University of Virginia Library

ACT THE THIRD.

SCENE THE FIRST.

Tiberius, Mamilius.
Tib.
Mamilius, come, I must obey my father:
This moment hath he sent to me a message,
Which peremptorily insists on this:
Thou with the setting sun must go from hence.

Ma.
Oh! how can he presume to abrogate
That which himself with universal Rome
Granted to me this morning? ...

Tib.
He alone
Forbids thy longer tarriance here: ere long
The hoarded wealth, solicited and granted,
Shall from the gates pursue thee.—Let us go ...

Ma.
Say, in what manner am I authorized
To greet unhappy Aruns in thy name?

Tib.
Tell him, ... that he alone deserveth not
To be by birth a Tarquin; and that I,
Still mindful of our friendship, feel no small
Compassion for his fate.—For him I can
Do nothing ...

Ma.
For thyself, thou canst do much.

Tib.
What dost thou mean?

Ma.
That if compassion yet
Find an admission in thy youthful breast,
Thou for thyself and for thy friends should'st feel it.

Tib.
What sayest thou?

Ma.
That Aruns' pity, (and soon,)
More than thine him, may benefit thyself.
Dangers and obstacles thou seest not,
Intoxicate with freedom: but canst thou
Think that they ever can be permanent,
These innovating, undigested plans,
These mere chimeras of a government?

Tib.
I easily believe, since thou'rt a slave,
That freedom seems impossible to thee:
But the unanimous consent of Rome ...

Ma.
Th'authentic wishes of another Rome
Have I since heard: thou dost excite my pity;
Thou who with thy infatuated father
Dost rush towards the fatal precipice.—
But Titus comes to join us.—Ah! perchance,
Thy brother may himself expose to thee,
Better than me, the dubious state of things.

SCENE THE SECOND.

Titus, Mamilius, Tiberius.
Tit.
I ran in quest of thee; fain would I speak ...

Tib.
I cannot hear thee now.

Ma.
Immediately
He ought to drag me forth from Rome: to this
His father's absolute command compels him.—
How much I pity you, oh youths! ...

Tib.
Meanwhile
Let us depart.—I presently return
To listen to thee, Titus.

Tit.
And this man,
What would he say?

Ma.
Let us depart: perchance
I may, as we proceed, communicate
That which thy brother now would tell thee.

Tit.
Stop.
To learn from thee ...

Ma.
More than thou know'st I'll tell thee.
It all depends on me: I can, I only,
Deliver you from mighty perils ...

Tib.
Thou
Artfully speak'st ...

Tit.
And what depends on thee?

Ma.
Tiberius, and Titus, and your Brutus,
And Collatinus, and e'en Rome herself.

Tib.
Vain-glorious fool! what sayest thou?

Tit.
I know
The guilty hope ...

Ma.
Hope! it is certainty.
Already a confederacy is form'd
In favour of the Tarquins, and complete:
Nor are the Aquilii the sole confederates,
As thou dost think, oh Titus: with these are
Th'Octavii, the Marcii, and others;
Hundreds and hundreds of patrician rank;
And many more, consummately esteem'd
Among the very people ...

Tib.
What do I hear? ...

Tit.
'Tis true, too true in part: there is in Rome
A spirit of sedition. Numbers met
In solemn conference where th'Aquilii dwell:
As friend and relative, I sought their dwelling,
And from th'assembly was alone excluded.
A strong suspicion thence arose in me ...

Ma.
I was in conference with th'Aquilii,
While thou wert thus excluded: finally,
So strong, so certain, and so well assured
Is the confederacy, that I fear not
To reveal it to you.

Tib.
Perfidious ...

Tit.
There
Hast thou employ'd thy abject arts ...

Ma.
Hear, hear,
Ye sons of Brutus, that which I would say.—
Had it been my contrivance thus to form
So quickly such a formidable plot,
I had not been on this account perfidious.
For the most just and sanctimonious cause
Of a legitimate king had I attempted
To turn to equity and penitence
His subjects, to their several duties blind,
Seduced from truth; nor would this too have been
Perfidious. But I neither ought, nor will,
Take to myself the honour of a deed
Which neither cost me labour or design.
Scarce was the popular conventicle
Dissolved, ere I clandestinely received
An invitation to a secret council.
Here with amazement was I overwhelm'd,
Such and so many, and such ardent friends
Of the expell'd, calumniated Tarquins
To see united: emulously all
They promised me far more than I from them
Had ventured to demand. They all agreed
For Sextius alone to stipulate
The punishment he merited. And Sextius
Is culpable; and, e'en more than Rome can be,
His father is incensed 'gainst him; and swears
On him an entire vengeance. I made known
To them this resolution of the king:
Then all with one voice cried, “We will lay down
Our lives to reinstate him in the throne.”
This of the noblest and best part of Rome,
This was the cry.—Now ye, see ye not clearly,
From this account, that artifice is not
Embosom'd in me; I reveal the whole
To save you, and to save at the same time,
If he consent to it, your sire himself.

Tib.
Since thou already know'st so much, I deem
That it were best, till Brutus's return,
To urge thy stay in Rome. I now perceive
Why Brutus sent so expeditiously
The order to expel thee; but, alas!
It came to me too late ...

Tit.
Thou thinkest justly:
Meanwhile do thou watch over him with care.
The most secure asylum in the which
To place Mamilius, appears to me
The house of the Vitellii, our cousins.
I to the camp shall fly, to expedite
My sire's return from thence.

Ma.
Since I esteem'd
Your natures courteous, I have spoken frankly.
Will it now please ye to betray me? Do it;
Further if it please Brutus to infringe
The sacred rights of hospitality,
Let him, in my case, do it; but already
So far have matters gone, that benefit,
In consequence of aught that I may suffer,
Cannot accrue to Brutus or yourselves.
Already far beyond what ye suspect
Is the confederacy advanced. E'en now
Your father and his colleagues, and the dregs
Of the vile populace alone remain
The nerve and sinew of rebellion's cause.
Go to thy father, Titus, if thou wilt:
The more thou dost accelerate his return,
So much the more dost thou accelerate
His evil destiny.—Deposit me
With the Vitellii quickly; I shall be
Far safer in their custody than thou.

Tib.
What vile suspicion would'st thou thus? ...

Ma.
I speak
Not from suspicion, but from certainty.
E'en the Vitellii, the four faithful brothers
Of Brutus' consort, of your mother, they,
As much by amity to Brutus bound
As by the ties of blood, e'en they desire
To reinstate Tarquinius on the throne.

Tit.
Oh heaven! ...

Tib.
This is a lie ...

Ma.
This scroll, in which,
Sign'd by themselves, the most illustrious names
Of the confederates are at length inscribed,
Will, without doubt, convince you.—Look at it:
Beneath the Aquilii's names, now, one by one,
Read there, their four names written.

Tib.
Dreadful sight!

Tit.
Oh heaven! what will become then of my father? ...

Tib.
Oh day of sorrow! Oh devoted Rome!

Ma.
Nor fondly dream ye, since this scroll I bear,
That the success of the confederacy
On my departure hangs. Clandestinely
Already is a faithful messenger
Of mine from Rome departed; and to Tarquin
Already is the project fully known
Th'Etrurians to his standard flock in numbers;
The powerful king of Cutia takes his part;
Tarquinia, Veia, lastly all Etruria,
All Rome, except the consuls and yourselves.
This scroll is written with no other purpose
Than to obtain the clemency of Tarquin
In favour of the names therein inscribed.
Surrender me, and with myself this scroll,
Into your father's hands; and ye perchance
May for awhile cause your relations' blood
To flow in rivers; but, or soon or late,
Your father ye condemn to certain death;
For, do ye what ye may, Tarquin will be,
Ere long, inevitably king in Rome.

Tit.
Ah! I too clearly did anticipate
What now I hear. I said it to my father ...

Tib.
Alas! we are driven to a perilous straight!
What should we do? Ah! speak ...

Tit.
Peril immense
Threatens our father ...

Tib.
And still greater Rome ...

Ma.
Wherefore this secret conference prolong?
I am prepared for all, whether ye chuse
To drag me forth from Rome, or, bound with chains,
To keep me there a captive: but if love,
True love for Rome, your father, and yourselves,
Dwell in your bosom, ye at once will save
Yourselves, your father, and your native Rome.
All this is in your power.

Tit.
How? ...

Tib.
What hop'st thou?

Ma.
Add but your names with your own hand to these,
And all will then be safe.

Tib.
Oh heaven! shall we
Our father and our country thus betray? ...

Ma.
Your honour and your tutelary Gods,
Your father and your country ye betray'd,
Then when ye dared 'gainst your legitimate king
Rebelliously to rise. Yet had your fate
Granted a happy issue to your scheme,
Ye had, at least, some recompense obtain'd
For this your treachery: but since ye see
That prospect vanish'd, (I again repeat it,)
With further perseverance you will drag,
And vainly drag, to dire calamity
Your country, and your father, and yourselves.

Tit.
But, tell me, what would be our gain, should we
Annex our names to those already written?
To what do these subscribers pledge themselves?

Ma.
To things most just. First, from the king's own lips
To hear his own defence; to make yourselves,
The king being present, judges of the late
And horrible misdemeanour of his son;
To see him punish'd; to regenerate
And reinstate, in splendour and in peace,
Beneath the sway of less despotic laws,
Your agitated country ... Doing this,
Ah! ye will hear yourselves beyond all others
Hail'd as the true deliverers of the state;
Provided that 'twixt Brutus and Tarquinius
Ye be the instruments of lasting friendship;
The only means now to place Rome in safety.

Tit.
Assuredly we might do this ...

Tib.
Reflect ...
Who knows? ... Perhaps other means ...

Tit.
What other means
Remain for us now? The confederacy
Too powerful is ...

Tib.
I'm younger than thyself;
In so important a concern I will not,
Nor can I, part myself from thee: too much
I've always loved thee: but I feel at heart
A horrible presage ...

Tit.
But the night approaches,
Yet neither Collatinus nor my father
Do I behold with their arm'd men return
To Rome: his messenger already is
To Tarquin gone; we are on all sides press'd;
At least it now behoves us for the present
To appease the king ...

Ma.
The hour is late; resolve:
'Tis vain this whispering apart from me.
Whether for my advantage ye decide
T'exert yourselves, or (with more truth) for yours,
The swiftest now will be the best decision.
Resolve; behold the scroll. Rich with your names,
Ye'll make me speedily depart from Rome,
That peace to Rome may speedily return.

Tit.
Heaven I attest; it seeth my pure heart;
It knows that nothing but the good of others
To this compels me ...

Tib.
Heaven! what art thou doing? ...

Tit.
Behold my name.

Tib.
—And be it, if thou wilt.—
Behold my own name, oh Mamilius, sign'd.

Ma.
I go contented.

Tit.
Do thou then conduct him;
While I ...

SCENE THE THIRD.

Lictors, Collatinus with a number of Soldiers, Titus, Mamilius, Tiberius.
Col.
What do I see? Mamilius yet
In Rome?

Tib.
Oh heaven! ...

Tit.
Oh inauspicious meeting!

Col.
And ye, have ye thus kept the absolute
And peremptory order of your father?
But wherefore are ye agitated thus?
Wherefore thus mute?—Ah, heaven be praised! perchance
I yet arrive in time.—Lictors, advance;
Be Titus and Tiberius instantly
In fetters bound ...

Tit.
Ah, hear us! ...

Col.
Rome, ere long,
Shall hear you, and the consul Brutus. Drag
To their paternal dwelling the two brothers;
And watch them there.

Tib.
Ah Titus!

SCENE THE FOURTH.

Collatinus, Mamilius, Soldiers.
Col.
(To the Soldiers.)
And do you
Escort Mamilius through the gates ...
On things of loftiest consequence.

Col.
—Oh Brutus! ...
Yet stay a little while.—Command thy troops,
Yet keeping under arms, to draw aside:
I ought to speak with thee in private here.

Bru.
Ah, wherefore? ...

Col.
The interests of Rome require it;
I pray thee grant me this ...

Bru.
In double troop,
At the entrance of the forum, wait for me,
Oh soldiers.—Lictors, draw aside a little.

Col.
—Ah Brutus! ... Thou wilt vainly, vainly seek,
Amid thy Lares, in this horrible night,
Even a transient rest.

Bru.
What would'st thou tell me? ...
Whence art thou troubled, anxious, trembling thus?

Col.
Yes, I indeed tremble for Brutus, Rome,
And all of us.—This morning thou, oh Brutus,
Didst, with compassionate hand, to my profound
And recent wound a “flattering unction” lay
Of vengeance and of hope: and I, alas!
Am forced to give thee, as a recompence,
To give thee in thy heart a wound more fatal.
Why have I lived till now? ... Oh desolate,
Distracted father! Thou art now compell'd,
From a disconsolate and widow'd husband
Tidings to hear, which in thy heart will fix
A mortal wound! ... Yet neither can I hide them,
Nor yet to thee delay their utterance.

Bru.
Alas! ... I shudder at thy words ... But yet
Worse than the evil is its expectation.
Speak. I that hitherto in servitude
Have dragg'd a painful life, have long been used
To tremble always for my dearest treasures.
Private calamities, whate'er they be,
So that the liberties of Rome be safe,
I can endure to hear: speak.

Col.
On thyself,
(But too emphatically,) on thyself
The liberties of Rome are now dependent;
But at a price so vast that I almost ...
Oh dreadful day! ... I was the first that gave
Occasion for the lofty enterprize,
By a hard sacrifice; but to conclude it ...
Oh heaven! ... 'tis indispensable that Brutus
Prepare to manifest to assembled Rome
A cruel, fierce, unparallel'd example
Of desperate fortitude.—Amid thy Lares,
(Would'st thou believe it?) thou liv'st not in safety.
A powerful, numerous, fierce conspiracy
In Rome now rages.

Bru.
I suspected it,
In hearing of the strenuous cabals
Of insincere Mamilius; and in haste
I expedited to Tiberius hence
An express order, ere the hour of three,
T'expel him from the city.

Col.
When the sun
Was sinking in the barriers of the west,
I found Mamilius still had linger'd here
With both thy sons.—It grieves me to repeat it;
But it is too true; thou wert ill obey'd.

Bru.
Oh what a conflict dost thou raise in me
Of fear and indignation! ...

Col.
Wretched Brutus! ...
What wilt thou feel when the conspiracy
To thee I publish? ... and when thou shalt hear
The names of the conspirators? ... Then, first,
Among a number of thy nearest friends
And relatives, first the Vitellii are
A part and instigators of the plot ...

Bru.
Alas! the brothers of my wife!

Col.
Who knows
If also she be not seduced by them?
And, ... then ... thy sons ... themselves! ...

Bru.
What do I hear? ...
Oh heaven! my blood freezes in every vein! ...
My sons conspirators! ... It cannot be! ...

Col.
Oh Brutus ... that it were not so!—And I,
At first, would not believe it: afterwards
My eyes compell'd me to implicit faith.—
This is a paper fatal to our peace:
Read it.

Bru.
... My tremulous heart is chill'd with fear.
What do I here behold? ... Name after name,
With their own hand inscribed; the Aquilii first,
Then the Vitellii, and the Martii;
And others after others; ... and, at last, ...
Titus, Tiberius! ... Ah! this is enough ...
No more; ... I've seen too much.—Unhappy Brutus!
Thou art no more a father ... —But, thou'rt yet
Consul, no less than citizen of Rome.—
Titus, ho, Titus, and Tiberius, quick,
Let them be brought before me.

Col.
Ah! oh Brutus,
It had been better hadst thou suffer'd me
To die alone ...

Bru.
How fell into thy hands
This terrible paper?

Col.
I myself beheld it,
Though swiftly he conceal'd it, in the hands
Of the infamous Mamilius I beheld it;
Thence I, in his expulsion from the city,
Constrain'd him to surrender it. Meanwhile,
In thy own dwelling, to a faithful guard,
Thy sons had I committed; in an instant
'Gainst every accident I had provided.
And now, I hope, that all these machinations
Will be completely baffled. Luckily
I was informed of them in time; and Jove,
In his compassion, certainly ordain'd
That such a horrible mystery to me,
Me, not a father, should be first divulged.
I tell this to thee trembling and with tears.
But yet 'tis fit that I reveal it to thee
Ere to thy dwelling thou ...

Bru.
No other dwelling
Except the forum and the tomb, remains
For wretched Brutus.—'Tis my duty now
To give, ere death to Brutus, life to Rome.

Col.
My heart thou rendest. Thy excessive grief
Makes me almost insensible to mine ...
But, who can tell? ... Perchance thy sons, e'en yet,
May exculpate themselves ... Hear them thyself ...
I have not yet of this conspiracy
Spoken to any one except thyself:
I will adopt the most effectual measures
That no man, during this approaching night,
Shall even quit his dwelling: all the people
I have by day-break summon'd to the forum.

Bru.
And all the people, by to-morrow's dawn,
The real truth, whate'er that truth may be,
Shall from my lips receive.

Col.
I hear, methinks,
The steps of the unhappy youths ...

Bru.
My sons! ...
Such I this morning deem'd them; foes to me
They're now become, and traitors to their country ..