For thine own future safety.

Cromwell.

O my lord,

Must I then leave you? must I needs forgo
So good, so noble, and so true a master?
Bear witness, all that have not hearts of iron,
With what a sorrow Cromwell leaves his lord.
The King shall have my service. But my prayers,
For ever and for ever, shall be yours.

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Wolsey. Cromwell, I did not think to shed a tear 315
In all my miseries; but thou hast forced me,
Out of thy honest truth, to play the woman.
Let's dry our eyes and thus far hear me, Cromwell;
And, when I am forgotten, as I shall be,

And sleep in dull cold marble, where no mention 320
Of me more must be heard of, say, I taught thee;
Say, Wolsey, that once trod the ways of glory,
And sounded all the depths and shoals of honour,
Found thee a way, out of his wreck, to rise in ;
A sure and safe one, though thy master missed it. 325
Mark but my fall, and that that ruined me.
Cromwell, I charge thee, fling away ambition:
By that sin fell the angels; how can man then,
The image of his Maker, hope to win by 't?
Love thyself last cherish those hearts that hate thee:
Corruption wins not more than honesty.
Still in thy right hand carry gentle peace,

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To silence envious tongues. Be just, and fear not:
Let all the ends thou aim'st at be thy country's,
Thy God's, and truth's; then if thou fall'st, O Cromwell,
Thou fall'st a blessed martyr. Serve the King;
And he breaks down: Cromwell supports him] prithee,
lead me in:

There take an inventory of all I have,

To the last penny; 'tis the King's: my robe,
And my integrity to heaven, is all

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340

I dare now call mine own. O Cromwell, Cromwell!

Had I but served my God with half the zeal

I served my King, he would not in mine age
Have left me naked to mine enemies
Cromwell. Good sir, have patience.

Wolsey.

So I have. Farewell 345

The hopes of court! my hopes in heaven do dwell.

[Exeunt.

XIII. BRUTUS AND CAESAR

BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

SCENE I. IN EVEN SCALE.

Caesar, supreme in Rome and now the foremost man of all this world', is king except in name, and the attempt to crown him stirs a republican faction to plot his overthrow. Cassius, as the most active member of the conspiracy, endeavours to win over his brother-in-law Brutus, a man of noble life and character who sits high in all the people's hearts', and moreover is dear to Caesar and under the deepest obligations to him.

Caesar, attended by his wife Calpurnia, his friend Mark Antony, and a great retinue, has just passed from the stage to witness the games of a public festival. Brutus lingers behind, and Cassius seizes the moment to put before him the first suggestion of the conspiracy.

Cassius. Will you go see the order of the course? Brutus. Not I.

Cassius. I pray you, do.

Brutus. I am not gamesome: I do lack some part Of that quick spirit that is in Antony. Let me not hinder, Cassius, your desires;

I'll leave you.

Cassius. Brutus, I do observe you now of late:
I have not from your eyes that gentleness
And show of love as I was wont to have:
You bear too stubborn and too strange a hand
Over your friend that loves you.

Brutus.

Cassius,

Be not deceived: if I have veiled my look,
I turn the trouble of my countenance

Merely upon myself. Vexèd I am,

Of late with passions of some difference,

Conceptions only proper to myself,

Which give some soil perhaps to my behaviours; But let not therefore my good friends be grieved (Among which number, Cassius, be you one),

5

ΙΟ

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20

Nor construe any further my neglect,

Than that poor Brutus, with himself at war,
Forgets the shows of love to other men.

Cassius. Then, Brutus, I have much mistook your passion;

By means whereof this breast of mine hath buried 25
Thoughts of great value, worthy cogitations.

Tell me, good Brutus, can you see your face?
Brutus. No, Cassius; for the eye sees not itself
But by reflection, by some other things.
Cassius. 'Tis just:

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And it is very much lamented, Brutus,

That you have no such mirrors as will turn
Your hidden worthiness into your eye,

That you might see your shadow. I have heard,
Where many of the best respect in Rome

35

(Except immortal Caesar) speaking of Brutus,

And groaning underneath this age's yoke,

Have wished that noble Brutus had his eyes.

Brutus. Into what dangers would you lead me, Cassius,

That you would have me seek into myself
For that which is not in me?

40

Cassius. Therefore, good Brutus, be prepared to hear :

And, since you know you cannot see yourself
So well as by reflection, I, your glass,
Will modestly discover to yourself

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That of yourself which you yet know not of.

And be not jealous on me, gentle Brutus :
Were I a common laugher, or did use
To stale with ordinary oaths my love
To every new protester; if you know

That I do fawn on men and hug them hard,
And after scandal them; or if you know
That I profess myself in banqueting

To all the rout, then hold me dangerous.

.

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[A flourish of trumpets and a shout from the crowd at the games are heard.

Brutus. What means this shouting? I do fear the

people

Choose Caesar for their king.

Cassius.

Aye, do you fear it?

Then must I think you would not have it so.

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Brutus. I would not, Cassius; yet I love him well.

But wherefore do you hold me here so long?
What is it that you would impart to me ?
If it be aught toward the general good,
Set honour in one eye and death i' the other,
And I will look on both indifferently;

For let the gods so speed me as I love

The name of honour more than I fear death.

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65

Cassius. I know that virtue to be in you, Brutus,

As well as I do know your outward favour.

Well, honour is the subject of my story.

I cannot tell what you and other men

Think of this life; but, for my single self,
I had as lief not be as live to be
In awe of such a thing as I myself.

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I was born free as Caesar; so were you :

We both have fed as well, and we can both
Endure the winter's cold as well as he :
For once, upon a raw and gusty day,
The troubled Tiber chafing with her shores,

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Caesar said to me, 'Dar'st thou, Cassius, now
Leap in with me into this angry flood,
And swim to yonder point?' Upon the word
Accoutred as I was, I plungèd in
And bade him follow: so indeed he did.
The torrent roared; and we did buffet it
With lusty sinews, throwing it aside.
And stemming it with hearts of controversy:
But ere we could arrive the point proposed,
Caesar cried, 'Help me, Cassius, or I sink! '
I, as Aeneas, our great ancestor,

Did from the flames of Troy upon his shoulder

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85

The old Anchises bear, so from the waves of Tiber 90 Did I the tired Caesar: and this man

Is now become a god, and Cassius is

A wretched creature, and must bend his body,
If Caesar carelessly but nod on him.

He had a fever when he was in Spain,
And, when the fit was on him, I did mark

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How he did shake: 'tis true, this god did shake :
His coward lips did from their colour fly,

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And that same eye, whose bend doth awe the world,
Did lose his lustre: I did hear him groan :
Aye, and that tongue of his, that bade the Romans

Mark him and write his speeches in their books,
Alas, it cried, 'Give me some drink, Titinius,'
As a sick girl. Ye gods! it doth amaze me,
A man of such a feeble temper should
So get the start of the majestic world,
And bear the palm alone.

Brutus.

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[A shout and flourish are heard again. Another general shout!

I do believe that these applauses are

For some new honours that are heaped on Caesar.
Cassius. Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world,
Like a Colossus; and we petty men

Walk under his huge legs, and peep about
To find ourselves dishonourable graves.

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yours?

Men at some time are masters of their fates:
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings.
Brutus and Caesar: what should be in that 'Caesar'?
Why should that name be sounded more than
Write them together, yours is as fair a name;
Sound them, it doth become the mouth as well; 120
Weigh them, it is as heavy; conjure with 'em,
'Brutus' will start a spirit as soon as 'Caesar'.
Now, in the names of all the gods at once,
Upon what meat doth this our Caesar feed,

That he is grown so great? Age, thou art shamed !
Rome, thou hast lost the breed of noble bloods! 126
When went there by an age, since the great flood,
But it was famed with more than with one man ?
When could they say, till now, that talked of Rome,
That her wide walls encompassed but one man?
Now is it Rome indeed, and Room enough,
When there is in it but one only man.

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Oh, you and I have heard our fathers say,

There was a Brutus once that would have brooked
The eternal devil to keep his state in Rome
As easily as a king.

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Brutus. That you do love me, I am nothing jealous; What you would work me to, I have some aim: How I have thought of this, and of these times, I shall recount hereafter; for this present, I would not, so with love I might entreat you, Be any further moved. What you have said

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