w your heart! Vipers, that die not slowly, knaw May earth be to you but one wilderness! For death pray hourly, yet be in tortures Sex. Amazement! What can mean this sudden frenzy ? [Thunder and lightning become very violent. Hear the loud curse of Heaven! 'Tis not for nothing The thunderer keeps this coil above your head! [Points to the fragments of the statue. Look on that ruin! See your father's statue Unhorsed and headless! Tremble at the omen! Sex. This is not madness. Ha! my dagger lost! Wretch thou shalt not escape me. Ho! a guard The rack shall punish thee! A guard, I say! [Exit SEXTUS. Br. [Alone.] The blow is struck! The anxious messages To Collatinus and his friends explain'd, And now, Rome's liberty or loss is certain! To the moon folly! Vengeance, I embrace thee! [Exit BRUTUS. SCENE II.-An Apartment in the house of Collatinus. COLLATINUS enters wildly, a bloody dagger in his hand, followed by VALERIUS and LUCRETIUS, R. Col. She's dead. Lucretia's dead! I pluck'd this steel From my Lucretia's heart! This is her blood! Ye mighty gods, where are your thunders now ? Enter BRUTUS. Br. 1 dare,-and so dare every honest Roman. begone! The scene which was omitted after the first representation, and for which this introductory speech of Collatinus is substituted, will be found in a note at the end of the play. Br. The noble spirit fled. How died Lucretia? Br. Heroic matron! Now, now the hour is come! By this one blow Her name's immortal, and her country saved! [ Crosses to c. Hail! dawn of glory! [Snatching the dagger.] Hail, thou sacred weapon! Virtue's deliverer, hail! Hear, Romans, hear! did not the Sibyl tell you Brutus bids Rome be free! Val. What can this mean? [Crosses to L. Br. It means that Lucius Junius has thrown off The wrongs of that bright excellence and Rome! Val. Ha! The voice Of inspiration speaks! Col. Oh, glorious Brutus, Let me in tears adore the bounteous gods And, in my woes, my country! Br. No more of this. Stand not in wonder. Every instant now Is precious to your cause. Hear me, great Jove! And spotless Vesta! Rise! Snatch your arms! and thou, paternal Mars, My burning vengeance shall pursue these Tarquins ! Ne'er shall my limbs know rest till they are swept From off the earth, which groans beneath their infamy! This, from the bottom of my soul I swear! Valerius, Collatine, Lucretius,—all— All stain'd and reeking with her sacred blood, All. We swear! [He rises Br. Well have ye said: ano, oh! methinks I see May draw down ruin, and defeat our glory. On, Romans, on! The fool shall set you free! [Exeunt omnes. SCENE III.-The Palace of TULLIA. Enter FLAVIUS CORUNNA, L. in haste, meeting HoRATIUS, R. Cor. My lord, my lord! Quick, tell me, where is Hor. Whence this alarm? what would'st thou ? Hor. Rebellion? Cor. Lucretia, The wife of Collatinus, is no more. The furious multitude have borne her body With shouts of vengeance through the streets of Rome, And "Sextus Tarquin," is the general cry. Hor. Where are thy troops? why dost thou dally here, When thou should'st pay their insolence with death? Cor. The soldiers join the throng-the gates are closed, And the mad crowd exclaim, "We banish Tarquin." Brutus is at their head, and leads them on. Hor. What miracle is this? How sayst thou, Brutus? Cor. Ay, the fool Brutus. Now before the rostrum The body of Lucretia is exposed, And Brutus there harangues assembled Rome. The bloody dagger; all the people hear him He speaks as if he held the souls of men In his own hand, and moulded them at pleasure. Springs forth, and, knitting his stern brow in frowns, Hence ! Hor. Fly through the city; gather all the force CORUNNA L. The populace fill the Stage. BRUTUS is discovered upon the Forum. The dead body of LUCRETIA is on a bier beneath. COLLATINUS LUCRETIUS and the Female Attendants of LUCRETIA stand around her corpse. VALERIUS and others are seen. Br. Thus, thus, my friends, fast as our breaking nearts Permitted utterance, we have told our story And now, to say one word of the imposture,- 2nd. Rom. Silence! he speaks again. Br. Would you know why I summon'd you together? The mould in which each female face was form'd Fairer than ever was a form created By youthful fancy when the blood strays wild, Might have abash'd the boldest libertine. Forgot its crutch, labour its task,-all ran, And mothers, turning to their daughters, cried, "There, there's Lucretia!" Now, look ye, where she lies! That beauteous flower, that innocent sweet rose, Torn up by ruthless violence-gone! gone! gone Br. But then-the king-his father 1st. Rom. What shall be done with him? 2nd. Rom. Speak, Brutus ! 3rd. Rom. Tell us! Tell us! [Shout Br. Say, would you seek instruction? would ye ask What ye should do? Ask ye yon conscious walls, Which saw his poison'd brother, saw the incest Committed there, and they will cry, Revenge! Ask yon deserted street, where Tullia drove O'er her dead father's corse, 'twill cry, Revenge! Ask yonder senate-house, whose stones are purple With human blood, and it will cry, Revenge! Go to the tomb where lies his murder'd wife, And the poor queen, who loved him as her son, Their unappeased ghosts will shriek, Revenge! The temples of the gods, the all-viewing heavens, The gods themselves, shall justify the cry, And swell the general sound, Revenge! Revenge! All. Revenge! Revenge! Br. And we will be revenged, my countrymen ! Brutus shall lead you on; Brutus, a name Which will, when you're revenged, be dearer to him Than all the noblest titles earth can boast. 1st. Rom. Live, Brutus ! 2nd. Rom. Valiant Brutus ! 3rd. Rom. Down with Tarquin! 2nd. Rom. We'll have no Tarquins! 1st. Rom. We will have a Brutus ! [Shout. 3rd. Rom. Let's to the Capitol, and shout for Brutus Br. I, your king! Brutus your king!-No, fellow-citizens ! If mad ambition in this guilty frame Had strung one kingly fibre,-yea, but one- |