ACT I.

SCENE L-Rome. A Street.

Enter FLAVIUS, MARULLUS, and a Rabble of

Citizens.

Flav. Hence; home, you idle creatures, get you home;

Is this a holiday? What! know you not,
Being mechanical, you ought not walk,
Upon a labouring day, without the sign

Of your profession?-Speak, what trade art thou? 1 Cit. Why, sir, a carpenter.

Mar. Where is thy leather apron, and thy rule? What dost thou with thy best apparel on?— You, sir; what trade are you?

2 Cit. Truly, sir, in respect of a fine workman, I am bot, as you would say, a cobbler.

Mar. But what trade art thou? Answer me directly.

2 Cit. A trade, sir, that, I hope, I may use with a safe conscience; which is, indeed, sir, a mender of bad soals.

Mar. What trade, thou knave? thou naughty knave, what trade?

2 Cit. Nay, I beseech you, sir, be not out with me: yet, if you be out, sir, I can mend you. Mar. What meanest thou by that? Mend me, thou saucy fellow?

2 Cit. Why, sir, cobble you.
Flav. Thou art a cobbler, art thon?

2 Cit. Truly, sir, all that I live by is, with the awl : I meddle with no tradesman's matters, nor women's matters, but with awl. I am, indeed, sir, a surgeon to old shoes; when they are in great danger, I recover them. As proper men as ever trod upon neatsleather, have gone upon my handy-work.

Flav. But wherefore art not in thy shop to-day? Why dost thou lead these men about the streets?

2 Cit. Truly, sir, to wear out their shoes, to get myself into more work. But, indeed, sir, we make holiday, to see Cæsar, and to rejoice in his triumph. Mar. Wherefore rejoice? What conquest brings he home?

What tributaries follow him to Rome,

To grace in captive bonds his chariot-wheels?
You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless

things!

Q, you hard hearts, you cruel men of Rome,
Kew you not Pompey? Many a time and oft
Have you climb'd up to walls and battlements,
To towers and windows, yea, to chimney-tops,
Your infants in your arms, and there have sat
The live-long-day, with patient expectation,
To see great Pompey pass the streets of Rome :

And, when you saw his chariot but appear,
Have you not made an universal shout,
That Tyber trembled underneath her banks,
To hear the replication of your sounds,
Made in her concave shores?

And do you now put on your best attire?
And do you now cull out a holiday?
And do you now strew flowers in his way,
That comes in triumph over Pompey's blood?
Be gone:

Run to your houses, fall upon your knees,
Pray to the gods to intermit the plague
That needs must light on this ingratitude.

Flav. Go, go, good countrymen, and, for this fault,
Assemble all the poor men of your sort;
Draw them to Tyber banks, and weep your tears
Into the channel, till the lowest stream
Do kiss the most exalted shores of all.

[Exeunt Citizens.

See, whe'r their basest metal be not mov'd;
They vanish, tongue-tied in their guiltiness.
Go you down that way towards the Capitol;
This way will I: Disrobe the images,
If you do find them deck'd with ceremonies.
Mar. May we do so?

You know, it is the feast of Lupercal.

Flav. It is no matter; let no images Be hung with Cæsar's trophies. I'll about, And drive away the vulgar from the streets: So do you too, where you perceive them thick. These growing feathers, pluck'd from Cæsar's wing Will make him fly an ordinary pitch; Who else would soar above the view of men, And keep us all in servile fearfulness.

SCENE II.-The same.

[Exeunt.

A public Place. Enter, in procession, with music, CÆSAR; ANTONY, for the course; CALPHURNIA, PORTIA, DECIUS, CICERO, BRUTUS, CASSIUS, and CASCA, a great Crowd following; among them a Soothsayer. Cas. Calphurnia,

Casca. Peace, ho! Cæsar speaks. (Music ceases.) Caes. Calphurnia,

Cal. Here, my lord.

Cæs. Stand you directly in Antonius' way, When he doth run his course.- -Antonius. Ant. Cæsar, my lord.

Cæs. Forget not, in your speed, Antonius, To touch Calphurnia: for our elders say, The barren, touched in this holy chase, Shake off their steril curse.

Ant. I shall remember: When Cæsar says, Do this, it is perform`d. Cæs. Set on, and leave no ceremony out. (Music.)

Sooth. Ca sar

Cas. Ha! Who calls?

Casca. Bid every noise be stil: -Peace yet ag un. Music ceases.)

Cas. Who is it in the press, that calls on me? I hear a tongue, shriller than all the music, Cry, Caesar. Speak; Casar is turn'd to hear. Sooth. Beware the ides of March. Cas.

What man is that? Bru. A soothsayer bids you beware the ides of March.

Cas. Set him before me, let me see his face.
Cas. Fellow, come from the throng: Look upon
Cæsar.

Caes. What say'st thou to me now? Speak once again.

Sooth. Beware the ides of March.

Cas. He is a dreamer; let us leave him :-pass. Senet. Exeunt all but Bru. and Cats. Cas. Will you go see the order of the course? Bru. Not I.

Be not deceiv'd; If I have veil'd my look,

I turu the trouble of my countenance

Merely upon myself. Vexed I am,

Of late, with passions of some difference,
Conceptions only proper to myself,

Which give sore soil, perhaps, to my behaviours:
But let not therefore my good friends be griev'd;
Among which number, Cassius, be you one ;)
Nor construe any further my neglect,
Than that poor Brutus, with himself at war,
Forget the shews of love to other men.

Cas. Then, Brutus, I have much mistook your passion;

By means whereof, this breast of mine hath buried
Thoughts of great value, worthy cogitations.
Tell me, good Brutus, can you see your face?

Bru. No, Cassins: for the eye sees not itself.
But by reflection, by some other things.
Cas. Tis just:

And it is very much lamented, Brutus,
That you have no such mirrors, as will turn
Your hidden worthiness into your eye,

That you might see your shadow. I have heard,
Where many of the best respect in Rome,
Except immortal Cæsar,) speaking of Brutus,
And groaning underneath this age's yoke.
Have wish'd, that noble Brutus had his eyes,
Bru. Into what dangers would you lead me.
Cassius,

That you would have me seek into myself
For that which is not in me?

Cas. Therefore, good Brutus, be prepar`d to hear
And, since you know you cannot see yourself
So well as by reflection, I, your glass,
Will modestly discover to yourseli
That of yourself which you yet know not of.
And be not jealous of me, gentle Brutus..
Were I a common laugher, or did use
To stale with ordinary oaths my love
To every new protester; if you know,
That I do fawn on men, and ing them hard,
And after scandal them; or if you know,
That I profess myself in banqueting
To all the rout, then hold me dangerous.

(Flourish and shout.. Bru. What means this shouting propl

Choose Casa for the kite

Ay, do you eat it?

Cas
Then must I think you would not have it so.
Bru. I would not, Cassins; yet I love tum well.-
But wherefore do you hold me here so long '
What is it that you would impart to me?
If it be aught toward the general good,
Set honour in one eye, and death i'the other,
And I will look on both indifferently:
For, let the gods so speed me, as I love
The name of honour more than I fear death.

Cas. I know that virtue to be in you, Brutas.
As well as I do know your outward favour.
Well, honour is the subject of my story.-
I cannot tell, what you and other meu
Think of this life; but, for my single self,
I had as lief not be, as live to be
In awe of such a thing as I myself.

I was born free as Caesar; so were you
We both have fed as well; and we can both
Endure the winter's cold, as well as he.
For once, upon a raw and gusty day,
The troubled Tyber chafing with her shores,
Cæsar said to me, Dar'st thou, Cassius, now
Leap in with me into this angry flood.
And swim to yonder point ?-Upou the word,
Acconter'd as I was, I plunged in,

And bade him follow: so, indeed, he did.
The torrent roar'd; and we did buffet it
With lusty sinews; throwing it aside,
And stemming it with hearts of controversy.
But ere we could arrive the point propos`d.
Cæsar cry'd, Help me, Cassius, or I sink.
1, as Eneas, our great ancestor,

Did from the flames of Troy upon his shoulder
The old Anchises bear, so, from the waves of Tyber
Did I the tired Cæsar: And this man

Is now become a god; and Cassius is

A wretched creature, and must bend his body,
If Caesar carelessly but nod on him.
He had a fever when he was in Spain,
And, when the fit was on him, I did mark
How he did shake: 'tis true, this god did shake
His coward lips did from their colour fly:
And that same eye, whose bend doth awe the world.
Did lose his lustre: I did hear him groan:

Ay, and that tongue of his, that bade the Romans
Mark him, and write his speeches in their books,
Alas! it cried, Give me some drink, Titinius.
As a sick girl. Ye gods, it doth amaze me,
A man of such a feeble temper should
So get the start of the majestic world,
And bear the palm alone.

Bru. Another general shout!

(Shout. Flourish

I do believe, that these applauses are

For some new honours that are heap'd on Casar. Cas. Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow

world,

Like a Colossus; and we petty men
Walk under his huge legs, and peep about
To find ourselves dishonourable graves.
Men at some time are masters of their fates.
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings.
Brutus, and Cæsar: What should be in that Casar
Why should that name be sounded more than yours
Write them together, yours is as fair a name;
Sound them, it doth become the month as well.
Weigh them, it is as heavy; conjure with them
Brutus will start a spirit as soon as Cæsar. (Shout.
Now in the names of all the gods at once,

pon what meat doth this our Cæsar feed,
That he is grown so great? Age, thou art sham d
Rome, thou hast lost the breed of noble bloods"
When went there by an age, since the great flood,
But it was fam'd with more than with one man!
When could they say, till now, that talk'd of Rome
That her wide walks encompass'd but one tap
Now is it Rome indeed, and room enough,
When there is in it but one only mau.
O' con and I have beard our fathers say

fhere was a Brutus once, that would have brook'd The eternal devil to keep his state in Rome, As easily as a king.

Bru. That you do love me, I am nothing jealous;
What you would work me to, I have some aim:
How I have thought of this, and of these times,
I shall recount hereafter; for this present,
I would not, so with love I might entreat you,
Be any further mov'd. What you have said,
I will consider; what you have to say,
I will with patience hear: and find a time

Both meet to hear, and answer, such high things.
Till then, my noble friend, chew upon this;
Bratas had rather be a villager,

Than to repute himself a son of Rome
Under these hard conditions as this time

Is like to lay upon us.

Cas. I am glad, that my weak words

Have struck but thus much shew of fire from Brutus.

Re-enter CESAR, and his Train.

Bru. The games are done, and Cæsar is returning.
Cas. As they pass by, pluck Casca by the sleeve;
And he will, after his sour fashion, tell you
What hath proceeded, worthy note, to-day.

Bru. I will do so:-But, look you, Cassius,
The angry spot doth glow on Cæsar's brow,
And all the rest look like a chidden train;
Capharnia's cheek is pale; and Cicero
Looks with such ferret and such fiery eyes,
As we have seen him in the Capitol,
Being cross'd in couference by some senators.
Cas. Casca will tell us what the matter is.
Ces. Antonius.

Ant. Cæsar.

Cas. Let me have men about me that are fat; Seek-headed men, and such as sleep o'nights; Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look; He thinks too much: such men are dangerous. Ant. Fear him not, Cæsar, he's not dangerous; He is a noble Roman, and well given.

Cas. Would he were fatter:-But I fear him not Yet, if my name were liable to fear,

I do not know the man I should avoid

So soon as that spare Cassius. He reads much;
He is a great observer, and he looks

Qaite through the deeds of men: he loves no plays,
As thou dost, Antouy; he hears no music:
Seldom he smiles; and smiles in such a sort,
Av if he mock'd himself, and scorn'd his spirit
That could be mov'd to smile at any thing.
Yeh men as he be never at heart's ease,
Wales they behold a greater than themselves;
And therefore are they very dangerous.
I rather tell thee what is to be fear'd,
Than what I fear; for always I am Cæsar.
Rome on my right hand, for this ear is deaf,
And tell me truly what thou think'st of him.

Exeunt Casar and his Train. Casca stays
behind.

Casca. You pull'd me by the cloak; Would you speak with me?

Bru. Ay, Casca; tell us what hath chanc'd to-day, That Cæsar looks so sad?

Casca. Why, you were with him, were you not? Bru. I should not then ask Casca what hath stan'd.

Casca. Why, there was a crown offered him: and being offered him, he put it by with the back of his band, thos; and then the people fell a shouting. Bru. What was the second noise for? Cara. Why, for that too.

[for?

Cas. They shouted thrice; What was the last cry Casca. Why, for that too.

Bru. Was the crown offer'd him thrice? Casea. Ay, marry, was't, and he put it by thrice, very time gentler than the other; and at every put by, mine honest neighbours shouted. C's Who offered him the crown? Casca Why, Antony

Bru. Tell us the manner of it, gentle Casca. Casca. I can as well be hanged, as tell the manner of it; it was mere foolery, I did not mark it. I saw Mark Antony offer him a crown;-yet 'twas not a crown neither, 'twas one of these coronets;-and, as I told you, he put it by once: but, for all that, to my thinking, he would fain have had it. Then he offered it to him again; then he put it by again: but, to my thinking, he was very loath to lay his fingers off it. And then he offered it the third time; he put it the third time by: and still as he refused it, the rabblement hooted, and clapped their chopped hands, and threw up their sweaty night-caps, and uttered such a deal of stinking breath because Cæsar refused the crown, that it had almost choked Cæsar; for he swooned, and fell down at it: And for mine own part, I durst not laugh, for fear of opening my lips, and receiving the bad air.

Cas. But, soft, I pray you: What? Did Cæsar swoon?

Casca. He fell down in the market-place, and foamed at mouth, and was speechless.

Bru. 'Tis very like; he hath the falling-sickness. Cas. No, Cæsar hath it not; but you, and I, And honest Casca, we have the falling-sickness.

Casca. I know not what you mean by that; but, I am sure, Cæsar fell down. If the tag-rag people did not clap him and hiss him, according as he pleased and displeased them, as they use to do the players in the theatre, I am no true man.

Bru. What said he, when he came unto himself? Casca. Marry, before he fell down, when he perceived the common herd was glad he refused the crown, he plucked me ope his doublet, and offered them his throat to cut.-An I had been a man of any occupation, if I would not have taken him at a word, I would I might go to hell among the rogues:-and so he fell. When he came to himself again, he said, If he had done or said any thing amiss, he desired their worships to think it was his infirmity. Three or four wenches, where I stood, cried, Alas, good soul! -and forgave him with all their hearts: But there's no heed to be taken of them; if Cæsar had stabbed their mothers, they would have done no less.

Bru. And after that, he came, thus sad, away!
Casca. Ay.

Cas. Did Cicero say any thing?
Casca. Ay, he spoke Greek.
Cas. To what ellect?

Casca. Nay, an I tell you that, I'll ne'er look you i'the face again: But those, that understood him, smiled at one another, and shook their heads: but, for my own part, it was Greek to me. I could tell you more news too: Marullus and Flavius, for pull ing scarfs off Cæsar's images, are put to silence. Fare you well. There was more foolery yet, if ! could remember it.

Cas. Will you sup with me to-night, Casca?
Casca. No, I am promised forth.

Cas. Will you dine with me to-morrow? Casca. Ay, if I be alive, and your mind hold, and your dinner worth the eating.

Cas. Good; I will expect you.
Casca. Do so: Farewell, both.

[Exit.

Bru. What a blunt fellow is this grown to be? He was quick mettle, when he went to school. Cas. So is he now, in execution Of any bold or noble enterprise, However he puts on this tardy form. This rudeness is a sauce to his good wit, Which gives men stomach to digest his words With better appetite.

Bru. And so it is. For this time I will leave you,
To-morrow, if you please to speak with me,
I will come home to you; or, if you will,
Come home with me, and I will wait for you.
Cas. I will do so:-till then, think of the world.
[Exit Brutus,

Well, Brutus, thou art noble; yet, I see,
Thy honourable metal may be wrought

Is favour'd, like the work we have in hand, Most bloody, fiery, and most terrible.

Enter CINNA.

haste.

Cas. Tis Cinna, I do know him by his gait;

He is a friend.-Cinna, where haste you so?
Cin. To find out you: Who's that? Metellus
Cimber?

Cas. No, it is Casca; one incorporate
To our attempts. Am I not staid for, Cinna?
Cin. I am glad on't. What a fearful night is this?
There's two or three of us have seen strange sights.
Cas. Am I not staid for, Cinna? Tell me.
Cin.

Yes, You are. O, Cassins, if you could but win The noble Brutus to our party--Cas. Be you content: Good Cinna, take this paper, And look you lay it in the prætor's chair, Where Brutus may bat find it; and throw this In at his window: set this up with wax Upon old Brutus' statue: all this done, Repair to Pompey's porch, where you shall find us. Is Decias Brutus, and Trebonius, there?

Cin. All but Metellus Cimber; and he's gone
To seek you at your house. Well, I will hie,
And so bestow these papers as you bade me.
Cas. That done, repair to Pompey's theatre.
[Exit Cinna.

Come, Casca, you and I will yet, ere day,
See Brutus at his house: three parts of him
Is ours already; and the man entire,
Upon the next encounter, yields him ours.
Casca. O, he sits high in all the people's hearts;
And that which would appear offence in us,
His countenance, like richest alchymy,
Will change to virtue, and to worthiness.

Cas. Him, and his worth, and our great need of him,

You have right well conceited. Let us go,
For it is after midnight; and, ere day,

We will awake him, and be sure of him. [Exeunt.

Bru. It must be by his death: and, for my part, I know no personal cause to spurn at him, But for the general. He would be crown'd :How that might change his nature, there's the question.

:

It is the bright day, that brings forth the adder:
And that craves wary walking. Crown him?
That ;-

And then, I grant, we put a sting in him,
That at his will he may do danger with.
The abuse of greatness is, when it disjoins
Remorse from power: And, to speak truth of Cæsar,
I have not known when his affections sway'd
More than his reason. But 'tis a common proof,
That lowliness is young ambition's ladder,
Whereto the climber-upward turns his face :
But when he once attains the upmost round,
He then unto the ladder turns his back,
Looks in the clouds, scorning the base degrees
By which he did ascend: So Cæsar may;

Which, hatch'd, would, as his kind, grow mischie

vous,

And kill him in the shell.

Re-enter LUCIUS.

Luc. The taper burneth in your closet, sir.
Searching the window for a flint, I found
This paper, thus seal'd up; and, I am sure,
It did not lie there, when I went to bed.

Bru. Get you to bed again, it is now day.
Is not to-morrow, boy, the ides of March?
Luc. I know not, sir.

Bru. Look in the calendar, and bring me word. Luc. I will, sir.

Bru. The exhalations, whizzing in the air, Give so much light that I may read by them.

[Exit.

(Opens the letter, and reads.)
Brutus, thou sleep'st; awake, and see thyself.
Shall Rome, &c. Speak, strike, redress!
Brutus, thou sleep'st; awake,-

Such instigations have been often dropp'd
Where I have took them up.

Shall Rome, &c. Thus must I piece it out;
Shall Rome stand under one man's awe? What?

They are the faction. O conspiracy!
Sham'st thou to shew thy dangerous brow by night,
When evils are most free? O, then, by day,
Where wilt thou find a cavern dark enough

To mask thy monstrous visage? Seek none, conspiracy;

Hide it in smiles, and affability:

For if thou path thy native semblance on,
Not Erebus itself were dim enough
To hide thee from prevention.

Enter CASSIUS, CASCA, DECIUS, CINNA, METEL
LUS CIMBER, and TREBONIUS.

Cas. I think we are too bold upon your rest: