You shall not ftir out of your house to day. Caf. Cæfar fhall forth; the things, that threatned me, Ne'er lookt but on my back when they shall fee Cal. Cafar, I never ftood on ceremonies, And Graves have yawn'd, and yielded up their dead; Caf. What can be avoided, Whofe end is purpos'd by the mighty Gods? Cal. When Beggars die, there are no comets feen; The heav'ns themselves blaze forth the death of Princes Caf. Cowards die many times before their deaths, The valiant never taste of death but once : Of all the wonders that I yet have heard, Will come, when it will come. Enter a Servant. What fay the Augurs? Ser. They would not have you to ftir forth to day. Plucking the entrails of an Offering forth, They could not find a heart within the beaft. [Exit Serwant. Caf The Gods do this in fhame of cowardise: Cafar fhould be a beaft without a heart, If he should stay at home to day for fear. Cal. Alas, my lord, Your wifdom is confum'd in confidence: That keeps you in the house, and not your own. Caf. Mark Antony fhall fay, I am not well; Here's Decius Brutus, he fhall tell them fo. Dec. Cæfar, all hail! good morrow, worthy Cafar ; I come to fetch you to the Senate house. Caf. And you are come in very happy time, Caf. Shall Cafar fend a lye? Have I in conqueft ftretcht mine arm fo far, Dec. Moft mighty Cafar, let me know fome cause, Left I be laugh'd at, when I tell them fo. Caf. The caufe is in my will, I will not come; -We beare (9) We heard two Lions-] The first Folio The Copies have been all corrupt, and the Paffage, of course, unintelligible. But the flight Alteration, I have made, restores Senfe to the whole; and the Sentiment will neither be unworthy of Shakespeare, nor the boast too extravagant for Cafar in a Vein of Vanity to utter: that He and Danger were two Twinwhelps of a Lion, and He the Elder, and more terrible of the Two. That That is enough to satisfie the Senate. you know. Calphurnia here, my wife, stays me at home: Your Statue, fpouting blood in many pipes, Caf. And this way have you well expounded it." Dec. I have, when you have heard what I can fay And know it now, the Senate have concluded To give this day a Crown to mighty Cafar. If you shall fend them word you will not come, Their minds may change. Befides, it were a mock Apt to be render'd, for fome one to say, "Break up the Senate 'till another time, "When Cafar's wife fhall meet with better Dreams : If Cafar hide himself, fhall they not whisper, "Lo, Cafar is afraid! Pardon me, Cafar; for my dear, dear, love And reason to my love is liable. Caf. How foolish do your Fears feem now, Cal pburnia? I am ashamed, I did yield to them. Give me my Robe, for I will go: Enter Brutus, Ligarius, Metellus, Cafca, Trebonius, Cinna and Publius. And, look, where Publius is come to fetch me. Pub Pub. Good morrow, Cafar. Caf. Welcome, Publius. What, Brutus, are you stirr'd so early too? As that fame Ague which hath made you lean. Bru. Cefar, 'tis ftrucken eight. Caf. I thank you for your pains and courtefie. See! Antony, that revels long o' nights, Caf. Bid them prepare within: I am to blame to be thus waited for. Now, Cinna; now, Metellus; what, Trebonius! Treb. Cafar, I will; and fo near will I be, [Afide. That your beft friends fhall wish I had been fur ther. Caf. Good Friends, go in, and tafte fome wine with me. And we, like Friends, will ftraightway go together. [Afide. The heart of Brutus yerns to think upon! [Exeunt. SCENE changes to a Street near the Capitol. (10) Enter Artemidorus, reading a paper. CESAR, beware of Brutus ; take beed of Caffius ; come not near Calca; have an eye to Cinna; truft not (10) Enter Artemidorus,] In the Dramatis Perfona, thro' all the Editions, Artemidorus is call'd a Scotksayer. But, 'tis cor not Trebonius; mark well Metellus Cimber; Decius Brutus loves thee not; thou haft wrong'd Caius Ligarius. There is but one mind in all these men, and it is bent against Cæfar. If thou beeft not immortal, look about thee: fecurity gives way to confpiracy. The mighty Gods defend thee! Thy Lover, Artemidorus. Here will I ftand, 'till Cæfar pafs along, My heart laments, that virtue cannot live If thou read this, O Cæfar, thou may'ft live; Enter Porcia and Lucius. Por. I pr'ythee, Boy, run to the Senate house; Luc. To know my errand, Madam. [Exit, Por. I would have had thee there, and here again, Set a huge mountain 'tween my heart and tongue; Art thou here yet? Luc. Madam, what should I do? tain, the Poet defign'd two diftinct Characters. Artemidorus was neither Augur nor Soothfayer. 'Tis true, there was an Artemidorus, whofe Critic on Dreams we ftill have: but He did nct live 'till the Time of Antoninus. He likewife wrote, according to Suidas, of Augury and Palmistry. But thisArtemidorus, who had been Cafar's Host at Cnidos, as we learn from Plutarch, Appian, &c. did not pretend to know any thing of the Confpiracy against Cafar by Prefcience, or Prognoftication. He was a Sophift, who taught that Science in Greek at Rome; by which Means being intimate with Brutus, and those about him, he got into their Secret; and out of his old Affection for Cæfar, was defirous of acquainting him with his Danger, Run |