was told of the disgust which he had given, and we are bound to believe
his apology, in which he charged it upon sickness, which would not at the
moment allow him to maintain a standing attitude. Certainly the whole
tenor of his life was not courteous only, but kind; and, to his enemies,
merciful in a degree which implied so much more magnanimity than men in
general could understand, that by many it was put down to the account of
weakness.

Weakness, however, there was none in Caius Caesar; and, that there might be
none, it was fortunate that conspiracy should have cut him off in the full
vigor of his faculties, in the very meridian of his glory, and on the
brink of completing a series of gigantic achievements. Amongst these are
numbered--a digest of the entire body of laws, even then become unwieldy
and oppressive; the establishment of vast and comprehensive public
libraries, Greek as well as Latin; the chastisement of Dacia; the conquest
of Parthia; and the cutting a ship canal through the Isthmus of Corinth.
The reformation of the calendar he had already accomplished. And of all
his projects it may be said, that they were equally patriotic in their
purpose, and colossal in their proportions.

As an orator, Caesar's merit was so eminent, that, according to the general
belief, had he found time to cultivate this department of civil exertion,
the precise supremacy of Cicero would have been made questionable, or the
honors would have been divided. Cicero himself was of that opinion; and on
different occasions applied the epithet _Splendidus_ to Caesar, as though
in some exclusive sense, or with a peculiar emphasis, due to him. His
taste was much simpler, chaster, and disinclined to the _florid_ and
ornamental, than that of Cicero. So far he would, in that condition of
the Roman culture and feeling, have been less acceptable to the public;
but, on the other hand, he would have compensated this disadvantage by