Domestick fury, and fierce civil strife,
Shall cumber all the parts of Italy:

Blood and destruction shall be so in use,
And dreadful objects so familiar,

That mothers shall but smile, when they behold
Their infants quarter'd with the hands of war;
All pity chok'd with custom of fell deeds:
And Cæsar's spirit, ranging for revenge,
With Até by his side, come hot from hell,
Shall in these confines, with a monarch's voice,
Cry Havock 17, and let slip the dogs of war;
That this foul deed shall smell above the earth
With carrion men, groaning for burial.

Enter a Servant.

You serve Octavius Cæsar, do you not?

Serv. I do, Mark Antony.

Ant. Cæsar did write for him to come to Rome. Serv. He did receive his letters, and is coming: And bid me say to you by word of mouth,— O Cæsar!

[Seeing the Body. Ant. Thy heart is big, get thee apart and weep. Passion, I see, is catching; for mine eyes,

17

'Cry Havock, and let slip the dogs of war.'

Havock was the word by which declaration was made, in the military operations of old, that no quarter should be given: as appears, the Office of the Constable and Mareschall in the Tyme of Werre' included in the Black Book of the Admiralty.

To let slip a dog was the technical phrase in hunting the hart, for releasing the hounds from the leash or slip of leather by which they were held in hand until it was judged proper to let them pursue the animal chased. Steele, in the Tattler, No. 137, and some others after him, think that, by the dogs of war, fire, sword, and famine are typified. So in the Chorus to Act i. of King Henry V. :—

Leash'd in like hounds, should famine, sword, and fire,
Crouch for employment.'

Seeing those beads of sorrow stand in thine,
Began to water. Is thy master coming?

Serv. He lies to-night within seven leagues of Rome.

Ant. Post back with speed, and tell him what hath chanc'd:

Here is a mourning Rome, a dangerous Rome,
No Rome 18 of safety for Octavius yet;

Hie hence, and tell him so. Yet, stay a while;
Thou shalt not back, till I have borne this corse
Into the market-place: there shall I try,
In my oration, how the people take
The cruel issue of these bloody men;
According to the which, thou shalt discourse
To young Octavius of the state of things.
Lend me your hand.

[Exeunt, with CESAR'S Body.

SCENE II. The same. The Forum.

Enter BRUTUS and CASSIUS, and a Throng of Citizens.

Cit. We will be satisfied; let us be satisfied. Bru. Then follow me, and give me audience, friends.

Cassius, go you into the other street,

And part the numbers.—

Those that will hear me speak, let them stay here;

18 This jingling quibble upon Rome and room has occurred before in Act i. Sc. 2:

Now is it Rome indeed, and room enough.'

It is deserving of notice on no other account than as it shows the pronunciation of Rome in Shakspeare's time. So in Heywood's Rape of Lucrece, 1638:

6

You shall have my room,

My Rome indeed; for what I seem to be,
Brutus is not, but born great Rome to free.'

Those that will follow Cassius, go with him;
And publick reasons shall be rendered

Of Cæsar's death.

1 Cit.

I will hear Brutus speak.

2 Cit. I will hear Cassius; and compare their

reasons,

When severally we hear them rendered.

[Exit CASSIUS, with some of the Citizens, BRUTUS goes into the Rostrum.

3 Cit. The noble Brutus is ascended: Silence! Bru. Be patient till the last.

Romans, countrymen, and lovers1! hear me for my cause; and be silent, that you may hear: believe me for mine honour; and have respect to mine honour, that you may believe: censure me in your wisdom; and awake your senses, that you may the better judge. If there be any in this assembly, any dear friend of Cæsar's, to him I say, that Brutus' love to Cæsar was no less than his. If then that friend demand, why Brutus rose against Cæsar, this is my answer,-Not that I loved Cæsar less, but that I loved Rome more. Had you rather Cæsar were living, and die all slaves; than that Cæsar were dead, to live all free men? As Cæsar loved me, I weep for him; as he was fortunate, I rejoice at it; as he was valiant, I honour him: but,

1 Warburton thinks this speech very fine in its kind, though unlike the laconick style of ancient oratory attributed to Brutus. Steevens observes that this artificial jingle of short sentences was affected by most of the orators of Shakspeare's time, whether in the pulpit or at the bar. It may therefore be regarded rather as an imitation of the false eloquence then in vogue, than as a specimen of laconick brevity.' It is worthy of remark that Voltaire, who has stolen and transplanted into his tragedy of Brutus the fine speech of Antony to the people, and has unblushingly received the highest compliments upon it from the King of Prussia, Count Algarotti, and others, affects to extol this address of Brutus, while he is most disingenuously silent on the subject of that of Antony, which he chose to purloin.

as he was ambitious, I slew him: There is tears, for his love; joy, for his fortune; honour, for his valour; and death, for his ambition. Who is here so base, that would be a bondman? If any, speak; 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. I pause for a reply.

Cit. None, Brutus, none.

[Several speaking at once. Bru. Then none have I offended. I have done no more to Cæsar, than you shall do to Brutus. The question of his death is enrolled in the Capitol: his glory not extenuated, wherein he was worthy; nor his offences enforced, for which he suffered death.

Enter ANTONY and Others, with CESAR'S Body. Here comes his body, mourned by Mark Antony: who, though he had no hand in his death, shall receive the benefit of his dying, a place in the commonwealth; As which of you shall not? With this I depart; That, as I slew my best lover for the good of Rome, I have the same dagger for myself, when it shall please my country to need my death.

Cit. Live, Brutus, live! live!

1 Cit. Bring him with triumph home unto his house. 2 Cit. Give him a statue with his ancestors.

2 Lover and friend were synonymous with our ancestors. See vol. iii. p. 66, note 2. It would not have been again noticed, but for Mr. Reed's whimsical notion that it was not authenticated by examples, and that Shakspeare found it in North's Plutarch alone. Malone has adduced a host of examples, but any old Latin Dictionary, under the word amicus, would serve to confute Mr. Reed.

3 Cit. Let him be Cæsar.

4 Cit.

Cæsar's better parts

Shall now be crown'd in Brutus.

1 Cit. We'll bring him to his house with shouts

and clamours.

Bru. My countrymen,

2 Cit.

Peace; silence! Brutus speaks.

1 Cit. Peace, ho!

Bru. Good countrymen, let me depart alone, And, for my sake, stay here with Antony:

Do grace to Cæsar's corpse, and grace his speech
Tending to Cæsar's glories; which Mark Antony,
By our permission, is allow'd to make.

I do entreat you not a man depart,
Save I alone, till Antony have spoke.

[Exit.

1 Cit. Stay, ho! and let us hear Mark Antony. 3 Cit. Let him go up into the publick chair; We'll hear him:-Noble Antony, go up.

Ant. For Brutus' sake, I am beholden to you. 4 Cit. What does he say of Brutus?

He says,

3 Cit. for Brutus' sake, He finds himself beholden to us all.

4 Cit. 'Twere best he speak no harm of Brutus

here.

1 Cit. This Cæsar was a tyrant.

3 Cit.

Nay, that's certain : We are bless'd, that Rome is rid of him.

2 Cit. Peace; let us hear what Antony can say. Ant. You gentle Romans,

Cit.

Peace, ho! let us hear him.

Ant. Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your

ears;

I come to bury Cæsar, 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 Cæsar. The noble Brutus