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 honourable man; So are they all, all honourable 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 honourable 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 honourable 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 honourable 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 Therefore, 'tis certain, he was not ambitious.

[crown.

1 Cit. If it be found so, some will dear abide it.

2 Cit. Poor soul! his eyes are red as fire with weeping. 3 Cit. 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 poork to do him reverence.
O masters! if I were dispos'd to stir
Your hearts and minds to mutiny and rage,
I should do Brutus wrong, and Cassius wrong,
Who, you all know, are honourable men:
I will not do them wrong; I rather choose
To wrong the dead, to wrong myself, and you,
Than I will wrong such honourable 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 this 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 lov'd 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!

And none so poor-] The meanest man is now too high to do reverence to Cæsar.-JOHNSON.

1

napkins] i. e. Handkerchiefs. Napkin is the northern term for handkerchief, and is still used in this sense in Scotland.-MALONE.

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 honourable men,

Whose daggers have stabb'd Cæsar: I do fear it. 4 Cit. They were traitors: Honourable 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?
Cit. Come down.

2 Cit. Descend.

[He comes down from the Pulpit.

3 Cit. You shall have leave.

4 Cit. A ring; stand round.

1 Cit. Stand from the hearse, stand from the body.
2 Cit. 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 resolv'd
If Brutus so unkindly knock'd, or no;'
For Brutus, as you know, was Cæsar's angel:
Judge, O you gods, how dearly Cæsar lov'd 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 statua,

Which all the while ran blood," great Cæsar fell.
O, 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.

Ant. Stay, countrymen.

1 Cit. Peace there:-Hear noble Antony.

2 Cit. We'll hear him, we'll follow him, we'll die with him.

Ant. Good friends, sweet friends, let me not stir you up To such a sudden flood of mutiny.

They, that have done this deed, are honourable;

What private griefs they have, alas, I know not,
That made them do it; they are wise and honourable,
And will, no doubt, with reasons answer you.
I come not, friends, to steal away your hearts;

I am no orator, as Brutus is:

But, as you know me all, a plain blunt man,

That love my friend: and that they know full well
That gave me publick leave to speak of him.
For I have neither wit, nor words, nor worth,
Action, nor utterance, nor the power of speech,
To stir men's blood; I only speak right on;

m

ran blood,] Shakspeare took this from Sir Thomas North's translation of Plutarch: "Against the very base whereon Pompey's image stood, which ran all a-gore of blood, till he was slain."-STEEvens.

· flourish'd over us.] i. e. Flourished the sword over us.--STEEVENS.

• The dint of pity:]-is the impression of pity.

I tell you that, which you yourselves do now;
Show you sweet Cæsar's wounds, poor, poor dumb mouths,
And bid them speak for me: But were I Brutus,
And Brutus Antony, there were an Antony
Would ruffle up your spirits, and put a tongue
In every wound of Cæsar, that should move
The stones of Rome to rise and mutiny.
Cit. We'll mutiny.

1 Cit. We'll burn the house of Brutus.

3 Cit. Away then, come, seek the conspirators. Ant. Yet hear me, countrymen; yet hear me speak. Cit. Peace, ho! Hear Antony, most noble Antony. Ant. Why, friends, you go to do you know not what : Wherein hath Cæsar thus deserv'd your loves? Alas, you know not-I must tell you then :You have forgot the will I told you of.

Cit. Most true; the will;-let's stay, and hear the will. Ant. Here is the will, and under Cæsar's seal.

To every Roman citizen he gives,

To every several man, seventy-five drachmas."

2 Cit. Most noble Cæsar !-we'll revenge his death. 3 Cit. O royal Cæsar!

Ant. Hear me with patience.

Cit. Peace, ho!

Ant. Moreover, he hath left you all his walks,
His private arbours, and new-planted orchards,
On this side Tyber; he hath left them you,
And to your heirs for ever; common pleasures,
To walk abroad, and recreate yourselves.
Here was a Cæsar: When comes such another?
1 Cit. Never, never:-Come, away, away:

We'll burn his body in the holy place,

And with the brands fire the traitors' houses.
Take up the body."

2 Cit. Go, fetch fire.

3 Cit. Pluck down benches.

seventy-five drachmas.] A drachma was a Greek coin, the same as the Roman denier, of the value of four sesterces, 7d. ob.-STEEVENS.

On this side Tyber;] Shakspeare has here copied North's translation of Plutarch, in an error. The gardens of Cæsar were, as his friend Ben Jonson could have informed him, "On the far side of Tyber."-Poetaster, act iii. sc. 1.