“O, bless my brother!” Husband win, win brother,
Prays, and destroys the prayer; no midway
’Twixt these extremes at all.
(III. iv. 12.)
And this has been taken as a link with Volumnia’s perplexity:
And to poor we
Thine enmity’s most capital: thou barr’st us
Our prayers to the gods, which is a comfort
That all but we enjoy: for how can we,
Alas, how can we for our country pray,