Question

Why did Antony request the public not to force him to read Caesar's letter

Answer 1

Antony was a clever and cunning orator and was very well known to the techniques using which he could attract the mob and change their mind set. He made a special mention of Caesar's will {it's not Caesar's letter, but his will, check your question again}. Antony intentionally and deliberately talked about Caesar's will to make the mob aware about it. But then withdrew from reading it and was reluctant for the same. He wanted the mob to pressurise and persuade him to read out the will, but did not want to tell them about the same. He ironically wanted from his heart of hearts to make the will public, but wanted the mob to convince him, for which Antony had to be pretentious and clever.
Hope it helps!!