You are her best defence; let him revere
The God who calls us hither; let him see
The senate, hear and tremble.
valerius publicola.
I submit;
[The senators rise and come forward to give their votes.
The general voice is yours: Rome and her Brutus
Must be obeyed: for me, I disapprove it:
Lictors, attend, and introduce him to us:
Never may Rome repent of this!
[To Brutus.
On thee
Our eyes are fixed; on Brutus, who first broke
Our chains; let freedom use a father’s voice,
And speak by thee.
SCENE II.
the senate, aruns, albinus.
Attendants.
[Aruns enters, preceded by two lictors, with Albinus, his friend; he passes by the consuls and senate, salutes them, and sits down on a seat prepared for him towards the front of the stage.
aruns.
With pleasure I behold
This great assembly, Rome’s illustrious senate,
And her sage consuls, famed for truth and justice,
Which ne’er till now suffered reproach or blame:
I know your deeds, and I admire your virtues;
Unlike the wild licentious multitude,
The vulgar crowd, whom party rage or joins
Or disunites, who love and hate by turns,
They know not why, taught in one changeful hour
To boast or beg, to rail or to obey;
Whose rashness—
brutus.
Stop, and learn with more respect
To treat the citizens of Rome; for know,
It is the senate’s glory and her praise
To represent that brave and virtuous people
Whom thou hast thus reviled: for ourselves,
Let us not hear the voice of flattery;
It is the poison of Etrurian courts,
But ne’er has tainted yet a Roman senate.
On with thy message.
aruns.
Little doth the pride
Of Rome affect me; but I own I feel
For her misfortunes, and would plead her cause
With filial love: you see the gathering storm
Hangs o’er your heads, and threatens sure destruction:
In vain hath Titus striven to save his country;
With pity I behold that noble youth,
Whose ardent courage labors to support
Expiring Rome, and make her fall more glorious:
His victories cost you dear; they thin your ramparts,
And weaken your small force: no longer then
Refuse a peace so needful to your safety.
The senate bears a father’s love to Rome,
So does Porsenna to the hapless kings
Whom you oppress: but tell me, you who judge
Depending monarchs, you who thus determine
The rights of all mankind, was it not here,
Even at these altars, at this capitol,
You called the gods to witness your allegiance,
And bound your faith to your acknowledged king,
To Tarquin? Say, what power has broken the tie?
Who snatched the diadem from Tarquin’s head?
Who can acquit you of your oaths?
brutus.
Himself:
Talk not of ties dissolved by guilt, of gods
Whom he renounced, or rights which he has lost;
We paid him homage, bound ourselves by oath,
Oaths of obedience, not of slavery:
But since thou bidst us call to our remembrance,
The senate making vows for Tarquin’s health,
And kneeling at his feet, remember thou,
That on this sacred spot, this altar here,
Before the same attesting gods, that Tarquin
Swore to be just; such was the mutual bond
Of prince and people, and he gave us back
The oath we made, when he forgot his own:
Since to Rome’s laws no more he pays obedience,
Rome is no longer subject to his power,
And Tarquin is the rebel, not his people.
aruns.
But, grant it true, that power unlimited,
And absolute dominion, had misled
The unhappy monarch from the paths of duty,
Is there a man from human error free?
Is there a king without some human weakness?
Or if there were, have you a right to punish,
You, who were born his subjects; you, whose duty
Is to obey? The son doth never arm
Against the sire, but with averted eyes
Laments his errors, and reveres him still:
And not less sacred are the rights of kings;
They are our fathers, and the gods alone
Their judges: if in anger heaven sometimes
Doth send them down, why would you therefore call
For heavier chains, and judgments more severe?
Why violate the laws you would defend,
And only change your empire to destroy it?
Taught by misfortune, best of monitors,
Tarquin henceforth, more worthy of his throne,
Will be more wise and just; the legal bonds
Of king and people now may be confirmed
By happiest union; public liberty
Shall flourish then beneath the awful shade
Of regal power.
brutus.
Aruns, ’tis now too late:
Each nation has its laws, by nature given,
Or changed by choice: Etruria, born to serve,
Hath ever been the slave of kings or priests;
Loves to obey, and, happy in her chains,
Would bind them on the necks of all mankind.
Greece boasts her freedom; soft Ionia bends
Beneath a shameful bondage; Rome had once