Shapes hot from Tartarus! all shames and crimes-
Wan Treachery, with his thirsty dagger drawn ;
Suspicion, poisoning his brother's cup;

Naked Rebellion, with the torch and axe,

Making his wild sport of your blazing thrones;

Till Anarchy comes down on you like night,

And Massacre seals Rome's eternal grave.-CROLY.

LESSON XXIV.--WARS OF CESAR AND POMPEY-DEATH

OF CATO.

1. Soon after the conspiracy of Catiline, which was quelled after a brief struggle by the energy of Cicero, civil war broke out between the adherents of Cæsar and Pompey, and the vast Roman world was divided into two hostile camps. In a great battle, which was fought on the plains of Pharsalia, in Thessaly, Cæsar was victorious, and Pompey, fleeing to Egypt, was slain by order of the Egyptian king Ptolemy, who hoped thereby to secure the favor of Cæsar.

2. After the fall of Pompey, Cæsar passed into Africa, where was a large party still opposed to him, headed by Cato, the sons of Pompey, and other generals. These he defeated in battle; after which Cato, having advised his followers not to continue their resistance, committed suicide. He had seen, he said, the republic passing away, and he could live no longer. After having read Plato on the Immortality of the Soul twice over, as if to prepare his mind for the deed which he meditated, he is supposed to have indulged in the following soliloquy :

CATO'S SOLILOQUY.

[This should be read or spoken deliberately, and the countenance and voice should in. dicate that the mind is employed in solemn contemplation.]

3.

4.

It must be so. Plato', thou reasonest well!
Else whence this pleasing hope', this fond desire',
This longing after immortality'?

Or whence this secret dread and inward horror

Of falling into naught'? Why shrinks the soul
Back on herself, and startles at destruction'?

'Tis the divinity that stirs within us:

'Tis heaven itself that points out an hereafter,
And intimates eternity to man.

Eternity'! thou pleasing, dreadful thought'!

Through what variety of untried being,

Through what new scenes and changes must we pass'?
The wide, the unbounded prospect lies before me:

Here will I hold. If there's a Power above us

5.

(And that there is, all nature cries aloud
Through all her works), he must delight in virtue;
And that which he delights in must be happy.

But when? or where'? This world was made for Cæsar.
I'm weary of conjectures-this must end them.

[Laying his hand on his sword.

Thus I am doubly arm'd. My death and life,
My bane and antidote, are both before me.
This, in a moment, brings me to my end;
But this informs me I shall never die.
The soul, secured in her existence, smiles
At the drawn dagger, and defies its point.
The stars shall fade away, the sun himself
Grow dim with age, and nature sink in years;
But thou shalt flourish in immortal youth,

Unhurt amid the war of elements,

The wreck of matter, and the crush of worlds.-ADDISON.

LESSON XXV.-THE DEATH OF CÆSAR.

1. AFTER Cæsar had finished the war in Africa, the Roman senate created him dictator for ten years; he was appointed censor of the public morals, and his statue was placed opposite that of Jupiter in the Capitol, and on it was inscribed "To Cæsar, the demigod." Not long afterward he was made dictator for life, with the title of imperator, and all the powers of sovereignty were conferred upon him, although the outward form of the republic was allowed to remain.

2. The people, however, soon became suspicious that he courted the title of king; and a large number of senators, headed by the prætors Cassius and Brutus, formed a conspiracy to take his life, and fixed on the day of the meeting of the senate for the execution of their plot. As soon as Cæsar had taken his seat in the senate-house, the conspirators crowded around him, and as one of them, pretending to urge some request, laid hold of his robe as if in the act of supplication, the others, Brutus among the number, rushed upon him with drawn daggers, and he fell, pierced with twenty-three wounds, at the base of Pompey's statue, which was sprinkled with his blood. The scenes which followed-the speech of Brutus in defense of the deed, and the artful funeral oration of Antony, by which the fickle populace were roused to demand vengeance upon the conspirators, are well set forth in the following extract from Shakspeare:

Scene: the Roman forum.

Enter Brutus and Cassius, and a throng of citizens.

Cit. We will be satisfied; let us be satisfied.

Bru. Then follow me, and give me audience, friends. Cassius, go you into the other street,

And part the numbers.

Those that will hear me speak', let them stay here';
Those that will follow Cassius', go with him';

And public reasons shall be rendered

Of Cæsar's death.

1st Cit.

I will hear Brutus speak.

2d Cit. I will hear Cassius; and compare their reasons When severally we hear them rendered.

[Exit Cassius, with some of the citizens. Brutus goes into the rostrum. 3d Cit. The noble Brutus is ascended: Silence! Bru. Be patient till the last.

Romans', countrymen,' and lovers'! hear me for my cause; and be silent, that you may hear: believe me for mine honor; and have respect to mine honor, that you may believe: censure me in your wisdom; and awake your senses, that you may the better judge. If there be any in this assembly', any dear friend of Cæsar's', to him I say that Brutus's love to Cæsar was no less than his. If then that friend demand why Brutus rose against Cæsar', this is my answer-Not that I loved Cæsar less', but that I loved Rome more'. Had you rather Cæsar were living, and die all slaves', than that Cæsar were dead, to live all freemen'? As Cæsar loved me', I weep for him; as he was fortunate', I rejoice' at it; as he was valiant,' I honor' him; but, as he was ambitious, I slew' him. There are tears' for his love', joy for his fortune', honor' for his valor, and death' for his ambition. Who is here so base that would be a bondman'? If any, speak; for him have I offended. Who is here so rude that would not be a Roman? If any, speak; for him have I offended. Who is here so vile that will not love his country? If any, speak; for him have I offended. I pause for a reply.

[Several speaking at once.

Cit. None', Brutus', none'. Bru. Then none have I offended. I have done no more to Cæsar than you should do to Brutus. The question of his death is enrolled in the Capitol; his glory not extenuated, wherein he was worthy; nor his offenses enforced, for which he suffered death.

Enter Antony and others, with Cæsar's body.

Here comes his body, mourned by Mark Antony; who, though he had no hand in his death, shall receive the benefit of his dying, a place in the commonwealth; as which of you shall not? With this I depart-that, as I slew my best lover for the good of Rome, I have the same dagger for myself, when it shall please my country to need my death.

Cit. Live, Brutus, live! live!

1st Git. Bring him with triumph home to his house.

2d Cit. Give him a statue with his ancestors.

3d Cit. Let him be Cæsar.

4th Cit.

Cæsar's better parts

Shall now be crowned in Brutus.

1st Cit. We'll bring him to his house with shouts and clamors.

Bru. My countrymen―

Z*

2d Cit. Peace! silence! Brutus speaks. 1st Cit.

Peace, ho!

Bru. Good countrymen, let me depart alone,
And, for my sake, stay here with Antony:
Do grace to Cæsar's corpse, and grace his speech
Tending to Cæsar's glories, which Mark Antony,
By our permission, is allowed to make.
I do entreat you, not a man depart,
Save I alone, till Antony have spoke.

1st Cit. Stay, ho! and let us hear Mark Antony. 3d Cit. Let him go up into the public chair; We'll hear him. Noble Antony, go up.

Ant. For Brutus' sake, I am beholden to you.
4th Cit. What does he say of Brutus?
3d Cit.

He finds himself beholden to us all.

He says, for Brutus' sake,

4th Cit. "Twere best he speak no harm of Brutus here.

1st Cit. This Cæsar was a tyrant. 3d Cit.

Nay, that's certain :

We are blessed that Rome is rid of him.

2d Cit. Peace; let us hear what Antony can say. Ant. You gentle Romans

Cit.

Peace, ho! let us hear him.

Ant. Friends', Romans', countrymen', lend me your ears;
I come to bury' Cæsar, not to praise him'.

The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones:
So let it be with Cæsar. The noble Brutus
Hath told you Cæsar was ambitious:
If it were so, it were a grievous fault,
And grievously hath Cæsar answered it.
Here, under leave of Brutus, and the rest
(For Brutus is an honorable man';

*

So are they all, all honorable men'),
Come I to speak in Cæsar's funeral.

He was my friend', faithful and just' to me;
But Brutus' says' he was ambitious';

And Brutus is an honorable man'.

He hath brought many captives home to Rome,
Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill:

Did this in Cæsar seem ambitious'?

When that the poor have cried', Cæsar hath wept':
Ambition should be made of sterner stuff;
Yet Brutus says' he was ambitious';

And Brutus is an honorable man'.

You did all see that on the Lupercal

I thrice presented him a kingly crown,

Which he did thrice refuse. Was this ambition?
Yet Brutus says' he was ambitious';

And sure he is an honorable man'.

[Exit

* The falling inflection is frequently given to "honorable," and the rising to "man;” but Antony would hardly have ventured upon irony so open, while his auditors were so little prepared for it. The rising circumflex should be distinctly given to the word "honorable."

I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke,
But here I am to speak what I do know.
You all did love him once; not without cause;

What cause withholds you, then, to mourn' for him?
Oh judgment, thou art fled to brutish beasts,

And men have lost their reason! Bear with me;

My heart is in the coffin there with Cæsar,

And I must pause till it come back to me.

1st Cit. Methinks there is much reason in his sayings. 2d Cit. If thou consider rightly of the matter,

Cæsar has had great wrong.

3d Cit.

Has he, masters?

I fear there will a worse come in his place.

4th Cit. Marked ye his words? He would not take the crown; fore 'tis certain he was not ambitious.

there

1st Cit. If it be found so, some will dear abide it.

2d Cit. Poor soul! his eyes are red as fire with weeping.

3d Cit. There's not a nobler man in Rome than Antony.

4th Cit. Now mark him; he begins again to speak.
Ant. But yesterday, the word of Cæsar might

Have stood against the world': now lies he there,
And none so poor to do him reverence.

Oh masters! if I were disposed to stir
Your hearts and minds to mutiny and rage,

I should do Brutus' wrong, and Cassius' wrong,
Who, you all know, are honorable men'.

I will not do them wrong; I rather choose
To wrong the dead', to wrong myself, and you,
Than I will wrong such honorable men'.

But here's a parchment with the seal of Cæsar;
I found it in his closet; 'tis his will:

Let but the commons hear this testament
(Which, pardon me, I do not mean to read),

And they would go and kiss dead Cæsar's wounds,
And dip their napkins in his sacred blood;
Yea, beg a hair of him for memory,

And, dying, mention it within their wills,
Bequeathing it as a rich legacy

Unto their issue.

4th Cit.

We'll hear the will. Read it, Mark Antony. Cit. The will, the will; we will hear Cæsar's will.

Ant. Have patience, gentle friends; I must not read it;

It is not meet you know how Cæsar loved you.
You are not wood, you are not stones, but men ;
And, being men, hearing the will of Cæsar,
It will inflame you, it will make you mad:
'Tis good you know not that you are his heirs;
For, if you should, oh, what would come of it!

4th Cit. Read the will; we will hear it, Antony; You shall read us the will-Cæsar's will.

Ant. Will you be patient? Will you stay a while? I have o'ershot myself to tell you of it.

I fear I wrong the honorable men

Whose daggers have stabbed Cæsar: I do fear it.