 | The Second Brutus |  |
SCENE THE FIRST.
Cicero, Cimber.Cic.
There does not now remain a safe asylum
Save this, where we may treat o' the fate of Rome.
Cim.
Ah! little now is left for us to say;
Actions alone remain for us. I have
Invited hither to us in thy name
Brutus and Cassius; soon will they be here.
The exigence admits of no delay;
Our country by to-morrow's rising sun
Too certainly, alas! will undergo
The last extreme of danger.
Cic.
'Tis most true
That the secure audacity of Cæsar,
Allowing no more to his vile designs
Any delay, doth render on our part
Further delay impossible. At length
For nought he wishes but his troops in arms;
Since from experience he is convinced
That universal terror will do more
To further his attempts, than the bribed love
Of the unstable people. In his heart
He laughs at our misfortunes; and lets us
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His army: and of this he is secure
From the majority of votes which he
Has purchased in the senate. Afterwards
At his return he'll be avenged on us
For our last efforts in the cause of freedom
His warriors he marches to the Parthians,
To give the last shock to expiring Rome
At his return, as formerly he gave
To her, returning from the Rhine, the first.
He hath advanced too far now to retract:
Now even I confess that we cannot
Longer delay with safety. But, alas!
As a good citizen should do, I tremble:
I shudder, to reflect, that, on an hour
Fleeting, perchance, as that of our debate,
The fate of Rome depends.
Cim.
Behold to us
Cassius repairs.
| The Second Brutus | |