University of Virginia Library

SCENE THE THIRD.

Icilius, People, Numitoria, Virginia, Marcus.
Ici.
What disturbance?
What screams? oh, heaven! what is it that I see?
Virginia!

Virginia.
Defend me ...

Nu.
Heaven has sent thee;
Run; fly; with danger imminent thy spouse
Is threatened.

Virginia.
I am torn from thee, my mother,
And from myself. That man has vilified
Me with the name of Slave.

Ici.
Of slave? oh vile!
Are these thy noble enterprises? Thou,
Art thou more skill'd to combat in the forum
Than in the camp? Oh! of all slaves the worst,
Dar'st thou to stain this maid with servitude?

Mar.
Icilius, thou accustomed to debates,
Fostered in discord and fierce turbulence,
It well becomes thee, that, to awaken tumults,
The food congenial to thy wrathful nature,
Thou shouldst assign this frivolous pretence.
But since, in spite of thee, there are at Rome
Most sacred laws, what cause have I to fear thee?
She is my slave; yes, she; once more I say it;
And I, to whom it most imports to prove it,
Will prove her to be so. Nor thou, I deem,
Nor those, like thee, whose contumacious scowl
Bespeaks their factious nature, are my judges.

Ici.
Icilius, and a few like him, here stand
Tremendous advocates of innocence.
Ye that are Romans, listen to my words.
I, who have never forfeited my oath;
I, who have ne'er betray'd or sold my honour;
Who equally exult that I possess
Ignoble parents, and a noble heart;
Listen to me; to you I speak. This virgin,
Free-born and innocent, is Virginius' daughter ...
At the mere mention of that name, I see
A noble indignation in your eyes.
For you Virginius combats in the camp:
Oh see on what degenerate times we have fallen!
Meanwhile, exposed to shame, exposed to outrage,
His child remains in Rome. Who is the culprit?
Come forward, Marcus; shew thyself ... But what?
Thou tremblest? ... Look at him, ye know him well;
Chief minister, and vilest satellite,
Of Appius, the arch-tyrant of our times;
Of Appius, mortal foe of every virtue;
Of Appius, the oppressor, harden'd, proud,
Ferocious; who your freedom has destroy'd;
And, to increase the insult, spares your lives.
To me Virginia was betroth'd; I love her.
Who I, that thus address you, am, I think
'Tis needless to remind you: I was once
Your tribune, your defender once ... in vain:
For rather did ye trust the blandishments
Of flattering words, than my sincere reproofs:
We now receive for this our punishment,
Our common servitude ... Words here are useless.
Well as ye know his name, the arm, the heart,
The hardihood of Icilius ye know.
Free, at your hands, do I demand my spouse.
He asks her not of you; calls her his slave,
Seizes her person, drags her on by force.
Which is the liar, Marcus or Icilius?
Give sentence, thou, people of mighty Rome.

Mar.
Those laws, oh sovereign people, which ye framed,
Tremendous, wise, and sacred, dare ye be
The first now to infringe? No; for the gods
Of Rome will not permit it. On my head,
Then, may the weight of your resentment fall
When I am convicted as an unjust claimant:
But while that vain boasts, and atrocious insults,
And horrible contemptuousness evinced
Towards supreme, legitimated power,
Are the sole arms by which I am opposed,
Say, which of you will venture from her lord
To force his rightful slave?

Ici.
I first; and I
Shall have as many comrades to this deed,
As there are Romans here. Thy fraudful claim,
Doubtless, some impious mystery conceals:
Now, by what reason thou art thus impelled
Who knows? who can, who would, know it? not I;
I only, that the infamous effect
Shall not ensue. Rome, since she fell a prey
To the detested ten, under pretence
Of law, enough already hath endured
From force, from shame, from slaughter. Hitherto
I am not used to outrage: who endures,
Deserves it. Never can she be a slave
Who is affianced to Icilius; ... never,
E'en were she born a slave. Was ever law
Like this unjust? Slaves in the very lap
Of liberty? And slaves to whom? ... To what? ...
To the insulting pride of our oppressors.
Slaves are not for the people; not for us;
Who have both hearts and hands. But let this Rome
Have slaves by thousands, and by tens of thousands,
So that Virginia be not of the number,
Romans, meanwhile believe me: I affirm
She is the daughter of Virginius:
Her modest gestures, and her face declare it;
Her lofty feelings, and her ripened sense.
I love her; she is destined to be mine;
Shall I thus lose her?

People.
Miserable husband!
And who can tell who instigates this man?

Ici.
Oh! I perceive ye feel compassion for me;
And I deserve it; on the very day
When I believed that I, of all my hopes,
Had gain'd the summit, see, I am at once
Plunged in the lowest depths of misery.
I have abundant enemies in Rome;
And all your enemies; powerful enough,
But still more cunning. Who can tell? Perchance,
First having robbed me of my liberty,
They now would rob me of my wife. Behold
Their hardihood! Fables they first invent;
And this man comes to give their lies a substance ...
Ah, native Rome! to what art thou condemned? ...
Flagitious nobles, you are here the slaves:
Ye should be laden with opprobrious fetters;
Ye, in whose bosoms, fraud and cowardice,
Avarice, ambition, find a fit abode;
Ye who by envy are for ever gnawed,
Malice, and jealousy, and rancorous hate,
At our plebeian virtues, by yourselves
Not only never practised, but unknown.
Ye persecutors, clench our galling chains,
And doubly captivate the multitude:
The impious slavery, the woes of all,
Rather would they behold, than share with us
The sweets of liberty: by nature cruel,
To them our joy is grief, our grief a joy.
But that the times will change, I hope; and may
The day for this be near.

People.
Oh, were it so!
But ...

Mar.
Cease; no more: wouldst thou, perhaps; again
Create thyself a tribune of the people?
Blood and sedition, more than aught, I know
Are grateful to thy nature; but may Heaven
Forbid to-day that I should be to thee
The means of such calamitous effects.
Practise on these, and artfully infuse
Thy poisonous influence; to its virulence
No other remedy will I oppose
Than what the laws provide. I summon you,
Virginia I summon; and, with her,
Her falsely seeming mother, to appear
At the tribunal before Appius:
There not fierce turbulence, and frantic howlings,
But tranquil reason will decide our cause.