Shall then be his, and like a vine grow to him ;
Wherever the bright sun of heaven shall shine,
His honour, and the greatness of his name
Shall be, and make new nations: He shall flourish,
And, like a mountain cedar, reach his branches
To all the plains about him.-Our children's children
Shall see this, and bless Heaven.

K. Hen. Thou speakest wonders.

Cran. She shall be, to the happiness of England,
An aged princess; many days shall see her,
And yet no day without a deed to crown it.
'Would I had known no more! but she must die,
She must, the saints must have her; yet a virgin,
A most unspotted lily shall she pass

To the ground, and all the world shall mourn her.
K. Hen. O lord archbishop,

Thou hast made me now a man; never, before

This happy child, did I get anything:

This oracle of comfort has so pleased me,

That, when I am in heaven, I shall desire

To see what this child does, and praise my Maker.—
I thank ye all,-To you, my good lord mayor,
And your good brethren, I am much beholden;
I have received much honour by your presence,
And ye shall find me thankful. Lead the way, lords ;—
Ye must all see the queen, and she must thank ye,
She will be sick else. This day, no man think
He has business at his house; for all shall stay,
This little one shall make it holyday.

[Exeunt.

1gossips, godparents; sponsors. Sheba, the Queen of Sheba, who came to see the wisdom of Solomon (See 1 Kings x.) 3own, own people or subjects. *phænix, a female bird mentioned in ancient fables. She was said to live for five or six hundred years, then to consume herself on a funeral pile, and to rise up to a new life from her own ashes. 5one, viz., James I. of England, who succeeded Elizabeth. It is supposed that the play was written during the reign of Elizabeth, but that these lines were added after the accession of James I.

SCENE FROM JULIUS CÆSAR.

[The poet founded this play on Roman history. At the exact period of the action of this drama, Cæsar, possessing the reality of power, was haunted by the weakness of passionately desiring the title of king. This caused him to be mortally hated by many powerful Roman nobles, some of whom, led by Brutus, assassinated him. Mark Antony was Cæsar's friend, and in this oration strives to stir up the citizens to revenge his death. He makes great use of a kind of ridicule called irony, which exposes the errors or faults of others by seeming to adopt, approve, or defend them.]

FRIENDS, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears;
I come to bury Cæsar, not to praise him.
The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interrèd with their bones:
So let it be with Cæsar. The noble Brutus
Hath told you Cæsar was 'ambitious:
If it were so, it was a grievous fault,
And grievously hath Cæsar answered it.
Here, under leave of Brutus, and the rest
(2 For Brutus is an honourable man ;
So are they all, all honourable men),
Come I to speak in Cæsar's funeral.
He was my friend, faithful and just to me,
But Brutus says, he was ambitious;

And Brutus is an honourable man.

He hath brought many captives home to Rome,
Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill:

Did this in Cæsar seem ambitious?

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;
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;

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 :
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,
And I must pause till it come back to me.

1 Citizen. Methinks there is much reason in his sayings. 2 Cit. If thou consider rightly of the matter,

Cæsar has had great wrong.

3 Cit.

Has he, masters?

I fear there will a worse come in his place.

4 Cit. Mark'd ye his words. He would not take the

crown;

Therefore, 'tis certain he was not ambitious.

1 Cit. If it be found so, some 5 will dear abide it.

2 Cit. Poor soul! his eyes are red as fire with weeping. 3 Cit. There's not a nobler man in Rome than Antony 4 Cit. Now mark him, he begins again to speak.

Ant. But yesterday, the word of Cæsar might
Have stood against the world; now lies he there,
And none so poor to do him reverence.

O masters! if I were disposed 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
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 Cæsar,
I found it in his closet-'tis his will:
Let but the commons hear this testament
(Which, pardon me, I do not mean to read),

And they would go and kiss dead Cæsar's wounds,
And dip their napkins in his sacred blood,

7

Yea, beg a hair of him for memory,

Ast. If you have sens, Jogice to shed them now.

Tot i ka the mande : I remember

The first time ever Cesar pat it on :

Twas of a smer's evening, in his tent ;

That day he overcame the * Nervi :

Look, in this place ran Cassius dagger through ;

Hee what a rent the envious Casca made:

Through this the well-beloved Brutus stabb'd ;
And as he pluck'd his cursed steel away,
Mark how the blood of Cæsar follow'd it,
As rushing out of doors, to be 1o resolved

10

If Brutus so unkindly knock'd, or no ;

For Brutus, as you know, was Cæsar's angel:
Judge, O you gods, how dearly Cæsar loved him!
This was the most unkindest cut of all;

For when the noble Cæsar saw him stab,
Ingratitude, more strong than traitor's arms,
Quite vanquish'd him; then burst his mighty heart;
And, in his mantle muffling up his face,

Even at the base of " Pompey's statue,

Which all the while ran blood, great Cæsar fell.
O, what a fall was there, my countrymen !
Then I, and you, and all of us fell down,
Whilst bloody treason flourish'd over us.
O, now you weep; and, I perceive, you feel
The 12 dint of pity: these are gracious drops.
Kind souls, what, weep you, when you but behold
Our Cæsar's vesture wounded? Look you here,
Here is himself, marr'd, as you see, with traitors.
1 Cit. O piteous spectacle !

2 Cit. O noble Cæsar!

3 Cit. O woful day!

4 Cit. O traitors, villains!

2 Cit. We will be revenged; revenge; about,--seek,— burn,—fire,—kill,-slay !—let not a traitor live.

Ant. Stay, countrymen.

1 Cit. Peace there: hear the noble Antony.

2 Cit. We'll hear him, we'll follow him, we'll die with him. Ant. Good friends, sweet friends, let me not stir you up To such a sudden flood of mutiny.

They that have done this deed are honourable :

13

What private 13 griefs they have, alas, I know not,

That made them do it; they are wise and honourable,

And will, no doubt, with reasons answer you.

I come not, friends, to steal away your hearts:

I am no orator, as Brutus is;

But, as you know me all, a plain blunt man,

That love my friend; and that they know full well

That gave me public leave to speak of him.