Let's carve him as a dish fit for the gods,
Not hew him as a carcass fit for hounds.
And let our hearts, as fubtle masters do,
Stir up their servants to an act of rage,
And after seem to chide them.

SLEEP.

* Enjoy the honey-heavy dew of slumber:
Thou hast no figures nor no fantasies,
Which bufy care draws in the brains of men;
Therefore thou fleep'st so sound.

SCENE III Portia's Speech to Brutus.

† You've ungently, Brutus,

Stole from my bed and yesternight at supper,
You fuddenly arose and walk'd about,

Musing and fighing, with your arms a-cross:
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 with your hand,
Gave fign for me to leave you: so I did,
Fearing to ftrengthen that impatience,
Which feem'd too much inkindled; and, withal,
Hoping it was but an effect of humour,
Which sometimes hath his hour with every man:
It will not let you eat, nor talk, nor fleep;

* See p. 17 of this volume, and the 10th page of vol, I. I See the 5th page of this volume,

1

1

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.

SCENE IV. Calphurnia to Cæfar, on the Prodigies feen the Night before his Death.

Cæfar, 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 fights seen by the watch.
A lioness hath whelped in the streets,

And graves have yawn'd, and yielded up their dead.
Fierce fiery warriors fight 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 Cæfar! these things are beyond all use,
And I do fear them.

Caf. What can be avoided,
Whose end is purpos'd by the mighty gods?
Yet Cæfar shall go forth: for these predictions
Are to the world in general, as to Cæfar.

Cal. When beggars die, there are no comets seen; The heav'ns themselves blaze forth the death of princes.

Against the Fear of Death

Cowards die many times before their deaths;

The valiant never taste of death but once:

* The reader will be agreeably entertained, if he turns to the beginning of Hamlet, where he will find an account of these prodigies from our author, Virgil, and Ovid.

Of

Of all the wonders that I yet have heard,
It seems to me most strange, that men should fear :

(7) Seeing that death, a necessary end,

Will come, when it will come.

DANGER.

Danger knows full well,

That Cæfar is more dangerous than he. (8) We are two lions litter'd in one day, And I the elder and more terrible.

SCENE VII. ENVY.

(9) My heart laments, that virtue cannot live Out of the teeth of emulation.

ACT III. SCENE IV.
REVENGE.

(10) Cæfar's spirit, ranging for revenge, With Até by his fide, come hot from hell,

(7) Seeing, &c.]

The term of life is limited,

Shall

1

Ne may a man prolong nor shorten it.
The foldier may not move from watchful sted,

Nor leave his stand, until his captaine bed.

Spenser.

(3) We are, &c.] The old folios read Wee beare, which Mr. Theobald, ingeniously enough, altered to we were; and Mr. Upton to we are, which is not only nearer the traces of the letters, but more agreeable to the sense of the passage: for Cafar speaks all thro' in the present tense: Danger knows, that Cæfar is more dangerous than he: we are two lions, twins, litter'd in one day, and I am the elder and more terrible.

(9) See p. 70. foregoing. and n. 13.

(10) Cafar's, &c.] Mr. Seward observes, that in those terrible graces spoken of just now (note 5.) no followers of Shakespear approach fo near him as Beaumont and Fletcher; of which he adds the Lines here quoted as a strong proof:

F3.

Fix

Shall in these confines, with a monarch's voice,
Cry havock, and let flip the dogs of war.

SCENE. V. Brutus's Speech to the People.

If there be any in this assembly, any dear friend of Cæfar's, to him I say, that Brutus's love to Cæfar was no less than his. If then that friend demand, why Brutus rose against Cæfar, this is my answer; not that I lov'd Cæfar less, but that I lov'd Rome more. Had you rather Cæfar were living, and dye all flaves than that Cæfar were dead, to live all free-men? As Cæfar lov'd me, I weep for him; as he was fortunate, I rejoice at it; as he was valiant, I honour him; but as he was ambitious, I flew him. There are tears for his love, joy for his fortune, honour for his valour, and death for his ambition. Who's here so base, that would be a bond-man? If any, fpeak, for him have I offended. Who is here so rude, that would not be a Roman? If any, speak; for him have I offended. Who is here so vile, that will not love his country? If any, speak; for him have I offended.

Fix not your Empire

Upon the tomb of him, will shake all Ægypt:
Whofe warlike groans will raise ten thousand spirits,
Great as himself, in every hand a thunder.

Destructions darting from their looks.

The False One, A. 2. S. 1.

There is fomething very great and aftonishing in the following raffage from Ben Johnson, tho' not very famous for fuch daring Kights. Catiline says to his foldiers,

Methinks I see death, and the furies waiting
What we will do, and all the heaven at leifure

For the great spectacle. Draw then your fwords, &c.

See Catiline, Act 5.

SCENE

SCENE VI. Antony's Funeral Oration.

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears
I come to bury Cæfar, not to praise him.
The evil, that men do, lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones
So let it be with Cæfar! noble Brutus
Hath told you Cæfar was ambitious;
If it were so, it was a grievous fault;
And grievously hath Cæfar answer'd it.
Here, under leave of Brutus, and the rest,
(For Brutus is an honourable man,
So are they all, all honourable men)
Come 1 to speak in Cæfar's funeral.
He was my friend, faithful and just to me,
But Brutus says, he was ambitious;
And Brutus is an honourable man.

He hath brought many captives home to Rome,
Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill;
Did this in Cæfar seem ambitious?

When that the poor have cry'd, Cæfar hath wept;
Ambition should be made of sterner stuff.

Yet Brutus says, he was ambitious;
And Brutus is an honourable man.
You all did fee, that on the Lupercal,:
I thrice presented him a kingly crown,
Which he did thrice refuse. Was this ambition

Yet Brutus says, he was ambitious,
And, fure, he is an honourable man.
I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke;
But here I am to speak what I do know.
You all did love him once, not without cause:
What cause with-holds you then to mourn for him ?
O judgment! thou art fled to brutish beafts,

F4

And