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Caf. Ay, do you fear it?

Then must I think, you would not have it fo.
Bru. I would not, Caffius; yet I love him well:
But wherefore do you hold me here fo long?
What is it, that you would impart to me?
If it be aught toward the General good,
Set Honour in one eye, and Death i'th' other,
And I will look on Death indifferently: (3).
For let the Gods so speed me, as I love
The name of Honour, more than I fear Death.
Caf. I know that virtue to be in you, Brutus,
As well as I do know your outward Favour.
Well, Honour is the fubject of my ftory:
I cannot tell, what you and other men
Think of this life; but for my fingle felf,
I had as lief not be, as live to be
In awe of fuch a thing as I my self.
I was born free as Cafar, fo were you;
We Both have fed as well; and we can Both
Endure the winter's cold, as well as he.
For once upon a raw and gufty day, (4)

The

(3) And I will look on both indifferently] What a Contradiction to this, are the Lines immediately fucceeding? If He lov'd Honour, more than he fear'd Death, how could they be both indifferent to him? Honour thus is but in equal Balance to Death, which is not. fpeaking at all like Brutus: for, in a Soldier of any ordinary Pretenfion, it fhould always preponderate. We must certainly read,

And I will look on Death indifferently.

What occafion'd the Corruption, I prefume, was, the Tranfcribers imagining, the Adverb indifferently must be applied to Two things oppos'd. But the Ufe of the Word does not demand it; nor does Shakespeare always apply it fo. In the prefent Paffage it fignifies, neglectingly without Fear, or Concern: And fo Casca afterwards, again in this Act, employs it.

And Dangers are to me indifferent.

i. e. I weigh them not; am not deterr'd on the Score of Danger. Mr. Warburton:

(4) For once upon a raw and gufty day,] This may, perhaps, appear a very odd Amusement for Two of the greatest Men in Rome. But it appears, this was an ufual Exercise for the Nobility, that delighted in the hardy Ufe of Arms, and were not enervated, from this Paffage of Horace. 1. 1. Ode 8.

Cur timet flavum Tiberim tangere?

Upon

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Upon the word,

The troubled Tiber chafing with his shores,
Cafar fays to me, " dar'it thou, Caffius, now
"Leap in with me into this angry flood,
"And fwim to yonder point?·
Accoutred as I was, I plunged in,
And bid him follow; fo, indeed, he did.
The torrent roar'd, and We did buffet it
With lufty finews; throwing it afide,
And stemming it with hearts of controverfie.
But ere we could arrive the point propos'd,
Cæfar cry'd, "Help me, Caffius, or I fink."
I, as Eneas, our great Ancestor,

Did from the flames of Troy upon his fhoulder The old Anchifes bear, fo, from the waves of Tiber Did I the tired Cafar: and this man

Is now become a God; and Caffius is

A wretched creature, and muft bend his body,
If Cæfar carelefly but nod on him.

He had a feaver when he was in Spain,

And when the fit was on him, I did mark

How he did fhake: 'tis true, this God did shake;
His coward lips did from their colour fly,

And that fame eye, whose Bend doth awe the World,
Did lofe its luftre; I did hear him groan:
Ay, and that tongue of his, that bad the Romans
Mark him, and write his fpeeches in their books,
Alas! it cry'd" give me fome drink, Titinius
As a fick girl. Ye Gods, it doth amaze me,
A man of fuch a feeble temper should
So get the start of the majestick World,
And bear the Palm alone.

Bru. Another general shout!

I do believe, that these applauses are

[Shout. Flourish.

For fome new honours that are heap'd on Cafat.
Caf. Why, man, he doth beftride the narrow world

Upon which Hermannus Figulus makes this Comment; Natare. Nam
Romæ prima Adolefcentia juvenes, præter cæteras gymnafticas disci-
plinas, etiam natare difcebant, ut ad belli munera firmiorés aptiorefq;
effent. And he puts us in mind from Suetonius, how expert a Swim-
mer Jul. Cæfar was.
Mr. Warburton.

K 2

Like

Like a Coloffus; and we petty men

Walk under his huge legs, and peep about
To find our felves difhonourable Graves.
Men at fome times are mafters of their fates:
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our Stars,
But in our felves, that we are underlings.

Brutus and Cæfar! what fhould be in that Cæfar?
Why thould that name be founded, more than yours?
Write them together; yours is as fair a name:
Sound them, it doth become the mouth as well;
Weigh them, it is as heavy; conjure with 'em,
Brutus will start a Spirit, as foon as Cæfar.
Now in the Names of all the Gods at once,
Upon what meat doth this our Cæfar feed,
That he is grown fo great? Age, thou art fham'd;
Rome, thou haft loft the Breed of noble bloods.
When went there by an age, fince the great flood,
But it was fam'd with more than with one man?
When could they fay, till now, that talk'd of Rome,
That her wide walls incompafs'd but one man?
Now is it Rome, indeed; and room enough,
When there is in it but one only man.
Oh! you and I have heard our fathers fay,
There was a Brutus once, that would have brook'd
Th' eternal devil to keep his State in Rome,
As cafily as a King.

Bru. That you do love me, I am nothing jealous;
What you would work me to, I have fome aim;
How I have thought of this, and of these times,
I shall recount hereafter: for this prefent,
I would not (fo with love I might intreat you)
Be any further mov'd. What you have faid,
I will confider; what you have to say,
I will with patience hear; and find a time
Both meet to hear, and answer fuch high things.
"Till then, my noble friend, chew upon this;
Brutus had rather be a villager,

Than to repute himself a fon of Rome
Under fuch hard conditions, as this time
Is like to lay upon us.

Caf.

Caf. I am glad that my weak words

Have ftruck but thus much fhew of fire from Brutus. Enter Cæfar and his Train.

Bru. The Games are done, and Cæfar is returning. Caf. As they pass by, pluck Cafca by the fleeve, And he will, after his four fashion, tell you What hath proceeded worthy note to day. Bru. I will do fo; but look you, Caffius, The angry Spot doth glow on Cafar's brow, And all the reft look like a chidden train. Calpburnia's cheek is pale; and Cicero Looks with fuch ferret, and fuch fiery eyes, As we have seen him in the Capitol, Being croft in conf'rence by fome Senators. Caf. Cafca will tell us what the matter is. Caf. Antonius,

Ant. Cæfar?

Caf. Let me have men about me that are fat,
Sleek-headed men, and fuch as fleep a-nights :
Yond Caffius has a lean and hungry look,
He thinks too much; fuch men are dangerous.
Ant. Fear him not, Cefar, he's not dangerous;
He is a noble Roman, and well given.

Caf. Would he were fatter; but I fear him not: Yet if my name were liable to fear,

I do not know the man I fhould avoid,

So foon as that fpare Caffius. He reads much;
He is a great obferver; and he looks

Quite through the deeds of men. He loves no Plays,
As thou doft, Antony; he hears no mufick: (5)

(5) be bears no Mufick ] This is not a trivial Obfervation, nor does our Poet mean barely by it, that Caffius was not a merry, fprightly man: but that he had not a due Temperament of Harmony in his Compofition: and that therefore Natures, fo uncorrected, are dangerous. He has finely dilated on this Sentiment in his Merchant of Venice. A&t. 5.

The Man, that hath no Mufick in himself,

And is not mov'd with Concord of fweet Sounds,
Is fit for Treafons, Stratagems, and Spoils;
The Motions of his Spirit are dull as Night,
And his Affections dark as Erebus

Let no fuch Man be trufted.

K 3

Seldom

Seldom he smiles; and fmiles in fuch a fort,
As if he mock'd himself, and scorn'd his fpirit,
That could be mov'd to fmile at any thing.
Such men as he be never at heart's ease,
Whilft they behold a greater than themselves;
And therefore are they very dangerous.
I rather tell thee what is to be fear'd,
Than what I fear; for always I am Cefar.
Come on my right hand, for this ear is deaf,
And tell me truly, what thou think'ft of him.

[Exeunt Cæfar and his Train.

Manent Brutus and Caffius: Cafca, to them. Cafca. You pull'd me by the cloak; would you speak with me?

Bru. Ay, Cafca, tell us what hath chanc'd to day, That Cefar looks fo fad.

Cafca. Why you were with him, were you not? Bru. I fhould not then ask Cafea what had chanc’d. Cafca. Why, there was a Crown offer'd him; and being offer'd him, he put it by with the back of his hand thus, and then the people fell a fhouting. Bru. What was the fecond noife for?

Cafea. Why, for that too.

Caf. They shouted thrice: what was the laft cry for?

Cafea. Why, for that too.

Bru. Was the Crown offer'd him thrice?

Cafca. Ay, marry, was't, and he put it by thrice, every time gentler than other; and at every putting by, mine honest neighbours fhouted..

Caf. Who offer'd him the Crown?

Cafea. Why, Antony.

Bru. Tell us the manner of it, gentle Cafca.

Cafca. I can as well be hang'd, as tell the manner of it: it was meer foolery, I did not mark it. I faw Mark Antony offer him a Crown; yet 'twas not a Crown neither, 'twas one of these Coronets; and, as I told you, he put it by once; but for all that, to my thinking, he would fain have had it. Then he offer'd it

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