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And then, I grant, we put a sting in him,
That at his will he may do danger with.
The abuse of greatness is, when it disjoins
Remorse from power: and, to speak truth of
Cæsar,

I have not known when his affections sway'd
More than his reason. But 't is a common proof,
That lowliness is young ambition's ladder,
Whereto the climber-upward turns his face;
But when he once attains the upmost round,
He then unto the ladder turns his back,
Looks in the clouds, scorning the base degrees
By which he did ascend: so Cæsar may;
Then, lest he may, prevent. And, since the

quarrel

Will bear no colour for the thing he is,
Fashion it thus ;-that what he is, augmented,
Would run to these and these extremities:
And therefore think him as a serpent's egg,
Which, hatch'd, would, as his kind, grow mis-
chievous;

And kill him in the shell.

BRU. Get you to bed again, it is not day. Is not to-morrow, boy, the ides of March? Luc. I know not, sir.

BRU. Look in the calendar, and bring me word. Luc. I will, sir.

[Exit. BRU. The exhalations, whizzing in the air, Give so much light, that I may read by them. [Opens the letter and reads. "Brutus, thou sleep'st; awake! and see thyself. Shall Rome, &c. Speak, strike, redress !”Brutus, thou sleep'st; awake!

Such instigations have been often dropp'd
Where I have took them up.

Shall Rome, &c. Thus must I piece it out;
Shall Rome stand under one man's awe? What

Rome?

My ancestors did from the streets of Rome
The Tarquin drive, when he was call'd a king.
Speak, strike, redress !—Am I entreated
To speak, and strike? O, Rome! I make thee
promise,

If the redress will follow, thou receivest
Thy full petition at the hand of Brutus ! (1)

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I know no personal cause to spurn at him,
But for the general,-he would be crown'd:]

This may either mean,-I know no personal cause of enmity against him; only the general, i.e. the public good; or,-I know no personal cause, &c. only the general one, that he would be crowned. bhe may do danger with.] He may do damage, or mischief with.

cprevent.] We have before explained that to prevent (prævenire) in Shakespeare's day was always employed in the sense of to come before, or anticipate; whether the purpose of prevention were to hinder or to aid.

das his kind,-] According to his nature; or, like his species.

Re-enter Lucius.

Luc. Sir, 'tis your brother Cassius at the door, Who doth desire to see you.

BRU.
Is he alone?
Luc. No, sir, there are more with him.

-the ides of March ?] In the folio, "the first of March: " corrected by Theobald.

f fourteen days.] So Theobald. In the folio, “fifteene dayes." gand the state of man,-] The original has,-"of a man; Mr. Craik advocates the retention of the article; Mr. Dyce omits it, as having "evidently crept in by the mistake of the transcriber or compositor."

hyour brother Cassius-] Cassius married Junia, the sister of Brutus.

i- there are more with him.] Mr. Craik, here and in other passages where it occurs, retains the old form, mo; at one time we were inclined to do so likewise, but, upon consideration, thought it better to abide by this orthography only when it was demanded by the verse.

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a if thou path.-] "Path" is perhaps obscure, and the examples of its employment as a verb, which Steevens adduced, are hardly to the point; but who for a moment could admit the

Enter CASSIUS, CASCA, DECIUS, CINNA, METELLUS CIMBER, and TREBONIUS.

CAS. I think we are too bold upon your rest: Good-morrow, Brutus; do we trouble you? BRU. I have been up this hour; awake all night.

Know I these men that come along with you? CAS. Yes, every man of them; and no man

here

But honours you; and every one doth wish You had but that opinion of yourself Which every noble Roman bears of you. This is Trebonius.

BRU.

He is welcome hither.

CAS. This, Decius Brutus. BRU.

He is welcome too.

CAS. This, Casca; this, Cinna; and this, Metellus Cimber.

possibility that put, as Coleridge suggested, was the genuine word?

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BRU. No, not an oath: if not the face of men, The sufferance of our souls, the time's abuse,— If these be motives weak, break off betimes, And every man hence to his idle bed;" So let high-sighted tyranny range on, Till each man drop by lottery. But if these, As I am sure they do, bear fire enough To kindle cowards, and to steel with valour The melting spirits of women; then, countrymen, What need we any spur, but our own cause, To prick us to redress? what other bond Than secret Romans, that have spoke the word, And will not palter? and what other oath, Than honesty to honesty engag'd, That this shall be, or we will fall for it? Swear priests, and cowards, and men cautelous, Old feeble carrions, and such suffering souls That welcome wrongs; unto bad causes swear Such creatures as men doubt: but do not stain The even virtue of our enterprise, Nor the insuppressive mettle of our spirits, To think that or our cause or our performance Did need an oath; when every drop of blood That every Roman bears, and nobly bears, Is guilty of a several bastardy,

If he do break the smallest particle

Of any promise that hath pass'd from him.

a the face of men,-] If "face" be right, though it reads dubiously, we are perhaps to understand the general gloom observable on men's countenances: Warburton proposed fate, Mason faith, and Malone faiths.

bhis idle bed;] His bed of indolence; see note (a), p. 88 of present volume.

csecret Romans,-] "Secret" is here employed with strict classical accuracy for separated, set apart; and hence, dedicated, or devoted to a particular purpose. So Milton, "Paradise Lost," B. I. 1. 6,

CAS. But what of Cicero ? shall we sound him? I think he will stand very strong with us. CASCA. Let us not leave him out.

No, by no means.

CIN. MET. O, let us have him; for his silver hairs Will purchase us a good opinion, And buy men's voices to commend our deeds: It shall be said, his judgment rul'd our hands; Our youths, and wildness, shall no whit appear, But all be buried in his gravity.

BRU. O, name him not; let us not break with him ; *

For he will never follow anything
That other men begin.

CAS.

Then leave him out.
CASCA. Indeed he is not fit.

DEC. Shall no man else be touch'd but only
Cæsar?

CAS. Decius, well urg'd:-I think it is not meet,
Mark Antony, so well belov'd of Cæsar,
Should outlive Cæsar: we shall find of him
A shrewd contriver; and, you know, his means,
If he improve them, may well stretch so far
As to annoy us all which to prevent,
Let Antony and Cæsar fall together.

BRU. Our course will seem too bloody, Caius
Cassius,

To cut the head off, and then hack the limbs,—
Like wrath in death, and envy' afterwards;
For Antony is but a limb of Cæsar.

Let's be sacrificers, but not butchers, Caius.
We all stand up against the spirit of Cæsar;
And in the spirit of men there is no blood:
O, that we, then, could come by Cæsar's spirit,
And not dismember Cæsar! But, alas,
Cæsar must bleed for it! And, gentle friends,
Let's kill him boldly, but not wrathfully;
Let's carve him as a dish fit for the gods,
Not hew him as a carcase fit for hounds:
And let our hearts, as subtle masters do,
Stir up their servants to an act of rage,
And after seem to chide 'em. This shall make
Our purpose necessary, and not envious:
Which so appearing to the common eyes,
We shall be call'd purgers, not murderers.
And for Mark Antony, think not of him;
For he can do no more than Cæsar's arm,
When Cæsar's head is off.

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DEC. Never fear that: if he be so resolv'd
I can o'ersway him: for he loves to hear
That unicorns may be betray'd with trees,
And bears with glasses, elephants with holes,"
Lions with toils, and men with flatterers:
But when I tell him he hates flatterers,
He says he does,--being then most flattered.
Let me work;

For I can give his humour the true bent,
And I will bring him to the Capitol.

CAS. Nay, we will all of us be there to fetch him.

BRU. By the eighth hour: is that the uttermost?

CIN. Be that the uttermost, and fail not then. MET. Caius Ligarius doth bear Cæsar hard,' Who rated him for speaking well of Pompey; I wonder none of you have thought of him.

BRU. Now, good Metellus, go along by him : He loves me well, and I have given him reasons; Send him but hither, and I'll fashion him.

CAS. The morning comes upon 's: we'll leave you, Brutus::

And, friends, disperse yourselves: but all remember

What you have said, and show yourselves true Romans.

BRU. Good gentlemen, look fresh and merrily; Let not our looks put on our purposes;

But bear it as our Roman actors do,

b

C

d

take thought,-] Abandon himself to grief.

no fear in him;] That is, no cause of fear in him.
ceremonies;] See note (c), p. 23, Vol. II.
apparent] Manifest, evident.

That unicorns may be betray'd with trees,
And bears with glasses, elephants with holes,-]

For an account of the manner in which unicorns are related to have been captured, see note (4), p. 507, Vol. II. Bears, Steevens

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POR.

Enter PORTIA.

Brutus, my lord! BRU. Portia, what mean you? wherefore rise you now?

It is not for your health thus to commit
Your weak condition to the raw cold morning.
POR. Nor for yours neither. You've ungently,
Brutus,

Stole from my bed: and yesternight, at supper,
You suddenly arose, and walk'd about,
Musing and sighing, with your arms across :
And when I ask'd you what the matter was,
You star'd upon me with ungentle looks:

I urg'd you further; then you scratch'd your head,

And too impatiently stamp'd with your foot:
Yet I insisted, yet you answer'd not;
But, with an angry wafture of your hand,
Gave sign for me to leave you: so I did;
Fearing to strengthen that impatience
Which seem'd too much enkindled; and withal
Hoping it was but an effect of humour,
Which sometime hath his hour with every man.
It will not let you eat, nor talk, nor sleep;
And, could it work so much upon your shape,
As it hath much prevail'd on your condition,"
I should not know you, Brutus. Dear my lord,
Make me acquainted with your cause of grief.

BRU. I am not well in health, and that is all. POR. Brutus is wise, and were he not in health,

i

He would embrace the means to come by it.
BRU. Why, so I do :-good Portia, go to bed.
POR. Is Brutus sick,-and is it physical
To walk unbraced, and suck up the humours
Of the dank morning? What, is Brutus sick,-
And will he steal out of his wholesome bed,
To dare the vile contagion of the night,
And tempt the rheumy and unpurged air
To add unto his sickness? No, my Brutus ;

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