 | Virginia |  |
183
SCENE THE SECOND.
Virginia, Numitoria, Marcus, Slaves.Mar.
This is the damsel. Slaves, without delay,
Drag her to my abode: she, like yourselves,
Was born my servant.
Nu.
What is it that I hear?
And who art thou that dar'st to designate
As slave, a Roman lady?
Mar.
Thy deceit
Is known, and vainly wouldst thou rescue her
From her predestined servitude. Her birth
To thee she owes not, neither is it free.
I also am a citizen of Rome;
I know, and fear, and I observe the laws;
And from those laws the courage I derive,
That which belongs to me to take by force.
Virginia.
I born a slave? Am I the slave of Marcus?
Nu.
She not my daughter? Thou perfidious wretch,
Dar'st style thyself a Roman citizen?
From thy flagitious actions, and thy words,
I take thee for a satellite of those
Who now oppress their country, and of these
The most degraded. But whoe'er thou art,
Learn that we are plebeians, of a race
Unsullied; that all violence and fraud
From infamous patricians, and their clients,
May be expected here: and, further learn,
That of this maid Virginius is the father,
And I the spouse of that Virginius;
That for his native Rome, now in the camp
He toils in arms; that he may well suffice
184
Mar.
And that, deceived by thee, he deems this virgin,
Purchased illegally, to be his child:
Nor hath he known, nor knows, the art by which
Thou hast imposed on him a child not his.
But thou shalt hear me, in a fitting place,
Proofs irrefragable of this adduce.
Meanwhile my slave shall be reclaim'd by me.
I am no liar, nor Virginius fear:
Beneath the sacred guardianship I stand
Securely, of inviolable laws.
Virginia.
Mother, and shall I lose thee, and with thee,
My sire, my husband, and my liberty?
Nu.
I call to witness Rome, and all her gods,
She is my daughter.
Mar.
Thou in vain dost swear;
In vain defiest me. Without delay
My slaves she follows; or, compell'd by force,
She shall go hence. If so thou wilt, hereafter,
Before an uncorrupt, supreme tribunal,
To give an ample reason, I am ready
For what I've done.
Nu.
Thou deem'st thyself more strong
Than powerless women; hence thy hardihood:
But with impunity thou shalt not now
Adopt coercive measures. Ill, I warn thee,
Ill chosen is the scene for infamy:
This is the Roman forum; know'st it not?
Retire; the multitude will flock together
At our laments: of virgin innocence
Avengers rise by thousands and by thousands.
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If no avenger should espouse my cause,
Blood-hounds, you should be forced to slay me here
Rather than drag me as a slave. I am,
I feel, the daughter of a lofty sire:
I feel my Roman and my free-born heart
Bound high within my breast. Far different,
Far different were that heart, if sprung from one
Vile like thyself, I were a viler slave.
Mar.
Quickly shalt thou resume thy servile thoughts
Amid thy native fetters; by one stroke
Thy fate, and thy deportment, shall be changed.
Meanwhile, in contests frivolous and vain,
The hours pass on.
Nu.
Together with my daughter
I would be led.
Virginia.
No violence shall tear me,
Oh mother, from thy side.
Mar.
Vain is the struggle.
From her false mother, wrest by violence
The fugitive slave.
Virginia.
If there be pity in you,
Rescue me, valiant Romans.
Nu.
Generous sons
Of Mars! this virgin, whom I clasp so fondly
To my maternal breast, was born, like you,
Free and a Roman: shall these impious slaves
Tear her from me by force? before your eyes?
E'en in the midst of Rome? and in the presence
Of our most sacred temples?
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