Brutus, 

 Marcus 

 Jumus. 



B R U t 



he at length consented, that Brutus should take for 

 his use the third part of what he had. Their next 

 interview was at Sardis, where mutual dissatisfaction 

 produced angry altercation, which was, however, 

 amicably terminated. Cassius, being more of a prac- 

 tical man than Brutus, connived at offences which it 

 was not safe to punish, and was less scrupulous of 

 the means by which grand purposes were to be ac- 

 complished. Brutus did not refuse to profit by the 

 exactions of Cassius ; but, at the same time, insisted, 

 that the mal practices of their partizans should not 

 be suffered to pass with impunity. When the com- 

 bined army was about to leave Asia, and pass over 

 into Greece, to oppose the forces of the triumvirate, 

 Brutus, sitting alone in his tent by a dim light, and 

 at a late hour, the whole army sleeping around him, 

 was surprised by the sudden appearance of a tremen- 

 dous spectre at his side. He demanded, What art 

 thou ? God or man ? and what is thy business with 

 me ? To which the phantom replied, I am thy evil 

 genius, Brutus ; thou shalt see me at Philippi. Cas- 

 sius, who was of the Epicurean school, accounted 

 for the appearance philosophically, by remarking, 

 that when the body, as in the case of his friend was 

 exhausted with labour and vigilance, the regular 

 functions of the mind are naturally suspended or dis- 

 turbed. The day of decision was now fast approach- 

 ing, and the plains of Philippi were the destined 

 scene of conflict. Before the attack, Brutus and 

 Cassius met on the plain betwixt the two armies, and 

 there, it is said, expressed their common resolution, 

 that if the day proved unfortunate, they would die 

 as Cato died. Brutus commanded the right wing, 

 which was opposed to Octavianus in the left, and 

 there obtained a complete victory. 



The attack of his soldiers was ardent but irregu- 

 lar ; and while they pursued the flying enemy into 

 his camp, and even proceeded to plunder, Cassius, 

 chagrined, exposed, and routed, was obliged to re- 

 tire with a small number to a hill that overlooked 

 the plain. There, ignorant of the success of Bru- 

 tus, and believing that the enemy were advancing to 

 take him prisoner, he ordered his freedman, Pinda- 

 rus, to strike off his head. Soon after, Brutus, who 

 had hastened to his relief with a detachment of 

 horse, entered his camp, and weeping over his life- 

 less trunk, pronounced him the last of the Romans. 

 Tidings of the death of Cassius soon reached the camp of 

 the triumvirs, and so animated their courage, that, not- 

 withstanding the disasters of that day, they resolved 

 to offer battle the ensuing morning. Brutus, how- 

 ever, declined the challenge, and directed his atten- 

 tion to securing in his interest the remainder of Cas- 

 aius' army. He now found that it had been easier 

 to reprove his friend for connivance at injustice which 

 he could not prevent, than it was to act up to the 

 rigour of his own principles. Before he ventured 

 upon a second engagement, he thought it necessary 

 to promise his soldiers, that if they acquitted them- 

 selves to his satisfaction, he would give them up the 

 cities of Lacedasmon and Thessalonica to plunder. 

 In this interval of preparation, Caesar and Antony 

 received certain intelligence, that their fleet, which 

 was sailing from Italy with a large supply of soldiers, 

 had been defeated by that of Brvtg. As they also 



f B R Y 



knew that this intelligence had not reached Brutus, 

 they were anxious to bring on a second engagement be- 

 fore he should be#nformed of his naval success. Their 

 offer of battle was accepted ; the triumvirs were vic- 

 torious ; and Brutus, that he might not fall into the 

 hands of his enemies, threw himst;lf upon his sword. 

 When Antony found the body, he ordered it to be 

 enveloped in a rich robe ; and he afterwards sent the 

 ashes to his mother Servilia. Historians differ ia 

 their report of the time and circumstances of the 

 death of Portia. According to some testimonies, 

 she died before her husband ; while others record, 

 that being resolved not long to survive the tiding of 

 his death, though her friends deprived her of every 

 instrument of destruction, she accomplished her 

 purpose by taking burning coals from the fire, and 

 retaining them in her mouth till she was suffocat- 

 ed. See Plutarch's Lives, and Universal History. 



BRYANT, JACOB, an eminent classical scholar, 

 was born at Plymouth, where his father filled an of- 

 fice in the customs 



He was educated at Eton and King's College, 

 Cambridge, and gave early proofs of that proficiency 

 in classical literature, which afterwards ranked him 

 as one of the first scholars in Europe. His attain- 

 ments were so conspicuous, that they recommended 

 him to the attention of the Duke of Marlborough, 

 who chose him for his secretary, and afterwards ap- 

 pointed him as tutor to his sons, whom he accompa- 

 nied in this capacity to Eton. His friendship with 

 the various branches of that illustrious family, for the 

 honour of all parties, continued unabated till the la- 

 test period of his long life ; and he was received on 

 the footing of a highly valued friend, not of a hum- 

 ble dependent. Through the influence of the duke, 

 he obtained a lucrative situation in the ordnance de- 

 partment, which enabled him to prosecute his studies 

 without molestation ; and to enjoy, what falls to the 

 lot of few scholars, riches, friends, books, and lei- 

 sure. He lived to the advanced age of 89, and may 

 be said to have flourished during the greater part of 

 the last century. He died at Cypenham near Wind- 

 sor, where he had long resided, on the 14th of No- 

 vember 1804, of a mortification in his leg, in conse- 

 quence of a hurt which he received from a chair, in 

 reaching down a book from the shelves of his li- 

 brary. 



The life of a scholar is seldom distinguished by 

 any of those bustling incidents which attract the at- 

 tention of the world : his researches are prosecuted in 

 retirement ; and he can explore with greatest advan- 

 tage the hidden springs of human conduct, or recon- 

 cile most readily the anomalous features of human 

 history, when withdrawn from the concerns and ordi- 

 nary pursuits of the world. It is in his works that 

 we are to trace the progress of those discoveries, 

 which, in many instances, are more use ; ul and inte- 

 resting to society, than those of the far-famed travel- 

 ler, or hardy navigator. Whether the speculations 

 of Mr Bryant shall be generally viewed in this light, 

 may perhaps be doubted. They are of too recondite 

 a nature for popular use, but they will never fail t 

 be interesting to the scholar, with all the licence of 

 imagination which sometimes accompanies them. Mr 



