Cafea. No. Cin. O, pardon, Sir, it doth; and yon grey lines, That fret the clouds, are meffengers of day. Cafca. You fhall confefs, that you are both deceiv'd, Here, as I point my fword, the fun arifes; Bru. Give me your hands all over, one by one. Bru. 7 No, not an oath. If not the face of men, The fufferance of our fouls, the time's abufeIf these be motives weak, break off betimes, And every man hence to his idle bed So let high fighted tyranny range on, 'Till each man drop by lottery. But if these, As "No, not an oath. If that the FACE of men, &c.] Dr. Warburton would read fate of men; but his elaborate emendation is, I think, erroneous. The face of men is the countenance, the regard, the efterm of the publick; in other terms, honour and reputation; or the face of men may mean the dejected look of the people. He reads, with the other modern editions, -If that the face of men, but the old reading is, -if not the face, &c. JOHNSON. So Tully in Catilinam-Nihil horum ora vultusque moverunt? STEEVENS. No, not an oath.-] Shakespeare form'd this fpeech on the following paffage in Sir T. North's Tranflation of Plutarch:-" The confpirators having never taken oaths together, nor taken or given any caution or affurance, nor binding themselves one to another by any religious oaths, they kept the matter fo fecret to themfelves," &c. STEEVENS. 9 'Till each man cp by lattery.] Perhaps the Poet alluded to the cuftom of decimation, i. e. the felection by lot of every tenth foldier, in a general mutiny, for punishment. He As I am fure they do, bear fire enough That this fhall be, or we will fall for it? Nor the infuppreffive mettle of our fpirits, To think, that, or our caufe, or our performance, If he doth break the smallest particle Of any promise that hath paft from him. Caf. But what of Cicero? fhall we found him? I think, he will stand very strong with us. Cin. No, by no means. Met. O, let us have him; for his filver hairs And buy men's voices to commend our deeds: This is imitated by Otway, STEEVENS. When you would bind me, is there need of oaths? &c. Venice preserved. JOHNSON. But But all be buried in his gravity. Bru. O, name him not: let us not break with him; For he will never follow any thing, That other men begin. Caf. Then leave him out. Cafca. Indeed, he is not fit. Dec. Shall no man eife be touch'd, but only Cæfar? Caf. Decius, well urg'd:-I think, it is not meet, Mark Antony, fo well belov'd of Cæfar, Should out-live Cæfar: we fhall find of him Bru. Our course will feem too bloody, Caius Caffius, Let us be facrificers, but not butchers, Caius; VOL. VIII. D Caf. Caf. Yet I fear him; For in the ingrafted love he bears to Cæfar, 2 Is to himself; take thought, and die for Cæfar : Treb. There is no fear in him; let him not die; For he will live, and laugh at this hereafter. [Clock frikes. Bru. Peace, count the clock. Caf. The clock hath ftricken three. Caf. But it is doubtful yet, Whether Cæfar will come forth to-day, or no: 2 take thought,-] That is, turn melancholy. JOHNSON. Cæfar, as well as Caffius, was an Epicurean. By main opinion Caffius intends a compliment to his fect, and means folid, fundamental opinion, grounded in truth and nature: as by fantafy is meant ominous forebodings; and by ceremonies, atonements of the Gods by means of religious rites and facrifices. A little after, where Calphurnia fays, Cafar, I never food on ceremonies, Yet now they fright me: The poet ufes ceremonies in a quite different fenfe, namely, the turning accidents to omens, a principal fuperftition of antiquity. WARBURTON. Main opinion, is nothing more than leading, fixed, predominant pinion. JOHNSON. Dec. Dec. Never fear that: if he be fo refolv'd, For I can give his humour the true bent; Caf. Nay, we will all of us be there to fetch him. Bru. Now, good Metellus, go along to him: He loves me well; and I have given him reasons ; Send him but hither, and I'll fashion him. Caf. The morning comes upon us. We'll leave you, Brutus: -For be loves to bear, &c.] It was finely imagined by the poet, to make Cæfar delight in this fort of converfation. The author of St. Evremond's life tells us, that the great prince of Conde took much pleasure in remarking on the foible and ridicule of characters. WARBURTON. 5 That unicorns may be betray'd by trees, And bears with glasses, elephants with holes. Unicorns are faid to have been taken by one, who running behind a tree, eluded the violent push the animal was making at him, fo that his horn spent its force on the trunk, and ftuck faft, detaining the beast till he was dispatched by the hunter. Bears are reported to have been furprised by means of a mirror, which they would gaze on, affording their purfuers an opportunity of taking the furer aim. This circumftance, I think, is mentioned by Claudian. Elephants were feduced into pitfalls, lightly covered with hurdles and turf, on which a proper bait to tempt them, was ex-. pofed. STEEVENS. |