Cas. Then leave him out.
Casca. Indeed he is not fit.[3051]
Dec. Shall no man else be touch'd but only Cæsar?[3051]
Cas. Decius, well urged: I think it is not meet 155
Mark Antony, so well beloved of Cæsar,
Should outlive Cæsar: we shall find of him
A shrewd contriver; and you know his means,
If he improve them, may well stretch so far
As to annoy us all: which to prevent, 160
Let Antony and Cæsar fall together.
Bru. Our course will seem too bloody, Caius Cassius,
To cut the head off and then hack the limbs,
Like wrath in death and envy afterwards;
For Antony is but a limb of Cæsar: 165
Let us be sacrificers, but not butchers, Caius.[3052]
We all stand up against the spirit of Cæsar,
And in the spirit of men there is no blood:[3053]
O, that we then could come by Cæsar's spirit,[3054]
And not dismember Cæsar! But, alas, 170
Cæsar must bleed for it! And, gentle friends,
Let's kill him boldly, but not wrathfully;
Let's carve him as a dish fit for the gods,
Not hew him as a carcass fit for hounds:
And let our hearts, as subtle masters do,[3055] 175
Stir up their servants to an act of rage
And after seem to chide 'em. This shall make[3056]
Our purpose necessary and not envious:
Which so appearing to the common eyes,
We shall be call'd purgers, not murderers.[3057] 180
And for Mark Antony, think not of him;
For he can do no more than Cæsar's arm
When Cæsar's head is off.[3058]
Cas. Yet I fear him,
For in the ingrafted love he bears to Cæsar—[3059]
Bru. Alas, good Cassius, do not think of him: 185
If he love Cæsar, all that he can do
Is to himself, take thought and die for Cæsar:[3060]
And that were much he should, for he is given
To sports, to wildness and much company.[3061]
Treb. There is no fear in him; let him not die; 190
For he will live and laugh at this hereafter.[3062] [Clock strikes.
Bru. Peace! count the clock.
Cas. The clock hath stricken three.[3063]