Cæs. Are we all ready? what is now amiss, That Cæsar and his senate must redress? Met. Most high, most mighty, and most puissant Cæsar, [Kneeling. Cæs. If thou dost bend, and pray, and fawn for him, Know, Cæsar doth not wrong; nor without cause false concord are to be found in his compositions. Steevens is angry with Malone for laying them to the charge of the poet, and would transfer them to the player-editors or their printer. Ritson thinks the words' Are we all ready?' should be given to Cinna, and not to Cæsar. 3 Pre-ordinance for ordinance already established. 4 The old copy erroneously reads, the lane of children.' Lawe, as anciently written, was easily confounded with lane. 5 Ben Jonson has shown the ridicule of this passage in the Induction to The Staple of News; and notices it in his Discoveries as one of the lapses of Shakspeare's pen; but certainly without that malevolence which has been ascribed to him: and be it observed, that is almost the only passage in his works which can justly be construed into an attack on Shakspeare. He has been accused of quoting the passage unfaithfully; but Mr. Tyrwhitt surmised, and Mr. Gifford is decidedly of opinion, that the passage originally stood as cited by Jonson; thus:Met. Cæsar, thou dost me wrong. Cæs. Cæsar did never wrong, but with just cause.' Mr. Tyrwhitt has endeavoured to defend the passage by observing, that wrong is not always a synonymous term for injury; Met. Is there no voice more worthy than my own, To sound more sweetly in great Cæsar's ear, For the repealing of my banish'd brother? Bru. I kiss thy hand, but not in flattery, Cæsar; Desiring thee, that Publius Cimber may Have an immediate freedom of repeal. Cas. Pardon, Cæsar; Cæsar, pardon: As low as to thy foot doth Cassius fall, To beg enfranchisement for Publius Cimber. The skies are painted with unnumber'd sparks, Let me a little show it, even in this; That I was constant, Cimber should be banish'd, And constant do remain to keep him so. Cin. O Cæsar, and that Cæsar is meant to say, that he doth not inflict any evil or punishment but with just cause. The fact seems to be (says Mr. Gifford), that this verse, which closely borders on absurdity, without being absolutely absurd, escaped the poet in the heat of composition; and being one of those quaint slips which are readily remembered, became a jocular and familiar phrase for reproving (as in the passage of Ben Jonson's Induction) the perverse, and unreasonable expectations of the male or female gossips of the day.' 6 i. e. intelligent, capable of apprehending. 7 i.e. still holds his place unshaked by suit or solicitation,' of which the object is to move the person addressed. Cas. Hence! Wilt thou lift up Olympus? Dec. Great Cæsar, Cæs. Doth not Brutus bootless kneel? Casca. Speak, hands, for me. [CASCA stabs CESAR in the Neck. CÆSAR catches hold of his Arm. He is then stabbed by several other Conspirators, and at last by MARCUS Brutus. Cæs. Et tu, Brute?—Then, fall, Cæsar. [Dies. The Senators and People retire in confusion. 8 Suetonius says, that when Cæsar put Metellus Cimber back, 'he caught hold of Cæsar's gowne at both shoulders, whereupon, as he cried out, This is violence, Cassius came in second, full a front, and wounded him a little beneath the throat. Then Cæsar, catching Cassius by the arme, thrust it through with his stile or writing punches; and with that, being about to leap forward, he was met with another wound and stayed.' Being then assailed on all sides, with three and twenty he was stabbed, during which time he gave but one groan (without any word uttered), and that was at the first thrust; though some have written, that, as Marcus Brutus came running upon him, he said, kai σv TEKVOV, and thou my sonne.' Holland's Translation, 1607. Plutarch says, that, on receiving his first wound from Casca,' he caught hold of Casca's sword, and held it hard; and they both cried out, Cæsar in Latin, O vile traitor Casca, what doest thou? and Casca, in Greek, to his brother, Brother, help me.' The conspirators, having then compassed him on every side, hacked and mangled him,' &c.; and then Brutus himself gave him one wound above the privities. Men report also, that Cæsar did still defend himself against the reste, running every way with his bodie; but when he saw Brutus with his sworde drawen in his hande, then he pulled his gowne over his heade, and made no more resistance.' Neither of these writers therefore furnished Shakspeare with this exclamation. It occurs in The True Tragedie of Richard Duke of York, 1600; on which he formed the Third Part of King Henry VI.: 'Et tu, Brute? Wilt thou stab Cæsar too?' And is translated in Cæsar's Legend, Mirror for Magistrates, 1587: 'And Brutus thou my sonne, quoth I, whom erst I loved best.' The words probably appeared originally in the old Latin play on the Death of Cæsar.' Cin. Liberty! Freedom! Tyranny is dead! Run hence, proclaim, cry it about the streets. Cas. Some to the common pulpits, and cry out, Liberty, freedom, and enfranchisement ! Bru. People, and senators! be not affrighted; Fly not; stand still:-ambition's debt is paid. Casca. Go to the pulpit, Brutus 9. Dec. Bru. Where's Publius? And Cassius too. Cin. Here, quite confounded with this mutiny. Met. Stand fast together, lest some friend of Cæsar's Should chance Bru. Talk not of standing;-Publius, good cheer; There is no harm intended to your person, Nor to no Roman else: so tell them, Publius. Cas. And leave us, Publius; lest that the people, Rushing on us, should do your age some mischief. Bru. Do so;-and let no man abide this deed, But we the doers. Re-enter TREBONIUS. Cas. Where's Antony? Tre. Fled to his house amaz'd: Men, wives, and children, stare, cry out, and run, As it were doomsday. Bru. Fates! we will know your pleasures:That we shall die, we know; 'tis but the time, And drawing days out, that men stand upon. Cas. Why, he that cuts off twenty years of life, Cuts off so many years of fearing death. Bru. Grant that, and then is death a benefit: 9 We have now taken leave of Casca. Shakspeare knew that he had a sufficient number of heroes on his hands, and was glad to lose an individual in the crowd. Casca's singularity of manners would have appeared to little advantage amid the succeeding war and tumult. So are we Cæsar's friends, that have abridg'd Shall this our lofty scene be acted over, No worthier than the dust? Cas. So oft as that shall be, So often shall the knot of us be call'd Ay, every man away: Cas. Brutus shall lead; and we will grace his heels With the most boldest and best hearts of Rome. Enter a Servant. Bru. Soft, who comes here? A friend of Antony's. Serv. Thus, Brutus, did my master bid me kneel; Thus did Mark Antony bid me fall down: And, being prostrate, thus he bade me say: Brutus is noble, wise, valiant, and honest; Cæsar was mighty, bold, royal, and loving: Say, I love Brutus, and I honour him; Say, I fear'd Cæsar, honour'd him, and lov'd him. If Brutus will vouchsafe, that Antony May safely come to him, and be resolv'd How Cæsar hath deserv'd to lie in death, Mark Antony shall not love Cæsar dead So well as Brutus living; but will follow |