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SCENE II. A room in Cæsar's palace.

Bru.

Oye gods, Render me worthy of this noble wife!-

[K'nocking within. Hark, hark! one knocks. Portia, go in a while; And by and by thy bosom shall partake The secrets of my heart. All my engagements I will construe to thee, All the characteryl of my sad brows: Leave me with haste.

[Exit Portia. Enter Lucius and LIGARIUS.

Lucius, who's that knocks? Luc. Here is a sick man that would speak

Thunder and lightning. Enter CÆSAR in his

night-goun. Cæs. Nor heaven nor earth have been at

peace to-night; Thrice hath Calpurnia in her sleep cried out, “Help, ho! they murder Cæsar!”- Who's

within?

Enter a Servant.

with you.

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son,

2

Bru. Caius Ligarius, that Metellus spake

of. Boy, stand aside.—Caius Ligarius! how? Lig. Vouchsafe good morrow from a feeble

tongue. Bru. O, what a time have you chose out,

brave Caius, To wear a kerchief! 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

deriv'd from honourable loins ! Thou, like an exorcist, has conjur'd up My mortified 3 spirit. Now bid me run, And I will strive with things impossible, Yea, get the better of them. What's to do? Bru. A piece of work that will make sick

men whole. Lig. But are not some whole that we must

make sick? Bru. That must we also. What it is, my

Caius,]
I shall unfold to thee, as we are going,
To whom it must be done.
Lig.

Set on your foot;
And with a heart new-fir'd I follow you,
To do I know not what; but it sufficeth
That Brutus leads me on.

Follow me, then. [Exeunt.

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, Recounts most horrid sights seen by the watch. A lioness hath whelped in the streets; And graves have yawn'd and yielded up their

dead;
Fierce fiery warriors fought upon the clouds,
In ranks and squadrons and right form of war,
Which drizzled blood upon the Capitol;
The noise of battle hurtled? in the air,
Horses did neigh and dying men did groan;
And ghosts did shriek and squeal about the

streets.
O Cæsar! these things are beyond all use, 8
And I do fear them.
Cæs.

What can be avoided,
Whose end is purpos’d by the mighty gods?
[Yet Cæsar shall go forth; for these predictions
Are to the world in general as to Cæsar.

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Bru.

Cal. When beggars die, there are no comets

seen; The heavens themselves blaze forth the death

of princes. Cæs. ] Cowards die many times before their

deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once. Of all the wonders that I yet have heard, It seems to me most strangethat men should fear; Seeing that death, a necessary end, Will come when it will come.

Enter a Servant.
What

say
the

augurers ? Serv. They would not have you to stir forth

to-day. Plucking the entrails of an offering forth, 39 They could not find a heart within the beast.

Cæs. The gods do this in shame of cowardice; Cæsar should be a beast without a heart,

[Exit Servant. If he should stay at home to-day for fear. No, Cæsar shall [not. Danger knows full well That Cæsar is more dangerous than he. We are two lions litter'd in one day, And I the elder and more terrible;And Caesar shall ] go forth. Cal.

Alas! my lord, Your wisdom is consum'd in confidence. Do not go forth to-day. Call it my fear That keeps you in the house, and not your own. We'll send Mark Antony to the senate-house, And he shall say you are not well to-day; Let me, upon my knees, prevail in this.

Cæs. Mark Antony shall say I am not well, And, for thy humour, I will stay at home.

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That is enough to satisfy the senate.
But, for your private satisfaction,
Because I love you, I will let you know:-
Calpurnia here, my wife, stays? me at home.
She dream'd to-night she saw my statua,3
Which, like a fountain with an hundred spouts,
Did run pure blood; and many lusty Romans
Came smiling and did bathe their hands in it;
And these
Does she apply for warnings and porténts so
Of evils imminent; and on her knee
Hath begg'd that I will stay at home to-day.

Dec. This dream is all amiss interpreted;
It was a vision fair and fortunate.
Your statue spouting blood in many pipes,
In which so many smiling Romans bath’d,
Signifies that from you great Rome shall suck
Reviving blood; and that great men shall press
For tinctures, stains, relics, and cognizance.
This by Calpurnia's dream is signified.
Cæs. And this way have you well ex-

pounded it. Dec. I have, when you have heard what I

can say; And know it now. The senate have concluded To give this day a crown to mighty Cæsar. If you shall send them word you will not come, Their minds may change. Besides, it were a

mock Apt to be render'd,for some one to say, “Break up the senate till another time, When Cæsar's wife shall meet with better

dreams." If Cæsar hide himself, shall they not whisper, “Lo, Cæsar is afraid”? Pardon me, Cæsar, for my dear, dear love To your proceeding bids me tell you this; And reason to my love is liable.?

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Enter Decius.

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Here's Decius Brutus, he shall tell them so.
Dec. Cæsar, all hail! Good morrow, worthy

Cæsar;
I come to fetch you to the senate-house.

Cæs. And you are come in very happy time
To bear my greeting to the senators,
And tell them that I will not come to-day.
Cannot is false; and that I dare not, falser;
I will not come to-day Tell them so, Decius.

Cal. Say, he is sick
Cæs.

Shall Cæsar send a lie? Have I in conquest stretch'd mine arm so far,

a

That your best friends shall wish I had been further.

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