Bru. Soft, who comes here? A friend of Antony's.
Serv. Thus, Brutus, did my master bid me kneel;
Thus did Mark Antony bid me fall down;
And, being proftrate, thus he bade me say:
Brutus is noble, wife, valiant, and honeft;
Cæfar was mighty, bold, royal, and loving :
Say, I love Brutus, and I honour him;
Say, I fear'd Cæfar, honour'd him, and lov'd him.
If Brutus will vouchsafe, that Antony
May fafely come to him, and be refolv'd
How Cæfar hath deferv'd to lie in death,
Mark Antony fhall not love Cæfar dead
So well as Brutus living; but will follow
The fortunes and affairs of noble Brutus,
Thorough the hazards of this untrod state,
With all true faith. So fays my master Antony.
Bru. Thy mafter is a wife and valiant Roman;
I never thought him worse.
Tell him, fo please him come unto this place,
He fhall be fatisfied; and, by my honour,
Depart untouch'd.
Serv. I'll fetch him presently.
Bru. I know, that we fhall have him well to friend.
Caf. I wish, we may : but yet have I a mind,
That fears him much; and my misgiving ftill
Falls fhrewdly to the purpose.
Bru.But here comes Antony.-Welcome, Mark Antony.
Ant. O mighty Cæfar! Doft thou lie fo low?
Are all thy conquefts, glories, triumphs, fpoils,
Shrunk to this little measure ?-Fare thee well.-
I know not, gentlemen, what you intend,
Who else must be let blood, who elfe is rank :(1)
If I myself, there is no hour fo fit
As Cæfar's death's hour; nor no inftrument
Of half that worth, as thofe your fwords, made rich
With the most noble blood of all this world.
I do befeech ye, if ye bear me hard,
Now, whilft your purpled hands do reek and smoke,
Fulfil your pleasure. Live a thousand years,
I fhall not find myself fo apt to die :
(1) Who elfe may be fuppofed to have overtopped his equale, and grown toe high for the public fafety. JOHNS.
No place will please me fo, no mean of death,
As here by Cæfar, and by you cut off,
The choice and mafter fpirits of this age.
Bru. O Antony! beg not your death of us.
Though now we muft appear bloody and cruel,
As by our hands, and this our present act,
You fee we do; yet fee you but our hands,
And this the bleeding bufinefs they have done :
Our hearts you fee not; they are pitiful;
And pity to the general wrong of Rome
(As fire drives out fire, fo pity, pity)
Hath done this deed on Cæfar. For your part,
To you our fwords have leaden points, Mark Antony:
Our arms in ftrength of malice, and our hearts,
Of brothers' temper, do receive you in
With all kind love, good thoughts, and reverence.
Caf. Your voice fhall be as ftrong as any man's,
In the difpofing of new dignities.
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 ftrook him,
Proceeded thus.
Ant. I doubt not of your wisdom.
Let each man render me his bloody hand:
First, Marcus Brutus, will I fhake with you ;-
Next, Caius Caffius, do I take your hand ;-
Now, Decius Brutus, your's ;-now your's, Metellus ;-
Your's, Cinna ;-and, my valiant Cafca, your's ;-
Though laft, not least in love, your's, good Trebonius.
Gentlemen all,-alas! what fhall I fay?
My credit now ftands 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, oh, '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,
Moft noble! in the prefence of thy corfe?
Had I as many eyes as thou haft wounds,
Weeping as faft as they ftream forth thy blood,
It would become me better, than to close
In terms of friendship with thine enemies.
Pardon me, Julius !-Here waft thou bay'd, brave hart;
Here didft thou fall; and here thy hunters ftand,
Sign'd in thy fpoil, and crimfon'd in thy lethe.(2)
O world! thou waft the foreft to this hart?
And this, indeed, O world, the heart of thee.-
How like a deer, stricken 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 praifing 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?
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 fhall give me reasons,
Why and wherein Cæfar was dangerous.
Bru. Or elfe this were a favage fpectacle:
Our reasons 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.
Caf. Brutus, a word with you.
You know not what you do ; Do not confent, Afide..
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 ;
I will myfelf into the pulpit first,
And fhew the reafon of our Cæfar's death:
What Antony fhall fpeak, I will proteft
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.
(2) Lethe is used by many of the old tranflators of novels, for death. STE
Caf. I know not what may fall; I like it not. Bru. Mark Antony, here, take you Cæfar's body. You shall not in your funeral speech blame us, But fpeak 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 shall speak In the fame pulpit whereto I am going, After my speech is ended.
Ant. Be it fo;
I do defire no more.
Bru. Prepare the body then, and follow us.
Ant. O pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth,
That I am meek and gentle with these butchers!
Thou art the ruins of the nobleft man,
That ever lived in the tide of times.(3)
Woe to the hand that shed this coftly blood!
Over thy wounds now do I prophecy,-
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;
Domestic fury, and fierce civil ftrife,
Shall cumber all the various parts of Italy:
Blood and deftruction fhall be fo in ufe,
And dreadful objects fo familiar,
That mothers fhall but fmile, when they behold
Their infants quarter'd with the hands of war;
All pity chok'd with cuftom of fell deeds;
And Cæfar's fpirit, ranging for revenge,
With Até by his fide, come hot from hell,
Shall in these confines, with a monarch's voice,
Cry Havock, and let flip the dogs of war ;(4)
That this foul deed shall smell above the earth
With carrion men, groaning for burial.
(3) That is, in the courfe of times. JOHNS.
(4) A learned correfpondent has informed me, that, in the military oper ations of old times, 'havock' was the word by which declaration was made that no quarter fhould be given.In a tract intitled, "The Office of the Coneftable & Marefchall in the Time of Werre," there is the following:"Alfo that no man be fo hardy to crye Havok upon peyne that he that is "begynner fhal be deede therefore : & the remanent that doo the fame or folow fhal lofe their horfe & harneis: and the perfones of fuch as folow"eth & efcrien fhall be under arreft of the Coneftable & Marefchall warde "unto tyme that they have made fyn; & founde furetie no morr to of "fende ; & his body in prison at the Kyng wylle.—”
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,
[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 seven leagues of Rome. Ant. Poft back with speed, and tell him what hath chanc'd :
Here is a mourning Rome, a dangerous Rome,
No Rome of safety 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 shall I try,
In my oration, how the people take
The cruel iffue of thefe bloody men ;
According to the which, thou shalt difcourfe
To young Octavius of the ftate of things.
Lend me your hand. [Exeunt with CÆSAR's Body.
The Forum. Enter BRUTUS and CASSIUS, 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 fpeak, let 'em ftay here;
Thofe that will follow Caffius, go with him;
And public reafons fhall be rendered
Of Cæfar's death.
1 Pleb. I will hear Brutus fpeak.
2 Pleb. I will hear Caffius; and compare their reasons, When feverally we hear them rendered.
[Exit CASSIUS with fome of the Plebeians. BRUTUS goes into the Roftrum.
Pleb. The noble Brutus is afcended: Silence !
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