aviod admitting again the exploding Opinion of the Ancients That the Devils and evil Spirits out of an envious hatred to good men vigorously oppose whatever they do and by raising distractions and terrors in their minds endeavour to shake and undermine their Vertue lest by a steady and unbyass'd perseverance in Goodness they should after death obtain a happier condition of futurity than those wretched Beings can ever hope for But I shall refer these things to another place and in this Twelfth Book of the Lives of great Men compar'd one with another begin with his who was the elder Dionysius the First having seiz'd the Government of Sicily took to Wife the Daughter of Hermocrates a Syracusian She in an Insurrection which the Citizens made before the Government was well settled was abused in such a barbarous and outragious manner that for shame she put an end to her own life But Dionysius soon re-established and confirmed in the Throne married two Wives one named Doride of Locris the other Aristomache a Native of Sicily and Daughter of Hipparinus a Nobleman of the first Quality in Syracuse and Collegue with Dionysius when he was chosen General of the Army 'T is said he married them both in one day but which he enjoyed first is uncertain ever after he divided his kindness equally betwixt them both accompanying him together at his Table and in his Bed by turns Indeed the Syracusians were urgent that their own Country-woman might be preferred before the Stranger but Doride to recompence the aspersion of being a Foreigner had the good Fortune to be the Mother of Dionysius's eldest Son whilest Aristomache continued a long time without Issue tho' the King was very desirous to have Children by her and caused Doride's Mother to be put to death laying to her Charge that she had bewitch'd Aristomache to prevent her being with Child Dion Aristomache's Brother at first found a very Honourable Reception at Court for his Sisters sake but his own worth and parts soon procured him a nearer place in the Princes Affection who among other favours gave special Command to his Treasurers to furnish Dion with whatever Money he demanded enjoyning them withal the same day to give him a particular account of what they had delivered out Now tho' Dion was before reputed a person of extraordinary Parts a noble Mind and daring Courage yet all these excellent Qualifications received a considerable improvement by Plato's happy arrival in Sicily It was without doubt no humane Contrivance but the direction of Providence designing that this remote Cause should hereafter occasion the recovery of the Sicilians lost Liberty and the subversion of the Tyrannical Government which brought the Philosopher out of Italy and settled him at Syracuse Dion soon gain'd his acquaintance and became the most considerable among his Scholars by his wonderful disposition to Learning and inclination to Vertue far above what his years could promise as Plato himself reports of him and his own Actions sufficiently testifie For tho' he was bred up under the Tyrant in a condition much below himself inur'd to a dissolute and servile kind of life under a haughty and imperious Command glutted with extravagant Pleasures and a customary regard to nothing but Wealth and Luxury the mistaken happiness of life yet no sooner had he tasted the Sweets of more rational Notions and was made acquainted with the Precepts of Philosophy which direct the way to Vertue and true Satisfaction but his Appetite increas'd and his Soul was inflamed with a desire of more knowledge and greater Attainments Hereupon innocently tho' not judiciously concluding from his own ingenuous disposition that the same powerful Reasons would work the same Effects upon Dionysius he made it his business and at length obtain'd the favour of him at a leisure hour to admit and hear Plato At this their meeting the Subject-matter of their Discourse in general was Vertue but more particularly they disputed concerning Fortitude which Plato prov'd Tyrants of all men had the least pretence to and thence proceeding to treat of Justice he asserted the happy Estate of the Just and the miserable condition of the Unjust Here the King touch'd to the quick and not able to answer his Arguments would not endure to hear him out being highly displeas'd with the rest of the Auditors there present who with wonder and delight had listned to his Discourses At length exceedingly exasperated he asked the Philosopher in a great rage what business he had in Sicily To which Plato answered I came hither to seek an honest man It seems then replyed Dionysius you have lost your labour Dion supposing the Kings anger pretty well over at Plato's Request conveyed him suddenly aboard a Galley the Captains name Pollis a Lacedemonian bound for Greece but Dionysius privately dealt with Pollis by all means to kill Plato in the Voyage If not to be sure to sell him for a Slave alledging for an inducement that as a good man he could not be endammaged but would still enjoy his happiness tho' he lost his Liberty Pollis therefore as 't is reported carryed Plato to Aegina and there sold him to the Aeginetes then at War with Athens having made a decree That whatever Athenian was taken on their Coasts should forthwith be exposed to Sale Notwithstanding Dion was in no less Favour and Credit with Dionysius than formerly but was entrusted with the most considerable Employments and sent on an Honourable Embassage to Carthage in the management of which he gained very great Reputation Besides the King bore with the Liberty he took to speak his mind freely he being the only man who upon any occasion durst so boldly say what he thought witness his smart Repartee upon the account of Gelon Dionysius on a time ridiculing Gelon's Government and alluding to his Name said Gelon was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the laughing-stock of Sicily while others seem'd to admire and applaud the Quibble Dion very warmly reply'd Sir you got the Crown by being trusted for Gelon's sake but for your sake no man will ever hereafter be trusted again for indeed Gelon made it appear that Monarchy was the best of Governments and you have convinced us 't is the worst Dionysius had three Children by Doride and by Aristomache four two of which were Daughters Sophrosyne and Arete Sophrosyne was married to his Son Dionysius Arete to his Brother Thearides after whose death Dion took his Niece Arete to Wife Now when Dionysius was sick and like to die Dion endeavour'd to discourse with him in behalf of the Children he had by Aristomache but was still prevented by the Phisitians designing thereby to ingratiate themselves with the next Successor who also as Timaeus reports gave him as he desired a sleeping Potion which soon depriv'd him of his Senses and made him sleep his last Hereupon at the first Council Dionysius the Second held with his Confidents Dion
PLUTARCH'S LIVES VOL. V. Ingraven by MBurgesies THE FIFTH and LAST VOLUME OF PLUTARCH S LIVES Translated from the Greek BY SEVERAL HANDS LONDON Printed for Jacob Tonson at the Judge's-Head in Chancery-lane near Fleet-street 1693. The Lives contained in the Fifth Volume DEmetrius Poliorcetes Translated by Dr. Nalson p. 1 Marcus Antonius Dr. Frazer p. 137 Demosthenes p. 262 Marcus Tullius Cicero Dr. Fuller p. 297 Aratus Dr. Bateman p. 353 Artaxerxes Mr. Oakly p. 427 Dion Dr. Vvedale p. 277 Marcus Brutus Mr. Duke p. 361 Galba Mr. Taylor p. 701 Otho Mr. Beaumont p. 739 A Chronological Table to the Fifth Volume of Plutarch's Lives  The Olympiad The Year of the Olympiad After the Building of Rome After the Worlds Creation Before the coming of Christ The Julian Period Demetrius 117 1 441 3638 310 4402 Antonius 181 3 699 3896 52 4660 Aratus 132 2 502 3699 249 4463 Artaxerxes 94 4 352 3549 399 4313 Dion 105 4 396 3593 355 4357 Marcus Brutus 184 2 710 3907 41 4671 Demosthenes 105 3 395 3592 356 4356 Cicero 175 1 673 3870 708 4670 Galba 211 4 820 4017 00 4781 Otho 212 1 821 4018 00 4782 DEMETRIUS M Burghers sculp THE LIFE OF DEMETRIUS POLIORCETES Rendred into English By JOHN NALSON LL. D. VOLUME V. INgenious men have frequently compared Arts and Learning to our Natural Senses and doubtless they were induced to do so from that resemblance which the one hath to the other in distinguishing between different objects But still we must allow the precedence to Learning and Knowledge for that the highest attainments of sense arrive only to an Exact destinguishing between mean and Common Objects as black and white sweet and bitter hot and cold soft and hard and this too in an humble subserviency to the Understanding to which they make reports according to the different impressions which they do receive Whereas skillful Arts and Sciences having the more elevated advantages of Inquiry and Reasoning do not only enable us to know what is most agreeable but by a prudent foresight to abstain from what is Evil and prevent what may be dangerous Thus the Wise Physician comes by his successful Art not only to understand how to combat a present Distemper but to secure the Health of his Patients for the future and the artful Musician does not only know how to avoid ungrateful discords but even from those disagreeing Notes to compound a wondrous Harmony But above all Temperance Justice and Prudence the noblest of all the Moral Virtues do not only assist us with the knowledge of what is Honourable Just and Good but give us the Reverse of the contrary Vices which ought to be avoided as dishonest unjust and altogether disadvantageous to us and even this sort of knowledge of what is evil is so necessary to the Prudent conduct of humane Life that without it there would be no glory or vertue in abandoning those evils which we did not know since otherways it must be attributed to the stupid simplicity of ignorant Chance and not to a wise and prudent Choice It was for this Reason that the ancient Spartans were used in their most celebrated festivals and entertainments to load their slaves with prodigal glasses and then expose those drunken miserables to the publique view that so the young Gentlemen of the City seeing the deformity and antick dresses into which that transforming Vice degrades Humane Nature they might at the expence of those poor wretches imprint an early aversion to debauchery in their tender minds And tho' possibly it is but an indifferent method nor very consistent with Humanity to chastise vice in one by forcing it upon another yet it will not be unacceptable amidst the great variety of examples in this Book to expose to the view of the World some pairs of noble Lives who being advanced in the triumphant Chariot of Sovereign Authority have by their own inconsiderate folly and imprudence tumbled from the height of Fortune into great extremities and thereby have made themselves great examples of the Impotence and danger of great vices even in the greatest Men. There is a strange pleasure in variety but yet I must averr That my design is not only to divert the Fancy of the Reader by shewing diversity of curious Figures but to advantage him in the management of his own Affairs to which nothing can contribute more than the easy way of being wife and Vertuous at the expence of other Mens Misfortunes for as Ismenias the fam'd Theban Artist was wont to shew his Scholars both the most excellent Masters in Musick and the veriest Bunglers in the Science that so they might imitate the one and despise the other and Antigenidas was used to say that such young Gentlemen as applied themselves to the attaining skill in Musick would be more encouraged in their Industry by the pleasure they received from hearing sprightly Airs and Composures after they had been first tired with the dull entertainments of Common and unskillful Musicians so it appears highly reasonable that the examples of those Lives whose Vices and Follies have deservedly exposed them to the Censure of the whole vertuous World should raise in us a Noble Emulation to imitate the glories of such others as were the illustrious Characters of Great and Good For this Reason this Volume presents the Reader with the Lives of Demetrius Poliorcetes and Antonius the Triumvir Two Persons who have abundantly justified the opinion of the Divine Plato that great Minds are apt to produce great vertues and no less vices And that they may not seem unequally Paired these two great Persons were equally Amorous and Intemperate Warlike and Munificent Sumptuous in their way of Living and haughty in their enterprizes and undertakings Nor did Fortune seem to make any great disparity in their Destinies for as during the whole course of their Lives they were many times glorious and triumphant Victors so were they also miferably vanquished at one time they got much at another they were forced to abandon all sometimes they were tumbled down from the top of their glory beyond even the Hope of almost a possible recovery and on the sudden beyond the expectancy of Imagination raised again to their former Dignity and Dominions nor were the Fatal periods of their Lives without a Resemblance the one ending his unfortunate days in a deplorable captivity and the other to avoid that lingring misfortune taking Sanctuary in the Cold embraces of a voluntary Death Antigonus had by his Lady Stratonice the beautiful daughter of Correus two Sons the one after the Name of his Uncle he called Demetrius the other carried the name of his Grandfather Philip and died young This is the most authentick Account although some have reported that Demetrius was not the Son of Antigonus but of his Brother and that his own Father dying young and his mother being afterwards married to Antigonus he was pleased to adopt him his Son Demetrius who was one
first days but on the third day he yielded and gave him up The Terms of their mutual Concessions were these That Caesar should desert Cicero Lepidus his Brother Paulus and Antonius Lucius Caesar his Uncle by his Mothers side Thus did they fall by Anger and Fury from the sence of Humanity and demonstrated that no Beast is more savage than Man when possessed with Power answerable to his Rage But whilst these things were contriving Cicero was with his Brother at his Country-House near Tusculum whence hearing of the Proscriptions they determined to pass to Astura a Villa of Cicero's near the Sea and to take shipping from thence for Macedonia to Brutus for there was a Report that he was strong in those Parts They travelled together in their several Litters oppressed with Sorrow and often stopping on the way till their Litters came together miserably condoled one another But Quintus was the most disheartned when he reflected on his want of Necessaries for his Journey for as he said he had brought nothing with him from home And even Cicero himself had but a slender Viatick Provision It was adjudged therefore most expedient that Cicero should make what haste he could to fly and Quintus return home to provide Necessaries and thus resolved they mutually embraced and parted making great Lamentation But Quintus within a few days after betray'd by his Servants to those who came to search for him was slain together with his young Son But Cicero was carried to Astura where finding a Vessel he immediately went on board her and sailed as far as Circium with a prosperous Gale but when the Pilots resolv'd immediately to hoise Sail from thence whether fearing the Sea or not wholly distrusting the Faith of Caesar he went on shoar and passed by Land a hundred Furlongs as if he were going for Rome but wanting Resolution and changing his Mind he again returned to Sea and there spent his Night in Melancholy and perplex'd Thoughts sometimes he resolved to go into Caesar's House privately and there kill himself upon the Altar of his Houshold-Gods to bring Divine Vengeance upon his Family but the fear of Torture put him off this Course And again revolving in his Mind other troublesom and uncertain Resolutions at last he yielded himself to his Servants to be carried by Sea to Capua where he had a Country House and a pleasant Retirement in the Spring when the Easterly Winds blow sweetest There was in that place a Chappel of Apollo 's not far from the Sea-side from which a great flight of Crows arising with great noise made towards Cicero's Ship as it rowed to Land and lighting on both sides of the Cross-Yard some croaked others peck'd the ends of the Sails This was looked upon by all as an ill Omen and therefore Cicero went again on shoar and entring his House lay down upon his Bed to compose himself to Rest Many of the Crows sate about the Windows making a horrid noise but one of them light upon the Bed where Cicero lay covered up and with its Bill by little and little peck'd off the cloaths from his Face His Servants seeing this blamed themselves that they should stay to be Spectators of their Master's Murder and do nothing in his Defence whilst the brute Creatures did assist and take care of him in his undeserved Affliction and therefore partly by entreaty partly by Force they took him up and carried him in his Liâ—ter towards the Sea-side But in the mean time the Assassinators were come with a Band of Souldiers Herennius the Centurion and Popilius the Tribune whom Cicero had formerly defended when prosecuted for the Murder of his Father finding the Doors shut they brake them open where Cicero not appearing and those within saying they knew not where he was it is reported that a Youth who had been educated by Cicero in the Liberal Arts and Sciences an emancipated Slave of his Brother Quintus Philologus by name discover'd to the Tribune that the Litter was carrying to the Sea through the close and shady Walks The Tribune taking a few with him ran to the place where he was to come out As soon as Cicero perceived Herennius running in the Walks after him he commanded his Servants there to set down the Litter and stroaking his Chin as he used to do with his left hand he looked stedfastly upon his Murderers His Face was over-grown with Dust and Hair and worn away with Cares so that the greatest part of those that stood by covered their Faces whilst Herennius slew him and thus was he murder'd stretching forth his Neck out of the Litter and being that very Year threescore and four years old Herennius cut off his Head and by Antonius's Command his Hands also by which his Philippicks were written for so Cicero stiled those Orations he wrote against Antonius and so they are called to this day When these Members of Cicero were brought to Rome Antonius was holding an Assembly for the choice of publick Officers and when he heard it and saw them he cry'd out Now let there be an end of all our Proscriptions He commanded his Head and Hands to be fastned up over the Rostra of the Orators a horrid â—ight to the Roman People who believed they saw there not the Face of Cicero but the Image of Antonius his Soul And yet amidst these Actions he did Justice in one thing by delivering up Philologus to Pomponia the Wife of Quintus who having got his Body into her Power besides other grievous punishments she used made him cut off his own flesh by pieces and boyl and eat it for so some Writers have reported But Tyro Cicero's emancipated Slave has not so much as mentioned the Treachery of Philologus Some while after as I have heard Caesar visiting his Daughters Son found him with a Book of Cicero's in his Hand the Boy for fear endeavour'd to hide it under his Gown which Caesar perceiving took it from him and turning over a great part of the Book standing gave it him again and said My Child this was a learned Man and a lover of his Country But as soon as he had vanquished Antonius being then Consul he made Cicero's Son his Collegue in that Office in whose Consul-ship the Senate took down all the Statues of Antonius and defaced all the other Monuments of his Honour and decreed that none of that Family should hereafter bear the Name of Marcus Thus did the Divine Powers devolve the finishing their Revenge of Antonius upon the House of Cicero The Comparison of Demosthenes and Cicero THese are the most memorable of those things delivered in History of Demosthenes and Cicero which have come to our knowledge But omitting an exact Comparison of their several Faculties in Speaking yet thus much seems fit to be said That Demosthenes to make himself a Master in Rhetorick had applyed all the Knowledge he had natural or acquired wholly that way That he far surpassed in force and strength of
of the Day for that he knew he must at any other time as impiously offend her whensoever he who introduc'd him into her Religion should be the Murderer of her Devoto There were a great many in the Conspiracy and as Dion was at home with several of his Friends in his Entertaining-Room some of the Conspirators beset the House round others secur'd the Doors and Windows The Assassines were Zacinthians who went in to him in their ordinary Habit unarm'd The Guard without shut the Doors upon them and kept them fast The Murderers fell upon him endeavouring to stifle and dispatch him but not being able they call'd for a Sword but none durst open the Door There were a great many within with Dion but every one was for securing himself supposing that by letting him lose his Life he should save his own and therefore no man ventur'd to assist him When they had waited a good while at length Lycon the Syracusian reach'd a short Sword in at the Window to one of the Zacinthians and stunn'd and almost senseless as he was like a Sacrifice at the Altar they cut Dion's Throat his Sister and Wife big with Child they hurried to Prison who poor Lady in her unfortunate condition was there brought to Bed of a Son which by the consent of the Keepers they intended to bring up the rather because Calippus began already to be embroyl'd in Troubles After the Murther of Dion he was the only man that was look'd upon had the sole Government of Syracuse in his Hands and to that effect writ to Athens a place which next the Immortal Gods being guilty of such an abominable Crime he ought to have reverenc'd and fear'd But true it is what is said of that City That the good Men she breeds are the most Excellent and the bad the most notorious as their Country Attica produces the most delicious Honey and the most deadly Poyson Calippus did not long continue to scandalize Fortune and upbraid the Gods with his Prosperity who seem'd to wink at and bear with that wretched man while he purchas'd Riches and Power by the most heinous and enormous Impieties but he quickly receiv'd the Punishment he deserv'd for going to take Catana he lost Syracuse whereupon they report he said He had lost a City and got a Bauble Then attempting Messene he had most of his Men cut off and among the rest Dion's Murtherers When no City in Sicily would admit him but all hated and abhorred him he went into Italy and took Regium there being necessitous and not able to maintain his Soldiers he was kill'd by Leptimns and Polyperchon and as Fortune would have it with the same Sword that Dion was Murther'd which was known by the size being but short as the Spartan Swords and the Workman-ship of it very curious and Artificial Thus Calippus receiv'd the Reward of his Villanies When Aristomache and Arete were releas'd out of Prison Icetes one of Dion's Friends took them to his House and for a while entertain'd them well and like a faithful Friend afterwards being perswaded by Dion's Enemies he provided a Ship and pretended to send them into Peloponnesus but commanded the Sailors when they came out to Sea to kill them and throw them over board Others say that they and the little Boy were thrown alive into the Sea This Man also escaped not the due recompence of his wickedness for he was taken by Timoleon and put to Death and the Syracusians to revenge Dion slew his two Daughters of which I have Discours'd more particularly in the Life of Timoleon THE LIFE OF MARCUS BRUTUS Translated by Mr. Duke BRUTUS M Burghers sculp Cato the Philosopher was Brother to Servilia the Mother of Brutus and he it was whom of all the Romans his Nephew most admir'd and study'd to imitate and afterwards marry'd his Daughter Porcia But of all the Sects of the Greek Philosophers tho' there was none of which he had not been a Hearer and in which he had not made some proficiency yet he chiefly esteem'd the Platonists and not at all approving of the modern and the middle Academy as it was call'd apply'd himself wholly to the study of the Ancient He was all his Life-time a great Admirer of Antiochus of the City of Ascalon and took his Brother Ariston into his own House for his Friend and Companion a Man for his Learniug inferior indeed to many of the Philosophers but for the evenness of his Temper and sweetness of Conversation equal to the best As for Empylus of whom he himself and his Friends made often mention in their Epistles as of one that constantly liv'd with Brutus he was an Orator and has left behind him a short but well penn'd History of the Death of Caesar entitled Brutus In Latin he was a good Speaker and had by constant exercise attain'd a sufficient Excellency in making publick Orations and pleading Causes But in Greek he was remarkable for affecting the sententious and short Laconick way of Speaking In his Epistles especially as when in the beginning of the War he writ thus to the Pergamenians I hear ye have given Dolabella Money if you gave it willingly ye must own ye have injur'd me if unwillingly shew it by giving willingly to me And another time to the Samians Your Councils are careless your Actions slow what think ye will be the end And of the Patareans thus The Xanthians suspecting my Kindness have made their Countrey a Grave of Despair The Patareans trusting themselves to me have lost nothing of their former Liberty It is in your Power to choose the Judgment of the Patareans or the Fortune of the Xanthians And this is the Style wherein his most remarkable Letters were usually writ When he was but a very young Man he accompanied his Uncle Cato to Cyprus who was sent with an Army against Ptolomy King of Aegypt But as soon as Ptolomy had kill'd himself Cato being by some necessary Business detain'd in the Isle of Rhodes sent one of his Friends nam'd Caninius to take into his care and keeping the Treasure of the King but afterwards suspecting his Fidelity he writ to Brutus to sail immediately to Cyprus out of Pamphylia where he then stay'd to refresh himself being but newly recover'd of a Fit of Sickness He obey'd his Orders but with a great deal of unwillingness as well out of Respect to Caninius that was thrown out of this Employment by Cato with so much Disgrace as also because he esteem'd such a Commission too mean for a Gentleman and not at all becoming him that was in the prime of his Youth and given to Books and Learning Nevertheless applying himself to this Business he behav'd himself so well in it that he was highly commended by Cato and having turn'd all the Goods of Ptolomy into ready Money brought the greatest part of it in his own Ship to Rome Upon the Division of the Empire into two Factions when Pompey
die What do you not know your self Brutus Or do you think that those Inscriptions that you find upon your Praetors Seat were put there by Weavers Victuallers or the vile Rabble and not by the first and most powerful Men of Rome From other Praetors indeed they expect Largesses â—nd Shows and Gladiators but from you they claim as an hereditary Debt the extirpation of Tyranny they are all ready to suffer any thing on your account if you will but shew your self such as they think you are and expect you should be Which said he fell upon Brutus and embrac'd him and after this they parted each to try their several Friends Among those of Pompey's Faction there was one Caius Ligarius whom Caesar had pardon'd tho' accus'd for having been in Arms against him This Man not being so thankful for having been forgiven as stomaching that Power which made him need a Pardon hated Caesar but was one of Brutus his most intimate Friends Him Brutus visited and finding him sick O Lygarius says he what a time have you found out to be sick in At which words Ligarius raising himself and leaning on his Elbow took Brutus by the Hand and said But O Brutus if you are on any Design worthy of your self I am well From this time they try'd the Inclinations of all their Acquaintance that they durst trust and communicated the Secret to them and took also into the Conspiracy not only their familiar Friends but as many as they believ'd bold and brave and despisers of Death For which Reason they conceal'd the Plot from Cicero tho' he was very much trusted and as well belov'd by them all leâ—t to his own Disposition which was naturally timorous adding the wariness and caution of old Age and weighing every Particular that he might not make one step without the greatest security he should blunt the edge of their forwardness and resolution in a Business which requir'd all the dispatch imaginable There were also two others that were Companions of Brutus Statilius the Epicurean and Favonius a Follower of Cato whom he left out of the Conspiracy for this Reason As he was discoursing one day with them at a distance and proposing some Questions to be disputed of as among Philosophers to try what opinion they were of Favonius declar'd his Judgment to be that a Civil War was worse than the most unjust Tyranny And Statilius held that to bring himself into Troubles and Danger upon the account of evil or foolish men did not become a man that had any Wisdom or Discretion But Labeo that was present contradicted them both and Brutus as if it had been an intricate Dispute and difficult to be decided held his peace for that time but afterwards discover'd the whole Design to Labeo who readily undertaking it the next thing that was thought convenient was to gain the other Brutus sirnam'd Albinus a man of himself of no great Bravery or Courage but considerable for the number of Gladiators that he bred up for the publick Shews and the great confidence that Caesar put in him When Cassius and Labeo discours'd with him concerning this Matter he gave them no Answer but meeting Brutus himself alone and finding that he was their Captain â—he readily consented to partake in the Action and the very Name of Brutus brought many others and those of the best Quality over to the Conspirators who tho' they neither gave or took any Oath of Secrecy nor us'd any other sacred Rite to assure their Fidelity to each other yet all kept their Design so close were so wary and manag'd it so silently among themselves that tho' by Prophesies and by wonderful Apparitions and Prodigies and by the Entrails of sacrific'd Beasts the Gods gave warning of the Conspiracy yet could it not be believ'd Now Brutus considering that the greatest Men of all Rome for Virtue Birth or Courage depended wholly upon him and surveying with himself all the Dangers they were to encounter strove as much as possible when abroad to keep his uneasiness of Mind to himself and compose his unquiet Thoughts but at home and especially at Night he was not the same Man but sometimes his working Care would make him start out of his Sleep and other times he was so taken up with Thoughts and so perplex'd in his Mind that his Wise that lay with him could not choose but take notice that he was full of unusual Trouble and had in Agitation some dangerous and difficult Affair Porcia as was before said was the Daughter of Cato and Brutus tho' her Cousin-german had marry'd her very young tho' not a Maid but after the Death of her former Husband by whom she had one Son that was nam'd Bibulus and there is a little Book call'd The Memoirs of Brutus written by him yet extant This Porcia being addicted to Philosophy a great lover of her Husband and full of Courage and Prudence resolv'd not to enquire into Brutus his Secrets before she had made this tryal of her self She turn'd all her Attendants out of her Chamber and taking a little Knife such as they use to cut Nails with she gave her self a deep gash in the Thigh upon which follow'd a great Flux of Blood and soon after violent pains and a dangerous Fever occasion'd by the anguish of the Wound Now when Brutus was mightily afflicted for her she in the heighth of all her pain spoke thus to him I Brutus being the Daughter of Cato was given to you in Marriage not like a Concubine to partake only in the common Civilities of Bed and Board but to bear a part in all your good and all your evil Fortunes and for my part when I look upon you I find no Reason to repent the Match but from me what Evidence of my Love what satisfaction can you receive if I may not share with you in bearing your most hidden Griefs nor be admitted to any of your Counsels that require Secrecy and Trust I know very well that Women seem to be of too weak a Nature to be trusted with Secrets but certainly Brutus a virtuous Birth and Education and a Conversation with the Good and Honourable are of some force to the forming our Manners and strengthening our natural weakness And I can boast that I am the Daughter of Cato and the Wife of Brutus in which two great Titles tho' before I put too little confidence yet now I have try'd my self and find that even against Grief and Pain it self I am invincible Which words having spoke she shew'd him her Wound and related to him the whole tryal that she had made of her own Constancy At which he being astonish'd lifted up his Hands to Heaven and begg'd the assistance of the Gods in his Enterprize that he might live to be a Husband worthy of such a Wife as Porcia So having comforted his Wife he left her A Meeting of the Senate being appointed at which it was generally believ'd that Caesar would be