BRUTUS
| Be patient till the last. | |
| | Romans, countrymen, and lovers! hear me for my |
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| | cause, and be silent, that you may hear: believe me | |
| | for mine honour, and have respect to mine honour, that | |
| | you may believe: censure me in your wisdom, and | |
| | awake your senses, that you may the better judge. | |
| | If there be any in this assembly, any dear friend of | |
| | Caesar's, to him I say, that Brutus' love to Caesar | |
| | was no less than his. If then that friend demand | |
| | why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer: | |
| | --Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved | |
| | Rome more. Had you rather Caesar were living and | |
| | die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live | |
| | all free men? As Caesar loved me, I weep for him; | |
| | as he was fortunate, I rejoice at it; as he was | |
| | valiant, I honour him: but, as he was ambitious, I | |
| | slew him. There is tears for his love; joy for his |
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| | fortune; honour for his valour; and death for his | |
| | ambition. Who is here so base that would be a | |
| | bondman? If any, speak; for him have I offended. | |
| | Who is here so rude that would not be a Roman? If | |
| | any, speak; for him have I offended. Who is here so | |
| | vile that will not love his country? If any, speak; | |
| | for him have I offended. I pause for a reply. | |
| All | None, Brutus, none. | |
| BRUTUS | Then none have I offended. I have done no more to | |
| | Caesar than you shall do to Brutus. The question of | |
| | his death is enrolled in the Capitol; his glory not | |
| | extenuated, wherein he was worthy, nor his offences | |
| | enforced, for which he suffered death. | |
| | Enter ANTONY and others, with CAESAR's body | |
| | Here comes his body, mourned by Mark Antony: who, | |
| | though he had no hand in his death, shall receive |
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| | the benefit of his dying, a place in the | |
| | commonwealth; as which of you shall not? With this | |
| | I depart,--that, as I slew my best lover for the | |
| | good of Rome, I have the same dagger for myself, | |
| | when it shall please my country to need my death. | |
| All | Live, Brutus! live, live! |