Are then in council; and the state of man,1 Re-enter LUCIUS. Luc. Sir, 'tis your brother Cassius at the door, Who doth desire to see you. Bru. Is he alone? Luc. No, sir; there are more with him. Bru. Do you know them? Luc. No, sir; their hats are plucked about their ears, And half their faces buried in their cloaks, That by no means I may discover them By any mark of favor.2 Bru. Let them enter. [Exit LUCIUS. They are the faction. O conspiracy! Sham'st thou to show thy dangerous brow by night, When evils are most free? O then, by day, Where wilt thou find a cavern dark enough To mask thy monstrous visage? Seek none, conspiracy; Hide it in smiles, and affability; For if thou path thy native semblance on, Not Erebus itself were dim enough To hide thee from prevention. Enter CASSIUS, CASCA, DECIUS, CINNA, METELLUS CIMBER, and TREBONIUS. Cas. I think we are too bold upon your rest; Good morrow, Brutus. Do we trouble you? Bru. I have been up this hour; awake, all night. Know I these men that come along with you? Cas. Yes, every man of them; and no man here, But honors you; and every one doth wish, You had but that opinion of yourself, 1 The old copy reads: "Are then in council, and the state of a man," &c. 2 See Act i. Sc. 3. Which every noble Roman bears of you. They are all welcome. [They whisper. What watchful cares do interpose themselves Betwixt your eyes and night? Cas. Shall I entreat a word? here? Casca. No. Doth not the day break Cin. O, pardon, sir, it doth; and yon gray lines, That fret the clouds, are messengers of day. Casca. You shall confess that you are both deceived. Some two months hence, up higher toward the north Bru. Give me your hands all over, one by one. Bru. No, not an oath. If not the face1 of men, So let high-sighted tyranny range on, To kindle cowards, and to steel with valor The melting spirits of women; then, countrymen, 1 Johnson thus explains this passage:-"The face of men" is the "countenance, the regard, the esteem of the public;" in other terms, honor and reputation; or the face of men may mean "the dejected look of the people." Mason thought we should read, "the faith of men." 2 Steevens thinks there may be an allusion here to the custom of decimation, i. e. the selection by lot of every tenth soldier, in a general mutiny, for punishment. What need we any spur but our own cause, Nor the insuppressive mettle of our spirits, If he do break the smallest particle Of any promise that hath passed from him. Cas. But what of Cicero? Shall we sound him? I think he will stand very strong with us. Casca. Let us not leave him out. No, by no means. Cin. And buy men's voices to commend our deeds. Bru. O, name him not; let us not break 2 with him; For he will never follow any thing That other men begin. Cas. Then leave him out. Casca. Indeed, he is not fit. Dec. Shall no man else be touched but only Cæsar? Cas. Decius, well urged;-I think it is not meet, Mark Antony, so well beloved of Cæsar, Should outlive Cæsar. We shall find of him 1 Though cautelous is often used for wary, circumspect, by old writers, the context shows that Shakspeare uses it here for artful, insidious. 2 i. e. break the matter to him. A shrewd contriver; and, you know, his means, Let Antony and Cæsar fall together. Bru. Our course will seem too bloody, Caius Cassius, 1 To cut the head off, and then hack the limbs; Let us be sacrificers, but not butchers, Caius. Cas. Is to himself; take thought, and die for Cæsar; Treb. There is no fear in him; let him not die; For he will live, and laugh at this hereafter. Bru. Peace; count the clock. [Clock strikes. 1 Envy here, as almost always by Shakspeare, is used for malice. 2 To take thought, is to grieve, to be troubled in mind. Cas. The clock hath stricken three. Treb. 'Tis time to part. Cas. Dec. Never fear that. If he be so resolved, For I can give his humor the true bent; Cas. Nay, we will all of us be there to fetch him. Bru. Now, good Metellus, go along by him; 4 He loves me well, and I have given him reasons. Send him but hither, and I'll fashion him. 1 Whether. 2 Main opinion is fixed opinion, general estimation. Fantasy was used for imagination or conceit in Shakspeare's time. Ceremonies signify omens or signs deduced from sacrifices or other ceremonial rites. 3 Unicorns are said to have been taken by one, who, running behind a tree, eluded the violent push the animal was making at him, so that his horn spent its force on the trunk, and stuck fast. Bears are reported to have been surprised by means of a mirror, which they would gaze on, affording their pursuers an opportunity of taking the surer aim. Elephants were seduced into pitfalls, lightly covered with hurdles and turf, on which a proper bait to tempt them was placed. 4 i. e. by his house; make that your way home. |