6]

4 CITIZEN. Mark'd ye his words? He would not take the crown;
Therefore 'tis certain he was not ambitious.

1 CITIZEN. If it be found so, some will dear abide it.

2 CITIZEN. Poor soul! his eyes are red as fire with weeping.

3 CITIZEN. There's not a nobler man in Rome than Antony. 116

4 CITIZEN. Now mark him; he begins again to speak.

ANTONY. But yesterday the word of Caesar might
Have stood against the world: now lies he there,
And none so poor to do him reverence. 120
O masters, if I were dispos'd to stir
Your hearts and minds to mutiny and rage,
I should do Brutus wrong and Cassius wrong,
Who, you all know, are honourable men:
I will not do them wrong; I rather choose 125
To wrong the dead, to wrong myself and you,
Than I will wrong such honourable men.
But here's a parchment with the seal of Caesar;
I found it in his closet; 'tis his will:
Let but the commons hear this testament-- 130
Which, pardon me, I do not mean to read--
And they would go and kiss dead Caesar's wounds,
And dip their napkins in his sacred blood,
Yea, beg a hair of him for memory,
And, dying, mention it within their wills, 135
Bequeathing it as a rich legacy
Unto their issue.

[Note 114: /abide it:/ suffer for it, pay for it. See note, p.
87, l. 95.]

[Note 120: And there are none so humble but that the great
Caesar is now beneath their reverence, or too low for their
regard.]

[Note 133: /napkins:/ handkerchiefs. In the third scene of the
third act of _Othello_ the two words are used
interchangeably.]

[Page 107]

4 CITIZEN. We'll hear the will: read it, Mark Antony.

ALL. The will, the will! we will hear Caesar's will.

ANTONY. Have patience, gentle friends, I must not read it;
It is not meet you know how Caesar lov'd you. 141
You are not wood, you are not stones, but men;
And, being men, hearing the will of Caesar,
It will inflame you, it will make you mad.
'T is good you know not that you are his heirs; 145
For if you should, O, what would come of it!

4 CITIZEN. Read the will; we'll hear it, Antony;
You shall read us the will, Caesar's will.

ANTONY. Will you be patient? will you stay awhile?
I have o'ershot myself to tell you of it: 150
I fear I wrong the honourable men
Whose daggers