BRU. They are all welcome.What watchful cares do interpose themselves Betwixt your eyes and night?

CAS. Shall I entreat a word?

[BRUTUS and CASSIUS retire.

DEC. Here lies the east: doth not the day break here?

CASCA. NO.

CIN. O, pardon, sir, it doth; and yon grey lines, That fret the clouds, are messengers of day.

CASCA. You shall confess that you are both
deceiv'd.

Here, as I point my sword, the sun arises;
Which is a great way growing on the south,
Weighing the youthful season of the year.
Some two months hence, up higher toward the
north

He first presents his fire; and the high east
Stands, as the Capitol, directly here.

· BRU. [Advancing.] Give me your hands all over, one by one.

CAS. [Advancing.] And let us swear our resolution.

BRU. No, not an oath: if not the face of men, The sufferance of our souls, the time's abuse,If these be motives weak, break off betimes, And every man hence to his idle bed;" So let high-sighted tyranny range on, Till each man drop by lottery. But if these, As I am sure they do, bear fire enough To kindle cowards, and to steel with valour The melting spirits of women; then, countrymen, What need we any spur, but our own cause, To prick us to redress? what other bond Than secret Romans, that have spoke the word, And will not palter? and what other oath, Than honesty to honesty engag'd, That this shall be, or we will fall for it? Swear priests, and cowards, and men cautelous, Old feeble carrions, and such suffering souls That welcome wrongs; unto bad causes swear Such creatures as men doubt: but do not stain The even virtue of our enterprise, Nor the insuppressive mettle of our spirits, To think that or our cause or our performance Did need an oath; when every drop of blood Roman bears, and nobly bears,

That every

Is guilty of a several bastardy,
If he do break the smallest particle
Of any promise that hath pass'd from him.

a the face of men,-] If "face" be right, though it reads dubiously, we are perhaps to understand the general gloom observable on men's countenances: Warburton proposed fate, Mason faith, and Malone faiths.

bhis idle bed;] His bed of indolence; see note (a), p. 88 of present volume.

c-secret Romans,-] "Secret" is here employed with strict classical accuracy for separa ed, set apart; and hence, dedicated, or devoted to a particular purpose. So Milton, "Paradise Lost," B. I. 1. 6,

Then leave him out. CASCA. Indeed he is not fit.

DEC. Shall no man else be touch'd but only Cæsar?

CAS. Decius, well urg'd:-I think it is not meet, Mark Antony, so well belov'd of Cæsar, Should outlive Cæsar: we shall find of him A shrewd contriver; and, you know, his means, If he improve them, may well stretch so far As to annoy us all which to prevent, Let Antony and Cæsar fall together.

:

BRU. Our course will seem too bloody, Caius
Cassius,

To cut the head off, and then hack the limbs,-
Like wrath in death, and envy' afterwards;
For Antony is but a limb of Cæsar.
Let's be sacrificers, but not butchers, Caius.
We all stand up against the spirit of Cæsar;
And in the spirit of men there is no blood:
O, that we, then, could come by Cæsar's spirit,
And not dismember Cæsar ! But, alas,
Cæsar must bleed for it! And, gentle friends,
Let's kill him boldly, but not wrathfully;
Let's carve him as a dish fit for the gods,
Not hew him as a carcase fit for hounds:
And let our hearts, as subtle masters do,
Stir up their servants to an act of rage,
And after seem to chide 'em. This shall make
Our purpose necessary, and not envious :
Which so appearing to the common eyes,
We shall be call'd purgers, not murderers.
And for Mark Antony, think not of him;
For he can do no more than Cæsar's arm,
When Cæsar's head is off.

BRU. Alas, good Cassius, do not think of him: If he love Cæsar, all that he can do

Is to himself,-take thought," and die for Cæsar: And that were much he should; for he is given To sports, to wildness, and much company.

TREB. There is no fear in him; let him not dies

For he will live, and laugh at this hereafter.

BRU. Peace! count the clock. CAS.

[Clock strikes.

The clock hath stricken three.
TREB. 'T is time to part.
CAS.
But it is doubtful yet,
Whether Cæsar will come forth to-day, or no ;
For he is superstitious grown of late;
Quite from the main opinion he held once
Of fantasy, of dreams, and ceremonies; ©
It may be, these apparent prodigies,
The unaccustom'd terror of this night,
And the persuasion of his augurers,
May hold him from the Capitol to-day.

DEC. Never fear that: if he be so resolv'd
I can o'ersway him: for he loves to hear
That unicorns may be betray'd with trees,
And bears with glasses, elephants with holes,
Lions with toils, and men with flatterers:
But when I tell him he hates flatterers,
He says he does,-being then most flattered.
Let me work;

For I can give his humour the true bent,
And I will bring him to the Capitol.

CAS. Nay, we will all of us be there to fetch him.

BRU. By the eighth hour: is that the uttermost?

CIN. Be that the uttermost, and fail not then. MET. Caius Ligarius doth bear Cæsar hard, Who rated him for speaking well of Pompey; I wonder none of you have thought of him.

BRU. Now, good Metellus, go along by him: He loves me well, and I have given him reasons; Send him but hither, and I'll fashion him.

CAS. The morning comes upon 's: we'll leave you, Brutus::

And, friends, disperse yourselves: but all remember

What you have said, and show yourselves true Romans.

BRU. Good gentlemen, look fresh and merrily; Let not our looks put on our purposes;

But bear it as our Roman actors do,

apparent] Manifest, evident.

That unicorns may be betray'd with trees,
And bears with glasses, elephants with holes,-]

For an account of the manner in which unicorns are related to have been captured, see note (4), p. 507, Vol. II. Bears, Steevens

POR.

Enter PORTIA.

Brutus, my lord ! BRU. Portia, what mean you? wherefore rise you now?

It is not for your health thus to commit
Your weak condition to the raw cold morning.
POR. Nor for yours neither. You've ungently,
Brutus,

Stole from my bed: and yesternight, at supper,
You suddenly arose, and walk'd about,
Musing and sighing, with your arms across :
And when I ask'd you what the matter was,
You star'd upon me with ungentle looks:

I urg'd you further; then you scratch'd your head,

And too impatiently stamp'd with your foot:
Yet I insisted, yet you answer'd not;
But, with an angry wafture of your hand,
Gave sign for me to leave you: so I did;
Fearing to strengthen that impatience
Which seem'd too much enkindled; and withal
Hoping it was but an effect of humour,
Which sometime hath his hour with every man.
It will not let you eat, nor talk, nor sleep;
And, could it work so much upon your shape,
As it hath much prevail'd on your condition,
I should not know you, Brutus. Dear my lord,
Make me acquainted with your cause of grief.

BRU. I am not well in health, and that is all. POR. Brutus is wise, and were he not in health,

He would embrace the means to come by it.

To keep with you at meals, comfort your bed, And talk to you sometimes? Dwell I but in the suburbs

Of your good pleasure? If it be no more,
Portia is Brutus' harlot, not his wife.

BRU. You are my true and honourable wife:
As dear to me as are the ruddy drops
That visit my sad heart.

POR. If this were true, then should I know this

secret.

I grant I am a woman; but withal,

A woman that lord Brutus took to wife:

I grant I am a woman; but withal,

A woman, well-reputed Cato's daughter."
Think you I am no stronger than my sex,
Being so father'd and so husbanded ?

Tell me your counsels, I will not disclose 'em :
I have made strong proof of my constancy,
Giving myself a voluntary wound

Here, in the thigh: can I bear that with patience,
And not my husband's secrets ?(2)

BRU.

O, ye gods,

tongue.

BRU. O, what a time have you chose out, brave Caius,

To wear a kerchief! (3) Would you were not sick! LIG. I am not sick, if Brutus have in hand Any exploit worthy the name of honour.

BRU. Such an exploit have I in hand, Ligarius, Had you a healthful ear to hear of it.

LIG. By all the gods that Romans bow before, I here discard my sickness! Soul of Rome! Brave son, deriv'd from honourable loins!

Thunder and lightning. Enter CÆSAR.

CAS. Nor heaven nor earth have been at peace to-night:

Thrice hath Calphurnia in her sleep cried out, Help, ho! they murder Casar!- - Who's within?

Enter a Servant.

SERV. My lord?

CES. Go bid the priests do present sacrifice, And bring me their opinions of success. SERV. I will, my lord.

Enter CALPHURNIA.

[Exit.

CAL. What mean you, Cæsar? think you to walk forth?

You shall not stir out of your house to-day. CES. Cæsar shall forth the things that threaten'd me

Ne'er look'd but on my back; when they shall see The face of Cæsar, they are vanished.

CAL. Cæsar, I never stood on ceremonies, Yet now they fright me. There is one within, Besides the things that we have heard and seen,

"A woman, well-reputed Cato's daughter,"? that is, A woman, daughter of the much-esteemed Cato? There is a marked propriety, then, in her asking,—

"Think you I am no stronger than my sex,
Being so father'd and so husbanded?"

All the charactery of my sad brows:-] All that is written in my melancholy aspect.