University of Virginia Library

SCENE II.

The Senate.
Brut.
Patricians , that long stood, and scap'd the Tyrant,
The venerable moulds of your Forefathers,
That represent the wisdom of the Dead;
And you the Conscript chosen for the People,
Engines of Power, severest Counsellors,
Courts that examine Treasons to the Head:
All hail. The Consul begs th' auspicious Gods,
And binds Quirinus by his Tutelar Vow,
That Plenty, Peace, and lasting Liberty
May be your portion, and the Lot of Rome.
Laws, Rules, and Bounds, prescrib'd for raging Kings,
Like Banks and Bulwarks for the Mother Seas,
Tho 'tis impossible they should prevent
A thousand dayly wracks and nightly ruins,
Yet help to break those rowling inundations
Which else would overflow and drown the World.
Tarquin, to feed whose fathomless ambition
And Ocean Luxury, the noblest veins
Of all true Romans were like Rivers empty'd,
Is cut from Rome, and now he flows full on;
Yet, Fathers, ought we much to fear his ebb,
And strictly watch the Dams that we have rais'd.
Why should I go about? the Roman People
All, with one voice, accuse my fellow Consul.

Coll.
The People may; I hope the Nobles will not.
The People! Brutus does indulge the People.

Bru.
Consul, in what is right, I will indulge 'em:
And much I think 'tis better so to do,
Than see 'em run in Tumults through the Streets,
Forming Cabals, Plotting against the Senate,
Shutting their Shops and flying from the Town,
As if the Gods had sent the Plague among 'em.
I know too well, you and your Royal Tribe
Scorn the good People, scorn the late Election,
Because we chose these Fathers for the People
To fill the place of those whom Tarquin murder'd:
And, tho you laugh at this, you and your Train,
The irreligious harebrain'd youth of Rome,
The Ignorant, the Slothful, and the Base;
Yet wise men know, 'tis very rarely seen,
That a free people should desire the hurt
Of Common Liberty. No, Collatine,
For those desires arise from their oppression,
Or from suspicion they are falling to it;
But put the case that those their fears were false,
Ways may be found to rectify their Errors;
For grant the People ignorant of themselves,
Yet they are capable of being told,
And will conceive a truth from worthy men:
From you they will not, nor from your adherents,
Rome's Infamous and Execrable Youth,
Foes to Religion and the Commonwealth,
To Virtue, Learning, and all sober Arts
That bring renown and profit to Mankind;
Such as had rather bleed beneath a Tyrant
To become dreadful to the Populace,
To spread their Lusts and Dissolutness round,
Tho at the daily hazard of their lives;
Than live at peace in a Free Government,
Where every man is Master of his own,
Sole Lord at home, and Monarch of his House,
Where Rancor and Ambition are extinguish'd,
Where Universal peace extends her wings,
As if the Golden Age return'd, where all
The People do agree, and live secure,
The Nobles and the Princes lov'd and Reverenc'd,
The World in Triumph, and the Gods Ador'd.

Coll.
The Consul, Conscript Fathers, saies the People,
For divers Reasons, grudge the Dignity,
Which I possess'd by general approbation,
I hear their murmurs, an would know of Brutus
What they would have me do, what's their desire.

Bru.
Take hence the Royal name, resign thy Office;
Go as a Friend, and of thy own accord,
Left thou be forc'd to what may seem thy will:
The City renders thee what is thy own
With vast increase, so thou resolve to go;
For till the name, the Race and Family
Of Tarquin Be remov'd, Rome is not free.

Coll.
Brutus, I yield my Office to Valerius,
Hoping, when Rome has try'd my faith by Exile,
She will recal me: So the Gods preserve you.

[Exit.
Bru.
Welcome Publicola, true Son of Rome;
On such a Pilot in the roughest Storm
She may securely sleep and rest her cares.

[Enter Tiberius, Aquilius, Vitellius, and the Priests.
1. Pri.
Hear Jupiter, Quirinus, all you Gods,
Thou Father, Judge commission'd for the Message
Pater Patratus for the Embassy,
And Sacred Oaths which I must swear for truth,
Dost thou Commission me to seal the Peace,
If peace they choose; or hurl this bloody Spear
Half burnt in fire, if they inforce a War?

2. Pri.
Speak to the Senate, and the Alban People
The Words of Tarquin: this is your Commission.

1. Pri.
The King, to show he has more moderation
Than those that drove him from his lawful Empire,
Demands but restitution of his own,
His Royal Houshold-stuff, Imperial Treasure,
His Gold, his Jewels, and his proper State
To be transported where he now resides:
I swear that this is all the King requires;
Behold his Signet set upon the wax.
'Tis Seal'd and written in these Sacred Tables.
To this I swear; and as my Oath is Just,
Sincere and punctual, without all deceit,
May Jupiter and all the Gods reward me:
But if I act, or otherwise imagine,
Think, or design, than what I hear have sworn,
All you the Alban People being safe,
Safe in your Country, Temples, Sepulchers,
Safe in your Laws, and proper Houshold Gods;
Let me alone be strook, fall, perish, dye,
As now this Stone falls from my hand to Earth.

Bru.
The things you ask being very controversial,
Require some time. Should we deny the Tyrant
What was his own, 'twould seem a strange injustice;
Tho he had never Reign'd in Rome; yet, Fathers,
If we consent to yield to his demand,
We give him then full power to make a War.
'Tis known to you, the Fecialian Priests,
No Act of Senate after Sun-set stands;
Therefore your offers being of great moment,
We shall defer your bus'ness till the morn:
With whose first dawn we summon all the Fathers,
To give th' affair dispatch. So Jove protect,
Guard, and Defend the Commonwealth of Rome.

[Exeunt.
[Manent Tiberius, Aquilius, Vitellius, Priests.
Tib.
Now to the Garden, where I'll bring my Brother:
Fear not, my Lord; we have the means to work him;
It cannot fail.

1. Pri.
And you, Vitellius, hast
With good Aquilius, spread the news through Rome,
To all of Royal Spirit; most to those
Young Noble men that us'd to range with Sextus!
Perswade a restitution of the King,
Give 'em the hint to let him in by night,
And joyn their Forces with th'Imperial Troops,
For 'tis a shove a push of Fate must bear it,
For you, the Hearts and Souls of enterprise,
I need not urge a reason after this:
What good can come of such a Government
Where tho two Consuls, wise and able persons,
As are throughout the World, sit at the helm,
A very trifle cannot be resolv'd;
A Trick, a Start, a Shaddow of a business,
That would receive dispatch in half a minute
Were the Authority but rightly plac'd,
In Rome's most lawful King? But now no more;
The Fecialian Garden is the place,
Where more of our sworn Function will be ready
To help the Royal Plot: disperse, and prosper.