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

clamors.

Bru. My countrymen.

2 Cit.

1 Cit.

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

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

4 Cit.

3 Cit.

He says, for Brutus' sake,

He finds himself beholden to us all.

4 Cit.

1 Cit.

[Exit.

"Twere best he speak no harm of Brutus here. 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
Hath told you Cæsar was ambitious:

If it were so, it was a grievous fault;
And grievously hath Cæsar answer'd it.
Here, under leave of Brutus, and the rest
(For Brutus is an honorable man;
So are they all, all honorable men),
Come I to speak in Cæsar's funeral.
He was my friend, faithful and just to me:
But Brutus says, he was ambitious;

And Brutus is an honorable man.

He hath brought many captives home to Rome.
Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill:

Did this in Cæsar seem ambitious?

When that the poor have cried, Cæsar hath wept;
Ambition should be made of sterner stuff:

Yet Brutus says, he was ambitious;

And Brutus is an honorable man.

You all did see, 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, sure, he is an honorable 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 withholds you then to mourn for him?

O judgment, thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason!-Bear with me;
My heart is in the coffin there with Cæsar,

And I must pause, till it come back to me.

1 Cit. Methinks, there is much reason in his sayings. 2 Cit. If thou consider rightly of the matter,

Cæsar has had great wrong.

3 Cit. Has he, masters?

I fear, there will a worse come in his place.

4 Cit.

Mark'd ye his words? he would not take the

crown;

Therefore, 'tis certain, he was not ambitious.

2 Cit.

3 Cit.

1 Cit. If it be found so, some will dear abide it. Poor soul! his eyes are red as fire with weeping. There's not a nobler man in Rome than Antony. 4 Cit. Now mark him, he begins again to speak. Ant. But yesterday, the word of Cæsar might Have stood against the world: now lies he there, And none so poor to do him reverence.

O masters! if I were disposed to stir

Your hearts and minds to mutiny and rage,
I should do Brutus wrong, and Cassius wrong,
Who, you all know, are honorable men:

I will not do them wrong; I rather choose
To wrong the dead, to wrong myself, and you,
Than I will wrong such honorable men.

But here's a parchment, with the seal of Cæsar.
I found it in his closet; 'tis his will:

Let but the commons hear his testament

(Which, pardon me, I do not mean to read)

And they would go and kiss dead Cæsar's wounds,

And dip their napkins in his sacred blood;

Yea, beg a hair of him for memory,

And, dying, mention it within their wills,
Bequeathing it, as a rich legacy,

Unto their issue.

4 Cit. We'll hear the will: Read it, Mark Antony. Cit. The will, the will; we will hear Cæsar's will. Ant. Have patience, gentle friends, I must not read it;

It is not meet you know how Cæsar loved you.
You are not wood, you are not stones, but men;
And, being men, hearing the will of Cæsar,
It will inflame you, it will make you mad:
'Tis good you know not that you are his heirs;
For if you should, O, what would come of it!

4 Cit. Read the will; we will hear it, Antony: You shall read us the will; Cæsar's will.

Ant. Will you be patient? Will you stay a while? I have o'ershot myself, to tell you of it.

I fear, I wrong the honorable men,

Whose daggers have stabb'd Cæsar: I do fear it.

4 Cit. They were traitors: Honorable men!

Cit. The will! the testament!

2 Cit. They were villains, murderers: The will! read the will!

Ant. You will compel me then to read the will?
Then make a ring about the corpse of Cæsar,

And let me show you him that made the will.
Shall I descend? And will you give me leave?
Come down.

Cit.
2 Cit.

Descend.

[He comes down from the pulpit.

1 Cit.

2 Cit.

Stand from the hearse, stand from the body.
Room for Antony-most noble Antony.

Ant. Nay, press not so upon me; stand far off.

Cit. Stand back! room! bear back!

Ant. If you have tears, prepare to shed them now.

You all do know this mantle: I remember

The first time ever Cæsar put it on;

'Twas on a summer's evening, in his tent;

That day he overcame the Nervii :

Look! In this place ran Cassius' dagger through:
See, what a rent the envious Casca made:
Through this, the well-beloved Brutus stabb'd;
And, as he pluck'd his cursed steel away,
Mark how the blood of Cæsar follow'd it;
As rushing out of doors, to be resolved
If Brutus so unkindly knock'd, or no;

For Brutus, as you know, was Cæsar's angel:
Judge, O you gods, how dearly Cæsar loved him!
This was the most unkindest cut of all:

For when the noble Cæsar saw him stab,
Ingratitude, more strong than traitors' arms,
Quite vanquish'd him: then burst his mighty heart;
And, in his mantle muffling up his face,
Even at the base of Pompey's statue

(Which all the while ran blood), great Cæsar fell.
Oh, what a fall was there, my countrymen!
Then I, and you, and all of us fell down,
Whilst bloody treason flourish'd over us.
O, now you weep; and, I perceive, you feel
The dint of pity: these are gracious drops.
Kind souls, what, weep you, when you but behold
Our Cæsar's vesture wounded? Look you here,
Here is himself, marr'd, as you see, with traitors.
1 Cit. O piteous spectacle!

2 Cit. O noble Cæsar!

3 Cit. O woful day!
4 Cit. O traitors, villains!

1 Cit. O, most bloody sight!

2 Cit. We will be revenged; revenge; about,—seek,— burn,-fire,-kill,-slay!—let not a traitor live.