University of Virginia Library

SCENE II.

Part of the Etrurian Camp.
Enter Porsenna, Etrurian Officers, Guard, &c.
PORSENNA.
Our chief Lentellus will attend me straight.

OFFICER.
Your message known, my liege, he bade me say
He'd on the instant speed him to your tent.

PORSENNA.
Are all my legions there assembled?

OFFICER.
I heard but now the trumpet shrilly sound:
It was the signal for their march.

PORSENNA.
I'll thither to receive my hardy troops;
Their brave deserts well merit all the praise
Their monarch can bestow.

[Exeunt.
Enter Silvia.
SILVIA.
Thus far have I escap'd unseen—But, ah!
What rising terrors now o'ercome my mind,
And with a chilly terror strike my frame:
Methinks the perturbation of my breast
Hath led my steps astray. On ev'ry side
The trumpet's clangor thrills my inmost soul,
And busy hum of marching legions sound,
Increasing more my mind's timidity:
I know not whither to direct my course;
My fears for Manlius quite o'ercome my heart,
And my sunk spirits now proclaim the woman.
Enter Lentellus.
Protect me, gods!

LENTELLUS
(with astonishment).
My captive freed!—where is the traitor guard,
Whose boldness dare his chieftain disobey?
For this the villain dies.

SILVIA.
Thy soldier to his trust was true: 'twas I
My freedom thus obtain'd.

LENTELLUS.
Cou'd thy weak hands the fetters disunite,
Wherewith thy limbs were manacled? Silvia,
Thy words unmann'd the guardian of thy trust.
And thou, proud maid—

SILVIA.
Do with me as thou wilt: be death my lot,
But save, oh, spare the vet'ran soldier's life:
Be all thy vengeance mine; thy mercy his.

LENTELLUS.
Instruct me how to pity, and I'll save.

SILVIA
(kneeling).
Then let me touch thee with my fervent pray'rs;
Let me thus supplicate, till vengeance sleep,
And godlike mercy teach thee how to feel.

LENTELLUS.
Silvia, for thee the soldier stak'd his life:
Be just thyself: his ransom now depends
On thy resolve—Be mine, and he shall live:
If still obdurate to my wish—he dies.

SILVIA.
Be merciful, Lentellus.

LENTELLUS.
As thou can'st pity, even so will I.

Enter Mutius in the back ground, stops on seeing Lentellus.
MUTIUS.
It must be so—I trac'd Porsenna's steps:
Hither he bent his course, and this is he.

SILVIA.
Save him, proud chief, nor slur thy martial deeds
With cruelty.

LENTELLUS.
Swear to be mine—

SILVIA.
The fate's decreed; I ne'er can plight my vows:
Yet still be merciful, dread chief in arms,
Whose power alike can pardon as condemn.

MUTIUS.
That title hath at once his rank proclaim'd;
My sword shall aid this suppliant's cause, and Rome's.

(Draws his sword and advances.)
LENTELLUS.
I'll hear no more—force shall compel thee.

(Lentellus advances to Silvia, who rises from her prostrate position, and flies him— When on the point of pursuing her, Lentellus is intercepted by Mutius.)
MUTIUS.
Dare not advance; thou art the scourge of Rome,
And now a Roman arm defies thee.

LENTELLUS.
Presumptuous wretch! who, and what art thou?

MUTIUS.
Thy deadly foe, whose life I come to seek;
To save the freedom of my countrymen.

LENTELLUS.
Base wretch! give way, nor dare thine hand upraise.
Know'st thou my dignity?

MUTIUS.
Too well I know thee: but of words enough:
Oppose thy weapon to my trusty sword,
Or as a coward I will strike thee dead.

LENTELLUS.
My voice might legions summon to my aid:
But I despise the coward thought. Though base,
I will myself this insolence chastise,
And lay thee, villain, with thy kindred dust.

MUTIUS.
Now, for our gods, our rights, and liberty.
(They fight obstinately; Lentellus at length disarms Mutius, and is about to sacrifice him to his rage, when Mutius rushes on him, and, with the dagger given him by Lucretius, stabs him, exclaiming,)
Die, Porsenna; and by a Roman hand.
[Lentellus falls, groans, and dies.
Be thine, ye gods, the noble sacrifice;
May Rome be sav'd, and Mutius dies content!

(Silvia, during the encounter, is nearly overpowered by contending emotions of hope and fear; but seeing Lentellus fall, and the dagger in Mutius' hand, advances towards him.)
MUTIUS.
Young man, seek safety in thy flight: nor thus
In trembling wait the lot which must be thine,
If here discovered with the man, whose hand
Hath wrought this mighty overthrow.

(While Silvia endeavours to regain her scattered spirits, enter Etrurian Guard, with Manlius and Servius, their prisoners; on beholding them, Silvia shrieks, and is instantly seized.)
OFFICER
(amazed).
Comrades, behold, our chieftain's slain.

2D GUARD.
What stranger's this, whose murd'rous hand still grasps
The reeking badge of death?

MUTIUS.
A Roman;
One who can vaunt the dreadful wreck he's made,
And laugh at that which must requite the act—
Your tortures practis'd on his mortal part.

OFFICER.
Know'st thou the victim of thy bloody deed?

MUTIUS.
Porsenna was the man whose life I sought;
Whose death gives freedom to my native land.

GUARD.
Perfidious villain! but, the gods be prais'd,
Who frustrated the dire attempt. He lives—
Porsenna lives—Lentellus bleeds before thee.

MUTIUS.
Lentellus!
My shame o'erpowers me; I sicken at the sight—
Welcome, thou steel! thus to my recreant heart.

(Endeavours to stab himself, is prevented by Guard, who disarm and seize him.)
GUARD.
Come, let's conduct these traitors 'fore the king:
See that our chief Lentellus be convey'd,
And with all honors plac'd within his tent.

[Exeunt—Mutius marching with folded arms, in sullen dignity.