University of Virginia Library

SCENE THE SIXTH.

Brutus, Titus, Tiberius, Mamilius, Valerius, People, Senators, Patricians.
Bru.
Mamilius, come, advance; examine well
By whom thou art surrounded. In the court
Of Tarquin thou, effeminately nursed,
Hast never yet seen Rome; this, this is she,
Behold her undisguised, and patiently
Prepared to hear thy message. Now proceed.

Ma.
Oh Brutus, with no unimportant words
Was I commission'd to bespeak thy hearing:
But in this vast assembly, ... to divulge ...
Without premeditation ...

Bru.
Audibly
Address thyself to all, and not to me.
Sublime announcer of the will of kings,
Divulge it to the people, to the senate:
Brutus will also hear thee with the rest.

People.
Speak, speak to all; and thou of all shalt hear,
In a few words, the answer, from the mouth
Of our great consul Brutus. See in him
Our genuine interpreter; alone
Worthy to be the organ of our thoughts.
Make haste, proceed: and brief be thy harangue:
Frank and explicit shall our answer be.

Bru.
Heard'st thou?

Ma.
I tremble. Tarquin, king ...

People.
Not king
Of Rome ...

Ma.
—Of Rome, Tarquin the friend and father ...

People.
He is the father of the impious Sextius,
And not of us ...

Bru.
Whate'er his words may be,
May ye be pleased to hear him in complete
Dignified silence.

Ma.
To yourselves erewhile
Came Tarquin, at the earliest news that Rome
Rebell'd; almost defenceless and alone,
Fully relying on his innocence,
And on his people's loyalty, he came:
But armed men repell'd him. Hence he sent me,
A messenger of peace; and by my means
Enquires, what is the crime, whence in your sight
So guilty, that to-day he's doom'd to lose
The throne of Rome, once his by your consent ...

People.
Heard ye? Incredible audacity!
Slain is Lucretia, and he asks his crime?

Ma.
That was the guilt of Sextius, not his ...

Tib.
And Sextius also at his father's side
Erewhile repair'd to Rome: and had they not
Both been compell'd to save their lives by flight,
Here had ye seen him now.

People.
Ah why did ye
Frustrate their wish to gain access to Rome?
Already had we torn their scatter'd limbs
In thousand thousand pieces.

Ma.
It is true,
Sextius was also with his father there:
But Tarquin, more a monarch than a father,
Thither enticed his son, to subject him
To a retributory punishment.

Bru.
This is an impudent unmanly lie;
And robs me utterly of self-controul.
If, to preserve his throne, the guilty father
Offer'd to sacrifice his guilty son,
Should we consent to it? The murder'd lady
Hath brought, 'tis true, our sufferance to a crisis;
But, without this, is not the haughty father,
The mother, and the whole opprobrious race
Of impure Sextius, stain'd with thousand crimes?
Servius, that perfect king, and Tullia's father,
Was by the husband of that Tullia slain:
Tullia, detested monster! mounts the throne,
Trampling beneath her horses feet the corse
Of her slain father: afterwards their reign
By bloodshed and oppression was distinguish'd;
The senators and citizens destroy'd;
And those not murder'd cruelly despoil'd;
Dragg'd from the service of magnanimous war,
(To which alone are Roman heroes born,)
Vilely to hollow and to pile whole quarries,
Which will remain eternal monument
Both of their bondage and of regal pride.
One after t'other, their so many crimes ...
When, when should I conclude my narrative,
If one by one I should enumerate
The Tarquins' trespasses? Lucretia's death
Was last of these; and their impiety,
And our endurance, terminate with this.

People.
This is the last; Rome swears it is the last.

Va.
This we all swear: we all will rather die
Ere impious Tarquin e'er return to Rome.

Bru.
Mamilius, well, thou art confused and mute;
Thou mightest clearly have foreseen the answer.
Go then, repeat it to thy lord, since thou
To being a man, preferr'st to be a slave.

Ma.
I might urge many arguments; ... but none ...

People.
No, no! there are 'twixt citizens oppress'd
And a despotic king no arguments,
Save those which hurtle in the field of Mars.
Heard he indeed our arguments and prayers
When on the throne he sat, puff'd up with pride,
And steel'd with cruelty? Did he not then
Laugh at our tears, and scoff at our complaints?

Ma.
Then may another king with milder sway
More satisfy your hearts.—My whole discourse
I now shall terminate in one request.—
Tarquin in Rome has left abundant wealth,
Indisputably his; would it be just
That ye, besides his honours, throne, and country,
Should rob him of his substance?

People.
—Answer this,
Brutus, for us.

Bru.
His country is not taken
From Tarquin by the Romans: kings have not
A country ever; nor deserve they one:
They never were, nor are of Roman blood.
They have themselves defrauded of their honour
For a long time. Henceforth, by our decree,
The monarch and the monarchy from Rome
Are banish'd everlastingly; the throne
Is, by the flames, consumed to noisome dust;
Nor is a trace remaining of it now.
'Tis true in part, that, when they came to Rome,
Their foreign innovating ancestors
Infamous treasures brought, which, afterwards
Insidiously dispersed, at first conduced
To vitiate our simple ancient customs.
Their wealth was afterwards the fruit of rapine,
And was augmented by our sweat and blood;
From whence the Romans equitably might
Resume it for themselves. But Rome esteems
The Tarquins only worthy to enjoy it,
And gives it all to them.

People.
Oh heart sublime!
The tutelary genius of Rome
In Brutus speaks. Be his decree fulfill'd ...
Let Tarquin have this guilty wealth ...

Bru.
With gold
May vice and every royal feculence
Depart.—Go hence, Mamilius, and collect
Their treasures with all possible dispatch:
My sons shall be to thee in this thy task,
Both guardians and assistants. Go ye with him.