And, from that womb, where you imprison'd were,
He is enfranchised, and come to light:

Nay, he's your brother by the surer side,
Although my seal be stamped in his face.

Nur. Aaron, what shall I say unto the empress ?
Dem. Advise thee, Aaron, what is to be done,
And we will all subscribe to thy advice;
Save thou the child, so we may all be safe.

Aar. Then sit we down, and let us all consult.
My son and I will have the wind of you:
Keep there: Now talk at pleasure of your safety.
[They sit on the ground.
Dem. How many women saw this child of his ?
Aar. Why so, brave lords; When we all join in league,
I am a lamb; but if you brave the Moor,
The chafed boar, the mountain lioness,
The ocean swells not so as Aaron storms.-
But, say again, how many saw the child?
Nur. Cornelia the midwife, and myself,
And no one else, but the deliver'd empress.
Aar. The emperess, the midwife, and yourself:
Two may keep counsel, when the third's away:
Go to the empress ; tell her, this I said:

[Stabbing her.

-Weke, weke !—so cries a pig, prepar'd to the spit.
Dem. What mean'st thou, Aaron? Wherefore didst thou
this?

Aar. O, lord, sir, 'tis a deed of policy:
Shall she live to betray this guilt of ours?
A long-tongu'd babbling gossip? no, lords, no.
And now be it known to you my full intent.
Not far, one Muliteus lives, my countryman,
His wife but yesternight was brought to bed;
His child is like to her, fair as you are:
Go pack with him, and give the mother gold,
And tell them both the circumstance of all;
And how by this their child shall be advanc'd,
And be received for the emperor's heir,
And substituted in the place of mine,

To calm this tempest whirling in the court;
And let the emperor dandle him for his own.

Hark ye, lords ye see, that I have given her physic,

[Pointing to the Nurse.

[7] Pack, bere seems to have the meaning of-make a bargain. Or it may mean,

as in the phrase of modern gamesters, to act collusively.

"And mighty dukes pack knaves for half a crown."

POPE.

And you must needs bestow her funeral ;
The fields are near, and you are gallant grooms:
This done, see that you take no longer days,
But send the midwife presently to me.
The midwife, and the nurse, well made away,
Then let the ladies tattle what they please.
Chi. Aaron, I see, thou wilt not trust the air
With secrets.

Dem. For this care of Tamora,

Herself, and hers, are highly bound to thee.

[Exeunt DEM. and CнI. bearing off the Nurse. Aar. Now to the Goths, as swift as swallow flies; There to dispose this treasure in mine arms, And secretly to greet the empress' friends.

Come on, you thick-lipp'd slave, I'll bear you hence; For it is you that put us to our shifts:

I'll make you feed on berries, and on roots,

And feed on curds and whey, and suck the goat,
And cabin in a cave; and bring you up

To be a warrior, and command a camp.

The same.

SCENE III.

[Exit.

A Public Place. Enter TITUS, bearing arrows, with letters at the ends of them; with him MARCUS, young Lucius, and other Gentlemen, with bows.

Tit. Come, Marcus, come ;-Kinsmen, this is the way:
-Sir boy, now let me see your archery;

Look ye draw home enough, and 'tis there straight :
Terras Astræa reliquit :

Be you remembered, Marcus, she's gone, she's fled.
-Sir, take you to your tools.-You, cousins, shall
Go sound the ocean, and cast your nets;

Happily, you may find her in the sea;

Yet there's as little justice as at land :—
No; Publius and Sempronius, you must do it;
'Tis you must dig with mattock, and with spade,
And pierce the inmost centre of the earth;
Then, when you come to Pluto's region,
I pray you, deliver him this petition :
Tell him, it is for justice, and for aid;
And that it comes from old Andronicus,
Shaken with sorrows in ungrateful Rome.—
Ah, Rome !-Well, well; I made thee miserable,
VOL. VIII.

20

What time I threw the people's suffrages
On him that thus doth tyrannize o'er me.--
Go, get you gone; and pray be careful all,
And leave you not a man of war unsearch'd;
This wicked emperor may have shipp'd her hence,
And, kinsmen, then we may go pipe for justice.
Mar. O, Publius, is not this a heavy case,
To see thy noble uncle thus distract?

Pub. Therefore, my lord, it highly us concerns,
By day and night to attend him carefully;
And feed his humour kindly as we may,

Till time beget some careful remedy.

Mar. Kinsmen, his sorrows are past remedy. Join with the Goths; and with revengeful war Take wreak on Rome for this ingratitude,

And vengeance on the traitor Saturnine.

Tit. Publius, how now ? how now, my masters? What, Have you met with her?

Pub. No, my good lord; but Pluto sends you word
If you will have revenge from hell, you shall :
Marry, for Justice, she is so employ'd,

He thinks, with Jove in heaven, or somewhere else,
So that perforce you must needs stay a time.

Tit. He doth me wrong, to feed me with delays.
I'll dive into the burning lake below,

And pull her out of Acheron by the heels.-
Marcus, we are but shrubs, no cedars we;
No big-bon'd men, fram'd of the Cyclops' size :
But metal, Marcus, steel to the very back;

Yet wrung with wrongs, more than our backs can bear.
And, sith there is no justice in earth nor hell,
We will solicit heaven; and move the gods,
To send down justice for to wreak our wrongs:
Come, to this gear. You are a good archer, Marcus.
[He gives them the arrows.
Ad Jovem, that's for you :-Here, ad Apollinem :--
Ad Martem, that's for myself;-

Here, boy, to Pallas :-Here, to Mercury :-
To Saturn, Caius, not to Saturnine,-

You were as good to shoot against the wind.-
To it, boy.-Marcus, loose when I bid:
O' my word, I have written to effect;
There's not a god left unsolicited.

[8] To wring a horse is to press or strain his back.

JOHNSON.

Mar. Kinsmen, shoot all your shafts into the court: We will afflict the emperor in his pride.

Tit. Now, masters, draw. [They shoot.] O, well said, Lucius !

Good boy, in Virgo's lap; give it Pallas.

Mar. My lord, I aim a mile beyond the moon ; Your letter is with Jupiter by this.

Tit. Ha! Publius, Publius, what hast thou done! See, see, thou hast shot off one of Taurus' horns.

Mar. This was the sport, my lord: when Publius shot, The bull being gall'd, gave Aries such a knock That down fell both the ram's horns in the court; And who should find them but the empress' villain? She laugh'd, and told the Moor, he should not choose But give them to his master for a present.

Tit. Why, there it goes: God give your lordship joy. Enter a Clown, with a basket and two pigeons. News, news from heaven! Marcus, the post is come. -Sirrah, what tidings? have you any letters ? Shall I have justice? what says Jupiter?

Clo. Ho the gibbet-maker? he says, that he hath taken them down again, for the man must not be hanged till the next week.

Tit. But what says Jupiter, I ask thee?

Clo. Alas, sir, I know not Jupiter; I never drank with

him in all my life.

Tit. Why villain, art not thou the carrier?

Clo. Ay, of my pigeons, sir; nothing else.

Tit. Why, didst thou not come from heaven?

Clo. From heaven? alas, sir, I never came there: God forbid, I should be so bold to press to heaven in my young days. Why, I am going with my pigeons to the tribunal plebs, to take up a matter of brawl betwixt my uncle and one of the emperial's men.

Mar. Why, sir, that is as fit as can be, to serve for your oration ; and let him deliver the pigeons to the emperor from you.

Tit. Tell me, can you deliver an oration to the emperor with a grace?

Clo. Nay, truly, sir, I could never say grace in all my life.

[9] I suppose the clown means to say, plebeian tribune, tribune of the people; for none could fill this office but such as were descended form plebeian ancestors. STEEVENS.

Tit. Sirrah, come hither: make no more ado, But give your pigeons to the emperor :

By me thou shalt have justice at his hands.
Hold, hold; mean while, here's money for thy charges.
-Give me a pen and ink.-

Sirrah, can you with a grace deliver a supplication?
Clo. Ay, sir.

Tit. Then here is a supplication for you. And when you come to him, at the first approach, you must kneel : then kiss his foot; then deliver up your pigeons; and then look for your reward, I'll be at hand, sir; see you do it bravely.

Clo. I warrant you, sir; let me alone.

Tit. Sirrah, hast thou a knife? Come, let me see it. Here, Marcus, fold it in the oration;

For thou hast made it like an humble suppliant :-
And when thou hast given it to the emperor,

Knock at my door, and tell me what he says.
Clo. God be with you, sir; I will.

Tit. Come, Marcus, let's go :-Publius, follow me.

SCENE IV.

[Exeunt.

The same. Before the Palace. Enter SATURNINUS, TAMORA, CHIRON, DEMETRIUS, Lords, and others; SATURNI NUS with the arrows in his hand, that TITUS shot.

Sat. Why, lords, what wrongs are these? Was ever seen An emperor of Rome thus overborne,

Troubled, confronted thus; and, for the extent

Of legal justice, us'd in such contempt?

My lords, you know, as do the mightful gods,
However these disturbers of our peace

Buzz in the people's ears, there nought hath pass'd,
But even with law, against the wilful sons
Of old Andronicus. And what an if
His sorrows have so overwhelm'd his wits,
Shall we be thus afflicted in his wreaks,
His fits, his frenzy, and his bitterness?
And now he writes to heaven for his redress :
See, here's to Jove, and this to Mercury;
This to Apollo; this to the god of war:
Sweet scrolls to fly about the streets of Rome!
What's this, but libelling against the senate,