University of Virginia Library

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 ..