We all stand up against the spirit of Cæfar;
And in the fpirit of men there is no blood:
O, that we then could come by Cæfar's spirit,
And not dismember Cæfar! But, alas,
Cæfar must bleed for it! And, gentle friends,
Let's kill him boldly, but not wrathfully;
Let's carve him as a difh fit for the gods,
Not hew him as a carcafe fit for hounds:
And let our hearts, as fubtle mafters do,
Stir up their fervants to an act of rage,
And after feem to chide them. This fhall make
Our purpose neceffary, and not envious':
Which fo 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 Cæfar's arm,
When Cæfar's head is off.

Caf. Yet I fear him :

For in the ingrafted love he bears to Cæfar,

Bru. Alas, good Caffius, do not think of him:

If he love Cæfar, all that he can do

Is to himself; 'take thought, and die for Cæsar :

And

* O, that we then could come by Cafar's fpirit, &c.] Lord Sterline has the fame thought: Brutus remonstrating against the tak ing off of Antony, fays:

"Ah! ah! we must but too much murder fee,
"That without doing evil cannot do good;

"And would the gods that Rome could be made free,
"Without the effufion of one drop of blood!"

as a difh fit for the gods, &c.]
Gradive, dedisti,

MALONE."

"Ne qua manus vatem, ne quid mortalia bello "Lædere tela queant, fanctum et venerabile Diti "Funus erat." Stat. Theb. VII. 1. 696. STEEVENS. take thought,-] That is, turn melancholy. JOHNSON. So, in Antony and Cleopatra :

"What shall we do, Ænobarbus

"Think and die."

Again, in Holined, p.833:

D 3

now they were without fervice

And that were much he should; for he is given
To fports, to wildness, and much company.

Treb. There is no fear in him; let him not die;
For he will live, and laugh at this hereafter.

Bru. Peace, count the clock.

Caf. The clock hath ftrucken three.
Treb. 'Tis time to part.

Caf. But it is doubtful yet,

[Clock Strikes,

Whe'r Cæfar will come forth to-day, or no:
For he is fuperftitious grown of late;

2

Quite from the main opinion he held once
Of fantasy, of dreams, and ceremonies :
It may be, thefe apparent prodigies,
The unaccustom'd terror of this night,
And the perfuafion of his augurers,
May hold him from the Capitol to-day.

Dec. Never fear that: If he be fo refolv'd,
I can o'erfway him: for he loves to hear,

fervice, which caufed them to take thought, infomuch that fome died by the way, &c." STEEVENS.

For he is fuperftitious grown of late';

Quite from the main opinion be held once
Of fantafy, of dreams and ceremonies:]

Cæfar, as well as Caffius, was an Epicurean. By main opinion Caffius intends a compliment to his fect, and means folid, fundamental opinion, grounded in truth and nature: as by fantafy is meant ominous forebodings; and by ceremonies, atonements of the gods by means of religious rites and facrifices. A little after, where Calphurnia fays:

Cafar, I never flood on ceremonies,

Yet now they fright me :

The poet ufes ceremonies in a quite different fenfe, namely, the turning accidents to omens, a principal fuperftition of antiquity. WARBURTON.

Main opinion, is nothing more than leading, fixed, predominant opinion. JOHNSON.

for be loves to hear, &c.] It was finely imagined by the poet, to make Cæfar delight in this fort of converfation. The author of St. Evremond's Life tells us, that the great prince of Conde took much pleasure in remarking on the foible and ridi̟cule of characters. WARBURTON,

That

That unicorns may be betray'd with trees,
And bears with glaffes, elephants with holes,
Lions with toils, and men with flatterers;
But, when I tell him, he hates flatterers,
He fays, he does; being then moft flattered.
Let me work:

For I can give his humour the true bent;
And I will bring him to the Capitol.

Caf. Nay, we will all of us be there to fetch him.
Bru. By the eighth hour: Is that the uttermoft?
Cin. Be that the uttermoft, and fail not then.
Met. Caius Ligarius doth bear Cæfar hard,

↑ That unicorns may be betray'd by trees,

And bears with glasses, elephants with holes.]

Who

Unicorns are faid to have been taken by one who, running be-
hind a tree, eluded the violent push the animal was making at
him, fo that his horn spent its force on the trunk, and ftuck faft,
detaining the beaft till he was dispatched by the hunter.
So, in Spenfer's Faery Queen, B, II. ch. 5:
Like as a lyon whote imperiall powre
"A prowd rebellious unicorne defies;

"T'avoid the rafh affault and wrathfull ftowre
"Of his fiers foe, him to a tree applies :
"And when him running in full courfe he fpies,
"He flips afide; the whiles the furious beaft
"His precious horne, fought of his enemies,
"Strikes in the stocke, ne thence can be releast,
"But to the mighty victor yields a bounteous feaft."

Again, in Buffy D'Ambois, 1641:

"An angry unicorne in his full career

Charge with too fwift a foot a jeweller

"That watch'd him for the treasure of his brow,
"And e'er he could get shelter of a tree,

"Nail him with his rich antler to the earth."

Bears are reported to have been furprised by means of a mirTor, which they would gaze on, affording their purfuers an opportunity of taking the furer aim. This circumftance, I think, mentioned by Claudian. Elephants were feduced into pitfalls, lightly covered with hurdles and turf, on which a proper bait to tempt them, was expofed. See Pliny's Nat. Hift. B. VIII.. STEEVENS.

$

-bear Cæfar hard.] Thus the old copy, but Rowe, Pope, and Hanmer, on the authority of the fecond and latter folios

D 4

read

Who rated him for fpeaking well of Pompey;
I wonder, none of you have thought of him.

Bru. Now, good Metellus, go along to him: He loves me well, and I have given him reafons; Send him but hither, and I'll fashion him.

Caf. The morning comes upon us: We'll leave
you, Brutus:-

And, friends, disperse yourselves: but all remember
What you have faid, and fhew 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,
With untir'd fpirits, and formal conftancy:
And fo, good-inorrow to you every one.

Manet Brutus..

[Exeunt,

Boy! Lucius-Faft afleep? It is no matter;
Enjoy the honey-heavy dew of flumber :
Thou haft no figures, nor no fantafies,
Which bufy care draws in the brains of men;
Therefore thou fleep'ft fo found.

Enter Portia,

Por. Brutus, my lord!

Bru. Portia, what mean you? Wherefore rife 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 have ungently,
Brutus,

read batred, though the fame expreffion appears again in the first fcene of the following act: " -I do befeech you, if you bear me hard:"and has already occurr'd in a former one:

"Cæfar doth bear me hard, but he loves Brutus." STEEVENS,

• Let not our looks-] Let not our faces put on, that is, wear or how our defigns. JOHNSON.

Stole

Stole from my bed: And yefternight, at fupper,
You fuddenly arofe, and walk'd about,
Mufing, and fighing, with your arms across:
And when I afk'd you what the matter was,
You ftar'd upon me with ungentle looks:

I urg'd you further; then you fcratch'd your head,
And too impatiently ftamp'd with your foot:
Yet I infifted, yet you anfwer'd not;

But, with an angry wafture of your hand,
Gave fign for me to leave you: So I did;
Fearing to ftrengthen that impatience,
Which feem'd too much enkindled; and, withal,
Hoping it was but an effect of humour,
Which fometime hath his hour with every man.
It will not let you eat, nor talk, nor fleep;
And, could it work fo 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 wife, and, were he not in health,
He would embrace the means to come by it.
Bru. Why, fo I do :-Good Portia, go to bed.
Por. Is Brutus fick ? and is it phyfical
To walk unbraced, and fuck up the humours
Of the dank morning? What, is Brutus fick;
And will he fteal out of his wholesome bed,
To dare the vile contagion of the night?
And tempt the rheumy and unpurged air
To add unto his ficknefs? No, my Brutus;
You have fome fick offence within your mind,
Which, by the right and virtue of my place,
I ought to know of: And, upon my knees,
I charm you", by my once commended beauty,

"I charm you] Thus the old copy. Pope and Hanmer read charge, but unneceffarily, So, in Cymbeline:

-'tis your graces

"That from my muteft confcience to my tongue
" Charms this report out." STEEVENS.

By