Bru. Only be patient, till we have appeas'd
The multitude, befide themselves with fear,
And then we will deliver you the cause,
Why I, that did love Cæfar when I ftruck him,
Have thus proceeded.

Ant. I doubt not of your wifdom.

Let each man render me his bloody hand:
First, Marcus Brutus, will I shake with you ;-.
Next, Caius Caffius, do I take your hand ;-

Now, Decimus Brutus, yours ;-now yours, Metellus :—
Yours, Cinna;-and, my valiant Cafca, yours ;-
Though laft, not leaft in love, yours, good Trebonius,
Gentlemen all,-alas! what fhall I fay?

My credit now stands on fuch flippery ground,

That one of two bad ways you must conceit me,
Either a coward, or a flatterer.

That I did love thee, Cæfar, O, 'tis true :
If then thy fpirit look upon us now,
Shall it not grieve thee, dearer than thy death,
To fee thy Antony making his peace,
Shaking the bloody fingers of thy foes,
Most noble ! in the prefence of thy corfe?
Had I as many eyes as thou haft wounds,
Weeping as fast as they ftream forth thy blood,
It would become me better, than to clofe
In terms of friendship with thine enemies.

Pardon me, Julius !-Here waft thou bay'd, brave harts
Here didft thou fall; and here thy hunters stand,

Sign'd in thy spoil, and crimson'd in 'thy lethe.

O world! thou waft the foreft to this hart;

1 dearer]-more forely.

'bay'd,]-furrounded by thy purfuers.

thy lethe.]-death, blood fhed at thy fall. When the Scots fit up all night with a corpfe, they call it a Lethe-wake.

And

And this, indeed, O world, the heart of thee.-
How like a deer, ftrucken by many princes,
Doft thou here lie!

Caf. Mark Antony,

Ant. Pardon me, Caius Caffius;
The enemies of Cæfar fhall fay this;
Then, in a friend, it is cold modefty.

Caf. I blame you not for praising Cæfar fo;
But what compact mean you to have with us?
Will you
be prick'd in number of our friends;
Or fhall we on, and not depend on you?

t

Ant. Therefore I took your hands; but was, indeed,

Sway'd from the point, by looking down on Cæfar.
Friends am I with you all, and love you all;

Upon this hope, that you shall give me reasons,
Why, and wherein, Cæfar was dangerous.

Bru. Or elfe were this a favage fpectacle:
Our reafons are fo full of good regard,
That were you, Antony, the fon of Cæfar,
You fhould be fatisfied.

Ant. That's all I feek:

And am moreover fuitor, that I may
Produce his body to the market-place;
And in the pulpit, as becomes a friend,
Speak in the order of his funeral.
Bru. You fhall, Mark Antony.

You know not what you do; Do not consent,

That Antony speak in his funeral:

Know you how much the people may be mov'd

By that which he will utter?

Bru. By your pardon ;

Sway'd]-Drawn afide.

[Afide.

I will myself into the pulpit first,

And fhew the reafon of our Cæfar's death:
What Antony fhall fpeak, I will protest
He speaks by leave and by permiffion;
And that we are contented, Cæfar fhall
Have all true rites, and lawful ceremonies.
It fhall advantage more, than do us wrong.
Caf. I know not what may fall; I like it not.
Bru. Mark Antony, here, take you Cæfar's body.
You fhall not in your funeral speech blame us,
But speak all good you can devise of Cæfar;
And fay, you do't by our permiffion;
Elfe fhall you not have any hand at all
About his funeral: And you fhall speak
In the fame pulpit whereto I am going,
After
my fpeech is ended.

Ant. Be it fo;

I do defire no more.

Bru. Prepare the body then, and follow us.

Manet Antony.

[Exeunt Confpirators.

Ant. O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth,

That I am meek and gentle with thefe butchers!
Thou art the ruins of the nobleft man,

That ever lived in the tide of times.

Woe to the hand that fhed this coftly blood!
Over thy wounds now do I prophefy,—

Which, like dumb mouths, do ope their ruby lips,
To beg the voice and utterance of my tongue ;-
"A curfe fhall light upon the limbs of men ;

A curfe fhall light upon the limbs of men ;]-This curfe is generally defcriptive of the horrors of war; and, in the present inftance, points at the wounds and difmemberings it occafions.

O 2

Domestick

Domestick fury, and fierce civil ftrife,
Shall cumber all the parts of Italy:
Blood and deftruction fhall be fo in ufe,
And dreadful objects fo familiar,

That mothers shall but smile, when they behold
Their infants quarter'd with the hands of war ;
All pitychoak'd with custom of fell deeds:
And Cæfar's fpirit, ranging for revenge,
With Até by his fide, come hot from hell,

Shall in thefe confines, with a monarch's voice,

W

Cry Havock, and let flip the dogs of war;

That this foul deed shall smell above the earth * With carrion men, groaning for burial.

Enter a Servant.

You ferve Octavius Cæfar, do you not?

Serv. I do, Mark Antony.

Ant. Cæfar did write for him, to come to Rome.

Serv. He did receive his letters, and is coming: And bid me fay to you by word of mouth,—

O Cæfar!

[Seeing the body. Ant. Thy heart is big; get thee apart and weep. Paffion, I fee, is catching; for mine eyes,

Seeing those beads of forrow ftand in thine,

Began to water. Is thy mafter coming?

Serv. He lies to-night within feven leagues of Rome. Ant. Poft back with speed, and tell him what hath chanc'd:

Here is a mourning Rome, a dangerous Rome,

▾ choak'd ]-extinguifhed.

Cry Havock,Disclaim all quarter.

1. Men.

"Do not cry Havock." COR. A. III. S. * With carrion men,]-Mixed with the ftench of thofe flaughtered heaps, which fhall cover the earth in confequence of it.

No

No Rome of fafety for Octavius yet;

Hie hence, and tell him fo. Yet, ftay a while;
Thou shalt not back, till I have borne this corfe
Into the market-place: there fhall I try,

In my oration, how the people take

2

The cruel iffue of these bloody men ;

According to the which, thou fhalt difcourfe
Το young Octavius of the state of things.

Lend me your hand.

[Exeunt, with Cafar's body.

SCENE II.

The Forum.

Enter Brutus and Caffius, with the Plebeians.

Pleb. We will be fatisfied; let us be fatisfied.

Bru. Then follow me; and give me audience, friends.-Caffius, go you into the other street,

Those that will hear me speak, let them stay here;

Thofe that will follow Caffius, go with him;

And public reafons shall be rendered

Of Cæfar's death.

1 Pleb. I will hear Brutus fpeak.

2 Pleb, I will hear Caffius; and compare their reafons,

When feverally we hear them rendered.

[Exit Caffius, with fome of the Plebeians:

Brutus goes into the roftrum.

3 Pleb. The noble Brutus is afcended: Silence!

No Rome]-No room.

"That I have room with Rome to curfe a while." K. JOHN, A. III. S. 1. Conft. * The cruel issue]—This event brought about by cruel means.