4 Pleb. Now, mark him, he begins to speak. Ant. But yesterday the word of Cafar might 'Have stood against the world; now lies he there, And none fo poor to do him reverence. 'O masters! if I were difpos'd to ftir

• Your hearts and minds to mutiny and rage,
'I fhould do Brutus wrong, and Caffius wrong;
• Who, you all know, are honourable men.
'I will not do them wrong: I rather chufe
• To wrong the dead, to wrong myself and you;
⚫ Than I will wrong fuch honourable men.

But here's a parchment, with the feal of Cefar, 'I found it in his clofet, 'tis his Will;

• Let but the Commons hear this Testament,
(Which, pardon me, I do not mean to read)
' And they would go and kifs dead Cafar's wounds,
And dip their napkins in his facred blood;
'Yea, beg a hair of him for memory,

་

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

'Unto their iffue.

4

९

Pleb. We'll hear the Will, read it, Mark Antony. All. The Will, the Will; we will hear Cafar's Will.

Ant. Have patience, gentle friends, I must not read it;

It is not meet you know how Cæfar lov'd you. "You are not wood, you are not stones, but men: And, being men, hearing the Will of Cafar, It will inflame you, it will make you mad. ''Tis good you know not, that you are his heirs; • For if you should-O what would come of it? 4 Pleb. Read the Will, we will hear it, Antony; You fhall read us the Will, Cefar's Will.

Ant. Will you be patient? will you stay a while? (I have o'er-fhot myfélf, to tell you of it.) 'I fear, I wrong the honourable men,

• Whofe

• Whofe daggers have stabb'd Cæfar-I do fear it.
4 Pleb. They were traitors
All. The Will! the Teftament!

honourable men!

2 Pleb. They were villains, murtherers; the Will! read the Will.

Ant. You will compel me then to read the Will? Then make a ring about the corps of Cafar,

• And let me fhew you him, that made the Will. • Shall I defcend? and will you give me leave? All. Come down.

2 Pleb. Defcend. [He comes down from the pulpit. 3 Pleb. You fhall have leave.

4 Pleb. A ring; ftand round.

i Pleb. Stand from the hearfe, ftand from the body.

2 Pleb. Room for Antony-most noble Antony. Ant. Nay, prefs not fo upon me, ftand far off. All. Stand back-room-bear back

Ant. If you have tears, prepare to fhed them now. You all do know this mantle; I remember,

The first time ever Cafar put it on,

''Twas on a fummer's evening in his tent, < That day he overcame the Nervii

• Look! in this place, ran Caffius' dagger through ;See, what a rent the envious Cafca made.

'

Through this, the well-beloved Brutus stabb'd;
And as he pluck'd his curfed steel away,

Mark, how the blood of Cafar follow'd it!
As rufhing out of doors, to be refolv'd,
If Brutus fo unkindly knock'd, or no?
• For Brutus, as you know, was Cafar's angel.

8 That day he overcame the Nervii-] Here Shakespear, defcribing a great General, makes him put on his new habit, or robes of triumph, after his victory. Homer defcribing a vainglorious one, makes him put them on before the fight, and while The only expected to overcome.

Judge, oh you Gods! how dearly Cæfar lov'd him; This, this, was the unkindest cut of all;

• For when the noble Cafar faw him stab, 'Ingratitude, more ftrong than traitors' arms, 'Quite vanquish'd him; then burft his mighty heart: And, in his mantle muffling up his face, • Which all the while ran blood, great Cæfar fell, Even at the Bafe of Pompey's Statue. O what a fall was there, my countrymen! Then I, and you, and all of us fell down: Whilft bloody treafon flourish'd over us. 'O, now you weep; and, I perceive, you feel The dint of pity; thefe are gracious drops.

• Kind fouls! what, weep you when you but behold • Our Cæfar's vefture wounded? look you here! • Here is himself, marr'd, as you fee, by traitors. 1 Pleb. O piteous fpectacle!

2 Pleb. O noble Cafar!

Pleb. O woful day!

3

4

Pleb. O traitors, villains!

i Pleb. O moft bloody fight!

2 Pleb. We will be reveng'd: revenge: about feek-burn-fire -kill-flay! let not a traitor live. Ant. Stay, Countrymen

I Pleb. Peace there, hear the noble Antony.

2 Pleb. We'll hear him, we'll follow him, we'll die with him.

Ant.

Good friends, fweet friends, let me not ftir

you up

9 Even at the Bafe of Pompey's Statue,

Which all the while ran blood, great Cæfar fell.] Plutarch tells us, that Cafar received many wounds in the face on this occafion, so that it might be faid to run blood. But, instead of that, the Statue, in this reading, and not the face, is faid to do fo; it is plain thefe two lines fhould be tranfpofed: And then the reflection, which follows,

O what a fall was there

is natural, lamenting the difgrace of being at last fubdued in that quarrel in which he had been compleat victor.

• To

• To fuch a fudden flood of mutiny :

They, that have done this deed, are honourable. • What private griefs they have, alas, I know not, That made them do it: they are wife and honourable;

And will, no doubt, with reason answer you.

I come not, friends, to fteal away your hearts; • I am no Orator, as Brutus is:

But, as you know me all, a plain blunt man, That love my friend; and that they know full well, That give me publick leave to speak of him: For I have neither wit, nor words, nor worth, • Action nor utt'rance, nor the power of speech, To ftir men's blood; I only fpeak right on.

I tell you that, which you your felves do know; Shew you fweet Cafar's wounds, poor, poor, dumb

mouths!

And bid them fpeak for me. But were I Brutus, • And Brutus, Antony, there were an Antony

• Would ruffle up your fpirits, and put a tongue
In every wound of Cafar, that should move
• The ftones of Rome to rife and mutiny.
All. We'll mutiny-

1 Pleb. We'll burn the house of Brutus.

3 Pleb. Away then, come, feek the confpirators. Ant. Yet hear me, Countrymen; yet hear me fpeak.

All. Peace, ho, hear Antony, moft noble Antony.
Ant. Why, friends, you go to do you know not
what.

Wherein hath Cæfar thus deferv'd your loves?
Alas, you know not; I muft tell you then:
You have forgot the Will, I told you of.

All. Moft true-the Will-let's ftay and hear the
Will.

Ant. Here is the Will, and under Cæfar's feal.
To ev'ry Roman citizen he gives,

To

To ev'ry fev'ral man, fev'nty five drachma's.

2 Pleb. Moft noble Cafar! we'll revenge his death. 3 Pleb. O royal Cæfar!

Ant. Hear me with patience.

All. Peace, ho!

Ant. Moreover, he hath left you all his walks,
His private arbours, and new-planted orchards,
On that fide Tiber; he hath left them you,
And to your heirs for ever; common pleasures,
To walk abroad, and recreate your felves.
Here was a Cafar, when comes such another?

1 Pleb. Never, never; come, away, away; We'll burn his body in the holy place,

And with the brands fire all the traitors' houses.
Take up the body.

2 Pleb. Go, fetch fire.

3

4

Pleb. Pluck down benches.

Pleb. Pluck down forms, windows, any thing.

[Exeunt Plebeians with the body.

Now let it work; Mischief, thou art afoot,

Take thou what courfe thou wilt!-How now, fellow?

Enter a Servant.

Ser. Olavius is already come to Rome.
Ant. Where is he?

Ser. He and Lepidus are at Cafar's house.
Ant. And thither will I ftraight to vifit him;
He comes upon a wifh. Fortune is merry,
And in this mood will give us any thing.
Ser. I heard him fay, Brutus and Caffius
Are rid, like madmen, through the gates of Rome.
Ant. Belike, they had fome notice of the people,
How I had mov'd them. Bring me to Octavius.

[Exeunt.

SCENE