CES. Cæsar shall forth: the things that threaten'd me CAL. Cæsar, I never stood on ceremonies, And graves have yawn'd, and yielded up their dead; The noise of battle hurtled in the air, And I do fear them!(4) CES. What can be avoided Whose end is purpos'd by the mighty gods? CAL. When beggars die, there are no comets seen; Of all the wonders that I yet have heard, It seems to me most strange that men should fear; Will come when it will come. Re-enter Servant. What say the augurers? SERV. They would not have you to stir forth to-day. Plucking the entrails of an offering forth, They could not find a heart within the beast. CES. The gods do this in shame of cowardice: If he should stay at home to-day for fear. " • Fierce fiery warriors fight upon the clouds,-] Mr. Dyce conceives the word "fight to be an error for "fought;" "since we cannot suppose that here the poet used 'fight' as a past tense." b We are two lions, &c.] The old reading is, "We heare," &c., for which Theobald printed "We were," &c., and this until recently has been the ordinary text; at the present time, however, Upton's emendation, "We are," &c., is very justly preferred. Your wisdom is consum'd in confidence. CES. Mark Antony shall say I am not well; Here's Decius Brutus, he shall tell them so. I come to fetch you to the senate-house. CES. And you are come in very happy time, CES. Shall Cæsar send a lie? To be afeard to tell grey-beards the truth? DEC. Most mighty Cæsar, let me know some cause, Lest I be laugh'd at when I tell them so. CES. The cause is in my will,-I will not come ; That is enough to satisfy the senate. But, for your private satisfaction, Because I love you, I will let you know,- It was a vision fair and fortunate: Your statue spouting blood in many pipes, CES. And this way have you well expounded it. Apt to be render'd, for some one to say, When Caesar's wife shall meet with better dreams. Lo, Cæsar is afraid? Pardon me, Cæsar; for my dear-dear love CES. How foolish do your fears seem now, Calphurnia! Give me my robe, for I will go : Enter PUBLIUS, BRUTUS, LIGARIUS, METELLUS, Casca, And look where Publius is come to fetch me. PUB. Good morrow, Cæsar. CES. Welcome, Publius.— What, Brutus, are you stirr'd so early too?— Good morrow, Casca.-Caius Ligarius, As that same ague which hath made you lean.- BRU. Cæsar, 't is strucken eight. CAS. I thank you for your pains and courtesy. Enter ANTONY. See! Antony, that revels long o' nights, Is notwithstanding up.-Good morrow, Antony. Bid them prepare within : I am to blame to be thus waited for. Now, Cinna:-now, Metellus :-what, Trebonius! Be near me, that I may remember you. TREB. Cæsar, I will:-[Aside.] and so near will I be, That your best friends shall wish I had been further. CAS. Good friends, go in, and taste some wine with me; And we, like friends, will straightway go together. SCENE III.-The same. A street near the Capitol. Enter ARTEMIDORUS, reading a paper. [Exeunt. ART. Cæsar, beware of Brutus; take heed of Cassius; come not near Casca; have an eye to Cinna; trust not Trebonius; mark well To your proceeding-] To your advancement. b And reason to my love is liable.] Mr. Craik explains this:-"My reason where you are concerned is subject to, and is overborne by, my affection." Metellus Cimber; Decius Brutus loves thee not; thou hast wronged Caius Ligarius. There is but one mind in all these men, and it is bent against Cæsar. If thou beest not immortal, look about you: security gives way to conspiracy. The mighty gods defend thee! Thy lover, ARTEMIDORUS. Here will I stand till Cæsar pass along, If thou read this, O, Cæsar, thou mayst live; SCENE IV.-The same. [Exit. Another part of the same Street, before the House of Brutus. Enter PORTIA and LUCIUS. POR. I pr'ythee, boy, run to the senate-house; Stay not to answer me, but get thee gone: Why dost thou stay? Luc. Set a huge mountain 'tween my heart and tongue! LUC. Madam, what should I do? Run to the Capitol, and nothing else? And so return to you, and nothing else? POR. Yes, bring me word, boy, if thy lord look well, For he went sickly forth: and take good note What Cæsar doth, what suitors press to him. Hark, boy! what noise is that? Luc. I hear none, madam. POR. Pr'ythee, listen well. I heard a bustling rumour, like a fray, And the wind brings it from the Capitol. Enter Soothsayer. POR. Come hither, fellow: which way hast thou been? POR. What is 't o'clock? SOOTH. About the ninth hour, lady. POR. Is Cæsar yet gone to the Capitol? Security gives way to, &c.] The meaning is, over-confidence affords a passage, &c. Thy lover,-] It need hardly be repeated that "lover" was formerly equivalent to friend. e-contrive.] See note (4), p. 58, Vol. II. SOOTH. Madam, not yet: I go to take my stand, To see him pass on to the Capitol. POR. Thou hast some suit to Cæsar, hast thou not? SOOTH. That I have, lady: if it will please Cæsar To be so good to Cæsar as to hear me, I shall beseech him to befriend himself. POR. Why, know'st thou any harm 's intended towards him? SOOTH. None that I know will be, much that I fear may chance. Good morrow to you. Here the street is narrow: The throng that follows Cæsar at the heels, POR. I must go in.-Ay me! how weak a thing And bring me word what he doth say to thee. [Exit. [Exeunt severally. ACT III. SCENE I.-The same. The Capitol; the Senate sitting. A crowd of people in the Street leading to the Capitol; among them CAS. The ides of March are come. DEC. Trebonius doth desire you to o'er-read, At your best leisure, this his humble suit. ART. O, Cæsar, read mine first; for mine's a suit That touches Cæsar nearer: read it, great Cæsar. CES. What touches us ourself shall be last serv'd.a a What touches us ourself shall be last serv'd.] Here Mr. Craik, to our surprise, adopts the specious sophistication of Mr. Collier's annotator, "That touches us? Ourself shall be last served," with the remark, "To serve, or attend to, a person is a familiar form of expression: to speak of a thing as served, in the sense of attended to, would, it is apprehended, be unexampled." But there is nothing uncommon or improper in speaking of a dinner or of a dish as served, and it is in this sense, we believe, the verb is used in the present case, |