Now I will out-brave all, make all my servants, And my brave deed shall be writ in wine for virtuous.3

[Exit.

SCENE III.

Cæsar's Apartments in the Palacé.

Enter CESAR, ANTONY, DOLABELLA, and SCEVA.

Cæsar. Keep strong guards, and with wary eyes, my friends;

There is no trusting to these base Egyptians:
They that are false to pious benefits,

And make compell'd necessities their faiths,
Are traitors to the gods.

Ant. We'll call ashore

A legion of the best.

Cæsar. Not a man, Antony;

That were to shew our fears, and dim our greatness: No; 'tis enough my name's ashore.

Sce. Too much too;

A sleeping Cæsar is enough to shake them.
There are some two or three malicious rascals,
Train'd up in villainy, besides that Cerberus,
That Roman dog, that lick'd the blood of Pompey.
Dol. 'Tis strange; a Roman soldier?

Sce. You are cozen'd;

There be of us, as be of all other nations,

Shall be writ in wine for virtuous.] Mason proposes, with some plausibility, to read-shall be writ down for virtuous. The old reading is however not nonsensical, as he asserts; and as, in the soliloquy at the head of this scene, he speaks of his having once been beloved for swearing and drinking, the text is not only sense, but better than the variation.

Villains and knaves: 'Tis not the name contains

him,

But the obedience; when that's once forgotten,
And duty flung away, then, welcome devil!
Photinus and Achillas, and this vermin,
That's now become a natural crocodile,
Must be with care observed.

Ant. And 'tis well counsell'd;

No confidence, nor trust

Sce. I'll trust the sea first,

When with her hollow murmurs she invites me, And clutches in her storms, as politic lions Conceal their claws; I'll trust the devil first; The rule of ill I'll trust, before the doer."

Cæsar. Go to your rests, and follow your own wisdoms,

And leave me to my thoughts; pray no more compliment;

Once more, strong watches.

Dol. All shall be observed, sir.

[Exeunt all but CESAR. Cæsar. I am dull and heavy, yet I cannot sleep. How happy was 1,8 in my lawful wars

• Contains him.] That is, restrains him, keeps him within bounds.-Mason.

7 The rule of ill I'll trust, before the dore.] Mr Sympson and I both hesitated on this expression, but I believe it right, as God is the rule of good or virtue, so is the Devil of ill.-Seward.

This line does not appear in the second folio.

8 How happy was I, in my lawful wars, &c.] This soliloquy of Cæsar's is extremely judicious as well as beautiful: it was difficult to conform both to history and to poetical justice. It would be an outrage upon the former to make Cæsar unfortunate, and as great a one to have made him a perfectly virtuous character, as Corneille has endeavoured to do. How then should our poets, who have drawn Cæsar exactly to the life, fulfil in any degree the Justice that the audience demand against him? This they have finely accomplished, by shewing him in his retirement, stung and

In Germany, and Gaul, and Britany!
When every night with pleasure I set down
What the day minister'd, the sleep came sweetly:
But since I undertook this home-division,
This civil war, and pass'd the Rubicon,

What have I done, that speaks an ancient Roman,
A good, great man? I have enter'd Rome by force,
And, on her tender womb that gave me life,
Let my insulting soldiers rudely trample:
The dear veins of my country I have open'd,
And sail'd upon the torrents that flow'd from her,
The bloody streams, that in their confluence
Carried before 'em thousand desolations :
I robb'd the treasury; and at one gripe
Snatch'd all the wealth so many worthy triumphs
Placed there as sacred to the peace of Rome :
I razed Massilia in my wanton anger;
Petreius and Afranius I defeated;

Pompey I overthrew; what did that get me?
The slubber'd name of an authorized enemy.'
[Noise within,

tormented with the horrid massacres that he had brought on his country, which are described with great energy.- Seward.

9 When every night with pleasure I sat down

What the day minister'd.] Cæsar alludes in this to his Commentaries. We must read I set down, for I sat down.-Mason.

1 The slubber'd name of an authorized enemy.] By an authorized enemy the poets seem to have meant, an enemy to his country, pronounced so by the authority of the whole senate, as Cæsar had been by the senate of Rome. If this explanation should not satisfy, the verse will run better thus,

The slubber'd name of an unauth'rized enemy.

i. e. Of an enemy without a legal cause or legal authority.

Seward.

The last editors say "authorized seems to mean only successful." Mr Mason is not satisfied with these explanations, and gives the following comment upon the passage, which agrees perfectly with the ideas the present editor had formed before consulting his

1

1

I hear some noises; they are the watches, sure.
What friends have I tied fast by these ambitions?
Cato, the lover of his country's freedom,
Is now pass'd into Africk to affront me;
Juba, that kill'd my friend, is up in arms too;
The sons of Pompey are masters of the sea,
And, from the relicks of their scatter'd faction,
A new head's sprung: Say, I defeat all these too?.
I come home crown'd an honourable rebel.-
I hear the noise still, and it comes still nearer.
Are the guards fast? Who waits there?

Enter SCEVA, bearing a large package..

Sce. Are you awake, sir?

Cæsar. I' the name of wonder

Sce. Nay, I am a porter,

A strong one too, or else my sides would crack, sir: An my sins were as weighty, I should scarce walk with 'em.

Cæsar. What hast thou there?

Sce. Ask them which stay without,

And brought it hither. Your presence I denied'em,

work : "Cæsar's meaning appears to be this. Soon after he had passed the Rubicon, Pompey fled from Rome, and was followed by the greater part of the senate. When Cæsar arrived there he was named dictator by such of the senators as remained in the city, and chosen consul for the ensuing year. Invested with these offices, which entitled him to the legitimate command of the republic, he subverted the liberties of his country. It is to this he alludes when he says that he had gained

2

The slubbered name of an authorized enemy."

To affront me.] To affront frequently meant to meet. The Winter's Tale :

So in

And put 'em by, took up the load myself.
They say 'tis rich, and valued at the kingdom;
I am sure 'tis heavy: If you like to see it,
You may; if not, I'll give it back.

Cæsar. Stay, Sceva;

I would fain see it.

Sce. I'll begin to work then.

No doubt, to flatter you, they have sent you something

Of a rich value, jewels, or some rich treasure.
May-be, a rogue within, to do a mischief:

I pray you stand further off; if there be villainy,
Better my danger first; he shall 'scape hard too.
[Opens the package, in which CLEOPATRA is

discovered.

Ha! what art thou?

Cæsar. Stand further off, good Sceva!— What heavenly vision! Do I wake or slumber ?— Further off, that hand, friend!

Sce. What apparition,

What spirit, have I raised? Sure, 'tis a woman;
She looks like one; now she begins to move too.
A tempting devil, o' my life!-Go off, Cæsar,
Bless thyself, off!-A bawd grown in mine old days?
Bawdry advanced upon my back? 'tis noble !
Sir, if you be a soldier, come no nearer;

She is sent to dispossess you of your honour;
A sponge, a sponge, to wipe away your victories.
An she would be cool'd, sir, let the soldiers trim her;
They'll give her that she came for, and dispatch
her:

Be loyal to yourself!-Thou damned woman,
Dost thou come hither with thy flourishes,
Thy flaunts, and faces, to abuse men's manners?
And am I made the instrument of bawdry?
I'll find a lover for you, one that shall hug you!

VOL. V.

[Draws