resolving to hazard all in the approaching battle, though
regretting that he must thus act contrary to the counsel of Cato in shedding so
much innocent blood; he invokes the gods to be propitious to the justice of his
cause, since he fights against the self-love of Caesar. They depart; then enter
Caesar, Antony, a Soothsayer, Crassinius, Acilius, with others. The Soothsayer
tells of the sacrifice just made and interprets it as favourable to the success of
Csesar, since the sacred blaze is seen shining above the camp. Two Scouts enter
and corroborate the fortunate hour for battle, as they have noted a strange con-
fusion in the camp of Pompey; Crassinius also tells of a prodigy occurring in an
adjacent temple wherein a palm tree miraculously grew and with its topmost
leaves crowned a statue of Caesar. To all of this Caesar, while admitting the
divine power thus shown, declares that their own strength must determine the
issue; on this point Crassinius reassures him, and Caesar bids them hang out his
crimson coat of arms to give the soldiers ' that ever-sure sign of resolu'd-for fight.'
[See note V, i, i8.] The signal is hung out; Caesar calls upon the heavens to be
propitious, and that he may no longer be spoken of as a tyrant, but as the preserver
of his country; with this Act III. closes.

Act IV. opens with a scene between Pompey and Brutus. Pompey rails in good
set terms against fortune, declaring that there can be no cause for this sudden con-
fusion in his army other than his judgement against enforcing the fight. Brutus
begs him to trust to his own clearer insight and desist from battle, as the advice of
Domitius, Spinther, and Scipio is but prompted by their own selfish desires. Pom-
pey is unmoved in his determination to incur no longer the imputation of fear, and
bids Brutus at once to prepare for battle. The battle takes place with alarums
and excursions. The Kings enter and tell how the battle was lost even before it

DRAMATIC VERSIONS— CHAPMAN 457

was fought. Crassinius enters mortally wounded. Csesar and Pompey enter
fighting; Pompey gives way, Caesar pursues him and entering 'from another door'
finds Crassinius dead; he laments the death of so brave a soldier; pronounces his
epitaph, and with the help of others bears away the body. Pompey and Demetrius
enter with black cloaks and hats; Pompey declares that he should have foreseen this
defeat from the overweening confidence of his soldiers which was so fallacious;
and laments his downfall after so many years of fortune; declaring that all his past
services to his country will be forgotten and cancelled by this one defeat. He
resolves to abandon all men save Cato, to whom he now turns; and will also 'visit
and comfort' Cornelia. They disguise themselves and depart. Caesar and
Acilius enter with their forces; Caesar mourns over the loss of so many of his own
countrymen, but especially that Brutus should be among those slain. Brutus
enters and submits his life and fortunes to Caesar, who receives him joyfully, and
tells him he is on his way to join Cato at Utica; Brutus accompanying Caesar they
depart. The scene now changes to Utica, the house of Cato. Porcius enters and
takes down a sword which he finds hanging by his father's bed; Marcius, who follows
him, enquires the reason for this, and Porcius informs him that he fears that Cato
will attempt suicide rather than yield to Cassar now that Pompey is defeated.
He begs Marcius to keep the news of this from Cato and also all weapons that may
aid him to take his life; to this Marcius assents. Cato, with a book in his hand,
enters accompanied by Statilius and Athenodorus. Cato asks the meaning of the
suspicious looks of those about him, and whether they fear his attempting suicide.
Athenodorus assures him that Caesar would consider his own life strengthened
by preserving Cato's. Cato indignantly refuses to condescend so far as to ask
aught of Caesar, who has slaughtered the loyal subjects of Rome, and declares
that rather than accept life from Csesar he would make a beast his 'second father.'
To this Statilius replies with the question: 'Why was a man ever just, but to be
free, 'gainst all injustice? ' On this theme Cato waxes eloquent, and the remainder
of this Act is devoted to a discussion of this. (It will be remembered that this
is the proposition enunciated on the title-page of the Tragedy, and the proof of
which is to be demonstrated.) Applauding Cato's masterly exposition of his
belief in immortality, they go in 'to sup,' and await the coming of Caesar.

Act V. begins with Cornelia and the children of Pompey anxiously awaiting
tidings. Lentulus bids her enquire of a Sentinel, placed on a promontory, whether
any ship is yet in sight. The Sentinel replies that he sees but two travellers ap-
proaching along the shore on foot; but presently announces that he sees a single
ship approaching the haven; and now men armed with pikes are disembarking.
Pompey and Demetrius enter disguised in their long cloaks and black hats. Lentu-
lus points them out to Cornelia as two Thessalian Augurs, and begs that she ask
them for news of Pompey. Not penetrating the disguise, Cornelia puts a series of
questions to Pompey, who, in order to test her fidelity, disparages himself and asks
her if she could submit herself to her husband even though he were fallen; to this
Cornelia replies: 'If he submit himself cheerfully to his fortune.' Pompey flings
off his disguise and folds her in his arms, crying: 'O gods, was I ever great till this
minute.' They both joyfully accept the change in fortune, resolving to rise above
adversity. Achillas, Septius, and Salvius enter with messages from Ptolemy to
Pompey, bidding him to withdraw and hear the words of the King. Pompey goes
followed by Achillas and Septius with their swords drawn, this causes apprehension
to Cornelia; Pompey returns wounded, the murderers follow and drag him off in
order to 'take his head for Caesar.' Cornelia swoons and is borne away by the

458 APPENDIX

two Lentuli and Demetrius, who have also been wounded in defending Pompey.
The scene changes again to Utica, the house of Cato. Cato, with a book in his
hand, moralises upon the right of man to take his own life; he notices the absence
of the sword which Marcius had removed, and demands of Marcilius that it be
restored. Marcilius does not immediately return; Cato summons Decius Brutus
and asks that his sword be brought; Brutus does not respond, and Cato bids them
send for Porcius that he may return the sword. Athenodorus enters with Porcius;
he and the others kneel and beseech Cato to think of his wife, his children, and his
country, and their great need of him. Cato again indignantly asks that his sword
be replaced. He appeals to Porcius by his paternal duty to him and his affection
always shown; Porcius unwillingly acquiesces and they leave. Cato thus left alone
meditates upon death and the after life of the soul. A Page enters with a sword;
Cato bids him lay it upon the bed and leave him. He falls upon his sword, exclaim-
ing: ' Now wing thee, dear soul, and receive her, heaven! ' Porcius and others rush
in; they endeavor to save the life of Cato, he repulses them and 'plucks out his
entrails,' saying as he dies: 'Have he my curse that my life's least part saves. Just
men are only free, the rest are slaves.' Caesar, Antony, Marcus Brutus, and the
Citizens of Utica enter; Caesar laments his delay in coming too late, declaring that
all his conquest is now as nothing since Cato is gone. Achillas and Septius enter
with Pompey's head, which they present to Caesar; he is overcome with horror at
their act, and orders them to death. Brutus intercedes for them, and Caesar miti-
gates the sentence; he orders a sumptuous tomb to be erected for Cato upon some
eminent rock, whereon shall be placed his statue holding a sword, and 'where, may
to all times rest His bones as honor'd as his soul is blest.' And with this the
Tragedy concludes.

The source of nearly all the incidents in Chapman's Tragedy is to be found in the
lives of Casar, Pompey, and Cato the Younger, as given in North's Plutarch. It is
not necessary to piece together the fragments in order to show Chapman's skill,
but one or two illustrations of his use of his material is, perhaps, interesting:

'Act I, sc. ii. Enter Pompey, Gahinius, Vibius, Demetrius with papers. Enter the
Lists, ascend and set. After whom enter Cato, Minutius, Athenodorus, Statilius,
Porcius.

Cat. He is the man that sits so close to Casar,
And holds the law there, whispering; see the Cowherd
Hath guards of arm'd men got, against one naked.
He part their whispering virtue.

1. Hold, keepe out.

2. What? honor'd Cato? enter chuse thy place.
Cat. Come in;

He drawes him in and sits betwixt Casar and Metellus. — Away unworthy groomes.

J. No more.

Cces. What should one say to him?

Met. He will be Stoicall.

Cat. Where fit place is not given, it must be taken.

4. Doe, take it Cato; feare no greatest of them;
Thou seek'st the peoples good; and these their owne.

5. Brave Cato! what a countenance he puts on?
Let's give his noble will, our utmost power.'

The basis for this is from the Life of Cato the Younger: ' Cato, when he saw the
temple of Castor and Pollux encompassed with armed men, and the steps guarded

DRAMA TIC VERSIONS— CHAPMAN

459

by gladiators, and at the top Metellus and Caesar seated together, turning to his
friends, "Behold," said he, "this audacious coward, who has levied a regiment of
soldiers against one unarmed naked man"; and so he went on with Thermus.
Those who kept the passages gave way to these two only, and would not let any-
body else pass. Yet Cato, taking Munatius by the hand, with much difficulty
pulled him through along with him. Then going directly to Metellus and Caesar, he
sat himself down between them, to prevent their talking to one another, at which
they were both amazed and confounded. And those of the honest party, observing
the countenance and admiring the high spirit and boldness of Cato, went nearer,
and cried out to him to have courage, exhorting also one another to stand together,
and not betray their liberty, nor the defender of it.'

Again in Act III, scene ii, before the battle of Pharsalia, Caesar thus speaks to
Antony:

*0 Marc Anthony
I thought to raise my camp, and all my tents,
Tooke downe for swift remotion to Scotussa.
Shall now our purpose hold?

Anth. Against the gods?
They grace in th' instant and in th' instant we
Must adde our parts, and be in th' use as free.

Crassinius. See Sir, the scouts retume.

Enter two scouts.

Cas. What newes, my friends?

1 Scoti. Arme, arme, my Lord, the voward of the foe
Is rang'd already.

2 Scoii. Answer them, and arme:
You cannot set your rest of battel! up
In happyer houre; for I this night beheld

A strange confusion in your enemies campe,
The souldiers taking armes in all dismay,
And hurling them againe as fast to earth.
Every way routing; as the alarme were then
Given to their army. A most causeless feare
Disperst quite through them.

Cas. Then twas love himselfe
That with his secret finger stirr'd in them.

Crass. Other presages of successe (my Lord)
Have strangely hapn'd in the adjacent Cities,
To this your army: for in Tralleis,
Within a Temple, built to Victory,
There stands a statue of your forme and name,
Neare whose firme base, even from the marble pavement,
There sprang a Palme tree up, in this last night.
That seemes to crowne your statue with his boughs
Spred in wrapt shadowes round about your browes.

CcES. Hang out of my tent
My Crimsine coat of armes, to give my souldiers
That ever sure signe of resolu'd-for fight.

460 APPENDIX

Crass. These hands shall give that signe to all their longings.

Exit Crass. . . . The Cote of Armes is hung out, and the Souldiers shout
within.

An. Heark, your souldiers shoute
For ioy to see your bloody Cote of Armes
Assure their fight this morning.'

The basis for this is in the Life of Pompey: 'Now Caesar having designed to raise
his camp with the morning and move to Scotussa, whilst the soldiers were busy
in pulling down their tents, and sending on their cattle and servants before them
with their baggage, there came in scouts who brought word that they saw arms
carried to and fro in the enemy's camp, and heard a noise and running up and
down, as of men preparing for battle; not long after there came in other scouts
with further intelligence, that the first ranks were already set in battle array.
Thereupon Csesar, when he had told them that the wished for day was come at
last, when they should fight with men, not with hunger and famine, instantly gave
orders for the red colors to be set up before his tent, that being the ordinary signal
of battle among the Romans. As soon as the soldiers saw that, they left their tents,
and with great shouts of joy ran to their arms.'

The prodigy of the palm tree is thus given in the Life of Ccesar: ' Caesar had many
signs and tokens of victory before this battle, but the notablest of all others that
happened to him was in the city of Tralles. For in the temple of Victory, within
the same city, there was an image of Caesar, and the earth all about it very hard of
itself, and was paved besides with hard Stone: and yet some say that there sprang
up a palm hard by the base of the same image.' — § 33; (ed. Skeat, p. 84).

The 'proposition' which is evicted from the play is enunciated in the Life of Cato
the Younger, with but the change of one word: 'After supper, the wine produced
a great deal of lively and agreeable discourse, and a whole series of Philosophical
questions was discussed. At length they [Cato and his friends] came to the strange
dogmas of the stoics, called their Paradoxes; and to this in particular, That the
good man only is free, and that all wicked men are slaves.' Plutarch's word
for 'good man' is here ay a66v; Chapman was too good a Greek scholar to have
mistaken this for bUaiop, just; and his change is, I think, intentional; that is
to say, if he consulted the original and not North's translation. (For a further ex-
position of this subject, see Koeppel, Quellenstudien zu den Dramen Chapman's,
pp. 67 et seq.)

Chapman says, in the dedication to the edition of 1631, that this Tragedy was
written 'long since,' and from a slight point of internal evidence I think we may
assign its date of composition to a period between 1594 and 1598. In Act II, sc. i,
Fronto, the ragged thief, says: ' — as if good clothes Were knacks to know a knave,'
which seems to be a reference to the title of the comedy A Knack to Know a Knave,
acted by Alleyn's players, and published in 1594. The comedy is of unknown
authorship, but its alliterative title doubtless caught the fancy of the town and
made it thus become a stock-phrase. I am fully aware how fallacious such hy-
potheses are, particularly in regard to a date of composition, but offer this merely as
a suggestion. The other limiting date, 1596, is that of Chapman's earliest extant
play. The Blind Beggar of Alexandria, first printed in 1598; had Ccesar b" Pompey
been subsequent to this, I think that it would have 'touched it at the stage,' which
Chapman declares was not the case. Fleay (Chron. History, i, 64) thinks the play
as we now have it is in part a revision of an older play, which Chapman 'had on his

DRAMATIC VERSIONS— MURET 461

hands when he left stage- writing in 1608, or perhaps in 1604. . . . This early play
may have been by Chapman; if so, he intended to rewrite the whole.' Fleay is
lead to this conclusion since certain passages were allowed to remain in prose.
Ward (ii, 426) says: 'The last Act [of Casar 6" Pompey], both as develoi)ing
Cato's philosophy and as exhibiting with some dramatic force the anxieties of
Pompey's wife Cornelia and her fieeting recovery of the husband she is to lose
forever, seems to me superior in execution to the rest of the play, which shows
much unevenness in the treatment of its theme.'

To both these statements I willingly assent; I am even disposed to add the
Fourth Act also. The marked improvement in the versification; in the poetic
thought and its expression, to those of Acts I, II, and III, seem to mark the last
two Acts as the work of the maturer poet; one who had learned how to handle his
material. Possibly this was the case, and the first three Acts belong to a period
earlier than the last two, which also agrees in part with Fleay's conjecture. Ward
(ii, 427), in concluding his criticism, says: 'Remarkable in the main neither for
historic insight, nor for commanding power of style, and not on the level of its
author's best works, even in beauty of versification, Casar b' Pofnpey must have
been created by Chapman's genius when in a tame mood, and was probably never
subjected by him to a thorough revision.'

The text shows this lack of revision on almost every page. Fleay remarks that
the tragedy 'has never been competently edited'; but as the author himself evi-
dently shirked this 'dull duty of an editor' shall we of later date be blamed when we
follow his example?

An account of the Latin Tragedy, Julius CcBsar, by Marc Antoine ^Muret, as far
as the character of Caesar is concerned, has already been given. [See Ayres:
Character of Cssar, ante.] Muret's work was first published in 1553, though
probably composed nine or ten years before that; among those Cassar-Tragedies
which have survived, it is the oldest. G. A. O. Collischonn has made an ex-
haustive examination of this work in its relations to the Cesar of Jacques Grevin,
Voltaire's Mart de Cesar, and Shakespeare's Jul. Cces. He gives the following
analyses:

Mxjret's Tragedy: Julius Casar; GREvrn's: Cesar.

In the first Act a speech assigned to Caesar gives an introduction to the general
situation of the Period in which the Drama opens. At the same time, allusion is
made to the conspiracy; while Caesar mentions the warnings of the Soothsayers
and his friends against secretly conspiring enemies, but at the same time rejecting
fear as being unworthy of a Caesar.

The Chorus philosophizes about the uncertainty of fate, proving it from various
instances in Roman histor>'.

The conspiracy pointed out in Act I. draws gradually on in Act II. Brutus ap-
pears, and decides to free his country from Caesar's tyranny, try-ing to reason out
that the duty charging him with the care and welfare of his fellow-citizens con-
fronts him also at the same time with the duty for Caesar's benevolence. Cassius
appears, rejoicing that the time has come at last in which tyranny shall fall.
Brutus rejects the murder of Antonius, as proposed by Cassius. They separate
to prepare for action. The Chorus praises the love of one's country and the
sacrifice for the Republican liberty, as practised by Harmodios.

No progress seems to be made in Act III. Calpurnia tells her dream to her

462 APPENDIX

nurse, explaining the fear she attaches thereto, etc. The nurse consoles her,
inviting her to render sacrifices to the gods. Calpurnia makes up her mind to
hold Caesar back from visiting the Senate.

The Chorus prays for the blessing of the Gods during the Lupercalian
Festival.

In Act IV. the crisis reaches its height. At first, Caesar yields to his wife's
entreaties to stay away from the Senate assemblage; but, later, after the
persuasion of Decius Brutus, he acts contrary to his promise. This seals his
fate.

The Chorus blames the contempt shown for a wife's advice.

Act V. shows Cassius and Brutus, who, after the murder is completed, stimulate
the people to freedom.

Grevin's Ce^ar was first published in 1561; though probably written a year
or two earlier. It was reprinted in the following year, together with two
Comedies and some Lyric poems; and again separately in 1606.

Let us now see how Grevin treats the material as found in Plutarch:

Act I. Caesar makes his appearance, but seems frightened at the rebellious
spirit of the Romans. But he recalls to mind his own worth and greatness in order
to banish this fear, telling Rome that she owes him, who represents the prin-
ciples of monarchy, her present grandeur (which is important to notice);
he prophecies its end and curses the hypothetical murderers. Here Mark Anthony
appears, who is entirely absent in Muret's work. With great propriety he is in-
troduced in the first act as he is the one to carry out Caesar's idea, and after his death
is an important character in the drama.

Antonius is trying to instil courage in Caesar, reminding him of the service
rendered unto him and also promising him to revenge his death. They then make
an appointment for the Senate. The Chorus, composed of Caesar's soldiers,
desires war, signifying 'glory' as the greatest incentive for a soldier.

Act II. Here Grevin follows Muret's footsteps. But he independently intro-
duces Decius Brutus in this Act, with a view that he is to play an important r61e
in the next one. In this Act the actions to follow are shown under motives which
actually unite this Act with the third.

Brutus enters, arguing about Rome's oppression by Caesar, the example of
former tyrannicides, the secret request of his fellow-citizens, the tradition of his
own family, and, finally, the glory that shall be his by doing away with a tyrant.
Thus he decides in favor of action. Thereupon Cassius enters with Decius Brutus;
both declare themselves ready to revenge on Caesar Rome's liberty. They agree
to meet in the Senate, after Brutus has refused to entertain the idea of killing
Antonius.

The Chorus praises Caesar's power, his glorious deeds, reflecting upon the
changes of fortune, illustrating these by instances from history, and finally express-
ing fear for Caesar's own fate.

Act III, contrary to the third Act of the Latin tragedy of Muret, imme-
diately leads to the crisis of the play. Grevin, in his third Act, concentrates into
one Act Muret's third and fourth Acts (in Muret's the crisis occurs in the fourth
Act). First, Calpurnia enters with her nurse, relating her dream to her, whereupon
Caesar with Decius Brutus appears. Calpurnia beseeches Caesar to stay away from
the Senate. Decius Brutus, however, persuades Caesar to go (as was determined
in the last Act by the conspirators) ; thus the crisis reaches its height.

DRAMATIC VERSIONS— GRtVIN

463

The Chorus speaks again of the change of fortune great men have to undergo, of
the rumor of a conspiracy, concluding that it is futile for Caesar to reject Calpur-
nia's advice.

Act IV, unfortunately, does not show any progress. It merely contains the
announcement of Caesar's death, which in the foregoing Act we saw was unavoid-
able. But this announcement in no way connects with anything that would
lead to real action; the fundamental thought of the tragedy, or to bring matters to a
focus, or a final goal. The peripeteia, and with it a progression beyond the crisis
is not reached before the Fifth Act. In the Fourth Act Calpurnia merely laments
the death of her husband, and then retires to her apartments. The messenger
curses the assassins. The Chorus philosophizes over the fate of the great, praising
the lot of the common soldier, for whom a change in the reforms of the State seems
to work indifferently.

The action of the play, in consequence of this, becomes more full in Act V. The
peripeteia [the reversal of fortunes] is now brought to a focus, but does not solve the
conflict completely, since it does not carry out the action to its end. Nevertheless,
it shows a marked progress in the action and a clear view of those occurrences which
must of necessity result in the future action of the Tragedy, the continuation of the
contest between the monarchical and the republican principles and the indication
that the former would conquer is clearly shown, and the Chorus is silent after the
address of the assassin (which, after all, is in conformity with Plutarch's tradition),
while Anthony's speech is listened to with approval and applause, and the soldiers
follow him for revenge.

This Act primarily sees the appearance 01 Brutus, Decius Brutus, and Cassius:
it is emphasized by their addresses to the public, announcing Caesar's death and
proclaiming liberty. Thereupon, Anthony appears; he, too, harangues the people
and carries them away with him; of course, the Chorus cannot deny themselves
one more small, philosophic observation (now for the fourth time) about the fate of
rulers, summing up with these words: Verse 1102, 'ceste mort est fatale aux nou-
veaux inventeurs de puissance royale,' which, though they close the drama, yet do
not express the fundamental principle of the play.

The conclusion to which Collischonn arrives is that Grevin used Muret's work
as the basis of his tragedy, but amplified the material thus furnished by extracts
from other lives by Plutarch, viz.: those of Brutus and Antony (Muret had but
consulted the Lije of Ccesar). Voltaire has apparently taken some few passages
here and there from Grevin's work, and with a slight alteration incorporated them
in his Mort de Cesar. This was a very easy form of plagiarism, if such it could be
really called, as Grevin's tragedy was familiar to but a few at that time. Collischonn
finds no evidence of Shakespeare's indebtedness to either of these French authors.
The only points common are those which may be accounted for by the fact that
their sources were identical. As Appendices to his essay Collischonn reprints
both Muret's and Grevin's tragedies.

464 APPENDIX

TIME ANALYSIS.

Daniel {Sh. Soc. Trans., 1877-79, P- 200) gives the following analysis of the
duration of the action:

Time of this play, 6 days represented on the stage; with intervals.
Day I. Act I, scenes i. and ii.
Interval — one month.
" 2. Act I, sc. iii.
" 3. Acts II. and III.

Interval.
" 4. Act IV, sc. i.

Interval.
" 5. Act IV, scenes ii. and iii.

Interval — one day at least.
" 6. Act V.

The Cowden-Clarkes (Sh. Key, pp. 176-184) have collected, and quote in full,
all those passage? in Jul. Cces. which seem to indicate ' short time, ' and also those
which seem to show a longer duration. See also: Legerdemain with Time in Jul.
CcEs. Anon. Poet Lore, vol. xi, p. 276.

The End.

PLAN OF THE WORK, Etc.

In this Edition the attempt is made to give, in the shape of Textual Notes,
on the same page with the Text, all the Various Readings of Julius Ccesar, from
the Second Folio down to the latest critical Edition of the play; then, as Com-
mentary, follow the Notes which the Editor has thought worthy of insertion, not
only for the purpose of elucidating the text, but at times as illustrations of the
History' of Shakespearian criticism. In the Appendix will be found criticisms and
discussions which, on the score of length, could not be conveniently included in the
Commentary.

List of Editions Collated in the Textual Notes

The Second Folio [Fa]

The Third Folio [Fj]

The Fourth Folio [F4]

Quarto ' [Q]

N. Rowe (First Edition) [Rowe i.]

N. Rowe (Second Edition) Rowe ii.]

A. Pope (First Edition) [Pope i.]

A. Pope (Second Edition) [Pope ii.]

L. Theob.ald (First Edition) [Theob. i.]

L. Theobald (Second Edition) [Theob. ii.]

Sir T. Hanmer [Han.]

W. Warburton [Warb.]

E. Capell [Cap.]

Dr Johnson [Johns.]

Johnson and Steevens [Var. '73]

Johnson and Steevens [Var. '78]

Johnson and Steevens [Var. '85]

J. Rann [Ran.]

E. Malone [:\Ial.]

Geo. Steevens [Steev.]

Reed's Stee\t;ns [Var. '03]

Reed's Steevens [Var. '13]

Boswell's Malone [Var.]

S. W. Singer (First Edition) [Sing, i.]

C. Knight (First Edition) [Knt i.]

J. P. Collier (First Edition) [Coll. i.]

S. W. Singer (Second Edition) [Sing, ii.]

A. Dyce (First Edition) [Dyce i.]

J. P. Collier (Second Edition) [Coll. ii.]

H. Staltmton [Sta.]

R. G. White (First Edition) [Wh. i.]

Cambridge (First Edition, W. G. Clark and W. A.

Wright) [Cam. i.]

1632

1664

i68s

i6gi

1709

1714

1723

1728

1733

1740

1744

1747

(?.

) 1761

1765

1773

1778

1785

1787

1790

1793

1803

1813

1821

1826

(?]

1 841

1842

1856

1857

1858

i860

1861

186s

465

466

APPENDIX

J. O. Halliwell (Folio Edition) [Hal.]

T. Keightley [Ktly]

C. Knight (Second Edition) [Knt ii.]

A. Dyce (Second Edition) [Dyce ii.]

H. N. Hudson (Second Edition) [Huds. ii.]

A. Dyce (Third Edition) [Dyce iii.]

J. P. Collier (Third Edition) [Coll. iii.]

W. A. Wright {The Clarendon Press Series) [Cla.]

H. N. Hudson {School Shakespeare) [Huds. iii.

R. G. White (Second Edition) [Wh. ii.]

Cambridge (Second Edition, W. A. Wright) [Cam. ii.]

1 86s
1865
1865
1866
1871

187s
1877
1878

1879
1883
1 891

W. Harness

Globe (Clark and Wright) [Globe] ....

N. Delius [Del.] Elberfeld

Rev. John Hunter {Longman's Series)

F. A. Marshall {Henry Irving Edition)

A. D. Innes {Warwick Shakespeare)

H. C. Beeching

A. W. Verity {PiU Press Shakespeare)

J. M. D. Meiklejohn

K. Deighton

Mark Hunter {College Classics)

T. VAGE.{Mofat's Shakespeare)

T. Parry {Longman's Modern Classics)

R. Rutherford {Helps to Study)

D. Forsyth (Swan Edition)

J. Lees

M. Macmillan {Arden Shakespeare)

Porter and Clark (First Folio Edition)

W. J. RoLFE (Revised Edition)

C. H. Hereford {Eversley Shakespeare)

G. S. Gordon

F. H. Sykes {Scribner's English Classics)

W. Dent {Junior School Shakespeare)

I. Gollancz (Temple Edition)

S. Neil {Collins English Classics)

1830
1864
1869
1869
1869
1893
189s
1895
1896
1899
1900
1900
1900
1900
1901
1901
1902
1903
1903
1906
1909
1911
n. d.
n. d.
n. d.

These last twenty-five editions I have not collated beyond referring to them in
disputed passages, and recording, here and there in the Commentary, the views of
their editors.

Within the last twenty-five years — indeed, since the appearance, in 1864, of
the Globe Edition — the text of Shakespeare is become so settled that to collate
word for word the text of editions which have appeared within this term would
be a fruitless task. When, however, within recent years an editor revises his
text in a second or third edition, the case is different; it then becomes interesting

LIST OF BOOKS

467

to mark the effect of maturer judgement. The present Text is that of the First
Folio of 1623.

In the Textual Notes the symbol Ff indicates the agreement of the Second,
Third, and Fourth Folios.

I have not called attention to every little misprint in the Folio. The Textual Notes
will show, if need be, that they are misprints by the agreement of all the Editors in
their corrections.

Nor is notice taken of the first editor who adopted the modem spelling, or who
substituted commas for parentheses, or changed ? to !.

The sign + indicates the agreement of Rowe, Pope, Theobald, Hanmer,
Warburton, Johnson, and the Variorum of 1773.

When in the Textual Notes Warburton precedes Hanmer, it indicates that
Hanmer has followed a suggestion of Warburton.

The words et cet. after any reading indicate that it is the reading of all oilier
editions.

The words et seq. indicate the agreement of all subsequent editions.

The abbreviation (subs.) indicates that the reading is substantially given, and
that immaterial variations in spelling, punctuation, or stage-directions are disre-
garded.

When Varr. precedes Steev. or Mai., it includes the Variorums of 1773, 1778, and
1785; when it follows Steev. or Mai., it includes the Variorums of 1803, 1813, and
1821.

An emendation or correction given in the Commentary is not repeated in the
Te.xtual Notes unless it has been adopted by an editor in his text; nor is conj.
added in the Textual Notes to the name of the proposer of the conjecture unless the
conjecture happens to be that of an editor, in which case its omission would lead to
the inference that such was the reading of his text.

Coll. MS refers to Collier's copy of the Second Folio, bearing in its margin
manuscript annotations.

In citing plays or quoting from them, the Acts, Scenes, and Lines of the Globe
Edition are followed, unless otherwise noted. Of course, all references to Julius
Casar refer to the present text.

LIST OF BOOKS

To economise space in the foregoing pages, as a general rule merely the name
of an author has been given, followed, in parentheses, by the number of volume
and page.

In the following List, arranged alphabetically, enough of the full titles is set
forth to serve the purposes of either identification or reference.

Be it imderstood that this List does not include those books which have been
consulted or used in verifying references; were these included, the list would be
many times longer.

Abbott, E. A.: Shakespearian Grammar London, 1870

Appian: History of Rome (translated by H. White) " 1899

Badham, C: Text of Shakespeare Cambridge, 1856

Bailey, S.: The Received Text of Shakespeare London, 1862

468 APPENDIX

Baillie-Grohman, W. A. & F.: The Master of Game, by Ed-
ward, Second Duke of York New York, 1909

Baker, H. B.: London Stage London, 1889

Barnett, T. D.: Notes on Julius Ccesar " n. d.

Bathurst, C: Difference of Shakespeare's Versification " 1857

Baynes: Shakespeare Studies attd Other Essays " 1896

Berger, a. Freiherrn von: Studien und Kritiken Wien, 1896

Birch, W. J.: Inquiry into the Religion and Philosophy of

Shakespeare London, 1848

Boas, F. S.: Shakespeare and Ilis Predecessors New York, 1896

BoDENSTEDT, F.: Shokspcre Dramatische Werke Leipzig, 1867

" Shakespeare's Fraiiengestalten Berlin, 1874

BoissiER, G.: Cicero atid his Friends (translated by A. D.

Jones) London, 1897

BoTTCHER, H.: Shakespeare's Julius Ccesar Graudenz, 1889

Bradley, A. C.: Shakespearian Tragedy London, 1905

Brandes, G.: William Shakespeare New York, 1900

Brown, J. M.: Jidius Ccesar: A Study London, n. d.

Brown, T. A.: History of New York Stage New York, 1903

Buckingham, John Sheffield, Duke of: Works London, 1726

Bucknill, J. C.: Shakespeare's Medical Knouledge " i860

Bulloch, J.: Studies on the Text of Shakespeare " 1878

Bulthaupt, H. a.: Streifziige Bremen, 1879

Campbell, John Lord: Shakespeare's Legal Acquirements. . New York, 1859

Campbell, T.: Life and Writings of Shakespeare Philadelphia, 1846

Canning, A. S. G.: Thoughts on Historic Plays London, 1884

Shakespeare Studied in Eight Plays " 1903

Capell, E.: Notes, etc " i779

Carter, T.: Shakespeare and Holy Scripture New York, 1905

Cartwright, R.: New Readings in Shakespeare London, 1866

Cassius, Dion: Annals of the Roman People (translated by

H. B. Foster) Troy, 1906

Chalmers, G.: Supplemental Apology London, 1799

Chatelain, Chevalier de: Julius Cesar, traduile en vers

Franfais " 1866

CiBBER, C: Apology, etc " 1740

Cicero, M. Tullius: Orations Against AI arc Antony (trans-
lated by C. D. Young) New York, 1881

" Letters (translated by E. Shuck-
burgh) London, 1909

Clarke, C. C: Shakespeare's Philosophers and Jesters

{Genllemati's Magazine, March) 1873

Clarke, C. C. & M.: Shakespeare Key " 1879

Coleridge, H.: Essays and Marginalia " 1851

Coleridge, S. T.: Notes and Lectures " 1874

Collier, J. P.: History of Dramatic Literature " 1831

" Notes 6* Emendations to the Text of Shake-
speare's Plays New York, 1853

Collischonn, G. a. O.: Grevin's 'CcBsar' in ihrem verhSUniss

zu Murel, Voltaire und Shakespeare Marburg, 1886

LIST OF BOOKS

469

Conrad, H.: Sh. tind die Frauen (Preuss. Jahrbiicher, Aug.) . 1900
" Was erkennen wir von Sh.'s Wesen in seinem

Brutus (Preuss. Jahrbiicher, Sept.) 1906

CotTRTEXAY, T. P.: Commentaries on tfie Historical Plays

of Shakespeare London, 1840

Craik, G. L.: English of Sliakespeare (ed. Rolfe) Boston, 1872

CsERVViNKA, J.: Shakespeare und die Biihne Wiesbaden, 1902

Da Costa, J. M.: Harvey and His Discovery Philadelphia, 1879

Daniel, P. A.: Shakespeare Notes London, 1870

" Tiyne Analysis of Shakespeare^ s Plays (Sh.

Soc. Trans.) 1877

Dante Alighieri: La Divina Commedia (translated by H.

F. Cary) New York, 1852

Davies, T. : Dramatic Miscellanies London, 1785

Delius, N. : Shakes peare^ s Julitis Casar und seine Quellen im

Plutarch (Jahrbuch, xvii.) 1882

Dennis, J.: Letters Familiar, Moral &* Critical " 1721

De Quixcey, T.: The CcBsars (Works, vol. ix.) Edinburgh, 1862

Douce, F.: Illustrations of Shakespeare London, 1807

DowDEN, E.: Shakespeare: His Mijid and Art " 1875

Drake, N.: Shakespeare and His Times " 1817

" Memorials of Shakespeare " 1828

Dryden, J.: Troilus &" Cressida (Preface) " 1679

Dyce, a. : Strictures on Collier's Edition " 1844

" Few Notes, etc " 1853

Earle, J.: Philology of the English Tongue Oxford, 1871

Eduard, John: Plutarch and Shakespeare Wertheim, 1889

Edwards, T.: Canons of Criticism, (Seventh Edition) London, 1765

Ellis, A. J.: Early English Pronunciation " 1867

Elze, K.: William Shakespeare Halle, 1S76

Etty, J. L.: Studies in Shakespeare's History (Macmillan's

Magazine, March) 1903

Farmer, R. : Essay on the Learning of Shakespeare London, 1767

Ferrero, G.: Greatness and Decline of Rome (translated by

E. Zimmem) " 1907

Fischer, H. : Dryden mid Davetiant's Jul. Cas. (Auglia viii, 3) . 1885

Fitzgerald, P.: SJiakes pear can Representations " 1908

Fleay, F. G.: Shakespeare Manual " 1876

" Life and Work of Shakespeare " 1886

" Chronicle History of the London Stage " 1890

Florus, Lucius Ann^us: Epitome of Roman History (trans-

lated by J. S. Watson) New York, 1886

Forsyth, W.: Life of M. T. Cicero London, 1864

Franz, R.: Aufbau der Handlung in den klassischen Dramen. Leipsic, 1892
Freytag, G.: Technique of the Drama (translated by E. J.

MacEwan) Chicago, 1895

Friesen, H. von: Shakspere-Studien Wien, 1876

Froude, J. A.: Ccesar: A Sketch New York, n. d.

FuRNiVALL, F. J.: Succession of Shakespeare's Works London, 1874

" Introduction to Leopold Shakspere " 1877

470 APPENDIX

Genee, R.: Shakespeare: sein Leben und seine Werke Hildburghausen, 1872

Genest, J.: The English Stage, 1660-1832 Bath, 1832

Gentleman, F.: Dratnatic Censor London, 1770

" Julius Ccesar, as acted at Covent Garden, with

an Introdiiction and Notes (Bell's British

Theatre) " 1773

Gervinus, G. G.: Commentaries (translated by Bunnett) . . . " 1863

GiLDON: Remarks on the Plays of Shakespeare " 17 10

GoLL, A. : Criminal Types in Shakespeare (translated by Mrs.

C. Weekes) " 1909

GoMONT, H.: Le Cesar de Shakespeare Paris, 1874

Gould, T. R.: The Tragedian London, 1868

Green, H.: Shakespeare and the Emblem-writers " 1870

Gregorovius, F.: History of the City of Rome in the Middle

Ages (translated by A. Hamilton) " 1897

Grey, Z.: Critical, Historical, and Explanatory Notes on

Shakespeare " 1 754

Griffith, Mrs: Morality of Sfiakespeare's Dramas " 1775

Groag, J.: Der Charakter Jul. Ccesar's Linz, 1893

Guest, E.: History of English Rhythms London, 1838

Hales, J. W.: Essays and Notes " 1892

Halford, H.: Essays and Orations " 1831

Hallam, H.: hitroduction to the Literature of Europe (Fifth

Edition) " 1873

Halliwell-Phillips, J. O.: Outlines of Life of Shakespeare.. Brighton, 1882

Hamilton, R. W.: Nngce Literarice London, 1841

Harris, F.: The Man Shakespeare and His Tragic Life Story . New York, 1909

Hazlitt, W.: Characters of Shakespeare's Plays " 181 7

Heath, B.: Revisal of Shakespeare's Text " 1765

Heine, H.: Sammtliche Werke Philadelphia, 1856

Heraud, J. A.: Shakespeare's Inner Life London, 1865

Herbert, W.: History of Twelve Great Livery Compatiies of

London " 1837

Herr, J. G.: Scattered Notes Philadelphia, 1879

Hippocrates: Works (translated by F. Adams) New York, 1886

Hodge, H.: Julius Ccesar (Harper's Maga., February) 1906

Horn, F.: Shakespeare's Schauspiele Erlaiitert Leipzig, 1823

Hudson, H. N.: Shakespeare: His Life, Art, and Characters . Boston, 1872

Hugo, Franc; ois- Victor: CEuvres Completes de Shakespeare. . Paris, 1872

Hunter, Joseph: New Ulustrations of Shakespeare London, 1853

HuRDis, J.: Cursory Remarks " 1792

Ingleby, C. M. : The Still Lion " 1874

Jameson, Mrs: Characteristics of Women " 1833

Jervis, S. : Emendations of the Text of Shakespeare " i860

Jusserand, J. J.: Shakespeare in France " 1899

" Literary History of the English People " 1909

Keightley, T.: Shakespeare Expositor " 1867

KiLBOURNE, F. W.: Alterations and Adaptations of Shake-
speare Boston, 1906

KiNNEAR, B. G.: Cruces Shakes pear iance London, 1883

LIST OF BOOKS

471

Knight, C: Siudies of Shakspere London, 1868

KoHLER, J.: V erbrecher-Typen in Sh.'s Dramen Berlin, n. d.

KoLBE, F. C: Sh.'s Julius Casar {Irish Monthly, September) 1896

Kreutzberg, p.: Brutus in Shakespeare's Jul. Cas Neisse, 1894

Kreyssig, F.: Vorlesungen iiber Shakspeare Berlin, 1862

Leo, F. a.: Four Chapters of North's Plutarch London, 1878

Shakespeare Notes " 1885

Lewes, L.: Shakespeare's Frauengestalten Stuttgart, 1893

Lindner, A.: Die Dramatische Einheit im Jul. Cas. (Sh.

Jahrbuch, ii.) 1867

Lloyd, W. W.: Essays on Shakespeare London, 1858

LouNSBURY, T. R.: Shakespeare and Voltaire New York, 1902

Luce, M.: Handbook to Shakespeare's Works London, 1907

Mabie, H. W.: W. Shakespeare, Poet, Dramatist, atul Man. . New York, 1900
MacCallum, M. W.: Shakespeare's Roman Plays and Their

Background London, 1910

Macready, W.: Reminiscences (ed. F. Pollock) " 1875

Maltzahn, W. von: Julius Cdsar fur die Biihne eingerichtet

von Schlegel {Jahrbuch, vii.) 1872

Masefield, John: William Shakespeare New York, 191 1

Mason, J. Monck: Comments on the [Var. 1778] London, 1785

" Comments on the Plays of Beaumont 6*

Fletcher " 1798

Merivale, C: History of the Romans Under the Empire. . . . New York, 1864

Merivale, H.: Collier and Singer {Edin. Review, April) 1856

Mezieres, a.: Shakespeare ses CEuvres et ses Critiques Paris, i860

MiNTO, W.: Characteristics of English Poets Boston, 1901

MoMMSEN, T.: History of Rome (translated by \V. P. Dickson) New York, 1895

Montagu, Mrs: Essay on Genius atvi Writings of Shakespeare London, 1769

MouLTON, R. G.: Shakespeare as Dramatic Artist Oxford, 1893

" Moral System of Shakespeare New York, 1903

Murray, J. A. H.: New English Dictionary Oxford, 1888

Nares, R.: Glossary (ed. Halliwell & Wright, 1867) London, 1822

Nichols, J.: Illustrations of the Literary History of the Eight-
eenth Century " 1817

" Notes, etc " 1862

NiEBUHR, B. G.: History of Rome (ed. L. Schmitz) " 1849

Nietzsche, F.: The Joyful Wisdom (translated by T. Com-
mon) " 1910

Oechelhauser, W.: Sh. Dramatische Werke Weimar, 1877

Einfiihrungen zu Shakespere's Biihnen-

Dramen Minden, 1885

Oliphant, E. H. C.: Sh.'s Plays: An Examination {Modern

Lang. Review, Jan.) iQOQ

0'SuLLi\'AN, D.: Chefs-d'oeuvres de Shakespeare Paris, 1839

Paetow, W.: Die Erste metrische Deutsche Uebersetzung Rostow, 1892

Palm, H.: Shakespeare's Julius Casar and Kruse's Brutus

(Archivfiir das Studium, etc., Bd Iviii, heft i) 1873

Parrott, T. AL: Academic Tragedy of Casar b" Pompey

{Modern Lang. Review, Oct.) 191°

4/2

APPEXDIX

PATERCtJLUS, Velleits: Compendium of Roman History
(translated by J. S. Watson)

Paton, a. p.: North'' s Plutarch: Notes as to a copy of this work
in the Greenock Library

Perring, Sir P. : Hard Knots in Shakespeare (ed. ii.)

PoLYCHROXicox Raxulphi Higdex Moxachi Cestrexsis
(ed. J. R. Lumby)

Prescot, K.: Letters and Classic Amusements

QuixcY, J. P.: Manuscript Corrections from a Copy of the
Fourth Folio

Resch, H.: Zu Shakespeare^s Julius Casar {Archiv fiir das
Studium, etc., Bd bcvii.)

RiTSOX, J. : Cursory Criticisms

Rix-erius, L. : Practice of Physick

RoLFE, W. J. : Shakespeare's Julius Casar {Poet Lore, vols, vi,
vii.)

Rossi, E.: Studien iiber Shakespeare und das moderne Theater

Rt'iiELix, G. : Shakspere-Studien

R\-MER, T.: Sliort Vien' of Tragedy

ScHELLixG, F. E.: Elizabethan Drama, 1558-1642

ScHLEGEL, A. W.: Dramatic Literature, Lectures (translated
by J. Black)

ScmnDT, A.: Shakespeare Lexicon

ScHOXE, F.: Ueber Shakspcre's J id. Cces

ScHW.ARTZKOPF, A.: Shakspcre's Dramai auf Eu-igen Griinde.

Seilh.\mer, G. O.: History of the American Theatre

Sherlock, M.: A Fragment on Shakspeare

SIDGW^CK, H.: Miscellaneous Essays and Addresses

SiEVEKiXG, E. H.: On Epilepsy and Epileptiform Seizures. . .

SiEVERS, C. \V.: Sh.'s Jul. Cces. fiir weitere Kreise bearbeitet..
" Julius Ccesar (3 Auflage)

SiGiSMUXD, R.: Ucbereinstimmendes zu-iscken Shakespeare und
Plutarch (Jahrbuch, .xviii.)

SiMPSOX, Percy: Shakespearian Punctuation

SiXGER, S. W. : Text of Shakespeare V indicated

Skeat. W. W. : Etymological Dictionary

" Shakespeare's Plutarch

Skottowe, a. : Life of Sltakespeare

Smith, Toulmix: Early English Gilds {Early English Text.
Soc.)

SxiDER, D. J.: System of Shakespeare's Dramas

Sprexger, R.: Bemerkungen zu Dramen Sh.'s

St.\pfer, Paul: Shakespeare and Classical Antiquity (trans-
lated by Miss E. J. Gary)

SxoFFREGEX, W.: Tragischc Naturen und Sliakes peare-Cha-
raktere

Stokes, H. P.: Chronological Order of Shakespeare's Plays. . .

SLT:TOxrcs: History of Twelve Ccesars (translated by Phile-
mon Holland; ed. C. WTiibley)

Theob.ald, L.: Shakespeare Restored

New York, 1886

Greenock,

1871

London,

1886

1872

Cambridge,

1773

Boston,

1854

1882

London,

1792

1658

1894

Leipsic,

1885

Stuttgart,

1866

London,

1693

Boston,

1908

London,

1815

Berlin,

1874

Dresden,

1873

Bremen.

18S8

Philadelphia,

1891

London,

1786

1904

1858

Leipzig,

1851

Salzwedel,

1885

1883

Oxford,

1911

London,

1853

1882

((

1904

1824

1870

St. Louis,

1877

Xortheim,

1891

London,

Bremen,
London,

S80

889
865

899

726

LIST OF BOOKS

473

Thiselton, a. E.: NoIuIcb Critica London, 1906

Thomson, A.: Lives of the Ccesars, translated from the Latin of

C. Suetonius Tratiquillus " 1791

TiECK, L. : Kritische Schriften Leipsic, 1852

Tompkins, E.: History of the Boston Theatre Boston, 1908

ToPSELL, E.: History of Four-footed Beasts London, 1658

Trench, R. C: Plutarch: His Life, His Lives, and His Morals " 1873
Trevelyan, Sir G. O. : Life and Letters of Lord Macauley

(enlarged edition) " 1908

Tylor, E. B.: Primitive Culture " 1871

Ulrici, H.: Shakespeare's Dramatic Art (translated byL. D.

Schmitz) " 1876

Unwin, G.: Gilds and Companies of London " 1909

Upton, J.: Critical Observations " 1746

Valerius M.\ximus: Acts and Sayings of the Ancient Romans

(translated by S. Speed) " 1684

Verplanck, G. C: Shakespeare's Dramas'. New York, 1847

ViEHOFF, H.: Shakespeare's Julius Cdsar {J ahrhuch , v .) . . . 1870
Voltaire, F. M. de: Theatre de Corneille avec des Co7nmen-

taires Paris, 1765

" CEuvres Completes Basle, 1784

Waddell, W.: CcEsar's Character New York, 1907

Walford, C: Gilds: Their Origin and Later History London, 1888

Walker, W. S.: On SJmkespeare's Versification " 1854

" Criticisms on Shakespeare " i860

Ward, A. W.: English Dramatic Literature (Revised Edition) " 1899
Ward, A. W., & Waller, A. R. : Cambridge History of English

Literature Cambridge, 1910

Wedgwood, Miss J. : Shakespeare's Julius Ccesar {Contem-
porary Review, March) 1893

Westenholz, F. von: Idee und Charaktere in Jul. Cces Stuttgart, 1897

White, R. G.: Shakespeare's Scholar New York, 1854

Whiter, W. : Commentary on Shakespeare London, 1794

Whitney, E.: Slmkespeare's Jul. Cces. {New Engl attder, Oct.) . 1886
WiLKEN, Dr: Historical and Metrical Introduction to Shake-
speare Biedenkopf, 1883

Wilkes, G.: Shakespeare from an American Point of View. . New York, 1882

Winter, W.: Life and Art of Edwin Booth " 1893

" Life atui Art of Richard Mansfield " 1910

Wordsworth, C: Shakespeare's Knowledge and Use of the

Bible London, 1864

" Shakespeare's Historical Plays " 1893.

INDEX

'Abide' used for ahye = pay the

penalty of 145, 175

Accent, change of, in 'future' 185

Act IV, sc. ii. and iii, stage arrange-
ment of 196

Action, turning point of, Moulton on 148
Actions, too hasty, of servants,

blamed by masters 97

Acts, division of, Whitney on 112

Addrest = ma^e ready 134

Adjective used participially 219

Advantage = ^0 be of benefit 158

Adverb, transposition of 268

Adverbs, but one of two, having

adverbial termination 102

Alexander's Julius Ccesar 317

Jtiliiis Ccesar and

Grevin's Cesar 448

Julius Ccesar, Malone

on II

Julius Ccesar, similar

passages in 96, 106

Allen, J. C, on CcBsar's character. . . 395
Ambitious = inordinate desire for

rank 168

Angel, Caesar's 178

Anger on sorrow producing frenzy. 217

Antony, Dowden on character of . . 2

" Horn on character of ... . i
" saved from assassination,

Cicero on 95

'Antonio's' for Antonius 25

Antony, stage appearance of 2

Antony's oration as given by Ap-

pian 171

subtlety, Moulton on. . . . 154
Appian, Shakespeare's indebtedness

to, in speech of Antony 171

Shakespeare's use of 294

Appian's account of speech by

Brutus to Plebeians 167

Appoint = decree 193

Apprehensive = intelligent 142

Apt=^<, prepared 150, 262

Armed men in the clouds 114

Arrian on fear of death 116

'Arrive' used without preposition. 36

Artemidorus not a soothsayer 7

Article, omission of, in exclamations 61

As this very day 246

At hand 198

Ate, an Homeric goddess 160

' Augurers' for augures 117

Auxiliary, retention of, a pleonasm 22

Aye me 129

Ayres on CcBsar's character 397

Bacon's Essay of Friendship,

quoted 122

Baron's Wars, by Drayton, date of,

and that of Jul. Cces 276

Bathurst on tlte Play 13

" on verse and date 285

Battle = division of army 239

" signal for 240

Bay and bait 206

Bay'd 155

Bear hard = 6ear a grudge loi, 150

Bears trapped with glasses 100

Beest 125, 213

'Began' and begun 255

Beholding = under obligation 171

Bend = glance 38

Bennett on Faversham's production 446

Berger on Brutus 415

Betterton's Brutus, Cibber on ... . 208

Bibliography 467

Blaze ioTth = proclaim 116

Blood, bathing of hands in, a sacri-
ficial rite 146

circulation of 107

" = disposition 214

Boastful language of Caesar, Bos-
well on 118

475

476

INDEX

Boissier on portrait bust of Brutus. 416

Bold upon = intruding upon 86

Booth, Barton, as Brutus 209

Booth, E., as Antony 441

" as Brutus 441

Boswell on Shakespeare's classical

knowledge 118

Bound in shallows 228

Bradley on quarrel scene 202

Brandes on Ccesar's character 394

Bravery, fearful 240

Break = make known 94

Brings accompany 57

Brown on Shakespeare's fatalism . . 39

Brown, J. M., on the Play 434

" on Brutus 414

Brutus and Cassius, Dante's opinion

of 274

distinction be-
tween 27

and Portia, scene between,
compared to Hotspur and

Lady Percy 103

character of 402

" death of, portrayed by Em-
blem-writers 273

Decimus, referred to in
Bacon's Essay on Friend-
ship 100

kindness of heart of 231

" last words of 272

" letter from, to Cicero 210

" soliloquy of 73

Brutus's denial of knowledge of

Portia's death 222

lack of miHtary skill 229

" love of music 232

Buckingham, Duke of, adaptations

by 448

Bucknill on Shakespeare's knowl-
edge of circulation of blood 108

Burning the dead among Romans. . 172

Caesar, character of 386

Octavius, compared with

Antony i

superstitious 25

" the ghost of 233

Ccesar b° Pompcy, by Chapman,
analysis of 454

CcBsar &* Pompey, or Ccesar^s Re-
venge, analysis of 451

Caesar's courage, MacCallum on.. 116

CcEsa/s Fall in Henslowe's Diary. . 12

Caesar's prowess in swimming 35

" spiritual predominance 264

" superstition, DeQuincy on 99

" urbanity, Davies on 124

Caius Ligarius loi

Calculate = prophesy 63

Call in question = co«5/(/er 221

Calphurnia contrasted with Portia. 8

Calpurnia, dream of 119

'Calpurnia' for Calphurnia 24

Campbell on opening scene 19

Capell on the Dale 281

Capitol as scene of Caesar's murder. 132

" as Tower of London 89

Casca, character of 5

" inner character of, revealed

under agitation 48

in relation to Cicero 57

" pretended self-dependence of 94

Cassius a good hater 68

" an open enemy 123

" as epicurean 57, 64, 247

" and Brutus as viewed by

Dante 274

character of 4

" in his relation to Brutus .. . 4

" key to character of 46

Cast yourself in wonder 62

Cautelous 92

Censure = /o estimate 167

Ceremonies = /"o^-Zewi 100

' Ceremony' as trisyllable 26, 198

Ceremony = religious ornament or

decoration 23

Chalmers on the Date 292

Chdir\ct6. = happened 48, 269

Change of past tense to present. 114, 115

Charactery no

Cheer =/rame of mitui 144

Choice = &e5Z part 151

Cicero, character of 3

" " Horn on 52

" on speech by Brutus 166

Cicero's lack of initiative 94

letter to Brutus on death of

Portia 219

pnHeF»

INDEX

477

Cicero's letter to Trebonius 134

" opinion on Antony's being

spared 95

" Tiiscidans and suicide

among Romans 260

Cinna, murder of, Stapfer on 188

Circulation of blood, Shakespeare's

knowledge of, Bucknill on 108

Clarke, C. G., on Brutus 409

Climate = reg/o« of the earth 60

Clock, striking, an anachronism,.. 99
Coleridge on first speech of Brutus. 26

" on interpolated lines 156

" on soliloquy of Brutus. . 73

on Theobald 46

Collier on the Date 283

Collischonn on Muret, Grevin, Vol-
taire, and Shakespeare 463

Colon marking emphatic pause. 245, 246

Common proof 76

Commons 193

'Companion' a term of contempt. . 217

Compass = (2 circuit of time 258

Condition = temper 104

Consistency in characters 216

Consort.e6. = accompanied 248

Con?,t2incy = firmness 127

Content = 6e calm 199

Contradictory statements by Brutus 250

Contx'wQV^ schemer 95

Cornelia of Kyd, resemblance of

passage in 66

Countenance = aH//forz7y 72

Crimson'd in thy iethe 155

Cross you, I do not 241

Cynthia's Revels, passage in, com-
pared 276

Da Costa on Harvey and Shake-
speare 108

'Da.Tan = condemn 191

Daniel on Time analysis 464

Dante's opinion of crime of Brutus

and Cassius 274

Date of Composition 281

" of Play, Malone on 12

Davenant and Dryden's alteration,

Fischer on 238

Deafness in Caesar due to epilepsy. 47

'Dear' used intensitively 154

Death's hour 150

Decimation, allusion to 91

'Decius' for Decimus Brutus 24

Definite article for possessive pro-
noun 136

Degree = step in ascent 77

DeQuincy on Caesar's superstition. 99

Dint = mark 1 79

Disillusion, confession of, by Bru-
tus 205

'Distract' as past participle 218

Dogs of war 161

Dowden on Brutus 410

" on CcEsar's character 391

" on tJie Play ". . . 429

Drachma, value of 183

Dramatic versions 447

Drayton and Shakespeare 276

Dream of banquet, unfortunate. . . 186
Dr>'den and Davenant's alteration,

Fischer on 238

Drj'den's Tro. &° Cress., similarity of

scene in 201

' Eame ' for yearn 124

Eedes, Epilogus Ccesaris Interfecti. . 11

'Either' a monosyllable 192

Element, complexion of 69

Elements and humours in composi-
tion of man 277

Elze on date of Mirror of Martyrs . . 290
Emendations in Cambridge edition. 281

Emulation =(//s//^e 126

'ExAorc'd = urged unduly 169

Ensign = either flag or bearer 257

Entertain = /ajfee into service 275

Envious = wa//c/oK5 97, 178

Epicureans, doctrine of 247

Epilepsy, morbus comitialis 51

" symptoms of 50

Erebus 86

Et tu Brute 143

' Eternal ' or infernal 42

Euripides' Iphegenia in Aulis, com-
parison of, to scene in Julius

Casar 201

' Evil spirit = visitant of ill omen .... 234

Exhalations = meteors 79

'E\\gen\. = decisive moment 241

I Exorcist = one who raises spirits .... 1 1 1

478

INDEX

Face of men 90

Factious = aclive 68

' Fall ' used transitively 198

Falling sickness 50

Fantasy = imaginative faculty... 100, 187

Fa.T=further 257

Fatal = foreboding ill 248

Fatalism, Shakespeare's, J. M.

Brown on 39

Faversham, W., as Antony 447

" production of 446

Ferrero on Casar's character 401

" on Caesar's power after

Pharsalia 39

on intimacy between Brutus

and Caesar 32

'F\gaxe.= imaginary form 103

' Find out ' as single word 70

Fire = /o enkindle 184

Fisher, Miss L. A., on Capitol, Rome 132

Fleay on the Date 287

" on the Play 434

Flint as source of fire 213

Flood, the great, that of Deucalion . 40

Flourished 179

Former = front 247

Frenzy produced by anger on sor-
row 217

Freytag on the Play 427

Friesen, von, on the Play 428

Froude on Ccesar's character 400

'Funerals' for funeral 266

Fumivall on the Date 286

'Future,' change of accent in 185

Future life, Shakespeare's belief in 255

Gardens of Caesar 183

" " where situated .. . 184
Genitive of proper noun ending in

-itis 256

Genius and mortal instruments. ... 81

" natalis 82

Gerundial infinitive 203

Gervinus on character of Ccesar 388

" on Brutus's character .... 403

" on the Play 424

Get thee gone 127

Ghost of Caesar, subjective 236

Ghosts, thin voices of 115

" use of , in Tragedy 234

Gifford on Jonson's attack on Shake-
speare 137

Gilds, mediaeval, regulations of . . . . 16

Given = inclined, disposed 45

Glaze = <o stare 59

Goll on Brutus 416

" on false-reasoning of Brutus.. 157

Good success 262

Gr^vin's Cesar 448

" " analysis of 462

Gneis = grievances 68, 180, 199

Halliwell on the Date 285

Hard, to hear = cherish resentment. . 54
Harvey and Shakespeare, DaCosta

on 108

Harvey's discovery of circulation of

blood .... 107

Hats 84

Havoc, to cry 161

Hazlitt on the Play 420

ti.ea\th = welfare 208

Heap = a multitude 60

' Heare ' pronounced hair 118

Heart as seat of courage 117

Hibla, situation of 243

High-sighted tyranny 91

Hilts 260, 272

Historic interval between Acts IH.

and IV 189

" period of action 12

Hold my hand 68

" thee 263

Holds on his rank 142

' Honest,' a term of patronising con-
tempt 48

'Honourable' ambiguously used by

Cicero in 2 Philippic 1 73

Hony-heavy-devv 102

Hudson on apparent irony in

speeches of assassins . . 147
on Cassius's opinion of

Caesar 37

on character of Brutus 407

" on character of Ca:sar. . . . 389

" on the Date 285

on the Play 428

Humour, meaning of 214

Humours, four, and four elements. . 277

Hurtled 115

INDEX

479

I=Ay 36

'I was' pronounced as one syllable. 232

Ideas, association of, Whiter on . . . 38

Ides of March 78

Impatient of my absence 217

Improve = io make good use of 95

In = into 265

strength of malice 152

Incense = Mr^e 58

Incidents known to audience only

referred to by character 64

Inconsistency, dramatic, of charac-
ters 58

Indicative instead of subjxmctive. . 233

Indiretion^ deceit 210

Infinitive, gerundial 203

Ingram on metrical test 289

Instances 197

' Insuppressive ' used in passive

sense 93

'Intermit' for retnit 21

Interval between Acts I. and II. . . . 80
Irony apparent in speeches of as-
sassins 147

dramatic, example of . . . 142, 192

Is favors like 69

'Jig ' either rapid dance or lively song 216

Johnson on the Play 420

Jonson possibly a collaborator with

Shakespeare, Fleay on 287

Jonson's malignity, Gifford on ... . 45
" quotation in Discoveries,

Fleay on 287

reference to Shakespeare in

Discoveries 136

Julius Caesar, allusions to, in other

plays by Shakespeare 284

Keep = remain in 239

Kembles, the, as Brutus and Antony 440

Kerchief worn by the sick iii

Knight on the Play 423

Knot = company of persons 147

Know Caesar doth not wrong 136

= recognise 216

Kolbe on characters of Plebeians. . 164

Lane of children 135

hsiUghteT= laughing stock 31

Lepidus, character of 191

Let be = no matter 65

" blood 150

" him be Caesar 169

Leihe = blood 155

Liable 1 23

Life compared to bond 67

Ligarius, Caius, or Quintus loi

Lights burning blue in presence of

ghost 23s

Limbs of men 1 59

Lindner on Caesar's spiritual pre-
dominance 387

Lines, interpolation of, at end of

Act IV 238

" lost, Warburton on 254

'Listen' used transitively 194

Lloyd on Brutus's character 402

on character of CcBsar 387

Lovers =frietids 169, 249

Lucillius and Lucius, confusion in

names of 200

Mabie on the Play 436

MacCallum on Brutus 417

" on Cffsar's character.. . . 396

" on Shakespeare's use of

Plutarch 294

Macmillan on CcBsar's character .... 395

Macready as Brutus 440

" as Cassius 440

Maid's Tragedy, quarrel scene in,

compared 201

Malone on the Date 282

Man likened to kingdom 83

Manner = state of the case 49

Mansfield, R., as Brutus 445

Mantle of Caesar shown by An-
tony 177, 179

March used to designate piece of

music 198

Martial's Epigram on death of

Portia 219

Maximus, Valerius, on ghost of

Cassar 234

May=/o be able 84

Mean= that used to efect a purpose. 151

Merivale on Ccesar's character 399

Messala, Appian's account of 7

" Cicero's opinion of 220

48o

INDEX

Mezieres on character of Casar. . . . 388

Microcosm 83

Military coat hung out as signal for

battle 240

Minto on the Play 435

Mirihilia Urbis Romce 132

Mirror of Martyrs, by Weever 285

Mischiefs = /2ar?w5 195

'b>1oAe?,ty= moderation 157

'Moe' and more 84, 266

Mommsen on Ccesar's character. . . . 400

Mortified = insensible iii

Mortimeriados, comparison to pas-
sage in 276

Moulton on Brutus 413

" on Ccesar's character 392

" on the Play 434

" on I, ii 32

Mourn, unusual construction 264

' Much ' used predicatively 98

Muret's Julius Ccesar 398

" " analysis of.. . . 461

Mutiny, suggestion of, by Antony. 182

'Myself followed by third person. 221

Name of Caesar that in which his

power resided 46

Na.pkins = hatidkerchiefs 175

Negative, double, for emphasis 144

" indirectly expressed 91

Nervii, victory over. '. 177

New-added 227

New-fir'd = inflamed 112

Niebuhr on Octavius Casar i

Nietzsche on relation of Brutus to

Caesar 415

'Niggard' used transitively 229

Nimmo on Shakespeare's knowledge

of circulation of blood 107

Nominative absolute 275

" to verb, suppression of 150

Note = stigmatize 203

Nothing = not at all 43

Object redundant 186

Objects, arts, and limitations 193

Observe = show homage 208

Octavius and Antony, relative at-
titudes of, adumbrated 191

Of = /« 95

Of = by or from 186

Oliphant on the Date 291

Omission of passage by actors 97

On this side Tyber 184

Once = at some future titne 226

Opportunity as personified in Em-
blem-books 228

Orchard 72

Order = formal arrangement 157

Ore-watch'd 230

Ought not walk 15

Our means stretcht 195

" work alive 226

Owl as bird of ill omen 60

Pa.mted = decorated 141

Palter = to shift 91

Parenthesis, Johnson's dislike of. . 254

Parrott on Ccesar 6" Pompey 451

Passion = overpowering emotion 28

Path = wa/^ 85

Paton on edition of North's Plutarch

used by Shakespeare 295

Peevish 245

Period marking incomplete sentence 259

Plan of Work 465

Plebeians as in Coriol. and Jul.

CcEs 14

as mo-\-ing force of Play. 13
" characters of, Kolbe on. 164
" of same character as

Modem Transteverins . 180

Plural by attraction 243

Plutarch's description of Brutus.. 402

Brutus's

style of writing 165

" description of Caesar. . . . 386

'Pluto' and Phttus 212

Polychronicon of Higden 132

Pope, change of speeches by 145

Portia contrasted with Calphurnia. 8

" death of 218

" in Plutarch and in Shake-
speare 9

Mrs Jameson on 8

Posture of your blows 242

Vreier = recommend 275

Present for future tense 257

Prevent = a>itici pate 254

'Prick'd = nominated 157

INDEX

481

Proceeding 122

Profession, sign of, worn in obe-
dience to Sumptuary Law, or

Trade Gild regulation 15

Property = /«^/rz^w€7t/ 194

Proscription proclamation, text of. 190

Prose and verse, use of 48

" use of, in Oration by Brutus,

Moulton on 166

Publius, error in name of 191

" Shakespeare's use of, as

common name 144

'Puisant' a disyllabic 135

Quarrel = co;«/i^a/«/ 77

" scene, purpose of 202

r doubled in proper names 231

'Raise' used causatively 231

^^nk = diseased from repletion 150

'R3.scal = uretcJied 211

'Real and illusory,' MacCallum on 147

Reason in animals 1 74

'Rebel' used as adjective 135

Reek = emit smoke 150

Relative, omission of 26, no, 209

" regarded as noun 135

Remorse = conscience 76

Rendred 164

Repeal = /o recall from banishment. . 140
Republic and Democracy, inapt

conception of 40

Republicanism, lack of, in Brutus's

speeches 79

Resch on interpolation in IV, iii. ... 223

Respect = Aee^f 210

'Kh.e.wny =moist, damp 104

' Rived ' for riven 58

Roman Revenge, by A. Hill 450

'Rome,' pronunciation of same as

Room 19, 41, 163

Riimelin on tlie Play 426

Ruskin on ' fret the clouds ' 88

RjTner on scene with conspirators . . 87

s, final interpolation of, in the

Folio 44, loi, 170, 243

'Satisfied,' particular meaning of. . 140

'Saving,' a verbal substantive 260

Scandal = /o defame 32

Scene, change of, without indication 200

Scenic arrangement of Acts, Malt-

zahn on 130

Schelling on tlie Play 437

Schlegel on the Play 422

Security = false confidence 126

Semicolon marking a sudden pause. 91
Senators, number of, put to death

by proscription 222

Senatiisconsidla, legislative acts of

Senate 168

Seneca and Arrian on ' fear of death ' 116
Seneca's Tragedies, influence of . . . . 398

Served = />re5CH/e<f 131

Set on your foot 112

'Shall' used with prophetic import. 156

' Shame ' used intransitively 85

Should = miglit 40

' Should ' for would 117

Simile, confusion in 262

Singular substantives, two, re-
garded as pliurality 113

Sirrah 258

Smatch 273

Snider on Brutus 410

" on the Play 431

Some other 231

Soothsayer, role of, assigned to

Artemidorus 128

So please him come 149

Source of Plot 292

S^&3ik. = communicate 236

Spirit of Caesar imassailable 96

Spiritual predominance of Caesar,

Lindner on 387

Spleen, the seat of emotions 208

Stage arrangement of Act V 239

" history. 437

" setting of Act 1 13

" ofll, i 72

Stand upon 145

Stapfer on Brutus 411

" on C Cesar's cJtar act er 391

" on murder of Cinna ,. 188

" on the Play 433

Stare =/o be stiff 236

'Statue' a trisyllable 120, 179

'Stay' used causatively 119

Steal away heart = /o deceive 181

Stoical doctrine improperly used by
Caesar 117

482

INDEX

Stokes on the Date 290

Stole = stolen 103

Stomach = /«c/J«a/jo» 246

Strain = ^/oc^ race 245

Strange = z<«/awu7iar 28

Suburbs, residence of harlots 106

Success = good fortune 113

Suetonius' description of Caesar. . . . 386
" Lives of CcEsars, doubtful

use of, by Shakespeare 295

Suicide among Romans effect of

Cicero's writings 260

Sumptuary laws 16

Superlative, double 148

Superstition, Caesar's, M. Hunter on 116

Sway of earth 58

'Swear' used transitively 259

Take thought and die 98

Taste = /« some degree 193

Tears and sighs as floods and storms . 21

Tense, past, change of, to present. 114

for perfect 270

Text 281

'Than,' comma placed before 269

Thassos as burial place of Cassius. 266

The last of all the Romans 265

Thews 65

Think of the world 54

Third person, Caesar's use of 113

'Thou' and you 126, 272

Thunder-stone 62

'Tidings' a plural noun 261

" either plural or singular

noun 218

Time Analysis 464

double 267

" and double space. ... 226

long and short, indication of 80

" suggested 271

of life 254

passage of, how shown 89

Tincture 121

Title of Tragedy, Gildon on 11

To friend =/or a friend 149

Too blame = blameworthy 1 24

'Toward,' accent of Z2>

Tower of London as Roman Capitol 64

Trebonius, letter to, from Cicero. . 134

Tree, H. B., as Antony 441

Tree's, H. B., production 441

Trench on Shakespeare's use of

Plutarch 293

Tribunes of Plebs as in Coriol. and

Jid. CcBS 14

Triumvirate, meeting place of 190

the 189

'Tyber,' gender of 20

Ulrici on the Play 429

Unaccented syllable carrying em-
phasis 216

Undergo = undertake 68

Unicorns, how caught 100

Unkindest = W(75/ unnatural 178

' Unmeritable ' used in active sense. . 192

Unshak'd of motion 142

Vagrants, acts relating to 16

Verb, plural, with two singular

substantives 113

V^erplanck on the Date 284

Vessel compared to human being. . 271
Voltaire's Mort de Cesar, account

of 421

translation 420

Wouchsa.ie = condescend to grant. ... no

Wafter. 104

' Walkes ' or walls 40

Warn = summon 239

Warnings of conspiracy exaggerated 1 28

Wash = wash over 146

Watchman in Rome 114

We heare two lions 118

When that 172

WheTe = 2vhether 22, 269

'Why' used as interjection 225, 236

Wilks as Antony, Davies on 149

'Window' indiscriminately used for

opening and for shutter 185

Woe the while 65

'WoT\d = present state of affairs 271

" threefold 192

'^or\.\i\ess = undeserving 245

Wounds of Caesar, number of 244

Wright on the Date 290

'Ye' and 'You,' use of 66, 150

You are not Cassius 206

" were best 187

OINDirNVj u

Mrr\ 1 o |;300

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A new variorum edition
of Shakespeare

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