Why all these things change, from their ordinance,
Their natures, and preformed faculties,

To monstrous quality; why, you shall find,
That heaven hath infus'd them with these spirits,
To make them instruments of fear, and warning,
Unto some monstrous state. Now could I, Casca,
Name to thee a man most like this dreadful night;
That thunders, lightens, opens graves, and roars
As doth the lion in the Capitol:

A man no mightier than thyself, or me,

8

In personal action; yet prodigious & grown,
And fearful, as these strange eruptions are.

Casca. Tis Cæsar that you mean: Is it not,
Cassius?

Cas. Let it be who it is: for Romans now Have thewes 9 and limbs like to their ancestors; But, woe the while! our fathers' minds are dead, And we are govern'd with our mothers' spirits; Our yoke and sufferance show us womanish.

Casca. Indeed, they say, the senators to-morrow Mean to establish Cæsar as a king:

And he shall wear his crown by sea and land,
In every place, save here in Italy.

Cas. I know where I will wear this dagger then;
Cassius from bondage will deliver Cassius:
Therein, ye gods, you make the weak most strong;
Therein, ye gods, you tyrants do defeat:
Nor stony tower, nor walls of beaten brass,
Nor airless dungeon, nor strong links of iron,
Can be retentive to the strength of spirit;
But life, being weary of these worldly bars,
Never lacks power to dismiss itself.

If I know this, know all the world besides,

8 Portentous.

9 i. e. sinews, muscular strength. See note on King Henry IV. Part II. Act iii. Sc. 2.

That part of tyranny, that I do bear,
I can shake off at pleasure.

Casca.

So

every

So can I:

bondman in his own hand bears The power to cancel his captivity

Cas. And why should Cæsar be a tyrant then?
Poor man! I know, he would not be a wolf,
But that he sees the Romans are but sheep:
He were no lion, were not Romans hinds.
Those that with haste will make a mighty fire,
Begin it with weak straws: What trash is Rome,
What rubbish, and what offal, when it serves
For the base matter to illuminate

So vile a thing as Cæsar? But, O, grief!
Where hast thou led me? I, perhaps, speak this
Before a willing bondman: then I know
My answer must be made 11: But I am arm'd,
And dangers are to me indifferent.

Casca. You speak to Casca; and to such a man,
Hold my hand:

That is no fleering tell-tale.

Be factious 12 for redress of all these griefs;

And I will set this foot of mine as far,

As who goes farthest.

Cas.
There's a bargain made.
Now know you, Casca, I have mov'd already
Some certain of the noblest-minded Romans,
To undergo, with me, an enterprize

10 Thus in Cymbeline, Act v. Posthumus, speaking of his chains:

take this life,

And cancel these cold bonds.'

11 I know I shall be called to account, and must answer for having uttered seditious words.' So in Much Ado about Nothing: Sweet prince, let me go no further to mine answer; do you hear me, and let this count kill me.'

12

'Hold my hand' is the same as 'Here's my hand.' 'Be factious for redress' means, be contentious, enterprising for redress.

VOL. VIII.

Ꭰ Ꭰ .

Of honourable-dangerous consequence;
And I do know, by this, they stay for me
In Pompey's porch; for now, this fearful night,
There is no stir, or walking in the streets;
And the complexion of the element,

In favour's 13, like the work we have in hand,
Most bloody, fiery, and most terrible.

Enter CINNA.

Casca. Stand close awhile, for here comes one in haste.

Cas. 'Tis Cinna, I do know him by his gait:
He is a friend.--Cinna, where haste you so?
Cin. To find out you: Who's that? Metellus
Cimber?

Cas. No, it is Casca; one incorporate
To our attempts. Am I not staid for, Cinna?

Cin. I am glad on't. What a fearful night is this!
There's two or three of us have seen strange sights.
Cas. Am I not staid for, Cinna? Tell me.
Cin.

You are.

O, Cassius, if you could but win The noble Brutus to our party

Yes,

Cas. Be you content: Good Cinna, take this paper, And look you lay it in the prætor's chair,

Where Brutus may but find it; and throw this
In at his window: set this up with wax
Upon old Brutus' statue: all this done,
Repair to Pompey's porch, where you shall find us.
Is Decius Brutus, and Trebonius, there?

Cin. All but Metellus Cimber; and he's gone
To seek you at your house. Well, I will hie,
And so bestow these
Cas. That done, repair to Pompey's theatre.

papers as you

bade me.

[Exit CINNA.

13 The old copy reads, 'Is favours. Favour here is put for appearance, look, countenance: to favour is to resemble.

Come, Casca, you and I will, yet, ere day,
See Brutus at his house: three parts of him
Is ours already; and the man entire,
Upon the next encounter, yields him ours.

Casca. O, he sits high in all the people's hearts: And that, which would appear offence in us, His countenance, like richest alchymy,. Will change to virtue, and to worthiness.

Cas. Him, and his worth, and our great need of him,

You have right well conceited. Let us go,

For it is after midnight; and, ere day,

We will awake him, and be sure of him. [Exeunt.

ACT II.

SCENE I.

The same.

Brutus's Orchard1.

Enter BRUTUS.

Bru. What, Lucius! ho!—

I cannot, by the progress of the stars,

Give guess

how near to day.-Lucius, I say!I would it were my fault to sleep so soundly.When, Lucius, when?? Awake, I say: What, Lucius!

1 Orchard and garden appear to have been synonymous with our ancestors. In Romeo and Juliet Capulet's garden is twice called orchard. The word was anciently written hort-yard; but it is a mistake to suppose this points at the Latin hortus. The word is from the Saxon ontzeand, which is itself put for pyntzeand, a place for herbs. In a subsequent scene of this play orchard is again used for garden:—

he hath left you all his walks,

His private arbours, and new planted orchards

On this side Tyber.'

2 See vol. i. p. 25; and note on King Richard II. Act ii. Sc. 2.

Enter LUCIUS.

Luc. Call'd you, my lord?

Bru. Get me a taper in my study, Lucius: When it is lighted, come and call me here.

Luc. I will, my lord.

[Exit. Bru. It must be by his death: and, for my part, I know no personal cause to spurn at him, He would be crown'd:How that might change his nature, there's the ques

But for the general.

tion.

It is the bright day, that brings forth the adder;
And that craves wary walking. Crown him?—
That;-

And then, I grant, we put a sting in him,
That at his will he may do danger with.
The abuse of greatness is, when it disjoins
Remorse 3 from power: And to speak truth of Cæsar,
I have not known when his affections sway'd
More than his reason. But 'tis a common proof*,
That lowliness is young ambition's ladder,
Whereto the climber-upward turns his face:
But when he once attains the utmost round,
He then unto the ladder turns his back,
Looks in the clouds, scorning the base degrees
By which he did ascend 5: So Cæsar may;

Then, lest he may, prevent. And, since the quarrel
Will bear no colour for the thing he is,

3

Shakspeare usually uses remorse for pity, tenderness of heart. 4 i. e. a matter proved by common experience.

5

The aspirer once attain'à unto the top,

Cuts off those means by which himself got up:
And with a harder hand, and straighter rein,
Doth curb that looseness he did find before:
Doubting the occasion like might serve again;
His own example makes him fear the more.'
Daniel's Civil Wars, 1602.