I am to blame to be thus waited for.

Now, Cinna :-Now, Metellus :-What, Trebo

nius!

I have an hour's talk in store for you;
Remember that you call on me to-day:
Be near me, that I may remember you.

TREB. Cæsar, I will :—and so near will I be,
[Aside.
That your best friends shall wish I had been further.
CES. Good friends, go in, and taste some wine

with me;

And we, like friends, will straightway go together. BRU. That every like is not the same, O Cæsar, The heart of Brutus yearns to think upon!

[Exeunt.

SCENE III.

The same. A Street near the Capitol.

Enter ARTEMIDORUS, reading a Paper.

ART. Cæsar, beware of Brutus; take heed of Cassius; come not near Casca; have an eye to Cinna; trust not Trebonius; mark well 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 be'st not immortal, look about you: Security gives way to conspiracy. The mighty gods defend thee! Thy lover,3

3

Artemidorus.

Thy lover,] See p. 219, n. 6. MALONE.

Here will I stand, till Cæsar pass along,
And as a suitor will I give him this.
My heart laments, that virtue cannot live
Out of the teeth of emulation.*

If thou read this, O Cæsar, thou may'st live;
If not, the fates with traitors do contrive." [Exit.

SCENE IV.

The same. 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.

To know my errand, madam.

POR. I would have had thee there, and here

again,

Ere I can tell thee what thou should'st do there.

•-emulation,] Here, as on many other occasions, this word is used in an unfavourable sense, somewhat like-factious, envious, or malicious rivalry. So, in Troilus and Cressida:

5

"Whilst emulation in the army crept." STEEVENS.

the fates with traitors do contrive] The fates join with traitors in contriving thy destruction." JOHNSON.

6

• Why dost thou stay? &c.] Shakspeare has expressed the perturbation of King Richard the Third's mind by the same incident:

"Dull, unmindful villain!

66

Why stay'st thou here, and go'st not to the duke?"Cat. First, mighty liege, tell me your highness' pleasure, "What from your grace I shall deliver to him."

STEEVENS.

O constancy, be strong upon my side!

Set a huge mountain 'tween my heart and tongue!
I have a man's mind, but a woman's might.
How hard it is for women to keep counsel!—
Art thou here yet?

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.
Luc. Sooth, madam, I hear nothing.

SOOTH.

About the ninth hour, lady.

POR. Is Cæsar yet gone to the Capitol ?

* Enter Soothsayer.] The introduction of the Soothsayer here is unnecessary, and, I think, improper. All that he is made to say, should be given to Artemidorus; who is seen and accosted by Portia in his passage from his first stand, p. 323, to one more convenient, p. 326. TYRWHITT.

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.8

Good morrow to you. Here the street is narrow:
The throng that follows Cæsar at the heels,
Of senators, of prætors, common suitors,
Will croud a feeble man almost to death:
I'll get me to a place more void, and there
Speak to great Cæsar as he comes along. [Exit.
POR. I must go in.-Ah me! how weak a thing
The heart of woman is! O Brutus!

The heavens speed thee in thine enterprize!
Sure, the boy heard me :-Brutus hath a suit,"
That Cæsar will not grant.-O, I grow faint:-
Run, Lucius, and commend me to my lord;
Say, I am merry: come to me again,
And bring me word what he doth say to thee.
[Exeunt.

8 None that I know will be, much that I fear may chance.] Sir Thomas Hanmer, very judiciously in my opinion, omitsmay chance, which I regard as interpolated words; for they render the line too long by a foot, and the sense is complete without them. STEEVENS.

9 Brutus hath a suit, &c.] These words Portia addresses to Lucius, to deceive him, by assigning a false cause for her present perturbation. MALONE.

The same.

ACT III. SCENE I.

The Capitol; the Senate sitting.

A Croud of People in the Street leading to the Capitol; among them ARTEMIDORUS, and the Soothsayer. Flourish. Enter Cæsar, Brutus, CASSIUS, CASCA, DECIUS, METELLUS, TREBONIUS, CINNA, ANTONY, LEPIDUS, POPILIUS, PUBLIUS, and Others.

CES. The ides of March are come.
SOOTH. Ay, Cæsar; but not gone.

ART. Hail, Cæsar! Read this schedule.
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. ART. Delay not, Cæsar; read it instantly.

CES. What, is the fellow mad?

PUB.

Sirrah, give place.

CAS. What, urge you your petitions in the street? Come to the Capitol.