University of Virginia Library

SCENE THE FIRST.

People, Valerius, Senators, Patricians, all seated. Collatinus and Brutus in the Rostrum.
Col.
Romans, to you the sun of yesterday
Triumphantly and joyfully arose;
When, at this hour exactly, from yourselves
The earliest cries of liberty resounded
Through the wide air; I, in my grief absorb'd,
Meanwhile stood mute. But on this horrible day
A part quite different, alas! on me
Devolves by lot, since, with the noble Brutus,
Ye have been pleased t'elect me for your consul.—
All swore, (I hope ye recollect it well,)
All of ye, in the forum, yesterday,
Swore to the gods, that, sooner than return
To the vile yoke of monarchs, ye would die.
And not alone the execrable Tarquins,
But every man that dared to make himself
Superior to the laws, by this your oath
Expressly was proscribed.—Would ye believe it?
I, in your presence, I am now constrain'd,
'Mong the most powerful noble citizens,
To impeach many, infamous and perjured,
Who have, 'gainst Rome and 'gainst themselves, (too much so!)
Been plotting for the Tarquins.

People.
For the Tarquins!
Who are they? Who are the flagitious traitors,
Unworthy to be Romans? Quickly, name them;
We will, they all be slain ...

Col.
Ah! ... who can tell ...
Perhaps ... when ye hear the names? ... When I attempt
To utter them, I tremble ... And far more
Shall I implore from you your clemency
Than your stern justice. Almost all of these
Are youths: they have not, from their unripe age,
Yet felt the ills, so countless and so bitter,
Of civil servitude: the greater part,
Enervated by indolence, brought up
In a corrupted court's pestiferous shade,
Have only tasted tyranny's sweet bait,
Yet unacquainted with the lurking poison.

People.
Whoe'er they be indeed, they're traitors, perjured;
Compassion they deserve not; let them perish:
The corrupt, putrid, vitiating members
Of a new city, liberty decrees
That they be first lopp'd off.—Pronounce their names.

Va.
And we, although too thoroughly convinced
That this disgrace (their permanent dishonour)
To the patrician tribe belongs, yet now
We with the people emulously seek
To know the culprits' names.—Oh noble people!
For high achievements born! Oh happy ye!
Ye only did sustain the tyrant's yoke;
But to the coveted impediment
Of fetters well deserved, in us were join'd,
Debased patricians! their disgrace and shame.
We, nearer to the tyrant, more enslaved,
And less regretting slavery than you;
We thence assuredly more worthy slavery:
I feel the presage; yes, we, we have been
The first in perjury.—Oh Collatinus,
I ask it of thee, whosoe'er they be,
Divulge the criminals. What terrible,
What inextinguishable thirst of honour
Pervades her citizens, Rome should to-day
Acknowledge from a memorable proof.

People.
Oh worthy ye of better fate! ... May heaven
Grant, that the few to servitude seduced,
Either plebeian or patrician names
No longer bear! The trait'rous and the perjured
Cease to be Romans.

Col.
Many are the guilty;
But different their degrees of guilt. There are
Among them those who servitude abhor,
And who have elevated courteous hearts;
But in a thousand ways assail'd, entrapp'd,
By base Mamilius ...

People.
Where is the impostor?
Oh rage! where is he? ...

Col.
Ere the night was closed,
From Rome I banish'd him; the sacred rights
Of hospitality required his safety,
Though he were culpable. Religiously
The citizens of Rome each right observe:
Faith is the basis of our sacred freedom.

People.
In truth thou hast done well from our first rage
To wrest him: justice thus is not by us
Attainted. We shall have, in fair array,
The gods themselves and virtue with us listed:
But round the banners of the heart-struck tyrants
Treason, dissimulation, abject fear,
The appalling ministers of heavenly vengeance,
Eternally shall lour ...

Va.
But shall we give them,
That so they may avail themselves of it
To injure Rome, their vitiating wealth?
Far more than steel, gold in the tyrant's hands
We've reason now to deprecate.

People.
'Tis true;
We will not to their baseness lend such arms:
But hence shall we another's make our own?
What boots to us, who in our hands have swords,
And at our breasts a mail of liberty,
What boots to us the ministry of gold?

Va.
Let it be burn'd; let all the tyrant's wealth
Be burn'd, or to the Tyber's whelming waves
Committed.

People.
And with these eternally
May their remembrance perish ...

Va.
Likewise perish
All recollection of our servitude.

Col.
Magnanimous, and worthy of yourselves,
Is the decision; your decree in this
Shall quickly be fulfill'd.

People.
Yes; but meanwhile
The names of the conspirators divulge,
And the conspiracy.

Col.
... Oh heaven! ... I tremble
In undertaking such a cruel office ...

People.
And Brutus stands immoveable and silent.
He seems to have his eyes suffused with tears,
Though shedding none, and fierce his downcast looks
He fixes on the earth.—Oh Collatinus,
Do thou then quickly speak.

Col.
... Oh heaven! ...

Va.
But what
Then ails thee? The deliverer of Rome,
The husband of Lucretia, and our consul,
Art thou not, Collatinus? Canst thou be
The traitors' friend? And canst thou feel compassion
Towards those who for their country felt it not?

Col.
—When you shall hear me speak, those very pangs
Which tear my heart and paralize my tongue
Will speedily assail you: weeping, mute,
Alarm'd, with pity and amazement stricken,
Already I behold you—To the king
Mamilius went the bearer of this scroll:
I caused it to be taken from his hands,
Ere he from Rome departed: and the traitor
Confess'd, affrighted, that the citizens
Herein inscribed had sworn, the following night
To open to the king the gates of Rome.

People.
Oh treason! Let the guilty perish ...

Va.
Death
Were a light punishment for such a crime.

Col.
The fatal paper let Valerius read
To you assembled. See it; take it: ... I
Cannot pronounce these names.

Va.
What do I see? ...
Oh execrable list! ... With his own hand
Each one his name has written? ... Romans, hear.—
Aquilius the sire, and his six sons,
Head the conspiracy; they first are written.
Oh heaven! ...

Col.
To each of them, the paper shewn,
They all confess'd it. They are now in chains;
And ye will see them dragg'd, ere long, before you.

Va.
... Alas! ... There follow ...

People.
Who does follow? Speak.

Va.
... Alas! ... It is incredible. I read ...
Four names ...

People.
Whose names? Proceed ...

Va.
They were the brothers
Of Brutus' consort ...

People.
The Vitellii?

Col.
Ah! ...
Soon will ye hear far other names than these.
—And in your presence, one by one, ere long ...

Va.
What boots it then, that one by one I name them?
Marcii, Octavii, Fabii, I read,
And many, many more, alas!—The last
Make e'en my hair to stand on end with horror ...
Yes ... from my hands ... at such a sight as this ...
The paper falls ...

People.
Who can they be?

Va.
Oh heaven! ...
Ye ... never will believe ...

(UNIVERSAL SILENCE.)
Bru.
—The names last written,
Are Titus and Tiberius.

People.
Thy sons! ...
Unhappy father! Inauspicious day! ...

Bru.
Oh day, to you auspicious! Brutus knows
No other sons but Roman citizens;
And these are such no longer. Yesterday
I swore for Rome's sake to shed all my blood:
This oath I'm ready, and at every risk,
To-day to consummate ...

People.
Ah wretched father!

(UNIVERSAL SILENCE.)
Bru.
—But what, with horror stupified, and dumb,
Do I see universal Rome? For Brutus
Does every individual tremble here?—
But say, whom does the fiercest peril menace,
Brutus or Rome? Each man that hears my voice
Wills beyond all things, or he ought to will,
To make his country free, secure, and great;
Whate'er the consequence he ought to will it.
Chains are in store for us, and cruel slaughter;
For Rome her consul trembles; hence her people
Cannot now tremble for a single father.
The soft affections, and the gush of tears,
(That in the forum from a Roman eye
Can never start, save when they're shed for Rome,)
The soft affections and the gush of tears,
In the profound recesses of our hearts
Are now suppress'd.—I first should shew to you
(Thus destiny ordains) what permanent
And lofty base 'tis indispensable
For us to give to an eternal city.—
Lictors, advance; and let the criminals
Be quickly dragg'd in chains into the forum.—
Now thou'rt the only, the true king of Rome,
People of Mars. Thy majesty by these
Hath been offended; signal punishment
Is now their due; and the avenging thee
Devolves upon the consuls ...