Whose end is purpos'd by the mighty Gods ?
Yet Cæsar shall go forth: for these predictions
Are to the world in general, as to Cæfar.

Cal. When beggars die, there are no comets seen; The heav'ns themselves blaze forth the death of princes.

Against the Fears of Death. Cowards die

many

times before their deaths ; The valiant never taste of death but once: Of all the wonders that I yet have heard, It seems to me most strange, that men should fear: (8) Seeing that death, a necessary end, Will come, when it will come.

Danger.

Danger knows full well,
That Cæfar is more dangerous than he.
(9) We are two lions litter'd in one day,
And I the elder and more terrible.

Envy.

My heart laments, that virtue cannot live Out of the teeth of emulation,

ACT (8) Seeing, &c.]

The term of life is limited,
Ne may a man prolong nor shorten it,
The soldier may not move from watchful sted,

Nor leave his stand until his captaine bed. Spenser. () We are, &c.] The old folios read Wce beare, which Mr. Thiobald, ingeniously enough altered to we were ; and Mr. Upton to we are, which is not only nearer the traces of the leto ters, but more agreeable to the sense of the passage ; for Cæfar speaks all through in the present tense: Danger knows, that Cæsar is more dangerous than he : we are two lions, twins, Hitier'd in one day, and I am the elder and more terrible.

G%

Antony to the Corps of Cæfar.
O, mighty Cæfar, dost thou lie fo low?
Are all thy conquests, glories, triumphs, spoils,
Shrunk to this little measure? fare thee well.

His Address to the Conspirators.
I know not, gentlemen, what you intend;
Who else must be let blood, who else is rank.
If I myself, there is no hour so fit
As Cesar's death's hour; nor no instrument
Of half that worth, as those your swords made rich
With the most noble blood of all this world.
I do beseech

ye,

if
you

bear me hard,
Now whilst your fury-led hands do reek and smoke,
Fulfil your pleasure. Live a thousand

years,
I shall not find myself so apt to die.
No place will please me fô, no means of death
As here by Cæsar, and by you cut off,
The choice and master spirits of the age,

SCENE IV. Revenge.

(10) Cæfar's fpirit, raging for revenge, With Atc by his side, come hot from hell,

Shall

(10) Cæsar's, &c.] Mr. Seward obferves, that in those terrille

graces fpoken of just now (note 5.) no followers of ShakeSpear approach fo near him as Braumont and Fletcher; of which he adds the lines here quoted as a strong proof:

Fix not your empire
Upon the tomb of him, will take all Agypt :
Whose warlike groans will raise ten thousand spirits, .
Great as himself, in every hand a thunder,
Destructions darting from their looks.

The False One, A. 2. S. 1.

There

Shall in these confines, with a monarch's voice,
Cry havock, and let flip the dogs of war.

Scene V. Brutus's Speech to the People.

If there be any in this assembly, any dear friend of Cæfar's, to him I fay, that Brutus's love to Cæfar was no less than his. If then that friend demand, why Brutus rose against Cefar, this is my answer; not that I lov'd Cæfar less, but that I lov'd Rome more. Had you rather Cæfar were living, and die all flaves ; than that Cæfar were dead, to live all free-men? As Cæfar lov'd me, I

weep for him; as he was fortunate, I rejoice at it; as he was valiant, I honour him ; but as he was ambitious, I flew him. There are tears for his love, joy for his fortune, honour for his valour, and death for his ambition. Who here fo base, that would be a bondman? If any, speak; for him have I offended. Who is here fo rude, that would not be a Roman? If any, speak; for him have I offended. Who is here fo vile, that will not love his country? If any, speak; for him have I offended.

Scene VI. Antony's Funeral Oration. Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your cars ; 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 Casar! noble Brutus

Hath

There is something very great and astonishing in the following passage from Ben Jonson, though not very famous for such daring flights. Catiline says to his foldiers,

Methinks I see death, and the furies waiting
What we will do, and all the heaven at leisure
For the great spectacle. Draw then your swords, &c.

See Catiline, Act 5.

Hath told you Cæfar was ambitious ;
If it were so, it was a grievous fault;
And grievously hath Cefar 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 Cæfar seem ambitious ?
When that the poor hath cry'd, Cæfar hath wept ;
Ambition should be made of sterner stuff.
Yet Brutus says, he was ambitious,
And Brutus is an honourable man.
You all did fee, 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 caufe :
What cause with-holds 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 Cefar,
And I must pause 'till it come back to me.

*

*

*

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 dispos'd to ftir
Your hearts and minds to mutiny and rage,
I should do Brutus wrong, and Caffius wrong;
Who, you all know, are honourable men.
I will not do them wrong; I rather chuse

To it;

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 this teftament,
(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 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 Pleb. We'll hear the will; read it, Mark An.

tony. All. The will; the will: we will hear Cæfar's will.

Ant. Have patience, gentle friends, I must not read 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 Cæfar, It will inflame you, it will make you

mad. 'Tis good you know not, that you are his heirs; For if you

should what would come of it? 4 Pleb. Read the will, we will hear it, Antony : You shall read us the will, Cæfar's will.

Ant. Will you be patients will you stay a while? (I have o'er-shot myself, to tell you of it.)

ear I wrong the honourable men,
Whose daggers have stabb'd Cæfar-I do fear it.

4 Pleb. They were traitors—honourable men !
All. The will! the testament !
Ant. You will compel me then to read the will !
Then make a ring about the corps of Cæfar,
And let me Thew 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. Ant. If you have tears, prepare to shed them now.