University of Virginia Library

SCENE THE FIRST.

Brutus, Titus.
Tit.
All the patricians were invited, father,
As thou commandedst, to th'august assembly.
The fourth hour now approaches; thou wilt have
The whole of Rome subservient to thy nod.
It almost doth bereave me of my reason
To see thee lord of Rome.

Bru.
Thou seest me
Lord of myself, and not of Rome, oh Titus:
Nor shall you have a lord in any shape
In Rome henceforward. This by her I swear;
I, who till now was a vile slave. Oh sons,
Ye saw me such, while with the tyrant's children
I educated you for servitude
In a corrupted court. Alas! I could not
Sow in your hearts the seeds of liberty,
A trembling and degraded father: hence
Ye are a cause, ye the most special cause,
Whence I should triumph in recover'd freedom.
My independent animating carriage
Will instigate you more to excellence,
Than my anterior servitude to baseness.
Contented for my country shall I die,
When I with confidence shall leave my sons
The associates of free-born citizens.

Tit.
Father, there needed to thy lofty heart,
Whose lustre always broke upon thy sons,
A field no less magnificent for action
Than that which fortune opens to thee now.
Ah, might we in the noble enterprize
Assist thee! But the obstacles are many,
And they are terrible. The multitude
Is in itself inconstant: to the Tarquins
What manifold resources yet remain! ...

Bru.
Were there no obstacle remaining yet,
The enterprize were dangerless, and thence
Unworthy Brutus: but if Brutus fear'd them,
He were unworthy to accomplish it.—
To the immutable, lofty, austere,
Peremptory decision of thy father,
Do thou thy youthful vehemence unite;
Thus at once son of Brutus and of Rome
Shalt thou be, Titus.—But thy brother comes ...
Hear we what news he brings.