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Bru. Sit thee down, Clitus. Slaying is the word; It is a deed in fashion. Hark thee, Clitus.

[Whispering. Cli. What, I, my lord? No, not for all the world.

Bru. Peace, then, no words.

Cli.

Bru. Hark thee, Dardanius!
Dar.

Cli. O Dardanius!

Dar. O Clitus!

I'll rather kill myself.

[Whispers him.

Shall I do such a deed?

Cli. What ill request did Brutus make to thee?
Dar. To kill him, Clitus. Look, he meditates.
Cli. Now is that noble vessel full of grief,
That it runs over even at his eyes.

Bru. Come hither, good Volumnius; list a word.
Vol. What says my lord?

Bru.

Why, this, Volumnius: The ghost of Cæsar hath appeared to me Two several times by night: at Sardis, once; And this last night, here in Philippi's fields. I know my hour is come.

Vol.

Not so, my lord.

Bru. Nay, I am sure it is, Volumnius.
Thou seest the world, Volumnius, how it goes;
Our enemies have beat us to the pit.

It is more worthy to leap in ourselves,

Than tarry till they push us.

Good Volumnius,

Thou know'st that we two went to school together; Even for that our love of old, I pray thee,

Hold thou my sword-hilts,' whilst I run on it. Vol. That's not an office for a friend, my lord. [Alarum still.

joyceth my hart that no one of my friends hath failed me at my neede, and I do not complayne of my fortune, but only for my countries sake :-for as for me, I thinke myselfe happier than they that have overcome, considering that I leave a perpetual fame of our corage and manhoode, the which our enemies the conquerors shall never attaine unto by force nor money, neither can let their posteritie to say, that they have beene naughtie and unjust men, have slaine good men to usurpe tyrannical power not pertaining to them. Having sayd so, he prayd every man to shift for themselves, and then he went a little aside," &c.

1 Hilts is frequently used where only one weapon is spoken of.

Cli. Fly, fly, my lord; there is no tarrying here.
Bru. Farewell to you ;-and you ;-and you,
Volumnius.-

Strato, thou hast been all this while asleep;
Farewell to thee, too, Strato.-Countrymen,
My heart doth joy, that yet, in all my life,
I found no man, but he was true to me.
I shall have glory by this losing day,
More than Octavius, and Mark Antony,
By this vile conquest shall attain unto.
So, fare you well at once: for Brutus' tongue
Hath almost ended his life's history.

Night hangs upon mine eyes; my bones would rest,
That have but labored to attain this hour.

[Alarum. Cry within; Fly, fly, fly.

Cli. Fly, my lord, fly.

Bru.

Hence; I will follow.

[Exeunt CLITUS, DARDANIUS, and
VOLUMNIUS.

I pr'ythee, Strato, stay thou by thy lord.
Thou art a fellow of a good respect;

Thy life hath had some smatch of honor in it.
Hold then my sword, and turn away thy face,
While I do run upon it. Wilt thou, Strato?

Stra. Give me your hand first. Fare you well, my lord.

Bru. Farewell, good Strato.-Cæsar, now be still: I killed not thee with half so good a will.

[He runs on his sword and dies.

Alarum. Retreat.

Retreat. Enter OCTAVIUS, ANTONY, MES-
SALA, LUCILIUS, and their army.

Oct. What man is that?

Mes. My master's man.-Strato, where is thy mas

ter?

Stra. Free from the bondage you are in, Messala; The conquerors can but make a fire of him;

For Brutus only overcame himself,

And no man else hath honor by his death.

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Luc. So Brutus should be found.-I thank thee,

Brutus,

That thou hast proved Lucilius' saying true.

Oct. All that served Brutus, I will entertain them. Fellow, wilt thou bestow thy time with me? Stra. Ay, if Messala will prefer1 me to you. Oct. Do so, good Messala.

Mes.

How died my master, Strato? Strat. I held the sword, and he did run on it. Mes. Octavius, then take him to follow thee, That did the latest service to my master.

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

Did that they did in envy of great Cæsar ;
He, only, in a general, honest thought,
And common good to all, made one of them.
His life was gentle; and the elements
So mixed in him, that nature might stand up,
And say to all the world, This was a man!

Oct. According to his virtue let us use him,
With all respect and rites of burial.
Within my tent his bones to-night shall lie,
Most like a soldier, ordered honorably.-
So, call the field to rest; and let's away,
To part the glories of this happy day.

[Exeunt.

1 To prefer seems to have been the general term for recommending a

servant.

Or this tragedy many particular passages deserve regard, and the contention and reconcilement of Brutus and Cassius is universally celebrated; but I have never been strongly agitated in perusing it; and I think it somewhat cold and unaffecting, compared with some other of Shakspeare's plays: his adherence to the real story, and to Roman manners, seems to have impeded the natural vigor of his genius. JOHNSON.

ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA.

PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

AFTER a perusal of this play, the reader will, I doubt not, be surprised when he sees what Johnson has asserted-that "its power of delighting is derived principally from the frequent changes of the scene;" "-and that "no character is very strongly discriminated." If our great Poet has one supereminent dramatic quality in perfection, it is that of being able "to go out of himself at pleasure, to inform and animate other existences." It is true, that, in the number of characters, many persons of historical importance are merely introduced as passing shadows in the scene; but "the principal personages are most emphatically distinguished by lineament and coloring, and powerfully arrest the imagination." The character of Cleopatra is indeed a masterpiece; though Johnson pronounces that she is "only distinguished by feminine arts, some of which are too low." It is true that her seductive arts are in no respect veiled over; but she is still the gorgeous Eastern queen, remarkable for the fascination of her manner, if not for the beauty of her person; and though she is vain, ostentatious, fickle, and luxurious, there is that heroic, regal dignity about her, which makes us, like Antony, forget her defects:"Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale Her infinite variety. Other women cloy

Th' appetites they feed; but she makes hungry
Where most she satisfies."

The mutual passion of herself and Antony is without moral dignity, yet it excites our sympathy: they seem formed for each other. Cleopatra is no less remarkable for her seductive charms, than Antony for the splendor of his martial achievements. Her death, too, redeems one part of her character, and obliterates all faults.

Warburton has observed that Antony was Shakspeare's hero; and the defects of his character, a lavish and luxurious spirit, seem almost virtues when opposed to the heartless and narrow-minded littleness of Octavius Cæsar. But the ancient historians, his flatterers, had delivered the latter down ready cut and dried for a hero; and Shakspeare has extricated himself with great address from the dilemma. He has admitted all those great strokes of his character as he found them, and yet has made him a very unamiable character, deceitful, mean-spirited, proud, and revengeful.

Schlegel attributes this to the penetration of Shakspeare, who was not to be led astray by the false glitter of historic fame, but saw through the disguise thrown around him by his successful fortunes, and distinguished in Augustus a man of little mind.

Malone places the composition of this play in 1608. No previous edition to that of the folio of 1623 has been hitherto discovered; but there is an entry of "A Booke called Antony and Cleopatra," to Edward Blount, in 1608, on the Stationers' books.

Shakspeare followed Plutarch, and appears to have been anxious to introduce every incident and every personage he met with in his historian. Plutarch mentions Lamprias, his grandfather, as authority for some of the stories he relates of the profuseness and luxury of Antony's entertainments at Alexandria. In the stage direction of Scene 2, Act i., in the old copy, Lamprias, Ramnus, and Lucilius, are made to enter with the rest; but they have no part in the dialogue, nor do their names appear in the list of Dramatis Personæ.

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VARRIUS,

TAURUS, Lieutenant-General to Cæsar.

CANIDIUS, Lieutenant-General to Antony.

SILIUS, an Officer in Ventidius's Army.

EUPHRONIUS, an Ambassador from Antony to Cæsar.
ALEXAS, MARDIAN, SELEUCUS, and DIOMEDES, Attend-
ants on Cleopatra.

A Soothsayer. A Clown.

CLEOPATRA, Queen of Egypt.

OCTAVIA, Sister to Cæsar, and Wife to Antony.
CHARMIAN and IRAS, Attendants on Cleopatra.

Officers, Soldiers, Messengers, and other Attendants.

SCENE, dispersed in several Parts of the Roman Empire.

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