- all the gods, this dagger which I hold
ould rip it out, though it entwined my heart.
Vel. Then I am with thee, noble, noble Brutus !
utus, the new restored! Brutus, by Sibyl,
y Pythian prophetess foretold, shall lead us!
Bru. Now take the body up. Bear it before us
o Tarquin's palace; there we'll light our torches,
nd, in the blazing conflagration, rear

pile for these chaste relics, that shall send

Her soul amongst the stars. On! Brutus leads you! [Exeunt, the Mob shouting, R.

END OF ACT III.

ACT IV.

SCENE I.-A Court belonging to Tarquin's Palace. In the front, a Grand Entrance, with Folding Gates closed.

Enter TULLIA, R.

Tul. [Alone.] Gods! whither shall a frantic mother fly? Accursed seige of Ardea! Tarquin, Tarquin, Where art thou? Save thy wife, thy son, thy city!

Enter TITUS, R.

Tit. Where is the prince? where's Sextus?
Tul. Where? Oh, heavens !

His madness hath undone us! Where is Sextus?
Perhaps ev'n now the barbarous ruffians hurl him
Alive into the flames, or, piece-meal, drag
Along the rebel streets his mangled trunk-
Tit. No more! I'll save him, or avenge-

[Going, Horatius meets and stops him.

Hor. Turn, noble Roman, turn;

Set not your life upon a desperate stake!

Hark! they are at thy gates!

Tul. Does my son live!

Hor. Furious he sprang upon the rebel throng, And hewed his desperate passage: but the time Admits no further question-Save yourself!

Tu. Who leads them on?

Shout.

[Shout.

Hor. Your new-named fool, your Brutus.
Tit. Death! my father?

Tul. Brutus in arms!

Oh, Sibyl! Oh, my fate! farewell to greatness!

I've heard my doom.

Tit. Earth, earth, enclose me!
Tul. Hark! it bursts upon us!

[Shouts are heard.

Hor. Ha! nearer yet! Now be propitious, Mars! Now nerve my arm with more than mortal fury,

Till the dissembler sink beneath its vengeance. [Exit. Tul. Fly! save my child-save my-save your Tarqui

nia!

Tit. Or die defending.

[Exit. [The shouts and tumult become very violent, and the battering at the gate and wall commences.

Tul. Ah! if amidst my legions I might fall, Death were not then inglorious; but to perish By the vile scum of Rome-hunted by dogsBaited to death by brawling, base mechanicsShame insupportable!

[Shouts heard-the Gate and Wall are shattered down, the Palaces behind are in flames—the Soldiers and Populace rush over the Ruins-Brutus appears in the midst of them, and advances to the front. Bru. Seize the parricide!

[They advance and surround her. Tul. Avaunt! I am your queen.

Bru. Tarquins! we cast you from us.

Tul. Give me a sword, and let me fall like Tullia.
Bru. No, we reserve our swords for nobler uses
Than to make war with women to the Tarquins,
To your adulterous son, we leave that shame.
Tul. If then 'twill better sate thy cruelty,
Precipitate me quick into those flames,

And with the wreck of empire mix my ashes.
Bru. Take her to Rhea's temple; take her hence,
And lodge her with her ancestors!

Tul. Ye gods!

My father's sepulchre !-I'll not approach it!

Bru. 'Twill furnish wholesome recollection. Hence! Tul. Not to that fatal place! Send me not thither! Bru 'Tis fixed.

Tul. Choose the most loathsome dungeon-the e con.

fine me,

give me death instead.

ainst that temple.

My heart recoils

Bru. There, and only there,

- your dead father's tomb, you must abide he judgment of the state.

Tul. Then, by the gods,

hom, for the last time, 1 invoke,— no means else

f ready death present themselves,

o particle of food shall pass these lips,
ill, in the void of nature, hungry madness,
With blank oblivion entering, shall confound
_nd cancel all perception.

[Exit Tullia guarded, R.

Enter TITUS, L., who meets Brutus as he is going off, R.

Tit. Turn, oh, my father,

And look upon thy son!

Bru. What would'st thou ? speak

Tit. If thou hast reason, oh, have mercy also!
But if in madness thou hast done this deed-
Bru. I am not mad, but as the lion is,

When he breaks down the toils that tyrant craft
Hath spread to catch him.

Think not we will suffer

These monsters to profane the air of Heaven.
Shall Titus, then, oppose our great design?
Shall Brutus meet a recreant in his son?

Banish this folly!-Have a care! I know thee-
There is a lurking passion at thy heart,

Which leaves but half a soul for Rome and me!
Tit. You wrong me. Like a Roman 1 exult
To see Lucretia's murder thus avenged-

And like a son glory in such a father!

Yet hear me through.-Nay, do not frown, but hear mo. —
Bra. Go on, confess thy weakness, and dismiss it.
Tit. 'Twas in the sleep of my dear father's reason,

When Tarquin's freed-man, in a saucy mood,
Vented vile jests at thy unhappy weakness;
Stung to the quick, I snatched a weapon up,
And felled him to my foot.

Bru. Why, 'twas well done,

The knave was saucy, and you slew him -On!
Tit. 'Twas on this very spot Tarquinia stood,
And when the wrathful father had denounced
Inmediate death on this my filial act,

She with the tongue of interceding pity,

And tears that streamed in concert with her suit,
Implored, prevailed, and gave me life--and love.

Bru. 'Tis well. Behold, I give her life for life :
Rome may be free, although Tarquinia lives.
This I concede; but more if thou attemptest,-
By all the gods!-Nay, if thou dost not take
Her image, though with smiling Cupids decked,
And pluck it from thy heart, there to receive
Rome and her glories in without a rival,

Thou art no son of mine, thou art no Roman! [Exit, R.
Enter TARQUINIA, L.

Tar. Save, save me, Titus! oh, amid the crash
Of falling palaces, preserve Tarquinia!
Or, do I meet in thee a double rebel,
Traitor alike to me and to your king?
Speak, I conjure thee!

Will the son of Brutus

Now take me to his pity and protection,
Or stab with perfidy the heart that loves him!
Tit. Cruel suspicion! Oh, adored Tarquinia,
I live but to preserve you! You are free:
I have my father's sanction for your safety!
Tar. I scorn a life that is preserved by Brutus!
I scorn to outlive parents, brothers, friends!
I'll die with those

Whom this dire night hath murdered!

Tit. Who are murdered?

Whom hath the sword of Brutus slain? Not one
Of all thy kindred—

Tar. Say'st thou ? Lives my mother?

Tit. She lives-and Sextus,-even he escapes The storm which he has raised, and flies to Ardea. Tar. Speed him, ye gods, with eagle swiftness thither! And may those thunders which now shake the walls Of tottering Ardea, like a whirlwind burst

On this devoted city, 'whelm its towers,

And crush the traitorous hive beneath their ruins.

[Crosses, R.

w, Titus, where is now thy promised faith?

st thou not swear no dangers should divide us? Tit. I did; and, constant to my oath, behold me y faithful guardian in this night of terrors.

Tar. Be still my guardian; snatch me from these terrors,

ar me to Ardea, be the friend of nature,
d give the rescued daughter to the arms
her protecting parent; thus you gain
ne praise of men, the blessings of the gods,
nd all that honour, all that love can grant.

Tit. Despair! Distraction! Whither shall I turn me? Tar. Why do you waver? Cast away this weakness; e glorious in your cruelty, and leave me.

y all the demons who prepare the heart

o rush upon the self-destroying steel,

The same dire moment which gives thee to Brutus, ives me to death!

Tit. Horror! Tarquinia, hold!

Tur. Lo! I am armed.

I have loved you,

Farewell! [Crosses, L.] How

My death shall witness-how you have deceived me,
Let your own conscience tell.-Now to your father!
Now go, and mingle with the murderers;

Go, teach those fiends what perjury can do,

And show your hands bathed in Tarquinia's blood
The filial deed shall welcome you to Brutus,
And fill his gloomy soul with savage joy.

Let me lose,

Tit. Take, take me hence forever!
In these dear arms, the very name of son,

All claims of nature, every sense but love!

Tar. The gods that guard the majesty of Rome, And that sweet power, whose influence turns thy heart To pity and compliance, shall reward

And bless thee for the deed!

Tit. Can he be blest,

On whom a father's direful curse shall fall?
Tur. A madman's imprecation is no curse.

Be a man.

Tit. Oh, while thy love upholds me, I can stand Against the world's contempt; remember, only, For whose dear sake I am undone ; remember,