Did this in Cæsar seem ambitious?96
When that the poor have cried, Cæsar hath wept;
Ambition should be made of sterner stuff:
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;
And Brutus is an honourable man.100
You all did see that on the Lupercal
I thrice presented him a kingly crown,
Which he did thrice refuse: was this ambition?
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;104
And, sure, he is an honourable man.
I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke,
But here I am to speak what I do know.
You all did love him once, not without cause:108
What cause withholds you then to mourn for him?
O judgment, thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason. Bear with me;
My heart is in the coffin there with Cæsar,112
And I must pause till it come back to me.
First Ple. Methinks there is much reason in his sayings.
Sec. Ple. If thou consider rightly of the matter,
Cæsar has had great wrong.
Third Ple.Has he, masters?116
I fear there will a worse come in his place.
Fourth Ple. Mark'd ye his words? He would not take the crown;
Therefore 'tis certain he was not ambitious.
First Ple. If it be found so, some will dear abide it.120
Sec. Ple. Poor soul, his eyes are red as fire with weeping.
Third Ple. There's not a nobler man in Rome than Antony.
101 on the Lupercal: on the day of the Lupercalia
