Cin. Casca, you are the first that rears your

hand. Casca. Are we all ready? Caes.

What is now amiss That Cæsar and his senate must redress? Met. Most high, most mighty, and most puis

sant Cæsar, Metellus Cimber throws before thy seat An humble heart,

[Kneeling. Cæs.

I must prevent thee, Cimber. These couchings16 and these lowly courtesies Might fire the blood of ordinary men.

Be not fond," To think that Cæsar bears such rebel blood That will be thaw'd from the true quality With that which melteth fools; I mean, sweet

words, Low-crooked court’sies and base spaniel-fawning. Thy brother by decree is banished: If thou dost bend and pray and fawn for him, I spurn thee like a cur out of my way. Know, Cæsar doth not wrong, nor without cause Will he be satisfied. Met. Is there no voice more worthy than my

own,
To sound more sweetly in great Cæsar's ear
For the repealing of 18 my banish'd brother? ?
Bru. I kiss thy hand, but not in flattery,

Cæsar;
Desiring thee that Publius Cimber may

Have an immediate freedom of repeal.

Cæs. What, Brutus!
Cas.

Pardon, Cæsar; Cæsar, pardon.

As low as to thy foot doth Cassius fall,
To beg enfranchisement for Publius Cimber.

Cæs. I could be well mov'd, if I were as you:
If I could pray to move, prayers would move me:
But I am constant as the northern star,

Of whose true-fix'd and resting quality
There is no fellow in the firmament.
The skies are painted with unnumber'd sparks,
They are all fire and every one doth shine;
But there's but one in all doth hold his place:
So in the world: 'tis furnish'd well with men,
And men are flesh and blood, and apprehensive;
Yet in the number I do know but one
That unassailable holds on his rank,
Unshak'd of motion: and that I am he,
Let me a little show it, even in this;
That I was constant Cimber should be banish'd,
And constant do remain to keep him so.

Cin. O Cæsar,-
Cæs. Hence! wilt thou lift up Olympus?
Dec. Great Cæsar,
Cæs.

Doth not Brutus bootless kneel?
Casca. Speak, hands, for me!
[Casca and the other Conspirators stab Cæsar.
Cæs. Et tu, Brute!19 Then fall, Cæsar!

[Dies.

19. Et tu, Brute. There is no record that Cæsar said these words in dying. Most commentators think that it is a decidedly false note for Shakespeare to introduce this Latin exclamation here.

а

JULIUS CÆSAR

By JAMES ANTHONY FROUDE
N person Cæsar was tall and slight.

His features were more refined than
was usual in Roman faces; the fore-
head was wide and high, the nose
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 off towards the end of his life and leaving him partially bald. His voice, especially when he spoke in public, was high and shrill. His health was uniformly strong until his last year, when he became subject to epileptic fits.

He was a great bather and scrupulously clean in all his habits, abstemious in his food, and careless in what it consisted, rarely or never touching wine, and noting sobriety as the highest of qualities when describing any new people. He was an athlete in early life, admirable in all manly exercises, and especially in riding.

In Gaul he rode a remarkable horse, which he had bred himself, and which would let no one but Cæsar mount him. From his boyhood it was observed of him that he was the truest of friends, that he avoided quarrels, and was most easily appeased when offended. In manner he was quiet and gentlemanlike, with the natural courtesy of high breeding. On one occasion when he was dining somewhere the other guests found the oil too rancid for them. Cæsar took it without remark, to spare his entertainer's feelings. When on a journey through a forest with his friend Oppius, he came one night to a hut where there was a single bed. Oppius being unwell, Cæsar gave it up to him, and slept on the ground. It was by accident that Cæsar took up the

profession of a soldier; yet perhaps no commander who ever lived showed greater military genius. The conquest of Gaul was effected by a force numerically insignificant, which was worked with the precision of a machine. The variety of uses to which it was capable of being turned implied, in the first place, extraordinary forethought in the selection of materials.

Men whose nominal duty was merely to fight were engineers, architects, mechanics of the highest order. In a few hours they could extemporize an impregnable fortress on an open hillside. They bridged the Rhine in a week. They built a fleet in a month. The legions at Alesiaheld twice their number pinned within their works, while they kept at bay the whole force of insurgent Gaul, entirely by scientific superiority. The machine, which was thus perfect, was composed of human beings who required supplies of tools, and arms,