Her first great citizen was Romulus,
With him his people shared the weight of empire;
Numa was governed by the laws he made;
Rome fell at last indeed beneath herself,
When from Etruria she received her kings,
Or from Porsenna; tyranny and vice
From your corrupted courts flowed in upon us.
Forgive us, gods, the crime of sparing Tarquin
So many years! at length his murderous hands,
Dyed with our blood, have broke the shameful chain
Of our long slavery, and the Roman people
Have through misfortune found the road to virtue:
Tarquin restores the rights by Tarquin lost,
And by his crimes has fixed the public safety:
We’ve taught the Etruscans how to shake off tyrants,
And hope they’ll profit by the fair example.
[The consuls descend towards the altar, and the senate rises.
O Mars, thou god of battles, and of Rome!
Thou who dost guard these sacred walls, and fight
For thy own people, on thy altar here
Deign to accept our solemn oaths, for me
And for the senate, for thy worthy sons:
If in Rome’s bosom there be found a traitor,
Who weeps for banished kings, and seeks once more
To be a slave, in torments shall he die;
His guilty ashes, scattered to the winds,
Shall leave behind a more detested name,
Even than those tyrant kings which Rome abhors.
aruns.
[Stepping towards the altar.
And on this altar, which you thus profane,
I call that god to witness, in the name
Of him whom you oppress, the injured Tarquin,
And great Porsenna, his avenger, here
I swear eternal war with you, O Romans!
And your posterity—
[The senators are going off towards the capitol.
A moment stop
Ere you depart, O senators! and hear
What I have more to offer: Tarquin’s daughter,
Must she too fall a sacrifice to Rome?
With ignommious fetters will ye bind
Her royal hands, to triumph o’er her father,
Whose treasures you detain? Ungenerous victors!
As if the right of conquest gave them to you:
Where are his riches? was it for the spoil
You robbed him of his throne? let Brutus speak,
And own the plunder.
brutus.
Little dost thou know
Of Rome, her manners, and her noble nature;
But learn, mistaken man, her great protectors,
The friends of truth and justice, are grown old
In honest poverty; above the pride
Of wealth, which they disdain; it is their boast
To conquer kings, who love such tinsel greatness.
Take back your gold, it is beneath our notice;
And for the hateful tyrant’s hapless daughter,
Though I abhor the wretched race, yet know
The senate has consigned her to my care:
She hath not tasted here the baneful cup
Of flattery, that sweet poison of a court,
Or viewed the pomp and dangerous luxury
Of Tarquin’s palace: little did her youth
Profit by them; but all that to her age
And sex was due, all her misfortunes claimed,
She hath received: let her return this day
To Tarquin; Brutus yields her back with joy:
Naught should the tyrant have within these walls
But Rome’s fixed hatred, and the wrath of heaven:
You have a day to carry off your treasures,
That must suffice: meantime, the sacred rights
Of hospitality await thee here;
Beneath my roof thou mayest remain in safety:
The senate thus by me decrees: bear thou
Our answer to Porsenna, and then tell
Proud Tarquin, you have seen a Roman senate.
[Turning to the senators.
Let us, my friends, adorn the capitol
With laurel wreaths, that round the brows of Titus
Have spread their noble shade; the arrows too,
And bloody ensigns, his victorious hand
Hath wrested from the Etruscans: ever thus,
From age to age, may the successful race
Of Brutus still defend their much loved country:
Thus, O ye gods, may you protect us ever;
Guide the son’s arm, and bless the father’s councils!
SCENE III.
aruns, albinus.
Supposed to have retired from the hall of audience into an apartment of Brutus’ house.
aruns.
Didst thou observe the fierce unbending spirit
Of this proud senate, which believes itself
Invincible? and so perhaps it might be,
Were Rome at leisure to confirm her sons
In valor and in wisdom: liberty,
That liberty, my friend, which all adore,
And I admire, though I would wrest it from them,
Inspires the heart of man with nobler courage
Than nature gives, and warmth almost divine.
Beneath the Tarquin’s yoke, a slavish court
Enfeebled their corrupted hearts, and spoiled
Their active valor; whilst their tyrant kings,
Busied in conquering their own subjects, left
Our happier Etruscans in the arms of peace;
But if the senate should awake their virtues,
If Rome is free, Italia soon must fall:
These lions, whom their keepers made so gentle,
Will find their strength again, and rush upon us;
Let us then stop this rapid stream of woes,
Even at its source, and free a sinking world
From slavery; let us bind these haughty Romans
Even with the chains which they would throw on us,