As you wish Christian peace to souls departed,
Stand these poor people's friend, and urge the king
To do me this last right.

Cap. By Heaven, I will.

Kath. I thank you, honest lord.-Remember me In all humility unto his highness;

Say, his long trouble now is passing

Out of this world: tell him in death I bless'd him,
For so I will. Mine eyes grow dim. Farewell,
My lord.

[CAPUCIUS kneels-kisses her hand, and exit, L. When I am dead,

[CROM. and Ladies raise her, and lead her R. Let me be used with honour: strew me over With maiden flowers, that all the world may know I was a chaste wife to my grave!

Although unqueen'd, inter me like a queen,

And pay respect to that which I have been.

[Here her voice fails, she sinks into the arms of her Attendants, who bear her off R.—Exeunt.

END OF ACT IV.

ACT V.

SCENE I.-A Gallery in the Palace.

Enter the KING and SUFFOLK, R.

King. (c.) Charles, I will play no more to-night; My mind's not on't, you are too hard for me. Suf. (c.) Sir, I never did win of you before. King. But little, Charles;

Nor shall not, when my fancy's on my play.

Enter LovEL, L.

Now, Lovel, from the queen, what is the news?

REMARKS.

Julius Caesar.

THIS is the grandest of the Roman tragedy of Shakspeare. It occupies a considerable portion of time: beginning with the festival of Luperci, which was held in honour of Cæsar, and en ling with the battle of Philippi. It includes the formation of the conspiracy, the death of the dictator, the sanguinary proscription of the triumvirate, the flight of Brutus and Cassius, and their fall. For the conduct and action of this drama, Shakspeare is indebted to Plutarch, and also for some portion of the dialogue: but no praise can be too high for the poet's art in the concentration of the events supplied by history; or for his genius, in producing some of the most perfect specimens of eloquence that are to be found in any language.

The subject had before employed the pen of William Alexander, Earl of Sterline, a heavy Scotch writer of monarchic tragedies; but whose mode of treating it is so insufferably cold and prolix, and whose style, abounding in Scotticisms, is so incorrect and pedantic, that he deserves not the honour which Malone would give him, of haivng furnished Shakspeare with hints for the present drama, and, also, for a celebrated passage in The Tempest, Act 3, from his play of Darius: which we doubt if Shakspeare ever had the curiosity to inquire after, much less the patience to read. A Latin play, on the same subject, had been written by Dr. Richard Eedes, a celebrated tragic poet of his day, as early as the year 1582. It was reserved for Shakspeare to exhibit the patriots and heroes of imperial Rome acting and speaking in a manner worthy of themselves-for such is the exact propriety preserved throughout this drama, that it would be impossible to transfer an oration from one speaker to another, without being guilty of as glaring an anachronism as ever made glad the heart of an editor, who is more alive to the faults than to the beauties of his author.

Some exception has been taken to the catastrophe; which, it seems, should have been the death of Cæsar, rather than the defeat of the conspirators. But, would the former have compensated for the noble speeches of Brutus and Mark Antony from the Forum (with what contempt do we cast back the sneer of Stevens, at the "artifi cial jingle of short sentences," which is but a servile echo of Warburton) or for the contention and reconciliation of Brutus and Cassius, which is without its parallel for reasoning and eloquence. And though, after the third act, the two latter are the only great personages that are left upon the scene, the interest they excite is undimi. nished to the close; nor would any catastrophe have been more truly affecting than the farewell and death of the last and noblest of the Romans.

In this tragedy, three of the most celebrated characters of antiquity are presented to our view with wonderful force and precision-Brutus, Cassius, and Mark Antony. To them Shakspeare has sacrificed the conqueror of the world; in whom we behold little else but the selfconfident voluptuary, for whom the daggers of the conspirators would.

Ah, my good lord, I grieve at what I speak,
And am right sorry to repeat what follows:
I have, and most unwillingly, of late
Heard many grievous, I do say, my lord,

Grievous complaints of you; which, being consider'd,
Have moved us and our council, that you shall
This morning come before us; where, I know,
You cannot with such freedom purge yourself,
But that, till further trial, you must take
Your patience to you, and be well contented

To make your house our tower. You a brother of us,
It fits we thus proceed, or else no witness
Would come against you.

Cran. I humbly thank your highness;

[Kneels.

And am right glad to catch this good occasion
Most thoroughly to be winnow'd, where my chaff
And corn shall fly asunder.

King. Stand up, good Canterbury;
Thy truth, and thy integrity, is rooted

In us, thy friend: Give me thy hand, stand up.

Now, by my holy-dame,

[He rises.

What manner of man are you? My lord, I look'd
You would have given me your petition, that

I should have ta'en some pains to bring together
Yourself and your accusers; and to have heard you,
Without endurance, further.

Cran. Most dread liege,

The good I stand on is my truth and honesty;
If they shall fail, I, with mine enemies,

Will triumph o'er my person; which I weigh not,
Being of those virtues vacant.

King. Be of good cheer;

They shall no more prevail, than we give way to.
Keep comfort to you; and this morning see

You do appear before them; if they shall chance,
In charging you with matters, to commit you,
The best persuasions to the contrary

Fail not to use;

If entreaties

Will render you no remedy, this ring

Deliver them, and your appeal to us

There make before them.-Look, the good man weeps!

He's honest, on mine honour; and a soul

None better in my kingdom.-Get you gone,

continue to shine, with undiminished radiance, to the latest posterity. Brutus was no less the angel of Shakspeare than of Cæsar; for the poet has left no points in his character untouched.-His gentleness and candour alternately shine forth, and relieve the sterner virtues; nor does his philosophy, like Cato's, elevate him above humanity. The remark of Dr. Johnson, that this tragedy is somewhat cold and unaffecting, compared with some others of Shakspeare's plays, is true ;-Lear, Hamlet, and Othello are holy ground: but how insensible must that heart be that is not deeply moved at Brutus's announcement of Portia's death, at his resolution to die rather than be led captive through the streets of Rome, and at the everlasting farewell between the reconciled friends. That nothing might be wanting to complete the glory of his character, Mark Antony is made to bear the following eloquent testimony to his vir

tues:

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

The chronology of Mr. Malone has fixed the date of this tragedy to the year 1607. It was revived in 1663 by the company formerly belonging to the Red Bull, but at that time acting at the new theatre in Drury Lane, under the management of Thomas Killigrew; who obtained a patent from King Charles II., in order to create them the king's servants. Cassius was played by Major Mohun, Brutus by Mr. Hart, and Mark Antony by Mr. Kynaston. The Merchant of Venice, King Henry IV. Part I., Othello, and Julius Cæsar, were classed among the principal old stock-plays. Out of a list of fifteen dramas given by Downes, seven are by Beaumont and Fletcher, three by Ben Jonson, and three, only, by Shakspeare.

The genius that gave life and energy to this noble tragedy cannot but live in the remembrance of those who have beheld the late Mr. Kemble, in Brutus. To recall the beauties of that grand performance must be gratifying to every lover of the histrionic art; while any attempt to convey a notion of them to those who have never witnessed it, would be flat and unprofitable. We may tell the youthful amateur that, to the highest conception he can possibly form of acting, from his own experience, Kemble's Brutus is Olympus to a molehill.

Mr. Young has of late exchanged Cassius for Brutus; which is not (as Bishop Juxon said to King Charles on the scaffold)" a good exchange," but a bad exchange; for his Cassius was fine, while his Brutus is mediocre. Mark Antony is beautifully acted by Mr. Charles Kemble.-This was a part in which the unfortunate Conway more particularly excelled.

D-G.

Enter the KEEPER of the Council Chamber, R.

Sure you know me?

Keep. Yes, my lord;

But yet I cannot help you.

Enter GUILDFORD behind, L.

Cran. Why?

Keep. Your grace must wait till you be call'd for. Cran. So.

Guild. This is a piece of malice. I am glad,

I came this way so happily. The king

Shall understand it presently. [Exit GUILDFORD, R.
Cran. It is

Sir Henry Guildford: As he pass'd along,
How earnestly he cast his eyes upon me.

'Pray Heaven, he sound not my disgrace! For certain, This is of purpose laid, by some that hate me,

To quench mine honour; they would shame to make

me

Wait else at door; a fellow-counsellor,

Among boys, grooms and lackeys. But their plea

sures

Must be fulfill'd, and I attend with patience.

[Exit CRANMER, R.

SCENE III.-The Council Chamber.-The King's Chair raised in the Centre-the LORD CHANCELLOR at the upper End of the Table on the left hand—a Seat left void on the right, as for the ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY.-NORFOLK, SUFFOLK, SURREY, CHAMBERLAIN, GARDINER, LOVEL, in order on each Side-and CROMWELL at the Table as Secretary-discovered.

Gard. (L.) Speak to the business, master secretary; Why are we met in council?

Crom. Please your honours,

The chief cause concerns his grace of Canterbury.
Gard. Has he had knowledge of it?

Crom. Yes.

Nor. (R.) Who waits there?

Enter the KEEPER, R.

Keep. Without, my noble lords?