Enter PUBLIUS, BRUTUS, LIGARIUS, METELLUS, CASCA, TREBONIUS, and CINNA. And look where Publius is come to fetch me. Pub. Good morrow, Cæsar. Welcome, Publius. What, Brutus, are you stirr'd so early too?— Cæsar was ne'er so much your enemy, As that same ague which hath made you lean.- Bru. Cæsar, 'tis 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. Ant. So to most noble Cæsar. Cas. Bid them prepare within : I am to blame to be thus waited for. Now, Cinna :-Now, Metellus :-What, Trebonius! [Aside. Treb. Cæsar, I will:—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. Bru. That every like is not the same, O Cæsar, The heart of Brutus yearns to think upon! 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 Metellus Cimber; Decius Brutus loves If thee not; thou hast wronged Caius Ligarius. There is but Here will I stand, till Cæsar pass along, If thou read this, O Cæsar, thou may'st live; [Exit. SCENE IV. The same. Another Part of the same Street, before the Enter PORTIA and LUCIUS. Por. I pr'ythee, boy, run to the senate-house; gone: Luc. O constancy, be strong upon my side! How hard it is for women to keep counsel !- 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? P Luc. I hear none, madam. emulation.] i. e. Malicious rivalry. The word is here, as on many other occasions, used in a bad sense. the fates with traitors do contrive.] The fates join with traitors in contriving thy destruction.-JOHNSON. Por. Pr'ythee, listen well : I heard a bustling rumour, like a fray, Por. Is Cæsar yet gone to the Capitol? 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? 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: Por. I must go in.-Ah me! how weak a thing [Exit. And bring me word what he doth say to thee. [Exeunt. ACT III. SCENE I.-The same. The Capitol; the Senate sitting. A croud of People in the Street leading to the Capitol; among them ARTEMIDORUS, and the Soothsayer. Flourish. Enter CESAR, BRUTUS, CASSIUS, CASCA, DECIUS, METELLUS, TREBONIUS, CINNA, ANTONY, LEPIDUS, POPILIUS, PUBLIUS, and others. Cas. The ides of March are come. Art. Hail, Cæsar! Read this schedule. Art. O, Cæsar, read mine first; for mine's a suit Cas. What, is the fellow mad? Pub. Sirrah, give place. Cas. What, urge you your petitions in the street? Come to the Capitol. CESAR enters the Capitol, the rest following. All the Senators rise. Pop. I wish, your enterprize to-day may thrive. Cas. What enterprize, Popilius? Pop. Bru. What said Popilius Lena? Fare you well. [Advances to CÆSAR. Cas. He wish'd, to-day our enterprize might thrive. I fear, our purpose is discovered. Bru. Look, how he makes to Cæsar: Mark him. Brutus, what shall be done? If this be known, For I will slay myself. Bru. Cassius, be constant: Popilius Lena speaks not of our purposes; For, look, he smiles, and Cæsar doth not change. [Exeunt ANTONY and TREBONIUS. CESAR and the Senators take their seats. Dec. Where is Metellus Cimber? Let him go, And presently prefer his suit to Cæsar. Bru. He is address'd press near, and second him. Cin. Casca, you are the first that rears your hand. Cas. Are we all ready? what is now amiss, That Cæsar, and his senate, must redress? Met. Most high, most mighty, and most puissant Cæsar, Metellus Cimber throws before thy seat An humble heart : [Kneeling. Cas. With that which melteth fools; I mean, sweet words, Thy brother by decree is banished; If thou dost bend, and pray, and fawn, for him, Know, Cæsar doth not wrong: nor without cause t He is address'd ;] i. e. He is ready. pre-ordinance,] i. e. Ordinance already established.-WARBURTON. the law of children.] i. e. Such slight determinations as every start of will would alter.-JOHNSON. u Know, Cæsar doth not wrong: nor without cause Will he be satisfied.] These lines, which are defective in their present state, are set right by Ben Jonson; in his Discoveries he quotes as an instance of Shakspeare's inaccuracy, the following line from Julius Cæsar : Know, Cæsar doth never wrong but with just cause. This line, which approaches the absurd without absolutely being so, seems to have been a jocular and familiar phrase for reproving the perverse and unreasonable expectations of the male and female gossips of the day, and is so used in the Induction to the Staple of News.-We may suppose that Ben Jonson started his objection in one of the earliest representations of the play, and that the players, or perhaps Shakspeare himself, overawed by so great an au |