That I did love thee, Cafar, oh, 'tis true;
If then thy spirit 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 fast as they stream 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 stand
Sign'd in thy fpoil, and (5) crimson'd in thy Lethe.
O world! thou waft the foreft to this hart,

And this, indeed, O world, the heart of thee.
How like a deer, ftricken 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 Cafar 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 Cafar. Friends am I with you all, and love you all; Upon this hope, that you fhall give me reasons, Why, and wherein Cafar was dangerous. Bru. Or elfe this were a favage fpectacle. Our reafons are fo full of good regard, That were you, Antony, the fon of Cæfar, You should be fatisfied.

(5)-crimfen'd in thy Lethe.] Mr. Theobald fays, The dictionaries acknowledge no fuch word as Lethe; yet he is not without fuppofition, that Shakespeare coin'd the word; and yet for all that, the L. might be a D. imperfectly wrote, therefore he will have death inftead of it. After all this pother, Lethe was a common French word, fignifying death or deftruction, from the Latin lethum.

WARB.

Ant.

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 firft,

And fhew the reafon of our Cafar's death.
What Antony fhall speak, I will protest
He speaks by leave, and by permiffion;
And that we are contented, Cafar fhall
Have all due rites, and lawful ceremonies:
It fhall advantage more, than do us wrong.

Caf. I know not what may fall. I like it not.
Bru. Mark Antony, here. Take you Cafar's body.
You fhall not in your funeral fpeech blame us,
But fpeak all good you can devife of Cafar,
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 fpeech is ended.

Ant. Be it fo;

I do defire no more.

Bru. Prepare the body then, and follow us.

[Exeunt Corfpirators.

SCENE IV.

Manet Antony.

Ant. O pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth!
That I am meek and gentle with thefe butchers.
Thou art the ruins of the noblest man,
That ever lived (6) in the tide of times.
Woe to the hand, that fhed this coftly blood!
Over thy wounds now do I prophefy,

Which, like dumb mouths, do ope their ruby lips,
To beg the voice and utterance of my tongue,
A curfe fhall light (7) upon the limbs of men;
Domeftick fury, and fierce civil ftrife,
Shall cumber all the 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 by the hands of war:
All pity choak'd with cuftom of fell deeds;
And Cafar's fpirit, ranging for revenge,
With Até by his fide come hot from hell,
Shall in these confines with a Monarch's voice,
(8) Cry Havock, and let flip the Dogs of war;

(6)

(7)

That

in the tide of times.] That is, in the courfe of times. upon the LIMBS of men ;] We fhould read,

LINE of men.

-thefe lymms of men.

That is, thefe blood hounds of men. word lymm eafily made the change.

WARBURTON.

The uncommonnefs of the

(8) Cry Havock,] A learned correfpondent has informed me, that, in the military operations 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 Confiable & Marefchall in

the

That this foul deed fhall fmell above the earth
With carrion men, groaning for burial.

Enter Octavius's Servant.

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

O Cæfar!

[Seeing the body. Ant. Thy heart is big, get thee apart and weep; Paffion I fee is catching; for mine eyes,

Seeing thofe Beads of forrow ftand in thine,
Began to water. Is thy mafter coming?

Serv. He lies to-night within feven 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 fafety 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 fhall 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 itate of things.

-Lend me your hand. [Exeunt with Cæfar's body.

the Tyme of Werre, contained in the Black Book of the Admis ralty, there is the following chapter.

"The peyne of hym that crieth havock &e of them that fol loweth hym. etit. v."

Item Si quis inventus fuerit qui clamorem inceperit qui vo "catur Havok."

Alfo that no man be fo hardy to crye Havok upon peyne "that he that is begynner fhall be deede therefore: and the re"manent that doo the fame or folow fhall lofe their horfe &

harneis: and the perfones of fuch as foloweth & efcrien fhal be under arreft of the Coneftable & Marefchall warde unto "tyme that they have made fyn; & founde furetie no morr to "offende; and his body in prifon at the Kyng wylle-.

SCENE V.

Changes to the Forum.

Enter Brutus, and mounts the Roftra; Caffius, with the Plebeians.

Pleb.

E will be fatisfied. Let us be fatisfied.

WE Bru. Then follow me, and give me au

dience, friends.

Caffius, go you into the other street,

And part the numbers.

Thofe that will hear me fpeak, let 'em ftay here;
Thofe, that will follow Caffius, go with him,
And publick reafons fhall be rendered

Of Cefar's death.

1 Pleb. I will hear Brutus fpeak.

2 Pleb. I will hear Caffius, and compare their rea fons,

When fev'rally we hear them rendered.

[Exit Caffius, with fome of the Plebeians.

3 Pleb. The noble Brutus is afcended: filence! Bru. Be patient 'till the last.

Be

Romans, (9) Countrymen, and Lovers! hear me for my caufe; and be filent, that you may hear. lieve me for mine honour, and have refpect to mine honour, that you may believe. Cenfure me in your wifdom, and awake your fenfes, that you may the better judge. If there be any in this affembly, any

(9) Countrymen and Lovers! &c.] There is no where, in all Shakespeare's works, a ftronger proof of his not being what we call a fcholar, than this; or of his not knowing any thing of the genius of learned antiquity. This fpeech of Brutus is wrote in imitation of his famed laconic brevity, and is very fine in its kind. But no more like that brevity, than his times were like Brutus's. The ancien laconic brevity was fimple, natural and eafy this is quaint, artificial, jingling, and abounding with forced antithefis's. In a word a brevity, that for its falfe eloquence would have fuited any character, and for its good fenfe would have be come the greatest of our author's time; but yet, in a stile of declaiming, that fits as ill upon Brutus as our author's trowsers or collar-band would have done. WARBURTON.

dear