principal incidents of the period which preceded the battle of Philippi, are also in Plutarch; as is also the dialogue between Brutus and Cassius as to the disposal of themselves, in the event of defeat:

"Cass. If we do lose this battle, then is this The very last time we shall speak together. What are you then determined to do?

Bru. Even by the rule of that philosophy
Whereby I did blame Cato for the death
Which he did give himself; I know not how,
But I do find it cowardly and vile,

For fear of what might fall, so to prevent
The time of life: arming myself with patience,
To stay the providence of some high powers
That govern us below."

Cassius, understanding this speech to mean, as it certainly does, that Brutus would not destroy himself, even in the event of defeat, asks him whether he would be contented to be led through Rome as a captive? Brutus answers, that he "bears too great a mind for this;" and he takes an everlasting farewell of his friend, lest they should not meet again.

This is not very consistent, and the inconsistency arises from Shakspeare's misreading of the first speech; for Brutus (according to North)*

* P. 831.

*

referred to his opinion against suicide, as one which he had entertained in youth, but had now abandoned. Steevens says, that the passage in North might easily be misunderstood; this I partly admit, but Shakspeare's adoption of a version contradicted, not only by a passage immediately following, but by the event which he presently pourtrays, is a striking instance of his careless use of his authorities.

In the events of the battle of Philippi, and the suicide of Cassius and Brutus, Shakspeare follows Plutarch, by whom the short but remarkable speech of Antony over Brutus, is also suggested:

"It was said that Antonius spake it openly divers times, that he thought that of all them that had slain Cæsar, there was none but Brutus only that was moved to do it, as thinking the act 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.”†

"Ant. This was the noblest Roman of them all! All the conspirators, save only he,

Did that they did in envy of great Cæsar ;

* Bosw., 138. The perplexity arises from North putting I trust in the present tense. The original is in the past tense. See North, p. 831; Langhorne, vi. 231; and Plutarch, i. 1002.

† P. 827.

He only in a general honest thought,
And common good to all, made one of them.
His life the gentle, and the elements,

So mix'd in him, that Nature might stand up,
And say to all the world, This was a man !”

We have seen that Plutarch was Shakspeare's authority. Plutarch, however, was not born for an hundred years after Cæsar's death; nor, with the exception of Velleius Paterculus, has any historian a greater right than Plutarch to be deemed a cotemporary. Ferguson* quotes Appian, Suetonius, and Dion Cassius, as well as Plutarch; but all of them flourished many years after him. Although, therefore, the authority of the Grecian biographer may not stand high, there is no other by which to correct him; for the history of Velleius Paterculus is too meagre to be compared with Plutarch.

The orations and letters of Cicero throw some light upon the events of this time, and where they are applicable, they are by far the most valuable authority; and any modern history which makes use of these, for instance, Dr. Mid

*History of the Progress and Termination of the Roman Republic, iii. 34, 203.

+ According to Dibdin (Introd. to Classics), Plutarch died 120 years after Christ; Appian, 143; Suetonius, 160; Dion Cassius, 229.

dleton's life of this great man, in which a copious use is made of his writings, is really a more valuable history than any of those traditionary narratives to which we are in the habit of referring.

But it is enough that I advert to a few prominent circumstances,

We have Cicero's authority for the offer of the crown to Cæsar.* I do not anywhere find that Cassius was the instigator of Brutus. From some accounts, it would rather appear that Brutus was the original suggester of the plot ;† and Cicero always speaks of him as a leader in the affair. For the "Et tu, Brute," I find no authority in Cicero, nor, indeed, in those words, anywhere. It is clear that Antony was professedly on good terms with the conspirators soon after Cæsar's death; and that he procured a decree for confirming all the acts of Cæsar.‡ He also procured a public funeral for his deceased friend; at which he managed to excite the populace, or at least a number of persons who were assembled on the occasion, to attack the houses or persons of Cæsar's enemies. §

There is this much of foundation for Plu

* Philipp. ii. 34.

+ Dion Cassius, 14.

Middleton, iii. 13, from Philipp. i. § Cicero to Atticus, lib. xiv. Ep. 10.

tarch's account of the speeches over Cæsar's body, on which Shakspeare has formed his splendid scene. According to Dion Cassius, Antony made a very long speech. For this the historian probably drew upon his own imagination; for although the omission, by later historians, and still more by Velleius Paterculus, of some of the circumstances narrated by Plutarch, may throw a doubt upon the accuracy of that writer: it is equally certain, that where Plutarch has left only an outline, his followers could not possess authentic materials for filling it up. Their details, therefore, may well be doubted. I am, nevertheless, tempted to give (in Ferguson's translation of Dion Cassius,) the peroration of the speech ascribed to Antony :

"On the subject of his administration of the state, I need not make any observation to you. You were witnesses of his conduct. Descended of your ancient kings, he had more glory in refusing a crown that was offered to him, than they had in wearing it with all its honours. You loved him, you set him at the head of your priesthood, at the head of your army, at the head of the republic; you declared his person sacred as that of your tribunes; you declared him the father of his country; you showed him to the world, adorned with the ensigns of sovereign power-your dictator-your guardian, and the terror