Let us therefore observe the conduct of our two
generals in so nice an affair: and here we find Alexander at the head of
his army, upbraiding them with their cowardice, and meanness of spirit;
and in the end, telling them plainly, he would go forward himself,
though not a man followed him. This showed indeed an excessive bravery;
but how would the commander have come off, if the speech had not
succeeded, and the soldiers had taken him at his word? The project seems
of a piece with Mr. Bayes' in "The Rehearsal,"[129] who, to gain a clap
in his prologue, comes out, with a terrible fellow in a fur cap
following him, and tells his audience, if they would not like his play,
he would lie down and have his head struck off. If this gained a clap,
all was well; but if not, there was nothing left but for the executioner
to do his office. But Caesar would not leave the success of his speech
to such uncertain events: he shows his men the unreasonableness of their
fears in an obliging manner, and concludes, that if none else would
march along with them, he would go himself with the Tenth Legion, for he
was assured of their fidelity and valour, though all the rest forsook
him; not but that in all probability they were as much against the march
as the rest.
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