And if so much superstition as
even this implies, must be taken to argue some little weakness, on the
other hand let it not be forgotten, that this very weakness does but
the more illustrate the unusual force of mind, and the heroic will,
which obstinately laid aside these _concurring_ prefigurations of
impending destruction; concurring, we say, amongst themselves--and
concurring also with a prophecy of older date, which was totally
independent of them all.
There is another and somewhat sublime story of the same class, which
belongs to the most interesting moment of Caesar's life; and those who
are disposed to explain all such tales upon physiological principles,
will find an easy solution of this, in particular, in the exhaustion
of body, and the intense anxiety which must have debilitated even
Caesar under the whole circumstances of the case. On the
ever-memorable night when he had resolved to take the first step (and
in such a case the first step, as regarded the power of retreating,
was also the final step) which placed him in arms against the state,
it happened that his head-quarters were at some distance from the
little river Rubicon, which formed the boundary of his province. With
his usual caution, that no news of his motions might run before
himself, on this night Caesar gave an entertainment to his friends, in
the midst of which he slipped away unobserved, and with a small
retinue proceeded through the woods to the point of the river at which
he designed to cross.
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