Those that will follow Cassius, go with him;
And publick reasons shall be rendered

Of Cæsar's death.

1 Cit.

I will hear Brutus speak.

2 Cit. I will hear Cassius; and compare their

reasons,

When severally we hear them rendered.

[Exit CASSIUS, with some of the Citizens, BRUTUS goes into the Rostrum.

3 Cit. The noble Brutus is ascended: Silence! Bru. Be patient till the last.

Romans, countrymen, and lovers1! hear me for my cause; and be silent, that you may hear: believe me for mine honour; and have respect to mine honour, that you may believe: censure me in your wisdom; and awake your senses, that you may the better judge. If there be any in this assembly, any dear friend of Cæsar's, to him I say, that Brutus' love to Cæsar was no less than his. If then that friend demand, why Brutus rose against Cæsar, this is my answer,-Not that I loved Cæsar less, but that I loved Rome more. Had you rather Cæsar were living, and die all slaves; than that Cæsar were dead, to live all free men? As Cæsar loved me, I weep for him; as he was fortunate, I rejoice at it; as he was valiant, I honour him: but,

1 Warburton thinks this speech very fine in its kind, though unlike the laconick style of ancient oratory attributed to Brutus. Steevens observes that this artificial jingle of short sentences was affected by most of the orators of Shakspeare's time, whether in the pulpit or at the bar. It may therefore be regarded rather as an imitation of the false eloquence then in vogue, than as a specimen of laconick brevity.' It is worthy of remark that Voltaire, who has stolen and transplanted into his tragedy of Brutus the fine speech of Antony to the people, and has unblushingly received the highest compliments upon it from the King of Prussia, Count Algarotti, and others, affects to extol this address of Brutus, while he is most disingenuously silent on the subject of that of Antony, which he chose to purloin.

as he was ambitious, I slew him: There is tears, for his love; joy, for his fortune; honour, for his valour; and death, for his ambition. Who is here so base, that would be a bondman? If any, speak; for him have I offended. Who is here so rude, that would not be a Roman? If any, speak; for him have I offended. Who is here so vile, that will not love his country? If any, speak; for him have I offended. I pause for a reply.

Cit. None, Brutus, none.

[Several speaking at once. Bru. Then none have I offended. I have done no more to Cæsar, than you shall do to Brutus. The question of his death is enrolled in the Capitol: his glory not extenuated, wherein he was worthy; nor his offences enforced, for which he suffered death.

Enter ANTONY and Others, with CESAR'S Body. Here comes his body, mourned by Mark Antony: who, though he had no hand in his death, shall receive the benefit of his dying, a place in the commonwealth; As which of you shall not? With this I depart; That, as I slew my best lover for the good of Rome, I have the same dagger for myself, when it shall please my country to need my death.

Cit. Live, Brutus, live! live!

1 Cit. Bring him with triumph home unto his house. 2 Cit. Give him a statue with his ancestors.

See

2 Lover and friend were synonymous with our ancestors. vol. iii. p. 66, note 2. It would not have been again noticed, but for Mr. Reed's whimsical notion that it was not authenticated by examples, and that Shakspeare found it in North's Plutarch alone. Malone has adduced a host of examples, but any old Latin Dictionary, under the word amicus, would serve to confute Mr. Reed.

Cæsar's better parts

3 Cit. Let him be Cæsar.

4 Cit.

Shall now be crown'd in Brutus.

1 Cit. We'll bring him to his house with shouts

and clamours.

Bru. My countrymen,

2 Cit.

Peace; silence! Brutus speaks.

1 Cit. Peace, ho!

Bru. Good countrymen, let me depart alone, And, for my sake, stay here with Antony:

Do grace to Cæsar's corpse, and grace his speech
Tending to Cæsar's glories; which Mark Antony,
By our permission, is allow'd to make.

I do entreat you not a man depart,
Save I alone, till Antony have spoke.

[Exit.

1 Cit. Stay, ho! and let us hear Mark Antony. 3 Cit. Let him go up into the publick chair; We'll hear him:-Noble Antony, go up.

Ant. For Brutus' sake, I am beholden to you. 4 Cit. What does he say of Brutus ?

3 Cit.

He says, for Brutus' sake, He finds himself beholden to us all.

4 Cit. 'Twere best he speak no harm of Brutus

here.

1 Cit. This Cæsar was a tyrant.

3 Cit.

Nay, that's certain : We are bless'd, that Rome is rid of him.

2 Cit. Peace; let us hear what Antony can say. Ant. You gentle Romans,

Cit.

Peace, ho! let us hear him.

Ant. Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your

ears;

I come to bury Cæsar, not to praise him.
The evil, that men do, lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones;
So let it be with Cæsar. The noble Brutus

Hath told you, Cæsar was ambitious;
If it were so, it was a grievous fault;
And grievously hath Cæsar answer'd it.
Here, under leave of Brutus, and the rest
(For Brutus is an honourable man;
So are they all; all honourable men),
Come I to speak in Cæsar's funeral.
He was my friend, faithful and just to me:
But Brutus says, he was ambitious,

And Brutus is an honourable man.

He hath brought many captives home to Rome,
Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill:
Did this in Cæsar seem ambitious?

When that the poor have cried, Cæsar hath wept:
Ambition should be made of sterner stuff:

Yet Brutus says, he was ambitious;
And Brutus is an honourable man.
You all did see, that on the Lupercal,
I thrice presented him a kingly crown,
Which he did thrice refuse.

Was this ambition?

Yet Brutus says, he was ambitious;
And, sure, he is an honourable man.

I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke,
But here I am to speak what I do know.
You all did love him once, not without cause;
What cause withholds you then to mourn for him?
O judgment, thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason!-Bear with me;
My heart is in the coffin there with Cæsar,
And I must pause till it come back to me.

1 Cit. Methinks, there is much reason in his sayings.

2 Cit. If thou consider rightly of the matter, Cæsar has had great wrong.

Has he, masters?

3 Cit. I fear, there will a worse come in his place.

4 Cit. Mark'd

ye the crown;

his words? He would not take

Therefore, 'tis certain, he was not ambitious.

1 Cit. If it be found so, some will dear abide it. 2 Cit. Poor soul! his eyes are red as fire with

weeping.

3 Cit. There's not a nobler man in Rome, than Antony.

4 Cit. Now mark him, he begins again to speak.
Ant. But yesterday, the word of Cæsar might
Have stood against the world: now lies he there,
And none so poor3 to do him reverence.
O måsters! if I were dispos'd to stir
Your hearts and minds to mutiny and rage,
I should do Brutus wrong, and Cassius wrong,
Who, you all know, are honourable men:
I will not do them wrong; I rather choose
To wrong the dead, to wrong myself, and you,
Than I will wrong such honourable men.
But here's a parchment, with the seal of Cæsar,
I found it in his closet, 'tis his will:

Let but the commons hear his testament
(Which, pardon me, I do not mean to read),
And they would go and kiss dead Cæsar's wounds,
And dip their napkins in his sacred blood;

Yea, beg a hair of him for memory,

And, dying, mention it within their wills,
Bequeathing it, as a rich legacy,

Unto their issue.

4 Cit. We'll hear the will: Read it, Mark Antony. Cit. The will, the will; we will hear Cæsar's will. Ant. Have patience, gentle friends, I must not read it;

3The meanest man is now too high to do reverence to Cæsar.'

Handkerchiefs. See vol. iii. p. 194, note 25.