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 re

solution.

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
That every Roman bears, and nobly bears,
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.

csecret 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,

For he will never follow anything That other men begin.

CAS.

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.

d

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,

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.

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,

Render me worthy of this noble wife !--

[Knocking without.

Hark, hark! one knocks: Portia, go in a while;
And by and by thy bosom shall partake
The secrets of my heart :

с

All my engagements I will construe to thee,
All the charactery of my sad brows:-
Leave me with haste.-Lucius, who's that knocks?
[Exit PORTLA.

Enter LUCIUS, followed by LIGARIUS.

Luc. Here is a sick man that would speak with

you.

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! (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!

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. BRU.

Follow me then.

"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.