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Hath given me some worthy cause to wish
Things done, undone: but, if he be at hand,
I shall be satisfied.

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But that my noble master will appear

Such as he is, full of regard, and honour.
Bru. He is not doubted.-A word, Lucilius;
How he receiv'd you, let me be resolv'd.

Luc. With courtesy, and with respect enough;
But not with such familiar instances,

Nor with such free and friendly conference,
As he hath used of old.

Bru.

Thou hast describ'd

A hot friend cooling: Ever note, Lucilius,
When love begins to sicken and decay,
It useth an enforced ceremony.

There are no tricks in plain and simple faith:
But hollow men, like horses hot at hand,
Make gallant show and promise of their mettle:
But when they should endure the bloody spur,
They fall their crests, and, like deceitful jades,
Sink in the trial. Comes his

army on?

Luc. They mean this night in Sardis to be quarter'd; The greater part, the horse in general,

Are come with Cassius.

Bru.

[March within. Hark, he is arriv'd:

the trust of a commander, that I think it needless to give any instances. Warburton.

The arguments for the change proposed are insufficient. Brutus could not but know whether the wrongs committed were done by those who were immediately under the command of Cassius, or those under his officers. The answer of Bratus to the servant is only an act of ar fu civility; his question to Lucilius proves, that his suspicion still continued. Yet I cannot but suspect a corruption, and would read:

In his own change, or by ill offices,

That is, either changing his inclination of himself, or by the ill offices and bad influences of others. Johnson.

Surely alteration is unnecessary. In the subsequent conference Brutus charges both Cassius and his officer, Lucius Pella, with corruption. Steevens

Brutus immediately after says to Lucilius, when he hears his account of the manner in which he had been received by Cassius:" "Thou hast describ'd

"A hot friend cooling."

That is the change which Brutus complains of. M. Mason,

March gently on to meet him.

Enter CASSIUS and Soldiers.

Cas. Stand, ho!

Bru. Stand, ho! Speak the word along.

Within. Stand.

Within. Stand.

Within. Stand.

Cas. Most noble brother, you have done me wrong. Bru. Judge me, you gods! Wrong I mine enemies? And, if not so, how should I wrong a brother?

Cas. Brutus, this sober form of yours hides wrongs; And when you do them

Bru.

Cassius, be content,

Speak your griefs5 softly,--I do know you well:-
Before the eyes of both our armies here,

Which should perceive nothing but love from us,
Let us not wrangle: Bid them move away;
Then in my tent, Cassius, enlarge your griefs,
And I will give you audience.

Cas.

Pindarus,

Bid our commanders lead their charges off
A little from this ground.

Bru. Lucilius, do the like ; and let no man
Come to our tent, till we have done our conference.
Let Lucius and Titinius guard our door.

SCENE III.

Within the Tent of Brutus.

[Exeunt

LUCIUS and TITINIUS at some distance from it.
Enter BRUTUS and CASSIUS.

Cas. That you have wrong'd me doth appear in this: You have condemn'd and noted Lucius Pella,

For taking bribes here of the Sardians;
Wherein, my letters, praying on his side,
Because I knew the man, were slighted off.

5

Bru. You wrong'd yourself, to write in such a case.

your griefs-] i. e. your grievances. See Vol. VIII, p. 306, 11. 8. Malone.

6

do the like;] Old copy-" do you the like;" but without regard to metre. Steevens.

Cas. In such a time as this, it is not meet
That every nice offence should bear his comment.
Bru. Let me tell you, Cassius, you yourself
Are much condemn'd to have an itching palm;
To sell and mart your offices for gold,

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You know, that you are Brutus that speak this,
Or, by the gods, this speech were else your last.

Bru. The name of Cassius honours this corruption, And chastisement doth therefore hide his head.

Cas. Chastisement!

Bru. Remember March, the ides of March remember! Did not great Julius bleed for justice' sake? What villain touch'd his body, that did stab, And not for justice? What, shall one of us, That struck the foremost man of all this world, But for supporting robbers; shall we now Contaminate our fingers with base bribes? And sell the mighty space of our large honours, For so much trash, as may be grasped thus?I had rather be a dog, and bay the moon, Than such a Roman.

Cas.

Brutus, bay not me,9

every nice offence-] i. e. small trifling offence. Warburton. So, in Romeo and Juliet, Act V:

"The letter was not nice, but full of charge

"Of dear import." Steevens.

What villain touch'd his body, that did stab,

And not for justice?] This question is far from implying that any of those who touched Cæsar's body, were villains. On the contrary, it is an indirect way of asserting that there was not one man among them, who was base enough to stab him for any cause but that of justice. Malone.

9 Cas. Brutus, bay not me,] The old copy-bait not me. Mr. Theobald and all the st sequent editors read-bay not me; and the emendation is sufficiently plausible, our author having in Troilus and Cressida used the word bay in the same sense:

"What moves Ajax thus to bay at him!"

But as he has likewise twice used bait in the sense required here, the text in my apprehension, ought not to be disturbed. "I will not yield," says Macbeth:

"To kiss the ground before young Malcolm's feet,
"And to be baited with the rabble's curse."

Again, in Coriolanus:

I'll not endure it: you forget yourself,
To hedge me in ;1 I am a soldier, I,
Older in practice,2 abler than yourself
To make conditions.3

Bru.

Cas. I am.

Go to; you're not, Cassius.

Bru. I say, you are not.4

Cas. Urge me no more, I shall forget myself; Have mind upon your health, tempt me no further, Bru. Away, slight man!

Cas. Is 't possible?

Bru.

Hear me, for I will speak.

Must I give way and room to your rash choler?
Shall I be frighted, when a madman stares?

why stay we to be baited

"With one that wants her wits?"

So also, in a comedy intitled, How to choose a Good Wife from a Bad, 1602:

"Do I come home so seldom, and that seldom

"Am I thus baited?"

The reading of the old copy, which I have restored, is likewise supported by a passage in King Richard III:

"To be so baited, scorn'd, and storm'd at." Malone

The second folio, on both occasions, has-bait; and the spirit of the reply will, in my judgment, be diminished, unless a repetition of the one or the other word be admitted. I therefore continue to read with Mr. Theobald. Bay, in our author, may be as frequently exemplified as bait. It occurs again in the play before us, as well as in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Cymbeline, King Henry IV, P. II, &c. &c. Steevens.

1 To hedge me in;] That is, to limit my authority by your direction or censure. Johnson.

2- I am a soldier I,

Older in practice, &c.] Thus the ancient copies; but the modern editors, instead of I, have read ay, because the vowel I sometimes stands for ay the affirmative adverb. I have replaced the old reading, on the authority of the following line:

"And I am Brutus; Marcus Brutus I." Steevens. See Vol. IX, p. 65, n. 5.

Malone.

3 To make conditions.] That is, to know on what terms it is fit to confer the offices which are at my disposal. Johnson.

4 Cas. I am.

Bru I say, you are not.] This passage may easily be restored to metre, if we read:

Brutus, I am.

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Cas. O ye gods! ye gods! Must I endure all this? Bru. All this? ay, more: Fret, till your proud heart

break;

Go, show your slaves how cholerick you are,

And make your bondmen tremble. Must I budge?
Must I observe you? Must I stand and crouch
Under your testy humour? By the gods,
You shall digest the venom of your spleen,
Though it do split you: for, from this day forth,
I'll use you for my mirth,5 yea, for my laughter,
When you are waspish.

Cas.

Is it come to this?

Bru. You say, you are a better soldier:

Let it appear so; make your vaunting true,

And it shall please me well: For mine own part,

I shall be glad to learn of noble'men.

abler

Cas. You wrong me every way, you wrong me, Brutus; I said, an elder soldier, not a better:

Did I say, better?

Bru.

If you did, I care not.

Cas. When Cæsar liv'd, he durst not thus have mov'd

me.

Bru. Peace, peace; you durst not so have tempted him. Cas. I durst not?

Bru. No.

Cas. What? durst not tempt him?

For your

life you

durst not.

Bru.
Cas. Do not presume too much upon my love,

I may do that I shall be sorry for.

Bru. You have done that you should be sorry for. There is no terror, Cassius, in your threats;

For I am arm'd so strong in honesty,

That they pass by me, as the idle wind,

Which I respect not. I did send to you

For certain sums of gold, which you deny'd me ;-
For I can raise no money by vile means:

By heaven, I had rather coin my heart,

And drop my blood for drachmas, than to wring
From the hard hands of peasants their vile trash,

5 I'll use you for my mirth,] Mr. Rowe has transplanted this insult into the mouth of Lothario:

“And use his sacred friendship for our mirth." Steevens.

than to wring

From the hard hands of peasants their vile trash,] This is a noble

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